Still looking both cautious and disturbed, she nodded and opened the door a bit wider, shutting it behind us and  taking us into the kitchen. I noticed that she chose the seat closest to the phone.

"You're...friends of Misa?" she asked eventually, and both of us nodded.

"This is James, and I'm Ian."

"Pleased to meet you," Joker - James - added with a nod. I noticed that he wasn't grinning, probably trying to hide his pointy teeth. Thank you, I thought quietly, and he looked over at me and winked. Our connection was almost scary. Scratch the almost.

My mom trembled slightly. "Sorry," she whispered. "I haven't...I haven't seen Misa in years. I received word that she had run away from the  community not long before my son was..." She wiped away a few tears, and as she spoke, her voice grew even quieter. "Before my son, Evan, was  killed."

"I'm sorry," both Joker and I murmured in tandem, waiting  for her to go on. Meanwhile, I was noting my assumed status as a runaway and determining my next action.

"She never contacted me, not once," she continued sadly, her voice a little louder, and I felt angry. Yeah, I did. And you didn't even recognize me. "I wish...I wish that she would come home," she confided, still letting the occasional tear drip down her cheek.

Joker's eyes flicked to me, and I kicked him under the table without returning his glance. There was no way I was going to reveal my identity to her, not now.

"So how did you two come to know Misa?" she asked, seemingly done with the tears. "Maybe you dated?" Before either of us could deny the statement, she added pensively, "She was such a pretty girl. I'll bet she's so  beautiful now."

"She is," Joker said gently. "And kind, and talented, and a great kid."

"But," I rushed, mentally glaring at Joker for being such an idiot, "Neither of us dated her. We were just friends."

"Were?"

"We knew her for a few years, but then she moved on. She never told me where she went," I offered apologetically.

"Not even a clue?" she asked desperately, and I hesitated to answer, shocked by how raw her voice sounded. Does she really care?

"Sorry," I muttered, unable to maintain eye contact and staring at the table instead.

Back to the tears for her. "How awful," she said through tears, "to lose both of my children, to lose my entire family."

***

We left her eventually, with her still crying and both of us remaining fairly impassive.

Joker and I split up, as it was Ace's rotation, without a word, and I went back to the motel. He wasn't there yet, so I took the time to write a note and put it in my briefcase. One day, it would serve its purpose.  Hopefully not soon, but I felt that it was drawing far closer than I would have liked to admit.

Ace got back a little later, and we both attempted to put something edible together for dinner before giving up and going with sandwiches. A while later, I went into the bathroom and washed my hands, staring into the mirror. Too soon...It's all happening too fast...Just after I thought that, I started coughing violently and had my palms digging into the counter to hold myself upright.

I heard Ace knocking on the door. "Are you okay in there?" was his muffled question.

"Yeah," I responded with difficulty, holding a hand up to my mouth to prevent further coughing. "I'll be out in a second."

I heard him walking away, and I looked down at my hand.

It was stained with red flecks.