#ppp 2016

The transceiver slipped out of his hands along with the breath in his lungs. He scrambled after it, the voice over the other side of the line still calling his name. “Who?”

“Excuse-“

“No, who scheduled the appointment? Who?”

“Um,” the sound of keys tapping was just as frantic as Juno’s breath that came faster and faster. No. No. Goddamn it, if it was- “A… Duke Rose? He paid for the operation in full… Sir, do you need to reschedule?”

“… No. I’ll call you back.”

“Sir-“ Juno hung up before he could hear another word and hid his face away in his hands, convinced he could hide himself if he just sat there and never lifted his head again.

He walked away. Juno walked away from everything Peter offered, he thought that would be the end of that. Juno Steel, crashing and burning out in the stratosphere with nothing left of his existence.

And here Peter was again, still holding offers above him like a treat to a starving mongrel that couldn’t even be bothered to get up.

Juno stared at the bottle on his desk he had been drinking the night before, enough whisky sitting in it for one more shot. He reached for it, and his hand wrapped around air. Right. Depth perception.

He looked at his pistol still sitting in its holster and took several deep breaths, in and out. Well… If he wanted to at least buy himself another bottle…

The new eye was his blessing and his curse, Juno decided as he crept through the mansion of his newest clients, another wealthy family concerned after there had been a break-in days ago and not even the best security cameras money could buy could catch their thief. He already had a hunch, but he had to come. Things still needed to be settled, even if Juno walked with the weight of a mountain in his stomach.

But his damn eye, it took two weeks for him to figure out how to adjust light sensitivity. Sometimes he thought he was just blind again, only to have himself blinded by the sheer light of a dying fluorescent lamp. It burned sometimes, an itch that made him want to rip the optic out of his own skull.

But it had its perks. Juno had never thought of using infrared settings before, and having it built into his head was a convenience for keeping himself from getting choked out or ambushed around the next dark corner. Close his one human eye, and the world turned red and blue. The best eyes money could buy, and it didn’t even come out of Juno’s pocket.

That bothered him, but not as much as the spike of red he could see in the darkened room, sitting there without a word or even surprised by the appearance of the private eye in the door. They didn’t move even when light from the hallway slipped past Juno’s frame, both of them silent, sizing the other up.

“Hello, Juno.”

“A lot of people would categorize you as “stalker” at this point,” Juno bit back. He couldn’t even see Peter’s face in the dark, but he could just hear the start of a smile in his voice. “You should at least tell a lady what name you’re using when filing a restraining order.”

“You went to the appointment, I only scheduled it for you.” Peter Nureyev stood from the chair, the grating of metal against marble sent goose bumps under Juno’s skin.

“Is that why you’re here now?” Juno knew the answer.

Nureyev walked towards him, and the world shifted from red to black and the faintest hint of yellow as Juno opened his other eye. He looked the same, tall, sleek, and dangerous. When Juno saw his face he wasn’t smiling. He didn’t look upset, he didn’t look mad. He looked… sad? Melancholic? “Why do you do this?”

Okay, no that’s not what Juno expected. He held his ground, but it was tentative. Gods, he wanted to run. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There’s something odd about you Juno that not many people do. You deny yourself.” He didn’t try to move any closer, Peter stood there with only the faint glow of the hallway behind Juno illuminating his figure. It didn’t help Juno feel any more secure. “I gave you a chance to leave Mars, but you refused. I gave you a chance… And you refused.”

“I accepted your damn appointment, didn’t I?”

Nureyev smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile. “You did. But how many other times have you refused the chances given to you? Friends? A better career? Peace of mind?”

“What exactly is your point?” Juno couldn’t stop himself from shaking. He wasn’t sure what Peter was trying to do to him. Or maybe he was, and he was still afraid of it. He was being given another chance, and he couldn’t take it.

Somewhere in the distance Juno could hear the sound of doors opening. Peter’s eyes flickered over his shoulder before looking to Juno again, offering a smile. “Shame, I was hoping to have a longer talk.” He stepped back into the darkened room, still staring at Juno. “I’ll see you again soon, dear.”

Juno didn’t watch him disappear. He only knew he was gone long before the first security guard found him. “Did you see anyone?” he asked.