New York City

[potter_fan122]

Stacey obediently followed Rhyme onto the underground train, holding the scented cloth back to him. She settled into one of the seat and looked around. It was a lot cleaner here, surprisingly. It didn`t even smell. Well, it did, but not like dirty people. There was a hint of... anxiety in the air. Like a lot of people had been worrying about something in the car.

"Wonder what they were talking about." She nodded towards the door Rhyme had locked. She stared at the people curiously. They had given up opening the door and had grumpily slumped into their own seats. "Hhmm." She hummed to herself, letting her mind expand just a little. She brushed against the edge of the Hispanics` minds, tasting slight frustration and unease. "Interesting."

Stacey slowly turned her gaze to the large windows that flashed with artwork. The train was slowly gaining speed, she could feel that, but she was still a little confused on the whole map thing.

"You do know where we`re going, right?

[~Harry Potter~]

"Oh Course.  Now let's see..." he said as he arched slightly to get into his side jeans pocket and pull out of mp3 player.  He frowned when he noticed how old the model it was.  It was in the old block style Ipod style.  Small screen turn wheel, it all had to go. 

"Dang I forgot the last time I upgraded this thing.  Time for you little buddy to catch up on the times." He said.  After the last line he waved his hand over it and it transformed into a modern iPhone.  "Hey, it can make calls now cool!.  Doubt I will get any service at the school though magic or no magic.  Only reason it works at all is because the bards power of music supersedes Hogwarts enchantments against technology." He said expecting just the normal ipod touch. 

He grinned as he tapped the screen a few times and then showed it to Stacey.  On their screen it had two blips, one pink one yellow close together moving quickly across the city.

"We should be where we change trains in a few minutes." He said pinching and pulling apart his fingers on the screen to expand the map which showed a blinking dot of where they got off of.   

[~Harry Potter~]

Haru walked down the stairs to the Avenue D railroad station.  He got a few looks as he walked from people who could tell he was in drag which was not a lot.  He even got a few whistles which made him blush or roll his eyes depending on if the person was gay or not. 

When he got to the rotating door he pulled his subway card out of his purse and swiped it bypassing the long line for tokens. 

~~~~

The door dinged in front of Rhyme and Stacey which jolted Rhyme out of a small boredom induced daze.  This jolt also caused the spell on the door to break which ended up having about four Latinos fall through the now free to open door. 

"Time to go!" Rhyme said as he grabbed Stacey's hand and dragged her from the train.  They both could have beat the group easily but then they would have to answer a lot of questions and he just didn't want to have to deal with it or worry about how strong Stacey's memory altering charm was. 

~~~~

Haru stood in the station as he waited for the train to arrive.  Suddenly from behind him a person ran into him spinning him around in his haste.  The person was dragging along women but even from the glance he knew exactly who it was.  The purple hair and the mental signature made it so it could not have been anyone else.

"Artemis Rhyme Enturi get your purple haired ass back here this instant!" Haru yelled at the top of his lungs as he stomped his foot. 

~~~~

Rhyme stopped in his tracks which nearly made him fall on his face from the sudden jerk.  He turned slowly his purple eyes wide behind his sunglasses. 

"No..." he muttered. 

"Yes bakka." Haru replied as he walked with a purpose up to Rhyme and in his hand a large spiral notebook appeared which Haru brought down over Rhyme's head.  He then began to rattle off in angry Japanese which through it all summed up to "What are you doing here you [curse] [curse].  [curse][curse][curse]"

[potter_fan122]

((Lol. Thanks.))

Stacey settled into her seat for the next few minutes. She let her mind expand over the train, feeling the engine and its motion. She felt when they pulled into the station, and lifted her head slowly as she came out of her reverie. She felt Rhyme snap back and feel alert. Instantly she was standing up and found herself rushing after Rhyme.

"Why are you worried about them? Are they friends of yours?" She asked as he pulled her out of the subway. Rhyme ran into someone and she jerked. "Sorry, sorry!" She called, still being pulled along, then she froze. She could feel that it was the same person that had tried to probe Rhyme`s mind when they had arrived.

"Who are you?" She asked just as the man started yelling. *Guess he knows Rhyme.* She said to herself mentally, slowly building up a one-way mind block. She wanted to be able to observe this man fully, not be blocked off. She was curious.

[~Harry Potter~]

Rhyme didn't even notice the smack to his head with the notebook.  He was smacked by much harder objects by Haru for stupid stuff he did. 

"Oh my god Haru, I can't believe it's you.  I haven't seen you since To-"

"DO NOT speak of that time." Haru interrupted.  "What you did to me is unforgivable.  You made my parents disown me.  I was tossed out of my own home and nobody in my family will even look at me.  All because of what you just had to say at my great uncles funeral!  Baka!" Haru said yelling at first to cut him off then getting quiet before building to another dramatic climax. 

"And who is this tramp?  What next, gonna tell me your straight now too?  Well toots I'll tell you who I am.  I am his EXXX!-Boyfriend." Haru said stressing the Ex part. 

Haru was beyond mad at the moment.  Rhyme broke his life to pieces without even a single word or remorse.  Seeing him again he expected some sort of Sorry but nope.  Looks like Rhyme wasn't as considered as he thought. 

Rhyme in contrast had a very confused look on his face.  He had no idea what was going on.  When he was in Japan one day he was with Haru in Tokyo and then the next he found himself in a Shinto shrine in another island many miles away.  He had no idea what happened during that time but from Haru's anger he was betting it could not have been good. 

[potter_fan122]

Stacey looked between Rhyme and the other guy-- Haru, aparantly. She had just about decided to keep walking when she heard a name thrown out.

"And who is this tramp?  What next, gonna tell me your straight now too?  Well toots I'll tell you who I am.  I am his EXXX!-Boyfriend." Haru had yelled. Stacey raised an eyebrow, her eyes flaring into a slow red.

"Excuse me?" She asked, "I don`t believe I`m the tramp here. One, because Rhyme is most definately not in a relationship with me beyond friends and I`m married to someone who is not Rhyme." She spoke clearly and with accusation, like a lawyer. There was no anger in her voice, although she had to fight to keep it down.

Stacey lifted one hand and her eyes slowly turned back to blue. She let part of her guard down and left the essence of calm leak from her.

"Settle down dude, seriously."

[~Harry Potter~]

Haru's shoulders visibly dropped as he let out a sigh as the calm washed over him.  The anger leaving though brought out another emotion to replace it. 

"Please.  Don't tell me to settle down.  This two faced ruined my life.  I would be careful if I were you.  Who knows the next time he may turn and ruin your life next.  He was my friend once too.  He can be the sweetest person in existence and then turn into something truly evil."

Haru wasn't as angry as he was before when he said this.  He sounded more like he was on the verge of tears.  There were random sobs as he tried to keep his composure during it.  It showed him as more than just a pissed off ex and more like a person who was truly hurt. 

[potter_fan122]

Stacey again looked at Rhyme then Haru.

"You know, I really don`t know what went on between you two, but whatever it was it`s in the past now. You can`t change it and it won`t make you feel better to yell at him about it now. You have to put the past behind you, or you`ll never get over it and it will ruin your life." She was still speaking calmly, and she even took a step towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing good comes from violence. The sooner you learn that the happier you`ll be." She got a few looks from people around her, but she ignored them. Who cared what they thought?

"Uh, Rhyme," She stepped back beside her friend, "I think there`s something you two need to figure out. Do you want me to... I don`t know, go to the bathroom and come back in ten minutes." She whispered to him, unsure of what to do now.

[~Harry Potter~]

((Muse has left me for the longest time))

Haru let out a snort at her comment about violence.

"Coming from the girl with at least three lumps under her cloths which are most likely weapons.  Please honey, I have done enough costumes to know what is and is not normal on cloths.  I even did a few secret pockets.  Who do you think made the templar pockets in Rhyme's coat?"  Haru said flat out with a swish of his hand as emphasis. 

Rhyme's eyes zoned out as he remembered the day Haru did that for his coat.  He remembered it since it was the last thing he could remember from Japan.  It was right before he was about to go to Haru's uncles funeral, Haru had to go ahead and set up some stuff so Rhyme would go later then...

Rhyme flinched violently and fell to a knee as he clenched his head.  It wasn't from Artemis coming out, he was suppressed recently enough for it to take more than a past memory to let him out. 

You didn't! Rhyme screamed in his head. 

The memory was starting to loosen though it was still really blurry.  He could see images of himself, no Artemis, trashing a large gathering.  He couldn't see faces though he could make a good guess. 

"Wait.  I know what happened now.  Haru, what shirt was I wearing that day?" Rhyme asked.  It was random but he knew Haru OCD about clothing.  He could remember what even the most obscure star war on the red carpet from five years ago. 

"What you usually wear." Haru replied somewhat confused.

"What band was on the shirt?" Rhyme pressed on. 

"Lil' Wayne" Haru replied getting even more confused.

"Honey, when do I ever listen to rap?" Rhyme said a grin on his face. 

Haru's face dropped as the realization hit him.  "If it wasn't you, who?" Haru replied, no anger in his voice, just confusion.

Rhyme gave Stacey a knowing look, she knew exactly who would ruin someone else's life just for the fun of it.  She knew who looked exactly like Rhyme but had almost nothing in common.  She knew who it was who ruined Haru's life. 

[potter_fan122]

Stacey tensed a bit when Haru called her out on her weapons. That had never happened before. Ususally people were completely surprised when she pulled out one of her wicked daggers or a pistol.

"Weapons can be used for things besides intent on hurting." she mumbled, crossing her arms and putting her weight on one foot. Honestly, this guy was starting to annoy her a tiny bit. She had nothing against homosexual people-- and it was quite obvious that he was gay-- but something about the way he was acting just made her want to roll her eyes and give him a long talk about tampons or something.

When Rhyme fell then started talking about clothes she couldn`t help but be a little worried for him. Her mind automatically reached out to his, but she felt no trace of Artemis. Instead she found a partially-blocked memory. Pulling back into her own head, she gave the two men curious looks. Suddenly things came together and Stacey threw her hands up.

"Are you serious?" Stacey sighed dramatically. "No, it wasn`t him. Let`s just say it was an evil twin, and he can elaborate if he choses two." Looking to her friend she added quietly, "I guess this scratches out Broadway, huh?"

[~Harry Potter~]

Haru was looking really confused.  He knew from his discussions with Rhyme that he didn't have any other brothers then his little one.  And at the time he was only six.  It couldn't have been him or Rhyme's sisters, they didn't have that type of power. 

"It wasn't illusion I know that for sure.  I can see through that in an instant." Haru said trying to figure it out for himself. 

"No, I got a feeling it may actually be better than we planned.  Though I may need a hand getting a certain person to speak up." Rhyme said with a sigh. 

He then put his fingers on the ground in a deliberate gesture.  He then moved them in a circle a small sound shield rose around them without any effect to the air.  It would just stop any sound he made from leaving.  He didn't want to cause a scene in a crowded subway. 

"Artemis Enturi get your ass out here!  You have made yourself noticed at the worst possible times before and now you choose to be quiet.  I swear by all that is holy and right, do not make me and Stacey and possibly Prada go in there and drag you out by those greasy purple locks!" Rhyme stood and bellowed at the top of his lungs toward the sky he even stomped his foot for good measure. 

Times like this it really sucked for Rhyme to not have mental powers.  He could most likely have kept Artemis in line much better if he did. 

Haru took a small step back when Rhyme started yelling feeling like the other boy was having a nervous breakdown or something.  He then felt something rising from Rhyme's mind.  It was like there was two of him in there, no, more like two sides of the same coin.

You don't have to yell. Artemis said mentally and very crankily.  You made it clear you didn't want me around for this trip.  And my locks are not greasy, they are exactly the same as yours.

[potter_fan122]

Stacey smiled at herself at herself. All of this was quite amusing to her, and she wasn`t afraid to show it. Artemis had obviously done something a while back that had upset Haru, and Haru didn`t even know it. Rhyme had taken the liberty of making a sound shield around them, when she could have easily spoken to Artemis for him. Maybe he liked the yelling, who knew.

"I could have done that in a much quieter fashion." She stated, grinning at her purple-haired friend. *And Artemis, dearest, I centainly don`t want you here. I`m sure Rhyme doesn`t like having you up there, either. Please don`t do anything you would find amusing, because today is supposed to be a fun day for us.*

While she spoke mentally and out loud her eyes traveled to Haru. Poor guy, he didn`t have a clue. "I guess I shouldn`t make him sounds so horrible; Artemis can be of some help sometimes." She tried to give an assuring smile.

[~Harry Potter~]

When Haru heard the mental voice he knew it was true.  It was nothing like the one he knew from Rhyme.  Rhyme's was vibrant and always changing slightly like the score of music, this was darker and more chaotic.  He broke up with the love of his life because of this.  It hurt him every day afterwards though he ignored it in his anger. 

Haru fell forward toward Rhyme who grabbed hold of him to find Haru sobbing into his shoulder.  All the anger that was pent up for admittedly good reason came rushing out.  Rhyme smiled sadly to Stacey as he held Haru and waited for him to calm down. 

After Haru's sobs subsided Rhyme lifted him and wrapped him in a proper hug.  Rhyme began to make shushing sounds until Haru's breathing evened out. 

"Oh Rhyme, can you ever forgive me?" Haru asked, his eyes sparkling from the tears. 

Rhyme didn't answer.  He just leaned in and pressed his lips to Haru who returned the kiss whole heartedly.  They kissed for a long moment until a gagging sound could be heard from Artemis. 

"Excuse me for a second." Haru said sweetly with a devilish look in his eye.  "Let's see if I can remember the Kanji for this."

He reached for his purse and opened it with a click.  He then reached in and pulled out a fan about half his size.  It had wooden arms and white paper inside.  He propped it against his knee and pulled out a black sharpie marker.  He then wrote the kanji symbol for seal on the side of it. 

The fan was odd though since it seemed to only be half there.  After the seal was added it glowed slightly. 

"Now hold still honey, this won't hurt you one bit." Haru said more of the devilish tint to his voice.

Wait!  What are you gonna do!Artemis said scared. 

"Oh nothing." Haru lied as he brought the fan down seal first over Rhyme's head.  It went into his head slightly but did not hurt Rhyme in the slightest.  It ended up hitting Artemis right in the head and knocking him out and deep into Rhyme's subconscious. 

After that Haru put the fan away with a click of his purse and a grin on his face. 

"Now, as repayment I insist on showing you two around this marvelous city I call home." Haru said happily. 

[potter_fan122]

Stacey had no idea what to do. When Haru started crying she felt the urge to turn away to give them a moment, and that feeling intesified when they started kissing passionately. She cleared her throat softly and turned around, mkaing sure to look at the people around her and stay away from Rhyme and Haru`s minds. They deserved that kiss to have to themselves.

Well, a busy subway wasn`t exactly the best spot for privacy, but who cared?

After the couple parted she faced them again. Her eyes were buble-gum pink and she was smiling widely. She was always happy when things turned out for the better.

"I`d love for you to show us around," Stacey replied, then glanced at Rhyme, "and I`m sure Rhymey would too."