A Touch of Blue - 6. Running Backwards

Zafiro

After leaving Ama’s and learning about what those henchmen had said, I decided that maybe I should do the right thing for once and tell someone.

I know that snitching can lead to some serious things, but I honestly feel that if someone like Arturo is going to go around and threaten the people that are closest to me, then I think I deserve to tell someone who has been with the law.

Now, I do not know many U.U.P.P. Officers, heck, I don’t ever want to know many of them, but there is one that seems to know me more than the rest.

Maybe the fact he has recently gotten fired makes this easier. He can’t exactly arrest me as soon as I show up. Obviously I will be careful and try not to get close for him to catch me. I am not stupid enough to think that whatever tension this man thinks is between us will just suddenly disappear.

Honestly, this probably is a stupid plan.

Will the Tin Can even listen to me? I know that I would not even listen to me.

Thinking like this will just get me nowhere.

My own people are getting hurt and if I say nothing, Arturo will probably just get away with all of it.

How do I even know if he only sent those two people?

Oh my god. What if he sent more?

I slow my bike down and pull up to the side of the road then I pull out my phone to call Piggie.

He does not answer.

Instantly my heart starts pounding just as before when I was in Ama’s house.

I call again.

After an agonizingly long minute, Piggie finally answers.

“Would you stop calling me?” Piggie shouts. “I am trying to have a moment with my queen!”

I smile and let out a shaky breath.

“Oh Piggie,” I sigh. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice.”

“Zafiro what is going on?” Piggie says, “Are you in trouble?”

I bite my lip and move my goggles to rub my eyes.

I can’t put them properly on top of my head because they will squeeze the top of my stitches.

“You have no idea, Piggie,” I say. “I am in loads of trouble.”

I hear Vero’s voice in the background.

“What is going on?” She says.

I hear Piggie waving her off.

“Zafiro explain yourself.” He says.

I tell him everything that has happened.

First I tell him about Cody’s weird threats, then I tell him about everything that happened at Ama’s house.

Piggie stays silent through all of it. Including when I mention what Arturo had said about Cody and me.

“Piggie I was so scared,” My voice shakes. “I-I have never had to protect people before. I hated every second of it. What if they come for you too?”

“Zafiro,” Piggie says to quiet me. “We will be fine. We practically live in a fortress. You just worry about yourself, ok? Do not worry about us. We can handle ourselves.”

“But it is Arturo!” I almost shout.

A few people give me nasty looks as they pass by me. Some even seem to recognize me. They walk on even faster.

“Well, we just have to roll with what happens,” Piggie says. “You be careful alright? You remember all the safehouses we set up in the city?”

“Yes,” I say, “but I do not want to live there. I need to stay home and protect the both of you.”

“Alright,” He sighs, “Listen here you little shit, you are going to keep a leveled head with all of this and you are going to move into one of the safehouses. If I have to, I will throw all your shit out. Do you understand? If I have to disown you just to keep you from making stupid decisions, I will.”

I glare at the road beneath me.

“Do you understand?” He says again.

“This is stupid,” I say, “Arturo could be sending people your way right now and you want me to just run away? Hell no! I need to protect my family, Piggie. You are my family.”

There is a sign of a struggle on the other side of the phone and then Vero’s voice is in my ear.

“Look kid,” She says. “I know Sophie ditched you and now you are afraid to lose us too, but we can handle this alright? We have all been in the middle of gang activity our whole lives. Not just you. We know what we are doing.”

I sigh. I can’t argue with that. They have grown up around that. I have too, but they have done so for far longer than me.

Obviously I know there are things that will be out of my hands. With what I do for a living, this should be embedded in my brain.

They should be fine.

No.

They will be fine.

“Ok,” I whisper. “Just...promise me you will both be ok? I can’t lose you two.”

“Boy!” Vero almost shouts. “That is a stupid promise and you know it. When the Zafiro that jokes around and flirts with everyone comes back, let me know. I am hanging up now. The next time you call, you better be in one of those damn safehouses and I better get my old Zafiro back.”

The phone goes silent and I see that she really did hang up on me.

I put my phone back in my pocket and put my goggles back over my eyes.

This is all so terrifying. Why am I so terrified about all of this? I hear about this shit all the damn time.

The gangs all hustle up with families all over the place. It isn’t an uncommon thing. It is just surprising that it would be happening to me.

Well, not exactly me. It is affecting all of my friends.

Should I just walk on over to Arturo’s and turn myself in? Surely he would not do a ton of damage to me. Maybe he will knock me around while I am tied to a chair, but I am pretty sure he would not want to kill me.

I like to think I am important enough to him that he would not want to do something as drastic as that.

Either way, if he does kill me, I do not know if he would try and go for everyone else in my family.

This is all just stressful. Everything in my head is running around in circles. I do not know what I am supposed to do.

The only thing that comes to my mind is going to the Tin Can. Which is very weird.

Who knew that in my panic, I would run to the one who was chasing me.

So now I am here, driving my way to the location that Piggie gave me this morning.

There is the possibility that I might get arrested, but who knows. Maybe I will just happen to change his views on me enough for him to listen.

~~~

Tin Can lives in a huge house. Does this guy live alone? I would get lost in it.

It is a very modern house. It is three stories tall, has lots of floor to ceiling windows and a lot of greys.

You can easily see into the windows. Inside what I assume is the living room, there are black and white furniture and a giant monitor.

There is someone in there, but their skin isn’t metal so I don’t think it is Tin Can.

I scale up the house next door. I look back incase Tin Can or that random person happens to see me.

When I reach the roof, I see that there is a room that leads out to an outdoor gym. There are all kinds of different equipment.

Tin Can was pretty buff so this is the right house.

The man from before enters the room. He takes off his shirt and pants.

I raise an eyebrow at that and lay on my stomach.

Might as well enjoy the show while I am here.

I use my goggles to zoom in more.

The man is incredibly handsome.

He is of asian descent and has dark hair. It actually looks kind of familiar. It is a military haircut but I can’t quite put my finger on why it looks familiar.

His skin is pinkish pale and looks to be smooth. This man is practically bulging with muscles though.

He has a tattoo along the left of his chest and it covers all the way to his left shoulder.

It looks like a tiger? Like a painted tiger. It has a lot of detail and is super pretty.

He is wearing some tight boxers underneath everything so I get a really nice view of his legs.

Honestly though, his chest keeps my attention. His chest is so...big…

I don’t think I have seen a guy like that.

Me being me, I look around his room for anything that might look expensive. It might not be the smartest thing to steal from Tin Can and his possible boyfriend, but hey, can’t exactly change my ways with a snap of a finger.

There are pictures of who I am guessing are the parents of this dude who put on some track pants.

Wait a minute. What was Tin Can’s name again?

Ray? No wait it was Roy, but I completely forgot the last name. I am pretty sure it was an asian name, right?

Is this the Tin Can? I thought his skin was made of metal. He definitely wasn’t as skinny as this dude.

Well to be fair, Tin Can had a lot of clothes and equipment on.

Huh, so this is my Tin Can?

I am...conflicted. He looks so normal!

Tin Can’s face is not as sharp as this. Tin Can’s features look a bit rounder actually.

I narrow my eyes as possible-Tin Can steps onto the treadmill closest to the glass doors.

This is Tin Can’s house. There are pictures of asian parents and this guy is definitely asian.

I just...I did not expect to see Tin Can look so...human.

Don’t get me wrong, I try not to judge people who use those big augmentations to their body, but I just feel like they lose their own humanity when doing so.

Being able to turn your skin into metal does not seem very human at all.

Now I am not so sure if I should be here.

Maybe it is because I am surprised when I thought I had most things figured out, but I just feel like maybe this is not the best choice I could be making.

Look at this house. Obviously we are from different worlds.

Not literally of course, but still. Very different.

Maybe he won’t care about what is happening.

No don’t be stupid. He joined U.U.P.P. so maybe he does care.

Tin Can starts up something on his monitor and he then begins a jog on the treadmill.

Do I even call him Tin Can now? Obviously he is not a Tin Can. He has normal skin. Human skin.

Just when I thought I had a one-up on this guy, I turn around and see that he is normal. Well, not entirely, but right now, he looks very normal.

Each step Tin Can makes, his chest actually bounces.

I smirk at that.

Yeah not at all a Tin Can if something like that can jiggle.

“Nice tits!” I call out.

Tin Can looks over at me with a bit of a annoyed look but as soon as he lays eyes on me, his eyes widen and he stops running.

He gets sent backwards and off the treadmill.

His body slides along the concrete and I hear him hiss in pain. There are bloody scratches all over his arms and chest. There is even one on his cheekbone.

I must add, he has amazing cheekbones.

“Oh damn,” I can’t help but laugh at this. “I don’t know if you know...but you kind of want to keep running on those.

I kick my feet back and forth in the air, just enjoying this little show.

Tin Can stands up and looks at me with a confused expression. He probably isn’t even sure I am here.

“Hey there, Tin Can.” I wink.

He stares at me for a few moments before his smooth pale skin begins to turn grey. It looks like it is spreading as if it is a liquid. It pours over his skin and then he is the same Tin Can I have grown to tease.

So that’s how it works. It is like a shell. Well that’s interesting.

I have never seen him without a shirt with the metal shell. Can’t say I am not into that either.

“What are you doing here?” He asks. “Are you here to rob me?”

I laugh and push myself up to stand.

“Now why would I ever do that?” I say innocently. “Stealing is illegal after all.”

Ok, I know I came here for help, but I can’t help it! I love messing with him. It’s so easy!

His eyes narrow and he crosses his arms, making his chest look even bigger!

“You would know all about that now, wouldn’t you?” He says.

I smirk and walk along the edge of the rooftop I am on.

“Perhaps a few tricks,” I shrug.

“Why are you here, Zafiro?” He asks. “You didn’t come all the way out here to taunt me did you? That would be a dick move. Even for you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Of course I didn’t come for that. I just...decided to say hello.”

He just blinks and slowly takes a few steps towards me.

He can’t jump over from his gym area to this roof so I know I am perfectly fine.

“Just to say hello?” He asks. “Why do I find that hard to believe.”

This is actually kind of strange. He is acting very calm.

When he chases me, he seems both eager and annoyed.

“You are acting weird,” I say. “You wouldn’t have pressed a panic button by chance would you?”

I squat down and smile down at him. I even decide to take my goggles off.

No need for them right now.

Tin Can looks up at me from the edge of his patio. “No. You and I both know it would be a waste of time.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, you aren’t wrong.”

“Do you mind telling me why you are here?”

Biting my lip, I all of a sudden can’t think of the words. I had it all planned a second ago! I swear I had everything in my head but now...I just...can’t.

“I just wanted to see you.” I say slowly. “I think I can say now that you aren’t exactly a Tin Can.”

He looks surprised by that.

“Like what you see then?” He raises an eyebrow and unfolds his arms, showing his chest off again.

Oh? Is he...flirting back?

Well that is something I am not used to.

I find it funny that his hair and eyebrows have also turned into metal. Just a bunch of tiny metal hairs.

I bet if you run your hands through it, you would end up cutting yourself up like cheese.

Smirking, I shrug. “Oh I don’t know. I think I will need a proper closeup.”

He rolls his eyes.

“You wouldn’t happen to have changed your lifestyle choices have you?” He asks. “Have you decided to finally turn yourself in?”

How could I not laugh at that?

“Are you hoping to put some cuffs on me?” I wink and chuckle.

“Yes,” He grunts.

I sit with one leg tucked under me and the other over the edge.

“Wouldn’t you need a U.U.P.P. badge for that though?” I ask.

The expression on his face hardens and he grips the railing on his patio hard.

“Now, now,” I say. “Don’t ruin your fencing. I am sure it was pretty expensive.”

Tin Can does remove his hands but he still stares at me with a cold expression.

“So you are here to be a dick,” He says with a huff.

God dammit, Zafiro. I am supposed to be asking him for help. I am avoiding it for no reason. Why am I so scared to tell a former officer about troubles that should be looked into? It is so stupid how I keep trying to avoid it.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.

Just say it. Stop hiding, Zafiro. I need help and the best help I can get for not only me, but for my family, is from U.U.P.P.

Opening my eyes, I say, “I need your help.”

Tin Can’s cold expression softens a little, but not a lot.

“Why would I help you?” He asks.

I shrug and stare at my thigh. “I don’t know what I could do to convince you except say that people I am close to are being threatened.”

I wait for his expression to change so I could possibly read what he might be thinking. It does not.

“Today, I found my Tia tied up with her children,” I say. My voice is beginning to shake and I take a pause to calm down.

I will not look like a coward in front of this man.

“There were two people who had guns,” I continue. “They...if I never decided to visit, that family would be dead right now.”

“Is that why you have that?” He says and points to the spot on his head where I got my stitches.

Ama put a wrap to bandage it up.

I nod.

“Are any of the two intruders alive?” He asks.

I shake my head.

“I tried to keep one alive,” I say. “I even smacked her with my gun to try and knock her out. She must have been a bit hard-headed.”

Tin Can just grunts.

It just kind of hit me now that he put his metal skin because he thinks I might attack him.

“You know I didn’t come here to hurt you, right?” I ask.

He just shrugs. “Can’t be too careful.”

Well that’s a shame. I honestly wanted to see his more human side again.

“Well, I can tell that this means a lot to you,” he says. “You aren’t grinning like an idiot as usual. Not even making a ton of flirts or jokes.”

I raise an eyebrow and smile. “Would you like me to?”

He ignores my question.

“I guess I could try and ask someone to look into it, but again, I was fired. I seriously doubt anyone will listen to me.”

Dammit. Well what am I supposed to do now? This is pretty much a dead end and now everyone I know is going to die.

“How did you even know I was fired?” Tin Can frowns.

I smirk at that. “You are a bit famous in my neighborhood.”

He narrows his eyes. “Meaning?”

Standing, I walk along the edge again. “Oh, well...let’s just say that I have a name for myself and when there is only one U.U.P.P. Officer who follows me everywhere I go, your name tends to spread along with mine.”

He looks conflicted with that. Most likely uncomfortable with the thought of so many people knowing him.

“Well, I guess I am going to go,” I sigh. “A real shame. I thought you would have liked to be the one to stop a gang war.”

At that his eyes widen.

“You never mentioned that!” He says. If I was not wrong, it almost sounded like excitement.

“Who the hell do you think has been breaking into my family’s homes?” I say.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I have no idea how life works with you.”

I smile at that. I don’t know why, but the fact he is willing to help me even if he has been wanting to arrest me is rather sweet.

Maybe to others I would seem ridiculous and stupid, but hey, I don’t have a lot of romance in my life and when people do nice shit to me, I swoon.

Tin Can starts rambling about something at work that he thinks is somewhat like my case. Something that might help us.

I end up laying on my stomach again and just staring at his chest, and his face.

Is it just me or did he get even more handsome since the museum?