It was still midday when he turned down the ambiguous path that passed for a road.  It wound around deciduous trees that were well on their way to turning colours, passing by a particularly large one that was half broken from a lightning storm several years ago.  No one had come to clear it away.  No one other than half a dozen people even knew of its unfortunate state, since it was rare that anyone new came or went from the hidden manor.  Aedan didn’t care to have it removed.  When he learned of it, after making sure it didn’t prevent travel to and from the main road, he said to leave it there.<br/><br/><i>It was struck down fair and square,</i>the redhead had commented.<i>Leave it be.  Nature is wild, Raff; not everything can be perfect forever.</i><br/><br/>After another half a mile or so, it evened out and was more pleasant, feeling less like banjo country and more like the grand estate that it was.  It was a journey Raffaello had made many times before, though the frequency had increased over the last few months.  His friend, once protégé and even lover, had always been sickly and fighting off death from one direction or another, from childhood cancer to sick assassins, but lately it had become worse.  The cancer treatments that Aedan’s father had administered to him in there home back in Ireland to save his life landed him with equally dangerous problems.  He had joint pain, no appetite to speak of, and some nerve damage.  The worst of it was the pulmonary fibrosis, which Aedan himself had managed to stave off for the last few years.  It was aggressive, though.  The problem was wearing down his lungs<i>and</i>his heart, which had already been prone to irregular heartbeat.  He’d had two respiratory infections that year, already.  Whatever treatments Aedan had devised were losing effectiveness, the spirited redhead losing ground and unwilling to ask for help.<br/><br/>But he never had to ask.  Raff had spent a good amount of time, or at least what he’d felt he could afford, weighing his options and making some very daring decisions on all their behalves.  Thanks to his dealing in poisons and toxins, he’d always been closely linked to the medical field.  He wasn’t as specialized as Aedan, though, who had somehow been able to prolong his life over the last few years despite not having a single degree to speak of.  No, Aedan had learned all he knew of medicine through nefarious sources, blacklisted practitioners, and his own father’s handed down notes and books, and still had a more brilliant mind when it came to the workings of the human body than Raff.  But with things narrowing as they were, the Italian had finally made the decision to get in some help.  A professional.  A mind even more brilliant than Aedan’s, and one that would stop at nothing to succeed.<br/><br/>He didn’t bother looking over at the man beside him.  It was nice to enjoy the company of someone else who was mostly calm and quiet.  Raff had spent so much time lately with his old friend…  Even lying in bed, gasping for the oxygen provided to him via tank and mask, Aedan could get rowdy and, at times, downright hostile.  He did hope that silly little details like that wouldn’t deter the man from doing his best, if not for Aedan’s sake, then for science.  Or himself.<br/><br/>Govannon Cherish.  The name had been in the news, though most didn’t take much note.  Just another weirdo researcher who had gone beyond the scope of morality as dictated by whatever laws and general good and evil concepts.  Those who took interest in science and medicine, however, were all over it.  There was no way that Govannon…<i>Van</i>, would ever be allowed to practice his craft in that world of laws and regulations.  But… after reading up on Van, on his work, and the existing tests that the man had done, it was clear.  The man was mad, yes.  Mad, but genius.  There was something in him that was a little twisted to be pushing the envelope as he was, searching for his own immortality, a way to continue living on past his time.  It was almost a shame that he was so damned attractive.  Really, if it wasn’t for what they were there to do, he might’ve tried for something more than a business relationship.  Aedan would’ve expected it of him, anyway.  Raffaello wasn’t sure he was behind everything the man did, either.  And yet, he’d take the risk.  If it meant saving his friend, Raff would’ve done just about anything.<br/><br/>“Alright.  This is the place,” he commented with a noticeable accent as they pulled within view of the modern house.  Aedan had paid to have it built years prior, after the death of his parents.  It had a lot of careful wiring, plenty of secrets, and a security system that would’ve made banks and museums alike jealous.  From the outside, it only seemed to be the home of someone wealthy, not dangerous, and certainly not an assassin.  Aedan had retired early, after avenging his parents, but that was beside the point.  The man was still deadly.<br/><br/>“Stay behind me, especially if he gets upset.  I might’ve mentioned before, but he doesn’t like change.  Or people.  You happen to be in the unfortunate position of being both, today.  After he gets used to you, things should smooth out.”  Or at least he hoped they did.  He didn’t want to risk the life of someone willing to help, especially a good looking man with such a fantastic mind.  “Even if he looks like he’s weak, there are weapons all over the property, and he’s liable to pull one on you at least twice today.  It just means he’s uncomfortable, but unless he really believes you pose a risk, he’s not likely to hurt you.  He has a nasty habit of lashing out, but it’s mostly frustration.  He has a good heart.”  The Italian parked the car, then leveled a warning stare on Van.  “I would die to protect him.  I would also kill.”<br/><br/>It was the one and only warning he’d put at the man’s feet.  He hadn’t exactly come clean about what it was he did for a living, but Raff didn’t doubt that their new friend could figure out that he was no angel.<br/><br/>He nodded at the large, welcoming house and climbed out of the vehicle, waiting for Van before making a slow and cautious approach.  He did it on purpose.  Aedan would’ve already known they were there, but he needed to get a good look at the extra guest so he could go ahead and get angry, calm himself down, and maybe not stick a gun in Van’s face before hearing them out.