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Jason had not allowed himself to consider what-ifs, to imagine what life would be like if Marie were still alive.
He hadn't even allowed himself to briefly entertain the fantasy that she had somehow made it and was out there, somewhere, alive and safe from harm.
While this probably far healthier than burying himself deep in denial, it also meant that he had not considered even for a moment what he would say to her, if he had the opportunity.
So, when a pair by the name of Aaron and Marta showed up at the bar he'd occasionally frequent in the small town he was temporarily settled in until his next move, quickly explaining that they, too, had formerly worked for the people who had trained him; and, more importantly, that they had found Marie...
Well, Jason didn't buy it.
"Shit," Aaron muttered, "Listen, I know how unbelievable this sounds. Roles reversed," it was brief, but Jason still noted that Aaron, likely unthinkingly, glanced over at Marta when he said that, "I'd think I was being fucked with, too. But we have proof, I swear."
In the same moment it was registering to Jason that someone was walking up, and oh-so-familiar voice said, "They're not fucking with you, Jason."
Turning to the voice was practically instinct, completely thoughtless and instant, and then all he could do was stare and think, I've finally lost it.
She was paler and thinner than he remembered, and her hair was shorter, but she was undeniably Marie.
"How - " He couldn't even get the full sentence out; his heart was pounding in his ears, and he wanted so desperately to believe what was happening, but it was too good; things this good didn't happen to him anymore.
"Apparently, I am a very lucky person," Marie stated, "because it should have been fatal, and even the doctors don't know why it wasn't."
Jason tried to tell himself that this was probably an actress, that this was all probably the result of makeup and acting and maybe even some plastic surgery to get him to go with these people and to walk right into a trap, but there was a problem with that explanation.
Marie was never the kind of person to have many roots; there were no home movies to watch to learn to imitate her by, and very few photographs that weren't outdated. It would be a dumb risk, trying to trick him with a fake Marie, one that most certainly would fail. And, the thing was? The woman he was looking at could not emulate Marie's mannerisms as perfectly as she was if she were a fake.
"Marie," Marta said, briefly glancing around the bar, "you said that you would wait in the car."
Somehow, Jason found himself laughing, "You actually believed that?"
Marie grinned at him briefly before turning to Marta, rolling her eyes, "As if he was going to believe what you two were telling him without seeing me."