The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Terratina.]

"Will you require anything else, Major?" This from the corporal who had accompanied Bryan from the barracks to carry his things. With a still healing wound and a brand new fibreglass clavicle, it was still painful to bear heavy loads, especially now he had weaned himself off of pain medication any stronger than aspirin.

"Nah," Bryan replied. "Asad'll help me shift the bags into the lift when he gets here. Y'can see yourself off, mate."

"Yes sir," the Corporal replied, snapping off a crisp salute. Bryan tapped two fingers to his temple and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The soldier turned on his heel and all but goose stepped back down the street. Bryan shifted the scabbard hanging from his back, sat down on one of his bags, and waited.

A few minutes later, the rest of Samsara showed up at Tsubaki's apartment. Holding a bottle of scotch under her arm, Tsubaki rushed to the door, wrestling with her keychain as she went. "Shit, I'm sorry Bryan," she said. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Nah, just got here," Bryan replied. "Hey Jun," he gestured at his luggage. "Wanna give me a hand?"

Jun sighed and redirected his glare into Bryan. The pun was simply awful and was only made worse with repetition.

"I get the feeling Jun has heard enough hand puns to last a lifetime." Asad smiled wryly. Grunting as she picked up some of Bryan's things, he nodded towards the apartment building. "After you, Commander".

Tsubaki opened the door and let them through. As they set their things down, she stepped into the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Make yourselves comfortable," she said. "I'm going to order the pizza."

Now where the hell did I write down the orders?

"No anchovies," said Bryan, sitting down on the sofa. Juncat immediately leaped down from his sentinel position, and onto his lap. Stroking the cat's back, he asked, "so Asad, you grab any beer on that little grocery trip o' yours?"

"Sure did." Asad chuckled as he rummaged around in one of the grocery bags. Pulling out a six pack, he pulled a can from its plastic ring and tossed it to Bryan. "Should still be cold."

Jun entered after the others and sat down, silently waiting for the evening to be over with.

Popping the top of the beer, Bryan chugged half of it in one go.

"Oh sweet feckin' baby Jesus, that's the stuff," he whispered. "Weeks, it's been!"

"Ha, I can imagine." Asad opened a beer for himself, taking a long drink as he sat down next to Jun. "Oh yeah, that's right, you two haven't met!" Asad grinned as he looked over at the cat on Bryan's lap. "Jun Junior, this is Jun. Jun, this is Jun Junior."

Great, they had named the cat after him. Simply great. Jun, as best as he could with his injury, facepalmed. They really needed to learn to name cats better or simply not bother with cats and the like. Honestly, the evening was getting worse by the second.

Skipping into the room, Tsubaki nodded at the men. "I'm going to go ahead and dress out of my uniform," she told them. "Pizza will be here in twenty minutes. Anything I can get you guys before I disappear again?"

Bryan shrugged. "Nah, I'm good. Pleasure o' your company'll be fine."

"No, Saburo." Jun said.

"Wish I could change out of this damn tux." Asad grimaced. "I am way too overdressed for pizza."

"Boo hoo," Tsubaki mocked.

"Wow, I bet that cost ya a whole week's wages to rent fer the night," said Bryan sarcastically.

"Fuck you guys." Asad mock pouted.

Tsubaki rolled her eyes at the gang of clowns and started for her bedroom. "I won't be long!" she called out to them before disappearing through the door.


As Tsubaki left, Bryan took a sip of his beer and sat back. "So," he said. "What've I missed? Ought interesting happen while I stepped out o' the world?"

Asad shrugged his shoulders. "Not much, not really. Tsu is on guard duty for Basilio at the moment, and he's got me keeping an eye on the Maribel girl."

"What's she like, then?" Bryan asked. "I can't imagine the girl that shot Mila's much like them other ponsy twats."

Asad considered the man's question for a moment. "She's a good kid. A bit in over her head, but she's got a smart head on her shoulders." Asad smiled slightly. "Can't hold her booze for shit though."

Bryan wrinkled his nose. "Bit young fer you, ain't she?"

"Not all of us are lecherous old men." Asad smirked as he took a swig from his beer. "I'm saying it could have been much worse, and I could have been stuck guarding some annoying brat."

"So what happened to the Cook after I kicked his arse?" asked Bryan, grinning. "I know you lot nabbed him, but do we know what happened after?"

"Not a clue." Asad sighed. "I asked Basilio, if I could question the man, but he put a bullet in that request quickly." The man frowned. "Wherever they put him, I doubt it's cosy."

Bryan sighed. "Poor bastard. I liked him."

Asad chuckled. "For someone who was trying to kill us, I wouldn't have minded having a drink with the man."

"Mmm," said Bryan. Leaning forward, he opened another beer. "Y'know, when I was a kid, I was gravitating between the streets and... well, y'know, a bunch o' shady folk, mainly 'cause o' this uncle o' mine... and then when I were fighting in that ring run by some o' the nobles, just when you rubbed shoulders with certain people, you'd hear these rumours. This assassin, 'The Cook.'" He splayed his fingers theatrically. "Totally professional, cold and ruthless. This fuckin' unparalleled fighter." He sighed and took a swig of beer. "Shit, man. Right there in the alleyway, it's like a boring person getting to go a few rounds with boxer he's always liked. Most exciting moment o' my life, I tell ya. Only way it could have been better is if Jun had been conscious to cheer me on."

"Good for you." Jun muttered. The reminder of his screw-up wasn't particularly welcome, nor was the glorification of a target.

"It really was," said Bryan. "Hell, if I see him again, I might ask him to autograph the scar under my neck."

Jun folded his arms, "Should join him, then."

"You should come too, Jun. You can shake his hand again," Bryan replied.

"Once is enough." Jun responded.

Bryan nodded sagely. "Yeah, best leave it. I reckon you came on too strong by trying to hug him."

"Just kiss him already." Jun sighed.

"Who are we kissing?" Tsubaki suddenly butt in. Stepping out of her bedroom and into the living room, she plopped down on the sofa next to Asad. It was safe to say neither Bryan nor Jun had ever seen her so... casual before. She wore a loose-fitting white t-shirt and black yoga pants, with her hair up in a ponytail.

Asad resisted the urge to smile at Tsubaki as she walked back into the room.

'Jesus Christ, those pants.' Clenching his jaw as he took another wig of beer, he cursed the other two men for being there.

"The Cook, apparently." He mumbled.

Bryan whistled softly. "Not bad, Saburo."

Tsubaki cocked and eyebrow. "Get some drinks in me before you attempt to flirt, O'Lafferty," she scolded. She offered the faintest grin.

Jun quickly glanced at the rude interrupter and looked away. It wasn't hard to miss what she was going for with that get-up. Typical.

Bryan laughed. "As if you're dressing casually and encouraging me to drink." He pinched himself. "I didn't leave the hospital, and I'm in some sorta coma, right?"

Asad sighed as he nudged Tsubaki gently with his elbow. "Yeah Tsutsu, how dare you wear casual clothing in your own home when we're about to eat pizza." He rolled his eyes in a comically exaggerated fashion. "The nerve!"

Tsubaki shrugged. "To be fair, letting my hair down like this isn't a common occurrence," she said. Hunching over, she rested her chin on her wrists. "I spent a long time thinking of little more than my duty. Something changed though. As of late... I guess I've found it less fulfilling than it used to be." She smiled sadly. "Is it wrong of me to want to enjoy greasy food with my friends like we're a couple of regular folks?"

"No, not at all," replied Bryan. "Still, while we're on a roll, let's help Jun fulfil his lifelong dream of being in an all Asian barbershop quartet."

"What." Jun said flatly.

"Well fine then, Jun," Bryan replied, turning to the other man. "What's your life's dream?"

Jun frowned a little; there was the setup, so where was the joke? Jokes were easy to deal with anyway, questions like these cut deep. The one dream he did have had been crushed a long time ago and had yet to be be replaced by another one. After all, there wasn't much out in the Ashlands. Jun shrugged - the only answer he could give.

Bryan's smile faltered a little. Clearly he had touched a nerve. "Ah, don't worry about it, mate," he said. "It'll come to you when you least expect it."

"Right." Was the skeptical reply from Jun, it was barely a whisper.

As things took a turn towards the mildly awkward, Asad's mouth lingered on his can as he looked between Bryan and Jun.

'Well that escalated quickly.'

"Where's that pizza?" He mumbled quietly to himself.

Tsubaki felt the same way about the rapidly deteriorating atmosphere. "Not where it needs to be," she groaned.

30 Minutes Later...​

"Oh thank god." Asad grunted as he heard a knock at the door. Pushing himself to his feet he made his way over to the door, the smell of melted cheese greeting his nostrils as he opened the door. "Hey Tsu, pizza's here!" Asad called out to the woman, who was in the kitchen pouring drinks.

The pizza guy was quite young, couldn't have been any old than eighteen. "'How you doin'?" Asad asked pleasantly as he took the pizzas off the man's hands.

"Pretty good," he answered bashfully. Getting into the tower must have been hell. It didn't see pizza deliveries very often. Looking past him, Asad could see he had a military escort. "So, uh... you guys are soldiers?"

"I dunno about those two cripples." Asad chuckled as he nodded towards Jun and Bryan. "But yeah, got a little down time." He smiled warmly.

"Relax guys." Asad looked over the kid's shoulder as the rather hard faced guards "He's delivering deliciousness." he chuckled as he winked at the kid reassuringly. "Ah, here's the other soldier." He grinned as Tsubaki sauntered over to the door.

Tsubaki pursed her lips and gave the kid a firm nod before handing him some carbon. "Thanks," she said, simply.

"Oh, you're a soldier to---" the kids words were suddenly muffled when Tsubaki closed the door in his face.

"I'm starving!" she cooed as she brought the boxes of pizza into the kitchen.

Tsubaki was utterly clueless when it came to social interactions. That much had not changed.

"Tsubaki, Jesus." The man mumbled, shaking his head incredulously as the woman tottered away. Quickly opening the door again, he smiled at the poor boy who looked like his head was about to explode. "Don't mind her." He said apologetically as he dug into his own pockets. Removing a small chunk of carbon, he handed it to the boy. "For the trouble."

Bryan laughed. "Tsubaki don't give a shit for small talk, apparently."

Tsubaki was far too enthralled by the steamy cheesiness to process what was happening elsewhere. Opening the 'Super Meat Supreme' box first, she grabbed a slice and began digging in then and there.

Closing the door gently behind him, Asad crossed his arms over his chest, an eyebrow raised as he watched Tsubaki tuck into the pizza box.

"No, no, that's fine, we'll wait until you're done." His smirked.

"First come, first serve," she barked while shoving a pile of bacon, pepperoni and sausage into her mouth. "I thought you'd already been through basic, Major!"

Asad bit his tongue as he tried his damnedest not to make a joke about her eating so much meat. "I..." He coughed. "What other toppings did you get?" He asked nonchalantly as he began heading into the kitchen.

"All kinds of meats," she told him. "That's all you people eat." She chuckled.

As Tsubaki picked up another slice, Asad plucked it from her grasp. "Thanks Tsubaki, I did want a slice, thank you kindly." He winked at the woman as she nibbled on the pizza.

Bryan grabbed two slices, barely escaping with his fingers intact. Glancing at the slice in his left hand to Jun, he said, "right, how do you want to do this?"

Tsubaki rolled her eyes at Asad and snatched up another pizza. Instead of replying to his teasing she looked to Bryan. How would Jun respond?

Now came the worst part of the evening. It was all too tempting just to refuse the offered slice but on the other hand he was pretty hungry. Still, with delicious pizza would come humiliation. Nevertheless, it seemed best to just bite the bullet. Jun walked up to Bryan and took a bite out of the offered slice. Finished, he then said, "Like that?"

Well, at least that way the casts wouldn't get greasy.

Tsubaki raised her eyebrows in surprise.

He actually went for it.

Smiling, Tsubaki took another slice and walked into the living room. "Maybe there's some hope for you yet, Moon," she mused. She sat back down on the sofa and began chowing down. "You two are going to be great friends before too long."

There were so many jokes Asad could make, but against his better judgement, he decided to cut Jun a break, stifling a smirk as he headed back into the living room, pizza box cradled in his arms.

After incrementally feeding Jun the rest of the slice, Bryan turned to his own and bit in. "Holy Jesus, this is good..."

Luckily for Tsubaki, Jun's mouth was too full of pizza so he was just left with glaring at her as she walked into the living room. He didn't like the implication of her words.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"If nothing else, I appreciate the opportunity to look upon the single biggest fuck up in The Rock's history with my own eyes."

The Gentleman looked at Owain and raised his eyebrows.

"You think so?" He turned back to the viewing window, as street level began to rush up to greet them. "Paradiso will look like this one day. Feroxi too, and all the rest. Yuteni is well on its way already. As sure as greatness rises, so must it fall to ruin. For what little time this city stood, those at it's heart lived as giants, breaking free of the shackles that constrain even the most well-born and prosperous of us."

The Gentleman paused, smiling slightly as he gazed out over the city of ghosts. It showed that the sight of the chapped, half buried remains of this dead dome pleased him more than all of Paradiso's glittering finery ever did.

"Even in failure, they left a mark worthy of their remembrance. You can tell the richness of a corpse, only by the calibre of vermin it attracts to pick it clean. That, is the true nature of legacy."

They touched down, the hum of the VTOL's engines drowning out all over sound besides the whistle of the wind, and the high-pitched, mournful creak of a rusted swing set, disturbed by the down draft.

"We're upwind from the old reactors. Radiation will be at safe levels here. The Gentleman said as he affixed his breathing mask. "Nevertheless..." he tossed one of a pair of portable Geiger counters to Owain. "be careful."

 

[Fappy]

Still pumped full of adrenalin, Elizabeth had to keep herself from jumping at every shadow while they made their way deeper into the lab. When she thought about it, Dio hadn't brought her down here to simply showcase his toys or to rant about his grand plan. No, this was about control. It was always about control. That woman and the swordsman, sure they were powerful weapons, but it was more than that. They had been people once. They had their own hopes, dreams, and wills.

Dio had stripped them of their identities. He'd pulled out their minds and stuck something else inside.

Was that his plan for her? Was this a threat?

Stopping in front of a door at the end of a long hall, Dio looked to his companion. "Elizabeth," he began, his voice low. "Do not try anything when we're in there. Do you understand me?"

What does that mean?"

"Of course," she replied before stepping through the door. Just like the room that Masakado apparently called home, this one was also dark and featureless. It took but a moment for Elizabeth's eyes to adjust to the dark room. In its center sat a man slumped over in a chair.

Spoiler: Dio is a Bastard

Elizabeth held both hands to her mouth as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Oh my God...

"C-Cranston," she stammered. "Oh God, what have they done to you?!" Her emotions getting the best of her, Elizabeth stumbled forward and knelt down in front of him. He was a mess. He had tubes running out of his nose that fed into a strange machine strapped to his head, an IV in his forearm and was covered all over in massive, swelling bruises and blood. His face was barely recognizable.

The old assassin struggled to look her in the eye and mumbled something incomprehensible.

Tears streaming down her face, Elizabeth bowed her head and shuttered. "Dio," she hissed, "how can you do this?! Why are you beating him like an animal?!"

Dio stood at by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He did not look all too pleased. "He refused to cooperate, so we tried to treat him," Dio explained.

"Treat him?!" Elizabeth replied, looking at the man from over her shoulder.

Dio nodded. "Like the others," he said. "We tried to bring him under our control, but he's a fighter. He refused to kneel."

Again, Cranston whispered something to Elizabeth. She turned to look him in the eyes. "Cranston," she whispered, searching the poor mans eyes. To her dismay, he didn't appear to be looking her in the eye. He stared off, right past her, as if he were blind. "Is this what you'll do to me?" Elizabeth finally said, still looking at Cranston.

Dio chuckled. "I very much doubt you have the same degree of stubbornness, but who knows," he said. "You could always cooperate, you know. You could forget about what you've seen down here tonight and take my hand without a fight. I could use your help. I could change the world for you if you'd let me."

Elizabeth shook her head and grit her teeth. "I can never forget what I've seen here tonight," she promised herself.

"K-kill..." Cranston suddenly muttered, his voice hoarse.

Elizabeth perked up. "W-what?" she asked.

"K-kill me," he pleaded. "Please, El-elizabeth..." He was looking at the blade on her hip.

Furrowing her brow, Elizabeth fought back the tears as best she could. As painful as it would be for her to kill the man who'd fought so hard to protect her, she had no doubt of what she needed to do. He'd only suffer further if left alive. She could only imagine what he'd been through; of what horrors awaited him yet.

Elizabeth stood up and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her saber. "As you wish," she said in a firm voice. It was taking every ounce of courage she had to remain strong. "Thank you for everything."

Before she could unsheathed her sword, Dio placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are doing?" he asked.

Elizabeth glared at him. "I am saving him from you," she announced. She'd never looked on someone with such hatred in all her life. Dio was truly a despicable creature.

Ignoring his protest, Elizabeth attempted to draw her blade, only to have Dio yank her towards him. "*****," he said flatly before punching her in the jaw. The much smaller woman cried out in pain and staggered backwards onto the floor. As she held her bruised face, Dio stood over her and offered her his hand. "Get up. We're done here."

Elizabeth said nothing. Instead, she simply glared at the man who had struck her until he'd given up trying to help her to her feet. Once she'd gotten to her feet herself, Dio grabbed her by the forearm and pushed her towards the door.

She managed to get one last glimpse of Cranston before the door closed shut behind them. "I'm sorry," she said. He had been looking at her. Though it was impossible to make out due to his distorted features, Elizabeth knew what she saw.

He was in despair.

As they left the laboratory and road the elevator back up, Cranston was all Elizabeth could think about.

It would likely be the last time she'd ever see him alive.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Spoiler: Space Party

Few people on the Rock would ever use the word "fashionable" to describe Pixie. In fact, most would agree she was the antithesis of such a convention. Through no fault of her disfigurement, she lacked the proper eye for assembling flattering outfits, not that she cared at all.

She didn't give a shit what people thought about her and never listened when they told her what to do.

She walked her own path.

For her, a masquerade was the perfect kind of high society party, if there ever was one. She could dress how she liked, as ridiculous as it was, and no one would tell her she'd done anything wrong. That, and the anonymity, while convenient for her, added a special sense of mystique to the whole thing.

Pixie and Bonnie entered the vast ballroom side-by-side. It was an enormous venue housed in one of the few enormous manors that dotted the perimeter of Basilio Tower. The Lombardis had owned it for generations. Though it was officially a celebration for Dio and Elizabeth's engagement, everyone there knew it was nothing more than one of Contessa Lombardi's hedonistic parties.

Wouldn' be surprised if she fucked every Noble in the oligarchy by now.

While Bonnie's outfit was a tad reserved, Pixie's was ambitious, to say the least. Her hair was styled to make it look even more pixie-like, with her side-swoop curling at the end and two curly q's by each temple. On her face she wore a dark violet, feathered mask that covered the space between her forehead and nose, leaving only her luscious lips exposed. Due to her tattoos and lack of adequate cover-up, she opted for a light purple, silk underlay with just enough opacity to to hint that there was something on her arms and back beyond her pale skin. The violet dress she wore over the underlay was strapless and incredibly low-cut, accentuating her large bust. Starting halfway up her back, it was cut on the left side exposing her bare leg, and would have reached all the way to the ground had it not been for her high-heels. The jewelry she wore was nothing but amethysts which matched the rest of her violet motif.

Bonnie guided Pixie through the large crowd, not that she needed it. It was easy enough to find the golden empress at her own party. Of course, she was dressed as exquisitely as had been expected of her. They'd never met face-to-face, but Pixie knew it the moment she saw her. "That's her," Bonnie said, gesturing in her direction. She was talking to a grey haired man some distance away. "Wait for m---"

"I got it," Pixie said dismissively. "Go get a cocktail 'er somethin'. This might take awhile." Bonnie tried to protest her bold approach, but Pixie was already on the move.

Before she got within ten feet, Contessa looked over the man's shoulder at her and smiled. "Ah, Lady Cogburn," Contessa announced. "How good of you to make it tonight."

Fuckin' stupid-ass codename.

"It's a pleasure to be here, M'Lady," Pixie replied in a neutral accent. "I'm sorry I am a tad late."

"Oh no, you're fine, darling!" Contessa assured her. Looking to the man she was speaking to earlier, she cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but can we finish this discussion later? I have some pressing matters to discuss with Lady Cogburn that cannot wait."

The 'doctor' nodded respectfully. "Of course, M'Lady," he said. "We will speak of this later." Turning on his heel, he glanced at Pixie and gave her a small nod.

The mask concealed his face, but there was something familiar about him.

It ain't nothin', Pixie. Focus.

"Please, M'Lady," she started, beckoning Pixie to follow her. "Let us find some privacy."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Bennie didn't sleep very well that night. Stress had been getting the better of him lately, and with yesterday's developments it had only gotten worse. Even still, Whiskey and Gale had given him some hope. Despite sharing air with some Wilkes-Vines scum, he was determined to make this day a good one.

After a brief shower, he put on some black slacks, his favorite shoes and an undershirt. His dark grey dress shirt was worn untucked, with the sleeves rolled up and had a red tie fitted loosely around his neck. After putting on his sunglasses and holstering his revolver, he left out the door. His first stop this morning would be the bridge.

"Good mornin', Maidens," Bennie said through the ship's PA system, "this is your captain speaking. I hope y'all got a good night's rest 'cause we've got some work to do today. That's right, we've got an op, the first many of you will be involved in. All hands are to report to the mess hall asap for a briefing and some breakfast... except Ruffles and that little spitfire. Y'all got your work cut out for you. Over."

Bennie laid the receiver down on the console and sighed.

Not as compelling as Pixie's wake up calls, but it should do the trick.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Allie had been awake for hours, in the mess hall by herself, she was tinkering away in the corner. Sprawled all over the table were several bit and bobs, screws, cogs, the like. Gale was going away for her first big assignment today, and even if she didn't see it as much of a big deal, Allie. She had already prepared several pieces of steel before hand, scrap just lying around in the engine room. She had shaped it, and buffed it to a mirror sheen. They didn't look like much right now, but when put together, they would make something awesome.

'I hope.'

Tongue curling out the corner of her mouth, she set about assembling the little trinket she had made, making sure the clockwork was set in place correctly. Gale always compared Allie to a fox, after a brief flick through several texts, she finally found a picture of whatever it was a fox was. Some kind of dog thing, cute, red fur.

After clicking all the pieces together, she placed the little clockwork fox on her palm. It was small and light enough to hang off a necklace, maybe a little bit bulky, with the tale and ears, but she was sure Gale wouldn't mind.

The little silver fox was sitting on its hind leg, its big bushy tail curled around itself, looking up at her with big green eyes made from shards of glass she had procured from a bottle. On its back was a little turning mechanism. Allie turned the little knob several times, before releasing it. As soon as she had, the clockwork inside the little fox sprang to life, and its big ears began to waggle at a steady pace.

Smiling, Allie rested her cheek in her palm, watching the little fox slowly wind down.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy was thoroughly enjoying breakfast. Sitting opposite Axel on their little table, she couldn't stop herself from smiling, as she looked at him over the rim of her coffee, gently stroking his leg with hers under the table. There was something so... easy, about the whole thing. Now that Axel could string two sentences together and maintain eye contact in her company, talking, flirting, and laughing with him just seemed so natural, comfortable even. Of course, it wasn't as if Amy had been a complete novice when it came to social cues. On the contrary, she'd been mastering this sort of thing for half her life. In a way, that was the trouble. The act may not have been so simple as just working to a script to say the right things, but it was an act all the same. She'd never just shared the company of someone who wasn't trying to get something out of her, or vice-versa, before. She'd been afraid to; and, for all the frank conversations that she'd had with Meredith, the subject matter had always been so weighted, never providing answers proportional to the gravity of the questions. Even with her, it had been a balancing act, never being truly absorbed in the moment, never like this...

"All hands are to report to the mess hall asap"

Amy hung her head at the sound of Bennie's voice over the intercom. Really, who else but him to butt in and spoil the moment?

"I guess it was too much to hope that we'd get to spend all day together huh." Amy sighed, draining her coffee.

 

[Terratina.]

Astor was in for a rude awakening.

The runaway noble squirmed inside his bed as the eternal debate of whether to get up or sleep in raged on inside his mind. Well... at least until his face encountered a pool of drool. Immediately, he wiped it off with a bit of quilt and, using his other hand, extended a finger into the rumpled mass of morning hair and scratched. Afterwards, he would've yawned, if not for the interruption.

"...That's right, we've got an op, the first many of you will be involved in. All hands are to report to the mess hall asap for a briefing and some breakfast... except Ruffles and that little spitfire. Y'all got your work cut out for you. Over."

Actual work?! Astor groaned, what happened to just making mischief followed by being whacked? Then again, what did he expect? The Iron Maidens weren't known for being the laziest bandits around, after all. Still, getting shot at sounded a lot more exciting than sipping cups of tea with his pinky extended while listening to his dear aunt drone on about high society.

He wiped his brow and got up and ready, making sure that smile was there as he checked himself in the mirror.

Time for breakfast, bacon and eggs with a topped of annoyed Sprout, hopefully. He got the easy part done in seconds and grabbed a seat directly opposite the noble-eater's son and the Ballbuster 9000 - a clear view of an annoying development. A pity Astor couldn't do anything about it if he wanted to continue to be 'Jesse'.

At least the food was alright.

***​

Maria hummed as she got up; the dawn of a new day and - from the sound of it - something finally happening, even if it was the start of the dirty work the Maidens were forced into doing. Still beat the slump. For once, she avoided bacon and other glorious fried foods and opted for a healthier breakfast of simple cereal. Munching her way through it, Maria sadly realised how much she would miss the taste of greasy pork belly strips. She couldn't live on processed grains alone!

 

[Dogmatic99]

Gale had always been a morning person. Her favorite part of course being that point when one was slowly waking up in bed when the drowsiness had lifted just enough that she could appreciate just how freakin' comfy she was. Yep, this was the shit right here. Allie had been spending more and more nights sleeping in her burrow in the engine room, leaving the bunk all to Gale's self. She'd never had a room all to herself before, back in the caravan there was never quite enough room for everyone. Sleeping alone had taken some getting used to, hey, it still felt kinda lonely come the evening. But not come day! Oh no sir!

"All hands are to report to the mess hall asap"

But nothing gold can stay. It was with blurry eyes and frazzled hair that Gale reluctantly clambered to her feet and set about getting dressed enough to show herself in the public belly of the the metal beast she was calling home.

First order of business once she got to the mess hall was to lay claim to a mug of the murky leaf water that the crew thought passed for tea. There something strangely satisfying about being able to down something so bad, probably why people turned to drink. It was easy enough spotting Allie in the small crowd. She was like a scruffy carrot torch in the darkness.

"Hey, what'cha got there?"
===============================================================================================
It was just hitting midday in Frostfall and the city had been quiet. That is to say, she had limited herself to acts of conflict that couldn't be heard from several blocks away.

The two lost maidens hadn't been idle though. Florian had been up early, getting a good night sleep on Irena's couch was out of the question (He'd opted to sleep in the living room instead of crowding Lilith in the guest room). They spent the early morning getting their plans straight before clearing out of Irena's place and getting busy.

It would be a while until Irena could lure Erik into a private enough spot to level the recruitment pitch at him, so until then they could carry on with Florian's rehabilitation into criminal life. It just so happened that today they'd be killing two birds with one stone as that training took the form of helping to knock over the weapon deal Florian had been getting the information on yesterday.

They'd scoped out the spot it was set to take place from across the street. Florian gave one last check over the beretta he'd kept from yesterday and the smoke grenade and flashbang he kept on hand for emergencies. Getting his hands on htese last two had been hard enough he wasn't about to spend them unless he had to.

"There's some good cover down there, I should be able to get close soon enough. How do you want to handle your end?" He asked Lilith.

 

[Fappy]

Spoiler: The Two Deadliest Women Meet in a Bar

"Would you like a cigar, Ms. Monroe," Contessa asked rather formally.

"Jus' call me Pixie," the bandit replied. "And yeah, I'll take one."

Contessa had brought them to her private lounge overlooking the garden in the back of the property. The lounge itself had a classical white-and-gold themed decor, but was not as overdone as was expected of Contessa's normal flare. Considering the structure's history and Contessa's distaste for Feroxi, it was unlikely she'd ever paid the manor much attention. Even still, it was far and beyond anything most nobles could hope to achieve.

As for the garden outside, Pixie found it nostalgic. With its winding paths and overgrown archways, she hadn't seen a garden like this since she lived with Margaret. Sitting on a white, leather couch out on the balcony, Pixie watched the garden with a frown on her face. Such a beautiful, elaborate work of art and there wasn't a single child around to enjoy it the way she had. No, instead it would serve as a backdrop for the shameless hedonism of society's so-called 'upper echelon'.

I bet some of those kids would'a loved it here.

Pixie knew she'd never forget them. All the those poor souls she'd put to rest.

Austin...

Contessa returned from the bar with a bottle of champagne and a box of cigars. "What's wrong?" she asked. She poured two glasses and offered the open cigar box to Pixie.

"Bad memories," Pixie offered with a shrug. Picking a cigar out of the box, she let Contessa do the honors of lighting it with a match. Pixie nodded in approval, but her expression was void of emotion. The golden empress returned the nod with a grin. "Let's get to business, alright?"

Contessa took her seat at the small table opposite Pixie. "Of course," she agreed. "I wouldn't want to waste your time." Pixie took a deep drag and nodded as she exhaled. "I trust my niece already gave you the details of the plan?"

"Yeah," Pixie said with a chuckle. "A real mouth on that one."

"Is that all?" Contessa asked with a sinister grin.

Pixie laughed and shook her head. "Sister, yer gonna have'ta try a bit harder if ya' wanna seduce me," she said. "Congratulations, you figured out I like small, skinny blonds. Ya' wanna fuckin' medal?"

Contessa sipped her champagne. "And why is that?" she said, ignoring the jab. "You tend to go for the macho types when it comes to men. Why doesn't that preference translate to women?"

"I am one of those women," Pixie said with a shrug. "Besides, ya' know, if I wanna fuck a man I fuck a man. If I wanna fuck a woman I fuck a woman."

Contessa giggled in amusement. "And is that what you'd call Ms. Turner?" she asked. "A woman?"

Pixie clenched her jaw. "There's a glass table right here with yer name on it, Lombardi," she warned. "You really wanna test me?"

"Oh please," Contessa began with a scoff, "you can't take a little teasing?"

"Not from you."

Contessa smirked. "Fine," she said. "Back to business then. If you succeed in your mission you will be absolved of all debt. The Iron Maiden and the Lombardi family will shake hands and go our separate ways. No hard feelings."

"No strings attached?" Pixie asked in suspicion.

"You have my word."

Pixie snickered. "An' what the fuck's that worth?" she argued. "You know I don' trust fuckin' nobles. You really think yer word's gonna be enough fer me?"

Contessa shrugged. "What choice do you have?"

"Several," Pixie said matter-of-factly. "Off the top of my head, there ar' thirty ways I reckon I can kill you right now. If yer dead, the Maidens ar' safe. Ya' really think yer pansy-ass son's got the balls ta' take me on?"

"No," Contessa admitted. "But what would killing me accomplish? Sure, you are safe from one more woman who threatens your Maidens, but you'd also be squandering the opportunity of a lifetime." Pixie's eye narrowed. She knew where Contessa was going with this. "Dio, you want him dead more than any other man on the Rock, do you not?"

Pixie didn't reply. Instead, she simply took another drag and stared the woman down.

"Those scars on his abdomen, I've seen them," Contessa said. "It's a miracle he survived."

"Miracle is not the word I'd use to describe it," Pixie remarked, bitterly.

"Let me see," Contessa said, cryptically.

Pixie cocked an eyebrow. "See what?" she asked.

"Your scars."

Pixie grit her teeth. "The fuck ar' you gettin' at, Lombardi?" she said as her blood began to boil. If Contessa wasn't careful...

"You aren't the only one he hurt, Pixie," Contessa scolded. "Margaret was my goddaughter. I loved her before you ever even crawled out of the diseased womb of your drug-addled mother. I know what happened that night. I know what he did to her and I know what you did to him."

Pixie snapped the cigar in-half between her fingers and stood up. Her fists were shaking at her sides. "You keep goin' down this path an' yer gonna end up jus' like 'im," she said. Sighing deeply, she attempted to calm herself. "Look, I get it, you know how it went down. Fuckin' great. Why the fuck should I care?"

Contessa shook her head. "I want to understand you, Pixie," she said. "I chose you for this because I believed you had the conviction to pull it off. I knew you would never agree to something like this without meeting me in person and I never intended to give the job unless you demanded we meet. Now that we're finally here talking face-to-face... I see the anger, the fear, the loss... but I don't see the proof." She cocked her head to the side, keeping her eyes on Pixie's. "No one else was there that night and I don't always trust every story I hear."

She pursed her lips. "Show me," she repeated.

Flustered, Pixie wanted nothing more than to cave the woman's face in, but she had to admit... the woman had a point. Still, the idea of exposing herself to her enemy in such a way didn't sit well.

This is the last fuckin' time I listen to one of yer half-baked schemes, Gents.

Bowing her head, Pixie closed her eyes and nodded. "Good," Contessa cooed, all too content with herself.

Reaching behind her, Pixie unzipped the back of the dress, stepped out of it and removed the underlay. Her mask long since removed, Pixie was now stood before her enemy in nothing but a lacy, violet thong. Staring the woman down, the bandit shrugged. "Happy?"

Contessa's frown looked almost genuine. "The jagged ones?" she asked. Pixie nodded. "I see." Getting to her feet, the golden empress stepped around the table and laid a hand gently on Pixie's shoulder.

"What are you doin?" Pixie asked with a confused scowl on her face.

Contessa hushed her. "I want to see," she said. With her other hand, she caressed the deep scar that on Pixie's chest. Pixie shuttered, but didn't protest. "You poor thing." She did the same with the others until her hand eventually found Pixie's face. Gently, Contessa rubbed her left cheek with her thumb. "Take it out."

"L-l-lombardi," Pixie stammered. She was seemingly more afraid than angry.

"Please," Contessa insisted. "I need to see."

Pursing her lips, Pixie turned her head away and relented. After sticking a finger in her eye, she removed the contact that had been concealing the true nature of her dead eye. Though the cover-up was still there, Contessa got the gist of the disfigurement. "Happy?" Pixie asked once more, ready to be done with all this.

Why her? Why did I show her?

At some point, some how, Pixie had lost to this woman. There was something about her... something very familiar that sent shivers down Pixie's spine. She didn't like this feeling at all. Pixie never feared anyone.

Please, jus' get away from me...

"Yes," Contessa said, "I am." After lingering on Pixie's dead eye, her gaze wandered back down to her chest. "Can I be so bold as to test another legend of the 'Bandit Queen'?" As she said this she ran her hand gently down from Pixie's cheek to her breast.

Fuck you!

"No," Pixie muttered, slapping Contessa's hand away. Her face was glowing red.

"Still loyal to Ms. Turner, I see," Contessa mused. "That's fine." Pixie didn't say anything. "You can put your cloths back on."

Pixie nodded shamefully and turned around to get dressed. Just as she was finishing she heard a loud thud on the glass table behind her. Pixie zipped up the back of her dress and looked down. It was a book.

Spoiler: MM

Wait...

"You've seen this book before?" Contessa asked.

Dropping to her knees, Pixie bent over it. She was completely entranced. "Th-this was Margret's," she whispered. "Wh-where did you get this?"

"Her mother gave it to me when she died," Contessa told her. "I plan to give it to Elizabeth at the ball tomorrow."

Looking up at Contessa, Pixie furrowed her brow. "C-can I look at it?" she pleaded.

"You can take it home with you," Contessa replied. "Take it for the night, but get it back to me tomorrow so I can give it to whom it rightfully belongs. You may give it to me at the ball itself if you'd like an invitation."

Pixie took the book in her hands and hugged it. "Th-thank you," Pixie muttered, very uncharacteristically.

The golden empress smiled. "I think it'd be best that you went home now," she said. "Should give you enough time to read it before you need to give it up."

"Y-yes," Pixie stammered. "I-I'll do that."

Margaret...

Pixie felt like a little girl again.

A little girl who wanted nothing more than to be with her best friend.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

It had been a while since Bennie had called out for the meeting in the mess hall. Even though Allie had be slated for the engine room, she wanted to at least hear what the others were doing before Ruffles had her working again.

'He can wait twenty minutes.' She smiled as she made the finishing touches on Gale's present. The place was filling up fast, full of eager faces ready to get their hands dirty, or maybe they were just really hungry, she hadn't decided yet. Listening in to the chatter, from what she could piece together from slithers of overheard conversations, someone had left the Maiden yesterday, although she couldn't quite pin down a name over the noise.

'What that what the alarm was triggering for?'

Shrugging her shoulders, Allie began cleaning up the table, brushing several unused bit and pieces into a small bag.

"Hey, what'cha got there?"

Caught completely by surprise, the girl almost knocked the little clockwork fox off the table. "Er nothin', it's nothin'!" The girl chuckled nervously as she quickly pocketed the little charm. "Just somethin' I've been workin' on, it's not finished yet." She still had to engrave some words on the piece, but she hadn't decided, despite narrowing it down to a few phrases.

Intent on quickly diverting attention away from herself, Allie patted the chair seat next to her. "Did somethin' happen yesterday? Someone leave or somethin'?"

================

Lilith would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed that Florian had opted not to sleep in the same room as her, but the upside was that she got the heater all to herself, and that meant the maximum heat setting was her's to abuse.

Now they found themselves on the street, talking about how they'd go about handling this weapons deal they were gonna fuck up.

"There's some good cover down there, I should be able to get close soon enough. How do you want to handle your end?"

"Me and my girl here will cover your fine ass." Lilith grinned as she patted the scope of her rifle.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Me and my girl here will cover your fine ass."

"Good stuff!" Florian passed her one of the tattered ear pieces Irena had leant him. "Just in case we need them."

Florian took up his position down at street level and the two of them passed their wait testing out their communications with idle chatter. Their target was running late, the standard of criminal in this city had really dropped since the primary competition had been killed off. It was enough to make Florian lament the sorry state of affairs even more.

'Well that's the risk of running a bigger organisation I suppose.' That was why he kept his crews small and light.

Eventually though they showed up. A large van with a support car in tow. The merchants and showman who'd handle the set up for the larger deal. Even through the crawler windows Florian could see the tension written over their faces. They were ready for trouble.

"Here are our new friends." Florian smirked behind his mask as the pair pulled up and the first few men climbed out of their warm vehicles. "Care to say hello?"

Staring down the scope of her rifle, Lilith passed her sights over their new friends. Florian had been very adamant that they not kill anyone, but having a little fun was certainly on the table.


Finding her target, the woman smirked. "It would be my pleasure." Her finger tightened on the trigger. As the sound of the shot ripped through the frigid air, a briefcase one of the men was holding exploded in his hand, sending several chuck of carbon flying through the air.

The group all leaped back a foot, from what they didn't know, the time it took them to recover themselves was long enough for Florian to close the distance, catching the van's shotgun man as he was struggling out of his chair.

"[Helloooo!]" He called through the door window. Just before slamming it right back into his face and falling on him with a series of swift punches to any weak point he could see. The driver called out to the others and some of Lilith's startled victims got their shit together long enough to make a move on Florian's position.

Quickly pulling back the bolt of her rifle, Lilith loaded the next round. Florian was already balls deep, knocking some poor guy senseless. Looking down at the few scattered men who were now beginning to close in on the van, Lilith bit her bottom lip before lowering her eye to her scope. Firing at the ground in front of the group, they hesitated between retreating into cover, or helping out their comrade.

Lilith decided to help them make a decision. Loading another round, she let loose another shot, this one knocking off one poor sod's dog-eared hat.

Lilith chuckled, as she raised her face from the scope, a little bark escaping her lips as the goons decided to go looking for cover. Glancing over at Florian, Lilith tilted her head, shifting her rifle slightly as she lowered herself to peer down the scope. "Hehehe." The girl snickered to herself as her sights filled up with Florian's rear.

Those still standing started firing pot shots, sending Florian sprinting for cover of his own. It was too risky to stop moving as he weaved in and out of the parked cars and trash cans, sending shots over the heads of those brave enough to peek out of cover. Looked like it was time to get serious.

"Flashbang out." He called out. And loved it!

The pin came out with an audible click and the flashbang arced out over the street towards the largest group of assailants. Florian shielded his eyes just before blinding light sparked off and ruined the mood of anyone looking the wrong way.

'Time to go to work!' He ran straight for his targets, launching himself across the crawler's bonnet and planting his foot into some poor fool's chest. With his balance firmly found his free arms lashed out at the nearest man next to him, giving them a pistol butted slap across the face.

Arm guarding her eyes, Lilith let loose a long whistle as the flashbang burned brightly for a few fleeting moments. They were throughly ruining someone's day. Several someone's. And it was awesome.

Resuming her overwatch, Lilith's scope passed over Florian as she checked out a few guys in cover on the opposite side of the street. Two guys, firing potshots. Clenching her jaw, the girl growled in frustration. She could take them out, but she wasn't sure she could do it non-lethally.

Behind the men was a large truck. Tilting her head slightly, the woman smirked as she lined up a shot. Firing a round into the front tire, it exploded with a horrendous bang. She was sure one of the men shit his pants as they both clawed at their ears, stumbling out of cover. Using the momentary distraction, Lilith loosed another two shots, each of them finding their way into the weapons of the two men, rendering them useless as they scattered across the concrete.

She was pretty sure she took one of poor sod's finger with it.

Florian finished off his share of the dealers quick enough. Their blasted senses allowing them to do little more than flail around wildly like rabid seals as Florian set about them with mechanical efficiency, running through his usual mental checklist of how best to do horrible things to the bodies of his fellow human beings within a tight time limit.

He finished up the last one, panting for breath as the world behind the rubber mask got hot and heavy. Two precise shots rang out over the usual din of ragged fire, marking out Lilith's handy work. he turned to see two remaining thugs clutching their hands and arms. They weren't very happy.

'Goddamn she's good.' Florian marveled at the broken guns at their feet.

["Well?"] He called over to them, spreading his arms wide and advancing on them with a cocky swagger. ["What are we gunna do?"]

Only one of them felt angry and cornered enough to take him up on the challenge. The other one was busy clutching his bloody hand. The guy clearly wasn't trained in hand to hand combat though, as Florian made light sport of him. Sport was the right word for it as Florian bobbed and weaved around his wild swings, heart pounding in his chest and laughing like a merry fool. It'd been a while since he could just cut loose.

Humming gently as she slowly fed a handful of rounds into her rifle, her eyes were on the fight below. Propping her rifle against the small wall of the roof she was squatting behind, the woman placed her elbows on the edge, placing her cheeks in her palms as she watched Florian go to work.

"Hmmm, good view from up here." She cooed gently into her headset. "Put on a show."

Florian had it in mind to try his hand at one of the fancier moves he hadn't done in a while as he began to bait his opponent into the proper positioning only to be cut off by the sounds of a roaring engine as a crawler screeched its way round the corner.

"That'll be the cavalry." Florian said into his mic for Lilith to hear. "Time for us to get chased off!" He did things the boring way and smacked the low level Bejic thug's nose in with an uppercut and followed up with a swift jab to his diaphram and an elbow to his collar bone, knocking him to the ground.

He gave a show of firing some shots off at the crawler and making a hasty retreat before making a break for where he and Lilith had left their crawler. Truly he was defeated.

Lilith pouted as she heard the 'reinforcements' approaching. Looks like she wouldn't get her show after all. Snatching up her rifle, she bolted for the fire escape at the rear of the building.

As far as plans went, this one was going uncharacteristically well.

As Florian rounded the corner, he came across Lilith lounged across the hood of the crawler. "Why hello there." She ran a hand through her hair. "Come here often?" She smirked.

"Place is a dump." Florian called over to her, slowing his stride before swinging himself into the driver's seat and ripping the mask free. "Want to find someplace better?"

Lilith climbed into her seat as Florian gunned the engine and the crawler tires screeched to life. The crawler spun around, knocking over a poor civilian trash can and the two of them got the hell out of dodge.

 

[The Funslinger]

With the pizza wiped out, the off-duty soldiers began pouring more and more drinks for themselves. Though she was trying to moderate her intake, Tsubaki was certain beginning to feel it after a short time.

Maybe I should take a break.

A little flustered, Tsubaki leaned back on the sofa and pulled her knees in, holding them against her chest. "I think I'm getting better at the whole drinking thing," she remarked.

Asad chuckled as he took a sip of his whiskey. "You'll get there, it's all about practice." He patted the woman on the shoulder.

"Practice, practice, practice, then you too, can become a raging alcoholic like the rest of us."

Tsubaki chuckled. "What a wonderful aspiration," she joked.

"Oh aye," said Bryan, pouring out some whiskey. "Maybe one day, you could be like me, going on missions and performing high risk acrobatics, completely shitfaced."

Watching everyone act progressively stupider was one of the few perks of being the most sober person in the room. However, the show itself wasn't very entertaining. Tick tock, tick tock... The evening's conclusion drew nearer and nearer, Jun had no problem with simply waiting for that while trying to ignore the drunkards. The rest of the world didn't return the courtesy though as Jun Jr. suddenly leapt into the injured soldier's lap. Half-heartedly, Jun tried to shoo the cat out but Jun Jr. wasn't having any of it.

"D'awwww." Asad grinned as the cat settled down on Jun's lap. "He likes you."

Tsubaki crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you going to pet him or what?" she asked. Her eyes bore into his.

Pet the damn cat, Moon. I'm serious here.

Bryan watched Juncat crawling on their sniper's lap. "I don't know, something seems... incesty about that. I don't like it." Jun eventually gave up as Jun Jr. firmly settled himself in his namesake's lap. Jun himself shrugged, "Just a cat."

Tsubaki groaned before taking a sip of her mixed drink. "If Jun ever felt a human emotion I am pretty sure the Rock would turn into Endor," she muttered. She hoped the reference would not be lost on the others.

"Star Wars?" Asad raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. "You watched Star Wars?" He chuckled. "Well shit, you're just full of surprises."

She shrugged. "The smuggler was a stud," she said. "What can I say?"

"Tell ya, if I had one o' them laser swords, I'd absolutely wreck shit," said Bryan.

"I wouldn't trust you for a second with one of those things," Tsubaki remarked.

"And we still don't have talking robots." Asad sighed sadly. "Biggest disappointed of my childhood."

"Right, fuckers," said Bryan, getting to his feet. "I'm dry." He tapped his empty glass. "Anyone else want topping up?"

"I'm okay for now," Tsubaki replied.

"Same." Jun said.

"Top me up, hombre." Asad raised his glass.

Taking Asad's glass, Bryan headed into the kitchen and grabbed another bottle out of one of the paper bags on the counter. He was about to pick up the cap to screw it back onto the bottle of scotch after refilling the glasses, when his hand accidentally swept it onto the floor. "Fuck."

Grunting at the ache in his chest as he bent down to pick it up, he stopped. There was a grey man's sock sticking out from under one of the cupboards. "Hey Tsubaki, you been having some adventures we don't know about?"

Tsubaki cocked an eyebrow. "Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked, looking towards the kitchen. Whatever he was referring to, she couldn't see it.

Setting the glasses back on the counter, Bryan stooped again and picked up the sock. "Ain't no fucken way you're a size twelve," he said, dangling the sock in the air with a smirk.

"Oh, that's right, you left your socks here the other day, Asad," she said matter-of-factly. "I---"

Oh, shit! What the hell did I just imply?!

"I-I-I mean, um..." Tsubaki stammered.

This wasn't good.

Jun immediately turned his head and centred his gaze on Tsubaki, had she...?

Bryan blinked. Forcing a grin, he said, "reckon I might need some context for that one."

Asad's face remained neutral as he screamed internally. "Huh, must have forgot that one." He furrowed his brow. "I crashed here the other night, after the mission and you two were admitted in hopsital." He glanced at Tsubaki. 'Way to not look suspicious Tsu, Jesus fucking Christ.'

"That so?" Bryan replied, trying his best to look convinced.

"Y-yeah, I was a mess and I guess I needed someone to talk to," she said with a nervious laugh.

Technically not a lie.

She shrugged. "I was... really worried about you guys," Tsubaki added.

"Yeah, that was a shit day all around." Asad nodded his head solemnly. 'You're fucking killing me here, Tsu!'

"Of course." Jun muttered, ever the skeptic. He wouldn't let whatever was trying to be brought into the light fall back into darkness. The opportunity was too good to pass up.

Bryan glanced at Jun before turning back to the others. "We're mates, right?" he said. "You mind not bullshitting me?"

Tsubaki gave Asad a pleading, desperate look.

What do I say?!

"Shit." Asad sighed defeatedly as he ran a hand over his scalp.

Pressing her forehead against her knees, Tsubaki laughed nerviously. "This is embarrassing," she admitted. Glancing over her knees, she spotted her drink and reached for it. She was going to need more where that came from.

Bryan ran a hand down his face, and went to retrieve the drinks. Sliding one roughly across the coffee table at Asad, he set about downing the one he'd poured himself.

Asad hadn't really done anything wrong, it's not like anyone was cheating. Bryan's interest is Tsubaki was just that, an interest, it's his own damn fault if he didn't pursue it.

Then why did he feel so guilty?

"Bryan, I don't..." Asad clenched his jaw as he grabbed the drink. "Shit." He mumbled as he tossed back the liquor.

Tsubaki looked between the two men inquisitively. "I'm not going to deny how awkward this is, but what's going on with you two?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be like... I don't know, joking around? Being stupid men about this?"

So we fucked... big deal...

"It's... nothing. Look, can we just get fucken smashed, already?" Bryan replied. Taking the bottle from the counter, he sat back down, refilled his glass, and started drinking.

'Stupid men'? So there it was. While the atmosphere was positively frigid, Jun did watch the whole ordeal with interest. It didn't take an expert to figure that the evening's mood wouldn't snap back to normal.

"Don't worry about it, Tsu." Asad mumbled as he looked at the bottom of his glass. "Just, stuff." He sighed. 'Well there goes the evening'.

"Right," Tsubaki relented. "Smashed it is."

Getting to his feet, Asad walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Leaning back on the counter, the man shook his head. He owed Bryan an explanation, he deserved at least that much.

'Not tonight though' The man smiled sadly as he poured liquor into his glass, downing it before repeating the process a couple more times.

=========================================================

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout!" sang Millie, as she pranced down the corridor, in front of Whiskey. Eddie's hat enveloped her head, and Lilith's poker chip pendant hung past her stomach. Whiskey couldn't stop smiling as she watched her daughter's capering.

"You ready for breakfast, honey?"

"Yeah!"

"What're you gonna have?"

"Pancakes! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Not sure if those'll be on the menu, Mil, but I'll cook you up some special. How's that sound?"

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"I thought so."

=========================================================

Ruffles grunted as he shoved the enviro-shelter crate into the backseat of the crawler. Hitched to the vehicle was a trailer filled with gas canisters. He would have to make a return trip for the rest of the equipment, but before he did any of that, he'd have to show Allie the basics on plumbing. Still, at least she was a bright girl. He figured after a couple of hours' instruction, she would be able to fix almost any plumbing issue the ship might throw at her without asking his help.

As for what he was intending to spend his day doing, that was incredibly dangerous, and not something he even trusted himself to teach. Still, he knew he'd be back before it was needed again. He'd make sure. Cracking his back, he headed off to find his apprentice. The mess hall was the most likely location. The girl inhaled fried food almost as much as he did.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

There wasn't any need to worry about getting tailed, they'd made a good enough show of making a getaway. By now Irena's guys would have been picking up the pieces and bringing whoever stayed in that outfit under her command. How nicely they did that was up to them.

Florian was still smiling away to himself as he drove on, the initial rush had worn off but he was still feeling the faint high. This was so much more fun when doing it with someone else.

"I should have ditched the collar years ago." He mused. "Could have been doing this on the maiden from the start."

A faint smile curled Lilith's lips as she looked at Florian. It was like seeing Sprout on his first mission away from the Maiden. Full of excitement and enthusiasm. The smile was fleeting, however.

Brushing her hair from her eyes, she adjusted her hat. 'Don't lose sight of why you wore the collar in the first place.'

Breaking out her pack of cigarettes, she placed two in her mouth, lighting them both before she removed one and offered it to Florian. "With everything that's happened lately, it's nice to see something go smoothly for a change."

Both hands still on the wheel Florian leaned his head over to Lilith's hand and snapped up the smoke.

"Perk of insider knowledge." He said awkwardly as he edged the cigarette over to the corner of his mouth. "The others should have come too, I could have snatched them a good haul of weapons while they were here. Sounds like they could use that more than my scrambled eggs."

"I haven't had your eggs in the longest time!" Lilith threw up her arms. "We gotta have eggs for lunch." She grinned. "And bacon, do we have bacon? I don't know what we bought yesterday, I couldn't read shit."

"Of course we bought bacon, we're not insane!" Florian laughed through the smoke, glancing her out the corner of his eye. "I still haven't heard from Irena but we should have a few hours before the meeting. I could use a full stomach when it happens." He turned the corner and started the car for Irena's place. Good thing Florian knew where she hid her spair key.

"Sweet." Lilith crossed her arms over her chest as the cold began to bite at her. "And a big mug of hot tea." She looked at the man, a look of worry creasing her brow. "We got tea, right? Does this place even know what tea is?"

"Of course! It is the only thing to keep the old women quiet in their complaining." They drove on further, traffic was mercifully light today. As it was most other days since everyone embraced massive political upheaval.

Later at the apartment

Spoiler

"These fucking eggs, man." Lilith spoke with her mouth full as she heaped food into her face. "You should have been a chef instead, seriously. I don't remember what the food was like before you arrived, I mean, Cranston was good, but..." She trailed off as she mentioned the old man's name, her enthusiasm waning as she looked down at her plate.

"I'm sorry." Florian said in the quiet tones of someone who knew their commiserations could only fall short. "For what it's worth, it sounded like it was his choice. I don't think anyone could have stopped him once his mind was set. Ever."

The woman set her fork down before reached for her mug of tea. "I know, I know, I'm just being stupid." She forced as smile. "It just sucks is all." She took a sip of her drink. "For what it's worth, it's part of the reason I came here looking for you. I didn't do anything back then, I promised myself I'd never abandon anyone like that ever again." Placing her cup back on the table, she resumed eating before looking up at Florian with sad eyes. "These are really good eggs."

"You didn't abandon him, Lilith. You survived. Sometimes that's all you can do. It's just like you said though... it sucks."

Florian leaned back in his chair. This was good though, this was the best way she could honour him; in his mind anyway. She didn't need to hear that right now though. He had no doubt that Sprout and the captain had given her similar talks back at the maiden. At this point it was up to Lilith to get through the pain herself. She'd get there, he knew it, she'd just need time.

And some company too, maybe. "Hey, I need to hear more about these new people! They better not be moving in on my kitchen turf."

"Don't worry about that." Lilith chuckled as she continued to eat her meal. "I don't know about some of the others, but the ones I know probably can't." She groaned slightly as she chewed on a particularly delicious slice of bacon. 'Yum' she mouth mimed as she rested her cheek on her palm.

"Allie is never out of the engine room long enough to cook anything, and very much doubt she'd know how to prepare anything that wasn't made up of nuts and bolts. The gypsy kid, Gale, I dunno, I get the feeling she could cook up something, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was tripping balls for a few hours after." She chuckled. "And the Jesse kid, Christ, I think he's more domestically incompetent than Sprout, which is a real fucking achievement in itself."

Lilith placed her fork down before raising her mug of tea to her lips. "Oh..." She mumbled as a though occurred to her. "Whiskey, she's a mum." her eyes widened. "She would totally cook mummy food." She whispered. "Not that I would know what that's like." She scoffed. "We both know Pixie can't cook for shit."

"Wait, we have another mother on board? Did her kids stay with the father while she's off robbing trains and banks?"

"I didn't tell you about Millie?" Lilith placed her hands on the table. "I can't believe I didn't tell you about Millie!" She exclaimed. "Oh Jesus, you'd fucking love the kid. Tiniest little ball of adorable I ever did see." Lilith's mood immediately brightened as she began describing the girl. "She's five, going on six, because fuck you if you ever think she's gonna not remind you that's she's '5 and a half years old'." Lilith held out her hands, mimicking the girl she gestured a five and then a six. "She does these drawings with a bunch of crayons, they fucking suck, but damn if she don't try her best." She laughed as she recalled one incident.

"The other day, she was playing tea party and shit in the mess hall, and Bennie walks by, and he's all like 'Hey kid, whatcha doing?'" Lilith put on her best deep black man voice. "And Millie's all like 'Would you like some tea Mr. Bennie?' and fuck me, he actually sat down and played along, because when Millie asks you to play tea party, you fucking do it." She laughed heartily as she gripped her sides.

"Ouch, my ovaries." She winced playfully.

Florian looked on in disbelief as Lilith went on her spiel, his mouth just ever so slightly open. It took him a minute of moving his food around on his plate after she finished to respond.

"So... we have a five year old on the ship now? This is right?" He considered eating something before going against it. "Why?" His voice seemed to rise an octave. "The... w-we... do we do that now? Are there more tiny children wandering around the flying gun we call home? I mean you called the others kids but did you actually mean they were kids?! Do we do this now, do we use child soldiers now? This Millie girl can she at least clean a gun and load a magazine, can she stab a kidney right?"

It wasn't anger- well maybe a little anger - mostly it was confusion.

"Oh no, it's not..." Lilith paused as she thought on the man's words. "A lot of these kids were in Austin's crew, they're parents are dead or they never had parents to begin with." The woman smiled sadly as she looked at Florian. 'He really hates this.'

"Some of them weren't with Austin at all, Allie, she lived with her grandmother in Yuteni." She paused for a moment, smiling sadly. "She died in the attack, the girl has nobody else, and she's really found her place in the engine room with Ruffles. She's safer there than she'd ever be out there on her own." Was she really trying to legitimise turning children into bandits? 'Is that because you were young when you joined, is that it?'

Florian rubbed at his temples as he heard her out. He shouldn't have been so surprised, the average age of the maiden crew was never that high to begin with, and then there was Axel. But that boy was one of the reasons he'd stayed, seeing another soul walk the same path he had so early on in life. 'And I'd been so arrogant as to think I could help. To make sure he didn't make the same mistakes I had.' Some help he'd been. Now the whole crew was going that route.

"None of the other criminal groups are going to take you seriously anymore, that's for sure." He sighed.

"Pfft, like we ever gave a fuck what those wankers thought of us." Lilith scoffed as she picked up her fork. "You know none of those kids would be there if they had anywhere else to go, and we damn well wouldn't be letting them join on if we knew they had any family left to take care of them." Lilith locked eyes with ex-priest. "Better we take 'em in and be thought of as weak by the other bandit families, then those same families inevitably getting their fucking hands on some of 'em." Lilith's expression hardened. "It's not ideal, Florian, I know that, but it's better than the alternative."

At least they had some level reasoning for it. 'We. We have some level reasoning. You are still a part of the crew right?' The maiden never had been a traditional bandit outfit anyway. He'd just have to approach it the same way Lil was if he was going to make things work.

"Doesn't sound like they have much experience. They'll have to be trained rough. Maybe I'll see if we can take them outside for a few rounds when we get back. Then there's gun training... this Millie at least knows how to use a light calibre handgun, right?"

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "She's five years old Florian, she doesn't need to know how to use shit, and we're gonna keep it that way." The woman said plainly. "She's still a baby compared to the rest of them, and it's not like Whiskey is keeping her there by choice. The Wilkes-Vines have some leverage over her, she's only doing what she's doing now because she has no other choice. I fully expect her and Millie to clear out when she knows it's safe for them to leave."

"All the more reason to make sure she's prepared for the worse. When I was her age Erik had me running laps and doing drills outside the dome! Have you all not even shown her basic gun safety?" On a place as packed with them as the maiden that was just common sense. Honestly, now Lil was just talking crazy.


"You mean back when you were the heir to the Bejic legacy." Lilith smirked. "This is a little different, Florian." What was up with him today? Old Florian would have a heart attack over the prospect of training a small child how to use a gun.

"But whatever, it's not even our decision to make, it's Whiskey's, let's just drop it."

"Okay." He put his hands up in civilized defeat. What was with her today? It wasn't as if Lilith hadn't learned things like this herself at an early age. She'd never shown any great regrets over it in the past.

Why was she annoyed at him? Had he struck a nerve? 'Yeah Lily, heaven forbid you want at least one person you know to have a normal life, Jesus.'

A picture if Millie wearing that oversized hat and the poker chip came to her mind.

"The food was lovely, thank you." Lilith averted her eyes as she thanked the man, getting to her feet as she took her plate to the kitchen sink.

 

[Fappy]

Sprout was finding it difficult to focus on his meal when the best feast he'd ever had was sitting right there in front of him. Thankfully he'd have plenty of time to finish his breakfast, what with Bennie coming to brief the newbies on their first big show and all.

Better not be another fuckin' train robbery.

"I guess it was too much to hope that we'd get to spend all day together huh."

Sprout grinned stupidly. "I reckon yer used ta' that part'a bandit life by now," he said. "It's all 'bout the heat of the moment. One second yer bumpin' uglies with the purdiest girl on the Rock an' the next yer blowin' the heads off'a rival outlaws. Sure, there's plenty'a borin' bullshit ta' wade through in the meantime, but we don' 'ave ta' worry 'bout any'a that. Bennie and Whiskey can handle the paperwork an' radio call. I'm only interested in the fun stuff."

Sprout's head was bigger than ever. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

After a long and uncomfortable ride, the two nobles finally reached the floor Elizabeth had been staying on. With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth stepped forward to leave only to find the elevator doors closing just as soon they had opened. It was Dio. "This is where my room is, M'Lord," she told him in as calm a tone as she could.

There was a cruel smile on his face. "I know," he replied simply.

"What do you want?"

He leaned in closer, his grin seemingly larger than before. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Elizabeth asked, rolling her eyes.

"Are you still as pure as you claim?" he asked, gazing lustfully at her slender frame.

She blushed slightly. "Of course I am!" she snapped.

"Sure you are," he laughed. "Even your sister had been around the block a few times before I had a go at her."

"Don't talk about her that way," Elizabeth muttered, unable to look the hungry wolf in the eye.

Please go. Please go. Please go.

Holding one arm, Elizabeth could do little more than stand there and tremble. She was terrified. What did he have in mind?

"Please," she started, "let me go to bed. Tomorrow's a big day."

Leaning in even closer now, Dio lifted her chin with his pointer finger. She had no choice but to look him in the eye. "What are you so afraid of, M'Lady?" he asked in mock sympathy.

She didn't say anything to him. Instead, she simply stared into his eyes. She channeled as much hatred as she could into that stare.

Dio found it simply delightful.

"Do not misunderstand me, Elizabeth," he whispered in her ear. "We've already established how physically insignificant you are. If I wanted you I'd take you wherever and whenever I wanted and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do to stop me."

She grit her teeth. "And what's the fun in that?"

Dio's eyes went wide in surprise, and for a moment he just stood their, dumbfounded. And then, suddenly, he burst into a fit of laughter. "You understand me better than I realized," he admitted, still doubling over in laughter. She stood there silently as he calmed himself down. "Taking you by force is a trivial matter, you're right. There's no challenge in it at all."

Looking to the elevator panel, he reached over and hit the "Open Door" button. Without wasting a second, Elizabeth scurried out the door. Before starting down the hall, she turned around to look at him. That infuriating grin was still plastered on his smug face.

"Struggle against me, Elizabeth," he told her. "Please, fight with every ounce of strength you have. It will make the conquest all the more satisfying."

And then the elevator doors closed.

After taking her time returning to her suite, she stood in the center of the dark living room; her mind in a thousand places at once.

Lilith... Florian... someone, anyone... help...

Suddenly, she dropped to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Without even thinking, she'd taken her pager out of her pocket and frantically typed a message to Asad, "I need u."

She couldn't be alone tonight.

She'd never been so afraid of anyone in her entire life.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Pixie had lost control. This wasn't like one of her blood-fueled frenzies or her manic breakdowns. No, this was something far more debilitating; a feeling so profound that she couldn't even form words any longer. It took ever ounce of willpower she had to push her way out of Contessa's manor and not immediately sit down in the nearest alley to read Cherry's book.

No, she had people who depended on her back at the safehouse. She needed to get back there. That needed to be her priority. With a deep breath, Pixie closed her eyes shut and put the book in her purse.

Outta sight outta mind.

It didn't take her long, and though it wasn't that late, it looked like everyone had already turned in for the night. Cam was completely comatose, snoring loudly in Pixie's cot. Carlos had managed to find some pain killers in town, so she'd probably be zonked out for the next day or so. Pixie smiled at the woman before crossing over to the bathroom. After stripping out of her gaudy outfit, Pixie threw on a t-shirt and stepped back into the bedroom.

Her back against the wall, Pixie stared longingly at the book from across the room. The corner of its weathered cover was peaking out of her purse on the floor. For some reason she was sweating profusely and her breathing was heavy and ragged.

Get yerself together, Pixie.

Spoiler: Pixie is such a sap

Scurrying over to the purse on the ground, Pixie knelt down and retrieved the book. "Cherry," she whispered to herself as her fingers traced the flower-like embroideries on the corners of the cover. The cover read the words, 'A New World'. At closer inspection it appeared the small latch that kept the book secure had been broken.

It was such a long time ago...

Plopping down against the wall, Pixie hugged the book one last time before opening it to the first page. It simply read, 'MM'. "Oh, Cherry," she said before covering her fingers with her lips, her eyes quivering and tears only barely holding still. After taking a moment to calm herself, she turned to the next page and began reading at a lightning pace.

There was so much here. Pixie always knew her friend to be an thinker, but this was extremely deep, profound stuff. She had to read a few pages twice over to fully grasp what it was Margaret was saying in them. Between the bouts of dense altruistic philosophy and borderline Machiavellian rhetoric, there lay tiny tidbits of insight into Margaret's life.

The more she read the more she felt like, deep down, she never truly understood the woman she called her best friend. Pixie knew she'd been struggling with the rest of oligarchy, but she never realized just how passionate she'd been about the changes she fought for. She also knew that the woman who wrote this would never in a thousand years approve of the person Pixie had become. The violence and hatred that Margaret had lambasted in her book were the very things Pixie had been profiting off of since her death. Pixie knew that no matter what reason she gave for her actions, she'd be condemned by her friend.

An' look at me now, Cherry. I raised yer son fer Christ's sake. I'm sorry... I'm so fuckin' sorry...

Pixie had been sobbing for several minutes before she'd even realized it. It was all to much to take in at once. She was just too emotionally vulnerable to make it through to the end without breaking down every other page. And then, suddenly, Cam stirred. "P-Pixie?" she murmured, only half awake. "Are you okay, girl?"

"Y-yeah," Pixie lied. She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her t-shirt and smiled at Cam. "D-don' mind me, Cam. I'm okay."

Her vision was still a bit blurry, but Cam knew what she saw. "Hey, you're not wearing you eye-patch," she pointed out.

Pixie blinked stupidly. "Oh, I guess yer right," she said with a sad chuckle. "You doin' okay there, Cam?"

"Merry," Cam said, pursing her lips. "Come here."

"No, i-i-it's okay," she stammered. "Go back to sleep. You need it ta' heal up."

Cam laughed. "You're right," she admitted, "but you know what always helps more than pain killers?" She had a curious grin on her face. "A bit of mama's love."

Pixie rolled her eyes and shared in the laugh. While Lilith had always been like a daughter to her, Cam was more like a sister. She didn't share the same bond with her as she had with Margaret or Lilith, but it was strong all the same. She was glad, of all the many Maidens she had lost, that Cam hadn't been among them. "What would I do without you, darlin'?" she said, closing the book.

Crawling into the cot with Cam, she stacked the pillows behind her head for support and snuggled up. Resting her head on Pixie's chest, Cam wrapped her arm around her side and looked down at the book in Pixie's hands. "What are you reading?" she asked.

Pixie smiled, sadly. "Something my friend wrote," she answered.

"You know, my mom never read me any bedtime stories," Cam mused. "She never got the chance before dad killed her. You think--"

"Of course," Pixie interrupted. "It's a heavy read though."

Cam closed her eyes and snuggled her cheek against Pixie's chest. "It's okay," she whispered. "Your stupid-ass accent'll put me to sleep in a few minutes anyway."

Pixie patted the woman on the head and continued reading aloud.

She didn't sleep a wink until she'd finished the entire tome.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy sniggered at Axel's new cocksure attitude. Confidence was a good thing. However, she had no problem with reigning him in a little either.

"Oh, I'm sure they won't be keeping their most seasoned warrior out of the action long." she teased, sliding her hand towards Axel's, their fingers locking together across the table. "Just make sure to hurry back so I can soothe my man's battle wounds..."

Lightly, Any's hand travelled up Axel's arm and across to his chest, settling on the spot just above where his gunshot wound marked him.

"Just, be careful, okay." she said, more seriously "We just got here, I don't want you to leave this party early. Besides..." she adopted a more playful tone again, lowering her voice to a sweet purr. "Last night was just the introduction. I've got a whole lot more still to show you that you really don't want to miss out on."

 

[Dogmatic99]

Gale leaned back a little in bemusement as Allie swept away her tiny contraband. Weird. Maybe it was some special project Roofles had her working on. Possibly something to do with his stash. Gale couldn't understand why they were so protective of that stuff around her. 'I aint no narc, I can share.' She was great at sharing, ask anyone.

"Did somethin' happen yesterday? Someone leave or somethin'?"

"You didn't here about that? Yeah, Lady Luck went and flew the coop, somethin' about get one of the crew that went MIA." Not the best night to be on lookout, Gale grimaced awkwardly. Her outlaw career wasn't getting off to the smoothest start.

She took a big 'ol slurp of tea. Maybe she could loot a better brew while they were out, no reason being a rougish outlaw type if you couldn't appreciate the little things.

"Haven't seen you out of your engine hideaway in a while, Bossman not working you too hard is he?"
================================================================================================

"Here we are." Florian said as they pulled up outside the hotel. Hopefully this would go better than the last time he set foot in one of these buildings.

The drive had been a little awkward after their conversation over lunch. He still wasn't sure what he'd supposed to have done. Unless Lilith felt more strongly about this Millie girl than he thought. Even with her update he was still so far out of the loop, he'd have to try and fix that when they got back to the ship. Plenty of new names to learn and all that.

'Stop getting ahead of yourself. You still need to get through today, let alone the ones after...'

His hands were sweating all over the steering wheel. Now or never. He breathed deep. "Now or never." And inside they went.

This neighborhood had been spared the worst of the fighting and the hotel was looking almost as good as it usually did, the place was a five-star establishment after all. It was gathering a little dust though, it wasn't as if business was booming these days. Florian and Lilith made their way through the lobby and towards the restaurant.
================================================================================================

Erik was standing at the far end of restaurant, Irena had been boring his ear off about buying this place and going into various other 'legitimate' business ventures. She even thought to test the idea of Erik starting his own practice up. A laughable idea, who in their right mind would go to him for anything legal any more. This was just the latest thing for her to come wailing at him over. She'd been nattering at him about dealing with Sergei's crews for days. That was the only thing that had perked any kind of interest from him. The little shits thought they were the big dogs around the dome now, the thought of knocking a few of their heads together sounded more tempting than locking himself away to a life of dusty papers.

She was sounding like Vasa now. He'd been suggesting that Erik look into other things to do with himself. Was this going to be the reward their great victory got him then? A few weeks of cleaning up other people's messes followed by an unceremonious push into retirement. Well to hell with them, they'd have to push harder than this.

["Is this the only reason you dragged me all the way down here, Irena?"] He asked in his mother tongue, cutting her off from whatever she was talking about now.

"What? Well... well this needs going over, Erik. So, I can't want to attend to matters in somewhere nicer than a warehouse?" She answered in her first language. They understood each other well enough to be lazy about meeting the other half way by now.

She'd been trying to warm him up for what was about to come, at his age Erik was likely to have a heart attack if they just dropped it on him. Not that he was making things easy, nooooo! Why would he do that? "Listen, Erik, things have been getting pretty crazy recently. You have to have seen that, right. Now... well and I've gotten some new information that... well it's changed everything."

She heard a door opening behind them and looked over her shoulder. They were here! They were early! Her face slowly dropped as she glanced between Florian and Erik. He hadn't turned around. Maybe he hadn't heard. Irena's mouth went dry and her whole body cold. What should she do? What were they going to do?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The night had been a pretty sombre affair, everyone was drinking, well, except Jun, who Asad was convinced was loving the tension in the air.

Even with the fuzziness that now filled his head, and tipped his balance, he still didn't feel any better about the whole situation. Tsubaki was dozing on the sofa, a little bit of drool in the corner of her mouth as she snored lightly. Despite himself, he smiled warmly. He'd work stuff out with Bryan, Asad was sure his friend would understand.

Grunting slightly as he felt his pager buzz, the man pulled the device from inside his trouser pocket. A message from Elizabeth.

"I need u."

Asad furrowed his brow. Finishing his drink, he grimaced slightly as it bit at the back of his throat. It was late, what could she possibly need him for?

Then he remembered the meal with Dio.

'No, he wouldn't, there's no way.' Asad looked up from his pager at Tsubaki's sleeping form. It's not like he'd be leaving her on her own, Bryan and Jun were crashing here too. Placing his glass on the table, he snatched his dinner jacket from off the back of a chair. "Something's just come up, got to go check on something." He said out loud to nobody in particular as he rushed out the door of the apartment.


As he began walking through the complex towards the high security wing, he retrieved his pager, sending a message to Elizabeth.

'On my way.'

Stuffing his hands into his pocket, he walked quickly, his footfalls echoing clearly through the empty halls of the tower. A million thoughts rushed through Asad's head, maybe she was drunk or something, that would make sense, he already knew she couldn't hold her drink. Why would Dio do anything untoward, he had been giving reports that showed Elizabeth in a favourable light, was he still suspicious of her? Did she lose her nerve and blow it?

Running his hand over the stubble on his head, the man took a deep breath. "Relax, there's no point worrying until you know what's happened." He clenched his jaw as his mind refused to obey his words.

"I swear, if he's hurt that girl..."

'You'll do what, exactly? Write a strongly worded letter? There's nothing you can do, there was never anything you could do, just follow your damn orders and maybe she'll get to live as a puppet for the rest of her life, it's better than the alternative.'

Gritting his teeth, Asad quickened his pace.

-----------------------------------

"You didn't here about that? Yeah, Lady Luck went and flew the coop, somethin' about get one of the crew that went MIA."

"So that's what the alarm was." Allie chuckled. "Bloody woke me up, I thought the ship was explodin' or something'" Knowing who left didn't really phase her though, it's not like she knew Lilith well enough anyway. 'It must have been important.'

Haven't seen you out of your engine hideaway in a while, Bossman not working you too hard is he?"

Allie held her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Oh, you know, a crankshaft needs fixin' here, a Newton thruster needs tightenin' there, all maintenance stuff really, but it needs to be done and checked, or the ship would start falling apart. I dinnae ken how Roofles manages to do it all on his own." As something caught her eye over Gale's shoulder, Allie stood on the tips of her toes as she caught sight of Ruffles. "Speak of the devil." Allie sighed. Quickly hunkering down close to Gale, she tried to shield herself from view.

"I wanna hear what Bennie has ta say before I start work." She whispered as she held a finger over her lips. "Pretend I'm not here."

 

[Dogmatic99]

Florian stepped in. Winding through the small round tables all lined up in their widely spaced grid and stopping a few tables short of Erik.

"Oh shit..." Irena sucked in air through her teeth.

["What? What's got you so-"] Erik turned to see what all the fuss was about and the word died in his throat. The drink he'd been holding fell to the floor with a dull thud and his faze froze in shock. No one said anything for a while.

("She's right, things have changed a lot."] Florian smiled nervously. He wasn't sure why, he was pretty sure smiling was a stupid thing to do right now. But here they were again, face to face. ["It's been a while... you're looking good."]

Erik didn't say anything.

["Beard's looking stronger than ever."] Florian regretted saying it instantly.

Erik didn't say anything.

["I'm sure you have a lot of questions."]

["Who are you?"] Erik said.

["Erik-"]

["Who are you to wear his face!"] Erik roared, advancing further on Florian, looming over him like a kevlar padded polar bear.

["I know this is hard to understand but-"]

["What the fuck is this?! Is this a joke, did you do this?"] Erik turned from Florian to Irena and back again as if his eyes were still registering what they were seeing. Every part of his body languaged looked as if he was about to explode. Irena moved in to try and explain things or at least calm him down until Florian stopped her. Erik was bearing down on him even more now.

["You remember when after we finished our last job with Cortez? You remember when we were done and we did the exchange at his place. We had to spend the night and his family were there. I kept try to put the moves on his daughter all night and you'd been drinking, you told me to back off. You remember?

You told me: You don't go near her, Florian. She's a kind, beautiful girl, who's been a good host to us and treated us kindly. She's so sweet, Florian, it's not worth the risk."] He went on with the story with all the beats of someone who'd told it countless time.

["And I asked you, why? Becuase her dad'll try and kill me? And you remember what you said? You said..."] They finished the last part together.

["No. Because she's too sweet. She's so sweet the last man who ate her out got diabetes."] Florian tried and failed to suppress a spluttering laugh. Erik let out some tiny gasp of a breath in sheer disbelief. This was happening.

He put his hands on Florian's shoulders and just looked at the lad. He had all the marks that it was really him. His hair was longer... his eyes heavier and more tired. He'd even started growing some ragged scruff of a beard. That wasn't right, Florian wasn't supposed to have facial hair. His voice even sounded different, older and weary sounding. but it was his. It was him. Back from the dead and standing before Erik, sharing old drinking stories.

["You're not dead."]

["I'm not."]

["How?"]

["It's a weird story but... I had to go away for a while. I'm back now."]

Erik squeezed his eyes shut tight and ran his hands through his hair. Just taking it in. His eyes felt tingly. Must have been the dust. He had a few false starts at a response but each time he opened his mouth nothing came out. Like his brain was screaming and his lungs straining but the words just wouldn't come out. He paced back and forth in his tiny spot, he looked around the room, he looked to Irena but no answers were coming from her. Just... just Florian. Standing there, all alive and not dead. Not like the last time Erik had seen him, a tattered, burned and mangled wreck of flesh and bone, more cinder than corpse. That was all a lie? This was something he did, did on purpose, planned?! He planned this and left Erik in the dark!?

Florian thought things were going well so far. The initial shock had worn off, for both of them it seemed. Erik was always strong willed, it wasn't surprising that he got himself together quickly. It would be tough but they could make this work. They could sit down and talk and things would be just like they were before. Well, almost like they were before. Erik was calm, looking down at Florian and laying a hand on his face. It wasn't like him to get this emotional, but then again, it wasn't as if they parted easily.

["Idiot."] Erik whispered, slamming a hand down on Florian's shoulder.

["Erik?"]

["Idiot."] A harsh shove to his chest. ["Idiot."] And another. ["Idiot!"] And the shove was a punch this time, that smarted. ["Idiot! IdiotIdiotIdiotIdiotIdiot!"] Erik rambled on, his voice becoming an unintelligible roar as each word was punctuated with another thundering hit and there was little pause between them. As Erik pummeled Florian's chest and stomach, doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him. And then busting his lip open when Erik moved onto his face.

This didn't last long (though to Florian it certainly felt it) until Erik lashed out with another hit to Florian's chin, forcing him up and sending bells ringing in his head, before grabbing him by the shoulders again and throwing him over the surface of the nearest table, landing on the far side with a smash and a crash in a crumpled mess as Florian got tangled in the table clothe.

["Idiot!"]

 

[The Funslinger]

Sidling into the mess hall, Ruffles pretended not to notice Allie hiding under Gale's table as he passed, making a beeline to the end of the hall where the food was. Taking out a plastic box and a tin bowl, he poured a bowl of cereal, before adding a splash of milk. Grabbing a spoon, he went and sat at Allie's table.

"Morning, girls," he said. "Hey Gale. First mission. You nervous?"

========================================

Eddie gasped for air as his head was yanked out of the water trough. As his vision cleared, he saw Payton watching him from his seat, smoking a cigar. He gave a token struggle against the grip of the steroid jacked mother fucker that was Payton's torture assistant, but it didn't get anywhere. Eddie's hands were cuffed behind his back, and he was, as expected, strung out from weeks of torture.

Roidy prepared to shove Eddie's head back into the trough, but Payton raised a hand. Roidy stopped. Another wave, a shooing motion this time. The grip on the back of Eddie's hair disappeared, and Payton got to his feet.

"You're doing well, Mister Canton."

Eddie didn't reply. He hadn't spoken ever since Payton had reported the death of his daughter.

"Of course, this is just the light beginning. I'd say we have a full year ahead of us, plenty of time to dive into the real intricacies of this whole thing. Then it'll be out into the city square, just like your old friend. Remember?"

Silence.

"In the meantime, I have a gift for you." Turning his back on Eddie, Payton knelt and retrieved a wooden box. Turning back around, he knelt again in front of Eddie, and held the box out across the trough. Eddie looked at it. Payton opened it.

"You fucking bastard," Eddie spat.

"Ah, words at last," said Payton, smiling. "I'd missed your voice. I trust you remember this gun?"

Inside the box was a revolver. It was perhaps the oldest revolver Eddie had ever seen, though he knew from past experience that it was in marvelous condition. It was dark gunmetal, with an intricate etched pattern. The grip was dark mahogany, with a pentagram hand carved on each side. Along the barrel was an inscription, 'Non Timebo Mala.' Fear No Evil. It was Frostfall made, and had seen generations of battle across the Rock, in the hands of many a dangerous man.

Spoiler: OOC

"That's Mendez's gun, you son of a *****..." Eddie breathed. The scene was flooding back to memory, watching from the crowd, outwardly impassive but internally burning as Mendez had been marched, beaten and broken, into the square of New Haven. He had refused to kneel, and so had been made to stand in the square, before all onlookers. After ten minutes, he buckled. An admirable time standing, after what he'd been through. Then Payton had taken out this revolver. Although he was only one name on the long list of the weapon's previous owners, the weapon looked to have been made for Eddie's mentor, with its pentagrams on the grips and its chilling latin inscription. Eddie had never quite agreed with Mendez's passionate religious beliefs, but he'd respected the man fervently. Everything his mentor was, was signified in that revolver.

And then Payton had killed him with it, an executioner's shot, point blank to the base of the skull. Mendez had twitched once and fallen forward.

"Yes, Mendez's gun. I kept it as a reminder of how betrayal comes from all sides. Admittedly, I didn't expect it to come from the same side again. You, the successor to his position. But it happened, so it should be fitting that you share the same death, eventually. Until then..." he reached forward, and took it out of the box. Eddie glared as the man's fingers desecrated his mentor's gun. Looking at the weapon for a moment, Payton dropped it smoothly into the holster at his hip, which Eddie realized for the first time was empty; Payton's polished chrome revolver with the ivory grips was gone.

"Again, as a reminder. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've business to attend to. It appears there are some Gundersons that need dealing with out in Kynesgrove. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Captain Pierce." He gestured to Roidy, who seized Eddie by the shoulders and threw him sprawling. When Eddie looked up, Payton was gone.

 

[Dogmatic99]

Lilith stood back and watched the huge man that was Erik throw blow after blow at Florian. Despite her heart telling her to try and diffuse the situation, her head knew all too well what kind of relationship she was dealing with, and it was best to let things work themselves out. Florian wasn't even trying to defend himself, so he couldn't have been in any real danger.

As the giant of a man send Florian sprawling over one of the nearby tables, she clenched her jaw. He's his friend, one of his oldest friends, think how Pixie would react if she thought you were dead for several years and just showed up on the Maiden one day.'

All things considered, Florian was getting off lightly.

Lilith looked up at Erik, the man was panting angrily, his huge fists clenched by his sides. He was the very image of an old war hound. As dangerous as ever, but certainly showing a bit worse for wear.

"You doing okay down there, Florian?" Lilith asked, her eyes not leaving Erik.

Florian's prone form twitched and spasmed slightly as he coughed up a lung and pulled his battered body to its feet. As far as his health was concerned, visiting home again had been a massive mistake. This wasn't too much of a surprise though, at least it shouldn't have been.

"I'm okay!" He called over to Lilith. He kept his distance this time, best to let Erik calm down a little more. ["Okay... so I deserved that."] He panted shook off the lights buzzing around his head. ["So... so maybe we can talk now."]

["What the fuck is going on here?"] Erik's voice was a low growl, his whole body was tightly wound, ready to lash out again at any second.

["I'm sorry... I am so sorry."] Florian slumped forward slightly against the table that had taken half his fall. ["You deserve answers and I promise, I promise you Erik I will explain everything."]

["You've got five seconds."]

["Okay... okay... I had to go Erik. I had to leave here."]

["You just left? If you just left you could have said goodbye, you could have told us where the fuck you were going, we thought you were dead you stupid little shit!"] Erik was getting louder again. ["Did you know that?"]

["Yes. That was the point."] Florian said, calm and plain. ["You'd have tried to stop me otherwise. I had to get clear of here, just disappear and leave this behind."]

["What?"] Erik spat. The room seemed to get a little colder as he advanced on Florian, on slow step at a time. ["So you're saying you quit? You just packed up and ran for the hills like a child. And now... now you come crawling back because you messed up somewhere out there in the ash?"]

Florian started to go on the defensive more now. He stood up to his full height and met Erik's eye, matching him with his own scowl. ["I don't expect you to get it, Erik."] He couldn't quite explain it, this was exactly how he'd hoped Lilith would react after all. Coming from Erik though, one of the people who set him on this path; well this was some shit he wasn't going to take. ["I wasn't going to be anyone's attack dog anymore. I came back because I saw how much you all fucked this up."]

["The fuck you saying boy?"] Erik planted his hands on the table between them. ["You act the coward and now you come in here talking like you're better than your people, like you're a better man than those that raised you?"]

["No, Erik. I'm afraid I'm all too much the same man and every day I fought not to become the thing you wanted me to be. The kind of man who'd ravage a city and ruin hundreds of innocent lives for his own profit and pride!"]

["That out there."] Erik waved his arm in the direction of the window. ["That was for you! Because we thought those blue blooded bastards took you from us. That was vengeance for you! Because that's what family does, that is OUR way- YOUR way! Blood for blood."]

["That bullshit might fly with the street kids, Erik but don't try it on me. These plans were set long before I left, this war was never about a cause or changing the system. It was about power and putting ourselves over everyone else and screw whoever we had to fuck over to do it!"] Now it was Florian's turn to start yelling.

["So you think you're a hero now? Like just walking away would make you a saint and everyone here would just put their lives down and stop? What about me, what about your father, your mother, everyone you left behind?"]

["Don't bring them into this, Erik."] Florian's tone went quiet.

["Did you even care? It wasn't like you said goodbye to her either, you bailed like a little *****! What, you couldn't deal with her anymore either?-"]

["Erik, I'm warning you..."]

["You didn't have to stay and watch her die. See what all this did to Vasa-"]

["You don't know shit about it..."] The two of them started to overlap each other as Erik's rant went on, he was gathering momentum now. Florian tensed up and his hands clenched into fists.

["It's a good thing she was forgetting you by the end, better that she can't see what a waste you turned into-"] Erik got cut off more forcibly this time as a plate went spinning right at his face. Not hard enough to brake but enough to stun him into taking a step back. He blinked and opened his eyes just in time to see Florian launching himself over the table and right at him.

The two of them collided and Erik staggered back as he struggled to stay on his feet and grabbed hold of Florian, who for his part was busy punching the crap out of Erik's face. They stumbled and struggled for a moment until Erik managed to shake him loose and slammed the younger man back first into table with an almighty crash. Florian winced in pain for a second before rolling to his feet and flipping the table over at Erik. The old bandit simply smashed it aside with a backhanded swipe. The two of them snarled with bared teeth and yelled out their fury before charging on and just started tearing into each other.

Lilith had no clue what the conversation was about, but the few words that she did understand, one in particular stood out, something Florian seemed particularly defensive about.

'He mentioned his dad, but not his mother.' In fact, during the whole time she had been in Frostfall, Vasa, Florian's father, had been mentioned dozens of time. But not a word on his mother.

'Oh Florian...'

As the two men had at each other, Lilith took a few steps closer to Irena, her eyes never leaving the fight.

"So, er, do we just wait?"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Irena let out a weary groan as Florian slipped around Erik's next assault and unleashed a flurry of jabs at his kidney. "I knew this wouldn't go well. Those two would burn this place to the ground if it meant they didn't have to talk about their feelings... and that was before he dragged all this crazy in with him." She gave a quick look over to Lilith. "They're still talking though. We have a chance." Just as she said that Florian was sent flying past the two of them and into the bar nearby. "Granted, most of them are insults."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Lilith smirked as a small chuckle escaped her lips. "I've never seen him angry before." Lilith looked over at Florian as he wearily pulled himself up the bar. "It doesn't suit him."

Florian let out a something close to a battle cry as he charged straight past them at Erik and the two of them tackled each other with all their might. Erik came out the clear winner in that contest as Florian practically rebounded off of him and got a fresh hit to the face for his troubles. He spat his blood back at him and set about dodging and weaving through Erik's attacks, harassing him with lighter strikes aimed at his weaker points.

"Oh for christ sake." Irena grumbled and pulled her gun from it's holster, firing a shot into the ceiling. That put a stop to their fighting easy enough. "Are you two fucking done? It's like dealing with children here!"

Florian and Erik launched into another tirade each as they both tried to yell over the other, their words becoming unintelligible as they blended together.

"I don't want to hear it!" She yelled over the two of them like a raging school teacher. "What is going on here is bigger than just the two of you. This city is at a crossroads and like it or not, if you want to see it go for a future that doesn't involve the place getting levelled block by block then it is going to take all of us working together! Erik!" She stared down the big man. "You have every right to be pissed but you also know that Florian is one of only two people in the dome with the name and the pull to make this work. You can't ignore what Vasa and Sergei are doing anymore. The Bejic family needs to change if we're to survive." Her fire had died down and her voice had become more pleading as she went on.

["Fuck the Bejics!"] Erik roared. ["Fuck this city and fuck this family! This is what they do, Irena, they use you and they throw you away! As long as they get what they want."] Erik turned to Florian, his anger slowly fading to a low simmer. ["I mourned you boy. I mourned you to my bones."] The silence between them felt as if it lasted much longer than it did. ["You should have stayed dead."]

With that Erik strode out of the building, shoulders hunched and head down. He didn't look back.

As the big man cleared out, Lilith sighed as she reached into her pocket. Raising her pack of smokes to her mouth, she grabbed a cigarette with her lips. "I'm not really sure how I expected that to go." The woman lit up the cigarette and took a long drag. "I'm guessing he's not interested in the plan?" She looked over at the battered and bruised Florian. "Are you gonna be okay?" She smiled sympathetically.

Florian's nostrils flared out and he fumed quietly to himself. "We don't need him." He said sharply. "We didn't need him so far, we don't need him now." Irena made to interrupt but Florian cut her off. "His people are getting screwed over anyway and he's helping it happen! They'll look out for themselves." He let out another short growl and scanned the two women in front of him before averting his eyes to the floor. "Now there's more I need to do." He followed Erik's example and stormed off.

Lilith's face softened as Florian left. He was doing so well dealing with everything, now this would be was a huge step back for him.

Turning to face Irena, Lilith furrowed her brow. "I have an idea, I dunno if it'll work, but it's better than nothing." As she quickly started heading for the door, she waved her hand over her head. "You go make sure Florian's okay, If I'm not back in twenty minutes, you come save me, 'cos I ain't no hero, you haul ass, you understand?" She chuckled nervously as left the room.

As she exited the building Lilith inhaled sharply as the frigid air hit her, looking both ways down the long street. On the left she could clearly see Florian, hunched forward with his hands in his pockets, skulking away sulkily. On the right, she could just about make out Erik's huge form. Taking a deep drag, she dropped the cigarette to the floor and stubbed it out with her boot. "I'll fix this, don't worry." Lilith smiled as she blew a kiss towards Florian. Turning on her heel she jogged down the street towards Erik, waiting until she was closer before calling out his name.

"Mr. Ablev!" Lilith called out, her accent clearly marking her out from the locals. "Mr. Ablev I need to talk to you!"