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

[Fappy]

"... For the next 2 weeks I have to clean the Captain's cabin, so how's about you make it worth my while..."

Sprout grinned like an idiot. "Hell yeah, you know I'm good fer some while werthin'!" After a quick peck on the cheek, the eager lover suddenly pulled away from his girlfriend and sized her up. "Wait, aren't ya' feelin' sick? Ya' sure you don' wanna take it easy? You got purdy banged up in the fightin' too. I reckon we'll 'ave plenty 'a time later if ya' wanna rest, babe."

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"Still, thank you. It's nice to know I'm doing something right. I never really learned how to socialise."

"I guess I'm lucky that way," Edea laughed. "I learned how to socialize and fight. Few on the Rock could claim such fortune." There was a hint of bitterness in her words. "I think you need more booze, love." She said with a wink.

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"No, I dinnae ken why you're having a go at me, I helped, you wouldn't have even gotten in the vault without me!"

"You're right," Bennie admitted, "you did your job, and you did it well. Breaking into the vault and helping the others make out with the cash? That was your duty. Using an untested, experimental weapon in the field without my consent? Allie... you should know better than that. It was Gale's job to keep you safe. You were under explicit orders to drop your bag and run if the score went south. You're not ready for combat. You're too young."

The big man sighed. "But shit happens, you haven't been trained for nothing. If you have to, you fight, but this contraption of yours? Jake got away with a lot of shit when Pixie was in-charge for two reasons: one, he's got decades of experience, and two, Pixie was calling the shots. I'm not Pixie. It's my policy to eliminate unknowns--to dissect a score thoroughly before I commit to it. Your weapon was an unknown. It could have gotten one of us killed! You understand where I'm coming from, don't you?"

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

"Sorry about the uhhh, well you know," the dark haired woman said as she sauntered into the bathroom, pistol held lazily at her side. "Can't be too careful in this part of town. Hot chocolate?"

Ada glanced around the hovel anxiously before finding a seat on the ratty sofa nearby. "It wouldn't be the first time I've had a gun shoved in my face," she muttered. "And sure, that would be nice."

Hot chocolate?

After a few minutes of sitting alone awkwardly, her client returned to the living room with two steaming mugs in her hands. "Careful, it's hot," the woman warned as she handed Ada her drink.

"Thanks," the girl replied. "Um, so what's your name, anyway? I only got an address for this place."

The raven haired woman hesitated for a long while. "Theresa," she finally said. "And you?"

"Ada," the girl said with a smile. Theresa returned the gesture.

A short time later their drinks were cool enough to sip. "It's really good!"

"Thanks," Theresa replied with a sheepish grin. "My, uh, dad used to make them for me and my... nephew."

A calm silence hung in the air as the two women sat together, drinking. Although she was wearing long sleeves, Ada could clearly see that this woman was incredibly fit. She was built like a soldier--albeit a curvy one--but considering her accommodations, she was more likely a mercenary or a gang-banger. She had to be pretty damn tough to live in a place like this all by herself.

"Mind if I ask about--"

"It's nothing," Theresa said. "Someone hurt me a long time ago. They don't matter anymore." Ada broke eye contact and nodded nervously. "Don't worry about it."

Ada furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or--"

"You didn't," her client interrupted. "It's a huge-ass scar on my face. Kinda hard to miss. I've got a whole lot more where that came from."

She hadn't noticed them until Theresa mentioned it, but the woman wore at least a dozen scars on her hands and legs. Ada could only guess how many she had under her shirt. "So are you a soldier?" she asked, hesitantly.

"I'm Clint-fuckin'-Eastwood," Theresa chuckled, lighting a cigarette. After a quick drag, she exhaled and downed the rest of her hot chocolate. "I kill so many people I frequently lose count of how many rounds are left in the chamber."

Ada looked uncomfortable.

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Relax, it was a joke," she assured, her. Ada grinned, nervously. "Sort of."

After another prolonged silence, Ada cocked her head. "Who's Clint Eastwood?"

Theresa glanced over to the old TV nearby and smirked. "Why don't I show you?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Wait, aren't ya' feelin' sick? Ya' sure you don' wanna take it easy? You got purdy banged up in the fightin' too. I reckon we'll 'ave plenty 'a time later if ya' wanna rest, babe."

"Hey, come on." Amy said "I took on seven guys and walked away with only a couple of scratches. One of them had an axe. Like, an actual fuck-off axe. I thought I handled myself pretty well, under the circumstances..."

She took his hand, and wound her fingers through his, as her expression grew a little more serious.

"I'm feeling much better now, I promise. Still, we've got the whole day to ourselves, so there's no need to rush.

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

"I think you need more booze, love."

Katya was cued in enough to pick up on the edge in Edea's voice, but didn't pry. Edea seemed like a straight-forward woman. If she had something to say, it would come out of it's own accord.

"Honestly..." she responded, looking around to find that they were among the last remaining at the dining table. "This stuff is weak. It's okay for tourists, but if you want a real Frostfall drink, you should come back to the barracks."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"You did your job, and you did it well. Breaking into the vault and helping the others make out with the cash? That was your duty. Using an untested, experimental weapon in the field without my consent? Allie... you should know better than that. It was Gale's job to keep you safe. You were under explicit orders to drop your bag and run if the score went south. You're not ready for combat. You're too young."

Allie opened her mouth to reply before the big man cut her off.

"But shit happens, you haven't been trained for nothing. If you have to, you fight, but this contraption of yours? Jake got away with a lot of shit when Pixie was in-charge for two reasons: one, he's got decades of experience, and two, Pixie was calling the shots. I'm not Pixie. It's my policy to eliminate unknowns--to dissect a score thoroughly before I commit to it. Your weapon was an unknown. It could have gotten one of us killed! You understand where I'm coming from, don't you?"

The girl pursed her lips as she looked down at the ground. Her inventions were always safe... mosly, she tested them herself, sure not in the field, but what did that really prove? If anything it proved how safe they actually were! It could have hurt someone else, if anyone had built it other than her of course, she ran the numbers! Spend days debugging the software, it was all sound! Did Bennie think he was dealing with an idiot?!

"I guess..." The girl mumbled. If agreeing with Bennie got her out of this situation quicker than she was willing to bite her tongue.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know a thing or two about Hornets, would you?"

'AW SHIT YEAH!'

Ruffles was vaguely aware of Asad saying something, but he tuned it out. "Buddy, the first repair job back in Zephyr I was ever allowed to take on my own was an engine replacement on one of those old A1 Hornets. See, a common problem with that first model is they're prone to partially overheating, which mucks up the engine response time. So I took an engine from an Apex Skyrunner we were planning to scrap, did some jiggery pokery, juryrigged it to make it fit. That Hornet flew outta there smoother than when it was new, I tell you."

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

"Hey, you want a line?"

Bryan looked up to see one of the Russo mooks offering him a fat line of Blue off of the back of his wallet. "Nah, I'm good," he replied, pulling his hip flask out from his jacket pocket. "Stickin' to the Dutch courage tonight."

"Whatever. Your loss, buddy," the mook replied, sauntering off back to his friends, who were busy tying Morello to a chair. Looking around, Bryan saw Caputo overseeing them. Taking a swig from his flask, Bryan got to his feet and made his way over to their 'employer'.

"Now then, boss man," he said, offering Caputo his hip flask.

 

[Terratina.]

"Do I make myself absolutely FUCKING clear?!"

Two special words and Tsubaki was absolutely livid, that was all it took for the Commander to fly into a fury and slam Jun into the wall. The woman was hysterical. Probably was loving the power trip as well. As she stared at him, he stared back. Her eyes were wild; completely engulfed with rage. Piercing, even. Jun only had one reaction to the accusing glare.

'Go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away...'

Jun's first thought was to lash out, somehow get Tsubaki off him but one question flew right in the face of that: but then what? Piss off Tsubaki more, potentially get let go, join the fucking Russos and snort lines upon lines until dead? And of course, there was the mission - the goddamn mission which had yet to be completed.

And so, Jun once again emptied himself of emotions, stuffing them down the hole. He replied in his familar monotone, "Yes, Commander."

He was powerless, and he hated himself for it.

***​

Finished with peppering targets with holes, Jesse wandered around a while and saw Gale, alone. Walking up to her like it was no big thing, despite the ol' nerves kicking in - lying to her about his father hadn't been the best of ideas - he greeted her simply with, "Hi."

 

[Dogmatic99]

Well that could have gotten way more out of hand. Didn't though.

Mal had jerked her hands out of her pockets the moment she saw Saburo pin Moon and get up in his face. For a moment she thought he'd fight back or he'd go further and then nothing happened. A well oiled machine this squad was not. But there wasn't anything she could do about it here and now without making things worse. So Mal acted the professional solider and silently fell in line.

Of all the squads she could have been put in.

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

"Oh hi there, Jastor." Gale drolled, yes she'd taken to combining the fop's two taken names after his little bout of indecision. Honestly she wouldn't have busted his balls about the whole secret nobility thing under normal circumstances. On it's own it even seemed pretty cool to her, like something out of a story.

But his little drunken thing about his dad dying had rubbed her the wrong way, it hadn't been the first time a guy had lied to her in an attempt to get Gale into bed but that didn't make it any less sour. At least he hadn't been too creepy in his advances back then. It wasn't even that bad. Gale could have gotten over it too if he hadn't gone about awkwardly avoiding her every chance he got, looking at her like a guilty puppy that got caught chewing up her shoes. Which just reminded her that he was guilty of something and that he hadn't even tried to apologise for it!

"You deemed it time to mingle among the mortals, eh?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"That Hornet flew outta there smoother than when it was new, I tell you."

"Ah, the A1!" Harry cheered, not really hearing much of the rest of what Miller said "I trained on one of those old girls! Stripped down, no weapons, but still never a dull moment. There's something to be said for the feisty ones!"

Clapping Asad on the back once more, enjoying the look on the soldier's face, Harry continued.

"Kitty's an A3X. She's got the spirit of an A1, but with more stamina. Most jockeys are flying A4's now, but they'll put me in one of those junkers over Kitty's dead body. They're just too... safe. Mass-produced not to punish mediocrity. Sure, anyone can fly one, but it's a pony, not a thoroughbred!"

The barmaid interrupted him by bringing the drinks, but that didn't deter Harry for long.

"Say... Miller is it?" he asked. "The rest of the squadron's getting sober without me. You should come and join us. Harel can be your plus one, the poor man won't get in any trouble if we leave him on his own."

 

[The Funslinger]

"The rest of the squadron's getting sober without me. You should come and join us. Harel can be your plus one, the poor man won't get in any trouble if we leave him on his own."

Ruffles was sorely tempted. But then he remembered his prior engagement.

"Aw, I can't, man. Gotta get back and call the missus," he replied "But take Asad by all means. Just... y'know, try and return him with the same amount of functioning kidneys he had when you borrowed him."

He stuck around the polite ten to fifteen minutes. Harry had bought him a drink, after all. Once it was finished, and he was sure any more flying talk would make Asad stick pencils up his own nostrils and headbutt the bar, Ruffles got ready to leave.

Picking up his shopping bags, Ruffles nodded to the other two. "Later, guys. I'm outtie." With that, he began pushing through the crowd of prospective drinkers, towards the door.

***

It took about twenty minutes to fix the radio. Easy peasy. When it was done, he flicked the on switch and twiddled the dials to the frequency he and Maria used.

"Do not be alarmed. Do not attempt to adjust your radio frequency. This is not a malfunction. We have control now. We are... The Others, dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

Clearing his throat, he added, "uh, hey Maria. It's me. You there?"

 

[Fappy]

Still, we've got the whole day to ourselves, so there's no need to rush.

Sprout grinned and led Amy in the direction of his quarters. "Reckon I can do with a few beers an' a nice sit," he said with a wink. "Been awhile since we gotta chance ta' relax. It'll take us awhile ta' burn through the cash we jus' made, so I'm hopin' we're due fer an extended vacation."

Once inside his room, Sprout crouched down by his bedside cupboard and browsed his selection. "What'll ya' 'ave, darlin'?"

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"This stuff is weak. It's okay for tourists, but if you want a real Frostfall drink, you should come back to the barracks."

Edea grinned, mischievously. "Sounds like an invitation," she giggled.

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

"I guess..."

"Allie..." Bennie put his hands on his hips and sighed. "You're the smartest person on this ship and I'd never knowingly squander your talent. But kid, you have to stop treating this like a game. We lost Collin--what, three weeks ago?" Squatting down, the captain put his massive hand on the child's shoulder. "This is a dangerous job. You need to understand that. Until then, you stay on the ship."

It wasn't easy to take such a hard-line with the kid, but Bennie didn't see any other option. She would be a liability if she didn't adjust her attitude, more so for herself than the rest of the crew. He wasn't about to let the little spitfire get herself killed.

"You're dismissed," he told her quietly, before getting to his feet.

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"Yes, Commander."

The tension was so thick Tsubaki could taste it on her tongue.

The Colonel searched her subordinate's eyes for awhile longer. "Good," she finally said before releasing him. She almost turned around and continued onward but lingered for a moment, sizing up the two soldiers before her instead. Jun was clearly terrified, as was Mal to a lesser extent. She could have ignored it. She normally would.

"Look," Tsubaki muttered, sighing deeply, "this whole op is bullshit. We're pros, but we weren't trained for long-term deep cover like this. These... disgraceful jobs the Russos have us doing. The ass-kissing. The fucking. The blue. It's all bullshit, but we'll figure it out. I promise you. We'll do our job, and we'll make it out in one piece." She looked between the two of them expectantly. "You with me?"

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

"Now then, boss man,"

"Where are the others?" Caputo cut straight to the point. "They should'a been here by now."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Reckon I can do with a few beers an' a nice sit,"

"Ooh, careful..." Amy warned, winding her fingers through Axel's "Move too fast and we might end up snuggling."

"Been awhile since we gotta chance ta' relax. It'll take us awhile ta' burn through the cash we jus' made, so I'm hopin' we're due fer an extended vacation."

"They've got some great beach resorts in New Haven." Amy suggested "We could take some leave there. Me with the bikini, and you with the... suncream."

When they got to the room, Amy reclined across the bed giggling. With her head hanging over the side, she watched Axel open the cabinet upside down.

"What'll ya' 'ave, darlin'?"

She rolled off the bed and crouched down behind Axel. With her arms wrapped around his waist, she kissed his neck as she looked over his shoulder at all the liquor.

"Nothing like Tequila after a heist." she answered.

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

"Sounds like an invitation,"

Katya grinned "An invitation to beat your little Lombardi ass at poker maybe..."

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

"Aw, I can't, man. Gotta get back and call the missus,"

Harry recoiled in mock horror.

"Don't tell me this stallion is tamed and saddled?! I'm sure the fine lady won't wish to be woken up at this time of night. Come, we will speak as men do!"

Eventually, despite Harry's best efforts, Ruffles bowed out, leaving Asad alone with 9th Squadron.

"You look glummer than usual, Harel..." Harry said "I didn't hear about anything going wrong with the mission."

"He's missing Edea, I bet." Bigsy chirped "That woman has wiles."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"You deemed it time to mingle among the mortals, eh?"

"Y-yes, I guess." Jesse stammered, his nerves had crept up to his throat and had a deadly grasp on his vocal chords. Oh boy, the lady wasn't pleased. Why was it that every woman he met knew how to scratch his defences to nothing? Coughing, he carried on the conversation, making sure there were no gaps for Gale to throw more daggers through until her proper turn, "Thought I might end the whole charade."

He stood to attention, "I hereby apologise for lying about my father and my circumstances."

There, it was done.

Gale looked him dead on, her eyes narrowing as she seemed to take in all of Jastor's rigid form. She looked him up and down like some antique dealer appraising the wares before her. The poker face was on. Until she raised her hands and started up as slow clap.

"Well done." She droned. "Took you... long... enough."

Was that it?

Jesse had opened up the door and a blizzard had swept in, the wind was strong to push his skin back towards his skull. This was impossible! A quick retreat was required.

"Yeah. So, er, how are you doing?" He said.

"So how am I- uugh." Gale massaged her temples and had to resist the urge to just totally hold her head in her hands. That was the best she was going to get from this one she supposed. So much for all that talk of domer men treating women all sensitive like.

"I'm great, Jas, just got changed into some not-guts-covered clothes and finished washing the blood out of my hair, so I'm feeling peachy keen. Now I just gotta wait for the latest tantrum about robots to die down and things'll be back to normal, be like I never left home. 'Nuther job well done in my books." And she topeed it off with what was probably supposed to be a smile and not a snarl.

It dawned on Jesse that it probably wasn't the best to ask her to stop calling him Jaster. Just sounded so... artificial. Still, options popped up in his head. All of them probably the wrong thing to do. Goddamn old habits! So, he went with the least offensive one - the back rub could wait until later.

Jesse simply nodded, "Yeah, another great heist for the Maidens. Say, wanna sit down and grab a drink or something?"

"You know what? Yeah... yeah I could use somethin'." gale gave a little sight and headed off to get something to drink, she just assumed he'd follow her.

She raided the kitchen for whatever she could find as Jastor snagged them a table in the empty mess hall. The two of them settled down and Gale popped herself open a bottle of weird branded soda. After a little awkward silence she quietly piped up.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked him. "Run away, y'know. you must have had, like, everything you wanted in those fancy mansions and towers. Clothes, booze, toys or... whatever you're into." She was never sure how much of Jastor's pervert game was just talk or not. "Why'd you trade the high life for... this?"

Okay, that worked. Success! No ***** slap across the cheek or anything. Jesse was still shunned by the time they'd wandered into the mess hall. Like a robot he had obeyed her request to save a table and now he was sitting besides her. Jesse blinked. What was the conversation about again? Oh yeah, himself. Jesse could do that.

Then it sank in and he wasn't quite sure he do talking about himself to that personal of a degree. Jesse tried though. He scratched his stubble in thought; what to say, what to say...

In the end, Jesse shrugged, "A bit of classic Middle Child Syndrome, I s'pose."

"Seriously?" Gale stared at him in disbelief. "You robbed your dad and signed up for daily gunfights cus... you wanted attention? Or less? I'm not a middle child I so I'm not sure what that means but... but that's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Despite herself Gale actually started to laugh a little bit, coughing on some of her drink as it went down the wrong way. "That's just so... I mean... well you got it!"

Jesse drowned his embarrassment into a hearty gulp of his own beverage. Probably wasn't the best way to explain to but the less Gale knew about the Bovine Bride Incident the better. And well, a Gale choking on her own laughter was kinda cute, in its own endearing way. Regardless, he put his glass on the table and sighed, "Admittedly my understanding of the Iron Maidens was a lot more romanticised back then. But being a ghost in your own home ain't a nice feeling."

"Don't say aint, Jastor, you can't pull it off." Gale spluttered between snickers. He wasn't half wrong though. She doubted any of them really knew what they were signing up for when they first found this ship.

"If you insist, my lady." Jesse replied, waving his arms about in over the top hand gestures, "I'm afraid that hick has rubbed off on me, I do apologise."

"Oh god." She sighed happily. It was one extreme to the other with this guy. Well it made him stand out from the crowd around here at least, wasn't like Brock or Tal would go around callin' anyone m'lady. "Just drink something strong would you?! Check out the gentleman here." Gale chuckled, shaking her head.

Astor found himself laughing as well. This was good. Well, laughing at yourself with someone else was probably better than just having other people pointing and laughing. Supposedly.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Asad managed to tune out the next several minutes of conversation, instead focusing on the ice cubes melting in his drink, until Miller's departure shook him from his daze.

"Wait, don't..." But before he could get a word in, it was too late.

'Don't leave me alone with them!'

Almost groaning as he placed his elbows back on the bar, he lit another cigarette.

"You look glummer than usual, Harel, I didn't hear about anything going wrong with the mission."

"He's missing Edea, I bet. That woman has wiles."

"I'm missing something..." Asad mumbled under his breath. Could he kill these people? Would it really be that bad? Nobody had to know, it could be an accident. "Did you guys remember your masks?" He asked thoughtfully, a tinge of concern in his voice.


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

"Pull!" Allie called out as she slammed her fist down onto the button of a small make shift device, solely constructed for the propulsion of tiny objects into the air. As a tiny paper soared through the air, the little silver laser disk of disappointment shot it out of the sky, burning it to ash before it could even hit the ground.

"Nae, you're not the disappointment Disky, you did a great job." She sighed. Not even needless paper genocide could cheer her up. The engine room had gone through major re-decoration since Allie had taken up shop there. There were several new shelves, with dozens of half constructed bits and bobs, blueprints sprawled all over the walls, some of them were neat and detailed, while others were hastily drawn in what appeared to be crayon. There was also a small mural over the engine, a picture of the sun with a rainbow over it, a little something from Gale who thought the place was a little too 'suicidal'.

Probably for the best, she was going to be spending a lot of time there now. Hastily drawing a crude picture of Bennie's face on a piece of paper, she screwed it into a ball and set it on the tiny catapult.

"Pull!"

 

[Fappy]

Theresa seemed like a fun girl, but Ada couldn?t seem to relax around her. Despite her warm, welcoming attitude, the scarred beauty had a certain intensity to her. Like she was always uncomfortable. Always trying too hard.

It felt so... fake.

So artificial.

The way she treated Ada--a bought-and-paid-for whore--was akin to playing house. They didn't know each other. They didn't share any kind of bond or connection, and yet, that was exactly how they interacted. They were like old friends? or sisters.

It was just as the other girls had described. She was looking for companionship. Someone to lean on. Ada had dealt with lonely sorts before, but this was something else entirely.

Just who had she lost? Who had she left behind?

Though there were no clear signs, she could feel there was something wrong. The mask Theresa wore was a thin veil, concealing something truly hideous underneath.

She found it intriguing, if not a bit terrifying.

Ada passed out halfway through an old western called A Fistful of Dollars--snuggled comfortably against her client on the sofa. Theresa had apparently gotten up not long after that, unintentionally waking Ada when she left the apartment.

Shaking off the grogginess, the prostitute pulled herself off the couch and checked the nearby clock.

Where the hell could she be going at this hour?

***​

Ada followed Theresa to a rundown bar across town. It was a rough place from the looks of it, with an active nightlife? if it could be called such a thing. The clientele consisted mostly of thugs and criminals, gambling carbon they didn?t have for drinks their livers couldn?t afford.

Not really Ada?s scene, despite her line of work.

After pushing through the crowd (and avoiding the leering eyes of the destitute patrons), the small woman found what she was looking for. It wasn?t difficult..

Just follow the the announcer?s voice!

?In this corner, weighing in at two-hundred and fifty pounds, you all know him, you all love him--it?s Bernie ?Back-Breaker? Sanchez!?

?You have gotta be kidding me,? Ada muttered under her breath as the large, caged arena came into view. The man doing the announcing was on a podium in front of the cage, wearing sunglasses like he was some slick hotshot. The man he had introduced--this Sanchez--he looked like a tough customer. Not too tall, but built like a brick shit house.

After the cheers from the crowd died down, the announcer gestured towards to opposite side of the ring. ?And in this corner, the challenger whose weight we didn't have the balls to fact check--the undefeated devil-***** herself, ?Bloody Mary?!?

The crowd lost their shit completely.

Who is this chick?!

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"You're dismissed,"

As Allie skulked her way off the bridge, Sandra sidled in.

"I hope you know she's just going to train the lazer-robots to recognise you as hostile now, right?" she told the Captain. Her confidence seemed to get smothered under the tension of the room pretty quickly.

'Okay, so that's the atmosphere we're going for, got it.'

She didn't understand what was up with half the crew lately. The Maidens were more successful right now than at any time Sandra had been aware of them, and yet so many seemed so down...

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

"Did you guys remember your masks?"

"The ground-jockey must think we're thick as shit!" Bigsy announced.

"That, or we're just used to thin air." Croft added.

"Nah. Little turd must think he's too high and mighty..." Bigsy said, not too drunk not to recognise Asad's tone, but drunk enough to rise to it. "A little bit of Basillio must have rubbed off on him. Open up Harel. Big-shot like you must have lots of war stories. We'll compare notes."

"Ease up." Harry ordered, suddenly sounding very sober and stern. "A man comes back from a mission, his drinks are on us. Those are the rules for my house, and I say Harel's welcome."

Bigsy scowled, but didn't question.

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

Spoiler

"Well this is... inconspicuous." The Gentleman commented, as he sized up the dilapidated apartment building before him, before turning to Pixie "I don't suppose there's some kind of entry procedure? No secret knock?"

Pixie shook her head. "Nah, we don' bother with that kinda shit," she told him. "The only fuckers who even know he's here ain't dumb enough to pick a fight. The old fart's got more allies than enemies. Not sure how the holy fuck he managed that, honestly."

"Well then..." The Gentleman said, sauntering to the door and pressing the buzzer for the apartment Pixie had told him.

Nothing happened... at least, nothing the Gentleman noticed.

"Doesn' buzz," she said. "Lil' red light turns on inside though, he knows we're here. Reckon he knew before we even turned down this block."

Moments later the door swung open. A tall bald man stood before them, leaning against the doorframe with a half-empty whiskey bottle in his hand. "I heard you were in town. Didn't expect you'd pay little ol' me a visit," he said in a gruff voice. "You pulling a fast one on me, Meredith?"

Pixie chuckled. "Not today, Chromey."

The Gentleman smiled.

"I wasn't aware anyone knew I was here, but I'm pleased to know my reputation proceeds me." he said, stretching out his hand "Pleased to meet you, Cranston. May I come in?"

The older man took his hand and shook. "Make yourself at home," he said, making room for his guests to enter. "I was just making some tea if you would care for any."

"Beer," Pixie groaned before flopping over on a cot nearby. "The kid asleep?"

Cranston simply nodded.

"Black, one sugar, if you would be so kind?" The Gentleman accepted as he looked around the safehouse. Cranston didn't seem to care all that much for creature comforts. "Say, have you heard from Beatrix recently?"

Cranston suppressed a grin. "No," he grunted, "she's been busy doing her own thing. She's been meaning to stop in, but things are fairly... complicated with the Russos right now." Before stirring the tea the old man grabbed a cheap beer out of the fridge and tossed it in Pixie's direction. "You should check on the boy."

Pixie caught the bottle and took a quick swig. "In a minute," she sighed, loudly.

"If you don't mind my asking..." The Gentlemen continued "What is it that has brought you out here. There doesn't seem to be a lot of business going around for men like us. Not good business, anyway."

Cranston shrugged. "I guess you could say I'm working on a personal project."

"Revenge," Pixie chimed in as she left the room.

"'Justice' sounds more professional."

"I see..." The Gentleman replied, thoughtfully. "Perhaps I could be of some assistance. I came here without any official business. I am simply looking to raise my profile in this part of the world. If we join forces, then we could all benefit."

"What did you have in mind?" Cranston asked as he handed the Gentleman a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa beside him.

The Gentleman lightly blew on his tea, before taking a small sip.

"Well, at the moment I don't know who your target is, or what you have planned for them..." he said, an excited glint in his eye "However, I'm guessing violence will need to be applied."

 

[The Funslinger]

"You're dismissed," Bennie said. Whiskey's head snapped up. 'Aw, hell yeah!'

"I hope you know she's just going to train the lazer-robots to recognise you as hostile now, right?"

'Aw fuck no!'

Sighing, Whiskey put a fresh cigarette between her lips and went back to cleaning her newly acquired tommy gun, although at this point, it was already sparkling.

'It's okay, you can wait. You're patient. And besides, if she takes more than a few minutes, you're totally allowed to put her head through the nav console...'

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

"They should'a been here by now."

Bryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "The op wasn't exactly quick and quiet. They're probably letting the heat die down before they come home."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Look, this whole op is bullshit. We're pros, but we weren't trained for long-term deep cover like this.

Mal listened quietly and consciously stopped herself from tensing her jaw and grinding her teeth any further. This woman was all over the place. First she tried the cold and distant approach this morning, then it was the brutal hothead with Moon, now she was trying to backtrack herself into being a woman of the people. It was just one thing after another with these people. But Mal still stayed quiet while this went on, her judgment was as clear as it could be with the blue so fresh in her system and she knew better than to rock anyone's boat in any way right now.

"You with me?"

"Ma'am." Mal said flatly, not bothering to nod and clearly unconvinced.

She looked past Saburo and over to Moon, still against the wall, for a moment. Well at least they could all agree they wanted out of here as soon as possible.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"The ground-jockey must think we're thick as shit!"

"Whaaaat? Noooo." Asad mumbled under his breath, blowing smoke from the corner of his mouth.

"Nah. Little turd must think he's too high and mighty..."

That got a little chuckle out of Asad as he turned to look at the man, tilting his head slightly.

"A little bit of Basillio must have rubbed off on him. Open up Harel. Big-shot like you must have lots of war stories. We'll compare notes."

The Commander furrowed his brow slightly, what would a boy and his little toy know about war stories? Prick probably never killed anyone that wasn't a tiny dot in his cross-hairs. Just as he was about to voice his opinion, De Monfort stepped in.

"Ease up. A man comes back from a mission, his drinks are on us. Those are the rules for my house, and I say Harel's welcome."

"Listen to your commanding officer, boy." Asad smirked at Bigsy before turning his attention back to the Flight Commander. "Don't worry it, I was just about to head off anyway." He got the feeling he wouldn't accept that as an answer.

 

[Fappy]

"I hope you know she's just going to train the lazer-robots to recognize you as hostile now, right?"

Bennie chuckled quietly. "I reckon we could use a few of those around here," he said. "Would make my job a whole lot easier." Noticing Sandra's discomfort, Bennie relaxed, sliding back into the captain's chair.

"What can I do for you, Sandra?" he asked her, grinning slightly.

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

"The op wasn't exactly quick and quiet. They're probably letting the heat die down before they come home."

"Well get them on the fuckin' horn then!" the grease-ball shouted. "Unless you got somethin' you need to tell me... well then, spit it the fuck out! I don' like sittin' around with my limp dick warmin' my palm."

Caputo wasn't exactly the most tactful man.

The fact that Bryan hadn't already knocked his teeth out said more about his professionalism than every kill he'd ever made in Basilio's name. Or perhaps, it was his devotion to the woman he loved.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"What can I do for you, Sandra?"

Sandra repeated much the same story she'd told Gale. It was awkward, but it was easier to finish once she'd got started.

"So yeah, um..." she muttered "I know I'm already asking for a lot, but, I'd like to take Maria with me, y'know, if she wants to come. You see, the supplies back home are a little basic, and we still have a load of surplus medical stuff that Amy scored for us. I could just take some of the stuff over, but... folks down there could really use a visit from the doctor once in a while."

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

"Listen to your commanding officer, boy."

Bigsy snorted and returned to his drink, muttering something that sounded like "Wanker".

"Don't worry it, I was just about to head off anyway."

"Come on Harel, don't be such a soft-touch. The boys didn't mean anything by it." Harry said.

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

"Nothing like Tequila after a heist."

"I like the way you think, lil' lady," Sprout chirped over his shoulder. After snatching up a bottle of the 'good' stuff, he set about mixing drinks on the counter nearby. "Be a darlin' an fetch my sombrero." He said, nodding towards the festive hat hanging from the coatrack on the bathroom door. "Gotta be legit. This shit is serious."

"Sure thing, handsome." Amy replied, practically skipping over to the bathroom door to retrieve it. Returning, she placed the sombrero a little crookedly on his head.

"While you're busy with those, I'm gonna go and slip into something a little more... you know." she whispered in his ear, before heading back to the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

"Don' take too long now," Spout hummed as she disappeared into the bathroom. Once the drinks were made, he brought them to the small two-person table in the corner of the room.

Amy stayed in the bathroom a couple of minutes longer than she needed to. She'd leave Axel alone with his imagination for a little while. He could get so impatient, but she knew what was best for him.

Sprout took a quick swig of his drink and did as instructed. "You better not take advantage of me," he warned playfully. "You know I don' like surprises."

"Oh, I think you'll make an exception for this..." Amy giggled, as she walked to the table. "Open your eyes."

She was wearing a cowgirl outfit. A red and white checked shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and the top three buttons undone; and denim hot-pants with a snake-skin belt, with a buckle in the shape of a set of bull's horns. The ensemble was completed with leather, knee-high boots and a straw hat.

"Howdy." she said, mischievously.

Sprout's face glowed red. Despite his sheepishness, he didn't look away. "Jesus, Amy," he muttered, suddenly exasperated. "You really know 'ow ta' tickle my fancy." He cringed. "That sounded more sexual than I intended."

"Why are you sorry?" She teased, sitting across his lap as she took a sip of her drink. "You know I'll tickle whatever you like..."

"You wanna watch a movie tonight?" She asked.

Distracted by her inuendo, the boy missed Amy's question. "What?" Then he replayed it in his head. "Oh, yeah, sure! Have anythin' in mind?"

"What about Tombstone?" she replied, absent-mindedly stroking his upper arms. Axel's build had become a lot more athletic in the past few months.

Sprout sipped his drink and nodded. "Sounds good to me. Not like we got too many options, anyway," he remarked with a chuckle. Sprout studied her carefully as she took her drink to her lips. "You sure yer okay, babe? I know ain't s'posed to worry so much, but I can tell when yer puttin' on a brave face. Jus' wanna make sure nothin's troublin' you."

"It's nothing you need to worry about." Amy told him, stroking the side of his face as she leaned forward to kiss him. When they broke apart, she sighed a little, her lips hovering just above his.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves tonight, okay?"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Come on Harel, don't be such a soft-touch. The boys didn't mean anything by it."

Asad grunted with amusement at the thought that he gave two fucks what some pampered flyboys thought of him, but if they were offering free drinks, well...

The Commander sighed as he finished off his current drink. "Sure, why not." He shrugged his shoulders, stubbing out his cigarette, blowing the smoke lazily from his nostrils. "I've only been awake for like 40 hours, might as well make it a solid two days." He smiled weakly as he raised his glass and shook it gently. "Tell me a story."

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

Lilith pouted as she wiped a damp cloth over her lips, smearing lipstick across her face as she did a poor job in removing her makeup, still the was something cathartic about the ritual. Rinsing off the rag in the sink, she glanced up at her reflection in the mirror, maybe it was the mascara and eye-shadow panda eyes, but she looked a lot more tired than usual. The girl didn't particularly feel any more fatigued than usual, in fact she felt pretty good after her talk with Florian.

Maybe that was it, finally making a decision about her future, the weight of the decision was making her look like crap!

'Maybe...'

Rubbing the cloth over her neck, it quickly became caked in foundation as it revealed what hit beneath, a pixie tattoo in black ink on the right side of her neck, taking up the space between her jaw and just above her collarbone. Identical to Bennie's.

Smiling sadly as she caught its reflection, she ran her fingers over it, a sigh escaping her lips as she began rinsing out the rag again and finishing up before having a hot, long shower.

Hair dripping wet, she slipped into a pair of shorts and large oversized zip up hoodie, nuzzling the shoulder, she closed her eyes, it still smelled like Florian.

This was the best decision, for her and for him, she had to cut the cord at some stage, stop living for other people and make her own way in life. Axel didn't need her any more, the Maiden didn't need her any more, not really.

This was better for everyone.