Retribution: Westport (18+, Violence, Strong Language, Mature Themes)

[Tahlia Faras]

Serial Killer

Baby, I'm a sociopath
Sweet serial killer
On the warpath
Cause I love you just a little too much ~ Lana del Ray

Harley stepped up to the downstairs suite, and knocked, hood pulled up to cover that distinctive blonde hair. Techno thumped louder for a moment, and then turned down to be barely audible, before the door swung open just enough to reveal Reggie, full size earphones around his neck, and a bag of cheetos in his hands, “Oh, sweet..that was fa-you’re not room service.”

“Good catch, sugar. And speaking of, if Eddie finds out how much you’ve been ordering, you can kiss driving privileges goodbye…” She had no idea whether that was the case, but she was pretty sure Reggie loved that car almost as much as Eddie did. He also wasn’t supposed to be answering the door, certainly not now. Ducking under his arm, she pulled back her hood, and snagged a cheeto on her way past. “How’s the corpse?”

Reggie started to stammer, and then laughed. The blonde had snuck down a few times herself, for cigarettes and junk food, or to plot the latest social media exploits of Lizzy and her Scruffy. “Still grumpy, but kinda animated for a dead girl.” Closing the door behind her, he dusted the orange powder off on his jeans, and grimaced. Eddie wouldn’t have done that. Dropping the bag, he tried to adopt that cool lean, and nearly fell over. Smooth, real smooth. “So, uh...what brings you down, Harley?”

The sweatshirt came off, and went over a chair, and the little blonde just smiled slowly, fluffing her ponytail, and tugging down the eggplant top to meet the black leather jeans she wore. “Why don’t you take a walk, huh, Reg? Me and the recently departed need to have some girl time...do each others hair, talk about boys...you don’t need to be here for that. We might even talk about shoes.”

“You sure? Only...you two...well, It doesn’t seem like you like each other much.” Harley didn’t even blink, just held out a hundred, and nodded toward the door. “That’s why we need to bond, sugar. Take a walk, get yourself something to power you through the last of this...I promise I won’t leave a mess.” It wasn’t the same as promising she wasn’t going to make one, but Reggie could be forgiven for missing that little detail. Taking the cash, he slunk out, already pulling out his phone to find his connection. Harley paused only to make sure the door was locked before barging into the back bedroom, the only room with a closed door. And locking it behind her.

Celene looked up, and registered the click of the lock almost before who was standing in front of it. “Everything ok out there? I’m going stir crazy.” Because acting like this was totally normal...that would help, right?” She’d managed to get in a shower, and had changed into a set of leggings and a tshirt she kept in a bag in her trunk. It wasn’t much, but dead women shouldn’t go shopping so soon after they’d been shot and defenestrated. People tended to react poorly. So for the moment, she was stuck until she could get to one of her stashes. “Where’s Pop Tart?” She knew the kids name, she just liked how confused he got at the nickname.

“Reg? Told him to go for a walk. I thought you and I ought to have a...chat.” Harley strode into the room, the knowledge that room service was expected sitting in the back of her head like a ticking clock. “About a few things. But namely, just how I expect things to go, once everything is over and done.” Pulling out a chair she took a seat facing the bed, and gestured Celene to plant herself on it. She looked perfectly calm, but she was assessing every movement, every breath. “Y’see...I don’t like you.” Mistress of the obvious. “At all. I know Puddin says I should, and we should go get mani-pedis and go shopping, but I’m pretty sure that’s because he’s hoping he can convince us both to **** him at the same time.” As soon as Celene took a seat, Harley was up, and moving. “It’s not happening, but I hate to disappoint him. Well, not with you. Cause you wouldn’t survive. You might not anyway. I haven’t decided yet.”

Celene gave every appearance of listening, while considering her options. She hadn’t brought much with her...hadn’t had a lot of time to pack. But there was a knife in a shin sheath, if she needed it. Not for the first time, she wondered where Eddie had found the little sadist - Harley seemed like a whole lotta crazy, even for him. Crossing her legs, to make the blade easier to get to, Celene held her hands up, and went for honesty. “I don’t much like you either - no offence, but I generally try to avoid people who look like they’re trying to decide which of twenty ways they’re going to kill me.” Slowly, she slid her hand closer - just because she couldn’t see a weapon, didn’t mean the blonde wasn’t carrying.

Swift as a wink, Harley spun on a heel, and clamped a hand around exactly what Celene had been reaching for. She looked...disappointed. “Aww...Tabby...here I am, trying to make friends...and you go for a weapon. Where’s the trust?” Flipping the knife in her hand, she let the light play along the blade, then slid the point below the taller woman’s chin. “I’ll get to it, then. Once this is over, and we go our separate ways...I don’t care what happens to you, or Saul, or Dr. Dan. Reg is a good kid. And if you and Eddie want to give each other a workout in some seedy hotel...you go right ahead. He and I - well, we know what we are.” The slightest pressure forced Celene to tip her head back, rich brown eyes meeting an almost electric blue.

“But if you hurt him...I swear, Tabby, if you cause that man an ounce of pain, I will carve up that pretty face of yours and leave you on your Daddy’s doorstep tied with a big red ribbon, and a note telling him exactly what you’ve been up to. And that’s only if he tells me I have to be nice. You feel me?” There was not a hint of bravado, just calm, cool, fact. Celene could see it, every bit, and knew without doubt that the only reason she was still breathing in that scenario was because killing her would be a kindness.

Ever so carefully, she nodded, and was rewarded with a bright, gleeful smile, and a tap of steel before the blade slid away. “Good. Glad we had this little chat. I don’t think Puddin needs to know, do you? Girl talk always bores guys to tears…” A simple flick of her wrist, and the blade was humming in the mirror frame. One last pat to the cheek, and Harley was on her way out, grinning like it was her birthday and Christmas combined. She let the room service guy in, tipped him, and skipped upstairs, humming under her breath. It was always nice when things went the way she wanted them to.

[Tahlia Faras]

Secrets

Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave ~ The Pierces

The bag in Reggie’s hand gave a cellophane rustle as Reggie dipped in his fingers and pulling free another of the licorice candy pipes. It was another red one, he hadn’t been looking but it seemed like he had some sixth sense at isolating his favorites. He’d had a choice when he bought them, the pipes struck an odd chord in him, something that was almost fitting. He put the end of it between his lips, holding onto it as though he were indeed smoking a pipe, and shifted on the couch to look back towards an open door. “You ready for all this to be over?”

There was movement in the room, it could be heard and there were shadows of activity that went along with the sounds. “I kind of am, I miss being able to run with my friends without having to worry that I need to be available for… emergencies.” Reggie held out as long as he could, but his teeth gripped the candy pipe and bit through the end in his mouth. “I’m saving you the black ones!” He didn’t even know if the woman like the black ones, truth was he was being greedy, no matter how often chance brought him the red ones.

“You can keep them…I can’t have black stuff in my teeth tonight.” There was laughter in the voice that answered him from the other room, and a bit of deflection. The truth was she wasn’t entirely certain what she was going back to. “And it's not like we work you so hard. You’ve basically gotten to stay in a four-star suite and play with your toys.” It was an understatement, and she knew it - Reggie had kept things going, fudging bills and room keys and a thousand other details. Including the bombshell - the final piece that would fit into place tonight, and bring them to the end of the road. She could have glamoured the evenings look - had to some extent. The shadows beneath her eyes, the pallor of her skin...it was easier to hide those under makeup. And the deep purple gown only heightened the perception that she was wilting instead of blooming.

Glancing in the mirror, her hair swept up, those plush lips smirked at her reflection. “Hey Reg...I’m decent, I swear. Can you come in and give me a hand with a few things?” He wasn’t her first choice, but the alternative likely meant they would have been late, if they’d ever made it out at all. And it wasn’t that she couldn’t get herself dressed without help - it was just easier. Dan was attending with Miranda, who had been incredibly solicitous as ‘Lizzy’ faded...that part, she wouldn’t miss at all. Feigning illness, weakness...they made her feel vulnerable. And she had enough of that. But the understanding was that they were all going their own ways...and she had choices to make.

Reggie put his hand down to his thigh and gave it a good hard pinch. He was awake, though he’d had a few dreams… not all of them while sleeping… that started exactly that way. He stood up, looking at the bag of candy in his hand and wondering if it should come with him or not. Sighing he shoved it into the pocket of severely faded denim jeans and walked towards the room with his head down. It was one thing to dream and another to worry about a blush at the wrong time. If she’d looked at him then, he’d have blushed and she’d have known. She probably already did, but that was never openly acknowledged, not that he knew of at least.

“What do you need?” That was the question he’d asked, but the one in his head was WWED? Reggie leaned on the doorway, doing his best to exude a confidence he didn’t feel. “You want a… help with what?” It was harder than it looked obviously. Oh look over there the picture on the wall of a field, trees and a mountain were so attention grabbing! Reggie swallowed, certainly not because he failed at giving a true Eddie Blake answer… he had, but that had nothing to do with it. The picture was exceedingly nice to look at.

She absolutely knew...and had used it to manipulate Reggie more often than the kid probably wanted to know. But not as often, or as maliciously, as she’d used it on the doctor. Saul was immune, and Eddie...those games went from friendly fire to nuclear war in a heartbeat, and lay waste to everything and everyone who happened to be in the way. And she hadn’t been lying...all the important bits were covered, the dress held in place by one slim arm, and a half done zipper that left her shoulders and back bare. Shoulders that might have been shaking ever so slightly as she tried not to laugh.

“Well...the zipper, for one. And the necklace…” A wide band of amethysts in an antique setting lay against black velvet. She could manage the earrings herself. Glancing over her shoulder, she crooked a finger, bidding him closer. “And you can tell me what I’m supposed to be doing tonight, besides looking like I could collapse gracefully at any moment and trying to keep Eddie and Dan from coming to blows in the middle of the gala.” She wasn’t entirely certain what had set them off, but the cold war seemed to have gotten a lot hotter in the past few days.

Reggie bit his lip hard as he moved in behind her, fingers trembling slightly, his grip on the tongue of the zipper meant to keep all evidence concealed. He’d often wished he could channel Eddie, but the results were always the same. Begin and never be able to follow through. That was the problem, the follow through. Eddie wouldn’t have pulled up on her zipper, it would have slid downwards and Reggie could only imagine where it went from there. He might be imagining that even as he picked up the necklace that was meant to go into place around her neck.

“I’m not really happy with the crew, or parts of it. There’s a lot of information being tossed around like it’s fact. The thing is, the harder you try to lock in someone like Eddie… the less likely you are to succeed. He’s not especially gifted at dodging traps, I’ve seen him fail. When he’s on… he’s so on that nothing can derail his plans.” Reggie worked the clasp of the amethyst necklace, fastening it to Harley’s… no… Lizzy’s neck. Except that Lizzy accepted what she saw… this woman didn’t. ”I’ve known Eddie a long time. There’s a lot that people miss. Just don’t look away before you find what’s really there.”

She wasn’t cruel, she didn’t hollow out her back, or press back against him, the way she would with Eddie. A little shimmy, just to settle the dress into place, and make sure she wasn’t showing too much cleavage. Reaching up, she gathered her hair up carefully, so as not to undo the loose curls that left tendrils to frame her face, and just barely clipped back to keep the rest from her face. “I don’t disagree with you...and the more I learn...the more I worry.” She kept her gaze forward, watching Reggie in the mirror. “He’s a force of nature, our Eddie. But even forces of nature don’t always win…”

The jewels felt cool against her skin, and she held the position a moment longer. “Reg...I’ll tell you the same thing I told Saul. I can’t. Couldn’t if I tried. Eddie and me...we’re...well, we get each other. I think.” Those sea-green eyes found his, and held. “We’re not talking about the gala, are we? There’s something else...something more.”

“Something more?” Reggie’s licorice pipe suddenly became really interesting to him. He seemed to be trying to figure out what his bite impression on the thing would tell a trained professional. Maybe he was looking at it a little too long because it was popped into his mouth. Maybe he was just hungry? Certainly not trying to make food a good reason not to talk about things he wasn’t sure he should talk about. “What kind of more do you mean?” The food in his mouth certainly didn’t seem to be stopping him from talking… plan failed.

She kept her eyes on the mirror, watching the kid without being too obvious about it. “I keep hearing things. About the past. Doc. Saul. Eddie…and someone named Carmine Logan.” As if they were discussing the weather, she let her hair fall back into place, and smoothed a hand over the antique collar of stones. The look was elegant, but almost funereal, subtly bringing out the circles and bruises. “I know Doc is only out for himself. Thinks Eddie’s just a lone wolf. Saul...Saul isn’t sure what he is. Or who he believes. But you and I...we know better, don’t we, Reg? The rules - the fact that he lets you drive his car...the way he always makes sure everyone is taken care of.” She didn’t mention ice cream, or cheesy horror films. Some things were between them.

“The other two think you’re just the keyboard jockey. The tech guy. I think you’re a lot more than that. And I think...I think you know I want to help him. He needs someone in his corner.”

Reggie choked on his mouthful of licorice. It had nothing to do with the name Carmine Logan, despite the fact that it happened the moment she’d said the name. He held his chest with one hand, and held up the other towards her, pointer finger raised. He left the room making turns that would put him on a path towards the bathroom where he tried to wretch quietly. Maybe he didn’t like licorice so much anymore. The water ran for a minute covering the sound of the flushing toilet, but Reggie didn’t come directly back. In fact the minutes dragged by one turning into ten before he made his second appearance.

“I’m not supposed to talk about that, but you’re right there’s more there than the others know. They assume things. Dan, he disappeared from the business, and Saul… well he’s kind of Eddie’s eye on the law. Tells him when there’s evidence of Carmine found, that sort of thing.” He pushed his fingers into his pants pocket and pulled out two small clear jewel cases containing SIM cards. “Only I know why Eddie’s not really worried about Carmine, and why he still leaves town when Saul tells him things.” Reggie handed Lizzy the first jewel case. “This one’s for the party. Don’t get them confused. I put an E on the other box.”

He handed the second one to her and turned to leave, pausing at the door. “Carmine’s dead.” He didn’t turn around as he spoke. Looking was too hard when confessing, just ask the Catholics. “I killed him… he was trying to kill me, but Eddie distracted him, told me to run… But he’d already been hurt, probably would have been… So I shot him. I’m the only one who knows why Eddie runs, now you do too.” That was all he could take, Reggie fled both the room and the suite, invading the elevator like a refugee.

Palms flat on the dresser, she listened, bits and pieces falling into place. The night they’d rescued Reggie, and the first time she’d ever heard that name. They were only suspicions, but the only one who could confirm them...now wasn’t the time. When this was all over, she’d talk to Eddie. Not that it mattered. For a moment, she thought about going after Reggie, but Lizzy Davenport wouldn’t go racing down a hallway in an evening gown - in her current state, she couldn’t. She’d ask Eddie to check on the kid, but he was probably getting ready, and the other two...all they’d do is make it worse. She slid the SIM for the gala into her top, tucked on the right side. The other case went on her left, secured with a little double-sided tape.

Turning, finally, she stared the way Reggie had gone. The kid had depths she’d never guessed, but she suspected the rampant consumption had something to do with blocking out enough to let him focus. She could understand that. She just didn’t know what to do about it.

[Eddie Blake]

Let Me Go

I'm breaking free from these memories
Gotta let it go, just let it go
I've said goodbye
Set it all on fire
Gotta let it go, just let it go ~ Avril Lavigne ft. Chad Kroeger


Sweet and adorable those were the traits that Lizzy would have associated with Eddie. You’d never know it by the way people scattered before him, parting like the red sea before an angry god. Maybe it was the look on his face, a mixture of concern and anger, or just knowing by seeing that to hinder him would be to need to visit the ER. Fortunately the paramedics were just out front, and there were no casualties among the people who flowed back together as soon as he was past. Then again, it could have been the dire looking little blonde in his arms. Clearly he wasn’t going to wait for them to take their sweet ass time getting in to the emergency. Eddie was bringing the emergency to them, trailed by a man they’d all gotten to meet. The personal physician of the little blonde, Lizzy. There were feminine whispers in the reconvergence, murmurs of brute, though secretly many of them wished they had one of their own to show such unbridled concern for them. The stretcher had only just hit the ground when Eddie gently placed the girl on top of it.

“Stay with me… you’ve got to fight songbird.” Nothing about his demeanor had changed, and yet somehow he managed to caress the woman with an almost obscene gentleness. It caused the murmurs to change, if only a little. A second procession broke through the lobby doors, this one a parade of blue uniformed officers surrounding a brunette who looked confused at the cuffs that had her wrists bound.

“You happy now, Miranda?!” Eddie shouted at the prisoner, and her escort. “One time wasn’t enough for you! I hope you get what’s coming to you!” One of the paramedics put a hand on Eddie’s back and spoke in low tones about needing to go quickly. He had a choice in that moment, he’d wanted to go after the woman… but folded himself into the ambulance instead, and shut the doors.

There was no color to Lizzy’s cheeks, and she didn’t move, even as Eddie laid her on the stretcher, and the paramedics hauled her inside, the deep eggplant gown almost tangling in the rails before someone tucked it up and out of the way. Only the barest rise and fall of her chest signaled that the dainty blonde was still among the living. Once the doors slammed shut, and the siren began to wail, the crowds split and stared, gossip rising in a wave as the ambulance took off in one direction, and the police took off in the other, with Miranda Foxglove in custody. It was, by far, the most excitement any of them had seen at a gala since Tammy Galenville pushed Mimi Vanderwort into the fountain for sleeping with her pool boy. One heiress on death's door, another lead away in handcuffs for putting her there - and of course, it seemed it was all over the dark, smoldering man hovering over Elizabeth Davenport as she fought for her life in the speeding ambulance.

A minute passed before those glorious sea green eyes snapped open, followed by a curve of bloodless lips. One deep breath, to fill lungs just starting to burn from all the shallow breaths before it, and one limp arm rose to brush the backs of her fingers along a stubbled cheek. Barely loud enough to reach his ears, there was no way she could hide the laughter that threatened to give her away. “Did I do good, puddin? Everything worked?” She hadn’t been able to track it all mid-swoon, and there was only so much she could see from beneath her lashes, with all the lights and commotion. “Can I stop playing dead now?”

“You did good, Harley girl.” Would he call her his songbird again? Somehow he doubted it. There was a chasm of difference between Lizzy, and the woman who’d been playing her for so long. Eddie nodded at her last question. “Shut the sirens down, Reg… take the next right and then kill the lights too. It’s time to meet up with the rest of the crew.” His gaze turned from the woman to Dan. The man was pinching the bridge of his nose as though trying to fight off a migraine.

“Do you know what a close thing that was? I mean, you realize it right?” Dan stared over his fingers at Eddie, his mouth puckered like he’d ordered a drink with a twist and only got the twist. “It’s a good thing that woman’s easily distracted by shiny guys.”

“No, it’s not a good thing, Dan. That was your job, and you did it. You think you were picked at random? I know her type, and more than that I know what she wants to make that type into.” Miranda had never had a chance, stuck between three men. It was all factored into the plan. “Maybe you should consider retirement again, if you’ve forgotten how many times you put me in that position. And don’t pretend to be some kind of moral superior either, or I’ll have Reggie to the playback on your time in the lab.” It had been the best time to plant the pills on Miranda, she was pretty focused on things that weren’t her clutch.

“You may have been hard up, but Harley had the hard job. Do you know how hard it is to swap out videos while pretending to be demure?” Eddie reached across the ambulance and gave a tug to Tahlia to pull her into his lap. “She did it exceedingly well.”

“Aw...puddin. Gotta give Reg credit for putting it all together, and on that sim card.” She slid into Eddie’s lap easily, twisting to grab a bag stashed under the stretcher, and haul it on top. She wasn’t meeting the rest of the crew as a wounded butterfly if she could help it. And she could. “Which was probably a good thing, seeing how someone couldn’t seem to keep Ms. Thing away from the projector for more than five minutes at a shot. I swear her grin got wider every time I grabbed onto the table to hold myself up. Bitch.” She stuck her tongue out at Dan from across the ambulance, and turned to nuzzle along Eddie’s jaw for a moment, watching the doc from beneath her lashes. She enjoyed making the man squirm with an almost unholy glee. And it was only going to get worse.

“We couldn’t have done any of it without you, Puddin. You’re amazing - so thorough, and focused...don’t you think so, Doc?” She wasn’t even looking at the man, or didn’t seem to be, pausing in her praise to nip at Eddie’s ear, and straighten up just enough to lean her forehead to his. “Not to mention if had been up to my doctor I probably would have gotten trampled, and or been stuck there til someone called the real medics.”

Still happily curled on his lap, Harley reached for the zipper, and reached inside for a slim packet of makeup remover wipes. She didn’t really need them, but it would cover her dropping the glamour that made her look like a dying waif.

“I didn’t even have to act like anything but myself. Maybe a little nervous every time Miranda cornered me to gloat about Celene. She really thought she had something there, not even bothering to pretend to call her Tabitha. Big and dumb, that’s my gig.” Eddie smirked, and let out a soft snicker, head pressed to Tahlia’s he gave her a bare wink. The ambulance turned into a driveway and disappeared behind a garage door that slowly slid closed. “Still, I think everyone will be happy with their split. We’ll meet you up there.”

Reggie knew when he was being dismissed, getting out and disappearing into the dark garage. Dan hesitated for a moment, like he was ready to say something until a look from Eddie had him almost scampering to be as far away from him as possible. Silence ruled the interior of the ambulance, broken only by the sound of his breathing. “Do you think…” Whatever he was going to say was halted, like he’d changed his mind abruptly. “We should just take a few minutes to preserve the illusion of makeup removal.” It kind of went with *do you think*, right?

“I’m going to need to stay out here for a little while. There’s something I need to take care of.” Now obviously none of that went with do you think. Eddie fell silent, letting the words sink in or maybe just fade away. “A week, or two… and you’ve got things to get back to. I...well I really don’t, unless you count a cheap motel room.”

“Aww..Puddin...I wanted to make him squirm a little more.” As soon as the vehicle stopped, she’d risen, pouting over her shoulder as she reached back to undo the zipper on her gown. Celene was up there, and besides, it wouldn’t do to be boarding a commercial flight in an exquisite gown. People tended to notice things like that. Tossing the wipes aside, she let the glamour fade, regaining color and warmth. “Yeah I guess that makes sense...could you give me a hand with the zipp…” Full stop, she half-turned toward him, something undefinable causing a shimmer against her lashes. “You’re not coming right back? You are..you are coming back, right?”

She turned back, eyes closed as she struggled to maintain her composure for a moment. She’d known this day was coming. Knew the job would end and she would have to face whatever it was that was waiting for her back in Rhydin proper. Which, currently, was nothing but an empty penthouse, and too much free time. “No. Of course. You...of course you have things to do. Other jobs. People.” She wondered if Celene had already made arrangements to find some cheap hotel somewhere. She didn’t think about why it mattered. She had a Simon, somewhere. Didn’t she? “I mean, it’s just the penthouse...I could let Mal know I’m back, but he’s probably busy, and, well...I - yeah. I need to get back to work. Build...something.” She was babbling, talking to try and hide the catch in her voice with a flood of words.

“I’ll be back, right. You have someone to catch up with. Probably best if I’m not too visible anyway, right?” He could have said all this somewhere else, couldn’t he? Except that there wasn’t going to be time for it. He knew it even if the rest of them didn’t. Eddie’s brows sank, creasing the center of his forehead. Why the hell was he even doing this much? She’d figure it out when she finally got out of the ambulance. The garage was dark, but that purple beast of a car was hard to hide. “I wouldn’t be much of a… a friend if I didn’t give you the opportunity to be whatever you’re trying to be.”

It was his turn to make a change, bow tie and jacket were pulled free of him, leaving behind a white tank top. Those too shiny shoes were kicked off for a pair of boots. Eddie left them there on the stretcher, looked at Tahlia for several seconds, then leaned over to kiss her forehead. He opened the side of the ambulance and started to walk away, not the same direction that Reggie and Dan had gone. He put his back to the ambulance and the door, heading straight for the Road Runner. His phone chirped in his back pocket, and he pulled it out and hit send. “Go…” It was all he said for several moments. “Big job, that’s going to cost extra… you know why.” Reaching through the open passenger window he pulled that familiar mottled sealskin leather jacket out and pulled it on. “You know where?” It took everything he had not to look directly back at the ambulance, or the girl inside. He slid into the driver’s seat, one covert glance back the way he’d come before firing up the engine and turning up the stereo loud enough to vibrate the foundation with what should now be a very familiar song. The garage door opened, and Eddie was gone in a flash of purple and tail lights.

She’d kept changing as they talked, not looking at him because she didn’t know what she’d do if she did. Because it was easier to keep the mask in place if she didn’t. The kiss to her forehead caught her by surprise as she turned to tuck her brush away. The dress, and every piece of Lizzy that had gone into the ambulance would stay there. Nearly back to herself, she reached, her fingers coming short as Eddie climbed out the side, and she caught sight of purple metallic paint. So he wasn’t even coming upstairs. Her eyes closed, and she shoved a hand into the bag, pulling out a stuffed seal and clinging to it tightly. Because otherwise she would go flying out the door after him, and that wasn’t how this went. She’d known that going in. The job was over. And they were going their separate ways.

Even bent over the stuffed animal, she couldn’t help hearing the conversation - the roar of the engine, and the pounding bass that she would claim was the reason she sank onto the stretcher, assuming there had been anyone else to see. Stuffing the seal back in her bag, she finished getting ready as the radio faded away, her mask in place. She was going back to wait for Simon, and her cut was already all but spent in that regard. It was better this way. Throwing the bag over her shoulder, she dropped out of the ambulance, and stalked upstairs, pausing only once to watch the last tiny pinpricks of red in the darkness.