"I cannot believe you did that, in front of everyone!" Mitzi exclaims as she is pacing in front of the bar. Rocky, Calvin and Ivy sat on the stools with Wick and Zib, watching anxiously while Viktor stood next to Paloma with an unamused expression. "And Asa even said you were that man's fling?!"

"First off, that was a lie. Second, I...I had a good reason at the time to kiss him but right now I think it was a rather dumb idea." Paloma says and looks away sheepishly. "We've...kind of been running into each other in public during off work hours. When Asa saw us talking to each other in a familiar way, that was the lie used."

"YOU'VE WHAT?!"

"Wait, the guy we ran into at the ice cream parlor?" Rocky asks. "You flipped your lid when you saw him, why would you kiss him?"

"Yeah, why?" Ivy adds with a small frown. "Also he and that crazy lady with the gun were gonna hurt me that night in the quarry!"

"Alright, simmer down! Let's all not start jumping down her throat." Wick says loudly, motioning for them to calm down. "I'm sure it was just a heat of the moment thing on the stage, and nothing happened during the public run-ins."

"Thank you Wick!" Paloma groans. "Look, the times that has happened it was only by pure coincidence, it's not like he was stalking me. I only met the guy first time when Asa invited me to the hotel to try and convince me to join, then he and his associates gave me a ride when they spotted me walking after I couldn't find a cab, but I left after I put a gun in their faces. For some reason, he seems to have an interest in me."

"I mean, some men like their women a little feisty, like a certain man did a year ago." Zib says with a shrug and Viktor lets out a snort.

"Yeah well, I don't think me slapping him twice and hitting him with a book is gonna do anything." Paloma mutters.

"If you don't like him, why'd you kiss him then?" Calvin asks quietly.

"Must I answer that question?"

"No you don't have to." Wick says quickly. "Look, we all just got a bit worried for you, that's all. Mitzi especially since Asa has been telling her some things about you, like how he saw you at some birthday party and Mordecai was there."

Oh, she almost forgot that Asa was at Nico's birthday party that night, dragging Mordecai along. And speaking of, he disappeared after the performance when she went to go look for him after slapping Nico. Looking back on it, kissing him was not a smart idea to get Mordecai jealous, and she was now regretting it. She really thought Kuura and Serafine were going to lay it on her for slapping Nico, but the smaller woman was nowhere to be found and the Savoy sister was yelling at him in French and smacking his head before apologizing to her.

"I was invited to that party by Nico, the man I sang with. When Mordecai showed up, he went ballistic seeing us together, assaulted his coworker and started screaming at him. I interfered and dragged him off to yell at him before leaving." Paloma explains.

"Jealousy much?" Rocky snorts.

"Well please refrain from interacting with the Marigolds in public from now on, Selena made us come to a truce, but something tells me Asa is plotting and we can't let our guard down." Mitzi says with a tired sigh. "And that goes for all of you. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am." The gang responds, along with Wick.

"Good. Dismissed for the day, see you all tonight."

Once out of the speakeasy and on the street, Paloma lets out a tired sigh and starts to walk in the direction of her home when she hears footsteps behind her. Tensing, she slipped her hand into her purse to grip the revolver hidden inside, ready to defend herself.

"You, lady from fight club." Paloma blinks in surprise and turns to see the large man from the fight club standing behind her and clutching something in hand.

"Oh! You're....umm..." Shoot, did she ever hear his name? She only remembered his fighting name.

"Kalle." The man responds and extends his hand to open it and reveal something small and pink. "Here."

"Oh! My bandana, thank you!" Paloma says when she takes the item to unfold it, smiling when she sees it's nice and clean.

"I clean it, no blood."

"I can see that, thank you, but how did you even find me?"

The man, Kalle, looks away sheepishly. "I...I ask around."

"I guess it's not too hard to go looking for me around here." Paloma laughs as she refolds the bandana to tie it on her head. "Thank you again, but I must get going-"

"Vait, I..." She feels Kalle grab her shoulder as she is turning away before letting go. When Paloma turns to look at him again, he's looking worried. "Sister, she gone."

Sister? Who was he talking about, and why did he assume she'd know this sister of his?

Kalle must have seen her confused expression before he reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a crumpled photograph to hand to her. The photo showed several adults and children, along with a slightly younger Kalle and he points to one of the people in the photo. "Sister, she here in America too."

Paloma squints at the girl he pointed to, examining her features. Very curly looking hair, a small tooth poking out of her mouth, wait-

"Kuura?" She asks and Kalle nods. "I didn't even know she was your sister, she mentioned she had a brother at the fight club but never...well, she failed to tell me it was you."

"Typical Kuura." Kalle mutters as he takes the photo back. "Can not find her."

"Well I saw her last night in the Marigold Room, she didn't look too well and disappeared when I was occupied, if that helps. Is something wrong with her?"

"She...I no say."

"Why not?"

"I promise."

"Well I can't find her if you can't tell me anything."

Kalle looks away uncomfortably. "I no tell, promise sister. Find her, please."

Huh, so Kuura is missing, God I hope she's okay. Paloma thinks as she watches Kalle walk away. Her poor brother must be worried sick about her, I wonder what happened.

As she turns to keep walking, Paloma hears a car honking loudly and turns to see one driving up to her. Seated in the front was none other than-

"Gabriel!" Paloma gasps as her brother climbs out of the driver's side to hurry over and hug her. "What are you doing here in the city?"

"Church related errands with Michael, and getting some things we cannot get from general store." Her twin laughs as he gestures to Michael, who scowls at her from the front passenger seat.

"Oh no wonder you're dressed like Michael." Paloma laughs, looking down at her brother's suit and cravat. "Actually you look like you're on your way to have a theater date."

"It's not a date, it's an errand!" Michael yells from the car.

"She's kidding!" Gabriel laughs. "Do you need a ride? Like to church or the house you're staying in?"

"Well I was going home, I already went to church earlier today."

"Home it is! Michael, detour?"

"Fine, as long as it won't be too long." Michael says from the back. "Oh I almost forgot, one errand involved giving you this."

He reaches into his coat pocket to produce a folded note and hands it to Paloma. She takes the paper and unfolds it to find Bobby's neat but still a bit messy scrawl with the words:

2 nights from now, new shipment

bring big car

"Oh good, we started giving people not watered down liquor and now we need more." She says as she tucks the note away into her purse. "I'll let Mitzi know when I get to work tonight. Come on, the kids should be home, I'm sure they'll love to see you again Gabriel."

Gabriel smiles but then it falters, he seems to be looking at Paloma intently.

"What, do I have lipstick on my teeth?" She asks and he quickly shakes his head.

"Nah, it's all good. Let's go."

-----

"So, what did she tell you?" Mordecai asks as Kalle enters the driver's side and sits down.

"She not know where Kuura is." The older man responds with a tired sigh and leans forward to rest his head on the steering wheel of the Cadillac. "What now?"

"We keep looking for her, obviously. She came home last night, all her things are gone now." Mordecai says with a small frown. Just like when she left that night.

He looks over across the street where Paloma still stood, now hugging someone who exited a car. He felt a pang of jealousy, now wondering who that was. He couldn't really see from this distance, aside from the fact that this person was dressed in dark clothes and had black and white fur.

"Not look like friend." Kalle says loudly, interrupting Mordecai's thoughts as he squints. "From her bar."

Mordecai wasn't so sure either, but now Paloma was chatting with someone in the car and laughing. For some reason, he finds himself exiting the car, briskly hurrying across the street while covering his face with the side of his coat to make it to the other side and staying out of view. From this distance, he couldn't see who was in the car, but he could see who she had been talking to, a tall lanky man with dark fur and hair with white spots and stripes that was tied back in a ponytail and dressed in a suit. Why did he look familiar? Paloma's attention is now on the car and she's accepting something to examine it, like a strip of paper.

"Oh good, we started giving people not watered down liquor and now we need more." He hears her say. "I'll let Mitzi know when I get to work tonight. Come on, the kids should be home, I'm sure they'll love to see you again Gabriel."

Gabriel? Like the twin brother he met briefly at the funeral who was upset that he was playing chess with checker pieces? What was he doing in St Louis?

As he's smiling at Paloma, Gabriel's expression suddenly changes. Damn it, he's been spotted. Mordecai quickly scoots out of view, praying neither Alvarez sibling would come this way. Instead he hears the sound of a car starting up and driving off, and he peeks around the building to see that Paloma, her brother and the car are now gone. Good.

Sounds to me like they're picking up a shipment with the Arbogasts, perhaps...oh this sounds exactly like something she'd do. Mordecai thinks as he hurries back to the car. I warned her, and now look at what's happened.

He didn't want to have to report to Asa about this, but was it necessary now that they've sort of made peace with Mitzi and her people at Selena's insistence? Probably not, but even his boss insisted on keeping tabs on those he called "friends".

"We'll have to pause the search for your sister today, we need to head to work." Mordecai says to Kalle as he enters the car's front passenger seat. "Just drop me off at the hotel, I have a meeting with Asa in half an hour and I'd prefer to be there beforehand."

"Sure." Kalle says softly, his voice sounding a bit hoarse and raw from probably crying. "I see you after, work today."

Kalle had mentioned before that he was going to start work as a gardener or groundskeeper for some rich individual, a side job no one would expect someone like him to take. Well, it was always good to have a "legal" job on the side as Atlas would put it, something to fall back on just in case. Sort of like how he used to do bookkeeping for Atlas' cafe, Viktor would do mechanical work, and Paloma would work as a cook and server. Did Kuura ever have a side job? He could never remember what she'd do when she wasn't acting as an attack dog for Asa, aside from hanging around that damned man he still wanted to shoot and his sister.

"Of course. And after work you can keep looking for her." Mordecai says as the car starts up. "We'll find her Kalle, people don't just disappear like that for no reason and without leaving a trail."

-----

"...and so he went tumbling off the roof and fell into a patch of bushes! You should have heard the poor woman scream when that happened!" Bobby laughs as he hands Paloma a cup of hot tea. "One would have thought he had broken his neck from the fall, but then moments later he comes crawling out with leaves stuck in his hair and asking where the hammer went! I thought Michael was going to faint when he saw that!"

"That's my twin for you, mama thinks he's part honey badger from how hardy he is." Paloma laughs. "I'm surprised many of my elderly relatives didn't die from heart attacks witnessing him doing stupid things like that and surviving them."

It was the night for that pick up of booze, Rocky and Calvin had gone out ahead to make sure everything was safe ahead, meanwhile Paloma and Ivy were in the barn with Bobby, Abelard, Gabriel and Michael waiting out the rain in the now fixed barn.

"What can I say? God is watching me." Gabriel laughs from his spot on a haybale. "Someone at church almost fainted when Abelard told them what happened. Some of the congregation think I'm indestructible."

"You're not, remember when you fell off a horse and broke your ankle?" Paloma scoffs.

"It was a tall horse and I was five."

"You were eight and it was a pony!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Dear god - stop arguing!" Michael snaps.

"How about you stop being sulky for a day." Paloma retorts.

"Déjalo en paz Paloma, he's just a little cranky." Her twin scolds.

"Cranky my ass, he's always like this when we see him. Would it kill him to smile or at least stop looking so sullen?"

"A smiling Michael is very off putting." Abelard mutters, glaring at the pile of cards in his hand as Ivy slapped another down on the hay they were using as a table.

"It's not so bad, we're just not used to seeing him smile." Bobby argues. "And the old man is convinced half the time the boy smiles, he's up to something. Oh I see the blinking lights now, that's your cue girls."

"And I was so close to winning!" Ivy groans as she slapped down her cards to stand up and stretch.

"We gotta get going before the rain gets worse." Paloma says before taking one more sip of her tea and handing the cup to her brother. "Thanks for doing business with us again, we seem to be doing better now especially since Marigold is kind of at peace with us."

"Never let your guard down, it's downright suspicious Asa gave in so easily." Abelard says as he stands up to stretch.

"It's because of his wife, she is making sure he won't do that."

"Even a woman as fierce as Selena can't reign in a man like that. Don't always count on her protection."

Shaking her head, Paloma gave her brother a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before hurrying back to the truck to climb into the driver side seat behind the wheel and turned the vehicle on. Ivy then follows, waving at the farmers before closing the door behind her.

"So when can I start driving the truck?" She asks as the car backs out of the barn.

"When you get a little better at driving, and when it isn't raining." Paloma responds as they start to drive past the farmhouse, waving at Elsa as she disappears into the safety and warmth of the house. "For now, I'm driving until you improve."

"Okay fair." The teen mutters.

They drive in silence, keeping their attention on the road, driving past the general store where Rocky and Calvin most likely made the phone call at. Suddenly, Paloma slammed on the breaks.

"Whoa!" Ivy yells as she almost flies into the dashboard of the truck. "What-"

"Look." Paloma is pointing ahead at the large familiar pie truck ahead, now toppled on its side. "Wait here, hold the gun."

Ivy nods wordlessly as Paloma grabs her shotgun and revolver from under the seat, along with the one Bobby gave them several months back before handing the teen the one that wouldn't jam. She then climbs out of the truck into the rain, wrapping her jacket tightly around her as she walks to the truck. The left side tires were deflated and she could have sworn she saw a puncture hole the size of a bullet in one, but her focus was more on the footprints surrounding the car that were starting to wash away with the rain.

Many of them were from shoes, but there was one set that looked like someone barefoot had been walking around in the rain. Of course it could have been anyone, like moonshine making farmers attempting to hijack a truck they thought was carrying booze, but a trampled and soggy yellow and red colored flower in the mud told her otherwise.

"Alright amor, where are you?" Paloma mutters as she looks around. The rain was making it hard to hear anything, and she could barely see much even with the headlights of the pig truck.

As she was squinting in the dark, Paloma somehow managed to catch the sound of a gun being cocked before she dove into the mud as the sound of rapid gunfire and a cackling laugh pierced the air. She hears Ivy scream and snapped her head up in time to see the younger girl running from the truck, tripping and falling into the mud.

"Ivy!" Paloma yells as she tries to get to her feet before another explosion of gunfire sounds and she is forced to move away. "Run!"

As she's trying to get to her feet, she hears someone approaching from behind her and she's now yanked onto her feet, an arm wrapped tightly around her chest while another is wrapped around her neck, keeping her in a headlock.

"Sorry cher, but this is necessary." She hears Nico say as her shotgun is yanked from her grasp by a grinning Serafine.

"¡Suéltate, maldito culo!" Paloma screams, trying to wriggle out of his embrace. "Now!"

"Sorry cher, but the fat man gave us orders and since we are on the clock, we have to follow them." The older woman says as she picks up the fallen shotgun with a free hand and examines it. "Hmm, a little outdated. Your employer really needs to upgrade your artillery gallery. Oh, he managed to catch the little vermin."

Paloma looks up to see a towering figure carrying a struggling Ivy under one arm and dragging an unconscious Rocky in the other before handing Serafine a revolver. It was hard to see who it was thanks to the truck's light casting a shadow over their features, but Paloma could still see the pale green eyes glaring daggers at her.

"Let go! Let go!" Ivy screams as she flails uselessly. "Freckle!"

"No noise." The tall figure holding her captive growls. Oh god...

"Kalle?" Paloma says and the glare softens. "Why-"

"Oh so you know Kuura's brother?" Nico chuckles before Kalle's eyes narrow again.

"No say her name." The taller man growls before saying something in a language Paloma didn't understand.

"Can't find the other one, but this rain and mud and the dense woods should be rid of him soon enough." A familiar voice says and Paloma feels her body tense. Mordecai steps around Kalle, pulling his gloves on before he reaches under his coat to draw out his pistol. "And be rid of these three too."

She could see his jaw clench tightly when he notices her and Nico, but says nothing as he cocks the gun.

"Wait if it's booze you want, take what we have in the truck!" Ivy yells desperately. "We won't deal with the Bobby and Abelard again! Promise!"

"I'm afraid it's not up to me, and frankly we aren't here for the liquor." Mordecai responds coldly.

"But we'll take it anyway." Nico says with a grin.

"After we kill you three." Serafine adds.

"Let the kid go, she's hardly involved!" Paloma snarls. "And the other guy isn't even a gangster!"

"Sorry, but we can't." Mordecai says as he steps close and pressed the end of his pistol to her forehead. "I'd say I'm sorry about what I'm going to do, but that'd be a lie. Goodbye, Paloma."

"At least look me in the eyes when you pull the trigger, amor." Paloma growls, and for a moment she sees a flash of hurt in his eyes. "But know this, killing me isn't going to solve anything for Asa."

Mordecai grimaces, but the hurt expression he was wearing before is now replaced by his usual expression. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Paloma hears the snap of a branch nearby before rapid gunfire starts to spray everywhere. Mordecai and Serafine are jumping back to avoid getting hit, Kalle drops Ivy and Rocky to do the same, but Nico keeps his grip on her as he yanks them both out of the line of fire. She could hear an all too familiar laugh in the woods, meaning Calvin was still alive and nearby.

"Freckle!" Ivy screams as she is trying to drag Rocky away. "Paloma help me! Ugh for a noodle body man you are heavy!"

"I'd like to but I'm a bit occupied!" Paloma yells as she tries to wrestle herself out of Nico's grip.

"Sorry this is a grip you can't escape from!" The boxer says, tightening his grip. "I don't want to snap your neck, stop wiggling!"

Well, she did as she was told - sort of. Paloma stopped squirming and felt Nico loosen his grip a bit, before she opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into the linen bandages and into his arm. Her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood as Nico let out a string of curses both in English, what probably was French and some other language she didn't know, giving her the chance to tear free from his grip and rush towards the other two.

"I got him!" Paloma yells as she grabs the violinist. "You get out of here, get to the general store if you can and phone the Arbogasts! Rocky wake up!"

"Uuuuuuhhhhhh....ma..." Rocky moans.

"Come on!" Paloma screams, slapping him across the face. "Wake up! Please - SHIT!"

She immediately drops her friend as she jumps back to avoid Nico swinging his fists at her, his eyes blazing with anger. Paloma dodges another swing and quickly balled up her own fists too, getting into a fighting position before she took a swing at him.

"Hold still!" The older Savoy yells as he dodges and took another swing at her head. Paloma manages to duck in time and rushes close to jam her elbow into his side, earning a grunt of pain.

"Ha!" She hears Kalle yell from somewhere.

There's a loud gunshot, but she's not sure where it's from or who shot it, but she took the opportunity to grab Rocky, remove the pistol from her hip that Serafine neglected to take and aimed it towards Nico to shoot. The boxer ducks, giving her time to drag Rocky as quickly as she could towards the pig truck where the door luckily was left open. As she was trying to shove him in, she heard someone approaching and quickly gave the violinist one last shove into the truck before she slammed the door shut and fired a bullet at an approaching Kalle, clipping him in the shoulder. The bigger man grunts in pain as Paloma tries to open the door of the truck, only to hear the sound of another gunshot and a searing pain in the front of her right leg.

"FUCK!" She yells as she falls onto her left knee, clutching her injured leg. She looks up to see Mordecai approaching, her shotgun in his grasp. "Ha...so this is how it ends for us...how appropriate."

"It wouldn't have gone this way if you had kept your head down, and stayed out of this or even retired." Mordecai says as he stands close, now pointing the barrel of the gun at her head.

For some reason, Paloma didn't even feel afraid, she felt nothing. Here she was, kneeling in the mud with the rain pouring down and soaking her to the bone, and her own gun being pointed at her head by the man she once loved. Where most people would have been weeping and begging for their lives, she felt no need to do that. Was this how her father felt before his death, forced to be on his knees as some military man pointed a gun at his head to execute him all because of his faith? What was going through his head before the gun went off? Did he resent her for not wanting to stay with the family? Was he thinking of her mother and siblings in his final moments? Her siblings, what would happen to them if Mordecai pulled the trigger and ended her life? Would Viktor and Elizia look after them? Would Nina look after them? They didn't know anything about this, they didn't know the loving older sister who took them in had her hands drenched in blood from the amount of criminals she killed all to provide alcohol to people who wanted something to drink, and they will never know. Gabriel, he'll be fine, right?

Paloma suddenly lets out a small laugh, and another, until she's now hunched over and full on cackling like Rocky. She didn't even have to look up to know Mordecai was looking at her with a mix of confusion and annoyance, clearly confused by her sudden change of emotion.

"Stop that, you sound like a lunatic." She hears her ex say as the gun prods her head. "You should at least die with some dignity."

Dear sweet Maria, Imelda, Leo, I'm sorry for what is about to happen. Considering what I've done, I'm not going to be seeing papa and abuelo soon. Paloma thinks before raising her head up, still laughing, she can't tell if she's actually crying or if it's the rain running down her cheeks. "Oh I think you and I know very well that I don't have any attention at this point."

"You wanted me to at least look you in the eyes when I shoot you, I'm at least going to do that." Mordecai says bitterly and she lets out another laugh.

"How kind of you, I wonder how many people you did that for before now."

"Well consider yourself the first."

Paloma lets out another laugh. "Wonderful, once again I'm your first for something you've never done before. Go ahead, take a shot. I'll tell Atlas you said hi if you'd like, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know how you abandoned his wife in her time of need and let his empire sink so bad we were forced to sell watered down river sludge to people."

She closes her eyes, bracing for the shot as she hears Mordecai cock the gun, but she never heard it go off or feel any sort of pain. Instead, she hears the sound of metal hitting someone and Mordecai yelping in pain before she hears two thuds and the truck moving. Paloma opens her eyes in time to see Mordecai lying on the floor and trying to get up, the truck door hanging open as Rocky stares down at the triggerman, a wild look in his bright blue eyes.

"That's for mocking my fashion sense! Oh and for messing with Pal's head!" The violinist shouts before looking back at her with a serious expression that made the tortie almost shudder in fear. "Run."

It's like something in his words triggered something in her, compelling her to do as he said. Paloma finds herself yanking her revolver out of Mordecai's grasp and rushing towards the woods, ignoring Kalle as he yells something after her, the pain in her leg from where she got shot no longer there. She's diving and leaping among the bushes, her heart is racing, the adrenaline is pumping through her, and for a moment she felt like she was seven years old again. She could almost feel the harsh sun beating down on her tiny frame as she runs, trying so hard to not trip on the rocks and sand under her feet, shoving aside the brittle tree branches that tried to hold her in place as the shouts of the soldiers could be heard getting closer and closer, the shotgun too big for her to carry still in hand but weighing her down. Discarding it was not an option, she needed it just in case. Her foot catches on something, probably an old tree root or a rock and she comes crashing down, her hands and knees scraping against the rough ground. She bites back a scream as she tries to scramble to her feet and grab the gun that had fallen from her grasp, and then-

BANG

Paloma lets out a scream almost like the ones she lets out before slamming her gun into someone, only she's the one now hurt, her left shoulder felt like it was on fire as she falls into the mud. She lets out a whimper and bites back another scream as she tries to get up, attempting to pull herself forward. There's a light up ahead, some sort of house or building just a few yards or so away. She tries to pull herself up, her body now starting to ache as she drags herself through the mud towards the building. Somehow she finds herself on her feet and dragging herself forward again, until her boots hit the edge of the bottom step.

Someone's inside, an old man wiping the counter and paying her no attention until he raises his head. Paloma raises an arm to wave at him, before she feels her legs give out from under her and she collapses on the stairs. The sounds around her are starting to fade, she could barely hear the sound of the door slamming open and the old man yelling something.

"Gaberi..." She manages to say before everything went dark and silent. I'm sorry...

----

"...please tell me she's not dead! I should have gone back to help!"

Paloma blinks awake and squints in discomfort when she sees a bright light being shoved in her face as a pair of fingers pried her eyes open.

"Stop..." She groaned, weakly lifting her hand to bat away at the hands touching her before Abelard, Michael and Calvin came into view.

"Paloma!" The younger man exclaims. "Ivy! Rocky! She's awake!"

Paloma grimaces as whatever she's lying on is jostled as Rocky, Ivy and Gabriel came into view, crowding her as they all chatted loudly.

"Alright that's enough! Give her space!" She hears Elsa yells before they're all pushed away and she and Bobby come into view. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I feel like I got trampled by a horse." Paloma responds weakly. "What..."

"You passed out in front of the general store, gave the owner quite a fright when he found you collapsed on the porch and bleeding out. Lucky for him, he was able to get the operator to connect to us and Gabriel and Michael were already on their way."

"You took a hit to the thigh and shoulder, lucky for you it didn't go so deep." Bobby adds, lifting up a bloodied handkerchief with something small and shiny in his palm. "Do you still collect those bullets you would dig out of your wounds, Viktor's wounds and Mordecai's wounds?"

"Bobby! Put that away!"

"What? Viktor told us about a box of these things she'd kept under her bed, many of them she dug out of her family members who got shot during that war! I knew a guy overseas who did it, I think he was from Belgium? It was a bit morbid but - dear God don't do that!"

Paloma was trying to sit up, grimacing in pain as she tried to ignore the awful sensation in her muscles, especially in her leg and shoulder. She had been laying on some sort of gurney or metal table, the pants leg of her injured leg was cut off quite high so she could see it heavily bandaged, and her shirt and sweater were now missing.

"Hey lay back down, you're gonna make yourself dizzy." Gabriel scolds as he tries to get her to lay back down again.

"You...all in danger...we need to leave - all of us." Paloma says as she tries to swing her legs down to get off the table, grimacing from the pain. "I think they know."

"Who?"

"Mordecai."

All the Arbogasts save for Michael's faces practically paled at the name, Bobby grabbing his wife to look at her in horror while Abelard started muttering under his breath and running a hand nervously through his hair.

"Who was that again?" Michael asks.

"Her ex boyfriend." Ivy responds with a frown. "And the guy who tried to kill us with his other Marigold friends."

"How long do we have?" Gabriel asks.

"I'm not sure, someone shot me while I was running towards the store so they might have seen you two and figured where the rest of you were at." Paloma admits. "Can I at least have a shirt? It feels weird to have just those linen wrappings covering me."

Calvin yelps as he slapped a hand over his eyes and over his cousin's while Michael quickly turns his head away in embarrassment. Gabriel just rolls his eyes before unbuttoning his own sweater to slip it on her and buttons it up.

"Come on, we have to leave before they show up." Abelard says as he helps Paloma off the table, steadying her when she almost falls over. "We can exit the backdoor so-"

There's a loud banging at the front door and everyone freezes. There's a muffled grunt before the door is shoved open by Kalle, followed by Serafine, Mordecai and Nico, all four were soaked from the rain, covered in mud and blood. Serafine and Mordecai are practically leaning onto the other to keep themselves from falling forward, Nico is rubbing at his arm while his bandana was wrapped around his head that seemed to be bleeding from one side, and Kalle is also bleeding from somewhere on his head. None of them had any guns or weapons in hand, but that didn't stop Gabriel and Paloma from rushing towards the couch to snatch up the shotgun and a revolver off of it and point it at the four injured gangsters.

"Whoa settle down!" Nico exclaims, holding a hand up in defense. "You wouldn't shoot a-"

"Yes I would." Paloma snaps, grimacing in pain. "Get out and never step foot here unless you want to be the next body on that table!"

"Do any of us look ready to take you in a fight?" Serafine snaps. "Look at all of us! Shot at in two places, almost choked out, bitten, shot in the shoulder, hit in the face with a car door, more bullets lodged in us that had to be carved out and head injuries!"

"I fine." Kalle says and Serafine glares at him.

"Look, we can help, but you all must stand down and stop fighting for now." Elsa says, putting herself between them and looks to the twins. "Set those down."

"Don't trust them Elsa, let them just bleed out. It'll save us the trouble." Paloma growls, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder.

"No. Go sit down, now. You are injured and the last thing I need is for all of you to bleed out on the carpet, so go sit down and behave yourselves. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." The twins mutter, lowering their weapons as the former nurse turns to the Marigolds with a stern expression. "Now I've had to treat my fair share of enemy soldiers once in a while, so I expect you four to be civil with the Lackadaisys as they have and behave yourselves whilst I patch you up and make sure you don't die in my house. Understood?"

There was a grumbling mix of "sure" and "yes" from the four gangsters before they walked to the couches to sit down, still glaring at the Lackadaisy gang, who glared right back.

"I'll just move these." Michael mutters as he grabs the guns left on the couch to take them towards the dining room so Serafine and Mordecai could sit down.

"I forget how scary my own wife could be." Bobby mutters to Paloma. "She once made a soldier break down crying after severely scolding him when she overheard him talking badly to a man weeping over getting his leg amputated."

"She sounds like my mom when she gets like that." Paloma mutters as she took a seat on the couch across from Nico and Kalle and rubs at the bandaged area on her shoulder, unbuttoning the sweater to take a look at it. It seemed like it hadn't bled through from moving it too much, thankfully. She looks up and sees Mordecai looking at her in a modified manner. "I don't know which of you four did this, but when I find out who, I'm gonna-"

"Do no such thing." Elsa interrupts as Michael returns carrying more tea cups in along with another pot. "Thank you Michael."

"It better be good tea." Mordecai mutters as a cup is filled and handed to Kalle. "Also Serafine, tell your brother to stop oogling at that woman."

"He's squinting at her and...I assume her brother." Serafine says as Nico narrows his eyes at the Alvarez siblings.

"Not identical twins?" He finally asks.

"No duh." Paloma scoffs as she is given some tea while Elsa is removing the bandana around the older man's head and twisting it so she could see the injury.

"I'm the oldest, Loma here is my dear little sister's twin sister." Gabriel says, slinging an arm around Paloma's shoulders and grabbing her face to squeeze it affectionately.

"I'm the older twin, pendejo!" She says and smacks the back of his head before pushing him away.

"Ah yes, you were the twin brother I attempted to play chess with when we went down to Mexico." Mordecai says as he accepts his cup and grimaces at the contents. "You were a bit of a poor sport when you lost."

"We had checkers! I was trying to play checkers, not chess!" Gabriel exclaims, his momentary cheerful demeanor vanishing.

"Gabriel, don't raise your voice." Elsa scolds as she is pressing a cloth to Nico's head and he makes an uncomfortable face. "Relax, I'm just disinfecting it so I can see if it needs stitching."

"Does this look infected?" Nico asks, lifting his arm. "A certain someone bit me."

"No it's not but I'll still tend to it. Who did that anyways?"

"Take a guess."

"Either the lunatic who raves at storms or the equally lunatic who collects bullets she digs out of herself." Michael mutters as he pours more tea before setting the pot down. "I'm going to move the weapons upstairs, just in case."

"The hell is this place anyways?" Serafine asks as she is removing her suit jacket and grimaces in pain.

"A funeral home, a farm, and many other things." Bobby responds. "We mostly make alcohol to sell, unfortunately after the death of these four's employer, your employer requested we mostly sell to him."

"Until one of them blackmailed us into being business partners with their gang again." Abelard adds before taking a sip of his drink. "If i recall right, she said Viktor and Paloma would not be happy we hurt the lunatic even if it was by accident."

"I'm surprised he's still even alive."

"It's terrifying."

"That's Roark for you." Paloma says with a shrug as Michael returns, this time carrying a flannel shirt and tossed it to her. "This looks too big to be yours."

"It's your brother's." He responds.

"I was wondering where that was." Gabriel laughs.

"And done." They hear Elsa say as she is wrapping a bandage around Nico's head. "So who is next?"

"I'd like to get my shoulder looked into, I think I got shot in the same spot I was shot in a few years back." Mordecai says as he removes his own suit jacket, vest and shirt. Elsa grimaces at the sight of the makeshift bandage hastily applied to the shoulder that was already quite bloody and starts to carefully remove it. "Bullet has been removed, I'd just like to have it cleaned and patched up properly."

"Should have gone for the head." Paloma mutters.

"Oh so that wasn't a warning shot? Seems like you need to work on your aim."

"Oh just like you should work on figuring out how to smile and not act like you have a stick up your ass?"

Mordecai's eyes narrowed. "Well at least I don't go around kissing strangers who don't have your best interests!"

"And I don't go dropping employers like they meant nothing to me!" Paloma snaps back.

The tension between them is thick, and the others are looking at them with a mix of awkward and worried looks. They're now on their feet, Elsa trying to pull Mordecai down as she's redressing his wound and their eyes practically glaring daggers at each other.

"Of course you love bringing that up, how petty of you." Mordecai sneers as Paloma slowly walks over.

"I never took you for an overly jealous man either, are you really so bothered by the fact I kissed someone who wasn't you?" She retorts.

"Please leave me out of this." They hear Nico mutter loudly.

"Peekon, don't." Serafine warns as she grabs his arm. "Sit down and-"

"Out." Mordecai suddenly growls.

"What-"

"EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" Paloma repeats.

Elsa looks between them and nods before finishing tying off the bandage and ushering her brothers and husband out the door, Serafine grabbing her brother and Rocky by their jacket and vest to drag them out the door. Gabriel doesn't move, despite Ivy and Freckle tugging at his coat sleeves to follow them, his copper eyes looking at her in worry.

"Hermana, ¿estás segura de que no quieres que me quede? ¿Por si acaso?" He calls out to her.

"Estaré bien hermanito, no te preocupes por mí." Paloma assures him with a small smile. "Go."

Gabriel still looks at her unsurely, but nods and allows the teens to lead him outside and shut the door behind them.

Now that they are alone, Paloma lets her smile drop as she turns to look at Mordecai with a cold glare. The older man is glaring at her too, rubbing at his injured shoulder where she shot him earlier. The room feels too quiet, save for the loud ticking of the clock on the wall and the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the house.

"Alright Heller, you want to talk?" Paloma asks, folding her arms over her chest. "Let's talk."

----

The last few times he ever had to "talk" to Paloma alone never seemed to end well, at least to Mordecai. This one most definitely wasn't going to end with him accidentally pinning her to the door and kissing her, it was the last thing he wanted. Yet seeing her again made his heart involuntarily flutter, at least until the stupid memory of what happened in the Marigold Room came to mind. Her flustered expression after kissing Nico, and the stupid smirk on his face when he pulled her in for a second kiss moments after their performance ended, just the mere thought of it made him feel angry.

"Oh, finally nothing to say? How odd." Paloma says, breaking the silence. "If you don't want to talk, I'm leaving, I have better things to do than deal with you."

"We told you to stand down and you refused to, why can't you ever just do as you're told?" Mordecai asks, stopping her in her tracks. "You've always been like this, it's annoying and frustrating all at once."

"Oh is that why you called me weeks ago in the middle of the night?" Paloma asks with a frown. "Funny, it sounded like you still cared."

"I cared enough to warn both you and Mitzi, yet you two refused to and now look at what's happened!"

"You clearly don't know me as well as you thought. I'm not that same girl you knew years ago anymore, one who'd blindly obey to everything you would say."

"Right, that same girl wouldn't have gone out of her way to kiss someone who's a known womanizer, have multiple flings and cares so little about their feelings! Were you so desperate for affection that you had to seek him out of all people? Did you kissing me back that night even mean anything to you?"

"How dense do you have to be to ask that?! Ever since that night it's been causing me nothing but stress and making me question everything!" Paloma exclaims. "Did I still have feelings for you, was this right, was this a good time to start feeling this? I was driven so mad by this I thought I was going to go insane! Yes I could have talked to you about it, but you are so difficult to talk to!"

"Oh I'm difficult to talk to? I'm difficult to talk to? Who refused to hear me out when I mentioned I had a new job?" Mordecai snaps. "Who is so damn stubborn you'd rather break things off and stick with a sinking ship of a gang that's practically picking random people off the streets for employees? Who have I spent months worried sick about, who often leaves me with no sleep over the worry that I was going to be forced to kill you on orders by my own boss? You! Every damed day since that lunch date I've been left worried sick for you, for Ivy, for even Mitzi! And then you had the nerve to act like I hardly care! If I didn't care, I wouldn't have saved you from getting swept off by that water in the quarry. If I didn't care, you'd be buried in some unmarked grave on Asa's orders! If I didn't care, I wouldn't have kept my mouth shut to him about how I still feel around you! If I didn't care, I wouldn't have convinced my associates to leave our weapons in the car before coming in here! So don't you dare tell me it wouldn't care because as sure as I am alive, I still care about you despite how selfish and stupid you've been for the past several months!"

There it was all out. Everything from over a year was out in the open, all these pent up feelings were out and the stunned look on Paloma's face was very much worth it. He could see she had more than a dozen thoughts and questions going through her head at this moment before her eyes started to water up and she hastily wipes them away.

"I'm going to fight you now." She finally says, gritting her teeth.

Mordecai lets out a scoff. "Oh are you-"

BAM

He nearly drops to the floor as he stumbles back from the blow to the snout, bumping into the couch. He touches his nose and removes his hand to find blood on it, and the sight of it for some reason fills him with rage. That hand curls into a fist, and much to his surprise, he manages to get Paloma right in the nose too.

Well, that wasn't enough for her, or for him. The two lunged at each other, trading blows and shoves, their claws out and swiping at each other as they fought like a pair of feral animals. The last time he felt this way was several years ago when Atlas had sent him and Viktor to deal with some of Marigold's competition, when she was falling down the stairs and attempting not to die at the hands of the man who shot him in the shoulder as they tumbled down the stairs before he put an end to him by means of a sharp end of a stick. But this was different, he was not fighting some larger and grown man who wanted him dead, he was fighting someone he once loved more than he should have allowed himself to, her bright eyes dancing with a rage he'd only seen reserved for her enemies as she practically body slammed him into the floor, making his injured shoulder flares up in pain.

That pretty much knocked the wind out of him, leaving him gasping for air as Paloma stood over him, the bandages on her leg and her shoulder now sporting several large spots of blood, and her hair now had fallen loose from that braided bun she had been sporting earlier. He almost expects her to finish him off, but instead, she sinks to her knees and collapses right on top of him, making Mordecai hiss in pain. He had no energy to push her off, all he could do was just lay there as they both tried to catch their breath.

"I can't...I can't..." He hears her whisper, her voice cracking with emotion before a small sob escapes her. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?" Mordecai manages to say, his voice barely a whisper.

Paloma didn't answer, she just let out another choked sob.

He had no strength to move, so all he could do was just lay there on the floor and try to ignore the pain in his shoulder as Paloma still laid on top of him, occasionally letting out a small sob or two. After a while, she manages to pick herself off the floor, wiping at her eyes and practically lifts him off the floor. When did she get so strong and how did she have the strength to do that despite her injuries? She then carries him back to one of the couches and unceremoniously drops him right down onto it, before she sits down next to him with a tired sigh.

"You good?" She asks after a few moments of silence.

"My shoulder still hurts, even worse than before." Mordecai admits quietly.

"I'm not sorry about shooting you in the shoulder."

"I don't expect you to be."

Paloma let out a tired sigh as she slumped against him, much to his surprise. And even more to his surprise, Mordecai finds himself leaning against her as well, resting his cheek against her head. Despite being soaked from the rain and rolling in the mud earlier, he could still get a whiff out of that perfume she always wore, involuntarily making his heart flutter. They sat there like that, listening to the sounds of the rain hitting the roof and the low rumble of thunder in the distance. For some reason right now, he thought back to that one time Paloma convinced him to stay in bed a half an hour longer than necessary just so they could lay there and listen to the sound of the rain, almost being pulled to sleep by the noise.

"You know, I wouldn't have had to have done that if you hadn't left us. If you loved me then as much as you claimed, why didn't you stay?" Paloma says, breaking the silence again.

"It was time to move on, but I didn't want to leave you behind." Mordecai admits quietly, as he feels his tail brush against hers. As if by instinct or habit, he feels the two intertwine the way they used to when they would take their walks together at the park in the evening or stand together while standing guard of Mitzi and Atlas. "I loved you enough to never want to leave you, but you just had to be stubborn."

"So were you." Paloma points out and he feels her hand brush against his before she places it on top and laces their fingers together. "Also that night, I only kissed Nico to make you jealous. I did it because I was unsure if you really did still love me after that kiss we had at the party, it was stupid of me. I...I am sorry about that. I did slap him after he kissed me, if that makes you feel any better."

"Well...I'm glad you're coming clean about it." Mordecai says quietly.

This was wrong, they shouldn't be here like this. One or both of them should have been dead, or injured worse than what they came in with, not sitting on the couches of a funeral home aching from beating the stuffing out of each other and being affectionate as they used to be when they were still together. But deep down, he didn't want to stop this. Just a small part of him wanted to stay and hold Paloma close, maybe be a bit more affectionate with her than when he'd feel up to it. That part of him wanted to just fall back into what they had, and oh how badly did he want to give in.

"I still want you, Paloma." Mordecai finds himself saying. "I still do."

She could reject him, she had every right to. He'd gone through too much trouble to cause her grief and give her a reason to not want him anymore, and he wouldn't blame her for it. Yet...he finds himself now looking into her eyes, their faces now quite close enough to bump noses. He had almost forgotten how pretty her eyes looked in the warm light, like the soft glow of a candle or a sunset.

"I still want you too." Paloma finally says softly. "Even after all this time."

It all seemed to happen a bit too quickly, but for once Mordecai didn't care. All he could focus on right now was how his heart pounded loudly in his chest as they pulled each other close and kissed. It had been a few weeks since they kissed like this, even if it was by accident, but it still felt just as good.

"We shouldn't be doing this." He mumbles, breaking the kiss for a moment.

"Do you even want to stop?" Paloma asks, her arms still wrapped around his neck.

His only response is to pull her close again and keep on kissing her. He didn't want to let her go, he didn't want this to stop, all he wanted right now was to enjoy the fluttering feeling in his chest and the feel of Paloma's lips on his as they clutch each other-

"Alright enough! If you keep that up, it'll lead to the worst sin you could commit!"

Mordecai stiffened and pulled away from Paloma to look at the door where Michael stood, looking a bit flustered but quite annoyed. He didn't even know what this man was talking about, at least until he realized Paloma was leaning against the armrest of the couch and he was...well...now he was somewhat on top of her.

"Michael!" Paloma gasps as she sits up in haste. "We weren't-"

"Yes you were!" The man yells as Gabriel appears at the door and tries pulling him back outside.

"Leave them be!" Paloma's twin groans. "I'm so sorry, he's a bit...uh...well-"

"Mood ruined, I can't do this." Paloma mutters as she gently nudges Mordecai to move back, allowing her to get off the couch.

"Well this is embarrassing." Mordecai says as he gets off as well, attempting to adjust his clothes and wincing when the pain in his shoulder flares up. He was probably going to need a sling again, at least this time he won't be having any children bothering him about - no wait the Sweet children would, ugh.

Glancing back, he catches Paloma putting on the flannel shirt she was given earlier, also wincing in pain from moving her shoulder so much. With an annoyed sigh, he gently turns her to face him and proceeds to help her button the shirt up before adjusting the collar that was sticking up funny. Thanks to the lack of a bandana around her neck, Mordecai caught sight of something red on her neck and moved the collar to see the choker - that same chocker he thought he saw her wearing the night of Nico's party that he bought her all those years ago. Even after everything, she still held onto it? Paloma hastily pulls away from him, quickly grabbing her cap from the couch and rushes to the stairs run up, returning a few moments later with several guns in her arms before she hurries outside.

Mordecai follows, finding Kalle being tended to by Elsa while Nico and Serafine sat on some chairs nearby. Bobby and Abelard were quietly talking to Gabriel, while Michael stares off into the distance, a little cigarette hanging from his mouth. Ivy and the other two cats were nearby, taking their guns back from Paloma. When she glances back at him and their eyes meet, she quickly looks away with a flustered expression.

"We should get going, before the missus worries." Paloma says hastily as she fits her cap back on. "We'll come back for the pie truck tomorrow."

"So, same time tomorrow?" Nico jokes, earning a glare from her and Ivy. "It's a joke cher, I promise."

"Joke or not, you all need to go home and rest." Elsa scolds. "And that means you too Paloma. Come back in a week for the truck, we'll have it fixed by then."

"And you'll have an excuse to visit your favorite brother in the world!" Gabriel jokes as he flings his arms around his sister, earning a hiss of pain from her before she starts smacking him before she's released.

"More like a pain in my ass!" Paloma snaps before glaring at the other three Marigolds. "Follow and I'll blow your heads off with no hesitation."

"Well, that was interesting." Serafine comments once the four were off the porch and piling into the pig truck. "What even happened in there?"

"He was kissing her." Michael says before Mordecai could respond. "And I stopped it before they went further."

Serafine blinks in surprise. "You're joking, right? This guy having a heated kissing session with one of our rivals? Especially after the fight from earlier?"

Mordecai felt his face flush with embarrassment, those feelings from earlier now gone. "You tell Asa and-"

"Tell that old man what?" Nico laughs. "He may pay us, but we don't snitch. And you know what they say about snitches in this line of work."

"If you're all done making a mess of our house, you can leave." Elsa says loudly. "Now."

"Please." Bobby adds hastily.

"With haste." Abelard mutters. "Before this one goes for a gun."

Mordecai turns to see Gabriel now glaring at them, his cheerful and friendly demeanor now gone and replaced with a more angry one. It was rather very unnerving how he looked so much like his sister, especially when angry.

"Right, pardon our intrusion." The triggerman says as he hurries back inside and grabbed his bloodied shirt, vest and coat. As he was about to walk out the door, the older woman grabbed his arm. "What now?"

"Don't do that to her." The ex nurse says softly. "Playing with her feelings, you're better than that."

Mordecai grimaces. "I wouldn't do that to her. She doesn't deserve to have her heart broken again, especially by me of all men. Good bye, Elsa."

He follows his companions back to the car, redressing himself in the process. It had stopped raining, that was good at least, but what was he going to say to Asa about this? Surely he'd find out even if the Savoys and Kalle kept their word, but he wasn't worried about what would happen to him. He'd hate to think of what that man would do, he knew what he was capable of and not even his wife could protect those four.

"So...about what happened there." Nico says as they enter the car.

Mordecai stiffens. "Say anything to Asa and -"

"Why would we tell our employer of your private activities?" Serafine asks as the car roars to life. "What you do off the clock is your business. If you want to go necking the tortie you claim you have no love for, go ahead. We don't judge, besides, that'd be quite...interesting for you. And you look like you could use a bit of thrill."

"He almost did." Her brother snickers. "Bet if they hadn't been interrupted we would have walked in on-"

"We will speak no more of this!" Mordecai snaps, now feeling flustered. "We will speak or think no more of this! What happened here, stays here!"

"Fine by me."

----

It had been less than a week since...that incident, and Paloma was hating that she was forced to stay home. It was hard having to explain her injury to her siblings and Nina, forcing her to lie and claim she had to deal with a rough customer at the cafe. Thankfully, her three proteges were up for keeping quiet, with some small threats sprinkled in involving swapping the good syrup for something healthier, no driving lessons, and the mere mention of one's mother.

Viktor was taking her place for now, along with another new bartender they managed to hire recently, Nina had the three kids over at her home for a sleepover, leaving Paloma alone at the house with just her books and the radio for company. Mrs Bapka was also out, claiming she was going to spend time with friends, so there were no slimy fish sandwiches being shoved into her hands to be eaten. At the moment, she was curled up on the armchair with a book in her lap, trying to focus on the pages, but her thoughts kept falling back to Mordecai.

She never knew how he felt, and of course she felt terrible for what she did that night in the Marigold Room with Nico. Of course she wasn't expecting them to break into a fight, and for them to end up kissing. Well, at least thinking about it didn't make her want to bust out screaming - sometimes. She almost expected him to call or show up at the house, but Mordecai never showed or called.

He's recovering too, I shouldn't be expecting him to overexert himself just to give me attention. Paloma thinks as she flips a page. And who knows if he's even home at this hour. I feel like we need to talk, about this of course.

As she is turning another page, a knock at the door interrupts her. Paloma blinks in surprise, looking at the clock on the wall. It was around nine in the evening, no one in their right mind would be out and about making house calls, right? Unless...

Her revolver was on the table, ever since that day she kept it close just in case Asa decided to send some of his other gangsters to finish off the job. No one she knew would come at this hour, especially Mordecai if she knew him as well as she claimed. After checking to make sure she had six bullets in the chamber, Paloma slowly walks to the door as the pounding on the wood got more louder to the point it sounded like someone was trying to kick it down, hiding it behind her back.

"It's late, what do you - oh...why are you here?"

Standing on the doorstep, looking a lot worse for wear, was none other than Kuura. Her curling hair was practically falling out of the messy bun, her fur was looking unbrushed, she's wearing a very large sweater that certainly didn't belong to her, and there were dark circles under her eyes like she had gotten no sleep for the past few weeks. What was she doing here?

"I need to talk with you, inside." The shorter woman says in a hoarse voice. "Please."

Still feeling wary, Paloma nods and steps aside to let her in, keeping the gun hidden out of sight to let Kuura into the foyer. "Your brother has been looking for you, he stopped by my job to ask if I had seen you."

Kuura lets out a tired laugh. "Oh, at least someone cares. Nice to know that."

"Why wouldn't he care? He's your brother."

"It doesn't matter, I'm surprised anyone aside from Selena cared about me."

What an odd thing to say, but then again aside from Kalle, neither of the other three Marigolds spoke of her disappearance.

"You said you wanted to talk." Paloma says as she shuts the door behind them. "What's the matter?"

Kuura looks unsure, glancing around nervously before taking in a shaky deep breath and releases it slowly. "I need you to come with me."

"Uh...why?"

"No questions, just come. Now."

Paloma looks down at the nightdress and robe she is wearing. "You do realize I can't go out dressed like this."

"Doesn't matter, you come now." Kuura responds, her nervous tone now starting to turn irritated.

"Now hold on, I just can't-"

Paloma barely had time to react as Kuura suddenly whips a sharp knife out from under the sweater and jabs it at her stomach. She quickly dodges, quickly whipping out the gun from behind her back to point it at the shorter woman.

"Take one step and I'll shoot." Paloma warns. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you explain what the hell is going on. On second thought, you're here because of Asa aren't you? I'm guessing he's mad that Mordecai, Nico, Serafine and your brother didn't kill me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I've been away since the night you showed up at the hotel and proved me right about something!" Kuura snaps, her voice quivering slightly. "I don't know if I should be thanking you or feel enraged about that."

"You are not making any sense, put the knife down and we can talk like a pair of civilized women. And the last thing I need is to put a few holes in the walls, so don't do anything funny and I won't shoot you, got it?"

Kuura looks like she's about to burst into tears, but she drops the knife like she is told and kicks it towards Paloma, who picks it up.

"Now, talk." Paloma orders. "Actually, explain to me what you meant by your earlier statement. Does it have anything to do with why you need me to come with you?"

Kuura's face contorts in rage for a few moments before it fell, now looking sad. "You kissed Nico that night, right?"

Paloma looks at her in confusion. "Umm...yes? But I-"

"And he kissed you back afterwards."

"Yes but-"

"Well, he proved me right, he doesn't give two shits about me. I could never understand why he was so infatuated with you, aside from the fact that you are pretty and have a feisty personality. You never once gave him any sort of attention, you looked downright hateful towards him that day at the ice cream place, yet he still went out of his way to talk and flirt with you!" Kuura rambles. "And that day at the birthday party he was practically glued to you and looking at you with this look I've never seen him give me and his other flings and-"

"Kuura, are you...jealous?" Paloma interrupts. "And in love with Nico?"

Kuura lets out a sudden burst of nervous laughter. "W-what makes you think that? Why would I be in love with such a floozy of a man when-"

"You sound too much like those jilted lovers from the romance novels I've read, you looked upset momentarily that night at the birthday party when he kept his attention on me, and you're crying as you are rambling about him." Paloma explains. "Look, just because I kissed him that night in the Marigold Room doesn't mean I was in love with him."

"Don't you kiss people you like or are in love with?" Kuura asks, her voice now quiet.

"Well yes, but I'm not in love with him. I..." Her hand trails up to her neck, touching the stain red choker. "I think I'm still in love with Mordecai. There was no love put into that kiss that night, I only kissed Nico for the most stupid of reasons but none of them were for love. Yes he can be charming when he's not being annoying and flirty at the wrong moments, but never once have I ever felt any sort of love or affection towards him. That probably wasn't my smartest idea so he probably now thinks I do have a thing for him and - Dios mio are you crying?!"

"I'M NOT, IT'S JUST DUSTY IN HERE!" Kuura sobs as she's hastily trying to wipe off the snot coming from her nose with one hand and the tears from her eyes with the other. "Very dusty! You need to clean better!"

"I'd give you a handkerchief but mine's upstairs in my room." Paloma sighs, shaking her head.

"Go get it, and bring clothes too, you're still coming with me." Kuura says with another sob. "No questions!"

Well, she had a lot of questions now, but Paloma figured it'd be best to do as she was told. She hurries up the stairs to her room, hastily changing out of her night clothes and into a clean pair of pants, a shirt and throws a sweater over it before hastily shoving her feet into some boots. Once dressed, she rummages around her closet for her old suitcase and proceeds to start tossing as many clothes as she could into it as well as some shoes before tossing some books into it as well for good measure and closes it. Once she was sure she packed enough, she grabs a handkerchief from her drawer and proceeds to drag the suitcases down the stairs to the foyer where Kuura is waiting, now no longer crying.

"Here, your face is really dirty right now." Paloma says, holding the soft pink square out to Kuura, who hastily takes it and proceeds to loudly blow her nose. "So can you tell me where we are going and why you are threatening me with a knife to go with you no questions asked?"

"I'll explain when we get there." Kuura says with a sniffle as she carefully stuffs the handkerchief into her pocket. "We need to leave now."

"Can you at least tell me why you need me of all people to help you? I'm sure someone in the Marigold gang like Serafine would be more helpful for -"

"Selena said to come to you, you know better about what I have going on with me and you could help. I can't ask Serafine or any other Marigolds or even my brother for help with this."

What did she mean by that? Paloma really wasn't liking how cryptic and evasive Kuura was being with her answers, but she promised to tell her when they arrived wherever they were going.

"Fine, but no more secrets when we get to wherever we are going, okay?" She finally says as she follows Kuura to the door.