"You know, staring at that isn't gonna have her running back to you." Mordecai snapped his watch shut in haste and turned to see Nico standing in the doorway of the hotel, cigarette in hand. "You miss her, don't you? The Paloma girl? I thought she was just an "acquaintance", but that doesn't seem to be the case if you have her photo on your person."

"Shouldn't you be upstairs in your room doing whatever it is you do for your god or patron?" Mordecai asks in annoyance as he opens the watch again, gazing at the photo and letting out a tired sigh. "I keep meaning to remove it, but I can never bring myself to. It...unfortunately reminds me of the more simple times."

"How'd you two even meet anyways?"

"None of your business."

"So should I ask her myself next time we meet?"

Mordecai's face darkens. "Take a step near her and-"

"I kid cher, I kid!" Nico laughs. "But sooner or later, our paths will have to cross at some point. Or one of these days we just end up seeing each other in broad daylight in public, like getting groceries, picking up bread or something. But anyways, if you want to keep the photo, go ahead. Nothing wrong with keeping it for sentimental reasons, hoping she'd want to get back with you. Maybe you could ask our patron for a little help with your love life, give you both a nudge in the right direction in getting back together."

"First off, I am not into that sort of thing. And second, I highly doubt she even wants me anymore." Mordecai retorts. "You saw how she was in the car that night, or did you miss the sour and angry expressions and the gun she pointed at us because you were too infatuated with her?"

"If anyone failed to notice the gun and her intent to kill you, that's on them. But lucky for us, Kuura subdued her." Nico says with a shrug. "Well, if you don't want to ask our patron for help, fine. But you should do something about those lingering feelings, Peekon. The more you let them fester, the worse they will get. Either extinguish them and move on, or wallow in your pity and have your judgment clouded by the love you still hold for her. Or, even better, take a chance to win her heart again. Third option, I could perhaps help with that."

"I wouldn't trust you or your sister with my laundry or failing love life."

"Fair, but...ah. Ah! You admitted! You had a love life!" Nico laughs and smacks Mordecai on the back hard enough to almost make him fall over. "Okay tell you what, I give you a hand in winning her back and -"

"I am not continuing this conversation, we have an important meeting with Mr Sweet right now." Mordecai says as he snatched his hat off the floor and elbowed his way past the boxer to enter the hotel.

"Alright, your loss Peekon!" Nico laughs as he follows. "Don't blame me if she falls for me when you could have won her back."

Mordecai felt himself bristling at that comment, but said nothing. That awful emotion of jealousy was stirring in him again, and he was not liking it. If he even had the time to try and pursue Paloma again, he would, but right now there were more important things to deal with at this moment than his love life. For instance, several weeks ago two of their own Marigold members were ambushed and sent to the hospital, a pair of men named Wes Clyde and one who everyone just referred to as Fish. Only one had somewhat recovered from his injuries and came running straight to them to tell Asa what happened, hence this meeting.

The two men soon entered Asa's office where he was seated behind his desk with a lit cigar in his mouth, Kuura seated on the desk sharpening a scythe with a rock, and Serafine seated in a chair twirling one of her knives between her fingers. Next to her sat one of the men, his head bandaged, a large gaudy thing wrapped around his neck for support and his arm in a sling.

"The hell happened to you Savoy?" Asa asks when he spots them coming in. "Boxing fight go wrong?"

"Oh this thing?" Nico asks, pointing to his eye injury. "Nah, it'd be worse if it was. This was from....couple of days ago. Little kid at her ma's bakery was sweeping the floors and accidentally poked me a bit too hard with the wooden end of the broom. The whole side of my face would have been busted up if I had been in a match recently, or I'd still be in my room recovering."

"Kids, never liked them." The man next to Serafine mutters. "Annoying snot nosed little brats."

"No one asked for your opinion, Wes." Serafine retorts as she stops playing with her knife. "Or should I say, weasel face."

The man next to her glares, but says nothing, earning a chuckle from Asa and a snort from Kuura.

"Alright enough chitchat, to the heart of the matter. Wes was it?" Asa says as he sits up in his chair. "Now, back in May you were busy keeping tabs on the Arbogasts and their farm to make sure no other gangs or buyers tried getting the good stuff from them. But recently something happened, would you care to tell us in more detail?"

"Fish and I got ambushed by a pair of thugs, I don't even know what gang they were from, they never said or wore anything that would affiliate them to any of the known gangs." The man man, Wes, said and grimaced. "Just my luck to get ambushed by a pair of maniacs."

"You sure they were even gangsters?" Nico asks. "Could have been a bunch of hoodlums and moonshiners from a farm looking to get themselves better booze. There was a pig farm me and my sister would use to get rid of bodies and the guy who lived there ran his own moonshine business and speakeasy, nasty tasting shit. He used to sell his own stuff and bottles he was buying off someone else."

"Do farmers dress in suits and go driving pie trucks?" Wes snaps, turning around in his seat to glare at the boxer. "Or are armed with a Tommy?"

"A bunch of farmers I met with did." Asa comments. "Of course that didn't end well for them. Anyways, someone ambushed you and your companion, did you catch a name or anything?"

"No. Ugh if I ever see that maniac laughing freak I'm gonna-"

"Describe their appearance." Mordecai interrupts.

"It was dark, I can't describe how they looked!" Wes protests.

"Well then how were you able to tell what sort of gun one of them had? Or if they were even men at all?"

"Look at me! Does this look like something a woman would do?" Wes asks angrily, getting up from his seat to show them his injuries.

"Probably not someone like Serafine or Kuura." Nico snorts. "What was her name again? The gal we met the other night who our boss was trying to get? Maybe she'd do that, heard she could do a lot of physical damage to someone with the right tools."

"It wasn't a woman! They didn't even sound like women! At least the one I talked to was clearly a guy!" Wes snaps. "The details of his face are fuzzy, but he clearly set up some sort of ambush! We need to find out who this was and get rid of them if we want to keep those funeral home running farmers under our control!"

"Alright calm down, no need to get worked up." Asa scolds. "I suppose this is rather serious, and we were unaware of this for so long so those folks now have no one to keep an eye on them. Should send at least more than two men to keep the place guarded.

"Allow me to at least investigate this." Mordecai says, stepping forward. "See who we are up against, I'll report back to see how we should handle these people."

"Fine, I'll allow it." Asa says before letting out a puff of smoke. "You know the drill, take your team with you."

"Sir-"

"Oh getting rid of us already cher?" Nico teases. "And here I thought we were becoming friends."

"Gonna need someone to supervise you anyways." Serafine laughs. "So, when do we even start?"

"The sooner the better. Dismissed, except for Miss Havu." Asa says as the smaller woman is about to hop off the desk.

"Hmm?" Kuura says, turning and pointing at herself.

"Yes. Now the rest of you, go."

"Wonder what he wants with her." Serafine says as the four of them exit the office.

"Beats me, but she's his best attack dog so it probably has something to do with the wife and kids." Nico says with a shrug. "Speaking of, did- why the fuck are you still here?"

The man, Wes, just glares at him. "It's a public hallway."

"Yeah but this is a private conversation."

"How about we head up to our room, it's more private." Serafine suggests as she grabs Mordecai by the arm and drags him and her brother away. "Come on, Kuura will know where to find us."

Once they were in the suite and the door was locked, the three took a seat. At least it was quiet in here, a lot better than when that whole congregation of theirs wasn't here.

"So, what's the plan hatchet man?" Nico asks once they are settled.

"For what?" Mordecai asks in annoyance.

"Dealing with those folks who took out two thugs?"

"You mean Wes and Fish." His sister corrects. "Those two aren't exactly...strong. But we should still be cautious."

"Perhaps for starters, we should be observing the farm, checking for anyone suspicious coming and going."

"The gang I used to be affiliated with used to deal with this family, I wouldn't be surprised if they went back to working with them again." Mordecai comments with a frown. "They...sometimes if things were getting bad, they'd send out these false newspaper clips written in code to tell where they're stashing some of their alcohol."

"Clever, so how we gonna get them?" Serafine asks, leaning forward.

"Check various graveyards at night, if we spot a car near the graves that'll be our sign to go check them out. No one has any business being in a graveyard at night, especially with shovels."

"Any ideas who it could be?" Nico asks.

"I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with my former gang."

Nico lets out a chuckle. "Ah, the one your former girlfriend is still associated with? Good, been wanting to see her again for some time."

Mordecai felt a small growl rise in his throat as his tail thrashed. "Focus Nico, we have a job to do. I'm surprised her pointing a gun at your ugly mug didn't deter you from still wanting to pursue her."

"And I'm surprised she even found yours attractive enough to kiss!"

"Which you will never do!"

"Alright enough!" Serafine yells as both men jump out of their seats. "Both of you, sit your asses down!"

"I am back!" They hear Kuura yell as she enters the suite. "So, what plan?"

"Staking out a graveyard, starting who knows when." Serafine replies and turns to the two men. "Alright if you two are gonna fight, do it outside. Otherwise, drop the matter."

Mordecai simply glares at Nico, who just smirks before they both take their seats and Kuura walks over to plop herself on the armrest of the older Savoy's chair and lean against him. What did she even see in him?

"So, we're gonna be heading to every graveyard in Missouri or something?" Serafine asks. "Sounds like a waste of time unless you can narrow it down for us."

"I have a few in mind we could check out tonight and tomorrow." Mordecai responds. "One way or another, we'll catch these thieves."

----

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Rocky screams as he thrashes about on the ground in pain.

"Oh don't be such a big baby, you'll be fine!" Paloma scoffs. "I just put your arms back in their sockets, saved you a trip to the hospital."

"Is Roark being dramatic again?" They hear Nina yell from inside.

"She shoved my arms back in place!" Rocky cries out. "It hurts!"

"Good! That'll teach you to not play stupid in front of a bunch of children. Now behave yourself, and set a good example for Leo!"

The two gangsters were in the backyard of Nina's home with Paloma's younger siblings, at least trying to enjoy the summer while Calvin was inside attempting to fix up the fridge with Imelda. Rocky had set about attempting to entertain the remaining teen and the toddler by tying a rope between a tree and the fence in an attempt to recreate a tightrope, only to fall and somehow dislocated both arms from their sockets.

"Dead?" Leo asks, poking Rocky in the face.

"No, just being dumb." Paloma responds as she fans at her face. "Dios mio, it's boiling today! Makes me wish we could go swimming."

"Sadly everyone in St Louis is probably clogging up all the swimming holes, rivers and lakes to take a dip." Rocky says as he sits up and fiddles with one of the buttons of his shirt to pop it open. "Do you even know how to swim?"

"We used to swim at a nearby river in my town, but I thought I was going to drown the first time I got thrown in a lake. It was...oh the first summer I was here in the city." Paloma says and chuckles. "Mitzi insisted on the band and the other gangsters come to a lake to cool off, Zib got buried in the sand because he was...well...not in a swimsuit."

"Yeah maybe don't say that in front of the k-i-d."

"Kid!" Leo yells.

"Oh great he can spell, wonderful."

"Too hoooot!" Maria groans from the grass, removing the book she was trying to use to shield her face from the sun.

"Lemonade anyone?" They hear Nina call out as she exits the house with a pitcher and several cups on a tray.

"Thirty!" Leo yells excitedly as he rushes up to her. "Pea?"

"Th-err-st-y, thirsty. It's thirsty. And you say please. Pl-ea-se." Nina corrects him as she set the tray down on a table and pours a cup to hand to him. "At least he's getting better at English, it's only been a month."

"It helps that you're teaching it." Paloma says as she gets up to walk over and accept a glass. "And the fridge?"

"I think they're done with it, but we'll have to see. At least it's warm out for the laundry to dry."

"Leemoon!" Leo says as he walks back to Rocky with his half finished glass of Lemonade and offers it to him. "Drink!"

"You know, down near the diner there's a new ice cream shop that just opened up, the prices look adorable." The violinist says as he accepts the cup to finish off the drink. "You kids want some ice cream?"

"¿Que es?" Maria asks as she sat up.

"It's like...sweet frozen milk, but flavored." Paloma explains. "There's vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. And this new one that's supposed to be all three flavors in one scoop."

"Chocolate?" Leo asks, his little copper eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Aww, he looks like Freckle when he was a baby getting all excited over chocolate milk." Rocky chuckles and looks at his aunt. "You don't mind if I kidnap these kids for a little treat, do ya? And Calvin?"

"If their sister agrees." Nina responds with a shrug. "And as long as you don't do any reckless driving."

"Will do!" Rocky says as he gets up and dusts his pants off. "Hey Freckle! Tell Pal's sister that we are taking you guys out for ice cream!"

"Treat!" Leo yells as his sister picks him up.

"Yes we're going for a treat." Paloma chuckles.

Once the kids were packed into the car, the group drove off into the city before arriving at the ice cream shop. By no surprise it was a little crowded, but they managed to find a table for the kids to sit at while Paloma and Rocky got ice cream.

"Alrighty, here's chocolate for Freckle and baby Freckle, strawberry for Maria and Imelda, vanilla for Paloma, and a whole new flavor of all three for me!" Rocky says as he hands out the small cups. "Eat up before it melts!"

Leo squinted at his ice cream suspiciously and gave it a small poke. "Look funny."

"It's just ice cream. Taste it, it's good!" Paloma says as she scooped some into a spoon and holds the spoon out to Leo. He cautiously takes it and shoves it into his mouth, before he lets out an excited squeal and gets another spoonful of the treat to shove into his mouth. "¿Ves? It's so good!"

"So sweet!" Imelda gasps. "How is made?"

"I really don't know, but it's very tasty." Rocky says as he eats his. "It tastes better while suffering from the heat doesn't it? Miss M should add this to the menu, maybe we'll get more customers this way and extra revenue for the Little Daisy."

"I'll suggest it to her when I see her." Paloma says as she eats another spoon of her ice cream. "Oh speaking of which, I did have to meet up with Viktor there this afternoon, we can head over there after we're done and go wait for him."

"Good plan. Also I think he's warming up to me after so many years. He hasn't tried to choke or strangle me once since we went to visit him when he was still unwell."

"No, it's because now when you talk to him during the day you have Leo in your grasp. Also he's not around you as much now."

"Party pooper."

"Novio!" Leo suddenly gasps, pointing excitedly behind Paloma and climbs off his chair to run. Paloma turns, wondering who he could have seen to get so excited, only for her to feel her stomach drop when she sees who is coming inside the parlor.

Much to her horror, it was that man Nico, only he wasn't alone. That woman from the other night, Kuura if her memory served her right, was also with him as Leo runs over to them and holding his arms up to the larger man.

"Hi!" He giggles excitedly.

"Oh so you can speak english!" Nico laughs as he bends to scoop him up. "Very good! Now if you are here, that means...ah! La jolie colombe is here as well!"

"Dios mio no..." Paloma mutters as the two approach.

"Uh...Pal, who is this?" Rocky asks, pointing at the duo with his spoon. "And why is Leo calling the big guy "novio"? Also what did that mean again, my spanish is a wee bit rusty."

"Boyfriend." Imelda responds before shoveling another spoon of strawberry ice cream into her mouth.

"Since when did she get a new beau?"

"I never did." Paloma mutters as she gets up, walks over to Nico and Kuura and holds her arms out. "Leo, come here."

"No!" Ths toddler protests, wrapping his little paw tightly around the older man's bandana.

"Leo!"

"Aww, he's very attached to you." Kuura chuckles. "How cute!"

"Would you believe it if I told you this was Peekon's kid?" Nico laughs. "The man dislikes me, yet this little one doesn't. Guess I'm now the boyfriend if he says so."

"First off, he's not my ex's kid, that's my baby brother." Paloma says with a frown. "Second, ignore what he says, you are not my boyfriend just because Leo says so."

"Aww, I'm hurt cher, I really thought we had a connection last time we met." Nico says with a dramatic pout. "You wound me!"

"Oh don't start-"

"Aw Nico, you get a girlfriend and won't share?" Kuura gasps. "How rude of you! I would have liked to know her better!"

"Alright we are leaving, finish your ice cream niños!" Paloma says as she takes Leo out of Nico's arms and grabs Rocky's hand to drag him out the door. "Now!"

"Wait Pal- hold on!" Rocky yells as he is dragged to the car. "Who was that? What's going on?"

"Someone you do not want to be around. Stay here." Paloma says as she pulls her revolver out and shoves it between the folds of the front seat. "Keep that on hand."

"She mad." Imelda comments as Paloma hands her Leo.

"Yes I am. Now all of you stay here." Paloma says before shutting the door behind Calvin and storms back into the parlor where the two Marigold thugs are now eating their own cones.

"Blegh, too weird tasting." She hears Kuura comment as she and Nico swap their ice cream. "Chocolate tastes funny like this. Oh your girlfriend is back."

"Listen here, I don't know what Asa is trying to pull, but I don't appreciate one of his thugs tailing me in public as a form of intimidation!" Paloma hisses as she grabs Nico by the bandana and yanks him down to be level with her. "Stay away from my family, next time I see you I'll do what I threatened Mordecai with next time I see him."

"No need to get aggressive cher, the fat man doesn't even know I've seen you in public a few times. No harm will come to those kids." Nico laughs as he puts a hand on the one that was gripping his bandana. "Though I should warn you, pull this any harder and you'll have me literally falling for you."

"Must everything out of your mouth sound like you're trying to seduce me?" Paloma asks with a disgusted face as she lets go of the bandana.

"So does this mean I should try a little harder?" Nico asks with a smirk. "Because I can."

"Please do." Kuura mutters.

"No please don't." Paloma mutters as she turns to walk away. "Just stay away, and I mean it."

"See you soon again cher, because I feel like we'll be seeing each other real soon!" She hears Nico yell before the doors of the parlor close behind her.

Calm down, get a grip, be calm. Paloma thinks as she takes in and exhales a few deep breaths. Now that we are calm, let's take a trip to the Little Daisy.

Inside the cafe was quiet, save for the sound of someone cooking in the kitchen and the turning of magazine pages that Ivy was reading when they walked in. Her eyes light up when she sees them and waves excitedly.

"Hiya! You guys hungry?" She asks the group as they take a seat at the counter.

"Pancakes please!" Rocky says happily.

"We're not selling breakfast right now, I'll make you a sandwich. Freckle? Paloma? Kids?"

"Samich!" Leo says with a grin. "Peas!

"Just give him a hand and cheese sandwich and some juice." Paloma says quickly. "And some pickles on the side. Actually make that three more, with juice for the kids and I'll take a glass of water."

"Say, where's our big scary one eyed friend?" Rocky asks, glancing around the place. "It's around the time he should-"

"Ivy, pan broke!" They hear Viktor say as he emerges from the kitchen holding the metal handle of something in hand.

"How'd you break an iron pan?!" The teen gasps.

"Ah, just the man I was looking for, come sit with me." Paloma says as she gets off her seat and walks to the farthest booth to sit down. Viktor follows, dropping the iron handle between them with a sheepish look. "We'll replace that, don't worry. Now, any news?"

"Pick up tonight." Viktor says to her softly as he leans close. "But not at farm."

"Why not?" Paloma asks, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Marigold suspicious, Elsa say Bobby left something in grave." Viktor then pulls something out of the pocket of his coat and quickly shoves it across the table for her to take. "Go tomorrow night to place, take guns."

Paloma nods and slips the scrap of paper into the pocket of her dress. "Alright, I'll be here tonight when I put the kids to bed. A good thing I quit the maid job so I can do this again."

"Make sure he not mess up." Viktor mutters, pointing at Rocky. "Also she say you must take Ivy."

"Seriously?"

"Not too dangerous, need shovels. Oh and brother says hi."

Paloma smiles. Gabriel must have been missing her and the kids. Maybe one of these days she should call and have him come visit so he could see their siblings again, and maybe even invite him to come to the speakeasy. He must have known by now that she wasn't exactly doing things any normal civilian should be doing, especially if he was probably helping Bobby and Abelard pack whiskey into bottles. Hopefully tonight won't be too eventful.

----

"Kid you done dressing in there?" Paloma hears Zib call as she hears him knocking on the makeshift changing room while she was getting changed.

"Yeah I'm just about done." She says as she exits, buttoning up her shirt and starting to tie the bandana she normally wore in her hair around her neck.

"It's been a while since I've seen you dress like that." The musician comments. "Almost reminds me of when you first came in here, all frightened and scared while Mitzi was trying to convince someone in the band to lend you a shirt because you used yours to bandage Viktor. It ended up being my shirt I gave you."

"Yeah and it stank of booze and cigarettes, I had to shower twice to get the smell off me."

"You kept it for a whole month."

"Because I was trying to scrub the smell out! And the weird stain on it!"

Zib gave a shrug before he pulls box of cigarettes out to open and stuck one in his mouth. "We gained a small crowd this month at least. Maybe with this new booze we got, we'll get more customers, and there will be more people to entertain."

"Maybe, I'm just hoping we don't get the wrong kind of attention. I've already been getting it ever since stupid Asa invited me to his speakeasy to talk."

Zib blinks in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"One of his thugs who I accepted a ride from has been crossing paths with me in public, though he has been acting very weird with me."

"Weird how? Should I be worried?"

"I don't know, but he was being super flirty with me. Also Leo is convinced he's my boyfriend."

Zib lets out a small laugh. "Wait, your baby brother is convinced some stranger is your boyfriend? Man, kids brains work funny."

"Oh don't you start, it's weird enough that a Marigold thug finds me remotely attractive despite the fact that we are enemies right now." Paloma scoffs as she starts braiding her hair. "I have no time for that sort of romantic nonsense."

"I mean, can you blame him? Some men just like their women pretty and dangerous, I know your old beau did." Zib snorts. "Anyways, you be careful tonight. This'll be the second time you play babysitter to a bunch of fledgling gangsters, but there should be no problems."

"Ugh I hope not, I'm already feeling a bit stressed right now and don't need to add more of it." Paloma says as she finishes braiding her hair and quickly starts to loop it in a braid. "Also is it just me or do you sound more sober than usual?"

"I haven't drank at all today, Mitzi confiscated my flask, won't stop me from asking Viktor to serve me."

"I'm never going to get used to you not slurring over your words, but it's nice that you'll be somewhat sober to perform."

"You know, while the lady of the house is having you take on all sorts of roles and tasks like bartending, why don't you also take on singing? Heard you sing once and it sounded pretty nice, plus I'm sure the audience would love to hear someone else other than me sing."

"I'd love to, but I'm a bit busy." Paloma says as she finishes with her hair. "Now where is my-"

She felt something slap down on her head and reached up to touch it to find Zib's hat on her head and looks over at him to see her cap resting on his head. He gave her a cheeky grin before taking his hat back and slapped hers down on her head. "You be careful, okay?"

"You getting sentimental on me Zibowski?" The younger woman teases as she adjusted her hat. "I'm touched."

"Just go before Rocky turns the whole place over looking for you. See ya in a few hours sweetheart."

Paloma rolls her eyes but smiles as she takes off for the stage, slipping between the curtains and waving at the other band members who were lounging around before making her way to the bar where Viktor was cleaning glasses.

"Hey, remember to smile!" Paloma says as she passes, using her fingers to make herself smile. "And no scaring customers!"

The older man just grunts in reply as she slipped through the door that lead into the speakeasy. Horatio stood outside, adjusting his suit coat and perks up when he sees her.

"Oh miss Alvarez! Leaving already?" He asks.

"Yep, gotta go get some more alcohol. You take care, okay?" Paloma says as she walks past to head to the stairs.

"Will do miss! Good luck tonight with that pick up!"

Once she reached the top of the stairs, Paloma made her way through the pantry and into the diner where the others were once again waiting for her. Rocky was just spinning mindlessly in his chair and humming to himself while Calvin was fiddling with a half finished glass of chocolate milk, and Ivy was bouncing in her seat.

"Alright baby gangsters, who's ready to hunt for more hooch?" Paloma calls, getting their attention.

"Yeah!" Ivy and Rocky cheer while Calvin lets out a half-hearted cheer.

"Right then, Roark, you interpreted the note for the location?"

"Indeed I did! And I even scouted it earlier today to make sure I wouldn't get us lost!" Rocky says, taking the slip of paper out of his coat pocket. "It's a graveyard by a bridge, we should be quick about this. I'll be lookout for tonight."

"Fine, but you are driving." Paloma says as she fished the keys out of her pocket and tossed them to him. "Calvin, Ivy? You two get to help me dig since you don't have spaghetti arms. Let's get going."

Once the four were loaded into the car with the tools and Paloma's guns, they soon headed off towards their destination. After a while, they soon arrived at the graveyard located near a river, which thankfully was empty and quiet save for the frogs and crickets.

"Kill the lights, we can't have anyone seeing us." Paloma instructs as the car rolls to a stop and Rocky hands her the paper. "Alright, who are we digging up tonight? Herman...I can't pronounce this."

"Well I know where the grave is." Rocky says as he takes the paper back. "Follow me good lad and lasses!"

Once they grabbed their necessary tools, they proceeded to follow the violinist to a large tombstone that he tapped with his violin bow.

"Alright, you kids start digging, I'll just scooch up the hill over there and be on the train tracks to make sure we have no surprise visitors." Rocky says as he dramatically bows before scampering off.

"Should I have given him my gun?" Paloma asks as she removes her shotgun that she had slung over her shoulder to lean it against another grave.

"Nah, he'll be fine." Ivy says as she hands her a shovel. "Let's get digging, we're losing precious moonlight!"

"Spoken like a true gangster. Oh this really takes me back, digging up graves where we almost buried someone alive." Paloma sighs as she rams the shovel into the ground, earning disturbed looks from the teens. "They were still alive, I promise. I didn't really bury them, that was Viktor. All I did was shut them in the box and dig them out afterwards if we were given orders to let them live for the time being."

"That's still disturbing." Calvin says with a shudder. "How do you live with that?"

"I've done worse things as a child. Now, less talking, more digging!"

As they dug, they could hear Rocky playing and singing several yards away, seemingly forgetting he was supposed to be looking out for trouble and keeping quiet.

"Someone shut him up already before someone sees us." Ivy mutters as she tosses another shovel of dirt over her shoulder. "Paloma, a warning shot?"

"I'm not wasting bullets to shut him up." Paloma says as she grabs the flashlight and tosses it to the younger girl. "Just flash him with this, it'll get him to stop."

"Ahem!" Ivy yells as she switched on the light, pointing it in Rocky's direction. "It's abundantly clear, you forgot about us down here!"

"Uh encore?" Rocky asks, earning himself a few uncomfortable looks. "Uh no encore? Perhaps another song, another dance?"

"No no we're fine!" Ivy says quickly.

"Please don't ruin musical theater for everyone." Calvin adds quietly.

"Roark, lookouts don't make any sort of noise unless it's to alert the gang that someone is coming." Paloma says with a shake of her head. "If you're going to be making noise, you might as well come down here and help us out."

"Oh I would but I was sadly cursed with these spaghetti arms!" Rocky sighs dramatically as he weakly lifts his arms up. "So I do with what I can, I provide the am-"

Rocky fell forward as he tried to grab for his hat, only for him to start tumbling and rolling down the grassy hill until he slid right up to them, his hat falling down right on top of his cousin's head.

"You...you okay?" Paloma asks before he suddenly jumps to his feet.

"I provide the ambiance!" He says as he walks over to where Calvin stood and removes his hat. "Baby face provides the muscle. Look at him go, digging his way to martyrdom, the little go-getter! Pal provides the knowledge to these matters and tasks and additional muscle. Shall I provide us with a little rhapsody, in G minor for company?"

"Fine, if you're not gonna help us, you can double as the dirt rag." Ivy says as Paloma turns her back to look to Calvin.

"Oh! I think we found it!" She says as Rocky pushes Ivy, Calvin and her aside to start digging with his hands.

"Is that it?" Ivy asks.

"Well if it isn't, we'd have to apologize to the family of..." Rocky pulls the paper out of his pocket. "Hamish Hapfamscheel?"

"That is the most fake sounding last name I've heard." Paloma mutters.

"I mean it could be real, soinds Polish...or something european. Anyways, help me get this out!"

"You boys do it, I need a break." Paloma sighs as she drops down to sit on the side of the grave. "I'm so tired right now."

"You good?" Ivy asks, switching off the flashlight.

"I don't know, I just feel exhaused mentally and physically as of late. Maybe I'm getting sick or something, who knows. I'll cath up I promise."

As the three carry the coffin off, Paloma shits so she's leaning against the headstone of the grave theyt the side of the headstone. She really was feeling exhausted for some reason, maybe she needed to take a few nights off to get proper sleep or take a nap backstage when nights at the speakeasy was slow. Had this job always felt so draining before? Maybe it had and she never noticed.

As she is fighting the urge to fall asleep, Paloma is suddenly snapped awake by the sound of gunfire and a car driving around. She quickly jumps to her feet, grabbing her shotgun and cocking it while looking for the source of the noise until she sees a car driving past her backwards.

"What the..." She mutters before she spots her friends. "Oh no-"

"MADWOMAN WITH A GUN MADWOMAN WITH A GUN!" Rocky screams as the car drives past. "PAL SAVE UUUUUUS! DO SOMETHING!!"

Still confused, Paloma bolted after the car as it sped backwards, only to stop when it drove into the river.

"We're gonna die!" Calvin sobs when she gets into the car. "What do we do?!"

"Whoa slow down, what's going on?" Paloma asks. "What's this about a madwoman with a gun?"

"Someone started shooting at us!" Ivy exclaims. "They were right near the car this whole time!"

"And she drove us to safety!" Rocky adds.

"I don't know how to drive!"

"Well your driving was so bad it confused the enemy! Great job!"

They hear a loud honk before a car comes speeding down the hill barreling right at them. The four scream in terror before Ivy hits the gas, sending the car speeding away.

"Oh no no no no not them again!" Paloma groans when she sees who is in the front seat of the vehicle still hot on their heels. If those two Marigolds were here, then that meant Mordecai and that woman Kuura were also in the car. Was this what Nico meant the other day when he said they'd be running into each other sooner than expected? Was that a warning? Or a threat? God she was hating this man more by the second, but right now she had more important things to focus on. "Alright this ride is about to get bumpy, hold on chicos!"

She quickly grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the left, forcing the car to swerve and spin until it faced the right direction.

"Now we just need a performance from you, torpedo boy!" Rocky exclaims excitedly.

"No we don't! We need to ditch these Marigolds and get back to the city!" Paloma yells, yanking her revolver out of its holster strapped to her hip and shaking the cylinder open to slide some bullets in before shoving it in place. Before she could even move, she heard more gunfire and the sound of the back window shattering followed by more gunfire and laughter. "Okay I see where the madwoman comment came from. Keep driving Ivy, you're doing just fine!"

She then leans out her window, taking aim and fires two shots with her revolver at the car. The car swerved, somehow managing to dodge her shots. She still had four shots left, better make them count so she wouldn't have to reload, reloading too too much time and the last thing she needed was to waste that. As she was taking aim again, this time aiming for the woman with the shotgun, the Marigold's car suddenly rammed into the back of theirs, almost making her drop her revolver.

"PAL HELP!" She hears Rocky cry out and turns to see him clinging to the trunk they had strapped to the car where their alcohol was supposed to be stored.

"Rocky!" Paloma yells as she climbs back into the car and frantically launches herself across the front seat to reach the back and grab for the violinist through the shattered window to keep him from falling off the trunk. "Hold on!"

"The trunk is leaking Pal!" Rocky yells.

"Who cares! Get in here!"

"No I gotta secure it shut! And keep us from losing precious hooch! Miss M will have my hide if we lose it all!"

"I don't care, your life is more important than a bunch of overpriced booze, get in!" She yells as Marigold's car swerved a little too close. Before she could even try to pull him up, the sound of a Tommy assaults her ears along with a maniacal laugh before the enemy car swerved to avoid getting hit.

"Good thing I gave him the gun!" Rocky sighs as he is yanked into the car. "Thanks for that! Also did you just call me Rocky?"

"Oh shut up!" Paloma snaps as she jumps back to the front seat. "We need to escape, if those two are there then so is Mordecai and you do NOT want to deal with him - trust me. Hit the breaks!"

Ivy does as she is told as Rocky yanks a cackling Freckle to redirect him to the other window. Once the Marigold car swerved to the left to avoid crashing into them, both Paloma and Freckle leaned out the window to fire at the car. The tires of the vehicle popped, forcing it to swerve right into a ditch.

"Um, Pal?! He's here!" Rocky yells, pointing at the rearview mirror.

Paloma glances at it to see an all too familiar figure in the reflection and she felt her stomach twist in fear. Just as she feared, he was here. Her revolver was out of bullets, so that meant her shotgun was gonna have to do the trick for now. She quickly grabs it and leaps across the backseat again to aim out the window, prepared to shoot, the only problem was that her hands were shaking. Where was all that bravado she had when she'd stuck that gun in his face all those times when they saw each other again after a year of no contact? Was it only there because he had no weapon in hand at the time?

Focus Paloma, focus! Just pull the trigger and shoot! You've shot at him before, this should be no different! She tells herself. He's your enemy now, not your lover who usedw! Not your lover who used to be by your side, loved you, cared for you and did everything for you-

The car suddenly swerved, forcing her to fire the gun as she heard the rearview mirror get shot at. Seeing how he was still standing in the distance, she missed, but why was she feeling...relieved? Well she hardly had time to reflect on that as the car started swerving and bouncing until it crashes.

"Uugh...everyone okay?" Paloma asks as she hears Rocky suddenly start laughing before a door slams shut. "Okay, he's not okay. Ivy? Calvin?"

"I'm good...I think." Ivy groans from the front seat and turns to look at them. "You think we're safe?"

Calvin suddenly growls, his claws dug deep into the leather seats, causing both girls to flinch. He blinks in surprise before quickly yanking his claws out. "S-sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to! It's just that there's a fire, a burning hot fire - in the engine compartment!"

"Okay, you are definitely not okay either." Paloma comments as Ivy jumps out of the car. "It's like your were a whole other person, Calvin."

"I...I...it's..." The teen's ears flatten as he looks at the floor. "I don't know what's wrong with me..."

"Hey, I don't judge. My first few times doing this job, I went a little crazy too before I learned to keep my composure." Paloma says as she puts a hand on his shoulder. "Look at it this way: we wouldn't have survived this car chase if you hadn't acted. And no one in the speakeasy would be alive and walking today if you hadn't acted like that either, I assume you also got like that when you were there that night."

"And the night of my first sweep run."

"There, see? Personally, I'm glad all that crazy is on our side, we could maybe use a bit of it for nights like this."

"Guys, I think the engine or radiator is busted! Or burned out I'm not sure!" They hear Ivy yell. "It's super hot and I'm running out of sleeves!"

"Come on, let's go help her deal with that." Paloma says as she opens the car door so they could step out and hurry to the front of the vehicle to help. From their surroundings, they seemed to be in some sort of shed or tiny warehouse, and outside she could see piles of dirt or rock in the distance but that was it. As they made their way, the outside suddenly lit up, giving them some light.

"Paloma, you've worked with Viktor, can you see what can be fixed?" Ivy asks.

"I don't know how to fix cars, that was his specialty." Paloma says as she looks at the smoking radiator. "If we get back, we can ask him to look at it. But-"

"Shhh!" Calvin hisses. "I think they found us!"

The two girls go quiet, all was silent save for some distant giggling that was certainly not Rocky's.

"Shit, guess we have no choice but to confront them." Paloma mutters as she moves to the front seat where she left her revolver. "Calvin, do you know how to-"

"He's gone." Ivy states. "Umm, he took a peashooter we had wedged back in the car."

"Fine, here." She removes a few bullets from the small pouch strapped to her belt to insert them in the gun's chamber before handing it to Ivy. "You take shooting classes at college, right? Keep this on hand and do not hesitate to shoot any of them if they get close."

"W-wait! Where are you going?" Ivy asks frantically as Paloma moves to grab her shotgun out of the backseat and the shovel she was using earlier.

"To do something I should have done a few weeks ago. Remember - do not hesitate. Keep that in mind if you want to live to see the end of the night."

Paloma then slips out where they were hiding, looking around frantically before diving for the piles of rock and hurries up one to peek over the top. So far she didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean she should let her guard down. So far it seemed like Mordecai, Nico and that other woman who looked like him were in pursuit of them, but where was that Kuura girl? Out of the corner of her eye she spots Calvin on one of the piles of dirt before he turns and flings himself down and she hears gunshots.

Now where are you amor? She thinks as she scans the area before spotting a dark figure peeking out at the base of one of the piles. There!

She quickly shoots, but Mordecai dodges her attack before reappearing and she quickly flung herself down towards the ground to avoid getting shot. She could see Calvin running towards a nearby tall metal structure and hastily follows, dropping her shovel to quickly climb up the metal beams. Once she was sure she was up high and out of sight, she quickly reloads her shotgun, trying to quietly cock it again. She years a click and spots Mordecai look up and shoot. She quickly bolts and fires towards his feet, forcing him to move and her to move as well.

"NO NO NO NO!" She hears Calvin scream as he starts to fire. Paloma hastily turns to see a fluffy white and grey tipped tail disappear into where Ivy was hiding.

"IVY!" She screams as she bolts after Calvin. She hears the sound of a gun fire before he took a tumble, falling to the ground. "CALVIN!"

Mordecai was now approaching the downed teen, his gun drawn as Paloma raced to reach the ground. Just as she was about to leap down, she heard the sound of something rumbling before the ground near the two exploded, sending dirt flying and giving Calvin time to hopefully scramble away.

"About time, you idiot!" She mutters when she hears Rocky's familiar laugh pierce the air and leaps to the ground. She couldn't find the shovel anywhere, but it seemed like Mordecai was more preoccupied with the violinist who was now charging through the area with a bulldozer of all things and tossing what looked like sticks of dynamite around.

She quickly follows the triggerman, taking care to stay several feet behind him as he races to duck behind a shed before another explosion of dynamite strikes to give her more dust cover. It was now or never, if she was able to take him out, they'd have one less dangerous gangster to deal with from Marigold. Instead of firing her shotgun, she proceeds to swing it right for his head like a bat. He must have heard her above the explosions, or caught sight of her, and quickly jumps out of the way as the butt of the gun collides with the shed wall.

"You hurt my friend, you pay!" She yells as she swings the gun again as Mordecai keeps jumping back to avoid getting struck. "Hold still you no good side switcher!"

"Lost your nerve about shooting me point blank?" The triggerman yells back as he dodges again.

"You don't even deserve to get shot point blank! I'm not making the same mistake and missing a shot because-"

Another explosion sounds, followed by the sudden roar of water. Paloma then turns to see a nearby water tower falling, sending a large wave of water flying in all directions, the bulldozer now abandoned and Rocky nowhere in sight.

"Look out!" She hears Mordecai yell before she's yanked out of the way of the rushing water that almost hits her and slammed against the side of the shed in an attempt to shield her.

"Don't touch me!" She yells, shoving him away from her. "¿Que en demonios te pasa?"

Mordecai blinks in surprise. "I-"

She didn't even give him a chance to answer as she took off running towards the broken tower. Rocky was laying face down in the mud, not moving. Was he even breathing?

"Hey! Hey Roark! Roark! Rocky!" She hisses as she shakes his motionless body before he lifts his head, his bright blue eyes looking at her in fright. "Oh thank God, get up! Hurry!"

As she is helping Rocky to his feet, she hears the sound of a car coming and turns to see Ivy and Calvin coming towards them with the backdoor open. Taking the chance, she quickly shoves her friend into the back and hops in after him, hastily closing the door behind her before jumping into the front seat.

"You kids okay?" Paloma asks as she glances back and gasps. "Calvin! Your head!"

"I'm fine, just a scratch!" The teen tries to assure her. "Or...yeah just a scratch."

"Are my eyebrows still on?" Rocky asks.

"Unfortunately."

"Aces! Here Freckle, I got you a souvenir!" He then pulls out an unlit dynamite stick from inside his coat and shoves it into his cousin's hand, causing the teen to yelp in alarm and fling it out the window. "You're supposed to light it first."

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna pass out when we get to the speakeasy." Paloma groans as she turns back to lay against her seat. "I can't remember when was the last time I did something this..."

"Dangerous?" Calvin suggests.

"Exhilarating?" Rocky offers.

"Crazy?" Ivy says with a roll of her eyes. "Because that's exactly how I'd describe what Rocky did."

"All three of those." Paloma mutters. "And exhausting. Why don't I drive?"

"Nah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." Ivy says with a shake of her head. "You're tired from running around, get rest."

Paloma mutters something unintelligible but turns so she's looking out the window at the passing countryside. Once again she couldn't even stick to her promise to him, what what even wrong with her?

----

"Seems like your ex really had it out for you." Mordecai hears Nico laugh as he exits the phone booth. "Feisty little thing, I'm liking her more by the minute."

"I already warned you to keep your hands off and stay away from her." The older man snaps, his tail flicking in annoyance. "Now that you've seen her in action, you know better not to let your guard down around that woman. As pretty and harmless as she looks, she'd sooner stab or shoot you the minute you get too close."

"Seems like we're up against someone close to your skill level." Serafine chuckles. "Though I wasn't expecting her to be dragging around a bunch of little ones like that."

Only two of the tag-alongs with Paloma tonight he was quite familiar with. Ivy, he knew all too well since she was a child. The one with the awful orange tie, he had seen him before in the speakeasy as the violinist and at the lunch date with Asa and Mitzi. As for the third one, he'd only seen him once at that said lunch date, and that was it. As far as he was aware until today, none of them were even in the gang or seemed like threats. Maybe the smaller one who took great delight in relieving them of their windshield and tired earlier could be deemed a bit dangerous, but the others seemed harmless. Well, not Paloma, he knew she was anything but harmless.

"Seems like La Llorona has back up now." Mordecai mutters as he tries to dust off more mud from his coat and runs a hand through his hair to fix it.

"The La what now?" Serafine asks.

"Ask around, any gangster in this city worth their salt will give you more than enough stories about her and her terrorizing tactics. Takes delight in screaming her head off like some unholy spirit to terrorize her prey and smash their head in or shoot them point blank"

"Ooh, now that I'd love to see in action, just not as the one having that be inflicted on. I didn't even see her in that shed with the little cat, where was she anyways? Probably chasing after you no doubt, like a vengeful spirit."

Mordecai grimaced, but said nothing. Just as he feared, he wasn't able to bring himself to kill her. He had more than enough time and a chance to fire his gun before the water tank fell, and when the car was driving off. He couldn't bringing himself to hurt either Paloma or Ivy, and something told him the next time they crossed paths again it would happen again.

This all could have been avoided if I just ignored all those weird emotions in me after you decided to drop the faux dating thing we had going on for a short time. He thinks bitterly as he looks out at the road.

After what felt like forever, he soon spotted a pair of headlamps coming in their direction before a Cadillac came rolling by, stopping right in front of them.

"Anyone need a ride?" Kuura asks as she leans out the window with a grin, looking them up and down and grimaces. "Wow, you all look like shit, who did this?"

"His ex and her gang." Nico snickers as he moves around the car to sit in the front passenger seat. "You should have been there, someone was throwing dynamite and driving one of them digging machines, and I'm pretty sure that girl almost beat the shit out of him when they were out of sight. Oh and a crazy car chase."

"This was not something you wanted to be a part of, Kuurs." Mordecai scoffs as he and Serafine get into the backseat.

"No it was." Serafine snorts. "You're just pouty because Nico still wants to get with your ex despite her firing at his head. Probably would have flirted with her too if she wasn't so busy chasing after you to kick your sorry ass."

"Wow, now I do regret taking that assignment from Asa, I missed out on some good fun!" Kuurs says with a small pout before she grins. "But this means there's more opportunities! Big man didn't sound happy on phone about these people, so we may see them again!"

I hope we don't. Mordecai thinks as he turns to look out of his window, his hand going into his coat pocket to touch his watch. Even with that threat I made to Mitzi, I really don't think I'll be able to do it. If I wasn't able to tonight, I won't be able to in the future.

----

"Uh...your look like you could use a drink." Paloma hears Wick comment as everyone but the two of them and Viktor move away from the bar.

"I'm drained, I forgot how stressful this line of work was." The younger woman groans as she turns her head so she's not laying face down on the bar's counter. "How did I have the energy to deal with this years ago? I feel like Zib."

"I'm sure he'll take that as a compliment." Wick says and she feels him pat her shoulder. "It has been a year since you did something this wild, and you are older."

"Don't make it sound like I'm forty with a bad knee - no offense Viktor."

"None taken." The older man says with a shrug. "Drink?"

"After watching you all try that stuff we just got, I'd rather not ruin my intestines."

"Your loss." Wick mutters into his glass. "So...what troubles you, young damsel?"

"Nothing you'd understand."

"Try me."

"Ex boyfriend." Viktor says, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Oh...yeah i have no experience with those." Wick admits.

"I didn't shoot him." Paloma adds. "Should have."

"Umm...well...oh I've got nothing to say about that.

"That's fine. Oh, I should patch up the kid, he has an injury I was supposed to fix."

Paloma then hops off the stool to hurry to the dancefloor where Calvin and Ivy are dancing - or more like Ivy was dancing and Calvinw as just clumsily following along while avoiding stepping on her feet.

"Sorry, I must steal your dance partner away for a few minutes, he needs to be tended to." Paloma says as she grabs Calvin by the arm and yanks him away. "I'll return him, don't worry. Come, I'll patch you up at the bar."

Calvin nods meekly as he follows her back to the bar, cowing a bit when he sees Viktor glaring at him. Paloma just glares at the older man before making the younger one take a seat on the stool and goes behind the bar to grab a metal box with a crudely painted red cross on the top and place it on the counter

"So...did you always do this?" Calvin asks as she opens th ebox and rumages around for what she needed.

"Clean up my teammates injuries? Yeah, it was better than calling for a doctor." Paloma says as she pulls out some thin wire, a needle, tweezers, cotton balls and an unlabled bottle along with a worn strap of leather and grabs a stool to sit in front of him. "I've had to patch up so many gangsters, the original owner of this speakeasy considered keeping me on payroll as the gang's nurse. That big guy with the eyepatch glaring at you? He'd refuse treatment from any doctors and would probably bleed out if I wasn't here to patch him up and smack him on the head every time he growled at me when he was in pain. Come to think of it, I was probably the only one here aside from Ivy who could smack him and not get my teeth knocked out of my skull for it."

"That leather strap does not look sanitary." Wick comments and grimaces. "Germy."

"I'm throwing that out, don't worry. He can bite down on this inseat in the meantime." Paloma then removes her scarf and hands it to Calvin. "Put that in your mouth when I start the sewing, okay? This may take a while so let's...hmm would the band care if I used their backstage table as an operating table?"

"Probably."

"Meh, it's used weird anyways. It doesn't really look so bad, I'll sew it up if it reopens, in the meantime lets get this cleaned up."

After one too many cottonballs were bloodied, a whole roll of linen bandages were used, Calvin was fixed up enough to go back to dancing with Ivy again. Paloma watched them, recalling the first and maybe last time she ever tried to get Mordecai to dance with her once. It wasn't to one of those fast paced songs the band liked to play, but her at the time boyfriend still left her with sore feet that he stepped on one too many times during the slow dances. Even after that, he refused to dance again, claiming it was not really his thing. She found herself missing that for some reason, and she hated it.

Why did I hesitate then, why did I feel so terrified to pull the trigger? She wonders as she watched her three friends dance and have fun with the other patrons who had gathered on the dancefloor. And why did I feel so relieved when I missed? That's not good, especially if our lives were on the line.

Even weirder now that she thought about it, not once did Mordecai ever dare to attack her, even going as far as to protect her from getting hit from the water. Did he still care for her in some way? No she didn't want to think about it, not right now anyways. For now, all she wanted to focus on was feeling relieved that they all managed to survive another night and got the job done.