Gia had texted me about having found a guy she thought could be the culprit only a few days after starting work in the kitchens. I went in the side door after the cafeteria was closed for the evening and the students and faculty had been all cleared out. I could hear a few kitchen crew still in there and Lena found me lurking in the stock room and her eyes went wide in alarm as she went to the back room with her arms full.

"Cortana, you shouldn't be here." She whispered, making me shoot her a don't-use-my-name-you-dope look. She realized her mistake and went back out to the kitchen like she hadn't seen me. Gia came in a moment later.

"He's the only one still here..." she whispered, looking nervous at the sight of me.

"Good." I answered, before stepping past her determinedly. I had a knife in my blazer pocket and my hand was on it as I stepped into the bright white kitchens and saw Lena with a panicked look on her face as she glanced at the large bald man's back. He was standing facing the sink. "Hey, Mr. you done for the day, or can you make me a sandwich?" I called boldly, making him spin from what he was doing and Lena shrunk back into the corner to dip below the counter. When his eyes fell on me, they filled with excitement and I knew he knew who I was. He lunged toward me and I grabbed the nearest pan to whip it at his head. He dodged and screamed in pain when it smacked him on his shoulder and then clattered with loud ringing pang on the floor. His eyes darted to one of the industrial stainless steel fridges and I realized in horror he probably had a gun hidden in there. I aimed a kick at his head when he reached for the door handle, but he grabbed my leg instead and his other long arm reached for a huge kitchen knife. I was faster with my switch blade and abandoned the attempt to knock him out and instead used deadly force and buried the blade in his gut. It didn't stop him right away and the kitchen knife was coming down on me as his expression turned crazed. I twisted out of the way as his hand came down, but it grazed my shoulder making me growl as I clamored out from his grasp. He grabbed my hair and yanked me back into his grasp as I kicked a leg out to knock the knife from his hand. He aimed a bone-shattering punch at my head and missed as I dodged to the side while throwing up a block. The force of his blow caused pain to radiate through my arm and I slipped on the wet floor feeling the handle of the kitchen knife where my palms slapped out to lessen the impact of my fall. He took my knife out of his side and was diving at me with the blade outstretched when I produced the kitchen knife and jammed it into his head with both hands. He was still able to stab through my shirt to my skin, but I had moved my body back to lessen how deep it could go and my final blow had incapacitated him, spraying blood over my face and onto my lips. I barely got out of the way before he collapsed and rolled to his back. He was dead.

I was sitting on the floor in shock and saw that it was his blood that I had slipped in earlier. I looked back to see Gia with a stern look on her face and Lena stood up looking absolutely shell-shocked.

"Are you okay?" Gia asked quietly. Lena ran to lock the door to the kitchen and the metal shutters out to the cafeteria were already closed.

"Yeah, come help me." I said, breathlessly, picking up my knife and slipping it into my blazer pocket as I stood up on my unsteady heels. Gia looked confused for a second before she followed my gaze to the freezer and she propped the door open quickly before grabbing one of his arms. I had to kick my heels off to get a better purchase on the floor as we dragged him towards the open freezer. The asshole must've weighed more than two hundred pounds.

"I hope no one heard." Lena squeaked as she helped shove him through the door and struggled to close it around his big limp legs. Gia went back out to the kitchen and so did Lena to survey the damage. It wasn't too bad considering. I left the frigid freezer before going to the fridge he had been looking at and scanning through before digging my hand under the packages of cold meat patties and producing a gun.

"I'll call Niko." I said, still breathing heavy as I pushed down the panic that was making my heart feel cold in my chest. "You guys clean the floor." I insisted, opening the freezer to step back in beside the dead man as I slipped his gun in the back of my skirt under my blazer. His gun was a stupid blocky Glock.

I had a hard time dialing and the blood smeared on my screen as my hands shook.

"Hey, what's up?" Niko asked casually.

"I need a clean-up crew. I'm in the kitchens at the school." I told him, hearing him breathe out a shocked gasp.

"Okay. We'll be right there." His voice was hard, but I could hear the worry on the edge of it. He hung up right away and I pulled the knife from the man's skull with effort, seeing his wide brown eyes staring lifelessly at me. His tongue was turning purple already in his gaping mouth. I used his chef's coat to wipe the blade and my skirt to wipe the handle before I dropped it on a box of frozen food without letting it touch my fingers. I checked his pockets and found his phone quickly- a burner, probably didn't have much on it that we could use. I also found his car keys and analyzed the Volkswagen logo with distaste.

I opened the freezer to look out the crack to check that it was still just Lena and Gia before I stepped out. They had cleaned the blood quickly with peroxide, turning the bright red to a nasty congealed brown orange in no time and I looked down to survey the deep cut in my shoulder and the stab in my abdomen. They were both bleeding more than I thought necessary and they were both stinging and aching even as I focused on what else I had to do. I grabbed my shoes and wiped them down with paper towels and peroxide before placing them back on my feet and buttoning my blazer over the cut in my shirt that was turning to a bloom of blood from my stab. I could tell it didn't go very deep, but I knew it would hurt for a little while regardless. I wiped the blood from my face the best I could and picked at a congealing spot in my hair with irritation.

"Alright. Where are they? What do we do?" Lena asked in a whisper.

"You guys can go. I'll just wait by the side door." I told them, sounding calmer than I felt. Gia nodded and Lena looked like she was ready to cry. She came over and pulled me into a hug.

"Ow-" I winced as she pressed on both cuts. "It's fine." I laughed bitterly, seeing the upset look on her face when she realized I was hurt. "They're not bad. I can meet you at the house." I insisted, speaking of the safe house they would likely be going back to. Lena swallowed and nodded and Gia took her determinedly, turning the lights off before unlocking the door and slipping out. I relocked the door before I heard my phone vibrate where I had left it on a paper towel on the counter. I doused it with peroxide and wiped it quickly before taking Niko's call.

"Hey, we're at the side door. No blue here. I think we're good." He said, speaking of the cops.

"Cool." I answered, hanging up and opening the heavy door to the stock room. Four guys including Marco followed Niko in and I led them to the freezer. "I wiped the knife and Lena and Gia cleaned the floor in the kitchen, but it might need more of a thorough go through." I told them. My voice was calm and my panic had faded at the sight of them and Niko looked me over after they glanced in at the body.

"Jeeses, Bel Capo, he looks like he weighs more than twice what you weigh." Marco laughed, before aiming an impressed look at me.

"I was faster." I laughed. "Oh, here. These are his." I handed the gun, phone, and keys to Niko.

"Well, I guess you got the right guy." Niko smiled.

"Unless the chef really wanted to kill me for asking him to make me a sandwich." I joked, making him laugh.

"I'll get you out of here. You look like you need to be checked out by the doctor." Niko insisted. The others were removing the chef's coat and I glanced in to see the pastiche of tattoos on his large round abdomen before following Niko out to the car. He held the door for me with his black gloves over his hands. I trotted out to the car with my eyes peeled for anyone watching me. It had gotten dark and the parking lot was almost abandoned. They had parked out of view of the cameras, but I guessed Gia had already disabled them on day one after she and Lena started.

*

"Boy, he got you good." Niko commented as he leaned over where I had laid back on the leather chair for the 'doctor' to stich up my side. I took a swig of whiskey as I watched him douse my wound in antiseptic.

"I really wish I could've knocked him out. I tried to get him with a pan." I said in disappointment.

"He's a murderer anyway. I'm sure he has a damn cyanide tooth or something." Niko comforted me.

"I'm just worried about how many are working with him. If there are more... I wouldn't want Lena and Gia to be in danger." I sighed as I repressed a wince despite the lidocaine gel the doctor had put on my wound before he started slipping a curved needle through my skin.

"Let us worry about that. You should've just sent us in the first place. You're lucky he didn't shoot you." Niko said with a reprimanding look.

"I had an opening and I took it- and besides it's not luck that he didn't have a gun. I stopped him from getting to it." I argued, as Niko pursed his lips and I winced as the doctor tightened the suture.

"Cortana, the bastard was twice your size!" Niko argued as my phone started ringing angrily and a look of impending doom came to my features. I picked up the call knowing it was Papi calling from a burner to yell at me.

"Hi, Papi." I greeted him slowly with a hint of guilt.

"Cortana, you could've gotten killed! You went against protocol!" he screamed in Italian, his booming voice making me flinch.

"I'm fine, Papi." I insisted softly.

"I don't want you getting involved! I want you further away!" he growled in Italian, telling me basically that I shouldn't be doing any of the 'dirty' work.

"I don't need a man to fight my battles." I argued in Italian. I heard him huff in frustration. "I'm fine, Papi. I'll be fine." I insisted, calmly.

"Your cousin says you're hurt! Let me talk to the doctor!" he demanded, making me sigh as the doctor finished suturing my abdomen and had turned to the cut on my shoulder.

"He's busy..." I muttered, hearing the angry-sounding breathing of my papi.

"Put him on the line anyway! I don't have the patience for this." He hissed. The doctor had already looked up at the look on my face and he held out his hand calmly before I placed my phone in his gloved palm.

*

"Oh my god, Cort! Are you okay?" Lena cried when she and Gia came rushing into the room after the doctor had finished cleaning and stitching both my wounds and I pulled on the shirt Niko had gotten me.

"I'm fine." I repeated as Lena pressed a kiss to my cheek and I let my hand slide down her long brown hair.

"He wasn't with the Lucianos." Marco said grimly, making me turn to him as he came into the room with the others following him. My heart dropped. Who the hell did I kill?

"What?!" Lena and I asked at the same time.

"He works for the Russians- worked for the Russians." He said, making me swallow and immediately think of Alexi.

"The Belov's?" Niko asked.

"Yeah. I thought he was with Morozov, but it looks like he was working for the Belov's." Marco said, his eye flashing to me as I struggled not to look guilty about having sex with Alexi...more than once. I frowned when my phone buzzed with a text and I looked to see that it was Shane.

"Who's texting you?" Lena asked distractedly looking at the very boring text just asking me what I was doing. She handed me my phone and I looked down at it at a loss for what to answer.

"Just a girl... from school. I should probably go back to my room so they don't ask me questions about where I am..." I said, turning to Niko who looked nervous.

"Why would the Belov's want you dead?" Niko asked.

"Maybe they think I'm a threat to Amelia." I suggested. "I didn't think the Lucianos were out to kill me... I thought they just wanted to kidnap me." I said, as I thought about it and realized it would actually be stupid to kill me when I was worth so much to my family.

"You're right. What about Morozov? Were they trying to kill him?" Marco asked, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"I don't think so. I'm surprised because he's covered in Russian tattoos..." I pointed out. "But I found Amelia and I don't think he's figured out who she is yet." I blurted out, seeing the suspicion on their faces.

"How do you know he hasn't found her?" Marco asked first, making me cling to my poker face.

"Because- it doesn't matter. Let's just stay out of Russian affairs. If Lucas hadn't given me a damn Russian alias, maybe that guy wouldn't have tried to kill me." I changed the subject, seeing the look on Marco's face like he was embarrassed that Lucas had made a dumb call.

"Yeah, your brother can be an idiot sometimes..." Lena muttered.

"I'll drive you back, but honestly, I don't want to bring you back there..." Niko said.

"It's smarter to avoid suspicion. I already have to come up with a reason I left the dorm for-" I looked down at my phone. "four hours..." I sighed.

"Say you went out to dinner." Lena insisted, making shoot her an exasperated look.

"I just ate dinner with my friends... You served me!" I laughed, making her smile sheepishly.

"Oh yeah..." she answered, making Gia laugh.

"Is there any exercise clothes here? I could say I went to the gym?" I asked, looking at all the thoughtful expressions.

"Yeah, here I brought some." Lena answered helpfully, pulling her bag open and taking out a tight purple tank top and some black spandex shorts.

"Okay, well it's better than nothing." I sighed.

*

I was in the passenger seat of Niko's Mercedes and it was dark as we pulled in through the gate and he drove slowly up the drive towards the lawns. It was dark in the cab and the dim blue light of his dash was almost relaxing. I would've given anything to stay in the passenger seat and not have to go back to my little dorm room to sleep in my little bed.

I jumped out and Niko looked constipated as he watched me get out.

"See ya later, Bel Capo. Be safe." He sighed.

"I will. Make sure Papi isn't too hard on Lena and Gia." I told him before closing the door and striding back to the dorm.

I was still thinking about Alexi as I ran up the stairs as fast as I could so I'd look like I actually did a run. I had my coat covering my cut on my shoulder, but I knew I'd have to be careful since I only had a tank top under it. Niko had taken my uniform to have someone clean the blood out of it and they planned on getting me a new shirt and blazer to replace the cut ones.

"Hey." I said calmly, sounding a little out of breath from the stairs and the long walk to the room. Melissa looked up from the book she was reading for literature and Shane was sitting on her computer on her bed with her phone by her side.

"Heeey." Shane greeted me. "Where were you?" she probed, looking at her phone probably to see that I hadn't texted back.

"I just went to the gym..." I answered lamely.

"I went to the gym to find you and you weren't there." She frowned.

"Well, I went for a walk after. It took longer than I thought. I guess I got a little lost." I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck as I went to my drawers to find some clothes.

"Oh. Hm." Shane said, seeming to believe me.

"Hey, do you have Lit tomorrow? You're in Victoria's class, right?" Melissa asked, making me look over to see she was talking to me.

"Yeah, I have Lit first period." I answered, feeling nervous just thinking about it, but yearning to see Alexi either way.

"Do you have a test?" she asked, making me blink.

"No, I think the test is Wednesday." I answered after thinking about it.

"Oh, that's right. Are you finished the readings?" she asked.

"Yeah. I honestly hate the book." I laughed, seeing her lips pull into a slight smile.

"Same. I'm on chapter fifteen and it's a struggle." She laughed. Her genuine laugh was such an unfamiliar sound. She was usually so miserable. It was nice to hear her sound like a normal person for once.

"I'm gonna jump in the shower." I muttered, slipping out of the room with my damn coat on to change into my t-shirt and shorts for bed. I looked over my reflection after turning on the water. I looked tired and my make up looked kind of smudged, making me look like I had rings around my eyes. I'd be glad to just clean myself up and try to forget about the crappy Monday I had.