"You have GOT to be kidding me." Marissa heard Jax yell. She pushed herself to her feet and put a hand to her legs as she did so and grimaced. The cats' claws had drawn blood but only a little bit. Nothing she couldn't get over. She really did want to change her pants though because she was fairly sure she may have peed a little bit. "Mar, you have to see this!" Marissa grumbled to herself as she limped out of the storeroom and came to a stop when she saw the giant gold body of the mangy lion that hung around Jax's workshop. Jax and Lincoln were sitting up high on their respective shelving units while the lion lay over something that Marissa could only assume was Ellie Rae because of the laughing.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I have no idea!" Lincoln looked at the lion with concern. "It's not eating her."

"Ellie Rae!" Marissa called over the laughing and took a few limps forward to try to get to her friend but was stopped when the lion turned its head and growled at her. Marissa stopped moving and blinked nervously.

"Oi, be nice!" Ellie Rae's voice came from under the lion. It turned back to look at her and made an odd noise that sounded almost like a purr. "Off!" The lion rested its head on her chest and Marissa heard Ellie Rae say something else and then backed up a few steps when the lion got to its feet and Ellie Rae was able to sit up properly and she looked like she had been licked a few times, her hair having fallen out of her ponytail and was now sticking up all around her head looking like she had been licked all over her face. The lion sat down beside her and looked up at Jax and Lincoln who were still chilling up in the shelves, looking down at the lion and Ellie Rae.

"What is going on?" Marissa almost squeaked when the lion looked at her. "Isn't that the same bloody lion...?"

"Yes! That's the lion." Jax gulped and looked like he was trying to disappear into the shelf. Ellie Rae got to her feet and brushed off her jeans and smoothed back her hair before grinning at her friends.

"You guys can come down; he's not going to hurt you." She encouraged and rested a hand on the lion's head. It made a noise again that Marissa could only assume was one of contentedness. She frowned at Ellie Rae; mouth open in surprise as she watched the lion rub its head on her hip. "I promise!"

"That thing has tried to make a snack out of me more times than I can count. Ha, it still has glitter in its mane!" Marissa took a tentative step forward towards Ellie Rae and tried to not look at the lion.

"How on earth did that thing follow us here and why is it not turning you into a steak?" Marissa had inched her way forward enough that she was now standing in front of Ellie Rae and eyeing the big cat warily.

"That is so weird man. So weird." Lincoln was shaking his head feverishly from where he was. Ellie Rae rolled her eyes.

"He's not going to eat you, I promise." Marissa raised an eyebrow.

"He's a lion. Lions, eat people."

"Not always!" Ellie Rae looked back up at Lincoln and Jax and she rested a hand on the big cat's head. It was still letting out a low rumble that Marissa could only assume it meant it wasn't going to eat her. Although Marissa wouldn't have minded him eating Lincoln. Lincoln was a pain in the butt. "Trust me! He's not going to eat you!"

"If he doesn't eat Jax, I'll come down."

"I'll come down if he doesn't eat Lincoln."

"You two are actual children." Marissa looked up at them and scowled. "Why can't you two behave like the adults that you are?"

"Because it's a lion and I don't want to die." Lincoln snapped back at her and glared at the lion as he shifted his weight on the shelf. Ellie Rae scowled at the two of them.

"Domino is not going to eat anyone! See?" She grabbed Marissa's hand and before she knew it, Marissa's hand was on the muzzle of the lion and Ellie Rae wasn't holding her wrist. Marissa was frozen where she stood,

"Uhhhhhhhh." Marissa stared at her hand on the lion and didn't move for a solid minute. It was like the world hit pause. Everything was still and silent as it watched and waited. Domino stared into Marissa's green eyes, unblinking as it sat and stared her hand, waiting. Marissa gulped as she maintained eye contact with the lion- or Domino as Ellie Rae had named- and waited to see what he would do with the contact.

To Marissa's relief, her hand did not suddenly end up being unceremoniously removed her arm. Domino, in fact, closed his giant golden eyes and a low hum emitted from his chest. Ellie Rae clapped her hands in delight.

"Why is he making that noise?" Marissa looked at Ellie Rae hesitantly, unsure if looking away would change the lions mind and turn her into a tasty mid-afternoon snack.

"He's purring! Sort of. It means he likes you and it means that you two numbskulls can come down from there!" She directed her attention to the two idiots who were now sitting quite comfortably on the top of the shelves, Jax watching with mild interest and Lincoln looking like he was about to throw up. Marissa gave a nervous laugh and gave Domino a light scratch on his nose. The rumbling got slightly louder, and the lion pushed his head into her hand, clearly wanting more scratches. Marissa was not much of an animal person and animals had never been fond of her. Despite Ellie Rae constantly bringing an assortment of animals into their home, Marissa had been bitten by one too many creatures to have an appreciation for anything small and furry. Or large and furry. Basically, anything furry.

She didn't do bugs either.

"Are you sure it's not going to eat her?" Lincoln called down to the girls, tentatively lowering his leg to the shelf below him to enable getting down.

"I won't be opposed to him eating you." Jax glared at Lincoln. Lincoln poked his tongue out rather childishly at Jax before tentatively unwrapping himself from the top of the shelf and started climbing down the shelf. Lincoln didn't take his eyes off the lion as he felt around for the next shelf which proved to be a mistake- his foot missed the next shelf down and he tumbled to the ground, landing hard on his butt. Jax choked on a laugh as he watched the whole thing occur. Marissa and Ellie Rae exchanged glances at the stupidity of men.

"Men." Ellie Rae muttered causing Marissa to snort. Marissa moved away from Domino to offer Lincoln a hand. He took it and she heaved him to his feet, and he winced as he put pressure onto the leg she had shot him in.

"Now my ass AND my leg hurt." Lincoln groaned as he rubbed his tailbone, face scrunched up. Jax snorted from where he was and then pushed himself off from where he had been and landed on the ground beside Lincoln and Marissa. He grinned as Lincoln narrowed his eyes at him.

"That, my friend, is why you should pay attention to where you are putting your feet." Jax cuffed him on the shoulder, still grinning widely. Domino growled slightly when Lincoln moved away from Jax and towards the store front door. Ellie Rae placed a hand on the lion's muzzle, and he calmed down.

"He's going to eat me, isn't he?"

"High chance." Marissa snorted at Ellie Rae's response, despite having earlier stated that he wouldn't. Lincoln moved slightly behind Marissa as he eyed Domino.

"Well. Now that Ellie Rae has ger guard dog... Grab what you need."

"Aye aye, El Capitan!" Jax saluted her and moved away into the store. Lincoln swallowed and nodded before backing away and slightly limped away, still rubbing his tailbone.

"You too, Ellie Rae. Maybe... Maybe find Domino a steak or something." Ellie Rae shrugged.

"I don't know where you expect me to find a steak without eating it myself?"

Marissa snorted.

"Grab me one while you're on it." Ellie Rae rolled her eyes and started to drift way to the very front of the store, her and her lion avoiding the broken shards of glass on the floor that were once probably perfume bottles.

Marissa headed back towards the storeroom and kicked a coat hanger out the way as she entered and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dark room. Placing a hand on the wall, she felt her way over to the other side felt the familiar feel of a windowpane covered in a plank of wood. She felt around some more and was able to get a grip on the plank with both hands and pull on it. It budged slightly, enough to make Marissa pull on it more. She braced her left foot against the wall and pulled again. She could see the sun starting to peek above the part of the plank that was coming free.

"Come on, damnit." She hissed through her teeth as she put all her weight into pulling it off.

Another three pulls and Marissa had some success. As it came off, she fell backwards and fell back on a stack of boxes, wincing as the sun flooded the room and blinding Marissa. And to make matters worse, removing the plank and falling back had caused the dust to rise and fill her nose. So now she wasn't just blinded but now her nose was starting to itch.

"Achoo!"

"Bless you!" The chorus of voices from her friends was followed by a small roar from Domino.

"Domino says bless you too!" Ellie Rae called somewhere from the store. Marissa both sneezed and laughed simultaneously as more dust made its way up her nose. She itched her nose as she pushed herself to her feet and shook off the dust and dirt that was now on her. She dropped the plank she had ripped off the window and looked around her. Marissa wasn't sure if it was because the window had been broken and then covered up or if the dark room has just been home to more animals because the storeroom seemed to be in worse condition than anywhere else in the store. Marissa flipped open one of the box lids and pulled a face at what looked like a ratty sombrero. She snorted as she picked it up and it fell apart, the colourful strands frayed.

"Hey, I found your sombrero!" She yelled as she dangled it in front of her as she exited the storeroom. Lincoln was shoving on a new pair of socks when he looked up to see the ratty sombrero.

"You're kidding?"

"You wanted a sombrero." Marissa dropped it in front of him. "Enjoy!" Lincoln pulled a face as Marissa walked past him and started her own clothes changing spree. It was a relief, mostly, for a clean set of underwear. She hadn't entirely been sure if she was going to find some in one piece but, like most of the items in the front of the store, they were in one piece and still packaged. The rest of the clothes she had picked for herself weren't in as good as a condition as the under garments, but they were in mostly one piece and gave the coverage she needed.

"Honestly, I will never understand the trends these people had back then." Marissa did up the button on her jeans and adjusted her singlet so that it was more comfortable.

"Who are you talking to?" Jax asked as he pulled on his jacket that he didn't seem too keen to leave behind. "And what trends are you talking about?"

"Holey knees, man. What," Marissa pointed to her knees that were showing through her jeans. "Are those?"

"Those, are my crocs!" Jax yelled back. Marissa stared at him blankly.

"These are my knees."

"I.... Oh, don't worry. And my, what lovely knees you have." He grinned, causing Marissa to snort. "Are they supposed to show that much knee?"

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Is who supposed to have what?" Ellie Rae popped up beside Jax, hair tied back in a neat bun to keep her hair out of her face. She too, had changed but hadn't appeared to have got the memo that dressing for the wild meant dressing in clothes that would be inconspicuous.

"How did you manage to find the one pair of pink dungarees in the entire store?" Marissa asked incredulously as she took in the dungarees that Ellie Rae had donned.

"If we're going to go and figure out what is wrong with the world then I'm going to do it in a colour that makes me happy." Marissa picked up the vest she had found and pulled it on and started buckling it up. She shook her head at her friend.

"Ellie Rae, you little genius." Jax slung an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair. "Hey, anyone see any red underwear?" Marissa groaned.

"Guys..."

"Yes, I know. We gotta go." Lincoln limped over. "Where's the lion?"

"He found a snack."

"I hope it was that crazy old guy." Lincoln muttered, causing Ellie Rae to elbow him hard in the ribs. "Aye! What was that for?"

"Being a dick." Marissa snorted.

"Has everyone got what they need?" There was a series of nods from everyone. "Good. Let's get our packs and get going. We need to find a place to sleep before it gets dark." Marissa knelt to tie up her boots- the one thing she hadn't replaced in their clothing swap. "And don't forget to grab some extra clothes for the cold. The heat is abnormal, I wouldn't be surprised if it got unusually cold at some point." Jax saluted her again and Marissa contemplated throwing something at him.

"Don't do it, Mar. You've already injured Lincoln, I don't think you want our getaway driver injured either." Ellie Rae stated when she saw the look Marissa gave Jax.

"No promises." Ellie Rae sighed and took something off her wrist and passed it to Marissa. She took it and gave a small laugh.

"A hair tie?"

"Just in case the one you have in your hair gives up."

"I'll have you know," Marissa put her hands on her hips. "That this hair tie has gotten very far in this life." She pulled on the end of her braid to show that the hair tie was, in fact, still hanging on for dear life to her hair. Ellie Rae pulled a face.

"You're ridiculous." She sighed. Marissa shrugged and followed Ellie Rae back to where the boys now stood, Lincoln shoving what looked like a long-sleeved top into his backpack.

"What? Not bringing the sombrero?" Lincoln rolled his eyes and picked up a black cap that he had found and pushed it onto his head, squashing the slightly springy blonde curls underneath it.

"I don't think the sombrero is going to do me much good."

"Might do me some good, perfectly falling apart in the right places." Jax snorted as he picked up the ratty sombrero and put it on his head, his dreads poking through the top of the broken hat. Ellie Rae giggled as she handed Marissa a filled bottle of water to put in her backpack.

"It's definitely a good look for you." Jax gave a dramatic bow, bending so far forward that the sombrero fell off. "Maybe we can make you one?"

"Never mind. I'll go without it for now." Jax kicked it away. "My skin is gorgeous anyway; I don't need a hat to stop the sun from giving me a dazzling glow."

"How high is that horse you sit on?" Lincoln asked as he straightened and pulled on his backpack, shaking his head. Jax picked up his own bag and winked at Lincoln.

"I don't need a horse to be high on." Marissa choked on the water she had been trying to drink.