"I understand her friend is anxious to see her again. it would be a shame for them to be parted."
"I'll handle the girl," Cranston said, scratching his goatee and looking off to the side. He was thinking. "We won't be long. Pick us up at the brothel. Sandringham will know which one. Also," He gestured down the street, in the direction of the factory. "You may want to clear out now. Basilio's men are already on the scene." And with that, Cranston was off.
It didn't take too long for him to find her. She hadn't gone far. He just followed the smell. "Ace O' Spades", Lilith's favorite cigarette brand. Her room on the Maiden reeked of the stuff.
Catching her walking down the dark, empty streets alone, Cranston called out to her from behind, "Lilith," he clenched his jaw. "It's time to go. He's waiting for you."
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
"That with other evidence cements the fact that Maribel is with them, Commander."
"Agreed," Tsubaki simply stated. "The next step then, is confirming whether or not they are still in the city. I---" Tsubaki's words were cut off when her pager went off. It was McAlister. Without a word, Tsubaki hit the speaker button on the conference phone in the center of the table. After punching in his number, they were greeted by classical music as the landline made the connection to the Intel department.
Dio Basilio had classy taste, indeed.
"H-hello, Commander?!" McAlister's nervous voice cracked over the speaker.
Getting up from her seat, Tsubaki planted her hands firmly on the table and leaned over, "What is it, McAlister?"
"Hey, sorry to call you out of the blue like this, but we just got word of an incident in the manufacturing district. You said you wanted me to report anything strange that---"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Get to the point, McAlister!"
"Well," He swallowed nervously. She really did set him on edge. "One of the bodies has been identified as the bounty hunter, Gorgon. You know, one of the guys Lord Basilio---"
"Holy shit," Tsubaki interrupted, once more. "When did this happen?"
"About twenty, maybe thirty minutes ago?" He guessed. "There's something else too." He added. "An apartment in the Cloud District was apparently raided by a lone gunman. He's dead and the occupants of the apartment are nowhere to be found. A homeless man on the scene said he saw a few men in suits escorting a kid and some women into a van a little over a half and hour ago."
"Dammit it!"
"Hey, Commander, is there something---"
Tsubaki hung up on him abruptly and frantically dialed another number, "Commander Saburo, what's the meaning---"
"General! I---"
"No," The General spat. "Warn me before you just call me out---"
"With all due respect, General, shut up for a second! I need the city on lock-down, NOW!"
"Wh-what!? WHY!? And don't you tell me---"
"Lady Maribel is being taken out of the city AS WE SPEAK! Do you want me to explain to Lord Basilio how you wasted precious time---"
"OKAY! Okay! But you better be fucking right about this, Saburo, or it's your ass!"
Thanks for omitting the usual "fat" descriptor, General.
"Roger that," Tsubaki said unenthusiastically as she hung up the phone. Looking up at her squad, she simply stated. "Let's move."
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
As Amy turned down the hall, Carlos came racing into the infirmary, behind Bennie, "Is everything okay? What happened?!" Carlos questioned frantically, looking between Pixie and Bennie.
"It's okay, Carlos, only a flesh wound," Pixie assured him.
"Let me take a look at it. Bennie's not trained---"
"Carlos," Pixie stated, firmly. "Get out."
His jaw hung agape for a moment as if he had words he wouldn't dare say, then he clenched his jaw and nodded, "Of course." Brushing by Bennie, he closed the door on his way out.
Bennie watched him as he left and turned to face Pixie. Always a difficult man to read for those that didn't know him well, Pixie could see the rage as clear as day hidden behind his sunglasses, "Hey, don' worry about him."
"That fuckin' scumbag---"
"Bennie!" Pixie barked. "Not now, I've got a fuckin' open wound over here!"
Bennie sighed and moved over to her side, "Fuck, I'm sorry." He apologized. Gathering up supplies from the nearby cabinet, Bennie continued. "If he had..." Bennie stopped his train of thought. Best banish it all together. Returning to her side, he began to unravel the impromptu field-dressing. "How's it feeling?"
Pixie laughed through the pain, "Fuckin' hurts like hell. Whadda' you think?"
"Well, it's about to hurt a lot more here in a second." Bennie warned.
"Stitches ain't shit!" Pixie joked. Despite her bravado, she did her fair share of wincing, groaning and cursing as Bennie went to work, cleaning, closing and dressing her wound. When all was said and done, Bennie had done an admirable job fixing her up.
After taking a few minutes to lie down on the operating table and relax, Pixie sat up and looked Bennie in the eye, "So, I reckon you wanna talk about Wilks-Vines, don' ya'?"
"Among other things."
"Well," Pixie forced a smirk, "What's up?"
Bennie leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "No matter how we play it he will find a way to screw us sooner or later. His word doesn't mean shit. The first chance he gets to sell you out he'll take it. I can guarantee that."
"So," Pixie cocked and eyebrow, "Then we jus' kill 'im before that can happen."
"You make sound easy."
"Why can' it be? Right now we focus on gettin' ar' ship back an' blown that fuckin' maniac outta the sky. Then what? We turn 'ar guns 'round on the man 'imself at the first signs of trouble."
"That's the thing, Pixie," Bennie shook his head. "By the time we see the first sign it will already be too late."
"Speakin' from experience, Carmine?"
"What do you think?"
"Fine," Pixie sighed. "Sorry, Bennie, but we need 'is men. We can' fight a war on 'ar own. We jus' don' 'ave the numbers."
"I get it."
"Do you?"
"What's so goddamn important about that ship, anyway!?" Bennie snapped.
"It ain't about the fuckin' ship, Bennie," Pixie shot him an icy glare. "It's about Austin. We let 'im run wild on the ashlands with that kinda fire power an' there's gonna be a lot of dead innocents when it's all said'n done."
"And?"
"And what? You know what I'm on about!"
"I do, and it's fuckin' troublesome."
"Oh, really? An' how do ya' figure that?" Pixie's tone hardened.
Bennie bit the inside of his lip and shook, "You've always been like that. Willing to sacrifice yourself and your people in order to do what? Protect the innocent? Save the world?"
"Bennie..."
"We're bandits, Meredith! CRIMINALS! Have you forgotten that?!"
Déjà-fuckin'-vu.
"No," Pixie whispered. "No!" She repeated, louder now. "But ask yerself this: ar' you willin' ta' stand by an' let that psychopath lay waste ta' countless families? Ar' you fine'n dandy with 'im marchin' 'is goddamn child army all over? exploitin' those poor kids? Brain washin' 'em an' sendin' 'em out ta' die?!"
"How's what you're doing any different?!" Bennie snapped. Pixie recoiled back in shock. "Seriously? Why did Parker have to die today?! Tell me that! We were there, makin' a deal with a man we should have never gotten into bed with in the first place and got caught in the crossfire of a dispute we had no part in! You sent Parker out there! You did! How the fuck is what you do any different!?"
"H-how... dare you..." Pixie muttered, trembling. "How could ya' say that to me? I-I-I loved that boy..." A rogue tear escaped Pixie's good eye as she grabbed her forehead. "I-I-I---"
"Fuck," Bennie muttered. "Goddammit. Look, I'm sorry, I---"
"If you 'ave a problem with my leadership, Carmine..." Pixie started, her head bowed.
"No, look I'm sorry. Today's just been... tough." He reached and put his hands on her shoulders. "I shouldn't have said those things. I didn't mean any of it."
Pixie fought for a long time not to meet his gaze, but eventually gave in. Her brow furrowed, her eye watery and her lip quivering; Bennie could see clearly how much he'd fucked up. True, Pixie was a master of manipulation, but this was the death of a friend they were talking about. She wouldn't feign sadness just to get under his skin if it meant she was dishonoring Parker's death.
After a long moment of silence, Pixie finally spoke, "I'm sorry 'bout Amy. Did she hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," Bennie assured her, leaning back in his seat once more. "Don't know about her though."
"Yeah," Pixie looked off to the side. "She's, uh, well..."
"You really have a habit of attracting the crazies. You know that?"
Pixie offered a sad laugh, "Maybe. Amy's a complicated girl. I feel for 'er, I really do. I can relate to 'er."
"You love her?"
Pixie considered her answer for a moment, though in truth, she already knew it, "I care for 'er, sure. Like one 'a my own. But love? Romantic love?" She sighed. "No."
"But she loved you?"
"Yeah," Pixie found Bennie's eyes once more. "Bennie..." She furrowed her brow. "She said she'd die fer me. Said all sorts 'a stuff, actually. I dunno... I dunno what ta' do. She needs someone, ya' know?"
"Does she need someone twice her age, though?"
"Hey!" Pixie frowned. "Yer the one in 'is thirties! I still 'ave a few months, dammit!"
"Well, am I wrong?" Bennie tilted his head, inquisitively.
"Bennie," She pressed her fingers hard against bother her good and bad eye in an attempt to banish her anxiety. "I feel like I'm 'elpin' 'er, or... at least I thought I was. Maybe what she's goin' through now is necessary, ya' know?"
"Yeah, sticking a knife to your girlfriend's ex is all part of the process, right?"
"Bennie..."
"Admit it. It's all about you."
Why do ya' always 'ave ta' challenge me, Carmine?
"It was at first," Pixie admitted. "But, no. Not anymore! I really care 'bout 'er! I wan' 'er to be happy! I wan' 'er to recover!"
"Sounds familiar."
"Beg yer pardon?" Pixie narrowed her eye.
"You say it isn't about you, but then you say things like, 'help her recover' and 'she reminds me of myself'. Could it be that, and I am just guessing here, but," He sighed. Clearly he didn't want to complete his thought, but if his time with Cranston taught him anything it was...
No half measures.
"Could it be that you're hoping to fix her in some vain hope you'll find salvation for yourself? If she can get better, anyone can, right? Even you." Bennie frowned, obviously upset that he'd had to say what he did.
Pixie went stiff. Jesus... he was right.
You fuckin' sick, *****, Pixie.
"B-bennie, I-I--"
"It's okay, Pixie. We're all human. We're all fucked up in some way. You don't need any fixing. You know that, right?"
"You're wrong!" Pixie snapped. "You have no idea what it's like in my head..."
"When we were together," Bennie started. "Things were good. You were happy. Both of us were happy."
"Bennie..."
"So why not go back to that?" Bennie pressed. "Look, it's not too late. We can go back to---"
"Bennie!" Pixie interrupted.
"We can---"
"Stop!" She shouted. "Please, I-I... I jus' wanna be alone for awhile. I need ta' get some rest."
Bennie stared at her in silence for a long while before nodding, "Right." Getting up from his seat, Bennie stormed out of the infirmary. To where, Pixie didn't have a clue.
Laying back down on the operating table, Pixie painfully slipped her flask out from her pocket. After unscrewing the top, she downed its contents and tossed the tin to the ground. After wiping her mouth, she sighed and closed her eye.
That went fuckin' well.
"I'll handle the girl," Cranston said, scratching his goatee and looking off to the side. He was thinking. "We won't be long. Pick us up at the brothel. Sandringham will know which one. Also," He gestured down the street, in the direction of the factory. "You may want to clear out now. Basilio's men are already on the scene." And with that, Cranston was off.
It didn't take too long for him to find her. She hadn't gone far. He just followed the smell. "Ace O' Spades", Lilith's favorite cigarette brand. Her room on the Maiden reeked of the stuff.
Catching her walking down the dark, empty streets alone, Cranston called out to her from behind, "Lilith," he clenched his jaw. "It's time to go. He's waiting for you."
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
"That with other evidence cements the fact that Maribel is with them, Commander."
"Agreed," Tsubaki simply stated. "The next step then, is confirming whether or not they are still in the city. I---" Tsubaki's words were cut off when her pager went off. It was McAlister. Without a word, Tsubaki hit the speaker button on the conference phone in the center of the table. After punching in his number, they were greeted by classical music as the landline made the connection to the Intel department.
Dio Basilio had classy taste, indeed.
"H-hello, Commander?!" McAlister's nervous voice cracked over the speaker.
Getting up from her seat, Tsubaki planted her hands firmly on the table and leaned over, "What is it, McAlister?"
"Hey, sorry to call you out of the blue like this, but we just got word of an incident in the manufacturing district. You said you wanted me to report anything strange that---"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Get to the point, McAlister!"
"Well," He swallowed nervously. She really did set him on edge. "One of the bodies has been identified as the bounty hunter, Gorgon. You know, one of the guys Lord Basilio---"
"Holy shit," Tsubaki interrupted, once more. "When did this happen?"
"About twenty, maybe thirty minutes ago?" He guessed. "There's something else too." He added. "An apartment in the Cloud District was apparently raided by a lone gunman. He's dead and the occupants of the apartment are nowhere to be found. A homeless man on the scene said he saw a few men in suits escorting a kid and some women into a van a little over a half and hour ago."
"Dammit it!"
"Hey, Commander, is there something---"
Tsubaki hung up on him abruptly and frantically dialed another number, "Commander Saburo, what's the meaning---"
"General! I---"
"No," The General spat. "Warn me before you just call me out---"
"With all due respect, General, shut up for a second! I need the city on lock-down, NOW!"
"Wh-what!? WHY!? And don't you tell me---"
"Lady Maribel is being taken out of the city AS WE SPEAK! Do you want me to explain to Lord Basilio how you wasted precious time---"
"OKAY! Okay! But you better be fucking right about this, Saburo, or it's your ass!"
Thanks for omitting the usual "fat" descriptor, General.
"Roger that," Tsubaki said unenthusiastically as she hung up the phone. Looking up at her squad, she simply stated. "Let's move."
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
As Amy turned down the hall, Carlos came racing into the infirmary, behind Bennie, "Is everything okay? What happened?!" Carlos questioned frantically, looking between Pixie and Bennie.
"It's okay, Carlos, only a flesh wound," Pixie assured him.
"Let me take a look at it. Bennie's not trained---"
"Carlos," Pixie stated, firmly. "Get out."
His jaw hung agape for a moment as if he had words he wouldn't dare say, then he clenched his jaw and nodded, "Of course." Brushing by Bennie, he closed the door on his way out.
Bennie watched him as he left and turned to face Pixie. Always a difficult man to read for those that didn't know him well, Pixie could see the rage as clear as day hidden behind his sunglasses, "Hey, don' worry about him."
"That fuckin' scumbag---"
"Bennie!" Pixie barked. "Not now, I've got a fuckin' open wound over here!"
Bennie sighed and moved over to her side, "Fuck, I'm sorry." He apologized. Gathering up supplies from the nearby cabinet, Bennie continued. "If he had..." Bennie stopped his train of thought. Best banish it all together. Returning to her side, he began to unravel the impromptu field-dressing. "How's it feeling?"
Pixie laughed through the pain, "Fuckin' hurts like hell. Whadda' you think?"
"Well, it's about to hurt a lot more here in a second." Bennie warned.
"Stitches ain't shit!" Pixie joked. Despite her bravado, she did her fair share of wincing, groaning and cursing as Bennie went to work, cleaning, closing and dressing her wound. When all was said and done, Bennie had done an admirable job fixing her up.
After taking a few minutes to lie down on the operating table and relax, Pixie sat up and looked Bennie in the eye, "So, I reckon you wanna talk about Wilks-Vines, don' ya'?"
"Among other things."
"Well," Pixie forced a smirk, "What's up?"
Bennie leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "No matter how we play it he will find a way to screw us sooner or later. His word doesn't mean shit. The first chance he gets to sell you out he'll take it. I can guarantee that."
"So," Pixie cocked and eyebrow, "Then we jus' kill 'im before that can happen."
"You make sound easy."
"Why can' it be? Right now we focus on gettin' ar' ship back an' blown that fuckin' maniac outta the sky. Then what? We turn 'ar guns 'round on the man 'imself at the first signs of trouble."
"That's the thing, Pixie," Bennie shook his head. "By the time we see the first sign it will already be too late."
"Speakin' from experience, Carmine?"
"What do you think?"
"Fine," Pixie sighed. "Sorry, Bennie, but we need 'is men. We can' fight a war on 'ar own. We jus' don' 'ave the numbers."
"I get it."
"Do you?"
"What's so goddamn important about that ship, anyway!?" Bennie snapped.
"It ain't about the fuckin' ship, Bennie," Pixie shot him an icy glare. "It's about Austin. We let 'im run wild on the ashlands with that kinda fire power an' there's gonna be a lot of dead innocents when it's all said'n done."
"And?"
"And what? You know what I'm on about!"
"I do, and it's fuckin' troublesome."
"Oh, really? An' how do ya' figure that?" Pixie's tone hardened.
Bennie bit the inside of his lip and shook, "You've always been like that. Willing to sacrifice yourself and your people in order to do what? Protect the innocent? Save the world?"
"Bennie..."
"We're bandits, Meredith! CRIMINALS! Have you forgotten that?!"
Déjà-fuckin'-vu.
"No," Pixie whispered. "No!" She repeated, louder now. "But ask yerself this: ar' you willin' ta' stand by an' let that psychopath lay waste ta' countless families? Ar' you fine'n dandy with 'im marchin' 'is goddamn child army all over? exploitin' those poor kids? Brain washin' 'em an' sendin' 'em out ta' die?!"
"How's what you're doing any different?!" Bennie snapped. Pixie recoiled back in shock. "Seriously? Why did Parker have to die today?! Tell me that! We were there, makin' a deal with a man we should have never gotten into bed with in the first place and got caught in the crossfire of a dispute we had no part in! You sent Parker out there! You did! How the fuck is what you do any different!?"
"H-how... dare you..." Pixie muttered, trembling. "How could ya' say that to me? I-I-I loved that boy..." A rogue tear escaped Pixie's good eye as she grabbed her forehead. "I-I-I---"
"Fuck," Bennie muttered. "Goddammit. Look, I'm sorry, I---"
"If you 'ave a problem with my leadership, Carmine..." Pixie started, her head bowed.
"No, look I'm sorry. Today's just been... tough." He reached and put his hands on her shoulders. "I shouldn't have said those things. I didn't mean any of it."
Pixie fought for a long time not to meet his gaze, but eventually gave in. Her brow furrowed, her eye watery and her lip quivering; Bennie could see clearly how much he'd fucked up. True, Pixie was a master of manipulation, but this was the death of a friend they were talking about. She wouldn't feign sadness just to get under his skin if it meant she was dishonoring Parker's death.
After a long moment of silence, Pixie finally spoke, "I'm sorry 'bout Amy. Did she hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," Bennie assured her, leaning back in his seat once more. "Don't know about her though."
"Yeah," Pixie looked off to the side. "She's, uh, well..."
"You really have a habit of attracting the crazies. You know that?"
Pixie offered a sad laugh, "Maybe. Amy's a complicated girl. I feel for 'er, I really do. I can relate to 'er."
"You love her?"
Pixie considered her answer for a moment, though in truth, she already knew it, "I care for 'er, sure. Like one 'a my own. But love? Romantic love?" She sighed. "No."
"But she loved you?"
"Yeah," Pixie found Bennie's eyes once more. "Bennie..." She furrowed her brow. "She said she'd die fer me. Said all sorts 'a stuff, actually. I dunno... I dunno what ta' do. She needs someone, ya' know?"
"Does she need someone twice her age, though?"
"Hey!" Pixie frowned. "Yer the one in 'is thirties! I still 'ave a few months, dammit!"
"Well, am I wrong?" Bennie tilted his head, inquisitively.
"Bennie," She pressed her fingers hard against bother her good and bad eye in an attempt to banish her anxiety. "I feel like I'm 'elpin' 'er, or... at least I thought I was. Maybe what she's goin' through now is necessary, ya' know?"
"Yeah, sticking a knife to your girlfriend's ex is all part of the process, right?"
"Bennie..."
"Admit it. It's all about you."
Why do ya' always 'ave ta' challenge me, Carmine?
"It was at first," Pixie admitted. "But, no. Not anymore! I really care 'bout 'er! I wan' 'er to be happy! I wan' 'er to recover!"
"Sounds familiar."
"Beg yer pardon?" Pixie narrowed her eye.
"You say it isn't about you, but then you say things like, 'help her recover' and 'she reminds me of myself'. Could it be that, and I am just guessing here, but," He sighed. Clearly he didn't want to complete his thought, but if his time with Cranston taught him anything it was...
No half measures.
"Could it be that you're hoping to fix her in some vain hope you'll find salvation for yourself? If she can get better, anyone can, right? Even you." Bennie frowned, obviously upset that he'd had to say what he did.
Pixie went stiff. Jesus... he was right.
You fuckin' sick, *****, Pixie.
"B-bennie, I-I--"
"It's okay, Pixie. We're all human. We're all fucked up in some way. You don't need any fixing. You know that, right?"
"You're wrong!" Pixie snapped. "You have no idea what it's like in my head..."
"When we were together," Bennie started. "Things were good. You were happy. Both of us were happy."
"Bennie..."
"So why not go back to that?" Bennie pressed. "Look, it's not too late. We can go back to---"
"Bennie!" Pixie interrupted.
"We can---"
"Stop!" She shouted. "Please, I-I... I jus' wanna be alone for awhile. I need ta' get some rest."
Bennie stared at her in silence for a long while before nodding, "Right." Getting up from his seat, Bennie stormed out of the infirmary. To where, Pixie didn't have a clue.
Laying back down on the operating table, Pixie painfully slipped her flask out from her pocket. After unscrewing the top, she downed its contents and tossed the tin to the ground. After wiping her mouth, she sighed and closed her eye.
That went fuckin' well.
