*Magnify*
SPONSORED LINKS
BY ONLINE AUTHORS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/1751166-Instinct
Printer Friendly Page Tell A Friend
Rated: GC · Campfire Creative · Non-fiction · Action/Adventure · #1751166
My scent's in the air, it's everywhere. I'm gonna be your prey tonight.
[Introduction]
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **


My scent's in the air
it's everywhere
I'm gonna be your prey tonight.
I've given up the chase
I'm ready to be tamed
So tonight you better use your
Animal instinct
                             - The Commodores
– One –



“Who do you think is going to win the championship title this year?”

The question was asked by a scrawny reporter in the front row who looked more like he wrote for an online blog than a legitimate newspaper. But Simon supposed the American Altered Fighting Association could use whatever positive publicity it could get, even if it was to just a bunch of fanboys in the basements of their parents’ house. The big papers didn’t seem to hold the same appreciation for the association as the online blogs did. If he remembered correctly, he thought the word “circus” had been thrown in to a couple articles floating around out there.

It wasn’t so much that Simon disagreed with the people who criticized the AAFA, because there were a lot of politics and shady dealings that went on behind the scenes, but it was that the AAFA was the poster organization for gene alteration. It was the most well known, publicized and looked at organization out there that centered around the Shifters. People who had their genes sliced with animal DNA. The new technology was controversial and getting more so by the day. And most days, Simon felt like he was smack dab in the middle of it all.

If the AAFA was the poster organization for gene alteration, then Simon was the poster boy for it. His face was well known and not just because he was a fighter in the AAFA. It was because of who his father was. Senator Gregory Welsh, the number one supporter for Shifter rights. An outspoken and controversial politician, his father attracted enough attention on his own. But having a Shifter son in the AAFA, it brought both reporters and paparazzi to both their doorsteps.

Leaning against the podium, Simon shrugged and tugged at the collar of his black AAFA hoodie. “Well, there’s a few good candidates for the title. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a tight race in the heavyweights. Keep your eye on Turk and Carole. And don’t rule out Schwartz yet, he’s had a couple of unlucky breaks, but he’s determined.”

A blonde reporter two rows back raised her hand and Simon nodded to her. “What about the women’s contenders? Do you have some favorites?”

Simon smirked again. “I would tell you, but I might upset someone and the girls scare me more than the heavyweights.”

A few low chuckles rumbled through the press conference and Simon nodded to a man towards the right. “Can we expect to see your return to the ring this season yet?”

The smirk on Simon’s face faltered and he glanced down at the podium for a moment before looking back up and replacing the friendly look on his face. “That’s going to be up to the AAFA officials and when they decide to sign off on my bench order.”

“Is it true you saw a private sports doctor about your knee injury and he gave you a clean bill of health?” a reporter in the front asked, not waiting for Simon to nod to him.

Simon licked his lips and kept smiling, looking at the man seriously. “That would be a breach in my contract with the AAFA,” he told him. “And I’m not sure where that rumor came from, but I’ll take it as a sign that someone out there would like to see me back in the rings.” The reporters chuckled again and Simon stood up a little straighter. He shifted his weight onto his right knee and tried not to think about the injury that had kept him out of the fighting rings for the past four months. He’d missed most of the pre-season and he’d lost any shot at a title this year because the AAFA officials had yet to release him to come back. His knee had been healed after a month and here it was four months later and for some reason they still wouldn’t sign off on him. It was a controversy he was trying to keep out of the press, so he kept the smiles and answers lighthearted.

“How is your knee feeling?” a reporter asked.

Simon smirked, knowing what they were trying to get at. “How it feels and how it really is could be two totally different things and I’ll leave it up to the professionals to decide when I’m fit to return to the association.”

Another reporter in the front row shouted, “Is it true you’re currently dating Mrs. AAFA herself, Delia Cane?”

“We have been seeing each other socially, yes,” Simon nodded.

“How does your father feel about you dating a ring girl?” another reporter asked.

Simon leaned against the podium again, chuckling a little. “You say ring girl like it’s a bad thing,” he said into the microphones. “I would like everyone to remember that Ms. Cane did attend Harvard Law School for three years and is still working towards getting her degree in Business Law. And if my father was concerned with what I did on my spare time, I’m certain he would know that the press and the tabloids take certain liberties when they personify Ms. Cane.”

A reporter sitting in the front row with dark hair and glasses raised his hand smoothly. Simon glanced towards him and nodded. He didn’t recognize him from other press conferences and he didn’t wear a badge that signaled what media he worked for. “Your father has been the sole voice behind the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act, his stance and opinion well known through the country. What are your thoughts on the act?”

Simon stood up a little straighter and he knew this question had been coming. He never made it far without hearing something about the act or his father’s stance behind it. Everyone wanted to know his opinion on it and he always gave them the same answer.

“I leave the politics to my father,” he said seriously.

That should have been the end of it, but the reporter spoke again without allowing Simon to move the questions on to another reporter. “Well you must have some opinion about the Act. It effects you and your kind most of all, does it not?”

Simon had to use every ounce of willpower he had to keep his face from darkening towards the man. He kept the neutral smile on his face as he said politely, “I find it funny that you refer to me and ‘my kind’ as if we were something other than human.”

“Aren’t you?” the reporter countered and Simon couldn’t quite keep the frown off his face. “The Act itself classifies you as subhuman.”

Simon shook his head and there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that if he opened this door, there would be no coming back from it. He’d wanted to stay out of the political side of all of this. His father had been trying to get him to speak for the Act for months. The AAFA had told him to keep his mouth shut about it. Simon knew what the pros and cons of both sides were. If he spoke up, it could gain a ton of supporters for the Act. But the AAFA might catch flak for it from the anti-Shifter organizations. They may never sign off on his release back into the rings and he’d be benched until his contract ran up in six years.

“The Act acknowledges a difference, but does not place superiority on one group or another,” Simon said smoothly. “You’re seeing a repeat of history if you start classifying people as human or subhuman and if you remember, that sparked the Civil Rights movement.”

The reporter shrugged. “But we’re not talking about skin color or ethnicity here,” he said, tilting his head to the side and Simon wondered who he was and who he worked for. “We’re talking about altered DNA. DNA that’s mixed with that of an animal. Does that still make you human?”

“Do I look like something not human?” Simon asked. “Are the AAFA fighters not human? What about the Altered Task Force in New York put together by the NYPD. Or the military units being established for Shifters. Are all of those people not human? Should we take away their ability to vote or drive?” Simon leaned further forward onto the podium. “We’re human, and that’s what the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act is trying to establish.”

The reporter held up a finger. “The Act will also establish a lax prerequisite for gaining altered DNA. Anyone who can get their hands on the money will be open to this technology. We’re putting our country in danger. It’s been made clear through the news reports of Shifter attacks that your kind is dangerous. Do we really want to open up this technology?”

Simon gave a small laugh. “Lax prerequisite? The technology has stricter qualifications than purchasing a handgun does. You run the same risk of a crime involving someone with Shifter DNA as you do when you put a gun in someone’s hands. The technology will not be open to anyone and everyone. Mental history, criminal records, public positions – all of these factors will be taken into consideration.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re in support of the Act,” the reporter said.

Simon sighed and stood up straighter. He eyed the man closely and knew he was going to catch grief over what he was about to say, but it didn’t feel right to say anything else.

“The Act supports equal rights and opportunities for altered and non-altered Americans,” he said calmly. “And for that reason, I support the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act.”
Vic woke to a hand sliding over her lower back. Fingertips trailed over her skin and then up her spine to the back of her neck. She shifted slightly when she felt a mouth take their place, tracing the bruises that he had left there last night. A small satisfied sigh left her lips as she rolled over, blinking the light coming through the window. “You want to go again?” she asked.

The man laughed at that, his elbow braced against the mattress to hold his head up. His hand was still wandering across her skin, thumb moving across the purple marks on her neck in a sharp contrast to how rough he’d been when he left them. She didn’t mind. She liked it rough and hard and Elias was always happy to oblige. “Hardly,” he drawled. His blue eyes were lidded and for once his brown hair was mussed and out of place. “I have far more important things to do with my day than fuck you.”

Vic snorted and rolled over to bury her face in the pillow again. She didn’t let the words hurt. She already knew Elias liked to be mean. They had that in common. “Then why are you still here?” she asked.

He laughed and she felt the bed shift as he moved to the edge. “I don’t intend to be for much longer.” He let out a disgusted sigh and when she cracked one eye she could see him looking around the bed with disgust. He shook his head, rolling to the edge of the bed and grabbing his jacket off the ground. She heard the click of a lighter and then the smell of smoke filled the air. “Honestly Victoria, I loathe fucking here. How you can live in such a cramped, filthy space I never understood. Though compared to the trailers you’re used to this must be an absolute mansion for you.” He said the words with such disgust it made her look over at him.

There was smoke curling around his face in thin tendrils and his eyes were narrowed as he scanned her bedroom. A railing separated it from the downstairs but she could look down into what passed for her living room. It was a small studio apartment and she’d picked it because it had large windows that faced east and she liked being able to see the sun rise, when she was awake for it.

“Aw what’s wrong Elias? Don’t like slumming it?” She laughed afterwards and slid her arms under the pillow, hugging it tightly to her face. She didn’t give a fuck what he thought about her apartment because she liked it. And yeah, maybe it was a hell of a lot better than the places she grew up in or the prison she’d spent three years in but she wasn’t ashamed of that. Vic didn’t believe in shame or guilt or apologies or regret. Those things were weakness and she didn’t have any use for them.

“Certainly not,” he said. She heard his belt clinking as he got his pants on and buckled but she didn’t open her eyes. He knew where the door was. He could let himself out. “I hardly think I should have to be the one to have to drive home just to shower and change.”

She laughed at that and rolled on her side so she could look at him. “If this is your way of asking for a drawer than the answer’s no.”

The look of distaste that crossed his face almost made her laugh again. He tugged the white undershirt over his head and then he was leaning over her, hand curling around her neck again. There was a dark look on his face and she wondered if that had been asking. Most days she assumed they were both on the same page, that this was just a fuck. Other days she wondered if he didn’t want more. “That is hardly what I’m asking. You’re a whore to me Victoria,” he told her. “Nothing more.”

Those words stung. She didn’t want them to but they did and when he leaned down to crush his mouth against hers she didn’t part her lips for him. She reached up and fisted her hand in his shirt to shove him back. “Well then I guess you won’t care if I start fucking other people then, will you?” She said the words a little nastily and she was surprised when he smiled at her.

“I assumed you already were,” he said. He ducked his head to kiss her again but she turned her head to the side. His lips pressed against the corner of her mouth, stubble brushing over her cheek. “I’ll leave the money on the nightstand,” he said with a smirk.

“If it’s not enough to buy a flat screen I’m going to be very disappointed,” she told him. He laughed and she felt his fingers move through her hair before he straightened up. He pulled his suit jacket over his shoulders and she had to admit she liked him better when he looked like this. His hair was mussed and his finely pressed suit was wrinkled and she could almost believe that somewhere under there he was a real human being. “Lock the door on your way out,” she told him.

He glanced at her face and a smile pulled across his lips. “I find your paranoia almost endearing,” he said.

“Well I could say the same about you being a condescending asshole but I’d be lying.” She smiled as she said the words and he just laughed in response. His footsteps were punctuated by the quiet click of his dress shoes as he walked around to her side of the bed and this time when he leaned down to kiss her she let him. “Seriously,” she said as he pulled away. “Lock the door on your way out.”

Elias laughed and stuck his cigarette back between his lips. “I know,” he said. She smirked and watched him walk away, listening to the sound of his footsteps on the staircase. She closed her eyes and waited until she heard the door click shut and just by the sound of it she could tell he hadn’t listened to her. The asshole never did and she groaned as she rolled out of bed. As soon as she did her body reminded her how sore and achy it was. Between the fights yesterday and what she’d done last night her muscles were taxed. It was more of an effort than it should have been just to get loose sweatpants and a tank top on.

Vic went to the door and redid all her locks first, before she did anything else. When she was sure they were good then clicked on the TV and then went to make a pot of coffee. She didn’t know what channel it was on but she needed the background noise because otherwise it got too quiet. She leaned her back against the counter while she waited, hand scrubbing over her face to try and clear the sleep from her eyes. When they opened she found herself focusing on the pictures hanging on the wall.

They were the closest thing to family portraits that she had. There’d been this photographer she’d been fucking for a little while and he’d taken a lot of promotional shoots for the AAFA. Most of them were hanging on her wall and even though Tao was gone she’d kept them up. Some of them were from matches but her favorites were just from training sessions.

There was one of her fighting Katarina and that bitch was her biggest competition. She was a bobcat and she was quicker than Vic. Not as strong, but quicker and that counted for a lot. The one next to it was from the training ring and she had one arm slung around Conroy’s neck and the other elbow resting on Turk’s shoulder. The man was a fucking beast. He was a crocodile shifter from the heavyweights and he had more scars than she had skin to put them. He was probably going to win the men’s heavyweight division. At least, she hoped he did because she’d bet money on him.

Her favorite was in the middle. She was sitting on Welsh’s back with her arms braced on his shoulders and he was laughing at something. She couldn’t remember what but it must have been good because there was a smile on her face too. She didn’t have a lot of friends but that man was one of them and she couldn’t say why. Probably because she could never piss him off. Vic had a nasty sense of humor sometimes but Welsh had never gotten mad at her. He just laughed it off and threw it back at her.

Vic was a fighter in the AAFA women’s league and if she had anything to say about it then she was taking home the championship for the welterweight division. She was one of the best and she knew it, she just wasn’t one of the favorites.

It always came back to politics and money. Vic kept her head down and her nose out of the political part of it, but she wasn’t marketable enough. She didn’t want to do a spread for Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and she didn’t want to do press conferences and endorsement deals. She just wanted to fight because that was the one thing she’d always been good at. Ever since she was a kid she’d been getting into scraps and that hadn’t changed and probably never would.

She hopped up on the counter, eyes still on the pictures as she lit herself a cigarette while she waited for her coffee to finish brewing. Maybe if the only thing she had to worry about was the AAFA than she’d do it. She’d do their stupid photo shoots and sign autographs and smile for the camera. She’d do the stupid dog and pony show because at least it got her out of prison.

Three years there was long enough. By that point she was willing to let them do whatever the fuck they wanted to her DNA as long as she wasn’t behind bars anymore. She hadn’t liked being caged.

“And in a surprising turn of events today, Simon Welsh, son of Senator Gregory Welsh and prominent fighter in the AAFA came out in a public statement in support of the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act.” The words drew Vic’s attention over her shoulder and she frowned at the television. “The Act has been the source of much debate since its proposal, drawing criticism for its seeming relaxation of prerequisites to undergo the gene altering treatment. However, supports purport that it would grant rights to those who have already undergone the process and found themselves the targets of discrimination.”

It cut to a clip of some press conference and while she wasn’t surprised to see Welsh on screen, she was surprised at what came out of his mouth. “The Act supports equal rights and opportunities for altered and non-altered Americans,” he said. He was leaning casually on the podium and looked more at ease than he probably was. “And for that reason, I support the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act.”

“Jesus Christ Welsh,” Vic spat. She turned to lean against the counter, picking her phone up and flipping it open as she searched for his number. On the screen they were playing more clips from his interview but she was only half paying attention to them.

She didn’t have opinions about the Act and if she did than she kept her mouth shut about them.

She wasn’t surprised that he didn’t answer his phone. Judging by the reaction on the television he was probably swamped with calls. It was almost enough to make her laugh and then they switched to talking about his role in the AAFA and more clips from the press conference and she felt a frown crease her face as it went to voicemail. “Welsh,” she drawled into the phone. “You’re a moron. Let me know when you want to go drinking again so I can tell you what a moron you are in person. Also, fuck you asshole, you know I’m totally going to win the welterweights. If you need me to prove it I’ve got no problem kicking your gimp ass.”

Vic hung up the phone without saying goodbye and tossed it on the counter but she kept her eyes on the television for a minute, even after the segment was over. Jesus, it was like he liked being blacklisted or something. The AAFA wouldn’t say it publicly, but they liked having their fighters bound into contracts and they liked that they owned them more like fighting dogs than people. They weren’t going to like their poster boy coming out and publicly defending an Act that would take that away.

She fucking hated politics.
“Have you truly given this any thought, son, or were you just flying by the seat of your pants?” Gregory Welsh’s voice had always been a commanding one. Even when he was a little kid, Simon knew that all his Dad had to do was give him an order and he’d jump to it. He had that southern sternness without the drawl. A slow, easy speech that demanded respect and authority. Maybe that’s what made him such a great politician and such a terrifying opponent.

Simon sighed and ran a hand over his face. It had been a few hours since the press conference and his phone had been ringing non-stop ever since. He ignored most of the calls and only answered the ones that he wanted to deal with right now. Like his father. “It just sort of came out,” he admitted, grabbing a beer from the fridge and plopping down on his couch. His studio apartment was small and crappy but he really didn’t need anything bigger. Alexey, his brother, had told him he needed to put his money to better use and get a loft somewhere, but Simon just didn’t have the motivation for that kind of thing.

Propping his feet up on the coffee table, Simon looked down at his legs. He’d changed into shorts as soon as he’d gotten home. He looked down at his knee and there was an ugly pink scar running down the side of his kneecap. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch. It was a stupid injury. Of all the ways a person could get injured in the AAFA, his was the stupidest of all because it hadn’t even been from taking a blow or a hit. It had been during training and he’d just twisted his knee the wrong way. It was stupid and it had ruined a lot of things he’d had going for him.

“Well, Christ, son,” his Dad said and Simon smirked because it wasn’t often that Gregory Welsh got flustered. But he knew where his dad was coming from. They hadn’t prepared for this at all. His Dad had wanted him to, he’d wanted him to come out and say he was in support of the Act for a long time, but Simon had always said no and his Dad had respected that. But if he’d ever changed his mind, they’d planned on sitting down and coming up with a plan. A way to do it that wouldn’t jeopardize his place in the AAFA. Simon guessed he didn’t have that luxury anymore. “You just opened a can of worms you won’t ever be able to close.”

Simon sighed again. “Well there’s no taking it back now,” he said. “I’m gonna be benched for life. If they don’t try to sue me for a breach in contract. Shit, they could send me to jail if they really pushed hard enough.”

“They wouldn’t dare,” his Dad said. “You know how it would look for them if they put you behind bars? They’re already catching flak for your extended leave.”

“In that case, maybe I should do more press conferences,” he snorted afterwards and his father let out a humored scoff.

“No, you just let this simmer for a while,” he said. Simon nodded, rolling his head to the side to look out the window. He’d been cooped up for so long he was going a little stir crazy. He still went to practice, but they wouldn’t even let him use the punching bag there. Luckily he had one in his apartment he could practice on to stay in shape. At practice, all he was good for recently was getting Gatorade. Most of the other fighters teased him mercilessly about it, but they were all pretty much aware of what the AAFA was doing to him. They were on a gag order, where talking about it got you the threat of being benched too. But it didn’t stop them from giving him subtle hints that they were rooting for him. It gave him a swell or pride in the other fighters, actually.

“Listen, son,” his Dad said, drawing Simon’s attention back to the phone call. “I’ve got to go. Be smart and be strong. You’ve got a lot of people in a tizzy right now and some of them are not going to let this go easily. So just watch yourself, alright?”

“Yeah, okay,” Simon agreed. Then his father hung up and Simon snorted, pulling the phone from his ear. His Dad never said goodbye or I love you and Simon never expected it. Sometimes he wondered if the man just saw him as a tool to use for his political career. The thought seemed unfair to think about his father, but Simon couldn’t help it.

The phone rang again almost immediately and Simon rolled his eyes. He glanced down at it and saw the thirty some voicemails he had waiting. The number that was ringing made him grin as he pulled the phone back to his ear. “Is my little brother out of bed at this ungodly hour?”

“You’re a dumbass,” Alexey spat playfully and it made Simon laugh.

Sipping his beer, he said, “So I guess you heard about the press conference.”

“I sure fucking did,” Alexey said and Simon could hear a person’s voice over a speaker in the background. It sounded like the airport and that made Simon frown. “What the hell are you talking about Turk and Carole are gonna win the heavyweights?” Simon laughed heartily at that. “I’m all for the Ewok.”

“Gustavo doesn’t have a chance, dipshit,” Simon told him. “He’ll never get beneath Turk’s jabs.”

“Whatever,” Alexey said. “I’m flying out there. I’ll be there at nine tonight. You better come pick me up or I’m gonna catch a ride with a stranger and wind up on the news and then you’ll feel awful for letting your little brother become the victim of a serial killer.”

Simon rolled his eyes and laughed. “You’re warped.”

“Runs in the family,” Alexey said and then clucked his tongue. “Oops, plane’s boarding and there’s a hot stewardess. Double D’s, bro. Maybe I’ll join the mile high club. Gotta go!” The phone clicked off and Simon just grinned again, shaking his head. He looked down at it and when it didn’t ring right away, he started going through his voicemail. Most of them were from numbers he didn’t recognize. Then he saw one that made him smile.

Clicking the voicemail, he listened to Vic’s message and stood up. He placed the beer can on his counter and pulled a pair of jeans from his dresser, pulling them on as he tried to dial Vic at the same time. She answered on the third ring. “Famewhore,” she spat as a greeting.

“Well, you know, I’ve been getting bored all these months on the bench. Thought I’d stir up some trouble,” he grinned.

“You’re a moron,” she told him.

Simon grabbed his keys and pulled his gym bag over a shoulder. “So I gathered from your voicemail. Lex is flying in tonight. Let’s go drinking, babe.”

“Welsh, you fucking call me babe one more time and I’ll break your other knee,” Vic snapped but Simon grinned as he heard the playfulness in her voice. “And why is Alexey coming? He get bored of being a wedding singer?”

“I don’t know, he got distracted by a hot stewardess before I had a chance to ask,” he said and at that, Vic snorted. Simon walked to the front door of his apartment and pulled it open. He paused when he saw Delia standing on the other side of the door, her key in hand and as soon as she saw him, her face darkened.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Simon?” she snapped. There was a difference between Delia’s rants and Vic’s rants. Vic was mean, but playful and Simon could crack her. With Delia, things were just mean. He wondered if she still even liked him because some days he didn’t think so. He wondered if he still even liked her and he was nervous about heading down that road. “Do you know what kind of a shit storm you’ve kicked up? You’re such a selfish prick.” She shoved pass him, into the apartment.

On the other end of the phone line, Vic snorted again. “She’s a peach, Welsh.”

“Yeah…” Simon trailed off. “I’ll call you later and meet you at Crunchy’s tonight.”

“I fucking hate Crunchy’s,” Vic bitched.

Simon grinned. “I know,” he said then clicked his phone shut.
“You’re late,” Bobby snapped.

“Since when do you care?” Vic shot back. She stood in the doorway to the gym, her bag slung over one shoulder and a cigarette jammed between her lips. Her eyes were narrowed and she was a little bit confused because no one else had even glanced at her. They were standing in a loose circle around the television and none of them looked pleased.

Bobby snorted and she thought he looked more like shit than he usually did. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and salt and pepper hair covered his head and his jaw. His arms were crossed over his chest and she couldn’t tell if he was annoyed with her or if he was annoyed with whatever was on the television. “Since I’ve been catching shit from my bosses all morning,” he spat. Then he nodded his head at the television. “Nelson’s giving a statement right now. He’s pissed as hell at your buddy Welsh, let me tell you.”

Vic frowned, blowing smoke out of the corner of her lips before she walked over to the television. Conroy glanced back at her as she draped an arm over one shoulder and he faked a smirk. “What’s he saying about it?” she asked.

The man snorted and shrugged his shoulders. “Exactly what you’d expect him to,” he answered.

“Mr. Welsh has every right to express his opinions, however we at the AAFA would like to take the opportunity to express our disappointment that he chose to do so in such a public matter,” the man on the television said. She heard an annoyed snort next to her but they kept their mouths shut because it was dangerous to do anything else. Nelson stood at a podium, the flash of cameras on his skin and a fake smile plastered on his face. “As we are all aware, the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act is a controversial one with many sides and we as an organization refuse to either support or condemn either side of this issue.”

“Bullshit,” Turk said, trying to hide the word behind a cough. Bobby cast a nasty glare his direction and a slap on the back of the head. Vic kept her eyes on the television and she had to agree. Everyone in this room already aware exactly where the AAFA stood when it came to this Act or any other that might take their fighters away from them.

“You watch your mouth,” Bobby snapped.

Nelson laced his fingers together on the podium and plastered a fake smile on his face. “As to the implications that Mr. Welsh has been blacklisted due to his political aspirations, we would like to publically dismiss this rumor. It would be irresponsible of us to release him back into the ring before he is back to full health. With that being said, we are hoping that he makes a full recovery soon.” The man smiled but Vic didn’t miss that he didn’t say there would still be a place in the AAFA for him.

Bobby sighed and then stepped forward to turn the television off. He turned around to fix them all with a glare. “In case you’re all retarded and you missed it, the next person that gets the bright idea to start yapping about that fucking Act to the reporters is going to find themselves blacklisted faster than you can piss. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir,” a few voices answered. Vic gave him a mocking salute but kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t interested in talking to reporters but she wasn’t interested in being bullied by an asshole like Bobby either.

He snorted and glared at them all for a minute like he was waiting for someone to argue with him so he could get in a fight. She could well imagine the kind of bitching out he’d gotten and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. It drew Bobby’s attention to her and his eyes narrowed before he jerked his head to his right. “Vic, I want you and Janie in the ring. The rest of you, get to work.” He spat at the ground and then stomped across the floor towards the mats.

“Well, I can already tell this is going to be a fun week,” Conroy said lowly. Vic snorted out a laugh and pulled her arm off his shoulder. She dropped her bag on the ground in front of her to get her hand wraps and she was surprised when the man crouched across from her and reached out to muss her black hair. “You see Welsh you tell him I said good for him.”

Vic made a face at him, pinching the end of her cigarette out with her fingers. She gestured it at him before she tossed it into the bottom of the bag. “Tell him yourself,” she said. “I’m not his messenger girl.”

“Yeah, but you talk to him a hell of a lot more often than I do. You guys are like that, right?” He grinned and twisted his fingers together but she ignored it, shoving him in the shoulder and knocking him onto his ass. He laughed, standing up and brushing his shorts off. “Besides, it’s not like they’ll let him back in the gym after this fiasco,” he said. He clapped her on the shoulder and then spun on his heel to walk towards the bags. Vic didn’t have anything to say to that. She couldn’t even tell him that he was wrong.

If he was lucky they’d keep stringing him along and just refuse to let him fight. If he was unlucky they’d sell his contract off to the highest bidder. Maybe if his dad actually pulled off getting this Act passed than they’d just cut him loose. It was too bad, because he was a good fighter and probably could have taken home the championship. She almost laughed when she thought he still got to take home the trophy girl, though she wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. Why he stayed with that woman she never knew. Welsh probably could have fucked any one of the trophy girls and probably half the women’s league too.

“Vic,” Bobby shouted. “Get your ass over here.”

“Yeah, alright you old bastard,” she spat. She cracked her neck and then pushed herself to her feet, kicking her bag under the benches before she moved across the wooden floor. Janie was already in the ring waiting for her, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and guard in her mouth. She bounced on her toes and Vic smirked as she slung her legs over the ropes. She crossed her arms in front of her, stretching out her shoulders before she pulled her hands back into a guard position.

They circled on the mats, the other girl watching her with narrowed eyes. Her animal was something weird like a kangaroo and they had only fought a handful of times. She was new to the leagues but she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Vic watched her eyes because the eyes were where all the answers were. It was true in poker and it was true in fighting.

She squinted with one eye right before she attacked and Vic was ready for it. She knocked the blow to the side with one arm and lashed out with a quick jab at the girl’s temple. She caught her hard and moved back, still on her toes.

The girl stumbled back before she shook it off, holding her hands up. Bobby leaned against the ropes and watched the two of them, his eyes narrowed and focused. Janie took a run at Vic, lashing out with a high kick. Vic dodged into it, ducking her shoulder to slam into her guard and knock her to the ground. She let out a rush of air as she hit the mats and Vic dropped down on top of her, slamming her fist into her jaw and knocking her head back. She grunted and struggled to block the blows.

Bobby sighed and blew his whistle. “Get off her Vic,” he spat. She grinned as she sat back but she didn’t stand up yet. Janie sat underneath her, running a hand over her eyes and then across her bruised jaw. She blinked and focused on Vic, a glare on her face. There was a reason she didn’t have any friends in the women’s league and she gave her a gentle slap on the cheek.

“Too slow, sugar,” she said.

“Again,” Bobby snapped, his arms crossed over his chest.

Bobby kept her in the ring for most of the day and after a while she started to wonder if this wasn’t punishment for something. It wasn’t that she minded spending the day fighting but he didn’t cut her a break and the longer it dragged on the more bruises she took. She went five rounds with Janie before he switched her out with Rachel and she didn’t wonder if the man wasn’t just hoping that someone was going to take her down a notch or two. It wouldn’t surprise her. By the time she finally crawled out of the ring at five o’clock she was covered in sweat and bruises but she’d managed to stay on her feet most of the day.

She slumped back against the bench, leaning her head against the wall as she pulled out her phone. She’d missed a call from Welsh and a call from Lexey and she smirked when she thought about the kid calling her just to say he’d gotten it on with a stewardess on the way out here. It was nothing he hadn’t done before. She called Simon back first, wedging the phone between her shoulder and her ear while she pulled out a towel to wipe her face off with. “Famewhore,” she said as soon as he answered. “How was the hate sex?”

He laughed dryly but she almost felt bad because he didn’t sound like he thought it was that funny. Hell, if she was dating Delia she wouldn’t either. “Let me tell you babe, if I didn’t have to pick Lex up I’d think I’d already be hitting the bottle.”

“What did I tell you about calling me babe? Don’t think I won’t start taking pieces, Welsh.” She heard him laugh and it made her smile in return, kicking her feet out in front of her. Her fingers moved to peel the bindings off her hand and toss them to the ground beneath her. “You want me to bring you over a case? Are you having a long day honey?”

He snorted out a laugh. “The worst, babe.”
“Where the fuck is my sign?”

Simon laughed because those were the first words out of Alexey’s mouth when he came to the baggage claim and saw Simon standing there waiting. It was typical Alexey and he looked typically grungy. He had an army duffle bag slung over his shoulder, even though he’d never been in the army. He wore a ripped pair of jeans and a red plaid shirt over a white undershirt that Simon though made him look like a lumberjack, but Alexey thought made it attract the ladies.

“Nice to see you too, Lex,” Simon joked, not changing his position from leaning against the pillar. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he was completely ignoring the people who kept snapping pictures of him on their cell phones.

Alexey snorted. “I’m serious. I want a sign that says Romanova. Or, make it something cool sounding like, Abernathe or Kent or some shit.”

Simon raised his brow. “Kent? As in Clark?”

“The one and only man of steel,” Alexey said before he slung his bag to the floor and then wrapped his arms around Simon, who laughed and patted his brother in a loose hug back. “Because you’re gonna need a superhero to fucking save your ass after the stunt you pulled today,” Alexey said and then pulled back, grinning as he picked his bag back up. Simon shook his head and turned around to go walk back out to his car. Alexey followed, walking beside him.

“I’ve got it under control,” Simon said and the words sounded like the lie they were, even to him. Apparently they did to his brother too because Alexey just turned to give him a look. Simon chuckled and shrugged it off. “Where’s Cathy? You two still living together?”

Alexey scoffed and waved a hand in front of his face. “Nah, she packed her shit and left like a week ago,” he said and Simon glanced at his brother’s face. There was no remorse or hurt there so he let it slide for now. “But there’s this super hot chick that wants to be a roadie. I don’t have the heart to tell her we don’t do gigs outside of L.A.” They reached Simon’s car and paused. “What happened to your Lexus?”

“Sponsors pulled my contract when I got hurt,” Simon said and pulled his door open. “When you’re blacklisted, you’re blacklisted,” he grinned and hopped in the driver’s seat. He heard Alexey snort and throw his duffle in the backseat before he climbed in too. Simon started up his old rust bucket and then grinned at Alexey. “We’re meeting Vic and Crunchy’s.”

Alexey’s face lit up at that. “Bitchzilla? Sweet, I have a score to settle. I believe she cheated at our last shot contest. You see, she was drinking Morgan and I was drinking Jack and though the two are buddies, they’re not twins and if we are going to have a contest, we need the odds to be the same.”

Simon snorted as he started up his car and paid the parking fee before pulling away from the airport. Alexey started fiddling with the radio and Simon almost told him not to bother with it, it didn’t work anyway. He seemed to figure that out for himself and scowled at the car like it had committed some atrocious act. Then he glanced over at Simon and his mood sobered a little. “Seriously though,” he said and it was never good when his brother started a sentence with those words. “You’re in hot water, aren’t you?”

Sighing, Simon glanced in the rearview mirror and frowned a little when he caught a glimpse of a black Mercedes two cars back. It had been back there since the airport. He ignored it for the time being and glanced over at Alexey. “Don’t worry about it, Lex,” he told his little brother seriously. “It’s my mess, I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m not worried,” Alexey grinned. “I just want to know if I should be expecting a pimped out Christmas present this year or a card that says Love is an Infinite Present.”

Simon laughed. “No card says that.”

“Well there should be one,” Alexey snorted. “Maybe we should go into the greeting card business. Be doing a lot better off than where we’re at now.”

Simon glanced at him. “The band not doing so hot now?”

“Yeah well,” Alexey shrugged and looked like he was debating what he was about to say. His tone was joking when the words came out of his mouth, but it didn’t lessen the blow any more. “When your brother’s blacklisted, apparently it doesn’t matter if you don’t share last names.”

Simon’s face fell and he glanced in the rearview mirror again to watch the Mercedes as he said, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Alexey said, punching him in the shoulder. “You’re making life interesting. You know how many people you’ve pissed off? It’s amazing. You’re my hero. Besides, once we move pass this whole Shifter Rights movement, and you’re a civil rights leader, you’re gonna have your name in history books and then I’ll be famous too.”

Simon chuckled, but it was only half heartedly. He’d known there would be consequences for his actions, but he hadn’t really had an accurate picture of how deep they would run. He hadn’t bothered to ever ask Alexey if him getting benched had an effect on him. Maybe because it shouldn’t have. The AAFA had too much power when something like that could affect other media and governments.

“You think they’ll ever let you fight again?” Alexey asked as they pulled into the parking lot of Crunchy’s. It was a swanky bar with karaoke night every night and warm, cheap beer. But Simon loved the bar because they made a heavy rum and coke and it only took a few of them for him to get drunk off of.

Simon shrugged, shutting the car off and looking over at his brother. “Hell if I know. I go tomorrow to meet with the sports trainer again so he can look at my knee. But I doubt if they’ll ever sign off on me.”

“So what are they gonna do?” Alexey asked and Simon watched as the Mercedes that had been following them pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop across the street. He watched it in his rearview mirror while his brother spoke. “It seems like a waste of a contract for them just having you sitting around twiddling your thumbs.”

Simon grinned and got out of the car. He made sure not to look across the street as he waited for his brother. “I bring in the fans, bro,” he said and Alexey just started laughing. He slapped his hand on the roof of the car like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard and it just made Simon grin. “You don’t believe me?” he asked.

Alexey shook his head, leaning against the car and pointing a finger at him. “I’ll tell you what would get you more fans,” he said. “Dumping that she-devil of yours.”

Simon rolled his eyes and shoved off the car, walking towards the bar. “Be careful, Lex,” he called over his shoulder. “She’s gonna be here tonight too.”

His brother squawked and ran to catch up with him. “What the hell? Why would you invite her?” he demanded and Simon pulled the door open, waving to the bouncer who was checking IDs.

He nodded back at him and said, “Glad you spoke up today, Big Cat.”

Alexey snorted at the nickname, but Simon just smiled at the man. “Thanks, Kip.” Then he looked at his brother and said, “And I invited her because she’s my girlfriend, whether anyone else approves or not.” Alexey just threw his hands up in the air and walked into the bar. Simon glanced across the street nonchalantly and eyed the black Mercedes parked there. He wondered if he was just paranoid and it was coincidence, or if he should take everyone’s word and start watching his back.

Probably the latter.
Vic wondered if this guy was ever going to shut up.

She was sitting at the bar waiting for Welsh and Alexey and she already had half her third beer gone. She was half listening to the man next to her but mostly she was just watching his mouth move and trying to remember if she’d said anything to him to start this or if she’d just had the misfortune to sit next to him. The television was on in the corner and she was glad Dave had left it on sports because if she had to hear one more report about the god damned shifter Act than she was going to kill someone.

“Of course, if they do pass the Act I’m going to be one of the first ones in line,” he told her. Vic blinked and tilted her head to the side to stare at the guy, wondering if he’d just read her mind. He picked up his glass and gestured it at her. “You look like you’d make a good shifter,” he said, grinning at her. “’Cause you’re kind of a fox already.”

“Did you really just fucking say that to me?” she asked with a deadpan expression. He frowned with his beer halfway to his lips and lowered it to stare at her. The confusion just made her laugh and she shook her head, draining the rest of her beer in one swallow.

“Bitchzilla!” The yell came from across the bar and she couldn’t stop the immediate relief at the sound. She dropped the glass on the counter and turned in her seat so she could see them. There was a small crowd already in their way but Alexey was doing a good job of dodging his way through them. His brother wasn’t having so much luck and she snorted out a laugh at the cheer that went up when he walked through the door. Someone clapped him on the back and shook his hand and he kept that smile on his face that said he was really fucking uncomfortable but was putting up with anyway.

“Romanova, I swear if you try and cop a feel I’m taking off your hands,” she told him. She heard him laugh but that was no guarantee he’d listen to her. He already had his arms around her in a hug and she returned it, wrapping one arm around his shoulder. She shoved him away as soon as she felt his hands start to slide lower. “What the fuck are you doing on this coast anyway?”

“Maybe I just wanted to visit my older brother and his hot friends,” he said, grinning and waggling his eyebrows at her. He reached past her to check her beer and looked disappointed when it was empty. “Speaking of which, are any of them coming tonight?”

She laughed and punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Fuck you asshole,” she told him.

“So I was thinking I’d go bear or tiger or something,” the guy next to her said. “Something with claws.” Vic frowned and glanced over her shoulder at him. She got a smile in return and then he turned his attention to Alexey. “Hey, I’m Roger,” he said, holding his hand out to him. Lex snorted and took his hand, shaking it with an amused expression on his face before he looked at Vic.

“Nah man, you look more like a gecko. One with frills,” Alexey said. He quirked an eyebrow at Vic. “Roger with you?” Roger laughed, sliding an arm around her shoulder. He was wavering a little bit on his stool and she felt him leaning hard into her side.

“Not a chance in hell,” she said, pulling the arm from around her shoulder and shoving it back at the man’s chest. Welsh was just breaking through the crowd and she smiled when he made it to his brother’s side. He was running a hand over his face and for a moment she thought he looked frazzled and distracted but then he was lifting his head to smile at her and she thought it was genuine. “Famewhore!” she said, grinning at him. She pointed a finger at him, leaning forward in her seat and giving him a teasing smile. “Before I forget, Conroy, Schwartz, Alice, Gustavo, and even fucking Katarina wanted me to tell you good job.”

Welsh laughed at that and raised an eyebrow. “And what do you say?” he asked.

Vic smiled sweetly at him. “I say you’re a fucking moron,” she said.

Welsh winced and put a hand to his chest. “That hurts, Vic,” he said. “Right here.” He let out a mock sigh and shook his head like he was hurt. She caught the edge of a playful smirk on his lips and somehow that never failed to make her smile back. At least until the next words came out of his mouth. “Man, you keep this up I’m going to start drinking with Kat instead.”

Alexey let out a loud laugh as Vic’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “You want two busted knees, Welsh?” she asked him, tilting her head to the side. She told herself there wasn’t still a smile pulling at her lips.

He snorted, looking back towards the door and she saw something darken his face for a moment. “Yeah, well it’s not like they’re letting me fight anyway,” he said. Vic frowned as she watched him and then he let out a sigh, replacing the smile on his face again. It was fake as hell, but she didn’t call him on it because she didn’t know if they were that close. “Come on,” he said, jerking his head towards the green booths along the wall. “Let’s get a booth so I can watch you two get completely fucking ridiculous.”

Alexey tipped his head back and laughed as he started to push his way through the crowd. Vic slid off the bar after Alexey and Simon waited until she was ahead of him to follow. “I know you’re not excluding yourself from that, bro. I said Bitchzilla was going shot for shot with me, didn’t mean you weren’t participating. What, are you worried about what your harpy will do to you?”

She frowned at the words and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who he was talking about. She turned back to look at Simon and he was running a hand over his face. “Lex,” he drawled. “Just leave it alone.”

“I’m just saying,” he said, holding his hands up before sliding into a booth. Vic slid in next to him, kicking her feet up on the opposite bench after Simon sat down. “There are other ring girls in the sea. In fact, you should introduce me to some of them. Like that blonde that holds up the number three.” He waggled his eyebrows at Simon and it was enough to make him laugh. It helped dissolve some of the tension and then Alexey was waving over the waitress to take care of the rest. “Pick your poison Bitchzilla,” he told her, leaning back against the seat. “And prepare to be sleeping under the table tonight.”

Alexey ordered them a round of shots and Welsh stuck to his rum and coke. Vic was three into them and feeling the buzz before she lit herself a cigarette and pointed it at Simon. “Alright,” she drawled, her tongue feeling thick and lazy in her mouth. “So what the fuck happened today Welsh? If you didn’t want to fight I’m sure there were easier ways to get out of it.”

He smirked and shook his head, stretching his arms across either side of the booth. “I don’t know,” he said. He shook his head and looked over at the television on the corner where they were replaying the matches from last week. “It just kinda came out.”

Vic just laughed. “God damn, I always figured Alexey was the one who would cause a clusterfuck thanks to a slip of the tongue.

“I’m going to take that in the most sexually explicit way possible,” Alexey said. He grinned and slung an arm around her shoulder as he tossed back another shot. She couldn’t remember if she’d done hers so she downed another one, feeling the pleasant burn on her tongue. “I could show you if you want to find out,” he told her, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“I’ve got a boyfriend for that,” Vic said. As soon as she did she wished she could take the words back because she wasn’t sure that was true. She and Elias fucked regularly but she wasn’t sure she would classify it as a relationship. She wasn’t sure either of them were capable of that and if they were it would probably never be with each other. No matter how she teased him sometimes they both knew it was just a fuck and she felt her face turning a little red.

“You and Tao get back together?” Simon asked curiously.

Vic snorted and shook her head. “No,” she spat. “It’s not that serious.” She licked her lips and took a drag from her cigarette as she shook it off. She grinned at Alexey and shoved his head away from her. “Besides, I’m not drunk enough for that, Romanova.”

“Then clearly you haven’t had enough to drink,” he responded, picking up another shot and putting it in her hands.

“You run out of chicks to get drunk and take advantage of out there in California?” Simon asked. He had his hands around his rum and coke, half of his second one drained and his fingers leaving lines in the condensation. He was smirking at his brother and Vic as they tossed back another shot and she was quickly losing track of just how many of them they’d had. The room was starting to blur around the edges and her skin was feeling pleasantly numb. At least she couldn’t feel the bruises on her skin anymore.

“It’s not my fault your friends are hot,” Alexey said, grinning at Simon. Vic laughed and glanced at his face. He smirked as he rolled his eyes at his brother and then she pushed herself out of the booth, sliding around to his side.

“Don’t worry, famewhore,” she said, putting one arm around his neck. “I still like you best.”

“Why don’t you get your fucking hands off my boyfriend?” a voice asked. Vic looked up at the sound of it and she felt a vague feeling of distaste when she saw Delia standing over her. She was wearing a small, leopard print dress, her hips cocked to the side and her hands resting on them. Her eyes were narrowed at Vic and then she lifted a burning gaze to Simon. Vic felt his hand grasp hers and pull her arm from around him before he started to rise out of the booth. Delia snorted and turned around. “No, don’t get up.”

“Damn it,” Simon muttered. Vic stood on shaky feet as he climbed hurriedly out of the booth afterwards and she had to brace herself on the table to keep from swaying. Delia was already halfway back out the door and she saw her face red with anger as Simon caught her elbow. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but by the look she wore it wasn’t working.

“Man,” Alexey drawled behind her. “What a buzzkill.”
“Delia, come on, why are you so upset?” Simon pleaded.

He wondered how he got himself into these messes. He hadn’t even done anything this time, just been having a drink with friends. But somehow his messes always caught up with him and he wondered if this was just a mess he’d had for a long time and now it was coming to a head. He figured that was probably it and he honestly gave real thought to just letting her walk out the door, but there was a part of him that hoped they could get back what they’d had in the beginning one day. Because it had been awesome and he thought it had been love and he could never pinpoint when it had gone bad. Maybe when Delia had gotten what she’d wanted and became a ring girl.

“Why am I upset?” Delia squawked and whirled on him. She pointed a finger at his face and he knew they were causing a scene but he didn’t think he could get her to go some place private right now. Whereas Simon tried to avoid publicity like this, Delia reveled in it. She loved seeing herself in the tabloids, even if it was in a bad way. Luckily the patrons in the bar respected Simon enough to not snap pictures. He knew most of them and he’d been a regular here for a while. He never excluded anyone and he’d actually shared drinks with many of them. He was grateful for that at least. “I’m upset because that whore had her arm around your neck like you two were fuck buddies or something.”

Simon frowned and the pang of anger that passed through him surprised him. “Don’t call her that,” he said and if anything it made Delia look more angry. Simon sighed and tried to reach for her hand again, but she jerked it away. “Baby, please, it was nothing. Just come have a drink with us and I’ll keep my arms around you all night.”

Delia’s eyes narrowed, but Simon couldn’t tell if he was getting through to her or not because she never gave him anything. Not a smile, not a wink, nothing. He couldn’t tell with her anymore and that bothered him because he knew her well enough that he thought he should know. Maybe she really did just hate him that much.

“You don’t like me calling her a whore or a fuck buddy? Which is it?” Delia said and Simon sighed, exasperated because he wasn’t going to send Vic away, but he couldn’t exactly send Delia away either.

For a moment, his eyes moved pass her and his gaze narrowed on the two men sitting in the corner table. Simon had watched them come in earlier and they’d imposed themselves on the couple that had already been at the table, pushing them out so they could sit there. He was fairly certain they were the men from the Mercedes because they’d been glancing towards Simon and the others all night long. Even as he looked over there, they were doing a good job of avoiding his gaze and trying to look interested in the big screen next to them.

“Deli, please,” he tried again and he knew the nickname always got under her skin. “Just do this for me tonight. It’s been a hell of a day and I really need you here.”

He wasn’t sure she was going to go for it, but then she gave a small growl and shoved pass him. “Fuck you, Simon,” she said, but made her way back over to the table. Simon gave a small sigh of relief as he watched her and he had to admit she looked good in the dress. He turned back around to look over his shoulder at the two men at the table and he caught one of them watching him, but the man looked pass him nonchalantly and the guy was terrible at being discrete. Simon’s eyes narrowed and he wasn’t in the mood for this tonight.

Politely guiding himself through the crowd and over to the two men’s table, he stood by it and he didn’t miss the way they both tensed up as he came over. “Is there something I can do for you two?” he asked, glancing between the both of them.

The guy on the right glanced up at him and shook his head. “Nah, brah,” he said, his accent obviously not from around here. “Just out for drinks.”

Simon nodded, glancing at his buddy before he said, “Where’d you fly in from?” he asked and they both glanced at him quizzically. Simon just shrugged like it was no big deal. “I mean you guys followed us from the airport,” at that, their faces darkened, but Simon just kept going. “So either you just flew in from somewhere and were looking for a crappy place to drink, or you’re tailing us. Which is it, fellas?”

The men didn’t say anything. They glanced at each other and then just as quickly stood up. For a moment, Simon tensed, but they shoved pass him and went straight for the door, shoving people out of their way as they left. Simon smirked, but only because the ordeal made him uncomfortable. He didn’t know who they were or why they were following him and he thought about his Dad telling him to be careful. He shook it off quickly and headed back across the room to his own table.

The table was awkward, he could tell that much from across the bar. But as he slipped into the booth next to Delia, no one was saying anything. Alexey and Vic were leaned close together and they were snickering like something was funny. But Delia sat there with her arms across her chest and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“You order a drink already?” Simon asked gently, hoping to keep their argument on the other side of the bar instead of here in the booth.

Apparently, Delia didn’t have the same idea. “Does it look like I fucking ordered?” she snapped, scoffing afterwards.

Simon nodded, chewing on his lip and looking out towards the other patrons. He waved at the waitress and pointed at Delia and the waitress was one of the regulars who knew their drinks already. She just nodded and smiled, heading towards the bar. Simon smiled back and when he turned back around, Delia was glaring at him.

“So, how was your day?” he asked, awkward and he glanced over at his brother as Alexey just started laughing. He was pretty sure whatever Lex and Vic were finding funny probably wouldn’t be funny to him. Or at least not funny while Delia was around.

“Why do you have to eye fuck everyone with tits,” Delia snapped at him and he frowned, not sure what she was talking about. Delia growled at him and shoved him away from her. “Why don’t you go fuck the waitress in the bathroom and come back, would that make you happy?”

Simon ran a hand over his face and just gave Delia a look. “You want to do this here?” he asked quietly, the weariness seeping into his voice against his will. He felt like his life was all of a sudden this balancing act that was teetering towards one end and he couldn’t seem to regain his equilibrium. He felt like any moment now everything was going to come crashing down. He thought about those guys again and he felt like getting up and checking to see if the Mercedes was still there. Maybe they’d come back in for guns or try to jump him outside his car or something and now he knew he was just being paranoid. They’d probably been reporters or paparazzi or something and now there was going to be a scathing article about him in the Wall Street Journal.

“Don’t make me out to be the bad guy,” Delia snapped harshly at him.

Alexey cleared his throat and was clearly drunk, but trying to not sound like it. “Well, you are the one being a bitch.”

“Lex,” Simon warned and glanced at Vic, who just sat there smirking and he knew this wasn’t helping any.

“You aren’t worth my time,” Delia told Alexey and his brother just laughed, putting a hand to his chest. Simon caught Vic’s eyes and if anything, her smirk grew and it made him smile a little, turning his head so Delia wouldn’t see. He looked back out at the crowd and ran a hand over his mouth.

Some days, he really just hated his life.
The table was quiet and awkward while they waited for the waitress to bring them more drinks. Delia was sitting with her arms crossed and her head turned out the window like she was counting the seconds until she could leave. Simon sat next to her and he was staring out at the bar looking uncomfortable and awkward. She didn’t like it when he looked like this because it was unnatural and it annoyed her that Delia could put that expression on his face. Next to her Romanova was just looking drunk, fingers toying with the empty shot glasses and drumming out a beat on the table with his other hand.

“Here you are folks,” the waitress said. She slid her tray onto the table so that she could drop more shots off in front of Alexey and Vic and another rum and coke in front of Simon. Delia’s cosmopolitan was last and she glared at the girl as she took it from her hands. She smiled as she pulled her tray back and held it to her chest. “If there’s anything else I can get for you just let me know.”

"You can stop eye fucking my boyfriend for starters,” Delia snapped. Her glare was focused on the waitress and Simon let out a sigh, running a hand across his face. His other hand went around Delia’s shoulder but she just shrugged the motion off.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?” Simon asked quietly.

Delia let out a growl and put her drink back down on the table. It sloshed with the force of it, splashing liquor out onto the table. The woman didn’t even seem to notice, turning her angry gaze towards Simon. Vic just watched her with one raised eyebrow and the waitress still stood awkwardly next to them. “Am I trying to pick a fight? You’re the one that’s been on national television fucking your life up and then whoring it up at this sleazy bar. I don’t know Simon, how am I supposed to feel about that?”

“It’s not like that,” Welsh told her. He sighed and then plastered a weak smile across his face. His hand came out to wrap around hers and he squeezed her fingers tightly. She just yanked her hand out of his grip and took another swallow from her cosmopolitan. “Come on babe, we can talk about this at home, can’t we just relax and have a good time?”

The waitress pulled the tray tighter against her chest. “I’m sorry,” she said, drawing Delia’s angry gaze up towards her. She looked embarrassed and awkward. “I mean I wasn’t trying to look at him like that and I’m sorry if I did.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Alexey said, grinning as he downed another shot. He made a face afterwards, licking his lips before he lifted his head to look at the blonde girl. “And if you feel like eye fucking anybody you feel free to think all the nasty things about me you want.” He waggled his eyebrows and winked at her, drawing a weak laugh from the waitress. The smile faded after she pulled away from the table and Vic watched her round the bar and disappear into the back.

Simon cleared his throat and Vic looked over at him. “So,” he said, smirking dryly. “How was practice?”

Vic snorted out a laugh, kicking her feet out in front of her to rest on the bench next to Simon. She laced her fingers behind her head, feeling a lump still forming on her skull from the day’s matches. “Fucking spectacular,” she told him, spitting the words out onto the table. “Bobby kept me in the ring all damn day fighting the new girls.”

Welsh laughed and took a swallow of his drink. “That’s a bad thing? I thought that was your favorite part.” Vic grinned back at him and then his smile turned playful, leaning forward a little on the table. “Besides,” he drawled. “I thought you were the best, guaranteed the Championship. And you’ll kick my gimp ass for ever saying otherwise, right?” Next to him his girlfriend was glaring at him, fingernails resting on her glass and her expression getting increasingly darker. Vic tried to ignore her.

"Fuck you Welsh,” she said, smirking back at him. “I am the best but that doesn't mean I want to spend all fucking day training my replacements for when they blacklist me too." She snorted and tossed back a shot after that. She wasn’t sure it was going to happen, but there was always that possibility. She could say the wrong thing or have the wrong friends and she wasn’t famous enough or popular enough that it would keep her in the AAFA if they decided it was in their best interest to can her. She could only imagine who they’d sell her contract to with a record like hers. Prison time didn’t exactly lend itself to a nice, cushy job.

Simon frowned. "Why would they blacklist you?" he asked. Next to him his girlfriend let out a heavy sigh and Alexey’s eyes narrowed at her. He pulled a sugar packet out of the dispenser and flicked it at her like a football. She turned her glare on him and Vic could see her teeth grinding in her head, her fingers tightening around her drink.

"You set off a fucking grenade, Welsh,” Vic told him. “There's bound to be shrapnel.” His face darkened at that and she made a face at him. “Don’t give me that puppy dog look, I’m not going to blame you for it if they do can me. It’ll be my own slip of the tongue.”

"This is great Simon,” Delia spat. She picked a sugar packet off the table and flung it back at Alexey before crossing her arms over her chest again. Her boyfriend licked his lips and looked over at her and Vic thought he looked a thousand times more exhausted than he had an hour ago. He reached over to take the woman’s hand but she just pulled it back and shoved him roughly in the shoulder. “You beg me to stay just so you can spend the whole time talking to your fuck buddy.”

Alexey grinned, turning to look at his brother before he could answer her. “What?” he squawked. “You're boning Bitchzilla too? At the same time?” He shook his head and then pointed at Simon before gesturing at himself. “I don't get it, what do you have that I don't have? You'd think the musician thing would be enough of a panty dropper.”

“You're disgusting,” Delia spat at him. She gestured a hand over her head, lip curled into a sneer as she looked at Alexey. “Why are you here anyway? You realize Cali's got enough good musicians they don't need another shitty one?"

"Delia,” Simon snapped, his face dropping into a frown. Vic always found it interesting how protective he could get of his kid brother.

"What?” she demanded. She turned in her seat, back pressed into the corner and arms crossed over her chest again. She gestured one hand at Simon before replacing it and Vic wondered if it was a conscious or unconscious thing that she was pushing her breasts out of her dress. “He's just here to mooch off you and you know it. Am I just supposed to keep my mouth shut?"

Alexey held a palm out to his brother and looked seriously at Delia. “Listen Del,” he drawled, putting a hand to his chest. “I'll admit it. I have 99 problems.” Then he grinned and pointed a finger at her. “But a bitch ain't one.”

Vic couldn’t help but laugh. She wasn’t sure if it was because of how seriously Romanova said it or because of the nasty look on Delia’s face but she laughed anyway before she shoved him in the shoulder with one hand. It might have been because most of her blood had been replaced with liquor and it was starting to hit her hard, just sitting there. The room was on spin cycle around her. “You're so fucking blasted Romanova,” she told him, shaking her head.

He grinned and lifted a shot to her. She picked another one up and pushed their glasses together with a quiet clink. “Yeah, well you know what that means,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Vic frowned because she wasn’t sure what it meant and then he leaned forward with a wicked grin on his face. “It's karaoke time boys and girls,” he said, and then he tossed back the shot.

“Oh here we go,” Vic said, taking her shot. She started to move to let Romanova out but he didn’t wait for her, standing up on the bench and crawling across her onto the floor. He stumbled a little when he landed, barely catching himself on the table.

He pressed a fist against his chest and let out a loud burp before he pointed a finger at Delia. “You better listen to this one,” he said. “I’m singing it just for you.” Delia’s frown darkened at that and she turned to look over her shoulder at the door. Vic wondered if she was going to take off again and if Simon would go with her. She felt a little sad at that thought and she wasn’t sure why, maybe because he looked so fucking miserable now and she could guess there was a fight waiting for him at home. But maybe if he was lucky he’d at least get hot, angry sex out of it too.

They watched Alexey stumble to the stage, Vic bracing her head up with one hand. The kid cleared his throat before taking the microphone and shifted unsteadily on the wooden platform. She smirked as he gripped the microphone stand and she hoped he didn’t fall over into anyone. Then he lifted his finger and pointed across the bar towards their booth, his voice loud and confident and to be fair he was a good musician even when he was drunk. "Shot through the heart and you're to blame, darlin' you give love a bad name."

Delia snorted and then she turned and pushed Simon in the shoulder. “Excuse me,” she snapped. “I have to use the ladies’ room.” He frowned but moved out of the way, hands moving around her arm to steady her as she stood. She brushed his hands off and straightened her dress before pushing passed him towards the back of the bar.

Vic watched her saunter away before she turned her head towards Welsh. He ran a hand over his face before he slumped back down in the booth. "Don't say it,” he told her, letting both of his hands fall into his lap.

Vic smirked innocently, running her tongue along her teeth. “I didn’t say a word,” she told him.

Welsh laughed weakly. “But you’re thinking it,” he said. “I can hear you thinking it from over here, so just don’t say it.”

“Tell me something,” she said. Welsh groaned at that and then leaned forward, lifting his eyebrow curiously. Vic leaned across the table towards him and she wore a teasing smirk on her face. “Is my tongue bleeding from biting it?” She stuck her tongue out at him and Simon just laughed, shaking his head at her and slumping back in his seat.

“Now I know you’re drunk,” he told her. He sighed and laced his arms behind his head, his shirt stretching over his chest and Vic just studied him for a moment. There was a smile on his face right up until the point he looked past her towards the bathroom and Vic couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking. She didn’t understand why he put up with it but then she’d never been in a relationship that serious and she’d never been in love. All her relationships were based around sex, and getting it regularly.

"You can do better you know,” she told him. Welsh frowned as he looked at her but she didn’t shut her mouth because she’d been holding her tongue enough already. “I don't care if it's the best sex of your life, she's not worth it.”

Welsh snorted and shook his head. “It’s not just about sex,” he told her. A heavy sigh left his lips and he scrubbed his hands over his face, dropping his elbows to the table and just holding his head in them. She watched as his fingers dropped to his chin and then he shrugged. “I love her,” he said. She didn’t know which one of them he was trying to convince.

Vic just smirked and she looked away, wondering why she was the one that felt so bad. “If you say so.”
The bar was still packed even as they got close to last call. It was how it usually went. People tended to stick around at Crunchy’s and the owner had told Simon once that his business was the best thing to ever happen to this bar. Simon doubted they just came to look at him. He’d told the owner he bet it was because of the wings.

Vic and Alexey were drunk as hell. Simon had a few rum and cokes of his own, but he’d stopped earlier because he still had to drive his car home. Delia wasn’t acting like she was willing to give Alexey a ride. Simon maybe, but definitely not his brother. The two had never really gotten along. Not even in the beginning, before Delia’s “bitch-itude” showed up, or so his brother referred to it.

Alexey was leaning on Vic, and they’d reverted from shots to beer somewhere near the end, but neither one of them looked like they’d even noticed or would remember it in the morning. “You know what?” Alexey slurred, sloshing some of his beer onto the table. It made Vic laugh and Simon smirked because he loved it when she laughed. He sat opposite them, his hand twined with Delia’s and he took it as a good sign that at least she was letting him touch her right now. “Maybe I should just move to the East Coast,” his little brother continued.

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” Vic asked, shoving Alexey in the stomach, but it didn’t make the man back up off of her and Simon didn’t think that was the purpose of it. “It snows too much.”

“I can handle the snow,” Alexey said. “And maybe I want to move out here to just be close to my brother,” he held up his beer to Simon and Simon grinned, tipping his glass of just coke towards his brother. “And his friends,” he continued, tipping it towards Vic. Then his eyes moved to Delia and Simon sighed even before he opened his mouth. “Maybe not you so much.”

Delia smirked and leaned forward. “Alexey, do me a favor,” she said slyly and Simon thought his brother only looked like he was listening because he wanted to look down her dress. “Go die in a fire.”

“You first, toots,” Alexey said, tipping his glass to her.

Delia growled and then turned towards Simon, shoving him towards the edge of the seat. “I’m leaving,” she said. Simon frowned at her, but stood up to let her up. He tried to keep his hand held in hers, but she yanked it away harshly from him. She didn’t even turn around to look at him as she snapped, “Be quiet when you come home, I’ll already be asleep.”

The words made Simon sigh and he thought about going after her, but he just ran his hands over his face and turned to look at his brother and Vic, who both had smugly innocent looks on their faces. “Thanks, Lex,” Simon chastised, but it was clear to all of them he wasn’t really that mad. How could he be? Alexey hadn’t started the whole thing. Simon glanced at the clock above the bar and then looked towards them again, grinning. “I’m gonna go piss and then I’ll drive you home,” he said to Vic.

“I can walk myself there, asshole,” she said.

Simon shrugged, grinning because he knew he was going to piss her off. “Yeah, but not in a straight line and I don’t want you getting mugged.”

“I can take care of myself,” she snapped, though there was a smile on her face.

Simon nodded and started heading towards the bathroom. “I know,” he told her, walking backwards. “I’m worried about the muggers.” It made both Vic and Alexey laugh and Simon grinned widely before turning around and going to the men’s room. The place was starting to thin out as the bartender called last call.

He hoped Delia wasn’t going to be too mad when he got home. Despite her words, he doubted she was going to be asleep. She’d probably pick a fight as soon as he walked in the doors. It was their nightly ritual and he frowned when he realized they fought more than they had sex these days and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He could hear his own voice telling Vic that he loved Delia and he couldn’t quite place why the words had been so hard coming out.

Simon glanced up from the sink where he was washing his hands as the door opened. He looked into the mirror and frowned instantly when he saw it was the two guys he’d chased out of the bar earlier. The Mercedes twins. He turned off the faucet and shook his hands dry, turning around and leaning against the sink. “Hey, fellas,” he said smoothly and he didn’t like that they were wearing black gloves or that one of them locked the bathroom door behind him.

“Bermuda,” the guy in front said and he was shorter than the other one and blonde. His partner was tall with dark hair and Simon wondered who hired them because he didn’t think they were reporters any more. He tried to keep the uncertainty and fear out of his face as he watched them. But he frowned at the word. “That’s where we flew in from.”

Simon nodded, jutting his jaw. “And I take it you’re not here for an autograph.”

“Observant,” the dark haired man said, and then they were moving.

Simon had spent years learning how to fight. Most of it had been at a mixed martial arts center downtown when he was a kid. He’d been on the wrestling team in high school and after that, he’d started participating in some fighting rings before he’d gotten sick and had signed up for the Shifter technology. It had saved his life and now here he was. Being assaulted in the men’s bathroom at a swanky bar. It was funny how things turned out.

Simon intercepted the first man, who caught him in the midsection with a tackle. Simon’s back hit the sink he brought his knee up to catch the guy in the gut. The other man was coming at him and Simon whirled, wrapping one arm around the blonde man’s head and reaching out with the other arm to strike the dark haired man across the face. He stumbled back and while Simon had a moment, he grabbed the blonde’s hair and slammed his head into the counter twice before the man crumpled to the ground.

He didn’t have time to catch the tackle that caught him in the back. It sent him forward and his head snapped against the wall of the bathroom, right next to where someone had carved, “Penis,” into the wall and he wondered what sort of a guy would carve that into the wall of a men’s room and think it was funny. Simon shoved an elbow back and it hit the dark haired man in the ribs. It made him loosen his grip and Simon turned, kicking him away.

The blonde was trying to pull himself to his feet and Simon decided to take him out first. He tackled him to the ground, in an expert move he used to pull in the ring all the time when they let him fight. He landed a few punches to the man’s face and he didn’t think he’d be getting up again tonight. The second man came at him again, wrapping an arm around Simon’s chest and pulling him off his partner.

“Wait,” the dark haired man said and Simon didn’t give a shit what excuse he was going to give. He snapped his head back and felt it connect with the man’s face, his nose shattering beneath the blow. The man fell backwards and Simon turned, grabbing him and shoving him into one of the stalls. The man fell to his knees and Simon shoved his head into the toilet, bringing the toilet seat down on the man’s heads twice before the man finally slumped. Simon let him fall to the floor and he licked his lips, breathing heavily. His head was pounding and there was blood trickling down from a small cut on his temple. He checked the man’s pulse and then checked his friends and when he was certain they were both still breathing, he stood and headed out of the bathroom.

He walked over to the bar first and hailed the bartender over, who gave him a concerned look before offering him a napkin for his head. “There’s a couple of guys in the men’s room. I’ll pay for any damages.”

“Simon,” Alexey called and Simon glanced to his right. His brother and Vic were stumbling towards him and when they got close, they stopped. Simon saw his brother’s eyes move to the gash on his head and then he met his gaze. “What the fuck? You slip and fall? Are we suing?”

“No,” Simon said, chuckling. His eyes went to Vic and she looked like she was barely able to even stand. Simon just sighed and turned back to the bartender. “Can you call a cab after you call the police?”
Vic woke with a pounding head and a nasty taste in her mouth. She groaned and buried her head deeper into her pillow, arms pulling it tight against her as she tried to block out the sun. Why the fuck had she wanted windows in this place? She wondered if she should get some fucking blinds because the light was seeping through her sheets and making her head hurt worse. Her memory from last night was fuzzy at best and she couldn’t remember exactly how she’d made it home or if she’d come here alone.

The sound of someone banging on the door came again and she groaned. “Go away!” she yelled into the pillow. She doubted they heard her but maybe they would take the hint and fuck off anyway. She didn’t know what time it was and she didn’t care. All she cared about was sleeping off the awful throbbing in her head and maybe when she woke again she’d feel something like human.

The knocking came again and she let out a frustrated yell, jerking out of bed to throw her pillow at the railing. Half her clothes were lying on the floor and at least she’d managed to strip down to a tank top and underwear before passing out.

“Fuck off!” she yelled down the stairs.

There was a moment of silence and she sucked in a breath, wondering if that had actually worked. She fell back on her mattress, yanking the sheets over her head. Even if her headache was worse maybe she could catch a few hours and sleep it off. Fuck practice, fuck Bobby, fuck anything else she had to do today. Maybe she would get out of bed and call Welsh to make sure he was still alive but that was about it. As soon as she thought it she felt her stomach churn miserably because she’d been too drunk last night for it to really sink in. Already there were guys trying to beat him up in the bathroom stall and she was sure it would only get worse.

The knock came again a minute later and she groaned, dragging herself to the edge of the mattress. Her body was aching and sore because she’d spent all day in the ring and then all night drinking and it was more of an effort than she liked just to stumble to her feet. She scrubbed a hand over her face, footsteps loud on the wooden stairs as she made her way down them. The knocking came again and the sound seemed louder than it really was thanks to the pounding behind her eyes.

She leaned hard against the door, pressing her eye to the peephole before touching any of her locks. It wasn’t paranoia if they were really out to get you, right? A frown creased her face when she saw the pressed Italian suit and the slicked back hair.

Her fingers were clumsy as she started pulling her locks loose, yanking the deadbolt back before she pulled it open. She leaned against the frame, eyes lidded and hair tangled around her face as she focused on Elias. He had designer sunglasses on his face and they made him look like an asshole. “You know,” she drawled. “For someone who hates this place you sure come here a lot.”

Elias snorted in amusement, a smirk playing at the edges of his lips. “A necessary evil,” he said. He tugged his sunglasses off, bracing his arm above her head as he studied her with pale blue eyes. His fingers came out and tipped her chin back, studying the bruises and the dark circles under her eyes. His fingers moved up her cheek before they flicked at her mussed hair and he snorted out a laugh. “You look like shit,” he told her, before pushing passed her into the apartment.

“And you look like a prick,” she shot back. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Her back was to him as she asked the question, fingers moving to start redoing the locks. She wasn’t surprised when she felt his hand on the back of her neck.

“Maybe I just missed you,” he said, dry amusement in his voice. She felt his other hand settle on her hip and his lips pressed against the back of her neck, skimming lightly across her skin. She felt his hand flatten and slide across her stomach beneath her tank top and she felt herself lean back into him. The hand on her neck slid down her arm, gripping her wrist hard as he shoved her against the door. She felt his teeth scraping across her neck and his hot breath moving across her flesh. “Then again,” he drawled quietly. “Maybe this is just business because you were being too much of a drunken whore to answer your phone.”

He pulled away abruptly, giving her one more shove against the door before he did. A frown darkened her face and she turned, rubbing at the back of her neck as she turned around. He was already making himself at home, that mean smirk on his face as he clicked her television on. “Fuck you,” she spat. Her head hurt and she wasn’t in the mood to play his mind games or listen to him call her names. “If you’ve got a job for me just come out and say it you stupid fuck. Otherwise get the hell out.”

He snorted, glancing over his shoulder at her. “You’re in an unusually foul mood today, Victoria,” he said.

She just rolled her eyes at him. “What the fuck do you want, Elias?”

He smirked and looked away from her, focusing his gaze on the television. When he didn’t answer right away she let out a frustrated sigh and pushed herself off the door so she could at least make herself some coffee while he was thinking how else to be an asshole. Her phone was lying on the counter next to her keys where she’d dumped them both last night and she pulled it over to her.

She had a missed call from Elias and no voicemail and one from Welsh asking her to give him a call back and let him know she got home alright. She snorted at that because she should be the one asking him that question.

“How did it go last night?” Elias asked, his tone bored and nonchalant. He had his arms crossed over his shoulders and he didn’t even turn around to look back at her. He was watching the television and Vic frowned when she glanced at it. They had a clip of the police fishing some girl’s body out of the river and whatever asshole had killed her had taken the time to carve the word ‘beast’ into her back. It was probably just another hate crime in the growing list of them.

“What the fuck do you mean, how did it go?” Vic snapped. She pounded a cigarette out of her pack before leaning against the counter and waited for her coffee to brew. She scrubbed a hand through her hair before letting it drop over her eyes to try and dull the throbbing pain that was lancing through her head. “I went out and got drunk, what the fuck else are you looking for?”

Elias laughed and he finally turned away from the television, walking over to stand on the other side of the counter. He laced his fingers together and leaned down on it, that smirk lingering on his face. “I mean how did it go with Welsh?” he asked.

If anything that just made Vic more confused. “And what the fuck does that mean?” she asked, frowning at him. She wasn’t sure what he was asking, but she could take a guess by the suggestive smirk on his face. He just lifted an eyebrow and waited patiently for her to answer the question. She sucked in smoke from the end of her cigarette before blowing it out of the corner of her lips. “Are you asking me if I fucked him?” she asked. It felt weird just asking that but she was suddenly curious why he would wonder that at all.

The laugh that left his lips was loud and cruel and he reached forward afterwards to pull the cigarette from her fingers. “That’s not what I’m asking at all, Victoria,” he said. “I find it surprisingly arrogant of you that you would assume you are any kind of competition to the women that throw themselves at Mr. Welsh on a daily basis. Including his lovely girlfriend.” He snorted out a laugh and Vic yanked the cigarette roughly from his lips before he could take another drag. The words made her mad and of course it was just because she thought Delia was a bitch and not because of anything else Elias had said.

“Fuck you,” she spat. “Either tell me what you want or get the fuck out of my apartment.”

Elias was still smiling as he round the counter and she felt his hand settle on the back of her neck. “Relax, Victoria” he said. His thumb moved across her skin in something like a soothing motion but it didn’t make her feel any more at ease with him around. He smiled and then his lips brushed across her ear. “You’re still a beautiful woman,” he said. “You’re just dirty.”

A sigh left her lips and she turned to lean her back against the counter, shoving him away with her fingers pressed against his chest. “I’m not in the mood for your shit today, Elias,” she spat. “Just get to the point so I can get back to bed.”

If anything the words just made his smile grow broader, his eyes lidded as he tilted his head at her. He took a step forward and braced his hands on either side of her on the counter behind her back. “I could join you in that bed,” he told her slyly, lips ghosting over hers. She kept her hand on his chest but there was a part of her that wasn’t sure if it was to make sure he kept his distance or so that she could control when he closed it. “I was asking you how Welsh’s test went,” he said, glancing up at her face.

Vic sucked in a breath at that and he took the opportunity to step closer, his lips crushing against hers in a hard kiss. Her teeth clicked against his as she kissed him back and then she was fisting her hand in his shirt and pushing him away. “You sent those men after Welsh?” she asked. He smirked and didn’t answer her, instead leaning forward again. She jerked her head back. “Elias?”

He snorted. “Of course I did,” he said. “We’re hardly going to have him sign with us without first testing his capabilities outside of the AAFA ring. And an organization such as ours can’t exactly run a formal examination, can we?”

He tried to lean forward again but she pushed against his chest to keep him back. “He could have gotten hurt,” she said.

Elias laughed, his hands moving to her hips and starting to slide under her tank top. His head ducked and he pressed his lips against her throat when she tried to avoid the kiss. “Of course,” he drawled. He said it so matter-of-factly that she couldn’t stop the swell of anger that swept through her. “But that was a risk I was willing to take.”

The words made her lip curl in a snarl and then she was moving, grasping his wrists and shoving him away from her. “Go to Hell, Elias,” she snarled. He seemed surprised at the reaction and even more surprised when she moved passed him towards the door, pulling the bolts back and yanking the door open. She couldn’t blame him because up until now she’d never turned down sex and she couldn’t say why she was now except she was pissed as hell. “Get the fuck out,” she told him.

The smile was still on his face as he watched her but it slowly faded after a moment and he just looked confused. “You’re serious,” he said. She didn’t say anything, just waiting with the door wide open. He snorted and shook his head before walking towards her.

“You’re a whore,” he spat, his eyes narrowed in irritation. “Don’t forget whose you are.”

“Call me a whore again,” she told him bitterly. “And see what happens.”
Nate was shoving his fingers into Simon’s knee and even if it was all healed up, it was clear to Simon that he wasn’t being gentle or going easy. If he didn’t know better, he’d say Nate was trying to tear something else in there with the way his thumbs were moving his kneecap around. He sat up on the trainer’s table and it had been a while since he’d been to the gym where everyone trained. They must have all been on gag orders, because when he’d walked through the gym, it had been ice cold. He hadn’t expected anything else really. He hadn’t seen Vic yet this morning and he wondered if she was too hung over to come in.

“Any residual pain?” Nate asked, his voice monotone and Simon didn’t think that he really cared if there was pain or not. He was pretty sure what the outcome of this was going to be. He didn’t think he’d ever get off the bench again.

Sighing, Simon shook his head. “It hasn’t hurt for a couple months,” Simon said dryly and Nate glanced up at him at the words. Then he snorted and stood back, grabbing Simon’s foot and guiding his leg up to bend it at the knee. He wasn’t saying anything, so Simon tipped his head backwards and looked at the ceiling, wondering why he was bothering with this. He could have just stayed at home and entertained Alexey all day.

His brother had stayed behind in the apartment because he was too cheap to get a hotel. He was sleeping on the lazyboy for now and it was really putting a wedge between Simon and Delia, but he wasn’t going to complain. Alexey was his brother and he was welcome any time. Besides, Delia hadn’t looked too eager to have make up sex any time soon.

The door to the locker room opened and Simon glanced that way. He was a little bit surprised to see Yuri Kostas himself walk through the door. The man was one of the owners of the gym and a major shareholder in the AAFA. He was a creep of a man who always wore white pants and some odd color shirt. Today it was pink and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He was short and fat and he looked like a mob boss and Simon wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly what he was.

Yuri wore two watches and gold around his neck and he had a comb-over that wasn’t fooling anyone. When he walked into the room, he immediately held his arms out to his sides and bobbed his head, walking towards the table. “Welsh baby,” he said as he came closer. Simon tried to sit up, but Nate reached a hand out to keep him lying on the examining table. Yuri came to stand over him.

“Hey Yuri,” Simon said up to him.

Yuri smiled, but it was anything but nice. “You know what a great day I had yesterday, Welsh,” the man said, waving his arms around like a maniac. Simon just watched him closely, his body tense. “Started it out sipping bloody mary’s by my pool, got a full body massage from a very nice Chinese lady, and was eating cannoli downtown when what should I see? Your face, plastered all over the news.”

Simon sighed. “Yuri, I…”

“No,” Yuri said, his hand snapping out to Simon’s jaw and it took all of Simon’s restraint not to reach up and remove the man’s hand for him. It probably wouldn’t go over well. He was already in deep shit and even if he could kick the crap out of Yuri, the man had ties Simon didn’t want to mess with. “You don’t talk right now, you’ve done enough of that.”

Yuri turned and waved two of his men over. They came to stand by him and Simon glanced at Nate, who seemed undisturbed by the whole thing. Yuri leaned over him and looked down at his face. “I have to admit,” Yuri said. “It takes a man with some massive, engorged, steel balls to do what you did.” Simon didn’t say anything, not wanting to make the man mad any further. “Because now that you’ve gone public, I’m not the only one that wants to pop your kneecaps off like bottle tops, you understand me?”

“I didn’t do it to make friends,” Simon told the man and he knew as soon as he said it, it was probably the wrong answer.

The man reached out slowly and patted his cheek. “Of course you didn’t,” he said. “And I don’t need to know why you did it. But just know this, Welsh. If you fight so hard to become a martyr, you only have yourself to blame when you become one.” Yuri started to back away and leave, but whirled violently and grabbed Simon’s neck, slamming him back down onto the table, his face turning red and close to his. “And you just remember who holds your leash, you cocky little son of a bitch. You may be everyone’s hero today, but I could take that all away in a heartbeat.”

He let go of Simon and stalked out of the locker room. Simon laid there for a minute, watching the doors swing shut behind the man before he turned back to look at Nate, who was finishing up writing some things down on a clipboard. “He seemed to be in a good mood today,” Simon quipped.

Nate glanced up at him and then waved at him to sit up. Simon did as Nate suggest and swung his legs over the side of the table. He wasn’t scared of Yuri. The man was mostly all talk. Simon had gotten pretty good and knowing how hard to push the man without getting retaliation. He’d pushed it a little now, and he thought maybe Yuri was just going to keep him out of the ring for it. He didn’t think the man would make good on his threats. How could he when Simon was a major source of income for him?

“Yeah,” Nate said, disinterested and then tucked his clipboard under his arm and looked at Simon with a blank expression on his face. “Okay, you’re fit to return to the rings. You can go to practice today.”

Simon blinked at the man and thought he’d heard him wrong for a moment. He tipped his head to the side and frowned. “What?” he asked, hardly believing his ears.

Nate paused and frowned at him. “Get back to work, you’re fine,” he said, like Simon was stupid or something. Then he followed Yuri’s path and left the locker room and it left Simon sitting there by himself. He frowned glancing around and he wasn’t sure if he should be happy or concerned. He didn’t think it was coincidence they’d signed him back on right after the press conference. He wondered if they were up to something.

But even if he was suspicious, he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He hoped off the table and he’d already been changed into his shorts and black AAFA t-shirt. He’d been ready to go in the physical sense, but not the mental one and it was blowing his mind that they were letting him back on and they wanted him back on today. He wondered how long it would take for the press to find out.

He didn’t really care. He was grinning ear to ear as he stepped back out into the training room.
“What the fuck do you want Romanova?” Vic asked dryly.

She’d managed to shower and change but that was about all she’d accomplished so far. She was kicked back on the couch and dozing in and out of sleep while some Steven Seagal movie played on the television. The Advil she’d popped earlier had helped dull some of the pain in her head but she still felt like shit and probably still looked like it too. She left her phone and a half emptied cup of coffee sitting on the table next to her and she’d been almost back to sleep when it started ringing.

“Aw baby don’t be like that,” Alexey said. His voice sounded rough and harsh but he still managed to sound cheerful and Vic thought it was bullshit. He’d had the same to drink as her and she didn’t like the thought that he was shaking it off better. Her eyes focused on the television and she frowned when she saw the credits rolling because she didn’t remember seeing the end.

“Just make it quick,” she told him. He laughed on the other end and she winced because she thought it was louder than it needed to be. She bit back a groan as she pushed herself into a sitting position on the couch, her other hand holding her head.

“Come on Bitchzilla,” he said. “I thought I taught you to hold your liquor better than that.”

She smirked and tipped her head back against the couch to stare up at the ceiling. “Fuck you,” she drawled.

Alexey laughed again. “You shouldn’t make invitations like that if you’re not going to follow through.” Vic rolled her eyes before she remembered he couldn’t see her and she rolled her head to the side, looking at the locked door. She hadn’t thought much about what Elias had said to her because she’d been hung over and angry and tired but Alexey was starting to wake her up and she was starting to process just what he’d been telling her. They’d been testing Welsh. She had a pretty good idea what they were testing him for because they’d run her through the same thing before she signed the contract Elias had put in front of her.

“Romanova if you just called to hit on me than I think you really need to find a better hobby,” she told him. “Aren’t you staying with your brother? You telling me that he and whore Barbie aren’t enough entertainment for you?” One hand rose to scrub over her face and she sighed, sitting forward on the couch to finish the rest of her coffee. It was cold but she drank it anyway.

Alexey snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, it’s weird, they both had something better to do today.” He cleared his throat and she caught a playful undertone in his voice as he tried to sound nonchalant. “She’s got clients to service and he’s got AAFA practice or some shit. He called before, something about getting cleared to fight again. I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening, there were Baywatch reruns on and he called right when Pam was doing her slow motion run across the beach.”

She spit some of her coffee out at that and dropped the cup back down on the table. Her eyes widened as she ran a hand through her hair. “Are you serious?” she demanded. “They actually cleared Welsh to get back in the ring?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Alexey drawled. Vic couldn’t help but smirk at that and she rested her chin in one hand. Yesterday she’d have bet good money that Welsh was never getting back in the ring. She wasn’t sure it was good that he was. “Like I said, there was a bouncing pair of double D’s on the screen so I only caught part of it. Oh, I did get the part that screamed ‘trap’ though. That I caught.”

She snorted and the smile fell off her face. “I’m going to go ahead and assume Welsh caught that too.”

“Of course he does. Doesn’t mean he’s not happy as a pig in shit right now so try not to ruin it for him, yeah?” He chuckled afterwards but even that didn’t put the smile back on her face. There were a lot of assholes in the AAFA’s upper management and she didn’t think they were just going to forgive and forget just like that, not after the press conference fiasco. “So listen, I wanted to run something by you. I was thinking about the guys that jumped him and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just a random hate crime.”

“Yeah, I know,” she told him. She stood up and cracked her back, going to dump her cup in the sink before she headed up the stairs to her bedroom. She wasn’t planning on going into the gym today but if Welsh was back she had to see this. She grabbed her gym bag out of the corner and shoved her things in it before throwing it over her shoulder.

“What do you mean you know?” he squawked. “Come on, you’re ruining all my fun.”

She shrugged her shoulders even though he couldn’t see her, bracing the phone against her shoulder. She grasped the counter as she pulled her sneakers on. “I said I know,” she told him, snorting out a laugh. She wasn’t sure she really found it funny but she laughed anyway. She should have asked Elias what kind of game he was playing at but he had the unique ability to get under her skin and push all her buttons at once. “I’m sorry, do you want to tell me your theory and then I can pretend to be surprised?”

“Fucking A right I do,” he said, his tone bitchy and annoyed. “Now listen, I was thinking about it and I mean, some assholes just looking to beat on him wouldn’t be smart enough to try and get him alone in the bathroom like that. They’d just get drunk and start yelling right? And it’s probably not the AAFA because they just offered him his job back, right? So I’m thinking: Initiative.”

Vic smirked, grabbing her coat off the hook by the door and pulling it over her shoulders. “Wow Alexey,” she said with false, sarcastic enthusiasm. “That’s so super smart of you. What do you think they want with him?”

“Man Bitchzilla, why do I get the impression you’re just fucking with me?” Vic’s smile widened but she didn’t say anything, shoving her keys in her pocket before pushing the button for the elevator. It was old and rusty and she swore it was going to drop her to her death one of these days but she felt shitty enough to risk it. “You’re a bitch,” Alexey told her. “Anyway, I think they’re recruiting him. Mostly because it would make things a hell of a lot easier for me. I mean, do you know how hard it’s been not to tell my brother that I’m a super spy? Come on, that shit’s cool as hell. I get ninja gear and everything.”

“You’re a moron,” she told him, getting a laugh in return. The elevator dinged as it reached her floor and she stepped through the sliding doors. “Listen Romanova I gotta run,” she told him. She didn’t say anything else because what was she going to say? Yeah, Elias already let something like that slip when he came by for a morning fuck. Not a conversation she really wanted to have, especially not with Romanova. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hey, hey wait,” he yelled into the phone. She winced at the sound because it helped remind her how hung over she was and she didn’t need any more reminders of that. “You didn’t tell me what you thought about my theory.”

She snorted and then flipped it shut without another word before shoving her phone in her coat pocket. It rang again before she hit the lobby but she didn’t answer it. She found it interesting sometimes how observant Alexey was because most people looked at him like the stupid little shit he was. Right up until the point something intelligent came out of his mouth.

Vic pulled her helmet on first because it helped block out some of the way too bright sunlight. There were cars and taxis rumbling loudly down the street next to her and she tried to ignore the pounding of her head as she slung a leg over her motorcycle and revved it to life. Some days she thought she should have gotten a car, but it wasn’t worth the hassle in the city. She could walk pretty much anywhere she needed to get to, as long as she didn’t mind the possibility of attempted assault.

“You’re late again,” Bobby snapped as soon as she walked through the door.

“Just be happy I’m here,” she shot back. His gaze darkened and she didn’t really care, though a part of her knew she should. Bobby could easily bring down trouble on her if she pissed him off enough and she was good at pissing people off. He followed her to the bench as she tossed her bag on top of it. She unzipped it quickly, wrapping her hands with quick, practiced motions.

“You show up late again and you might find yourself looking for a new contract,” he spat. He stood behind her with his arms crossed over his chest. “Now get your ass ready to go and then I want you in the ring with Katarina.”

“In a minute,” she told him. Then she would be mad that he was throwing her in the ring for the second day in a row and with Katarina of all people. The girl was her biggest competition and she could see her already fighting Rachel in the practice ring. There was a scar over her eyebrow from an unsanctioned blow last year and if anything it had just made her harder and more determined. Her dark hair was pulled out of her face and for a second her gaze went past the girl she was fighting to look at Vic. Her lip pulled up in something that was a mix between a smile and a sneer and then she was dodging the blow hurtling towards her face and lashing out with a kick.

Vic shoved past Bobby, ignoring how red his face was getting as she moved across the wooden floors. She kept her footsteps light so that maybe he wouldn’t hear her coming. She was good at sneaking up on the man, even when she wasn’t trying, but he knew she was here and he had to be waiting for it. His arms pulled back as he beat on the blue punching bag and one of the younger trainers, Ricky, was standing next to him, a small polite smile on his face as he watched him wail on the bag.

She didn’t give him any warning but he still managed to dodge the first hit. It struck the punching bag next to his head instead and then he was whirling, angling a knee up towards her stomach. She dodged back away from the blow and blocked the punches he threw at her afterwards, his knuckles slamming into her forearms and through it she could see the smile on his lips.

She didn’t let herself return it. Not until she caught the next fist he threw her way, using his own momentum to flip him over onto his back. He landed on his back on the mats with an oomph, air leaving his chest in a rush of air as she dropped down on top of him.

“Welcome back Welsh,” she said cheerfully.
“Hey Vic,” Simon said, grinning up at her. She was straddling his waist and pinning him to the ground. He wasn’t even mad that she’d managed to pin him. He didn’t think there would be a lot that could make him mad today. He was signed back on and there was nothing that was going to ruin that for him. Not even that inkling of a thought that they had an ulterior motive. He would start worrying about that tomorrow. Today, he was on cloud nine. And not at all because Vic was pinning him to the ground. He had a girlfriend for that. Even if she didn’t want to look at him right now. They could always turn off the lights.

Vic patted his chest and then climbed off of him, letting him stand up. Once they were there, Simon brushed himself off and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “You’re all smiles today, Welsh,” she told him and there was an answering one on her face.

Simon shrugged and stretched his arms out. “It’s fun to be optimistic,” he said, grinning at her and his face was starting to hurt he was smiling so much. Vic snorted and then they both looked towards Bobby, who came up to stand next to them, his hands on his hips and his eyes narrowed at both of them. “Hey Bobby,” Simon greeted the man, giving him a nod.

The man just glared at Simon and didn’t respond before he turned to Vic and pointed a finger at her. “You’re up. Move your ass.”

Vic just rolled her eyes but then smacked Simon in the chest with the back of her hand. “Later, Welsh. Don’t get in anymore fights, huh?”

Simon held his hands out. “But I just got the go ahead,” he said and he saw her eyes narrow at him playfully. He laughed and watched her head off to go get changed. When he turned back around, Bobby was storming off and Ricky was still standing there with that fake polite smile on his face. Simon’s smile faltered a little bit and he focused back on the punching bag. He’d been practicing at home still, after his knee had gotten better, but it was still nothing compared to what the trainers at the gym put them through. He wondered if they were going to put him up in one of the rings today or if they were holding off on doing that. Maybe he could watch Vic in her fights.

The day seemed to go by quickly. Simon spent most of it on the punching bag or working out and the trainers hadn’t put him in the ring at all. He didn’t feel too bad about it. Small steps, that’s what he kept telling himself. He’d gotten to watch Vic fight, which was a plus of his day because that girl knew how to kick ass. He was pretty sure she’d be the one taking home the championship this year, but he had to admit that Kat had outstanding footwork and really all it would take was one false move from Vic. Although, he had yet to see Vic make a false move. The girl was like a fighting machine.

As he got dressed in the locker room after practice, he glanced at his phone. Alexey had called half a dozen times and that made Simon chuckle. Delia had called once and he felt the smile slip from his lips because he hadn’t told her he’d been cleared to get back in the fights. He wondered what she’d think about it and he thought maybe she’d just be satisfied that he wasn’t “throwing his life away.”

As he came out of the locker room, Vic was coming out the girl’s and he smiled when he saw her. She always managed to put a smile on his face and he thought maybe it was because the girl didn’t bullshit. She said what was on her mind and she was mean, but he didn’t think she meant half the things she said.

“Surprised you made it in today, Vic,” he said and she glared at him. She had new bruises on her skin, but there was a slight smirk to her lips. “Alexey was hungover as hell.”

“Never said I wasn’t,” Vic told him and it made him laugh.

“Well, if you want to do something this week at all, just call,” Simon said, slinging his back higher on his shoulder and starting to walk backwards towards the door. “Lex is bored as hell, and I’m still trying to hook you two up.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and Vic gave him a death look before she flipped him off. He threw his head back and laughed before he gave her a wave and turned around, heading out into the parking lot.

It was starting to get dark out and Simon though it was too early in the season to be getting dark this early. He wasn’t ready for winter or snow or championship titles that he wouldn’t be able to fight for. They’d cleared him to fight too late, he’d already missed the pre-qualifiers.

His head was elsewhere, and maybe that’s why they got the drop on him.

The tackle came from behind and it slammed him hard into a car. He growled and whirled, bringing his elbow back and felt it hit someone with a glancing blow. He wondered if he should be worried that he was attacked two days in a row now and he thought it was a little extreme for people to be blaming him for the fate of the Act and the decision the government needed to make on it.

Managing to get his legs up, he planted his feet on the door of the car and pushed backwards. The momentum shoved them back into a different car and he felt the attacker’s arms loosen from around him. He jerked himself from the man’s grasp and whirled, bringing a fist around before he even got a good look at the guy. He didn’t recognize him. Some blonde guy who looked like he could be a marine or a CIA agent or some shit. He imagined Alexey could come up with a cute name for him, but right now Simon was too concerned with not getting the crap beat out of himself to do it in his absence.

There was another guy rounding the car and the man was huge. Simon didn’t really feel like going toe to toe with the man and he thought for a split second about running back inside, but he didn’t want to take the fight in there, in case they pulled guns. The last thing he needed was to get someone killed in the crossfire between him and the anti-shifters out there.

The blonde grunted as Simon’s fist connected with his jaw, but it didn’t take him down. He snapped his head forward, their foreheads meeting and for a moment, Simon saw stars. But he caught a glimpse of the huge guy coming at them and he reached forward, pulling the blonde closer to him and turning himself so he was sideways in the man’s grip. He wrapped a leg around the man’s and it was a move he’d perfected over the years. He hadn’t tried it since he injured his knee, but it was like old habit. He flung himself backwards and it was a bit harder landing out here on the cement than in there on the mats, but he took the blonde down with him, the man’s head cracking into the cement. Simon rolled off of him and got to his feet quickly, holding his hands up to the big guy, in a fighting stance. He wouldn’t be able to take a punch from him he didn’t think. The guy was like a fucking bull or something.

Simon was surprised when the blonde on the ground groaned and rolled to his hands and knees. He was tougher than Simon had given him credit for because he climbed back to his feet and Simon hadn’t meant for him to be able to do that. “Copperhead,” the man said, turning to look at him and Simon frowned, not understanding what he meant.

He felt a sudden prick in his neck as something stuck itself into his skin. He frowned and his vision blurred in just a few short seconds. He reached to his neck and pulled a dart from his skin, looking at it dully as he held it out in front of himself. Then he looked up at the blonde man and he was smiling, coming forward, but Simon didn’t think it looked cruel.

Then Simon felt his knees giving out and he was surprised when the man rushed forward and caught him. His eyes were just rolling back up into his head when he heard the blonde man say, “Get him to the van.”
“How can you watch this shit?” Vic asked.

Elias snorted and didn’t even glance up from his papers. “I like to stay informed,” he said dryly.

Vic waved a hand at the TV screen. “Yeah, but this is always the same shit, over and over again. A senator’s fucking a prostitute, a bomb went off in the Middle East, seriously, it never changes.”

She had her arms crossed on the back of the couch and her eyes were narrowed as they focused on the television set. There were papers and open files spread out on the coffee table in front of it and Elias sat on the edge of the cushions as he went through them. He had a pen in one hand and a glass of red wine sitting close to his other one. He hadn’t offered her any, but she would have said no even if he had. His tie hung loosely around his neck and Vic thought it looked more like a noose like that.

“Is that so?” he drawled. He still didn’t look up and she heard him sigh as he undersigned the bottom of whatever contract he was looking at. She wondered what it was for but even if she asked he wasn’t going to tell her anyway. “One of these days they’re going to run a report about whether or not the Altered Humans Civil Rights Act was passed. You may want to pay attention on that day.”

Vic snorted and climbed over the back of the couch to sit down next to him. “Why should I?’ she asked. “It’s not going to matter until my contract with you assholes is up. By then I’m sure I’ll have heard about it.”

“Your dedication to ignorance astounds even me,” he said.

“What can I say, I don’t half ass anything,” she drawled. Vic sighed and kicked her feet out on the coffee table in front of her. Elias shoved them away so that he could pull his papers out from under it and shot her a narrowed glance that just made her smile. She shifted and draped her legs across his lap instead and she heard him let out a sigh. She couldn’t tell if he was amused or irritated but she didn’t much care about his feelings. She rested her head against her fist as she watched the news report and she thought there were better ways to waste her time than wait for Elias to fuck her. She could be out drinking with Romanova and Welsh for one.

She watched dully as they talked about the weather and some hurricane hitting the gulf coast and she played with her phone while the man next to her signed off on people signing their lives away. She caught glimpses of photographs in some of the files and rap sheets that looked eerily similar. Murderers like her probably, even if they hadn’t gunned down their fathers in cold blood. She wondered if she’d made it onto the news or if Jersey was just numb to shit like that by now.

They returned to the hot blonde news anchor and she glanced back at the screen when she started to talk. “Due to the violent nature of these next images, sensitive viewers may want to look away,” she said. “Charlie, over to you.”

“Thanks Megan. The remains you’re seeing were recovered early this morning in a Denny’s dumpster.” Elias glanced up at that and he frowned at the images on the screen. Mostly it was just a lot of blood and pale white bone showing through flesh. “We believe them to be connected to the bodies recovered earlier in the week and if so, it brings the death toll to seven, just this month.”

The screen switched to a police captain, a microphone shoved into his face. “The FBI is flying in tonight to give us a profile but right now this is what we know for sure. He is targeting shifters. He prefers big cats, but if he gets desperate enough he’ll take just about anyone. There are burn marks and lacerations on most of the bodies that makes us thing he’s using a stun gun to kidnap his victims. We’ll let you know more once the FBI gets here and can give us a better profile. For now, we urge everyone to just be cautious.”

Elias snorted and closed the file in front of him. He took a sip from his wine before sliding back into the couch and then he turned his head to look at Vic. “You see?” he drawled. “You should be careful the next time you’re out whoring it up at the bar.”

Vic’s eyes narrowed at him and she tried not to let it hurt because she didn’t like giving him the satisfaction. “Fuck you,” she said.

He laughed, reaching over to turn the television off. He tossed the remote onto the neat pile of files on his coffee table, the glass surface perfect and stainless. Then he slumped back against the cushions, his hand coming out to grasp her belt. He tugged like he wanted her to come closer, the amused and condescending smirk on his face. “That’s why you’re here,” he said.

She snorted and then sat up, swinging one leg over his lap before she settled on top of his hips. His hands were already working on her belt and he leaned forward to kiss her. His eyes slid back open when she wrapped her fingers around his throat and shoved him back.

“Maybe I don’t want to,” she said, lip curling upwards in a feral sneer.

His fingers tightened on her hips and his eyes narrowed at that. It was almost enough to make her smile. “Now I find that incredibly hard to believe,” he said. “Why else would you be here?” He pulled her tighter against him and her other hand moved to his shoulder, fingers digging into the suit jacket. He tried to sit forward and kiss her again but she just gripped his neck harder to keep him there. His frown darkened and the smile fell. “Don’t tell me you’re still angry about this morning, Victoria.”

“What are you testing Welsh for?” she asked him. There was a part of her that thought it was strange she was straddling Elias and asking about Welsh but the words came out anyway before she could stop them. She felt his fingers move under her shirt and across her skin before he hauled her abruptly against his chest, lips crushing brutally against hers.

“Is that really what you’re here for?” he asked, lips brushing over hers. “You want to discuss business?” His mouth moved from hers to her neck and she hissed when he bit down hard on her skin. He was probably going to leave bruises.

Her fingers slid through his hair and then tightened as she yanked his head away from her throat. He had a mean smirk on his lips and she found herself wanting to wipe that look off his face. Her hands dropped to his suit jacket and she didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t get both of the things she wanted. His hands left her hips as she tugged it off his shoulders and he let her pull the sleeves from him and toss the jacket on the floor. His smile widened as she lowered her head towards his but she paused with her lips over his. “Answer the question and we can get the bullshit out of the way,” she told him, smirking down at him.

His lip curled and then he was moving, lifting her up by the hips and rolling to push her down on the couch. His hands kept moving, pulling her shirt off and tossing it to the floor next to them in a heap. “We’re considering offering him a job. He may be joining your team shortly. There, does that ease your anxiety?” he asked. He smirked and then he was the one grasping her by the hair and yanking her head back. His mouth dropped to her neck and she sucked in a breath when his teeth closed around her throat.

“So did he pass your test?” she asked. Her eyes were closed but she smiled when she heard the annoyed growl that left his throat because it wasn’t often that she was the one pissing Elias off. Usually it went the other way around.

“I find it exasperating that you want to discuss Welsh’s possible future with this company when I’m trying to fuck you,” he snapped. The words made her laugh because it was always funny to her when he got frustrated. Her fingers ran through his hair to muss it while his hands dropped to her belt. She heard the clink of metal as he yanked at the buckle and then she smirked.

“Should I take that as a yes?” she asked him, tilting her head to the side.

He snarled before he abandoned her pants, bracing himself over her with one arm while he glared down at her. His fingers gripped her jaw and yanked her head towards him. “Yes,” he snapped. “He passed our initial testing. Captain Rogers is overseeing the rest of it as we speak. Assuming all goes well he’ll be signed with us by the morning. Does that satisfy you?” He spat the last words out. “Is there anything else you’d like to demand of me because quite frankly Victoria I grow bored of this game.”

Vic laughed and then she shoved him off of her. He fell back into a sitting position on the couch, a dark look on his face and his clothes rumpled and out of place. It made her grin and it was still on her face as she straddled his lap again, yanking at his shirt and smirking when some of the buttons ripped off. “But this is a fun game,” she told him. “How else are you going to test him?”

He snarled and tangled his fingers in her hair to drag her down for a bruising kiss. She let him and for a minute she thought about letting him win, but Vic hated to lose. She shoved him hard and twisted her head away. “Whore,” he spat.

Her face darkened and she pushed off him without a second thought at that. “What the fuck did I tell you?” she snapped. Her fingers were already reaching for her shirt when she felt him grasp her arm and yank her back down towards the couch. She landed on one knee, her hand gripping the back of it to keep her balance. His head was already tilting up to kiss her and she bit down hard on his lip when he did. She could taste blood and she heard him groan at the pain of it.

“I don’t believe you actually made a threat,” he told her, a nasty grin on his face. “Only implied that there would be consequences.” He was still smiling even though there was blood on the corner of his lips. “Well?” he drawled, hand wrapping around the back of her neck and yanking her closer. “I am anxious to see what the consequences will be.”

“Fuck you,” she snarled, punching him in the chest before she was kissing him again. There was a part of her that wasn’t sure if they were fucking or fighting, but with her there wasn’t always that much of a difference.
Simon woke slowly, his head fuzzy and mouth dry. There was something over his head that prevented him from seeing anything other than darkness. He was slumped in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. He let out a low groan and tested the bindings that held his wrists together. He tried to move his feet, but his ankles were tied to the legs of the chair so he just sat there a moment and worked on waking himself up fully. He tried to listen for any noise or sounds that would give away what was going on. He tipped his head to the side and he could hear something in the corner of the room. He focused on the noise and listened sharply.

Another noise sounded from in front of him. He just sat there and listened for a long while to all the noises, gaining a mental image of the room from whatever he could hear. He’d been listening so intently that when the voice came, it startled him.

A woman’s voice came. It was grainy and came from a speaker system above his head somewhere. “How many people are in the room with you, Mr. Welsh?”

Simon frowned and thought that was a strange question. He still didn’t know who these guys were, but they’d been professional something. They’d drugged him with a dart gun for Christ’s sake. He cleared his throat and his voice was somewhat hoarse when he spoke. “Who are you?”

There wasn’t an immediate answer, but after a moment, the voice came again and said, “Answer the question, Mr. Welsh.”

“Why are you asking me?” Simon called and tried pulling on his wrists again.

When the voice came again, she sounded irritated. “I will not ask you nicely again.”

Simon sighed and chewed on his lip in thought for a moment before he said, “Four.”

The voice was quiet for a moment and Simon wondered if he was being tested, because that’s what this felt like. He wondered if shifting into his animal form would be enough to break the bindings around his wrists. He wondered if anyone knew he was gone. Had anyone seen him be taken? Would it be all over the news?

“Where in the room are they?” the woman over the speaker asked again.

Simon took a deep breath before saying, “What do you want?” He didn’t expect the sudden shock that surged through the metal seat. He let out a strangled gasp but the shock didn’t last long and it didn’t do much besides leave his skin tingling. He grit his teeth and spat a dry-mouthed, “Shit,” out into the room.

“Answer the question,” the woman said again.

Growling low in his throat, Simon spat, “There’s one directly behind me, one to my left sitting on something metal, maybe a desk or a chair, and two in front of me. The one on the right can’t hold still and the one on the left thinks he’s being quiet, but he’s signaling whenever I answer a question, so I would assume he’s your boss and he can tell me who the fuck you are.”

Simon heard a snort that sounded strangely familiar before there was a small, amused chuckle from the man trying to be quiet. “That’s very observant of you, Mr. Welsh.”

Simon gave a snort of his own, recognizing the voice. “And you’re the guy whose face I bashed into the cement.”

He heard boots walking across the stone floor and they stopped right in front of him. He tilted his head to the side so he could hear better and when the man spoke, he thought he was standing only a couple feet away from him. “It was a nice move,” the man admitted.

Simon nodded. “I have a better one,” he said and then forced the shift to come on. Black fur sprung out along his skin and he felt his muscles bulking. The bindings on his wrists bit into his skin and he felt them start bleeding a moment before the bindings snapped. The same with his ankles. He heard the man in front of him give a shout, but he was roaring and leaping forward before they could do anything.

He tackled the guy in front of him, taking him to the ground and backhanding him hard. He rolled off the guy and immediately pulled the black hood off his head. He whirled and sure enough, there were four guys, all of them wearing black and masks. None of them had guns, which surprised Simon a little and they looked a little shocked that he’d gotten out of their bindings.

“Mr. Welsh, please hold on a moment…” the voice over the speaker said, but Simon roared at it to shut it up. The man in the back of the room started coming forward and Simon was pretty sure that unless there were two huge fucking guys with the exact same body mass working for whoever these people were, this was the huge guy from the parking lot.

Simon rushed forward and grabbed the chair, flinging it at the man with all his strength. The man held up his arms and the chair collided with him. It didn’t bring him to the ground, but it did knock him back a little. He heard a small gasp from the man in the corner, the one who couldn’t sit still and Simon growled before he leapt at the smaller man.

“No wait!” the man cried and the voice was familiar. He collided with the man, shoving him backwards onto a table with a hand around his throat and he heard a grunt of pain before the man was crying out, “Stop, Simon, it’s me!” That made him pause and he tipped his head to the side as he looked down at the man, who was reaching his hands up to pull up his ski mask. Simon felt his heart skip a beat when it was Alexey beneath the mask. “Hey, bro,” Alexey said.

“Lex?” Simon growled, his voice low in his cat form.

He was so distracted and confused over his brother being one of his attackers, that he didn’t hear the huge guy come up behind him. He sure as hell felt it though, when the man hit him in the side of the head with a fist. The blow knocked him clear away from his brother and he found himself lying on his side on the ground, blinking away stars.

“Whoa, whoa there!” Alexey’s voice rang out.

Another voice, the blonde from the parking lot, snapped out, “Bruno, stand down.”

Simon felt Alexey rush down to him, rolling him onto his back and leaning over him. “Simon? Can you hear me? He didn’t just give you brain damage, did he?” Simon blinked up at him and the world was spinning around him. He felt the black panther form start to shift back and it just left Simon lying there on the ground.

“Sorry smallfry,” the big man said, pulling up his ski mask. The others did the same. “I thought he was hurting you.”

Alexey looked up at the man and smiled. “Thanks, big guy,” he said before looking back down at Simon. “Hey, you with us? He hits like a train, trust me, I know. He’s the one they sent when they recruited me.” Simon frowned up at him and Alexey just waggled his eyebrows before he leaned down and helped Simon to a sitting position.

Simon brought a hand to his head and the room was still spinning, but he managed to ask, “Recruited?”

A laugh escaped Alexey’s mouth. “You’re gonna love this, bro,” he said. “Well, you’ll probably be mad first, but once you get over the initial anger, you’re gonna love it. I promise.”

The blonde man came up in front of them and crouched down. Simon lifted his head to look at his blurry face. The man was smiling at him. “You’ve performed excellent, Simon,” he said. “My name is Captain Rogers,” he held out his hand.

Simon glanced down at the hand and then turned his head towards the direction his brother was in. “Lex,” he croaked.

“Yeah?” Alexey asked, scooting closer, the arm he had around Simon’s shoulders about the only thing holding him up right now.

“Can you tell Captain America I’ll shake his hand as soon as I’m done passing out?”

Captain Rogers snorted. “Now I see the family resemblance,” he said.

Alexey just grinned. “I’ve tried that one, bro. He hates that nickname.”

Simon let his head fall to rest on Alexey’s shoulder and he closed his eyes for a moment, honestly considering he was about to pass out. “Well, it’s the best I’ve got,” he sighed.
Vic woke up on the couch alone, one arm hanging to the carpet below. Her fingers were tingling because she’d probably been lying like that for a while. There was light coming through the blinds and casting bars of gold upon the blue carpet. She ran one hand across her eyes to try and clear the grit from them before she sat upright. Her clothes were still strewn around the couch where they’d been thrown but Elias’s were gone. She tipped her head back against the couch to look over into his bedroom but that was empty too, the sheets pulled up and the bed already made. Fuck, it was like he lived in a god damned hotel room.

The wine glass and his files were gone and so was every other trace that someone actually lived here. She must have been tired because she hadn’t heard him leave and normally she would have noticed. She cracked her neck and then stood up, leaning over to pick her clothes off the floor. She got dressed slowly because he was already gone and there was no point in rushing. The rest of her things were lying on his countertop where she’d left them and there was a note waiting on top of them.

Come in today, it said, in Elias’s scrawling script. She snorted and crumpled the paper up before tossing it back onto his counter and then grabbed the rest of her shit. She flipped her phone open and she had one missed call from Romanova and that was it.

She was familiar with the walk of shame by now and it didn’t bother her leaving his apartment in the clothes she came in with. If she didn’t get a chance to go home any time soon then she had shit in her locker at the compound to change into. Considering how bright it was when she got outside she was probably already late to whatever Elias wanted her there for.

Vic couldn’t help but wonder if it was about Welsh. She wondered what further testing meant and if he was okay.

She smirked as she wondered if he would be pissed.

It was starting to get too cold for her bike but until she saw snow on the ground she wasn’t parking it. Even that wouldn’t stop her until it got bad and some days she wondered why she lived in a city that got so fucking cold all the time. Probably because this was where her contracts bound her and she liked the snow. Pops had dragged her to lots of different states when she was a kid, mostly trying to dodge cops and state troopers, but weird as it was the only place that felt like home was still in Jersey.

The guard at the gate started opening it as soon as he saw her motorcycle drive up and he smiled at her as he waved her through. She returned the gesture, pulling into the compound as they slid shut behind her. A little part of her always got nervous coming in here because it always made her wonder if she wasn’t just locking herself in another cage.

She lit herself a cigarette as she headed to the briefing room and she leaned against the door for a moment to listen. She could hear quiet words on the other side and she leaned her head against the wooden surface as she listened to the arrogant lilt of Elias’s voice.

She snorted and then pulled the door open with one hand, eyes lifting to study the room as she let herself in. Tall windows lined the opposite wall, bright light peeking between the pulled curtains to land on the red carpet. A large flat screen hung on the wall to her left and she knew it wasn’t just for watching the game even though that was currently on. There were a few couches and sofas pushed against the wall and the people sitting on them were familiar. Jezibel was on one of the sofas next to Tony with her legs crossed demurely and a sharp white dress on. The big guy looked over his shoulder to grin at her when she walked in the room.

Lyle was in an armchair by himself, snakeskin boots kicked out in front of him and his hands laced over his chest while he watched football players run around on screen. He glanced up at her but just kept smirking, his strange golden eyes swirling in his head. A large wooden desk was set up in front of the windows and Elias sat behind it, Avi standing over his shoulder with his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face. He was watching the man on the other side of the desk.

Welsh sat there with his back to her. One of his elbows was braced on the arm of the chair and it looked like he was reading the sheet of paper in his hands. It was probably a contract and she imagined Elias was explaining to him just how long the leash around his neck would be. Alexey was kicked back in the seat next to him, his boots flaking dirt off onto the surface.

Elias glanced up at her and a smile tugged at his lips. There was a small, bloody split on the lower one and that made her smile back.

“You’re late,” he said dryly. She made a face and flipped him off, drawing a small amused snort before he looked back over at Welsh. “As I was saying, you wouldn’t have to quit the AAFA. You would not be required to cut ties or change your life in any significant manner, though I assume it’s understood that telling anyone what you do for the Initiative would be considered an immediate breach of contract and dealt with as such. This is strictly an on-call position,” he said.

Welsh snorted and she watched him run a hand over his face. She kept her footsteps light as she walked over behind him and he must have been out of it because he didn’t even turn around. “You say jump, I say how high, is that it?” he asked. His voice sounded harsh and a little raspy and she winced at the sound of it because she could only imagine how rough his night had been.

They’d run her test while she was still in prison. That meant getting jumped in her bunk in the middle of the night by a bitch with a nightstick. She’d thought it was just a guard with a vendetta. She hadn’t expected a job offer out of it.

“Essentially,” Avi said from behind him. The man was military, through and through, his blonde hair cropped short and his stance always at attention. He smiled and Vic thought he was almost trying to be reassuring. “I’d be your commanding officer, and you would be functioning as a soldier under my command. I understand how shady this must look to you Mr. Welsh but I assure you, we do good work here. The Initiative is trying to build a better future for both humans and subhumans alike.”

“I’m still trying to figure out if I’m really awake or not,” Simon said.

“What’s wrong famewhore?” Vic asked. “You party a little too hard last night?” Simon jerked at the sound of her voice and she studied him as she walked around the other side of his chair to perch on the edge of the desk. He had a fresh lump on the side of his head and a still healing cut on his temple from the other night. Alexey snorted out a laugh at that, lacing his fingers behind his head and looking over at his brother. She smirked at Welsh but it faltered a little at the wide eyed look he was giving her. There was sudden anxiety in her chest that he would be mad at her, and she wasn’t sure where it came from. She didn’t want him to be mad at her.

“Nah,” Alexey said. “Big guy back there clocked him one on the side of the head. The cartoon birdies finally stopped circling but I think the stars are still there.” Vic snorted out a laugh and glanced past him towards Tony. The guy met her gaze with wide puppy eyes and she bit her lip to keep from smiling because it might just hurt his feelings. Alexey was still watching his brother, tapping his foot on the desk like he was nervous and she couldn’t blame him because Welsh wasn’t saying anything.

His eyes were crushed shut and he was pinching the bridge of his nose. “Vic? Are you serious?” he finally managed. His hand fell into his lap and she felt bad because he looked hurt and tired. “How long have you been in on this?”

“Ms. Wolfe has been with us since the beginning of her contract,” Elias supplied. She glanced back at him and he was lacing his fingers together on the top of the desk, his gaze focused on Simon. “Those were the terms of agreement. We release her from federal prison and she allowed us to put her through the Shifter process and enlist her services afterwards.”

“You’re an asshole,” Vic told him cheerfully. He just smiled back.

“I still can’t believe this,” Simon said. “Shit, a part of me keeps waiting for Delia to walk through the door next.”

Vic frowned and it was only some consolation that Alexey made the same face. “Hey,” he said, pointing a finger at his brother. “Don’t even say things like that. Someone might here you and decide to make my life worse by doing just that.”

“Just think of it like this,” Jezibel said. “At least you have friends here who know exactly what you’re going through. You should have been here for the beginning. None of us knew each other and no one knew what the hell they were doing. Except maybe you, Captain.” She pointed a finger at Avi when she said it. Simon tilted his head to look over his shoulder at her and she smiled back at him. It was a bright, genuine thing and no matter how much Vic had wanted to hate the girl she’d never been able to manage it.

“Now that ain’t true,” Lyle said with a strong Texan drawl. “I knew what I was doing. And I’d be happy to get to know you better darling, you just keep turning me down.” He rolled his head to the side to look at her and he had a wicked smirk on his face when he did. His blonde hair was short and ragged and there were deep lines in his face.

“That’s ‘cause she’s holding out for me,” Alexey said, tipping back in his chair. “She’s just still playing hard to get. Sorry man, hypnotic eyes or not, you can’t compete with the musician thing. It’s these long, dexterous fingers.”

Simon snorted and he pinched the bridge of his nose again. Vic kept watching him and trying to gauge his reactions and the words that came out of his mouth next weren’t the ones she expected. “You’re very confident that I’ll sign,” he said. He ran his hand over his face before letting it fall to his lap and he looked passed her to Elias. “You’ve let me see faces and told me names for half the people in this room. If you really thought I was going to walk away from this I don’t think you would have let me walk out of that room. You would have black bagged me and maybe thrown me back in the parking lot where you found me, if I’m lucky.”

Elias smiled and it was a cool and arrogant thing. “You are a very smart man, Mr. Welsh.” Then he leaned forward, sliding a pen across the table towards Simon. “I am also a very smart man. I consider myself to be an excellent judge of human nature. Yes, to answer your question, I am very confident that you’ll sign. I think you’ll sign because you seem to me the type of man who wants to believe in a cause greater than yourself. I think you’ll sign because we are that cause.”

“And what if you’re wrong about me?” Simon shifted uncomfortably in the chair and Vic had the sudden urge to run her fingers over the bruise on his face. It looked nasty and sore and she didn’t like it there. She was surprised how much she didn’t like it.

Elias smirked and sat back at the desk. “Then I believe you’ll sign because your brother already did.”
“This is our munitions room,” Avi said, punching a code into a key pad on the wall and a pair of sliding doors opened. Guns, ammunition, grenades, everything Simon would expect of a small army lined the walls and shelves. He let out a low breath and a part of him was still trying to get himself to wake up. He was having a hard time believing this was all really happening. It wasn’t so much the fact that there were groups like this out there, but the fact that some of the closest people to him were on it and he hadn’t even had an inkling that they were hiding something.

Avi headed to a pair of cabinets and withdrew several manuals from the shelves there. He stuffed them into a duffle bag he’d been carrying around that had Simon’s name already embroidered onto it and Simon couldn’t get over how confident that egotistical shit Elias had been that he’d sign onto this contract. But if he was being truthful with himself, all the man had to say was that Alexey was on the team and Simon would have signed it. He couldn’t believe his brother was out there doing covert ops without Simon knowing. What if he would have been killed and Simon never would have known the truth? It made his head spin just thinking about it.

“Read through these manuals when you get a chance,” Avi was saying. “We use our shifter abilities as a last resort, so these weapons are your first line of defense. We’ll put you through some extensive training on how to use these, don’t worry. But it helps if you read the manuals first.”

Alexey stood next to Simon and he grinned suddenly. “This one is my favorite,” he said, coming forward and pulling a semi-automatic from the shelves. “It’s got kick, but it packs a punch.”

Simon just nodded and the smile slipped from Alexey’s face for a moment. He turned and put the gun back on the wall while Avi pulled a hunting knife and a glock from the wall and held them up for Simon to see. “These are standard issue. Keep them with you.” Then he shoved them in the bag as well.

Beside him, Vic moved in next to him. The others had all gone to do their own thing within the compound and Simon was still wondering where they were. Were they still even in the city? He felt Vic’s hand on his arm and he blinked before turning his head to look at her. She had a smirk on her face, but there was something like worry in her eyes and he didn’t like that it was there. “I can’t tell if you’re concussed or mad, Welsh,” she said.

“I’m not mad,” Simon said, his voice strangely calm and at the words, Alexey and Avi both lifted an eyebrow. Simon sighed and shrugged a little. “I’m just…I don’t know. I don’t know what I am. Confused, I guess.” Then he trailed off and snorted. “And concussed.”

Avi smiled and came forward, holding the duffle bag out to him. “It takes a while to settle in,” he told him. Simon studied the man’s face for a moment before he nodded and reached to take the back, slinging it over his shoulder like it was old habit. “But unfortunately for you, we’re going to be throwing you right into the action. We have a mission tonight and I need you there. Nothing too dangerous, so long as you do everything I say.”

Simon nodded. “Okay,” he said and he didn’t miss that Vic and Alexey both glanced at each other worriedly. Simon knew why. He wasn’t acting like himself. He was a talker. He questioned things and joked and right now he thought he might be in shock or something.

“Good,” Avi smiled again and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. The contact seemed to relieve some of Simon’s tension and the man nodded at him. “Romanova and Wolfe will show you to the locker room. We’ll meet back in the briefing room at 19:00 hours.” Then he walked pass him and left the three of them standing in the middle of the munitions room.

Awkward silence filled the room for a moment before Alexey finally broke it. “So…” he started. “Are you about to wig out or can we go to the locker room?”

Simon frowned, chewing on his lip for a moment before he threw his duffle bag to the floor and pointed a finger at Alexey’s face. “What the fuck!” he yelled and Alexey looked a little surprised at his outburst, but then his lips quirked up in a smile as Simon continued his sudden tirade. He paced back and forth across the room like the irritated cat that he was and it was just a constant stream of words flowing from his mouth. “Who the fuck does stuff like this? Where the hell are we even? I can’t believe you guys didn’t tell me about this shit. And why the hell would they choose someone like me? I have a familiar face, people know me and recognize me. How the hell am I supposed to be covert when I can’t even go to the bathroom without someone wanting a damn autograph.”

Alexey let out a small laugh but Simon shot him a death glare and his brother shut up, holding a hand to his mouth and shaking his head in an apology. Vic stood next to his brother and sighed. “Welsh, calm down,” she said.

“No!” Simon yelled, pointing a finger at her face too. “No I won’t calm down. You know I got drugged and tied to a chair and shocked last night?” Vic had an amused smile on her face that she was trying too hard to keep off. “I’ve got the damn press breathing down my neck and Delia making my life hell and the AAFA signing me back on, which I know is not for the right reasons and it will probably come back to bite me in the ass, and now some covert special ops team, who has already signed on my little brother and best friend, wants me to sign up with them. I mean what the fuck? I’m a damn politician’s son, what the fuck am I supposed to do on a covert special ops team? Politic the world?” He threw his hands up in the air and then leaned against the wall, taking calming deep breaths and closing his eyes, trying to bring his blood pressure down.

Alexey cleared his throat. “Feel better?” he asked.

“Yes,” Simon snapped harshly and it made Alexey laugh.

Vic walked up next to him and he opened his eyes when he felt her hand on his arm. “Am I really your best friend?” she grinned at him and Simon rolled his eyes, which made her chuckle. “Gee, Welsh, I didn’t know you were so strapped for friends that you make me your best one.”

“Well I…” Simon started but trailed off because he didn’t know what he was going to say. He just sighed instead. “Does this place have a bar? I could really go for a beer.”
“What the hell Simon? No wonder you’re always going out to drink if this is all you’ve got in your liquor cabinet,” Alexey said. He held two bottles up, one of them blackberry brandy and the other a bottle of wine. Vic snorted and smirked at Welsh who at least had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed. He sat on the couch next to her, one elbow braced against the back of the cushions while she pressed a back of frozen peas to the side of his head. She was smiling and it had nothing to do with the fact that Welsh wasn’t mad at her and had called her his best friend. Those things were just funny.

They’d shown him the locker room and which one was his and then driven him back to his apartment so he could relax for a little while before the mission. He was quieter than Vic was used to from him but in his defense he was confused and concussed. His new bag of toys was sitting on the carpet next to them and he hadn’t even touched the manuals or his new gun yet.

“If I was fully stocked I could never get you to leave,” Welsh said, smirking over the couch at his brother.

Alexey scoffed and pressed a hand to his chest. “That hurts. Admit it, you’d be lost without your younger, smarter, more attractive brother around. Life would be a thousand times more boring and you know it.” He grinned and pulled a shot glass out of the top cupboard, pouring brandy into it before he put it to his lips and tossed it back. He shook his head afterwards and then poured a second shot, walking over to hand it to Simon. “Here’s your painkiller bro.”

“I hear Advil works for that too,” Welsh said. He eyed the shot glass in his hand before looking up at his brother. Alexey sighed and then put his hand underneath Simon’s, pushing the glass of liquor up towards his mouth.

“Trust me, it doesn’t work when it’s Bruno’s fist making your skull a punching bag. They don’t call the big guy ‘the Bull’ for nothing, let me tell you.” Simon snorted at that and then did as his brother wanted and tossed the shot back. He made a face afterwards and then handed the glass back. Alexey grinned and walked back to the counter to pour another shot.

“Watch yourself Romanova,” she said, shooting him an amused look over her shoulder. Her fingers were getting numb from holding the frozen vegetables against Simon’s head but she kept them there anyway. He’d winced when she’d first pressed them against his skull and she could imagine what kind of headache that had to be. “You show up trashed and you might piss off Captain America. Makes it sort of hard to show off for Jez if you’re sitting in the van all night.”

“True,” he told her, pointing a finger at her across the counter. “But there are also cameras in there, ones perfectly suited to watching her ass move in that tight ninja uniform.” He whistled lowly, his teeth showing in a lecherous grin.

Vic lifted an eyebrow at him. “Only if someone’s already watching it. Someone like Liddle.”

Alexey frowned, stilling abruptly. He licked his lips and then sighed. “Fuck,” he spat, before going to put the brandy away.

“This is still so weird,” Welsh said. He ran a hand over his mouth, his gaze moving from Alexey to Vic and back again. Then he snorted out a laugh, running a hand over his face before he gestured at his brother. “I feel like I’m going to wake up any second and this will all just be a fucked up dream I can tell you next time we go drinking.”

Alexey laughed at that, tossing the glass into the sink. Vic reached over as soon as the words were out of his mouth, pinching the skin of his arm between her fingers. He flinched and pulled his arm back to rub at the spot as he looked up at her. He was trying to frown at her but it didn’t do anything to wipe the smile off her face though she couldn’t pin down quite why it was there. “See?” she told him. “Not a dream. You’re a secret agent Welsh, better get used to it.”

He snorted, gesturing a hand at her face. “I can’t believe this. Both of you, living double lives right under my nose. So what, by day you’re Vic Wolfe, AAFA fighter and by night you’re… what? What’s your alter ego?”

She laughed, grinning playfully at him. “How do you know Vic Wolfe’s not my alter ego?”

“Oh yeah?” he said. She nodded and bit her lip to keep her grin from widening because she could see the edges of a smirk pulling his lips upwards. His hand came up to adjust the bag of peas against the side of his head and she felt his fingers brush hers as he did. The motion startled her because she felt her breath hitch in her chest at the touch and the smiled faltered on her face. She found herself suddenly thinking about yesterday and straddling him on the mats. She pulled her hand back from the side of his head and tried to ignore the thoughts because there was no reason for them to be there. “Well then who’s the real girl? What’s she like?”

Vic snorted, blowing air into her fist to try and get warmth back into her fingers. He was still smiling at her and he made it hard not to return the look because he always had such an infectious smile. “I’d tell you,” she said. “But then I’d have to kill you.”

Welsh laughed at that and behind them Alexey chuckled from the counter. “She probably would too,” he said. “Jus pretend she’s a stripper by night, because well, that’s just what I like picturing.” He was digging through Welsh’s cabinets, and he let out a victorious whoop when he found a bag of pretzels. He ripped the plastic open, spraying salt across the counter before digging a hand inside.

Simon rolled his eyes as his brother jammed a handful of pretzels into his mouth on his way over to the couch. He sat down on the other side of Vic, leaning over her shoulder to get a look at his brother. He was making a face at the gash on his head when they heard keys jingle on the other side of the apartment door. Simon immediately tensed, the smile falling off his face as he focused on the door. She felt a surge of anger and she made herself look away from him because watching his expressions just made it worse.

Delia stood in the doorway, keys still in her hand and a gym bag slung over her shoulder. She must have been at cheerleading practice or some shit, getting taught how to pick a sign up and put the sign down. She still wore sweatpants and a tank top.

A myriad of emotions played across her face as she stood there. The first one was surprise, followed shortly by irritation and as her gaze swept over Vic and Alexey it darkened into anger. Out of the corner of her eye, Vic saw Simon plaster a smile on his face and she hated it because she could always tell when he was faking it. “Hey babe,” he said, pushing himself off the couch.

There was a loud thump as she dropped her gym bag on the floor and if anything the look of anger just intensified. She kicked the door shut with her foot but she didn’t move any farther into the apartment. “What the fuck Simon?” she demanded. She spat the words out onto the floor before gesturing her arms angrily at him. Her voice rose steadily in pitch as she spoke. “You just disappear for a day and a half without so much as a fucking phone call and then you just show up with your freeloading brother and your whore in tow? Just tell me if you’re fucking her so that I know where we stand. Shit, were you out with her this whole time?”

“Hey,” Vic said. A mean smirk rolled across her face as she looked at Delia and she drew the angry gaze to her and away from Simon. “I’m not his whore. I’m his best friend.” She heard Alexey snort a laugh next to her and Simon just let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry,” the woman drawled sarcastically. Something told Vic she wasn’t really sorry and she kept the nasty smile on her face. Her arms crossed over her chest, her hips cocking to the side and hatred etched on every inch of her face. “So you’re a fucking slut instead of a whore. What’s wrong, not good enough to charge for your services?”

“Here I thought I was being nice and trying not to cut into your business,” Vic told her dryly.

Next to her Alexey started laughing but it didn’t even draw a smile from Simon. The couch shifted as he stood up off it and she caught a glimpse of his face as he rounded it. He looked tired and irritated but he slapped the smile back on his face as he reached his woman.

“Delia, please don’t yell,” he told her quietly. His hands reached for hers, fingers just brushing against her arms before she yanked them back. He sighed and ran a hand over his face and Vic wondered if the woman even noticed there was a fresh knot on his head and he looked like he hadn’t slept in two days. “Let’s just go into the bedroom and talk about this, alright?” he said.

“If you’re going to get hot angry make up sex at least try and keep it down,” Alexey said, smirking as he leaned against the back of the couch. He seemed oblivious to the scathing glance Delia shot him, but he probably just didn’t care. “I’d say let us watch but I feel like that might cross a line considering you’re my brother and all. But you know, if you want me to join I’d be happy to, as long as there’s no crossing swords or anything. Or hey Bitchzilla, would you be open to a foursome? Then there’s enough to go around.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and he was still smirking even when Vic punched him hard in the shoulder.

“I can’t fucking deal with this right now,” Delia said. She held her hands up and turned away from Simon, one hand already yanking the door open and stalking into the hallway. Welsh followed behind her, face contorted in pain as he caught her elbow.

“Deli please,” he said. “Just come in and let me explain.”

Vic could barely see them through the doorway but she heard the sound of Delia’s hand slapping against his chest. “Fuck you Simon,” she yelled. Her voice was loud and angry and Vic wondered if the neighbors were used to this yet. “Don’t touch me right now. You want to explain? Fine, explain. I only want to know one thing right now. Where the fuck were you last night?”

Simon grew quiet at that. The silence stretched on for a long moment before she heard Alexey curse next to her and then he was hopping over the couch. “Relax drama queen,” he drawled. “Simon was just spending some time helping his younger, more amazing brother out. He gave me a lift to an audition down in Philly last night. There were no hookers or eight balls involved, though there was a sleazy motel room and absolutely no spooning because we swore we were never going to talk about that.”

Vic heard Delia growl and then she was slapping Simon in the chest again with the back of her hand. “What did I tell you?” she snapped. “I warned you he was just here to mooch off you.”
“You need to dump that chick,” Alexey told him as they made their way back into the compound. “That is a volatile relationship you have there. She’s abusive. You know what you are? The victim of domestic abuse.”

Simon snorted. They’d spent the rest of the night before they had to report in eating frozen pizza and watching some craptastic action movie on tv. Delia had been bitchy the entire time, not letting Simon put his arm around her or even let him touch her while they sat next to each other on the couch. Any time Vic said anything, she’d sigh or scoff or make rude remarks and by the end of it, Simon almost found a great satisfaction in telling Delia they had to go. When she’d asked where, he hadn’t even dignified her with a response and she’d been pissed at that. He wondered if he was going to come home and find all her stuff gone. Or maybe all his stuff. Maybe she’d change the locks on him while he was out.

“Maybe I like it rough,” Simon said and that gained a laugh out of both of them. They didn’t head to the locker room. They still had a couple hours before it was time for their briefing and Vic had come up with the great idea to take Simon to the firing range. He’d never fired a gun before and he wasn’t sure he was going to be very good at it. He had terrible aim.

Alexey grinned and slapped Simon on the shoulder. “Well what’s your safe word? Maybe you should say it once in a while and turn off her bitch mode, huh?”

Vic chuckled. “She doesn’t have a switch for that?”

They made it to the firing range and Vic and Alexey were like kids in a candy store getting Simon all geared up with his earmuffs and safety glasses. Alexey pulled the gun out of his duffle for him and came over. “Okay, bro,” he said, standing in front of him and Simon smirked because his little brother looked serious and it wasn’t like him at all. “This is your clip and this is your gun. The clip goes in the gun, like this.” He shoved the bullets up into the gun and Simon rolled his eyes. But Alexey pulled them out and then handed them both to him. “Now you try.”

Simon took the both of them and mimicked the motion, not quite as easily as Alexey had done it, but it ended with him holding a loaded gun. Alexey nodded and showed him the safety and the trigger and showed him how to hold it. “Now, you gotta hold it kinda low or you’re gonna cut the shit out of your hand. So hold it like this.” He showed him and then handed the gun to Simon.

“I’ve gotta say, Welsh,” Vic said as Simon held the gun out in front of him and Alexey was positioning his arms and stance. “You look a little awkward.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Simon told her cheerfully.

Alexey finished positioning him and then took a few steps back. “Okay, pull the trigger.”

Simon frowned, looking down at himself and he had to agree with Vic, he looked awkward. This didn’t feel natural or good. He wondered what he was getting himself into by signing up for this. He’d probably have to kill people and he honestly didn’t know if that’s something he’d be able to do. He guessed he’d find out when the time came. For right now, he was aiming the gun down the firing range at a black and white target. He held his breath and then pulled the trigger.

The gun kicked back hard and Simon winced as it jarred his shoulder. He let his hand fall to the side and rubbed his shoulder. He tried to squint at the target down the firing range but he couldn’t tell if he’d hit the thing or not. He turned and looked at Alexey, who was grinning and came forward to put the gun back in his hands. “Try again there, hot shot,” he said.

“Shouldn’t I have a real instructor for this kind of stuff?” Simon snapped and he didn’t admit that he was just stalling because his shoulder was throbbing and his arm hurt from the kickback. He sighed when Alexey just slapped his back and he aimed down the gun again. He frowned a little and then focused on the target, pulling back on the trigger. It kicked back against his arm, but he held it up still.

Sighing, Simon pulled back on the trigger until the clip was empty and his arm was throbbing, but he lowered it and let Alexey take the gun from his hands, checking the barrel before he set it down. Vic came forward and pressed the button that brought the target closer. Simon turned to look at her and she still had that satisfied smirk on her face.

“Don’t laugh if there are no holes on that target,” he said.

Vic shrugged. “No promises. I’ll probably laugh really hard,” she told him and it made him chuckle.

They watched as the target came forward and Alexey reached up and unclipped it, laying it down in front of them and Simon stepped forward to look at it, snorting when he saw the holes in the paper. They were scattered, but he’d managed to hit the thing and he supposed that was something.

“I don’t know,” Alexey said, rubbing at his chin. “There might be hope, but you might need more practice. Maybe Vic could work with you on it. Maybe some alone time. Maybe you could ditch Delia and…”

“Lex,” Simon warned. Then he smirked and glanced at Vic, who had her eyes narrowed. “I’m trying to set you two up anyway,” he told them and laughed when Vic punched him in the shoulder.

Alexey just waggled his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t mind that. I’m sure we could have some good times, Bitchzilla.”

Whatever retort Vic had was cut off when Avi’s voice rang out from the door. “Times up,” he called and they all turned to look at him. “Report to the briefing room. Welsh, I hope you’re ready for your first mission.” Then he turned and disappeared into the door.

Simon scrubbed at the back of his neck and looked towards Vic. “What sort of things do you guys do, anyway?” he asked.

Vic just grinned. “You’ll see.”
“His name is Kain Togakure,” Avi said. He was leaning almost casually against the desk, his arms crossed over his chest and a remote in his hands. Elias sat behind him, just watching and listening with a smug smirk curling his lips. He barely even glanced over at the man on the television screen. It looked like a driver’s license photo, his dark hair slicked back out of a calm and passive face. He didn’t look like he like he was out of his thirties yet. “He’s a computer programmer from China who is currently in the process of applying for citizenship with the United States.” Avi tilted his head to look at them. “He is also a ranking member of the Red Army.”

Simon frowned from his spot on the couch next to Vic. “I’ve heard of them,” he said, drawing Avi’s gaze to his. “Aren’t they a terrorist organization?” He was sitting stiffly in between her and Alexey and she could tell he was nervous because he always got still and quiet when he was anxious about something. Where other people got panicked and fidgety, Welsh just got cool. Not like Vic, who just got mean and violent when she was in an uncomfortable situation.

Avi smirked. “Well, not according to them anyway,” he said, but then nodded his head. “But yes, that’s a good way to describe them. The group sprung up in Russia and has since spread to parts of China and both Koreas. They purport that Shifters are the new master race, and humans should be bowing down to them. They’re gaining supporters at a startling rate.”

“I am not surprised that you’ve heard of them,” Elias drawled, “considering they are doing more damage to your father’s cause than the anti-Shifter groups. Indeed, they are the worst case scenario that your father’s detractors are concerned with.”

Lyle snorted from the arm chair to their right. “Sometimes I wonder if they don’t have the right idea.”

“No you don’t,” Vic said. She tipped her head back against the couch so that she could look at him. He was smirking as he directed those strange golden eyes her way, lifting an eyebrow curiously. “Even if you did then I doubt even you would be stupid enough to say it out loud.” Lyle chuckled and just shrugged his shoulders, looking back at the screen ahead of them.

“As I was saying, Mr. Togakure is an important member of the Red Army,” Avi said. A smile creased his face and he clicked a button on the remote and changed the screen to a swanky looking condo. “Which is why we’ll be breaking into his house tonight.”

Simon let out a small noise but he kept his mouth shut and Vic glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was still sitting stiffly next to her, his arms slung across the back of the couch as he watched the screen. She wondered what the worst thing he’d ever done in his life was and if he was really ready for this. Maybe she could give him private shooting lessons, just as friends of course. “What will we be looking for?” Jezibel asked. She reached up to tuck a lock of pale blonde hair behind her ear.

Avi smirked. “Information. Once we have access to his computer then Mr. Jimmy is going to talk us through procedures to allow him to remote into his system. And once we Jimmy’s inside then he can view and download any information he’s got stored in there. If there’s anything on there about the Red Army, its activities, or its members, then he’ll find it.”

“Be careful,” Alexey said, waggling his eyebrows. “If it’s porn the kid might get distracted.”

“What about Tokagure?” Simon asked.

The smile on Avi’s face didn’t falter. He lifted an eyebrow and glanced down at his watch. “He’s got dinner plans at eight. If all goes as planned he’ll never know we were there or that we took anything. We can continue to keep our eyes and ears on him without raising suspicions.” Simon nodded his head and Avi kept watching him for a moment before his smile softened. He looked away but she imagined the words were for Welsh. “No one’s supposed to die tonight. The plan is an easy in and out.”

“That’s what he said,” Alexey said. He looked over at Jezibel, pointing at her with a finger and winking at her. “In case you missed it, I’m he, and you’re the plan.” Vic snorted out a laugh and rolled her eyes at him and even Simon managed a small chuckle at that.

“Not on your life Romanova,” she said back, smiling sweetly at him.

Avi clicked the television off, stepping into the center of the room. He clasped his hands behind his back and she thought it was just second nature at this point for him. He looked like a soldier at all times and she wondered how he’d gotten stuck with this gig. The way he talked sometimes she thought maybe he’d asked for it. “Does anyone have any questions?” he asked.

“No sir,” Tony said. The guy was sitting on the sofa behind them and he was always so sincere about everything that it made her smile. For someone so huge he was like a puppy dog half the time, one who’d decided Alexey was the one to trail behind.

Avi smiled and nodded his head at them. “Alright,” he said. “Go get changed and meet back here in fifteen.” He jerked his head at the door behind them, watching as they filed out of the room. Alexey held the door for Jezibel, grinning and waggling his eyebrows as she walked out and Vic didn’t miss the way his head tipped to the side so that he could watch her walk away. Tony gripped him by the back of the neck as he walked by, pulling his small fry out of the room with him and behind them Liddle laughed before he trailed after. Simon followed just after, holding the door for Vic and she rolled her eyes at him as she passed under the archway.

“How you doing with this famewhore?” she asked. “I know it’s not what you’re used to, what with the lack of paparazzi and fanatic fan girls trying to paw you up, but at least it’s not sitting on the bench or fetching Gatorade, yeah?” There was a grin on her face as she turned to saunter backwards and he smirked at her, shaking his head.

“Hey, they just cleared me to start fighting again, remember?” he said, pointing a finger at her. The grin lingered on his face but she didn’t miss that he ignored the original question. “At least now I can go back to earning the love of fanatic fan girls.”

“You mean with something besides your hot bod?” she drawled sarcastically.

Welsh grinned and lifted an eyebrow at her. “Vic, did you just call me hot?” he asked.

She made a face before punching him in the shoulder. He laughed and winced at the same time, raising his hand to his arm that was probably still sore from the shooting range. “Of course not,” she said, turning her back so he couldn’t see her face. “But teenage girls will take anything that takes their shirt off for more than five minutes at a time.” He laughed at that and slung an arm around her shoulder as she led him to the locker room. “Besides,” she said, shoving him lightly in the chest. “You didn’t answer me.”

The smile on his face faltered a little and he shrugged, running a hand over his mouth. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. She tilted her head to look at his face and his eyes were focused on the ground. “I guess I’ll find out in an hour, won’t I? Captain America said this was supposed to be easy, so there’s nothing to worry about right? Probably won’t even have to draw a gun.”

Vic smiled and patted him on the cheek, back pressing up against the locker room door. “You’ll be fine, Welsh,” she told him. “If your stupid shit brother hasn’t gotten himself killed or hospitalized yet then you should have no problems.”

“That’s not funny,” he told her. There was still a teasing tone to his voice but she didn’t miss how his face darkened at the thought of it. She just shrugged and shoved the door open with her back, holding it to let him inside. They’d put his new gear in his locker when they went through here before and she squeezed his shoulder as he moved past her towards his. Alexey was already half stripped, struggling to get into his black pants at the locker next to Tony’s.

“Fuck yes I do,” Alexey said, answering whatever question Tony had just asked him. If the grin spreading across both of their faces was any indication he was probably already planning a victory celebration. It was bright and cheerful as he lifted his head to look at his brother. “Hey Big Cat,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. Simon snorted at the nickname as he pulled the neatly folded stack of clothes out of his locker and set them on the bench behind him. “Tony over here wants to make up for giving you a concussion all day, so of course I told him you accept payment in alcohol. How about it? Crunchy’s tonight?”

“We’ll see,” Welsh told him. He gestured at his head with one hand, a wry smirk on his face. “I’m still kind of dealing with that whole concussion thing. I’d like to avoid adding drunken black out to that list.”

Tony’s face fell and it just made the puppy dog look worse. Alexey slung an arm around his shoulder as he turned towards his brother, gesturing a hand at the man next to him. “Now look what you did,” he said. “The big guy’s just trying to make it up to you. I think you have a civic duty to accept his gift of booze and try and make this right.”

Vic snorted and shook her head at Romanova, pulling off her shirt and tossing it in the bottom of the locker before she started undoing the button of her pants. She heard Simon snort behind her and a heavy sigh leave his lips. “We’ll see,” he said again, ignoring Alexey’s desperate groan. She glanced over her shoulder at them for a moment, just in time to see Welsh peeling the shirt off his head and draping it over the bench next to him. And if her gaze lingered just a little too long then it didn’t mean anything.

He glanced back at her and their eyes met for a moment before she smirked at him. “What did I tell you?” she said. “Anything that takes their shirt off for more than five minutes at a time.”

He snorted and lifted an eyebrow at her. “It hasn’t been five minutes yet,” he said.

She tipped her head back and laughed. “And you see any fan girls in here?”
Togakure’s house was in the middle of the suburbs. A small, quaint two story place with magnolia’s in the front yard and a garden gnome and Simon thought looked creepy. The house was white with blue shutters and it was nicer than some, but not as extravagant as others around it. It was going to be the first house Simon broke into. He wondered if this was against the law if it was sanctioned by the government. He’d read in the contract the government backed the Initiative, but most of their work was classified top secret. Alexey was right when he’d said the job would make him feel like a super spy. Only right now he didn’t feel like a super much of anything.

He was scared.

It took a lot for him to admit that because it wasn’t something he admitted freely or openly to anyone, including himself. But he was. He was scared because when he’d woken up yesterday and gone to the gym, the greatest feat he’d even considered accomplishing was getting signed back on with the AAFA. Now not only had he done that, but he’d been recruited into a secret black ops group that his little brother and friend had already belonged to and they were about to break into some guy’s house to retrieve secret information on a terrorist group. He felt just a little delirious about the whole thing.

“Liddle, Givessi,” Avi said, snapping Simon out of his shocked stupor, which he was totally going to blame on the concussion. He glanced over at Avi as they sat in the back of the van. He was addressing Lyle and Jezibel. Theyall dressed in black, with handguns strapped to their thighs. “You cover the north and south streets. Let us know if you see anyone come to the house.”

“Yes, Captain,” Jezibel answered with a smile. Lyle gave a half hearted salute and Simon wondered if the man was always that lazy or if he just didn’t care about his job. He looked like a drug addict, if he was being perfectly honest with himself. He wondered if the others just chose not to comment on it or if they’d already had that battle within themselves and had come to a certain truce that he wasn’t privy to.

Avi nodded and pointed at Alexey and Tony. “Romanova, Bruno, I need you to cover the yard. Keep eyes on the front door and back door. Remember, this is a non-lethal mission. Killing Togakure or even letting him know we were here could tip them off that we’re investigating. Understood?”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Alexey grinned, while Tony snapped a brisk, “Yes, sir,” like he was trying to impress him. Simon smiled slightly because he never picture his brother hanging out with a guy like Tony. Or any of these people for that matter. Well, Vic, of course, but still.

“Wolfe, Welsh,” Avi said and turned to look at them. “You’re with me. We’ll be inside the house. You know how to use a computer, Welsh?”

Simon opened his mouth to answer, but Alexey cut him off with a laugh. “Simon? Use a computer? Cap, you’re talking to a man who didn’t switch over to DVD’s until 2005. A man who when you say ‘blue tooth’ he says ‘is that a pirate?’ Don’t let him near that computer. Let Vic do it.”

The others snickered and Avi had an amused smirk on his face. Vic kicked her foot out at Alexey, clipping him in the knee. He let out a cry and rubbed at it, turning his nose up at her. “I don’t know, he plays games pretty well.”

“Only because he has an amazing little brother who taught him how,” Alexey retorted.

Simon just smiled and looked at Avi. “You better let Vic do it,” he told the man, who nodded. “My self-confidence just got shattered.”

“Just now?” Alexey asked, looking shocked. “Man, I thought that would have been gone a long time ago.”

Avi just shook his head and stood up. Simon chuckled and wondered if the man ever got sick and tired of Alexey’s mouth, because his brother sure knew how to run it. “Alright team, get in positions. We’ll be going through the backdoor.”

“If you say that’s what he said, I’m going to kick you in the nuts,” Vic said and Simon laughed, knowing exactly who that comment was aimed for. He wasn’t surprised when Alexey started laughing ridiculously, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything as Avi threw the door open and then they were pouring out of the van.

Simon stuck close to Vic and Avi, not straying too far. They made their way hurriedly across the street and scaled the wooden privacy fence before falling silently into the yard. Simon pulled himself up and over the fence, landing a little bit heavier than they had, but luckily it was grass and it didn’t make much noise. He’d have to work on that. They crouched down until they saw Alexey and Tony get into positions where they were hidden but could still see the doors.

Avi motioned them forward and they moved around the house towards the sliding glass door in the back that led out to a small brick porch with decorative furniture on it. The cushions had already been taken inside in anticipation of the cold weather coming. Simon noticed these things and he berated himself for it because he needed to be focused on what was going on around him instead of how nice the guy’s fucking house was.

Sliding the door open, Avi motioned for Vic to go in first. She did, one hand out in front of her and the other held tightly around her gun, but she hadn’t drawn it. Simon followed her while Avi brought up the rear, closing the door behind him again.

“Sound the all clear,” Avi said quietly into the ear piece they all wore.

A chorus of “clear’s” came through and Simon smirked when Alexey’s was the only different one with, “crystal.” Avi quirked his mouth in a smirk and the man seemed like an okay guy. Patient, smart, and a good leader. He hoped it stayed that way and he never let the man down.

“Okay, Togakure’s study is top floor, last door on the right, let’s go,” Avi said. They made their way quickly, but silently up the stairs, which creaked beneath their footsteps, and down the hall to the last door. It was slightly ajar and Vic stopped them by holding up her hand. Avi reached out and gently pushed Simon against the wall, while Vic tipped her head to glance into the office. She turned back and nodded when it was clear and then pushed the door open all the way, going inside.

Vic went for the computer and Avi tossed her a small device she plugged in on the side. “Jimmy, you read?” Avi asked.

Another voice came over the earpiece and Simon hadn’t met this guy. “I read you Lion-o,” he said and it made Simon snort, but he put a hand in front of his face because he didn’t want to make any noise. Vic glanced up at him and she looked like she was highly amused he was here. He wondered if there was a way he could get back at her for this. “I just need you to press the red button on the remote transmitter,” Jimmy said. Vic tipped her head to the side to look at the device she’d plugged in and hit a red button on the side of it. “Perfect,” Jimmy said.

“Cap?” came Jezibel’s voice over the ear piece.

“Go ahead,” Avi said while Vic slid into the computer chair and watched as the mouse moved on its own. The screen started running in code and whatever Jimmy was doing, Alexey was right, it was way above Simon’s level of expertise. But to be fair, Vic looked just as mystified by it.

“There’s a car pulling up in front of the house,” Jezibel said and that made both of them glance towards Avi, who frowned. “Two occupants, they’re getting out.”

Avi reached up to touch his earpiece. “Are they coming to the house?”

“They’re headed your way,” Jezibel said. “Looks like dinner finished early.”
“Jimmy, how much longer?” Avi said. To his credit his voice stayed steady and calm, even as they heard the downstairs door open and shut. She could hear a woman giggling and the low tenor of a man’s voice, even if she couldn’t make out the words.

Vic glanced at Simon and he was stiff as a board, his eyes on Avi while he waited for his orders.

“Just another minute, oh Captain my Captain,” Jimmy said over the headpiece. “Hello, is this Pirates XXX I see?” Avi snorted and shook his head before he nudged the door so that it was just barely open. He walked over to Welsh, putting a hand against his chest as he pushed his back to the wall. He held a finger up to his mouth and Welsh nodded his head to show he understood. The Captain smirked before he looked over his shoulder and jerked his head at Vic.

She pushed herself out of the chair, reaching forward to click off the monitor before she moved to the side, out of sight of the door. Avi placed himself on the other side of it, his hand resting on his gun and his head tilted to the side while they listened to Tokagure’s movements. Footsteps creaked loudly on the stairs, but then there was no reason for him to be sneaking in his own house.

Vic snorted and bit back a laugh at the noises they were making. She tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling as they waited but she could still hear the woman still giggling; followed by a load, unrestrained moan. Must have been a good dinner.

They heard a door down the hallway open and Avi slid closer to the entrance. He tipped his head to the side as he listened but he didn’t stick his head out yet. It didn’t sound like Kain had any interest in coming to his study at the moment, so there was something working in their favor anyway. Maybe if they were lucky they could still sneak out of here without Kain being any wiser. Avi was tense as he waited and he glanced over at Vic before he nodded his head at the windows. “See if we can get out from here,” he said lowly, his voice barely audible. She nodded her head and moved silently to the glass. It was a straight drop down.

She shook her head at Avi and he just nodded, his head turning to look out into the hallway again. They waited silently in the shadows, the computer humming from the desk and laughter coming from the room next to them. Vic’s heart was thudding steadily in her chest and she should have kept watching Avi for a signal but for a moment her eyes settled on Welsh. He was probably nervous, but it didn’t show on his face. He stayed calm, his back pressed against the wall and his eyes on Avi.

“Got it Cap,” Jimmy said abruptly. “You’re good to go.”

Avi glanced at Vic and nodded his head towards the computer. She moved quickly and silently, tugging the device out of the front of the computer and pocketing it. She moved over towards the door afterwards, standing next to Simon and keeping one hand on her gun.

The Captain leaned his head out the door cautiously, looking both ways down the hallway. He held a hand out for them to wait as he slid out of the room and Vic licked her lips, her heart rate starting to pick up. She switched sides so that she assumed Avi’s position in the doorway, watching him move out into the house. For a moment her eyes went to Welsh and he was licking his lips, his brow furrowed nervously. He met her gaze for a moment and she gave him a toothy grin. He rolled his eyes and flipped her off before he looked away from her. It just made her grin wider and she thought distantly she was happy he was here.

Avi slid down the hallway, his back pressed against the wall and his hand resting on his gun. His footsteps were quiet and light as he moved and the man really was a damn ninja sometimes. He paused next to the open bedroom door and Vic could still hear the two of them laughing and moving around in there. If they were lucky they’d stay that distracted.

She watched Avi from the doorway, following his movements carefully. He paused outside the bedroom door and slid into a crouch to peer around the corner. He held a hand back towards them and then he crooked it in a beckoning motion.

Vic pushed the door open with her toe before nodding her head at Welsh to go first. He did as she said without question and later she would tease him about that but right now she kept her mouth shut. He moved cautiously down the hall, sticking close to the wall to try and be as quiet and sneaky as possible. She thought he was doing well for his first time but she would tell him that later too. Vic trailed after him, keeping one hand on her gun as she watched his back. He paused just behind Avi and the man was still looking in the room. Inside she could hear Kain and his woman moving around. Her voice was loud and pleading and Vic thought she saw the tips of Simon’s ears turn red. “Come on Kain,” she said. “Just take them off.”

Avi stayed low and moved quickly to the other side of the door. He kept his eyes on the inside the whole time, holding his hand out to stop them before he gestured Welsh over to him. The man swallowed hard and did as he ordered, ducking to the other side of Avi. His feet were quiet on the carpet and mostly she was just worried about those creaky stairs and trying to go down them. She watched Avi and waited for him to motion her over but it never came.

“I’ll be right back,” Kain said. They heard the bed creak and she saw something like a curse on Avi’s lips. He pressed himself hard against the wall and Vic’s hand tightened on her gun, the other curling into a fist.

Avi didn’t wait for Tokagure to see them. As soon as he was in the doorway his hand shot out, grabbing him by the back of the neck and shoving him forward towards the wall. Vic expected his head to crack off the plaster and that to be the end of it. Maybe they would trash the place and make it look like a robbery or just leave him there with a cracked skull and hopefully no ideas who had been in his house. It didn’t happen that way.

The man responded faster than they’d been ready for. His foot came out and caught himself against the wall, shoving back and throwing Avi off balance. The Captain’s back hit the doorframe and by then the man was already twisting out of his grasp, the side of his hand angled towards his neck in a sharp blow. Avi managed to get an arm up to block it but he didn’t stop the knee that struck him hard in the gut. He exhaled harshly as all the air was expelled from his lungs, bending over slightly.

Vic pulled her hand from her gun and went for the guy with a sharp jab. It caught him in the jaw but then he was moving, grabbing her arm and using her own momentum to pull her past him. His knee caught her hard in the chest and then he was shoving her down, bolting behind them into the room where his woman was already crying out in surprise and fear.

“Kain!” she yelled, her eyes wide and scared. “Who are they? What’s happening?” She had a sheet pulled up against her chest and she was backing towards the headboard of the bed.

The man ignored her. He didn’t say a word as he jumped up next to her and reached for the display set on the wall over his bed. He had a katana and a shorter blade hanging there in decorative sheaths and Vic thought distantly they were pretty bad ass looking. Though she wasn’t sure she’d want to keep them over her bed. What happened if he got slamming around hard enough and he knocked them right off the wall?

Avi had already gotten himself oriented and she thought he was going to go after the guy but then his hand was grasping her under the arm and he was propelling her towards the stairs. “You two, go,” he ordered sharply. “Get to the van, I’ll bring up the rear.”

Vic did as she said, gripping Welsh around the upper arm and making sure he went ahead of her. He let her, glancing back over his shoulder at Avi who was following close behind them, his eyes on the open door.

The man came bolting out of his bedroom, hitting the wall with one foot before launching himself off it towards Avi. He had the blade in his hand and it slashed down in a bight arc of steel towards the Captain. He dodged to the side, his shoulder hitting the wall as he tried to avoid the weapon and his fist came out in a solid blow towards Kain’s head. Vic heard it make contact with his temple with a loud crack and the man stumbled as his head snapped back.

He recovered faster than she thought a computer programmer should, rolling with the blow to get himself back on his feet. His lip was curled in a snarl and his eyes were narrowed as his blade slashed out towards Avi again.

The man ducked it and then he was bolting towards the stairs. He grabbed an end table and held it up to block the next blow Kain sent hurtling towards him. Vic heard the whistling of steel through the air and it sliced deeply into the wooden furniture. Avi twisted it to the side, trying to rip the blade out of the man’s hands. The man kicked out hard in response, knocking Avi backwards past the staircase.

“Cap, you need any help in there?” Alexey said over the wire.

Avi snarled as he landed on his ass, Kain already moving past him. “No,” he spat quickly into his wire, struggling to get back to his feet. “Stay where you are, do not approach.”

Vic had one hand on Welsh’s shoulder and she was already pushing him down them but she’d paused to see if their Captain was going to make it. She found herself getting struck in the back with a foot and she couldn’t stop the cry that left her lips as she struck the wall and slipped on the stairs. Welsh pitched forward but managed to catch himself on the railing before he fell.

Kain kept going. She felt his hand grasp the back of her neck and then her head was meeting the wall with a solid crack. For a moment there was darkness lancing through her vision and she slumped back onto the stairs, blood trickling from her forehead. Her fingers scraped over the carpet and she focused on that because the world was blurry and spinning around her. She tried to push herself upright because she knew another blow could be coming but Kain was already moving past her, launching a spinning kick at Welsh.

Simon reacted quickly and if there wasn’t pain lancing through her head she would have been impressed. His arm came out and wrapped around the man’s leg, his other shooting out to grasp his torso. He slammed him hard against the wall, the smaller man’s head cracking off its surface. Welsh pulled his fist back and landed a second blow to his face, still holding him off balance by his leg. He was hauling back to land another punch when Kain threw himself forward, striking Welsh in the chest and sending them both tumbling down the staircase.
Simon vaguely thought that there were more stairs going down than there had been going up. He thought he could feel every one of them as he and Kain tumbled down them towards the hardwood floor at the bottom. He thought about all of this only vaguely, because most of his concentration was on the sword still held in Kain’s hands. He really didn’t feel like losing a limb the day after he’d been cleared by the AAFA to get back in the ring. He didn’t think they’d ever clear him again if he was missing a hand or a foot or a freaking head.

When they landed with a thud on the floor, Simon didn’t even take the time to assess himself from the tumble. He jerked his head to the right as Kain brought the sword down and it just barely missed slicing his head in two, instead splintering into the wood beneath them. Kain was perched over him as Simon lay on his back and Simon thought it was habit and practice that willed him to know what to do next.

This wasn’t any different than being in the ring. Besides from the fact that he was wielding a sword and wanting to kill him instead of just knock him unconscious, But the rest of it was the same and Kain was in a good position for a takedown. One Simon was familiar with.

Simon moved quickly, twisting his body and squirming beneath the man. He had to change it up a little bit, hand reaching out to grasp Kain’s wrist on the hand that held the sword, but the rest of it was the same and he didn’t think Kain was expecting it. He twisted around on the floor, bringing his legs up and pulling Kain’s arms down. His legs wrapped around Kain’s neck and he forced them down so Kain was lying on his side on the ground. His face was turning red as Simon pulled on his arm to keep him off balance and also keep the sword where he could see it. When it came a little too close to his face, he twisted the man’s wrist and felt it strain beneath his grasp before the sword fell limply from his hand.

It was a struggle to hold the position for as long as it took to get Kain to pass out. Choke hold. Simon usually didn’t hold it until that point, because after a three count, it was considered his point and he’d release. But not this time. This time he felt his muscles burning and sweat break on his forehead and his face turning red with the exertion of it all. But he managed it. He felt Kain’s body go limp and he held it a few more seconds in case it was a trick before he let his body relax.

Unwrapping his legs, Simon let his head fall back against the wood floorboards and he just laid there. Avi rushed in after that and Simon rolled his head to the side to look at the man as he pulled the tie from Kain’s robe off and used it to secure his hands behind his back, though it would be a while before Kain woke up from a choke hold.

When the man was secure, Avi looked over at him and grinned. “Nicely done,” he said and Simon smiled back before he pushed himself up. He felt like there were a million new bruises on his body from that tumble down the stairs and his shoulder was a little sore, but nothing broken and nothing bleeding and that was good. Simon turned immediately to look at Vic, still sitting on the stairs. She was touching the bleeding wound on her head gingerly and at the sight of it, Simon growled low in his throat, pushing himself stiffly to his feet.

He crossed the space quickly and knelt on the stairs in front of her. “You okay?” he asked, bringing a hand up to brush his fingers softly across the cut. It looked nasty and she’d probably feel awful tomorrow. She looked a little glossy eyed and Simon almost snorted because now they had matching concussions.

Vic looked a little surprised by the question, or maybe his hand on her face, but then she swatted him away and grunted, using the railing to pull herself to her feet. “I’ve had worse in the ring,” she snapped and it was a little harsher than she must have meant it, because then she grinned at him. “Don’t go all doe eyed on me just because of a little bump.” Simon made a face and almost told her it wasn’t just a little bump, but she just reached out and patted his cheek, before pushing pass him and down towards where Avi was still crouched by Kain’s prone form on the floor. “He wasn’t supposed to be home. You think they’ll be tipped off now?”

Avi ran a hand over his mouth and seemed to really be contemplating it. He didn’t have a chance to answer before Alexey’s panicked voice came over the coms again. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on? Is Simon getting his ass kicked the first day?”

Simon snorted and Vic chuckled a little. Avi smirked and reached to touch his earpiece. “He scored his first takedown,” Avi said.

There was a moment of silence before Alexey came back loudly with, “No shit.” No one answered him, but Simon was smiling to himself because maybe he could actually do this. He’d been hesitant at first, but he’d taken on a guy with a freaking sword and was able to subdue him without killing him.

Vic looked back at Avi. “What do you want us to do with him, Cap?” she asked softly.

“You two go outside,” Avi said lowly, looking up at her and Simon glanced between the two of them. There seemed to be some sort of communication going on between the two and Simon wasn’t sure what Avi was getting at. But Vic seemed to understand and she stood up, turning to look at Simon.

“Let’s go, famewhore,” she said.

Simon frowned a little and looked at Avi. The man was studying Kain for a moment but lifted his head when Simon didn’t move. The two of them made eye contact and Avi jerked his head slightly towards Vic. Simon looked down at Kain and sighed. He didn’t know the man. He didn’t know anything about him except that he fought for a cause he believed in, even if lots of people disagreed with it and he didn’t want to see him dead, but he thought that’s what Avi was getting at by sending them outside.

He hesitated for only a moment more before he stood up and walked to Vic. She didn’t budge for a moment until he looked at her face and she was studying him intently. Her hand came up to touch his arm and then she was pulling him in front of her and pushing him out the door. They were quiet as they made their way steadily back to the van. The others were following behind, but for just a moment, it was just Simon and Vic in the van.

“It makes the most sense to kill him,” Simon said quietly. He felt Vic’s eyes on him.

Vic’s response wasn’t one he expected. “You might have to make that decision one day.”
The bruise was a nasty shade of purple though the small gash running up to her hairline had already scabbed over. Vic narrowed her eyes as she prodded it with numb fingers, making a face at the dull pain that she couldn’t entirely feel right now. Her own reflection looked fuzzy and distant to her and that probably had a lot to do with the six shots and three beers she’d already downed. She was probably going to feel all of this in the morning but she’d never worried about the consequences when she was having fun.

Her fingers trailed over the gash in her head and she could almost still feel Simon’s fingers following the same path. She licked her lips at the shiver that sent down her spine and she wasn’t sure why it was there. She could easily picture his eyes filled with concern as he looked up at her and then she realized this was Welsh she was thinking about. She snorted and shook the thoughts away.

She pulled away from the bathroom mirror, doing her best to shove through the girls waiting in line. The loud music hit her as soon as she got through the doorway but her buzz kept it pleasantly muffled as she stumbled back to their table.

“There she is,” Alexey said. He looked up from their table with a sloppy grin on his face and his arm slung around Jezibel’s shoulders. She sat in the corner by the window, her eyes coolly amused and a martini in front of her. As soon as Alexey looked away she lifted his fingers from her skin and placed it gently in his lap. He was too drunk to notice, waving Vic over towards him with one hand. She sauntered towards the table, reaching a hand out to steady herself on the back of Simon’s booth. “Come on,” Alexey said. “I can’t get this threesome going without the third…some. And that would be you.”

“Welsh and I are here,” Tony said. He was straddling a chair at the end of the table, his arms braced across the back of it and a frown on his face. Simon started laughing and Tony shot him a confused look like he wasn’t sure why. Maybe he wasn’t. Sometimes she couldn’t tell if the big guy was just a little slow or if he said shit like that just to get Alexey going.

“Hell no,” Romanova said. He held a hand out to Tony and shook his head. He wavered a little in the seat and leaned heavily against Jez’s shoulder. “Look, you guys are great and all but I’m looking for hot girl sandwich, not a sausagefest.”

Vic snorted. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” she told him cheerfully.

Welsh snorted out a laugh at the look of disgust that crossed his brother’s face. “You are officially uninvited,” he told her.

“You don’t mean that,” Simon said, grinning at his brother. She glanced down at him and he only had a few empty glasses in front of him and she wasn’t positive that some of them weren’t hers. Her spot was still open in the corner and she braced her other hand on the table as she went to crawl across him back towards the window. “Woah, easy Vic,” Welsh said, low laughter in his voice. She heard a clatter of glasses and then hands steadying her as she slumped back into her seat.

“Of course I don’t,” Alexey spluttered, pointing a finger at his brother. “But maybe I’m trying to play hard to get. I hear some chicks are into that kind of thing.” He turned in his seat, resting his arm across the back of the booth as he looked at Jez. He grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows. “You one of those chicks? ‘Cause baby I’ll be anything you want me to be.”

Jez laughed demurely, picking up her martini with perfectly manicured nails and smirking at Alexey. “That hooker talk work on a lot of the girls?” she asked. She tipped her head to the side, her blonde hair loose around her face.

Alexey gave her a toothy grin, picking up one of the shots in front of him and holding it out to her. “I don’t know about them; just let me know if it works on you.” She laughed at that and the he tossed the shot back, slamming the glass down on the table when he was done. Vic wasn’t sure what he was drinking, but then she wasn’t really sure what she’d been drinking either. There was a half-full glass of something frothy and dark and she thought maybe that was hers. She started drinking it anyway, leaning her head against the booth and glancing over at Simon. He was smiling at his brother and the expression put a smile on her face too.

She wondered if he would be okay killing someone. She thought about Kain Tokagure and as soon as he’d fought back she knew he was a dead man. If Avi had knocked him out right away then they would have been able to make it look like a burglary and just take off. Maybe he would have suspected them but there would be no proof. As soon as he’d fought back, as soon as he’d gone hand to hand with Avi, he’d been a dead man and she was alright with that. She would have killed him herself if she’d had to.

It was nothing she hadn’t done before. She’d come to terms with it and it didn’t keep her up at night. Sometimes the nightmares did, but that was different. She didn’t think Welsh was ready to kill someone, and she wondered if he was really okay with knowing he’d walked away and left that man for dead. Welsh was a good guy, and it was suddenly hilarious that he’d called her his best friend.

She didn’t realize she’d actually laughed until he looked over at her. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

Vic shrugged, lifting the mug of whatever to hide the smile on her lips. “You,” she told him. She snickered a little anyway, lifting her glass to toast him. He lifted an eyebrow at her curiously. “Mr. Secret Agent Man.”

Alexey laughed from the other side of the table, lifting his glass too. “Hell yeah,” he said. “To my big brother, Mr. Secret fucking Agent Man.” Jez smiled and then she lifted her martini towards Simon and she saw the tips of his ears turn red. Tony reached over to clap him on the back and he coughed with the sudden violence of the blow. The big guy just grinned and held up his mug of beer, letting Alexey clink it against his. “Congratulations on what I hear was an awesome takedown. You’re one of us now, bro.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess I am.” Simon laughed and if it lacked some of its usual enthusiasm no one noticed because they were all pretty buzzed at the moment. “That was a pretty amazing takedown,” he drawled, smirking across the table. He kicked back in his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stretched lazily backwards.

Vic rolled her eyes at him. “You need more shooting practice,” she said. She finished the rest of her beer, setting the empty mug back down on the table and looking around for the waitress. She wasn’t blind yet and she could still feel the pain in her head.

Simon laughed and his head tipped to the side to look at her. “Aw, are you jealous?” he asked, grinning at her.

Vic made a face at him, bringing her feet up onto the bench next to her. She kicked him in the side of the leg with one of them. “Jealous of what?” she asked. It was strange that for a minute she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Vic didn’t get jealous. She wasn’t jealous of Delia if that’s what he was implying, because that wasn’t at all why she hated the girl.

He snorted and grinned. She stretched her legs out in front of her across his lap and she barely noticed when his hands settled on her shins. It just felt comfortable and familiar. “Jealous that I took down a ninja and you didn’t.”

“Oh fuck you Welsh,” she said. “Maybe you got the ninja but I could still kick your gimp ass any fucking day of the week, famewhore.” He just laughed and she narrowed her eyes at him, picking up a sugar packet to throw. He just laughed harder, lifting one hand to deflect it and it skittered across the table towards Alexey. The kid blinked in confusion when it landed in front of him and he looked like he had absolutely no idea where it had come from. His gaze had been locked on the ass of a blonde waitress walking by. She picked up another one and she grinned when it hit the side of his head.

Tony was watching with a happy, amused smile on his face but Welsh still looked startled when his hand tightened abruptly on his shoulder. “Hey,” Tony said, drawing his gaze to his face. His face softened and he licked his lips like he was nervous about what Simon was going to say. “Sorry I gave you a concussion. I thought you were hurting small fry.”

Welsh snorted and reached over to pat the man awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m glad that ah, small fry, has someone willing to look out for him like that.” He grinned at his brother across the table and got the finger in response.

“For the record, that nickname is for my height, not my length.” He looked at Jez and then Vic, pointing a finger in each of their directions. Vic laughed and rolled her eyes, slumping back against the seat. “You got that? In case you’re confused, I’m talking about my penis. That is not why he calls me small fry. If that were the case he’d call me… giant… fry, or cucumber melon or something. We clear?” He slurred his words but he didn’t seem aware of it at this point.

“Whatever you say, small fry,” Vic told him cheerfully. He was glaring at her when her phone went off and she was still grinning at him when she flipped it open without even looking to see who it was. “Speak,” she said. Her smile grew when the waitress finally made it back over to their table and passed a fresh beer down to her.

“Hey come on now,” Romanova said. “Tell whoever to get off the phone so I can convince you to let me into your pants.”

Vic heard a dry chuckle on the other end. “How charming,” Elias drawled. “Should I assume you’re less than sober at this point?”

She snorted and shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say, it’s the company I keep,” she told him. Alexey was making a face at her as he picked up the sugar packet, bracing it against one finger so he could flick it across the table. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth, he was concentrating so hard, and when he finally struck it the packet went wide, hitting Welsh in the shoulder instead. He smirked as he picked it up and threw it back at his brother. White powder exploded all over him and Vic couldn’t help the laughter that left her lips, her head tipping forward against Welsh’s shoulder as she giggled.

“Should I expect your company tonight?” Elias asked. There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone and she made a face at that because he sounded annoyed and she was happy. Alexey was glaring at Simon as he swept the white sugar off his black clothes, right up until Jez started helping him. She was shaking her head, the back of her hand brushing his chest off. He glanced up and waggled his eyebrows at Simon, jerking his head to the side at Jez.

“She wants me,” he mouthed. Vic covered her mouth to keep from giggling again and now knew she was in bad shape because she never giggled. Next to her she heard the low rumble of Simon’s laughter and she glanced up at his face. He was smiling and there was nothing fake about it and nothing mean about it. It made her smile too.

“No,” she told Elias. “Not tonight.”
– Two –



Simon had missed this.

The crowds, the lights, the announcers. He missed the feel of the mat beneath his feet or gripping to the ropes around the ring or sitting in the corner and staring down the opponent. There was their gym and several others spread all across the country. The way the AAFA worked was that each gym would hold their won fights with their own fighters. There was a preliminary round where every fighter signed on got a chance to fight. There were only so many chosen to move on and every year there were at least a couple fighters who didn’t even make it pass the preliminaries. Simon was never one of them.

Once moving on, the gym you belonged to seemed to melt away and it became a free for all. You got to fight other fighters from other gyms and there was the pre-season and a championship season. Fighters racked up points in the pre-season that would determine where they stood in the championships. It was possible to fight in the championships if you lost all of your pre-season matches, but it would be impossible to win, because you added points on to your pre-season and it was a way to make sure there was never an underdog story. Or at least not one that was real. It was a way they could control who went where. Screw someone over in their pre-season and there’d be no way they could win the championship. It was what they’d done to him.

It didn’t keep him from giving it his all. They were in a championship season now, but it had just started. Maybe that’s why they’d signed him back on. They needed his face to bring in the viewers. He somehow doubted that’s all there was to it, but he’d take what he could get. He’d missed it.

The guy on the other side of the ring was a spider shifter named Chuck, but he liked to be called Widowmaker. They all had their show names. It came with the territory, but Simon always thought Widowmaker’s name was a bit over dramatic. The guy never made it to the final rounds and if he got some good hits in, it was because his opponent was sloppy or making mistakes. Simon had never lost to him, but he thought it would be good to start back in with him after being out of the loop for so long.

“Watch his trap move,” Ricky told him. Simon nodded to him and looked across the way at Chuck. He looked confident and cool and Simon felt a little guilty for wanting to wipe that smirk off his face. They were all probably expecting him to have gone soft on his time off. The crowd seemed mixed. He could see signs that read, “Welcome Back Big Cat,” but he could also see signs that said, “Go Home Activist,” and those signs made him snort a laugh.

Ricky squeezed his shoulder and said, “Good luck out there.”

Simon smirked. “Thanks,” he said and stood up. He saw Chuck do the same and then he smiled as he saw Delia climb into the ring. She wore a pair of shorts that shouldn’t even be considered shorts. Her top was black and sleek with a zipper down the front that was far too low. She walked around the ring with her round one sign above her head. As she came close to him, she smiled at him and it made him smile wider because she was actually being nice to him.

She surprised him when she put the sign down and came over to grab his head, pulling him into a fierce kiss. He laughed against it, but kissed her back because he knew she was probably told to do this by the promoters. The crowd instantly broke into a frenzy of cheers and boos. When she pulled back, she smirked slyly at him. “Win this and I’ll let you use the handcuffs tonight.” He felt the smile spread on his face and then she continued her round before climbing out the ring. Simon chuckled, rolling his shoulders as he tried to get focused again.

For some reason, he was thinking about Vic and he knew she was in the locker rooms somewhere getting ready for her own fight tonight. He knew Alexey was back there too, reveling in his all access VIP pass. He was probably following Vic around like a puppy dog and he knew they were watching his fight on one of the big screens in the locker rooms. He wasn’t sure why, but he was embarrassed when he thought about Vic watching him kiss Delia on national television.

The bell rang and suddenly he couldn’t think about that anymore. He saw his opponent turn from Chuck to the Widowmaker and Simon had to admit that his animal shifting was pretty scary. A giant fucking spider. Intimidation was really the only thing the guy had going for him and Simon was glad he didn’t have arachnophobia. He brought on his own shift and he felt black fur spring up along his skin. He roared when it was finished and then they were lunging at each other.

They met half way across the ring and Chuck wasn’t wasting any time going for dirty route to winning this fight. Simon landed a blow to Chuck’s torso, but at the same time he felt the spider shifter take a swipe at his knee. The knee that had kept him out of the fights for months. It hurt, probably a little more than it should have, but Simon just growled and went with the blow, bringing it up and hitting Chuck in the gut.

The spider shifter tried to backhand him and Simon brought an arm up to block it, the man striking his forearm instead. He followed up with another blow aimed at Simon’s chest, but Simon managed to dodge that as well and give his own hit back towards the shifter.

It went on like this for three rounds before Simon caught a break. He’d taken a pretty solid hit on Chuck’s part to the eye and it had dazed him enough to let Chuck get in a few more hits before the round was over. Simon had won the first round, Chuck had won the second and there were five rounds total, but it only took three. They were dodging each other. Chuck had a gash above his eye Simon had put there with his fist. He didn’t even have his claws out because blunted or not, the big cats weren’t allowed to use them. They had the sharpest and the most deadly and even blunted there were too many sanctioned blows that did too much damage.

Chuck came at him with a tackle and Simon almost laughed because he was flashing back to Togakure’s house and the man coming at him with a sword. It was the same thing. Chuck even collided with him and they tumbled to the mats, Chuck on top and Simon beneath. He did it because it came naturally and not at all because he was thinking about proving to his little brother that he’d had an awesome takedown. He twisted beneath him and managed to get his legs around Chuck’s neck and held the position, looking towards the ref and watching him hit the mats before blowing the whistle.

They pulled away from each other and there was still half a minute left in the round, but the choke hold must have upset Chuck because he came at him quickly once the clear whistle was drawn and the spider shifter wasn’t thinking clearly, because Simon snapped out a fist and it connected with his jaw with a crack. The shifter went down and Simon backed up, his fists held up as he watched the ref get down and tap out the shifter.

Simon let his hands fall down as the trainers came in and surrounded Chuck. The spider shifter groaned and rolled onto his back on his own and Simon grinned as the ref walked over to him. He grabbed his wrist and the crowd was roaring with noise.

“Winner by knock out,” the ref announced. “Simon ‘Big Cat’ Welsh!” Then he held Simon’s wrist up and the crowd just got longer. Simon grinned and gave a wave to one of the fangirls that held a sign and was screaming her lungs out. Her eyes widened and then she was screaming louder.

Delia surprised him by running into the ring after that and jumping at him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he caught her. She kissed him fiercely before pulling back. “Make it look real, Simon,” she told him, talking about the kiss, and the words made him pause for a moment, the grin slipping off his face. He plastered a fake one back on and then hide it by kissing her back.

Sad thing was, he’d thought it had been real.
“What a whore,” Vic said.

Her feet were kicked up on the table in front of her as she slumped on the couch in the ready room. She was already dressed for her fight in loose shorts and a tank top, her hair still damped and slicked back out of her face. Her eyes were on the big screen across from her, eyes narrowed as she watched the end of Simon’s fight. She had been smiling because she’d always enjoyed watching Simon fight and he hadn’t lost his touch. He was a beast in the ring, good at analyzing his opponents and keeping control.

Alexey sat next to her, his fingers playing with the VIP pass around his neck and his other arm slung across the back of the couch. He had a sloppy grin on his face and it was the same one he’d been wearing all day. The only time he’d seemed disappointed was when she wouldn’t let him follow her into the women’s locker room.

“Yeah,” Alexey said. He tipped his head to the side to grin at her and waggle his eyebrows. “But I bet she’s a freak in the sack.” He whistled and shook his head, looking back at the screen where Delia unwrapped her legs from around Welsh.

Vic snorted and hit his arm with the back of her hand. “How do you know I wasn’t talking about your brother?” she asked.

Romanova laughed at that. “Good point,” he said, pointing a finger at her.

“That’s the move he pulled on the ninja, by the way.” Welsh was smiling as he wrapped his arm around her waist, the man with the microphone coming up to interview him. Delia kept her arm around him, one hand resting on his chest and a grin on her face. It was a far cry from how she’d been the last few times Vic had seen her, but maybe everything was perfect now that Simon was back in the ring and they were both top dogs again. She didn’t know why it bothered her but it did. It made her chest hurt with the slow burning anger and she sighed, pushing herself off the couch and slapping Romanova in the arm. “I gotta go get ready,” she told him.

“Aw come on,” Alexey whined, tilting his head back against the couch. His hand was still playing with the VIP badge around his neck and he was like a damn kid in a candy store. “You’re just going to leave me in here by myself? What if I get lost? What if I accidently wander someplace I’m not supposed to go like the women’s locker room or you know what? Don’t worry about it, I’m good here.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes at him but a smile played across her lips, even though she wasn’t sure he wasn’t telling the truth. “You’re a whore too, Romanova,” she said. She slapped him in the back of the head before crossing the room to the door.

“Hey, let me know if you ever require my services. I’ll give you a discount. In fact, I might even give you a freebie if you ask nicely.”

“You’ll give me a freebie even if I don’t ask nicely,” she said.

She glanced back at the television and they had a microphone shoved in Welsh’s face. “How does it feel to be back in the ring after such an extended time off?” the interviewer asked. He was smiling at Simon and it looked fake and plastic. She wondered if he’d been one of the ones hoping he would crash and burn tonight because there had been a lot of people looking for it to end like that. Welsh smiled back, his arm still around Delia as he ran his other hand through his dark hair.

There was a fresh mark on his face from the fight but it was already scabbing over. “It feels amazing,” he said. Delia grinned and then she pressed herself against his chest, dragging his head down for another kiss. Vic made a face at that and turned her back on the screen, pushing the door open with her foot. She didn’t need to see anymore.

The hallways were crowded with interviewers and agents and managers and even a few fighters. Vic pushed past them, running a hand through her hair as she headed towards the rings. She could hear the screaming crowds from in here.

They got louder when she entered the pit around the ring. She could see fans holding up their signs, most of the girls with shit like “Marry Me Big Cat!” scrawled in marker on their white poster board. She snorted out a laugh as she headed towards Bobby. He was waiting in the corner while they cleared the blood and sweat out of the ring. His arms were crossed over his chest and she didn’t think he looked half as happy as he should have that someone from his ring was the victor of the last fight. If anything he looked disappointed. He glanced back at her before he snorted and looked back at the ring. “Start stretching,” he told her sharply.

She gave him a mocking salute, her gaze going past him for a moment. The girl she was fighting was named Lisa and was on the other side, behind the ropes. It was the first time Vic would be fighting her though she’d seen clips from her bouts on the television before. She was a black bear Shifter that liked to get down on the ground and grapple. Vic wasn’t a big fan of that kind of fight and she knew it was going to be a battle to stay on her feet. If she got knocked down it was probably over and she didn’t like to lose.

She caught a glimpse of Simon and Delia walking by and she told herself that surge of anger had nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with the girl being a fucking bitch every time she came around. “Nice job famewhore,” Vic shouted.

He glanced up and his grin widened when he saw her. It made it hard not to smile back and she just avoided looking at his girlfriend, though the girl’s face darkened when she saw him. “Hey thanks,” he called back. “See? Told you I had awesome takedowns. Good luck topping it.” He shot her a wink and it made the smile on her own face widen.

“Don’t need luck,” she said, holding her arms out. “I’m just that good.”

He tipped his head back and laughed and then she felt Bobby slapping her in the arm with the back of his hand. “Prove it by getting your ass in the ring,” he said. She rolled her eyes at him and then clambered up into the ring, hauling herself over the ropes. The other girl was doing the same, her black hair pulled back in a severe ponytail and scars on her pale skin. Most of them were on her arms and Vic couldn’t help but wonder if she’d put them there herself.

She stretched her arms out in front of her as Bobby pulled himself on the ropes next to her. “Keep your distance,” he told her. He was glaring darkly at the girl on the other side of the ring. She went by Morticia and honestly Vic just found it hilarious. She wondered if she’d given her the name herself. “You let her close she’s more likely to take you down.”

“Can’t hit her if I keep my distance,” Vic said cheerfully. She cracked her neck and then trotted towards the center. Behind her Bobby sighed and ran a hand over his face and she wondered why he got so irritated with her. She won him enough fights.

She shifted as soon as the bell rang and Vic followed suit, lifting her arms to cover her face as the girl charged at her. She brought both arms down to try and knock Vic to the ground and she tossed herself to the side, tucking in rolling in a quick motion. She lashed out with a kick, catching her in the small of the back before she danced backwards. The bear let out a low rumble as she turned, eyes narrowed and focused on Vic as she followed her across the ring. Vic feinted to the right and got a huge paw lashing out towards her face to try and keep her penned in. She was steering her back towards the ropes because once she had her pinned she was fucked.

Vic launched herself at her quickly but she wasn’t going for a take down. She lashed out with a jab and a cross and the bear brought her arms up to block it. The move gave Vic a chance to dodge around her and she retreated from the edge of the ring, a smug smirk on her face. It was wiped off in a second when Lisa lashed around and caught her in the side of the head with a hard blow.

She stumbled to the left and kept backpedaling so that she didn’t get knocked down but the girl kept coming after her. She got struck hard in the gut and she felt her back slam against the ropes with Lisa’s shoulder pinning her there.

She snarled, twisting in her grasp and bringing a knee up as hard as she could. She struck her in the stomach and then another blow was catching her across the face. White burst in her gaze and she brought her arms up to block the next lancing hit. It cracked off her arms and she shouldn’t have felt so much relief when the bell went off and signaled the end of round one. When the girl backed up and let her down she saw a smile on her face and it made Vic’s lip curl in a sneer.

Vic retreated back into her corner, all smiles gone as she wiped the blood off her face. “Stop fucking around,” Bobby snapped at her.

She snorted and flipped him off when the second bell went off and this time she didn’t wait for the girl to come to her. She went after her quickly, striking at her with a blow to the face. It caught her across the jaw and her head cracked back before she had time to bring her arms up and block it. Vic kept going after her, bringing her fist around to hit her in the temple.

The hit knocked the other girl to the side and she stumbled slightly on the white mats. One of her arms fell to steady her and Vic took the opening, hitting her across the cheekbone and opening a nasty gash in her skin.

Morticia snarled and put her shoulder down, charging across the mats at Vic. She struck her in the stomach and brought them both to the ground with a loud thump. Vic saw her pull back her arms and she bucked underneath her before she could bring the blow down. Her feet scrambled against the ground and she managed to get her leg loose. She wrapped it around the other woman’s hip and then bucked hard, flipping them over so that she was straddling her on the mats. She brought her fist down in a hard blow and she thought she heard something snap under the punch before there was blood soaking the mats underneath them.

She got in three more hits before the ref called it and she breathed a sigh of relief as he came over to help her off Morticia. She kept laying there for another moment, blinking up at the ceiling as her vision cleared. Her manager hurried over with a towel to stop the flow of blood while the ref pulled Vic to the center of the stage. “Winner by knockout in the second round, Vic Wolfe!”
“I think it’s funny that it took you three rounds to take down that guy and it only took Vic two,” Alexey was saying. Simon sighed, but followed it up with a chuckle as he finished packing up his things into his gym bag. The arena had started emptying out and the crowds had moved on to the after parties and bars.

Vic laughed from where she leaned up against the lockers, her bag already packed. Simon had snorted when she’d just waltzed right into the men’s locker room. Good thing it had been mostly empty. He glanced over at her and she had her arms crossed over her chest, a bruise on her cheekbone from where the bear shifter had gotten a good hit in on her.

“So I think I topped your takedown by doing it in one less round than you,” she said and Simon narrowed his eyes at her, but he couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face.

He cleared his throat and zipped up his bag, standing up and pointing a finger at her. “It’s because I’m just warming up,” he told her and she chuckled a little but then wiped it off her face in an attempt to make it look like she wasn’t laughing at him. He knew better. “I just got cleared to fight again, why would I want to keep the fight short? I like to draw it out. Revel in my glory,” he said, holding his hands out to his sides and grinning widely.

Vic shook her head. “Man, you’d think you won the fucking lottery or something, Welsh,” she said. “I haven’t seen you this happy in a while.”

Simon paused, frowning at her a little before he put the smile back on his face. “I’m a very happy person,” he told her. “I’m just…enlightened tonight.”

At that, Alexey broke into laughter and punched him in the shoulder. Simon turned to grin at him. “What are you now, Buddha?” He reached forward and patted Simon’s gut. Simon swatted his hands away. “Okay, enough ego wars for now, what are we doing tonight? Bar? Club? Hotel room?” He waggled his eyebrows at that.

Simon shook his head. “That’s up to you and Vic,” he said. “I’m not going.” They both looked at him with unbelieving looks on their face, like they thought he was joking. He shrugged and said. “Delia will literally kill me if I go out again tonight.”

Vic’s face darkened a little and Simon kept his eyes on her for a moment because he found the look interesting. But then Alexey groaned and flopped down onto the bench. “God she’s got you on a short leash. It’s not every day your little brother is in town, man. Come out with us. We need to celebrate your victory. And Vic’s victory at smashing your victory tonight.”

He snorted and then the smile slipped from his face. “Tomorrow,” he said. He waggled his eyebrows at them both. “She promised handcuffs tonight.”

“Careful,” Vic said and there was a deep bitterness in her voice. “She might tie you to the bed then take your money and leave.”

Alexey snorted. “I could see her doing that. Probably after she slapped you around a bit.”

Simon just grinned again and pulled his bag up onto his shoulder, smiling genuinely and apologetically at them both. “Tomorrow, I promise,” he said again. Then he looked at Alexey. “I’ll make sure to put a sock on the door handle.” Alexey just laughed and Simon turned towards the door. He paused when he saw the look on Vic’s face. She wasn’t looking at him, her arms still crossed over her chest and a dark look on her face. “Vic,” he said and her eyes shot up to his face. “Nice takedown,” he gave and she rolled her eyes, shoving at his back towards the door.

“Get out of here, famewhore,” she snapped at him, but the playfulness was back in her voice.

He was chuckling as he left the locker room. He made his way back towards the rear exit, because he always parked in the back. It was dark out, and late. The crowds were either gone or out front, trying to wait out the fighters. He pulled the keys from his pocket as he approached his car. Simon wondered what the others were doing tonight. He wondered what they did every night. Did they have jobs? For some reason he thought of Jezibel in a school teacher’s outfit and the thought made him snort and think that was something Alexey would like.

He heard it coming at the last second.

A slight whistling and he hadn’t heard the sound of footsteps approaching. But he ducked to the side and the baseball bat that had been aimed at his head cracked against his shoulder instead. He let out a muffled cry at the contact because whoever was behind the bat was strong and that would have fucking hurt if it had caught him in the back of the head.

Recovering quickly, he whirled, dropping his bag to the ground and aiming a kick out at his attacker’s direction. His foot caught the man in the gut and it gave Simon the opportunity to take a few steps back and see the four guys standing in front of him. They started moving to block him in, but Simon kept backing up. He cursed when his leg hit the tire of his car because he’d cornered himself.

“Look, whatever you’re after, this isn’t the way to do it,” Simon told them, holding his hands up. “You’re gonna hurt whatever cause you’re fighting for more than help it.”

One of the guys laughed and Simon frowned a little, but kept his eyes on all of them in case one of them decided to come at him. He wondered where Vic had parked her bike and if she was going to be coming out back. Or maybe she’d parked in the front and he was on his own. He was prepared for that to be an option. He had to get himself out of this.

“We aren’t here to shut you up,” one of them said. “We’re here to shut you down.”

The words confused him but he didn’t really have time to think about it because then they were coming at him. He managed to intercept the first guy, grabbing his arm and twisting him around so his head smashed into the car. He crumpled to the ground and Simon lashed out a vicious kick at one of the others, feeling the man’s knee pop beneath the blow. It gave him a moment of satisfaction but it was short lived as he felt the baseball bat connect with his shoulder.

The blow sent him stumbling away from the car and he growled as a kick was aimed at his face. He managed to catch the man’s foot and he grabbed the front of his shirt, twisting around so this man was between him and the guy with the bat. He thought about shoving the guy and running or breaking his ankle and taking the guy with the bat on one on one.

He didn’t expect the move from the man he was holding. With his leg still tucked beneath Simon’s arm, the man twisted himself in the air, bringing his other leg up and catching Simon in the side of the head. It loosened his grip on the man and Simon cursed as he stumbled to the side, falling to a knee and there was a voice in the back of his head screaming for him to stand back up. The guy with the bat didn’t waste any more time and he came forward. Simon caught the bat with two hands as it was swung down at his head. The motion sent shockwaves of pain through his hands and wrists.

One of the guys, and Simon couldn’t tell if it was one of the ones he’d thought he’d knocked out or the guy who’d given him a spinning kick to the head, but one of them caught him in the ribs with a kick and he felt and heard something crack there. The bat was pulled from his grasp and he knew even before he felt it, that it was over. There was always that moment during a fight when the outcome becomes clear and you’re either the winner or the loser. And Simon could tell this time that the fight wasn’t going in his favor.

The baseball bat hit him in the side of the head, cracking into his skull and he fell to the side, managing to catch himself, but only barely. He tried to blink away the blow. It hurt, but it was a different kind of pain. One that was numb and screaming all at once. One that seemed to freeze time and make him aware of his own breathing and how hard he had to struggle to keep doing it.

He just grunted when the baseball bat came down on his back, across his shoulders. It sent him the rest of the way to the ground, his cheek hitting the asphalt. He could feel warm, thick blood on the side of his head and his hand tried to grip weakly at the ground to try and push himself back up, but then someone was grabbing the back of his shirt and rolling him over onto his back. He could only groan as the guy landed a punch to his face and it sent the world spinning.

He saw the man above him raise the baseball bat again and Simon managed to bring his arm up to put it between his chest and the bat so that his arm took the brunt of the blow. He felt it snap and he knew what a broken bone felt like, but this one seemed worse. He didn’t even have time to cry out or do anything before the man’s foot caught him in the jaw and that was it.

That was the last he could remember.
“This is pathetic,” Alexey said. “You’re letting me down tonight Bitchzilla. Come on, I’m like eight ahead of you or something like that. How am I supposed to get you drunk enough to take me home with you if you’re not drinking?” He clucked his tongue at her, shaking his head before he tossed back another shot and added them to the pile on the bar in front of them. They hadn’t bothered with a table for just the two of them. Vic snorted and watched him make his whiskey face afterwards and it put a small smile on her lips.

“I don’t care how drunk you get me, I’m not inviting you back to my place,” she told him with a grin. He groaned and she just laughed, lifting the shot glass and saluting him with it before she tossed it back. It burned a steady path down her throat to her stomach and her mouth twisted as she slammed the shot glass back down on the counter. He was right. She was way behind him.

“Come on,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. “You like sex, I like sex, we could have sex together. I don’t see the problem with this plan. Are you really going to make me go back to Simon’s and have to listen to him bone his girlfriend all night?”

She snorted but it killed the laugh on her face. Her gaze lifted to the television in the corner as they replayed clips from the fight.

“Guess you’ll just have to buy earplugs,” she told him.

“You’re a cold hearted bitch, that’s what you are,” Alexey told her. He grinned as he said it and it just made her laugh in response, shrugging off the insult. She’d been called worse things. Her eyes lingered on the television as they replayed the heavyweight fights from earlier and then replayed Welsh’s fight. Her eyes narrowed when they showed Delia throwing herself around his waist and she sighed and reached for another one of the full shot glasses sitting in front of them. She tossed back the liquor and tried to let the burning sensation get rid of whatever was in her chest because she didn’t like it and she didn’t understand it.

“Alright, I get it,” he said, pointing a finger at her face. “I can take no for an answer, unless of course no actually means yes in which case I will stay take no for an answer. But if you’re not going to bone me than you should at least help me get boned. Chicks make better wingmen anyway. You can say you dumped me because I was too big or something like that.”

Vic laughed and reached over to shove him in the shoulder. He wavered on the bar stool but saved himself by slinging an arm around her shoulder. “Get off it Romanova,” she told him. “I’m not helping you get laid.”

“God damn,” he said. “You’re not cutting me any slack here. Like I said, cold hearted bitch.” His hands reached clumsily for another shot and Vic grabbed a glass and dangled it out of his reach. He made a face at her, pushing her in the shoulder as he tried to reach for it and she just laughed playfully as she lifted it higher out of his head. He made a face at her and struggled to stand on the bar stool to grab it. “Hey, I didn’t mean you had to prove my point, come on babe, don’t be like that.”

“Don’t call me babe,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’ve threatened to break your brother’s kneecaps for that and he’s hotter than you.” He managed to get his fingers around the shot glass and she let go of it abruptly. He slumped against the bar; grinning as he tossed the drink back and she just rolled her eyes. He didn’t say anything until the glass was empty.

“Did you just call my brother hot?” he asked, wiping a hand across his mouth. He was grinning and he waggled his eyebrows at her. “That’s what it sounded like. It sounded like you just called my brother hot. You telling me there’s truth to those fuck buddy rumors?”

She snorted and shoved him roughly away from her. “There’s not,” she spat.

Alexey laughed and nodded his head, making a disbelieving face at her. “Yeah, sure,” he drawled. “You know you want to hit that. You know I’ve got no problem playing stand in. Just you know, don’t say his name or anything during. That would make it kind of weird.” Vic rolled her eyes and shoved him again, knocking him off the bar stool. He hit the ground hard and he burst out laughing as soon as he did, reaching back to rub his ass. “You’re so violent,” he said. “You like that in the sack too?”

“Shut the fuck up,” she said. She grinned and rolled her eyes at him as he clambered back up onto the bar stool next to him. Next to his hand his phone started vibrating and she picked it up before he could get his hand around it. “And who’s this?” she asked, smirking at him. He made a face and grabbed for it but she was already leaning back in the stool. “Romanova’s phone, what can I do you for?”

“This is Dr. Gregory from the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Is Mr. Romanova available to speak?” A man on the other end of the phone spoke and she made a face because he sounded cool and professional and boring.

“Here you go Lex,” she said, holding her hand over the speaker. “It’s a doctor. Sounds like your test results are in.”

“A doctor?” he said, taking the phone. “This is Alexey Romanova.” His face immediately darkened and she didn’t understand why at first. It took her a minute to remember the whole reason Simon had even become a shifter and she felt the smile slip off her face. He didn’t talk about his cancer much but she knew it had been a rough time and she pretty much got the picture that he would be dead if it weren’t for the whole shifter program. Honestly she was just surprised his dad hadn’t exploited him for it. She tilted her head to the side and watched Alexey’s face as it contorted. “What?” he snapped. “Are you fucking serious?”

Vic frowned, leaning forward on the stool so that she was closer to the phone. “What’s going on?” she asked. He glanced up at her but just shook his head. It made her frown deepen and she slumped back in the bar stool, running her finger around the edge of her glass. She looked back up at the television and smirked when they started replaying her fight. She’d been too sloppy in the first round. If she’d been smarter that never would have happened and she wouldn’t have fresh bruises on her face.

“I’ll be there in ten,” Alexey said. He snapped the phone shut and immediately clambered down off his stool. He stumbled when he hit the ground and she reached back to steady him, frowning at the serious look on his face.

“What’s going on?” she asked. She slid down off the stool after him and glanced back when she heard the bartender call her name. She muttered a curse and ripped her wallet out of her back pocket, tossing a couple of bills on the counter behind them. She didn’t even know how much she owed him but if it didn’t cover it than she’d have to hit him up tomorrow.

Alexey was already halfway to the door and she scrambled after him, shoving through the growing crowd of people after him. He pushed through the doorway, a blast of cold air hitting her skin as she followed him outside. Her fingers closed around his elbow and pulled him back and when she got a look at his face it was contorted in pain and fear. It was a look she wasn’t used to seeing on him and he ran a hand over his mouth as he finally focused on her face. “Alexey?” she said.

“It’s Simon,” he told her. “He’s in the hospital.” He looked away for a moment and she saw something like anger on his face. “I guess they found him in the parking lot outside the ring all beat to shit. Fuck, we were right there.”

Vic let go of his elbow like she’d been burned. It hit her like a blow to the stomach and she took a step back, her hand going to her mouth. In her head she kept seeing Welsh fighting in that ring like the fucking beast he was and she couldn’t imagine what could have taken him down. “What kind of shape is he in?” she asked, her voice low and quiet and more scared than she liked. She hated the feeling. She hated how sick she felt and that she had to ask the question because this was Welsh they were talking about. Yeah, they’d expected him to take some flack for that stupid Shifter Act comment but she didn’t actually expect him to get hurt.

“I don’t fucking know Vic,” Alexey spat. “He’s unconscious right now. You done with the questions? Can we fucking go now?”

She didn’t get mad at the anger because she knew it wasn’t directed at her. She clapped a hand on his shoulder and steered him towards the parking lot where her bike was parked. He didn’t argue with her and she almost found it funny that Simon would be pissed if he ever found out she was driving a motorcycle with so much alcohol in her system. Alexey climbed on behind her and she knew he was worried when he didn’t even try to cop a feel when he slid his arms around her waist.

Vic sped on the way there. She tried to ignore the fear churning in her stomach because she didn’t like the sensation. She didn’t like thinking about Welsh getting hurt and this wasn’t just bruises on his head or a cut in his skin. He was in the god damned hospital and she veered around a yellow taxi cab as her bike roared down the street.

Alexey was already scrambling off the bike before Vic even had it turned off and she just let him go. He was probably still drunk but he didn’t stumble as much as she thought he should have been. Fear was probably sobering him up quick.

She trailed after him and she felt her stomach clench as soon as she walked through the sliding doors. The stark, sterilized smell hit her nostrils and she wrapped her arms around her waist to try and pretend it didn’t make her stomach hurt worse. She tried to pretend she wasn’t worried and that she was just here for Alexey. It wasn’t working. As soon as they walked through the doors there were camera flashes and reporters shoving microphones in their direction. “Is it true that Simon Welsh was admitted here an hour ago?” someone demanded. She frowned and pushed it away but they just followed her. “Is it true the anti-shifter groups did it to shut him up?”

He pushed past them to the front desk, hitting the bell hurriedly to try and get the nurse’s attention. “Hey,” he said, leaning heavily against the counter. He swatted at the microphone being dropped over his shoulder and Vic shoved the guy away when she got next to them. The nurse was in the back, filing something in a cabinet but she glanced over at Alexey’s face. “What room is Simon Welsh in?” he asked. Her face darkened and he shook his head, waving his hand hurriedly. “I’m his brother, Alexey Romanova.”

“Oh,” she said, walking over quickly. Her voice lowered as she leaned in towards Alexey and the man wavered on his feet as he clung to the desk. “Third floor, room 315. He’s still unconscious but there’s a doctor with him now.”
At first, he thought he was lying on the mats in the ring. He thought the pounding in his head was because he’d gotten knocked out in a fight. Except whatever he was lying on was too soft and there were tubes sticking in his nose, helping him breathe. He could barely feel the rest of his body and his head was so fuzzy it took him a while to piece together where he was. Hospital. He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there, but he wasn’t really trying either. He was too tired to do much of anything.

He didn’t fall back to sleep. Instead, he focused on the constant beeping and the pulsing of pain throughout his body. Most of it generated from his head, but he could feel the heavy weight of a cast on his left arm and bandages wrapped around his chest. If the pain in his side was any indicator, he had a few broken ribs. Once he was finished assessing himself, he let the memories come back and he remembered the parking lot and the four guys and the baseball bat. Remembering that, he was surprised he’d woken up at all. He’d thought that had been it. He didn’t like to admit how much that scared him.

Simon forced his eyes open after that. There was light coming in through the blinds and it was bright on his eyes. The world was hazy and his eyelids were heavy. He didn’t think one was opening all the way. He licked his dry lips and once he got his bearings, his eyes focused on the figure sitting in one of the chairs in his hospital room. It was the last person he’d expected to see.

“Dad?” he croaked out, his voice hoarse and grating on his throat.

Gregory Welsh sat with his legs crossed in the chair. His suit jacket was strewn over the back of the empty chair next to him and he had his shirt sleeves rolled up. He’d taken his tie off and laid it across the seat. One arm was braced on the back of the chairs and the other was resting in his lap. He was turned slightly towards Simon and his father had just been watching him with a patient smile on his face.

“Morning,” his Dad drawled.

Simon frowned a little as the world tipped and tilted around him. He wondered how bad the head wound was. “How long was I out?” he asked.

His Dad smiled and then pushed himself out of the chairs. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks and came over to stand next to Simon’s hospital bed. “Two days,” he gave, just standing there and looking down at him. He had a calm, cool expression on his face, but Simon could see the bags under his eyes. “The first day was touch and go. We didn’t think you’d make it.”

Simon closed his eyes and it took a lot of effort to open them again. When he did, it took a moment for him to focus back on his father. “That bad?” he asked.

Gregory Welsh nodded his head, pursing his lips and looked down at Simon’s broken arm before he made eye contact again. “Broken arm, two broken ribs, one of them pierced your lung. It collapsed in the ambulance on the way over. But we were more worried about the skull fracture you suffered. They did a number on you, son.”

“Do you know who they were?” Simon asked, closing his eyes again and this time he didn’t bother to reopen them. It was just too much effort.

It was a little surprising when he felt his father’s hand brush over his head. He couldn’t remember a time when Gregory Welsh was gentle. “Not yet,” he said quietly and Simon didn’t miss the hidden promise there. The emphasis on ‘yet.’ “The police are conducting a high profile investigation. You’ve been all over the news.”

Simon sighed, rolling his head up and it made the world tip and tilt again. It took a moment for him to catch his bearings again. “What are they saying?”

His Dad sighed and Simon focused on him. The man ran a hand across his face and for just a moment, he looked exhausted. “You’ve started a war, son,” he said quietly and then sighed, shaking it off and looking down at him. “It’s not important right now. I’ll fill you in later. The police will want to get a statement from you. And your brother’s going to be thrilled you’re awake. He’s been moping the past couple of days. Him and that friend of yours.”

Simon nodded, closing his eyes again. “Is Delia okay?”

His Dad snorted, making Simon look at him. “I know you don’t like to take my advice on your personal life,” he said and it made Simon frown. “But she’s not good for you. She loves your fame more than she loves you.” Simon just sighed and he wasn’t going to say anything to that because he didn’t wholeheartedly disagree. Then his Dad quirked his head to the side, a slight frown crossing his brow. “There’s also been a man coming around a lot. Won’t really tell me who he is. Keeps saying he’s your agent.”

Simon cleared his throat a little and the motion sent pain slicing through his side. His Dad must have seen it, because he reached over to press the call button. “Does he wear nice suits?” Simon asked, a little breathless.

Gregory chuckled a little, a soft smile on his face. “Italian. Makes him look like a snob.”

It was enough to make Simon chuckle a little, but he immediately regretted it as it jarred his side and nearly sent him spiraling back into unconsciousness. The doctor and a nurse came in after that and his Dad went back to sitting in the chair at the side of the room. They checked him over and took his vitals. The doctor asked him a few questions to test his memory and it took Simon a while to answer some of the questions, but the doctor said it was groggy and he wasn’t brain damaged, which Simon was incredibly grateful for.

As soon as they left, Simon looked back over to his father again, his eyes drooping. “Well, I guess my AAFA season is officially over.”

His father smiled sympathetically. “I’d think so.”

He nodded and then looked around the room again. There were cards and flowers on the table at the far end of the room. It was overflowing with things and Simon thought most of them were from fans. He smiled when he saw one that said, “Get Well Soon, - The Bull.” He could just picture Tony sitting down and writing him a get well card. The thought almost made him laugh. He turned back to his Dad and asked, “Where’s Lex and Vic?”

The man sighed and leaned forward a little bit in the chair. He smiled and folded his hands in front of him before he said, “Apparently they don’t like the way the police are handling your case.” When Simon frowned, he went on. “They’re taking matters into their own hands. I think they’re going after your attackers. They just need to find out who they are first.”

Simon smirked as he started drifting off. “They will.”
One arm was broken, bound up in a white plaster cast that rested against paler sheets.

Vic kept note of it in the back of her mind, because any time the anger started to fade she could call on her memories and it would bring it back full force. Someone had hurt Welsh and it left her scared and anxious and she didn’t know how to deal with either of those emotions. So she handled it the same way she did everything. She got mad. She got violent. She found someone to take it out on and that someone was a man named Allen Wright. He currently had his face pressed against the brick wall in an alleyway while Vic put pressure on the back of his neck and kept him there. He was a reporter knee deep in this whole shit storm.

“Don’t make me ask you again sugar,” she said. He whimpered a little as she increased the pressure but she didn’t have any pity for him. The man wanted a story, he would get a fucking story, as soon as he was done telling her what she wanted to know. Alexey stood with his back to her, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the pedestrian’s pass by. “The militant ones,” she said. “The ones who think they can fucking put a hit out on Welsh and get away with it. Give me names and faces.”

“Nothing to see here,” Alexey said. “Just keep walking, whew, especially in that dress. Very nice.” He whistled lowly at whoever was passing. Vic didn’t even glance over but she managed a small smirk. There hadn’t been a lot of them the last few days.

The man grunted and then nodded his head. “Alright,” he said. “I can get you what you want, just Jesus don’t shoot me or anything.” Vic snorted and let him go, shoving him hard against the wall one last time before she stepped back. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him turn around and rub at his bruised neck. “And don’t tell anyone you got this shit from me.”

“You’re not really in a position to start making demands,” Alexey said over his shoulder. He smirked back at Vic and even he hadn’t been making as many jokes lately. He was worried because his brother had been unconscious for the last two days and they’d finally gotten sick of waiting around for someone else to figure out what had happened. They knew what had happened, they just needed to know who did it so that Vic could repay them in kind for the injuries they’d left on Welsh.

They’d hit him with a baseball bat. Like some kind of fucking gang hit. Like he wasn’t the best god damned fighter she knew and hadn’t just been let back into the ring where he was a god. It made her angrier than she could say in words.

Two broken ribs, one of which had pierced his lung. He’d tried to die on her. Fucking asshole.

“Give me the names now,” Vic said.

Allen Wright nodded his head, crouching down by the canvas bag he’d been forced to abandon when Vic and Alexey had jumped him. He was supposed to know everyone in the anti-shifter movement, because he’d been working on a story about them for the last six months. That’s what the cops had told her anyway. Turned out the Chief was a pretty big fan of the Big Cat. He and his teenage son liked to watch him on the big screen when he got custody on weekends. It was one of the few things they still had in common.

“The big one you want is the Genesis Loyalists. The founder is a guy named Terry Marsden, if anyone would have brass balls big enough to take on the Big Cat it’s going to be him or his followers. Here.” He pulled a file out of his bag but hesitated for a moment with it clasped in his fingertips. “This is a lot of research I’m just handing over you know.”

Her eyes narrowed and she was already moving forward to yank the file out of his hands before he got done speaking. “Sorry if I really don’t fucking care,” she snapped. “You can have it back when I’m done with it, if there’s anything left of them.”

She flipped through it quickly, glimpsing faces and names and she didn’t recognize half of them but she didn’t need to. Simon could tell her if any of them looked familiar when he woke up. She didn’t even think about the possibility that he might not wake up because she didn’t accept that. The anger churned in her gut and she let it because the anger was more comforting than that ever present fear. They joked around a lot but the truth was that he really was her best friend. Vic didn’t have a lot of them to begin with but Welsh was her drinking buddy, her comrade in arms, the yin to her yang and other campy shit he’d make fun of her for even thinking.

A fractured skull. Blood seeping through the white gauze around his head and it was too easy to picture. They’d sewn him back up and bandaged him the best they could but they didn’t know what kind of shape he’d be in when, not if, he woke up. He might be brain damaged. He might not remember who he was or who Alexey was or who she was or anything that had happened to him. Fuck, she didn’t know what she’d do if that happened. Probably kill someone. She was probably going to do that anyway.

“Thanks a lot, Allen,” she said, drawling his name sarcastically. She crouched down next to him and licked her lips as she studied his face. “I don’t think I have to tell you what happens if you let word of this get around but if you want me to I will.”

He watched as she flexed one hand at him. The shift was small but there was still an audible noise as her bones stretched and her nails grew and hardened into claws. They weren’t as terrifying as a big cat’s, but they could do damage. She could kill a man with them and that’s what counted. “No,” he said. “No I got it. Listen, you get done with that, just ah, drop it off at the Journal for me, yeah?”

She gave him a mocking salute before pushing herself to her feet. She left him sitting there against the alley wall and she could hear the sigh of relief that left his chest as soon as she walked away. She wasn’t worried about him going to the cops. If he wanted to then he could go to the press, but somehow she didn’t think so. They were already having a field day with this. The anti-shifter groups were rallying to defend themselves against the pro-shifter groups that swore they’d tried to assassinate their poster boy.

Add to that a teary-eyed Delia on the evening news and Vic was just sick of all of this shit already. This was Welsh’s life, not some fucking move in this great big chess game they were playing with him. It kept her angry and it kept her sane.

“You think these are the guys that did it?” Alexey asked. There was still that unfamiliar, serious look on his face.

She shrugged her shoulders, lighting herself a cigarette and blowing smoke into the chilly air. It didn’t do much to warm her and she pulled the coat tighter around her, shoving her other hand in her pocket. “These are the assholes that have tied people to the back of trucks and dragged them twenty miles over asphalt. If it’s not them, it’s still a good place to start.”

Alexey nodded his head, tucking the folder under his arm. She watched him for a moment and she didn’t like that dark look on his face. She wrinkled her nose and then reached out to ruffle his hair. “Relax Romanova. Welsh is going to be fine.”

He snorted out a laugh and shoved her hand away. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I know he is. I just wish he’d wake up already” For a moment he kept hanging his head, watching the concrete beneath his shoes before he tipped his head up towards her. She watched him slap a plastic smile across his face and then he waggled his eyebrows at her. “Thought you know, I wouldn’t argue if you decided you felt so bad for me that you needed to comfort me with sweet, sweet loving.”

Vic scoffed and punched him hard in the shoulder. “You do realize that ‘Welsh is going to be fine’ speech is about all the comforting I can manage.” He laughed at that and she grinned, gesturing at herself with the cigarette before she stuck it back between her lips. “I mean, I just used up my entire years worth of compassion in that one sentence.”

Alexey let out a relieved sigh. “Good,” he said. “Here I was worried I’d have to watch you gush and moon over my brother when he finally wakes up. You know my jealous little heart can’t take it, him stealing the women I’m after.”

“You’re after every woman, Romanova,” she said.

He made a face and pointed a finger at her. “Hey, not every woman. Just the hot ones.” She managed a laugh and there was an answering smile on his face but both faded as they walked down the sidewalk towards her bike. She’d parked it around the corner from the guy’s apartment building while they waited for him and she didn’t feel weird about that. She would do what she had to do and she wasn’t sorry because someone had laid into Welsh with a baseball bat. They’d put him in the hospital with stitches and casts and gauze holding him together and she hated that. He had a fucking tube down his nose.

One eye had been swollen shut. His face was a mask of black and blue as heavy bruising spread across his jaw and his cheekbones. She couldn’t get the sight of him out of her head, lying there in that hospital bed while machines beeped around him to make sure he was still alive. There shouldn’t have been a doubt. She could still feel the lumps on his skin when she’d run her fingers gently over them the way he’d done for her and she didn’t want to care so much but she did and she let it turn to anger instead of fear.

The fear was killing her. She’d gone home with Elias the first night and it hadn’t taken her mind off it. She hadn’t slept, she’d just sat at the end of his bed and smoked his cigarettes and stared into darkness until he’d finally told her to just go the fuck home.

They were just rounding the corner when Romanova’s phone went off. He glanced at the number first because there were a couple of reporters who kept getting it and calling to ask questions about Welsh’s condition and what the reason for the attack was and other stupid shit that Romanova shouldn’t have to answer. She’d only gotten one of those calls and it was at her home.

“Hello?” he said, flipping it open and pressing it to his ear. Vic watched his face and she felt something like relief crash down on her when she saw his expression change. A smile lit across his lips and he gave her a thumbs up, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he did. “Fucking A right doggie,” he said. “Tell him to keep his ass conscious until I get there because if I walk into that room and he’s sleeping again I’m drawing a god damned Hitler moustache on his face.”
“Oh, uh, hi Mr. Welsh,” his brother’s voice woke him up because the little shit wasn’t even trying to be quiet. He peeled his eyes open and his head was already turned towards the door. It took him a moment to focus his vision, but when he did, he felt a smile slip across his lips because Alexey and Vic were standing near the door. They were both looking at him and they grinned when they saw he was awake. Alexey turned back to look at Simon’s Dad, who was standing up from his chair and pulling his suit coat back on.

“Alexey,” Mr. Welsh nodded firmly. Simon wondered if it was weird for them. Alexey wasn’t Gregory Welsh’s son. He and Simon shared a mother, but had different fathers. There’d always been a sort of disconnect there where they’d been civil to each other, but hadn’t ever gotten close or particularly liked each other. Simon didn’t think there ever would be, they were on two very opposite ends of the spectrum.

Mr. Welsh walked over to the bed and Simon glanced up at him with lidded eyes because he was really tired and if he didn’t think Alexey would do something to him in his sleep if he didn’t stay awake to at least talk to him, he’d give in and close his eyes. Mr. Welsh put a hand on Simon’s arm and said, “I’m getting back to the office. I’ll come see you tonight.” Simon nodded and then his father walked around the bed and nodded politely to both Alexey and Vic as he left.

As soon as he was gone, Alexey was grinning brightly and walking over to the bed. “Hey bro, it’s about time you woke your dumb ass up,” he said, gripping the rail on the edge of the bed and his smile was so wide and genuine as he looked down at him, Simon couldn’t help but smile back at him.

Vic’s approach was less wordy but not at all less bright with the smile on her face. “You’re an asshole,” she told him. It made him chuckle.

“What did I do?” he asked, his voice hoarse. He thought about trying to push himself up into a more upright position, but he couldn’t get his body to do much of anything except lay there. So he settled for just laying his arms across his stomach.

Alexey pointed a finger at him. “You got your ass kicked, that’s what you did. I mean, come on man, what happened to the Big Cat I saw in the ring? Kicking ass and taking names? You’re making me start to think the whole thing is staged. Like pro wrestling.”

It earned him a punch in the shoulder from Vic and he laughed, rubbing at it. Simon smiled and when he blinked, his eyes were slow in opening back up, so he licked his lips and said, “Well there were four,” he said, sounding like he was defending himself. He closed his eyes because the room was spinning again. “And they had weapons. And fists. And feet. Knees. Elbows…” he started trailing off.

“Hey, hey,” Alexey said and he felt his brother’s hand on his shoulder. It made him open his eyes again and when he looked up at them their smiles looked less genuine and more like they were trying to stay bright for his benefit. He almost told them they didn’t need to, but it would be a lie. He appreciated it because if they weren’t smiling, it would make him think about how scared he was. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t fight and he sure as hell couldn’t be on a black ops team. Alexey squeezed his shoulder. “We just got here. You’re gonna have to stay awake for a little bit at least so you can entertain me.”

Simon chuckled, but winced when it jarred his ribs.

Vic pulled a folder out and Simon eyed that as she flipped it open and then looked down at him. “You said there were four?” she asked. He nodded. “Did you recognize any of them?”

He sighed. “No,” he told them. “But they were pretty good.”

Alexey snorted. “I’ll be the judge of that when we find them.” The comment made Simon smile, but it slipped off his face just as quickly because he really didn’t want Alexey near any of them.

Vic held the folder out to him, showing him the pictures. “Do you recognize any of these guys?” she asked.

Simon squinted at the pictures, studying each of them as he tried to remember the faces of the guys who’d jumped him in the parking lot. None of them looked like them. He shook his head and looked up at her face. “No,” he said. “Who are they?”

She just sighed and closed the folder back up. “Our only lead so far,” she answered and Simon smiled because he could hear the frustration and determination in her voice.

“I should have gone to the bar with you,” he said, his voice quiet and small. He saw their faces sober for a little bit and he let his eyes fall away from them because he didn’t want them to see how scared he was. It was settling into his chest like a heavy weight. He’d just been cleared to fight again. He’d just been given a clean bill of health and took on his first fight and it had been a great fight. One of his best. And now he was lying in a hospital bed. Now he wasn’t even sure if he’d ever be able to fight again and the thought was crushing him.

Alexey clucked his tongue before saying, “Yeah, well, now you know that God doesn’t want you to choose Delia over your awesome brother and hot ass friend.” Simon glanced up at him and he waggled his eyebrows. It made Simon smirk, but he closed his eyes and winced again when pain lanced through his head. He laid his head back on the pillow and just sighed.

“Just when you think things are looking up,” he mumbled.

It surprised him when he felt Vic’s hand touch his arm, wary of the IV there. He opened his eyes again and looked up at her face. He couldn’t help but think he was glad she was here. He couldn’t help but think how nice it would be if she were here every time he woke up because she could always put a smile on his face.

“We’ll get them,” she told him, determined and he nodded. Then a sly smirk crossed her lips. “And when you’re back on your feet, I’m kicking your ass.” It made him chuckle and she grinned down at him.

“Simon?” Delia’s voice intruded into the room and they all turned towards the door. She stood there for a moment and Simon was nervous for a minute because he thought she was going to be mad at him. She’d warned him about ruining his life and he wondered if she was going to leave him because of this. She surprised him when she came quickly across the room and leaned down to wrap her arm around his chest, her head buried in his neck. The motion sent pain through his body, but he didn’t make a sound and tried not to let it show on his face because he wasn’t sure if he should believe this or not. Delia lifted her head and then she was pressing a hard kiss against his lips.

When she pulled away, he looked at her face. “I’m sorry,” he told her automatically.

She shook her head and smiled sadly. “I’m just glad you’re okay,” she told him, and then let her head come to rest on his shoulder again as she sat on the edge of his bed. He managed to bring his good arm up and wrapped it around her. “You had me terrified.” He squeezed her lightly, thought it took a lot of effort and he looked up at Alexey and Vic, who had backed up a little bit. They looked a lot less happier than they’d been a moment before and something dark was on Vic’s face.

“Well, we’ll get back to work,” Alexey said. “There’s some people we need to pay a visit to.”

Simon nodded, his eyes going to Vic. She didn’t say anything as she turned to head out the door and Simon wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to ask her to stay. He felt a moment of panic and he called out, “Vic.” It made her pause and look over her shoulder at him. He didn’t know what he’d planned on saying, so instead he just said, “Be careful.”

She nodded and gave him a half hearted smile, before they left.
“Where do we go from here?” Alexey asked as they passed through the sliding doors.

Vic sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment to light herself a cigarette. Romanova slumped against the bricks next to her and they watched the cars drive by on the street. She blew smoke out between her lips and tried not to feel discouraged and angry and hurt because she didn’t like feeling any of those things. Her shoe scrubbed at the sidewalk underneath her and she was thinking about Welsh lying in that hospital bed with an IV in his arm and bruises on his face.

Then she thought about Delia wrapping herself around his chest and she felt something dark and aching settle in her chest. It just made her mad, that was all. The girl treated him like shit every other day of the week and now that he was laid up in the hospital with camera crews trying to sneak into his room every damn day she was playing the poor distraught girlfriend role.

Vic snorted and rolled her head to the side to look at Alexey. “I thought you were going to tell me that,” she said. “You’re the one who said we needed to get back to work.” There was a smile on her face but it didn’t reach her eyes.

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned back at her. “Yeah, well, sorry if I didn’t want to stick around and play nice with super bitch.”

She laughed dryly at that and didn’t argue. There was that dull sensation like pain lingering in her chest and she didn’t want to think about why it was there because lately every time she did her thoughts just went back to Simon. She hadn’t wanted to leave his room. She hadn’t wanted to leave his side because there was a part of her that was scared he wouldn’t wake up next time. Her head tipped back against the wall and the clouds were heavy in the sky today. She thought it looked like rain. “I say we go pay a visit to Terry Marsden,” Vic said. She knocked ash off the end of her cigarette and watched it spiral to the ground.

“Oh yeah?” Alexey drawled. He smirked as he looked over at her and she didn’t doubt that he was itching for a fight as much as she was. After all, that was his brother lying in there. She kept thinking about one of the first things Alexey had said, that they were right fucking there and if they’d just walked out together or something than this wouldn’t have happened. “What about what Simon said? He didn’t recognize any of those guys in the pictures.”

Vic shrugged and smiled at him. It was mean and feral as it curled her lips. “So what?” she asked. “There were four of them and he’s got a skull fracture. Maybe he’s wrong. We won’t know unless we go talk to him, right?”

Alexey grinned at that and pushed himself off the wall before turning to walk backwards. “Well then what are hanging around here for? Though I have to tell you, that bike of yours is starting to make my balls ache.” He grasped himself to demonstrate and Vic just rolled her eyes. “There any chance you’ve got a sidecar or something I can ride around in?”

She snorted, flicking her cigarette off onto the ground and stepping on it as she followed him. She thought it was still early in the afternoon, but it was hard to tell with the pregnant clouds overhead. She didn’t care if started raining, as long as it didn’t turn to snow. It was too early in the season for that shit and she wasn’t ready for it. “No,” she told him. “No sidecar. Though you realize that riding in one would automatically make you my bitch, right? It’s like a rule or something.”

“I can think of worse things to be than your bitch,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. “As long as you do something fun with me, like spank me or whip me or ride me like a pony. That could be fun for all parties involved.”

“I think I’d rather get a cat,” she said, shoving him in the shoulder before swinging her leg over her bike.

“A ‘Big Cat’?” Alexey joked, climbing on behind her. Vic just rolled her eyes as the motorcycle roared to life beneath her.

Terry Marsden was a Catholic priest and Vic didn’t watch the news frequently enough to know anything else about the man. He was the founder of the Genesis Loyalists and Wright had said they were one of the more violent and militant groups. She didn’t know why and she didn’t care why, but their name gave her a pretty good guess. The people who played the religion card in the Shifter controversy usually did so because it was ‘against God’s will.’ Generally Vic and religion had an understanding. She stayed away from it and it stayed away from her and everyone went home happy. She didn’t curse God, but she didn’t believe in him either.

She parked the bike on the street outside the church but neither of them had climbed off yet. She’d pulled her helmet off and had it resting on one knee and she was just looking at the large wooden doors. It was in a residential district, shoved in between two old brick apartment buildings with a dumpster along the alley between them. There was a wooden cross above the door and the steps were kept clean but it wasn’t the grandest place she’d ever seen.

“This feels wrong somehow,” Alexey said.

Vic snorted and shot a glance over her shoulder. “You can wait outside.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to wait outside, I said this feels wrong somehow,” Alexey told her. He climbed off the back of the motorcycle, cracking his neck before he turned to face the doors. “I mean, I’m not super Christian or anything, but if we end up whacking this guy then I don’t want God getting pissy with me or anything for doing it in his house. Can we drag his body to the river first?”

Vic snorted and slung her arm around his shoulder. She gave him a teasing smirk as she headed for the stairs and there was an answering one on his face. “Sure Romanova. Whatever keeps your conscience clean.”

He grinned and then let her lead the way, pushing the door open and walking into the atrium. It smelled like old wood and old books, barely masked by the flowery scent of incense. She wrinkled her nose and bypassed the little shrine of holy water sitting by the entrance. It was mostly empty for now, since it wasn’t time for mass or a holiday, but their priest had to be around somewhere, right? Unless he was out ordering more hits on high profile shifters, but she thought one ought to do it for the week.

A door to their left opened and a man came out. He had a relieved smile on his face and he directed it at Vic as he walked by. She frowned and thought maybe she recognized him from somewhere but she couldn’t place a name. Then he was walking past her and the other door was opening to let the priest out and she forgot about it, stalking forward with quick steps.

“Terry Marsden,” she called. She recognized his picture even if she’d never met the man before. He was somewhere in his forties or fifties, brown hair going gray at the wings and fairly built for a man his age with his profession.

He glanced over at her and he studied her with a quick sweep of his eyes before his expression darkened. “Can I help you?” he asked.

His voice was calm and polite but the look on his face was anything but. She wondered if he recognized her and if he did she would have been surprised. The women’s fights didn’t get as much coverage and she wasn’t anxious to have her face plastered across the news or on cereal boxes. “Yeah,” she said. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Alexey coming up behind her, his gaze scanning the church before he came to stand next to her. He looked highly amused with the whole thing. “You can tell me what you know about the attack on Simon Welsh.”

If anything it just made Terry look more annoyed. “If you’re a reporter than I’m sorry, I’m not interested in giving an interview at this time,” he told her. “If you are an officer of the law than I would like to see a warrant and have my lawyer at my side before I answer any questions.” He waved her off with one hand before he started to walk towards the door in the right side of the church.

Alexey moved into his way, stopping him with a hand on his chest. “Sorry father, we’re not either of those things. Though I don’t know, I think I’d look good in a blue uniform. What do you think Vic?” he glanced at her with a grin.

“It’s not really your color,” she commented dryly. Alexey just chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

The man’s eyes narrowed and he reached up to push Alexey’s arm away from him. “You’re shifters,” he said, taking a step back. She smirked and saw his eyes shoot towards the pulpit and then over to the pew behind her. She wondered if he had guns hidden there and if they would really stop her if she decided to make a move against him. She had good money that said she was faster.

“Bingo,” Alexey said, pointing a finger at him and clucking his tongue. “But hey, that’s no reason we can’t all play nice, right? So why don’t you just go ahead and tell us what you know about the attack on Simon and we can take it from there.”

The priest licked his lips and then he lifted his head, his jaw clenched tightly. She thought she would see fear looking back at her but she didn’t. He just looked self-righteous and angry. “God made man in his image,” he told them. “What you are is an abomination of that. You are servants of the devil and every action you take is in his name and his name alone. Every breath you take is an affront to the Almighty.” He shook his head at them. “Whatever you to do me, God’s punishment will find you.”

Vic snorted and she felt her fingernails digging into her arms. “You’re so full of shit,” she spat, mostly because she couldn’t help herself. “I don’t care where you think I’m going or what your God thinks about me. I care whether or not you ordered a hit on Simon fucking Welsh because in a second I’m just going to go ahead and return the favor whether or not the answer’s yes.”

“I did not,” he told her. Then his lip curled in a sneer as he smiled at her. “But he deserved everything that happened to him.”

She moved without thinking. Her hand shot out in fisted in his robes and then the other one was hauling back and striking him in the face. Her knuckles popped as they met his nose and she didn’t care because there was a satisfying crunch as it snapped. Blood burst across his skin and she hit him again across the jaw. He stumbled under the blow and she followed him to the ground and all she could see were the same marks and cuts across Welsh’s skin and someone needed to fucking pay for that.

“Alright that’s enough Vic,” Alexey said. She felt his arms hook under hers and she threw an elbow back into his gut so she could get her fist free again. She slammed it down across the man’s eye and his head snapped back against the floor. She heard Alexey curse and then he was trying again, grabbing her bodily around the waist and hauling her off the man. “I don’t think he did it.”

She whirled and shoved him hard in the chest to get his arm off her and his eyes were wide as he stumbled back. He stared at her with surprise and concern and for a moment she was confused because she felt something like tears stinging at her eyes.

“He might as well have,” she said petulantly, looking at the man on the ground. He was groaning but he hadn’t gotten up yet.

Alexey snorted and then his arm went around her shoulders. She flinched under the touch but then let him steer her towards the door. It looked like it was starting to rain outside and she focused on that instead of the blood on her knuckles. She wasn’t sorry. It just reminded her too much of Welsh’s blood “Come on,” he said with a smirk. “I’m sure this’ll look great on the evening news.”

© Copyright 2011 Wenston, .Wolfie., (known as GROUP).
All rights reserved. GROUP has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
Log in to Leave Feedback
Username:
Password: <Show>
Not a Member?
Signup right now, for free!
All accounts include:
*Bullet* FREE Email @Writing.Com!
*Bullet* FREE Portfolio Services!
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/1751166-Instinct