Allie was driving, but her thoughts weren't exactly focused on the act of driving. Instead, her mind was elsewhere. Not anywhere in particular, really, opting instead to jumping around in time, remembering one moment or another. Events she'd wished played out differently. Things she'd wished she'd done instead of what she did do. The radio crackled as it turned to yet another new station, and Allie finally looked over in annoyance. Megan had been changing the station knob for the last fifteen minutes, switching between over a dozen different options.

"Is this what you do at home? Because if so, I can't blame Jeff for cheating on you."

"Low blow," Megan said, continuing her channel surfing, "why did you ask me to come with you anyway?"

"Cause seeing family isn't any fun if it's done by yourself," Allie said, "you think I wanna be the only one being judged?"

"Remember in our Junior year of highschool we got caught coming home at like, 2am on a weeknight, and our parents were convinced we were doing something bad and then when we told them we had been performing magic at a club downtown, they looked so disappointed. Almost like they'd had preferred if we'd been partying."

"To be fair," Allie said, "we were doing magic. That is kinda embarrassing."

Megan laughed and continued turning the radio knob until Allie finally slapped her hand away.

"Alright knock it off!" she shouted, making Megan laugh harder.

Truth was, Allie didn't even care to go home and see her parents. She just wanted someone to come with her so she didn't have to be mired in her own nostalgia, and Megan, being who she'd started her career with and being her only decent family, was the person she figured was the safest to accomplish this trip with.

"I'm sorry for what I said about Jeff," Allie said, and Megan winced, then smiled weakly.

"Thanks," she said, "he's moving out, but he's not even opting for a divorce or anything just yet. I think he's just hoping that some time apart will let us process our feelings about the whole thing."

"That or he wanted a place to be able to cheat on you without being caught," Allie said.

"Yeah, probably more likely it's that," Megan said, "why are relationships so hard? Are things like this with Nick?"

"Nah," Allie said, "cause Nick knows I'd kill him if he made it difficult."

Allie and Megan laughed, and it felt good. It felt good to laugh, for the both of them. This little trip home might be just what each woman needed to move on a little bit more. The irony of the conversation, however, was that relationships weren't hard if you had the right person. Sure, they still require work, but in the end, they were worthwhile and easygoing if you did it right, and nobody knew that better right now than Molly Hatchet.

                                                                             ***

Molly yawned and opened her eyes, her sight a bit blurry. She realized she was laying her head on Olivia's chest in bed as Olivia stroked her hair with one hand, her free hand reading a magazine, while Benny laid behind Molly, spooning her, his chin resting on her shoulder. Molly shut her eyes and smiled, then yawned again before speaking.

"What are you reading about?" she asked.

"I am reading about great vacation spots," Olivia said, "just on the off chance we ever get to take a vacation again."

"You have anywhere in particular in mind?" Molly asked.

"Not really, no," Olivia said, "anywhere you've ever wanted to go?"

"When I was a teenager, my parents took me to a lot of national parks. I always liked that," Molly said, "I don't really like the act of camping, per say, and always opt to stay in the cabins or lodges or whatever they have on the grounds for snobs like me, but I do like going. Plus, if I stay in the lodges, I get to check out the architecture, which is always a plus."

"You can check out the architecture in my pants," Benny muttered, half asleep, behind them, making them both laugh.

"Anyway, that's my idea of a good time," Molly said, "for someone who spends their entire life dedicated to the interior of buildings, it's nice to sometimes go outside and get away from all that. Return to the nature, that kind of thing."

"I think that's a fantastic idea," Olivia said, leaning down and kissing Molly on the top of the head, making her blush. Molly had never once considered she'd be a part of something like this, but she was surprised at how easy it all actually was. Molly pulled one of her arms out from under the sheets and looked at her watch.

"Shit," she said, "I need to go to the casino, take measurements for the vault."

"Do you want a ride?" Olivia asked, and Molly nodded.

"That would be really nice, thank you," Molly said.

"I can hang around until you're done, and we can go to lunch," Olivia said, "Benny will be out for a while, so it'd be nice to not be alone."

Molly smiled as she climbed out of bed and started to get dressed. She wondered what she'd done in order to be loved by two different people, but whatever the reason was, she was grateful. Molly pulled on her pants and put on her bra before heading into the attached bathroom and looking at herself in the mirror, pulling her hair back and tying it up when Olivia came in to grab her own clothes from the hamper and then, turning, stopped behind Molly and put her hands on Molly's shoulders, leaning in and kissing her on the neck.

"Whenever you're ready," Olivia said, making Molly blush more.

Yes, right now, life was so good, even in spite of all the crimes they were committing.

                                                                             ***

"You're sure it's her?" Agent Siskel asked as she and Agent Tropper walked through the scene.

"I mean, there's a hole through her head, but that hasn't impacted identification," Agent Tropper replied as he lifted the crime scene tape for them to both go underneath; as he watched Agent Siskel get ahead of him, he jogged to catch up and added, "it might be gruesome to see, for the record."

"You're acting like I've never seen someone shot in the head before," Agent Siskel said, "this isn't my first day on the job."

"I'm just giving you ample warning," Agent Tropper said as they finally reached the body. It was spread on the ground, just like the photos had shown it, and both agents stopped and looked down, somewhat in disbelief. Agent Siskel shook her head as the cops milled about around them, continuing to take notes, clearly waiting on the coroner to show up.

"She didn't deserve this," Agent Siskel whispered, chewing on her nails.

"I mean, she kind of did," Agent Tropper said, shrugging, hands in his coat pockets, "Let's not pretend she was innocent. She knew what she was involved in, she was doing bad things just like everyone else. She opted in. To act as though she was a bystander isn't right."

"Still, she didn't deserve this, I don't care what she did," Agent Siskel said, shaking her head, "this is...this is cold."

"Yeah, well, we knew this was a possible outcome, given everything, when we gave Allie the gun," Agent Tropper said.

Just then they heard a car horn honking back at the road and saw a hearse pull up, the window down as Rachel St Sebastian shouted out the window.

"Get the fuck out of my way, you goddamned bureaucratic crackpot!" she yelled, before parking and climbing out. Agent Tropper and Agent Siskel exchanged a look, unsure if they should even allow her to be involved. Rachel St Sebastian walked through the crowd, past other cops, and under the tape between the trees, finally stopping at the agents.

"Miss Sebastian," Agent Tropper said, reaching out to shake her hand, Agent Siskel doing the same. Way they figured it, best they could do at this point was keep her on their good side. She might become an invaluable asset.

"Didn't know you were such an in demand coroner," Agent Siskel said.

"Not so much that as it is I'm the one willing to do work on murders," Rachel said, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag, "they're often too heavy or uncomfortable for most, so I kind of fill that niche. I don't mind the nastiness of the situation."

"Not surprising, given what you were involved in," Agent Siskel said.

"Yeah, well, that's fair," Rachel replied, "...let me see her."

"You sure?" Agent Tropper asked, "could be...jarring, given your association."

"I need to see her," Rachel said quietly.

She knew full well, just like the agents, that when she'd directed Allie to that empty complex this was one of two outcomes. She just didn't know which to expect. So she walked past the agents and inspected the body, and, in some warped way, she felt so responsible yet so relieved, and that only made her feel worse. Rachel put out her cigarette and tucked it behind her ear, then put her hand over her mouth as she knelt down and inspected the damage. A clean, singular shot through the head. That's all it came down to. Rachel rubbed her eyes and wanted to cry, but she knew this was the best possible situation. She stood up and turned around, facing the agents.

"Do you mind if I bag and tag her?" Rachel asked, reaching into her leather jacket and pulling out some rubber gloves, snapping them over her hands.

"Not at all, do your duty," Agent Tropper said.

So that's what she did. She did her duty. After all, she was somewhat responsible for her death.

                                                                             ***

Molly was sitting at the table in the restaurant after her measurement meeting, poking at her food with her fork, staring at her plate absentmindedly. When she'd gotten there, she didn't expect the lawyer Zoe had mentioned to have been there too, but she seemed to be attached to Tony by the hip, and the whole situation was awkward and made her nervous. She wondered if she'd even taken the correct measurements, in all honesty, because she felt so watched, and what's worse, Tony had had her lie about what the measurements were actually for. He clearly didn't want Raindrop to know what he was planning on doing. How did Molly keep getting dragged into other peoples secrets? She heard a light tapping of a fork on a glass and looked up across the table at Olivia.

"Sorry," Molly mumbled, "sorry, I just...I got lost in my head about work."

"You doing alright?" Olivia asked, and Molly rested her head in her palm, shrugging; Olivia lifted her glass to her lips and took a drink before asking, "you seem, what's the word, absolutely miserable?"

Molly smirked and stabbed some of her chicken salad with her fork, chewing and swallowing before talking.

"I just hate this whole thing, all of it," Molly said, "the whole situation. I don't want to be involved in it, but at the same time, these are the only real friends I've ever made, and I'd be so sad and lonely without them. But I almost want to just recede into the darkness, move away, go somewhere nobody can find me."

"Well how about this, after all of it's said and done, you, me and Benny leave Vegas and go somewhere?" Olivia asked, and Molly's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"I don't have any stake here," Olivia said, "I'm only staying cause Benny does, and frankly, he's willing to make a change at this point. And you're more than welcome to come with us. You're a part of this, after all."

"I never thought I'd be a part of anything like this," Molly said.

"You mean the crimes or the relationship?" Olivia asked, chuckling, making Molly giggle.

"Both, to be honest," Molly said, "but in this instance I was specifically referring to the relationship. In fact...I've never really felt anything for any woman, and I'm...what I feel here doesn't equal what I feel for Benny, I'm pretty straight, but I have to admit you're comforting and feel safe and are very pretty and kind, and that makes things much easier. Still, it's all very new to me, but the openness of it all and the sexuality side."

"For what it's worth," Olivia said, taking another sip of her drink, "we've never managed to find someone who fit our criteria so well, so you really are a special case. Usually it was either someone Benny really liked, someone I really liked, someone neither of us liked who liked us way too much or some other weird variation on the formula. But you seem to care about us both equally, and we both love you very much, and that's the way it should be."

"I've had bad luck with relationships," Molly said, "so it's...it's kind of healing to be loved by two different people at once."

Olivia smiled and reached across the table, patting Molly's outstretched hand.

"Then we're happy to heal you," she said, smiling warmly, making Molly blush.

Between Zoe's relationship with Effie and Molly's relationship with Benny and Olivia, it seemed like everyone, by the end, would end up more or less better off...except for Allie.

                                                                               ***

Allie and Megan had parked at their old elementary school and walked into the grounds. It was after school, so nobody was there, and they had the entire playground to themselves. The girls seated themselves on the swings, and Allie couldn't help but feel like she should go see her parents, but at the same time, why bother? They never came to see her in the hospital when she'd gotten mauled. For all she cared, she had no family. Except Megan, of course. Megan kicked her shoes off, grabbed the chains of the swing, and started pushing herself, Allie smiling as she watched her cousin actually enjoy herself for a change.

"For what it's worth," Allie said, "Jeff is a dick, and you always deserved better."

"He wasn't always," Megan said, "that was what attracted me to him to begin with. He was a good guy. I think most men just become bored of their complacency in marriage, feel stagnant, miss that rush of being in love, which is sad cause you can have that with your spouse every day forever if you just give enough of a shit to put the effort in."

Allie shrugged. Was Nick the same way? He was what she considered a 'nice guy' - albeit not in the creepy sense - but would he, if they married, become the same kind of person as Jeff? The idea scared her. Course, marriage was not something that was ever on Allie's mind.

"Still," Allie said, "I'm sorry it happened."

"Maybe I wasn't a good enough wife or mother, I don't know."

"Don't let him make you doubt yourself," Allie said, "don't give him that kind of power over you. This decision is his failing, not yours."

Megan nodded as Allie looked around the schoolyard and sighed.

"Doesn't seem so long ago, does it?" she asked, and Megan shook her head; Allie continued, "you don't realize how quickly it's passing. It was all over so fast even when it felt like it was taking an eternity. I miss the simplicity of adolescence. I mean, sure, it had its hang ups. Not everything was cut and dry, black and white, it was still messy and emotional, but it isn't like life is now. I don't like how life is now."

"You're not planning on killing yourself, are you?" Megan asked, smirking, making Allie laugh.

"No, but if I were, this would be a great suicide note wouldn't it?" she asked, the both of them laughing now; Allie added, "but you know what I mean, like, I wanna go back somehow. I think that's what this little trip was about. Going back. Even if only briefly. I know I can't go back fully, but at least I can get this small bit of respite from an otherwise regularly convoluted life."

The girls sat and swang, listening to the breeze pass through the trees overhead.

"I miss doing magic with you," Megan said, surprising Allie, who looked at her wide eyed; Megan said, "I really do. It gave me stability, a sense of accomplishment."

"And mother hasn't?" Allie asked, making Megan chuckle.

"No, I feel completely unfullfilled by having raised a child, you got me," Megan said, "worst decision I ever made."

The girls cackled together, and it felt nice to connect like this again, in the way they used to.

"But you know what I mean," Megan said, "if you ever need a third person, or Zoe ever decides to finally come to her senses and leave you, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, home, alone, moping because your husband left and your child doesn't fill the gaping black void in your heart," Allie said, the girls laughing loudly again. They smiled at one another in a way they hadn't since they were young, and then they swang together in silence. It was nice, to be supported by a family member. Allie could recall the very first time she successfully pulled off a trick in front of her mother, eager for her approval, and instead all she got was disinterest. Allie could remember saying, repeatedly, "You're not looking!" and her mother casually claiming she was, despite never raising her eyes to her daughters efforts. And then Allie showed that same trick to Megan, and Megan decided she wanted to do magic too. Between Megan, Zoe and, by proxy of her tiger attack, Nick, Allie's most important relationships had been built on the back of magic.

One could say her luck was in the cards.