Allie woke up and groaned, rolling onto her side from her stomach. As she gained consciousness, she gripped the top of the couch with her fingers and managed to hoist herself up further, and glanced around the suite, her eyes adjusting to the light of the new day, only to be surprised when she spotted Jenny standing in her kitchen, making coffee. Allie sat upright fully and licked her lips, rubbing her hands over her eyes as Jenny came back to the couch with a mug, handing it to Allie before taking a nearby blanket and putting it over her shoulders. Allie lifted the mug to her lips and took a long sip, then looked up at Jenny, standing in front of her, smiling down.

"...what are you still doing here?" Allie asked, her voice hoarse, making Jenny shrug.

"Didn't feel right leaving you," she replied, "you just seemed like you shouldn't be alone."

"I can handle myself," Allie said.

"Can you? Cause anytime I see you you're about to self destruct," Jenny remarked, sitting down on the couch now. Allie pulled her legs up under her, continuing to drink her coffee as Jenny went on, adding, "just seems like you're always looking out for others but nobody's looking out for you, I guess."

Allie thought about what an astute observation this was. She was always there for Zoe, for Molly, for everyone around her, always trying her best to shield them from the consequences of her actions, their actions as a group, but they had support systems of their own as well. Zoe had Effie, Molly had Benny and Olivia. Seemed like she was the only one being unsupported for the most part, especially now that Nick was distancing himself once again. She sighed and, much to even her own surprise, she scooted closer and rested her head on Jenny's shoulder.

"...I guess it could be nice to be taken care of now and then," Allie said.

Though, with Jenny's face mirroring Allie's, it was like she was taking care of herself.

                                                                        ***

Molly, Benny and Olivia were out, eating breakfast nearby the casino. Molly was having a dish made of cheese and scrambled eggs, while Benny and Olivia shared a stack of waffles. Molly scooped food into her mouth with her fork and chewed, looking out the window by their table as she did so, thinking. Benny looked up from the plate and swallowed, then put his fork down and picked up his water glass, taking a long sip.

"You okay there sport?" he asked.

"I just keep thinking about how we're going to accomplish this," Molly said, "I mean, realistically, what's the outcome? We get in there, get some photos and get out? That's hardly evidence. We can't take anything from it, because he would know, and who's to say there aren't cameras down there?"

"All valid questions," Olivia said, stabbing at the waffles.

"We could get masks, like those guys in bank heist movies," Benny said. Just then Zoe dropped onto the bench next to Molly and sighed, running her hands through her hair. Everyone looked at her and smiled politely. She waited a moment until a waitress came around and ordered a breakfast sandwich and some espresso and then looked at the table.

"I went to see Salem Shaw," she said, catching everyone off guard.

"You went to do what now?" Benny replied.

"We need someone who can be a distraction," Zoe said, "he can be that distraction. I'm not going in, so he and I can work the floor together, do a floor show in the main casino. This will provide ample distraction to anyone who should instead be focusing on security. Who's going in, by the way, do we know?"

"Me, Allie, Molly, Rufus and, apparently, someone else that Allie won't tell me yet," Benny said, "I think that's far too many, but who knows. Maybe we'll need that money."

A moment passed and Zoe grinned, then held up her hand, flashing the ring on her finger. Everyone took a minute to try to comprehend her message, until Olivia's eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth.

"Did you get engaged?!" she asked excitedly, and Zoe nodded.

"Yeah!" she replied, "yeah, Effie asked me last night. It's...it's so weird. I'm so happy but it's also something I never saw myself doing. Then again there's lots of stuff in the last few years I never saw myself doing, so who knows."

"Congratulations," Molly said solemnly, without looking up from her eggs, making Zoe feel confused. While she and Olivia continued to discuss the ring and the engagement and the potential wedding plans, Molly excused herself to go outside and have a cigarette. After a minute or so, Benny opted to join her. He found Molly standing on the side alley by the dumpster, smoking, and stopped right beside her, as she passed the cigarette to him and he took a puff, coughing a little.

"Haven't done this in a while, and certainly not in a location that makes me feel like I'm in high school," he said, making Molly smirk as she took it back and continued smoking; Benny swatted at the smoke in the air, cleared his throat and asked, "are you okay? Your whole demeanor seemed to shift there real quickly."

"...I'm not supposed to be happy," Molly said, "I'm not...that just isn't for me. I'm glad Zoe's happy. I'm glad she's getting what she wants, or didn't know she wanted until it happened. But I can't be around that kind of happiness because I'm not destined for it myself, so."

"Destined for it? Molly, you're not a lead in a fantasy novel," Benny laughed, "and I had no idea you might even want-"

"I don't know that I do, I just...it'll never happen for me, regardless, and that's kind of sad," she remarked.

A pause, and Benny kicked the ground in front of them.

"You know," he said, "there was a point in time where Olivia and I discussed marriage. She was never kinda for it, it was always very, uh...whatever to her, ya know? Me, I grew up around lots of happy couples, my parents are still together, and so I...I always liked the idea and I was certainly the one who was pushing for it more than she was. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, we eventually came to an agreement that, if we were gonna be together, and be open, we wouldn't mind bringing in a third so long as she didn't care if I got married."

Molly slowly turned her head to look at Benny, who reached over and ran his knuckles across her cheek.

"I think subtext is enough, right?" he asked, and she laughed, nodding, as he came around in front of her and pinned her to the alley wall, kissing her, and she happily kissed him back. Molly never expected to be involved in crime, but she also never expected to fall in love. First time for everything, she figured.

                                                                            ***

"I wonder if there's irony in the fact that a person who performs magic for a living feels like such a fraud in their personal life," Allie said.

She was still sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket while Jenny picked up around the suite, gathering items into a large trash bag, putting dirty laundry into a nearby hamper, just taking care of the things Allie had been willfully neglecting for a while now.

"I mean," Allie continued, "nothing about me is real. My personality is simply an amalgamation of people I've admired, my interests and hobbies are just things I picked up from others and not anything I discovered on my own, and my ability to have friends and romantic partners is always tainted by the fact that I feel like I'm putting on a show. Everything is so performative. Nobody really knows who I am or how I feel because I'm scared if they did...they'd hate me. And why wouldn't they? That me is worse than the version they know, and the version they know they already hate, so logically it just makes sense they'd hate the real me too."

Jenny stopped and looked at Allie, hand on her hip as she tossed her hair back behind her head.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, the facade isn't a bad thing?" Jenny asked, and Allie looked up, one eyebrow raised in confusion; Jenny sighed, rolled her eyes and added, "everyone makes such a big deal about being real, being raw, being authentic and true to themselves. But all the most famous people in the world are entertainers who's actual personhood we know nothing about. We like the fraudulent. We embrace those putting on a mask. So maybe the facade isn't an inherently bad thing, Allie. Take it from a girl who no longer has her own face...sometimes fakery is better."

Allie watched as Jenny plopped the bag down on the floor, tossed another pair of jeans into the hamper and then sat back down on the couch beside her, sighing, shaking her head.

"Because nobody recognizes me now, but they sure like me more than they used to," Jenny continued, "because I'm not who they used to think I was. Now I'm somebody different. In some cases, someone they like or recognize or admire. They like me cause I look like you."

Allie looked at Jenny, who looked back at her, and for a brief moment, Allie saw her own self worth in someone elses eyes. Jenny smiled weakly and flopped back into the couch cushions, exhaling, blowing her bangs from her face.

"I think, when we spend our entire lives hating ourselves, it becomes hard to believe others might like us," Jenny said.

"...then why doesn't Nick like me the way he claims to?" Allie asked, sounding genuinely defeated, and Jenny shrugged.

"Maybe the problem isn't with you," Jenny answered, "maybe the problem is Nick doesn't know what he actually wants. Do you know what you actually want?"

Allie hesitated, bit her lip, and then nodded.

                                                                             ***

Rachel St. Sebastian was finishing up work for the day.

She tugged the rubber gloves off her hands and tossed them in a nearby bin, before adjusting the tubing leading into the corpse on her table, and then backed away, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out her cigarettes. She unboxed one, lit it and then lifted it to her lips, where she took a nice, long puff. She shouldn't be smoking around the dead, she knew this, but it wasn't like they'd get cancer. Besides, the embalming process basically guaranteed they were wax figures, so the smoke wasn't any harm to their skin. Rachel stood there, tapping her foot on the floor, thinking about her job. She could've done something 'normal'. She could've been just an ordinary doctor. Lord knows she had the smarts and ambition for it. She could've helped people, saved people, but...the thing was...nobody ever wanted to help the dead. Only the alive.

She could remember being a little girl and going to a funeral, she was maybe 12 years old, and she could recall how someone had called the service "a celebration of life", and she found that viewpoint far more morbid than anything that was actually supposed to be morbid. Everyone was so afraid of death that they couldn't even spend a single day discussing it. Instead, they turned what was meant to be a goodbye into a "celebration". That felt wrong to her, somehow. So disingenous. So maybe she was in the right career field after all, doing what she could to help the dead. After all, she certainly couldn't help the living.

"You should keep this door locked," Claire said as she entered down the stairs, causing Rachel to jump in surprise, putting a hand to her chest.

"Jesus don't do that," she muttered, "what are you even doing here?"

"I like to keep tabs," Claire said, grinning, "actually I just missed you. We don't see eachother much anymore."

"Well, that's partially because I'm busy working and you're busy being a fugitive, so," Rachel replied, taking a long drag off her cigarette, as Claire got closer, took it from her lips and popped it between her own, taking a drag herself before blowing smoke into Rachel's face, causing her to cough, and feel her heartbeat quicken. Claire knew exactly the kind of attitude she liked, and she hated herself for it. She hated how attracted she was to her.

"So," Claire asked, turning to face the table, "who's the deadbeat?"

"Um," Rachel said, chuckling as she scratched her forehead, "his name was Chuck Bastion, he was a...a prominant politician, nothing really high up but very well respected. Leaves behind no family, no wife, no children, not that anyone knows about anyway."

Claire glanced down at Chuck's body and grinned.

"Is that so?" she asked, taking another drag.

                                                                            ***

"Thanks for keeping me company today," Allie said.

She was now sitting on the kitchen island counter as Jenny finished doing the dishes. Jenny sopped the excess water up, then dried her hands with some nearby paper towels before turning away from the sink and back to facing Allie, smiling warmly at her.

"I didn't have much else going on," Jenny said, shrugging.

"That's a ringing endorsement for the enjoyability of my company," Allie said, both of them laughing; Allie continued, "no really, I think I needed a day off. A day with no magic, no drama, no nothing. I've been burning the wick at both ends and I feel like I was finally running out of steam."

"And metaphors," Jenny said.

"Right," Allie said, chuckling, "and to have some company from someone that isn't someone I see all the time, that's nice. There's no expectations in regards to our interaction. Everyone else I deal with...they expect things from me, you know? My friends expect leadership, my audience expects entertainment, my boss expects financial return on his investments. I think you're the only person who doesn't expect anything from me. Nick sure expected things..."

Jenny walked up to the island and put her hands on Allie's knees, looking up at her.

"Love, be it romantic or platonic, should never be required to be reciprocal. It should just be reciprocal by nature. You should want to help those you care about, not feel forced to. I just thought you might need some help, so I came by to check on you, cause...well...seemed like nobody else was. And it's understandable, people get wrapped up in their own lives, but...at the end of the day, maybe, ya know...try to care about those you claim to? You can tell someone you love them all you want, but unless you show it, it doesn't mean shit."

Allie nodded, listening closely. She then leaned in and let Jenny hug her, stroking her hair. Here, hiding in the background the whole time, was the one person who genuinely wanted to be around her, and she'd never even expected it. Jenny was what Allie needed. Zoe came with so much baggage now, Molly really wanted nothing to do with any of them, and Nick...Nick wanted her to be someone she wasn't. But Jenny...Jenny just wanted to make sure Allie was okay, and didn't need anything in return.

"We're all getting together next week to see Jackson Strange's practice at his public performance soon," Allie said, "you should come. I want you to come."

"Then I'll be there," Jenny replied, patting her on the back before pulling away, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her dead in the eyes, smiling and saying, "it isn't just a stage name, remember that. You ARE fucking astounding."

With that, she kissed her on the cheek, then grabbed her coat, and exited the suite. Allie continued sitting on the kitchen island counter, just thinking about the entire interaction. When Jenny had told her she'd had feelings for her in the hospital, Allie had been flattered, but had said she'd never really been one to be interested in women. Sure, she could see women being attractive, and sure, she had celebrity crushes like anyone else, but she never once felt any real intense interest in being in a romantic situation with another woman, not like Zoe did, and so she brushed it off. But after today...after the kindness, and the sincerity she just experienced, something she'd never once gotten from men, not even the good ones like Nick, she was feeling confused.

Allie finally hopped down and, blanket still wrapped around her, headed into the bathroom. She flicked on the lights and looked at herself in the mirror. What was she feeling? She didn't even know. All she knew was that she liked having Jenny around, was sad when she left, and wanted her to come back. Allie wasn't gay. She was still attracted to men very much. But something about the softness that Jenny had given her...that was something no man had ever managed to achieve. Allie felt safe, and not performative for once. She felt simply understood and seen, and allowed to be herself regardless of the wallowing. Men didn't like it when she wallowed. Jenny, however, just told her she would be okay. Allie sighed and blinked a few times. She was so tired. She had so much about to happen, she didn't need to be grappling with this sort of identity crisis on top of it all as well. She needed to talk to her cousin. She needed advice. But before she could do that, someone else knocked on her door. Allie left the bathroom and walked to the living room, pulling open the door and was surprised to see Salem Shaw.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"...I'm in," Salem said, "let's rob these fuckers blind."