Maddie had expected to go to school today.

She'd expected to wake up, go to school, have pizza for lunch, maybe read a book during quiet class time, and come home to do homework. She'd expected a routine, monotonous, uninteresting day like every other. Unfortunately, that wasn't what her morning consisted of. Instead, what she woke up to...was blood. When she approached Lilian, who was still asleep, she was mortified of asking for help. Standing there, watching Lilian snore as she lay sprawled across her own bed, with Miranda laying beside her, she bit her lip nervously, pulled her fleece blanket up over her shoulders tighter and sighed, walking into the room. She approached the bed, reached out and touched Lilian's shoulder, gently shaking her until one of her eyes fluttered halfway open.

"Mmm...hey...are you okay? Is it time for school?" Lilian asked, until she saw the clock and realized it was still two hours until school started; now confused, she looked back at Maddie and asked, "are you feeling sick?"

"...I need help please," Maddie said, her voice shaky and scared, "...there's blood in my bed."

That got Lilian's attention. The day had finally come. She was just surprised it had arrived so early.

                                                                                ***

"What do you think about this?" Alex asked, showing John the image of the haircut she was thinking of.

"It's not bad," he said, biting into his apple, "it would frame your face really well."

"Yeah?" Alexis asked, pulling the brochure back towards her and continuing to look, "I...guess it could be okay."

John looked up and around at the other clients in the salon, here for various treatments. Coloring, washing, cutting. He started to think about Star, and his eyes wetted instantly. He shook the thoughts away and returned to focusing on his apple instead, while Alexis turned the page, still uncertain of just what kind of haircut to get. After a moment, she set the magazine face down in her lap, spread and open to the page she had been on, and looked back at John as she chewed nervously on her nails.

"You know, when I was a little girl, my mom used to cut my hair all the time," she said, "and one day, on the day she was supposed to do it, she had to work instead. She worked as a secretary for a really sketchy lawyer in a strip mall, and she didn't make much, so she had to take the hours when she could. Anyway, she left the job up to my father, who didn't know a damn thing about cutting hair. So he sits me down in this tall stool in the kitchen, and he starts doing it, but he's been drinking a bit, and after a bit, I feel this pinch, and then I see blood start coming down the front of my shirt from my neck. He'd nicked my ear with the scissors. Expectedly, I freaked out, and later so did my mother, and she did all my hair cutting again from then on. I haven't let anyone but her cut my hair since, so it's been....a few years since I've had my haircut, and now it's by a total stranger and I'm having feelings of intense anxiety over someone I don't know or trust getting close to me with scissors."

"Yeah but these are professionals," John said, "professionals don't make mistakes."

"Uh, Chernobyl?" Alex asked, making John chuckle.

"Okay, most of the time," he replied, "trust me, the girl who does my hair does is excellent, she won't harm you."

Alexis nodded, feeling a bit more relieved. She then went back to reading, as John's mind trailed off, thinking back to Star, and taking her to get her first haircut, post accident, and what an ordeal that had been. The second that someone approached her with anything remotely resembling a sharp object, thanks to the crash and the wreckage thereof, she absolutely flipped out and started screaming uncontrollably. John never took her to get a haircut again. Seems like, in some warped way, history was repeating itself. Just on a far less uncomfortable scale.

                                                                            ***

"This isn't a big deal," Lilian said as she and Maddie walked down the aisles of the superstore, looking for menstrual products; Maddie was nervously clinging to her, like a lost little puppydog, and Lilian kept patting her on the back, adding, "it really isn't, this sort of thing happens to almost every woman. It's scary at first, maybe, but after that initial shock, yeah. You get used to it."

"I really don't like waking up in a bed of blood," Maddie replied, making Lilian smirk.

"Yeah, I get that. Thankfully I don't have to work today, so I can help you get through this," she said, "you'll be okay."

They walked a little further, passing by a mom with two kids, one in the shopping cart and the other, a daughter about Maddie's age, holding onto the shopping cart and talking endlessly. Maddie looked at the ground as she walked and sighed. She was growing up without her parents. She had Lilian, and she loved her for having stepped up when someone needed to, and she was appreciative that she wasn't alone, but in this critical life changing moment of her adolescence, she didn't have her mother, and that stung a little. But she would never let Lilian know that, she figured that sort of information would break her heart, seeing how hard she was trying.

"You know," Lilian started again, as they turned a corner and headed down another aisle, this time the correct one, "when I got my period, my mother didn't talk to me for a few days because she felt like her little girl was grown up now. But some blood coming out of you doesn't dictate anything. It's just a biological sign that shows your body is capable of new things. Doesn't change your mentality in the slightest, not unless you let it, and I certainly didn't let it change me."

Maddie looked up at her and sniffled, nodding, smiling. Lilian ran her hand up into Maddie's hair and scruffed it a bit.

"And if you're anything like me, and it seems like you are, then you won't let it change a thing about you either. You haven't let anything else change anything about you - not even things that should theoretically drastically alter a person - so why should this?" Lilian added as they finally arrived at the correct aisle. As they headed down, Maddie seeming extremely hesitant and nervous, she couldn't help but also feel a sense of belonging and safety because she had a grown woman with her who cared, and would help her get through anything.

"What...should I get?" Maddie asked, and Lilian shrugged.

"They're all basically the same, except for branding; just pick stuff and I'll tell you what I think," Lilian said.

As she felt Maddie finally let go of her, and headed further into the aisle herself, she felt a weird sense of pride. In a way, it was as if she were making up for her own poor childhood by being a better mother to Maddie than either of theirs had ever been to them. Lilian knew her mother wasn't terrible by any means - flawed, certainly, but not terrible in the slightest - but she never wanted to make Maddie feel alone or confused or forgotten. And if there's one moment that no girl should ever have to feel those things...

...it's the moment they enter womanhood.

                                                                             ***

Alexis, seated in a chair, looking at herself in the mirror, felt anxious.

The woman cutting her hair was a tall, leggy woman in her 40s. She had long albeit bundled up blonde hair and seemed to be gathering the right brushes and shampoos required for the full salon treatment, while Alexis watched her him and haw and shashay around behind her in the mirrors relfection. She chewed absentmindedly on her lip and thought about how she hadn't hair a haircut in so many years, and how nervous this made her. Surely this woman wouldn't hurt her, even on accident. Sure accidents happen, nobody could deny that, but this was a professional. She wouldn't steer her wrong, right? John sure wouldn't, and he's the one who suggested her, so she felt like she was in good, capable hands.

"So, what do you think you want?" the stylist asked, causing Alexis to tense up.

"Uh, I...I don't know. I've never before been asked what my preference for a cut is," she replied, "I grew up with my parents cutting my hair, so they just did whatever they thought was fine. I've never had think about having a say in the matter."

"Well, you do now," the stylist responded, chuckling, "I saw you looking at the magazines while waiting, did you see anything you liked in there?"

Alexis shrugged and thought about it for a few moments, then exhaled.

"I like the idea of having bangs. I don't like my forehead. I wanna hide it. And maybe make the ends curled a bit; nothing really outstandingly noticeable, just somewhat curled, you know? I like simple hair. I don't...I don't wanna look that different," Alexis said, mumbling at the last part as the stylist patted her on the shoulder and got to work.

"I can do that for you," she said.

And as she did her job, and as Alexis watched herself transform even just the tiniest bit in the mirror before her, she started to feel a little bit more in control over herself. For so long, something else was controlling her. Her parents, the drugs, Vera. But now, here she was, making the decision of what to look like, and getting that sort autonomy, when you've never had it before, was exhilarating. She started to crack a smile, and by the time the stylist was done washing, color treating and cutting, Alexis liked what she saw in the mirror.

Which was the first time in her life she didn't hate the person looking back.

                                                                             ***

The front door to the apartment unlocked, and Lilian and Maddie entered to find an already cooking Miranda come from the kitchen, surprised and somewhat confused. She hadn't expected either of them back this early. She watched Maddie, plastic bag of supplies in hand, head to her bedroom while Lilian collapsed on the couch and Miranda seated herself on the coffee table in front of her, watching her.

"Okay, so I know it's your day off, but...what about her? Why is she home? Did she get sick at school?" Miranda asked, and Lilian ran her hands through her hair, exhaling.

"She got her first period today," Lilian said, and Miranda's eyes widened.

"...oh," she said, "wow, uh, that wasn't the answer I expected. Wow. Alright. So...so you took her to get what she needed?"

"Mhm," Lilian replied, sniffing the air, "what are you cooking?"

"Spare ribs," Miranda said, "they're not ready, but you if you could go make the potatoes, I'd be grateful for the help."

Lilian smiled and nodded, leaning forward and placing her hands on Miranda's face, kissing her before getting up and heading into the kitchen. Miranda, once Lilian was out of line of sight, got up as well, but headed towards Maddie's room. She entered and noticed Maddie sitting on her bed, wrapped fully in a blanket with just her face peaking out. As Miranda shut the door, their eyes locked and Miranda walked in further, seating herself on the bedside.

"Hey," Miranda said, "I heard. Are you okay?"

Maddie just shrugged, not even looking at her.

"...look," Miranda said, "I'm probably not the best person to discuss this with, because I...I've never had one, I'll never know what it's like to have one, but I wanna tell you something, okay? You willing to listen to me?"

Maddie nodded, still not speaking or looking her way.

"...they say it's painful, and I don't doubt that it is, but...it's also considered a rite of passage. The moment you transition to womanhood is marked by this occasion, societally anyway. The pain you'll have to endure once a month is just...I mean, I've spoken to women about it, it's ungodly unfair. That being said, I just want to tell you how lucky you are."

That got Maddie's attention. She finally turned her head to look at Miranda, her face contorted in a confused expression.

"Excuse me?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, cause...listen, uh...this is gonna be hard to explain, but I'm gonna do my best, okay? From the other side, someone who isn't seen as a woman by a large majority of the population, everything I do has to be even more performative to femininity than a woman such as yourself, or Lilian. And while women have to put in an overabundance of effort to begin with, it's innate for the most part. You're taught it. Girls like me...we're not taught anything. If anything, we're told the opposite. To repress it. Ignore it. I have to take medicine every single day of my life in order to look even remotely the same, to have the same hormones as any biological woman, and that's on top of surgeries - which, fairly, not every woman like me cares to have - and while that's all exhausting, it doesn't stop me from dwelling on the things I can't have. While, yes, I can get myself close to the view of myself that I've always seen and want to project, I can never, no matter what I do, have things women like you have."

Maddie sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, listening.

"I'd give anything in the world to endure the pain of periods, because...because to endure the pain of everything else I have to is so much worse, and daily instead of monthly," Miranda said, near tears, "and I'm not diminishing what you're gonna go through with this, but..."

Maddie leaned in and hugged Miranda tightly around the waist, both of them crying. Miranda didn't even have to finish. Maddie understood. There's varying degrees of pain to womanhood and each had to fight to get through it. But at least they had one another. Womanhood came with sisterhood, that was the important part to remember.

"We're both just learning to be women," Miranda whispered, stroking Maddie's hair, "and when it's effortless, it's like magic, and those are the times to be happy about it."

Maddie herself felt very much like Miranda. Sure, she was born a girl, but her mother had never given her tips on how to act, how to be the sort of performative that society expected; she knew next to nothing about what was expected from young women. She didn't know how to do makeup. She didn't know how to use tampons until today. She didn't know anything. So maybe it was good that the best person available for her to learn was someone who also never knew. At least they had that much in common.

                                                                           ***

The door to Star's room opened and she looked up from the floor, where she was sitting cross legged doing a large piece puzzle. As the door swung open more, John entered and shut the door behind himself. Star scrambled up from the floor and threw herself against him, hugging him tightly, making him laugh as he hugged her back.

"Hey kiddo!" he said, "wow, what a greeting!"

"You got a haircut," Star said, pulling away and looking at her father, and he nodded.

"Yeah, nothing serious. You doing a puzzle? You want help?" he asked as she sat back down and went back to the puzzle. John seated himself on the opposite side from her and watched.

"I don't need help! I'm a big girl," Star said as she went back to picking up the pieces and focusing on her puzzle once more. John smiled and nodded. She was, indeed, a big girl. There was no arguing that. So he sat there, and he opened the fast food he'd brought and they both ate in silence, just enjoying one anothers company. He'd dropped Alexis back off at the clinic after they'd had a small snack after the visit to the salon, and that was when he knew he should come see his daughter today. Alexis reminded him so much of the person Star would've been had she not been in the accident, though hopefully sans the addictive tendencies (though, who was he to judge, he'd been an alcoholic and drug user once himself).

"What is this puzzle?" John asked, picking up the lid and looking at it.

"It's of daddy," Star said, as he smiled, noticing the image on the box was of a clown.

He laughed, Star laughed, and that laughter was the only sound they needed to fill the silence.

"There's one thing nobody tells you about surviving an overdose, and that is that sometimes, instead of relief, you feel regret. Not for having tried, but for having not succeeded," Parker Harrison said; he was sitting in a chair, his neatly trimmed beard reflecting light and his black square glasses resting gently on his nose as he leaned forward, hands on his knees, a posture only taken by well meaning fathers as he added, "because for every person you hear about who says they're happy they failed, there's just as many who are upset they failed, and I think those people need to be heard."

"But I didn't...try to deliberately kill myself," Alexis said, "I didn't. It was an accident, honest to god."

"And I believe you, but even an accidental overdose can create mixed feelings about the aftermath," Parker replied, "do you ever feel regret for still being here?"

That was a question Alexis didn't want to answer, because, yeah, on one hand she did. But it wasn't for the reason of having survived an accidental overdose. It was for so many other reasons. Her failed relationship with her parents, her failed relationships in general, her inability to keep Vera and others around her happy and her inability to be happy herself. But none of those were a direct result of what had happened. Those things had been largely prevelant long before the overdose. Parker leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"Can I go do my physical therapy now?" Alexis asked, and Parker shrugged. Alexis groaned, and then, gripping her crutches, stood up and hobbled out of the room. Once outside she leaned against his door and exhaled deeply. She hated that man with a seething loathing only reserved for teenagers towards their peers. Something about his do goody natured attitude didn't jive well with her massive feelings of general cynicism. She heard someone walking down the hall towards her and smiled as she saw John approaching, holding a bag from a fast food restaurant.

"I take it therapy is over?" he asked, "You want some lunch?"

"Please," Alexis remarked, "I am starving."

Alexis Lafayette didn't like being in the hospital, but at least she had someone bring her better food than what they served, and she figured that was sort of a silver lining to surviving an overdose.

                                                                            ***

"How's it fit?" Lilian asked, as Maddison looked at herself in the mirror.

"It's not too tight, it fits good!" she replied, "why do you even have something in this size?"

"This is what I used to do some fairy tale themed pageants in," Lilian said, sitting down in a chair behind Maddie in front of the mirror and brushing her hair gently, "I figured it would fit you, and look at that, it still does. It's nice to have things that can still be used. Plus I don't know that I could afford anything really good as a replacement, nor do I wanna use cheap costume store crap."

"Do I get a tiara?" Maddison asked, and Lilian smirked.

"Yes, you get a tiara, don't worry, I have spares," Lilian said.

This was the first job Maddison had ever been invited to help her with, and it was the first time in her career that Lilian was playing the queen and not just the princess. In a way, it was kind of like passing the torch to a new generation, letting go of her trauma and, from it, budding something healthier. Lilian hadn't even been told what the job was, just where it was happening and that she'd need some help, and she was more than happy to bring Maddison along with her for the ride. Ever since taking her in, while her father recovered properly, Lilian had really fallen into a mom role, something she'd never seen for herself before, and she had to admit...

...she kind of loved it.

                                                                               ***

"I wish people would believe me when I tell them that it wasn't intentional," Alexis said, biting into the tacos that John had brought as they sat outside in the hospital garden; she chewed, swallowed then added, "like...if you overdose or nearly die in some way that could potentially be misconstrued as non accidental, everyone automatically assumes it's non accidental. It just...it makes me so mad. Yeah, I'm unhappy, but I'm not suicidal."

"Isn't it nice how much attention it gets you though?" John asked, chuckling, making her smirk as he picked up his plastic cup and took a sip of his root beer through the straw before continuing, "I mean, everyone is always so nice to you after such an event. Even though they should've been nice to you beforehand to prevent such a thing, but whatever. Humans are short sighted creatures."

"I wish I could just walk properly again and get back to my life and my apartment and my job, which I'm assuming I still have all of," Alex said, and John nodded, picking up a taco and taking a huge chunk from it.

"Yep," he said while chewing, nodding, "absolutely. Been watching over it for you, keeping it clean, and Vera's kept you on the payroll, giving you PTO."

"That's unexpectedly generous of her," Alex muttered.

The conversation then fell into a lull as the two continued to eat in silence for a bit. Alexis started thinking about the night it had happened. How it had happened. She'd even considered from time to time that maybe, subconsciously, it had been intentional. Vera had given her so much shit throughout the year about her drug use, and then John had tried to show her how to be a rehabilitated person after such a long time as a user, and then with the lack of a family...Alexis might've just not cared about the intake that particular night. The last thing she could remember was lying in the bathtub and staring at the ceiling and just feeling such warmth wash over her, but not from the water. Such a euphoric feeling that it made her feel alive again.

John glanced over at her and reached out, offering her his drink, which she happily took and sipped from. Even if that was the case, she still hadn't wanted to die. She wasn't suicidal. She was just reckless. There was a big, big difference, and she wished that difference could be more recognized. As she handed his drink back to him and sighed, she reached up and pushing her bangs back from her face, realizing just how long it'd been since she'd had a haircut or participated in anything remotely 'ordinary' to everyday life. She turned to John and looked down at her shoes as she spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Can you take me to get a haircut?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Absolutely!" he said, "I'll take you to my barber, they're the best."

That made Alexis feel a little better. Maybe this was a new start for her. Maybe she could finally be better, not just for others, but for herself. After all, who needed family when you had friends.

                                                                             ***

"I didn't know you'd be here," Lilian said, exiting her car to find Tyler leaning against his own, drinking from a can of juice. He eyeballed Lilian before turning his view to Maddie, who ran ahead of them to look at the house they were in front of. He then lowered his voice and spoke.

"You brought her?" he asked.

"I was asked to, actually," Lilian replied, "Vera's personal request."

"That's a weird one," Tyler said, shrugging, as they headed up the walk. The front door opened and a woman was standing there, in an old fashioned button down blue dress. Lilian and Tyler hesitated momentarily, before heading closer as they watched the woman kneel down to Maddie's eye level, exchange some words, then pat her on the shoulder and let her enter. As they reached the door, Lilian smiled and bowed to the woman, which made her have a confused look on her face.

"May we enter?" she asked, and the woman exited the house, pulling the door shut behind her.

"I don't need adults," she said softly, "I only needed a child. That's why you specifically were requested."

"Then...why are you here?" Lilian asked, and Tyler looked away, grimacing. He wasn't telling her something, and she didn't like the feeling it put in the pit of her stomach. Tyler put his hand on Lilian's shoulder, and gently walked her away from the door, over to the swinging porch bench where they sat down. He exhaled, scratched his forehead, and then spoke.

"So I didn't understand why you were bringing Maddison, Vera just told me to show up because you would need company," he said, "I figured it was a normal party. I didn't know it was going to be...whatever this is."

A moment passed as some kids rode by on bikes, their parents walking closely behind them, chatting amongst themselves. Lilian sighed and rested her chin on her knees.

"...this isn't a life," she said quietly, "this is just...existence. This isn't a career I want to spend the rest of my time alive doing. I like it, don't get me wrong, but more often than not lately I've found myself kind of...wanting to do more. Wanting to do better. Do more good in the world or something. But then I think about what I'm actually qualified for, and my options are real fuckin limited."

"Right now your biggest concern isn't even your job, but just taking care of Maddie," Tyler said, and Lilian nodded in agreement. He had a point. Maddie, at this moment, needed a loving pseudo parent, and Lilian was hell bound on giving her that. Everyone deserved a childhood, and Maddison had had enough of hers stolen from her already. In fact, today would be yet another day where she was faced with something kids her age shouldn't be faced with. As Maddie walked down the hall and towards the last door on the right at the end, she could feel a sense of unease. She slowly pushed the door open and, much to her surprise, found a very pretty room. Pink fairy string lights hung across the ceiling, lovely floral curtains, and stuffed animals from wall to wall, or so it seemed anyway. And there, laying in a beautiful old brass bedframe, snuggled beneath a plethora of quilts, was a girl about her age.

Maddie stepped hesitantly inside, despite how warm and inviting the room itself appeared to be. As she approached the bed, the girl lying in it rolled her head on the pillow, their eyes meeting. In fact, now that she had a clearer view, she looked at least a year or so younger than Maddie, and this made Maddie feel even more unnerved about what she'd walked into. Maddie pulled a chair from a nearby table closer to the bed and sat herself down on it, before pulling the tiara off her head and polishing it, then placing it back atop herself. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Hello," she said, "I'm Princess Maddison, and I'm here to-"

"I know why you're here," the girl replied, her voice, weak, raspy.

"You do?" Maddie asked, "...could you tell me?"

"Because I'm dying," the girl said.

                                                                             ***

John was walking Alexis back to her room. It was getting late, visiting hours were almost over, and he had to leave soon. Alexis also had some self reflecting to do for her next therapy session, so she needed the time alone. As they reached the door to her room, Alexis opened it and then turned around to face John, who was still sipping the last of his soda through the straw.

"...do you think I need to talk more in therapy?" Alex asked, and John furrowed his brow.

"Well, I mean, that is kind of the whole point," he said.

"Yeah, but I'm not even in therapy for the right reasons. They assume I tried to kill myself, so I'm there on a trumped up charge, and really the only kind of therapy I actually currently need is physical therapy, which, might I add, I'm doing great at."

"I can tell, and I'm very proud of you," John remarked, "but it couldn't hurt to open up and discuss some things. You won't talk to anyone else, even me really, about your life, or your past or whatever. So maybe talking to a professional could go a long way. You never know."

"...does Lilian ever ask about me?" Alex asked, her voice lowering, and John reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"All the damn time," he replied, "that girl is your best friend, and she was extremely broken up over what happened, and continually asks me when you're coming back. The only reason she can't come see you personally is because...well..."

John sighed and walked past Alex, entering her room and sitting down.

"Between what she saw as a child and what she's helping Maddison deal with, I don't think she is good around death or hospitals," he continued, "and who could blame her? That's a lot for a woman in her twenties to have dealt with. I think, though, that's why you get along so well, same with me. Can't speak for Tyler, don't know the guy well enough, but as far as the three of us are concerned, we've all been dealt some shit, whether it's a rotten upbringing or the loss of loved ones or witnessing a traumatic event, and we've all survived. You find solace within those around you who have also been dealt a harsh blow, you know?"

Alex nodded, entering and sitting on the bed across from the desk John had seated himself at, as she listened.

"So don't hold her accountable for not coming to see you. She cares very much, but she also has to care about her own well being, and frankly...I don't like being here either, but I personally can't let you be here alone. You don't deserve that. But please don't take her non visitation as disinterest. I assure you, she's extremely interested."

Alexis smiled weakly, nodding. John stood up, walked over to her and kissed her on the head before giving her a little hug, telling her he'd be back tomorrow and then heading out. He had one more hospital to visit before he could go home for the day, and he had to be there before visitation ended as well. Seemed like all he did anymore was visit girls he loved in hospitals.

                                                                               ***

The ride home was....uncomfortable, to say the least.

Lilian knew Miranda would be there when they got back to the apartment, likely making dinner, but she felt like Maddison needed to talk. The entire time driving back, Maddie hadn't been her usual, spunky energetic self, and this concerned Lilian. Lilian finally pulled into the parking lot of a nearby donut shop and stopped the car as it started to rain lightly outside. She rolled the windows up and shut the car off before unbuckling her seatbelt and turning to face Maddie, who looked all but confused.

"Okay," Lilian said, "first of all, you have to know I didn't know anything about the job. I was just as surprised as you, and Tyler didn't know anything either. All Vera told him was that he needed to be there to keep me company. But you can't bottle this stuff up, believe me, you don't...you don't wanna do that."

"I'm not bottling, I'm processing," Maddie replied, sniffling, "I just...it's weird to think there's kids my age or younger who die. You always think that it's older people, no offense-"

"I'm not old! I'm like 27!"

"-who are the ones who wind up dying, but that isn't the case. As my party proved, it can happen to anyone. But it feels wrong, doesn't it? It feels...unfair. And I guess the world IS unfair. My mom tried to kill my dad. That's unfair. So I guess I should just get to it and never-"

"Okay stop," Lilian said, putting her hands on Maddie's shoulders, forcing her to look at her, as she added, "you can recognize the unfairness, yes. You can...you can absolutely recognize it, even yearn for better, but do NOT let it consume you. There is more good than bad in this world. Yes, your mother tried to kill your father, and yes that kid died at your party, but look at what positive things have come from that. We met, and now you're living with me. Isn't that a silver lining? Far be it from me to be a positive role model, but...if there's one thing I've learned in the last year, it's that, sometimes you have to do that, no matter how outside your comfort zone it might be, because if you give in, if you let the sadness win, that's when you end up down a dangerous path and you're much too young to end up like me."

Maddie and Lilian's eyes were locked, and she could see Lilian was holding back tears. Here was a woman who clearly cared for her well being, who'd stepped up to be a mother figure when she most needed one, and that made Maddie smile. She leaned in and hugged Lilian, who happily hugged her back.

"The world just has bad things," Lilian said softly as she rubbed Maddie's back, "but that doesn't make it a bad place."

                                                                             ***

Alexis entered Parker Harrison's office the following day for therapy, and before he could even speak, she raised a hand as she seated herself on the couch. Parker nodded, understanding, and sitting down in his usual seat as Alex exhaled, looked down at her shoes and then spoke.

"I didn't try to kill myself," she said, "but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it. I'd never act on it, but the thought has occured to me before, specifically when I was younger and living at home, and in fact, had I not managed to escape, who knows what I might've done. All I know is that I don't want to die, and I'd never try, and this was an accident because I'm not careful enough."

"...fair enough," Parker replied, crossing his legs and listening.

"Growing up with my parents...we weren't very wealthy at all, and we struggled a lot of time to have enough food for everyone. I had two sisters, and sometimes it felt like my folks could see the obvious failure I was going to be because they invested, openly, brazenly, far more time and interest into my sisters than they ever did in me. That really hurt, but it pushed me to show them I could survive and manage on my own, something I've been doing for a good while now. The drugs...they were just..."

She paused, chewing her lip.

"...they were an escape from the fact that I could't feel anything for a long time. I couldn't trust anyone because I couldn't trust my parents, and if you can't even trust the people who brought you into this world, the people meant to love you, then who CAN you trust, right? So my paranoia about others grew, and my detachment emotionally to them was something I hated. I wanted desperately to feel something, anything at all, and the drugs did that for me. But now...now I know I have friends who care and love me, and I don't need that. I don't want to go back to it. But rest assured, in spite of all of what I have said, please let me make it excessively clear that I did not. try. to kill myself."

A moment passed, as Parker thought about what she'd said, and then grabbed his pad off his desk along with a pen and sat back down.

"I believe you. Tell me more about your parents," he said, "please. I'd like to know what you think of them."

Alex sighed. She needed that reassurance, that belief, that she hadn't tried to die on purpose, because she hadn't, and the thing she hated most was not being believed when she was more often than not never lying. And so Alexis started to tell Parker all about her folks, her sisters, her adolescence, and she started crying while she did, and she felt something, for the first time in her life, without the use of drugs.

And she never wanted that to go away again.

"You don't think I'm evil, do you?" Claire asked, sitting at Rachel's kitchen table the morning after they'd buried yet another person in the wall of the abandoned apartment complex. Rachel, stood at the counter, was stirring her coffee with a spoon and exhaled, then shook her head.

"No, Claire, I don't think you're evil," she replied, "I think you're sick, and that that illness makes you do evil things. And that isn't the case for every sick person, but it's the case in this situation. But the nice thing about illness is that it doesn't define you, so no, you're not evil. But we have to stop doing this. It's going to get bad if we don't, and someone will catch you."

Claire nodded, reaching onto the table for a poppyseed muffin and, after unwrapped the bottom, taking a big bite out of it. Rachel seated herself at the table as well, sipping her coffee as Claire chewed.

"...what if I killed someone without being off my medication? Would that make me evil?" Claire asked.

"Depends on the situation, honestly," Rachel said, shrugging, "there's self defense, other morality based rationalizations, what have you. Just depends. But let's hope you never have to find out."

Claire nodded again, chewing silently. If only she knew what the future held.

                                                                              ***

"Hey," Benny said, approaching Molly on the couch, covered in a blanket, "you okay?"

"I feel...dumb," she said softly, "everyone has left, obviously it's okay to, maybe we overreacted. I don't know. I just feel dumb. And I also feel dumb for being duped so easily, repeatedly. First by the guy I dated in high school, then by Allie, and then by this girl. Why do people like to lie to me?"

Benny shrugged as he seated himself on the arm of the couch, opening a bag of cookies and reaching in, handing one to Molly before biting into one himself.

"I don't think it's a personal thing," he said, half chewing, "I think...people can often tell what other people are like, you know, what kind of person they are? They meet you, they see you're sweet and understanding and compassionate. They wanna take advantage of that, and sadly those traits more often than not entice assholes, not others who share them. But that isn't your fault, nor should you be ashamed of being that way."

Molly blushed as she bit into the cookie as well, the two of them sitting in silence for a moment. Finally the apartment door opened, and Olivia entered. She waved at Benny, who got up and exited into the bathroom while Olivia pulled her jacket off and, still in her blackjack uniform, seated herself on the couch beside Molly. Molly handed her the bag of cookies, which she happily took and reached into.

"You doing okay?" Olivia asked, and Molly chuckled.

"Benny just asked me that," she replied, "but I don't know, I guess? It's really hard to say."

Olivia set the bag of cookies down on the other side of herself, then reached out and took one of Molly's hands, squeezing gently. Molly looked over, blushing.

"...to pull you in the way they did is despicable, but they do clearly care," Olivia said, "and that...that's something you can't shake a fist at. It's so hard to find people in this world who genuinely want the best for you. Even rarer if they aren't direct family. I know not all families are great, but even still. But you're clearly cared about, by them, and by us, okay? You can stay here as long as you want, it's okay, I would't blame you for being too scared to go home."

Molly nodded, on the verge of tears. Olivia leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, and that did it. Molly finally broke, and laid her head against Olivia's chest, sobbing. Olivia simply held her, stroking her hair as Benny re-emerged from the bathroom, wiping his hands on his pants. He smiled at the sight, as Olivia nodded to him, smiling back. They would be okay, and Molly would be okay, because they had her now.

                                                                               ***

Zoe was sitting at the bar in the casino, sipping on a soda, staring at the wood grain finish on the bartop when she heard a stool pull out beside her. She glanced over and saw Effie, who smiled happily at her.

"Where you been?" Effie asked, "I've been trying to reach you for hours."

"...I had an emergency...well, Molly had an emergency, so Allie and I went to help her," Zoe said softly, "she's...she's fine though, like, no need to worry. Everything's okay now."

"Well I was gonna take you to dinner tonight, but seeing as it's already almost 7, maybe we-"

"I'd like that, if we could still go," Zoe said, catching Effie by surprise.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you wanna do," Effie replied, smiling happily, pulling Zoe's hand to her lips and kissing it, "whatever you want, okay?"

Whatever Zoe wanted? She wanted a night of normalcy. Of comfort. Of stability. She wanted things she knew she'd never have as long as she was attached to Allie Meers. Oh sure, at first working for your heroes seems like a dream come true, but it's anything but. She finally understood the old phrase 'never meet your heroes', because since meeting Allie, all her life had done was become worse. Sure, she was successful beyond her wildest dreams, but was success worth everything else that had come with it? And then it hit her. Zoe turned and looked at Effie, who was piling snack mix from the bowl on the bartop into her mouth, and Zoe smiled. The success sure wasn't, but Effie was. And if she hadn't become involved with Allie, the chances of meeting Effie, and thus being her open honest self, likely would've never happened.

Maybe meeting your heroes wasn't so bad after all.

                                                                             ***

Allie was sitting in a car outside the location Claire had given her, in the backseat while Agents Siskel and Tropper were in the front. They'd been parked here for a good fifteen minutes, nobody saying a damn thing. Finally, Allie reached out, fingers clutching the doorhandle, when she felt Agent Siskel reaching back, grabbing at her knee. Allie stopped and looked up at her.

"You're gonna need protection," she said, "I'm going to give you a gun, okay? You don't have to use it, but just know that you can. And we'll be right outside."

"I...I don't...I don't know that I've ever used a gun," Allie muttered, surprised.

"It's not difficult, it's already loaded, it's ready to go, all you have to do is aim and pull the trigger," Agent Siskel said as she pulled a small black handgun from the bag in front of her and handed it back to Allie, who took it hesitantly; Siskel, brushing her hair from her eyes, then added, "Allie, it's just a last resort, okay? We don't know what Claire might do. I don't think she'd hurt you, but you never know. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Allie nodded, taking the gun and putting it in the interior pocket of her coat. She then climbed out of the car and looked up at the building, where she spotted someone looking down at her, before they quickly pulled back in through the window. Allie exhaled, and then headed up the stairs and into the building through the front doors. Once inside, she could see this wasn't a building anyone used. This was clearly picked because it was abandoned. Allie balled her hands into fists and headed up to the room Claire had told her to go to. Step by step her heart quickened, terrified of what it was she might find at the top.

She finally reached the hallway, the door on the right, room 317. Allie stopped and stared at the numbers on the plaque. Whatever lay behind this door...whatever she walked into...there was no coming back from it. This was it. This was a turning point. Allie exhaled, reached into her pocket, her hand gripped around the gun, and then she turned the doorknob. Once inside, she found a completely empty apartment. She furrowed her brow in confusion, before walking further inside. She hadn't imagined it. She'd seen someone in here. She knew she had. She headed to the bathroom. Nobody. The bedroom. Nobody. The kitchen. Nobody. What was going on? Finally she was in the guest bedroom, and as she turned back to re-enter the living room, she stopped. Standing there in the doorway was Rachel St. Claire.

"Jesus!" Allie shouted, "what the fuck?! Why are you-"

"Shhh," Rachel said, putting a finger to her lips, "you need to go here."

Rachel walked forward slowly and slipped a piece of paper into Allie's hands which had new directions to a building a few blocks away. Allie looked at it, confused, and suddenly realized this room was a decoy. Claire probably knew Allie had been picked up, and knew that she'd have the agents with her, so she gave a decoy room so that the agents wouldn't stop whatever it was they had to do. Allie looked at Rachel, her eyes squinting, trying not to cry.

"I'm scared," she whispered, and Rachel nodded, almost in tears too.

"You should be," she replied, which sent a chill down Allie's spine.

                                                                                ***

Molly was asleep on the couch, her head in Olivia's lap, Benny sitting on Olivia's other side. Molly hadn't been asleep in almost three days, and she couldn't stay up any longer, even when driven by fear. Benny and Olivia were watching TV as Molly snored lightly. Benny glanced down at her, then up to Olivia, and they laughed quietly at one another while Olivia continued to lose her fingers in Molly's hair.

"What do we do here?" Benny asked.

"I think we do exactly what we're doing," Olivia replied, shrugging, "I mean, why complicate things when they're so obviously simple. If you're asking what you're asking for the reasons I think you are."

"I definitely am," Benny said, reaching over and holding Olivia's free hand.

Benny had absolutely no qualms about bringing a third into this relationship, especially if that third was Molly Hatchet. Since the moment she'd come into his and Olivia's life, they'd both instantly taken a liking to her, more than that of platonic too. They'd been in an open relationship for years, but they'd never met someone who properly fit their criteria of someone to add as a third until Molly.

Olivia lost her fingers in Molly's hair while Benny turned his attention back to the television. Perhaps, he thought, even if things went further down the drain in terms of Allie's plan, if nothing else good came of this entire situation, one thing had and that one thing had been meeting Molly. And for Molly? Despite being scared out of her mind, and not having slept in days, she actually felt safe enough to do just that here, in their presence. Because she felt like no matter what, if anything did happen, Benny and Olivia would protect her.

Sometimes, it turns out, you meet the right people by knowing the wrong people.

                                                                             ***

Zoe stared at the appetizers in front of her, while Effie leaned back in her chair, sipping from her wine glass, watching Zoe closely. Zoe reached out and picked up one of the deviled eggs from the plate and bit into it slowly, almost as if she was uncertain whether it was poisoned or not. Effie could tell something was wrong, but she wasn't exactly sure how to broach the issue. Finally, after a long wait, Effie sighed, set her drink back down on the table and leaned forward.

"What's going on with you, man?" she asked, causing Zoe to look up at her, surprised; Effie continued, "you haven't been okay in months. I know Allie is making things difficult, but...fuck, Zoe, if she's really making things that hard, maybe it's time to consider the alternative."

"I don't want the alternative," Zoe mumbled.

"Well, you're not happy now, so what else is there? Listen, you're talented enough on your own, okay? I know that, your sister knows that, even Allie knows that. You could, at this point, strike out to make a name for yourself and leave Allie in the dust, and I know that sucks to hear because she's your friend and your partner but...but I don't think I've seen you genuinely happy in over half a year."

"It isn't just Allie," Zoe said quietly, taking another small bite from a deviled egg, "it's everything...it's...people might believe in me, but I'm not sure that I do, and...and I can't abandon her. I can't do what her cousin did."

"You are not responsible for a grown ass womans career, and especially not for her sense of self, okay?" Effie asked, reaching out and taking Zoe's free hand in her own, rubbing the back of it with her thumb gently, adding, "Zoe, you're your own person. You're allowed to be an individual. I will support you, alright? Even if you wind up not wanting to do magic, or, by some act of some kind of god being bad at it solo, I'll support you then too, okay? Because I love you, and I wanna help you be happy and satisfied, and right now you're not either."

Zoe nodded gently. Effie wasn't wrong. But Zoe felt such shame attached to wanting to leave Allie behind. After all, all of this was, more or less, Zoe's fault. If she hadn't been assigned as her partner in the first place, none of this would've ever happened. She looked up and her eyes sparkled at the sight of Effie's face, lit by table candlelight, and she smiled for the first time in days.

"I love you," Zoe whispered, making Effie blush.

"I love you too," she replied, pulling her hand up to her lips and kissing it gently.

Seemed like everywhere you looked, everyone was finding peace. Everyone except Allie Meers.

                                                                              ***

Allie stood in front of the door, once again faced with the realization that whatever was on the other side of it, she wasn't sure she wanted to face. But she had to. She had to. She had no other choice. Rachel would keep the agents at bay, and they had no idea where she currently was. Allie swallowed, blinked a few times, then opened the door to the empty apartment loft. Dark, drafty, and sitting in the middle of the room was a chair with a woman tied to it. Allie approached, just as Claire came out from the nearby bathroom, washing her hands. The two women stopped and Claire smiled and waved at Allie.

"I've got a bit of a problem with germs," Claire said, as she wiped her hands on her pants.

"And yet you kill people," Allie said, "the most digusting, germ ridden act one could perform."

"Please, sex is worse. That level of intimacy? Disgusting. No form of protection could prevent you from getting too familiar with your partners personal body fluids," Claire said, causing Allie to make a face. Claire sat on a stool in front of the chair, and Allie slowly, cautiously, came around beside her, looking at the woman she now knew as Kristin.

"This is her?" Allie asked, and Claire nodded.

"This is her," she replied, "in all her backstabbing glory. Funny what people will do to those they claim to love, isn't it? Not to mention manipulative. She chose the easiest one of us to get involved with, because she knew how easy Molly was to trick. Which begs the question...how much does her employer actually know about this? Does he know that Tony is trying to build a vault? Or did they just pick the most accessible one because of accessibility sake?"

"Let's ask her," Allie said, approaching Kristin and ripping the tape off her mouth. Her eyes were red, dark circles underneath, and her hair an absolute mess. She looked like she'd been drugged or crying; Allie then backed away and, one hand in her coat pocket gripping the handle of the pistol, she asked, "we need some answers from you, okay?"

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know, I already told her that," Kristin said, nodding towards Claire, who just scoffed and rolled her eyes, causing Allie to glance at her. Claire then leaned in towards Allie, her voice a dull whisper.

"She can tell us whatever we want to know but that's not going to stop her from going back to her boss and telling him everything that just happened here. For all we know, all her boss is after is Tony, and his money. But now we're involved. Now she's got faces. That paints a target on our backs, Meers. Be very careful with how you approach this, because at this point, I don't think she can be trusted," Claire said quietly, Allie nodding in agreement.

"Why did you want Molly's blueprints?" Allie asked, turning back to face Kristin now.

"Because my boss told me that he had a sneaking suspicion that Tony was cutting back his funds," she replied, "and Tony's his biggest benefactor, so that's not good for business. Whatever else is going on here, I have no fucking idea. My boss thinks Tony had his daughter stalked by the police, causing her so much distress she eventually took her own life, but not before turning info on him to those who'd been asking. He's...not very happy with the current situation."

"I would imagine not," Allie said, grabbing Claire by the shoulder and pulling her off the stool and a little ways away; she cleared her throat and said, "she knows absolutely nothing. That being said...you aren't wrong. She could just as easily go back to him, tell him who else is involved, which if he then shares that information with Tony, he'll know something is up and I can't have him getting suspicious. I need him to trust me for the time being."

"Then do what has to be done," Claire remarked, her eyes narrowing, "do what you know you have to in order to have security."

Allie looked over her shoulder at Kristin, who appeared absolutely terrified, and she sighed.

"I don't think I can," Allie said.

"You're capable of greater things than you can imagine," Claire replied, putting her hands on Allie's shoulders, holding her steady as she said, "you're the goddamned Astounding Allie, after all. Look at how far you've come. When you set your mind to something, you can accomplish that. That's where we're alike."

That threw Allie off. She looked up into Claire's eyes and thought about what Agent Siskel had said to her. She didn't want to be alike to someone like Claire. She wasn't a murderer. She wasn't a cult leader. She wasn't anything like Claire. Except...she was. She just couldn't accept it, and denial was easier. Allie tightened her grip on the handle of the pistol, Claire completely unaware it was even in her jacket, and Allie felt her index finger come around the front of the trigger as she slowly raised it up so the barrel aligned with Claire's gut. It would be so easy. It would be so quick. It would incapacitate her, catch her completely off guard...but...but Claire had helped her so much. She could probably help her more. This woman, however, this Kristin or whatever her name actually was...she was a loose end. A thread that if tugged at even ever so gently would unspool and entire web of lies that would all lead back to Allie.

"Take care of this Allie," Claire said, "be the magician that you are, and make her disappear."

Allie gritted her teeth as Claire walked back towards the chair that held Kristin. Allie couldn't take it anymore. Everything that had happened in the past year, everything that had come as a direct result of killing Sunny...it had all led to this, and this pressure was eating her away inside. She could do the right thing. She could kill Claire Driscoll, kill a serial killer, and be hailed a hero. She could go with Kristin to her boss, to the governor, and take him down with the agents from the inside. She could make this take an entirely different turn. All she had to do was pull the trigger. Gun Claire down in the back right now. Allie felt her eyes well up with tears, and she pulled the pistol slowly from her coat pocket, then aimed. Two different women, two vastly different paths, all she had to do was make a choice.

"Hey," Allie said.

And then she fired.

Allie Meers had believed that these agents were after her for something very specific, so to be told it was something entirely different? That kind of messed with her. She clicked her nails nervously on the table as Agent Tropper went to refill all of their coffee mugs, leaving just Allie and Agent Siskel alone in the room. Allie finally looked back up and caught Siskel's eyes, who just smiled politely at her.

"I don't get it," Allie said, "I...I really don't. I killed someone. I stole their corpse, fed it to a tiger and then accidentally nearly fatally injured another person as a result of that decision. And you're telling me all of that is...is not what I'm being held for?"

"I won't lie, at first it was," Siskel said, "when we first started looking into it, we thought we were just looking at a simple murder. But we met with Sunny's sister and she...well, let's just say she was less pleased with her fathers actions than we'd assumed she would be. As it turns out, she's the one he put in charge of all the financial aspects of his time in office, which includes paper trails leading directly back to Tony and other casino owners. All of them have been funding his campaign, in exchange for tax dodges on their property, their earnings, etc. Once we realized what we actually had, the death of Sunny became less of a crime and more of an open invitation to uncover a bigger crime. That isn't to say you wouldn't be held responsible for your actions, but we are willing to cut a deal in exchange for your assistance in taking Tony and, in effect, the governor down as well."

"This is...insane," Allie said as Tropper handed her back her mug.

"Tell me about it," he mumbled, seating himself once again and taking a long drink.

"I just...I don't understand. Why are you assuming I'd be able to help?" Allie asked, cupping her mug between her hands and leaning back in her chair.

"Because we know of your relationship with Tony. We know how close the two of you are. It's no secret. It's a pretty open industry acknowledgement. This is why you're the perfect candidate to help, because he trusts you, and it'd be easy for you to gain access to things others wouldn't be able to," Tropper said.

"Basically, Allie, in exchange for the expunging of your crimes, you'll help us get to the bottom of this massive financial crime," Siskel said, "and please say yes, because we went through absolute hell to get you here. I was starting to think that we'd just never meet and get the chance to talk. Hence why we, well, kidnapped you."

Allie nodded, taking a long sip and thinking. Tony was a tax cheat? Unsurprising. He seemed the type. But to help fund the governors campaign elections and other goals? That part she had trouble believing. Tony didn't seem like a criminal really. Not this kind of criminal anyway. And could she really betray that trust that he'd instilled in her?

"He's been kind of like a father to me," Allie whispered, looking into her mug, "he...he saw my potential, he gave me places to stay while I got successful, he gave me my own show at his casino, then moved me to his newer casino, he gave me an assistant, helped me get sober - in a manner of speaking - and so much more. I...I don't know if I could...I mean, I'd feel terrible if I had a hand in hurting him or his family. He IS family. Far more than my family ever was."

Siskel nodded, sighing. She knew Allie and Tony had a close relationship, but she also knew Allie was desperate to be free of all this drama.

"...I don't really care what happens to me," Allie said, "but what I DO want is total exonoration of everyone else involved, specifically Molly Hatchet and Zoe Fitch. They don't deserve to be held accountable for my actions. If you want to go easy on me too, that'd be nice, but I'd gladly take jail time in order for them to walk free."

Siskel and Tropper exchanged a look, and then, after looking back at Allie, both nodded.

"Fine," Siskel said, "your friends won't be charged with anything. We'll still cut you a break, but you're going to have to take some kind of sentence, despite your helping us. That sounds fair."

"Fine then," Allie said, sitting up straight now, feeling more confident, "especially Molly, because unlike Zoe, she was completely unaware of what was going on until semi recently. She was just an architect Tony hired to help build the new casino and the vault, so she-"

"Wait wait, vault?" Tropper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Allie said, "he's having her build a vault underneath the second casino that only he can access. But we're building a backdoor entrance into it. I...I figured you guys knew that."

"...why would he need a vault?" Siskel asked, confused.

"Your guess is as good as mine, lady," Allie remarked, "but honestly, my best guess if your info is good, he probably is trying to hide his assets in it. Can't keep it in the bank. That's too obvious. Too easy to monitor. Otherwise I have no idea. I'm surprised you guys didn't know that already."

Siskel sighed and ran her hands down over her face, feeling annoyed. After all this time, all this effort, there was still somehow information she wasn't privvy to, and that bothered her. Made her feel like she wasn't as good an agent as she had thought she was. Tropper cleared his throat and leaned forward.

"You say you're building a backdoor?" he asked.

"Yes," Allie said, "but it's tricky. It needs to not be noticeable by Tony or anyone else, yet accessible by those who know how to get to it. Molly's been spending weeks on this at this point, and we still haven't really cracked it. We started looking at a street magician named Jackson Strange for inspiration because of his plastic box trick."

"Plastic box trick?" Tropper asked.

"He's an illusionist," Siskel said, surprising both Tropper and Allie with her knowledge of this as she added, "he does his stuff generally in public areas, hence the street magician title, and he has this thing where he uses a seemingly clear plastic box that he encases himself in, suspended from the air by a crane, and then escapes from. He's doing it soon."

"Exactly," Allie said, pointing at her, "and we were going to see him do it, try and figure out how he gets out of something that everyone can see through. Because that's the kind of trickery we need to access this vault. Something that can't really be seen by the human eye, or those at least mostly unaware."

Siskel nodded. Allie was...much smarter than she'd given her credit for initially, and she felt bad about that. For so long, she just figured those around her were so adept at helping her or that she was so stupidly lucky that that was how she'd managed to always stay ahead of them, but now she was seeing just how intelligent Allie Meers actually was.

"So...what's the plan then?" Allie asked.

"Well," Tropper started, "now that we have information about this vault, that helps tremendously. We could easily help you figure out what you need to in order to get in and out without being noticed or suspected."

"I just feel so guilty," Allie said, looking at her hands on the table, "Tony's been so good to me for so long, and I...I just feel like I'm a traitor."

"You're not a traitor," Siskel said, "hell, the fact that you put your friends freedom ahead of your own proves that. And honestly, it isn't even Tony we really want. It's just that he's the biggest benefactor to the governor, and if anyone's going to get cracks to appear between them and get us access to an arrest, it's him. That's all it comes down to. That isn't to say Tony, and the others, won't face charges, but as with you, he'll likely face lesser charges if he cooperates once involved."

Allie nodded, understanding. She knew this was the way out. She knew that this was the only thing that would work, would be cooperating with these agents. Still...Tony had discovered her. Tony had seen her worth, value and talent. Tony had made her headliner at not one, but two different casinos now. Tony had been more of a parent than her actual parents wound up being, and here she was, about to turn tail and betray him? How could she live with that guilt. It would not only effectively end her career, but her relationship with Tony as well, because he'd know who had turned him in. He'd know it was Allie. Who else could it have been?

Allie sighed and ran her hands down her face.

"...I know this sounds cliche, but it really was sort of an accident," she whispered, "he was going to try and get my partner on what he was selling, and...and having been through that myself, having witnessed firsthand what it does to a person, even in spite of knowing Zoe's deterance to such vices...I don't know, I just...I felt protective. I couldn't let her fall the way I had. I had to do something. I had no way of knowing he was the governors son. We didn't know shit about eachother outside of what we did for work."

"And Claire?" Agent Siskel asked, making Allie shake her head and exhale.

"I don't even know where to start with that," she mumbled, "I guess I came to her for advice, cause...cause she'd gotten away with murder for so long. But the more time I spent around her, the more I became acutely aware of how similar we actually are, and that scared the hell out of me, honestly. She's...terrifying."

"Claire had it arranged so her mortician friend took the body didn't she?" Agent Tropper asked, and Allie nodded; he jotted something down on the legal pad in front of him before picking up his coffee and taking a sip, then adding, "we already pretty much knew, but it's nice to have confirmation."

"I don't think her friend is happy," Allie said, surprising them as she continued, "I think she's scared of her too, but she's so attached that she doesn't know how to walk away. And is that what I am to Zoe? Am I Claire? That's an awful thought. I don't want to control her, I wanted to help her."

Agent Siskel was moved by this surprising display of empathy, and smiled.

"You're not Claire, Allie, trust me," she said, "as someone who's spent an incredibly lengthy amount of time interacting with her, you two are alike, but you're not the same, and similarities don't automatically equal twins. The mere fact that you say you don't want to control Zoe, that alone proves my point. Claire...she doesn't care about who she controls. She doesn't care about what she does, at least not to others. We all serve a means to an end for her. You, Allie, are not Claire, I promise."

Allie nodded, feeling a little better. She wiped her face on her jacket sleeve and exhaled again.

"I just can't believe I let it get this bad," she said quietly, "it was never supposed to get this bad. But at the time Sunny died, I was...I was a joke. I was washed up. Addicted to painkillers, a complete alcoholic. The public...they would've crucified me, drug dealer or not, because my standing with them had already sunken to the all time low. So...it would've been an instant trial by fire. There would've been absolutely no explaining, no rationalizing, they would've been a mob out for blood, and only because the blood was someone they parasocially knew."

Agent Tropper nodded, tapping his pen on the table.

"That's part of the problem of being in the public eye, yeah, you're judged six ways to Sunday, even if you've done nothing, or even if your crimes aren't that terrible," he said, "Allie, help us help you. We can fix this thing together, okay?"

"Fix it together? How? By kidnapping me? By having a woman befriend Molly for weeks, only to steal all her blueprints for the vault? You already have what you want, why do you-"

"You keep...you keep mentioning this, this, uh...act of theft, these blueprints. We haven't recieved any blueprints," Agent Siskel said, "why...why do you keep bringing this up?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, as a dawning horror came over Allie.

"You...you guys...doesn't she work for you?" Allie asked, "The girl who stole them?"

Agent Siskel and Agent Tropper exchanged a look and both shook their heads and shrugged.

"...we never hired anyone, no," Agent Siskel said.

"...then who the fuck does she work for?" Allie whispered, terrified.

                                                                           ***

Kristin parked her car in the parking garage and sighed. She picked up the folders from the passenger seat, opened the drivers side door and climbed out of the car. She shut the door, locked it, and started walking across the garage, her flat heels clacking on the cement beneath her as she strolled through the empty abyss of concrete. She knew she was a little early, and that they would be tied up with their current meeting, but they would meet her soon enough. As she passed by another car, she saw a woman standing there in a sweater and jeans, trying to light a cigarette. She tossed her red hair from her face and sighed, exasperated. Kristin stopped and looked at her, smirking.

"You need some help?" Kristin asked, "I always keep a pack of matches on me."

"That would be fantastic, thank you," the woman said as Kristin pulled out the matches, lit one and then lit up the cigarette; the woman took a long drag, then smiled, "thanks Kristin."

Kristin stared at her, her eyes widening, until she felt something sharp in her neck, and she stumbled back, as a hand wrapped around her from behind, covering her mouth to keep her from screaming. Claire continued smoking as Rachel waited for the seditive to take full effect, and once Kristin's body went limp, they laid her on the ground. Claire bent down and picked up the files, shifting through them haphazardly before rolling her eyes. Rachel looked from Kristin up to Claire, and Claire nodded. She bent down, grabbed Kristin's ankles while Rachel took her by the underarms and they carried her to a nearby car.

"Christ," Claire said under her breath, "you want something cleaned up, you have to do it yourself."

                                                                             ***

"You think she works for the governor?" Allie asked, slack jawed, "I...I mean...he would...how would he even..."

"We don't know, but that's the only plausible answer, and if that's the case, and she's already given him those blueprints and he knows about the vault, then we've already failed," Agent Tropper said, scratching the back of his head, looking annoyed.

"Not necessarily," Agent Siskel said, "if we could intercept her somehow before she does, then we might be able to salvage it."

Allie's phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket, looking at the number and not recognizing it. She looked at the agents, who nodded, giving her the allowance to answer, so she did. She raised the phone to her ear and spoke.

"Hello?" she asked, "...Claire?...okay. Okay I'll be there as soon as I can."

Allie hung up, slid the phone back into her coat pocket and looked at the agents.

"I have to go you guys," she said, "...Claire found her. She's got her."

"Allie," Agent Siskel said, "Whatever Claire tries to convince you of, remember what she did, remember who she is. Yes, this woman works for the governor, and yes we can't let him get access to these blueprints, but...just don't let her trick you into becoming like her. We'll give you a ride if she gave you an address."

Allie stood up, and together the three of them headed out of the office and towards the car outside. Allie had no way of knowing it just then, but in just under an hour, she would walked into a building with Claire and Kristin...

...and only two of them would walk out.

Allie Meers spent more time in the nurses office than in class these days, it seemed. Sitting on the little cot designated for students, she waited for the nurse to come back to the office after she'd been called out to the playground proper to help another student who was, arguably, in worse shape than Allie was currently. After all, all that was wrong with Allie was a few scrapes from when she'd fallen this morning. Or, rather, been pushed down. Same story as every day, she'd been chased by two older girls from the nearby middle school who'd made her their primary target thanks to her odd behavior, and by odd behavior, this meant primarily her attempts to practice magic.

Ever since Allie had gone to that birthday party and met The Marvelous Marcie, she'd been enamored with magic. Now, being 11, she had recently gotten a magic kit for her own birthday, and had spent every waking moment that she wasn't doing schoolwork practicing magic. The magic kit had come with a VHS tape, performed by a man who simply went by the name Mr. Magic, and Allie had damn nearly worn the tape out already she'd studied it so much. Sitting outside on the bench near the playground, after escaping the nurses office, Allie was now re-reading the little pamphlet that had also come with the kit when her cousin, Megan, sat down beside her.

"Do you wanna come over this weekend?" Megan asked.

"Okay," Allie said, not even looking up from her pamphlet.

"What are you reading?" Megan asked, scooting closer so she could see.

"Mr. Magic's Guide To Trickery," Allie said, "he teaches you how to do very basic magic tricks, and then you can use those to learn how to do more advanced ones."

"Maybe we could try them," Megan said, sipping on her juice box, causing Allie to look over at her.

"Yeah?" Allie asked, "we could get costumes!"

And with that one little spark, an entire identity was born. Allie and Megan grew up with eachother, just down the street from one another, and as neither had any siblings, they spent all their free time - or at least Allie's free time, seeing as Megan did have friends - together. Megan didn't mind though, Allie was her best friend, and she loved spending time with her. They often had entire weekend slumber parties, which would progress all the way through college, and would even eventually move to Vegas together to pursue magic as a career as a team.

But before any of that could even be a remote possibility...first there was the talent show.

                                                                             ***

"I'm buying a tiger," Allie said as she and Megan sat on Megan's back porch, sharing a cigarette while Megan's husband, Jeff, took care of Lake inside. Megan's brow raised in surprise, but she just shook her head and chuckled.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she replied, "eventually it all comes down to big animals. That's where the real money is."

"It's more that it's, like, a rite of passage," Allie said, taking the cigarette back from Megan and taking a long drag, "you know, it's Vegas, Vegas magicians use big cats, it's just...it's what you do. Besides, I always liked the idea. I remember seeing Mr. Magic do it on that VHS when we were kids, and it just always looked fun."

"I guess, if you're not scared of being mauled," Megan said, the both of them laughing.

"The odds of that are astronomical," Allie said, "but, sure, worthy to keep in mind."

And though the odds were, indeed, astronomical, a few months later that's exactly what would happen. Allie had invited Megan and Jeff to her first real show - after months of practice - with her tiger, Domino, and as Megan had predicted, Allie was indeed mauled. And Allie had only gotten Domino because she felt she'd hit a ceiling in terms of progress, because without a partner, how much could she realistically do? So really, the mauling was Megan's fault, not that either of them would ever openly acknowledge this. But for tonight...for tonight it was just a fun little discussion.

They had no way of knowing the repercussions.

                                                                             ***

Allie and Megan were sitting in Megan's bedroom as they tried to figure out what would be the easiest trick to master first. The interlocking rings were a popular choice, of course, but so were card tricks, even if they required a bit of advanced sleight of hand. They continued to flip back and forth between multiple pages in Mr. Magic's Guide To Trickery, only to repeatedly doubt their choices. Allie, lying on her back on the floor, annoyed at Megan's indecision, was just staring at the ceiling.

"Did you put all these glow in the dark stars up here?" Allie asked, pointing up.

"When I was like 5, my dad held me up and had me stick 'em," Megan said, "they're nice. Pretty."

"They are pretty cool," Allie agreed, "maybe we should use stars and moons and stuff on our costumes. They're kinda spooky and mysterious, right?"

"Are magicians spooky?" Megan asked, and Allie shrugged.

"I just think it'd look neat," Allie mumbled.

And while they wouldn't exactly decide on a trick that particular day, Allie's remarks about stars and moons didn't go forgotten, because a handful of years later, when they started practicing professionally, Megan had costumes made for them, and incorporated the imagery Allie had suggested, based on the costumes they had made themselves in elementary school for the talent show. Course, they hadn't exactly decided to be in the talent show just yet, but it was a decision that was soon to be made, and it would change the course of their lives forever.

                                                                             ***

Allie was lying in the hospital, semi conscious, hopped up on heavy painkillers and her arm completely bandaged. Machines surrounded her bed - some for drip feeding, some for helping her breath - and the soft quiet humming they sounds they produced made her feel oddly more at ease. She didn't want to blame Domino. She certainly didn't want to blame herself. If anything, she wanted to blame Megan. If Megan hadn't met her husband, if Megan hadn't had a child, if Megan hadn't walked away from the act, then Allie probably never would've gotten so reckless. Megan's level headedness had been the one constant thing keeping Allie from derailing their entire lives, but now that she was gone, that bumper was as well, and Allie had made increasingly dangerous and stupid decisions, finally culminating in one that outright nearly killed her.

The door to the hospital room opened, and Megan entered. She looked like hell, which made Allie feel a little bit better. At least she wasn't the only one affected by this. Megan pulled a chair up to the bed and, resting her purse from her shoulder onto the back of the chair before sitting down, legs crossed, pulling her hair back into a messy bun, sighed. Allie rolled her head towards Megan, her face still bruised and scratched from the attack.

"...for what it's worth," Megan said, "...it was a pretty good show up until that point."

"That's nice of you to say," Allie whispered, her voice scratchy and rough.

"And, I'm not speaking for myself personally but, there's probably some people out there who thought it was pretty good even when that happened. Some people are into some really sick forms of entertainment," Megan continued, making Allie laugh, or laugh as best as she could before coughing; Megan smiled weakly and looked at her bandaged arm, hanging from a sling, before asking, "does it hurt?"

"It nearly got ripped in half, what do you think?" Allie replied.

"...it was like...some form of fucked up karma," Megan said quietly, and that was the closest she ever got to taking responsibility for what had happened, even if it wasn't entirely her fault. Allie, and Allie knew this herself, should've known better than to try something so iffy. A tiger? Seriously?

"Have you talked to my mom and dad?" Allie asked, and Megan, lowering her brow in confusion, shook her head; Allie's eyes softened as she said, "oh...because they haven't come by."

This hit Megan like a truck. Certainly they didn't exactly live nearby, but to not even show up? Were they that ashamed of her career? It was just goddamn magic, after all. Or was it just too emotionally challenging to process what had happened? To see it up close? Were they coping by keeping a distance? Still, that wasn't an excuse for not coming to see your own child after they were mauled by a tiger before a live audience.

"...that's...despicable," Megan said, reaching out and putting her hand on one of Allie's sheet covered legs, adding, "that's...I'm so sorry."

"You're the only one who's stopped by," Allie said, before starting to cry.

It was in this moment that Allie realized she had no real friends. Even the person she had assumed most of her life had been her best friend - her own cousin with whom she'd spent years fine tuning and honing her skills with - hadn't really been her friend. At least that's how it felt. She was completely alone. So fine, she thought, if she was going to be alone, she was going to do whatever she wanted. Screw the consequences, right? When you have nobody depending on you, you might as well act how you want. But that wouldn't last forever. Eventually someone would depend on her, and she would have to get her shit more or less together.

But for right now...

...for right now she felt like they were just the same little girls who'd once been in school, learning magic, unsure of what horrors the future held.

                                                                               ***

Megan, surprisingly, wasn't the one who was nervous about joining the talent show. If anything, she was far more interested in the social accolades it might bring. Allie was the one who had problems performing in front of others. Oh sure, they'd done little tricks here and there for their respective parents, a few friends, a teacher or two, but this was an entire audience of their peers, peers who, let's face it, generally weren't the most receptive to children with unconventional interests.

How had Megan even talked Allie into this? Pacing backstage, going on in scant moments after weeks of practice, Allie herself couldn't understand how things had come to this point. She wanted to do magic, sure, but she never really considered the fact that you often had to do these sorts of things in front of large crowds of people. She leaned against the wall, tugging her cape Megan's mom had made for them tightly around herself, and shut her eyes tightly. She could hear the music from another students act - likely a dance number, as that was what most kids did - and the cheering that went along with it, and that only made her all the more scared.

"Are you okay? You look bad," Megan asked, as Allie opened her eyes only to find her cousin, also in costume, standing in front of her.

"I'm...scared," Allie said quietly, almost ashamed to admit it.

"Why are you scared? We worked so hard to do this! Now's our chance to prove it!" Megan said happily.

To Megan, it seemed like it was something bigger, but to Allie, it had just been a way to do something with her cousin. Something just for the two of them. The tables would turn on this eventually, of course, with Allie being the one who'd wind up having a full on career in the arts of magic, while Megan would retreat back into civilian life, almost as if she were ashamed of what she'd done in the field. But for right now, Megan was the driving force between them in getting others to notice their skills and talents and abilities. And yet, when the time came for them to go out on that stage, they excelled beyond their wildest dreams, and everyone else's expectations. They made a great team, and this would only be further proven as the years went on.

A few weeks after this moment, Allie sat down and wrote a letter to Mr. Magic, using the address given on his VHS. In it, she talked about how much his work meant to her, and how he'd inspired her to do magic herself, and how she wanted to be just like him. A few months later, she surprisingly got a response in the mail. In it, Mr. Magic wrote:

"Dear Allie,

thank you for your kind words! Knowing that I can inspire the youth of today to attempt something as old fashioned as magic, when there's so many other far more interesting things out there to do, makes me feel like what I do really does matter. I hope you continue, and reach heights you could only dream of. I believe in you. I have enclosed with this letter a signed photo.

Your friend,

Mr. Magic"

Allie hung it on the wall of her bedroom, and when she got each subsequent living space in Vegas - finally landing in the suite she was in now - she made sure that this was always the first thing put up on the wall when she got settled in. The photo and the letter were framed side by side, and Allie walked by it everyday, taking strength from the only person she'd ever truly admired and looked up to.

Who knew that, years down the road, she'd have the same effect on someone herself that Mr. Magic had had on her.

                                                                                 ***

It had been a birthday gift. Zoe loved magic, and loved Allie Meer's magic specifically, having seen a few little snippets on special broadcasts about life in and around Vegas, focused specifically on the arts and culture of the city. So when her birthday came around this year, she asked her parents to take her to see Allie's show, and what a show it would be, after all, she would have a tiger!

That evening after the show, sitting in the backseat of her parents car, watching the streetlights overhead as they passed by, Zoe couldn't help but think about the show. She'd begged her parents to take her for her birthday, and what had she gotten? A spectacular once in a lifetime event where a woman was mauled by a tiger. She wasn't exactly listening to her parents talk in the front seats, but she could hear them whispering.

"What an awful thing," her mother said, "god, those screams. I guess there's a reason most magicians don't use big cats anymore."

"Poor woman didn't deserve that," her father chimed in, "I really hope she recovers well. God, and to think we took a child to this, that had to be awful to witness."

But the thing was, it wasn't awful to witness. If anything, the excitement of the moment had convinced Zoe that this was the career she wanted, and from that moment on, she made a concerted effort to mimic her idol, Allie Meers. If only she'd known what the outcome of this would be. But at the time, she was just a little girl, and much like Mr. Magic had been to Allie, Allie was nothing but an inspiration to young Zoe Fitch, and it was why, even in the present, she couldn't entirely turn her back on Allie, regardless of her actions.

Besides, she'd known Megan had done that. She wouldn't be another Megan. The last time someone had abandoned Allie, she'd been mauled by a tiger. What would happen if Zoe walked away too?

                                                                               ***

Allie was walked into a room and told to sit, which she promptly did. Tropper plopped down a nice hot mug of coffee in front of her, before seating himself down across from her, beside Siskel. Allie hesitantly reached out, took the mug by the handle and sipped slowly, before reaching out and picking up a bear claw from the open box of donuts between them on the table.

"So...you guys just wanted someone to have brunch with, or?" Allie asked.

"Miss Meers," Siskel said, sighing slowly and cupping her hands on the table, "we didn't want to do things this way, but at this point, after all the wild goose chases, we felt we had no choice. We're sorry for the, well...well it was a kidnapping, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it."

"You said you needed my help?" Allie asked, and Siskel nodded as Tropper opened his jacket and pulled out a white rectangular envelope, setting it on the table and sliding it across the table at Allie, who slowly took it, opened it and pulled out the contents; after glancing over them momentarily, she looked back up and asked, "...what is all this?"

"They're receipts. They're proof of massive tax fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, everything under the financial crime sun," Siskel said, "and it all ties back to your boss, the owner of The Card Shark."

"...wait, what?" Allie asked, "I thought...I thought you were after me for the whole, you know, governors son thing?"

"We were, initially," Tropper said, "that was before we discovered his dealings with Tony, and other casino owners. But we need you, Miss Meers."

"Need me for what?" Allie asked, visibly shaking.

"We need you to help us arrest the governor of Vegas," Siskel said.

That, Allie had to admit, wasn't what she had been expecting.

"Why are these people in our apartment?" Olivia asked Benny in their bedroom.

Allie had explained it so succinctly, but could Benny replicate her reasonings to someone not as involved? He sighed and ran his hand down his face, sighing. Ever since getting involved with Allie again, he knew she'd be trouble, but at the same time, he'd wanted to get back at Tony for how he and his company had treated not just Benny, but also Olivia. She sat down on the bed beside him and put a hand on his thigh, causing him to look up at her and smile.

"Nobody knows we're planning this together," Benny shrugged, "I guess...I guess she figured this was the best possible spot to be. I'm sorry, I didn't wanna make things difficult, but...after the way Tony treated you, treated me, treated Allie..."

"You're a good man, Benny," Olivia said, reaching up and touching his face, "please don't ever doubt that."

She leaned in and kissed him between the eyes, and Benny blushed. He couldn't believe that he'd found a woman as wonderful as Olivia who loved him just as he was. Olivia stood up and pulled her uniform on, then turned and looked back at him as she picked up her purse.

"I need to get to work," she said, "just...try not to get arrested while I'm gone, okay?"

Benny nodded, chuckling as she exited the room. As she did, the door to the bedroom now open slightly, Molly peeked in and Benny looked up at her.

"You need something?" he asked.

"Can I use the bathroom?" she asked, "or...more specifically, do you have something for anxiety in your medicine cabinet? All my medications are at home."

Benny nodded, and Molly came into the room as Benny stood up and headed into the adjoining bathroom. Molly followed, standing just outside the doorframe of the bathroom while Benny tugged open the medicine cabinet door and began rooting around inside, looking for the Xanax perscription he and Olivia had. Molly chewed on her nails nervously, looking at her feet.

"...I...I'm sorry," Molly whispered, "I hope we...we aren't making your life any harder, or ruining your relationship or-"

"Nah," Benny said, hand waving towards her, "don't worry about it."

"...this isn't my fault, right?" Molly asked, on the verge of tears, and Benny stopped what he was doing and walked towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, you had no way of knowing she was using you," he said quietly, "this wasn't your fault. She's obviously an exceptional liar. And I know what it's like to so desperately want friends. Believe it or not, this charisma and charm doesn't exactly draw people in the way I might hope it would. Outside of y'all, Olivia is the only friend I really have. Then again I kind of like it that way. But when you're that lonely for company...yeah, it makes sense to believe anything they tell you."

"She lied about her name, about her job, everything," Molly said, sniffling, tears running down her face. Benny sighed and pulled her in for a hug, rubbing her back. He stood there, just cradling this poor, distraught architect and tried to think of something comforting to say, but all he could come up with was a tighter hug. Meanwhile, out in the main room, Claire, Rachel, Allie and Zoe were all either seated on the couch, lying on the floor or pacing. Allie was standing at Benny's fridge, pulling a soda out of it when she heard Claire step behind her.

"Yeah?" Allie asked, rising back up and popping the top of her soda open.

"So this is your big plan? Hide?" Claire asked.

"If these agents want me so bad that they're willing to send someone into someone else's life just to get close to me, then yeah, hiding seems to be the best option until we can get out of town," Allie said, taking a long sip.

"What if it isn't them?" Claire asked, and Allie raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she finished her drink, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "what...what do you mean? Of course it's them, they're the only ones after me. They've been trying to get to me for months, for god sakes they released you to get to me."

"And look how well that's worked out in their favor," Claire said, smirking, making Allie chuckle; Claire sighed and tossed her hair from her face, adding, "all I'm saying is let's not jump to somewhat obvious conclusions. Maybe they knew I wouldn't bite, so they had a bad up plan in place to get the information on your boss that they needed to move forward. Maybe you're in the clear now. They realized how frustrating you were to chase and they gave up."

"You're kind of ruining my self esteem," Allie mumbled.

"Your self esteem is based purely on your importance to authority figures?" Claire asked, laughing, "you're weird, Meers."

Allie shrugged, but she didn't disagree. She was weird. It's how she'd gotten to where she was today.

                                                                          ***

Kristin had gotten back to her apartment, took a shower, picked out a new outfit and redressed before gathering all the files she'd taken from Molly's home office. As she stood over her desk, buttoning the collar of her shirt, looking down at the papers, she felt a twinge of remorse. She really didn't want to hurt Molly. In the past few weeks, she'd gotten to really like her as a person, and Molly was, from what she could tell, the least deserving one among them to be hurt, but she'd been hired to do a job, and she couldn't back out. Once fully dressed, she picked up her cell phone and dialed, tapping her nails on her desk as she waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" they asked.

"It's Kristin, it's done, I got it all," she said, "where do you want to meet?"

"Just meet me at the usual location, we'll be waiting. You did good," they replied, "and what about anyone knowing?"

"The architect got wind, and she might've run off to tell the others, but...honestly, I don't think it's fair to go after them," Kristin said, "especially the architect. She really wants nothing to do with any of this. She's just kind of stuck with these people."

"Well, we'll decide that at a later date," they said, "I'll see you shortly."

Kristin hung up and sighed, walking to her vanity mirror and looking at herself. She felt so terrible about what had happened with Molly, and she wanted so badly to fix it, but she knew she had a duty to uphold. She sighed and ran her hands down her suit jacket, slipped her feet into her shiny black shoes and then picked up the files from the desk. She tucked them under her arm and headed out the front door. She had a few errands to run before meeting with them, but soon...soon it all would be over.

                                                                            ***

Zoe was sitting on the couch, staring at her shoes.

How had this happened? How had her life become this? She could remember the first day Tony introduced her to Allie, and how excited she'd been to actually work with her childhood idol. And now? Now she was holed up in an apartment, fearing for her life and her freedom, and with a serial killer no less. Rachel St. Sebastian came back in from the patio, stubbing her cigarette out as she did, and seated herself on the couch beside Zoe.

"You okay?" Rachel asked and Zoe shrugged.

"...I don't think I've been okay for a long time," Zoe mumbled, "and besides, what would be the point of being okay at this point? There's no way out of this anymore. Especially now if the agents have the proof that they need."

"Well, perhaps with that proof they won't need you anymore," Rachel said.

"She still killed someone," Zoe said softly, finally looking up at Rachel, her eyes bloodshot, "...they don't just let that sort of thing go. She's going to have to eventually face the consequences of her actions, regardless of how attached to this other case she might be."

"Zoe," Rachel said, sighing heavily, throwing a glance towards Claire before looking back at Zoe, "sometimes there are people in our lives that we'd give everything for, but there does come a point where one has to ask themselves just how worth it going down for them really is. Is Allie really worth throwing your life away for? You've done nothing wrong up to now. If anything, you're an accomplice, and an unwilling one at that. Just something to think about."

Zoe nodded, looking towards Allie as she and Claire continued to have a hushed discussion in the kitchen area. Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Benny and Molly were lying on the bed staring at the ceiling To help Molly not feel so alone, Benny had taken a Xanax too, and now they both were rather calm and serene.

"I used to think that I'd build something amazing," Molly said, "like...something nobody would ever dream could be built."

"But you have," Benny said, "I mean, they're just casinos, sure, but look at how cool they are compared to the others. And a casinos big draw - not that anyone else will ever admit this - is its visual. It has to be visually alluring to pull you in, entice you to spend time and money there. You did a great job."

"Yeah but I didn't want to build casinos," Molly replied, clearing her throat, "I kind of wanted to build libraries or...or schools. Something that would be amazing but also serve a truly good purpose. I wanted to be a force of good. Not a tool of greed....you know what I'd really like to build now? A house. Just a...a beautiful little home somewhere where nobody could get to it. Far away from everyone and everything. Something beautiful in its simplicity. That's what I want to do."

Benny rolled onto his side, Molly doing the same, the both of them facing one another now.

"Then build one," Benny said, shrugging, "get some land, somewhere kind of remote and off the grid, or as off the grid as one can concievably get in this day and age, and build one. What's stopping you?"

Molly shrugged and sighed.

"I don't know...fear, I guess, or guilt," Molly said, "seems like everything I have a hand in building eventually gets sullied. Why risk that again?"

Benny reached out and put his hand gently on Molly's face, smiling warmly at her.

"Sometimes you just...have to do something for you, you know?" he asked, "like...like today. You came and asked me for anxiety medication, and I didn't hesitate for a second to give it to you. You did that for you. There's no shame in being selfish. People like to make you think there is, but there's really not. People say 'oh self care isn't selfish!' but it absolutely is, because that's the definition of selfish is looking out for ones self, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that!"

Molly blushed and nodded. She reached up and put her hand on Benny's hand, the two of them staring at one another for a few moments. She wasn't sure what came over her next, but before she knew it, she was leaning in and pressing her lips against his. It might've been the fear, the medication, but whatever the reasoning, she did it, and she was happy when he willingly kissed her back. After a few minutes, Molly pulled away just a bit, her eyes wide.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I...I don't...oh god, and you have a girlfriend and-"

"We're an open relationship," Benny said, smirking, "you've done nothing wrong but require comfort."

Molly started crying, and Benny pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair.

"Shhh," he whispered, "you're safe. You're good. You're all good."

Back out in the living room, Allie was pacing while she chomped on a rice biscuit while Claire sat on the kitchen counter filing her nails and Rachel and Zoe continued being on the couch. Finally, after a moment, Zoe stood up and headed to the coat pile, grabbing hers and pulling it on before heading for the front door. Everyone exchanged a look of concern before Allie finally rushed after her. She caught up with Zoe in the hall as she was walking briskly towards the staircase. Allie reached out and tugged at Zoe's arm.

"Whoa whoa compadre, where you going?" she asked.

"I just...I need to get out of here for a little bit," Zoe said as they continued down the stairs, Allie on their heels.

"Well, we can't just LEAVE, Zoe, who knows who's out there looking for us?" Allie asked, causing Zoe to finally turn on the landing and face her.

"YOU. Looking for YOU. This is your goddamn mess," Zoe said through gritted teeth, "they're not looking for me, or Molly, or Benny, they're looking for YOU. They released a fucking serial killer to get to you. They hired a fake showgirl to get to the vault plans. Look at how desperate they are! And it's you, Allie, it's always been you."

A moment passed, as a couple walked silently by on the staircase. After they were gone, Zoe took a long, deep breath and rubbed her face.

"Look," Zoe continued, "look...you're my idol. You're my best friend. I know you did what you did to protect me. I...I don't want to seem unappreciative-"

"You have every right to be unappreciative," Allie whispered, taking Zoe by surprise.

"Wh...what?" she asked.

"You have every right to hate me for the things I've done," Allie said, almost in tears, "I've never had a real friend, Zoe. Nick, Megan, those were the closest I ever got, and one was a romantic situation and the other was family. You're the first person I've ever really managed to call a friend. A real friend. I didn't want to lose you to the same shit that pulled me apart. You deserved better than that. But even if my deeds were noble, you have every right to hate me for them. I've only complicated things further."

Zoe nodded, then continued down the stairs, Allie following right behind her. As they reached the outside of the apartment complex, standing on the street, Zoe turned and looked at Allie again.

"Can I just...I just need to go. To like...the suite or something," Zoe said, "I just wanna take a bath. I'll be in and out, discreet, and come right back. They won't search somewhere that obvious, because they know we're too smart to actually go there, so if we go there now, they won't ever think of it."

Allie nodded and reached into her pocket, giving Zoe the key to the suite. Zoe put her arms around Allie and hugged her tight, then began to head across the street. As she reached the other side, Zoe turned back and waved at Allie, who waved back, smiling. For once, it felt like even if they were on shaky ground, they'd found some level of understanding. Just then, a car pulled up hard in front of Allie and the door opened. A man in a suit got out, grabbed Allie around the waist while she shouted and kicked and pulled her into the car.

"Allie!" Zoe screamed, as the car just as quickly pulled away and sped down the road. Zoe chased after it for a moment, then stopped, standing stunned in the road. Allie was right. They shouldn't have left the apartment. They were just waiting.

Inside the car, Allie finally was unhanded as she looked at the two people sitting across from her.

"Who the fuck are you?! What the fuck is this?!" she shouted.

"Miss Meers, I'm so sorry for such drastic action, but we need to talk," the woman said, leaning into the light, "my name is Agent Rebecca Siskel, and this is my partner Agent Roger Tropper. We know you killed the governors son, but hard as it might be the believe, that's not why we're kidnapping you."

Allie furrowed her brow, confused.

"Huh?" she asked, "What other possible reason could you-"

"We need your help," Agent Siskel said, as the car rounded a corner, disappearing into the city outskirts.

"I thought you were my friend," Molly whispered, wiping her eyes on her oversized sweater sleeves, "I thought...I thought you actually liked me, and wanted to know me."

"It's not personal," Kristin said, "Molly, it really isn't. I didn't wanna hurt you, especially after getting to know you, but...but you were the closest and easiest source to attach to. I'm sorry. You're such a sweet person, and you really don't deserve this, nor do you deserve what she's putting you through."

Molly nodded momentarily, then furrowed her brow and shook her head, squinting angrily as she looked up at Kristin.

"Actually no," Molly said, "you don't get to say that, because she might be a mess, but she's stuck by me. She's included me. She came clean of her own accord, I didn't have to stumble into it like I did with you. So yeah, she might be a mess. But we're a mess together, and you don't get to judge her."

Kristin smiled weakly.

"I certainly commend your loyalty," she said, "now if you'll excuse me, I have someone to get this information to."

                                                            7 HOURS EARLIER

"Where are we going?" Allie asked, as Claire rolled down her window and flicked her cigarette out.

"We're going somewhere we won't be bothered," she replied, "don't worry, nobody here is going to harm anyone. We're all on the same team. We just have some shit to talk through. Obviously something serious has come up if I've been released, you figure. Well, there's two FBI agents who are trying desperately to get close to you. Agent Siskel and Agent Tropper. They're the ones who got Sunny's body, and the tomb, before Rachel here snatched it back for us."

"What...what do they want with me?" Allie asked, she and Zoe both looking confused at this.

Rachel pulled the car into an empty casino parking lot. This casino, Dante's Inferno, had gone under a number of years ago, and while originally it had been slated to be imploded and replaced with something else, the deal fell through, and now the place sat decrepit and abandoned. The perfect place for someone like Claire to have a meeting. As Rachel parked and turned the car off, the girls all opened their respective doors and exited. Claire lit another cigarette, then offered one to Allie, who waved it away politely.

"I only smoke hemp now," she said.

"Wow, good for you," Claire said, non mockingly as she took a long drag then continued, "they want you, Allie, because they're certain you killed Sunny. But they also seem to think you might've had a hand in uncovering something for them. Something about your boss. What that is, I don't know. I just know they're curious. They specifically released me to talk to you and get you to meet them. But...you and I are two sides of the same coin-"

"Except I don't kill people," Allie said, before nervously adding, "...purposefully."

"Neither do I," Claire said, "when I'm on medication, I'm pure as snow. But my illness and the actions thereof do not define me, just as your own do not define you, and I think they recognize that and recognize that there's some merit to your decisions, some sort of contextual justification if you will. That's why they want you."

"Yeah, well, good luck getting me to meet with them," Allie said sternly as she leaned against the car. A moment passed and nobody said a thing, as Rachel reached back inside and grabbed her water bottle, unscrewed it and took a long drink. Finally, Zoe cleared her throat, folded her arms and looked at Allie.

"It might not hurt," she finally said, making Allie's eyes widen in shock.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"It might not hurt. Hell, it might lessen whatever sentence you were going to get if you got caught," Zoe said.

"I'm not gonna have gone through all the trouble to cover up a murder, steal back the corpse and dump it in a tiger pit, only to have someone else be harmed by proxy, just to then waltz into their office and say 'hey, sure I'll be your puppet!'. Zoe, do you have any idea how much effort it took just to keep us off the radar?"

"And yet we're clearly not off the radar if they're releasing nearly convicted killers to approach us," Zoe said sternly. Allie pulled herself off the car and approached Zoe, the two of them posturing before eachother, each uncertain how the other might react; Zoe continued, "Allie...I think it's time. It's time to own up to it. Obviously something bigger is going on here than just catching Sunny's murderer. They say it has something to do with Tony?" she asked, glancing back at Claire.

"That's the notion I got," she said, shrugging, "but I only heard snippets. I don't know what it could be or why. Just that they want you because you're close to him."

"...how could you even suggest this?" Allie whispered, "after all I did for you-"

"Did for ME? No. You killed Sunny to keep him getting me on drugs, something that is both admirable and unnecessary, and while I appreciate you thinking so fondly of my wellbeing, everything since then has simply been to cover up that act, an act YOU did. None of that was for me. I did nothing wrong. Yet here I am, going along with it, having secret meetings in defunct parking lots with serial killers to try and keep the lie alive! All I wanted was to perform magic with you!"

Zoe was, and somewhat rightfully so, steaming mad. Allie, however, couldn't see past her own issues to recognize why, and instead she took it as a personal attack.

"How dare you," Allie snarled, "how dare you even suggest I had some ulterior motive! Everything I've done has been to protect you!"

"Oh grow up and stop trying to disguise your misdeeds as a defense of the wellfare of others!" Zoe shouted, "you killed a man! She killed many men!"

"I did," Claire nodded, "I won't deny it."

"You two have far more in common than we ever did," Zoe said quietly, and this set Allie off. She screamed and ran at her, tackling her. Claire and Rachel stood away a bit, just letting the girls have it out. Allie bit Zoe on the arm, and Zoe grabbed the back of Allie's head and yanked her head back before spitting in her face, then rolled out from underneath her. Allie wiped the spit from her face with her jacket sleeve, then grabbed Zoe's ankles and brought her back down to the ground. Allie then climbed on top of her and pinned her wrists down by her head and looked in her eyes.

"....I never needed you," Allie whispered, "He assigned you to me, remember that, I could've gotten sober and been successful again without you."

"Fuck that, you needed a catalyst, someone to care about because you couldn't care about yourself," Zoe replied harshly, "in fact that's why you do anything for anyone else, so you can avoid ever doing it for yourself. You wanna be a fucking martyr, go ahead, but I'm done being taken down to hell with you."

Allie laid there atop Zoe for a moment, their eyes locked, and then she finally released Zoe's wrists and rolled off of her. Rachel approached and helped Zoe up, as Zoe wiped herself off from the grit and the dirt of the parking lot. Allie sat on the ground, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms hugging them. Claire walked slowly up before her and sat down, cross legged, holding out the remainder of her cigarette, and this time Allie happily took it.

"Okay," Claire said, "clearly you two had some issues to resolve. I'm happy to have mediated during that frank exchange of beliefs. But Allie, you know I wouldn't steer you wrong. You came to me, one of the only people to come visit me in prison, and you asked for my advice. At a time when I was avoided, treated like a plague, you sought me out and asked me to help you. I'm not asking you to meet with these agents, I'm just telling you that they asked me to. You've done a rather spectacular job avoiding them on your own thus far. I'm here to protect you."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Allie sniffled.

"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess," Claire said, smiling, reaching out and placing her hand on Allie's scraped cheek before quietly adding, "but don't worry, when the time comes, I'm gonna be here for you."

   4 HOURS EARLIER

Molly had been gone all day. She'd been down at the casino, once again doing measurements, doing note taking, all the pre-building requirements that she had to get done before actually setting to work. Truth be told, however, that a lot of it was absolute nonsense. Nothing more than padding out time waiting for Allie and Benny to crack the idea of how to easily acces said vault. As Molly opened the door to her house and stepped inside, she sighed and let her hair down, then ran her fingers through it. She desperately needed a shower. Molly headed down the hall towards the bathroom, and that's when she heard the sound of someone rummaging through her home office. She slowly, cautiously, approached and opened the door, only to find, of all people, Kristin.

"...are...are you robbing me?" Molly asked, stunned.

"...this is awkward," Kristin said, standing up from the floor, papers scattered everywhere, as she smoothed out her skirt and sighed, "um, Molly, we need to have a discussion. This vault you're building, I need to know everything about it. You tell me what you know, what the plan is, and everything, and nothing will have to happen."

Molly stepped back into the hall a bit, scared.

"...who do you work for?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter," she said, "I was asked by someone to do this, because I know you're friends with Allie Meers, and I know she killed a man that my employer wants justice for. They set me up to meet you. Told me what time you'd be leaving that day, what area of the parking lot you were in, everything. Molly, we can still be friends. Hell, I could get you out of all of this. But I need you to help me first."

Molly chewed her lip, contemplating her options. Allie had created a world of trouble for her, and here this girl - a girl she apparently didn't actually know and therefore couldn't rightfully trust - was offering her a way out, if she just cooperated with her. Molly breathed heavily and shook her head.

"God dammit," she whispered, before turning on her heel and running down the hall, only to feel Kristin's hands grabbing her hair and pulling her back towards her home office scant seconds later. Molly screamed and kicked, but Kristin was stronger, bigger, and had the advantage. There was nothing Molly could do now but see it through, and hope that, in the end, she'd be forgiven for whatever happened.

                                                            2 HOURS EARLIER

Allie was sitting on the hood of the car with Rachel, while Claire attended to Zoe. Rachel had opened a can of seltzer water and she and Allie were passing that and a bag of chips back and forth between them. On occasion, Allie would glance back over her shoulder and peek at Claire and Zoe, wondering what they were talking about.

"Why do you do whatever she asks?" Allie asked, looking at Rachel as she shoved her arm back in the chip bag.

"Why does Zoe do whatever you ask?" Rachel questioned back, shrugging, "because we care about one another. Regardless of the toxicity of the relationship, we're all the other has, and...and the world is too scary to navigate on your own. I'm not saying it's healthy like this, but...fuck...it's not ideal the other way either."

Allie sighed and nodded, understanding all too well her point.

"Besides," Rachel said quietly, "I love her. I can't...I can't just shut that off. No matter what she's done, or has asked me to do, I can't just stop loving her. I know it's sick, I know it's...it's dangerous, but...fuck. She's all I ever wanted."

Allie smiled.

"That's actually sweet," Allie said.

"And I think, deep down, you love Zoe. Not in the same way, but I know about you. Your relationship with your cousin. You see Zoe as a replacement in a sense, and you don't want her to leave like she did. You don't want to lose someone else. So you're doing everything in your power, even if it hurts her inadvertantly, to keep her here."

Allie shrugged.

"Maybe," she whispered, "or maybe she's right. Maybe I'm just bad."

"Hey, you're the Astounding Allie, not the Awful Allie," Rachel said, making Allie giggle and blush. If there was one thing Rachel St. Sebastian was good at, it was making other girls feel better about themselves.

                                                         45 MINUTES EARLIER

Kristin continued searching through papers and files, gathering everything she could that she thought was connected into one cohesive pile, as Molly sat tied to a chair with belts.

"I thought you were my friend," Molly whispered, wiping her eyes on her oversized sweater sleeves, "I thought...I thought you actually liked me, and wanted to know me."

"It's not personal," Kristin said, "Molly, it really isn't. I didn't wanna hurt you, especially after getting to know you, but...but you were the closest and easiest source to attach to. I'm sorry. You're such a sweet person, and you really don't deserve this, nor do you deserve what she's putting you through."

Molly nodded momentarily, then furrowed her brow and shook her head, squinting angrily as she looked up at Kristin.

"Actually no," Molly said, "you don't get to say that, because she might be a mess, but she's stuck by me. She's included me. She came clean of her own accord, I didn't have to stumble into it like I did with you. So yeah, she might be a mess. But we're a mess together, and you don't get to judge her."

Kristin smiled weakly.

"I certainly commend your loyalty," she said, "now if you'll excuse me, I have someone to get this information to."

Kristin gathered everything she felt she needed and then exited. As soon as Molly heard the front door shut and the car start, she began wriggling to get free from the chair. She needed to get to Allie, and fast. She needed to tell her that the cops had someone who was hot on her tail. Molly scooted so much the chair collapsed to its side, taking her with it. As she lied there, sobbing, she continued to do her best to get free of the belts keeping her tied to the chair. If Allie could escape something, so could she.

                                                   CURRENT TIME

Claire approached the car, wiping her hands on her pants as Rachel and Allie looked up at her. The sun was starting to finally set, and the cool Vegas night chill was coming in. Allie zipped up her jacket, and Rachel finished drinking the seltzer then crushed the can as Claire stood in front of them.

"I think I managed to smooth everything over," Claire said, "but...don't be surprised if she doesn't want to talk for a while."

"I wouldn't blame her, no," Allie mumbled.

"So we done now?" Rachel asked, "Can we get going? Cause I'm hungry and the sushi place is gonna close in-"

Just then, they heard a car speeding towards the lot, and everyone glanced in its direction. Zoe even stood up and, stuffing her hands in her coat pockets, approached the car, though still keeping somewhat of a distance. The car swerved and veered into the lot, heading right towards them, and then came to a sudden jolting stop and just as everyones curiosity peaked, the drivers side door opened and out stepped a bruised and rough looking Molly.

"Molly?" Allie asked, sliding off the hood of the car and approaching her quickly, putting her hands on her shoulders, "what the...how did you even know where-"

"I drove around to every casino until I saw you here," she said, out of breath.

"What happened to you?" Allie asked, reaching up and touching the bruise on her head above her right eyebrow, making her wince as she did.

"It doesn't matter," Molly said, "Allie...they're coming for you. They've hired some...some private detective or something, and she...she took all my blueprints and papers for the vault and...and they're coming for you. For us. For everyone."

Molly then glanced towards the others, her lip quivering, as she said softly

"...we need to hide."

"This, ladies, is a replica of Jackson Strange's transparent box," Benny said, slapping his hand atop it as Allie and Zoe sat on a couch in front of him. They were currently in Benny's loft, his girlfriend at work. Allie and Zoe exchanged a look and then looked back at Benny.

"Where did you even get this?" Allie asked.

"Does that matter?" Benny asked, shrugging.

"I'm just curious how one goes about procuring a transparent box," Allie said, "I mean, I get that we're magicians, but still, I can't imagine you can just call someone up and ask if they have them readily available. How hard was it to get this thing? How much did you pay?"

"Listen," Benny said, "none of that matters. All that matters is I have it, okay? And now, it's up to us to-"

"Does your girlfriend know you bought this?" Zoe asked.

"Oh, that's a good question," Allie said, snapping her fingers and pointing at Benny, adding, "did she get mad when it showed up?"

"What is wrong with you two?" Benny asked, annoyed, "we're committing a crime, here, why are you so stuck on how I got it? Who cares how I got it?! I got it! That's all that matters! Now, are you gonna help me figure out how to vanish in something everyone can clearly see through, or would you rather just ask me stupid questions?"

"I kinda am having fun annoying you, honestly," Allie said, "but you're right, we should get down to business. So, what do you have to tell us about it?"

Benny sighed and walked to the back of the box, unlatched it and pulled the back open, stepping inside, closing the entrance behind himself. Allie and Zoe leaned forward and looked confused. He wasn't visible. Somehow, despite walking inside of a seemingly transparent box, he wasn't visible. Benny then came back out and walked back around to the front of the box, grinning.

"It's a two way mirror, inserted halfway," Benny said, "that's how he does it. There's a small section, just long and tall enough to conceal him in the middle of the box, where he can see out of, but nobody can see him. This gives him the illusion of having vanished. It's actually pretty simple, which isn't surprising, given he seemed pretty simple."

"Someone sounds jealous," Allie murmured.

"I'm not going to stoop to allow myself to be jealous of an idiot," Benny said, "the real question is...once he's hidden, how does he get out. That's the real trick, and if we can crack that, then we'll be golden."

"...I'm gonna get some snacks. We're gonna be here a while," Allie said, standing up from the couch.

                                                                           ***

Rachel St. Sebastian was lying on her side on her bed, staring at the wall. She'd never felt more conflicted in her life. She felt a hand creep up onto her hip and she tensed up. She knew Claire wasn't awake, she could hear her lightly snoring, but still...something about her being so close...though, how much closer could they get after last night, really? Rachel quietly slipped out of bed and pulled on some underwear and a loose shirt, then headed out the hall towards her kitchen. She started to make some coffee, and, standing there watching it drip, she thought how easy it'd be.

Claire was sleeping. It wouldn't even hurt. She had all the necessary supplies downstairs. She could simply knock her out further with ether and kill her painlessly, and would anybody even care? She was a serial killer, after all. Rachel would probably be hailed a hero of some kind. She tapped her nails lightly on the countertip and bit her lip. But she loved her. She couldn't do that to someone she loved, someone who was finally reciprocating the feelings she'd long since had for her. That would just be plain sick.

She suddenly heard moans from upstairs, and figured Claire was waking up. Rachel felt herself shift within her skin, almost purely out of fear. Why did she even come here? What could she possibly need from Rachel now? The coffee finished preparing, and Rachel quickly grabbed two mugs and filled them up, then headed back to the bedroom, where she found Claire sitting up in bed, and for a brief moment as she entered the room - seeing the morning early afternoon sun coming in through the half shut blinds and dancing on Claire's red hair - Rachel felt a pang in her heart of genuine adoration. She smiled and handed a mug to Claire, who happily took it and sipped it as Rachel seated herself back on the bed.

"Did you sleep well?" Rachel asked quietly, and Claire nodded.

After a few minutes of silence and drinking, Claire set her mug down on the bedside table, then climbed on her knees behind Rachel, putting her arms around her shoulders and nuzzling her neck with her lips, making Rachel shiver and blush, giggling like an adolescent teenage girl.

"I need you," Claire whispered, and Rachel nodded.

Who was she kidding. She would do anything Claire asked, no matter how toxic and one sided this relationship was. That's kind of what love does to a brain. It makes you stupid.

                                                                            ***

"It just needs to appear like we were never there," Allie said, pacing circles around the box, "it just needs to seem like nobody came in or exited. That's why cracking this thing is so important. Because if it looks like anyone came in, the first person he's gonna suspect is Molly, because she's the only other one with knowledge of it. I don't want to put her in any further danger than she's already in."

"That's noble of you," Zoe said, her and Allie exchanging an uncomfortable glance. Allie sighed and knelt in front of Zoe, putting her hands on her knees.

"Listen, I didn't want to drag you into anything either, but you're my partner in magic, you're the only other magician whose skills I trust-" Allie started.

"Uh, rude, in the room," Benny said from behind, shaking his head.

"-but," Allie continued, "I don't want you to be involved in this either. After you help me crack this thing, you just go do whatever it is you want, okay? Leave the rest to Benny and I, because you deserve a break after what I've put you through. I'm sorry I have turned your life into a spectacle of crime, that's not something I ever wanted for you, and you deserve better from better people than me."

Zoe was, admittedly, surprised at this statement. Her eyebrows raised, and a little weak smile broke out on her lips as she nodded. Allie was, if nothing else, at least maturing to recognize how her actions affected others. Being sober probably helped in that regard.

"Well," Zoe said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt, "in that case...I think we should take a lesson from Occam's Razor, in that the simplest solution is often the correct one. If you want to get into something, it has to look seamless, that's the whole trick to the box, right? His disappearance is seamless. They might question how it happens, but they don't question that it happened. We need that level of acceptance. And how do you do that? With something that, just like the box, blends in with itself."

Benny and Allie looked at one another, then Benny glanced back at Zoe and furrowed his brow.

"Are you saying..." he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, grinning, "fake wall. Think of the hangman illusion. You've got someone clearly about to be hanged, a real rope, a real stage, or at least real enough to be accepted as fact. Props that don't look like props are never questioned. That's why the box is so perfect, because it's designed to look like something we're all aware of the visual of. Nobody questions a box, and nobody..." Zoe said, putting her hand on the box now, smiling, "...questions a wall."

                                                                             ***

Rachel St. Sebastian had never really had what others might call a 'successful relationship', and the fact that the closest she'd come thusfar was with a serial killer who ran a cult proved she wasn't going to anytime soon. In fact, for a majority of her life, Rachel had rarely had relationships at all. Despite being constantly chased after by other women, she wasn't all that interested in them most of the time, and the few she was were never interested in her in the same way. So Rachel St. Sebastian focused on the dead. She focused on those who couldn't judge her and, instead, would likely be grateful for her help. And this level of desperation for acceptance was becoming all the more clear with Claire's requests for help.

"They want me to turn on her," Claire said, sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee as Rachel made breakfast; Claire continued, "they want me to lure her somewhere where they can approach her, because they know she and I have spoken. The question is...should I? I have nothing but respect for Allie. I mean, let's face it, she killed a man and put him in a box, and I killed people and put them in walls. We're not so different. It'd be like turning on myself."

"Mmm," Rachel said, flipping her eggs, "but...but she's not you, you know that, right?"

"I'm well aware, yes," Claire said, lightening a cigarette and taking a long inhale, "but when you're so similar to someone, it's hard to want to hurt them without feeling like you're hurting yourself. Besides, she at least had noble reasons for what she did. I didn't. I was just sick."

Rachel smirked as she seasoned her eggs and continued cooking. At least, if nothing else, it seemed Claire was acknowledging her faults and taking responsibility for them. That was progress. The lowest level of progress, but progress nonetheless. Everyone's got to start somewhere.

"And why do you need my help, exactly?" Rachel asked over her shoulder.

"Because I need a mediator. I can't risk exposing myself," Claire said, "I need to keep as low a profile as possible, which means I need you to set up a meeting between Allie and I. Please Rachel, I...I really really need you right now."

Rachel blushed and plated her eggs, then plated some for Claire and sat herself and the plates down at the table. Rachel looked at Claire, who held her mug in her lap, both hands cupped around it and her eyes looking down at her legs. Claire seemed...uncertain of herself, and it wasn't something Rachel was used to seeing from her. Even when she'd known her to be on medication, Claire had always been confident, but now she seemed rather cautious.

"...please Rachel," she whispered, sounding like she was going to cry, "you're the only one I have."

"I got you," Rachel said, reaching out and touching her leg, smiling.

Rachel would do anything for Claire, and that unrestricted loyalty terrified her.

                                                                         ***

Allie was standing at the box while Zoe pulled her jacket on and looked back at her. Benny was in his kitchen, getting a drink. Zoe approached Allie and tapped her on the arm, causing her concentration to break and make her chuckle.

"Sorry," Allie said, "lost in thought."

"I'm gonna go," Zoe said, "Effie and I are supposed to have dinner together. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Allie said, waving her hand at Zoe, "don't worry about me, you go and have a nice dinner. Tell Effie I said hi."

Zoe nodded, hugged Allie and then exited the apartment. As the door closed, Benny walked back to Allie and the box, standing opposite of it from her, taking a long drink from the uncapped bottle of soda he'd gotten. After a moment Allie glanced up and their eyes met.

"You sure about this?" Allie asked, and Benny shrugged.

"Not really sure about anything to be honest, I don't have much self confidence," Benny said, making Allie chuckle as he added, "but Allie, if there's one thing I know, it's magic. You and I both know magic. Between the three of us, I think we can pull this off. Fuck Tony, he deserves to be taken down a notch."

Zoe chewed on her lip and nodded slowly.

"...Zoe's not coming," Allie said, making Benny raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"She's not?"

"She's not," Allie said, "I've done so much damage to her life. I can't make her go any further. Molly too. Once we get in, she's out. Are you absolutely certain you wanna be a part of this? You could go to jail."

"I'm a magician, my life is already a kind of prison," Benny said, making Allie throw her head back and laugh. Allie hugged Benny, got her own jacket on, thanked him for getting the box and then headed out herself. As she got into the elevator and headed back down to surface level, she couldn't stop thinking about how they were going to manage to pull this off. It was going to be one hell of a stunt, if accomplished correctly. Her thoughts then turned back to Zoe, and she grimaced. All Zoe had wanted to do was perform magic with her idol, and what had Allie done to her life? Absolutely destroy it. Kill a man for her. Rope her into covering up multiple crimes. The gravity of the ongoing situations was starting to wear on her conscious. As she reached the bottom of the complex, and headed into the parking garage pulling her keys out, she heard Zoe suddenly and turned to see her standing there.

"...what...I thought you left," Allie said, "What are you still-"

"Come here," Zoe said quietly, and Allie nodded, following her.

They walked between a handful of closely parked cars, like tins of sardines in a case, past pillars of varying numbers and letters, only to finally reach a small black car that was idling. Zoe and Allie stopped, and Allie looked at Zoe, confused, but Zoe just shook her head. The car door opened and out stepped Rachel St. Sebastian.

"Oh," Allie said, almost sounding relieved, "it's just you. What...what are you doing here? How did you even know where I'd be?"

"You're not a hard person to track down, contrary to the police's belief," Rachel said, standing by the drivers side door, hand on the top, "but I'm not the one who wants to see you. You guys should get in."

Zoe and Allie waited a moment, then they walked to the car and, Zoe getting into the front passenger seat and Allie climbing into the backseat, Rachel climbed back into the drivers seat and slammed her door shut, starting the car up proper. Allie coughed and waved at the smoke that had filled the car, only to recognize Claire's face as she did so. Claire just smiled at her.

"Hi Allie," she said.

"...you're out?" Allie asked quietly, shocked.

"We have a lot to talk about," Claire said, "Rachel, drive."

Rachel pulled out of the parking space, reversed and headed towards the parking garage exit, heading off to god knows where. They didn't know at the moment the car hit the street, basking in the glow of the early evening sun, but in less than 24 hours, their whole lives would change drastically again.