"Hello boys and girls, and welcome to Mr. Magic's Guide To Trickery!" the man on the tape said. He was tall, thin, with a good head of hair and dresses to the nines. A suit, a cape, a hat, the whole nine yards. And Allie sat there completely entranced, freshly 11 years old, her eyes glued to the television screen with a slackjaw sense of wonder on her face. She'd seen magic done before, but something about the way Mr. Magic did it...it was spellbinding. Mr. Magic went through his entire repertoire of tricks, teaching her how to do them one by one, and by the time the tape was finished, all Allie knew were two things. The first was how to do all these tricks, and the second...

...was she needed to watch that again immediately.

Allie spent weeks watching that tape on repeat, doing her best to mimic Mr. Magic's abilities. Soon enough, she was performing in the school talent show with her cousin, Megan, doing magic, and shortly after that she wrote a letter to Mr. Magic who, much to her surprise, wrote her back. His words, like his demeanor, were kindly and supportive, and he also sent along a signed photo for her. Allie framed and hung these things on every wall of every place she ever lived, always pulling inspiration from then when she felt her lowest. She had no way of knowing it, either, but the very same effect he had on her, she would wind up having on a young girl named Zoe Fitch. But...not quite in the same way.

In fact, Zoe had been there the night of the accident, and even that gruesome display hadn't lessened her want for being a magician and working with Allie when she got older. Even her parents were sympathetic to what had happened, as anyone normally would be. But as Zoe got older, and as Allie spun out further, all Zoe ever heard from her folks was "I don't want you working with that woman, she's a bad influence." Zoe was determined to prove them wrong, and in all honesty, she kind of had. Considering the success they would find together, she did prove her parents wrong. Unfortunately, it also came at the near cost of her freedom and sense of self.

                                                                             ***

"It can be hard to recognize when those closest to us abuse us or use us," the woman leading the group said, "especially if we love them deeply. We want to give those we love the benefit of the doubt, want to believe they can change, which is why some people will stay attached to toxic partners, friends, family, far longer than they should."

"How do you know someone can't change?" a voice asked, and the woman leading the grou, Harriet, glanced in the direction of the voice, only to see a teenage Zoe sitting there; Zoe asked again, "how do you know someone can't change, how do you know when it's a lost cause?"

"Well, I wouldn't say people are lost causes, it's more that-"

"But you just said that some people can't change," Zoe said, interrupting, "you just said that if people can't change, and those types often won't, then they deserve to be left. So how do you know when to finally write someone off for good?"

Harriet didn't have an answer, and even if she did have one, it never would've sufficed for Zoe. She wasn't going to let go her hero worship anyway. In another few years, she would run away to live with her sister in Vegas and, hopefully, eventually work with Allie Meers. But to hear her parents tell it...Allie was now nothing but a former shell of herself. A once great but since tarnished shadow of who she'd once been, and frankly, by using large tigers, she was setting a bad example for other young magicians who might, by following in her steps, might lose more than she had. When Zoe got home from the group, she went immediately to her bedroom, popped a VHS into her TV's built in VCR and pressed rewind. Once it was finished, she pressed play, sat and watched Allie's latest live show she'd ordered on pay-per-view one night and recorded on this tape. How could anyone think Allie was dangerous? She was just a magician. You can't be a bad influence by simply doing entertainment, especially one so milquetoast as magic.

If only Zoe knew the future in that moment.

                                                                           ***

"I have to say, I'm flattered," Mr. Magic said, "to have kept something this mundane from someone like me all these years."

"Wasn't mundane to me," Allie remarked, leaning against the wall nearby, "after all, you were who I looked up to. To think that Raymond Sykes used you the way Tony's using me...it's sickening. I figure that's why you're more than eager to help me accomplish my goal."

Rufus made a noise and cleared his throat, turning around and looking towards Allie as he walked to the couch in the suite and sat down. Allie walked over and sat down on the ottoman across from him.

"Raymond saw the value in what I do as a means to an end," Rufus said, "perhaps Tony actually saw potential in you as a performer."

"If that were true, he'd have told me what he was involved in."

"Maybe he didn't in order to keep you safe," Rufus said, shrugging, "I'm just playing devils advocate, Meers. All I'm saying is that just because Raymond did that to me doesn't automatically mean it's happening again to you. I think, before you go ahead any further with these plans, you first need to ensure that that's where it's headed. The worst thing you could do is assume his intentions instead of knowing outright. Wouldn't wanna ruin the business for no good reason."

Allie sighed and nodded. She knew Rufus was right. She knew she should ultimately make sure that Tony was, in fact, attempting to use her to hide money, but how would she even go about that? And then she remembered the lawyer Zoe had mentioned. Allie looked back towards the letter framed on the wall.

"...all the tapes..." she asked, "were they part of the ploy too?"

"That was how we made the money," Rufus said, "it was a good financial move for us both at the time. Didn't realize how it would only screw me over and benefit him in the long run. But despite that, my love for the act of magic was never fraudulent. I hope that at least was clear."

"It was," Allie said, before looking back at Rufus and asking, "so...how do you get someone to incriminate themselves?"

"It's the same as any magic trick, Allie," Rufus said, leaning forward, hands cupped between his knees, grinning, "it's all about misdirection."

                                                                            ***

Zoe studied that tape of Allie as much as Allie studied the tape of Mr. Magic. She was enamored, and determined to get things right no matter what, simply so, when the moment came, she would be considered good enough to be worthy of working with her idol. Even still, she tried her best to temper her expectations. When her parents would ask her about her plans after high school, she of course would tell them she was going to go to college, but, realistically, she had already made plans with her sister, Thea, to live in her apartments spare bedroom in Vegas. And there were other reasons to get away from home, but it was mostly the magic.

After the incident at her cousins birthday party, especially, setting them on fire accidentally during a magic trick, Zoe and her parents drifted even further apart. They simply refused to acknowledge the interest, nay the obsession, she had for magic. They sure as hell wouldn't want her to go work with Allie, who, as they claimed, had been a bad influence. Bad enough to, perhaps, set her cousin on fire. Now their fears felt validated.

The day Zoe arrived in Vegas, she put Allie's show tape in the VCR in her bedroom, curled up on the bed, and sobbed until she fell asleep. The thing was, Allie's influence on Zoe was different than Mr. Magic's had been on Allie. After all, he'd inspired Allie to take on magic as a career. Allie had influenced Zoe to work with Allie. For Zoe, Allie was the safety net, the obsession, not the magic. Sure, she liked magic well and good, but it was much more about her attachment to Allie, something that only felt more confusing the longer she grew to know her in a personal capacity.

A few weeks after hiding Sunny's body, Allie and Zoe were having a snack in between shows at the casino, and all Zoe could think of was how, somehow, in some warped way...

...her parents had been right.

And how much that hurt to admit.

                                                                            ***

"You know," Allie said, "when I was attacked by the tiger - something that was inspired by you, by the way, so thanks for that - and wound up in the hospital, my parents never even came to see me? My boyfriend, who was my nurse at the time, I had him bring in your tape so I could watch it in the hospital VCR."

"Boy, that's pretty pathetic," Rufus said, smirking, making Allie laugh.

"To be fair, I was on a lot of heavy pain medication, so I guess the need for comfort items was at an all time high. Also, my hand had been nearly ripped off, so there was that too. Anyway, it helped. I didn't have any family, but...in a way...someone I'd looked up to my whole life was there in spirit, at least."

Rufus felt bad. He didn't know that Allie had put so much stock in his presence in her life, even if it was just through a videotape. Rufus stood up and started to pace, Allie staying seated on the ottoman, watching him. After a few minutes, he finally stopped and looked out one of the large windows of the suite and shook his head.

"You say you have a partner?" he asked, "an assistant?"

"She's not my assistant, not anymore, she's my full on partner now," Allie said, "why?"

"...I had someone like that too, at one point," Rufus said, "this lovely young lady, fresh out of college. She'd majored in theatre, so she figured she'd be perfect for it. In a way, she became a daughter to me. She had had a bad home life, and I, never having had any kids, liked having someone who looked up to me for advice. It was nice. When Raymond and I started in on this little business venture, she could see the morality issues attached to it. I wish I'd listened to her, but...I was so desperate to break through. To make it big. To have more influence. As usual, money wins over people."

Allie looked at him sadly, sensing the loss in his voice. Rufus continued, putting a hand on the window.

"This city takes so much from you," he said quietly, "I wanted to leave. Wanted to stop things, take Anika with me, and leave the city. Go somewhere better. Somewhere less..."

"...poisonous?" Allie asked, and Rufus snapped his fingers, pointing at her.

"Bingo," he said, "but I just couldn't walk away from it. When I finally tried, Raymond blackballed me from every venue, telling everyone I was having relations with my assistant, and considering the age gap, this was problematic, even then, even in Vegas. It was sleazy, but they still held their performers to some kind of standard. And Anika...she was so torn apart by the allegations, despite knowing full well they weren't true, that she simply left on her own. So, I'm sorry I put you in the hospital, Allie, even if albeit unintentionally. Seems all I do is damage young women."

Allie stood up and walked up the window, standing by his side, looking out of it, folding her arms.

"I feel like I do the same," she said, "between my partner, my friend Molly, and so many others, it seems like I just do irreperable damage to the younger women around me when really I just want the best for them. How did you rectify that within yourself?"

"I never did," Rufus said meekly, "don't let yourself become me, in that way, Meers. Don't be a bad influence."

Allie nodded. She knew what she had to do that evening.

                                                                                ***

Zoe was sitting at the restaurant, at a table with candlelight, playing with the utensils in front of her. She'd had the menu for about 15 minutes, but she'd opted to wait to order anything. She felt someone walk by her and looked up, expecting to see the waitress coming back yet again, but instead, this time, it was Allie. Allie sat down at the table and looked across at Zoe. Zoe smiled at Allie, the finally picked up the menu and perused it.

"About time, I was starting to starve," Zoe said.

"I hope it wasn't an imposition to get together like this," Allie said, "I tried to invite Molly, but she didn't answer."

"It wasn't," Zoe said, chewing on her lip, clearly hungry, before looking up from the menu and asking, one eyebrow raised, "what is this about though? Cause we don't normally do this kind of stuff and-"

"I have to apologize to you," Allie said, "...I know I...I know I've done it before, probably a dozen times over at this point, but none of, in hindsight, has really felt sincere. That's what I'm aiming to correct here. Because I've tried to come up with so many different explanations, so many different excuses to alleviate myself of any if not all guilt associated with what's happened, but...the fact of the matter is, Zoe, everything is my fault and I can't deny it any longer. All you wanted was to be my assistant, and I took a lifelong dream of yours and turned it into a nightmare. All Molly wanted was to work on a new casino, and I dragged her into my malarky. Got her caught up in an entire tax evasion scheme. She just wanted to create buildings."

Zoe set the menu down fully and looked at Allie.

"In essence," Allie continued, "yeah, it's all cause of me. And after a few discussions with someone I admire greatly, I realized that I was no better than Sunny or Claire, taking advantage of people who were stupid enough to be tricked by my charm. My manipulation tactics have never been stronger. But that doesn't make it okay, and, unlike them, I acknowledge that what I'm doing is inherently wrong. That's why I'm trying to make it right. When the agents and I met, right before....well....before she died, I made a deal with them. I'd offer my help and, in exchange, all of you wouldn't be touched. You've all been granted immunity. I'm taking full brunt of the fault, since the fault is mine to begin with."

Zoe's eyes widened. She had suspected this might be the case, but to hear it...jesus.

"So I'm treating you to dinner, and an apology, I guess," Allie said, "and I just hope at least one of them was worth coming out for."

Zoe smiled and nodded. Allie was right. Her apologies thusfar had been rather lackluster and insincere, but this one...this one was genuine. Zoe picked up her water glass and took a long drink, then pushed her bangs from her face and exhaled.

"Well, for what it's worth," Zoe said, "nobody else has apologized to me for the things they've done or said, so in that sense, you're already ahead of the curve. You know, my parents used to say you were a bad influence."

"Funny, cause my parents used to tell me that about myself too," Allie replied, the both of them laughing.

"What the fuck is a Peropkop Bar?" Chelsea asked, opening a box to stock a shelf in front of the counter.

"That's an energy bar made from these little creatures called Peropkops," Monica said, "They're these cute little guys who get harvested specifically because they give you a ton of energy, but they're also kinda addicting from what I've heard."

"What does a Peropkop look like?" Chelsea asked, looking over her shoulder at Monica.

"Like a mix between a badger and a hyena," Monica replied, as Chelsea started stocking the bars.

"That doesn't sound very cute to me," Chelsea said.

"You get stuck here for a long time and see how your tastes change," Monica remarked, the both of them chuckling. While Chelsea was doing this, she'd given Juno a small laundry list of tasks to manage around the shop, just so they'd get done faster, and it must've been working because she hadn't seen her in over an hour. The bell over the door rang, and a tall completely black humanoid creature lacking any facial features and their body moving like TV static shambled in through the doorway. Chelsea and Monica glanced at him as he approached the counter, and Chelsea sighed.

"Take care of these please," Chelsea said.

"Number one, I don't work here, and number two, I can't really touch things cause I'm a ghost," Monica said.

"That's horse shit, I've seen you touch lots of stuff, stop using your incorporeal existence as a means to avoid things," Chelsea said.

"Okay well the first part still stands," Monica said.

"I can pay you, if you'd like."

"The hell do I need money for? What am I gonna buy? There's no makeup line for ghosts, Chelsea," Monica said, making Chelsea laugh loudly as she finally scuffled around behind the counter and looked up at the tall creature in front of her. Chelsea waited patiently, smiling politely, until they finally craned their head down towards her.

"Can I help you?" Chelsea asked.

"I'd like 150 scratch off tickets please," the creature said, "the ones at the top, the Genies Wish."

Chelsea nodded, turned and went to grab them, when she noticed a small piece of paper hanging beside them. On it was a photo of this creature, and in big bold words it said 'do not sell to'. Chelsea rolled her eyes and sighed. Nothing could ever just be easy, could it?

                                                                          ***

Juno had, in fact, been taking care of that list Chelsea had given her. She'd done some inventory, removal of old stock, swept up, all sorts of little things. Now she was back near the dumpster behind the shop, tossing yet another box of expired bags of FluKus into it. Juno sighed, tossed the box in after as well, and turned to start heading back through the door when she heard a rustling from the dumpster. Juno stopped and turned back towards it, raising an eyebrow.

"Hello?" she asked.

Some more rustling, and Juno approached cautiously, always aware it could be something potentially dangerous.

"Someone there?" she asked.

"You just throw anything away, huh?" a voice asked, as the box she'd thrown in climbed out and sat on the rim of the dumpster; they wiped themselves off best they could, then added, "that's kind of rude, you know. Just because I'm cardboard means I'm automatically disposable garbage?"

"No, I...I'm sorry, I didn't..." Juno stammered, half confused, half trying not to crack up at the absurdity of it all.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" the box asked, "really? This is humorous to you? Tossing a lifeform with thoughts and feelings and emotions into the trash huh? Yeah, real comedic. You know, young lady-"

"I'm not so young," Juno mumbled.

"-you could stand to learn some manners, some respect for others, especially if they don't fit into your ridiculous beauty standard criteria of what you think a sentient creature is," the box finished, and Juno nodded in agreement.

"Anything that gets me out of work. I'll take sensitivity training any day of the week," she replied. Anything to get her out of restocking.

                                                                               ***

"So," Chelsea said, returning to the counter, "...I'm apparently not supposed to sell these to you. I have no reasons as to why, but I do have a sheet of paper with your photo on it that specifically states I'm not supposed to sell to you. Do you maybe wanna clue me in on why that is?"

"She put up a sign?" the creature asked, just as the bell over the door rang and Polaris strolled inside. He passed by, patting the creature on the back.

"Hello Garvin," Polaris said, "what brings you in today? The usual?"

"She won't sell them to me!" Garvin replied, "Luna's put some kind of blanket ban on me!"

"Well, thankfully, Luna isn't here, is she, Chelsea?" Polaris asked, turning his eyelass gaze in her direction, which always made her uncomfortable. She shivered, then bit her lip and regained her composure, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm not selling anyone anything until I at least hear a remotely viable reason as to why you have been banned from purchasing them," Chelsea said, proud of herself for sticking to her guns, adding, "then, and only then, will I even consider it. Why are these so worth getting in trouble over? They're just scratch offs."

"Did you read the name?" Polaris asked, taking one from her, "they're Genies Wish. If you win, you get the chance to grant one wish, and have it fully granted. Now why wouldn't that be appealing to, oh, just about anyone? After all, Chelsea, isn't there a wish you always wanted to have come true?"

Chelsea's mind immediately went to her sister, but she'd done that by brute force via Todd. She sighed and nodded, turning back and taking the entire box from the shelf, then splitting them between Garvin, Polaris, Monica and herself.

"Okay, but if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it together, alright?" Chelsea said, "that way we're all held partially responsible."

"That sounds fair," Polaris said, as she reached into the register and gave all 4 of them a single nickle each to use. With that, the 4 of them started leaning over the counter, scratching away. Chelsea really hated going against Luna's wishes - this was her shop, after all, and she had given her this job - but Polaris was so damn good at convincing her to do otherwise that she just couldn't help herself. In a way, she was starting to understand why Luna didn't want him around. He was clearly manipulative, even if not for bad reasons.

"Are wishes transferrable?" Chelsea asked.

"It's just a ticket, Chelsea," Polaris replied, "whoever holds the ticket gets the wish granted, not whoever uncovers it."

"That seems like kind of a sketch reward system, that means if someone wins it, then drops it on their way home, they lose their chance," Chelsea said.

"That's why it's often smarter to just use the wish the minute you win it," Monica said.

"You know..." Chelsea said, stopping momentarily, "I don't think I've ever done a scratch off ticket, or any kind of lottery or gambling. Until coming here, I lived a pretty sheltered life. You know, I'm starting to think you guys might be kind of bad influences," she finished, grinning, and everyone chuckled.

                                                                                ***

Juno had jumped up on the lid of the dumpster to sit with the cardboard mimic, swinging her feet back and forth as she did. Juno had never actually met a mimic in all her time here, which was surprising cause she'd always gotten the impression that they were fairly common. The mimic was still cleaning himself off from the various debris he'd been dumped in with before finally looking up at her.

"I guess I don't know what to say since I've never interacted with one of you before," Juno said, shrugging, "do you get mistaken for trash often?"

"More often than not, yeah," the mimic said, sighing, "it's hard. I didn't ask to be born this way, you know? It's just a happenstance of nature, and I had no say in the matter, and now I'm saddled with this issue for the remainder of my life."

"I know what that's like," Juno mumbled.

"It's not so much the conditioner that bothers me, as it is others perception," the mimic continued, "I like myself plenty. Others are the ones with a problem with me, and that's where I take offense. Just cause I look like trash don't mean I am trash. But...well...most folks aren't too eager to take advice from a piece of corrugated cardboard, so."

"How did you learn to like yourself? Cause that's been hard for me," Juno said, "I'm also different than everyone here, and I know they're all constantly judging me for it, even if they're doing it unawares. Nobody really knows much about me, if anything at all, but even still. So how do you get past the hangups you have with yourself?"

"You just convince yourself they aren't hangups, that's really all you can do," the mimic replied, "...you wanna see something?"

Juno nodded as the mimic hopped down onto the ground, Juno following its lead. Together, they started to walk away from the shop, and Juno couldn't help but wonder if it was safe to follow this random mimic to whatever it was they were leading her to, but, really, who would even notice she was gone. Nobody ever really did. Nobody ever had before, so why would they now?

                                                                               ***

"These things aren't a scratch off, they're a rip off," Monica grumbled.

"Sore loser isn't a personality trait, you know," Polaris said, making her glare at him as they each continued, taking another ticket individually and still searching for a wish. Chelsea opened another bag of chips and started eating them as she kept doing her own scratch offs, Garvin finally sighing and tossing both his tickets and his nickel on the counter and burying his head in his hands, his elbows on the countertop.

"This is hopeless," he said, sounding like he was going to cry, "this has always been hopeless, she was right to ban me from buying anymore of these...these...paper lies."

"Hey man, you never know, the next one might-"

"I just wanted to go home," Garvin whispered, and Chelsea looked up, chewing, tossing her hair from her face; he continued, his voice low and shaky, "I just wanted to go home, that was all. But I'll never find a wish. I'll never get to go home."

"Are you...not...from here?" Chelsea asked and he shook his head.

"I used to be like you," he said, surprising her as he added, "I used to live in a home with a family and everything. I miss it all so much, and I just wanted my old form back, so I could go home again. I don't want to be here anymore."

"How did you get this form?" Chelsea asked, and Garvin sighed.

"It was an optional thing. I thought it'd help me fit in better in The Elsewhere," Garvin said, "and, it has, but at the same time...all I want now is to go back. I thought I was doing, at the time, what was right for me, and now all I've realized is that, what was best for me, wasn't what I initially assumed it was. I just-"

"I got one!" Monica shouted, gleefully holding up a ticket and giggling as everyone looked in her direction before saying, "boy, it sure is tempting to use this to be alive again...but..."

She glanced over at Garvin, his eyes wide, and she sighed, smiling and handing it over to him.

"You need this more than I do," she said, and he cautiously took it, shocked. Holding it in his hands, he looked around at the others, and then exhaled, looked down at the ticket in his hands and spoke gently.

"I wish I could go home," he said, "and have everything be like it was before."

And with that, a blinding white light filled the store, and when everyone unshielded their faces, Garvin's skin was crumpled up on the floor, and whoever he was was gone, leaving behind this husk. Chelsea smiled weakly and stood up, gathered the remainder of the tickets and started to restock the shelf with them.

"Well that was anticlimactic," Polaris said flatly, adjusting his tie and standing up straight, stretching, "I suppose I should head on out. I do have other things to do than spend my entire day here."

"Don't lie to us," Chelsea said, grinning at him. He bid Chelsea and Monica goodbye, and once he was out of the door, Monica sat down on the counter again and crossed her legs while Chelsea continued to clean up the counter area of all its empty snack containers and putting the rest of the tickets away.

"I really wanted to keep that wish," Monica said, "but...I guess I need to just accept that this is my home now, this is my afterlife. Besides, can't leave you alone here. But boy it would've been nice to be alive again."

"Eh, being alive's a little overrated, but I'm sorry, Monica. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here," Chelsea said before glancing around and asking, "where's Juno?"

                                                                               ***

Juno and the mimic had been walking for a good fifteen minutes now, further and further away from the city, and closer towards a small landfill, a deep hole in the ground where all the garbage got dumped. Presumably, Juno though, including all the garbage from the shop. As they approached, Juno started to get an anxious feeling chewing in her gut.

"This isn't going to wildly depress me, is it?" she asked.

"Depends on how easily you get depressed," the mimic said, shrugging, "I just think it's something worth seeing is all."

Juno nodded and stayed quiet until they reached the rim of the hole and then she put a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening a bit. Inside the hole were a thousand other mimics, all of differing variety, as if they'd been exiled to this space. None of them even looked up at them, and instead went about their business of moping. Juno looked down at the mimic, who kept staring out at its friends.

"This...this is where they all go?" she asked quietly, nearly whispering.

"Why wouldn't it be? Nobody likes something pretending to be something else," the mimic said, "so why shouldn't they cast it out, right? Who could ever trust something that acts as though it were a totally different thing? That's lying on such a high level that trust could never possibly be rebuilt."

Juno, sadly, knew exactly what they meant. She nodded slowly and sat down on the edge of the hole, mimic still standing beside her.

"Don't you have to get back to work?" they asked.

"...in a bit," she said, "this is more important."

When Juno finally arrived back at the store, Chelsea was already getting ready to leave for the night. She'd done the rest of the restocking, cleaning, and other little chores that she often had to do before her shift ended. When Juno came back in through the back door and wound up in the main area, Chelsea finally looked up at her and, broom in one hand, put her other hand on her hip, tossing her hair back.

"Where did you disappear to?" she asked.

"I took the trash out," Juno mumbled, before looking at the floor and noticing the husk of Garvin on the floor.

"Is that skin?", she asked, "Do you want me to sweep it up or hang it on the wall like a jacket?"

"Heh, do whatever you want with it," Chelsea replied, chuckling, "and then, after we're done here, how about we go out and get something to eat together. I think we both could use some company."

Juno smiled weakly and nodded. She might be familiar with the problems the mimics faced regarding identity, but...at least she with certainty knew that she would never be tossed in the trash.

"I feel stagnant, like I'm just doing the same thing over and over again," Allie said, looking at a large prop in the corner of the shop as she was on the phone with Zoe, adding, "I just want us to stay fresh, you know? We can do the same show for a while, but after that we have to switch it up, otherwise audiences get bored. I think that's part of Strange's appeal, is he's always doing something different."

Allie walked past a wall full of capes and sighed.

"No, I know," she continued, "we have more important things to worry about right now, I just...I wanna keep doing this but I want it to be the best it can be, you know what I mean? I want us to be great. I want us to be 'beens', not 'has beens'....yeah that did sound cooler in my head, you're not wrong," Allie said, laughing, "Alright, I'm gonna go. I'll be back at the casino in a bit."

With that, Allie hung up her cell and slid it back into her pocket before turning and walking to the counter, tapping her nails on the glasstop to get the attention of the man behind the shop. He was old, balding, a little hunched over, but dressed well in a collared shirt with suspenders and a well groomed mustache. He turned away from stocking the shelf behind the counter and faced Allie.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked.

"Maybe, um, I've never been here before, so...I'm a little lost, I think," Allie said, "I'm looking for cuffs that are easily escapable."

"We have those," the man said, "the question is, are you good enough to get out of them?"

"Well, considering I'm a successful practicing magician, I would tend to say yes," Allie replied, "that's my face on the billboard out there."

The man looked out the window and grunted.

"First of all, you can't say practicing. You're not a doctor. Secondly, that's a nice billboard, but anyone can get one of those. Hell, I could pay for one that says you eat babies and nobody would stop me because it all comes down to who has the money to advertise it," the man said, making Allie raise her eyebrows, smirking in surprise; he continued, "so I posit the question once again to you, are you good enough to get out of escapable cuffs?"

"They're literally designed to be escapable."

"And yet so many can't do it, fascinating how that works isn't it?"

Allie smiled, and then her smile turned to a face of shock as she realized who was standing behind the counter.

"Oh...my god," she whispered, "you're Mr. Magic."

And the old man grinned.

                                                                           ***

One hand stuck a draining tube into the womans arms, the other hand turned a radio dial on, blasting Billy Joel's "You May Be Right", as Rachel St. Sebastian stepped back from the table and watched the blood begin to drain out of her body. Rachel reached into her coat pocket, retrieved her cigarette pack, smacked the bottom with her palm, and then slid one out. She lit it and then put it between her lips, inhaling, shaking her head at the sight before her.

This was an out and out tragedy, something that didn't have to happen. Something that could've so easily been avoided. Rachel turned away from the table, turning her eyes elsewhere to anything in the room. She simply couldn't stand to see her like this, even though she knew this would be the likely outcome. Rachel took another long drag, and then coughed, exhaling. She thought back to when she and Claire used to hide bodies in the walls, and how simple all of that seemed now in retrospect. If only she'd known where it would lead.

But that was the thing, right? She DID know where it would lead. She hadn't been blind, well, perhaps willingly so. She had just ignored it because being in love makes you do stupid things.

But she'd known all along full well what the end result would be. Where it would all lead. After all, there were only two places for a cult leader to end up; incarcerated or dead, and she'd already been incarcerated. Rachel sighed and felt her eyes well up with tears again. She finally turned back to facing the table and approaching it again, looking down at the woman laying atop it, her body growing paler by the second from the lack of blood as it drained down the table and into the bucket below.

She'd give anything to do it all differently.

                                                                           ***

Molly was sitting at her drafting table in her home, chewing on her lip, when the door to the room opened and she looked up to see Benny entering. She smiled at him as he walked in and shut the door behind him. On days when Olivia worked really long shifts, Benny and Molly often wound up back at Molly's, and Molly, being a morning person, was always up before him, so she made coffee, which he now had a mug of in his hand as he walked in and plopped himself down on the nearby couch, lifting the mug to his lips and sipping carefully.

"Did you sleep good?" Molly asked.

"I did, you have such a nice bed, I'm jealous," Benny replied, "I might just have to tell Olivia we're living here from now on."

"She'd never go for it, she loves the studio too much," Molly said, "...these plans don't make any sense."

Benny stood up and walked over to the desk, standing behind Molly, a hand on her shoulder as he rested his chin on her head and looked down at the blueprints on the table in front of them.

"What doesn't make sense about them?" he asked.

"The measurements are far too large," Molly said, "if all he's keeping is cash, maybe chips, why're the dimensions this wide? It's almost like he's trying to keep something of large proportions in here. I mean, I know the casino makes a lot of money, gotta have somewhere to keep it, but still. It just doesn't make sense."

Benny reached down and shuffled the papers, screwing up his face at it and tapping at something.

"What is this?" he asked.

"What is what?"

"This thing here," he said, tapping again, "it looks like a large garage door."

Molly looked at it and furrowed her brow.

"I...I didn't even notice that," she mumbled, "yeah what is that?"

Benny shrugged and walked back to the couch as Molly threw her drafting pencil down on the desk and groaned, turning to face him in her desk chair.

"I hate this," she said, "I hate all of this. I'm not even supposed to be involved in any of this. I was just asked to build the new casino. Allie had to barge in and make me an accomplice without my knowledge, and now I'm entrenched in it. Now we have FBI agents breathing down our backs about access to the vault, and for what? We don't even know what it is he's keeping in it! Apparently something very big, but what?! I'm so sick of all this."

"C'mere," Benny said, curling his finger at her. Molly folded her arms, pouted, and, using her heel, dragged herself across the room in her chair, making Benny laugh; once she was close enough, he leaned forward and put a hand on her thigh, smiling at her as he said, "you do realize you're the hero of this story, right?"

"What do you mean?" Molly asked, confused, adjusting her glasses.

"Because when it breaks, and everything is out in the open, and all the guilty parties are behind bars, the public perception is gonna be that YOU were the integral key into achieving this. They literally - the agents, Allie, everyone - couldn't be doing this without you. You are literally the hero of this story. So sure, being the hero sucks, and answering a call to adventure you didn't even want sucks, but it might pay off for you in the end."

"Or, and hear me out, it won't. I'll likely be barred from ever working on anything again, because I'll no longer be trustworthy," Molly said.

"Well, then you can build whatever you want. Do you remember what you told me in my bedroom that first night? The night you guys all holed up there together? You told me you wanted to build a house. Something simple and beautiful, cozy and far away from everyone and everything. You could finally do that. Once this is all over, you could finally do that, and we can go with you, and we can have a nice little home and a nice little life away from all this shit, this shitty fucking city, and it'll all be possible because of you, Molly."

Molly wanted to cry. Benny actually remembered something she had said, nobody ever remembered what she'd said. She scooted the chair closer and collapsed inwards onto him on the couch, making him laugh as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.

"Trust me," Benny whispered, "it's all gonna work out."

"I love you," Molly said, muffled into him, making him laugh some more as he ran a hand up into her curly bushel of hair.

"I love you too," he replied.

                                                                               ***

"So, how'd you wind up here?" Allie asked, leaning against the counter as Mr. Magic, or Rufus, as he had asked her to call him, continued stocking the backshelf; Allie added, "like, it makes sense, having you own a magic shop, and I don't know why I never came in, I guess I'm just loyal to the one I've always used, and there's so many of the goddamned things in the city, given the ratio of magicians there are, but still."

"Well," Mr. Magic said, finishing stocking a line and turning to face her again, "once I quit performing, I figured, well, what better way to supplement my income by being adjacent to my former career, so I figured I'd open the shop. Oddly enough, most of my customers are kids. Kids doing talent shows, kids doing magic for the fun of it, not actual live magicians. I kinda like it that way, though. Nice to be the local elderly magic shop man to children."

"That is wholesome," Allie said, "I had your kit when I was a little girl. The tape and the whole thing. I must've watched that thing a thousand times over."

"You probably wore your VCR out," Mr. Magic said as he opened another box, making Allie laugh.

"I mean, it was worth it. You're literally why I do what I do," Allie said.

Mr. Magic stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her, a small smile on his lips.

"Well, thank you, that...that kind of statement almost makes it all worth it," he said, "what did you need escapable cuffs for anyway? That's such an old fashioned beginner trick."

"Well, if you must know," Allie said, "...I'm looking to break into my casinos vault, and they're part of the misdirect."

Mr. Magic touched his moustache thoughtfully, nodding.

"Gotta admit," he said, "that's a new one."

                                                                             ***

Molly was laying on the couch, her head in Benny's lap as he sat upright, his neck back, his eyes shut, one hand still lost in her hair. Molly was looking at the ceiling overhead and the little hanging decorations she'd strung up there when she first moved in. She then craned her neck and looked up at Benny, smiling. After her assault in the windmill at the golf course, she never thought she deserved to be treated with any kind of respect, and so this relationship was such a nice little wake up call.

"Am I a bad person for hoping she gets caught?" Molly asked.

"Who, Allie? I don't think so, considering what she's gotten us all involved in," Benny said, "but frankly, what'll likely happen, is she'll cut a deal and take a reduced sentence willingly for having helped the agents."

"That doesn't feel fair," Molly mumbled, "she's done so much damage."

Molly was angry. She didn't want to be, but she was. She was so very angry at what Allie had done to her, to everyone, and especially to Zoe. Nobody deserved to be dealing with the shit they were, and it was all her fault. One rash decision that led a chain reaction. Then again...if Tony was funding a dangerous politicians career using his casinos money, that wasn't any better. Molly grimaced.

"This city is fucking reprehensible," she said, "it turns you into a bad person. It makes you do awful things for the sake of success."

"No argument here," Benny said.

"And the worst part is, anyone is susceptible, regardless of intention. You can just be pulled into it like an undercurrent grabbing seashells from the beach."

"That was a beautiful analogy," Benny remarked, making her giggle.

"I just wish..." Molly started to say, but stopped, causing Benny to open one eye and look down at her.

"You wish what?" he asked.

"I was gonna say I wish just one person would treat me right, but...now I have two who do, so I stopped," Molly said, "...hey Benny?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna build a house?" she asked, and he smiled.

"Yeah," he said, nodding, grinning.

                                                                              ***

"We can stand here and talk about glass boxes and escapable cuffs all day," Mr. Magic said, "what it really comes down to, Miss Meers, is not how good you are at the misdirect, but how good the misdirect IS. There's a distinct difference. Now, for example, you can be the best at it, bar none, no rivals even close to your skill level. But if the misdirect isn't interesting enough to grab the attention of those around you, your skill level at it doesn't matter."

Mr. Magic and Allie were now sitting in the little asian soup place a few stores down for lunch. Allie lifted her spoon full of noodles to her mouth and slurped, as Mr. Magic added some soy sauce to his broth.

"Because," he continued, "and this is key...people are simple creatures. They'll look at anything. But there's a difference between grabbing their attention and keeping their attention. So you wanna get into this vault? You're gonna need a lot better than escapable cuffs and a glass box."

"Why are you even entertaining the idea of helping me?" Allie asked, and Mr. Magic smiled slyly as he leaned back in his booth.

"You want to hear a story, Allie?" he asked, as she nodded in response; he continued, "this is the story of a man named Rufus Heck, who became Mr. Magic, and how a politician used him as a scapegoat. That politician? The very same man your boss is in cahoots with."

"What were you doing involved with him?" Allie asked, confused.

"...let's just say that's part of the story," Mr. Magic replied, "so, once upon a time..."

"Do you have a last name?" Chelsea asked, and Juno shook her head. Chelsea groaned and ran her hands over her face. In the months since Juno's hiring, Chelsea hadn't managed to learn a single thing about her, and it had begun to wear on her patience. Juno was polite, a good worker, fun to be with, but the mysteriousness bothered Chelsea in a way she hadn't expected and didn't like. Juno chewed her gum, her jaw clicking as she did.

"I have a first name," she said in response, "and really shouldn't that be enough?"

They continued down the aisle, as Juno stocked the lower shelves and Chelsea stocked the higher shelves. They figured, by arranging things this way and splitting the load, they would finish the restocking faster. Juno handed Chelsea another box of what appeared to be some sort of pasta and cheese microwavable bowl, but written in a language she couldn't read and images of maggots on the box, and Chelsea, after grimacing, slid it onto the top shelf with the others.

"Why can't you tell me anything about yourself?" Chelsea asked.

"Why should I have to?" Juno replied, "after all, it's not like you're my mom."

The bell over the front door rang, indicating someone had entered, but neither girl paid much attention to it.

"Were you cursed by a witch and now you can't divulge personal information or she'll hurt your family?" Chelsea asked, grinning, as Juno looked over her shoulder at her, deadpan.

"Yeah. That's it. You got me. Cursed by a witch," Juno said, making Chelsea laugh.

"Excuse me," a voice said from the end of the aisle. Both girls turned to face what, appeared to be anyway, a floating black void of nothingness; the void continued, "I'm looking for a specific kind of nose spray you used to carry."

"Don't you need a nose?" Juno asked, as Chelsea shot her a glare.

"Follow me, I'll get it for you," Chelsea said, walking towards the counter, the void floating along behind her; Chelsea continued, "please forgive my trainee, she hasn't been here that long and she completely lacks people skills or any kind of socialization it appears. We've had to start stocking these kinds of things behind the counter because too many folks were coming in and stealing it, I guess it can be used to create some kind of street drug."

"Oh, that's a shame," the void said, sniffling, somehow, as they added, "I can't imagine the kinds of folks who would use medicine for nefarious purposes."

Chelsea rang up the spray, handed it to the void who, again, somehow, managed to carry it and exited the shop. Chelsea leaned on the counter, happy with herself being able to help someone who clearly was in need of some kind. Juno came around the end of the aisle, tossing the empty boxes into a corner together.

"Hey, we have a recycling bin for a reason," Chelsea said.

"Yeah. Outside. In the back. In the dark," Juno said.

"You guys never stop arguing," Monica said, floating near the end of the aisle, right behind Juno, Chelsea smiling at seeing her; she continued, "A dead girl can't even rest in peace around here because all I ever hear is bicker bicker bicker. You're like an old married couple...and...now realizing the age gap, that was an incredibly creepy thing to say and I regret it immensely."

"Regret what?" a voice asked, and all three girls turned their heads to see Polaris entering the store, looking at his perfectly manicured hands. Monica squealed a little and hid back behind a shelf. Chelsea chuckled and shook her head.

"Nothing," she said.

"Regrets are an important part of life," Polaris said as he approached the counter, "Without regret, how do you learn from your mistakes?"

"Uh, other people tell you they're mistakes?" Juno said, shrugging, "pretty easy actually."

Another ring of the bell and Chelsea rolled her eyes, huffing, as she excused herself and headed to the back of the store, Monica floating closely behind her. Monica glanced back over her shoulder and watched as Polaris and Juno interacted, and if she were alive and could shiver, she would've done so.

"I take it you're not exactly a fan of the guy," Chelsea said.

"He's evil incarnate," Monica replied, "if I were still alive, I'd be terrified he'd kill me at some point. I don't trust him as far as I, well not I since I don't have much upper body strength, but, someone can throw him. He's just got this...aura about him that's so untrustworthy."

As Chelsea stood in front of the freezer section, and Monica floated down, sitting atop it, they could hear this new customer talking to both Juno and Polaris. Chelsea figured it'd be good for Juno to get some upfront social work for a change. She couldn't hide in the stocking area forever. Chelsea opened the freezer, pulled out a popsicle of some kind that she'd become a fan of, and ripped open the wrapper, sucking on it.

"I mean, to be fair to Polaris, aren't there a lot of terrifying creatures here? Surely he can't be the only evil one," Chelsea said.

"Oh, definitely, this place is a death pit," Monica said, "but still, it isn't the same. He has powers nobody else has, and nobody even really knows where he came from. I think that's why most are scared of him. The lack of information surrounding his origins, and his incredible abilities."

The patron who had entered left, the ball ringing over the door - Chelsea never even seeing them - as Juno and Polaris came back to the front, laughing together. Admittedly, their camaraderie made Chelsea a mite nervous, but she tried her best to ignore it. Juno hopped up onto the counter and uncapped a drink, sipping from it, as Polaris lit up a cigar to smoke from...well...Chelsea wasn't sure where, because he had no facial features with which to utilize, so.

"Have you finished unboxing the rest of the products from the backroom?" Chelsea asked, and Juno rolled her eyes; Chelsea scowled, adding, "you know, it's actually kind of important to do the job you've been hired for."

"I didn't get 'hired'," Juno said, making air quotes with her fingers, confusing Chelsea further.

"Oh, give her a break," Polaris replied, "she's new to the scene, she's still settling in! Chelsea, tell me...has Luna been in lately?"

Chelsea slowly shook her head. Luna had, in fact, been around, but had specifically requested, if asked for by Polaris, to not be given up. She just didn't want anything to do with him, if she could avoid it and Chelsea was more than happy to oblige by that request, even lacking clarification. Polaris puffed smoke into the air and shook his head.

"What's it take to track that woman down," he mumbled. Just then the bell over the door rang again and a large, vertical fleshy creature slithered in, an opening slit down the middle, filled with jagged teeth, gleaming under the light of the store as it approached the counter.

"Excuse me," it asked, "would you happen to carry a tooth filler of any kind?"

"I'd be happy to help you, follow me," Chelsea said, gladly leading the creature away and towards the hygiene aisle. Monica watched as Chelsea left, then looked at Juno and Polaris and smiled awkwardly.

"Welp," she said, "time for me to get back to being dead. It was fun."

Chelsea and the tooth creature, meanwhile, continued their small trek to the aisle.

"Are you in need of something to fill in holes?" Chelsea asked, and the creature nodded, or, as best as it could anyway.

"Yes yes, I am growing in new teeth, but some are breaking before falling out," they replied, "I'm in pain, and want to alleviate it best as I can until they fall out properly."

"Well, we have a really good one here called Ectopaste, it's made from the ectoplasm of ghosts, so it's very sticky," Chelsea said, kneeling down as they reached the proper spot and gathering two boxes, holding them up in front of the creature, adding, "see, this stuff'll really keep your teeth from falling apart, guaranteed. It's the only one we even stock because it's literally the only one worth using."

"You have no idea how hard it is to be a monster who just wants to look their best," the creature said, two fleshy tendrils reaching out from both sides and taking the boxes, looking at them for itself.

"Well, thankfully, I like to help monsters when I can," Chelsea said, smiling brightly, as her thoughts turned to her sister.

                                                                           ***

"How's work been?" Xorlack asked.

Xorlack, Chelsea and her sister, Maddy, were sitting in the spruced up janitors closet. Ever since this version of her sister had come into her life 3 months ago, Chelsea had been doing her best to keep this space maintained and make it fun and cute for her. Thankfully, it was a defunct closet that nobody bothered to use, so between its space and its privacy - Chelsea was, in fact, the only one with a key to it even - it made the perfect spot for keeping her sister for the time being.

"It's been frustrating," Chelsea said as she set down a grilled cheese in front of Maddy, who immediately dug into it violently; Chelsea continued, "This new girl still won't tell me anything about herself, and Polaris and her are gettin' buddy buddy and that makes me uncomfortable. Honestly, if not for Monica I'm not sure how good I'd feel working there right now."

"To be fair, Polaris is friendly with, like, everyone," Xorlack said, and Chelsea nodded, crossing her arms.

"I know, I know that, he's just a charming fella," Chelsea said, making Xorlack smirk; she continued, "but this new girl feels like she's upended the natural order of the store, and what's with all the secrets? Why won't anyone just tell me what's going on? Luna and Polaris won't tell me why they have this weird relationship, Juno won't tell me a damn thing about herself, and I feel like I'm constantly being left in the dark."

"They're not really your concerns. Whatever happened between Luna and Polaris is their business, not yours."

"Yeah, but if she's expecting me to stay away from him, restrict access to the store from him, I'd sure like to know why," Chelsea said.

Maddy finished her sandwich, then went back to finishing her coloring before tearing the page from the book on the perforated line and getting up, walking to Xorlack and handing it to her. Xorlack happily took it and looked, as Chelsea came to look over her shoulder. The drawing was of a beautiful unicorn in an echanted forest that Maddy had colored in so perfectly. The girls smiled at one another, then looked back at Maddy, who had since gone back to coloring.

"She doesn't feel like she belongs here," Xorlack said, "she feels like...like a good thing that exists in a bad place."

"Would you call The Elsewhere a bad place, exactly?" Chelsea asked, "because, personally, it feels more like a home, far more preferable than where I'm from, to me anyway."

"It has its pros and cons but ultimately yes I would," Xorlack replied, "take it from someone who's actually from here, yeah, it isn't great. But I suppose if someone as pure as your sister can exist within it, then it also can't be that bad."

The girls looked back at Maddy, happily humming as she laid on her stomach, coloring, her legs kicking up in the air behind her, and they both smiled. It was true. For all the weirdness, darkness, evil that surrounded them, all the frustrating things like Polaris's suspicious behavior and Juno's dodging of answers, there was a goodness here, in Maddy, and that alone was worth it.

                                                                           ***

Juno was counting money for the day, despite the shop not really closing ever, when Chelsea and Xorlack rejoined her. She didn't even look up or acknowledge them in any way as they re-entered the room, so Chelsea kissed Xorlack on the cheek and said goodbye to her for the night, before stopping at the counter, grabbing a candy bar she'd become fond of, and tore open the wrapper, biting into it.

"You gonna pay for that?" Juno asked, still not looking up.

"I'm an employee, this is a perk," Chelsea said, "Luna always said to just take whatever I want, so."

"Mmm," Juno remarked, nodding a little in response.

"Juno, listen," Chelsea continued, "um...I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've been pushy or, like, annoying about getting information out of you. You're under no obligation whatsoever to tell me anything about yourself. I just figured, ya know, since we're working together, it might be useful to know one another better. But ultimately what you clue me in on is entirely up to you and I'll completely understand if you just simply never feel comfortable enough being open."

Juno finally put the money down on the counter and sighed, looking up at Chelsea.

"It isn't you," Juno said, "you seem nice. The few months we've worked together, you've been really patient and understanding with me, while I've been kind of a monster."

"Par for the course attitude for a place like The Elsewhere," Chelsea interjected, the both of them chuckling. Juno continued.

"But it isn't personal, just know that," Juno said, "I just...I don't really trust anyone."

"That's understandable, trust is hard," Chelsea replied.

"So maybe one day we can be friends, but for the time being...can we just...would it be okay if we were coworkers?" Juno asked, and Chelsea nodded, smiling warmly.

"It'd be more than okay," she said.

"Awww, that was so heartwarming," Polaris said from behind Chelsea, making her jump and put a hand to her chest.

"Christ! Don't you EVER leave?!" she shouted, making him laugh.

"I'm here on business today, ma'am," Polaris said, "I'll leave when my business is concluded, as soon as Luna is willing to provide me with ample time for said business. Until then, I think I'll stay, read a few magazines, have a few snacks, and just take in the quiet ambiance of the shop, if you don't mind."

Chelsea smiled weakly, shaking her head. She didn't mind. She really didn't. That was the thing, she couldn't see whatever it was that Luna had an issue with in regards to Polaris. Sure, he was weird and kind of spooky and sometimes, actually quite often, offputting, but he didn't come across as a bad guy by any means. Plus, his burgeoning friendship with Juno put Chelsea somewhat at ease because she felt like he wouldn't do anything to her, which meant he likely wouldn't do anything to Chelsea either. So the three of them stayed in the main foyer of the shop, enjoying snacks and drinks, doing magazine quizzes, and simply participating in the thing the Elsewhere called living.

Something Chelsea herself was finally becoming adjusted to.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                             ***

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

"What are you reading about?" she asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                             ***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                             ***

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Really?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                               ***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Megan nodded as Allie looked around the schoolyard and sighed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One could say her luck was in the cards.

"This is a rare treat! A once in a lifetime opportunity to win a car of this caliber, and all you have to do is what you already love to do...gamble!" Tony said, standing in front of a beautiful sports car on a rotating round display, adding, "so come on down to Card Shark and you could win big big big! But you gotta hurry, cause this thing is about to speed on outta here at the hands of the first lucky son a gun who manages to snag it!"

With that the camera cut and Tony relaxed. He turned and looked at the car, wiping his face down with a handtowel as someone approached him from behind. It was the guy who cut all his commercial footage together for the various casinos, a man by the name of Ricky. Tall, lanky, a fluff of dark black hair and a constant five o' clock shadow, he looked like what a video editor is expected to look like if central casting had sent him.

"What'd you think?" Tony asked, and Ricky nodded.

"It was ace, man," he replied, "Short, sweet, direct. Exactly enough to capture the fractured attention span of the people gambling."

Tony laughed and patted Ricky on the back as he turned and headed for the bar. He sat down and ordered a drink, before he noticed a woman sitting beside him and smirked.

"Hello Allie," he said. Allie slowly turned her head to face him, looking as though she'd seen a ghost; Tony looked surprised at her appearance, and asked, "you doing okay? You're not drinking, are you?"

"No, not at all," Allie replied, "I just didn't sleep well last night."

The bartender dropped Tony's drink in front of him and he picked it up and left, wishing Allie a better nights sleep. But the thing was, Allie hadn't slept well in weeks now. Not since the incident. Allie eventually got her food and left the bar, heading back up to her suite and settling into her couch with the giant TV on mute. She'd been self isolating lately, wanting to be as uninvolved with anything but work as much as possible. She flipped through the channels until she landed on a nature program about tigers, and her eyes swelled with tears. Domino. She wanted to see Domino so bad. The door opened and Nick entered, tossing his jacket onto the couch before realizing Allie was sitting there with her basket of wings in her lap. He laughed as he sat down next to her and picked one of them out of the basket and bit into it.

"Sorry, didn't know you'd be right there," Nick said, before looking at Allie while chewing and narrowing his eyes in a concerned manner, asking, "...hey, babe, you okay?"

"...I have done terrible things," Allie whispered.

"So you've been involved in a few unsavory things, they were accidents. Jenny doesn't blame you. Tony has given you so many chances. And I'll never judge you. Come here."

Nick pulled the basket of wings from her lap and set them on the ottoman in front of them, then pulled Allie into his chest and held her close, stroking her hair. Allie started to weep, as Nick whispered sweet nothings in her ear. She knew so much of it wasn't her fault directly, but there was so much more Nick didn't know. She'd killed two people now, and she didn't care about whether others would ever forgive her...she cared about whether she could ever forgive herself.

                                                                           ***

"You know what I'll never understand?" Benny asked, "who arbitrarily decided what counts as breakfast food? Like, why are eggs considered a breakfast food, but not, say, lobster?"

"People eat eggs with lobster all the time," Molly replied, "what are you talking about?"

"Yeah but those people are rich and live in their own fantasy world, they don't count," Benny said, making Molly chuckle as she stabbed more scrambled eggs onto the end of her fork, lifting it to her mouth and eating as Benny added, "but you know what I mean, right? Why one thing and not another, and who was the person who made these calls? Were they a self appointed party of were they given the responsibility at, like, the start of more modern civilization to come up with what exactly we eat in the morning."

"I'd wager it's nutrition based," Molly said, tossing her curly bangs from her face, adding, as she chewed, "they probably pooled the nutrition of many foods and decided these were what gave us the most energy or whatever throughout the day."

Benny laughed as he picked up some bacon and bit into it, nodding in agreement. The two of them were sitting in a diner called Angie's right next door to the casino, but wasn't owned by the casino, a place the group went often. It was actually the early evening, but Benny and Molly often had breakfast for dinner, it had become somewhat of a tradition. Molly picked up her coffee cup and took a sip before looking up at Benny and smirking.

"What?" she asked, "why are you staring at me?"

"Well, you're in my immediate view, the hell else am I gonna look at?" Benny asked, making her laugh before adding, "but also, cause you're absolutely beautiful, and it makes me happy to see you happy."

Molly stopped eating, bit her lip and sniffled. She still wasn't used to this. This kind of kindness and love that Benny gave her. She felt so very very lucky. After a few moments, she looked up and smiled back at him as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Truthfully, they weren't just here for the food though...they were here because, in about an hour down the street, Jackson Strange would be doing an impromptu performance on the street, and they still needed as much recon work on his magic as possible if they were going to pull off their heist. Molly set her mug down and pushed her glasses up her face, blushing.

"You think Allie will be there?" she asked, and Benny grimaced, shrugging.

"Hard to say, ain't seen her really since that night," he replied.

Allie had been keeping a low profile, it was true, but not as low as Zoe.

                                                                          ***

Zoe was standing in the stage room, looking at the plans for her and Allie's next show - where to place props for easiest and quickest access, those types of details - when she heard the doors open and turned to see Tony and a woman walking into the room. Zoe put her papers down and turned to face them.

"Don't mind us," Tony said, "we're just doing some detailing of the area for insurance purposes."

"Expecting a fire?" Zoe asked.

"With magic? You never know," Tony said, chuckling, making Zoe laugh a little. The woman he was with was well dressed, tight fitting suit jacket, starched collar button down shirt and a pencil skirt, her shoes sensible but fashionable, her hair perfectly cut and clean down to her shoulders with fringe bangs. She stopped and jotted something down on a little notepad in her hand before turning to face Zoe.

"You must be one of the resident performers," she said, reaching her hand out, "I'm Raindrop Mullens."

"Your name is Raindrop?" Zoe asked, trying not to laugh.

"My parents were hippies, blame them, not me," Raindrop replied, "I had contemplated getting it changed for many years but...at this point, I'll just wait until they're dead so as not to disappoint them for their awful life choices that actively impact me every day."

Raindrop turned and continued walking, taking more notes as Tony stopped beside Zoe, arms folded, the two of them watching her.

"She seems fun," Zoe said, making Tony chuckle.

"Yeah, well, lawyers are lawyers," Tony replied, "listen, I saw Allie at the bar earlier, she's not drinking right? She told me she isn't, but I figured I'd ask you since you're like her partner and best friend."

"She's not, believe me, I'd know," Zoe said.

"Good, good. We need that girl to remain sober," Tony remarked, "getting her on the wagon was almost impossible, and I just...I can't bear to watch her do that to herself again. To those around her. I grew up with a father who was a crippling alcoholic, so I know what it can take from you firsthand, you know what I mean?"

Zoe nodded, watching Raindrop inspect and investigate things, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Tony, why do you need a lawyer?" she asked again.

"I told you, insurance purposes," Tony said, "it's umbrella insurance, Zoe. It isn't for one particular thing. Running an entertainment venue, multiple as well, can be a tricky business. It isn't just about violence or theft, there's people getting sick from the food, accidents, things of that nature. I just needed better coverage. Plus, what with the casinos cash earnings, I need to be protected as well. For god sakes, girl, I'm offering a car in the front room! What if someone were to steal it?"

He laughed again, patted her on the back and started following Raindrop once more as they moved on through the venue. Zoe watched, tapping her pen on her clipboard and chewing her lip. She hadn't expected the fact that the car might be a liability as a win. Zoe would hit the internet after this. She needed to do some research.

                                                                                ***

The crowd had gathered, though not as big as Molly and Benny had expected, to see Jackson Strange's public performance. Standing amongst the other people, Molly couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. Crowds made her anxious, and she started to physically shrink into herself, until she felt Benny come up behind her, wrap his arms around her and rest his head on her shoulder. She smiled, blushed and untensed, relaxing.

"This guy is a goddamn enigma," Benny said, "why continue to do street shows if you're already a well known performer in a large venue?"

"Gotta keep driving buzz somehow, I figure," Molly replied, and Benny nodded.

"I guess that makes sense," Benny said, "there is something admirable about an artist who stays true to the origins of their craft long after attaining fame and fortune. Like when a big name director still goes and makes indie films. That's always cool, to know they don't forget where they came from, how they got to where they are now."

"I wouldn't call Jackson Strange an artist, but the metaphor lands regardless," Molly said, making Benny chuckle and kiss her cheek. Just then, Allie sidled up beside Molly, who looked genuinely happy to see her. Allie was wearing a windbreaker, her hair messy around her face - as though it had been days since she'd showered - and her entire demeanor was reminiscent of someone in mourning.

"Good to see you out of the suite," Molly said, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I ate nothing but wings this afternoon," Allie said glumly, "and then Nick came home and I cried all over him. Does it sound like I'm okay?"

"Not really, no, we're just being polite and asking," Benny remarked, making Allie smirk. She appreciated Benny's sense of humor, always capable of taking a situation and making light of it, regardless of how grim it is. Allie turned her focus back to the focal point and sighed.

"So," Allie said, "he isn't here yet?"

"If he were here, we'd be watching a magic show," Benny said, checking his watch, "but at this point I'm starting to doubt his ability to show up on time. What kind of magician is late to his own performance? That's just unprofessional is what that is."

Allie chuckled, then felt a tug on her sleeve. She turned and saw Zoe there, who motioned with Allie to follow her. Allie glanced back at Molly and Benny - the latter of which was nuzzling his face into Molly's neck, making her laugh - and decided she could slip away rather undetected. She joined Zoe a bit away from the crowd and around the corner of a nearby building.

"What's going on?" Allie asked.

"Tony brought a lawyer by the casino," Zoe said.

"Not unsurprising, Zoe, casinos are a hotbed for stuff that lawyers are involved in," Allie replied, shrugging.

"No, but he said that with the new promotion, the car in the front, if someone steals it, he could be at a loss," Zoe said, "so I started to wonder...what happens when someone wins a car in a casino?"

Just then Benny and Molly joined them.

"What are we talking about?" Molly asked.

"Say Benny wins the car," Zoe said.

"I won a car? Sweet," Benny said, making Molly laugh.

"He'll have to pay the income tax. He'll get a 1099 for misc income, not w2-g. So it can't be deducted by gambling loss. Don't know the exact amount, but theoretically it could be the MSRP of the car, meaning if he took the $30K cash, it would be $30K. There is a value for the car and there are taxes on that value. Just like winning on the price is right or some other merchandise focused game show, there's no sales tax as it wasn't sold, it was won. Other fees may also apply as in purchase to make it road legal."

"What kind of car did I win?" Benny asked.

"Zoe, why are you so invested in this?" Allie asked, shrugging, confused.

"Any earnings of $600 or more require the winner to fill out unique tax forms, typically a 1099-MISC. This almost guarantees that the car you win will be subjected to payments to the IRS. Cars won as prizes are subject to taxes calculated on their fair market value," Zoe continued, "do you see what I'm getting at? Tony is being watched by the IRS, right? So what's he do? He puts a car up as a prize in the casino. Something that's deductable by loss, you know, in case someone steals it."

"...go on," Allie mumbled, now curious where she was headed with this.

"Say Benny wins a drawing for a car and was offered 40k cash or the car," Zoe said.

"Dude, this is my lucky day," Benny interjected, making them all laugh.

"Let's just say it's 55k msrp," Zoe continued, "and say he wanted to avoid the car tax situation, so he chose cash. Then they asked about free play and or cash, he can go with half and half, so he ended up with 20k 1099. Then he's liable for federal and state taxes, minus any applicable gambling losses. Let's say 22% fed, and 9% state.....approx 31%, all based on average tax bracket of course...could go up if you make a lot more, but I'm just using this bracket just as an example. That's if he takes the cash option. The car option, however, 1099....taxes paid fully by him, and no using gambling losses to soften. What percentage of the car's value are you looking at tax-wise on 1099? Plus or minus the approximate 31% you'd pay on W2? If the car is 61k....what percentage of that 61k car value would you be liable for?"

"This is a lot of math and it's hurting my head," Benny said.

"Well then stop being so damn successful in the casino," Molly said, hitting him playfully in the arm.

"What if Tony hires someone to win the car, rigs the game so this person can win it," Zoe said, "suddenly the car is taxable to the IRS because, let's face it, the car option is worth far more than the cash option. Suddenly his business gets a write off and he's in the clear, financially. Why else would he hire a lawyer all of a sudden? Why else would he put a car as a prize option when that's never been a thing before that he's done? He's gaining the system by exploitining it from within thanks to his own power over the situation, being capable of manipulating it to his will."

"He's preparing to cover his ass," Allie muttered under her breath, before looking back at Zoe and adding, "goddamn, Zoe, good job. I never would've suspect that as something to be worth investigating."

"The whole thing just struck me as so weird," Zoe said as they started to head back to the crowd around the corner, "you know, like..."

The group stopped and stared from afar, watching as Jackson Strange made his appearance finally before the crowd.

"Like him," Zoe finally finished, "he's also weird."

"There's no argument about that," Benny replied.

Standing there, Allie chewed on her lip and thought about why Strange would be getting residency in the casino. Tony already had enough entertainment, why bring one more onto the scene? But she knew she could use him, either as a scapegoat, or as a means to get into the vault. Whatever the case may be, Strange would prove to be useful to her in the end, she knew. But first she had to figure out how his invisible box trick worked.

                                                                            ***

Agent Siskel was sitting in her desk chair, legs up on the desktop, head craned back as she stared at the ceiling. The door to her office opened and Agent Tropper stepped inside. He shut the door behind him, then jammed his hands into his pants pockets and stopped in front of her desk. After a moment, he looked up and noticed Agent Siskel had thrown a dozen sticky hands up onto the ceiling and he chuckled.

"Seems like you've been putting your time to good use," he said.

"The whole thing's a wash," Agent Siskel remarked, shrugging, "why bother anymore. No matter how close I get, I can't get close enough. I'm like a runner who can't reach the finish line because it keeps fucking moving. Everytime I think I see the end of the race, it gets shifted back another five feet. So why bother trying."

"Well, somebody's optimistic," Agent Tropper said, "listen, you might be bummed now, but I'm about to bring you information that is going to cheer you right up. Are you prepared for that?"

"I don't think there's any level of information that could return the joy to my career," Agent Siskel mumbled.

"That's where you're wrong, my depressed friend," Agent Tropper said, "because pop your peepers on this."

With that, he reached into his coat and pulled out a folded pile of papers from the pocket, tossing them onto her desk. Agent Siskel eyeballed him weirdly, then leaned forward and took the papers into her hands, unfolding them and reading through them, her entire expression and demeanor changing as she did. After a minute, she looked up at him in stunned silence.

"Yeah, thought you'd like that," Agent Tropper said, grinning.

"Where...where did you get this?" Agent Siskel asked.

"From my friend in forensics, from his girlfriend who's a mortician," Agent Tropper said.

"That's..." Agent Siskel said, pointing at the papers, glossy and floppy.

"Yep. That's her body," Agent Tropper replied, "so I think we have a lead."

                                                                         ***

Megan picked up the landline hanging on the wall of her kitchen and raised the receiver to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, sounding exasperated, "...Allie? Well this is a surprise. What are you calling me for?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to take a trip home," Allie said.