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Of Kings and Pawns (IC)

For a minute, Frank was convinced that things were going to heat up between Tony and Thalia again, but thankfully, that ended up not being the case. Surprisingly enough, it actually ended in a truce, which was honestly the last thing he expected. When he looked over Thalia, he did notice she looked a little unwell in comparison to how she usually did, maybe a little flushed of color. Joseph had mentioned he wasn't feeling well - had she caught something off him? Or was this just something else? Either way, the whole situation took a rather pleasant turn, with the two of them finally burying the hatchet and shaking hands. They were friends now, and it was a big revelation that Thalia had apparently lost people to Al-Asheera, too. Now she and Tony were more or less on the same boat, but with a bit of luck, Tony wouldn't fall into the 'permanently lost' category. Hopefully this was only temporary, and hopefully they could have Melissa home safe and out of the state - Hell, maybe even out of the country, so that she was safe. She needed to be somewhere that no one would find her, right?


That was providing they got her back. Frank didn't want to imagine what grizzly scene they might walk in on if they were too late, or if someone would just find Melissa's body on the side of the street. He didn't want that to happen, but for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that that would end up being the case. They had nothing left to go on, and even if they were having this heartfelt chat now, would it really count for anything in the heat of the moment? He wasn't sure what to believe at this point, but, he knew he couldn't just give up. Another thing he knew was that, if Melissa was to die, it'd end in only a couple of ways. It'd either end in Tony completely snapping and going off the rails, or he'd go wild and hunt down every member of Al-Asheera personally, regardless of whether or not he was a member of the LAPD once this case was up - The third and final option was the two of them combined.


He got his revenge, he snapped, and he ended it all.


There were a lot of theories that floated around Frank's head, a lot of which he didn't want to imagine were possible, but he knew damn well that shit could easily hit the wall with all of this. Wasn't that what happened to most of their plans so far?


Bad luck comes in threes, apparently.


The 7/11, Melissa's abduction, and Pigman's suicide. Was that them out of any bad luck now, or was it only going to get worse?


There was talk of a plan, though, but Karin was the first one to speak in that. She thought it was a possibility, but not without one thing: The money. "Look..." Karin said, "As much as it's a noble idea, and pretty much the only thing we have to go on right now..." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "It's not a good idea without the money." She said. "If Frank and Tony have made all this progress over the past couple of days, and they've got no one to answer for it?" She shook her head. "Better yet, somehow they found the guy in the LAPD that they had? Coincidentially the two detectives that were being blackmailed, too? I mean, guys, we need to think about how bad that's gonna' look on Thalia. Thalia, you haven't been back yet - You're the only one that's unaccounted for, right? What if they already blame you for all of this?" She asked.


"The plan could work - if we have the money." Karin said. "I'm going to stand my ground with that, because I think that if we send Thalia in empty handed, she'll get killed before we can even count to ten. That's the only thing I'm gonna' say." She said. "Money or bust, basically."


Frank nodded, "I think it's a good plan, but once again, only if there's something to send her in with." He said. "If we don't send her in with anything, it'll just prove any suspicions, and it'll basically disregard those unrealistic demands Ra's gave her before. Not only that, we'd need to organize backup. A sniper or two, some people to get in there and deal with any sour situations, that sort of thing." He said. "If we can get all of that under our belt - Assets - the plan might work, but I'm not comfortable sending in Thalia with just the shirt on her back. The plan needs some work to be able to work, basically." He said. 


That was just Frank's two cents.


"What if you end up getting a decoy location, too?" He asked. "What if Melissa's not even there?" He asked yet again. "I mean, we don't know what this is. This could be one big elaborate set-up." He said.
 
Tony was relieved that Karin and Frank had a shred of common sense to realize that Thalia's plan alone was a disaster waiting to happen. Especially without a carefully thought-out plan and backup on the sidelines. Walking in there to face Ra's without a way out could cost her life. But it was a huge gamble with a psychopath like him. He might welcome her back with arms wide open and prepare the wedding immediately. Or he could blow up and not hesitate to kill his bride-to-be. He's unpredictable. Yet, Thalia wanted to brave the odds and be the hero, even if it was incredibly stupid to put her life on the line like that. To her, she felt outnumbered in regards tot he idea of going at it tonight. Could she blame them? Not really, She and Karin were good friends, and they've already established that they were both prepared to throw themselves under the bus for the sake of the other. But Karin wasn't going to let Thalia do this. A suicide mission. A tremendous risk. And Frank also expressed his concerns. Clearly he was worried that this would be a bust. They didn't have the money to prove her loyalty, and too much has gone amiss for Al-Asheera for Thalia to just show up at their doorstep again and be welcomed back unharmed. No, she'd be punished at the very least. Tortured. Nothing she wasn't used to. But there were too many unknowns for her to just go back, simple as that. She sighed and shook her head, trying to justify her plan, "If I don't do this, Tony's girlfriend suffers. I know where Ra's keeps his prisoners. I can find it in the duplex. I'm not even kidding."


"If you're just going to go in as a one-girl-army, I might as well do it." Frank's doubts of Tony's actions--snapping and pursuing a personal vendetta with Al-Asheera--were well in place. If they kill Melissa, he won't spare them. Not for one second. "Thalia, we can't just let you walk in their front door with no protection."


"I'm a big girl. I can hold my own in a fight. You know that, Tony. I've been in physical fights with Ra's before."


Maybe something else would appeal to Thalia part from her inability to live this. Apparently, her life didn't matter all that much to her. "You're being selfish, you know that? ... What do you think Karin would think if you didn't come back? If we picked your body up off some street corner?" His head nudged in Karin's direction, and Thalia's heart sank. She didn't exactly consider how Karin would feel about all of this. And Tony was taking advantage of how the two of them were having a bit of a moment, judging by what they were saying. "She cares about you. And you care about her, right? Don't put her through the worry of knowing you might not come back." That burdened her above all. Karin put her ass on the line the minute she met Thalia. And this is how she was going to repay her? By getting herself killed? After all the talking about a future? How close they'd become in such a short time? The secrets they'd shared? Thalia was really being selfish. She didn't want to do this to Karin, but she felt it necessary before Al-Asheera targets them both. As Karin mentioned, they're getting wise and will connect more people to this conspiracy in time.


"You're wrong," Thalia tried to sound confident, but her voice still gave off a shaky vibe. She wasn't entirely sure of herself, but was willing to risk it all after hearing Tony's story about Melissa. But Karin.... no, she was afraid of what would happen to Karin if she didn't come back. "Karin knows I can handle myself. I can go in there, no money, no cops, no snipers, no protection, no nothing. I know how to appeal to Ra's."


"You mean have sex with him, which you know is a horrible idea?"


"Does it even matter to you? You wanted to hurt me earlier for stealing your gun."


"That was different. And you said he raped you, so it's a no, Thalia."


Ugh. Was it that obvious I implied rape? She groaned and went on, "I don't recall using the word 'rape' to describe it..." She might've around Karin alone, though. "But I need to have the courage to face my abuser if we're going to have any hope of stopping him, and if that means getting in bed with him one more time, then so be it."


"Oh, really? Karin just expressed her doubts about going in alone. And you still want to do this?"


"Tony, I'm trying to help you! Don't shut me out!"


"I'm saving you, kid! The odds of you getting killed are far greater than you walking away. And we want this operation to go down with no innocent casualties." It was a new feeling for Tony to consider Thalia as 'innocent', but oh well. "We're not going to let you act dumb and die, Thalia. Think about what you have waiting for you. A new life? Don't you want that? I bet you don't want to die without at least tasting what it's like to be a normal girl, right?"


No. No she didn't. She wanted to experience the thrill of the eight years she lost to Al-Asheera. She looked back over to Karin. Just after reconciling with her, now she was going to walk away from it all just to risk her life? It's what she didn't want to do the minute she met this girl; she wanted to stop hurting people. By dying on her, she'd be doing exactly that. Then she looked to Frank. Whatever spark they had earlier, it meant something deeper than meets the eye. How would he feel if she doesn't come back? She'd never get a chance to be with guy she had a crush on, a guy who might like her back. Why must everything be so ambiguous... This was far too risky. She let out a deep exhale before offering another proposal, direct to the new detective. "Frank... you said I'd need protection. But I doubt you can get that for me on such a short notice. And the way I see it? Melissa doesn't have much time. If Ra's promised to start cutting fingers off, he's not going to cut one off and wait till you screw up again. He'll go all out.... As much as it kills to admit it, Ra's could be chopping her up into pieces now, trying to brainwash her to hate Tony... it's just who he is. He gets caught up in his torture sessions. He'll keep going until she's dead. And I'm not going to wait... we CAN'T wait. I have an idea for a rendezvous point on our terms with Ra's to tell him the money's a work in progress. It's much safer than the last one of walking through the front door, but if you have any better idea, if ANYONE does, then say it now."


Tony became more nervous now that Thalia mentioned Ra's' sadistic measures. He'd keep torturing Melissa until he can't further. It made him lean more to the idea of a meet, but he saved his opinion for last. He was no one to talk with his sole driving being emotional.
 
Karin didn't know what to think about what Tony said - yeah, she didn't want Thalia dead, but, what other choice did they have now? It was a lot to think about, and here they were weighing out the positives and negatives. The positives of sending in Thalia now was that they at least had a chance of preserving Melissa and getting her out of there, if she wasn't dead as soon as she got in there, but... That was starting to look like a longshot, especially if Ra's was hacking her to pieces as they spoke. Karin didn't want to admit defeat, but, Thalia did raise some valid points. Did they really have anything else to go on? The only shot they had was meeting with Ra's and telling him that there was money on the way for him. It would take a lot to convince him that that was true, and Thalia wasn't just bluffing, but if they could pull that off? That would be something that was more or less a blessing. That would not only buy them time, but also take some of the pressure off on some fronts. If it'd help neutralize some of the suspicions towards Thalia and the detectives, even if it was only in the slightest, then they needed exactly that.


"A one girl army is something that's impossible, and let me tell you that now." Frank said, "If not impossible, then completely and utterly stupid. If you think I'm letting you walk in there without any sort of backup, then you've got another thing coming. Our resources are quick at hand - We could get things together quickly if we really needed to. Plus, there's still that James character that we were talking of, the one that was here earlier on. We don't know what else he can do for us, you know?" He said. "I know it sounds crazy, but, maybe he can be of some use, even if it's only something small. Karin, Thalia? Is that a possibility?" He asked.


"I guess so." Karin said. "We could always ask if he gets in contact any time soon." He said. "No promises, though."


"We can get things together if we leave soon." Frank said, "We can get a snake cam that can hopefully be set up somewhere, we can get a sniper unit if needed. Things will be fine. I know this whole plan sounds fucking crazy, but I'd rather go in there with at least some sort of backup, some assets, rather than just send Thalia into the dark. Regardless of the chance of success, sending her into the dark's just a bad idea. If we can get things together, this might go quite well. If it is at the duplex or whatever it was, then that makes things slightly easier. More unhindered access to the building itself, plenty of vantage points, not many places they could be hiding Melissa. It'd be quite the in and out job if everything went smoothly, so we'll wait and see, I suppose." He shrugged.


"I think the plan Thalia's proposed may be the only option we have, given the fact that things may start getting violent if we don't act soon." He said. "We need to start planning things now if this is something we're going ahead with." He nodded, "We can do things how Thalia says so, but, we need to figure out how we're going to do it, and where. Is it going to be at the duplex, or is it going to be somewhere else? Do they keep all their hostages inside that one building, or are they dotted out all over the place?" He asked. "And when you're inside, how exactly can you get her out of there, you know? I'm just struggling to see how a lot of this all falls together." He explained. He did need more of this explaining to him, because surely, it couldn't have been as simple as simply running in there and getting what they wanted. There was always more to it than that. "What was your idea for a rendevouz point, exactly?" He asked.


And, as if the timing couldn't have been better, there were three knocks at the door.


Karin got up and walked to the door with a sigh, slowly opening it up and poking her head out the front. Oh, dear. When James said he was going to drop by, she certainly didn't imagine that he meant now. Now they were going to be caught red-handed, but, I suppose it was about time he learned the truth, especially if they were using him to get a million dollars. He could easily step away from the deal if he wanted to, but, Karin was just kind of hoping he was going to show up later in the evening, but they'd already established that James was full of surprises. She opened the door, slowly, and James simply stepped in. This time he was in different clothes. A polo shirt, jeans, his sunglasses - No gloves this time, though. He looked quite casual, but, still, after Karin greeted him, he stepped in, slowly, and walked over to the nearest available seat.


"Morning, everyone." He said, simply, then his eyes wandered over to Tony and Frank. "So, work let you off early, or something?" He asked. "Seems like you're back for another little social. Isn't this nice?" He asked, smiling as he sloored himself down onto the chair. "Thought I'd drop by and see how things were. Karin, Thalia... The business we spoke of is over halfway done and the first couple of parts of our business together is now in transit. Gentlemen," He nodded to the guys again. "It's most certainly pleasant to see you two again. Hopefully we can get to know each other a little more now."


Karin sat back down, quietly.
 
Great. Just who we needed. James seemed to have a way with the awkward timings of his visits. Right in the middle of a conversation with the detectives, and when Thalia was about to reveal sensitive information to them about the duplex and how she'd get in--as well as how to get out. But she wasn't fully ready to tell him the truth. She was head-set on continuing the charade. Now that Tony and Frank know of their cover stories, they should be able to play along. Also a sneaky opportunity for Thalia to show an affectionate side to Frank. When Karin answered the door and let their partner inside, Thalia stood up in a friendly greeting as well. It'd also function as a way to keep the detectives in order. Perfect, seemingly.


"Well, this is a surprise, James," she said, genuinely surprised at his arrival. "The boys got let off early, so I asked them to join us for lunch... because...." Thalia turned around, facing away from James and towards Frank. With a wink, she took a few steps closer to his place on the couch. "...poor old Liam hasn't gotten any down time since we moved from Philly..." Without any sign of warning, she peeked back over her shoulder to James, turning her body slightly to face everyone... then, of all things, she let herself sit in Frank's lap, her arms around his neck like some sensual lover from a Valentine's day movie, her legs crossed over his own, and her head leaning on his own. "I miss you, Lee, you should do this more often." She could do without kissing him this time... unless he initiates it, then she'd happily follow through. In that moment, a lot of her stress felt alleviated, the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach from the guilt and sickness faded with the feeling of romance taking over, even if the romance was just an elaborate bluff. Maybe the two could do this another time? If they were to ever go on a date? It felt good to have someone to do this with, sure, but she only wished it could be real and not to hide that these two are cops. For now, she couldn't help but enjoy this a bit more than she should, a smile on her face that seemed too genuine to be an act. She completely forgot about trying to swipe his badge in the process like last time. Frank won't spill the truth, not after giving her his word. But Tony?


Tony saw the familiar shady figure, now dressed more casually than he was earlier. He realized they were still playing under the cover story that their names were Derek and Liam, and they work for a shipping company. As much as he wanted to stand up and unveil his badge to this man, it was far too risky in the moment. Frank was off-guard with Thalia sitting in his goddamn lap. Boy, did that unnerve him, but he wouldn't blow up on her after just committing to a truce. She had her reasons, and he understood that. For now, he played along, contributing to the lie, "When Liam came down here, we've basically been... piling him with paperwork. But I figured we should take the day off so he could spend some time with his girlfriend. She certainly is.... something special." Yet another comment that seemed a bit too genuine to be a part of the cover. He believed Thalia was a unique one from the pack, judging by her strange actions and mannerisms on the spur of the moment, especially with Frank. Then there was the hug in private. Was he truly about to witness his new partner fall in love with a thief? As much as he liked committing to peace with Thalia, he wouldn't stand for that. The both of them would be discredited, lose their badges and all the likes. No, Frank can't date this girl; it's for his own good and future as a detective.


James came bearing news of business, too. Things were in motion. Which gave Thalia a new idea about the plan to go in with Ra's, but it involved telling the truth about who Frank and Tony really are. A bit too late now that she threw herself into Frank's lap like the cheerleader throwing herself into the football player's arms. No going back from here. She'd ask him later, but separate from the police side of things. Yet, Thalia's ideas were going against Karin's to tell the truth. This would be very difficult to coordinate. James would not like this one bit and might just cancel the entire operation. "That's great to know, James... so, how about you take a seat and we can all get to know each other. You know? Us five, all as a group? That'd be fun, am I right?"


Fun. Very subjective in this position. But Thalia was thinking more along the lines of Karin trying to flirt with James. Her eyes took a glance at her friend and left her a wink of approval, as if to tell her to go for it. This was quickly turning into a double date with Tony functioning as the fifth wheel with his girlfriend in Ra's' clutches. We shouldn't be fucking around, T. You need to get in there and convince Ra's to stop cutting that girl up and tell him his money is on the way. You are a fucking moron. Get your filthy hands off of a COP'S neck. He could arrest you. And if not him, his partner. Nope. She wasn't thinking straight under the idea of this cover. She'd focus on the operation later.
 
It was hard not to be suspicious - the fact that they were there now once again, after only a couple of hours, seemed too good to be true. It wasn't so much the act that was the suspicious thing, just the fact that they were there. The bottom line was, James didn't like it. The story - okay. Them being there? - not okay. He wanted to get down to business, and with these guys here, that felt impossible. How were they ever going to discuss anything? Not only that, Karin couldn't help but think - if James was going to be hanging around for a while, how were they going to discuss helping Melissa? All they'd be doing is wasting time. A part of her was almost annoyed that everything was still staying secretive, but she was assuming that Thalia knew best. She just hoped the detectives could maintain their end of the lie.


"A surprise, indeed." James nodded, the sunglasses still on his face. Didn't look like he was going to be taking them off, did it? "No downtime from work doesn't sound pleasant at all. I certainly wish I could sympathize, but... I can't." He let out a single laugh. "Not to sound to arrogant or obnoxious, of course, but... I consider myself self-employed of all things."


"What do you do?" Frank asked - He was even more shocked when Thalia sat on his lap, and even though he did his best to play it off, the surprise showed in his face regardless as his eyes went as wide as dinner plates. It wasn't something he was expecting - he just hoped this guy they were pulling off an elaborate-yet-dysfunctional lie to wouldn't notice his sudden shift in emotion. The relationship thing was believable, but for some reason, Frank felt like it'd be the only thing that gave things away.


"I work with computers. A contractor, let's say."


"I see."


Great, they were dealing and lying to a shady guy that worked with computers? Frank disliked the situation with every little fact that got unveiled.


Could he really play anything off? From behind James' sunglasses, he had no idea what sort of look he was getting, which made the whole situation more unnerving. He wanted the sunglasses off, wanted to see into his eyes, wanted to know what this guy was thinking. Was Frank overthinking it? Maybe. He was never used to people wearing sunglasses indoors at a meet-and-greet. He'd been told that wearing sunglasses indoors made you look like a poser, but, hey, he could hardly tell him to take his glasses off, could he?


He decided on one thing - he had to make things that little bit more authentic, or this was never going to work out. It was a heat of the moment thing, but, in the midst of the conversation of how Thalia was 'something special', as much as he knew that Tony wouldn't like it, he decided to do it anyway.


He turned his head, leaned up a little, and planted a small kiss on her lips.


Did it make it more believable? He liked to think so, but... God, he didn't know, he could feel himself break out into sweats under his jacket the moment he did it


When she spoke about getting to know each other, Karin thought one thing: That is one STUPID idea. 


"Getting to know each other does indeed sound fun." James said, "Well, Liam, Derek, I already know you work for a shipping company." He smiled, "What company do you work for? Quite a few in LA, obviously."


Oh, shit.


Frank opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The last thing he wanted to say was 'uh' or 'um', because that would give it away. Think, goddammit, think, he told himself. What shipping companies were there in LA?


"American Export Lines."


"Ah, freight hauling and such. Interesting." Frank said, "You two look very different from each other, for people who are related, I mean. Cousins, right?" He asked. "Your families must be cuts from different cloths, to say the very least."


"Very different, yeah." Frank nodded.


"Any kids, the two of you?"


"None here." Frank said.


"Well, I already know about your relationship status, Liam." He chuckled once under his breath. "Quite the picture-perfect couple, if you ask me. The sort you'd see in a big photo frame hanging above the mantle, in your big fancy house or whatever it is you'd like to have. You know the kind of thing." He shrugged. He looked over to 'Derek' and offered him a half smile, too. "What about you, Derek?" He asked. "Any wife? Any kids? Anything like that?" He asked, "And speaking of the company, too, what sort of things do you get up to? You've told me already you dump the paperwork on Liam, so, what exactly do you do on your average day? I can't say I'm very experienced in a freighting company."


The worst part was, as far as Frank was concerned, neither of them were experienced, either. At least he wasn't - he didn't know about Tony, but hadn't Tony been a cop more or less since he was the legal age to join the force? Had he even worked anywhere else other than some little store when he was a teenager, or something? It was all a bit worrying, really.


Karin looked at Thalia while James was distracted, and she just shook her head. Was a normal conversation going to end up revealing this in the worst possible way? She wasn't sure, but, if James was going to be casual and just ask a boat load of questions to 'get to know' them, then she didn't know how much the detectives could keep up the lie. There was nothing to stop them from asking him questions, sure, but, James had probably had time to plan out any lies he may have had about what he did. 


Maybe Karin was overthinking it, maybe she wasn't. She didn't know.


"Coffee, James?" Karin offered.


"Just water, please." 


She nodded and slowly rose to her feet, stepping past everyone else and going into the kitchen. She filled up a glass of water, then went and gave that to James, who took one small sip of it before placing it on the coffee table. Karin sat back down, glancing over everyone else. In any other situation, she'd call this a pleasant meeting, but, things felt tense. 
 
Pleasant was a massive understatement to describe the surprise kiss from Frank to Thalia. Literally out of nowhere but all so satisfying. On the outside, she took what was a small peck and got caught up in the moment, still kissing him even when he turned away, like some crazed lover who couldn't get enough of her boyfriend. On the inside? She was squealing in joy. OH MY GOD, IS THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENING?! Indeed. A dream come true after hours of crushing on Frank, even if it was for the sole purpose of selling an act, it still felt amazing. Amazing enough to not want to stop, still kissing him down his cheek and nuzzling her face against his neck with her hands gently massaging his opposite shoulder and arm. It was clear she was getting a bit carried away and possibly distracting Frank from trying to have a conversation with James. At least she was making out to be a convincing lover. But boy did she have some explaining to do later. Maybe even some stern words for the excess kissing and hand gesture. What did Frank think of all this? I.... I hope he likes it? GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, HE SEEMS LIKE A GOOD KISSER.


Tony noticed Thalia's mannerisms and could only glare at her in dismay. Making out with his partner on the job? Unacceptable. The fact Frank initiated the kiss in the first place was even more despicable. Is he out of his mind? Even if it's to sell the act. And Thalia? She's not taking this half as seriously as she should. This was no time to reenact a romance scene or show off or seduce anyone. Not even a time to socialize. Right now, Tony was being made out to be that uptight cousin attached to Frank, who is dating a known criminal, and they are all taking part in a campaign to rob someone of a million dollars and invade on a known gang.... all of these lies at the risk of his girlfriend's life. And Tony wasn't going to stand for this another minute. His grumpy reluctant face caught Karin's eyes for a moment. He felt she agreed that this was a bad idea. Even if they've caught all of their fumbles so far. Thalia may be an expert compulsive liar, but he's not.


Without further ado, Tony stood from his place, reached for his badge from his overcoat, and revealed it to James. "We are not businessmen. We are detectives with the LAPD. Tony Walsh. And my partner, Frank Hale. And he's not dating Thalia Griffin. This is just her way of satisfying some fantasy in a convincing lie. And we were thrown in a trap with no way out thanks to these women. More specifically, Thalia's lies. So no more lying."


GO FUCK YOURSELF, TONY. But aloud, now nervous of how James would react to all of this, she stood up from Frank's lap and defended herself. "I..... um... can't say much. Yes. I lied. I broke your sacred rule, but only because you'd walk if you knew we were in bed with cops. But these two arent going to rat us out."


"For now."


Thalia responded to Tony's doubt with a slap to his face. "No. We had a deal. We help you bust Al-Asheera off the books, and you let us go. And the deal applies to James too. But back on point...." she sighed. "I'm sorry I lied. But I think you can understand why I did."


Or did he?


Tony didn't appreciate the slap, but he let it go. "Fine. I won't put you in cuffs like I did to Thalia. But if you try to screw us..... Ra's is coming for us. Won't be long until he catches on to YOU. He has my girlfriend hostage and is threatening to hurt her. Will you help us stop him? And judging by your code talking, it seems you've already gotten started."


Talk about being in a corner. Is it too late for his mercy? Would he kill them all now?


"Please, James...." Thalia begged, almost forcefully. "I lied. Not them. Cut me out if you want, but don't hurt the others. At least give that luxury of justice."
 
It didn't take long for things to get revealed, as Karin expected, but it didn't happen in the manner she predicted. It was all a lot of drama, and honestly, she didn't know how it was all going to close off. The slap that Thalia gave Tony was... Impressive, honestly, one that she had to stop herself from grinning and biting her lip at. Frank looked like he was having a whale of a time, honestly - The kissing and 'fake' romance was certainly something he took the time to enjoy, and Karin knew that that was that. The deal was sealed with him and Thalia, and even if Tony wanted to stop it, chances were he wasn't going to get in the way of love. That was a bit irrelevant at the minute, really, because things quickly escalated into more drama. With the factor of love aside, let's not forget what happened.


Even though Karin wanted the truth to be out there, she didn't think it was done in the best way, with Tony standing up and flashing his badge in some big phase of glory. She didn't know what he was trying to achieve when he did that, but, she didn't have a choice but to accept it now. 


In the midst of all the drama and chaos, one thing started to ring out. A clap, an applause, a slow one, from none other than James himself. Who knew what his eyes behind the sunglasses looked like, but on his lips rested a small smirk. He just sat there and clapped until everyone had shut up, basically. It was hard not to fall quiet - if someone claps like that in a situation, it's obvious they had something to say. Karin gripped the arms of the chair she was sat on in nervousness. What was he going to say? What was he going to do?


"Very good job, Detective." He said, but there was sarcasm to his voice. "Did your boss give you a boy scout medal for Awareness recently?" He asked. "Because if he did, he should take it well away from you. You think you and your preppy little partner didn't already give something away? Parading around in your suits and asking to be 'excused so your cousin can drop you at work'? Please." He shook his head. "Look at you all." He looked over the three of them that were involved majorly in the whole charade. "Just go and find a mirror and take one hard look at yourselves. Detective Walsh - 'It's all her lies', 'all her fault', 'insert excuse here' - What are you, twelve?" He snapped. "Oh, boohoo, I'm thrown 'in a trap' and everything I care about's on the line because of two women. Jesus fucking Christ - Grow a pair, will you? The way I see it, you let yourself get involved in this for whatever reason. Maybe it's for an investigation - maybe it's because you're in more dire need of a blowjob than any white man in history. I don't know. Whatever it is, though, you're sat here surrounded by people that are on the opposite side of the law - You too, Detective Hale." He nodded to him. "In fact, Detective Hale... I'm sure you're no better." He said. "Strolling about in your expensive suit, sitting there with a woman on your lap, telling lies and showing yourself off like some fancy French Hen."


"You baffle me, you really do." He shook his head, "And here I am sat here in the middle of what feels like some petty Middle School drama. Karin, honestly, I'd expect more sophisticated behavior from your ten-year-old brother." He said. James was going for it, taking digs all over the place. "Is this the part where you tell each other you're not friends anymore? So you can all run home and cry into your pillow while Kary Perry blasts out your iPhones? Fuck you. Just fuck you." He said, "And Thalia, I'd have thought that someone who lives her life being careful would be smart enough to know not to lie to someone like me. I gave you terms and conditions, like a bank would do - You break the bank's terms, you get blacklisted, simple as that." He snarled, then rose to his feet.


"Detective Walsh, please. As a Detective I knew you didn't possess an Ivy League education, but I didn't think you were stupid." He said. "You think they'll find me? Really? Is that right?" He laughed. "You don't even know who I am. You don't know anything other than the fact that my name might be James - I've hidden from the biggest and baddest while you were sat in your office, tossing off your Captain for a fifty-buck raise. You think any of this impacts me if I walk away? You think your love life and justice mean shit to me?" He asked. "Well, you'd be wrong. Dead-wrong. I said I was in on this, Thalia, but there were lines. Lines that were crossed. As soon as those lines get crossed, justice and glory go out the fucking window, so don't try and talk me into thinking 'I know why you lied', because honestly, I don't know. Maybe you're stupid. Maybe you thought something else would come of this. Or maybe you thought you could fuck me over, I'm not sure."


There was a brief moment of silence.


"Furthermore, you can all go and fuck yourselves. The deal's off." 


He turned and made for the door, but Karin literally flew across the room and grabbed him by the upper arm of his arm, tugging at his shirt. "Wait." She begged - That was when something else happened. As she pulled at his sleeve, the back of his shirt got pulled up, too - It was then that they saw he had a gun tucked into the back of his pants. They only saw it for a split-second, but, it was there all the same.


"Take your hands off me." James said.


"James, please, just wait." She said. "Look, we fucked up, I know. But the cops, they're trustworthy, I promise you." She said, gulping. "We made a mistake by lying. We were scared. You have to understand that, right?" She asked. "We didn't know how you'd react - I beg of you, don't walk out on this. We need you now, or we're all dead. Eventually they'll kill all of us, even my brother, and I don't want that. Tony's girlfriend's been taken by these people, going through god knows what, and Thalia wants a better life than this. A second chance - And Frank?" She looked over her shoulder at him. "I don't know what he wants. Maybe a calmer quieter life. He gives off that vibe."


"Yeah, and I want a four-week vacation in Paris, but we can't always get what we want."


"James." She choked. "Please. One more chance."


He turned to her and grasped her firmly by the shoulders. "How many fucking chances do I have to give in all of this?"


"This is the last chance." She whispered, closing her eyes tight.


"Your crocodile tears are... Flattering." He shrugged, then tilted his head from side to side to click his neck. He looked up at everyone else, then shook his head. "You'll be the death of me, I'm certain." He said, then slowly moved Karin aside and walked back to the center, but didn't sit down - He looked at Tony. "Walsh, don't ever even think about bringing up the possibility of me screwing you over. I don't do that." He said. "If I try to screw you, eh? You'll do what?" He asked. "Ooo... Arrest me?" He mocked. "Listen, Detectives, I'll make one thing clear - If I do this, I'm the one who asks questions, and if I think for even a minute that you're trying to fuck me, you're done, you understand. You are D-O-N-E, fucked." He said. "I can make your lives hell. You just remember that next time you think you have any form of control over me and what I do - I could turn you from badged Detectives to America's most wanted overnight. I could wipe your bank accounts and clear any records of you ever being US Citizens. I will personally dig into your pasts and find any weaknesses you have and use them against you - but." He held up a hand, "If you keep things smooth, allow this thing to work out, then you can continue making your petty paychecks with the LAPD. Does that sound like a fair deal?" He asked.


Karin's heart was pounding out her chest, and she had tears in her eyes - If he walked away now, that was everything done for. They needed that money more than anything. 
 
James was on a roll with the insults and burns back and forth to the four. Heartless bastard, Thalia thought. As he said, the blame game would get them nowhere. If Tony had kept his big mouth shut, none of this would've happened. To Thalia, their truce moments ago meant nothing anymore. He burned them and almost lost them the deal. Worse, James has her blacklisted. Probably won't trust her beyond this, and she knew that, finally thinking like a thief again and not a careless child like she was before. Was it game over? She felt so. Fuck them all. Get the hell out of here before James kills you. She noticed his weapon in his back pocket as Karin pulled him back. She could handle herself in hand-to-hand combat, but she didn't have a gun to out-sling him, nor did she want to risk grabbing Tony's weapon. It almost triggered an instant flight reflex in her. She certainly couldn't fight this. He could kill them all so easily, and all he needed was one more careless outburst by Tony. He was useless and going to drag them all down. All of them would drag her down. Was Thalia finally going to listen to the voice in her head telling her to go back? Even if it was back to Ra's to return to her old life? There was no hope, and now that they've betrayed James' trust, who's to say he won't return fire? As much as he kept saying he doesn't screw people, she didn't buy a word of it. She well enough that everyone has a vengeful side. One that wants retaliation. This figure was no exception, especially after what they've been through. He's spared the girls too many times to continue having mercy on their carelessness. If it's not now, it'll be eventually that he takes vengeance. Even if Karin tried to talk him into changing his mind and appealing to emotions, she shook her head as a response to all of what's been said by James as for the new terms. "Not interested anymore," she muttered in the most bitter of tones without consulting the others. "Not like you'll trust me to do shit." With that, she shook her head and turned her head to Tony for one last death glare. This was on him. She could've sold the act and kept everyone in the dark, but he had to open his big mouth. It was tempting to spit on him again, but in this case, it was better to remain classy. Once she'd gotten enough of an eyefull of Tony, she spun on her heels in the opposite direction and marched down the hall to her room.


Was she seriously considering this? Turning her back on it all? After all that's just happened? After what she and Frank just had? After her friendship with Karin? Tony was right. It's selfish to try to be a one girl army. But it's necessary to keep them safe. With Thalia gone, the money would have no meaning apart from greed. James might spare them for now, but this is Thalia's fight, and it should've only been hers from the beginning. She should've never turned to Karin for help, or the police. She should've never accepted the meet at the bar. Hell, even farther back; she shouldn't have returned to the cafe to see if the boy was okay. That even triggered an entire slew of tragedies that were out of her control. Now alone in a teenager's room, Thalia reached for her cell phone once more to go back to the text she received last night. Dare she do this? A reply:


'I'm coming home. I will explain everything.'


Thalia knew she'd be at risk of dying when she goes back. The least she could do is warn the messenger that she has something to say. Doubts spiraled in her mind, questioning the future of the two detectives and the caretaker inside. Maybe Ra's will leave them alone if she submits to him. Quickly slipping her shoes back on, she approached the draped window in the room with a view of the backyard. Looking back to the door to the room, which wasn't even locked, she shook her head and threw the window open. She was ready to jump outside and run as far away from here as possible and probably never return, her hands gripping the frame and a leg reaching outward to climb. Coming home never felt so scary. Leaving this place she wanted to call home was even scarier. Half of her didn't want to do this. The other half found it necessary. So confusing, especially if she could be intruded upon at any second and caught.


Inside, a new deal was on the table. one that Tony was tempted to walk away from as well. James' threats didn't scare him. He braved it out and stood closer to the man, getting in his face. Could they still meet halfway? Pursue this money deal till the end and use Thalia to get inside? Not with how she stormed out of the room, but Tony surely wasn't going to go back to comfort her. The look she gave him before turning her back.. she didn't trust him. Odds are that wasn't going to change. She'd need someone else to talk her back into this. But who knows? She might just refuse anyway and run off on her own terms. It'd be safer for them all anyway, so Tony didn't mind too much with one less liability in the picture. But there was still a bigger liability than Thalia: James. One that needed to be calmed. "Well, you may not care about my girlfriend or any of us four, but you don't seem to like Al-Asheera any more than anyone else in this room. Common ground, am I right? So, how about a deal to make us all happy, and we all can walk away in the end and never see each other again? We do this one-time job with you, then we leave each other alone. How does that sound? You're getting the million for the ladies, right? I'll keep my mouth shut, and I'm sure Detective Hale will, too. We'll coordinate a job all together with police-grade equipment, once we convince Thalia back on board. It can all work out, no?"


Would it? How did Frank think about this whole ordeal? Or was he still lost in the daydream he was placed in by Thalia? Was his head seriously still in the clouds? Revolting.
 
Not interested anymore?


Karin was shocked, but James just sighed. Was there good reasoning behind why James suddenly turned into an asshole? He was firm with them initially, but he wasn't unnecessarily harsh. Was there a hidden reason behind his sudden mannerisms now that the change of events had taken place? Maybe there was, because James didn't look angry - It was hard to tell what he was feeling at the time, because of the glasses, but judging by the soft sigh he gave, Karin was willing to bet that he was disappointed more than anything else. Was there something else behind his sudden shift in attitude? She thought about it more and more, and if anything, all it did was tie them into it more. At least it did with her - she was practically on her knees and begging, so, it made sense that he suddenly turned around.


He had Karin right around his finger - maybe he knew that without his money, half of what they had planned became obsolete. Karin thought to herself - maybe it was a power play? Maybe he was just trying to stand a firm ground now that lines had been crossed? She didn't know what to think. She was a little bit scared, in fact, but at the same time, she knew that they were mostly the the ones in the wrong here. They'd pissed him off, lied to him, hidden things from him initially. In her eyes, he had all the right to be annoyed, and, not only that, for some reason he took to insulting the Detectives more than anyone else. With Thalia, Karin thought he was just brutally honest - with the detectives, he seemed to be throwing everything he had at them. Was there a reason for that, or was James purely just some asshole?


Karin didn't know what the right assumption was at the minute, so, she sat back down and watched Tony and James square up. 


"You're right in one thing, Detective." He said, quietly. "None of us like Al-Asheera." He said, "In fact, I don't like many of these 'organized crime' types. You have me to thank for half the people your incompetent department's locked up over the past while. The 580s, The Chinese, some of the Russians. You think their names just fell out the sky?" He asked, then shook his head and gently poked himself on the chest a few times. "I know what I'm doing, and I know who I'm dealing with. Whether you want any of us to have any association after all of this is down to you - Just keep in mind, I'm doing this without payment. I'm doing it out of my own good will, I suppose you could say." He shrugged, "Or maybe I'll find something that can be my payment along the way. I guess we won't know until it happens." He said.


Finally, the glasses came off and were hung from his shirt's collar. 


"You don't need to keep your mouth shut if you don't want to. I'm not here to dictate how you live your life - At least, that won't be the case if you maintain your end of the deal. Just keep what I said in mind. I don't throw around empty threats, only promises - As for your girlfriend?" He shook his head, "I'll do what I can to help get her back. I'm more than a man behind a screen, as you can probably tell. If you really want me to, Walsh, I can have her on a plane to Corfu - a small island off the Greek coast - tomorrow if I wanted to. A nice all-inclusive month-long stay at a nice resort in Roda. I've got contacts all over the world." He shrugged, "Let's just think of it this way - Our business together could be... Beneficial to both of us." A small smirk came onto his face.


"Now, I've... 'borrowed' plenty of files from the LAPD before, but, with your grizzly detective charm and permissions, and my knowledge in my field, we could really get this thing soaring. The left and right wing coming together, per se. You want your lover back, I want... I want what I want, basically." He shrugged. "Let's just say having me as an ally can reward you very handsomly - as I'm sure is the same case with you and your partner." He looked around, then looked at Karin. "You'd best go and see to Thalia." He said, "Tell her I want a word, in private, just so we can make a few things clear. No bullshit."


"No bullshit, you got it." Karin whispered. She was already planning to go and see her, but she wanted to listen in for a moment. Without futhter ado, though, she wandered off towards Thalia's room.


Back to James and the detectives. Just the three of them alone.


"Now... As I was saying." He said, "You speak of the police-grade equipment, but let's be honest. If you're here talking to me and Thalia, making deals with the devil, you trying to get hold of all that said equipment and all the possible things you could need is... Risky, to say the very least." He said, "At least for you. If you're caught borrowing it, that's a lawsuit and a sentence in itself, especially if you're not authorized." He said, "Now, I don't want you to panic, but... Nice and slowly..." He reached behind his back and pulled the gun he had hidden - It wasn't any pisstake, either. It was a proper handgun, silenced and everything. "You can see I don't fuck around." He said, tucking the gun away.


"Got a license for that?" Frank asked - only half-seriously, though.


"It's in the car." James smiled and winked at him, "So, you need equipment. I'm guessing technology and stuff to help for vantage more than anything."


"And we need a sniper unit, which isn't hard to come by for us."


"Even so. Zero risk would be better, would it not?" He asked. "I have licenses for rifles, and all of that fancy crap." He shrugged. "I guess you could say I'm quite the avid shooter - I do enjoy a trip to the shooting range here and there, so, instead of you guys risking your ass, how about we coordinate things a little more... One-sided. Quite simple, I let you instead borrow some of my unmarked and accounted for gear which is back at my little Fort Knox, and you guys..." He held up his hands and shrugged, before finally loweing himself into his seat. "You get what you want, I get what I want - Only difference in that is you owe me a small favor for letting you have access to things. My services are a complete package, gentlemen, and if I'm in on this, then I'm in on this. It's simple. I don't allow myself to be cut out of one side of things - If you have any doubts, do let me know, but the bottom line is... I think things could work very well with us together, providing we all stop this petty childhood drama, hm?" He nodded off towards the hallway. 


It was obvious he was talking about the incident that occurred not too long ago. Frank looked up at Tony - he was being quiet, for a few reasons. Thalia had sort of gone for it, so yes, he was in a little bit of shock with what happened. Not only that... Everything else that was going on was a lot to take in. James wasn't the most charming of people in the way he treated them, but, the revelation of the fancy hitman-esque gear he had definitely had Frank thinking. He didn't want James as his enemy, and if he could be trustworthy, would it be better to have him as an ally? He didn't want to say anything, though, just in case. He'd wait and scope things out a little more, maybe let Tony do a bit of the talking. 


Meanwhile, back at Thalia's room, Karin stepped inside without knocking, and she was met with a very shocking sight. What was Thalia doing? Was she about to climb out the window there? It most certainly looked like it, and Karin's initially concerned look turned to one of... Shock and sadness, in some ways. Was Thalia going to walk away from it all now that they'd all been dragged in so deep? Did what they spoke about before mean nothing anymore? Karin wasn't sure how she felt about it. This was the last turn in events that she expected.


"Are you going somewhere?" She asked, quietly, stepping in and gently shutting the door behind her.
 
A few seconds later, and Thalia would've been out the window running. Running back to her ruthless groom-to-be, as well as taskmaster... and abuser. Just like the idiot she knew herself to be. Maybe it's just a hopeless case of Stockholm Syndrome. Was she in love with Ra's? Just the thought of him made her sick, after all he's done. Yet she just left a message saying she was coming back to him. He was probably rock hard to that text alone, while Thalia's head was full of doubts. Fear. Desperation. Karin's words halted her and put her in the very situation she wanted to avoid. Not only was she naturally bad at good-byes, but particularly, after everything that the two girls had been through together, was Thalia seriously going to leave it all behind now because of James? It brought back to mind: why is she doing this? Fear that HE'D kill her? Was it as if it didn't make a difference if it were him or Ra's ending her life? How was she so sure about James cutting her loose? As a criminal, she knows how things work. 'Loose ends need to be tied' almost always means 'she knows too much; kill her'. That's what she feared from James. And if he didn't kill her, he'd at least let her go and keep tabs on her. She'd be forever under his microscope if she didn't disappear now. And the only way she knew how to disappear? Al-Asheera. As much as it pained her to admit it, they were her best bet to vanish then and there.


Which brought her biggest mistake: Karin. Not only might Al-Asheera come for her, but this would be a betrayal to all the promises they made to each other. To everything they promised. To the moment they had the moment the detectives showed up at their doorstep moments ago: that they wouldn't turn their backs on each other. Which is exactly what Thalia was doing. When she heard Karin's soft voice, she froze in place, half her body out the window and ready to throw herself out. Looking away from her friend, she shut her eyes and pulled her outer leg back inside. Once fully in the room, her head bowed in shame. How could she chickenshit around this one? No way. It was clear as day that she was attempting to run away and leave this whole thing behind. Trying to leave KARIN behind. And in that moment, the guilt hit her. The horrible feeling in her stomach came back, but this time, not from vomiting. From how Karin obviously felt betrayed by her leaving. It was all over her voice, and her face.


"I'm sorry, Karin," she tried to explain. "Look, it's over, okay? James wants me out. I'm sure of it. I know criminals. How they think, how they act. He's given us too many chances, and he's not going to let us walk after this. And I know you can't run away with Joseph here, but I can. I can get away from this. Believe me, I don't want to. I REALLY don't want to leave. Not after what we talked about. After all the hope you gave me. But what choice do we have? I'll find a way to bring Ra's down alone without bringing anyone down as collateral. Even if I die trying. But... this is what I feared when you got involved with me. That you'd get into trouble just like me. And I won't stand for that anymore." Her gaze raised slightly, clouded by a few strands of hair, but still facing her friend. "Karin... I am no good at good-byes. It hurts too much for me, so I figured that if I ran away again, maybe you'd forget about me and we could move on... But as I was climbing out that window, I realized that I can't forget you. Not after what we talked about doing together. It hit me... what we'd never get a chance to do. But I just kept thinking.... it's better than James killing me in front of you. Or him killing you in front of me. Which I didn't want. Because I know this deal's a bust now that I lied to him. He'll chase after me... But he's on better terms with you. If you let him go, he might spare you. Me? He won't. He'll kill me. I know he will. It's how crooks think, Karin."


Her words didn't help. Thalia was no good at sympathy, but she could try. She took a few steps closer holding each of of her saddened friend's hands in her own. "Please, Karin, if I go and you let James walk and leave him to pursue me alone, we might be better off. Ra's won't pursue you. I'll find Tony's girlfriend and get her out, then I'll be out of your lives forever. How I'll do it? I don't know, but I'll die trying. I know it hurts, because I feel it too... but...."


She couldn't even finish her sentence. The thought of a last good-bye wasn't something she wanted to envision with Karin. But she was so worried about James that seemed to overpower her thoughts of being someone's friend. Of having a friend. A sense of paranoia that was killing her. She didn't even want to mention abandoning Karin. It just broke her heart. Yet, she and James were both criminals. They had more in common than meets the eye. They thought very similarly and both know how to stay off the radar. Maybe if they had more of a chance to work out this disagreement about hiding this one detail, they could be on the same page. But no. Thalia found it safer to just leave... but could she?


Meanwhile, inside, the new deal. James was looking like a rather useful ally. A criminal probably just as dangerous--if not more--than the woman they knew as the 'mystery redhead' not long ago, the same girl they've been conspiring with. Yet another treacherous partnership to haunt Tony. But he was desperate to get Melissa back. And this man had the means and the equipment to do it. Also seemingly skilled. Was this the best option for the detectives? He looked over his shoulder to Frank. But could Frank be trusted after being blissed by Thalia's lustful charm? Probably not. He would be blindsighted by any further actions by their prime suspect. Tony certainly was the only rational one there, more or less with his girlfriend's life on the line. "Okay, let's agree on a few things," Tony began. "One, you try to point that shit at us again, I'll pull mine and shoot you, even with a kid in the next room." Sure, the man with the shades wasn't trying to threaten their lives, but with a professional weapon like that, it simply unnerved the older detective. "I get you've got some special guns. But keep 'em to yourself."


A quick pause before he continued to his next term. "Two. You say we might owe you? No. You said you were doing this without payment. What's stopping me from grabbing you and putting you in cuffs right now? I outfought Thalia. A member of Al-Asheera. So I can probably handle you no problem. You may be dropping the names of these gangsters, but it's men like me that put them where they belong while people like you jerk off to a computer screen and watch the action from afar. You probably don't know what it's like to put your ass on the line like we do."


Then the final condition. "Three. We take down Al-Asheera using the full extent of your resources and our own. Then we're done. We never see each other again. Any of us. Frank and I move on and keep our jobs as if nothing happened. You and Karin can walk... Thalia is another story. I'm... I'm not sure if I want to let her walk." What are you thinking, Tone? You just made a truce with her! "Sure, she and I are on the same page with this... more or less, but I don't trust that she won't inherit Al-Asheera and take control in the presence of a power vacuum. Don't you agree that working with a member of Al-Asheera is risky? She literally betrayed you to your face and tempted you to walk. So what do you say? Have a counter-proposal?"
 
Karin looked at her in... Various ways. Shock, anger, sadness, a little bit of everything. She didn't know what to say to any of it. She never took Thalia for this type, the type to forget any of everything that ever happened. Karin didn't have many friends, but, she'd placed her trust in this girl, her promises, and she was planning on leaving without even saying a word? Crawling back to her death or something? She couldn't believe she was just about to leave - it made everything she'd said and done so far feel so irrelevant. It was the worst feeling - her only friend, just... Going and soon to be gone, just like that? When Thalia spoke, Karin couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't even know how to approach it at first, couldn't find the words that she could use to respond. It wasn't a good feeling. 


"It's over..." She repeated, shaking her head. "So that's it?" She asked. "Now that we've hit a small bump - that I don't think is everything it seems - you're just going to run back to this guy and let him do whatever he wants? Torture you, kill you, and whatever unspeakable things he might do. You just want to call it a day and go back to that? The life you've tried so hard to leave behind?" She shook her head again and glanced around the room. In moments like this, eye contact felt like too much. "You can't just leave. You said you can't forget me, but..." She sighed. "Is that really true?" She asked. "You were going to just... Leave. And if I hadn't come in here, you'd be halfway home by now, and I'd be none the wiser." She said. I guess when she thought of it like that, it stung a lot more than she first thought.


Thalia could be gone, and she wouldn't even have a clue that it was the case.


"This deal isn't bust." She whispered, "They're discussing it now, and even though I planned on coming to find you, anyway, James wanted me to come and get you back there." She said. "He wants you to be a part of it as much as anyone else does. We need you for this - you need you for this." She gulped, "James wanted to come and talk to you. I don't know what it's about, but, I don't think he's just going to shoot you. He's not going to shoot any of us. If he was going to shoot us he'd have done it by now, wouldn't he? He had a gun on him this whole time - he could have shot both the detectives before they had a chance to draw their guns, then just killed us, but he didn't." She shrugged. "But running away won't help." She said, "If you ran, then  he'd come after you, if Ra's didn't kill you first."


"You think we'd be better off, Thalia, but..." She squeezed Thalia's hands and then slowly released them, holding her own hands at her sides, her fingers scratching the sides of her legs uncomfortably. "I don't think we would." She said, "I think James would just pin it all on me. You leaving without a trace, going back to Ra's - He'd just blame me for whatever, I reckon, hold me accountable, flush my life down the shitter, as well as Joseph's - the plan would go to shit, and then Frank and Tony would just lock me up for everything I'd did. They'd pin the idea of me helping you escape right on my forehead. I'd go to prison, lose Joseph, lose everything I've tried to protect for years. Running away, it wouldn't..." She shook her head. "You leaving wouldn't help me. You don't get to decide if something that serious would help me or not." 


Karin paused and looked down at the floor, taking a long sigh.


"We've come too far just to give up now, Thalia. If you run, then eventually I'd have to run, too. Maybe it all works out in your head, but, Ra's won't stop looking for whoever put a dent in things. Eventually he'd get to the detectives, which means eventually he'll get to me. It doesn't work. You running away and trying to achieve some sort of noble sacrifice won't work." She gulped, her voice weakening. "What about everything we talked about?" She asked. "Traveling, moving on, getting your high school diploma, seeing more of the world, the love you very clearly have with Frank - Your brother?" She asked. "Does all of that... Suddenly not mean anything anymore?" She asked, sadly. "If you leave, all it does is show Frank up, too. He trusts you, believes in you, wants to prove your innocence - If you go back to Ra's, I don't know what Frank will do, but..." She shook her head. "I don't know. If you leave, things will go bad." 


"Don't go. Please." She begged, "I can't lose you. None of us can - this won't work unless you're here."


--


"Calm down, Pops. I didn't point the gun at anyone. I know the LAPD have overly-itchy trigger fingers, but I certainly didn't think you were that desperate to shoot someone." He replied. "The initial deal was that I helped Karin and Thalia - Not you." He shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned, you entered this arrangement this morning. Before then, you had no part in it, and seeing as you tried to shut me out for so long, and possibly longer, I think it's safe to say the ball is well and truly in my court - You can try and slap some cuffs on me if you want, but, I'm very serious in what I say. You may be able to take on an Al-Asheera member, but, I'm willing to believe that's as far as your hand-to-hand combat expertise goes. If either of you get too touchy with me, you'll be on the floor. I don't give second chances when it comes to that." She shook his head, "As for this... Favor, I spoke of. It's not like you'll be massively indebted to me. This favor, for me cutting you in on this instead of just walking out the door and leaving you to fend for yourselves... It could be a few things, and seeing as I very kindly offered to have your girlfriend flown across the world to guarantee her safety, I think maybe you should use a slightly calmer and more polite tone with me, Detective." He said, softly.


"You also said a key word in your very poor assumption - Probably. I'm probably that guy behind the computer. I probably don't know what it's like to do what you do. Etcetera, etcetera." He shrugged. "Although, Detective, you'll find it's quite the contrary. You think I have all this flashy gear so I can sit in my house all day, every day?" He shook his head, "No, no." He chuckled. "I've been on the violent side of this probably almost as much as you have. I do have the utmost respect for the city's finest, but with all due respect to you and your partner, your Bureau is certainly lacking, don't you think?" He asked. "I've seen some of the files - you've got detectives that do the bare minimum, you've got police officers that have gone corrupt to make more money, detectives planting, hiding, and stealing evidence. Yet, there's such high potential in some of you - take you two - and it's all being wasted because of a couple of bad apples." He explained. "It's important to realize, Mister Walsh, that the situation we're in now, and the state the city is in now, is not something I blame you for. You did me over with the little improvised lie this morning - at least somewhat. I don't doubt your potential. Neither you, Hale."


"Appreciated." He mumbled, clearing his throat.


When Tony spoke about not letting Thalia walk, though, Frank almost collapsed. He couldn't let that happen. He had to seal a deal with this guy.


"I have a counter-proposal." James said. "It may not be one you fully like, but, it's a counter-proposal all the same." He explained. "As I've said already, I don't carry around fancy equipment and not use them. The terms are this - you get access to anything and everything. You get guns, equipment, technology, my system of communications, my digital and physical protection on one condition: I'm not cut out of what I'm guessing is going to be something major." He said. "What you don't know about me, Detectives, is that I'm... More trained in some things than you might realize. You get a hand in my fancy equipment, but for the duration of our deal, so do I." He said. "The front lines - You want a sniper, a rifleman, whatever you need. I fill one of those roles and that is non-negotiable. We have access to five people including myself. Every single one of them is going to have a task, some of them more involved in the gritty side of things than others. Karin?" He shook her head. "She's not going to be running in guns blazing, I can assure you. But she will serve her purpose in this, just like you, Hale, Thalia, and I will." 


"For your third and rather disrespectually treacherous condition..." He cleared his throat, "We don't have to see each other again. That's fine." He said. "But the bottom line is, if you use what I have, you also use me, and that's not up for debate. We communicate everything we need done as a group, not you alone, not you and Hale, not Hale and Thalia, not Thalia and Karin - as a collective body. Everything that needs to be said is said either in person with all of us, or over a secure line which I will shortly put into place once I go home. As for Thalia, as much as it may be risky, in her I can see that she's not an average Al-Asheera member. If she was, her loyalty and honor would be similar to that that you two have to the LAPD. She wouldn't want to part with it, quite simply. If she brings down Rome, there's no way she can rebuild it by herself, and let's be more than honest... If Rome's in ruins, and a woman tries to restablish an army?" He chuckled once and shook his head. "How many people are going to take that seriously? Massively sexist for the 21st Century, I know, but, sadly, it's true in many ways." He paused for a brief moment. "She walks. We all walk." He said. "And just to make it clear, as much as I dislike throwing threats around, if your end of the deal doesn't follow through, then I will personally ensure that this whole arrangement we have reaches ABC News before sundown. That's all I'll say on that matter."


"So, my terms: Involvement, trust, collective arrangements, and Thalia walking at the end of this." He said. "When I condense it, it doesn't sound so bad, does it?" He asked. "It's either that, or... I simply walk out, and you never see me or the trace of the million dollars again. From what I understand so far, losing that money would be very... Damaging to you. Ah, one other thing - I promise, if you accept my terms, I will do everything in my power to bring your girlfriend home safely. And as I said before, if you feel it necessary, she will be on a plane to a Greek island tomorrow morning, all you have to do is say the word. I hear Corfu is very romantic this time of year, too." He shrugged. "Back to business - as I said, any favors I may call aren't going to be major. Maybe information. Maybe just the promise that I was never here. Things like that." He said. "If this works out, and you keep to what you've said, I may have intel for you on some other organized crime syndicates in the city. A man like me doesn't lurk around them without breaking a few phone calls and tapping a few lines of communication, I'm sure you can understand."


"Who do you have intel on?" Frank asked, immediately.


"Clovers, Russians, Chinese, 580s. All of the ones that are grown, or growing. Not everything there is major, but combined with what you probably have back at the station, I'm sure you could win yourself a chest full of medals, the both of you."


Frank thought - Intel on The Clovers, and Thalia walking free? That was his wet dream, basically.


"If you ask me, I'd say we have a pretty fair deal there." He said - Did he need to consult Tony? He probably should have, but, he felt like this was the best they were going to get, and he didn't want Tony to get too hot-headed. They had to be realistic - as Frank had said before, if they fucked this up, it'd be them two plus Thalia and Karin that went down for it. They'd get what they wanted from the deal, plus information, and James... in Frank's mind, James had asked for very little. Involvement, and collective planning. If he was the real deal, and he was really going to give them everything (maybe even an all-inclusive for Tony and his girlfriend on a Greek island), then Frank didn't see what was so bad about it. Yes, James unnerved him, but, he wasn't going to try and piss him off or get on his bad side.


He knew he wasn't going to be the one that tried to get in close and personal to slap cuffs on him, either. He'd already taken a hit to the head once in the last couple of days, and he really didn't want another, not from a man the same height as him who was also armed. Maybe it was all a bluff, maybe this guy couldn't shoot or fight for shit, but... Frank didn't want to take the chance.
 
Likewise, the onslaught of emotions within Thalia was mixed and eating at her with every word Karin uttered. She felt upset. Betrayed. Understandably so. But she worked to defend herself. "Do you think I'm happy about this? I was frozen at the window for a good minute, wondering if I should do this or not, if I should at least leave a note behind to tell you how sorry I was... Don't think I forgot what we had for one minute, Karin. Because I didn't. And odds are I never would, because NOBODY made my as hopeful about my future as you have. You helped me feel like I could still make up for all of my wrongdoings, help me be the person I've always wanted to be. You give me hope, and I.. I feel awful about it. But I couldn't help but think it's necessary, because I think the odds of him coming after me were more than coming after you. Because he hates me right now for blatantly lying to his face. You... he seems okay with you. Believe me, Karin, I wasn't trying to do this to hurt you. I wanted to protect you."


Wait. James wants to talk to her? After what she did to compromise everything? How it was her lie that almost lost them the job? Lost her the money? Lost Tony Melissa? "W-What? Why would James.... that makes no sense. You saw how he spoke to me... Like I know nothing. It's my lie that got us here, you know? If I never pulled that stunt in the backyard, hugging and kissing Frank like the stupid bitch I am... we would've never come to this. James would've walked ages ago at least. I wouldn't have lost people's trusts... it's my fault, Karin. You saw how Tony threw the book at me just minutes after we committed to a truce. And Frank didn't even defend me out there... How can I even stay with that kind of... I mean... you trust me... right? Even if all I do is ruin everything? H-How can I be sure I'm not dead? If not to James, then to Tony? I might as well go running back to Ra's in that case?"


The big question in Thalia's head was: would the two be better off if she ran? Now that Karin brought it up, it felt like she was making the wrong decision this whole time. Another vice to Thalia: though paranoid and can cover her tracks, she has a naive side. And this time it was at the disadvantage of her friends. She failed to recognize Karin's pain if she were to disappear like that. And it would take a toll on Thalia at some point, just wondering what happened to her new friend. Would she be forever on the run with her ill defenseless brother? Pursued by police, Al-Asheera, AND James? Worse... what if she arrived to a street corner and found their bodies? If that were the case, the young woman could never forgive herself for it. She promised to catch Karin when she falls... and now Thalia was running. Breaking that promise. How could she? What kind of friend did that make her? A shitty one. That's what you are. You don't deserve her. You don't deserve ANYONE but that psycho waiting at home. Because that's all you are. But she refused to believe that. This friend of hers kept trying to convince her of all the possibilities she had in this life. A chance for a fresh start. To travel. To be with a dream guy.... to meet her brother. It was all overwhelming this redhead's mind to a degree she couldn't take it. Karin's hands letting go of her own felt like a testament to the disconnection between the two because of her rash decision. It broke her heart. She just desperately wanted to grab her and hold her close. Tell her she'd never run. She'd never forsake her. Stay... not for James. For Karin. She did so much for you... don't do this to her. And there was more to it.


Frank... Charlie... Karin... god damn it, I'm an idiot. How could I even think of doing this?  Enough was enough. Thalia couldn't help herself, reaching for Karin's shoulders and gripping them. With her strength that she developed over years of training, she might've been accused of manhandling her too roughly, but she was tensed and upset, and trying not to tear up by letting her emotions out in aggression, but the sorrow was evident in her voice and face. "No, no... No. I didn't forget any of that. All those things I want to do--what I want to be--what we wanted to do together--I can't forget that. No matter how far I run, it will just haunt me that I never got a chance to do what I always dreamed of. I'd probably never see my brother. God knows what I'd do to Frank.... and eventually you, what could happen to you.... Oh, god, I can't let Ra's do that to you. I can't. I'm not letting ANYONE hurt you. I promised you that and I'm keeping that promise." One hand moved beneath the white haired girl's chin and lifted her head to face Thalia. "Karin, look at me. I am so sorry I almost walked away. I was scared and thought I was going to save us both.... I wasn't. I was going to destroy us both. And if you never came here, I don't think I'd realize that. Just..... what can I say? James may be right about me being a dumb criminal. But I don't want to be a criminal after all of this. No more running... no more running, I give you my word. Do you believe that?"


--


So James wasn't on board Thalia going behind bars. Or in a coffin. Why was everyone defending this girl so consistently? Was it some natural hypnotism of looks? Some hidden charm he was immune to? Or did he just have this passionate burning hatred towards her? Everything she did, from the physical abuse to the the peace proposal. And now James, who threw her under the bus moments ago, was DEFENDING her enough to not book her? Even with a treacherous past? Unbelievable. He could buy Karin trying to sell the act, but this was just too shady for him. Everything else on the table was good enough for him, as well as their little peace agreement to not hurt or go after each other in any way, and Frank, on top of it all, seemed on board everything, including Thalia's freedom. Of course Frank would be with keeping her a free woman if she's using him as a meat stick and he's having a blast with it. Tony wanted to tell him that so badly, but in private. That this girl was using him and didn't actually care about him at all. She's a clanswoman. The second she had the chance, Tony feared she'd sell them both out. "We'll discuss Thalia's freedom later. But everything else.... I can manage and live with. Some intel here and there... it's something I can live with. But that girl? You have no clue what she's capable of. She's a skilled thief. Probably a killer. A liar, as you've seen. A con artist. And as you've seen on Frank, maybe even a rapist."


Though Frank is the judge if that was rape or not. After all, Frank initiated the kiss. The lap show as a bit overkill, but still.... only one person could judge.


James argued the sexist card as to why Thalia might not be able to take control of Al-Asheera. "Trust me, I've seen power vacuums in criminal syndicates, and no matter how conservative or old-fashioned Al-Asheera is, they will succumb to the usual. They will hunt for a new leader or disband. How do we know Thalia doesn't have such an ulterior agenda? There's no way she'd tell us that. She could be using us all. She played you once, James. Don't be an idiot like she was."


An even better win... could James also assist in bringing down Bradan and the Clover Boys? Win-win. Except for that girl. But Tony would settle his debt with her later. Melissa getting away from all of this on some Greek island was also a good idea. "Yes.... once we get my girlfriend back, if you could arrange the flight, and maybe even medical care for her, that would be fantastic. I have no clue what condition she's in... the Al-Asheera leader, Ra's, as they call him... he's probably torturing her now. And there's only one way to get close: the money for Thalia's life. How's work on that coming? You're the mastermind to that, right?"
 
"You didn't forget me. You didn't forget any of that." She said, "You just seem to have forgotten what you wanted, because of everything that's happened. James was never going to kill you, Thalia, at least I don't think so. What would he gain from pulling that sort of move?" She asked. "All it'd be would more trouble on his part - if he killed all of us, any witnesses who did as much as see him drive by the area would be able to give even a little bit of information. He wouldn't want that. Plus, I think he trusts us all more than we realize." She said, then walked over to the bed Thalia had slept on the previous night and sat down. The shoulder-gripping was nice and all, but she didn't want to be on her feet for all of the discussions and such. "I made you feel hopeful, maybe, but I can't do that alone. You need to make yourself feel hopeful, too, because if you don't?" She shook her head, "If you don't apply yourself to that, then you won't be hopeful, either." She said. Was it true? To some extent, Karin imagined so, but she wasn't so sure at the same time.


"If you haven't forgotten these things, if you still want them to happen, if you still want to be involved in it all, then you need to prove to yourself that that can be done." She said. "I know it sounds crazily ambitious, but that's how it's going to work. If you don't do something about it you're going to be stuck in a shitty life forever, and I don't want that for you, alright?" She sighed, softly, and wiped her face with one hand for a moment. "You deserve better than this - I can't stop you from giving up, but I'll be damned if I don't try, alright?" She said, quietly. She was always going to try, always going to attempt to bring Thalia to believe that she could achieve a better life. She'd never just let her walk out into the world without her having what she wanted. It just didn't seem fair to let that happen.


Sure, Karin nor Joseph didn't have the lives they necessarily wanted, but then again, not many people did. Not many people had what they wanted from life itself - they didn't have the fast cars and the partners who loved them, or the healthcare for their family, or the good job or the nice house in a quiet neighborhood. No, none of them had that. Karin knew that she and her brother didn't have that, but she wasn't about to give up. She knew Joseph had dreams, and she was going to help him pursue them, even if she had no money and no job, and no food to feed herself. She'd carry herself through it.


And now she wanted Thalia to do the same - to brave through the thick of it, to stop and think for just one moment.


"Look." She said, also placing her hands down on her friend's shoulders. "Don't... Don't worry, Thalia, I understand why you were worried." She said. "Let me go and get James, okay?" She said. "He wanted to talk to you - so you guys can have that talk and then we'll sort things out from there, alright?" She offered her a small smile and rose to her feet. She felt a hug was appropriate here, so she leaned forward and pulled Thalia into a small but affectionate hug. "Just make sure you remember who you are - who you are now, I mean, not who you were. You're not the same as them, and you don't need to go back to that." She whispered, and with that, she made her way to the door so she could go and fetch James for her.


Back in the living room...


"A skilled thief, maybe, but I do not fear her. I can't speak for either of you, but, I'm not scared of what she's capable of. She knows who trusts her and who doesn't, and she should hopefully know that she can trust me." He said. "I feel like Thalia is one to do something drastic only when it's appropriate or required, not off the bat. She's put herself at too much risk here, told us too much, just to betray us and try to go back to Al-Asheera. It doesn't work like that." He said. "She doesn't have a choice but to work with us now - None of us have a choice, except me, maybe." He shrugged, "I'm the only one without any major risks in this whole thing, but, that gives me more reason to stay and help you with everything. Less risk, meaning I can focus more on making sure you all get what you need, as well as focusing on making sure you can all walk away from this without any issue." He explained.


At the word of arranging a flight, as well as medical care, James just nodded and shrugged.


"Consider it done, Walsh." He said. "Medical care is a little more complicated. It does depend on the extent of any injuries - Believe it or not, but my background means I am field-trained in first aid, worst case scenario. I'm no doctor but I'm no idiot either - If we want things to stay undercover, and if it's urgent, I have the supplies at my house to treat any semi-major injuries. If not, I have contacts throughout the city, mainly in hospitals - They can help out and keep things secretive, too." He said. "But, the plane ticket, I'll make sure it happens. Once again, I'll pull a few strings, have things checked over on the systems to ensure it's all verified. Book her a nice seat, preferably higher than economy class if the opportunity is there." He said. "I'll give further instructions to her before the time actually arrives, but, Corfu is a nice place. A small island, but big enough for anyone to hide on. A contact of mine was married to a man who was in the IRA - She was moved ot Corfu decades ago, seeing as she ratted him to the police when she lived in Ireland. Witness protection, UK version, I suppose." He shrugged. "Your girlfriend will be more than safe, and happy there, I assure you. Once all this is over with, you can be straight on a plane to join her out there." He said.


Frank listened, and he just hoped that all this was true, that all this was possible. It sounded nice, but what if she ended up dead before they could get the chance to send her out there? He hoped that wasn't going to be the case. As long as they could get her out of there alive, then that was the main thing.


"As for the money, yes, things are going fine, Walsh." He said. "Last I checked, half of it was already being prepped for transit. It'll be moved to an anonymous location in Europe, and the whole million will back packed together." He said. "Once it's all been put into one box, nice and simple, it's expressly delivered to this exact house. I'll make sure someone's in to collect it." He said. "But I assure you, the money is the easiest part of all of this. It's not something any of you need to be concerned about - you'll get your money, and for that, you have my word."


"James." Karin said, from their side.


"Hm?"


"Thalia's ready to talk to you." 


"Ah, alright." He rose to his feet, "Gentlemen, I assume you don't mind waiting here while I deal with the little situation at hand - Karin, why not keep them occupied?" He winked at her, then wandered down the hallway to the room that Thalia had stormed off into. As he walked in there, he closed the door behind him and looked at her with a deep breath. "Before you say anything, just let me speak." He said, quickly. "The show I put on there wasn't something as serious as it may have looked, and I haven't blacklisted you from anything." He said. "Yes, maybe I am annoyed that I had details like that hidden from me, but, part of it makes enough sense. Regardless, though, I still trust you enough to invest you in everything we have going on. After all, you and Karin helped set this up a lot more than I did. I'm still on-board." 


"You'll have to forgive me - I don't always have a good sense of character, to say the least, and I got the wrong impression of you. I assumed you'd know that the song and dance I put on out there was merely to set a firmer impression of myself upon the two detectives that so suddenly came into the scene. They needed to know I was serious - that way I can avoid them trying to lock me up once all of this is over." He shrugged, "As for your stand in all of thisq, I've already spoken my terms - My terms are that we collectively plan things as a group, we all get involvement, and more importantly, the part you'll like - I told them that one of my terms is that you walk at the end of all of this." He said. "It's not hard to see that Walsh is on shaky ground with that decision. I've managed to strike a deal with them that I can assure you is in their best interest to keep."


"Part of that deal is you walking free, Thalia." He sighed. "Now, if I gave you the wrong impression, then I will give you a formal apology. It wasn't my intention to make you walk away from this - I don't usually give second chances, but, we're under special circumstances with this one. This is a lot to be dealing with, and we've already established that all of this can't be done unless all five of us are there." He explained. "So, once again, if I made you think otherwise, I'm sorry. Poor judge of character sometimes, like I said."
 
"I... haven't forgotten. And I am hopeful. But I'm also scared, and that's why I was going to run. I didn't think we'd live this, so I panicked. You have to understand that, Karin. My point was never to hurt you or anything. For a moment, I thought I was protecting you... now I know I was doing the opposite; I was going to hurt us both in the end of it all. And that's not happening on my watch." Karin gave Thalia hope in a strange way. What a friendship they've adopted in such a short time. They were a team of sorts, and most importantly, Karin believed in her despite her background. Nobody's ever done that. Not to the degree of letting her stay in their home and giving her advice this way. It was a new, strange feeling, but one she enjoyed so much. And she was about to throw it all away by jumping out that window. Not anymore. Never. She responded to the hug as anyone would, holding her friend tightly. "I'm stupid. Really, I am. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't follow through and disappear. And even if I did, I'd probably come back, you know? Because I couldn't just leave you out in the cold like that if I had to flee... I care about you too much to do that to you."




What were you thinking… you can’t leave Karin. DON’T leave her. Do the right thing for once in your shit life. 






The girls parted ways from their hug, and Thalia responded, "I know what I am. What I'm going to be. And I'm not going to do it without you to watch it all come together. No running away. I promise you that much." Now, James wanted a word with her. Karin left the room to go deliver the message that she was ready to talk. What did this man want? To hurt her? Threaten her further? She was ready to assume the worst. She had the switchblade she pulled on Tony the previous night in her back pocket, and if James was prepared to fight, she wouldn't go down without standing her ground, or at least calling for help.


A thought came to mind from her previous dialogue, too. Frank. He's been too quiet throughout this whole thing. Did she really catch him that off-guard with her little performance? Was he that swayed by her to just be speechless and not stand up for anyone? He's been so passive lately. Is he okay? She'd have to pull him aside again later. Thalia was worried about him. Which reminded her: if she fled, she'd never know if Frank would be okay. She could read in his eyes that he wasn't at his best today. And quite honestly, she wanted to spend time with him. Not as his fake girlfriend or a co-conspirator. As a friend. She almost wanted to ask if she could come over to his place later that night. How would he react to the idea of a first date? If it was even going to be a date... boy, did she get ahead of herself after that kiss. She was still in shock on the inside after that. Sure, it was just a peck, but she wanted so much more.




 --






Before Tony had any opportunity to argue his terms, Karin returned to tell James to go back inside to meet with Thalia. It was really a bummer. Tony had a lot to agree and disagree to. He was most certainly on board getting Melissa on a plane out of the country. And to a Greek island, too. No doubt that would serve for a nice place to propose. The two-way street of access was also something he was going to let by no problems. Letting the Bride of the Head walk away from this was still something Tony wasn't comfortable with at all. If he had to book her separately, or wait for her to return to Philly and blow the whistle on her, he would most definitely do it. Most importantly, he didn't agree to Frank FUCKING KISSING her. And once it was just him and Karin, Tony felt comfortable discussing everything in private.


"Frankie... I'm with him on everything he's said so far, except Thalia. You know, the more she takes decisions on our behalf and creates these unnecessary partnerships and formulates these impossible plans, the more she's putting all three of us in danger." He pointed both fingers to Karin and to Frank, then faced the white-haired girl who just returned. "Karin... what if one day you come home from work and see that Thalia murdered your brother? Or brought a criminal into the house? Or if she goes back to Al-Asheera? I personally am convinced she can bring them back from the dead if they are on the verge of disbanding... and you, Frank..." He then directed his frame to his partner. "What the fuck were you thinking? Letting her sit on your lap like some sort of stripper, rubbing all up on you again, then you KISS HER? You didn't see what I saw. She loved it, for fuck's sake! She wanted more! She was all over your neck until I exposed the truth. Just because you and I both know that you, as a new detective? The second word of this gets out, that you got cozy with an Al-Asheera clanswoman? You'll lose your badge and all your respect. The least you can do is, like me, see her as a hostile. I'm not talking about yelling at her or swinging at her. I'm playing nice in front of her. But behind her back? No holds barred. She's dangerous, and you saw that when she crawled up on you."


Yet... there was another question on Tony's mind. He couldn't help but scoff at the possibility... "Frank, tell me you didn't enjoy what she did to you. Tell me you'd file sexual assault charges if you could." Of course, Frank, like any other straight man, would've enjoyed having a pretty girl like Thalia flirt with him. The difference is, not every pretty girl is a thief flirting with a detective. Tony couldn't help but see it as some unholy blasphemous deed. "I know she's been through a lot, and we can sympathize with her, sure. But let's not lose focus on the possibility that she stabs us all in the back in the end. Do you want to get hurt by that possibility?


--




It didn't take long for James to enter and immediately speak before Thalia could even get a chance. His voice, his arguments, it made her blood boil. She almost wanted to grab something off the dresser and toss it at him. But she had no excuse to be mad at him. Lying was on her and she deserved to be ridiculed. She was careless and was paying the price for it. But, she realized the price wasn't running away. Much like James had opening statements, so did Thalia:




"Okay... let's get a few things straight," she began, "First, I'm a big girl; don't think I couldn't handle your words or the pressure. That's not what happened in there. I just know how things work in the criminal underworld. 'Blacklist' means 'you're dead to me', which means I had no choice but to bolt or die to you. I saw that piece you had on you. Silenced and modded and all that. Fancy, I must say. How could I be sure you weren't going to pull it and kill us all? Don't as why, but my gut tells me you strike me as the type. Huh... like I trust you as much as you trust me?" Then came the thoughts of running. It was pretty obvious looking back at the opened window behind her. "Sure, it would be selfish to just run like that and leave Karin behind... maybe I'm just naive, rash, dumb. Hell, I KNOW I am. I'm not half the crook you are, but I'm trying to go straight after all of this. But, I guess the criminal half always remains a part of you, get me? That paranoid feeling of reading between the lines and looking over your shoulder every waking second. It's something only the two of us really understand from our little team. The feeling that one day, you could get caught. My gut tells me you live with that same paranoia."




She took a few steps closer to James, in a sign of trust. From the looks of it she wasn't going to be killed. Not yet. "You said you couldn't find me on your database thing, right? You even admitted how hidden Al-Asheera members are. If there's anything I've learned, it's how to disappear. And that is what would've happened if Karin came two seconds later. I'd be gone, off your radar and that of the cops. I'm sure you know that. I don't need the gang itself to vanish. I've just... learned to cover my tracks. You can admit I've done a good enough job at that. I'm not entirely useless. Sure, I can be deceptive, but only because oftentimes it's necessary. Like I said in there, I'm sure you'd understand that. Tell me, if I was upfront this morning and said Frank and Tony were cops, without sneaking their badges off of them and creating a cover story, would you have stuck around?"




Most certainly, Tony wasn't going to stand for working with yet another criminal. He must've put on a tough-guy act in there to try to act all high and mighty around James. No surprise. "I don't trust Tony as far as I can throw him. He's had it out for me from the minute he met us last night. Wanna know why?" A slight lift of her right hand to show her inked markings was enough to reveal why. "Yeah. He doesn't like Al-Asheera. Hell, nobody really does. But he takes it to some extreme. He's treating me like I'm just like the others, and not like the one stabbing them in the back. I bet he has all sorts of brutal thoughts about my intentions. Son of a bitch will probably lock me up..." Then James brought up the part of the deal that means she walks. "Wait... you put that on the table? After all I did to piss you off, and you still made my freedom unconditional... Why? No way you did that out of the goodness of your heart. Sure, you need me to get close to Al-Asheera, but you know I'm doing that already, freedom or not. And I'm sure it goes beyond a sign of goodwill." A second of thought brought up a possibility. A longshot, but still. Raising an eyebrow and a grin appearing on her face, she continued, "You have a heart, don't you? If it's not going to hurt for you to see that, it'll hurt Karin, and you don't want to see that... Don't answer. I know you wouldn't. But just know I appreciate that my freedom's on the table."




Poor judge of character... bull-fucking-shit, 'James'. But he's coming with an olive branch. Might as well shake on it. Maybe she could proceed with this at long last, the five of them as a team with reassurance of the future. His apology meant nothing to her, and she didn't want to orally forgive James just yet. But she had something else in mind about his entire plan. "We need you for this to all work out. Odds are, you may or may not need me as well. So if you're trying to bury the hatchet, done. It's buried. But again, I know how criminals think. How you act, WHY you act. When you realized that me and Karin contacted you without any sort of protection, why didn't you shut the door in our faces? Why get involved with two people who could've got us all in a world of shit, two liabilities? Before you knew this was about Al-Asheera. Before anything, really. Why did you stick around? Why are you coming and apologizing after I blatantly broke your terms? 'Circumstances' you call them? I'm sure you can take down Al-Asheera with your eyes closed if you put your mind to it. You don't NEED me as much as you think... I just want to know that. Why?"
 
Well, things seemed to be okay on Karin and Thalia's end once more, even if things did hit a little bump. That's what friends are for, I suppose. Forgive and forget and move on. The best way to do things, without a doubt. A part of Karin worried that Thalia would make a break for it again, but she hoped now that she'd had a word with her that she wouldn't pull that. She had a lot to think about, after all - Her and Joseph, Frank, her brother, all of the stuff that was going on. In Karin's mind, it was something that was far too heavy to just run away from, wasn't it? Plus, there was so much in development with all of it that running away would be a foolish thing to do. There'd be so much she was missing out on if she just up and left, just like that. Karin hoped that the thought of everything that was there to love and care about was enough to make her stick around. It was hard to say. Karin put her trust into Thalia, though, and assumed that she wanted to stay right where she was. She hoped that was the case.


Back in the living room, though, Karin was listening to what Tony had to say about Thalia to Frank, and eventually to her, too. She couldn't really get on board with everything Tony was saying. Part of her was offended, even more so when he brought Joseph into the equation. She didn't need to hear about that - she knew what was best for her brother, and she was sure that Frank knew what was best for himself, too. She wanted to know, why was Tony so against it? Why was it such a big problem if she and Frank did have a little something going on? She couldn't grasp why Tony still had so much against Thalia. She couldn't believe what she was hearing - Be all friendly with her, but behind her back, treat her as the enemy? Since when was all of that part of the plan?


"With all due respect, Tony, I'd appreciate if you didn't bring my brother into this." She said. "I know what's best for him, and I know who it's best for him to be around. I know for a fact that Thalia would never harm Joseph, not at all. She's had plenty of chances to kill both of us if she wanted to, but she hasn't. All she's done is return my hospitality with gratitude and kindness, and Joseph trusts her. I trust her." She said. "The same rule applies to her that applies to anyone - You, Frank, James, you name it - If I even think for a second that anyone is bringing any danger his way, then they'll know that Joseph is my everything, and the person who jeopardizes that will be gone and out of our lives in a second." She explained. "Keep that in mind." She said, simply.


"Another thing... I don't think you need to harass Frank about all of this." She said, "Frank's a grown man, a grown man who can handle himself, and probably doesn't appreciate having people hanging over him about everything. I don't get why you're so against Thalia. I don't understand why you still treat her like she's your archenemy, or why you're so obsessed with what goes on between her and Frank or her and anyone else. It's not something you need to worry about - we all know what we're doing, and so does she." She said. Frank looked up at Karin, then turned and looked at Tony as well. He sighed, not really knowing what to give on the whole situation. He had to say something, though, give some sort of input. He needed to stand his ground.


"I'm not going to file any sexual assault charges, no, that's just not right." He said. "I wouldn't press charges on her for something she didn't do. That's not fair." He added. "I don't think she's going to screw us over at the end of all this, Tony." He shook his head, "If she was going to do that, there'd be signs of that happening already. There'd be signs of her misleading us and trying to cover certain things up, there'd be the solid evidence that she wasn't on our side. She wouldn't be hanging around here where we know how to find her - She'd be off staying on her own somewhere and only coming out when it was convenient for her. She wouldn't be hear, staying in a comfy bed and eating home cooked breakfasts and drinking fresh coffee. She's a normal person, just like you and me." He said. "It's time we started treating her like that - I know, it's going to sound like I've got my head in the clouds, or something, but I haven't. The kiss was to try and win James over, and, I guess it got a bit... Out of hand?" He shrugged.


Karin suppressed a grin. Suuuuuuuuuuure.


"We don't need to worry about her right now, Tony, she's not the enemy. The enemy is the bastard that's holding Melissa - Let's focus on that before we worry about how valid of an ally that Thalia is, because if you ask me, Thalia's at the very bottom of our concern list - in fact, she might not even be on that list." He said.


--


He chuckled. "You're a smart girl, Thalia. Why do I do this when I could have taken them down myself with my fancy equipment? Why did I crawl out of my safehouse to meet a couple of girls that didn't even use a proxy to get online to me? Well, like I said, you're a smart girl. Figure it out." He winked. "I have my reasons for doing what I do. Maybe I was getting bored of the standard life, getting tired of being a one-man army - or maybe I trust you two more than anyone else that's ever contacted me. I've had some bad, bad people contact me and ask for my services, asking me to break into certain places to steal certain things, asking me to go down the street and take care of a certain person. I've had a lot of bad shit come through, enough to land me several life sentences. If I went to prison now, and they'd known everything I did, I'm pretty sure I'd be one of those rare cases of the guys that get given one-thousand-plus years in the slammer, alright? I'm not the kinda' guy that enjoys being in a six-by-six cage. I'm like a... A lion. Or a shark. I need freedom. Need to roam, need to move onto new territory and either kill or be killed. Not quite as black and white as that, but, you get the idea." He shrugged.


"We do have a connection, you and I." He said, "The two of us know more about our side of the world than any of them out there will ever know. The detectives, psh, they act like they know the criminal side more than they do. It's detectives like Tony that get overly-confident about their knowledge of things, and they end up being the ones whose skeletal remains are found in the desert in thirty years from now. Frank? I don't know. Frank hasn't said much. Cracked a few jokes and said 'deal', but that's about it. He's quiet." He said. Now, James didn't know that it was unlike Frank to be so quiet, but, hey, the rest of them knew he was fairly talkative. What had made him go so skittish all of a sudden? Was it the kiss, or was there just a lot on his mind, or both? It was a hard thing to read, hard to say if that was the case. Only time would tell, I suppose.


"Maybe I would have stuck around. Maybe I wouldn't have." He said. "Maybe I would have waited for the right time and ran without anyone knowing, like you tried to. I don't know, Thalia. Maybe it's fate. Now, personally, I don't like the idea of fate, because I don't like the idea of not having control of my life. But perhaps me not believing in fate is actually fate itself. Either way, maybe some otherworldly form of power decided that you should lie to me, which, ultimately, lead to me sticking around. I don't believe in otherworldly things most of the times, nor do I believe in god. I wouldn't consider myself a militant atheist, but, certainly agnostic. I'm a scientist of some form, after all, what can I say?" He laughed. "The bottom line is, yes, me and you have the upper hand in some of this. We know how criminals work. They... They know to an extent - not like we do, though. We don't need any form of fate or a god to tell us that we have that slight handicap." He shrugged.


A heart? James? He laughed again.


"Maybe I do have a heart, Thalia." He said. "It might be hard to believe, I know, but I do." He said. "A lonely heart looking for some fun and maybe a few companions that aren't going to try and shoot me or rob me when all of this is over. Not too much to ask for in LA, is it?" He smirked. "Anyway, yes, your freedom's on the table. I won't go ahead with this without the promise that both you and Karin walk at the end of all of this. If they fuck you over, then their lives get ruined. Tony doesn't seem to take my threats seriously - he'd better, though. If he goes back on his word, then his career, and any pleasant aspect of his life, will quickly end on my behalf. I have a lot of power in a lot of places now, you get that with years of living my life, I'm sure you understand. But, I assure you, you're in safe hands." He said. "Now. How about we get back to them? We all know this can't go ahead without you." 
 
It might've been just that concept that James was raving about that got him to come out of his hideaway to meet two girls who had the audacity--and foolishness--to contact him without a clue what they were getting into. Freedom. Not being locked up. A concept Thalia could relate to, not only because she knew that the second she goes to jail, her days would be numbered. Jail wasn't her primary concern. She did a sufficient job at staying off the radar over the years, and odds are, she could keep that up. Even if James knows who she is. He was evidently on their side. The thoughts of a potential ulterior motive still ran in her head, but they weren't bothering her as much as Tony's thoughts of her were bothering him. Seemed like there was finally peace between Thalia and James. Common ground: they're both crooks. Like he said, they both had an understanding for the mind of a criminal. They've both spent a lot of time hiding to preserve themselves. They knew what was best for themselves. Odds are, James tag-teaming with Tony wasn't the most amazing of ideas, but an all-too-necessary one now.


"We have a deal, James. I appreciate that you're on the side of not locking me up in a jail cell..." It still bothered Thalia that even after the truce, Tony was still so bitter about her. Was there something she didn't know? Something she did to him? There's no way it's just the fact she is with Al-Asheera. Is there something deeper? "You probably understand a lot of what I've felt these past eight years. The thrill. The fear. The paranoia that one day everything will come crashing down. You also get that life in prison would not suit either of us. You'd probably get uncountable years? I'd be killed in the first week by Al-Asheera... Just for full disclosure..." Thalia raised her right hand so the palm faced herself, her tattoo in full view of James, with her left hand grazing over the outline of the design. "I'm betrothed to Ra's. So that's why I'm of such significance. That's why I can get so close. Tony, the sick bastard. He wants me to prove I'm the Bride of the Head by sleeping with the sick fuck. The man has an obsession with me. And even after I say that and elaborate what he'd do to me if he sees me again, he wants me to face him. No, worse, SLEEP with him. Despicable. Bottom line? I'm glad that it's not just Karin fighting for me. Well appreciated. Maybe you've found your couple of companions who don't want to see you crash and burn." She smiled to him, getting a few steps closer, gazing down his eyes that he kept masking by the sunglasses, getting a good look at him. He was a man of his word, and this trust wasn't going to be one he'd throw away like that. "I'll fight for you. No backstabbing or deception anymore. We are a team."


There had to be some way for her to prove her loyalty further. To show she didn't have any other motives other than to watch Al-Asheera fall apart. Sadly, all she had was her word, and to show her assertive side to James. She walked by him, her shoulder brushing against his and giving him a smug but sassy look as her head turned to his. "You know... Karin is very fond of you. Maybe you should talk to her about that, hm? ... But no, let's not mix business with pleasure. Follow my lead. I think you and I are going to get along just fine."


Don't mix business with pleasure, says the girl who still wants to kiss Frank. A long story, one she didn't have time to discuss with James. As far as he knows, it was all a cover-up. Maybe it was better to stay that way. Still... she couldn't get over that kiss. If only it lasted a bit longer, just enough to feel that sensation more meaningfully and not to cover their asses. But did Frank like it? Thalia had to ask. She needed to know for certain. For now, she continued on her way out of the room to the detectives and Karin.


Thalia was back on Karin's side. But the text she left Ra's wouldn't go unanswered: 'What took you so long? Sharmoota.'


--


Karin and Frank's defenses towards Thalia only infuriated Tony further. Was he the only one gunning against this mystery girl? Was he the only person in the room who thought that her sudden turn in loyalties was too suspicious? He needed to stand his ground and try to convince the two of such. The veteran detective was almost sure that this thief wasn't going to walk away from all this. He'd let James slide, only because he hasn't lied to them yet. So far, he's been honest. Ambiguous, but honest. Thalia has upfront lied to his face and disrespected him. That, he wasn't going to let fly. He continued to target his partner about this. Karin was too attached to Thalia to be convinced otherwise. Frank? He could be dragged out of this daydream. "Don't you find it even slightly strange that one minute, she's holding up a diner, the next, trying to be Karin's new bestie? Didn't it piss you off when you realized she took your badge while she was sexually violating you?" But his partner didn't consider it violation. He might've just enjoyed it. Tony took a few steps closer, and continued his tirade. "Look, Frank. I get that she's pretty, and it might serve as a distraction. But she's a pretty little liar at the same time. Don't let her lustful comments and mannerisms get the better of you. There are plenty of better women for you. Not lowlife thieves and criminals. Any good detective shouldn't get involved with his prime suspect. And yes. Thalia is number one on my threat list. Greater than Ra's or Bradan. Why? Because she's literally in bed with us. Now, for Christ's sake, don't make that expression literal and start sleeping with her. I'm begging you."


Before Frank could get a chance to answer, the sassy voice of a familiar redhead came from behind Tony as she returned to the living room. "Back off, Tony. I'm here to stay. And not to screw anyone over." Tony turned around to face the girl once more. Not to hit her or yell at her. Just to look at her with a similar death glare she'd given him. "You don't scare me. And if I were really against you all, I would've called Ra's ages ago to come and stake the place out, just so his men could kill you and Frank. But that hasn't happened. And ask Frank. Ra's is looking for ME. Meaning I'm on his blacklist. Why the hell would I be working for the man who wants me to suffer, maybe even wants me dead? Look, I understand that he took your girlfriend. I know... exactly how you're feeling right now." The only difference was that Vanessa was scheduled to die unconditionally. Melissa has a chance to live. "But cutting me from the team basically makes her dead meat. And I don't want that any more than you do. I also know what's going on in your head, knowing she's out there being tortured. So all I'm asking is that you calm down and trust me. Much like you did when we declared a truce. Let's just make peace for good. Please?"


Tony didn't respond. Just kept staring down Thalia's green eyes, only seeing the eyes of some demon-spawn.


"I thought so." With nothing left to say after getting up in Tony's face, Thalia turned around, now facing Karin and within breathing distance. She tapped her forearm gently and whispered, "I'm not going anywhere." The change in facial expression to one of confidence should be enough to reassure her friend that she's here to stay. But for now: business. She turned to face the entire crew before talking. "So, if we are going to have any hope of saving Tony's girlfriend, I need to approach Ra's soon, saying that his money is on the way. James.... is there any way to prove that to him if I meet him in person? I'm sure we can discuss the terms of where and how. But it needs to be soon. Clock's ticking for an innocent woman, so I hope you get that time is a luxury we don't have."


Talking strategy with James should be easy for Thalia. They are both criminals and know what they're doing when facing off with brutes like Ra's. It's that common ground the two had that promoted this new sense of trust. While Thalia took control of the planning, Tony could only keep thinking of what kind of danger she was putting everyone in with this plan. If the time was right, and if he gets his hands on a gun, he might just point it in Thalia's direction to rid everyone of her once and for all. Or at least wound her so she can't go on. It was a thought--one that would cost him a great deal of respect and might even get him cut from the team--but a thought nonetheless.
 
They had a deal, and that was the main thing here. James was glad that he'd been able to find common ground with Thalia - he respected her as much as the next guy, but, the bottom line was he was on her side and he wanted her to know that. The last thing he needed was for her to be against him in all of this. Unless they were all on board, this wasn't going to work out. Yes, he was still a little skeptical about the detectives, but he was going to be giving them the benefit of the doubt while he could. If anything happened, then he could act on it and stop them from influencing things, give them a false-positive and send them searching elsewhere. If it came to that, that would have them off the scene for a while, while the people who were definitely up for it dealt with the problems. James wanted to tell them - they could easily pull this off now without their help. Whether or not they knew that they were becoming obsolete was becoming a different story, but, what started as James and Thalia being the disposable ones had now turned to... Well, the detectives being disposable. Oh, how the tables have turned.


When Thalia spoke of how Karin was fond of him, though, he turned and faced her and arched an eyebrow. Interesting news, it seemed, one that sparked his interest. Was Thalia trying to get them to hit it off? It would have been a nicer favor from a friend, for sure, but... "No business with pleasure. Of course." He said, simply. So they were a team, and now it had been revealed to him that Karin had a bit of a thing for him. That was certainly interesting. Was he going to act on that? Well, that was going to remain secret for now, but, James certainly seemed intrigued - and maybe slightly pleased - by the news that Thalia had given him. I'm sure any single man would be pleased by any such news, so, that wasn't really something Thalia could not expect. He could be happy with the news, but that didn't mean he was going to spring on the chance to act on it.


For all she knew, he could have just taken it as a nice compliment more than anything else, but more on that later.


Frank was obviously going to step in and defend himself, too. "Tony, I understand your concern, but..." He sighed, "I fear you're taking this out of context. We're not here to discuss my love-life." He said, but not aggressively. "I know that you're worried and I appreciate that, but you don't need to give me advice on my dating, my love-life - I can handle that myself, I assure you. Our main concern here is dealing with Al-Asheera, and, all thoughts of what's happened between myself and Thalia aside, Thalia is not our enemy." He said.


But of course, Thalia came out at the perfect time to back that up. Frank was going to do his best to defend her, but there was no one better for defending Thalia than Thalia. At least she knew what she was talking about, and how to deal with any stigma. Frank didn't know what was going on in Thalia's head, but Thalia? Quite simply, Thalia did. He sat back and listened to her speak for herself, and he just hoped that the truce could once again stay in place - for now, at least. He wanted her to walk, but with how much Tony seemed to hate her, that was becoming more and more impossible.


Then the discussion of the money came up.


"Well." James said, "There's not much that I can prove unless you show him something that proves you have the money in your name. I doubt you have a bank statement, or an account, so doing that becomes difficult. The only thing I can imagine you doing is taking some form of evidence from me and presenting it to him." He said. "Either that, or I come face to face with the devil himself at your side, and show him evidence that I have the money enroute. Then again, that ties me into Al-Asheera in a slight way, which I'd rather avoid. I can get evidence to you quickly, though. A delivery estimate of the money, maybe a picture of the remaining money with a note attached, or something. I can get some sort of statement for you, an email, a voice message. We could easily stage that. You go on the phone to me, I smack on a voice changer, and boom. We have a recorded message that has me state the delivery number and estimated time of arrival. He can back-reference the delivery number for the validity, if he wants to. Or you can do that yourself and take the evidence of that, too." He explained. "I can't get it all here any sooner than two days from now. Today included. Today and tomorrow for transit - following morning it'll arrive. I can't make planes fly any faster, sadly." He said. 
 
"Mmm..." James laid out a few options for Thalia, each getting warmer to the safest option. Thalia wasn't very bank or finance-savvy, let alone did she own a bank account, making proof of that sort next to impossible. James coming along face to face was actually an idea she contemplated. But it was extremely dangerous and implicates James. It made Thalia recall one of Ra's' demands: to deliver a replacement recruit for the man he executed in the van. She might've brought it up with Karin, but certainly not with the others. Delivering other forms of evidence, according to his hacker, was also a possibility, and could be done quickly. Lots of options. "You make a point. But there's another catch, so you know..." She sighed, crossing her arms, and directing the next message to everyone in the room. "Ra's wants another recruit. I believe you all know that at the diner fiasco, one of our new guys executed a hostage. Undue bloodshed. Ra's punished him with death. He's putting it all on me, and alongside the money, he wants me to gather a new face."


And there were four of them in the room right now that could serve as candidates. Frank. Tony. Karin. James. While Karin would've been her first choice as a trusted friend, she couldn't risk Ra's hurting her or bringing her into the same dark place as she was in. Tony was no actor and could never sell the act as a criminal. Frank might've worked, but she was unsure. Every time he had a chance to play along with a lie, he was overtaken by her. Except the kiss, which she still couldn't forget. Oh how she wanted to replicate it. James had the mind of a criminal, and even the shady looks and behavior of one. He could easily pass as a recruit. Plus, Al-Asheera needs a hacker. But bringing him face to face was a risk. A phone call though with a voice morpher? Perfect. No only would Thalia deliver a new recruit, but she would also keep James' identity in the dark. In its own scary way, this could work. She turned back over to James and continued talking, "I like the idea of delivering everything over the phone, James. But I need to know this: would you play the role of an Al-Asheera recruit? You won't have to give any personal information, not even show your face. I'm sure Ra's would accept over the phone. You'll never have to get close. He'd also be too confused by the overwhelming sense of technology to pay attention to the details. But.... I trust your attitude. Unlike anyone else in this room, you and I know how to think like criminals. We can manage a conversation with a psychopathic kingpin. All you have to do is let me convince him of an interesting story of how I found you, and you just give the information confirming the transfer of the money... Why should you trust my story? Because as you can see, I'm a compulsive liar. And a damn good actress. I can make up maybe ten stories off the bat right now to explain my absence to Ra's. Not to mention..." She tilted her head slightly, letting her red hair flap slightly across her shoulder in a cute manner... but her eyes drifted over to Frank. "I'm also eye candy, as I've been told. Ra's agrees. He'll be too distracted with ideas of how to fuck me next to even focus properly."


Tony noticed Thalia's lingering eyes over to his partner, which bothered him once more. Maybe she did that on purpose: because she knows it would piss him off. She's been on a roll with that. Her attitude on top of it all... She was so cocky, and it bothered him. It made him want to blurt out that his partner was off-limits. Instead, he groaned, rolled his eyes, and uttered under his breath, "Give me a fucking break. She's not all THAT hot. Especially with that makeup you smear on your face."


Well... someone's not exactly mature about this. It almost made Thalia laugh at how low Tony was able to stoop. He was acting like a child. She could bet that Joseph would act more like an adult about this whole situation. For once, a lowlife crook was handling this situation better than a grown-ass man about to propose to his girlfriend. Thalia narrowed her eyes towards towards the older man in the room, about to laugh at his remark. But business was business. Shaking her head in some cruel satisfaction, she redirected her eyes over James. "Listen. I promise you won't be tied back to Al-Asheera, especially if you don't use your name... or alias, whatever it is. Nor your real voice, which is what the modifier is for. You won't ever have to meet Ra's in person nor get tattooed. This can work. I promise you that, with no incident. I know it's a lot to ask as a first favor, but along with getting me proof of the transaction, can you pose as a potential Al-Asheera recruit?"


Indeed it would be a huge ask. It was almost something Thalia asked Karin at the bar, if the two were going to gather the money themselves. They were both desperate anyway. But now they had an out with this money and two cops on their side. All they had to do was hope that, first, James accepts this temporary deal, and second, Tony doesn't fuck it up somehow.


Backstabbing... it wasn't until that moment that Tony considered it. Because as they spoke, Tony received an ominous text message from an unknown number. It sent an image of a young, tan, brunette woman sitting in a cage meant for a monkey, seemingly unharmed but her face terrified. The text read:


'Deliver the location of Al-Jameela, and we will give you your mating partner back.'


Shit... Was his hated for Thalia about to take control of his actions? Make his ruin things for everyone?
 
It was a big request, but one that he had to consider above all else. As long as there was no risk, then he could do it. It wasn't something he hadn't pulled off before. Sure, he'd never done something of the type with Al-Asheera, but, he'd done similar arrangements when he'd been called out and hired, and it seemed that this group was trustworthy enough not to throw him under the bus. He had to think about it for just a minute, but it was the best bet they had. What other choice did they have other than this? There was nothing else they could do. He could get the evidence together for the bank stuff, no problem, and they could present that to Ra's. There was no risk associated for him, because, well, he wasn't even going to be there. At least not physically. All he had to do was put on a voice changer and talk to the guy, give him evidence that he had the money coming. The way the money was arriving should be evidence enough that James wasn't a cop, after all.


"Sure." James said, lifting a hand for a moment and giving it a wave. "I know, as crazy as it may sound, I'll do it." He said. "I'm not scared of what may happen - I've been in much worse situations, and similar ones, too. I can do this, without issue." He said. "But the moment he starts thinking that I'm obliged to come and show my face and get one of those hideous tattoos, I'm gone." He shook his head. "There's only so much I can dedicate to this, Thalia, I hope you can respect that. Tell him that my current terms, at least until all the money is validated, that I won't work from anything other than behind a phone and a computer. It's just that simple." He said. 


"You're a good liar, and a good actress, and you're right in saying that we can indeed hold a conversation with a criminal. You and I know that world better than anyone. Regardless of what some may say." His eyes wandered over to the detectives, more of a silencing trick than anything else. He didn't want to hear it from them - didn't want to hear the whole 'we've dealt with criminals more than you' - It's just not the same. It's like raising children, and then working with children. Just because you're a teacher doesn't know what it's like to be a parent. And, just because you were a kid once doesn't mean you know how every kid out there feels. It's not as black and white as that. They're two different worlds entirely.


Tony's comments weren't appreciated by anyone, either, but they found themselves having to deal with it all the same. Not the best thing in the world, but what other choice did they have?


Frank did glance over to Tony when he got a text come through - He didn't see what was on his phone, but, he looked all the same. He assumed it could have been someone down at the station, but, you never know. He didn't know what to think of Tony. With how he'd been with Thalia, Frank wouldn't have been surprised if Tony organized something behind their backs. 


"So, what's the plan?" James asked. "When are we doing all of this?" He asked. 
 
The fact James accepted the deal was a relief to Thalia. She didn't know how else to approach the deal in a way to satisfy Ra's. It was far less risky the way they had this planned, and it would hopefully be enough to appease the kingpin. Maybe enough to make him reconsider what he was going to do to his bride-to-be. A nod of satisfaction came from Thalia when James agreed to the terms and emphasized his conditions of conducting his end remotely. Understandable. Then he brought up that the tattoos were 'hideous'. Thalia couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. Her ink wasn't necessarily 'hideous', but it was too obvious. That was the thing about Al-Asheera. They tattooed the right hand and the neck so everyone could see it and identify them. She shook her head in a way to reveal her neck tattoo, and raised her right hand once more, as if to itch her collarbone. In truth? It was her way of flashing her ink around. "Hideous? Oh please," she said in a joking manner, smiling to James. "I know the meaning behind these tattoos, but... I'm not convinced of it anymore. Sure, it's a sign of commitment and all, and having them out in the open is a symbol of pride, and the designs have symbolism of their own... but I'm committed to or proud of Al-Asheera... the neck one's cute though. Some distorted... or concaved cross designed in my image. Fancy if you ask me..." She rotated her neck to the right so James could see the design on her skin without her red locks blocking the view. "The hand one's a bit overkill. If I could remove that when this is over, I'm sure I will."


Getting a bit off-topic, sure, but Thalia just wanted to open a nice conversation so nobody would focus on Tony being an asshole. She continued, "Done. Ra's never sees your face. The second he asks to meet, we tell him you work on the phone. Usually, he likes to meet his underlings, but I can talk him into making you an exception. I have... a certain touch for him. I know what makes him tick, and how to sway him in my favor. Let's just say he didn't call me The Beautiful One for nothing." James and Thalia were off to a good start, not to mention how Thalia was functionally Karin's wingman, trying to pressure James to make a move on Karin in one way or another. But unlike herself, Karin seemed to be better at controlling her feelings. Thalia was a different story. It might just be her social anxiety and inability to get along with many others... but every time her eyes met Frank's, she had to make an effort to avoid blushing or look like she's staring. God damn it, T... Just go kiss him already. I bet he loved it.


Not now. Business before pleasure. Next: the planning process. "Plan? Alright..." the redhead began, taking to one of the couches and landing in it, sitting cross-legged in the chair, pondering over the plan. "When? As soon as we possibly can. I can call Ra's right now if I want to and set up a meet wherever we want. Which brings me to my question, which I'm not sure what we should go for: a very public or very secluded location? They both have ups and downs. The ups to a public place is that Ra's can't pull any shit on us without starting a riot, which he doesn't need with a hundred witnesses and a large possibility for collateral. The downside is that WE can't get the drop on him so easily either if this goes to shit. Again, riot and collateral. Plus, who's to say he won't grab me and get lost in the crowd? But Ra's is smart. If he has to show himself in a crowded place, he'll only bring one bodyguard and have someone waiting in a van outside. Now... private location away from society. The good AND bad? It's fair game. Anyone could get the drop on anyone. And I'm afraid HE might get the drop on us. We're outnumbered. Al-Asheera are legion, and he might bring a dozen men out there. We're only five. There's a high probability we could end up outnumbered, and I could be killed. He won't be afraid of collateral if it's just me and him. It's a perfect place for an execution.... What do you think, guys?"


The last question was directed to everyone. Even Tony. She wanted the opinions of the group. Thalia gave them every detail about each situation, and each had a chance of going wrong in their own unique ways. But Tony's mind was made. "Private. It's easier for us to control. I don't care if he's got more men. We might be able to fight the odds."


But Tony was only saying that. He wanted a private place to ensure something bad could happen to Thalia. If something happens to her, he gets Melissa back, according to this text he received. He made sure nobody saw it and hid his phone back into his pocket. This could be it. We get rid of the Head and his bitch. Is that all Tony wanted? To get his hands on a sniper rifle from James, perch himself out in a corner, and kill Ra's and Thalia the second he found the time right? How would the other three react to her two choices?


"I assume you have the gear to make either situation happen, right James?" Thalia faced the dark haired hacker, once again, from the comfort of her seat. "Guns. Comm devices. Trackers. I'm sure you do. I guess you could provide, right? I'd make a choice between public or secluded place, but... either way, it's my ass on the line, and they're both a risk. If I go into his lair on the fifth floor, there's too many variables. He could take me to a dark room with no windows and none of you to back me up if he gets violent. Sure, you might have cameras or mics, but once things go wrong, you probably can't get in. It's too dangerous, and I'm sure none of you agree to that."


Hell, not even Tony agreed to it. Thalia could still walk away if things go to plan. Ra's would for sure. He wanted to see them both dead, and going into the hornet's nest wasn't going to assure that.
 
"That's not my point." He shook his head on the topic of the tattoos. "As nice as the neck tattoo is, with all due respect, I don't want any Al-Asheera propaganda plastered all over me. I'm not a tattoo man, either, I personally hate the things. At least when I picture them on my body." He said, "Other people, they look line. But on me? I don't think it'd look good at all. I can put you in contact with some people who might be able to talk to you about removing that thing, or at least might have ties to someone who might be able to help you get rid of it. No promises. Can't really say that many of my connections are surgeons in tattoo removal surgery, but, we'll see how it goes. Back on topic, though, we need to discuss this plan a little further." He said. 


"If you know what makes him tick then that's exactly what we need." He said. "If you can get to him and convince him to abide by what we're asking, that's a big help in itself." He nodded a few times. "It's a critical operation, yes, and the choice between public and private isn't an easy choice to make, but I'm going to have to agree with Tony. Private is a good way to go - At least that way, even if things do go sour, we can pick the location and we'll have vantage over all of them." He explained. "We can pick the locations, thus, we can pick our positions. If we pick somewhere private, maybe even somewhere out of town, then we can position ourselves nicely, in cover, so we can all jump out and do what we need to if things do go south. If Ra's comes with more than one guy, then we'll know about it long before he arrives at the rendezvous point." He said.


"If we choose a location that's stranded, maybe an old farm location, or somewhere with old buildings close by. We can't have anywhere that's got people, though, so if we can make it somewhere in the Mojave, that could be interesting, too. Plenty of distance, and if we pick the right places, then we'll have enough cover for those who are armed and on the field." He said. "As for the roles we're going to fill, not only will I be the guy on the phone to him, obviously, but I'm also going to take the role of sniper. If things do go south, then you're going to be needing all of the manpower you can get. Hale and Walsh will be on the ground with me, obviously, and they'll be on the assault and hopefully a little closer quarters." He said. "Now, myself and the detectives have good combat training, I imagine, but the chances are that the city's finest know how to get more shooty than I do." He said.


"Some of us prefer to be subtle, strike at the right time, etcetera. From what I've seen with the LAPD, they're the types to run in and shoot first, ask questions later. No offense to you, gentlemen." He nodded to Tony and Frank. "But, as LAPD are more of the offensive side of things, they'll be the ones to go in and deal with things if things get fishy. We just need to make sure we aim our guns at the right people." He said. "Before they get there, we'll set cameras up around the perimeter in all the places we can fit. Up high, on old buildings, in trees, on top of rocks, hidden in the grass - Karin, that's where you'll come in. I don't want you being put at risk, so, off-site somewhere, you'll be on a secure laptop and you'll have access to the camera feeds. Using the communication system we'll have, you can communicate anything you see to us directly. It'll help things run smoothly." He explained.


"I've got everything we need to make this run smoothly. Speaking of which..." He paused for a moment, then looked over them all. "I don't think we're going to be able to have all that stuff make its own way to us, unless it somehow sprouts legs and walks to us." He grinned. "So, that means we have to go and get it. Rules are look and don't touch, at least not until we need it."


"So... We need to go to your place?" Karin asked.


"That is indeed the case." He said. "If all of you are coming, you all go in my car. Not a negotiable factor. If you do come to my little hiding space, then, my rules only, alright?" He said. "Remember, this is all a game of trust as much as it is anything else. If you trust me, then we won't have any problems. I give you my word on that one." He said.
 
Location picking was a huge pick, and one that concerned Thalia. She was the one facing this guy after all. For all she knows, he could take a gun and off her the second he sees her. Plus, they can't exactly arrest Ra's or kill him on the spot. The second that happens is the second Thalia gets a bounty on her head for the rest of her life for assassinating The Head. All factors that needed to be taken into consideration and planned carefully. "Picking a location... Ra's is picky. I can convince him to go somewhere of our choosing, sure, but there's only so much he'll listen to before he just blows up. I say we prepare a backup or two, but still where we can have the upper hand. I shouldn't have to say this, but he's a hothead, and if he feels like I'm chickenshitting too much, he'll stop talking to me entirely and assume I'm guilty. Not like he doesn't already think I'm guilty now, but that's why I'm saying I should meet him: to maintain my stance in Al-Asheera and keep my head attached to my bod. The one way to ensure that Al-Asheera disbands is to take care of The Ten, which..." Her eyes landed towards the detectives for a moment. "You two seem to be handling. They're already down to eight. So keep up the good work, and then we can quite literally cut off the Head."


Another relief that came from the preplanning was that Karin wouldn't be on the front lines. She'd be safely behind a few screens as surveillance and to inform the ones on the ground of anything off. That's all Thalia could ask for: her friend to stay safe. There's a great possibility bullets could go flying when this thing goes down. She didn't want Karin far away from this to keep her away from the action. More like, to keep her safe. She has a brother that depends on her, not to mention a life to live. She made a promise to this friend, one she intended to stay loyal to. A smile drifted in Karin's direction to show Thalia's approval of the idea. James also continued to mention how overzealous cops tend to be. It's something she expected as well. "I would expect Frank and Tony to start shooting before either of us do, James. But we need to keep in mind that we're not setting this up to kill Ra's. Do that, someone might succeed him and make it his personal mission to kill me."


Or was that Tony's plan? To kill Thalia? It was a thought. One she didn't want to be true, but was prepared to jump out of the way if it was.


Finally, Tony spoke up, "So, what are we doing if we're not trying to kill him?"


"I just want to stay on his good side for the time being. The longer that charade lasts, the longer you and Frank have to hunt down The Ten. Then and only then can we go for Ra's. If he gets even the slightest impression that I've betrayed him, it's game over, and he might just disappear again. He did it with Philly when we were compromised. He might just give up on LA if he is betrayed again." Not to mention the competition. The Clovers have already sent a warning message to Al-Asheera in the form of the 7/11. And Ra's still thinks it was Thalia's doing.


"Oh really?" Tony stood up once again, glancing down at Thalia in disgust in her seat. "Tell me. Earlier, you said he had no KNOWN successors. That if we cut off the head, it's over for them."


"It's not that simple," she refuted. "You should know that better than me. Arresting Ra's is not the same as assassinating him. If you arrest him, he will end his own life in the slammer before he appoints a successor and everyone will move on with their lives. We get a bunch of freelance petty thieves, but it's better than an organized crime group. If you kill him, they will take it personal. Someone within The Ten will take the reigns to avenge his death and create a vendetta, probably against me, whether I killed him or not. If Al-Asheera doesn't live on as a gang of thieves, they will as assassins."


"Who would succeed him?"


She shook her head, genuinely unaware. "I don't know. I gave you the goddamn list. It could be any of the eight remaining."


Then, a question Tony would regret later, "Is it you?"


Almost bewildered by the question, she uncrossed her legs and let them fall to the ground. What an accusation. "Excuse me?"


"You heard me. Are you the heiress to become the next Head?"


Her legs firmly prepared to stand up on their own as she got up in Tony's face for the god-knows-how-many-th time. "Do you think I'd be teaming up with TWO COPS if I were the heiress to the throne? Two cops who've seen my face and would compromise the integrity and secrecy of Al-Asheera? The head doesn't show his face, Tony. I gave you his real name. Tell me, when you looked up the name Rami Younes, what face did you find of him?"


Tony shook his head, trying to maintain his composure and not give Thalia the satisfaction of being right. "How the hell are we supposed to trust a compulsive liar?"


He's getting off-topic, and trying to anger everyone in the room. Great... "It was a picture of him from the asylum 30 years ago, right?"


Silence. This rivalry was getting out of hand, and Thalia was becoming annoyed at Tony's on-and-off relationship with her. At this point, this felt more like a staring contest.


"I thought so. If you looked mine up, you'd know my last known picture was eight years ago. The picture my parents put in the papers in Philly." It reminded Thalia of how satisfying it was to know James didn't get a hit on her face with his facial recognition software. That's just how underground she's been for so long. Now she wanted to emerge from the shadows and live a normal life. Could she? "That's the only way you find Al-Asheera members, given you even know their real names. The last known picture of their faces is the day they disappeared..." But that was another topic. Tony was calling her out for infidelity. "You know, if I were still loyal to Al-Asheera, every single one of you, including Karin's neighbor and brother, would be dead, or I'd die trying to kill you all. Why can't you understand that you and I want the same thing? For fucks sake, Tony, if you are here just to make an enemy out of me? Congrats. You did. Now get the hell out of here."


As if Thalia had never spoken, Tony began throwing insults again, "I can't believe that my partner and I are being tossed around by some redheaded slut with a dragon tattoo and a tendency to lie to everyone she comes across. You stole badges and guns from two detectives... evaded police custody in Philly... Hell, you even have a tendency to fuck my partner, which I won't let fly... I don't even think your real name is even Thalia Griffin. And the fact you keep leaving details out every time we ask you about Al-Asheera is more and more shady. First, you forget to tell us about The Ten. Then, you forget to tell us that you contacted a hacker to do your dirty work after you PROMISED you weren't doing anything illegal. Now you're putting all of our asses on the line with your one-sided planning. This could be a goddamn suicide mission with fifty Al-Asheera goons ready to surround us, you know? How can I be sure of that? How do I know you aren't taking this chance to murder Karin's brother behind all of our backs to get over your guilt? How do we know you don't have a mental illness. You ran away from home, right? Or is it just your mommy and daddy issues--"


Enough was enough. He was making this personal and calling out every detail and flaw of her life, even bringing her family into this. Though she wasn't close to them, her parents didn't deserve those words. Thalia had resisted attacking this man for far too long, and she didn't feel bad or sorry for herself when he did this anymore... just angry. Infuriated at him for his accusations and distrust. She lifted her hand and drove it straight across Tony's face at full force, even her nails scratching at his cheeks. She could pack a punch, as Tony noticed. If gripping his neck wasn't bad enough, this was going to be red at some point. She was expecting retaliation, so before Tony could even compose himself, still rubbing his cheek from the pain, Thalia reached forward at his neck, gripping it in both hands, and snuck one of her legs around one of Tony's causing him to lose balance while disoriented. She fell to the ground with him, her body on top of his, her hands around his neck and her legs pinning his arms down. She tightened her grip on his neck, watching him struggle beneath her and choke for breath. As she stared down his eyes, she released her right hand from his neck, clenched it into a fist and pounded it into Tony's cheekbone with two solid punches. She wasn't trying to kill him, rather she wanted to make him suffer. Show that she was superior. As she believed: dominate or be dominated. And she couldn't stand being dominated by Tony any longer.


"GO TO HELL! I HATE YOU!" she screamed in his face, her breaths becoming heavier and her voice still struggling with how he called her all sorts of names, and even went as far as to say she had 'mommy and daddy issues'. Maybe she did. It wasn't her job to know. At this point, she just remembered that there were three other adults in the room and a child not far away. What are you doing... is THAT how you want to start over? Beating up a cop in front of all of these people? No. Not it wasn't. She despised Tony, but not to kill him. Her actions were halted for a moment, her eyes widening in the moment and her hand frozen in its place as her conscience took control. Now off guard, Tony took advantage and lifted his knee high enough to give her a blow to the rear end. Not too hard, but hard enough to make her release her grip on his neck and the pressure on his arms, giving Tony enough time and margin to push her off of him, onto the ground next to him. While she was still halted in her place, Tony took to his feet, hoisted the girl with him, and dragged her to the nearest wall. Though Thalia could pack a punch, Tony was about to prove he could as well, and a masculine punch proved to feel very differently from her own when his fist landed on her cheek. Though she tried to resist the manhandling, she failed at it. This felt just like a regular day in bed with Ra's, but worse: Ra's never wanted to kill her, just play rough. Tony might just want to see her six feet under. She gripped his arms as best as she could, resisting his punches as best as she could. But instead, Tony took advantage of his legs, much like she did, and drove his knee, once into her crotch, the second time into her gut, dropping her to the floor clenching her stomach in pain, screaming in pain. In response, Tony stared at her in pain and looked back to his partner.


"What? You all saw her. She attacked me first." But in his head, he was worried at how this looked. Shit... not good.
 
"If he's jumpy then we definitely need a few backups." James said, "We pick three locations - We go for the most isolated one first. If he doesn't like that, we suggest one other one. If he doesn't like that, we let him have a shot at picking somewhere so he doesn't get suspicious. When he picks somewhere, we turn that down and give him the third and final location we choose - This location, should the others not work, will be a little closer to civilization, somewhere that gives him exits back the way he came, but still gives us the upper-hand, should things turn to shit. It's a longshot, I know, but with a bit of luck, he'll take the bait for one of the first two that we give him." He explained. The planning seemed to be going well enough for now, but, once again there was more complications. 


Why aren't we killing Ra's?


Who's the next heir to the throne?


Is it you, Thalia?


It seemed it was a back and forth ballgame between the two of them, with Tony bringing up pieces of the past that were irrelevant, and Thalia retaliating in whatever way was suitable. Was it unreasonable of Tony? Everyone else seemed to think so, and no one was too impressed, either. Karin was upset with his choice of words, and even more so with the fight that broke out - Frank was just hanging his head in shame. Was this really what was going on? Was he partnered with someone who wouldn't listen to his words of advice and just continue his vendetta? He didn't want to have to become a one-man army, but honestly, the appeal of being a detective was quickly fading thanks to these unpleasantries. He didn't want anything to do with this anymore. He wanted the fighting to stop, wanted the shouting and screaming in his head to go away.


This wasn't doing good things for him in any sense.


They both ended up getting hurt, and Thalia was on the floor crying out in pain. After all the shouting, Karin wouldn't be surprised if Joseph was lying awake and hiding under his bed by now. There was no way he slept through all of this. She hoped he did, but she couldn't take this anymore - She didn't want Tony in her house anymore, to say the least, but it seemed James had another lesson to teach, because amidst all the chaos, while they were rolling around on the floor throwing punches, James had drawn his gun yet again. He held it in his hand, calmly, and rested it on the arm of the chair he was sat on, keeping it pointed in the general direction of Thalia and Tony. Once the two separated, you guessed it, Tony was right in his crosshair. Poor judge of character was definitely a lie, because, it didn't seem he'd misjudged here.


Frank went forward slowly - to Thalia, unbelievably - and held out a hand to her. He thought it was wrong how Tony provoked her, then left her on the floor after she retaliated. In his mind, it was quite frankly disgusting behavior from a man of his age and position in the LAPD. He expected better from someone like him - in the course of two days Tony was turning from someone he looked up to to someone he didn't know if he could trust with sensitive situations. How long was it going to be before Tony turned on him, as well? He didn't like to picture it. He knew Thalia had taken unnecessarily hard hits, though.


"You okay?" He asked, quietly. The hand was just an offer to help her up.


James, however, started speaking. "She may have attacked you first, Detective, but it was not unwarranted." He said. "Now, you see here, you're staring down the suppressed barrel of a Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced, a .45 Caliber handgun that could blow a hole in you faster than you could say 'you're an asshole'. What you've just done, Detective, had this been five minutes ago, would have been enough to justify me putting a bullet in you and your partner and calling it a day. Now, as you've let your guard down, any sudden moves from this point onward will indeed get you killed. Same to you, Frank, don't think about drawing a gun." He said, "But then again, it doesn't look like your partner's going to, does it?" He asked. "Didn't pull a gun when Thalia attacked you... Didn't even pull a gun on me when I started reaching for mine. I think that says something about how much trust you have left in this room, doesn't it, Mister Walsh?" He asked. "Your self-defense was also much more violent compared to her attack. I have a feeling you take pleasure in giving her a bit of a beating."


"What is it, Walsh? Is that what your background was like?" He asked. "Maybe your father beat your mother? Perhaps all this is normal to you?" He asked - Obviously, he was taking digs again, but, there was a hint of seriousness to what he was saying. He was ruling out possibilities. "Maybe your current home life is filled with domestics. Or maybe you're so desperate for sex or attention from an attractive woman that you feel the need to play the schoolyard bully - Giving them shit because 'you like them' - Is that what this is? You've been talking a lot about Frank and his relationship with Thalia. Are you maybe jealous of your partner, the handsome man in the prime of his youth? Or maybe it's something much deeper than that. Maybe you're not into women at all - maybe you've fallen for Frank, and at an attempt of covering up your own lack of masculinity, you're trying to demonstrate it through your disgusting abuse." He shrugged, then laughed. "The high and mighty Tony Walsh, secretly in the closet and falling in love with his younger partner. Now that would be something, wouldn't it?" He chuckled.


"Now, enough fucking around." He lifted his thumb and flicked the safety switch on his gun off. "I don't know what your story is, but my deal's changed." He said. "I trusted you at first, Tony, but now..." He shook his head. "Not a chance in hell are you getting your hands on anything more than a handgun. Not after the stunt you just pulled. Near enough killed the poor girl there - I don't like to imagine the possibilities when you have a high-powered rifle in your hands." He said. "You're more than welcome to prove your trust to me, though, and more than welcome to give me a reason not to drive you out to the desert and shoot you." He cleared his throat.


"Badge, gun, phone - All of them on the coffee table." He flicked the barrel of his gun down towards the coffee table a few times. "Oh, and cuffs. Put the cuffs on the table, too - If you've got nothing to hide, nothing to worry about, and you think you're still a worthwhile asset to have on board with this operation, then..." He shrugged, "I like to think you'll do what I say." He said.
 
Thalia had her fair share of beat-downs by men, apart from Ra's, but the pain of a low blow still hurt like hell. Tony had no regard for her well being as he watched her collapse to the ground screaming and choking from running out of breath. She felt like it was her fault that this hand-to-hand fight went down. She lost her temper to the provocative words of this detective. What kind of brute was he? And his hatred for her... it had to go beyond JUST her connection to Al-Asheera. Personal, perhaps. But Tony had the upper hand with her on the ground clenching her stomach in agony. She felt so helpless, useless, weak, especially in front of James, who probably expected more from a thief from a ruthless gang. Worse, Joseph wasn't too many rooms away, and could probably hear her yelps of pain. This went beyond her own embarrassment. If that boy walks in, he'd see police brutality in the flesh. Or would he get a kick out of it like Tony seemed to? He's just a kid, a scared kid who's seen more than he should. Her eyes raised to see what the others thought about this, especially after Tony blaming her for his own retaliation, even though he went overboard. At least Thalia hesitated before she took it too far. Ra's would've called it a sign of weakness. Thalia considered it self-discipline. Tony received his fair blow from her after what he said about her. Him getting revenge in the way he did was going too far. It was too emotionally charged.


Frank's hand reaching for help rather than calming his partner down was... surprising. Thalia didn't see that coming, reaching forward to the detectives hand and using his firmer body to lift her smaller one from the ground and take to her feet. She was still in pain, one hand gripping Frank's as if for dear life, the other grabbing her stomach. It didn't help that it still stung from vomiting. Then to take an aggressive knee at full force? Twice below the belt? Not cool. But she was too scared to do anything to piss Tony off anymore after that. She got a break from the torture, so once on her feet, she parted her hand from the younger detective's and let herself collapse into the couch, hunched forward, but thankfully not screaming anymore. "Ack... Thank you..." She uttered softly to Frank, not trying to be seductive or anything, rather thankful that he felt for her rather than his partner. Does he care about her? Maybe... she wanted to talk to him later. Her eyes noticed James with his weapon at hand, and a horrified Karin not far. "Karin... I-I'll be okay, but do you have any ice? Please? It'd make the pain a bit easier to bite down."


While the girl struggled to get to her feet and sit properly, Tony watched her in pain as if he'd committed some grand deed. Saved everyone and was about to receive the key to the city from the mayor. Instead, he was staring down the barrel of a suppressed weapon with a man who might just kill him after that outburst. He felt his actions were more than merited. It was blood boiling to hear James call out his past and try to justify his erratic behavior. Dad beating mom? He never knew his mom. In love with Thalia? Disgusting. With Frank? Where did that come from? But one thing's for sure: he got a kick out of beating Thalia. And given a chance, he would again. But now he had a gun pointed at him and was probably getting cut from the team. Still... Tony had one more card up his sleeve to discredit this girl. He ignored all of the personal call-outs and spoke,


"I can prove my reasons to you RIGHT now," Tony began, without even obeying his orders to place his gear on the table. He seemed unusually confident with this parting shot to hurt the girl's case. He looked back to Thalia, who seemed to have calmed down a bit from the beating. "I can prove she's a pretty little liar." Thalia only raised her head slightly, wondering where all of this was coming from. Was this the deeper reason for his hatred? "Thalia... were you there at the motel shooting you spoke of a week ago?"


What a question, and out of nowhere, too. Seemingly irrelevant on top of it all. Not for long. Looking up at her attacker's eyes, she answered, so confused, "W-What? I told you before, I've never been there."


"LIAR!" He was, once again, raising his voice, taking a step closer to her, pointing her finger to the ground. Once he took that step, accompanied by his booming, livid voice, Thalia instantly flinched, afraid he'd strike her again. "I read the reports! The mystery redhead--who we know is you--was seen by some of the surviving cops on scene! AND they claim you were shooting at cops!"


Scared of what was coming next, Thalia answered honestly, her back against the seat, and holding her hands out in front of her in a form of surrender, "I was there when we claimed the motel! But I never went back! I saw all those cops who got downed, and I just... I couldn't.... Tony, I couldn't. You have to believe me."


"Did you kill any of them?"


"I was laying cover fire aimlessly. I wasn't gunning at anyone in particular--"


"THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER! DID YOU KILL ANY COPS?"


"The hell do I know? I was running for my life--"


Getting closer to her face, his hands almost about to grab her, he snarled, his warm breaths hitting her face, "You are making me lose my patient, bitch. You tell me right now, did you put a bullet into a man in uniform?"


Unsure of how to answer with Tony at such close proximity and with her in pain, she gulped and sucked it up, "I... I might've, but I'm not sure. I wasn't aiming for anyone, but SMGs can be inaccurate. If a stray bullet hit someone by mistake... I'm sorry, I can't say for certain."


Swiping his phone from his jacket pocket, he immediately turned the screen and navigated. Surprisingly, he's not dead yet after all of this. But Tony was getting somewhere. A truth he's been dying to know for the past week. Turning the screen around to show Thalia a picture of a man who actually looked like he was in his mid-30's, he asked another question. "Did you shoot this man?"


Thalia's eyes shot out when she saw his face. She remembered his face when he fell to the ground at the ambush. She was almost petrified by the reaction from Tony if she tried to play dumb. All she knew was that he fell to the ground with a few bullets in him. She didn't know if he survived, but he didn't look good as far as she saw. Odds are, they weren't hers, but that's not what Tony wanted to hear. Truth be told? Through the action, she couldn't possibly know who killed that man. "Who is he?" she asked with the concern evident in her voice. Not like Tony would believe it.


"His name is Richard. He was my partner before Frank. Now answer the damn question. Did you shoot him?"


Shaking her head, her eyes watering slightly, she tried to figure out the words to deliver the message. "I'm so sorry, Tony. Did he survive?"


"DID YOU SHOOT HIM?!" Her apologies only made him assume the worst: that she gunned him down. He just wanted to hear it. By now, he felt confident in that assumption.


"I shot in his general direction! If he took a bullet, I don't know! I wasn't trying to kill him, okay? ...." It made sense now. Why Tony hated Thalia so much. Al-Asheera must've killed him. What was worse: was it her hand? Again, there's no way she could confirm it. "Look... it might've been me. I can't be sure, but if you want a fall guy, fine, you have it. Want a confession? Yes. I shot him. That enough closure for you? What else do you want to pin on me, Tony? 9/11?"


In a bitter, deflated manner, Tony answered, "I wouldn't put terrorism past you... but I knew it. I knew you had something to do with it." Tony turned away from Thalia then and there. Closure felt so.... bittersweet, even if it wasn't complete. Thalia only took credit for the what happened to Richard. She clearly said she couldn't be certain if it was her bullets that put him down. But he would blame her for it nonetheless. She was the easiest fall guy. He turned back to James, who was probably unhappy with his short fit. Finally succumbing to the hacker's demands, Tony placed the phone on the table. He followed up by unholstering his pistol and retrieving his handcuffs, all going on the table together. Lastly, he placed the badge on top of them all. Stepping back, he reassured he'd be at a safe distance and not hurting anyone again.


"Are you happy now?" Thalia whimpered. On second thoughts... could it have possibly been her that put this cop down? If it was, Tony would never forgive her. And she would never forgive herself. She wasn't a killer. A thief, a liar, but not a killer. The guilt was catching up to her either way. "I feel absolutely awful, Tony. I'm sorry, believe me. If he's dead... I wasn't targeting him, I swear. Forget what Al-Asheera thinks. I've never killed anyone before. Please tell me he's not dead."


Tony didn't even look back to her. Her misery satisfied him. He'd rather her cry and think about what she'd done. If James would give her a chance. But what was this mastermind thinking? "James... Thalia killed my partner before Detective Hale came along. His name was Richard Hart. She took a man away from his wife and kids, and from the force just to escape that motel shootout last week." Frank was the only one who could call his bluff, knowing that Richard was only injured and not dead, yet he couldn't prove it. All he had to go on was Tony's word, in which Tony would argue saying he lied. Thalia was none the wiser either way and suffering the guilt of ending a man's life. A cop, a husband, a father, a friend. "And you still want to be the devil's advocate? If there's anyone you should direct your sights at, it's that woman. I knew she was a killer. I saw it in her eyes. Not to mention how many times she's deceived us. Especially me. She killed my partner. If there's any one of us five that needs to be taken to the Mojave and shot dead, it's her. So quit threatening me, and cut her loose. We both know you won't shoot anyone in this house with a kid in the next room. Too messy. So let's all act like adults and discuss how to deal with the fraud over there." His head nudged in Thalia's direction, then his entire body turning back to her. She was trying to sit upright from the slouched position Tony forced her into. "She's probably faking the pain. Anyone wanna take a wack at her? See for yourself? Or should I?"


He was taking so much pride in abusing Thalia, while she sat back taking the blame for something she doesn't even know if she did. If she killed Richard... how can she know? The shooting was a blur... Would anyone get up and beat her again? She began to view Tony as more and more of a sadist the more he targeted her. Was this some schoolyard bully trick, like James mentioned? It's a creepy relationship. Especially because Tony is taken. Still... Karin would never attack her. Frank didn't seem like it either. James? Different story.
 
It was a lot of drama that did a lot of damage in some areas. Some to their trust, others to their sense of safety, and some to their general mental state. All of the drama didn't do positive things for those involved, and that went without saying. Karin wasn't sure what to think of everyone and everything that occurred, and all that things that got revealed made a few people question the validity and stability of every single thing they'd discussed so far. Karin wasn't sure what to think - had she spent this whole time in the dark? This whole time believing that Thalia wasn't a killer when she actually was? It was a shocking and quite frankly a mortifying revelation. What had she gotten herself into?


The whole time Tony was ranting and raving, Frank was just sat there in shock trying to process everything that was going on, everything that was being said. The shouting and screaming was making his head hurt - he looked at James who somehow managed to keep a blank expression through all of this. Rock-solid, the guy seemed to be. How was he not shaken by all of this? He was almost amazed by it, but, James was staying calm, not getting clouded by emotions, and it seemed that in this situation that was exactly what they needed. As time went on, the gun, instead of staying locked on Tony, began to drift between both he and Thalia. He was still skeptical - whether Thalia had killed someone wasn't important. It was the fact that he didn't know about it that was a problem.


Frank sat there and listened to it all, the complications that were caused, the way she was called out and shut down, and mostly, the revelation that this whole time, Tony had known the mystery redhead had been involved in the shooting of his partner. He wasn't sure what it was entirely that made him so angry, but he couldn't take any more of it. He looked around everyone, shook his head slowly, then looked down at the floor. He had to think for a moment longer, but, he wasn't going to let the lie slide. He'd been lied to, too, he'd had things hidden from him that Tony had no right to hide. Things like that just didn't get let off the hook that easily - he wasn't going to let Tony get away with lying so he could further beat Thalia into a corner.


"Liar." He said, simply, but it was said in more of a brisk and angered tone. "You, Tony, are a liar." He shook his head, slowly. "Richard's alive and well, at home recovering with his family, as you told me so. I'm not going to let you sit here and spout lies about him to get the upper hand over anyone." He said, "Richard is not dead. Richard is alive. He's recovering." He whispered, then turned to Tony. "This whole time... You knew?" He asked, simply, then slowly rose up to his feet. "You fucking knew?" He asked again. "All of this goose-chase we've been on, with me trying my hardest to prove everyone's innocence and work out a deal, you knew that Thalia was there? You hid that from me?" He asked, then slowly started pacing back and forth.


"You lied to me. I feel so used. You played me. You played me like a fucking fiddle." He clenched his fists and looked up at the ceiling, "And for what?" He asked. "You kept all this from me - Why? Do you not trust me enough? Or is it because you needed a way to get close to Thalia - If I knew, you knew I was too reasonable to ever condone any act of revenge, right? You couldn't take that risk? Is that all I am, just another loose end, a means of getting to what you want?" He asked.


"You son of a bitch." He snapped, and, as he finished his little statement, he sent one foot up and kicked the underside of the coffee table, sending the badge, gun, and cuffs all flying, and flipping the table up onto its side. "Protect and serve? My ass." He said, "This whole time, you knew she was there, and all of this was just some... Some charade to get to her? You used me." He whispered, shakily, with the anger present in his voice. "This isn't what I signed up for. This isn't the life I pictured. I wanted to help people, Tony, not go on some sort of Frontier Justice mission, not take life away." He whispered


"This whole time, revenge has been going on right under my nose - All the times I told you to take it easy, to keep things cool, it didn't mean shit. I was wasting my breath, because you had your goal - and I didn't know anything about it." 


James sighed, and, once again, the gun slowly wandered back to pointing at Tony. This time it didn't move.


"Seems we're in the presence of not one, but two compulsive liars." He said, "Look at yourself, Mister Walsh. What are you achieving here?" He asked. "Committing the cowardly act of beating a woman, for what reason? Doing that isn't going to reverse what happened, no matter how much you want it to. I can't help but feel a part of you blames yourself for what happened. But, regardless of that, it seems we've had some things revealed." He sighed, "Now you're short a badge, a gun, and a pair of cuffs. If you haven't noticed already, you and your partner have fallen far from the reigns of control over this operation. With myself on the scene, all of this becomes possible without you here. We need you, but, unlike before I showed up, your attendance isn't entirely necessary. Though, it's too late for either of you to back out now." 


He looked up at Frank - Frank... Didn't really look okay. A mix of anger, confusion, sadness. He was just stood there in his own little world. Everything that had gone on had gotten to him in one way or another.


"No one is hitting anyone, either." He said. "No one's 'taking a whack' at Thalia. Do as much as lift a finger towards her again, and things are going to get incredibly painful for you. Just remember who's armed out of the two of us." He nodded, then placed his foot down on the gun that was now on the floor and dragged it towards himself. "I do believe we have some things to discuss before this continues, hm?" He asked.
 
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