#'little' it's forty thousand words and counting. but. y'know.

[vulpinesaint]

sitting down and writing a thousand or so words of my little witcher fic. nature is healing

[addictivewriter]

Ice Cold (Part 8)

Summary:  Heartless. Soulless. A demon, summoned from the deepest and darkest pits of hell. All things she has been called and more. But that’s what she was - stripped of emotions and left as a shell of a human being, ready to do the bidding of Hydra whenever she was called upon.

Bucky Barnes x OC

Word count: 2K

A/N: this... this got out of hand. It wasn’t even supposed to be this long, it was supposed to be something else completely. Honestly idk how this is, all I’m doing is winging this entire story. I have no idea what’s gonna happen next chapter

INTRO | PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7 | PART 8 | PART 9 

After the talk in the elevator, James explained that the living quarters were on a lower level. Everyone had their own respective room, including her. After pointing out the quite large, shared bathroom, he pointed her in the direction of his room in case she ever needed anything and then Wanda’s, whose room was next to Emelia’s.

There were clothes inside the dresser. Not much but enough for her to get by for the next week or so. Then James explained to her how to get inside the room. There was a password consisting of four to eight numbers she had to set in. There was a key card as added security but she wouldn’t receive the card until tomorrow when it was going to be added to the system.

At last though, James left Emelia alone after the door to her bedroom had been locked. Finally alone, she glanced around the room that was hers. Her own space. It was bigger than any of the cells Hydra had provided – three times as big, at least. The bed was large enough to fit at least three people, maybe four, and had three pillows and large blankets. It was definitely built for comfort. It was definitely one of the most comfortable things Emelia would be sleeping on, she was sure.

Like James said there was a dresser and after digging through it, she found civilian clothes. The clothes she sifted through were nicer than the ones she had while she was in hiding. Eventually she found a pair of cotton shorts and a thin tank top, setting them aside.

There was a black screen which sort of resembled a television. A high-tech one. They were different than she last remembered, more sleek-looking. The ones in her memory were big and bulky. Then there were a pile of books. Curiously, Emelia leaned in and looked through them.

A few of them looked to be fiction. There was a history one, which sounded like it explained history in the past five decades up until now. She wondered who set the book in here. Another book was about how far technology has come. Her eyebrows pinched together. Who the hell had put the books in her room?

Shaking her head, Emelia took a glance around the room before gathering her clothes and heading for the bathroom to shower.

Forty-five minutes later, her skin was tinted pink from the heat of the water and from scrubbing so hard. Her hair was washed properly and had no tangles in it. And she smelled a thousand times better than what she did before. The soap that had been given to her smelled like coconuts and vanilla.

Emelia hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long while. Even while in hiding she didn’t allow herself comfort like this. She always had to be ready to go in case of Hydra or anyone else that happened to be after her. But since she was safe with the Avengers around, she allowed herself to relax for once. Let the heat of the shower sooth her muscles and the steam cloud her vision.

After making sure her door was locked she climbed into the bed and sighed. It was softer than she thought it was, like a cloud surrounding her. Emelia pulled the covers up to her chin and snuggled into the bed, closing her eyes.

Rough hands held her down, sharp manacles keeping her hands in place, as they forced her to watch the scene play out. She felt her heart ache, wanting to scream at them to stop, to plead, beg, do anything to let this man free. But these people weren’t merciful. She was their demon on a puppet string and he was the Winter Soldier.

He was strapped, eyes wide and panicked. He didn’t want this to happen but he knew just as well as she did that they had no choice. They weren’t careful enough. Hydra found out about their ‘activities’ and this was their punishment.

She watched, trying to keep the pain from being visible on her face but failing. As his screams echoed, tears fell from her cheeks. Emelia would remember every touch, every kiss and every word shared between the two of them while he’d barely remember her.

Minutes passed as she watched them do their work.

Eventually, long after the tears dried up, they pushed Emelia to her feet and forced her into the room. The Soldier’s eyes flickered to her but stayed put. That’s when one of them spoke.

“Asset,” his eyes snapped up to the one speaking. “Do you remember her?”

His eyes scanned over her. Many times he’s done this. To make sure she had no fatal wounds on her after a mission, to take in her beautiful body when they were alone, to try and understand what was going through her head. This was the first time he did so with empty, unknowing eyes. He did it this time without knowing who she was.

And that was one of the most painful things. The ‘no’ that came from his lips wasn’t painful because she’d already known his answer when she looked at him.

Emelia gasped, sitting straight up as she immediately scanned her surroundings. When she saw the light lavender walls and the books and the dresser, she reminded herself she was not in her little apartment in Minnesota. She was in New York, in the Avenger’s facility. Slowly her breathing calmed down considerably.

That was the last time she’s felt anything so real. How she was able to feel things when the serum running through her veins prevented that, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that at one point, she was capable of loving the Soldier. Not quite yet, but feelings were there.

Then the feelings were gone. She was as unfeeling and heartless as she was before, using only logic to make her decisions.

Emelia sighed, pushing her dark hair out of her face before she rose from her bed and made her way to the dresser. She sifted through the clothes until she found a long-sleeved shirt and pulled it over her head. After slipping on her socks, she slipped out of her room and wandered down the halls.

She hardly remembered the tour James gave her. Everything was confusing and the place seemed so large she could barely remember what was where. But she was alone now, free to walk wherever and memorize the building as she deemed fit.

So for a while, that’s what she did – wandered aimlessly with no real destination in mind. She came across the gym three different times, a large room that James explained as the debriefing room, and the theater room twice. Once she saw a hallway and almost went down to explore it when she heard noise – metal tinkering and a male voice. Almost immediately she retracted and went another way.

That’s how she found herself in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water. Just as she set the water down gently in the sink, she heard light footsteps behind her. Swinging around, she tensed up expecting to find one of the Avengers but only found herself face-to-face with James. Emelia relaxed against the sink.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked as he pulled a glass down from the cupboard. She shook her head. “Me either.”

Emelia stayed silent as he downed the water in four big gulps. James pushed his brown locks out of his face, smiling gently at her, before he motioned for her to follow him. He led her throughout the building before coming to a stop in front of a gray door.

“This is to the roof,” he murmured quietly. “C’mon, I’ll show you why I go up here sometimes.”

Without saying a word, she followed him up the stairs. A few flights up, there was a ladder leading to a latch. James lifted it after unlocking and glanced down to make sure she was still following him. Only then did he disappear on the roof. Emelia climbed up the ladder and glanced around the moment she was able to see.

The facility was surrounded by trees and grass. She knew this and saw it herself outside the windows many times. But seeing it at night was different. Everything was mostly quiet, except for the crickets chirping. Emelia pulled herself up and stood up, brushing herself off. Then she glanced up.

She knew New York City never saw the stars at night – the lights and the pollution didn't allow them to. But here, where they were located, they shone as bright as ever. Logically, she knew that stars were just big balls of gas millions of miles away. But she also knew this was a beautiful sight to see.

“I come up here when I can't sleep at night,” he murmured, patting part of the ground to sit down on. She sat down next to him, eyes glued to the sky. “It kind helps. Once or twice I've accidentally passed out up here.”

This made the corners of her lips curl into a slight smile but she stayed silent. It was comfortable silence between them that neither of them felt like they had to fill. Mostly they let their thoughts wonder while staring up the sky.

That's when she remembered the nightmare she had. It took her a moment of glancing at James to speak up about it. He had a mask of indifference on his face. He looked peaceful and she didn't want to upset him but… she really needed to know.

“James,” she whispered his name. His eyes immediately flew to her, raising his eyebrows. “I… I had dreamed about a memory tonight. It's why I couldn't sleep. Well it made me wonder if you… if you remembered everything, y'know, about us.”

His features softened. “Some parts are hazy but I remember well enough. Which memory?”

“When they wiped you in front of me,” she said the words so quietly they were almost inaudible.  

Emelia heard his sigh and how shaky it'd been, but she wasn't looking at him.  She didn't want to be looking at him to see the expression that would appear when she'd speak the words aloud. But when he'd called her “Em,” softly, she lifted her eyes and saw that the same soft, vulnerable expression was there.

“That memory is one that's a bit hazy but I'm sorry that it ever had to happen.”

“No… No, Hydra knew I'd remember it. That was why they did it in the first place,” Emelia shook her head. “There is no reason to apologize for it. Hydra did it because they knew that while I remembered and you didn't, I'd eventually go back to being their demon.”

James sighed, letting his head drop onto her shoulder. For a single moment, she froze. Everything sort of stopped and she didn't know what to do. While she'd touched this man before, pleased him and was with him in many different ways, it was like she was learning everything all over again. This man was different from the soldier she knew. He was pieced together. Her soldier was a broken mess caused by Hydra. This man had pieced himself together already. In a way she really was learning how to care for this man all over again.

She found herself relaxing as her hand made its way to his disheveled locks, running her fingers through it continually. Another sigh left his mouth but she felt his body relax underneath her touch.

“I wish it never happened,” he whispered, eyes squeezed shut. “Because even though it's pretty hazy, there is one clear detail that I can never get out of my head. It was seeing you in pain. I saw the tears running down your face and I… I...”

“I'm here,” she whispered, trying to comfort him the best she could. “I'm here with you, yes? Hydra isn't in control anymore. They will never get their hands on us again. We are not their puppets anymore.”

Emelia kept running her fingers through his hair gently until she knew he was calm enough. But he didn't pull away from her. Instead Emelia relaxed against him, letting her legs tangle with his as they both stared at the sky.

TAGS:

@mayfeather27 @decemberftw @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh@themermaidpirate @echelonwonderland

[unpopcorned]

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"Will you shut the fuck up already?"

"It's a game. And you agreed to play."

"I did that so you would shut up, not keep talkin'."

"C'mon, one more, Ron."

Veronica clenched her jaw, turning her head slightly to look at Jacob. He was sitting behind the wheel of his car, raising his eyebrows at her in question, amused and waiting. She sat beside him in the passenger seat, knees pulled to her chest and picking at the skin around her fingernail - a nervous habit that she was never able to break ( she bit at her nails as well sometimes ). Finally, she relented, sighing in slight aggravation and gestured a hand for him to continue. It was better than listening to the songs on the radio - which he seemed to know every one and sang them at the top of his lungs.

He flashed a quick, handsome grin and then said, "Alright. Twelve times...one-forty-four."

"One-thousand-seven-hundred-twenty-eight," The response was automatic, and Veronica wrinkled her nose at him, "What is this? A game show?"

He ignored her annoyance, "How about the square root of fifty-two?"

"It's like - seven-point-two-one-one–we're supposed to be stayin' quiet here, would you shut the fuck—"

"Distance from Neptune to Venus?"

Veronica's mouth opened.

"In inches!"

She narrowly resisted the urge to hit him. Instead, she reached up and rubbed at her temples, "Okay, for fuck's sake, so right now, it's maybe around - a hundred-eighty-five-trillion—" There was a beep from beside the car, around three feet away. Veronica looked up, catching sight of Jax getting out of a his recently parked car to practically prance over to them. Jacob rolled down the window for her, and Jax immediately leaned his big head in, wild blond hair everywhere.

"Hey, guys!" He greeted far too loudly, looking back and forth between them with a large smile, "When did you guys get here?"

"On time," Veronica snapped at him through clenched teeth, "Where have you been? Are you fuckin' drunk?"

"No!" He answered almost too quickly, "But I am high." Jacob laughed out loud, he was always pretty happy to see Jax - Veronica regretted introducing them in the first place. Veronica would've kicked the passenger dashboard if it wasn't Jacob's car. Jax seemed to notice her anger, blinking wide brown eyes at her, "What'd I do?"

"I told you to come at twelve! At midnight! I told you three fuckin' times to be here! And what time is it now?"

"Uh—" He had the nerve to check his cheap watch, "One-thirty."

Veronica was sure she looked close to taking her frustration out on Jax himself, but she felt a warm pressure on her thigh. Glancing over, she saw Jacob watching her, quirking one brow up, but he didn't have to say anything. In response, Veronica pushed herself back in the seat, blowing out a long breath through her nose. It was hard to calm down, even harder knowing what a tight schedule she was on. It'd been around two weeks since the fight with West - since he'd nearly killed her with his bare hands. She could've died in that house, and she probably would have if it weren't for the years and work she'd put into West's business. He knew he needed her, he'd always known that. If he didn't, he would've killed her years ago, along with Ben and Charlotte.

Veronica locked her jaw, facing Jax again - his face, as usual, was curious and open and excited. He really could be like a little fucking kid sometimes. Now that her face was relatively back to normal ( the bruises had faded, but her jaw was still a bit sore and it hurt to move it too much ), Veronica could finally walk around without people flinching at her appearance or offering her a place to stay like she was some type of lonely, abused broad. She'd stay holed up with Jacob for those two weeks, it'd been so quiet and tense for a long time, Veronica's fingers had begun to cramp together from how tightly she was squeezing them into fists.

Jacob was probably the only reason she hadn't drank herself to death - or maybe something less messy, like pills or jumping out a fucking window. She was dead anyway, no matter how she looked at it. No matter how many times Jacob said he had it handled. Veronica didn't feel safe enough, West hadn't made a move yet, but that didn't mean she wouldn't either. Being at a stand still with West was one of the things she never wanted to go through, she'd seen what happened on the opposite end far too many times to count. Somehow, some way, West would find you. He wouldn't stop until he did.

He always won.

"I just..." She felt Jacob's thumb rub over her thigh, through her jeans, she was still able to feel the warmth and steady pressure, "I just need you to do this one thing for me. Dex still talks to you, okay?"

Jax nodded a bit, expression sobering some, "I can get you in. No problem, Veronica." And so, with that said, Veronica exited the car, closing the door behind her. She was a bit surprised when she heard Jacob's door do the same.

"What're you doin'?"

Jacob gave her a weird look at the question, "Coming in with you."

"Yeah, no. Don't do that."

"Why not?"

"If you haven't fucking noticed, we're in the middle of the fuckin' slums." By now, Jacob was well articulated with how Veronica spoke, translating this statement into ( "I don't know how the Mexicans are gonna react to you and I don't want you to get shot ), so he shrugged a shoulder, pulling out a pack of cigarettes to pat them lightly against his open palm.

"Should be alright. I got a way with words, Ronnie."

Veronica merely rolled her eyes, walking past Jax and to the warehouse front, "Yeah, sure." She already knew that, that's how he kept getting her out of her underwear so easily. She didn't bother being subtle, instead banging a fist against the door six times. It would be enough to get their attention. The door opened, and a guy with a medium complexion and ugly face tattoos answered, prying open the door only a few inches.

"You got a death wish, puta?"

"She's with me!" Jax said from slightly behind Veronica, big grin and all, "It's cool, Jesús." Once the guy spotted Jax, he immediately frowned, pulling open the door a bit more. After making sure it was him, the door was pried open all the way, and Veronica shoved her hands into her pockets to come off a little less like a threat. Jax walked forward first, into the dimly lit hallway, "Thanks, man!"

Jesús scoffed, clicking his tongue lightly at Jacob, "You rollin' with a gringo?"

Jax laughed this time, throwing an arm over Jacob's shoulders in a friendly way, "He's my friend. We're reeeeeaaal close."

Whatever inside joke Jesús and Jax shared, they laughed at together. Veronica really didn't want to know. She grabbed a hold of Jacob's left arm, pulling him away from Jax and the stranger. Once Jax realized they were moving on, he waved a hand at Jesús, talking shit and the like. When Jax caught up, she spoke up, "Who's the new guy?"

Jax looked up, "What d'ya mean?"

"Miguel used to watch the door, where's he?"

Jax blinked, regarding her with a strange look before he dropped it. He never had a good attention span, "Oh. I don't know. Think he got wrapped up in some nasty business. His girl died, I remember."

Veronica stopped walking at this, eyebrows furrowing, "Melissa? Melissa died?"

"Yeah," he waved a hand vaguely, like it was old news, "Got shot."

She could feel Jacob staring at her, his gaze burning into the side of her cheek. Veronica made sure to school her expression right, as if she wasn't supposed to react to such surprising news. And really, it wasn't surprising. People in this type of business died every day, she shouldn't care as much as she did. Last time she’d seen Melissa, she'd been fine. Smiling, off the drugs, finally. She couldn't help wonder how Miguel was taking it - she vaguely remembered him mentioning he'd known the girl since childhood.

Finally, she took a glimpse in Jacob's direction, he was watching Jax make his way down the stairs, "...Shouldn't have brought you here."

He looked at her again, he always had this ghost of a smile on his lips, "It's fine, Ronnie. Like the thrill." He even wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him teasingly. When he noticed how tense she was, he paused, the skin of his forehead wrinkling subtly. She wasn't used to things like that - any type of worry over her. The two weeks really had changed shit and it was almost scary to know she was glad she'd thought of him in her wild panic back then, came to him while she was bloody and bruised. A lot of people would've closed their door on her, no matter how many contacts and people she may know - they weren't friends. No one was really friends around here.

"Just...stay close to Jax, okay?"

"Jax is good lookin' and all, but I don't really swing that way, V."

"I'm serious."

"So am I—Ouch!"

Her foot met his shin fast, and for a second, he hopped on one foot, nose wrinkling in a cute way. Veronica narrowed her eyes, "Don't be a pussy."

"You hit hard. Y'know, if you wanna get rougher in bed, Ron—Okay! Okay, I get it!"

He was smiling again, and for that, it was a small relief. Tension around her shoulders relaxed a bit - she was going to get a knot in her neck if she kept hunching in on herself like that. "Be serious! Follow Jax." He did what she said, descending down the metal steps as well, and she followed him, craning her head around to make sure no one was lingering behind her. As they got further and further down ( around five flights, really ), she began to hear the music, the shouting, and doors opening and closing.

Once they made it to the bottom floor, she could practically smell the sweat and blood, years of it seeping into the concrete of the building. They really needed a new cleaning crew. Another tall man was standing by the two doors leading into the main arena, arms big and crossed and tatooed. Veronica was the last one down, Jax was already speaking to the guy when she got closer.

"—nah, nah, man! It's all about consistency! You can't expect a garden to grow on it's own!"

"Sí, si, tienes razón! I've been usin' my tía's manure, one she's always using to make her garden so big and beautiful, you know? I be so busy workin', man."

"Hey," Jax lightly tapped against his broad chest, "You gotta have time and patience. Garden's are just like pets, you gotta love and respect them."

"My ma uses dry compose when she's growing tomatoes." Jacob said from beside Jax, obviously involved with the conversation.

The big guy raised a bushy brow, "Oh, yeah? They any good?"

"Ah, yeah. She's always cooking 'em fresh with her spaghetti. It's outta this world."

What the fuck.

By the time, Veronica made her way over, it looked like all three were best buds. Jax, seemingly remembering why they were there in the first place, jerked into action, "We're here to see the show. Sorry, got distracted, David."

"It's already started, but—" He finally noticed Veronica, hairy eyebrows rising high on his forehead, "Ain't seen you in awhile, V. Russians lose their luster?" When she didn't say anything, glaring at him, he scoffed under his breath, unlocking the door behind him, "Go on ahead." As soon as the doors were open, the sounds inside seemed to burst. Loud screaming, cheering, and the overpowering smell of sweat overwhelmed her senses. She only spared David one more glance before heading inside, Jax offering another friendly wave to the guard.

It was a lot like an arena, it hadn't changed a bit. There were ten rows on each side of the ring, all filled with excited watchers, yelling and throwing things. Even with the humidity and heat from inside, it didn't seem to bother them none. They were there for the show. Inside of the ring, two men were fighting - sometimes to the death or sometimes almost-to-the-death. If one of them died, it would only be unfortunate for the people who'd bet on him. Underground fighting wasn't something Veronica was a fan of, but it was close to where she started out with business. Drugs were easy to pass around in these types of places, no cops and more people willing to buy for a high profit.

Her hands were shaking inside of her jacket pockets, just being in this place again made her mouth taste dry.

"You alright?" She could feel Jacob's breath on her ear - he had to move pretty close in order for them to hear each other.

"Just peachy," she practically yelled back, pressing a hand against his shoulder, "What'd I say? Follow Jax!" Jax was already making his way to his assigned booth ( of course he would have one, everyone loved him no matter where he went. Not only were the booths expensive, but they were high and had a good view of the fight below ), plopping down in one of the three seats available.

"See! Told you I could get you in, no problem."

Veronica could see that. She was a bit surprised of how lax the security was. She was well aware Jax could practically get in anywhere anytime, but she didn't think it'd be that quick. Well, either way, now that that part was out of the way, she could head onto the next phase. Once Jacob was sitting as well, Veronica nudged her head at the drinks at the ready and pack of cigars on the small table, "Stay with Jax. I'll be back."

Jacob gripped her wrist before she could go far, silently questioning her with his expression alone, "Where're you goin'?"

"Business to take care of."

"It's always business. Last time you had somethin’ to take care of, y'didn't look so good."

Veronica stared at him for a few seconds. And he stared back. Figures, Jacob really never knew how to fucking give in. Leaning down, she brought her lips close to his ear, "Just trust me on this, okay? I can handle myself." When she pulled back, he was still eyeing her, but he released her wrist.

"Thirty minutes," he mouthed to her, giving a jerk of his eyebrows as emphasis.

"Just smoke your stupid fuckin' cigars and watch the show, asshole. I took you out for a night at the town, enjoy it." Without waiting for his reply, she moved out of the booth, and past a few rows of shouting watchers. It didn't take long to get where she needed to be, it was a familiar route to her, even if it had been awhile. Closing the door behind her ( she was so glad it was much more quieter in the east hallway, she locked it behind her - Veronica was well aware of the guard patrol and how easily she would be caught if she weren't careful.

At the end of the hallway, she could see the dim light spilling into the corridor from a door a few feet away. Muffled, low voices were inside, and Veronica took five wide steps to get to it, wrenching it out of her way. Inside, three men looked up. One was bald, another's nose was bleeding, and the last, she knew. Dex blinked at her several times, dropping the cards in his hands on the table in front of him.

"Aw, fuck!" The bald one exclaimed once he caught sight of the deck, "Knew you were fuckin' cheating!"

Distracted, Dex looked over at him, offended, "I ain't fuckin' cheating, pendejo!"

The other looked plain confused, "I thought we were playin' Five-Card Draw, man."

The bald one growled under his breath, throwing his own deck down, "This some straight-up bullshit..." But once they were all done arguing, he finally returned his attention to Veronica frozen in the door way. She could spot the glock on the table, he was lazily resting his hand, "¿Quién es ella?" The other one shrugged his shoulders.

Dex, gathering up all the cards from the table, looked at Veronica, "What you doin' here?"

She stepped further into the room, closing the door quietly behind her, "Need to talk to your uncle."

At this, all three men at the table laughed, one's neck was flexing so much, she thought it would explode or something. Probably on something - he was red in the face. Dex, though, got serious really fast, wiping at the cut on his eyebrow ( he'd probably fought earlier today ), "Why the fuck would he wanna talk to you, white girl? You got some shit to offer? You know, somethin' other than the shit between your legs."

Veronica was far from in the mood for Dex's little speech. She glared at the wall - trying and failing to do breathing exercises before she stabbed one in the eye ( preferably the bald guy first ), "Necesito su ayuda," She looked Dex right in the eye, refusing to break contact, "It's West. I fucked up."

Dex frowned at this, pausing from shuffling the cards now. Finally, after a few seconds, he mumbled, "How much you need?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Dex, I don't need any money! I need to talk to your fuckin' uncle! Tonight!"

When she raised her voice, she saw the bald one clench his hand around his gun tighter. Dex stopped him, "Y'can't come in here making demands like you used to. You cut ties. Fuck do you expect me to do?"

"So you'll do anythin' for that bitch even though she's been fuckin' West behind your back, but not me?"

At that, it went completely silent in the room. None of them were laughing any more - not even the high one. Dex glared, hands spread out in front of him, "Don't talk about Nixie."

"Don't be a hypocrite then," Veronica crossed her arms over her chest, keeping her eyes steady on Dex. If she wavered, he would immediately pounce. Or at least get his guys to do it. Any hint of hesitation could be snuffed out with ease in a place like this. Suddenly, Dex stood from the card table, the sound of his chair scooting back making Veronica jerk slightly.

With two fingers, he motioned her over. "C'mon."

His uncle's office was in the back. Down another hallway, behind the room where the topless chicks bagged and weighed, another bald guy watching them with a cold beer in his hand. When he noticed Veronica, he whistled lowly under his breath. Veronica glared, "Oh, don't be like that, baby. What's your name?" No reply from her, "That's okay. Names are bullshit anyway, puts a title on you. You got good birthin' hips, ma. Gimme plenty o' kids."

Veronica flipped him off, watching as Dex knocked on the office door. There was a muffled reply from inside. Dex stepped away from the door, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive stance, "Go ahead." And then looked at the guy, "Manuel, put your fuckin' tongue back in your mouth, holmes!"

Veronica didn't bother listening to the reply, instead putting her hand around the knob and turning. Inside, the office was much cooler than the rest of the place - a brand new AC was running in the corner of the room. There was a pretty girl sitting on the edge of the desk, speaking to Dex's uncle into his ear. When they spotted Veronica standing by the door, the uncle blinked, leaned back and said something to the girl. In reply, she smiled and grabbed her clothes from the floor - not before Dex's uncle gave her a swift tap on her behind ( which she laughed at and Veronica wrinkled her nose ). Once she was gone, Veronica was left alone with him.

He had a bunch of rings on. A nice shirt. And a lipstick stain on his right cheek, "Verónica." He gestured to the empty seat in front of his desk. She visibly hesitated, darting her eyes between the seat and him. She'd been so determined to get here, she wasn't sure what to say in order to get all her jumbled thoughts across. She sat down after awhile, rubbing her sweaty hands on her jeans - trying to come across respectful and level-headed at least. "Ain't seen you in awhile. ¿Dónde has estado?"

"Places, Mr. Rubio," Veronica murmured, her attempt at coming off casual wasn't going so well, "Around."

"With the Russians." He folded his hands over his desk, shrugging his fat shoulders carelessly, "You can say it. No judgement here." Veronica almost laughed in his face. She couldn't have been away long enough for him to think she was an idiot. All the Mexican's lips curled when they said Russians, and vice versa. No shame in admitting it. She must've looked a bit too amused for his liking, because his nice-nice face had dropped, "What's so funny?"

Veronica leaned forward in her seat - there was no point in beating around the bush, "I need a favor. You owe me." He didn't react negatively to what she said, probably because he knew she was right. He did owe her. She was the reason Dex, his nephew, was still breathing today. Whether he liked it or not, she was the reason a lot of shit didn't hit the fan in this place. When he didn't reply for a long time, she decided to speak up again, "Who're you hiding from?"

Mr. Rubio scoffed, wetting his lips with his tongue, "Cops. They're everywhere."

"Rat around here somewhere?"

"Everywhere. Got rid of 'em. Messy job."

"That's good."

"You seen Nixie?"

Veronica almost smiled, it would've been a bitter twist of her lips, "Yeah."

"How is she? You talk to her?"

"Can't talk to her so good with West's dick in her mouth."

Unlike his nephew, Mr. Rubio laughed - a loud belly laugh that make Veronica stare. "I missed you, Verónica. Y'lucky you're family, niña. Get you killed how ya' talk all the time..." He was still laughing under his breath, shaking his head. "Been holed up here a few weeks. Can't believe I used to have an office down here. It's disgusting, the yelling, the blood everywhere. Cleaning crew don't wanna clean shit, nephew don't wanna organize, and the police everywhere around here. Should've stayed my ass in Michoacán, miss mama's cooking..."

Veronica stayed quiet. Mr. Rubio was easy to talk to, he came off as this fun-loving uncle that you would always want to be around, but Veronica knew better. She knew him way too well to relax around him too much, "Mr. Rubio," he looked back at her, "I need help, okay? With West.."

"The white boy?" He tilted his head slightly at her, but didn't look at all surprised, "Thought he was long gone with the mouth he got on ‘em."

"Yeah, well - he's not. And I'm gonna be dead if he stays living."

He looked interested now, leaning forward in his seat a bit, "You asking me to get rid of him? That's your favor?" Veronica gnawed at her bottom lip, shifting in her seat. He smiled, "Never thought you'd come to me to ask somethin' like that. Must be serious."

"I would do it myself, but..."

He knows me too well. He'd kill me first. He'd kill someone I cared about - my mom, Jacob—

"I ain't gonna kill a Russian, Verónica."

Veronica's head snapped up at this, "Wha—"

He shrugged again, "Me and my people layin' low. Martha said so. Can't go against the wife."

"Says the guy who was just fucking a girl half his age—"

"Watch it," his voice had lowered - the Mr. Rubio she knew never strayed too far, right underneath the surface at all times, "You keep talkin' like that, someone's gonna have to clean your tongue. Or cut it out."

Veronica stood from the chair, it clattered behind her, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me! You owe me, Rubio! You fucking owe me! If it wasn't for me, Dex would be at the bottom of Hudson River! I called off Oakley and his guys, I found out who was stealin' from the count every weekend, I helped you do everything! And you can't do this one favor for me?! If he's not dead, I am!"

She needed to calm down, she looked crazy, she knew it. Her hands were shaking, she was pointing around wildly, her back felt sweaty. Even her voice broke. As much as she denied it, as much as she hated to admit it, she was scared - of West, of what he could do to her mother. He knew exactly where she was, he could even find out exactly who Jacob was. Who knows what the fuck he would do?

Mr. Rubio stayed calm though, he looked up at her, relaxed, "I'm not killin' anybody. And let's be honest here, you don't want the boy killed. Been 'round him too long to send someone to do it like that. It's personal, right? Take care of it yourself. Raised you better than that, kid." He paused there, watching her face, "When you came to me - all skinny, no titties - what'd I say? You're smart. You'll figure it out. You always do. That guy, that commie piece of shit, ain't as smart as you. 'S why he kept you around for so long."

Veronica remained silent, struggling to catch her breath. The walls didn’t feel too tight now.

"What d'ya got that guy around for? The one you walked in with?"

"Jax?"

"Nah, the other one."

She swallowed, averting her gaze, "He's my friend."

"Bullshit," he looked close to smiling, the corners of his eyes wrinkling, "You ain't got friends. Try again."

Veronica tried to think of a word, anything that wouldn't sound too personal but not to stranger-like either, "...Partner. A partner, okay? He helps me, I help him."

"You suckin' his dick?"

Veronica fixed him with a glare.

"Okay, okay," Rubio raised his hands in a placating manner, smiling now. When it remained silent between them, he spoke up again, "How long's it been?"

"Two weeks."

"He ain't gonna kill ya' then. Keep an eye out though. You got any problems, you can call me, Verónica. But I ain't gonna risk anythin'. Somethin' happen, I'll send my boys. If it don't then, make it 'til you break it." Veronica scoffed underneath her breath, but didn't say anything for a long time, "And if that guy's your partner, act like it. I could see you two on the cameras, mixin' business and pleasure ain't a good thing." Veronica had to hold back a scathing remark - he really was a hypocrite sometimes.

Leaning back in his seat again, he waved her away, "Tell Dex to call Dante, needa speak to him."

She turned away.

"And Verónica?"

"Yeah?"

"Lay low, okay?"

Without another word, Veronica stepped out of the office.

.

.