Hearing the unmistakable sound of flesh and metal, Kimberly's heart sank further as she heard footsteps. She still couldn't do anything from this position. As her condition worsened, she started losing consciousness as the footsteps got louder and louder. Soon enough, Kimberly's entire world had shifted. No longer was she looking at the wrecked remains of her car. When they said that your life flashed before your eyes moments before death, they weren't wrong. [hr] [i]"Dispatch, you got a location on the 401B earlier? We're in the area but we need an exact location."[/i] The ambulance had just turned off of the strip and toward the industrial area of Las Vegas. The sirens were blaring, and every single car in its way was pulling to their right. Good. That meant that the paramedics would be having an unobstructed path to whatever they were responding to. An automobile accident at this time of night? Probably some unwise drunk drivers doing what they usually do and getting into crashes. Typical, but it wasn't anything that these paramedics hadn't seen before. [i]"Alright. I've got a location. Thank goodness they left the line open. It's right next to Bernardo's Pawn Shop. I think in the alleyway.[/i] [i]"Copy that dispatch, we're on our way.[/i] The emergency response vehicle made a turn and wailed down to the pawn shop. Lucky for these paramedics, they knew the city like the back of their hand. That's what many years on the job and responding to various cases all over the city did to you. Knowledge not many other people in the city had. It was going to help them figure out where these people were. Closing in on Bernardo's, the paramedics had seen the tell-tale tiremarks. But for whatever reason, it looked like it was coming from more than one source. Multiple car accident? Why would they be in the alley, then? The closer the ambulance got, the more suspicious things started to get. Luckily police and firefighter units were not too far behind them. Pulling up into the alley, it was a very grisly scene, but also one that didn't add up. Two crashed cars, but one car was crumpled from three sides and the other one was crumpled only from one side. The paramedics were perplexed, but that was something the police officers would have to handle. Getting out of the ambulance, the paramedics pulled out their carts and went in to examine the victims. One went to tend to the man, who didn't look too bad, especially compared to the woman inside the incredibly fucked up car, who was cold to the touch but somehow still breathing and barely had a pulse. The paramedic looked to their partner, who signaled that the other person was also still alive, somehow. Now the problem was getting the woman out of the car in time to get her stabilized and rushed to the hospital. Firetrucks and police cruisers soon pulled in, and started to assist with the recovery effort. [hr] [b]Lake Tahoe, Nevada[/b] Somehow, at this time of year, there was still powder and snow on the mountains of Lake Tahoe. It was toward the end of winter, but the climate had been generous this year to extend the length of prime skiing season. The officials at the ski resort had been gracious enough to open up the area for them at this time of night. It was nobody but them, and a couple of officials that Seb and Ellie had agreed to pay graciously to open it up for them. After spending a lot of time carving down the slopes on skis and snowboards, they were at the top of the last peak of the resort. Ellie was sitting on the top, butt on the snow as she looked down at what looked to be a very treacherous, but also very fun-looking descent. It was a good break from all the hijinks they had gotten into lately. From street racing to jumping out of planes in Europe, all the way to reuniting with a childhood friend. It had been a wild few months for Ellie and probably Seb as well, so it was a good feeling to use their hard-earned money to go back to their roots and get in touch with what got them all the way to the top in the first place. It was just them. For the first time in forever, there were no other cameras than the security cameras the resort came with. No GoPros, no vlog cameras, not even a Snapchat or Instagram story. It was just them, their snow gear, and the snow itself. "You ready for this, Seb?" She asked curiously, before putting her goggles on. "Wait, how about we make this more interesting?" Ellie looked down at her white jacket and black pants before leaning over to poke Seb. "Loser has to buy drinks when we get to Vegas." She got off her butt, before slowly starting to roll down the slope. "Let's go!" [hr] These were one of the many times where it was good to have such strong family ties. As soon as Kimberly was admitted into the hospital and rushed into surgery, barely hanging onto life by the bare skin of her teeth, the entire Rossi clan poured into Las Vegas within half an hour of finding out. By the time they arrived, Kimberly was about three quarters of the way through being operated on and having her numerous injuries fixed, if they were able to be fixed. It was a miracle that Kimberly survived. However, it was not smooth to the hospital the whole way. There was a time where the paramedics had lost Kimberly's pulse and she had to undergo resuscitation. Luckily for her, though, it was smooth sailing from there after that [i]slight[/i] hiccup. If someone like Ross were to be there, then he would be seeing the whole clan there. From their father, all the way down to baby Mia. Just based off of the description of the injuries alone, and the description of the incident, it was clear to them that a member of their family was in trouble. And not just because of how Kimberly was in surgery. It was trouble that nobody wanted to be in. The trouble extended far further than one of their own barely clinging onto life, and already plans and strings were being formulated and pulled to figure out who was behind this. Kimberly was lucky enough to have two siblings in the military, one in law enforcement, and one who happened to be a trauma surgeon, which meant information was coming in whenever they wanted. It was going to be a long ride. A long ride for Ross, a long ride for the Rossi family, and a long ride for Mia. Mia had no idea what was happening and why she was in a hospital, the little girl was busy staring at a little iPad and watching her shows. It was better that she didn't know. Not at this time. She didn't need to know that she very well could lose her mom at any second. Hopefully Ross would be coming soon, as there would be a lot of questions that needed answers. According to murmurs, his injuries weren't as severe as Kimberly's. Which was good, vengeance was in the cards for each and every single one of these people, and Ross held keys that would help vengeance be carried out.