Earning money out here was so easy it was almost wrong. Actually wrong was just the right word for it she thought as Gabe punched the lights out of yet another sucker. All she had to do was add a little purr to her voice, bat her eye lashes and smile at just the right moments. Once they had cleaned up her face and picked all the leaves out of her hair it worked every time. Some shmuck looking to buy a girl a drink would approach her, they would flirt, get close and then Gabe would storm in with the over-protective boyfriend act. Too easy. As he pocketed the man's cash Brook heard yelling coming up the street. She squinted to see through the people walking down the street and there she saw armed guards running toward them.

"H- Hey, we should go," she stammered, "Now!"

"I see 'em. Run!" Gabe grabbed her roughly by the arm and drug her down the street and around a corner. They didn't stop there though. The mercenary lead her down alley ways, up ladders, over rooftops, across bridges and through buildings as they made their way through the maze of the cities.

"No! I knew this would happen! We're going to be sent back to the island, I know it!" she cried.

"Stop it!" he yelled over his shoulder, "We'll lose 'em!"

"Don't you people keep bank accounts or something!? Do you even know what a bank is!?" she kept going.

"Pushin' my patience, kid. Just so happens I got cleaned out the [i]first[/i] and [i]second[/i] time I went to prison. You learn after a while."

"Wait you-- This isn't your first time as a prisoner!?" her eyes went wide.

"Nope!"

She was having second thoughts about the people she had thrown her lot in with.

After Gabe felt like they had put enough distance between themselves and the city watch he finally slowed to a stop in a quiet residential area. Brook was winded. She sank and put her hands on her knees struggling to breathe. Her lungs burned, her legs ached and she thought her heart would rupture any second now. He watched her with his hands on his hips, chest barely heaving as he caught his breath.

"Yer outta shape," he frowned.

As much as she wished she could have managed to say, "Shut your dick holster," all she got out was an inaudible wheeze.

He started counting their money and after a minute or so she heard him mutter something like, "Yeah, should be enough if that bastard is still around."

"Who?" she managed to gasp.

"This way," he started to walk off.

Brook stood up straight and threw her head back and then stomped along with him, "Where are we going? When are we going to get our gear already?"

"I know a guy," he said.

"You know a guy?" she rolled her eyes, "Just tell me what we're doing!"

"Look, Tony's not exactly running a... legal business."

"... No wonder you keep getting thrown in jail."

"Hey. Point is, he owes me one and he's not the type to go back on that sorta thing."

"Are you sure about that? I'm all for doing what it takes to get out of these rags but I really don't want to get sent back to--"

"I get it," he interrupted, "I'm sure. Oh, try not to stare much. He might take it the wrong way coming from you." 

Brook was nervous. Her imagination painted pictures of this Tony person that were unsavory to say the least. He was probably big and mean looking. More so than her Tenau companion. There was a scary thought. This man was probably unshaven, covered in muscle and fat and surrounded by men just as mean and ugly. What kind of hell was Gabe leading her into!?

Soon they came onto a peaceful, mostly empty, street lined with well maintained houses and shops built from an older style of architecture. Trees grew along the walkways and flowers grew in window boxes. Gabe approached a shop with a young man smoking an e-cig and reading a book on the front porch and an intricately woven sign that read, "Fine Jewelry." Brook was still looking around for the back alley drug dealers.

"This is it," Gabe said, "Tony!"

The man on the porch glanced up from his book, raised an eyebrow and got to his feet. He was tall and slender wearing a dress shirt and slacks. His hair was black and combed, his face was clean shaven. When he stood and walked to the steps it was incredibly controlled and graceful. He did not smile. Tony only watched them as they approached.

"Kinsley," he said matter-of-factly, "What are you doing here?"

"The fuck do you think I'm doin' here? Time for you to pay up."

Brooklyn cringed. Things were tense. So this Tony wasn't nearly as ugly as she had imagined. He wasn't even close to the images she had concocted. Truth be told she found him rather... A wicked grin split his lips and he pocketed the e-cig before jogging down the steps.

"You son-of-a-bitch," Tony chuckled and caught Gabe in a bear hug that looked far more painful than affectionate to Brook. Men. Then she realized why Gabe had told her not to stare. Tony was clean, professional, handsome and the left side of his face was webbed in deep slashing scars. His nose twisted where it had obviously been broken, his left cheek bone seemed more caved in compared to the right and several large chunks were missing from his left ear. He turned to her with a dashing smile.

"And who might you be?" he swept up her hand in his own, "Please don't tell me you belong to this brainless dog."

"N- no. He's not- I'm-" she stuttered.

"That's Brooklyn," Gabe chimed in for her, "She's an... accomplice."

"It's a pleasure," Tony's smile softened and he placed a gentle kiss on her hand. She was left speechless and blushing. By some miracle Gabe did remember her name after all and it was a good thing because she sure didn't.

Tony released her and turned back to his old friend, "I suppose you'll be wanting to come downstairs."

"Downstairs" was in stark contrast to the meticulously clean shop upstairs. The shop was carpeted with spotless display cases along the walls and sitting areas complete with cushioned chairs and flourishing house plants in the corners. An elegant door in the back lead to a dark concrete stairwell. At the bottom a cellar spread out and a large steel door with a wheel in the center and a complex security pad on the side dominated the far wall. It put Tony through a gauntlet of procedures to unlock the door the final one being a scan of his left eye which turned out to be fake and contained a sophisticated quartz encryption chip in the iris. No magic here.

"Who's side are you on?" Brooklyn muttered.

"Whichever side is paying more," Tony chuckled.

Gabe folded his arms and frowned, "Don't forget which side saved your life."

Inside the vault was what heaven must look like if there was one. She didn't know were to start. It was cavernous. Several rooms were partitioned in the space with steel grates. Hooks were set on the grates and shelves filled in the space between. On the hooks and shelves hung more guns, swords, tools and miscellaneous military equipment than she possibly could have looked through in the time they had. Most of these items, she noticed right away, were illegal for civilians to own.

"Ditch your weapons," Gabe told her, "Won't need 'em anymore."

"He's right," Tony confirmed, "Take your pick... As long as it's a reasonable pick of course. I have to turn a profit here."

She did as she was told and went to go wander through the collection. Gabe seemed to know exactly what he was looking for because in no time he was back chatting with Tony in a hushed tone with a powered down laser sword and a few supplies. There were some extremely dangerous weapons in here. Some of them were only fresh out of production and one or two she recognized as projects that she had been assigned to the past couple of years. Incredible. Eventually she came across a rather unassuming [url=https://31.media.tumblr.com/e4b4774bc49b43090ec567a8c9bdb551/tumblr_mhjyb8kjwL1rtvq6mo1_500.jpg]pistol[/url] and pulled it off the hooks it was sitting on. She also took the liberty of picking up a suppressor, several magazines of .50 caliber slugs and hollow points and a scope. She didn't want to miss after all. Then she returned to the front of the vault.

Tony smirked, "Do you know what that is?"

"I know it can take a man's head of his shoulders," she smirked back.

He snorted, "Good eye."

Gabe also forced a long dagger made of a curious black steel on her before he was satisfied with her choices. With some of the money they had conned out of the locals she also picked up a nice little tool kit that came with a leather case and rolled up into a neat little package. As they were leaving Tony kissed her hand once more and told her she was welcome anytime she wished. As long as she had money next time that was. Brooklyn noticed after getting closer to him again that a deep red scar cut across the entire width of his throat. It was jagged and thick, almost reminiscent of an electric bolt in shape.

"But you," Tony turned to Gabe with a grin, "I'd better never see you here again."

Gabe nodded and waved and they took their leave. Once they were some distance away Brook tapped his arm with the back of her hand to get his attention.

"Hey, so why did he owe you again?" she asked.

"I'm sure you saw his face," Gabe shrugged, "Well I was there for that. Stopped the bleeding. Got 'im out alive. That's all."

"Wow," she said quietly, "That scar on his neck. Must have been a lot of blood. How did you manage to--"

"That's all," he ended the conversation.

On the way back they also stopped to spend the rest of their ill-gotten cash on new, more appropriate, less filthy clothes for Brooklyn and a shower. Then Gabe started off toward the pub where he was to meet Annabelle. The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon.

"Sebastian is probably going to be there, huh?" Brooklyn said quietly.

"Might be," Gabe replied.

She sighed deeply and looked away, "I'm going to take a walk. Need to think about somethings and I'm not sure I want to be around that guy right now."

He stopped and looked at her with a very concerned expression.

"I'll be okay," she assured him, "I'll stay where people can see me, I won't go down dark streets and I won't take candy from strangers."

He didn't find her joke amusing, "Fine. You be careful though, ya hear me? Anybody gets too friendly with ya, end 'em. If yer not at the pub in an hour I'm comin' lookin' for ya and you don't want me to come lookin' for ya. Got it?"

Brooklyn nodded and turned the other way stepping into the Yolduga night.