---

---

Priya expected the tight security. It was, after all, one of the nation's top security deals. She hadn't expected the welcome from Special Agent Moreau. "Yes, I am Detective Khurana. Thank you for the help. I am sure this will fare better than my last TSA screening." She followed him and went towards security.

While she didn't care for leaving her gun, she understood why. She wasn't an FBI agent and couldn't be rightly trusted off the bat. She hoped, if she proved herself, she would be allowed to carry it in the future, but she also didn't want to stay here any longer than needed. She wanted to get her information and get out quickly. She had a case to solve, after all and every minute spent not pursuing it led to clues going missing and suspects getting away.

And that was never ok in her book.

So she would jump through these hoops, for now.

Felix groaned. This long explanation about the memory loss was taking up time and he'd obviously convinced her, so faking a groan would be good. He rubbed his forehead as he thought about what he was supposed to do now. Weakness had conquered him and he had to learn to deal with it quickly. He would likely not be able to see out of one eye for months now, transplants usually took a while, even over in Germany. Chances are the waiting list would be worse here so he knew he'd have to get comfortable with it if he wanted to survive.

"Ah no nO! Detail isn't required" he said with a small laugh as he positioned himself again, moving himself to face her again, flashing her a forced if pained grin as he tried to remain calm and focused in the situation. "You wouldn't happen to know, when I'll be able to go back to my apartment? or at least have my personal belongings, I haven't seen them here and it would help me if I had my phone so I can text my friends, let them know I am alright haha"

he laughed again and looked around. He really hoped everything would be okay, some more pain meds would be a good starting point but he had to focus on getting back to his apartment.

---

---

Every word in the name Maria spoke slammed into Caesar's skull like a forge hammer clanging against a troublesome piece of worked steel, echoing in the larger part of his conscious brain and drowning out everything else.

Illiam. CLANG Caesar. CLANG Hannibal. CLANG Keystone. CLANG Gonzalez... CLANG

The hammer belted out a long set of painful, psychological cadence as he stood there mutely. It took him a moment to realize that the merciless hammerfall inside of his skull was his own pulse, grown to epic magnitude as he understood a few basic truths about his little girl. First off, Alicia had spent some time opening the London office of MSS. It was where they learned more of this huge Brit, about whom they knew only by reputation. She came back home for a couple of months, but continued to take short trips across the Atlantic for supplementary training, much of which involved getting their recent personnel acquisitions certified in the business aspect of their dealings. After those couple of months, she became scarce. They didn't see each other again until Seattle, a couple of months before she presented Caesar with the Justice, CA contract.

Hindsight was killing him. So many things crowding together at once inside of his thoughts, so many connections made. The most horrifying one to him was her black book of contacts. Caesar selected Keystone because he was not a model employee, he had a fearsome reputation, he was a continent and an ocean away from all of the drama they found themselves under, but mostly because he had Alicia's trust. He naturally assumed this because her black book of contacts listed his name in bold letters, with a star next to it.

Caesar would be taking a very close look at that book later.

Neither of them had said anything about the child. It occurred to him, his given last name was Gonzalez. Not Keystone. The huge son-of-a-bitch didn't know. Alicia must have kept it hidden from him as well. That Cockney prick was still going to pay for using his daughter in this way, but he didn't know that he was a father.

The gruff and bereaved man blinked and focused his attention into the here and now. He had a grandson right here, being held out for him. It was a thing he did not expect to have in this lifetime. Tenderly, Caesar held out his hands, supporting the boy and bringing him close. Bright, blue eyes and ebon hair greeted him, a sign of his obvious mixed parentage. He thought to his niece just then, technically a generation up from this boy but bearing similar features. Was this the future of the Familia Gonzalez? Time had a funny way of changing things. It didn't matter, really. Though he did hope that he and Keystone didn't disagree on important, immediate matters for him. "Liam Gonzalez." he mused in a gravelly voice. "This one is strong."

The start of his adoration for this tiny explosion waiting to happen was such that he barely noticed his daughter's casket being unloaded from the hearse on the other side of the main courtyard. At first. His grip on his new grandson remained soft and supportive, though his gaze turned steely and sad, watching his baby girl being carried into the comparatively smaller courtyard of the main house. Benecio was there, managing things as he always seemed to. Understanding washed over the old man. Liam and Angel were the future of their family; the ones who would eventually take over La Hacienda and own his company. They would one day control the family fortune Caesar spent a lifetime cutting away from the world. The baby in his arms would be like unto a prince in his own right. People would want to get to him for that reason alone. He needed to be protected at first, and trained to be a better fighter, better soldier, better businessman and better person than Caesar. Liam would need to understand his roots - all of them - and know that his people came from the dust of Mexico and the streets of London.

"You were right not to tell me, Maria. I can't tell Keystone yet, either. He needs to come down here." He thought for a second, having gone back to marveling over the tiny life in his arms. "Where was he born?"

Meanwhile, Benecio was busy moving Alicia's casket over to the empty shrine in the main house's courtyard. The moment she was set up and her casket opened, a gossamer cloth was draped over her fallen form and many hands busied themselves lighting nearby candles. A bell was rung, signalling that the Lady of the Gonzalez Line was ready to receive vigil. Slowly, people began to gather offerings and gifts, then shuffle toward the complex to pay their respects.

---

---

Blissfully unaware of the happenings taking place so far away, nor the conversation that included him by a man who had done horrible things to people for far less than what he had done, Keystone set about to reorganize his schedule based around the new staff. There would have to be a bit more in the way of training sessions and overseeing grunt work on his end; it was his task to maintain the business until a suitable replacement. In this particular instance, he was very much looking forward to the demotion. It would not be far to say that the crown weighed heavily upon his brow, point of fact he was having a bit of fun making other people jump to do his bidding. Perhaps too much fun, sometimes. It was better that he turn it over to someone else before he get too comfortable. He might miss the ability to effect real change in his immediate surroundings that did not involve direct violence, no matter how much fun direct violence might be.

He checked his sat phone, curious as to why Caesar hadn't gotten back to him with a "message received" notification. Perhaps for the first time, Keystone gave thought to what must be going on down in Monterrey. He had already mentioned that he wanted to be there, but his new staff was correct: It was better that he stay where he was, holding together that which Alicia and Caesar worked hard to set up. It was their only holding in Justice, California, and the only reason why they had any authority to do anything in town that involved investigation or threat response in the first place. Maintaining this was important.

Keystone stopped what he was doing, enraptured in a single, potentially useful idea. If he could land smaller, less resource-requiring contracts elsewhere in Justice, there ran the possibility that he could generate a supporting income for their more clandestine activities that could be kept in separate books and solidify their presence in the city. Even if something (God forbid) happened with the Queensguard contract, MSS could stick around and continue its other work. Places like clubs, apartment buildings, hotels and the like came to mind. Simple contracts with existing infrastructure. Places of recent interest, what with the murders, would be ideal. Nodding to himself, Keystone began looking into his office's computer for potential locales. Hell, he might as well get in touch with Marketing and Advertising, such as it was, back at the Home Office.

---

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---

Cecily tried her best to remember the way they took through the small complex, her paranoia suggesting that it would be a decent thing to remember. Instead, she was distracted by a the shrine-courtyard, something she hadn't expected. It hardly made any sense to her that it would be something like this, having expected a more church like situation for a priest. But with Caesar's family, it seemed best to expect the unexpected. The entire thing about receiving a notice about a birth, though, that didn't surprise Cecily as much. It was one of the things her own grandmother was quite fond of, keeping the extended family together.

Cecily listened to everything Benicio had to say, though she felt more and more that she was an intruder in this place. She didn't speak the language and she was here during a funeral for Alicia. She hadn't really known Alicia and she couldn't help but feel incredibly out of place, making her thankful when it was just Natasha and herself inside the room. Cecily took a seat as well, glancing around the room as she struggled to comprehend this entire situation.

There was a brief moment of silence after Natasha's comment. "I really regret not taking Spanish now," Cecily then said. She felt like she was having a major case of deer in the headlights syndrome, taken completely off guard. This felt like an entirely different world to her and the best Cecily could do is just nod and accept it all at face value. "Maybe more world history and religions as well...Do you understand this entire business with the Lady and everything?" Cecily asked.

---

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---

---

Iris nodded. A translator was likely their best bet, probably along with another look at Jaina's file. Iris wasn't all too familiar with Jaina's past, so it was entirely possible that the Russian speech was an ongoing thing--or perhaps it was some sort of new development. She didn't put too much stock into the fact that Jaina knew something important. The mental patient was hurting herself, cackling, and pretending that they were in a television broadcast. It didn't make for reliable testimony.

"Probably for the best," Iris said. "Does the asylum have any contacts? Anyone on retainer, maybe?" She knew that there was a UN building in Justice that would likely have translators, but after the attack, Iris doubted any of them would be willing to come over and do a little freelance work.

Jaina paused for a moment, looking as if she was mulling over Nurse Cratty's offer. "Кратковременный перерыв, друзья! Нужен клубничный кнут!," Jaina finally declared, before turning to regard Nurse Cratty. "Dole whip with strawberries on it~!" Jaina squealed. It had been ages since she had gotten to enjoy one of those. She had always loved them growing up, getting a Dole Whip whenever possible. And of course, strawberries always made for a fantastic topping! It was a bit disappointing that she couldn't make any more masterpieces, but Jaina figured she could always do a confessional of sorts with her studio audience while the pair left. Or maybe she'd do her favorite segment: escape from the asylum starring the Amazing Aurora!

---

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*Quick Note: Color codes for location headers will denote time of day basically. Not so much tie of day but look for matching ones to see if you are in the same ~time frame~ as others.

La Hacienda: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico : Maria nodded as Caesar took Liam. "He is, very strong and stubborn," she said as the baby looked up at Caesar oddly before laughing. Reaching up the boy took a handful of the older mans hair and gave it a sound tug. He wasn't letting go anytime soon. Maria couldn't help but smirk.

Looking away for a minute, Maria contemplated the day Liam was born before answering her ex-husband. "He was born here," she said simply before wrapping her arms around herself. "Alicia was smart. English father, American born mother, child born in Mexico. He has tri citizenship between the three countries. Was difficult but she got it done so Liam would always be able to be with family," she said as she looked down at the ground.

"Wasn't my choice not to tell you, Alicia made me, made all of us promise to wait until the right time. Under threat of death," she added as she eyed Caesar. "Wonder where she got that from."

Natasha looked over towards Cecily and chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't have much of a choice. It was either learn or keep getting a translator to tell my patients what was wrong with them," she laughed before sitting down on the couch and glancing around. "Not really sure. I do know that most Mexicans I have treated or have died on the table, their families were very religious. They always seem to have a saint that is the families patron, a lot of candles and such, praying, wailing, god only knows what," she said before shrugging a bit.

Diamond District: Zoie took a seat and unbuttoned her coat as she sat there. Crossing her legs she kept an eye on how the staff was treating Mali and was more than happy to take a drink when it was offered to her. She knew how to play the part all too well. At home one would have thought she was a dotting 1950's house wife the way she cooked, cleaned, tended to things, and welcomed people with a thick southern drawl. Here though, with her suit that cost more than most peoples monthly salaries, her shoes that cost as much as a car, her hair slicked back, and all traces of her accent gone one would have never suspected she came from a small town in the middle of no where south Georgia and that she had been taught to shoot a gun as soon as she could crawl.

Looking over at Mali she perked a brow at the choice of dress. Setting down her glass on the side table she rose, not bothering to fasten her jacket back in place as she stepped over to Mali. Reaching out she let her fingers run over the fabric, seemingly as if she was scrutinizing the choice before a small smile came to her lips. "I think this one will be fabulous. The color if perfect for your skin tone and eyes, the cut will flatter your figure and be comfortable, and it is quite the show stopper if I must say. Perfect for tonight," she said as she stood there and let her fingers fall from the fabric. "I think we will need to go to Cartier once we finish clothes shopping. They have a stunning piece that I think will compliment this well, should be able to borrow it for the evening," she said without batting an eyelash. "Well, go on, try it on!"

Justice Asylum: Nurse Cratty kept her eyes on Jaina, not knowing what that girl could do or when she would chose to do it. "No, we don't have one on retainer. Don't get a lot of people around here speaking Russian. Spanish we have people in the asylum but other languages it really don't come up much," the nurse said as she watched Jaina closely.

"Yes, we can do that, why don't you just sit down and relax while we go and fetch some," she suggested towards Jaina before looking over towards Iris. "The UN might be able to help or the hospital, why don't I go make some calls and find some strawberries for her. You just keep her calm," she added before stepping towards the door. "Do you want me to call for an orderly before I leave or do you have this?" she asked as her hand rested on the door. She wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to leave the doctor alone with this nutcase but things had to be done. Sure, Iris could chose to leave the patient alone, she was in a straitjacket afterall. Granted that didn't mean she was harmless by any stretch of the imagination.

Gun Range: "Oh well a couple of weeks. Have to love the government. They keep placing more and more regulations in place to keep us law abiding citizens from being able to execute our second amendment rights!" Beni growled. Roy just rolled his eyes as he looked over towards Riley.

"Funny how he uses the word execute," Roy laughed as the paper work was finished up and Beni started filing things away and the like. He shot Roy a look but laughed it off as if Roy had said something that was particularly funny. Roy just shook his head a bit and sighed. Whatever it was that was going through Beni's mind right then Roy didn't want a thing to do with it. "Right, let's get out of here before he starts in about the pyramids and how his long distant cousin half a century helped with a dig," he said as he rushed over to the door.

"Hey! You know I am right about that shit!" Beni called out as Roy held the door open for Riley to make a quick exit. Looking down at his phone he finally turned it on and let it power up as he waited for Riley before letting the door swing shut hard and drown out Beni going on and on about cats. Grumbling under his breath as he seemed to have missed a far amount of calls and texts since he had turned the damned thing off that morning.

"Shit..." he muttered as he spotted one from his captain.

Justice Memorial: Dr. Chang looked over to Felix and chuckled a bit. "Listen, I understand that people hate hospitals but you are going to be here for sometime. You just had major surgery, this isn't a broken arm in the Er where you are out the next day. It will be at least a week here and that is if everything goes perfectly. Could be ten days, could be a month, so you might as well get comfortable," Dr. Chang explained. She understood that people wanted to get out of the hospital as quickly as they could but getting discharged too early could cause a lot of problems; infections were just the start.

"As far as your possessions go, I am not sure. That was handled by the Emergency Staff when you were brought in and the paramedics before then. I will see if they can be located. Did you come in with anyone? Perhaps they have your things?" she suggested as she stood up and placed her hands into her pockets. "Right now, just try to rest and eat. I will send the nurse in after I place an order for pain medication to be administered once again. There might be side affects, such as drowsiness and nausea, among others. If you feel anything, do alert the nurse," she added as she stood there before pushing the tray table back over to the bed and giving him a nod.

FBI Headquarters Justice: "Indubitably ma'am," Special Agent Moreau said with a broad smile as he lead her over to the security check. She was right, it was far more enjoyable than TSA normally was. A quick run through the metal detector, a step to the side to double check, and no cavity search thankfully. Special Agent Moreau had already stepped through and was awaiting Priya on the other side.

"Ahh now see, that wasn't too tumultuous now was it?" he said as he grinned. "Just a hop skip and a jump to the elevators and we will have you to your destination post haste," he added as he motioned for her to follow him. Adjusting the cuffs on his suit and twisting the cufflinks as he strolled over towards the elevator and hit the button. The doors finally opened after a brief moment, several people stepping out because they were getting off at the ground floor. Special Agent Moreau held the door open for Priya and waited for her to enter first. "So, what brings you to our humble abode?" he asked as he stepped in after her and hit the button for their destination.

Well looked like if all went well, she had her dress for the evening. The biggest hurdle in this instance would be if the dress would actually fit her. All she had gone by when filtering through the very expensive eveningwear was mostly estimates for what would probably fit based on her height and measurements, but that was no guarantee that the dressing room wouldn't bring with it disappointment and mission failure.

Still, she wasn't shopping on her own dime, and this was supposed to be fun. So even if this dress ended up being an abject failure, Mali could just view it as another opportunity to discover something beautiful for her to wear rather than another crushing remind how few clothes actually fit her these days.

Mali took the dress to the back and sealed herself into that small room where dreams came true or hopes were dashed upon the jagged stones of Reality. Still, if anything, at least she'd be out of those hand-me-downs for a bit. One which change of clothes later, she was relieved to find that she could in fact wear the dress. It was a bit tight around the midsection, but if she sucked her stomach in it wasn't too uncomfortable. Had they more than an afternoon to get everything ready, it'd be easily tailored to fit like a glove.

Mali resisted the urge to keep checking herself out in the room's mirror and strode out of the room, head held high and intact hand on her hip. There was quite a contrast between the luxury of the dress, the dullness of the cast on her left hand, the messiness of her hair and the grunge of her well-used sneakers and socks, but ignoring issues and projecting confidence was part of bodybuilding. When she reached Zoie, Mali almost spun in place as a final flourish, but the more rational part of her self-conscious kept her from doing something so childish.

"So, pretty good if I say so myself." For emphasis Mali went through a couple of poses to show off the dress from a few different angles. It was almost something of a reflex, to pose for an audience and/or judge. It felt good to be looked at while she was prettier than not-at-all. Actually being in some of the fancy clothes made her more excited to do the other legs of the shopping trip. Some new shoes, get her nails and hair done, maybe some make-up; those politicians won't know what him them.

---

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Riley looked towards Beni and gave him a slight nod, a couple weeks that was going to take forever or she might end up being dead at some point or another before then. Riley raised an eyebrow slightly when he started to go on about the Second Amendment, the regulations were good there were constant shootings in the city alone. She wouldn't be surprised if a café sold some kind of weapon at some point in the future. Riley lightly laughed at Roy's comment and then looked towards Beni, the man was a tad bit off his rocker and maybe even a few marbles were loose somewhere in his head.

Riley watched as the paperwork was filed away when Roy said that they should be on their way. "Well its been a pleasure to meet you, and see you around I guess." Riley said as she turned around and started to head out the door. Riley walked out the door Roy had been holding open for her, she turned to see that he had taken out his phone looking over at him for a moment when Roy muttered shit to himself. "Whats up Roy?" Riley asked as she closed the door behind them, she could hear Beni going on about cats and some Egyptian dig.

She really wasn't that interested anymore, the man did make her feel slightly uncomfortable and probably would have started going on about the Illuminati being real and that all celebrities were secretly lizard people. "And was Beni always a nutcase like that?" Riley finally asked, she probably had a feeling how he ended up getting arrested by Roy now at this point as well.

---

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The process had been easy. As an Indian woman, Priya wasn't new to screenings. Even when she had her police badge on her or some other get up to show she was with law enforcement, she would be taken in the back or be asked to step to the side more times than she could count. She would often let it slide, what with her skin tone and hair color and the threat of terrorism constantly overhead, but it did get tiresome. Thankfully, this was not the case.

"Best screening ever, as far as I know." She gave a warm smile as she followed the agent into the elevator. She had to mentally remind herself this was the FBI. She wanted to poke her head into what they do here. She was curious. If she ever had the chance, she would apply, but right now she was content where she was.

Speaking of which, "I'm here on a case. I recently transferred to Justice and was given a closed case that was reopened by one of your agents. An agent Tinder, I believe? I spoke over the phone to agent Collins and he told me to stop by here. I need more info on this case, if possible. A lot has been redacted."

The chuckle that emanated from the doctor sent a sense of annoyance through Felix. Before she even started talking he knew it was essentially gonna be him in this room for a month, he just wished he would recover quickly. It was useless being stuck in here, without any of his posessions or anything. The only proper discussion he'd had was with this doctor, the other visitors were grumpy or didn't say a word and just got on with business.

"A month heh, at least I've got TV I guess" he let out a little laugh but obviously was annoyed, biting his tongue afterwards, vageuly annoyed at himself and the hospital. He felt so vulnerable right now. If he could just get a call to Tinder or even to Riley maybe he'd be able to do something.

"Thank you for the treatment Doctor, ah yes, I believe...Riley? Riley Ridgeway I believe accompanied me to the hospital,
nobody else I can recall. I'd be thrilled if anyone can locate my possessions, in the meantime thank you for the time doctor! Nothing better than a small conversation to get my spirit going again, lonlieness in this room, begins to creep ja?"

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The baby who bore Caesar's surname had made it very apparent by the solid handful of his grandfather's hair that he wasn't going anywhere. The old man, despite fresh grief over his daughter, found bittersweet joy in the little bundle of potential ouch that his family called Liam. Alicia had planned this well, from what Maria had told him, albeit behind his back. The citizenship status was a nice trick, too, guaranteeing that the child had easy access to three major nations and whichever countries shared habitation rights with them; the United Kingdom connection would be especially useful in this regard. His face took on a determined aspect as he looked to the baby, then back up to Maria. "Yes, M'hija was smart. She got that from you." It was true; though Alicia was a stone solid badass, she was talented in thinking her way out of situations that Caesar would have merely stabbed his way through. He was stealthy, but very unsubtle. "Maria, I need your help." He wasn't ordering, nor was he begging, but the plea was straightforward and unmistakable - mostly because Caesar Hannibal Gonzalez does not ask for help, ever.

In the courtyard of the main house, Benecio stood beside the open casket. He pulled a candle from his jacket pocket and lit it with an engraved, silver Zippo. The venerable priest allowed the first melted wax to drip drip drip upon a small, shallow dish, and then set it down upon the cobblestone-covered ground to one corner of the shrine. He repeated the process three more times, forming a rectangle of floor level illumination. It was as of yet still bright, broad daylight, but from the nearby crate of fine wax candles, this ritual looked to be scheduled for many hours.

The people that were previously viewed in tents, campers, and RVs outside the walls of the complex were slowly, respectfully filing in past Caesar and Maria, offering nods of respect their way. So much as they showed esteem to the two of them, the crowd wasn't specifically here for them. One by one they entered the main house's courtyard, dropping off gifts of jewelry, various fruits, bread, and token amounts of money. Dozens upon dozens of them entered to view Alicia's body, men, women, and children all, mostly keeping respectfully quiet but with a few breaches of etiquette from the youngest of them. The crowd left their offerings to the deceased and to the family, each lit a candle, and settled in quietly on low chairs, benches, and cushions upon the ground. Never once in this time did they step within the confines of the four candles around Alicia.

Meanwhile, one floor up... A knock sounded at the door. It was not the main exterior door, but the interior leading to the common room. It was still slightly open from earlier, and the person on the other side could be partially seen through the aperture between the door and its frame in the form of torn jeans and a black leather jacket. A voice floated in from the other room, feminine, brash, and sounding very much like the "chauffeur" from earlier.

"Hey, you two decent? Dad wanted me to drop some stuff off for you, answer some questions, and to try not to swear too mothershitting much while I do it." In a sarcastic tone, she followed up with, "Oops, my bad."

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Keystone jumped online and checked the intended arrival time for a very specific plane arriving in Justice later that evening. It was the same time as it always was scheduled, just as it was the last time he checked. The plane was still in the air, no delays. It was a little quieter in his office than he would have liked, and busy work wasn't his thing. Nevertheless, he really didn't have much else to do except for waiting to get reports back from the Tech crew and general staff. It could be worse, thinking about it. He could be swamped with uselessly repetitive paperwork. Wait, no; he had people for that.

Seeing as he had little to do directly except for making the occasional command decision and let the business underlings handle the business stuff, Keystone got on his phone, placing a call to the main office in Chattanooga. "Um, yeah. I'm needin' you to put my call through to Legal, right? ...bloody piss-swillin' 'ell you mean, "Does I got authorization", eh? I'l reach through this bloody phone and smack some man into ya, less you transfer the line to Legal, get me? YEAH. Director. Justice, Calisoddingfornia, ya nance! Thank you! ...circus act, this is..." The reluctant Interim Director Keystone sat on hold for a little longer than he would have liked but did get an actual person from the main Legal Department on the line. "Hey, how'saboutya, then? Need to speak with someone 'bout the legalities of gettin' small startups, diff'rences in the law from HQ to Cali, y'understand? Also, the guidelines on a branch Director contractin' new clients with existin' businesses. Yeah, I'll wait."

At least these guys didn't give him the run-around. Yet.

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Cecily nodded, thinking over what Natasha had said. A patron saint wasn't too weird of a thing for a priest to have, she supposed. Her family wasn't religious, but she was vaguely familiar with the concept of saints. It made everything make a little bit more sense, so until something suggested otherwise, Cecily decided she'd just accept Natasha's explanation.

Glancing up at the knock on the door, Cecily could barely make out a person standing there. The torn jeans and leather jacket reminded her a little bit of the "tough" kids from college. Of course, it took her about a minute to realize it was likely their chauffeur on the other side of the door, judging by the voice. She must've been the priest's daughter then...How did a priest have a daughter? Cecily's eyebrows furrowed a bit in confusion. Weren't priests supposed to be celibate and all? She wasn't sure if that could be explained away as easily as a patron saint, but there likely was some explanation for it. There always was one.

"Yeah, we're...decent," Cecily replied.

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Jaina squealed with delight. If her hands were free, she likely would've been clapping them together. Strawberry dole whips were her favorite and she couldn't remember the last time she had had one. That was definitely one of the downsides of being in an asylum--the food sucked~! But still, no one could take her happiness away from her. Smiling sweetly up at the doctor, Jaina then nodded vigorously.

"Don't worry~! The doc and I are gooooooood friends~!" Jaina said, before cackling some more.

Iris felt a little uneasy, but that was natural she supposed. She had played ice hockey in school and she knew how to fence. Between those two skills, she felt fairly confident she'd be able to manage herself. And as long as she kept a healthy distance from Jaina, she didn't feel like she'd be in too much danger. Someone needed to keep the patient calm, at any rate. "I've got this. If you could send an orderly by with her file, that'd be appreciated however," Iris said. She needed to do a bit of reading on her patient. Maybe then, the Russian words would make some sense contextually.

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*Quick Note: Color codes for location headers will denote time of day basically. Not so much tie of day but look for matching ones to see if you are in the same ~time frame~ as others.

La Hacienda: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico : Maria crossed her arms over her chest and eyed Caesar as he spoke. Liam seemed to be content in his grandfathers arms, or at least content with holding onto a wad full of the older mans hair and tugging on it constantly. "Just what do you need?" she asked, skeptical right then and more than a little angry. She had lost her daughter, in the very field of work she had divorced Caesar over. She had always worried something like this would happen and her worst fears were confirmed the day she got the call. Liam was the only reason she hadn't walked straight up to Caesar and smacked him across the face in full Telanovela style.

Natasha cocked a brow at the words coming from the other side of their door. Running her fingers through her hair she smirked a bit. "Yeah we're fucking decent, so just go ahead and fucking come in," she said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice before looking over towards Cecily and holding back a giggle. Shaking her head a bit she pulled herself over to the edge of the couch and pulled a water bottle from the plane out of her purse. It had only been half drunk when they landed and since she hadn't known how long it would before they were actually here she had brought it with her. Unscrewing the cap she took a long swig from it, dehydration from the flight was not the most pleasant of feelings in her condition.

Diamond District: Zoie browsed through the clothing in the store while waiting on Mali to try on the dress. As she heard her return she turned around and smiled. "Oh that looks fabulous," she exclaimed in approval. The dress did fit her well and showed off her shape. Stepping over to Mali she took a closer look and nodded in a confirmed approval once again. "Yes, this will do wonderfully for tonight, a little tailoring will make it fit you perfectly but they can take care of that in no time I believe," she added as she glanced over towards their personal shopper in the store. The woman snapped her fingers and several other girls came over to Mali and started making a few notes and taking a few measurements. It wasn't long before they were done.

"Why don't you pick a few more things before you change out of the dress, something more casual to wear the rest of the day," Zoie suggested with some enthusiasm. She figured Mali didn't want to go around the rest of the day in the hand me downs she had let the woman borrow. The store had a few styles in shop besides the evening wear, some more casual items and shoes as well. "Anything you want, don't hold back." This had started out as just trying to get Mali with the right clothing to be seen around town today and tonight but she found she was enjoying this and since Mali had been drug into this whole thing thanks to her brother she wanted to show her thanks. Plus, it wasn't like Zoie had a lot of actual friends out there to go have a girls day. Might as well enjoy it.

Justice Asylum: Everything outside of Jaina's room is pretty calm for now, Nurse Cratty will be a few while she takes care of things and the orderly will be some time as well as Jaina's file is pulled. (You can have the orderly show up when you are ready.)

Gun Range: Roy glanced over towards Riley as he listened to a couple of rather loud voice mails from his captain and nodded in a not so convincing manner. "Just the captain trying to get a hold of me," he said as he finally hung up the phone and shoved it in his back pocket. "I need to head to the precinct, check in before they mark me as dead," he chuckled a bit before he started to lead the way out of the gun range, ruffling the back of his hair a bit. He didn't want to deal with his captain but it had to be done sooner or later. Might as well get it over with and then back to the job at hand.

"Oh Beni? Not really sure, he's been that way as long as I have known him. Always spouting off some damn conspiracy. Sadly in this town, have the shit he says I wouldn't doubt. Which doesn't help of course. Nothing worse than a conspiracy theorist actually getting one right every now and again. Just fuels the more outrageous ones," he said with a sigh as he held the door open to the front of the building for Riley so they could make their way to the car and get out of there.

Justice Memorial: Dr. Chang nodded a bit and reached behind Felix and pulled down the phone from the wall for him, the code stretching out a bit as she rested it on the bed next to him. "Well why don't you go ahead and make a call. Try not to make too many or be on the phone too long. You do need your rest, the more the better right now. If you need anything else just push the call button. The nurse will be in shortly to re-administer your pain meds," she said before leaving the room, the door closing heavily behind her as she did.

The food that had been brought to Felix was cold by now but it was still there, knowing the hospital it wouldn't be long before someone came around to collect it. The doctor had said earlier she would look into fining Felix's things but knowing hospitals that could take awhile.

FBI Headquarters Justice: "Yeah, we tend to redact almost everything with cases and only slowly show things as our hands are forced. Can be a bit taxing to say the least," he said, a bit of a disgruntled tone to his voice before he shook it off and smiled broadly towards Priya. "Do forgive me, I worked narcotics in D.C. before I joining here, so had my far amount of red tape to cut through," he added as the elevator came to a stop on their floor and the doors opened. Holding his hand out against the doors he waited for Priya to exit the elevator first before proceeding to lead her to Collins.

It was a few twists and turns through the building to finally get there and as they did, he held the door open for her once again. "Here we are. Collins, you have a visitor," he said as he finally stepped into the large room scattered with desks and various agents mulling about. Collins looked up from his desk by the window and rose from his seat; smoothing his hair out a bit as he extended his hand in greeting towards the new comer to Justice.

"Special Agent Collins, glad you could make it over here so quickly," he said introducing himself. He exchanged a few words with Priya's escort before Moreau gave a rather extravagant farewell to Priya and headed over to his desk a few rows over.

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Priya could only imagine the amount of red tape the FBI both created and waded through in their activities. As she stepped off the elevator, her eyes circled the large room with agents running about. It was impressive how many of them were there. She hadn't expected a small town operation like this would have many members. Perhaps others were here from other offices?

Or perhaps she was right about coming to Justice.

Either way, she made her way over as Special Agent Collins came over. She quickly shook his hand and bid Agent Moreau farewell. She turned her attention back on Collins. "Thank you for allowing me to come. I know it's a lot to ask, but any information I can get about this case will be helpful. At least the basics that aren't listed in the file."

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Riley could hear Roy's boss on the other end but she couldn't hear exact words that he was saying over the messages, seeing Roy nodding though it wasn't really convincing to her really. "Seems like he could fire you or something." Riley said as she followed Roy down the hallway, looking towards the man who had checked them into the shooting alley earlier and gave him a slight nod. Riley then moved towards the door thanking Roy for holding it open for her.

Riley smiled slightly thinking that maybe some of the crap that Beni believed in the city, he could have some interesting and weird theories as well. "I bet he has some weird theories on the city itself." It seemed that Roy was going to be going to work, though she wasn't really sure what she would be doing assuming that he would end up dropping her off back at the safe house.

Riley made her way over towards Roy's car waiting by the front door and looked towards him. "So i'm guessing your dropping me back off at the safe house or back at my place in Boston Heights?" Riley asked leaning slightly against the car looking towards him, she thought about Cecily for a moment she hadn't heard from her all day yet. She also thought about checking in with Marc as well, the only two people that she really did trust in this city other then Roy.

Mali raised her arms and tried to help the staff with measurements and such. She knew they were supposed to be ignored unless needed for some errand, but she couldn't help but imagine how annoying it would be to try measuring someone as they just went about their business. She had half a mind to just tell them her measurements so they wouldn't have to bother. She took them or had them taken relatively often, about once a month so; they might be a bit off due to changes over time, but it would save a bit of time and trouble. However, it would be kind of awkward to bring up, and they were measuring more than the main eight she kept up with (shoulder, chest, arm, forearm, waist, hips, thigh, calf), so she just let them do their job.

Mali couldn't say that she had the chance for any kind of Girl's Day/Night Out any time recently either. Her "friends" from high school spent a lot of their time getting high and/or drunk, causing destruction whilst drunk and bored, and getting into fights over petty shit. Then when she started trying to turn her life around, she had her hands full trying to catch up on years worth of neglected material. In university, Her time was divided between her first major, her second major, work, and her girlfriend. Sleep worked its way into her schedule when there was a brief opening. Towards the tail end of her campus days she took up bodybuilding, which ate up a lot more time than she had anticipated. And now she was in a strange new city with no real friends except a weird tech geek she'd met two weeks ago. Any chance to have fun being girly was one she'd snap up in an instant.

Speaking of which, Zoie said to not hold back, but Mali was still hesitant to completely cut loose. She was spending someone else's money after all. Still, she needed at least a couple more items, and she couldn't help but grab a couple more she didn't. Same rules as before, but the first piece she'd be wearing for most of the day, so it'd need to not give her a heat stroke as well. And she'd try to avoid another yellow outfit, wouldn't want to give the impression that was the only color she liked.

Ultimately she picked out a few things to finish off the purchases for the store. A bodysuit and jeans for her to wear around the rest of the day. Honestly, she was surprised that the store had jeans, but when she saw how much they cost, everything made sense again. And while she was at it, she picked out another bottom and dress for later use. One quick trip to the dressing room later and She looked a lot closer to presentable on the streets of the Diamond District without being over-dressed.

"Anything else you want to take care of while we're here?"

As the phone came down to him, he made a relieved sigh. At least he had that almost at arms reach, in case anything bad were to happen. He was about to open his mouth, get in a few more nice words to the doctor when she was already making her way away from his room through the doors. A sigh escaped his lips as he blinked a few times. At least she had cleared up some of his confusion at the very least, that did help out his dazed and pained state.

He let the phone go for a moment as he ate his food, savouring what he could, worry and fear running through his brain. After he made the phone call, he'd be a target, somebody could easily have wired the phone. If he made the call...he'd be signing his own warrant he presumed. He ate the food in preparation for a climax, if things got interesting and hectic he didn't want to be doing it all on an empty stomach now did he?

He wiped his mouth with a hand, clenching his teeth as his head seared. With a grunt he picked up the phone and dialed the number for the local police station, pressing call.

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"What's going on is big, Maria." Caesar's voice was low and even, keeping the baby in his arms settled and more or less content. "M'hija got involved in something without my approval. We're still trying to figure out what it is. It mostly involves powerfully placed women in medicine, military, industry... Our contract holder in California is part of it. She might be okay, though. Complicated. Lady named Queensguard. She brought M'hija on board." A look of stress and pain rolled over his face. He tried to suppress it to finish speaking his peace; his success in doing so was only partial.

"I'm running out of people I can trust, Maria. I would close down the branch and expand somewhere else, but someone has to answer for our daughter. Someone has to answer..." Yes, someone would pay for this, if his feelings on the matter had a say. The person next to them would pay, too. And the next nearest. And so on, and so on. The lucky ones would only have fresh coating of arterial red, and the only truly safe ones would be already dead or behind him, handing over the next machete or knife or corkscrew as he cut a swath of jagged meat and bone through anyone stupid enough to get in his way.

"You know Law, Maria. And you know business. You know my business, okay? And you know me. Married or not, you birthed a Gonzalez. You are Familia, now and always. I want to give you the Justice, California branch of MSS. This baby's father is acting Director now. I need you to take over for him. Full access, full control. The fact that you don't like me very much will only help you. Don't answer now - let's see to our daughter first."

The parade of people continued into the complex from outside. They entered the main house at first, but some found their way into one or another of the other two houses and their grounds. They seemed to be of all walks of life, businesspersons and laborers, musicians, soldiers, artists. There was even a small group of masked Luchadores in attendance, each bearing gifts and deferring quiet respect to Caesar and Maria as they passed by. One thing they all had in common was a relation to the Gonzalez clan by blood or marriage. Everyone knew everyone here, everyone relied upon the person next to them. It was a huge, multigenerational family, the core of which bred some of the most interestingly calamitous people in Central America.

Meanwhile, one floor up... The door to the central room swung open the rest of the way, revealing that it was indeed their chauffeur from earlier. Intense hazel eyes look like they had been crying very recently, red rimmed and still a bit watery despite the strength of her voice. She had a large woven basket over one arm, the same hand holding a sixer of Corona. In her other hand, she clutched two plain, white candles and a book of matches.

"Yeah, thanks. Hey, before I begin, are either of you fucking Caesar? It's just like him to... Wait, sorry. Not my business. Sorry. Umm, yeah. Dad wanted me to give you these," she held the candles out to either of them, continuing, "If you can't tell from the accent, I'm from the States. These big family gatherings sacred the hell out of me at first. I mean, our Matron is the folk saint of Death, for Christ's sake. Most normal people would be scared shitless to come on this property. Hell, I'm surprised no one in the city warned you about us. Oh!"

The exclamation was due to her suddenly remembering that she had a whole other armload of stuff to drop off. She set the candles on the table nearby, and additionally dropped off the beer and basket. From inside the woven carrier, she pulled a stack of steaming, soft shell tortillas and a tupperware container of what appeared to be shredded meat. "Carnitas, if you guys are interested. Corona's yours too. Other shit in the common room, full bar, San Pellegrino, sparkling flat, fruity, blah blah blah... Look, here's the deal: Whenever you two are up for it, it would do the Family good to see you pay respects to Alicia. Really simple. Take one of these candles downstairs, light it off of one of the candles in the courtyard, and find a quiet spot to tack it down. They'll be down there all night, at least."

A word of warning, "There are four candles making a rectangle around her body. Don't step inside of it. It's disrespectful." followed by an almost cheerful, "The kitchens and firepits on the grounds are going to be churning out food by the shit-ton. We gotta feed the living. NOW, if you've got any questions about us or what's going to happen next, you'll have to do it in the other room. I'm about to find a bottle of Mescal and dive for that fucking worm. Could get ugly. You with me?" The young woman began backing out of the bedroom and into the main area. "Hmm?"

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On hold. Hold sucked, but at least the music was okay. MSS was pretty good about that. It helped that the original music was picked out by Caesar's family and some of his original employees. While it was an interesting bit of happenstance, listening to the Rolling Stones belt out "Paint It Black" while sitting behind a desk twiddling his thumbs, it was becoming tedious. Kestone knew what they were doing, too. They were verifying that he was the actual Acting Director of the Justice, CA branch before releasing anything sensitive to him. Hopefully, this would only have to happen once.

The Tech crew, meanwhile, were making themselves busy digging into the odd and ends of their local network, making the odd comment about antiquated passwords and chuckling at the search histories of people who were supposed to be on shift. The quieter one, Whitmore, raised his hand high above his terminal, which was responded to by the tall lady, Vinters. She immediately scooped up an energy beverage from her pack and hurled it across their setup, sailing at an almost perfect spiral until it nailed the palm of his hand. The barely had to stop typing. Other employees craned their necks to observe the curious knot of people in what they assumed was their workspace, until the Party of Four from Seattle basically just made it theirs. The seniormost one, Ibanez, addressed the onlookers.

"How many of you are on monitors? Yeah, eyes back on them. Let me know if you get a flicker or static. I'm going to try something."

Back in his office, Keystone looked positively bored. Hold still sucked, no matter what music.

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*All in the same time frame now - so if you need to message someone or call them - it will contact them in real time finally.

Diamond District: "If that is all you want from here, that is all we will get," Zoie said as she looked over towards Mali and smiled. "Ring us up," she added towards the sales associates. There were boxing up several things already. Seemed Zoie had picked out a few things as well. "Have everything delivered to the Diamond Justice Hotel as quickly as possible. The dress within the hour. Suite 7000," she said as she pulled a credit card from her purse and paid for their little shopping spree.

Once that was taken care of she turned her attention back to Mali and smiled. "Well that was a start. How about a trip over to the spa before we continue shopping? I could do with a wash and rinse, mani/pedi. Not to mention they have a wonderful light lunch while we are setting to enjoy," she suggested as she signed the receipt and tucked it away. "Business expenses. You just have to love a tax write off," she said in a light voice.

"After that I figure we can hit a few more shops, a trip to the jewelry store. Cartier is fabulous. We will need to borrow an item or two for the evening. And then, shoes. I could use a new pair of Zanotti," she said with a laugh as she headed for the door and held it open for Mali with one hand as the other placed her sunglasses on her face.

Police Department: Station 54: "Yeah, no. Not letting you out of my sight right now. Safe house might be okay but if the others came back and you were there I am not sure how they would take it without me being there to introduce you. Even if they did leave us breakfast." Roy stepped outside and headed straight for his car. Popping the trunk and tossing the bag of weapons into it.

"And your place... That is just suicide at this point. The run to the department shouldn't take long. I will probably just get a quick chewing out before I am dismissed. Not fired. He can't," Roy added as he climbed into the car. Taking a deep breath he started it up and waited on Riley to get in before continuing. "As far as Juno goes I still work for them, at least that is what they think. He wouldn't dare let me go without their okay," he said as he backed the car up and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Don't know how long they will stay out of the loop where it comes to me but for now I might as well use what little pull I have to get answers," he said in a regretful voice as they drove out onto the highway and started to head towards the police station. Roy made small talk, about how his captain was used to him vanishing like this. Juno had set him up as a detective so he could go under cover without word and not have to report everything. How it worked exactly he wasn't sure but he had been through this before apparently and because of that he was used to getting nothing more than a chewing out from time to time.

Pulling up to the station he parked and turned the car off before looking over at Riley. "If anyone asks, I have been looking into a breaking and entering at your place," he said as he shoved his keys into his pocket and got out of the car.

Justice Memorial: The phone rang a few times, a few times longer than one might expect before someone finally picked up on the other line. "Justice Police Department; Station 51 - what ya want?" a voice came in on the line. It was a gruff voice. Station 51... Not Station 54, who handled things in the area of Boston Heights. Well he calling from the hospital and not home right then, so it made sense that he wouldn't get the same police station.

FBI Headquarters Justice: "No worries, please have a seat," Special Agent Collins said to Priya as he motioned for her to have a seat across from him at his desk before sitting back down and pulling his chair in slightly. "Yeah, I pulled up the file you are talking about. I wish I could give you more information but..." he said rubbing the back of his neck a bit. "I might have brought you down here for nothing..."

Hitting a few keys on the keyboard he then turned his monitor around and showed Priya what he was talking about. The file was there, or at least the one she had already was. Even on the screen it was redacted. Hitting a few more keys he left the monitor to face her but suddenly on the screen a message popped up over the file - Classified.

"I really have no idea why it is like this..." He muttered under his breath before another voice chimed in coming up from behind Priya.

"So that Nosy Nelly's like you don't go poking around."

"Marc! Where the hell have you been?" Collins said standing up as Marc walked over and adjusted his tie a bit. He was no longer in his drivers suit but his usual five piece that he wore for the office.

"Long story. Now why are you looking into the Lawson Case and who is this?" he asked as he looked over towards Priya.

"This is Detective Khurana, Justice PD. She was assigned the case and was looking for some information. I was trying to help her you ass but hey, since you are here, have at it," Collins said sitting back in his chair and rolling his eyes.

"I see," Marc said as he turned more to face Priya and nodded a bit. "Special Agent Marc Tinder. Why don't we go have a chat," he suggested. He didn't even wait for her to answer before stepping over to another desk, unlocking a drawer, pulling out a lap top and then proceeding to walk over to a conference room. Once there he looked over towards Priya and motioned for her to join him inside.

Taking a seat at the long table he got semi comfortable as he opened his lap top and then leaned back in his chair as he laced his fingers together. He waited for the woman to see if she would follow of just stay there and deal with Collins. Marc wasn't usually this short and terse but he had things to do, walking back into headquarters to find someone snooping about his case didn't exactly put him at ease. Collins sighed a bit and rubbed his temples before looking back over at Priya. "Sorry about that. Listen if you want information, I will try to wrestle some out of him later but he is a bit tight lipped about this case. Good luck."

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Cecily had to stifle a laugh at Natasha's bluntness. While she hadn't really known anyone with cancer, she never associated cancer patients with sarcastic comments. It was a nice bit of humanity in the doctor - she wasn't exactly who Cecily had expected her to be. But then again, hardly anyone in Justice seemed to be the way they appeared. Her rockstar roommate had killed a serial killer in self defense. The cops were crooked or knee deep in secret organizations. Caesar had a priest for a brother. The only one who was exactly as they appeared was Wallace - the man was dead, but it didn't change the fact that he had been incompetent.

Of course, any humor Cecily found in the situation vanished when she saw the red eyes of their chauffeur. This wasn't a time to make light of anything. Spotting the basket in the woman's hand, Cecily couldn't help but feel like they ought to be the ones giving her things, rather than the other way around. Alicia had been someone important to her, while Cecily and (as far as she was aware) Natasha didn't know her.

She nearly gagged, however, at the question as to whether they were fucking Caesar. Sex never interested her and it generally didn't repulse her - no, the scary thought was the idea of being that with Caesar. Cecily didn't know if she had a type but she was fairly certain Caesar wasn't it. She sometimes romanticized fictional characters but more often than not, she'd rather be friends and family with Wolverine or Hermione Granger or whoever than lovers.

"I'm...I don't know what that means," Cecily admitted. Diving for a worm? It didn't make much sense to her. However, she made a mental note to go and do the candle ritual thing whenever Natasha seemed up to it. They had all night, from what the woman had said. And surprisingly, the fact that the patron saint was Death was a bit comforting - it matched up more with her mental image of Caesar and his background.

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"Mitochondria," Jaina blurted, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room. Iris was standing near the door, a good five or six feet away from Jaina. It seemed to be a decent enough precaution, at least until the orderly arrived with the file. It'd take at least five minutes, Iris figured. With the events of yesterday, she doubted it was a high priority in the grand scheme of things.

"I beg your pardon?" Iris asked.

"It's the powerhouse of the cell~" Jaina said, as if that explained everything.

Iris shook her head slightly, not sure exactly what to think. She may have been educated in England, yet she was familiar with that meme online. For some reason, Americans found a lot of humor in that little statement. It only made partial sense to her, but in this scenario, Iris wasn't certain how it all related. The woman seemed to be bouncing all over the place, going from statements that seemed to be about Cynthia's kidnapping to the taste of strawberry dole whips. Needless to say, Iris' professional opinion was that Jaina was not in good mental shape.

"I know other things too," Jaina added. "Liiiiiike this job, this place, it bums you out, doctor~ You ever think about letting loose? Putting your hair down? Just feeling the colors and the sound and the birds and the bees and the knives?" Jaina giggled a bit. She squirmed a bit, but the straight jacket kept her restrained.

"Every job has periods of stress," Iris said politely. There was a knock at the door and after a few exchanges between her and the orderly, Jaina's file had finally arrived.

"But you should just be haaaaaappy," Jaina insisted, as Iris started to flip through the file, looking for the general patient summary, points of contact, reason for confinement, etc. Anything that might give her some understanding of her patient and the woman's use of Russian.

Mali almost asked Zoie if she had already booked a suite at the hotel beforehand or if they'd have to go there at some point to sort that out, but figured that she'd called beforehand, or had that particular room perpetually in her name or something. Maybe that hotel suite just happened to be where she spent most of her working hours. Whatever the case, clothes were secured and shipped off to a semi-secure location, and Mali only felt slightly bad about buying absurdly expensive clothes with someone else's cash. But if Zoie's words were anything to go by, she picked out fewer items than expected, with was something.

"Kind of weird for a spa to be in the middle of the city. I thought places like that would be outside of city limits, away from all the noise. But, I guess convenience overrides. Sounds good to me," Mali said, leaving the store behind. She raised her hand over her eyes as the morning California sun blinded her briefly. Maybe at one of the shops she should pick up a pair of shades like Zoie to protect her eyes from all this bullshit sun. Or maybe a nice hat.

"I definitely need new shoes for tonight, unless you also happen to wear size 12 and have something that'd go with my dress. I'll need to find someplace to put these after I change out of them though." Now that she thought about it, it had been a long-ass time since she had worn proper high heels. Thinking back, the last occasion was probably University Graduation. She might have lost some of her balancing capabilities in the meantime. That and the fact that she might have to end up running tonight for unforeseen reasons prompted her to decide to try looking for something close to the ground. That went with her outfit. And didn't look hideous.