Stepping out of the car, Brie slammed the door shut behind her. Fumbling around for a few moments as she lit the cigarette she was holding, Brie felt herself relax when she took the first inhale. She tried not to smoke anymore but she felt agitated, and it had always helped calm her. Smiling at Patricia, Brie leant against the car bonnet as she looked around. They were in a large industrial area that seemed to mainly consist of various warehouses. It would have appeared to be abandoned if not for the loud music that was emitting from one of the buildings, a large metal shutter pulled half-open. "So...there's a small chance that they may try to kill us on sight." She said as she breathed out a puff of smoke, speaking as nonchalantly as if she were discussing the weather.

Patricia edged away from Brie as she lit the cigarette, getting out of the way from the fumes. Secondhand smoke was no joke- and bad for her voice. She tried not to look too uncomfortable, though, but it showed on her face. She frowned and almost held her nose but decided against it. That would be rude and probably suspect in Brookside, where smoking was common. Still, though…

At Brie’s comment, her eyes bulged out. “What?! You said they were your friends!” Patricia hissed, her anxiety growing tenfold. She glanced up at the building where the music was coming from. Was that where they were going? The music was so... shitty.

"They are...were. I'm not sure anymore to be honest!" She said, shrugging her shoulders. "We'll see anyway!" There was a reasonable chance that they'd found out how she'd betrayed them but there was also no-one better to get information from in Brookside, so she figured it was worth the risk.

"Sorry, Brookside brings out my bad habits." Noticing the look on Patricia's face, Brie dropped the cigarette butt on the floor, stomping it out with the heel of her sneaker. "Er, don't tell Will okay!" She added as she began to walk across the empty lot, bits of gravel kicking up underneath her as she went.

Patricia followed her nervously, sticking her hands in and out of her pockets. “I won’t, don’t worry,” she told her, glancing to and fro. The street looked abandoned, run down. There were windows rotting out, puddles of what looked like oil on the ground, and trash bags strewn about. There was no one to be seen on the street. She shivered. It was creepy, but she could swear someone was watching them.

“Do I… you know, look suspicious enough?” She gestured to her clothes. She had on a purple sweater, jeans, and brown boots, and her wavy brown hair was neatly combed into a messy bun- she didn’t exactly look like she belonged.

"You look very New Athens. Maybe just...take your hair down or something." Brie laughed as she quickly glanced at her outfit. "Shame, we should have gotten you a tattoo or something!" Her eyes lit up at this idea, resolving silently to try and persuade her to do this at another time.

“I’m not nearly rich enough to live in New Athens,” Patricia grumbled before taking her hair down. She tucked it behind her ears a few times and fiddled with it. She frowned at the tattoo suggestion but didn’t overall reject it- maybe in a year or so, when she was an adult? A musical note tattoo… oh, yeah, that would be pretty. The idea distracted her for a second before she snapped back to reality.

“So, what do you want me to do to these guys?”

Running her fingers through her hair, Brie pondered for a few moments, trying to decide what the was plan was. "I'll talk to them first, see what they're willing to tell us upfront. I doubt they'll spill much though, so that's where you come in." The pair had reached the warehouse, the music that was blasting loudly from inside now identifiable as some form of either rap or hip-hop. "I love this song!" Brie exclaimed distractedly before getting back to their actual discussion, "Oh, and you can make them forget you used your powers on them, right?"

Patricia looked briefly disgusted by the music blasting from the warehouse, cringing. Hip hop definitely wasn’t her favorite genre of music- she didn’t like the crass lyrics or the intrusive bass. Her eyebrow twitched.

Patricia started to look nervous again at Brie’s suggestion, fiddling with her hands. “N-not really. I mean, if I had more practice, maybe, but that’s some advanced mind fuckery. I only really do emotions and commands and stuff. It took me a lot of practice before I could make someone fall asleep without a command.”

"Oh..." Brie paused, her whole plan having been based around this idea. "It's fine! We'll just wing it then!"

Before Patricia could protest, Brie had raised a fist to the metal shutter, pounding on it loudly before ducking underneath. The music immediately shut off and as Brianna straightened up, she found that there was a Glock 19 pointed directly at her temple. Looking the boy up and down, for he was definitely only seventeen tops, she frowned at him in irritation. "Er...who are you?" She remarked, glancing around at the other dozen or so men (there was only one woman that she could see) who were sitting or standing about. The warehouse was surprisingly clean and organised on the inside, a large boxing ring taking up much of the back area, a mismatch of old tables & chairs dotted about, and a couple of doors that likely led to more rooms.

"W-who are you?" He retorted, stammering a little as he spoke. The kid clearly wasn't used to handling a gun, or at least not used to aiming it at someone's head.

Patricia froze, staring at the gun. Did Brie… not know these people? She shot a panicked glance to her friend, grabbing Brie’s elbow and inching her away from the gun.

“You first!”

The kid opened his mouth, about to say something when a deep voice suddenly cut through the tension in the room. "Fucking hell Gizmo! Stop waving that thing about. I ain't paying for your hospital bills." The man, who was around 6ft 4 in height and riddled with tattoos; nearly every part of his body besides his face were covered in them, strode to the small group as he noticed the commotion. "I swear, they're sending me more and more idiots every year." He grunted, having moved from his place at a small table covered in playing cards and cigarette ends. Gizmo hesitantly lowered the gun, quickly backing into a corner as the man made his way over.

"Lefty!" Brie's face lit up as she saw him, the towering man suddenly lifting her off the ground to pull her into a crushing hug. "You're gonna break my ribs!" She laughed, squirming as she tried to break free from his grip. He eventually put her back on solid ground, reaching one large hand to ruffle her hair. "Been a long time lil' B. Thought you were dead or summin." He leaned over to look at her more closely, at this point also noticing Patricia, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Who's this?"

Patricia stared, shocked as Brie was lifted up by the huge, tattooed man. ...Lefty? Was that even a name? Just a moment ago a boy had been waving a gun in their faces, and, now, this man was greeting her kindly. She gawked at the scene, not sure what to say or do. She had never really been around these kinds of people, and she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t get her killed.

She almost buckled under his skeptical stare, eyes widening. “O-oh, me? I’m, uh…” She swallowed. To use a fake name or not to use a fake name? “I’m a cowork- no, uh, a friend of Brie’s. We’re friends.”

"Yep, we're friends! But...she sometimes does a few shifts with me. Y'know, at Juno's bar?" Brie quickly added, only letting out the breath she was holding when Lefty dropped the fixed stare that he had been giving Patricia.

"Where you been?" Lefty questioned as he began to walk over to the back of the warehouse, Brie following behind him. "What're you doing!? Keep your eyes on him!" He suddenly shouted at one of the fighters in the boxing ring, a smaller man having taken a hard blow to the jaw.

Looking back at Patricia, Brie smiled at her gingerly, hoping that she wasn't too freaked out by all of this. "Oh...I've just been laying low. Trying to keep my nose out of trouble y'know..." She answered quickly as she watched the boxing match, although her real attention was still on the tall man next to her. She was pretty sure that he didn't know she worked for HERO One but then again, you could never really be sure what he was thinking.

Lefty just nodded in response, his eyes still following the two fighters, jaw twitching when they made a move that he didn't like. Eventually, he spoke again, turning to look at the pair of them. "So, what dya' want? I know you didn't come here just to catch up."

Patricia gaped at their surroundings, trying her best to keep her eyes inside of her head. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Brie had associated with- no, maybe even been- like these people before she worked at H.E.R.O. It was definitely a shock to her. Although her own upbringing hadn’t been perfect by any means, it hadn’t been like this. These people looked dangerous. She stared at the boxing match, intrigued for a second, before snapping back to their conversation at Lefty’s question.

Oh, boy. She guessed it was her turn. “We need information on the Gugliano crime family,” Patricia said, voice steely and firm. She stared him in the eyes, fully aware that she was dwarfed by him and pretending not to be bothered by it. “Movements, habits… whatever you can think of.”

At the mention of the Guglianos, Leftys whole body seemed to tense up. A detailed tattoo of a tiger that was inked onto his right forearm looking for a very brief moment like it was shifting in place. "Backroom. Now." He grunted, ignoring the curious looks of those around them. Striding towards one of the doors, he led them down a long hallway and into a room that appeared to be nothing more than a makeshift office. "Now, you're gonna have to explain to me very carefully why the hell you care about the Guglianos." Opening a draw in his desk, he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before offering one to them both.

Brie shook her head, thinking carefully about how she phrased her next sentence. "I've just heard things." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Like the fact that the Guglianos have been operating in Brookside. And that they've been undertaking activities that aren't...normal for them."

Patricia nodded along with Brie, shifting on her feet. For some reason, this guy made her nervous. She shook her head at the cigarette offer, too, forcing herself not to back away from the smoke. Still, though… she made a bit of a disgusted face. “We have business with them,” she supplied, hopefully affirming Brie’s statement. “We just need to know some things, and we hoped you might have the information we want.”

"You see, here's my problem..." Lefty was now leaning back in his chair, looking for all the world like he was having a polite conversation about the weather, whilst giving off a distinctly threatening aura. "If your business with them isn't through me, which I know it isn't, then it's with someone else. And I'm not stupid enough to give out information to someone else now, am I?"

"I just think it looks bad on you guys..." Brie ventured warily, "If the mafia is stepping into your territory. I know certain people wouldn’t like it..."

Leftys entire disposition changed as Brie spoke, the muscles in his jaw tightening in anger. "Now I like you and all lil' B, but if you're gonna threaten me..." He growled at the pair, suddenly rising up from his seat, tattoos flickering wildly. Brie shot a panicked look over at Patricia. This really was not going anything like she had planned. Not that she'd had a plan...but still.

Patricia stepped in front of the door, blocking him from leaving the room. They needed this information, and, well, if he wasn’t gonna give it to them... He was getting aggressive, and she didn’t know what else to do, so she gestured frantically at Brie to put her ear plugs in and started to sing. “La, la la la la laaaa...~ she sang, projecting her voice.

“Sit back down,” Patricia commanded Lefty. “Don’t move. Don’t use your power.”

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Lefty growled as he slowly sat back down, his body straining in a way that made it look like he was trying hard to resist her commands. "You'd better let me go little girl. It'll be bad for you if you don't."

Patricia’s gaze was steely. She stalked to the desk, leaning over it and planting her hands in his space. She shook her head slowly, frowning in a fake way. “I’m afraid not, Lefty. Don’t feel like it. Now, for the first question…” Patricia pretended to think for a moment, rubbing her chin. “Tell us everything you’ve heard about the Guglianos’ movements in the last, say… month or so. And tell the truth, now.”

"Why the hell would I tell-..." Lefty managed to get out before he could no longer resist. "Nothing that those...that those Goombahs aren't normally up to. Drugs, weapons, the usual shit..." He eventually relented, "They have been treading more in Brookside territory, though we're not really sure why. We've had a few scraps with them recently over it." His eyebrows furrowed at this, it clearly being a sore point for him.

Brie watched the two, nodding silently to herself as Lefty began to give them the information, it seeming genuine. She always found it difficult to watch someone under the influence of mind control but she supposed it was for the best.

Patricia made a ‘tsk’ noise. She would be lying if she didn’t enjoy this a little, although she did notice that it bothered Brie a little. But none of this was good information- it was stuff they already knew, nothing they could use. “Not good enough. Tell me if there’s anything abnormal going on, any tips you’ve heard about locations or deliveries or jobs that they’re going on. And then tell me what those tips, jobs, and locations are. Tell the truth.

"Well..." Lefty let out a loud barking laugh, "we heard about those missing heros. God I love when those HERO One pricks get what they deserve. But I don't know nothin' more about that. Vinnie Gugliano probably killed them outright I'm betting." He slammed a fist into the table, trying and failing to stand up. "All...all else I've heard is about a shipment coming in the day after tomorrow. Apparently it's for fish or summin. Thought it were a bit odd myself."

“The hero kidnappings!” Patricia momentarily broke out of interrogator mode to smile with glee, turning to Brie and giving her a thumbs-up. That was what they needed! His comment on ‘getting what they deserved’ made her blood boil for a moment, but she ignored it. The fish thing also sounded interesting, but… nonsensical. But he didn’t know anything about the hero kidnappings, so it was a dead end. “Tell me where the Guglianos like to hang out, outside of their compound.”

"Where they hang out? Well...they have that big fancy house in Watervale." He paused, "And there's a poker night at the 21 club, happens every week. Some of my guys have run into Vinnies underlyings there."

“Poker, huh?” Patricia thought for a moment, and then made a motion to Brie to show she was done. She took her hands from the desk, dusting them off. “Thank you, Lefty,” she said with a smooth smile. “You’ve been very helpful. Now, when we leave this building, you will not have your gang attack or prevent us from leaving. You will not prevent us from leaving or attack us yourself. You’ll let us go amicably with a smile on your face? Understand?” At his nod, she smiled. “Good. Then you’re free to get up, move, and use your powers. You’ll show us the way out now.” She gestured toward the door with an expectant smile on her face.

Brie stepped aside as Lefty stood up, trying to ignore the furious stare he was giving them. Sure he was a criminal but he had also been her friend once, and that was surely shot to hell now. As Patricia had commanded, Lefty led them back out through the back corridor, past the boxing ring and to the metal shutters where they'd entered. He ignored the shouts and stares that some of the other members gave them, though likely they would pay for that later. "There. Are we done now?" He glanced at Patricia, smiling before leaning his towering frame over Brianna to whisper in her ear, his voice sounding pleasant in spite of his words. "I'm sure we'll see you again. Very soon..."

Brie stepped away from him, already moving to dart under the shutters. "Sure. Bye Lefty!" She said, shooting him her best smile.

“Yes. We’re done now, you can go,” Patricia told him once they got outside of the building. She waved him off dismissively, instead turning to Brie and walking back to their car. She shivered. That had been… interesting. She glanced at her friend. She couldn’t believe that she had been friends with those types of people, once. It was certainly a shocking revelation for Patricia.

“That went well… Patricia started, glancing at Brie. “What do you think?

Brie nodded slowly as she opened the door to the car, clearly still a bit distracted. "Yeah, I think we got what we wanted..." She smiled lightly, "Let's just get out of here and then contact the others."

@canaryrose

Ok, Joseph supposed it was about time to admit it. He had no idea where he was. Seriously, how the hell did he manage to get lost? He'd been here in the city nearly ten months now! That should be enough time to get used to the place! Hell, he couldn't have even been far from home! He'd left maybe fifteen minutes ago! This is why he didn't like getting up in the mornings!

"Fine, whatever, let's just get back to it. Gotta go shopping for breakfast stuff at one in the goddamn afternoon... Because the feckin' Hag couldn't just send out a robot to do it, right?!"

It was times like this that he wished he had a phone that could actually use google maps. Although this was Brookside, so who could say whether or not satellites even reached here. Hell, he was surprised they got clean water after some of the places he'd seen there.

He was briefly distracted when he saw a surprisingly non-shit car parked in a nearby alley, and decided to keep walking before the scavengers converged on it and picked it clean. But then he saw one of the shops that made up that alley, and realised that it was probably the kind of shop he was meant to be looking for. Even if it did look kind of shit.

"Heeey." He said, walking into the shop. For a brief, solitary moment, he thought he was about to end up in a fight, but then he remembered he was in Brookside, and Seraph was too much of a stuck up shitbag to come to a shithole like Brookside, let alone the matryoshka-esque shithole that was this store within the shithole that was Brookside. "You got any milk or eggs n' shit here?"

More importantly, would they look as bad as this place when he found them? Because if so, he'd better try and look for a normal shop before he somehow managed to get himself involved in some kind of stupid, miserable, plot-furthering shenanigans...

---

It had been about 3 hours since the last customer had come into the shop. The woman was elderly and smelt so strongly of stale eggs and powdered milk that Lottie couldn't help but gag slightly when she placed a bottle of vodka on the counter. She had opened it as soon as she had paid, staggering out of the shop as she swigged a high mouthful from it. Quite the specimens could be seen here.

Lottie stretched out in her seat, similar to that of a cat who has just woken up. There are a lot of boring jobs and this is certainly one of them. After playing solitaire with herself, reading her fashion magazine, sewing up a pair of her trousers from her bag, eating her breakfast AND lunch, smoking between each thing, of course, there wasn't much left to do. She got up out of her chair and went to peruse the snack aisle. It was then that she heard that dreaded noise. The screech of the automatic doors that she was almost certain hadn't been oiled since the day they'd been fitted. She didn't look up, just continued to browse... they didn't even have any Oreos. The doors closed and the scum that had stumbled in felt the need to proclaim his entrance.

"Heeey," said the person. Slurring the middle of the word hey meant two things: you were pissed OR you were trying to pick up a woman, and it was pretty obviously the latter... she hoped. The man was tall enough to see over the aisles so her attempt to remain hidden had been ultimately futile. She folded her wings in as tightly as she could - people seem to dislike them. Lottie let her eyes dart to and from the man. He looked older than he probably was, his face sagging slightly and his eyes appearing slightly hollow and empty, almost like the thousand-yard stare of a traumatized soldier. Despite his appearance, Charlotte sensed a crumb of something different about him. She slowly made her way back to the counter, trying not to get in his way. With that, he spoke up again.

"You got any milk or eggs n' shit here?" He asked, his voice lazy and gruff. Any eggs and milk in a convenience store. For most that's pretty much the only thing people buy in them but in this shit tip of a so-called "shop," Lottie wouldn't have been surprised if there wasn't any. Despite her thinking, she would still make a snide remark.

"Eggs and milk? Have you ever been to a fucking convenience store all we sell is eggs, milk, alcohol, and cigarettes," she scoffed, walking out from the counter and entering the egg aisle only to bump right into the man. He was stood RIGHT next to the eggs. Nevermind. He was just as dense as the rest of them.

"Where are the eggs? Oh, I dunno... Right in front of you!" She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back allowing him to see the whole egg selection. "Jesus you're a lazy lump!". The smell of her modest and demure floral perfume would fill his nostrils as she stood next to him, arms folded with a disappointed look on her face. Despite her best efforts they may be the tiniest whiff of a cigarette to one with an acute sense of smell. She looked around the shop once more then pointed over to the fridges in the back corner of the shop.

"Milks over there in the fridge. They twat who runs this dump put it all the way at the back so people would pass all the other shit they don’t wanna buy and be enticed. Would have the opposite effect on me if I’m honest." She looked up at him again, his lazy features explaining that this man just didn’t care about life at the moment. She sighed.

"I thought I was a bore. Let me get the milk for you and save those tired little legs of yours," she said in a mocking sarcastic voice. A little smidgen of kindness perhaps. Although yes she was talking him down… she was actually getting the milk for him.
She opened the fridge which was far warmer than it should be, routing about to find one that wasn’t over the sell by date. Once she’d got one she made her way back, handing the carton to him.

"Here you go. Just to let you know the store closes in..." She looked up at the clock “8 hours! Soyou probably have JUST enough time to pick some eggs then eventually make your way over to the counter and pay. Heaven help us if you want anything else,” She says laughing slightly, remaining stood beside him as she waited for his response.

William was idly biking without holding onto the handlebar. He was engrossed in the music coming from his headphones. Between that, occasionally looking down the road to make sure he doesn't crash, and the buzzing of his phone when Brie replied to his message, his attention span was completely occupied.

He took out his phone, keeping his legs churning as to not slow down too much and fall off his bike. He took a look at the message and chuckled. As he moved his thumb to reply to the message, he faintly heard someone call out to him, calling him water boy no less. Before he could hit the breaks, slow down and look to the direction of the voice, a stick flew out at him.

The Stick struck cleaning between two of his spokes, causing the bike to come to a sudden stop. With the sudden halt in forward motion, William was tossed from his bike. His hands and left arm took the fall. His palms were grotesquely scraped. His left arm was scraped from wrist to elbow. It was quite the miracle that he did not suffer any harsher injuries...

"Ah....." William groaned. "What. The. Fuck. Was. That?" William said, sitting up on the side of the road as he dragged his bike off the road so it didn't get run over by oncoming traffic. "Who the fuck threw that stick...?"

@Jumbus
Mentioned @Danvers

Thundering Whisper awoke some point later, and he found himself sitting on a hard metal floor in the center of a medium-sized, empty room, like a small storage room in a warehouse. The memories began to flash back to him- the man in the coffee shop, the turncoat civilians, the lightning guns, all of it, coming back, and he quickly came to the realization that he was captured, most likely by the Guglianos. He was the 3rd victim of their kidnapping spree. He then scoffed as he realized that the only thing stopping him, the legendary Thundering Whisper, was a pair of metal doors. As he prepared to charge out of the room and give the silver tongue man a taste of his mind, he ran right into a wall.

As he fell back, confused, he looked up to see a glowing wall of lightning of some kind in front of him. The wall was made of some type of blue plasma-like substance and had sprouted out on all four sides around him, leaving him trapped in a sort of energy cage, all connecting to a slab of metal hanging from the ceiling above him. So it turned out whoever had abducted him (likely the Mafia) was not stupid. Well, it was worth a shot anyway.

He heard a noise and turned to the source to see the doors to the room open, and a young girl walked in. Well, maybe not a young girl by normal standards, with the thin girl seemingly in her teens, but considering she was obviously operating with these Gugliano buffoons, she was quite young indeed. She had wavy black hair that fell to her shoulders, and piercing red eyes that seemed to cut through his soul. Outside of this eyes, though, the girl seemed like a pretty normal teen. The teen girl walked over, leaning it towards the energy cage, examining the hero inside.

"Ooh! A new hero! Father will be so pleased," the girl said, giggling as she put her hands in front of her mouth. Thundering Whisper observed the word 'Father' and came to the assumption she was the boss Gugliano's daughter. Strange, he didn't remember Vinnie Gugliano having a daughter...

"Listen, girl, you had better let me go. Or else you and everybody else you're working with will be so, so sorry."

The girl's response surprised him heavily, though. She simply shrugged, removed a remote control from her pocket, and said,"OK." She tapped a button and the energy walls went away. That easy.

"Try and escape," she said, watching him curiously, like a lab experiment.

Some would assume that this obvious trap was a trap, but Thundering Whisper did not. He took a deep breath and unleashed a furious howl. The howl, amplified by this power, sent a wave of bone-shattering sound launching forward, knocking over a shelve of boxes against the wall. However, the girl was faster, and managed to dodge out of the way.

"Oooh, very interesting power! Father will be content with this one for sure," she said, giggling.

Thundering Whisper grew angry- who did this girl think she was, dodging his power?- and he lunged at her, bringing his fist at high speed towards her face. Normally an attack from a well-built, experienced hero would be enough to knock somebody out and send them to the ground, but the girl simply blocked with her hand like it was nothing. Thundering Whisper blinked as the girl stared at him again, her gaze darkening.

"Naughty, naughty," she said as she held Thundering Whisper's hand midair. "Bad behavior will result in punishment." She raised her free hand, snapping her fingers, the sound echoing through the room ominously. "Good night, hero."

Thundering Whisper saw a red smoke emerge from the girl's body, and the red smoke or powder or whatever it was creeped through the air towards him. He tried to hold his breath, but it was too late, and as he took in the mysterious gas he began to feel terrible, like a virus was quickly destroying him from the inside. HE coughed heavily, hacking like a madman, as he fell to his knees, nausea overwhelming him as his brain started to shut down. The last thing he heard was the girl's soft but malicious giggling before his face hit the ground, and he was out stone-cold again.

"Talking?" William questioned as if that wasn't his initial purpose. "Of course! We can have a nice casual conversation with your pal Johnny here still alive and well. A nice happy fairy tale ending where everyone benefits and no one loses a thing." He was speaking in a cheerful voice.

It seemed to be quite the lucrative deal. This could be an in with the Gugliano family that can provide him resources to track down all sorts of people with powers. His voice then turned carefree. "Yeah right. You must be quite the delusional guy. I'm surprised you can lead your little posse with that attitude." Far too carefree. A voice that seemed to be detached from reality and emotion itself. William's eyes were wide open like he couldn't believe what the person over the phone seemed to imply.

"I don't need you or your group. I'm going to use you until you dry up. Understand?" With those words he hung up his phone and instantly started going down the list of contacts. He was running his power at full force now.

William blocked the cellphone's camera before picked a number randomly and called it on FaceTime. He heard a voice coming from it.

"Johnny, what're you FaceTiming me for?" FaceTiming someone with their location on gave him the exact info he needed. He found what was most likely the location of the Gugliano gang and saved it to his personal phone before hanging up instantly. He took a deep breath before picking up the unconscious body and stripping the dud of a bomb from it. He carried it over his shoulders until he was outside of the building and dumped it up against the wall.

"Time to go pay them a visit myself. Time is of the essence after all." Before leaving the scene, he placed the phone right in Johnny's hand.

"I'm a kind guy who returns what he borrows." He lied as naturally as he breathed. He walked out off the unpopulated part of town and signaled a taxi in the more populated part. He flashed bills that didn't belong to him.

His destination? A cafe in Watervale.

Tom was gradually getting more and more annoyed - what kind of damn apartment building didn't have a list of the people that lived there next to the apartments that they lived in. It was ridiculous. He got out his phone and was about to text Angie when he heard the door open, and turned around to see the sight of a teenage girl that he recognised well walk up to him, quickly brush past him and say an apartment number, before Patricia got into the elevator and went presumably up to Angie's apartment. Well, he supposed that meant that something was actually happening here. There was no need for Tom to wait for the elevator, he simply strolled over to the staircase and floated up the space in the middle, reaching the floor Angie's apartment was on in no time.

As he walked to apartment, as if confirming Patricia's earlier words, a text from Angie came through that verified that her apartment was indeed the one that Patricia had mentioned to him. He strolled up and knocked on the door, being let in soon after and joining the others. That was odd, though... Why were there only four people, surely for planning a party of such magnitude there would need to be others... and the tiny group of four was missing key players like Blake, Jamie, Felix, who Tom thought should be involved directly in plans for a celebration at H.E.R.O One. Tom grabbed some food and ate, his suspicions still raised as he did so.

Brie, of course, quickly shattered the illusion that this was the planning committee for some wild party by dropping that folder in front of them. He wanted to say something in brief protest, but decided against it and the words died in his throat. Tom stopped eating and flicked through some of the documents, half of his attention on those and the other listening to what Brie had to say. He recognised these heroes that were taken, even though he had never interacted with them in his life. He also recognised the Guglianos, of course, and was thankful he had never had any interactions with any of those.

The planning took a decent amount of time, but Tom was engaged, dropping suggestions here and there. He couldn't deny that this was going to be pretty fun. It wasn't jumping from skyscraper to skyscarper in pursuit of a villain, but it was going undercover in the most dangerous mafia in the whole city, perhaps in the whole world. If that wasn't an adventure, then nothing was. They had to do some shit first - in his case he was looking for clues, but after that it was fake moustaches, fake Italian names and trying to watch Patty pretend to be a hardened mafioso. Although, obviously, he would hope that her impression was good enough that she didn't get them all killed.

When Patricia and Brie had left, he turned to Angelica.

"Well... I guess we should get going on our part, then."

@Amethyst

"Well, aren't you just the most pleasant person I've ever had the joy of interacting with..." Joseph said tiredly as he endured the waves of emotional abuse the winged cashier had decided to subject him to. "You treat all your customers like this, or am I some kind of special case?"

Without waiting for an answer, he shrugged.

"Well, whatever. Luckily for you, everywhere else was sold out, so this dump is all I've really got."

Luckily for everyone involved, he decided not to get a drink today. He already had a good stash back home, not to mention that he had just noticed the prices of what he was buying and-

"Jesus. The hell kinda daylight robbery is this?" He asked, an actual frown beginning to appear on his face. "Hey Cashier, next time you see your boss, tell them they're a dipshit for me, won't you?"

However, before he could pay, he realised he'd also been asked to get bread, and while he was... hesitant... to get it here, the Hag had promised that if he didn't come back with all everything she'd asked for, she was gonna actually start acting on his lack of rent payments.

"Hang on, I've gotta get bread." He said, trudging over to a shelf he'd noticed while entering, just out of view of the door.

Coincidentally, it was right at this moment that a new customer entered the shop, although this status was somewhat questionable considering the balaclava and pistol combo they had going on.

"Open the register." The robber said with a slight growl to his voice, pointing his gun at the winged girl as if he wasn't even afraid of her potential superpowers. Meanwhile, Joseph sent the cashier a look that, while still clearly tired, seemed to ask the question 'Do you wanna take care of this, or should I?'

---

Lottie laughed.
"Pretty much... seen as we get like one customer an hour. You have no idea how boring it is in here."

She sat down behind the counter again, lighting a cigarette inside without a care in the world. In truth, she was treating him like she was because he gave off an aura... something about him was different but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She smoked like a champ. She didn't exhale but more just opened her mouth, letting the smoke seep slowly out thickly.

"Jesus. The hell kinda daylight robbery is this?" She looked up at the man, putting her feet up on the counter, holding her cigarette between her lips "Hey Cashier, next time you see your boss, tell them they're a dipshit for me, won't you?"
She burst out laughing. If only he knew Richard.

"As it happens my boss is a top-class asshole." As she said that the backdoor opened, a small squat man entering the shop from what looked like an office behind. Lottie stubbed out her cigarette and put it behind her ear. The man's face was bright red. The shopper wasn't paying much attention just getting some bread.

"That's it you fucking slut ugly ass good for nothing bitch! YOU'RE FIRED!"

Lottie tried not to look upset in front of Joe... don't show weakness. In truth, this was all she had. Richard had connections and would stop her from getting a job in another corner shop ANYWHERE in the whole city.

"G... GOOD!" She said stuttering slightly "I fucking hate this job and you anyway!" She lit her cigarette again in the shop much to Richard's ungodly annoyance. He looked like he was going to explode. She put her jacket on and gave Richard the finger, biting her lip to try and hold back the tears that had begun to brim in the corners of her eyes."I hope you burn in hell you sad bastar-" With that a man burst in, bumping into Lottie and pushing her to the floor.

"Open the register." The robber said with a slight growl to his voice, pointing his gun at Lottie. The shopper was now paying attention but just looked down at tiredly as if to say he couldn’t be bothered. She looked into the gun and took a drag of her cigarette.

"OPEN IT NOW!” The robber shouted, kicking her and grabbing the collar of her coat, pulling her up. He pulled her face close to his and spat right in her eye, pushing the gun against her head.
"Don’t waste my fucking ti-“
Lottie kissed the man on the lips, the smoke she had just drawn in seeping into his mouth. For a moment the man was stunned slightly as he wasn’t expecting it. She drew her lips from his, her face looking utterly disgusted at the taste that lingered in her mouth. With that the man fell back spluttering, coughing and choking as if he was suffocating. His face went redder than Richards (who was cowering away in his office may I add) and huge pulsating veins appeared on his face. His eyes were becoming bloodshot. His grip on the gun loosened and Lottie took it from him. As she did the man coughed out a large cloud of smoke, gasping for air and then passing out. She emptied the magazine and took another drag of her cigarette before stepping over the man, making her way out of the shop.

"Thanks for the help pissbreath.” She said to Joe smirking.

Tom and Angelica left the apartment together a couple of minutes after Brie and Patricia left, as they were finding out where exactly the Bateman Turnpike was - as neither of them knew. But the internet was their friend, and they had looked it up. Tom had offered to fly them both there, but Angelina had smartly pointed that someone could see them floating down and report this up the chain and the whole operation would be bust. So they elected for the much safer public transport.

But the Turnpike, as it turned out, was a complete bust. There weren't really any clues about what had transpired, either outside or in the establishments there. A coffee shop at the turnpike had dredged up the only thing that could potentially have been a clue - a small scratch on the floor. But Angelica noted that this scratch could have been made by anything. To avoid suspicion Tom had bought them both a coffee before they had left, so their reasons for being there looked innocent enough.

The journey back was sullied by the disappointing lack of finds, and both parties complained about this. Tom attempted to brighten the mood by making fun of her and Blake's relationship, but this only lead to Angelica using her powers and Tom swiftly covering up his eyes to prevent whatever it was that she was going to turn into before him. Tom didn't mention Blake again after that, so they continued to mutually sulk about how unsuccessful their detective work had been.

When they had arrived back in the main part of town, Tom whipped out his burner phone and texted Brie on it. ”Turnpike was a letdown, found absolutely nothing. Hope you had better luck on your end. Heading to Club 21 now.” Another couple of buses later, and the two had reached the club, standing outside and waiting for the others.

@Danvers @canaryrose

Jamie waved hello to Felix, too, an exuberant smile on her face. Splitting the money three ways wouldn't be that great for her bank account, but who was she to say no to him? He looked so excited, and she was sure they could use the extra help. Plus, Felix looked strong enough to fight an Igaunasaur, or whatever they were called. He had some sort of strength power, she thought. One involving his cute fox tails... maybe he'd let her pet them! She fantasized about that for a moment, not really paying attention to what Felix and Blake were talking about before Blake said her name.

At her name, she popped back out of her mind. Something about... driving? That was right. It'd make sense, at least. She had a car. A trashed car, but still a car.

Jamie nodded, giving a thumbs-up. "Of course! I parked it downstairs, let's go."

Jamie's car was a tan 2019 Toyota Corolla, and it was wrecked. The passenger window was practically duct-taped on, and the windshield had several patches of duct-tape that seemed to be covering various holes and cracks. One of the rear-view mirrors was broken, tilted to the side and hanging off the car. There were several dents and scratches in the paint itself. Jamie smiled guiltily, rubbing the side of her head, and opened the door to the back of the car. The back was messy, to say the least. Old McDonald's wrappers, cups, and bags were strewn across the back seats, and it gave off a certain odor. She hurriedly swept most of it to the side, clearing a space for someone to sit, and opened the passenger side door. It was... moderately better, but Jamie still had to sweep a couple wrappers off the seat and onto the ground.

"Get in and buckle up!" she told the two cheerily, before hopping into the driver's seat and checking the mission details. There was a fairly recent location on the Iguanasaur, which was good. Looking back at the others, she started the car and drove to the location listed.

Once they arrived, Jamie hopped out of the car and looked around, pursing her lips. "I don't see him anywhere. Oh, Iguanasaur! C'mere, Iguanasaur!"

@Hitman@Ryteb Pymeroce

---

Patricia raised her brows when she got a text from an unfamiliar number, but read it anyways. Grace? She vaguely remembered the name, but definitely recalled the incident. Hadn't been an amazing day, if she was being honest (her nose had been broken and she had almost been shot), but Grace had seemed alright. What was she doing in Castleburg again, though? Hadn't she been from some fancy Asian version of H.E.R.O? And at Club 21, no less... ICOSA could be spying on their operation, for all she knew. Still, the poor girl seemed like she was in trouble, and had clearly made a couple wrong turns.

"Brie, remember Grace, from that whole Quizzical thing? She got lost in Brookside, and got stuck at Club 21... We're gonna have to help her out," she told the other girl in the driver's seat.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Brie's car, Patricia tapped out a response.

You're in Brookside, the really bad side of town. Lots of crime. You're in luck, though- I'm heading over there right now. Get inside of the club, park your car and lock it, and hide all of your valuables so that they couldn't be seen if somebody looked in the windows. Don't fight it if your car gets robbed or if you get mugged, they WILL pull a gun on your ass and WILL use it. We'll be there in 5. Try not to look suspicious. Actually, try to look like you're not someone to be fucked with. They can smell your fear.

She sent the text after a minute of thinking about it. The last part was probably a bit dramatic, but a little humor never did some harm. She tried to put the phone back into the pocket of her jeans, but, then, remembering she was no longer wearing jeans, put it into her purse. At Brie's urging and after Lefty's suspicion of her unsuspicious appearance, she had changed into something a little more... trashy. Despite her strong protests, she was now wearing a black miniskirt, a very low-cut red tank top, and garishly red (and pointy) high heels. She had a fur jacket wrapped around her shoulders and black tights to fend off the cold. Golden hoops had been clipped into her ears, and her hair had been hair-sprayed to an insane degree. Bright red lipstick had been painted onto her lips, and a pretty trashy amount of foundation and mascara had been applied to her face. In short, she felt like a clown, and did not like it one bit.

Once they parked at Club 21 five minutes later, Patricia stepped out of the car, wobbling a little but then regaining her composure. She waved to Tom and Angelica.

"Hey, you two. Before we go inside, we should probably get the plan from Brie," she told Angelica and Tom, then turning to Brie expectantly.

@Hitman@Danvers@KaijuBaragon@Amethyst

---

Felix was pale as he exited the car. How could someone drive that badly without being actually blind. He was pretty sure he saw Death galloping alongside them at one point. Staggering next to Blake, he said: "Next time, I'm driving."

Shaking off the last of the motion sickness, he manifested a tail. A little known part of his Manifestation was that it increased his senses when he focused. Technically it was always boosted but his brain lowered it to prevent him getting overwhelmed. Sniffing, he got the scent of a large reptile. He looked over to tell the others he got a lead, but saw Jamie callong around. It was cute in a way, like a little kid looking for her pet.

"It headed that way!" Felix pointed, shaking off his thoughts. They were going to punch a dinosaur.

Joseph watched as the cashier took down the would-be thief with surprising ease, and slowly slid the rune he'd been discreetly pulling out back into his pocket. She actually did better than he'd expected, even managing to blow the smoke through the fabric of the balaclava to reach his mouth, while also flustering the poor idiot too much for him to react properly. All in all, he was pretty impressed.

He looked behind him when she referred to a 'Piss Breath' while looking in his direction, but it didn't look like anyone was there. Oh well, he supposed everyone had their little quirks, although whether or not hallucinations could be considered little probably differed from person to person.

Because she definitely couldn't have been referring to him. Nope.

"Well, I've gotta say, that wasn't half bad..." He said, leaning down to take the balaclava off the man, revealing a lizard-like face that, in all honesty, probably shouldn't have been able to fit under the balaclava the way it did. "Huh, I don't think I've heard of this guy. Oh well, I'm sure something'll come out of it later when I've brought him in."

After inspecting the lizard-man and removing any other weapons he had on him, including a pair of honest to god gunchucks, he stashed them in his shopping bag and turned back to the cashier.

"Hey Cashier, nice job." He said, before pulling a new runic array out of his pocket and handing it to her, pointing specifically to the rune in the center. "If you can't find a new job somewhere else, press a drop of your own blood into this symbol here in the center, and it'll let us talk without having to worry about phone numbers or anything like that. I'll talk to Powers when he gets back from France. I reckon he'll be interested in someone with... I'm guessing some kind of wind manipulation?"

He shrugged.

"Oh well, whatever. If you're ever interested in a job at HERO, use the rune and I'll organize a meeting. Or just go to the Lucky Cow at some point and ask for Joseph if you wanna do it the boring old fashioned way. Old man there knows me by name, so he'll be able to give you my number."

And with that, he grabbed the unconscious lizard man and slung him over his shoulder, put the milk, bread and eggs in his shopping bag with the mans guns, and left to take him to the station, not quite managing a grin, but the small smirk spoke volumes to how he was feeling.

After all, he'd heard rumors about there possibly being a recruitment bonus for anyone who brought new heroes in to HERO, and he was itching for some more money to not pay rent with...

It didn't take long before another projectile came soaring toward William. But instead of a stick, road roller or any inanimate object, it was Midas himself. The low traffic on the street allowed him to shoot between them at high velocity. But Midas stopped just before contact remembering he had to take him in alive, presumably not irreversibly injured. "Night" Midas quickly delivered a knock out blow to the head. Prolonging the fight would have caused considerable collateral damage and he didn't want to get banned from his favorite restaurant.

Making sure William was knocked out, Midas reached into his pockets. Fishing around he found William's phone. You see, Vinnie had never made a demand like this before. When Vinnie asks for a hero, he gives a name and very rarely does he care what condition they are in. It all seemed off to Midas, and maybe the top dog of Watervale had gone soft. Maybe he was going to sell everyone out for immunity from the law. Either way Midas was wanting to find out the details. Popping off the back of William's phone he planted a bug in the circuitry so he could listen in on what was happening at Vinnie's.

It wasn't long before William was off the street and into the back of Midas' car with his hands tied behind his back. Surprisingly, it was a peaceful ride one of the better ones he has had with a hostage in the back. Maybe he had gone too harsh with the blow to the head, he really wasn't waking up.

Upon arrival just outside the gates of the Gugliano mansion. Midas started shaking William awake, more gently than what would be expected of a kidnapper. "Wakey wakey. You have yourself a date with Vinnie Gugliano. For your own sake I wouldn't recommend running at this point."

Brie glanced at Patricia as they walked the short distance from the car to the 21 club, having to restrain herself from laughing as she took in her appearance. Maybe she'd gone a bit over the top when advising her on how to dress, but it had been funny and she hadn't been able to help herself. Besides, at least she no longer looked like she'd just stepped out of a high school classroom...

Brie herself had gone for something a bit more androgynous. It wasn't her usual style at all but she'd always been interested in it and figured why not. Her attire was simple, consisting of a fitted white shirt tucked into black straight-leg pants. She'd then added some black braces and heels to complete the look. Her long brunette hair was left loose over shoulders, whilst she'd done her makeup simply with winged eyeliner & a rouge lip.

Tucking her hands into her pockets as they strolled towards the others, she glanced around the half-empty street. She'd had to make do without a purse, so all she had on her was her burner phone, a decent amount of cash and a packet of cigarettes. It was lucky that Will wasn't on this mission because she was likely to smell like a chimney by the end of it. "I've heard of this place before. It's actually kinda fancy...by Brookside standards at least." Brie commented as she looked up at the speakeasy. Well, that's what it had been once at least. Now it was just a club that apparently had a weekly illegal poker game in one of the back rooms. She'd briefly wondered how the cops hadn't shut it down yet but then realised that there was probably a significant amount of gangster/mob money being pumped into keeping it open.

She tried to hide the twinge of annoyance she felt when she saw Grace, smiling cheerily at her instead. Brie had never really understood why other people were so scared of Brookside. It wasn't that bad and even though she no longer lived there, it would always kind of feel like home to her. "Nice to see you again. We're actually on a mission right now. So..." She trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Glancing around for a few moments to make sure that there was no-one eavesdropping, she turned to the others, ignoring the fact that Grace was likely still listening. "So my...contacts, told us that some of Guglianos lackies frequent this poker game. The only way to get into Vinnie's compound is with one of his men, so we need to find and latch onto one of them. Pattie, I'm thinking that you might be the best person to er...persuade them of this. Do whatever you need to but try to stay on their good side." She nodded at Patricia, having already figured this part out with her earlier.

"Now, if we can take the dealer out before the game starts then I was hoping that Tom would be able to step in as substitute. You can keep your ears out for any information that way, and distract them if things look like they're going south. Oh, and I hope you can shuffle cards..." Brie fiddled with the ends of her hair as she spoke. She'd only really come up with this plan in the car, so it likely had a lot of flaws in it but they really didn't have time to think of anything else. Being organised and methodical had never been her strong suit, so she was just winging this entire thing.

"The rest of us..." She said, with a brief glance at Grace. "-will try get in on the poker game. If not, we can just keep watch and alert the others if we're worried. I think that should cover everything..."

It was at this point that a couple of patrons stumbled out of the club, one nearly breaking her ankle as she stumbled into the road. "We should head in." Brie laughed under her breath as she watched the intoxicated couple. Pushing open the door, she was hit by a wall of music and laughter as they entered. A large bar curved round to their right, bottles of spirits of all kinds rammed onto shelves on the back wall, whilst several booths were already occupied with patrons, presumably there to provide some semblance of privacy. The place was dimly lit and the wallpaper was peeling off the walls in some places, but the atmosphere was undoubtedly lively. Brianna couldn't help but grin as she walked towards the bar. This place seemed like fun; she'd have to make a mental note to come back sometime.

@canaryrose @kaijubaragon @amethyst @hitman

William was still too busy reeling from the shock and pain of being essentially tossed off his bike. He was checking himself for superficial injuries since he did not feel any broken bones and luckily he did not hit his head on the pavement.

Whoever threw that fucking stick is going to get it. William had decided.

Then everything went dark. The last thing William heard was "Night". The voice was unique, but not immediately recognizable. Besides, with William being incapacitated, its not as if he can act upon the voice in any case.

When William came to, he was in the back of a car, being driven god knows where. His head was pounding, his vision blurred. He can hear the man speaking, the same voice from before. As the man finished his sentence, William's senses returned, for the most part. He struggled, roughly, against his restraints. Remaining silent, William struggled some more. However, he was internally calm, doing his best to remember the man's outer appearance and voice inflections.

Vinnie Gugliano. Why was be kidnapped and brought to a mob boss...? Wait, he just answered his own question. A mob boss kidnapping a hero. That seems normal enough. However, to have the guts to do it in broad daylight. There must be something bigger in the works....

Of course, running now was an option. But, he did not have any ideas as to where he was. He was in front of a mansion. Thats all he knows. However, if he was being brought to Vinnie Gugliano, sure;y H.E.R.O. would have some sort of data on where this notorious mob boss lived... Now, if he would just break out from his restraints and take out this man in front of him, he can reach for his phone to make a move....

@Jumbus

Jamie followed Blake through the gardens, crushing significantly more lettuce than he did. Head after head was crushed under her unforgiving boots. It wasn't that she didn't care about the lettuce patches- she did, and it crushed her to see them destroyed. It was just that she was rather... distracted. Her gaze was flicking from side to side, bush to bush, searching for the Iguanosaur. She didn't want to allow the thing to just roam around Passenger Island, eating toddlers and whatnot. And the money... well, the money was a big motivator, too.

As they walked, Jamie plucked a few ripe cherry tomatoes off of the vines, popping them into her mouth and letting the juices flow. It was probably technically stealing, but whatever. Nobody would ever miss a single cherry tomato. Or five. She frowned at the acid marks when they came across them, but walked along, still following. The acid marks didn't seem to perturb her much. Despite its acid-spitting, she knew that killing it would be a simple task for her.

Once they got to the backyard, Jamie blinked, confused. It was... a backyard. A swing set in the corner, an apple tree next to it. "Blake, there's nothing here, silly!" She patted his head, smiling. "It's okay, we can all be dumb sometimes-" Then, suddenly, she was cut off by the ground-shaking roar of the Iguanosaur.

It leaped out at them, more than a foot taller than Jamie. Much greener, too- and much scarier. It loomed over them like a beast out of a fantasy novel, angry and large. She approached its back, not wanting to get in front of its acid spit. She had forgotten how much of a pain these things were to fight. Acid burns were a bitch to treat. Jamie extended her arm and channeled her power, sending out a large concussive blast to hit the beast.

But... it missed. And hit the fence instead. With a crash, the fence collapsed, creating an opening. "CRAP!" she yelled, going for another try, but it was already sprinting away through the hole. With a huff, she ran after it, beckoning for Felix and Blake to follow.

@Hitman@Ryteb Pymeroce

---

Brie and Patricia had discussed the plan on the way in, and Patricia was not enthusiastic about it, to say the least. While this did sound like a challenging, complicated mission, Patricia had her reservations.

One of them was that Brie expected her to seduce a mafioso. A 57-year-old, poker-playing mafioso. As soon as Brie started to outline the plan to her in the car, a scowl had settled on her face. It had stayed there until they got to the bar. At least she now knew what the outfit was for. Of course, she would admit, however begrudgingly, that the plan was a good one. Brie knew her stuff about crime, had spent her fair share of time here, in Brookside. She knew what would work, and Patricia trusted her. Still, though...

As they started to head inside, Patricia picked through her purse and took out her fake ID, flashing it to the bouncer. It read 'Bianca Romano'. Bianca Romano was a 21-year-old cosmetology student with a summer birthday and a knack for singing. Her favorite things were cherry-flavored candies, free Sephora samples, and Cardi B. Bianca Romano was also, coincidentally, not real. Patricia supposed that there were probably quite a few Bianca Romanos in Castleburg, as it wasn't an uncommon name, but this specific one didn't exist. She had been forged specifically to get Patricia into the Gugliano facility without raising eyebrows and to get her into bars. Not that she would be drinking, though. Alcohol was disgusting.

Patricia flashed a glance at Grace as the both of them got into the bar. The girl raised some conflicted feelings. She had liked her enough when they had fought Quizzical, but her presence in Castleburg probably had a big something to do with ICOSA's presence in Castleburg. Which was an issue. Her hazel eyes hardened as she looked at the woman, and she grabbed her arm. As far as Brie had told her, this mission was supposed to be classified, and ICOSA shouldn't know about it. Grace would almost certainly blab if given the chance- so she needed to keep her away from the operation itself.

"Listen, Grace," Patricia whispered to her, pulling her into a small alcove where nobody else was near. She gripped her arm tight, mouth in a thin, unsmiling line. "We're on a... an operation, right now. Something really, really important. Classified, too. You need to stay out of the way. Go find something else to do, get a drink or... something, and when we're done we'll help you get back to your hotel. Got it?"

Without waiting for a response, Patricia let go of Grace's arm and walked off. Hopefully, she would listen, but for now, she just needed to find that Gugliano she was supposed to flirt with. She scanned the bar for a few minutes, standing idly in the corner. She even ordered a (virgin) Appletini. After watching for a few minutes, she thought she saw a door to which men were going to, but, strangely enough, not coming out. It was labeled a men's bathroom, strangely enough, but a gangster-looking man stood at the door, watching like a hawk. One thing was certain: that wasn't a bathroom. And it was where Patricia could find the man she was looking for.

She walked over, still sipping on her Appletini, and then saw a man she recognized from the file. He was clearly walking over to the backroom, wallet in hand. He had a suit on but still looked gangster. A Gugliano lackie, she remembered- someone important, but not too important. She briefly grinned and made a beeline in his direction.

Once she got sufficiently close to him, Patricia had to do something she detested. Act... cute. She had to hold back a shudder. The guy wasn't even attractive in any sense of the word. Still, though.

Patricia purposefully ran right into him- not enough to bowl him over, but enough to make him drop his wallet onto the ground.

She gasped in horror, eyes blinking fast and hands raising to her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! she squeaked, shaking her head bashfully. "I'm such a klutz sometimes, I swear. Here, I'll get that for you... She bent over slowly, miniskirt riding up her ass and her breasts right at his line of sight, before coming up again with the wallet in hand. She giggled, blinking rapidly again and holding out his wallet. "H-here... if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, just let me know." She then winked at him, giggling again.

God, she hated this.

@Hitman@Danvers@KaijuBaragon@Amethyst