Mae shuddered from her place on the concrete - whether from laughter or pain, no one could tell.

"Oh, Killer kills for a living, does he? I can't believe I get to see the professional in action, lucky me!" she called sarcastically, giggling as 'Killer' looked at his would-be victim in horror. Morty was shaking like a leaf. Even so, he took a resolute step forward.

Rex called out to him, his voice laden with concern.

"Morty, come on! You don't gotta listen to her! The boss would never order us to do this, there's somethin' really wrong here!"

Killer took another step forward. Snake shouted at Raine, voice dripping with venom.

"Damn it Raine, what the fuck is wrong with you? Call it off, now!"

Even Raine seemed somewhat surprised that Morty was following her command, but she didn't move a muscle to stop him.

"That is it!" Snake hissed, charging into Morty. The two ended up on the ground, wrestling for control. Mae's delirious laughter made the entire scene feel surreal and absurd. Raine broke into a run, pulling the two off of each other. Snake responded by punching her square in the face, and it quickly became a two-on-one struggle as Rex and Morty tried to fend off their boss' assault. Mae watched the scene play out with a sad grimace that looked more like a manic grin.

"You see what I mean now, right? You understand the truth of it all... She's changed us, Raine."

Whether Raine heard her or not it was impossible to tell from the chaos of the melee, but as Mae pushed herself to her feet once more she continued anyway.

"You know what the funniest part of all of this is? The same girl that cursed us to love her so intensely wants more than anything to take it all away from us. That idiot..."

Her voice carried equal parts affection and despair.

"It's obviously impossible. Just look at me, picking a fight with a gang, alone, just to have a shot at eliminating one of my rivals. Look at what you're doing, betraying their trust because you want the exact same thing. We're beyond saving."

Something in the certainty of her words caused Raine to pause long enough for Killer's wild punch to connect with her stomach. He may as well have gently poked her for all the physical impact it had, but she dropped the two all the same. While they sorted out the tempest of emotions coursing through them, Mae had turned her back and was limping away. She stopped long enough to leave them with some parting words.

"We're going to have to learn to live with who we are now. How long can you pretend to care about these chumps? And just how far will you be willing to go to finally get Norma all to yourself?"

She looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with Raine.

"I suggest you figure that out, and soon. Because the next time we meet... I'll show you my answer."

With that, she disappeared into the shadows. An extraordinarily heavy silence weighed on the trio as they processed everything that had just happened. Killer was the first to speak, and it was clear as day he still hadn't come to terms with the night's events.

"Are we really just gonna let her go, boss...?"

Rex frowned, but turned his head and said nothing. Raine put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. She might be insane, but she's right about a lot of things. I think in her own twisted way she was tryin' to help me. Or at least warn me..."

Raine shook her head, shifting her full focus onto the person who just seconds ago was fully ready to kill for her again.

"But enough about her. Morty, listen, I..."

She pulled Morty into a powerful hug that stretched on and on. When it was clear she wasn't letting go any time soon, he looked up at her in confusion.

"Boss...?"

He then felt the wetness in his hair, and realized she had been crying silent tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Your loyalty is wasted on a complete psycho like me. You deserve so much better..."

She pulled Rex into the embrace.

"...you both do." she continued. Snake went stiff against the sudden display of affection, but slowly relaxed. When Raine spoke again, her voice was deadly serious.

"It's best you forget about me, alright? I know you two can run things just fine-"

"Stop it," Morty interrupted in an uncharacteristically commanding tone, but he seemed to lose his confidence immediately. Rex took over, having a pretty good idea of what he had been about to say.

"I'm not gonna pretend I know what's goin' on here, but as long as you remember who you are, we'll stand by you. We know you're a good person at your core, you always have been. Don't you dare forget it again."

Raine fell to her knees, still holding onto the two for support. Rex and Morty looked at each other, as if to gauge the other's true feelings. They nodded in unison, then smiled in relief.

"It's been a long day, boss. Let's get you home," Morty offered.

"I'm the only one who can drive, idiot..." Raine laughed, wiping away her tears.

"Oh yeah... Sorry."

With where they stood more-or-less settled for now, the three returned to their homes for the night. But Raine couldn't sleep. She knew deep down that Mae had been right about everything, and that making up with her friends had mostly been a charade, a convenient act.

It wasn't the slow horror of wondering how long she had left as 'herself' that disturbed her the most, however.

It was that the prospect of stripping away everything she was except for her devotion to Norma was suddenly all she could think about...

---

It was shortly after sunset when Myst heard it from her place under the blanket. A quiet clicking noise that sent her heart racing a mile a minute. The lock on her office door was being picked.

Myst cast aside her excitement and focused her breathing, entering a meditative state. She didn't want to tip her quarry off until she was right where Myst wanted her.

It was painful, but she stayed in her trance state even as she heard quiet footsteps and even quieter whispers approaching her bed. How would Quin approach her? Would she believe Myst was Norma and make a move on her right away? Or would she, as Myst predicted, be wise to the ruse? It didn't take long before she had her answer - Her comforter was peeled away from her face and the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed itself against her forehead.

"Get talking. Who the hell are you and why do you keep bothering me, huh?"

It's Quin! It's really her! Ah, but that cute little voice being forced into such a threatening tone is simply too much-!

With effort, Myst put an end to that line of thought. There was time to fully admire her quarry later. She only had one chance to get on Quin's good side, and she had to make it count.

"The name's Myst. I'm a Private Investigator, hired by one Norman Lity to track down a wanted felon known as Quin Tessence. And it looks like I've succeeded."

"Is that right? From where I'm standing it looks like you've done jack shit except get yourself killed. What's stopping me from blowing your brains out here and now?"

It was dark, but thanks to the light of the blood moon Myst was able to notice Quin's nearly bored expression.

Not for long, my quarry.

"Well, I really am happy to see you, Quin... but this is a gun in my pocket."

Quin felt something hard press against her chest from under the covers. She narrowed her eyes.

"Pfft, so what? This semi's gonna tear a whole salvo of bullets through your skull before you can squeeze the trigger of that little pistol."

"This is just a little deterrent, my dear... I've actually come quite prepared for your visit. No, the real reason you won't shoot me is because if you do, there's a good chance the feds will be all over you before you can say, "I'll never see Norma agai-"

"Get her name out of your filthy mouth!"

Quin muttered under her breath, cursing herself for losing her cool so easily. But when it came to Norma she had been suffering with what she could only call 'withdrawals', and it was steadily getting worse by the day.

"Oh, have I struck a nerve? You see Quin, you may not know me, but I actually know you quite well."

Quin stared at her in confusion. Myst pressed on in a soothing voice.

"I know that you and Norma were inseparable as children, and had circumstances been only slightly different you and she would have been so, so happy together. I know your every waking moment is devoted to finding a way for you to reclaim that which was taken from you, no matter how delusional the idea may be after what you've done."

Each word caused Quin's eyes to widen, but she winced at the reminder of her greatest mistake and was unable to respond.

"And so, when offered even the slightest chance at seeing her again under her terms - no matter how unrealistic the scenario - you jumped headfirst into the opportunity, risks be damned. And now, here you are..."

Myst smiled, but there wasn't a trace of hostility in it, no smug expression of triumph. She looked genuinely happy about it. That dreamy smile shook Quin far more than any sensible alternative, but she couldn't see how she was beat yet.

"For the record I knew full well she wasn't here... just wanted to figure out who this pain in the ass that kept calling me on her phone was..."

Quin regained some of her composure, remembering this woman thought she had all the cards. It was time to give her a reality check.

"But alright, let's say you're as smart as you think you are. Got me all figured out, my psychological profile and everything. So why call me here? Obviously to trap me. But how? You had no idea when I'd be coming, so it can't be that backup will arrive at some specific cutoff time..."

Myst almost zoned out, admiring the shadowy expressions Quin made as she tried to figure out the details of her plan.

"You must have have some kind of system set up if you die, right? A watch that sends a signal if you flatline, or maybe you're getting a text every few minutes that triggers the trap if you don't answer right away. I didn't see anyone on the way in though, so it's not an immediate ambush... Why the hell isn't it an ambush?"

"Why indeed?" Myst teased.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Whatever amateurish system you've got set up, I can shut it down."

Quin moved even closer to Myst, trying to glean some hint from the woman's strange expression. Myst was thankful it was still dark, the blood moon's glow concealing the growing blush in her cheeks. With a frustrated growl Quin took the barrel off of the PI and got up, moving her hands along the walls until she flipped a switch, illuminating the office in harsh, fluorescent light. Deciding that Myst wasn't going to fire the moment her back was turned, Quin turned the office upside down as she searched for whatever Myst had prepared. She continued muttering to herself as she did so.

"Maybe you're uploading live audio and video to the feds? That's probably what I'd do... But there isn't a single damn camera or mic in here, is there?"

After easily cracking the passwords and searching through Myst's phone and computer for several minutes, Quin puffed out her cheeks, stomping the ground in a child-like tantrum.

"What the hell even is this? You don't have a damn thing against me, do you?"

"I do, actually. Something much more effective than a threat."

Myst stood from her bed and cast the blanket off, revealing herself as fully dressed and having already holstered her gun. She approached her quarry. Quin eyed her cautiously but was too curious about this strange woman to stop her approach. Myst brushed Quin's messy pigtail away from her ear, then leaned in with a whisper.

"Your love for Norma."

The name alone gave Quin shivers. Myst drew back slowly, still keeping the smaller woman within arm's length.

"As things are now, you don't have a chance in hell with her. You really fucked up... but you know that already."

Quin's lips quivered. Hearing that from a stranger hurt, but she knew full well that she deserved every bit of the pain. Her feelings of helplessness bubbled up to the surface, causing her to lose her composure again.

"Yeah, I do, alright?! Jesus, what the hell is all this? You really lured me here just to rub that in my face!?"

Myst shook her head sadly, tentatively reaching out to embrace her quarry. When Quin didn't resist, Myst let the younger girl's head rest against her chest.

"You couldn't be further from the truth, Quin. I'm here to bring you and Norma together, just as you were destined to be..."