The cemetery was desolate and cold; headstones and bare tree branches clad in shimmering winter glass while the world around lay in a snowy silent hush. Matty, frozen tears glistening from her wind-flushed cheeks, sat at the foot of a petite headstone; an armful of white roses cradled in her lap and guitar slung across her back. Sniffling against the glacial gusts and gripping grief, she dusted the snow from around the small marker, unburying a bevvy of tiny trinkets from their gelid graves… blanketed in snow as they had been.

Matty rearranged the toys with care; a child’s ukulele, a tiny tin piano, a small dolly… each was wiped clean and dry with meticulous attention and placed back on the small gravesite with a gentle kiss. Her actions were nearly mechanical, repeated as the so often were. The flowers were next, tenderly arranged in place of a dry wilted bouquet which Matty tucked into her bag with the same air of worn familiarity. Anyone watching would know she did this ritual faithfully and frequently.

Sitting cross-legged she stared down at the small grave with the tiny toys and more tears stole down her face, freezing in crystalline rivers on her cheeks. Sliding the guitar from her back, she slung it across her lap with practised ease and sank into the sweet solace of song. Her fingers picked expertly across the strings as she played out her melodic sorrow… pouring it into the air like gentle medicine.

She lost herself in the melancholy release of each measure. Eyes closed, head swaying softly in time, hands strumming out her heartache in sweeping staccato strokes. She could almost hear the bitter-sweet harmony of a violin playing softly along in the background. It was soul-bearingly beautiful. All that she had withheld this last long week: all the shame, every choked back asob and guilt-hidden smile; every thought of loathing and doubt… and yes, even every hope, she poured upon this grave; offering it up in sweet song to the spirits that forever haunted her life, begging forgiveness, release, even guidance.

“Mamí?” a childlike voice sliced through her thoughts like a cold, cruel knife; freezing everything in her body. The awful trill of a dissonant note lingered in the air, as her fingers screeched to a ringing halt. Matty squeezed her eyes shut tightly. There’s nothing there. She told herself resolutely… stubbornly clinging to her fragile faith in reality. “Matty?” The voice echoed through her mind again, shifting and aging with the cruel promise of what might have been. There’s nothing there. Matty insisted again, shivering in the snow as her blood ran cold. “Maaaattyyyyy!” The sing-song voice reverberated in her brain so tantalizingly that Matty had to open her eyes. It would never go away if she didn’t… and she was so tired of being haunted by voices on the wind.

She blinked against the harsh white reflection of the crisp snow as her focus settled on a woman no older than she was. She was as beautiful and as real as anything Matty had ever experienced, and yet somehow Matty knew she wasn’t REAL. Her raven hair danced playfully about her face, dark ringlets twirling in some non-existent breeze. Her soft blue eyes sparkled as she smiled sweetly from a few plots away. For a moment Matty couldn’t breathe. The resemblance was striking… same dark hair, same light eyes, same sprinkling of sweet, pale freckles. Tears stole again down Matty’s face as traced the name on the tombstone… Juliette. Mattea almost smiled as she mouthed her daughter’s name. “You would have been so pretty, Mijita,” Matty thought in a whisper to herself. “Muy Bon…ita,” Matty trailed off as she looked back up, finding herself once again alone at the grave. But, in the distance… just where the young woman had been standing… Matty saw a familiar figure, clad all in black, bracing himself against the snow and sadness.

“En serio?” Matty hissed softly at the grave with a distinct whine,“Why you do this to me? No es justo!” With an exasperated sigh, Matty’s head melted into her hands. It had been only a short while since Juliette had been taken from her… and the child’s father along with her. So the stirring rise of hope that Matty felt in the hollows of her bones as she stole a glance at Sullivan Black tore her apart.

She’d felt conflicted every day since accepting her position at The Ivory Tower. Truth be told, she’d intended to turn down the offer. House and practice be damned. She never wanted to be involved with the Mafia. It was against everything Abuelita ever taught her. And with Juliette gone, they could have killed her for the slight and it would have been sweet relief. But then there were those bright blue eyes… so aching and sad always watching her with anguished glances and pained stares, and the half-smiles always feeling somehow perverse and forbidden… like apples in the garden or the black gleam of blood in midnight moonlight.

Matty hated herself for the way she felt about him… half infatuated, half saving grace. How fucked up and twisted do you have to be to feel HAPPY to see someone at a CEMETERY? The loathing that welled up, tasted like iron in her mouth even as soft smile crept across her lips. And this time… alone… she finally let it. It hurt… knowing that she was betraying EVERYTHING she’d ever been. But it had been so long since she was able to smile… to feel anything other than emptiness. Surely it couldn’t be so bad, to have just a little light in her world, even if it was twisted and incurable.

You’re demented! She thought to herself, resting her cheek against her daughter’s headstone as she watched him with sparkling eyes. She ached for him, knowing keenly the pain he was feeling. She ached to take away that pain, to somehow bring him the little light and solace that he was unwittingly able to bring her. His very presence made her life more bearable when they were together. And at the same time… she ached for him.

With a shaking sigh, Maty plucked a single white rose from the vase she’d just arranged and stretched to her feet. If she was to be haunted her whole life… by the living and the dead alike… at least she could embrace it with some comfort. Slinging her guitar over her back once more, Matty leaned down to kiss the grave marker. “Lo siento, Mijita,” she whispered softly, pressing her forehead against the cold stone. “I love you.” The small tin piano caught her attention as she pushed herself up again. And with a tender smile, Matty picked it up and held it close to her heart as she turned away.

Her smile faded as her eyes searched an empty horizon. Sully was already making his way back to a car parked just behind the thick tree-line. And Matty’s heart sank just a little. But… she told herself… that was probably for the best, all things considered. The sparkle seemed to dim as she made her way to where he had been standing, some of her hope leaving, as it always did, along with him. She laughed softly at the hollow feeling creeping back into her chest. Who would want to have THAT meeting in a cemetery anyway? It just wasn’t right. Laughing at her own dark cynicism, Matty made her way to Sully’s grave. And the melodic tinkle of her soft humour died out abruptly.

A wrenching whimper tore its way from her throat with painful empathy as she approached the still-slightly-rounded grave. Still fresh… too fresh. “I’m so sorry,” Matty whispered softly, kneeling to press her cheek against the soft Earth… as demonstrative with the dead as she was with the living. Resting her face against the cold snow, Matty choked back a strangled gasp as she read the elaborate marker… Jacqueline JULIETTE Black.

Matty shoved herself away, leaving handprints in the snow as she backpedalled away instinctually. This world she’d been led into seemed so cruel as she pressed her eyes closed against the onslaught of resulting emotions. Tears stole down her cheeks freezing rivulets… for both of them. It was all too much. And it threatened to engulf her completely… to dash every bit of her very being against some far-flung shore of bitter, soulless irony. Matty didn’t think she could even feel everything she was feeling… for both of them as she slowly blinked back the overflow tears. Steeling herself, she pushed everything away into that empty part of her soul… that gaping chasm of longing that was left when Juliette died. And with a quite sniffle she pulled the guitar into her lap again.

Pushing all of the shock, the pain, the longing… the bittersweet hope, the self-loathing, the resentment… pushing everything into her fingers, she played a haunting, mourning tune… for everything she’d lost, and everything she swore she’d never have. Until her heart, like Sully’s lay in the snow at the foot a cold stone that simply read,“Beloved wife.”

There were no tears left. Swollen red eyes were easy to see against the black and white background that was his suit and the snow. What was once a runny nose, was nothing for than frozen crust stuck to the rounds of his nostrils and his upper lip. His bottom lip, carved with tooth marks, was dry and cracked suggesting that he was slightly dehydrated, and perhaps chapped by the wind. Regardless of it all, Sullivan remained on all fours as he stared down at the grave marker, barely able to breath as his whole body shook. His breath fogged as he exhaled slowly, trying not to hyperventilate, before he lowered his head to the marker and kissed it.

"I've..." he sniffed hard, trying to clear his nostrils of runny mucus. "I've tried nearly everything I can Jackie. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with out you. The house is so quiet and empty... Maybe I'll get a dog." He grinned a bit, thinking about it. She hated dogs, and it was why he could never have one... But he knew if he got one it wouldn't really help him.

"I find my solace in my gin, and a needle... Not even my piano brings me joy any longer. I wish it weren't so, but I can only think of you any time I touch one of the keys. Why couldn't it have been me?" he slammed his fist into the snow as he asked his question before rolling over to sit and stare up at the sky, sobbing and asking repeatedly...

"Why why why why why?" was all that croaked out quietly, begging for answers as if some divine being up above would answer him. After a few moments, his head hung in utter defeat and he pushed himself up and said his goodbyes to Jackie. Heavy footfalls tromped through the snow toward the tree line where his car was hidden until he heard a light picking noise. He froze, ear twitching softly before he took two steps forward.

"Just the breeze knocking something arou-"

There it was again... Someone was playing a quiet, heavy melody on a guitar. Reaching the tree line to better conceal himself, Sully turned and leaned against the one of the many trunks. He squinted hard just to see back through the cemetery, and as his eyes landed on them, he realized they were sitting atop Jacqueline's grave.

Red flushed over his face and his teeth clamped down, his brows knitting close together as he stomped back toward the gloomy movement of the unknown disturbance.

"HEY!" he called out as he got closer.

"Just what in the fuck do you thi...nk... you're....Matty?" His anger faded as quickly as it had come, and instead, a look of pure confusion sat in over his sunken and puffy eyes.

Matty just about jumped out of her skin as Sullivan SCREAMED at her from across the lawn. That same dissonant ringing cut through the snowy air as he startled her into an utterly wrong note. She wasn't ON Jackie's grave. Just close enough to lean her temple against the cold space as she played. Which became self-evident as she jumped up, backing away from the plot. Her knees, peeking out from beneath her short coat and dress, were BRIGHT red from the snow and ice. Clearly, it had hurt to kneel there... and yet here she was. Still. 

The rose and tiny tin piano tumbled from her lap as she stood, clutching the neck of her guitar with an expression of pure apologetic regret. Suddenly this felt like a terrible idea.  "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just thought.......... I was here for Jules... my daughter...." the word croaked out - a strangled whisper as Matty's eyes fell from his face. "When I saw... I just wanted to..." The poor dear was so shaken she couldn't even manage a single coherent sentence. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, leaving soft steaming dimples in the snow where they landed and frozen rivulets on her cheeks. Slinging the guitar back over her shoulder, she stooped to pick up the flower and the piano, shoving them into his hands in a hasty bid for retreat. "It won't happen again," was all she said as she turned away toward Juliette's grave; leaving him to stare down at the tiny, worn toy and the name delicately engraved along the top... "Juliette". 

Sully stared at the name on the piano, and turned to his Jacqueline's grave marker and looked at the Juliette there as well, then back to the small, tin piano. His eyes widened and his hand shot out to catch Matty's hand as she had turned to walk away...

"Wait..."

His slender fingers gripped onto what he could of her hand, wrapping tightly and not letting go.

"Please... Please don't leave. Jackie would have enjoyed the song. It was very...her. Even the wrong note."

He smiled, possibly the first -real- smile since Jackie's death, and as Matty turned back she would see it. "I've never met anyone quite like you, aside from Jacqueline herself." He motioned to the small piano in his hand as he let go of Matty. "I'm guessing you weren't out here to visit my Jackie though. Juliette, it's a beautiful name. Was Jackie's middle name. Did your little girl play piano?"

How? He hadn't even been to the grave! There's no way he would kno-... Did he have the plots memorized? That might be a little strange, but it would be the only thing to explain him knowing! Unless it was just a guess from the tiny, engraved piano? It wasn't rocket science, but it could be confusing enough for someone not capable of deductive reasoning.

Sullivan reached up and pressed his thumb to Matty's cheek, then his whole hand, thawing her skin with his touch. He was warm, even for the freezing cold weather... Even for the frail build of his body... Sullivan was warm, and it felt nice.

"I bet she was beautiful, if she was anything like you." Sully sighed, reaching down and twisting his wedding ring.

"I'm sure both Jacqueline and Juliette would love if you would continue your song... I know I would."

His eyes were heavy, but warm and inviting. His smile, while trembling, was without shame or hate. He was a sad, slender man... But he was growing slowly warmer in the presence of Miss Peraldo.

"I can sit and attempt to play this little piano if you'd like?"

He smirked, attempting a lighthearted chuckled, but it came out as a sniffling breath, a tear just cresting over the edge of his eyelid, making his blue eyes sparkle in the bright snow.

Matty froze as his fingers clasped around her hand, allowing herself to be drawn back into his presence... just in time to see him smile. Even in the freezing-gray, blustery, bitter winter, his smile seemed to light up the whole world. And the weight of it stole her breath away, leaving a burning ache in its place. She was silent as he begged her to stay. But stay she did, the very corner of her lips twitching up in a faint smirk as she nodded. Matty didn't really care how he knew about Juliette. Only that he cared enough to ask. "She played everything. Beautifully. Child prodigy Abuelita said. We were gonna save up and send her to Julliard if she stuck with it after Kindergarten." Kindergarten? REally?? Well, if anyone could understand that, it would be Sully. 

Matty lip trembled as she turned her face away slightly, but her face was caught in his gentle hands... cheeks warming as the ice below her seafoam coloured eyes thawed in his palms. For a moment she leaned into his hand, pressing her supple cheek into the hollow of his hand. Pressing her lips together tightly, she nuzzled him tenderly as she fought to sort through the onslaught of thoughts and emotions that threatened to utterly drown her. His touch made her stomach twist and lurch in a way that gave her butterflies AND made her ill. 

-"I bet she was beautiful, if she was anything like you."- He sighed, and everything inside the small Latina melted into a puddle in the snow. Reaching out, she gently took his hands, stilling the nervous tick of his wedding band with a compassionate pat. "She was... a lot like me. But much prettier, I always thought. Darker hair, bluer eyes, fairer skin... and these liiiiiight little freckles you could only see in JUST the right light."  Matty sniffled a little, having no idea the phantom her words would conjure in his mind. "I think she would have liked you,"  she said matter-of-factly, fishing a rough woollen blanket from her bag and holding it up to him with a questioning glance toward Jackie's plot. It was kind of weird to have a picnic in a cemetery... but what the hell. If it would help his heart heal, she'd play until her frozen fingers bled.  

"I'll stay with you as long as you like," Matty said with an unusual air of finality that far outweighed their little tete-a-tete. Glancing down at the little piano, Matty struck up a slightly-less-melancholic tune with a challenging smirk.  "One day, when it doesn't hurt to play, I would LOVE to hear that," she said with a certain air of knowingness, leaning her head over on his shoulder as she hummed softly along with her song. "For now, what I would like, is for you to find a little happy... just a little bit." Her fingers trilled a crescendoing cavalcade of staccato notes. "Because I know she'd want that for you," she continued without opening her eyes or looking up. It was easier to say with her eyes closed, "I know I do." 

With that Matty melted away for a little while into that melodic world that so few could understand... the strings of her guitar speaking louder volumes than her lips could ever say as she played softly for his future... just a little bit.

The two sat for what felt like ever as Matty played for Jackie, Juliette, Sullivan, and herself. Sully couldn't help but smile as the music swirled with the ambient noises of the cemetery; whistling winds, the occasional voices in the background, and of course the traffic. It carried them both away and into memories long forgotten before she was finished.

His lip parted as the song came to it's finale, his whites shining bright as the cold snow behind the child-like grin across his face. "That was absolutely marvelous..."

Sullivan opened his eyes, the sunlight and white powder glistening brightly through the wet dew running over his cheeks. He wiped the tears away from Matty's eyes before cradling her face in his hands and leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"I will gladly return the favor as soon as I am able to think clearly on the matter." He stood and helped her to her feet, gathering her things and offering to carry them for her.

"So, I have a question, and I know it's sudden, but..." he trailed off, looking up at Matty.

"I have this thing I have to attend. I mean, I don't HAVE to, I'm not necessarily expected to, but I think it would look bad to the family if I didn't."

He reached over and began fidgeting with his wedding band yet again, twisting and tugging it slowly as his face turned red.

"It's been years since I've done this, but... Would you like to accompany me to an event?"

Matty chuckled through a sniffle as he wiped her tears away. She found it almost cruel and bitterly ironic that  Sully - the mortician and widower - should be the only man who didn't make her flinch when he touched her. She closed her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her, taking what solace she could from the sweet warmth of his lips... cracked and chapped though they were. She longed to savour the sweet moment; fearful she may never get another. Leaning up to nuzzle his cheek lightly with hers, she exhaled her pining against his ear. 

Reaching to fondle the tiny gold locket resting at her throat, Matty felt a familiar sense of abashing guilt begin to creep into her mind. She tried to push it from her mind with a would-be smile as he offered to carry her things; looking quite shy as she nodded hesitantly. She wasn't used to such chivalry, and it felt a bit awkward. She let him carry her bag and the blanket, but slung the guitar over her shoulder herself; feeling she needed to help at least that much. 

Matty froze as he began twisting his ring again, feeling a pressing panic squeezing her chest. Surely she'd wake up at any moment realizing this was all some cruel dream... a wicked game played on her by her traitorous mind. But as she pinched lightly at her collarbone, the light sting of pain proved otherwise. 

"Would you like to accompany me to an event?"  She had to blink at him several times before the actual weight of his request settled in... quickly followed by about a million questions racing through her mind.

This is actually happening? You're serious? What exactly did he mean by 'accompany'? Like 'platonic escort cuz I don't want to be alone and we kind of own you anyway' accompany? Or 'no it's totally appropriate if you wanna blush and jump up and down' accompany? And if it was 'ACCOMPANY', how did that work inside the family? And what about... 

Matty gaze flickered over Jackie's name for a moment as she gulped audibly. 

Could she actually accept his invitation? HERE? NOW? ... but if not now when? If she fucked this up... it might break him. Hell, it might break her. She could feel it already, sinking up in the pit of her stomach. It would KILL her to say no. Possibly literally. There had to be a reason that today of all days THIS is how things played out. Maybe for once she just needed to trust that ghosts in her head. 

At first, all she could do was nod... slowly to start, and then faster with more emphasis.  "Yes..." it came out a dry, croak. Which made her blush and giggle. "Heh... you uh... you stole my voice away," she chuckled, one finger furiously twisting a stray wave into a tight ringlet. She turned her face away from him a little, swallowing hard to catch her breath and chase down her fleeing composure before continuing. "I'd love to,"  she nodded trying not to smile TOO much... considering the setting.  "When and where?" 

Sullivan's lips stretched from ear to ear. He would have accepted a no and been fine, but it pleased him greatly to know he could have such an understanding escort; not to mention she was a dead-ringer knock-out.

"When and where?" Of course she needed to know that part of it. Sully looked into her eyes, that smile growing even more as he knew the next answer was the hardest part to pull off.

"Policeman's Ball... Tonight." He looked up into the sky, judging the position of the Sun. "In roughly six and a half hours." His gaze fell quickly back to her to watch her sweat with that news. There was an odd tickle of joy from making Matty fret over it slightly.

Mattye's eyes went wide, her lips slackening a little as she croaked softly.  "OH! Oh..." she sounded a little disappointed as she trailed off.  "I... I'm not sure I can... I mean... I want to... I just don't... have anything to wear," she finally managed to admit with a sheepish expression of embarrassment, "And I'm afraid I... I don't think I manage to... um... throw anything together in time." Small circles started to form in the snow as Matty scraped at it with the toe of one worn shoe. What she really meant was she couldn't AFFORD anything.

She looked SO SAD as shameful tears welled up in her pale-green eyes; a soft, strangled hiccup of a whimper just barely escaping her lips as they quivered. "I'm... um... I'm sorry," she sniffled, wiping furiously at the corners of her eyes... clearly mad at herself for feeling disappointed... so HAPPY... or even feel anything at all in the first place.  "Please... don't be upset. I do really want to go with you..."  she huffled, still trying to comfort and reassure him even through her embarrassment and pain. 

Sullivan smirk turned to a frown...

"You know if you don't want to accompany tonight, or you had other plans, I completely understand." He chuckled a bit as she continued and finally said she had nothing to wear.

"You know, I've heard that excuse soooo many times. 'I've nothing to wear!' However, I don't feel like that's an excuse from you. Not in the same manner. It's not a cop out. I feel like you actually think you have nothing to wear."

He took a step back and looked her over. "You know, you're about the same size here and here..." He pressed a hand to his chest and hips respectively. "You're a little shorter, but that shouldn't be a problem. We can get a gown with a train."

His head cocked sideways, back and forth, as he sized her and got measurements simply by eyeing her one way then another.

"Mhmm.... Yes... Ye- maybe? No... No no no... Oh, but yes?" He seemed to literally be dressing and undressing her with his eyes, until he snapped and smiled. "I've got it, it will be perfect, just trust me. However, if you DON'T like it, I'll let you go through the wardrobe yourself."

Sully turned and began to walk to the car, and it took a few steps before he realized that she was still standing a good few feet behind him simply dumbfounded. What was his plan? He turned back to look at her and blinked...

"Well are you coming or not?!"

Matty felt violated in a way that she couldn't quite understand. Yet at the same time, the growing butterflies in the pit of her stomach told her that in some twisted way she LIKED it. She took a few steps forward before a sickening thought ripped through her mind and rooted her to the spot. Sully is a mortician. Just exactly WHAT wardrobe was he talking about? 

"Well, are you coming or not?!" Matty had to REALLY think about that question. Just EXACTLY what was she willing to do for him? For a brief second, Matty glanced back over her shoulder at Jackie's grave; secretly wondering what SHE was wearing. Was it worth it? Even if...? Would she really? 

As she looked back at his world-shattering smile, something inside her snapped. Yep. She would. She definitely would. Part of her stomach felt sick at her willing decision. The other half was sick with an anxious energy that she hadn't felt since childhood. Scurrying to catch up, she slipped her arm silently in his with a gentle nod. Humming softly, she let him guide her to his car and tried (to little avail) not to go wobbly-kneed as they approached. Holy shit, it was SO NICE! She was REALLY gonna have to get used to this whole "family business" thing, she thought to herself as he ushered her into the read leather passenger seat with a soft, throaty giggle. "Don't worry, you're not gonna break it," he reassured her as she stared, wide-eyed; her brunette wave bouncing around her face as she shook her head emphatically. This was nicer than her HOUSE! What had she gotten into?! 

The engine roared to life and Sully grinned as Matty continued to shake her head, her hair bouncing around. "You're really not going to break it. I promise..." He grinned before dropping the car into reverse and pulling away from the cemetery.

"So, do you need to go home first and grab some things, or would you rather go straight to my place so we can get you dressed and ready for the ball?"

He pressed down on the gas pedal as they spoke, pulling them out onto the main drag that would pass through the Strip, at least getting them headed back toward Summerlin.

"Oh. umm... heh!"  Matty chuckled sheepishly. She really kind of didn't want him to see her home. Ever. It was embarrassing in comparison to his car. So she couldn't imagine what it would be like in comparison to his house. Actually, she wondered to herself, how long had it been since any man had seen her home? Three years?? No. There was that one emergency call. But did that really count? 

"Whatever you think would be best," she settled on letting him take the lead, "I'm sure that my things will be perfectly safe in your home, if that would be easier. Otherwise, I can direct you to my house. But I must warn you, it's nowhere near as nice as your car... or as big." She smiled at him shyly from behind a curtain of loose brunette waves. "Tonight, I am at your disposal. So I will follow your lead. I trust you." 

The words fell out of her mouth before she'd even had time to contemplate them, and as the full weight of their meaning settled in on her, she stared at Sully with a dumbfounded kind of surprise. "I trust you..."  she said it with a lilting air of discovery, as if she was just realizing what it actually meant. "Huh..." she chuckled softly, looking at him as if he were the most beautiful oddity in the enitre world. "That hasn't happened in... a while." 

Musical laughter filled the cab as she looked him over, veritably drinking in th e sight of him... red eyes, puffy nose and all. "Well then. ON JEEVES!" 

Sully's brow perked as his rosy cheeks warmed in the car, his head cocking to the side to look at Matty and watch the road. The corner of his mouth tugged up as he tried not to laugh.

"You trust me, hmm? We'll see how that goes." He chuckled softly, his shoulders raising and falling with each little snicker.

"Well then," he continued, "let's go straight to my home and I'll get you dressed for this evening's affair."

With that, the two made their way to the Black home to prepare for the Policeman's Ball; light banter keeping the drive from being absolutely boring.