It was on fire. All of it. Only this time it wasn't in his mind's eye. He could see the flames lighting up the familiar building, he could smell the smoke from the distance. Itachi was by no means, a fool or an optimist. On his way back from an earlier mission he could see the smoke rising into the afternoon sky, he could tell from which direction it was coming from and where most likely it originated. He chose not to believe, even though his senses, logic, and years of preparing for and expecting the worst told him the truth.

'This couldn't be happening.' He thought to himself.

He was certain the direction the blaze was coming from was the Bordello he currently frequented. He couldn't help himself as he unconsciously picked up speed, praying to any deity that would listen that he be wrong. As he arrived to the shady street the place was located he found that his prayers went unanswered. The building was brightly ablaze with a great fire that didn't look like it would go out anytime soon. There was a crowd of people standing outside across the street from the burning building. Some were mesmerized by the flames themself, while others were looking around and screaming for friends or loved ones.

Itachi scanned the crowd and recognized most of the girls that worked there were on the sidewalk looking back into the building. In his time with hanging around Lexi and Amy, he had gotten to know many of the women who were employees and other things like how many usually worked there a night. Itachi preformed a quick head count and seen that almost all of the employees were accounted for. There were only two that he couldn't find, possibly the two most important to him, and that was Lexi and Amy themselves.

A few loud gasps and yells drew his attention to the burning entrance where he saw a man carrying a woman just as some more of the entryway collapsed due to the fire. There was no no way to get in through the front entrance any longer without the flames touching you and sealing your fate. Itachi examined the pair who had just exit the building and Itachi recognized the woman being carried out as Lexi. Itachi's eyes widened immediately. Before he knew it his feet were moving and he took Lexi from the man who had helped her out of the building. She was barely conscious, meaning she must have been in the building and exposed to smoke for quite some time.

"I-Itachi.." She acknowledged him weakly as she was able to keep an eye cracked open to recognize him.

Itachi brought her to the other side of the street where the other employees gathered around to make sure their boss was okay. Itachi held up a hand telling them not to crowd too much and they seemed to get the message. Itachi sat her down gently on the ground hoping that it would help her to catch her breath. She spent a few minutes sucking in as much clean air as she could and coughing. When she seemed to have gotten a bit of her wind back she turned to Itachi with a panicked look on her face, as if she just remembered something worrying.

"Amy!" She rasped out in her best version of a yell, which only caused her to start coughing some more.

Itachi looked at her and blinked in confusion.

"Amy? What about Amy? Where is she?" Itachi asked feeling dread creep in his chest.

He wasn't hopeful enough to believe that she just didn't go into work today, and he didn't see her outside with all the people who had gotten out. That left only one place for the woman to be and it wouldn't be good if she were indeed in there. Lexi looked back to him with the panicked look never leaving her face. She then pointed toward the building.

"She's still.....inside....In my office." Lexi struggled to get out.

Itachi looked to the burning building and wasted no time trying to figure out a way to get inside. Based on the way Lexi was when she got out of the building, time was not on his side anyway. He looked to the entrance just to once again note that the fire had completely shut that down. Even if he could get through the flames, the time it would take to clear the path would slow him down too much. He took off running down a side alley. He could hear Lexi's faint screams for him, telling him to wait, but he ignored her. The only thing he could register was that his friend was in trouble.

Friend... He thought he was done with those, but this woman had continued to push and push her way into his life. Itachi would be lying if he didn't say he had a soft spot for those types. He knew exactly the kind of person he was, cold, not really talkative or sociable and didn't really get or let anyone close, but Amy broke through all that and despite it all, always did her best to look out for him and help him. He'd be damned if he let her die if there was something he could do about it.

He continued running to the side of the building. He was really regretting not having the time to send one of his crows to scout an entrance. He also didn't want to use any of his hidden abilities but with his friends life on the line he wasn't in the mood to really hold himself all that much. Once he reached the side he began looking for windows that he could use as an entrance and possibly an exit. He knew Lexi's office was on the second floor and based off the lighting from the inside the upstairs part of the building was on fire too, but it wasn't shining as brightly as the bottom floor's windows were. With that in mind, he figured it'd be safer to enter from upstairs instead of downstairs.

He looked around the small alley for something that would help him climb up. He found his solution in the form of a dumpster. He pushed the dumpster toward the building where the window he wanted to enter was located. He then hopped onto the top of the dumpster, used it to bounce, landing feet first against the wall of the near building opposite and then used his momentum to launch himself through the window of the burning building. He made sure to hit it should and elbow first with great force, keeping his face tucked to protect it from shards of glass. Once he was in, he quickly got his bearings.  He entered in one of the building's rooms that was used by customers for intimacy. Usually, coming inside one of these rooms would disgust him, but he had no time to pay attention to all the things that this room was used for, not even a few hours ago.

He quickly exit the room to the main hall on the second floor. He wasn't that far from the office. He realized that and ran toward it, seeing that the door was left open he wasted no time entering. Some parts of the room were absolutely shrouded in smoke while others were covered in bits of fire. He covered his face with the high collar of his shirt as he looked around the room for Amy. Over by one of the parts of the room that was on fire, he believed he saw the outline of a body, laying on the floor.

He moved slowly toward it, almost not being able to believe it to be who it more than likely was. He approached the woman and gently pulled her away from the flames she was close to, and flipped her onto her back. It was there he saw the most shocking thing this whole night.

"Amy..." Itachi whispered in disbelief as he looked upon her half burned face.

She must've taken in too much smoke and it caused her to pass out, at least he hoped that was all that happened to her. He put his two fingers to her neck feeling for a pulse. The one he found was faint, very faint, but it was enough to kick him into action. He quickly but gently picked her up and ran back to the room that he used to enter the building. Once he got there he realized the both of them wouldn't fit through the window at the same time. He'd have to take a risk and let her out first.

He went to the window first and used his arm to knock out any loose hanging shards of glass. Then, remembering he put the dumpster underneath the window, he put her through the window feet first. He held onto her arms and lowered her as much as he could so that the landing wouldn't be too hard. Finally he let her go and heard the low thud as she landed on the top of the dumpster. He then stepped back inside and then took a running start jumped out the window, deliberately missing the dumpster so he didn't land on top of the unconscious woman. He rolled as he hit the ground so as not to break or sprain anything from the fall. Once he recovered he rushed back to the top of the dumpster to tend to his friend. He could hear sirens approaching in the distance, meaning emergency services had arrived. He could also hear the building begin to further collapse.

He picked up the woman and carried her back to the front as emergency services were setting up in front of the building. Itachi continued to hold the woman in his arms even as Lexi and the rest of the workers came and crowded around him. He didn't let her go until a couple of EMT's came over to check on them. Itachi himself refused service and simply and calmly demanded that they tend to Amy first. As the EMT's went about their work to do all they could for the woman, including trying to give her oxygen, their mood's remained grim. Itachi watched over them like a hawk with Lexi at his side. Some of the other girls were already crying in sadness.  Itachi knew better than to be hopeful, he knew there would be no miracles here. He'd seen too many battlefields in his short time on earth, too many broken families, too much blood. He was a shinobi, a ninja, he was born in blood, dealt in blood. He bathed in the scent of death, it constantly followed him around so he knew it well, and right now Amy reeked of the scent.

After continuing to try and do what they could for her but to no avail, eventually they had given up and given the rest of them a solemn shake of their heads and their apologies. Lexi began to cry herself, holding onto Itachi's arm out of sadness. She cried into his shoulder as Itachi stood there numb. He couldn't see anything else in his line of sight. The only thing he could see was his mind's eye, of the woman who had just passed on. She was smiling at him in his mind, like she had every time she had seen him. She enjoyed to tease him from the moment she met him and she never let up on him. She was a light in his darkness and she was snuffed out for trying to get too close. It wasn't fair, but then again, life barely ever was.

After awhile the sounds and the sights around him faded into nothingness. His mind was cleared of all thoughts and all emotions, the only thing lingering in it was a simple question.

Why?

Numb. That would be the best way to describe Itachi from the inside looking out. If you were looking at him from the outside, he looked just as impassive as always. It was how he was trained to look. Never show emotions, they would reveal to your enemy what you're thinking. If they could guess what you're thinking, what you're feeling, they had an advantage to exploit. Itachi was taught this at a very young age. Usually he would be feeling a great many things, but he wouldn't let any of them show on his face, or at least he would try his best. Right now, at this current moment he felt nothing. Well, that wasn't true.  He was feeling a torrent of many emotions. There was just too many to feel at once, that he couldn't settle on just one in particular. So he just settled on feeling nothing and keeping them all in check.

Lexi had brought him with her to the morgue to identify Amy. The woman in question only had half a face to identify. That made him feel a twinge of emotion that he quickly fought back. Usually he would say something like, he had to be strong for Amy, but if Itachi was being honest with himself, he had to be strong for himself. He didn't quite know how he would react if he let his emotions flow freely. This was not the first time he lost someone close to him. He had lost friends and family in the field of battle. Hell HE killed his OWN family. The pain of loss was nothing new to him. More times than not though, people who he'd seen die and people he killed knew full well the situation of the life they had chosen to lead. In this instance, Amy was a innocent. She was a lady of the night, sure, and sometimes that life can lead you to an early and unexpected death, but that shouldn't have been the case.

There was a part of Itachi that instantly wanted to sit down, figure out who could've done this, and exact vengeance upon said individuals. Itachi fought very hard against that urge. He wasn't much for vengeance, it never seemed to solve most of the problems he'd seen in life and the cycle of it never seemed to end unless someone went to great lengths and committed genocide to any and everyone who could one day come back to haunt them. Itachi had his faults, sure, but even he didn't see himself as that vile of a person.

"Jesus Christ, you can barely even recognize her." Lexi said next to him.

Itachi shook off his own thoughts once he heard her speak. He had been staring at the woman's face, but he hadn't continued to see it after awhile. He didn't want to. The view of her half burned face brought about a great many feelings in him that he needed to keep in check. Lexi didn't help but he truthfully knew she couldn't control it herself.

"It doesn't make any sense, Itachi. Why would anyone want to target a place like ours? And how the hell could they get to us in such a way? Isn't this what we pay you for? Where the fuck were you?!" She asked him in an increasing volume.

Itachi understood perfectly. She was grieving. Step one was shock and disbelief. She seemed to get over that by the time they actually got to the morgue. Step two was sadness and despair. During the identification process she seemed to work her way through that as she cried and mourned her good friend and employee. They were the only ones who could do it, since Amy didn't have any known relatives to identify her. Lexi demanded that she be the one to do so and dragged Itachi along as well, knowing it would be how the woman wanted it to go.

It seemed Lexi was now out of tears to cry and moving onto step three in the process, anger. He'd seen it many times before. Honestly Itachi knew he could shoulder this, he shouldered worse in his life. If it would help Lexi to get better faster than he would shoulder her anger and hostility. He didn't answer her. He didn't even look her way. He just let her continue to vent.

"I knew better. I fucking knew better. I should've never gotten involved with you thugs. Trust the professionals, they said. The more organized they are the better hands we'll be in. All you assholes are the same. Come around and stick around as long as the money is good and the money is flowing and then as soon as better things come along, forget all about us. Then you only come around if no money flows your way. Where the fuck has Joe been Itachi? I haven't seen him in quite some time. Too busy flying fucking planes or some shit isn't he?!" She asked almost accusingly again.

Itachi continued to remain silent. Lexi made some points and in others they were false, but it made no sense to try and correct her at this time, she wouldn't listen to him anyway. Itachi had been more busy with other things that Adonis was trying to set up lately. He got his own operation and expanded and seemed to be solely focused on that. He didn't know what happened with the report that Nikita had delivered to him but he believed something would've been done. It hadn't. Maybe that was the cause of why this happened tonight. Itachi couldn't be sure at the moment, but he would definitely find out.

"I'm glad this is over. I just hate that it came at the cost of someone so precious. She didn't deserve this shit Itachi. Her blood.... Amy's blood is on your hands. On ALL of your hands. How could you guys let this happen? She LOVED you. You had to know that." She accused.

He did. He knew all along, sure it started off as light teasing and probably the interest to draw a reaction out of one who seemingly wouldn't react. Eventually it grew into something else. He didn't know if she had seen him as a younger friend that she just liked to mess with or just someone she couldn't leave alone, but he knew she greatly cared for him. His thoughts were taking a more somber tone. Maybe in a moment of weakness or in a moment of great insight Itachi felt it was best for him to leave.

"I'm sorry Lexi-san." He said without turning to face her.

She replied to him with a scoff and he could feel the heat of her stare on him, as she graced him with a look of disdain. He then turned to look to the deceased woman again. He gave her one last long look. He didn't see her there as the woman with half a face, his mind wouldn't allow it. He chose to see her as the woman who always continued to smile at him.

"Forgive me, Amy-san." He almost whispered.

He lowered his head but was able to maintain his composure as he left the room. He didn't believe that Lexi would tell him about a funeral so he'd have to keep his ears open on his own. As he exited the building and began to prepare himself for a walk back to where he was currently residing he noticed a pair of eyes watching him. Years of training taught him how to feel when someone was watching him. He knew he was in no danger, he also wasn't really up for a long chat or a friendly meeting at the moment. He still allowed his curiosity to get the better of him as he tried to keep his emotions out of his voice.

"What are you doing here, Nikita-san?" He asked.

Ever since the day Adonis had the pair of them, Itachi and herself, to stakeout the small uprising, and she had reported back about a plan in the works to 'get back at Adonis' had been overheard in the alleyway, Nikita had had an uneasy feeling.  She had taken it upon herself to investigate deeper since she had acquired a few more connections.  Finding out names, locations, and plans was a tad easier once she had earned the trust and acceptance into the Family of Midas Air.  Belonging to a family had opened up doors that she just didn't have access to beforehand.

She had the first names of a few of the men from that day, and the Rose Alley location, not to mention the license plate numbers that she had managed to make notes on the cars the thugs had used.  Nikita had hired three locals to scout out the frequented bars by the named thugs, and only received tidbits of information for days.  Just word of an upcoming plan to happen, but not a specific target.  Until late last night, she had gotten word of a place the thugs were talking about would be ashes, the bordello her boss was protecting.  Hearing the news didn't sit well with Nikita, especially knowing that Adonis had at one time a great connection with the bordello.  The information wasn't much to go on still, but at least she now had a target to be on the lookout for starting the next day.

Once she had awoken that next morning, Nikita was in the middle of working on a plan for the bordello when a call came in from one of the hired men.  If only fate had worked out that way, but it seems she was too late in warning.  By the time she arrived to the flaming building, Nikita felt a sense of dread knowing that she didn't make it in time as her eyes scanned the crowd of survivors.  Details were sketchy from the crowd as to who could have set the fire, but Nikita kept silent as she knew exactly who it was.  There were a few casualties with injuries, but so far only one of the workers was labeled a fatality.

"Poor Amy."

"She didn't deserve this."

"Where was our protection huh?"

"Did you see his face when he laid Amy down?"

"I don't know how Lexi will get over this.  She was so close to Amy, like sisters almost."

"Who would have done this?!?"

There was a mixture of reactions as Nikita passed through the crowds.  Emotional responses, baffled responses to angry tones.  She could very well empathize with these people at their loss.  She continued to scan around for the person she fully expected to be here, but once she overheard the talks of the five ladies gathered together, Nikita knew he had left already.  Eventually she had discovered Itachi and the boss lady of the bordello had been seen going off after the ambulance, and set off to speak with Itachi in person.  She didn't fully know what she would be telling him that would help in this situation.

Sitting outside the hospital, observing the exits with a keen interest, Nikita waited until she saw him walk through the doors then got outta the Chrysler C7.  She leaned back against the car once she closed the door watched him take several paces away from the hospital entrance then waited until he finally glanced up and in her direction before she stood up from the relaxed position.  She could tell by his comment that she was the last person he'd expected to run into at that moment.  Nikita moved away from her car, heading towards him because this wasn't the kinda news to be shouting on the street.  Her voice was pretty much monotone as she spoke.

"Itachi.  First off, I am very sorry to hear of the loss.  I was just at the bordello, and came to find out you 'd be here.  This might not be the time, nor place that you wanna get into this, but I have news on who is behind the bordello being torched to the ground.  Petey Jenkins, Eddie Malone, and Leo McCann.  Those guys from the alley that day.  They are the ones behind this.  I only just found out last night that they were just planning on attacking the bordello to get at Adonis, but I didn't have a time of when they would."

'Great.' Itachi thought to himself.

His torrent of emotions were about to intensify with the information that Nikita had just given him. Apparently his hunch was correct, and these were the people they had messed with before retaliating for the death of one of their own. Apparently it was Adonis who didn't handle this situation that he was looking into and this was the cost of it. He was already thinking this to a point but with this bit of information, it would now be that much harder to fight back this train of thinking.

Also was the fact that he now knew for certain who was responsible and could find out their location. He would have to figure out himself what he would want to do or what he should do. Revenge was never a thing that appealed to him. He'd seen people lose themselves and everything around them in their chase for vengeance. Plus thinking about it, were these men so wrong in what they had done? Itachi's employer hurt their group by killing two of their members, they wanted payback and they had it, if he were to go and strike them down he'd only be hurting more people down the line and where does it end from there? Should he just wipe out all their friends, families, and associates too, just to make sure something like this didn't happen again?

That thought disgusted Itachi, which brought about more feelings of ironic amusement. He found the act of him butchering innocents disgusting, but killed his own family members to preserve a sense of peace that was bound to be broken eventually in some other way. He shook those thoughts off quickly. This wasn't about him, this was about Amy and what Nikita had just told him. He figured Adonis would want to deal with these people now that they've finally struck. It was a damn shame that it took them this long to do something about it, when the whole point of them scouting before was to prevent death or something like this from occurring. Nikita and Itachi did their jobs, but yet this happened anyway.

Itachi closed his eyes as he continued to try and keep emotions from showing on his face. He realized it must've been the new expansion that distracted his employer from focusing on this more direct problem. Itachi had been getting more and more security details to handle at the new airports his boss had opened. Less and less attention was given to the places that he'd started with, and more focus had been given to the newer ventures and trying to get them off the ground. It was simple, the old had been forgotten, and the new was the primary focus, like someone getting a new toy, except in this case, said old toy had feelings and was left to be destroyed instead of just abandoned.

It didn't sit right with Itachi and he could now feel the anger in him swelling again. Although this time not at the people who had actually committed the murder, but at his employer and himself for neglecting to provide the services they demanded payment for. Adonis had once killed two men for trying to shake this place down, yet they as a group, failed to deal with another group that they knew meant to do them harm, and it cost the life of someone important to Itachi.

He now looked Nikita straight in the eye. His eyebrows furrowed in a look of anger, along with his lips in a downturn serving as the only indicators to his current emotion.

"Does our leader know what happened here today?" Itachi asked tightly.

He watched her carefully, like a hawk. Almost staring through her, daring her to try to lie to him or deceive him. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, if anything he actually respected her. She was a trained worker, also doing security due to her past and special set of skills. Skills similar to his. It was for that reason he knew he had to take this seriously and keep his emotions and check, and do the best he could to gleam the truth from any statements she'd give him. She was a professional and loyal to her employer who was their leader, so he would have to treat her as such.

She watched the torrent of expressions flash across his face, but moreso in his eyes, then watched as he fought to display any before masking his expression to reveal nothing.  Nikita was very adept at keeping her own emotions in check over the years now, so it was easier to recognize the same efforts by others. Someone would literally have to be emotionally dead to never feel any kind of emotions whatsoever, and judging by the comments Nikita had heard as she passed by the survivors from the fire earlier, Itachi was in fact deeply affected by this situation.

Despite herself being involved emotionally in this situation, Nikita could empathize with those close to the person whose life had ended too soon because of the fire.  With all this in mind, Nikita didn't push to make any demands for reason or understanding of their bossman's actions or the failure to act and protect the bordello.  She kept her voice neutral and monotone because raging in defense of their boss would do this situation no good.  To be honest, she couldn't fault Adonis for not acting upon the information, especially since they only discovered the previous night of an actual plan to be put into motion.

Her loyalty to Adonis, as well as to her newfound family, overshadowed the inner turmoil of his failure to protect the bordello, one of his main interests before setting off onto new ventures.  Life demanded tough decisions to be made, and without knowing the full facts, Nikita couldn't judge her boss in regards to the bordello.  All she knew is how he reacted last night once she told him the news.  She kept her stance relaxed as Itachi had continued to speak, and when he paused to ask his question, Nikita responded in turn.

"Itachi, Adonis was informed only just last night, within an hour of finding out the information myself.  I had no time this morning to stop back by the headquarters upon learning about the fire.  I sent word to Adonis though before I took off to the bordello. I'm sure he knows about it by now, but there isn't anything he could have done."

Nikita didn't finish her thoughts out loud.  She agreed that something could have been done to prevent all this, but her loyalty kept her silent. A fleeting frown flashed across her face, but unless you were staring dead on at her, it wouldn't have been seen.  Innocent lives were taken today because of revenge for actions in the past.  Where would it end?

Itachi had lost interest in this conversation. Standing here and assigning blame, or deciding if it was justified or not wouldn't do anything helpful. If he were honest with himself, then he realized he shouldn't feel anything toward Adonis in regards to negative feelings. It really wasn't his fault for this situation, but he did play a part in it. Hell Itachi did as well. Placing blame wouldn't bring Amy back, nothing would, and with those thoughts Itachi found himself tired of the whole situation. Too many people had been hurt by this situation. If even one person was injured, it would've been too much, especially considering none of the girls at the Bordello did anything to deserve the fates that were given to them, the loss of a fellow employee, injuries, and the loss of a place to work.

Itachi turned from Nikita, and closed his eyes momentarily to calm himself. He took a deep breath in through his nose, so as not to show himself trying to get his emotions, and frustration with the situation under control. Ultimately, he was left with a lot to think about. A lot more than he would prefer along with all the emotions that he had to settle as well.

"You're right Nikita-san. I guess given the amount of information, and the time when it was received nothing could have been done to negate this attack. But we have to ask ourselves, could there have been actions taken, so we didn't get in this position in the first place? Overall though, I guess that doesn't matter. None of this self reflection will bring back the innocent young woman who lost her life, will it?" Itachi asked.

Silently he apologized in his head to Nikita. He knew she wasn't one to blame either. She just happened to be the one bringing him this news, and she was doing her job in defending her employer, THEIR employer. He should be doing the same, in the grand scheme of things who was he to be questioning his leader? Holding him accountable? At this point, Itachi didn't really care about any of that. He did regret that he was taking this out on Nikita who was only doing her job though. He was acting no better than Lexi.  She also out ranked him, and could call him out on this if she wished to do so. Itachi figured he'd better quit while he was ahead.

"I'll meet with our leader to find out what he wants done about this situation. Thank you for your information Nikita-san." Itachi said.

Usually he would give a light bow to show his respect to her position, but at this time, Itachi just didn't feel much like standing on formalities. Itachi began to walk off, so he didn't further cause problems with his momentary slips in emotional control.