Billy nodded when Gavin gave him the front door, and he knew exactly how to handle this one.

"Best of luck you old fart. See you on the other side."

He got out of the car, clicked the safety off and slipped the gun he now had into his waistband. He strolled casually toward the grocery store from just slightly down the street and grabbed an apple from the display outside as he made his way in. He was tossing it slowly into the air as he whistled his way into the store. He picked up a basket and put the apple into it before continuing to whistle as he made his way toward one of the aisles. He decided the soup can isle would be appropriate and he nodded to one of Tyler's goons as he passed him. The man looked bewildered and unsure of what to do. Billy was slightly larger than he was, but he had a gun, and it was loaded and it was pointing at him. Billy had just passed him by like nothing happened!

Then he turned to the guy.

"Hey, you work here right? You look like you work here, you got that price gun and all. Can you tell me when this soup was last stocked? I mean..."

He picked the apple up out of his basket and bit it, chewing for a moment, he swallowed.

"The apples are pretty fresh, I'll give you that. But I've had some problems with the pre-packed goods before. Not from you guys. I'm not really from around here. But if you got some real fresh stuff in the back I would appreciate you going to get it for me."

He leaned in to the guy and lowered his voice in a mock whisper.

"I'll even throw in a nice tip for you."

He winked at the man then and watched as he stood shocked at Billy. He then made a motion and suddenly there were four other guys surrounding Billy.

"Oh, wow, hey your customer service really is top notch, I'm nobody special guys. Just here to get something for lunch tomorrow. No need to jump on me."

He smiled his normal playful smile. He was surrounded, but he had at least removed four guys from whatever they were doing. He had no idea how many that left for Gavin Bella and Rora, but he suddenly realized he was in a real bad spot.

Aurora froze as she heard the doors opening.  She couldn't see who had come in, but someone was... whistling?  She gripped the rafters tight and inched down close to the ceiling tiles trying to pull one up.  Before she could get a good look at who it was, she heard his voice and her heart skipped a beat.

Billy!

She looked around.  Four men were closing on him. 

In her limited estimation, he could take four, so long as they didn't use their guns.  She strained to look further out into the room... god there were so many of them!  This was NOT how she liked to work.  One target.  One at a time.  Never ... never... NEVER what he JUST did!  If we survive this, I'm going to give him a very large piece of my mind... no more kid gloves regarding his safety!

Motion beneath her brought all her overthinking to an abrupt stop.  One of the men took a swing at Billy and they were off to the races.  As expected, the four weren't going to be facing Billy alone if their friends had anything to say about it and so, as victim number one reached for his iron Aurora exhaled and squeezed the trigger.  

The men on the floor were startled.  No one knew who pulled the trigger and no one knew who the fuck was shot - not until he hit the ground and blood pouring out the open cavity in his chest began to pool around him on the floor.

People were running for cover, folks were pulling guns, and the best part... Durden's crew had eyes on Billy.  They KNEW he didn't shoot and since they thought they were alone, apparent distrust was bubbling to the surface as men started shouting angry accusations and attempts at reassurances across the room.  Aurora wasn't going to let them have time to figure shit out.  She took another shot.

A second man fell to the ground and the chaos escalated.  Bella peaked out of the office and then ducked back inside.  Unarmed, her mother was in no position to be of help but had seemed to realize Billy was there as well as she made a point of calling out to him so he knew where she was.  This, of course, was something she could not yet do.

Billy found 'cover' (such as it was) and he was taking pot shots on the crew which had now turned inward upon itself!  Only one of them seemed to have any clue at all, one lone voice among a sea of others screaming for sanity, screaming for them to stop shooting. 

Aurora smiled.

There was no loyalty among these guys.  They weren't a family.  They were rabid animals.  They were going to bury themselves.  She and Billy were just there to help them along on their way to Hell.

--- MEANWHILE ---

"What the are you doing!  You're not supposed to be in your mother's office."  Linval chided.

"I told you, I'm helping them.  You can either help too or stay the hell out of my way."  William tore through his mother's file cabinets, rifling through documents of deeds, titles, other legal paperwork.

"What are we looking for exactly?"  Linval asked.

"That Durden said that Tyler sent Mancini to Montreal to find a place Aurora told him about, some property mom and dad own.  I want to know what the hell he's looking for.  Whatever it is, I'm sure we don't want him to get it and when they get home my parents are going to be glad I found out what's really happening here.  I might be shit in a fight... but like Aunt Tara, I'm NOT fucking useless!"

Will paused noticing a postcard. 

The Sun Life building was featured on the front.  

"What is it?"  Linval asked before Will had even opened his mouth to speak.

"Fuck."  Will said dashing to the phone on his mother's desk, pushing the numbers scrawled in the message of the card.

Will sat waiting until at last, "Aunt Tara!"

"William?  What a surprise, I didn't expect to hear from y-"

"Aunt Tara you need to get out of Montreal, tonight!"

"Will, what are you talking about?  Where are your parents?"

"Tyler Durden has mom.  Dad's gone after her.  One of Tyler's guys told me that he sent a man to Montreal to find something that is in mom and dad's house up there... something which Tyler wants.  YOU are in the house.  Tyler's after YOU!  You need to get out now!"  Will insisted, frantic.

Tara knew two things from her time as a Godmother:  Never overreact.  Never ignore a credible threat from the lips of someone you trusted.  "Tell your parents I'll be in touch sometime tomorrow.  Are you safe?"

"I am."

"Your sister?"

Will hesitated.

Tara filled in the silence.  "Stay safe.  No matter what happens.  I WILL be in touch, William."

"Yes, Ma'am."  He said, now feeling a bit nervous.  

"Will?"  She drew a breath to steady herself. "Thank you."

With that, the Godmother hung up the phone and prepared to leave Montreal.

Billy was spent. He knew he had hit one of them, but guns only held so many bullets and these guys found cover quick. He could probably make a dive for the guy two feet away from him and grab his gun, but he was out in the open. Exposed. Billy was behind a really thin wood shelf.

"Well, that's not gonna work, and I'm not getting to the office anytime soon..."

He had to think, which meant downtime, which meant they had time to think, which meant Billy was losing. So, time to stop thinking. He put his back against the shelving unit and crouch as low to the ground as he could. He was going to ruin a perfectly good suit. It was his first one, and he really like the way it looked.

"Dammit Rora, you gotta pick the next one."

He muttered under his breath as he kicked his body up and backward with all of his might and hope. Lucky for him, his plan was exactly right. The shelf units were heavy enough that nobody thought to bolt them to the ground. So when Billy pushed, they went toppling over, into the next one, and the next one, and the next one.

On one hand Billy had given himself enough time to grab a new gun and start running toward the office. He even managed to pin down one, maybe two of Durden's men.

On the other hand, he had just royally fucked any chance of cover he had along the way.

So Billy ran. He ran as fast as he could, and he could feel the air crackling around him with gunfire as bullets whizzed past. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed to him that by the time he made it to the office door, there were fewer shooters than there had been when he started running. Maybe he wasn't the only one running out of ammo.

Either way, he burst through the unlocked office door and slammed it behind him, making sure to duck down behind the desk with Bella.

"Oh hey, fancy meeting you here."

He smiled and handed her the gun.

"Dragon's no good without fire to breathe. Seriously though, you're probably a much better shot than I am. Gavin should be coming through the back any minute. I can carry the desk, you two stay behind it and..."

He looked around the room in a panic and his eyes went wide. He could feel his skin try to crawl off of his body as the blood rushed from his face.

"BELLA!! Where the fuck is she?!"

Aurora watched the tremendously desperate action of a man who thought he was all alone in the middle of a storm of bullets.  It was clear he thought himself without any good options.  She hated it, but if they figured her for being in the rafters, she was fucked.  She had no cover, no way to dodge.  A fall from this height would likely cause her some sort of injury too.  So she couldn't call out to him or even drop him a gun.

As Billy ran for the office, she found herself scurrying along the rafters trying to ignore the gunfire below her, praying nothing was coming her way and that no one had noticed her above their heads.

Hearing Billy speaking below her to her mother was music to her hears.

Bella shook her head 'no' to Billy's question about Aurora and then said, "She killed the guys at the back.  I told her to run, but I don't know, I -"

Aurora lifted the tile and instantly found herself staring down the barrel of the only gun between the two of them.  

She looked to her mom, whose face was a mask of absolute weariness now blending with relief at the sight of her little girl still alive, and then to Billy.

"Mom says we can date... now all we need to do is survive this.  Help me down will ya?  I got some guns!"

Billy raised an eyebrow at Bella before standing up and lifting his arms to catch the woman he loved.

"Rora, we're in the middle of a fight here. Don't tease me please, we need to just get through this."

He set her down behind the desk and then looked around the room.

"Alright ladies, how do you propose we leave then? Is there a back door around here, or am I gonna have to carry this desk out the front door?"

As he was asking the important questions, the gunfire from the front of the building began to die down. He reached down an empty hand toward Aurora.

"I think I might need one of those pieces you've got hun. It sounds like they got tired of killing their own, and as far as I know, we're the only other ones here."

Aurora carefully lowered herself into Billy's grasp, glaring at him a for a brief instant as he accused her of joking about her mother's stance on their relationship.  Now wasn't the time to argue though and she knew it.

Instead, she listened to the gunfire slowing outside the office.  She was sure they hadn't killed each other off which meant it was likely that they were pinned down in here.  The office door wasn't going to hold them for good.  If those bastards wanted in, they were getting in.  

"We could go up into the rafters and go to the back door,"  Aurora suggested as she was handing out weapons to Billy and her mom.

"Your father is out there.  He won't know what's happened to us either and he may stay longer than is safe trying to find us."  Bella shook her head, "I'm not willing to roll those dice."  

"Have you moved furniture before?  The desk is huge.  Getting it out the door smooth & fast isn't realistic.  It's not the best plan,"  Aurora countered, looking to Billy she added, "sorry, Sweetie."

"You have a better idea?" Bella asked.  A trickle of sweat ran down the side of her face.

"We have a phone in here, we call Mezzo for backup.  Hope superior firepower gets here first, we should be safe in here.  We'll use the PA system to tell Dad to get the fuck out."

"If those men know shit is coming for them, they will have nothing to lose!  Rora, they will hit this office with every bit of firepower they have.  Once they know Durden has written the lot of them off, all bets are off."

"Wait... what did you say?"  Aurora stopped her mom.

"About them having nothing to lose?"

"No.  You said Durden wrote them off... first off, THAT was Tyler Durden and second... he wrote them off?"

Bella shook her head, trying to dismiss a thousand thoughts that wanted control of her mind.  Unbidden memories of being pinned down under heavy gunfire when she was Aurora's age and worries for Tara.  Had Durden's people gotten to her yet?  She almost wanted to run into that wall of guns in the hope that she would catch a bullet.  God knew she deserved it for giving Tara over.  Her anger boiled over and she snapped,  "Now isn't the time, Rora!  Billy's plan has some merits.  It's the best plan we have, so just..."

Aurora interjected, "Those guys don't seem the loyal until death sorts.  If they knew how their boss fucked them over, maybe they'd run rather than fight.  Even if help isn't coming, it doesn't matter, they just need to think we've got an army on the way."

"Bluff?"  Bella said softly, thinking about it.

"It's either that, hide out here and wait for dad to finish them off if he can, or bumrush the lot of them and take the chance that one of them doesn't get a lucky shot."

The silence outside the door was deafening.

Bella and Aurora both looked to Billy in the same moment.  Only Bella spoke, Bella who looked as though she was emotionally in no position to be making a call this damn important and not Aurora who was so green to this life that most people would NEVER have allowed her a say in how this would play out.

"Well, you know what we both think.  If you're carrying the desk, you're offering to take the brunt of the danger.  I can't make that call for you.  So, how's this gonna play out?"

Billy nodded.

"Both of you are small. Get up there, get out, and get help. I'll pin down here and bar the door. Come get me when you're done. There's not that many of them left."

He lowered his gaze on Aurora.

"In the mean time, I'll flip on the PA and remind them that Tyler is gone, and that they are dying and nobody gives a shit. I'll also remind them that if one big guy can come through the door any number of others could be on the way. Do not argue, it's useless, I'll throw you up there if I have to, and you already know I can."

He winked then and turned his attention to Bella.

"You know it's the right move. The three of us can't pin down here, and we can't fight our way out. If you two can get out and get backup, I can last long enough with a barricade for you to meet me eventually. I have faith in both of you. Go be my hero. There's no way the ceiling is going to hold me, but you two are tiny. Go. And when we all get back to Hollowood later you can owe me a drink and a hug."

With that he pushed the desk up onto it's end and against the door, holding it in place with his shoulder.

"I'm not fucking asking your permission this time, neither of you. Go."

And with that he grabbed the PA.

"Hey there fucksticks. Where'd papa disappear to? So much for family. I wonder how many more big bastards like me might be on the way. You ever think about that? About the fact that there's a whole bunch of you out there either dead or dying, and then three of us in here waiting for you to come get us. Two real pretty girls and only one guy to protect em. Are none of you little shits man enough to take em from me? HA! I didn't think so. Chickenshits."

Aurora instantly seemed to agree to the plan, moving with confidence towards the file cabinet which would allow her to climb up into the rafters.  What she and Billy couldn't possibly anticipate was Isabella's reluctance to abandon him! 

"No... no..."  Bella moved to stop Billy but he had the PA in hand and was talking smack before she could stop him.  She grabbed ahold Billy's arm.

"Mom!"  Aurora snapped.  "We HAVE to go!"

Frantic and wild-eyed, Bella wasn't seeing Billy Mastrosimone - but someone else entirely, "I won't leave you again!"

Aurora froze.  Something was very wrong with her mother and by the look on Billy's face, Aurora could tell that he knew it too.  So, she lept down from the file cabinet and went to her mother's side.  She put her hand on the older woman's upper arm, knowing that they didn't have time for this - but also being unwilling to take the drastic step of actually physically assaulting her own mother to get her to safety without a fuss.

"Mom... mom..."  She wasn't responding.  Aurora went out on a limb and tried something else, "Izzy."

Bella turned to her daughter.

"Gavin needs us.  He's out there alone.  If we don't get to him soon he could be overwhelmed by the Durden gang.  We need to move.  Right now."

This, blessedly, got through to her.  The need to save Gavin seemed to outweigh the need to remain here with Billy who appeared to be safe at the moment.  As Bella ascended the file cabinet and went into the rafters, Aurora paused to look back at Billy.  Their eyes met and she smiled at him.  For a moment she wanted to tell him how she felt.  This was that sort of moment when it was okay to tell someone you loved them... when you SHOULD tell someone you loved them. 

But she couldn't.  Not yet.  Not today.  Not like this.  Not the first time at least. 

She didn't want to give him any room to think that she'd only said it because they might die... as stupid of a thought as that was.  After all, people with any sense knew, without a doubt, that was the EXACT moment when you need to say it most of all.  THAT MOMENT, when you were staring your own mortality in the face unflinching, was precisely when you knew who you most cared about and who you really were... deep down.

Just as her feet disappeared up into the ceiling, the door was impacted - hard.  Someone had built or found a make-shift battering ram and they damn well meant to get into that office one way or another.

Billy watched as their feet disappeared above the ceiling and he ran over to grab the filing cabinet. A she did he looked up into the ceiling.

"See ya soon kid."

He knew she couldn't hear him, which was likely one of the only reasons he had the guts to say it. He slide the filing cabinet in front of the door and then opened all four drawers. If whoever was beating at the door managed to get through the big metal wall would give Billy just enough cover to fire from behind and hopefully stop a couple of bullets.

What he would do when he ran out of his own though. He had no idea.

He watched the door as it was slammed into from the other side again and then realized there were weapons in there. He scrambled over to the desk and flung open the drawer searching frantically for what he needed. He found them, a set of sharpened pencils and a roll of tape. He flew back behind the filing cabinet with them and began to tape pencils to the back of his hand so that when he made a fist the pencils made a sort of makeshift brass knuckle. His version was crude, but a lot sharper, he prayed to God and any angel that might be listening that he wouldn't have to learn about whether or not he should have been an engineer instead of a mob boss.

Aurora and Bella crawled through the rafters as fast as they dared.  They could hear the pounding behind them, but they weren't sure what was causing it - aside from it being the Durdens trying to get into the office.  When they reached the back of the store and the ladder that Aurora first used to get up into the ceiling, they climbed down.  The bodies on the floor caused Bella to pause only a moment, then they headed out into the store.  

Gavin was crouched down behind the rubble which was once the aisles.  He had the men sighted in but with no cover, shooting would only reveal his location and he'd be on the wrong end of four guns.  At best he could drop two... if he didn't miss.  And these days, he didn't shoot as often as he did ten years ago.  He just couldn't be sure his abilities were what they used to be.  Gambling now wasn't just about risking his own life... but also his wife and daughter, who he figured were still inside that office the Durdens were trying to break into.

"Wolf..."  Bella said coming up behind him fast.  Gavin turned and pulled his wife into his arms, kissing her quickly and reaching a hand for his daughter.  He had let his guard down, something he might never have done in the past, but he was different now.  In many ways, he wasn't the same man he'd been in his youth, and he wasn't ashamed of that fact.

"You're trembling... are you hurt?"  Gavin asked Bella, brushing away a bit of sweat from her brow as she clung to him as though he were the only floating item in a vast darkened sea.

Aurora met her father's eyes and shook her head, indicating her mother wasn't okay - not by a long shot.

"I'm fine."  Bella lied.

"Where's Billy,"  Gavin said returning his attention to the Durdens, taking his wife at her very obviously dishonest word. 

"In the office,"  Aurora replied.

Gavin's mouth fell slightly agape.  "Is that boy a fucking magician on top of being a professional gambler and master dancer?" 

Aurora wrinkled her brow, "What the ... ?!?"

"Never mind.  It doesn't matter how the hell he took your place in there, what matters now is getting him out."

Bella checked the clip in her gun and without a word stood up out from behind the rubble. 

Gavin and Aurora exchanged glances.  Bella was NEVER a rush in without a plan sort of person.  Tonight she was.  Both enforcers had to rush to keep up with their crazy Don - their wife, their mother.  They had no choice or she was going to face them alone.

Bella took one out, then a second.  Gavin dropped the third.  Aurora dropped the fourth and just like that, the pounding on the door stopped.  The table they'd been using as a ram was dropped heavily to the floor and the room went silent.

Aurora ran to the office door calling out, "BILLY!  WE'RE CLEAR!"

Gavin, looked at Bella who was still pointing her gun at the dead men on the floor and gently put his hand on her forearm whispering, "Bella.  Bella, it's over.  It's okay..."  The Dragon trembled not lowering her gun until Billy exited the room and Aurora had lept into his arms.  Distantly the unmistakable wail of police sirens could now be heard - a distant whispering promise that soon this place was crawling with coppers.

As soon as Billy flung the door open the entire family was there, Aurora of course was upon him immediately.

"Well it took you fucking long enough."

He smiled and waved his hand as he received a punch to the arm from Aurora.

"We gettin' out of here or what?"

He asked of Gavin and watched as he grabbed his wife by the arm and they headed out the front door. Somehow it seemed to Billy that Bella was hesitant. Not in leaving, just in general. She wasn't smiling like she normally did. She wasn't making eye contact. She wasn't moving as quick as he had seen her to move before with the same grace. It was as if she had just woken up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. She was scared and it was dark, but she had to find that light switch, so she kept moving.

As he headed for the front door he turned to Aurora in earnest.

"Hey, listen. I know what you said back there, but tonight was probably a high-stress kinda scenario. I won't push the issue if you don't but maybe we want to circle back tomorrow when everyone's had a good night's sleep at home?"

The family made their way outside and across the street to the car Billy and Gavin had arrived in. Billy reached out and pulled the car door open for Aurora before making his way to the other side. The flashing lights could be seen in the distance. Red and blue dancing on the horizon and off of the buildings and windows all around. Billy took one last look inside the store and shook his head. Dying for family he understood, to protect people, but to kill people? He could be a godfather himself one day and he was sure he would never understand that.

Aurora sat in the backseat holding Billy's hand in the dark.  Her fingers entangled in his, her thumb absently stroking the back of his hand.  She didn't look at him, instead, her eyes were affixed to the front seat where her mother and father sat in silence.  The hum of the car's wheels across the pavement was the only sound.  It was peaceful.  Aurora found herself wanting to lean on Billy's shoulder, to cuddle with him.  She wanted the drive to go on and on, all night.  Just them, in the dark stillness, listening to the purr of the engine until dawn inevitably caught up with them.

The car turned into Hollowood and the gate closed behind them.  In just a moment, Billy would move away from her, his warmth and his presence would disappear into the guesthouse and after all that had happened... there would be no sneaking out to see him as she'd hoped.  This, here in the backseat was the final moments she had with him.  For tonight at least.  

Silent as the dead, she lifted his hand in hers to her lips.  He looked at her.  She looked at him.  She kissed his hand and then pressed it against her cheek.  Her eyes closed.  For a long moment, she held it there so he would know just how she felt - what she couldn't say here in the darkness of this stolen moment.

Gavin got of the car and looked to Billy, "I'm ... I'm gonna walk the girls upstairs.  Why don't you grab up a bottle of whatever you like from the bar in the den and meet me out on the patio?"

"Goodnight Billy."  Bella said softly, not looking at him.  Lost in her thoughts, wandering into the house like a drunk stumbling home.

"I left the bacon in the cart at the store."  Aurora chuckled.  "Guess we'll have to suffer without it tomorrow morning.  I'll... um... see you then."

Billy shook his head to Gavin.

"I'll meet you on the patio when you're done, but i have to grab the cigars from the guesthouse if you want any more."

He then reached out and grabbed Aurora's hand not letting her go inside. He pulled her in close and held her to him. It was just a hug. Nothing more. And yet, for Billy he put everything he ever wanted to say to Aurora into the hug. She was beautiful. She was deadly. She was reliable yet spontaneous. She was the greatest spark Billy had in his life and he never wanted to let her go. He put it all into the most gentle and warming hug he could. And then he kissed the top of her head, unabashedly in front of anyone who was still watching.

"Aurora, if I have to I'll make a habit of saving you, but please, can we try not to?"

He smiled again and then lifted her into the air and up so that they were face to face for a moment. He knew how to lift her, and she knew exactly how to be lifted. There was an art to it that someone without any dance experience simply did not know. She had to trust him and to shift her weight just so to make it easy. Billy had to be firm without hurting her, and be trusted not to drop her.

He looked her in the eyes.

"Tomorrow, when everyone has a calmer mind we should revisit this too. See if you still think I'm a hero and an idiot. I'm sure I'll still think you're an angel though."

He put her gently on the ground and then turned to go fetch cigars for the Byrnes.

When he called her Angel, Aurora softened.  He could literally see that the pet name had a GREAT effect.  While the nickname 'kid' drove her crazy, Angel meant something else to her.  Her eyes were wider and brighter, the smile on her face all the more genuine - she was even blushing!  It was like watching her fall into love with him right before his eyes.  Her eyes lingered upon him in a way that, in another situation, might have suggested she wanted to go back to the guest house with him. 

As he put her to the ground, however, her smile slowly fell and a look of deep contemplation came seemed to take its place.  For an instant, she was turning her attention towards her mother who was walking into the house like a victim of shell-shock from the great war.  When he was almost half-way to the guest house she called after him, "Billy!" 

She ran down to him.

"I love that name,"  She began.  "Some little girls dream about weddings and that sort of thing, and as close as I ever came to that was dreaming that one day a man would call me Angel."

There was that blush again, but her voice was serious as she explained, "There was someone in our lives who used to call my mom that all the time.  William "Billy-Boy" Bowden... the Don & famous boxer?  He was really close with us.  I used to call him Uncle Will.  When I was a little girl I was convinced I'd grow up to marry him.  He was my first crush.  The man my brother is named for, a man my father called brother and whom many people used to say my mother still loved until the day he died.  Hell, maybe even now."

She shook her head. 

"Something bad happened to her tonight.  I think that's who she was talking to in the office - when she didn't want to leave you.  It's why she answered to Izzy.  It's what people used to call her when she was my age, back when she and Will used to date after Elias..."

Aurora shook her head, "Christ!  Maybe it wasn't Will, maybe it was Elias.  I hadn't even thought about him, oh for fuck's sake!  Now I'm really worried about her Billy.  REALLY worried.  Will Bowden & Elias Landucci both left this life in a really bad way.  My mom was one of the last people to see either of them alive and losing them changed her.  She needs to talk to someone and ... I don't know that she'll talk to Dad about this. but God I hope she does."

Aurora sighed.

"You know, you ARE an idiot for what you did tonight ..."  She stood on tiptoes and left a kiss on his cheek & added,  "... and a hero.  The two aren't mutually exclusive.  Thank God for that and trust me, I won't make a habit of needing you to rescue me."

As she came down to the ground, she put the fingertips of her right hand on his chest right above his heart, "Though, it's nice to know someone cares enough to come running when I need it."

She took her hand back and said, "I should go now... or I'm afraid I won't, and my Dad is expecting you."  Aurora backed away from Billy, still watching him until he started to be swallowed up by the darkness of the woods around them.  Then, she turned and sprinted into the house.  The quicker she went to sleep, the quicker morning and Billy would return.

--- INSIDE ---

Bella didn't go to the bedroom as Gavin expected, instead, she went into her office which was trashed.  "GOD DAMN IT - LINVAL!"  

Of course, Linval was downstairs now, watching over Will sleeping... he likely didn't hear her.

Bella sat down, opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a bottle of her father's favorite whiskey.  Gavin hadn't even been aware she had any.  As she poured a glass with one hand she picked up her phone with the other and dialed.

"You calling Louis?"  Gavin asked.

Bella shook her head 'no' and was silent, waiting for an answer on the line that wouldn't come.  She hung up the phone with a curse.

"Bella?"  Gavin asked, worried.  

She settled into her chair and stared at her glass of alcohol for a long moment before looking up to him and saying, "I love you."

Gavin rushed to her.  "What happened tonight?"  He dropped down beside her chair, turning him towards her, taking her hands in his.

She shook her head no.

"Where was Durden?  Why did he let you go?  Bella, you can tell me... whatever you did, we'll make it right."

Tears filled her eyes and she put a hand on her husband's cheek.  "They remind me so much of Will and I."  She said sadly.

Gavin stiffened.  He nodded.  He seemed to agree, but Bella could almost feel a wall coming between them.  She knew, of course, he wouldn't push that issue much.  It was a good way to dodge talking about what she could not make herself say tonight.

"I ..." He swallowed, "I'm gonna meet Billy for drinks downstairs.  I'll be up to bed in a while.  It could be a bit."

Bella nodded.  "I'm gonna have a nightcap and then turn in."  Of course, they both knew by the way she was acting/felt that nightcap might be the whole damn bottle and turn in might mean pass out in her damn chair.  It had been one of those nights.

Gavin stood up and kissed his wife's brow before heading downstairs, leaving her alone in the dark, drinking and repeatedly trying to call the same number over and over and over again to no avail.

Billy made his way to the guest house and straight up to his luggage. It was only one suitcase. His men had already taken his clothes out and put them away, hung his other suit, and placed two boxes at his bedside. One was the box Bella had given him earlier that night. That box would sit and wait until he needed it, which wouldn't be until he was leaving Hollowood again.

The other box was small, only about eight of so inches long and wide, and a couple of inches deep. It was dark, made of African Ivory wood. It was scarred in the middle of the lid where the large red 'M' was burned into the wood. He picked up the box  and made his way back to the patio, placing the box on Gavin's empty chair as he waited for the man to come back downstairs.

Gavin came out of the house.  The top two buttons on his shirt were undone.  He looked a bit more relaxed.  He wandered over to where Billy was and smiled at the box on his chair.  Picking up the box he lowered himself into the seat with a weariness only felt by men who had some age on their bones.

"I'm getting too old for this shit."  He joked settling down and letting out a long heavy sigh.  He opened the box and pulled out a cigar.  He smelled it and smiled.

"I blame you if my wife gets pissed about me taking up this habit."  He clipped the end of the cigar and after a few moments had it lit.  He found himself leaning back in his chair staring off at the full moon in the night sky high above the small forest.  In silence the two sat, listening to the wind through the trees and the nocturnal animals performing their midnight sonata.  

Finally, Gavin broke the silence, "You don't need our permission to see Aurora."

He exhaled a cloud of smoke and paused again.  There was a definite feeling that he had more to say on the topic, but he didn't rush to say it.  Unlike his wife, Gavin was slow to speak and these pauses seemed to be a part of who he was.  As if he handled his words with the same care he handled his guns.

"I can't play guardian of her heart.  That's on her." 

He sighed. 

"She's like her mother.  Loves quick and deep.  I'm not like that.  I've loved three women in my life outside my family, and I only had the courage to roll the dice on one of them.  Aurora's different."

He shook his head,

"Aurora's already been hurt and I wasn't able to do anything except be here to support her after it was done.  And even then..."

He took a long drag on the cigar, speaking into the cloud of smoke as he exhaled, "... I had to find out about it from someone else."

He looked to Billy, "You make her happy.  You obviously want to keep her safe.  And she clearly likes you.  Stop worrying about Bella, she won't shoot you for spending time with Aurora and she'll eventually come around."

Billy nodded.

"All due respect, I wasn't going to ever ask permission. Only she can give that. You can give your blessing, but I won't ask for it. You're either going to like me, or your not, and I'm not changing who I am to fit your needs or Bella's if Aurora already likes me."

He took a deep breath then.

"That's not to say I plan on rubbing it in your face either. I try my best to be respectable, to handle all things with a smile and with joy in my heart. This is no exception."

He looked to the box, and then up to the window on the second floor with the light on and he furrowed his brow.

"As much as I like the quiet Gavin, there's still more fighting going on in this house tonight, and my love for this family extends beyond Aurora. if you'll excuse me? I would never forgive myself if I didn't at least try."

He waited until Gavin nodded. It seemed to Billy that the man did so with a curious, or perhaps a pitying look in his eye. But he nodded all the same, and so Billy stood and made his way back up to the office. He barely bothered to knock as he opened the door on a scene he did not expect. It was not a surprise to see Bella drinking, but the papers all over the office which was so meticulously crafted earlier. What had happened in here since they got home?

"Bella? Voler parlare?"

He stepped into the room and stood by the door.

"I don't know what the hell happened tonight, but I know your family can't talk to you about it or else they'd be in here. I can either shut the door with me on this side, or me on the other side. Your choice. Either way, I'm hugging you tight tonight before I go to bed."

In the moments Billy stood in the doorway, she had downed two shots.  Bella wasn't just drinking - she was meditating.  She waved her hand for him to come inside indicating she was willing to talk to him.  Her eyes were already getting glassy though, who knew how coherent the conversation might be.

"She didn't lie, you know?  I said it.  I told her that you have my blessing so if you're here about that again... just... just ... you don't have to be here." 

She reached down into her desk drawer and pulled out a second glass.

"If you are gonna sit here, though..."  She poured some of the whiskey from her bottle into the other glass, pushing it towards Billy.  "That's for you.  Just one though... it's strong."

She chuckled.

"I remember the first time I had this shit.  I was younger than you, not as young as Aurora though.  It was the night before I became a Don.  I drank with my father and for the first time in my life... I was sure I had it all figured out."

She laughed, not a happy laugh, but a dark laugh that suggested a deep seeded pain.  Her laughter faded.

"You ever notice how things move in circles?"  She narrowed her eyes.  "Maybe not.  You're young yet.  I didn't see it then either.  Thank God." 

She took another hit of her whiskey.

Billy sipped his whiskey and shook his head.

"Nope, never noticed that. Course, I don't notice a lot of things. I do notice when you make mistakes though. You don't make mistakes and break down in the middle of a grocery store telling me you won't leave me again. You never left me in the first place so, my guess is you left someone who I remind you of and that was pure guilt showing up in the heat of the moment. Same reason I will never let someone leave my apartment at 3am on a motorcycle for as long as I live."

He took another pull, a significantly longer one this time. This was not his break down though. He mentally pulled himself together and trudged on through whatever quagmire he had gotten himself into.

"I don't need to know what that was all about, I just need to know what you want to talk about. Cause there's some deep seeded shit eating you up inside Bella and whatever it is, it's gonna hurt somebody if you don't say somethin' soon."

He finished his glass and held it out for Bella.

"It's certainly good and strong, I'll give you that."

Tears welled up in her eyes as he spoke about what she wasn't saying and what she'd been thinking in the office at the grocery store.  She poured Billy another glass.

"You play the hero too easily.  Just like him.  Then you were standing there asking me to leave you."  She shook her head.  "I've left two guys behind in my day.  Both times I lost them."

She refilled her glass.

"It was just a slip of the tongue from a tired old woman in a situation I had no business being in at my age."

She picked her glass back up.

"I'm not crazy, you know... just... tired."