Aurora didn't move as Billy went back onto the room.  She stared.  Still unable to find the words.  

Cal had told him?

Little teeth he had left?

Billy killed Cal?

She blinked. 

It was a lot to take in but the sound of Billy flinging the asshole around the room like a rag doll, smashing him into the walls violently, helped to break her mind out of the place it had been stuck in.  She'd never seen him like this before and her heart quickened at the sight of it.  She walked into the room just before the blood heap landed at her feet with a wet smack on the concrete. 

She could feel Integra and Billy's eyes upon her as she looked down at the guy.  It was then she realized, she wasn't mad anymore.  In fact, she was oddly calm.

"I'm... I'm..." He struggled to speak but he was, in fact, pissing himself.  "Sorry."

She knelt down in front of him.  Her voice possessing none of the rage or pain it had before when she spoke.  She touched his cheek gently. 

"It's okay."  She said softly, like a child trying to talk to a scared little animal.  "Who sent you to hurt me?"

"Paulson."  He whimpered.  "It was Paulson's idea."

"Why?"

"Wanted to impress the boss.  Figured your boyfriend or your mom did Cal for what he did to you.  We were gonna grab the boy & ransom him, but he's always with some member of your mom's crew.  Got sick of waiting so he sent us to wack you."

Aurora shook her head.  "The boy?  My little brother?"

"Yeah."  The guy rasped.

"So Durden didn't know about this little operation?"

The man shook his head.  "Probably not.  Guy's too busy fucking Marla and blowing shit up to notice what Paulson is dicking around with."

Aurora met Billy's eyes, her hand on the pearl-handled match to his own black guns - not yet pulled.

Integra crossed her left leg over the other one as she chilled back in the corner, not even seeming surprised when her brother picked up the milky man and smashed him against the wall until the chair broke. In a way, it was a bit comical on how this was turning out. The poor asterbar probably didn't even know what the hell was going one. Watching the two in front of her, she cocked her head a bit as she heard the guy start apologizing to Aurora. She scrunched her nose a bit as she smelled the ammonia start to filter into the room. "Oh, Bloody hell you milky. It wasn't that god damn scary... are you seriously pissing yourself?"

She shook her head in disgust as she slipped from the room for a moment to call for one of the guys to be on mop duty. Someone was going to clean this shit up and it wasn't going to be her, that was for sure. She stayed quiet for the rest of the talk between Aurora and the man, simply waiting. She noticed Aurora went to reach for one of her guns, only to see her brother shake his head. Pulling out her Own, she nodded her head for the two of them to back up, hearing the guy whimper and start to try to plead for his own life before she flipped the safety off for a single shot to go off, before once more being secured and settled back inside its holster. 

"Yeah... someone else can clean this up... I can't believe he pissed himself... I'm leaving before that smell makes me sick..." She would head outside of the room, leaning against the brick as she waited for the other two, smirking softly as she watched one of the newer guys coming with supplies to clean up the mess. She clapped him on his shoulder before giving him a few instructions and telling him to go get a few of the other guys to clean some things up. 

"So what's next.." She glanced towards the two as they would be coming out of the room, wondering what steps would be taken next, besides most likely calling Bella and informing the Donna from Philly what they had learned.

Aurora stared down at the man lying in a puddle of his own blood, now unmoving, clearly dead.  She felt like she wanted to say or do something and yet, what more was there to be done?  

She turned to exit with Billy and as Integra was asking what next, Charlie came running up to the three of them with a hurried, "Don Byrne is on the phone." 

Aurora started to step forward to follow Charlie and he shook his head.  

"Sorry, Miss."  He said to Aurora.

Looking to Billy he continued with, "She's asking for you, Boss."

Aurora rolled her eyes knowing that Billy would take the call.  

"If she wants me home tonight, I swear to God..."  She didn't finish her thought, at least out loud.  Instead, she looked to Integra, "Any chance I could find someplace to clean up while Billy talks to my mother?"

---

Isabella employed several young women, low-level associates, whose only job it was to attend Vassar college and distantly observe and report on her daughter's interactions and general well-being.  Bella didn't do this for the reasons her father once had her watched, oh she knew Billy was sniffing around but she had long ago swore to herself she wouldn't act as her father did with regard to such things.  Even if she feared with every ounce of her being how it would end.  No, the watchers were in place for one reason, and today was a fine example of that reason.

The phone call about the incident came in not long after the fire department was on scene working.  She and Gavin were on a plane and in the air thirty minutes later.  She had no idea what had happened to Aurora, if her guards were with her, or why this had happened, but she damn well was going to find out and someone would pay!

The plane was about to land when the radio tower contacted them with the message that Aurora's guards were dead, and that she was safe and in Detroit with Billy.  This revelation hit Bella hard.  The thought that her daughter ran to him and not home to her and Gavin suggested how fast things were moving.  Nothing she'd said or done had dissuaded them from continuing on as a couple.

Just the same, she was grateful that for a third time, Billy had been there when it mattered most of all.  

Bella and Gavin were taken into an office upon landing and allowed the use of the phone there.  She dialed the number for Billy's headquarters in Detroit and after a brief exchange with his guy Charlie, she was waiting to hear Billy's voice on the other end.

The moment he picked up the phone off the desk she began talking, "They tell me she's okay and her guards are lost.  Billy, tell me we know who the hell to hold responsible for this shit?  It's not those pricks from Kansas City again?"

Hearing Charlie run up, Integra simply glanced towards him as she listened to him mention that Don Byrne was on the phone. She initially glanced towards Aurora, thinking that the phone call was for her as well. When Charlie apologized and said that Bella was asking for Billy instead she cast a glance at Aurora, almost as if gauging her reaction.

She took a moment before nodding to Aurora, motioning for her to follow. There wasn't much need for some things in the warehouse, but Integra had insisted on showers and restrooms. Just in case, and boy they had come in handy when she'd lived from her office for about a week or two before Billy scolded her and thus his spare room had become hers...

"There are restrooms right here, but if you want more of a shower, the best place for that would be at the apartment, the ones here aren't the best but they work in a pinch." She paused to head towards her office in case a shower was what the girl wanted. "I've got some spare clothing and towels in my office, for emergencies like this..." She opened her office and stepped in, inviting Aurora in before heading over to her desk and opening a dresser, pulling out a light blue button up top and a pair of black suit pants before going into another drawer and pulling out a clean towel. "I know it's not much, but if you want a shower, there are at least fresh clothes to change into. You doing alright?"

Aurora accepted the towel and change of clothing with a smile that didn't quite touch her amber eyes.  With one hand she pulled down her ponytail. 

"I've been better."  She admitted.  "I was just thinking about everything I lost in that fire."

Her brow wrinkled, for a moment she looked fit to cry and then she laughed as if she understood that this was one of the best ways to prevent it. 

"It's just stuff I guess."  she drew a breath.  "You and me getting out of there with our asses intact was a definite win.  I just need to stay focused on that."

She visibly hesitated and then asked, "Can I ask you something ... about Billy?"

When Integra indicated she could, Aurora spoke in a soft voice for her alone.  

"Does he do that often?"  She paused knowing that Integra probably wasn't focused on the part that was sticking with her.  "Not the losing his cool ... I think I understand why he did that, but the part where he thought we were doing stupid stuff behind his back and when he thought I wouldn't want to stay with him."

She sighed, wondering if maybe this was a stupid thing to be saying and if Billy would be upset she talked to Integra about these things.

"Sometimes I think maybe I say things to discourage him or make him think I'm not interested... but, today I know it couldn't have been me.  At least not this time.  So I just thought maybe, maybe he really does spend a lot of time doubting himself?  As his right-hand, I figure you'd know that better than anyone else and how to deal with it?"

Billy sighed heavily and rushed to his office as soon as he had heard the phone call was for him. He took out a glass and filled it with whiskey taking a big sigh before he picked up the phone.

"Before you ask anything else. She is fine, she is here, her men are not. She has asked to stay here for the night and I can't think of any reason not to keep her on the ground surrounded by as many men as I can get to stay awake tonight."

He sipped the whiskey.

"As for who. Fucking Paulson. The girls, yes Integra was there at the time, brought one of the bastards back. And before you ask, no you can't talk to him, he's already sleeping."

Another sip followed by a long pause.

"Stop yelling at me and I'll explain..."

Beat.

"No, not the entire Durden operation, Paulson on his own. And no, nothing to do with Montreal. I went after Mancini on my own, this was retaliation on both of us apparently."

He was forced to stop talking again. He knew it wasn't him that Bella was angry at, but he was taking it on the chin right now.

"Well, finish up what you're doing there and we will meet you in Philly tomorrow. We are going to take care of what we can from here, but you know Paulson isn't going to rear his ugly head unless he thinks he's got us and he's safe. Make sure you got men on Will. We will be in touch."

He hung up the phone and then sighed heavily. He was going to catch hell for hanging up on her.

"No more calls tonight guys, we got shit to do."

Integra was quiet as she shut both drawers to her desk after handing the clothing and towel to Aurora. This was the part of the aftermath she had dealt with, more so in England, but she’d dealt with her fair share of things about. What she wasn’t prepared for, was for Aurora to ask her something about her brother. She glanced up at Aurora, a soft smile on her face as she moved to the front of her desk, leaning on it slightly as she gave her full attention. She took in the questions that Aurora was asking and seemed to take her time on processing all of it. Including everything from today as well. 

After what felt like a long pause, Integra truly thought about how to answer this. “Billy cares about people… and he’ll do anything to protect them. I haven’t seen him like that often, the only other time I saw him like this, was when Kenzi…” She paused for a moment before shaking her head slightly. 

“The only advice I can really give you is to just stick with him through it. If I’ve learned anything from what I’m dealing with Alucard… Men can be dense sometimes. Or sometimes we just overthink things, and it seems like something different way than how it really is.” She paused for a moments before speaking again. "He adores you... so I wouldn't think anything too much. He probably thought you would need to some space after everything that happened... which in some cases would be the respectable thing to do... Just make it clear to him exactly what you want?"

"Thank you."  She said softly.  "For everything today."

With that Aurora went into the shower to clean up and under the hot water, she quietly mourned Tiny and Tim.  The shower went on and on, much longer than it should have.  The water didn't go cold, yet, but Aurora feared that it would.  Getting out she toweled off and dressed.  She brushed out her hair and left it hanging long and wet down her back.

Then she went to find Billy and Integra in his office.

Knocking first, she peaked her head inside, "Can I come in?"

Billy gestured toward the door and pulled out another glass for Aurora.

"Come on in, you two seem in need of a drink for the moment. I just spoke with your mother actually, and I'm going to have hell to pay for it tomorrow."

He slid a glass of whiskey to both women.

"I may, or may not have hung up on her."

He smiled a broad smile and sipped his glass as he sat in his chair. Then he looked at Aurora straight on for the first time she had entered the room.

She looked nothing like herself.

Her hair was wet, she was wearing clothes that were not form-fitting and drawing his eye to all of the wrong, or right, places. She didn't have all of the normal confidence and bravado that she normally showed.

Some of that was surely due to the day she was having. But the clothes? Those were Integra's clothes and there was no mistaking that. Billy would have rather seen her in one of his shirts at the moment than one of his sister's. As much as he appreciated her being alive and in his office, any thoughts of her being in his bed tonight were quashed with that damned blouse and pants combination that his sister seemed to love so much.

"For tonight, we have what information we could get from our old friend. Paulson is not going to just show up on our doorstep for us to do something about. We need to be smart. If we don't want to tip of Durden himself, we need to be really smart. I told your mom we would hook up tomorrow to figure out what to do next. Today was a shit show and it's gotta get thrown out with the trash. Tomorrow we think about what to do next."

He sat back in his chair then.

"Unless either of you have any better ideas?"

"All I want right now is some soft music, a bowl of vanilla ice cream, and your arms around me."  Aurora said quietly, her eyes looking up at Billy through her thick eyelashes. 

"Fireside optional on a night like this one."  She added.  Billy said he lived in an apartment.  She sincerely doubted that he had a fireplace but on a night like tonight she'd normally sit beside the fireplace at home and read, eating ice cream.  The only thing that would make that more perfect was the idea of Billy being there to share that quiet moment too.

She stuck her hands into the pockets of Integra's jacket feeling odd in the other woman's clothing.

"Tomorrow I'll think about all the shopping I'll need to do." 

Integra raised an eyebrow at her brother as she heard him mention that he may or may not have hung up on Aurora's mother. She couldn't help but groan softly as she facepalmed. 

"Please tell me you didn't hang up on Don Bella... Billy...." She sighed softly as she moved to take a seat in one of the chairs, taking the whiskey he'd poured before taking a drink, but not downing the entire thing as she had earlier. 

"Well... if you two are going to be at Billy's apartment, it's safe to say that I shall be at Alucard's tonight if you need me." She glanced between the two before thinking on Aurora as she mentioned going shopping tomorrow. "How about I come with you unless you wish to walk around tomorrow with Billy." She sipped at the whiskey in her hand as she seemed to wait on the both of them, not wishing to crash in on the two of them and their own personal time, besides, it eased her own mind to check in on Alucard and his own injuries.

"Tegs, if I know Aurora at all, I would just wait for a phone call. We will likely be sleeping late."

He changed his voice to a mock whisper then.

"She's very lazy."

He put on a grin that was entirely inappropriate considering the day's events and yet, it was the only grin he had in him at the moment.

"I might even make breakfast in the morning. Yes, by the way, I do have ice cream, though I might not have many options. You might have to settle for fudge ripple. I know your mom always liked vanilla."

Aurora tilts her head to the side, "What's fudge ripple?"

"Once we get you home and into some real pajamas I'll make you some."

He put away the glassed and hugged his sister.

"Give Alucard my best, and I will see you in the morning. I'll keep your little mini Tegs here safe until morning when you can go shopping and maybe let her look normal."

Billy took Aurora's hand then and made their way out to the car that was perpertually waiting for him.

"We're going home for the night Charlie. You guys are gonna have to stay in the extra apartment tonight I think. Tegs won't be with us."

Billy smelled the air in the back of the car. He was slightly disappointed. He half expected it to smell like Aurora, but whatever she normally smelled like must have washed off in the shower.

Without hesitation, as soon as he was in the back with her, she slid up tight to the side of him.  She inserted herself under his arm and laid her head on his barrel of a chest.

She sighed a sigh that felt like the expression of all her pent up anguish and frustration.  She was tired now.  So fucking tired and this was all she could think to want at the moment.  The feel of his arm around her.

"For just a moment there,"  She said softly so that Charlie could not hear.  "... only for a moment when my place was on fire and we were being shot at... I wasn't so sure I'd ever get to feel this again and I can't tell you how bad that made me feel."

She looked up at him, beams of street light catching on her amber eyes setting them ablaze as she looked up at his face.  "Can I kiss you now?"

Billy lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I thought you liked it better when I kissed you."

He leaned his head down then and did just that. Cupping her chin between his forefinger and his thumb before running his fingers through her hair and holding her tightly to him.

He didn't know just how long they stayed like that. What he did know was that Charlie coughed real loud at some point. Billy had the feeling that he had been coughing like that for a little while too.

"We're here boss."

Billy nodded and stepped out of the car.

"Hey Roar, c'mere."

He reached both of his arms down under her and picked her up with the ease of a man almost three times her size. It was effortless, he had lifted a car one time, it was only an inch or two, but still. Aurora was nothing but a few feathers in his arms. He liked it more than he was willing to admit.

"So, you tired?"

He put her down just in front of his apartment door. There was only one time he was going to carry any conscious woman across his threshold and tonight was not that night. Instead, he slipped the door open and flicked on a light.

Her feet hit the floor and she felt herself feeling a touch relieved.  There was something unspoken importance to being carried like that across a threshold and while she had no qualms about it, in general, she certainly would have known what he wanted if he carried her inside like that and she wasn't sure she had that in her tonight.  She needed to be with him, of that she was sure, but THAT was something she hoped to share on a happier occasion.

And yet... had she ever felt a need to be as close to anyone as she had today?  Today was as close to dying as she thought she'd ever really come.  The bathroom at the party in Detroit had been bad, but even then she had some agency... in today's events, she'd lost so much.  Almost everything that defined who she was as an individual separate from her parents and baby brother.  To say nothing of two dear friends.

"Yes."  She admitted. "But I'm not ready to sleep just yet... if you don't mind?  I'm not sure I will sleep tonight.  I'm scared of what will be there waiting for me."

Or who.

"Maybe we could start with the ice cream and see where that goes... and you said something about pajamas?  To be honest I can't wait to get out of these clothes." 

She looked down at Integra's outfit that didn't quite suit her normal style but it wasn't that which made her most uncomfortable.  It was the oddly exposed feeling she was having right now without underclothing. 

"I don't suppose that you keep ladies pajamas laying around... so... maybe I could sleep in one of your shirts or something?"

Billy thought a moment and then shook his head. He wanted to get Aurora out of Integra's clothes. That didn't mean putting her in pajamas that belonged to his sister.

"Sure."

Billy made his way through the foyer and down the hall into his bedroom. He opened his closet door and stepped inside. It was a small walk-in compared to some that he had seen, but it was all his. And then he glanced at Aurora. Maybe soon it wouldn't be. It was not the first time he had a thought like that.

He grabbed a white t-shirt out of the closet and a blue button-down one.

"Which do you prefer? I figure you're sleeping in this, so better be one that's really comfy."

He laid them both on the bed and then made his way to the bathroom to relieve himself. He would be lying to himself if he had denied thinking about staying in the room but there was no way he could do that. Not unless it were to go further than that, and as much as he might want to, tonight was certainly not the night for that.

Aurora was standing in front of Billy's closet, looking through his clothing.  Integra's outfit was folded neatly on a nearby chair that Aurora imagined Billy used for sitting in while he dressed each day. 

She had chosen to wear Billy's blue button-down shirt which hung to her mid-thigh.  His shirt and her panties only.  She'd left even Integra's socks on the seat of the chair to be given back to the woman.  Atop them were her weapons.  Her knife and the Pearl Luciano guns. 

She turned when she heard the bathroom door opening, her still damp hair swaying as she looked abruptly.  "There are a lot of the same clothes here." 

She said looking back to the closet.

"Is it because you like them so much?  I once bought two of the same sweater because I liked them that much and I was worried that when the first wore out I'd never find it's like again.  So I bought two.  But um... this is a lot of blue shirts.  Not that you look bad in blue.  You don't.  I rather like blue, to be honest.  I just..."

She drew a breath and turned to look back at him staring at her.

"Well, if I buy you a shirt, I guess I'm asking if you'd prefer it to be blue or ... would you be okay with something else too?"

Billy stared. It was dark outside, and the moonlight shining through the window caught Aurora's hair just in the right way. It danced off of her in rivulets of white to match the color of the guns sitting next to her.

Billy stared. He had quite literally never seen so much of Aurora before. She had no makeup, no jewelry, no shoes or socks. No weapons. He was sure he had seen her without shoes before, but never without weapons. Even that one night at her apartment, he was very well aware that her weapons were just a quick reach away. Here though? There was nothing hidden. It was just her.

Billy stared. That's when Aurora waved at him.

"Oh. Uh. What? Sorry, the uh, toilet! The toilet was real loud just now. Did you say something?"

Sure Billy, the toilet. Just then he knew that e looked like an idiot.