"Is that your problem!? Really? My girl? She killed Kip because he was about to rape her, tell me, is that fucking cool!? No. It isn't, give me a few of the patches. I don't give a fuck what you say, Johnny, I'm pulling rank. This happens, whether or not you guys are good with this. Is that understood!?"

Konnor stood outside the clubhouse, noticing how many people looked at him in the Fresno sun. He looked a bit different, like a bulking giant who attracted the ladies to him with him calm and imposing dominance. Even right now, Johnny could not deny that he had the balls to be the President, the man to lead them all in the future and here is where they stood. 

"I didn't know-"

"No you fucking didn't....none of you needed to know. Why!? Cause it wasn't West Coast business, man, any of you have a problem with my old-lady, bring it to me. I promise you, we can settle that anytime you wish. Not right now though, I wish to get to Mexico and cut off the fucking Russians from proving to be a pain in my ass."

Johnny nodded, he looked at his VP, noticing how they all looked a little pale at the rage. It was obvious that Konnor was not known for his smarts, his brutish strength and occasional charisma gave him that edge. He was a monster and when he spoke, people listened. It didn't matter who you were. 

"I understand, I'll give you Tolly, Andrews, and Tommy. They've wanted to put some distance between some brothers in this charter, Mexico may just do it for them."

Konnor decided to shrug, passing over a duffel bag filled with some product for Johnny. He knew the California Charters had it hard recently, this was just to clear it up and make sure that they survived. 

"Good. I'll see you soon man. Keep your eyes peeled, I want to make sure that we have some people everywhere. Some things are going to pop up and we're going to need something big brother."

Johnny nodded, heading back into the clubhouse as his boys went out to greet the King who had been something of a rumoured beast. And here they saw it before their very eyes. 

When Konnor arrived at the Passion Hotel, he was fucking surprised at what he saw. This was...well...shit. He shrugged, if he had his way, he would be here for a few moments, only he noticed a few cars coming down the road towards them. Both his three brothers from Fresno took Mexico in with a bit of disgust, there was no doubt. They didn't like it here. 

Parking up, the cars stopped just opposite of Konnor and his boys. All of them tensed, many people had since deserted the streets and now it almost looked like a fucking standoff. This kind of shit was something, it was all there, soon bodies could be dropping and bullets flying. Only then, stepping out of the car was the head of the Cordelia Cartel. 

Filippa Cordelia smiled at Konnor, hugging him tightly before removing herself as she looked over the hotel with nothing but disgust. This was one of the worst joints Konnor could have chosen. 

"This is a surprise Filly, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you obviously, we have a lot to discuss, especially considering that the Russians are here. Ready to meet and discuss peace, you should not have brought her here by the way. Veronica is still a bitch."

Konnor chuckled, only it was something different. Like he was trying to put it off, only the look in his eyes, it screamed a desire to gut the bitch like a fish.

"I had too, I am offering the Orello Cartel a chance to make money. I intend for peace and prosperity...nothing more."

Filly chuckled, her green eyes holding a bit of mischief as she started walking ahead before turning back to face Konnor with a grin. 

"Peace and Prosperity be damned, Presidente."

Symplicity watched Konnor and whatever backup he'd arranged pull up as she stood at the window. Any relief she felt at seeing him melted away when a small caravan of vehicles followed him into the lot, parking a short distance away.

"Goddamnit. I knew I should have come armed to the teeth. This was supposed to be peaceful negotiations... and who the fuck is this, now?" She asked aloud, brow furrowed. Oriana wouldn't know. Would she? Gritting her teeth, she watched as some woman hugged Konnor with more familiarity than any situation would warrant. Turning from the window, City glanced at Oriana, thenh made her way to her overnight bag there on the heart-shaped bed, zipped it open, and started stripping quickly. When she'd gotten down to undergarments, she hastily reassembled into another set of clothing, this one including leather pants, a t-shirt with two occupied holsters over it, an ankle piece inside of one booted foot, a knife sheath inside of the other, and a pair of brass knuckles tucked into her back pocket. The entire ensemble was finished off with a leather jacket, a plain one. 

"Are you carrying enough? I've got a few spares in here," she said, pulling her hair back into an elastic band, and then tucking a skinny blade into it like a hair stick.

"Oh! Check this shit out. I'm kinda proud of it, made it myself. It's capsicum water in an atomizer bottle. Aim for the eyes," she grinned, tossing the compact perfume bottle over to Oriana. She was a chef, after all. A good one. The idea had come to her while preparing stuffed green bell peppers.

"Alright, I'm ready when you are. Unless you know these folk, they won't know who's who between us. That may work in our benefit," she said, opening the hotel room door into the dry Mexican heat.

Oriana had been standing at the window when the other cars pulled up. Symplicity seemed concerned, and she quickly changed. Oriana glanced at her, but she mostly kept her eye on Konnor. 

"I've got two- no, three now- guns, and two knives. I'll be fine. I like the hair-blade, by the way. Nice touch."

Oriana caught the bottle carefully.

"Impressive... could come in very handy."

Nodding, Oriana followed Symplicity outside to support Konnor.

"You brought the calvary I see...Bakersfield didn't want you there, hm?"

Konnor didn't bother to even ask how she knew about the other charters and their business, they were in business together. She had spies and so did he, only it seemed that she had some different information. They sat down in the empty lounge, all three of the brothers who rode up here with him looked a bit out of place, something that Konny had to smirk at. 

"They were a bit difficult, what are you doing here, Filly? I don't expect Higgy wanted you here, especially with Ronnie on the prowl for blood."

Filly chuckled, placing a colt on the table. Making it clear that she was prepared, even in her own territory. This is where the difference in countries took place and for a moment, Konnor knew that it was something else, that things like this were always left in the air. 

"Oh...we both know it's not your blood. That woman wishes for something else, she wishes for you and your club to submit. Something I doubt is going to happen anytime soon, enough about her for now. We're meeting the Orello Brothers soon, at a park and under the protection of El Jefe Roa."

Konnor shrugged, he didn't know of any other cartels besides the Orello Brothers and Cordelia Cartel. It was not his business and unless he was getting into business with them, he saw no need to be snooping around.

"Okay. Should I be prepared to shoot, Filly?"

She shrugged, her eyebrows raising slightly. In Mexico, one always had to be prepared. Even with the presumed peace of the reigning cartel right now, everyone wished to take a shot at the big fish someday and others were brazen.

"Always. Though I think you should introduce me Konny, I see we have some company."

Konnor and the boys from Fresno turned their heads, noticing Sym and Oriana. His eyes narrowed for a moment before smiling, happy to remove himself from the tense subject, even if it was for a minute. 

"A pleasure, this is Symplicity, a partner from Chicago. This is Oriana Montini from Philadelphia. Both of them hold an important standing as to why they are here, I wish to bring them into the High Society that Mikey Pavanno started."

Filly smiled, though it was a bit strained as she looked at Konnor for a moment, reaching out to shake the ladies' hands. 

"Well, we can discuss that at a later date. For now, we have other business to focus on. A pleasure to meet you both, Filippa Marisol Cordelia. Head of the Cordelia Organization."

Symplicity returned the handshake but only offered a nod. Konnor might trust her, but she herself didn't know of the woman or her organization, and she'd apparently shown up to this little get-together unannounced. Oriana followed suit, and then they stepped back as the conversation continued.

"A park... public, but probably no cover. And I don't know the players, who can and can't be trusted. What if you and I went ahead of the rest, just to check it out? I know you're dying to take another death-defying cab ride," she grinned, then stepped up behind Konnor to wait for a break in the conversation. She came back minutes later with an address.

"He doesn't like it, us breaking off, but I told him it's the better idea. Andrews is calling us a cab as we speak, we'll probably get that scary little guy with the cataract again," she said as she led the way towards the entrance. 

"At least this way we can scout the terrain without being seen or heard before the rest show up... unless they had the same plan, of course. You're a pro at this shit though, right? And multilingual? How are you not a leader?" She asked, and the question was sincere. Cataract Cabbie was already pulling into the courtyard, he must not have been far away.

Oriana bowed respectfully to the woman; she hadn't been hired to talk, and she could see a million ways where opening her mouth would hurt the situation. She let Symplicity lead her away.

"Death-defying is my specialty, City, although a cab is usually the least of my worries. If you're sure we don't need to stick here with Konnor, then I'm happy to follow your lead."

The question about leadership threw Ori for a loop, and she blinked as she climbed into the cab. She was about to deflect the question, but she paused. City was still mostly a stranger, but she'd known Cat. Ori sighed. She began to speak as the cab they'd hailed pulled out into the road.

"I ran a small team for a few years. I'm pretty good at reading other people, figuring them out, but emotional stuff isn't really my strong point. Things got messy. I had to kill a bunch of them."

Oriana shrugged.

"I'm content to just get paid to do my job, then go home and let other people deal with things. Keeps my life nice and simple, ya know?"

She shifted in her seat, wanting to cross her legs but not having the legroom for it.

"I've got a rifle back in my bag at the hotel. I would have brought it, except I'd assumed we'd be standing next to Konnor when he met with everything. I usually like to get high up in these situations. Get a good look at the big picture, and you'd be surprised how often I've run into someone else waiting with a rifle of their own..."

"Looks like that wouldn't have been an option anyway," Symplicity said as the cab pulled into the park's dirt lot. No trees, no outhouses, not much green to speak of.

"This is a park?" She muttered, handing the driver some pesos. It had been a short trip indeed, and she was sure that she recognized some of the same stray chickens. Once outside the cab, she could already hear motorcycles approaching. There was nowhere to go, so she quickly went through a weapons check before any vehicles came into view.

Nothing to see here, just two chicks and some chickens.

Tucking her thumbs into her pockets, she kicked at a rock, sending it towards Oriana's feet like a soccer ball, hoping this ordeal went quickly and seamlessly, but fully expecting it wouldn't.  

Oriana stuck out her foot and stopped the rock.

"It's fine. We'll be ready if something happens. Just hope they don't shoot me when they find out I killed Ramirez."

When Konnor and the remaining cavalry arrived, it was quiet and that is what made them first suspicious. It was open, a bit too open for his liking. No Federales roamed the streets, it was just silent and Konnor placed a hand on his piece. He looked over at a few of the Fresno Boys, they seemed a bit odd with this too, though it may have been the heat, cause holy mother of god was it fucking hot out here. Something that had been clear during the ride. 

"Where are they, Marisol? Our agreement has been met, right?"

She nodded, looking at her guards, they were posted around the park. It was something alright, this was a bit too much for them and within moments, the cars that would be holding the Orello Cartel had rushed down the street...A bit too fast for Konny's liking. He caught his brother's eyes, within moments, they had taken Oriana and Sym down to the ground as bullets soon started flying and Konnor felt himself smile. 

"What's it like being shot, Esta?"

"You feel lightless, almost like you're falling down to the ground, moments of happiness, sadness, and all-around fuckery pass in your mind. You almost try subconsciously to grip onto that light you see fading from your view...only it doesn't stop, it goes faster and soon, all you hear is silence..."

Konnor fell back, his eyes rolling in the back of his head as he felt his insides burning...he groaned, like those moments with Esta had said..he knew what was happening, he looked at Andrews, the men who were protecting the women that came here. He could see Mari and her men, firing back and one moment, another moment flashed in his mind...he knew what it was. 

"Baby," Symplicity had said with a sad smile. "There is no 'peace', no 'safe'. You're not the only outlaw in this room. I'm in the mafia. There's no way out but one."

Oh, how right she was and he knew then, his words back to her, seemingly lit a fire in him as he clung to that consciousness. He would not be denied that he knew what was happening and he would not let that happen, Konnor was not dying here...fuck no! His words to her played out in his mind, they still had so much to do, and leaving her here would be the worst of situations...just when he had admitted so much to her. 

"I'm going to be doing this for you, to come back home...to my wife. To be safe here, with you. Nothing changes from here, you are the only one for me."

Konnor remained aware, he sat up, leaning against a car as he clutched his wounds...he was so silly to believe that peace could be achieved and he did notice that Andrews continued doing his job, protecting them. Only now he had since stopped, rushing over to him with Tolly and Tommy behind him, they tried to patch him up...they needed to. 

"Hey....brothers....I'm.....good! FUCK! Just get me to a fucking hospital...I'm going to burn these motherfuckers to the ground."

The Orello Brothers had made their move, now Konnor was going to need some fucking surgery. This is one of those first moments and he had almost been killed, there would be blood...lots of you cause Konnor was in no mood for peace now. 

"We got you, don't worry...we got you...just rest up."

"Where are they, Marisol? Our agreement has been met, right?"

Almost on cue, cars skidded into the park, doors popped open, and gunfire erupted. Both she and Oriana were taken to the ground, but neither woman would stand for that. It wasn't why they were here. Symplicity, on her stomach, bucked up off the ground enough to get a hand into a holster, pulled out one of two Colts, then began firing from her prone position. 

Turning her head to check on either Konnor or Oriana was not an option. When Andrews' weight was off of her, she got to her feet, but stayed crouched low as she advanced slowly, using Cordelia's men for cover. One was already down, but the rest, including Cordelia herself, still stood firm. Of the three cars that had arrived, only two had living occupants still inside of them. Before Symplicity had taken a dozen steps, only two men remained, firing from behind the safety of open car doors. 

There were a lot of wasted bullets flying, now. Symplicity reloaded and took aim, and a moment later, a fine, red mist sprayed into the air from the neck of one of the Orello men. Beside her, there was a blur of motion, and she had a second to register it as Oriana before she dropped back down to the ground and low-crawled to where Konnor was surrounded by a handful of the Fresno crew.

Lots of blood, but he was conscious. The bullet had entered high, too high in the chest to even nick a lung. Two of the boys had him under the arms and we're pulling him into the back seat of one of Cordelia's vehicles. Grabbing his legs, she helped them finish getting him in, then dug in his pocket for his keys. 

"I'll get your bike. Someone here can tell me where the nearest hospital is. Go," she said, leaning down to kiss him quickly before backing out of the car and turning to see what, exactly, Oriana had done to make the gunfire stop.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," muttered Ori as she glanced to Symplicity. It was too hot, and she watched a bead of sweat trail down City's neck. But it wasn't just the heat. 

When the cars quickly approached, Oriana was already ready to move. Someone reached out to try to push her down to the ground before the shots rang out, and she kicked at them without knowing who it was, drew her gun, then dropped to the ground herself. Whoever Konnor had met was shooting back as well, and gunfire filled the air. 

So much for Konnor's confidence that he could settle this- and it appeared he was paying a price for it.

Konnor was leaning against a car, sitting. He'd been hit, and Ori wished that Jo had been there. Having a friend who was a nurse would be handy. She also thought about Tara- mostly how pissed Tara would be if Ori got shot again. Hopefully, she'd avoid that this time. 

Seeing Konnor go down, Ori rolled next to Symplicity on the ground, unloading a clip in the direction of their attackers. 

Between the sustained fire from Symplicity, Oriana, and their allies, most of the attackers had dropped- Ori knew she'd gotten a couple, at least. Two men remained, firing from behind car doors. Symplicity dropped one as Oriana reloaded, but the other one was at a perfect angle to avoid getting hit- but he also couldn't see.

"Covering fire," Ori said to the other men supporting them. "But stop when you see me get close."

Oriana waited for a nod from one of their allies, then pushed herself to her feet and started running. She took a long, looping path to avoid friendly fire. When she turned in toward the car, the gunshots died out, only coming now from the lone assailant. Oriana increased her sprint, taking a running leap up onto one of the cars, then firing down and killing the last shooter. A cursory look around, showed no other immediate threats.

There were a couple wounded med; Oriana finished them off before returning walking down the front of the car, dropping to the ground, and walking to Konnor and Symplicity.

"How bad?"

"Oh don't worry...a quick drink will sort it out!"

Konnor gritted his teeth, being shot multiple times and these fuckers had barely hit anything vital...thank fuck for the ballistic vests. It was already coming in handing, Konnor tilted his head to the side, watching Symplicity for a moment, he could see there was some fire behind them and it was not the good fire, he was sure this was something never seen before. He smirked, winking at her in a quick second. 

"Fuck....so.....it seems that peace couldn't be achieved. Be watchful, both of you. With this recent attack, who knows what we will be going home too. I'll be at Saint Michael's hospital, just follow these cars and you'll be fine."

Konnor stayed up, his eyes were not unfocused, it seemed like he was fine for a moment before another hiss left him. He was not going to be making it if he kept wasting energy like this. 

"Yeah, thanks both of you. Now, I do suggest we get a move on. Who the fuck knows what is next? I am not going to be giving these fuckers a chance to move....I'll burn them all."

With that Konnor looked away, deciding to not even quell that raging fire. Instead, he stoked it, knowing exactly who to go for, this failed hit would be answered with blood. Him being injured....it was something completely different, this meant that everyone would be ready to spill some blood and it would not be a slow and easy war, it would hard-hitting. 

Symplicity watched the car pull off, then glanced over at Cordelia, who was overseeing the unceremonious dumping of two bodies into the trunk of one of her cars. She looked calm, calculating. When she lifted her head and looked at Symplicity, City gave her a respectful nod, which was returned.

No one made a move to do anything with the Orello bodies, or the vehicles that they were slumped in.

"Shall we? One thing," she said, heading over to Konnor's bike. "Cornering. If I lean, you gotta lean, too. If you try to counter and lean the other way, we both end up in the dirt," she smiled tiredly, then kick-started the bike and waited for Oriana to climb on behind her. When she felt hands on her waist, they were off, dry desert heat blowing their hair into tedious knots that would have to be dealt with later.

The trip to the hospital seemed long, but it was likely just the circumstances. And for a poorer area, the hospital in question was actually much cleaner and professional than she expected. An orderly pointed them in the right direction, again thanks to Oriana's linguistic skills. In the waiting area, the two women slumped into a couple of folding chairs.

"He's not allowed to die. I haven't even seen Catalina's grave yet. Been avoiding it," she said. "I assume you've been there? It's a plot, right?"

"Last time I was on a bike I broke my collarbone- although I was being shot at at the time, in my defense. Happy to ride if you're driving."

She followed City to Konnor's bike, listening to what the woman said about leaning. 

As the wind whipped past her, blowing her hair back, Oriana's easily held on to City. Those hands had a lot of practice with hips. And the leather was a nice touch. Reminding herself that Konnor had gotten shot, Ori sighed.

When the two women sunk into their chairs, City made a strange jump between Konnor dying and visiting Catalina's grave that left Ori confused, but she decided it was better not to clarify.

"I buried Cat," said Oriana. "It took me longer than I should have to get back to the States. But I got her buried in a big, fancy cemetery with trees and shit. Gravestone looks like a crown on the top. She was a queen," said Oriana in a steady voice, no longer blindsided by the mention of Cat and the reappearance of a weapon that had meant a lot to her. "Even if her name meant king."

Symplicity nodded along silently. She'd been back to New York, why hadn't she gone? When a nurse came out to find them, she stood. This was why she hadn't gone.

"He's going to be fine. Some bruising to the ribs, and stiches, but as long as he stays on the antibiotics and takes it easy, there should be no issues," she said in almost perfect English. City snorted, she couldn't help it. Clearly, they didn't know Konnor Marx. The man would stay down for nothing. 

"Can we see him?"

"Yes, but please keep it short. Senora Cordelia has nearly the entire wing cordoned off with her people, and it's making our jobs... difficult."

Also no surprise, but Symplicity was grateful for the intrusion. Konnor needed all the security he could get until they could get the fuck out of here and regroup back home. 

Inside Konnor's room, she stepped to the bed and looked down on him. A bit pale, but otherwise as onery and smirky as ever. Running a hand through his hair, she shook her head at him, speaking low although no brothers were around to hear her lose the submissive act.

"I'm arranging a private flight for us out of here. Fresno can arrange transport for your bike. For now, we live to fight the Orellos another day? Maybe we can lure them to our home turf next time," she said with a viscous little smile. 

This shit was far from over.