Walking by his side with her arm intertwined around his, Alana followed his lead. This restaurant was one of those traditional places, heavily male oriented. It was a detail she had forgotten to mention to him, one she should knew she had to tell him before they got to the front. That’s if they wanted to fit into the clientele. She paused for a moment before the pair turned the corner towards the entrance and looked in his direction.

”So, one thing I forgot to mention about this place. Woman are to be seen but not heard here. So you’ll have to give the reservation name, you remember the alias right?”

She could see Dick think on it for a moment but he gave her a nod, it was good enough for her. 

”Okay, good! Uhm, you’ll also need to do all the ordering. That is if we get that far of course. Just pretend I’m not capable of doing anything by myself, cause that’s how these people perceive us.”

It wasn’t ideal in the slightest for her, not speaking up. Not voicing her opinion on things wasn’t really her strong suit but for the plan and for the evening to work out its what she needed to do. 

“Minor detail, I know but a rather important one. Oh and just so we are clear, this is just a for here instance. I’ll be reverting back to my very opinionated self as soon as I can.” She said with a smile on her face, briefly sticking her tongue out at him to lighten the mood a bit.

”So, Mr. Vasile. Lead the way!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He was a bit surprised by her playful side but he was more than happy to see it. The more sides of her he saw, the more he was enjoying her company.

Returning to his stoic face they walked up to the maitre de arm in arm, “Reservation for Mr. Vasile, table for two.” He made sure to slip a couple of hundreds through a hand shake towards the man before he led them to their table. Dick made sure to pull out her chair for and let her get settled before he sat himself. Trying to be discreet as possible, he let his eyes wander the room as he took a slow sip from the glass of water that was in front of him.

The place was certainly more fancy than he was used too. Back home he was generally only eating pub food when he could and they really didn’t mind his tshirt and jeans in there. His new suit was comfortable though, not nearly as stuffy as he was expecting it to be and any excuse at this point to see Alana all dolled up was more than worth the effort.

”Mr. Rosas, six o’clock.” Dick leaned forward, keeping his voice hushed. The tables were far enough spread out but he wasn’t about to take any chances now. Making it look like it was just any ordinary night, Dick placed a soft kiss on her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “I only see one with him right now but a man like that might have some lurking around the corner somewhere.”

With a smile and a rather fake giggle, Alana glanced over her left shoulder. She had no idea what this man looked like but snuck a peek in the 6 o’clock direction that Dick eluded to. There was clearly one table within the direction he stated, one that had two men sitting at. Either of the two men could have been Rosas to her, hell it was even possible she was looking in the wrong direction. 

“Which one?” She asked with a big playful smile on her face. 

From a distance you’d never be able to tell what the two were talking about, from the naked eye they just looked like a younger couple having a good time. Which was precisely what she was going with in this situation. 

”The one opposite the front door.” Dick said softly so only she could hear it.

She could see he was already getting antsy, his eyes spoke a million words. In order to divert his attentions ever so slightly, Alana handed him the wine list. 

”Wine?” Alana asked but wasn’t really asking. 

”Huh? Oh... yeah wine.” Dick muttered, though his eyes still wandering towards the direction of Mr. Rosas.

”Joesph.... MR. VASILE...” Alana said loud enough to get his attention as his eyes made their way back to her. 

”Wine!” She didn’t say anything else, just gave him a deep glare.

Straightening his tie as his cheeks began to flush a crimson red, he flagged down their waiter with a wave of his napkin, “A bottle of your finest red my good man. And chop chop.” It felt awkward as he said it he might as well try to lean into the character that he was trying to portray. He wasn’t Dick Grayson at the moment but rather Joseph Vasile and Mr. Vasile was an impatient man.

He locked eyes with her although he didn’t exactly mean to but he found himself lost in them, “We are here after all, might as well get a good meal in.” He gave her a small wink with a twinkle in his eyes as he continued, “Does a steak sound good? You seem like a steal type.” 

He really didn’t want to screw this one up, partly because of the job and partly because of her, well, mostly because of her. It was only a minute or two before their waiter returned with the most expensive bottle of wine in the place. Dick didn’t really mind the price tag, after everything went down there was little chance he was going to stick around to pay the tab anyways.

”We will each have a steak, medium rare, sautéed mushrooms, baked potato with the works. And keep the wine coming, I don’t want to see the bottom of the bottle, or our glasses for that matter.”

The server gave them a lazy smile as he popped the cork, letting it breathe for a moment before filling their wine glasses up. Dick waited for a moment longer before lifting his glass and clinking hers, “Here’s to an interesting night, and hopefully an easy as it can be job.”

Alana picked up and raised her glass, clinking it ever so softly upon his. The sound echoing between them. Pulling her glass towards her, Alana have the contents a swirl. It was a simple tactic that helped the wine breath a bit more, gave it more flavor. She wasn’t usually a wine drinker but under this circumstance she was. 

”To a fun filled, successful evening.” Alana said before taking her first sip. 

The quality of the wine could immediately be tasted, it was unlike any wine she’d ever had. This was something she for sure could get used to, she just wasn’t sure the price tag that came with it was worth it. Didn’t matter though, there was no way either of the pair was gonna get to the check stage. Hell, she didn’t even know if they were gonna see the entrees. 

It might be another one of those late night diner visits, which would have been completely fine. This whole fancy thing wasn’t really her, even though she made it look good. Just wasn’t her crowd, wasn’t her type of lifestyle. She’d rather be in the midst of a crowded bar, drinking with the guys. Factory guys, locals, anyone other then the rich upper class society that populated Carmines. 

The only thing that made this situation comfortable was the man sitting across from her. Dick... Mr. Vasile... as she knew him for this moment in time. At least if anyone asked. 

Giving him a look, she shot a smile over in his direction.

”What?” He asked rather curious as to why she was smiling. 

”Nothing, cant I just smile? She answered in a softer tone. 

His gaze on her stayed there momentarily, until she watched it shift to where Rosas was sitting. She wanted to peek over there too just to see what he was looking at but knew it’d of been rather suspicious if the both of them where looking. So she brought the wine glass back to her lips and spoke into the glass, just loud enough for him to hear.

”What are you thinking? What’s the plan?”

Dick thought about her question for a moment as he took a sip from his wine glass. It seemed like good stuff but in reality he had no idea the difference between the good stuff and bad stuff, he wasn’t much of a wine drinker. In fact, this might be the first time he had ever had it. 

”As soon as they are into their meals I’ll make the move. They should at least be distracted with that.” Dick leaned closer to her, a little to not be over heard but a little just to be closer, “I’m going to try this with the blade. There are enough people in here that I don’t want bullets flying around if we can avoid it but if it comes to that then it does. Got to make due with what we have, right?”

It seemed easy enough but there were far too many variables in play to be able to figure it out completely. A lot of this was going to have to be flying by the seat of their pants. It wasn’t exactly ideal but he already trusted her to take care of herself, there was just some way about her, the way she carried herself, that he knew she would be alright if push came to shove. 

Dick was clearly growing a bit antsy as he watched the waiter at Rosas’ table drop off their meals from a distance. It was growing ever closer to the time to act and while he never really felt the nerves before, he was usually alone when he took care of things like this. Things might be more complicated with a second but at least he was able to breathe a bit easier knowing that someone had his back.

Alana nodded, it was really the only thing that she could do. She was primarily here to be his plus one, helping with the undercover persona. Though she was ready and willing to jump in and back him up with things went array or got a little much for one person.

There was not a stitch of nervousness within her body or mind. In fact she was rather excited to see how things would play out, was excited to see how Dick was going to get the job done. It made it even better when he flashed her the blade in his jacket pocket, it was going to be silent and it was going to be bloody.

The whole blood factor was a major sticking point why she decided on the dark red dress, sure it looked fantastic on her but it was also a color to hide any potential blood marks that she may or may not come in contact with.

Picking up her glass of wine once more, Alana took a rather large sip before pulling it from her lips to speak once more.

"Whenever you feel the time is right is the time to do it. I'll stay over here and watch your back, if anything should jump out as trouble I will take care of. If we get separated, meet in the back alley."

She shot him over a wink then took another sip before placing the glass down in front of her. She pulled her clutch off the table and placed it into her lap. It was, well rather the object inside of it was rather important and couple very well come in handy here shortly.

Dick took one more sip from his glass before wiping at the corners of his mouth with his napkin. Part of him wanted to wait on their meals but there was no time like the present it seemed. 

”Be right back my dear.” He spoke barely above a whisper before pushing his seat back and standing, keeping the blade hidden in his sleeve.

”Just going to hit the bathroom quick.” He announced a little louder but no one else in the place seemed to notice. That was a good thing. All of these people were all wrapped up in their own lives, hidden in their little bubbles. That was certainly going to make things easier. Once everything went down chaos was most likely going to reign and all of these folks seemed to more into self preservation than anything else.

Dick smoothed out his jacket with his left hand and took one more deep breath, steeling himself as best he could. This was never his favorite part of his world but he was good at what he did. God knows that he had trained hard enough for it, although Bruce would never agree with such final measures, sometimes it was a necessity. With how nasty of a human being Roberto Rosas was, this was certainly one of those cases. 

Moving around the tables in a snaking manor, Dick positioned himself a few paces behind Rosas’ table. With his back to Dick, Rosas didn’t notice him as he worked on the meal in front of himself. All Dick had to do was not tip off the man sitting across from him. He wasn’t familiar to Dick but this might have been one of those wrong places at the wrong time moments for him. Granted, Rosas’ proclivities were well documented so anyone willing to be working with him was at least partly guilty as well. 

Taking a few short steps forward, still going unseen, Dick struck, slamming the blade all the way into his target’s neck. He pulled forward roughly, spraying blood across the table in an arc that covered Rosas’ partner with the hot red liquid. There was a brief moment of not fully comprehending what was going on as the man in the other side of the table sputtered and began fumbling inside of his jacket.

This was the moment, the culmination of the past 24 or so hours as Dick got up and excused himself. No one besides herself and Dick of course had any inclination what was about to go down. Now she had no idea how things were going to play out but that was part of why it was so exciting to her. Needless to say she was not like most, moments like these were why she got into the business. It was the thrill, the adrenaline that went along with it.

With her clutch on her lap, hidden underneath the table, Alana slowly opened it and pulled out her Beretta. Making sure to subtly slide it under the perfectly placed napkin on her lap but also keeping it within her grasp. She watched diligently as Dick snaked his way through the restaurant, carefully making his way behind Mr. Rosas.

Arching her back up as if she was stretching, Alana gained a better view of what was about to transpire.

It was a thing of beauty, Rosas didn't even know his end was in sight, as he sat there chewing on a piece of steak. A smile on his face from whatever conversation him and his guest were having. That was the moment Dick struck, she couldn't see the actual contact from her angle but she did see the arc of blood. Rosas body went instantly lifeless but it took the man he was sitting with a couple seconds to realize what was actually going on.

Once he realized what was happening he sprung up from his seat, the nervous panic could be seen from even where she was sitting as he began fumbling for something in his jacket pocket. She wasn't truly sure what he was fumbling for and wasn't going to wait to find out. In one motion Alana stood up from her seat, extended her arm upwards, took aim and fired.

The bullet hit the man directly in the side of the head, sending blood and brain matter on the guests sitting at the next table. He instantly toppled over, hitting the table and chair on his way down. Leaving a rather large blood trail on the table cloth. 

The sound of the gunshot reverberated throughout Carmines, sending an instant panic into the crowd. Men and woman alike began screaming, pushing others out of the way as they hurried to the exit.

The only two people that weren't in a panic were Dick and Alana. Each stood where they were, looking at each other. It was as if time was frozen for that brief moment, at least for her it was. She couldn't speak for Dick but he looked rather calm himself. With a smile then a wink, Alana tucked her gun back into her clutch.

Grabbing the freshly opened bottle of wine off the table, Alana casually made her way through the screaming crowd towards the exit. As much as she wanted to enjoy the moment, it was time to get out of there.

Dick caught himself staring at her for a second longer than he normally should have before he notice her grab the bottle and mix in with the crowd. That caused his own legs to kick into gear and he too mixed in with all the panicked spectators from Carmines. He had been right that the chaos would take over and everyone was scattered in each and any direction that they could. 

Tucking his blade back away, he made it outside in no time, finding the back alley that she spoke of before he had made his move. And there she was, holding the bottle by its neck and taking a rather long swig. He didn’t say anything, just made his way to her. The job was done and it went better than he ever thought it could go actually.

There was a relaxed way about him now. Sure, he just killed a man but so had she and there was no need to fight off the connection anymore. Reaching out, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him, kissing her as if it was the last thing that was left in the world, as if they were the last two left in the world.

The screams and the panic could still be heard throughout the brisk Las Vegas evening that surrounded Carmines. It was chaotic, it was loud and to Alana it was euphoric. She stood there in that back alley with a gigantic smile on her face and a rather pricey bottle of wine by her side, waiting for Dick's arrival. She knew he'd be showing up there shortly, she was rather confident in it. Being that there were no lingering threats this evening, well besides the cops that were on their way but that was already factored in.

She was about to take a sip from the bottle but caught glimpse of a familiar shadow coming towards her. Her smile still beaming from ear to ear, she let out a soft chuckle as he approached her. Wanting to say something witty she opened her mouth to speak but wasn't able to get a word out before he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into him.

They were in their own little bubble in that moment, it was a suiting end to the events from the past day or two. Almost as if it all had built up to this. The kiss was deep, it was real but it was rather short lived as the sounds to police sirens could be heard in the near distance. It caused Alana to place her free non wine bottle holding hand on his chest, gently putting a bit of separation behind the two of them.

Alana took in a deep breath as he took a slight step back. It was in that moment the bright blue flashing lights bounced through the alleys. The cops had arrived, it was just a matter of time before they started searching that area. 

"I think it's time to get out of here." She said softly then brought the wine bottle to her lips, taking another rather large swig. It was a swig so large a bit dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. A dribble that she quickly cleaned up with the back of her hand.

Handing him the bottle, Alana slowly walked down the alley. Only stopping for a moment to glance back at Dick who was still standing where she left him.

"Well come on, you still owe me dinner and I'm a bit hungry." 

With that she turned back around and kept on walking.

With the bottle in hand he was still trying to catch his breath from the kiss, his heart thumping so loudly in his chest that he could feel it in his temples. Everything had fallen into place quite nicely. The target was gone, no innocents were hurt and he got to see Alana in action. It was a clean kill and most definitely public enough that it would be plastered all over the papers tomorrow. 

All of that could wait though as he quickly stepped in line beside her, fishing the car keys from his suit pocket as he lifted the bottle to his lips and threw back his head taking a long pull. That was more like it. For some reason it tasted better when it was just the two of them and they weren’t in the stuffy restaurant.

Dick loosened his tie with one hand as he held the car door open for her with the other. In all the panic, no one as much as batted an eye in their direction. It certainly made the getaway easier.

After she was in the passengers seat and he had shut the door, he slid in through the driver’s side. Sticking the key into the ignition with a smile, “Same diner as last night?” He smiled at her, warm and genuine.

"Same place as last night works for me" Alana exclaimed as she took the bottle of wine off his hands. "You remember how to get there?"

He looked over at her with a smile.

"Oh yeah, I've got this whole section of the city already memorized."

Alana didn't even question it, some people were just good at learning areas quickly and apparently he was one of those people. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, Alana brought the bottle back up to lips. She tilted her head back just a bit and downed the rest of the bottle, by now there wasn't much left in it so it wasn't too hard to knock it out.

She could see Dick giving her a look out of the corner of his eyes as she brought the bottle back down.

"Hope you didn't want anymore." She said with a chuckle before tossing the now empty bottle in the backseat.

He said nothing as he shook his head, while trying to hold back a smile. A smile which she saw, causing her to lean forward in her seat making it so he had to look at her.

"You know, that was one of the best evenings out I've had in a long time. We should make this more of a habit. If only you lived a bit closer..." She said before leaning back into her seat letting out a sigh.

She had to remind herself this evening was never meant to last forever, they lived in two different parts of the world with two different lives. Unless... She "Hmmed" out loud, which caught the attention of Dick.

"Huh? You say something?"

Alana shook her head.

"Yeah, I was just saying Mm. I was thinking of food and got caught in the moment, don't mind me."