A cooing sound from just out her window slowly awoke her from her slumber. It was the sounds of pigeons sitting upon her windowsill that were guilty of waking her up... waking her up from the best sleep she had had in a long time now. As she opened her eyes slowly, they fixated on a small blemish on the ceiling. There was something about the imperfection that caught her glare... or perhaps it was just her zoning out while waking up. Either way she stayed focused on that spot for a couple moments, it wasn't until she heard a nearby door slam close that she blinked. 

With a stretch, a yawn and a slight crack of her neck; Nola sat up in her bed. A smile crept onto her face as thoughts of yesterdays events popped into her head. It was a rather fun filled day of events, ones that helped her sleep like a baby... As she sat there for a moment reminiscing on those events, her stomach rumbled. 

Normally she wasn't one for breakfast, usually a cup of coffee would suffice but today was different. The want to sit down and actually have something to eat played forefront in her mind. With a bit of a nod to herself, Nola threw the covers off of herself and hopped out of bed.

"I wonder if Issei is awake yet..." Was the thought that popped into her head as she stood there besides her bed. It was a thought that quickly prompted a shrug of the shoulders. It didn't matter if he was awake or not... for his sake it would have been better if he was awake. Cause if not he was about to have a rather rude awakening from her behalf. She actually hoped that he was still sleeping...

It didn't take long for her to quickly wash up and throw on some new clothes. This wasn't one of those instances where she needed to look completely presentable, just needed to look like she didn't just roll out of bed. Which she did... Plus it was just breakfast with _Issei_, there was no need to look all fancy around him. There was a comfort level that she had with him, was the first person in a while that she could be herself and not pretend to be someone she wasn't. It said a lot about him and about the kind of relationship they had. Now if it was a dysfunctional one that was another story... 

With another grumble of her stomach, Nola grabbed her bag and headed out the door; making sure that it locked behind her. Never quite know what type of people walk the halls of a hotel, better safe to keep her stuff locked up. Regardless, she made her way down the hallway and to the stairwell, bypassing the elevator all together.

Was only a couple flights of steps up to the floor Issei was staying on, for some reason their rooms were booked on different floors. From what she was told it was done for safety purposes but she knew the real reason. It was so he could have the better of the rooms. A smirk formed from the corner of her lip to the thought of that as she made her way down the hallway.

It was a smirk that quickly vanished as she caught glimpse of his door. For some reason it wasn't closed.. it was opened just a crack. Seemed rather odd that he would leave it opened like that, unless he had some kind of intuition that she was on her way up. Regardless, it was still a bit odd...

"Issei..." Nola muttered out as she stood in front of the door. There was no response... "Issei" She gave the door a subtle knock, was a knock that pushed the door opened a bit more. Once again there was no response.

She placed her right hand upon the door and slowly pushed it opened. "Issei... you in there?"

It was then that she knew something was wrong... Pushing the door opened revealed a scene that quickly put her in a panicking mode. Furniture was turned over, there was a light mangled on the floor and a coffee table that was shattered into pieces. Her mind raced... who... what... she had the slightest idea what happened...

"Maybe he did this... maybe he had a fit of rage over something..." She nodded to herself... that had to be it... She started to calm down for a bit, that was until she looked down at her feet. Looked down at the carpet in front of her... Was a carpet stained with blood and it wasn't even fresh. Being quite knowledgeable on the blood topic, whatever happened here, happened a while ago. Which meant that Issei was in trouble.

She stood there for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts but her mind was all over the place. Panic turned into worry, worry turned quickly into a fit of rage. There was something that took over her, something uncontrollable. She went blank... became a shell of herself for a moment and took out the rage on the room.

It wasn't until a final smash of glass as she threw a chair through the window that she instantly popped back into reality. Standing there breathing heavily as she looked out the broken window. She had no idea where he was or who had him but figured it had something to do with everything that had been going on.

With Samuel and his gang out of the picture, she knew she wasn't going to get any answers here in New York. Which meant it all pointed to Ernesto in Los Angeles... he had to know something... she needed to get to Los Angeles and now...

"How are you holding up?"

"It's been quiet without you Baki, I just wish this was...different, Issei has had a life where-"

Baki's head swerved up to the hotel and he didn't even wait, knowing that crash he heard was anything but normal and so he pulled his pistol out and rushed to Issei's room, nothing was going to be stopping him and yet he wished something did because when he got there, he noticed the standing form of Nola, the way she looked...

The thing that stood out was the simplistic problem of Issei not being beside, the carnage in that very room, Baki was scared, for the first time in a long while, Issei was the one that guided them. He was a constant for Magnolia, there was usually the smile in the way she adapted to his playfulness and allowed for herself to calm down, yet here she was quiet and stormy, it was not the thing he wished for them. 

Issei was a source of comfort for all of them, only now that comfort was not here to support them, Issei was his leader, the one that did not give up in the face of odds that would have killed him regardless. He was a fighter and to not have him now, it was a reality that he did not like living in...

It was only then that the phone in Issei's room rung out, drawing Baki's attention, Nola barely gave a twitch for that moment, the thoughts seemingly still running through her head before she gave the phone a small look.

Baki decided to pick it up before anything else could happen, this wasn't going to be something he actively liked but he had a feeling things were going to get worse...

"Noroi, keep my love company...."

"Eto...."

"Awww Baki, why'd it have to be you? I wanted to speak with Magnolia, she was the one that apparently has the rage of a thousand storms once angered, I wanted to see how she would be handling this seeing her Dragon is not with her..."

Baki growled into the phone, barely suppressing his own anger as he knew Eto's game, everyone from here to the Soviets knew her way of doing business but when it came to Issei, this was different for him, this was his leader, his brother, the one who gave him something worth fighting for. 

"ETO! I'm not fucking playing games, I swear, I'm going to skin you alive when I get you, do you understand that!?"

"Ohohoho! Look at who grew claws, let's remember who's with me Baki, let's remember that you two don't hold a candle to me. You started this, you think I'm going to sit here and allow for you lot to come to hunt me down? Give a message to Magnolia, tell her, I can't wait to have fun with her....goodbye Grappler."

Before she shut it off, Baki was sure he heard Issei roar and no, it was not a good one, for a moment, Baki knew it, Issei was being played with me. Shaking his head, he barely glanced at Nola, there was no need for talks or discussions. He wasn't going to give Eto that satisfaction, Nola would deal with that crazy bitch....

"Las Vegas, I know Eto and I know her mental games of playtime, she will wish for him to be where he calls home. Where he would die and no one knows, where help is but a block or two away...only for her to yank it away..."

With that, Baki walked out with Pistol in hand, and this time, he was going to kill whoever got in his hand. Hands or guns, no one fucked with his people and lived, no one.

"Las Vegas..."

The word reverberated in her head. Here she thought she would have been going to Los Angeles to find Ernesto and pull this information out of him but alas there was no need for that. Ernesto could wait... his death will be prolonged, at least until she got Issei back.

Turning about, Nola caught glimpse of the backside of Baki as he was walking out the door. He seemed like a man on a mission, seemed to be the same mission that Nola was now on.

"Yo... slow the fuck down..."

Nola jogged to catch up to him and gripped him up by the arm, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Las Vegas? You sure about this?

"Yes! That was Eto on the phone... they are in Las Vegas. You should stay here, I will handle this."

Baki went to turn back about but Nola still had a grip on his arm, one that she squeezed even tighter than she had.

"You know that's not going to happen right? I'm coming and if you don't like it, well you can go fuck yourself..."

Baki pulled his arm from her grasp and placed his hands on her shoulders. He gave her a looked and spoke in a rather serious tone. "It's a ploy to get you out there... she wants to kill you..." He paused for a moment. "I knew you'd resist staying but I had to try, from the conversation I just had with her... you... you seem like a priority of hers. You can not play into her games and you need to watch yourself... I will do what I can but I can only do so much."

Nola was looking up at him the entire time just nodding her head. She hadn't heard a word he had said, once he said Las Vegas that was all she needed to know.

"Okay? Nola..."

"Huh... yeah... sure..."

She pulled herself from his grip and pushed her way past him. She made her way down the stairwell, completely passing the room she was staying in. She had her bag and her gun, that was all that she needed... all the other stuff was going to get in the way and on top of it, it would have taken more time away from her getting there.

She was so much in a zone to get to where she needed that she didn't even realize that Baki was following her. It wasn't until she hailed and got into the cab that she realized this as he got in the other door.

"You need to slow down!" He gave her a look before looking towards the Cabbie. "The airport and step on it." He pulled out a wad of cash and tossed it over the cabbies shoulder.

The cabbie stepped on the gas, causing the pair to forcefully suck back into their seats for a moment.

"Slow down... there's no slowing down. Not until I find Issei..."

"Okay... okay... I get it but you're being a bit irrational at the moment. If you bring this mentality to Vegas you will lose and you will die."

Perhaps he was right, perhaps her mind wasn't where it needed to be right now but right now they weren't in Las Vegas. They still had a bunch of hours before that would happen a very long bunch of hours.

"Well... what do you propose?"

"I... I don't know yet. I need to think on this, hopefully something will come about when we are on the plane."

"Alright, well you have until we get to Las Vegas... if you don't have anything by then you can stay on the plane."

'No Mercy.' 

It had to be, Baki knew when they went to face off with Eto, she was going to play her game and when finally they came across Issei, it was going to be a horrid scene, he remembered those times, ones where he felt like he was not himself, where his past collided into that of his present.

He never thought it would come to this, Issei was a beast of a man, one that inspired so many people with the way he did his business and it was not something people easily forget and did not adjust too. Of course, his moments of playing around, of being the odd man, the playful one, it didn't get forgotten. 

Eto Yoshimura, their mentor, their best ally, the one that taught Issei and Baki everything, turning to face Magnolia, he would not deny what he saw there, the clear one-track he had. Of course, while he knew the plan and what he wanted to do with Eto, Nola was saving Issei. Not even noticing that they were playing into Eto's hands...

The master manipulator, the one that would play the game with a mind for the future, yet Baki was ready to face his death if it came in the next 12 hours. Issei was one person who had survived at the hands of Eto for the best part of a decade-plus, it was noticeable and one thing that brought Baki a hint of hope. 

Issei didn't become broken, the man had suffered enough, things that he knew, things that they had done so together. Smiling, there would be a save in the next moment, nothing was going to be ready for him. Baki couldn't tell Nola what was going to come next, he knew, he would raze the very city to the ground to find Issei. 

"Eto is...symbolic, don't forget that. You'll see it....she'll have him somewhere that means something to him, and I think I know where...."

Baki wasn't simply called the grappler for his past in the fighting scene, while he wasn't on the level of those two, he knew when he could call it quits. For what was to come, he knew that he could easily hang with what Eto had to offer. 

He glanced out at the window of the cab, grunting to the man as he walked out of the cab and into the airport. What was happening next, what would be a mystery in its own right was something that Baki had to be careful about, Issei was one of the few that could see them through this...

Turning to face Nola for another time, there was something about her that he couldn't put his fingers on and it was trying to grasp him tight. For the life of him, something was there but for now, he shook his head, whatever it was could wait. 

"Nola, when we get to Las Vegas, there is a plan..."

Baki bowed his head as a grin played at his lips, one that was ever so similar with the one that Issei wore at times, it was eerie but Nola didn't care, Baki knew. All that mattered was getting him back. 

"No mercy, I'll raze it to the ground if I have too but I will find Issei and raise him from their bastard clutches..."

"Interested to hear what your plan is because my plan is to kill anything in the way of getting Issei back. So if your plan doesn't incorporate that then you need to reevaluate your plan or like I said before just stay the fuck here."

She gave him a serious glare and proceeded to just walk by him. Not even giving him a moment to respond. In reality, his plan really didn't matter in her mind. It could have been the best plan in the world but right now anything he would have came up with would have been dismissed. Was just where her mind was at the moment. Perhaps the plane ride to Las Vegas would change that but then again... probably not...

First thing first, she needed to get on a plane. She... they... had no tickets, the tickets were top priority right in the now. That's exactly where she went off to. The first ticket counter she came across. There was a bit of a line to get to the front, one that she pushed her way through. Pissing off a few people on the way, especially one man, one situated at the front of the line.

He made the mistake of grabbing her by her left shoulder, the one that was still in the healing process.

"Hey! Back of the line..."

She pulled her shoulder away from him and took another step towards the counter to the awaiting agent.

"I need to be on the first flight to Las Vegas."

The woman behind the counter didn't have a chance to answer before once again he gripped up her shoulder.

"Hey bitch, back of the line..."

Again she pulled her shoulder away from his grip but instead of keeping her focus on the agent, Nola balled up her fist and slowly turned herself about. She hit a certain point where the slow turn, turned into a rapid swing. Her fist connecting directly with the bridge of the mans nose. Causing him to stumble backwards while gripping his nose. Blood streamed down from his face as he let out a series of screams all of which drew a bit of attention on them.

Nola though didn't care... Calmly she turned back about to that agent and placed her hands on the counter in front of her. The knuckles on her right hand speckled with blood.

"So.. Las Vegas... when is the next flight?"

The woman peered behind her for a moment then back onto Nola. She looked down at her logs, flipping through a couple pages.

"Uh... there's a flight that leave out here in 45 minutes. Will that work?"

Nola nodded.

"Just you?"

"Y...."

Before she was able to answer, Baki came out of no where. "We will need two tickets." He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and placed it down on the counter next to her. He looked towards the agent and smiled before turning about towards Nola. "Nice form you had there, I really liked the whole slow turn before you ramped it up." He gave her a playful smile before turning back towards the agent who was finishing up whatever she needed to do.

She extended the tickets out, tickets that Baki grabbed. "Come on slugger... lets go catch that flight and get that Issei out of the mess he is in."

His comment made her smirk just a bit, it was the first time that she had seen the lighter side of him. It was unexpected but kind of needed. Was then that she knew he was in and that he had her back. Was a similar but a bit more vague feeling that she had with Issei, hard to explain but there was something about it.

"Alright... I guess lead the way..."

"Guessing now? Well then, that is certainly something...I suggest you should not guess when the time is like right now, where lives are in the balance. There is no time for guessing, there is instinct and how we manage to get by with all that we know at the moment. I've been enough situations like that and so have you, enough so that Issei trusts you above everyone else. It's...strange"

A foreign look of something passed over Baki's face as he had long since come to the conclusion of what Issei saw in the woman, the princess. Baki had not taken to calling her such a title, that was for Issei and he knew the dragon's voice enough to know when it was special to him. Something like that wasn't stepped on in his eyes. 

Walking forward, knowing that they would need to boarding soon and for those next twelve hours, Baki knew Issei could handle himself. The man was a sadistic bastard, one of the few that put the fear of religion back into Baki, it was not something that he had spoken about but Issei was an inspiring story, yet there were other things that lurked within the dragon, he didn't get to know them. Some did, some like Lola, like Kiba, those who grew close to the dragon knew who he was underneath the playfulness nature. 

Enough so that it made them stay, it made them die for him and not by choice, it was a matter of respect and being the one thing that protected the enemy against the wrath of an unchained dragon. Baki knew, when they got him when Issei was back home, nothing was going to stop him from gutting those who had a hand in his reintroduction into getting back with Eto. 

"You should listen, by the way, what this is and what I hope you can come to understand with Issei, I don't know him. Not like Kiba did and like Lola currently does now, she is the only one who knows the Issei Hyoudou who is not the dragon. She tells me things, not too much but enough that I think Issei is going to push..."

He grew silent for a moment, turning his head, only to find that Nola was off elsewhere, she seemed to be staring off and for a moment, he realized that words were not going to be what she needed. 

Nodding his head, it was what she needed next to happen, the time of the fighting would be what they all needed to get past this horror of a moment.

The Grappler placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention unto him and for a moment, she gave him pause. There was that look in her eyes, it reminded him of something a long time ago, a rumour. Shaking his head, that was silly and it was a part of his life that was long ago and buried for himself. 

"We will find him, I promise you that, Issei is going to be back where he belongs with us. You just...be ready for what comes next, I have a feeling that we are all going to be needing it soon..."

Baki bowed his head as he continued walking side by side with Nola The Red as Issei and few others in whispering tones had taken to calling her, awe in their tones at her name and in that moment, he was brought back and was ready.

"Victory, brother, that is what awaits us because that is what we have fought for and us, the ones who fought beside you, deserve it more than anyone. Nothing more is deserved for our band..."

Whispering to himself, Baki closed his eyes as that small smile played at his lips. Nothing was going to be stopping him- turning his head, he met Nola's eyes, and nodded his head, nothing was going to be stopping them. 

"I know we will... will just be a matter of how many people that we have to go through to make that happen." She paused for a moment and gave him a sinister smile. "I have a lot of bullets, so it's okay..."

"Pan Am flight 152 to Las Vegas is now boarding at gate 8." The voice could be heard over the speaker, causing Nola to perk up a bit.

"Oh, that's us."

She nudged her head in the direction the gate was at, starting her short trek over without waiting for him to move first. She knew he was going to follow, he already expressed his need and want to accompany her on this trip and currently this flight was the only way to Las Vegas. Didn't take long for her to get to the gate and get in line, Baki was quick to follow.

"You need to learn how to slowdown. You keep doing that shit, I'm sure we will get split up at some point and that might not be a good thing. So please... slowdown..."

Nola gave him a side eye while taking a couple steps forward as the line moved.

"See, I think you just need to pick up the pace. Stop being so damn slow and I won't have to slowdown. Problem solved..."

"Uh..." He wasn't able to finish his thought before the gate agent called them up next.

"Tickets?"

Nola turned herself about towards Baki.

"Lady over here needs those tickets, wanna hand them over slowpoke?"

Baki glared down towards Nola and basically growled in her direction. He slipped his hand into his pocket while still looking at her and pulled out the tickets, handing in the woman's direction. She gently took them from him, scanned them over and handed them back. Alright, you two are good. Have a good flight!

Nola turned towards the lady with a smile and thanked her then proceeded past and onto the jetway. There was still a bit of a line to get on the place but one that went rather quickly. In a matter of no time, they found themselves situated within their seats. Nola of course by the window cause there was no way that Baki was going to pack his large frame in that seat. He needed the comfort of being able to spread out into the aisle and that's exactly what he did.

The plane finished boarding and everyone got seated all of which, the entire time neither of them had said another word to each other. It wasn't until they were airborne that Baki turned to her and spoke. 

"Listen... I know that you have a hard time listening to people, it's quite evident."

Nola turned her head towards him, cocking it a bit sideways.

"Eto is like no one that you have ever probably come across, I know her... The first chance she can get to put a bullet into you, she will. So if I say to do something, I'm really going to need you to listen. It's going to be dangerous... the likelihood of us not returning to New York is quite a possibility. Especially more so if you or we don't work together."

It wasn't until then that she heard the seriousness within his tone, causing her to for the first time take him completely serious.

"Okay..." She didn't really know what else to say on top of that, so that was all he got.

With a bit of a playful smile, Baki turned himself back into his seat. Moving all around to get himself comfortable. "It's gonna be hectic one we land, I'm gonna get some sleep in the meantime."

"Sleep....?"Nola thought to herself, there was no way that she was going to be able to sleep. Not a chance in the slightest and just as expected that's what happened. She just stared out the window the entire time, watching the clouds go by as she thought about what was to come. Hoping that she would be able to pull Issei from the evil clutches of whomever this Eto person was. Who she was didn't matter, at this point she had a bullet with her name on it.

The flight itself felt like it took forever as the wheels touched down on the runway. The moment they hit, it woke Baki up.

"Oh... we are here? Well that was a quick flight..."

"Yeah, quick when you sleep the entire time...."

"A well needed sleep..."

The plane taxied to the gate and came to a park. The doors opened up and slowly people began filing out. When it was their turn, Baki got out of his seat and used his large frame to block the aisle. Letting Nola scoot out of her seat and get in front of him. She began walking down the aisle, followed close behind by Baki. The pair got off the plane and into the Las Vegas airport.

"Okay, so now what?" Nola asked as she gave the airport a glance over. Catching a glance of someone familiar looking. It caused her to double take the person. Once she fixated her glare onto the man, her eyes widened. It was almost the same time the same caught glimpse of her too.

"Ernesto..."

It was him... what were the chances he would have arrived into Las Vegas at the same time as them? He was exactly whom they were looking for, he was the first piece of the puzzle and he was basically gift wrapped to them... Well... they needed to catch him first. Without hesitation, Nola took off in his direction. Once she took off so did he and so did Baki, though Baki had the slightest idea why. All he knew that she was running and he needed to follow.

"Nola.... Nola..." Is all she could hear, trying to keep her focus on the path Ernesto was running. "Nola!" It only took a mere second for her to take her eyes off of him, off the path in front of her to look back at Baki. That by the time she focused back in front of her it was too late. Seems she was destined to meet that luggage cart, causing her to trip head over heels over it.

"Baki! Ernesto!" She pointed in the direction of the man running as she lay in a pile of luggage and people. Hoping that he would just pick up from where she left off... hoping that he would take off after him... hoping he would catch him...

Baki seemingly gained some other kind of power because before he even recognized that Nola was looking elsewhere, he dashed off after the man himself, Ernesto was the one that wished to target Nola and now was here in Vegas? Oh he was sure of it, Issei was here and Ernesto knew because, for the life of him, Baki was ready to let loose and bring his brother back home. 

"NESTO!"

Baki's voice did not even begin to match him as it sounded like he was from hell, a hellhound ready to collect a soul and that was how it felt to those in the surrounding area, they watched two men run and all they could do was watch as one continued to gain on the other, not once did it feel like he was getting tired though...

Ernesto was the one that fell on his ass and it didn't seem like he was being taken notice of, he was in the land of the enemy this time around. Issei was to put it lightly, the guy. People recognized him around Las Vegas. And those in the police? They knew who they owed allegiance too, hence why Baki walked so calmly as he finally stopped at Nesto smiling down at him. 

"Did you have to run so far? My boss' best friend is back there, she's not very happy with what you guys have done, you get that right Ernesto? After all, you killed her bodyguard, you acted on the orders of someone who wants her away from the dragon's protection..."

Crouching, Baki paid no mind to the fact that those around them watched the scene with a sense of tension around them. Of course, Baki spoke in hushed whispers that only Nesto would pick up. 

"You're coming with us, you know that right...and it's going one way..."

Nesto braced himself as he knew that Baki was acting calm, in truth, the man was on edge and anyone who knew the grappler saw that he was fighting with himself there, holding himself together for the fact was, Nesto was either going to die during his time with them or after.

Hearing steps behind him, Baki grunted as he stood to his feet and picking up Nesto dusting him off before taking his shoulder and leading them away from the airport.

"I'm not going to ask Ernesto but this one thing has been bothering him, did you ever wonder why Eto never told you about Issei?"

With that question lingering in the head of the young saviour himself, Baki moved forward and knew that within a moment everything would be sorted as a black car pulled up on the curb leaving Baki to stare at it for a moment. 

"Time to go, I'm sure you'll live Nesto. Red, you comin'?"

Baki raised a brow, noticing the way she seemed to be lingering almost, there was that time of holding somebody back. Yet she seemed to be doing a good job herself, of course, the gloves were off once they got the Saviour secured and Baki could not help...

In Issei's words, it was going to be explosive...

Nola stood there just staring at the man as thoughts of his death played on in her head. If it wasn't for the extremely public place they were in, there was no doubt that she would have pulled her gun on him. He'd for sure be reeling on the ground in pain with a bullet hole in his kneecap. Though she restrained herself... which was a feat in it's own matter.

It was almost as if she were in a trance of sorts, standing there with both hands clenched by her sides.

"Red, you comin?" She heard the words come out of Baki's mouth but didn't budge to them. Wasn't until Baki tossed Ernesto into car that her trance was broke. "Red! Come on..."

With a subtle nod, Nola got into the backseat with him. There was no way that she was going to turn her back to him, no way she was going to give him any opportunity to do something while he was unsupervised.

As the door closed behind her, Nola sat sideways, facing him. There was an awkward silence in the car as it pulled off. One that Nola broke up.

"Where is he?"

"Fuck you! Where's my sister?"

An evil smile formed on Nola's face. "She's still in the UK, has she not contacted you?" It was a question that Nola already knew the answer to. Ernesto had an idea what happened to her but he never got the true story.

"It's been four months since I last heard from her."

"And that is my problem, why?"

Ernesto leaned in towards her. "Cause the last thing she said to me when I talked to her was that she was going out with you... Specifically you..."

Nola nodded with that same evil smile.

"Do I look like a babysitter? Perhaps she ran off with some guy, perhaps someone took her and gutted her like a pig?" Nola chuckled, a chuckle that caused Ernesto to reach out and wrap his right hand around Nola's throat. Was an act that Baki caught in the mirror, causing the car to slam onto the brakes.

Calmly, Nola reached into her waistband and raised her gun up. Placing the warm steel against the side of his head. Ernesto squeezed a bit harder, causing Nola to push the gun harder into his head.

"Fuck this!"She could hear Baki exclaim from up front then suddenly caught glimpse of his big fist come barreling into the back. One shot connecting to the back of Ernesto's head, he immediately released his grip and tipped over forward onto Nola.

Nola quickly turned her attention onto Baki. "You okay?" She let out a sigh.

"I had that situation under control, you realize this?"

"He was about to choke you out and you think I was going to let that happen?"

"That was nothing, I've endured worse in the..." She decided not to finish that comment but instead changed it to something else. "Well now what? Might be a little bit before he wakes up, thanks to you..."

"You're welcome. Now....let's just find out where Issei is, that's the only thing which matters right now."

Baki was making that clear, he wasn't going to have anything to do with whatever the woes of one Ernesto wished to dish out. He wasn't a hypocrite in the slightest but he knew he was because it had been with them doing so to Ernesto and their little alliance, they had decided to wield a piece of power and take their leader, this was going to be bloodshed, moreso because Issei was a man of many means, whatever state he was in, he was not going to be good. 

"You know.....Issei's a fighter, he's strong, I'm sure if anyone can survive what is done to them, it would be Issei..."

Baki was saying that to himself because he should have been there, he should have been on guard for the man himself for whoever wished to take him down. He was meant to be the guard for his former friend, turning his head for the slight moment, he didn't wanna speak anymore.

The silence was golden right now, he didn't wish to move forward in his thoughts before he came to a solid conclusion, Eto in her delusional mind wouldn't hurt Issei, not that much but Noroi and Ayato, those two were the ones whom Baki felt a bit of worry about.

Noroi was the one who was a warrior, before he could even think on it matter, a small gasp of life came from the back, causing Nesto to jump in his seat, glaring at Nola but saying nothing else. 

"What the fuck are you made of?"

"Steel. Now, Baki, you know me, you know that this...can be solved, I wasn't involved with Eto, her, however...is a different matter."

Baki snorted, Nola could handle herself and alone, coupled with the anger, Baki was sure that he was going to be seeing a side of her that no longer wished to be kept locked up. 

"Nesto, when you kidnap a powerful man such as Issei and your ally, Eto, calls us, there are many ways to take this. One of them being...fucked up, she's torturing him. I don't know what business you have with the Dixon family, frankly, I couldn't give two fucks. Only thing is, my boss, cares and if he cares, I do. SO trust me, you're not going to be harming her, not that you could."

Then the silence descended upon the car and for a moment, Baki felt like things were going the right way. Only he knew Ernesto hadn't revealed a single thing about where Eto was, this was going to be fun, because one way or another, Issei was coming home, he would give anything for that.

"Fine....what do you want? Eto!? I could care less...."

"Issei. You know who, where is he?"

"I tell you guys, Noroi will be after me and seriously, you know the stories Baki, he's worse than Issei and the crimson princess here..."

Baki looked up to the rearview mirror, crimson princess? Was there a reason why the boss always referred to her as a princess? Perhaps there was. 

"Maybe so...only he's not here and well, you gotta deal with me and the princess, so when we get to where we are heading, Nesto, just remember, you had a chance."

Nola took notice to the glare Baki had given him from within the rear view mirror, she was unsure what comment it was directed towards but knew it was something that piqued his interest. Regardless, Nola fixated her gaze back onto Ernesto.

"Yeah... I have no idea who any of these people are nor does it matter. Cause I don't give two fucks... What I do care about is the whereabouts of Issei and seems you may know where that is. So start talking..."

He hesitated for a moment, the want to give her any sorts of information was the something he didn't want to do.

"Maybe if you're nice and you cooperate, I will tell you where Ollie is. Cause I do know."

"Where is she?" He perked up a bit. "She better be safe... or so help me god..."

Nola brought her finger to his lips, shushing him. "Shhh.... you're not going to do anything, so just stop it now with your empty threats. Issei... where is he?"

She watched as he looked down at the finger upon his face, indicating that he wanted her to remove it. Pausing for a moment before she pulled it away, doing it on her own time.

"If I tell you will you tell me?" He asked. A response in which Nola nodded, knowing all too well that she wasn't going to tell him and if she did it would perhaps be a bit embellished. Unless... unless he needed to hear the truth... If she needed to crush him. 

"Okay... Okay..." He sat up in his seat, giving the back of his head a little rub before getting into the details. "He should be at a warehouse off of Sunset Rd. just opposite to the airport."

"Should be? What do you mean should be?"

"Well that's where I was told, that's where I was headed. Noroi told me to meet there, needed some help with Issei. I didn't question it, just got on the next flight."

Nola turned her attentions up front, once again catching Baki's eyes in the rear view mirror. "You hear that Baki? Warehouse on sunset by the airport."

Baki nodded. "I know exactly where he is." He put the car in drive, made a U-turn and slammed on the gas pedal. She heard a bit of mumbling coming from the front, all of which she couldn't understand.

"My sister? Where is she?"

Nola turned back towards Ernesto.

"She's in the UK, like I said earlier."

"Is she alive?"

"Uh, yeah... saw her just before I came to the states."

"I heard rumors otherwise... I heard..." He shook his head... "I heard you killed her."

"Me? I'd never" Nola turned towards the front, looking towards the mirror, waiting for Baki to look up. Once he did she gave him a subtle wink.

"Baki, how long until we are there?"

Right on cue, the car whipped into a parking lot and abruptly came to a halt. They were here... no the question was, was Issei here as well?