A tension left him, but he remained guarded. Tentative steps took him toward Runa, he gave her a quick look over before removing the bonds and arranged her comfortably. He looked to Phillip while crouched at her side.

"They're in a car outside of town. I'll direct you, Illiana will stay with the girl. You can take your family and drive off," he brushed Runa's hair back and observed her for a moment. "Do I need to know about anything in her system?"

"She’s not going to OD. But she’ll have a rough withdrawal," said Philip, looking to Vinnie for confirmation. Vinnie nods, still quiet.

"OK. Thank you," he nodded and moved around the couch, lifting the receiver.

"Sokolov. This is Jack Mezzo, you'll be seeing us soon. From Race Street, with love." He dropped the phone and it was promptly crushed under his heel.

---

Jack paced ahead of the pair towards the car, Illiana had the engine running and Jack calmly coaxed her out and let her step to the side. He indicated that they should approach. Out of sight, he gripped Illiana's arm.

"Vinnie, take the wheel. I'll sit up front with you, Phillip, take the seat behind Vincent. When we get there we'll have a nice calm handover with the people taking care of your family. Any questions?

"The State of New York finds the defendant, Vincent Karras, guilty on all charges. Mr. Karras, you are hereby remanded to state custody pending sentencing."

The dark haired man standing behind the defense table took both fists and drove them into the tabletop; though the bang was barely heard over his hysterics. Two court officers lunged for him, but the man threw his weight away from them, and he almost stumbled over as he glared at Illiana. 

"You filthy bitch! Who'd you have to sleep with to pull that off, huh?! I'm not going to prison! I'll be out before the ink on your next paycheck is dry, Santoro! You just fuckin' watch me!" 

The officers quickly had Vincent Karras chained and were hauling him off. Illiana Santoro stood behind the prosecution table, watching the whole charade with an even, almost bored look on her face. She didn't flinch at all, only watched the narcissistic thug get dragged off. It wasn't until an unfamiliar voice called her name that she even blinked. 

"Miss Santoro? Hi, nice win. What a psycho, huh?" 

Illiana turned her head slowly to find the source of this voice. Her eyes met those of a young man with dark, auburn colored hair and cocky smile. He wore a bespoke navy suit and a gray and navy tie. She lifted an eyebrow quizzically. 

​​​​​​"And you are..?" 

"Oh, sorry, I'm Henry. Judge Tanner recommended me for your legal aid position. I just thought I'd come and...."

Illiana lifted a hand and the young man halted his words abruptly. 

"First thing, Henry; we don't gloat about a win. Until we're out of the building- then we gloat and drink."

She picked up her briefcase and a stack of files and dropped it into the man's arms, which barely reached quickly enough to catch them. 

"Nice suit, just don't out-dress me on trial days."

-----

A strong hand gripped her arm, snapping illiana away from the strongest flashback she'd ever experienced. Watching Vinny stroll to the car like a free man made her blood run cold. It nearly froze completely when he winked at her so sure of himself. If it hadn't been for Jack's arm, she might have simply flung out and scratched his eyeballs out of his worthless skull. 

Jack explained the events quickly, and the nature of the exchange. There was a bitter, bitter taste in her mouth that originated in the pit of her stomach, but she nodded, signaling her compliance with his decision. 

"You need to go and see to Runa. They've had her strung out on morphine. I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours."

He handed her the supply bag that had been in the trunk of the sedan, and then nodded his farewell. Illiana gave a single nod in return, then looked back at Vinny. She let her face melt into the same cold, blank stare that she'd given him so many years ago. No emotion, not even a little. Vincent Karras didn't deserve that. He wouldn't get anything more from her. 

-----

Once inside the cabin, Illiana quickly found Runa lying on the old couch. Her body was stretched out, but not comfortably. She looked like she'd been terrorized by nightmares for days. Her eyes were open, fixed on the ceiling, and pupils the size of pinheads. Illiana threw the bag open and knelt beside the couch. In that moment, Vinny Karras disappeared. The closest Ferndale friend she'd ever had was in critical shape and needed everything illiana could muster. She started talking to Runa in a clear, somewhat loud voice as she placed a hand on the woman's forehead and another on her cheek. 

"Runa? Sweetheart, it's Illiana. You're safe; everything is going to be alright. I need you to look at me."

There was no real response. Illiana checked Runa's hands. Her finger nail beds were starting to just tint blue against too pale skin. She was breathing, but barely. Illiana reached up and flipped her hand over, placing her knuckles against Runa's breastbone and rubbed vigorously. It was a technique she'd seen her mother use with junkies years ago, and it always seemed to pull them back to consciousness - if they could be. 

Runa had no idea what time it was- how many days it had been. Had it been hours? Days? Weeks? Probably not weeks. Vinnie had shot her up again. He wasn't gentle with the needle. He wasn't gentle with anything. Rage blossomed in Runa's heart for a moment, but it had nothing to latch onto- it just floated away into the ether. Scenes from the past few days played in Runa's mind, fading in and out like someone had spliced scenes from many different talkies together. Runa felt like she watched them not from her own eyes, but from a seat in the theater. 

Markos, leaning back in his head with both hands proudly behind his head. Runa, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder, lightly tracing her finger through the hair on his chest. She looked and sounded like a conquest, the new waitress jumping in bed with one of the boss's friends. As she spoke, her voice was like a fencer's blade, darting forward to find an opening and backing off when she was too close to arousing suspicion. They talked about everything, and Runa assembled the information that she needed piece by piece. Vinnie. Phillip. Demetrius. Markos. And Sokolov- a mystery, for the most part, since Markos had barely even spoken to the man on the phone, but the key to everything. 

Vinnie, "working late" at the restaurant, talking on the phone when Runa interrupted him and slashed at his neck, confident in her kill. Get me close enough to stick a knife in anyone, Runa had thought, and I can take down any one person. Except Vinnie, probably with more surprise than skill, had twisted the phone and partially deflected the knife. By the time Runa had recovered for a second thrust, Vinnie had already grabbed her wrist; she had no chance. He'd slammed the side of her head down against his desk, and she didn't remember much after that.

Phillip, in the cabin, talking to Vinnie. Runa wanted to angry, wanted to plan, but whatever they'd given her made it too hard to think. It was easier to just... drift away, then to live as Runa. Runa, who'd failed Jack. Failed Illiana. Failed Race Street. Because of a phone.  If she lived through this, she promised herself, she'd never get stopped by something like that again.

Was that Jack's voice? Was that his face, leaning over her? Was she dying? She wasn't sure what to hope for. She closed her eyes and waited to see what would happen.

She was disturbed by pressure on her chest, and she forced her eyes to flutter open.

"Illiiana?" 

With a heavy sigh of relief, Illiana nodded and grabbed Runa's hand. 

"Yup, I'm here. It's just us now. Vinny and Philip are gone. Jack is safe, and you're going to be fine, I promise. I'm going to stay right here until Jack gets back to take us home."

Illiana knew that the young woman wouldn't be able to talk much, or really process much information for several hours, so she figured it best to just stay close and make sure her vitals were at least stable. As quickly as she could, Illiana got up and went to the cabin kitchen and got a cool, wet rag, and grabbed the waste bin. When she returned, she gently lifted Runa's upper body and sat on the couch, using her lap to prop the woman's head up to prevent choking were she to vomit. 

The sun had just set, and the light was dimming the room slowly. Between periodically checking Runa's pulse and breathing, Illiana watched out the window for signs of anyone approaching. There was gun in her bag; the 38 Billy had given her. She was ready, if need be, but now, she just wanted to get the people she cared about home. 

Runa closed her eyes and let reality slowly bleed back into focus. It had only been a couple days, so the physical changes weren't too bad. She missed it, though. It was better to be floating than living in this cold world- the world of her failure. Eventually she shifted from lying on her back to curling up and hugging her knees, accepting a glass of water from Illiana. How knew how long it was, but eventually she cleared her throat and spoke.

"Hey. Thank you. And... I'm sorry. I was close. Missed Vinny by a couple inches- thought I could take him down myself. Failed you- failed Jack- won't happen again."

She paused.

"Is Vinny dead yet?"

Illiana took the glass when she was done and sat it nearby. 

"You didn't fail anyone, Runa. Without you, we wouldn't have learned about Sokolov, the bounty on Jack, or any of it. I wish you could have seen Jack in that restaurant. It was quite the scene."

There was a moment of hesitation before she continued. 

​​​​​​"Vinny...he's not dead. That was part of the deal. Jack took some of their family as leverage for you. It worked. There was no more bloodshed. We got you, they got their family and a warning to get out of Pennsylvania and stay away. They're not going to be welcome nearly anywhere on the east or west coasts."

Illiana bit her lip, still somewhat battling her own rage at the bastard that was walking away; but Runa didn't need that now. Instead, Illiana continued. 

​​​​​​"You'll have your chance to bring down the bigger fish, soon. Jack's going to go after the Russian."

Runa closed her eyes again. Vinny not dead? After what he'd done to Illiana? To her? 

She was quiet for a while, sipping her water. They both were- at least until they heard the car out front. Illiana reached for her gun, while Runa just hung her head lower.

Runa's bedraggled hair hung over her face, but she could see Jack walk in. She spoke before she could say anything.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I failed, and it won't happen again. I promise."

She raised her green eyes, and the emeralds seemed poised between anger at what had happened and exhaustion from her experience.

"What happens now?"

Between a tense journey out of town, a less than comfortable handover and a catch up with Dick Grayson on the way back, Jack had had little time alone with his thoughts. The situation was resolved, in the best sense of things. Runa was safe, the Karras family were free to lick their wounds and reflect on mistakes made, and Race Street had a new objective to direct their attention toward. The events had made him weary and questions lurked as to if his touch was slipping, if the right decisions were made. For now though, they took a backseat. The car arrived back at the cabin. Wheels crawled to a halt.

As he laid eyes on Runa his thoughts began rolling again. Decisions were made, paths forward carved out and rasterized. Priorities shifted and settled on new foundations. Jack had new goals which were driven by what was now fundamentally important to him in life. The future was no longer what it had been before for him, Runa or Race Street. He lifted his hand to stop her apologetic outpouring. There was frustration in his face and compassion in his eyes. 

"We go home."