Dynamite sat at his desk at the Paramount Hotel in Los Angeles. @Alysia was spending some time with him going over some of the books for the Family to make sure that the dirty money was correctly and safely layered into clean money to fund a lot of the operational expenditures for @BillyMastrosimone. Dynamite normally was not a numbers guy, but he learned quite a bit from Billy. Billy was a man who knew exactly how to fudge the numbers so intricately that the Feds never knew where to look. While he had a mind that could concoct numbers like a chemistry lab, he also had an aura that could inspire others. He was a man that exhibited respect, wit and charm. He inspired Dynamite to be more detailed and patient, two key characteristics of running a good financial backing for the Family.

After collaborating with Alysia for a few hours, Dynamite needed to pick up some groceries for the Mastrosimone HQ. He motioned for Alysia to follow him and out the doors they went. They got into Dynamite’s black Rolls Royce 20/25 and drove to a local supermarket that was in Downtown Los Angeles.

The weather was overcast and chilly today, a contrast to the sunny weather yesterday. Dynamite and Alysia got out of the vehicle and went inside. He pulled out a paper from his inside suit jacket pocket. He looked at the note.

Toilet Paper

Bread

Milk

Ground Coffee

Baking Soda

“Alysia,” he said to her, “can you start on this list? I am going to go outside to have a smoke.”

He handed the grocery list to her, then walked outside and found a spot close the front doors. He leaned back onto the wall and lit his cigar. It was a few hours of running the numbers and he was mentally drained. He took a puff, then blew it upward, seeing the billowy smoked dissipate as each second passed. He could hear all the sounds of Downtown, like a street medley of distant sirens, honking and whistles blending together to make the typical sounds of a downtown metropolis. He looked to the right and could see people going about their days, all with their own stories.

Suddenly, he heard loud screeching tires nearby and to his left side. The moment he looked, he could see a black Cadillac about 30 feet to his left approaching fast. He got a quick look and could see the passenger window open. Looking closer with each millisecond offering a better view, he could see the barrel of a Tommy gun pointed straight at his direction. His eyes widened.

“Oh fuck,” he said as he tried to look around for cover which seemed to be scarce as it was only an open sidewalk. He felt his chest get torn open as he heard the many loud bangs sound as one. The force of the bullets pushed him back against the wall, where he fell back on to the ground and drooped over. The immense pain was nothing he had felt before. He felt helpless and could see a puddle of his own blood on the sidewalk. As he looked up, he could see the renegade Cadillac speeding off. He held his chest with his hands as he tried to yell out to Alysia for help.

Alysia smiled at @Dynamite- and cheerfully told him, "No worries, I've got this. You take a moment to decompress from all the numbers we went through today, I know it was a lot. I'll grab the groceries and be back out in a minute."

Entering the store, she knew exactly where to find all of the items as she was a regular here. She'd be in and out in just a few minutes. Heading to aisle 3, she grabbed toilet paper and ground coffee. She even decided to splurge on the better coffee since they had discovered that they a bit more free cash than they had originally expected. She was heading to grab the baking soda on the next aisle when she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she dropped everything immediately, not caring one bit that the jar of coffee had smashed to pieces as she ran. She got outside as fast as she could, the entire time praying that it was anyone but Dynamite.

Alysia looked around frantically for Dynamite and when she didn't see him, she pushed through the crowd forming around the victim. She pushed and shoved people out of her way until she saw exactly what she had feared the most. Dynamite was on the ground and she felt an intense desire to scream and cry all at once. She finally heard Dynamite calling out for her and she instantly pulled herself together.

"I'm here, I've got you. You're going to be fine."

She quickly dug in her backpack for the shirt that she was planning on wearing to work out later that day and pressed it firmly against the wounds. While still applying pressure, she yelled at the crowd for someone to call the ambulance. Seeing someone nod and part from the crowd and head quickly into the store, she hoped with everything she was that they had actually listened to her.

While still applying pressure with one hand, she dug into her backpack again and retrieved a small vial. She popped the cork and told Dynamite, "This isn't going to taste good but just trust me and drink this." Helping him lean his head back, she poured the liquid down his throat and said a silent prayer that it works.

Every second felt like eternity as he slowly lost blood. A crowd had already grown around him of unknown faces, so it was refreshing to see @Alysia come through the flood of strangers to his assistance. Her presence did offer an emotional comfort.

He saw her pull something out of her backpack and put it to his mouth.

"Blegghhhh," he said, disgusted at the taste. She had mentioned that it wouldn’t taste good, but the taste of blood in his mouth was a lot worse. After he drank the mysterious concoction, he rested his head back against the wall as he could her her saying something under her breath.

He started to feel an intense pressure in his chest while the pain began to subside. His face started to feel numb, but he suspected it was due to the shock of all the trauma. He suddenly felt very sleepy and passed out.

When he came back to consciousness, he found himself in a hospital bed at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Hospital. He looked down and he was in a hospital gown. Looking around, he could see four doctors, two nurses and Alysia. They seemed to all have been in surprise for some reason. Confused, Dynamite looked around the room. There was a metal cart right next to him that held various medical instruments, but what he saw in the shiny reflection made him join the shock and awe train that the others were on.

He noticed that the reflection was that of his own, yet younger. Did he go back in time? Was he on some powerful pain drug? He took his left hand and touched his face and it felt devoid of his wrinkles. It actually felt smooth! Realizing the reason why he found himself at the hospital, he patted his chest with his right hand over his gown. He did not feel any pain anymore and he became even more perplexed. He sat up and pulled off his gown. He looked down and could no longer see any sign of where he had been shot. He expected to see his chest look like stereotypical block of holey cheese, but it looked smooth, supple in fact.

"Alysia," he said to her, "What happened?"

Alysia let out the biggest sigh of relief when Dynamite- woke up and wiped the tears from her face. She knew that the potion had stopped the bleeding and had healed the wounds but didn't know if it had taken effect fast enough to keep him from being in a coma or even worse, brain dead. She had been practicing potions in her spare time at the HQ and had gotten pretty good with her wound closing potions. She had only taken small doses to heal superficial cuts she had inflicted on herself and it was successful so she kept a few vials with her because you never knew what's going to happen in this world of ours. 

"Well, while I was inside grabbing the groceries from the list, you had gotten shot by what I understand was a drive-by shooting. I got to you as quickly as I could. Well, you may have noticed that I've been practicing brewing potions in my down time and one that I've been working the hardest on are ones that heal wounds. It looked like you weren't going to make it to the hospital so I quickly poured a vial of that potion down your throat hoping that it would be enough to heal your bullet wounds and save you. I've had them work on small cuts of mine but apparently there is an unintended side effect. They seem to make you younger and I hadn't noticed since I only took small doses. It must have only made me days or weeks younger so I didn't notice but for you, it seems to have made you quite a few years younger. That said, I must say that you look quite dashing. Not a bad side effect if I say so myself."

She could tell that everyone in the room was still in disbelief of what had happened here. The doctors and nurses were still in a stunned silence. She had tried to explain things to them while Dynamite- was still unconscious but they couldn't quite wrap their heads around it. I guess they hadn't met many witches, especially ones that could heal wounds like this. Understandably, Dynamite- seemed to be taking a moment to comprehend what had happened.

Alysia had a sudden realization and laughed before saying, "Well I guess I don't owe you banana bread anymore."

Dynamite chuckled. "I can definitely say we're even now!"

He got up out of the hospital bed feeling surprisingly better than ever. He found his clothes, now a suit riddled with bullet holes. Thankfully he didn't get shot in the head because that potion may not have worked.

After putting on his suit, Dynamite and Alysia walked out of the triage area of the hospital toward the lobby. He looked to Alysia.

"Hey," he said to her, "I just want to thank you for reacting so fast and saving my life. My life is yours. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, I'm there."

Dynamite stopped and thought for a second. How is he going to explain this at HQ?

"You mentioned earlier that I looked quite dashing...Remind me to stop by and see Giuseppi to add a dash to my tattoo with my name when we get back to HQ," he said to Alysia as he patted his left shoulder. He had a tattoo that said "Ligambi Crime Family: Mastrosimone Crew" and had his name "Dynamite" and a dynamite stick as his logo.

Dynamite motioned Alysia for them to continue their journey toward the front doors.

"Still got that recipe for banana bread? I owe you that this time," he said to her as he laughed.

He knew that his assailant was still out there, but he would use a few days to get some rest. No doubt his family would make them pay, that was a guarantee. The Ligambis always found a way to get shit done.