Joe snorted slightly

"Sorry, I don't mean to make light but I think that is the first time I have heard of someone earning their bones on accident. I had heard you had saved their lives - to which we are all eternally grateful - but I didn't realize that was how you came to join this bunch of misfits."

Joe smiled warmly thinking of the crew he considered family.

"You'll get used to it eventually, and a lot of it can be down right fun. I mean, how many people get to have a final party at their place, torch it, and then get a nice check in the mail afterwards?"

"You raise a good point, but had I not found Merci pilfering the olives at the bar, I wouldn't have had a gambling problem in the first place." she pointed out with a grin, "But no, its some adjustment. Its just occasionally, I make a joke and it turns out that I'm right on the money and I'm just like, "oh, right. Criminals." and then I realize I'm a criminal and Its an "ah ha!" moment for me, ya know?" She realized she was rambling and quickly picked up her wine to take a drink. 

Joe chuckled slightly and took a sip of his drink 

"I never thought about it that way I guess - to me it is all so natural that I find the idea of a 'normal' life a bit disconcerting."

Joe turned and checked the pasta again and saw that it was done so quickly drained it in the sink before putting it in a large serving bowl. 

"I believe dinner is ready, unless there is something cooking that I don't know about."

Joe turned to the skillet that his sauce was now simmering in and began to put it in a serving dish as well

"So, outside of the novelty of it how are you adjusting to the life - I know it can be a bit more stressful that the typical."

She bent over again to pull the garlic bread out of the oven. She had a large basket with a tea towel in it, so she dumped it in there and folded the towel over it so it wouldn't get cold. "I'm adjusting pretty well, I think. I mean I've got all you here yet again!" she said with a laugh. She looked around her kitchen and sighed, "Gonna be a shame to lose this place, it has some great memories." she admitted to him as she spooned Merci's pasta into a large serving bowl. 

"Aye, but you can always rebuild later if you want to."

Joe smiled warmly at her hoping to convey his understanding. 

"Let's get this food out to the crew before they all get so blitzed on your booze that they can't eat."

She laughed as she picked up the bowl and the basket, "That sounds like a good plan, because lord help us if we all get too drunk and then try to burn the place down." she moved towards the door, "We'd either all die, or it'd be a tiny pitiful fire and then we'd have to try this all over again." she shook her head and pushed the door open moving through the door she called out, "Dinner is served." before placing the food on the bar and then stacking the plates next to it. "Help yourselves eat where you want. Put your feet on the furniture." she peeked her head back in the kitchen and asked Joe, "Do you need help?" 

Joe had just placed serving utensils into the bowls and was picking them up when he heard Gracie call. 

"Nope, I'm right behind you."

Walking out of the kitchen he placed the serving bowls next to the food Gracie had already put on the table before smiling widely

"Looks delicious, I don't know about you all but I think this is a hell of a send away meal for this place."

"Yum. Finally. Thanks for finishing up for me, whoever did," Merci says, helping herself to pasta and bread before hopping up on the bar, her bare feet dangling. When the others stared at her, she simply replied, "What? Grace said we could get comfortable," she says before crossing her legs and shoving a forkful of pasta in her mouth. 

"I beg your pardon? Her exact words were 'Help yourselves eat where you want. Put your feet on the furniture'," she says throwing a noodle at him before crunching into her garlic bread with a grin.

Grace dived into the garlic bread with gusto, "Oi!" she called out with a mouth full of food to Curry, "Leave Merci alone, she's not doing anything wrong!" she told him as she took a seat next to Joe and watched as he filled his plate. She grabbed some of his pasta and some of Merci's but she knew she was mostly going to fill up on garlic bread, it was her way. 

She snapped her fingers, "Oh wait. I forgot something." and got to her feet quickly, vanishing into the kitchen. Coming back out with a large jar that she had to hold in both hands, filled with green olives. She set it down next to Merci and grinned at her, "Can't let these go to waste, can we?" she asked her before making her way back to her seat and shoving yet more garlic bread into her mouth. God, she loved garlic bread. 

Gregos didn't want to be left out of the party and wondered what he might bring to enhance it. How about dessert? Creme brule? After all there was some torching about to happen and a torch was needed to finish off this elegant dish? Not really Italian though? Profiteroles? He was still worked on the delectable pastry and hadn't quite mastered it yet? Of course, everyone's favourite tiramisu. Although she wasn't Italian, his Ukrainian grandmother had given him a killer tiramisu recipe. "Here you rascals, have at it," Gregos chuckled bringing in a large pan of it to the assembled gathering. And they all dug in as if there was no tomorrow.

"Thank you, Gregos!" Merci exclaims, her eyes dancing at the sight of tiramisu. "Perfect end to a perfect meal. So what have you fellas come up with, some sort of gas leak? Grease fire?" She asks the assembled firebugs as she licks the marscapone custard from her fingers. She catches @The_Courier staring at her, so she winks at him while delivering a swift kick with her foot.

The Courier was about to voice his outrage at this barbaric finger licking ceremony, when he decided that it was more arousing than annoying. A sharp kick from Merci to his shin brought his mind out of the gutter. Instead he decided to eat as provocatively as possible to get back at her. As he demolished the dessert before him, he briefly explained the other demolition plan to her.

"We're goin' to do a gas explosion. Let the pipes in the kitchen spew out their contents, and then light it all up with a live wire. Me bein' the new guy, I get to do the honours, with the minor risk of gettin' me arse burnt to a crisp." he tells her with an impish grin. 

With the garlic bread gone, regretfully, Gracie leaned back in her chair and patted her stomach. "My god, I am full." she mumbled just before Curry started explaining the plan. "Well," she said pushing back from the table. "I trust you folks don't need me for this." She told them. She stood up and made her way to the bar, grabbing a bottle of whatever she opened it and started drinking. 

She had been trying so hard to put a brave face on this, but the truth was she was going to be heartbroken to watch this place go. She headed to her little office and picked up the framed picture from the first night it opened. Running her fingers over the faces in the picture she smiled and then quickly grabbed a few more things that she might need. The records and receipts could stay, but the memories had to come with her. 

Kathryn flashed a reassuring smile at Grace as she leaned next to her against the bar. 

"You're making a good move, Grace. We're all here to support you. Although... personally I'll be supporting you from a distance when this place goes up."

Joe sat contently eating his pasta and listening to the conversations around him. He had just heard The_Courier explain the plan to everyone when he saw Gracie get up rather morose looking and go look at a picture behind the bar. Seeing Kathryn approach her he knew that she was in good hands but did his best to catch her eye and give her a small smile - he could tell this place meant a lot to her an that it wasn't going to be easy to see it burn - but that was why they were all here, to take care of it for her so she didn't have to be the one to do it. 

Turning back to the group at the table he said 

"Alright, so what else needs to be done before we light it up? I need to be over at the firehouse before the call comes in so that I can ensure a slow response and then need to pay a visit to my friend the fire commissioner about what kind of investigation is going to take place."

Merci pours two shots and walks over to @The_Courier . Handing him one, she speaks quietly.

"You don't need me to tell you to be careful. I'm sure you know what you're doing," she says, swallowing her drink in one go. She looks like she wants to say more, but instead runs a hand down his arm before joining Kathryn and Grace, giving Grace a one armed hug as she grips her empty glass. 

"All uphill from here, Gracie," she says, smiling at her friend.

The Courier smiles grimly at Merci's words. "Don't worry, I got this." he tells her confidently, while giving her hand a firm squeeze. Consulting his watch, he looks up at Joe. "'Tis time I reckon. Want to make a move now Mr. Scalise?"

She raised her eyes from the picture and looked around the room. "Thank you, everyone," she told them as she picked up the bottle and chugged some of it down. Gasping for air she felt tears come to her eyes, "But I don't think I can be here for this." she admitted, "I'm...I'm just not able." she grabbed the bag of things that Curry had put together and tucked the other picture under her arm. Grabbing the bottle she stopped and looked at her friends, her family, "You be safe." She said to them before heading outside and towards home.