Stepping out of Agency HQ in sunny Paradise for the last time, a new man. I belch out a final “BYE” towards MickDundee.

 Blood has ran deep through the Vegas families but swelling his chest in pride he books a plane ticket to The Loop. An old friend has gotten himself into quite the heroic shootout.

Meeting with MonsterHair at the local tavern sharing a fine scotch….that I wasn’t sure how he was getting into his mouth. We cheers and I point out a building across the way.

“Well old friend, I always like being close to the bar. Chairman or not it’s nice to have a second place to call home, let this be the spot.”

Walking into the new building it seems cosy and the perfect staging ground. “Once these halls start filling up this shall be quite a place. Let me fetch LaceyGodreaux and America. So we can start making this place a bit more tidy and fancy. We may be Exiles but we will not live in squalor. Oh and I should send a fartbomb to MickDundee at the same time”

I have mixed feelings about this, I took you under my wing and raised you as my own after you got thrown out of the orphanage so there are some apron strings here, however, you stink. Your stache is creepy and you burp ALL the time. 

She thinks about the mess that Malachai left behind as he rushed out the door.

I should really just burn the shit you left behind. Be faster. I thought you said you were going to clean up your space? There are fucking tissues everywhere. I may have to pay someone to do this for me. But, moving on... Congratulations my dear. I am sure that America and LaceyGodreaux will no doubt clean up after you and make sure you don't get shot in the face (Before my square in the "Malachai's Death Pool" comes up anyway.) for being yourself. 

She tosses a few cookies in Malachai's direction and decides to spend a few hours in Chicago enjoying pizza and beer.

Lacey comes out of the HQ with a broom, hands still dirty cleaning up all of Malachai's things.

Congratulations, Boss. My family has worked alongside your family a great many times and I'm happy to share this growth with you and the rest of the Exiles.

Nihilist showed up at Malachai's auth speech hoping to hear a lengthy monologue about the struggles of being Canadian in America, or how far Malachai had come to get where was now. The normal things one might hear at an event such as these.

Unsurprisingly, he was disappointed, as he had been by Malachai so many times before. It wasn't a speech at all, it was just some drunks hanging out at a bar.

"Christ." He murmured to himself as he walked in, the stench of moustache sweat and belch breath was strong here. He suppressed a gag, ordered a beer, and made his way over to Malachai to say a few words.

"Malachai, the very first entries of my first ancestors journals mention you quite often. Seems he officiated the wedding of your ancestor to a dark, apathetic, but rather bubbly young woman who went by Kat. It was a glorious day that day, in the Blue Bird Bar in another time. Los Angeles, I do believe it was. Many drinks were had, much like today."

TheNihilist grinned.

"This is undoubtedly your bloodline's biggest achievement since that day so many years ago. Now you can say you have truly 'made it' in our world. Congratulations, my dear friend. I have no doubt you will be at least above average."

He raised the beer to Malachai's and toasted him. Not in the way that Arrow was once Toasted, nothing so brutal as that. A simple clinking of beer bottles to honor his friend.

"In all seriousness. I am very proud of the man you have become. MonsterHair has certainly picked a good apple. Well done."

I heard drunks? This must  be  the place!

Congratulations Malachai well deserved.

I think it's safe now to tell I always believed in you. Good luck on your new role and make us all proud!

The headquarters was beautifully silent, for once. The trolls members were out, busy with their daily activities, and Amy took full advantage of the peace and quiet. Her feet were kicked up on Nihilist's desk as she sipped her coffee and scanned the newspaper. Advice column, boring... Obituaries, boring... pages were tossed over her head as she continued through. Gossip column...

A cloud of coffee mist sprayed over Nihilist's desk as she reread the headline, obviously startled by what she'd read: Someone had authed Malachai? Surely, this couldn't be the case. Amy rubbed her eyes and read it again, willing the print to change. Holy crap. The always lovely Lillith must have finally gotten tired enough to kick him out. Clever ruse, Lillith. Good move. 

"Well," she muttered to herself, "I guess I've got some shit to do before I go make an appearance." She kicked her feet off the desk and glanced at it. Her boss' paperwork was perfectly dotted in little splotches of coffee rain. She shrugged; she had to deal with him, so he had to deal with her. Amy grabbed a couple bottles of liquor out of the office minibar and headed to her room to prepare. Care packages were going to be necessary in this situation. 

When Amy arrived in Chicago, she grabbed her bags and let herself out of the car. Malachai's new headquarters loomed before her as she walked towards it, surprisingly much cleaner than she expected. Either Lillith had cracked the whip and forced him to clean, or he got lucky as hell with the hands that somehow willingly chose to join him. Regardless, she knocked on the door, standing there for a minute before giving up. No one was home? What the hell? Amy spun around and spotted it - a bar directly across from the new headquarters. "Oh, well... of course there is," she laughed to herself.

"Ohhh, Lillith, it's so good to see you," Amy said, lighting up in a smile. She placed one of the bags next to Lillith and hugged her. "That may, or may not, have some liquor from Nihilist's personal stash, so wait until you get home to open it. I threw some cookies in there as well, I figured you might be celebrating for the next week or so at your new freedom." 

She made her way over to Malachai and shook her head. "Well look at you!" Amy laughed as she placed the remaining bags next to him. "I hear congratulations are in order. I had to see for myself if it was true! I made sure to pack a bag for you and for those saintly people who've decided to join you. I expect them to actually get theirs!" She'd been sure to include a brick of weed hidden among the various cleaning products, knowing full well it would be the last place he'd look. Amy knew what it was like to hand for this kind of guy, let them catch a break, okay?

"I never thought I'd see you here... I'm not sure if I should celebrate your accomplishment, or go hide under my bed in terror at the idea of you in power. But really, I'm sure you're going to do great things for Chicago. So long as you don't manage to burn the place to the ground. Congratulations, my dear trolly friend. I honestly wish you nothing but success."