Leon had been one of the guards left to work during the big gala, lowest on the totem pole had secured his spot as night shift on Anthony's block. At the sound of the boy's collapse against the bars, he rushed over and unlocked the cell door, nearly losing his footing in the spreading pool of vomit. Crouching down, he felt for a pulse. Nothing. Wow, these people knew how to play the game, he thought to himself as he ran to the wall and pulled the alarm. As two other guards rushed down the hall, he looked up at them with a practiced look of fear.

"I didn't do nothin'! I never touched him! Shit, Ima lose my job over this!" He fretted out loud as the three hefted Anthony up and carried him to the infirmary. Leon made sure he was the first to reach the phone and discreetly kept the hook pressed as he feigned a call to the local coroner's office and stammered through a description of a fatality with possible contagion. 

The wailing siren was all the signal Alexander and his crew would need.

As Leon watched the other two guards quickly run out of the room at the word "contagion" Leon smiled slightly to himself before releasing the hook of the phone and calling Alex's man Phil who was sitting next to a radio set to dispatch to the coroner van Alex and his men were sitting in. 

It was about 45 minutes later that he saw two men in coroner uniforms coming toward him who he knew were not who they seemed. One was a giant of a man and the other looked nearly small enough to be a child - but Leon new these were the men he was waiting for when the Giant of a man said, "Quickly, show us to were Anthony lay - let us not waste any time."

- - -

Alex followed the guard, who he had learned was a man named Leon, to were he saw Anthony laying as if dead. Deciding they better play out the part in case anyone walked in Alex walked up to Anthony and acted as if he was checking his pulse. Nodding, he turned to Shini and said, "Go ahead and mark the time of death - May 14, 01:23 hours." 

As Shini marked the time on the clipboard Alex prepared a body back on the rolling stretcher they had carried in and then signaled for Shini who helped him put Antony into it. Zipping it up fully he nodded to the guard, "We'll have a report to you as soon as possible - no rush though on criminals, I'm sure you understand." 

Alex and Shini rolled the stretcher out of the room and toward the doors of the prison. At one point at the door Alex though his heart would stop when the guard demanded that they unzip the back so they could confirm the corpses identity. Doing as he was told he added a quick, "I recommend standing back a bit - we aren't sure what killed him yet but it seems like it might be contagious."

The guard looked on in horror for a moment and then bid them to quickly zip the bag back up and be gone. Alex was fast to follow the instruction and thought he might actually laugh out loud as they loaded the stretcher into the van and he and Shini got into the font and drove away. 

Lily moved back to allow the stretcher access into the rear of the van and waited for the brakes to be set. Alex and Shini nodded encouragingly at her before slamming the doors and returning to the front, and as Alex started the engine she heard the van doors slam shut up front before the van started to carefully move forward. She held on to the stretcher to gain solid footing in the back of the vehicle before carefully unzipping the body bag. 

Her own heart stopped when she saw Anthony's pale, dead face inside. Before emotions could get the best of her, she slapped her own face, hard, and concentrated on the sting of it as she pulled the syringe and vial from her lab coat pocket. Filling it with extreme care, checking and double checking the amount, flicking the glass and pushing out the air bubble, Lily grasped Anthony's arm with her free hand and turned his cooling arm over to expose the crook of his elbow and, squeezing hard, looked for a vein. Finding what she believed was one, she inserted the needle and pressed the plunger.

Time slowed to a crawl. Miss Gracie had told her it would take a little time, but what if it didn't work? What if she hadn't hit the vein? Placing one hand on his heart, and the other in his hand, she closed her eyes, dropped her head, and prayed. 

Before her prayer was finished, it was answered.

Shini quickly dressed as well. He then fixed it a bit so the suit didn't look too big on him. The male then nodded at Alex before hopping out of the vehicle. He then turned to Lily. "If anyone comes near the van without us. Eagal has been told to dive bomb them and chase them off. So don't be surprised if you hear him make a lot of noise."

Dying was a strange feeling. Coming back to life was even stranger, though.

Anthony's thoughts began racing once more and his extremities twitched as a healthy supply of oxygen poured back through his veins. He gasped for breath and shuddered, a response to being able to feel warmth, cold, touch, gravity... everything. His body understood sensations all over again after waking get such a serene state. 

Reduced brain activity had meant that he had been drifting in a dreamless sleep, however one thought kept him company. His eyes flickered open. And there she was. 

"L...ily..."

His eyes met hers and his hand tightened around hers. He closed his eyes and relaxed. It was over. 

Success! AnthonyBlack was set free! 

It didnt take long for Johan to get caught. That backstabbing bitch of a clerk had called the cops not long after he left the liquor store. He was doomed for some hard time. He left a letter in his apartment for his family to see in case he had got caught. 

The cell was a 4x8 hole with a toilet and a sink and a rock solid bed with no mattress on it. The food had maggots in it but he ate it anyway. His only hope was that someone would bust him. 

He slept in his cell, holding onto a slim hope that someday, someone would come for him. He didnt hold his breath though, he didnt think anyone would come for a lowly thug who was new to the family, or perhaps he was wrong....

These bars may keep me chained.... but nothing can restrain an uncaged heart.....

Never in a million years would Lily have thought she'd be back here. The Detroit House of Correction was just as dirty, depressing, and stoic-looking as ever, but she had to begin her search for information somewhere, and happenstance had landed her right here in Detroit.

Up the few steps, through the doors with the barred windows she went. There were two heavily armed guards on the door, and one spared her enough seconds to point her in the direction of Records.

No one else was in the small office, just a high desk, several filing cabinets, and Lily. She waited, and waited some more until an overweight man came through another doorway, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. 

"Didn't hear ya." Like this was her fault. "What do you want?" No greeting, no pleasantries. Just that look on his face that told her that he was annoyed she'd interrupted his sandwich-eating.

"I need information on a former inmate. Anthony Black. Next of kin, any blood relative, act-"

"Unless you're a lawyer, have a warrant, or are Anthony himself, you ain't getting squat."

Lily deflated. She knew it would be a wasted effort, but did people have to be so obstinate? She pulled a crinkled twenty from her clutch bag and slid it towards the records clerk, giving him the biggest, saddest baby blue eyes she could muster.

"Pretty please? Just take a peek for me? There's probably nothing in there anyway." The guard sighed loudly and turned towards the cabinets, pulling open the one marked with a 'B'. There were some rifling sounds as his thick fingers poked around in search of the correct folder. 

"Here it is. Anthony Black. No relations listed, hell it says here he refused to speak at all, and only had a nurse in to visit him. Huh. Kid died in his cell."

Lily had been here with the others, had known all about Anthony's 'death'. 

"Okay. Thanks," she said quietly, turning to go. The guard hadn't quit turning pages, Anthony's file was thicker than it should have been, under the circumstances.

"Hold up. Kid didn't talk, but he sure chattered in his sleep. Other detainees reported he'd yell out sometimes. Names, places. Tell ya what, another twenty and I'll write them down for ya." Lily didn't care that she was getting swindled, she tore open her bag so fast that several items spilled onto the floor. Lipstick, compact, a ten.. oh no, she didn't have twenty! Desperate, she looked at the clerk's large fingers, spotting a ring there.

"I don't have twenty. I have these, though. They're worth at least sixty. Real sapphires! Your wife will love them, I promise you." He watched her take the earrings out of her ears and shrugged. The wife wouldn't be getting them, though, that cow was plowing the neighborhood butcher. His daughter, however, had a dance recital coming up.

"Deal." 

She had only stopped in to pay the guards. This was something that her crew did religiously once a month to help facilitate them looking the other way if one of the crew happened to get arrested. The guards here were all as shady as the criminals they housed. Perhaps more so. So saw a beautiful lady with blond hair and a deep red lipstick taking her earrings out to give to Steve. She stepped up and said.. "Excuse me, Steve? I'll give you 100 bucks for those earrings right now.." 

She knew things had been bad for him lately, his wife was messing around with the butcher. Steve would take the money, because he drank way to much.. which is why his wife was messing with the butcher. It was a messy situation, one that she used to her advantage when she needed to.

"MissNiki! I was wondering if it was going to be you this month!! I was hoping actually! You've got a deal, these babies will beautiful on you.."

She smiled and pulled the money out of her wallet and handed it to him. He handed her the earrings, and she stepped back, so that the young woman could finish her business with Steve. Once they had finished speaking, MissNiki stepped up to the counter and handed Steve a thick envelope stuffed with bills.  "See you next month Steve!!" she said as she winked at him.

She watched the woman walk out of the building. She knew she had met her somewhere, and thought her name was LilyBlack. "Excuse me!!! Lily??" The woman stopped and fumbled in her purse. Niki knew she was reaching for her pistol. "No need for that Lily, I just wanted to return these to you!!" as she held out her hand, and opened it with the earrings inside. "No one should have to give up their beautiful jewelry, just to get information that they deserve..."

She smiled at Lily and said "maybe another time, we can have coffee together?"

Lily's eyes began to water over the kind gesture. 

"Th- thank you, Ma'am." The earrings weren't worth much, nor did they hold any sentimental value, but she really liked the color and often received compliments over them. Lily tucked her clutch under her arm and began to put the earrings back on as she spoke. 

"I really owe you one. I'll take you up on that coffee anytime, but I insist on treating. It's the least I can do." 

The sun was bright, despite the chilly air, but the other woman's face seemed familiar. Someone important, she knew that much, and she was likely from here in Detroit, but the name simply eluded her.

"I'm sorry, but have we met somewhere before? I'm not very good with names, if I'm honest. I travel so much, see so many faces that everything becomes a blur at times. Everything's just, well it's been crazy the past few days, I don't know if I'm coming or going," she said with a weak laugh. It was true.. it seemed as if the whole world was coming to an end. Perhaps that was why the act of kindness had struck her so deeply.

"Please don't call me ma'am. I'm just MissNiki," she smiled at the young beautiful woman. "We will be having that coffee soon, as I relocated here to to DT unexpectedly."

She smiled at the girl's question, as to whether or not they had met, she felt the same connection when she saw Lily for the first time. Perhaps someday they could be friends. She had to be careful though, as who she allowed close to her. She didn't want anyone to ever find out what she was doing for work these days. Loose lips sink ships and all. 

"Write down your address, and I'll send a driver for you someday soon. We'll have that coffee and perhaps dinner. "

"Yes, M- yes, MissNiki . I'll do that right now," Lily said, rummaging in her purse for a pen and a scrap of paper. One side of the paper she found was printed with the Detroit Lions' football schedule, so she flipped it over and scribbled down the new Bricktown address on the back of it. It took a moment for her to recall her address, precisely, because she'd moved three times in the past week or so. Eventually it came to her and she wrote it down, along with her name and number.

"Here it is. Work keeps me travelling quite a bit, but I'll always make time for a new friend," she smiled as she handed over the paper. She thought about trying to make some further small-talk, but it was quite likely neither woman could discuss what exactly had brought them here. It wasn't exactly the market, or the cleaners. Detroit House of Correction stood above them, its ugly grey facade casting them both in its cold shadows. 

"Well. I suppose I should be on my way. My name's Lily Black, and it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, MissNiki. Thank you again for retrieving my earrings. I hope to see you soon!" She said, then turned on the concrete path and made off for the parking area. The cab driver had actually waited for her as requested, which was a huge relief.