Alex was walking down the street near his shop when he heard a commotion in the alley and turning toward it saw a man who looked to be in late teens or early twenties holding a knife to the throat of another man who he seemed to be robbing. Alex would normally not get involved – after all the guy he was robbing was unknown to him and who was he to stop a man at his craft – but he recognized the knife even from a distance. The mother of pearl handle and slightly smaller size of the blade stood out to him and brought up an image of the day he bought the blade for Lily clearly into his mind.

Taking a few long strides into the alley Alex roughly grabbed the man by the shoulder spinning him around and then pinning him to the wall of the nearby building. As the man swung around with the knife Alex grabbed him by the wrist and squeezing it like a vice forced the man to drop the knife. Pulling the man forward and then slamming him back into the wall once again Alex pulled his gun and put it against the man’s head. “Where did you get the knife?”

The man went white as a ghost and whimpered out, “I bought it man – if it’s yours I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

Alex dug his gun slightly further into the man’s skull causing him to yelp in pain, “From who, and where did they get it?”

The man’s eyes darted around for a moment as if looking for nay help but now Alex’s bodyguards had arrived and had the alley blocked off. Trembling the man said, “From a cat named Felix, all he said was he scored it off some little bitch him and his buddies took down a couple notches. I didn’t know it was yours man I swear, please don’t kill me.”

Alex pulled his gun back and slammed it into the man’s face knocking him out and then let him fall to the ground as he picked up the knife and then stormed out of the alley and back to his office.

Pacing in his office for a moment to calm himself he set the knife on his desk and then called up Lily.

“Lily, how are you. Can you come to my office for a moment please?”

Lily indicates that she's on her way, and after hanging up the telephone and locking the candy shoppe, she starts walking toward Alexander's office. Her mind races as she tries to figure out what she might be in trouble over. She'd kept her nose clean...more or less, anyway; they were criminals after all. 

Nodding politely at the bodyguards stationed outside Uncle Alex's office, she stops momentarily to replenish the candy dish before making her way through his office door.

Once inside, though, her nervous smile melts away at the sight of her mother-of-pearl blade sitting atop his desk.

Alex watched Lily closely as she came into his office and saw the knife sitting on his desk. Seeing her demeanor change so drastically he began to sort through his memories over the last couple of months. Liliy's jumpy behaviour in Detroit. How she had all but disappeared for a while and had seemed to have lost her playfulness for a while. Anger welled inside him as he thought about someone having hurt Lily and a thousand possible ways to dismember this Felix person flitted through his mind - then he had to remind himself that he was the Boss of a major crime family and couldn't be connected to such a heinous crime directly. 

"Lily, first, I'm not angry or upset with you. The man I found this on said that he bought it from someone who had attacked a young woman. Was that you? Are you okay?"

Lily's eyes shifted to the floor and stayed there as she spoke.

"There were two boys in the alley, and it was dark and I just wanted to take a shortcut but they..." Her voice trailed off. "I got one, though, just like you taught me, Uncle Alex. Right in the back of his knee. I just didn't move away fast enough, and they grabbed me. Then, well I don't remember a lot because my head hit the cement but I'm okay now. Miss Gracie did the blood test and I had to get penicillin for what they gave me but it's better now," she says, wishing she could melt through a crack in the floorboards. 

Alex stood, his mind racing as he finally connected all of the dots. Forcing himself to calm as he could tell that Lily was upset and embarrassed he walked over and put a finger below Lily's chin and lifted her face slightly, "You have nothing to be ashamed of - I am only ashamed that I was not there for you. These dogs will pay for what they have done." 

Alex exhaled slightly in frustration, "Sadly, I cannot do it myself. As much joy as it would bring me it would draw to much heat to the family for me to be connected in any way directly to this. I had my boys do some checking before I called you in and this Felix character was released from prison on some technicality or another and is now back in town."

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. "I was thinking about having AnthonyBlack take care of him - I know he cares a great deal for you as well and it is time that he earned his bones for the family - however, I feel like you should have the chance to take part if you like and you are old enough now to make that decision and to become a full member of this family if you are ready. Both of you are a little younger than normal, so it might be good for you guys to have each others back anyway. What do you say?"

As much as Lily wished she could just put this behind her and move on, would it really ever be over with these boys free and roaming Los Angeles? What if they did this to another girl? What if they came after Lily again? Honestly, the only thing worse would be...

"Just, well I don't want Anthony to go away again. I couldn't stand it. If you think we're good enough and smart enough to do it, then I will do my best. But he can't go away again, Uncle Alex. That would be so much worse than what happened to me," she says, lifting her gaze to meet Alex's. 

"I love him, you know. This is my problem, not his," she says quietly.

Alex smiled, his first truly happy smile since he had first spotted the knife. 

"I know you do - in fact, I am pretty sure you have since the day you to walked into my shop and you announced you wanted to be 'cribinals'. The thing is, I'm pretty sure that feeling goes both ways which is why I want to give him the opportunity as well. I could have these guys disappeared by anyone but I think it could help you but I won't let you do it alone; I have full faith in you to take them on but I'm still an overprotective uncle after all." Alex grinned slightly at Lily as he said this. "I can't say there will be no risk, but I think that you two are a hell of a team and I expect this asshole won't know what hit him."

Moving over to his desk Alex signaled for Lily to go ahead and take a seat before picking up his phone once again and calling up AnthonyBlack. "Anthony, please come to my office - I have something important I need to discuss with you and Lily."

The message reached him later than required. Such was the difficulties in keeping up with the pair. After a brief stay in New York, the decision had been made to return home and visit Alex. The long haul train saw them stay in Houston overnight, then make the final leg to LA Grande. 

It had been over a year since they left. 

Arriving at the office, Anthony knocks. 

Alex called out for the person to enter and glancing up from where he had been chatting with Lily as they waited saw Anthony walk in. Nodding toward him he said, "I'm glad you could make it, please have a seat." Alex indicated the chair next to Lily as he himself moved back behind his desk and sat down. 

"Lily let me know that you are aware what happened to her while you were away. I just found out about this and that one of of the scum bags that did this is on the loose and in LA again. As you can imagine I want nothing more than to skin the bastard alive - unfortunately, I can't take a personal hand without bringing undue risk to the family. And, frankly, I think it could be good for Lily to have a shot at the prick. With that said, I want you to help her if you are willing."

Finishing speaking Alex looked expectantly at Anthony as he awaited his response. 

Anthony nodded a respectful greeting as he entered, taking a seat. Since leaving prison his emotions had remained relatively stagnant. The angry ones, anyway. On mention of the incident, he visibly spaces out, his demeanor grows darker and despite not moving a muscle, his body language also adjusts. His eyes flicker to his hands, his knuckles, which flex in response. He breathing deepens. 

He remains silent for a moment, then looks to Lily.

"What do you want?"

Alex noted Anthony's reaction and nodded to himself. It seemed that it wasn't only Lily who might benefit from having a chance to get back at this guy. 

"I want them to suffer as much as possible before ultimately being sent to meet their maker. However, what I want is far less important in this case than what Lily wants. I will let you guys decide how you want to handle him as long as the final solution is permanent. I want you guys to work together on this and let me know when it is done - beyond that, use your imagination as you see fit." 

Acid crawls up the back of Lily's throat as she looks from Alexander to Anthony. She should have known this would never go away until someone finished it. Why not her? Clearing her throat, she speaks, trying to remain clinical about the situation as she does so.

"He should suffer. Quick and easy, I could do that on my own, but I want him to see my face and I want him to panic and feel pain before he goes under, like I did. Both of them were bigger than me by quite a lot, though. I could use help constraining him. And torturing him," she says, looking at Anthony steadily. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to, Anthony. More than that, if," she glances quickly at Uncle Alex, offering a small smile; too late to act embarrassed now, "if this changes us, what we have, there is no way I want you to take part in it. I'll figure something else out," she finishes.

Anthony rises from his seat. He nods towards Alex once more before taking Lily's hand.

He leads them out.