"No!"

Stefania sat straight up. Her body was covered in sweat, her pulse racing and her breath short. Her fingers were gripping the sheets so tightly that her knuckles were white.

A dream. That's all.

She glanced around the darkness that filled her bedroom in the small apartment she'd rented just outside of Las Vegas. It was oddly cold that night, although that could have been because she was soaked from the sweat. Glancing at the time, she shook the cobwebs from her head and pushed back the sheets. She wasn't going to sleep anymore tonight, she'd experienced this enough to be sure of that.

Hopping into a shower, she let the warm water flow over her aching muscles, Stefania fought back the sobs. She was not going to do this, not tonight. She had come to America to move on with her life and to find her own path. To leave behind the memories of what could’ve or would’ve been. That’s what she needed to stay focused on.

Knowing that sleep was not going to come back to her and sunrise was only a couple of hours away, Stefania decided to go find what trouble she could and see if she could stir up some money for her boss. The woman, Bunny, had been rather kind to Stefania since she came to these shores and Stefania enjoyed working for her. Besides, it would keep her mind occupied so that her thoughts couldn’t dwell on the past.

Dressing in fitted black pants that flared out at the ankles, a blood red blouse and black leather boots, Stefania left her light brown hair loose. She found her weapon, a thing she barely used, and slid it into place, pulling a sweater on to keep it covered. Grabbing some cash and the keys to her apartment, Stefania headed out, not even alerting Jarrett that she was leaving. She knew she’d hear about that when she returned but sometimes a girl just needed some alone time.

The question now was what would she do with her alone time. Wondering through the streets of her surprisingly quiet neighborhood, Stefania headed in the general direction of The Strip. After about ten minutes of quiet walking, Stefania saw what seemed to be a rather busy bar. Pushing open the doors, she stepped inside, thinking that a drink would be the perfect way to start her night off right.

Genji was sat with a friend of his named Lucas, he ran a hand through his hair as the duo were having drinks and talking about regular business, they laughed at some certain occasions as Genji would look out the window; like if he was expecting someone but only to find his expectations to be demolished, his looks were dress to impress but his collar seems messed up as if he went to a club earlier that night and it was pretty noticeable as his hair was screwed up as well but didn't look that bad.

Lucas was pretty much rambling at this point on and Genji was in his own world, he looked like he was paying attention but in reality he wasn't.

"You heard me?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah... I heard you, why don't you just talk your way out of it and make a move; right now with that situation, it isn't making you look too good to some other viewers whose name I won't give out."

Genji stated a hint of worry, however, beyond his true feelings he didn't feel much. He chug the rest of his drink down and put it out on the table. The night sky really left a hint of beauty if the time was taken enough to experience it all for what it looks, he gave Lucas a cold stare and leaned in.

"I won't hold you long. You got shit to take care of, don't you? Go on, get outta here; I'll pay for the both of us."

"I'll see you."

Making their goodbyes quick, Genji was the one to stay while Lucas was the way out the door as he almost bumped into Stefania on her way in. Like if he was in a rush, he didn't bother to look back to apologize but that was his own action. Genji meanwhile laid back in the booth with his head leaned back to doze off in deep thought; at this point he was alone and wanted to use the time to chill out and clear his mind with no bother to check out anyone as they entered.

Stefania had to slide smoothly to the right to avoid a person who was rushing out of the bar right as she was entering it, almost knocking into her. She thought about saying something but bit her tongue – the last thing she needed right now was a fight. So, she let the man go and instead focused her eyes on the space around her. It was busier then she expected given the time of night, but most of the patrons were quiet, seemingly lost in thoughts and in their glasses, all filled with different liquids. A few heads turned towards her when she entered but she paid them no mind. She made her way to the bar, slipping onto a stool and waiting for the bartender to address her.

“Whiskey, neat.” Her Italian accent was evident still, adding a slight twist to her words. She’d ordered the same drink at nearly every bar she’d ever been to – it was simple and straightforward, always a safe bet.

Within a few minutes the bartender placed the drink down in front of her, but Stefania didn’t have a chance to take a sip before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Well what’s a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this?” The voice was deep and slow, as if the man had to concentrate on the words before he spoke them.

Turning, she glanced at the clearly intoxicated individual that was standing before her, laughing softly as she did. “Having a drink, obviously.”

“All by your lonesome?”

Stefania was used to this, but she had zero desire to start an argument tonight nor did she just want to give up her drink and leave. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, falling on a well-dressed man with a slightly messy collar sitting alone in a booth. He was dozing but well…he’d have to do.

“Of course not. I was just getting my drink before I joined my friend.” She grabbed her drink off the bar, smiling slightly and hopefully disarmingly, at the drunk man standing in front of her before hopping off the stool she was sitting in and heading over to the booth. She slid into the empty side, whispering quickly to the other man.

“Just play along ok?”

The drunk man stared at the two of them for a moment from the bar, his face scowled. “You wouldn’t be trying to fool an old man would you sweetheart? Because that wouldn’t be very nice of you.” He walked closer to the booth, looking at @Genji expectantly, as if waiting for confirmation.

Taking a sip of her glass, Stefania too looked at the man across from her, hoping he would get the hint and bail her out of this rather uncomfortable situation.

Genji, with his exhausted state was watching Stefania ever since she entered the bar however nobody would expect he was watching until they got closer to get a better view. He was watching the altercation escalate to the sense of unwanted attention and the feeling of harassment, personal space was being enclosed and Genji finally opened his eyes to look awake for once; last thing he wanted to do was stand up and look provocative in the eyes of your average drunk man.

He made it plain and simple.

"Let her be. Go back to having drinks and let your paths depart."

Genji gave Stefania a wink as his sense of understanding, of course he didn't want to say anything so the drunk man didn't expect anything else from their play along escapade. His confrontation with the man made himself seem more forward as he leaned back in the seat and went back to his exhausted state, meanwhile under the table he was fixing his suit wrist-cuffs as he looked down at them from time to time to properly fix them and not to look awkward.

Stefania wanted the guy gone due to his unnecessary attention. Genji was gonna play along with how far it was gonna be in the case that he didn't buy on to what he said before.

The man started between Genji and Stefania for a few moments, as if deciding what to do. She sipped her whiskey and stared back, as if daring him to try and keep the discussion going. Finally, with a grunt, the man turned and walked away, heading back to his table and waving the bartender down for another drink.

Letting out a slow breath, Stefania released some of the tension that had built in her muscles, forcing herself to relax back into the seat. She glanced over at the man across from her and gave him a soft smile. “Thank you for your help good sir. I should’ve probably known better then to come in here at this hour, but where else would I go for a much-needed drink?” Her eyes twinkled slightly with amusement. “I’m Stefania by the way.” She kept her voice low, so the drunk wouldn’t hear them – after all, they were already supposed to know each other.

"My name is Genji. I don't suppose this is a bad place, but you're gonna have to deal with the majority of those people like your fellow man over there."

Genji kept his voice low as well, at the end of his saying he mentioned the drunk but he didn't bother to stare at him. He was in the same stuck position sitting across from Stefania in his half-tired position, nobody else would suspect him and just assume he is some guy who fell asleep in the booth after having too many drinks, anyone who would get up-close could get the answer they really wanted. Genji was well-groomed but alas his collar was messed up; and not in the way that would assume he got into an altercation but who else was gonna be able to tell.

"What made you bring me in on your little plan? From far away, I could've swore I looked asleep to bystanders."

Genji asked the question in a low voice to not give the drunk anymore attention then he needed, it was pretty much just a game of questions from the man himself, he gave Stefania a smile but it was only the twitch of his lip that gave it off.

“Pleasure to meet you Genji.” Stefania took another sip of her drink, smirking slightly. “Usually I’m pretty good at dealing with them all by myself to be fair. I’ve mastered the art of telling people to fuck off just with a glance.” She showed it to him, over exaggerating it a bit which caused her to laugh. “But, I’m off my game tonight and wasn’t paying attention.” Given the hour that shouldn’t surprise anyone – it was the time of night when people were usually ending their festivities, not just starting them.

Stefania shrugged, pushing some hair behind her ear as she thought about his next question. “You did, mostly. But your body was too tense for you to truly be asleep and you’re slightly out of place in this bar, the way you’re dressed. I thought it would throw him off and it did – he had no real reason not to believe that I did indeed come here to meet you.”

Taking a long sip from her glass, she let out a happy little sigh. She'd really needed this drink. "What are you doing here by the way? If you're so tired, why not just go home? This doesn't seem a very safe place to dooze off."

"Y'see. Anybody here comes and goes, doesn't matter what they could be wearing, anyone can fit the part if they dress even a little decent. I'm not actually tired, I was faking it the whole time since you called it out on me being tense, pretty weird but I figured no one would bother a supposed to be sleeping man at his booth. I was arranging business with a friend, which was the man who bumped into you a few moments ago with worry in his eyes, a job has been pushed back and I just need to figure out other "activities" if you know where I'm coming from."

Genji sorted out his posture, there was no point in faking his whole "asleep" ordeal since he was talking to someone, actively. He put his hands on the table and tapped his fingers along it and gestured his hands while he was talking so it would look like he was busy doing anything, once he finished the explanation he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the rest of the occupants inside the bar. The drunk man was still at the counter trying to mess around with the bartender and crack jokes every once in a while, the obnoxious laughing fills everyone's ears with haste, some grow annoyed, some grow entertained. Genji was apart of the crowd that grew annoyed but could easily handle it to an extent.

Stefania took a moment to look around the bar. He was right, it seemed. Everyone was a bit different, all in various levels and types of dress. Most people were dressed casually, like her, but others were a bit more dressed up like the person across from her. She was surprised she didn’t notice it sooner; perhaps that dream had thrown her off her game more then she originally realized.

Turning back to Genji, she watched as he gave up his facade and sat up, looking around the bar himself. She thought about what he had said for a moment, sipping her drink. “I apologize if I disturbed you but well…. I was a bit desperate. I probably shouldn’t have even come out tonight at all, but we humans don’t always make the best of decisions now do we?”

She ran her finger along the rim of the glass, smirking slightly. “You know, I was going to roam around to try and find some “activities” of my own." She dropped the volume of her voice, leaning in slightly as she spoke next. "I heard of a place nearby, a storage facility of sorts. I was told it's packed full of goodies right now. Least I could do after disturbing your sleep is show you where it is; maybe we can get our hands on some good equipment to pawn off. If you're interested of course." 

"A storage facility, so you say, what sort of goodies are we talking about specifically? Unless you want me to find out for myself..." 

Genji, in the meantime, had another drink delivered to him by the bartender himself. He put a hand around his collar and adjusted it so it didn't look like he got into a fight from first view, he took a sip of his fine-tasting bourbon and gave Stefania another look, his eyes showed a sign of interest rather than a sign of hostility. The air was faint inside of the bar, the obnoxious jokes were being blurted not too far away from them as the drunk man collided with a chair and fell on his own fault, which made people look just for a minute before he had to be helped up again, his supposed friends were laughing through the entire ordeal.

"Don't worry about disturbing me. You needed an escape from someone just as ignorant, so I caught on real quick. But, what's the layout of the place look like, is it guarded, watched? You know, details."

Genji was still quiet so no one could overhear.

“Antiques.”

Leaning across the table, Stefania’s hair fell forward and she instinctively reached up, her fingers pushing the light brown strands back behind her ear. “The information that I was passed is that they are storing a shipment of antiques that are supposed to continue their journey westward through some shipping company in the next day or two. These antiques could be worth thousands on the black market.”

Glancing around to make sure no one was paying the two of them any real attention, she noticed the drunk man who had approached her earlier was on the ground, drawing the attention of the rest of the bar as they laughed at his antics.

“I don’t know much more than that, honestly. I was supposed to bring the information to my crew tomorrow but since I couldn’t sleep, I thought I’d scoop the place out tonight, get answers to some of the questions you’re asking. I’d assume there’s some sort of night guard at least, if the pieces are worth as much as I was told they are. I don’t know the layout of the place; my guy wasn’t exactly on the inside of it all. Hell, for all I know the information could be bad and the place could be empty. But the unknown is part of the adventure.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement; she loved living life on the edge, especially on a night like tonight. The thrill, the adrenaline, the fear – it all kept her mind off the past and the things she didn’t want to focus on.

Genji let out an audible sigh while looking over at their drunk performance by the bar. He gave Stefania an eye and nodded.

"Let's do it. I'm surprised antiques could be worth that much on the black market, but then again it's the black market, there is no question to it just deliver, most night guards I happen to find around are either sleeping or have no idea what they're doing fifty percent of the time. We might as well sneak out now before Romeo over there comes back and pays you a visit; well, a visit. Perhaps, like now..."

Genji started looking over to the man getting up from the floor, he went over to the other side of the pub and attempted to chat up some girls that just came in as they were having a conversation, just from being observant; their facial expressions made the situation look sour, at the end of the day that was his problem, not the problems of himself and Stefania. He double-checked to make sure he didn't miss anything or dropped anything by patting down his pockets and then stood up and snuck out before anyone else could see, besides Stefania, with the hope that she is following right behind. Genji was outside, it was a cold night.