nina knew slateport better than any other place she’d lived. bars were familiar—but this one was an exception. she followed his navigational lead, though wishing she could slip into one of the other more familiar venues instead.

she had realized after a recent mission that extortion was not her cup of tea. before, with the family, she’d always turned over her victims to extortionists to deal with. her job had only been to collect the blackmail.

sure, they’d robbed a jewelry store… but that had been something different.

”yeah, it has.” she looked over at danny, smiling—not that she’d enjoy this. ”look at us moving on to bigger things, huh?”

DANNY HALL

nina didn’t comment further, only smiling to herself as she looked down the dark road ahead. under lesser shadows, the regret on her face might’ve been clearer.

”top three, huh?” the curl of her lips became more genuine. ”i ‘m not sure how to take that.”

when asked about how she’d been, she wanted to point out several of the most obvious changes, such as the patchwork face. the change in eye color. the worser crime they were both about to commit. it had been quite a year, and she was still in rocket.

she looked fully in his direction, briefly, before turning ahead again. her smile, though shrunken, remained all the while.

”i’m alive. what about you?”

DANNY HALL

danny had settled in. nina supposed she had as well, after her initial difficulties. her skills had improved immensely in battle, and she had grown closer with her gang. she felt valued. she had family, again.

sure. she could count her blessings, but in the end, she still felt fucked.

at his friendly nudging, she smiled more, looking back over.

”yeah. you too.”

she barely knew him. it was a casual sentiment, more than anything, although there was some clear sense of comradery with someone who had been fresh in the ranks at the same time as she had been.

as they drew near to their destination, she stared back ahead.

”this is it, right?”

DANNY HALL

as they walked in, nina noted how danny immediately changed. as a former spy of sorts, she’d learned to pay attention to even the subtlest nuances in body language. the difference between the man she’d seen months ago and next to her now was like night and day.

she took a seat next to him and brushed a curtain of hair over her shoulder, remaining attentively fixed in his direction—if only to make as little other eye contact around the room as possible. it had become instinct to stay inconspicuous. missions in public were rare for her now.

”i’ll take a negroni, please.”

hadn’t had one of those in a while. too bad she’d probably only take a couple of sips.

DANNY HALL

she regarded the dark pour, wondering if it was his usual drink. you could tell a lot about a person from what they ordered. the roasty, malty taste of stouts had never appealed so much to nina. same as how she preferred teas to coffee, when inclined to order a beer, she leaned to the floral bitterness of pale ales.

as cherry red campari mixed with gin, her eyes lingered, but were soon pulled away and back to danny with concern.

”what do you mean? he should be here..”

finally, she turned, giving the room a quick once over around as well before turning back to him.

”i don’t see him either. what do you think’s going on?”

she quietly thanked the bartender as her drink was set in front of her, though clearly her attention was now elsewhere.

DANNY HALL

she felt her anxiety tighten up her back when she turned around to face him again, noting the way he was looking at the bartender. when their target eventually walked back to sit at his booth, she gave a short sigh of relief, and took her drink in-hand to wash down the nerves. she wanted to get paid, not ambushed. not again.

”good.”

still holding her drink, she decided to take another small sip—unlike her on business, but the memory of her last mission like this with Felix Gallagher still didn’t sit well in her stomach. she was dulling the worries.

”think he’ll leave soon?”

DANNY HALL

nina nodded, figuring as much herself. ”yeah, you’re probably right.”

at his suggestion, she sighed lightly. she would have also preferred to avoid it. while it was likely that few people would note her presence, busy enough with their own conversations and drinking, it was difficult to shrug off the thought that she was too memorable now. too strange. this was bad.

again, she nodded. ”let’s go then.”

lifting her drink from the bar carefully, she slid out of the stool and made her way over. the closer she got, her hips swayed just a little bit more.

when she’d reached him, she greeted, high and meek, ”hi.” she flashed a smile. ”me and my friend noticed maybe you needed some company. you seem fun. can we sit with you?”

DANNY HALL