This isn't going exactly as planned, Dean thought as he was running away from the jewelry store, clutching a small linen bag to his chest and trying to avoid the street lights. It was only a matter of time before the cops would come and it was time for plan B.

He ran about half a mile before he turned left and passed through a dark alleyway, rushing towards the parking lot of a nearby Wal-Mart. Isolated cars, far from other vehicles in the area, caught his attention first. He sneaked up to the nearest one, a blue Chevy pickup, holding onto his gun and ready to pull it out of the holster at any time. There was nobody inside, but the car looked fairly new and he didn't want to risk putting off the alarm. He sprinted towards his next target, a gray Volvo SUV, and peeked through the back window, only to see a small boy sitting on the backseat and playing something on his Nintendo 3DS. "Fuck", Dean muttered to himself and stood up to his full height, desperately looking around the parking lot.

An ideal opportunity struck almost immediately. Adrenaline rushed through his body as his eyes fixated on the person just coming out of the store. He hid behind the SUV and watched the young blonde woman with one bag in each hand approaching her car. He tiptoed between vehicles, sneaking up to her and stuffing the jewelry-filled linen bag in the large inside pocket of his leather jacket, sewed on by himself. She was already opening the rear passenger door and putting the bags on the backseat of her crappy old Ford Fiesta. It was the perfect moment.

He ran up to her from behind and covered her mouth with one hand while pressing the gun on her lower stomach, where neither the leather jacket nor the crop top that she was wearing was covering her skin. "That thing you're feeling on your stomach right now is a gun. Just do what I tell you and don't scream, and everything's gonna be alright." His heart was thumping fast and the adrenaline rush was making him feel a bit dizzy, but the size difference between him and this little blonde boosted his confidence. "Got it?"

She nodded and raised her hand towards her face, making Dean even more nervous, but she just tapped his hand, as if telling him to remove it from her mouth. And when he did, the tired tone of her voice surprised him. "I don't have any money here. I just spent everything I had with me."

Dean noticed shadows of two people who were passing by and quickly opened the door of the car, pushing the girl inside and ripping off the black mask from his face, damp with sweat. "Quiet", he warned her, observing the pair from the corner of his eye. They didn't seem to pay attention to him, which relieved him. When they got out of his sight, he focused on the girl again. "I don't need your money. I need your car."

The half-offended, half-disbelieving look that he got from her took him aback once again. "If you have to steal, go steal from someone richer than me. Like the owner of that Mercedes over there."

"I don't have time to play Robin Hood now. Give me your car keys and I'll let you go."

That earned him a look full of fiery anger. "Fuck you! I bought this piece of crap after two years of saving up. I'm not giving it to anybody. I don't care that you're some asshole with a gun."

Dean felt a twinge of sympathy towards the girl, mixed with a drop of astonishment. It wasn't hard to believe her words, and he had to admit that she had guts. He wanted to tell her that he would let her get her car back later, but there was simply no time to waste. He needed to get away from this part of the city as soon as possible. "Fine. You're driving then."

He was just about to ask her for her keys when she tried closing the door in his face. He caught the handle before she could slam it and pulled the door towards him, her suddenly scared face greeting him from the inside of the car. His gun immediately touched her temple. He felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. He had a loaded gun in his hand and this ballsy blondie was making the rules. She underestimated him, and he didn't like that at all.

"I don't wanna hurt you, and I can be very nice if I want to, but I don't like playing games", he said in a menacing tone. "So stop wasting my time and don't force me into doing something I don't want to. Got it?"

The girl nodded, gulping. "Very well", Dean said. "Now hand me the keys of the car. Good. When I close your door, you will lock it from the inside and wait until I sit next to you. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good." He closed her door and quickly got to the passenger door, slumping into the seat and handing her the keys. "Do you know the way to Red Rock?"

"I do."

"Great. Let's go there then."

She still seemed a bit disturbed when they got onto the highway, but it was still far less than he expected. It made him think what she had gone through in her life to be so… calm just minutes after being low-key threatened with physical violence. Not that he'd really hurt her, but still… he had no way of knowing that. He shook that thought off and pulled out his phone from his pocket, searching through the contacts to find the number of his partner.

"Rome?"

The gravelly voice from the other side immediately guessed the cause for Dean's call. "Plan A failed?"

"Pretty much. I need you to pick me up at Red Rock."

"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Dean felt an overwhelming sense of relief when he hung up. He knew that he could always count on Roman, but his helpfulness still made him feel much more at ease in that moment. An unexpected question brought him out of that momentary bliss.

"That guy is actually called Rome?"

"What do you think?" he smirked. The girl pursed her lips in a cute way while thinking of the answer. Now that he could take a look at her properly, he found himself thinking that she was actually pretty hot. She had a beautiful face, short messy platinum hair and a slender, toned body he would love to see in his own bed. And he liked her style. Black lace crop top, leather jacket, jeans and boots. Simple but sexy.

"Still, that's a shitty nickname."

"It's actually a shortened version of his nickname."

"That's better. Being nicknamed after the capital of Italy would be weird."

She was looking in front of herself with a hilariously indifferent expression on her face, making Dean's lips twitch upwards. This girl seemingly had very few fucks to give. She was actually chatting with him about his partner's nickname literally minutes after he put a gun to her head. It was bizarre, but in a weird way, he liked it.

"I like your jacket."

"My jacket?" Her tone was slightly surprised. "Thanks… I guess."

"You should be my partner in crime. We're twinning today."

She actually chuckled, much to Dean's amazement. "You've got some nerve."

"I suppose that's a no?"

"Of course it is."

"Too bad. You'd look good with a gun."

"I actually have one at home."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I live in a shitty neighborhood. I learned my lesson after being robbed once. The next time a guy tried to rob me, I shot him in the leg."

Dean laughed, raising his eyebrows. "Really? Nice."

"He's in jail now. And I was never robbed since that day. I guess the rumor about me shooting people spread around the neighborhood."

"You should carry a gun in the car as well. Actually—you should carry a gun with you at all times."

She pursed her lips. "Yeah, I guess I learned that lesson today."

Dean couldn't help himself. "You're welcome!"

The smug tone in which he said that was enough to set her off. "I'm not thankful for your lesson, you cocky asshole. You threatened to shoot me to prove your point."

Dean's smile widened. "You're cute when you're mad."

"You're making me want to drive this car off a cliff."

"We're in Vegas, darling. Unless you wanna spend the night with me in Red Rock, there are no cliffs here."

She sighed loudly. "Just shut up, will you?"

He almost asked her if her temper was this fierce in bed too, but he bit his tongue instead, letting out a chuckle. This girl wasn't particularly afraid of him unless his gun was pointed at her, so he decided to act like a mature adult for a few minutes and stop irritating her. She deserved it for not causing him too much trouble.

"You can stop here", he said after a prolonged silence, when they got close to the Red Rock.

She raised her eyebrows. "In the middle of the road?"

"He'll know where to find me."

"Alright." She pulled over to the side of the road and he got out, but not before grinning at her and tipping his hat.

"Good girl."

That earned him a glare full of disgust. She stomped on the gas pedal and drove away without even waiting for him to close the passenger door. Dean just laughed to himself, squinting into the darkness of the night and focusing on remembering her license plate number.