A/N: Chapters 1 and 2 have been revised xx

Jade wipes the cool sweat from her brow as she steps down from the stage, her legs trembling lightly with exhaustion as she descends the short wooden steps. Her skin is sticky from the heat and her limbs feel heavy and tired, but she's happy with her work.

It has been a good night- a large but amiable crown attended and the club was filled with loud music and the smell of liquor. There was lots of cheering and hooting and luckily no arguments or brawling between the guests- as so often occurs. Jade smiles remembering the feverish heat that had spread through her chest onstage. There's nothing quite like it. She sighs.

The room is growing colder now, as most of the bodies have dispersed. Some have left the club, wandering drunkenly into the muggy, lamplit streets. Others- the wealthier guests mostly- have ascended to one of the rooms on the first floor with a girl of their choice. Jade can see the rows of peeling painted doors, shut firmly against the main area of the club, their heavy wooden build obscuring whatever deeds may be occurring within. Almost every room is engaged, Jade is pleased to note.

There are only a few girls left now, Nepeta and a few others who didn't dance that night clearing away the tables and sweeping away piles of ash and messily discarded cigarette butts. Jade considers helping them but she's shivering now and she can feel an ache creeping up her temple. The adrenaline rush from the show has passed and the nights wear and tear is catching up to her.

Feeling strangely washed-out, Jade approaches a door to her left, tucked into a little corner of the club. She opens the chipped, sandy coloured door and steps through it. The temperature drops violently and she shudders as she enters the basement of the apartment building that is built atop the club. She owns the entire building and uses it to house her girls and staff, store props and do various pieces of work that arise. It's here in the basement-a large space filled with desks and tables and littered with old instruments, props and crates- that most of the hard slog is done. The girls rest here between shows, props are crafted and painted, deliveries are received and itinerary is taken. There are other rooms to do so in, but her staff seem to prefer the large open space where they can socialize with others as they work. The only snag is that it's bitterly cold and the rough stone walls seem to suck the warmth out of the room. Jade can't stand it but the trolls don't seem to mind.

There are only two people in the room that night however, heads bent over into a little pool of light, examining something Jade cannot see. Jade steps down the jagged stone staircase that leads to the club and approaches them. The sound of her heels echo against the floor and the two girls look up as she arrives at their desk. She smiles, and Rose smiles back. Her partner, Kanaya, doesn't however as she has several pins held between her teeth. In the bright light of a lamp they are examining one of Kanaya's dresses, a silvery, pale thing made of sheek, translucent fabric. It is beautifully tailored and there are barely any stitches visible. Jade always remarks upon the way Kanaya's dresses seem to appear out of thin air with no sign of ever been cut up and sewn together by a tall, skinny troll from the wrong part of the city.

"Hello girls," Jade coughs lightly, trying to rid herself of the hoarseness in her voice "What are you doing up this late?"

Kanaya continues working, her head bent low over the fabric. Rose smiles and answers for her,

"We're just adding the finishing touches to this dress. We can seem to decide on what fabric to use here."

She holds up two sashes of fabric in her hands, one a piece of silver coloured silk, the other a clean, milk white length of linen. Holding them against the dress she turns to Jade.

"What do you think suits it better ma'am?"

Jade considers this for a moment, flickering her eyes between the dress and the cloth.

"M'mm. I think it's definitely the white one. The silver's nice but it might be overdoing it. It's up to you two of course, but that's just my opinion."

Rose brushes her face lightly with her hand as she listens and turns to look at the dress again.

"Yes. Yes I think you might be right."She muses. Her voice is unusually proper for those in this area of Manhatten. She speaks in a prim, neat tone which she picked up from her two guardians who are English. It was partly due to the bullying she received about her accent that she decided to withdraw from her life as an actress and work full time behind the curtains of JADES. Most of the girl's here have some kind of story to share, and Rose is just the same, although she prefers not to talk about it. In fact Jade is pretty sure that she's the only one Rose has told.

But looking at Rose and Kanaya together she is reminded how close they are. Perhaps she has divulged her past to Kanaya. Perhaps not. Some secrets are too personal to share. Either way, Jade is sure that Kanaya would never pressure Rose into telling her anything.

"Does that sound acceptable Kanaya? The white cloth?"

There is a muffled grunt of agreement from the troll girl. Rose nods happily.

"The white one then," she says laying the silver cloth aside. "Thank you for the help Ma'am."

Jade smiles at them, happy to see two people who aren't rushing about. She looks at the dress again, which is being probed and pinned at by Kanaya. Kanaya never needs to work with a model or a mannequin, a skill which makes her very useful, what with the girls being so busy at the moment. Jade folds her arms and tilts her head slightly to admire Kanaya's work. It isn't a dress she recognises.

"What is this dress for anyway?" She asks, her brow furrowing.

"Vriska asked us to make it," Rose replies, her back turned to Jade as she rummages around the boxes for some more white cloth, "She asked us to make one for her, for tonight or tomorrow. We're running a little late actually..."

Horrified, Jade clutches her face in her hands.

"Oh no, no girls! I'm sorry but Vriska's not doing her show tonight or tomorrow-"

"What?" Rose turns round quickly just as there is a tinkle of metal against wood, as the pins in Kanya's mouth fall to the floor. She straightens up, her mouth a light, pale line.

"Godamnit." She exhales loudly. Jade can see now the dark lines beneath her eyes, and the droop to her stance. She realises that Rose and Kanaya must have stayed up most of the night making this dress. Suddenly, she feels awful.

"I'm sorry girls, I should have said earlier, Vriska's been going around and saying a lot of things-"

"It's alright Jade." Kanaya's voice is weary as she rubs her dark eyes with the back of her hand. "You couldn't have known."

Now that she's not working all the energy seems to have left her body. She sways lightly as she moves to pick up her sewing equipment. Before Jade can do anything, Rose leans forward and rests a hand on Kanaya's arm.

"Go to bed Kanaya. It's alright, I'll clear up here."

Kanaya looks about ready to complain, but Jade sees the fight die quickly in her eyes. She merely nods, and walks away, towards the room she shares with Rose. Jade turns to Rose, who's watching Kanaya leave with a blank expression on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay with cleaning up?" Jade asks worried, remembering that Rose must be tired too. "You can leave it until tomorrow if you like."

Rose just smiles as she turns away from Kanaya's retreating figure and begins to pack up various pieces of cloth and material.

"It's alright Ma'am, this won't take long. You should probably retire though. You seem like you could do with some rest."

Jade snorts lightly under her breath.

"I wish darling." She mutters. But Rose is no longer paying attention and continues to clear the desks.

Still feeling slightly guilty, Jade walks away from Rose, heading in the direction Kanaya took. She reaches a door and opens it to reveal a small hallway and a slim wooden staircase. Up the stairs are the rooms her girls live in, and she can hear Kanaya's heavy footsteps from above her. But Jade's room isn't in the main building and instead of heading upwards she turns to her right and opens a chipped wooden door. Inside is a cramped room, probably meant to be a cupboard, in which barely fits a small bed, and desk and a chair. Propped against one wall is an old, cracked mirror, off which hangs a few clothes. Most of Jade's outfits are kept by Kanaya with the other girl's so she has no need for any large wardrobes or dressers.

Jade slumps into the room, kicking the door shut behind her. Her shoulders are aching, her chest is tight and cramped and she feels terrible- not just physically but emotionally too. The situation with Kanaya and Rose made her feel so guilty and unprofessional. She knows she's overworking her girls but there doesn't seem to be anything she can do about it.

She sits down on her bed, the frame creaking beneath her weight, and falls backwards allowing her long, dark hair to fan out around her neck and shoulders. She can feel anxiety seeping through her making her stomach buckle and twist in pain. She always gets stomach pains when she's stressed out, which usually doesn't make the situation any better.

But she just doesn't know what to do. The night's success had made her forget her troubles but she can't escape the fact that she is very close to going bankrupt. After receiving the new prices earlier that day from Jack, the supplier who keeps JADES's bar fully stocked, she hadn't know whether to scream or cry. And it isn't just booze that's going up in price. Food, fabric, toiletries, and basic supplies are becoming scarcer and more expensive. And it's even harder to get what they need delivered for a reasonable price considering the nature of JADES.

That is of course to say that JADES, isn't technically, completely legal. Or to put it another way it is in fact completely, illegal, a fact that often plagues JADES mind. Although she doesn't see why of course. The police didn't say specifically that she couldn't have alien immigrants dancing in her club. And she sees absolutely no harm in her girl's performing a few extra services for the clients. That's what showgirls should be there for, making people feel good. So long as they're completely willing of course, she adds to herself quickly. There are a lot of unsavoury businesses in the area but she's determined never to become one of them. She keeps her girls safe. She keeps them happy.

Thoughts buzz around Jade's brain like wasps. She lays her arms over her face, trying to block out the light, as she closes her eyes. She can feel her head throbbing and her breath is slow and weary. She would like nothing more than to snuggle underneath her covers and fall asleep under the cool, soapy smelling sheets. But she knows she can't and with a resigned sigh she drags herself off the bed.

She leaves her room, but not before grabbing a shawl from the mirror. She wraps it around herself as she walks back through to the basement, which is now empty. Trudging wearily across the room she reaches a set of steps leading downwards, made of the same jagged, cold stone as the basment walls and floor. She descends them in silence, shivering a little as she grows even colder. There is a door at the bottom which she enters without knocking.

The room is dim with just one very bright lamp in the middle. It rests on a small tower of books, which in turn rests on a cluttered but large wooden desk. There are stacks of newspapers resting by the desk and sheets of paper layer the floor. The figure behind the desk is turned slightly away from Jade.

"You should knock."

Standing by the door, it's clear to Jade he's not going to turn to face her. Not in the temper for his attitude, she marches into the room until she can see Dirk clearly. His feet are propped up casually on the untidy desk and he's reading a newspaper.

"Maybe you should do some work for once."

He sucks air in through his teeth.

"Ouch." He says not looking up.

Jade glares at him and gets no response. A few seconds pass and she begins looking across his desk, searching for Dirk's daily contribution to her facility, eager to get it out the way.

"If you're looking for it," Dirk remarks, finally looking up, "It's on the chair."

Jade turns, and finds the document dumped carelessly on what could be generously called a chair; more a glorified stool than anything. Without replying she heads towards it. As she moves around his desk, Dirk carefully folds up his newspaper and remarks impassively;

"How's my brother doing today?"

"Why don't you go ask him yourself?" She responds bitterly. Dirk doesn't reply, as she picks up today's accounts. The first page is a mass of numbers and calculations, that seem to dance in front of her tired eyes. Clutching her hand to her forehead, Jade sighs and falls back onto the chair- ignoring the abandoned papers she crushes beneath her.

"I'm sorry Dirk. I'm just tired today," Jade says, letting her head droop back and her heavy lids close. "Could you break it down for me."

"Sure," he says simply, " We're broke."

Jade groans, clutching at her face with sleepy hands.

"I know, I know," She moans, "What's new."

"No, I really mean it this time. We're broke."

Jade peeps an eyelid open.

"Really? But- I mean we did so well tonight. Surely-"

"Didn't make up for it I'm afraid." He peers closely at something incomprehensible on his desk, " We're losing too much money. At this rate we can probably stand another week, maybe two."

Jade is silent, as she takes in the information. She leans forward, staring at her feet with a glazed expression and began to speak hesitantly, in the calm, pragmatic voice she uses when talking about business.

"Well, we can cut down on the booze for start. Reduce the menu to a few simple drinks, I'm sure people wouldn't mind. And we can up the number of shows, Terezi wouldn't mind doing a few more and-"

"Jacks not supplying us any longer Jade."

Jade's head whips up.

"What?" She whispers horrified, " What do you mean? He can't just have stopped. Not just like that."

Dirk nods imperceptibly, confirming her fears.

"It's too risky for him now." He explains, adding sourly, "Barely breaking even as it is, he says."

Jades head falls into her hands, as the truth of what Dirk's saying hits home. She can feel all the hope, all the energy and time and love she's put into this place slowly fall away from her. Her dreams, always as light and untouchable as stardust, seem to be trickling through her fingers, out of her desperate grip. Breathing deeply she stands up, trying to think through a mind overrun with conflicting thoughts and feelings, all trying to be heard first. Approaching Dirk, who watches her almost expressionlessly, she lays a hand on the desk to steady herself.

"Dirk-" She says and experiences a rush of light-headiness that makes her sway.

"Dirk." She repeats, composing herself, " If anything is to happen, I don't want you to feel you have to hang around. You know what everyone is owed I trust you to see to that, and everything in this room is yours of course-"

"What you're just giving up?" Dirk peers irritably over his glasses, "Just like that?"

Confused, Jade rocks slightly in place.

"Well... what else is there to do? We're out of options."

Dirk shakes his head, his emotions as distant and incomprehensibly as normal.

"I never said that."

Feeling hope start to bloom in her chest again, Jade watches as her partner gives a small sigh before continuing:

"There's one other thing..."