A/N: The best part about writing this story is all the research I get to do as I write the chapters, since I want to add in details that were accurate to the 1920's (and to avoid inaccuracies when possible). The Prohibition Era is such a fascinating period in American history to me, especially the jazz/speakeasy scene. The funniest thing is that I just realized this chapter that I've been writing "Fate-chan" when Nanoha refers to her, even though the setting is in Chicago. But I can't have Nanoha call her just 'Fate' - - It just doesn't sound right to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, brand, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.


Rum-Runner Girls

by : ~Nissanity~

Chapter 3 – The Cat's Meow


Fate POV

"Hey guys, listen to this," Hayate requested as she turned on the radio in the backroom of The Orchid Lounge.

"...they want your sweet, innocent girls to take to booze so they can be enticed into honky-tonks by slick-haired vultures, who prey on the flower of American womanhood..." the voice shouted across the airwaves.

"We prey on the what of the what?" Shamal yelled loudly at the radio from the poker table.

"They've been replaying this shit all day," Hayate said as she turned off the radio and came to sit back down at her spot. "I guess the Anti-Saloon League is still pushing their message pretty hard this afternoon."

"It is Sunday, after all," I mentioned, beginning to deal a new hand to everyone. "It's nothing but religious talk on the radio all day."

"Well, thank God it's Sunday!" Shamal said as she leaned back in her chair and brought her cards up to look at them. "I had to barback last night just to keep up with the crowd's orders. I'm exhausted."

"We haven't stopped running for three days straight either," Teana mentioned. "Not that that's a bad thing, of course."

I turned my attention to the faint music coming from the club area in the other room, and realized a jazz song I did not recognize was currently playing. "So what are the girls doing now, since the club is closed today?"

Hayate placed her bet for the next round to start. "Nanoha and Carim have decided to do a partner act, and they are rehearsing as much as they can. Before they were doing slower lounge songs, but they are going to switch to a flapper act from now on."

"They are actually not that terrible," Vita commented. The entire table ceased all movement in realization that Vita had given their new performance her own odd stamp of approval.

"Well, they must be fucking fantastic then," Teana responded as she placed her bet.

"Just remember you girls still have work to do tonight too," Shamal reminded us. "As soon as Ginga and Subaru get here, you have to make a run at the docks."

"Are my mothers going to be there?" I asked. My mother Lindy was the shipment coordinator for the product that came in through the docks off Lake Michigan, which included other goods besides just bootlegged alcohol. My other mother Precia ran the the warehouse there at the docks with Lindy. The higher end product we ran usually came in by boat, and it was mostly Irish and Canadian whiskey.

"No, Lindy called me earlier to confirm that the shipment had already arrived at the docks. It's now secured in the vault there. You guys just have to go and get it," Shamal replied.

"Simple enough," I replied as I laid my hand, a full house, on the table. "Oh, and speaking of simple..." I added.

An eruption of expletives came from all across the table. "You weren't even paying attention that hand, Fate!" Hayate protested and slammed her cards on the table.

"And neither were you," I replied cheekily and gathered the money into my hat. Teana offered to count it for me, and I passed my hat to her. I then heard the music shut off in the club outside the door a moment later.

"Will you all excuse me for a moment?" I requested as I stood up from the table and pushed in my chair.

"Where are you going? We're still playing here?" Vita scowled.

I shrugged. "I'm just going to go say hi really quick," I replied as I left the room.

I heard Hayate snicker. "Well, that's never happened before," I heard her say before the door closed behind me. I made my way through the front office, which served as a pass-through between the backroom and the club. I walked across the rear of the lounge area, and observed Nanoha and Carim having a discussion center stage. They both had their hair cut short now and were wearing cloche hats. There was a phonograph next to them they were using to rehearse with, and I noticed it was replaying the song I had not been familiar with earlier.

"I've never heard that song before," I mentioned as I was about halfway across the room.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha exclaimed, and she quickly made her way to the edge of the stage and jumped down. She ran to me to give me a hug, and Carim waved hello to me before exiting backstage.

"I haven't seen you in days!" Nanoha continued excitedly as she pulled away from our embrace. She held her hands on my shoulders as she looked up at me.

"Yeah, I've been busy on runs for the past few days. It seems some new singer has been selling out at the club every night," I teased her.

Nanoha cocked her head to the side. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Fate-chan?" she replied innocently, before allowing a smile to sneak onto her lips.

"I like your hair by the way. It looks really good on you," I mentioned.

"Yeah, we both had to cut our hair for the new act. It feels weird, but I'm sure I'll get used to it," she responded as she touched one of her short locks. She then placed her hands on her lower back and bounced a little in place. "We have something brand new we are doing. The act starts out with something called 'The Charleston'. Carim has been teaching me how to do the dance to it."

"I'll have to come see it as soon as I can, for sure," I replied. "Well, whenever I'm free again and you guys are performing, that is."

"So, what are you doing here now?"

I gestured to the office area where I had just come from. "We just have to make a quick run at the docks. Some product is coming in by boat."

Nanoha's face brightened a little. "Well, are you busy after the run then?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, I actually have the rest of the night off after this."

Carim came back onto the stage. "Hey, Nanoha? Are you ready to rehearse some more?" she called out to her.

"Be right there!" she replied before she looked back at me. "Fate-chan, why don't we talk more when you get back to the club? We'll be rehearsing a few more hours, so I should still be here."

I smiled. "Yeah, that sounds - " I began.

"Nanoha?" Carim requested again from the stage. Nanoha smiled apologetically and started walking backwards towards the stage.

"Look, I'll be back soon, okay?" I assured her.

"Okay, Fate-chan!" she replied. "See you soon!"

I headed back towards the office, turning around once more to see Nanoha and Carim getting into their positions for rehearsal again. Nanoha waved to me quickly and smiled, and I returned the gesture. I reached for the handle of the office door as I approached it, but Shamal exited before I could grab it. She jerked away in surprise at seeing me suddenly standing in front of her.

"Oh god, you scared me! Hey Fate, Ginga and Subaru are here. You guys can get going," she informed me.

I nodded and walked down the hallway towards the alleyway, and Teana met me outside the door and handed me my hat. She attempted to give me the money I had just won in the last hand I played, but I waved it off. "Use it towards gas," I told her. I quickly jumped into the passenger side after waving hello to Ginga and Subaru, who were standing next to their car down the alleyway.

Teana started up the car and we began the journey to the docks. "Is something wrong, Fate?" she asked me after a moment.

"Huh? No, I'm just in a hurry to get this over with," I replied.

"O-Okay?" Teana stammered. "It's not like we have anything else going on after this?"

"I might."

Teana glanced over at me a few times, and then tried not to grin. "You never make plans that aren't work related, Fate?"

"Who said it wasn't work related?" I countered.

"Yeah, okay..." Teana replied as she shifted gears. I opted to ride in silence during the short trip to the docks, not wanting to get into a discussion with my partner about my interaction with Nanoha just now. I was still getting teased incessantly by her and the Nakajima's over the lipstick mark Nanoha had left on my cheek three days prior. The last I was going to do was give them more ammunition to poke fun at me with.

Teana pulled the car in front of the bay door at the warehouse at the docks, with Ginga and Subaru close behind us. I checked area to make sure no one was around, and was thankful it was a Sunday afternoon and the area was mostly abandoned at the time. I unlocked the padlock that secured the building, and Teana helped me slide the heavy wooden door open to give us access inside. We all entered inside and shut it behind us again.

"Ugh, it always smells like dead fish in here," Ginga complained as we walked in.

The vault was to the rear of the building, and it was always hidden from view completely by wooden crates stacked up in front of it. The four of us had to move them out of the way before we could gain access to it, which caused us all to break into a sweat as we performed the task.

"Whew, I'm already getting tired," Teana commented half-way through.

"Yeah, me too," I admitted. "Dock runs are the worst. Let's just get this over with as soon as possible so we can get back."

Teana gave me a knowing smile, and I just rolled my eyes at her in return as we moved the last crate out of the way. I was finally able to access the dial to enter the combination, and we quickly pulled open the large vault door to discover four crates full of Canadian Club whiskey inside.

"I hope those fit in the car trunks," Subaru mentioned.

"It's going to be cutting it close, that's for sure," Teana replied.

We lugged the whiskey to sit by the bay door of the warehouse, and began restacking the wooden crates in front of the vault. By the time we were done, we were all pretty winded and tired from the work.

"Almost done, guys" I said as I put my hand on Ginga's shoulder in encouragement, who was bent over as she tried to catch her breath. I opened the bay door and looked outside to make sure the coast was still clear. I then pushed it open completely so that we could finish the last part, which was loading the whiskey crates into the vehicles.

"You sure have a lot of energy today, Fate," Ginga commented.

"She has a date after this," Teana announced.

"Whhaaaatttt?" Ginga and Subaru replied in a playful tone. I closed my eyes and looked to the ceiling as they all took turns mocking me.

The jabs thankfully stopped as we maneuvered the heavy crates into the trunks of the cars, and we were all relieved to see that they fit inside. Ginga and Subaru entered their vehicle first and started it, and Teana got in to the driver's side of ours and started the engine as well. She then realized the trunk was still open, and got out to shut it.

"Be right there!" I called to Teana as I turned to resecure the padlock on the bay door. I had just started walking back to the cars when two patrol cops on foot rounded the corner of the warehouse and spotted us.

"Hey!" one of them yelled, and they both immediately started running in our direction.

"Oh shit, guys! Go, go, go!" I shouted.

"Hurry up and get it in!" Teana yelled back as she slammed the trunk shut and jumped into the driver's side. I was about to run to try to get into the car, but the cops both decided to target me since I was still on foot. They cut off my path to the vehicles and started running directly towards me, and one of them started blowing a whistle to signal any other officers in the area.

"Fuck, just go!" I told them. Ginga and Teana both floored the accelerators and the tires screeched before they quickly fled the scene. I ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could, and headed towards the area of the docks were the large shipping containers were kept. I was hoping to lose the cops in the maze of them, or to at least to find a hiding spot. My speed was considerably slower than how fast I would normally run, after having expended so much energy moving the heavy crates around in front of the vault.

"Just stop! You can't get away from us!" one of the officers yelled as he started gaining ground on me.

I turned a corner around one of the crates and was horrified to see a chain-link fence blocking my path. I knew I was trapped, but I made an attempt to climb the fence anyway. The two officers quickly caught me and pulled me off of it. They took me to the ground to handcuff me, and my face made hard contact with the pavement in the struggle. I could feel my lip was busted open, and figured my eye would be swollen as a result as well.

"I didn't do nothin'," I argued as they helped me stand back up after I was restrained.

"It didn't look like nothin'," the officer countered. "We saw what was in that trunk. You are under arrest for suspicion of trafficking illegal goods."

"Yeah, yeah," I replied sarcastically as they led me out of the area with the crates. There was a police wagon now waiting near the warehouse, and the two officers escorted me towards it.

I spotted Teana, Ginga, and Subaru parked a distance away from the docks. When Teana realized that I had been caught, I watched her take off her hat and throw it angrily against the console of the car. She then started up the engine and drove away, undoubtedly to report to Shamal and the others that I had been arrested.

One of the officers opened the backdoor to the wagon and I was led inside. I sat down on one of the bench seats in a huff and refused to look at any of them.

"Got anything you want to say?" one of the officers asked.

I remained silent, as I had been instructed to do if I ever ended up in this sort of situation. The cops merely shut the doors to the back loudly in response to my silence. I leaned my head back against the wall of the wagon, and I thought about not being able to see Nanoha again that evening like I had hoped.

"Well, so much for that," I muttered to myself as I was hauled away to jail for the first time in my life.

oOOOo

Nanoha POV

"What's going on in there?" Carim asked me as we both watched Teana rush in from the back hallway and into the office door.

"I'm not sure..." I replied as I reached over and turned off the record player. Ginga and Subaru ran into the office from the hallway shortly afterward, also looking distressed.

"Wait, where's Fate-chan?!" I asked in panicked realization.

Carim and I jumped off of the stage and quickly ran towards the office. I didn't hesitate to push the office door open, and I found everyone in discussion with Shamal inside.

"Where is she? Is she okay?!" I demanded.

"Fate was arrested down at the docks, Nanoha. She's okay though," Shamal informed me.

I breathed a little sigh of relief knowing that she wasn't physically injured, but I was still worried about what would happen to her now. Memories of my two-year stint in prison in New York flooded my mind, and I feared for her future after everything I had been through.

"Hayate is on the phone now," Shamal continued. "So everyone, just sit tight for a moment."

Carim left my side and went to talk to Ginga about what happened. Teana took off her hat and came over to stand in front of me, but she wasn't able to look at me directly. She looked like she was about to cry, and I put my hand on her arm in support.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I couldn't help her," she said, her voice shaking with frustration. "She drew the cops away from us so that we wouldn't get caught. But I shouldn't have left her there!"

I gave her a hug. "Hey, come on now, Teana. There wouldn't have been any point in all of you getting caught, right? Fate was just doing what she had to, to protect you guys. I'm sure she will be fine, okay?"

Teana just nodded and looked at the floor when I pulled away from her, and she turned her hat in her hands absently in worry. Shamal headed into the backroom, and we all made small talk as we waited for word on what would happen to Fate.

Thirty minutes later, Shamal entered the office again. "You can go pick her up, Teana," she announced.

We all let out a collected sigh of relief, and Teana quickly started making her way to the door. I followed her out into the hallway. "Hey Teana, I'm coming with you," I told her.

Teana looked surprised for a moment at my declaration, and then she smiled a little. "Okay, Nanoha," she replied.

We made our way out the backdoor after I made a detour to the dressing room to pick up my purse, and we quickly walked in the cool summer evening towards the vehicle parked in the alleyway.

"Thanks for letting me come with you," I mentioned as we pulled out onto the street.

"No problem. I'm sure Fate will be happy you came," she replied. "I know she already considers you a good friend, Nanoha. We all do, in fact."

I smiled at her kind words. "It certainly nice to be here with the Yagami's and everyone. It's different than when I was singing in New York."

"So you were a singer before, um, prison then?" she asked me.

"Yes," I replied. "As well as doing other things for the club, like bartending and occasionally running for them. They weren't organized like the Yagami's though, and they certainly didn't care about the employees like they do here."

Teana nodded. "I think the Yagami's consider everyone more like family than employees, honestly. And we are all loyal to them in return. They also help Fate with all her crazy ideas, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they bought her the equipment to try to make her own moonshine, even though she had no idea what she was doing," she replied. I noticed her visibly cringe after the comment.

"It's not very good?" I ventured.

"It needs work," she replied delicately. She then shifted in her seat a little. "You know, Nanoha? Sometimes... I think that her ambition might cloud her judgment about certain things."

"Such as?"

"Well, such as not giving herself a chance to be happy in other ways that don't involve work or being successful."

I glanced over at her, a little surprised "Like with you?"

Teana looked over at me in shock. "Huh? No! No, that's not what I meant," she replied. She then chuckled a little to herself, probably at the notion of her being interested in Fate romantically.

"I think I get what your saying," I said and leaned back in my seat. "It's not that I don't understand that feeling myself, in a way."

"I'd like to think things are a bit different now, though," Teana added as we turned a corner and the police station came into view.

We approached the building and parked out front, and I noticed two man hovering around the front steps, one with a large camera. They seemed to perk up a little as Teana and I made our arrival, and the one started positioning the camera against his chest expectantly.

"Um, Nanoha...?" Teana said nervously as she watched them scurrying around.

"I'm sure it's nothing," I tried to reassure her. "I'll go get Fate-chan if you are worried about it though?"

"Can you? I can't have my picture taken here."

I opened up the car door. "Go park the car somewhere close, and when you see us come out, you can come pick us up," I instructed.

"Okay. Thanks, Nanoha!" Teana quickly put the car into reverse as I shut the car door and started walking up the sidewalk.

I began climbing the front steps of the courthouse quickly, and the man without the camera started walking beside me. "Excuse me, Miss? Are you here to bail out the runner?"

I stopped mid step and stared at the man in disbelief. "What did you just say?" I asked.

"Yuuno Scrya, Herald-Examiner," the blond man greeted, attempting to hold out his hand to me. I glared at it silently and made no motion to return the gesture.

"Right, yes. Of course," he said apologetically as he pulled his hand away. "We received a tip that a runner was picked up at the docks tonight. A female runner. Quite the looker, too," he added.

I glanced down at the camera man a few steps below, who looked ready to snap a picture of me at any moment. I closed my eyes and quickly tried to think of the best thing to do in this situation, and I decided to not say anything else to the reporter. I made my way up the rest of the steps instead, even though I knew that it would probably appear as an admission of guilt on my end.

"I'll take that as a yes!" he called after me, alluding to his original question about me being there to bail Fate out of jail.

I approached the police clerk at the front counter in the lobby. "I'm here to pick up Fate Harlaown?" I requested.

The officer gave me a condescending glance as he continued to stamp the paperwork in front of him. I waited for him to respond to my statement, although he seemed in no rush to assist me. He finally set the stamp down and breathed loudly, before he pulled the large ring of keys from the belt on his pants. He started going through each key one by one slowly, and it was then that I realized he was making a sarcastic statement regarding Fate's release.

"I appreciate your help?" I tried patiently.

He rolled his eyes as he stood up from his stool, and grabbed her hat from under the counter and threw it across to me. He then led me around a corner in the police station. I saw the beginnings of the cell holding area in front of me. We turned down another hallway, and I spotted Fate sitting on a bench in the last cell, staring at the floor with her arms crossed in front of her. She looked up and noticed me, and was immediately on her feet.

"Nanoha!" she cried. She put her hands on the bars as we approached her cell. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

The officer started unlocking the cell she was in. "You're free to go, Ms. Harlaown. But just remember, you might not be so lucky next time," he warned.

Fate quickly exited the cell and wrapped her arms tightly around me. "I'm so glad to see you, Nanoha!" she said excitedly.

"I'm glad to see you too, Fate-chan!" I replied as I pulled away from the hug. I then glanced around nervously, searching for a different exit out of the building.

Fate looked at me with a confused expression as I turned to the officer. "You wouldn't happen to have a back door, would you?" I said in the sweetest voice I could manage.

"Everyone goes out the front," was the cold reply I received as he relocked the cell door.

I grabbed Fate's hand and started pulling her away down the hallway. "Nanoha, what's going on?" she asked me.

I stopped in the lobby and turned to face her, and I handed her the hat to hold. I quickly starting fixing her hair and clothes as best as I could, and it was then that I noticed her bloodied lip and bruised eye in the better lighting. "Oh my god, Fate-chan! What happened to you?"

She laughed a little. "Ran into a doorknob?" she responded jokingly.

I inspected her injured face, and then looked back at the reporter standing outside. He was peering at us through the glass in the front door, waiting to pounce the second we walked out of the lobby.

"There is a reporter out there waiting to talk to you, Fate-chan. I have a plan though," I informed her as I fixed and smoothed her collar. She glanced back and forth between me and the door, now a little nervous.

"Just let me do the talking," I added.

"Wait, why does he want to talk to me? This is really not good."

"I know. Just... pretend like you just got your ass kicked by the police or something, okay?" I advised her.

"I did just get my ass kicked by the police," she responded.

"Perfect!" I grabbed Fate by the arm and pulled her towards the front door of the station. The second we had crossed through the doorway the cameraman was taking pictures of Fate, and the reporter was eagerly trying to block our path.

"Excuse me, Miss! Are you the female runner named Fate that we received the tip about?" Yuuno asked her loudly.

Fate looked over to me, and the cameraman took a close up picture of her injured face. "Fate-chan happens to be a close, personal friend of mine," I announced. "Does this beautiful woman look like some sort of criminal to you, I ask?"

"What happened to your face?! How were you injured?!" Yuuno eagerly threw out his questions, and the cameraman continued to take pictures of us as we descended the stairs.

"Perhaps you need to ask the officers inside? My friend is too shaken up at the moment to even speak about what happened to her!" I responded. I saw Teana quickly driving the car up the street to intercept us in front of the police station.

"So is it true? Were you caught transporting illegal liquor, Miss Fate?" he continued as we came to the base of the steps.

"Anything Fate-chan is accused of can be attributed to a terrible upbringing. A life full of hardship and sacrifice! Have you no decency, Mr. Scrya?!" I responded angrily.

Yuuno stopped in his tracks. "So, wait... is she guilty or not?" he finally asked in a confused tone as Teana pulled the car up to the curb. Fate jumped over the side and into the backseat, and I quickly got in on the passenger side and pulled the car door shut. I merely raised my eyebrows at Yuuno in response to his last question, and Teana whisked us both away from the scene.

"Well, that should be interesting to see in the paper tomorrow," Teana commented as she watched the two men getting smaller in her rear view mirror.

"So... now what?" Fate asked as she leaned back in her seat and put her hat back on.

I turned around completely to face her, and rested my chin against the top of my hand that was gripping the back of the seat. "I want to see this moonshine equipment of yours, Fate-chan," I requested of her.

Fate glanced at the back of Teana's head momentarily, and then turned her attention to me again. She leaned forward in her seat, bringing her face closer to mine as she smiled at me playfully. "Well, in that case... let's head back to my place, Nanoha," she suggested.


A/N: Well, until next time (in Fate's apartment) ~Nissanity~