Here's the chapter. I don't think it's been too long since the last one. But thanks for being patient anyway. Enjoy this one. I wasn't planning on posting this until tomorrow, but I decided why not? It's not like I have anything better to do...besides my AP US History homework. Anyway! Next few chapters are going to be kinda brutal. You've been warned. This is just a little fluffy in my opinion, but still alright I guess. Tell me what you think. I don't own Baccano and never ever ever will.

I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders as I sat on the couch, pressing my back into the cushions behind me. My eyes were trained on the television screen in front of me, but I wasn't really watching it. Luck was somewhere else in the large apartment, doing paper work he'd said, so he gave me the rest of the house to entertain myself. I really couldn't focus on anything but the tormenting thoughts in my mind, however. And so I'd settled on watching some mind numbing cable TV show so I could think in peace.

I knew Luck was hiding something from me. He was more secretive now than he'd ever been. He was more open telling me about the immortality than whatever was going on now. And with two attempts at his life in the span of a few days, to say I was a little worried would be an understatement. It was a strong possibility that I was over reacting about the whole situation and it was something about his business or family that he wasn't ready to explain yet. But I had the strange feeling that whatever he was keeping from me had something to do with me. Maybe it was in the looks he'd give me when we sat down to eat together, or he asked me questions. There was also is conversation with Firo that I had walked in on. He had cut it short so fast all I was left with were more questions. And if he was really hiding something from me, it would really dent my trust in him.

Then there was my family back in Texas, of course. My mom had threatened me just five days ago. According to her, I had two more days to contact them or she'd send my stepdad, Roger, after me. And if there was anything in the world that scared me, it was him. I felt a rising sense of apprehension in my chest. They knew where I lived, and I had no doubt that he would come after me. I had spent years living under him, and I knew exactly how he thought, exactly what he was capable of doing. If I never went back to my apartment, then he might not be able to find me. So that was honestly always a possibility. But the way things were going with Luck, I might have to leave soon. And getting another place was impossible. I was currently under a lease for the next five years. I had backed myself into a corner with no foreseeable solutions in the near future.

I was so immersed in these thoughts, I didn't notice the man behind me until his hand came to rest on my shoulder. I flinched and turned to look into his warm golden eyes. "Hi Luck…" I greeted him, settling down immediately.

"Caroline, are you…" he started, but paused when someone knocked on his door. He sighed. "That should be Maiza… Okay, I called over an old friend of mine for dinner today to talk about things."

"By old friend, do you mean…"

"Yes. He's immortal. And he already knows that you know." Luck turned to walk toward the door.

I stood up and folded the blanket, setting it back down on the couch. Then, I reached for the remote and shut off the television. Luck opened the door and a man stepped in. I regarded him from my spot as he greeted Luck as one would someone they had known forever. Which, I suppose they had known each other for a long while. He turned toward me, giving me a soft smile. As he walked over, he seemed to exude an air of wisdom. I looked up into his eyes and knew for certain that I was looking into the eyes of a man who'd seen many things in his long, long life.

"Hello, miss Jackson. Luck has told me many things about you. I have been looking forward to meeting you for some time." he said, offering me his hand.

I shook it willingly, smiling despite myself. "He's told me absolutely nothing about you." I said, honestly enough. I didn't remember Luck ever mentioning his name before, and if he had, it'd slipped my mind completely.

"Well, I'm Maiza Avaro. You can call whatever you'd like."

"I've known Maiza for several years. He's been like a father to all us younger immortals who didn't really understand much. He also helped Firo out a lot too. I've told you about Firo having all of Szilard's memories, right?"

"Who?"

"I guess not. Oh well, I'll let Maiza explain everything to you tonight. He knows more about it than me anyway. That's why I asked him over. I think it's time for you to learn more than just the basics."

"Yes, you need to understand exactly what you're jumping into here." Maiza said. "If you'll excuse me Luck, I think I'll go ahead into your dining room to wait. I'm sure she'll want a little bit of an explanation for why I'm randomly here." He walked away, obviously knowing exactly where he was going.

I looked up at Luck who was staring at the floor uncertainly. I waited for a second before he finally met my eyes. He looked so torn that I almost felt the need to comfort him. He almost seemed to be battling with himself even as he prepared to explain the actions he himself obviously didn't understand. "Caroline, I think it's fairly obvious that I haven't been completely open with you for the past few days. And I know you've been wondering why, and it's a fairly simple answer. I'm scared, Caroline. I don't want to lose you."

"Why would you…" I started to ask, but he held up his hand, so I trailed off to let him finish with his reply to the questions circulating in my head.

"I've lived for a long time, Caroline. I'm probably going to live for much, much longer. And I've been alone for the majority of those years. The one time I did find someone to share the years with I lost her, similarly to how I almost lost you a few days ago. And, I don't want to go through that again. I'm being really selfish here, but I have an offer for you. But I don't want you going into it blindly like I did. Because, honestly, I don't know if I would have taken it if I had been presented the option."

"Wait, Luck." I interrupted again. "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, then I don't even know what to say… I mean…" My mind turned back for a moment to the conversation I'd had with Claire several days prior. Luck couldn't possibly be insinuating what it seemed he was getting at. Because, if he was, he was suggesting that our relationship was so much more than just dating. He was saying he wanted to spend forever with me. Forever, forever. And I didn't honestly know if I was ready to make that leap yet.

He stared at me apprehensively for a moment, then sighed. "Maiza can explain things to you better than I could. And you don't have to make any sort of decision today. I just want you to be the one that makes this choice for yourself. I'm not going to make you do anything against your will."

I nodded, trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. I almost delved back into my own thoughts again, but he grabbed my hand and led me to the dining room where Maiza was already sitting, patiently waiting for us. As we sat, Luck's house keeper laid out dinner in the middle of the table. She smiled at us in a friendly manner before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Maiza started serving himself as did Luck. I did so also, wondering exactly when this discussion was about to get under way. I knew my questions were going to be answered around this table, whether I liked the answers or not. Luck seemed to sense my anxiety as he rested his hand on top of mine where it rested on the table. I looked over at him, blushing lightly, but returned the gentle smile he offered.

"So, why don't you tell me what exactly it is that you know currently?" Maiza said, catching my attention. I glanced over at him. He had his eyes trained on me almost curiously.

"Well, Luck explained the situation about how somehow the immortal elixir was mixed into the bottles of alcohol and people drank it, not know what it was. So a bunch of guys got immortality completely on accident. And the guy who had created the elixir got killed or something?" I struggled to remember, but that was honestly all I could recall.

"Well, actually he was immortal and we can't be killed in the traditional sense of the word. He was what we call devoured. Meaning another immortal absorbed him, gaining all his memories and experiences and wisdom. Does that make any sense at all?"

I nodded a bit. "Kinda…" I glanced over at Luck. "You said Firo had his memories? So does that mean Firo…devoured him?" I asked.

"Yes, Firo was the one." Luck admitted. "Ennis told him how."

"Firo has all of Szilard's memories with him now, and Szilard ceased to exist. That was an interesting day for everyone. Anyway, there's many things concerning immortality that Luck wanted you to know."

"Yes… Umm okay." I said, mentally preparing myself.

Maiza delved into the rules of immortality. He even went back and told me his original story of how he became immortal and how Szilard had devoured nearly every immortal on the ship. As we ate and he told his stories, I found myself a bit more entranced by the world of immortals, Luck's world. I felt myself being drawn in farther and farther. Even if I didn't want the elixir, I did want to understand more about it. This was Luck's whole life for the past several decades. It was definitely time I stopped ignoring it and learning more about him.

I sat captivated until Maiza came to the end of his monologue. He fixed us both with a very small smile. "Does that clear anything up for you?" he asked.

I nodded as Luck said, "Yes. Thank you, Maiza. You explained it better than I ever could. Unless Caroline has any questions…" He turned his golden eyes on me.

"No. You explained it brilliantly."

"Well, I am glad that I could help you. If you don't mind, I'll leave now. I have other matters to deal with tonight." He stood, and we followed his example. Luck walked him to the door while I hung back near the couch. When Maiza had gone, Luck turned back to me watching me from his stance beside the door for a moment. I stared back, wondering what he was thinking.

Finally, he walked toward me and collapsed on the couch. I lowered myself to sit next to him. He turned towards me as I mirrored his actions. I waited for him to speak, unwilling to break the heavy silence between us.

"Caroline…" he finally said. "I want you to know that I have an extra bottle of the elixir. We all took some for ourselves that night. I only have enough left for one person. I want to give it to you."

"I know." I whispered. "Claire told me."

"He did what?"

"I probably shouldn't have told you that. When he told me about it, I thought he was crazy that you'd want to share it with me. That you'd want me to live forever with you. I… I don't know. It really didn't seem possible that you of all people could even be remotely interested in me."

"Caroline, I'd love to share the rest of my eternity with you. It would be wonderful, honestly. But if that isn't what you want, I'll settle for letting you live the rest of your years as a human and stay by your side until the end. Like I said before, I won't force anything on you."

"Can I have more time to think about it?"

"Of course…"

I smiled gratefully, and he returned it in an understanding manner. We sat there, silent again for a few minutes. Eventually he spoke again.

"Caroline, now that I've told you what I've been hiding, don't you think you should tell me your secret, too. I know something's been bothering you, but I have no earthly idea what it might be."

"Luck, don't worry about it. It's not your fight."

"I…don't understand what you mean by that."

"What I mean by that is, you need to stay out of it. I can handle the situation." I had no idea why I was being so defensive toward him and it surprised me. It apparently surprised him, too.

"But…"

"Luck, just don't worry about it."

"Caroline, I can't just ignore something that is causing you grief or pain. You need to tell me. This thing about 'your fight' is ridiculous. Whatever you're fighting, I'm fighting right along with you. That's what it means to be in a relationship. I've told you already that I love you and will do whatever I can to protect you, so why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"I can't…" I whispered, looking away. "There's nothing you can do."

"Caroline." he said, waiting for me to look at him again. "At my fingertips is a very powerful, very expansive crime syndicate that is entirely under my control. I have men in literally every state in this country and even overseas. They're all ready and willing to do whatever I say. There aren't many things that I can't do. If you would just tell me what's going on, then I could take care of it. I promise you that."

"I don't doubt the fact that you're a powerful mafia boss person…" I stuttered, not exactly sure what to call him. "but this is something that I have to deal with. Nothing good can come out of you getting involved. It would only cause problems, trust me."

"If I promise to not get involved, will you tell me?"

"See, I don't believe you'd keep your nose out of it, even if you promised. Look, if you really want to know all it boils down to is a family squabble. My mom wants me to go back to Texas and I'm not too keen on doing that. So, like I said, unless you have some magic potion to deal with nagging mothers, there's really nothing you can do." I don't even know where the lie came from. Well, it wasn't a complete lie, I'd just left off a few of the important details.

He stared at me disbelievingly for a moment. Then, he asked, "Is that really what this is all about? You've really been running around the place moping for almost a week because your mother wants you to come home."

"Look, I don't like my family…"

"Yeah… You told me why you left…"

"Wait, I did?"

"You were drunk."

"Oh…"

Luck continued to look at me, before sighing. "I believe you. For now. It's been a long day."

I agreed and we stood to walk back to the bedroom. I didn't know what exactly I would do about the situation, but for now I had other things to consider. If I stayed with Luck, I wouldn't even have to see my father, so I was considering that. And he didn't have any way of finding me other than at my apartment. Hopefully, this could all work out in my favor after all.

Give me reviews guys. They're the fuel I use to power the creative engines in my brain to churn out more chapters.