"You know, I used to hate strawberries when I was a kid." Grave Robber crinkled his nose as he bit into one and fed the rest to Carly.

"Well you love them now, what changed?" She asked as she chewed.

"You forced me to eat them when you moved in." Grave Robber laughed.

"Excuse me? I did not force you to eat anything!" Carly gasped and stared at him incredulously.

"It's true, I didn't want to be rude and not eat what you'd made. Somehow after you made them in that little tart thing I could tolerate eating them." He shrugged and stretched.

"You… you are something else." Carly sighed and smacked his side playfully and shut the balcony door. "It is freezing."

"That just means we are going to have to bundle up when we go out tonight." Grave Robber frowned and wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm and kissed her shoulder ever so gently. He took comfort in the sensation of her learning her body into his, relying on him for anything even if it was just tentative warmth. But he knew that it was much more than that, at this moment she was relying on him for peace and balance. He kept her from slipping away and she kept him at peace.

The placid ambiance of the apartment was interrupted when there were three loud pounds on at the front door. Grave Robber instinctively jogged over to look through the peep hole, but his heart jumped into his throat when he saw who was waiting for him on the other side. Amber Sweet and two of her goons stood under the yellow hall light impatiently.

"Stay in here and do not come out until I say." Grave Robber quickly ushered Carly into the bathroom.

"Who is at the door?" She protested haughtily.

"Amber." Grave Robber snapped. Her eyes instantly morphed from confusion into terror as more pounding continued.

"Not a sound." He whispered with a kiss and locked her inside.

Grave Robber grumbled angrily and messed up his hair to simulate bed head as he unlocked the door and cracked it open. "Amber…" he feigned surprise.

"Don't Amber me. You and I need to talk." She rolled her eyes and pushed passed him and into the foyer.

"Please…come in." Grave Robber snorted to himself as her body guards followed her in. "What do you want?" he feigned disinterest as he shut the door and turned around.

"A little birdy told me that you have a new partner in crime." Amber leaned back into his sofa and laid her feet loudly on the coffee table.

"I work by myself, always have." Grave Robber stated and began to make coffee.

"Liar." Amber hissed.

"Coffee?" He called over his shoulder.

"I'd ask if you were dragging the Wallance mut around…" as she spoke, Grave robber's body froze in fear.

No.

They can't take her.

They won't take her.

Not now.

"…but why would you need a little maggot collector?" he pressed his arm tighter against his side to stop his hand from shaking.

"I don't know where the kid is anyway." He shook his head, not wanting to blow Shilo's cover either.

"Then who is the bitch?!" Amber demanded, knocking a glass on the ground.

"She is a Grave Robber from a neighboring sector, she needed help." Grave Robbed lied.

"Did you fuck her?" Amber sneered.

"Is that what this is about?" Grave Robber smirked and turned around, pegging Amber with a stare that she quickly avoided.

"No. This is about you dragging gutter rats around in my city." Amber spat angrily.

"Fine." Grave Robber rolled his eyes knowing she was lying through her teeth. He had been around way longer that she had, and he had never been approached by any of the Largos for his business except for her for her fixes.

"Where is she?" Amber demanded sternly.

"Gone…" Grave Robber chose his words carefully taking a swig of his coffee.

"Don't play that game with me, give me her name, where she lives, where she fucking breathes." Her eyes narrowed, and her goons stepped dangerously close to him.

"She's gone Amber don't worry about-" with a snap of her fingers, he allowed himself to be bent over on the island counter. He winced as his head hit the counter hard, disorienting him for a few seconds. His senses sharpened however when he heard the bathroom door click, as Carly tried to get out. Thankfully, it seemed that he was the only one that heard her.

"I'm going to find her, and show her how GeneCo does business." Amber whispered in his ear and licked his cheek.

"You won't." Grave Robber said through gritted teeth as the goon holding him down pressed down on a pressure point.

"You can't protect her." She laughed.

"I don't have to!"

"Why not?" Amber hissed suspiciously.

"She's dead… I wasted 'er." Grave Robber grunted. "I found out she was in a dirtier business than Z dealing, I'll be damned if my name is attached to mob affiliated bullshit."

Amber looked down at him with scrutinizing eyes for a few seconds and nodded, telling her goons to let him go. Grave Robber sat up and glared at the both of them as Amber made her way around the island. And sneered "We'll be in touch." Turning around she whispered in his ear "By the way, if I wanted these…" her hands snaked between his legs and grabbed at his manhood, "I could have them" and exited his apartment.


Terrance held his breath and let his calm façade escape him with a sudden rushing exhale of breath, and took a second to rub his face in disbelief and lock the front door behind him. He waited another moment or two and unlocked the bathroom door shakily "You can come out now." Before he could even open the door himself, it swung open and Carly inspected him for damages, eventually poking the tender spot on his forehead.

"You idiot." She whispered and kissed him gently on his forehead.

"I love you." Was all he could reply, it was all that was running through his head.

"Okay, you are white as a sheet. You need to sit down." Carly went into doctor mode and eased him down onto the couch. She pulled the blanket over them both and stroked his cheek softly to calm him down. Once his muscles relaxed beneath her touch he pulled her onto his lap and held her tightly.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly. His own thoughts were eating him alive, she had just agreed to stay but he didn't want this incident to drive here away.

"I'm fine, calm down." She continued stroking his cheek. She didn't need to ask him how he was feeling, she knew. After some time, she whispered, "She knows."

Grave Robber pulled her closer and shook his head "No she doesn't. She's not that bright." He pulled maneuvered her so she could straddle his lap after she gave a great sigh and cupped her face in his hands. "We just need to be careful." He pulled her face to his, not wanting to think of anything else for the rest of the evening.


Uh oh, does Amber actually know? Does she not? Didn't see her coming did ya?

Thank you so much for sticking with me you guys.