After more than a month, Bayley and Becky had been left unsupervised in the meth lab for the first time. Thanks to reluctant and strict teaching from Eric Bischoff, Bayley was now able to cook Helmsley meth to the required standard. Considering that it was a job she had been given no choice in taking, it could have been a lot worse. She didn't mind the cooking process, and she took a strange pride in the product she produced being top quality, at least until she occasionally reminded herself of the effects it had on the end user.
For the past couple of days, the routine had changed. Satisfied that Bayley knew how to cook now, Ronda, as the official manager of the lab, had assigned Bischoff to work a day shift with his assistant Curt Hawkins. Bayley and Becky were on the night shift, made possible because the Helmsley food processing plant above the lab was busy enough to be in operation twenty four hours a day itself. The only day off for everyone was Sunday.
The other change in the past two days was more notable. With no explanation given, Ronda had barely shown up in the lab. The only reason that made sense was that she had other stuff to deal with. Ever switched on to things happening around her, Bayley had noticed slight changes in routine at the Helmsley mansion too. Things were not as they usually were. Thinking hard about it, she felt like she might know why.
"I think I might have figured out why Ronda's not here," she said to Becky, speaking loudly to be heard through the respirator mask she was wearing. They were doing their final task of the shift: cleaning the equipment. It was always a drag, but it had to be done.
"Yeah, the same reason I wish I wasn't. She's probably sick of the fucking place," Becky replied.
Tone was sometimes hard to pick up on with the masks on, but not this time. Becky had been giving off pissed off vibes all night, and her voice confirmed it.
"Becks? What's wrong?" Bayley asked, stopping what she was doing to look at her girlfriend.
Becky continued scrubbing hard at the machine she was cleaning, looking like she was taking out her frustrations on it. "Nothing's wrong, Bay. Everything's great. This is exactly how I want to live my life."
"Becks, stop, please," Bayley said, walking over to her. "Tell me what's wrong. I can't help if you don't tell me."
Angrily, Becky slammed the scrubbing pad she had been using onto the work surface. Turning to face Bayley, she pulled off her respirator and banged that down on the work surface too. Removing it pushed her hazmat suit's hood off her head. Her hair was damp with sweat, always an unpleasant result of working in the lab.
"I'm sick of wearing that thing," Becky said heatedly. Next, she pulled off her black rubber gloves and threw them down next to her mask. "I'm sick of wearing them. I'm sick of wearing this stupid itchy suit. I'm sick of sweating for hours at a time and not being able to do anything about it. I'm suck if fetching and carrying things all the time. I'm sick of cleaning all this stupid equipment. I hate this place, and I hate this job."
"Put your mask back on, it's not safe yet," Bayley said, handing it back to Becky in an insistent manner that she rarely used. Frustration or not, she wasn't going to let Becky breathe in dangerous chemicals.
Sulkily, Becky put the respirator back on and secured it. Behind the face plate, her eyes burned with that fiery temper that Bayley found attractive in some circumstances. This wasn't one of them.
"Why do you hate it so much?" Bayley asked delicately. "We got our first month's pay the other day and it was very generous. We never made that match on a robbery or a hacking job."
"It's not about the money," Becky sighed. "I know it's not your fault, Bay. I don't mean to snap at you or seem like I'm taking it out on you. I just couldn't hold it in any longer. You don't mind working here. Actually, I think you kind of enjoy it. You're smart. You've learned the science. You've learned to cook. You get to produce the meth. But what do I do? 'Carry this box there.' 'Bring me this.' 'Bring me that.' 'Clean that machine.' This is not me, Bay. I don't fetch and carry for a living. I don't clean for a living. I'm a thief. That's what I've always done, and I'm fucking good at it. I want to do what I'm good at, and that's not this shit."
It had been quite a rant, and it had come from the heart. Bayley hadn't realised Becky was hating the job so much, and she knew now that she should have seen it. "Oh, Becks, come here," she said, walking into a hug. They couldn't kiss, but they could hold each other. "I'm sorry for not seeing how bad a time you've been having. The problem is I don't know what we can do about it. Ronda assigned us both here, and I think it's safe to say that order originally came from Hunter."
With a sigh, Becky calmed down a bit and released the hug. "I know, Bay, trust me. And I know we're lucky to be alive, let alone making a lot of money working here. But I can't help the fact that I hate it. There must be something else I can do for Helmsley; something more suited to my skills. I think I need to talk to Ronda about it."
Bayley grimaced, not that Becky would be able to see it behind the mask. "I don't think that's a good idea, babe. I don't think it's a good idea in general, but especially not now."
"You think there's something big going on," Becky said, thinking back to a conversation they'd had the previous night.
"I do. Like I said, things seem busier at the house." Calling the Helmsley mansion home wasn't something Bayley could ever do. It was simply where they were currently living to stay safe from Roman Reigns and his men. "Not only that, Ronda's not here. Her job is supposed to be managing the lab, but she's been pulled away. Why?"
"Do you think maybe they're about to move on Reigns?" Becky asked thoughtfully. The distraction seemed to have calmed her down a bit.
"It's possible. I mean, after what happened with Ronda I expected there to be a lot of payback, but so far as we know nothing was done. I feel like we would have heard about it if they had taken some action. I'm thinking Hunter may have been biding his time, and the clock is about to run down. If I'm right, this isn't the time to be making a scene about not wanting to work here."
"Okay, maybe you're right," Becky said with a sigh. "I have to say something, but I'll try and be diplomatic about it."
Bayley didn't like it one bit, but she knew that when Becky's mind was made up about something there was no changing it. "Please tread carefully," she said. "Ronda's been treating us okay since we started here, but she's got a fragile temper, we've seen that ourselves. Don't push her too hard."
Becky nodded her willingness to take the advice and gave another sigh. "Fair enough. I suppose we'd better finish cleaning up before she comes to pick us up."
An hour later, Ronda appeared at the railing of the platform above the lab. "All set?" she called down to Becky and Bayley, who were changed out of their hazmat suits and sitting on a couple of chairs while they waited. They were both looking forward to getting back to the mansion so that they could take a shower and have something to eat.
"All set," Bayley confirmed, getting up. "We finished the cook and it was acceptable quality. We packaged it all, shipped it upstairs and cleaned the lab. It's ready for Bischoff and Hawkins in the morning."
"Good work," Ronda said with a satisfied nod. "Come on then, let's go."
Bayley and Becky made their way across the lab and up the steps to where Ronda was waiting. Instead of heading for the door, Becky approached Ronda directly and tried to speak as tactfully as possible. "Ronda, could I have a word with you before we leave?"
Looking back, Bayley stopped by the door to wait, hoping not to see Ronda blow up at any moment.
"About what?" Ronda said impatiently, scowling at her employee. It was an expression that seemed to come naturally to her.
"About my job," Becky said. "I know Bay needs an assistant down here, but I think I could bring a lot more to the table for Helmsley. I understand you know me as someone who made money from burglaries, and that's true, I did. You don't need burglary work doing often, if at all, but I could do other stuff. I could do security work for example. I notice your dad always puts one of your men with you. I could do that job."
Ronda looked sceptical of what she was hearing, and she didn't give it much consideration. "Now is not the time. You and Bayley are doing well here, better than I expected. Keep doing what you've been assigned to do."
Becky decided not to take the first rejection for an answer. "You can pay anyone to carry stuff around and clean lab equipment. Bay has learned the science and she's able to cook now, so I totally get keeping her here. But I feel like I'm being wasted. As I said, I can bring more to the table than I'm doing at the moment."
"She really could," Bayley said cautiously, wanting to help her girl, but not to send Ronda off the deep end.
"Now is not the time," Ronda repeated, now with a sterner expression on her face, sending a glare in the direction of each of them. "Maybe in a few weeks we'll talk about this again, but right now you need to keep doing what you're doing. Now, enough, we're leaving."
Bayley was happy to see Becky relent, realising she wasn't going to get any further right now. Ronda clearly had other things on her mind that were a lot more important to her than where to assign Becky to work.
Thinking better of asking Ronda what was going on, since she would almost certainly be snapped at and told she didn't need to know, Bayley was left hoping that Helmsley were about to deal with Roman Reigns and his people. If that was done conclusively, she and Becky would presumably be safe to return to their home. They hadn't seen the place for weeks, and they both missed it a lot.
Ronda took the lead in walking out of the lab, giving Bayley and Becky a chance to exchange a private look. They were both thinking that same thing: Something was going to go down real soon.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.
Becky is getting restless with the job she's been given, but it seems Helmsley have bigger fish to fry right now. The time to try and deal with Roman Reigns may be approaching. Since both sides of the dispute believe they have purchased themselves an alliance, what do you think will happen when the ambush finally goes down?