Getting back into SR2 with something short and simple since I have a much better idea of what's occurring when. This is pretty damn far on the Ronin questline, but right before Shivington gets burned with the Samedi.

She felt old. Old and worn out, and after getting a good look at herself in the mirror this morning she knew there was no disputing it.

The day after Aisha's funeral had been a blur, and only now had she begun to adjust to being a normal, functioning human being again. Her muscles ached all over, and her head pounded, but after slamming back some painkillers the majority of it had faded.

She'd needed to get out of there, though. Needed some space and air, even if the drop in the temperature had left her rubbing her arms to chase away the chill, jacket or no jacket.

Eating outside hadn't helped with that problem much, but when she put her head down on her arms and closed her eyes it was heaven. Heaven with a side of deep-fried semi-questionable goodness. She could've easily drifted off like that without a care in the world.

It took a few blinks for her to get her mind back in order, and a few more to realize she had an audience. An audience of one, but one curious chief was enough. "That's rude," she mumbled.

He stood up straighter, but didn't lose the hint of concern that had been present. Dressed down in civvies, he didn't stick out half as much as he did in uniform. "Rude not to want to wake you up?"

"Staring's staring, Troy. I know I look like shit, so please don't rub it in." She yawned and stretched, slumping forward in her seat when she was done. "Compliments are totally fine, though."

"Sweet talk?" He raised an eyebrow and canted his head. "Thought that didn't work on you."

"Depends on who's trying. I'm willing to make exceptions." She lit a cigarette, her eyes on him the entire time, and waited for him to leave. Once again he didn't. "So..."

"So...?"

"Funny how I'm not the only one with an itch to scratch."

The corner of his mouth twitched up. "That's one way to put it, but yeah. Would be today, eh?"

"Would be," she said, exhaling a thin stream of smoke. "You going to sit down, or am I going to die of old age first?"

The quick scan he gave to their surroundings didn't seem to help him relax, but after a few minutes of doing so he took the spot on the opposite side of her. "Haven't been here in months, actually. I've been trying to cut down."

"Good, because this shit'll kill you." She popped another fry into her mouth and eyed her cigarette. "This is the surer bet, though."

"You're telling me," he said, getting his pack out. It was the same brand, and V hid her smile behind her hand. "Been trying to cut down on those too, but who am I kidding? Trying to stick to five on a Tuesday's bad enough."

He held the cigarette between his fingers as he started to get his lighter out, but she was one step ahead of him. She tapped hers on the table and raised her eyebrows.

It was close enough for him to take if he'd wanted, but when she flicked it on he leaned forward. It took a couple of tries as they fought the small breeze, but it caught, and as soon as it did he retreated back to his side of the table.

The food had gone cold at that point, and she picked at it idly as they sat there. One of the fries went his way when she offered, and she smirked at the face he made when he ate it.

For a Saints staple, there weren't many of her people around. There were flashes of purple here and there, but none of their attention was on them, and Troy seemed to sit a bit easier for it. To be honest, so did she. He wasn't exactly flashing his blue, but she did not want to step between her more enthusiastic members and him if she didn't have to. She wasn't ready to face the consequences of that just yet.

"I heard about the funeral."

V took a long drag off of her cigarette, but didn't break eye contact. "He thought he could catch us off-guard. Fucker kinda did. Zipped right through the gate, shot his mouth off and then shot at anything that moved. ...But he got what he deserved. Anyone that came in there with him did.

Troy puffed away at his own cig, keeping his attention to the smoke coming off of hers. "It was him, wasn't it?"

"That called the hit? Yeah. Did that and still tried to beg for his life. Johnny could've killed him five ways to Sunday, but he wasn't feeling generous after that. I think you can understand why." He slowly nodded and V cocked her head to the side. "You know it's okay to admit that you're glad they're dead from time to time, right? He didn't give a shit who he hurt or had to step over. Probably more people than I'd be able to count."

His stiff posture was answer enough, but she didn't expect him to admit to any of it. She doubted he ever would. "She deserved better than that."

"Yeah. She deserved a lot of things." She tapped the cigarette against the table and sighed. "Too late to go over that now."

"You ever..." His voice trailed off, but she kept her eyes off to the side. "You know you can call at any time, right?"

"I already call you often enough. Sure you want me to talk your ear off about something other than business?"

"If you want."

She laughed, if only to shake off the nerves that kicked in. "You're playing with fire, Chief."

He pursed his lips, but didn't back down. "I figured I'd remind you that there's at least one person in town that doesn't want you dead."

"...And it'd be you? The Chief of Police? Careful there," she warned, going back to her cigarette. "I might get the impression that you care."

"I-" Troy paused, then recovered fast, giving her a measured glance. "Sure. If that's what you want to believe."

The breath she'd been holding in came out in a cloud. She'd nearly choked on it. "Any reason why you're still hanging around, Officer?"

He got the hint, but the soft look that came with it made her stub out her old cigarette for a new one. "Samedi. Or maybe it's the lack of Samedi. Haven't caught too many on the streets lately, and that's not their usual MO."

"And?"

"I thought you'd run them off, but now I'm thinking they've found better ways to hide."

"Motherfuckers," V muttered. "Thought that break was too good to be true. Any particular places popping up, or do you want me to do my own digging?"

"Your people do get good results, even if they're not always careful about how they get them. Should tell them to watch it, though. Too many close calls happen every day, and I do have a fucking job to do."

"And you wouldn't hesitate to shove us all into solitary. Yeah, yeah, I got it. No sudden spikes in the ol' Chief's blood pressure."

The glare lacked bite, but that never stopped him from doing it. If anything, her amusement always made him glare more, and with the way she was grinning his disapproval wasn't surprising at all.

He put his cigarette out and stood up to dust his coat off. "Might want to check a couple of the older neighborhoods. They're out of the way, so the patrols don't hang around as much. You know the ones."

"Sure do. I'll keep an ear to the ground."

She watched Troy walk off to his car, both of his hands in his pockets and sat up in her seat.

"Hey!" He turned and she almost lost her nerve, but the expectant look on his face helped her get it back. "You know that phone thing goes both ways, right?"

He gave a short laugh and walked away, shaking his head.