"Well, well, well… this is a surprise."

Katy sighed in frustration; angry with herself for the situation she'd found herself in. Desperate times call for desperate measures, she repeated in her head, glaring at the young man sitting across from her.

"Shut up, Ben."

He grinned even more broadly, running his index finger around the rim of his mug. Katy had found herself in the café on Victoria Road for the second time in as many days, sitting opposite her cousin and steeling herself to ask him for help over the most pressing situation she had found herself in.

"No, seriously, though this is a complete surprise." He continued, clearly thoroughly enjoying himself. "You've done your best to pretend you don't know me since I got back and now you're here asking me for help."

"You're literally the last person I wanted to come to, but you're also the only one I could drag into this mess without feeling guilty."

"That warms my heart." He replied mockingly, putting his hand on his chest.

"Piss off, Ben."

"I thought you wanted my help."

Katy clenched her jaw. "Right…"

"So, what is it?" He leant back in his chair, smirking at her. "Something dodgy, I'm guessing?"

"You got your motor?"

He nodded and she stood up, motioning for him to follow her. Ben's interest was piqued by her behaviour and he followed without question, taking the lead until they reached the car. Katy climbed into the passenger's seat and waited until Ben was inside and the doors were closed. Then she turned to look at him seriously.

"Nathan Parry's brother turned up asking questions. He took Ruby."

Ben's face clouded over at that news. "He fucking what?"

"I got her back, don't worry." She assured him quickly. "But things got a bit…" Her eyes darted around the car, avoiding making eye contact and suddenly she wished she'd changed out of her ripped clothing. "He attacked me."

Her cousin's eyes dropped to the shirt and he clenched his fists. "Katy… did he rape you?"

"No." She shook her head vehemently. "But he tried. I killed him."

"Just like his brother. Good riddance." Ben snarled.

"That's just it. I need your help to get rid of him."

"Where is he?"

"I left him in the house where he took Ruby." Katy told him. "16, Kempley Road."

Immediately Ben started the engine and took off down the street with a roar. Katy leant back against the leather, breathing deeply. She was starting to wonder whether she had some kind of label on her; Nathan, Dean… none of her relationships had been particularly healthy. Tyler was the exception, obviously, but even that had been bumpy, although Katy knew most of the troubles they'd faced had been down to her.

Before she knew it, Ben had parked up and was looking at her expectantly. Katy glanced out of the window and read the street sign, feeling her stomach churning dangerously. She nodded firmly, before climbing out and starting to walk along the pavement.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, Ben." She snapped. "Can we just get this done, please?"

"What's your plan, exactly?"

Katy stopped. She hadn't really thought about that. Seeing the expression on her face, Ben exhaled sharply. As he opened his mouth to say something, she scowled and held up a hand.

"I'm not new to this, Ben. I just hadn't thought…" She nodded towards the door. "Let's just get inside, right?"

"How are we gonna do that?"

Katy reached into her pocket and retrieved a set of keys, shaking them at him. "Swiped these earlier."

Ben grinned, taking them from her hand and striding up the path. He didn't even falter in his step as she unlocked the door and pushed it open, waiting for Katy to go in first before shutting it firmly. She led the way into the living room, feeling a perverse sense of amusement as Ben paled a little at the body on the floor.

"We need to get him into your car."

"We what?" Ben frowned at her. "No way!"

"Are there any cars at the Arches that can be taken to the crusher?"

"What?"

"Ben, come on! How do you think I got rid of Nathan or Carl White?"

"Katy…"

She huffed. "What? You're going soft on me now, are you?"

"Course not. I'm surprised by your balls, that's all."

"They're bigger than yours, that's for sure." She muttered, before arching an eyebrow at him. "Besides, that's not much of a compliment from someone who set up his own sister to be kidnapped by human traffickers."

"I never meant that to happen, you know that."

"Whatever." She shrugged. "Lou's back, safe and sound. That's all that matters. So… car?"

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I can sort it."

"Good… let's just get him out of here, right?"

"How are we gonna do that without anyone noticing?"

Katy rolled her eyes. "For god's sake, Ben… just help me, will you?"

Together they heaved Dean to his feet, Ben complaining the whole time. As he supported him, muttering about the weight, Katy covered the worst of the damage; enough that no one would notice anything out of the ordinary if they spotted them carrying him to the car.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Ben muttered as they manoeuvred through the door.

Katy pulled it shut behind them, nodding her head towards the car. "It won't if you keep making a fuss. Just get him in the back seat, alright?"

Her cousin scowled at her, but did as she ordered. As soon as Dean's body was slumped in the back, Katy tugged the seat belt around him and secured it in place. With his hood up, he wouldn't catch anyone's eye.

"Right… here's what we do now." She muttered as she settled herself in the passenger seat. "We need to take this car somewhere quiet and then go and get the crusher car from the Arches."

"Right so…?"

"Two options. You take this car and I go back to the Square or the other way round."

"I ain't staying with him."

"Wimp." She muttered, rolling her eyes. "Fine. You get the tube back to the Square, then. I'll stay with this one."

"You alright with that?" Ben asked, looking unconvinced.

"Not really, no," Katy snapped in response, "but it's better than the alternative, init?"

Muttering under his breath, Ben held out the car keys and ordered her to be careful with his car. She rolled her eyes again, promising that she wouldn't drive it into any walls. He scowled, clenching his jaw at her blatant ridicule.

"I don't have to help you, you know." He reminded her angrily. "What's to stop me going to the police?"

"Yeah? Because you're such a massive fan of them, ain't ya? Go on, then. Go to the police. I'm sure you'll love them swarming all over everything. I haven't got a single doubt that you've got all of your fingers in distinctly illegal pies." They stared at each other for a couple of moments and then Katy smirked. "Besides, I know that I'm your favourite, especially seeing as I'm the only one who sees through your complete bullshit and scheming."

"Life would be pretty boring without you around."

Katy sent him a smirk. "So, we cool?"

Ben nodded. "I'll head back to the Square and phone you when I've got a car, OK?"

"Yeah… I'll get this one out of sight for a while."

"In a bit, then."

With that, Ben climbed out of the car and started off down the street. Katy watched until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, before sliding across into the driver's seat and starting the engine.

The wait for Ben to return had been excruciating. Katy had driven to an industrial estate and parked up by a disused warehouse to wait for him to call. Finally, though, the call had come through and Katy had told her cousin where she was.

He arrived about twenty minutes later and they transferred Dean into the boot of the crusher car. Ben stared at her as she calmly folded him into the small space, slamming it down and turning to look at him with cold detachment.

"Which car d'you want to drive?"

"I'll take mine."

She nodded once, before holding out his keys. "See you there, then."

Ben hesitated as Katy moved to the driver's door and yanked it open. She didn't look back, putting the key into the ignition and kicking the engine into life. The young man didn't move until she was driving away, suddenly jolting back to the moment and moving round to the door of his own car.

The man at the yard gate barely spared them a second glance, waving Katy through as soon as she gave him a name. Ben had parked up outside and sauntered towards her with his hands pushed into his pockets as she spoke to the crane operative. He joined them just as Katy was tucking a couple of twenty-pound notes into the man's shirt pocket, a coquettish smile on her face as she did so.

"You wanna tone it down a bit?" Ben muttered as the man headed away with his clipboard, motioning to his colleagues that Katy's car was next in the queue.

"Why? Don't see him complaining, do you?"

He shot her a look, but said nothing more. They stood together, waiting as the men manoeuvred the car into position. The young man Katy had spoken to sent her a thumbs up, signalling that they were ready and she smiled and nodded at him.

The crane swung round, the claws biting into the metal and glass, forcing the roof to crumple in on itself as it gained a firm grip. The car swung upwards, moving towards the crusher until it was dropped into place. The walls of the machine moved inwards and the crunching, grinding, screeching sound filled the air as the car was slowly turned into a compacted cube of metal.

"That's that." Katy said, turning to look at her cousin expressionlessly. "Let's go."

Ben nodded wordlessly and followed her out of the yard. Katy nodded at the man on the gate as they passed, not saying anything to him as they walked through and out onto the road. Ben unlocked the car and they slid in, securing themselves in place before either of them spoke again.

"You owe me big time for this."

Katy shot her cousin a sideways look. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Jay told me you've considered changing your name and the kids names."

"I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"That's a lot more of a threat now." Ben told her with a smirk.

Katy snorted with amusement, before shaking her head. "He shouldn't have told you that."

"You can't change your name, Katy. You're far more of a Mitchell than most of them lot back in the Square are. It's who you are."

"That's such a comforting thing to hear." She muttered sarcastically.

"We're family." Ben reminded her, more gently than she'd heard him speak in a very long time. "Family sticks together, whatever happens."

"We stick together, no matter what." Katy wrinkled her nose. "Even if you are being an annoying little spoilt brat."

He laughed. "You can talk, Princess Katy."

"Oi, don't forget which one of us has a life threatening illness."

"This is nice, init? We're bonding."

Katy started laughing, an almost hysterical cackle that she couldn't stop. Catching Ben's eyes, she laughed even harder and he joined in. Soon both of them were wiping their eyes and holding their sides.

"Bonding over crushing the body of someone I killed?" Katy shook her head. "God, we need some different hobbies."

"You shouldn't have gone there on your own." Ben told her, suddenly serious. "I'd have come with you, if you'd asked."

"I wasn't planning on bumping him off. I was gonna give him the money."

"It don't matter. You still shouldn't have gone."

"Ruby's my daughter, Ben. I'd kill a thousand times over for her."

"I get that."

"They'll obviously have questions for us." Katy said, shrugging and looking out of the window. She didn't need to elaborate on who she meant. "I think we should say we went looking for him, to get the money back, but couldn't find him. That he'd done a bunk."

"I can definitely convince them that I was in the mood to kick his head in." He agreed. "Where is the money?"

"Like I'd tell you."

Ben looked pensive for a moment, before shrugging. "We should get back to the Square. "I've got a bit of business to deal with."

"Life goes on, eh?"

He grinned. "Like nothing even happened."