That tall blonde slowly rolled over and bumped against another warm body. Lids fluttered open and groggy coated blue eyes focused on what she bumped into. Of course it was Bill, not that she was expecting to wake up to anything or anyone else. Her body was tangled in the blankets as she must have been rolling around a great deal during the night. Apparently while in her slumbering state her body didn't find the floor as comfortable as the bed. The pillow she thought she had been sleeping on was under the bed and her head was settled on the crook of Bill's arm.

A weary smile graced her features as she locked eyes with Bill. He had probably been up for awhile watching her. She had gotten used to that. Also he probably couldn't have moved much with his arm being used as a pillow. He did make a comfy pillow. She spoke up softly, "Morning." She stretched arms over her head to relieve her cramped muscles before putting them back to her sides. "Did I roll into you a lot last night?"

"Quite a bit actually....," he replied softly, "Not that I really minded of course...." As usual, he'd been awake pretty much since the first rays of sunlight had begun to stream through the large patio doors. When he woke, he found that Beatrix had, in her sleeping state, decided his arm made a more comfortable pillow then her actual pillow...which she'd tossed aside earlier in the night. He was more than happy to serve as her pillow and made sure to stay reasonably still as she had continued to sleep. He liked to catch her in those moments anyways, where he could just watch her and think about things. He tended to think a little too much at times, but it had served him rather well so far.

As she slept, and the sky gradually became lighter in the windows behind her, silhouetting her face, he thought about many things: about her, them, the DiVA's, what was going to happen when they got back, his past, their trip, the changes he was about to put into effect for the Viper's, and so on. All the while, he continued to watch her with a contended and loving look on his face.

Now, with the sun shining brightly onto them, he smiled at the groggy but awakened face of Beatrix, and pushed himself up into a sitting position, now that she'd freed his arm. "You were thrashing around like a mad woman...." he smirked at her, "I was starting to think you were having some sort of dream that I wished I could have seen..."

"I wish I could have seen it too," she muttered. She then pulled herself into a sitting position, back against the bed frame and an arm clinging to the sheet to cover her upper half, not because she was shy but because it wasn't exactly warm out. Beatrix didn't feel as if she had had a restless slumber but her movements during the night referred to so. She couldn't recall her dream or dreams for that matter and she was somewhat thankful she couldn't. But she wasn't going to let the idea of a dream filled night plague her mind and switched to remembering the enjoyment of their trip. A hand came up to muffle an on-coming yawn. She dropped hands to her thighs. "What time is our flight?"

Bill twisted around to look at the nearby bedside clock, "Three hours from now...just enough time for us to get ready, grab some quick food and get to the airport....," he began to stand up, but paused, "And coffee...," he smiled at her, "....gotta get just one more cup of that coffee..."

It took the two of them under an hour to wash up and get dressed, double check that they had everything, took one last look out the scenic balcony and check out of their room. Luckily, both of them had packed lightly and it was easy for them to tote their luggage over to "their café" and get one last cup of that wonderful Parisian coffee. On the way, they also picked up a light breakfast and were on their way to the airport via taxi with well over an hour until their flight left. Bill hated rushing to flights and he always made sure to plan everything just right to avoid that annoyance.

Both of them stared out the plane's small oval window as they took off from Paris. Bill gave Beatrix a small kiss on the cheek as they did this. There was a touch of sadness on both of their faces as they watched the city grow smaller. They were leaving yes, but memories of that trip would always remain strong in both of them.

And thus they moved onto drudging through the long plane ride to New York and another rather long one to San Diego. 'Drudging' was a bit of an overstatement, since Bill was more than happy enough to sit next to Beatrix and chat. This time they both shared the "Guns and Ammo" magazine that the stewardess brought by. It was the British version, but it was basically the same thing. They ogled the weapons, pointing things out to one another...and of course Bill prattled on about guns for a little longer than was probably normal or necessary. There was another movie, something shitty....Bill hardly even took notice of it. The food was good and much to Bill's delight, they even got cheese baskets again.

All in all the flight to New York was enjoyable and the time didn't go by agonizingly slow. One flight down, one more to go. The flight back home was starting to get on the irritable side, at least for Beatrix. She let Bill have the window seat this time and was reclining back in the chair. The in-flight movie was just as shitty as the past one and this time she didn't spend five bucks for the earphones. The magazine arrangement wasn't as pleasing and it turned out the plane had the same Guns and Ammo magazine they had already reviewed.

Bill was immersed in the news paper and Beatrix needed something to amuse herself with or she was bound to get cranky. She was a tad anxious to get home. The stresses of reality were beginning to weigh down her thoughts and made her 'unhappy'. There had been silence between the two killers for a good twenty minutes, so Beatrix abruptly turned her head to the man beside her and stated with much over-dramatic enthusiasm, "We should have a welcome-back party." Of course she was joking, like hell she wanted to see any of the other Vipers.

"Hardly likely," Bill retorted, lowering his paper to look at her. That familiar frowning, serious, business look was starting to creep over his persona. He was getting in the frame of mind to getting back down to matters of assassination and financial gain. "Although," he added after a moment, "...I will be having a little gathering of everyone soon after we return, perhaps even tomorrow." He paused, gaze wandering away from her with thought, "I have some....announcements to make that I want everyone to be present for." His eyes returned to the tall blonde, "You can have your warm reunion with Elle then," a smirk, as he turned back to his paper. He had no intention of giving Beatrix a 'heads up' on what he was going to announce. She might be his lover, but she was still his employee...and should thus find out with everyone else.

The couth European crowd on the plane had now given away to a far more uncouth American crowd. There was the sound of children crying from the couch section behind them, and a rather overweight couple right behind them decided to have a rather boisterous argument about infidelity and reality shows.

"Home sweet home," Bill mumbled to himself...who was trying to nap at the moment, as the couple turned to the subject of inane sitcoms.

By the time they landed in San Diego, both killers were more than ready to be off the plane for good. They had been flying for nearly thirteen hours, not to mention a two hour layover in New York and no amount of love between the two could keep them from not getting just a tad cranky with one another.

Bill's car, that lovely black Jaguar JX of his, was in long term parking and it took them another thirty minutes to shuttle over there. Finally, they had loaded their luggage in the trunk and Bill ducked into the driver's side as Beatrix did the same into the passenger's side. He sat there for a moment, hands on the steering wheel, as if it were a woman, a satisfied smile on his face as he settled into the seat. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed driving until this moment. He threw the car into gear, savoring the moment and they were on their way.

It took another hour or so to get into Mexico and then another thirty minutes to reach Bill's place. Beatrix's car was still sitting in the driveway, which had been under the watchful eye of Nikishi while they were away.

Bill scrutinized his abode through the windshield, as if making sure it was indeed still in tact or hadn't burnt down or something worse. But everything appeared in order, and he and Beatrix unloaded their luggage. While they were doing this, Nikishi came out to greet them. Bill met the short Japanese woman with a kiss on the cheek and a warm clasp of her shoulders. They exchanged a few quick words about how things had gone during the week. According to Nikishi, who had stayed there the entire time, it was pretty uneventful. Budd had stopped by a few times and raided the refrigerator. Elle had stopped by once, watched some TV and then left. Vernita had called and said she was back in town, back from her 'suspension' and ready to work. Nikishi observed Vernita had sounded surprisingly chipper. O-Ren was a no show, but that wasn't a big surprise to anybody. There was a stack of mail, a massive amount of voice messages, faxes and Bill's cell phone, which he'd purposefully left at home, kept beeping relentlessly...all of these things waiting for his attention.

Bill frowned, which was understandable and thanked Nikishi for her extra efforts. He sent her on her way with a polite nod and kind words. He then hoisted Beatrix's luggage into her car.

Turning to her, he gave her a weary smile. "And so....life goes on..." He drew in closer to her, "I'll call you tomorrow.....," he brushed some stray bangs away from her eyes, and leaned in to give her a rather long kiss. Pulling away, he smiled, "Now....you'd better go make sure nobody else has broken into your apartment..." He gave her hand one last squeeze and then headed inside to catch up on work...and if he was lucky, sleep.

No one 'else' had broken into Beatrix's apartment when she arrived home. The first thing the tall blonde did when she stepped through her door was head straight to the bedroom and collapse on to the bed. To her surprise, being home felt really fucking good. She hadn't missed her abode all through out their week in Paris and even on the flight she was hesitant to step through that door. But now, snuggled in her bed and clasping to her pillow, she realized she did miss it in one form or another.

She rolled onto her back still hugging a pillow to her chest as blue eyes idly stared up at the ceiling. Now her thoughts began to tread into dangerous territory. She was home and being home meant reality. She'd have to quickly get over her jet lag as well as living in the moment that was Paris and come back to the life she had taken a temporary leave from.

She fell into a more restful slumber with her minding still trailing on these daunting thoughts. The tall blonde awoke at an ungodly hour. She rolled over, still in her clothes from the plane flight and her shoes were still on, and glared at the digits on her clock; 5:15. She groaned in annoyance as she blamed her early awakening on the fact she was still running hours a head of herself. With effort she got out of bed and made herself a cup of coffee with a load of cream and sugar. It was far from the coffee in Paris and she almost had trouble getting it down, but she did and her next course of action was… peculiar.

Beatrix Kiddo slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a sports bra and went on over to that piece of wood in her living room. She was going to train at five o'clock in the morning. It would sure as hell get her back into the 'swing' of things and beating, hacking, and slashing the shit out of random objects was just what she needed.

Bill would have liked to have collapsed the moment he returned home, but he wasn't allowed to do that for many more hours. Or, to put it in better terms, he could have....nobody was stopping him, but being the workaholic he was, he set aside the physical need to sleep for work matters.

Within ten minutes of walking in his front door, he was on the phone. While talking, he was going through a stack of mail and sorting paper at the same time. This frenzy of talking and sorting went on for a number of hours, as he made various phone calls, spoke in various languages and went about organizing the huge stack of paperwork that had piled up. Amidst this, he made the discovery that Budd had drained his refrigerator and liquor cabinet of anything containing alcohol and that Elle had left a pile of smoked cigarettes on his coffee table. Bill knew only Elle would have done that and he was instantly pissed off at her. And, what irritated him more was that Nikishi had failed to notice this mess. He spent five minutes trying to rub off the nicotine stains on the fine wood, before cursing loudly and giving up on it for the moment.

Nothing quite like coming home.

Finally, five hours later, he set about to unpacking. Once that was partially finished he collapsed into bed in much the same fashion Beatrix had done, not even bothering to change...which was something of an oddity for Bill.

He was awakened the next morning by the phone. He had a very strong urge to chuck the phone at the wall, but decided it best to just answer it. After glancing at the clock, 9:32am, he was glad to have been awakened. It was far too late to be sleeping.

By noontime, Bill had called each of the Vipers and informed them to be at his place at 2pm for a 'mandatory meeting.' They all knew not to mess around when he titled an occasion in such a manner.

Making sure everything was in order, and back to "Bill standard" cleanliness, he lovingly brandished his Hanzo sword as he waited for the rest of the Viper's to show up for the summons.

By two o'clock in the afternoon Bill's living room was arranged with a deadly array of Vipers. Oddly enough every one had been completely and utterly mute as each arrived. Each Viper was now sitting in their own spot in the living room, no one that close to the other, nearly visible electric bolts seemed to be the only thing bouncing off of any of them. Budd was settled on the rocking chair, legs stretched out before him, hands clasped in his lap, and a considerably placid expression on his face.

O-Ren sat across, near Vernita in a plush recliner chair. Her face was emotionless, which didn't do much to help the situation.

Beatrix was sitting on the couch, alone. That content, bubbly, and all out happy façade she had been wearing the past week was now replaced with something more bad ass and suiting to her character. Long arms were stretched over the back of the couch and her body was slouched comfortably. She could feel their eyes, each and every one staring at her, as if she had three fucking heads. She wanted to pluck each and every eye out but she restrained herself. She wanted them to get on her case, ask her questions, and mock her because she knew that they all knew about the past week. She hated the silence. The eerie and uncomfortable silence was only worse because the second the wrong thing was said, daggers would fly.

The tension was so thick in the room that it was almost visible.

Elle Driver was sitting in the recliner nearest to the rocking chair Budd was currently slouched in. The blonde's long legs were draped over one another in her typical sexy but deadly fashion. Her lips were turned down in a sharp frown. Bill had been rather vicious to her the moment she arrived and that only set her into a further bad mood. She'd stolen a few glares in Beatrix's direction, but her fellow blonde looked like she was about to rip somebody's fucking throat out, and Elle respected Beatrix enough to not mess with that....at least not at the moment. She had been told by Budd, of all shitty people, that Bill and Beatrix had taken off to Paris for a week. Well, how fucking romantic....assholes...just picking up and leaving like that...must be nice. She didn't even want to dwell on the sorts of things they most likely had done there.......it would only cause her to go on a bloody murdering spree...and she had to save that for another time.

Vernita, who was seated across from O-Ren, in the small two person couch, stared darkly at the nearest window. Her muscular arms were wrapped around sides of the couch, revealed by the blank tank top she was currently sporting. This was the first time she'd seen Beatrix since they had nearly killed each other. Of course, Beatrix had started the whole thing...tried to fucking kill her. And who got put on suspension? Her. And who got to go romp around in Paris with the pimp daddy war bucks Bill? Beatrix. How fucked up was that? Well, fuck the bitch anyways. Vernita hid a smile. She had her own reasons to be happy, her "suspension", which turned into more of a vacation had gone quite well.....very well in fact...

"So wonderful to see all of your smiling and happy faces." Bill spoke up in a sarcastic tone from where he was standing, in front of the patio doors. His Hanzo sword was slung over his shoulder, in it's scabbard of course, his other hand in the pocket of his black slacks as he stood there surveying his group of employees. He was more than aware of the rather murderous vibes in the room, but he was very good at ignoring that factor and moving on with things that were far more important than petty personal issues. He looked at each of them in turn, with a serious expression, and then began a slow walk through the middle of the arranged chairs.

"As you all know....this particular location has been my choice of home and headquarters for almost ten years now. It has been an ideal locale and I must say I rather like it, but...certain..events of late, have caused me to make the decision to move our operation to a new location." He let that sink in as he swung his sword onto the other shoulder, "I have picked this new location, but...for security reasons, I will keep that to myself for the time being. If things go as I have planned them, we will be ready to move on in about six weeks time." He stopped, looking at them again, very poignantly, "I expect each and every one of you to accommodate this move with transfers of your own personal homes to stations near my new choice of operations. I will let you know as soon as I feel it is necessary exactly where this will be." Thus far, Bill had remained extremely businesslike and had favored Beatrix with the same cool look as the others.

"Goddamnit," was the first word out of any one's mouth since the mandatory meeting began, beside Bill's. This word came from Budd who was now leaning forward with arms resting on his thighs. He elaborated quickly by licking his lips, "Of all the times to change our location." It would appear Budd swayed either way on the whole change of locale. "But, hell, if movin' means I don't have to worry about someone sticking a gun up my ass I'm all for it."

"Not that we needed that…lovely…picture in our heads," began the docile and eerily calm half breed from her corner of the room, those hard stone brown eyes flickering on Budd. "I abide to the idea." For any of the Vipers packing up and moving to somewhere they weren't even sure of was a shitty hassle, but if it was for safety reasons, which it usually was, it was hard to disobey that order.

Beatrix decided not to voice her opinion as of yet. She knew if she said a word someone may take it wrongly and she didn't want that. Actually she preferred to remain completely and utterly silent as her own silence was helping her mentally as well as physically put herself together. Her lack of sleep and early training in the morning put her mood on a thin rope that could break. She nonchalantly slipped arms from the couch and crossed them over her chest, void blue eyes settled on Bill.

Bill wasn't expecting a huge mass of cries and whines over his decision to move. He knew those who worked for him were used to a lifestyle that wasn't exactly built on stability. He also knew that they knew better than to argue with him on a decision he'd already made. But, he wasn't a complete ass, he at least wanted to inform them in advance and in an open discussion sort of way. Most of all, they were all aware of the security risks of their profession and moving was just as expected as a false identity....or a few of them for that matter.

Vernita's flinty gaze was now locked onto Bill, but she remained wisely neutral. She wasn't too happy about this decision, especially with what had just happened on her vacation...unless of course they were moving operations to...oh perhaps...the Bay Area of California. But, she wasn't going to announce her good news to anybody. Unlike...some other people here, she preferred to keep a lower profile when it came to personal matters. Then again, Vernita could be just a little disillusioned with herself.

Elle sat silently with her lips pursed. Honestly, she didn't' care much either way about this whole move thing....as long as Bill was there. She would move anywhere Bill would, and that was pretty much all Elle gave a damn about.

Bill glanced around the room, ignoring Budd's little objection. Overall, everyone seemed fine with the idea and he was happy that it was so. He raised his brows, "Very well, than that's that...," he then sat down on the couch next to Beatrix, Hanzo sword still in hand. He sat close to her, but not too close. He continued to eye those in the room, "I'm going to need some help packing up and such....I'll let each of you know what I need as far as help goes. But, my goal is six weeks....I think that's perfectly obtainable." He leaned back into the couch, a small contented smile on his face.

"How was Paris Bill?" Elle suddenly cooed. Everyone turned to look at her, the question so randomly thrown in. Then again, such behavior was not exactly rare when it came to Elle.

"Paris was wonderful," Bill replied, not missing a beat, but his look turned cold, "Although..Miss Driver, I don't recall calling this meeting for 'Let's Share What We Did Last Week' time now did I?"

Elle's gaze dropped to the ground, "No Bill," she said in a humbled voice.

"Exactly," Bill replied with assertion, always one to put a swift and efficient end to things.

"When will you let us know where the hell we're moving to?" Vernita piped up, changing the subject back to the matter at hand.

"Not sure," Bill responded, glad to be back on topic, "Probably about a month..."

"Alright...." Vernita said, seemingly ok with this, "As long as we aren't moving to fucking Maine...I hate that place." Vernita had had a distinct hatred for the state of Maine ever since she'd had an assignment there awhile back. Who knew what had had happened there...but she certainly didn't seem to like the place all that much anymore..

"We aren't moving to fucking Maine," Bill assured her with a smirk, "Bob would have a aneurism if we ended up that close to his precious CPA." He considered this, "I'd probably end up having to kill him anyways...too much competition in one area..." Knowing Bill and his sense of style, it was likely that wherever they ended up would most likely remain somewhere near the West Coast or perhaps even further south than Mexico. Beyond that, it was a difficult guess.

This small bit of banter had eased some of the tension within the room, but it was still far from comfortable.

"We should kill Bob," all eyes switched from Bill to O-Ren, who was sitting laid back in her chair, a dainty leg crossed over the other, and hands folded in her lap. She was clad in a pair of black leather pants and a dark blue sweater with a v-neck. Her façade was as cold as a statue made of ice.

"Agreed," Beatrix said with a vigorous nod of her pretty blonde head, which was up in a casual pony tail at the moment.

Budd chuckled from across the room. His expression was stoic and classic Budd as he had gotten over the idea of moving. He was just a man that didn't adapt well to change in his own personal life. Which was a surprise considering, the profession he led……but he didn't choose his profession, now did he? "Shit, you two musta really loved Bob."

"Hardly," snapped O-Ren not finding the sarcasm all that funny. Cold brown eyes trailed over to Bill and then across to Beatrix. Ever since their tirade with Bob the relationship between the half breed and the blonde warrior had become complicated. Within those few months of 'living' or 'putting up' with one another O-Ren lost a great deal of respect towards Beatrix. O-Ren was a typical stuck up bitch at times and she thought very highly of herself, thus she thought very lowly of Beatrix. When Beatrix acted so immaturely at Bob's this only fumed O-Ren's assumptions of Beatrix. In conclusion, O-Ren didn't think Beatrix to be as good or even close to stature as herself when it came to being a warrior and she would continue ridiculing this. It would be a long time and an immense challenge on Beatrix's part to gain back that respect.

"Bob and love don't fit in the same sentence," Beatrix assured Budd with a tight smile. She was hardly being as rude as O-Ren and wanted to keep it that way.

Budd made an 'ahh' sound and settled back in his chair. "I see. It's much easier to put Bill and love in the same sentence."

"Precisely," Beatrix clarified coolly.

Bill laughed, taking all of this in stride, "Of course it is, I'm far more lovable...I mean….just look at me…."

Elle snorted, and rolled her eye....which was rather ironic coming from her.

Bill leaned back, wrapping an arm around the back of the couch behind Beatrix's shoulders, "Bob's a cocksucker...no doubt about it, but I'm not going to have him killed unless I have a real reason for it." Obviously Bill didn't see that attempt on his life a few weeks ago as much of a reason, since Bob has simply been 'doing his job'. At any rate, Clarice had paid for that one. "But," he continued, "…believe me, if the opportunity ever arises...I will be more than happy to rid myself of that competition."

Vernita had been watching the little exchange between O-Ren and Beatrix very closely. She remembered, all those months back, when she'd been upset about O-Ren's treatment of her then.."friend." Now, she was only more than happy to watch O-Ren make cool mincemeat of Beatrix.

Bill, on the other hand, did not appreciate it. And after his chuckling little moment about Bob, he looked directly over at O-Ren with an intense glare. The two of them locked cool gazes for a moment. Then Bill hissed a long string of Cantonese in O-Ren's direction, that very roughly translated said something along the lines of: "Don't fuck with me O-Ren Ishii, if you do, you're going to be very sorry..." With that, he turned away from the half breed with a dismissive frown. Elle raised her eyebrow, lips forming an "ohhhhh," expression. Bill didn't miss that either and sent Elle a glare that could have cracked glass. Elle slouched back into her chair.

Bill then returned to business, "I have a pile of assignments just waiting for bloody conclusions. I'll be handing those out shortly. It's going to be a little hectic, balancing assignments with moving, but I think if I space things out....we should be able to pull it off." His expression turned even more serious, "Right now...I need full cooperation from everybody. This is essential...and I will not be very pleased if there are matters that get in the way." He paused for effect, "Are we clear on that?"

There were silent nods all around.

Budd gave a firm slap to his thigh to break the silence that lingered after the round of nods. "I say we order a pizza," he said quite suddenly and rather enthusiastically. Budd wasn't one for uncomfortable silences, he was well aware of the tension in the room, and he was hungry.

"Why?" O-Ren asked slowly. She held a similar façade from earlier but had melted down due to Bill's rash lashing of words. It didn't take much to daunt the half breed, which helped with her quick recovery.

"I heard somewhere that pizza helps."

"Helps with what?" O-Ren questioned again with a minor furrow of her brow.

"Helps with all the fucking shit all you seem to want to get out," Budd replied with a small growl in the back of his throat. As stated before Budd far from agreed with any of the actions of his comrades on various matters and he was only trying to help.

"That sounds cool," Beatrix piped up. "We can have an old fashioned food fight." She decided it was best to support Budd in his failing attempts to try and get everyone in 'nicer' moods.

Bill was all for this idea, even if he didn't like pizza all that much. "If there's going to be a food fight, please do it out on the back patio..," he said this with a smirk that was serious enough to get the point across.

The pizza ordering seemed to break the mood into something a little more casual. Bill had said pretty much all he'd wanted to say for the moment and he didn't want to push things when they were already so tense.

Bill remained on the couch as Budd got up to order the pizza...it being his idea and all. Bill's arm was now around Beatrix's shoulders and he looked to be in a good enough mood. Elle had gotten up to disappear outside, most likely to smoke. Vernita had immersed herself in a magazine, more just out of something to do that didn't involve talking to people. Everybody remained fairly amiable as they waited for the pizzas to show up, which only took about thirty minutes this time. Once the food arrived, Budd set the boxes out on the bar and everybody took their pick.

"Budd, why the fuck did you order vegetarian?" Elle looked revolted as she hovered over the veggie pizza, two large greasy meat lover slices on her plate.

"I like it," Vernita replied seriously.

"Since when?" Elle sneered.

Vernita ignored Elle and set about to load up her plate.

Bill had been hovering away from the rest, not all that interested in grabbing the first slice of pizza. He was watching his employees with a furrowed brow....his thoughts at the moment remained a mystery.

Beatrix had gotten up to take her pick on the pizza. She was relatively hungry as she filled her plate with a slice of extra cheese and a meat lover. She was on the opposite side of the bar as she filled up a tall glass of ice with soda. Soda went best with pizza.

Blue eyes calmly looked up at Elle and Vernita and shifted to the veggie pizza. Her slender brows narrowed suspiciously. "Maybe Vernita feels she needs to loose weight," she commented tartly with subtle humor in her tone.

O-Ren snickered as she extended an arm to take up a slice of plain pizza. Budd had been right, in a way the pizza was helping to settle the mood. Speaking of Budd, he was already sitting in a chair with an assorted array of pizza slices which he was half through with.

Vernita shot Beatrix a nasty snarl at her 'losing weight' comment. She had a snitty retort just waiting to throw in the blonde's direction, but looking at Bill, she decided to let it go.

Once everybody had taken their first helpings, Bill wandered over and picked out a plain piece of pizza and then sat back down on the couch, still looking deep in thought.

Elle was scarfing down her meat slices in such a manner that made one almost not want to eat anymore. "Shit....this is good," she mumbled between large bites. Vernita made a gagging face at Elle, but remained silent as she ate her far less fattening vegetarian pizza. Of course, O-Ren was the master of dainty eating....so much so, it annoyed the shit out of Vernita.

Nobody seemed to be picking at Beatrix too much so far. Maybe it was the close proximity of Bill, maybe it was her rather steely demeanor, whatever it was, nobody seemed to want to fuck around with her at the moment.

Bill eyed his brother, with a small smile, "Mrm...Budd....I've got a present for you....from Paris...although Beatrix picked it out."

Elle looked up at this, suddenly paying attention.

"You'll like it Budd," Bill continued, his smirk widening, "It's very, very small and fuzzy...probably will remind you of your d-"

"Whoa hey!" Elle interjected, "I'm eating!"

Vernita made a face, "Augh...thank you Elle..."

Bill laughed, giving Budd a brotherly joking look before picking up his slice of pizza.

Budd joined in with a chuckle of his own, as he pushed away his empty plate of crumbs. "So, Bea what twisted…fuzzy…thing did you pick out for me?"

Beatrix swallowed her mouth full of pizza and wiped a napkin across her lips before replying casually, "A bear."

"A bear?" Budd gave her a questionable look.

"We went to some weird ass museum that showed dead stuffed animals and the bear we got you is a miniature statue of one of the life sized bears," she explained slowly and accurately. She may have been steely, but she was smoothing out.

Budd formed his lips into an 'oh' as he was unsure whether he was happy about his 'present' and got up to grab himself another slice of pizza.

"Why didn't you get the rest of us gifts?" O-Ren asked from her silent corner of the room. Her cold gaze shifted to Bill but slid off to Beatrix.

"Because we don't like you," the tall blonde replied matter-of-factly. She lifted up her half eaten pizza slice and took another bite. Bill had not mentioned the gift of Budd's in front of everybody by accident; he rarely did much by accident. He watched with a small smirk as Beatrix so aptly stated their reason for not getting anybody else anything.

"Oh, Bea, that's not nice," Budd scowled at the blonde in a teasing and friendly manner from his spot at the bar where he was now deciding between a plain slice and a meat slice. It was hard to miss the faint twinkle in his eyes from knowing he got a present and the rest didn't, but he didn't gloat about it.

Beatrix swallowed and side glanced to Budd. "I never said I was a nice person."

"Besides," Bill added, pushing his empty plate onto the coffee table, "None of you would appreciate anything anyways...."

Vernita just raised her brows, as if to say 'yeah, your probably right.' As if she cared about some shitty souvenir anyways.

Elle, who was still stuffing her face, spoke up, "I've always wanted one of those mini Eiffel Towers...."

"We didn't' go to the Eiffel Tower," Bill replied with a dark look, "And, knowing you, you'd probably use it to stab somebody."

"Probably," Elle conceded with a shrug, going back to her pizza.

Nobody had decided to contradict Beatrix on her 'not a nice person' comment. And they went on eating in relatively friendly terms for a few more minutes. Then, Bill stood and purposefully walked down the hallway, only to return a moment later with a handful of those damn familiar manila folders in his hands. "Assignment time," he said in a sarcastically chipper tone.

Making the rounds around the living room, Bill dolled out the folders, each one designated by a quick scrawl of initials on a post it note attached to the front. Elle received two folders, Vernita only one. O-Ren was given two folders as well and Budd was handed one folder. Budd opened up his folder and began to skim the contents casually. "Lookie here, I get to work with O-Ren," Budd chuckled to himself finding this funny for some reason.

"Goodie," O-Ren replied acidly and crossed a long leg over the other with her folders on her lap. She'd review the contents later.

An efficient and blunt curse came from Beatrix's corner of the room. She had obviously reviewed the contents in her set of folders and wasn't exactly pleased by her findings. Shortly after Beatrix's curse, another curse came from Elle's side of the room. Hard blue eyes met with that single blue eye, and both as if on cue, shot to Bill.

Bill threw his hands up, "Sorry ladies, just the way the dice rolls sometimes."

Elle, picked up her folders and slapped them back into her lap, "Fuck...fuck...fuck....fuck...."

"Let me guess, not too happy about that one Elle?" Vernita quipped from her corner, having peered into her own folder.

"Fuck...no...shut up," she glared in Beatrix's direction once again, but quickly turned the glare back onto Bill, who was ignoring the three glaring blue eyes rather well for the moment. He leaned nonchalantly on the bar, facing all of them, "That's just the first round....I have another stack ready to go once those are finished." He seemed very pleased to have so much work lined up, which of course was understandable. Business meant money. "So, the sooner those are finished...the sooner you can move on to the others."

"Alright, I think I can take a hint Bill," Vernita scowled as she stood up and gathered her jacket and small handbag, "I'm out....I'll call you when I'm done with this shit." She cast a glance around the room and headed for the door.

"Of course you will," Bill replied, giving her a cool glance as she left.

Elle still seemed put out over her assignment with Beatrix, and she stuffed the papers back into the folder violently, looking as if she was going to mix up the paperwork for her two assignments in the process. "Fuck," she added one more time.

Elle had cursed so many times Beatrix didn't feel she needed to add in a few more. "I'm off," Budd said after he finished looking over and putting away his paperwork. He found the amount of curse words said in that past five seconds highly amusing, but he wasn't going to comment on it. He rose to his feet and began a slow walk across the room. He stopped in front of the half breed. "Come on O-Ren, let's go coordinate our schedules so we can get this shit over with." O-Ren complied with little need to detest to Budd's words and got up. She began a silent exchange of words with Bill as she followed behind Budd. This silent exchange didn't seem to fair on O-Ren's side, as she left with a hung head.

The two tall blonde's remained. Beatrix wasn't wearing a happy face. "Suppose we should follow suit and coordinate our schedules, hm Elle?"

"Oh yes," Elle cooed, "Let's do that Bea....let me just get my little black book...." she snatched up her massive purse and began shoveling through it. It was often hard to tell if Elle was just being flat out sarcastic or she really was that kooky....probably a combination of both.

Bill stood off to the side with his arms folded over his chest. He didn't look particularly happy either, but, on the other hand, he didn't really give a shit if anybody was happy or not. He paid all of them extremely well, he expected compliance. In the end, despite all of the bitching and moaning, he knew they'd all do their jobs. He'd been doing this sort of thing long enough; he'd pretty much seen it all.

Elle actually did appear to own, a 'Little Black Book.' She flipped it open viciously, "Ok Bea...when shall we do this thing....where is it? Eh...Seattle….oh boy, better pack my fucking rain coat..."

With a scowl, Bill left the room, leaving the two of them to decide on their own. If he heard anything break or any bloodthirsty screaming he'd come back, but even then...he wasn't too sure.

Beatrix had been staring at Elle as if hypnotized and hadn't even noticed Bill had left the room. She blinked hard, coming out of her forced reverie. "Oh, I'm sorry what was that?" She sat up with arms at her sides. "You own a little black book?" Beatrix wasn't sure if this was funny or fucking scary.

She shifted in her seat. "Would you excuse me while I go have a heart attack?" The funnier thing was Beatrix was asking all of this with a perfectly straight face. She let the moment pass and switched to something a little more serious…but…she could feel her heart hurting just a little. "I'm open all week but the sooner the better."

Elle chewed on her lip, peering at the other blonde from under some wild strands of hair, "You can go ahead and have the heart attack right here if you want Bea..," her eye flashed, "I might even be able to help you out on that one...." She tossed the black book onto the coffee table, "Of course I own a fucking black book!" she hissed, "Fine...let's say...Tuesday..." It currently being Sunday, "I have prior plans for tomorrow..." Who knew what those plans where, when it came to Elle, there were many strange unknowns. Nobody even really knew that much about Elle, save for Bill, who didn't say anything about her to anyone else. The only things known about Elle were: that she lived alone, she liked reptiles...she had many of them, she liked muscle cars and she loved violence. Beyond that, she was something of a mystery. There seemed to be a clear understanding that her origins were between her and Bill alone. But either way, Bill had her wrapped around his pinky finger.

Elle stuffed her black book back into her purse, "It's an early flight...so we can get this shit done in a day easily..." She stood, slinging the massive purse over her shoulder, "I'll pick you up at that craphouse apartment of yours.." she headed for the door, "BYE BILL!" She called loudly and with a great dose of annoying girlishness in her voice, as she clomped out and slammed the door behind her.

The second Elle was out the door, Beatrix was down the hall. It was easy to find Bill; he was in his bedroom unpacking. A minor note was taken that she still had been neglecting to unpack. She'd make sure she had that done before she left on Tuesday.

The tall blonde's expression was hard to read as she approached Bill, grabbed his hand not forcefully but not gingerly either, and pressed it to her chest. No, not that part of her chest, her heart. "Quick, tell me if I'm having a heart attack."

Bill stared at the tall blonde for a long moment, his expression so serious it was almost comical, "You're not having a heart attack Kiddo," he stated assuredly after a second or two, his hand still pressed firmly over her heart, where he could feel it beating at a very normal rate, if not a little faster than normal. But there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that she was not having a heart attack. His lip twisted up into a smirk, "And exactly...why in the hell...are you thinking you are having a heart attack?"

She didn't move, she liked Bill's hand there, but her façade was flustered. "Elle has a little black book," Beatrix let that sink in a second before adding matter-of-factly. "And, I'm still a live and my ego is still in tact. I mean…fuck…I don't think we've gotten through a group meeting like that in a long time. That…that…is shocking. Those are the reasons I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Bill's eyebrow's shot up, "Elle has....a.....little black book?" He looked a little thrown by this. "Oh god...." But the expression melted into a smile that rang of that familiar fondness that was reserved only for Beatrix, "Of course you're intact...." Actually, he was rather shocked himself that everything had gone rather decently. "Well," he chuckled, "on a personal note...I'm glad that not only are you still intact, but your ego is still intact and that you are indeed not having a heart attack....because any combination of the above would make me quite sad."

Beatrix let her momentary illusion of being shocked and thrown back dissipate into something softer. She put on an almost sympathetic smile. "The last thing I would ever want to do is make you sad," she cooed gently and leaned in to give him a quick kiss before recoiling. "But unless a sedative was put into that pizza I will remain shocked and amazed for the next twenty four hours."

"I seriously considered it," Bill replied still smiling, face close to hers, "I simply didn't have enough time to get up, go into the back room, open my safe, dig through my little treasure trove of potions, find the one I have aptly titled "Neuter the Vipers", come back into the living room, and put an ample dose on all four pizza's and then sit back down....without being noticed." He raised an eyebrow, "Budd was simply too quick for me." He shook his head, "So....I suppose you're just going to have live with the shock and amazement for the next twenty-four hours."

"Goddamnit," Beatrix fiercely swore. "At least I won't have to work with Elle until Tuesday, which should give me sufficient time to let the shock and amazement wear off. Speaking of which," her eyes tapered on him. "What the fuck possessed you to send me on an assignment with Elle?" She wasn't that annoyed by it, or at least her voice wasn't turning so. The shock and amazement remained a prominent characteristic for the moment. "I asked you for an easy assignment when I got back. Going on an assignment with Elle, no matter how moronic the target may be, she will make hard…..because Elle is a fucking bitch to put up with in any situation."

"Hrm...yes...I did say that didn't I?" Bill put on a pensive look, "Well....you see, part of my job is keeping you on your toes." He widened his normally hooded eyes for a brief moment, "Just never know what you're going to get. Besides," he waved a dismissive hand, going back to a casual demeanor, "I know you can handle Elle....I promise," he picked up her hand, as if to further seal the deal, "...next time...will be an easy solo assignment. There was really no way of getting around this one. It definitely requires two people and all of the other assignments were better suited for the others...that left...Elle and yourself..."

It was only with Beatrix that Bill would not only make efforts to curtail things to her preference, but also take the time to explain himself. It was a true sign that he was completely taken with her. "I don't always trust Elle," he confessed, "And....there are times. Where I feel better if somebody else was with her....I trust you Kiddo, more than anybody.....so...it's just going to have to this way this time." He offered her an imploring smile, as if explaining himself had not been enough.

Bill hardly ever explained himself, so she did appreciate this bit even it was on business terms and far from personal. She slowly turned her head and gave him a side ways glance, as if scrutinizing his words. "Alright but next time," she pointed a finger at his chest to dramatize the effect. "Don't bother giving me an easy assignment, because after working with Elle, I'll be back in the game for anything." She casually moved away from him and collapsed on the edge of the bed.

"And get that look off your face," she demanded in a cool tone, in reference to that imploring smile. Bea wasn't going to tell him that when Bill tried begging it looked stupid as it did frightening.

"What look?" He said with just as badly feigned 'innocence', as he really poured on that that expression that Beatrix seemed to find both stupid and frightening. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he continued, as he purposefully crowded her personal space in one smooth slide onto the bed next to her.

"Ohhhhhh...you mean this look," with her attention momentarily distracted to his facial expression, which had only grown a little more wicked, he capitalized on this and with extremely scary quickness reached out attacked her side, right along her ribcage, where he knew she was somewhat ticklish. Bill, underneath the entire frowning, sadistic exterior, did have a playful side, which rarely had a chance to come out. He'd never had children to play with and most of the women he'd been with weren't really the "innocently" playful sort, so he'd been somewhat playfully repressed his whole life. Only with Beatrix, had that side of him really started to express itself.

He knew Beatrix was a loose cannon at times, and took his chance that she might do him some serious damage, but he was willing to take that risk.

Beatrix began to squirm. She hated being tickled because it brought out her girly side and she was far from girly. She was a woman and a deadly one at that. Bill, knowing he scored on a very ticklish area began to pursue and Beatrix began giggling. He wasn't holding her down, so before the tall blonde could display anymore of her childishness, she sprang up to her feet and away from him.

She gave him a typical look as she took in a deep breath. "I'm leaving," she stated quickly but it was hard to miss the sparkle in those blue eyes. "I may stop by tomorrow night before I leave, but don't count on it." This wasn't because she didn't want to see him but she had a lot of shit to do before Tuesday. But before leaving, she planted a very quick and all out timid kiss to his cheek, just incase he tried to tickle her again…..but he wasn't going to, as she was out the door in a matter of seconds.