Anna sighed, sitting down at the table with a carton of noodles cupped between her hands. The steam rising from the container's open lid smelled like heaven. "I could definitely get used to this," she said wistfully.

"I assume you mean the food and not the threat of death looming overhead," Doc said as he finished stitching up Church's side. It was just the three of them in the kitchen. Paladin was cleaning his weapons in the living room and Fuse was completely jacked in, doing...something.

Church seemed amused, though it was hard to tell with her sometimes. "It's food."

Anna rolled her eyes. "I don't know what the Vory pays you, but if you get ramen with actual meat in it all the time, sign me the frag up." She pulled apart her chopsticks and started to eat. She felt pretty damn good that they'd survived so far. Having a safe place to stay and an excellent meal made life seem downright aces.

Doc dressed the wound with ease, and then nodded to Church. "Take good care of it," he said. "I'll take another look when we meet up again."

Anna looked up from her food. "Church, are you headed out?" she asked. There was a definite pang of anxiety through her body at the prospect, but she knew Church probably had a lot of other things to take care of.

"I am," Church said as she buttoned up her shirt. With the new dressing, it was hard to even see the bandage. "I need to see to things at home. The sovetnik would also like a word with me."

"Is he mad?" The mage was definitely worried now.

The Russian picked up her jacket. "Most likely."

When she saw Anna's expression, Church shrugged. "Whatever evil he has in mind will not touch you, I promise. If you need me, call. If I do not answer right away, I am with the sovetnik or attending to another important matter, but I will get back to you as quickly as possible."

Anna nodded, trying not to fixate on the fact that the cleaner could be in trouble. "I'm sure I'll be okay. The four of us can hold our own," she said.

Church gave her a brief, barely there smile. "You can. That was shown to me as much as to Mercy." She gave the dwarf a nod. "I owe you, Doc."

"I know you're good for it," the dwarf said as he started to wash up in the sink. "Goodnight, Church. Try to get some rest and go easy on the sutures."

"No promises," the Russian said. She looked back at Anna. "Be safe."

Once the Russian was out of the house, Anna heard the creak of the couch in the living room. Paladin eased his chromed bulk up out of the seat and stepped into the kitchen. "Everything okay?"

"Other than Church catching Antonov aggro, yeah," Anna said with a sigh.

Paladin shrugged a little. "I'm sure she'll be fine. He's a vicious son of a bitch, but Church is a fragging terminator and a half."

Doc chuckled. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about her."

"Credit where credit is due," the street sammy said as he sat down at the table. "The Ice Maiden of Moscow has earned it."

Anna sighed. "I know you don't like her, Paladin, but she's saved my life more than once."

Paladin studied her for a long moment, expression serious. "Just be careful, Gemini," he said finally. "People like Church don't have happy ends. Stand too close, and you might draw the spade with her."

"Do you know much about the Vory?" Anna asked curiously. For all her time at Ikon, she'd spent most of it keeping her head down. Times like this made her curious.

"Enough to say I don't like their style of doing business. They've elevated I don't give a frag about human life to an artform beyond compare. Dealing with them is like free-swimming with great white sharks. They smile real nice, but those teeth aren't there to be friendly." He leaned back in his seat.

Doc shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, they're awful. Cry me a fraggin' river. Syndicates are just the more honest version of corps."

"Speaking of corps, what's the deal with this Tlaloc bake-brain?" Paladin asked, studying Anna. He was clearly trying to be non-threatening with the question, judging by his softer tone. "Cylons?"

"Mercy said he's tied to Aztechnology, or at least he used to be," Anna said. She knew she needed to be careful here. She couldn't afford to lose her protection, at least not now. "He came to Seattle with a team of nasties, led by a mage who goes by Kier. She's the woman who attacked me."

Paladin paused for a moment and then took a deep breath. "Look, Gemini, if you want my help, trust me. Why are they after you?"

"I don't know for certain, not the real reason," Anna said. She felt something inside of her shift as the spirit stirred. "Tlaloc might be able to shed some light on that." She looked at Paladin. "They're into some seriously bad magic. If you want to bounce, I understand. It's not a pretty picture."

"I'm not going to bail on you, Gemini," Paladin said firmly. "How many of them are there?"

Anna found herself insanely grateful for her team. Paladin apparently did have a soft spot for hard luck cases. "From what Mercy said, the team was Kier, a big cybered bruiser named Xiuhcoatl, and two apprentices: Tlaloc and Nenetl. Tlaloc is a combat mage and Nenetl specializes in mind magic. Both are incredibly dangerous."

Paladin gave her a smile. "So are we. We'll be alright."

Doc pulled over his own carton of ramen after hopping up into a seat at the table. "Or we'll be dead, and then who cares?" the dwarf said cheerfully.

"You're a bucket of rainbows, Doc," Paladin said, shaking his head.

"Thanks, Paladin," Anna said, giving him a small smile. She couldn't bring herself to buy the optimism yet, but hearing it was reassuring all the same. He knew better than her, didn't he? Paladin was a veteran of the shadows, though he'd spent longer with Knights Errant. Still, a lifetime in the gutter had taught her to be...realistic.

Fuse jacked out and came over, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Welp, it's a dump even by Redmond standards, but there's some spiffy new camera coverage and a Matrix presence with so much ICe on it that Santa and his reindeer are probably frozen solid in it somewhere. I did a little look-see, but if I poke that, my brain will be beyond extra crispy."

Paladin scowled. "You saying you can't do it, kid?"

"Look, Gemini's a stone-cold fox, but I have an allergy to flatlining," Fuse said, starting to fidget when Paladin glared. "Got hooked on this oxygen drek when I was real little, and it's some primo jazz. I ain't giving it up if I can avoid it."

"No hard feelings, Fuse," Anna said with a small smile. "I haven't got the nuyen to make it worthwhile anyway."

"Hey, I'm not out of this crazy caper yet," Fuse promised. "I'm just going to need a back door." He set a little black chip connected to a set of wires down in front of them. "This here is exactly that. Exploit in splice form. Doc'll know where it needs to go."

Doc frowned thoughtfully. "We'll need to be inside to do that."

"You got any more of that sexy illusion magic, Gemini?" Fuse asked. "Maybe distract the sensors or whatever? Show 'em a little leg?"

Anna shook her head, but she was more amused than despairing. "Before or after I join the crispy critter club? That combat mage almost had me for lunch last time I ran into him."

"Aww, c'mon. No tricks?" Fuse said, sitting down at the table. He drummed his fingers on the table with perpetual energy.

"I didn't say that," Anna said. "I've got a get out of jail free card, but I don't think I could hit Paladin, Doc, Church, and myself with it. Invisibility is more of a one-target sort of thing."

Paladin looked impressed. "Quite the trick."

Anna smiled a little. "Girl's best friend in Redmond. The hard part is the amount of concentration it requires and how bad the drain is." She wasn't about to admit that the last time she'd attempted it, she'd knocked herself unconscious. Granted, that was when she was testing her own limits in the safety of her own lodge.

"Well, if you can cast invisibility on yourself, the cylons aren't as likely to hit you," Doc said reasonably. "As for the rest of the team going in...Church and I are pretty sneaky. Paladin should probably stay and guard Fuse."

The former security officer frowned. "I should go in. Gemini will need all the protection she can get."

"She'll have Church. Are you saying our resident terminator isn't up to the task?" the dwarf said with amusement, cybernetic eyes studying Paladin. "I bet she'd be thrilled to hear the critique."

"I'm saying I don't trust her with it."

"I do," Anna said firmly.

Paladin's frown became a scowl. "She's aces at de-rezzing people, yeah. Protecting them? Not so much."

On this particular matter, Anna didn't much feel like budging. Instead of digging in her heels, though, she changed tack and hit him with the full effect of her crystal blue eyes. "Please, Paladin. I need Church's help, but I need yours too. You can't help me if you're tearing each other's throats out."

He sighed, but his resolve seemed to soften. "And if you're wrong?"

"We run the hell away," Anna promised.

Paladin shook his head slightly. "Fine. I hope she appreciates you seeing all this good in her," he said. "Not that I'd believe it with her type."

"I'd be careful throwing around assumptions. Liable to put an eye out. You probably know the least about her, out of everyone in the room," Doc grunted. "Church is dependable. Brutal sometimes, yeah, but so is every shadowrunner under the right circumstances. Besides, she seems to like Gemini well enough. Church isn't about to leave our mage in the lurch. That's what dependable means."

"And if they try to buy her off?" Fuse said.

Doc just chuckled. Anna was on the same wavelength. She'd seen a lot of low-lifes flush with cash try to bargain with Church to avoid a curb-stomping. Not once had they ever earned themselves anything but a face full of cement. Granted, that was on behalf of the Vory. Anna doubted Church's loyalty to her was that deep.

Paladin pushed away from the table. "You mentioned something about a meet somewhere, Gemini?"

Anna nodded. "Tonight at Nina's Teahouse near Ikon. It's not related to this job, though. Just some private business."

Paladin raised an eyebrow. "That's...quite the place."

"Quite the ladies," Fuse said with a grin. "Well, and gents."

"A friend runs it. She wanted to do some catching up and she's pretty nocturnal," Anna explained. It wasn't really a lie, just a gloss over the nature of the conversation to be had. It wasn't really their business anyway.

"I'll give you a lift. If these cylons are a problem for you, you shouldn't be without backup," Paladin said.

"Or I could," Fuse said with far more eagerness.

"Kid, you might be a hotshot decker, but you couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag," Doc said with a grin.

Anna smiled a little at that, before eating the last of her ramen. Then she stood up, grabbing for her jacket as she moved to throw her styrofoam food container into the garbage. "You can always visit on your own time, Fuse," she said lightly.

"Fair enough," the ork said. "Stay safe out there, Gemini."

Doc chuckled. "No love for Paladin?"

The ork shrugged. "He can take a bullet or two. Mages are delicate."

Paladin shook his head slightly as he levered himself up and grabbed his armored jacket. "We should probably get you some armor at some point, Gemini," he said. "Fuse is right."

"I know. It's just so heavy and hard to move in," Anna said, heading for the door with Paladin at her heels. "Usually I just disappear. Haven't been shot so far."

"Still," the street sammy said, slinging his sword over one shoulder. His other weapon, a Colt Manhunter, was under his jacket. It was the kind of gun that could mess someone up bad. He led the way out to his car, which looked suspiciously like a decommissioned cop car, packed with acceleration and good handling at high speeds.

Anna sighed. "Give me a little credit. I can get myself out of snags sometimes, you know."

Paladin gave her a small smile. "So I shouldn't get your door for you?"

"Chivalry's all well and good, but I'm serious," the mage said as she turned to look at him. "I'm part of the team, just like Church. I don't see you catching the door for her."

He studied her for a moment. "Point taken, Gemini," he said respectfully. "You did do a number on those Ancients."

"Damn right I did," Anna said, opening the door on her side of the car. She knew for a fact that she couldn't protect herself alone from a team like the one they were going head-to-head with, but she wasn't going to be useless either. "I deserve a sticker."

"So who's your friend?" Paladin asked once they were both in the car, starting the engine.

"Like I said, the owner," she explained. "Saying we go way back would be a bit much, but she and I do get along pretty well."

He nodded a little bit. "Nina's is certainly an institution. I take it that's how you know Church?"

"I know her from Ikon, not the Teahouse," Anna said, settling back in her seat as they drove. She doubted she would ever be able to convince Paladin that there was good in Church, but she hoped someday he would catch a clue. Then again, maybe she was being an optimist.

Church's smile when she made that call gave Anna the distinct impression that there was more to the Russian's story than what was immediately obvious, however much cynicism was probably warranted.

"You don't seem like the Ikon type. Or the Redmond type."

"That's weird, because it's the only home I know," Anna said. She raised an eyebrow as she studied him. "I see Knights Errant training is hard to get rid of. I feel like I should ask for a lawyer."

Paladin chuckled. "It is hard to break the habit. Still, I meant what I said."

"Ikon's not so bad. Kinda sleazy, but there's good people," the mage said with a shrug. "It's been pretty kind to me, all things considered. I had basically nothing when I was younger. Ikon, for all its bad, changed that."

She knew that Paladin was searching for a diplomatic way to carry the conversation forward. He changed tack. "And the magic?"

"You are majorly nosy," Anna said with a laugh. "My dad left me his drek. Amazing he could sling a spell given all the BTLs he hopped himself up on, but I managed to learn a little from him." She sighed a little. "He was pretty FUBAR by the end."

"I'm sorry."

Anna grimaced. "Don't be. He was a piece of drek. Anyway, you can drop me at Nina's."

"Comm me when you're done. I'll give you a ride back."

"You got it," the mage said. She wasn't dumb enough to go it alone. Not when she could easily be tracked. There was a difference between being self-confident and being suicidal. "By the way, it's your turn to dish now."

Paladin seemed amused. "So what do you want to know?"

"Let's start with why you're helping me."

It was his turn to shrug. "I try to lend a hand when I can. Plus, Doc's the one who installed my cyberware. I consider him a friend."

It was a reasonable answer as far as Anna was concerned. "After the Yak?"

Paladin grimaced. "I take it that particular story is still running around? Yeah. That hurt like a sonuvabitch, but I learned my lesson: don't try to save syndicate types. They're bad to the core."

"Not all of them," Anna said.

"Pretty optimistic for a Redmond girl," Paladin said with a small, wry grin.

"It's a special kind of stupid," she agreed.