Norah

Over the next few days, Norah and Lee engaged in a pranking war with each other. She had returned his favor of scaring her in the dark with making him coffee without a filter. Watching him spit and cough and spew coffee everywhere had been satisfying, and she was going to leave it at that, but then he had locked her keys in her car and spent over an hour watching her struggle to get them out before helping her after she threatened to take his bike to work. In return, she had tied knots in the sleeves of all his long sleeve shirts and his pants. The next day, she found all her clothes up in a tree, making her climb it in her pajamas in order to get them back down. She hid his cell phone. He put peanut butter on her cheeks in the middle of the night for Rupert to slobber off the next morning. She crept up on him fishing at the lake down the hill and shoved him into it. He removed all the laces from her shoes. She let the air out of his bike tires.

Now, she was wiping the bar at Dino's and looking up as the gang walked in. She saw Lee give her a look, and she shot him a glare back. Putting bleach in her shampoo bottle was a bit too far in her mind. The smirk on his face was so annoying. Because it hadn't been enough bleach, her hair had an orange look about it. She had scheduled a hair appointment for the next day to change it back, but she felt embarrassed when Dino had given her the raised brow questioning look when she had walked in earlier with as much of her hair stuffed under a ball cap as she could get.

"Nice 'do," Lee commented, sitting down in front of her. Toll snickered a little, as did Gunner. Yang gave her a once over but said nothing. Tool was smiling. Caesar was trying not to laugh. Barney was chuckling. She didn't see Barney much, and whenever she did, it was like he avoided her. He never met her eyes.

"Shut up," Norah shot at him. She handed out beers to them all (minus Gunner...he was having water), taking Lee's and dumping three quarters of it out before setting it in front of him.

"You don't scare me," he told her.

"Hey, don't waste merchandise," Dino chastised, catching her.

"He's paying for the whole thing," Norah insisted.

"I am?" Lee asked. They usually got their drinks on the house, so Norah could see his confusion.

"You are now," Norah answered.

"Did you do this to her?" Dino asked, gesturing to her hair.

"Yea," Lee answered, his proud smirk back. Dino snorted and shook his head.

"You had it coming then," he said, walking away.

"I think revoking his free beer tab for life might be the best consequence for that," Norah said loudly to Dino's back. He didn't reply.

"Now you're just being mean," Lee pointed out.

"Like giving me orange hair isn't?!" she exclaimed, pointing at it angrily.

"In all fairness, I didn't know it would go that color," Lee said.

"And just what color did you think it was gonna go?!" she exclaimed. He shrugged.

"Dude, that's like Hairstyle 101," Caesar told him. "Knowing what bleach does to certain hair colors is important." He looked back at everyone as they gave him a once over at this comment, his bald head shining from the lights. "What?"

"I can't believe she didn't shave your head in return," Gunner said to Lee. "Oh, wait..." Toll and Barney guffawed.

"Is that why you did it? You're jealous that I have a head of hair and you don't?" Norah asked him, crossing her arms. Lee snorted.

"No," he answered.

"Well, you crossed a line."

"Hey, you let the air out of my bike tires. That was pretty significant," he insisted.

"You can put air back in them!"

"You can dye your hair back!"

"Okay you two," Barney cut in, holding up his hands. "That's enough."

Norah caught his eyes briefly, and she picked up on something there, like he was hiding something from her, but he looked away again before she could see any further. He turned so that he was facing the rest of the bar, surveying what was going on.

"Hey, can we talk for a minute?" Gunner asked her, making her look at him.

"Sure."

She ignored the look Lee gave her as she went around the bar and walked with Gunner out front. It was fairly quiet in the bar currently, but Dino was a great boss who had some flexibility about him and didn't yell at her if she stepped away for a minute or two.

"What's up?" she asked when they were outside.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm doing better," Gunner explained.

"That's great, Gun," she said, smiling.

"I'm also gonna ask Victoria out," he went on, giving her a sheepish smile.

"Wonderful! She'll say yes. I'm sure of it."

"Should I talk to Toll about it? It is his sister, after all."

"You think that'll go over well?" she asked. He sighed, rubbing his head.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"It's your call," she told him. He nodded.

"You're right."

"I gotta get back, but thanks for the update. I'm happy for you," Norah said, patting his arm and smiling. He smiled back, and she walked through the door. She noticed Lee watching the door when she walked in, and she ignored him. She was still cooking up what she was going to do him for payback about her hair.

Yang

He watched Lee interact with Norah and recognized the same spark that he'd had with his wife, Aika, when they first met. He figured everyone else saw it too. They weren't exactly subtle. What was interesting was the look of disgruntlement on Toll's face as he watched them. Gunner no longer seemed fascinated by Norah, so Yang wondered what had happened there. Had he tried and struck out? No. Yang watched as Gunner pulled out his phone, texting someone. Gunner was into someone else. It was clear by the smile on his face as he pushed his fat thumbs over the keys. Yang didn't look away when Gunner noticed him watching. They looked at each other before Gunner gave a slight nod and looked away. Yang noticed he was drinking water. Perhaps he'd listened to Yang's explosive tirade after all.

"Yang a lang," Caesar said, reaching to poke his shoulder with his index finger. "What's going on in that head of yours? You look like you're thinking real hard on something."

"Nothing."

In fact, he was thinking about the time Aika had picked out a song on the jukebox of their favorite bar and started dancing like a crazy person. Her laugh had been infectious, and Yang had felt like nothing could destroy his happiness. It turned out that something could.

"We gotta get you a girl, man," Caesar went on, striking a serious nerve without realizing it. "Cure that lonely for a while."

"No," Yang said curtly.

"Guy then."

"No."

"I don't think I've ever seen you with a lady," Caesar said, unfazed. "Or anyone, on that note."

"Yea, where's that family you keep talking about?" Barney asked, eavesdropping. "The one you claim you need the extra money for all the time."

Yang's jaw tightened slightly. Gunner was giving him a nervous look, his eyes flicking back and forth between him and Barney. No one seemed to notice.

"Ha, ha," Yang said after a moment, sipping his beer again. The truth was, Yang sent money back to Aika's parents. He never wanted them to struggle.

"No, I mean it," Barney insisted. "I want to see a photo of this family."

"I think we should leave Squirt alone," Gunner piped up now.

"Hulk is right," Yang noted. "Squirt very tired."

"All right, all right," Caesar said, throwing up his hands. "Toll, I owe you a dart game."

"You're on," Toll said, getting up and following him. Yang caught Tool watching him quietly, and he held his gaze briefly before looking away. His family was his secret for now. His and Gunner's, who just proved he could be trusted after all.

Victoria

She was napping when knocking started on the door. She opened a bleary eye to look at the clock. It was almost ten. Did her brother forget his keys? She pulled herself up and slid her feet across the floor towards the door. Her brother had refrained from asking where she'd gone with Lucy on their weekend together, which was new. The friends had gone to a weekend spa in New York, and it had been heavenly. She wished Toll wouldn't worry so much about her. She felt good. When she felt good, she didn't use. The key was to continue feeling good or to have ways of coping when she wasn't feeling good to prevent a relapse. She had it all figured out.

She opened it to find Gunner standing there.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "It's you."

"Yea," he said. "I, uh, didn't want to do this over text."

"Do what?" She was thinking about their messages all evening. She knew he'd been with her brother and the rest of the team. She wondered what he wanted to ask her, but at the same time, she had an idea.

"I wanted to ask you if you'd like to...to go out sometime. With me," he added quickly, as though she didn't realize that. She resisted chuckling at how cute he was right now.

"Oh, I don't know," she drawled out, resting a hand on the door frame and her head on that arm. She looked at him for a moment. "I suppose so."

"You suppose?"

"It took you long enough," she commented, lifting her head and pushing off the door frame. She gestured for him to come inside, which he did. "What did you have in mind?" She went to turn off the muted TV and straightened the afghan on the couch.

"Dinner," he answered. "A walk. Something like that."

"Hmm," Victoria said, tapping a finger on her chin lightly. "That does sound like date material."

"You in?"

"I'm in," she answered, smiling. Gunner grinned back.

"Great. I'll pick you up tomorrow around six?"

"Sounds good."

She felt that swooping sensation that happened when she liked someone. She liked Gunner. There was a lot of potential in him if he could see it himself.

"I'll, uh, let you get back to your evening," he said, stepping back out the door.

"Okay. Good night, Gunner."

"Good night."

She was stuck smiling to herself for the rest of the night.

Lee

"You don't have to help me," Norah pointed out as Lee lifted chairs while she wiped tables.

"You've finally made me feel bad about the hair thing," he commented, settling the next chair on the table and steadying it.

"No, you just want your free beer back," she corrected. "I'm not stupid." He laughed.

"Maybe, but I actually do feel bad."

"Really? Wow, and here I thought you could never feel bad about anything," Norah joked. He felt tension in his stomach at this, remembering that woman. She seemed to realize it too. "I'm sorry. I...I forgot. You know I was kidding..."

"I know," he cut her off, finally looking at her. She was biting her lip and looking sorry.

"Thanks for the help," she said awkwardly.

"Sorry for the hair," he said back.

"I can fix it," she dismissed. "Can we call a truce, though?"

"Yes," he said quickly. "It's exhausting coming up with new pranks."

"Seriously? Cos you're pretty damn good at it," Norah commented.

"I had a brother," Lee replied, reminding her.

"Right."

They finished up in silence. Dino had left, entrusting Norah to lock up properly, which she did. They walked towards the parking lot side by side. Norah fished out her keys while Lee picked up his helmet.

"See you at home," he said to her.

"Yea."

He got on his bike and started it up. He waited for her to get into her car, and when she was pulling out, he followed. He was sticking to the promise he'd made himself that as long as he was around. She was going to be kept safe. The text he received a while ago still ran through his mind.

He's out.

He felt it was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan, and he was not going to fail Norah the way he'd failed that woman on their mission.

Barney

Norah looked so much like her. The resemblance was uncanny. He sat in the dark, watching the video tape on repeat and blowing smoke rings until Tool joined him. He braced himself, knowing what was coming.

"You watching this again?" Tool asked, noticing the screen.

"Yea."

"Why?"

"I like seeing her."

Tool sat down across from him, twisted in his seat to see the TV. The woman was smiling as she slid a plate of pie across to the customer. It was a small scene, and yet to Barney, it was very significant.

"She looks like Norah."

"I know." Barney knew he couldn't hide this forever. He couldn't avoid Norah forever. He was pretty sure she had caught on he was avoiding her.

"That kid deserves to know you're her uncle," Tool said on cue.

"What for? So she can hate me for bailing on the family?"

"Joe asked you leave, right?"

"Yea. He didn't want me around. I was dangerous. I still am. She needs to be kept out of this life."

"And yet, she's here anyway, right? Imagine that. She decides to travel the country and lands here, right in your house. Don't you think that's a sign, Barns? You're meant to be in her life."

"I can't tell her," Barney insisted.

"Well, you're making a mistake, but whatever," Tool sighed.

"You're one to talk," Barney reminded him.

"How so?"

"You ever tell Victoria how you knew exactly where to find her son?"

"That's irrelevant."

"It's not. You're the boy's bloody adoptive grandfather, and you think that's irrelevant?"

"I don't know him," Tool insisted. "I've only seen him twice. My daughter doesn't speak to me...hasn't for years."

"Well, when you tell her, I'll tell Norah," Barney said. Tool huffed.

"You're on, old man."

"Hey," Barney warned, pointing a finger at him. "Watch who you're calling old." Tool just cackled to himself and lit his pipe. Neither of them said anything after that, both of them watching Barney's sister, Marcy, on the screen smiling.

Norah

They were running through the sprinklers. Then they went inside. Rose was ahead of her, and suddenly she threw her arm out to stop her. Norah still caught a glimpse, though. She saw her mother's arm extended, a pool of blood on the floor underneath it...

"MOM!" Norah screamed, bolting upright. She grasped at her chest, her heart pounding. Her breath was shaky and all over the place. She choked out breaths while tears streamed down her face. She felt cold.

"Mom," she croaked. "Mom..." Sobs heaved out of her now, and she pressed her hands into her face. She rocked back and forth slowly, trying to get the images out of her head. They still came in quick succession, though.

Rose pushing her backwards out of the bathroom. Rose hauling her outside by the arm. Norah starting to bawl while Rose did her best to keep it together. Norah screaming. Neighbors coming. Police arriving. Their father pale and vomiting into the garden. Their mother taken away in a black bag...

"It's not fair," Norah said, still crying hard and now beating her fists on the mattress beside her legs. "It's not fair! It's not FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO US?!" She didn't know if her mother could hear her. She hoped she could. She needed her mother to know how raw the hurt still was. She let out another howl.

"Norah?"

She turned her head to see Lee standing on the stairs, the stairwell light illuminating him. She'd forgotten all about him. The thing was, though, she couldn't even form words let alone speak them. She dropped her hands and continued to cry.

"Norah, what's wrong?" he asked, coming down the rest of the stairs and cautiously stepping towards her. She barely registered Sassy in his hand. Instead, she opened her mouth, and a gut wrenching wail escaped. Alarmed, Lee put down the wriggling kitten and strode over to her in seconds.

"Hey, talk to me," he said, resting one knee on the mattress and reaching to put a hand on her shoulder. "Norah?"

Norah just shook her head and kept crying. He didn't even hesitate. He gathered her into his arms and held her against his chest while she bawled. Norah grabbed onto him like he was a piece of a shipwreck that was the only thing going to save her from drowning.

"It's okay," he said after a moment, smoothing her head gently with his hand. "You're gonna be okay."

She eventually managed to stop, her cries turning into hiccups. She didn't fail to notice that his white t-shirt had a huge wet, tear stain on it. She didn't even want to know if her nose had run all over it. She sniffed hard.

"I'm so sorry," she said, pushing back from him.

"You don't need to apologize for feeling your pain," he told her. She met his eyes in the semi-darkness and realized she had been waiting to hear those words for a long time.

"Thank you," she whispered. He reached to rest his hand against her cheek briefly.

"You all right now?"

"I...I think so."

"Okay. If you need me, just call." He went to leave when she grabbed his arm. He stopped, looking slightly unsure of what to do.

"Please, can you...can you just stay?" she asked. "I don't want to be alone." She was just looking for comfort, and he seemed to sense that. At first, it looked like he was going to say no. Then, he surprised her by pulling back the covers and sliding in next to her. Without a word, she sank back down and turned onto her right side, and he followed suit, sliding an arm over her and finding her fingers with his. Norah felt his heartbeat against her back, and it was soothing to her.

"Am I really going to be okay?" she asked quietly. She felt like she was never going to be okay. She needed that reassurance. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Yea. You are," he answered. She said nothing else as she lay there, holding his hand and feeling safe. Eventually, she fell asleep.

Toll

He came back from his morning run to find Victoria cooking. She was humming and dancing around like a teenager. He froze. Two things made her like this, and one was very bad. Had she relapsed on that spa weekend? Should he have been more concerned about it? Should he have drilled her about it when she got back? He braced himself as she turned and saw him there.

"Hi!" she said happily. He took in her face. Her eyes were clear. He felt himself relax. It was the other thing.

"Hey," he said back. "Hot date tonight?"

"How can you tell?" she asked, giving him a surprised look.

"You're...twirling," he answered, gesturing as she did another spin. She laughed.

"You're right," she confirmed. "I'm going out tonight."

"With Gunner?" He wasn't sure how he knew. It probably had something to do with the stupid grin on Gunner's face the last while.

"You have a problem with that?"

"Nope," Toll answered, not wanting to start that fight again. Gunner was a big boy. He'd told him about Victoria and what she does to men, and if Gunner thought he could handle it, then more power to him.

"It's gonna be fine, Nick," Victoria promised.

"I know."

She went over to kiss his cheek and handed him a plate of pancakes. He took them from her with a smile and went to sit and eat. He'd shower after. He liked seeing his sister happy, and if Gunner made her happy, then he'd be just fine with it.

He thought of Norah again. Even with the orange hair she'd looked cute. He didn't know how to ask her out, though. He wasn't great at that part. He tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. Eventually, there would be an opening for him to ask, and he was going to take it.

He just hoped she'd say yes.

Caesar

"Shark attaaaaack!" Will hollered as he dove onto Caesar.

"Aaaarrrrggghhhh!" Caesar shouted, feeling the pain in his head. He knew he shouldn't have drank so much the night before. He was pretty sure this was Char's way of getting even for that. He'd promised her he'd be good, after all. She always knew when he didn't follow through. He was almost convinced someone on his team was her mole.

"Octopus!" Sasha cried, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and making him cough.

"I surrender!" he yelped. "White flag, white flag!" He waved his hand in the air, mimicking holding a flag.

"Mummy said you'd make us chocolate chip pancakes," Sasha said loudly in his ear. His headache pounded even more.

"With bacon!" Will added.

"All right, all right," Caesar caved, sitting up and making them slide off, giggling. "Daddy'll be out very soon."

"Yaaaaaaaay!" Sasha hollered, leaping off the bed and pounding out to the kitchen. Will was right behind her. Char stood in the doorway, and he looked at her through his bloodshot eye.

"You suck," he said to her.

"That's payback for coming in so late and harassing me for good luvin' an at un-Godly hour," Char said, raising a brow at him. Her arms were crossed.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Caesar apologized with a wince. "My bad."

"You better hurry before I go give them the whistles I took away from them last week," Char warned. Caesar whipped the covers off and jumped out of bed, hurrying to get changed and go start making food, for he knew she'd keep her word.

Lee

He woke up with Norah's face pressed against his chest. He'd slept better than he had in a long time, if he was honest...even better than when she had spent the night with him the first time. She seemed to have this effect on him. He wasn't sure what to make of it. He felt Sassy batting at his leg and sink her claws into it briefly. He made a noise of pain in his throat and tried to shake her off, but she held fast. The movement made Norah stir and wake up. Only then did the cat bugger off. He narrowed his eyes at Sassy as she jumped off the bed and out of sight before turning to look at Norah.

Looking at her so close to him and looking as cute as she did with bed head and bleary eyes made him feel all sorts of emotions. Also, if anyone could pull off orange hair, it was her.

"We really gotta stop sleeping like this," she said, trying to make this moment light and not awkward.

"I agree," he lied. The truth was that he really enjoyed having her next to him.

"Well," she said, reaching to smooth her hair and giving him a slightly shy smile. "I guess I owe you a thank you."

"Does this make up for the hair?" he asked, a smirk growing on his lips. She heaved a laugh while rolling onto her back. Lee envisioned himself moving on top of her and cupping her face, kissing her. He blinked.

"No way, mister," she said, turning her head to look at him again. "You're not living that one down for a very long time."

"Fair enough."

She threw off the covers and slid out of bed. He watched her walk to her bathroom, almost mesmerized by her legs. He cleared his throat and looked away, getting up and heading for the stairs as she closed the door behind her. When he was in the kitchen, he gripped his face with his hand tightly, using his other hand to hold the counter. Having feelings for Norah was bad, very bad. The risk of one or both of them getting hurt was too high. He felt Rupert nuzzle his leg and touch his snout to Lee's hand, making Lee look down at him.

"Ah buddy," he said. "I think I'm screwed."

Rose

She knew she had to carry on with life, but it was proving difficult. The first two days of being home, she barely got out of bed. Then she sat around in her pajamas. Her father's prodding finally got her to step outside for a few hours. Then she went to the grocery store. Then she went back to work. Winston had called a few times, and she hadn't answered. She didn't know what to say to him. A part of her wanted to leave him behind and let him imagine her as someone else, the girl he really wanted to be with.

She looked at her phone and saw Norah had texted her.

Had nightmare of Mom.

Rose tapped the edge of her phone with her index finger. She didn't want to respond. She didn't want to talk about their mother right now. She knew Norah kept trying to talk about it, that she struggled with it more. Rose had seen her sitting beside a box of their mother's things once. It had made her feel very sad inside. She just couldn't think about it or talk about it because that meant admitting how much she was still hurt by it.

You okay? she texted back. It wasn't in her to ignore Norah entirely.

Yep.

Rose could picture her sister in front of a cup of coffee, her fingers twirling in her hair. She wondered if Lee was with her. She wondered if her sister had slept with him yet.

How are you? her sister wrote next.

Tired.

Oscar okay?

Yea. Sad but okay.

I'll have to have him visit soon.

He'd love that.

Off to bang some nails into boards. Have a good day.

You too.

Rose pocketed her phone and shook her head, smiling. Her sister swinging a hammer. She'd pay to see that.

Norah

Lee didn't say much to her when she got to the jobsite after her hair appointment. She'd decided to just leave her hair brown and not put the blue and purple streaks back in. The hairdresser had done her best not to snort with laughter upon seeing her, but Norah didn't care. She thought about that morning, how it felt to wake up next to Lee again. There was something about his presence that made her feel safe. She couldn't explain it.

They had a great working groove now. He didn't even have to say anything for her to know what he wanted at times. She wiped at the sweat on her brow with her arm and squinted up at the bright sky. It was a hot day. She looked over at Lee and noticed the sweat dripping down his face, his shirt soaked. He picked up a board, and she followed him as he took it over to where it was going to be laid.

"Oh, Norah," Lee said, swinging around. She didn't even have time to duck. The board cracked her in the head, and she crumpled like a rag doll to the ground. She was pretty sure she was seeing stars, and she felt dizzy.

"Shit!" Lee yelped, dropping the board and moving quickly to her. He knelt down next to her and cupped her face with his hands. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"Can you hear me?" he questioned. She blinked, looking at him. His hands felt nice.

"Uh huh," she answered, wincing.

"How many fingers?" he asked, holding up his hand.

"Two?"

"What year is it?"

"2009."

"What's my name?"

"Lee."

"What's your name?"

"Norah."

"Where do you live?"

"New Orleans currently."

He seemed satisfied that she was cognitive and helped her sit up slowly. She groaned, resting a hand on her head. It was throbbing now.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know you were right behind me like that."

"It's all good," she dismissed. "I shot you with a nail gun, after all."

"True."

His hand was on her shoulder, holding it firmly. She blinked as she looked around. There weren't anymore stars, but she still felt a little dizzy.

"Let's get you home," he said, gently pulling her to her feet. She wobbled, and he caught her. Without thinking anything of it, he pulled her up into his arms to carry her. He set her down in the passenger side of his truck and belted her in. Norah pressed both of her hands into her head at this point. She had a massive headache. She barely registered him getting in and driving them home. Once there, he helped her out and into the house. He left her standing in the hallway as he went to get her water and a painkiller. She took them both and managed to drink one down.

"Did you black out?" he asked her.

"I don't think so," she answered, shaking her head slowly.

"Should I take you to the hospital?"

"I think I'm okay. I just want to be in the dark for a bit," Norah answered.

"All right." He helped her down the stairs, and she crawled into her bed. Sassy was playful, not used to having company at this time of day. Lee picked her up and prevented her from jumping back down to pester Norah.

"This is like the worst hangover I've ever had," Norah groaned, hiding herself underneath her pillow.

"You need me to stay?"

"No, I'm good."

"Call if you need me."

"Okay."

She heard him walk back up the stairs. Then she passed out.

Barney

Tool came and dropped off a piece of paper onto his desk. Barney sighed. Another job already. He picked it up and read it, his mind working on a plan instantly. They had three days to prepare. It was doable.

He reached for his phone to start calling his team. He just knew they'd all be so thrilled at going away so soon again.

Lee

He woke her twice, just to be sure. She seemed okay but was grumpy at being disturbed. After three hours, she was back upstairs with him. Rupert was cuddled against her on the couch.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Sort of."

"Good."

"You're not gonna wake me up all night, are you?" she questioned, looking slightly alarmed.

"I probably should."

"Ugh," she groaned. "You suck."

"Sorry."

He answered his ringing phone, seeing that it was Barney. Norah leaned back and closed her eyes as he listened to what Barney had to say.

"All right," he said after he heard everything. "Sounds good to me. Talk soon." He hung up and looked at Norah. She still had questions, and he didn't want to answer them.

"Let me guess," she said without looking at him. "You have to go away again."

"Yea."

"I'm done asking," she said. "None of you will give me a straight answer, so I've decided I don't want to know. I don't care."

Lee doubted that very much, but he didn't argue it. It made things a bit easier for him.

"I have to go and finish the job," Lee said after a moment. "You okay to stay here?"

"I'll be fine."

"No sleeping."

"I'm good. I swear," she added. He had to trust her. She had his number and could call if she needed him. As he drove back to the job site, he found himself dreading leaving her again. He really was sinking into deep shit now.