This chapter is a bit longer than the last one! Hope ya'll enjoy~

There was a shift in the air, and had nothing to deal with the storm outside, Chris mused. He flipped the sign on the door to the bar from 'closed' to 'open' and turned away as lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder quickly followed, causing the ground to tremble in its ferocity.

"Gonna be a slow day, today," Bao mused, leaning against the bar with his chin in the palm of his hand.

Chris nodded, "Seems like. Weather's part of the reason I didn't ask for a full staff today."

"Hm," Bao hummed, and pulled his phone out. The glow of the screen lit his face up in a blue hue, as he typed something, "Kuro even took the week off from work."

"Yeah, this weather is going to be around into next week," Chris sighed. "I'll probably rotate the staff, just so everyone has a chance to work."

Bao nodded, and pocketed his phone, "Where's Christina? This is what, her second week here? Shouldn't she be working?"

"She's upstairs," Chris waved a hand towards the roof. "Figuring out how she wants to redecorate the loft to her tastes. I'll call her down if we need her, but honestly—" Thunder boomed outside "—I don't think we will."

Bao grinned, impishly, "Something tells me you're going to be doing a lot of shopping in the future."

Chris snorted, "I'm trying not to think about it."

Outside, the storm continued to rage on, heavy raindrops splattering against the windowpanes. Chris, Bao, and Tyler made themselves busy by cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen and bar area. Someone turned on the radio, old country and rock 'n' roll filling the air and drowning out the storm. Every so often, a customer came in, but, as they expected, there was no big crowd. Just people looking to get out of the weather and others looking to drown their sorrows.

"Say, Chris, has Kyoya got any more on leads about Chrissie's case, since you asked him to look into it?" Bao asked, later that evening, as he wiped down some leftover glasses.

"Chrissie, huh?" Chris looked over, raising an eyebrow. He turned away from where he was counting bottle under the counter, and looked up at the redhead.

Bao flushed, "Um—Well—"

Tyler chuckled from the kitchen, and Bao whipped his head around to glare through the window, "Shut up, Blackout!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"You were thinking it!"

"Relax, Bao," Chris chuckled. "I'm not mad."

Bao's shoulders relaxed, and he let out a breath.

"Though do know, if you break her heart, I know how to hide a body,"

"Eep!" Bao squeaked, and nearly lost his grip on the glass in his hand. He grabbed it before he could drop it, "So, um—the case?"

"Mm," Chris frowned. "They've got a lead, I think. Kyoya talked with someone who's related to a kid Christina knew while she was…" He faltered for a moment, eyes glazing over, "Held captive. Wales Reynolds, actually."

"You mean the guy who all but lives in the chair three?" Bao's eyebrows flew up, as he glanced down towards said chair, at the end of the bar.

"Yeah, him," Chris nodded. "Actually, didn't you notice when he came in the other night? He didn't order anything but straight shots of Jack Daniels."

"No," Bao admitted. He finished off the glass in hand, setting it in a crate, and moved on to another, "We were kind of busy that night."

"True," Chris conceded. "He was pretty out of it when he left. I… I wonder if him getting drunk might have had anything to do with whatever that interview, he had with the detectives."

"So is Kyoya just working on it, or…?" Bao trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Mm. Ryuga is too, and I think they're conferring with Tsubasa… just because he's Christina's parole officer and all," Chris shrugged, and stood up with a grunt. "Christina… doesn't know, right now, that I have people looking into this. It was all I could do to get her to go to therapy. If she knew I was prying even deeper… She'd really shut down, then."

Bao nodded, empathetically, "I know what you mean. When Kuro…" He hesitated, "When Kuro came home from her last tour… She was different. Nearly drowned herself in the bottle, you know. Between that, the nightmares, insomnia, and then her stubborn pride in general… It took a few years before she admitted she needed help. I think you got lucky, getting Christina to go so quickly."

"Sure, if you consider putting her in the truck and not telling her where we're going lucky. She looked ready to rip my head off when she found out where I'd brought her too,"

Bao grinned, "I get that. Aguma and I were thisclose to throwing Kuro in the trunk of a car and dropping her off at a support group with a note."

Chris glanced over, and blinked, "Bao… your fingers are touching."

Bao raised an eyebrow, and pressed his fingers tighter together, "Did I stutter?"

"… You just said—"

"I never said how she admitted it, though did I?"

"Bao—that's kidnapping!"

"Your point?"

"Isn't Aguma a lawyer?!"

"Listen, he was fed up with her too!" Bao threw his hands up, defensively.

"I…" Chris stared, bewildered at his friend, "I don't understand you, sometimes."

"I blame it on the list of daddy issues I got,"

Tyler stepped out of the kitchen, green eyes bright in amusement, "What I wouldn't have paid to be a fly on that wall that night."

"Aguma stayed at the office for a solid week and I—"

"Asked for overtime," Chris realized. "You even crashed in the loft a couple of nights. That's why you didn't leave the bar for almost a whole week?!"

"You've never faced Kuro's wrath before! Be thankful she didn't come here looking for me! If she had, she would've—"

SREEEEEEEEECH!

Bao, Chris, Tyler, and the few other patrons in the bar startled, all eyes turning to the man standing from his seat the bar. He laid a bill down on the countertop, set his empty glass on top of it, and pointedly met Chris' eyes.

Chris, despite himself, shivered under the cold gaze of the redheaded man. The man smiled at him, and tipped his head, "A fine establishment you have here, sir. I just might bring a few of my friends in next time."

Then, with those as his parting words, the man threw on his coat and hat, and disappeared into the storm outside.

"… Weird," Bao commented, and shook his head. "Eh, we've had stranger."

Chris was still staring at the door. He wasn't sure what it was, but there had been something… off, about the guy. Something in the way he spoke, maybe? The way he was acting? It was just… weird.

"Weird, indeed," Chris murmured. He frowned, and walked down to where the man had been sitting, and picked up the payment, "… He paid with a hundred dollar bill."

Bao blinked, and pulled the receipt book from his back pocket, looking for the order, "Huh… guy only got three glasses of Scotch on the rocks."

"… That's only about eighteen dollars," Tyler stepped up, forehead creased. "Why would he pay with such a high amount…?"

"Maybe he's a good tipper?" Bao asked, and plucked the bill from Chris' hand, "Doesn't matter to me. On slow nights like this, I'll take all the tips I can get."

As Bao made change at the register, Chris and Tyler looked at each other.

"I see the gears turning, Chris," Tyler raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?"

"… I don't know, yet," Chris frowned. "I just… don't know, Tyler. Maybe Bao's right…"

"What's your gut telling you?"

"… I think I need to make a phone call to some people. Let Nefertiti know I won't be home tonight and tell Kyoya he might want to stake the place out this week," Chris turned his gaze back to the doorway, lightning flashing in his eyes. "I'm thinking things are about to get a bit more hostile around here, and that we might want to stay on high alert."

"Christina?" Chris called, as he pushed the door to the loft open, "Where are you at?"

"In the living room!" Christina replied, voice slightly muffled, "You came in just in time! I need your help with a few of these boxes..."

Chris set his keys and wallet on the table beside the door, and locked it behind him. He made his way into the living area, to find Christina struggling to push a box towards the wall. Her face was red with exertion and annoyance.

Chris snorted, and walked over, "Need a hand, huh?"

"Shut up and help me, will ya?" Christina pouted at him, "I just need to clear the floor so I can see what I want to do with the place. Seriously, did you use this loft as storage or something? I've seen tools, papers, books... The only actual furniture you have up here is the bed, the couch, and a few tables!"

"I never had a reason to clean it up," Chris shrugged as he bent down pick up a box and set it against the wall. "I always thought I might rent it out, but mainly I just crash here if I don't feel like driving home, or let one of the crew sleep their shift away. It works for everyone."

Christina hummed, "I guess I can see the convenience of it. Guess you're gonna have to figure something out now, when I move in!"

Chris grinned, and the two were silent for a few moments, as they moved boxes and cleared the floor. When they finally finished, Christina fell on to the couch with a heavy sigh, then scowled and poked at the cracking leather, "Yeah, this one is going when I have the chance."

Chris sat down on the other end of the couch with a snort, "This is your place. Feel free to do what you want with it."

Christina smiled at him, and reached up to let her hair down from it's ponytail. Her hair fell around her shoulders in messy waves, and she grimaced a bit, "Ugh. I need a shower." She frowned, checking her phone abruptly, "It's only midnight. Did you close up early?"

"Yeah, storm was keeping customers away," Chris waved a hand. "Bao, Tyler, and I ended up doing some cleaning and reorganizing, ourselves. Speaking of, Tyler's fixing us some food, he'll bring it up and then he's going to go on home."

"Us?" Christina raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'us'?"

"I'm not driving home in this weather," Chris rolled his eyes. "Plus, I called Nefertiti, she said they're busy at the hospital tonight. Apparently there have been a couple of car crashes because of the storm. She won't be home tonight."

"Ah," Christina nodded. "Does... that happen a lot? Where you two don't... see each other because of work?"

"Not as often as you might think," Chris admitted, shifting so he could perch his elbow on the back of the couch, and faced his sister. He propped his fist up against his cheek, "But, yeah, it does happen some. More so on Nef's end, than mine. She sometimes has to pull double shifts, get called in unannounced because of an emergency or to cover someone."

"Does it get hard, though?"

"... Sometimes. But we make it work though," Chris shrugged. "Plus, there are times she's home and I'm not, so it goes both ways. We just make sure to talk and be honest with each other."

"Sounds like a lot of work,"

"It is, but... it's worth it," Chris grinned. He perked up as there was a knock on the loft door, "Oh, I bet that's Tyler. Wonder what he's cooked up."

"I hope it's something greasy and good," Christina commented, and picked her phone up. "I'm starving."

Chris opened the door, "Yeah, well, you were more than welcome to come down and grab a bite whenever you wanted- OW!"

Chris reeled back as something hard struck him in the face, stumbling over his own feet and falling to the floor with a groan. Vaguely, he heard Christina call his name, before breaking off into a terrified scream. He cursed, and tried to climb to his feet, only to be struck hard in the shoulder and sending him face first into the hardwood.

"Stay down, Mr. Cadelle," A voice drawled. "It's not you we want, after all."

:D

who is this mysterious cloaked figure and what all do you think is coming towards our boys' way? Nothing good, I can assure you.

Hope you'll leave a review! until next time, ciao!