"Please, signora, don't turn me away like this! My nonno was one of your best customers!"

"Absolutely not, Vargas! Your grandfather was a crook, you are a fugitive from the law, and we no longer serve your kind, so beat it!"

The door was opened, and Feliciano was pushed through the door, out of the club, and into the chilly November air. He swiftly fell down the steps, and landed in a puddle on the sidewalk, barely avoiding slamming his face into the pavement. The Italian ignored the giggles from the hookers watching him, and turned to look at Priscilla yelling at her bodyguards in the doorway.

"Keep that mafia scumbag and his good-for-nothing twin out of here, and call the cops if he tries to get in again!"

Watching as the owner marched back into her bar, Feliciano rolled himself out of the puddle and back onto his feet. He strolled down the street and brushed the mud off his clothes, realizing he had ruined yet another suit.

"You know, for an Italian, you're doing a terrible job keeping those nice clothes in good condition."

Hearing the familiar voice, Feliciano stopped and turned towards the alley he had just walked by. A man with shoulder-length blond hair was standing there, leaning against the wall and appraising him.

"Vaffanculo, Kohler scum," Feliciano retorted, "I have no time for your bullshit."

"Keep it down, would you?" Feliks hissed, "Some of these onlookers like talking to coppers, and I'd rather they didn't know to gossip about me."

"What do you want, then?" Feliciano asked as he approached.

"For starters, a truce and a chance to talk," Feliks proposed, "We've both been through some crazy shit, and from what I just saw with Priscilla giving you the boot, you're also trying to get back on your feet. Perhaps we each have information the other can use, or even an opportunity to work together."

"I suppose that sounds fair," Feliciano accepted, "Let me call over my brother."

As Feliks nods, Feliciano looks over to the other side of the street, noting his brother looking around for him. He whistles loudly and waves, earning Lovino's attention. The twin looks both ways before crossing the street and joining them at the alley entrance.

"What are you doing here, Feliks?" Lovino asked immediately.

"He's in the same boat as us, Lovi, play nice," Feliciano assured, "He only wants to talk and exchange information."

"We're heading in there," Feliks instructed, motioning towards the van at the end of the alley, "Elizaveta's waiting for us."

"How did you get the van?" Feliciano asked.

"Elizaveta and I happened to be driving around in a van while the base got busted," Feliks answered.

Feliks went and pulled the door open, and showed them inside. Feli took a peek inside and noticed several supplies stored in the back and a lady in the driver seat.

"Holy shit, it is you!" she exclaimed, "Well, get in here, boys!"

Feliciano climbed in first, and went towards the back of the van. He had to sit on the floor of the van, since the seats had been removed, but there were blankets and pillows to make himself a little more comfortable. While Lovino and Feliks also piled in, Feliciano saw the nearby bag of apples and loaf of bread, and the sight made his stomach growl.

"If you're hungry, help yourselves," Elizaveta offered, prompting Feliciano to grab the loaf, "We might not have a kitchen in this van, but we're making do where we can."

"Thank you so much," Feliciano acknowledged as he grabbed a piece of bread before handing it to his brother, "We've had to pinch our pennies while finding warm and filling meals, it's very difficult."

"We've had to do the same, living off whatever groceries can be eaten without cooking," Feliks supported, "We were looking for you for a while actually, we wondered where you had gone off to after the busts."

"We've been trying to find anyone that will help us," Feliciano explained while chewing on the bread, "The barkeepers that our Nonno got along with keep kicking us back out onto the street."

"We tried that as well, and haven't had any luck either," Feliks concurred, "They don't seem to want any connections with fugitives of the law."

"We thought of trying to get a hold of either Madeline or the Dragons, but we don't have their contact information," Elizaveta added on.

"I had Madeline's number, but it was out of service," Lovino reported between bites, "We think she ditched her SIM card and went into hiding as soon as she heard about the busts."

"We also tried to find the Dragon Triad base, since Nonno had a lead on it before this all happened," Feliciano elaborated, "We checked out that Asian restaurant in the East End, the Golden Dragon, but it was shut down. There was a notice of sudden permanent closure on the door, dated the 16th of October."

"The day after the busts?" Elizaveta muttered, "Any sign of life?"

"We tried calling the business phone number, there was no connection," Lovino denied, "We even checked the back alleys, the place had been abandoned."

"So we can't rely on Maddie or the Dragons," Feliks summed up, "There went that hope."

As they paused in silence for a moment, Feliciano grabbed an apple, and thought of another question as he took a bite.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to escape the busts?"

"Feliks was sent to follow Ivan just before the bust, and I tagged along," Elizaveta disclosed, "With the fight between Ivan and Mikkel, I had a very bad feeling about what could happen, so I grabbed our emergency bags and some cash to take with us."

"What fight?" Lovino pried.

"Mikkel somehow came into contact with Ivan's sister, and found out that he was hiding something really bad about his past," Feliks elaborated, "The morning of the 15th, Mikkel told Toris to follow Ivan and see if he was doing anything suspicious. Ivan returned after lunchtime, but Toris never returned. It was later in the afternoon when Emil saw the alert on our computers that Toris had been arrested."

"How did he get arrested?" Feliciano asked.

"Nobody knows, the police made the file classified," Elizaveta remarked, "Mikkel immediately accused Ivan of giving Toris to the police, and spilled the beans in front of all of us about meeting his sister. Ivan denied the allegations, but immediately decided to quit his work for Mikkel and leave the base."

"Do you think Ivan gave the police the location of your base?" Lovino accused, "That he betrayed you all?"

"We don't know for sure, but Ivan implied that talking to the police himself was a bad idea." Feliks claimed, "Still, Mikkel didn't trust him not to talk, so I was sent to follow, and Elizaveta chose to come along."

"After last spring's near-scare on our base getting found, we made contingency plans in case it ever happened again. We each kept a bag of spare clothes and supplies under our beds, as well as a couple bags of cash in Mikkel's office, in case we ever suddenly needed to make a run for it. " Elizaveta elaborated, "With what happened to Ivan, I grabbed Feliks's bag along with mine and some cash, and we followed Ivan in this van when he left. When we tried to return to the base later, the police already had it surrounded. Berwald, Tino and Lukas had all been shot dead, while Mikkel and Emil joined Toris in jail."

"We first thought we could seek refuge with your grandfather, but you were busted down that same night," Feliks added on, "Sorry for your loss, by the way, I should've thought of that right off the bat."

"It's okay," Feliciano said, "We're coming to terms with it."

"How did the police find your base?" Elizaveta asked, "For them to find one base is strange enough, but both the same night is crazy."

"The story might be tied to yours actually," Lovino started, "Nonno heard from an informant that Antonio couldn't be trusted."

"Antonio?" Feliks repeated, "The Spaniard?"

"The evening of the 15th, when he heard about your base being busted, Nonno and Miguel went out to get more information," Feliciano elaborated, "He instructed Antonio to stay at the base that night after his shift instead of going home to his apartment. He told him it was for his safety, but we were told to not let him out of our sight. It started off easily enough, we closed up the restaurant before making ourselves a pizza. We grabbed some wine to go with the pizza and put on a movie upstairs. The two of us fell asleep during the movie, and Antonio was gone when we woke up. While we were trying to figure out what happened, Lovi found two vials of sleeping serum on the counter."

Lovino pulled the vials from his pocket and held them out for Elizaveta and Feliks to inspect.

"You think Antonio drugged you?" Elizaveta put together as she read the label on a vial.

"We immediately searched the base for him, but it was too late. Antonio was gone, Gupta was dead, and the police scanners were reporting that they were already almost at the base," Lovino continued, "We immediately sounded the fire alarms to wake everyone up, but Feli and I were the only ones who managed to escape."

"Wait, did you just say that Gupta was already dead before the police got there?" Feliks pointed out, "We thought the police shot him down with Romulus and Vladimir."

"He was on computer duty that night, so I went to talk to him while trying to find Antonio," Lovino explained, "He wasn't answering me, so I went to shake him by the shoulder. That's when I saw where the bullet was put in his head."

"So, if your suspicions are correct, then Antonio was the one who drugged you boys, killed Gupta, and possibly gave the police your base's location?" Elizaveta summed up.

The twins nodded, and Feliks huffed as he gave back the vial and shook his head.

"And here we thought Ivan was trouble," he muttered, "Sorry, but I think you boys got the short end of the stick."

"We've checked the news whenever we could for updates," Elizaveta said, "Filching newspapers, watching the news at cafes, getting internet access at the library, you name it. It sounds like Miguel, Veronique and Emil will be in prison for several years each, while Mikkel is going to have the worst sentence."

"What about your other friend, Toris?" Lovino asked.

Elizaveta and Feliks glanced at each other in suspicion and worry, before turning to face the twins again.

"We think something happened to him, but the police are hiding it," Feliks explained, "There hasn't been a single update on what happened to him since the police got him earlier that day. Elizaveta has a theory, but I personally find it hard to believe."

"We'll listen to it," Feliciano said, "Any ideas could be of use."

"In the morning on October 16th, there was an accident on the highway between a police van and a garbage truck," Elizaveta explained, "The police Lieutenant and two Sergeants were found dead at the scene."

"Yeah, we heard about that," Lovino confirmed, "It was all over the news with the busts."

"Well, the eyewitnesses had a few stories that they managed to share before the police shut them all up and put out their own press release. The witnesses said that the garbage truck driver actually escaped unharmed, and that another vehicle was there to pick him up. Someone in that other vehicle opened all the doors of the police van and made sure the three cops were dead."

"They wanted the cops dead?" Feliciano asked, "Why would they want that?"

"Because of the other person who was in the police vehicle," Elizaveta elaborated, "It wasn't a regular police van, it was a prisoner transport van, and they were supposedly taking a criminal to a county prison. And the Commissioner wouldn't have his top Lieutenant driving that van unless that was a high-profile prisoner they were moving."

"You think Toris was in that van?" Lovino concluded, "And that whoever totalled that police van was breaking him out?"

"Feliks doesn't believe me, but I think it's very possible," Elizaveta said, "The highest profile criminals they would've had in the holding cells at the police department in the previous 48 hours were from the mob busts, and Toris is the only one there hasn't been any update on since."

"Holy shit," Lovino muttered.

"Between our groups, there are six deaths, four arrests, four escapees, and three unaccounted for," Feliciano summarized, "If Ivan and Antonio planned this, they sure managed to take the bulk of us out in one fell swoop."

"With the majority taken out at once, Ivan and Antonio will likely disappear for a while," Feliks assumed, "The police appear to be relaxing a bit more now in their hunt for the rest of us, but we can never let down our guard. All they need is for one prisoner to tell them about what we've been up to the last few years to lock down warrants for our immediate arrests."

"I wouldn't put it past anyone to talk," Lovino argued, "If they know what's good for them, they'll use information on us to bargain on their prison sentences."

"Whatever safety nets they may know about can no longer be used," Elizaveta added on, "The four of us have to start from scratch."

"Where have you been staying?" Feliciano asked, realizing he was sitting on their pillows, "Have you been living out of this van?"

"This van is the best we can get," Feliks explained, "The homeless shelters work with the police for screening entrants for criminal records, so we can't go there. Everything else costs money, and we can't afford an apartment. How about you guys?"

"We've found a couple warehouses here and there with doors that were easy to unlock in the middle of the night," Lovino said, "Otherwise, we've had to huddle together in secluded back alleys. We've spent our limited money already, we're scant broke now."

"Well, we can't let you go back to that, now can we?" Elizaveta stated, "You're going to stay right here with me and Feliks in this van, we'll figure this all out together."

"Are you sure about that?" Feliciano asked, "Will this van be big enough for the four of us? Can you handle the strain on your food and supplies?"

"Don't bother arguing with Lizzie, she's stubborn whenever she goes into mother-hen mode," Feliks explained, "Yes, we'll have to share the van and supplies, but it's better than sending you boys back to the alley."

"We'll have to share the blankets and sleeping bags tonight, but we can pick up more tomorrow," Elizaveta elaborated, "Two of us can recline in these front seats, while the others will share the floor in the back."

"What about food and money?" Lovino questioned, "How will we manage that?"

"We can buy a few more things in bulk, and we can pool our income prospects," Feliks said, "As long as you boys put in the effort to improve on our situation, we'll gladly work with you. Any other questions?"

Before anyone could say anything, they were some shouting outside. Feliciano peeked out the back window, and saw a couple people shouting outside the building's side door in the alley, before heading back inside moments later.

"I've got one last question," Feliciano said, "Is this really the safest alley to spend the night in?"

"We found a quiet spot by the park that does much better than this," Elizaveta said before turning in her seat and starting up the van.

"Just chill in the back here, and hang onto something," Feliks instructed, "As long as she can see out the back window, you'll be all good."

Feliciano got himself comfortable in his spot, before turning to look at his brother. Once eye contact was made, Feliciano raised his eyebrow, silently asking if he was okay with this choice of allies.

Lovino nodded back in reply.