Alright, anybody who actually decides to read this. I have some stuff to say, and, also, a surprise, which is a direct result of the other stuff. Anyway, I won't get into any details, but I hit a massive rut, and I considered not publishing this — hell, not even writing it — until... Idek. I wasn't going to leave it unfinished... I was just going to not work on it because what's the point anyway, right?

But, then, a little birdy — you might know this birdy as jojoDO, the author of the great Kumite fics and my partner on Karma Police — stepped in. And when I say "stepped in" I mean that, not only did he give me what was probably a much-needed pep talk, but he also helped me with this chapter, thus making this finale a collab.

So, if you've been with this story from the beginning and actually give a damn, then you should definitely thank jojo for playing the part that he did because I don't know what would have happened had he not taken it upon himself to help a heifer out.

As always, some translation notes at the end.

Onward~

King carried herself through the streets of Southtown in something of a daze. Her encounter with Jack had left her undeniably shaken; the confirmation that he knew about her — and about Jessica as well — was bad enough, but his condition for keeping her secret was just… she didn't know what to call it. She couldn't find the right words or phrases in either English or French that could adequately describe how truly, utterly disastrous this new development was.

When King reached her apartment building she stood outside for just a moment before slowly unlocking the entry door. She summoned the elevator, but, instead of hitting the button to go up to her floor, robotically selected the parking garage on the underground level. She made the trek to her car, climbed in, and, almost as if on autopilot, drove off. It wasn't until she found herself getting onto the freeway did she even have any idea of where she was going.

###

Nearly an hour later King stood before her uncle, hair and shirt wet, one foot and the hem of her pant leg soaked, and still somewhat dazed.

"Cécile…? What is the meaning of this?"

King parted her lips to answer, but found herself unable to speak. She quickly looked away from Gary, her brow furrowed and thoughts nearly drowned out by the heavy rain.

The sky had opened up halfway through King's drive, forcing her to turn her windshield wipers on the highest setting while sitting in abnormal amounts of traffic, since, evidently, the other drivers forgot how to use their gas peddles on wet roads. When she arrived at her aunt and uncle's house she parked her car on the sidewalk (she didn't want to block the garage), removed her cummerbund and bowtie, and awkwardly pulled the athletic wrap off and out of her shirt (which she untucked), before exiting her vehicle. She hastily ran the short distance from the car to the house, trying her best to keep from getting too wet, but, predictably, stepped right into a large puddle along the way. She must have been a sight for sore eyes, as something that might have been like concern flashed across Gary's face. The two stood in silence for just a moment before King finally managed to speak.

"I need to see my brother…"

Without a word Gary moved aside so King could enter the residence. She automatically took off her shoes and started forward, only to be cut off by Maddy, who appeared directly in her path. She looked King up and down, the usual disdainful expression on her face.

"Why are you here? You know you're supposed to call before you come over," the older woman stated curtly. She held out a small towel, which King carefully took. The oddly civil gesture from her aunt started to bring her out of her stupor.

"I know," she started, "but…"
"Aren't you supposed to be at work, anyway?"
"I was given the evening off… "
"He's napping," Maddy interrupted.
"I won't wake him," King answered while using the towel to absorb some of the water from her pants.
"So then what did you come over for?"

King placed a hand on her forehead and let out an exasperated sigh as her apathy gave way to annoyance.

"Do I really have to give you a reason for every little thing?!" she snapped, though her tone was closer to exhaustion than anger.
"Non, Cécile, you don't have to give a reason for every little thing, but you need to be more considerate of the rest of us."
"'More considerate?!'"

King stared at her aunt in disbelief: Everything she was doing was out of consideration and love for her family. Of course, it was absolutely more for Jean than for Maddy or Gary… but they, too, were definitely benefitting from her efforts.

Her efforts that were going to be stymied by that fat son of a bitch…!

"Yes," Maddy said, bringing King out of the beginning of a train of dismal thoughts. "More considerate! What if we would have had someone over? Or had gone out for an impromptu dinner?"
"T'es plein de merde," King muttered crossly.
"Tais-toi, Cécile," came a sharp retort.

King glared at her aunt, her lips pressed together so hard that it hurt almost as much as her head, which was all at once splitting.

"Fuck you, Maddy," she growled while throwing the small towel back in the other woman's hands. As she walked to the stairs she heard Gary say something in a hushed voice, but she honestly didn't give a damn about anything he had to offer. All she wanted — no, all she needed — was to see Jean. She went up to his room, where a single dim bedside lamp illuminated his sleeping form. Even though he was curled up on his side, King could see that his face looked a little better than it had the day before, and his legs were back in their splints. She leaned on the doorframe and quietly sighed as she was hit by an almost overwhelming feeling of defeat.

She had been well on her way to earning what was needed to help take care of her brother — to even pay for his surgery outright — but, now, his misery was going to be prolonged for who knew how long because of Jack. It just wasn't… fair! The only reason she had gone after the bouncer job in the first place was because of how well it paid, and the only reason she took the "promotion" was because of how well that paid, but now it didn't even matter. Not only was she trapped — in the fucking mob! — but Jessica's wellbeing was in just as much jeopardy as her own.

King stared at Jean (he looked so peaceful!) and wondered how she could have failed him so badly. As much as she wanted to go over and just hold on to him she decided that it was best to let him sleep. She briefly shut her eyes before turning on her heel to walk away, all the while trying to think of ways out of her predicament.

"Céc?"

The tired voice stopped King in her tracks. She about-faced so she could go back to her brother's room, where he was still laying down, but rubbing his eyes.

"What're you doing here?" He asked while propping himself up on his elbows.
"I'm sorry," King said. "I didn't want to wake you."
"It's okay — I was already up."

King flashed a wan smile at Jean, her resolve starting to collapse as she approached him. She swallowed hard while looking down at the floor. She couldn't lose it — not in front of him, anyway. She had to be strong, because if she wasn't…

However, the harder she tried to reinforce that staunch façade, the harder her facial muscles fought back, trembling with long-awaited tears.

"Céc?"
"Hm…?"
"What is it?"
"It's nothing," she told Jean as she moved forward. He screwed up his face as he squinted up at her, frowned, and then softly patted the empty space next to him.

Without a word King situated herself next to Jean; she silently rolled onto her side so she could face him before placing a hand on his forehead to see if he was still feverish. Relieved that he didn't feel all that warm, she tried to smile once more. Unfortunately, a stray tear found its way down her cheek, which Jean noticed immediately.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.
"I… it's... I'm just tired."

A pointed look from Jean made King regret going over there in the first place, especially because she couldn't open up and tell him anything about what was going on . Hell, even if he was an adult she wouldn't be able to tell him. The only thing she could do was… what could she do? Personally, professionally… no matter where she went, her hands were tied.

"It's okay," Jean said brightly. He placed a hand on King's arm and gave a light squeeze, which almost broke the camel's back. She shut her eyes and willed herself to stay composed, but, instead, she let out a shaky breath; she had to keep cool — for his sake and for hers.

"Céc?"

King swallowed hard as she grabbed the corner of the pillow she was laying on and squeezed as tightly as she could. She opened her eyes to see her brother looking straight at her, his face screwed up with concern. There was something in his expression that completely, utterly decimated her composure.

"I'm sorry, Jean," she whispered. "I'm so sorry…!"
"Wh-why?"
"I… I'm trying so hard, but… j'ai merdé…"

And — just like that — her nose began to feel stuffy and her eyes began to burn. Going to her aunt and uncle's house was such a terrible idea; she should have just gone home and suffered by herself because now —

"Aww, it's okay, Céc," Jean assured her. "You're doing everything you can. I know you're working a lot because you're trying to help me, but I'm fine. As long as you're fine, I'm fine. It's a little cliché, but it's us against the world, remember?"

King raised her eyebrows, surprised. That was something she said to Jean once, almost word-for-word years earlier, when their father died.

"How do you even remember that?" she asked.
"I dunno. But it's not like it's changed," Jean replied. "It's still you and me. I mean… we have Maddy and Gary, I guess…"
"Yeah," King murmured. As much as she wanted to correct Jean and tell him that he had Maddy and Gary, she kept her mouth shut. Fighting with them in front of him was bad enough; she didn't need to go making comments to him behind their backs.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Jean's question was so good — so innocent; it made the situation that much worse. Instinctively, King reached out and pulled her brother into a tight hug. She held onto him and cried much more than she would have liked, annoyed at herself for being such an emotional weakling. After what felt like much too long, she let go so she could sit up and wipe her eyes on her sleeves. She looked past Jean, at the window on the opposite wall, which was being pelted by rain, and wondered how she could have failed him so badly. Her eyes then flicked to the godforsaken splints on his legs before finally settling on his face.

"Just… hang in there for me, okay?" She asked weakly.
"I will," Jean replied. "But you have to hang in there, too."
"I'll try…"

###

It was a few weeks later and the last thing King wanted was to spend a morning at the L'amour Restaurant and Bar, much less the usual evenings she had to endure in the luxury eatery of hidden criminal agendas. But she was summoned by the Big Bad himself, which meant that backing out was not an option.

So there she was.

Back in her professional attire, which she had painstakingly, more groggily than normal willed herself into donning, on account of the morning misery… and the general sense of hopelessness that had set in after the monumental blow to her morale by… she didn't want to even think his wretched name, much less look in his direction or hear his obnoxious gruff voice, or the bubbles popping from his goddamn bubble gum…

King had never, not once in her life, wished someone didn't exist until her time spent with Jack Turner. Had she the power, she would delete him from the world: his name, face, birth records, memories created and shared… there would be no trace of his disgusting brown hair and corpulent physique ever breathing life, the butterfly effect be damned.

But King was not God; she was as far from it as could be. And, as she stood there and heard the cackles and dirty jokes swapped between the malignant trio, among them the object of her hate, she desired to test the heavens above by giving whatever God may have been up there a middle finger.

"What'chu know about it, King?"

King's senses snapped back to the present, when she heard a voice address her. She looked over to see Mickey gazing right at her. The other two soon joined.

"What?" King tried to put some inflection in the word, but it came out as more of a mumble.
"You've had a girl send you her tits before, right?"
"Yeah, New Guy."

He spoke… and put an ever-so-subtle spin on that noun, which caused King to immediately look away. She didn't want to respond — didn't want to acknowledge a putrid breath from his lips.

"Pretty boy like you, I bet lotsa girls send you pics…"

A low chuckle escaped from his lungs as the hint of a shit-eating grin teased on his mouth, prompting King to take a deep breath. She willed herself to stick to the plan:

Quiet. Stoic. Cold.

"I'm not talking about my personal life."
"Aw, c'mon," Crawley spoke up. "You've gotta tell us something!"
"Yeah," Jack chimed in, his voice cloying. "You got a squeeze, don't you? Or was that chocolate piece I saw you with just some one and done bitch?"

King narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together, willing herself to keep it together while Jack stood, that disgusting smile on his face. She knew exactly what he was doing — what he was trying to do — but if she reacted…

It was at that moment that Big strolled into the lounge, flanked by his women and holding a briefcase. With a smile, he set it down on a far table, turned around, and looked everyone over one by one.

"I'mma get right to it: You boys have done some mighty fine work over the last few weeks. Work that has resulted in some… good fortune, if you will. So with that being said you're all getting a bonus — because I'm kind. But don't take my kindness for granted…"

To any normal employee, this would have been a ray of good news, but King already knew what it really meant. Her eyes instinctively — without any command — cut towards Jack, whose own eyes peered back… and the smugness on his lips made no attempt to stay hidden. All she could do was groan: a silent, forbidden expression of her disapproval, as she knew the consequences of crossing him or showing even a hint of defiance…

The end of her job. The end of Jean's only chance.

And maybe even the end of her.

###

King stood in the deserted men's room and glared at Jack as she handed over a small stack of bills, not unlike the smaller kid being shaken down by the school bully.

"Is that all of it?"
"...yes," King answered flatly.

Jack leered at her before counting the cash in his hands and flashing that infuriating, shit-eating grin.

"Good girl," he told her happily.
"Fuck you."
"Careful, hon'… don't wanna say the wrong thing."

King growled; she balled her hands into fists, took a very deep breath, and made herself look directly at the repugnant man, who was pocketing her hard-earned cash.

"Someday — "
"Yeah, yeah, you'll destroy me. I'll still have your money. Hope what you need it for isn't too serious…!"
"I really hate you," King intoned, her voice low. She never removed her eyes from the slovenly man's face, which was steeped in amusement.
"That cut deep, New Guy."

Just then, the bathroom door flew open and Crawley poked his head in.

"Hey King! Big's looking for you."
"Coming," King stated, finally taking her eyes off Jack. She followed Crawley to the lounge, where their boss sat back on his sofa, a mound of coke on the table in front of him. He addressed King nearly the second she walked in:

"You're up."
"Who?" King inquired blankly.

She was given a quick rundown and sent to a little dive bar a few blocks away, where she would find the leader of a small-time gang that was trying to encroach on Big's territory. The instructions were simple enough: use any means necessary to convince the small fry to back off.

King was glad Big kept it basic; she wasn't in the state of mind lately to follow long, complicated instructions. This… this was what she needed — what she wanted: to use her hands and feet, and swing out her frustrations. She was damn sure that, from here on out, every blow she rained down would be upon the face of who she imagined to be that scruffy-haired, blackmailing bastard… no matter who it was, or what the circumstances were. He was the object of her ire… and the wrath she could only dream of unleashing on him would, unfortunately, go towards anyone Mr. Big saw fit.

Would she feel bad about it? Maybe a little.

But would she enjoy it?

IMMENSELY.

She pressed her lips together while she approached her target, eyes narrowed, dead set on making him feel pain. He was trash, and Jack was trash. And, so, as she snatched her opponent's hair and viciously pulled him from his seat at the counter she decided that she would make the best of her pay cut.

…By taking out the trash.

And that concludes this particular look into King's past and why she hates Jack so much. So, not a lot going on here, but:

* T'es plein de merde = you're full of shit
* Tais-toi = Be quiet; shut your mouth, etc etc
* J'ai merdé = I fucked up
* Jean was four when their father died
* In case you missed it in previous chapters, Jessica is not white. Google Nathalie Emmanuel. YOU'RE WELCOME.
* It's been mentioned before that King has a bit of a sadistic streak (see Japanese ver. Capcom vs SNK 2 special win quotes with Yuri on the same team, Madman's Cafe, and previous stories). Although it already somewhat exists at this point in time, the situation with Jack is what really pushes it forward, since she ends up using the physicality of her role as an outlet in regards to her frustrations with Jack, and her family, and Jean's health, etc. etc.

Okay, you lovely readers. Thank you very much for sticking with this story, and for all of the illyverse stuff if you've been going here for a long time! The support means a lot to me, especially when that Imposter Syndrome comes creeping in. And, of course, a very special thanks to jojoDO, who did great work on this, David Tai for providing ideas and input, iwewia for the endless support, and RobertCop3 for listening to me complain about everything.

Thank you all very much! Don't be afraid to make use of that comment/review box down below to tell me your overall thoughts!

Cheers~!