AN: I'll admit that the last chapter felt like it dragged, and for that I apologize! I just hope it tied up most of the loose ends with those 2. Anyway, gonna get into this chapter now! *trigger warning for a small section of this chapter for sexual harassment/assault references and abuse/bullying*

3rd person POV

Over the past few weeks, Pico made an effort to say hi to Nova. Their conversation following their rap battle had really had an impact. It was through these times of trying to talk to her, that he realized just how late she'd get home from the cafe, how she spent her days off, to a certain extent, and the other facets of her personality seemed to be more organic than before. To say they felt more like friends now, wasn't too far off of the beaten path.

Pico's POV

I sat out on the front porch of the apartment building smoking. Mostly because last time Mavis caught me smoking weed in my apartment, she threatened to kick my ass. I hadn't really wanted to get her mad again, as I respected her, and her daughter for all the shit they had to go through when they took over the building. That was when I saw Nova meandering up to the door. She looked tired, like she had been chased around by a crazed maniac, then I noted the what she was wearing. As my shoulders began to shake, was when Nova finally looked up. Her cheeks went bright red, and I started laughing so hard that I dropped the remainder of the joint. "H-hey! Don't laugh!" She called in frustration, all while gripping at the skirt of the maid dress.

Her response just got me to laugh even harder, as she pouted in frustration, I couldn't stop laughing. I didn't even notice her walk up to flick my forehead until she already had. "Asshole," she said in a more calm tone before smiling.

Once I had caught my breath, I decided to ask, noting that she was carrying a backpack. "So what does the bureau have you doing right now?" I asked, nearly chuckling again.

Nova sighed, stepping by me while she face palmed. I had to turn around just to look in her direction. "It's not the Bureau," she answered in a slightly annoyed tone,"I have the job as a cover. That and, I want to rely on myself somewhat when I don't have any missions."

I stood up noticing she had paused so we could talk more, even if I had annoyed her. "Shit," I muttered,"Sorry..."

"Eh, forget about it," she said swatting her gloved hand in the air, as we both walked inside.

I smiled, but then suddenly felt confused,"Wait a minute, I heard you worked at a cafe from Boyfriend, and Girlfriend."

She turned halfway to face me, and with a mischievous grin, and signaling me to stay silent, she answered my question with one sentence,"I may have neglected to tell them the Liz's Cafe is, a maid cafe."

Nova's POV

Once I answered his question, there was a silence between us. As sudden as that silence was, it quickly dissipated into rancorous laughter. Despite being initially annoyed when I came home and saw him outside, it was still pretty funny I hadn't told Cherry and Blue the full extent of my job. "Oh god!" Pico said finally catching his breath,"So I'm the first person to know about it."

He swiped a tear out of his eyes, while I nodded, my giggles subsiding. In the lobby, one could see my uniform in full view, and that was when Pico paused. His eyes gazed me up and down, seeming to take in the entire uniform details and all. The staring made the intricate corset feel tighter, and caused me to take in the checkered patters that dotted themselves across the mostly black and purple uniform. "Fuck!" Pico suddenly said, causing my gaze to shoot back up towards him,"Damn it! Sorry, got lost it thought."

Though he said that, I watched his every move. His face was blush red, and he went from just looking away to rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the floor. A bright grin crossed my face, and I made a few advances toward him. "Sure you weren't checking me out?" I asked, my grin holding some level of humor.

Pico's blush darkened, but he seemed to pick up on the joke, gently pushing me back before saying,"J-j-just go get changed!"

I laughed playfully pulling down my lower lid and sticking out my tongue. This earned a laugh, and his blush faded. "I'll comeback down and we can talk some more," I said, the elevator dinging shortly after I called it.

"No problem," he said seeming to be feeling less tense than when I made the joke,"See ya soon."

Pico's POV

After the elevator closed, I took a breath. "Damn it," I muttered, I was still thankful she hadn't gotten pissed at me for staring.

"You ok there Pico?" Sophie asked, suddenly coming out.

I smiled uneasily, but admitted what had happened. "Well I get feeling embarrassed," Sophie said, making me feel more calm,"I mean, she was really embarrassed about working there to begin with, but she's seemed to ease into it. I honestly wonder if she's ever been with anybody."

I nodded, wondering why Sophie was jumping right to that comment, but she seemed to shake her head and continue,"Sorry, got side tracked. What I'm trying to say is, Nova doesn't let things linger, and tries to move on. That's why she makes jokes."

I smiled, ruffling her hair, only to have her playfully swat my hand away. "I'm not a baby!" She cried jokingly.

We both laughed as Nova showed up. "K, so I'm not dying of suffocation now!" Nova exclaimed, an obvious joke.

This caused Sophie and I to laugh hard, and between the 3 of us we talked for hours. I even found out that Sophie worked at Liz's, and had gotten Nova the job which lead into Nova twiddling her thumbs. I noticed her sudden discomfort, and decided to ask,"Hey, what's up?"

Nova's POV

I looked over, even Sophie seemed to focus on me. I sighed,"The boss doesn't have me working most of this week," I said in frustration,"Granted I have set days off, but I think they just want you to come in more."

Sophie seemed to tense up once I said that, before asking,"How do you figure?"

Pico watched the both of us as I answered,"He hasn't been showing up, and on the days I would normally be working, they have you scheduled during my normal shift time."

Sophie sighed, she then stretched in frustration,"Welp, I'm gonna have to suck it up starting Monday."

"Hey, I think the manager is being too hasty," I replied with a bit of a cold tone,"Whatever the case, let me know if you want me to walk with you to work."

Sophie nodded, walking away, and saying,"I'll let you know."

Pico's POV

The saddened look on her face, was all I needed. Sophie had completely become silent, and Nova had seemed to slightly dance around the issue. "Ok, what was that about?" I asked, which was seemingly enough for Nova to refocus.

She sighed, standing up and walking back towards the elevator. I took that as a cue to follow, but even so I knew she didn't quite know if she should share the story. "There's a customer at Liz's," she started as soon as the elevator closed,"He is the definition of a shitwad! The guy seems to target very specific girls, and only started coming when Liz handed the cafe over to her son."

I blinked, hearing her get mad about anything was pretty rare from what I could tell. That said, she continued as we made our way over to our apartments,"The guy demands the girls act out of character, tends to attempt to grope them, and if he gets told off, he starts to make their job harder. No joke, this guy will trip the server, try to pull them over while carrying orders, and anything to give his new target hell! Sophie just so happens to be his current target, so she took a couple weeks off after being repeatedly kicked, tripped, and bitched out the guy. So now that he hasn't shown up for a while, and Carter seems to think he won't come back. That said, I think he was just waiting for her to come back."

I started to shake with rage, I even gripped at the gun in my pocket,"Should I take care of him?" I asked my teeth grit.

She suddenly looked over her shoulder looking at me. She walked the couple steps back over to me and calmly put a hand on my shoulder. "Nah," she said giving me a kind smile,"That's not necessary. Though if he really does something stupid, I give you full permission."

I felt my tension lessen, kinda glad she talked me out of it for now. I hadn't taken any jobs lately, so getting caught wasn't in my best interest. "That said," she commented thoughtfully,"I'll need to cover some section of time, otherwise I will get bored."

A smirk pulled at my lips, as I made the next joking statement,"Well Ms. Maid, you could put an ad out for babysitting."

She laughed at my joke, only deciding to add to it,"Well Master, that sounds like a good idea. It'd keep me busy on my days off."

I returned the laugh, before saying,"Good luck, kids can be a bit of a pain."

She nodded, waving as she went into her apartment. I was just glad she trusted me with what was going on Liz's. With that I went inside to relax for the night.

3rd person POV

During the next few days, Nova had put the ad out, and Pico would find some time to drop by her apartment and ask if Sophie had reached out. Although she hadn't, they both kept secretly hoping that she would. The 2 of them would talk about how to stop the guy for good, and one day Pico texted Nova.

Pico: Hey.

What's up dude, you hardly ever text?

Pico: So I actually took another job so yeah...If you need me, or Sophie is in bad shape let me know.

Sure thing. Long job, or a quick one?

Pico: Not sure yet...sometimes they seem easy and end up taking longer.

Yeah, sounds about right, same things happen with missions from the bureau. Be careful out there.

Pico: Can't promise anything, but I can try.

That's all I ask.

Nova's POV

A couple of days passed since Pico had suddenly texted me. I was more surprised that Sophie seemed to be doing fine at work. The fact that I was worrying about Sophie and Pico was making all this time off even more restless. So I decided to check the ad I put out before this week started, and too my surprise someone had replied. "Can you please watch my son and his friend!"

I looked at the response, and saw it was made all of a few minutes ago. The fact that the ad hadn't been touched since I put it up made this more exciting to me. "Of course!"

As I went back and forth with this lady she kept asking if I was sure I could handle the situation. I wondered if her kid and his friend were that bad, or if she just didn't trust me. Even so, I kept reassuring her, even telling her that I'd gone through my own insanity before, so that it couldn't be that bad. When she told me what she would pay, it was my turn to ask her if she was sure. Though I could tell she was serious, so we arranged a place to meet, as I told her I didn't have a car. And she gave me a time, so I prepared for the job. "She was either really worried, or stressed or, both..." I muttered deciding what to make, and or do during the job with the kids,"Whatever it is, I just want this to go well..."

I blinked, looking at the clock, I made a plan of attack. I took a quick shower, checked for texts from Pico (or anyone else for that matter), made myself a quick meal, and did some sketching for the last 20 minutes before I had to leave. As I walked through the city, I took a breath, clearing my head for the next task. My heart raced as I wondered what these 2 kids would be like, and if the one kids mother would be nice. I kinda hoped I wasn't biting off more than I could chew, but something told me that if I was, that I'd pretty quickly. As I rounded the corner to the park where I was going to meet them, my heart rate increased more than it had in a while. That was when I saw a lady gazing around, before looking down at her phone, while a kid in a skeleton costume, and a kid with a pumpkin costume goofed around. The woman looked at them worriedly occasionally telling them to be careful.

3rd person POV

As Nova approached the woman, she noticed that she had purple hair, and had a pale complexion. The moment one kid would slow down, the other would suggest something else, and the cycle would repeat. Then Nova spoke up,"Are you Ms. Lila?"

The woman looked in her direction, and gave her a big old, kind smile. "I'm guessing you're Nova," she said holding her hand out as they shook hands,"It's nice to meet you! Sorry about the short notice, but my friend and I were going to catch up with each other for a little bit...and well the normal babysitter was busy."

Nova seemed to raise her hands in a non confrontational way,"It's alright! I don't mind at all Ms. Lila."

Lila seemed to blush a little, and waved,"Just Lila's fine Nova honestly. Also, as you can probably tell these too are kinda a handful, and they have a tendency to get themselves into trouble. So keep that in mind, and you should be fine."

"Don't worry Lila, honestly I've dealt with my own shares of troubles, so I'm pretty sure I can handle anything these 2 can throw at me," Nova replied with a confident smile.

Lila seemed to sigh in a worried manner, but then she turned to the 2 boys,"Skid, Pump, please be good for your babysitter, Ms. Nova alright! I'll be back to pick you up at around 10 ok?"

Both boys stopped running around, and looked at Nova before smiling, and the boy in the skeleton costume said,"Ok mom, have fun with Ms. Jaune!"

As she left, the boys walked up to me, and smiled happily. I took a breath, and smiled,"Hey there, I'm Nova."

Then the boy in the skeleton costume gave me a bright smile, with the other boy joining in. "I'm Skid, and that's Pump," the skeleton boy introduced excitedly.

"Can we go to the candy store?" Asked the pumpkin boy.

I sighed, questioning wether or not that was a good idea, but I didn't see a reason why not. "Sure," I said brightly, knowing that it was on the way to my apartment.

Both boys cheered running ahead, and I chased them, able to keep up, surprisingly without a problem.

Nova kept up as the boys entered the candy store, much to the dismay of the shops main cashier. A younger gentleman with jet black hair, who looked tired, as he was about to turn them away, he saw Nova. With his hand still raised, he groaned in defeat,"Fine, but no candy canes until Halloween."

"OK KEVIN!" Both boys cheered in unison, as they ran around making their selections.

Kevin seemed to be unable to keep a calm composure with the 2 of them in the store, so while they were running around, Nova decided to walk up and ask about it. Before she could even ask, Kevin asked,"How'd you get stuck with these 2 monsters?"

Nova seemed a bit taken aback by the statement, but she shook it off pretty quickly, "I had an ad up for a babysitting gig, and their babysitter was busy. That said, aside from the costumes, monsters?"

It was Kevin's turn to be flustered, he seemed to think she was going to start yelling at him but, Nova quickly clarified,"Hey, you have to have your reasons, and Skid's mom seemed a bit worried either about me, them, or both. So I just want to understand where you're coming from."

Kevin seemed to relax, seeing that Nova didn't mean any harm by the question, he told her everything from the past several Halloweens that had happened in his store alone. Nova seemed surprised, she listened, nodding to let him know he was still being heard. Once he finished, he seemed to be hyperventilating a little, so she place a hand on his shoulder. "Sounds to me that they either have extremely good luck in these kind of situations, or that they have bad luck, and don't always realize they're in legitimate danger," Nova replied, causing Kevin to calm down a little.

Kevin nodded, "I mean a known serial killer, geez...sorry, I don't want to ruin this gig for you."

Nova blinked, shaking her head,"Nope, you didn't ruin it for me. Let's just say, I've learned how to roll with the punches when it comes to insanity."

Kevin seemed confused, and as he was about to ask her what she meant. "Ms. Nova?" Skid asked,"Aren't you going to get anything?"

"Also, we're both ready when you are," Pump added, as Nova and Kevin both stared at their huge bags of candy.

Nova could hear Kevin laughing a little, and she just couldn't find it in her heart to say no, this time anyway. She kneeled down to their level and answered,"I'll get a couple of things, and then we'll check out. Just don't eat all of that before you go to bed."

"Ok," they both said sweetly, while she stood back up and pick a few things for herself.

Kevin seemed a bit concerned, though Nova knew she didn't have to worry, and that he didn't either. After she paid for the candy, Kevin gave her an apologetic look, and then told her to be careful. "I will," she replied,"Thanks for everything Kevin, and take care of yourself."

Not that she saw, but for once Kevin had a legitimate pleasant smile.

Nova's POV

I was glad the kids got enjoy themselves, they even pointed out places they had been, and people who the knew. They even talked about demons whom they had met in the past. I kinda understood the worry Lila had, and why she was willing to pay a babysitter so much. Just before we got back to the apartment, Skid and Pump stood still looking down an alleyway. When I looked that way, I spotted what they were staring at, there was a golem doll with blood all over it. "That looks so real!" Skid said excitedly.

"So awesome!" Pump added, as I carefully looked at the doll.

It's design was that of a demon with horns, and it had a grey purple color. It was also just slightly taller than the boys. When they walked a little closer to it, I suddenly grabbed their wrists gently, and warned,"Hold on Skid, Pump. I wouldn't get too close."

The 2 of them watched me, and noticed my serious expression. I had them wait there briefly as I walked over to the golem. The metallic sent hit my nose hard, so even if this particular golem wasn't active currently, someone was using it. "I'll get a friend of mine to check this out," I finally said,"Someone just used this to kill someone. So I'm gonna make a call, then we'll head back to my place ok guys."

Skid and Pump nodded, and shortly after the call was made, and I was told by Roman to wait around for them to send someone there. While we waited Skid and Pump walked over to me and I gave them a calm smile. "Do you get to see spooky stuff all the time?" Skid asked with the honest naïve smile I expected.

"Yep," I said smiling,"But, it's all usually pretty dangerous stuff."

"Wow!" Both boys said with excitement,"Could you tell us about it sometimes?"

I laughed a little, just glad they weren't too freaked out,"I can't tell you everything, but I'll tell you about the stuff that I can."

"Promise?" Pump asked holding out his pinky finger, with Skid following suit.

"Promise," I answered, returning their pinky swear, like I would with dad back when he first took me in.

After my coworkers showed up and asked us a few small questions we finally got home. "Ms. Nova do you know the spooky dance?" Skid asked as we entered the door.

"I don't think I do," I said kindly, closing the door behind us.

"We can show you if you want!" Skid said brightly, followed by Pump bouncing on his heels.

A giggle escaped my lips, as I nodded. "Go right ahead," I said, kinda intrigued by a dance that could make them this happy.

"So um, " Pump began, "you bend your knees like this."

They both bent their knees, and then Skid added,"and then you go like this."

Their arms moved the left, then they stood up straight, and then bent their knees again, and put their arms out to the right. "Now you try it!" Skid said brightly.

I nodded, joining them, laughing a little. We ended up picking up speed, before eventually stopping. "There, now you know the spooky dance," Skid and Pump said excitedly.

It was cool that these 2 didn't let things bother them too much. They I could tell they loved Halloween, and all things spooky, so it wasn't a surprise to me that they wanted to watch a horror movie. We ate some of the candy, and dinner. It was even more of a surprise that they fell asleep during the horror movie, but it didn't bother me. Any movie horror was better than dealing with the real deal. The 2 kids had curled up against me, with Skid even hugging my right arm. When I heard a knock on the door at about 8:30, I was confused. I carefully removed myself from the spooky kids, and checked through the peep hole in the door. And Pico was on the other side.

Pico's POV

When I asked Lila about how her night was going, my job had already finished, and I was a half hour away from home. I was tired, and just needed to get cleaned up, plus I had a sneaking suspicion that Darnell and Nene had found a way to block me out of the apartment. It was just an odd conversation we'd had about what each of us would do if we felt pissed at one or both of the others. We all agreed that we would probably pick a fight with the others at a later time, but another thing was if we were planning something against each other, that; we would find a way to keep one or both of our roommates out. As the thought crossed my mind, Lila answered slipping on a few of her words in the text.

Lila: I'm fiîne picko.

K, I can tell you got to hang out with your friend, they staying at Pumps' place?

Lila: Nope, Granda Won was really tyrd, and Sue had a slepober wif fiends.

I almost laughed, she usually drunk texted when she was with her friend Jaune. Though that did make me wonder, who Pump and Skid were with. During my whole way home, I had to ask her who she had babysitting the 2 kids, and repeatedly until she gave me a name, and address. I sighed, glad to recognize Nova's name, and became much calmer. The rest of the of the way down the street and too the apartment I finally texted her again.

I'll check on her, and the kids. She's my neighbor.

With no response, I kinda figured she passed out. As I went upstairs I took one quick check of my apartment. The key worked fine, but pushing on the door, I could tell something was blocking it. "That figures," I grumbled, before knocking on her door.

It only took her a few minutes to answer the door, and she smiled seeing me. "Hey there," she whispered, despite the horror movie playing in the other room,"Sup Pico?"

It was funny, seeing her be so careful and quiet, but I didn't question it. "I'm locked out of my apartment by my roommates," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck,"And, I wanted to make sure Skid and Pump were ok."

She gave me a funny smile, trying not to laugh, but she invited me inside... something I didn't expect.

3rd person POV

Pico walked inside, as Nova turned on the kitchen lights. Her eyes widened at seeing the blood soaked into his clothes. "Geez rough day huh?" She whispered, causing Pico to look down, almost laughing.

"Yeah, a little more trouble than I bargained for," Pico said raising his hands with a fake defeat,"You get jobs from this bureau, and I, I'm a mercenary."

Nova smiled, she kind wondered where his job fell into. "Go ahead, get cleaned up, I can see what I can find," She said, pointing out the bathroom.

Pico gave her a bit of a look, but it was because of the comment about clothing. "I sometimes get clothes from the other agents, and since most of them are guys, I have a stupid amount of things that are too big for me," she explained causing Pico to laugh.

"You're like a little sister then," he said smiling.

Nova nodded,"Pretty much yeah."

The 2 of them talked for a tiny bit longer, and he disappeared into the bathroom. The rest of the night went off without a hitch, with Lila picking up Skid and Pump, and a little while later Nova chose to ask about Pico and his roommates when he was all set.

AN: Cliffhanger! Who could have foreseen this lol. I go back to work pretty soon, so updates won't come as soon. That said, I hope you're enjoying the story, and that it hasn't been too boring a ride for you! Any positive feedback/constructive criticism is welcome! Remember to keep on keeping on, and I'll see you again in chapter 6!