I'm baaaaack! Sorry about the wierd hiatus! My crazy grown up life got in the way. But if anyone is still interested in this story, I'm not finished yet! Lots of love guys! xoxoxoxoxoxox And ps-I only own my little Nicki

Nicki and Victor stared up at the apartment complex, sizing it up.

"Soooo we're just looking to see if he took Fish's money?"

"Kept her money," Nicki corrected. She spotted a fire escape on the side and moved to judge how much taller it was than herself. "He's a runner between her and a bunch of the fences. He claims he keeps getting shorted by them, but most of them are our kids. And the good ones too." It was about three feet over her head.

Victor followed her, nodded slowly. He crouched down on one knee, allowing her to climb up on his shoulders before standing back up. "How much?"

Nicki stretched her arms out and took a hold of handrails. With Victor giving her a boost, she climbed up onto it. "Does it matter?" She asked, looking back down at him. "A couple thousand or so in all but-"

"Appearances have to be kept," Victor finished, knowingly. He looked around for a moment, assessing the best way to get himself onto the fire escape. After a few seconds he saw Nicki bracing herself against the railing and holding out a hand, a couple feet above his head. With a running start, he ran up the wall parallel to the fire escape and propelled himself towards her, snagging her hand. Once she had caught him, he entwined his fingers in the grating and pulled himself up next to her. "You didn't really need my help for this."

Nicki smiled at him, straightening up. "No, but I wanted to spend some bonding time with my brother."

Victor gave a bark of a laugh and started leading the way up the fire escape. "Fourth floor window?"

Nicki scurried past him, humming in affirmation.

The two approached the window.

"Who is this guy again?"

"Raoul."

"Should that mean something to me?"

Nicki didn't respond for a moment, examining the window. She could probably break off a piece of metal from the railing and use it to pry open-

CRASH

Victor had shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around his fist before punching it through the window. Nicki winced and gave him an incredulous look. He shrugged. "If he's one of Mooney's guys he won't be home right?"

There was a scream from inside. Poking their heads through the shattered window, the sibling caught sight of a beautiful woman with dark hair and wide, fear stricken eyes. The startled woman made a dash for the door, almost slipping on the linoleum in her socks.

"Shit," Victor hissed, reaching for his gun. But Nicki had already dove head first through the window. She missed the shattered glass , and rolled as she hit the floor, popping up onto her feet and throwing herself at the door, just slamming into it as the woman began to pull it open.

"Now just hold on Miss-" Nicki started, but the woman dissolved into tears.

"Keep the noise level down…now," Victor said, his voice even. He had clambered through the window and was walking towards her, gun raised.

"Not necessary," Nicki said, warningly. She placed a hand on the ladies arm and did her best to look comforting. "Are you Roul's…girlfriend?"

The woman sank to the floor crying. "Whatever he did, I don't know anything about it, I swear!"

Victor rolled his eyes. Nicki fought the urge to do so as well. "Look we aren't going to hurt you, we just had to look for something. That's all….sorry about the…um…window…" The woman continued to cry. With a sigh, Nicki reached into her pocket. "Here. This should be enough to cover the damage…with enough for you to go grab yourself a coffee and get some fresh air for a minute? Clear your head?" Nicki gave her a pointed look, her comforting tone getting just a little bit sharper. "Do you follow me?"

The woman looked up at her with teary eyes, confused.

Victor's patience was waning. "Look," he barked. "We're paying you to get out. Leave. Don't tell anyone we were here. Then you don't get hurt. Go."

The woman clambered to her feet and started for the door again.

"And find a new guy too," Nicki, shouted after her. "You're way too good for him."

The woman took one last look at Nicki before hurrying out the door.

"You're too nice," Victor huffed, pocketing his gun and shuffling through papers on the coffee table. Then, before she could reply he added, "So who is he again?"

"Works for Mooney…" she tried, looking on a countertop for anything incriminating.

No response.

"Always has his hair greased back?" she tried again. Victor had made his way to the bedroom door. "Always wears this really awful smelling-"

He pulled it open and immediately coughed as the stench of cheap cologne broke out. "Oh," he croaked. "This guy."

Nicki smirked. "See anything?"

Victor's held his nose as he poked his head into the room. He gave a choke of a laugh. "Yeah, he made your job pretty easy." Nicki moved to join him, and saw a collection of red envelopes thrown on a dresser. Miss Mooney's trademark money transfers.

"Well…that was easy."