Author's Note: Sorry it's so late. I don't even have a good excuse.

~o~

I walk through the door of our apartment only to find it empty. I pull out my phone, now with a few more cracks in the screen from the latest incident along with a partially melted phone case – that smell is horrendous – to find a text message from her.

I'm staying at Susan's. Let me know if you didn't kill Uncle Pete and I'll come home, if you did... I don't know.

She wouldn't really – would she? We've been together practically our whole lives, there's no way she'd leave me over something like this. I call her. She picks up on the fifth ring, as my thumb hovers over the distorted red button that would theoretically have hung up the call if it could still register the touch through all the damage.

"Elsa?" she asks, after I go a few seconds without saying a word.

"I'm here. Sorry, I just didn't expect you to answer. Are you still at Sue's?"

"Why?" Her voice is cold, ironically so, given my nature.

"He's still alive. Or at least I didn't kill him, I can't say what happened to him after that." Right, Elsa, because you were not repeatedly trying to kill him even while some fiery tart was trying to roast you alive. This is definitely you doing as your girlfriend wants and not in any way you just being too scared to be alone tonight.

"I'm glad. I can't believe you were really considering that. After everything he's done for you!" Now that's the hotheaded woman I fell in love with. I'll take anything over that tone she had a minute ago. Nothing is worse than her sounding so indifferent to me.

"I know." I can't tell her the truth, but I can't lie to her either. "Will you please come home? I really need you tonight." I take off my remaining scraps of shirt as I talk, and wince in pain. I didn't know I could still feel that. As I sit in the living room recliner, another burning feeling shoots from my right shoulder blade the second my bare skin touches the fabric. I dash to the bathroom, prompting another wave of pain. I turn around before the mirror, and looking back over my shoulder, see a large burn on my right shoulder blade. She hit me.

"Elsa, are you okay? Say something."

Glad Anna still cares. "Sorry. I um... I think I may have been lit on fire."

"What?"

"I fought someone like me. And apparently she managed to hit me as – as I ran like a fucking coward. It's not healing. Even the brands healed almost instantly. What the hell is this?"

"Someone hurt you?" Her voice sounded urgent, I could hear her saying goodbye to Susan. "I'm on my way. I'll kill the fucker. No one hurts my Elsa."

Five minutes later, she's rubbing some ointment into my burn that is theoretically helping, but I wouldn't notice for all the pain and screaming coming from me. God that fucking hurts, can I just get branded again instead? "Anna, that's enough, you've been rubbing – AH! – you've covered the burn, it's fine. Stop it."

I turn to see Anna smirking at me. Was this supposed to be payback? Can't say I don't deserve it. "Stop being such a baby."

"Would you like to have some fire god burn you alive? It's not that fun!"

Her lips meet mine in lieu of an answer. "Tell me what happened," she demands when we come up for air.

"I have no idea. This bitch, says her name is Notos, comes out of nowhere and starts hurling fire at me. She ruined my favorite suit." I indicate the tattered rags that still remained around my legs.

"The Southern Wind?"

"Yeah, I think so. How'd you know?" I wince again as she dresses my wound.

"I've been doing research on the Anemoi – the Greek wind gods – ever since I found out that I just so happened to be dating one. You might want to do the same."

I grumble. She had a point.

"Where were you? Was this after you saw Pete?"

I stammer. Fuck. "It was after. In an alley."

"Why were you in an alley after?" Her pressure on the bandage adds a definite air of interrogation to the question.

"Anna –" I begin.

"No." She silences me. "No excuses. What were you doing in that alley, Elsa. Was he only alive when you last saw him due to some technicality? You shot him so he'd bleed out when you weren't around and you wouldn't have to directly lie to me? What did you do?"

I swallow. Fuck. "I led him to an alley to kill him. He said that he was glad it was me, that he knew I'd make it quick, but that he hated that Pops was doing this to me. Then when I was about to go through with it, that Notos bitch lit me on fire."

Anna growls. "Can't say I blame her." She pivots on her heel as if to walk away from me.

"Please, wait – don't go."

"I can't believe I trusted you. You're nothing but a remorseless killer. What am I even doing with you?" I think I preferred her just pushing on my third degree burns. That hurt less. She marches out of the bathroom, heading back to our front door.

"You're one to talk!" I spit, grabbing her shoulder. "You think just because now you only do the books instead of getting your hands dirty, that you're somehow blameless? You've killed before. Hell, you'll do it again. We both owe our father too much to ever leave this life."

"I'd leave it for you!" she screams, slamming her foot down as she turns back to me with fire in her eyes. "I'd do anything for you, Elsa. You know that. Why wouldn't you do the same for me? How could you be willing to kill Uncle Pete?"

"I had to. Anyone else would have just made an example of him." I take a step towards her.

She doesn't move, her eyes set on mine. "That's just an excuse and you know it. It might help you sleep tonight, but you know full well that you weren't going to do it as a mercy, you were going to do it because you're always daddy's little soldier, doing whatever he pleases. For fuck's sake Elsa, Pete did everything for you! He's the one that got you on hormones! He talked our father into not disowning you for it, and yet it's fucking Vincent that you're loyal to. You think that scumbag deserves more from you than the only man to ever actually be a father to you?"

I freeze. Literally. Fucking ice powers acting up when I get emotional. Ice forms over my body, as a tear finds its way halfway down my face before turning to ice as well. "I don't know any other life, Anna." My voice is barely more than a whisper.

Anna's gaze softens and she touches a hand to my frosted skin. "Then let's kill him."

I blink, the ice starting to melt away. "Weren't you just telling me not to?"

"Not Pete. Let's kill Vincent. Let's kill our father and take over his organization."

Oh. Was she really serious about that earlier? It's crazy. We couldn't really – "Anna, that's insane."

"You're a god, Elsa. You can do anything. Besides, I'm sure plenty of people will side with you instead of him. You're the presumptive heir and he's an old asshole who kills anyone who even looks at him sideways. Half his men have reason to turn against him, just give them that little nudge and you'll have an army of your own."

She makes it sound so easy. "How do you propose we do this?"

"That's the easy part. He just told you to kill one of his most loyal men. We just go there and tell everyone the truth. Then when we start the coup, anyone who doesn't side with you can just have an icicle magically pierce their hearts. You can do that, right?"

I've actually never tried that one. I stare at the lamp by the couch, willing a shard of ice to rupture the bulb. A loud crack echoes throughout the living room. "Apparently I can."

"Now try it with numerous targets."

I do as she says. All of the lights in the ceiling explode, glass and ice raining down to the floor amid a shower of sparks. "This might not be quite as impossible as I'd thought."

"Elsa, how exactly would it be impossible? You're immortal."

She had a point. "All right. Let's kill our father."

A broad grin spreads across her face. "You mean it? You're really okay with this?"

"Hell no, I'm not even close to okay with this, but I can't hurt you like that again, or Uncle Pete I guess, I'm not willing to throw everything away just because Pops – Vincent told me to. But we're doing this my way, I'm not losing all of his men along with him. We'll see who will side with us, before we make a move against him."

She smirked. "I know exactly how we can go about doing that, but you're not going to like it."

I can see the gears turning behind her blue-green eyes. When she puts her mind towards something devious, she can be even more wicked than me. "What are you thinking?"

"There's one person that everyone respects, possibly even more than your father."

"No," I mouth, her reasoning sinking in. Not today. Not after everything that just happened.

"We have to go see Uncle Pete," she finishes.

"Anna, no, this is insane. I was just there to kill him, we're not going back to ask for his help."

"Why not? I'm sure he'd be happy to. He's family, and if anyone knows how awful our father can be, then it's obviously him. Who just ordered you to kill him, after all?"

I hate when she's right. I hate always. "Fine, but you're talking to him."

"Elsa don't be a baby," she chides, glaring at me.

"We'll both talk to him. But you're driving, I left my car at his place."

Anna's gaze turns quizzical. "Then how'd you get home?"

"Stole a motorcycle."

"Cool." She grins. The girl does love her bikes.

"Do you want to ride it to his place?"

"Hell yeah! We can take your car back, but it's been years since I rode a nice chopper. Last time I had an orgasm the second the engine started."

"I know, I had to clean the seat. You're wearing pants this time."

She sticks her tongue out at me. "You're no fun."

~o~

Anna climbs off the motorcycle, panting, her eyes hooded. "That was amazing."

"You two need a moment alone?"

"Don't be like that. It was just a fling. I promise, I'll never call it again. Your tongue is far better, especially now that it can do temperature play."

My face heats, a blush coloring my cheeks. How the hell does she always make me feel like a bashful school girl? I'm supposed to be a badass mafiosa god. Being able to fluster me is a goddamn super power. "Let's go inside."

"After you," she replies, gesturing towards the door as she finishes collecting herself.

I take a deep breath before I knock. I wonder what he's told his family. Am I even still welcome here? Why couldn't Anna have gone first?

A few seconds pass before I hear footsteps on the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the lock turning. Pete is standing before me, looking almost like he's seen a ghost. "Back to finish the job?" he asks.

Rude. Fair. But rude. "No. I'm not." Why do I let her talk me into these things? "How would you like to help us kill my father and take over the family? Anna and I'd be in charge, but you could come back as a consigliere. I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have done that." Polite way to say 'sorry I held a gun to your head.'

Before I can stick my foot any further down my throat, he pulls me into a hug. "Come here, Anna, you too," he calls, and I feel her warmth next to me. When he pulls away, he looks us up and down. "Of course I'm with you, but are you sure this is what you want? I won't blame you if you decide to kill me right now. I don't know what that thing was earlier, and quite frankly I don't want to; this life is already more than enough for me without adding anything more to it."

"He's an abusive asshole who uses his power to keep everyone in line out of fear. You're far more of a father than he's ever been," Anna explains. "We're ready to do whatever we have to, but the men will follow you before they'll follow anyone else. We need you."

"And we can discuss the fire bitch after we take over the mob," I added. "One thing at a time."

He sighed. "Let's stick with what I actually know how to process. You don't need to say anything more, you have me. Let me grab my coat and we can get started. I'll make sure we have enough men on our side that there won't be any question once he's gone."