A warm meal was exactly what Seneca needed now. He forgot how hungry it made him to search for a new job. Since two days he was now not part of Scratch´s team anymore and since then he did two things. Let of some steam in a gym somewhere in the city, where the body builders looked pretty stupid as the gaunt lion boxed literally the sand out of the sandbag, and searching for a new job.

After all he had a real family to feed and not some kind of weird criminal family Scratch once talked about. Well, less a family to feed than being obliged to pay maintenance. But he did that with joy. That was the only way he could support his children. But for that he needs a job and acquiring a job in this city was almost impossible.

Half of the big criminals were arrested and the other half was too afraid of Scratch to do anything. Seneca was stranded and could just leave the city to get new jobs. He also had already a talk with a guy called The Chameleon. This weird lizard was almost about to hire him but then he mentioned Scratch and the guy backed away.
He always thought that a man with his qualities would get a lot of jobs he could carry out but as it seems that wasn´t the truth.

Tired sat Seneca down in a small diner which furniture seemed to be from the late fifties. Red leather benches on side, so torn, that the yellow stuffing poured out everywhere. Dirty white tables that were attached to the wall with the obligatory napkin dispenser on it. And on the other side of that a long counter with a lot of stools in front of it.

Behind that a lonely waitress, in an old looking uniform, was chewing bored gum. Seneca headed for the seats and sat down in the corner of the restaurant. And even if he was the only guest the waitress just honored him with her visit after five minutes.

"What can I do for you?" she asked chewing.
"Breakfast, fast." Mumbled Seneca.
"Thank you, sweetie." She said sarcastically and disappeared again.

"Oh yeah, that´s why I love these restaurants." He thought cynically. "The nice service."
The door of the restaurant opened and another guest entered the restaurant. A white dog, and by looking at his suit Seneca could tell fast that he was not the poorest. He could afford a better restaurant, so what wanted someone like this guy in a restaurant like that?

The dog looked around for a while than he spotted something, and whatever he had spotted must have been in Seneca´s corner because he moved to him.
"Seneca?" asked the dog grinning.
"Who wants to know that?"

"Wunderbar, endlich treffen wir uns!"
Seneca listened up now. This guy spoke his mother language, not good and with a terribly strong accent but he spoke it.
"Was wollen sie?" Seneca replied.

"Oh ich will nur…" the stranger began to flick his fingers "uhm… how do you say… ein Geschäft machen. Ich hörte sie suchen Arbeit."
Seneca offered him the seat on the other side of the table with the words. "Da haben sie ganz richtig gehört."

"Wunderbar…" the dog said placing himself on the red leather. "… also, ich… sorry but could we continue that in English? My German is a bit rusted."
"Sure." He shrugged. "Why have you started speaking in German anyway?"

"Just to break the ice. People like it to talk in their mother language." Explained the dog.
"But for breaking the ice that was nevertheless a bit rush."
"You could be right about that." chuckled the guy "Anyway, you are searching for work… because I have a job that could need someone who is very discrete."

"How can I help you?"
"Here." The dog handed him a little brown file and as Seneca opened it a photo of a well-known face smiled towards him. Parva´s face.
"We want you to kidnap her." Continued the dog. "100,000. 50,000 now and the rest after the job."
That could just be some kind of bad joke. Did this guy don´t know who was sitting in front of him? Scratch´s team was known, at least among criminals with money, this guy must know that he wanted him to kidnap another team member.

"You kidding."
"Nope." The dog replied baldly. "We want you to kidnap her. You know when and where she is. You are the best person for that."
"And for what do you need her?" asked Seneca.

"My boss needs an excellent jugger for a job." Explained the guy. "And he knows that she won´t join him. So he wants you to kidnap her."
It sounded strange for Seneca what the dog told him. A criminal that kidnaps other criminals to make them work for him? Really strange, but not impossible. Seneca worked for Scratch and saw and did crazier things than that. However, this wasn´t something he would do.

"I have to refuse." Seneca pushed the file back to the dog who picked it up and held it in front of his nose again.
"And what if I double the money?"
"Still that is no…"

"Okay. 500,000. Dollar." He interrupted before Seneca could refuse.
"I…"
"You are a really tough negotiator, Mr. Seneca." Laughed the dog. "My last offer. One million. One half now, the other later. What do you say?"

The usually silent Seneca was now even more silent even if he wanted to say something. One million. That was a sum. He would murder for so much… to be honest, he murdered already because of less. He could use the money quiet well. That was enough to pay the maintenance for… for forever. But Parva… should he really?

Slowly his hand glided to the file and pulled it out of the dog´s hand. "Wonderful, Mr. Seneca, wonderful." meant the dog grinning "This is the beginning of a wonderful partnership." The guy ran with his hand through his full hair and stood up. "We want you to kidnap her as fast as possible. It shouldn´t be a problem."

Seneca just nodded and then watched the dog leaving with this smile on his face. He took a look at the file in his hand. He knew he should do it but… would that work?
"I´ll do what I have to do... never the less it feels wrong." He said to himself.
"What did you say?" The waitress stood beside him with his food and eyed him skeptically.

"Nothing." Replied Seneca and snatched the plate out of her hand.
"Whatever…" shrugged the waitress and cleared off.
Hungry he started to attack his plate with the fork. Eggs and bacon. Not his favorite breakfast, he liked to eat light in the morning, but better than nothing.

He could remember that Scratch loved that breakfast. And like it was a great coincidence also Scratch sat in front of a helping of eggs and bacon. Not alone of course, Kitty was still with him. He was able to calm her down. But not by reason with her, just by taking her with him to the hideout.

Scratch saw that this was the only way because he realized that she really felt uncomfortable in her apartment right now. So she sat on now on the other side of the table and just stared at her plate. She had calmed down a bit, as already mentioned, but was still somehow agitated.

"I know that the motel room service is usually not known for its good food but I can assure you that they make pretty good eggs." Scratch explained pointing with the fork on the plate.
"I am not hungry." She said slowly.

"Oh… well… can I have yours then?"
Absent-mindedly she pushed her plate over the table to Scratch who ate it happily and then munched. "By the way, you´re still dating my brother?"

"From where do you know that?" Kitty asked confused.
"He called me lately… and ask if it´s okay for me." Scratch started giggling. "Other´s wouldn´t even ask… well, that´s Stan. He also asked me for ideas for your date tonight. I hope you´re not too angry that I suggested him to just walk with you on the harbor?"

Kitty didn´t reply. That was really not his business even if it´s about his brother. Although it was quiet sweet of Dudley that he remembered that she loved walking over the footbridges of the harbor. At the evening it was always so still there, very relaxing.

After a while which was dominated by silence she buried her face in her hands and sighed. "Dudley… what happened?"
"Well, we were drugged…" he meant gulping. "I don´t think we can blame someone for that. And I don´t think Stan will blame you for that."

"I don´t mean that. I mean the fact that I helped you to kill someone." Kitty stared on her hands which felt dirty. Her whole body felt like that. But not even the shower she already had helped to get rid of this feeling.

"You think too much." Scratch laid down his fork and stood up. "That was always your problem. You thought too much about the wrong things."
"So?" Kitty meant giving him an evil glare. "I think too much? I just helped to kill someone Dudley! And no matter how hard I try not to think about it, it just doesn´t work. I´m not you! I can´t kill people and then walk off to have breakfast."

"And what about the criminals you killed during you were on duty?" Scratch took a chair and sat down close to her.
"Those were accidents. Ricochets, people that suddenly changed their direction and so on." Kitty said that in a way that it seemed like she was trying to defend herself.

"And nevertheless, they are dead now." Replied Scratch and resisted to give her one of his famous smiles. "You can´t do anything for them. Forget them."
"Yeah, that´s your philosophy." Laughed Kitty bitterly. "Forgetting and going on. Like you did with me, right?"

"Kitty…" sighed Scratch who just couldn´t stand another conversation where she continuously accusing him. "… what do you want from me? Do you want to hear that I´m sorry? I am sorry. Or do you want to hear that I made a lot of mistakes? Here you are, I made a lot of mistakes."

"I want the last seven years back, Dudley." Kitty replied breathing heavily. "I want that those scars on my arm and on my soul disappear and my psychopath free life back." The mention of the scars made Scratch wince and Kitty realized that. She rolled up her sleeves and held her cut covered arms under his nose. "Yeah, look at them! That´s what you done to me? These are the aftermaths of your mistakes! How can a simple word like sorry take them away?"

The single tear that left her eye was immediately wiped away by her. "Do you want to hear a story about those scars? Dudley… Scratch? One night after a big glass of wine I finally had the courage to end with everything. So I made two long cuts and waited... Believe me, if Keswick and the chief hadn´t saved me that night I would be dead by now. And that was all…"

"DON´T YOU DARE TELLING ME THAT WAS MY FAULT!" screamed Scratch suddenly at her.
"But it is the truth!" Kitty retorted ice cold.
"No, it´s not my fault. You come to me with some scars and want to tell me that you had a hard time? I´m not called Scratch for nothing! Do you think you were the only one who suffered? I lost almost everything in this massacre. Do you want to hear a story?" Scratch stood up and stared angrily down on Kitty. "After the massacre I couldn´t even look at you without seeing hurt with that wound without seeing the dead people. And always, when I was close to you I heard these words that you said almost bleed to death in some kind of delirium. 'Concentrate, Dudley. I know you´ll do it, I believe in you, I love you.' This sentence followed me, haunted me, tried to destroy me…" breathing fast, almost hyperventilating, Scratch rubbed with his hands over his face. "Can´t you understand it? I had to go… otherwise I hadn´t stand that. Otherwise I would be the one who had tried to end his life. And do you think after the massacre I had a good time? NO! I followed Young! What means gazing into the abyss for so long that the abyss gazed into me and wondered why there is an abyss gazing at it! I seen terrible things and I did more terrible things and for what in the end? For receiving hate by everyone! I can´t stand it anymore!"

"I don´t remember that I said that…" stammered Kitty shocked after a long pause.
"You were in a delirium…" Scratch flopped exhausted down on the chair. "… no way that you could remember, Kitty."

"Dudley… I…" She tried to find some words to reply something, but her vocabulary was somehow limited by the feeling that spread in her chest. Kitty really felt sorry for Scratch, what was something she never thought it would happen. After he once told her that he had a hard time back in the interrogation room, she was just too angry on him to feel sorry for him.

Maybe she also just felt too sorry for herself. Or maybe it was the massage that he was Dudley that just shocked her. But now her mind was clearer and she could see, even if it sounds stupid, that there was somehow an equality of the suffrage they both have been through. And that made space for sympathy for the old friend.

"No it´s okay… You know what? I just wish that I can one day look in your eyes without the seeing the spark of hate in them. Damn, I wish that we can maybe one day say to each other that we have trust in each other again. I know that I destroyed too much that we can return to be in a relationship again but maybe we can be friends one day…"

Kitty finally found some words and they should make Scratch jaw drop to the ground. "Maybe one day." And without saying another word she stood up and left the motel room.
As she walked down the dirty rusted stairs to her car she dialed a number on her cellphone.

-Well, maybe I translate these German parts one day... but this day isn´t today ;D-