A/N: Alright :) Sorry for the wait! Time to get this show on the road ;3 (This is also kind of filler. I think. Meh. Whatevs. I don't really know what happened with this chapter. But I was in some kind of angsty mood lol. And this is how it turned out.)

Hi Posse! Billy has the deeds; you'll see, and Auggie's traps were staunched by that goon when he got past them when the Matthews were escaping.

Hi Guest! Maya's left leg got shot.

There have been some interesting guesses for the foreshadowing I mentioned, but alas ahahaha xD No one has guessed it yet. And I just realized that it's actually TWO THINGS. So they're still out there: one subtle and slightly obscure foreshadowing and another kind of obvious but not really foreshadowing that no one has caught yet :P

Thank you for taking the time to review this story guys! I appreciate it! I'm happy you are enjoying WWW! Nothing makes me more smiley :)

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW otherwise Maya would be kicking asses for real.

Katy stood up shakily, glaring at Lucas and Billy furiously.

"Are you the one that put those injuries on her?" she asked Lucas, her voice pitched low and dangerous. "I may be exhausted, but you better believe I'm not afraid to kick your ass if I have to."

"I didn't, ma'am." Lucas said, staring at Maya. She turned her gaze away sharply, her teeth clenched. "But it was my fault she got them in the first place."

"You said he would keep her safe!" Katy's livid gaze shot to Billy. "Where the hell is a shotgun when you need one?!"

"I thought he would!" Billy looked at Lucas in alarm. "I thought you had things under control. Help me out here man! She's about to shoot us a new asshole!"

"Mama, stop." Maya cut in with a sigh, her gaze trained on Lucas. Katy and Billy turned to her in surprise. "It wasn't his fault. I brought this on myself. Stupidly."

There was a moment where everyone fell silent, just watching the stare off between Maya and Lucas. Lucas' brows furrowed, and Maya gave him a dark look before turning away from him and facing her mother, hobbling her way forward.

"But I'm fine." Maya smiled, though she knew it wasn't reaching her eyes. She was pissed off. She was pissed off and angry. "A little beat down, but I'll manage."

"Oh baby girl…" Katy crooned, walking up to Maya and cradling her cheeks in her hands, "I'm so glad you are okay. I don't know what you're been through to end up this injured, but I am so, so glad you are okay."

Maya smirked. "Yes. But you aren't. No offense, but you and Billy both need baths."

"Hey!" Billy said indignantly, "We've been on the road for three damn days. Of course we need a bath! Where did you end up? Some nice town home with food and clothes to change in?"

"Yes, actually."

"Dammit." Billy muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I just had to end up with the wrong crazy blonde."

Katy and Maya both shot him glares, raising dangerous brows.

"Oh don't give me that. You both know you're crazy." He said, pointing a finger at Katy, "We jumped willingly into Death Valley. You have no excuse."

Katy shrugged. "I guess that's valid enough."

"Billy, there's a guest bathroom on this level if you go past the dining hall." Maya shook her head in amusement and then turned to her mom. "You can come upstairs with me if you need a bath and some rest."

"I'd like that."

Maya nodded and then she walked out of the parlor with Katy, sparing Lucas only a brief glance as she walked past him. He was watching her, no particular expression on his face. Her eyes narrowed, and she snapped her gaze away, her fist clenched.

~.~.~

Katy stripped off her clothes slowly, grimacing a bit when she tugged too harshly on her injured arm. Maya's gaze went to her mother's naked body and her throat tightened dangerously. Maya felt sick to her stomach as she stared at all the scars on her mother's porcelain skin. It was damaged and rough and cut up like the bark of a tree. Clearly, she had been abused for so long. It made her blood boil. Here was her mother who had been subjected to untold horrors in her life. Damaged irreparably, and yet she still was fighting to get her freedom.

She stepped into the bath Maya had drawn and settled into the hot water, sighing in bliss as her joints cracked and popped. Maya plopped down onto the lid of the toilet, carefully stretching out her leg.

"So." Katy said, staring at her, "I know we haven't had a real chance to get to know each other, but I want you to know you can talk to me about anything. I may not have raised you, but I still love you as a daughter, Maya."

Maya glanced at her, nodding slowly before staring at the puckered skin of her injured hand.

"What's wrong, Maya?"

"…I just can't wait for all this to be over so that we can finally go to New York together and put this shitty past behind us. So you can finally get away from Jed."

"But it's not only about me is it…" Katy muttered, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"What?"

"Maya. What's your relationship with Lucas? Are you lovers?"

Maya knew her face heated up almost immediately with such a deep blush that she turned her face away for a moment, trying and failing to hide the fact that she was flustered. Her mind kept running through what had occurred between them in Feeny's home. The way Lucas had touched her. The way he had kissed her. The way her heart had swelled in her chest while they...

She nervously licked her lips. "No. We are not."

Katy stared at her, her head a little tilted to the side as she lathered the soap on the rag to wash her arms. She had something of a shrewd gleam in her eyes, as if she could tell something was off with Maya's statement.

"You care about him though."

"I don't." she spat, staring daggers into the wall opposite her.

"Maya." Katy stopped lathering her skin and gave her a pointed look. "If you have something worth living for in this life, you don't need to push yourself to leave with me. Don't lose your chance."

"I want to go with you." Maya asserted.

"But you love him. Or at the very least, you've developed some type of feelings. That much I can tell. I'm not blind. I saw the looks you guys gave each other. Something happened. And I won't make you any more uncomfortable than you already are by discussing it, but I have a feeling I know exactly what that was."

"Whether I love him or not—which I don't—I want to go with you." Maya bit her lip, frowning as her heart lurched a bit in her chest as she recalled his dark words. "He's hellbent on revenge. And he has no other plans for his life. Nothing good would come of staying with him. I want to start fresh with you. I need a new life. I want to get to know my mother. I want to be a Hart, Mama. I want to let go of the past."

Katy watched her with a melancholic smile, sighing softly and continuing to wash.

"You're sweet, baby girl. Just as sweet as I'd always hoped you would grow up to be."

~.~.~

Maya sighed, leaning against the wall of the back porch of the Matthews' town home, staring at that single bottle on the balcony railing. The bottle they never got to shatter in their game of Shoot 'Em Up.

Footsteps approached from her left, and Maya didn't have to turn, already knowing who it was without looking. He stopped a few paces away from but not exactly next to her, but still close enough that if he so chose to reach out and touch her, he would be able to.

"Go away." Maya said, glaring out into the distance.

"Why did you lie to your mother?" Lucas asked, "You didn't bring any of this on yourself."

"I didn't lie. I joined the plan of my own accord. I kissed you of my own accord. I let you…" Maya swallowed thickly, closing her eyes momentarily. "And I got burned."

"Maya…"

"But I've learned my lesson. To never trust any kind of hellbent, brainless idiot. One who is just like every other idiot in this stupid town."

Lucas said nothing, and the silence only served to spike her irritation even more than it already was. Her gaze snapped to his and to her absolute annoyance, his expression was empty, the green of his eyes dull in that way she knew meant he was definitely guarding his emotions. It made her angrier. Even with all this shit that had happened between them, he still couldn't be open with her.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

"Nothing that you would want to hear." He said cryptically.

Maya chuckled mirthlessly, running her good hand through her hair and shifting so she was almost sitting on the outer sill of the window.

"You know what? Don't say anything. Don't say anything if you're still on this revenge craving plot. I don't want to hear it."

"Maya. I need to do this."

"Stop talking." She growled, bristling when Lucas walked over to her, stopping in front of her. Maya avoided his gaze entirely, staring down resolutely at the old wooden planks of the porch. "You make me sick."

Lucas gently took hold of her chin, raising her head until she was meeting his gaze. Her breath hitched at the tender look in his eyes. Maya could feel her face burning with a blush.

"So I've been told." Lucas responded quietly, his gaze softening. Maya was mesmerized, lost in the warmth in the sea-foam green, so unlike the hardened dangerous glare he usually sported. Why the fuck did he have to have that effect on her? "I have to do this, Maya. You know I do. So why does it bother you so much?"

Her heart was racing, her heartbeat drumming in her ears.

"What do you think?" Maya's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

He said nothing, holding her gaze, his expression a bit grave. She could see something like pity in his gaze and it made the hairs rise on the back of her neck. Why did he have to look like that? With that dead look of resignation as if his life was already over.

She hated it.

She hated it so much.

"Lucas? Oh sorry! I didn't realize you both were out here!" Billy said, turning away rapidly in slight embarrassment. "I just came to tell you that I'm done with my bath. And I have the documents if you guys want to take a look at them now. But if you need more time—"

"We don't. Because nothing was going on." Maya pushed away from the wall, brushing off Lucas' hand from her face. "Because he still is a revenge craving lunatic."

"Maya." Lucas growled in annoyance.

She ignored him. She snatched up her cane and then brushed past Lucas and Billy, heading back inside the house.

"Hurry up you two." She called over her shoulder. "The sooner we get this shit done with, the better."