Eyeball wasn't too sure if he should mention any of what had happened to Ace. First of all Ace was the type to shoot the messenger, secondly, according to Laura, the two weren't even speaking and thirdly and probably most importantly he had no idea who this guy had been and if he told Ace he'd probably want to spend the whole day looking for him.

Turns out he needn't have worried, none of the Cobra's seen Ace at all the next week or over the weekend. He had been keeping very busy.

Ace was on his fifth run of the day and was feeling really shit. He'd taken a few of his pills to try to wake up a bit but they seemed to only make him feel worse.

"Hey! Ace!" Wallace called out from the roadside, "get out of the truck, the guy's nearly here."

Ace got out and lit himself a cigarette which did make him feel a little better.

He waited for the guy to stop and jumped up to the cabin which made him feel a bit woozy. He was trying to make it through his regular routine of intimidation but this guy didn't seem to be buying it. Why would he, the truck driver thought, this kid looked so strung out he doubted he could take down a five year old girl the state he was in. The truck driver opened the cabin door which sent Ace flying off the side of the truck and went to confront the other two.

When they didn't listen to him, he pulled out a gun.

"Get back into your truck and leave me the fuck alone," he said seriously, "and do something about your friend for fuck sakes, he looks half dead."

Glaring the two boys lifted Ace and threw him in the back of their truck. In their eyes, he was the one to blame for botching this job, he was the one that could answer to Logan. The dropped him off on main street which they considered to be very kind on their part and took off again.

Ace rolled over on to his back. He didn't think he had ever felt like this before in his life. This was like a hangover multiplied by a thousand. He spotted his car on the other side of the road and crawled over to it, his hands grazing in the effort. He opened the back seat door and got himself inside and shut his eyes, feeling them still spinning around under the lids.

It was at this time that Vera was coming home from work. It was a dead night in the bar and the owner had let her go home early so he could shut up and leave himself. As she walked down the street she spotted Ace's car parked on the side of the road. She peered in through the windows and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

She was under the impression he had passed out drunk, why would she think any different, she didn't know what a slight overdose looked like and so she assumed his memory would be very faulty right now. She crawled in next to him and smiled as he opened his eyes.

"Hey baby," she said reaching under his shirt.

"Get off," Ace said pushing her back.

"But we already did that," she said softly, "don't you remember."

"Like hell we did," he growled at her, "now get away from my cock before I catch whatever diseases you've got." He swung at her, knocking her in the head.

Vera realised he wasn't going to buy it and so decided to try and hurt him instead. "It doesn't really matter in the end," she said, "I'm sure your girlfriend will believe whatever I tell her, she looks like such a trusting thing."

"Don't go anywhere fucking near her," he said dangerously feeling some of his strength returning.

"Worried she'll believe me? Why wouldn't she, she's not giving you any."

"I don't want you contaminating her you whore," he said

"What do you like your girls frigid?" she asked.

Ace leaned forward and spat at her, right in the face. She reeled backwards horrified.

"Get out of my fucking car!" he roared.

Mortified she got out of the car and stomped down the street. Ace sat himself up, his thoughts still with Laura. He wanted her so much it was unbelievable. He got into the driver's seat and started out in the direction of her house. He tried to keep to the center of the road because his car was swaying everywhere. The adrenaline from his fight with Vera was starting to wear off.

He parked right out the front of her house and tried to open the door, forgetting everything had been shut up tight. He knelt down so he was level with the keyhole and started to try and pick the lock. He was far less dexterous than usual and it was pitch black, his fingers were becoming even more useless as they were exposed to the night air but he persevered. And if it were not for the fact that he had done this a thousand times he might have been stuck outside all night but eventually he heard a click and the door swung open.

He stumbled inside. She wasn't here again, just like those other times he had come by. The house was completely locked up without a soul in sight. He opened her bedroom door and laid down on her bed. He was having trouble catching his breath and his hands were shaking. He closed his eyes again and this time was able to finally sleep.

Laura woke up the next morning and checked out her window, as she did everyday, to see what the weather was going to be like. She looked at her house and seen a car parked out the front. She gasped as she recognised it. It was Ace's car.

She got dressed as quickly as she could and ran out of the house without breakfast, yelling back at Mrs Anderson that she needed to get to school early today. She opened her front door which was still unlocked and looked around. She knew he wouldn't leave without his car so she checked her house again. When she looked in her bedroom the second time she noticed he was in her bed, cursing herself for not noticing the first time she hurried over to him realising he was looking worse then ever before.

He had lost so much weight since the last time she has seen him and he was as pale as a corpse. She moved her hands over both his shoulders and started shaking him until he woke up.

"Laura?" he said as his eyes fluttered open.

"Yes?" she said, beginning to cry.

"I don't feel so good babe."