I'm really sorry that this came so late- Christmas and stuff. Euh, not a very good excuse.

A,

We've got another one for you. He'll be over within the week.

He might seem like an idiot at first but try to behave- we need him alive. Try not to get him into too much trouble.

Thinking of you,

A.

Angela comes downstairs one morning- odd enough as an isolated incident.

She pours herself a cup of coffee and adds milk and sugar to her liking, realising too late that it's the same unheated coffee that's been sitting in the pot since yesterday- she spits it out in the sink and shoves a glare at the chortle at the kitchen table.

Jennifer peeks out from underneath her laptop- well, it is funny.

"Here- sit down. I'll make you some more."

Angela is- still not happy, but appeased. After sharing an apartment with her for over three months, that's usually all that Jennifer could get out of her. The younger woman was used to it, though- that's how her parents were. It was a welcome challenge to try and do something that pleased her, on and off the job.

Presently, they exchanged places- Angela at the table, Jen at the counter. Even as she tended to the coffee pot, washing out the old coffee and filling the machine with water, Jennifer kept an eye on Angela. There was no reason to ask her if anything was wrong- Any question of that sort would be greeted with a dangerous glare- but she knew that if she pointedly avoided asking for long enough, Angela would eventually let her in.

"I got an email from England."

This was ten minutes later, when both of them were adding milk and sugar to their coffees in varying amounts (Angela's was taken black, Jen's so milky it could hardly be called coffee anymore). Angela went on with the business of adding half a spoonful of sugar to her coffee, stirring messily.

This email business was hard to translate- Jen was sure that Angela had family there, but it was also where their orders came from.

"…. What did it say?"

"It was from the boss."

"Oh… Oh?"

No one spoke for a long moment.

"We're getting another stray."

Jennifer bit her lip- dangerous ground to tread onto.

She decided to do it anyways.

"Well, look how well Craig turned out, y'know? Maybe they'll be a good addition-"

"I'm not running a hotel here, Jennifer. Nor an orphanage. This is a serious operation and we're being treated as a dumping bin for anyone he doesn't know what to do with."

There was no argument there. There could not be one.

Instead, the twenty two year old gave a smile behind her mug that was weaker than her coffee.

"Well, we'll make the best of it."

He's sitting with four of the funniest murderers he's known when he gets the call.

"Awh, shit, it's my girlfriend. I gotta take this one, aiight?"

"Give 'er hell for me, I was just about to get to the punchline!"

Tony answers his phone but waits until he's outside to actually respond. He can hear the four muscular men roaring with laughter, even with the door closed.

"What the fuck are you doing, Angela?"

"No emergency. But I need you to come to the café tonight."

"What- No. I'm not sure what you sons of bitches are up to, but I'm doing important work over here that can't just be stopped at the drop of a dime."

"When I started this conversation off with no emergency, it was because I thought that it would be kinder to let you know that no one has died. I was hoping you would not create an illusion of choice. Was I too hopeful, Anthony?"

He cringed. He fucking hated it when she used his full name.

"No- It's just- It's risky, is all. You know it's risky."

"I'm glad you know that you know, it means that you also know that I wouldn't be asking you if it weren't important."

"What is it?"

She paused.

"They've sent another guy over for us."

He swore loudly.

"Fuck, I don't have to be there to know that he's going to be a waste of our time-"

"- We thought the same of Craig."

"And he still is a waste of our time."

"You can't deny that he's been useful."

"Not useful enough, to account for the rest of him. What's up with this new guy? You seen him yet?"

"He's living in a hotel not far from the café, he's been going there quite frequently. I've taken to watching him. I- From what I've been told of him he is useless, but- he's different. I need your opinion on him."

He scowled- there was no saying no to Angela. You simply did what she said, no matter the consequences.

"All right, but you're buying me dinner."

"Does this mean I'm not the new guy anymore?"

"Craig, this is serious."

They sat together, keeping as much space between them on the couch as possible- wearing different coloured jerseys, eyes glued to the baseball game on the screen. They were tied, but they both rooted for terrible teams, so anything was possible.

In response to Jen's bawling, Craig took a nonchalant sip of beer.

"How serious could it be? We're getting new guy. A new new guy. I'll be one of the team now."

"You are one of the team. We never would have made it out of Saint Louis without you."

Craig was pleased to hear that. He was always pleased to hear any mention of Saint Louis.

They were both quiet for a long while, intent on following the game.

Then-

"Do we know what he's like?"

Just out of Craig's periphery, Jen shrugged.

"Ang got emailed a bunch of files about him when she was told he was coming. He's some… office guy, I guess. He works in advertising. Something like that. From Wisconsin, but he's coming over from England."

"So he… Has no real reason to be with us?"

Jennifer thought for a long moment.

"I'm sure we're missing something. Maybe he's just that good, that he's off the record. Anything. They wouldn't just… strand some poor, normal guy with us and expect him to keep up. He's got to have some sort of use."

Craig sucked on his teeth. He wasn't so sure about that- they'd sent him over to them, right? Craig would be the first to admit that he wasn't exactly capable of holding his own in this operation of theirs.

Okay, the second- Tony hated him.

"He sounds pretty useless to me."

"Yeah… I know. I- I still think we should give him a chance."

The café they met in was comfortable in its familiarity, but not much else- it was crammed and plain, the night barista grumpy.

The five were sitting in the corner by the toilets, away from the rest of the tables and patrons.

"I dunno, Mar', apparently he's some doofus from Wisconsin."

Mary was silent- she had to be, to let Craig get all of his thoughts in. She smiled good-naturedly at him over her coffee, listening bemused-like as he kept on. He leaned in closer to her, surreptitiously glancing over at the couple two tables away to make sure he was not being eavesdropped upon.

"I mean, he's some advertising dweeb with no real experiences or skills- I mean, what's'e gonna do, anyways? Design a billboard calling Ras out? Put something in the classifieds for us? I don't fuckin' know, man. Maybe he's a spy."

"We've already got ourselves a spy," Mary reminded him. Tony, with his head leaning back against the wall behind him with his eyes closed, gruffed but otherwise made no motion to respond.

"Nah, I mean a spy for the other guys. Maybe he's one of Ras's."

Mary found it doubtful. She told him so.

"Well, why not? We have no idea where our orders come from, maybe this one's been intercepted. Or maybe all of'em have been intercepted-"

"You don't trust Angela?"

"I do, but- She's getting this stuff from her sister or something, right?"

"So that would mean she would know when someone else was sending her emails."

"Or, it means that she lets her guard down."

At that, Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Don't let Angela hear you say that. She doesn't like you as it is."

"Which means I'm the perfect one to spread sultry rumours of her."

The eyebrow lifted even higher on her face.

"Sultry?"

"It's a tough job, you know, but someone's gotta do it. No one could truly be such a cold hearted b-"

Angela hit him in the arm from behind, effectively quieting him. Once Craig stopped talking, Tony peered open an eye-

"Shut it. He's here."