Previously: "One more thing," she told him. "You tell them – your seller, your fellow junkies, h*ll, even your mother – that we're back. You tell 'em, that the Thompson Sisters, the Devils of Brooklyn, are back!"

Chapter Three

Franky was waiting for them when they returned, sitting in a carved wooden chair in his office like some kind of king; he had his base of operations at a three-story mansion right on the water. Some of his goons lingered in the corners, guns casually displayed on their hips as a warning, though Liz knew she could outshoot all of them with Patti if it weren't for the stupid trigger Franky kept in his pocket at all times.

The kingpin's gold tooth gleamed as he grinned at them. "Hey, hey, there they are!" he exclaimed happily. "Whatcha got?"

Liz threw down their haul on his desk like it burned her: three wallets, a watch, seven rings – she had, however, absolutely refused to take any wedding rings – and a wad of cash she'd gotten off another shaking junkie, whose hair had been red as blood.

Franky observed it, picking it up the wallets and dumping out credit cards and dollar bills, most faded and folded over, though there were a few crisp ones in there. "It's a start," he mused, eyeing the sisters lazily through his eyelashes. "You've lost your touch, girls. I hope you got the message out, though?"

"Excuse us for being rusty after doing some honest work for seven years," Liz replied coldly. Patti merely glared, eyes hard; she had hardly spoken a word to anyone but Liz since they'd come here, and it seemed like she would stick to that policy as a form of rebellion. "But yeah, we told everyone."

"Good, good," Franky said dismissively, turning away from them in his swivel chair

Liz wasn't ready to be done yet. "And just how much, exactly, is our "debt", as you call it?" she asked.

Franky spun back around, scowling. He obviously didn't like thinking of this as a temporary thing. He looked over at one of the goons and waved him over; the man complied, and quickly produced a calculator from...somewhere.

"What's the add-up?" Franky asked him. The man, an accountant, probably, began punching in numbers.

"Well, if we take the lawyer's bill, plus bail, and then add the money and reputation we lost cuz of your time in jail, boss..." The accountant began.

"And don't forget mental distress," Franky added.

"Of course, of course. So take all that, and the bullet proof vest, throw in some interest, and we've got a debt of...a billion."

Liz's mouth dropped open, and even Patti made a surprised squeak. "A b-billion d-dollars?!" Liz choked. "But that - surely that – you can't be serious!"

"I am," Franky said calmly. He glanced down at the wallets and cash, then back up at the sisters. "So I suggest you get "unrusty" real quick."

Liz clenched her jaw. "You know this isn't forever," she promised. "Someone's gonna notice we're gone; we're pretty close to people in power, if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Franky shot back. "You were thieving street rats when that kid found you; it isn't so hard to believe you'd go back to it."

Patti's hand found Liz's and gave it a hard squeeze; Liz squeezed back, trying to be comforting, though she never took her eyes off Franky. "Then at the very least, they'll find the bombs you planted. Death City has a helluva lot more smart people than Brooklyn does."

"Rrrr, I don't think so!" Liz turned at the new voice, surprised to see a woman walking through the door. She was about 6', with bulging muscles, long dark hair, and dark brown eyes. She smiled, revealing sharp, pointed teeth, not unlike Soul. She was dressed in a long dark blue skirt and a yellow tank top; heels clacked on the marble floor as she moved over to Franky, who grinned as she came around.

She looked like a normal human, but her soul...Liz hissed and jumped back a bit from the desk, bringing Patti with her, as their hands were still clasped. "A witch," the Weapon growled.

The witch nodded happily. "Yup!" She had a deep, throaty voice, somewhat at odds with her perky, Valley-girl attitude. "But I let you see that; I'm rrreally good at Soul Prrrotect. So good, that I'm able to disguise even otherrr things, like explosives!"

Liz gasped. "So...don't tell me, this is really all a rogue witch's plot?!"

The witch blinked, then cocked her head. "What? No, Frrranky asked me to disguise some of his bombs, so I did – 'cause I love my Frrranky-bearrr soooo much!" She punctuated this last statement by enveloping Franky in a bear hug, squeezing until he let out a gurgled sound. Some of Franky's henchmen winced at their boss' discomfort.

"Heh, love you, too, Calli," Franky said, slightly winded after being released from the hug. He rubbed the back of his neck, as if embarrassed, before turning to Liz and Patti. "You see, girls, I met Callisto here when looking for a way to combat your soul wavelength bullets. I got the vest from her –"

"But I just couldn't get him off my mind, one thing led to anotherrr, and so herrre we arrre!" Calli finished.

"Tch. You know Shinigami-sama won't let this go once he figures out what's going on," Liz informed the witch. "You're in violation of the treaty."

Callisto shrugged. "I don't carrre. As long as I have my Frrranky-bearrr, I can handle anything Shibusen thrrrows at me." She lifted her chin defiantly. "And I think it's time you two left us alone. Rrright, Frrranky-bearrr?"

"Ah, yes, dear," Franky agreed, making shooing motions with his hands at the sisters. Scowling, Liz turned, taking Patti with her, and exited Franky's office; she stepped on one of the guards' feet on the way out, not sorry at all when she heard him curse in pain.

When they had reached the hall, Patti squeezed her hand again and said quietly, "Don't worry, sis; Kid'll notice we're gone even if no one else does. Even if it gets bad for us, you know he'll come for us."

Liz felt tears well up in her eyes at the thought that her little sister was trying to comfort her. "I know, Patti," she answered, swallowing back a lump in her throat, suddenly exhausted. "I know."

...

If Border Patrol was surprised to see the leader of Death City burst into their headquarters unannounced, at one o' clock in the morning, they hid it remarkably well. Every member stood at attention as Kid walked towards the center of the room, easing up and returning to their chairs, which were placed in front of large monitors, only at his nod.

Every member, except, of course, Black*Star. Tucked all the way in the back, he had remained in his seat, which was balanced on its back legs as Black*Star placed his feet on his keyboard. When he finally noticed everyone else standing, and saw Kid was in the room, he jumped up, grin on his face. "Yo, Kid! Come to see what awesome work I'm doing?"

The blonde woman next to him immediately slapped him upside the head, obviously furious with her subordinate's attitude, though her face betrayed nothing. Rubbing the back of his head, Black*Star amended sheepishly, "Uh, I mean, yo, Shinigami-sama! What's up?"

Kid strode over to where Black*Star was, staring at his screen, which at this moment was transmitting footage in front of Kid's own house, the Gallows. "Soul mentioned you had some unusual soul wavelength activity last night," the shinigami began. "Then Liz and Patti aren't seen all the next day. And they didn't come home at all today; I stayed up this whole time waiting for them. So, Black*Star, show me the footage."

Black*Star looked confused for a moment, or perhaps just surprised at the intensity of Kid's stare. "Uh, sure." He began typing, and eventually another image showed up on the screen; it was still the Gallows, but the time stamp was different, and it showed Liz and Patti on the front step.

Suddenly something burst from the side of the house, and the girls gave chase. "There are other instances, all around the city," said the blonde woman, who hovered over Black*Star's other shoulder.

"But since you mentioned Liz and Patti..." Black*Star explained. He hit a few more keys, and the scene changed, to the town square. The Thompsons were facing off with a bunch of men, though it seemed all they did was talk. "And here's where all the souls met up, anyway."

"What is this?" Kid muttered as he watched the screen, studiously ignoring the rest of the Border Patrol team, of whose staring he was aware.

"Well, sir," began the blond – Hawkeye, was that her name? – as the footage ended with Liz and Patti walking off with the men, seemingly without a struggle. "It looks to me almost like a defection."

The word sent Kid's mind reeling. Defection – in other words, a betrayal? Liz and Patti? His own partners? The idea was unfathomable.

Black*Star shared Kid's sentiments. "Then you gotta get your eyes checked, Riza-san!" he exclaimed angrily. "There's no fricking way Liz and Patti would go off like that, not willingly!"

"Watch your mouth, Star," Riza admonished briskly, voice cold and promising unpleasant things should her order go unobeyed. She turned to Kid. "Forgive me if my explanation seemed untoward, Shinigami-sama, but I merely offered an explanation that I believed fit the facts."

"Th-that's alright," Kid replied uncertainly, not sure if it was. "I-I suppose it does rather look like that."

"But you know it isn't!" Black*Star insisted, ignoring the glare Riza was sending him. "Ki-I mean, Shinigami-sama, they're your Weapons! Surely you know what this is about better than anyone!"

Kid clenched his jaw as he thought. He did know the Thompsons, better than anyone, or so he thought...No, he couldn't think like that. Liz and Patti were loyal. They were his Weapons, his partners, his friends. He had to trust them. "They probably realized these...men were a threat, no matter how that they're regular humans, and decided to do some immediate undercover work; there wasn't time to alert anyone."

Black*Star nodded approvingly, while Riza eyed the shinigami somewhat critically, clearly doubting his reasoning. But all she said was, "Is that what you're going with, sir?"

Kid stared into her brown eyes defiantly, as if she were his superior instead of the other way around. "Yes, that's what I'm going with."

Riza nodded. "Very good, then, sir. Shall we keep you posted if these wavelengths are detected again?"

"Yes, please do," Kid answered, relieved he wouldn't have to fight her on this. He turned and began to walk out. "Have a good rest of the night, Hawkeye-san. I thank you and your team for your service."

Stepping out into the cool night air, Border Patrol's "It's no problem!"'s and "Our pleasures!"'s at his back, Kid took a deep breath to calm himself. Drinking in the feel of his city, knowing each and every citizen's soul wavelength, always made him feel better, always reminded him what and whom he was sworn to protect. What and whom Liz and Patti had sworn to protect along with him, as his partners, "for however long [he] chose," as Liz had told him.

Kid arched his neck back as he walked back to his big and considersbly empty home.

After all these years, the moon was still black.

A.N. – That was a sort of depressing ending, wasn't it? I surprise myself. Don't worry, though, it'll get better for our heroes, though it might have to get worse before hand. I just love exploring the bonds between meister and Weapon pairs, and I feel like that needs to involve a lot of emotion and hard feeling, no matter what the feeling is; I hope I'm still keeping everyone in character, though.

Also, special thanks to Crimson Lia, for reviewing two chapters in a row! You really made my day. :)