V and Carlos give the old jailbreak thing a try, and once that's all said and done, she's not sure what she's left with. SR2!

The ground rocked beneath V's feet. She didn't remember ever being seasick, but as she fell against the side of the boat, she found it difficult to keep the bile rising in her throat down. Adrenaline kept her going as Carlos led the way, but now she wasn't sure what was getting to her more: the water surrounding her, or the words he'd dropped earlier.

Five years. Five years gone. Everyone gone.

It didn't make any sense. None of it, and she didn't want to accept any of it as actual fact, so she pushed it away. Chose to focus on the air she kept on trying to suck down, and not the rocking beneath her feet. She needed to be present. Alert. For her, and for the guy who'd been willing to get shanked to talk to her, for fuck's sake. Luis's brother. His fucking brother, of all people. Yet another thing that failed to register properly, but she could go over that later.

When they realized they weren't being tailed any longer, they slowed the boat into a calm drift. V tried not to focus on the water, but the salt in the air made it impossible to ignore. Pushing away from the edge, she tried not to retch, and gagged.

"Never been on a boat?"

She wiped her mouth, and turned towards Carlos. He was still at the controls, but stepped away once they confirmed that the cops had let up. For a second he seemed just as uneasy as her, but he shook it off. Or tried to, as he offered her a weak smile. "Other than...before?"

"Jet-skis, yes," V said. "This shit, no. Never had the time to take Sharp's yacht out for a victory lap."

"We'll be back on land soon. Nothing like solid fucking ground. I try not to think about it, but it's the bobbing." Carlos made a motion with his hand, mimicking the boat's movements almost perfectly. "Makes you sick without even trying."

She forced herself to stand up straight, but the minute she found a place to lean on by him, she took it. Her steps weren't back to normal yet, and falling on her ass wouldn't be the best way to convince someone she was on top of her shit.

V glanced at the blood staining Carlos' jumpsuit and gave him a wary look. This close, it was easier to catch the way his jaw flexed when he moved, and after the shit they pulled it'd be a miracle if he hadn't torn something. "Carlos?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to bleed out on me, are you?"

His hand had been drifting towards his side, and he jerked it back. "What? No!"

She got up and paced around the boat, and swore when she found nothing but dirt, and debris. "Dammit. This thing wouldn't have a first aid kit on it."

"No, I'm-" He took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. " I'm not lying. I'm fine."

"Fine?" She put her hands on her hips and huffed. "If you say so, but I've been stabbed a grand total of once, and slashed a bunch of other times, and even then it wasn't pretty." She walked back over to him, and motioned towards his side. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Uh, sure."

The zipper caught when Carlos tried to lower it, but he got it down enough to slide the upper half of the suit off. The tank he wore wasn't stained, and when he pulled it up for her to eye his side, the bandage there seemed to be holding up as well.

"Looks like the nurse did a good job. Still doesn't mean you won't catch tetanus, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Carlos watched her closely as she checked the bandage, and took in a steady breath when her fingers touched the edge of it. "If you gotta pick something."

"Oh, and don't laugh." V tugged his tank back down and glanced up at him only to catch his odd look. "No, I mean it, it's going to hurt like hell when you bust a gut so...don't."

He chuckled, and winced halfway through it. "You got it, boss."

"I'm not your boss," she snapped. The good humor in his eyes dimmed, and she backpedaled. "Sorry. The real bossman's out there doing who knows what, but he's still the boss. Save the pretty words for him, kid."

"Kid?"

V bit her tongue, and hoped Carlos didn't catch it. "Yeah, so?"

The incredulous look he was aiming at her only grew in intensity. "You can't be older than me."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm sure as hell not younger than you. I'm twenty..." Her mouth went dry. "How...what year did you say it was again?" Carlos repeated it, and V's stomach dropped. "God, I'm twenty-six? Jesus."

Carlos groaned. "Twenty-four. Guess you are older, after all."

She sat back on her haunches, and focused on anything but the cold sweat settling over her. It refused to leave, however, and she distracted herself by tapping her fingers against the wood below them. "It's uh, it's not a fight that's so bad to lose. It's not fair for me to call you that, though. Not after the shit you just pulled off."

He was watching her closely, but the moment she met his eyes, he sat up straighter. "I had to. Couldn't get myself stabbed twice, could I?"

"You..." His words registered, and V found herself trying not to laugh. "Well, it's not the best idea, so working your way through that gets you some kudos. For what it's worth."

"It was worth a try," he replied, and followed it up with a smile. "With this out here, and you in there, it made sense."

She looked over at the city, and took it all in as she climbed to her feet. It hadn't clicked for her before, but her chest tightened with one look at the skyline in front of them. For something she'd looked at hundreds of times over the years without even caring, it hurt to see that much had changed.

A dull pain registered. An ache that traveled from her clenched fist up her arm. She loosened her grip, but when Carlos moved to stand beside her, she had to shake her hands out to get any kind of relief. "Talk to me."

"About what? What happened?" Carlos looked over at her, and V worked to avoid his eyes. "I thought it'd be easier to get into once you were able to see it. It didn't happen overnight, but it might as well have. A lot of men from Ultor showed up after the explosion. The Row, Shivington, any of the older parts of the town were on their radar, but they went right for the Row first." He pointed towards a large, dark building jutting up into the clouds. "Do you see that? That fucking eyesore's right in the center of the Row."

"In the..." A cold feeling settled in her gut again, but this time she couldn't shake it. "There's no place for a building like that in the Row. They'd have to make some serious space for it."

"They did. I-" His sentence cut off sharply, and when V turned towards him, she wasn't sure what to make of the way he was gazing at her. "I can go over it," he started, ducking his eyes, "but it's something you have to see for yourself. The Row's nothing close to what it was."

"So, no hope for the awesome pizza place down the lane?" she joked. Carlos gave her a quizzical look, and she waved it off. "Sorry, just...forget it. That's for later, though. Gotta figure out what the hell we're going to do the minute we're off of this boat, first. And uh, that." She gestured towards his midsection, and the hand that Carlos kept clasped over it. "You really should get that looked at."

They maneuvered the boat towards the nearest dock they could reach. People weren't flooding the area, which gave them just enough leeway to get up and out, but their orange jumpsuits weren't exactly low-key. They needed to be ditched, stat, and in order to do that they needed to find a clothes store that wouldn't ask questions.

"So, Carlos," V started, as they slipped out of the area and tried to keep their heads down, "any clue where the nearest Sloppy Seconds is?"

"Should be close. I think I remember one a few blocks from here, but...one problem with that, boss."

She felt her mouth twist, but didn't raise her voice at him. "V. Name's V, okay?"

"V. Okay. We can't walk in there without any cash. I have close to thirty dollars on me, but that won't cover fare and clothes, unless you're going to hold the store up."

"Well..." She reached for the gun stashed on her, and raised her eyebrows. "That's one way to get what we need."

When she didn't say anything else, Carlos stared at her, and with those big brown eyes on her, teasing him almost felt mean.

"It's something to consider. We don't have a lot of options, and short of running in and just stealing this shit, we're stuck with what we have. Thirty bucks, a handful of bullets, and moxy. It's not as bad as it sounds. Though, we could always stop someone and ask for a loan."

"Which they won't mind lending out?"

"We're in need, aren't we?" She cracked a grin at his tone, and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Though, now that you mention it, I did snag a wallet from one of those cops. Let me check real quick."

Fishing through it, she found a couple of credit cards, their license, and an assortment of ones. The ten dollar bill crumpled up there was a better find, but it still wasn't enough to feel comfortable with, and they hadn't even touched on the issue of getting a reliable car. Most cabbies didn't pry, at least the ones that she'd hailed after busting her car after a shootout gone wrong hadn't, but Carlos had a point. They didn't have a lot of money to burn, and stiffing the driver wasn't something she wanted to consider.

"Well, we're a little richer, but...we still need a ride."

As they both scanned the area, Carlos pointed towards a nearby lot. "Think they have anything worth starting there?"

"If it has wheels, it's worth starting. You good with wires?"

"I can be," he said, meeting her expectant look head on. "If there's gas in the tank and four good tires, it'll run."

"I think this is the start of something beautiful, man." She tilted her chin towards the lot. "Lead the way."

Glancing around quickly, they waited a beat before making a break for it. An older car stood out, one that she guessed had a fifty-fifty shot of having a functioning alarm. The window wasn't rolled all the way up, and Carlos disengaged the lock once he slipped an arm inside.

"Looks clear?"

"Looks clear." V kept her head up, before slipping into the passenger seat. "Though who knows for how long. No pressure, right?"

"None," Carlos mumbled, prying off the right panel. "Out in the open in the middle of a manhunt? Couldn't ask for better. Could use some music, though." He sorted through the wires, and took out a knife. "Something with rhythm."

"Rhythm?" He took a moment to tap out a short beat on the steering wheel, one that she couldn't pick out. "Don't know that song."

"I'll get the CD and play it for you later. Once we're out of here. It's good. Keeps the silence out when you're bored out of your fucking mind."

"Or nervous?"

"Yeah. Nervous."

Carlos' fingers were quick, and V let out a whistle. "Well, you're already doing a hell of a lot better than me. Nearly shocked the hell out of myself. And uh, the guy that taught me."

He laughed. "That bad?"

"No, just...okay, fine. I was that fucking bad. No judging." Her head poked up, and she tried not to dig her nails into her palms.

"I won't, but it's not as bad as it looks. Long as you don't cut" - he separated one wire from the tangled mess and sliced it - "the wrong wire." V barely recognized half of them as he sorted through them, and flinched when he made another cut without even blinking. "After a while it becomes second nature."

"No shit?"

A smile inched onto his face. "No shit."

Sammy's lessons had given her a great foundation, but even now she always had to take a moment to judge if the wire she had was the right one. Watching Carlos work like this - under pressure no less - was pretty impressive. Not a single shock yet, but not even that was working to calm the nerves that kept on building up. "You almost done?"

"Almost. Just have to check-"

"Cause people are starting to wander around, and I really think we should get the fuck out of here." The engine roared to life, and V clapped a hand over her mouth. "Are we good? Are we good to go?"

"Yeah, it's good! I think we-"

"Punch it! Don't even throw your seatbelt on, just go!"

He hit the gas, and V grabbed for the 'oh shit' bar on the door as they went squealing out of the lot. Cars honked as they struggled to settle into the flow of traffic, but once they were in, they were in. No one tailed them, only swore and threw every obscene gesture in the book.

V relaxed into her seat, but only after flicking the radio on. "So, about that song you were talking about?"

"Yeah?" Carlos asked, hands gripping the wheel tightly.

"Any chance it'll come on in the next five?"

He gave her a tentative glance before changing it to another station. "Only one way to find out."