"Hey." Nicky was waiting for Red in her kitchen's office.
"Hey." Red responded.
"So what happened?"
"He told Healy that he found me just in the nick of time before my suicide attempt." Red said sarcastically enthused.
"Jesus Christ." Nicky sighed and leaned back on the counter top. "Well what about me?"
"I've already told you that you are safe." Red looked over at her concerned child.
"Yeah but the situation has changed."
"Yes, but that fact isn't going to change. You're still safe and always will be as long as I'm around." Red said sincerely.
"Ok."
"Do you believe that?" Red wanted to know.
"I believe that those are your intentions until you die. But I don't know if that can be as much in your control as you'd want it to be considering where we are in his situation. It just took a turn for the worse. How are we going to climb back up from this one?" Nicky was afraid.
"However I go about this, the worst thing that could happen is I end up in prison." Red joked and it made Nicky smile.
Oh, for Red to see Nicky smile as of recently made her as happy as a kiss from God would. She teared up a little.
"You ok?" Nicky asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just grateful you have something to smile about."
"Red, you are a good mother. You know that, don't you?"
Red took a deep breath and held it for a moment. "I love you."
"And I love you back, Ma. Let's come up with a plan." Nicky said as though she were getting back to work.
"Do you have anything in mind?" Red inquired.
"I mean the easiest thing would be to do something regarding food, right?"
"I suppose so."
"Let's bake a cake. Lace it with something. One bite. And then," Nicky made a cutting motion with her finger at her throat.
Red raised her eyebrows and glared at Nicky for a moment.
"You're serious?" Red was amused.
"Umm, yeah. It's like a spy mission."
"So how do you propose we get him to eat it, Bond?"
"We make one personalized one and you can tell Healy to give it to him as a thank you for saving your life. But we have to make sure Healy makes it sound like it's coming from him, not us obviously."
"You make it sound so simple." Red loved seeing her daughter like this. When she had an idea, no matter how crazy, she believed in it wholeheartedly, sometimes too much so for her own good. But nonetheless, it amused Red to no end.
"It's not a complicated plan." Nicky said this as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ok." Red sighed.
"Ok? We can do it?" Nicky felt relieved that they had a plan in place to take down the monster.
"Yes, let's get this motherfucker."
"If we were in a movie, this is when punk rock music would start playing as we got everything out and made the cake."
Red laughed, like one of those good belly laughs. She was so elated that her daughter could be this light hearted about things given what just happened some 48 hours ago.
"Nicky, I love you." Red said through tears of laughter.
"Yeah, you tell me all the time. I know." Nicky smiled.
"Do you though?" Red got serious out of nowhere. "Because I don't think I tell you enough."
Nicky took in her mother with eyes that glistened with so much love and affection.
"Someday, when we are out of here, I'll prove that to you." Red said gently.
"Mom, there isn't anything to prove. Look at you, well look at me. Look at us. We've been through so much shit. We have no ties to each other. You stayed by my side when my own mother gave up on me. You haven't even come close to doing that, except for the first night in the woods, but that's understandable."
It was a dagger in her heart again.
A fresh wound.
Guilt.
Regret.
"I'll never forgive myself for that." Red began to tear up as she looked at her girl.
"Well," Nicky said as she walked over to Red, taking her mother's hands in her own. "I forgive you."
Red leaned and kissed the top of Nicky's forehead, staying there for a long time.
"Chocolate?" Nicky said from underneath Red's chin.
"Ahh, for the cake. Yes, chocolate would be good."
And they baked.
"Here this is the stuff." Red said after an hour or so of preparing the death trap.
She walked over and started spreading some type of powder on it, then she layered the icing.
"That'll kill him?" Nicky asked.
"Oh yes." Red said menacingly.
"You sound really dark, Red. You ok?"
"No. and neither will he be." Red turned to face Nicky. "Are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Nicky sighed.
"Oh, umm. Nicky I want you to talk to me later about what happened in the woods, ok?" Red said.
"I don't want to." Nicky simply replied.
"No, you don't. But my sweet girl, you need to. You can't keep it bottled up, the longer you do that, the worse your mind will be tormented and distorted." Red turned into the ultimate comforter.
Nicky nodded her head in agreement, realizing the truth of her mother's words.
"But for now, we kill that monster." She would never use the name 'Piscatella' around her Nicky again.