A/N: 700+ views, thanks for that lol

CW for an injury and general crime shenanigans

Enjoy!

Junior was excited. He'd scored his first date with a girl he really liked and would be going out that night! He just needed to get through the workday without any hiccups.

The insulation lost from the damage to the store was still not entirely fixed. That made storing the fruit a little more challenging. It also made explaining to customers why the melons were less than ideal looking a lot more difficult, but luckily his dad was working with him to make that go a lot smoother, so they were still selling.

A hard, unnaturally loud hand on the counter forced him to look up. "How can I help y-" he choked halfway through. "A-Alejandro! Wh-what's up? It's not the end of the month just yet." He started to sweat.

Alejandro was smiling in a narrowed, snide sort of way. "Always a pleasure to stop by, little Dwayne. We were just in the neighborhood for a little stroll," he explained in his melodically smooth voice, lifting his gloved digits away from the display.

It was then Junior realized that Al was flanked by two girls; one appeared to be keeping a lookout while the other impatiently tapped her foot and glared in Al's general direction as if he'd inconvenienced her in some way. "Is Hatchet not giving you enough to do these days or something?" he asked, glancing behind him to find his dad was not there to back him up if something were to go wrong.

"I wanted to show some new friends of mine this little corner of the city! Is that such a crime?" Alejandro returned the question.

Not yet it isn't Junior thought with a frown.

"I heard someone who worked here got arrested for destroying the police station," one of the girls finally spoke. She was pretty, sure, but had a similarly stuck up vibe not unlike Alejandro's. Her brown hair was short except for a few longer strands that were held by the holders Junior had last seen Avatar Korra wearing in her hair. Must be a Water Tribe thing.

"He did indeed, Courtney," Alejandro confirmed, looking at her and back to Junior. "You must've been glad to be rid of him."

"Tch, whatever…his fault for being stupid," Junior grumbled, not going to admit he did miss Mike and wondered where the heck he'd been taken by the police. They still hadn't heard from him since he'd been chased by the Avatar. Izzy had suggested a manhunt but he didn't have the time to do something like that, he had to work.

"Yes, what a shame it was to find out there wouldn't be a payment made on time from your father. It pained me to let those imbeciles loose after they brought so much attention with that fire, but alas, it is the way things had to go," Alejandro said with a dramatic sigh, the fingers under his glove clacking as he gestured.

"Why are you telling him so much?" the girl who wasn't Courtney asked her superior. Her dark reddish-brown hair was pulled back by a thin piece of red fabric; her pitch black eyes were impossible to read, not helped by the dark makeup surrounding them.

"He is not of concern to us, Zoey," Al responded easily before looking back at Junior. "We'll take the finest pieces of fruit you have to offer…if you can manage to part with them."

"It's all out here, just…take your pick!" Junior feigned enthusiasm.

"Splendid. Ladies, have at it," Al said before turning and walking away.

"Wait, what's with that wording-?" Junior asked before being cut off by a watery explosion of melon-y proportions followed by a kick and an electrically charged punch to the already fragile wooden fronting, causing it to crack apart.

"Junior, what's that noise-?" Dwayne called from the back of the store. By the time he opened the door, it was too late.

Junior was on the floor, his back against the wall and splinters of wood scattered everywhere. The whole room was soaked through with fruit juice and already starting to smell foul. His eyes were wide and he didn't notice his arm had a huge gash in it from being hit by a large chunk of wood. "Grease berries, that was not…cool," he whispered, having a hard time finding his voice after being blown backwards. He was in a bit of shock, hence why he wasn't screaming from pain.

"Spirits above, what happened?!" Dwayne asked worriedly as he hurried to help his son up. "Junior, you're bleeding!"

"Pretty…ladies wrecked the place…" he mumbled.

"We need to get you a healer and some bandages. It'll be okay, son, just hang in there," Dwayne said frenetically, trying to keep it together when his whole store was a wreck and his son nearly knocked out.

Last time someone threatened the shop, someone else had stepped up and defended it.

Where did they take you, Mike? he wondered as he helped his son. Why can't you come back?

Any feedback or engagement would be appreciated. :)