Okay, her new boss was apparently the person they were hunting. That or someone was running a human trafficking operation right under her nose. The way everyone talked about the Viuda made it seem that she ran a tight ship and was well respected, yet this cast that into serious doubt.

Crystal wasn't saying anything, and even opted to run two red lights to avoid stopping long enough to talk. It was concerning, and Ashe was starting to wonder if Crystal knew more than she was letting on and didn't want her to find out. If Crystal knew who was doing this, then what use was it for her to be going after them?

Had she committed those crimes for nothing?

Fuck. Ashe wanted off the bike. She wanted to run far away and never look back. How could she have been so stupid? She literally trusted a criminal to look out for her, that was like, the single biggest mistake an LEO could make. Not that she was one, but she'd been raised by two of them, Ashe knew better!

Abruptly, Crystal swerved around a stopped car, Ashe gripped her tight to avoid falling, cursing her wandering thoughts. She could spiral once she had her feet back on the ground, right now she was completely at the mercy of a thief and murderer. That was a bitter pill, one she knew to be true but had rationalized away because Crystal was nice to her and gave her the time of day. Was that also an act?

Focus.

She needed to get away, call her mom… On second thought, her mother might be the better choice. Cold rationality would serve better than impassioned for the conversation they needed to have. She just needed to find a single opportunity to get away and she could run. Crystal probably didn't know what was running through her mind just yet, she would have a moment of surprise if she wasn't allowed to just walk.

Ashe wasn't expecting it when the bike pulled into a parking lot near the Suwannee river. It was a small park, with clear signs posted to not feed the gators and to keep pets away from the water. It was oddly peaceful, with nary a soul to be found. A cold dread gripped Ashe's heart, because it would be so easy for Crystal to shoot her and dump the body in the river.

No one would even suspect her either, not with the Iron Patriots around. Those assholes would probably claim credit with a smile on their face and their popularity would actually increase because of it. Should she do something first? Ashe didn't want to kill anyone, but she had accepted the possibility when she started down this path, why would getting out of it make a difference?

Crystal stopped, ripping her helmet off as she did then tossed it aside. Ashe was frozen, waiting for the other shoe to drop when Crystal screamed in raw emotional anguish. Well, at least the decision seemed to be getting to her, but she was still going to go through with it, wasn't she? Looking around, there were a handful of trees that she could use as cover if needed, and worst come to worst, she could jump into the river and take her chances with the gators.

Ashe decided to bite the bullet and dismounted, stepping away quickly, but Crystal didn't move to pursue. That alone made her resolve to run falter, because why wouldn't she try to keep a liability in check?

"I don't know what to do here," Crystal muttered, turning back to face Ashe. Tears were streaming down her face and Ashe couldn't help the way her chest clenched at the sight. "The Viuda are like family. They took me in when I had nowhere to go, gave me a purpose again after my father practically disowned me. I just…"

"She might have been lying," Ashe tried, now completely off balance. She expected an apology, then a bullet, or to just be delivered to someone to be dealt with, not a heart wrenching display. "If she's with the Patriots, how do we know she's not just trying to implicate the Viuda?"

"Yessina only took over a few months ago," Crystal said, looking to the sky. "Not everyone was happy with that decision. The crew liked her well enough, but the overall vote was close. Ashe… If it is her, we're so far in over our heads here."

"So what?" Ashe said, her voice low. "We just let them keep doing this?"

Crystal shuddered. "No. If it comes out that the Viuda are trafficking girls, it would ruin them. Uptown was built on the foundations that the Viuda can be trusted. This would be…"

"The Iron Patriots would have a field day," Ashe concluded.

"My father would jump on it," Crystal confirmed. "He would use it as a rallying cry. A gang war would break out, his little militia would take to the streets. Hundreds would die."

Which meant Ashe couldn't just run to her parents. Shame welled up within her as that realization hit her once again. All these doubts she kept having and time and again they were proven to be either without merit, or overblown. Okay, so Crystal wasn't going to kill her and dump the body. Ashe wasn't being betrayed by one of the few people she trusted.

Ashe sagged in, well, not relief but something akin to it. Okay, so they had a suspicion, but no plan for how to pursue it. The question was, why were… Oh fuck.

"Crystal, the IP already knows about it," Ashe said.

She shook her head. "They wouldn't be able to keep quiet about that."

"The people that attacked me were IP," Ashe said firmly. "It's either a false flag, or they're using Yessina through proxies. Is there anyone you know for sure that can be trusted that would help us investigate?"

"Keiko and Robbie, but they're not exactly higher ups," Crystal said then chuckled ruefully. "Funny enough, I'd almost suggest Alejandro. He's batshit insane at times, but he sticks to all the agreements with the Viuda."

"Okay, that's one person with influence," Ashe begrudgingly admitted. Worse, the man seemed to like her, which she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. "I don't think my apparently 'impressing' him the one time would be enough to convince him of much, however."

"Absolutely not," Crystal agreed. "Ashe, if we decide to pursue this, we'll be stepping out of small time shit. That's a target on our back the second we speak to someone about it, and there will be factions that try to kill us for it."

That was definitely true. Was getting to the bottom of the kidnapping worth getting that deep into things? Should she just go after the one remaining from the attempt then call it quits? Could she even do that? The fifty thousand in her closet was substantial, and if she continued to make that kind of money from working with Crystal, well, it beat anything she could do legitimately.

Okay, tracking down the second man wouldn't be a bad idea, his name was on record and would be easy enough to get. Should she use that to start leveraging a reputation? She didn't have a street name, and if Ashe was to be taken seriously, she would need one that was intimidating enough people didn't dare fuck with her.

And she was right back in the thick of it, planning to become a feared criminal. Shit, her parents would probably be after her once she started to make a name for herself and she was stuck under their roofs until at least July when she was finally of age. Keeping that kind of secret… She needed somewhere she could stash her money and weapons and wouldn't be found if her parents felt the need to search her room.

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The bundles of cash weren't obvious at a glance, but it would only take a minor search to find it. Okay, one step at a time. She could do this. Crystal would help her, and so would Robbie and Keiko. She needed to itemize her priorities and start taking actions to see those goals through.

"Ashe?"

She startled, jerking away. Crystal flinched back, both her hands up.

"Easy, you just spaced out there," Crystal said. "You okay?"

"Sorry," Ashe said. "Just lost in thought."

"Anything insightful?" Crystal asked, a slight smirk on her face.

Not that it lessened the fear in her eyes.

Ashe sighed, leaning against one of the trees. "Thinking long term. I think it's obvious that I never even considered all this. Now, it's clear that I'm in this for the long haul if I want to see justice done."

The pair sat in silence for some time, clouds drifting across the blue sky above. When Ashe made the declaration, she almost expected some disapproval from the world itself, like a lightning strike, or a torrential downpour despite the sunny skies. Florida could be weird like that, where you were sunny and dry, yet your neighbor wound up soaked.

"Can I get an honest answer?" Crystal asked suddenly.

"Uhhh…"

Crystal stepped over to her, slumping down against the same tree, her hand distressingly close to Ashe's own.

"How close did you come to telling your moms everything?"

Ashe's heart leapt into her throat at the same moment her stomach dropped. How did she answer a question like that without scaring her off? It was as though each time Ashe resolved to follow a path, something dropped in to call everything into question.

"Ouch, that close?" Crystal said softly. "Christ, the ride here must have been hell on you. Fuck, you probably thought I brought you here to off you or something."

Ashe couldn't help but snort, snot shooting out as the emotional turmoil of the last half hour caught up with her in force and she broke down into a sobbing mess. A strong arm wrapped around her, pulling her close and Ashe buried her face in Crystal's shoulder.

"It's okay," Crystal whispered. "I get it, today's been a bit of a shock to you. I'm here if you ever need to vent." She paused, and Ashe could see she was biting her lip out of the corner of her eyes, blurry as they were from the tears. "If— If you need to walk away from all this, talk to me. I'll see what I can do to help."

Ashe sat up, wiping the tears on her shoulder sleeves. "You don't have to—"

"I don't want you to feel trapped in this life," Crystal said softly. "I'm here because my father is a monster. You're here because his followers attacked you. You didn't deserve that, Ashe. Nobody does."

She wasn't sure if she believed her, but it still felt good to hear. Crystal was offering her an out, a chance to walk away. That was all the safety net Ashe needed, and if it came down to it, Ashe could only hope that she would still be in a position to return the offer of sanctuary.

"Okay," Ashe said, squaring her shoulders. "I'm in. Let's get to the bottom of this, and see if we can make some money along the way."

Crystal snorted. "There's little doubt there, say what you want about what we do, there's money in it."

"No kidding," Ashe said, chuckling. "I need to get a place where I can stash my stuff. Having fifty-kay in my closet probably isn't the brightest move."

Crystal's mirth faded in an instant, replaced by almost vacant horror. "Oh shit, I didn't even think about that. Okay, we're moving that first thing tomorrow, same with your Beretta. You can stash it at my place until we can find something more permanent."

Ashe's heart skipped a beat at hearing that. Moving some of her stuff, even if it was the illegal things, into Crystal's apartment felt like a commitment of some kind. Granted, she had just committed herself to diving head first into a criminal career. She wasn't sure how to feel about it, but there was a weight to the simple ease at which Crystal was offering. She tried hard to avoid reading too deeply into it.

It was just storage of illicit goods, it wasn't like Ashe was moving in with her or anything…

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that," Ashe muttered.

"What was that?" Crystal asked.

"Oh, just that I think I'll take you up on that," she answered, glad Crystal hadn't heard or asked for an elaboration. "My parents don't really go through my stuff, something about respecting my privacy and boundaries."

"That sounds amazing," Crystal said wistfully. "My sperm donor installed keyloggers and all sorts of malware on my home computer to make sure I didn't do anything he wouldn't approve of. Ironically, that was how I got outed, he found out one of those approved sites also hosted porn, and he went digging."

"It was all lesbian stuff?" Ashe asked, trying to not smirk.

Crystal shrugged. "Girls in general, so close enough."

"Bet he had worse on his computer," Ashe grumbled. "Didn't his campaign manager get busted with kiddie shit?"

"Oh yeah, that was a fun scandal," Crystal muttered. "He ended up backhanding me for pointing out his hypocrisy at defending the man after he kept going off about trans people being groomers."

"Ouch," Ashe said, wincing. It made her appreciate her moms all the more hearing what she had dealt with growing up. That thought slammed into her like a sack of bricks, and the guilt came flooding back in. She couldn't help but slouch, not wanting to keep this concern of hers from her friend and co-conspirator. "I feel like I'm betraying my moms' trust by doing this."

The words were spoken softly, but reverberated like an explosion, the pair falling into a tense silence as they sat there. Ashe almost regretted voicing her concerns, but if she was going to do this, she couldn't keep anything bottled up. Crystal offered to be a sounding board, to hear her out when she had reservations, and that was easily the biggest one.

If Ashe was to become a criminal, she needed to trust her partner to have her back.

"They do seem to be good to you," Crystal said, looking off blankly into the distance. "If I had that kind of support growing up, who knows where I would be."

"I was going to attend college in Minnesota once I graduated," Ashe continued, wanting it all out in the open if she was going to commit. "My parents are invested here, Mother has fifteen years with the force, and Mom is up to nine now. They both understand why I'm looking to leave, between the whole media blitz over my attending Halsey High and the recent attack, they get it. I have their full support."

"You're going to leave come summer?" Crystal asked, her voice wavering as she spoke.

"That was the plan," Ashe said, looking skyward.

She just wasn't sure she could keep to it if she got deeply involved with things. If she and Crystal became an item, would she choose to stay if Crystal couldn't leave? All logic said that she should walk away, pretend nothing had happened, and just move on. Yet, Ashe knew she couldn't do that. She wasn't one to quit halfway through something.

"I just don't know if it will remain the plan, now that I'm following through with this folly of ours."