Be Gay Do Crime

The Tangled Web, as Crystal called it, was a bar on the edge of Uptown on Grisham Avenue. Ashe couldn't deny that it was the most obviously Viuda establishment she had ever seen. She saw tattoos from at least three different small-time Cartels inside, but none were causing issues with one another. Even those wearing Alejandro's green and black were keeping to themselves.

It was neutral ground, agreed upon by all who entered.

Her eyes darted all about, her mind in overdrive as she tried to remember her mother's lessons on the various gang symbols and who they belonged to. One such tattoo, a red and black hornet, hailed from a small group that operated down south, outside Jericho. Another was a lime green skull and crossbone that represented a smuggler group that operated in the Gulf.

Ashe felt so out of place that she wanted nothing more than to curl into a tight little ball.

Crystal didn't seem to have that issue, approaching the bartender without hesitation and uncaring of the white haired individual sitting next to where she stood. Hushed words were shared out of earshot, then Crystal started walking towards the booths. Ashe followed, unsure of what else she could do and took a seat across from her when prompted.

"Robbie and Keiko are on their way," Crystal said, setting her phone aside. "Relax, nobody here will hurt you."

Ashe swallowed heavily. "Sorry. I just wasn't expecting all," she waved her hand, "this."

"You didn't expect me to be this involved," Crystal said softly.

Ashe sighed, sitting back in the booth, eyes looking up to the ceiling as she did. She should have seen the signs, the movie theater they went to was barely ten minutes down the road after all, never mind the woman that was watching that bastard's house for Crystal. It didn't add up before, but she was being willfully ignorant then. Now, she couldn't let herself miss details like that.

"I think a part of me knew," Ashe said, "deep down. Ever since you avoided being questioned following the attack. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I suppose I should at least hear you out."

"Thanks," Crystal said.

A waitress came up to the table, setting two menus down then clicked her pen. "Anything to drink?"

"Hard Lemonade," Crystal said, then glanced up. "Two of them."

The waitress scribbled it down then hurried off. Ashe had a thousand comments on the tip of her tongue, but the one that stood out the most was that neither of them had been carded. Crystal could maybe pass for twenty one, especially if she was a regular, but Ashe knew she didn't look anywhere close to being in her twenties.

Gang holding, she had to remind herself of that truth. Why would they care about something as petty as drinking ages and the laws surrounding them? Trying to put those thoughts aside, Ashe looked over the menu. It seemed to be a combination of bar classics and some Cuban dishes, and oddly enough, ramen.

She settled on the sampler platter, mostly because it also included fried gator bites. The waitress returned a moment later and brought them two glasses of what looked like lemonade, but Ashe could smell the alcohol in her glass.

"I'll have boneless wings in the house sauce," Crystal said casually, handing the menu back. "What about you?"

"Sampler," Ashe said, voice clipped.

The waitress nodded, taking both menus before heading off to where she thought the kitchens might be. Ashe watched her disappear behind the swinging door, the entire situation proving to be too much to just accept. She was sitting in a gang-run establishment, with alcohol in front of her and waiting for more members of this gang to turn up.

She wanted to scream or cry, because she might have invited this upon herself, but that didn't mean she was ready to just accept it all. Rather than confront those swirling feelings, she grabbed the glass and gulped it down, only to break out into a hacking fit as the alcohol burned her throat.

Ashe coughed and sputtered, and she eyed some woman in a black dress across the way that was laughing at her plight. The spiderweb tattoos along her right arm stood out in her mind, marking the woman as someone important. She tipped her own glass towards Ashe for a moment, then turned back to the man across from her. All while Ashe continued to cough from the burn of the liquor.

"Easy now," Crystal said, reaching out to rest a hand on her own. "You don't seem the type to hit up after school parties, so take it easy to start."

Ashe continued to cough, but flipped Crystal off, which only served to make the woman laugh. She took a much more sedate sip of the alcoholic lemonade this time, and it helped calm her cough. The appeal of drinking was lost on her if that was what it was like. She didn't care if it was an acquired taste. Pizza sure as hell wasn't so why should she indulge in something that tasted like drinking lighter fluid?

"Sorry we're late," a woman said as she sat down beside her.

Ashe looked up, more than a little put out that someone would just drop down next to her. Across from her, Robbie sat down next to Crystal, beer bottle already in hand. She then regarded the woman sitting next to her.

She was of Asian descent, with purple eyes that had to be contact lenses and matching hair that was up in a loose ponytail. Tattoos trailed slightly up her neck from under her shirt, and her arms were covered in colorful Japanese Oni designs. Ashe had to admit, they were quite eye catching and beautiful besides.

"Like what you see?" the woman asked.

"Be nice," Crystal said. "Ashe, you've already met Robbie, but this pain in our ass is Keiko. She's our demolitions expert."

"Fuck you," Keiko hissed. "That was one mistake, and it was hardly my fault."

"Quite the spectacular mistake, Hanabi," Robbie added. "I do believe you're still wanted for that."

"Hey, they never attached my name to it, so it's all good," Keiko countered. "Besides, it wasn't as bad as that guy we dropped into the riptide."

"Pity he wasn't conscious to scream," Robbie said, taking a pull from his bottle.

"Guys," Crystal said softly. "You're scaring her."

All focus was suddenly on Ashe and she realized she wasn't breathing. She sucked in a breath, gasping as the dark at the edges of her vision retreated and bright pinpricks danced across her vision. When had she locked up like that? She took another drink, the burn helping ground her in the moment. Ashe knew she was in over her head, that the people Crystal surrounded herself weren't good people.

Neither was Crystal…

How long would it be before she was making jokes about some guy she killed? Hell, how long until she ended up taking a life? Ashe didn't want to think about it, and instead focused on her drink, at least until a plate of fried foods was set down in front of her. The waitress gave her a pleasant smile, then handed Crystal her own order.

Keiko and Robbie both just asked for their 'usual' whatever that was, then silence returned to the table. Ashe wasn't in any hurry to restart the conversation, but she could feel the others' attention on her, as if they were appraising her, which to be fair, they likely were.

"I'm curious," Keiko said, kicking off things anew. "What drives a cop's kid to reach out to us dastardly criminals?"

Ashe held up her arm, the stitching on full display as she flipped Keiko off. "Take a wild guess, bitch."

"Rude," Keiko said, affronted by the display. "So, a couple of fascists fucked with you and you want to stick them where it hurts?"

That… Wasn't far off actually.

"I've heard worse motivations," Robbie said casually.

"Says the guy that joined because he wanted to fuck Jimenez," Crystal said, chuckling to herself. "You have shit tastes in men, you know that?"

"Had," Robbie said, stealing one of the bits of chicken from Crystal's plate. She smacked his hand, which only served to make him laugh. "Brandon is quite respectable by comparison."

Keiko snorted. "At least the little twink can cook."

"That he can," Robbie said wistfully.

Ashe watched all of this while quietly snacking on fried gator and pickles. When she went to wash it down she discovered her glass was empty and frowned. She already finished it? Shit, was she already drunk and didn't realize it? Just for that she tore into one of the mozzarella sticks.

The good natured bickering almost felt normal, and it would be so easy for her to forget that she was seated with what seemed to be hardened criminals. The waitress returned, bringing Robbie a plate of fish and fries while Keiko was handed a double decker burger that left Ashe drooling in jealousy.

"I'll never figure out how you aren't five hundred pounds," Crystal grumbled.

"Let the jealousy flow through you," Keiko said, then took a bite from the burger and moaned. "So fucking good."

"Surprised?" Robbie asked and it took Ashe a moment to realize he was addressing her. "That we're just people, I mean. You were raised by cops, so you likely have a dim view of those on this side of the law."

"You could say that," she agreed, hesitantly.

He nodded, picking up a fry. "Crystal was much the same way when she first met us four years ago. You know who her father is, so it isn't hard to guess what influences she was raised with."

"Watch it," Crystal said with a growl. "I'll tell her the details in my own time."

"Fair enough," Robbie said, inclining his head in agreement. "Suffice to say, she had many misconceptions shattered during those first few weeks. I imagine you'll be experiencing the same if you decide to join our ragtag little group long term."

Right, she had contacted Crystal with the intention of going out again to strike back at the assholes that hurt her. One of which was still walking free. She didn't even know where to begin if she hoped to track him down, and she knew that she would need to do other stuff to make the arrangement less one sided. Nobody would help her if they didn't get something out of it on their own terms.

So, Ashe swallowed her morals for a chance at evening the scales.

"Speaking of the long term," Keiko said, polishing off the last of her burger in record time. "We'll need to see what you can do and figure out what you will need to be taught before we dive into any risky jobs."

"We also won't know if you'll freeze until we get into a proper life or death situation," Robbie said. "I froze in my first gunfight, but not my second. We don't want anyone getting hurt because we trusted you to pull the trigger but you couldn't."

"We also need to figure out if she can even shoot," Keiko added, three fries hanging from her mouth. "Crystal mentioned your hand was fucked and all, need to see how badly."

Ashe leveled a glare on the mouthy girl, but couldn't disagree. She could handle a gun well enough, but she struggled with reloading thanks to her grip strength being shot. She had tried swapping to her left hand, but her right fumbled even worse with the magazine. No, she needed to practice to get used to her new disability, and going to her usual range wouldn't be an option until her parents felt she was healed enough.

"Do you know a place where I can practice?" Ashe asked. "Also, I'll need a gun that isn't registered to me. My carry is fully registered with the PD and all."

"Yeah, about that," Crystal said, reaching into her bag. Her face lit up then she pulled a large handgun out and passed it across the table. "That's the gun we snatched on that job, I figured you might want it for any future work."

Ashe eyed the Beretta as though it might bite her. It was exactly what she needed if she was going to do this, yet she also recognized that yet another of her excuses was cleared up before it could even take root. She needed to stop looking for those, yet so much of what she was trying to do ran anathema to all she was just a month prior.

She reached out with her left hand and slid the gun closer before carefully picking it up. Only once she confirmed the safety was engaged did she do a proper check. The gun was loaded, with one in the chamber on top of it all, because of course Crystal wouldn't carry a gun with her that wasn't ready for a bad encounter.

"You did a thorough cleaning?"

"Of course," Crystal said. "The gun was in abysmal shape when we found it. I replaced a few springs and gave it a thorough work over. It should be better than new."

"Thanks," Ashe said, smiling. She felt warm, but that was likely the alcohol. "I'll need to get a new holster for it."

"Yeah, I doubt the one you have would fit it," Crystal said.

She nodded, looking the gun over once more before trying out the feel in her left hand, then shifted the grip to her right. The weight was a strain, but that was easier to compensate for than trying to keep a firm grip on a small magazine. Still, she should at least give left-handed shooting a proper try before discounting it. "Can you get me a left-handed holster? I want to see which will be easier on my wrist."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Crystal said, tapping her chin before absently swatting Keiko's hand away from her chicken basket. "You're right handed, so are you sure you can pull that off? I can't shoot for dick with my left hand."

"I learned to write left-handed when I broke my arm as a kid," Ashe said, slipping the pistol into the waistband of her pants, unsafe as that was. "Plus, it would help hide my identity if I start building up a rap sheet."

"Actually," Robbie said, eyeing the gun. "If the goal is hiding your injury, learning to overcome it would be best. Adapt your everyday to be left handed but continue to do most things with us right handed. They would discount you more readily in that case."

That… Huh.

"Not a bad idea," Keiko agreed. "Lots of work involved either way, so no harm in trying it all out."

She wasn't wrong, and the reassuring smile that bloomed on Crystal's face only served to cement it. It was strange, feeling welcomed by the group around her. She hadn't felt anything like it since the days following her adoption. Guilt followed, but it was less than she expected. Her parents had tried and failed, now it was her turn.

"Well, if everyone's done eating," Crystal began, only to be cut off as the waitress returned with a small tray bearing an envelope. "Shit."

"What's that?" Ashe asked only to be met with three grim faces. "Bad then."

"Not necessarily," Robbie said, accepting it. He tore it open and read through the thing. "Well, good news. They found a buyer for the drugs we lifted."

"That's good, right?" Ashe tried.

Keiko shook her head. "Drop the other shoe."

"The buyer is Alejandro," Robbie said grimly. "And we have to deliver it."

Ashe paled as the name clicked, the man better known as Ripsaw had a reputation for his bouts of unrepentant murder, but why were they getting so upset if they were working with the Viuda? He held to the same code they did, didn't he? Crystal must have seen the confusion on her face.

"He's the leader of a Brazilian Cartel that has basically claimed the top spot in the city. The man is known for executing people who piss him off," Crystal said, turning a harsh look on the other woman at the table. "Which is why he's never met Keiko."

"Hey!" said woman exclaimed, yet she didn't deny it.

Ashe swallowed, because she was all but certain she was about to be thrown into the deep end without a lifeguard. Well, if there was a way to learn to swim, that was certainly it. She sighed and stood, only for the room to spin around her.

Shit, she was not ready for this.

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