Be Gay Do Crime

Pulling up to the corner of Weaving and 15th, Ashe had little trouble spotting Caralina and the rest of the girls near a multi story building.  They were loitering in the parking lot that filled in the space beside the rather tall building.  The surrounding buildings that rounded out the city block were much shorter by comparison, looking more like stores than lodging. 

Looking into those buildings would be prudent, if for no other reason than securing what was to be their home base for the foreseeable future.

As they expanded, they would need more places for their people to work, more legitimate fronts to help move their illicit money into people’s pockets in a way the IRS wouldn’t get pissy over.  

Society was moving fast towards a cashless future, which would be hell for anyone not making their money legally.  There were always digital currencies, which were used by criminals the world over, but Ashe didn’t want to leave that much up to her cyber security skills.

That future wasn’t there yet, however, which meant that Ashe would need to take full advantage of hard currency while she still could.  It was funny, just hours earlier she was dancing around her parents’ questions, and now she was doing exactly what they pleaded with her to not do.  Yet, she’d already come to terms with the path she was walking, the guilt growing weaker, lingering less and less with each passing resurgence. 

Would she eventually stop feeling guilty about all of it?  Turn callus about losses of life?  Would she one day put her gun to a kid’s head and pull the trigger without flinching?  Would she too start selling girls into slavery?  Just what led people down such a path?  All she could do was put her trust in those around her, to keep herself grounded. 

Crystal pulled the bike into the parking lot, bringing it to a stop beside the girls who watched with varied expressions.  Ashe dismounted first, allowing Crystal to put the kickstand down safely.  Their bandanas were on under the helmets, so they were able to remove them without worry.  Or at least, Ashe thought she could until she was pulling it off and the mask caught a bit and pulled up over her eyes.

Panic flared as Ashe hurried to pull it back down over her mouth, then felt mortified when she saw that almost all of the girls were fighting not to fucking laugh.  Well, Brie lost that fight and was cackling almost immediately, which set off the rest of them.  Ashe turned to face Crystal, who was now bracing herself against the bike and fighting her own giggles. 

“Traitor,” Ashe muttered. 

She had to wait for the laughter to trail off, but it did, eventually.  She didn’t want to snap at her girls, not unless it was actually warranted, and this wasn’t a situation that called for it.  As things calmed down she happened to catch Donna staring, and when she did, the girl looked away rather quickly. 

“Did you get in contact with her?” Ashe asked. 

Donna jumped, her eyes wide and her lip was quivering.  The young girl then nodded. 

“Can that cop lady be trusted?” Donna asked.  “I know you asked someone to make sure it was okay before sending me her number, but how can you be sure she won’t give me back to my parents?” 

Ashe knelt down, taking a deep breath as she did.  “Their daughter was hurt a few months ago.  We made sure the people that hurt her were brought to justice when the police couldn’t.  They know that sometimes looking the other way is needed to do the right thing.” 

Ashe could practically feel Jessica’s eyes on her, she was one of the few people present that knew who Ashe was under the mask.

She would understand the implications of what was just said.  It was certainly brazen, but Ashe was more concerned with making sure her girls were okay than keeping up appearances.  As long as a degree of separation was kept, Ashe could keep her conscience clear about dragging her parents into her mess.

“Okay, I’ll trust them,” Donna said.  Beside her, Lyn bit her lip but nodded as well. 

Ashe smiled, then realized they wouldn’t be able to see it.  “I hope it all works out for you, and just know that if it doesn’t, you’ll always have a place with us.” 

The answering smiles were hesitant, but genuine.  That would have to be enough, and she would need to trust her parents to do right by the two girls.  

Standing back up, Ashe turned to face the building.  “Shall we?” 

A few excited murmurs spread among the girls as they walked through the lot and up to the building.  Upon closer inspection, Ashe noted all the broken windows, as well as the faded graffiti along the brick work.  Some had been sprayed over a dozen times, a reminder of how often Sutton changed hands between the Viuda and Patriots in the early days of their conflicts before they abandoned the area to the fighting. 

Stepping inside wasn’t much better, the wallpaper was straight out of the sixties, and peeling on top of that.  Most of the carpet may as well be stripped, for how little of the near paper thin material was left in the entry.  Ashe didn’t even want to consider how much asbestos might be hiding inside the run down building. 

Worse, the first hall that she could see had police tape blocking off one of the doors. 

“Riptide, just how much of the building did they avoid showing you?” Ashe asked. 

“That room is fine, just had an OD in there a few weeks ago,” Crystal said.  “I’m more concerned about the basement, they claimed it was just fumigated.” 

“Meaning there’s probably bodies down there,” Brie said. 

“Can we go see?” Lily asked.

The girl’s eyes were practically sparkling, which was honestly a little weird, but most of her little crew had their quirks.  Caralina sighed, pinching her nose. 

“I wouldn’t mind either,” Brie said.  “After we all pick rooms though.” 

Lily giggled, then skipped down the hall right up to the police tape.  “Let’s start with this one!  I want to see the room where someone died!” 

“She really is playing up the goth angle,” Crystal said, shaking her head fondly.  “You’ve certainly found an eclectic bunch.” 

Lily was trying to open the door, Brie right behind her, but it was locked.  Crystal pulled a set of keys from her hip pouch and checked the numbers on them before she found the right one.  When the door was opened, it revealed a rather clean apartment in better condition than Ashe expected.  There was a slight smell that set Ashe on edge, just a hint of rot, but not as much as she expected. 

“I’m guessing they found her rather quickly?” Ashe asked. 

Crystal shrugged.  “I didn’t ask.  I figured there would be a stain that needed to be taken outside and torched or some shit.” 

“Oh, there definitely is,” Brie called back.  “Couch is, whats the word?  Funky?  Couch is Funky.” 

“Not inaccurate,” Ashe said, thankful for the mask helping filter some of the smell.  “We’ll get this moved out by tomorrow, no sense letting it continue to fester indoors.” 

“Dibs,” Brie said.

“On the funky sofa?” Jessica asked. 

Brie rolled her eyes.  “No, on the apartment.” 

“You haven’t even seen the others,” Caralina said, pinching her nose. 

Brie shrugged.  “I’m taking the chance.” 

“I’ll make sure a shit load of air fresheners are on the shopping list,” Crystal said, chuckling.  “Alright, let’s keep exploring.  There’s only three tenants currently, and two are months behind on rent.  I’d like to speak to them after we get through everyone.” 

Moving floor by floor, Ashe was appalled at the state of some of the apartments.  Many were stripped down to their frames, even the wires removed for the copper.  It was a glorified mess, and would take a considerable amount of money to make livable.  Still, the girls did find rooms in decent shape and were fairly prompt to claim them.  Funny enough, none of them were disproving Brie’s instinct, with it being the best cared for of all the rooms seen so far, which was a bit sad.

Not that anyone was jealous of the girl claiming the haunted room.

“Do we get a room?” Lyn asked. 

She was watching Donna, who hadn’t said much as they made their way to the top. 

“Sure,” Ashe said.  “Just because you’re looking to get help through the system doesn’t mean I’m going to deny you a place.  Hell, if you manage to get emancipated, I’ll even let you stay here rent free with no stipulations.” 

“Told you she was a bleeding heart,” Brie said. 

Ashe didn’t deny that, and both girls claimed rooms in short order.  With that done, the group moved towards the stairs leading to the top floor.  The elevator would need fixed at some point, but there was so much more that would need to be prioritized before they even thought about investing in that repair job. 

Coming into the hall on the top floor, the first door on the right was checked, and it was decent enough, overlooking the parking lot and intersection below.  

“Calling dibs,” Jessica said.  “Not for me, but for all of us.” 

A series of confused looks were shared, but Ashe saw the shape of what she was thinking.

“You want to turn it into an observation post,” Ashe said, a faint smile pulling at her lips. She stepped over to the window, checking the sight lines and found they were damn good for anything not right at their door.  “Not a bad idea.  We would need to replace the windows and the inner wall would need reinforced, but it could work.” 

She turned, facing Crystal who frowned as she looked it over.  “Not my usual expertise, but I can see the merits of it.  Not a bad idea.” 

Jessica smiled, though it was far meeker than Ashe was used to seeing on the woman.  If anything, she almost seemed shy.  Ashe had always viewed her bullies as these daunting foes that were untouchable, Jessica especially thanks to her Viking braids.  She’d been hurt, and needed time and a place to recover. 

“Alright,” Ashe said with a nod.  “You’ll still need to pick out a proper room, but we can definitely make this one a work area for any security details we cook up.” 

“Okay,” Jessica said. 

The very next room wasn’t bad either, and Jessica went ahead and claimed it.  That left the rooms on the left side, which Ashe hesitantly peeked into, and promptly regretted it.  The first room was an absolute wreck, with half the walls busted out, and the floors were coated in something Ashe didn’t want to identify.  Amidst all off that were a fuckload of tubes connecting various jugs of chemicals. 

“Wow, a fucking meth lab,” Crystal said with a tired chuckle, kicking one of the empty jugs on the ground.  “Or, what’s left of one.” 

“Looks like it nearly took the building with it,” Ashe said, kicking through the crud on the ground.  Scattered around the room were several fire extinguishers that had been discarded.  “No wonder they sold it so cheaply.” 

“Starting to see that myself,” Crystal said.  “Well, good thing I paid cash and might have tipped off Hanabi on where she could pick it up from.” 

Ashe let out a bark of a laugh before managing to clamp her hands over her mouth and stifle her reaction.  Holy shit, that was so underhanded, but after seeing the place, she couldn’t fault her one fucking bit.

“Okay, that’s funny as hell,” Brie said.  “Does that mean we can use the money to fix the place up?” 

“That was the plan,” Crystal said.  “Alright, you all have your keys, head back to your rooms and start a list of things you’ll need.  Prioritize them for the next two days, within the week, and further out.  Also, note any damages you see and such.” 

The girls nodded, then Jessica chimed in, “drop your lists off with me, and make sure the room number is on it.” 

“Yes ma’am,” a chorus of girls said, then began to scatter. 

“But, half of them are older than me,” Jessica muttered. 

Caralina patted her shoulder.  “True, but you’ve stepped up and taken some responsibility.  They’re showing you respect for helping look out for them.” 

“Speaking of respect,” Ashe said, stepping up to Caralina.  “Thanks for sticking around.  I’m so in over my head here, and you’ve been a great help in keeping things from boiling over.  I mean, I’m just a kid myself, younger than most of you…” 

The woman blinked at the word vomit, but Ashe pressed on. 

“So, what I’m trying to say is,” Ashe said, hesitating for a moment, then she pulled her mask down.  Crystal sucked in a breath and muttered something, but Ashe was completely focused on the woman in front of her.  Besides, Ashe’s identity was more of a polite fiction with the girls given how often they saw her in casual settings, but if Caralina was going to be managing things alongside Jessica, they needed to know who she was.  “If the girls have any doubts about the officer I put them in contact with, know that she’s my mother.” 

“Ashe,” Crystal said with a groan, pulling her own mask down.  “You’ve known her all of a week.” 

“Trust has to start somewhere,” Ashe said, then offered Caralina her hand.  “Nothing says it can’t start with a simple overture on our part.” 

Chuckling was her answer as Caralina shook her head.  “Brie was right, just a bleeding heart.  I hope you realize that trusting so easily is going to get you hurt one of these days.” 

Ashe shrugged, hand still extended.  “Probably, but I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.” 

“Now that’s a catchphrase worthy of Inferno,” Caralina said, the sarcasm dripping from her tone.  She then accepted the hand and shook.  “We protect the girls, to the best of our abilities.” 

“On that we agree,” Ashe said with a firm nod.

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