Joey soaked in the tub for a bit, washing off blood and grime from the bar. When she stepped out of the bathroom she was wrapped in her bathrobe, her hair hanging damp around her scrubbed face, her cheeks bright with color. She leaned against the door frame watching Pins. So strong, so vigilant. She tipped her head to the side letting it rest against the door frame as well. She liked him the most in this moment; him looking out the window with an empty sandwich plate on his knee, in his usually manner of sitting. They had so much to worry about but she just wished it all away and didn't want to talk about it. She glanced back into the bathroom, her blade still sat on the sink, untouched and unclean. She didn't want to pick it back up, didn't want to do the things she did anymore.

Before she'd had no reason not to...but with Pins around she wanted to be better than what she was everyday. She looked back to the window and smiled quietly to herself. She switched on the radio. Slow jazz tonight with the announcer she liked best, the low voice giving out the singer and title of the songs...Joey smirked as the announcer introduced the next song it was one of her favorites. The static and white noise popped some as the voice came over the radio waves "And now we come to the lovely Martha Tilton's 'These Foolish Things'. Enjoy folks." Joey hummed along some before Martha started singing.

Pins was smoking again. He watched the smoke travel out the window and onto the street, for a moment he swore it took the shape of a person. Must be a long night. He thought. The Cadillacs made a wonderful noise as they drove past Joey's place. He rolled up his sleeves and rested his elbows on the window sill. He stuck his head out and the wind caused him to squint slightly. Down below he could see an elderly woman entering the building as a stray cat came out of the shadows in the alley to his left. Pins slowly moved back to his old position; once again he realized why he was looking out the window in the first place.

He blinked the moment he heard the static from the radio. He turned to see Joey standing there. His eyes flicked over to the radio for a second and he got up out of the chair. She looked so different, he couldn't understand why nor did he want to. He knew it wouldn't happen but he felt like things should just stay this way forever. Right now he didn't want to worry about anything, or anyone with the exception of Joey.

Pins took off his hat and placed it next to his coat before walking up to her. "Wanna dance?" He smirked.

Joey looked down at her bare feet and white bath robe. She snickered some at the thought of dancing with Pins looking how she did. But she couldn't say no when he gave her that grin. She nodded with another laugh and stepped towards him. She had to stand up on her tiptoes to be at the right height. Joey leaned in against him and closed her eyes "Just think...if we hadn't been part of the Valiant we could do this every night..." she said quietly more to herself than to Pins.

She closed her eyes and could almost see the kitchen and the dining room where she would have made dinner and waited for him to get home from work. She imagined dancing like this with him during the summer and complaining about how cold the tiled floor was in the winter. What life could they have had in an alternate universe? What if they weren't killers? What if they weren't the ones that everyone looked to to protect them? What if they could be oblivious?

“You wouldn’t want to be anything less than what you are.” Pins said, moving in time with the music. “I see your point though. We could do this every night once we’re rid of Terry.”

Pins couldn’t help but feel elated, and why shouldn’t he? He was dancing with a beautiful woman in her own home. More than five minutes had passed and no one had tried to kill them. Terry had eyes all over the place and Pins couldn’t understand why no one would try anything right now. Maybe they had enough for the night; maybe they thought Alice had killed them, there could be many reasons. He pushed these thoughts out of his mind; he had more important things to focus on.

The song ended but he didn’t let Joey go. In fact he slid his hands down to her waist and hugged her tightly. Who could blame him? It wasn’t very often Pins got a chance to relax with someone close to him. In fact he hadn’t had someone this close to him for a very, very long time.

Joey gave a bright smile, more genuine than most she gave. She was tired, happy, and with Pins. She glanced up as the song finished and felt even more comfortable as he hugged her. She squeezed him back, her slender arms across his back, holding him to her. It was when she closed her eyes and nestled into his chest that she heard heavy foot steps in the hallway. Even over the radio she could hear them coming down the hall and she clenched her hands around Pins' arms as the footsteps paused in front of her apartment door. Her dark green eyes widened as she gazed up at him. Her gaze flicked to the door and she stood perfectly still listening.

She was scared stiff. If it was a Vagrant on the other side of the door it would be easy to shoot through the door and blow them away, but if it was Valiant, what on earth were they doing here? She held her breathe waiting for either a knock on the door or a click of a gun...

Pins was alarmed as he watched Joey, it was her that tipped him off. There was really no time to react, the two of them stood there, arms around one another, facing the door. Time slowed down and every footstep was a second that took ages.

There was a knock.

Pins let go of Joey and pulled her into the bathroom. “Whatever happens you stay here, turn out the lights and stay quiet.” Pins gave her one last look and closed the door, hoping Joey would lock it. He made his way to the apartment’s door and leaned his back against the wall as a second set of knocks came. He put his hand on the knob and silently unlocked the door. More knocking.
Pins opened the door wide and charged the man on the other side almost simultaneously. What else could he do? He didn’t have his gun and he didn’t have enough time to search the apartment for a knife.
Pins had the man with his back to the wall, one of his hands around the man’s throat, the other a fist in the air. But Pins stopped, his expression softened as he realized who he was holding. “Mark?”
“Dam straight Pins. Hey man, let me go, alright.” Pins apologized and let go.
“What are you doing? How’d you find the place? What’s going on?”
“Relax Pins. I’ll tell ya everything. But hey man, I’d like a drink or something y’know?” Pins wasn’t sure if Joey would mind another person in the house, especially since she didn’t know the man, or at least that was what Pins assumed. He decided Mark’s information was vital and stepped aside to let the Valiant through. Pins looked down the hall before closing the door and knocked on the bathroom door. “Joey, everything’s fine.”

Mark sat on a couch and fidgeted. “We got a few of ‘em Pins.”
“A few of who?”
“Terry’s guys. We pumped ‘em full of lead once we knew who they were working for.” Pins furrowed his brow; would this just attract more attention, both good and bad, or would it put Terry in his place?
“We trailed you two here, Pins.” Mark said pointing one finger at Pins. “We decided not to come right away cause we didn’t want no one watching to think we were with you.”
“We?”
“Oh there’s more of us outside.” Mark smiled. “Ted sent us. How about that drink man?”

Joey had slipped quietly into the bathroom and locked the door pressing her back against the cheap wood. She squeezed her eyes shut in the dark bathroom and took a calming breathe before she heard the apartment door open and a scuffle in the hall. She opened one eye and peaked around the bathroom. Instantly the straightedge was in her sight. She bite her lip some and shook her head silently wishing she wouldn't have wanted it in her hand so badly right now. She snatched the blade from the sink and flicked it open and gave a silent grimace at the still dirty blade. She closed it quickly and deposited it into a fluffy pocket of her bathrobe. She could hear muffled voices from out in the hallway but nothing more.

She turned slightly with her hand on the doorknob as Pins said it was okay to come out. Her brows furrowed slightly thinking, he wouldn't sacrifice her even if he had a gun to his head, would he? "No..." she whispered ever so quietly. Pins would never bring her out of a hiding spot, no matter how useless it was. She opened the door slowly and peaked out. She eyed the man she didn't know, her gaze harsh and piercing. She moved behind Pins to lock the door and pushed the deadbolt into place. She stood next to Pins and dropped her hands into her pockets, her right hand curling around her straightedge. "You can have a drink after you explain what the hell you're doing at my apartment this late at night."

Of course she new the underground of the city could be buzzing about Terry and his men, but she and Pins had been careful, whoever had information might have paid for it or was in on a deal of some kind. She only trusted Pins, and she did have her blade in hand again, which was a powerful feeling, even if she was in her bathrobe, barefoot and only had fluffiness between her and a bullet.

"Like I said." Mark's head swung between Joey and Pins. "We got a few of Terry's men. Thought you guys would be happy to hear that." Mark hung his head, then got up. "Well even if you're not happy then I'm just letting you know. I think I'll head out then, let the guys down stairs and Terry know that you two are fine."

"You can't blame her for being worried." Pins said as he watched Mark get up. "She got hit in the bathroom down at Terry's"
Mark raised his eyebrows, clearly this was not something he ever heard of, or expected. "That's fine." Mark whispered. "We're going to need to talk to you tomorrow at the bar, Terry's got a few words to say, I think it might be about what you just told me but I can't be too sure. Anyway he's concerned about all this, there hasn't been this much action so close to him since...I dunno when."
Pins nodded "Thanks for the heads up. I'll get you something at Terry's tomorrow, alright?"

Mark walked to the door and put his hand on the knob, looking back at Pins he was about to open his mouth.
"I swear I will." Pins said, grinning.
Mark smiled and walked out into the hall.
Pins locked the door and went to sit back on the couch. He looked up at the ceiling and heard a crack in his neck. He squinted, it had been long night.
"I know how you were feeling when Mark came in, I understand but you've got no real reason to worry about that man; he's young and slightly stupid but he's loyal. You've got my word on that."