Alexia Pane's Story

Grova Street (Northern sector)
Ferrum-Latus

"Right, let's get this done. Move in, let's take them out. All of them. I don't want anyone left alive," came a shout from the leader of the gang, moving intowards the processing plant that had been cleanly covered up as a meat processing planet, not a drug processing plant which it really was like the police would come and check. He pulled his auto rifle from the back of his bike, glancing around. He moved forwards with the rest of the gang. His bionics made little noise, but it could still be enough. That's if the other gang had members still there.

The gang pushed forwards towards the factory, weapons slung low, watching everything. They kicked down the front door and slowly walked into the factory, the lights turning on. The leader, Graai pushed up towards a large table with plastic bags of a white powder, "Good, they have the stuff here already. Now, where are they?"

There was a sudden flash of light, a shout and rifle fire soon followed. Shots started the bounce off the metal tables, Graai stood up to return fire, a shot killing his left bionic arm. The second leader shouted over towards Graai and a burst of flame shot out of the lower barrel of his weapon, the flamer. The fire alrm quickly went off while the shots were being returned. There was an almighty scream from another member as he fell, a second shot popping his head clean off, leaving the blood gushing out of his neck, the blood that was in the head of the member was all over the floor and the walls. Graai grunted, killing the man who shot at them before pinning another three down, the second leader killing them with fire, "Push up!"


Northern Grova Street
Ferrum-Latus

"Sir, we have a fire down the road, about three miles down, do you want a couple of APCs and cruisers going down just in case? I have a feeling this could be gang after nothing yesterday," sighed the operator, rubbing her left eye before glancing up at her commander. After getting a nod she groaned, getting to her feet and walked off towards the second computer and typed into the computer.

Grola Police Station

"Report from command, there's a possible gang fight going on. We've to go with the APCs too." Shouted out the Station commander before running out towards the APCs, being closely followed by the rest of the fire teams and the APC crews. Once inside the APC, she pulled her shotgun from the rank on the side of the small compartment, "Go! Drive! Now!" She snapped, and the door went up the fire teams and the APCs quickly moving off down the street towards the factory.

Grova Street (Northern Sector) Ferrum-Latus
Toni stood behind a large bin looking down on the intruders from the second floor. A contact from the other side had called to give him heads up, however it had been too late to retrieve all of their product from the main floor. MIkael wasn't going to be too happy about this, but Toni only had a small group of men to work with. Less than ten other men were in the building, all ready to die for their money. They waited for Toni's signal. Guns fully loaded, Toni flicked his lighter and lite the cloth, throwing it behind him for the front man. It was a bomb of sorts, but more to draw attention then blow anything up. That was their signal, following in suit, his second started shooting from the eastern side of the building. Before their leader could resopnd, Toni aimed his .45. The plan was simple, circle around until they lay belly up.
The opposite men returned fire. He couldn't tell if the screams were from his own men, or theirs, as everyone was seperated. Shaking his head, he knew that he couldn't depend on them, he needed to relocate, hearing their leader call the order for to sweep the second floor. Feeling for his clips, he lifted slightly off the floor enough to move positions. He knew this buildings layout perfectly, having placed every piece of metal specifically for this purpose. Continuing around the corner, he squatted behind another bin that would give him perfect view and range of the stairwell top. He didn't trust them to be stupid enough to move forward after his first shot, but getting one would be success at any rate. A clank sounded down the walk way. He looked to find Robert, also ready for fire. Exchanging nods, they both aimed.

Graai had heard them as had flung a grenade up the stairs after they had killed a number of the gang members that stood in his way. He glanced over to Justin and they moved up the stairs slowly, hearing the bang go off followed by a second bang from outside the building. There was shouts from his own men that the police were here, and if one station was here the others would soon follow. As his men opened fire on the police, a larger weapon was heard blowing holes in the metal walls before there was another shout, screaming RPG.

Graai hit the deck along with Justin but they continued up the stairs as there was a whistle of the RPG then an explosion outside the building. He looked over at Justin, whispered something before they both got up and ran for the top of the stairs, the grenade should have at least sent the idiots back or stunned them, either way, they had to take the building. There was more shouting that followed while Justin took shots from the top of the stairs, quickly arming his flamethrower in the process, "Burn in hell!"

The Police had stormed out of the APCs but had taken a lot of losses. An APC was in flames, the crew having bailed out and ran while still on fire. There was a number of Police Sergeants shouting out for the rest of them to attack, firing their own Auto rifles. As they pushed into the building, they were met by both gangs firing at them. A common enemy now, one to slaughter.

Debris and metal flew about the area from the grenade. The bin that Toni had been hiding under pushed back, squeezing him between the wall and it. His companion closed the distance quickly, releasing him from behind the bin. "Come on, come on, they've brought the cops!" Toni's leg was broken. Sturggling to find his balance and swallow the pain, he lifted his gun to point in the general direction of the second floor entrance, emptying his clip. A third guy stood right in front of the elevator that traveled from the floor to the roof. He was pointing down, and across, firing at both police and rivals. The elevator required a key to operate. Seeing his his boss leader, he jumped back into the corner, out of view. Pulling out his radio, he spoke, "We need out! Now!" It was their only hope at this point. With the cops on the others' tail, and them on their own, the product was lost.
Toni fell to the ground, he couldn't hobble and shoot at the same time. This project had been his baby, and they just simply took it from them, came in and snatched it! "Just go!" He shoved at the man who was insisting on him continuing. He took from him his own gun, and the guy understood. Their only hope for retribution was to get out, and Toni was going to see they were able to do just that. He set his .45 down on his lap, and held the automatic rifle with both hands. Unafraid of death, and extremely pissed off, he shot directly at them, sitting in plain view. "Fuck you all!!!" Was barely audible over the shots.


Graai grunted, another shot hitting his bionic leg and he fell to the ground. The police were closing in and Justin wasn't so lucky, another shot hit Justin's chest and he collapsed, firing still as he dropped to his knees, groaning in pain. His bionics started to kick in, struggling to keep the blood within his body while another shot went straight through his head then bounced off the ceiling. Graai shot again, hopefully hitting Toni while his own gang started to force up the stairs, thinking about getting out the access from outside. He screamed in pain as another shot hit him but he pressed forwards towards Toni. Another ember picked him up and took his pistol, firing at Toni point black. They needed to get out of here.

There was already a police bird in the sky, watching everything as another RPG round took out another APC. The sergeants came under picked out firing, killing three out of four within the first few minutes, All the officers continued to press on until the Gang started to fight it's way back, out of the factory towards their bikes across the road.

Toni emptied the automatic. While changing weapons, he caught three bullets in his firing arm. Hissing through his screams, he tried to focus on his men and their escape. He couldn't see them, whether that was because his vision was messed up from the pain or because they were gone, he wasn't sure. Grabbing his shoulder where it hurt the most, he squeezed. This made it hurt more, offering relief when he let go. He looked again, they were gone. Grabbing the pistol with his left, he aimed again. 6 shots was all he had left to protect his life, things didn't look good. "You're going to regret this day!" He yelled directly to Graai, letting go his final shots.

Toni's two remaining men had successfully entered the elevator. There was no telling how much of the building's layout that the police or rival gang knew about, but the roof was out of the question. The elevator hummed down into the basement. With both men standing at the ready, the doors opened slowly. The first looked out, and confirmed that no one was waiting for them. Cautiously, they both darted. The area had a tunnel that led up to ground level one block over. They would come out in a parking garage. The heart of the older of the two thumped so loudly with anticipation, he didn't even notice the blood spurtting from his leg with every beat. "Johnny, your thigh." The younger wanted to stop, "Are you fucking crazy!? Come on!" Johnny ordered. Not until they were towards the end of the tunnel did he stop. With one hand supporting his weight against the wall, Johnny got sick all over his feet. "Check the door, kid." He choked out. The young guy jogged the 20 paces to the exit door, and opened it barely an inch. Closing it back, "It looks clear John, can you make it?" In response he shrugged and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "Well we can't go back the way we came, now can we?!" Silently, yet slowly, they creeped from the exit to the emergency get a way car that had been parked for just such an occasion.

Johnny and Bruce saw the police chasing the hover bikes in one direction, and slowly so as not to draw attention, turned to go the other. By the time, Johnny's pant leg was soaked in blood, "Hurry up and get us the fuck outta here, Bruce. Call Mitch, tell him we were ambushed, and that the little prick he thought was intell isn't good for shit!" Johnny was referring to the three minute heads up they had received regarding the opposing gang. Bruce dialed the number on his cell, and spoke, "Mitch, it's Bruce. Johnny's been shot, we're going to Meg for some repair work, meet us there."

"Alright. I will do then. Meg's place, five minutes." He groaned before hanging up and disappeared from his office to head down to the small house that Meg lived in."

Alexi's place

Graai and the others took off on their hover bikes, speeding down the road towards their hideout. The shot up at the Police bird forcing it to back off and got back to where it was based. They did a one eighty and started firing on the single police car that was chasing them, forcing that to head away. As they slowly moved into the gang house, they were greeted by a woman, Alexi. The woman smiled softly, watching as the bikers headed in but Graai looked at her and smiled softly, "You okay Babe? We forced them out of there."

Alexi was happy to see her men return, though she noted a few missing. "I'm great, now that you've returned!" Anxiously, she circled the hover bike. Though she was a woman, Alexi had a thirst for power like no other. The woman wanted to push the Aces completely back. Today was to be the first inital step towards that goal. Though she had a foothole and safety net with her food and weaponry plants, the other group had come in like a storm and stolen clientele right out from beneath her feet. Whether it was to be by force, or their own submittance, Alexi was determined to gain her control back of the area. "You did, huh? I don't suppose you brought any of their weight back with you, did you?" Alexi not only wanted to take back what was hers, but also everything they considered to be theirs.

"Never got the chance. The police appeared while we were fighting them. I'll go down tomorrow and see what I can find you you." Graai replied, rubbing his eyes, "There was extremely little there, I doubt they were making much there to be honest with you." He groaned, looking about. "We killed a number of them. And that one you wanted dead... Toni? I think he is dead, well. I shot at him along with Justin.

At that moment Justin walked out with an ice cold lager, grinding softly, "Yes. I'm sure we killed him. There's not a chance in hell he'll be starting anything anytime soon or ever. He has to be dead."

Alexi couldn't help but get excited with the thought of Toni dying. "Oh, you guys are the absolute fucking best. I didn't expect the bastard to be on the property, actually. I just wanted to blow the place up and steal their goods. But well, this changes everything!" The gang house appeared to be as any other house: a garage, kitchen, dining room, living room, and three bedrooms. The garage was set up with complete tool sets for the guys to fix and tinker with. In the kitchen they would find simple things such as food, drink, and dishes. The dining area was linked on with the living room, so Alexi had just set it up with different couches, chairs, and end tables. A big entertainment center covered the entire front wall, blocking the bay window. Not a single member of Alexi's group ever used the front door, or even knocked for that matter. Two of the three bedrooms were set up just as such, while the third was Alexi's office.
Making her way through the house, she motioned for Graai and Justin to follow her. Walking in, one would first see the 6 foot albinax python inside her repital aquarium. As everything was digital, she didn't have any filing cabinets or the such, simply a desk and chair, couch, and Silvia, the snake. Behind her desk, however, hung up on the wall was a map of the entire city. Alexi walked to it and pulled out her black marker. "I want it brought to the ground, Garaai. If the police responded to your bust that fast, then we have to bury ourselves in paperwork in order to take the property." She cirecled the block, and made three dashes to the weapon production facility that was close by. "Approximately 300 feet, I'd say."

Graai nodded, "But how are we meant to burn this to the ground if we don't have enough guys to defend the ones who are going it. I8 don't want to lose even more guys to this war. If you want it do you better get recuiting." He snapped before he understood what he had said and blowed his head, gulping. He knew about the whip in her office drawer. He rubbed his forehead before Justin piped up, "I agree with him. We lost at least ten men or more. We can't afford to keep losing them constantly. We've lost over fifty percent in this last year alone. How can you expect this to go on?" He put his hands in his pockets, watching her then the python with a gulp of his own.

Graai watched them before before shutting the door. "We all know what you want done love, but it ain't gonna happen without more people. Hell, the police might know where we are. I honestly don't know. They could be listening to what we are saying, have you though about that?"

"Are you insinuating that I would hire a snitch, Graai!? If you're so concerned about manpower and police, perhaps I should find another to take care of it!" Alexi had indeed considered that she was losing men to this war, but they knew what they were getting into before hand. "Casulities will be had, but maybe my leaders aren't doing their own jobs correctly in training? Have YOU thought about THAT?!" Alexi slammed her marker down on the desk, leaning atop of it with both hands. "Listen, and listen well. Don't under estimate the enemy, but don't let numbers intimidate you either. Simply find more men, how hard can it fucking be?" Reaching inside her shirt, she pulled out a half ounce of Cokay and dropped it on the table. "There's your key to manpower. Find a feen, put a fucking gun in his hand and an ounce of our finest. There's no more details that need to be had than that, you get a group, head them off and if they survive, keep them high and secluded. If they get killed along the way, well that's just more product in our pocket! Why is this so difficult for you to understand? I don't care who or how Graai!" She sat down and held her face with her hand, shaking her head. "Do you want to lose all that we've built? Do you want to just go belly up and hand it all over to them? Our livelihood, our dynasty?" She turned to Justin, "And you? Where the hell would you be if it wasn't for me? Surely I deserve more loyalty and effort from you than this, complaining about casualties when there's a war going on. Come on guys!" Closing her eyes, Alexi took in a long hard breath, trying to calm herself.

"Why the hell don't you find someone else then?! Hm?! I'm trying to run this like a military operation, but you aren't helping me in any way shape or form. I don't want to take a sixteen or seventeen year old and get them on drugs. It hard enough as it is!You don't actually give a flying deep space fuck now, do you?! It's all 'Oh, but the money.' Isn't it?!" He snapped before storming out the room.

Justin glanced at her then to him before sitting down. "Look, it's been a long day for everyone. Why don't you just go fuck him and let me get some sleep, saying you two already do that anyway?" He sighed, standing up and headed out of the office, going to his bedroom to get some rest and some sleep. He needed to think things over and think about what he was doing now. It didn't help when she didn't understand. She wasn't on the frontlines fighting everyone else. Hell, there could even be a raid on one of their places tonight for all they knew. Things were just getting so difficult for everyone now. All the stress, all the fighting with very little sex, drugs and drink. He sat down on his small bed, leaning back as he took his pistol out and took it apart to lean it. He would get one of the cleaners to clean the room tomorrow, it was covered in beer cans, cider bottles and plastic bags. Stuff he didnt want to have the police find.

Alexi's House

Graai groaned, stepping into the house with his hand clamped on his head. He was dizzy, and felt like he was going to pass out again. He slumped down on the sofa, shutting his eyes with a grunt, "Fucking pieces of shit. I hate this job, "I'll happily go back to Graisfrask and work in an office again." He slammed his fist into the sofa, the room spinning as Justin walked in after shutting the door. He mumbled something before heading towards the kitchen for a drink. He knew that Graai would be upset as this had been the first time they had got into something like that. He looked towards the door as he poured a glass of Cybran Standard Vodka, sipping at it. He might just as well get drug now, it wouldn't really matter to anyone.

Alexi walked out from the office, looking at the two men through a straight face, "So. I heard the scanners, they were there too, huh?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the hall wall. True, they hadn't accomplished what she asked them to, but they also appeared to have taken fire. "How hurt are you?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

"He was out cold during most of the fight." Justin sighed, walking through with the large glass of vodka, a bit too much for his bionics, "And well, things couldn't be much worse. But I can't remember who, but we shot that Mitch's bitch. Fucking whore." Graai groaned again, not saying a word.

"You got Meg?" Alexi wasn't sure how to react to that. The two women had met before, and though her boyfriend was a douche, Meg, surprisingly enough, seemed to be positioned on neutral ground. "Hmm." She thought allowed, "I've got to re-think all of this. We didn't get the building, and we haven't taken away any of their clientele. Instead, we've pissed him off with a death, and now a strike probably too close to home." She rubbed her face into both her hands, "I'm not even sure why or what I'm doing anymore." This was entirely out of character for Alexi. Something didn't settle well within her about Meg being caught in crossfire, whether it was the influence of the soft, or even perhaps she forming a conscience, either way, Alexi was acting strange.

"I don't know if we killed her. All I remember was her being shot in the leg. I honestly don't know. What's wrong with you? Hm?" Justin sighed, sipping at his vodka again then down at Graai. "You best get up to bed buddy, get some sleep. It'll help you." He tried looking at Alexi then back at Graai, swirling his vodka.

"I'll just got to sleep here. Just for a few days. That's all I need." Graai groaned, shutting his eyes again with a hand supporting his head on the sofa.

"Well besides the obvious and being disappointed in the failure here, nothing's wrong with me!" Alexi snapped, "You don't seem to be bothered enough by recent events, Justin! What's wrong with you!?" Shaking her head, she walked to the dining area and opened the liquor bottle that sat atop a silver tray with two shot glasses. This tray was Alexi's only, everyone knew and understood to leave all of it's contents be, save for Graai. She lifted the lid to the glass container, and poured the brandy. "Get some rest, then. I'm going to deal with this on my own." She said before lifting the glass to her lips.

Justin sighed and headed upstairs, clearly pissed off at Alexi and how she commanded everything. He sat down on his bed upstairs, picking up his phone. His ex was Meg, so he had everything to want her dead, especially after the way she treated him after the break up. He was tempted to call her and say sorry, but it didn't help she was going out with Mitch now. That would never help anything. With a large groan, he sent his family on Casgrax III a short simple text asking if everything was okay and if they would want to see him during the summer. It was normally a no because of what happened in the past, but nothing could stop him from trying to be nice.

Passing through to her office, Alexi noted Graai passed out on the couch. His bionics would heal his wound, and it had already stopped bleeding, so the woman would just let him rest. Even if he hadn't done exactly what she wanted, he had tried. That in itself, was why she put her trust in him.

Sitting down in her office, she decided it was time to look the horse in the eye. She picked up the phone, and dialed Johnny's direct line. Three rings, and he picked up. "Hello?"
"Johnny."
"Who's this?"
"Ah, I believe you know exactly who this is."
"What the hell do you want?"
"I have a business proposition for you."
"You ain't got nothin' that I want."
"Are you sure about that? I've got it on good authority that I'm quite a better cook than you friend Mitch. How'd you like to put some extra money in your pocket?"
A long pause followed her offer, then the dialtone rang out. Alexi knew that meant he was around others where as he couldn't talk at the moment. That was all she needed to know, for now, that he had something to say but couldn't. If she couldn't take Mitch out of the game by force, she'd simply switch to politics.

Justin swallowed, leaning back on his bed, pulling a knife out from under it to sharpen. He looked up at the door as he did so.

Meg's House
Meg swallowed, slowly getting to the bath before she heard thumping on the door. "What now." She snapped, getting out of the bath and went to the door, wrapping a towel around her. She sighed, looking at Mitch whom seemed like he was about to explode. "What? I don't want to be with you after what you did to Johnny and Bruce. Leave me alone... I just want to get on with my fucking job! Is that too much to ask?!"
Mitch grunted and started throwing bags of the white gold at her, "I don't want you to go. Nobody else will help you with your money, or with your need for this stuff. Stay with me baby, please. Don't do this to me. What do you want? A ring? A new computer? A new TV?"
"No! I don't want anything that you've touched any more. Just leave. Get on with your life, get someone else. Someone else you can fucking abuse! I don't want it any more! I don't! Get out my house!"
"Fine, but you're coming with me." Mitch snapped, grabbing her. He dragged her downstairs, throwing her onto the floor in the kitchen and started to throw things onto the floor, smashing plates, bowls, glasses and jugs alike. He reached down and took a large shard of glass, grabbing her hair and pulled her towards him, the towel ripping with the glass, causing further wounds. He slid the shard of glass across her face, creating a wound about three to four centimetres deep, before turned and ran off out the house.

Meg's House, a few days later

Meg groaned softly, listening to her new taste in music. It had come from her old days before Justin, before Mitch, before any of this. She was fully dressed to match, a long black shirt with a pair of black leggings, covered in red eight pointed stars of chaos. She had dyed her hair a deep blue along with painting her nails black and putting in white contacts. She had forced Mitch and the boys out following what had happened and needed the support of someone. She had tried calling Alexi but that had been at 4 AM, not a good time. It was around mid day now so she was going to try again. She stood up in her black platformed boots, at least 5'' with a slightly taller heel, the buckles and straps all done up along with the laces underneath.

As she picked up the phone, she dialed Alexi's number, hoping for someone to pick up.

Alexi wasn't surprised when she looked at the caller ID of her cellular, "Hello, Megan." She said into the receiver.

"Alexia?" She tried, looking at the ground, unsure of what to do.

"Live and in person, so to speak." Alexia shut her office door, locking the handle.

"Can you come and see me? Help me? I know that I've made big mistakes in the past, but I might be able to help you if you help me. I know where Mitch's mega Factory is..." She groaned, thumping into the kitchen and put the phone on loud speaker in order to clean up the mess that Mitch had made. She had very little left, hence why she was dressing the way she used to before a boyfriend, before anything nice had happened to her. Her parents had been the same while they were alive, but that was a long time ago, before the New Order rose up to fight the Old.

"Help you?" Alexi asked, considering carefully an answer. She had trusted Meg a long time ago, and hadn't yet even begun to rebuild what had broken between the two. "What is it that you need help with?" Before she accepted any kind offer, Alexi wanted to know all of the ins and outs involved, gaining such a prize as his weapon supplying plant.

"I need off the drugs... I can't afford it anymore. It's making me ill. I can't take anymore now. Mitch is out. He left me. I don't want to see him ever again... Does Justin still hate me?" She whined, sitting down on the floor, picking up pieces of glass with her bare hands. "I don't want to be on the drugs anymore. Help me get off it."

"I see. Well, I hate to be the one that says I told you so, but, I told you so." Alexi said dryly, "Are you serious about it this time, Meg? I don't want to help you clean up, just to have you turn back around as soon as you've got some money in your pocket to just relapse all over again. I don't have the time or energy for it, Tallern or no Tallern."

"What do you know about Tallern? How do you know about it?" She groaned, glancing around the room.

"I make it my business to know the opposition's stand point, Meg. Surely you haven't thought me so naieve as to simply just send out a gunman here and there."

"But how would you know about Tallern? You're not meant to know. How did you find out? I could have told you that for help." She whined, rubbing her face, the gash covered with plasters and makeup.

"I'm not saying that you can't still help me. Wow, you are out of it aren't you?" Alexi looked down at her watch, "Where are you? How soon can you be ready?"

"I am ready, I'm home. He cut my face open. I can't go to work. I want to go to work Alexi and forget about it all."

"Alright. I'm going to send a car for you, a black hover. Watch for it in about 20 minutes." Alexi didn't offer any thing else, and simply hung up the phone.

Meg swallowed, rubbing the top her face, going towards the front door to sit and wait. She knew that Bruce, Johnny or one of the other men would be watching her every move.
Graai went out top the car and started to drive off towards the house. He picked Meg up and came back to Alexi's place.

Alexi's House
Meg was lead in the house, holding a small sports bag full of her clothes and make up. Alexi would know her as soon as she seen her. Meg was still completely gothic again, glancing around. She looked around, looking at Justin then to Graai; who pushed her up the stairs towards Alexi's office. She was pushed in and Graai stood at the door. She gulped, looking at the floor, now completely scarred out her wits. She put her hand to the plaster, "Alexis?"

Alexi opened the door to her office, and saw Meg standing with Graai, looked terrified. No doubt, Graai had been a bit rough, as was in his nature. "She isn't a hostage, Graai." She looked to Meg, "Sorry about that, but you know, your boyfriend isn't exactly popular around these parts." She stood back, and ushered Meg into the office, "Sit." She ordered. Looking back at Graai she spoke, "Girl talk. Close the door behind you." She sat back down behind her desk, and arched her fingers together analyzing Meg's appearance. "So, you've decided to go back to wearing clothes that actually fit, I see."

Graai went out and shut the door.

"Hey. The latex was for the boys to make them feel good, arsehole's idea. He's not my boyfriend anymore. She swallowed, pulling the plasters away to show the wound that she had tried to stitch up herself. "Look what he done to me... Help me, please Alexi. I don't want it anymore. I just want to do my job and forget about all the drugs, forget about Mitch, Justin. Please." She tried, glancing around.

Alexi nodded her head, "Well by the looks of it, you should definitely forget about Mitch." Alexi pulled a pamphlet from the drawer in her desk, and held it, "How hard are you hooked to the drugs? Honestly." Alexia asked.

"Four bags a day so about fifty lines a day..." She whined, looking at the ground, surprise that Alexi didn't seem bothered about the massive wound that went from her left ear to her chin. It would scar without a doubt, and Meg knew that, she would just have to plaster herself with enough makeup to cover it.

Alexi shook her head. "If you hadn't fell for his line of shit, you wouldn't have ever even gotten this bad. What kind of shit is he serving, anyways? Four bags? Mine would have lasted a lot longer, but you had to let your bullshit with Justin get in the way of our friendship. Why should I help you, Meg? You just turned your back on me for the next dick that came along the way, what makes this situation different?" She leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms. For two years now, she had been wanting this very opportunity. The girl turned her back on a child hood friend just for a man, and Alexi half expected that Mitch persued Meg just because of the two women's relationship. And like a fool, Meg fell for it. Now here she was, broken, and asking for help. "Tell me why, Meg." Her frustration was growing, just by thinking of the situation.

"The bags He gave me are like carrier bags, filled to the rim. My lines are a metre long... Not just simple little shit. He was a ton cheaper, and I mean a lot cheaper... I'm sorry. I needed to save money.... But I spent it all on drugs... I can't afford it anymore. Help me... Please..." She sniffed, starting to break down. "I didn't mean it. I'm stupid when it comes to boyfriends. I know. I'm sorry!!" She whimpered, starting to hit her head with her fists in anger. She didn't want this to happen. She needed her next fix, and due to the amount she normally got, mixed in with salt and sugar to make up for the amount, she thought she needed more than she actually did. "I want off it... I need off it. Please!"

Alexi rose to the mini fridge, and grabbed her bottle of gin. Pouring Meg a shot, she sat the bottle down next to the glass, and left the top off. "Drink some of this, it'll help curb the withdrawls. Though it won't solve the issue. You're going to have to get medical help, Meg. If your body is that dependent on it, your choices are to either seek out medical attention for it, or literally tie yourself down to a bed for about two weeks and struggle through it." She tilted her head, and shrugged her shoulder. "Sometimes, in order to save a dollar, you lose your quality." Turning her back to Meg, and taking a few steps, she continued, "I'm not hooked to it, myself. But I've seen it happen, in every different kind of person. At some point, there comes a time where you have to simply be happy with the feeling that it gives, not pushing for it to get stronger and stronger." She turned back to Meg, "But I agree, you just need to leave it all alone. So, what will it be? Rehab or D.I.Y?"