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Doug did not see the Devil the next couple nights either. He actually had a number of questions now, not least of which was whether they could trust Lara. Still, he figured the Devil probably wouldn't have given him a straight answer anyway.

After their confrontation, he mainly avoided Lara and she him. He got a bit worried the couple times their schedules put her and Charlene alone together, but he knew Charlene could take care of her self. Doug did get a brief amount of time alone with Charlene when they went to get a couple more arms from a weapons dealer. Charlene got Doug a machine pistol capable of three-round burst (though Charlene told him not use that function). He still kept his sword with him though, having found a long, thin pack he could strap to his back that at least kept the sword somewhat inconspicuous. He knew it was useless compared to the gun, but it still made him feel safer to have it since it was a familiar weapon.

The bug on Handler's glasses kept working, which made it seem less necessary to keep a stakeout by the research building. They had a decent amount of time to plan for snatching the cube on Thursday, though they hadn't picked up the exact details how it was going to be moved and where. Still, both Lara and Charlene planned for a number of different scenarios, pretty much all of them involving a certain amount of violence.

"You ever wonder if killing these people to get the cube is wrong?" Doug asked Bryce as walked through the city. It was Wednesday afternoon, and it was their job to pick up lunch for everyone. Doug was out voted on nachos, so they were picking up some Chinese.

"Not really," Bryce answered. "I guess you can make an argument that killing them without any direct provocation is somewhat wrong... but I'd say that would be thousands of dollars wrong, not millions of dollars wrong. You have to remember the stakes here and weigh it against that."

"And everyone involved with Elza is like really evil, right?"

Bryce shrugged. "Seems that way... plus I don't think there is anyone left in this world who doesn't deserve a bullet in the head for something. Can we talk about something more pleasant? Morality isn't really my thing; it's almost a superstition."

It was about the time for the lunch rush, and the streets were pretty crowded. "Um... I do have something to ask you about. Any advice on how... maybe... um... me and Charlene..."

Bryce sighed. "Why do you even keep trying with her? She's the most horribly unpleasant person in the world. Plus... I'm pretty sure she's got the hots for Lara."

Doug glared at Bryce. "No she doesn't."

"You can't tell me you've never suspected she's a lesbian."

"You have no proof of that!"

"You have no proof she's a heterosexual." Bryce chuckled. "I guess it's hard to tell a dateless lesbian from a dateless hetero."

"You're just upset because she's never given in to any of your advances."

Bryce scoffed. "I've never even tried with her... at least not in any serious way. Anyway, Doug, if you really want to try and get somewhere with her, you need to surprise her. You are a horribly predictable person, to the point that when you're trying to be surprising its usually in a predictable way."

Doug thought for a moment. "I think I have an idea..."

"It's flowers, isn't it?" Bryce asked.

Doug nodded.

"See? Predictable. If you want to get anywhere, Doug, you need to be a whole new person."

* * * *

Lulu was beginning to severely hate Handler. Lulu had inadvertently positioned herself as the "electronics person," and thus it was always her job to monitor their equipment. So basically her whole day involved Handler droning on in the background. When Handler was talking about research, it wasn't so bad, but Handler had an extremely boring personal life and seemed to like telling all her co-workers about it. Lulu was starting to get a fantasy of gunning down Handler while screaming, "No one cares about your cat!"

Luckily, Handler was currently quietly researching which gave Lulu a chance to read while Lara and Charlene were in the next room over plotting their move tomorrow. It was a trashy romance novel that she had pilfered from Lara. It wasn't quite her cup of tea, but she though she'd give it a try.

"Julia, what are you doing here?"

Lulu dropped the book and shot to attention.

"We have to move it right now."

"Guys!" Lulu yelled as she pounded on the wall.

"What's happened?" Handler asked.

Lara and Charlene both barged into the room, each equipped for action. "What is it?" Charlene asked.

"Shhh!" Lulu answered.

"Our group in Sholt were killed," Julia said.

"All of them?"

"It's hard to say. They were ripped completely apart. Reportedly it's just one big mess."

"Loch?" Handler's voice was noticeably scared.

"It would seem to be. We can't tell if anyone talked first, but he might be heading this direction now. We need to get out of here."

"Where?"

"I don't even know yet," Julia said. "A group is waiting outside to escort you to the train station. Just grab the cube and let's go."

There was the sound of some fumbling. "Okay. Let's go."

"Dammit!" Lara was already heading out the door. "Hopefully we can get to the train station before them."

Lulu grabbed her gun and followed Charlene. "Otherwise it's up to Bryce... and Doug."

NEXT

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Hellbender Take Two
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