"Domitia." He replies with a smile; he takes a drag on his cigarette before a shadow crosses over him, his face becoming solemn, "Where's Dell."

It’s more a formality than a question.

"Inside." Domitia kept her hands at her side, "We had an appointment."

"That right, huh?" Meixer takes one last drag of his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and stomping it out, "Well, ain't that odd. Cause I do too."

The Bellator opts to play dumb. She knows Meixer has someone behind her and someone to her flank. Yet there's a chance Meixer and their friends don't know she's onto them. The one behind her is getting closer, his feet subtly dragging on the sidewalk. It's a gamble, but Domitia thinks if she plays it cool enough, she can turn the tables on her would-be ambushers.

"Guess they double booked." Domitia says with a shrug, "'Sides. Don't know why you'd be interested. From what I'm told, this guy's specialty is off-station work."

"Well..." Meixer puts a hand on his pistol, "This is on station work." He narrows his eyes at the Bellator, "We're friendly, so I'm going to ask you to move along. Just pretend you didn't see me."

"Not without Dell." Domitia says, crossing her arms, "He and I go way back."

"I won't harm Dell, and I'll send him on his way to you once I'm done here," Meixer says, Domitia picking up on the lie and the brief but deliberate glance past the Bellator.

Domitia feels the person behind her shift forward. Still, before they can get a grip on her, the Bellator sidesteps, brutally kicking out their knee before dashing behind them, grabbing the Toak in an arm lock, and pressing her hand cannon to his head.

Domitia pulls the hammer back, "You were never good at lying, Meixer."

Meixer pulls his pistol, aiming it at Domitia, "Let's think about this."

"Pretty simple to me," Domitia says plainly, "You and your friend across the street drop your guns."

Meixer narrows his eyes, "Across the street?"

Before Domitia can process this, automatic fire rips across the block. Domitia dives back, throwing her hostage to her right, causing the Toak to tumble away from the gunfire. Domitia finds cover in her previous hiding spot, bullets rippling across it. Instinct takes over as she repositions herself into a low crouch behind the building materials, pistol at the ready.

She quickly surveys her surroundings. Meixer lies motionless on the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath the flickering street light. She looks behind, seeing the toak writhing on the ground, gripping his side, clearly having been hit by the hail of bullets.

More gunfire catches her attention as she gazes at the konii house. Several bolts of energy light up the windows on the upper floor. Domitia recognizes them as rounds from a Volt-11 PDW, definitely Dell's. Her partner’s in trouble, but before she can formulate a plan, the hail of bullets returns, peppering Domitia's position.

Without armor, Domitia is as vulnerable to bullets as anyone else; certainly stronger and faster than most, but not immortal. Realizing she's exposed, she targets the one thing that can give her an edge, the light. Firing a single shot, she eliminates the only light on the street, bathing it all in darkness.

She leaps from behind her cover and dashes toward the house. The gunfire lights up her assailant, or rather, assailants. Two were skinny-looking Konii, and one was human, augmented, but Domitia didn't have the time to fully assess them. Instead, she returns fire, three shots that seem to silence the guns for a moment. As Domitia dashes past Meixer, she can hear his wheezing, pained breath, nearly causing her to pause. Yes, he had intended to harm or even kill her, but he had been a comrade once, but Dell mattered more. She leaps up the stairs just as the sounds of gunfire begin once more and smashes through the door.

The Bellator fights the urge to cry out for her friend, but the sound of laser fire tells her all she needs to know. She advances up the stairs as quickly and carefully as possible, checking her corners as she does. Upon entering the second-floor landing, a silhouette rushes down the hall. Domitia nearly blasts the figure apart before recognizing the form of Dell riding on its back. Before it can smash him against a wall, another laser discharge lances him through the chest, and the human falls to the ground, smoking.

"Fuck me!" Dell says, spitting out some blood, "Bastards nearly got--"

Domitia grabs Dell by the shirt and pulls him out of the hall, away from the windows. The moment she does so, gunfire rakes the hall where Dell had just been. The pair of bounty hunters retreat down the stairs, Dell taking a position on his partner's shoulder, the sound of energy cells recharging whirling in Domitia's ear.

"Fuck--" Dell grumbles, "Os is dead! Found him upstairs, either someone beat us here or--"

"Quiet." Domitia orders, listening carefully for any movement outside.

After straining her ears for a while, she sighs as she hears something else. Not guns nor footfalls, but the shrill cry of station security sirens. It takes Dell a moment before he hears it too, and a flood of cursing flows from his mouth.

"Fucking bastards. Can't have shit on this station, can you!" He growls, "They gutted him, Dom. Gutted him! Like a fish! Ripped out his augs and spread them out like they were slaughtering an animal."

"Were they looking for something?" Domitia asks as she gets herself ready to face the cops.

Dell sighs, "Yeah, yeah, they were," He holds up a blood-covered augment, a bit of brain matter still on it, "Neurall sync. Probably to back up any critical data he heard on the street."

"Can you get into it?" Domitia asks.

"Well--" The sound of a cop grav-bike screaming over the house drowns Dell out; after it passes, he sighs and says, "--If we had the time."

----

Mayden Station Security Hold, Mayden Station, Northwest Fringe

The buzzing lights of the interrogation room are one of the many contributing factors to the growing rage Domitia kept chained within her. Station security was about as reasonable and rational as they always were; they presumed Dell and Domitia were involved in some sort of ganger activity and arrested them both. To add insult to injury, they didn't even check the wounded, leaving Meixer and his hired help to bleed to death after all was said and done.

"What do you think?" Dell breaks the silence.

Domitia sighs, "At worse, we spend some time in the slammer. That’s if they need someone to blame."

"None of us started this." Dell retorts.

"You think it matters? Security wants its pound of flesh. We're on the block."

Dell grumbles, "If anything, I'm more insulted with this get-up!"

Due to their Augments and known history of violence, the pair of bounty hunters had been placed on chairs with mag-locked shackles. For Domitia, the chair force her arms close to her side, and Dell has to be boosted by a stack of books to fit on his. Naturally, that got a smile out of Domitia. Still, past that, it was the only thing remotely 'funny' about this whole circumstance.

Still, at this point, it's all a waiting game now. Domitia figures that an officer is watching them on some hidden camera, waiting. Probably wanting to see if either of the bounty hunters will start to show signs of fatigue or maybe even guilt. This isn't the first, nor the last time, that either Domitia or Dell have had a run-in with the law. Violence is often a part of the gig, so if something goes sideways, the chances some cops will show up are always high.

The door opens, and an officer steps in. He's a konii, with silver and black fur and two boxy augments replacing his eyes. He hobbles over with a mechanical leg, sitting at the other end of the table. He folds his hands on the table and sighs. Domitia realizes who it is: Dru, a security officer who had worked with the pair several times. The recent cybernetic replacements for his eyes threw Domitia off for a moment.

"Guys... What the fuck." The statement isn't a question but merely a general expression of disappointment.

"Dru, if we knew this was going to be as fucked up--"

"You went into the Dark, Dell," Dru's hand goes to his head, rubbing right behind his right ear, twitching a little in stress, "You knew it was going to fucked up regardless of what happened."

"Come on, old pal," Dell says, trying to remain somewhat chummy, "You know us. We wouldn't go off blasting without reason."

"I know, and I owe ya'll a favor or two," He gave a glare across the table, and while his organic eyes were gone, the feeling of frustration could still be felt, "But my hands are tied. Security wants its pound of flesh. Give me--"

The door swings open, and a lanky-looking figure walks in with the grace of a machine made of meat. His skin is pallid and mildly wet with sweat. His suit is ill-fitting, with the collar buttoned too tight and the jacket hanging loosely over the shoulders.

Dru raises an eyebrow before asking, "Can I help you with something."

There’s an awkward pause before he says, "Yes. You can stop speaking to my clients."

Dru looked over to Domitia and Dell, raising an eyebrow. Domitia feels unnerved by the lanky human - the way he stands, arms at his side, data pad in one hand, remind her of an animate statue. His motions are oddly fluid, as if they’re practiced gestures rather than natural ticks. The man reeks of corpo energy, and the Bellator doesn’t like it.

"Please, sir," The man says.

"Um, what--"

"Give me some time with my clients," He says, bringing up the data pad and showing his credentials, "I represent the Builder League. We know that Domitia Sejanus and Dell Caliger have done a great service keeping the streets clean. We will," He pauses, slowly bringing a clenched fist to his mouth and then coughing into it, "Gladly cover any damages these heroes might've caused. Along with any legal fees."

Dru looks the data pad over once, then twice, and finally a third time before saying, "Shit, alright." Dru taps a button on his vambrace, releasing the bonds on Domitia and Dell, "Y'all are free to go."

Dell sighs, stretching before saying, "Finally, I'm starved."

Domitia stands up and looks over the lanky lawyer, "Who sent you."

"The Builder League, ma'am." He says, then smiles in only the way a stock photo can.

"No..." Domitia looms over the man. A strange odor hits her nose, reminding her of tofu. "Who. Sent. You."

Before he can speak, Dell intervenes.

"Dom," Dell leaps onto her shoulder, "Don't look a ship in the exhaust. Let's get something to eat."

"Yes, indeed." The lawyer says, adjusting his tie, "We at the Builder League merely appreciate good folks such as yourself."

Domitia glances at Dell, then the lawyer, and sighs, "Come on, let's get going."