The cheers inside Black Diamond echoed loudly as onlookers watched the cage fighters swing at each other. Aberdeen had come to this particular fight because one of the opponents was her girlfriend, and she’d made it a recurring trip to come into town and support her matches.

She had also come because Tilly needed to get some less-than-legal wares that could only be directly traded inside the not-so-legit establishment they were now at. Tilly however, had been at the bar and was quite distracted by a cute freckled boy named Tuck that she’d been not-so-secretly meeting with for several months now.

Tilly was as visually bubbly as her speech was- with wavy pink hair that no one seemed to know how she dyed, and colorful paints smeared across her face in different designs every other day. Her smile was big, toothy, and rather infectious as she rambled away at Tuck.

“The mines are closing for the winter soon! Need some scrap parts and gasoline and maybe something that sparks!” She chirped excitedly, but quickly threw a hand over her mouth to stop herself. “But you didn’t hear that from me!”

“I didn’t hear it at all!” Tuck laughed over the loud bar. “But then why are you here watching the fight?”

Tilly giggled to herself. “You think I know what’s going on over there?” She gestured to the crowd surrounding the cage.

All she could see of the event were people clustered around the chainlink, but she had her eye on Deen’s pale freckled shoulders and the long blond ponytail that cascaded off the back of her skull. Tilly may have been someone who was scatter-brained, but she always kept close watch of her friends.

From directly outside the cage, Aberdeen could see every part of the action. Her girlfriend, Mel, was up against a random contestant, and the two tumbled around the cage violently. The ten-foot chain link surrounded them in a hexagonal shape, with wood slats no more than two feet tall reinforcing the base. The pit itself had been dug out directly into the floor of the bar, and filled with sand and dry dirt packed to soften any blows one might fall prey to inside the pit.

Everyone was clamoring around the cage, and Aberdeen hooked her fingers through the chain links so she wouldn’t be pushed away from her perfect viewing spot. From here, she could see Mel swing a left hook into her opponent’s jaw, sending him straight into the ground at her feet. Cheers erupted when the blood from his mouth flew into the air, and Aberdeen could see that the man had broken his nose somewhere between the punch and the fall.

Someone, somewhere, was clanging a makeshift bell to signify that the fight was won and officially over, and the crowd slowly began to disperse from the cage. Aberdeen made her way to the gate as Mel came through, breathing heavily and soaked in sweat and just a little blood from the fight.

Mel gripped Deen’s cheeks and planted a rough kiss on her, and Aberdeen laughed as they pulled apart. Deen threw her arm over Mel’s shoulder, and began to lead her girl out to the bar to get a much needed drink for the winner.

Before the pair could get much farther though, the front doors of the building burst open and hit the walls beside them with a light thud. Almost everyone’s eyes snapped over to who had caused it- the man was quite tall, and had a woman’s arm slung over his shoulders. The woman’s head hung low with her face obscured by thick dark hair. Deen was alerted immediately by her lack of consciousness while other onlookers had resumed their own activities, blissfully uncaring of the sight. Her gaze ran down the woman, she saw the bloodied arm hanging limply by her side, and then she saw…

“Minnie!” Deen let out in surprise and pushed her way through the crowded bar to the little girl with tears stinging in her eyes.

As she reached her, Minnie threw her arms around Deen’s hips and she glared up at the man carrying who she now recognized as Soliz.

“Who the bloody fuck are you?” Deen demanded aggressively as Mel caught up to them.

Vera only scowled. “Does it fucking matter? She needs help.”

Mel took in the sight of the wounded and quickly pointed across the room to a hallway on the far side. “Fighter’s infirmary is in there.” She instructed in a non-nonsense tone.

Vera took the direction and pushed his way past her and through the others in the bar towards the hallway. Deen followed quickly behind with Minnie’s hand firmly in hers, though it was unlikely Minnie would let go if she’d tried.

Tilly had lost sight of Aberdeen when the crowd around the pit first began to disperse, and hadn’t even clocked the commotion at the door. That is until they brushed past her, and she now caught sight of Aberdeen and their bloodied mutual friend.

“Oh that’s..!” She said as she dropped her drink on the bar and took off after them without a second thought.

Tuck stayed and watched as she disappeared after her friends. He was a little concerned about her running off, but was also quite used to it after these many months. He turned to grab her unfinished drink for her, but stopped when he saw someone else snatch it and throw it back with one gulp.

“Really, Mav?” Tuck scoffed and looked at his twin brother’s rather pleased face. “How long have you even been here?”

“Long enough to hear some interesting things.” Mav stated sourly. “Things the boss would probably like to know about.”

***

Mel was not only a fighter, but had enough training to patch up people who brawled either inside the pit or the bar itself. With a half-conscious Soliz slumped on a bench against the wall in the infirmary, she instructed Deen to go into the far cabinets and bring out the medical kit.

She quickly grabbed the scissors from the kit, and snipped Soliz’s shirt sleeve just past the elbow so she could properly get at the wound. As it was revealed, Deen pushed Minnie behind her to shield her from the grisly sight.

The bone in Soliz’s broken arm was in danger of piercing out of the flesh, but luckily still under the skin. Mel ordered Vera to hold her tightly so she could snap it back in place, since at its current position it wouldn’t heal properly- if at all. The pain of that snap was enough to jolt Soliz back to lucidity, and her scream was guttural and seemed to echo throughout the entire building.

“Where..?” She tried to ask, her eyes darting around the room.

Her eyes landed on Aberdeen’s, and she relaxed at the sight of a familiar face. Soliz winced a little as she breathed, and she looked down to her arm as Mel began to gently bandage it and set up the splint.

She slowly began to remember what had happened, and her eyes widened with worry over one thing only.

“Mija?” She called out, and Minnie’s eyes peeked around Aberdeen’s hips.

“She’s here, she’s fine.” Aberdeen told her, and Soliz breathed a deep sigh of relief that hurt her ribs more than the other breaths.

The door popped open and Tilly came blustering through, her eyes wide and concerned. She couldn’t see Soliz, with Vera and Deen blocking the view but it didn’t take her long to push Vera full-force out of the way, and Soliz looked up to Tilly’s frantic face.

“What...? Are you okay!?” Tilly gasped at the gnarly sight.

“I’m alive, I think.” Soliz answered with a grimace, and she closed her eyes tightly as if it would push away the pain for just a singular moment. A moment in which she came to a conclusion. “Thanks to him.”

Aberdeen turned her gaze to Vera, and glared him down. She stepped up into his face and pushed his chest threateningly.

“What the bloody hell did you do?” She demanded. “And why bring her here instead of to a proper doc?”

Despite knowing that any answer he gave would not be enough to sate her, Vera took a step back.

“If I did this would I bring her here?” He said firmly. Soliz managed to grumble her voice out.

“He saved me, Deen.” She said between staggered breaths.

“Flint… he did this.” Vera elaborated. “And this is the one place he’d never set foot in.”

Aberdeen shifted her gaze to Soliz and back to Vera in a very brief moment of processing, before she scoffed and threw her hands up in the air, walking away from all of them. Mel followed after her, and put a gentle hand on Aberdeen’s arm.

“If you need to go…” Mel started.

Aberdeen scowled in frustration at the situation. “Yeah.” She replied. “Someone has to deal with this fuckin’ mess.”

***

With Soliz’s arm bandaged and splinted, she was considered as stable as she was going to get. Deen had resolved to get her and Minnie back home as soon as possible, and Tilly had been directed to retrieve the horse from the city. Once Soliz was rested a bit more and steady enough to stand on her own feet, they helped her sit up on Spot’s back.

As the group of them waited at the gate to leave, Deen dug into Soliz’s pockets for the paper needed to retrieve their weapons. Once retrieved and through the other side, Deen turned to Vera.

“You can promptly fuck off now.” She informed him in an angry tone.

Vera was taken a little bit aback, but nodded at the order. He already felt he had overstayed his welcome, but he felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. As he turned to leave, the thought of just where he could go finally crossed his mind. He had betrayed Flint, and knew he couldn’t go home to Javi unless he wanted to die- and he rather liked living.

“He stays.” Soliz ordered, and Vera looked up at her with the faintest gratitude in his eyes.

Deen grumbled in disagreement, but relented and mumbled a c’mon then to Vera as they began their trek back home.

They did not stop to camp this time around, and only paused for about four hours total to catch some rest. Deen had placed Minnie up on the horse in front of her mother, and the two of them were able to doze off as the hours passed with Deen on one side and Tilly on the other to catch them if they began to fall off.

The trip was nearly silent, aside from Soliz telling Deen and Tilly just what had happened in the marketplace. Vera was asked several questions about it, but kept his answers frustratingly short and rather non-helpful. Eventually, they reached the gates of Hillcrest and the chainlink rumbled open. Two of the guards at the front stepped in front of Vera and pointed their weapons at him in caution, since with the rifle around his shoulder, he did not look like someone they would regularly invite in. It took several minutes of berating by Deen before the guards reluctantly let him enter with the rest.

Robyn had been near the gate elbow-deep in her garden when she heard the commotion, and quickly turned her sights over to Soliz atop the horse, who was not due home for a few days. Then, her eyes fell down to the stranger whose presence had made the guards tense up. She pulled her gardening gloves and dropped them in the dirt as she rose to her feet.

“What is going on?” She demanded as she came over, and she helped Minnie down from the horse’s back.

Soliz attempted to mutter a response, but nothing intelligible came out. Robyn called for someone to alert the clinic they’d be receiving a patient, and she and Tilly helped pull Soliz off the horse and to her feet.

“You’ll want to call a meeting.” Deen informed her as Mya showed up to take Soliz off their hands.

***

It didn’t take long for the council to collect when there was news of one of their own sitting at death’s door. Deen had addressed the council and began to fill them in, informing them of Flint’s attack on Soliz.

“So we are in their crosshairs now.” Robyn sighed in her chair.

Ofelia looked to Vera, who’d stood behind Deen and not said a word the entire time they’d seen him. He looked uncomfortable with the eyes on him, as if being around this many people was foreign to him.

“And you? What is your name?” Ofelia turned her attention to him directly. “What do you know about all of this?”

“More and less than I’d like to admit.” His gravelly voice finally spoke up.

He saw the annoyance in Ofelia’s face at his evasive response, and he let out a sigh.

“Vera Theodore,” He clarified. “I… work with Flint and Claresholm occasionally.”

Ofelia raised her brow. “Occasionally? How often?”

“Only when it’s necessary. I spend most of my time out in the wild. I prefer to be alone and on the move.”

Robyn stared him down. “You were with him when he attacked Soliz, were you not?”

Vera cleared his throat. “He… was pissed about someone killing his men.” He paused to collect his memories of the events. “Someone named LaFleur. I guess he thought she was involved with him.”

Ofelia’s face paled at the mention of her own last name and she rose to her feet, stepping up close to Vera’s face. She had an anger in her eyes, and she folded her arms tightly over her chest.

“Flint as in Nathaniel Flint?” She demanded an answer.

Vera cocked his head to the side ever so slightly, surprised she knew his name. He nodded, and Ofelia sighed and turned away from him.

“Flint is a very dangerous man.” She announced to the room before she returned to her seat.

Robyn peered over at Ofelia and tried to read her body language as best she could. She was slinked back into her chair, as if she wanted to be as far away from this room as possible. Robyn turned her gaze to Deen, who had been eagerly listening to the questioning.

“What do you make of him?” Robyn gestured to Vera, who dropped his eyes to his feet.

Deen looked at him and shrugged. “The fucker did save Soliz from that bastard.”

“And you have no loyalty to Flint?” She asked Vera.

“No.”

Robyn leaned back in her chair and pondered for a moment. Ester had done no more than doze throughout this meeting, and her presence was more of a formality than anything. Ofelia seemed distracted and way too lost in her own thoughts to consider the proposition in front of her, and Robyn was left to decide on her own.

She rose from her chair and cleared her throat. “Vera Theodore can stay in Hillcrest for now.” She announced. “But you will be watched. Closely.”