Six Shot

Would You Mind If They Stayed Here?

Tamara set the last plate in the dishwasher and sighed. She'd slept in and thanks to that, had fallen behind with her cleaning quest. When Red decided to let her stay, she'd gone crazy about the place's condition. She'd made damn sure to get the hole in the wall fixed, then had a contractor do a black and red tile floor. For the final act, she had Red put up actual walls rather than the metal walls of the warehouse. Now it actually looked like a house.

She jumped as someone knocked. Who the hell could that be, she wondered.

She looked through the peephole and smiled as she saw her counterpart standing at the threshold. She opened the door

"You dyed your hair blonde with red streaks?" Tamara asked Elizabeth. She shrugged. "They say that changing your looks can help change your life, so I tried something. Plus, I had to make sure that Alex and Ricardo didn't confuse us for each other."

Tamara peeked over Elizabeth's shoulder at Lauren. "Who's the girl?"

"That's Lauren. She's staying with Alex and me until we solve a particular problem."

Lauren waved nervously, trying not to make direct eye contact.

Tamara eyed the bruises on her arms. "What happened to her? She's covered in bruises."

"She was attacked. Don't ask her about what happened. She doesn't like to talk about it."

Tamara nodded and stepped aside. "Go ahead and come in. Sorry I didn't ask before."

"Quite alright."

Elizabeth led Lauren inside and seated her at the dining table. "Do you have anything to eat? She hasn't eaten anything in a while."

Tamara walked into the kitchen and came back with a plate of cookies. "I learned how to bake a few months ago. Had to take my mind off of everything. I hope she likes macadamia cookies." She set the plate in the center of the table and sat next to Elizabeth, who took one and nibbled on it. She obviously wasn't very hungry.

"Alex is doing something reckless. He's gonna take on the Radium organization on his own."

"He's gonna fight the mafia? That's insane, they'll kill him."

Elizabeth passed the plate to Lauren and watched as she devoured three of them. "That's not even the worst part. Agony is after Lauren. That's why we brought her here. So she would be under Red's protection. Speaking of which, where is he?"

A trapdoor opened in the corner and Red crawled out of it, his bearded face dripping with sweat.

Tamara gestured to the trapdoor. "He was down there working on the heater." She smiled a bit but it quickly faded as she saw the look on Red's face. "I heard what you said. Am I correct when I say that you mentioned Agony?"

Elizabeth nodded. "He's hunting her. Alex is on a suicide mission trying to stop him. He thinks that he can defeat him, and the mafia on his own. Allison and I tried to warn him, but he left before we could make a point. We came here to ask for help. If you can't protect Lauren, then at least help Alex."

Red wiped his face on a towel. "I can protect the girl. But unfortunately, I can't aid Alex. That's taboo for gods. We can't act directly. Though, I may be able to send a proxy in my place."

"Don't bother. He won't listen to reason. He's fueled by rage right now. The only thing that's gonna stop him is how own death. You need to make sure that Lauren stays safe." She brandished her tendrils and morphed the ends of them into blades. Red and Tamara stared in shock. "Liz, please. Don't endanger the life of your child."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm gonna have Calvin perform a c-section. I'll use my venom to heal myself. Our child won't be in any danger. If Alex stops by, don't tell him what I'm doing. He'll do anything to keep me safe. Right now, I'm the one that needs to make sure he stays safe. He's in over his head. I have to save him from himself."