Hi everyone and welcome new readers :)

Just to be clear, this chapter is not perfect, and probably it would never be, but there's a limit to the times I can read it and write it again.

I'm actually ready to burn it and forget about it forever.

So I'm posting the chapter and I'm going to call it my first real writer block and take it as a lesson.

This is my plan. You can openly criticize it. Don't worry, I won't get mad about it.

This said, wms5012 made a fantastic fanart for 1838 and you can find it at ffpse dot tumblr dot com

Hmm... enjoy?

3

Stacie

As absurd as it sounded, she was too angry to be really hurt by Aubrey's words.

In the following days they became the town's talk; almost everyone sided with the blonde woman and Stacie wasn't really surprised. All of them believed in the motto "A place for everyone!" so, in their opinion, Stacie and her girls were to be relegated inside the Lucky Dreams and never allowed outside.

That those were the same people who periodically enjoyed the brothel's nights was conveniently overlooked, while Stacie found herself in the middle of a void, inside and out the House, to which she reacted in her usual aristocratic way: ignoring the girls whom she worked with, and leaving the building more and more, facing looks and whispers and less than veiled advices about her life, without losing sign of her goal.

Dora.

Dora was her reason to live, to work, to hope. Dora with her blond hair and sharp mind, Dora that saw everything and everything valued, Dora who lived in the brothel with her, but still was so pure Stacie promised herself to protect her forever. Her angel would never face misery like she did at her age, never face squalor, hunger, cruelty. Stacie would do everything to shield her.

It wasn't easy. Her job was something everyone was against to, but Stacie wouldn't step back from it; at least not until the day she decided she had enough... or her finances could to sustain them both.

What she had never expected, was Aubrey being one of her prosecutors, and even while she escorted Dora to school, the thought of her so called friend, made her blood boil in rage. How could, Aubrey, someone she trusted and respected, humiliate her like that? How?

Not one of the women she was currently crossing way with, whom had no problem sending her malicious glances, could confuse and hurt her like Aubrey did. And for what? There was a reason for her act? Stacie doubted it, and while she walked two steps behind her daughter, she kept brooding at the thought. Dora, who seemed more interested in watching the school from afar than care about her mother's problems, interrupted her musing, remembering Stacie, once again, to never let her guard down when it came to the kid.

"Mom?" she called turning around slightly, her voice low and unsure "Why people don't like us?"

Stacie frowned. "Because they are hypocrite bigots" couldn't be the appropriate answer, no matter how correct it was. Also, it would unleash more and more questions from her child and while Stacie could fight the entire town without breaking sweat, she had no heart to silence her daughter.

"Some people thinks they got the right to judge others." she said carefully, stopping Dora and making her turn all the way. In many ways the kid resembled her; from the oval of her face to the big green eyes, but the few freckles spread on her small nose and the blond hair were her father's gift. Thank God, she was way smarter that he had ever been. "And we are the perfect target."

"Because of your work." she stated.

Smart indeed!

"Because of my work." she nodded. Lying to Dora wasn't even an option. She had never done and she would never do it. "It's not just that though... I think they hate pretty much everything."

"Everything mom?"

Stacie nodded, thoughtfully. "Yes, love. They hate me, my job, my friends, like Cynthia Rose and her children, the Vanaughs, even Ms Beale..."

"No!" Stacie nodded, hiding a smile. Ms Beale became Dora's hero – and, she suspected, her first crush - around the second day as her teacher, when she convinced, quite surprisingly, Vincent Vanaugh to send his younger children to school. The majority of the town openly despised her, especially after her attempt to allow black kids into the school. That had been another show of moral stiffness and Stacie was glad the woman wasn't paying for her rebellion. She heard the sheriff had spoken up for her, and that meant Beca had pushed him to. Why her friend wasn't courting Ms Beale already was a mystery to Stacie; those two were perfect for each other.

"Speaking of your teacher... isn't that her?"

Dora turned around once again, spotting the woman in the yellow dress, walking purposely toward the school.

"It's her mom! Ms Beale! Ms Beale!" The teacher stopped, startled by Dora's call and looked out for the source. The smile she sent to them was sincere and friendly, and Stacie mimicked her, watching her daughter run up to the woman. Except, she stopped halfway and turned back, throwing herself into Stacie's arms and kissing her soundly on her cheek.

"I don't care what they say mom! I love you! You're perfect!"

Touched, Stacie had just the time to kiss her back before Dora ran up, all the way this time, to Chloe Beale. The brunette straightened up watching the pair, amused. Dora was already talking without taking a single breath and, surprisingly, Ms Beale followed her speech without problems, showing the appropriate enthusiasm and pushing Dora to explain more.

As if her daughter needed encouragement!

After a brief glance and a goodbye, Stacie watched them walk away and turned around.

Across the street, right outside the Inn, Beca was hanging up her laundry, and in between shirts and sheets and tablecloths, a yellow skirt stood out, sending a message no one but the three accomplices could understand. Stacie ignored it for the moment, looking instead at the woman. Beca hadn't seen her yet, focused as she was on her task; but even if she did saw her, her friend wouldn't acknowledge her presence at all. Precautions weren't enough when you got a double life like them. She looked worried though, and flushed, or maybe it was just Stacie, wanting her to care about what happened. To care enough to talk with Aubrey, to care enough to fight for Stacie's dignity. Because the brunette had every intention to ignore the yellow skirt and the next meeting – three days since Beca put out the skirt, Aubrey's idea – and everything related to the blond woman.

Aubrey had always kept herself out of Stacie's life, never questioning it, never talking about it. Lately, though, something had shifted in her behaviour and it had been impossible for Stacie not notice her more than interested glances, the blush that coloured her cheeks every time they talked, and her new, cute, shyness.

Apparently, not even attraction could stop Aubrey Posen from making a point.

§§§§§

Three days later, Stacie was still unsure about the meeting. She had cleared her night, just in case, but was still evaluating her options and, most important, considering the outcome of her decision. If she went to their lair, she could contribute in helping people in worse situations that she was, she could keep her income and plan her future with Dora, and she would keep her dignity intact and have the satisfaction to watch Aubrey in the eyes for the first time in days and understand – maybe – what the other woman really thought about her.

The only bad thing? She'd actually met Aubrey for the first time in days and for once, she had no idea how to control herself in her presence.

§§§§§

The decision to leave the House and reach the lair found its way in Stacie's awareness between Dora's nigh-time story and the moment she stood in front of the mirror and began brushing her dark hair. The rest came almost by itself. It was never hard to clear a night, as long as it wasn't on the weekend, and Jordana, the old maid, was always available to watch over kids.

That night, she put on one of her old clothes, red and quite showing but worn out enough that she rarely wore on work. Looking at herself in the mirror she considered for a brief moment the fact she was making a point about herself, but put away that thought pretty soon; no matter what Aubrey thought of her, it wouldn't change because of a dress, or a little show of cleavage.

Lucky Dreams patrons on the other hand, didn't seem to mind her state of undress as she walked downstairs. She smiled at the catcalls yelled behind her when she left the House, but hoped no one else, in the dark alleys of Lucky Star, would try anything more. Avoid drunk heads and happy men wasn't something she enjoyed, but she wasn't adverse to kick some ass, when necessary.

The streets were clear though, and even the most peculiar man of the city, Old Buck, was nowhere to be seen. Good for Stacie; he always made rounds in the streets holding his gun and a bottle of gin, shooting whatever shadow he saw until his friends shoved him back into the saloon. In the dull night, hardly lighted by the moon and few, weak, torches, everything was motionless, and Stacie walked with unsure steps from shadow to shadow, stopping to smell the air like a prey and then walking again outside the border, away from the danger to be shot and in the wilderness where animals could hunt her.

Outside the town, between the houses and Lake Weather, the arid flat land of Texas was broken by a spur of vegetation and there, at the end of an unused trail, there was their lair. She had tried to convince Aubrey to hid at least one lamp somewhere along the way, but the blonde just allowed them to rope some piece of yellow fabric around the lower branches of the trees and orientate themselves with those.

Stacie never saw them at night.

Fortunately, her body learned the way to the lair after some months, many unladylike falls, and consequent curses, and miraculously always guided her on the path to the Applebaum's mine, a place discovered and abandoned way before her own birth. An ideal place for them and their secrets. A place in front of which, in the darkness of the night, she stopped briefly, giving herself one last chance to turn around a go home, her mind twirling with questions and doubts.

What if Beca wasn't there? What if she found Aubrey alone?

Would they fight?

Would they yell to each other?

Would Aubrey hurt her again?

She didn't know. She would never know if she turned back and forgot about their trio; but she couldn't. So she walked inside, following the dull light coming from their chosen room, careful to not stumble against some forgotten tool or rock rising from the smoothed down floor. They never went too far in the tunnel, taking possession of the first two roughly excavated rooms and using them as deposits of sort. Usually, all the kind of talk could be heard while walking in, discussions about their plans, rumors about the town, or simple bickering when Stacie was the last one to arrive and Aubrey and Beca were left by themselves. This time, though, the woman heard nothing; all she could detect was the natural – and creepy – sound of the cave.

Only once she arrived to the room and watched inside it, she discovered the reason of that silence. She looked at the room's occupants and they looked right back to her.

Beca and Aubrey were already wearing trousers and shirt. The small brunette in her black clothes and Aubrey in soft white. Their scarves were left on the table, near their hats and belts.

Their weapons were missing form its holsters, but Aubrey's gun shone in Old Buck's unsteady wrinkled hand.

Fuck!

"Look at you!" he sniffed loudly, smiling his toothless smile and looking more horrible than usual. His bloody red eyes were fixed on Stacie and she could see a flash of triumph pass in them. "Look at you! Your friends here wouldn't tell me your name! But Old Buck is not stupid! No Sir! Not at all!" He snickered, clearly proud of himself, and Stacie wondered how much did he drank; she could smell alcohol from her position near the door and he was swaying dangerously left and right. Dangerously for them at least. Stacie hoped his fingers wouldn't accidentally hit the gun trigger. "I knew someone was gonna to show up! They're three! Yes Sir! Three!"

"Oh for the love of-"

"SHUT UP!" he moved his arm towards Aubrey, the barrel of the gun in line with her chest while Beca and Stacie inhaled sharply. He was drunk and he was pathetic, but the gun was charged and he could hardly fail to hit his target from that distance. "Look at me!" he growled "Look at ME!"

The blonde did. On her face disgust was so obvious Stacie was sure he was going to shot her there and there. Instead, he yelled.

"It's your fault I'm like this!Your fault and your father's! Oh Sir! Oh! He will be so hurt! He will be so broken discovering his precious daughter will be hung up in front of the whole city! Yes Sir! So hurt!"

"You were always drinking and hurting people!" Stacie wondered why nobody had ever taught Aubrey to just shut up. At least in front of armed drunk guys "My father and I-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The man took two unsteady steps forward and pressed his gun – Aubrey's – against the woman. He watched her with such hate Stacie looked away. She didn't want see him kill Aubrey. No matter the bad blood currently between them, she didn't want her friend die like that.

She didn't want her to die at all!

But she had to look again, when the man spoke. "You think I don't see you?" he said to Beca who, Stacie noticed, was a bit more distant. "Oh, your father too will be shocked!" he smiled cruelly "Or not! You never know with Mad Mitchell, do you?" He snickered and pointed the gun in Stacie's face. Beca's eyes flashed with hate, but she kept quiet, for which Stacie was glad. Having a gun pointed against her face was dangerous enough without her friend's big mouth making it worse.

"And you... the princess!" Buck leered at her, his eyes sliding lustfully over her exposed skin "Who would have thought?!" He laughed and she hated it. It was rough, scratching and unnatural. Thankfully, he stopped soon, as a thought seemed to cross his mind. "Ohhh, so it was a lie! All a lie! The whole thing with the Posen puppy here... how smart!" He laughed again, without fun. His eyes, behind the blurred patina and red veins, were clear and hard. Not a drunk man's eyes. Not at all. "But you're smart girls, aren't' you?! Smart and pretty! But I got you!" He whispered "I got you!"

He removed the gun from Stacie, pointing it in their general direction and made her walk near them with a sharp motion of his wrists. She followed his command, never taking her eyes from him.

"Take the scarves, whore!" he barked, suddenly authoritative. "Tie their hands. Tight!"

"Look," Beca spoke for the first time "we got money. Many money. Let us go and they're yours. All of them." He seemed to think about it for a long second, but either he wasn't interested or the small woman wasn't convincing enough.

"Tie them!" he yelled again and Stacie immediately took the garments in her hands. "Turn around!" He was watching Beca "I said TURN AROUND!"

The Inn owner took a deep breath and turned. Nothing in her behaviour or in her voice betrayed what she was feeling. Not even her hands, when she put them behind her back, trembled in fear.

"Tie tight!" Old Buck said again, some of his dirty white hair falling on the unshaved dirty face when he protruded his neck to watch her. Stacie grimaced. God! She could smell all the alcohol on and inside him! Still, she tried to hid it, scared of his reaction. She was sure he wasn't that drunk; he was too present, too assertive, too smart. That made him even more dangerous and she did her best to tie Beca's hands the way he wanted.

He nodded studying the knot and then turned his attention towards Aubrey, scratching his chest thoughtfully.

"You know?" he mumbled watching Stacie walk near the blonde "Beca here is a friend's child. But you? I should kill you now." Stacie hands stilled for a moment as she exchanged a look with the blonde. There was alarm there, but not fear; Stacie began to think that whatever Aubrey had learned growing up had nothing to do with normal, human, reactions. She tied her hands with trembling fingers, while Old Buck went on talking. "But I want you to suffer. Like I did!"

He walked in front of the woman and Stacie turned her head with a grimace. His breath smelled of alcohol and dead things and the woman had to stop herself from gagging, trying to hid her head behind Aubrey's shoulder.

Not fast enough. Buck's fist hit her on the face, missing her left eyes but crashing on her cheekbone. Stacie couldn't say it was the first time a man raised his hands on her, but it was surely the first time another woman saved her, launching herself forward as soon as she cried out, roaring like a savage animal.

"You motherfuck-"

Pushed back, Old Buck stood up anyway, strong enough – sober enough – to resist Aubrey's charge and hit her back with the grip of her own gun, sending her flat on the floor of the cave, a trickle of blood immediately colouring the underside of her right eye.

Instinctively, Stacie attacked him, followed by Beca. The small woman tripped over Aubrey though and her body slammed against Buck, making him stumble back and lose his balance.

Shocked but not defeated, he tried to raise himself up immediately, only to be pinned down by Stacie, who gripped the armed hand with hers, trying to make him drop the gun on the floor... only to have the barrel of the weapon pointed against her chest. No matter how wasted, or ridiculous he was as a man, he was still stronger that she would ever be, and for a long frantic instant she was sure he was going to shot her and kill her there and there.

Until Aubrey's body did, literally, fell on them both and she covered the man and the gun and their joined hands with her torso, blocking Stacie's visual and almost breaking her arms trying to save her. Also, it made one of them – Stacie would never really know who – accidentally pull the trigger of the gun.

The loud shot and the smell of gunpowder filled up the small room for a long moment, covering their cries and the disgusting smell of the man, but Stacie didn't even noticed it, her attention was suddenly stole by Aubrey's scream and her frantic movements. The blonde rolled off Old Buck and fell on the floor with a soft thud, her eyes closed tightly and a red patch of blood growing and growing on her white shirt.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" Beca repeated over and over. Stacie didn't have the courage to look at her, her body refused to make any movement even as her mind registered meticulously everything around her: Buck on the floor, unmoving, Beca, behind her kneeling and cursing profanities, and, most important, Aubrey, laying near the man with her arms still pulled back, restrained by the scarf Stacie herself had knotted on her wrist.

The blonde was gritting her teeth in obvious pain, her body so rigid, Stacie could see the tendons showing under her neck's skin. It took a while for the blonde to relax enough to breathe again and when she did, she opened her eyes too, meeting Stacie's worried gaze and then Beca's, who stopped her mantra to whisper a soft, almost reverent "Bree..."

Stacie took a breath of relief watching Aubrey give them the smallest smile ever and then look down, noticing the blood on her shirt. She frowned, confused, and turned her head to watch Buck.

Stacie had never heard a sharper cry that the one that escaped the blonde's mouth when her eyes fell on Old Buck. The prostitute followed her gaze and saw what her subconscious already knew it had happened, but her mind hadn't yet found the strength to contemplate.

Old Buck laid still on the floor, his fading blue eyes fixed on the ceiling, blind and unmoving; his mouth open and showing the remaining dark teeth, while a thin tear of drool fell on the collar of his shirt. From the hole on his chest blood leaked out, in a red puddle that, unlike the spot on Aubrey's shirt, kept growing, dropping on the floor under him.

"Ew! Ew! Ewewewew!"

Stacie turned towards Beca, who was stepping away from the body although her eyes were fixed on it.

"He smell like hell!" the small woman said with a grimace. Stacie could heard other things in her voice, things that the woman was surely trying to block and she nodded along. It was true.

"We can't leave him here." The two brunette watched Aubrey sit back with clumsy movements, her eyes on the man as well. She too concealed other different emotions behind a mask of pragmatism. "We have to hid him. We..." she gulped and looked at Stacie. "Untie us."

Immediately, the tall woman jumped up and reached for Beca's hands. The shorter girl was shacking slightly, but she said nothing. Her own hands, she noticed while freeing her friend, weren't doing better at all. Beca massaged her wrists distancing herself some more from the corpse while Stacie knelt down and untied Aubrey. The blonde was taking short breaths, pale as the cadaver in front of them and trembling like a tree shaken by the desert's wind.

As soon as Stacie freed her hands she was up and running outside the room, while her two friends looked almost mesmerized at the dead man. The fact Aubrey had left them there wasn't worrying them at all.

"Let's go Stacie." Beca said, retracting already from the room.

Stacie took the lamp on the table, looking around. In the two years they had used it, the room had somehow changed. She knew all the small hiding place excavated under the floor or in the walls, she knew where their money were stashed and where their weapons were. It was their safe place, and nothing was ever left out of place when they went home. Aubrey was absolutely a pain when it came to conceal their traces, so there was no way Old Buck had casually stumbled there and saw things around. No way at all. He surely saw Beca walk out of the town, or he was on Aubrey's path from her ranch, and decided to follow, perhaps out of curiosity.

Curiosity killed the cat, her grandmother used to say, and it killed Old Buck too.

Stacie felt nothing for him. Not yet, at least. The guilt would probably hunt her later, crawl in her mind like an evil shadow, stalk her for all day and sneak up at night, when she finally let her walls down. She kept it at bay, for now, focusing on what to do. She looked at him again, knowing that this image, he dead on the floor, would follow her in the days to come, and then turned around and left, reaching Beca outside the room.

§§§§§

When Aubrey finally went back inside, she found the two women sitting down facing each other lost in their thoughts, with the light of the lamp that drawn weird shadows behind them on the stones.

Hearing her steps, Stacie raised her head to watch the woman. Aubrey had tied her hair in a high ponytail and her eyes looked clear, almost calm and Stacie envied her a little for it. The cut Old Buck procured her was invisible under the blood spot she made smearing it around, trying probably to clean it and her clothes were still dirty and covered in blood, but she apparently didn't care about it.

"What now?" Beca said.

She was watching the floor, playing loosely with the brown sand in front of her, but her question was directed to Aubrey, like usual. Stacie didn't mind; she knew their way to deal with each other and she found pretty soon to never put herself between them when they were trying to make decisions. Most of the time it was fun, watch them discuss and fake-fight and yell at each other; this time, she just wanted them to decide, to do whatever they wanted and then go home, and possibly forget about that night forever.

"We need to bury him." Aubrey answered, her voice low and hoarse.

"Fine..."

Stacie raised her head surprised.

"Excuse me?"

Startled, her accomplices looked at her. She never vetoed their plans, no matter how absurd they sounded, but desperate times called for desperate measures and the tall woman was sure no times had ever been desperate like that night.

"We're not going to bury him with our bare hands. Or with the broken tools we keep around. No way!"

Aubrey and Beca both nodded slowly, evaluating her words. It scared her how they were so different from their usual selves. She would expect Aubrey to yell and freak out by now and Beca be sarcastic and funny, instead they were both silent and unmoving. She never expected their crazy routine to become one of her safe places, one of the thing she needed to properly function.

"We need to take him somewhere." Beca said and Stacie nodded. Yeah. There was no way in hell she would still use the cave knowing a dead body was hidden inside it. She knew, because Beca told her, that the both of them had covered all the length of the cave up to a collapsed mass of rocks, but she never dared to walk that far underground. It made her uneasy and nervous.

Even after having reached a solution - sort of - the three of them stood there, unmoving, each one waiting for the other to make the first step. They did something unthinkable, something they never ever thought it would happen and now, all of them stood on the edge of an abyss, where rationality fought against the human and normal need to freak out.

It wouldn't last long.

Stacie already felt the gravity of what they – she – did, creep on her conscience, insinuating itself in her thoughts, in her plans, in her breaths.

She killed a man!

She was a killer!

And, fuck! She could be hanged for that!

And Dora...

Stacie covered her mouth with both hands, but the chocking sob that exploded in her throat escaped anyway.

She killed a man!

Tears invaded her eyes so fast that her vision was suddenly blurred and she didn't even noticed Aubrey getting on her knees and embrace her.

"Let it go." The blonde murmured over and over, while Stacie passed from tears to sobbing openly in her arms "Let it go, Stacie..."

And she did. She let go all the tears she had never cried, all the sadness no one had ever seen, protected by her strength and dignity; she let go, for a moment at least, all her worry for Dora, for herself, for the future, and soon she was nothing but a weeping mess held by Aubrey, who was rocking her gently. Only when Aubrey stopped talking, she noticed her tears too had stopped falling down, and she blinked a few times, sniffing ungracefully.

She shifted her eyes on Beca.

The small girl looked like a fish, opening and closing her mouth in search of the right words or the best sentence to make her feel better. Obviously, her friend was not used to show empathy and love, still, her concern was so real, Stacie couldn't help but laugh at her expression, almost chocking herself.

"What?" Beca looked at her like she was crazy "No, seriously, dude. What?"

After a few seconds Aubrey joined her laugh; her arms shacking and her voice echoing in the tunnel. Beca watched them in wonder before huffing and laughing at them too, shaking her head with incredulous resignation.

"You two!" She snorted smiling.

The three girls laughed openly and wildly for minutes, letting out all the fears and guilt and memories they couldn't bear at the moment, knowing full well they would be back soon or later, but accepting the fact that right now, they were gone somewhere else... long enough for the three of them to do something about the situation.

"C'mon ladies!" Aubrey opened her arms and Stacie stood up, followed soon by the other women. They were pale and tired, but they weren't shaking or crying anymore.

It was good.

Everything was good.

...except for the dead body in their lair, of course.

§§§§§

There was nothing good about the situation they found themselves some time later.

They had decided to take Old Buck's body outside the cave and were trying to literally drag it in the hallway, at least. Problem was, while Stacie and Aubrey were actually pulling it by the legs – breaking their back in the process, Stacie was sure – Beca was just brushing her fingers against his shoulders, pretending to push him but not actually doing anything to help with the task.

Stacie understood her; finding herself face to face with a dead man who probably hadn't washed himself in ages wasn't her dream, but neither was passing her night holding onto his legs hoping they would drag him in the middle of the desert before dawn.

She said nothing, though, breathing heavily behind the scarf the three of them had put on to decrease the man's stench.

Aubrey wasn't so calm though.

"C'mon Bec! A little help here!" It was a growl that ended when the woman released Buck's leg and planted herself in front of the man, in a pose Stacie was pretty sure she often showed at the ranch and before which Beca almost shrincked. "I want this thing out!" she hissed behind her yellow scarf. "And I want it out now! So you're going to push Beca! I don't care if it's disgusting! I don't care at all! You're gonna push or I'd push you so hard, you'd find yourself in the town like now! Are we clear?"

Frightened, Beca nodded, like any sane person would do in front of Aubrey when she was like this. She could be intense, even a bit crazy at time, but she never was this angry with them and Stacie could understand way too well Beca's wide eyes and the speed with which she knelt down and gripped Buck's shoulders.

In the next twenty minutes, all they did was push and pull until Buck was entirely out of the room, in the dark tunnel. Only there they let it go, stepping back from it as soon as his legs touched the floor. All of them where breathing heavily under the scarves and Stacie could feel herself sweat profusely under the heavy fabric of her dress.

"We can't take him out, Aubrey. It'd take all night." Beca said. Stacie nodded, thankful she wasn't the only one out of breath. Aubrey agreed too, pulling down her scarf and looking at the short brunette.

"What we do, then? We can't leave him here." Stacie was glad the dim light of the lamp, coming from inside the room, barely hit Buck's body.

"We can take one horse. Tie him and... you know, find a place..." Beca said, walking into the room and coming out some moments later with her belt secured around her hips, her gun inside its holster and the lamp in hand, suddenly lighting up the cramped space of the tunnel. Stacie diverted her eyes from the corpse on the floor while Aubrey nodded.

"Leave the lamp here." she said.

"Uh? What – How I'm supposed to see where I'm putting my feet? It's dark out there!"

"The same way you walked in" Aubrey wasn't exactly commanding, but Stacie was glad she sounded firm... there was no way she was going to stay in there with a dead man without light!

Beca picked up that vibe and nodded, rolling her eyes at them as well.

"Fine! I'll be right back."

They watched the woman disappear in the darkness of the tunnel, her black clothes disguising her pretty fast, then Stacie looked briefly to the man, diverting her eyes immediately and distancing herself from it.

She sat down against the wall of the tunnel and Aubrey followed soon, seating down in front of her, the lamp between them and Buck. Stacie was glad its light showed them just the sole of his boots; she didn't want see his body, and yet she could stand the thought to have him in the dark, so near. Not out of respect, no, but for the ancestral and unreasonable fear he would move.

She was sure Beca would roll her eyes at that too, but Stacie couldn't help it. She was a practical person, she always had to be, but that didn't mean she enjoyed the closeness of a dead body! Aubrey, she was sure, felt the same.

She looked at the blonde, silent and sad.

"Why he hated you so much?" she asked.

"Uhm?" Aubrey glanced up at her, connecting the dots. "Oh. He worked for my father." She shrugged, looking down once again. "Year in year out. He wasn't good, but we needed help. He drank too much and he hit the horses and... he never took no as an answer when it came to women. When he forced himself on some girl my father had to stop the men from killing him." She nodded when Stacie let out a shocked noise. "He thought it would be a good way to teach me how to deal with that kind of men... I whipped him until my arms hurt.. then it was the girl's father turn, then my father. I have no idea how Buck survived all of that."

"Now he is dead." Stacie said, her voice matching the dull look in Aubrey's eyes. He was dead. And he was a bad man, but Stacie wasn't sure that made their act better.

"Now he is." Aubrey repeated, her eyes still clouded. The two of them sat there in silence, lost in their thoughts and their guilt until the sound of hooves was audible in the cave.

"Stacie..." She raised her head towards Aubrey, looking at her. The blonde was biting her bottom lip, watching her with unsure eyes "about the other day... what I said..."

Stacie shook her head, putting her walls up immediately. She had forgot about that as soon as she put feet in the cave and found Old Buck pointing a gun to her best friends and, surely, she didn't thought this would be the right moment, or place, to discuss what had happened between them.

"Not now, Aubrey."

"But..."

"Not now."

Aubrey stood up, and soon Stacie followed her, a mask of hardness on her face. She ignored the blonde until Beca reached their position, followed by her horse, Harmony.

"I'm counting all my bruises tomorrow and I'll know they're all your fault!" she exclaimed, a laugh in her voice. Clearly, the fresh air helped her a lot. Aubrey scoffed, but said nothing. She took the bridle in her hand and helped the short girl to move Harmony, whom didn't seem shocked at all by the presence of a dead man in front of her. Stacie took the lamp and walked inside the room once again, turning out with Aubrey's gun and her own rifle.

They tied one end of the rope to Buck's legs and the other to Harmony's saddle, a task that was way easier than watching the body be dragged and pulled and rolled around in the dusk all the way outside the cave by a recalcitrant horse.

Stacie was sure the memory of that journey would taunt her for months to come and the following hours were no better, but in the end, they found a place where to leave the body, away from any human path. They knew nature would do the rest of the job, and take care of the remains of Buck. Coyote and vultures would eat it, and snakes or some other small animal would find repair in his bones.

Stacie was ready to go, but Beca pulled something out from one of the pockets on Harmony's saddle. It shone for a moment in her hands when the woman took it over the corpse.

Only then, while its content was poured out over Buck's lifeless body, Stacie understood it was the bottle of whiskey all of them kept in the saddle for every eventuality. So far, they had used it only once, when Beca had been hurt, and since that accident they had been way more careful when it came to hidden guns.

Once the bottle was empty, Beca watched them and Stacie wondered if she was expecting them to object.

They didn't.

The tall brunette found the gesture somehow appropriate; liquor had been Buck's only friend, after all, and it would accompany him all the way to hell. Near her Aubrey signed herself and turned around, walking back to the cave in silence. Only there, with Beca gone, she tried to talk, again, with Stacie, but the other woman was too tired, too worried and definitely too shocked still to really give her a chance to explain.

With a cold look Stacie left, knowing the night would be etched in her mind forever.

§§§§§

She had hoped no one would see her get back to the House, but all her luck definitely ended in the cave, when the bullet hit Buck's chest and not hers or Aubrey's.

"Rough night, sweety?" one of the other girls, Flo, asked as soon as she entered the building. Although it was late and many patrons had already left, the light of the main room was on and some customers still lingered playing or talking with each other and some girls. She had been smart enough to avoid the front door, but there was no way to slip upstairs without being noticed.

"You can say that." she answered, putting on a smile "At least it was worth the check."

"Yeah?!" Flo, younger and way less requested than Stacie – who wasn't, really? - looked at her in curiosity, smiling expectantly. "Who was the man?"

Stacie smiled maliciously, trying to hide all her fatigue and guilt.

"A smart girl never give away her secrets, Flo. No names, no tales."

"You are no fun!" The younger prostitute pouted, before shrugging. Stacie was always friendly enough to share her thoughts and experiences with the other girls, as long as they didn't bug her too much. Every time it happened, she closed off like Fort Worth. This time, she just laughed, stepping over the stairs and disappearing on the second floor while Flo reached the patrons.

The woman entered her room in silence, closing the door behind her and lighting up one of candles she kept on the night stand. She watched her daughter sleep soundly on the only bed of the room, big enough for both of them, and sighed deeply.

Dora was safe. She was and she would be in the future, Stacie would always made sure of it, but the tale Aubrey told her made her shiver of fear and trepidation. There would be a day in which Stacie would not be able to protect her, and it was a terrible thought, one that made a sob escape, alone and bitter, followed by warm desperate tears.

She had risked her life that night, almost left Dora alone, living in a brothel.

The thought was so terrible and full of dark possibilities it made even Buck's death less real, less horrible, even if only for a moment.

A moment that was enough for her to decide to not get herself in trouble anymore.

No matter what.

§§§§§

She ignored Beca's signal twice in the following month. She heard rumors about money being dropped to the fishermen's girls, but she ignored them purposely.

It was better for everyone, she thought, for Beca and Aubrey, for Dora and for Stacie herself. Lately, all she did was work and trying to sleep, spending her nights awake and troubled; lost in the memories of Old Buck and worrying about the future. Even the men who still visited her daily, noticed her tiredness and addressed it with the same unkindly way they would talk about horses or livestocks. Only Tom had been a bit more kind, but the fact he had addressed her state at all meant she couldn't keep going on like that.

She had to do something about it. She just had no idea what.

It was there than something completely out of the ordinary happened at the Lucky Dreams Brothel: Aubrey Posen presented herself, and all her proud stubbornness, on the steps of the House, to be literally escorted inside by patrons and girls, like a freak show ready to happen.

Usually, families went in town Sunday mornings, in time for Church, but single men, who lived outside Lucky Star and worked all week in wilderness and, some of them, in complete solitude, reached the town Saturday night, and passed it at the brothel, fulling its rooms of tanned, muscular big guys, usually smelling like goats and likely to fight and swear and drink like there was no tomorrow.

In the middle of this human chaos, stood Aubrey, with her worn out clothes, her long blond hair loose on her back and looking completely out of place.

Stacie, from her position near the banister on the second floor, spied her.

She couldn't decide if the men were more astonished or tuned on by that unusual vision, but she could see Tom, sitting on one of the red armchairs, watching Aubrey smiling in his lazy way and then look up at her, winking. She could also see Luke, their boss, walk up to the blonde and talk with her for awhile. When some money passed from Aubrey to him, he smiled broadly and gestured to Candice, who was opportunely walking near them, to get closer. By then all the girls around Stacie were openly commenting and the woman wasn't surprised hearing that some of them wouldn't mind a night with Aubrey, just for fun.

She was even less shocked seeing Candice leave Luke and walk upstairs.

When she noticed the girls gathered there, she laughed openly, sharing their same stupor, her eyes finding immediately Stacie's.

"Who's the lucky girl?" asked one of the prostitutes. Candice shook her head but didn't answered, reaching them on the hallway of the second floor. "How much she paid?" asked another one, immediately silenced by the new comer.

"What are you doing here?" Candice hissed still smiling "Luke is getting angry! Hurry up! Those men wouldn't do all by themselves!"

Stacie shook her head smiling at some of the girls' comments.

Downstairs, Aubrey was looking more and more uncomfortable, especially as the twenty women walked purposely around her, acclaimed by a round of applause, encouraging cheers and inevitable jokes. The prostitutes were used to it, but the ranch girl looked like she was ready to burn in flames of embarrassment.

So much for the inscrutable heir of Horned Prince.

"It's you."

Stacie raised her eyes on Candice, searching for any possible sign of mockery, but the woman was only curious and a little shocked.

"How much?" she asked, adjusting her long dark hair so that her curls fell on the exposed pale cleavage in a natural and alluring way.

"A lot! And I mean, a lot!" the other woman shook her head incredulously. "You wouldn't believe it."

Stacie scoffed. She had no trouble believing when it came to Aubrey. Everyone who had ever met the woman knew very well she was capable of everything just to prove a point. Obviously she wanted to talk with Stacie and nothing, nothing, could stand on her way!

"I have to give it to her, Stacie." Candice said after a while "The girl got balls!"

"More than you think." murmured Stacie.

Audacity wasn't something that failed Aubrey, still it was a pretty bold move even for her. "Well... let's give her our best. Shall we?" The princess smiled her show smile and raised her head elegantly.

Yes, Aubrey was going to get exactly what she did paid for.

§§§§§

As soon as she stepped on the first floor, whistles and clapping started, welcoming her warmly and quite loudly.

Stacie answered them with mysterious smiles and sensual movements, advancing slowly towards Aubrey.

She made a show of studying the blond woman like she had never seen her before, like she was a sort of exotic gift she needed to unwrap, to discover.

She circled her unmoving body, noticing how the trousers she wore were way more fitting and showing than the one she put on usually as a bandit. She also saw dirty spots that could no longer be cleaned and she found that even those suited Aubrey; made her more credible, more appealing. This was the real deal, Aubrey, as Stacie had never seen her.

Also, she wasn't talking, something she found funny too.

The prostitute could bet it was costing Aubrey more than she had just paid to met her, to not answer to the men yells.

She let her squirm for a while, circling her repeatedly and slowly until the blonde was too distracted by the men to really appreciate her presence. Only then, she put her hands on Aubrey's chest, right over her breasts and not even the chorus of advices and appreciations sent their way, could distract the woman anymore.

Stacie ignored them too. Men could be so pathetic when it came to sex... they never showed a bit of control, never appreciated patience, building, discovering. She kept looking into Aubrey's eyes, growing bigger and bigger and scared. Yet, in a very Posed fashion, the woman stood still and Stacie took advantage of her stiffness raising her hands up, caressing her neck, the smooth skin of her cheeks, noticing the cut Buck made had healed. Stacie touched her hair, putting a blonde lock over her ear. She smiled when the tip reddened violently, even if the rest of the woman was locked in a strange rigidity. She caressed her face softly and thought about what her grandmother always said about the eyes being the mirror of the soul.

Aubrey's soul was displaced in front of her without walls or protections and Stacie felt a thug of.. something... in her chest. Aubrey was risking a lot reaching out for her, and Stacie wasn't going to keep her there, in front of everyone, embarrassed and over conscious.

"Well, stud" she smiled maliciously and Aubrey's eyes immediately fell on her lips. "Let's give you your price!"

She pulled lightly the other woman's collar, turning around. Aubrey gulped but followed immediately, ignoring the loud cheers around her. Many men offered their help, but no one tried to get between them, so Stacie just winked, stepping on the stairs.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of her just fine!"

She giggled at the men raucous response and Aubrey's chocked "what?", adding more than a little emphasis on her movements... Aubrey was a paying customer after all, no harm in showing her the goods.

Only once they reached the second floor, the noises from downstairs dampened out, leaving them surrounded by hushed sounds and a strange new tension between them. She gladly took Aubrey to her working room and the two entered, closing the door behind. The room was already lit by two candles and Stacie noticed, not for the first time, how bare it looked. Usually men never commented on it, probably not caring at all, but Aubrey wasn't a man and she immediately spoke up, looking around.

"This isn't your room, right? I mean... you and Dora aren't living here..."

"I doubt this is the reason you came here, Posen." Stacie said, not answering at all. She walked up to the other woman and Aubrey walked back, hitting the wooden door. The prostitute studied her for a long moment, trying to understand what her friend wanted from her. She had put some space between them, she had openly ignored their messages, but that didn't meant Aubrey should have thrown away her reputation just to talk with her.

Not that she was talking; the woman was barely watching her and Stacie wasn't sure what was going on in her mind.

She raised her hands over the knotted lace of her corset and was glad Aubrey's eyes followed her movements. It was weird seeing the blonde so controlled, almost apathetic after she was brave enough to step inside the brothel challenging every society's rule.

"W-what... what are you doing?" Stacie raised one dark eyebrow, hands occupied freeing the material from the holes in the red fabric.

"Giving you what you paid for." she smirked when Aubrey let out a broken yelp.

"I-uhm... I don't really... I mean, I'm not here for that. I... can you stop, please?"

Stacie didn't.

With studied movements she opened her corset all way down, uncovering the body beneath, letting Aubrey seen an alluring slice of skin, pale and smooth, and a hint of breasts.

"Why are you here, if not for this?" She asked, letting out a bit of frustration she had felt toward the woman since their fight at the restaurant "I'm just a whore, aren't I? And you've paid for this. Well... here I am! Enjoy!"

"Wh-"

With a smooth move, savouring the moment and Aubrey's intense gaze, Stacie freed herself from the corset, showing her naked torso to the other woman. She raised her head when the garment fell on the floor and waited shivering slightly in the chilling hair of the room.

She could almost feel the blonde's eyes roam over her body, from the curve of her hips to the flat skin of her stomach, over the shadows of her ribs, to stop for a long, long, moment on her breasts, pale and full and high with the little dark nipples poking out. It took some time for Aubrey to continue her journey and Stacie shivered again when the woman's eyes travelled up her neck and then on her face to met her own.

She forced herself to relax, to let go every trace of anger and hurt and frustration towards Aubrey and just look to her soul, just let her look to her own.

"Are you here for this?" she asked lowly. There was no accusation in her voice, yet Aubrey blushed.

"N-no. Of course not."

"No?"

"I-well-no-I'm not-uhm" Stacie rolled her eyes.

"Aubrey, I know you're... attracted to me." She met her eyes and raised her hands, putting it on Aubrey's shoulders, stopping the blonde from bolting away. "No, no. It's fine, it's fine. Look at me, love. Look at me." She raised her left hand on the woman's cheek, caressing it slowly and giving her a reassuring smile. "You can look all you want, uhm, yes?" The blonde nodded briefly, her eyes dropping down and her blush accentuating violently.

"Yes. I just..." Stacie kept caressing her, and soon Aubrey moved her face against the palm of her hand, kissing it briefly. She raised her eyes again to met Stacie's. "I just... need to apologize. I shouldn't have..."

"You don't have to apologize, Aubrey." Stacie interrupted her. "I'm a whore. It's what I do. Everyone know it and you just said it aloud. No big."

"It's what you do." Aubrey repeated looking into Stacie's green eyes, "It's not who you are." She exhaled slowly, raising her head in determination and Stacie was glad to see it. This Aubrey was so out of character in respect to the person she knew that it made her feel out of place somehow. "You are a great friend. A loyal friend. You're brave and kind and I see you with Dora and you're so good to her!" Stacie listened in shock. She knew both Aubrey and Beca considered her worth enough to be part of their group, but not a word had ever been wasted talking about it. They both were more inclined to brood and fight than opening up, and Stacie never minded it, she had found a good place with them anyway.

"You're keeping an eye on me, I see." she joked, more touched than she would show.

"I did. I do. I.. I mean, I can't help it." Aubrey frowned, not at all pleased with herself "I tried, you know? But I noticed you again and again and.. I like what I see. Even if I shouldn't. Even when it makes me angry or..." she stopped abruptly, blushing once again.

"Or?"

"Or jealous."

Stacie wondered if that was how women felt when they were properly courted. Like their heart was everywhere but in their chest and they couldn't restrain from smiling.

"I am sorry." Aubrey whispered again "I had no right to speak to you like that and it's not a justification that seeing you with Tom Spencer had me freaking out like a crazy person..."

"It's fine Aubrey" Stacie smiled. "People did worse things out of jealousy than insult a prostitute." She spoke in a understanding tone, soft and forgiving, but stopped Aubrey when the blonde tried to talk again. "So, you came here to apologize... You know it means you'd be the town next rumour, right?"

Surprisingly, Aubrey laughed, raising her hands to touch lightly and tentatively, Stacie hips.

The brunette shivered under the soft touch of her fingertips and met the other woman's eyes; Aubrey was studying her shyly, expecting some reaction, but when Stacie didn't talk, she let her fingers wander on her skin slowly, drawing random paths and making her shiver of anticipation and want.

"I am the town talk since the day I met Beca." She said smiling and shrugging like she had never resented it at all. "That's the story of my life, really." She looked down at her own hands, biting her lip briefly before meeting once again, Stacie's eyes. "It.. it's this okay?"

Stacie felt herself blush. Something that hadn't happened to her since she was, like, ten, and nodded, letting her own arms slip around Aubrey's neck as she pressed her body against the woman. Aubrey stopped breathing for a moment and she smiled, loving the way she was reacting, loving the feeling of her hands on her skin, embracing her, discovering, learning. Until Aubrey spoke again, and she put, quite reluctantly, a bit of space between them.

"I came for something else too..." she said, pouting. She unconsciously pulled Stacie towards her, and the woman made no resistance, following the movement sensually and returning in her previous position. She put her head on Aubrey's shoulder, kissing her neck softly.

The blonde laughed briefly, out of nervousness, but turned her head against Stacie's hair, inhaling the smell of her perfume and stopping her from kissing again. The brunette raised her head confused; perhaps she had gone too far; but turning towards Aubrey, she found herself face to face with the woman and with a smile she let her lips brush against hers.

She touched Aubrey's lips briefly, once, twice, her body shivering in all the right places while, against her, the other woman tried to follow her movements, not really sure, not really experienced, but willing to learn as their mouths met again and again, kissing, savouring, biting, and their hands explored freely.

Until Aubrey remembered she could use her voice for other things than repeating Stacie name over and over.

"W-wai... wait Stacie."

"Uhm?" The brunette gazed her mouth with her own and licked her bottom lips for good measure, but Aubrey draw her head back, escaping her. She let out a frustrated growl and put some distance between them.

No man was so complicate!

"What?"

"Sorry..." Aubrey was so red and so embarrassed Stacie forgave her immediately. The fact she couldn't stay angry with Aubrey didn't escaped her but she choose to think about it later, once the blonde had left the House. She shook her head and breathed, but gave Aubrey a resigned smile, allowing her to talk.

"Fine" She conceded putting her hands on Aubrey's belt and opening it with few, firm movements. "Tell me the other reason you came her for."

"Uhm.. what- What are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing, love" Stacie answered freeing the belt from its shiny buckle "Talk..."

"Y-yes... uhm..." the blonde straightened up keeping her eyes on Stacie's hands, busy on the bottoms of her shirt. "I.. uhm... I have a proposition..."

Stacie stopped and watched her, arching an eyebrow and smirking maliciously, before resuming her task.

"Good. I like proposition."

"I want you come with me. To my ranch. To Horned Prince... to live with me." Stacie continued to open up the bottoms, looking down at her hands, her green eyes hidden. "Stacie?"

Stacie's hands grazed the blonde breasts accidentally, following the path of buttons and going up to the collar of the shirt. The woman said nothing until the shirt was completely open, exposing Aubrey chest, covered by another white shirt.

She frowned and raised her eyes in question.

Aubrey shrugged blushing.

"It's what I usually wear..." she almost apologized "I don't get naked often with people. Like... never."

"Never?"

"You haven't answered!" Stacie sighed, trying to find the right words, her hands playing with the material of the shirt. "Look..." Aubrey spoke again, pushing aside her own embarrassment "I just want you there, you and Dora, there are rooms for you both there and..."

"And you father will be thrilled to have a prostitute under his roof." Stacie finished for her, pulling the shirt up and out the trousers. Nobody had ever offered her a place where to live and she was touched by it, but at the same time she knew she couldn't impose on Aubrey like that.

"Father wouldn't be a problem, I promise."

The brunette scoffed, raising an hand up to caress Aubrey's face, looking her like she was the most precious person in the world.

"You love your father, Aubrey. Don't do things that could humiliate him. Men never take it well."

"He knows." Aubrey frowned as Stacie's hands stopped but keep talking, smiling at the woman "He had known all this time... About the Bandit Bellas, and what we do, and... he knows about me, about me being here. Now." She liked her lips and covered Stacie's hand with her own. "Come to live with me."

A breathless laugh left Stacie's throat as she took a step back from Aubrey, freeing herself from her touch, trying to elaborate all her words so that they would make sense somehow.

"He knows? About us? About us being the bandits? Bellas? What that even means? Aubrey what the fuck-"

"He wouldn't betray us Stacie. I swear! He had know since the beginning. He likes what we do." Aubrey smile was bigger than Stacie had ever seen it. There it was, the proud daughter of her father. He gave her a pat on her head and she was actually drowning in pride!

She had to admit she liked that look on her, as opposite at the usual brooding; perhaps she liked the woman a little more than she thought... which was one of the reasons she couldn't accept her offer.

"I can't ride everyday from your ranch to the House" she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"You wouldn't have to. You won't need to work anymore. Not like this. You can work with me at the ranch."

"And sleep with you?" Stacie asked frowning. "Or with your father? Or with some – if not all – the men there? Because that-"

"What? No! No Stacie. I'm not-"

The brunette stopped Aubrey from getting near her. She knew, on a human level, that the other woman was doing it out of friendship, if not more, but it was also clear she had no idea about the consequences she could face because of that choice.

Stacie didn't have the same problem.

"You aren't asking me Aubrey, and I know you would never expect something from me, but others would do it for you. Don't you see, love? People would never understand.. and I could never accept to hurt you like this."

"I don't care what they say" Aubrey replied stubbornly, reaching for her again, touching her arms with her fingertips, her eyes pleading "It's my life and yours! We don't have to anything we don't want to." Stacie had to smile at that because under the mask of the bandit, and under the brave rebel woman, Aubrey was still a little princess in her own way and she didn't really get that rules, especially social rules, weren't there to be broken. She could admit that her willingness to change things and fight for her made her swoon a bit; but she also felt sad, and honoured, and a bit broken too.

"You may don't care Aubrey, but others do. I'm a prostitute, love, as you have pointed out quite loudly... it's all I am to them, all I'll ever be..."

"I was wrong! I was wrong, okay?!" Aubrey's eyes flashed with angriness and regret "Please, Stacie"

"I'm not angry with you, Aubrey." She smiled opening her arms to allow the woman to embrace her "I'm not. I just see things you refuse to acknowledge right now." She squeezed the woman and put her head on her shoulder once again. There was nothing sexual in that embrace, and Stacie relaxed in it. Nobody, before that night, had ever offered her something without asking a piece of her in return.

"Just... just think about it, okay?" Aubrey whispered tightening her hug, her hands moving slowly on her back "Please. Think about it. For you. For Dora. For.. a future in which you wouldn't be working in this place. You don't have to sleep with me. Or with.. my father." She grunted making Stacie laugh "Especially with my father! And the others would leave you alone if we told them. And if someone will bother you... I'll be there. As a friend. Which I am. A friend, I mean... your friend." She pouted going over her own speech, probably trying to understand if she had said all she wanted.

"I know, Aubrey." Stacie smiled, touched "You're my best friend."

"Am I?" She could hear the pleasure in her voice "So, you'll think about it, right? Just thinking. No pressure."

Despite everything, Stacie nodded, unwilling to hurt Aubrey over something she would never do.

"I'm not accepting it, love" She raised her head to watch her friend in the eyes, completely serious about it. "I'm not saying yes. But I will think about it. I promise."

Aubrey thought about it and nodded giving her a smile... and then blushed, when her eyes fell on Stacie's breasts once again. Stacie was sure the blonde had completely forgot about her state of undress, concentrated as she was on her speech and the eventual answer.

She laughed at her, and pulled the woman against her body, recapturing her lips for a long heated kiss.

"Well" she said licking her lip and tasting Aubrey on them "now that we have cleared that up..."

The blush that covered, once again, Aubrey's face and the incredulous look she gave her – like she thought Stacie was going to push her away now – were the best way to begin the rest of their night; another night both them would never ever forget.

From the next day on, Aubrey was going to become the main target of the good society of Lucky Star and Stacie was going to give her a reason to keep her head straight and a smile on her face.

§§§§§

Surprisingly, after the night she slept with Aubrey, things became better for Stacie.

From then on thoughts about Old Buck, which body was yet to be discovered and perhaps would never be, faded away little by little, and she resumed her life like his death had never happened. Also, Aubrey's actions had boosted up her popularity inside the House, both with the patrons than, shocking enough, with the other girls.

She was still the Princess.

Obviously, Aubrey never showed up again to the brothel, but that only time had costed her her reputation.

Stacie had crossed ways with her friend twice in the following days and the blonde didn't seemed touched at all by the whispers behind her back. If nothing else, Aubrey was behaving with a new obvious respect toward her and the brothel's girls, nodding politely with a smile on her face each time she met them and being a sort of perfect gentleman. The thought always made Stacie smile. It was shocking how one night of sex could change a person like that. The stiff, decorous Ms Posen becoming relaxed and uncaring about peer pressure.

Stacie knew it wasn't just sex. To Aubrey, that night, her first time, had been special. It had drawn a line between what it was expected from Aubrey Posen and what Aubrey Posed wanted and expected for herself.

Stacie could admit she liked this Aubrey a lot. Surely it couldn't be one night to change her heart, but the brunette found herself smiling more often and thinking a lot about the delicious insecurity Aubrey showed her.

It wasn't love, of course. It wasn't even a crush. But her life never was particularly easy and every spark of happiness was welcomed, as long as it would last.

So, Stacie wasn't worried at all, when her mind drifted back to the night with Aubrey. Men had lost their appeal years before, and even someone like Tom, whom she was currently in bed with, had faded in the mass of unnamed men she couldn't remember.

Aubrey stood out from that multitude like gold from rocks.

She smiled, enjoying the exhaustion that was pervading her body, while her mind was in her special place, until Tom spoke, interrupting her memories.

"Uhmm... I needed that." He turned his head, one hand behind it, and gave her his almost sparkling smile. She smiled back. She liked Tom; he was a little too smug for her taste, but there were worse things a man could be. "You're the best, babe."

"I know." The giggled together like kids and his free hand found her body again.

"No time for that, love." She admonished him, but let his hand roam freely on her skin. No harm in treating him kindly since Tom was one of her best customers so far. Surprisingly, he moved it away anyway and sat up.

"I really have no time for that." he said "Damn Bumper and his plans." She watched him stand up and appreciated his muscles in the same way she loved remembering the softness of Aubrey's. They were her favourites, she decided.

"I don't understand why you're working for him." she commented stretching like a cat. Tom looked at her, his reactions obvious. They both laughed at it, Stacie more pleased than him.

"He pays well. He got a lot of money, you know?" Stacie shrugged, like the thought never crossed her mind. "Right now a big load of gold is leaving Dallas, and in two weeks I'll take it. I'll met the guy at Sullivan Creek and take it here. An easy job for a lucky man. He's paying me a lot and I'll even buy you a new dress... from Paris, or London..." he smiled his boyish, charming, smile, and Stacie mirrored him; it was what he was expecting from her.

Her mind though, was already running and planning and evaluating how to use that new information.

§§§§§

Two days later she told Beca to speak with Aubrey.

Three night later she explained what Tom had told her, trying to ignore Aubrey's hurt, and bad concealed, expression.

The next day she had the first hint something was wrong with her.

Some hours later, she was sure of it.

She was pregnant.

Again.