Van sat on one of the twin beds as Chester paced the floor in the same room they had previously used. Alone with her nerves and questions that couldn't be voiced made him stop-start in front of her unsure of how to proceed.

"Spit it out, Chet."

"I like you, Van."

"I like you too."

"Do you like me because I won the lottery?"

Keeping up the ruse that his win had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with politics or that Spell wasn't above walking officers into the crowd that night and turning every citizen into a mindless zombie made Chester want to lock himself in the bathroom and cry like an infant.

Van narrowed her eyes and sat forward, "Why don't you come over here and I'll show you how much I like you?"

Sitting on the narrow bed end he genuinely smiled at her, "No matter what happens the rest of the night, I want you to know I appreciate how you've had my back. You're a remarkable woman."

Van's green eyes widened when he kissed her. She relaxed after he pressed further, placing his hands on her shoulders. Soon, they were oblivious to the fact the state was watching them make out, but Van came to her senses, ripping the Vid Frames off of both their faces and placing them inside of the bedside drawer.

Chester chuckled when the crowd outside audibly booed but offered encouragement to them both. Van straddled his lap, and he had a flashback of her slashing Carl's neck ear to ear and groaned as her greedy lips pursued his.

"Does this answer your question?' Van purred, taking her top off, "They might still hear us, but right now I want all of your attention on me. I'm for your eyes only Chet."

Chester had never in his life imagined someone as good as Van could come in his life, let alone want to be with him. The things she whispered in his ear as he took her lithe little body made everything that had transpired in the last sixteen hours disappear.

The people out in the streets, watching a blank screen but hearing everything, was of no consequence as Chester and Van found solace in each other's arms in a time of stress and uncertainty. She offered herself up with no conditions and he the same, plunging into the moment like it would never come again or end.

He'd never held another person as tight as he did Van when they laid spent, bodies covered in a fine sheen of sweat. She sweetly kissed his cheek then stood.

"Take a shower with me," Van walked naked into the bathroom and he grinned, only able to nod as his head was still reeling from what they'd just done.

The prostitute he'd screwed when eighteen had definitely been right about one thing, women liked a man who uses their tongue for more than yelling at them. He hopped off the bed and scurried into the room as Van ran the hot water.

She smiled over her shoulder at him as steam filled the space, "We won't have long, better hurry before meathead comes to investigate."

He pulled her into the large glass stall with him, and ran his hands over her hair, "I thought you had greasy hair when I first saw you."

She laughed, then sobered, leaning close to his ear hissed, "Tell me what Spell did when you went to Fort Ozark."

Chester was glad the water was warm because his blood chilled from her tone, "W-what?"

Unexpectedly her arm shot up, going across his neck to pin him against the cold tiled wall as he stupidly gazed down into her sharp green eyes that had lost the warmth he'd fallen into minutes before, "What did you see? What did Spell say? Tell me!"

He didn't bother to fight her off, kind of liking how aggressive she was, "He has a new drug, more potent than what we witnessed at Neighborhood Allard. He turned my mother into a fucking mindless zombie, taking orders and wanting the dose. It was a nasty toxic green color. Spell said it's become tiresome keeping the peace, and it was easier to dose citizens. He also wanted to know who I was working for, which I would like to know too. The Institute went over the footage and found nothing. He let me go, not saying anything. He threatened you though."

"Does he suspect me?" she dropped her arm but didn't back up.

"No, if anyone did do you think you'd still be alive?" he snapped, then sighed, "What will happen? I hate being in the dark. How is every state throwing a Halloween party when I threw it out there in a panic? None of this makes sense!"

Van brushed her knuckles on the side of his face saying, "I thought you were the most miserable man I'd ever encountered when I was assigned to you, but now I know, you're the bravest of us all."

Then she punched him in the face so hard, his head snapped back against the hard tiles. He reached out to grab hold of her, but her slippery skin slipped through his fingers. She took his head by his hair and bashed his head once more against the wall. He cried out, falling to his knees painfully, confused and angry.

"What the hell!" he shouted, dizzy, "What's wrong with you!"

She backed away, breathing hard, "Fuck you're hard to knock out."

He tried to stand, but Van shoved his shoulders, falling backward with him to once more bash his head on the floor. He heard her say something as darkness overwhelmed his vision, but all he could think of was how much of a pussy he was compared to a hundred pound woman.

"Chester! Sir!"

Slowly, Chester blinked open his eyes to find himself on a bed with a towel thrown over his body. Garth and three men were glaring down at him with accusing eyes and he closed his own, head throbbing.

"Where is the girl?" Garth demanded, "What happened?"

Chester groaned and sat up, "I slipped in the shower."

Garth tossed a pill and a carton of water right onto his gentiles making him flinch in pain, "Bullshit. Do you think we'd let you in here alone if we didn't have eyes and ears? She beat the shit out of you, then ran off."

He swallowed the pill, the ache in the back of his head and balls disappearing with welcoming relief, "If you know, then why ask? She must have decided I was a bad fuck who knows? Women are crazy."

Garth huffed and backed away, "The council members are waiting for you downstairs. They said you plan to make a speech on stage before the festivities?"

He looked over to the long black robe laid out. Why did Saldivar want them all to dress the same? Was it so no one could tell who as who and could slip away to do nefarious things? Why had Van beaten him unconscious when he would have let her go?

Disappointment and hurt clouded his thoughts as he told Garth and his men to wait outside. The man shot him a dirty look but complied.

Why he continued to care for a woman that had an agenda that didn't include him was wearing thin, but he believed maybe Van had done it for his protection. If not, she had a lot of explaining to do before he ever took another shower with the crazy girl.

He opened the drawer to retrieve his Vid Frames and saw Van had left hers. She was out there somewhere unmonitored and unnoticed and before the night was over; he was sure she would find her way back.