It was feverish outside, but then again, what else was new? That was just part and parcel of living on a tropical island, and she'd lived on 13 so far. Admittedly, though, tonight felt especially cruel in terms of heat and humidity. Despite that, Lady's window was open. Even though it was quiet, the energy in the air was high. She was waiting on her husband. In her mind's eye, she could already see his red bones illuminated by the moon. They were going to spend the night at his bar, as soon as he was done with his Syndicate meeting. Their wife, Lydia, would meet them there. She was still busy ferrying people around the island.

Lady was more than ready to forget work and replace it with drink. She wanted to leave it all behind, she just needed a reason. The long wait for Sam was killing her slow, but at long last, she heard his telltale voice, just as low and smooth as some of the drinks he served.

"Hey, hey, LD!" He wasn't shouting, but she could still hear him waiting below. She stuck her head out the window, smiling down at him.

"Finally free from that awful meeting, Sammy?" she joked. For once, she wasn't there.

As the island's detective, she was usually always required to attend Syndicate meetings. But for some reason, tonight, she was allowed to skip. It was nice to be free of the hassle that usually came with such gatherings, but something at work was dragging her down and she almost missed the normality (though she used that term very loosely) of being with the rest of the Syndicate.

But hey, that was what tonight's outing was for. Maybe a nice night at the bar with her husband and wife was just what she needed.

"Actually, it went better than expected," Sam replied. "I got most of them to agree to try my newest brew within the next week!"

"Ha! Sammy, you bad, bad, boy! Aren't those meetings supposed to be for serious business?" she laughed.

"It is serious business!... For me!" Sam laughed back. Lady couldn't help but shake her head and smile. That skeleton was nothing but one big funny bone, a shiny toy that was irresistible to all, even to those he wasn't married to. That was why Lady felt all the luckier that they wound up together.

But you know, you're the one price I'd buy into...

Maybe the "angels" of the Council would roll their eyes knowing what their distinguished detective got up to once the sun went down, but she was more than ready to roll the dice and risk it all. She was ready to have the best of times to outweigh her caseload, the worst of crimes. And what didn't kill her only made her want it more. She was ready for something new and exciting, ready to feel the shape of Sam and Lydia's bodies pressed up against her own. It was a cruel summer, but that didn't mean she couldn't still enjoy it for whatever it was worth. She was going to paint the town red to erase the blue that she'd been feeling for weeks.

I'll try to play it cool, try to stay cool, and for once in my life, there will be no rules. Tonight, she was determined to make it an unbreakable Heaven.

ooo

While Sam went in to start serving drinks, Lady waited outside for Lydia. Only a bit later, she heard the telltale screech of tires.

"Hey, LD!" Lydia grinned, raising a peace sign as she stepped out of the car.

"Hey, Lydia," Lady gave her wife a tired smile.

"Oof, busy day at work?" Lydia asked sympathetically. She knew that sometimes Lady's case files could overwhelm her.

"...Yeah, we'll just leave it at that," she chuckled dryly. She hung her head low to escape Lydia's concerned gaze. Idly, she wondered why there was a Dead Nebula machine here, literally right outside Sam's bar.

"You sure you're ok, LD?" Lydia's concern grew. Maybe Lady thought she was hiding her expression well, but seeing her dip her head only made Lydia more worried for her wife's sake. They'd been married for 13 islands; she knew when something was troubling the detective.

"I'm not dying," Lady chuckled quietly. "I guess I just..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. Lydia was right about it being work woes, but she didn't know the full truth. Lady wasn't sure she could bring herself to tell it...

Something bad was happening in 13, but it wasn't quite bad enough for anybody else except a very select few to know. That was why she was surprised when she was allowed to skip today's meeting. It was both a relief and a worry, given what she knew...Was this where she fell apart? Her silence was poison, and she was lying to herself, denying that anything was wrong, even though her heart knew it wasn't true.

"You just...?" Lydia coaxed. She reached out and put a careful hand on Lady's shoulder. Lady flinched a little, but she didn't pull away.

"I'm afraid I'll just screw it up in these trying times."

This only raised more questions than it answered, but Lydia could sense how hard it was for Lady to open up like this, so she didn't pry for more information. She wasn't the investigator, so it wasn't her job to snoop. But, as Lady's wife, it was her job to comfort and support the detective.

"If there's any way I can help with your trying times, just let me know and I'll try my best," she said. "And don't worry about screwing up. You know Sam and I will always love you, so you don't need to really "try" at all, at least not with us." That was part of what made their romance so paradisical. They were an unlikely trio, but the love they shared was almost effortless, a welcome change from the rest of the struggles of life.

Behind them, Lydia's car's headlights finally cut off. "Ah, think that's our cue to head in?" Lydia joked. Lady gave her another tired smile, but she took Lydia's hand and let her lead the way. This summer was a knife, and she was still waiting for it to cut her to the bone, right through the heart, leaving her just like Sam. But, by the same token, if summer was a knife being held at her heart, she may as well go wild and enjoy the fun while it lasted. Let the angels roll their eyes, let the demons snicker and giggle, she was going to roll the dice for all they were worth.

And, Lady thought as Lydia led her inside, If I bleed, you'll be the last to know.

Before she knew it, she was flying. She wasn't thinking, just drinking. Like any good Brit, she loved pubs and alcohol. Sam and Lydia were also hammered. How a skeleton got drunk was beyond them, but the proof was in the pudding, so to speak. Sam pulled Lady and Lydia in close and danced with them. Lady felt the shape of his body pressing against hers, mixing them up like another one of his island-famous mixers. Sam was always an adventurous man, and that extended to tall drinks of water like Lady and Lydia just as it did to tall drinks of alcohol.

At the same time, Lydia's hands were everywhere. She was just as adventurous as Sam, and she how to drive them crazy just as well as she knew how to drive her car. Her hands were well-practiced from the steering wheel, and she knew exactly what buttons to push and what stick shifts to pull to make them feel just right. They were both so intoxicating, or maybe it was just the second round of shots Sam sent out. But through the red haze, the music and sirens echoed in the beat of Lady's heart and she still felt tinges of blue filling out her cruel summer. There was a guilt that was running after her and even though she was flying, she never got far.

"You ok, LD?" Sam asked at one point. Now it was his turn to notice her unusually somber expression.

"It's cool, Sammy." She forced a smile on her face, a white lie, and grabbed him by his black tie, kissing him to silence him. She was lying to herself, but for once, she didn't care. She just kept right on going. "There are no rules in our unbreakable Heaven," she told Sammy. This wasn't Eden with the entrapment of the poisonous, forbidden fruit. They were skipping over the trickier parts of religion to bask in their own creed of love.

ooo

Suddenly, Lady was drunk in the back of Lydia's car, crying like a baby as she and Sam drove her home from the bar. For once, Sam was in the driver's seat. As a skeleton, and the resident bartender, he could flush alcohol out of his system far faster than either of the two women could. They still weren't quite sure how that was possible, but especially tonight, it didn't matter. Lady's tears were a much more immediate issue.

She said, "I'm fine!" But it wasn't true. I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you!

Finally, the truth came flooding out. With three of them, it was Lady's favorite sideshow, but a circus wasn't a love story, and Lady didn't want them to end up sorry. Her lies were poisoning the well and she didn't want to risk dragging them down any longer, even if they had no idea what was wrong. Well, now, they would know everything. She was the first to leave, the first to fall, the first to spill...

Damned Harmony. That was the name of Lady's blue feeling. It was a god she was deceived by, and now demons were slowly infesting the island. That was why Lady had more case files than normal. She hadn't been caught yet, but she was getting by on stolen time, a criminal on the run. That damned Damned Harmony, a killing harmony, threatening the peace between Lady and her partners, between Lady and all of Paradise. She wasn't sure what scared her more: the idea of being caught, or the idea of being not.

And despite bearing this secret burden for so long, she still snuck through Paradise's gates every night that summer just to steal more time with Lydia and Sammy and seal three fates. It was the best of times and worst of crimes.

"And here I am, with the audacity to call myself a truth-seeker while intentionally obscuring the facts to save my own skin!" she wept. Even though she knew she was sealing their fates by continually associating with them despite being guilty of the worst of crimes, it was a song, a harmony, far beyond her control now. And even though she knew she was sealing her own fate by telling Sam and Lydia all of this, she still couldn't stop. Her heart was breaking and she feared that love was dying. Summer was a knife, a shotgun shot, right through the heart, and now, she was bleeding out.

Lady screamed for whatever it was worth, "I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?!"

And then she waited in a cruel silence, waiting for condemnation, for love to die, for Sam and Lydia to kick her out of the car, and then out of their lives entirely. It was for the best, but Lady was still terrified of screwing things up in this trying time. Now she felt like she was dying. And she was sure she'd soon be saying goodbye as well. Every man for himself, right? Surely, this was the X that marked the spot where they fell apart.

While all that could be heard in the car were her pathetic whimpers and sniffles, Sam and Lydia exchanged looks. In only a couple minutes, an entire conversation was shared between them. Even though all three of them were married, Sam and Lydia had still been closer longer. They knew each other before the islands but had only met Lady after the first one was built.

Although, of course, they weren't too happy to hear what Lady had done, it was exactly like Lydia said earlier: they would always love her. Besides, they were no strangers to sinning either. Not only did they both used to be assassins (Lydia was even the reason Sam was a skeleton, she'd cut him to the bone, but what didn't kill him only made him want her more), but they were not as unforgiving as the angels on the Council. While higher-ranking Syndicate members would roll their eyes and turn their backs on Lady, Sam and Lydia would roll the dice and take a chance on love.

After that silent, mutual decision was made, they both looked up at Lady, grinning like two devils.

"It's a good thing this baby doubles as a getaway car," Lydia joked. She could already hear the future sirens in the beat of her heart.

"It's cool." That's what the told her. "No rules, only unbreakable Heaven!" And unbreakable Heaven meant unbreakable. Nothing would them apart, not even all the laws of every island that ever was or ever would be. It was a cruel summer, but they were still together. They were a three-way Bonnie and Clyde and even if nothing good started in a getaway car, Sam was already flying away from his old dive bar.

"LD, you really thought you'd be the first to leave, the first to fall from grace, but think about the place where you first met me and Sammy," Lydia said, turning around in the shotgun seat to look at the other woman while Sam drove ahead.

"But would you guys really want to risk it all just for me?" Lady asked miserably.

"Is that even a question?" Lydia couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow playfully. It was time to make their great escape, a prison break! So with Lady in the back, Sam took control of the keys. If that was the last time Paradise ever saw the three, then so be it.

"You're in shades of gray, LD, we know you're not a bad person," Lydia added. They were more than ready to sneak through Paradise's gates and seal their fates together.

For the first time in weeks, Lady's guilty tears turned into happy ones. Summer was still cruel, but at least she had loved ones who were kind. With them, she was sure she would be able to survive anything, so off they went in their getaway car, trying their best to get far.

"Yeah, for whatever's worth," Sam chuckled as he gave the car more gas, "We love you, Lady Love, now ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"

AN: This is another gift to Penguinlover611, my best friend. Sorry it's kinda sad again, but this was written in your honor! Thx for roping me into PK and being my personal PK wiki at times. I hope you enjoy this!