<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/Mtx59.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Name:</strong> Allison Leclerc<br/><strong>Title:</strong> The Brains<br/><strong>Location:</strong> On the road to Chow's Chow<br/><strong>Tags:</strong> Taras</span></span><br/><hr/><br/>Allison had barely noticed Taras' glance out of the corner of her eye, and although she had no idea what was going through his mind and didn't think much of it, she suddenly felt very self-conscious. Not because of him, but because she just realized how inappropriately she was dressed for where they were going and who they'd be meeting with. She felt vulnerable enough stepping into the lion's den - or dragon's den, rather - without having most of her back and stomach exposed, and wondered what the hell she'd been thinking when she got dressed for the race earlier that evening. <br/><br/>Of course, all of the internal fussing about her attire was just an automatic defense mechanism employed by her brain to help her cope with the situation by focusing on that instead of the real issues and danger. Ally had never entered a building without being sure whether or not she'd be coming out alive before, but that's what she and Taras were just minutes away from doing. Having him by her side made her feel a million times safer than she might have otherwise, but deep down they both realized that they'd be essentially powerless if Mr. Kwan wanted to kill them (or worse). A million times a minuscule fraction was still not very much, as it turned out.<br/><br/>She nodded solemnly in agreement with Taras' advice but said nothing until they arrived. Ally wished that she could impart some knowledge or advice of her own in exchange, but she was going into this blind, knowing next to nothing about the Triads or how to deal with an organized crime syndicate. Taras, Cori and Adriano had always dealt with that aspect of the crew's operations and shielded her from it. There was one thing that Ally wanted to say. Well, more than one, a lot more, but one that stood out in particular. She couldn't, though. Not like this.<br/><br/>"Hold on," she finally spoke up when they pulled up in front of Chow's Chow. She closed her eyes and rubbed them vigorously for at least half a minute until they felt quite irritated and began to water. Ally let a few tears trickle down her cheeks freely while pulling down her vanity mirror to inspect her work. If they were going to be pretending that Cori had died, then it was going to have to be convincing. She didn't think that she needed to explain what she was doing to Taras, he'd catch on. "Can you hand me the little purse from the glove box? Thanks." It contained all of her cosmetic essentials, which she used to hastily touch up her makeup that she'd just ruined. <br/><br/>Now she looked like somebody who'd been crying before hastily trying to make herself somewhat presentable. Good. Allison put her hands back onto the steering wheel and slowly wrapped her fingers around it and unwrapped them while taking a deep breath. "Okay, I think I'm ready." Taras would undoubtedly sense that she was stressed out and apprehensive despite the brace face and tone that she was trying to put forwards, mostly because she didn't want him to distract himself by worrying about her.<br/><br/>Before he could open his door and get out of the car, she reached over to rest a hand on his shoulder. "I..." Ally looked over to him before her voice broke up and a pained look spread across her face. Turning away, she looked down at her lap and tucked the hair on the left side of her head behind her ear before facing Taras again, forcing herself to smile despite the tears welling up in her eyes. Real ones this time that she barely managed to fight back.<br/><br/>"I..." she tried anew but still the words failed her. Frustrated by her own inability to express herself, Allison impulsively twisted her body to the side and leaned over the center console awkwardly to give her friend a tight embrace, burying her face into the side of his neck as she sniffled faintly. "I love you!" she finally managed to speak the words softly close to Taras' ear. It wasn't intended as any kind of romantic declaration, and that probably wasn't what it sounded like. It sounded afraid and genuine and melancholy with maybe a tiny dash of optimism that Ally had somehow subconsciously managed to eke in there. She just wanted Taras to know that she cared for him and appreciated him and everything that he'd done for her before they stepped into Chow's, into the unknown. He probably already knew, but after the way that she'd been acting lately, Ally wouldn't have blamed him for having doubts, so she'd wanted to tell him in case anything were to happen.<br/><br/>It felt like she could breathe a little easier after getting that off her chest. It didn't take all of the weight off of her shoulders or melt all of her stress away instantly, but it helped a little, and she had to imagine that every little bit would help with what they were about to face. Once Taras had replied back, if he had anything that he wanted to say, Ally would get out of her car and follow him into the restaurant, still feeling apprehensive as hell but at least somewhat better than she was five minutes earlier.</div>