<div align="center"><strong>~ Sasha Dearing, First Officer of the Gamble - On Persephone with Si and Steve, looking to put The Best Little Hot House in Town in the rear view ~</strong></div><br/>Sasha noted the subtle shift in Ferret’s expression and posture, and knew the exact moment the battle was won. The adrenaline that had flooded her bloodstream during the confrontation began to dilute and dissolve, and a small frisson of satisfaction began to unfurl within her.  Outwardly Sasha remained the inscrutable professional, never letting her guard down for even one moment. Of all the contacts she and Griff worked with, Ferret was by far the most treacherous, and Sasha walked a razor’s edge whenever dealing with the whip-smart and accomplished woman; always able to achieve her objective - at least so far - but never easily. And this confrontation had been especially challenging. It was almost as if the seasoned older woman was ruthlessly testing the younger woman’s limits and abilities.<br/><br/>Sasha remained quiet, her expression shuttered, while Ferret casually accepted the list of names and tucked it into her blouse without even looking at it. Waiting to finally hear the details of the job, Sasha was surprised when Ferret reached for a ledger on the workbench and ripped out a piece of paper to hand her. It wasn’t like Ferret to document an illicit exchange in any way; maybe this job would shock the hell out of everyone and actually be on the up and up? Sasha accepted the paper, glancing only briefly at it before folding it and slipping the paper inside her jacket pocket. The ragged edge of the torn paper gave Sasha a slightly unsettled feeling; the shrewd businesswoman’s usual propensity for near-perfectionism didn’t jive with this somewhat cavalier hand-off. In Sasha’s experience, whenever a normally very consistent person suddenly becomes inconsistent - even in the smallest of ways - it meant something was up.<br/><br/><strong>“There you are Miss Dearing. You’ll find all the details there. I would suggest not waiting too long before you get underway. Abernathy’s not a very patient man, and tends to jump to conclusions and over react rather easily.”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha’s eyes narrowed in distaste at the mention of Abernathy - a vile man if there ever was one, with a vicious reputation to boot.<em>Just perfect, Griff - you’re two for two on this one.</em>Sasha grumbled angrily to herself.<em>And I guess that answers the question of whether or not the job is of the legal variety.</em>The vaguely unsettled feeling started to coalesce into more of a general sense of unease.<br/><br/><strong>“Run along now, bao bei. I think we’ve played long enough, don’t you? Besides, I have other… appointments scheduled. You’re not the only pretty flower I like to play with, ya know?”</strong><br/><br/>Ferret’s dismissal brought Sasha’s mind back to the intricate and hazardous interplay the two of them had just exchanged. Not for the first time, Sasha found herself heartily wishing that Griff would stop accepting jobs from the viperous crime boss. Nodding her head in Ferret’s direction, Sasha turned to leave the deceptively serene looking older woman to her flowers.<br/><br/><strong>“Sasha, darling...Nicely played, my dear. Nicely played. You ever find yourself without a captain or a ship, you come see me, understand?”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha grinned jauntily as she gave her most dangerous adversary a casual salute and one-word goodbye. “Ferret.”  Spinning on her heel Sasha opened the door and stepped through into the long hallway, closing the door firmly behind her.<br/><br/>Alone in the darkened hallway, Sasha sagged limply against the wall, the sudden and unexpected hot prick of tears stinging her eyes.  Angrily blinking back the wetness from spilling over her dark lashes, the blue of Sasha’s eyes glowed luminously with unshed tears as she took several deep, centering breaths.<br/><br/>The older woman’s parting compliments had seared through her as none of her threats or harsh words ever could, catching her off guard by tapping into her usually safely locked away Pandora’s box of memories. Oddly enough, Ferret was probably the only woman in Sasha’s world who she didn’t feel needed some kind of protection from her, some portion of nurturing from her. With Ferret’s aura of supreme confidence and strength - even as twisted and diabolical as she could be - the older woman resonated on some subconscious level as something of a mother figure to the much younger woman. Sasha’s mother had been a strong guiding force throughout her childhood, pushing her to her very best, demanding and expecting nothing less. And something about the older woman’s tone, her words...Sasha forced the painful remembered emotions back down into that dark place inside where she kept them locked away, her eyes tightly closed as she focused on her breathing, focused on returning to the coolly professional First Officer she knew the crew counted on her to be.<br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</strong></div><br/>Damek’s broad jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth in annoyance, his gun hand curling into a stiff claw itching for the feel of his weapon as he watched the dandified lightweight continue to play with the flowers, the sissified man completely ignoring his unmistakeable demand. Damek glared at Si, his lips pulled back into an angry grimace. A beat before he was about to snarl an escalated warning, the pantywaist spoke to him in an irritatingly uppity manner.<br/><br/><strong>"I would never dream of harming a local business, sir. If your concern is how I might appear to your customers, fear not: I am one of them. Now, if you will excuse me?"</strong><br/><br/>The oversized man growled in answer, his eye having caught a warning glance thrown at him by Charlotte. Chafing at the constraints of obeying his orders while simultaneously feeling humiliated at having lost face in front of the hot young girl, Damek grudgingly stepped aside to allow the transaction, glowering his frustration at the other man, daring him to push the situation.<br/><br/>Charlotte watched with disinterest as Damek postured for his own self-aggrandizement, her curiosity piqued by the surprisingly refined security detail.  As the understated and elegant older man perused the flowers and made his carefully thought out selections, she smiled to herself. Aware of Damek’s growing irritation, she glared warningly at him, her look an obvious command to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. When Si stepped up to the counter with his hand-selected flower arrangement and gave her a smile, Charlotte smiled at him in return.<br/><br/><strong>"Miss, I fear that while I may be educated on the nature of a fine bouquet, I have little skill in building one myself. Would you be so kind as to put these together for me, with a frame of ivy to hold them together?"</strong><br/><br/>A small, delicate dimple was revealed as Charlotte smiled at Si. She hoped the negotiations in the back room were going smoothly, as she was starting to think it would be...nice to have the gentlemanly hired gun become more of a regular customer at the shop.<br/><br/>Damek was chomping at the bit having to wait for Charlotte to prepare the bouquet and complete the transaction. The moment the coins exchanged hands, his gravely voice barked out. “Alright, you got your flowers Mr. Fancy Pants; now you and your pal get on through that door like I done told you. I’m not fooling around neither - both y’all move...NOW!”<br/><br/>“That won’t be necessary.” Her voice cold as ice and hard as steel, Sasha stepped from the hallway into the main shop area, focusing her churning emotions into a sharp bite of anger aimed at Damek. Settling comfortably into her well-worn persona, Sasha started to feel more herself as the angst of a few minutes ago quickly receded with the distraction. It was always so much easier and safer to deal with anger than any of the other more painful emotions, and Sasha embraced the mask of her persona with relief. Standing tall with her legs in a comfortably wide stance, her arms relaxed at her sides, she glared at the big man, daring him to challenge her. For a moment Damek considered it as he looked at the beautiful, slender woman who didn’t look the least bit capable of backing up her bold aggression. Well, except...as she continued to stare him down he felt his resolve weaken, his eyes unable to hold her glare as something about her expression, the way her confidence evident in every line of her body communicated without words that SHE was the Alpha in the situation, not him. As Sasha recognized the signs of the big man backing down, she glanced over at Si, her eyes dropping momentarily to the bouquet in his hands. Lifting her eyebrows in amused question, the tiniest of smiles turned up the corner of her mouth as she slid her eyes to Charlotte and then back to Si. Peering at Steve for a quick moment she brought her intimidating glare back in place as she spoke to her men while looking at Damek. “Si...McPherson - we’re done here.”<br/>