Mason had known that Penelope would come for him, so when she cornered him on a rooftop in Paris while holding a gun to his head he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

'Hello, brother.' Penelope said.

'Hello, sister. How's the family? Treating you well, I trust.' Mason replied.

'Indeed they are.'

'Is the gun really necessary?' Mason asked.

'Yes, it is. You know why I have it.' Penelope  said.

'Oh yeah. I forgot you were looking for these.' Mason stated, pulling a few of the gems from his coat pockets and stuffing them into his mouth.  He then swallowed them, but as he swallowed them he changed into a raven and flew off the rooftop into the air. If he'd still been able to he would have smiled smugly at Penelope. 

Sighing Penelope picked the coat up and put her hands into the pockets, feeling to see if Mason had left any gems. None were there; somehow he'd eaten them all.

Damn.

Annoyed she lent back onto the roofs railings and fired the gun at her brother. The bullet hit one of her Mason's tail feathers and he changed direction slightly. So, Penelope put the gun back into her pocket and quickly calculated his flight path. Mason was headed west.

++

The fog was thick, both outside the car and in Nick's mind. He knew he'd have to stop soon, or he'd lose focus and crash the car. Unconsciously his mind drifted back to Adalind and the fact that he'd only won the rape trial by a hairsbreadth. He could still see her face, smirking and triumphant. Blonde hair, spotless face. Make-up impeccable; as usual. Blue and white dress, one that went all the way to her feet (which were clad in brown strap-on sandals).

(No, Nick. Keep your mind off her. You're just going to go home and rest.)

A few metres ahead of Nick, Mason picked up the regurgitated gems and stumbled out of the bushes holding his hands - full of the gems - in front of his genitalia. He probably looked like a complete mess, but that was pretty normal for Mason anyway. One of the many perks of being consistently chased wherever he went. Suddenly the lights of Nick's car hit him directly in the face, and he screeched in surprise.

Inside the car Nick sharply slammed on the brakes, stopping the car just before it hit the bushes. He couldn't have a count of vehicular manslaughter on his rep sheet; not after the day he'd just had. The man wandered towards Nick's car and tapped on the half wound-down window.

'Uh, do you mind if I trouble you for a blanket?' Mason questioned.

'Oh no, not at all!' Nick replied, barely hiding the sarcasm from his voice.

Well, this was far from what Nick had expected the aftermath of a rape trial to be like.

Edited (again): 20th August 2022