River O'riley

... THE NEW DAWN ...
... later in the day ...

"River, I'm nervous.. What if your friends don't like me?" Frankie tugs at the back of my shirt as I press the intercom button on the gate to the Walker apartment building.. After Cherry had agreed to babysit Lovey for the day, I'd realised this is probably going to be the last of the time I get to spend with the Triad Princess before I have to say goodbye to her.. Maybe forever.. "I don't think I should be here.."

"Ye' don'ae needa be shy, Wallflower.. They're not gonna bite ya.. They're good people, I promise.." I grin down at her as the gate unlocks with a buzz.. Bouncing Lovey in one arm, Frankie steps beneath the other as I hold the gate open for her..

She moves to take the diaper bag from my shoulder, relieving the weight that had been digging into my muscle.. "Does your back hurt a lot today? Maybe you should be resting--"

"I'm grand t'anks, Frankie-- I'll rest when I'm dead.." She is so lovely to worry about me the way she does, but this time I know she only does it as a distraction.. She is never at ease whenever we leave the apartment and she never lets me out of her sight.. It's almost like she thinks I'll disappear if she can't see me.. "What has ye' so unsettled, my sweetling?"

She chews on her fingertips.. "I'm nervous to talk.. To say the wrong thing."

I smile, trying to ease her copious amounts of anxious energy, seeing that she is so worried she can barely stand still.. "There is no wrong thing to say, sweetheart.. Just be ye'self.. Ye' perfect, just the way ye' are."

"Don't tell them where I am from.. Please?" She pulls her pink hair forward to cover the tattoo on her neck as she pouts at me, giving me darling doe-eyes I couldn't resist even if I wanted to..

How could I betray her secrets?
How could I deny anything she asked of me?

I nod, agreeing against my better judgement.. "Alrite'.. I won't say a word 'bout it."

She smiles, following me up the pathway to climb the stairs.. "I hope they will like me."

I chuckle.. "I know they will, baby, what's not to like?"

When Cherry opens the door she squeals with joy to see my daughter.. "My Loooooooovey!"

Totally ignoring me, Aisling steps out of the way as I walk past her and her hands are on the baby before I've even crossed the threshold..

"Err, good to see you too, Ash!" I sneer in mock offence..

She waves a hand towards the living room, implying I go away and leave her be.. "Yeah yeah, ya' cute-hoor, get'in'ere.." When she looks up to see Frankie hiding behind me she gives me a strange, disapproving look.. "Oh, sorry-- I didn't see you there! River, don't be rude, who's your friend?"

Lilly bows her head quietly and I step aside to introduce the two.. "Cherry, this is-- Lovey's Nanny, Lilly.." I feel less guilty introducing the two of them on the basis of nicknames, the half lie is a little easier on my conscience to accept..

"Nice to meet you, Lilly.. Would ye' like a cup'o tea?" Cherry smiles..

Lilly nods looking up at me for approval and I place a supportive hand at the small of her back, gently pushing her forward.. "Oh, yes, I would.. Thank you."

Cherry motions for Lilly to follow her into the kitchen and I smile as Lilly takes one last worried look over her shoulder at me before they disappear together..

I cross to sit on the sofa where the Wolf ignores me, his focus fixated on the baseball game that plays on the enormous flatscreen.. No doubt pissed with me for cutting into his day off..

"What's the score then?" I sigh, exhausted from the late night of torture, too much liquor.. Only to wake up early to feed a crying baby..

The morning sex Lilly had then provoked had used up the last of my energy..

Goddamn.. The sex was incredible..
The best I ever had.. She shared with me the kind of intimacy that makes everything else I've experienced up until now, feel cheap and pointless..

I am more determined than ever to fill her days with everything she dreams of.. And I want today to be her happiest.. One of so many to come..

"I know what you did, O'riley." The Wolf growls in a foreboding kind of way, picking up the remote to mute the match before turning on me with a dark glare..

I shift in my seat, cataloguing all the lies I've told lately and which one of them he could have unravelled.. "O'Aye? I'm ill-behaved on the best of days so ye'll need to be more specific?"

He leans forward with a steely stare, linking his inked fingers together.. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

I chuckle.. "I'm sure I did.."

"Hm, whatever you said to her worked.. So, I guess I should be thanking you." The wolf scowls in irritation..

I breathe a sigh of relief, realising that he is talking about my conversation with Cherry and nothing else.. "Ah, I really dunno what ye' talkin' about now."

"Or maybe I should be kicking your ass.." He jeers.. "If you ever walk into a private room with my naked wife again--"

"Heya, there'll be none of that in front of the girlies.." I hold up my hands in surrender.. "And Cherry weren't nekkid.. I'm a gentleman."

He shakes his head.. "Gentleman or not, I'll cut your cock off if you look at her wrong."

"Don't ye' threaten me with a good time, lad!" I laugh at his wasted warning, since there's only one woman I want to look at the wrong way and it isn't his Aisling..

He scoffs, trying to cover a laugh, shaking his head.. "You're sick.."

Sick? Yes..
Hot for his wife? Not one bit..

The only woman I want to gaze at is Frankie, for as long as I possibly can..

"Glad to hear ye' two are back on the same page anyways.. I don'nae like it when mammy and daddy fight.." I goad him some, but he doesn't bite, instead he crosses one ankle over the other, done with the personal portion of the discussion..

At least I can rely on him for that, emotionally stunted and brief, that is his M.O and the day that changes there will be cause for concern.

"What'd you hear about Beckett?" He shifts the subject to business and leans back, straightening out the cuffs of his crisply pressed button down.. I contemplate warning him that Lovey will destroy everything nice that he owns with her dribbles and spills, including his expensive designer clothes..

But eventually I decide against it.. He'll learn all on his own.. It's more fun this way..

I stretch my legs out in front of me, trying to relieve some of the stiffness in my spine.. "Not a damn thing.. It's like the guy was gettin' around like a ghost.. Homicide has already written it off, ruled it as gang related and that's all she wrote.. Whoever he was workin' for down there covered it up rite' tidy like.."

I lie some more, knowing all too well who Beckett was working for..

For a moment I am forced to remember Amberley's filmed encounter with the prick, the secrets I'd learned watching it and how sick it had made me feel..

Or maybe that's just the hangover..

Killian hums suspiciously.. "So Dyaln was a Factory customer after all?"

I nod.. "Sure was.."

"Then that dumpster was a better burial than he deserved." Killian finishes coldly..

I know that he isn't wrong.. Beckett was not a good man..
He was corrupted long before we left the Corps.. But that doesn't change the way I feel about what I have done..
Sure it justifies his death, but it doesn't ease the conscience of the executioner..

How much blood will I have to spill before Frankie can be free?
Beckett..
Seven Triads..
Li Jun..

Who bleeds next?
I can't help but wonder if it will be me..

Just then I hear the girls giggle in the kitchen and my ears perk up..

The temptation to see Lilly, laughing and socialising, outside of my apartment, free and happy is almost too much..
She is so beautiful, so fine and funny that keeping her locked away from the world was the greatest injustice, for the loss of what she could have been..

With every piece of herself she recovers, I ache for her more..

Killian grins at me, a gleam of amusement in his stoney grey eyes.. "Don't you know you're not supposed to sleep with the help."

I lean in forward, lowering my voice so that Frankie couldn't possibly overhear me.. "Call her 'The Help' again, and maybe the girls will get to see a fight after all.."

"Oorah!" Killian snickers, thoroughly entertained to be getting a rise out of me.. "Brother, you got it bad!"

I chew on a smirk of my own, unwilling to deny his accusing observation.. "Aye ye' rite', I got it somethin' fierce."

.... POV SWITCH ....

Frankie Xiao

Standing in Cherry's sparkling kitchen I cradle a mug of tea in both hands, while she sits on the concrete countertop and fawns merrily over baby Lovey..

This kind woman is soft and beautiful as a sunrise, with bouncy curls of vibrant ruby red and bright blue eyes that echo an endless sky..

Cherry smiles dreamily, as she coos to the object of her affection bundled in her arms.. "Ooh Lovey, look at youuuu! Aren't ye' lovely!"

I giggle along with the baby, happy to see her so well entertained and pulling on somebody else's hair for a change.. "There is nothing more lovely than her laugh.."

"I couldn't agree more! Oh and she's got her daddy's eyes-- yes she does." Cherry pauses her baby-talk to beam at me.. "River is so lucky he found you, Lilly."

"Yes.. He found me.." I nod awkwardly and sip my tea, not really knowing what to say.. I don't want to lie, but I don't want to talk about how River and I met either..

A flash of panic flickers in her eyes and I know that my reply has made her uncomfortable.. I feel stupid, like nothing I say will be right.. "I just mean-- he had his hands full with this one.. I'm glad he's got you to help him."

"Oh..Yes.. I help and get in the way at the same time, I think.. It's hard to know if I am doing the right things.." I smile, leaning down to pick up the binky that Lovey had tossed to the ground..

Cherry is sweet to quickly reassure me.. "Naw, I'm sure you're doin' just fine.. It can't be easy.. I know his situation probably wasn't what you were expecting when he hired you--"

"He has been honest." Too quickly, a defensive rush bubbles up in my belly and falls out of my mouth..

Why am I so bad at this?

I can talk to River easily now, so why is it so much harder to make friends with Cherry?

I want her to like me and I fear I am doing a terrible job of making that happen..

I am afraid all those years of silence have made me strange.. Awkward and uncomfortable.. Unlikeable..

"Oh I'm sure he has.. River is a good man.. It's not him who you have to worry about, my dear.." Cherry watches as I rummage through the baby bag to find a bottle with the formula I had already measured out this morning..

"Oh.. I see." I wash the binky beneath the tap and return it to the baby's mouth before I set about preparing her bottle and unpacking the pumpkin-mash I'd made for Lovey's lunch.. "You mean Amberley."

Cherry nods, hopping down from the counter to pack the baby food neatly away into her well-organized refrigerator for later.. "Mmm.. Have you met her?" Cherry glances over her shoulder at me, looking down at my pink sundress.. "I bet she just looooved your cute ass.."

"I did meet her.." I shuffle on my feet and pull a confused face, because Amberley is a wild mystery to me.. "But I don't think she loved my ass at all.."

Cherry giggles.. "Girl, you're funny.."

I smile.. "I never thought so before I met River.."

She blinks.. "Really? Why not?"

I shrug.. "I never really made anybody laugh before.. I never really-- spoke much.. But he believed in me.. I think he is crazy, but it makes me feel better.. Maybe that's why?"

Her brows soften and her eyes twinkle as she stares at me, stunned.. "Awe, Lilly! That's really-- sweet.. And honest.. I don't think I've met anybody who would just say what they feel like that.."

"Sorry." My face flushes hotly as I look down at the white sneakers on my feet.. "I talk too much."

"No, don't be ridiculous! I asked the question." She steps in closer to me and I can smell peaches as she gives my arm a soft squeeze.. "And I'm glad that you and River are gettin' along so well-- for the baby, o'course.. And 'cause he's like a brother to me, really.. I guess when he told me about you I was worried you were going to be-- much the same as Amberley.."

I wrinkle my nose, unable to imagine being anything like Amberley.. She is exactly the kind of girl who I'd always felt so intimidated by.."I am not."

She laughs.. "Thank Christ! Anyway, all I'm sayin' is its nice to know that you're in it because you care, not because you're usin' him.. He's had too many tramps take advantage of him if you ask me."

"You're a good friend.. To care so much." I smile,wondering what she is talking about.. Who are the 'tramps'?

She winks.. "We're just friends, I can promise you that.."

"I--I don't understand?" I fumble nervously, falling behind in processing her vague expressions..

She frowns, pulling herself up.. "Oh.. It's just that.. You know he has-- um--been around the block, so to speak.."

"What block?"

She scrunches her nose.. "Shite.. Um.. I just mean-- River is a popular guy.. He knows a lot of people.. A lot of women.."

I stare at her, a little annoyed, starting to see what she is saying.. "A lot?"

She shifts Lovey in her little arms.. "Forget I said anythin'-- It doesn't mean he is still.. I'm sure he isn't.."

"Why should it matter?" I can't keep the confusion from conflicting my voice, my question a weak warble..

I hand her the baby bottle and she takes it from my hand with an apologetic smile.
"It shouldn't.. It doesn't."

"River is mine." I say surely.. That is the one thing I do know.. He told me so..
He wouldn't say that if he was still going around 'the block' like Cherry said..

Her mouth falls open and her lashes flutter.. "O'kay! Damn girl, you don't exactly put out 'dominatrix' vibes, but I'm starting to see why River is falling all over you.. You've got this like doe-eyed 'holy mother' thing going on.."

My cheeks heat when she calls me a 'holy mother'.. It sounds kind of nice.. Like a compliment.. Though I can't quite be sure.. "Um.. Dominatrix?"

Cherry squints at me.. Now I have confused her.. "Aren't you his Mistress? Or is it-- somethin' else?"

"I don't know.." I mumble.. "I think something else.."

"Lord, I'm bein' so nosy! Forgive me, Lilly.. I'm just going to stop talkin' before I put my foot any more in my mouth!" She grabs my hand and pulls my back out of the kitchen and into the living room..

"Lilly? Ye' alrite'?" River rises to his feet as I walk in the room, his searching gaze looking over me and Lovey both as if to check that Cherry didn't do something awful to us..

"Yes, fine." I smile back at him as he moves to join me, linking a comfortable warm arm around my waist..

"Lilly, this is my husband, Killian.." Cherry introduces the surly looking man who sits on the sofa watching a sports game..

Cherry takes a place beside her terrifyingly handsome husband, who looks at Lovey like he wants to hold her but is too smitten by the sight of her in Cherry's arms to ask..

"Hello." I bow my head and Killian smiles, leaning forward to offer his hand, the word KILL is tattooes acorss the backs of his knuckles..

I accept his greeting, taking his hand with a small, respectful bow.. Killian is a gruff man, but very good looking, with shiny dark brown hair, stormy grey eyes and navy blue tattoos on his hands and neck.. "I've heard good things about you, Lilly."

"I have heard nothing about you." I reply honestly and Cherry chuckles.l to herself beside him..

At least she seems to think I am funny..
Though I don't mean to be..

"There's not much to hear.. Not like this guy--" Killian hitches a thumb towards River and I giggle..

The Tiger rolls his eyes at his buddy.. "Kiss-ass."

"So, Lilly, where is River taking you today? Somewhere nice I hope?" Cherry interjects, smiling at both of us..

"Oh.. To visit his father." I wrap link my arm through River's, looking up at his pained expression..

The Tiger becomes antsy as he pulls me a little closer to his side and under the hypnosis of that clean soapy scent.. "Aye, apparently we're doin' that, so we better get goin'.."

The couple on the sofa share a funny look with each other before they turn back to us.. Killian glares at River in irritation and Cherry smiles nervously at me.. "Oh.. Uhm.. That's sounds like-- a fun day out.. You two, have a nice time-- I s'poze-- and don't you worry about Lovey, we'll look after her!"