“The only thing surprising about this situation is that it didn’t happen sooner,” Charles clapped Victor on the shoulder.

“Yeah. Me too,” Victor laughed, holding up his scotch in a toast.

Lector clinked his soda with their glasses, “Did you decide on a name? What clothes are you going to buy? I can help you childproof your house, Vic.”

“Easy, Lector,” Victor held up his hands, “It’s only been about two months. You’re almost more excited than we are.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but I think kids are great,” Lector nodded, “Boss, aren’t you going to say something.”

Chaos had been in a weird place since Lisa’s run-in with bullets, “I— Congratulations, Vic.”

“Boss, it seems like you have something on your mind,” Victor raised his eyebrows.

“It’s just— I want to be happy for you, Vic. You and Veronica deserve all the happiness in the world,” Chaos furrowed his brow, “Do you need time off? I can keep paying you if you want to go somewhere safer—“

Victor put a hand on Chaos’s shoulder, “Thank you for caring so much about us, boss, but Vero and I are right where we need to be. She’s okay with keeping her eyes and ears on the comms instead of being out in the thick of things for now.”

“And you?” Chaos asked.

“Me?”

“Vic, you almost….”

“I know, boss. This hasn’t bothered you in over a decade, though. Almost two,” Victor guided Chaos to have a seat, “Boss, I understand times are tough for you. Your dad getting out of prison, Lisa getting shot, me almost dying. But, this is the life we chose, boss.”

“Victor, nothing good comes from doing good— being good,” Chaos began.

“If it makes you feel any better, Victor could stay here and push paper,” Charles suggested.

“Charles,” Victor warned, then thought about it, “Maybe I do need a break from the field. I’m not getting any sleep.”

“Do you need some stuff to help you sleep?” Lector asked, rummaging through his bag.

“No, Lector,” Victor whispered to him the rest of what he was going to say.

“Oh… Oh!” Lector’s eyes were wide.

“I’m not a machine, but she’s been working me like I’m one,” Victor laid his head down on the table.

“If that’s what you need, Vic, you got it,” Chaos nodded.

“Why am I not surprised pregnancy made Veronica even more of a horn dog… though I didn’t think it was possible,” Charles stroked his chin, “That’s rough, buddy.”

They all solemnly pat Victor on the shoulder.

—

“Congratulations again, Veronica!” Lisa smiled, passing Veronica a pint of ice cream sitting across from her with her own.

“Thank you, Lisa! I was scared at first,” Veronica took off the lid, “It’s Vic, though, so I don’t know why I was worried.”

“He’s a good guy,” Lisa smiled.

“Well, aside from smoking people and destroying the evidence, he is wonderful,” Veronica smiled, “Speaking of getting smoked, how are YOU doing, Lisa?”

“I still have a bit of a limp, but otherwise, I’m okay,” Lisa smiled, taking a bite of her ice cream.

“The boss has been in a mood since then. He keeps trying to talk me into staying with my aunts in Spain,” Veronica rolled her eyes, “I don’t want to be anywhere but home.”

“I know what you mean. It took me days to convince him that I needed to keep running the shop, and even then, he’d come in and not let me carry anything,” Lisa rolled her eyes but smiled.

“The boss is a great guy. Almost too good to be doing what is in mine and Vic’s blood,” Veronica waved her spoon, “don’t you dare tell him I said that.”

“I won’t. I know it’s a touchy subject for him,” Lisa put her hands up.

“Well, judging by the GPS, someone should be here to get me in the next 5 minutes,” Veronica grimaced, “thank you for letting me come by. They were all making me nuts. Particularly Lector.”

“He’s just trying to be helpful, I’m sure,” Lisa laughed.

“Veronica!” Lector called out, carrying a bag of stuff, “The temperature dropped two degrees, so I brought an extra sweater. I also found those baby headphones and got some soothing music. Are you hungry?”

Veronica gave Lisa side-eye as Lector continued.

“Lector,” Veronica put her hands on his, “I’m okay for now. It’s still pretty hot to me—“

Lector checked Veronica’s temperature, “You are .2 degrees warmer than usual. I have a fan here, and I think this brand of fever reducer is safe, but I still want to triple check with my doctor.”

Veronica rubbed her temples, “I’ll catch you later, Lisa.”

“My door is always open for you,” Lisa waved after Veronica and Lector as Lector offered Veronica a back rub if she had a headache, “He’s too sweet.”

Lisa couldn’t help but smile as she put away the ice cream and continued tending to the shop.

A half-hour later, she heard the door chime.

“Welcome to Charleston Avenue! I’ll be right with you,” Lisa greeted from behind a display.

When she stepped around the corner, she saw the last person she expected to see in her shop.

“Dave?” Lisa asked cautiously.

“Hi, there, Miss Lesura,” Dave tried to sound chipper, “How are you doing?”

“Great! Do you need something, though, Dave? I doubt you’re here to make small talk,” Lisa crossed her arms.

“You’re right,” Dave sighed, then passed Lisa a gun, barrel pointed towards him, “I need you to kill me.”

“Wh-what?” Lisa stammered, unsure if she heard him correctly.

“Miss, I was abducted, and I don’t remember what happened to me, but I’m missing two whole weeks of time. I’m afraid whatever, or wherever I was, they programmed me to do something,” Dave insisted that Lisa take the gun, “I don’t want to hurt my boy anymore. I think the people who took me wanted me to hurt him somehow.”

Lisa pushed the gun away, “So your solution was to come to my shop and request that I kill you?”

Dave began to cry, “Lisa, I messed my boy up. I messed him up real bad. He’s always been super successful, an egghead even before he could even talk. I just— he’s running one of the most successful villain organizations, and it’s my fault.”

“I mean, I’m sure killing your wife certainly didn’t do him any favors,” Lisa was still wary.

Dave started rubbing his ear, “What— is that high-pitched sound?”

“What sound?”

Dave threw Lisa the gun, “Just shoot me!”

“Dave! I’m not going to shoot you!” Lisa shouted.

Dave started walking toward Lisa's hands stuck out, ready to wrap around her neck. She could tell he was struggling against whatever unseen force was moving him. However, he was not strong enough to resist.

Lisa backed away. She was looking for something to knock him unconscious when she bumped into the counter. This gave Dave enough time to close the distance and wrap his hands around Lisa’s throat.

“Shoot me, damn it! I can’t stop,” Dave was shaking.

Lisa was making choking noises as her feet began to dangle. If she didn’t do something, he was definitely going to kill her with how strong he was squeezing.

“Kill me, Lisa! Do it!” Dave pleaded.

Lisa was scratching at his hands, kicking her feet. She could hear Dave screaming at her. Before she lost consciousness, she hit the ground with a thud as Dave crumpled. Lisa sputtered, trying to catch her breath.

“Thank— you,” Dave took his last breath.

Lisa looked at Dave, confused, holding her neck, when she noticed Ben in the doorway.

“Lisa! Are you okay?” Ben knelt next to her.

Lisa looked at Ben in disbelief, “Ben… you just shot Dave.”

“I couldn’t let him kill you, Lisa,” Ben helped her off the floor.

“Oh, I’m grateful for sure. I just can’t wrap my head around my gentle Ben killing a man,” Lisa held his face, “are you going to be okay?”

Ben thought to himself, “Would you look at me with that same concern if you knew your gentle Ben is just an act?”

Ben put on a smile, “Yeah! I’ll be fine!”

“Okay,” Lisa sighed, “I’d hate to ask him, but I need the shop cleaned up now.”

Lisa called Chaos.

“Little flower? What’s wrong?”

“Everything is fine. Just— okay, no, it’s not. Dave got shot in my shop. He’s dead and—“

The line clicked.

“What?” Ben asked.

“He just— hung up on me,” Lisa was confused.

“Little flower!” Chaos rushed passed Ben to hold Lisa, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Charles, Victor, and Lector trotted in to work on clean-up. As Chaos looked Lisa over, he noted bruising around her neck.

“That bastard,” Chaos rounded on Dave's corpse.

“Wait! I can’t believe I’m going to defend him. Still, Dave didn’t do this intentionally,” Lisa grabbed Chaos’s arm before he started stomping Dave's corpse, “he said something about high pitched ringing, then it seemed like something took over his body. He came by to ask me to kill him. He said he didn’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“What?” Chaos turned back to Lisa.

“It’s true. He pleaded with Lisa to kill him before I shot him,” Ben nodded.

“Who would want to push Dave to have me kill him?” Lisa thought, “whoever it was definitely wanted to hurt you, Chaos, but the setup on this is too specific.”

“Little flower?” Chaos was confused, “Disaster has this weird hard-on for turning me into more of a villain, and he’s been actively pushing my buttons here lately.”

“He’s jealous of the attention Lisa’s getting,” Charles muttered.

“He doesn’t have a thing for me, Charles,” Chaos rolled his eyes.

“Right,” Charles grimaced and returned to the clean-up job.

“What do you mean it’s too specific? You sound like there’s more to it,” Chaos questioned.

Lisa sighed, “Ben, Chaos, we need to have a chat.”

—

Lisa waited for Ben and Chaos to get comfortable on the couch in her living area. She paced, their eyes following her.

“Where to begin… Well, I guess let’s start with my grandparents’ identities,” Lisa turned to them, “Chaos, since Lector was the one who returned the revolver to me, you know grandma is Crimson Katherine Lesura.”

“Well, yeah,” Chaos glanced at Ben.

“And Ben, you know my grandfather as Captain Vice because your grandfather, Mr. Wilson, was grandpa’s sidekick,” Lisa looked at Ben.

“Wait, how did you know grandpa is—“

“Please, Ben. Grandma told me everything before she passed. To keep you all clear, I was supposed to seem as if I was oblivious to it all,” Lisa shook her head, “I’m sorry to have deceived you so… I also know someone is guarding me, but I haven’t figured out who. I have a guess, but grandma said don’t dig too deep in her protections over me.”

Ben sighed in relief internally.

“Now that we’ve established that, what I had to wonder about Dave is this,” Lisa explained, “I am grandpa’s legacy as much as grandma’s.”

Lisa finally looked at the two, “Oh! I don’t have superpowers. I don’t think….”

“You don’t think?” They exclaimed.

“I’ve never actually tried,” Lisa shrugged, “that aside, outsiders wouldn’t know that, so some fanatic would love to get their hands on me to run experiments or something.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Ben and Chaos shouted simultaneously.

“You two are so sweet,” Lisa smiled, “On the other hand, there are those who would like to see me on the black market to use me as clout. Grandma would always joke they’d return a Lesura woman before Stockholm syndrome has even mildly sunk in.”

Chaos and Ben glanced at each other and chuckled awkwardly at that comment.

“I thought it was pretty funny, too,” Lisa smiled, “anyway, the last thing is that under no circumstances am I allowed to kill.”

“Um… okay?” Chaos tilted his head to the side.

Ben facepalmed that this was when Chaos decided to be slow to catch on.

“She painted the seas red for miles,” Lisa said gravely, “Grandma didn’t want that for me. She would say, ‘Once killing becomes an option, it doesn’t stop being an option, especially for a Lesura.’”

Chaos sat for a minute, then it hit him, “Just because murder became an occupation for your grandma doesn’t mean….”

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Why take the chance, though?” Lisa shrugged, “I don’t judge because, contrary to popular belief, not everything is black and white. You’d never guess she would have slaughtered whole cities if you knew her towards the end of her life.”

Lisa sighed, “Bosco contributed to my traumatic nightmare fuel, but she kept Bosco as a trophy. It had the remains of Disaster’s father in them.”

“It what?” Chaos shouted.

“Disaster, Inc. orchestrated that bear attack,” Lisa’s smile was strained, “he was trying to provoke grandma out of retirement, and well… he poked the wrong bear.”

Chaos and Ben groaned.

“That— wasn’t intentional,” Lisa snorted but trembled, eyes glistening.

She wiped her eyes, “Anyway, Disaster is assuming that because I’m my grandmother’s granddaughter, I’ll usher in a new age of villainy if I start killing.”

“That sounds pretty far fetched, little flower,” Chaos shook his head, “You’re too—“

“Kind-hearted?” Lisa finished, “Couldn’t you have said the same thing once, Chaos?”

Chaos sat in silence. She was right. Even if he decides to be better, people would still come for his people the way Disaster was subtly trying to resurrect Crimson Kate.

“Little flower— don’t you think involving yourself with me—“ Chaos began.

Lisa grabbed his face and kissed him, “Don’t you dare start that nonsense, Spencer,” she whispered, “All that aside, I don’t want to stop living my life.”

“Lisa, it’s kind of hard not to,” Chaos looked down, turning a shade of red.

Ben rolled his eyes and thought, “It’s a good thing he’s not this shy when they’re doing it. After a certain point, he’s an animal.”

Ben noted Chaos was eyeing him carefully. Ben signaled that he was thinking exactly what Chaos believes he’s thinking with a lewd gesture behind Lisa’s back.

Chaos turned a deeper shade of red. Ben snorted and quickly covered it up as a cough.

“Are you okay, Ben? Do you need a glass of water?” Lisa looked concerned.

“No! No, I’m fine, Lisa,” Ben regained his composure.

Chaos thought for a long moment. Something seemed odd about how casual Lisa was at the convention and how she’s fearless in life or death situations. If killing isn’t an option…

“Has she learned to accept that she can die at literally any moment? Was she groomed to accept something like that?” Chaos shuddered because he knew what someone had to go through to get somewhere near that point, “Or is that innate because of who she is? I thought she had no concept of danger, but is my dangerous little flower actually dangerous?”

“Chaos? Are you okay?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” Chaos smiled at Lisa.

Even though his thoughts still ate at the back of his mind, this knowledge gave him a weird sense of relief. One he hadn’t felt since the incident in the warehouse. Lector was right. The dangerous little flower is strong in her way.

Chaos gave Ben a look, and Ben smirked, “Well, Lisa. I think you and Chaos have this under control. I’ll keep an eye on the work they’re doing in the shop and run it for a bit when they finish.”

“Oh! Ben, you don’t have to do that,” Lisa looked concerned.

“Oh, Lisa, I think I do,” Ben waved as he exited to the stairs.

Lisa tilted her head to the side, confused. Then it hit her. She smirked and turned around before Chaos finished saying, “Come here, little flower.”