Devil

Nebraska strutted into the Warehouse at midnight with all of the confidence that she could muster. It had been nearly a month now since she had last set foot in here, and she felt like she was out of sync with the club.

Luckily, the club didn't feel that way at all. In an hour, she'd made nearly £7000. It was like they were waiting for her to get there.

Max slid her a drink, a gin and tonic this time, and she took a sip, giving him an appreciative nod. She wondered where Finn was, and suspected that he was probably out causing some sort of trouble. Boys always were.

"Did you hear the song?" a familiar voice asked, followed by the squeaking of the stool next to her. She turned from looking at the glass backing behind the bar, to see his smug face.

"Yes."

"And?"

"Cherry Cola? How presumptuous." He gave her the custom grin, and she scoffed. "It wasn't a good thing."

"You loved it." Nebraska moved closer to him, resting her hand lightly on his thigh as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Prove it." He wanted to take her on the bar. Both of them were so caught up that they failed to notice Max making a note, and stashing it in a drawer next to the alcohol.

"Dance with me." His words were practically a groan.

"We already did that."

"So let's do it again."

Nebraska pulled away and looked at him, biting her bottom lip in thought. Surely the bar could survive without her for a few minutes?

Making a split-second decision, she pulled Danny's hand and led him in the middle of the crowd. His hands were everywhere again, and she felt chills every place he touched. Seizing an opportunity, he subtly shoved his way through the crowd until they reached the edge of the building, an ugly dark gray wall.

He quickly turned her around, pressing his lips to hers, and invading her mouth with his tongue. He entangled his fingers in her short hair, and she grabbed onto his lower back, both of them reveling in finally being able to taste the other.

The music faded away into the background as they kissed, and nearly everything else went with it. A loud crash finally separated the two, breathing heavily in the direction of the noise.

"Shit," Nebraska muttered, leaving the wall to go investigate. It was her part of the bar that looked to be in turmoil, after all. Before she could leave, Danny grabbed her arm, kissing her one last time. With her disappearing problems, he didn't know if it would be the last time.

The two finally, reluctantly parted as more noise could be heard at the bar. She was tempted to kiss him one more time, but refrained, heading into the back without saying anything.
--
The first thing she noticed was the broken shards of glass that covered the floor. The second was Finn, standing above a bloody man, with a closed fist.

"Finn!" she hissed, walking over to where he was standing. "What the fuck did you do?"

He looked at her without saying anything, just radiating anger. Nebraska looked down at the man on the floor, taking a moment to realise that it was Caleb, a wealthy but notoriously misogynistic frequenter. There'd been issues in the past of him groping the girls, with little punishment inflicted. The last was Michelle, Finn's cousin.

Though he was already on the ground, she gave him a kick in the stomach for daring to show up so soon after assaulting the poor girl. Finn still stood there, as if dumbstruck by what he had done. Nebraska made a motion to Max, who called Francis and helped haul Caleb out to the back alley. She gave Finn a little shove, pulling him along.

Once they were out the door, Finn recovered his senses. He stormed into the alley, grabbing the crowbar stashed behind the trash bin, and beat Caleb senseless. Nebraska couldn't help but feel a sick satisfaction from watching. She'd often wanted to do the same, but the Kid refused to address it, leaving it up to his 'handler', Zoe, to take care of. As his first victim, and the recipient of the worst assault so far in his line up, Zoe had first dibs on punishing him. She gave permission for others take over as need be, but none of it mattered. He just kept coming back.

Finn finally threw the crowbar down, not bothering to clean up. Francis and Max had long since walked back, figuring that leaving Caleb in the alley was the most humane thing to do.
He started walking out of the alley, his long black shirt speckled with blood, but Nebraska stood in his way.

"Let's see," she demanded, holding out her hand for his.

His palms were red and bloody from clutching the crowbar so tight and hitting Caleb with the glass. She led him back into the club and into the Kid's office, where she bandaged him up. She hadn't had a chance to look for Danny, but she suspected that he had already left.

"You didn't have to," he said instead of 'thank you', examining his hands. One had definitely gotten the worst of it.

"I'm sorry about Michelle."

"Thanks."

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"About what I said," Finn began after a moment. "You could find someone better."

Nebraska looked up at him, searching his eyes for sincerity. She didn't find any.

"You'll draw unnecessary attention to yourself," he continued. "Find someone in our world if you're that desperate."

The nearly sweet air had disappeared. Nebraska stood up, ready to leave rather than explain herself to a man that had just attacked another with a glass half-full of gin and tonic.

" 'Our' world is too narrow. You should know that, since you don't heed your own advice." She walked out the office, weaving her way through drunk and high club goers to leave. She could pick up her money later.