As Niké reached the main part of the city, everything seemed much more alive, people were out, some seemed on their way to work and some on their way home, some seemed to be on their way to the club with their friends, laughing and talking loudly with each other while dressed up nicely. The dark streets were lit up by street lights and neon signs on different buildings. The city almost seemed more alive now during the night than during the day.

He pulled the hood on his shirt up as he walked a bit faster, he didn't think he'd run into anyone from The Rebels, or anyone else who might want to hurt him, but he wanted to play it safe. Niké put his hands in his pockets as he realized one problem. He needed to use a payphone to call his supervisor but he didn't have any money on him, just great.

Knowing what he had to do, he glanced around a bit, observing the people walking down the street towards him. He’d have to pickpocket some money, it wasn't harder than that, but he didn't like it one bit. Since this might be his only time alone in a while though, he wasn't left with much of a choice.

Niké found his target not long after, a drunk guy out with his, presumably, girlfriend who was equally if not more drunk. It was perfect since he hadn't pickpocketed anyone in a long time and would probably not be as good as he once used to be.

Once closer to them he pretended to look to the side and just a few steps after that he bumped into the man, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jacket and finding what he was looking for before pulling it back out again just as quickly.

“Shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there. We're good though, right?” He offered the drunk man a friendly smile and luckily for him the man didn't get hostile, instead he assured him that it was alright while his girlfriend glared at Niké.

They both continued in opposite directions, the pair going God knows where, while Niké continued towards the payphone that he'd set his mind on. He looked down into his hands, the coins he'd manage to steal would be plenty enough. Honestly he was surprised things had gone that smoothly but he wasn't going to complain.

Upon finally reaching the payphone he yawned softly, he’d been sleeping worse the past few days, worse than how he usually slept. Niké put in a few coins before typing in the number and leaning against a wall as he held the phone up to his healthy ear.

“Pick up…” he muttered quietly after a few signals without an answer, it was the middle of the night but it was also his one chance to talk to his supervisor.

No answer.

Niké cursed silently under his breath as it went to voicemail. It was better than nothing but it also wasn't what he'd hoped for.

“Hey, it's Niké, I'm not dead, just haven't been able to be alone. The gang was attacked yesterday by The Rebels, I'm fine but there's a few who got badly hurt…” he paused for a second while considering whether or not he should say anything about Theo’s condition. It wouldn't make a difference if he did, right? “So far not much has happened but I expect it to do soon, the gang is moving locations in a few days once we find a better spot.”

He glanced around a bit, he didn't think he'd been followed but he wanted to be sure.

“I was hoping you could check out some names for me? Rachael, former gang member and Fl-” he stopped himself without really knowing why, until now he’d been so set on finding out more about Flynn but after his conversation with Theo it felt wrong to do a background check on her, very wrong for some reason, “Just Racheal is good actually, died a few weeks ago apparently, I want to know how and what happened to cause her death. I guess that's all so I’ll call when I find out more and we’ll see if we can meet up soon, after the attack we’re not supposed to be alone so it's hard to slip away unnoticed, bye,” Niké hung up the phone with a sigh, hopefully the message would get delivered.

Turning around, he started making his way back to the hotel, hoping that the others hadn't noticed him leaving. Just in case he would get a pack of cigarettes on his way back, he was running out again after all and it would be good to have some excuse, even if it was a bad one.

((Sorry for disappearing a few days, mental health been kinda shitty. Feel free to skip to the next morning if you'd like))

When he passed a convenience store, he slipped in through the door, looking around for a bit, past the shelves and pretending to look at what was on them. It was tempting to get something to eat but he already knew that he didn't even have enough for cigarettes so it was no use even considering it.

As a person paid for their stuff and left the store, Niké walked over to the register, “A pack of Marlboro reds, the long ones,” he told the young guy working the register, offering a slight smile to him before watching him turn around to grab a pack. When the pack was placed in front of him, he lazily dropped the coins onto the desk and grabbed the pack, turning around and starting to leave calmly as he put the pack in his pocket.

“Hey! I gotta count it before you leave!”

Niké glanced over his shoulder and smirked softly, “Don't worry, it's enough.”

It was a total lie, it was far from enough but Niké had already managed to reach the door so he just pushed it open and left, making his way away from the store and pulling his hood up while doing so.

The grey-haired man was well aware that he'd feel guilty about what he'd just done but with all the other guilt he was already struggling with, this was nothing.

As he continued back towards the hotel, he lit one of the cigarettes from the pack Alleya had given him, he still had a couple left and he wouldn't throw them out, even if they were cheap and not what he preferred to smoke.

After walking for a bit, he could make out the hotel in the dark and he put the cigarette out before flicking it to the ground. Soon he would know if he'd managed to do it all in secret or if Taurus and Alleya were waiting for him in the room.

As Niké reached the window, he pulled himself up quietly and crawled back in through the window before looking around the room. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness but when they did, the coast seemed clear, there was no one there. With a sigh of relief, Niké closed the window quietly and sat down on the bed.

Now he could finally get in a few hours of sleep. As the grey-haired man laid down with his head on the old pillow, he was starting to notice how cold the room was, it had already been cold at first but with the window being open while he’d been out, it was even colder. He knew Taurus had warned him about it and as much as he hated to admit it, the man was right.

He groaned softly as he sat back up. Maybe he could just slip out and go sleep in the lobby? They should be asleep so surely they wouldn't hear? The most annoying part would just have to be admitting it to Taurus when they all woke up but since he’d managed to do what he needed then he’d just have to live with it, it was that or freezing for several more hours.

Niké slipped his shoes off and took them in his hand, to make his steps quieter and not wake the other two, before he walked over to the door and opened it as quietly as he could. He left the room and approached the lobby silently when he saw the silhouettes of two people, so they were awake? And they were..? Niké stopped and furrowed his brows in confusion, it looked just as if the two had shared a kiss, or was about to. Either way there was definitely some tension between the two, tension that was telling Niké to go back to the room and freeze for the rest of the night.

He spun around quickly and with quick steps he walked back into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Whatever was going on he wanted no part of it and if things progressed further between those two, he definitely didn't want to be near.

Niké laid back down in the bed, wishing that he’d had a blanket or just about anything but instead he just pulled the zipper on his jacket up and curled into a ball, hoping to get a little warmth and sleep for at least a bit.

Niké shut his eyes tightly, trying his best to drift off to sleep. Taurus and Alleya? He would have never thought that something would happen between those two but it still, it had. Did that mean Alleya had gotten over Theo? He really couldn't tell what was going on in her mind, the only thing he knew was that he'd have to act as if he hadn't seen a thing tomorrow when facing them.

He definitely didn't care that they’d kissed, if they wanted to do something then they were adults and free to do so but he definitely wanted no part of it, hence why he'd left and gone back to the cold room.

Suddenly there was a light knock on the door and within less than a second, Niké had opened his eyes and was sitting up, eyes locked on the door.

"Nike? Are you awake?"

It wasn't until he heard Alleya’s voice that he calmed down slightly. Had she and Taurus seen him see them? Just great…

With a sigh he got out of bed and walked over to the door, as long as they hadn't noticed him leaving then he should be happy if some mild awkwardness was all he needed to deal with. Niké pulled the door open, a small frown on his face.

“What?” The grey-haired man muttered before taking a second to actually look at Alleya. For someone who’d just been kissed she didn't seem too happy.

Niké clenched his jaw a little and pulled the woman with her kitten into the room before shutting the door, maybe a bit harder than necessary. He turned and looked at Alleya quietly for a second before finally speaking, “That kiss, did you want to kiss him or..?”

It didn't take a genius to see that Niké cared for Alleya, even if he did his best to deny it, he did care for her. Not in the way that he might have romantic feelings, he would go insane in a relationship with someone like her, but more in the way that an older sibling cared for a younger one. He didn't like it though, he was a loner by nature, while he didn't mind being with a gang of people, he'd always preferred to keep to himself, never really getting close enough to care for someone else, that way it hurt less when they disappeared or you had to leave them.

“If he did that against your will… It's not okay, alright?” The man’s voice had grown much more gentle now as he was looking at Alleya. He was ready to beat the shit out of Taurus if she wanted him to and that didn't just have to do with the fact that he cared for her but that it wasn't alright to just kiss someone because you wanted to.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

She didn't give him an answer to his question and he wouldn't push her to do so right now. But this situation definitely didn't make him like Taurus more, even if it had just been an innocent little kiss, it was still not okay and he didn't like the fact that the man might just get away with it because next time he could go a step further. When Niké had first met Taurus, the man had seemed polite, a bit soft even, not cut out for this life but apparently there was another side to him too, was this all because Theo had put him in charge and given him some power?

“Yeah, of course,” he said, offering her a brief smile, “It's cold as fuck in here but I haven't seen or felt any bedbugs so that's always something…” he mumbled as he turned and walked back over to the bed.

Niké laid down again, this time laying more to the side to give Alleya and Iris room. The bed wasn't huge but it was big enough for the three of them.

“Look, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to but if he did something that didn't feel okay for you…” he kept his eyes on the ceiling as he spoke, looking at the old paint that had started to crack and fall off, leaving grey patches where there once had been white, “Say the word and I’ll go talk to him… Doesn't have to be now, it could be in a week, a month, whenever…”

Of course, he planned on doing much more than just talking to Taurus, if he didn't have to talk then he preferred not to. He would beat up Taurus, he didn't care what either Theo or the man's sister would say when he did, he would do it and deal with the consequences later.

Niké glanced at Alleya, he still didn't think she was fit for this life but not for the same reasons as he’d done to begin with. She could protect and fend for herself, she'd shown that. She was still young though, she couldn't be much older than what he was, someone like her shouldn't be in a gang, shouldn't have to worry about whether or not she'd get food every day, where to sleep, she shouldn't have to look over her shoulder to keep an eye out for rival gangs. No one should, that was of course the goal, that no one should have to, but Alleya, she was still a kid at heart and if she wanted, she could easily make something of herself.

Niké felt Alleya’s hand on his shoulder and while he didn't exactly like it, he didn't push it away either, he let her keep it there.

"Nothing like that happened. It's just...complicated and confusing. I don't really know what had happened. It just sort of... happened."

He stayed quiet, listening to her and giving a slight nod. It had just happened so it was no wonder she felt confused about the current situation and he wouldn't push her to talk about it either.

"You don't have to worry about me. I've been a big girl for quite some time. But I appreciate the fact that you do."

The grey-haired man gave a slight smile and put his hand on top of hers, “Let's not think more about it now and just sleep but uh… I’m here if you want to talk, or just anything I guess…”

He gently pulled her hand off his shoulder and put it on the bed before giving it a light pat. He was trying his best to handle this situation in a way that he saw fit but he knew that he was probably not doing the best job, comforting people wasn't exactly his strong suit.

All Niké could hope was that he wasn't making things harder or more awkward in any way, although he was probably failing at that too.

“Well uh, goodnight then.. We have two more days ahead of us so you should rest,” he mumbled as he closed his own eyes. He was tired, extremely tired, usually he was able to get some relatively okay sleep every few nights or so but lately it had been hard for him and now with Alleya in the room, it wouldn't be easier so to say.

Others usually slept better with someone else in the room but he didn't, he slept best alone in a room that he could lock the door to. It wasn't that he thought Alleya would do something, he had struggled with it for years and it didn't matter who it was.