Stay out of it

"If you say Barley Brothers, I will gut you," Rhys sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose rather annoyed. The Kaine family was pretty well known in the underbelly of the city, perhaps even higher up as Rhys had helped pay off cops more than once. He took a step to the side, letting them come in, "kitchen all of you," he said through gritted teeth. He scratched his scalp, sighing in annoyance. He kept an eye on them, locking his door as he made sure nobody else was coming up the stairs. He went in to the living room, grabbing his clothes as he looked to Emily. He wasn't sure it was a good idea that she was here right now, but he also couldn't just send her out.
"Work related .. Sorry .. Please stay put," he pulled his shirt over his head as he looked to her. "Don't take shit from any of them, alright," he told her, his eyes already a bit distant as he was stepping in to his work role.

“Fine, then I wont say it.” He said, though it wasnt for the comedic sense, but more the fact that he didnt want to get gutted right now. They were let in and Emily got into her clothes, though she was unsure what to do. The cat hissed from the sink and jumped down to run right into the pillow fort where it would hide in any place between the pillows that was big enough to hide it away.
The guy who had been speaking grabbed some paper towels and ripped off a few pieces that he smacked on the guy’s head. “Idiot.” He told him, grabbing his hand to make him hold the crumbled up paper himself. Emily hummed and nodded, but it was easy to see that there was a change in Rhys. She didnt comment on it but it made her a little more aware of her surroundings.
The guy then went to the livingroom, frowning a little at the sight of Emily, greeting her maybe a little awkwardly and confused, but then he focused and pulled out his phone to show a message. It was cryptic but Rhys would get it. “We got the wrong guy.” He said, just to make things worse.

Rhys reached down, cupping her face, his eyes softening briefly as the moment they had together was fleeting. He helped her up, nodding at her before he moved out to the kitchen. Scoffing, he shook his head, "I can't even have my weekend off without you imbeciles fucking it up," his words were harsh, but it seemed like it made them listen.
"I could've sworn it was him!" One of them barged in, trying to defend himself, but one look from Rhys and he quieted down, shivering with fear. "Alright, we can't stay here forever; and I refuse to move again because you sons of bitches couldn't hide your tracks," he hissed, his words pure venom, "we didn't mean to!" Another objected, but Rhys had had enough. Grabbing the guy by the throat who started gasping for air. "I said, no excuses," he hissed angrily, dropping the guy on the floor making him squabble to get back on his feet.
Rhys paced a bit back and forth, making up a plan for how they could get out. The fire escape seemed like the best option.

Emily didnt want to follow. It wasnt her business to meddle in, so she would let him do his thing. Though it didnt sound good at all. While one tried to defend them, none of them could say that they had done well. But what could you expect from a couple of goons? The most reasonable of them, a young guy, Jason, probably far too young to be a part of something like this had his arms lightly crossed. “Todd needs to stay and heal. They hit him hard, he must have a shit bunch of brain fog going on right now.” He pointed out as Rhys had thought out their means to escape. But would that solve the issue. “We need you to come with. Or this shit will blow up to one big fucking mess. We really fucked this one up.” Jason argued, even if Rhys was intimidating and scary. He had the gut to speak up.

Rhys sighed, looking back to the living room where Emily still was. He couldn't just leave this place without her, especially not if some of those thugs came looking for him. They had really fucked this up, but he suddenly frowned, realizing the amount of goons in here, counting them in his head. Yup, one was missing from this usual squad. "Wait where's ...?" however he didn't get to finish his sentence as he heard steps coming up the stairs. He grit his teeth, moving in to the living room, grabbing the cat crate that he forced the poor cat into before looking at Emily, "we need to get out of here .. Grab your stuff and follow me closely, alright?" He was as serious as he could be, "Jason, take Emily to safety along with the cat .. I'll hold them back as you guys get out .. Get to the safe house, and if I find that any of you have so much as looked at her wrong I'll personally string you from your heals and watch as you bleed out: Is that understood?" Looking around at the goons with a warning gaze.

Jason knew that one was missing but they could only have left him behind in any scenario of them making it out of there whole. Well, Todd was a few braincells wiser but he probably wouldnt need them anyway! Emily frowned as Rhys came in, to then watch him take the cat, that was quite unhappy with being put in the crate, hissing and screaming in dismay. Emily had so many questions but believe she’d get no answers, so she just did as told. Jason scoffed and frowned. “I’m a thug not a bodyguard.” The young man argued, but it wasnt like he could go up against Rhys’ words, so he would quickly fold under any pressure. “Aight, I’ll take care of her and the cat. Damn.” He said, lifting his hands in surrender before taking the cat crate. He looked at Emily for a second with an unsure gaze but then again, Rhys wanted her protected so that was what she would get.

Rhys took a second to look at Emily. He wanted to comfort her, hold her close and be gentle with her. But there was no time for it. Instead he reached down, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. It was all he could muster under these circumstances. "He'll keep you safe," he said. Part of him wanted to tell her that he cared for her greatly, but they had to get going. "Todd, stay here with me - you can't go far in this condition anyways," making the hurt goon nod. The one that had been carrying him, Isaac, went with Jason and Emily. Isaac got the window open, crawling out to take the crate from Jason and then help Emily out on the fire escape as well. Rhys cracked his knuckles a few times, looking back to see Emily get out of here before the door was broken in.
Four large guys entered, one of them clearly the leader but he seemed surprised to find the hybrid here. "Mister Kaine .. Odd coincidence," he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked around. "Walder Barley himself, I'm quite impressed," Rhys said, looking to the other goons who seemed ready to beat his skull in.

She felt a little speechless in what was going on right now. And she really didnt believe that the kid could really keep her safe. Jason left after Emily just to be sure that she would go, though it seemed that she changed her mind halfway. “What if he needs help?” She argued, which made Jason scoff. “Kaine is the best we got, so I doubt it.” He said. “Besides, a girl like you can do what, exactly?” He pointed out. Emily frowned. She was pretty sure she could withstand more than he could. Once they were down, Jason wasnt too sure where to go, but he decided on taking her to the safehouse that they should have gone to, to begin with. Whether that was a good idea, time would show.

Rhys grit his teeth, looking at the goons, "I don't appreciate your men ruining my business," Walder sneered, stomping his cane in to the floor, making the goons surround Rhys and Todd. "And I don't appreciate intruders in my home," the hybrid said. A fight broke loose, Todd trying to fight, but his injuries meant he was soon tossed to the side either unconscious or dead. Rhys was strong, he was smart, but he knew he couldn't fight them all alone. However he was willing to buy Emily some time to get to the safehouse. He couldn't risk her getting hurt.
He managed to knock one down before another grabbed a hold of his arms, twisting them back and making him fall to his knees. He was not the strongest of the bunch, but he didn't have to be. Taking a firm beating as the guy kept him in place, it didn't take long before blood started dripping from different broken areas on his face. It was as if his body suddenly did things on its own. His eyes darkened, turning black as an eerie feeling spread in the apartment. The fear he was producing was strong, Walder needing to step back, clutching his cane. The two goons that had tried to keep him down loosened their grip, making Rhys break free. He reached Walder in seconds, bashing his head against the doorframe, blood spilling down on the floor and on the hybrid's hands.

Rhys turned, his eyes still dark as he inspected the remaining goons in the room. "I'm not done," his voice cold and distant, it didn't sound like Rhys anymore, that much was sure.

In the other end of town the three plus the cat in the crate had made it to the safehouse. Being let in, people looked a little confused at the female, but it seemed as if they went on pretty quickly. A girl came running, wrapping her arms around Jason, pulling him in for a hug, "you made it," she said in relief. She had been with them when things had turned south and had went straight here. Releasing him she looked to Isaac, nodding at him and seemingly searching. "Where's Todd?" she asked, her blonde hair a little wild on top of her head. She looked about the same age as Jason, or maybe a few years older but not by much.

Jason didnt like that this new girl would know of the safehouse but he also didnt want to get skinned by Rhys because he let her go. So even if she didnt want to go, he’d make her, saying that it was his neck on the line, which she seemed to react weirdly to. It was just a saying? He was a bit surprised to be greeted by a hug but it was also just so typical that he didnt fight it. “Barely.” He muttered. He noticed how she looked around and the question made a frown appear on his brows. “He didnt watch out. Got whacked, right on his head. He’s with Rhys. But we were followed.” He said before he looked to Emily who stood by the cat carrier, checking on the angry cat inside that still hissed. “Brought this girl along. Yo Emily!” He called for Emily and as she reacted, he was sure that was her name. Thank fuck he didnt say some random girl name. “She was with Rhys. Guess she’s a hookup, a girlfriend or something.”

The girl frowned, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Emily, leaning in closer to Jason, "I thought he was still doing that on-and-off again thing with Elaine?" trying to keep her voice down. This other girl, Emily, didn't really look like one that Rhys would usually go for. Although, she wouldn't really know what his preference was if she was being honest. "Hi there," trying to be friendly, seeing as it was someone Rhys seemingly cared about. She got closer, looking at the cat carrier, "what do you got there?" she asked curiously before it seemingly dawned on her that she hadn't introduced herself properly. "I'm Nyx," she smiled.

An alley cat and a strange girl. Wow, Rhys really knew how to pick them, huh? Nyx shook her head, but then Emily asked something that made her frown. Tilting her head, a smile crept on her face, "aren't you a little bit too animate for a dead girl?" It could've sounded threatening, but she kept it light. Looking down she looked into the crate, seeing the cat hiss made her chuckle, "well I guess if my brother wants you to have a place here, we'll figure something out." She got up, nodding for Emily to follow as she would lead her further in to the safehouse, finding a room where the cat could be let out and given some food and water. Nyx didn't interact with the cat, simply stood back and watched it carefully.

Nyx crossed her arms, looking at the cat and then Emily as she asked a very valid question. "What part of it?" She asked before sighing softly, shaking her head a little. She was being protective right now, but she also felt like she had the right to it. "Well things go wrong all the time, that's why we have safe houses," she hummed, thinking about it a little in depth before shrugging, "but he's never brought a girl around - or a cat." Chuckling softly as she seemed to find that rather entertaining.

Listening to her she wondered what it was about her that Rhys had found interesting. She wasn't some great beauty, and she didn't really look like a model or something else. Besides that she was dressed way too casual. But then again the hybrid was a bit of a mystery sometimes. However as Jason was referred to as a kid it made her giggle softly, her face softening up a bit. "Trust me he's not a kid," she shook her head before taking a few deep breaths. She wanted to be serious as Emily spoke about where she would fit in. "Well if Rhys gave the order then you gotta stay until he returns," she said, "you don't want Jason to get in to trouble? Because I don't think Rhys would appreciate him losing his girl."

"I don't think anybody likes waiting," she reminded her, sending her a more friendly smile. Alright, this Emily girl was growing on her. "If you want to you can come stay in my room? The cat too?" she suggested tilting her head as she watched how the cat was finishing the large bowl of food. She couldn't believe Rhys had a pet and hadn't told her. If Emily hesitated she would sigh, "if you're important to my brother, you're important to me," she said.

Nyx looked at the cat for a while, considering how they might capture it, but then a thought occurred. Placing a treat inside the carrier, she stood back, waiting for the cat to try and retrieve it. It worked, making her shut the door much to the cat's displeasure as it started screaming and hissing again. Lifting the carrier up, she noticed how the girl had spaced out, waving a hand in front of her face, "yo, Gambion to Emily," she said, trying to make her snap out of it. Frowning she nodded for her to follow. They could talk more freely in her room.
Moving through the safehouse it was quite big, but also somehow in a state where they could just up and leave any time. Opening the door to her room she let Emily in first - she needed to be on her best behavior if this was truly Rhys' girlfriend. Nyx placed the crate down, hearing the displeased mewls from within. She sighed, closing the door before opening the crate once it was safe, the cat running out as fast as it could to hide under her big bed. "Alright, we can talk freely in here," she told her, moving over to sit on her bed, crossing one leg over the other. Nyx was rather pretty, but she didn't really seemingly care much for her looks. "So .. What are your intentions with my brother?"

Sitting on the bed she just watched Emily carefully. Nyx was nosy, especially when it came to Rhys, but she had never seen him bring someone to safety like this. He must've really cared for her. The girl decided to speak and Nyx listened, humming softly as she nodded. "Do you like him?" she asked, "and would you be able to care for him when he can't care for himself?" Nyx didn't want to worry Emily, but some things she just had to ask. Intentions were one thing, but it seemed that the crush had perhaps evolved a little.