AJ walked cheerfully into the Kings' headquarters.  She was surprised to see that Rex wasn't in the lobby, in his uncanny way of knowing when she was coming to visit.  Everyone seemed to be in a tense mood.  She just walked past them quickly to the back room to find that one of the Kings members was singing a soft, sad song on the stage.  The King was sitting in his usual spot, petting his cyberdog solemly.

  She approached him quietly, and sat down in the chair facing him.  "King, what's happened?"

  He sighed heavily and looked up at her with his endless blue eyes.  "There's been two murders, Anna-Jean."

  Her green eyes widened in shock.  She gasped slightly, and put her hand over his.  "Who?"

  "My girls," He replied.  He rubbed his forehead and took a deep ( )eath.  "Well, the Kings' girls.  Someone just came in and shot them down.  No one saw or heard a thing."

  AJ scooted her chair a little closer to him and held his hand tighter.  Her eyes were starting to water.  "I'm so sorry," she whispered.  "I can't even imagine who would do such a thing - they were so nice."  She offered a hug and he took it.  "Did anything else happen?  Property damage, theft?"

  "They were the only things taken," he replied.  "Whoever did it was flawless."  He rubbed his forehead again in frustration.  He looked up at her in a flash of realization.  "Has anyone...unusual come after you?"

  She raised an eyebrow.  "I fight Fiends, Ghouls, and mutated wildlife all day, I don't know what you mean."

  He smiled a little bit.  "Has anyone come out of the blue and tried to kill you?  Anyone who hasn't been hyped up on chems or radiation?"

  "Besides legionary assassins, no."  AJ paused.  "Do you think someone's trying to send you a message?"

  "I don't know, baby, but I'm glad you're safe.  I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."  Her took her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes.

  She felt her cheeks blaze under her freckles.  She'd been out in the Mojave for two weeks straight, and she was pretty badly sunburnt.  Her skin stung from her blushing and she winced...which made it hurt more.

  He reached across the table and took her face in his hands, looking at her carefully in the dim light.  "Anna-Jean, when will you learn not to stay in the sun for so long? You're going to be the death of me."

 She sighed wistfully.  "We have more to worry about than my sunburn.  Can we head up to their room? I want to help."

  "Well the bodies aren't there anymore-"

  "There are still clues," she said, standing up.  "It's no use moping down here in the dark when you could be doing something about it."  She held out a hand to him.

  The King chuckled softly.  "You could get me to do anything with those eyes of yours."

  She pulled him out of his seat and they headed upstairs, their dog Rex in tow.

  .:.

  "Well whoever did it was fearless, I can tell you that," AJ said after looking over the floor.  "Two bullets, two girls, two shells."  She held up the shells for The King to inspect.  "They're .22's, I don't know who would even bother using them," she scowled.  She walked around the room again, the gears in her mind whirring.  "Since it wasn't a sniper rifle, we know they were close...you said none of the guys saw anyone unusual?"

  He stood there, watching her solemly, with his arms folded over his chest.  "I was sitting in my room, AJ, I saw them go down. I didn't see a soul out of place."

  Her eyes widened.  "Rex was here with you, and he didn't sense anyone?"

  The King shook his head.  "Not a sound out of him.  Even if someone were using a Stealth Boy, my boy'd know it."

  Rex was laying on the floor in the next room, The King's room, and he thumped his tail lazily on the carpet at the mention of his name.  AJ walked over to Rex in the other room and rubbed his head.  "You didn't see anyone, Rexie?"

  The cyberdog exhaled gruffly.  It looked like he'd had enough of these questions since the murders had happened.  He didn't know what had happened.  He might've been half robot, but he was still just a dog.

  AJ knelt down and rubbed his fur.  "I'm sorry, it's been a long day, hasn't it?"  He wagged his tail and rolled over on his back for her to rub his belly.  She soon forgot that she was investigating a double homicide and played with a 200 year old robot dog instead.

  The King leaned on the doorframe between his room and the room of the two deceased young women.  He just watched AJ for a long time, suddenly in her own little world with Rex.  It was like looking back at a simpler life before she became a courier and all of this had been set in motion.

  She looked up at him suddenly.  "Would anyone at the White Glove Society be out to get you?"

  The King stared at her, confused.  "What?"

  "That Mortimer fellow sent an assassin after me, he had a silenced .22.  I think that holdout guy sells them on the Strip, too..."  She scowled.  "I'll try to figure this out for you.  For the Kings.  For the girls."

  "Anna-Jean, why is everyone always trying to kill you?"

  She only smiled and sat down on his bed.  "Maybe because I stand up for what I believe?"

  He sat next to her on the bed and wrapped his arm around her in a hug.  "To think that the most impressive Kings member is actually a Queen."

.:.

  She didn't realize that she'd been followed out of the building until Pacer pushed her up against one of the brick walls.  "I have my eye on you," he said.

  AJ rolled her eyes.  "What is it now? Mad that I saved Rex's life?"

  "I know you're playing goodie-two-shoes around the King - I know you didn't like those girls.  I've always had a bad feeling about you."

  She pushed him away, standing tall, green eyes blazing.  "Pacer, don't you dare accuse me of such a thing, I would never do the Kings any wrong," she replied harshly.  She felt her hand tighten into a fist.

  "I've seen you in action.  You're not the angel of the wasteland that the King thinks you are."

  She glared at the King's right-hand man.  "I can't believe after all the times I've saved your sorry hide you're still convinced that I'm out to destroy Vegas."

  "All I'm saying is that you have the motive and the means, Anna-Jean-"

  She clocked Pacer square in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards onto the pavement.  "No one but the King can call me that."  She watched him get back to his senses, rubbing his jaw. He spit out blood on the concrete.  "I can tell you right now that that's the worst I've ever done to anyone the King is close to."  She stormed off down the dilapidated street, towards the Strip gate.  

  She had no regrets.