"I said I need those reports yesterday." Luke said, pounding his fist on his desk. "So why the fuck is this tray still empty?"

Marco watched the two men seated across from Luke squirm. He almost felt sorry for them, Luke had been in a foul mood all week and every hour of every day, it grew more and more black. It was bad luck that they'd been the last ones to get here but that was still no excuse for them not completing the work.

"It'll be on your desk first thing tomorrow." One of the men said, trying to control his voice.

"If it's not, I'll be taking you ear instead." Luke growled. "Now get the fuck out of my office."

The two man scrambled to stand and practically flew out of the office, not bothering to close the door behind them. Marco reached over, pushing the door until it clicked, calm as could be and his eyes never leaving Luke.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Did I say something?" Marco replied.

"You don't have to. I can feel it." Luke said, sitting back in the chair and loosening his tie.

"You've been working late all week, just go home and rest." Marco said, noting that again it was after 8.

"Was that an order?" Luke asked and Marco sighed.

"No, it was just a comment. Calm down, I'm on your side, remember?" Marco said.

"It doesn't seem like it sometimes." Luke said, picking up his phone and then tossing it aside.

"She's not going to text you." Marco said. "I already told you to just give in and message her. She's too shy for that."

"I should text her? She's the one that wanted me out of her life, I'm doing what she asked." Luke said. "A man can only take so much."

"Things were going well, Luke. She just needed time and patience." Marco said but Luke shrugged.

"I honestly don't give a fuck anymore." Luke replied, running his hands through his hair.

"Right." Marco said with a nod, obviously not buying it. "Listen, why don't we go grab a drink?"

"Yeah, Okay. I could use the distraction." He said. "You buy."

They hit a bar not far from Luke's house- one of the regulars where everyone knew exactly who Luke was how he liked to be served. He hadn't been at the bar even a full minute when a waiter approached their table and a couple of girls were making themselves comfortable.

"Hey Luke, long time no see."

"Hello Grace." Luke said with a sigh. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Grace tonight. She was a beautiful woman, smartly dressed and usually able to make Luke forget all his concerns but for some reason, he just couldn't see anything past the fake smile.

"What are we drinking tonight?" Grace asked, turning to signal for the waiter.

"We already ordered out drinks." Marco said, reading Luke's body language.

"So buy me one..." She said, reaching out and placing a hand at Luke's lapel, smoothing it out.

Echo didn't know what to expect when she stepped into the bar. From the outside, it looked like some dead end, biker bar but as soon as she stepped in she was surprised to find polished fixtures and clean tables. It was actually as elegant as a hotel bar in the nice part of the city. She couldn't believe she was here, couldn't believe she'd jumped in her car, driven for two hours and then ended up here.

She was on her way to Luke's house when luck, or fate, stepped in and she spotted Luke and Marco entering this place. She'd almost turned around and gone home, actually sat in the parking lot for about 20 minutes, trying to decide what to do. She didn't belong here, she shouldn't be here and the more she realized what kind of town this was, the more out of place she felt. So what in the world had possessed her to come in? She couldn't explain it but what she needed now was to find Luke so she could get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

If she felt out of place sitting in the parking lot, she certainly felt out of place now. Some of the women walking around were absolutely gorgeous... like that one that was sitting at the table straight ahead. It was like being in a room full of Romys... except that Romy was definitely prettier than most of these women.

She continued to watch the woman across the bar, noting her shoes and her dress... the bright red nail polish that contrasted brightly against the man's black lapel... then her eyes shot up and she froze.

Luke couldn't believe it. It was her. Of course it was her- those clothes. She was wearing those ridiculous jeans and sweatshirt. He stared, completely frozen in place for a second as he tried to process it. She was actually here, standing and staring at him from across the bar. Without saying anything to anyone at the table, he stood, nearly knocking Grace over as he did, and moved directly and quickly towards Echo.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, noting how shocked she looked. Echo didn't say anything, instead she glanced at the ground for a second, trying to find words.

"I... think I should leave." She said, noting as the pretty woman was walking in their direction now.

"What do mean? You can't just show up out of nowhere and then run out without saying anything?" He said, feeling as Grace's hand suddenly snaked onto his arm.

"You lost, honey?" Grace asked, a nasty smile and subsequent chuckle escaping her lips as she eyed Echo's clothes.

"I..." Echo began to say but Luke shook off Grace's hand from his arm and reached out for Echo's hand, pulling her to him.

"Actually, She's here with me." He said, moving his hand to Echo's waist and guiding her back to the table. Echo walked with him, completely overwhelmed by the whole scene, unsure what to do or say.

"Wow, Echo Reid- where did you come from?" Marco asked as he saw Luke walking back with her. "Oh god, what are you wearing?"

Luke laughed as he helped Echo into the booth and then scooted in beside her.

"I know, it's ridiculous." He said, turning to Echo. "You have a lot to learn, sweetheart."

Echo turned at looked at Luke who was smiling as he took a sip of his drink, then she glanced at Marco... then back.

"So?" Luke asked, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"I think I need a drink." was all Echo managed to mutter. 

---

"Seriously?" Nadia stared at Grace, confused. "Do you know what time it is?"

"It's not that late." Grace said, pushing past Nadia and letting herself into her kitchen. "Jesus, only you would be in bed at 9:30."

Nadia took a deep breath. Patience, Nadia, just be patient.

"You know that I work early." Nadia said, closing the door and moving towards her. It was true, Nadia was up at 4:30 AM every morning. She kept early hours and loved it- it meant she got a lot of time to herself before anyone else was around and it also meant she was done with work early enough to enjoy most of the day. Sure, taking first shift at the clinic meant she wasn't getting paid as much as the night nurses, but that was fine with her. It wasn't about the money to her anyway, after all, she was the don's cousin. 

"I don't know why you don't demand better hours. You know they would give you any schedule you asked for." Grace said but Nadia shook her head. 

"You know I don't like to throw Luke's name around." Nadia said. Not that she needed to throw Luke's name around, everyone pretty much knew. "So what happened?"

"Why did something need to happen?" Grace asked. 

"Because you're here and I'm not in bed." Nadia said with a frown. 

"Do you know who I ran into at the bar tonight?" Grace asked. 

"Let me guess, Luke?" Nadia asked, shaking her head. 

"Yeah," Grace said, throwing herself on the sofa and slipping off her shoes. "He looked tired."

"He works a lot." Nadia replied. 

"Well, we were doing just fine. Having a few drinks, a couple of laughs." Grace said, "Got any coffee?"

Nadia sighed and nodded. Grace was making herself comfortable. It would be a long night. 

"So," Nadia said as she got to work on the coffee, "Why are you here?"

"He was in a mood but I was finally getting him to loosen up and relax and then... this... girl... this ridiculous looking girl, practically a child really- walks in." Grace said. 

"Ridiculous how?" Nadia asked. "Do I know her?"

"Not from around here." Grace said. "But you should have seen her. She was wearing a very old, very faded pair of men's jeans and this faded sweatshirt..."

"At the bar?" Nadia asked, trying to picture it.

"Yes. This itty bitty little thing, almost looked like a boy." Grace said.

"Yikes." Nadia replied. "SO, she walks in?"

"Right, she walks in and without saying anything, Luke stands up and practically runs to her. For a second, I thought he was going to talk to someone else and when I saw who he was approaching... well, i figured he was about to ask her to leave." Grace said. 

"Was she pretty?" Nadia asked, starting to understand where the story was going. 

"Not from where I was standing. She was a total mess, plain jane." Grace said, "Just unimpressive."

"That's weird." Nadia said, still unable to picture the girl. "And she was there to see Luke? Could she be someone who works for him, maybe a business thing?"

"She doesn't look like the type to work for him. " Grace said, "Besides, she looked young. Maybe 20."

"Okay, so then what happened?" Nadia asked, bringing Grace a cup of coffee. Things were suddenly getting interesting. 

"So Luke walks right up to her and I could see he was tense. I couldn't really hear what he said from the table so I got up and walked over. "Grace said, frowning. "And he had the nerve to tell me she was there to see him."

"Like... see him?" Nadia asked, raising a brow. 

"Yes." Grace said. 

"Maybe you misunderstood." Nadia said, trying to picture this strange girl... trying to picture the strange girl with Luke. 

"Then he put his hand on her waist and guided her back to the table before sitting down with his arm around her shoulders." Grace said.

"Wow, never mind. You did not misunderstand." Nadia muttered.

"He just left me standing there, in front of everyone like an idiot." Grace continued indignantly, "Me. He ditched me for that... girl."

Nadia watched Grace's face go through all different stages of anger, fury and desperation. She could imagine how mortifying it must have been for her to have been left standing alone. It would have been upsetting for anyone, let alone Grace who was used to men throwing themselves at the ground for her. Nadia could tell by the way that Grace went on and on that she wasn't going to forgive Luke for this easily, the problem was that Nadia didn't think Luke really cared anymore. 

Whoever this mystery girl was, strange or not, was obviously becoming Luke's new favorite. She only wished that Grace would just accept it and let it go. Nadia held back a groan.  Not only was she going to lose a good night's sleep listening to Grace ramble all night, she still had to help Grace with that stupid thing. She should have paid more attention before promising to help her. 

Then, before she promised to do anything else stupid, Nadia focused- she never knew what Grace would be liable to ask for next.  

'I should have never answered the door.'