"Oh, I'm sorry." Echo said, nearly tripping over a rack on the sidewalk and bumping right into someone's back. 

"It's okay... hey!" Nadia said, turning to see who had hit her. 

"Hi." Echo replied, eyes a little wide as she recognized her. She hadn't seen Nadia since before the whole mess with Luke started and was feeling a little embarrassed now as they stood outside an old bookstore. 

"How are you?" Nadia asked, shifting uncomfortably and pushing back a loose strand of hair. 

"I'm doing okay." Echo replied, feeling equally awkward. "You?"

"I'm good too." Nadia said with a smile. The two women stood quiet for a second, both searching for something to say as they looked around the nervously. Then...

"I'm sorry." They both blurted and both made an equally confused face. 

"You?" They both said. 

"Why?" Again in unison as they expressed their surprise. 

"I'm sorry." Nadia repeated this time, shaking her head and taking a step towards her. "I'm so sorry."

Echo was taken aback. 

"Why are you sorry?" Echo said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you in such an uncomfortable situation. Sorry that you got stuck between Luke and I. That must have been really hard for you, having to tell him what you saw."

"What I thought I saw." Nadia said. "If I hadn't reacted immediately, if I had just walked out to greet you like I planned... none of this would have happened. I have a real problem with keeping my mouth shut. I blurt things out before thinking. This entire mess was my fault."

"Of course not. You did the right thing. Do you think I wouldn't have done the same if it had been one of my sisters or a friend?" Echo asked.

"No, you're the most damn patient person I know. You probably would have thought things over before acting or speaking." Nadia said.

"Probably but overthinking things means I miss out on a lot. I don't blame you for what happened, Nadia. I'm glad you cleared things up." Echo said with a sigh, feeling  little sigh. She couldn't blame Nadia for Luke's behavior either. He acted that way of his own accord. Echo hated that she was being so petty. First Grace and now Nadia- she couldn't blame them to try to justify Luke's actions. She refused to be that person. 

"You're a saint." Nadia said, making Echo laugh.

"No, the saint in our family is Vera. Now there's a woman who does too much for nothing in return." Echo said, making Nadia smile.

"I can't believe people like you exist, let alone an entire family of them." Nadia said.

"I'm not that great, Nadia." Echo said, "I think and do a lot of things I shouldn't. I'm just better at hiding them." 

"I think you are." Nadia said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think you're everything Luke needed to get his act together."

Echo's smile faded and Nadia knew what she was thinking of. 

"Echo, I need to talk to you." Nadia said, making her glance up. She looked around, noticing how many people were nearby. "In private."

Echo raised her brow. 

"Sure, do you want to go grab lunch?" Echo asked and Nadia shook her head. 

"No, damn it." Nadia said, looking down at her watch. "My lunch break is pretty much over. Can I come over after work?"

"Of course. Adelia and I will wait for you." Echo said. 

"What time will Luke be home?" Nadia asked. 

"Everything okay?" Echo asked. 

"Yes, but I'd rather not say anything in front of prying eyes and ears." Nadia said, knowing how people could be about gossiping around her. More than anything, she didn't want things to get back to Grace. As much as it hurt, she had to admit that her friend had gone off the deep end. 

She couldn't really even consider her a friend anymore- what a shame. 

"Well, Luke had to go out of town for business. I'm not entirely sure when he'll be back." Echo said and Nadia groaned inwardly. 

"That's fine, I still really want to talk to you." Nadia said. Echo nodded. 

"Okay. Well, you're always welcome." Echo said, turning back to the store. "See you later."

Nadia watched as Echo entered the shop, a few books in her arms. She was so damn pure, so sweet. It wasn't an act, she wasn't being fake nice, it was just how Echo was. She wondered if maybe it was because she had spent so much time alone that she had learned to be more contemplative and introspective. Echo wasn't trying to be a good person, she was just trying do the right thing, always. 

It was so hard not to like her, not that Nadia was trying. She'd liked Echo from the moment she met her, even if it had been strange. 

Luke, on the other hand, that man made it so hard to like him sometimes. It almost seemed like he was constantly trying to push people away. At least he and Echo had that much in common, they were both used to keeping people at arm's length.

Two very different people who brought out very different sides in each other. How in the world had they ended up here... and together? 

Nadia sighed, kicking a pebble as she began to head back around the corner and towards the clinic. She saw their house as she walked on, the beautiful, large home with dozens of windows and the big fence wrapping around it. She had an image of her screaming at the top of her lungs whenever Luke or Marco didn't let her play. She chuckled, what an absolute brat she could be. 

Then she had another image, this time of her and Grace sitting out in the driveway, both about 8 or 9. They were playing with chalk and drawing all types of things on the sidewalk. She could remember Grace complaining because she hated getting her hands dirty but she could also remember her drawing Sailor Moon and telling Nadia that she could be Sailor Moon any time they played pretend. 

Nadia shook her head. Of course none of that happened at Luke's house, that would have been at her parent's house but it still hurt. Grace hadn't always been so selfish, what happened? She hoped that Grace would figure her life out, it was just a shame that Nadia couldn't be the one to help her anymore. 

Nadia laughed at herself. She'd been standing in the same spot, staring at Luke's house and taking a mental stroll down memory lane... and now, she glanced at her watched with a groan. Now she would be late. She turned to keep walking but slowed her stride as she noticed the security outside the gate. Nadia frowned... that man. That man... 

The sound of her phone ringing made her jump. Shit- it was the clinic. She ran off before she could complete her thought. 

---

Luke had a lump in his throat as the plane pulled into the runway. He hadn't told anyone where he was going, he couldn't trust anyone and he didn't want to involve Echo or Nadia. The only people who knew he was here was the men who had been watching the Russo brothers from a distance in New York. 

Even then, Luke couldn't be sure that they hadn't been compromised or caught. It was a huge risk but one he had to take. He was the one who made the stupid mistake of sending Marco into the lion's den and it was his responsibility to get him out.  

Now, as the plane taxi'd, he knew, he could feel how precarious the situation really was. He knew in an instant that the moment he stepped off the plane, he would be apprehended. There was no way around it. He thought he had been clever in flying commercial, buying a seat in coach and trying to blend it. He thought it was best if he drew as little attention to himself as possible but he couldn't help but think with a cynical smile that he would stick out anywhere. 

Even now as his eyes darted about the crowded flight, he had noticed more than one person looking in his direction, mainly women, and he was sure all staring at the scar. It might not be as red or swollen as it once was, it might not have left his lips permanently deformed, but stood out against his skin, dominating his face. 

He thought about Echo and how she didn't seem to care. She seemed drawn to it. It was funny how Echo, the most sheltered and alienated woman he'd ever met, the least experienced, was the only one who didn't seem to be afraid of him, at all. 

As he exited the plane and walked down towards the waiting area, the hairs on his arm stood up. He placed his sunglasses on his face, knowing what was coming next. 

"Mr. Farina." 

There was three of them, all in black from head to toe and one of the them having the audacity to be holding a welcome sign and a couple of balloons. It was funny and Luke couldn't help but to chuckle. 

"How'd you now?" He asked as he approached them, knowing running would be useless. 

"You're not the only one with eyes everywhere." One of the men said, signaling towards the escalator. "Shall we?"

"Let's go." Luke said, nodding. 

JFK was a large airport, it wouldn't be too hard to lose them in a crowd but he had the feeling that even if he made it outside, there would be someone else by the doors. More importantly, he knew running would be a stupid thing to do, especially since they had Marco. 

"So, what happens now?" He asked as they calmly rode down past the luggage carousels and towards the parking lot. 

"We take you to Mr. Russo. I understand you two have an important conversation pending." The man said simply. 

"And after that..." One of the other men began to say but Luke laughed. 

"It's fine. I don't expect my chauffeurs to be THAT well informed." Luke said smugly as they walked through the parking lot. "I'll take up the real business with your boss."

The man frowned but they continued to walk on in silence, no one giving any signs to passerby that anything was amiss. He saw it then, a small black car with windows tinted so dark you couldn't see inside. 

"Mr. Farina, if you please." The first man said, holding the back door open for him. Luke sighed, nodding as he moved towards the car. 

"Oh, Mr. Farina?" The other man said, making him turn back. "This is for you."

Luke grunted as the man delivered a punch to the gut, knocking the wind from him. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Farina?" The man asked then, "What was that? Need some help? My pleasure."

The man grabbed him from where he was hunched over, pushing him into the back seat and not giving a damn as Luke hit his head against the door before falling in. 

"Damn it, that's enough. One piece, remember?" The first man said to him. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." The other man said, slamming the door as Luke struggled to recover. His vision was blurred as he sat up, trying to regain his breath. The man could hit hard, Luke noted, turning as he climbed in beside him in the car. 

"What?" the man said, noticing how Luke watched him. 

"Nothing." Luke muttered, thinking he would make sure to kill this one first.