"You alright there, lass?" 

Lydia doesn't answer. She stays sitting in front of the burning building. The screams have long since stopped as the victims inside succumb to their injuries.

She senses the man get out of his car and walk up to her. He wisely keeps his distance and approaches her from the side, staying within her peripheral vision. He rounds around her and comes to a stop in front of her.

She's covered, head-to-toe, in blood and dirt. Her hair and mangle, multiple strands lay in her face. Her eyes stare through the man and into the distance. 

The man looks from the girl and turns to the burning building. He recognizing the crumbling pile of lumber and knew nothing good had happened to the girl.

"Why don't we get out of here, yeah?" The man says gently. He kneels in front of her trying to get her to focus on him. He tells her his name. "But everyone calls me Coach" He adds.

"Coach" She whispers snapping out of her daze. He nods glad he's getting somewhere with her. "I knew a coach once" She mutters thinking back to her days in America and her old friend, Vincent.

"What's your name?" He asks her.

"Lydia" She tells him. "Lydia Smith" Her voice strengthens as she says her name. 

It's obvious this 'Coach' knows exactly who the woman is. While Lydia herself had her own reputation, she also had a father who had a reputation just as powerful. It isn't a family Coach wanted to get involved with but he couldn't just leave the girl on her own in the condition she's in.

"No offense, love, but what are you doing around a place like this?" He asks her curiously.

"The men that took me..." She whispers her eyes going distant again. "Obviously didn't know who they were taking" Her voice darkens and her eyes harden. Her body tenses and Coach knew he needed to keep her calm in fear that if she got worked up he'd be her next victim.

"Why don't let me take you home, Mrs. Smith?" Coach suggests. Lydia slowly nods and pushes herself to a stand. Coach reaches out to help her but quickly retreats as she lashes out. 

"Don't!" She snapped not wanting any physical contact.

"I'm sorry" Coach says holding his hands up quickly. He takes a few steps away from her. She relaxes with the new distance. Slowly, he motions to the car behind her. She turns and makes her way towards it. She climbs into the passenger seat while Coach drives her back to her home.

"Thank you for the ride, Coach" She says calmer than she was when he found her. "I'm in your debt"

"No offense, lass, but I'd rather not cross paths with you or your family" Coach says bluntly. She gives him a small smile and nods.

"I understand" She says quietly. "I won't forget this, Coach" She tells him before climbing out of the car.

⚜

"Ten bodies were found in that fire, all burned to a crisp. I can only assume their faces and eyes were missing beforehand" Fletcher shrugs.

The pictures were in clear detail. It showed Lydia leaving the building covered in blood. It showed her watching the fire burn the building to the ground. It also showed her leaving with a man.

Fletcher then holds up a flash drive.

"Video surveillance from inside the now burned down building." Fletcher explains. "It shows Lydia pouring a flammable substance all over the place including the the ten men they found in the building. Evidence. And not my only copy" He adds quickly.

"Clever, Fletcher, very clever" Raymond nods.

Fletcher smirks.

"If you like that, darling, you're going to love this" Fletcher says holding up another flash drive. "Your lovely wife has a habit of burning down buildings while covered in blood," Raymond stares at Fletcher before looking at the drive in his hand. "This one is surveillance of the building her burned down in America, and guess who makes an appearance?"

⚜

"How can we be sure this is actually the boss's daughter?" Bunny asks as they drive to the place where they suspect Lydia to be.

"I don't know" Raymond tells him truthfully. "Apparently him and Abigail used to hang around each other in their teens before boss went to England. Knocked Abigail up without even knowing it"

"If this lady turns out to be his daughter, he's going to be devastated" Bunny mutters and Raymond simply nods. They all knew how important Rosalind is to Mickey and how protective he is of her. If Mickey finds out he's had a daughter all these years, a daughter with a dark and terrible past like himself, he'll never forgive himself for not being there for her.

"What if she isn't?" Frazier asks from the drivers seat. "Then we just wasted all these resources for some random chick"

"Boss may be with Rosalind now but he still cares for Abigail, they were close back in the day" Raymond tells them. "It's why it didn't take much convincing from her to get him here to find this Lydia"

A few weeks prior, Abigail Bronze went to the UK to find her old fling, Mickey Pearson. She claims Lydia is his daughter. Lydia got mixed up with a bad crowd and has been missing for a month. Abigail's desperate and needs help.

"Is that the place?" Frazier asks as they pull up to a burning building. Raymond checks the GPS.

"Guess so" Raymond says. The boys climb out of the car and walk closer to the building. There, they find a girl standing in front of it. "Lydia?" Raymond asks gently.

⚜

Fletcher shows Raymond what is on the second flash drive. He sees a younger version of his wife burn down a building similar to what she had done a few months prior to this little meeting. Towards the end of the video it shows Raymond coming into view and leading Lydia back to the car before disappearing.

"Was that your first date?" Fletcher asks wiggling his eyebrows. Raymond gives him a stern look. "So, what? You woo her and take her back to the United Kingdom so that our Mickey can finally play daddy?"

"Her family was murdered" Raymond told him. 

Raymond could still remember the day Lydia called him crying her eyes out. Raymond and Lydia had been talking regularly for months before she called him crying. He could barely understand what she was saying but managed to make out that her mother and little sister had been killed in a car accident.

Mickey, Rosalind and himself went back to America for the funeral. Mickey wanted to bring Lydia to the UK but Lydia was reluctant. Liam, her younger brother, didn't want to leave and Lydia didn't want to make her brother more upset than he already was.

However, as they began to leave the funeral, a shooting occurred. Both Liam and Lydia were shot but Liam didn't make it. After Liam's death, they all knew that none of this was an accident. Abigail and Lilah weren't killed randomly, they were targeted. After coming to this realization, Lydia didn't put up a fight when Mickey 'suggested' moving to the UK.

This all occurred less than a year after her kidnapping. Less than a year since she found out Mickey was her father. Less than a year since she met Raymond.

"Mickey felt concerned for her life so we took her out of America and brought her here, to keep her close" He explains.

"Then what? You bonk the boss's daughter?" Fletcher smirks wiggling his eyebrows.

"Is this all the information you have to offer?" Raymond ask ignoring Fletcher's suggestive question.

"Oh, darling, we're only scratching the surface" Fletcher laughs. "So!" He claps taking a seat at the table near Raymond. "We're determined how the lovely Lydia was named Bloody Mary, how she got to the UK from Americana, we've found out she's not as innocent as she seems, and we've also figured out that Mickey wants out of the business to play house with the family but Big Dave wants to burn the Pearson's to the ground"

"So, why does Big Dave got it in for my boss and wife?" Raymond questions him while refilling Fletcher's drink.

"Two months ago, your man Mickey made my man Dave feel like a right fucking idiot" Fletcher explains.

"How did he do that?" Raymond asks.

"He didn't accept his hand" Fletcher says simply.

The time Fletcher is talking about is a time when Mickey went to a party filled with the upper class. Dave introduced himself to Mickey but Mickey wasn't interested in the slightest. When Dave offered his hand, Mickey didn't shake it. To that type of crowd, it's quite a big insult.

"- so, he [Mickey] snubbed him in front of a crowd that Dave could only wish he belonged too. You know, lords and ladies" Fletcher rambles. "The sort Mickey feels very comfortable in front of" Fletcher chuckles. "Well, he might as well have pulled Dave's cock off"

"That's no reason to go after a fellow" Raymond points out.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. He want's Mickey's blood." Fletcher shrugs. "As for Princess Lydia, well, everyone has been dying to expose her. If he's the one to do it, he'll be fucking royalty in the news paper business"

Raymond nods slightly. Everyone did want to expose Lydia but she's too careful. She covers her tracks too well. This is the first time anyone's gotten dirt on her since she killed Lucius Sims 15 years ago.

"And he would be getting it" Fletcher says nodding to the pile of flash drives and folders full of dirt on the Pearson's. "If it wasn't for..." Fletcher grins giving Raymond a suggestive look.

"You're a filthy fantasist" Raymond nods towards him. "And now it's time to leave" He tells him nodding towards the door.

"Don't be silly, I'm only just lubing you up" Fletcher says winking at him. Raymond sighs and shifts in his seat. "Now, there is a reason why Matthew, or anyone else for that matter cannot work out how Mickey does what he does" Fletcher says.

Matthew. A very rich man from America. Him and Mickey have worked together on various other projects. However, Mickey is considering selling his empire to Matthew. All of it.

"How does he [Mickey] grow 50 tons of white widow soup? Everyone knows that needs a lot of space. So, where is the space?" Fletcher wonders. "And how come he's kept it under wraps?"

Fletcher continues on about his theories on how Mickey runs the largest weed distilleries in the UK. Raymond already knew how he did it and Fletcher felt proud of himself as he works it out.

The way Mickey keeps his business from the prying eyes of the law is very clever. He has sights on the proprieties of the upper class. He pays the homeowners a handsome amount of money a year in exchange for a small piece of land to set up his gig.

However, as Fletcher mentioned earlier, Mickey's done with the business. He wants to settle down with Rosalind and his fortune. He wants to spend more time with Lydia and grow closer with his only child. Matthew is his way out, his buyer.

"So, now that we've established the dilemma of our protagonist." Fletcher says moving on from Mickey's business deal with Matthew to the next piece of the story. "Let us turn to our antagonist." Fletcher smirks at Raymond. "Many miles away, across the open plains, another beautiful feral beast lopes his way to a watering hole" Fletcher says setting up the scene.

"Who are you talking about now?" Raymond asks with a sigh.

"I talk, Raymond-o, of Dry Eye." Fletcher smirks. "Oooh, Dry Eye. What is he?" Fletcher wonders as he paces around the room. "Chinese? Japanese? Pekingese? Get on your fucking knees? Dirty dragon filth."

Fletcher continues with his dramatics as if he's directing a movie. He describes Dry Eye as a fiery ball of crack head energy. Raymond calls him out on his bullshit knowing Dry Eye to be more subtle than Fletcher's describing.

"Just making sure you're paying attention, Raymond" Fletcher says winking at him. Fletcher then does a more accurate description of Dry Eye. The man, according to Fletcher, is like a Chinese James Bond. "Let's put a pin in, Dry Eye" Fletcher decides making Raymond roll his eyes. "And turn again to Mickey"

Raymond tenses as Fletcher pulls out a cigar. His eyes twitch as he points at Fletcher.

"If you're thinking of smoking that in here... Don't" Raymond warns. Fletcher eyes him playfully.

"I find that confusing" Fletcher mumbles with the cigar between his lips. "Are you saying don't smoke or don't think?" He wonders while slowly lifting the lighter up to the cigar. 

Fletcher keeps his eye on Raymond. The lighter clicks as Fletcher turns it on. Raymond flies out of his chair and Fletcher is quick to flinch backwards. He lowers the lighter while keeping a watchful eye on Raymond.

"Ooooh" Fletcher says grinning. Raymond stays tense as he eyes him. Fletcher playfully goes to light it again and Raymond practically charges after him. "Alright, alright, alright!" Fletcher says evading Raymond quickly. "It's going out, it's going out!"

Raymond gives him an annoyed look while Fletcher chuckles.

"Let's take this outside" Raymond decides. Fletcher wiggles his eyebrows and walks towards the patio door. "I'll be out in a minute," Raymond says. Fletcher winks at him. Raymond points his finger towards him. "Don't. Touch. Anything."

"What are you gonna do? Punish me?" Fletcher asks suggestively. Raymond takes a threatening step making Fletcher chuckle nervously. "I'm going, I'm going" He mutters slipping outside.

Raymond sighs and walking towards the door out of Fletcher's sight. The moment he's out of his sight a hand grabs his tie and yanks him to the side. He stumbles slightly and his back presses against the wall.

"Hey, babe" Lydia whispers pressing her hands on his chest. His arms naturally wrap around her waist. He bends down slightly and kisses her lips.

"Hello, love" He mutters against her lips. "How was your drive?"

"Pleasantly uneventful" She whispers to him. "But I got most of my work done"

"Good girl" He smirks winking at her. She laughs quietly and pulls him into a hug.

"How's Fletcher?" She asks and he practically whines making her laugh. "I have to say, babe, I do not envy you right now"

"I've tried getting him to leave but it's not like I can force him out. I need to know what's going on between  Dry Eye and Matthew"

"I know," Lydia whispers pulling back enough to look at his face. "He'll tell you, he doesn't know how to keep information to himself"

"He's mentioned you a few times" 

"Me? What does he have on me?" Lydia asks.

"Footage, pictures" He tells her. She clenches her jaw angrily. "I'll handle it, trust me" He says caressing her face. She relaxes at his touch and leans into his palm.

"I love you" She whispers to him kissing him again. "Have fun with Fletcher, I'll be taking a bath whenever you want to join me" She whispers seductively. He groans watching her walk away from him.

"You're cruel" Raymond calls after her. Lydia chuckles and sways her hips as she walks up to their room. "Fucking Fletcher" Raymond snaps grabbing a sweater. He's never wanted to throw someone out of his house more than he does right now. All he wants is to be with his wife and Fletcher is cock blocking him.