"Hold up," I said, "Married? But you're transporting cocaine from state to state, how long did you think that would last?" Dale looked down, the strands of his blonde hair fell onto his eyes. "That wasn't my only problem - my mother couldn't take care of my siblings anymore, so they moved in with me. Halsey was almost eighteen so she'd probably take the kids and leave soon, she was worried about them being around me. I never straight-up told her I'm a drug dealer, but it wasn't hard to figure out. No nineteen-year-old pilot just owned a $4 million condo." I couldn't even fathom the thought of having so much money, let alone dirty money. I looked at Dale - he was still looking at the ground, head in his hands.

"I thought it couldn't get any worse, but then Anderson - 'The Master of the Butterfly Effect', started weighing down on us."

***

In May of 1980, Julian was getting increasingly tense. Slowly, Wayne Anderson began upping the cost of his product while selling less of it. It was a problem for many reasons, one of them being their unhappy buyers who were disappointed (to say the least) with the lack of product. Dale dropped Ian off in New Mexico to meet with one of those buyers, Kennedy Todd - "Go home Dale, having you here will just raise the tension. I'll talk to 'im and we'll be peachy, trust me. I'll call you when we're done." He never called. Just like that Ian disappeared into thin air. Julian insisted on flying to New Mexico to find his brother, Dale knew that it was hopeless, but he flew him anyway. Dale waited for almost 16 hours on the plane. Julian returned at sunset and looked awful - his usually neat jet black hair was a matted mess and his navy-blue blazer was dusted with sand. His eyes were cold and toneless when he approached Dale, "You're my right-hand man now." he said and boarded the plane.

*

Two days after Ian's 'death' Julian came to Dale's front door, "I'm scared he's going to cut us out, Pilot." he said and walked in without permission. Halsey and the kids were watching T.V., but when she saw him come in she turned it off and led her siblings away - "Come, let's go play in my room."

"I don't understand," Dale said, pouring them both a drink, "Why would he do that? We're always there on time -"

"Because he can," Julian interrupted him, "He's going to suck all the money out of us until we have none, and when we run out, he's going to kill us."

A sickening feeling rose in Dale's stomach. He knew this was the risk he took going into the business, but he never really expected it to happen. Julian was a good manager, he trusted him, but he took it too far.

"I'll figure out what to do Dale, I have to." Julian said, but for the first time Dale could hear uncertainty in his voice.

*

"We don't need this dirty money, we already have everything we need. Can't we just take off and never come back? Get married somewhere in Canada and live peaceful lives? We have all the money in the world!" Dixie cried and Dale pulled her into a warm embrace. They were at home in the kitchen, drowning their fears in a bottle of wine. "If we just leave like that... Julian will get killed." she wiped the tears from her eyes and took a gulp of wine. They sat in quiet for a bit, which was strange since nobody could ever shut them up when they were together.

"You know, before this whole... catastrophe, I got you an engagement gift," Dixie said quietly, "Would you like me to get it?"

Dale nodded without looking up at her, he couldn't bear to see the pain in her eyes. She'd just lost a brother, and was on the verge of losing another one and her fiance, and all because of what? Greed for money?

Dixie disappeared into their bedroom for a bit, and then came out with a beautiful, cherry-tree box. She handed it to Dale, "Open it."

And he did. Inside there was a revolver, a Chamelot Delvigne with 'Pour l'amour inconditionnel de ma vie, Dale Fletcher' written on the barrel. He rubbed his fingers on the leather handle and smiled bleakly. It was a mystery where she got it from, this was the 1873 model. Over 100 years old. "It's beautiful, thank you Dixie." he said and rested the gun back in its case. She came closer to him and gently stroked his cheek, "Do you know why I gave it to you?" she asked. Still refusing to look at her, he shook his head. "Because it should remind you to have valor, you can't lose hope. There's always something that could be done. All or nothing, right?"

Finally he made eye contact with her. The moon covered her with a delicate, blue sheet. Her hair looked more grey than blonde. She looked older.

"All or nothing." he said and gave her a gentle kiss.