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[Returned to Shameless world.]
[Over three months have passed since your departure.]
[System Prompt: Due to world changes, loot box contents have updated. Since the Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad world syncs with Shameless, unclaimed prizes and acquired skills from that world are now available here.]
Familiar hotel room came into view.
Dexter smiled, didn't linger, and quickly flipped on TV to check the exact date and figure out how long he'd been gone.
Got his answer in seconds.
July 1st, 11:00 AM.
Meaning he'd been gone almost three and a half months.
Wild feeling...
Spent years grinding in BCS/BB world, but only three months passed here.
Dexter shook his head, looking at his goofy dog Daijiu and Little Crow perched on him. "We're back."
"Woof," Daijiu barked.
"Caw," Little Crow squawked back.
Dexter left it at that, figuring out his next move.
It's summer. Need new gear.
Gotta check in with Kevin and crew.
That house at 2118 North Wallace should be fully renovated by now. Time to move.
Need to...
After a beat, even though he wasn't desperate to get laid, Dexter decided everything else could wait. First stop: Bianca.
So.
"You two stay put. I gotta run out, pick you up later."
Dexter quickly swapped into some lighter summer clothes, stashed his heat and anything else that shouldn't be seen, dropped that line to his pets, and walked out.
Neither car was in garage.
Ferrari was with Kevin, G-Wagon with Bianca...
Dexter thought it over. Going to Alibi meant he'd be stuck there for a while, so he skipped grabbing a car. Handled it on foot, heading to a florist he knew.
Reached shop.
Female owner did a double-take seeing him, then beamed. "Mr. Dexter! Heard you went back to Alaska. Just get in?"
"Yeah," Dexter nodded with a smile, made some small talk, picked out a massive bouquet, hailed a cab outside, and headed straight to hospital.
Same hospital, zero changes.
Dexter walked in carrying flowers, beelining for Bianca's floor.
Two young nurses recognized him on the way, whispering and giggling non-stop.
Didn't take long.
Got lucky. Bianca was on shift.
Spotting her, Dexter slowed down, quietly flanking around to sneak up behind her.
Disappeared for over three months. Did she find another guy?
Heh.
Please.
Bianca isn't Fiona.
Dexter wasn't worried in the slightest.
Blink of an eye.
Dexter successfully slipped right behind her.
By now, surrounding doctors and nurses realized what he was doing. They shared a knowing look, held back laughs, and kept quiet, ready for a show.
Bianca was still totally oblivious, focused on questioning a patient.
Asking questions.
Suddenly, fresh floral scent hit her nose.
Bianca sniffed, confused about where it was coming from, and subconsciously turned her head.
Heart skipped a beat.
Eyes landed on Dexter's grinning face. Instantly, her body jolted, eyes wide with pure disbelief.
Next second.
"Ah! You're back!!" Bianca shrieked. Didn't even think, just threw arms around him.
Dexter played along smoothly, shifting bouquet to one side so she could pull him in tight.
She squeezed him hard.
"Sorry I was gone so long," Dexter said softly.
Bianca didn't make a sound.
Watching this unfold, medical staff cracked up... while a few single folks naturally looked on with straight jealousy.
Bianca held on tight for almost a full minute before snapping back to reality. Her face flushed bright red. Embarrassed, she let go of Dexter, not daring to look at coworkers, and lowered her head slightly. "Wait for me a sec. Let me finish up here, then we'll grab lunch."
"Sure, no rush," Dexter smiled, stepping back to take a seat on nearby bench.
Bianca's mind was definitely not on work anymore. She forced herself to focus, dealt with patient quickly but thoroughly, then turned to Dexter. "Give me one more minute."
She speed-walked to supervisor to ask for time off.
Dexter was back. Screw this shift.
Supervisor heard reason and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But, having been young once, she understood and approved it easily, joking, "Have fun today, but I expect you back on normal shift tomorrow."
Bianca blushed, nodded, and wasted zero time. Grabbed stuff from office, slung bag over shoulder, and ran back to Dexter. "All set. Let's get food."
"Alright," Dexter stood up and handed her flowers.
Bianca hugged them, took a sniff. Smelled amazing.
Walked out of building side by side.
"You should've told me ahead of time. I could've picked you up," Bianca said after a few steps.
You definitely couldn't have picked me up, Dexter thought, shaking his head gently. "Wanted to surprise you."
Bianca smiled happily, then asked with concern, "Did everything go okay in Alaska? How's your mentor doing?"
Dexter faked a heavy sigh. "Old man played us. He's perfectly healthy. Could probably live another ten years easy."
Bianca was shocked. "What? Then why did he trick you into coming back?"
"His official excuse was that he hadn't seen us in years and missed us," Dexter bullshitted with a straight face. "Truth is, old bastard built some new contraption out in the wilderness. Massive maze. Just wanted to mess with us."
Bianca was dumbfounded. "????? A maze?"
Dexter nodded. "Yeah. Wanted to test it out, so he called us back. Thing was actually brutal. First day we got back, he dragged us inside. Took me until yesterday to finally find exit and escape."
"Couple of other guys are still trapped in there. No idea when they'll make it out."
"?????" Bianca completely fell for it. "What? What kind of maze traps you for over three months?? What about the other guys?"
Dexter flashed a grin. "Old man drops in food regularly, so it's fine. Those guys need to be taken down a peg anyway. Whether they get out depends entirely on their own skills."
Bianca: "...Your mentor is seriously weird."
"Tell me about it," Dexter laughed.
Innocent Bianca was just too fun to mess with.
Having fed her enough bullshit, Dexter changed subject. "What about you? How've you been these past three months?"
Hearing that, Bianca immediately shot him a resentful glare, then acted tough. "I was great. Ate good, drank good, had the time of my life."
"Is that so? Guess I worried for nothing," Dexter knew she was playing hard to get, purposely didn't take bait, and grinned.
Bianca: "...I will punch you, you know that?"
"Haha, no you won't."
As they talked, they reached Dexter's Mercedes G-Wagon.
Bianca pulled keys from bag and handed them to him. "Your car is too expensive. I was afraid to park it anywhere else so it wouldn't get stolen. Drove it once a week so battery wouldn't die."
"Thank you for being so thoughtful, Ms. Green," Dexter teased.
Bianca immediately rolled eyes at him again.
Piled into car, joking around.
"What are you craving? My treat," Dexter asked.
"I want lobster. Gonna eat you into bankruptcy," Bianca said viciously, then quickly added, trying to sound casual, "I have afternoon off. No rush. We can eat anywhere, anything is fine."
"Alright." Dexter guessed earlier Bianca took time off, so he wasn't surprised. He agreed, started car, and drove toward downtown Chicago.
Ate and drank their fill.
Dexter couldn't be bothered to rush back, so he drove straight to nearby five-star hotel.
Reached hotel entrance.
Bianca: "???? Why'd you bring me here?"
Dexter gave a sly smirk. "Making it up to you."
Bianca: "...Don't need it."
Said she didn't need it, but her feet kept moving. Obediently followed Dexter into hotel.
Over three months. Long time.
Afternoon flew by in a flash.
By the time night fell.
Fully satisfied, Bianca basically reverted to usual self. Stopped throwing a fit.
Dexter figured this was what you call "fucking someone into submission."
---
Past 8:00 PM.
Since Daijiu and Little Crow were still in that cheap South Side hotel room, Dexter checked out and drove Bianca back to South Side to pick them up.
Seeing Little Crow, even though Dexter already told her it was a crow, Bianca was still mind-blown. "How do you even tame a crow? How'd you do it?"
Dexter shook head. "To be exact, I didn't tame him. Old mentor did. Spent years out in woods doing crazy research, figured out some animal taming trick."
"No idea how it actually works."
"Old man just gave Little Crow to me, and bird listens to me."
"That's insane," Bianca marveled. "So what can Little Crow do? Heard crows are super smart."
"Haven't had time to figure it all out yet. Test it later," Dexter said, turning to bird. "Little Crow, this is Bianca. Go to her shoulder."
Hearing this, Little Crow didn't hesitate. Flapped wings a couple times and landed perfectly on Bianca's shoulder.
"So smart!!" Bianca was shocked.
Daijiu shook himself, shooting Bianca a look of pure contempt.
Messed around in room for a bit. Two humans, one dog, one bird piled into car and headed for Alibi.
On the way.
Dexter noticed Dex Restaurant was closed. Barely glanced at it, didn't care.
Deal with that shit tomorrow.
---
Alibi was pretty dead at this hour. Just the usual drunks killing time.
Worth noting, Frank was there too. Had his reattachment surgery, so right arm was whole again, just stiff as hell.
Kevin and Veronica were behind bar, slacking off and taking it easy.
Tommy, Kermit, and rest were arguing about women, having a blast.
Dexter and Bianca pushed door open and walked in.
Hearing door, Kevin turned head purely out of habit to see who it was.
One look.
"Holy shit!" Kevin immediately yelled.
Thanks to his yell, Veronica, Tommy, and rest turned and spotted Dexter almost simultaneously.
"Don't need to overreact just seeing us," Dexter couldn't help but joke, seeing Kevin's comical reaction.
Kevin snapped back, nodding wildly. "Hell yeah I do! You're finally fucking back!"
"Boss, it's been three and a half months!" Veronica chimed in, sounding completely exasperated.
"Haha, my bad. Got held up," Dexter flashed bright smile.
Tommy and guys threw out greetings too.
Soon enough.
Dexter and Bianca took seats at bar.
Daijiu and Little Crow claimed booth for themselves.
Dexter already noticed Frank earlier, ignored him, and waved at Kevin. "Stop staring, get me a beer."
Turned to Bianca. "What're you drinking?"
"I'll take juice," Bianca said.
Blink of an eye.
Kevin and Veronica slid over beer and juice.
Veronica was sharp. Smirked knowingly. "Boss, bet you didn't just get into town."
Dexter chuckled. "Got in around 10:00 AM, I think."
"Knew it. First thing you do is run to your girl. Didn't even send us a damn text," Veronica teased purposely.
Bianca felt a wave of embarrassment and lowered head slightly.
Dexter was thick-skinned. "Haha, obviously. Would be pretty weird if I came to see you guys first."
Veronica: "..."
Kevin, Tommy, and rest cracked up. Place got loud.
Messed around for a bit.
"How was Costa Rica?" Dexter asked Kevin and V.
Even though it had been over three months, just hearing that got Kevin and Veronica hyped all over again!
"Fucking amazing!"
"Didn't even want to come back!"
"Too bad we ran out of cash."
"..."
Kevin and Veronica fired off sentence after sentence, visibly hyped.
Dexter and Bianca listened quietly.
"Then make more money and find time to go back," Dexter said.
Kevin and Veronica nodded hard in agreement.
Chatted a while longer. Dexter asked about restaurant, Vivian, Mickey, and Svetlana.
Veronica gave him full rundown.
After Dexter left, Kevin and Veronica went on honeymoon. Vivian closed restaurant and took Dexter's advice to travel alone.
Mickey was stuck at home doing nothing. Didn't cause any trouble, surprisingly.
Originally, Vivian planned to leave for just a week and come back when Kevin and V did.
Instead, one week turned into a month, and she came back flat broke.
Asked what happened, she gave one excuse: lost the money.
Hearing that, Veronica thought Vivian had it rough.
Vivian, though, was still perfectly happy. Used to it. Didn't think it was a big deal.
Restaurant reopened after she got back.
Vivian, Veronica, and Mickey busted their asses running place, just like last time Dexter left.
Business was mediocre. Barely scraping by.
Svetlana kept grinding at grocery store.
Store business actually leveled up compared to before.
Svetlana was living full, busy life.
"Sounds like everyone's good," Dexter said with a smile after hearing it all.
Kevin chimed in. "Good my ass... Dexter, I noticed second you leave, those rich bastards stop showing up!"
"This time, ain't no way I'm letting you leave again!!"
Dexter laughed out loud.
That night, Alibi Room was packed, loud, and full of life.