"Acacia," she greeted the young woman. "How are you, man?"

Acacia grinned. Someone even more hopelessly stuck in the sixties than she was. Very refreshing. "I'm fins, Rainbow. How's Moonie?" Moonie was Rainbow's 'old man', one of the few males Acacia could tolerate for more than a few minutes at a time without wanting to neuter. But then, he'd done such a mish-mosh of brain altering substances in his life that he'd been pretty much reduced to vague, pleasant smiles. Acacia couldn't tolerate the stupid, but she was protective of the harmlessly weak minded.

"Oh, you know Moonie. Been carin' some killer pipes out of that supply of wood you girls sent us. Thanks."

"Da nada. I need to pick up a few things for Milda. She couldn't get out."

"Sure. Want to go ahead and pick up the standing order while you're at it? Save you a trip in a couple of days."

"Not tonight. I got somewhere to go. I can't go dragging groceries with me into Crowley's, and I'd rather not leave stuff in the Lex. No offense meant, but some of that stuff is a little potent, and it's hell to get smells out of that car."

Rainbow nodded agreeably. "Just tell me what you need, sister."

Acacia started to reel off the list. "Lemon grass, verbina, kelp... She said the family size on that. St. John's wort, rose hip tea, some of that oyster shell calcium stuff, annnd... A carob peanut butter bar." Acacia grabbed up said bar, unwrapping it and taking a healthy (literally) bite.

Rainbow smiled. "Sure that was on the list?"

Acacia licked a smear of chocolate substitute off her fingers, grinning. "Naw, but frankly it's the only stuff you sell I actually like."

She waited while Rainbow gathered up her purchases, tapping her foot and bopping in place. Rainbow and Moonie favored that tinkly New Age crap, but hey. She always had a concert going in her mind.

Acacia accepted the bag, then accepted the warm brush of Rainbow's lips on her cool cheek. The sisters had put up the seed money for Bounty years ago, and the aging hippies weren't about to forget their generosity. If they'd ever had children, the couple probably would have named them after one or the other (or, given that this was Rainbow and Moonie), all of the sisters.

These were good people, Acacia reflected. During the wandering times, before The Incident, before The Embrace, people like them had been very good to the sisters.

She dropped the bags off in the Lex, and strolled down to the newstand. It was one of the businesses that never closed, despite the hour, date, or weather. Acacia thought that, at some point in time, it had probably been open to supply smut and racing forms at three am, on Christmas morning, during a hurricane.

There was a walled off section in the back houseing the 'adult' *Yeah, you gotta be real mature to read some of that shit.* material. A Dragon Lady, guarded the entrance, collecting the dollar 'lookiloo' fee and checking IDs. She gave Acacia a yellowed, shark's toothed smile, twiddling fingers tipped with nails almost as long and curved (but not nearly as sharp) as those Acacia could manage.

Acacia occasionally patronized the back room, (it wasn't all het smut back there, after all), but not tonight. It was a little too busy to suit her. Women were infrequent customers, and the goobers sometimes got the idea that she was there to solicit. A couple that had been a wee bit too aggressive had ended up nursing bloody noses, scratched cheeks, and aching balls, then were chased from the establishment by a shrieking and scolding Dragon Lady. She didn't tolerate good customers being harrassed.

She quickly located Naresha's requests, and added a National Enquirer, Soap Digest, and People for Nana. There was something new dealing with astral projection and channelling that Milda would probably get behind, so she included that, too. She carried her selection to the front counter, and Dragon Lady hurried to serve her herself, waving what Acacia believed was a daughter-in-law to take her place.

"Hullo! Long time you not been here," the woman greeted her.

"Yeah, I know. I been kinda busy. How's business? Any more trouble?" One of the reasons Dragon Lady was so fond of the sisters was that they had put the word out that anyone who tried to rob the place would be dealt with--messily. After one idiot who had felt compelled to ignore the warning, and roughed up daughter-in-law during a robbery, was found missing several vital parts of his anatomy, things had been pretty cool.

"No, everything fine. Business good. Put grandkid through college. Ivy league."

"Good stuff." Acacia started to gather up her purchases, but the old lady touched her arm.

"You wait. Got something for you." She reached under the counter, and withdrew what was obviously a magazine, wrapped in tissue paper.

Acacia smiled in anticipation. Dragon Lady handled used magazines, and she kept an eye out for anything from the fifties through early seventies, especially the teen or pop culture magazines. Maybe she'd found another Teen Beat, 16, or Tiger Beat.

Acacia carefully unwrapped the magazine, and gaped. It was a tabloid, and the cover photo was of John Lennon, wearing a WWI basin type helmet. He was wearing those little rimless glasses that reminded Acacia so much of her sister, Milda. "Oh, wow," she said reverently. "A Rolling Stone, issue one! Where did you get this? I've been trying to find one for ages."

The old lady smiled smugly. "I got contacts."

"How much?" Acacia was ready to melt the credit card for this one.

Dragon Lady waved magnanimously. "No charge."

Acacia was stunned. "But... I couldn't do that."

"Sure you do that. Your money no good. Well..." Again she grinned. "For that, anyway. You enjoy."

"Oh, hell yeah! As soon as I read it, it's goin' in it's own little plastic bag. Thanks, again."

The sudden windfall had put Acacia in a good mood. Now she wasn't feeling sour about having to meet with the cop. She was almost looking forward to it. After all, he had the good taste, if not good sense, to lust after her sister. He might not be all bad.

At Crowely's, Boris hurried forward, recognizing the car. When Acacia got out instead of Naresha, his smile remained friendly, but got a bit more cautious. You handled Acacia delicately. *Well,* he corrected himself *you don't actuall handle Acacia. That could get you in a world of hurt.* But she wasn't too bad, as long as you weren't blatantly, offensively macho. "Hey, Acacia. First Naresha, now you. We're livin' right, I guess."

"Hey Boris." She tipped him, like Naresha, though it was more by rote with her. "She's busy tonight. I got someone to meet. Is Goth Cop in yet?"

Boris nodded. *Damn, how can two women be so alike, and so different at the same time? Physically, it's almost like looking at Naresha through a filter. But style and attitude? Different sides of the moon.* "He showed up about twenty minutes ago."

"Thanks." She went to the door. Cerebus bowed low, and she stopped, studying him. Acacia could always appreciate another dangerous predator. "Hi, Dogman."

"Hello, Catwoman. Any dead mousies tonight?"

She showed her teeth in what might pass for a smile. "Not tonight. Couple of rats recently."

"I'd say 'that's my girl', but I'd like to keep my balls attached." They understood each other. He accepted his tip, opened the door, and bowed her inside.

They had 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' on the speakers when she entered. Acacia took a moment to let the beat seep into her bones. It wasn't her usual choice, but it wasn't bad.

She had chosen well on the outfit, fitting right in. She made her way to the bar, ticking her nails on the counter while the bartender finished loading a tray for a waitress. The girl was wearing a skirt that ended just about where her thighs began, and Acacia enjoyed the view. Finally he turned to her, inclining his head respectfully. "Good evening, Acacia. What can I get for you?"

"You still remember how to make a Dead Lab Rat, Luca?"

He smiled. "Of course. I wanted to ask you if I can add it to the official roster of drinks. After someone saw you drinking it the last time, I've had some requests."

"Sure. Fine. Claim it. Enter it in a contest, if you want."

"I wasn't going to mention it, but since you did... There is an original drink competition coming up in November. Regional. I want to enter the Lab Rat and Naresha's Flaming Yellow Snow."

"Yeah, she'd be thrilled. Do one with trail mix or sprouts in it and name it for Milda, and you'll have something from the whole family." She watched as Luca built the drink in the bar blender: vanilla ice cream, vanilla, Ammerretto, half and half. When it was all smooth, he poured it into a tall soda glass, popped two stemless cherries along one side for the eyes, and delicately hung a strip of lemon peel over the other side for the tail. "One Dead Lab Rat. Sure you don't need a straw?"

"Nah." She took a deep drink, leaving a foamy moustache. As Luca watched, her little pink tongue worked industriously, cleaning it away, and he felt his groin tighten, but he knew better. "Goth Cop around?"

Luca pointed. "Over there in the booth. Gimlet."

"Thanks. On the family tab, huh?"

"You got it."

She strolled over to the booth Luca had indicated. Randal Turner looked up as she approached. His eyes flicked over her, but with less of the appraisal than there usually was in a male gaze. Maybe she'd be able to get through this without any nastiness on either side. She gave a mental snort. Well, there was always hope.

Without waiting for an invitation, or even an acknowledgement, she slid into the other side of the booth. Randal looked at her silently, running a finger around the rim of his glass. There was a faint, high pitched ringing sound from the wet glass. Acacia tensed. Randal couldn't see it in the dim light, but her ears flattened ever so slightly against her skull. "Do you have to do that?"

"Sorry." He stopped. "Bar trick." He cocked his head, eyeing her curiously. "Some women like it."

"Some women are deaf," she said shortly.

"You must be Acacia."

"How did you ever guess?"

"Aside from looking like a retouched photo of Naresha? The attitude. It preceeds you."

She studied him a little more closely. There wasn't any disapproval, or sarcasm in his voice. "I'm a legend in my own time, all right. You have something for me?"

He scowled. "I told Naresha I changed my mind about that. I need to see her again."

"Uh huh." Unimpressed, Acacia held out her hand.

"I'm telling you I didn't do it." She tipped her head, smiling, hand still outstretched. "God damn it!" He pulled a CD case out of his jacket and slapped it into her palm. She tucked it in her purse, and he growled. "How did you know?"

"She shared blood with you, right?" He nodded. "You didn't have any choice."

"Oh, come on! You don't believe that bonding-obedience crap, too, do you?"

She had been about to leave, but now she put her purse back down and picked up her drink. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean anything."

She drank deeply, and went through the same upper lip cleansing process she had at the bar. Randal watched, appreciative, if still irritated. If it had been Naresha, he would have known that it was being done for effect. With Acacia... Probably not.

"I mean, you really, really didn't intend to do it when she left, right? You were, like, ultra pissed."

"Yeah."

"And you stayed pissed. The more you thought about it, the more it yanked your crank. By the time you got to work, you'd decided that you wouldn't do it unless Naresha did some serious butt kissing?"

He pursed his lips in amusement. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that."

"You wouldn't put it like that, but yeah, you wanted some major lip action on the gluteus maximus. Hey, I can understand. When you get in a position of power, only natural to want to use it somehow." Her smile became even more pointed. "Problem is, you ain't in all that powerful a position. Not with Naresha. You kept telling yourself you weren't going to do it right up till the CD was in the burner and you were hitting 'Copy'. Then you told yourself that you wouldn't hand it over, you'd use it for leverage."

"Damn." he said mildly. "I'm not usually that easy to read."

She shrugged. "You're a man. And..." her eyes glinted red for a split second. "A mortal."

Randal froze. He couldn't have seen what he thought he saw. Her eyes hadn't actually changed. Had they?

Acacia stood up, hefting her purse over her shoulder. She guzzled the last of the drink, letting the two cherries plop into her mouth. Like a small child trying to gross out a companion, she offered him a brief glimpse of the two tiny fruits sitting on her tongue before she closed her mouth and chewed them up, grinning. Randal, for no good reason he could identify, was charmed.

The woman's smile faded a little, and her tone was slightly puzzled. "Ya know, I don't feel the urge to remove any part of your anatomy. That's pretty unusual for me."

"I'm flattered."

"You should be." She twiddled her fingers at him, and started for the door. Billy Idol's 'White Wedding' was just starting up, and she was dancing before she got to the door.

Randal slipped a little further down in the booth, sipping the remains of his Gimlet, and considering. Two of the Three Sisters so far, both intrigueing in their own way. He mentally ran over what he knew about them from gossip, and found that it wasn't a whole hell of a lot.

Well he smiled to himself as he finished the drink. *For a man with access to a computer and the Internet, official records, and passwords... there are ways.*"