A new day broke.
The sun rose, and the South Side of Chicago slowly woke up.
The hustle began.
At the precinct, the cops, exhausted after a night dealing with the explosion, were chugging coffee like water.
Eight cartel thugs. Four died on the spot. The remaining four were in the hospital, out of critical condition but severely maimed—missing arms or legs.
As for investigating the bomb...
First off, the local precinct didn't have the resources. They just swept up the debris and notified the FBI, leaving it for the Feds to handle.
Secondly, the eight casualties were all masked, armed, undocumented cartel members. Who the hell knew if they brought the bomb themselves?
Long story short: the explosion was serious, but also... not that serious.
The local cops couldn't be bothered to care too much. Life went on.
On the flip side, the families and associates of the eight thugs were terrified and devastated. But because they were all undocumented, they had to hide, terrified the cops would find them and deport them.
Also, since they knew the crew hadn't brought the bomb—they were just there to mess with Dex Fruit Stand—they were now absolutely petrified of that place.
"That Russian broad is absolutely fucking ruthless..." someone whispered, voice trembling.
At Dex Fruit Stand.
The "Russian broad," Svetlana, opened her eyes and stretched long and hard. She grabbed her cigarettes, lit one up, opened the shop door, and looked at the dried blood on the pavement.
She grinned.
"What a beautiful day," Svetlana muttered to herself with a smile.
---
Dexter got up a bit earlier today. He headed out, handled the payroll for Veronica, Vivian, and Mickey, and then went to the restaurant.
The three of them were already there, cleaning up as usual.
Seeing them, Dexter smiled and waved the three envelopes in his hand. "Come on. Best way to start the day: getting paid."
Hearing this, all three of them lit up and hurried over to grab their pay stubs.
Mickey stared at the check inside the envelope, dazed. It felt surreal.
It made sense. This was the first legitimate paycheck of Mickey's life. Before this, he had never earned a clean dollar. In fact, no one in the Milkovich family ever really had.
For a moment, Mickey's emotions were a messy cocktail of confusion and shock.
Dexter noticed and smirked. "Mickey, how's it feel to work for money?"
Mickey looked up, his defenses instantly kicking in. "It sucks!"
Classic tsundere.
Dexter laughed, not minding a bit.
Mickey glared at him, didn't say another word, and stormed into the bathroom. He pulled out his phone, snapped a picture of the pay stub and check, and sent it to Mandy.
Mandy replied instantly, obviously thrilled: "That's amazing! Keep it up!!! Let's do dinner tonight to celebrate!"
Mickey grinned. "We'll see."
In the dining room, Veronica was looking over the details on her pay stub and gasped. "Boss, I thought you said benefits like health insurance wouldn't kick in for a few months? Why is it on here now?"
"Business is good, no need to wait," Dexter replied easily. "From now on, you guys can go to the hospital without worrying about it."
Veronica was genuinely touched. She thought Dexter was incredible.
Health insurance...
Before meeting Dexter, that was just a pipe dream. Now she had it. No more avoiding the doctor because she couldn't pay the bill. She didn't know what to say.
"Thank you, boss," Vivian chimed in cheerfully. She handed her check back to Dexter. "Boss, save this for me."
"Will do," Dexter took it, then turned back to Veronica. "Also, V, the plan I bought covers family. Once you and Kev get that license, he's covered too."
"What?!" Veronica hadn't noticed that part. She was floored. "That's... that's too much. Thank you, boss. Seriously."
Dexter laughed. "Don't look at basic benefits like they're miracles. Big companies do this all the time. It's standard."
Veronica was speechless.
maybe out there. But this was the South Side. Who in the South Side had benefits like this? It felt like a dream.
"I'm gonna go prep lunch," Dexter said, leaving them to it and heading for the kitchen.
Veronica took a moment to recover, nodded blankly, and then scrambled to grab her phone to tell Kevin the good news.
---
Kevin wasn't sleeping in. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. He was at a temp agency trying to find a nanny for Debbie, Carl, and Liam.
When he got Veronica's call and heard the news, he was ecstatic. "Dexter is a hell of a boss."
"Yeah," Veronica agreed.
They chatted happily for a minute before hanging up to get back to work.
---
Fiona, Lip, and Ian sat separately in two prisoner transport buses, heading toward the Cook County Courthouse.
About half an hour later, they arrived.
Hernando was already waiting.
From there, it was purely procedural. By noon, the verdicts were in.
Fiona got one year in prison, plus a felony record. She'd be eligible for parole in three to six months.
Lip and Ian both got three months in Juvenile Detention.
Sentencing over.
Fiona was separated from her brothers. She was loaded onto a different transport bus, shaking with terror as she was shipped off to prison. Lip and Ian were sent to Juvie.
---
Dex Restaurant, Kitchen.
Karen, having just arrived, flashed a brilliant smile at Dexter. "Mr. Ding, I'm pregnant."
Oh, snap.
This season finale was turning out to be a wild ride.
Dexter laughed and gave Karen a thumbs up. "Nice work."
Karen giggled. "Heh."
"The lawyer just called me. Fiona is on her way to prison. Lip and Ian are heading to the Juvenile Detention Center."
Dexter cut to the chase. "Find time to visit Lip. Tell him the news. You know how to play it, right?"
Karen nodded confidently. "Panicked, lost, helpless, and scared. Right?"
Look at that.
What a terrifying woman.
If Mandy hadn't hit her with a car in the original timeline, turning her into a vegetable, this manipulative little vixen would have ruined a lot of men.
Dexter nodded. "Exactly. Handle that, then come find me. I'll settle the payment."
"Okay," Karen agreed without hesitation. "Mr. Ding, I want Braised Beef Noodles for lunch."
Fine, go wait outside.
Karen left the kitchen, satisfied.
Dexter shook his head with a smile.
Life was just getting more and more interesting every day.
---