Re: SHOT in the Back

[Dobi Boshi]

Siegrain hummed, turning in the direction Briggs had pointed. "The Bronze is down that way," he muttered allowed, he'd visited the place the the day before; he'd known the place when Hercules had run it, having briefly met the man through Lila on one or two brief occasions - it was now owned by some guy named Larry or the like.

"Don't think it would be open at this time, shame it was nice too," he shrugged, "guess hunting for a cheap bar will do." With his part said he turned on his heel and walked off in search of the bar Briggs had mentioned. "So what are you plans now you're free? Surely you've got something in mind?"

[Big Uri]

"Got a job since I been under for so long, shame that job's packing bags at my local supermarket. I mean I ain't even affiliated with either family particularly, so I can't get them to take care of me. Guess I'll just use my natural wit and charm to get myself a better job and take it one day at a time," Briggs replied keeping pace with the much younger man.

"What about you?" he asked, returning the courtesy. Briggs tried not to think about it too much, or the thoughts inevitably turned to a darker subject matter than he was comfortable with. And it wouldn't do to think like that, he knew, so he was interested to see what Siegrain's plans were.

[Dobi Boshi]

"I honestly haven't put much thought into the whole thing; I never was one for plans. Prefer the the chaos of uncertainty, I do," Siegrain said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Both families would probably rather have my head on a platter rather than my loyalty; I did cause them a lot of hassle back in the day - so going to work for them is out of the question. Even if it wasn't I don't think I'd want to, not sure I can stomach things like I used too." Prison had seen to that.

"I suppose I need to work out some way to earn cash, and I want to see my little brother again," he paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully, "though I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm dead. I think everyone I once knew thinks I'm dead. It's probably better that way. But I want to see him again, and a few others; but all they'll remember is the monster I use to be. It's easier to just play dead and not actually have my fears become reality." Though part of him knew he'd have to face them eventually, he just prayed it would be under good circumstances.

[Big Uri]

"Monster or not, I'd be surprised if they didn't want to see you, even if just to confirm that rumours of your death were greatly exaggerated," Briggs mused, working out the scenario in his head. "From there, I think it's pretty evident you ain't a monster, though I don't know you. That said, maybe it's that that's the key."

"Obviously I can't speak for them if they're that prejudiced. Little brothers, in particular are always eager to see their big brothers as the good guy, trust me," Briggs told him at length, more thinking aloud than giving a speech. "I think if you leave it your mind might make it worse than the reality."

[Dobi Boshi]

"Trust me," Siegrain said, drawing up outside a bar, assuming it was the cheap one Briggs had mentioned, "no matter how bad I make it in my mind, it'll be worse in reality. I was not a nice guy back in the day; and that's being nice about it. So, this the place?"

[Big Uri]

"As you say," Briggs said again, thinking that the younger man was making a terrible mistake. He'd never had the chance, and he had always thought of it as his biggest regret. That said, he didn't think it was his place to lecture Seigrain any more than he had already. "Yeah, this is the place. Hasn't changed much, I guess that makes one thing."

[Dobi Boshi]

"Don't get me wrong, I want to see him again," Siegrain continued, pushing the door open and walking in, heading straight for the bar and a stool down the far end away from everyone else. "It's just I have no idea what the hell I'm suppose to say or how I approach him now. I think it would only make things worse by turning up out of the blue; I like chaos to much of a good thing can be a bad thing."

[Big Uri]

"How old was he when you were busy being a monster?" Briggs wondered aloud. He was running through the facts in his head. If Syefan was as bad as he said, he must have been very good. He was still young, he couldn't have served more than ten or eleven years. Either he wasn't as bad as he was saying, or more likely, he hadn't been caught for a lot of what hd had done.

[Dobi Boshi]

"I, uh, oh fuck...!" Siegrain cursed, he honestly couldn't remember Ethan's exact age from during his reign of terror. Great start to proving you can be capable big brother, really! "About six, maybe seven? He's gotta be about sixteen or something now. Damn, it'll be weird seeing what he looks like now..."

[Big Uri]

"Start it off simple then. He can't remember much of your old days, try talk to him alone without people there to remind him of what you done," Briggs advised, wondering if Siegrain would buy the round soon, though he was too polite to ask. "You ask him how people are doing eventually. Then you just work from there. Tha's how I'd go about it anyway."

[Dobi Boshi]

"I don't think it matters whether he remember me or not," Siegrain sighed, gesturing for the bar tender to come over, "even if he's forgotten all about me, what I've done is probably still lurking in the back of his mind - I mean look how long this city took to get over Spike. And I want a pint of cider, what about you Briggs?" He asked, now the bartender was in ear shot of them both.

[Big Uri]

"Strongest beer you got, please," Briggs ordered politely, resting his elbows on the counter. "I'm sorry, I don't know who Spike is. I take it he was a big shot when I was under? Lot can happen in thirty years, apparently, so some of my info might not be up to date."

[Dobi Boshi]

"Spike, according to popular rumour, is the second largest mass murder in all of Marisol in recent years; only his brother Stefan has a greater body count. Though there was never enough hard evidence to pin either of them with anything serious for very long." Siegrain spoke, sounding bitter as the barman walked away to get their drinks. Wish I'd ordered something stronger now...

"They weren't pleasant times; when Spike and Stefan ran around and did as they pleased."

[Big Uri]

Briggs took this, mulling it over as he took a long drink of his newly-arrived beer. Damn, he'd missed quite a bit. Not that he hadn't already known that, but it really brought it home that he had been in so long that he had missed Marisol's two biggest serial killers' entire reign.

"Dead or captured? Surnames?" Briggs asked when he had finished.

[Dobi Boshi]

"Spike's dead," Siegrain said, before taking a swing of his drink, "And Stefan... well lets say prison did him some good; showed him just what kind of scum he really was..."

[Stabberz]

Ethan frowned at this information. He craned his head to glance over in the direction of the de Luca compound. He'd only seen Max once but even that once could tell you who his father was. It was all in the eyes.

What would Damon have done in this situation... well he would've gone to the de Luca compound and raised hell.

A grim look of determination set onto his face. After all he was the only blood relative Ethan had left.

"Hop on Lena."

---

Elena smiled. Well, it was more of a smirk. Her eyes shone slightly as he mentioned Stefan. Her voice gave nothing away as she spoke but her intelligent mind was already running over the possibilities.

"I thank you for your assistance. As agreed, I shall soon make my move." The woman assured her temporary ally.

"As for the Karmts brother situation, I was unaware he had come back. A few spies noticed he was leaving the prison." Elena noted. "Perhaps he came back to pay his respects to his brother?"

[Dobi Boshi]

"Hmm," Bakura mused, not fooled for a second; he'd gotten to where he was pulling such tricks after all. "We'll see, then. And you best hope that is all Karmts plans on doing, he could be just a big a wrench to you as he could be too me. Make no mistake, Nelson Ching is only a phone call away, don't cross me, Elena." And with that he hung up.

[Big Uri]

"Let's hope the youngest brother breaks the trend, eh?" Briggs muttered, digesting this. Damn, what the hell did those kids grow up in to make them what they were? "Maybe that's something you could work on, right? I mean if you do go back to 'im. Ain't no one better qualified than you, and if you managed to turn him off a path, and something tells me he might already be on it, well then all those people that doubted you, that currently hate you? Well they can't argue with that, can they?"

-----

A pretty face popped in over the side of the door leading to where Elena had been talking to Bakura from, dull curiousity in her eyes.

"Bakura on to you?" she asked her boss.

[Book the Hero]

Lena did, sitting down behind him. "What do you plan on doing?" Lena asked, worried he was going to do something reckless. "I was thinking we could go around the compound, and just ask about their location, that way." She said, trying to suggest they take a reasonable approach to this. It might not work, but it was better than nothing.

[Dobi Boshi]

Siegrain just gave a low whistle; "People often say that power corrupts, but you know, I think that's wrong. Power draws the corruptible to it. Ethan was a good kid, I'm sure he'd do a lot better if I stayed away, he wasn't like me and his other brother, or at least I don't remember him being like us. Things change," he honestly didn't know what to do anymore; hell in truth he didn't even know where to start looking for Ethan. "It's gonna be a long day..."

[Big Uri]

"I have a feelin' you might wanna get used to that one," Briggs pointed out wryly. "It's rare things like this start and end with one house blowing up, not that you need me to tell you, I'm sure. I reckon this could be an indication of the next month or two to come. At least. Though I don't know anything about the victims so I can't speak about the family consequences too knowledgeably."

[Stabberz]

Elena still retained her smirk after Bakura had hung up. Her business deals with Wolfram and Hart were key to her overall plot. Karmts would have a huge role to play but so too would her takeover of the Ching's. The youngest Karmt's brother and his little friend would also have a big part to play.

"Probably, but he can't fathom the full extent of the plan I'm putting into place." She responded to Lauren. She then sighed and glanced at a picture on her desk that showed a younger version of herself with a boy.

"It's times like this that Chris' talents would've been particularly fruitful."

===

Ethan smirked when he heard Lena's suggestion and quickly snapped the visor of his helmet down. Whilst still holding in the clutch he began to rev the bike.

"I had much the similar opinion," he shouted to her. His eyes were narrowed. "But our versions of asking people differ."

The teenager made sure that Lena had her arms wrapped around his waist and her helmet on before releasing the clutch and taking off at break neck speeds.

[Dobi Boshi]

"Yeah," Siegrain acknowledged, staring into the depths of his glass, "the problem is that I feel like a pawn at the moment. Somebody got me out of jail when I suppose to be there for life, I only avoided death row on a technicality and now, less than a week after my release houses start blowing up again. I get that change has gotta happen, but I got a sinking feeling someone is trying to change things back to how they use to be - I ain't going to be that man again if I can help it, though."

[Book the Hero]

Lena mentally groaned when she heard Ethan say that. She knew im well enough to know what he meant. The guy was probably going to attract as much attention as he possibly could. "Ethan please, don't do anything rash...Let's try not to attract a lot of attention." She said, trying to talk him out of it, as they raced off to the compound. Usually, she wouldn't really mind if a lot of people were starring at her. But it was a whole 'nother thing when it was a bunch of trained killers starring at her...

[that fang]

Wow, Marisol's police force was really something, Myrrh mused as he made his way through the ruins of Andrea's house. He'd ducked under the police tape and simply waltzed into the site; no one had given him much trouble. He made a mental note of lax security and tucked it away for later recollection.

There wasn't much he could go on, since he was trying to keep out of the police's way and he didn't know where the shooters had been stationed. Myrrh knew Dom wasn't expecting much; just as he was about to leave (a cop was approaching him and giving him the evil eye), his eye caught on something shiny buried in the rubble. Ignoring the officer, Myrrh approached it.

It appeared to be some kind of gas canister. This was probably left during the seige and somehow it survived the explosion. On closer inspection, Myrrh spotted the insignia of the manufacturer on the side. He scowled, recognizing the symbol and name. Dom wouldn't like this...

...

Carlotta didn't know what was left to say. She wanted to catch up, but she knew that in the end, nothing would change. Andrea would continue moving on, and Carlotta would remain right where she was. "Are you still going to go to classes?"

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