Realistic or Modern Empire City: The Irish Mob - Bonus Scenes (Closed)

[Bellz]

~ October 17th, 1978 ~
Harper King
Bruce's House
~ Bethnal, Green ~
17 years old ​

When Darcey suggested that they just pretend a girl hit hurt, Harper nodded her head. If it was another girl, or a peer, Harper would have definitely had the upper hand. She wasn't as rowdy or as much of a troublemaker as her brothers but she had been known to defend herself or others when need be. Darcey hated to lie, and Harper knew that...but while she felt bad for asking her to..she needed the support without bringing her brothers or Bruce into it all.

The anger Harper felt towards Billy might have felt misplaced to other people but it was real. The young woman had already felt like an afterthought in her family. It was always the King boys and little Harper...never just the Kings. They always went on jobs and were experiencing things she never got to...it was incredibly isolating already being the youngest let alone the only woman. Then he just had to go and make her feel more like she didn't belong.

Harper was feeling horribly defeated in the privacy of her room, feeling ashamed that Darcey even had to look at it like this. Just then, however, Darcey cupped her cheeks, forcing Harper to look her in the eyes. The words she spoke were said with such assurance and such conviction that Harper had no reason not to listen to her. Darcey had always been someone she looked up to, the woman was so self-assured, so confident. Awkward Harper could only dream that she would end up being half the woman Darcey was

She told her not to ever let a man make her feel less for who she was...or who she fell for. Harper nodded softly in the woman's hands as she then told her that they were all just intimidated by her. Intimidated? Harper didn't feel like they were. She was the dainty one, who they all thought would just shatter into a million pieces if someone even looked at her the wrong way. Harper tried to assert herself with plenty of attitudes, and a hard exterior but her family never did take her seriously...and how could they now? After she just let a guy force himself on her, uses her, and then abuse her when she tried to fight him off.

Darcey's words were so strong, however, that Harper was inclined to believe her...that maybe she did have the upper hand and just didn't know how to use it yet. Her words telling her to make them fear her and worship the ground she walked on made something click in her head. Despite the attitude, despite the fighting back she had been doing...maybe she was doing it all wrong. Harper had been made to feel like women held no power and trying to compete with all the men in her life it was only reaffirmed. But women did hold all the power and as she was learning...there was only really one thing those sleazy men cared about. Even though she loved her brothers...they were one and the same as any other man.

As their sister, she could use her leverage as the youngest against them. Why should she let them or Bruce tell her what she can and cannot do when she isn't allowed to do the same? And Billy, well, Harper had her suspicions and Harper's intuition was hardly ever wrong. Despite this being one of the lowest points in her nearly adult life...Harper looked into Darcey's eyes and knew she would be okay. "You're right, Darce. They have half the brains we do...sure they have all the strength but even the strongest fall at the end of the day." Harper murmured softly.

When Darcey told her that no one would lay hands on her again, promising her that she would make sure of it, Harper believed it wholeheartedly. "I don't know what I would do without you, Darcey." Harper's lower lip trembled as she hugged the woman tightly suddenly. "You are far too good to be dealing with the likes of my difficult family. But I promise I'll take what you say and use it...I'm never going to let that happen again either."

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Darcey Hargraves
~October 17th, 1978~

Darcey could only hope that her words were getting through to Harper. It was one thing to hear it but truly believing it was something different. And in her broken state, she didn't know if she would. She could think Darcey was just telling her this to make her feel better; while that's the truth, she was also being completely and utterly genuine in her words. As a woman herself, Darcey knew the hardships women faced because of experience. She knew how men saw them and knew that it would never change unless they took initiative and matters into their own hands.

The first step, she thought, was accepting who they were. From the first time Darcey suspected Harper wasn't straight, she worried. Worried that she would hate who she was or that people would find out and treat her differently. And while neither of those had happened - to her knowledge - something worse had; something she wouldn't wish on any woman no matter how old. Darcey knew that because of this Harper would never be the same, but she was determined to help her get through it. This wasn't about to be her defining moment- that's for damn sure. Darcey let out a slight laugh hearing Harper's comment. "That's right. And when they least expect it. Just when they've finally turned their back we'll show them why they shouldn't have. They'll see that their balls belong in our purses that they'd be lucky to hold for us." She softly stroked her hair, placing another kiss on her forehead.

Harper may not have been her daughter, nor her brothers her son but Darcey definitely saw them as such sometimes. When parent-teacher conferences were held it was always "My kids," or "Our kids". Never what they actually were. She'd been around for their births and helped Bruce raise them after the death of their mother. It felt natural to think of them as such, even though she knew she wasn't. So hearing Harper praise her for dealing with her family, Darcey just scoffed and returned her hug. "Well, your Uncle made sure I wasn't going anywhere. I knew how dramatic your family was from the beginning," she paused, pulling back so Harper could see her face. "But you're my kid even though you're not. And your family is my family, okay? I'll always be here for you. Through anything, so add that to your list of things to remember."

It had taken everything in Darcey not to break down, but she could feel her barriers struggling. But, she knew she couldn't just run away so instead, she opted to try and offer Harper something so she could have a moment to herself. "I'm going to run you a bath, okay? Would you like that? We can make it very posh and you can have a moment alone; I know you're too old for me to join you in the bubbles," she teased. "And I'll bring you snacks. What do you think?"

 

[Misty Gray]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Trevor Stewart​

Over the last couple of months, Trevor had been surprised by how open Harper had been to give him the benefit of the doubt and to hear him out. Having walked out on the family whilst Laura was pregnant with Harper and therefore having not met her since he recently returned, he expected she would have been one of the last to want to give him the time of day. Of course, the two people least likely to ever give him another chance were Bruce and Spencer. Whilst he wouldn't deny he messed up in the past by walking out on his family and failing to help Laura, he was done trying to prove anything to those two bull-headed men. Just as they didn't wish to hear him out, he had no intention of trying to win them over or beg them to let him stay in London. Bruce had never given him a chance and Spencer had grown up to be just as stubborn.

There were two more people directly affected by Trevor's presence in London and though he had kept his distance until now, he did think about Alex and Billy often. He wasn't going to push them into seeing him, but it didn't mean he didn't want them to give him a chance. The Kings were a very vocal and up-front bunch, so he was sure they had opinions on him which were more than likely negative ones. Despite this and the fact he'd never been permitted to meet his first grandson, it didn't take long to find out about Callum having been taken away without Alex's consent. Learning Savannah had disappeared with her son and apparently without a trace, the cogs had started turning in his head. It may have been a long shot and not forced to lead back to anything, but Trevor suspected if nobody had been able to trace them yet, it was highly likely they had left the country and with false documents. Having spent time in Dublin and under his own false identities, Trevor had contacts there who had been able to forge paperwork for him and even back in the 60s he wasn't blind to the Irish Mob, who would have business with the same forger. As his gut feeling was purely that, he hadn't bothered wasting his time trying to get Bruce or Spencer to hear him out, so he'd gone ahead to make contact with his old contact in Dublin to see if he knew anything. The man had confirmed forging passports and papers for a woman and child matching Savannah's and Callum's descriptions. Considering the blonde's career, she was easy to remember. Any more information than that, Trevor had to pay for it.

As it happened, Trevor had come into some money following the sale of his car dealership business back in Watford, so the fee he'd been asked to pay for information on Callum felt like nothing now. Trevor had no intention of going to Bruce and Spencer with the information he had. The information was intended for Alex, not two men whose hostilities he wasn't willing to sit through again if he could help it. This involved Alex's kid, not theirs.

Trevor parked his car on the street before walking across to Alex's place and knocking on the door. He knew Alex wouldn't be happy to see him and he expected the man to be all kinds of angry on account of missing his son. Trevor rolled his shoulders as if prepping himself for a confrontation. When Alex opened the door, Trevor wasted no time in holding his hands up in front as if to reflect his presence wasn't intended to cause harm. "Here me out. I'm here to help..." Trevor was quick to assure Alex. If his second son was as stubborn as Spencer, then Trevor knew he needed to get straight to the point.

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Alex King

Alex had made a mistake; a big one. Involving Sinead and Liam was perhaps his stupidest mistake yet. They had nothing to do with Savannah leaving nor did they know where she was. He should've believed and understood that the first time he asked, but he was desperate. Not knowing where his kid was had been killing him inside; making him do things he didn't think that he would. Alex never thought he'd feel as strongly as he did about Callum. Up until a few months ago, seeing him whenever suited him just fine. Now? Now things were different.

Becoming a better person, and a better father for Callum was important to him. He knew what it felt like to have a father that didn't want you; a father that would just up and abandon you. Sure, he hadn't been doing a good enough job until recently but he was at least trying. He wanted to prove to everyone and himself that he was not going to turn out like Trevor. That he was going to be better than him in every way possible. He'd been sitting in his living room, trying to think of a way to unfuck the situation he'd created when a knock interrupted him. He was sure his family members were too pissed with him to be coming around, so he was confused.

Trevor had been the last person Alex expected to see on his doorstep. Ever since seeing him back at the pub, he'd managed to both avoid seeing him and stay off his radar. Though he loved his little sister, bless her for being naive enough to trust him. That meant most of his focus would be spent on her, right? He still didn't appreciate that she'd been seeing him and talking to him, but Alex was no longer going to get in the middle of it. When Trevor broke her heart - which he was sure he'd inevitably do - then she'd understand that they were just trying to protect her. The moment his eyes laid on him, however, Alex closed the door in his face. Slammed, really. He hadn't walked away yet for some reason, so he was able to hear Trevor saying he was there to help.

He waited for a moment - unsure of how he wanted to respond. Everything in him was saying to tell the guy off; to say "Fuck you," but for some reason, he hadn't. Instead, he opened the door. Not for him to invite in, either. Alex immediately gripped Trevor's collar between his hands, dragging him over to a wall and pushing him against it. "I'm not in the mood for your shit, Trevor, so what the fuck are you doing here? Be quick about it!"

 

[Misty Gray]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Trevor Stewart​

When Alex opened the door only to slam it in his face, Trevor wasn't at all surprised - it was basically what he'd been expecting, if not less violent! From what Trevor already knew, Alex was the most like his younger self, so he understood there could be a lot of resentment from his second son. Not only for walking out of his family but for potentially passing on the less favourable traits Alex shared with him. With the door having been slammed shut, Trevor nodded his head and folded his arms as he took it in his stride. He decided to leave a pause to give Alex time to decide if and how he was going to follow up on that action. Either he'd walk away and leave Trevor to be persistent, or he'd open the door again and give the older man another opportunity to attempt to explain himself.

It seemed like Alex was using the same pause to weigh up his next moves, as Trevor had anticipated. Soon enough, the door opened again and Alex stepped out to grab his father by the collar and slam his back against the wall. "There's the King spirit," Trevor cockily remarked but didn't fight against the grip Alex had, giving the younger man the opportunity to get the frustration out of his system. "I have some information that might help you find your kid. It could end up being nothing, but it's certainly a lead to follow up on," he spoke quickly, as per Alex's request. Trevor eventually made a move to shrug out of Alex's grip and make the younger man let go of him. After taking a deep breath, he pointed inside the house. "But out here isn't the place to talk about this, not with all the mess your family's tied up in. You're going to have to let me inside if you want me to talk," he firmly told him. "I'm not armed or anything - you can check. I'll be out of your hair the minute you don't want to listen to any more," he calmly reasoned. "What do you say?"

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Alex King

​

Though Alex didn't want to hear anything coming out of Trevor's mouth, hearing that he may have had information on his kid caused him to pause. The man had spent some time in Dublin - clearly, seeing as he had another kid there - so maybe his words held weight. He faltered, unsure if he could allow himself to trust anything Trevor was saying. He hadn't given him any sort of reason to trust him before so why should he do so now? Gritting his teeth together he let him go. "I swear to God if you're playin' me, Trevor, you'll be buried six feet under." Alex stepped to the side to allow Trevor in before closing the door behind him.

The state of Alex's apartment reflected that of his mental state - an absolute mess. Bottles of alcohol strewn about, ashtrays filled with cigarette butts, and clothes littered the floor. The biggest mess of them all was the wall plastered with different pieces of paper stuck to it. Notes and scribbles and yarn; Alex's attempt at playing detective. It was definitely something out of a crime show, which is exactly where he'd gotten the idea. None of it led anywhere, however, always leading to a dead end. Alex was in the process of ripping it all down out of anger when Trevor knocked, so now the man got to witness his insanity. Instead of being hospitable like he normally would be, Alex turned to Trevor and crossed his arms. "Alright. Five minutes. Go."

 

[Misty Gray]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor nodded to himself as Alex let him go, able to see his son was willing to hear him out and be reasonable. "I'm not playing you, I swear. I'm just trying to help," he assured him. When his son stepped aside to let him pass, Trevor entered the house and took a moment to look around his surroundings. The apartment was looking a mess. The alcohol bottles, ashtrays and clothing scattered around the place held some familiarity to Trevor. There had been times when he and Laura had a flat together that looked a similar kind of mess on occasions where they'd been on drug and alcohol binges for days on end. The flashbacks to those days didn't get much opportunity to surface for long as his eyes landed on the wall that was covered with pieces of paper containing notes. Alex had clearly been going out of his mind to desperately piece together anything at all that could help find Callum.

Trevor began to cast his eyes on the various notes before Alex broke him out of his concentration and gave him five minutes to speak. "Right. Of course, Sherlock," he muttered. Looking around, he managed to find a pen and a small piece of blank paper. He quickly wrote a few words down, using all capitals. He'd spent many years forging signatures or handwriting, but this was one of the times he didn't overthink his writing. Grabbing a thumbtack, he pushed it through the top centre of the paper and pinned it in the centre of Alex's cluttered notes. 'ABIGAIL MILLER, JOSHUA MILLER, JONATHAN MILLER' were the words written on the paper. "Savannah, Callum and some bloke I assume has accompanied them," he said as he pointed to each name respectively. "You need to add those names to your searches as I believe those are the identities they're living under now."

Trevor looked to Alex and let out a sigh, his expression clearly reflecting a man who was about to make an admission he wasn't proud of. "Over the years I used a lot of false IDs, committed all kinds of fraud and scams. There's a guy in Dublin who was able to make up false documents for me at a price and I was aware he also had connections to the mob. I contacted him after hearing about Callum and for a price he confirmed those names to me. He made false papers and passports for them. I would assume so they could leave the country." Trevor folded his arms. "Now, whilst I have no reason to believe my old friend would want to double-cross me, we have to keep in mind that there's always a chance the Sullivans got to him first and these names are meant to send us on a wild goose chase. He's a mate, but I know the mob have ways of persuading people to their will. However, it's a potential lead you and the others might want to follow up on, right?"

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Alex King

Alex watched Trevor with curious eyes, wanting to know what he thought. Did he feel bad for him? Did he see himself in his son? Alex wanted to know what sort of things were swimming through Trevor's head as he looked around his apartment. So long as it wasn't pity, of course. The last thing he wanted from Trevor was his pity and almost made it a point to tell him so. But for some reason, he hadn't. Usually, he had some sort of smart-ass quip for him but he was distracted by what Trevor was doing instead.

For a moment he thought his father was about to talk about his messy detective work. He didn't want to hear any comment about it from anyone. "Alex, this isn't healthy," he pictured them saying. Nothing he was doing was healthy, so who the fuck cares? It was keeping him busy and from being even more destructive. Instead, the man had added something to it. Alex immediately dropped his arms, walking over to the wall to read the writing better. The names didn't sound familiar to him and it wasn't long before Trevor explained why; they were aliases. The thing that had thrown him for a loop, however, was the third person. Who had Savannah gone away with? Was it the guy she'd brought with her to the bar? For some reason that only pissed him off more.

Just as he was about to ask Trevor where he'd gotten the information from, the man offered an explanation himself. Alex looked over Trevor skeptically as he explained and once he had it made sense. But that wasn't what Alex was focusing on. Narrowing his eyes and cocking his head to the side, Alex asked, "How did you hear about Callum?" He was sure the answer was Harper, but he wanted to know for himself. Trevor went on to explain that while the information sounded good, there was always a chance it could be bad. Alex just scoffed and shook his head. "And I'm supposed to trust you on this?" It was more a question for himself, his head swirling with thoughts and doubts and struggling to take the man's word for it. Instead of beating around Alex just decided to be up front. "What do you get out of this Trevor? Looking to fall back into our good graces? Want to get to know your grandkids? What is it?"

 

[Misty Gray]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor could read the sceptical expression on Alex's face after he'd given him the names and explained how he came to be in possession of them. However, when Alex spoke up, his initial expression of suspicion wasn't so much about the information Trevor had presented him with but more where he had found out about Callum being missing in the first place. "Listen... Harper and I talk from time to time. She's a grown up - we're all grown ups - so it's entirely her decision to spend time with me. Harper told me about Callum because it was on her mind and I already knew years ago that the kid's mother one of that Irish lot," he explained.

When Alex asked if he was supposed to trust Trevor and the information he gave him, the older man shrugged his shoulders and turned away from the erratic wall of information his son has compiled. "Look at it this way... You follow-up on the information and it leads nowhere and you continue to think I'm a lying bastard among everything else. Or, you don't follow-up on it and you may never know if it was true or you realise too far down the line that it was true, so you regret not chasing the lead. I'd say the biggest risk you take is not following up on the names I gave you. What's there to lose? You lot have more resources available to have the names investigated than I do. I'm not oblivious to that nosey Scottish bloke Bruce and Spence have had stalking me," he said in reference to Christian.

Alex went on to ask Trevor what he would get out of helping find Callum and Trevor let out a sigh, leaning back against the wall as he shook his head. "For what it's worth - and I suspect it's worth nothing to you, as is the case with Spence and Bruce - I'm trying to make up for all of the bad shit I've done over the years. I messed up and it affected all of you greatly. I know that. I didn't appreciate family back then and I realised years ago what I threw away. You clearly care about Callum, so if I can help you find him, it's the least I can do for failing you so much over the years. And yeah, in an ideal world, I'd like you get the chance to know you, Billy and Harper. Hell, I'd like to meet my grandsons. But I'm not delusional enough to think anything I could do would make me deserve that. So if you want to take my help as me being selfish, then you can just accept that I'm trying to help you find Callum so it'll help ease a little more of my own conscience. I won't even deny it, because I have a shitload to make up for," he admitted.

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Alex King

It wasn't that he was talking to Harper that had Alex upset. He'd long since decided that if Harper wanted to talk to him she could. He wasn't about to waste any more breath trying to convince her what scum Trevor was - no, he'd wait for her to figure out on her own, and then maybe she'd listen. Maybe she'd understand that her brothers weren't unfair assholes and that they were trying to protect her. However, the problem he had with her talking to Trevor was that she'd be telling him everything that was happening; including, apparently, Callum being taken away from him. He didn't like that Trevor knew something so... Personal about him. Was it perhaps about to help him get his son back? Sure. But it's the principality of it.

"Look, I don't give a shit about what you and Harper discuss- keep me out of it," he stated, waving his hand at the man. Now that he had the information he needed from Trevor, he was so sure he was about to kick him out. His five minutes had been up and yet... Something was bugging him in the back of his mind. Trevor continued to state his case and he made a pretty good point. There truly was no harm in him taking the information and researching it himself. If it had turned up another dead end, Trevor would just prove that he was an untrustworthy piece of shit and Alex could beat him up later. But if it didn't? Alex was unsure of how things would go if the information given was actually truthful. And though the father part of him wanted it to be truthful, the son part didn't. It meant acknowledging that Trevor, perhaps, actually be trying to be a better man.

Trevor began to explain himself, Alex talking over him when he heard the words, "Making up for all the bad shit,". "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard your rousing fucking speech before." He shook his head, storming over to his couch and taking a seat. Set on the table in front of him was a bottle of whiskey - only about a quarter left. He poured it into a nearby cup, letting Trevor finish his speech. He let out a chortle, hearing his father say he knew how his actions had affected them, and shook his head. But he didn't interrupt. Alex felt this was good a time as any to get what he wanted to say off his chest, but he'd let his father continue to try and convince him he was 'doing better'. By the end, Alex was laughing. His hand placed on his side, he was full out laughing and didn't stop for several seconds.

Once he had, he filled his cup more and sighed, shaking his head. "You know how much it affected us, that was a good one." He threw the drink back, letting it settle in his stomach before he continued. "You know fuck all. S-So you know, then, how much some of us have struggled to make sure we didn't end up like you? A piece of shit who treated the women they loved like trash," he said, thinking about how he'd been acting towards both Savannah and Kerry. "An absentee father who'd rather enjoy the nightlife than their own kid?" His voice nearly cracked speaking about Callum, but that didn't stop him. "Or a fuck up that can't seem to get outta his own way?" Alex was clearly talking about himself, but he didn't know if Trevor could see that. "You don't know anything 'cause you weren't there so don't pretend."

 

[Misty Gray]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor watched on as Alex moved to sit on the couch whilst he dismissed his explanation about trying to make up for all the shit he'd done in the past. Trevor took a few steps forward so he could remain in Alex's view but not moving too close that it could appear he was trying to commit to staying inside his son's home. Alex set about pouring himself some whiskey, which he'd clearly been doing plenty of recently. When Trevor had finished speaking, Alex proceeded to laugh in what the older man interpreted as mockery but laced with a lot of ingrained resentment and anger. No surprise, of course.

Once he'd finished his laughing and drinking, Alex proceeded to speak back to Trevor, pointing out the older man didn't really know how much his kids had struggled. Alex made it clear he and his siblings had battled to make sure they didn't turn out like their father. Whilst Trevor accepted a large amount of responsibility for his actions and the effect it had on his kids, he was growing tired of having the sole blame for Laura's choices put onto him. Harper was the only one who seemed to acknowledge that whilst he had made many mistakes and wasn't innocent in Laura's downfall, her mother had also been responsible for her own poor choices. Trevor acknowledged he could have done a lot more to help Laura, but she willingly chose to be with him and wasn't forced to adopt the unhealthy lifestyle they both found themselves in.

Trevor took another step forward, no longer concerned with maintaining distance as he wanted to look his son head on. Alex's words about choosing the fun nightlife over their own kid and being a fuck up were certainly interpreted at a dig at the man Trevor had been. However, it was clear that in reality, Alex was describing himself. When his son pointed out that Trevor didn't know anything on account of not being present, the older man nodded his head and couldn't help but scoff. "You know, I'm growing sick of hearing this crap from you and Spence. You can't keep blaming me for how you turned out when you're also pointing out I wasn't around. Maybe it's time the pair of you started owning it and taking some damn responsibility for the men you are. If you tried to be different to me but still ended up the way you believe you have, then that's not on me. I wasn't there, was I?" he asked, shaking his head. "Your environment plays a big part in shaping who you are, so if you've got issues with that, you should take a look at the role models you had in your life when I was so clearly absent. You might find it's the same two men who blame me for everything your mother did. The same men who underestimate your sister despite the fact she seems to be capable of thinking of things more objectively than the lot of you. Stop blaming me for every mistake you've ever made. Start thinking outside the box and swallow your pride," he said, pointing back to the wall of notes. "I came here to help you, not to have my weekly slanging match with the King Family."

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Alex King's Place
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 30th August 1985

Alex King

For some strange reason, hearing Trevor snap at him the way he did made Alex feel small - like a little kid being chastised by his parents. It didn't make sense to him, why he was giving Trevor that much power, but it was happening. He sank further into his seat and avoided all eye contact; arms crossed and glass in hand. It did, however, make him think. He was actually taking a moment to consider the man's words but when he mentioned taking a look at his environment he refused. It felt like Trevor was blaming Bruce for the way he'd turned out considering he was the one that raised him. And if there was anything Alex wasn't going to do it was that.

He subtly shook his head, once again feeling as if he were a kid again. Why he'd suddenly felt this way he didn't know. He didn't say much else, either. Just sat listening, stewing as Trevor droned on. And if Alex were to be completely honest with himself, Trevor was right. If he wanted to be better than him then all he had to do was be better. That weight that he carried all the time- that nagging voice in the back of his head meant nothing. All he had to do was ignore it, right? And then he would be fine. All the screw-ups in his life were his own fault, he realized. It was just easier to blame it on Trevor so he could pretend he was a good person. And as he sat in front of his father realizing that he had, in fact, turned into him, Alex felt disgusted with himself. Harper was right. Trevor was right. They were all right and that hurt more than anything.

However, instead of giving Trevor that satisfaction- that ability to say, "I told you so," he looked away and scoffed. "Yeah. And you've helped, right? So you can go on and let yourself out." It was hard for him to say 'thank you' or show him any sort of appreciation for the work that he'd done. Deep down inside he knew he should- he'd even paused and stared at him, trying to force the words out of his mouth. But they just wouldn't come. However, what his mouth wouldn't say his eyes did as he looked towards where his front door was gesturing towards it. "And tell Harper to stop talking about me. If I wanted you in my business I'd tell you myself."

 

[Misty Gray]

King-Affilaited Gym
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Thursday 13th March 1969

Spencer King​

Spencer had been training with his boxing instructor for some time after the last of the other gym-goers had left for the evening. As the gym belonged to his friend, Gary, Spencer was able to talk him into letting him work out late that evening and lock the place up for him. After his coach had left, Spencer took some time to tidy up after himself, not wanting to leave the place a mess for when Gary opened up the next morning. Besides, he had a little time to kill before Jeremy showed up to meet him and head out to the pub for a pint together.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Spencer finished wiping down one of the benches and tossed the towel into the laundry basket. "You took your time," he began as he turned to face the other man. He was surprised to see it wasn't Jeremy standing a couple of feet away, but instead a vaguely familiar man of a larger build and clearly a few years older. "What do you want?" Spencer abruptly asked. Sensing the visitor wasn't of the friendly kind, he began glancing around for potential weapons to use if it came to it.

"You broke my brothers nose last week, ya prick!" the man angrily replied. On is word, the man in question walked into view, holding a baseball bat in both hands as he stepped forward.

"Simon! Then you, big brother, must be Lee," Spencer said, sending a smirk in the younger brother's direction as he saw the broken nose for the first time since he'd given him it. "Yeah, well maybe you need to tell Simon not to go around causing trouble in my family's pub. He didn't understand basic instructions to get the fuck out, so a thumped it into him," he defiantly informed Lee. Despite his cocky response, Spencer was fully aware of the weapon Simon was carrying to accompany his bruised ego, but it wasn't in Spencer's nature to act scared.

Before Spencer could reach for the nearest cast iron weight plate, Lee grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back, just in time for Simon to swing the baseball bat into his back. Spencer stumbled forward and grabbed onto the nearest bench to catch himself. Turning quickly, he was able to grab the end of the bat and drag it out of Simon's hands. However, Lee wrapped his arm tightly around Spencer's neck, with Simon then forcing him to let go of the bat. Rather than use that weapon again, Simon tossed it aside and instead pulled a knife out of his pocket and pointed the blade towards him. "You're a fuckin dead man, King!" Simon threatened him, his voice sounded almost comically nasal on account of his broken nose.

 

[BasDorcha]

King-Affiliated Gym

Bethnal Green, London
Jeremy Gray
​

Seventeen-year-old Jeremy had been running late – something highly unusual for him. On his way across town, his bike had died, so after pushing it the last two blocks to his house, he had to hoof it for the gym. Normally this wouldn’t have been an issue, but Jeremy hadn’t planned on the extra time it would take to get to the gym from his place without his bike. With his hands shoved in his pockets, his leather jacket pulled against the coolness that night was bringing, he headed towards where Spencer and him were set to meet. The pub sounded bloody good after his day, especially since he wasn’t going to be able to get his bike back up and running for a bit.

As he got to the gym, he realized it was dark and everyone had left, but as he opened the door, he heard voices. Angry voices. Jeremy creeped in slowly, ready to jump at any given second. Unfortunately, Jeremy hadn’t brought any weapons, he carried a pistol on his bike, but that was at home… broken down. As he neared, his anger grew higher, knowing he was likely about to walk up on something he was going to be jumping into.

“Simon! Then you, big brother, must be Lee.” Jeremy heard the voices coming from the back and increased his speed to get to the back in time. Just as he burst into the back room where Spencer had obviously been cleaning up the last of his day, a bat came flying towards him, tossed aside from Simon as he pulled out a knife instead. Jeremy was quick to turn the back around right way, stepping out of the dark just as Simon threatened Spencer. Without thinking, Jeremy swung, the bat cracking the guys nasally skull as it landed. The guy collapsed in front of him, Spencer trapped under the other guys arm. Jeremy shoved the bat forward, sliding it right past Spencer’s ear and into the guys face, though the force was enough to force his arm to slacken, there was not enough force to knock him out at that point.

The man quickly released Spencer, retaliating with a swing of first that landed on Jeremy’s face. In an instant, a boxing match began over the bleeding body of the younger brother. Lee roared with anger, attempting to throttle Jeremy with his big hands. He squeezed on Jeremy’s throat as Jeremy swung overhand at him while his vision blurred.

 

[Misty Gray]

King-Affiliated Gym
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Thursday 13th March 1969

Spencer King​

Before Simon had chance to do anything with the knife, Jeremy showed up on the scene and used the baseball bat to hit the guy across the skull. The man collapsed on the floor, the base of his skull violently colliding with the sharp corner of the iron frame of the exercise bench. Without a knife being aimed towards him, Spencer began trying to wriggle his way out of the vice-like grip of Lee's arm around his throat. Jeremy used the bat to hit Lee's face, the blow causing the man to loosen his grip on Spencer.

With Spencer escaping his hold, Lee turned his attention onto Jeremy and the pair began laying into each other. The more physically imposing man, Lee, managed to grab Jeremy by the throat and attempt to choke him, pushing the younger man against the wall in the process. Spencer quickly grabbed the nearby hanging skipping rope and rushed to wrap his around Lee's neck, using both hands to pull tightly. The rope around Lee's throat restricted the man's airways, causing him to release Jeremy and attempt to pull at the rope to loosen its pressure around his neck. With Lee gasping and choking for air, Spencer held out a little while longer until he could feel the man weakening in front of him. Deciding Lee was in a vulnerable enough state, Spencer was about to loosen the rope from around his neck to let him breathe.

Instead of actually doing so, Spencer had caught sight of the red pool of liquid on the floor around Simon's head. There was a lot of blood and the injured party was looking very much dead. There was no doubt that Jeremy had killed the man when he struck him with the baseball ball. It had been 16 months since Spencer had first killed in an unplanned, split second decision. Unaware of how to deal with killing a man and how to cover his tracks, Spencer had to call on his uncle for help. It was that night that Spencer learned from Bruce how to cover his tracks and ensure the crime never came back to bite him. Now, realising his friend had just killed a man and would be unprepared to deal with it, Spencer felt it was his responsibility to help Jeremy as Bruce had done for him. All the while, trying to minimise how much involvement his already busy uncle would have to have in cleaning up the latest mess.

So, it was in that moment, as he saw Simon's dead body, that Spencer changed his mind about releasing Lee. There couldn't be any lose ends. With a deep growl, the adrenaline seemed to kick in and Spencer tightened the rope around Lee's neck. The more the man struggled, the more forcefully Spencer pulled at the rope. Even as the man in front of him struggled to stand any more, Spencer didn't let up. As Lee collapsed onto his knees, Spencer lowered his arms with him, but didn't loosen the rope. Soon, Lee stopped responding at all, but Spencer wanted to make sure the man was dead before he let go. There was going to be enough of a mess to clean up with Simon, so the less messy Lee's death had to get, the better.

Eventually, Spencer was confident enough to let go of the rope and let Lee's lifeless body sprawl out on the floor. After checking to confirm the man no longer had a pulse, Spencer stood up straight. He anxiously ran his hand over his shaved head and took a moment to control his breathing. Then, Spencer adopted more composure in time to turn to look at Jeremy. "I had to do it," he explained himself before pointing to Simon. "He's dead. We can't leave any loose ends." Before kicking into telling Jeremy how they were going to deal with the two dead men, he paused and looked to his friend, trying to figure how he was really feeling. "You good?" he asked, looking the man in the eyes in case he tried to lie.

 

[BasDorcha]

King-Affiliated Gym

Bethnal Green, London
Jeremy Gray

Jeremy felt the hands around his throat tightening as the black spots before his eyes became bigger and darker. The man had turned his body just right that every kick he tried to deliver was missing and Jeremy was struggling to have any kind of decent attack at him. It seemed like an eternity of the air getting thinner before suddenly he was released. He started coughing, almost hitting the floor, and barely catching himself before he fell completely. He could hear the struggles going on around him, but his vision was still blurry, and his lungs were still aching. Looking up, he could see a unclear image of a much larger man being pulled around by the throat and knew Spencer had it under control for the moment.

His foot moved, stepping in something wet, his head turning to see the red ground beneath him as he gasped more oxygen into his body. Very slowly the world stopped spinning, the black spots receded from his scope of vision, and he could stand without feeling like he was going to fall into the concrete floor. Lee was on his knees, Spencer with the rope so tight around the mans neck it looked like it might pop the now purple skin toned head away from the mans shoulders. Instead, he watched the man take his last gasp, then stop moving, his eyes wide open and his mouth a gaping whole. Jeremy tried his best to compose himself like Spencer was doing, but it was not going as well for him. When he first tried to speak, he just ended up coughing for a solid minute, having to lean against the wall to support his body.

On the floor next to them, in the edge of the pool of blood was the baseball bat he had swung then attacked Lee with, only to drop it during the scuffle. It was starting to form in his mind he had killed the man, not that he had intended too. Fear was written all over his face – Spencer had told him not to lose control again, not to be causing problems like this, did that mean he was going to end up being fired, friendless and a murderer? He gulped, looking up at Spence from his hands on his knees. When he did speak, his voice was course and raspy, the damage apparent from the choking. “Don’t.” Jeremy waved his hand, unconcerned about why Spencer had done what he did. As Spencer explained the plan he only just heard it, his heart still pounding so loud in his head that he wasn't hearing his voice well enough to grasp all the words. Jeremy just nodded accepting whatever he had to say, glad one of them knew what to do.

“So-sorry, Spencer, didn’t mean to.” Without realizing it he had started shaking, his face pale. Reality that he had just taken a life had kicked in and he gulp. “I’ve never… That, that was…” He squirmed a little because part of him was feeling bad but part of him realized there was some enjoyment in it as well and it brought a light flush to his cheeks. That kind of power could be intoxicating, he realized very quickly. “Have you… Ever?” He asked, studying Spencer carefully. Surely he would have told him, but if he had, he wouldn’t blame him for keeping it secret, he would be at this point. If he had, did he get the rush of thrill Jeremy was inexplicably feeling? Would he just think it was weird? Jeremy had rarely felt embarrassed around Spencer, but he would be now if it was just him that had this odd sense of satisfaction.​

 

[Misty Gray]

King-Affiliated Gym
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Thursday 13th March 1969

Spencer King​

Seeing Jeremy shaking as he apologised, Spencer stepped up close to him. Placing his hands at either side of his friend's head, he forced the younger man to look directly at him. "I know you didn't mean to. You did it to help me and you had no choice," he firmly assured him. "That's why I'm going to make sure we fix this." Letting go of Jeremy, he briefly squeezed his shoulder. Although he heard his friend ask if he'd ever killed before, Spencer didn't reply to the question. "You need to take your shoes off and clean them," he said, pointing to the blood Jeremy has stood in. "Stay right here. Try not to touch any more blood."

Spencer rushed away so he could lock the entrance from the inside and switch off any lights in the entrance area. Thankfully, the main area of the gym they were in didn't have any windows for him to be concerned about people looking through. Spencer then made his way to the cleaning cupboard and soon returned with a couple of damp cloths that carried a strong scent of bleach. "Clean your shoes before you put them back on so you don't trail the blood," he said, handing Jeremy a cloth. Spencer proceeded to wiping the handle of the baseball bat with his cloth. Even though it would be disposed of, he wanted to make sure there was no trace left on it.

Before moving on to the next task, he looked to Jeremy and nodded his head. He figured his friend may need some reassurance that he wasn't angry or disgusted with him. "Yeah, I've killed a man before," he finally answered Jeremy's earlier question. "It wasn't planned or nothing. Just happened in the the heat of the moment and... I had to learn how to cover my tracks," he informed him. Although Jeremy was his friend, he made sure to keep his answer vague and keep Bruce's name out of it completely. "Those arseholes were going to kill me, so you had choice," he reminded him.

Once Jeremy had cleaned his shoes, Spencer pointing towards the reception area and told Jeremy to carry his shoes with him. "We'll have to burn our clothes once we get somewhere safe," he informed him. Spencer then set about making a call, dialling a number he'd committed to memory for emergencies. The call he made was simple and concise, without spelling out the situation, but would do the job. "The guys will be right over to clean up and get rid of the bodies. They'll make sure this doesn't come back to us," he assured Jeremy. Spencer was partway through his degree and now he'd killed again. The last thing he needed was any of this coming back to him and the last thing Bruce needed was to have to come out now to fix the situation. Spencer felt he'd learned enough from his uncle after the last time to get the mess cleaned up so all Bruce would need to know was that the situation had been taken care of. As long as Jeremy could hold his will, of course. "How are you really feeling about this?" Spencer asked, sitting himself down on one of the reception desk chairs as he waited for the guys to arrive.

 

[BasDorcha]

King-Affiliated Gym

Bethnal Green, London
Jeremy Gray

When Jeremy felt Spencer’s hands on his shoulders his blush deepened. He felt childish in front of his friend, and as per usual, Spencer’s experience was much more advanced than his own and he had to rely on it to save him – just like when Spencer saved him from getting jumped when he was new to school and a group of four had chosen to attack him for trying to stick up for himself. He had been ready to fight till the end, even knowing he was going to lose, when Spencer had appeared out of no where to jump in and help a kid he didn’t know. His eyes found Spencer’s, and he took a deep breath steadying himself. It was going to be okay; Spencer was here, and together they could deal with this.

The squeeze on his shoulder was reassuring, stabilizing him, and calming him down. “Right. What do I need to do?” Spencer released him, not yet answering his question as he instead started giving him instructions. Having a task to focus on was exactly what he needed. Carefully, he took of his shoes off without stepping out of his current spot, his socked feet sliding out of his shoes and reaching to the clean concrete a few feet away. Once out, he picked them up, keeping them right above where they were planted in the blood. Spencer returned with bleach soaked rags handing them over to him so he could start cleaning his shoes. Thankfully, it hadn’t made it into the tread at the back, only the slick bottomed tips of the shoes that wiped off easily. He went over the spots several times, ensuring no more color was coming out red before he tossed his shoes far away from the blood to where he could put them on again.

Spencer turned back to him as he moved about still cleaning, the bat in his hand as he took all evidence off of it. The truth of Spencer having already killed someone was something of a surprise, but then again, with the way he jumped into action tonight, he didn’t doubt it. Nodding, he listened carefully. Hearing that this was now something they shared made Jeremy feel a million times better. The shaking ceased, the panic stopped, and Jeremy fell into focus mode. “I’d kill ‘em again, Spence. I’ll never let anyone kill ya, ‘cept maybe me one day when ya finally get on my nerves to much.” He laughed, with a shit eating grin on his face. The tension was still thick in the air, but Jeremy had relaxed enough the color was returning to his face and he was trying to lighten the worried look on his friend’s face.

Sitting down next to Spencer as they waited for the cleaners to arrive, he propped his elbows on his knees, wiping his hands down his face. “I’m okay, I think. I figured it would happen one day, workin’ in this business and what have you. I guess I just always thought it would be planned out, meticulous, not just a random encounter. I thought I’d have time to mentally prepare for it.” He let out a weak laugh dropping his hands and leaning back. “Now that it’s over, it’s different than I thought it would be. He went down easier than I ever expected. Still, better them then you, or me.”​

 

[Misty Gray]

King-Affiliated Gym
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Thursday 13th March 1969

Spencer King​

When Jeremy said he'd kill the man again, Spencer looked up and raised a curious eyebrow. Whilst he appreciated his friend saying he'd never let anyone kill him, the younger man also displayed a grin on his face as he did. The first time he'd killed, it had been a shock for Spencer and at the time he'd doubted it was something he'd do again, at least not for a few years into working for his uncle's business. However, Spencer had just strangled a man to death. Without hesitation or doubt, he'd remained calm and in full control as he murdered another man. He was perhaps grateful for the fact his focus was on his friend so he didn't have to think about the fact he'd just killed a man too and he was generally unaffected by it. It had felt too easy this time. Still, he didn't want his friend to go down the same route and end up at all like himself; a man long since desensitised to violence and abuse. "Let's not make a habit of it, shall we, mate? I appreciate what you did for me, but you did just kill a bloke and people don't tend to take kindly to that," he lightly pointed out.

With them both sat down, Jeremy told him he was okay. As the younger man explained how he'd already expected it would happen one day, Spencer slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, it wouldn't have been this early and you'd have been prepared, mentally and physically. The prick might have gone down easier than you expected, but this ain't meant to be easy. Whatever the nature of this family's business, killing's not something that should be easy. I'm gonna level with you, mate... I'd feel a whole lot better right now if you were shittin' yourself, scared, upset, and freakin' out. I'd prefer that than to think you're just... well, like me," he admitted, letting out a deep sigh and he looked down to the ground for a moment.

"This violence and emotional detachment is all I've really known. When Trevor was around, he made me feel so worthless and like I didn't have feelings that as the years went on with him I learned to switch them off when I needed to. I was always getting into fights in school because it was the only way to get all the anger out of my system and to stop myself from going home to try following through on the persistent thoughts I had about killing my old man. I was 12 and had already imagined dozens of different ways to get rid of him. Here I am years later, a miserable, angry bastard who won't hesitate to strangle a guy to death and won't lose any sleep over what I've done. Don't end up like me, Jeremy. I'm telling ya," he said, looking his friend in the eyes.

 

[BasDorcha]

King-Affiliated Gym

Bethnal Green, London
Jeremy Gray

Jeremy was feeling a whirlwind of emotions, unsure what he genuinely felt. To be truthful, It felt like he was disconnected from everything and the emotions were just whirling around with nothing to latch onto. It was an unusual sensation. Spencer seemed shocked or maybe a little confused at his responses, and Jeremy instantly felt awkward. He often second guessed himself and wondered if he was just weird, he wish he felt half as confident as he pretended most of the time. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on doing this again any time soon if I can help it. It’s not that I wouldn’t if needed, you know, but I’d rather not ‘need’ to.” He looked down at his feet, kicking the tip into the floor just for the sake of having somewhere to look.

Spence went on to tell him he’d prefer Jeremy having the full blown panic attack, and not being like him. It gave Jeremy a moment of pause, considering everything before he spoke up again. Spencer had always been in a lot of fights, hell it was how they met, but Jeremy had always been much more emotional – his anger was worn on the outside.

“I don’t know if you remember, Spence, but we met in a fight. I was doin’ plenty of it on my own before you came along, and it’s gotten easier, but it’s never gone completely. I know I don’t talk about my folks much, probably because I don’t remember much, but I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone that I remember one night clearly. It was the night they died. We were all in the car, I was pitching a fit in the back seat because we’d been in the car for so long. Mom was angry with me and Dad turned around to try his hand at getting on me… The next thing I know the car was tumbling through the air, I can still remember all their screams. When the car finally came to a rest, my dad was already gone, my mom… She tried to get to me, but she was bleeding so bad it had coated everything. I remember her hand reaching for me, and her voice sounding choked and… broken…” Jeremy faltered, swallowing down the lump in his throat.

“The last thing she said was ‘we love you’, and she was gone. I got out just before the fire started, being such a scrawny kid, and had just enough time to get a safe distance away before the explosion happened. I sat and watched their bodies burn until the early morning hours, when someone driving by finally seen the smoke and stopped. I didn’t talk to anyone for a long time after that, didn’t tell them about my family, or who I was, and that’s how I ended up in foster care. Three years getting the shit knocked about me, or being starved, watching other kids and myself end up hurt, I pretty much was you when we met. I only started opening back up because of your family. Once I opened that door that, it came out too much too fast.” Jeremy’s hand traveled up to his lip, his thumb pinched habitually between his teeth.

“You remember that girl I tried to date when I was fourteen? She was a few years older, I thought I was so cool. Ran that girl off because between my anger and jealousy she couldn’t handle it. I was wrong I know, but it was like trying to stop a flood with a bucket once it was all open again. I guess my point here is that, while you may like to see me more freaked out, truth is I don’t think anything will be as bad as that night. That makes up more alike than you would like us to be. It’s not the dying that bothers me… but you matter, your family, my uncle. That’s what keeps me going. If I feel like I messed up with any of you, that’s terrifying for me.” He blushed in the dark, not use to talking about things like this, glad his face was shadowed.

He hoped that Spencer understood what he was saying, and why the body hadn’t affected him the way he would expect instead of thinking he was some psychopath that had been overlooked so far. You could only dream about something so traumatic for so long before your brain resorted to the same methods of dealing with it most people did – disassociation and ignoring the problem until you couldn’t anymore.​

 

[Misty Gray]

King-Affiliated Gym
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Thursday 13th March 1969

Spencer King​

Spencer let out a breath when Jeremy assured him he wasn't planning on killing again any time soon. "Good. These 'cleaners' ask for a meaty fee and rightly so with the risks they take," he remarked. "Let's just try make sure neither of us feel like we need to do this again."

There was a pause after Spencer had expressed he'd have preferred him to be panicking at the moment. Of course, he knew his friend wasn't exactly a stranger to an unpleasant childhood, but actually killing someone and being calm about it was a big deal to process. Jeremy spoke up to cast theirs minds back to when they'd first met and how he was looking out for himself before then. Spencer gazed towards the floor as Jeremy then recalled the night his parents were killed in a car accident. "Mate, you don't have to..." Spencer began as his friend was clearly finding it hard to speak about what happened.

Silently chewing his bottom lip, Spencer listened on as Jeremy then recalled being put into foster care where he was beaten up and starved. It was almost laughable to hear that things improved for Jeremy when he met Spencer and his family. For Spencer, his own childhood and home life had brought him a lot of pain, from the sadness at watching his mother fall apart to the abuse he experienced from his father. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't see the positives Jeremy took from his family. Having Bruce and Darcey to look after them and his younger siblings was a blessing. Even though it took some time to open up to Bruce, as well as to accept the man as a parental-figure following Laura's death, he soon came to appreciate what his uncle had done for them. Not to mention the good that Darcey also brought to the family. The fact they all welcomed Jeremy left no doubt as to why he was eventually able to open up.

Spencer relented and decided not to push the subject about him not being freaked out. He nodded his head and scoffed when his friend pointed out they were more alike that he'd like them to be. "Well, it ain't something to boast about, being like me," he joked at his own expense. "And listen, you're not going to mess up with me an' my family. You know I'll kick your head in if you do, alright?" he asked. Despite his words, he looked to Jeremy and patted him on the shoulder.

Hearing the familiar knock at the side fire exist, Spencer looked directly to Jeremy and gave him a single nod of encouragement. "Come on. We need to put on our business faces and let the guys come clean this mess up."

 

[BasDorcha]

King-Affiliated Gym

Bethnal Green, London
Jeremy Gray

Watching Spencer look relieved at hearing he wasn’t about to turn into some serial killer obsessed with taking out as many people as he could was almost amusing. He knew his friend was just trying to look out for him, and he appreciated it. Truth was, for as calm as he was right now, he was still in a good state of shock, probably due for a freakout later. “Deal, I don’t know if I’d ever be comfortable feeling the need to kill. Still… I’d rather settle my brain and accept that in this line of business its bound to happen a few times. If I can come to terms with that, maybe I can avoid freaking out at the time and think as clear headed as you have.”

Spencer, as Jeremy was well aware, was about as emotional as a spoon and just as apt to talk about them as one too. It was a bit of a relief, honestly, to get the trauma of his childhood out to someone. Over the years, he had never told anyone what he saw that night, or how it had happened, everyone assuming he had blocked it as a traumatic event. Jeremy had always remembered, he just never wanted to admit it, but not he wanted Spencer to know so he’d understand he wasn’t some crazy beast, he just was more desensitized than a normal bloke. It warmed him a bit to know Spencer cared so much, glad yet again to have a friend like him in his life.

The King kids had never had it easy – he knew their life story, had been there for a lot of it. Trevor had still been around when he first came to know them, and he had been over the day Harper came home from the hospital and the boys were waiting to see her. They had been through much that a child didn’t deserve to go through, but he would have taken their history over them going through what he did any day. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even his worse enemy. Bruce had pretty much been an adopted uncle to him, and Darcey had been much like a mom, chiding them, getting on to them, soothing them when they were upset. Many people may question his undying loyalty and ‘creepy’ love with this family, but after the things he had dealt with he knew it could always be worse and when you find people who care, you hold on to them. Jeremy had always been a bit of an odd ball, loyal to a fault, and balancing on a fine edge between whether he could call himself family or friend, but never spoke about it.

Grinning at Spence’s self-depriciating joke, he nodded. “Yeah, I’d hate to be such an arse, surrounded by beautiful women and smart as can be. That would be terrible. Then you’d really need to follow through on that.” He laughed softly, a slightly forced but slightly genuine laugh as if he wasn’t sure if it was okay to laugh but was doing it anyways in an attempt to ease the edge they were both feeling. When the knock came, Jeremy stood up, straightening his clothes, nodding. “Let’s go.”​

 

[Bellz]

The Forbidden Kiss - Harper's Version
Friday 31st August 1979
The Mercury Nightclub and Cocktail Bar
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Harper King
(18 years old) ​

After that night at Jeremy's house, Harper had been drowning herself in things that really didn't matter. Drinks and women namely. The push to forget him all together was what motivated her to go out tonight. Riley, a girl she had met the week after her near kiss with Jeremy, made Harper look tame in terms of fire and sexual energy, and boy did Riley know it. After Darcey had given her the talk of a lifetime over how she should make people kiss the ground she walked on, Harper hadn't been a bottom since. But for Riley...Harper would be anything she wanted her to be. The two months of drugs, alcohol, and sex continued to make her head spin even as they stood pressed up in the corner of the Mercury. They were completely exposed, out in the open for just about anyone to see, but Harper was distracted.

If any one of her brothers were to see her, they would say hateful things. Things that her heart wasn't ready for. Billy had already broken her heart once. "Riley, can we.." The woman silenced her with another kiss before Harper lightly shoved her away, "Can we just do this somewhere more...private?" The blonde asked lightly, looking around the Mercury for a long moment. Suddenly, she saw a tall man that she immediately recognized. Jeremy. And who was he with, the homophobe himself, Billy.

"Shit shit shit, kiss me again." Harper pushed her lips to Riley's despite just asking her if they could kiss in private.

Riley had always gone after the things she wanted in life. School, work, people. If she desired it then she would do whatever she needed in order to secure it. It was no different with Harper, either. From the moment they met Riley wanted her and would do whatever it took to make sure it happened. When she had she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t let go. So Riley showed her how fun and wild and crazy she was and how much she enjoyed life. She figured it would convince her to stick around and two months later it seemed to work.

With their lips pressed together in a corner, Riley didn’t really care about who saw. However, Harper did. Every attempt to get them to move Riley ignored until she was pushed away. She playfully rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Since when do you care?” Riley could tell something was different, but couldn’t tell what. And before she could try and piece things together Harper was forcing her to kiss her.

Which, Riley wasn’t going to deny her but occasionally broke away from speaking. “Don’t kiss me here, Riley. Actually, kiss me right now. What’s going on with you?”

Harper watched with her eyes as Jeremy and Billy made their way towards the bar, just out of sight of her. Riley broke away to complain and Harper looked at her openly as her cheeks warmed, ”N-nothing is going on with me.” The young woman said. Seeing Jeremy after two whole months was like a shock to her system, it was clear they had both been actively avoiding one another. Harper wasn’t going to make the first move, she was hoping he would in case she was reading things all wrong. He never did so she had been spending two whole fucking months trying to forget him.

”Its my family’s club, Riley. You know that my brothers could show up at any moment. Billy is here, the one who called me all those names. He’s not a fan of gay people. And his friend, my…uh friend, Jeremy is with him.” Harper tried to explain, her cheeks burning up as she tried not to look over at them again. At him. Realizing Gimme Gimme Gimme (A man after midnight) was playing, Harper pulled a disgusted face. "Ugh, ABBA. Let’s get some fresh air, huh? I could use a smoke.”

Riley let out a scoff at Harper’s obvious lie- the red on her cheeks a dead giveaway. She just wasn’t sure why Harper felt the need to lie right then. Crossing her arms, she looked down at Harper and tilted her head ever so slightly. “Liar,” she proclaimed, raising her brows as she did. She didn’t like being lied to especially if she felt there was no reason. Just as she’d taken a step back to try and follow the woman’s gaze, Harper began to explain.

There was something exhilarating about doing something so forbidden when you could get caught in a matter of seconds. It was a rush of adrenaline, which may have been one of the best drugs around. Riley thought she shared that sentiment with Harper until she started to freak about being seen; by her brother and his friend, no less. “I thought you didn’t care about what your brother thought,” she said, playing with a lock of Harper’s hair. She watched as her face turned a deeper shade of red at the mention of Jeremy and felt… Jealous.

Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was something. Whatever the case, as she looked at him she frowned. Before she could make any sort of comment about it, Harper demanded to go outside to get away from the music. Riley nodded and instead of grabbing Harper’s hand, she just started to walk towards the exit assuming the younger woman would follow. If she didn’t want anyone to see them kissing, she figured, then she wouldn’t hold her hand either.

Harper’s lower lip jutted out into a pout as Riley stormed off, clearly hurt by Harper’s obvious staring. The blonde followed behind her girlfriend like a lovesick, obedient puppy. She couldn’t help but just steal one more glance back at her brother and Jeremy before she followed Riley outside. The air was warm but made her feel less crowded as Harper looked to Riley, "Oh come on, Ri. What you lookin’ so jealous for? You know I only have eyes for you.” Harper hummed sweetly as they walked to one corner of the little patio outside. They were completely shaded by the awning above the club, completely surrounded in the dark.

"You’re not going to make me beg for your forgiveness again, are you? You know I hate doing that.” The blonde said softly, "I hate seeing that pretty little face so twisted.” She hummed before reaching up to move a strand of hair from Riley’s face. "I just didn’t want them to see us and give us a hard time. I can handle other people calling me such cruel things, but I can’t handle it when Billy does it. Can you understand that?” Harper gave her best doe eye.

Before much more could be said, she heard her brother's voice and Jeremy’s voice from not too far down the patio. “That’s better, get you some fresh air and slow down that buzz before you pass out on me ‘fore the nights even over.” Jeremy’s voice told Billy. That voice was going to kill her before the night was done if she didn’t get away from it. But where could they go without them seeing? Harper tried to just focus on Riley instead of planning an escape, knowing they wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. "How can I make it up to you?” Harper asked, her voice hushed now.

Riley pressed her back against the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest. She couldn’t help the frown as Harper asked why she’d become so jealous. As much as she wanted to deny that she wasn’t it would be a lie. For the past two months, Riley’s attention had only been on Harper and she assumed the same of her girlfriend. But the past couple of minutes made her think otherwise.

Riley’s eyes narrowed at Harper while she explained her reasonings, watching as the woman tried to sweeten her up. Which was working, of course. If there were one thing in the entire world that would make Riley fold it was the blonde woman in front of her. Blinking away the annoyance she’d felt, Riley, rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she softly said, placing her hands on Harper’s hips. “You’ll still have to beg later,” she whispered before switching their places.

She moved to press Harper against the wall instead, knee between her legs before pressing her lips against hers. Their kiss was short-lived, however, hearing two voices further in the alley. Because she had no idea what neither Jeremy nor Billy sounded like, Riley didn’t feel the need to be alarmed. She focused her attention once more on Harper and resumed their kiss, softly biting her lip. “You know how,” she whispered, “But as much as I’d like to see you on your knees right now, this isn’t really the place.”

Harper raised a blonde brow as Riley rolled her eyes, watching the woman as she placed her hands on Harper’s hips. The blonde was working up the courage to say something but Riley as usual beat her to the punch. Harper bit on her lip to keep from squealing as her girlfriend spun her so that her back was now against the wall.

Riley’s knee went between her legs and any noise Harper would have made was silenced by Riley’s lips. The kiss was short as her girlfriend seemed to pick up on the voices that Harper was desperately trying to avoid listening to. The thought of the man who had her trying to forget him sitting so close to where she was, possibly being able to see the things she was doing…

Her cheeks were warm again as Riley turned to face her again, kissing her in such a way that Harper felt like the air was being sucked from her lungs. Riley did to her what no other person had…well, at least no other person that Harper had actually been with. She made Harper feel like she was the only woman in the room, the only woman in the world in fact. After having been made to feel like nothing more than dirty below men’s feet a year ago...Harper would be anything Riley wanted her to be, do anything she wanted her to do.

Right now, Harper would do anything she was told to do…but Billy’s voice continued to make its way into her ear, grating on her nerves. Pulling away from Riley’s kiss, Harper let out an uneven breath, clearly flustered from what her girlfriend was doing to her, but also by the situation. "I can hear my fuckin’ brother. Giving dating advice to Jeremy. And it’s the least sexy thing I could be hearing right now.” Harper confessed, sliding her back against the wall until she was almost around the corner. They were positioned farther away, but not far enough for the girls to go unnoticed if they moved. Harper was going to turn away until Billy suddenly gave Jeremy a kiss. A loud gasp escaped her and she placed both of her hands to her mouth to silence herself.

"That motherfucker.” Harper growled between her hands, looking to Riley, who no doubt needed an explanation. "The homophobe is actually the homosexual.” Harper couldn’t even look, her eyes stung with angry tears. Was she crying over Billy’s betrayal? For his years of torment? Or was she angry that he was kissing Jeremy? Harper had regretted not just kissing him when she had the chance, she had been for the last two months. Turning back to Riley, she couldn’t meet the woman’s eye now.

Riley’s hand had found its way gently around Harper’s neck while the other held her close. Their kiss was passionate and sloppy, neither one of them getting much air. But Harper was too irresistible to Riley for her to stop. She could stop breathing at any second and wouldn’t care so long as it was Harper’s lips that suffocated her. Whether it was a twisted kind of love or an infatuation that made her feel like this didn’t matter right then. What mattered was what they were going to do once they’d gotten back to Riley’s.

But, that might not happen tonight seeing as Harper seemed… Distracted, once more. Riley gave her another disappointed look- taking a step back. After wiping the corners of her mouth she put her hands on her hips. She watched as Harper started sliding against the wall. Rolling her eyes she followed suit to see just what it was that was driving her girlfriend so fucking crazy. However, she didn’t think they’d catch her brother kissing their friend.

“Most of them are,” Riley quietly responded, clearly uninterested. What did interest her was the way Harper was reacting about it. She was crying and trying to hide her tears away. Riley didn’t immediately react to the tears, either, trying to discern in her head what the reason could be. The way her face had gone red at the sight of Jeremy; she couldn’t help but wonder if she had some sort of crush on him. And now was angry that he was secretly gay and her brother was snatching him up?

So many different thoughts ran rampant through her head. A frown was on her face as she fought the desire to do anything reckless; yell at the boys, walk away without a word, or even start an argument. Things Riley was known for doing. Instead, she sighed and wrapped her arms around Harper’s shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go. I’ll make you feel better and you won’t have to get on your knees tonight, hm? Will that cheer you up?”

Harper wasn’t sure what the fuck to think of the scene before her, but a million different thoughts were running through her head. One tear dared to spill down her cheek but she caught it just as Riley wrapped her arms around her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. Harper accepted it, turning away from the wretched scene before she did something rash. The woman kissed the top of her head and Harper smiled weakly, as she said she wouldn’t have to get on her knees tonight. ”I think you and I both know that’s a lie. But sure…let’s go back to your place.” Harper was ready to walk past Billy and Jeremy. She didn’t give a fuck if she was seen now. If Billy was going to be a hypocrite then she would rather make it known that she was gay and proud of it, not some coward who called others names for being proud of their identity. But...Harper could see why Billy wasn’t ready to have that conversation with himself yet...and that’s what kept her from going off on him. Jeremy…couldn’t be gay? It just didn’t match his personality or his…looks he gave her. It only started happening after she turned 18, but those looks did something to her that she wasn’t sure was even allowed.

The hurt she felt was something she could deal with privately, instead of wanting to just get out of the club completely. Riley was always good at distracting her from her anxiety. When they separated, Harper was about ready to step out of the shadows when men she didn’t recognize walked toward Billy and Jeremy. They weren’t friendly, that much was for sure as they taunted the pair. "Looks like we can’t leave yet.” Harper said to Riley, looking over at her for a fraction of a second before turning back to find Billy being dragged half over the railing of the balcony. The blonde quickly made a move to step out into the light, to tell them to fuck off…

Whether Riley pulled her back or not, it didn’t matter when Jeremy made the first punch. She stepped back into the shadows, hand over her mouth as she watched the men fight. Surely they would walk away? Well no she was wrong. The whole scene felt like a terrible dream that she was watching from the sidelines…much like a dream, she couldn’t move, couldn’t help. Who would she be helping? A squeak escaped her as she covered her mouth harder, turning to bury herself in Riley’s chest as Jeremy threw the last man off the balcony. The sound of him landing on the ground below would never leave her mind…she was sure of it.

He had just killed two people like it was nothing. Harper’s teeth ground as she tried to keep herself from panicking. When the footsteps had left the area, the blonde looked up at her girlfriend with watery eyes. Riley had been a witness to all of that, she could…she could turn him in, Billy in too…if she wanted to. "You can’t tell anyone about that.” Harper croaked, "You have to promise me you won’t. They can’t go to jail, Ri. I know it looks bad but you can’t say anything.” Was she defending murder now? Who…who was she anymore?

It may not have been obvious or clear or real to others - maybe even Harper - but Riley did care about her. And in the brief months, they’d known each other had developed deeper feelings for her than she ever had for anyone else. So seeing her so upset, Riley didn’t like it. With her arms wrapped around her girlfriend’s shoulders, she stared ahead at Jeremy and Billy. With her head cocked to the side a bit, she thought about causing a scene. Do something to embarrass them, maybe? Cuss them out? But something in her said to ignore it - to mind her business and focus on Harper.

She let out a soft, quiet chuckle at her comment, shaking her head. “Mmm, scouts honor. This once,” she quickly added. Couldn’t let her go thinking she would be in charge constantly, right? With her hand in Harper’s, she was just about to tug her along when more voices joined the fray. Riley was immediately annoyed- brows furrowed as she rolled her eyes. “You just wanted to come out here- we couldn’t have gone to the bathroom or something?” Though she was also slightly annoyed with her for the suggestion it wasn’t really Harper Riley was upset with, it was all the interruptions. This time it looked to be two guys causing trouble for Billy and Jeremy. Good, Riley thought for a moment, Perfect opportunity to slip away. But then Harper informed them they couldn’t.

At first she was about to say something, but Harper decided she would help her brother and his ‘gay’ lover out. Riley immediately grabbed her wrist to stop her, not wanting to get into a physical altercation with anyone that night… Of that sort, anyway. Pulling the younger woman away seemed to be a good idea - Riley watching as Jeremy laid into one of the guys. With wide eyes, Riley quickly put her hand over Harper’s mouth and held her close to her chest. The frown returned to her face eyes glued to the scene ahead of her. She wasn’t sure where this… Protective instinct was coming from, but Riley felt like she needed to protect Harper from this sort of person. He couldn’t have been good for her, right? Good to be around?

You can’t tell anyone. The words had caught Riley off guard, blinking a few times to come back to reality. She looked down at Harper with wide eyes. Riley hadn’t been a stranger to people dying nor watching it happen. And as many shitty things as she’d done in the past, murder wasn’t one of them and she knew it was wrong. “H-,” she started, only to stop looking at the tears in her eyes. The way she begged and pleaded - it confused the shit out of her. Who was she pleading for? Billy? Jeremy? Both? And why? Face contorted as she tried to process what was being asked of her, “You-,” the words kept getting stuck - blocked by something inside telling her to just nod and say yes.

Swallowing harshly, Riley closed her eyes and shook her head. “Fine,” she harshly whispered. “I won’t. But if anyone ever finds out we were here too, Harper, we have to stick together, understood? Promise me that we’ll stick together.”

Harper immediately nodded her head in agreement. “Together, yes. We’ll stick together. I promise I swear.” She gasped out, her whole body shaking from the adrenaline of what she just witnessed. There was going to be a time to process this all, but now wasn’t one of them. “Can we just go back to your place now…get drunk until I can’t remember any of this? I..I don’t want..” The blonde bit her trembling bottom lip as she shook her own head. She wasn’t going to think about it, not the kiss, not the…killing. Moving a hand to her blonde hair, she gave it a slight pull, anxious clearly. “Let’s go before someone sees us.”

~ END OF SCENE ~​

 

[BasDorcha]

All Jazzed Up
6 Friday, 1985
Maeve Thatcher​

Since she had stopped working at the Mercury, May had less time to play the piano and sing than she did before, and her heart missed it dearly. So, she dropped by Christian’s house, left him a message stuck between the trim and the door asking if he wanted to see her tonight come to All Jazzed Up, where she had been asked to play for a one-night set. Excited to finally be getting out and doing something she hadn’t done in so long, she had gotten dressed up in a sparkling black dress, her hair primped and polished until it shined, and headed down there hours earlier than she needed too.

Donald, the owner, let her in before the club opened so she could get some practice and warmups in on the old worn keys. Her voice filled the room softly, flowing through the air as the employees turned down the lights, swept the floor, and swayed to the rhythm. For a moment, May forgot where she was, lost in the feeling. The world disappeared, ebbing into a flow of pitches and thrills. The acoustics here were amazing, she’d never played on a stage that did so many things for her voice and she warm sound of the piano. This continued for almost an hour, before Donald came an interrupted her, bringing her out of her daydream and back to the real world.

“We’re about to open, it’s going to be pretty crowded tonight, lotsa folks from the Mercury has been in here looking for you and when we told ‘em you were coming, we filled up the holding seats quick. Do you want Paul to come sits up here with you, keep ‘em mangy ones at bay?” Donald’s establishment was always kept as a higher-class type of place, but occasionally if someone the customers liked came around, it could get crazy in a short amount of time. Still, May had never had a crowd like that, so she wasn’t worried.

“No, I’ll be okay Donald, thanks.” She waved him away, headed to take a break at the bar. A drink later, a quick stretch, and a walk around the place she ended up back at the stage, ready to play as the first few customers started to filter in. Regulars from the Mercury that use to come to see her would walk by and drop tips for her in the stage tip jar, and before she realized it the place was in full swing. She looked up, searching the crowd to see if Christian had come or not. As she took in the bar now, she suddenly felt very nervous – it was a lot fuller than she had thought it was going to be. It turned out some of the regulars must have told more than just the ones who had moved over to Donald’s bar, because she saw a lot of people she recognized. When her eyes found Josh, a borderline stalker she’d dealt with before, she froze for a moment. Shaking it off, she went back to playing, now wishing she had taken the offer to let Paul guard the stage.

Still not seeing the one she wanted to see, she focused back on the stage and the piano, ignoring the growing crowd and the sensation of being stared at intently.

 

[Misty Gray]

All Jazzed Up
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Friday 6th September 1985

Christian Brooks​

Since the Kings had realised Savannah had taken Callum away, Christian had found his workload for the Kings significantly increase. Amongst the usual tasks he was employed to do, he was not only having to keep tabs on Trevor but he was now needed to look into finding where Alex's son had been taken. His investigation wasn't made any easier by the fact the Morettis had also offered their help, which meant he found himself not only having to present any findings to the Kings but also share notes with the likes of the unsavoury man, Damian.

When Christian had returned home to finally catch up on some much needed rest, he noticed the message May had left him to go to a club if he wanted to see her that night. After checking the time, he realised it was too late for him to get in touch with her to check if there would be another enough he could watch her perform. Not wanting to leave her hanging or let her down, he decided he had enough energy left to go out for a few more hours. It was a jazz club, so it had to be more relaxing and peaceful than the clubs he'd been dragged out to by his friends in the past.

When he arrived at the club, Christian headed straight to the bar. The place had already started to get going, as had the music. As he waited to be served, he looked towards the piano where the music was coming from, but his attention was drawn back to the bar as the waiter asked for his order. Once he'd got his pint of beer, Christian turned to seek out a spot to relax in. Finding an empty table as close to the front as he could, he was able to just about catch May as she looked up. Not wanting to distract her or put her off, he sent her a wave and a fond smile but then sat down so he could take in the beautiful music she was playing.