Realistic or Modern Family Ties: 1980s Gangs - IC (Ended)

[Misty Gray]

Lorelei Costello's House
~ Dublin ~

Benjamin Reznik​

Benjamin hadn't been sure if it was too soon to be in love with Lorelei, never mind to actually tell her he was. But despite the clumsy way he acted around Lorelei, he'd had numerous girlfriends in the past. It was because of his history of exes that he trusted what he was feeling this time was love. He'd never felt the same way about anyone he'd dated in the past than he did about Lorelei. In his heart and mind, he just knew she was different to the rest and that his feelings were real. Thankfully, she wasn't shocked or put off by his admission, instead she told him she felt the same way. He couldn't help the large smile that occupied his expression as he realised how serious their relationship was. The best and most welcome kind of serious.

As his heart raced in his chest, he hung on her words when she told him she felt like she'd know him for all of her life, then he quickly nodded in understanding. Her scrunching her nose prompted a curious eyebrow raise from Benjamin. When she said he could tell her if she sounded corny, he let out a low laugh and was about to reply but was stopped in his tracks when she moved in to kiss him. Benjamin also moved forward, placing a gentle hand on the back of her head as they passionately kissed. He didn't want the kiss to end, but still moved back when it naturally did. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to soothe your doubts," he replied to her. "I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else but you." He quickly nodded his head when Lorelei said she wanted dinner with him and Kurt. "Of course. I think he'd like that. After a few days of my cooking and 20 years of prison food before it, I'm sure he'll love anything you can throw together. I mean... not that you throw it together. I love your cooking," he assured her. He then let out a sheepish laugh. "Can we quickly go back to when you sounded really corny a minute ago? It was soooo corny," he teased her. "But still true. I haven't felt this way about anyone before. Finding you just feels right, like it was always meant to be," he gently assured her.

A moment of silence came over him as he studied Lorelei's face. Aware of the fact they were alone in her house and the strong feelings radiating from them both, he had to consciously remind himself not to cheapen the moment of romance and offend her by giving into the heat of the moment. "On the subject of dinner..." he began, flashing her a suggestive smile. "Did you eat yet? We could go out and grab a quick bite to eat. Even if you did eat, we could still get dessert. Really, I'm easy. I just want to spend the night with you. I mean... the evening. I want to hang out with you for as long as you'll have me, so we can make up for lost time."

Bellz (Lorelei)

 

[Misty Gray]

Aqua Shard
~ Southwark, London ~

Kerry Patrick​

Although her gut told her May would choose her newfound half-siblings over Trevor, Kerry couldn't deny that Alex's reservations were legitimate, especially given that her friend had sought out to find her father in the first instance. "I can't deny you make a valid point. I guess having heard plenty about Trevor already as well as knowing you and Harper quite well means I have a different insight. To me it's a no-brainer to choose you and your siblings over Trevor. But he's not my dad and I don't have to make such an important choice," she reasoned. It seemed like none of the Kings knew the real reason Trevor was in London, likely rejecting the man's own explanations that he was there for his kids and to show he'd changed. Kerry would like to give the man the benefit of the doubt, especially after seeing how much Harper wanted to judge the man for herself and make her own informed decision. Unfortunately, all of the bad things she'd heard about Trevor outweighed any glimmer of good, and Kerry was in a much easier position to make judgement on the man as he wasn't her family. "It does seem like him leaving again would be for the best, all round. I can slap him again if it helps nudge him along," she joked, hoping to lighten the conversation a little.

As they continued speaking, Kerry couldn't help but notice the usually cool and assured Alex appeared nervous. Him visibly sweating, Kerry watched as he rubbed his hand across his head. She was sure all of the talk about Trevor and May wasn't what was causing him to act so anxiously. She lifted her wine glass and gazed across the restaurant as she took a short drink, not wanting to make Alex feel more uncomfortable if her eyes were glued to him. Still, when she placed the glass down, she looked back to him. She didn't have to follow up as he spoke up again. From joking, his tone then switched to a more serious one as he began to tell her how grateful he was for how she'd been with him the last couple of months. She smiled and nodded when he thanked her for being there to listen to him complaining or generally needing someone to talk to. "It's no trouble. I've enjoyed getting to know you more," she assured him. The last few weeks had enabled Kerry to see a different and deeper side to the Alex she'd seen in the past - the Alex whose reputation had unfortunately caused her to prematurely judge him without getting to know him for herself.

When Alex went on to tell her she was amazing, Kerry couldn't help but blush. "I-" she began, but fell silent as she almost choked up. She managed a nervous laugh when he said she made him get flustered. She sat back in her seat and studied him as he assured her he'd never been so flustered and it was how he knew his feelings were genuine. Having never seen the usually cocksure man so flustered, she was inclined to believe he was being genuine too. When he told her he was falling for her, she couldn't immediately form a response as she was overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She knew already that she was attracted to him and had developed the same feelings, but she hadn't expected Alex to return them. Again, his reputation and the opinion it had caused her to form about him were to blame for her assuming any attraction he'd have to her would be of a shallow kind. However, getting to know Alex recently had turned those unfair judgements around and she knew deep down now that he was a better person than others had led her to believe. Sitting forward, she sent him a warm smile and nodded her head as she gave it a moment to sink in. "I guess I've been hoping you'd say that, because I've been feeling too anxious to tell you that... Well, to tell you I'm attracted to you too. Not just on a physical level, but I've been thinking and feeling a lot about you too. Maybe I wanted you to work for it, or maybe I was afraid to say in case you wouldn't feel the same, but I was hoping you would be the first to say it," she admitted. Reaching her arm across the table she opened her hand to take hold of Alex's. "Where do we go from here?" she asked. Whilst it was easy and straightforward for her to follow up on her romantic feelings, she wasn't sure if it was the case for Alex. He'd already said he hadn't felt this way before and with everything going on in his life, she wasn't sure if following his feelings was what he wanted to do right now.

Melanin-Gxdess (Alex)

 

[Pyroclast]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Billy King​

As soon as Jeremy spoke, revealing his hoarse, weakened voice, Billy caught sight of the rope burn and bruising around his neck. He had seen enough men be strangled to recognise that vocal damage, and the visible injuries added weight to his suspicion that Jeremy had been choked for a prolonged time. However, there was little time to be relieved that he was still conscious as the man stubbornly maintained that he was the killer, even adding that Billy couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, let alone kill somebody. At first the comment stung, wondering what the hell he meant - after all, Jeremy knew well enough that Billy knew how to fight since Jeremy himself had been one of the ones to train him - but then he realised that maybe his friend was just trying to convince the Sullivans that Billy was too weak to take a life and he therefore couldn’t have done it.

He stared at him, open-mouthed. Despite a small part of him being touched that the man was trying to save his life, he couldn’t help but feel defensive and infuriated at Jeremy’s words. He wanted to yell at him, but stopped himself. If he said nothing, then they might take it as him backing down, and end up believing that Jeremy was telling the truth; on the other hand, if Billy continued to argue with him but still didn’t manage to convince their assailants, then Jeremy could die with Billy’s last words to him being something aggressive.

He cringed when Reina punched Jeremy in his already bruised and battered face, but he didn’t have much chance to react before the woman punched him in the face, too. It was clear she was sick of their indecision over who had killed Aidan and they were now both being punished for it. Still, getting punched was better than being killed. Referring to Jeremy as his ‘precious boy’, Reina demanded him once again to tell the truth. “I am telling the truth,” he growled, pinning a fierce glare on her. “Let him go.”

Unaware of what was going on behind him, Billy was confused when he felt the barrel of Tom’s gun pull away from his skull. Still, he knew better than to take it as a sign that he could safely move, so he kept his eyes on Reina while he listened to Adam command her and Tom to beat him or shoot him, as long as they didn’t kill him. Billy wasn’t ready to feel relieved at that - not until everyone else was out and safe. He knew there was more violence to come, and despite already pointing out to them that killing him would only provoke more deaths in retaliation, he was suspicious as to why they wanted to keep him alive. Maybe they were angling to kill someone else instead…

It just so happened that as soon as that horrifying thought popped into his head, Adam and Dermot grabbed Jeremy and proceeded to drag him towards the exit. “NO!” Billy yelled, automatically jerking towards Jeremy before remembering there was still a gun aimed at him to keep him in place. “If you hurt him, we’ll all be after you!” he shouted after Adam.

The sirens were growing closer and Billy felt his heart pounding violently in his chest, knowing that their time was running out and it was all about to come to a head. There was nothing he could do; unable to see it coming, a solid punch struck him in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward against the table. Before he could recover, two shots were fired one after the other, and another one a few seconds later. An intense ringing in his ears took over his senses, making everything seem somehow to slow right down and, at the same time, accelerate to a dizzying speed. He looked up to see Christian with a gun in his hand, and noticed there was blood seeping through the man’s sleeve. “Christian, you’ve…” he began, but his voice trailed off as he became suddenly distracted by an odd sensation spreading between his right shoulder and arm.

There came the sound of a smashing plate, and then someone shouting aggressively, and all the while the sirens were getting increasingly loud, loud enough for Billy to hear above the ringing in his right ear. There was so much going on around him that he was struggling to piece it all together, and just as he was reaching up to touch his shoulder, he was struck in the head again by another heavy fist, followed by two more. Billy fell against the table before collapsing to the floor, bringing plates and glasses down with him which smashed at his side.

His vision darkened and blurred as his mouth filled with blood and he rolled over before it could run down his throat, having to blink hard in an effort to maintain awareness of his surroundings. It was only when he tried to push himself upright that he felt it: a searing pain in his arm and shoulder, like a white hot flame tunnelling through him and burning his insides. He let out an agonised cry, catching himself on his other arm to prevent himself from falling again...

Interactions
Melanin-Gxdess Reina, Erik
Misty Gray Christian, Adam, Dermot
BasDorcha Tom & Jerry

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~
Erik Snowden & Reina Richards

Erik found himself drowning out both Edwards and Emery's voices. He knew about the things that had happened in New York already - by both the news and from when he first started working for Gabe. Hearing the other side tell the story wasn't something he cared to do. With his eyes glued to the door, he could only think about what was going on on the other side of it. Christian, Billy, and now Jeremy's well-being were unaccounted for. Sure, it had only been a few minutes since Adam disappeared with Jeremy in tow but so much could have happened since then. He didn't hear any gunshots still but there were plenty of other ways to kill someone without such a weapon. It was killing him not knowing what was going on. To make matters worse Edwards and Emery were having such a casual conversation amidst everything that was going down in the main restaurant.

It wasn't until he also heard sirens that Erik brought down to reality. He looked between the two Sullivan members to take note of their reactions. "Looks like your time here is up, ain't it?" There was a slightly smug tone to his voice with a smirk to match. It quickly disappeared and turned into a frown as Emery mentioned making sure he didn't get out. He hated the idea and the fact he couldn't do something to stop them without being reckless. Instead, he quickly moved out of the way of the chair Edwards kicked, maintaining eye contact with the man. Perhaps, he thought to himself, he should've let it hit him so Moretti could wage war on the Sullivans. Then Erik could kill Edwards himself just for the hell of it.

Emery and Edwards disappeared and the moment the door closed, Erik launched himself towards it. The doorknob twisted but no matter how much he pulled at it the door wouldn't budge. In an act of desperation, Erik threw his shoulder into the door repeatedly. The door bent but it still wouldn't budge. His shoulder was starting to get sore so he decided to abandon the idea for now and search around the office for something else. That's when his eyes landed on the phone on the desk and he made for it. He knew Spencer and Bruce would be at the former's home, and thus decided to ring them first. "Pick up, pick up," he muttered, eyes on the door. Hopefully, they hadn't started celebrating anything just yet...

---

At some point during their mission, Reina's patience had begun to thin out. Maybe it was during the back and forth but Reina found herself irritated more than anything. Adam and Dermot then moved to take Jeremy out of the restaurant, Billy shouting at them. With Tom pressing a gun at the back of his head she felt reassured that he'd put a bullet in him if necessary. Just as she was about to wrap things up, a gunshot tore through the air and was soon replaced by groaning noises. Christian had managed to get his hands on a weapon, something Reina had missed.

He shot Tom in the arm and then aimed his weapon at her. She scowled at him, obeying his commands. Reina was very much allergic to getting shot and wasn't stupid enough to disobey someone who held her life in their hands. She glanced to Tom and then back to Christian as he yelled at her to move away from Billy. She moved over to Tom to check his wound and once she'd seen it wasn't that bad, she helped him up. "D'you not know how to count? I go back out there to get Jeremy and I just come back in with two more guys. Where does that leave you?" She said to Christian.

The sirens sounded like they were getting closer, which meant they really needed to get a move on. However, with a gun in Christian's hand, Tom wounded, and now Edwards pointing a gun at Christian, she worried Adam's instructions not to kill anyone were about to go out the window. Hearing too many voices for her to concentrate she shouted. "Shut the fuck up! All of you." She pointed her gun from Christian to Billy before it settled back on Christian.

Meanwhile, after hearing the first gunshot, worry had shot through Erik once more. What if it were Billy, he wondered. It was just enough to pump up all the adrenaline he needed in order to finally kick the door down. After getting in contact with Spencer and the others he was feeling confident that help would be on the way. With a gun in hand, he quietly made his way around the corner. The scene was chaotic and Erik wasted no time in giving Christian back up. Reina had just missed him when he pointed the gun at Edwards' head. "Drop it. NOW." He firmly demanded. His eyes then searched for Billy and he nearly broke seeing him all bloodied and bruised. As much as he wanted to go for him he was aware that just wasn't possible right now. Reina then pointed her gun at him next, growling before she slowly lowered her own. "Alright, listen. No one else needs to get hurt- we've done what we came to do so," nodding her head to the exit, she made eye contact with Erik. "I can't guarantee your boy's safety," she started in reference to Jeremy. "But it's a helluva lot better than the alternative."

Reina urged Tom to leave through the exit and took no protests from him. Taking her word for it, Erik released Edwards and took a few steps back, though his gun remained on him at all times. "Here's what's gonna happen," Erik started, slowly making his way towards Billy with his gun still trained on Edwards. "You're leavin," he pointed to Edwards before nodding his head to Reina. "And you're coming with me. If he ain't willing to give Jeremy back then we'll take on o' his." Knowing that there was no way out of this without unintended repercussions, Reina clenched her jaw. She didn't like the way things ended up but she had to comply. Once she and Edwards complied, Erik made his way toward her and she gave him her gun. With his weapon pointed into her back, he then urged her forwards toward the exit. "Christian, I'll be back, alright? Spence and the others- they're on their way just- just stay here." He tried to hide the uneasiness from his voice and avoided looking at Billy again. Right now he needed to get rid of these Sullivans.

"Adam," Reina called out once they reached the van. "Got a bit of an issue." Erik shook his head stating it was a big problem before he started making his demands. "Give him back 'n you can have yours. No one needs to bite a bullet today, right, so just. Let him out."

Edwards ( BloodLightning27 ) Emery ( Misty Gray )
Tom, Jeremy ( BasDorcha )
Billy ( Pyroclast )
Adam ( Misty Gray )

 

[Misty Gray]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Adam Harper and Dermot Murphy
Emery Callahan
Christian Brooks​

Emery stepped out of the office with Edwards, watching on as he proceeded to locking Erik inside the room on his own. With the cops on their way and the new objective being to get out of the restaurant, Emery made her way to the back door so she could ensure the exit remained clear of cops and other unwanted guests. She gripped the handle of her gun as she peered out on to the quiet backsteet. The only sounds she could hear were the voices coming from the back of the van Adam and Jeremy were inside of.

*****
​

Christian had managed to shoot Tom in the arm, delaying the man from persisting to attack Billy. Immediately after his shot, Tom fired his own gun, the bullet ripping into Christian's forearm. He let out a pained groan but maintained a tight grip on his own gun as he forced himself to block out the pain given the other urgencies of the situation. With his gun soon directed onto Reina and aiming dangerously at her throat, he waited for the Irish to comply, get the hell out of the restaurant and let Jeremy go. Instead, the private investigator stumbled forward as a plate smashed into the back of his head. His finger hadn't yet been placed over the trigger and so he didn't reflexively fire an accidental shot at Reina. Before he could attempt to regain his bearings and react, Tom grabbed the gun out of Christian's hand. "Arsehole..." he grumbled in a strong Scottish accent as he caught Edwards' eye.

Christian's attention was soon drawn to Tom when the masked man howled at him, calling him a pig and saying he could have killed someone. "From a man who stormed into this place to begin with? If I had killed someone, it would have been my intention," he assured him. Perhaps keeping the attention on himself would buy Billy some recovery time. Instead, the masked man proceeded to punch Billy more. The throbbing pain in Christian's head did little to distract him from the observations he'd already been making. Not only Tom's voice, but the man's height, build, and mannerisms all seemed familiar to the former detective. Before giving in to the urge to point out the familiarity, Tom had turned to Reina and suggested they left, stating Christian wouldn't shoot her.

In the moment that followed, Christian was able to look directly to Billy and that only increased his concern for the man's health. Whilst he'd been shot himself and he was sure he might have a cut on the back of his head from the plate, it was Billy's health the private investigator was more worried about.

Thankfully, Erik returned to them and looking full of health. A slight relief overcame Christian when the man pointed his gun at Edwards and demanded he dropped his weapon. After a small exchange of words, Erik's gun was soon pointed at Reina's back and the man reassured him he'd return right away. Christian nodded back to Erik, trusting the man had the Irish in a vulnerable enough position now. Knowing that Spencer and others had also been alerted filled him with a little hope.

With Erik having led the Irish out of the restaurant, Christian rushed to Billy's side. The younger man had already fallen against the table and collapsed on the floor. "Billy, wait," Christian told him, for the moment trying to stop him from struggling to get back up by himself. For now, he helped Billy roll on to his least injured side, encouraging him to cough up and spit out any blood. Quickly swiping his own gun from the floor and shoving it in his back pocket so as not to leave incriminating evidence behind, he then rushed to grab a towel that had been abandoned on one of the tables by a waiter. Returning to Billy's side, he asked him to hold the towel for the time-being, more than aware that they needed to get out of the restaurant and fast. "Do you think you can walk a little, so we can get out of here and then get you treated?" he asked. His concern was that Billy wouldn't be able to and then he would be forced to risk having the cops find them. "It's not far to go, if you can fight through this a little longer," he firmly encouraged him. "Spencer's on his way as we speak," he was quick to add. Christian took a moment to glance to his own bleeding arm and his bloodsoaked sleeve, but quickly shook his head as he outstretched his other arm to try help Billy to his feet.

*****​

There was an odd calmness in the back of the van as Adam allowed Jeremy time to get his coughing out of his system and sit upright. The other man struggled to wipe away the blood that was running down his face, given that his hands were tied, but Adam wasn't about to extend his hospitality to help the man on that front. When Jeremy did speak, he told him Aidan's death was an accident; that the man was stabbed during a scuffle. Adam nodded his head in understanding, fully aware of how such mistakes can occur in situation of chaos and threat. The other man then pointed out that he couldn't kill Billy, to which Adam also understood and in a way hadn't had any intention of doing even when he first heard the King brother confess. He expected both Syd and Conor would know the score, that no matter how much they wanted revenge, Billy's death couldn't be on the cards. If they were going to escalate the war so dramatically, it had to be because they'd killed Bruce or Spencer - preferably both. "I wouldn't underestimate what the Sullivans are capable of," he flatly warned Jeremy. "But it's your Boss and his heir who we're gunning for," he said of Bruce and Spencer. Adam let out a scoff when Jeremy asked about Conor. "C'mon, you've seen the big guy? He might have already been in his prime, but he's not ready to pack it in yet. It'll take a lot more than that to finish him off," he assured the Londoner. Glaring at Jeremy through the eye holes in his mask, Adam shook his head as he weighed up whether or not to take him up on his self-sacrificial offer. Really, would it just be killing for the sake of killing?

Adam didn't have to weigh up his options for too long as Reina, Tom and Edwards soon arrived outside the back of the van. Seeing Erik holding the gun to her back, he nodded his head. "I can see how that might be an issue," he flatly responded to her. He nodded his head when Erik asked for Jeremy back, pointing out that nobody needed to bite a bullet. "I think we would all be wise to refrain from any gunfire out here - the cops would know exactly where to swoop in," he pointed out, hoping that would be a warning to both sides not to try anything smart. "Get out of here, Jeremy," he told him, cocking his head to the side to signal for him to climb out of the van as he wasn't going to be sacrificing himself tonight. "Make sure Bruce and Spencer know the score here. They need to back the fuck down from all this while they still can," he lifted his mask from his face to show how serious he was as he warned Erik and Jeremy.

With the situation presumably resolved and Erik letting Reina go in exchange for Jeremy, Adam beckoned Edwards, Tom and Reina to get in the back of the van. With Emery in the front passenger seat and Dermot driving, Adam gave them the go ahead to drive off once he'd pulled the back doors shut. Switching on his flashlight, he fished out a medical kit and tossed it between Edwards and Tom. "Did you pick up any medical skills on the field, soldier?" he asked Edwards. "Tom here looks like he could do with a little patching up until we can get to the safehouse and have our medic check him over properly."

*****​

Back in the restaurant, Christian was about to help Billy up to his feet when Erik and Jeremy re-joined them. "Erik, can you help me get him up? We need to get out of here and fast," he urged, now aware of the blue flashing lights coming from the front of the restaurant. Christian's focus visibly shifted beyond Erik to the large figure approaching them. He hadn't felt so glad to see Kane before. "This is what happens when you blokes decide to be all cultured instead of just going to the pub for a Sunday roast," Kane grumbled. Christian wasn't quite sure if the man was joking or not - his serious face and general intimidating aura did nothing to give it away if he was. "Billy," Kane simply said before stepping forward to help the man to his feet. Painful or not, Kane wasn't about to pussyfoot around him when the most important part for the moment was getting them all out of the restaurant before the cops barged in. "You're lucky I have a big car to fit you lot in," he grumbled.

When they had reached Kane's car on the backstreet, a man was waiting there having been with Kane at the nearby base when the call came through. "We don't have time to stick around. I need you to stay out here until Bruce and Spencer get 'ere. Tell 'em we're at the medic's place," he advised his colleague.

The group soon arrived at Caspian's place, in desperate need of treatment. With Billy and Christian having been shot, they were most in need of the medic's attention. Concerned, Christian had asked Erik to keep an eye on Jeremy until he could be properly treated too. Although he was feeling slightly light-headed from the blood loss, Christian was able to remain upright and alert, with a cloth wrapped tightly around the gunshot wound in his forearm until it was his turn for the expert's treatment.

A short time after they'd got settled, Bruce and Spencer arrived at Caspian's place. After briefly checking on Jeremy, Spencer rushed to find his youngest brother. Though he didn't want to get in the way, he instinctively rushed to Billy's side and placed his hand on his healthiest shoulder. Once again, he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach, the guilt rushing to his head for Billy now having to suffer in what he didn't doubt was retaliation for the attack on Conor and Aidan. The very attack Spencer blamed himself for the failure of as well as taking the blame for Billy ending up killing a man to begin with. "You're going to be alright, Billy. We ain't going to let anything happen to you," he firmly reassured him. Reluctantly, Spencer took himself away from the space Caspian was using to treat Billy and after briefly checking on Christian, he sat across from Jeremy and Erik. "Fuck, Jeremy. Those Irish bastards," he grumbled. Leaning forward, he placed a firm hand on Jeremy's arm. "They won't get away with this. Who was there?"


New scenes/line-up:
Back of the Sullivan van: BloodLightning27 (Edwards) BasDorcha (Tom) Melanin-Gxdess (Reina) Misty Gray (Adam)

Caspian's place group 1: Pyroclast (Billy) Melanin-Gxdess (Caspian) Misty Gray (Christian)
Caspian's place group 1: BasDorcha (Jeremy) Pyroclast (Bruce) Melanin-Gxdess (Erik) Misty Gray (Spencer)

 

[Misty Gray]

Spencer and Shona Kings Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Spencer King​

Feeling Shona squeeze his hand back made a part of Spencer crave more from her in the moment, as the subject of his mother's death still brought a sense of trauma to him even now. To keep himself grounded, he focused directly on his uncle as the man then followed up and addressed May. Spencer eyed his half-sister for a time as he still tried to process that they were related. He'd always been a closed and protective man, extremely reluctant to let anyone into his family's circle. Had he not already known May prior to finding out they were related, he suspected he would have been much more suspicious and opposed to accepting her into the family. Not only had she shown herself to be a good employee and a friend to Darcey and Harper, but Christian hadn't been able to find anything about the young woman that Spencer could feel genuinely concerned about either. So whilst he wasn't about to open up completely and embrace May, he'd already been far more open and accepting than he was known to be.

When Bruce gave May a chance to change her mind before giving up on knowing Trevor, Spencer studied her face to try determine what she was thinking. However, his attention was soon drawn to Harper, who had been carrying a complete look of disdain towards him throughout the conversation. Seeing her on the edge of her seat, he maintained his gaze, trying to read what she was going to say or do before she did it. If she thought there was any way he would back down and let her willingly allow herself to be manipulated by Trevor, then she clearly didn't appreciate how much he cared about her well-being.

Soon enough, Harper spoke up to address May. Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose as she spoke in a tone full of venom. Pulling his hand away from his face, he fixed his glare on Harper as she claimed May would give up her freedom to make decisions and be affected by the consequences of her family's actions. Feeling himself tensing up, Spencer released Shona's hand to make sure he didn't end up gripping it too hard. It hurt to think that after everything he and Bruce had done, everything they'd given given up for his siblings, Harper managed to hold so much resentment towards the both of them. "Come off it, Harper..." he began, shaking his head. "The facts speak for themselves. Trevor is a waste of space and he ruins everything he touches. Why would anyone voluntarily choose to give that man an ounce of their time? I guarantee he's only back here because he wants something. Be it money, protection, a pathway to an endless supply of drugs so he can get smacked off his face... The man is a parasite and there's no way I would want to let either of you fall into his trap."

The sound of the telephone ringing disrupted Spencer's growing frustration, which was likely for the best. Before he could rush up to answer it, Shona beat him to it. His eyes followed his wife as she left the room and then landed them back between Harper and May. When Shona returned and stopped in the doorway, he looked to her with concern as he could tell something wasn't right. He and Bruce then joined Shona in the hallway so she could tell them about the situation at the restaurant. Fresh anxiety and stress rose up inside Spencer as he was suddenly dragged from his ill feeling about Trevor to being worried about his brother, best friend, and Christian. He ran his hand through his hair whilst Bruce went to tell the ladies that he and Spencer had to leave. Spencer unlocked the closet where he retrieved his carefully hidden gun. Whilst he didn't intend to go waving it around in public, he would rather have some way of defending himself and the others if it came to it.

Although he now had a lot of unresolved issues with Harper and potentially May, his worry for those at the restaurant overtook everything else that was weighing on his mind. While he waited for Bruce, he pulled Shona in for a tight hug, placing a kiss on the top of her head. He just wanted to feel her warmth before he walked towards yet more trouble and suffering. "Make sure everyone stays here until we get back," he asked his wife. "I love you," he added right before Bruce was ready to leave the house.

Pyroclast (Shona, Bruce)
BasDorcha (May)
Bellz (Harper)
Melanin-Gxdess (Darcey)

 

[Pyroclast]

Shona and Spencer's Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Shona and Bruce King​

Before May could even answer him, Harper jumped in, eager to present her half-sister with a different perspective. She was of course there to speak her opinion on the matter, so Bruce wasn’t going to stop her, but he couldn’t help but sigh as she gave a passive-aggressive display of her real feelings towards the way the family operated. He could tell she was speaking to him and Spencer through May, just as Spencer had really been addressing Harper when explaining why Trevor was best avoided. What they really needed was to properly confront each other and clear it up once and for all, without May getting caught in the middle of it. It was clear by Spencer’s response to Harper’s words that he was getting frustrated, and Bruce sensed that things might escalate too far if he didn’t intervene.

“Hey,” Bruce said to them both, reaching a hand out into the space between them. “Clearly we need to talk in private, the three of us. Alright? This ain’t a conversation we should be having through May.”

The sound of the phone ringing came at first as a welcome distraction from the rising tension in the room. Shona promptly excused herself to go and answer it, letting out an exasperated exhale as soon as her back was turned. However, the call turned out not to be the sort of distraction they would want.

Moments later, Shona reappeared in the doorway, a worried expression on her face. She quietly asked Spencer and Bruce to step outside with her, not wanting to disclose what was happening in front of everybody all at once. Once the pair had joined her, she let them know the situation - as much as Erik had been able to tell her, anyway - and stood back as the pair launched into action. Bruce grabbed his coat before briefly heading back into the living room.

"Sorry, ladies," he said to Harper, May and Darcey. "That was Erik calling, says there's been another attack. Spencer and I are gonna go and check it out. Jeremy, Christian and Billy might be hurt." His eyes moved to Harper, sending her an apologetic look. He still wanted to talk to her - especially after she expressed such strong and concerning opinions about the family and the injustice she had faced. "Harper, love," he said, aware that Spencer was waiting for him. "We'll pick this up another time, yeah? I'll let you know what's happening just as soon as I know. For now, you ladies stay 'ere. Sorry to cut this meeting short..."

Shona held her husband tightly when he embraced her, and returned his kiss with equal passion. “Watch yourself, alright?” she whispered to him. “I love you, my King.” Not knowing whether the attack was still occurring or what he and Bruce were about to walk into worried her, but there wasn’t time to fret. It would only be useless anyway.

Once the two were both gone, Shona took a deep breath and walked back into the main room. It was just herself, Harper, May and Darcey left. “You all had better stay ‘ere in case there’s news,” she said as she returned to her seat. She always felt a heaviness in her chest when there was so much uncertainty about the health of friends and family. She looked over at Harper, not forgetting what the woman had said. “Harp…you know, you can talk to me about this stuff too,” she offered. “I know I’m your brother’s wife, but that makes us sisters in my eyes.” She placed her hands on her knees and let out a sharp exhale as she looked between all the women. “Maybe the four of us should start a stitch-and-bitch, get away from the men in this family and just talk and listen to each other!” She spoke the words lightheartedly, but in truth she really believed they would all benefit from some social time away from the men. “May…this has all been pretty heavy,” she added, looking over at the younger woman. “Is there anything you wanna say? And for God’s sake, have some cake, all of ya’!”

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Billy King​

As hard as Billy fought to follow what was going on around him, the intense pain in his right side was just too demanding of his attention. At some point, Erik had turned up and was busy using a gun to negotiate their way out of the situation. Billy watched him for a bit, already somewhat reassured by his presence and to see him looking well - but he couldn’t fully focus on what was being said as he was still struggling to hear much above the ringing in his ear.

Soon Christian was at his side, and the man helped him to roll over and cough up the blood that had pooled at the back of his throat. The man then left him, and between Christian’s urgency and the sound of sirens, Billy felt pressured to try and get up - but manoeuvring himself to an upright position proved to be more difficult than expected, with an agonising pain in the upper side of his ribs making even the smallest of twists excruciating. Thankfully his friend returned to him, this time handing him a towel to staunch the flow of blood. He was bleeding from multiple entry and exit wounds, but he didn’t know how to tie the towel in such a way that it would block them all at once so he just did his best to stuff it under his arm, all the while breathing forcefully through the severe discomfort. Christian asked him if he could manage walking and Billy nodded; despite the pain he was in, he couldn’t think of anything worse than lying in a pool of his own blood on the restaurant floor and waiting for the police to burst into the room. “Yeah,” he uttered through strained breaths, gripping onto his injured arm. “Yeah, I can walk - can you just give me a hand gettin’ up?”

Christian telling him that Spencer was on his way was probably supposed to be a comfort, but Billy only looked up at Christian in alarm. “He ain’t comin’ ‘ere, though, is he? Not with the coppers knockin’ at the door?” He looked past Christian and squinted as the rest of the room came back into focus, only to show him how empty it was. “Where’s Erik?” he asked. The last time he had seen his boyfriend he had been talking with Reina and Edwards, one against two. Now, all three of them were gone…

Fortunately, before he could panic, Erik and Jeremy both reappeared, with none of the Irish in tow. The relief at seeing them both alive drove him to try and stand so he could join them. He reached up with his uninjured arm and gripped the edge of the table in preparation to hoist himself to his feet, but in the end the stretch only tore at his open wounds, drawing another agonised cry from him. He got as far as kneeling before Kane appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere, and forced him to stand.

Moving was much easier once he was on his feet, and it wasn’t long before they all made it to the car. As they distanced themselves from the scene and the swarm of police cars, the tension dropped and the pain took over. By the time they reached Caspian’s place, the loss of blood had left him shaking slightly and when he sat down to be looked at, all he wanted to do was close his eyes…

Caspian's Place
~ London ~

Bruce and Billy King​

The journey was fractured by traffic and the fact that the restaurant was swarming with police by the time they arrived, but after being diverted to Caspian's place, they arrived in good time. As soon as Bruce stepped through the door, he took in the sight of the four men - Erik appearing thankfully unscathed, Jeremy looking badly beaten, and over with the medic, Caspian, were Christian and Billy, both of them covered in blood and looking worse for wear.

Bruce moved with urgency towards his nephew and, making sure not to get in Caspian's way, swept a hand through Billy's hair, gently tilting his head back in the process so he could get a good look at him. His face was drained of its usual colour and his bruises were already swelling. “You’re in the best hands, Bill,” he assured his youngest nephew, locking eyes with him. “You hear your brother? You’re gonna be just fine, son. Just do what Caspian says, and stay awake.” Still not quite sure how bad a beating he had taken, Bruce was tentative when kissing the younger man on the head. He was just glad the fighting stopped before it got deadly.

He let Caspian continue his work and moved over to Christian, taking note of the open wound in his arm. “Well done gettin’ out of there before the fuzz showed up,” he said to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m gonna be around all night if you need anythin’. Just call my name, alright? You’re a good lad, Christian.”

Finally, Bruce left Caspian to treat the pair and he went to join Spencer, Erik and Jeremy. “My god,” he muttered. He lightly clapped a hand against Erik’s cheek as he eyed him up for any injuries. “They didn’t hurt ya’, did they, Erik? You’re alright?” As the leader of the firm, he felt responsible for the health of all his family members and employees, and so it was important to him to check up on them all individually. Finally, he sat down beside Spencer, who was addressing Jeremy, and waited to hear the man’s account of what had happened.

Interactions
Melanin-Gxdess Erik, Caspian, Darcey
Misty Gray Spencer, Christian
BasDorcha Jeremy, May
Bellz Harper

 

[BasDorcha]

Spencer and Shona's
~Bethanl Green, Bethanl~
May Thatcher​

May was definitely in shock, even as she tried to appear calm and cool. She wasn’t sure how they would accept her, if they’d even accept her, and the silence in the house was too much. It felt like an infinity between when she stopped speaking and when everyone around her made their next move. May, normally perceptive to those things around her, paid little attention to what was happening with Harper in that moment as she was still processing her thoughts.

Darcey’s voice was reassuring, and May was grateful for it. When she looked up, she gave her a small, shy smile, and suddenly felt the urge to call Christian. She wasn’t sure why, but like a bolt it hit her that she needed to call him, but she nipped the feeling, determined to talk to him later. Surely he knew, and some of what he had previously said now made sense, but she wasn’t mad, like she had said in the bar, it wasn’t an intentional lie but a job requirement. Still, she wanted to let him know she knew now, and to thank him for putting an end to the question of who she came from. The downside was that she had already heard more then a few comments on how bad a man he was. It was for that reason alone May didn’t have a struggle making a choice – she had already had one shit parent; she didn’t need another.

When Darcey stated She’s a King after all the redness on her cheeks turned so vibrant, it could have guided someone in the dark. May had never felt accepted anywhere, except with her two brothers, and while she wasn’t sure she was accepted here completely, Darcey always made her feel welcome. She leaned over, stretching out her hand to give Darcey’s a squeeze as a way of saying thank you. Her eyes slowly cruised the rest of the group, stopped on Spencer when he started talking. His face currently wasn’t appearing to happy, but when he smiled, he looked completely different.

May listened quietly while Spencer spoke, nodding in understanding as he gave his perspective on the man. He certainly didn’t sound like anyone she wanted to know – what kind of man walked out on a pregnant wife and three young children, much less put their hands on them or tormented them. May simply shook her head, reassured she made the right choice. Bruce spoke up, asking if she was certain of her decision, but before she could speak, Harper broke in. She was a little surprised to see Harper defending him, but she figured her newly-informed sister had many things she didn’t know about.

Harper said she had a choice, but once she made it, they’d take her choices if she chose them. Her eyebrows furled again. Was Harper warning her? It was true, things for the King’s had been rough, she’d over heard enough to know that things had been heated for them, trouble had arose, hell she’d been at the bombing of the Mercury. Still… A deep urge to want to be a part of something was over powering. Was it likely to be dangerous? Yes. Was she of any real import to the family aside from being a sister they never knew? No. She didn’t have any real position of import in the firm or the family, so likely she would remain unimportant. All her life she had wondered what it was like to have a bigger family, now she had it, even if it meant being down a dad she never got to meet.

“I’m sure. I’ve always wanted a bigger family. Trevor, I have never met, its easy to say no. You guy… You’ve been my friends, my coworkers, and I’ve built relationships with you, and I don’t want to give that up. So yeah, I’m happy with my decision. It’s easy to let go of something you never had.” May reached forward and took a few more snacks from the table. As everyone jumped into motion, from Spencer, Bruce and Harper’s slightly heated convo, to the phone call and the guys rushing out, everything moved super quick.

Before she knew it, it was down to just the women, and May looked a bit relieved to have made it through the shock and conversation in one piece. Smiling at Shona, she nodded as she spoke, eating her food quietly, thinking about what she might say to Shona’s question. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet, but I’m happy to know why everyone’s been acting so weird lately.” She laughed softly, winking at Darcey as if speaking to her directly.

Mentions Pyroclast - Shona Bruce
Misty Gray - Spencer
Melanin-Gxdess - Darcey
Bellz - Harper

 

[BasDorcha]

Caspian's ER
~London~
Jeremy Gray​

Jeremy listened to Adam with a few reciprocal nods of his own. They were both right, and being that they were both high ranking members of their respective families, they were at a sort of Mexican standoff. Adam seemed a reasonable man, and if they weren’t on different lines of the war, then they probably would have gotten along just fine. Upon hearing that Conor was doing fine, he couldn’t help but agree that he was likely right. “Yeah… Him and Bruce both seem to have some kind of divine luck on their side and will to live that is pretty unique. Must be why we follow them the way we do.” The blood flow had slowed some, but it dried coating his face and a light dizziness was filling his body, the lack of blood and probably a concussion was taking their toll.

As Reina, Tom, and Edwards joined the rest of their party, Jeremy looked at them with bleary eyes, and couldn’t help a weak grin at the image of Erik holding a gun on one of the Irish. He knew that Erik shouldn’t have stepped in, but hopefully there would be no consequences for him from his own boss. When Adam gave him the go ahead to get out of the van, Jeremy did his best to move out without looking a fool, but at the last second, he stumbled into Erik, leaning on him momentarily until his head stopped spinning. “Let ‘em go, we’re done here for now.” Jeremy’s voice was still rough and quiet, sounding like a jazz singers rasp. Jeremy had a sense of leadership, seeing that none of them were dead yet, knowing that his ploy at least bought them some time. At this time, Jeremy was the one who would be most expected to step up and take leadership – Erik, while working with the King’s made him an important person, was not a King soldier; Christian was employed by the company, but he was not a soldier expected to fight; Billy was still breaking into the more illicit side of the company – that made him the highest ranked in the group. If someone died, he wouldn’t know how to tell Bruce he had failed.

When Kane came in, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief as much as his damaged chest would allow. He would have laughed at the comment about being cultured if he didn’t think he might be dying. He drowsily made his way to Kane’s car and planted himself in the backseat, leaning against the window with his eyes closed until the arrived at Caspian’s pseudo emergency room. The pain in his chest where he had pressed against Adam’s knife was sending tendrils of sensation every move he made. Once he got settled, he opened the shirt, inspecting the still bleeding wound. In his endorphine rush, he likely pushed too hard as the gash showed that the knife not only poked, but actually must have slipped down and inward, causing a two in long gash. He couldn’t tell how deep it was.

Jeremy pressed a towel he picked up against the wound, sitting back with his head leaned against the wall, willing the world to stop spinning. When Spencer and Bruce joined him, he wasn’t sure, but sat up, forcing himself to focus on them and hear their questions. Jeremy leaned as close as the dizziness would allow, forcing his voice out, “Adam, Emery… three guys I didn’t recognize, one of ‘em never removed his mask. A woman. Came about… last time.” Jeremy focused on keeping his words as little needed as possible, the damage in his throat irritated and gravely. He pointed at the two of the men sitting with them, Indicating Bruce and Spencer, “It’s not over. They’re after you two. This, this was just pay back for attempting Conor, and… killing Aidan. Billy tried to take the blame, but I derailed that plan by also confessing.” Jeremy looked at them both with a silent look that seemed to say Yeah, you heard me right. “It bought us some time, luckily they ran out of it when the sirens pulled up.” Jeremy went on to describe in detail everything that had happened from his point of view, pausing occasionally as his head swarmed and dipped to one side or another. He slowed down finally, looking between the men, waiting to hear what they had to say. The normally sharp man was definitely running slower then anyone had likely ever seen him, his clothes thoroughly soaked with blood and dirt and sweat.

Eyeing them both after a moment of silence, he swallowed and continued, “I kept them alive… Gave Christian the gun, took blame for Aidan, knew Erik was going to be s’lright. They might all be in pain, but we’re all breathing.” He looked relieved to finally process that for the moment, they were all alive. Jeremy’s brain felt sluggish now, like a car that had over heated when he was calculating the next five steps of the ambush. He’d made the right choice, giving Christian and not Billy the gun – Christian didn’t hesitate for a second to shoot the first chance he got. He knew Billy would do what he needed to, but he hadn’t wanted to put Billy in a position to have to make that call, he was still working on getting over the first death on his hands.

Without realizing it, Jeremy repeated himself before he fell silent, nodding as if answers a question, “No, it’s not over, but they wanted to make sure you two knew the score.” Jeremy didn’t think he needed to include in there that that score very easily could have been body counts instead of stitches.

Mentions Misty Gray - Christian/Spencer
Pyroclast - Billy/Bruce
Melanin-Gxdess - Erik

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Caspian's Place
~ Somewhere in London ~
Caspian Xavier

When Caspian left the military he didn't really have a clue as to what he would do after. There were plenty of job opportunities for him in the medical field or even as a pilot, but he could never really settle on one. Lucky for him - depending on who you ask - fate knew exactly where she wanted him. A chance meeting between himself and Bruce occurred, the latter recognizing his last name almost immediately. It turned out Cas' father was the man who'd been working tirelessly to save Bruce's family; only to end up failing in the end. Caspian was 12 when it all happened and could remember seeing his father extremely downtrodden. He always assumed he just had another rough day at work but when Cas met Bruce and heard the story it all clicked for him. Somehow through this - and Caspian's own patronage of their pharmaceutical business - he found himself at the employ of the King family as their trusted medic and friend. Though he'd only been around for two years, he felt extremely loyal to them all.

So when he heard frantic knocking on the door of his back-alley medical office, he immediately sprung into action. "Put Bill over there," he pointed to an empty cot further back in the room while rummaging for the supplies he would need. "And put Christian over there. I'll need the both of you to take off your shirts for me." There was another cot on the opposite side of the room and while they did as instructed, Caspian got to setting up everything he needed for both men on two separate trays. He then turned to look over Jeremy briefly before asking if he'd been shot as well. After hearing he hadn't Caspian instructed him to sit down on the nearby couch. "Stay awake until I'm able to examine you further."

Caspian managed to move quickly between both Billy and Christian, instructing them to get under a silver blanket to try and prevent them from going into shock. With Erik being the only uninjured person, he had to use him as his assistant for the time being. "I need you to get the bleeding to stop, okay?" Erik nodded his head in understanding, eyes periodically glancing to Billy before settling on Cas. "Take this and apply pressure to Christian's arm." Caspian handed him some medical gauze and pushed him in Christian's direction. "Sorry to be so rough, gentlemen, but we've gotta stop the bleeding so we can get more blood in you. Do either of you know your blood types," he asked, looking over the two holes on Billy's body. There seemed to be two gunshot wounds, yet only one exited. Sucking in air through his teeth, he gently laid Billy back down before walking over and doing the same to Christian. The exit wound was clear which meant he would only need to disinfect him and stitch him up. However, not wanting the bullet to remain inside of Billy and get lost he opted to deal with that first. "You got shot right through, Christian, so just hang out for me, okay?" Before rejoining Billy's side, he placed an alcohol-soaked rag over Christian's arm and asked Erik to tend to the wound, cleaning it to prevent further infection. It was sure to sting despite the morphine drip, but it was better than the problem getting worse.

It had been difficult fishing around for the bullet. He hoped the morphine had taken effect by now and that Billy was only feeling discomfort. Still, he needed to get it out by any means necessary. A few minutes later and he'd thrown the forceps holding the bullet into the silver surgery pan. Lucky for them both it hadn't been a bullet that exploded upon impact and he was able to have it whole. Just as he was instructing Billy to sit up so he could stay awake, Bruce and Spencer burst into the room. For a moment Caspian was unsettled but knowing who it was he was able to regain his composure. They both made sure to check on Billy as Caspian set about rubbing iodine on his arm before starting his stitching process. "He's gonna be alright." Caspian was doing his best to be reassuring while stitching up both wounds.

Erik was nearly taken off-guard when Bruce came over to check on him last. His body tensed up, his muscles holding onto the trauma of his childhood. He felt awful right now and was hoping it didn't show on his face. The only reason Erik wasn't in a cot right next to the others was because of an agreement. Had it not been in place he wouldn't've wasted any time shooting the people who did this to him; even if that meant getting shot himself. Having to choose between the man he loved and cared about and his job was incredibly difficult. It nearly broke his heart having to weigh the pros and cons of both but not as much as seeing Billy in this state. "I-... They couldn't-..." He had to pause, forcing down the lump in his throat. "The agreement stopped them from hurting me- I'm alright." Erik didn't know what to make of Bruce's concern or how to decipher if it were personal or business. However, it had nearly made him break down to have such figure care so much about his wellbeing.

But, instead of doing so, he got his act together. Spencer then asked them for the low-down about what happened and Jeremy, though nearly about to pass out, began to explain it all. Erik would wait until he was finished so he could fill some of the holes - such as who some of the other people were. Reina he'd known of, but Edwards he hadn't; and based on the way the man had been so angry about not being able to touch him he figured he had something against Moretti. "The woman- she's technically not a Sullivan," he explained. "Her name is Reina and she works for the Biancardi family. I mean, Biancardi and Sullivan are in bed together, so I guess she was just along for the ride... Anyway, he's right. Whatever happened in Dublin? The Sully's ain't exactly happy 'bout it. And with my knowledge probably won't stop 'till blood is drawn and a score is settled."

Caspian then walked over after hanging small bags of blood up for Billy and Christian. "Sorry, gents, but I have to make sure this one doesn't have a concussion nor bleed all over my couch."

​

 

[BloodLightning27]

~James Edwards: Clear For Exfil...Kind Of~

---

Chinatown, West End | London, England ----> Sullivan Van

Unfortunately, it did not take long for the scene to unravel and suddenly the tables were turned against the Sullivans, albeit briefly. Locking Erik in the Office bought some time, but the former SEAL did not think it would be enough. Hearing the bang against the door left him satisfied as the chair that was wedged under the handle did not give way. Soon, it stopped. After having thrown a plate onto Christian's head and getting close to Tom, who was now wounded, Edwards did have his gun trained on Christian, who had just shot Tom and now Reina had her gun pointed at him too. Before he could do much more, it seemed like Erik had found his way out of that office and he felt the barrel of a gun against his head. But it seemed like Reina was prepared for that, as she pointed her own gun at Erik next, albeit briefly. Edwards wasn't sure of what to do at that point. Sure, he had a gun at the back of his head, but it wasn't like he was a stranger to it. Hell, back in 'Nam, the Veitcong did that almost all the time whenever they had the drop on him.

Before he could speak up, Reina proceeded to negotiate. Edwards proceeded to let go of his gun after switching the safety back on. And only moments later, Erik released him and the gun that was once pressed against his head was no longer there. Up next, he was ordered to leave while the Londoners took Reina hostage in exchange for Jeremy. At this point there wasn't very much he could do, and anything he wanted to do, would end in a firefight. With Tom injured, he didn't have much of a fighting chance either. Outgunned and outnumbered, he would most likely end up dead and since orders were that Erik in particular was not to be harmed, Edwards reluctantly took his leave, following Tom out of the building. As he looked back briefly, he saw that Erik was walking out with Reina in his grasp. Upon getting back to the van, he sat down next to the wounded Tom. Much to Edwards' distaste, Adam would let Jeremy go. However, the former Soldier did understand this decision, as he had done the same to get one of his Squad-mates back during war. With Reina back with them, it wasn't long until they got the hell out of there, probably in the nick of time as well since the Cops had probably just arrived.

As he took off the slinged MP7 and set it next to Tom's AK, a Medical Kit landed in between him and Tom before Adam proceeded to ask him if he picked up any medical skills on the field. "I did. I worked a little bit as Combat Triage back in the day, why?"

"Tom here looks like he could do with a little patching up until we can get to the safehouse and have our medic check him over properly."

"Yeah, sure thing, Boss." He responded before opening the medical kit.

Edwards then then cut the sleeve open a little bit so that it wouldn't be in the way. Given that there was no exit point, the bullet was unfortunately lodged into Tom's arm. He then grabbed a pair of tweezers and wiping them down briefly to avoid a possible infection. After a few seconds, he dipped the tweezers into the wound to extract the bullet from the young man's arm. Because it had to be done quickly, Edwards didn't exactly take it slow and because of muscle memory, he yanked the bullet out as fast and as hard as he possibly could before dressing the wound as well as he could. At least to hold them over until they saw an actual medical professional to get it taken care of. "There. You should be fine for now." He said before closing up the medical kit and setting it aside. "You know, it's kinda funny that they attacked us first...and then they get mad when we fight back." He commented before relaxing into his seat, arms folded.

---

Interactions: Tom Thatcher BasDorcha | Adam Harper Misty Gray
Nearby Allies: Dermot Murphy, Emery Callahan Misty Gray | Reina Richards Melanin-Gxdess

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Shona and Spencer's Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~​

Harper knew that Spencer of all people wouldn't take what she had to say very well, but his temper and his inability to think about how to approach a sensitive situation pissed off Harper enough to where she was poised and ready to go off on him, her mouth opening wide as she was about to give him a piece of her mind.

Bruce spoke up suddenly, reaching out a hand in the space between her and Spencer. He stated that things needed to be discussed privately with the three of them before adding that it wasn't a conversation they should be having with May. Harper felt like they all missed the point entirely. It wasn't about her resentment, it wasn't about Trevor...Harper was simply stating that there are casualties far worse in this war than death and she believed that the one that would affect May the most would be the ability not to be heard or have choices. It was a fate crueler than death to Harper, to be robbed of choices while still being able to function, to have the cognitive ability to actually know that you should be able to make those choices. Harper opened her mouth once again, about to let Bruce know that what she said wasn't a lie.

May spoke up, however, causing Harper to close her mouth long enough for May to get what she wanted to say out. While her reasoning was valid...Harper felt that the woman had literally no idea what she was getting herself into. She had a choice to be away from all of the drama and violence, yet she foolishly chose to dive into the deep of it, and for what? Harper couldn't tell. She was just going to enjoy having a bigger family and learn quickly that having a bigger family didn't exactly mean paradise. It just meant more people you could possibly lose, in death or not. Harper's relationship with her own family was hanging on by mere threads and yet continued to, at least in Spencer and Alex's case, berate her about her stupid choices as if she didn't already have enough guilt in her life as it was.

While she was sure Billy had her back, as he was the one to tell her about May after that meeting she wasn't invited to, she still feared that he would be the only family she'd have left after this was all said and done. Harper was always anxious about him going out on these jobs and working for the business because at the end of the day, he seemed to be the most loyal to her and actually care about her say in things. Jeremy was also starting to see reason on that front, but Harper still didn't know just how much she could trust him with her secrets. She was starting to realize that without the two of them she wouldn't have nearly as many people in her corner as she would like to. Sure, Darcey was like a mother to her and did back her up on certain things but Harper didn't want to come to her knowing the relationship she had with Bruce because she didn't want to be the one to come between them if arguments started. Shona was also someone who could be in her corner but once again, Harper didn't want to make waves in any relationships her family had.

Harper was full of resentment and anger, but she couldn't bring herself to retaliate by sabotaging her family's life. It was that kind of selfless attitude that she felt was getting her in the most trouble because she was exerting so much time and energy trying to hold in things for the sake of their happiness that it was ruining her mental health. While it might not have been the time nor the place to make such remarks, Harper hoped she could at least warn May what she was getting herself into. But once again, Harper felt that might have been too kind. What she said was sweet but the last sentence irked Harper on a level that she didn't understand, It's easy to let go of something you never had." Despite not meaning to, Harper's eyes narrowed in thought at her new half-sister, wondering what the girl meant by that as the woman grabbed more snacks from the table, clearly not noticing Harper glaring at her. The phone rang but Harper didn't pay any attention to it as she watched May closely.

Once again, the blonde felt like she was screaming into a room, pleading for someone to notice what she was trying to say and asking for help and no one was hearing her. Harper sank back into her chair, looking even more defeated and tired than when she had entered the room. Any sort of relief from the pain meds she had taken before heading over wasn't enough and her collarbone throbbed as if on cue with her thoughts, causing her to wince. She was starting to disconnect herself from the people in the room both physically and mentally as she closed her weary eyes. She didn't even notice that people had left the room until her brother and Bruce announced they were leaving. Her eyes snapped open as her Uncle explained that there had been an attack involving Jeremy, Christian, and Billy. "What?" Harper ask as he sent her an apologetic look. Her heart leaped in her chest as he told her that they would have to pick up their conversation another time, saying that he'd let her know what was happening as soon as he knew. Harper would have leaped to her feet if she could without falling back down and she wanted to tell them to take her with them but she knew they wouldn't.

A lump formed in her throat as panic started to set in and when the men were gone everything was quiet before Shona stated that they all should probably stay. Harper wanted to be anywhere but where she was right now, she wanted to be with Bruce and Spencer and she wanted to make sure that both Billy and Jeremy were okay. Was it some cruel sick joke that the universe was playing on her? Threatening to take the only two people in her life in that moment who understood her. And yet she was forced to survive and carry on like nothing else was happening. Harper barely heard Shona say her name but as the woman was clearly looking at her, Harper returned her gaze with a glossed-over look on her face. She always loved Shona, the woman had been nothing but nice to her since they met and Harper had zero issues with her but as she offered to hear Harper out saying that they were sisters in her eyes, she couldn't even muster a smile.

Shona was surely just trying to cope with the news in the best way she could, wanting to keep the conversation lighthearted, but as the discussion turned to May once more, Harper felt like she was in some sort of hallucination. May answered and Harper looked around the room almost as if she was confused as to where she was. Was she crazy? Did Bruce and Spencer not just say that Billy and Jeremy as well as Christian might be hurt? Why was everyone so calm right now? Was she missing something? So many questions were running through her head that she started to wonder if she was trapped in some weird twilight zone. Hell, maybe she didn't wake up from the coma she was in, maybe this was all in her head and she was still knocking on death's door. The conversation happening around her turned to low murmurs that were just starting to piss her off more than anything.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" She thought she said to the room before pushing herself up out of her chair. However, she would leave a room full of confused women as they would wonder why she just got up so quickly without announcing where she was headed. Harper couldn't hear if anyone was calling after her as she trudged with her booted leg down the hall into the bathroom. Once inside she slammed the door shut, locking it as she collapsed onto the bathroom floor in a messy seated position against the door. She scratched her forearms wildly, wanting to confirm that she was still alive and not in some sort of hellish nightmare. People weren't hearing her and from what it felt like, people were hearing the direness of the situation. Billy and Jeremy could be dead for all she knew and the women out there were joking around and talking about a conversation that Harper didn't care about. May was sweet and all but to Harper she was just another person she could potentially lose. Moving her hands into her hair, she pulled at it aggressively as she brought her knees up and placed her head between them, tears streaming down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to decompress. Darcey had her pills, the only thing keeping her from falling over the deep end but Harper pretty much felt like this was the deep end. Her body ached, reminding her that she needed those little pills in order to cope with the pain but Harper knew she wouldn't be able to get a hold of them any time soon which was sending her into even more of a panicked state.
with: Spencer Misty Gray
Bruce + Shona Pyroclast
Darcey Melanin-Gxdess
May BasDorcha
honorable mentions: Billy Pyroclast + Jeremy BasDorcha + Christian Misty Gray
Dishonorable mentions: Trevor Misty Gray

 

[Bellz]

Thomas Porter
The Clover Casino
- Dublin City Center, Dublin -​

Thomas was glad that he was able to get the conversation off of him but appreciated Leo's support regardless. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about what happened at the bowling alley quite yet. The shame he felt for what he'd done was too much to put into words and while he was doing his absolute best to make it up to Elena as he was at that moment, he secretly felt that there wasn't going to be anything he could do at the end of it all. Luckily, with the conversation now focused on Leo and Natasha, any thought Thomas had about the incident came and went as he listened to his cousin admit that he made a decision that Natasha wouldn't be happy with. Leo went to say that he talked to Thomas's old man about the business and Thomas raised an eyebrow.

Apparently what his dad said steered Leo in the direction of wanting to take the mantle in the family business and that perplexed Thomas greatly. His father had made it clear that he didn't like Thomas being a part of the business and wouldn't allow Olivia to be in it either. Thomas wondered if maybe his father purposefully steered Leo in the direction of getting involved with it or if maybe Leo just perceived it that way. Thomas was quiet as Leo stated that he wanted to take up the mantle when he was ready. He wasn't sure he knew just how much went into that job title.

As healthy as his parent's relationship was, Thomas understood that it was that way because there were no lies between them, at least not anymore. He had been told back in the day when they first were going out some lies were told and people were hurt but his parents learned from those mistakes and grew from them. Leo was making the mistake of not relaying any of this to Natasha first and while he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, Nat was not going to take too kindly to the fact that Leo told him first.

Leo was asking for his advice and while Thomas wasn't an expert in relationships, he had learned enough from his parents to know what was healthy for a couple. "Well, first off Leo...you should know that you can't get anything past Nat, that woman is like a blood-hound...scarily reminding me of my mother that nothing slips past her. I swear to god it's the blonde hair, people joke about them not being smart but I think they are smarter than most people. Blake, my mom, and Nat all share another thing in common besides their hair color, cousin. They hate being lied to." He shook his head, looking towards the girls at the table chatting a moment.

"You know as well as I that keeping anything from her is not going to help you both in the long run, I mean, how many times has your dad fucked up with Ali? Fuck, look at my brother, he's still paying for a lie he told Roxie what...13 years ago? Women hold onto these things and in some cases, they have every right to. But, you needed to talk to Tash about this as soon as you figured out what you wanted to do because now that you told me first, she's going to feel like she can't trust you. No relationship works without trust." He hated being so blunt about things but Thomas felt that Leo needed to hear this now from him.

"So my advice to you, since it's too late to tell her before you told me. You need to acknowledge that she is an active part of your life and acknowledge that this is going to affect her just as much as it affects you. Sure you may hold the title one day with the reputation but as I'm sure you've figured out, the men in the family wouldn't be anything without the women supporting them and picking up all the pieces behind them." Thomas glanced at Elena for a long moment, "You can't just expect them to follow you blindly and you can't ask them to stay if they feel that they can't. Sometimes this lifestyle is too much for people...it would be selfish to force anyone to stay." Thomas glanced back at Leo and shook his head.

"You tell her how you feel, Leo but you can't be mad at her if she wants to back out of the relationship. Nat lost her dad to this fucking lifestyle...while I understand you have your priorities and your feelings on this...you have to understand that this might not be what she wants. If she doesn't want to stay, you have to love her enough to let her go and just support her in whatever other life she chooses. Does that make sense?"

"Some couples make it just fine and are willing to work together to get through all the hardships, but it's not going to be perfect and it probably will never be." His drink was set down in front of him and Thomas moved to take a sip, "Well, except if your name is fucking James and Lucy Porter...but even then, they still have their moments."
with: Leo Melanin-Gxdess
honorable mentions: James Misty Gray + Elena Pyroclast
dishonorable mentions: Conor Misty Gray + Syd Pyroclast

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Spencer and Shona's
~Bethanl Green, Bethanl~
Darcey Hargraves

​

Darcey wasn't surprised when things immediately began to go left after May's declaration. What did surprise her, however, was that the person it was coming from had been Harper. She understood why she was saying the things she was and the concerns she had. For years it seemed like her brothers and uncle made every decision for her, but sometimes Darcey felt there were good reasonings behind them. And it didn't help that her recent actions had been so wild either considering it only gave them the power to say, "I told you so." However, Darcey also believed the boys should just let her make her own decisions and learn from falling flat on her face or succeeding. Unfortunately, there was so much trauma and loss the family had gone through that it didn't seem possible until they got over it.

She didn't feel it was her place to say anything in defense of May at the moment. Darcey couldn't always come to the young woman's defense especially if she was going to survive in this family. But before she could say anything Spencer commented on Harper's statement. Of course he wasn't going to like it- especially with the two of them bickering about such things for years. He reiterated how awful a person Trevor was, Darcey silently nodding in agreement. She'd been there and seen every dirty, grimy thing he'd ever done to Laura and the family. She agreed that no one should ever willingly choose to be in his orbit, but again, she wouldn't say so just yet. Bruce - sensing the irritation in Spencer's voice and annoyance in Harper's - intervened and put a stop to the conversation.

Darcey shifted in her seat, taking a sip of her tea as May was finally able to talk. She reassured Harper she knew what she was doing and though she was happy for her, Darcey's mind was now focused on Harper. What was really going on with her, she wondered. What had she discussed with Trevor when she snuck out? What sort of things did he tell her? Lies, no doubt. Based on what she was told about the altercation between him and the boys, though, she wondered if maybe he actually fessed up to the truth? Ah, but then she'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt and Darcey Winona Hargraves was known for holding grudges; even if it wasn't her who had been wronged. Her loyalty and love for the King family were enough for her to shun those who hurt and wanted to hurt her family. "There's one more thing, actually," Darcey interjected. She told herself to just shut the fuck up and observe, but she wouldn't be herself if she had. "This isn't an easy family to be in. Decades of tense situations and arguments and matters of opinion," she said, looking everyone in the eye before settling on May. "But just know that though Harper may make excellent points and so does Spencer, it is, ultimately, up to you. And no one can fault you for doing what you think is right for you."

A part of Darcey felt that, up to now, she'd been hoping and praying for May to choose them over Trevor. But, it felt like it was for some hidden, selfish reason. It wasn't until Harper explained her point of view that it all clicked for her what she'd been feeling. Being so lost in thought Darcey hadn't noticed the phone ringing or the fact that she'd been staring at Harper. It wasn't until Shona, Spencer, and Bruce made their way back into the room that she noticed something was wrong. The moment they were informed yet another attack had occurred Darcey straightened up. She knew Bruce and Spencer were fully capable of handling whatever it was, but that didn't mean she wasn't incredibly worried. Pushing her own feelings about Bruce and their spat aside she called after him. "You be safe also, Bruce King, and make sure you and our boys come back safely." She hadn't realized she said 'our boys' until the two of them disappeared. Shaking her head at the thought of it, she turned her attention back to the room.

Or rather, back to Harper. She seemed different- zoning out the conversation between Shona and May. Just before Darcey could ask if she were alright Harper launched herself up from her chair and quickly hobbled her way to the bathroom. Darcey wasted no time following after her, suddenly conscious of the pill bottle in her pocket. "I'll check on her," she mumbled as she made her way towards where she heard the slam. On the other side of the door, Darcey tentatively knocked, not wanting to upset her further. Scoffing at herself she abandoned the idea and knocked like a regular person. "Harper? Harper, it's Darcey. Let me in," she said before lowering her voice. "Do you... Need your meds?"

Shona ( Pyroclast ) Harper ( Bellz ) May ( BasDorcha )

​

 

[Pyroclast]

The Clover Casino
~ Dublin City Centre, Dublin ~

Elena Velazco​

Elena let out a small giggle when Natasha mentioned how secretive Thomas could be, implying that he hadn’t told his friends much about their relationship. She didn’t often get to talk about Thomas with other people so it was fun to meet someone who also knew what he was like. “So secretive!” she agreed, rolling her eyes. “But I understand! I know that I move into his apartamento early, but for our relationship, we go slow. I always want to go too fast, but Tomás, he is a very careful man...it is good for me, I think.” A fond smile spread across her face as she thought about how it had been to live with him, and how the patience she had had to show him had only made her feelings for him grow deeper.

From the way Natasha responded to Elena’s question about their parents’ relationship, she could tell there was something getting in the way of her being completely happy for them. When she explained that her father had died when she was young, Elena nodded; though she hadn’t experienced the same loss, she knew what it was like to not have a father growing up. Her stepfather hadn’t been a positive influence on her and even though he had been married to her mother for many years, Elena had never considered him family. She wondered if Natasha had ever wanted her mother to enter another relationship, or if the thought scared her. She didn’t appear too fazed by it, but Elena supposed she was looking at it from an adult's perspective now, and they had also only just met so it would make sense if she didn’t want to go into it too deeply.

“I understand,” she softly replied. “I’m sorry about your father…For me, it is not weird, because I only know my father for some months. Before I find him, I think - maybe he has a girlfriend or a wife or a child? I never know him to be with someone or not. But for you and your mama, it is more important if she is with somebody. Because it is a big change, no? Significa más." Elena hoped that Natasha was understanding her well enough, but decided to send her a warm smile just in case.

"I want to know more about you," she prompted her, deciding to move the subject away from her late father. Taking a brief sip of her drink, she leaned forward and set her twinkling eyes on Natasha. She had been excited to meet Leo as Thomas' best friend, but Natasha was more special to her in a way - if their parents were officially dating, it really mattered to her that they bonded and got on well. On top of that, she also hadn't really made any female friends since arriving in Dublin. "I want to get to know you - not only as friend of Tomás or as Blake's daughter, but as just you. And the boys talk so much at the bar -" she gestured to their boyfriends who both appeared to be engaged in some deep conversation. However long it took them to get to the end of it, Elena wanted to make the most of her alone time with Natasha. "Entonces...what do you like, Natasha? What do you do?"

Interactions
Bellz Natasha, Thomas
Melanin-Gxdess Leo
Mentioned: Misty Gray Adam

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Aqua Shard
~Southwark, London~
Alexander King

​

Struggling to tell a woman how he felt was definitely something new with Alex. It was tough to figure out why he hadn't felt something like this with Savannah for sure. However, he didn't want to sit here and dwell on the differences between the two women. That was something for him to do when he was gushing in the privacy of his own home. For now, he focused on how the woman in front of him made him feel. Alex hadn't been too worried about rejection, but he'd certainly be crushed if Kerry told him off. It'd be understandable given his past behaviors but it'd still suck. He'd be hit with a huge reality check and karma would be doing her job. All the dirty shit he'd done to women, cheating on Sav, the whole of it he'd be paying for. And for a brief moment, he was okay with that.

The quiet between them was so loud and it caused Alex to shift uncomfortably in his seat. The expression - though shocked - was difficult to read. Was she disgusted? Surprised? About to turn him down? Not knowing the answer to those questions at that moment was hard. It left room for his mind to wander in ways it shouldn't. But the moment she smiled at him and sat forward those thoughts ran away. He found himself mimicking her, sitting forward in his seat to listen to what she had to say. Finally hearing that she'd felt the same made him smile- a boyish one, at that. It was such a relief to hear that she'd felt the same. When she stated that she may have wanted to make him work for it, he couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle. "Is that so? In that case, well done. You've got me right where you want me."

She reached across the table for his hand and he happily accepted it. Kerry then asked where they went from there, to which Alex playfully replied, "Your place or mine?" Shaking his head, he put out his other hand to reassure her that he was just joking. Despite the sexual attraction he felt towards her he was willing to try and keep it in his pants... For now. "Where do we go from here," he repeated in thought. Alex would be lying if he said he didn't worry about the future of their relationship. He'd tried to change once with Savannah and failed. Would things be different with Kerry? He certainly hoped so, but there was still the lingering thought in the back of his mind that it wasn't possible. There were things he needed to work through, he knew that, but it was a lot easier said than done. And with all the craziness involving his family, the Sullivans, and the impending custody battle, reverting to his old self felt very real. "Exclusivity? Meaning those poor old blokes back at the pub'll have to keep their hands to themselves."

Kerry ( Misty Gray )

The Clover Casino
~Dublin City Centre, Dublin~
Leo Sullivan

​

Leo couldn't help but chuckle as Thomas stated Natasha was like a blood-hound and that nothing could get past her. That much was certain. He'd never met someone so goddamn perceptive and though he figured it was a good skill to have, it sucked when it was used against you. He knew that Nat didn't like being lied to, but Leo didn't feel like he was doing it on purpose. Following Thomas' gaze over to the girls his eyes settled on her. It was a shitty position to be in and he'd somehow found himself there. Looking down at his feet he continued to listen to what his cousin had to say about the matter.

He nodded his head in agreement when it came to using his parents, Syd, and Roxie as comparisons. But, he felt like his circumstance was different. "It's not like I was hiding this from her," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, I needed to sit on it. Make sure I wasn't just bein' all macho and makin' a dumb decision. Can you imagine the shit I would get had I changed my mind over and over? She'd get fuckin' whiplash from the indecision. It'd stress her out and that's the last thing she needs." Leo then took a pause to hear his cousin out further, thankful that though he was so blunt, he was helping him out.

It wasn't until Thomas pointed out that there could be a possibility that he and Natasha broke up that reality settled in. Leo was perhaps the slowest guy ever, but he definitely wasn't selfish. He wasn't going to force Nat to do anything she didn't want to do or put herself in a predicament she didn't want to be in. However, it wasn't until Thomas actually said the words that everything started to sink in. As much as he didn't want to lose her and cared about her, the end of their conversation was sure to determine a lot. Thomas asked if everything he was saying made sense and Leo nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, I hear you," he said, taking a deep sigh. How the hell was he going to get through this, he wondered. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. If she kills me tonight tell Ali and Conor it was my fault." Though he meant his words as a joke, he put very little effort into making it known.

With the drinks now in front of them, he picked up his and Natasha's before nodding his head towards the table. "C'mon. Gotta go rip this band-aid off. Should probably apologize to Elena, huh? And to you, buddy. Things are about to get... Fucked." He gave his best friend a rather apologetic look as the two of them started to head back toward their girlfriends. When they arrived Leo set the two glasses down on the table before looking at Elena. "She didn't tell you anything bad about me, did she?" He joked, nodding his head towards Natasha. With a slight grin on his face, he turned toward her. "Hey, blondie," he started, putting his hand out for her to take. "Can I borrow you for a sec? Don't worry, I'll give you back to Elena." Once he had her hand in his, he softly, but firmly wrapped his fingers around hers. He then led her outside where it was warm, the only sounds being the cars driving through the streets. His back was turned towards a small corner of the front of the building, making sure he could see everything around him. He kept Natasha's hands in his to help with both the anxiety of being outside - despite the parked car with two guards across the street - and what he was about to say.

Taking a deep breath, he started speaking. "I hate that you're so perceptive, you know that? I'm sorry I've been worrying you and not just telling you what's been going on in my head. I just- I wanted to figure some shit out before I presented to you. And before you say 'You should know you can come to me about anything' I know, okay? I-... I appreciate it, even." He knew he just needed to spit it out, but that possibility- the one where this could be the end prevented him. "Nat. When I'm ready and when it's time to step up, I'm taking over." His heart dropped the moment he said it, preparing himself for the worse. "But listen to me. I know, now. I know that I can't force it on you and I won't force you to accept it and I understand that. I know that this family and the business we're in is the reason your dad died but I-... I've thought about this. And no one is making me or pressuring me. I want this."

Natasha, Thomas ( Bellz ) Elena ( Pyroclast )

Sullivan Family Home
~Dublin, Ireland~

Aliana Sullivan, Rhiannon, & Sydney

Hearing the interaction between Conor and Lucas nearly made Ali burst out laughing. It'd been a while since they had a kid in their house who was so blatant and fillpant with his words. "Who are the Morettis," Rhiannon asked. She knew from her sneaking around that they were the ones who'd been causing so much trouble to her family's lives. However, she thought her parents would at least give her more information. That is, until Aliana simply replied with, "A fucking cancer," before quickly turning to look at the younger children at the table. "Don't repeat that, please. At least, not in public." Rhiannon took the answer for what it was and didn't prod for more information; at least, not while they were supposed to be having a nice dinner with the family. Ali then echoed her husband's advice and offered up Leo's services. "Use your brother. He's on break at the moment."

Ali shook her head as Lucas explained how he convinced George to let him join the rest of his cousins at Catholic school. She immediately turned her head to Rhiannon, who had the sneakiest of grins on her face. Rhi then turned to Lucas. "Teach me how to do that later, alright?" Ali narrowed her eyes at her second eldest daughter and shook her head. "Yeah right. That may work on your father but it won't work on me." Rhiannon just gave her a mischievous grin, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "Mommy dearest, I wouldn't dare use the powers Lucas gives me for evil or on you," she paused to look at Conor. "Or you, dear father. No, I'd use them on Leo." Ali just gave her a thumbs up before turning her attention to Sydney and helping her eat.

The inevitable, despite how hard she had tried not to acknowledge it for the sake of everyone else, was about to happen. Michelle had a retort to Ali's PTO comment, thich Ali intended as a light-hearted joke. Normally she'd have dropped it, however, she wasn't about to let the younger woman smart mouth her in her own home. "Sure. But I should also reserve the right to just write a hefty check instead of baking at home all day. Especially when I'm already balancing so much," she said matter-of-factly. Between the businesses, her children's many extracurriculars, rehearsals, competitions, and taking care of her household, mundane tasks such as baking were the last thing on her list. "Besides, the last thing I need is judgment from a group of moms who knit all day and gossip about children that don't belong to them." Rhiannon rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "I told you it was fine, mom," she said, turning to address the table. "She overheard a few talking about the sparkly dresses I wear when I skate," she explained. "And mom decided to let them have an earful," Ali responded, saying she was sure they'll never step out of line again before drinking from her margarita glass.

For a moment Ali drowned out the other conversation happening at the table, looking down at her plate. She felt tense- more so than she had before. Maybe it was the air around them and the issues she and Michelle were having. Whatever it was Ali didn't like it. Her chest felt a bit heavy and she found herself softly pressing her hand against her chest. It wasn't another heart attack, something she now knew how to detect. Was it anxiety, maybe? About the impending explosion that was sure to happen? Definitely. And it wasn't until Michelle began to explain what was wrong with her, followed by her glancing at Aliana that things had. Ali immediately frowned at her. But, again, because she was trying not to blow up during this nice, family dinner, she bit her tongue and started cutting at her steak. However, the more she thought about it the more pissed off she found herself. "Well, when you make shitty apologies it's hard for people to accept them. Should think about what comes out of your mouth, first. Remember that, kids." She thought she had mumbled it to herself, but she had actually said it loud enough for them all to hear. Once she realized it, she raised her fingers to her lips. Not out of regret for the words, but because she had said them in front of everyone.

Michelle + kids ( BasDorcha ) Conor, Lucas ( Misty Gray )

​

 

[Misty Gray]

Caspian's Clinic
~ Holborn, London ~

Spencer King​

Spencer could at least be glad that Erik had been able to get through the evening without being hurt. Not because Gabriel Moretti would demand to know why, but because Spencer had grown to like Erik and considered him a friend. Given the recent revelation about Billy and Erik being romantically involved, he felt even more protective over Erik's well-being. It was the Moretti and Sullivan agreement that had protected Erik, but Spencer was just glad the man was safe, regardless of the reason for it.

Spencer listened with intent as Jeremy spoke about who had been present from the Sullivans. It wasn't a surprise to him that Adam was there, given his position in the mob and that Syd was sitting in Conor's place whilst the latter still recovered. Having met Adam back when business between the Kings and Sullivans was amicable, Spencer knew enough about the man to know what he was capable of and therefore how much danger Jeremy and the others would have been in. It was a little surprising, but mostly a relief, that the four had all made it out of the restaurant alive. As for Emery, he wasn't exactly surprised that she had been present, more that her family had allowed her to be. The mouthy woman had always been fun to be around, until the time came when Alex split up with Savannah and the Irish were no longer pleasant to be around at all. Still, a strange part had expected Emery would be respectful enough to stay out of it given how her mother and sister supposedly felt about the whole thing; that they didn't want a war and violence. "Figured Adam would have been involved," he grumbled, having been told some of the others present remained masked.

When his friend went on to point it the fight wasn't over and the Sullivans were gunning for him and Bruce, Spencer scoffed the idea. "Maybe they should have made more effort to fucking find me, instead of hurtin' you an' Billy," he commented, a venom in his tone. Whilst he wouldn't have wanted Bruce injured in their place, he at least hated knowing Billy, Jeremy and Christian had all been injured whilst he himself had got through the evening unharmed. "But they're not still coming after you or Billy for Aidan's death?" he asked for clarity, wanting to be sure they didn't need to keeping worrying that Billy could be attacked again for killing Aidan.

Before he could thank Jeremy for the information, the man continued to speak, telling them he'd handed Christian his gun and he'd taken the blame for killing Aidan. "And you're still alive, how?" he asked, more out of surprise than anything. He understood in a way that the Sullivans might have been hesitant to kill a blood relative of the Kings, but surely killing Jeremy would have been easier for them. "Did Christian use the gun? Did he do anything?" Christian curiously asked. He trusted the former detective given the man's track record of loyalty and providing them with information they'd asked for, but he did often wonder how far out of his comfort zone the man was willing to go. Did he have the guts to shoot the enemy and to physically fight for the Kings? Seeing how out of it Jeremy appeared, Spencer let out a sigh. "Maybe you should take it easy, mate. You've told us plenty," he suggested out of concern for his friend.

Erik went on to confirm that Reina had been present at the attack too, elaborating to point out that the Biancardis were clearly working together. Considering what Spencer knew about the Biancardis, it was interesting to hear they seemed to have picked a side when he'd otherwise been under the impression the family had previously acted as mediators between the Morettis and Sullivans. Both Erik and Jeremy made sure to drive home the point that things weren't over, that the Sullivans weren't happy and were out for blood. Apparently they were out for Spencer's and Bruce's. The fact Billy had been brutally injured, along with Jeremy and Christian, apparently wasn't enough blood drawn for the Irish.

When Caspian approached to tend to Jeremy, Spencer took the opportunity to get up from his seat and excuse himself. "Won't be a minute. Left something in the car," he mumbled to those around him. Once outside, Spencer opened the car and reached inside the door for his box of cigarettes. After locking up the vehicle, he lit up a cigarette and wasting no time in taking a long drag, forcing himself to suppress a cough as he breathed out again. He'd been told not to smoke whilst his broken rib still healed, but at times, it was the only thing that was going to stop him from breaking something or punching someone.

The fact he was smoking likely contradicted his need to step outside to get some air, but either way, he'd had to remove himself from the room for a time. Seeing how messed up his brother was only intensified the guilt he'd already been feeling for Billy killing Aidan to begin with. Spencer blamed himself and he knew Bruce also directed the responsibility his way, so it wouldn't surprise him if Billy, Jeremy, and anyone else blamed him for it too. Harper had already expressed her disdain towards him, even before they received word of the attack tonight, so no doubt she'd use it for further fuel to act out against those in her family who had always been there for her. Spencer knew his inability to kill Conor and to do so cleanly was the reason for the evening's attack; the reason Billy was in such a mess now. He'd be damned if his failure to get rid of Trevor resulted in Harper being hurt too. The way he was feeling, part of him hoped Trevor would refuse to leave so he could kill the man and be done with him for good.

A sudden fit of coughing dragged Spencer out of his deep thoughts as the sudden convulsing action caused a sharp pain in his still healing ribcage. Pressing his hand against his chest as the coughs subsided, he took a series of controlled breaths to regain composure. He used his sleeve to dry his watering eyes, though he wasn't convinced it was just the coughing responsible for that. After clearing his throat, he nonchalantly put the cigarette back in his mouth and still took another, albeit careful, drag of it.

After taking a little time to compose himself, Spencer returned inside, for a moment observing who Caspian was currently tending to before sitting back down with Bruce and Erik. "Not a word to my wife," he remarked, aware the others would be able to smell he'd been smoking. It wasn't the first time he'd smoked since his injuries. He sat back in his seat, looking to Bruce to see if the man had anything to say with regards to the Sullivans' attack and their further warnings.

Pyroclast (Bruce)
BasDorcha (Jeremy)
Melanin-Gxdess (Erik)

Caspian's Clinic
~ Holborn, London ~

Christian Brooks​

Christian had been helped to one of the treatment beds by Erik, on Caspian's instruction. As he removed his shirt, he'd lost any concern for getting blood on it considering it was already soaked by now. Although he'd been firearms trained when he joined the police force, his position dictated that the chance of him ever needing to use a gun had been practically zero. In reality it had proven correct, as he'd never been in a situation where he needed to use a gun. Most of his cases involved arriving on murder scenes where danger of being attacked by an assailant was already long gone. This evening had been the first time he'd fired a gun outside of training, but he found himself grateful for what he'd learned in his former profession. His only regret was that he hadn't had an opportunity to shoot the Irish before they'd hurt Billy.

Despite the pain and effects of blood loss, Christian wasn't at all disturbed by the sight of the gunshot wound in his bleeding arm. He'd seen far worse, albeit never on his own body. When Erik followed Caspian's instruction and applied pressure to the wound, Christian gritted his teeth as he tried to suck up the increased pain. When the medic asked if they knew their blood type, Christian quickly nodded his head. "It's O," he confirmed back to the man. Caspian confirmed the bullet had gone straight through, to which Christian lightly nodded. "That's good. I'll just hang out here," he groggily confirmed, knowing he didn't have much choice in the matter. As far as his Sunday evenings went, he supposed this one was of the more interesting ones. What briefly snapped him out of his tired state was the sudden stinging pain brought on when Caspian put the alcohol-soaked rag over his arm. "Jeez... I must've pissed you off," he joked.

Despite his joke, Christian was soon brought back down as he watched Billy being tended to. Whilst he'd gone on to hear Caspian tell Bruce and Spencer that the younger man would be alright, it didn't negate the fact he'd been severely hurt and could have been killed. If there was still a part of Christian that had felt like he was detached from the Kings' war with the Irish, it had been removed tonight. He'd been loyal to the Kings for years and now he felt personally involved in their fight with the Irish since the moment they stepped foot in the restaurant. Granted, he'd accidentally crossed them years ago without them realising, and expected if they had known, he'd have been killed back then. But now, anything he would do against the Sullivans would be fully intentional.

When Bruce approached him, he looked up to the man and nodded as he praised him for getting out of there before the cops showed up. He knew Kane had a part in speeding up that process, but he figured it went without saying as he'd been pushing for Billy to get up. The last thing anyone needed was the cops showing up, and the last thing he needed was any of his former colleagues expecting they'd be able to pressure him for information. "I will do," he confirmed when Bruce told him to call for him if he needed anything. He was momentarily lost for words when the King Boss told him he was a good lad. It only drove home further the fact he was now a trusted and respected part of the business, having come a long way since the beginning of their alliance, when Christian was working for the Kings because he had no choice. Despite the dire circumstances, he appreciated Bruce's approval. "Thank you. Anything for you lads," he assured him with a small smile.

Pyroclast (Billy, Bruce)
Melanin-Gxdess (Caspian)

 

[BasDorcha]

Escape Vehicle
London
Tommy Thatcher​

Tom held the wound in his right arm, applying steady pressure as they closed up the van and made quick work of leaving the scene of the crime. Mentally, he wondered of he had talked to much, this is now how he wanted his sister to find out he wasn’t just doing mechanic work anymore. Hell, he didn’t even know his sister knew these people, if he did would he still have taken the job? Tom, the normally decisive and confident man, was feeling confused. He threw his guns down, followed shortly by Edwards, as he considered how he needed to handle this and telling his sister – if he told her.

When Adam mentioned patching him up, Tom started prepping his upper arm – if Edwards couldn’t do it, he could. Instead, the man got about it and made quick work of it, letting the other soldier dig in for the bullet without so much as a grunt from Tom. The man had a very high pain tolerance, and while digging for the bullet hurt, it was not enough to made him scream and cry like a child. He held his arm outward while it was wrapped and taped. Slapping it like a fresh tattoo when he was done, he pulled his blood sleeve back over it, looking around the vehicle in silence. When Ed spoke up, talking about the original attack, Tom shrugged. “I mean, I’m sure the Boss had a good reason for it and s’all, but I think these Cockney’s claimed they were retaliating against something the Sullivan’s did. At least that’s what that bloke who shot me said. Shit like this, its deep, the reason shit like this started is probably way past our pay grade.” Tom grinned like a kid, laughing at his joke as if they were a normal nine to five worker.

“What I want to know is who actually did it, I’d put my money on the big’un. He’d have the strength to pierce deep enough to kill a man in one strike. I don’t think that other one could – though more surprising things have happened.” Tom scratched his head, reconsidering the man who whimpered before him and begged not to hurt his friends. “If he did do it, I’d bet my life it wasn’t intentional. He don’t seem to have the heart for it.” Looking out the windows, he wondered if they were far from the safe house – and just how safe a house in London could be for a group of Irish sent to disrupt an equally powerful family.

Mentions Misty Gray - Adam, Dermot, Emery
BloodLightning27 - Edwards
Melanin-Gxdess - Reina

 

[BasDorcha]

Sullivan Family Home
~Dublin, Ireland~
Michelle Romano, Laura and Michael
​

Michelle had listened along to the conversations of the table half-heartedly and was forcing down bites of potatoes when Aliana did exactly what she was nice enough not to do – speak her venom and instigate in front of the children. Michelle’s eyes lowered to a narrow slit, her hand gripping her fork tightly to the point that her knuckles turned white. She took a deep breath and slowly stood, setting down her utensil. She tried her best to make her voice even, to speak calmly, but it failed miserably as her voice came out sounding just like Conor’s when he was angry but trying not to explode.

“At least I’m polite enough not to make rude comments in front of children. Rudeness and ugly comments towards others like that are not something I want my kids learning. If you’ll excuse me…” Michelle pushed her chair in and walked out of the dinning room, headed for the living room a good distance away so that when she screamed her frustration out lout in the closed door of the room, it would not sound so loud by the time it reached them. Suddenly, Michelle felt very much like a young girl, emotions raging and out of sorts, and not at all like the mature, older woman she was. She stood pacing in the room, hands pushed through her hair and cupping the back of her head as she tried to stop a looming outburst of anxiety.

Where did Aliana get off saying her apology wasn’t good enough? At least she apologized! It wasn’t Aliana’s right to tell her how to feel, regardless of whether she felt it was right or wrong. Aliana was fully entitled to her emotions; they were one thing that no one could take from her. Unlike her husband, who apparently took the last of her sanity. Picking up a pillow of the couch, she squeezed it between her hands, trying to calm down – it felt like the last two years of pent-up anger and sadness were boiling to the surface. With any luck, they would leave her be to calm down, but she didn’t imagine that’s what would happen. Instead, she waited for the moment her Dad would burst in and tell her that Aliana was more important to him then Michelle was, and that if she couldn’t let go of the way she was feeling, she could leave.

Michelle didn’t realize it, but tears were rolling down her cheeks as she finally got fed up with the stupid pillow and spun, throwing it at the door in an attempt to discharge some of the tenseness in her body, not paying attention to whether the door had been opened or not due to her lids being closed. At the same moment, a sob escaped her lips, soft but enough to fill the room.

***​

As his mother left the room, Michael looked embarrassedly at his plate. He knew things had been rough for his mom, and that she had a lot of unexpressed anger and sadness over everything that had happened - he hadn't ’seen her cry once yet. He smooshed around his food now, unsure if he should go to her, or if this was one of those times where she’d rather be alone. Laura looked to him, oblivious to there being an issue. “Why is she mad? What was rude? Is she going to leave us here now?” Michael felt a pang of hurt for his mother as he listened to Laura. With more snap to his voice then he meant to have, he hushed his sister, “Stop it Laura, you know the reason mom had to leave us with dad was because she was moving everything for us. Finish your dinner quietly please if you can’t be nice.”

Laura rolled her eyes at her brother, stabbing a piece of steak and grinning back with confidence in her ability to best her brothers threats. “Make me.” The sing-song voice irked Michael, but he did not respond, deciding it would be better to stay here and keep an eye on his sister and to let the adults handle any situation with his mother – after all it was his grandma and grandpa. Surely they understood adult things better then him.

Mentions Misty Gray - Conor/Lucas
Melanin-Gxdess - Aliana/Rhi/Syd

 

[Pyroclast]

Caspian's Place
~ London ~

Bruce and Billy King
​

It turned out, not unsurprisingly, that unbuttoning a shirt with one's non-dominant hand whilst shaken and weakened by blood loss, and peeling off a blood-soaked sleeve over a severely injured shoulder, chest and arm, was no easy feat. It took so much concentration that Billy lost track of what Caspian was doing as he bustled between the three injured men. By the time his shirt was off, Billy was so light-headed that he had to lie back down, and before long he had been wrapped in a silver foil sheet, with some sort of IV inserted into his vein. Despite the intense discomfort and pain he was in, his eyes would occasionally catch Erik's as the man assisted Caspian, and the sight of him alone was enough to make him feel mildly better. He was sure that if Erik wasn't there, he would feel far more afraid. Unfortunately, as much as he would have loved to have had his boyfriend at his side throughout the whole process, Billy wasn't out to either Christian or Caspian, and so wasn't about to complicate an already distressing situation.

"Christian," he murmured drowsily, his head rolled to one side to see his friend. It was awful to see him bleeding and in pain for something he had had no involvement in. "How's it goin'? I'm sorry...that you got caught up in this. They shouldn't have hurt ya'...you ain't had nothin' to do with it. I'm s...I'm sorry."

He had been about to drift off when an odd poking sensation in his arm caused him to look up. He found himself gazing at Caspian, who was sitting at his side with a look of deep focus on his face as he set about extracting the bullet from his arm. "Ohh...that don't look good, Cas," he remarked, his speech slurring slightly. Though he was unable to tear his eyes away from the mess, he didn't even realise at first that the pain had decreased considerably. When he eventually did, his gaze then shifted to Caspian and a boyish grin spread across his face. Having the hands of such a handsome man on his half-naked body would surely have made him deeply uncomfortable in another context, but Billy was feeling far too good to worry about it now. "You cheeky fucker...you put me on somethin', didn't you?" he slurred through a smile, casting a sultry gaze on the medic. "You put me on the bad drug..."

When the door opened, Billy didn't even notice, instead letting his head roll back as the novel euphoric sensation spread throughout his body. When he felt someone grab his uninjured shoulder, he looked up again and this time it was his eldest brother at his side, a grave expression etched on his face. Spencer assured him that he would be okay and that they wouldn't let anything happen to him, to which Billy smiled and said simply, "Okay..."

Bruce then came over to express a similar sentiment, gently sweeping a hand through Billy's hair, which sent an unexpected yet pleasant tingle across his scalp. His uncle instructed him to follow Caspian's command, which put a smirk on Billy's face. "I'll do anythin' he says," he assured him as the man kissed him on the head. He let out a small giggle, though wasn't really sure why, and when his uncle and brother had both left, Billy looked back over to the medic and continued to watch him work.

* * * * * * * * * *​

Whilst he understood that Caspian had had to prioritise treating Christian and Billy, Bruce was concerned that Jeremy would need attention soon. He was happy to watch over him for the time being, but from the look of the beating the man had taken, he wouldn’t be surprised if Jeremy was suffering some internal bleeding, and that was something only their medic was equipped to handle.

Until Jeremy could be seen to, Bruce, Spencer and Erik sat with him and listened as he recounted the attack. His voice was hoarse, clearly having been choked for a prolonged time, but Bruce was able to make out what he was telling them. As he listened, he made a mental note of the three men and one woman unidentified, along with Adam and Emery. That was a useful start. Jeremy then let them know that, since it was payback for Conor’s attack and Aidan’s murder, Bruce and Spencer were still being hunted by the Sullivans.

Bruce was grateful to hear that Jeremy’s confession alongside Billy’s had managed to instil enough doubt and hesitation in the Sullivans to buy them enough time to escape with their lives. The longer he listened to Jeremy, the more he realised how close they had come to being killed. He didn’t quite understand why the Sullivans had hesitated to kill the lot of them, but for now, he was just relieved. Spencer asked for assurance that Jeremy and Billy were no longer targets, which Bruce hoped was true as well - especially since their injuries would now make them more vulnerable.

He could see Jeremy struggling to go on and Bruce reached out to support him. Spencer picked up on it, too, and encouraged the man to rest. What Bruce didn’t want was to let the man pass out, since there was a chance he might be concussed. “Yeah, you rest your voice, mate,” he assured him, standing up slightly to help Jeremy lean against the wall again. “Stay awake for me, alright? You did a good job tonight, all you need to do now is stay awake a bit longer, then our medic will see ya’ - tend to that ugly face of yours.”

When Erik chimed in with more details, Bruce signalled to Jeremy to listen to him in hopes that having something to concentrate on would help prevent him from passing out. Erik clarified that the woman wasn’t actually a Sullivan but rather an affiliate from the Biancardi family, Reina. After the man made his assumptions about what the Sullivans wanted from them, Bruce glanced over to Billy and Christian, both of whom were hooked up to various drips. “Well, that’s blood drawn,” he muttered, and in his head he wondered how they might manage to settle the score before the war got even worse.

Caspian then came over to examine Jeremy, prompting Bruce to get to his feet. “He’s all yours,” he said to the medic. Spencer also got up and announced that he needed to get something from his car that he had forgotten. Bruce wasn’t sure what he could be referring to, but he had sensed that his eldest nephew was feeling agitated and so even if he was just making an excuse to get some air, Bruce wasn’t going to stand in his way.

With Jeremy being treated, Bruce beckoned Erik to stand with him out of earshot of everyone in the room. “I’ve gotta make some calls tonight, let Harper and Alex know what’s goin’ on,” he told him, keeping his voice down. “So I need you to take Billy home tonight and stay with him, take care of him for me. You can call me or page me any hour of the night, but he’ll appreciate havin’ you nearby. Will ya’ do that for me?” Of course Bruce had assumed that Erik was planning on going home with him anyway, but he wanted to make it clear that he had no issues with them spending the night together in case either of them had any reservations about contacting him from each other’s homes.

"Spencer?" Billy called out weakly. Bruce looked over to where his youngest nephew was lying, seeing the morphine drip and the blood bag both positioned next to his cot. He nudged Spencer lightly and said, "Go see what he wants, and let me know, yeah?" Bruce then turned back to Erik and folded him arms. "Is there anythin' else you wanna tell me, Erik? Anythin' you saw, or remember?" Even though the account had seemed thorough enough for now, he wanted to keep the man talking to him. He had noticed that Erik seemed somewhat shaken by the whole event, and having suffered with survivor's guilt himself time and time again - from the deaths of his wife and children to the attack on the Mercury nightclub - he wanted to make sure Erik could talk to him if he wanted. "Are you sure you're okay, son? If there's somewhere you wanna talk, anythin' you wanna get off your chest, I just want you to know I'm 'ere for ya'."

* * * * * * * * * *​

With a drowsy smile, Billy looked up at his brother. "Spence...I don't think we should do this anymore," he told him, each word stitched together in one slurred mess. "I don't wanna retaliate this time...they'll just come back and do it again, and again, and again, and again...right?" His smile left him, but he held his eyes on Spencer, a blank expression on his face. "I have holes in my arm, look...coulda' been a lot worse, though, couldn't it? Maybe they kill one of us next time. I thought they were gonna kill me this time, Spence...I think he meant to." His gaze drifted to the wall, eyes narrowed in thought as if trying to remember how the events had transpired - but as soon as he tried, he forgot what he was supposed to be thinking about. It was only when Spencer caught his eye again that he was reminded of what he really wanted to say.

"Somethin' I need to tell ya'," he admitted, reaching up with his uninjured arm to grab onto his brother's sleeve in an attempt to pull him closer. "I...offered you and Uncle Bruce in exchange for the others." He let go of Spencer and instead raised the hand to cover his mouth, a helpless, misplaced laugh escaping him. "Sorry, I'm a little bit high right now," he tried to excuse himself. "But I'm sorry...I didn't mean to put you in danger. I love you." He reached up again and ended up holding Spencer's hand. "You're my brother and I don't want to ever hurt you but you should watch..." He trailed off suddenly as a thought popped into his head, still loosely holding Spencer's hand. "You won't let 'em hurt you, will ya'? Or Shona. Or little Eddie. Or Harper. Or Alex...I don't know what they wanna do with ya', but I don't want more of this shit.

"And don't let Jeremy out neither, he's a fuckin' liar," he laughed. "I told 'em it was me that killed Aidan, and Jeremy said I was lyin' - that I was some…wet fuckin'...paper bag. He said he'd done it and it almost got us both killed. He's a fuckin' liar and a fuckin' bitch." Unable to access his true emotion beneath the layer of pure euphoria flowing through his veins, Billy could only laugh at the memory of what Jeremy had done.

Interactions
Misty Gray Christian, Spencer
BasDorcha Jeremy
Melanin-Gxdess Caspian, Erik

 

[Bellz]

Lorelei Costello
Her Place
~ Dublin ~​

Lorelei was all smiles, her cheeks sore from how long she had been doing so. She laughed as Benjie mentioned that his dad would love anything she could throw together after having Benjie's cooking and then prison food for 20 years. He backtracked on his words, making sure to correct himself in hopes of not offending her by the phrase throw together. He then stated that he loved her cooking and Lorelei blushed, "I know what you meant love, and hey, don't be too hard on your own cooking, you've managed to not give me food poisoning, I couldn't say the same for other men I've been with." She teased sweetly before he teased her for being corny. "Hey!! It's hard not to sound corny nowadays when almost every sort of romantic thing that could be said is on TV or in the movies, pop culture has ruined us, I swear to you. If I would have said that to you in 1835, it would have blown your top hat off." Lorelei chuckled, her laughter fading as he gently assured her that what she said was true.

Biting her lower lip in an attempt to hide her sheepish smile, Lorelei briefly glanced down at her lap as her cheeks burned. The moment felt like sudden whiplash, one minute she wasn't sure where they stood and the next they had declared their love for each other so openly. It was the best kind of whiplash in the entire world. The heaviness of the silence between them dawned on her and when she looked back up she saw Benjie staring at her with a look in his eye she hadn't seen from him before. Lorelei's heart leaped in her chest about to break the silence in an attempt to shatter the familiar tension between them when he beat her to the punch.

He brought up dinner and Lorelei remember that she hadn't eaten yet. She had plans to have dinner with her parents which she had canceled due to her mood and when Benjie arrived she had just stood to go look for something to eat in her fridge. Lorelei pondered his suggestions before catching the slip-up in his words. He, of course, corrected himself, doing his best not to pressure her into anything, which made Lorelei smile knowingly. Always the gentleman. "I'd like it if you...spent the night." She murmured lightly, biting her lip nervously, hoping that was what he wanted despite him correcting himself before.

"As for dinner, I haven't eaten quite yet. Eating out might be the only option we have, I've yet to run to the market this week so there are only a few things in my fridge and almost nothing in my cabinets." Lorelei shook her head, "Been uncharacteristically unmotivated to do much this week, but no need to worry." The redhead had something else on her mind soon after she said that. It seemed to be the elephant in the room, with Benjie not wanting to suggest it for fear of offending her and Lorelei not sure what he wanted. But Lorelei wouldn't be her bold self if she didn't at least try to gauge what he wanted to do.

"You know...I'm not incredibly hungry at the moment. I kind of need to...work up an appetite." She placed both of her hands on his cheeks, her own colored bright red as she smiled suggestively. "Should I be corny and say we could skip dinner for now and go right to dessert?"
with: Benjie Misty Gray

 

[Bellz]

Natasha McCarthy
Thomas Porter
The Clover Casino
- Dublin City Center, Dublin -​

Natasha listened as Elena explained that Thomas and she were taking their relationship slow, more due to Thomas being a careful man. The blonde was wondering if they were talking about the same person for a moment, Thomas used to be pretty reckless as a kid more responsible than Leo, of course, but he had his moments. Natasha had seen just how much his time in the service had changed him but she didn't talk to him as much as she used to.

Nat wondered if her apprehensiveness was showing in the way she talked about their parents being together. While Jackson had been dead for the majority of her life now, Nat still felt deep sorrow and pain when having to tell other people about him. In this instance, it was especially painful due to the fact that the other person's parent was also involved in her mother's new relationship. Any sort of apprehension and insecurity seemed to fly under the radar because Elena carried on the subject without dwelling too much on Nat's feelings. "It's okay, it happened a long time ago." She murmured, a response she had used many times before.

It was interesting to hear from her what she thought about Adam. A small smile grew on Nat's face as Elena mentioned thinking that maybe he had a girlfriend, a wife, or a child. It was strange, to hear her perspective because, in Nat's family and friend group, everyone knew that Adam was not a family man. That didn't mean he was terrible with kids or anything or even girlfriends, it just meant that he was very much business-oriented.

"It's definitely a big change for her, yea. I think...she needs it though. My mom has a lot of love to give and a big heart. Your dad and she have been flirting for god know how long, so it wasn't like I didn't see it coming." Nat said with a small smile as she shook her head. Elena went on to change the subject off Nat's late father completely, which the blonde was thankful for.

She wanted to know more about her, more than just Thomas's friend and more than just her mother's daughter, but just her. Nat smiled and laughed sweetly, "Ah, well it feels good to not have those labels on me. Those labels alone tend to blur lines between who people think I am and who I actually am." She said, though she wasn't willing to go further into what she meant by that. Luckily, Elena carried on the conversation asking her what she liked and what she did.

"What do I like? Well, that's a lot to cover in one conversation. My list of what I don't like is a lot shorter than what I like, I'll tell you that right now. But I guess if I had to choose some off that long list, one of my favorite colors is yellow, my birthday is May 4th, uhhhh I'm a big animal person and have tried to become a vegetarian several times and failed miserably." Nat felt like she was rambling as she shook her head, "That was a lot of information in one second, sorry. But what I do...uh...I'm kind of in-between things right now, I do babysitting on the side but I have been going to school on and off. Kind of at a crossroads as to what to do with my life."
with: Elena Pyroclast

***
Thomas Porter
~ currently at table with Elena ~​

While Thomas understood that Leo needed to sit on his decision and mull it over for himself, he also knew that it would look like he was keeping something from Natasha in her mind. Women were all about trust, as they should be because a relationship would only live as long as the trust continued between a couple. But Thomas confirmed that what he was saying made sense to his cousin, because he didn't want Leo to be surprised when Natasha did inevitably get upset with him. If it wasn't today, it would surely be another day.

Thomas let out a low laugh, "I'll be sure to let them know though I'm sure they'll connect the dots long before I have the chance to say anything." He teased. Once all the drinks were in front of them, Leo seemed ready to head over to talk to Nat, and Thomas look at Elena, who seemed overjoyed to talk with her. "I haven't seen her so happy in a while, so you owe me big, man." Thomas murmured, turning his head to look at Leo for a moment before following the man over to the table.

Nat had just been ready to ask Elena about herself when she saw Leo and Thomas approaching from the corner of her eye. Leo asked if Elena she said anything bad about him and Nat raised a brow, "Well, as long as you don't give me something bad to talk about you shouldn't have to worry, right?" She asked before Leo handed her the drink he'd grabbed for her. Once it was in her hand, he quickly offered his free one out to her, calling her blondie and asking if he could borrow her for a moment. Nat stared at his hand for a long moment before taking it, "Sure." Nat looked to Elena with a smile before saying, "I'll be back, promise." She murmured before taking a long look at Thomas to see if there was any indication his face could give her about what Leo wanted to talk about. But, annoyingly, his face was unreadable as he took a seat next to Elena, handing her drink to her. "Don't worry, I'll keep her company...I'm sure I'm not as chatty as Nat but I can hold up a conversation for a little bit." Thomas teased, unable to meet Nat's eyes even though she was trying to force him to meet them. "Run along you two." He said, waving his hand to shoo them away.
was with: Leo Melanin-Gxdess
is now with: Elena Pyroclast

***
Natasha McCarthy
~Outside The Clover Casino ~​

Nat set her to drink back down on the table before letting Leo pull her towards the exit. The air was warm compared to the air-conditioned casino. The area around them was nearly silent compared to the music and chatter they had just been engrossed in. Leo's hand was firmly holding hers despite him making himself comfortable leaning against the building. Nat glanced around them for a moment before watching him toy with her fingers, anxiety practically radiating off of him.

Despite her being eager to pull whatever it was he needed to say out of him before, she was silent, wanting him to gather his thoughts and speak first without her going off without cause. He started by saying that he hated that she was so perceptive, which caused her to smirk slightly. Leo then went on to say that he was sorry that he hadn't told her what was going on in his head and that's when Nat started to feel anxious too. She hadn't been able to pinpoint exactly what he was hiding but her mind wanted her to believe the worst was coming.

He rambled on and Nat was starting to get impatient, shifting from foot to foot as he continued to play with her hand nervously. When it all finally came out, however, his words sounded so final that Nat couldn't formulate a cohesive thought. Her lower lip trembled slightly and she bit down on it to keep it from moving any further, feeling of anger and betrayal setting in all at once. His words were gentle and he was trying not to hurt her but they hurt all the same. Nat shook her head and pulled her hand away from his. "All I'm hearing is what you want, Leo. Do you know that? All you are saying is that you've thought about this. I know I might not be the most...level-headed person when it comes to discussing this topic but Jesus Christ! Could you think about us for a moment?!" She tried not to shout, knowing that people could walk out at any moment. That was attention she didn't want or need at that moment.

"I don't know what it is you want from me? I don't know if this relationship is some sort of... short-term thing for you. But...I gave everything to you. And now you're telling me that you made a decision to take over some mantle that has destroyed countless lives including my own!" Nat shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"You're right, you can't force it on me and you can't force me to accept it. I'm not going to stand by and watch you get killed, Leo. That's not fair. You think you have this all figured out and you do, but what you have figured out is a future without me and if that's what you want, truly...then who am I to deny you of something that might make you happier than I can make you. Maybe...maybe we are done here."
with: Leo Melanin-Gxdess

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

The Clover Casino
~Dublin City Centre, Dublin~
Leo Sullivan

​

Leo wasn't sure what Natasha was going to say next. So when she mentioned that he didn't think about them and their relationship, he was taken off-guard. Leo had never been the type of person who was selfish on purpose. Standing in front of Natasha, however, and listening to the anger and hurt in her voice made him realize that's exactly how he was coming off. A selfish prick who only thought of himself. She then took her hands from his and for a moment he just stared at where her hand had been. It wasn't just the anxiety of their conversation that he had held it, but because of where they were. No longer having that comfort, Leo had to figure out what to do with his hands and just tapped his fingers along the side of his leg.

It wasn't until she mentioned their relationship and what he wanted out of it that he got offended, frowning at her. "Short term? That was never even an option, Natasha, and you know it. You know that I am madly in love with you and here for the long run. If I weren't I wouldn't care so much about how you feel or think about me." He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice, knowing she probably doubted him because of his decision- not because she thought he didn't love her. It was an intense conversation which meant he needed to keep himself calm and let her express her emotions. It wasn't easy hearing this, he figured, and she was more than entitled to react this way.

The moment he saw the tears in her eyes he stepped forward and, if allowed, placed his hands on her cheeks. "Listen to me okay," he started, using his thumbs to wipe away any stray tears. "For years I've had to sit by and watch my family get attacked over and over and over for shit that happened when they weren't even involved. For fuckssake, I'm named after someone I never met because they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said in reference to his namesake and Uncle, Leonard. "Since I was a kid I've had to worry about whether or not my mom would come back to me alive. Whether or not the last time I saw my dad was when he left the house. And when I got older, old enough to protect the people closest to me I-," he paused and closed his eyes, both attacks on his parents flashing through his mind. The blood. The screaming. The way he felt. All of came rushing back to him and his voice cracked. "I couldn't- I couldn't protect them." Leo opened his eyes again looking down at her. "Do you understand what would happen to me if something happened to you? I'd never be the same."

For years Leo had always taken on the 'protector' role. He'd been that way since he was a kid. Though Aliana would always tell him he didn't have to protect everyone it never really stuck with him. Ali often blamed herself for it- letting him see her whenever she had been attacked or explaining things about the family business too soon. Whatever the case it definitely instilled in him something that she wasn't able to get rid of or even deter. He always placed so much responsibility on himself but she always figured it was because he often felt helpless - like he couldn't do anything but stand by and watch. Over the years she thought that way of thinking would wear on him but it only seemed to continue building him up.

"Even if I were to walk away from all this," he continued, "I still carry the Sullivan name. If someone wanted to hurt my parents bad enough they'd hunt me down anyway. They could hurt us and we wouldn't even see them coming, but this? I take over and I can make sure we're safe. That our family is safe. Things won't be this way, Nat, I promise you. I'll be able to protect everyone and we'll never have to go through any of this shit again, so, please. I'm not asking you to stay or to give up the life you envisioned. I'm asking you to trust me. If you don't then that's okay- I'm not- I won't hold it against you or press you or anything but please just-," he cut himself off, taking another shaky breath and kissing her forehead. "Trust and believe in me enough to know that I'll come home to you every night."

Natasha( Bellz )

 

[Misty Gray]

Caspian's Clinic
~ Holborn, London ~

Spencer King​

Spencer heard the weak sound of Billy calling him but it wasn't until Bruce nudged him that it registered properly with him and he snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, of course," he firmly nodded to Bruce when the older man told him to see what the younger King wanted. With his hands in his front trouser pockets, Spencer walk over to his brother before stopping alongside the cot he was resting on. Spencer flashed a light smile upon seeing Billy's drowsy one. When his brother spoke, his first words where that they shouldn't do this anymore. Spencer pulled his hands out of his pockets, briefly running the fingers of his right hand through his hair. Billy went on, and as expected, he elaborated to say he didn't want them to retaliate against the Sullivans this time. The younger man highlighted that the enemy would come back again and again, highlighting the likely endless cycle of violence.

"They hurt you, Billy," Spencer firmly pointed out. What kind of brother would he be if he didn't stand up for and honour Billy? How could he let the Sullivans get away with hurting his youngest brother and his best friend? Spencer fell silent as Billy went on to point out the bullet wounds in his arm and how his injuries could have been much worse. The younger man thought the Sullivans were going to kill him and in all honesty, Spencer was surprised that they hadn't. For a moment, Billy drifted out of the conversation in his groggy state, but he soon focused again and looked back at Spencer.

When Billy grabbed his sleeve to pull him closer, Spencer looked quizzically at him whilst leaning in to make it easier for him. He listened as he said he'd offered up him and Bruce in exchange for the others. Billy and Christian weren't soldiers, and it wasn't Erik's war to be dragged into, so under the circumstances, Spencer couldn't judge his brother for what he'd done. The Sullivans attacked because of him and Bruce, so he wouldn't begrudge being hurt or killed if it meant sparing those who hadn't been calling the shots to begin with. Before he could reply, Billy let out an odd laugh and went on to explain that he was high, "Yeah, I figured that," he flatly replied. "Listen, you don't have to explain yourself. I'm the one who put you in danger, remember, so it's only fair that I should've taken the brunt of their retaliation.

"I love you too, Billy," he assured his brother, gripping his hand in return. He held his tongue as he allowed him to continue sharing what was on his mind. As Billy loosened his hold, Spencer did the same. He silently shook his head as he told him not to let the enemies hurt him, nor Shona, Eddie, and their other siblings. "They ain't going anywhere near any of 'em," Spencer was quick to firmly assure Billy. He let go of Billy's hand and moved his own to pinch the bridge of his nose as he let out a deep exhale. His brother was making it clear he didn't want any more trouble, no more retaliations.

Spencer stared at Billy as he started talking about Jeremy, calling him a liar and not liking how he'd been made out to be a 'wet paper bag'. "Yeah, alright Billy. I get it and it's ain't nice being belittled like that. But he was probably just looking out for ya. He didn't want you to get fucked up so he tried taking your place. Though he can be a bitch, mind you..." he joked, with a small chuckle.

Letting out a deep sigh, Spencer rested his hand on Billy's arm. "Listen, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you and the rest of our family don't get hurt again," he reassured him. Torn between his usual honesty and his need to make Billy feel better, Spencer wasn't sure what to say to his brother's request not to fight back. "If we let them get away with hurting you, they'll just think they can bully us again. What would it say about the Kings is we cower down? They could've wiped the lot of us out when they blew up my club. They already took Callum from Alex. We'll never get him back if they think we're soft." He let out a sigh. "But I get what you're saying, brother. It'll just be an endless cycle of us all attacking each other. That's why anything we do to the Sullivans now, it has to count or we shouldn't bother at all. I won't hesitate again," he said, referring to his failure to kill Conor.

Pyroclast (Billy)

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Spencer and Shona's
~Bethanl Green, Bethanl~​

Harper didn't know what her plan was now that she had locked herself in the bathroom but her mind wasn't able to think that far ahead. For the time being, she was going to be more than content with locking herself in her brother's bathroom and never coming out again. She hadn't expected anyone left in the room with her to follow so when someone knocked on the door, Harper nearly leaped out of her skin.

She was fully prepared to tell whoever it was to go away, wanting nothing more than to be alone at the moment but when Darcey announced that she was on the other side of it, Harper reconsidered. Darcey then asked in a hushed tone if she needed her pills and Harper's face twisted in disgust. The urge to take them was overpowering but she was doing absolutely everything she could to try to quit it. Darcey was openly wanting to hand them to her, wanting to give her the relief she so desperately needed at that moment that Harper's hand mindlessly reached up to unlock the door.

Scooting away from it so that Darcey could enter, Harper couldn't bring herself to meet the woman's eyes, wondering what she was going to say about the pills she had in her hands. Once the door was closed, Harper managed to glance at Darcey, her eyes red and swollen, the tears now stinging the rims from being rubbed raw so many times in a matter of a few moments. Harper wanted the pills, she wanted to once again be subjected to the mind-numbing sensation that allowed her thoughts to silence and her physical body pain to go away. But she didn't reach for them. "I don't feel like anyone is hearing me, Darcey." Harper said, her voice hoarse with emotion. "Sometimes...I feel like...I don't even exist, you know? Like I'm in some sort of nightmare where I'm never going to wake up. As if I'm still in that coma, and maybe this is all just a conjuring of my imagination as I lay dying." The blonde shook her head as she moved her hands to her hair, pulling on it lightly, "I feel like I'm dying." She admitted.

Harper didn't want to admit what she had admitted to Jeremy, that she had a problem and it was an ongoing issue. Addiction was something that on some level, most of her siblings managed to avoid, and here she was...the weakest link. If any of them were to find out just how bad it had gotten, she would never be allowed to do anything on her own ever again. Now, she was thinking about Billy and Jeremy and she wondered if they were dead. If they were, would it really matter what she did with herself at that point? She couldn't imagine living without Billy...even if she had two others siblings left -- well, three now. Billy was the one she was closest to, the only one who cared to include her in anything that was family business-related, the one who she trusted with her secrets and vice versa. And as complicated as she felt about Jeremy, she couldn't imagine life without him either.

"Are they going to be okay, Darcey? I don't know what I'll do if they aren't...I can't lose anyone else! How come Bruce and Spencer can't see that what they are doing, this constant back and forth is hurting the people they love? Why do men always have to have some sort of pissing match?!" Harper wailed softly, putting her head in her hands as she shook it softly. "And another sister? What she just gets to waltz in here and skip all the fucking bullshit I was put through growing up with those boys? Pretty soon, I'll be known as the fuck up while little miss perfect will look like Mother fucking Mary. All because I just wanted to see who Trevor was for myself. All because I wanted to confront him on the life I didn't get to have because of him?" Harper's breath hitched in her chest, her head throbbing already from crying so much.

"I'm old enough to make my own decisions, I'm not like her, I'm not like Laura! Everyone takes one look at me and compares me to her as if I'm not my own person, as if I'm going to make the same mistakes she did!" She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince as she said that, her or Darcey. The truth was that it was getting to that point, where she was going to make the same mistakes if she didn't get the help she needed. But Harper didn't want to be cornered, she didn't want to be smothered with attention.
with: Darcey Melanin-Gxdess

Natasha McCarthy
The Clover Casino
~Dublin City Centre, Dublin~​

Leo reached forward and before she could take a huge step back, he caught her face in his hands, wiping away tears as he told her to listen to him. She had no choice but to look in his eyes and listen. His reasoning was pure, wanting to protect his family but he didn't seem to get what she was trying to say. He brought up the death of his Uncle and worried about seeing his parents again. It was something she had also been exposed to at a young again and unfortunately, the reality of what the business could do to happy families was shoved into her face all too soon. A whole life with her father she'd never have. He had been happy to settle down with his family, to live out the rest of his days in peace but her father felt a great urge to protect the people he called family even if they weren't blood.

Her bottom lip trembled once more as Leo relived some of the things he rarely talked with Natasha about up until now, feelings that he kept locked up. He said he'd never be the same if something happened to her, but what he didn't seem to understand that was he'd be putting a target on her back if he chose to go through with what he wanted. His point about still carrying the Sullivan name was valid, but then again, there were plenty of people in the world with the last name Sullivan who had no relation to him. His promises, while enticing, were not in his control. The only thing that was in his control was to choose to break the cycle of his family's burdens.

Nat let out a soft cry as he kissed her forehead, begging her to trust him and believe him enough to know that he'd make it home to her every night. That triggered emotions that she hadn't felt in a long time, the anxiety that had stemmed from her father promising her the same and never showing up. "Leo...I trust you with everything I have. But what you are promising...it's not in your control. Even if you didn't do this, you still couldn't promise me that...or at least be able to keep that promise." Nat placed her hands over his, moving his hands from her face as she took his hands and squeezed them. "You could be so far removed from any of this...and still get in a fatal car wreck on the way home from your 9 to 5 job. You could just be at the wrong place at the wrong time and get shot by someone on the street for no reason. You can't keep a promise that you aren't in control of, Leo!" Nat hissed out, shaking her head as she dropped his hands.

"But what you can control is breaking the cycle of your family's burdens. Every single one of the men in this family thought that somehow they could change things, that they could protect all of us from what they perceived to be bad. What if we're the bad guys?" She asked, searching his eyes for a moment. "I mean, after all the shit our family has done to other people...do you really believe that we are better than them? Because I don't. If you do this, you are just going to become a killer like the rest of them. And while that doesn't look that way to me or the family, I am speaking from the perspective of other people we cross." Taking a pause, she shook her head.

"You spoke about being afraid for your parents and whether or not they would come home to you. If we have a family someday, do you think it's fair to bring that trauma upon our own kids? Growing up without my dad brought me so much unimaginable pain, things that you can't even begin to understand. Why would we want to bring that pain upon anyone else? Especially on children who depend on you!" Realizing her voice raised an octave, Nat cleared her throat. "Even if you are in this position of power Leo, you can't save everyone...not even me. When are you going to realize that until someone breaks this cycle...our family is going to continue to burn. Any future you and I have is going to be clouded with funerals and wakes, I love you but I can't watch you do this to yourself. You talk about something happening to me and how you'd never be the same...so why are you wanting me to watch you put yourself in harm's way?"
with: Leo Melanin-Gxdess