Realistic or Modern Gangs of Birmingham - IC Thread [Open & Accepting]

[ReverseTex]

The Walker Residence
Misty Gray


Dr. Richard Finley
​

Richard’s expression softened, knowing that Caroline’s stern tone was the last sign of anger he had to crack through. The wall shortly flattened as she inched closer to him. She’d never admit it, but he knew she needed someone to hold her. It reminded him of a young child, stubbornly refusing a parental hug while holding back tears. If Caroline was anything in this life, it was stubborn.But she needed support, not just from Robert or her kids. And frankly, he needed the same. As she aired her own exhaustion, he stepped forward, swallowing his dear sister-in-law in his arms. He held her close, letting her head rest where it always nested in times of need. “It’s alright, dear,” he cooed. Caroline continued on, muffled slightly by his chest, reminding him of Robert’s dire situation. In order to avoid that subject, he decided to comment on her latter remark. “You always manage a bigger bark than your bite, dear. I can’t recall a day when your signature iciness wasn’t in vogue,” he lovingly teased. Once she seemed content, he let her go, remaining closer if needed for more reinforcement.

Once she spoke again, he nodded along with her sentiments about Dorothy, listening rather than commenting on them. She just needed someone to soundboard off of. While she did this, Richard leaned himself against the bed frame for extra leg support. The winter had done a number on it’s aching, and his stress level wasn’t helping matters either. Her next lament was self-centered. This sparked more of his interest as he raised a curious brow at her rising tone. “Control is something we never truly have. Your husband often forgets that,” he retorted. He’d known the couple for decades, and both of them equally struggled with the idea of losing control. He always had a sinking feeling that day would come, but he never expected it to be this severe.

Caroline’s heroic comment about his brother made him scoff. “Ha! Robert refusing a chance to run head first into danger? You are blind,” he laughed, not directly at her but rather the irony. “That bastard ran miles through bloody mud and farmland in the middle of an aerial bombardment to pull my decrepit body from a plane. I traveled across three countries in the desert to pull that man out of a horrid bunker. Trust me when I say this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. And deep down, you know it doesn’t surprise you either.” He sighed.

“However, like I tried to tell him before he rudely interrupted me,” Richard remarked, still in jestly brotherly love. “We aren’t twenty years old anymore. We don’t have the bandwidth to keep up and fight as hard as we did back then. It’s just not the same world.” He sighed, running a stressed hand through his hair. “That’s my concern more than anything. Robert has the mental resolve to make it out of this just fine. But physically? Only time will tell, and we’re only losing it these days.”

 

[purplecowdutch]

JACKIE WALKER
It was a big blur, Jackie had no clue what day it was or if a day had even passed. His hair was sweaty and there were bruises on his ankle from the giant chain a certain someone had put on him. That pain was nothing compared to the withdrawal symptoms he had been going through, the first twelve hours he had been vomiting in the tiny bathroom that he had been given and the next day was him hanging over a bucket while listening to the agitated voice coming through the fucking walls.

Jackie was confused, he knew him and Vinny couldn't agree on anything but he had been thinking a lot and even started suspecting Robert put him up to this. Vinny couldn't hate him this much, he hated Vinny this much but would never put him in a basement and mentally torture him. Well, after this he would, obviously.
Vinny had a tight schedule, he'd wake him up with the little amount of sleep he could get on a wooden, unisolated cold floor and made him workout. The first workout was mostly Jackie complaining, threatening Vinny how his head will be hanged on the wall, how he would tell Richard and how he wouldn't be happy at all. He found out quickly enough it didn't change anything, Vinny had dark eyes that would look right through him. It freaked him out and Jackie had seen scary shit.

Then there was the mental athletics as he called it, it made Jackie's skin crawl. He'd ask things and expected a reply, Jackie tried to punch the wall three times the first days but learned fast enough that brick did not break. His hands were bloody and his face felt like it was melting and then the next day, Vinny showed up again with the same bloody routine. This was worse than prison. Way worse.

On day five they had an altercation, he was standing there with that smug look on his face. Jackie was slowly overcoming the vomiting on day three but felt extremely agitated, he looked for the drugs like Vinny was the fucking easter bunny. He was sure the torture would end if he could just have one bump. Just a little taste even.
When Vinny walked in with the food he made every night which insisted mostly of vegetables so Jackie slowly started to look like James Rebhorn.
Though he was hungry, he refused to eat anything. Jackie just sat there, against the wall. 'I hope you get a bullet straight through that messed up brain of yours,' he blurted out. Vinny hadn't answered the first few days, ignoring his cries for help but now he had turned around. Jackie thought he had him but all he did was torn down every little bit of self-respect he had left in that basement.
Robert and Caroline didn't want him dead but maybe they liked the feeling that he was. The more days went by, the more Jackie felt like he was in prison all over again. There were no calls or people worried about him, there was only Vinny who would without a doubt be there every single morning. How ironic.

As days went by, Jackie gave up on the struggle and did what Vinny asked while he slowly lost every part of his dignity. Every morning he'd still look under the plate, hoping there'd be something to numb his mind. Vinny's words how he all did this to himself were repeating throughout the day as did his words about he didn't even touch him. Jackie couldn't even have an honest fight with him. He tricked him into this and Jackie was dumb enough to fall for it. Arriving higher as a kite and out of his mind, he beat himself up over the fact he just simply couldn't resist. How he trusted his biggest enemy.
Jackie started eating again, knowing if anything wasn't going to kill him it would be hunger. He woke up by the stupid, stupid speakers installed somewhere in these walls. Jackie leaned his head back against the wall, he wanted to die. Jackie had made lots of plans for escape now his mind started to clear up but the old ball and chain wasn't going to go anywhere. He tried breaking it but it was just wasting the little bit of strenght he had left.
The door creaked open, Jackie didn't move an inch looking at Vinny go to the same spot he had been sitting the last couple of days. He slid the plate his way as he kept one for himself, it looked like it came straight out of a magazine.
Jackie leaned forward to grab the plate but tried to avoid any eye contact, there was something so very degrading about being stuck to a big chain.
Vinny started talking, about how he went out last night and how much fun he had. He heard him grin which made Jackie look up, he continued but Jackie stopped listening when he heard her name. Beth.
Jackie looked at him trying his very hardest to pretend he just didn't care but the last sentence got his attention. Jackie let out a hollow laugh, the kind that slipped out when you couldn’t believe the universe had it out for you, shaking his head like he was in on some cruel joke. 'Beth didn't see you coming?' Jackie repeated him, looking at Vinny straight on, he couldn't for the life of him see if he was trying to break him even more with a little white lie. Jackie didn't have the power in him to fight him or argue back but him mentioning Beth did something to him. Beth was innocent and caring, sure, he used her at first but Jackie had never felt something like that for anyone.
He could feel his face flush with heat, but he locked his expression in place.
'You have me sitting right here but that's not enough for you is it,' Jackie rambled. He broke eye contact, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling as if searching for an answer.. 'What do you want from me Vinny? I did everything you wanted me to do.' His gaze fell onto the plate, wishing he could just smash it to pieces and break that chain but the thought of him having to leave, having to tell someone what Vinny did was almost too emberassing. Like it was his own doing that got him here.
'Could you do me a favor? Tell me what you really get out of dragging Beth into this.' Jackie felt his stare, those dark black eyes. 'Just kill me if you hate me this much,' he added. The mental torture was really getting to him, there was no possible way he would come out of this unscathed.




​

 

[Misty Gray]

Undisclosed Warehouse
- Chepstow, Wales (Near the England Border) -

Robert Walker
Aidan Jones and Rhys Collins​

Robert had been expecting a physical attack even before he hit Aidan and Rhys. Still, he was taken by surprise when Connell stepped in to throw him down onto the concrete floor. He'd expect it to be one of the other two men. Robert hit the floor with a thud, winding him and causing him to lose his breath, having to quickly try take in a deep breath of air. Just as he did, the violent impact of the heavy boot kicking him in the right side of his abdomen stunned him. Robert let out a pained groan as the blow was directly over the site of the scar he'd had since his torture at the hands of the Nazis. The scar tissue had resulted in bouts of chronic pain ever since, which was now intensified by Connell's kick. Then again. By the second blow, which landed higher and caused a painful cracking sound as his lowest rib was fractured.

Rory's voice screaming for them to leave him alone cut deeper that Robert could have imagined. Despite how angry and disgusted she had been to find out he was her father, it was clear in her voice she didn't want to see him being hurt. Whether it was simply down to human decency or something more, he expected he'd never truly know. What he did know, was that it killed him to hear his youngest daughter so desperate. Just as it was upsetting to see her bloody and beaten. He wished he could save her now, but it seemed more likely he would die never getting to prove himself to her.

Robert reached his hand to cover the site of the pain in his abdomen, but was instead dragged upright by his hair by Connell. The action briefly directed his attention to the scrape on his head, but for a moment, Robert lost focus on the present situation. He heard an unfamiliar Welsh voice saying the words "let him catch his breath". The voice wasn't one he recognised, yet, the words were all too familiar.

..Once again, the water was poured over the wet cloth covering his face. Robert gagged, unable to breathe as his airways were blocked and the drowning sensation overcame him. By now he just wished the bastard Nazis would finish the job. The fear and panic was enough to distort his thinking and break his resolve. The desperation to escape the situation was tempting him by the second. Then, the towel was removed from his face and an immense wave of relief overcame him. With the guards leaving to get more water, Robert rolled onto his side on the cold, wet floor as he coughed up the excess water. He took deep, strained breaths as he tried to stop himself from choking. He breathed heavily as he rolled onto his back again to see Max standing over him. That twisted, evil face that would still haunt him decades later...

Back in the present, Robert took panicked, suffocated gasps for air, more than would have been expected despite the heavy blows. Aidan raised his eyebrow in curiosity. An amused yet intrigued smile contorting on his face as he observed. On Ellias's words about it being rude to steal someone else's kill, Aidan straightened his posture but remained firmly on the spot. A silence hung in the air and Aidan was happy to let it continue as he observed Robert. He caught Ellias's look and nodded his head, but remained patient on the spot for a moment longer.

When Rory accused him of hiding behind others, suggesting he couldn't fight his own battles, Aidan smirked back at her. "Inspiring," he told her before stepping into action with the next stage of the plan. When he stood over Robert, the man was kneeling, one hand on the ground whilst the other clutched at his broken rib. The older man coughed for a moment, each action causing an intense pain in his chest. "Are you alright down there?" Aidan taunted Robert as he crouched to his level, but just out of easy reach.

Robert briefly turned his head away. There was a metallic taste in his mouth though not from any visible wounds. As tempting as it could have been, Robert spat the blood out on the floor, away from his tormenter. He then looked up at Aidan, locking eyes with his. "Do whatever you have to do to me, but let her go. She has nothing to do with this. I'm the one you want, so kill me," he urged him.

"Don't waste your time," Aidan said, acknowledging the fact Robert appeared to have some internal bleeding. He needed the bastard to keep talking for now. "I'm calling the shots. Tell me what happened to my dad. Who killed him. The fucking truth," he darkly urged him.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Robert weakly asked, shaking his head in frustration. All he wanted to know was that Rory was going to be okay but had no way of securing it. "I ran your father's business own of town and he sought revenge. He kidnapped my kid and used him to lure Richard into a trap. He kept my brother tied up in a basement for weeks... I can see where you inherited that from," he pointed out, given what Aidan had done to Felicity and Rory. "I found out where Richard was and went to get him out of there. Elwyn showed up and I killed him," Robert explained. Every part was the truth, except for the fact it was Richard who had lost control and brutally beaten Elwyn. "He terrorised my kid, for Christ's sake. I snapped and beat your father to death," he said, wanting to be as accurate as possible so his account would be believed.

Aidan was no longer emotional about his father's death as he had been in his younger years. Now, it motivated him. The need for revenge and to take back what Robert had stolen was executed in a calculated manner. That didn't mean Robert didn't deserve to suffer for it. Standing, Aidan grabbed Robert by the hair and forced him up onto his feet, delivering a violent punch into the man's face. Mindful that he wanted the man to remain fully conscious for what was about to follow, it was enough to bruise and give him a black eye. Allowing Robert to double over in pain and fall back to his knees, Aidan stepped behind him. Once again taking a clump of hair, he forced Robert to look ahead in Rory's direction.

Robert looked at Rory, his eyes pleading with her. "I'm sorry," he gasped. Anticipating what was about to happen, he wanted to tell his daughter how he felt before it was too late for him. "I wish I'd been there for you. I'm sorry you were lied to for so long... that I was never a father to you. Rory, you're--" He fell silent as he noticed Rhys step forward into view.

The large man gripped his gun as he raised his arm, but not towards Robert at all. "Wait. NO!" Robert yelled. "NOT HER!" he desperately cried. Rhys aimed his gun in Rory's direction before the loud gunshot rang out. Aidan let go of Robert, the older man falling forward in a heap, unable to look ahead out of fear of seeing Rory dead in front of him. "Oh God," he cried out, a wave of devastation overcoming him.

Rhys lowered his arm, the bullet having ripped into the wall a safe distance above Rory as intended. Aidan stood, watching Rory as she no doubt sat shocked, processing the fact she hadn't actually been shot.

neverbackdown (Rory/Nat)

Mentioned: ReverseTex (Ellias & Co)

 

[neverbackdown]

Undisclosed Warehouse
- Chepstow, Wales (Near the England Border) -

Victoria "Rory" Fletcher
&
Natalie Smyth
​

Rory had never felt so powerless, so utterly defeated, and it was tearing her apart. Every part of her ached, her wounds throbbing with a relentless, unforgiving pain and every breath felt like a dagger twisting in her ribs, but it was her pride that had taken the hardest blow. She wanted to fight, to force her way out of there and wipe that smug look of Aidan's face and yet the cold chain which was a lot tighter now on her broken wrist held her firmly in place, her body too battered to move.

She hated feeling like this—weak, fragile, and vulnerable. For the first time in her life, real fear gripped her, and there was no shaking it. She was going to die here. She was sure of it. The only question was when—how long Aidan would drag this out, how much more taunting and torment he’d inflict before finally putting an end to his sick, twisted game.

Rory listened in silence as Robert recounted the story about Aidan’s father, her head leaning back against the cold wall. Her eyes stayed fixed on him, absorbing every word. When he mentioned the irony of the kidnappings, a faint smirk tugged at her lips, but it quickly faded as the full weight of his words sank in.

By the sound of it, Aidan’s father was just like any other gangster caught up in power struggles that ultimately lost his business and standing and she could understand his retaliation to an extent . But the thought of retaliating by kidnapping and terrorizing a child over business matters? That crossed a line. No matter the justification, dragging an innocent child into the chaos was something Rory could never stomach and she believed that Elwyn got exactly what he deserved.

When Robert turned his attention to her, Rory met his gaze, giving him her full focus. A sad, bittersweet smile tugged at her lips as a single tear slipped down her cheek, betraying the storm of emotions she was fighting so hard to suppress. Two weeks ago, she would’ve scoffed at such words, maybe even laughed in his face or thrown something to shut him up. Back then, she wouldn’t have wanted to hear it, let alone let it sink in.

But now, knowing that they were about to die, those words meant everything. It wasn’t just an apology—it was a cure for a wound she hadn’t realized she had, a wound still raw, hidden deep within her. And yet, in this moment, it stirred something inside her, as though that long-ignored wound was finally trying to heal, if only it wasn't too late.

Staring down the barrel of a gun was nothing like she had imagined. The violent, fearless bravado she wore like armor was stripped away in an instant, leaving her feeling raw and exposed. In that moment, she wasn’t the sharp-tongued, headstrong fighter she prided herself on being. She was just a 23-year-old girl, terrified and far too young to die. Her chest tightened, and a lump formed in her throat as the thought hit her like a punch to the gut—she didn’t want to die. Not like this. Not here. The realization was both heartbreaking and overwhelming. For the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t want to be tough or clever or brave. She wanted her mom.

A deafening bang shattered the tension in the room, silencing Robert’s desperate pleas. The sound reverberated off the walls, leaving an eerie, suffocating stillness in its wake. Rory sat frozen, her eyes squeezed shut, her mind racing. Was this it? Was she dead? Her body still throbbed with pain, her wrists still felt the cold metal of the chain, and her chest heaved with shallow breaths. She wasn’t sure what death was supposed to feel like, but if this was it then she was seriously disappointed.

Cautiously, she cracked one eye open, then the other, her heart pounding in her chest. She blinked in disbelief as her gaze landed on the wall above her, a small hole in the concrete a safe distance from her head. Slowly, she lowered her eyes, first to Rhys, and then to Aidan. When their gazes locked, her shock melted into anger. She stared at him for what felt like hours, her expression hardening into a glare. The realization hit her like a slap—this was just another one of his twisted games. Her lips curled into a silent snarl as she forced herself to swallow the fear clawing at her chest. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply his little stunt had rattled her. Instead, she steeled her expression, masking any trace of vulnerability. She refused to let him win

Her eyes drifted to Robert, who remained sprawled on the ground. She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment. Her voice felt fragile, and she worried it might betray her, but she needed him to know she was still here. “I’m okay,” she said a gentle air to her tone before her tone turned sharp and laced with defiance as her gaze flicked to Aidan. “The child is still playing his stupid games like a spoiled brat. Did you come up with that all by yourself or did you need a coloring book to help?" She asked him as though speaking to a child "So unoriginal, so pathetic"

Her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head slightly to the side, a smirk tugging at her lips. Her voice was dripping with disdain, the words cutting like knives. "I mean, it's almost cute how predictable you are." Her laugh was cold, and the air of cruelty was impossible to miss. “And your poor old dad? I bet he's turning in his grave knowing what a pathetic excuse for a man you’ve turned out to be. If I were him, I’d be ashamed. I personally think Robert did him a favor"

*******
Int;-
Misty Gray - Robert / Aidan / Rhys
ReverseTex - Ellias & Co.