Michael had been nineteen years old when he'd taken over the family business. He inherited it by default when his father vanished and Michael had been left with siblings to take care of, a small city to run and a father to find. The day his father left him was the day Michael built up his first barrier, desperate to shield himself from any more pain. He'd built up several more as he tried to find out what happened to his father, another when he finally concluded his father was alive but didn't want to be found. He built a new barrier every time one of his siblings asked him where their father was, another dozen when the social services tried to take his siblings away from him to place them in foster care. Michael was young and didn't hold as much authority as his father, but his Family still ran Paradise Falls and he fought hard for his siblings. Eventually the authorities left him alone. He'd never been more alone and he had six siblings and a town to care for. Michael was nineteen and it was his job to put everything back together no matter what the cost.
Michael was twenty when he'd turned his brother over to the police to save his city. In doing so he'd fulfilled his father wishes but that didn't stop his heart breaking despite all the barriers he'd put up. The look on Lucifer's face when he realised Michael had betrayed him haunted Michael and he'd realised barriers weren't good enough: he'd have to detach himself too. The city was in ruin with several smaller gangs beginning to rise up vying for control, a few attempting to take down Michael's family. Michael could understand how his Family would seem an easy target with their boss gone and the young inexperienced heir in charge however he didn't bother quelling the assumptions, just continued letting everyone underestimate him while he consolidated his strength. Then one of the smaller gangs attempted to kidnap Gabriel and Michael's retribution had been swift and terrifying. Michael was twenty when he decided to detach himself completely from his siblings so they wouldn't be harmed int
At twenty one, no one thought of Michael as the young naïve heir any more. He was ruthless and fierce and utterly cold. He was twenty one when he outmaneuvered all opposition and restored the Novak's back to their position of strength. The smaller gangs were scattered and broken and the rest of the town fell into submission and accepted Michael's rule. He tried to rule as fairly as he could but he could never escape the voice in his head that reminded him he wasn't, and would never be, as good as his father. Still the town fell back into a relative peace and Michael allowed himself to feel a little proud. At twenty one he'd outmaneuvered all the opposition and restored the city to the shining oasis of peace and prosperity his father had wanted it to be.
He twenty seven when he'd become complacent. His city had entered a state of peace and his Family ruled completely, unchallenged and unquestioned. During his time as head of the Novak Family several of the smaller gangs had reformed but they all knew their place and they caused little trouble. Michael prided himself in knowing Paradise Falls was one of the few cities in America with crime rates as low as they were, one of the only cities where people could walk safely on the streets at night, one of the only cities where protection meant something. He knew it wasn't perfect but it was close and he'd become complacent in this knowledge. He was paying for that now.
A siren wailed, filling the room with noise as another police car shot past the house. Michael sat at the head of the table with his head in his hands and an untouched glass of whiskey at his right elbow. The room was dim, lit only by the lighting on the driveway that filtered in through the window. He'd yet to close the curtains or turn the light on fearing the light would aggravate his headache further. He massaged his temples wearily before glancing at his watch, the face glowing softly in the near darkness. Half past two. Raphael and Gabriel should have been back over two hours ago.
He took a deep steadying breath. Panicking wouldn't solve anything. He'd made his choices tonight and now he'd have to deal with the ramifications and he couldn't do that while his heart was racing and his mind was wondering just how bullet proof the bullet proof glass in the windows of the house was. He stood and walked over to the window, checking for the fifth time that night that their security was still in place. Scanning their vast grounds as best he could from the ground floor he could see at least five guards covering the visible perimeter and he he felt his heart unclench ever so slightly. No one could get inside the grounds, let alone anywhere near their house and Anna, Balthazar and Cas were safe and sound asleep in the heart of their living quarters. And Gabriel and Raphael were, well they were meant to return at midnight, but he would have been informed if anything had happened to them. He took another deep breath and mentally berated himself for becoming too secure in his and the town's position.
He'd heard reports of 'Hunters', groups of vigilantes who thought that Families should not be allowed to rule who moved from city to town wherever Families or Gangs were powerful. He'd heard they were disorganised, unprofessional and yet they still left a trail of destroyed Families in their wake. He'd listened to the rumours and the reports but paid little heed not even when Raphael had told him quite solemnly that they had destroyed a Family in a neighbouring city. He hadn't even allowed himself to entertain the possibility that they might take on him. He'd thought his city was perfect, that the Hunters couldn't possibly have a quarrel with his Family. He'd thought his position as ruler of Paradise Falls made him safe, untouchable. Instead it had just made him a target.
A dark car slid out of the shadows further down the driveway, jolting Michael out of his reverie. He sighed in relief when it came into the circle of light near the house and he recognised it as Raphael's. He shut the curtains and turned on the lights before sitting back down at the head of the table. He took a gulp of whiskey and it burned his throat, and he coughed like a teenager taking their first sip of alcohol. But he forced it down, letting the fire in his throat bring him back to the present. His worry for the safety of his siblings ebbed away leaving irritation in it's place. He was annoyed both at his siblings for returning almost three hours late and himself for allowing himself to worry about them. He couldn't worry about them, couldn't care about them. Caring got people hurt. Caring was what had nearly gotten Gabriel kidnapped when a rival gang had wanted to get to Michael. If Michael treated his brothers as anything more than chess pieces his rivals would continue to use his brothers against him.
Panic began to overwhelm him and he choked it down with another mouthful of whiskey. He was alone, in his sanctuary, no one could know how worried he'd been. He forced himself to put back on the cold, blank mask he'd become so accustomed to wearing and waited for Raphael and Gabriel to come to him to debrief.
It was a full five minutes before Raphael deigned to put in an appearance. When he finally entered the room fury seemed to be radiating from him as he stormed to his seat to Michael's right. Michael stared at him impassively, trying to quell the urge to scream himself hoarse, demanding to know where they had been and why they thought it would be okay to force Michael to break his promise to himself and spend hours worrying that maybe he'd sent his younger brothers to their deaths.
"Gabriel's not back yet." Raphael pointed out in response to Michael's silent question. There was a sulkiness about him that didn't befit a twenty four year old and Michael almost rolled his eyes. Raphael was so rational and composed and yet that all disintegrated when Gabriel entered the equation. The two were as different as Michael and Lucifer were: Raphael's calm, cold logic, to Gabriel's impulsive warmth and need to do the right thing, and so Michael could understand the friction between them. And yet he wished they would sort out their differences and get along.
"I didn't ask about Gabriel." Michael replied softly. Raphael eyes flashed but he was saved from answering by the appearance of their younger brother. The first thing Michael noticed about Gabriel was his appearance, clothes rumpled and his hair even more messy than usual. His shirt was torn and there was a cut across his right cheek. Michael grit his teeth at the injury, forcing back the feelings of protectiveness that flooded him. The second thing Michael noticed was the tiredness in Gabriel's eyes, the pallor of his skin beneath the blossoming bruises and blood on his cheek. Gabriel walked over to sit at his place on Michael's right, his movements were slow and uneasy, and lacked any of his usual cockiness or vigour.
"Where were you Gabriel?" Michael snapped. He expected an instant response, something playful and mischievous and just a shade under disrespectful. Instead Gabriel looked down at the table in a manner that was suspiciously deferential.
"Sorry sir," he murmured after a pause, "We were held up." Michael stared at Gabriel completely thrown off by Gabriel's behaviour. Gabriel usually absolutely refused to call him sir, a formality Michael insisted on from all his Family members whether they were related to him or not. He'd tolerate Gabriel calling him by his name in private but in meetings he constantly fought to get Gabriel to treat him with the proper respect.
"What happened?" he asked. Michael directed the question at Gabriel who was usually the one to give the explanatory speeches, despite Raphael holding the higher rank. But Gabriel just glanced at Raphael redirecting the question to him. Raphael frowned at Gabriel, a look that conveyed both annoyance and a sliver of worry, but sighed and relayed the evening's events to Michael.
"So you let them escape?" Michael asked at the end of Raphael's summary.
"Technically the police let them escape." Gabriel quipped lightly but his eyes were tired and it didn't have any of his usual cheek behind it.
"We tried to stop them escaping." he continued, "And got hurt in the process." Michael's eyes snapped once again to the cut on Gabriel's cheek. It looked shallow and was relatively clean and precise. Gabriel had had worse and the injury wasn't bad enough to stop him talking but Michael still felt another surge of protectiveness and fury that threatened to make him lose his rationality and judgement.
"So my six best men, and therefore six of the best in the state, were not good enough to stop a little group of hunters?" Michael asked scathingly to distract him from the urge to tell Gabriel to see a medic immediately. The cut wasn't that bad, not as bad as displays of sentiment would be.
"Apparently not." Gabriel replied softly. He looked at Michael, eyes wide. His pupils were dilated, huge dark voids against a thin ring of amber and if Michael didn't know Gabriel better he'd suspect Gabriel had been taking drugs. A flash of sudden worry coursed through Michael and he stared at his younger brother mind racing with possibilities that started off fairly benign but soon spiralling into visions of Gabriel an addict who would end up dying of a drug overdose in the street. But Gabriel seemed fairly sharp and focused underneath the tiredness and although his brother had a penchant for partying and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol all in one go he somehow didn't seem the type who would take drugs especially before or during a fight.
Michael sighed, looking over at Raphael who was beginning to show signs of tiredness too. It made no sense keeping Gabriel and Raphael here. They both needed rest. The Hunters had caused the death of enough of Michael's men tonight, he needed those that remained to be in good health ready for damage control.
"Fine." he said, causing surprise to flicker through Gabriel's eyes. "Dismissed. Get some sleep both of you." Raphael stood immediately, walking out the door without another word. Gabriel was slower to react, standing up with careful, measured movements. Michael watched him from the head of the table, noting the difficulty with which Gabriel seemed to be moving.
"Gabriel?" Michael asked. He hadn't wanted to speak but it was just him and Gabriel and he'd already broken his promise to himself not to act as if he cared about his brothers today. Gabriel never seemed to buy the act anyway, the one person Michael couldn't seem to fool no matter how hard he tried.
"Briel?" Michael asked when Gabriel ignored him the first time. Informality didn't come easily to Michael, he preferred everything to be neat and ordered. But the informality worked where the authoritative voice hadn't and Gabriel looked up at him, eyes questioning as he waited for him to speak.
"Are you okay?" It was hard to keep is voice level, keep the concern from spilling out of him. In breaking his promise today he'd weakened his barriers and he'd need time to build them back up again. Gabriel twisted his mouth in a half smile, wincing when it hurt.
"I'm fine Michael." he said softly, playfulness beginning to creep back into his voice as he added, "Thanks for caring." Michael glared at Gabriel and Gabriel's smile increased infinitesimally in return and he left the room leaving Michael to wonder what was going on with his younger brother.
