All right. I've had this project sitting on my computer for god knows how long and now I've finally titled it so I can finally...post it. Amazing, eh?

So this is very much a Romeo and Juliet mets West Side Story which meets The Godfather. Joyous, no? Original, yes. I intend to use all Romeo and Juliet quotes for the story...which means I have to keep consulting my "Shakespeare made easy" guide just in case I screw up the translation again. I mean, come on, he makes NO SENSE. If anyone out there gets Shakespeare, please...trade brains with me!

Although, this year I won't have to suffer through any plays...that is probably the only good thing about the junior year english curliculum (wow...I really wish I could spell too, so whoever volenteers to trade brains with me, please have and/or get good spelling skills). Granted it also means that we are stuck reading "Classical American Authors" whom they deem most important. Ugh. It really sucks.

Anyways, back to the story. This is merely the set-up chapter. It's got a narrator that I'll be rid of by the next chapter and will probably stick with Chandler for the most part. And since it is me, you can probably tell who will be playing Romeo and who will be Juliet. Try and figure out the rest of the parts, will you? hee hee.

Enjoy.

Contraband

"For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
(Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, Act 5 Scene 3)

In the underworld of New York City you could count on two things: Power and Greed. They were like two arms connected to one singular entity, but one carried out the crime, while the other brought about the sentence. And while the heyday of the mob had long-since run out, their traces could still be found amidst the barbaric gangs that have since plagued the city.

You see, a mobster is nothing more then a businessman, yet he had somehow earned the title of a criminal because he chose to watch his own back instead of counting on big brother to do it for him. A mobster had learned a long time ago that big brother doesn't care about the little people, no, big brother only takes care of those whom they deem important enough. Millionaires, for example, or former Presidents, or celebrities—all deem an invitation for eternal protection against those who might want to do them harm.

All the while, the government pressed hard against the mobsters. Protecting the coke-heads, and trying to bring down the last remnants of organized crime. If Big Brother had anything to do with it, they'd feed the city to the gangs, forgetting the class and consideration of its former leaders.

Gangs don't care who you are. You dare look at them the wrong way, they could pull a gun on you. Mobsters however will never go after a civilian, unless the civilian proves himself or herself to be a problem. And that has hardly ever happened in their line of work. They would take out the trash and only the trash. It was a public service, really. The city should be thanking them, not arresting them.

But, arrests were few in the mobsters world. You see, a well-trained Don would bring up a lawyer for the family and only for the family. And that lawyer would protect the family from anything and everything, including the law.

Chandler Bing had been flirting with the legal system for the Tribbiani Family since the day he graduated from law school. And he was a damn good lawyer too. He had been sent to law school not only to learn how to obey and interpret the laws, but also how to move around the laws or even, in rare cases, make loopholes in the laws. And the Tribbiani family had been living in one of his self-created loopholes for almost six years now. It was getting to be about time for him to make a new one.

He wasn't what you might think a criminal mastermind might look like. He looked like just some guy, nobody that you should worry about. And his last name didn't strike fear into anybody, Bing wasn't exactly terrifying. But Tribbiani was.

Joseph Tribbiani Sr. had practically adopted Chandler when he was still in high school. It was really serendipity that had brought Chandler to the Tribbiani's door, a chance meeting in a required auto shop class that introduced him to Joey, Tribbiani's son and soon-to-be heir, and him being a no-nothing kid from California had no idea that this guy was the son of a mobster and probably should be avoided at all costs.

But his ignorance had served him well in the long run. He had struck up a friendship with Joey, and through that was introduced to Joseph Tribbiani Sr. who began to take up an interest in Chandler. Upon the death of his mother early in his junior year, Chandler moved in with the Tribbiani's permanently. He later referred to this point in his life as the best business decision a know-nothing kid from California would ever make.

As I have said before, Chandler was put through law school, courtesy of Tribbiani, and was then groomed for eventual unofficial leadership. Joey may have been Tribbiani's son, but he had never inherited his father's brilliance. So, it was decided the day that Chandler was accepted into the house that not only would he become the family lawyer, but also the unofficial head.

Joey had the Sicilian-blood in him, and Chandler had the brain to back up it. Together they were the perfect leader. But nobody had to know that Chandler was the brains and Joey only the face man. Thus, the brilliance in Tribbiani's plan.

With this duo, the Tribbiani's hoped to be unstoppable. At least against the law.

But the Gellers. They were the only real competition the Tribbiani's ever had. Jack Geller may have not had a single drop of Sicilian blood in him, but he could have fooled the best of them. He was s true Sicilian if there ever was any.

Jack Geller had been a savvy businessman from the start, but as soon as he crossed into the shady side, every one knew things would never quite be the same. Until then only the Tribbiani's had dominated the crime world.

What caused Geller's sudden rise in power is debatable. Whether he was just born bad and waiting in the dark for his shot collecting whatever information he could until he held enough strings, or perhaps something more like Chandler's cross over: pure serendipity.

Or perhaps if he had a little help from another family, promising a union between the two, then later back-stabbing them into submission. There has even been rumors of the fact that it had nothing to do with strings or another family, that Jack Geller was just that good. That he could not only move from the legit side of things and into the shady side, but also become one of the strongest families ever to grace the Manhattan streets.

Whatever it was is not important, what is, however, is the fact that one by one, the other families fell back in line, bowing down to his power as well as the Tribbiani's. Everyone knew that Jack had his eye on the Tribbiani family power, on their connections, on their way of doing things. He had even tried to overtake them once or twice, but Geller didn't count on one thing. Chandler was damn good at damage control, and even better at keeping secrets secret.

You see, what made Jack maintain his power was the ability he had to obtain secrets. Secrets nobody thought could ever get out. Secrets that destroyed careers, people, even marriages. And people would do anything to keep those secrets secret. Anything.

But Geller was getting older. It was getting to be about that time when he was ready to settle into retirement, like all good business men before him. And Tribbiani knew that this would be the only time he could possibly attack and win back everything that had previously been his.

And so, on one rainy afternoon, Tribbiani had called Chandler into his office, like he had done many times before. But instead of discussing a legal matter, like they would normally do, Tribbiani began to reveal just a little piece of his plan. Just enough information for Chandler to get the job done. Because Chandler would be dabbling in the world of secrets, and a man that knows too little is far better off them a man that knows too much.

It was on that afternoon that Chandler was given is first unofficial task for Tribbiani. Geller would be handing over the business to somebody close to him. Somebody that he could trust with his most notorious of secrets. And picking his heir would be the most crucial point in his family's livelihood.

And it was Chandler's job to take out that livelihood, by finding out who would take over the family. Take out the perfect heir, take out the family. That was the plan.

Now, in order to know the situation, you have to know the Geller's. Geller had only two children himself, a boy, Ross, and a girl, Monica. Then there were the Green's, whom Geller had always been friendly with, but the Green's cemented their place within the family when Ross married Rachel Green, over the past summer. They already had one son between them, Ben, and wasted no time getting back on the horse, and Rachel was due again within seven months.

And while Ross seemed to be a prime candidate because of blood, he lacked the business skills to really man that kind of operation. He let his emotions guide him, wore them right out on his sleeve. And in the world of secrets, that just couldn't do.

They had already paid a few prices for Ross's temper, but never much. You see, while the Tribbiani's had Chandler on their side, the Geller's had an equally as talented attorney within their family, Monica, Geller's daughter. While her and Chandler were evenly matched in legal matters, Monica held a higher card that she kept in her back pocket, just in case. Herself.

Joey had commented on more then one occasion if she wasn't a Geller he'd screw her himself, and the majority of the Tribbiani's secretly shared his opinion. But they knew if anyone dared go near her they'd be facing the barrel of a gun within an hour or two. She was just that dangerous. A modern day Siren.

But Monica would never be handed the reins to the operation. While she was probably more qualified in every aspect imaginable for her father's business, organized crime had yet to have their feminist movement. Just having Monica as his attorney alone was unorthodox, but having her take over the family was unheard of. They'd be the laughing stock of the New York families, losing all credibility or possibility, and in effect, completing Chandler's job for him before he even had to lift a finger.

There was also Richard Burke to consider. While he had no blood ties to the family, him and Geller grew up together. They were in the army together. Literally had gone through almost everything together. Why not hand some if not all of his lucrative business, in which Richard had been a vital part of, over to him?

Richard had always been a suave business man, and would sink into the world of secrets without a single problem. The man could sell you not only a house in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but a little white fence to go around it. He made was for this business.

But, he was also only a year younger then Geller. And that posed a major problem. Richard probably would retire within the next few years, and handing over the business too much would case problems. Whoever took over the business would spend years building and developing relationships with these people, earning their poorly placed trust, and Richard lacked the longevity that a younger person might bring.

Then there was Will Green, Rachel's slightly older brother. He was a pretty faced party boy, who had been gifted with a talent for being a man's man and a ladies man all at once. But he was famous for holding a grudge. And in today's underworld, a revenge kill revoked any chance you had at that get out of jail free card they waved around every so often.

After Tribbiani explained all of this to Chandler, he sent him out with the soul mission of finding out who was to take over and report back. Nothing more and nothing less. Because if there was one thing that Tribbiani hated more then a rat, it was competition. And Geller was offering just that.

And Scene.

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