"Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weakness." ~Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand,Letters to Voltaire
"Canada is like a bird- it likes to fly freely." -Anonymous
"We want to explore. We're curious people. Look back over history, people have put their lives at stake to go out and explore ... We believe in what we're doing. Now it's time to go."- Eileen Collins
Gilbert, Maddie thought, was an idiot. And a bad boyfriend. She should break up with him. He had promised to take her home, because he knew how much she hated walking, and he wasn't here.
Madeline stood outside her high school, backpack slung over her shoulder, waiting impatiently for her boyfriend's arrival – which, at this rate, would not be soon. Just as Maddie was beginning to think about calling someone to get her, or even taking the bus, a car pulled up in front of her.
It was not Gilbert's car, and the man driving was certainly not Gilbert.
"Wow, Lars, I didn't know you could drive. Did Bella finally get you away from your pot long enough to learn?" Maddie teased her friend as she stepped up to the open window.
"Nice to see you too, bitch. Man, the things I do for friends. Get in the car, you brat," the Dutch boy retorted, blond hair spiky enough to brush against the roof as he leaned back to open the door.
"I dunno, Mommy always told me to never get into cars with strangers. Especially the ones that insult me," Maddie countered, trying not to giggle. Lars acted all tough, but he was really soft for girls, and for old friends.
It felt a bit weird to 'switch' personalities like this, but Maddie had always believed in being herself around her friends, and if sometimes she went a bit far from her normal personality, well, they couldn't blame her. It was hard being polite all the time.
"Well, I've got another stranger in here with me, if you want more than my charms."
"That changes things," Maddie said as she slid in the backseat, dumping her bag on the floor. Lars grumbled under his breath for a moment, before reaching back again to close the door behind her. A small amount of contortionism later, he finally had it, to the tune of female giggles in the backseat.
"Yeah yeah, quiet in the back!" Lars shouted, adjusting his rear-view mirror, before jerkily pulling out into the street. "Hey! No hitting the driver."
"Well that's what you get for jarring us around, isn't that right, Katya?" came Maddie's voice. Katya giggled, large chest bouncing with the movement.
"I think so, Maddie, in fact... wait, whose phone is ringing?" Maddie looked around, trying to recognize the tune. Then it hit her.
"Oh! Oh, that's my phone! Sorry!" Maddie dove for her bag, and answered quickly. "Hello, Madeline speaking. Oh, hi Papa!"
Pleasantries over, her dad explained his call, which was pretty much 'I need you at work, can you come help me out at a meeting?.' Or, rather: 'I can't trust your sister, get over here.'
"'Kay, I'm in the car now, I'll be there in – let me check… Lars?" Maddie asked, leaning forward. He grunted. "How long would it take you to drive me to work?"
Lars sighed. "Considering traffic? I'd say about 20 minutes, 25 tops."
"Did you catch that?" Maddie asked her papa.
"Yes."
"When does the meeting start?"
"An hour, I figured I would have enough time to give you a run-down of what's going on."
"Okay, bye Papa."
"Bye, pumpkin."
Maddie hung up her phone before groaning and leaning into Katya's shoulder. "I haaaaaate helping Papa at work, he's so formal."
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Katya soothed, stroking the other girl's hair. "Maybe it's a surprise party for you?"
"Doubt it."
"Lars!" Katyusha shot him a look reminiscent of a mother glaring at her child.
"Yekatrina!" Lars mocked, trying to ignore the Mom Look that she was so good at, and failing. To occupy himself, he made an abrupt lane change that probably wasn't necessary for another half mile.
"Ow!" That was Katya, definitely.
"Hey!" And that was Maddie, who was now rubbing her head. "That was totally not cool! I've got a math test and hockey practice tomorrow, I can't afford to lose brain cells."
"Sorry, princess, I'll be more careful, scout's honor."
"You were a boy scout?" asked Katya, eyes wide with surprise.
"No." Lars snorted, irately honking his horn as some guy in a flashy red car passed him, before saying several presumably unkind things in Dutch.
(It could be hard to tell, though. When they were younger, Katya and Lars often spoke in their native tongues of Dutch and Russian, and the languages had sounded terrible to Maddie. It took years for Lars to admit to her that all he had been saying were things like 'the notebook is blue' and 'the tree is over there', not cussing out her best friend.)
Soon enough, Lars pulled up in front of the floral shop. Lars didn't even bother to park, instead idling at the curb for a split second and screeching away even before Maddie had fully stepped out of the car. "Goodbye to you too, asshole," she muttered.
The flower shop was reassuringly unchanging. It seemed rather crowded, although there weren't as many people as usual. She suspected claustrophobia, before it dawned on her that it was simply the sheer number of bouquets in the store.
Roses. Tulips. Lots of red everywhere. Almost Valentine's Day, now that she thought about it. Walking past the explosions of crimson made her think of blood – a rather appropriate overtone for the muffled shouting coming from the glorified closet known as the 'Employee Lounge'.
"Artie, why do you have to be like this? I don't get it, you don't care when Maddie goes out, why am I so different?" Her sister's whining was clear, even through the door.
The only sound from Artie, commonly known as 'Arthur', was angry spluttering – which wasn't all that unusual, when he was talking with her twin. A paragon of elegance anywhere else, but with her sister, he was every inch the nervous teenage boy.
Allison made a lot of boys nervous, it was how she was. Beautiful, charismatic, intelligent (despite all evidence to the contrary), and completely clueless. It was enough to make Maddie jealous, when they were younger, because all the boys forgot her in favor of her twin – until she realized that Ally was so utterly oblivious to it all that she thought they all wanted to be friends with her. It was a wonder that she ever made it through high school.
"Ally," Maddie said, opening the door, hoping to stop the argument before it started. And then her sister's appearance registered. After about a minute of wide-eyed staring, Maddie began to fidget, turning around to leave.
"Madeline," Arthur suddenly grabbed her shoulder. "I need to ask you something, would you let Allison go out tonight to a club wearing that?" 'That' was booty shorts, a white tie crop top, and a pair of strappy high heels. She raised an eyebrow.
"You know, sis, last I checked, you weren't a hooker."
Ally pouted at her sister, then sulkily looked away and crossed her arms over her (ample) chest. "I see how it is. I show a little bit of skin, and you all freak out."
"I-it's not that! Bloody hell! I don't want you to get hurt, and you will, wearing clothes like that!" Arthur sounded both resigned and desperate.
"Ally, you've got to man the front desk, can you two please argue over it later?" Maddie pleaded, giving her best puppy-dog eyes.
"Uh, oops? Sor-ry." Ally didn't look very sorry, but left to work the counter anyways.
"Sorry, Arthur, but I don't think you'll change her mind, see you tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah, course," Arthur replied distractedly, staring after her twin.
Maddie left Arthur to his mooning, and went into her papa's office to find him poring over papers while waiting for her. "Sorry I'm late, had to break up a fight between Ally and Arthur."
Her papa 'hmm'd in response without looking up. He was looking over several files at once, a concerned expression on his face. "Come here, child, tell me what you see."
Maddie drifted over to stand next to him, and gave the scattered papers a once-over. Finances, travel reports, mission reports – with one recurring theme. She furrowed her brow. "Italy? I thought we were getting along with them." All of the papers either seemed to be about traveling back and forth to spy in Italy, or money spent in it. "Didn't we make up with them?"
Papa sharply glanced up to give her a look that said far more than his words. "You've got to learn the difference between 'getting along' and actuallygetting along," he scolded. "Soon you'll be old enough to take over, you can't be so naive!"
"Sorry, father," Maddie whispered, a bit put out. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know all the details of how the Shop worked. She was barely sixteen.But doing it since about six, a traitorous part of her mind hissed. She almost flinched.
To be truthful, they had wanted Ally to be heir. It wasn't all that bad of an assumption, really, because people liked Ally and Ally liked people and had such a loud, commanding presence that she seemed a natural leader.
Originally, Maddie had been heir, birth order and all that, but it then they had chosen Ally after a particularly daring deal she had made. Then back to Maddie when she had managed to defend one of their warehouses from a gang. Then back to Ally three years ago, then back to her again a year ago. At this rate, no one was going to be heir. Maddie wasn't even sure she wanted to be heir.
In fact, Maddie had always assumed that she would be a carrier, or would 'man the front', that sort of thing. She wasn't a leader, people didn't flock to her for her charisma or her savvy. That was Allison, alluring, beautiful Ally.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." Papa sighed, jolting Maddie back to the present as he seemed to droop. "Things have gotten hard lately. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Oh, it's okay, Papa, I know this kind of stuff can be tough on you," Maddie hastened to reply, beginning to worry. Papa wasn't the type of man to lose control in front of anyone, even his own daughters. This had to be really bad.
"Is that what the meeting is about? The Italians?" Maddie asked, jerking back as her father's head snapped up.
"It is! Ah, we don't have much time! Follow me!" Papa grabbed a briefcase by his desk, and rushed through a side door, Maddie following quickly behind. It was times like that he was most reminiscent of Ally.
Papa used to say that, even though they were twins, Ally somehow managed to be just like him, and Maddie managed to be just like their mother.
It gave her a warm sort of glow to think that she was just like Mom, even if she didn't really see it herself. What she remember of Mama was warm and fuzzy. Baking cookies (which, even if Ally liked more, Maddie did better), going to church in Quebec, the kindly old priest and the stained-glass windows. Homemade dinners and a quietly powerful voice that sang old lullabies or read stories or scared underlings into doing exactly what she wanted when she wanted it.
It terrified Maddie to think that she might have to fill the shoes of her earliest hero.
"Maddie? Do try not to daydream during the meeting, I'll need your full attention."
Maddie snapped out of it, embarrassed. "Sorry. Of course, Papa."
"There's a good girl."
It was, as she expected, a rather boring meeting. Even in the underground, meetings somehow managed to be excruciatingly long to a teenage girl.
But no matter how boring, things were looking bad. After the fall-out between their business and the American-Italian mafia those few years ago, more and more dealers and business partners had drawn out, under the claim that they didn't like the business's practices.
It was just an excuse for fear: fear of the Mafia, and fear of a company even the Mafia found dishonest.
They were on the verge of bankruptcy (as Colin, one of their oldest managers, emphasized with much hand-waving and the occasional table slam) and out of jobs within two years if they couldn't convince the others to come back. They wouldn't come back, however, without the support of the Mafia.
All in all, it looked pretty hopeless. Technically, they had the flower shop, which was, in fact, legal and had a pretty good business, but it could never support them compared to the underground Shop. They would lose everything.
Sitting in her father's office, Maddie wasn't afraid to admit her fear. She wanted to do something, anything. But that wasn't really her character, was it? She was the wallflower, the support. She didn't go charging head-first into situations, didn't, couldn't talk her way out of anything, like Ally.
Years later, when she was older and warier, she would understand why her hesitance made her the better leader. She didn't have the charisma of her sister, no, but she had a cool head and a quick mind.
On the other hand, for now she is seventeen and scared to death of the future. It was clear to her that the stress was slowly killing Papa, and she didn't know how they'll survive if he dies too.
"Kitten?" Maddie's head snapped up at the nickname. Her father hadn't called her that in years, and it was disconcerting to hear it now.
"Yes, Papa?"
"I need you to do something for me. It's very important."
"Papa?" He was scaring her. His eyes were looking in her direction, but his expression was blank.
"Your. . . boyfriend," Papa still didn't like Gilbert, which was a shame, because he usually could get along with just about anybody, "goes to Italy with his family each year, yes?"
Where was he going? He knew this already. "Yes, Papa."
"His father is advisor to one of the largest Mafia families in Italy, correct?"
"Yes." It was one of the reasons she had started dating Gilbert, beyond the fact that, when one got past all the complicated political affairs, he could be rather sweet and dorky in his own way.
"I've explained the situation to his father. You will now be going on the trip with them to Italy, ostensibly because you are dating him, and also to try to reconcile our two factions."
Oh. Oh. She felt a bit ill. Her? Maddie? Go reconcile her family's business and a powerful Mafiosi family on their home turf, because of an incident she barely remembered and knew almost no details on? Oh, this was wonderful.
"But, Papa, I, I don't- I don't understand, why me? Couldn't you send someone else, someone who is, I don't know, a good speaker, and, and charming, like, say, Ally? Why me, I'm not good at those sorts of things, I always mess-"
"Madeline!" Her father shouted, instantly quieting her. He rubbed his temples, hard, and she immediately felt guilty that she had possibly given him a headache.
"I'm sorry, sweet, but it seems that you've made such an impression on Gilbert that Romulus will have no one else." Papa looked so sad, so weary.
He didn't want to send her. It clicked in the back of her mind, an epiphany. She was his heir, his oldest, his daughter. But if he wanted to survive, he needed to send her to the lion's den to save everything.
Maddie felt crushed, from the responsibility, from knowing that she had to go, fear or no fear. "I'll go," she whispered, looking more at the floor than her father. Then she lifted her head. "I'll go," Maddie repeated, stronger this time.
Papa lifted his head, a startled expression on his face. "You will? That's wonderful." And he did look relieved, so much so that she couldn't help but feel a bit of relief on his behalf.
"But, ah, Papa, before I go, can I get some sort of report, or something, of what happened? I don't really remember what happened," Maddie prompted. After all, she and Ally had been somewhere around 12, and 'too young' to know the nitty-gritty.
"Yes, of course, I'll bring home a report today or tomorrow, alright? I'll tell Frederick the news, expect Gilbert to invite you."
"Alright, Papa," Maddie said, at this point beginning to tune out most of what her Papa said (with renewed energy and great vigor) in favor of trying to imagine Italy. She had heard stories, of course, how lovely it was, how nice the people, how fashionable the society, and, of course, how delicious the food.
It was supposed to be a vacation (albeit a possibly deadly one), right? Why not have a bit of fun?
A/N: Well, first chapter, I hope I did well! Please feel free to leave concrit, but please try to be a bit specific, so I know where to change things, especially things like over-using words or characterization! This is, well, not really my 'first' fanfic, but certainly the only (hopefully) multi-chaptered fanfic I've got going. I'm trying to get my chapters longer, so we'll see how that goes.
Also, the 'Shop' is a sort of money laundering/middle-man thing, criminals give them money, the Shop cleans it, and buys, ships and delivers whatever they want to them, whether it be drugs, weapons (mostly weapons) or, in one odd case, boxes. Since this will probably stay in Maddie's POV, this wouldn't be explained at all, or not until near the end, and I wanted to clear any confusion up.
As a last note, I'd like for all of you who want to review, to heap praise upon my amazing beta, FlyingSolo365, who has listened to me ponder, make strange grammar choices and just generally being amazing.