Disclaimer: I own nothing and have no illusions otherwise.
Spoilers: Everything through S2 finale.
A.N.: Thanks to the wonderful sfchemist and bujyo for their help and patience in getting this story done. I know I was a real pain in the a** constantly looking for positive reinforcement. The story is just about finished and I want to get it posted before the premiere airs and I have to accept their version of the story.
Castles Burning
Title comes from Neil Young song Don't Let It Bring You Down:
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
and you will come around.
Chapter 1: Fuhgeddaboutit
November 1977: New Jersey
He knew he was in serious trouble. This time he'd picked the wrong people to borrow money from and it was coming back to bite him in the ass.
When he arrived at the abandoned warehouse, they were waiting for him. His friend from the track, Eddie, was there too. He wasn't surprised since he'd been the one to hook him up with these Mafia bastards in the first place. If they didn't agree do the job, they'd be killed. And if they did do it, well, he could only hope in the end they'd be slightly better than dead.
"Jimmy, my boy! So glad you could make it." He recognized the guy from the last meeting. Everybody called him Vinny "Shoes" Scarletti and he was supposedly the Boss's right hand man. Word on the street was that the "Shoes" referred to all the guys he'd put in cement before dumping them into Newark Bay.
"I'm here," he sneered back. "Let's just do this already."
"Patience, Jimmy, patience," Scarletti said calmly as he came and put an arm around Jimmy's shoulders, leading him toward the rest of the group. "You wanna make sure you get it right, don't you. It'd be a shame if something happened to you or that pretty family of yours."
***
The job went south a little too quickly, especially considering all the months of planning involved.
It wasn't until Jimmy was locked up in a cell that he had time to think about what went wrong. He went over it in his head and realized that the Feds couldn't have gotten there that soon...unless, they knew when it was going to go down.
Was it a set up?
'How?' he kept asking himself over and over again, knowing he didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle. Kicking the concrete wall of his cell he cursed, "God damn it!"
"Y'okay over there, Jimmy?" Eddie called out.
"Yeah, fuckin' terrific! What the hell did you get us into with those gavones, you moron?"
"It's not like I had a choice. They threatened my family, Jimmy, and I know they said they'd go after yours too."
"Damn it! I never shoulda let you talk me into takin' any money from them."
"We're screwed. Aren't we, Jimmy?" Eddie asked in a quieter voice as he sat down on the bunk, not really wanting to know the answer.
Jimmy didn't say anything right away. Leaning forward, he rested his head on the wall and thought about the options in front of them. He knew the mob had long arms and couldn't imagine that prison would keep them much safer than they'd be on the street.
"Either way, Eddie," he finally said in reply, "we're dead."
Just as silence settled between them, each man lost in his own thoughts, a loud clanking echoed through the cellblock as the door opened. They could only listen to the sound of the footfalls making their way down the corridor toward them.
Eddie looked up just as the men in the suits came into his line of vision. His surprise turned quickly to curiosity as he watched them open Jimmy's cell and enter. He strained to try and hear what was being said, but was too nervous to move any closer. So he let his imagination run wild and sat back on his bunk, figuring Jimmy would tell him when the meeting was over.
After the men entered his cell and Jimmy got a good look at them, it wasn't difficult to figure out that they weren't Feds. Their identity piqued his interest and instead of telling them to go to hell, he sat down and waited.
***
It was the second time in the past month that they were getting ready to change his location and he had started wondering just how well he was really being protected.
Jimmy was never really convinced about the whole idea of testifying against the mob. He'd heard tales of a witness protection program, but nothing to put any stock in. The men that had visited him that night in his cell had offered him a way out of his current situation and the chance at a new life, with or without his family. It hadn't taken him any thought at all to choose the latter.
The truth was, as much as his heart ached for his little girl, he had already made the decision to leave before the job went down. He never had any intention of going back to that house or that life. Now, after it was becoming clear that he was still at great risk, he was left wondering why he was putting himself on the line to help bring down the mob. 'I mean, these assholes ain't offerin' me anythin' I can't do for myself,' Jimmy mused as he waited for the Marshals that were protecting him to take him to his next location.
It was during the transfer that he made his decision. There was no way he'd trust his life to anyone, but himself. He knew the mob would be gunning for him as long as he was breathing, testimony or not, so at least not testifying would allow for the possibility that they'd stop coming at him with quite as much urgency. And as far as the Feds went, he'd had more than enough experience staying under the radar that he was willing to take his chances.
***
Yesterday: Albuquerque
"Where the hell were you the other night?" Mary barked at Raph as he walked through the door after work, her voice full of accusation.
"Why do you care? You're the one that kicked me out, Mary?"
"I did not…"
"No," Raph snapped angrily, cutting her off, "Don't try to say you didn't, because you did. You chose your partner over me, like you always do."
"What the hell are you talking about?" she questioned as the tension spread through her already sore muscles. She had been home from the hospital less than a week and it only took a couple of days of her being back in the house for the fighting to begin. "You're the one that came in and accused Marshall of interfering with my recovery."
The first couple of days back at home had been rough. Mary had been in a lot of pain and was appreciative that Raph was there to run interference with Jinx. But once she was able to move around more freely on her own, the hovering began to annoy her and then the fighting had commenced.
It had started with Raph trying to tell her what she was and wasn't allowed to do, which only aggravated Mary and caused her to insist on doing everything by herself. They each got defensive and reacted to the other by playing the 'I told you so' card whenever possible, until things escalated and all they did was argue. The situation the other night with Marshall seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back and they'd both had enough.
"Well, what am I supposed to think when I come home to find him here and you talking about getting back to work? You only just got out of the hospital!" He took a deep breath to calm himself and ran his hand through his hair in frustration before adding, "And you did kick me out. You said, 'this is my house and if you don't like the conversation, then leave.' So that's what I did, Mary, I left. I'm actually surprised you even noticed."
"Oh, I noticed, all right," Mary spat, fuming over the fact that he was trying to make himself the victim in this situation. "I noticed that your ass didn't come home." It had been the night before last that he had walked out and not come home. As a result, Mary had refused to speak to him when he finally did arrive and spent last night on the couch.
Anticipating the fight to come upon his return from work today, she had spent the entire time he was gone in a foul mood and had taken a preemptive strike at him as soon he arrived. Unfortunately, it hadn't made her feel any better, especially since it seemed that the more riled up she got, the calmer Raph looked; which irritated her to no end.
The lack of emotion in his voice as he finally responded to her last outburst, surprised her. And what he said, was the last thing she expected to hear in that moment.
"Choose, Mary. Become my wife and build a life and family with me, or go back to work and your partner."
She knew, instinctively, that he was serious. And as much as she wanted to say something, she kept her comments about him being an ass to herself. In fact, she didn't say anything at all.
It was her lack of an answer that confirmed the conclusion Raphael had already drawn in his head and he knew there would be no more arguments on the subject. Telling her he'd be back for his things the next day, he turned and walked back out the door.
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