The Roman Empire

Chapter 2

Okay update time. All reviews are welcome even flames because how am I supposed to get better if I don't get any negative feedback.

Carmine Falcone always hated family gatherings. There was a reason for it; he just never really knew quite what it was. But now, as he stood alongside his family members on that hot June day, he knew exactly why he hated family gatherings.

He stood there, almost paralyzed, staring into that gaping hole where they lowered his mother, and he knew the reason: it was because there was always that possibility that someone would turn up dead. And now, Carmine's worst dreams were realized.

A tear fell into the dry, brown earth.

Around him, Carmine could tell that few people were actually crying. This infuriated him in ways he feared, and he tried his best to calm himself down.

He noticed his father in the same position he was in, standing by the hole, trying desperately to hold tears back, but failed in his attempts.

From somewhere at the back of the crowd, Milos approached. He held his hat with his two hands and kept his nose to the ground.

"I-I'm sorry of your loss," he said in a soft tone.

"It wasn't your fault, Milos"

"But I was in charge of security, and he got past," he said as he remembered the night Vivian Falcone was murdered.

"Look at me, Milos" he said, drawing Milos's face closer to his so their eyes would lock. "It wasn't your fault."

"Of course, it wasn't" a booming voice came from behind them. "There's a rat in our family." Vincent Falcone padded towards them, flanked by two guards. "When I find whoever is responsible---"

"You want to blame someone for what happened." Carmine suddenly said. "Why don't you blame yourself?"

"Your mother's death was not my fault!" Vincent said angrily. "It was those damn Maronis."

It frightened people, the way they fought. It was like watching two devils at each other's necks. They were so intimidating when they were angry and they were intimidating in the same way which probably made it scarier for some people because they all knew that Carmine would one day be exactly like his father.

"She wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for you!" Carmine answered back.

Everyone there saw it. They saw the look in Carmine's eyes, and they feared him just as they feared Vincent.

"Alright, that's enough out of both of you!" Finally Antonio decided to get between the two men. Others followed his lead and tried to separate them.

Carmine tried with all his power to escape their grip, but when he couldn't he gave up.

"Carmine, I think you should leave" Antonio urged his brother.

"Don't worry. I'm leaving" with that said, Carmine disappeared into the crowd.

---

He felt so dirty like there was a stench on him that couldn't be removed by simply taking a bath. What have I done? he thought. They're coming for me. Vincent Falcone's going to come down on me hard and I'll pay for what I did.

"Luca!" A voice came from behind him. It's them, he thought.

"Luca!" it went again.

He tried to get away, but the person following him drew closer. Soon, the man following him would catch up.

Luca "Toots" Mareli ran as fast as he could, past the old, brick houses of east end, past the littered streets of Gotham.

Luca looked back at the man after him. At first, the man was gone, but then, out of the shadows he came like some sort of monster out of hell. In fear, Luca Mareli ran blindly through the alleyways of Gotham.

"Get away form me!" he said as he tripped over a trash can.

"Luca what's your problem?" the man asked as he helped Luca to his feet. "You're a made man now. We just need you to do one last thing."

"No, I'm done" he said, pushing the man away. "with all of it: the family, the crime, all of it."

"Don't be stupid, Luca."

"No!" he exclaimed. "I'm not. For the first time since I joined the family, I'm being smart."

Salvatore Maroni's features seamed to darken. Before Luca could react, Sal had grabbed his shirt and pushed him to the wall. "Now, you look here, you piece of shit. You may think you're doing the right thing here, but in Gotham that ain't worth nothing. And if you quit on us, we're gonna hunt you down, and you're going to end up at the bottom of Gotham river just like the rest of those Falcones. You understand me?"

Luca gave a small nod, fearful that he would get exactly what Sal promised. And yet he seemed to hesitate like there was something good still lingering inside. But just like most people in Gotham, that was pushed aside by the fear of death.

Upon seeing the reaction, Salvatore Maroni released Luca, and neatly tidied up Luca's suit. "We're all friends here Luca, and I just want what's best for you, for us. Now, about that job…"

---

Jim Gordon knelt in the front row of the church. This time it was the clean church, the one in upper Gotham. Similar to the old one though, the church was almost empty, vacant of life.

It was night again. The day just seemed to zip by. Gordon had heard of Vivian Falcone's murder, and was just about to do an autopsy of it when the body was suddenly released. The Falcones had paid off the police to give them the body immediately. Gordon didn't even bother to protest. He just simply made his way to the nearest church.

He prayed again. Perhaps it was the same prayer from the other night, the one that ended with something needs to be done, but no one could really be certain.

Jim heard a rustling from somewhere in the back rooms. It's probably the priest, he thought. He stood up to look for him because something inside him urged him to have confession. For Jim Gordon, allowing the criminals to run free was as bad as being one of them. He needed to be forgiven for his sins.

He made his way to the door to the back room. Just as he reached for the handle, the door swung open, away from him. There, in front of him, stood a woman. She was quite pretty and had red hair.

Jim looked at the expression on her face. She seemed embarrassed, and he knew why. She walked past him, keeping her head down.

As Gordon turned back to the door, he found the priest standing within the door frame.

"May I help you?" the father asked.

"No," Jim replied nodding his head.

Outside, Jim Gordon leaned against the stone walls of the church. He removed his glasses and began to massage the bridge of his nose. God, even the priests, he thought weeping inside. Is there really no hope for Gotham?

A tear fell to the ground.

---

When dealing with a loss, a person goes through five stages. And Antonio Falcone began to feel the effects of the second stage, anger. For the first time in his life, Antonio understood why his father hated the Maronis so badly.

They deserved death and more, and Antonio was going to go to all lengths to give them exactly that. He would destroy everything they loved: their family, their "business".

He came to Carmine's house with two men in tow. They were going to make the Maronis pay, but he felt that Carmine needed to be with them.

"No" Carmine said with every bit of conviction in his voice.

"What do you mean no?" Antonio asked in disbelief at his brother's response. "They killed mother! They should pay!"

"Let justice punish them."

Antonio had to admit, although he respected Carmine's desire to leave the family, he never understood why Carmine had so much hope in Gotham.

"Justice? Carmine, we're in Gotham. There is no justice. We are the only future Gotham has."

"That doesn't mean we're the right future!"

Antonio finally gave up in his attempts convince his brother. "Fine. You want to go to Metropolis and have your life, Carmine? Okay, but I never thought you'd forget where you came from. These people killed ma, and all you can think about is the first flight out of Gotham."

Antonio left with the men closely following him. Carmine stood in the middle of the room, motionless. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for what he had done. He believed he was doing the right thing, but then he remembered that in Gotham City, doing the right thing ain't worth shit.

Louisa peaked from the other room, somewhat concerned at how her husband was doing after the conversation with his brother. "You okay?"

He looked at her, and something in his eyes told her he wasn't.

"You're going after him" it wasn't a question.

"Yes," was his reply. "I don't know what I'll do if he dies. There's been too much death already."

"Carmine, please don't." but it was quite evident in Carmine's body language that he had his mind made up.

Carmine gave his wife a hug then called his children into the room. Sophia and Mario approached their father slowly somewhat unsure of what was happening. Carmine then gave them a hug. He turned to his wife again. "I promise I'll be back."

With a quick nod to Milos, they were off.

As Carmine shut the door, he did not notice the clear tears that started form in the sides of Louisa's eyes.

A tear fell to the ground.

---

Luca "Toots" Mareli sat impatiently in a rather small car which he thought was not at all suited for a mobster. For one thing the trunk was too small, but he was starting to drift from the topic that worried him the most.

Inside the car with him were two other gentlemen whom Salvatore Maroni had insisted to go with him just in case Luca's conscience starts to act up again.

Luca did not personally know the two men, but he had seen them up and down the block near their compound on occasion. One of them was an Irishman: Peter "Petey" Sullivan. He was supposedly some sort of bomb expert and highly trusted by the Maroni family. The other was Michael Skeevers. Luca didn't know little to anything about him. All he knew was that he worked for the Maronis and that meant he was a bad man.

"Ya alright, Mareli?" Sullivan asked. "Ya look a bit jumpy."

"Fine" he said, wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.

Michael took a quick glance at him then began to speak. "Alright, you both know the plan. We go in there, get what we need then we get out. Clear?"

Petey nodded his head immediately. Luca took longer to nod, but he nodded nonetheless.

It was then that they saw Antonio Falcone leave with to guards on their car.

Sullivan reached for the car door, but Michael told him to wait. "Let's wait for a few more minutes."

Five minutes later, they saw Carmine and Milos leaving in the same direction as Antonio.

"Let the show begin."

---

Jim Gordon had just about enough of it. He didn't care anymore if he would get fired from his job. He was going to the docks, where the criminals were, and he was going to make good his promise in the church.

Slowly and somewhat wraithlike, Jim Gordon snuck into the part of the Gotham docks where the drugs were getting smuggled in through. He melded with the shadows perfectly which he was thankful for because one mistake would cost him his life. He ran through the docks like a monster in the dark. Any of the guards who thought they heard anything were left with nothing more than just ghosts and shadows.

He produced a black 9MM pistol from within the folds of his brown trench coat.

Cautiously he came within distance of the working men who were unloading the drugs from the ships.

He scanned the area and recognized some of the men who were there. Salvatore Maroni was there as well as some of the Gigantes men. Sal's older brother was there as well, Aldo Maroni. But the one who stood out amongst all of them was the man who stood in the middle, overseeing the unloading of the drugs. There stood Luigi Maroni, one of the most feared men in Gotham.

Jim Gordon cocked his weapon. Something was about to be done.

---

Antonio Falcone came into the dock's gates. His headlights were all that illuminated the dark path ahead of them. Upon exiting the car, he went straight for the trunk and started distributing the weapons inside to the two men with him.

Suddenly a bright light emanated from behind them. A black car then parked itself next to theirs.

Carmine and Milos came from within the vehicles.

"So you did decide to come."

"I'm just here to make sure you don't end up dead. I can't take it if I lose another loved one to those Maronis."

Antonio simply gave a warm smile at the comment.

"Let's go!"

The five men ran into the darkness of the docks with uncertainty in their hearts. They pushed through the black haze that seemed to envelop everything that night. They made their way for the light ahead of them. It was not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the darkness made it seem that way.

They stopped at the edge of the light, staying in the shadows enough so that their position was not given away. Antonio gave the signal, and they all cocked their weapons.

He directed the two Falcone thugs to a certain area. Soon, they had surrounded their targets.

The first man looked through the lens of the sniper rifle he had in his hand. A deep breath, then he fired. The shots echoed through the air. One of the men unloading the drugs fell into a lifeless heap.

Instinctively, everyone there jumped for cover, and the Falcones unloaded on their adversaries. Bullets were spewed in all directions. Sparks from the ricochets lit up the night. The gunshots sounded like thunder rolling down from the heavens sent forth by the Gods to finally punish the wicked for their sins.

Over the gunfire, Carmine heard his brother's laughter at the death that unfolded before them.

"Die, you fucking Maronis!" he screamed. "This is for Ma!"

The Maronis fell one by one, and bodies heaped up on the ground. Luigi Maroni ordered a retreat, and without hesitation they all complied. "Boys! Get into the car!" he barked at his two sons.

Sal entered the car backwards as he continued to fire into the blinding darkness.

"Go!" Aldo said. "We'll hold them back."

Luigi simply nodded once and they were out of there.

"They're getting away! Get them!" the older Falcone ordered. They charged in after the car, but the remaining Maroni thugs prevented them from getting any farther.

A bullet entered one of the Falcone thug's chest. The other one fell as a bullet ripped through his knee. Carmine would never forget the sound of his screaming.

Skillfully, Antonio dropped down to one knee and took aim. He fired one shot for each of them. All of them hit except for the one intended for Aldo.

Aldo, upon realizing he was the only one left, ran deeper into the docks. Antonio tried to give chase, but Carmine grabbed his arm. "Just let him go."

Carmine held on to his brother's arm a bit longer because he felt Antonio would still go after the escaped opponent, but after awhile, Antonio calmed down.

"Alright, I suppose we're done here" he said somewhat happy with what had happened. "Let's go home."

---

Aldo tripped.

His face met the wet ground with a loud thud. And he wouldn't even dare think how pathetic he looked falling like a wimp. He picked himself up then brushed off the dirt on his suit.

As he began to return to his previous endeavor (getting away), he was stopped by a voice from behind.

"Stop!" the voice went.

Aldo turned around to find a man in a trench coat pointing a gun at him. He knew immediately who it was. Sal had told him all about the new cop.

"I know you. You're that good cop. Gordon, was it? You can't touch me. I'm a Maroni; I'm untouchable!"

Jim Gordon seemed to be in a dilemma. He lowered his weapon.

"That's right."

But then, Jim raised it again and fired at Aldo's leg. Aldo collapsed to the ground, clutching the area the bullet had gone through.

"You son of a bitch! You're gonna pay for this."

Jim Gordon knelt down beside him, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right…" he said as he cuffed Aldo's hands behind his back.

Something had been done.

---

The Falcones returned home relatively feeling triumphant. A victory had been won, and they had every right to gloat. Even Carmine couldn't help but feel a bit of pride. They had just returned from the hospital to drop off the bodyguard whose knee had been ripped apart into pieces.

In the backseat, Milos was cleaning up all the blood that had been left behind.

They came into the driveway to find Louisa kneeling on the sidewalk. Carmine quickly rushed to her side. "Louisa? What happened? Why are you out here?"

She struggled to speak in between sobs. "They came after you left. They- they took Mario!"

Carmine was horrified by the words. He crumpled up beside her similar to the way she was. Just like that, all the good feelings he had earlier were washed away by a wave of sadness and hopelessness. And what made it worse was that he knew somewhere in Gotham city, Luigi Maroni was smiling.

Next time: Carmine, alongside Antonio and Milos, searches for his son and the men responsible.