Title: Paying Old Debts
Author: Cheryl W.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fastlane or anything in conjunction with Fastlane nor am I making a profit from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Notes: Because that last cliffie was way cruel. I'm posting early. (See I do have a heart!?) Warning: Violence ahead.
Replies to reviews at bottom
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Chapter 9
Fury surged through Van. He should have expected this! It wasn't so much a betrayal by Cade but another one of his tests. The man never tired of head games. For the first time, Van took his eyes off the snake and seared his look into the leader.
With that eye contact, the leader began to understand why Roberts's price had turned so cheap when he had thrown killing the kid into the bargain. This kid was a fighter to his core. With his last breath he would try to kill the man that threatened his friend's lives. With that thought in mind, the leader decided to aim true and raised his gun sights to Van's head.
Fueled by his desperation to save Deaq and Van, Van abandoned his regard for his own life. With reflexes honed by his undercover work, Van grabbed for the snake. As his hand wrapped around the snake, the snake sprang forward for his strike. But before the snake could sink it's teeth into Van's neck, Van sent the snake sailing through the air. Freed of the snake, Van rolled to the left. The leader's bullet sank into the ground where his head had been an instant before.
Seeing their openings, Deaq and Billie turned on their keepers. Deaq charged into the man that stood in front of him, taking them both to the ground to wrestle for the direction of the buyer's gun. Billie had slammed her elbow into the face of the man that stood behind her. Spinning around, she delivered a punch to his face.
As quick as the snake he had just discarded, Van, amid his roll, pulled his gun and coming to halt on his back, he pulled the trigger. Satisfaction and relief went through him as his bullet hit the leader in the chest, spinning the man to the ground. Van was about to check on Deaq and Billie's private battles but before he could, Deaq yelled out his name, drawing his attention to that quarter.
Turning to the wrestling figures of Deaq and his opponent, Van saw a gun barrel pointed his way and, against Deaq's best efforts to prevent it, the buyer's finger was pressing on the trigger. Options flashed through Van's mind a million a second but in truth the best option he could not take...he would not risk taking a shot at the man, not with Deaq so close, not with the two men's fight still frenzied with motion. He had not saved Deaq's life only to take it by accident to save his own life. And before he could even try to gather the strength or the thought of which way to move out of the way, the gun fired.
Relief almost made Deaq go slack in his battle. At the last instant he had managed to wrestle the gun's sights from Van and the bullet shattered one of the truck's headlights. To think how close that bullet had come to hitting Van spurred new energy in Deaq. In an unforeseen action, he relinquished his grip on the other man's arm that he had pinned to the ground and delivered a punch to the man's jaw. The man's head snapped to the right and then his body went slack with unconsciousness. Deaq yanked the gun from the man's grip and looked over to Van with relief.
Then both men's eyes sought out Billie. They watched as she delivered a high powered kick to her opponent's head, dropping him to the ground like a stone. Crossing to her officers, Billie asked, "You two alright?", her assessing eyes swinging from Deaq to Van.
"What, us, alright?" Van quirked, settling his head back on the ground, he looked to Deaq then back to Billie. "Deaq and I always got things covered."
But Deaq's words did not match his tired tone. "Yeah, we were in total control."
"Yeah," Billie sarcastically replied and knelt down beside Van. "You didn't get bit, right?"
Van opened his mouth to answer but Deaq's irritated voice overrode him. "Course maybe you don't want to tell us something like that...maybe you wanna stand silent on something so trivial like a snake bite...Hey why don't we just take you home and we'll check with you tomorrow to see if you're still alive."
Van shot Deaq a scathing look. "One time," and he raised his index finger, "One time I shut up about something ...like you always want me to...and now I gotta take your crap about it forever."
Deaq's voice brimmed with increduolousness, "Van you were dying! Sitting there bleeding all over the Ferrari and saying nothing."
"This is all about the upholstery, isn't it?" Van shot back, knowing that it had nothing to do with the ruined upholstery of a Ferrari.
But Deaq was game to switch the gears, "You bet it is! Do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be to match that interior!"
"Enough!" Billie ordered and when she saw a protest creased Van's face, she put her hand over his mouth. Leaning over him, her eyes seared into Van's, "Did you get bit? Yes or no."
To this Van shook his head but still Billie did not remove her hand from his mouth but fired another question his way.
"Did you pull out any of your stitches?"
This also earned her a shake of Van's head. For a moment she did not move but studied the level of pain in Van's eyes. Determining that Van's pain was minimal, that he was not lying to her, Billie removed her hand from Van's mouth and slid it behind Van's shoulders and eased him to a sitting position.
"That hand over his mouth really worked!?" Deaq said in exaggerated awe. "I gotta try that myself when he's not shutting up." This earned him a dark look from Van but uncharacteristically no words followed. Coming to his feet, Deaq came to Van's side, "Let's get outta here," he said as he bent down and luped his arm around Van. Carefully, Billie and Deaq aided Van to his feet, neither liking the paleness of Van's face.
But Van pulled from their hold and walked over to the leader. With one look, Van knew the man was dead. A thousand thoughts ran through his head at this new turn of events.
Billie knelt down by the briefcase and by the remaining light, could see that the case had held more than it's slithering occupant. Neat stacks of bills also decorated the bottom of the case. "Looks like the bargain price was around fifty thousand." She looked up and focused on Van's back. "Guess your deal with Roberts is off," she said trying hard not to let her relief coat her words.
But Van's voice was rough with finality, "Wrong. It's just been sealed."
"What?!" and Deaq came to stand by Van. "The man set you up to be killed Van! He want's you dead!"
Van hardly heard Deaq's words. He was already trying to come up with his next move. Fifty thousand...he was fifty thousand dollars short...again. And Roberts himself had made sure he was short that amount. Bastard loved playing games. Van's eyes flickered to the dark silhouette of the buyer's car to his left.
Not getting a response from Van, Deaq's hand shot out and he grabbed Van's shoulder, spinning his partner around to face him. "Are you listening to me, Van?! Roberts ain't offering you that deal anymore. All he wants is you dead."
Shaking his head, Van contradicted bitterly. "It was a damn test, Deaq. I pass and the deal is set." Van's eyes flickered again to the Porsche. "Except Roberts asked me to bring back one hundred thousand."
"But he's the one who bargained it down to Fifty," Billie incredulously argued.
"Cause he didn't want to make it too simple for me and he loves throwing that fifty thousand dollar debt back into my face." Van pulled from Deaq's hold and crossed over to the Porsche and opened the door. A smile pulled onto his face, as the keys dangled in the ignition. Looking back to Deaq he questioned, "So how much are Porsches going for these days?"
Trying to get things straight in his head, Deaq recounted, "Alright, Roberts sent you out here to make a drug sale, supposedly for the price of one hundred thousand. But on the side, he cut a bargain price with the buyers if they killed you. You survived the meet and you think the deals now set in stone...as long as you show up with one hundred thousand dollars."
The partners's eyes met across the distance. "I know Cade, Deaq."
"He's one cold, sick bastard!" Deaq yelled back, infuriated that for all the danger they had overcome this night, it had only gotten Van deeper into Cade's clutches.
A cold smirk pulled onto Van's face, "Now you're starting to know him too."
Billie approached Van, "There's gotta be something here that we can flip to our advantage. You said Roberts knows you but you also know Roberts. You know his weaknesses. It's time we turn the tables, Van. He exploited your weakness, now we're gonna start exploiting his."
Indecision warred in Van. He agreed with Billie, he wanted to take action against Cade. To bring him pain the way he had brought him pain. But that was a dangerous game. It could cost him the lives of the people he cared about most or it could cost him his soul.
Van did not notice that Deaq had came to stand at his side until his partner's quiet words cut into his thoughts, "Do you think me and Billie are gonna just walk away. Let you cut this deal with Roberts to save us and then turn out backs on you. That ain't the way it's gonna go down, Van. Every second you're with Roberts, we're gonna be busy planning taking him down. We are not backing off...ever...till you're free of Roberts' hold."
Van read the truth in Deaq's eyes and in Billie's eyes. They would not let him make this sacrifice unchallenged. They were nothing like his father. With certainty he began to realize that the only way this could end well for any of them was if he did as Billie wanted, if he used his familiarity of Cade to bring the man down. Sighing, he put his half formed plan into motion. "Fine. Pull a crate of the drugs out of the truck and throw it in the back of the Porsche." At the questioning looks he received, he added. "It'll come in handy later. For now, we'll stash it at the Candy Store. Unhitch the load and park the cab in the underpass in Hines Street. I'll follow in the Porsche."
"We'll follow in the Porsche," Deaq corrected even as he and Billie began to walk back to the truck.
The plan that had begun in Van's mind wasn't so much detailed as driven. He knew the end result he wanted, maneuvering the game to that end was where uncertainty plagued him. If Cade suspected foul play for one instant, the Candy Store would find itself unmanned...forever. But no matter his doubts, Van knew this was the only route he had open to him. He would finally pay Cade Roberts back, fully... or die trying.
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Without his usual complaints, Van had agreed to let Deaq drive the Porsche while he rode shotgun.
"So we let the drugs back with those two losers, to complete the deal Roberts made with 'em. But we stiffed them a crate of goods and confiscated their Porsche to cover the costs? Isn't Roberts gonna be pissed over the "unprofessionalism" of that transaction."
"He won't care. They were bottom feeder buyers...buyers he only does business with when the goods are tainted."
"Tainted? Like the feds had their meat hooks into them?"
"Yeah, like I said, tainted," and Van gave Deaq a smile.
"You gonna share your plan with us or do Billie and I just have to go into it dark," Deaq lightly pressed, sparing a glance from the road to his partner.
"It's better if you stay out on the fringes on this one, Deaq." Van steadily met Deaq's sharp objective look. "You want this to work?" At Deaq's sarcastic "duh" look, Van continued, "Then let me play it through."
Deaq wanted to protest further but something in Van's look told him it would be a waste of words. With begrudging acceptance he fell silent. After a few minutes he softly spoke. "I know your dad was doing jail time when this whole Roberts thing got it's start but didn't he wanna go after Roberts when he learned what he had done to you."
Van's jaw clenched and he swallowed hard. Deaq would never see the real Raymond Ray, the Raymond Ray that was Van's father.
At Van's silence, Deaq pressed, his voice gentle, "Come on, man. I'm trying to understand this whole thing. I feel like you and me aren't even on the same continent right now."
With Deaq's appeal, Van drew in a deep breath and sat straighter in the seat before he focused on his partner. "By the time my father found out about my working off his debt, I was already clear of Roberts. And his reaction..." Van's eyes darkened, "he was pissed."
"Yeah!" Deaq exclaimed in agreement. "That's what I'm talking about! I know he didn't just let Roberts get away with what he did to you!"
A grimness entered Van's voice, "Deaq, my father wasn't pissed at Roberts."
Deaq almost swerved off the road as his head swung around to face Van. "What!?!" disbelief and betrayal were thick in his voice.
Van held his partner's eyes. "He was pissed at me. He said I had screwed up my one and only chance to run with the big dogs. A chance he wished to God he had had in life."
It felt like someone died to Deaq. Like some bigger than life hero had died or worse, had turned out to be the villain...like he himself had turned out to be the villain. He had rooted for Ray Ray, had criticized Van for his treatment of his father, he had sided against Van time and again in the father son battles he was witness to. Shame darkened his soul. He had defended that bastard to Van.
"Damn, Van...I'm sorry. I...I didn't see.."
With a forced smirk, Van lightly countered, "No one does." At the hatred brewing in Deaq's eyes, Van found himself defending Ray Ray, "And he's not such a bad father..if you're interested in the criminal career choice, he'd back ya one hundred percent."
"But he never backed you, did he?" anger coating Deaq's every word.
To this Van shrugged, "I was strong enough to go it alone."
Now Deaq was recalling the heated arguments he had witnessed between Ray Ray and Van in a new light. "He really wasn't proud of you when you joined the force...he was ashamed of you...and hurt by your decision."
Van looked away, the pain of that fact still stung him.
"And I sided with him against you," self hatred brimming in Deaq's voice. "I was so blind! I let his smooth charisma charm me into turning my back on you... on what you were saying about him. I'm sorry, Van. I'm sorry. I shoulda sided with you."
To this, Van quietly excused Deaq's behavior. "He's a charming bastard, Deaq."
"But I'm your partner! I shoulda stood beside ya!" Deaq protested angrily.
Van turned his look to Deaq, "You did, Deaq. When it counted...always when it counted."
But Deaq shook his head. "If I ever lay eyes on your father again, I'm gonna knock his teeth out."
This got a smile out of Van. "You can try but let me tell you from experience...he's got a rock hard jaw, man."
Deaq heard the lightness in Van's voice and glanced to his partner, surprised to see a smile light up Van's face. He let his own anger begin to fade as he too remembered the fight he had refereed between father and son. "Yeah, I was there Van. Your old man wouldn't go down easy."
"Hardly at all," Van added, a light coming into his eyes.
Deaq gave a snort at that, "Hard headed bastard, that one. Not so unlike his son."
Van laughed, "Hey I told you we shoulda kept the gloves on when we boxed last month. But noooo, you wanted to play it real."
"Well, you shoulda taken off your ring! You almost took out my eye!" Deaq complained easing back into their normal banter.
"No, player, that was my *fist* that nearly took out your eye," Van corrected. "And I woulda taken off my ring except you shoved the glove on my hand before I could remove it. You were all hyped up to lose to me."
"I was hyped up *to beat you*. And I woulda if Billie hadn't came back into the Candy Store and ordered us to stop."
"She didn't order us to stop, she put money down on me. And that's when, all of a sudden, your eye started to hurt you too badly to continue."
"You're such a lair," Deaq accused.
"Takes one to know one," Van taunted back.
But both men couldn't maintain their scowls and instead broke into light laughter. "I'm glad to have the old Van Ray back," Deaq announced, meeting Van's eyes with relief.
"Even the Van Ray that never shuts up?" Van questioned with a smirk.
"Yeah, even that one. I'm tired of holding conversations with myself."
"And I bet they were stupid conversations unlike the intellectual conversations we engage in."
"Yeah," Deaq snorted, "Like does Spider Man always wear his spidey suit under his clothing.."
And that launched Van into a whole boatload of questions about the super powers of comic book heroes. And Deaq eagerly joined in, glad for the banter that Van was offering to him, even as he still recognized the dark look in Van's eyes. This was only a momentary relief in the horror that Van's life had become since Cade Roberts had made his appearance. And Deaq couldn't bear to think about the danger that Van would be walking into when he met up with Roberts in a few hours. He offered up a prayer for Van's safety before he countered Van's ridiculous statement that Wonder Woman was taller than Steve Trevor.
TBC
See no real cliffie here but I'm not making any promises about that being true for the rest of the chapters.
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Cat: Thanks for your review! And sometimes even I wonder how they are getting out of the situations I put them into! Love to hear from you again!
Bjp: Thank you so much for your compliments! And yes, last chapter was an unforgivably mean cliffie but see, I posted this chapter early! As for the Deaq and Van's friendship, I'm a sucker for friendship fics...like you couldn't guess. Glad you're enjoying the story so far. Keep telling me what you think!
Fan4fastln: Sorry about your bad week. I can certainly relate. And do you notice those weeks go on forever!!!! But I have also found a little fanfic reading brightens my mood and sometimes I write some heavy duty angsty story and then I feel a little better about my life. I'm so glad you liked the humor last chapter...you inspired me to add some this chapter! I just wasn't sure if it come off well since they're in such a bad situation but that always seemed when the boys cranked up the light jabs at each other -(that was also one of my favorite things about the series!) And Never ask what else can happen to poor Van ...cause I got way too many ideas on that subject! Hope you're having a great week and that you like this chapter!
Leann: Since I didn't want you to cry, here's the update sooner than usual! And you are sooooo smart! You guessed that Cade was "testing" Van. Fooling you is gonna take some real genius I can see that now. Love to hear what you thought of this chapter!
Sirith: Secretly, I think I love being evil because I loved leaving you with that cliffie last chapter! (Evil indeed!) So how's the job going! I hope great! But remember everything new takes a little time getting use to but before you know it, you're the expert in town! Van angst, could we ever get enough of it!? (I doubt it!) Hope you get time to read and review!
DKM: I'm jealous of your vacation!!! Sounds awesome!! I've been to AZ and I loved it!!! Thank you so much for believing I'm writing this true to the show!!!!! I try real hard because the show is what we all loved and wanted to continue and I try to make that happen for me and for anyone crazy enough to read my stories! You've given me a real great compliment and I think you! And since I didn't want you to start stalking me...I posted this chapter early...that and I couldn't wait to hear your review!
Electricgurl: Thanks for the review! And I love writing cliffhangers...but I'm not so calm about reading them! As for Fastlane on DVD...I haven't heard anything. Way back when the show was on there were bootleg copies selling on Ebay but I haven't checked that avenue out for a while. If you missed some episodes, drop me an email and maybe I can help you track down some copies.
Lynne: Glad you liked my crazy dialogue! When I wrote it, it felt like sometime that threesome would come up with. I'm pleased that I've got you intrigued about what else Van did for Roberts! Thank you so much for pointing out your fav lines!! As for your pep speech about critics, gosh you are so great!!!! Sign me up to be your friend. Thanks!!!!
Ysabel: Medievel....I like that! I'm really happy you like Cade because it's so hard to create an original character that doesn't seem fake. But it's great to make 'em as mean and unscrupulous as you like and to have complete control over their every word and action. Glad you liked the audit line...I guess I couldn't resist since I had just finished during my tax returns! Hope you like this chapter!
Author: Cheryl W.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fastlane or anything in conjunction with Fastlane nor am I making a profit from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Notes: Because that last cliffie was way cruel. I'm posting early. (See I do have a heart!?) Warning: Violence ahead.
Replies to reviews at bottom
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Chapter 9
Fury surged through Van. He should have expected this! It wasn't so much a betrayal by Cade but another one of his tests. The man never tired of head games. For the first time, Van took his eyes off the snake and seared his look into the leader.
With that eye contact, the leader began to understand why Roberts's price had turned so cheap when he had thrown killing the kid into the bargain. This kid was a fighter to his core. With his last breath he would try to kill the man that threatened his friend's lives. With that thought in mind, the leader decided to aim true and raised his gun sights to Van's head.
Fueled by his desperation to save Deaq and Van, Van abandoned his regard for his own life. With reflexes honed by his undercover work, Van grabbed for the snake. As his hand wrapped around the snake, the snake sprang forward for his strike. But before the snake could sink it's teeth into Van's neck, Van sent the snake sailing through the air. Freed of the snake, Van rolled to the left. The leader's bullet sank into the ground where his head had been an instant before.
Seeing their openings, Deaq and Billie turned on their keepers. Deaq charged into the man that stood in front of him, taking them both to the ground to wrestle for the direction of the buyer's gun. Billie had slammed her elbow into the face of the man that stood behind her. Spinning around, she delivered a punch to his face.
As quick as the snake he had just discarded, Van, amid his roll, pulled his gun and coming to halt on his back, he pulled the trigger. Satisfaction and relief went through him as his bullet hit the leader in the chest, spinning the man to the ground. Van was about to check on Deaq and Billie's private battles but before he could, Deaq yelled out his name, drawing his attention to that quarter.
Turning to the wrestling figures of Deaq and his opponent, Van saw a gun barrel pointed his way and, against Deaq's best efforts to prevent it, the buyer's finger was pressing on the trigger. Options flashed through Van's mind a million a second but in truth the best option he could not take...he would not risk taking a shot at the man, not with Deaq so close, not with the two men's fight still frenzied with motion. He had not saved Deaq's life only to take it by accident to save his own life. And before he could even try to gather the strength or the thought of which way to move out of the way, the gun fired.
Relief almost made Deaq go slack in his battle. At the last instant he had managed to wrestle the gun's sights from Van and the bullet shattered one of the truck's headlights. To think how close that bullet had come to hitting Van spurred new energy in Deaq. In an unforeseen action, he relinquished his grip on the other man's arm that he had pinned to the ground and delivered a punch to the man's jaw. The man's head snapped to the right and then his body went slack with unconsciousness. Deaq yanked the gun from the man's grip and looked over to Van with relief.
Then both men's eyes sought out Billie. They watched as she delivered a high powered kick to her opponent's head, dropping him to the ground like a stone. Crossing to her officers, Billie asked, "You two alright?", her assessing eyes swinging from Deaq to Van.
"What, us, alright?" Van quirked, settling his head back on the ground, he looked to Deaq then back to Billie. "Deaq and I always got things covered."
But Deaq's words did not match his tired tone. "Yeah, we were in total control."
"Yeah," Billie sarcastically replied and knelt down beside Van. "You didn't get bit, right?"
Van opened his mouth to answer but Deaq's irritated voice overrode him. "Course maybe you don't want to tell us something like that...maybe you wanna stand silent on something so trivial like a snake bite...Hey why don't we just take you home and we'll check with you tomorrow to see if you're still alive."
Van shot Deaq a scathing look. "One time," and he raised his index finger, "One time I shut up about something ...like you always want me to...and now I gotta take your crap about it forever."
Deaq's voice brimmed with increduolousness, "Van you were dying! Sitting there bleeding all over the Ferrari and saying nothing."
"This is all about the upholstery, isn't it?" Van shot back, knowing that it had nothing to do with the ruined upholstery of a Ferrari.
But Deaq was game to switch the gears, "You bet it is! Do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be to match that interior!"
"Enough!" Billie ordered and when she saw a protest creased Van's face, she put her hand over his mouth. Leaning over him, her eyes seared into Van's, "Did you get bit? Yes or no."
To this Van shook his head but still Billie did not remove her hand from his mouth but fired another question his way.
"Did you pull out any of your stitches?"
This also earned her a shake of Van's head. For a moment she did not move but studied the level of pain in Van's eyes. Determining that Van's pain was minimal, that he was not lying to her, Billie removed her hand from Van's mouth and slid it behind Van's shoulders and eased him to a sitting position.
"That hand over his mouth really worked!?" Deaq said in exaggerated awe. "I gotta try that myself when he's not shutting up." This earned him a dark look from Van but uncharacteristically no words followed. Coming to his feet, Deaq came to Van's side, "Let's get outta here," he said as he bent down and luped his arm around Van. Carefully, Billie and Deaq aided Van to his feet, neither liking the paleness of Van's face.
But Van pulled from their hold and walked over to the leader. With one look, Van knew the man was dead. A thousand thoughts ran through his head at this new turn of events.
Billie knelt down by the briefcase and by the remaining light, could see that the case had held more than it's slithering occupant. Neat stacks of bills also decorated the bottom of the case. "Looks like the bargain price was around fifty thousand." She looked up and focused on Van's back. "Guess your deal with Roberts is off," she said trying hard not to let her relief coat her words.
But Van's voice was rough with finality, "Wrong. It's just been sealed."
"What?!" and Deaq came to stand by Van. "The man set you up to be killed Van! He want's you dead!"
Van hardly heard Deaq's words. He was already trying to come up with his next move. Fifty thousand...he was fifty thousand dollars short...again. And Roberts himself had made sure he was short that amount. Bastard loved playing games. Van's eyes flickered to the dark silhouette of the buyer's car to his left.
Not getting a response from Van, Deaq's hand shot out and he grabbed Van's shoulder, spinning his partner around to face him. "Are you listening to me, Van?! Roberts ain't offering you that deal anymore. All he wants is you dead."
Shaking his head, Van contradicted bitterly. "It was a damn test, Deaq. I pass and the deal is set." Van's eyes flickered again to the Porsche. "Except Roberts asked me to bring back one hundred thousand."
"But he's the one who bargained it down to Fifty," Billie incredulously argued.
"Cause he didn't want to make it too simple for me and he loves throwing that fifty thousand dollar debt back into my face." Van pulled from Deaq's hold and crossed over to the Porsche and opened the door. A smile pulled onto his face, as the keys dangled in the ignition. Looking back to Deaq he questioned, "So how much are Porsches going for these days?"
Trying to get things straight in his head, Deaq recounted, "Alright, Roberts sent you out here to make a drug sale, supposedly for the price of one hundred thousand. But on the side, he cut a bargain price with the buyers if they killed you. You survived the meet and you think the deals now set in stone...as long as you show up with one hundred thousand dollars."
The partners's eyes met across the distance. "I know Cade, Deaq."
"He's one cold, sick bastard!" Deaq yelled back, infuriated that for all the danger they had overcome this night, it had only gotten Van deeper into Cade's clutches.
A cold smirk pulled onto Van's face, "Now you're starting to know him too."
Billie approached Van, "There's gotta be something here that we can flip to our advantage. You said Roberts knows you but you also know Roberts. You know his weaknesses. It's time we turn the tables, Van. He exploited your weakness, now we're gonna start exploiting his."
Indecision warred in Van. He agreed with Billie, he wanted to take action against Cade. To bring him pain the way he had brought him pain. But that was a dangerous game. It could cost him the lives of the people he cared about most or it could cost him his soul.
Van did not notice that Deaq had came to stand at his side until his partner's quiet words cut into his thoughts, "Do you think me and Billie are gonna just walk away. Let you cut this deal with Roberts to save us and then turn out backs on you. That ain't the way it's gonna go down, Van. Every second you're with Roberts, we're gonna be busy planning taking him down. We are not backing off...ever...till you're free of Roberts' hold."
Van read the truth in Deaq's eyes and in Billie's eyes. They would not let him make this sacrifice unchallenged. They were nothing like his father. With certainty he began to realize that the only way this could end well for any of them was if he did as Billie wanted, if he used his familiarity of Cade to bring the man down. Sighing, he put his half formed plan into motion. "Fine. Pull a crate of the drugs out of the truck and throw it in the back of the Porsche." At the questioning looks he received, he added. "It'll come in handy later. For now, we'll stash it at the Candy Store. Unhitch the load and park the cab in the underpass in Hines Street. I'll follow in the Porsche."
"We'll follow in the Porsche," Deaq corrected even as he and Billie began to walk back to the truck.
The plan that had begun in Van's mind wasn't so much detailed as driven. He knew the end result he wanted, maneuvering the game to that end was where uncertainty plagued him. If Cade suspected foul play for one instant, the Candy Store would find itself unmanned...forever. But no matter his doubts, Van knew this was the only route he had open to him. He would finally pay Cade Roberts back, fully... or die trying.
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Without his usual complaints, Van had agreed to let Deaq drive the Porsche while he rode shotgun.
"So we let the drugs back with those two losers, to complete the deal Roberts made with 'em. But we stiffed them a crate of goods and confiscated their Porsche to cover the costs? Isn't Roberts gonna be pissed over the "unprofessionalism" of that transaction."
"He won't care. They were bottom feeder buyers...buyers he only does business with when the goods are tainted."
"Tainted? Like the feds had their meat hooks into them?"
"Yeah, like I said, tainted," and Van gave Deaq a smile.
"You gonna share your plan with us or do Billie and I just have to go into it dark," Deaq lightly pressed, sparing a glance from the road to his partner.
"It's better if you stay out on the fringes on this one, Deaq." Van steadily met Deaq's sharp objective look. "You want this to work?" At Deaq's sarcastic "duh" look, Van continued, "Then let me play it through."
Deaq wanted to protest further but something in Van's look told him it would be a waste of words. With begrudging acceptance he fell silent. After a few minutes he softly spoke. "I know your dad was doing jail time when this whole Roberts thing got it's start but didn't he wanna go after Roberts when he learned what he had done to you."
Van's jaw clenched and he swallowed hard. Deaq would never see the real Raymond Ray, the Raymond Ray that was Van's father.
At Van's silence, Deaq pressed, his voice gentle, "Come on, man. I'm trying to understand this whole thing. I feel like you and me aren't even on the same continent right now."
With Deaq's appeal, Van drew in a deep breath and sat straighter in the seat before he focused on his partner. "By the time my father found out about my working off his debt, I was already clear of Roberts. And his reaction..." Van's eyes darkened, "he was pissed."
"Yeah!" Deaq exclaimed in agreement. "That's what I'm talking about! I know he didn't just let Roberts get away with what he did to you!"
A grimness entered Van's voice, "Deaq, my father wasn't pissed at Roberts."
Deaq almost swerved off the road as his head swung around to face Van. "What!?!" disbelief and betrayal were thick in his voice.
Van held his partner's eyes. "He was pissed at me. He said I had screwed up my one and only chance to run with the big dogs. A chance he wished to God he had had in life."
It felt like someone died to Deaq. Like some bigger than life hero had died or worse, had turned out to be the villain...like he himself had turned out to be the villain. He had rooted for Ray Ray, had criticized Van for his treatment of his father, he had sided against Van time and again in the father son battles he was witness to. Shame darkened his soul. He had defended that bastard to Van.
"Damn, Van...I'm sorry. I...I didn't see.."
With a forced smirk, Van lightly countered, "No one does." At the hatred brewing in Deaq's eyes, Van found himself defending Ray Ray, "And he's not such a bad father..if you're interested in the criminal career choice, he'd back ya one hundred percent."
"But he never backed you, did he?" anger coating Deaq's every word.
To this Van shrugged, "I was strong enough to go it alone."
Now Deaq was recalling the heated arguments he had witnessed between Ray Ray and Van in a new light. "He really wasn't proud of you when you joined the force...he was ashamed of you...and hurt by your decision."
Van looked away, the pain of that fact still stung him.
"And I sided with him against you," self hatred brimming in Deaq's voice. "I was so blind! I let his smooth charisma charm me into turning my back on you... on what you were saying about him. I'm sorry, Van. I'm sorry. I shoulda sided with you."
To this, Van quietly excused Deaq's behavior. "He's a charming bastard, Deaq."
"But I'm your partner! I shoulda stood beside ya!" Deaq protested angrily.
Van turned his look to Deaq, "You did, Deaq. When it counted...always when it counted."
But Deaq shook his head. "If I ever lay eyes on your father again, I'm gonna knock his teeth out."
This got a smile out of Van. "You can try but let me tell you from experience...he's got a rock hard jaw, man."
Deaq heard the lightness in Van's voice and glanced to his partner, surprised to see a smile light up Van's face. He let his own anger begin to fade as he too remembered the fight he had refereed between father and son. "Yeah, I was there Van. Your old man wouldn't go down easy."
"Hardly at all," Van added, a light coming into his eyes.
Deaq gave a snort at that, "Hard headed bastard, that one. Not so unlike his son."
Van laughed, "Hey I told you we shoulda kept the gloves on when we boxed last month. But noooo, you wanted to play it real."
"Well, you shoulda taken off your ring! You almost took out my eye!" Deaq complained easing back into their normal banter.
"No, player, that was my *fist* that nearly took out your eye," Van corrected. "And I woulda taken off my ring except you shoved the glove on my hand before I could remove it. You were all hyped up to lose to me."
"I was hyped up *to beat you*. And I woulda if Billie hadn't came back into the Candy Store and ordered us to stop."
"She didn't order us to stop, she put money down on me. And that's when, all of a sudden, your eye started to hurt you too badly to continue."
"You're such a lair," Deaq accused.
"Takes one to know one," Van taunted back.
But both men couldn't maintain their scowls and instead broke into light laughter. "I'm glad to have the old Van Ray back," Deaq announced, meeting Van's eyes with relief.
"Even the Van Ray that never shuts up?" Van questioned with a smirk.
"Yeah, even that one. I'm tired of holding conversations with myself."
"And I bet they were stupid conversations unlike the intellectual conversations we engage in."
"Yeah," Deaq snorted, "Like does Spider Man always wear his spidey suit under his clothing.."
And that launched Van into a whole boatload of questions about the super powers of comic book heroes. And Deaq eagerly joined in, glad for the banter that Van was offering to him, even as he still recognized the dark look in Van's eyes. This was only a momentary relief in the horror that Van's life had become since Cade Roberts had made his appearance. And Deaq couldn't bear to think about the danger that Van would be walking into when he met up with Roberts in a few hours. He offered up a prayer for Van's safety before he countered Van's ridiculous statement that Wonder Woman was taller than Steve Trevor.
TBC
See no real cliffie here but I'm not making any promises about that being true for the rest of the chapters.
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Cat: Thanks for your review! And sometimes even I wonder how they are getting out of the situations I put them into! Love to hear from you again!
Bjp: Thank you so much for your compliments! And yes, last chapter was an unforgivably mean cliffie but see, I posted this chapter early! As for the Deaq and Van's friendship, I'm a sucker for friendship fics...like you couldn't guess. Glad you're enjoying the story so far. Keep telling me what you think!
Fan4fastln: Sorry about your bad week. I can certainly relate. And do you notice those weeks go on forever!!!! But I have also found a little fanfic reading brightens my mood and sometimes I write some heavy duty angsty story and then I feel a little better about my life. I'm so glad you liked the humor last chapter...you inspired me to add some this chapter! I just wasn't sure if it come off well since they're in such a bad situation but that always seemed when the boys cranked up the light jabs at each other -(that was also one of my favorite things about the series!) And Never ask what else can happen to poor Van ...cause I got way too many ideas on that subject! Hope you're having a great week and that you like this chapter!
Leann: Since I didn't want you to cry, here's the update sooner than usual! And you are sooooo smart! You guessed that Cade was "testing" Van. Fooling you is gonna take some real genius I can see that now. Love to hear what you thought of this chapter!
Sirith: Secretly, I think I love being evil because I loved leaving you with that cliffie last chapter! (Evil indeed!) So how's the job going! I hope great! But remember everything new takes a little time getting use to but before you know it, you're the expert in town! Van angst, could we ever get enough of it!? (I doubt it!) Hope you get time to read and review!
DKM: I'm jealous of your vacation!!! Sounds awesome!! I've been to AZ and I loved it!!! Thank you so much for believing I'm writing this true to the show!!!!! I try real hard because the show is what we all loved and wanted to continue and I try to make that happen for me and for anyone crazy enough to read my stories! You've given me a real great compliment and I think you! And since I didn't want you to start stalking me...I posted this chapter early...that and I couldn't wait to hear your review!
Electricgurl: Thanks for the review! And I love writing cliffhangers...but I'm not so calm about reading them! As for Fastlane on DVD...I haven't heard anything. Way back when the show was on there were bootleg copies selling on Ebay but I haven't checked that avenue out for a while. If you missed some episodes, drop me an email and maybe I can help you track down some copies.
Lynne: Glad you liked my crazy dialogue! When I wrote it, it felt like sometime that threesome would come up with. I'm pleased that I've got you intrigued about what else Van did for Roberts! Thank you so much for pointing out your fav lines!! As for your pep speech about critics, gosh you are so great!!!! Sign me up to be your friend. Thanks!!!!
Ysabel: Medievel....I like that! I'm really happy you like Cade because it's so hard to create an original character that doesn't seem fake. But it's great to make 'em as mean and unscrupulous as you like and to have complete control over their every word and action. Glad you liked the audit line...I guess I couldn't resist since I had just finished during my tax returns! Hope you like this chapter!