The Crane and the Falcon
Chapter II
Many, many thanks and kisses to Blodeuedd, my one but fantastic reviewer! OMG I was so totally lifted by your review, thank you, thank you, thank you! I tried to make this as original as possible, what with all the Cranefics floating around out there.
This little fiction is going to alternate between the events during and after the movie and flashbacks to how Crane and Sakura met…
-- Four Months Earlier --
Carmine Falcone and his niece, the beautiful but deadly Sakura, sat in the private back booth of the former's restaurant. She picked neatly through her shrimp scampi while he tore at what appeared to be a pig's leg.
"Are you coming to the Opera 'dis year?" the elder said around bites of his meal. He patted his face quickly with the soft cloth napkin and peered over the table at Sakura.
She nodded her head and her dark eyes twinkled. "I wouldn't miss it, Uncle," she purred. Her voice had always been low, and even in her childhood and times of frustration it was soft and catlike in nature. "Besides, I have no," she narrowed her almond eyes and laughed slowly, "prior engagements to speak of this year." Her laugh was cold, unfeeling, like a bar of iron in the depth of winter.
Carmine smirked, "Of course." The engagement of which Sakura spoke was a favor she carried out for her uncle when a deal of his had gone sour and two of his lackeys and half a dozen of their friends decided to squeal to the police. It was an easy job. In. Out. Dead. Done. Just the way she liked it.
"So, how's your mother?" Carmine, despite being an ultimate criminal and an all-around bastard, he was quite attached to his family and particularly favored his sister-in-law, even in the light of Nyoko's divorce from his brother.
"She's well. Can't complain, sitting up in her palace of a penthouse with a football team of maids at her beck and call." Sakura smiled dryly. Her mother was the quintessential socialite, scheming and frozen, but Sakura loved her just the same. Besides, the woman was quite the gifted tennis player.
Falcone chuckled. "That's your mother," he muttered, taking another bite of meat. His eyes were drawn to something over Sakura's shoulder. "Ah, right on time." He rose himself from his chair and nodded his head.
Sakura turned to see a thin and pale man being searched by two of her uncle's goons. His glasses were knocked askew by one of the muscular lumps patting him down and he grimaced.
"Get outta here," Falcone spat, waving his hands at the men. They nodded and stepped back around the curtain separating the back dining area from the rest of the restaurant. "Crane, have a seat."
Crane grimaced. He was a doctor, and should be respected as such. Nevertheless, Crane gave Falcone a cold smile and sat down. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a women taking a sip of red wine.
"Crane, my niece Sakura," Falcone said, gesturing to the women sitting across from him. She sat on the right of Crane and was currently examining her hair in her compact. "Sakura, Crane works down the Narrows at the asylum."
She shut the compact with a snap and her chocolate eyes met Crane's. She hadn't expected those eyes on such a bookish character. "A pleasure, Mr. Crane," she murmured.
"Yes, indeed," the doctor returned. His eyes stayed with her for a moment, taking in her appearance. She had black hair that gleamed in the mock candlelight and almond-shaped eyes to match. Her Japanese and Italian genes had mixed perfectly, yielding the better features of both nationalities.
Falcone didn't notice the quick exchange between his niece and the good doctor and started on about the drug smuggling. "So, when can we start 'specting your goods down the docks?"
Crane cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "The first shipments are due next week. I understand your drugs are shipped inside stuffed bears?"
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Sakura smiled to herself. Ever the stereotypical mobster, her uncle was. It was as if Francis Ford Coppola had followed Falcone for a week to accurately portray the Corleones in his movies.
"Well, as a precaution, my drugs are being hidden within stuff rabbits. I want your men to know the difference, so no harm comes to my goods."
"Course, they'll be notified." Behind Falcone, the clock chimed eleven and his gaze shifted to his niece. "You should get movin'," he said to her.
Sakura nodded her head and rose from her seat. "They'll be at the dropoff?" she replied slowly. "Along with my supplies?
"Whaddaya think I am, an idiot? Course they'll be there! You think I'd let my favorite niece out on the job without the proper protection? Come on, Sakky," he chuckled. "Now come here and say good-bye."
She smiled and nodded. The woman gracefully stepped over to her uncle and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Don't kill too many people," she said with a smirk before straightening. "Good-bye, Mr. Crane," she added as she left the restaurant.
Crane fought the instinct to watch her leave, but knew it would cost him his thumbs. He folded his hands on the table and took a sip of water. "So, exactly who's this mystery employer of yours?" Falcone said in a gruff voice, his soft demeanor in honor of his niece gone.
"I'm not at liberty to say at this point, Mr. Falcone," Crane replied.
Falcone didn't like the tone but something in Crane's eyes made him change the subject. Something fearful.
Out in her own car, Sakura revved the engine of her lime green Lamborghini and pulled out into the street followed closely by a pair of black Cadillacs. She glanced at her appearance in the mirror and, keeping a hand on the wheel, took her hair from its low bun and scratched her scalp.
After nearly half an hour of stop-and-go traffic she had escaped the dense core of Gotham and was well on her way to the drop point by the river. She had only another hour before the job began and, expecting the same traffic on the way to the Gotham Museum of Classical Art, had less than twenty minutes to organize her team and find the equipment her uncle arranged to have left for her.
She stepped out of the car with a pointed smirk. "This is where the fun begins."
Just as a quick note, if you need a visual of Sakura, I was thinking a cross between the actresses Bai Ling and Monica Bellucci, mainly with Bai Ling's eyes more than anything else. As this was a flashback chapter, the next will continue the story from chapter one and after will continue the flashback and so on.