Chapter 2: ...with a relaxing night.
"So, how was your night, my dear? Mine was quite… lively, everything considered."
He jokingly questioned the other occupant of the room, not getting an answer, however. He could, however, feel his partner glaring holes in the back of his head.
"Hmm… I take it that the same happened to you. Glad to have someone on the same boat as me then!" He exclaimed as he took a smoke out of his cigar, slowly savouring the taste… this was, after all, a Mistal cigar, a renowned symbol of quality since aeons for smokers, crafted by very few people, selected with the utmost care by the previous generation. He had to go through so many troubles to acquire the contacts who provided such merchandise, and they were quite expensive.
So, every single drag mattered, making it imperative to savour it to the last moments. And while he did have some in stock in his personal storage, he didn't like going through them quickly… Money isn't infinite, even in his line of work. Nor his patience, als- A sudden whack to his head brought him out of his reverie, as his dear partner stood behind him with her parasol resting on her shoulder, annoyance shining in her mismatched eyes.
"Neo! Dammit, do you know how much that hurts…" He whined, rubbing the spot where he got hit, already feeling the growing bump on the back of his head.
He already, without needing to turn, could see the smirk on her face as she watched him suffer for whatever reason she thought he would need to.
"Why the hell would you do-" He was soon provided with a reason as she shoved her scroll in front of his eyes, no sight of the smirk he expected to see on her face, rather an angry Neo just staring him dead in the eyes.
What the hell happened at the heist?
The text couldn't convey emotions, but a quick look at her face give him all the emotion she had. A mixture of worry, confusion and frustration, all mostly likely because of the heist that didn't go as well as they expected, and because of the problems his rather eccentric "partner" could give him.
"Heh… you shouldn't worry too much about me Neo. You know I can hold my own, and I've been through worse in any case.
Though…" He said smugly, a smile on his face, but he mellowed out and assumed a neutral face by the end.
"I fear things will get out of hand pretty soon and fast. We need to be prepared for anything at all time, and even then… it might not be enough."
Neo's shocked and slightly scared face was something he never expected or wanted to see, but that couldn't be helped since he knew what was going to happen. And in the equation of the future events, he wasn't even near being one of the major parties, nor could he become one. Which frustrated him to no end, being at the whims of others.
He really fucked up big this time, huh?
"Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Neo, how are the guys holding up?"
Recovering quickly from what he said just moments prior, she quickly wrote a message briefly telling how their henchmen were doing.
They are still recovering from the last heist they were in, they had a couple of days thanks to us employing Junior's guys. We also lost quite the number of guys in the aftermath of… that, Jerry says we have 10 guys left, possibly even less, while Tom estimated 3 days until all the others are healed and ready to go.
"Hm…Eh. Not great, but we were going to lay down for a few days anyway, so we can wait to do our next move." He huffed while reading the message, before getting up, taking a shot glass and opening some compartments and taking a bottle of brandy, pouring himself a shot.
He gave Neo a look, while shaking the bottle a little, the not-so-subtle message being 'Want a glass too?'.
All Neo gave him was a flat stare, to which he shrugged as to say 'your loss'.
He slammed back the shot, slightly grimacing as he felt the liquor burn down his throat.
"Hah, that's the stuff… So, has there been any news regarding… them?" Both didn't like to speak about or remember them , especially after their last encounter and the outcome of it. Just remembering was enough to make Neo visibly enraged and ready to murder, that stinging defeat burning still brightly in her memory.
With more force then intended, she typed all the information they managed to gather on said person… rather, the little information their contacts managed to find.
We have no info on whether or not they are still in Vale, all our contacts managed to gather is that they are involved in dust traffic, but we don't know if they are independent or if they work for someone. Apart from this, we have nothing.
Neither of them was happy about all of this, they always made sure to have at least some semblance of control over what was happening around them and especially to them.
However, recent events decided that was no longer the case.
The scowl on their faces was telling enough. It was already bad being thrown in a situation like this, with the deal they were forced to make completely not to their favour. Now even third parties had to be obscure and unpredictable? The world hated them, for sure.
The fact that they could do almost nothing was infuriating .
"Fuck… Okay, keep in contact with all of them, we need as much info as they can provide. In the meantime, I'll try to get some from the other guys in the underground." That last sentence caused Neo to shoot a look of surprise and a hint of worry, as the other shady people in the Vale's underground were… well, for starters not at all sane.
She knows this, because the last time she went with Roman to a rather minor business deal with one of said people, their greeting was a hail of bullets that lasted 10 minutes, minimum.
Not only that, but when they got inside their HQ they discovered that it was full of traps! And not even the normal kind, the kind used for dealing with hunters and people with aura! Who in their right mind would fill their base with traps?!
She was considered the craziest person by most of the people still alive that had the misfortune of crossing her path, but they honestly saw nothing if they thought she was the craziest…
"Yes, I know what you are thinking, it's a bad idea and all of that but we don't exactly have much choice, do we?" Roman questioned back, and Neo had to concede that he had a point, reluctantly nodding.
"Plus, I'm going to meet Jonah, who is definitely not as crazy as all the others are. Only a little chat between crime bosses who are both very prone to kill someone out of paranoia. What could go wrong?" Roman finished, that damned and infuriating smirk on his face ever-present as he stared at Neo, who was doing her best to give him the blankest and the flattest look she could muster.
This continued for several seconds, the usual routine for them.
Both decided that it was going on for long enough, dropping both of their stares and returning to what they were doing; Neo getting her tub of neapolitan ice cream, shaking her head and slightly smiling at Roman's antics, Roman smoking his cigar and sipping his brandy while looking over something in his scroll.
They stayed like this for quite some time, just relaxing and winding off the stress of the last days in this silence. But, alas, all things must come to an end.
"Rough days will be ahead of us, Neo." Stated abruptly Roman, now staring outside from the window of the little apartment they used as one of their hideouts, still with his glass of brandy in his hand.
Neo just stared at him, concerned. He always has been cryptic in some manner, but always in a sarcastic way… However, for a couple of days, he seemed off, distant. Always with that pensive look on his face.
And that, was what worried her the most.
Among his many skills, quick and efficient planning was close to the top. It was mostly this skill that helped them climb the ranks, stomp out the opposition and become the most feared criminals in Vale. So for him to take this long to plan something… was worrying, because it meant that something very dangerous was coming their way.
And she would never admit this out loud, but she feared greatly losing Roman.
Even though he wasn't looking at her, he know she heard and understood what he said and meant.
"It's getting late. You should go to bed, you know little kids need their beauty sleep." His little quip got the reaction he wanted because even if Neo couldn't speak, her reaction was audible enough to be understood even while not looking at her.
Waiting until he was sure she was out of sight and hearing, he continued staring at the starry sky, going through all that he learned in so few days. Things he couldn't change, things he couldn't escape even if he tried his best, lest he wanted his and Neo's death.
After so many days, nearly going mad searching for a solution, he may have got the plan they needed to get out of this alive. And like all plans like these, he didn't like it.
Because it meant sacrificing all that they have built in these years.
He didn't like anything about this situation, to be honest. But he doesn't have a hand in the great board of events to happen. All he could do, all they could do, was play along.
In the end, they only needed to do what they always did.
Lie, cheat, steal, and survive.