Beyond fate, there is choice
by Ainzfern
6
The day before the annual trade conference was set to begin, Riki found himself taking an ironic kind of journey, an almost mournful oddessy, back into his own past.
The stretch limousine that drove slowly through the tight streets of Ceres drew a variety of stares from the local residents as it passed them. Some were merely curious, others quite openly hostile. Here and there, especially on the faces of those individuals who had been around for a while, there was a kind of knowing fear and a dull angry acceptance. Slowly, but quite noticeably, as the almost menacing long black vehicle slowed to a stop, the immediate area began to clear.
A car like that, in a place like Ceres, all tinted windows and amour-plated chasse, the well-tuned engine growling like an angry wolf... well, that could only mean one thing.
Trouble.
Seated in the spacious rear of the limo, with Katze beside him and two of Mace's grim-faced security men across from him, Riki stared moodily out of the window.
"It looks the same," he muttered, almost to himself.
Katze's dragged his own attention away from the gritty street beyond the reinforced glass of the rear car windows. "Hmm?"
"Ceres," Riki sighed softly, a frown creasing his brow. "Especially this part... it looks just the same as I remember it. Even the fuckin' old neon sign over Depraved's door is still the same."
"Did you really expect it to change, Riki?"
Riki's eyes closed for a moment. "No," he turned around and looked sadly at the redhead. "Not really." Shaking his head a little, Riki lifted one shoulder and smiled at his friend. "Listen, thanks for helping me out this morning... and for coming with me."
Katze snorted with grim amusement. "No problem. I wouldn't let you do this alone, man. Besides... you know Iason would kill me if he found I'd let you come here by yourself."
"But I'm not actually by myself," Riki gestured to Mace's men.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah," Riki turned and looked out the window once more. "Yeah, I know."
Silently, as he and Katze, and their rather formidably armed personal escort waited, Riki took a moment to review his morning so far.
A single call to Katze's cell, a few brief words about what was going on and why Riki wanted to do this, was enough. With his usual understated flair for achieving the almost impossible, Katze had contacted the two current head dealers in the black market and had an armored limousine ready to collect Riki and his borrowed bodyguards within the hour. Until that actual moment, Riki had not really given much thought to just how much pull Katze still had over the Ceres market; but it was now very clear to him that while the ex-Furniture might have retired from active duty as a dealer, he was still, and probably always would be, considered the man who had made the market what it was.
Even now, Katze only had to snap his fingers and his two old 'lieutenants' still jumped to his orders.
Riki smiled again, this time with a little more feeling, recalling how Katze had simply gotten into the vehicle with him before they left Eos Tower. Katze hadn't actually said it aloud, but the firm look on his pale face had been clear enough.
He was coming along... and nothing Riki would be likely to say would deter him from that.
In point of fact, Riki was kind of glad of the company. He was already in two minds about the wisdom of coming here, especially since Iason didn't actually know that this particular little trip had suddenly become a definite option in Riki's plan to source information from the Ceres gangs.
Even though Iason had made reference to Riki going into Ceres, most likely his Blondie probably assumed that they would have just had Guy picked up off the street again. But, the fact was, Riki knew that wouldn't work. Not this time. He would be asking Guy for information as a kind of favor. It really wouldn't do to monumentally piss the man off first. Besides, Guy had actually become a fairly major player in Ceres these days. He would know most, if not all, of what was happening in the slums. If Riki handled this right, he would hopefully get all the information that he wanted, saving him the need to chase any of the other gangs down.
Riki heard Katze shifting in the seat beside him. "So, you reckon Bison would actually be in there at this time of day?"
"Oh yeah," Riki chuckled softly, but there was little humor in it. "Bison might have its own lair still, but Guy always did his best business where the stout was flowing freely. He'll be in there."
"So, how long do you think it'll take for him to come out?"
"Not sure," Riki murmured, his eyes narrowing as he stared hard at the door of his old haunt. "I figure he'll know what this car means, and where it's come from. I guess, giving him a couple of minutes to get pissed off and throw his drink at the wall... maybe five more minutes in total?"
Katze barked a dry little laugh. "You know him pretty well, then."
Riki felt his face get even more somber. "I grew up with him, Katze," he replied quietly, turning around to meet Katze's gaze once more. "Yeah... I know him pretty well, alright."
Katze stared back at him, his expression troubled. "Do you..?" he hesitated for a moment but then set his shoulders firmly. "Riki, being honest; do you ever feel kind of, I don't know... guilty, about the fact you left this place? These people?"
Running one hand through his dark hair, Riki considered it. "Sometimes, man," he answered at length. "Yeah. Sometimes, I do."
Katze nodded. "Me too."
They looked at each other in silence for a moment, a wealth of shared history and honest clarity flowing between their gazes, before Katze grinned almost rakishly and lifted his shoulders, as if shrugging off the previous moment. "I wouldn't change it though. Gotta admit that."
Grinning back at him Riki shook his head. "Oh, hell no," he laughed wryly, "Not in this lifetime, anyway."
Katze's gaze shifted over Riki's shoulder briefly. "He's still not out yet," he noted.
"He will be." Turning back to the window Riki sighed once more, a certain unwelcome tension starting to fill his gut. "Trust me... he will be."
Guy sat at the bar of Depraved's, nursing his stout with his single hand whilst, all around him, an intensely deep and wary silence spread out across Bison members, their various hangers-on, and general bar regulars alike. Contrary to Riki's prediction, Guy hadn't actually flung anything at the wall when the midnight-black limo had pulled up outside. Instead, he had simply sat in silence, his eyes narrowed in a bleakly thoughtful way and his gaze staring fixedly out the grimy windows at the sleek black vehicle beyond.
"Guy?" Sid's deep voice broke through his thoughts. "Guy, man, the doors are opening."
Guy flicked a glance towards the hulking gang member. Standing just to one side of the window at the front of the bar, Sid had been closely watching their strange and unexpected visitor, visible tension stiffening the huge muscles of his shoulders.
"I can see that, Sid," Guy muttered. With a certain deliberate air, he set his drink down on the bar.
"Oh fuck, man..." At a low table to one side of Depraved's main bar area Luke, sunglasses firmly in place as always, had risen to his feet; watching with clear consternation as beyond the window two men alighted from the limo. Their faces were grim, their uniforms familiar, and their powerful weapons were held in casually professional grips. They made no attempt to approach Depraved's frontage, but simply stood on either side of the vehicle, scanning the street; at ease for the moment, but sharply watchful and quite clearly as dangerous as hell.
"Shit, Guy... Those are fuckin' Elite-security uniforms!" Luke hissed at him. Still seated where only moments before he had been relaxing in the circle of Luke's arm, his paring partner, Norris, had grown pale, his eyes wide with anxiety, as Luke lunged down to grab his jacket off the back of his chair, pawing through the pockets.
"Luke?" Guy said quietly enough, but with a clear note of absolute authority in his tone. "Put the fuckin' gun away."
"What..?!" Luke turned towards him, his handgun raised, his expression shocked.
"You won't need it." Slowly, Guy slid off his seat, straightening his leather jacket carefully with his single hand. "There's no Elite in that car."
Over by the door, Sid frowned, looking deeply concerned as he stared at his leader. "You sure, Guy?"
"Yeah."
"So... what d'we do?"
"You guys are doing nothing," Gay rapped out as he crossed the floor. "I'll handle this. Stay here."
Although the faces of his men showed that they were deeply unhappy about it, Guy knew that they all had a lot more sense than to argue with him. He was no longer the kind of man that anyone wanted to come up against, one-armed or not. Whatever minimal sense of humor Guy once might have had was well and truly gone, burned away by harsh experience and well-remembered pain. So, when he told his men to do something, they damned well did it.
After all, nobody enjoyed having their own head shoved up their ass...
Besides, ice cold and deadly temper or not, Guy had kept them in the game; no mean feat considering the disaster they had become after Kirie's betrayal. Taking the lead from their strangely reborn boss, Bison had become serious and mean, dangerously business-like in its dealings with the Ceres market and the other competing gangs.
And it had become successful. At least as successful as any gang could be in a place like the slums.
So... although they obviously did not like it, there was not a single voice raised in objection as Guy neared the exit of the bar.
"Guy? Please don't, man."
Except for one...
Guy stopped and sighed, and then smiled ever so slightly in spite of himself. He turned, looking at the young man who was standing by the pool table on the far side of the room, a cue in his hand and clear worry in his eyes.
"Kaiya," Guy walked over to him, stopping just a foot away before reaching out to close his hand over a tense and unhappily hunched shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. I know what I'm doing."
Kaiya's expression hardened a touch. "Whoever's out there has come from Eos, Guy," he said tightly, his dark eyes flicking to the sleeve-covered stump of Guys' missing arm. "It can't be good news."
Guy shook his head. As much as he could feel affection for anyone or anything these days, he had to admit that Kaiya was up there on the top of the list.
His pairing partner of only six months.
Kaiya was young, that much was true, having just passed his sixteenth year a little over six months back, ironically enough. Guy had, admittedly, been watching the kid well before that, but to his credit he had waited. And he had made damned sure that no one else in the area had put any moves on the boy either. He'd put the word out, made himself a little more visible in Kaiya's neighborhood. He had let it be known that the Bison's leader had his sharp eyes on Kaiya's virgin ass and that he wasn't the kind of man who liked to share.
The day of Kaiya's sixteenth birthday, Guy had visited the small apartment of his only living blood family – his aging uncle – and had put his forth his offer. He would look after the old man from that point forward, providing protection from other gangs and maintaining his living standards with his own cash... if he could have Kaiya as his pairing partner.
Of course, Kaiya's uncle had agreed. After all, when everything was said and done, he had known that he really hadn't had a choice.
Guy knew that the rest of Bison felt kind of sorry for the kid.
And he knew why.
Kaiya was dark haired and dark eyed, smaller than most men in Ceres, but still compactly muscled and strong... and his resemblance to a young man who was once known as 'Riki the Dark' was absolutely amazing.
Admittedly, if he was to be honest about it, Guy would confess that – at least at first – this was the reason he had been so fixed on securing the youngster into a pairing partnership. But he had been kind enough, gentle enough, that first night with him; taking his virginity with as little pain as possible in the process. But, once Guy had been completely inside the kid, once he had gotten fully into the fuck, taking from Kaiya what was now his by Ceres' rough and ready system of social rights; he had closed his eyes and imagined it was Riki in his bed.
He'd felt kind of bad about it though. He still did, particularly since it wasn't something that he did anymore.
Because, as the weeks had passed, Guy had come to realize that, while Kaiya might look like Riki, he was very much a uniquely different person. He had his own likes and dislikes, his own dreams and desires. He was clever and quiet. He rarely got angry but, at the same time, there was literally no force in the world that could get him to do something that he didn't want to do.
And he loved Guy... bad dreams and ruined body and impatient temper, and all.
Now, lifting his hand to briefly grip Kaiya's jaw with his fingers, Guy felt the same sense of certainty that he had come to know with great familiarity over the past few months.
The kid loved him. For Guy, that had become more than enough.
"I want you to stay in here, Kaiya," he told the young man. "I won't be long."
"Guy, no—"
Guy deliberately turned his back on Kaiya's pleading eyes, summoning Sid over with a sharp jerk of his chin. "You keep him in here, Sid, you follow me?" he ordered flatly.
Sid nodded, picking up a spare cue and moving into place beside the table, not exactly standing over the young man, but close enough to grab him if the need was there.
Ignoring Kaiya's low-voiced and fervent swearing, Guy walked back toward the exit of the bar. Lifting his chin and pulling in a deep breath, he pushed the door open and stepped out into the mid-morning light, approaching the limousine without hesitation or visible anxiety.
The fact was, he knew he didn't have anything to worry about here.
He knew who was in that damned car.
And he also knew that he didn't want Kaiya anywhere near it.
As Guy settled into the seat facing him and Riki in the rear of the limousine, Katze imagined that he could actually feel the tension flowing off of the man to fill the interior of the vehicle. He flicked his eyes over Guy's body, almost unconsciously checking for weapons even though he'd just seen Mace's men thoroughly search the one-armed gang leader.
Guy had focused upon Riki immediately, not so much as sparing a glance towards the ex-Furniture. For all intents and purposes, it appeared that Guy was going to ignore him completely, which Katze was perfectly okay with. He knew that Riki might still feel a little conflicted when it came to Guy, but for Katze, his position was very clear. He simply hated the fucker, and he would never forget or forgive what Guy had done to Riki and Iason; how he had nearly succeeded in killing the both of them out of jealousy and rage. Besides, Katze thought philosophically to himself, he didn't have anything to say to the spiteful son of a bitch anyway. At least, nothing that would help Riki in any way, so he sat back and carefully kept his face devoid of any outward display of emotion, content to watch and listen.
"You look good, Riki," Guy said as he looked Riki over, his tone oddly emotionless. "Life on the outside must be treating you well."
Riki nodded slowly, his face carefully composed. "Gotta say, man, you look a hell of lot better than you did the last time I saw you."
Guy's mouth twitched with something that might have been a smile.
Personally, seeing the coldness in the man's eyes, Katze doubted that.
Guy sighed, smoothing one hand over his pulled-back hair before almost seeming to forcibly relax his physical manner, sitting back fully against the comfortable seat of the limo. "So, I know you're sure as hell not here just the shoot the shit about old times, Riki," he tilted his head, appraising Riki thoughtfully. "Tell me what you want."
"Just information," Riki leant forward a little, his hands braced on his knees. "I want to know if any of the gangs have been sourcing work from Elites lately."
Guy blinked, then frowned as his eyes narrowed with something close to hostility. "Why the fuck should I tell you anything like that?" His lips thinned into a hard line. "Why should I go selling out Ceres just because you've got a bug up your ass again?"
Riki ignored the insult as if it had never even been spoken. "Because, Guy, some stupid fucker has been breaking into Elite-owned facilities. From what I can tell, they've been deliberately trying to come to the attention of the Syndicate by doing this."
"Wait a sec'," Guy raised his hand. "You said that it was Elites doing the hiring. Why would they be setting up break-ins on Elite facilities? It makes no sense."
From the corner of his eye, Katze noted Riki subtly bracing himself.
"We think it's politically motivated," Riki answered carefully. "Some particular Elite trying to stir up trouble."
The slow lopsided grin that rose on Guy's face was literally dripping with sarcastic malevolence. "Aww, does poor 'Daddy Blondie' have a little problem?" The gang leader barked a disgusted little laugh. "Well, you can tell your master from me that he can fuck off. I'm not helping any Elites, Riki, especially not him." He grabbed the handle of the door, opening it and shifting to climb out.
"He doesn't know I'm here, Guy," Riki said flatly, his dark eyes angry.
Guy paused, looking back over his shoulder for a second. Slowly, he sat back in the seat once more and pulled the door shut. "Taking a risk, aren't you?" he said softly, a hint of menace in his tone. "I mean, coming all the way into the lion's den without telling your master where you've gone?"
Katze shifted in his chair slightly, feeling his hands curl into fists, watching as Riki's expression darkened and his full mouth thinned into a hard white line.
"True, the guys outside this limo look the business," Guy was continuing, his eyes cold and hard, and calculating, "but you've only got two of 'em, plus your driver. If I made the signal, we could probably take 'em out." He shrugged lightly. "Sure, we might get a bit of our own blood spilled... but you'd still be taken, Riki, and your Blondie would never know what happened to you."
"You know what, Guy," Katze sat forward, no longer able to keep his silence, "that fuckin' song you keep singing is getting real old." He glanced sideways at Riki, seeing the mongrel's barely contained fury at Guy's not so subtle threat. "If you'd quit beating your chest for five minutes and actually listen, you might realize that Riki is trying to help you."
"Oh, so you're not just his shadow, Katze," Guy sneered at him. "Help me with what, exactly?"
"Imagine, Guy," Katze's oddly golden eyes seemed to almost glitter with his intensity, "several hundred fully armed and armored Elite-security men, storming right into the centre of the Ceres slums and shooting down any fuckin' thing that moves."
Guy stared at him for a long moment, his face paling slightly. "Another cleansing, you mean?"
"It's very possible," Katze said softly, his face grim and hard. "Ceres has been left pretty much alone since the cleansing that followed the last uprising against Jupiter but, if Iason Mink becomes convinced that the slum gangs are involved somehow in the threat to his leadership, how long d'you think it'll be before he sees the whole place put down hard enough to make sure it stays down? After all," Katze's smile contained no trace of humor, "the quickest way to make sure an enemy can't hurt you is to take his weapons away."
Guy looked at Riki then, his gaze searching the mongrel's face.
Katze found he was almost holding his breath, hoping that Riki would pick up on what Katze was trying to do and play along. Of course what Katze had just said was total bullshit. He knew for a fact that Iason had no plans, either now or in the future to order a cleansing of the slums. There was no need to. And, quite frankly, considering the changes in the Blondie that Katze had seen himself over the last couple of years, he now seriously doubted that Iason would consider punitive action against the Ceres gangs even if they were playing the part of the hired muscle in this plot against him.
But, Guy didn't know that. And that was what Katze was banking on.
"Tell me that's shit, Riki" Guy said softly, his eyes no longer hostile, but faintly alarmed. "Tell me that's not going to happen, man."
To Riki's credit, and Katze's private admiration, Riki didn't even so much as skip a beat. His dark eyes stayed steady and level as he met Guy's gaze. "I can't," he replied softly, just the right amount of sorrow in his tone to sound utterly convincing. "You know I can't."
"Fuck..." Guy breathed as he sat back, shaking his head. He glanced out the window towards the frontage of Depraved's, anxiously chewing his lower lip as he obviously considered what he had just been told. As Katze watched, he noticed Guy's expression changing, even softening slightly for a moment.
And it was then that Katze knew... They had him.
Behind that door, Guy had something, or someone, that he wanted to protect.
"Okay," Guy set his shoulders and turned back to Riki, his jaw firming decisively. "You want information, you can have it. But, I've gotta tell you..." he smiled again, this time ruefully, "you probably won't like it."
Riki nodded. "Hit me with it."
Guy smiled bleakly and shrugged. "I've got nothing for you, man," he said seriously. "There's not a single fuckin' word on the streets that anyone is pulling work from an Elite."
"You're sure?" Riki frowned deeply.
Shooting him a look that spoke volumes, Guy nodded. "Of course, I'm fuckin' sure. Listen... even Bison doesn't know this, but I've got paid plants in practically every gang in the slums. Trust me, I would know if something was going down."
Katze huffed and dry chuckle. "So that's how you've been able keep ahead in the game." He pulled a faintly approving face. "Clever."
Guy glanced dismissively at him. "Yeah, in spite of what you think, asshole, I do have brains."
Katze smirked and sat back as Guy looked at Riki once more. "I swear it to you, Riki." Guy rubbed his hand over his face wearily. "You go back to your Blondie and tell him that none of this shit's coming from Ceres, okay?"
After a long moment, Riki nodded. "Okay. I will. Thanks."
"Save your thanks. I don't want it," Guy grunted at him as he opened the door. As he climbed out, he paused again, looking back one more at the mongrel. "Oh, and one more thing."
"What?"
Guy's eyes flashed furiously at him. "Don't ever come back here again, you hear me? 'Cause the next time you do, I don't care how many of your Blondie's boys you bring with you, I will shoot you myself." With that said, he waited only long enough to see Riki nod a silent acceptance before he hauled himself out of the limo, stalking back into Depraved's without so much as a backward glance.
In the silence left behind, Riki and Katze stared at each other, dismayed and frustrated.
"So," Katze offered after a moment, "a dead end."
"Yeah," Riki wet his lips with the tip of his tongue and sighed. "Fuck. Damn it, I was almost certain..."
"Yeah, me too," Katze ran one hand through his hair, looking sympathetically at his friend. "Okay, so do we have any other business here?"
Riki snorted gracelessly. "I would say a very clear 'no', Katze."
"I hear you." He opened the car window and spoke to the armed security man outside. "Climb back in, fellas," he said, pulling a disgusted face. "We are fuckin' outta here."