The Syndicate

Author\'s Notes: First of all, I would like to sincerely apologize to my readers. I\'m sorry, that it took me so long to produce this chapter. It was a combination of many factors. First and foremost I had a little writer\'s block, followed up by some tech. issues. Which caused me to lose access to my document and finnaly culminating with a very busy semester. Secondly, in addition to being a great author and beta reader; Clover Reef is also an extremely talented artist. She drew out a scene depicting Eian. Here\'s the link if you are interested: http://yaoi.y-gallery.net/view/711345/

I\'m not entirely sure, if you have to have an account to view it. But seeing as it only took me, like five minutes to set one up; it shouldn\'t be that much of a problem. Without further delay. Enjoy!



"Dialogue."



Narrative



~Character Thoughts~



***Dream Sequence***



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"I.. I\'m sorry..." The words were forced and insincere. For added effect Eian had his head down cast, he felt spent. It took every ounce of his control to spit out that meaningless apology.



Marko scoffed, "Whatever... Anyway Jack told me to start from the beginning. So here goes nothing..."



"Well..." Eian blurted out impatiently .He had chewed his lower lip bloody, the suspense was killing him.



Sighing rather loudly Marko began to weave his tale,” We had all met on the streets and the streets have no mercy on the weak. You couldn\'t survive on your own, it was either join a gang affiliated with the Syndicate or the Syndicate’s rival: Haven. There is strength in numbers\' that\'s how the saying goes. But we didn\'t believe in that bullshit."



"Haven?" Inquired Eian.



"You don\'t know about Haven?" Asked Marko with a raised brow.



A furious blush spread across Eian’s cheeks. "I.. I\'m not from here."



"Oh?"



"I\'m from a small town, to the West of the city." Replied Eian, a nostalgic look took over his features.



"I see... Well Haven is the second largest, organized, criminal enterprise in the city. Second only to the Syndicate of course."



"So how do the three of you fit in?" Asked Eian



"That\'s the thing. We didn\'t." Replied Marko, "Jack, Chase and I were stickup men."



"Stickup men?" Asked Eian, surprise seeping into his voice.



"Yeah. We robbed both Syndicate and Haven drug dealers. Then sold the merchandise to their rivals. By playing both sides of the coin, that\'s how we scratched up a living."



"That\'s insane.." Muttered Eian, in disbelief.



"Yeah, it was and I had the same reaction. But Jack said: \'Where\'s the fun in being sane?\' That\'s all the convincing that Chase needed."



The boy was shocked into silence.



"Jack was the leader of our little crew. Only because the man had balls the size of grape fruits."



Marko flashed Eian a knowing smirk, which only served to infuriate the younger man.



"Personally I was trying to convince Chase to come with me and join the Syndicate. Seeing that at the time, they were the biggest and the baddest gang in the city and they still are. But since the moment Jack and Chase met I could tell that those two would be inseparable; Chase would follow Jack into the fires of hell if necessary."



Marko let loose a heart felt chuckle. " Hell... I would too! Jack just has that kind of effect on people, you know? I guess you can call it charisma or whatever."



"So how did Ch.. Chase...well… you know?" Eian mumbled hesitantly. All the while cursing Jack\'s name to the high heavens, for instilling a fear in him of even uttering that man\'s name.



"You mean, you wanna\' know how Chase died?" Marko confirmed.



"Uh huh..." Eian nodded his head solemnly.



"Well... the how is kind of hard to answer." Replied Marko, "The three of us went out for dinner, to celebrate a hit that we just pulled off on some big time Haven drug supplier. After dinner, I went to bring the car around. But I took my sweet ass time"



"When I... When I..." Marko paused and took a deep steadying breath. He cleared his throat and continued. "when I came back I found Jack cradling Chase as he laid in a puddle of blood. Jack had killed whoever shot chase and then lost whatever sanity he had left. My biggest concern was getting Jack the hell out of there."



The silence in the car, was deafening.



"But why kill Chase?" This time Eian was proud that he did not stutter.



"Well, I don\'t really think chase was the target. They were most likely after Jack, but bullets don\'t discriminate" Replied Marko.



The brunette turned away from Eian and looked around at the rolling hills and shrubbery that surround the car. "That punk took a pop shot at Jack, missed and hit Chase. Jack has never been able to forgive himself, the only thing that man lives for is revenge."



Eian could not even begin to fathom the pain that the Under Boss was in.



"But he got the bastard, right?" Eian asked indignantly.



"Yeah... he got him. But to Jack, it\'s more complex than that." Marko explained.



"You see, Jack isn\'t the type of guy to just call it quits; even if he got the fucker that fired off the shot." Marko curled his lips upwards in a snarl, "No, to be truly satisfied he has to destroy Haven and all that it stands for."



"Destroy Haven!? But how? I mean... he\'s just one man..." Eian was grasped by an indescribable fear. All that he could think of, was Jack never coming back home and the mere thought of it brought tears to his hazelnut eyes.



"Don\'t worry about it." Came the stoic reply from the brunette.



Anger consumed Eian. He could no longer see, through his tear hazed eyes. "What the hell do you mean: \'Don\'t worry about it. Huh!?"



Marko parted his lips to reply, but Eian gave him no chance, to get in a single word edge wise.



"He is gonna\' die! Can\'t you see? Don\'t you care, about your friend? Huh?" Tears of rage slipped down, Eian\'s flushed cheeks.



"Enough!" Bellowed Marko, "You don\'t think I know all about this shit already? I know that Jack is running head first into death. I know that I\'m helping him get there sooner."



The tears streaming down the usually stoic man\'s face caught Eian off guard. Eian was stunned silent.



"B...But there is nothing I could do... Hell there\'s nothing anyone could do. What you need to understand about Jack, is that both he and Chase died on that day. Now whatever life remains in him, is dedicated to avenging Chase."



Marko\'s rant left Eian speechless, the boy was clueless as to what he should say in a situation like this.



There was no way to make this all better. No way to repent for the transgressions of the past. And certainly there was no way to bring back the dead.



Eian wanted to scream. He had allowed himself to fall for a guy that was living on borrowed time.



~Jack\'s going to die and there is nothing that I can do about it...~



"Chase, must\'ve been one hell of a guy..." Eian uttered listlessly.



Marko\'s lips turned up in a faint smile, "Yeah... he was."



"Did he and Jack... I mean were he and Jack..." Eian’s question trailed off unfinished.



"No, never." Said Marko as a matter of fact.



Eian couldn\'t believe what he was hearing, "You mean they never....But why?"



"I guess, Jack was worried that if he took their relationship to the next level, it would ruin their friendship. I don\'t even think they told each other, that they had feelings for one another; that is, until it was... until it was... too late." Choked out, Marko.



The lustrous sun had begun it\'s descent. The shadows of the well manicured shrubs danced in an eerily hypnotic way, on the pristinely manicured lawn. A black clad figure made it\'s way towards the pair, blending in effortlessly with the freshly cast shadows.



Jack had come into to full view. Both Eian and Marko, were utterly shocked by his appearance.



His black cashmere suit had grass stains all over it. But the usually impeccably dressed, fashion conscience Under-Boss did not seem to mind it at all. His eyes were blood shot and his naturally vibrant skin, had become sallow and paper thin. Jack looked more worn down and depleted than ever before.



“Jack…. You okay?” Asked Marko, as the blond opened the car door and ever so gracefully sidled comfortably in place. This time remembering to gently close the door.



Jack leaned over and lightly caressed the nape of Marko‘s neck “Yeah, I‘m fine. Let‘s go home.”



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A.N.// Lemony goodness. Coming up next!