It was a quiet morning and Hope was up early, just enjoying a moment of serenity.  Things were coming together very nicely.  She had just gotten together the final details she needed to set up two of her Beloved people as Leaders in their own right.  Relationships with the other Leaders were going well…  The city of Angels was beginning to prosper along with the rest of the world. 

In short, things were going well.

That was until she received a very…  Unsettling telegram.  As it was delivered straight to her desk along with a moderate sum of money being wired to her as well, Hope read the words that made her blood run cold.  The telegram was from an anonymous source and it was a message…  No a warning, stating that one of her closest allies…  Her Seattle Brother, was planning on coming in and cleaning out her fair city in a couple weeks.  There in the confines of her own office, Hope felt her alarm level raise a tad.  He couldn’t…  Wouldn’t.  Would he?  Was there secret plans to…  Would their coalition be torn as easily as if it were made of tissue paper?  No.  She couldn’t accept that. Their friendship, their alliance was strong, surely it was.

Hope surged to her feet, reading the small unassuming piece of paper once again.  There was no mistaking this message, and the threat behind it.  Dar…  Coming to take her city.  Hope paced as she began to rationalize and think about this possibility when finally she stalked to her door, grabbing her coat and yelling loudly down the hall.  “Taking a flight to Seattle Renegade!  I’ll be back in a couple of days.  Hold down the fort for me while I’m gone please!”  There was no missing the hint of anger as well as determination that colored her tone.  But she was not to be dissuaded.  On the contrary, she’d be on a plane just as soon as she could manage to fly out to meet the Leader of Seattle himself.

Many hours later, her plane touched down in Seattle and Hope wasted no time.  She went right to Dar’s Headquarters, politely requesting to see the man himself.  There was something that snapped in her eyes, or perhaps it was something in her tone.  But she was not kept waiting long, and she was quickly shown up to Dar’s office to speak with him.  Once she reached the door, she suddenly felt her mind reel.  How was she to approach this?  How does one ask another Leader if they intended to march on their city…  And how does one do it without incurring wrath or worse…  She really should have thought this through more, but she had run off without a second thought in hopes to get this all sorted.

Nobody knocked on the door before opening it and letting Dar know that Godmother Hope was there to see him. Surprised by the sudden visit, Dar got up from behind his desk and came over to greet her and invite her in. They sat down at the coffee-table in the corner of the office and Hope mentioned the framed Black & White of Marlene Dietrich on the opposite wall.

“Ha, yes. She is a talented actress.” Dar explained. “LA is a lucky place to count both you and her amongst its citizens.
In all honesty, I wouldn’t mind the introduction next time I am visiting your city.”

They shared some more small talk, but Dar realised this wasn’t the regular visit, so he inquired into the reasons for Hope being here with him all of a sudden. In silence he listened while she shared what she had heard of and in what manner this rumour had come to her. Listening to her, Dar admired Hope for her professionalism and maturity in how she decided to handle the situation.

“Thank you for sharing this.” Dar said after she was done. “You are right in interpreting this as an attempt to provoke conflict between us. I remember how similar tactics were employed when I worked for the late Tony Castelli. Other than people coming in and drinking our rum, nothing of note ever happened back then.”

“However let’s not just dismiss it either, because regardless of it being a common tactic there’s always that small moment where we ask ourselves “What if it’s true?” and that’s a good thing to ask. It would be irresponsible if we didn’t ask that and that makes that I’m happy you are here with me to talk about this today.”

After getting up from his chair, Dar walked towards the cabinet and returned shortly with two crystal glasses and a bottle of Matusalem, a gift from an old friend that smuggled the tasty spirit in from Cuba.

“The thing is in this society all kinds of thing can disturb the balance in which we do business best.
But it is how we handle those disturbances that make whether things become an issue or not.”

Dar took the closed bottle of rum and placed it upside down on the palm of his outstretched hand. While it first it seemed to tumble down quickly, Dar managed to balance it and keep it upright, even while making controlled circular motions with his arm.

“The trick about balancing things is to not worry if things seem to become less stable. What you do is look at the issue and align the foundation accordingly. You don’t try to push back in place when something moves. You don’t worry in silence hoping this won’t grow worse. No, you make sure that the base that provides stability is in the right place.”

With a flick of his arm Dar spun the bottle around and it landed on it’s base on his palm and from there he tossed into his other hand, unscrewed the cap and poured a layer of liquor in each glass while he continued.

“And that’s exactly what you did here, Hope and I thank you for that. The good thing is that we don’t even need to re-align today as what we share is still in the right place. At this point people are throwing stuff at us, trying to put us off balance. They assume that their own incapability of keeping a healthy balance makes that others can’t either.”

Dar raised his glass and nodded in appreciation towards Hope, before taking a sip. After gathering some of his thoughts for a short moment, he continued.

“This and other anonymous efforts so shortly after another war are simply the obvious attempts of people trying to destabilize things, wishing others can’t have what they couldn’t have either. It’s expected perhaps, but their efforts at this point are too transparent to be effective. And of course at points in the future we will have challenges that will take greater effort, but what I said today stays relevant for those times. When we align well and keep our foundation in the right place, we keep the balance, regardless of incidents like these bumping into us.”

Noticing how it was getting late already, Dar suggested to take a ride downtown and find a proper restaurant to have dinner.
The pair got up and left the office to continue talk about their mutual business efforts.

Chatter was that there had been some efforts to ignite tensions between the west coast cities as of recent. At least that's what they were saying. Jack presently stood outside a local speakeasy, watching the rain drip from his hat. It was getting a little... obnoxious... in there, so he opted for some air. He also had time to think about the recent rumours with a clear head. 

Dangerous things, anonymous tips. In his experience, he found that it was the anonymous part that exposed it as fraudulent. He figured anyone who might ever want to tip him off to a threat to his safety, would be a close friend. As such, they would not need to concern themselves with being anonymous. 

The decision not to take action was also highly commendable, to both cities. It was an opportunity to test the trust in the relationships that had been forged, and believe in the rational, not illogical. 

Plus, it sounds like Godmother Hope was appropriately reimbursed for her travel expenses to Seattle by the tipster, too.

Jack would welcome those kind of tips all day.

He tapped the water from his pooling hat, exhaled, and re-entered the bar.