Something had to give. It always did. Whether the thing you wanted, or something else that was being leveraged by it. So much pressure usually resulted in only one thing. Breaking Point...

A shattering of the will was what Joe had his bloodied hands hell bent on as he swung the pool cue with force. It snapped hard against the bludgeoned face, knocking out a tooth and splattering blood against the wall. Half of the cue flew across the room, landing at the feet of @Itachi_Uchiha.

This was the part where you were suppose to scream out profanities in an attempt to further threaten and possibly tug some information out. But this was the part where Adonis used the pointy end of the shortened pool cue as a plunger instead, shoving it down the throat of the shirtless and now very much toothless victim, as his eyes bulged and a muffled scream preceded a gargling noise. Joe wasn't a plumber, fucked if he knew he had to pull the thing back out again, instead he straddled the chair and used the palm of his hand to smash it further down his throat.

The wood splintered apart before the main bit of maple even burst out the side of his neck, making multiple incisions as it sliced and diced his potential to turn the gangster into a snitch. Joe gripped the carcass' hair for leverage as he began smashing his fist down hard on the face of the tied up body. Again, and again, as he grit his teeth and let the fury take him over.

It was a satisfying kind of purge, of both his own inner angst and the lie-ridden son of a no-one. One of Joe's men had shot his father earlier when looking for his son. He was on a war path. Nothing was sacred. Not when dealing with people who were pegged trying to fuck with your money. The bordello wasn't a place you wanted in your neighborhood. It practically stood tall on the bodies it had buried within it. But that was no reason to try extorting a business, that was technically already being extorted.

A cracking of knuckles could be heard throughout the otherwise eerily silent billiards parlor as Joe Adonis slid off the chair. His hand had been busted. Again. His dislodged finger decided it best to slide back in line as he pressed it down on the thigh of his victim upon stepping back onto solid ground. He was a mess. Both of them were. This suit wasn't being dry cleaned. Tucked into the body bag with the reason why, before being incinerated in a drum in some shitty part of town. Speaking of...

"Alright, this is what I need." Joe said aloud as he steadied his breathing. It had gotten a little out of hand as he got a little too hands-on. One of his regular no name no face goons brought him a cigarette and a lighter to help that along.

"That place I took you? You'll have to go back again. Smooth things over. Let them know we took care of things."

Joe was looking at Itachi. He didn't know how he'd take what he just saw. He was new. Maybe a little too new. But he seemed keen. More so, Joe heard the ladies over there had taken a liking to Itachi. Not many of his workers had that kind of effect in that neck of the woods, if any. He needed this to go over well.

As he fumbled sparking the lighter due to the blood on his hands, Joe looked the new recruit over, trying to gauge his level of interest. He eventually gave up and pulled the cigarette out from between his lips. It was now also quite blood stained and wet. With each hand holding soon to be discarded smoking paraphernalia, Adonis walked forward until they were close enough that either one could do some unruly shit if they really wanted to.

"Please, don't fuck this up."

Itachi remained still upon his arrival to the location his newest boss had given him. He'd been summoned, told there was more work for him, which suited him find because there were never more torturous moments than when he was made to sit idle and be alone with his thoughts. Itachi tried to take in the sight before him and process it. It wasn't that hard to do really. There was a man, defenseless, being wailed on repeatedly by his boss. This kind of brutality was something else, but not worse than anything Itachi had seen before in his life. Matter fact he himself had done worse if he was thinking about it. Nonetheless, it didn't stop his stomach from turning a bit.

Itachi keep a blank look on his face as the brutality continued. It seemed like his presence wasn't notice until the end of the pool cue went flying toward his direction. Itachi didn't move as he'd already prejudged the trajectory of the flying object, and gathered that it would lie before him but not hit him. Adonis continue to lay into the man and further brutalized him, and Itachi continued to just stand there and watch. He looked to be numb but nothing could be further from the truth, at least on the inside. Hidden behind his blank face was a war of conflicting emotions inside Itachi. Half of him wanted to stop Adonis from further brutalizing this man who could no longer defend himself. Another part knew better, and lastly there was the curiosity. Why? Why was this man being beaten in such a way? What did he do? Hasn't enough been done to him?

Years of training and discipline caused him to suppress all these feelings. He was formerly a soldier, and soldiers did not question their superiors, soldiers did not need to know the minor details, soldiers just carried out their duties and then they were done with it. That was all he was here, a soldier, given orders to follow and a beat to march to, he had no place in knowing why this was happening to this man, and he sure as hell couldn't go to his superior to stop him.

Finally it looked like Adonis had taken a break from continuously  beating on the man before him and had been brought a cigarette as he caught his breath. That was a interesting contrast as one was meant to cause harm to your lungs while he was trying to refill them. Itachi blinked away this train of thought when, the man who had summoned him here told him he would have to return to that place where he had first brought him.

Itachi didn't respond. He could tell the man who gave him orders was trying to read him, and see how he was internally dealing with this situation before him. Itachi did what he was trained to do when someone was trying to read him, he made himself unreadable by continuing to keep his face blank. He was sure he would not lose this little contest of the mind and the eyes since he'd been trained to counter this sort of thing from before his teenage years. He was proven right as after awhile, Adonis gave up.

Adonis then moved to get close to him. By the look in Adonis' eye, he could tell the man was still running on adrenaline. He didn't much worry if he was going to be attacked. Though it was a possibility that Itachi wouldn't completely rule out, ever, it didn't make much sense for him to do that at this moment. Adonis has told him to not "fuck this up" to put it in his exact words.

Itachi responded with a slight nod before he turned on his heels to leave. His current employer turned as well seemingly ready to go back to the beating he was giving. While Itachi mentally prepared himself to go back to that place where he proved himself to this man. Surprisingly he didn't dread going back to the bordello so soon as he thought he might. Hell, his eye didn't even twitch when it was mentioned. Maybe he was more bothered by the seeming brutal nature that his boss seemed to hide behind his annoyingly aggressive and loud personality.

Perhaps he had underestimated him, perhaps he had underestimated the true nature of how ugly this business could be. These were the thoughts that accompanied Itachi all the way back to his destination. 

Here he was again. Back at the Bordello where it all began not too long ago. Back then he really didn't have a desire to ever return to this place, but the man who brought him in made a fair point. This place needed protection, even if it wasn't the most glamorous of places and Itachi wasn't really one to stick his nose up at anything, despite some people's beliefs about him. Also considering the scene he just left any place was a better place to be than there.

Itachi closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose before he entered again. This time wasn't all that different from the last time he was here. He was in there with a task to complete, barely any details about said task other than to report to the people that ran the place, and deliver a message at the behest of the man who he was just making collections for.

This time he didn't need to mess with the bartender for information, though the thought did enter his head just for kicks. He quickly shook it off as he made a beeline for the stairs leading to the upper offices. He paid no mind to all that was going on in the lounge area this time around. One would think he was probably a regular except he wasn't eyeballing any of the girls, but apparently the same couldn't be said about them. One in particular found herself quite gleeful when she caught a glance of him and Itachi found his forward progress halted by said woman.

She was wearing a nurse's uniform for some reason, except Itachi was sure that should she show up like that to a hospital, the would either throw her out, or she'd become the number one nurse in the entire place. Speaking of number one's, this was apparently the number one woman of this establishment if the lady who ran it's word was anything to go by.

"Well slow down there cowboy, where's the fire?" The woman asked the same playful smile on her face that was there the last time.

Itachi was no stranger to women trying to tease him, but this one seemed to be on another level. Itachi was uncomfortable around her because not only was she the teasing type, but she was persistent and quite talented and breaking through some of his easier defenses. Itachi had to fight back the sigh that threatened to escape his mouth, he didn't want to let this woman know that she had any kind of effect on him, even though he was sure she knew.

"I need to see the woman who runs this place again. I have a message to deliver to her from Adonis-san." Itachi informed the woman.

She didn't miss a beat and responded right away, like she already knew what his response would be.

"Aww and here I thought you came back because you wanted to see me again." She fake whined and even put on a fake pout to boot. "You seem like the all work and no play type of guy, that could be bad for your health you know? You can trust me, I'm a nurse after all." The woman said glomping onto his arm as she said it.

Itachi took a second to keep his eyes closed before opening them recomposed.

"I highly doubt that." Itachi simply replied and made like he was going to continue on forward even with the woman attached to him.

He was surprisingly held in place however as the woman resisted his attempt to move forward. She was surprisingly stronger than her frame would suggest, and the slight widening of his eyes must've shown that he was thinking just that. She gave a slight smirk in response.

"You underestimate me." She just simply said in return before she began to drag him toward the stairs.

Itachi followed along as he believed this would be the quickest way to get done what he was sent here to do. She dragged him up the stairs and past the rooms that strongly smelled and gave off the sounds of intercourse.

"You know, one of these days, me and you ARE gonna spend some times in one of these rooms. Don't worry I'll make sure it's nice and clean for our special occasion." She teased, looking back and giving off a wink as she did.

Itachi didn't respond, he just focused on the door at the end of the hall and tried to figure out how this situation would play out this time. Once they arrived at the door, the woman who guided him, did her same two knock and then enter routine once more. 

"Goodness Amy, do you ever wait until I actually tell you to come in before you actually do?" The woman who sat behind the desk asked the woman who guided him here.

Itachi made a mental note, that the one who was all over him every time she saw him was named Amy. That would be useful information in the future.

"Sorry Lexi, but our young friend has returned, the one who works with Joey. He came to see you and got me all excited for nothing thinking he'd come back to finally see me." Amy replied as she once again took up what seemed to be her spot alongside the desk.

The woman called Lexi who was sitting behind the desk gave Itachi a once over, before she was able to remember him.

"Right, the one from the other day. Good to see you again. I take it you're bringing news from Joey?" Lexi asked.

Itachi frowned at the question remembering the scene he had left before coming. It didn't go unnoticed as he could feel the heat from Amy examining him while Lexi continued to sit there waiting on his response. This confirmed a theory Itachi had in his head, for some reason Amy was working here while the woman called Lexi was running the place, even though Amy was the sharper of the two.

"Yes I do. Adonis-san wants you to know that the situation has been handled. The person or persons who needed to be dealt with have been." Itachi informed and resisted his urge to ask more questions.

Lexi sat back in her chair and heaved a sigh. Whether it was of relief or not Itachi didn't know and he wouldn't ask. The woman reached into her drawer and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. She took one out and placed it in her mouth, taking a drag and then handing the carton and lighter off to Amy who began smoking one herself.

"My, to see such a scene at such a young age, you remind me a lot of Amy here. She came to me at a young age, I tried to steer her from this life but she had nowhere else to go and in her eyes, you could tell she's been through a whole lot at that point in her life. I can see the same look in your eyes, and it's probably not my place to explain, but the life you're caught up in is a tough one. One where someone with a kind soul like yours will definitely struggle." Lexi informed him.

Itachi straightened slightly as he briefly wondered if or when he had shown he was effected by something. He cursed himself as he couldn't remember and did it again when he heard the giggle from Amy.

"Look at em now Lexi, now ya got em all riled up, trying to figure out where he showed a chink in his old armor." The other woman said as she got up and walked toward him.

"You're tough sweetheart, and you may be able to fool a lot of people, but women like us, it's our JOB to read people. Most of all, it's our job to read MEN. So we can read it clear as day, that heart of yours carries a heavy load, and the eyes tell stories of someone who's lived way beyond their years and you still have quite a ways to go. That's what places like these are truly for. To provide an escape in some form or another. Sure some men come here to get their jollies off, matter fact most men do, but some come to talk to someone who won't judge them, who honestly can't judge them. Some like the feeling of company they feel they can't get anywhere else. Some get drawn in by the feeling of like minded people with heavy hearts. Everyone's got their story to tell here, their burdens to bare. All the same as you. And that's what makes this a place worth protecting." Amy told him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

For the first time since he met her, he wasn't weirded out by her or uncomfortable, and maybe that was the most scary thing. He actually felt that maybe these people might care for him, might be telling him it's okay for him to rely on them. Better judgement was kicking in and telling him that, that might not be the best idea.

"That's good enough, Amy. I believe we should be letting our friend go before his boss thinks he's not coming back." Lexi said.

Amy frowned before taking a reluctant step back. Itachi bowed to the women again before he turned to leave. He was stopped before he made it out the door.

"Hey kid, what's your name exactly?" Lexi asked.

"Itachi, Uchiha Itachi." Itachi replied.

"Is it Uchiha or is it Itachi that's the first name? I can't tell." Amy asked confused.

"Itachi is my given name, Uchiha is my family name. Please just call me Itachi." He responded.

"Well Itachi, Joey may seem a bit, extreme at time. Lord knows he can grind on your nerves at others. But all in all, he's a good guy." Lexi informed him.

Itachi gave that statement some thought. He wasn't entirely sure whether to take that at face value or not. He seen some good people do some bad things. He also seen some bad people make other people believe they were good. He couldn't really tell for himself quite yet but it didn't matter really whether Adonis was good or not. His boss was his boss and that was all that mattered.

He gave another bow, showing his thanks before heading out the door and making his way back to where he had left his employer to report in. He left quickly, too quickly to hear them continue on talking about him while he was gone.

"Cute kid, but quite the baggage that one is carrying." Lexi said.

"Indeed. He's got quite the story in his eyes. A very interesting one indeed." Amy said with a slight smile spreading onto her face.

Back at the pool hall things had changed dramatically. The cleaners had been in to make sure the evidence of what transpired wasn't evidence anymore. A fat slap in the right palms was all that was needed. Delaware had bodies floating to the surface every other day. This one and the father from a day earlier would see the same fate. Maybe they'd need a new avenue for such things, Adonis thought, as he looked to the entrance where Itachi had just walked through.

He took a moment to look him over. Joe wasn't in this business solely because he could get shit done, and a lot of the time it was work that had a very nasty aftertaste to it to call it so. He was here, and where he now was, because he also knew people. Just like the women at the Bordello. He wasn't as insightful, but he had a knack for connecting with others. Maybe it was his full throttle attitude, and that others simply ended up rubbing shoulders with him eventually. But in his mind, he believed it to be his ability to find someone's strengths and make them into something more.

As Itachi made his way further inside, Joe took note he actually returned, for starters. So many men got caught up in the underbelly of that place. Many an associate lost to the sinful desires that thickened the hallways and lounge area. And many a corrupt agent. But Itachi had something else. He couldn't put his finger on it yet, but he was different. He had an ability to not get so caught up in that side of things. He now showed it so for a second time.  

"There you are. I see it went well, then?" Joe said as he approached and met the associate before he was too far inside the large hall. He was in a fresh set of clothes. The pool hall still had some people about making sure it would be clean and without bother for tomorrows reopening. He wasn't trying to cut him off, or prevent him from stepping further in, he was just happy to see how things went.

Joe made sure to wave Angel over. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she worked at the Bordello too. She had that same kind of troubled look, and sultry movements about her. And she talked like she walked, full of sex appeal. The only thing different, was she didn't dress like she was a women of the night. Conservative. Long skirts. Long sleeved blouses. Joe made sure of it.

"Drink?" Joe asked with a straight face, and the reason Angel had now joined them. Adonis was still coming down from such an outwardly expressive showing and he was feeling the emptiness that came with it. His usual gleam and confident, somewhat arrogant demeanor, not so. Relaxed is what you'd call his current state.

Itachi returned to the scene that got the whole night started with it looking dramatically different than it did earlier. The blood was cleaned or being cleaned. The anger and tension in the place had faded and it was beginning to look like a regular hangout that it was meant to be. Adonis quickly noticed his presence this time. Gone was the anger and high adrenaline that he was running off of earlier. Present was a more calm seemingly relaxed person. He had yet to see this side of the man he was now working for. Itachi noted that the man he was working for had many different faces and a range of different emotions, and he couldn't just peg him as a man of just one or the other.

Itachi nodded when asked if things went well. It was then Adonis called a woman over. She walked and had the familiar presence or aura of the women from the place he just left, she just didn't have the appearance when it came to the attire. Itachi couldn't quite figure out his true feelings toward the place that he had now frequented and returned from twice, so he paid his thoughts about it no mind at this time.

Adonis offered him a drink, of what was assumed to be alcohol.

"I'll take some water if you have any. Forgive me Adonis-san, but I'm not much of a drinker. It affects the mind and dulls the nerves." Itachi replied.

It was a practiced response he was sure. Where he was from and the services he was formerly in, some people turned to the drink to cope with the horrors of the job. Itachi didn't blame those people or think less of those people, like some of his former comrades did. Itachi however, was not one of those people. He liked to maintain all control of his body and mind functions at all times. He never knew when he might need them, and he hated being unprepared.

"Things went well enough over at the place. They assured me that what you did was necessary more or less, despite.....Your methods. They also were appreciative of your....intervention." Itachi finished.

He struggled to properly find the words and hold back his own curiosity and questions of why such brutality was necessary. Of course he'd been around people who took things to great lengths, some even did it when it wasn't necessary, but he didn't truly enjoy being around those types of brutes, though some could have more depth to them than that. Itachi wondered truly what kind of man the one in front of him truly was beneath it all, and if he would ever find out.