The city of Seattle was unusually dry today, as if it could not let another drop of water land upon the ground. John knew though that there would be drops of water hitting the ground that day, they just would not be coming from the sky. Although he would not let it phase him as he needed to press on, the loss of Godfather Leo_Maranzano was going to be leaving quite the shoes to fill. He also knew that it would lead to some in Seattle needing a bit of time to grieve over the departure of their good friend. 

Leo had been a great friend to John and an incredibly hard worker for the whole of Seattle. The energy that he had and the motivation was hard to match. His presence would be felt for some time and missed for longer. There was definitely the position of acting Godfather that John would have to fill, but he still felt that Ballard would need some growth to make up for the loss. 

There was a quick meeting with Coltrane about taking over the district moving forward, which John accepted. He already had his good friend WilliamWalker working alongside him. It now felt that it was time to let his other good friend move out on her own to start up another crew. That was why he was waiting at this building for Marcella...

"You made sure to check out everything right? Made all the changes and fixes that I requested?" John was looking over at the few guys walking out of the building with tools in hand. They were covered in sawdust and paint as well.

"Aye sir, we made sure to make it all to your likin. We even fixed a few unseen problems free of charge since you're paying us so much for the quick fix." John smiled and shook the young Irishmen's hand before handing him an envelope of money.

"I do appreciate it fellers. It's short notice, but it had to get done." He watched them pack up their things in a couple of trucks before driving off.

Now it was just the waiting game until Marcella got his message and made her way over here. It would be a bit of time since she was most likely off hunting or at the camp and this building was more centralized inside of Ballard. He sat back on the stoop and pulled out a cigar along with a match. With one quick flick the flame came to life and danced upon the tiny stick. Watching it consume the wood below he finally put it to the cigar and took a few puffs helping it to truly ignite. 

The last couple weeks there had been plenty of death and retirements around organized crime as things began to settle and people began to rebuild their organizations. Cities were being taken over by new leadership or old leadership that expanded onto new horizons. It felt right that even in this darker hour that Seattle would grow as well. 

Hell, even his newspaper business was going to be delayed due to all the craziness of the past few days. There was going to be plenty of information to cover and stories to write with all the change that was happening. Eventually he'd get to work on that as well in order to finish it up, but for now he had to take care of his own. 

As his cigar got shorter and shorter he finally heard the sound of a horse approaching on the pavement. Into his view came Marcella, who was a bit disheveled as she hopped off of her horse. 

"What is it John!? You alright?" She seemed concerned, "You haven't been shot have you?"

He quickly stood up and motioned for her to stop for a moment, "What in the hell are you talkin about?"

"That messenger showed up and told me that you needed me urgently. But he gave no reason as to why!" She sat down catching her breath.

"I mean it did seem like you made good time here. So I guess it was worth the worry to make me wait less." He chuckled as she rolled her eyes at him.

"So why am I here John Marston?" She said with a bit of annoyance. 

"Now is that any way to talk to your friend and heroic gang leader?" He could tell that she wanted answers now, "Alright, alright. Well with the loss of Leo to retirement. I'd like to see Ballard grow with the start of another crew here in the district."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. You have anyone in mind? I feel like you could have come to the camp yourself to discuss this. Or were you just feeling lazy?" She said without even a thought about herself.

He stood up and extended his hand to her, lifting her up from the ground. Then he fished a set of keys out of his pocket and extended them to her as well. A puzzled look appeared on her face as she looked back and forth from him to the keys and to the building. 

"Me?..." She said with almost a whisper.

"You've been my trusted right hand since day one Marcella. After the departure of William to start the Walker Brand, I think you're quite deserving of this promotion. Unless you don't want it?" He smirked as she snatched the keys from his hand and ran up the steps. 

"So! What will you be callin this new crew of yours?" He called after her as he attempted to catch up.

The keys were already turning in the lock when she turned back to him, "Y Sipsiwn"

"God bless you. That was....quite the odd sneeze." He said as he waited for her to finally answer him.

"One of these days you're going to have to become a bit cultured John. That is the name. Y Sipsiwn. Or if you can't pronounce that, The Gypsies. Although I expect you to learn how to say it the right way." He laughed at the thought of becoming cultured. 

"Well, that's a fine name. Even if people are going to think you sneezed when it's mentioned..." He followed her inside, "I think a few others might show up here to congratulate ya and see the new place of operations. So I made sure to stock the fridge and bar with plenty of food and alcohol." She smiled at him and continued to look around.

"You always worry more about the food and drink, I'm surprised that you didn't forget to get the place fixed up first." She laughed as the celebrating would hopefully begin soon enough.

He smiled and hoped that this would be the beginning of a strong rebuilding phase for Ballard...