Al, Jack, and another driver, David, had all met up at a local doughnut shop. It was the only place that Jack could think of that would be open all night, with no one around, that served coffee. He was on his fourth cup now by the time that Mael had walked into the shop. The temperature had dropped significantly since they had last seen each other, and Jack had not been prepared for it.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s load up. Mael, you and I are gonna take the front end of this. Al, you and David are gonna block them in from the back with your car. We can’t give them an opportunity to maneuver around us. I know the perfect spot. A lot of trees, narrow road. Right before the last bridge on the way out of town.”

The drive out to their spot took little more than half an hour before Jack could see where he wanted them to stop. It was nearly pitch black out, very few stars and no moon out tonight. This would be perfect for their plan, since no one would be able to see anything unless someone drove by. At this time of night, it wasn’t likely that it would happen.

“Two thirty in the morning. Who the fuck moves liquor at two thirty in the morning?” Jack said. He was huddle into a single car with Al, Mael, and David, just in case they should need to take control of the trucks themselves. Jack wasn’t prepared for how cold it would be, despite being in California, it got nearly freezing overnight.

“I forgot that you West coasters think this is cold,” Al laughed. He was the one driving them as they headed out to their setup spot along the road out of town. They pulled up onto the side of a bridge along the road, shutting the lights off as they sat and waited for the trucks to come around the bend. With them being about twenty five miles out of town, they were certain that any police presence would be a non-issue.

“Word is that they’re gonna be moving through here soon. There could have been a hold up in their warehouse, so we’re just going to wait here until we see the headlights,” Jack told them. The cold air was getting into the car with the engine shut off now.

Jack stepped out of the car, stepping behind it to light up a cigarette and scope out the surrounding area. They seemed to be in a pretty good spot to keep anyone from driving off. The only thing he was unsure of was how many trucks these guys were going to be using. He’s heard rumors that they run like a big time operation, but if they’re making their own as well, he had to imagine that much of the warehouse was occupied with stills. There was no possible way that more than half of the warehouse was taken up with crates that they were sitting on, waiting for the right buyer from the surrounding cities.

There was a peaceful calm in the area, Jack had to imagine that very few people traveled even locally at this time of night. For Jack, it meant about four cups of coffee, including the one that was sitting in the car at the moment. He had no doubts about the men he had brought with him to do the job, but he couldn’t keep his mind off of the idea that this would be a tough negotiation and they would have to drive the trucks themselves.

“You guys seeing that light?”Jack asked.

“What light?” Al asked.

“Coming from the South. I thought they were supposed to be taking the West road out of town.”

“Could be them, might have been an issue on the North road. I know that last night it was shut down while they were doing searches of every car heading out of town.”

“Let’s hope they’re not doing that again, or we have another problem if we need to head back.”

Mael wondered if these adults knew that he was a mere teenager, he shrugged, knowing that he needed money to fund a new business that he was going to be investing in. He watched as they stepped out, as he stayed in the car, leaning back against the seats before his stomach growled almost, clutching it, he remembered that they were just at a donut shop. He never had time to get one, he was a growing lad and needed to eat something at least. 

"Let me check what the heck he is doing, bloody hell, it's past my bedtime and they thought now would be a good time, what a joy."

Stepping out of the car, he noticed Jack and his cohorts, he wondered if someone would notice a 5'0 Teenager standing next to people who were taller than him, possibly by a good few inches. He stood in front of the gentlemen before arching an eyebrow, clearly wanting to know what his role in all of this was. 

"I do wonder if you have a backup plan? And why I'm here, I am hungry and I didn't get anything at that donut shop!"

Oddly enough, he was making a big deal of not getting anything at the donut shop, which seemed to be the thing that he was most mad at. He sighed and waited for an answer, clearly believing that Jack had some kind of Plan B, he had faith...for the most part.

"Plan b is that we have to chase them down, so just hope that they make the turn over this way."

Jack stepped back over to the car once he had finished his cigarette. He grabbed a poorly wrapped bundle of napkins, hiding some cornbread that his wife had made inside. He grabbed a piece and tossed it to Mael. 

"This should hold you over for a little while."

Jack looked out past his car again and saw just what he was hoping for, the convoy of trucks shifted back towards their road. He breathed a sigh of relief and then signaled for everyone to get prepared. They were far enough away that they still had plenty of time to get into position. He kneeled down next to the road and waited for them to approach.

"Remember, we're trying to do this without hurting anyone. We want to make them business partners. We're not ready to run this thing by ourselves. Their experience is invaluable to us. They know how to run this game, we just have better contacts to open up this business."

Mael barely paid attention once he was given the cornbread, his eyes had turned comically into cornbread and he started to devour the small piece that he had been given, he looked up at Jack, his eyes oddly looking like that of a Puppy's as he jutted out his bottom lip, sniffling as if he was an orphan.

"Please Sir, may I have some more?"

It was then that the dam broke and he started laughing, before leaning back against the car, noticing how Jack seemed to be eying the road a little more closely. It was then that Mael and his sensitive ears picked up the familiar sound of a truck.

"And here I wanted more time to tease ya with the old orphan routine, looks like there is no rest for the wicked and money don't grow on trees. Let's get rich Jackie, I mean, Mr. Waltz"

Mael laughed once again, he was clearly enjoying the time with the gentlemen, so much so that he was loosening up and starting to come out of his shell, as he heard the orders that Jack started to give out. 

"Of course Jackie, no one gets hurt and we get rich, so trust me, if anyone screws up this job then I will get Nikita to scold you, understood!?"

He laughed again, ducking behind the car as he wondered if he had some of his juice yet, he always got like this when he hadn't had any yet.

The trucks rolled along the road, approaching them at a surprisingly slow pace. Jack pulled out his gun and walked out into the road ahead of them, signalling for the team in the back to get into position behind them. There was little room for these trucks to move now, they had been following each other even closer than Jack had counted on. This plan was coming together better than he had hoped for, despite the rocky start. 

"Everybody out of the trucks! Get out of the truck and onto the ground!" Jack directed. He had no problem leading the charge, and once they were out of the truck, there was little resistance to his orders.

Jack picked up one man by his collar, asking him to open the back of the front truck. Once the back doors were opened, Jack saw crates of liquor stacked up to the top of the truck. He recognized most of the brands on the crates, until he got to the far left side. This was the jackpot. He finally had proof that they were making their own alcohol. He cracked a case open, pulling a bottle out of the straw that had been packed in to protect the bottles from shattering on the drive.

"What's this?" Jack asked.

"It's our stuff. We call it Pasadena Rose. It's our whiskey." The man told him. 

"Is it good?"

"I think it's better than anything else on the market."

Jack cracked open the top and took a quick swig from the bottle. He was impressed by the taste and quality of the drink. It was then that he heard one of the men getting up and sprinting towards the front of the convoy. He knew that Mael was the only one at that end of the convoy. Jack started to make a bee line for the front of the truck.

Mael scratched his head, his palm caressing the pommel of his sword that was made by Aimee, he sighed, watching the men, making sure that they were all occupied or at least, fearful enough that he would kill them, which he had no problem in doing. He smirked, continuing to watch them as he heard Jack and his group opening the backdoors of the truck, by the wind blowing, he could tell that they had been surprised at the loot they found. 

"Why is a little runt helping them, eh? I say we take him down and make a break for it."

Mael tilted his head, looking to the man who was brave enough to state his true feelings regarding him, he shrugged before smiling thinly and kicking him in the gut. He crouched down, leaning to whisper in the man's ear as he spoke like an innocent little boy, something that everyone on the ground knew was not true. 

"If you want to make a break for it, here's your chance, go on! I'll even give you a head start."

Mael cruelly teased, knowing that none of these men had the chance to escape from here, considering his speed and skill with such a deadly weapon. It was only then that he heard the familiar rushing steps of someone trying to get away. He stood up, stretching his arms a little before craning his neck as the people on the ground heard a soft audible pop. 

"Oh, we got a runner!"

Mael unsheathed his sword, allowing it to scrape against the ground as the men started to cover their ears, hoping that he would stop. He noticed the man was looking behind, obviously noticing JackWaltz behind him, giggling to himself, Mael held his sword tightly before an audible whoosh was heard and Mael had thrown his sword as if it was a knife and it found itself in the man's thigh.

Walking towards the crying man calmly, who was begging for mercy from certain deities, he crouched down, looking to Jackie with a blank face before pulling his sword out, wiping it off before placing it back in its sheath.

"Do watch the hostages Mr. Waltz, they are obviously ready to escape with their lives."

With that, Mael walked away, watching his own set of hostages, leaning against the truck and noticing that no one else tried to make a single move.

"You've come a long way from not being able to take a man down, kid." Jack laughed. He looked back over to the man that had been showing him the haul that they were carrying. Jack recognized that this man was the one running the operation. "You are the owner, correct?"

"Yes, I'm the owner," He replied.

"I want in on your operation. I'll supply half the cost of what it takes to run this operation and in exchange, I'll cut you in on my profits when I open up my bar in Pasadena. It'll be the only place in town that will have your whiskey stocked."

"I wasn't aware that there was a bar in Pasadena."

"I'm working on the details. Now, what do you say?"

"I'm in. But you didn't have to rob us out here. I would have accepted this offer gladly if you had come to talk to me in my office at the warehouse."

Jack laughed, before he handed the man some cash and sent him on his way. He directed David to take over driving duties for the last truck to make up for one of the men being harmed during the ambush they had set up. Jack signaled for everyone to get back into Al's car so that they could head back into the city.

Mael had leaned against the truck, his eyes full of curiosity, he just hid it well, knowing that it would not do him well to show it in front of these men that would no doubt use it against him. He could hear some hushed voices, he zoned out then, knowing that this was Jack's piece of business and he was simply here as a guard, of course, he would be more than happy to help Jack with his business. The man had done more for him than he could remember. 

"Jack! Are we done here!?"

Turning his head, he noticed Jack and the others heading back his way, obviously, the job was over with. He shrugged, before looking down at the men and he decided that he would get some petty payment from it, reaching inside their pockets he took their wallets, pocketing them for himself. 

"Petty money is still money."

Mael whispered to himself, laying back on Al's car, humming a tune. It was clear that he was waiting for Jack, wanting to know what the next move was. He allowed his palm to rest on the pommel of his sword, it had the odd calming effect on him, ever since training with Koneko and Cain. He found that this type of silence had made him adjust well with humor and seriousness at certain points.

As everyone loaded into the car, Jack handed off envelopes to the other two men as he watched the convoy go on its way. Al turned the car onto the street and they hurried along the road until they had reached town. With a quick stop, they dropped of Mael on the sidewalk in front of his hotel. It was a late night for the kid, which Jack understood, but his help was appreciated. 

"You can drop me off at home and then head home. Start working on what we discussed first thing in the morning. If you need anything, I'll be at home tomorrow. Wife's gonna have some friends over or something." Jack said.

Once they pulled up on the dark street, Jack thanked him for the ride and then walked up to the front door. He fumbled with his keys for a moment before his wife opened the door for him.