The first few days in the city had been...an adjustment. Eli had only found his way to New York under strict orders from home and if it had been anyone else who'd told him to run he would have almost certainly skipped out into the sticks and prepared for a fight. This time it was clear from the horror on her face how worried his Ma had been and Eli had never been one to hurt her like that.  At least not intentionally.

So he'd taken the money that was at the root of all his evil and used it to travel east. He'd found himself grimacing at the sight and feel of claustrophobia that pervaded his new home from the moment he set foot on it. You had a narrow run of space where the streets all hugged up against the tall buildings and funneled everyone with the flow of bodies while the structures and the smoke of the factories dimmed the light that reached you to a sickly imitation of what he'd had back home. Even the air seemed stale by comparison, what with thousands of other bastards crowding in on you wherever you went. His mind couldn't help but ponder whether he'd have been better facing a hangman where he grew up instead of the slow suffocation of being wrapped up in the city.

But there were little silver linings. The parks held a bit of familiarity and enough openness to feel like he could breathe fully again. If he didn't know better he'd say these little specks of green were a bit like trying to put nature in a zoo for the tourists to gawk at. In truth it was more like trying to set a house a little bit on fire. The first time he'd seen central park he'd smirked a bit at the thought of the harried workers who were almost certainly employed to fight that battle. Every time they turned their back he was sure it would try to spread, reaching out tendrils to take what it wanted and pull back a little bit of what it would always remember as its own. It was a good reminder that things would always find their way to what they were supposed to be in the end.

The docks too had been refreshing. The work going on there was good, honest labor of the sort he'd been dodging since he learned he could feed himself with a rifle as easily as with a job, but he didn't hold that against the place. The ocean was far too beautiful and too free to get too hung up on its shores. Even the men who worked at that boundary between the city and freedom were the sort who always seemed to sneak glances at the harbor like it was a mistress kept secret from all but their own heart. Eli had briefly entertained the thought of signing on with a ship and exploring that new wilderness before he'd met a stranger who'd set him on a slightly different path.

He'd been wandering the dock for a bit that day and had grown a powerful thirst before he'd seen the woman heading out from a warehouse. He'd thought to cause a bit of mischief, fully expecting that the well dressed woman would recoil from a worn and weary scoundrel like himself and provide a good chuckle by way of the expression he imagined she'd wear, but when he'd asked where he might find a drink in this town she'd merely looked him over before telling him to follow along. His curiosity piqued, he did as he was told and soon found himself with not only a stiff drink, but a place to sleep and more money than he'd seen in the rest of his life combined. Then came the offer for more.

The offer had been too good to be true by half. Not that it had stopped him from eagerly giving his word that he'd see to the work. If it was a trick then the money he already had would give him a hell of a head start to run. If it wasn't a trick, well, that would be a well gilt bridge to cross when he came to it. So he was going to treat it like a bit of fun while it lasted to keep from leaning too far either way.

After a swig of shine for courage he'd made his way back out on the town, eager to make the introduction he'd been tasked with. His new employer had been more than clear on the directions, though "the big guy inside" wasn't exactly the clearest goal once he got there. "The big guy" did at least give the hope of a proper scuffle once he figured his target.

--------------------------------

"Fuck me sideways." Eli murmured under his breath. A homeless shelter. Maybe the rich broad was screwing with him. Fair was fair, it would only be what he had meant to do to her even if perhaps she was a little more imaginative than him.

Ah well. It wouldn't hurt to take a gander just in case. Sometimes you could find the damnedest things in places you wouldn't expect. Eli walked in through the front door and approached the first person who didn't look like they'd been hauled in from the soup line.

He opened his mouth to ask where he might find a big man named Billy, but stumbled over his words as he realized he hadn't taken his hat off as instructed. He quickly pulled the cap off his head and gave a wide grin to the well dressed young man in front of him before continuing. The guy had a bemused look as he pointed Eli towards an office door, but the odd sentiment went unnoticed. Eli was too distracted by the fact that he had found his prey.

He paused at the door to inhale deeply and release it, steadying both his nerves and his hands for what was to come. Mrs. Mastrosimone had said that the big man would be dangerous and he'd need to stay on guard. Eli was beginning to grow skeptical of the whole affair by this point, but cynicism was a poor excuse to let someone break your nose, so he still took all due caution. When he was sure he'd blocked out the noise of the rest of the offices from his focus, he reached out to knock on the door and called through to whatever inhabitant might be inside.

"Hello? Sir, I have a message for you. It's from Mrs. Aurora Mastrosimone."

Billy looked up from his paperwork on his desk. The load had been lightened since he had the conversation with Miss Niki just the other day, but it still was piling up. It would be nice to hand the whole damned thing off in a few days and just take on the big shit. For now though, he was still a Right Hand, and the city needed to be monitored closely. He grabbed his glass, and realized when he brought it to his lips that is was empty, so he growled and reached for the bottle at the side of his desk. Just as he was about to start pouring there was a knock at the door.

'Hello? Sir, I have a message for you. It's from Mrs. Aurora Mastrosimone.'

Billy sighed. What his wife wanted, and more importantly, what she was too busy to tell him herself he had no idea. All he knew was if this kid, whoever it was on the other side of that door, didn't deliver her message, she was going to make him pay.

"Alright, come on in." As he spoke, he put the glass and the bottle down and began to close the folders and books on his desk.

"What can I help you with mister...?" He left the question in the air, he's never met the young man in front of him before, so introductions were clearly necessary. 

A strong but tired voice came in return to him, and Eli wasted no time in pushing open the door still clutching his cap in one hand. The face that greeted him on the other side seemed fitting to the voice, though he could tell quickly that he was being quite an interruption judging by the number of things being quickly closed on the desk. Far more books than a homeless shelter ought to have to keep. The image of a suitcase full of cash flitted across his mind as the scales tipped more towards this being a real job.

"Eli. Eli Bowman. Mrs. Mastrosimone asked me to stop by and have a talk with you."

As he spoke, Eli turned and shut the door behind him. No sense making this into a public spectacle. The noise would do more than enough to make things rough on the way out.

"You see, sir, the lady seems to think that the daily grind might have let something important be lost in the shuffle."

The young man slowly walked towards the desk, stopping to drop his hat into a chair across from the big man and to place his hands firmly on the seat's back, remaining on his feet.

"She's asked that I come and remind you who's the boss."

Eli kept his posture relaxed, but was careful to plant his feet at shoulder width, ready to brace or pivot as needed. The gentleman was a fair bit older than he was so Eli suspected he'd have about a half step on the man's reaction times, but the man also had the look of a scrapper and an old scrapper was a good one.

Billy stopped. The paper in front of him was the current earnings report from the Gotham Memorial Hospital, in the red again as to be expected, but actually climbing into a profitable position. Maybe in another month or two it would be able to sustain itself. Maybe.

"Eli. Mr. Bowman..."Billy stood himself and looked the man in the eye. "...do you know who the boss is?"

He gestured around the room briefly and then toward the pictures on his desk, the ones with his children, with his wife.

"I'm the Boss Eli. It's very very simple you see. I am not the man on the street, by the whorehouse, down by the docks, lining up in the soup kitchen line, to try and bring in talent. I'm not the man who goes to the police station to get someone out on bail, to tell them they owe me and they could very easily repay the debt by just doing a simple job for me. I'm not that man. I'm the man behind the desk. I'm the man with the deep pockets. So if I'm the boss, who are you Eli?"

He grit his teeth at the upstart just then. Today was not the right day for this bullshit.

"Just remember... be respectful..."

The words bounced around Eli's head something fierce, but with each word from the big man they seemed to drift off quieter and quieter. When the man rose, Eli found himself re-evaluating where he stood. The man seemed to take up far more space in the room than his form covered, and that was saying something. He certainly had the aura of someone very important, and very used to getting his way.

Maybe that's why Eli found himself bristling. That or the fact that Mrs. Mastrosimone featured so very prominently in the pictures that big man was showing off. Apparently, this whole thing was some kind of married spat. He'd given his word to see this through so he'd stand his ground but that shadow of regret was back for another go at him. Eli was probably damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

"I think we're at a misunderstanding Mr. Mastrosimone. I'm not the man relying on a handout to survive. I'm not the man sitting in the drunk tank at the station thinking his luck's run out for the last time. I'm the man who stood on his own two feet beholden to no one who met an opportunity. I'm the man who's working for your wife, not because I have to but because I saw a way to get ahead and as far as I'm concerned that makes her the boss because she's the one looking out for me. The way I see it, the boss is the one who gives you a good reason to listen to them. A big desk and big pockets don't do that by themselves. You may certainly be the boss of this place and that's no lie, but if there's one thing I know for certain it's that no man is ever really the boss of a woman."

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Eli pivoted his right foot back ever so slightly to set himself for a fighting stance. He had a feeling he was about to step in it big time.

"So short answer is I'm the man who gave his word and intends to keep it. If it's all the same to you I'll let you and your wife sort out your differences once we're finished."

Billy quirked an eyebrow up.

"Finished with what exactly?" He let his shoulders fall and he gestured toward the bottle. "Drink?" He asked casually and poured himself one, taking out another glass and pouring one for Eli without waiting for an answer.

"I don't know what my wife put you up to, but I'll tell you this. You're right about one thing. No man is the boss of my wife, not even me. Thing is, in the hierarchy, if you ask her, she'll tell you honest, and she'll tell you I'm the boss."

He took a sip of his drink and leaned back against the wall behind him.

"You're also right about deep pockets not being the reason someone is in charge. It doesn't hurt, but it's not how I got here. Now from the look of how you're standing there, you're about ready to fight me, and you might win too, you're younger. Problem is, there's about fifty guys outside that door with guns that won't let you get in a second punch before you're dead. So how about you sit, and have a drink, and we talk instead? If my wife wants me to get out some frustrations all she has to do is ask. Of course, if she wants me to kick the shit out of someone, I've already got my own list and Eli? You're not on it yet."

Eli stood stock still and just stared at the man before him. One minute it seemed as though the man was going to respond to him by calling down all kinds of hell and the next he's slumping behind a desk and offering him a damn drink. It was enough to drive a guy nuts. Were all city folk this kind of crazy?

He eased forward to the desk enough to pick up the glass. If he hadn't seen the man drink from the same pour he'd have thought it was a damn trap, but a drink was sounding pretty good right now and it seemed to be good enough for this guy. In spite of his better judgment a little bit of frustration was creeping into his voice as he did so.

"Last time I felt this jostled around I was getting thrown off a damn horse." Eli tipped up the glass and took a sip of the stuff. He could tell by the taste that it was something far better than the shine he used to get into. "Mrs. Mastrosimone said you might think it was funny, me coming in here like this, but she said you'd want to put on the hurt. I was ready to give as good as I got, but damn it all if I can figure you out. Hell, you even admitted that your wife's got the upper hand."

Who exactly was playing him here? Was it this Billy who couldn't seem to make up his mind if he was menacing or merciful? Was it the woman who'd offered him a king's ransom to come and try to menace the unflappable man here? Surely she knew what she was throwing him at? Maybe he was just a fool for falling into these things to begin with. Obviously they were both tied in with some shadier things than he was used to. This man's mention of the men outside made that clear as day.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll sit and have your talk with you, but I gave the lady my word that I'd give you my best shot. If I come back without doing that I'm going to feel like a fool in front of her and I'm not a fan of embarrassing myself to a woman. It ain't got to be anything that's going to lay either of us up, but you tell the boys to stand down and let us have it out once we're done talking and I'll be satisfied."

Bowman shifted the drink from his right hand to his left and held out the now empty palm to the big man.

"You make that deal and you have my word that I'll stop pestering you. Hell, we can even put a wager on it if you want so it's not just getting bruised up for the hell of it."

The smile that spread across Eli's face at that moment was little more than a thin line, being tempered by the off balance nature of the situation.

"It's better than my first plan was at least. I was going to just swing the chair at you when you started to make a move. I might not have got a second swing, but I was damn sure going to make the first one count."

Billy guffawed at the comment about a chair being thrown at him.

"Son, if a bullet couldn't stop me, I doubt a chair would. But I would have applauded the effort." He sipped his drink and put the glass down. "You've got yourself a deal though, we talk for a bit, you tell me a little about the man who works for my wife, and by extension me, and then we can go outside, get comfortable and have a good go of it. Don't want to break anything in here after all, and I'm not entirely sure how the room is able to hold both of us."

He picked his glass up again. "To Aurora." He offered.

"Son, if a bullet couldn't stop me, I doubt a chair would."

Ah, so that was it. Maybe he wasn't just straight crazy. Maybe it was more that he was tough enough to get away with being crazy. This might just turn out to be a bit of fun yet.

"To Aurora. And to the man with enough balls to love a woman who'd send someone to knock him around on a whim."

Eli hoisted his glass towards his host, then tipped it up to gulp greedily at the contents. Alongside his morning pick-me-up he knew he'd be toying with the near edge of tipsiness soon. Of course now that things had settled to a friendly bout, a little drunkenness might just lead to a fight that made a fast friendship. Wouldn't be the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last.

Eli fished his cap out of the seat and sank into the chair he'd so recently thought of as a bludgeon.

"Well, if you're looking to know more about me I'm sorry to say I'm more of an experience than a story. I can say that if you put a rifle in my hands I can put dinner on your plate. That and I can show you the best places to hunt, drink, fight, and...well, let's just say entertain out in the wild so you don't get caught. Might take a little adjustment for the big city, but I think I'll manage soon enough. For the right price I even bring a person back once I show'em out."

Eli smirked and gave a wink to the big man. He supposed he ought to be more cautious, but after hearing the man's words about the whorehouses and talent and 'simple jobs' he had a pretty good sense that his troublemaking might not register on Billy's scale.

"If there's anything particular you want to know about me past that, then just ask. I don't spook easy."

His smirk eased back and he cocked his head a little to one side, curiously regarding the subject before him.

"And assuming that goes both ways, how does a big man in a proper office who folks call "boss" end up with a spitfire like that wife of yours? Don't guys like you usually get yourself some fancy blonde trophy that don't cause too much fuss?"

Billy laughed as he shook his head.

"Not for wives, not in my experience at least. For a girlfriend on the side? Yes, the blonde who keeps her mouth shut is perfect. For the wife? The woman who is going to raise the kids and needs to be just as much a spitfire as the man is so they don't take shit from them in their own home? No. For that, you need a real Italian woman. My Aurora is nothing is not a real Italian woman."

He looked across the desk then studying what the man had told him more than the man himself.

"So you're a country boy I'm guessing then? You could probably wrestle a steer to the ground by the look of you. I do have a question or two actually. Why come to the big city? You looking to make your bones here, or just got bored at home? What's driving a man who would rather follow a woman's orders than her husband's? I like you for that by the way. Shows good character. Doesn't mean I don't want to know what's behind it though."

He sipped his glass once more and then looked at it as if it had almost emptied itself.

"We might have to talk after the fight, I'm going to finish this drink and we will head outside. You can talk on the way though, come on." He did finish the drink then, putting his empty glass down and standing. "Just this way."

Eli nodded and threw back his glass, greedily gulping down its contents before setting it calmly on the desk and rising to follow Billy. This stuff was smoother than he was used to, so it took only a short time for his throat to loosen up from the burn.

"I may be a country boy, but don't start thinking I'm some dumb bumpkin from the sticks. Seems like city folk like to do that an awful lot."

He shook his head with a brief, harsh grunt that bordered on growling.

"It ain't so much that I prefer working for a wife, it's just that I'd already gave my word to her. I don't go back on my word if I can help it. But I don't mind working for women so much. There ain't a lot of folk that sees how hard they got to work for things, but I've seen it first hand growing up. I tend to think a woman willing to fight for what she wants deserves help where its due. Best to keep an eye out too cause a lady like that's a dangerous thing if she ain't noticed."

Eli chuckled and threw a smirk Billy's way.

"But getting back to your question, I'm here cause when a man leads somebody out in the woods who ain't willing to pay to come back and leaves them there, the police get real upset. I hear they wanted to talk to me about 'negligent homicide' or some such thing. I told the poor bastard not to piss off the bears, but apparently he didn't listen real well. One of locals was out berry picking a few days later and found him in three different places. So now I'm starting over as far away as I could get on account of my old Ma's worrying."

Billy nodded and smirked.

"We'll teach you yet how to keep your nose clean. And don't worry, there's plenty of space for you to lead people in the city and have them not come back from it. Just don't think you're going to see very many bears."

He held the door open and then followed Eli out onto the sidewalk. The people around the Homeless shelter stared at Billy as he came outside and then took off his jacket and his gun holster, handing both to his new bodyguard. He was changing one every week it seemed. Nobody was Charlie after all.

"Alright Eli, are you ready?"

"Alright Eli, are you ready?"

Eli had learned a great many lessons in his life the hard way. First and foremost among them was to never waste an opportunity to get the first punch. Second was that the words "Are you ready?" constituted exactly that opportunity.

Seeing that Billy was properly disarmed and ready when he spoke the ill-advised words Eli stepped forward into a swing with his right that had dazed a number of angry young men back home and bought him time to guarantee victory, or at least a hasty retreat depending on the fight. As usual, his aim was true and he felt the jolt of fist meeting face. Unfortunately, Billy's eyes didn't take on the glaze of a man knocked off-kilter.

In the instant it took his brain to process that the big man had snapped back almost immediately, Billy put a fist in his gut and knocked a puff of air out of him.

Looked like Billy would be a bit more of a fight than the woodcutter's sons had been.

Eli dropped back a couple steps and gasped air back into his lungs. He was pretty sure he'd given better than he got, but the folks watching them probably had to squint a bit to tell the difference. He circled and kept his range until he got a good breath and smiled.

"You're a real scrapper turning that back on me, Hoss."

This time he brought his hands up in a guard as he advanced wishing he'd not been so careless the first time.

Billy hadn't been hit like that in a very very long time and it galled him. It also caused him to move too quickly into the fray. He charged the man across from him and as he did, he realized too late that he was falling directly into a trap. He felt it too as he took a few shots to his side and then sidestepped as he swung. He did not connect with anything, watching as Eli dropped under his swing and stepped out of the way much quicker than Billy could follow.

"Well shit, you're big, but you're fast too. Guess that one shot should have counted for more."

He took a deep breath and felt a pain in his side, Bowman might have fractured something, but he would deal with it. He set himself then, deciding that he was going to let Eli come at him next instead of charging in, for once.

When Billy rushed him things moved back into the familiar. A big guy rushing him was exactly what he'd practiced on for most of his youth. A couple of quick steps and a duck gave him the opening to really drive home the hits and the big guy came out of it wincing.

Eli was riding high on his advantage and decided to push his luck. If he just laid into his opponent one more time he could get the man off his feet and put an end to the fight, so he lunged forward and tried to keep Billy on the back foot.

But the back foot had been firmly planted and Billy was waiting for just this response. The big man pivoted and threw up an arm that sent Eli's initial strike off target and left his right side completely open. It felt like bricks were raining down on the right side of his body and head as he tried unsuccessfully to halt his momentum and bring his guard back up, letting his opponent make up for lost time.

Alternating between jabs and blocking Eli gradually managed to stop the deliberate blows and get back to an even keel, but the aches all over his right side were certainly protesting the effort. At least one of the shots had set him up for a hell of a black eye, or at least it felt that way judging by the swelling already starting to rise. Even worse, he'd managed to not get any leverage on the injuries he'd already inflicted.

Slow down, Eli told himself, He's as rough as you are, you damned idiot. Keep a good guard and let him be the one to slip up.

This time, Eli kept his mouth shut and focused on leveling his breathing and focus for the next flurry.

Billy felt blow after blow landing. The kid was giving as good as he got though, and he was still standing. Billy really was getting old. He shook his head, no time for that now.

"Alright Eli." He muttered under his breath, noting that the big man in front of him wasn't going to come at him again. Only one choice then, he charged again, this time waiting for the dodge and the blows that were coming. What he didn't expect was the flash of pain coming from his side as he stepped forward. It made his swerve the wrong way and expose himself to Eli. The other man did not hesitate to his credit and swung hard enough to knock an elephant on it's ass.

Billy was no elephant though, he was a bull, lucky for him, he wasn't seeing red by the time the blows slowed down. He managed, barely to push Eli back toward the Homeless shelter and then threw up both of his hands.

"Alright, fuck it, you win. I yield."

He reached down to grab at his rib then and poked it. Just bruised, thank god. It would heal in a couple days.

"There, you can tell my wife that you came on in, and beat the shit out of me. She'll be disappointed I think by that, but maybe for once she'll enjoy nursing my wounds instead of adding to them."

He turned and took his jacket and his guns back and then looked at Eli.

"Mister Bowman, welcome to King's County."