"There's going to be peace by the time we're done..."

Michael sat in a rundown hotel in Los Angeles. The place was a bit odd to him, he could hardly place the reason he was here. Maybe to get away from all the bullshit. His life had been going down all sorts of bullshit lately, his father organizing the bullshit with the Maldonado Family. He decided to take a step away, see what he was missing, he then decided, it wasn't that much to be fair.

The only thing that changed was the scenery and where he was noticed. Los Angeles played host to many mobsters, some more famous than him. It had changed since he had been here, many people went missing and many of their former associates had either perished or their kin now had a place in the city. It was not a surprise, blood called to blood and they all knew that. Everyone involved with this life if you were a legacy than you were someone to watch out for.

Michael sat back in a worn chair, it creaked against the floorboard but he paid it no mind. All he could think about was the losses he had suffered. Many of the people that answered his call. This was more about himself than the life itself, he wondered what was out there for him to find. Who he could call out to, who would still be here for him to even speak with. 

His father was no one to him right now. All he could do was watch him scheme and plot. He had no clue if his mother, Secra. Would she be up for this, would she want him to be someone who was nothing more than a pawn? His mother, the woman he had never met. He craved to meet her, to gain her approval unlike the one he had with his father. Charlie Pavanno was a cold man at times.

Mael had learned that first hand. Charlie only cared about a few things, the family name, its legacy and what type of man he was years ago. He lived in the moments where he was nothing more than an associate, having links with multiple crews. He was no longer that man, he was a father and he was a shitty one. Heck, even Itachi Uchiha had been more of a father than Charlie and THAT was saying something. 

Mael knew he was being a bit unfair in some way. His father had just lost Secra, a woman he cared for and a woman that Michael did not know. Only it seemed like quite the impact for him to up and abandon him, leaving for Sicily and not taking him after. It was not something that Mael like either. Charlie had left him to fend for himself, his own blood, his father. Leaving everything to different people, that is what hurt most of all. Nothing was there for the bastard son, he had to pick up his own scraps. 

'Just another moment in my life that he could not come through for...'

He guessed that was why he was here right now, to get away from everything that was causing him unneeded grief.  So he stopped there, not wanting to get ahead of himself right now. So he kept down, deciding to keep his emotions locked up. They were not going to serve him well right now, he needed to get away from all this, escape. Maybe there was someone out there, he thought back to Philadelphia. 

There was someone interesting with a spark for this type of life. He had not seen her in a while and now he seemed to be drifting from place to place, He wondered, what type of person was she? She had run away from home and got mixed up in this, that sort of reminded him of his dear old father. The man who ran and was now a boss in his own right. 

Mikari, indeed a woman who was mysterious enough and he wondered if her story was true enough. She seemed to be looking for adventure, to simply live life to the fullest and have fun while doing it. There was no other way about it, he could be wrong and then it would have been awkward to simply call her and bring her on this adventure. Then again, what type of trouble could he get up to here? 

The Los Angeles mob, many people worked with and for them, many trucks passed by here carrying who knows what. Maybe there was some fun to be had and money as well, he never knew. Now was the time to find out, he could see what was going to happen. 

"You know, that look on your face, it almost seems like your planning to become one of the biggest hijackers Los Angeles has ever seen. Do not forget what the Wizard taught you-"

Lilly, the ever constant annoyance to his left but one that he could never be without. She had been by his side, still, the news of her and the business that she went through was still unknown to Charles Pavanno. A man she knew who would be better off without knowing about her, she did not need to go through the trouble that her brother was going through, it was too much. 

"Har-Har, do you ever get tired? Jack Waltz was a good teacher, he snuck me some good bourbon when Itachi was not looking at times. It was funny as heck. Now he, like the rest of that era are dead, well besides Dad. Then again, cats do have more than one life, I always wondered though. Was that just or a nickname or did mom pass something onto him?"

Lilly bowed her head, looking at her brother with something akin to disbelief in his eyes. Their father was just lucky and shitty at times, he was all over the place and was worse than mom at times. Still, he never saw it. She wondered how much he never really saw, considering she was the older of the two, she knew it was her job to protect him from certain things, including family members themselves.

"So what's the plan brother? You wanna do this robbery, get your name out there before the big arrival?"

Mikey looked at Lilly with an obviously tired face, almost like he had enough of doing this with her now. He knew she was worried, that was good and all but he did not need a sibling who was going to be all over like he was a simple person. He was ready for this, to prove that he could make something of himself. 

Mael shrugged, a robbery was as good as anything else. Right now he wanted to make sure that he still had somewhere to go, this was all good right now. He had his plan, only was it going to be worth it?
 
He had to do something, he was an unknown and people barely knew his name. Something had to be done to bring his name out into the light again, he could not fight like this. His father wanted him to get married, a man without reputation, that would surely gain the attention of some other families, the man who waited and got nothing in return. 

Lilly had her ways of doing things, now this was not what he wanted to do. Maybe it was the only way to do things now, maybe he needed this or maybe he did not. He did not know, so many people had known about him due to being the son of Charlie Pavanno' He needed something else to call his own. A home, a place to rest his head and this was this is what he wanted. Something to call his own, he had a good way to earn money with JackWaltz, maybe that is all Mael needed right now.

"I plan to make money and give people a reason to not second guess me. This means I wish to go about my business differently, maybe I can be seen as a man on a mission but I do NOT, under any fucking circumstances want to be seen as HIS son. I am more than that. People do not see that well and I guess they have to eventually."

Mael slammed his fist straight into the wall, his eyes oddly seemingly starting to glow before he calmed himself down. He was angry, a bit more than usual. This is what they needed, a true reason to pick up their own battles, not something else, not the scraps that they were given by their own father who cared less about them and more about the reputation he wished to gather for himself. 

"Woah Woah, calm down Mikey. Listen, I understand that. Only where you going to go!? Who are you going to rob? You have to pick these carefully, this is not your backyard nor is it your playground. You haven't been in LA for a long time, people have changed and they have forgotten your name. It means nothing to them anymore, you have to pick these next few battles carefully, cause you are going to be in the middle of something that can't be escaped."

Mael knew she was right, it was so obvious that she was right, what else was he going to say though? He did need to pick his battles carefully. He could not do this without the other, he needed her here with him. No one could be trusted to not run back to his father and inform him of what he was going to do, a battle that was to break out and probably burn the city with it. Mael needed something, anything to stoke the spark in him and this is what he needed and he was not going to let it get away from him. 

"I am calm. I am listening. I just need this. You have no idea how it is to be told that you're going to be doing this for no reason. He wishes to use all of us around him as nothing but pawns IF he wishes that, I am going to make sure that he understands who the fuck I am. Who the fuck made sure that he had won his war in the first place."

His father was a brilliant man, maybe a bit fucking psychotic but he wasn't in this life. They had their demons, they had the people who wish to take them out all in one go. That wasn't going to fuckin' happen, Mael was supporting his father because of his father. The love they bore for her, it was enough for Mael, it was enough to stop him from running away from his father. 

"You almost sound like he is entirely to blame in this matter when that is less true than anything else, you're looking at this from one view. He is protecting your image as well in all this, Mael Pavanno, the Bane of Seattle, Seducer, Tempter, and Destroyer. You're not exactly calm in how you do things, my brother. You have the hot blood of Pavanno in you, some of them known to be more different in how they showed their feelings for the opposite sex..."

Mael stared at his sister, shock in his eyes as she had just said that, he was not trying to do anything wrong here. Yet he could see where she was coming from, in a way his father was protecting him as well. He had not given a  good image of the family lifestyle that they had, it was not something that Mael wished to even go into further. This was something else that could be discussed at a later date, yet it rang true in his mind, he was all those things, claiming to have stopped but that was also a lie. 

"Argh! I am not to blame here, it's his fault, if he stayed, if my mother stayed I would have been different. How would you know anything like that!? You knew them, you had them. You know the difference in fathers and you can see it all, he is not the man who could be my father and you know it is true!"

Stubborn lot they were, that was clear as day and true to everyone who had met a Pavanno in their lives. They never admitted certain things and this happened to be one of those things. Mael knew who he was and what he was, he loved his women, deeply, there was no mistake about it. Now he needed to shut that rumor down, he no longer involved himself with woman, so he said but Lilly knew that was a lie. 

"I know my own father, he was kind, loving, and special. He was the father you would have wanted, my father made sure to give us many things, a roof over our heads was one of those things. He gave me a place to belong but my mother also gave me different advice as well..."

Mael watched her, a flicker of something running past those stormy-green eyes. Almost like jealously but he pulled it back down, making sure that it never reached to the surface. He sighed to himself, knowing that Lilly was far from done and had some other things that needed to be discussed. 

"Still, your father, the one you have right now. It's different, he has an iron fist and has a way of doing things. Only do not doubt the care he has for you. He has a deep care for you and that is not to go unstated. He wants the best for you. He envisions the best for you, he believes that you in this marriage is the best for all parties involved, it gives you a wife and allows you to have children that are not out of wedlock like yourself."

Mael turned his head, he could see that happening. He did not want any bastards like himself, they didn't have to grow up as he did. it would have been such a strange thing, only he knew that is not what he wanted. He had to prove himself in some ways, being the son of Charlie Pavanno and another woman, it hardly helped things, his reputation was known in two places and it was hardly in good standing.

"So I follow along with his plan, I will be the good little helper until I can't anymore? Is that the plan, this girl, Francesca, she doesn't even know me. Only she seems willing to, the last of the Maldonado's. That is a title that no one ever thought would happen, now we arrive at that day, the moment where Francesca is truly going to be married off. How long has she waited? She didn't get the offer, she gave the offer...so she's heard of me, why and how?"

Lilly knew that much, Francesca had heard of him, it was hardly in good standing and here he was now. A man ready to be the head of two families, She could only wonder if sitting at the head of the table is the right thing for him. Mael knew that he did not want to be a leader of some kind, she wondered then, did he know how many people he could call upon? Those that would answer, it would have been shocking for him to learn...
 

"You remember Ruiz? The former head of Los Ilario Cartel, he's gotten bigger since then. He's a Cartel leader. A boss in his earned right. We could pay him a visit, make sure that he's treating his guys the right way, make sure that he remembers who gave him that jumpstart, which was you."

Mael chuckled, his sister was something alright. Calling in favors, it was something that the Pavanno's hardly did. They always believed in fair play, sometimes there was fair and then there was honoring the men before you. This was it. Now how she went about it may have differed in some ways, only he knew this was the way to do it. Ruiz could give them something to start, a nice bit of startup cash and after that, it was all up to them and how they wished to play the game after.

"You want me to play the game again? This life has many people for us to swindle but Ruiz, the man has gotten bigger than us! Trying to swing that fucker around would be like trying to gain the Director of the F.B.I with us, this move, it's fucking crazy but I'm here, aren't I? We might pull this off, we might not. Still, Ruiz is an old-timer, he believes in paying respects, I helped him out when he was nothing but a little gang leader."

Lilly smiled, this was a good way for her brother to build a power base, he didn't even believe in himself. Here he was, a different man, a man of power and someone who could grow into it. He had that power already, it was there, waiting to be unleashed like the anger that was wielded by Ares, the God of War. 

"So what are you waiting for!? Do the thing that you deserve, become a leader. You want to do robberies when there is another thing you could be doing. Something that gives you more power than you could ever imagine, this is the moment. The chance to become a different person, you are setting the course for your reputation right here, right now. So, we can go to Ruiz and give him the deal, make sure that he provides us with better business more than anything else, this would be the way."

Mael stood from his seat, pacing back and forth as he watched her from the corner of his eyes, this was something else, it was special, he could give her that, nothing like this seemed to happen anymore, something really powerful and this was it. Something that needed to happen. 

"You would have me become a leader of people, someone who they can look too and call the next Charlie Pavanno. No...that's not it. My father created his own legacy, he had his chance, he had his people, my chance is now and this is what needs to happen so I do agree. We can pay Ruiz a little visit, make sure that he understands who the fuck we are! Let's go, we don't need father dearest getting onto us for this."

"There comes that moment where you want to give up, stop fighting the ones who are looking out for you in this business. I think I have reached that point in my career Ruiz. You have no clue what I have suffered since that day, no one does. I have decided to move on with my life in a different way than before. I have come here to get a base of power from you, a chance to be one of the better people in Los Angeles. It is no secret that you control a good amount of the cocaine that finds its way into LA."

Mael sat opposite Ruiz, both of them talking business, the alliance between Ruiz and Mael had been fractured and left to burn. Ruiz was left without partners, now he had gone in it for himself. Leaving people without jobs who soon found what they were looking for with Ruiz, he was given so many people, he had gained so many allies that it left him powerful. A vacuum did indeed happen, only it seems that not enough for a war to break out. 

It did seem like Ruiz was the almighty powerful Godfather among the Latin-Americans and had decided to act as its Rep in matters like these. People answered to him and Mael could respect that. He had seen it. Here stood one of his former allies as a power that no one would have foreseen, Mael knew that he had some choices right now and he needed to choose carefully. This was something that could change the course of his own businesses if he ever started any. 

"Indeed I do Mael. It has been a while since we last associated my friend, even during the days of your Heavenly Host. You never reached out, you had left me and what does that say to power? Hm? You left a friend and a close one at that to build for himself. One that could have needed you and become such a friend that he would have granted what you asked without any need for favors to be called in. Only here we are, we stand as possible enemies and you have come here as a former boss, not a friend, that sets the tone of this meeting. It truly does and I have to decide, is this good for my people?"

Mael knew what was coming. An agreement, Ruiz did not need anything actually. He already had a good deal with the Italians out here, a man of real steel...a true beast...a powerful man in his own right. So what did he need his people for? Mael did not want to know the answer but considering that Lilly had organized this and not from the good of her hear, Mael leaned forward. Feigning his curiosity enough raising his eyebrow. 

"And what do your people require? They have no need for money, protection or influence. You have enough of that as is. You wish for something else. You wish for something, it is better for you to simply inform me of what it is."

Ruiz eyed Mael, making sure they roamed him, was this the same scared kid of all that time ago? Fuck no. He was something else, warped into a terrible mobster that would sacrifice anyone and anything for what he would believe was his. Only Ruiz could use that to his advantage, someone like Mael, someone who was willing to become a killer...a monster. 

"I wish to keep you as a retainer. Someone who I can call upon to allow for certain things to go the way I wish. A fixer is what I wish for and you can have your power base, it is all I ask."

A fixer was a killer in every sense of the word. It did not matter the term you used to dress it up all fancy-like. This was what it meant, Mael blinked, looking down at the floor. Certain sacrifices would be met, to become what he must be in order to reach the pedestal. He was ready but for the man who used to give him respect? It was a downgrade. A fucking demotion...

"I'll think about it, just remember Ruiz....it was me that made this all possible for you. And we Pavanno's have a way of getting back what was ours..."

"You wanted this, we got it. He's going to wait us out...try to play us and see if we can't find another supply. He wants us scared for the big time. He wants us worried and he believes that we need him, in his head, he is the powerful one. The one that will be in control and now we need to plan around that, we need to begin our own adventure into the unknown just as he did and we have no clue what awaits us."

Mael stated, his voice going cold towards the end and he had a feeling rise up inside him. As if a cold hand of death was reaching for him, trying to get him in its hold and all he could do...was sit there and allow its coldness to cloak him. Almost like it was warm and the feeling of death...there it was, a feeling that he had become accustomed too. He wondered what was wrong with him, only then looking at Lilly who stared back at him, a slight smile played at her lips. 

"Well, we played the game and now we are on the board and here we sit. Still, Pawns to everyone who sees us, can you not see what I mean? You want something brother...we have to take it-"

Mael stood from his seat, an odd wild gleam in those wildfire eyes of his! There it was, that spark. Her brother knew how to wield and hopefully keep it under his control. She did not see to see the same thing that happened with her mother, whenever that fire had entered her eyes, carnage and plentiful bodies were to follow as if no one but their lover could even settle them. Thankfully, Lilly had more of her father in patience and was the calmest of her family. 

"Oh, there we go...we'll get there. Just let me get there.....I need to think about this. Moves are being made and Ruiz does not wish to give over what is rightfully ours. We would have to change what we do as of right now, my former businesses, the guns, everything. We call in those guys, The MC, The Company, no matter who or where they are. I want them here by next week. We're going to have a little sitdown of me coming back into the fold."

Lilly watched her brother, there he was...a powerful specimen. She worried though, was he truly ready to become what he needed to be? That could only be seen in time, Lilly wanted him to get what he wanted, only she knew, he would still end up marrying into the Maldonado family. There was no other way about it, this was something that was going to happen and would happen. Her brother was going to be the head of two powerful organizations that held so much influence. 

"Well then, it's going to be a long week in LA and we still need to talk about that one girl you met. Something tells me that I will need to keep an eye on her. I don't want you getting into trouble over a broad alright!? I need your head on straight. That can't happen if you're off thinking about what she can do for you. I need you here, so make sure to prepare, alright?"

Her words had an effect, Mael's eyebrow rose before he shrugged, turning his head away from her. It was up to him whether or not he took her advice and they both knew it. Him with a woman, right now, it was not a good idea and was something that would lead to more than just bloodshed. He decided to shelf it for now, things were good for now, things were at peace. Yet Mael did not deny, he felt so....weak and useless at that moment and so he stopped, allowing himself a break, a moment to himself as Lilly walked away. 

'Dearest Sister, you have no idea how correct you are. Our father did the same thing, he did it and look what he got, a son. One that has yet to prove his worth to the world. I would never place that burden on a woman who has sparked my interest. She does not deserve that. I am curious....I wish to know more about this Mikari' 

He thought to himself, his eyes were filled with curiosity and a tiny bit of anger. His sister may have been correct in this matter, it did not mean he was going to listen. He could protect her, she would be protected. He would make sure of that, nothing was going to hurt her....oh he was sure that his father made the same promise to his curiosity and what happened to her? 

Mael sighed, standing up and heading to his room, deciding to leave that matter for another day. It was enough, he needed some sleep and the week coming promised a lot of alliances and business.