"Here's to you Kid"

Charon walked down the street, hands in his pockets as he approached the Golden Dragon. It was hard to believe that over a month ago Father had invited him here in order to forge their alliance. That seemed like a lifetime ago now, the past few days had changed everything with just a few phone calls and a few sentences. Father was dead. Sam was a traitor. Lazy Eye was in charge....that last one still left a bad taste in Charon's mouth. None of this was right, but as the third party it was going to be up to him to make sure that he played his cards and forces correctly. Lazy Eye lived in the moment, he was too short sighted to play the end game. He took over too quickly without establishing himself, he was ruling purely through fear...and even Charon knew that couldn't last forever.

Charon walked through the doors of the Golden Dragon, removing his coat as the rain had gotten it soaked despite doing its job of keeping Charon dry. The gang leader looked at the few men that stood guard. "Lazy Eye is expecting me, but I take it he's not here yet....yeah, figured as much. That's fine, I'll wait" Charon said before moving to a seat at the table and sitting down. It was already five past the hour, Lazy Eye was late to his own meeting.

Lazy Eye confidently strolled into the Golden Dragon, his hands in one of Father's dark blue suits; it was the same as the one Father wore when he first met Charon here, but Lazy Eye was unaware of this. All he knew was of all of the old man's clothes, this suit fit him the best, and it was still a little baggy on his skinny frame. Hawk and Lazy Eye's best friend in the gang, a spindly man named Felix, followed him in, Felix holding a large umbrella, keeping Lazy Eye dry. The other two removed their soaked jackets as Lazy Eye made his way over to the back room. He entered and smiled. "Ah, Charon! Good to see you! Glad you were able to meet me so quickly." He circled the table and sat across from Charon; his bodyguards followed him in and sat on either side of him. "I apologize for showing up late. Took a wrong turn due to the rain."

"These things happen, nothing to apologize for" Charon said casually. Everything about how Lazy Eye held himself was revolting to Charon. There was nothing worse than someone who grew soft because of power, and Lazy Eye already had the makings of a poor leader in this game. Charon hated the sight of him in that suit. While Charon had not been very close to Father, he did believe that even without Father's power Charon would hold some respect for him. Lazy Eye didn't even pretend like this power meant anything. He wore it like an old sweatband.

"Now then, I believe you wanted to speak with me about our alliance...I'm listening"

Lazy Eye nodded and smiled; he was glad Charon seemed so willing to listen to him. This meant that he was allied with the Red Diamonds, not the dinosaur. "Of course, of course. See, as you know, there's been a bit of, shall we say, tension over in our district. We've managed to quell most of it, but there's a bit of an, ah... Issue." He shifts in his seat. "We may have settled the fighting within our borders and weeded out the loyal and not loyal, but now we need to ensure all of those outside are loyal to the Diamonds, not just Father. So, here's my proposal: You show you're still loyal to us, and everything continues as it was before. We continue offering you your much needed protection while you and your family grow, offering you money and men if you need it, so on and so forth, I'll even commission that mask I see Father made a note about for you. You fail to show loyalty..." He makes an exaggerated gesture of uncertainty. "Well, I can't promise that we can keep that going..."

"Seems fair, can't take any risk these days with all of the uncertainty going on" Charon remarked as he looked right at Lazy Eye, his lone eye resting on his enemy for the time being. Course, Lazy Eye didn't know where Charon's true loyalties were. Hell, Charon wasn't sure where they were right now. Charon had been honest with Sam, he was in this game for himself and would do whatever it took to win. If handing Sam over to Lazy Eye created the only opening, he might just have to do that.

"So, how can I prove myself to you exactly?"

Lazy Eye smiled warmly at Charon; in truth, he despised the man, his odd mannerisms, the mask, his disturbing power... Lazy Eye had every intention of icing this circus freak and his whole little gang once his men recovered from recent events. But that was for another time. "As you know, everyfin's gone to 'ell an' back in the last twenty four hours. We've got a few traitors on the run, traitors 'oo are likely ganna run to you. Sam, Orlando, and the Janitor. Them three stood by Father, an' killed a heap of my men. These loyalists are a danger." He adjusted himself and leaned toward Charon. "Sam claimed to be a frien' to everyone in the Diamonds. He alone killed twen'y of those 'e called friends. You really fink 'e's gonna show any form ah kindness to you when he shows up askin' for you to hide 'im from us? Nah. So, you find 'im, you hand 'im and his lil band of delinquents back over to me."

"You think they'll come to me because of the past few missions we pulled off together?" Charon said thoughtfully as his fingers tapped the table in seeming thought. Another benefit of wearing a mask was that Charon was very hard to read, his one red eye was unnerving and most people didn't like staring at it, especially Lazy Eye. "I'll do what I can Lazy Eye. If they reach out to me you'll be informed immediately and we'll make a plan to capture them. Along with that I'll make sure all of my men know that these men are fugitives. I'll place a bounty on all of their heads as extra motivation. If they come in to my territory, they'll regret it"

Lazy Eye blinked. He was quite surprised as to how easy it was to get Charon on his side. He nodded and smiled. "Glad t' see you've got some brains between your ears, Cherry. You've made the right choice, trast me. As soon as I've got the 'ead of the Crimson Traitor, I'll go and get that fancy mask of yours commissioned for ya. Sound like a plan?" He grinned a toothy, crooked smile and extends a hand to shake.
Behind him, Hawk adjusted the rifle on his shoulder and gave Lazy Eye a concerned look; it seemed plain that Hawk didn't buy what Charon was saying, and he was questioning whether he himself was making the right choices. He looked at Charon and gave him a weak half smile and nodded. All the while, Felix seemed to be falling asleep in his chair.

Charon stared at Lazy Eye for a moment. The man had just gone too far. Charon hated being called names, and Cherry was pretty annoying on the list. He glanced to Lazy Eye's hand for a moment before looking up to the moron himself. Charon tapped the table before looking away.

"I have a question for you Lazy Eye. Charon...do you know where I got that name from?"

Lazy Eye blinked, his hand still extended. "I, uh... Well, to be frank, I jus' assumed it was your name. Nevah heard a proper name, an' I can't fink of a proper place you'd get 'Charon' from..."
Hawk narrowed his grey eyes slightly at Charon; he was visibly on edge, and suspected something was up, which was leaps and bounds ahead of his companions. He shifted his hand on the strap of his rifle, a subtle gesture, showing he was ready to sling it off of his shoulder and into action at a moment's notice.

"The Greeks believed that the underworld was a physical place you traveled to. However, very few knew the way. Charon was the ferryman for the river Styx. He was paid two coins to take souls down the river" Charon explained as his eyes stayed on Lazy Eye. "I took the name for myself because I escort people there now. I know the river of death"

Charon stood up and fixed his coat. "Don't fuck with me Lazy Eye. We're allies, but don't think you're my boss in any sense of the word. You haven't earned my respect yet. Maybe one day but not today" he said before walking to the door. "I'll contact you if I hear anything from your enemies" he said before disappearing out the door.

Lazy Eye sat stunned. He had just been threatened by Charon, a leader of a smaller gang, and a circus freak. In truth, after the infighting and deserters, the two gangs were likely almost the same size, but Lazy Eye hadn't taken this into account at this time. He sat, feeling insulted and infuriated. Yeah, definitely need to grease this freak... He thought to himself. He adjusted himself in his seat and pushed his thoughts aside as he prepared to eat; he wasn't going to make his way all the way to the Golden Dragon and not get a meal for his troubles.
Hawk, however, seemed to have other priorities. He made his way outside, following after Charon. He caught up rather quickly, and calmly put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Charon." He whispered; he always whispered. Kept his heartrate down, making his accuracy better in the event of a firefight. "I've a favor to ask, if you'll hear it."

Charon stopped as he felt the hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked over to Hawk, wondering what the man would possibly want. If he wanted to make a threat, Charon might have to just kill him now while they were alone. However, it was worth hearing out. "I'm listening" Charon said simply.

Hawk cast a wary eye back inside to ensure Lazy Eye was occupied with his meal; once sure he was, Hawk turned back to Charon. "Look, I don't believe for a second Sam hasn't already come to you. And I don't believe for a second you'd be the sort to turn away a man as powerful and loyal as him. So don't feed me the bullshit line that you've not seen him." He cracked his neck and opened his mouth to continue, but hesitated, as though trying to find the words. After a long moment, he finally said, "Just... Tell him he's a good man. The son of a bitch did what he had to, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. I don't care if you tell him I said it or not, just... Kid reminds me of me when I joined the army, alright? Tell him he's a good bastard, alright? All I ask."
Hawk swallowed; he was more saying this for himself. He knew full well that Lazy Eye was going to send Hawk after Sam. Hawk knew full well that he would likely be seeing Sam again soon. He also knew Sam would likely not be seeing Hawk again soon. Hawk respected the Crimson Scar, and felt that he had to make some sort of peace with the man before putting him in his grave. The faces of some of his past marks still haunted Hawk; if Hawk killed Sam, his would be one of the faces to keep haunting. He had to start setting up his rationalizations now, while he was still alive, just to help him sleep better next year.

Well, this was a strange request. Hawk wanted Charon to tell Sam that he was a good man? For what purpose? Just to assure him that killing him wasn't personal? He wasn't offering any aid or help at all, he just wanted to say that before they had to face each other in combat? There was something admirable about the gesture, as little difference as it would make. Still, it was more than most men would do. Charon looked back to the restaurant to ensure that he and Hawk were the only two out here. It seemed like Hawk had truly come out here of his own free will.

"If I happen to hear from him, I'll pass on that message sure" Charon said as he still didn't commit that Sam had come to see him or not. "You're a good man Hawk, despite your flaws. You got them like we all do" Charon said before extending his hand for Hawk to take.

Hawk gave a weak smile and grasped Charon's hand in a firm shake. "I asked you not to bullshit me." He said with a light laugh, more of a strong exhale. "I'm a deserter turned common hitman. Just because I tell another deserter he's a good man doesn't make me one." He shook his head and retracted his hand. "And I'd appreciate this conversation kept between us. Lazy Eye's more than a little paranoid these days, for obvious reasons."

"Of course, of course" Charon said as he just watched Hawk for a moment before shaking his head. "Man, Sam is going to kill you badly when he gets his hands on you. You know that don't you? I mean you could have helped him but you didn't. As I said I don't know where he is, but boy...that'd be bad if he found out where you were. I imagine he doesn't take his close friends betraying him well" Charon said softly as his eye focused on Hawk. "Luckily for me he and I were never that close. You though...might wanna watch your back" Charon whispered before turning and walking down the street. "Don't get soft Hawk, that gets you killed in our world" Charon said before disappearing in to the darkness of the night.