The Danger ABC's

Chapter 13: A Criminal's Advice

Call walked into Constantine's office that day smiling, despite all odds. Training that day had been rough, although he was getting better and better each day. It turned out Call had an affinity for throwing knives, but could barely shoot a rifle, or anything with a lot of bulk, for that matter. It didn't matter, though, Alex said, because the only reason that Alex taught Call was so he could be prepared in the event a rifle was the only gun around to use. Call hoped he'd never have to use anything he learned here, but he knew deep down that wouldn't be the case.

Call was working on a plan, slowly but surely. If he could prove to Constantine that Alex valued family, set Alex up to be next in line, then Alex could help him get out of here. Alex was bound to know everything about this place. He could smuggle them out. But what then? How far would they have to run before he would be safe? And his dad... would he be able to get to him?

Constantine seemed... off today. In his weeks of analyzing the murderous psychopath, Call knew when something was bothering him. And something was definitely bothering him.

"Uh, hi. Care to tell me what's troubling you?" Call said, trying to get information of any kind.

"It has occured to me, Call, very recently, that someone dear to me has been wavering in their resolve." Shit. He wasn't talking about Call, right?

"Oh?" Call said, tensing up and resisting the urge to unholster his gun.

"It is of little importance, Call. They've already been... Dealt with by Joseph. Your first mission is coming up soon. Alex will accompany you, of course, and I will too." Call breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course."

"I have a gift for you, Call. A posession that I have treasured for many years, that I wish to pass on to you."

"Thank you." Call said, mildly curious.

"This knife was made by your mother. She was always in the forge, crafting weapons. The gang was a lot smaller then, mind you. Just me, Alistair, Sarah, Declan, Joseph, of course, and... Jericho. I think it's finally time to tell you how we all knew each other." Constantine said, sliding the knife over to Call. It was perfect, Call thought as he examined the blade, testing the balance. More importantly, it was a piece of his mother. He sheaved the knife and tucked it in his boot, and Constantine proceeded to tell him the most absurd story he'd ever heard. The scary thing was, it made sense.

"You see, it all started with my twin brother, Jericho. We were all fresh out of high school, none of us could afford, or wanted to, go to college. Alistair had found a job as a mechanic, Sarah was teaching martial arts to children, and her brother Declan was struggling to find work. Joseph and I were doing odd jobs, but Jericho started getting involved with crime. Nothing too serious at first, petty theft, vandalism. Then, of course, he had a great idea, how we could keep our little quintet intact. 

He found this factory where a gang was set up, they offered him a place. He said that all of us should join. Declan was enthusiastic, Sarah just went along with it. I followed my brother, and Joseph followed me. Alistair... Alistair was always reluctant, but we convinced him in the end, said he could be the getaway driver. Just like the movies... How stupid we were back then. Sarah caught on to the whole lifestyle pretty quickly, Jericho and Joseph followed. It took me a while, and Declan... well Declan never really got it, but they kept him around because of Sarah. Alistair never touched a gun in the 2 years we worked with them.

There was infighting, and eventually we had to take the original members of the gang out. They wanted to kill Declan, the fucking idiots let Jericho in on it because the fools didn't know they were dating. Sarah put a bullet between their eyes real fast. They saw Declan as a weak link, but he kept the 5 of us together. We were happy, for a while. Convinced ourselves that the other gangs were the bad guys, we were doing people a favor or some moral bull crap like that.

Then, Jericho got greedy. Kept extending the turf, started hurting innocents. We were all numb, by that point. Except Alistair. He loved Sarah too much to speak out about it, though. we did a job, Declan got shot, and Jericho, fool that he was, tried to save his boyfriend. He... didn't make it out either. It was the four of us, for a while. New members came in, and came out. Sarah changed, after her brother died. I changed. We were a lot closer after that. 

Pretty soon Alistair drifted away, thought me and Sarah were screwing behind his back, but then you came along. Sarah wanted out, finally. Alistair saw their chance, thought he could have the old Sarah back. They didn't tell me. Nobody fucking told me. I was on guard duty that night. I thought they were prisoners. You have to understand Call, prisoners can't get out. Alistair was screaming, but it was too late. They managed to save you. And then, he ran. He thinks it's your fault, you see. Mine too, but if you hadn't been born, well..." Constantine

"She wouldn't have ran." Call said with an overwhelming sense of dread.

"Precisely." Constantine said. The entire time, he had been completely indifferent. He glazed over his brother's death as if it were nothing but a minor inconvenience. Call shuddered. He had always thought his mom was the good one, that Alistair was the messed up deadbeat dad whose codependency was his own downfall. He wasn't sure if the truth was better or worse.

"Anyway, how was your little escapade with the Stewart boy?" Constantine said, kicking his feet back up on the table.

"G-good." Call said, turning red. Call willed his face to stop.

"I trust you found the... supplies in the drawer under the bed?" Constantine said, grinning ear to ear.

"Y-yup. Um, very handy. Thank you." Call said, staring at his shoelaces and willing them to suddenly come to life and strangle him so he could escape this conversation.

"The breaking in is always the best part." Constantine said with a malevolent twinkle in his eye.

"I, uh..." Call said, not knowing how to respond to the sadistic comment.

"Oh, I can see that you're madly enamoured with him. I'm sure that no breaking in was required. After all, that boy is head over heels for you." Call blinked, rapidly. Then he stopped. Then he blinked again.

"I'm sorry, what?" Call said, letting his words sink in.

"Let me try and put it in more modern terms. I believe it's now 'down to fuck'."

"I- Where are you getting this from?" Call said.

"We tapped his phone a while back, before you did the job. I believe the girl he was talking to was 'Tamira'?"

"Tamara." Call said, still a little shocked that Aaron wanted to talk to him, much less be interested in him.

"That's why you were perfect for the job, Call. That boy would do practically anything for you." Constantine said, amused at Call's baffled reaction.

"I'm sorry, I have, uh, something to attend to." Call said.

"Say no more. Oh, and Call?"

"Yes?" Call said, reaching for the door handle.

"I've decided to let the Stewart boy in. That is, if you can keep a tight enough leash on him." Call was shocked, especially with all Constantine's talk about family. Well, now he knew why.

"Thank you, sir." Call said with genuine thankfulness, a rare occurence. Maybe, with Aaron by his side, Call wouldn't have to take chances.