#thehxtshxt

Purple drapes hid the world of Chicago outside from view in the high rise office. In the center of the room sat Theodore Dolion. Sitting in one of the two guest meeting chairs near the fire itself. Shadows danced as he sipped the warm whiskey he kept inside the globe, that was in reality a portable mini bar. He usually had it over ice, but didn’t feel like tracking it down tonight. He was waiting for a man he had summoned. Valentine Marshall. Not by any means was this Theo’s favorite person in the world. 

Val was a hitman, a low member on  the totem pole and one that while his King insisted that he could be trusted, Theo was convinced otherwise. He was a loose canon but his private investigators and informants as a lawyer had failed him. Elizabeth Conrad was on the lamb, a page within the Mayor’s office, she had managed to escape after finding out a piece of crucial information about the Kovali family. It was possible she’d gone to the cops and gone into protective custody but his informants definitely didn’t seem to know of her coming through the police headquarters, so it wasn’t likely she was with them. 

That lead to a problem. Theo needed her to either come in willingly and swear allegiance and to the Kovali, giving Theo info on the Mayor himself...that or she needed to be silenced in any fashion possible. Either way, Theo was running out of options. That left him with Val. He has a distaste for having to put his trust in someone that he didn’t know that well or wasn’t sure could be trusted with Kovali business in general, but desperate times called for certain measures and strings to be employed. A knock came at his office door. This was either his secretary back for some reason or a Kovali member who had a key to his office, either way he wasn’t concerned, “Enter.” He called out from his chair, not moving to answer the firm knock.

It was just chance that Emmett happened to see Val, walking a block ahead of him while Em was stuck at a red light.  The other man was moving a little easier now, using a cane instead of crutches, and he apparently felt confident enough to be holding some kind of drink with his other hand, which Emmett took as a good sign...until he tripped over something and stumbled, losing his drink but not, thankfully, his footing.

When the light turned green Emmett drove up and pulled over, ignoring the honking behind him.  He’d just meant to ask if Val was all right, if he wanted a ride...but then he saw how he was still standing there, staring at the spilled shake, and started to think maybe he’d gotten himself into a bigger adventure than he’d planned.  But that was all right--he had nowhere else to be.

Getting out of the truck, he went over and touched Val’s shoulder, more carefully than normal so as not to knock him off-balance again.  “C’mon, kid,” he said, “we’ll get ya a better one.”

Alp hadn’t seen Val at the gym since the night at the Pier, but he hadn’t seen his name on the lists of the dead, so he figured he was probably busy dealing with the aftermath.  Alp had been, anyway; trying to piece together the situation on both sides without revealing what he knew, and dealing with heightened security measures at the bank as the city dealt with bombers on the loose.  (Not that his boss hadn’t written Declan several checks leading up to the event...but they had to blend in with what other businesses were doing.)

So he figured he’d see him at the gym again soon enough, or hear something in the papers or the next time he dealt with the Kovali--but what he hadn’t expected was to open the door and nearly crash into him.  And given the man’s crutches and cast, that probably wouldn’t have ended well. 

Instead he caught the door just in time, holding it for him and eyeing the cast.  “How much longer do you have to wear that?”

Contact Name: Val Profile Pic:

the spy: Who holds your attention, what do you hope to see?

“Anyone can hold my attention provided they have the right information or charisma about them. I never really know what I hope to see, occasionally the briefest sliver of humanity can be enough. We sometimes forget, I think, that we’re all people at the end of the day... Capable of beauty and cruelty alike.”

the shadow: Have you lost yourself following the path of another?

“Yes,” she begins almost with a hint of nostalgia woven throughout the short reply. “I have lost myself to blind loyalty quite often over the years. But I also found myself on that path, too. Sometimes you never truly know what you are capable of, or what your potential can be, until you allow another to show you.”

the doctor: What’s broken you would like to fix?

I like you for your potential // I love you // You’re one of my best friends // You’re like family // You are family // I dislike you // I hate you // I’d kill you if I got the chance // I want you to like trust me // I’m scared of you // I would adopt you // I’d date you // I’d sleep with you // I’d marry you // I’m worried about you // You confuse me // You’re annoying // I pity you // I respect you // I trust you // I feel protective of you // I’d invite you with me to parties // I’d lend you my money // I’d borrow your money // You’re good-looking // I’m suspicious of you // I’m hiding something from you // You’re fun // You’re boring // I’m upset with you // You’re nice // You’re mean // I’m envious of you // You’re smart // You’re stupid // I look up to you // I think you’re a better person than me // I think I’m a better person than you // I want to apologize to you // I wish I’d never met you // I never want to forget you // I want to get closer to you to know you better