Strategy

Today, Sunday 21st.

Roméo is lying down on the couch while checking his phone. On Twitter and other social media, people are talking a lot about yesterday's fight. When he reads texts about how their duo won the first fight tournament brilliantly, he can't help but remember last night..

Yesterday night, Saturday 20th.

When David's men opens the cage, the duo is surrounded by people screaming and begging to have an autograph. From behind them, some of David's bodyguards help them get away from the crowd and lead them to a quieter place. Once they stopped being followed, Stella jumps in Roméo arms with a pleased expression.

- My GOD! We did it!

- Yeah, we did! This was crazy, I feel like my heart is leaving me..

- HA! That's the thrills provided by David's tournaments! An amazing and intoxicating feeling right? Oh god, I missed that..

- You did ?.. were you a fighter ?

- Oh hell no, never been one. Though, I'm used to attend to his shows, it's always such a big event!

- Yeah, I remember watching wrestling match late at night years ago. Even if it was fake, I was so into it.

- That's the same mood, yea. But smelling the odor of the sweat of the fighters, hearing the shouts of the crowd, being in the front line to watch men ready to ripe each other's throat on a whim..! THAT is the true feeling.

Roméo chuckles and looks around.

- Where are we anyway? I thought that with all this agitation, David would call us right away in his office or something.

- Oh my god-- no, no. We're not good enough yet. To him, we were just lucky to take down The Beast, we're no more than two strangers barging in to crush some skulls. We must do may more to impress him! Just one fight isn't enough. If you knew how much guys like us he saw in his life trying to show off on his stage and acting like we're invincible , you'd be surprise by the amount of failures he saw afterwards.

- You.. sure know a lot about him huh.

- Yeah well, I grew up in the streets. When you're on your own in Boston, trapped in dark narrow streets, you must find ways to enjoy yourself, don't you think?

- .. Maybe you're right.

- For now, let's just walk home okay? We've had a very good show tonight but it's time to sleep.

- You're right, should I walk with you?

- Nah, no need. Be ready for Tuesday though! Our next opponent is gonna be way more aggressive than this one.

- Yea, don't worry, I know what to do.

Roméo waves happily at Stella and turns around. While walking, he could hear the crowd cheering for the next fights of the night and around him, people are rushing to the show. Being finally by himself, alone in the lit streets of Boston is somehow peaceful and liberator. When he gets out of the dark district at last, he raise his head to the sky to sweet breeze dive through his hair, it's like being fondled by a divine spirit.

Suddenly, this soft feeling change to something else. He feels followed by someone. And then, he remembers. ".. In the crowd earlier.. I swear I saw him. What.. what will he say now that knows? Will he kick me out? Will he put me to jail? My goshh.. he saw me.." is what he thought. In a trice, Roméo's face becomes all red, he nibbles his fingers in a cute way and start acting all embarrassed.

Since he's not paying attention to his surroundings, he accidentally bumps into a man facing him.

- Oh! My bad, I'm sorry sir-

When he lift his face to the man, the cold and indifferent expression of Michael appears in front of him. Roméo startles and takes a few steps back. Michael sighs deeply.

- Oh h-heyy Michael! I didn't know you would be here- going somewhere?

- Not really. Is your movie finished?

- Yeah, you can say that..

- Let's head home then.

Roméo nods and shyly, starts walking by Michael's side. Sometimes, Michael would glance at Roméo's flushed face and just analyze his way of being without saying a single word. The way to the building is long and very calm, they barely speak or produce any sound but they walk quite close from each other.

When they arrived, Michael beckoned Roméo to give to him his jacket in order to put it on the coat hanger and after that, Roméo slumps on the couch. He looks very tired.

- ... Must have been an exhausting movie for you to be so tired.

- Yeah.. it was.

- Are you hungry? I bought some food earlier.

- Y-yeah quite. We didn't eat at the theater.

Roméo's stomach gurgles.

- I see that.

Michael walks in the kitchen and takes some things out of his drawers.

- Are you fine with instant noodles?

- Yeah! Back in the days it was most of the things I ate to survive.

Michael raises an eyebrow and rolls eyes with an amused air. He puts some hot water in the noodles, put the two pots on a plate and walks to the couch where Roméo is sat.

- Will you turn on the TV for me?

- Sure..

Roméo turns it on and choose a random channel. At this time, the type of program on tv would be some investigating series or erotic one.. Roméo obviously chose the first type, investigation. While watching it, Michael hands him his noodles with a fork and starts eating on his own. Nobody really talks, the only sound coming from them they could hear is the noddles getting eat by them. Other than that, they seem both focused on the tv series. Since he's really hungry, Roméo eats in a messy way which seems to annoy Michael. He sighs deeply and takes a napkin from the living room table.

Instead of just handing it to him, Michael rather do it himself.

- Look at me.

Roméo turns his head to Michael and startles when he notices that he's already this close to him. Once again he puts his forefinger and thumb on his chin and then starts to wipe off some food residue.

- No need to eat so fast nor messily. The food isn't going anywhere, chill.

In a way, Roméo feels ashamed of being reprimanded by Michael.

- S-sorry..

Michael sighs deeply and put the napkin aside.

- That's okay, people may find it cute.

Roméo scoffs loudly and turns his head to the TV to avoid any eye contact with Michael. In the end, Michael pats his head gently.

He whispers,

- Brat..

After their "dinner", Michael puts everything away and wash the dishes while Roméo, exhausted, is already lying down on the couch, eyes closed and maybe asleep. Some minutes later, Michael comes to turn off the TV, put a blanket on Roméo and crouch next to him. He pats his head and stares at his face for while. He whispers :"I know it." and then, gets up, walks to his room and locks it.

When Roméo was certain that Michael wasn't around anymore, he puts his hand on his forehead and exhale.

- W-what was that..

Today, Sunday 21st.

Roméo is in the bathroom and washes his face with water. "Why was I thinking of that.." is what he thought. When he walks out of the bathroom, he sees Michael in the kitchen, cup of coffee in the hand and dressed with his uniform service.

- Woah, you have shifts on weekends?

- We're the police. We can even have shifts on Christmas if we're ordered to.

- You're not choosing when you have work?

- Well, you can ask for reduced shifts but usually, they don't really allow it so..

- I see. It's gonna be a rough day?

- Everyday is a rough day. You can't say if today is gonna be calmer than yesterday or if tomorrow will be tougher than today. That's what we face everyday.

- Why.. why did you choose to be a policeman?

- Why did you choose to study law?

"Dang, cornered. He got me." is what he thought.

- That's a good question, I'll leave it to your imagination.

- Same for me. Then I'm going, I'll be back at 5pm, call me if you broke or burned the house. I wanna be the one to put you in jail.

- Yeah yeah sure.

Michael walks to the door and Roméo follows him.

- Then, I'm going.

- Have a good day of work, try not to die today. It would bother me if the owner died on a shift, I wouldn't have any other place to stay left.

- Hmph, brat.

Michael pats his head and then walks out of his home, Roméo closes the door behind him. "It's weird but.. I feel like he's starting to open up to me, it feels.. w-weird." is what he thought.

Roméo shakes his head and walks back to the couch where he lays on it and eats his breakfast in front of the TV.

"Stella told me she's off searching the products for our next fight. We'll be facing our next opponent Tuesday according to what she told me.. I hope our strategy will work again this time." is what he thought.

Whilst Michael is on a shift, in the afternoon, someone knocks at the door. Since Stella told Roméo there were no training today for the next fight, he's still resting at home. After hearing the knocking, Roméo walks to the door and opens it.

- Hey-- oh..

The man who happily greeted Roméo is Quinn and behind him, there's Maddie. Both looks quite confused but Maddie is the most muddled. Roméo clears his throat and stares at Quinn.

- Hey? We are Michael's colleagues, you remember me from the ceremony? Alexander Quinn. And this is Maddie Wilson. Do you know where Michael is?

- Well, he told me he has a shift today so..

Quinn clenches his teeth.

- I see! May we come in? We're gonna wait for him with you.

- S-sure, come in..

Quinn and Maddie walks in, she instantly notices that Roméo is staying at Michael's place. There's a black blanket on the couch, his breakfast is still on the living room table along side his law lesson sheets even his bag and suitcase are hidden behind the couch. She turns her head to Roméo.

- You're.. living here? Are you his brother or something?

- Uhm well.. that's a long story.

- Nah, Roméo's not his brother. He just doesn't have another place to stay at.

- Oh my- are you homeless ?

- What? N-no, I mean.. uh.. not really? I am not American, I just happen to be in Boston for a while and since I don't have a home here, I stay at Michael's..

- Really..

Maddie walks to the couch, folds the blanket and put it aside. Then, she sits while Quinn walks to the bathroom.

- Oh hm.. I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Roméo Grriatz, nice to meet you!

- Yeah, nice to meet you too.

"She seems annoyed a bit though.." is what he thought.

- Are you really.. did Michael really let you live here with him? I mean, he's always so cold and indifferent. I can't imagine him being nice with a total stranger..

- I was also quite shocked by his personality. He's always so neutral and such a stone heart, sometimes even I ask myself..

Maddie sighs and looks up at Roméo with sparkling eyes.

- You know.. when I met him, I wasn't a cop yet. I was a waitress at the family dinner. My life was kind of peaceful and.. boring. I didn't really liked my job and I wasn't well-paid. One day, a customer in his thirties started hanging every Saturday at the same spot. When he was seeing me walking by his table, he would whistle at me, make dirty jokes and treat me like some escort girl by giving me huge amount of money in exchange for some "services". At that time, we were already in summer and that guy once again tried to hit on me but this time.. he was drunk and really high. He tried to corner me after my shift but then.. He arrived.

- He..

- Michael was on a shift too. He happened to see me getting harassed and in no time, that jerk was on the floor, handcuffed by him. I thought "So heroes do exist after all" or something like that. I was so relieved to be saved by such a guy.. even when that jerk's friends were coming at Michael, he managed to take them all down in a very bloody and painful way and yet.. I decided it would be Him. The man I chose. Afterwards, some days later, I enrolled in his station to be closer to him.

"This story is sure very sad in a way. Michael never mentioned this girl to me nor anything from his work. I can understand that being saved by a knight in a shiny armor may be the dream of many girls but isn't cliché ? I mean, falling in love with a random cop.. but she is proud enough to shout her love to him and the others, she really might be in love." is what he thought.

- Why.. do you tell me that?

-... I know it might be a very selfish request but.. you look close to him. Closer than anybody else. Is there a way you could help him change his mind about me?

- Well hm I don't know him that much but I will try.

Maddie nods and smiles really happily to Roméo. A few seconds later, Quinn walks out of the bathroom and sits next to Maddie.

- Woaah.. I can't imagine you sleeping here next to that man's room. It must be so stressful.

- Uhm well, at the beginning yes it was but now.. I guess I'm getting used to it. But you know, I don't see him that much. Usually I see him at home when I come back at night and that's it.

- Really? Hmm.. I'm wondering..

Quinn glances at Roméo's sheets on the table.

- What kind of job do you do?

- Well, I'm working at a chic restaurant! My shifts are long and begin early, that's why I barely see Michael.

- A chic restaurant?.. I'm impressed!

Maddie stares at Roméo and seems to be doubting. Her gaze turns to his nondescript clothes, his messy way of eating and finally, him.

- Then.. why do you have to live at his place if you're working in such a place?

- Uhmm.. that's quite embarrassing actually..

Roméo lowers his head and bites his lip.

- I'm working as a janitor..

When Maddie hears him, she instantly feels bad and guilty for asking. She puts her hand on her mouth with a sad expression, even Quinn feels uneasy for Roméo.

- Oh god, I'm so sorry, it was rude! I shouldn't have asked..

- No.. that's okay..

Roméo acts as if he was really feeling embarrassed and his subterfuge works. Maddie really believes him. "Gosh, I feel bad for lying but.. they're cops. I can't go and say the truth. However.. Quinn seems to be.." is what he thought. Quinn turns his look to the kitchen.

- Maddie, how about you cook us what you talked to me about?

- What, spare ribs?

- Yeah, Michael told me he was interested in. He always wanted to taste it but never got to. Mind cooking it for us?

- I absolutely don't!

Maddie, who was so downhearted and serious since she entered Michael's home, became as bright as the Sun as soon as Quinn mentioned something about Michael. She gets up quickly and walks to the kitchen. She searches in the drawers if there is all the ingredients but unfortunately, she doesn't find anything.

- Well.. looks like I'm going to need to run an errand! Wanna come guys?

Before Roméo even opens his mouth, Quinn stands up, makes two steps to Roméo and pats his head.

- I wanted to check out what Roméo promised me at the ceremony, sorry! But if you want, I can lend you some money.

- N-no need! I'll use mine!

Some seconds later, Maddie was already prepared to go outside. She smiles, waves at them and then, gets out of the house. Quinn sighs profoundly as soon as she leaves. He takes a chair from the kitchen and puts it in front of Roméo. He sits and stares at him.

- Hey kid.. have you heard something about a certain Nick Carter? He's one of the criminals who managed to escape our police station some days ago.

-Wha-.. why would I?

- I heard he was roaming around.. I thought maybe you saw or heard anything about that.

- No, I didn't..

"In a way, I'm half honest. I haven't heard from him since then and I don't even know where he's hiding. Though.. there's something I can do.." is what he thought. Quinn sighs.

- I seeee.. I'm kinda disappointed heree.. I was expecting some clues on his position..

- Is he dangerous?

- Huh?

Quinn seems surprised but Roméo wears a very serious and interested face. Quinn notices it and clears his throat.

- Carter is known to be smart, a smuggler. Recently, he's been implicated in a story.. he's suspected to know who have sold a gun to Marlo Swiski to kill a little girl. I can't give you any further details.

- Did Carter.. ever killed somebody?

- Well, maybe. We can't know for sure. From what we know, no, we haven't heard about any murders coming from him but we suppose he did kill some people on his own but officially, no murders have been recorded.

- I see..

- Hmm..

Quinn reaches out his hand to Roméo's head and strokes it.

- No need to be worried about him. As long as you don't hang in dark streets or spend time with the wrong people, nothing will happen to you.

At the same time, the door opens. When Quinn turns his head to the door, he sees Michael, taking off his coat to put it on his coat hanger. Then, Michael glances at Quinn and sees him stroking Roméo's head and lower his hand to his shoulder. Michael grinds his teeth.

- The hell are you doing in my house Quinn?

- Ah yes. I'm sorry to interrupt. I came here to talk about what I needed to tell you yesterday. About Him.

- Was it necessary to come in my home to say it?

- Whaaat~? It's the first time I'm coming here, I finally have an excuse to visit your home ! Why so mean..

"What ? Even Quinn never went here ? That's.. surprising." is what he thought. Michael grunts but at once, Roméo stands up quickly, and rushes to the door.

- Uhm well! I'll let you guys talk, I have to go somewhere. Quinn, it was nice to meet you!

- You can call me Alexander, I don't mind!

- T-then, have a good day Alexander, bye!

After that, Roméo almost ran out of the apartment and rushed to the outside. He's heading to the warehouse. "From what Alexander said, even if Carter is dangerous, he's not known to be a killer. I might have a chance to do something." is what he thought. He takes out his phone of his pocket, leans against the warehouse doors and texts Carter.

Only a few minutes later, he arrived in a car, surrounded by armed men. When he got out of his black car, he walked fast to Roméo and caught his wrist tightly to get him inside the warehouse, followed by his men. He pushes him against a wall violently and grunts.

- So ? What do you know?

- W-well, the police, they almost know your position!

Carter grabs Roméo by his collar and press him even harder against the wall.

- I told you to not contact the police ! What isn't clear in my sentence?!

- Y-you shouldn't do t-that to me..

Roméo struggles to speak.

- You d-don't know w-who I really am..!

- Huh ? And what ? You're a cop's son or somethin'?

- ...

Carter startles and starts releasing Roméo gradually.

- You must be kidding me..

- Actually.. I COULD protect you from the police but.. I need something in exchange..

- ... What do you want? Money? A girl? Guns?

- You'll learn that the most important treasure can't be touched..

Carter releases him and nods at his henchmen to tell them to get out. They all leave the warehouse and standby their cars outside, waiting for their boss to come out. Carter takes a chair, puts it in front of Roméo and sits.

- .. What do you want to know?

Roméo smirks and puts his hand in his pocket.

Inside the house, the tension is growing. Quinn stares at Michael intensely, the silence reigns between the two men. Nobody moves, nobody talks and especially nobody looks away. After a while, Quinn sighs profoundly and hands a sheet to Michael.

- Here.. that's the info I got yesterday.

Michael snatches the sheet from his hand and reads it quickly. Quinn gets up and walks to the living room's window, he looks outside.

- Apparently, David Martinez is up to something. I heard he organized a sorta tournament to entertain his collaborators. If you want to have a chance to kill him, it would be during the tournament. There would be people, a really noisy place and weapons at hand. A good choice no?

- Hmn.. yeah. But...

Michael stands up and walks up to Quinn then leans against the window.

- Where the hell you got that info from..

Quinn sighs and glances at him.

- ...We're cops Mike. Most of us are corrupted. It's not that hard to find the right ones to give you the info.

Michael grunts and sighs deeply. At the same moment, the door opens. Maddie gets in, hands filled with groceries. When she sees Michael, her face gets red, she starts acting all shy and cute. Michael rolls eyes and sighs even deeper. Quinn chuckles and walks to Maddie to help her carry.

When Roméo turns around and walks to the warehouse's doors, Carter walks slowly behind him and shouts "Hey!" loudly. Roméo turns his face around to him.

- Why did you ask me to do that?

- I need info and you can get them for me. Think of it as a service you're doing for a friend.

- Tsk, since when I'm friend with a white-ass boy like you?

Roméo scoffs and glares at him. The sunlight coming from the half-open door of the warehouse which passes in his eyes emphasizes the depth of his eyes. A serious face appears.

- Because I'm the one holding your life in the palm of my hand, remember?

Carter gulps then glares at him back. Roméo turns around and walks out the warehouse. Carter sighs and watches him go.

- Roméo Grriatz. What kind of man are you really?

Next Chapter: Second Round.