Let's find your mother

[Risk]

"Home sweet home," muttered Risk, chuckling at Macbeth's death glare and leading her towards the tavern.

[Macbeth]

"Yeah...it really wasn't that bad, actually," she said with a dry laugh. "I mean, we was all used to the roaches and rats. Didn't even notice the smell. And we had these friends down the hall..." She smirked, remembering April and Alex and their antics. "I'll hafta tell you stories sometime."

When the pier and the Blood Diamond came into view, however, she shut up and slowly approached the alley that led to them. Maybe Archer had slipped over the years, relaxed his grip on the territory. Maybe he'd hired someone new, someone who wasn't as good, someone who wouldn't know the very second you set foot in that alley--

Nope. The second they did, there was a blade at her throat and a gun against Risk's head.

"Hey, Sentry," Macbeth said as calmly as she possibly could, thinking she maybe should've warned Alec about this.

"Who the hell are youse?" a girl's voice demanded from behind them. Evidently, her memory wasn't as sharp as her reflexes. Beth swallowed.

[Risk]

"I used to go by Risk when I was a newsie," answered Risk cooly, refusing to give his real name. He'd had enough training to know how to stay calm under pressure. He just hoped Macbeth was doing alright.

"Is Archer around here?"

[Macbeth]

"What would you know about Archer?" the young woman sneered, applying a little more pressure to both weapons.

Macbeth finally recovered her voice. "Sentry, we bloody well know each other!" she snapped, back to her blunt and reckless self.

Which was probably why Sentry peered at her face and then pulled back the knife and stared at her. "Beth Rowlands? How the hell are you not dead yet?"

Beth glared ferociously and cleared her throat. Sentry rolled her eyes and took the gun off Risk. "Whaddaya wanna see Archer about, huh? We ain't seen your sorry face in years."

"About Alex Wisely," Beth said coolly.

Sentry's eyebrows rose. She looked from Beth to Risk and nodded slowly. "All right, c'mon," she said, leading them both toward the tavern.

"Sorry about that," Beth whispered to Risk, heart still pounding as she followed Archer's rather terrifying second-in-command.

[Risk]

"It's alright... at least we're not dead," he half-teased, taking her hand and following Sentry.

[Macbeth]

"Ain't that our daily motto?" she said with a smirk. It really was impressive that they'd survived this long--a scrawny girl who snapped and cursed at everyone she met, and a formerly undercover cop who found trouble without even trying.

They made their way through the front room of the tavern, where curious eyes followed them, and Macbeth tried to avoid them for fear of seeing familiar faces. Sentry led them around the bar and knocked on the door to the back room. Hearing an answer, she opened it and ushered them inside, shutting the door behind them.

A young man with blond hair and glasses sat at a desk in the corner, shuffling through some paperwork. He didn't look remotely intimidating. He stood up when they entered and looked surprisingly unsurprised. "Beth! You've come back to us...and brought a....friend?" he said in a light German accent, glancing at Risk. "What can I do for you?"

((^_^ I kind of love Archer. But I'm off to bed now!))

[Risk]

Archer didn't look as menacing as Macbeth described. Then again, he was sure there were two sides to every criminal... and Archer didn't mind playing the nice game once in a while.

"It's about Alex Wisely," said Risk, getting straight to the point.

((Gnight!! Feel better! <3))

[Macbeth]

"Oh, is it?" Archer said innocently, though Macbeth had a feeling he already knew that, along with every detail of Tristan's bloodbath. Aside from the incredibly even temper, he really was a good deal like the Spot Conlon of Five Points. "It sounds like Alex Wisely won't be bothering anyone anymore."

"That's the thing," Beth said. "We're here on behalf'a the guy who killed him. Looking to see if maybe you could make sure the bulls don't bother him none."

This time, Archer did look surprised. "You're friends with Alex Wisely's son?"

Dear God, he even knows who did it. Beth chewed her lip. "Well, 'friends' would be kind of a stretch...but there's this whole fam'ly thing, and...well, can you help or not?" she snapped.

"It's really none of my business," Archer said calmly. "Alex is dead, Tristan Shamien goes to jail, it's like two birds with one stone. And much as I sympathize with your 'family thing', Elizabeth, you haven't done anything for me in years."

Beth opened her mouth, closed it, and looked to Risk for some kind of help, since she was about to start yelling and swearing at him, and that wouldn't help their cause at all.

[Risk]

"We can do enough to shut your so-called business down," threatened Risk, his eyes on Archer.

[Macbeth]

Macbeth winced; Sentry cocked her gun threateningly, still looming behind them and blocking the door; and Archer, typically, just raised an eyebrow. "How would you go about that?" he asked as if it was nothing more than an interesting proposal he'd like to hear more about.

Beth, meanwhile, fumbled frantically through her brain for an alternate suggestion, weighing several possibilities to figure out which was the least crazy and stupid.

[Risk]

Risk winced inwardly. His mouth had a way of running faster than his brain. This was one of those times.

"You're not the only one with connections," he finally said after a couple moments. "It wouldn't take long for the cops to get here the minute we walk out of this place." Right. He just hoped they would still be alive by then.

[Macbeth]

"That's assuming you're going to walk out," Archer said, sounding halfway between amused and, for the first time, seriously menacing. He moseyed back over to his desk, where he no doubt had more than one gun of his own tucked into the drawers.

"Beth?" said Sentry's voice practically right in her ear, and it took all of Macbeth's composure not to jump. "Did you bring a fucking cop in here?"

"No! No. You really think I'd be that stupid?" Beth made her voice as scathing as she could, thinking of all the ways she would kill Alec when this was over--if he didn't get killed right here in a bloody shoot-out. "Risk here is just a really...irrational person. That's why we call him Risk. But! I've got a suggestion for you. That has nothing to do with cops." She shot Risk a glare. "Tristan Shamien's kinda...out of a job right now...for obvious reasons. If you help him out, he can come and work for you. Y'know, work off the debt."

Archer raised both eyebrows, though he was still looking daggers at Risk and had his hand on the desk drawer. "You're suggesting that I'd hire Alex Wisely's son?"

"For God's sake, Archer, he shot Alex Wisely and all his men. How the hell can it be any clearer that him and his dad ain't exactly on the same page no more?" She folded her arms. "'Sides, you know what Tristan's capable of. The gang's always been kinda lacking in muscle--no offense," she added to Sentry, who was not lacking in muscle at all. "Don't tell me you couldn't use him."

Archer mulled it over. Macbeth prayed to the Hindu gods.

[Macbeth]

((Because I'm unhealthily addicted to finding pictures of fictional characters...here's a perfect Archer.))



((And here's a frightening yet accurate Sentry.))

[tshamien]

((um Archer's kind of adorable LOL))

[NevadaShamien]

(( I've been addicted to making modern day outfits for my characters on polyvore. It's ADDICTING I tell you!))