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Season 1 Finale
“What did you do!?” Stucky shouts, a ball of anger surrounding him as he storms into Danny’s hanger, watching him polish a monkey wrench. “My father has been running around the house all night talking about ‘Matt’s alive this’ and ‘Matt’s alive that’” Stucky replies, the rolled eyes of Danny not viewed favorably in his own eyes, “what the hell did you do?” Tossing the wet rag back onto his bench, Danny throws his hands out, keeping his answer brief. “I fucked up” Danny replies, walking past the addict and returning to his plane, tossing his wrench into the toolbox beside him. “I hesitated to kill the bitch and she must have put the puzzle together from there” Danny explains, reserving his seat beside the plane’s fuselage before beginning to undress, “as far as I know, you’re still in the clear, though.” Eyes wandering off to some corner of the hanger, Stucky asks where the duo takes it from this point, a question that a now-shirtless Danny becomes invested in. “Have you deluded yourself into thinking that we’re on the same team here?” Danny inquires, looking back to a silent Stucky, his dark, bloodshot eyes returning the look, “we’re on completely different hemispheres, there’s just something in the middle worth working together on.” “Exactly, so we’re on the same team for now!” Stucky replies, prompting Danny to slam his hand into the front of his plane, convincing himself that Stucky has begun to look too far into their conversations. “We’re props to use for our own best interest!” Danny shouts, the veins in his neck revealing themselves to the addict, the running rivers from his wrist to his bicep protruding from his skin, “when what’s asked is done, that’s it… We’re nothing to each other.” “Listen, I get the history of our factions, but we can be great allies for each other” Stucky explains, trying to use the negotiator tips his father had taught him over the years to broker a deal, something Danny isn’t interested in. “You’re nothing but a power-hungry, drug-addicted criminal to me, and I should be nothing more than a murderous, high-ranking criminal to you” Danny explains, stepping within inches of Stucky’s face, “we’re not friends, and we’re never going to be.” Returning to his redressing station, Danny throws a shirt over his nude torso whilst Stucky’s mind travels elsewhere, a sobriety-like numbness coming over him inexplicably. Without a word, Stucky walks away, removing himself from the hanger and leaving the space to Danny once again. Knowing of the addict’s departure, Danny looks back at the entrance, watching it be slammed shut from the outside, an expression of conviction worn upon his dirt-covered face. = Kings of Cambridge is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards = “Anyone follow you here?” Matt asks, dark shades over his eyes and a full-black suit worn over his body, Danny approaching his recolored vehicle. “I changed the route, I adjusted my pace and I’ve seen downtown six times… No one should be following me” Danny replies, entering the vehicle as Matt dies out his joint, grinding it beneath his heel before climbing into the driver’s seat. “Updates?” Danny asks, Matt’s eyes still hidden behind the glasses, his head directed towards the road, thus giving Danny the feeling of disconnect between the two. “New phone, new provider, new everything… Same name, at least” Matt replies, dominant hand over the steering wheel whilst the other resides on his own thigh, “how about you?” “Stucky came to visit me two nights ago” Danny replies, his reply peaking Matt’s interest, an inquiry into the reasoning only bringing about more confusion. “He wanted to know where we, as a team, were taking the next step now that my cover’s been blown” Danny replies, prompting Matt to ask about the man’s answer. “I told him to, in my own way, fuck off” Danny replies, earning a fit of laughter from the stoned driver. “Welp, that’s just wonderful for us” Matt replies, an eye roll coming off Danny immediately thereafter. “Says the guy that got ghosted by the woman he saved the job of by uprooting our entire drug trade” Danny cuts back, watching Matt’s glasses be softly pulled down the bridge of his nose. “Touchee” Matt quips, pushing his glasses back up as his eyes fall back upon the road, their drive taking them out of Cambridge. “Care to tell me where we’re going?” Danny asks, looking at the man, who one would never be able to tell was as high as a kite. “Patience, my long-time friend” Matt replies, winking through his glasses towards Danny with a smile, “it’s my long-overdue birthday gift to you… From about seven years ago.” An amused nod offered back, Danny rests back in his chair and sinks into the plushy seat, head rested against the soft headrest as the long road ahead grows shorter with each passing mile. Tires kicking up sand, Matt brings his car to a complete stop just outside an unmarked building in the middle of nowhere, a near twenty-mile stretch of empty, vacant roads leading to this oasis in the forest. Tapping Danny on the shoulder, Matt awakens his friend from his slumber as he opens the vehicle door, emerging from his car with one set of keys in his hand. “I figured what our plans are bound to call for would need an upgrade from that club of yours” Matt explains, approaching the front door. “Did you buy me Charlie’s chocolate factory, Matt?” Danny asks, a sarcastic grin coming over his face as the key turns in the lock, granting the pair entry into the shade-bountiful building. With the flick of a few lightswitches, Matt illuminates each room and corridor one-by-one, eventually bringing the tour around to the prized portion. Designed like a war room, circular walls of whiteboards, blackboards and glassboards, the middle of the building is set up perfectly to prepare for their grandest of plans. “We may have the E.H.P.G nipping on our heels and an ever-present Gilcrest problem on our hands, but our plans are still to be moved forward” Matt explains, leaving Danny’s side to stand in the middle of the floorspace, “our heist shall be planned from within these comforts.” “You bought me a heist-planning room?” Danny replies, cautiously marching down the concrete steps to the floor, “are we in Grand Theft Auto or is this still real life?” With a chuckle, Matt throws his arm around his friend’s shoulder, leading him to the collection of writing boards, painting out a picture of what the space will look like when all is relocated. “The beautiful thing about being surrounded on every end by miles of trees is that no one just accidentally stumbles upon a drug den in the middle of nowhere” Matt replies, “unless we draw attention ourselves, no one’s going to find this baby with anything less than a constantly updating satellite picture.” Silent, Danny just takes in the look of the room, something deep within him earning a sense of accomplishment. “We still need this be kept quiet about, though” Matt explains, breaking Danny away from the moment, his eyes wandering back to the man that’s made this possible, “we still have a rodent problem on our hands.” Head hung, Danny nods to himself, looking back with an empathetic expression, trying to gode Matt into accepting the offer he’s about to lay on the table. “I can meet with them again” Danny begins, already seeing the disapproval come over Matt’s posture, his sunglasses being removed from his tilted head as Danny continues to speak. “I may not have been able to get something out of them when putting on a persona, but I may if I approach them from a genuine angle” Danny explains, calling for Matt’s name to ensure eye contact, “if I can get to your father, I’m pretty sure I can pull something from his brain.” “Danny, you’ve already damn near gotten killed doing that” Matt replies, shaking his head in outright refusal, both hands on his hips, “I’m not going to let you do that.” Defeated, Danny lets out an exhale as his chin aims high, Matt not giving up on his efforts to persuade Danny to drop the idea. “Look at everything, I know something inside you feels justified after all these years” Matt explains, speaking from the same level as his friend, “don’t risk that now that it’s finally here.” “It’s here because I’ve taken gambles that have paid off throughout all of this” Danny replies, connecting the pay off with the work to achieve it. “How much longer will it be before all these years of gambling catch up with you… How much longer until it catches up with all of us?” Matt asks, reminding Danny of the amount of failed bets that come with every one instance of a successful one. “You’re not playing with house money anymore, now you’re putting your life on these gambles” Matt continues, approaching his friend and resting a hand upon his shoulder, “stop pulling cards from the deck and hold what you’ve got.” Silent, Danny looks at Matt with a defeated face, the corner of his lip being pressed between his teeth as a subtle nod is given from Danny, an unwanted acceptance offered. | “Kings of Cambridge Therapeutic Center, this is Angela” the receptionist greets, a chime from the front door ringing through the lobby as she continues to speak. Approaching the front desk, Michael stands with a coat in his arms just beyond a large pane of sliding glass, watching the woman leave her seat to greet him. “I have an appointment with Darlene Jane at 1:30” Michael greets, pointed towards a mostly-empty crowd of seats off to the side of the room. Scanning the chairs, Michael takes a seat across from a lady in the corner of the waiting area, her eyes directed towards her phone, an unhappy expression over her face as she looks into the screen. “Those are lovely shoes” Michael says, a poor attempt at breaking the ice, watching the confused young girl’s face look up at him with her eyebrows raised. “They’re twenty dollar shoes from some department store, but thanks” the client replies, looking back towards her screen, trying her best to brush off the man’s poor conversation starter. “Do you have a name?” Michael asks, his polite nature being read through easily by the younger woman, who looks back at him with a genuine confusion. “Brook” the girl replies, again glancing back down at her phone, trying to get such gestures across as her way of telling the man not to speak to her. Kicking one leg over another, Michael goes silent for a few seconds before starting the conversation again, this time with details the girl actually takes interest in. “I’ve heard that my son was a therapist here for a short time” Michael quips, Brook’s eyes finally leaving her screen, wandering off into the distant corners of the room as Michael continues to speak, “did you happen to know anyone here named Matthew?” Lips less tightly pressed against each other, Brook looks back towards the man, her head slowly turning towards him, answer leaving her lips. “My therapist’s name is Perry, sorry” Brook replies, the older man beside her nodding as he looks away, any further possible lines of dialogue halted the moment Darlene emerges from the back of the building. “Michael?” Darlene calls out, earning the man’s attention. “It was nice to meet you, Brook” Michael says, tapping her knee before passing Darlene, entering the back. Looking back at Brook in a moment, not purposefully but rather out of instinct, Darlene watches the girl extend her pressed-together fingers and run them across her neck, warning Darlene that the man is not to be trusted. Squinting, Darlene looks back towards the man before glancing back at Brook, taking her warning seriously. In a moment of consideration, Darlene looks around the room before reaching into her mouth, a chewed piece of gum being pressed between her fingers. Showing Brook, Darlene presses the gum into the doorknob’s lock and lets the door slide shut, failing to lock as Darlene enters the back. Looking around the room, Brook checks her surroundings before waiting a few seconds, dashing for the door and following closely behind the pair. | Parking his car, Matt approaches his front door until a voice calls out for his attention, leaving the man to stop walking, slowly turning towards the least-lit corner of his porch. “My father’s on a hunting spree looking for you” Stucky calls back, emerging from the darkness with his hands up, Matt immediately asking him what he wants. “I’m not here to start a fight or-” Stucky begins, stopped in his tracks by Matt’s response, reiterating his question. “What do you want, Stucky?” Matt asks again, Stucky’s hands falling to his side, limp by his waist. “I’ve heard about your rat problem and I want you to get to the bottom of it” Stucky replies, his motivations questioned in the same breath. “If the information you’re sharing gets back to my dad, it puts a massive stunt in my plans” Stucky explains, clarifying his end of the bargain, “but more importantly, when I take over the Gilcrest trade, I want no bad blood with the Table.” “I think you’re about one line of children too late for that one, kid” Matt replies, dropping his coat onto the ground before approaching Stucky, briefcase still in hand, voice lowered. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’re planning on sticking it out here, so we won’t be sharing the same territory for long” Stucky explains, leaning forward to lower his voice to a mere whisper, “I genuinely think there could be room for the two of us to help each other when that day comes.” Almost laughing at the suggestion, Matt tells Stucky that he doesn’t have the first clue about anything relating to his Table. “You can run off like a scared dog, but you don’t to turn around once we rule the roost asking for handouts” Matt explains, one finger pointed towards the ground, his words being bound by the support of the ground he stands on, “you know exactly who the rat is, and we’ll find out without anything you have to say.” Turning around, Matt begins to walk away until his feet stop moving again, Stucky’s words calling out for him to rethink what he knows. “You’re wrong about how I figured out you were the head of the table” Stucky calls back, watching Matt’s head turn over his shoulder, “I wasn’t given that information by anyone other than you.” Squinting, Matt looks towards Stucky as if he were wearing the same jumpsuit he escaped the local prison in. “What the hell are you talking about, I’d never said a word to you in my life before you approached me!” Matt yells back, refusing to care about what his neighbors can overhear. “Your death certificate was signed by an doctor that went to jail on corruption charges” Stucky explains, the first flaw found being nothing in comparison to the second, “and I’ve known you were Michael’s son the entire time, Matt… I’m an addict and a psycho, not an idiot.” Nostrils flaring, Matt walks up to Stucky, who lifts his shirt to reveal a gun, his intentions for visiting Matt not being those of murderous tendencies. “I’m telling you the truth, Matt… Those things were the same reason Michael’s refused to believe you were dead since the moment I met him, probably before that too” Stucky explains, his head shaking as he hands Matt the difficult pill to swallow, “you’ve got a rat in your chain, and he’s working with our old man, and our old man only.” Rolling his eyes, Matt walks away from Stucky, beginning to walk circles in his own yard as the younger addict proceeds to lower his shirt, no longer feeling the need to be defensive. “If it helps, dad hasn’t known you were alive for sure until last night” Stucky explains, continuing to ease Matt’s worries, “he also doesn’t know about the Purple Gang, or about the hit on him… So if that narrows down the suspect list, I’m glad to be of use.” Turning away, Stucky returns to his vehicle, having said what he needed to say. “How sure about all of that are you?” Matt calls back, extending the first olive branch he has to offer. “I know everything dad knows and then some” Stucky calls back, flashing the man a smile, “go get the rat before he starts to nest.” With that, Stucky climbs into his car and takes off into the night, leaving Matt behind to watch his car drive off, contemplation necessary. | “I have an appointment coming up within the next fifteen minutes, so let’s try to make this fast” Darlene explains, taking a seat on the edge of her desk, Michael’s coat being tossed onto the sofa. “Sure thing, I wanted to inquire as to the information you have on a former employee at this clinic… Matthew Gilcrest?” Michael begins, watching Darlene’s facial muscles shift, a response she knows makes her suspicious to anyone with high-awareness out of the gate. “We did have a Matthew working here for a short time, unfortunately, we did not have a Matthew that worked here under that name” Darlene replies, the nonchalant shuffle of Michael’s hands in his pockets greeting her. “Then what was the name of your Matthew?” Michael replies, the sight of clenched teeth meeting him once thereafter. “I cannot give that information out, I’m sorry for the inconvenience” Darlene replies, the unpleasant look on Michael’s face leaving her uneasy. Puckered lips, Michael knows this building to have once employed his son, the loose thread he has to keep his eye upon one that he’s not willing to let slip away easily. “We both know my son was formerly employed under your institution, Ms. Jane… Quite frankly, with his qualifications, he’s actually overqualified to work in your center” Michael explains, slowly closing the distance between himself and the woman, “I’m afraid I can’t accept a non-answer to that question.” “I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice in how the law works” Darlene replies, immediately challenging the man, refusing to break the laws she is bound by. Not allowing himself to be bested, Michael continues to push boundaries, exceeding his welcome despite Darlene’s attempt at remaining polite and understanding. “I’m sure the two of us can work something out” Michael replies, uncuffing his sleeves as he continues to approach the woman. “I’m not sure you understand… I’m not changing my answer, Mr. Gilcrest” Darlene reiterates, her words falling short of reaching their mark, Michael’s persuasion continuing. “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours… What is it that you want?” Michael asks, refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer, the door behind him slowly creaking open. “I want you to back away from her” Brook calls out from behind, Michael quickly turning around to find the girl wielding a bottle of mace. “Brook, was it? Ms. Jane and I were just-” Michael begins, Brook’s ears refusing to let a single word in, her demands being spoken once again. “Back away from her now or you’ll be removed from this building partially blind” Brook says again, the man’s lips puckered as he begins to realize the numbers advantage has drastically swung in the advantage opposite him. “Still not budging?” Michael asks, backing away from Darlene, who demands he leave before she calls security. Teeth clenched and lip arched, Michael storms out of the office and returns the way he came, his coat left behind on the office’s sofa. “Thanks for the heads up” Darlene calls out to Brook, the young girl looking back to her, a silent nod being returned as a way of accepting the appreciation. | Laying upon the couch in the backroom of the club, Wade tries to catch sleep until the hidden door opens up, revealing the head of the table himself. “Boss!” Wade shouts, parting his eyes for a moment before energetically bolting out of bed. “It’s fine, Wade… You don’t need to stand for me everytime I enter a room” Matt explains, taking a seat at the end of the sofa, “do you mind if I ask you something?” Pulling himself up to a seat, Wade waits for Matt to find the right words to use, feeling bad about having to answer honestly when the question is finally asked. “What can you tell me about the night we failed to hit the wife over at the docks?” Matt inquires, Wade’s expression suggesting he doesn’t want to answer the question. “It was really sloppy… Like really sloppy” Wade replies, Matt nodding as this information is newly afforded to him. “Guys were fucking up counts, tripping over bodies, everything you can imagine an army fucking up in a narrow, boat-sized corridor happened” Wade concludes, “making it out alive was impressive enough.” With a deep breath, Matt crosses his arms and sinks into the couch, looking off at the back of the room, not wanting to say much more than he has to yet. “What happened when you all found the body?” Matt proceeds, Wade’s loss of direct memory telling Matt it was as chaotic as one would assume. “There was gunfire until there wasn’t, then one of our guys shouts that something’s wrong” Wade explains, recalling the discovery of yet another crewmate adorned in the fur coat, a sight that was intended to be seen, “I was in the back already, so I ran out with what I knew and called fro Tyrell and Danny.” Pulling off his sunglasses, Matt tosses the shades to the table he rests his feet upon, eyes focusing on the man beside him. “Whose call was it to go on the attack?” Matt inquires, wanting to make sure his bases are covered. “Tyrell” Wade replies, confirming Danny’s story for many nights prior, prompting Matt to begin nodding to himself, not a word shared until Wade speaks up once more. “Why does it matter, if I may ask?” Wade wonders aloud, Matt’s head turning towards him, lips parting to speak until they’re suddenly interrupted. Just beyond their door, a massive blast sends shockwaves across the ground, shaking the building in an instant, an explosion seemingly going off right next to them. Leaping from the couch, Matt races to the door, Wade quickly following behind him, their feet carrying them to the front of the building where they’re met with massive flames. In shock, Matt lifts his arms to his head, hands cradling the sides of his face as he looks on in refusal. “They’re still in there” Matt suddenly says to himself, shocked eyes suddenly taking on dread, feet beginning to carry him closer to the inferno. “They’re not in there!” Wade shouts, pulling Matt’s arm back, nothing but confusion and panic coming over the head of the table. “What do you mean?” Matt asks, Wade quick to inform him that the army was following Danny to another meeting with the Gilcrests. “Danny’s meeting with the Gilcrests again?” Matt repeats, Wade confirming the words he had just spoken. “I told him not to!” Matt shouts, yet again, information Wade was already aware of. “He came back saying you refused to give him approval!” Wade shouts, again being asked for further details. “Tyrell told him to veto your overruling!” Wade replies, watching Matt’s eyes widen, a realization coming over him that grips his every fear. “Tyrell’s the rat” Matt whispers to himself, muttering it louder again, this time loud enough for Wade to hear it. “Where did Danny and Tyrell set up the meeting!?” Matt shouts, the address of his old family home being reverberated back to him from Wade’s lips only further adding fuel to the fire burning within his very core. Hurrying to his car, Matt places his fingers onto the handle and opens his door just as Wade climbs into the passenger’s seat. “Come on, what are you waiting for!?” Wade shouts, the need for urgency far outweighing to wish to treat his boss with respect. Wrapped around his door’s handle, a purple bandana that had not been there prior is left to Matt’s eyes to find, a keepsake from those responsible for the explosion offering Matt a clear indicator as to who is to be held accountable. | Blade hidden in his sleeve, Danny approaches the front door of the Gilcrest residence with his army behind him, not a moment of time being wasted, the time to finish what they started being now. Slamming his fist against the front door, Danny awaits an answer, Tyrell stood loyally beside him, eyes in the corner of his head, keeping an ever-present view of the Table’s acting general. Front door being pulled open, a young woman looks on at the sight of a standing army at the front door as a bad sign, Danny leaping into action the moment hesitation comes across her face. Blade protruding from his sleeve, Danny shatters the glass door in an instant, plunging the blade into the woman’s throat in the same breath. Letting himself in, Danny leads the group into the Gilcrest residency, a small fleet of his guards following Danny and Tyrell towards the kitchen. Walking through the corridor, Danny’s militia finds Michael stood on his lonesome, a gun in one hand whilst the other hides in his pocket. “Fire” Danny calls out, waiting for gunfire that never arrives, an order that goes unanswered being a bad sign. Soon, a struggle breaks out behind Danny, the man turning around to find half his militia being disarmed and held at gunpoint, a sight that Danny takes great concern over. “What the hell are you doing!?” Danny shouts, reaching for one of the militia’s guns before Tyrell takes his concealed blade into his own possession, one arm wrapped around Danny’s throat. “What the fuck, Ty!” Danny shouts, a chuckle coming from the turncoat as he pulls him away, backing him into Michael’s side of the kitchen. Danny’s men unarmed and Danny himself now held captive, Michael turns his attention towards the struggling set of high-ranking Table members. “It’s been a little while since we last talked, Tyrell… I’m glad to see your allegiances haven’t switched since then” Michael says, mocking Danny when he adds, “at least, haven’t switched again.” Spitting in Michael’s direction, Danny tells the man with a gun aimed at his head to pull the trigger and get this night over with, a demand that Michael takes little interest in. “You haven’t told me what I want to hear yet, Daniel!” Michael replies, a sadistic smile coming over his face, watching the effort put into Danny’s struggle and laughing at it. “Where is my son?” Michael asks, leaning forward with the barrel pointed towards Danny’s face, Tyrell’s hand covering Danny’s mouth to catch any second attempt at spitting on his true boss. “Right here” a voice calls out from the head of the kitchen, Michael turning around the moment it’s heard, a parting of the sea between loyal and traitorous guards making way for Matt, who stands in the corridor, unarmed with hands by his side. “My… My boy!” Michael mutters beneath his breath, Matt’s sight one he hoped to, but never expected to ever see again, the moment forcing his evil mask to crumble beneath the weight of long-sought after empathy. “Hey…” Matt replies, his voice soft as well, though loud enough to be heard from across the room, a wad of spit swallowed as the moment begins to weigh upon Matt as well, the heavy weight returning to his chest once again, “...dad.” == Kings of Cambridge ==
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“Are you sure you can handle this?” Wade’s voice calls from within Danny’s earpiece, the Table’s feigned leader leant against the back of the first ticket booth past the entrance, stood on his own. “I’ve met with the asshat once already, I’m sure our second meeting won’t be as awkward as the first” Danny replies, continuing to look out at each side, waiting for the sight of a familiar looking man to approach him.
“Take the ear piece out” a woman demands, prompting Danny’s head to jerk in the direction of the voice, finding nothing awaiting his glance. Approaching the side of the booth, the woman repeats her orders, warning the man that she won’t entertain him if he continues to refuse her instructions. “You’re not who I’m supposed to be meeting with” Danny replies, now knowing the woman to be hidden around the corner, keeping herself out of sight, her voice already giving away her identity. “Who is it?” Wade asks, the microphone lifted to his lips as he desperately hopes for an answer, repeating the question each time he goes without one. “Now, as I said previously… Take the ear piece out” the woman reiterates, waiting to her the man’s coat ruffle against itself to suggest his hand moving in cooperation with her commands. “Don’t take the ear piece out, Dan!” Wade shouts, his voice falling of deaf ears, the device already removed, “abort the mission, it’s not secure anymore.” “Now step on it” the woman commands, earning another plea for Wade to do otherwise, the writing already having been placed upon the walls. Unwilling to allow this meeting to go down without coming what he showed up for, Danny does as told, dropping the piece to the ground and crunching it beneath his heel. “I’m glad you know what’s best for you” the woman exclaims, finally showing her face to the man, confidence oozing off her, “that will make this a whole lot easier.” “Why did your husband fail to show?” Danny asks, watching the woman’s silent response come in the form of a shrug towards the ferris wheel. “This isn’t your meeting, and you’re not the one dictating where it goes” Danny explains, making sure the woman has little time to get too acclimated to a position of power, “I’ve done as you asked, now answer the question that I’ve asked… Why are you here and not your husband.” Playing along at the start, Monica approaches the man, prompting Danny to begin backing away once the space between them grows too short for comfort, only then offering to answer him. “It’s my husband’s business just as much as it is mine” Monica explains, looking down the length of the man’s torso, finding his build to be intriguing, “if you have any business matters to discuss, you can do so with me as easily as you can him… If it’s a personal matter… We both might just be out of luck.” “Why should I trust you know anything I came here to ask him?” Danny explains, keeping both arms straight and rigid by his side, “you may oversee the same business, but you don’t share one mind.” With a laugh, Monica notices the great irony behind his statement, her marriage being a perfect example of such truth. “If I don’t have knowledge over what you’re inquiring, he’s going to be in plenty of trouble” Monica replies, giving Danny a wink, “you’ll have nothing to fear the way he will.” Stood silently, just staring at the woman with a clear distrust, Danny awaits her following statement, only to be met with the same gesture as before. “Walk with me” Monica asks, taking the first step between the two towards her intended destination, “I think we have plenty to discuss.” Remaining where he was left, Danny watches the woman walk on as he considers the options, looking back the way he came before deciding to march forward, sharing the space beside the Gilcrest matriarch. = Kings of Cambridge is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards = Stood in the hallway, Perry awaits his name to be called from within the hollowed halls of the director’s room, the only soul around until the door at the end of the hallway swings open. Walking confidently, Matt follows a worried, yet calm-appearing Darlene, who understands the faults in her actions and refuses to fear the consequences that come with them. “I’m amazed you bothered to show your face” Perry quips, an arrogant smile dawned upon his face. “You clearly have no clue who I am then” Darlene replies, a response Perry takes no care in, his eyes trailing away from the woman and onto the man behind her. “This is the street-walker you tried to replace me with?” Perry asks, unimpressed with anything other than the man’s relatively-impressive height now that he’s seen him in person, “shameful.” “I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you, it’ll-” Matt begins, quickly cut off by the amused foe, his confidence so high it can’t be measured on a scale. “Me? Keep my mouth shut? Why is that?” Perry challenges, establishing himself as a man that can silence and provoke a room of whatever whim he pleases. “It’ll help keep you from looking stupid” Matt concludes, earning genuine laughter from the high-horsed claimant. “It’ll keep me from looking stupid?” Perry recites, laughing with each breath he doesn’t speak through, “The two of you showed up to a meeting just to get stripped of everything you’re worth… I’m the farthest thing from stupid as long as you’re in the same room as me.” Eyes squinting, Matt looks down upon Perry, considering him nothing more than an ego in a freshly-ironed suit. “I’m sure we’ll see about that” Matt replies, a passive answer that Perry takes as a threat, immediately noticing the opportunity he has to prod at the sleeping bear. “Is that supposed to mean something, buddy?” Perry asks, briefcase in hand and coat in the other, “you gonna threaten to meet me in the parking lot after this is all said and done? Exactly what are you gonna do?” Approaching Matt, Perry opens himself up to physical abuse, gladly welcoming any chance he has to sue the man for everything he’s worth on top of gaining the result he desires from the hearing. “I’m going to make you look like a well-certified fool, that’s what I’m going to do” Matt replies, immediately challenged on his statement by the man, who asks whether or not he believes what he’s saying. “I believe you don’t have the first clue about me, buddy” Matt replies, meeting the man’s demeanor by stepping forward, getting in the man’s face and refusing to throw the first punch, “you’re going to be embarrassed in there, buddy.” Nodding, Perry attempts to respond before the heavy doors open, revealing a woman with only one name on the tip of her tongue. “Perry Armanti?” the woman calls out, watching the two men, both bound for a fist fight just moments before, turn their faces towards her, “the board wants your testimony before we begin the group hearing.” Backing away from Matt, Perry gives his near-replacement a wink before adjusting his suit jacket. “Gladly” Perry replies to the intern, following her into the room, leaving Darlene and Matt to embrace each other’s company, the worry creeping in over Darlene nowhere to be found in Matt. | “I hear you were close friends with my husband’s biological son” Monica explains, walking along the carnival grounds to the tune of the cheerful music accompanying every ride around. “I was close friends with your husbands son, yes” Danny replies, focusing heavily on not giving any ground to the woman he’s better off keeping for himself, “whether you’d like to admit it or not, Stucky will never be the son to your husband the way Matt was.” With a smile, Monica nods to herself, accepting the man’s gesture as a jab at her personal life, changing the course of their conversation to a more preferable alternative. “So that’s what you call him?” Monica asks, turning towards the man just in time for his eyes to stumble upon her own, “Stucky?” “Sticky fingers belonging to a man who’s stuck in his demon’s own territory” Danny replies, not breaking eye contact for even a moment, “it’s his nickname… he’s earned it.” Continuing to walk, Monica grows silent as the ferris wheel nears with every step, the conversation being left in the hands of Danny to manipulate to his liking. “I’m sure you already know that you’re in our crosshairs” Danny explains, looking around the carnival, noticing every out-of-place body, “no doubt you’ve got us surrounded.” With a smile, the woman keeps her head straight, eyes watching the contraption ahead glow with vibrant lights, each question from here on out answered without eye contact. “I do my research, if that’s what you’re asking about” Monica replies, head tilted towards her shoulder, “but you’re not my prisoner.” “I’m not your victim either, if that’s where you think this is going to end tonight” Danny replies, his face turning towards her, his own stare met without one from the woman, who simply laughs at his response. “I never suggested such a thing” Monica replies, her smile fading into a straight face, teeth hidden behind royal purple lips, “don’t fill your head with terrible thoughts, Daniel.” Hands balling into a fist by his side, Danny grimaces at the woman’s uttering of his name, a singular breath leaving his lungs in one, smooth breath. “Don’t give me the room to, then” Danny replies, putting the onus on her, a gesture which she gains amusement from. “Duly noted” the woman replies, teeth appearing once more, both she and Danny keeping their sights forward, an awkward pause coming over the two of them. | “Why are you so confident?” Darlene asks, her face held firmly towards the blank wall ahead of her, inner thoughts not wanting to drape their eyes upon the sights of anything lively, “it makes no sense.” Lips parted, Matt begins to feel cold air run across his teeth, the chill it sends down his spine and the pain it brings across his teeth feeling justified to him. “I shouldn’t be” Matt replies, his head hung and hands left in his lap, “this changes everything… For both of us.” With a chuckle, Darlene shakes her head in refusal, not saying anything at first until the words suddenly leave her lips. “You lose nothing from this… Any of this… It all falls back on me” Darlene explains, refusing to meet the man’s eyes as his head drifts back towards her, attention firmly kept with her, “I’m going to lose everything.” Likening the woman’s current feelings to be a product of the stages of grief, Matt does what he can to ease her troubles, his hand resting upon her knee until she swipes it away. Finally turning her head, Darlene looks towards the man, his expression not containing fear or worry, only helping to worsen the feeling that she’s alone in what comes ahead. “I don’t know who you are” Darlene mutters, watching the man’s expression shift poorly, his wants being to tell her what she wants to hear, but such falsities refuse to leave his mouth. His chest weighing itself down, Matt finds it difficult to breath, forcing himself through each breath, a slight wheeze leaving his lungs until he finally musters up the courage to respond. “No” Matt replies, his voice soft, almost at a whisper, “no, you do not.” Lip quivering, the pair are interrupted by the sound of the door opening, the intern peering her head into the lobby, Perry not behind her. “Matthew Tory” the woman calls out, waiting patiently as the man pushes himself to his feet, walking after her, leaving Darlene on the bench by herself, eyes returning to the beige-colored walls. | Climbing into the ferris wheel cage, Monica and Danny take the same seat, sat beside each other, facing an empty bench and steel bars overlooking greater Cambridge. “I used to ride on these all the time” Monica mutters, the recollection coming as a surprise to Danny, who continues to keep his guard high, the blade in his sleeve still kept firmly within his fingertips, “then I grew up and realized that the only truth was the one higher than the rest.” Confused, Danny looks away from the woman, eyes falling upon the lit-up overhead view of Cambridge, a view that only gets higher the further their car ascends, “you’re talking about god?” With a smile, Monica looks back to the man, eyes full of life and emotion appearing to have been left wherever she parked her vehicle. “No” the woman replies, her response simple and brief, eyes looking away from the man immediately thereafter. “Why are you and your friends coming after me?” Monica asks, keeping her face aimed away from Danny’s, the cart they occupy just nearly reaching the top, “what have I done to interject myself in your line of fire?” With a deep breath, Danny directs the woman away from her inquiry, assuring the woman that such a discussion was not the point of his reaching out. “It may not be the reason for wanting to meet, but it’s the reason behind my wanting to appear” Monica explains, finally looking back at the man, wishing for Danny to look her in the eyes as he answers, “why?” His breathing calmed, Danny keeps his fingers pressed heavily against the blade, knowing the opportunity to take out the Gilcrest matriarch to be perfect in the moment. “You’re a wanted woman, Monica” Danny replies, his chin purposefully aimed high, silently showing a sign of dominance, one the woman takes no care in. “But why am I wanted by you?” Monica replies, the question raised being one that Danny has little answer for, prompting his grip on the concealed dagger to tighten. “You know too much” Danny replies, watching the woman’s smile spread further across her face, her movements daring Danny to take his shot. Leaning forward, Monica opens herself up to an attack, her eyes falling upon the concealed hand in Danny’s sleeve, knowing what he is in possession of, confident in her beliefs. “What is it that I know too much of, Daniel?” Monica replies, her voice coming across in a seductive whisper, her head mere inches away from Danny’s own as her own two hands rest beneath the cover of her coat, one emerging from her sleeve, reaching for the man’s free hand whilst the other conceals a gun. “You know what’s coming” Danny replies, his own voice coming in a whisper, the two faces coming so close within the other’s that the cold air soon becomes forgotten amidst their hot breath. Both concealing their own weapons, Danny’s still hand feels the warm presence of Monica’s lingering just overhead, the game now only coming down to who makes the first move, and what that first move happens to be. “Why are you after me?” Monica whispers again, the hand she wavers in the air finally dropping, her fingers pressing against Danny’s own just as her gun takes aim from within cover. Before he can answer, Danny watches Monica’s eyes widen, the reassuring sensation of Danny’s trembling fingers in her hands telling her more than the man would have liked her to know. “You’re right” Danny replies, locking eyes with Monica, who lowers her concealed hand in preparation for his next move, “you know too much.” Swinging his second hand towards the woman, Danny’s mouth lets out a wail of pain as a silenced shot rings through the carriage, Monica’s hand covering his lips and muffling his outburst as his blade falls to the floor. “You’re right… I do know too much” Monica replies, her voice coming in the sound of a whisper as their shared cart locks into place, allowing them an exit, “and because of that, you get to live.” Removing her hand, Monica breaks away from the man and escapes the carriage, leaving him to clutch at his wounded, bloody palm just as Tyrell and Wade arrive. “What the hell happened!?” Wade shouts, the close proximity of the gunshot having brought them to the source, the image of a bloodied, yet alive Danny not bringing them hope. “She knows I’m not in charge” Danny replies, his hand pressed hard against his chest as he’s lead from the carriage, one arm over Wade’s shoulder, “I think she knows who is.” | “Darlene Jane?” the intern calls out, leading the woman into a poorly-lit room where Matt is seated on his own, Perry quick to re-enter the room upon his name being called for. “Ms. Jane, both Mr. Armanti and Mr. Tory have given us their individual statements” a man at the forefront explains, watching the woman take a seat a few chairs away from Matt, “being as you have already given such in your report, we’d like to now begin with the hearing.” Looking through his different papers on the other side of the room, the hearing referee begins the proceedings. Those around the table being sworn in, the judge quickly begins to ask each individual participant to recite their full birth names, beginning with the claimant. “Perry Coe Armanti, your honor” Perry responds, prompting the judge to turn his attention towards Darlene. “Darlene Marie Jane, your honor” the woman says with a faint voice, the final man standing up, eyes locked on the judge as silence perseus. “Sir, please state your full birth name for the record” the judge asks, Matt’s face dropping with the demand, what is said next being set to change everything in his path. “Matthew Iram Gilcrest, your honor” Matt replies, earning a confused look from both Perry and Darlene. “I’m sorry, your honor… I’m quite positive Mr. Tory is responding to your request with a false name” Perry speaks up, immediately refusing to allow silence to overcome the room. “Mr. Armanti, it is my responsibility to inform you that Mr. Gilcrest has two legal names, the one given to him at birth, and the one given to him following a legal change” the judge replies, holding up a valid license with Matt’s face on it, the last name listed in the description reading “Gilcrest.” “I’ve only ever heard him referred to as ‘Matthew Tory’, your honor… I’d like to inquire as to validity of that change?” Perry replies, beginning to feel the walls closing in, all bets now off with such drastic revelations. “I legally had my name changed following my collegiate graduation for personal reasons, Mr. Armanti” Matt replies, speaking as grammatically proper as the judge himself, “my legal name as of now is Matthew Joseph Tory, though my diplomas and certificates read ‘Matthew Iram Gilcrest’.” “Certifications?” Darlene mutters to herself loud enough for everyone to hear, her concern being left with Matt, whom she looks up to, watching as he silently looks back towards her. “I graduated from Yale at the top of my class in 2017, your honor” Matt explains, his words directed towards the judge despite his eyes being left upon Darlene, “I’d earned my doctorate in psychology.” Beginning to speak, the judge addresses the previously hidden information to those before him, Darlene’s eyes never once leaving Matt until her name is called for. Watching Matt return to his seat, Darlene looks towards him with a mixture of confusion, anger, sadness and glee, unable to truly gage the things she feels in that moment. “Ms. Darlene Jane had no awareness of Mr. Tory’s certifications prior to his hiring, but there is no proper way to certify such possibilities beyond any reasonable doubt” the judge explains, no off-the-record statements being excluded as possibly having occurred, thus, keeping the decision as brief as the hearing itself, “I hereby find in favor of the defendant, Ms. Darlene Jane, as having reasonable cause for the termination Mr. Armanti’s employment.” With the slamming of his gavel, the judge dismisses the case, leaving Perry in a state of shock, any chance of a postponement having vanished the moment he took his seat at the table. “This is some bullshit, and you know it!” Perry shouts at Matt, who stands the length of the room away from him, stood beside Darlene’s table. “Embarrassed yet, buddy?” Matt calls back, the last laugh not being had, an angry Perry storming away with a final declaration. “This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, Tory” Perry shouts, slamming the palm of his hand into the door, letting himself out as Matt allows him to leave without another word. Attention needed elsewhere, Matt looks down towards Darlene, who stands at her table, frozen without a clue as to how things swung in such a dramatic fashion. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier” Matt says, his apology falling on deaf ears the moment Darlene breaks from her pose, leaving her chair and grabbing her bag. “I didn’t want you to see me in a way that-” Matt begins, stopped when confronted with the sight of Darlene’s open hand. “You let me sit out there thinking my life was over… Don’t stand here and explain that all away” Darlene replies, her mind returning to their original introduction, “you led me on this whole time.” “No, Darlene… I swear-” Matt replies, trying to explain himself until being stopped once again, the sight of another open hand silencing him. “You knew you were perfectly fine for the job, but you let me go on thinking all of this could come crashing down at any moment” Darlene continues, sliding her chair in the way she found it before walking off, “you didn’t care about what happened then, so don’t start caring about what happens now… Leave me alone.” Watching Darlene exit the room, Matt stands by her desk and looks towards her empty seat, an empty spot in the room now being the only connection he has to a woman that wants nothing to do with him. | “Christopher!” Monica calls out, stood in the living room across from Michael, her eyes placed upon the corridor Stucky soon emerges from. With a smile, the woman places her hands on her hips as her words find Stucky’s ears, the revelation Monica brings to the table turning a lightbulb on inside her husband’s head. “The next time you set either of us up on a meet with the Table, do me one favor” Monica explains, taking two steps closer to her son, “set us up with the actual leader.” “Will do” Stucky says, not a moment of consideration in his response, his sincere answer prompting him to leave the room as quickly as he can, Michael’s own questions now being raised. “Daniel really isn’t in charge?” Michael asks, setting his laptop to the side as he removes himself from his chair, a smirk coming over his wife’s face in an instant. “His hands were trembling in that carriage” Monica replies, tossing her gun onto the couch, “he’s no killer.” Pausing for a moment, Michael thinks over his wife’s words and begins to fear the worst. “You didn’t kill him, did you?” Michael asks, his wife’s pleased expression fading instantly. “He’s not an important enough snake to kill, Michael” Monica replies, beginning to walk for the kitchen, her heels tapping across the hardwood floors, “but I think I know who is.” Almost on command, Monica’s statement concludes just as Michael’s phone begins to buzz, his screen lit up vividly, the white light overcoming his face not keeping his expression from shifting. Lips parting, Michael’s eyes widen, his eyebrows furrowing as one hand reaches towards his face, its fingers covering his open mouth as his jaw only continues to drop further. | “I’m sorry, I should’ve taken the opening when she gave it to me” Danny explains, Matt shaking his head in refusal, a glass of vodka raised to his lips. “She would have been expecting it… Could have given her the idea that you’d be better off dead and you wouldn’t be here right now” Matt replies, occupying his seat at his counter, Danny sat upon a stool on the other side, “showing anxiousness might have been the only thing that got you out of there alive tonight.” With a perfectly steady hand, Matt lifts the rest of the drink in his hand to his lips, downing its contents the rest of the way as his phone begins to buzz. “Are you gonna get that?” Danny asks, watching Matt shake his head as he pours himself another drink. “It’s not a phone call and I already know what it is” Matt replies, leaning his elbow against the counter as he watches Danny’s refusal to argue Matt’s reasoning take fold. “Okay, I’m going home” Danny replies, stepping off the barstool and beginning to walk for the front door, a pause in his step preceding his exit. “She knows I’m not in charge now” Danny calls back, looking towards Matt from over his shoulder, a slightly-buzzed Table leader groggily turning back towards him. “I know” Matt replies, calling back to Danny, who lets another statement of reassurance slip from his booze-coated lips. “You’re still dead until proven otherwise… They might not even consider you to be the man behind the sheet” Danny explains, the defeated expression across the face of Matt suggesting a difference in outlook. “Otherwise” Matt replies, not as a recitement, but as a statement, the vague, one-worded answer dismantling the small hope Danny had of the Table escaping this night unscathed aside from his hand. Closing the door behind him, Danny leaves Matt to his own vices, the man reaching for the phone in his pocket after one final sip. Opening his phone without needing to look, Matt finds the notification on his screen read just as he had assumed it would. ‘New Record Update - Matthew I. Gilcrest’ the notification reads, affording the customer a new usage of the name. ‘Legal History - Employment Hearing - Kings of Cambridge Therapy Clinic - Cambridge, Massachusetts’ the alert reads aloud, a smug frown dawning over Matt’s face as his nostrils flare. Defeated and laid upon the bed he’s made for himself, Matt sheepishly tosses the unfinished glass of vodka across the counter and lets it fall to the ground, shattering with a whimper. == Kings of Cambridge == “When did all of this happen?” Michael asks, a still-tense Danny looking him in the eyes, refusing to give completely into the pleasant demeanor. “Not long after Matt” Danny replies, biting his lip, the cover story having small holes he hopes to plug later, “instead of doing drugs, I started slinging ‘em… Make myself some money and move on… Kinda like you.”
“I didn’t sell the drugs to move on, I-” Michael begins, quickly interrupted by the man in front of him, Danny keeping Michael informed of the line between the two. “Not the drugs specifically, I’m talking about you moving on” Danny explains, the man’s face falling as he sheepishly shakes his head, “you got a new wife and a new kid, one that will never be Matt, but I digress… You moved on.” With a huff, Michael watches his breath disperse before him, the cold air keeping him from sinking into the conversation comfortably, it’s confrontational nature demanding a different approach. “I didn’t marry Monica because she had a replacement for Matt, I married her because it was necessary” Michael replies, his loveless marriage already an open secret, “she had reach, I had product, we needed to keep up a public image worth yearning for.” “You got a new family” Danny counters, refusing to let Michael speak his way into a false truth, one he can convince himself to believe in, “and if Matt were alive today, he’d look at you and question everything you ever taught him.” A smile appearing from between his lips, Michael looks at Danny with unconvinced eyes, a great deal of regret behind them. “His mother taught him more than I ever could, so that is something I wouldn’t be surprised to find” Michael explains, the smile quickly fading back to a stern face, “but I never replaced him.” Sniffling, Danny bites into his bottom lip, not wishing to touch on the point of their conversation just yet, instead having questions he wants answers to. “Why keep Stucky around this whole time?” Danny asks, a brief chuckle coming from Michael’s lungs, “isn’t he more of a burdon than anything else?” Nodding, Michael agrees with Danny’s statement, the wires in his brain already wired to view people both as individuals and pawns, nothing but properties to trade, seize and render obsolete. “That kid would go through an entire drug house in one weekend if someone isn’t keeping an eye on him, you’re most right about that” Michael replies, his stance changing, taking an empathetic pose, “but he’s the vehicle for me to take care of the way I couldn’t for Matt and his brother.” Looking away, Danny does his best to not entertain the new path the conversation is taking, failing to find a new course before Michael can bring up the past once again. “I’ve lost two sons because I couldn’t be a good father” Michael explains, his shoes buried into the dirt, anxiety prompting his heels to dig into the ground, “one died because I couldn’t be his father, and the other died because I didn’t know how to be his father.” Silence following the man’s statement, Danny sees an opportunity to even further clarify the lines he’s unwilling to cross, taking a jab at Michael the moment the chance presents itself. “It sounds like you’re a pretty shitty father” Danny replies, expecting a sour expression, only to be surprised when the man answers with a laugh. “Yeah, I am” Michael replies, keeping his tears back whilst licking his bone-dry lips, “I’m just not cut out to be that kind of person. That’s why I do this.” Staying silent, Danny expects the man to continue talking, allowing himself to travel alongside the Gilcrest’s patriarch until he reaches a point worth speaking on. “Now you’re standing here, appearing before me after all this time… The true head of the Table” Michael explains, hands burying themselves in his pockets, head tilted to the side as he breaks the ice, “I’m sorry, but I’m not quite so sure I’m buying it.” Curious, Danny inquires the reason as to why, a question Michael is all too willing to answer. “I’ll give the Table their credit… They handle their product well and have enjoyed long-term success” Michael explains, offering credit where it is due, “but the Table only operates efficiently because the man in the big chair is already very well aware of how an enterprise like such is designed to operate… That’s insider information.” Quick to amuse Michael, Danny engages in this new line of dialogue, challenging Michael’s thought now that it has been presented. “How are you so certain Matt didn’t tell me every little detail?” Danny asks, watching Michael scoff at such a notion. “Matt hated everything about the trade especially after it played a factor in his brother’s death” Michael explains, completely certain of his mindset being one of unadulterated truth, “he would have kept himself and everyone he knew far, far away.” Beginning to view the man as a joke, Danny laughs at Michael’s statement, quickly quipping back at the man, challenging the knowledge he has of his own son. “You’re telling me you can’t see a world where Matt wants your enterprise beaten at its own game?” Danny asks, playing into information he’s familiar with, as well as information he’s just recently come into, “you’re telling me Matt would have wanted you to go completely unopposed? Allowed to just do as you please this whole time?” Smile fading, Michael promises Danny that he knows what his children would have wanted, and guarantees that it would have been distance, not proximity to the trade. “I guess you really don’t know your kids as well as you think you did” Danny replies, cutting the final string of goodwill between them, “I bet you don’t even really know your new kid as well as you think you do.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Michael asks, reading the man’s eyes, noticing a shift in his stare upon the latter-most statement, “have you been talking to Christopher?” His lips puckered, Danny pulls his hands into his pockets, a smile breaking through his lips as he looks on, answering Michael’s question. “Nope” Danny replies, a few steps leading him back the way he came, the conversation ending on his own departure, “keep your distance, Michael.” Turning his back to the Gilcrest patriarch, Danny continues walking, a smile on his face as Michael looks on, silent, the expression of a man slighted reading for miles. With a grunt, Michael turns away from his son’s childhood friend and walks back in his own direction, the two factions splitting apart once more. = Kings of Cambridge is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards = “Brutus is dead?” Danny calls out, a small room filled with only the most trusted allies of the Table surrounding him, all spear-headed by a slumped-over Matt, who feels himself being cornered in real time. “Brutus, with all due respect, is not the biggest danger we’ve got to be talking about right now” Tyrell explains, his eyes turning towards the head of the table, “you’re telling us the Purple Gang is coming back?” The youngest in the room, Wade asks for clarification, hoping for an understandable answer. “What’s the Purple Gang, again?” the young man asks, earning a few glances at first before the majority of the room reminds themselves of his youth. “It’s the ‘East Harlem Purple Gang’” Danny replies, arms folded atop each other as he approaches a whiteboard, two pictures plastered atop it, “a small heroin organization everyone thought was eradicated in the eighties.” “And what, they just disappeared for forty years and came back out of nowhere, bigger and badder than before?” Wade asks, only a shrug being offered from the new representing face of the enterprise. “Do any of you understand how stupid that sounds?” Wade asks, looking around the room, reading a lack of confidence on every face, including Matt’s, “either they’re magicians that can become invisible whenever the hell they want, or this isn’t the ‘Purple Gang’.” “We don’t know enough to look at it from either perspective” Danny replies, cutting off the room for arguing against such a truth, “the best we have to go off of is a woman that’s shared what she’s wished to.” Unable to buy into the idea of a forty-year underground operation going unnoticed, Wade refuses to take these threats seriously, demanding to hear a reason to believe otherwise. “Because the only true thread linking every enterprise together is their refusal to overlook threats” Danny replies, staring Wade in the eyes with his hands held forward, “we exterminate the issue and work from there, no matter the danger the issue holds.” Lifting his voice for the first time, Matt speaks to Wade with a less judgmental tone in his voice, understanding the modern, yet equally ineffective approach. “East Harlem are thugs… They’re a spawn of the American mafia, they don’t have room to fuck around” Matt explains, turning towards everyone in attendance amidst a pause, “you never take the mafia lightly.” Having pulled Wade into cooperation, Matt raises the alarm bells over yet another problem they find staring down at them. “We’ve got someone on the inside, someone that’s not Candy, feeding information to the Gilcrest’s” Matt explains, eye placed on every man, “any ideas?” Silent, the men around Matt all fail to come up with possibilities, only Danny speaking up to recite previous facts. “Levi and the rest of the first crew have been disposed of and were all under suspicion” Danny explains, “while it could have been any of them, it’s highly unlikely they would have had access to Matt.” Taught not to speak suspicion in a time of accusation, the room remains quiet, nothing of value to offer. “Okay, that is all” Matt says abruptly, allowing the confused group to disperse as Danny looks on, waiting for the room to empty before speaking out. “How much of that was bullshit and how much of that was the truth?” Danny asks upon the final man’s exit, a confounded expression dawned upon Matt’s face. “We’re not taking the Purple Gang seriously, Dan… They’ve been gone for forty years and aren’t showing up now” Matt explains, guaranteeing one outcome from this confrontation. “These ‘purple gang wannabees’ are imitations of the real thing… They’re nothing” Matt explains, a smile adorned upon his face as he draws the red string from one thumbtack to another, “but if the mole is in this room, you better bet your asses the Gilcrest’s will find out about them soon.” “You want me to set up another meeting with your dad?” Danny asks, a nod of approval coming from Matt’s shoulders just as his phone begins to buzz. “Matthew Tory’s personal line” the man greets, the voice on the other end one that he did not expect to hear from anytime soon. “It’s Darlene, I was wondering if you’d like to meet for lunch?” the woman on the other end replies, prompting the man to hide a smile, not wishing to look at this in a positive light. “I’ll see you in twenty minutes” Matt replies, hanging up the call without another word, leaving through the backdoor whilst Danny returns to the club. Minutes later, Matt arrives at a local restaurant chain and looks around the room, a familiar hairstyle just barely peering over the height of the booths, leading Matt to his desired table. “It’s good to see you” Matt begins, the kind words returned by the woman, who appreciates the comment. “It hasn’t been long since the last time we’ve spoken, but I still feel inclined to ask about how you’re doing” Darlene admits, a waitress approaching the table, interjecting herself into the conversation before the man can have a chance to answer. Offering their orders, Darlene and Matt allow the waitress to walk away before returning to their conversation, forgetting the question asked previously. “Is there a reason you asked me out to lunch?” Matt inquires, his hope for being warmly welcomed into the clinic falling flat the longer Darlene answers. “Brook walked out of a session with Perry and hid in a closet for a couple of hours to talk to me, so there’s a good start for you” Darlene explains, “but when she confronted me, Perry was there and tensions rose… It wasn’t long before I lost my cool and did something I’d rather not have done.” Eyes squinted, Matt leans forward and asks a slightly out of character question of her, which Darlene takes as a joke, laughing off. “Did you kill him?” Matt wonders aloud, Darlene refusing such a notion, taking a moment before continuing her train of thought. “I fired him… Right then and there and I didn’t look back” Darlene replies, pausing for a moment, “until now. He’s going to the board of directors and demanding they review my hiring of you.” “I’m a little under-informed of that process” Matt replies, using humor to explain his lack of understanding to such possible consequences. “They’re going to see that I hired you without any qualifications and they’re going to strip me of all of mine” Darlene replies, a small amount of hope still kept within her face despite the depressing lack of such in Matt’s own staring back at her. Without a word, Matt sinks back into his seat, head pressed against the seat as he looks out the window. “He described it as ‘urgent matter’ so the hearing’s taking place this weekend” Darlene explains, letting out a sigh once Matt looks back at her, her voice becoming slightly faint, “I just wanted you to know.” Head sunk, Matt holds both hands against his head, pressing his palms against his temples as Darlene continues to speak. “I don’t know what approach you took to helping these kids, but I wanted you to know how well it seems to have worked” Darlene explains, watching Matt’s eyes begin to tear up, not letting even one tear run down his cheek. “Most of the clients you got were ones that had seen Perry for somewhere around eight months or so” Darlene informs, her voice growing softer by the minute, “the majority of them asked for you to come back instead of Perry.” Unable to look at the woman for another moment without breaking into a full-blown cry, Matt shakes his head in refusal, not willing to believe someone that partakes in the work he does could make such a difference in a short amount of time. Despite the bountiful number of people that he’d seen, one stuck out from the rest, her name the first one he inquires about. “Brook?” Matt asks, the young girl’s troubles the ones he most enjoyed working through, her life the most fascinating to learn about. “If the people that wanted you back were an army, Brook was the one leading the charge” Darlene replies, a smile peering through her tear-soaked face, “even if it may have cost me my job, I don’t regret hiring you for a single moment… And I need you to know that.” With a deep breath, Matt closes his eyes, squeezing each tear from his eyelids before sliding away from the booth, leaving hastily with choice words to depart on. “Save me a seat at the hearing, I’ll be in attendance” Matt replies, his hand gently squeezing the woman’s shoulder before he leaves, a state of confusion being left for Darlene to navigate. | “Don’t you go anywhere other than that club and this dirt-covered shit-shack?” Stucky asks, entering Danny’s hanger as the man continues to work on his plane. “No, I don’t asshole… Not tell me who the rat is” Danny replies, sliding away from the belly of the plane to find Stucky with a gun aimed at him, the young addict ensuring to keep his own safety looked after. Not willing to fight, Danny exhaustedly sits up and folds his hands in his lap, repeating his question. “Listen, whomever’s on your side working for us is doing so for my father, not me” Stucky explains, Danny looking away with his head nodding, suggesting something other than anger towards him, “but it seems like you already know that.” With a sigh, Danny sits up and walks over to a workbench, nonchalantly telling the kid to lose the firearm, which Stucky does. “I’m rather familiar with Candy… I know you’re aware of the East Harlem invasion. Is your pops?” Danny inquires, the answer he wanted being the one that his ears pick up. “No” Stucky replies, an answer that puts a smile on Danny’s face. “Your father is convinced I’m not the leader of the Table” Danny explains, looking away from the young man and back to his plane, “I’m not really sure what he’s convinced of.” With a sigh, Stucky returns his weapon to the waistband of his pants, looking aimlessly around the hanger in search of a new question to ask. “So, why did you call me out here?” Stucky wonders aloud, knowing his role in this exchange being to set up another meeting. “I need you to keep your mouth shut about the E.H.P.G until I see him again” Danny explains, throwing a tower onto the bench before returning to his plane, “if I can get him to spill something, I’ll narrow the suspect list by a lot.” “Tell me what I gain out of setting this meeting up” Stucky replies, more than able to connect the dots, but preferring to hear Danny’s own words read them back to him. “If we can sniff out his mole, we’ll be rid of his insight detail and leave him in the dark” Danny replies, “we do that and you don’t blow the whistle on our next attack, we’ll likely be able to knock both of your parents out with the same fucking stone.” In approval, Stucky agrees, suggesting a crowded area, somewhere away from vantage points but filled with people. “There’s a carnival coming to town this weekend. Tell him to meet by the entrance, alone, and I’ll lead him to our talking point” Danny explains, “I won’t kill him that night if I don’t have to, but I’ll know where I can afterwards.” | “How did it go?” a voice calls out for Michael’s attention as he passes the kitchen corridor, leading him to the source. “It’s Daniel” Michael replies, his wife leant over the kitchen counter with a fork in her hand, a piece of cheesecake pierced through the end of it. “Who’s Daniel?” the woman says with slight seduction in her voice, the man’s answer being considered a regurgitation of his past. “You had the chance to cut the head off the snake last night, and you opted not to because he was your sons childhood friend?” Monica asks, almost treating Michael like a disappointing child, “have you lost the plot?” Rolling his eyes as he undoes his cuffs, Michael slowly approaches the woman, who continues to berate him from the other side of the counter. “He can be whatever he used to be, but now he’s the head of the Table” Monica explains, “you kill him where he stands.” Without warning, Michael wraps one hand around the front of his wife’s throat, telling her to shut her mouth, matching the seductive tone of her previous calls. Failing to read the room, Michael has his hand violently swiped away from the woman, who continues to insult him. “I’m not going to fuck you after you squandered the best chance we’ve ever had at crushing those pathetic monguls” Monica shouts back, viewing her husband as weak, “get lost.” Frustrated, the man walks away from the counter and picks up his sports jacket, returning to his bedroom as the woman dials for a number on the other end of the phone. “Harmon… Get up here and treat me the way a real man would” the woman says, ending the conversation as quickly as she had started it, her thumb pressing down on the screen before her hand tosses her phone onto the limestone finish, continuing to eat. | “I’m not going to sit here and pretend this is something that won’t hurt us in the long term, especially when trying to convince the Gilcrest’s that I’m the leader here” Danny says on the other end of Matt’s phone call, “but if going back on the grid is what you want, you’re family to me, and I only want what you want.” “Thanks, Dan” Matt replies, the sound of knocking at his door prompting him to begin saying his goodbye. Hanging up, Matt scampers to the door with his hand on his gun, one look through the peephole easing any concerns of a possible break in. “What are you doing here?” Matt asks, thinking over his question before asking one better, “how did you even figure out where I lived?” Stood on his front patio, Brook hears the mans concerns before answering each question like they weren’t warranted. “I snuck out and found your address in a bunch of files” Brook replies, her eyes looking around the property as he mind races to sides of the conversation she prefers talking about more, “this is your house?” Looking around the neighborhood, Matt leads the girl into his flat and shuts the door behind her, asking if she noticed anyone follow her. “Nothing followed me here, and why do you have a gun?” Brook asks, the man quickly placing the firearm down, writing off the neighborhood as a hotspot for burglaries. “Again, I’ll ask… Why are you here?” the man inquires, watching the girl walk around the couch and take a seat in his usual recliner, a sight that he admittedly smirks at. “I walked out of Perry’s session the other day” Brook explains, information Matt admits he’s already privy to, “good, so you know I didn’t have a session.” Smiling, Matt’s head hangs as he slowly walks into the living room, leaving the girl in his seat before taking his own on the coffee table. “I’ll play along for fifteen minutes, and only fifteen minutes… Then I’ll drive you back home, alright?” Matt wonders aloud, an condition Brook can agree to. “What do you want to start with?” Matt asks, allowing the woman to dictate where the session goes, surprised at the ease in which she approaches cautious topics. “Why couldn’t Darlene hire you back to another position?” Brook asks, the man attempting to come up with a false excuse at first, only for the girl to quickly call him out on it. “She couldn’t have hired me to be your therapist, which made my job pointless” Matt replies, earning quick confrontation. “She didn’t say she couldn’t hire you back as my therapist” Brook replies, one eyebrow lifted as she leans forward, “she said she couldn’t hire you period.” Unable to think of a good answer, Matt resorts to the truth, having already begun to feel like he can trust the girl with privileged information. “I don’t have a degree in psychology… I don’t have any certificates or qualifications” Matt admits, the girl shaking her head without a moment of care, “I’m as much of a therapist as anyone working at a corner store of the department of motor vehicles.” “Bullshit” the girl is quick to retort, Matt admitting the genuine truth behind his statement, prompting Brook to reiterate. “I’m not saying you’re lying, I’m saying that you’re a better therapist than just someone off the street… Even if you’re just a guy from off the street” Brook explains, “it may go without saying, but some dude working at seven-eleven can’t understand me the way you can. Stop selling yourself short.” Hands folded, Matt shrugs his shoulders at the girl’s kind words, admitting that they’re no good in the grand scheme of things. “Darlene’s going to be fired tomorrow if I don’t do something about it” Matt explains, not realizing the confused look in the girl’s eyes as he speaks, “I’m still just some guy off the streets… No matter what kind of change I can inspire.” “What are you not telling me?” Brook asks, calling the man out once more, reciting the man’s words, “you’re suggesting there’s some way you can save Darlene’s job… What is it?” Realizing the misspeak on his part, Matt applauds the young woman’s attention to detail, keeping secrecy to his statement, but feeding her the absolute most he can offer. “There’s a way I can keep Darlene from being fired, but it’ll cause a big headache for me” Matt explains, hoping to keep himself from accidentally spilling more than desired, “but if I stay this way, Darlene gets fired and I don’t have to go through another war like I did before.” Crossing her arms, Brook rests back in her seat, boiling the decision down to a pair of differing options. “You can open a can of worms and save Darlene’s job, or you can keep that can of worms closed and protect yourself” Brook explains, her head shaking as if the answer were obvious. “Are you really asking yourself which is the right decision to make?” Brook asks, watching the profound expression come across Matt’s face as she continues to speak, practically reading into his darkest fears. “If you want that can of worms shut, it’s because there’s too much there for you to handle” Brook explains, puckering her lips and continuing, “but without opening it, you let everyone else suffer so you don’t have to… Where’s the good in that?” A sudden moment of reflection coming over the man, Matt sits silently, thinking to himself the words he’s just heard spoken back to him, the floor below better off served as a mirror, as all Matt sees is his father’s reflection staring back at him. “It sounds like you’re running away from something you used to be, and that the answer you wanted was the one that was less valuable… Thus making the decision difficult for you” Brook explains, finally earning backstory from Matt. “My father, he- He used to use people for his own benefit, and I’ll just leave it at that” Matt explains, hoping the girl can shed light on his predicament with such information. “If staying quiet and letting Darlene take the fall is what works for you, so be it” Brook explains, lowering the recliner to allow herself to stand up, “but you’ll just be nothing better than your father.” Her insight stunning Matt, Brook allows the man to see the picturer from a clearer perspective, one that was otherwise impossible from the position of a man with as deeply rooted weights on his heart as Matt does. Continuing to walk to the door before Matt can even pick himself up to drive her home, Brook makes her final declaration towards the man, offering a set of words for Matt to encapsulate himself with. “Your dad sounds like he made his decision a long time ago” the young girl calls back, watching Matt’s head lift towards her, watching from afar, “it sounds like it’s now your turn to choose between the same.” Taking his keys from the bowl, Brook unlocks the man’s car and informs him that she’ll be waiting in the car, leaving him to reflect in peace. With a deep breath, Matt looks back at his fish tank, finding his prized creature swimming around the tank with an army of fish around him, a sight that prompts the man to smile. With a nod, Matt makes peace with himself, leaving the table and walking for the door, a symbolic turning off of the lights in the room preceding his departure. == Kings of Cambridge == Hands folded in his lap, Matt sits in the driver’s seat of a luxury sports vehicle, his phone left in the cupholder just beside his right arm. One foot eagerly tapping against the floor, Matt stares at a large home standing on its lonesome, not another building to be found other than one that belongs to the property for miles. Seething, Matt just looks at the home with disgust, his lip curled just at the sight, wishing his stare alone could start a fire that would result in its destruction.
His breaths slow and well-paced, Matt keeps his growing anger from breaching the surface point, keeping a relatively well-maintained composure as another vehicle passes his own. Pulling onto the side of the road, the vehicle parks itself at the end of the cul-de-sac and sits in its spot for a moment, time passing slowly enough for the lights going out and engine powering down to seem like a big deal. From the driver’s seat, Stucky emerges with blood staining his shirt, a gun held by his side as he anxious approaches the front step, the sight of which triggers a deep-rooted aggravation in Matt’s very core. Without hesitation, Matt pulls his hand out of his lap and reaches for the glove compartment, removing a pistol from within as he continues to watch Stucky’s every step. The seven stairs of the staircase being ascended, Stucky reaches the doorbell, which he rings four times. After a minute, the footsteps from the other side become more audible, approaching the source on the other end with great anticipation. The door swinging open, the large male figure on the other side of the door stands looking down onto Stucky, only one word leaving his lips in that moment. “Delivered?” the man asks, Stucky pushing the gun, with one fewer bullet in the magazine than when he originally left the home, against the man’s chest. “Yeah, Michael… Message delivered” Stucky replies, walking past the older man without another word, dissatisfied with the reaction he’d received upon his arrival. Head hung, Michael nods to himself before slowly attempting to shut the door, thinking to himself as he does so. Gun in hand, Matt reaches for the handle as his phone begins to ring, the sight of him in his vehicle impossible to makeout from behind his tinted windows. “Matthew Tory” the man responds, hearing Danny’s voice on the other side of the phone upon his greeting. “Stucky just visited me in my hanger, gave me a proposition I thought you’d wanna be clued into” Danny replies, immediately lifting the concern to allow Matt to return his weapon to the glove compartment. “Let me hear it” Matt replies, slowly clipping shut the glove compartment door, attention being given to Danny on the other end of the line whilst his eyes remain glued to the home. “He said he was sent out to kill one of our crew and deliver a meeting time” Danny continues, his words still finding the sweet spot in Matt’s ears as the man’s eyes capture the sight of an older man stepping out onto the porch. Expression changing from one of repressed anger to a more somber, empathetic stare, Matt allows Danny to speak further, the offer being raised one coming with intrigue. “Stucky thinks I should be the one that takes responsibility for the entire enterprise… Keep you in the shadows” Danny explains, admitting the possible reason being to keep the anonymity over Matt’s head, “one way or another, it allows us to cover the bases we need to keep you out of sight.” Walking down the seven stairs, the older man walks through the front gate and out onto the sidewalk, his head turning from Stucky’s car to the vehicle unfamiliar to him. With a change in his expression, the man’s face goes from one of disappointment to one of investment, more hope than anything else, a peculiar sight. “It sounds like a good deal” Matt replies, watching the father begin to slowly approach his vehicle as the keys turn in the ignition, “you should take it.” Lowering the phone from his ear, Matt hangs up the call and pulls his vehicle around, quickly driving off down the street as the older man runs after him, halting his efforts when they become unavoidably futile. Kicking up dirt, Matt’s tires take him away from the home, leaving the gentleman in the dust, a somber look on his face as his head hangs in disappointment, whatever strange hope he had been carrying being left to rot. = Kings of Cambridge is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards = “Brook, come on in” Darlene says, putting on her most convincing smile despite the confused glance from the younger girl upon her beckoning. “Is Matt out today?” Brook asks, the first question being raised before she can even step through the front door, her backpack being hurled over her shoulder as Darlene fails to answer the question clearly. “We have some grounds to cover first” Darlene explains, only those seven words leaving her lips as they approach Matt’s old office. Upon entering, the room appears vacant, not a singular person occupying the desk at the end of the room, the decor within changed, brightened from the empty room Matt once occupied. “Did Matt get new furniture?” Brook asks, Darlene figuring out her following answers on the fly, her expectation being that Perry would have already been present. “Your old therapist, Perry, decided to return to his old job” Darlene explains, watching the confusion arise upon Brook’s face, “unfortunately, I was therefor legally required to relieve Matt of his duties.” Posture changing, Brook attempts to combat the statements made by the woman, only for Perry’s return to stifle any immediate reply. “Brook! It’s good to see you again!” Perry calls out, lifting his hand into the air for a high five that never comes. “Look, Perry’s good at his job and everything… But I liked Matt” Brook replies, Perry’s hand falling to his side in disappointment, her words disregarding him as they are voiced towards Darlene. “That’s something you can thank Perry for” Darlene says with a smile, throwing the man under the bus the moment such course of action is offered. “We got along perfectly fine, though!” Perry exclaims with feigned joy, trying to save face as he looks on the positives, a perspective Brook refuses to take. “It might not have been very long, but Matt understood me a lot more in the little time he was here than anyone, including Perry, ever has” Brook explains, unaware of the joy Darlene takes in the girl’s glowing report, “I’m not having any session today unless it’s with Matt.” With a sigh, Perry tucks his hands behind his back, looking around the room whilst suggesting Brook take a seat. “Matt can’t come in today, Brook… Let’s just talk about things and figure out where to go from there” Perry explains, a silent girl turning back to Darlene for reassurance, not receiving much as Perry takes his own seat. “If you want to see something change, let me know” Perry explains, continuing to smile through the ordeal, “we’ll work everything out the way you want it.” Squinting her eyes at him, Brook crosses her arms, playing the role of a bratty teenager refusing to give up her ground. “You want to work things out the way that I want it?” Brook asks, her intentions residing fully on the side of challenging the man’s statement, “go back to your other job and get Matt back here.” With another sigh, Perry hangs his head, frustration beginning to grow within him as he reminds Brook that such a thing is not possible. “Yeah, it is” Brook replies, calling the man out on his bluff, ultimately making the correct call as time would show, “you left the job and chose to come back here… Rescind your refusal and go away.” Biting his lip, Perry takes his attention away from Brook, placing his eyes upon Darlene in full view of Brook. “It’s your job to convince her to take part in therapy, Perry” Darlene explains, refusing to pull the man out of the hole he’s dug himself into, “you’re failing to do your job right now.” Pulling hiss eyes back onto Brook, Perry asks the girl to take a seat where she’s meant to, a gesture which Brook acts in defiance against. Tossing her bag to the ground, Brook asks Darlene to step to the side as she approaches her seat, taking it by the armrests and tossing it across the room. “That was highly inappropriate and uncalled for, Brook” Perry exclaims, his declaration not phasing the girl, who picks her bag up once more and leaves the room. “It looks like some guy off the street did your job better than you did” Darlene explains, watching Perry snarl at her as he shakes his head, refusing to go after the girl, knowing his efforts to be futile. Earning the last laugh, Darlene leaves the room, telling him to cancel this session and prepare for the next one, a gesture which only helps to further add to the tension between the two. | Entering the hidden rear-entry, Matt walks through the club before stumbling upon Danny, who sits in the makeup chair fixing his hair, a sight that puts a smile on Matt’s face. “Ladies, can my friend and I have the room?” Danny calls out, each dancer leaving the space and closing the door behind them. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Matt asks, the smirk on Danny’s face assuring him of his friend’s confidence. “Do you think he’ll recognize me?” Danny asks, Matt walking behind him and looking into the reflection of the mirror just ahead, his face appearing atop Danny’s shoulder. “He’s known you since we were little… Let’s just hope he keeps that between the two of you” Matt replies, walking off into a corner of the room as Danny looks back at him, raising the difficult question on his mind. “Does it sting?” Danny asks, Matt’s back turned towards him, his figure still able to be made out in the dim red lighting the room bathes in. “The fact that he replaced me with a slut and her piped-up son?” Matt asks, fixing the cuff on his jacket before looking over his shoulder, making sure to look in Danny’s eyes as he answers, “not often.” Head hung, Danny leaves his seat and walks up to Matt, the man’s eyes staring into the mirror ahead of him, pulling his hair into the perfect place despite not going anywhere where such appearance is warranted. “You’re not your father, Matt” Danny says, understanding the gravity of their conversation whilst noticing the lack of reluctance Matt has to it, a calm response even being given to his prior statement from the man’s own lips. “And my father’s not me, Danny” Matt replies, a casual nod of agreement coming from Danny’s head, “he’s a much colder man than I am, and he’s not going to take well to finding out that you’re the guy in charge of his rival faction.” With a chuckle, Danny relieves the slight worry in the man’s statement by cracking a joke, one that manages to put a smile on Matt’s face. “I think he’d rather it be me than his own son” Danny quips, allowing laughter to come over both men just as Tyrell peaks his head through the door. “It’s showtime, gentlemen” Tyrell calls out, watching Matt give Danny a hug, telling him to come back safely. “I wouldn’t plan to do anything but, Matt” Danny replies, approaching Tyrell and departing the room, leaving Matt stood in the middle of the floor, alone as far as he’s aware. “One would think discovering you to be the leader of the table would’ve been the biggest shock I’d see this week” Candy says from afar, revealing her presence to the man, which he refuses to even acknowledge directly, “but finding out that you’re a Gilcrest definitely takes the cake.” Clearing his throat, Matt adjusts his sleeve once more, hearing the soft heel-shoed footsteps approach his person, correcting her. “I’m not a Gilcrest, I’m whatever the hell my father was before he married that tramp” Matt replies, slowly looking towards the woman, a fake smile dressed over his chin. “It seems like I’ve made a discovery of my own this week, as well…” Matt continues, watching the woman’s head seductively tilt as she waits patiently for him to voice his findings, “I’ve found the rat.” Throwing one leg in front of the other with each step she takes, Candy lifts her hands by her side as if to suggest that she had no other choice. “I like a fun time and Chris has his hands on whatever makes that possible” Candy explains, a smile tearing through her maroon-colored lips, “but don’t get it twisted… I didn’t know you were in charge until I saw your ring at the bar.” Lowering his eyebrows, Matt promises the woman that he doesn’t believe her, a response that only brings on more curiosity. “That’s fine, but you’ll still be leaving your rat to wander the halls completely unrestricted” Candy replies, her carelessness to defend her stance suggesting to Matt that she’s telling the truth in these regards. “If you’re not the rat, what do you want?” Matt replies, watching the woman’s face scrunch in amusement. “Must you really talk business all the time? Can’t you have a little fun?” Candy asks, her hands running down the man’s chest as she slowly pulls one button after another. Not one for the affection, Matt takes both of her hands into his own and removes them from his person, assuring her that he’s not interested in her advances. “How much does Stucky know about me?” Matt asks, still concerned for his cover. “He doesn’t know you’re still alive… At least… Not yet” Candy replies, watching Matt’s head lift, implying suspicion, “his mom doesn’t remember you ever existed and your father still visits your grave every day.” With a nod, Matt already expects the demands that come next, skipping directly to what Candy wants in return for her silence. “Silence” the woman replies, taking a seat as Matt looks at her with confusion, “you stay quiet about me… I’ll stay quiet about you.” With a laugh, Matt tucks his hands into his pockets, scoffing at the woman’s suggestion. “I’m involved in one big mess, and you want me to just let it continue?” Matt asks, the math not precisely adding up in his eyes, “why would I continue to let you screw your way through my enterprise knowing that you bat for the opposite team?” “Because I don’t belong to the opposite team” Candy replies, throwing one leg over another, “I belong to the guys that come after.” Turning his head, Matt asks the woman to continue, fearing the vagueness behind her words. “Your pops and Stucky’s mom want to keep the Gilcrest name in the northeast… But he knows someone else is right around the corner waiting to take over this place” Candy explains, “they’re waiting for you two to go to war so they can clean up the scraps and set up shop.” “What are you talking about?” Matt replies, watching the woman emerge from her seat, slowly approaching the man, who begins to take worries over her warnings. “East Harlem is on the rise… and they’re expanding” the woman explains, throwing on her well-hidden New York accent, “the work you and the Gilcrest’s have done make this spot a nice set up to have… So they’ll either pick up the scraps after or take it for themselves.” Her fake persona dropped, Candy appears to Matt as a different person to what she had seemed like before, essentially presenting herself as the mouth of Matt’s next great opposition. “You stay hushed about me, and I’ll go back to Harlem with nothing but good things to say about you” Candy explains, watching Matt’s expression sour with unrivaled disgust, “I’ll make sure that, when we roll up, you don’t gotta lose anyone… And you can leave with everything you’ve got.” His lips puckered, Matt looks away from the woman, fearing that any longer of a look will prompt him to kill her in the place they stand in. “Do what you’ve gotta do, Matthew” Candy says, watching the anger-filled eyes of Matt dart back towards her, his name triggering an instinct that presents danger to anyone responsible for speaking it, “just keep my name out of your mouth.” Teeth clenched, hands balled into fists, Matt walks away from the woman, pulling the door open to leave, Candy left behind to think to herself. | “What do you want?” Perry asks, entering Darlene’s offices without knocking, a gesture that brings great annoyance over her. “For a start, knocking would be greatly appreciated” Darlene replies, watching Perry take a seat in front of her desk, waving his hands forward as if to suggest he has little care for what she has to say. “For a second thing, I feel it extremely necessary to remind you that I am your boss” Darlene replies, another reminder which Perry has no care for. “You work for me as far as I’m concerned, Darlene” Perry explains, watching the woman’s face sour at such a notion, “the moment you think otherwise, I’ll take your wrongdoings to the board and have you stripped of all titles.” Grating her teeth together, Darlene begins to press herself, trying to judge whether or not such demeanor is something she’s willing to put up with. Attempting to speak, Darlene is quieted once more, Perry cutting her off to tell her that she’s had this coming since the moment she brushed him off like nothing. “For you to sit there and think some random guy from the street can do what I can is insane” Perry continues, “your inability to present a quality working environment shows in the decisions you make as a leader.” Continuously cut off at every turn, Darlene stays seated, remaining silent as Perry continues to go off on her, his efforts only ended when a harsh knocking at the door presents itself. “Come in!” Darlene shouts quickly, both parties quickly surprised to find Brook entering the room, still dressed the way they last saw her. “Brook? What are you still doing here?” Darlene asks, the young girl explaining that she never left in the first place. “I’ve been hiding in one of the closets for the last few hours” Brook explains, expressing the lines she was willing to cross to speak with Darlene alone. “I didn’t know Perry would be here” Brook explains, both adults in the room putting on smiles, uncertain as how to address the situation. “I’m not coming back here until Matt does” Brook explains, watching Perry’s eyes roll as Darlene walks over to her, “I’m done switching therapists… It’s Matt or no one.” Having heard enough, Perry removes himself from his chair, pointing out Darlene’s inability to recognize the work environment she has been overseeing, citing Brook’s presence as a massive security issue. “You failed to take initiative earlier and you’re failing to accept responsibility now, Darlene!” Perry shouts, both the woman and Brook turning towards the man, waiting for him to continue, “for god’s sake, take initiative!” The demand given, Perry awaits Darlene’s decision, putting himself in a position of control he’s unwilling to release himself from. Her eyes expressing anger, Darlene looks towards Brook, who returns the stare back, willing to take whatever punishment she has coming her way. “Come on, Darlene!” Perry voices again, watching the woman squeeze her eyes shut, frustration boiling too far for there to be room for its relief, “take some goddamn initiative.” Opening her eyes, Darlene comes to her decision, head lowered towards Brook, ready to respond. “Perry Armanti” Darlene calls out, her face leaving the girl and returning to the man, each following word she says being meant exclusively for his ears, “you’re fired.” Crossed arms falling to his side, Perry’s gleeful expression falls, every ounce of frustration that had boiled within Darlene now being fully given to Perry, who practically froths at the mouth in anger. “What the fuck are you doing, Darlene?” Perry asks, watching the woman’s face shine with joy, the sight of his anger coming off like music to her ears. “Please leave the premises or I will be forced to call authorities” Darlene requests, each sound the man makes prompting her to take one step closer to the phone, ripping his power away from him in full. In a moment, Perry slams his fist against the wall and walks past Brook, who looks at the situation with a grin. “So does Matt come back now?” Brook asks, completely disregarding Perry, the answer to her question now the farthest thing from Darlene’s mind. “I don’t know yet… I don’t really know anything yet” Darlene replies, her eyes having drifted away, eventually finding Brook once more, the hoped-for reassurance from earlier now appearing in a pleased smile. | “Remember my orders” Danny calls back, slamming the driver’s door shut immediately thereafter, his feet carrying him through shrubbery, the given coordinates taking him to a cold forest. After a few hundred feet, Danny finds himself staring down a lone figure, stood in the middle of nowhere with his hands tucked in his pockets. “I’m looking for a drug kingpin to meet with in the middle of nowhere!” Danny calls out, walking a short distance further, “do you know where I can find one?” In shock, the patriarch of the Gilcrest family finds his jaw dropping, the sight of a familiar face bringing awe over him. “I suppose you weren’t expecting to see me” Danny calls out, Michael’s legs almost giving out beneath the weight of the sight, “it’s been a long time, old dog.” The surprise too great to speak coherently at first, Michael’s thoughts come around, muttering the name of the man before him beneath his breath. “Daniel?” Michael quips, the propped-up leader of the Table now standing a few short feet away from his greatest rival, staring down the cause for a thousand still-fresh wounds. “It’s been you… the whole time?” Michael asks, watching Danny shrug his shoulders at the gesture, admitting that time has flown too quickly for him to keep track. “I- I don’t know what to say” Michael replies, his mind instinctively carrying him forward, a gesture which prompts Danny to back away. Quickly removing his hands from his pockets, Michael lifts his arms into the air to present a lack of weaponry, a show of good faith being given to Danny. Letting whatever is bound to happen unfold, Danny stands in his place with his hands kept in his pockets, allowing Michael to slowly walk forward, his intentions still unclear. After a few seconds, Michael gets within an arm’s reach of Danny, cautiously standing in front of him, unaware of the hidden blade in Danny’s sleeve. Emotions running high, Michael unexpectedly wraps his arms around the man, giving Danny a hug, prompting the puppet leader to look at his friend’s father in confusion. “It’s been so long” Michael mutters, further confusing Matt’s friend, the interaction not something you’d expect from two people destined to be the greatest enemies of each other. As time passes, Danny realizes where these emotions come from, his presence not being that of the Tables leader in that moment, but as a remnant of Matt, a memory that Michael had lost long ago, a memory that serves greater than any turf war. | Throwing his jacket onto a hook and slamming his front door shut, Matt flicks on the lights to his home and chucks his car keys into a bowl beside the main walkway. “Cool fish” a voice calls out from the living room, prompting Matt’s stroll to stop instantly, his eyes finding a drug-induced man standing in the glow of his fish tank, a gun pointed directly at him. “Put your shit down and join me, won’t ya?” Stucky says, a sadistic smile on his face greeting the man. Having stopped fearing death long ago, Matt nonchalantly throws his briefcase onto the floor and strolls into the living room, leaping into his recliner whilst staring at Stucky, kicking his feet up in the process. “Ballsy… I like it” Stucky exclaims, a feigned smile coming over Matt’s face as a ‘thank you’. “Danny’s meeting with my parents right now, so I hope you’re not expecting a call from him” Stucky explains, one eye squinting as he stares down Matt, the barrel aimed right at his head. “How’s the whole ‘killing my parents thing’ working out for you?” Stucky asks, watching Matt shrug his shoulders. “We’ve taken our first crack at it to no success” Matt replies, pausing for a moment as he considers his next steps on the fly, “we’re recalibrating for the next one.” “So the plan’s still on?” Stucky replies, taking his answer from Matt’s grin, “that’s really good to hear… I thought you’d have gotten cold feet after the first shot.” His expression changing, Matt begins to read Stucky like a book, the addict holding him at gunpoint inquiring over the look. “It was you” Matt replies, his footrest lowering as he slowly stands from his chair, “you blew the whistle on the hit.” With a laugh, Stucky backs away from Matt, each step he takes prompting Stucky to take one step backwards, a game of cat and mouse ensuing. “I wanted to make sure you guys weren’t cared of a little trouble” Stucky replies, watching Matt remove a fire poker from his fireplace, wielding it as a weapon. “You got my men killed” Matt says in a harrowing tone, voice lowering to an almost demonic-growl, “what else have you known about, huh?” Not wanting to blow his chance yet, Matt holds his strike back, wanting to get as much information out of Stucky as he can before making his move. “I guess you’ll have to decide whether or not you want me dead more than you want your answers” Stucky replies, continuing to aim the gun confidently at the man, a lightbulb going on in his head. “I can get my answers from anywhere” Matt replies, one eye squinting as he stops advancing, “I want you dead more.” “Bold strategy, Cotton… Let’s see if it-” Stucky begins to mock, his words stopping when Matt’s phone begins to buzz, the sound emanating from the briefcase, prompting the deranged Stucky to break out into a fit of laughter. “I think you outta get that” Stucky exclaims, backing away more as Matt becomes torn, the call one of importance to him whilst the other getting away with each second. On shortened time, Matt drops the fire poker and reaches for the briefcase, pulling his phone out at the last second and greeting the voice on the other line. Looking towards his front door, Matt finds the spot Stucky had previously inhabited to be vacant, the man currently running away from the scene as the voice on the other end replies. “Brutus?” Matt calls into the receiver, waiting for his muscle’s response. “I get you’re not a fan of living to fight another day” Candy’s voice replies, immediately prompting a disappointed look to come over Matt’s face. “Goddamnit… Candy, don’t-” Matt mutters, cut off by the sound of a gunshot, Candy’s voice responding immediately thereafter. “Sorry, but you don’t get to make an attempt on my life and live to tell the tale” Candy replies, her words being offered as a warning to Matt, “you’re no good for your word… You’ll hear from us soon.” With that, the call is disconnected from the other line, the man taking the phone away from his ears as he looks towards the kitchen, refusing to hurl his phone across the room. Approaching his door, Matt watches Stucky’s car zip past his road, driving away from the scene as Matt walks into the road, watching Stucky drive off without a scratch. == Kings of Cambridge == His finger pressed to his dry lips, Matt looks ahead coldly, facial muscles unmoving, eyelids not blinking, the sounds of the room drowned out as if he had water in his ears. Over time, the muffled words spoken by whomever it is sharing the room with him become more coherent, a pause in their appearance prompting his mind to quicken it’s pace, trying feverishly to bring Matt out of his daydream.
“Matt?” a woman’s soft voice calls out, suddenly jolting the therapist from his portrait-like pose, a quick apology coming before a much needed moment of recomposure. “I’m sorry, Brook… I completely zoned out right there and I don’t know why” Matt replies, face held towards his desk, following the patterns of the stained wood as if that would help him retrace his thoughts. “You seem less like yourself today” Brook mentions, pointing out the paranoia-like flow of his words, admitting that his face can give it away rather easily. “You look spooked” Brook explains, Matt quietly looking at her, allowing her to proclaim her comparison, “like you just saw a ghost but were trying to hide it.” Suddenly cracking a smile, Matt tries to play the incident off as something worth forgetting about, offering the young girl a laugh. “Let’s start again” Matt exclaims, repositioning himself in his seat, arms pressed against the armrests, eyes returning to the girl, “tell me about your week.” Stood before his desk, Brook looks at the man with curiosity, a gesture which he allows her to take part in freely, her look only broken when turning to a corner of the room and picking up a chair. Dragging the long, metal legs of the seat to the forefront of his desk, Brook uncharacteristically sits down, the shift in her comfort within Matt’s presence showing a slight evolution in her attitude. “No” Brook replies, leaning onto the man’s desk and folding her arms atop it, eyes kept firmly upon the man, “let’s talk about your week.” Eyes wandering around the room, Matt reminds the girl that therapy doesn’t work like that, a truth that Brook puts aside for the moment. “You seem like you need to talk more than I do right now” Brook replies, Matt’s expression suggesting a more open approach to the girl’s diversion of course, “besides, don’t they say ‘the best people to sit behind the desk, are the ones that once sat in front of it’?” “Okay, then” Matt replies, his response coming in nearly the same moment as the sun outside breaking through the clouds, allowing the room to glow with a warm embrace. “I recently learned a lot about just how much I ask of people” Matt explains, apologizing for his need to be vague, “and truth be told, while it may be greatly necessary at times, I ask of them a lot more than I ask of myself.” “Is it an expectation?” Brook asks, cutting into the man’s response, prompting his eyebrows to raise with a probin look, “I mean, are these people you put a lot of responsibility on people in positions that deserve it?” Biting his lip, Matt folds his hands together, pressing his index fingers’ knuckles to his lips, “I suppose they are, yes” the man replies. “And with that being said, why do you believe you ask of yourself less than them?” Brook inquires, cutting her question short, refusing to feed the man answers. “If there’s a job that requires heavy lifting, they’re in the position to do the said heavy lifting” Matt explains, removing his lip from between his teeth, “while I direct the work from one direction to another.” Nodding, Brook folds her hands in her lap, comparing the two sides as best as she can with the vague details offered. “What’s more important in what you do, direct the heavy lifting, or the heavy lifting itself?” Brook wonders aloud, watching the intrigued look come across the man’s face. “Neither works without the other” Matt responds, a gleeful Brook holding her hands out in triumph. “So there’s your answer” Brook replies, her lips parting to present a smile, “you should be holding yourself to an equal demand as them… Just different depending on the work you do.” Eyes taken by a random corner of the room, Matt lets out a soft chuckle, silently agreeing with the girl’s conclusion. Tapping the armrests, Matt pulls himself out of his chair, walking around his desk while directing Brook to stand as well. “Go sit in that chair real quick” Matt commands, an amused Brook shaking her head whilst doing as told, casually taking her place upon the chair. “It’s a regular computer chair, Matt” Brook replies, looking up at the man as he smiles back at her, lifting his hand to his chin, sporting the look of a proud father. “It may be a computer chair, but it’s a lot different in importance to the one you were just sitting in” Matt replies, pausing for a moment, “that’s the chair you belong in someday.” Her head hung in a mixture of embarrassment and appreciation, Brook looks towards the man, who she begins to like talking to more with each session, muttering a soft “thanks.” Hands tucking themselves away in his pockets, Matt lifts his shoulders to the level of his chin and lets out a sigh. “Not a problem” the man responds, continuing to look on at the girl, silently hoping the chair she sits upon now is the one she’ll sit atop one day in the future. = Kings of Cambridge is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards = Punching at the curtain in front of him, Danny walks through a sea of scantily-clad women on his way to a deeper part of the building, his progress being stopped upon the sensation of his arm being squeezed. “Danny” a woman whispers, the man turning around to find Candy looking at him anxiously, not another word being exchanged before Danny leads the woman to a dark corner of the dressing area. “I heard about the retreat last night” Candy explains, her voice raised just over a hush, trying to speak over the music, “do any of us need to worry back here?” Waving the woman off, Danny makes the woman promise to keep spirits high in the club this evening. “If anything happens tonight, it’ll be chaos made from people being needlessly paranoid” Danny explains, voicing his experience with issues like these, “they’ll take their time planning something, keep people from going crazy down here.” Without another word, Danny walks away, leaving Candy behind to pick up the pieces where they lay, returning to his originally intended route. Passing a few sets of beads dangling in every other doorway, Danny enters the well-lit backroom, finding a sea of those remaining from last night’s failed job awaiting him. “What did boss say?” Tyrell asks, his head lowering slightly, voice taking on a softer tone when a follow-up question is asked, “did you tell him it was my call?” “He knows it was your call, and he’s less mad for you having made it than he is with me for letting you, Ty” Danny explains, looking to the rest of the room before proceeding forward. “In regards to the retr-” Danny begins, stopped by the sound of the hidden rear entrance opening, a well-dressed Matt entering the room, some of those in attendance seeing his face for the first time. “Gentlemen” Matt says in passing, greeting all members of his crew as they stand in attention, quickly returning to their seats upon Matt’s demand. “Last night I was informed of a retreat” Matt explains, placing his hat atop a rack and tossing his jacket into the arms of one of his men, “tell me what happened in detail… Starting with you, Tyrell.” His face slowly pulling away from the boss in disappointment, Tyrell clears his throat and wraps his fingers within each other. “We launched a stakeout on the ship, watched it dock, watched the Gilcrest’s fleet arrive and board the ship” Tyrell explains, his explanation slowing until its conclusion, “we struck, cleared the inside of the ship, someone realized it was a setup, Tristan and two others were already too close to the fleet by the time the bombs went off.” “Who figured out it was a setup?” Matt asks, looking around the room for a hand to raise, finding the slow lifting of fingers from over the crowd in the back of the room, the person clearly nervous to single himself out. “What’s your name?” Matt asks, the man tripping over his thoughts as he answers the man’s question. “W- Wade… Wade Kellerman” the man replies, doing as suggested when Matt curls his finger towards him. Visibly anxious, Wade approaches the imposing situation before Matt’s hand places itself atop Wade’s shoulder, his calm voice telling him to calm down, assuring him that he’s not in trouble. Wrapping his arm around the man’s neck, Matt tells the crew to look at Wade with appreciation. “Had Wade took a few seconds longer to notice what was going on, some of you might not be standing here right now” Matt explains, watching a few heads drop whilst others lift in respect. “We’re all aware that the Gilcrest’s are going to be coming right back at us demanding answers” Matt explains, patting Wade on the back and allowing him to return to the crew. With a deep breath, Matt looks at each individual face of his men, watching the different looks being offered to him, taking joy in the diversity of opinions he’s held in. “I can’t have another blown call like that one” Matt continues, making it clear that those who can’t pull their weight will be held accountable. “Start setting up your next move in case the Gilcrest’s want heads more than answers” Matt explains, pulling his jacket from one man’s hand whilst grabbing at his hat, “and for god’s sake, run it by me first.” Departing, Matt exits through the rear door and begins walking for his door, a second set of footsteps emerging from behind him, calling out his name. “Are we continuing the conversation from last night or is this about something else, Danny?” Matt asks, nonchalantly turning back. “Do you mean what you said just now?” Danny asks, watching the silent, unchanged expression face him, “are you gonna start holding people accountable.” Hands held by his side, Matt returns to Danny and asks him to recite his own statement verbatim. Unphased, Danny does so, concluding with an emphasis on the word ‘accountable’, “so as I asked before, did you mean what you said?” With a smile, Matt nods towards Danny, answering his question silently before turning back to his vehicle. Halfway through the door, Matt’s efforts are quashed once again, Matt voicing his follow-up. “And what happens if you fuck up?” Danny inquires, watching Matt turn his face back towards his friend, remaining silent, “are you gonna hold yourself accountable then?” Sucking on his lip, Matt refuses to answer his friend’s question, allowing the tension Danny intends on keeping intact simmer. “Goodnight, Danny” Matt calls back, falling into his seat and driving off, Danny left in the back alleyway watching Matt’s vehicle round the corner, disappearing from view. With a grunt, Danny shakes his head and turns back for the door, punching the bin beside the building on his way in to relieve some anger. | “Good morning!” a chipper Perry calls out, meeting Darlene in the clinic’s backhalls, much to her own surprise. “I thought I told you that you needed to be employed here to have access to-” Darlene says, stopped mid-sentence when Perry corrects her. “I am employed here” Perry replies, Darlene’s lips puckering upon the man’s response, questioning herself as to whether or not she heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Darlene asks, the man’s response coming less as a repeated statement and more of an explanation of events. “By law, I have four weeks to rescind my acceptance of other work in order to remain in my former position whilst employed in this clinic” Perry explains, sporting a feverish smile across his face as he breaks news to the confused woman, “I just rescinded my acceptance yesterday and am now legally required to be returned to my old position.” Jaw dropped, Darlene rests her handbag on the ground whilst parting her hair, draping strands over her ears as she apologizes for the inconvenience. “I already filled out your position, so that’s not going to happen for you” Darlene explains, a shoulder shrug coming from the man before her. “You’re not legally allowed to do that yet, so it seems like you’re going to have to fire the guy” Perry replies, shrugging his shoulders with glee, the anger building inside Darlene. “I’m not going to do that” Darlene replies, watching the smile upon Perry’s face grow considerably as he approaches her, prompting her to back away. “Then I’ll take this matter ot the board, they’ll look over our different qualifications and select who to go with based off of that” Perry replies, the expression of Darlene shifting poorly. “What? Did you think it would be impossible to figure out what you were hiding?” Perry asks, the woman now refusing to look at him. “First you chuck me out like I’m worth nothing, then you shun me like I’ve killed the family dog, and then you replace me with some guy off the street” Perry explains, the annoyance in his own voice presenting itself, “do you understand how disrespectful that is to me?” “So what? That gives you the right to come back and taunt me?” Darlene asks, not having expected the man to agree with such a statement. “You kick me out like I’m nothing, replace me with nothing, and then expect me to just move on treating that like it’s okay?” Perry questions, challenging the woman to consider his own feelings for a chance, “what the hell do you think that says about how you value me as a person?” “As a person?” Darlene replies, quickly raising her tone of voice, tears beginning to form in her eyes as the words that leave her lips carry the anger of war, “it’s a lot more than what I value you as right now, you piece of shit.” Grabbing her bag, Darlene turns away from the man and walks to her office, her intent to return to work as if nothing had happened, only for a call out from Perry to make that impossible. “I want that son of a bitch scrub fired by the end of the day or I’m taking this to the board first thing tomorrow morning!” Perry shouts, watching a line of therapists peer their head through their doors to look on at the scene from afar. “I’m sorry, return to work please” Perry calls back to each new face he sees, Darlene vanishing into her office at the end of the hallway, locking the door behind her. | “Thanks for meeting me, Marc” Matt greets, taking a seat at the opposite end of one of many diner tables. “I’m glad you called” Marc replies, lowering his cup of coffee back onto the small plate beside him, “what you said in group has really stuck with me over the last few days.” Putting their orders in upon the arrival of one of the waitress’, Matt directs the conversation down the route he wishes for it to take. “I hope you don’t mind me coming straight out of the gate with this, but I’m dying to know how you coped with everything when you were younger” Matt explains, “not letting it define you now.” Nodding, Marc explains it the same way as he had in their session, refusing to live life based off the progression of others. “A lot of people think they’ve accepted what they’ve gone through until they’re challenged to prove it” Marc explains, “when that happens, the results vary.” “Yeah, I get that… But you, specifically… How did you accept it?” Matt clarifies, the man on the opposite end of the table lifting his shoulders slightly. “I reminded myself of what happened every day until the memories became less painful” Marc explains, trying to sum his difficulties up as simply as possible, “I never thought of reasons for why it happened, or any excuses for it, I just kept thinking about it every day until I didn’t need to anymore.” Resting his head against his dominant hand, Matt looks out of the window the table is set up beside, running over different thoughts in his head. “What was your test?” Matt asks, watching the smile come over Marc’s face, perhaps the most true test of them all having been once laid upon his shoulders. “My family… Siblings and other distant relatives… They never knew about what he did to me” Marc explains, laughing as he continues with his story, taking joy in his growth. “They set up a small get together back in my old hometown on the fifteen year anniversary of his death and wanted to pay tribute to him” Marc explains, recalling pictures and poorly-aged photographs taken of him in a celebration of his life. “I never said anything to them about it all… I didn’t want their memories of him to be ruined like mine are” Marc explains, citing such a belief as the first example of passing a test. “More notably, when they held a moment of silence for him, everything went quiet. No one was talking, the kids were all staying quiet” Marc continues, pausing for a moment as his head begins to shake. “I didn’t feel anything” Marc admits, biting his bottom lip as his eyebrows lift, “they were there celebrating and I just sat there… Not feeling anything.” Staying silent, Matt allows Marc to continue, seeing the joy he gets from recalling his own success. “I think over time, the more that I beat myself with those memories, the more I conditioned myself to withstand them” Marc concludes, “it was never easy at first… But as time went on, I allowed it to remain a part of me rather than letting it become me, do you know what I mean?” Rather hushed, Matt pulls his face away from his hand and nods, words only leaving his mouth after a brief hesitation. “Yeah, something like that” Matt replies, turning towards the waitress as she sets their individual plates down, offering his appreciation. | Taking a wrench to the inside of his plane, Danny listens to the hanger door creak open, prompting him to call out to the onlooking party. “What can I do you for?” Danny asks, already having predicted who it would be. “Do they know I was the one that put out the hit?” Stucky asks, his voice timid, almost worrisome, completely opposite to that of the careless tone of Danny’s own response. “No, they just know it was a botched hit job” Danny replies, pointing towards a toolbox on the other side of the hanger, “grab me that, please.” Arriving alone, Stucky treats the secluded area as a means to speak more openly than he otherwise would when armies are stood behind one another. “How’d they find out?” Stucky asks, returning to Danny with the toolbox in hand, watching the man shake his head in confusion. “I don’t know… All the ties were in tact on our end” Danny replies, leaning his head against the metal exterior of the bird, gently taking the toolbox into his hand, “unless you blew the whistle, I’m working under the assumption that it was their instincts proving their value.” Refusing to throw Tyrell under the bus, Danny inquires to the reason behind Stucky’s presence, drawing his own conclusions for Stucky’s lack of a posse. “My family wants to attack one of your guys to send a message” Stucky explains, painting it out like the Gilcrest’s believe they’ve already won. “I convinced them to let me send their message in my own way” Stucky replies, head dropped as Danny’s eye remains firmly placed upon him, watching out for a potential attack. “I’ve convinced them to meet with you… Leader to leader” Stucky continues, watching Danny’s amusement appear quickly, “what’s so funny?” Shaking his head, Danny slams the engine panel shut and throws a dirty rag over his shoulder, shrugging towards Stucky as he breaks the news to him. “I’m not the leader here” Danny replies, quickly challenged to convince the actual leader to appear instead. “My parents have got no idea who’s in charge around here, so if you want things to be done smoothly, show up and claim ownership” Stucky details, “I think you’d be a better person to meet with than Matt.” Laughing, Danny turns back towards Stucky and asks why he should take his opinion to be worth anything. “You’re a druggie who’s so obsessed with becoming the king of the castle that you’d shoot your own father figure to prove a point” Danny recalls, “you’re a psychopath with a bad habit… What value does anything you say have?” Shaking his head, Stucky reminds Danny that he’s sticking his neck out for him, taking a chance on someone he has faith in to do the right thing. “My parents want to meet at the end of the week… They’re thinking I’m out right now putting a bullet in one of your heads and stapling a piece of paper to his forehead” Stucky concludes, “the fact that I can’t get high before I go back there without looking like I failed to deliver on my promise has me pissed off enough, so cut me a break.” With a sigh, Danny rolls his eyes as his hands place themselves upon his hip, considering the options afforded to him. “Let your parents know that you’ve delivered their message” Danny replies, walking back to his plane before telling Stucky to tread carefully. “You’re befriending the guys that will eventually become your enemies, all to take out your own allies… This is a dangerous game” Danny continues, “don’t go getting yourself killed, kid.” “Thanks for the advice” Stucky replies, rubbing at his eyes as the exhaustion of going cold-turkey begins to truly settle in. “Please, show up to the meeting” Stucky calls back, watching Danny’s head drop, the options afforded to him still being cycled through. “I’ll do what’s best for my men… Whatever choice does that is the one I’ll take” Danny replies, watching a coherent Stucky accept the response by returning the way he came. | “I wasn’t expecting you” Matt replies, leading Darlene into his home, the woman’s hesitancy to advance forward going unnoticed by the man at first. “I met with Marc, the guy from the group meeting yesterday, and the guy’s pretty insightful” Matt speaks, his words ushered towards Darlene, who’s mind runs with such a great amount of thoughts that his words might as well be self-providing. Pouring two glasses of wine, Matt continues to speak, running down the bullet points of his earlier conversation whilst Darlene stands at the front of the room, silently watching the man’s every move. “There’s a piece of me that feels like his advice wouldn’t work for everyone, but that doesn’t meet it isn’t worth trying” Matt continues, returning the cork to the bottle, “I’m gonna hope it solves the last of my problems.” Standing upright, Matt extends one glass towards Darlene whilst lifting the second to his own mouth, stopping halfway upon noticing the woman’s demeanor. “What’s wrong?” Matt asks, lowering his own glass to the same level as the one intended for Darlene, picking up on the internal struggle the woman engages in, conflicting thoughts clearly running through her head. “Darlene, what’s going on?” Matt asks, watching the woman’s eyes lift back to his own, a sudden fear coming over the man, prompting him to lower both glasses to his coffee table. Living two lives, Matt feels both begin to cluster together, not knowing whether to worry about professional matter at the clinic or discovery of his illegal off-clock routines. “Matt…” Darlene begins, pausing for a moment, leaving the man in suspense before concluding her statement, watching the man’s eyes drop as she does, “...you’re fired.” Lips fluttering, Matt breaks out a nervous smile, head tilted to the side as he asks ‘why’, his brain not truly certain on how to respond to such news. “The guy you replaced decided to turn down the offer that he left the clinic for” Darlene replies, “he’s legally allowed to return to his old job within a month.” “That’s not… That… You can convince him to change his mind, right?” Matt replies, immediately shot down by the woman. “No, he’s doing it to spite me… He knows you’ve got no qualifications and he’s threatening to take that to the board to get his job back” Darlene explains, “he’s trying to disrespect me the way he thinks I disrespected him, and if he goes to the board, they’ll fire me for hiring you.” “This is unaccepta-” Matt begins to mutter, his words cut off by Darlene as if they had not begun being spoken. “The matter is done, he’s already been notified and the paperwork to rescind your employment has been filed” Darlene explains, watching the look of betrayal on Matt’s face sprout, “I’m sorry, Matt.” Lips puckering, Matt feels a rage come over him, refusing to let his voice raise at first, keeping a civil tone upon his immediate response. “Get out” Matt says, leaving Darlene to let a tear fall from her eye as she sucks in a deep breath, unable to move her body until the man repeats his demand. “Get out!” Matt shouts, the level of tension in the room breaking the woman from her spell, allowing her to turn her body back towards the door and depart. With the mechanisms of the door clasping into place, Matt feels himself become surrounded by loneliness, the large room he stands in the center of sucking the life out of him. His closest confidants from both his private and public fields of work now on the outs with him, Matt feels the pain begin to weigh upon him, crushing his chest like a stack of bricks all set upon his pecks. Looking down, Matt finds the two glasses of wine, instinctively taking the one meant for Darlene into his hand, staring at it with disgust the more the anger inside of him boils. In a moment of rage, Matt pulls his arm back and sends the small piece of glassware flying across the room, shattering somewhere in his kitchen, also mirroring the fallout of the night prior. Recalling the similarities between tonight and the night before, Matt drops to the ground, taking a seat upon the carpet after letting the stack of bricks bring him down. Leant against his couch, Matt wipes at his face before his eyes fall upon the fishtank ahead of him, his attention stolen by the peculiar sight before him. Pulling himself up, Matt approaches the tank, allowing the blue lights that illuminate the water to encompass his face. Swimming alone in the water, surrounded by nothing, the biggest fish in the tank goes about its day like nothing is different, the symbolism of this sight bringing a smile to Matt’s face. Keeping his eyes upon the fish as he reaches for the bottle of flakes, sprinkling an assortment at the top. Whilst the big fish eats, the rest of the fish slowly emerge from whatever corners of the tank they once inhabited, eating alongside the big fish the moment food arrives. Nodding, Matt considers his job done, taking joy in the biggest fish in the tank being surrounded by his peers once again. “Sleep tight, guys” Matt mutters to the fish, making peace with the situation in his own way as he flips the switch, bringing darkness over the living room. Hand placed upon his door, Matt prepares himself for bed by cutting himself off from the remainder of the massive home, retreating to his own corner to prepare for whatever may come next. == Kings of Cambridge == |
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