act four: saviors and traitors
The bodies of Drew Graham and Carmine Vestieri sit stagnant in the alleyway, drawing hungry rats to flood out from their hiding spaces and come upon their piled-together feast, treading through the wet of the rain and the slickness of spilled blood. A soft piece of cloth slides across the revolver in my hand, cleaning the smudges off as I turn to make my way off into the night once more.
Turning right into the face of Christopher Champion, blood soaking through the bottom of his pantlegs, a grim look upon his face. Sighing, I place the revolver in my holster, shaking my head and chuckling lightly.
"Fancy seeing you here, Chris..."
"The fuck did you do, Dominic?! You... you killed him?!"
I glance down at the bloodstains on Champion's legs. Those aren't bloodstains drawn up from the flooded ground below, that much I know... they're mostly dried towards the top, in fact, and there's more spots of blood spattered about his outfit. He catches my stare and smirks slightly, shrugging his shoulders at the inspection. We both share a laugh, our heads turned to the heavens at the lunacy of our situation.
"So... you've been that vigilante all along then."
I lower my head, looking across the space between us and smiling broadly, arms crossed over my chest as I felt the familiar flicker of our old rivalry beginning to come to surface. He cocks his eyebrow at me, awaiting my response.
"I should ask the same of you, man... look at you! Like you just got out of a butcher's shop."
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Madison's fine, by the way."
I nodded my head, giving him the thumbs up and a smile.
"Glad you got to her on tim--"
"No, I mean, she's fine. Didn't realize how damn attractive that broad was."
I can't help it, the absurdity of his statement in a situation such as ours is just too much for me to handle. I begin to laugh yet again, laughing like I'd not been able to in ages thanks to the grim business that protecting this city had turned into. I always knew I needed backup... always knew a brother-in-arms was exactly what the doctor ordered, just never figured it'd be Champion coming back from his grand retirement to be that man.
"So, we gonna book each other for unlawful vigilantism and murder, or...?"
"Fuck that, you know how far back that'd set us in this city? We've came a long way tonight... let's not stop the forward progress. We'll pin it on a breakdown in negotiations between the gangs, set it up so it looks like a bunch of pissed off druglords axed each other in a deal."
"Sounds good to me."
We both reach out and shake the other's hand, never breaking eye contact with smirks plastered on both of our faces. Somehow, we know... we just know that with the two of us working together, we can bring this city back to its glory. We can save this city from the underground scum that want nothing more than to see it fall.
And it'll be as simple for us as just showing up for the fight.