Segundo Paso: La Venganza

                                        

                                              
A/N: Pic to the side is Carlitos played by the ever sexy Rodrigo Guirao Diaz. He's Argentinian and I have to say, thank you Argentina :P
                              
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Reaper crept along in Carlitos' sombra. He was nothing more than a whisper of air behind the older gangster, a promise of violence that is held back by discipline not mercy. Maya was recovering from her bullet wound, no signs of infection thanks to judicious use of Reaper's pharmacy connections. The only way the two hombres managed to get to this point without the fiesty Senorita along even injured was to drug her into unconsciousness and slip out the back.
                              
It wasn't even a week after the mafia boys had done their drive by on the Burrio Boys. Of the near two hundred people at the party, thirty didn't make it through the night. Over a hundred people had been injured and there were only a rare few like Reaper that had escaped unscathed. And even though Reaper felt the weight of their attack like a stone of guilt around his neck, his timely warning had saved lives. He had seen, known and responded to the threat as quickly as possible and that had only raised his reputation amongst the Burrio. Those that had resisted his pledge last year and given him nothing but grief this year layed off. He was done proving himself as a man, now it was time to prove himself as a monster.
                              
He was almost sixteen now, his body was bulking up with muscles that had been beyond him previously and his voice had gone even lower, a more velvety purr that the ladies seemed to love. Carlitos had told Reaper to move back in with his family until they could find a new place to live, the old location worse than useless to them now.
                              
The older street tough was planning something and Malcolm knew for the first time that these plans included him in them. This wasn't a kidnapping, this wasn't a quick, easy, clean in and out; this was their retaliation and it was going to be bloody. Part of Reaper wasn't sure he was going to be able to do this, to use the gun he knew Carlitos was going to hand him to kill. Logan and the four they were after were out of reach, hidden away and protected against an attack like this, but the rest of their men were left danglnig in the wind, expected to cover their own asses.
                              
Carlitos stopped them just around a brick wall from their destination. Two steps were all that kept Malcolm from the massacre that was about to erupt. They had the intel from Maya on what building housed their biggest processing plant for drugs and money. Inside were almost one hundred workers, all of them in the mobster's pockets and likely strung out as well. These were not people that were worth missing and yet something inside Reaper still quaivered at the thought of killing them.
                              
There was a faint russel of fabric and then Carlitos was pressing something hard into Reaper's hand. With a clenched jaw and a queasy gut, Reaper gave a soft laugh as he realized that there wasn't a gun in his hands, instead just a bunch of loaded clips. He shot Carlitos a look and the older gangster just grinned at him, the adrenaline already rushing through his system.
                              
"You didn't think I was going to make you bear this on your soul did you? Adrianna would come down here and strike me dead if I let you become like them." Carlitos scoffed, going so far as to mess up Malcolm's hair like he would a little brother's.
                              
"So what am I supposed to do, stand here and look dead sexy? I'm good at it but I'm going to get my pound of flesh and blood in as well. These putas hurt my friends." Reaper growled in response, making Carlitos laugh.
                              
"Oh you will, no worries there my vengeful little friend. We will have our blood." Carlitos nodded, the dark humour in his eyes promising unfriendly things.
                              
They both fell silent after that, Reaper locating the spare clips all over his body to hand to Carlitos as he needed them. His role in this attack was clear, he was simply a mobile ammo case and it was going to be his job to tail Carlitos and make sure that the pistols and rifle never run empty. There was going to be an undeniable signal from the other Burrio Boys when everyone was in position and they were simply waiting for that time to occur.
                              
"One more thing." Carlitos said and pressed the handle of a pistol into Reaper's hand. "Aim for their knees if anyone sneaks up on us, it hurts like a son of a bitch and the asshole will limp for life." he instructed and Malcolm nodded. Since Reaper hadn't been one hundred percent sure he could murder, this was the best compromise that still allowed him to taste real vengeance.
                              
Before any other words of caution or advice could be uttered, there was the sounds of propane lighting on fire, an almost growling sound, and then a huge explosion erupted in the relatively still night air. The front gate was down and the Burrio Boys were moving in. Carlitos ducked around the corner, a Reaper shaped shadow a half step behind. The two men moved as if psychically linked, not a word spoken as they ran from cover to cover and then scaled the wall while the defences were distracted by the gate attack. There was only this brief moment to get them inside but it went off without a hitch. For one thing, no one can resist gawking at an explosion, for another- both men were dressed to blend in.
                              
"Claro." Carlitos breathed softly, signalling that the immediate area was clear. This was even better than they had hoped for, it allowed them a chance to open the back enterance without interferance and that meant more Burrio can get in.
                              
Reaper had his back to the main room, down on one knee so he could pick the lock. The quieter they remained now, the more damage they could inflict as a group. As the lock softly clicked open, bullets peppered into the clay wall next to Reaper's head and he threw himself to the side. The men on the other side of the door burst through to cover his back, adding their own gunfire to Carlitos. Reaper wasted no time, scrambled to his feet and got back to his place next to the older street tough. A small trickle of blood seeped down Reaper's cheek, the wound barely stinging from the debris that had scratched his face.
                              
He found it easier to simply not watch the mafia men get shot down, focusing instead on the amount of shots taken so he would have the next clip ready for his mentor. Focusing on his best friend's profile while he fired, there was no soul left in Carlitos' eyes. The man had anger, resentment, blood lust and violence, but no hope. There would be nothing in this world that held that special something to him without Adrianna and it was clear that the man had only a loose hold on his sanity and survival. Reaper knew that it would not be long before Carlitos lost himself to his despair compeltely and inevitably took his own life. The middle of a gun fight is not the place for an epiphany but Malcolm was having one anyways.
                              
If he wanted vengeance, true revenge against those that had wronged Adrianna, Carlitos, Malcolm himself and the Vega family as a whole, he needed to do more than simple violcence. Reaper would make those men pay, but he was also finally realizing that he needed to save Carlitos as well and give him a reason to live once more. And maybe his final act of atonement to his sister could be living the dream she had for him, but that was a future Malcolm wasn't sure he'd ever live to realize.
                              
As suddenly as the bullets had started flying, the sudden silence was almost physically painful. Reaper's eardrums throbbed, all sounds coming to him muffled and he wondered briefly about permanent damage. He looked away from Carlitos and scanned the room, astonished to see that the only ones moving were the Burrio Boys. They had done it, they had taken twenty men and slaughtered a compound of one hundred. There was a sick sense of pride in the accomplishment and an ironic guilt because Reaper knew they couldn't have done it without him. He'd given them their game plan, an attack stolen from the pages of a hi온라인카지노게임 book he studied. These one hundred drug dealers, pimps, theives and mudering bastards lay dead because Reaper had been willing to be a smart adversary. Although he'd never raised a hand to kill any of them, his soul still bore the stains from the spilt blood.
                              
Shaking off those maudlin thoughts, Reaper cleared the building with his group, fleeing from the distant sound of sirens. As the men all disappeared in different shadows and directions, a final explosion rang out into the night. The whole building they had just assaulted was up in flames, the drugs burning off and vats of completed product acting as accelerant to light the whole place at once. The fire had been set to eliminate evidence but the product made sure that there wasn't going to be anything but ashes and charred bone left to find.
                              
Walking up the street to his parent's house, the family home he had grown up in, Reaper realized that he felt tired. Not a physical exhaustion so much as a mental and emotional one. He knew his actions were necessary but he was feeling the need to do something that was an act of good and kindness and not violence. He needed something to feel worthy of the love his sister once gave him. When he walked into his family home to see the blaze on the local news, the idea came to him. Once he was sixteen, he could volunteer with the fire brigade, they were always desperate for help. He could start to atone for his own sins, and that was something he was likely to be at for the rest of his life.