#23

As it turned out, Adria's goons weren't completely useless when it came to information gathering.

They'd managed to get some solid leads about who the man after them was. And all they had to do was hunt down some of Fisks previous men. Particularly the ones who were closest to the top. Turned out, they weren't very keen on getting some choice bits trimmed off and were all too willing to give up some info. Very nice of them, really.

"So, what do we know about the guy?" Eli asked, swiveling from side to side in his seat. He mostly just did it because his chair happened to be particularly squeaky. Adria didn't seem to appreciate that.

Adria didn't answer, instead looking at Mikey and then glaring at Eli. Mikey seemed to get the message. Which was why there was suddenly a hand clamping down on the back of his chair. He heard the leather creak beneath Mikey's grip and looked up only to witness the power of the goon's glare.

"Killjoy," Eli muttered, but stayed still. He ignored the look on Matthew's face that told Eli he was absolutely done, but also very much resigned. That was made especially clear by the way he sighed as he turned back to look at Adria.

"Find out anything useful?" he asked.

"Just some basic info, and not much of it, unfortunately. The guy more or less wiped away a good portion of his past," Adria said, completely ignoring Eli. Which, rude. "His name's Jack Metzger, formerly Jack Muller. We think the guy might have served in the military for a while. There's some records that match him under his original name, for the most part, but it was hard enough to find that. Where he came from, we don't really know. What we do know is that he popped up a couple years ago and started taking jobs. Didn't take long for him to get a bit of fame in certain social circles."

"You mean the shady kind," Eli said. Adria gave him a look that more or less equated him to gum under her shoe.

"But why would he wait until now to try something like this?" Matthew wondered. "If he wanted to take over Fisk's, or anyone else's territory, why not do it earlier. Fisk was vulnerable enough last year."

"Huh, that's true. I mean, he didn't stay in jail for long, but still. You'd figure it'd be a good enough chance," Eli added.

"Oh, there were definitely some who attempted it, but my father still had enough power at the time. Which is actually how he got out of prison."

Which was a good point. Fisk had managed to dig himself out that time easily enough. Eli probably would have been more upset about it if he hadn't already expected it.

"I thought Fisk was still powerful enough," Matthew said, not sounding particularly pleased about that.

"Sure, financially speaking. But then you had to fuck things up by existing," Adria didn't look particularly upset about that, which was kind of funny because she somehow still sounded like she very much wished Matthew would go away. Forever.

"To be fair, he probably gets that a lot from pretty much everyone he puts in jail," Eli pointed out. Adria shot him an unimpressed look.

"The point is, my father suffered a loss of trust from those working under him. Mostly because of his inability to make you go away. Preferably for good."

"Well, that was rude of you," Eli said, looking at Matthew. He was rewarded by a look from Matthew that told him to quit it. Eli thought it was cute Matthew thought he would. "But why is he doing all this? I mean, I get he probably thinks he's a pain in the ass," Eli said, pointing at Matthew.

"Maybe that's why. Maybe he just likes pissing him off. Can't say I blame him," Adria said with a shrug. Both her and Eli turned to look at Matthew, who really just looked tired. "But we don't actually know why he's bothering beating around the bush instead of just outright killing you. Although, I'm fairly sure he just wanted you out of the way last time, which explains the trap at the docks."

"But why go after Eli?"

"Why not? It'll piss you off, distract you, make you vulnerable." Adria's sharp gaze stuck unwaveringly onto Matthew. "If you really want to know, catch him. Then you can ask him whatever you want. Well, until you kill him."

"I'm not killing him," Matthew said, and that had Adria's eyes narrowing in displeasure.

"You are if you know what's good for you."

"Is that a threat?" Eli didn't like the way Matthew's voice changed. He very much sounded like someone was getting murdered and it wasn't gonna be their not-so-friendly mercenary.

"No, it's a fact. Or do you think he'll just keep his mouth shut about you just because you beat him and ask nicely?" Well, that was a good point. Eli didn't like it, but it was still true. Matthew's shoulders slumped a bit, the fight leaving him in a second.

"I don't know if I can kill him," he said after a moment.

Eli wasn't really surprised to hear that. Sure, Matthew was perfectly fine with beating the shit out of criminals but he'd never killed any of them. All of a sudden, Eli knew what Adria was asking for was too much.

Adria seemed to realize this as well. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she leaned back in her chair and fixed her keen stare on Matthew.

"Fine. I can take care of that. Just make sure the cops don't get to him before I can deal with him."

"Whatever happened to you just being a legit, business woman?" Eli probably should have stayed quiet. Especially with the glare Adria was leveling on him.

"What happened to you wanting to stay alive?"

"Sorry I asked," Eli muttered.

"Have you found out if the guy's planning anything new?" Matthew said after shaking his head at Eli. Adria seemed to think about it for a moment before answering.

"Not as far as we know, but then, it's obvious he'll make his move soon. He's established himself in the city, took over pretty much the whole place, and now he'll want to focus on business. Getting rid of you would guarantee he has an easier time."

"So that's next on his list of asshole moves," Eli said, not liking that one bit.

"Pretty much. We're keeping an eye on him, but there's limits to what we can do nowadays. Are you sure you don't just want to dangle some bait for him?" The smile on her face and the way she looked at Eli like she wanted to literally dangle him off some building made him sink in his seat.

"Very sure. Let's just wait for him to make his move."

"And catch us off guard."

"It's not like we're not expecting him to do something," Matthew argued. Adria just rolled her eyes, but let it go when she realized that no, Matthew was not going to let her use Eli like bait. Eli was sure she was heartbroken over that.

They left her office like they always did—tired, and in the company of a shady looking goon. Eli was also kind of hungry. Matthew just looked like he wanted nothing more than to find some criminals to beat the crap out of, if only to relieve some tension.

"Ah, crap," Eli said as he climbed into the car that would take them home.

"What?" Matthew asked.

"I forgot to tell Adria about the stupid fan festival. I was gonna ask her if she wants to go." Eli couldn't help but grin at the thought.

"Something tells me she'd hate it."

"You don't know that."

"I think I do," Matthew said, but he was fighting off a smile. Eli thought that was an improvement.

"Well, I still think she'd at least want to laugh at your fans."

"Rude, but yeah, probably."

Eli snickered at the thought of Adria's horror at seeing a whole event centered on the guy who put her father in jail. It was a nice thought to have on the drive home.

At least, until he found himself in that sort of horrifying situation.

Despite his numerous protests, Eli was still roped into helping his idiot friends. He blamed Matthew.

Which was fair, considering he was the one who pestered him night and day until Eli was close to throwing him out the window. Then, he'd remember it would be against his best interest to do that. If only because he truly liked Matthew. When he wasn't being a dick.

And that was how Eli ended up at the city's convention center, surrounded by a bunch of absolute idiots and trying not to kick his stupid boyfriend in the shins.

"Look at that banner, it's so cool! Oh look! They have little mask shaped cookies." Matthew was absolutely loving the whole thing. Of course he was.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you look as bitter as you do today," Vanessa—who was also roped into helping—said from next to Eli.

Like Eli, she was helping take in the boxes of merchandise Tucker and Collin would be selling soon, the crowd of fans already being let in. Unlike Eli, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself. Probably because she found it hilarious how miserable the redhead was.

"I don't think I've ever been in as much mental and emotional agony as I am today." Eli was starting to think getting stabbed in the gut was preferable to the hell he was currently in.

"Don't be a drama queen." Vanessa rolled her eyes. "It's not even that bad."

"Hey guys, look!" Both of them looked over in the direction of whoever was calling them, and found Tucker waving at them from the booth he and Collin had set up. He was also motioning to the shirt he was wearing.

A shirt with a horrible—but very distinguishable—image of Vigilante printed on it.

"I got one for everyone!" Tucker said gleefully.

Eli stopped, stared, then placed down his box and turned on his heel, fully intending to leave. He couldn't walk out of the mess that was his life, but he could definitely walk out on his friends. After all, walking out was in his blood thanks to his dear old dad.

"Hey, where are you going!" Tucker was calling out. Eli ignored him. He figured if he put enough distance between them, people might just thinkTucker had lost his marbles and was screaming at empty space. Besides, Eli was confident he could get lost in the crowd.

At least, that was the plan until Matthew got in Eli's way.

"Hey, no running away," he said reproachfully, as if Eli would ever feel guilty about abandoning his friends when they were dead set on humiliating him. "Eli."

"I'm not running away, I'm walking away. Calmly." Before he hurt someone.

"You promised you'd help." Eli had done no such thing.

"I did no such thing."

"You did and I caught it on tape."

"You know it's illegal to record someone without their knowledge, right?" Matthew rolled his eyes. Probably because he'd told Eli he was recording him for future reference. Still, Eli could always play dumb.

"It's just a couple of hours and then you can go and pretend this never happened while basking in the satisfaction of having helped your friends with something truly important to them." Well, when Matthew put it that way.

"Fuck that."

Matthew looked like he wanted to toss his hands up in frustration but couldn't thanks to the boxes he was carrying. Eli might have laughed under different circumstances. Right at that moment, he was considering kicking his boyfriend in the shins and making a run for it.

"Fine. You can leave," Matthew said with a sigh. Eli perked up, happy to hear Matthew had finally come to his senses. He was about to continue on his merry way when Matthew spoke again. "But it's a real shame you won't get to try those jalapeño and cheese pretzels I heard they're selling."

Eli stopped, but refused to look at Matthew.

"And I heard they'd have some bacon and cheese potato croquettes. They sure sound tasty. I'd take some home to you, but they're better when they're nice and fresh and crunchy. I bet the cheese will be all melty."

Eli knew what Matthew was doing. Despite his friends'—and Adria's—belief, Eli wasn't stupid. Also, Matthew was painfully transparent. On the other hand, Eli really wanted to try those potato croquettes.

Which is why a moment later, he was snatching one of the shirts from Tucker's grasp while ignoring the taunting grin on his face.

"I'm gonna go change," he muttered as he walked past Matthew and Vanessa who were doing a terrible job at not looking absolutely gleeful. Eli ignored the looks people were giving him, probably because he looked absolutely done with just about everything.

Still muttering about his lousy friends, horrible boyfriend, and the low quality shirt he was being forced to wear, Eli made his way to the restrooms. The only good thing—apart from him actually getting a moment of peace and quiet—was that there was no line for the bathroom. He supposed it was because everyone was too busy losing their shit at the crappy merch being sold. Honestly, Eli was surprised there were so many people willing to spend a whole day obsessing over his mess of a boyfriend.

He almost wanted to laugh at the thought.

Eli walked into the restroom—finding only a couple other people inside—and was only a bit disappointed that it had no window he could escape from. He was already reconsidering the whole thing because the shirt was really bad. Besides, if he wore the same shirt as the others, there was no hiding that he actually knew the bunch of idiots.

Eli stretched out the shirt in front of him, stared at the terrible picture of Vigilante, and groaned. Resigned to having to wear the thing, he headed to one of the stalls and quickly changed. He took only a moment to look down at the shirt he was now wearing, feeling only vaguely dead inside, before he marched out of the bathroom and began to head back to his horrible friends.

On the way, Eli wondered if he could somehow make this work for him. Maybe if he looked miserable enough, Matthew would buy him more food. It was worth a try. The thought almost put him in a better mood.

At least, if he hadn't spotted the shady goon Adria had gotten to shadow them—mainly Eli. To be honest, Eli didn't know where the guy was hiding most of the time. Which was impressive when he was about the size of a small car. At least to Eli. That was probably why he almost jumped out of his skin when Mikey popped out of nowhere and grabbed his arm, dragging him away.

"The fuck are you doing?" Eli questioned, wondering whether he should resist. Especially when they went through a corridor leading them away from the exhibit hall.

On the one hand, he was more or less wired to instinctively fight back against strange—and intimidatingly shady—men trying to drag him away. That was one of the few lessons from his mother that had more or less stuck. On the other hand, this was Mikey. And sure, Eli didn't trust him, but he was working with Adria. He had to figure she'd have no problem violently murdering him if she really wanted to, and yet she hadn't.

"Be quiet," Mikey answered, which was shocking enough because he rarely spoke.

Wait a minute, why're we heading to the exit? Eli thought, vaguely alarmed as he spotted the red letters over a door at the end of the hall declaring it as said exit.

"Why're we leaving?" he asked, deciding he might as well test his luck and ignore Mikey's command to shut up. When Mikey didn't answer, Eli took that as a good sign that he should struggle. "Hey, let me go you freaking goon," Eli said as he tried to pull away from the guy's grasp.

When that didn't work, Eli tried the ol' classic of beating someone over the head with whatever was on hand. Sadly, all he had to work with in this case was the shirt he'd just changed out of. If ever there was a time when he would miss one of the tasers Matthew had gifted him, it was this one.

Mikey grunted in irritation as Eli swatted him on the face with his shirt before grasping the piece of clothing and tossing it aside.

Fine then, next plan.

Eli didn't want to bite Mikey. Not because he felt bad about it, but because Mikey just didn't seem like the type of guy anyone would want to bite. Still, desperate times and all that.

He sank his teeth onto Mikey's arm, not that he managed to do much damage with the thick clothing Mikey was wearing. Curse his sensible fashion sense. What Eli did manage to do was piss Mikey off. Probably because now there was drool on his previously pristine black coat.

Which was most likely why he was basically dragged out through the door and hurled into the waiting car outside. Eli ended up hitting his head on the car door, but was quick to recover—he liked to thank the various hits he'd gotten lately. He was still too late, as the other door shut before he could get to it. He tried the handle in vain and began to really panic when the car began to move.

Eli could only watch as the convention center disappeared from view as they sped away down the road.

# # #

Hello everyone! And we're back in action mode, lol. We're getting close to the end too! I promise I won't hurt you all. Much. :D

Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter, because I almost didn't finish it in time. My internet decided to stop working for a whole day on the day I decided to change some stuff up. I'm just lucky like that, lol. So yeah, don't forget to vote and/or comment if you can! I love reading your thoughts!

As always, thank you all so much for your continued support! You all have been so great, even when I needed to take a break, so thanks for that. Hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe! (ㆁᴗㆁ✿)