Triumphantes Reditum [open]

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"Milos," Carmine called out as he left the elevator from his penthouse. His ever-loyal bodyguard moved quickly into his position at point and Don Falcone moved towards the door. His guard that day was small, four men plus Milos. Carmine didn't see the need for a large party when no one even knew he was walking the streets.

"Wait, sir," Milos said as the doors opened before him.

"Milos?" Carmine said, but the bodyguard didn't say a word. He simply reached an arm outside the doors, out of Carmine's view, and then turned. In his hand was a small red carnation.

"You almost forgot, Don Falcone," Milos said subserviently as he handed the flower over.

Carmine paused and stared at the man for a moment. Milos was a good soldier, and Carmine would have loved to promote the man to capo, but the truth was that he couldn't do without his right hand man, and he already had a consiglere who was too powerful to unseat. Instead, Milos got a paid apartment on the floor below the penthouse, a generous stipend, and he got to be present at every meeting Carmine took. He had even taken the man to Italy with him, in spite of not needing a bodyguard. He had assumed Milos would enjoy the vacation.

Finally, Carmine spoke, "Thank you Milos. I don't know what I would do without you."

He fixed the carnation onto his lapel, enjoying the floral scent that wreathed around his head. "Lead the way," he said to Milos, then put his hat on and followed. His other bodyguards took position a little ways behind, allowing the Don a modicum of privacy even as their wary eyes checked every passerby.

Carmine breathed deeply as he stepped out into the cool Spring morning. The weatherman had predicted the day to grow hot, but for now he could stand in the shadow of the tall buildings around him and enjoy the last vestiges of winter's cold. 

He set off down the wide avenue and nodded politely to the people he passed. Most moved out of his way when they saw the distinctive carnation that had marked him during his entire tenure as Don of the Falcone. His reputation was obviously still intact. A few people nodded to him, though. It was good to know that among Gotham's wealthy he still had a few who respected him. 

Milos grunted as someone bumped into him. Carmine's eyebrows came down and he stared coldly at the figure, "It pays to watch where you're going," he said.

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Tim blinked up at Falcone, too startled to manage a more dramatic reaction to the crime boss' glare. Talk about the last person he'd been expecting to run into. His Saturday morning had started quietly enough, after all - he'd gotten up to eat breakfast with Bruce, helped Alfred clear the table and wash the breakfast dishes, driven into the city with the elderly man when he came to do his week's shopping, and had left Alfred to it not twenty minutes earlier to walk the rest of the way to the hospital. And, well - Tim's luck, seriously.

Falcone seemed a lot taller when Tim wasn't in uniform.

"As much as public television?" the thirteen-year-old quipped blankly, then shook his head at himself - get your head back on straight, Tim - and dipped to retrieve the copy of The Maltese Falcon that he'd dropped in the collision with Milos. Straightening, he turned to the bodyguard with a small, contrite smile.

"Sorry," he offered apologetically, and gestured with his book. "My bookmark fell out since the last time I had this out, and I was looking for where I'd left off. I didn't cause any damage, did I?"

There was something slightly cheeky at the edges of his expression, despite the earnestness of his apology. Bumping into Milos had sent him stumbling back, after all, and the much bigger man had hardly budged. This definitely wasn't a 'Robin's-just-kicked-your-ass' moment, to say the least.

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    Stephanie was perched on a nearby building. She got a mission from her mentor, Black Canary, that Falcone was up to something, and it was her job to find out what. The mission was simple, follow Falcone, figure out what he's doing, and report back.

    Spoiler watched Falcone with her binoculars tired from waking up early. In order to sneak out Stephanie got up early, made some breakfast to bribe her sleeping mom, and left it on the counter with a note saying she got up early and went to the library to do some homework. Spoiler closed her eyes, almost nodding off. When she opened them again, there was a boy talking to Falcone and one of his men. What the... Child trafficking maybe? No, Falcone looks pissed, so he didn't mean to run into this kid... Come on! Would something interesting happen for once...

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Carmine cocked his head to the side as he stared at the young boy before him. The impact hadn't seemed to startle the kid, who immediately provided an excuse for his behavior.

In Carmine's experience children only told you what they were doing when they were lying to you. "Milos is fine," he said and straightened the man's coat. "Aren't you Milos?"

He turned back towards Tim and tried to appear fatherly, "Son, you have to watch where you're going. Even in this part of town you can meet people you'd rather you hadn't. It's the nature of Gotham." Carmine noted the calloused knuckles and faint scarring on the boy's hand as he gripped his book and changed tack, becoming more jovial, "but something tells me you've been in a scrap or two. The other boys at your prep school trying to teach you who the little man on the totem pole is?"

While Carmine stood next to Milos the other man scanned around, his eyes looking for signs of threat against the Don. He caught a glimpse of a strange shadow and turned his head upwards. His eyes squinted as he looked into the sun, but he didn't spot anything.

Carmine had always liked a fighter. Small, fast, and willing to outlast the thugs who thought that natural strength was all that mattered. He had a suspicion this boy fit the bill. He could spare a few minutes to find out.

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"Actually, the totems signified in the bottom-most portions of a totem pole are the most important and powerful, particularly for entryway and mortuary poles," Tim answered automatically, blinking at Falcone. "Since those are the portions that people can see the best. When a totem pole was made, the master carver would carve and, if necessary, paint the lower third that would be in prominent view, while his apprentices would work on the top. The saying 'bottom of the totem pole' is really something of a misnomer, given that to be the bottom of the totem pole would be quite an honor."

He stopped, reddening. Because wow, talk about information that Falcone didn't need, and also because what the older man had been implying had sunk in, and yeah: he'd easily been the smallest kid in his whole grade for years, and was only now starting to outgrow some of the girls - barely - and he was a geek. Getting picked on had been a thing. Tim had figured out how to put a stop to a few years ago, but the memories were still unpleasantly fresh.

"...Uh. I don't really have a problem with that kind of thing, though? It's - Bullies are generally pretty stupid and easy to manipulate, so." Oh, god. Tim flushed a bit darker and ducked his head slightly, abashed. Talk about things you probably shouldn't admit to a mob boss. Or... Any adult, really. In his experience, grown-ups didn't always take that kind of stuff so well, and it was just easier for everyone if they didn't know. Shifting his weight uncomfortably, he finished a quiet, embarrassed near-mumble, "Um, fighting wasn't really necessary."

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    Spoiler tried to focus more with her binoculars. Carmine and the boy were talking. I have to get closer... I need to find out what they are talking about. Spoiler ran across the roof buildings, moving just out of the area where Carmine would see Spoiler cross the road. Stephanie grappled across the street. She quietly walked and grappled across the roofs, until she was on a balcony right above the group of males.


    Stephanie tried to listen to the conversation as best she could. Why the heck are they talking about totem poles? Who is this kid? The balcony was not that high in the air, but just high enough that Stephanie could not study the boy's face. She pulled out her binoculars and zoomed in on the boy's face. It took her a few seconds, bet Spoiler recognized the boy's face. Is that Tim Drake?  Stephanie had never really interacted with the young Drake boy, but she had still seen him around the city a few times (In her city-wide adventures) and said hi a few times. But they never truly interacted. What is Tim Drake doing with one of Gotham's most powerful mob bosses??

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Carmine raised his eyebrow as the boy awkwardly corrected Carmine and then denied having trouble with bullies. He might not have had trouble with them, but they certainly would have tried their luck with him, at least when he first started going to school.

Carmine patted the boy on the shoulder, "My name is Carmine," he said. "I've just come back to town after moving away for a few years. I'm still trying to get the lay of the land." He turned and looked around at the Gothic buildings that lined the streets. "It's a much more gloomy place than I remember it being. So dour."

The two of them stood idly while the rest of Gotham seemed to be eager to get about its business. Men in suits filtered past them looking for lunch, or a meeting partner, or something else.

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"Does it?" Tim asked, surprised. He didn't think Gotham was dour at all. Dark sometimes, yes, but not dour. The city felt far too alive to him to be truly gloomy. Even when things got really hard, there always seemed to be an undercurrent of hope to Tim, just waiting for its chance to break free. Gotham was a city of survivors, if nothing else, and they were good at getting back on their feet. "I've never noticed anything like that, and I've lived here my whole life."

It was probably a little bit crazy, but Tim didn't think he'd ever find a city he wanted to live in more. Paris had been nice; he'd probably visit Paris again. Hong Kong, too - what little he'd seen of it outside of casing King Snake's building had been interesting. But he already knew that he'd always come back to Gotham afterwards.

He gave Falcone an awkward half smile.

"Well. Except for when Mr. Freeze managed to ice over the district. But even that made everyone more grumpy than dour. Gotham got cold. But Batman saved us."

Tim had helped. From the Cave, since he'd still been in training at the time, but still.

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Stephanie cracked a smile as she heard the boy speaking. From what she had seen and heard of him from around the city, he was pretty smart. Tim was right. Gotham wasn't dour. Sure it was crazy, but it was far from dour.

"Well. Except for when Mr. Freeze managed to ice over the district. But even that made everyone more grumpy than dour. Gotham got cold. But Batman saved us."

Stephanie watched the conversation progress. She was getting bored. Maybe Falcone wasn't up to anything. Spoiler didn't know, but she did know not a lot was happening. She was about to leave, but then shuddered at the thought of explaining to Black Canary that she didn't find anything. None the less leaving the scene while she was on Carmine's trail. Stephanie jumped as the intercom in her ear turned on. It was one of Black Canary's operatives.

"Find anything yet, Spoiler?"

"No, not yet. The only thing is that he is just talking to some kid, but nothing too interesting so far."