Manhattan, New York. 20:42.
Nathaniel Lyndon was currently sitting in the couch of his grandparents home. He never been there and was shocked to see the huge penthouse apartment. He didn't even want to know how much it cost to live there and they lived rarely here. The apartment was there to thrown party or when his grandfather did not have the time to go back to the hampton and needed to sleep. The penthouse had five room, three bathroom and it had a view on Central Park. What made Nathaniel happy to no end was that there was a piano in the living room.
They own appartement was considerate tiny beside this one and they did not have the room to have a piano. He was obliged to play on an electronic clavier to compose which was not ideal but bearable. Thinking about it, Nathaniel could not help to slap himself internaty. He was starting to get used to luxury and that was bad. Maybe lived on university housing for college could do him good. He didn't think about it before but now that perspective held merit.
He start thinking back to everything that happen today and a hard smile appear on his handsome face. Finding the hiding place of Droski was surprisingly easy he thought. With the information that he had when looking threw the files with his mother the day before, he got already a strong understanding on the working structure of his organisation. He just had to follow his lieutenant and it lead him straight to his hiding place.
Well that was not that easy considering that his lieutenant was rather smart and huge some technique to dodge people tailing him like changing car or making round to spot people following him. Basic technique like that could work on cops but against him that was wholly ineffective. Marc had a CIA training and longtime experienced in tracking the most infamous people on this planet.
Once the building located, he stop by a few clothing stores to buy low quality clothing that he used on the raid. He spotted the back alley camera at first sight and wanted to make a show for them. He then strap towel against his arm, shoulder and leg to appear fatter and lower his gravity center to appear shorter. The fake limping after that was only the cherry on top of the gigantic present that form the whole raid. He knew full well that biometric scanner was too much expensive for the police department but he didn't want to take any chance, especially when his family was on the line.
He then came back here dodging every CCTV camera on the city and give the clothes that he buy to three different charity on the way there, always useful to score good karma point he thought with humor. Like that if anyone check on the camera of the building, they would only see that he did not exit the penthouse for the entire day. And if the camera was not enough as a proof, the undercover cop in the lobby would be a nice addition. As of now, he knew that he send enough mixed up signal that no one would look at him and even imagine that he could be the one who did it all.
Right now he was still playing with his deck of card, learning magic tricks. He kinda like it, the magic was simple enough when you understood the lining of the trick. Magic was all about deception, intelligence and quick hands. Luckily he he all three so thing were progressing smoothly. He found out that the hands were faster than the eyes so he could imagine a few nice thing that he could use in his daily life. As he was thinking, he was busy turning a card between his finger, the only twist was that at each turn, the card would change of appearance.
In a chair not far from him, his grandmother was looking at him with a sly smile. She did not have a clue at how he did that and each time that she asked, he would repeat the same thing. 'Magicians do not reveal their tricks!'. She went here this morning the second that she heard what happen last night. At first when she learn what happened she was shocked and scared. She loved her only grandson something fierce and didn't want him hurt. She was then released to learn that he was alright and surprised when they tell her that he take care alone of the 5 thug.
She could not help to be proud of him and at the same time proud of herself. Since he was her grandson, he was destined to be exceptional, there was no question about it in her mind. That was her bias but she did not care. She did not care either to learn how he was that proficient in everything he do, the only thing that matter was that he was. Since they learn that the men who launch the attack was arrested, her husband and Jean had leave to put pressure on everyone with influence they knew to put him away from good.
Thinking about it, the eyes of Diane turn cold. That bastard wanted to take away her grandson! That was something that nothing in the world could be excused. She learn that the men in question had power and money but so did they and they would not be satisfied until he finished dead of wishing he was. So what if you are ruthless and you have money? I have more than either of those than you. I will make you regret just hearing about us. Diane was a doting mother and grandmother but she could be even more ruthless than her husband when someone touch her family.
Mary was there too but was at the phone still busy working. They were waiting that Robert and Karine came back to eat together. The peacefulness of the living room was interrupted again with a ringing phone. Looking at his phone and the caller ID, Nathaniel made a little smile.
"Hello sunshine."
"Are you alright?" Answer Maggie with a little worry in her voice.
"Yes, of course. Why?"
"One of the site made the link between you and the attack on the prosecutor home last night. A few of them reported that you were hurt in the attack." She answer visibly relieved.
"No i was not, our security stop them before that. Beside the fear and the sleep deprivation i'm fine." He reassured her.
"You could have told me! I'm your agent! I wanted to learn that from you and not from news reporter who want to make a story."
"I'm sorry Maggie. Things got out of hand here and i didn't have the time to think about it." He respond sheepishly. That was true that he didn't think about it, he had a little of a hard time remembering that now that he was a semi-public person, people depend on him and people thought about him.
"I understand don't worry. How everyone is at home?"
"Good considering."
"I heard that they catch the bastard who did it."
"Yeah, when someone attack law enforcement, it's basically all hands on deck. It's only magnified when the press is involved." He explain with a bitter smile.
"I'm not surprised. They say that they were dirty cops involved in the affair too."
"Sadly it's true. Okay Maggie, i need to get going, let's see each other tomorrow ok? I will send you the address."
"Fine by me. bye."
"Bye Maggie." He said.
He just hang up when his phone rang again and this time it was Taylor. He passed the next ten minutes reassuring her that everything was fine. Once that was done, he post something on twitter saying that he was right and hope that would suffice to end the rumors of him being injured. He would need to learn to deal with the press. After everything was done, he go back to the living room. He had exited the room to not disturb his grandmother. When he got back to the living room he was glad to see that everyone was there and seems to wait for him.
"Hi mom, hi grandpa" He said tentatively. He could sense that something weird was going on with the dynamics of the group.
"Hi sweetie. Can you please sit? We need to talk." Said Karine with a reassuring smile.
"It's this an intervention? You know that i don't drink, smoke or do drugs right?" He said with humor, sitting down.
"We know sweetie. This is not about that." Mary said with a smile.
"We want to know who trained you and when?" Said his grandfather, cutting to the chase.
"Trained me?" Nathaniel ask, he understood right away what they wanted to know.
"Don't play coy with me you know what i'm talking about. You were combat train, i want to know when and who."
"The only people who trained me for combat was Jean and Amal, grandpa. Nobody else." He answer truthfully.
"Bullshit!" He explodes.
"Father! Robert!" Immediately Mary and Diane rebuked him.
"Listen sweetie, i'm your mother, i know when you hide things from me. We talked about it and between what happened previously and what happened last night, that does not add up. You have skills that you should not have. You kick does guys down without even a single mark on you. This is not normal." Karine explain.
"Maybe i was lucky?" He tried with a little smile.
"You threw a kitchen knife in steel who wasn't weight properly in total obscurity at five feet away with enough force to get through a phone and someone's hand. There is no luck involved in that, and don't even get me started on today event, i saw the video."
"Listen guys, i know that you are worried because you care about me and i love you for it but i tell you the truth. No, nobody train me. I don't belong to any known or unknown organisation. The only people that know what i can do are in this room. I have these skills for an entire different reason and truthfully i have difficulty wrapped my head around it. If you really want to know, i will tell you but i will like that you don't. Can you just trust me with my own secret?" He said pitifully. That was a hard conversation. He didn't want them to know but he didn't want to lie to them. They were his blood after all.
Looking at the face of his family, he could see that Mary and Diane was willing to let it go. Karine was still worried but she knew better than anyone else that everyone deserved to have secret.
"Whatever you can do, you still my sweet baby. If you want to keep that part to yourself, i will let you be." Mary said with a loving smile.
"You have my vote" Said Diane simply, ruffling his hair. She was no stranger of keeping secret.
"Since you were born, you always had a strong moral compass. Will you tell me someday?"
"Of course mom, i swear it." He promised.
"Good for me then." Karine said smiling.
With an unspoken signal, they all turned to Robert who seem disgruntled to be the only one who had a problem with that.
"What if i don't agree with that?" He said with a bit of a temper.
"I would have thought that you will be the first to understand that everyone has a right to keep secrets. I presumed you have more than a few that you don't want us to find out."
"With your skills, i would think that it will be easy for you to find out. Why did you not look into me?" He respond with hostility.
"Truthfully? I was afraid that i would find something that will not sit right with me and after that i would not like you very much as a grandfather. I live a majority of my life without knowing you, i would prefer not going back to that time." He answer with sincerity.
The anger seem to fled from his face and be replaced with worry. The truth was that his grandson was right, over the years he did things that he was not proud of. He did not have a doubt in his mind that his grandson of his could really dig up skeletons out of his closet regarding of how much he have hidden them. The stare that his wife threw at him in that moment could melt iron, she too knew very well that they were not saints. If something that he say or did could cut off bridge with his only grandson, he knew that she would never forgive him. Hell, he would never forgive himself if that happen.
"Okay you win Nathaniel. I would allow it." He sighed.
"Grandpa, you can't allowed or disallowed anything that i do or say. I'm not one of your mens or one of your employees. You can't control me or order me around like you do with them. I know that you are wealthy, powerful and influential but bad news for you, everyone of those things didn't hold any importance for me. I'm still technically a minor so my moms can do it but you can't. Your can however advise me, tell me about you and your life. Teach me about what you have experienced in your life to help me avoid mistakes. Those are the thing that i expect and want from you."
Hearing that, Robert was frowning fiercely, seemingly thinking about what Nathaniel had said. Nathaniel was giving him some hard truth and Robert could react violently but it needed to be said. He had already two overprotective mother, he didn't need a bossy grandfather with that. He appears to have made his mind and got to his feet.
"I will think about it. Let's go eat now." He said before leaving.
Seeing the smile of the women's around him, he gave a little laugh before fist bumping with Karine.
Manhattan, New York. 20:42.
Nathaniel Lyndon was currently sitting in the couch of his grandparents home. He never been there and was shocked to see the huge penthouse apartment. He didn't even want to know how much it cost to live there and they lived rarely here. The apartment was there to thrown party or when his grandfather did not have the time to go back to the hampton and needed to sleep. The penthouse had five room, three bathroom and it had a view on Central Park. What made Nathaniel happy to no end was that there was a piano in the living room.
They own appartement was considerate tiny beside this one and they did not have the room to have a piano. He was obliged to play on an electronic clavier to compose which was not ideal but bearable. Thinking about it, Nathaniel could not help to slap himself internaty. He was starting to get used to luxury and that was bad. Maybe lived on university housing for college could do him good. He didn't think about it before but now that perspective held merit.
He start thinking back to everything that happen today and a hard smile appear on his handsome face. Finding the hiding place of Droski was surprisingly easy he thought. With the information that he had when looking threw the files with his mother the day before, he got already a strong understanding on the working structure of his organisation. He just had to follow his lieutenant and it lead him straight to his hiding place.
Well that was not that easy considering that his lieutenant was rather smart and huge some technique to dodge people tailing him like changing car or making round to spot people following him. Basic technique like that could work on cops but against him that was wholly ineffective. Marc had a CIA training and longtime experienced in tracking the most infamous people on this planet.
Once the building located, he stop by a few clothing stores to buy low quality clothing that he used on the raid. He spotted the back alley camera at first sight and wanted to make a show for them. He then strap towel against his arm, shoulder and leg to appear fatter and lower his gravity center to appear shorter. The fake limping after that was only the cherry on top of the gigantic present that form the whole raid. He knew full well that biometric scanner was too much expensive for the police department but he didn't want to take any chance, especially when his family was on the line.
He then came back here dodging every CCTV camera on the city and give the clothes that he buy to three different charity on the way there, always useful to score good karma point he thought with humor. Like that if anyone check on the camera of the building, they would only see that he did not exit the penthouse for the entire day. And if the camera was not enough as a proof, the undercover cop in the lobby would be a nice addition. As of now, he knew that he send enough mixed up signal that no one would look at him and even imagine that he could be the one who did it all.
Right now he was still playing with his deck of card, learning magic tricks. He kinda like it, the magic was simple enough when you understood the lining of the trick. Magic was all about deception, intelligence and quick hands. Luckily he he all three so thing were progressing smoothly. He found out that the hands were faster than the eyes so he could imagine a few nice thing that he could use in his daily life. As he was thinking, he was busy turning a card between his finger, the only twist was that at each turn, the card would change of appearance.
In a chair not far from him, his grandmother was looking at him with a sly smile. She did not have a clue at how he did that and each time that she asked, he would repeat the same thing. 'Magicians do not reveal their tricks!'. She went here this morning the second that she heard what happen last night. At first when she learn what happened she was shocked and scared. She loved her only grandson something fierce and didn't want him hurt. She was then released to learn that he was alright and surprised when they tell her that he take care alone of the 5 thug.
She could not help to be proud of him and at the same time proud of herself. Since he was her grandson, he was destined to be exceptional, there was no question about it in her mind. That was her bias but she did not care. She did not care either to learn how he was that proficient in everything he do, the only thing that matter was that he was. Since they learn that the men who launch the attack was arrested, her husband and Jean had leave to put pressure on everyone with influence they knew to put him away from good.
Thinking about it, the eyes of Diane turn cold. That bastard wanted to take away her grandson! That was something that nothing in the world could be excused. She learn that the men in question had power and money but so did they and they would not be satisfied until he finished dead of wishing he was. So what if you are ruthless and you have money? I have more than either of those than you. I will make you regret just hearing about us. Diane was a doting mother and grandmother but she could be even more ruthless than her husband when someone touch her family.
Mary was there too but was at the phone still busy working. They were waiting that Robert and Karine came back to eat together. The peacefulness of the living room was interrupted again with a ringing phone. Looking at his phone and the caller ID, Nathaniel made a little smile.
"Hello sunshine."
"Are you alright?" Answer Maggie with a little worry in her voice.
"Yes, of course. Why?"
"One of the site made the link between you and the attack on the prosecutor home last night. A few of them reported that you were hurt in the attack." She answer visibly relieved.
"No i was not, our security stop them before that. Beside the fear and the sleep deprivation i'm fine." He reassured her.
"You could have told me! I'm your agent! I wanted to learn that from you and not from news reporter who want to make a story."
"I'm sorry Maggie. Things got out of hand here and i didn't have the time to think about it." He respond sheepishly. That was true that he didn't think about it, he had a little of a hard time remembering that now that he was a semi-public person, people depend on him and people thought about him.
"I understand don't worry. How everyone is at home?"
"Good considering."
"I heard that they catch the bastard who did it."
"Yeah, when someone attack law enforcement, it's basically all hands on deck. It's only magnified when the press is involved." He explain with a bitter smile.
"I'm not surprised. They say that they were dirty cops involved in the affair too."
"Sadly it's true. Okay Maggie, i need to get going, let's see each other tomorrow ok? I will send you the address."
"Fine by me. bye."
"Bye Maggie." He said.
He just hang up when his phone rang again and this time it was Taylor. He passed the next ten minutes reassuring her that everything was fine. Once that was done, he post something on twitter saying that he was right and hope that would suffice to end the rumors of him being injured. He would need to learn to deal with the press. After everything was done, he go back to the living room. He had exited the room to not disturb his grandmother. When he got back to the living room he was glad to see that everyone was there and seems to wait for him.
"Hi mom, hi grandpa" He said tentatively. He could sense that something weird was going on with the dynamics of the group.
"Hi sweetie. Can you please sit? We need to talk." Said Karine with a reassuring smile.
"It's this an intervention? You know that i don't drink, smoke or do drugs right?" He said with humor, sitting down.
"We know sweetie. This is not about that." Mary said with a smile.
"We want to know who trained you and when?" Said his grandfather, cutting to the chase.
"Trained me?" Nathaniel ask, he understood right away what they wanted to know.
"Don't play coy with me you know what i'm talking about. You were combat train, i want to know when and who."
"The only people who trained me for combat was Jean and Amal, grandpa. Nobody else." He answer truthfully.
"Bullshit!" He explodes.
"Father! Robert!" Immediately Mary and Diane rebuked him.
"Listen sweetie, i'm your mother, i know when you hide things from me. We talked about it and between what happened previously and what happened last night, that does not add up. You have skills that you should not have. You kick does guys down without even a single mark on you. This is not normal." Karine explain.
"Maybe i was lucky?" He tried with a little smile.
"You threw a kitchen knife in steel who wasn't weight properly in total obscurity at five feet away with enough force to get through a phone and someone's hand. There is no luck involved in that, and don't even get me started on today event, i saw the video."
"Listen guys, i know that you are worried because you care about me and i love you for it but i tell you the truth. No, nobody train me. I don't belong to any known or unknown organisation. The only people that know what i can do are in this room. I have these skills for an entire different reason and truthfully i have difficulty wrapped my head around it. If you really want to know, i will tell you but i will like that you don't. Can you just trust me with my own secret?" He said pitifully. That was a hard conversation. He didn't want them to know but he didn't want to lie to them. They were his blood after all.
Looking at the face of his family, he could see that Mary and Diane was willing to let it go. Karine was still worried but she knew better than anyone else that everyone deserved to have secret.
"Whatever you can do, you still my sweet baby. If you want to keep that part to yourself, i will let you be." Mary said with a loving smile.
"You have my vote" Said Diane simply, ruffling his hair. She was no stranger of keeping secret.
"Since you were born, you always had a strong moral compass. Will you tell me someday?"
"Of course mom, i swear it." He promised.
"Good for me then." Karine said smiling.
With an unspoken signal, they all turned to Robert who seem disgruntled to be the only one who had a problem with that.
"What if i don't agree with that?" He said with a bit of a temper.
"I would have thought that you will be the first to understand that everyone has a right to keep secrets. I presumed you have more than a few that you don't want us to find out."
"With your skills, i would think that it will be easy for you to find out. Why did you not look into me?" He respond with hostility.
"Truthfully? I was afraid that i would find something that will not sit right with me and after that i would not like you very much as a grandfather. I live a majority of my life without knowing you, i would prefer not going back to that time." He answer with sincerity.
The anger seem to fled from his face and be replaced with worry. The truth was that his grandson was right, over the years he did things that he was not proud of. He did not have a doubt in his mind that his grandson of his could really dig up skeletons out of his closet regarding of how much he have hidden them. The stare that his wife threw at him in that moment could melt iron, she too knew very well that they were not saints. If something that he say or did could cut off bridge with his only grandson, he knew that she would never forgive him. Hell, he would never forgive himself if that happen.
"Okay you win Nathaniel. I would allow it." He sighed.
"Grandpa, you can't allowed or disallowed anything that i do or say. I'm not one of your mens or one of your employees. You can't control me or order me around like you do with them. I know that you are wealthy, powerful and influential but bad news for you, everyone of those things didn't hold any importance for me. I'm still technically a minor so my moms can do it but you can't. Your can however advise me, tell me about you and your life. Teach me about what you have experienced in your life to help me avoid mistakes. Those are the thing that i expect and want from you."
Hearing that, Robert was frowning fiercely, seemingly thinking about what Nathaniel had said. Nathaniel was giving him some hard truth and Robert could react violently but it needed to be said. He had already two overprotective mother, he didn't need a bossy grandfather with that. He appears to have made his mind and got to his feet.
"I will think about it. Let's go eat now." He said before leaving.
Seeing the smile of the women's around him, he gave a little laugh before fist bumping with Karine.
