Collision Course

[Monty Green]

Monty walked along the empty street, bag slung over one shoulder and earphones placed to blare music that was too loud into his ears, blocking out the noise of the city. The sun had already begun to set by the time he'd left school that evening, detention once again delaying his plans and forcing him to walk home alone. He was in no hurry to get home, reluctant to hear the inevitable lecture that he'd receive from his parents that he'd be ambushed with the moment he walked through the door. His pace was slow and deliberate and he wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings, so it was only by chance that a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision made him turn to look down the alley. Initially Monty wasn't sure what he was looking at, but as he pulled his earphones out, it became immediately apparent that the music had hidden he truth of what he was looking at. Two men had a third pinned up against the wall and were talking in hushed, harsh voices, Monty couldn't quite make out what was being said but he was certain that the conversation wasn't a friendly one.

It was hard to decipher exactly what disagreement the men must've had but Monty was sure that it must be serious to warrant the level of aggression that he was witnessing in the confrontation. Then suddenly there was a sickening crack and the man who'd been pinned against the wall crumpled to the floor. It took a second for Monty to realise what had happened, had they just killed that man? That's what it looked like. He stood frozen in place for a moment, unable to move- until he saw two pairs of eyes turn to glare at him. That was enough to prompt him to move and before either man had a chance to take a step in his direction he was running. He didn't care what direction he was running in, he didn't even have a chance to decide before his legs began to carry him away from the potentially deadly situation.

It wasn't long before he heard the sound of heavy footsteps pounding on the pavement behind him, telling him that the men had given chase. Panic entered Monty's mind briefly as he thought of what might happen if he was caught, would he end up dead, like the man in the alley? Probably. In an effort to lose his pursuers, he turned a corner sharply but the moment he did so he collided with something- or someone and was knocked from his feet. He would've ordinarily apologised to whoever he'd been unfortunate enough to collide with, but considering current circumstances, the first thing he did was scramble for his backpack before attempting to get to his feet. However, the moment he tried to stand a bolt of pain shot through his ankle and brought an involuntary cry of pain from his mouth.

His first thought was that he'd hurt his ankle when he fell, his second thought was about how screwed he was now that he didn't stand a chance in hell of outrunning the men who were chasing him when he could barely put weight on his foot. Using the nearby wall for support, he dragged himself to his feet, attempting to keep most of his weight off of his sore ankle. By now he was aware that both men had caught up with him, but for some reason they had yet to make a grab for him "I didn't see anything!" he said, a hint of desperation in his tone as he turned to look at the two men who'd chased him this far, knowing that they knew exactly how much he'd seen. 

Baron Tseng

[Baron Tseng]

It wasn't uncommon for Baron's work to lead him to this part of the world. Especially since he was trying to strengthen their international connections. He was attempting to do a lot of things to change the shape of their business, which was also why he was in this particular area. Sources had told him that one of the clans was doing a hit, and they all knew how Baron felt about violence. He was working to try and rid their businesses of such illegal activity, especially being in a foreign country now. He had little tolerance for such dealings -- among other illegal ones. But the exact location of the hit, had yet to be determined. It seemed fate would answer the question for him though because as him and the three men that accompanied him rounded a corner, a young man collided into Baron. The strong impact of it caused the leader to stagger back a little, his men fully prepared to brace him before he fell but it was not necessary.

Fortunately, Baron's instincts kicked in, but the same could not be said for the young man. Baron was about to extend his hand to help him up when he let out a sound of pain and it was clear that he had injured himself. The look on his face, the breathlessness . . . only a few moments passed when two other men approached, with a similar heaving chest. Baron looked at them, and then the young man who immediately said he saw nothing. Well, it seemed that Baron knew what happened without witnessing it. Baron casually took a step forward towards the two other man, now standing between the witness and the others. "I'll handle him" Baron told them in their Native tongue. The men looked unsure, uncertain, for they had been caught in something they knew they shouldn't be.

"But Sir. . . " They began in the same foreign language. Baron took another step towards them. His expression and demeanour was completely composed, unnervingly so as he locked eyes with him. "Go." And it was clear that he was not going to say it again. The men eyed the boy and reluctantly moved away. Baron knew exactly who they were and would address this issue later. But, he also knew that this young man was far from safe. Baron did not need to watch them as they fell out of sight. They would not be foolish enough to make any attempt right now. So the leader turned to the injured man, moving to stand in front of him. "Can you walk at all?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice since he the injury was obviously in the young man's foot.

Tag: Monty Green

[Monty Green]

For the first time, Monty realised that there were other men standing around him and unfortunately for him they all seemed to know each other and that didn't seem like it would be good for him. Every instinct inside him was telling him to run, to get himself away from the situation but the pain in his ankle prevented him from running anywhere, trapping him between the two groups of men. He watched as one of the men stepped forwards and began talking to the two men who'd chased him a foreign language that he didn't recognise. Monty recognised the man as being the one he'd ran into but being unable to understand what was being said only filled the young man with more anxiety. He knew that whatever was being said couldn't be good, especially for him. He'd witnessed a murder, they were probably discussing the best way to dispose of his body.

From the way the man was speaking to the other two, it was clear to Monty that he must be the leader of the group, he spoke with such authority in his voice that Monty thought it should be hard for anyone to disobey him. Then as Monty watched, the two men who'd been chasing him left- although he didn't miss the look they both shot him before they went, it made his blood run cold as he thought of ending up like the man in the alley. However, he wasn't out of the woods yet, at least he didn't think he was, because there were still three men standing around him and he had no idea who they were and what their intentions were. If they were anything like the other two, he didn't think he wanted to be in their company for much longer.

As the leader of the group approached him, Monty felt his whole body stiffen as he kept a hand pressed firmly to the wall to steady himself. However, the words that left his mouth next weren't aggressive or accusatory, they sounded... Concerned? "A little, maybe?" he replied uncertainly, gaze flicking between the man who was talking to him and the two men that hung back behind him. "Who are you? What do you want?" he'd already told their friends that he hadn't seen anything and that was the story he was going to stick to if anybody asked.

Baron Tseng

[Baron Tseng]

Baron gave a small nod in acknowledge as he stated that he could walk a little. Possibly. That wasn't entirely reassuring for Baron to leave the man on his own and risk the others returning. Because Baron had no doubts they would if they decided that he had not 'handled' the situation well enough. "Do you want to go to the hospital?" The offer was there. And Baron would make sure that any medical records of today's visit would disappear well enough for the others not to track them. But, it would only be a matter of time until they uncovered his identity. It was all the more reason that Baron did not wish to part ways with him so quickly.

The last thing he wanted was an innocent person to get caught in the crossfires of things that shouldn't even be happening in the first place. "My name is Baron," he told him, answering his question. "And believe it or not, I want to help you." His voice sincere and still holding the composed tone to it. "Because, despite what you said, I know you saw something. And I know you must be scared right now." Who wouldn't be?! "But I can help you. If you let me." Baron of course didn't want to force his protection upon the other. It would be a lot easier if the young man let him help him.

Tag: Monty Green

[Monty Green]

"No, no hospital" Monty's reply was instantaneous as soon as the man asked him, his parents were already going to flip when he got home, the last thing he wanted was to make that any worse. His ankle hurt like hell but he didn't think anything was broken, if his opinion changed later he'd go with someone he trusted, not with someone who he suspected of being a murderer. He was still alive though, that was more than he expected- especially given the circumstances, he supposed he should be thankful that the men hadn't killed him yet, although there was still time for that to change, the night was young. When the man introduced himself, Monty continued to watch him distrustfully, he spoke as if he meant him no harm but Monty couldn't bring himself to trust him, not yet after what he'd seen.

"Monty" he uttered his own name in response to Baron's, unsure if such basic information was safe to give out. "Your buddies wanted to help me too, did they?" he asked defensively, help him into an early grave maybe... He didn't want that kind of help. Of course he was scared, before that night he'd never seen a dead body, he hadn't even been to a funeral and now he'd seen a man killed in front of him. "What kind of help are you offering?" he asked unable to keep the suspicion out of his tone, there wasn't a lot he could do but listen to Baron speak but he was seriously beginning to wish that he hadn't been given detention that day.

Baron Tseng

[Baron Tseng]

The man's immediate refusal for a hospital made Baron wonder if he just generally didn't like hospitals, or if he didn't want to risk going because of, well, all that had happened. Baron certainly couldn't blame him for either option. "Monty," he repeated, using his name to introduce his next statement. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances." Genuine regret for how the boy was now involved in this. "No, they didn't," Baron continued, understanding that Monty's tone held sarcasm. But he was not about to sugar coat the situation to provide false assurance to Monty. "But I told them to leave," he added on.

"Because I think we both know what they were going to do." The expression that had been on Monty's face, and the violent pursuit were clear indications of that. "And I won't let that happen." Aware that his assurance may mean nothing from him . . . but Baron felt the need to say it regardless. "The kind of help I'm offering . . . starts with getting your ankle looked at. We can go to neutral ground. A hotel that is not far from here. I can take a look at it, and if need be, I have a contact who's a doctor that can make a house call to check it properly." Because Baron too, avoided hospitals where he could. "And the second kind of help, is protection. Because I hate to say it, but those men will not give up so quickly." They knew what was at stake, and would make an attempt on Monty again. But not if Baron had him in his sights.

Tag: Monty Green

[Monty Green]

Trust was something that had to be earned, Monty wasn't quite there yet with Baron. It wasn't easy to trust someone capable of making a group of thugs back off without throwing a single punch. "Same here, believe it or not this isn't my favourite way to spend the evening" being chased through the streets by a group of murderous men, this was the last time he'd be walking home alone after sun down for the foreseeable future. "I didn't think so..." if he hadn't run into Baron then the chances were that he'd have ended up just like that guy in the alley. Would his parents even have a body to bury? Or would he just become another missing kid, an unsolved mystery that no one could solve? "They listened to you... Why?" he asked the older man, he must be pretty important to warrant such respect and to have enough power to get the men to back off without raising a hand to stop them.

Having someone confirm Monty's fears, it somehow made the whole situation more real, more fearful when he thought of someone wanting him dead. He'd never warranted such a threat before, not even from some of the jerks at school "Why would you want to protect me?" what had he done to deserve such an offer "It's not that I'm not grateful, because I am- I just don't understand why my safety should matter to you, you don't even know me" he said, the only people who seemed to care that much about his safety were his parents and they were his parents, it was kind of their job to care about his safety. "You really think those guys will come back?" he asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice because he'd never been more scared than when he was being chased through the streets after watching those men apparently commit murder.

Baron Tseng