Part 17
It was three in the morning as Eleven sat beside the crackling fireplace in a high-backed, brown leather chair. In his right hand he held a glass half-full of scotch with a few ice cubes. He took a sip and sighed, gazing with slumped shoulders into the flames.
Seated to his right on the matching brown loveseat were Sebastian and Theresa. Theresa sat slumped on the loveseat, drumming her fingers on the arm of the sofa with her head tilted back as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Sebastian sat hunched with fidgeting hands, his eyes darting from the fire to Eleven, then back down at his hands.
"This isn't good at all," Eleven muttered.
Theresa scoffed and looked to Eleven, "I fail to see the dilemma."
"Of course not. What problem could there be?" Eleven said sharply. "Just take him back like nothing ever happened, like he never stabbed us in the back in the first place, trusting him to not do it again. Hell, while that's going on we can open ourselves up to Iago's wrath that he says he escaped in the first place. Sure, he could be lying through his teeth but let's just trust him out of the goodness of our hearts."
"I can deal with Iago myself," Theresa said.
Eleven chuckled quietly, taking another sip from his scotch, "Hell of a job you're doing with that, Seven, hell of a job. You may trust him, but I sure as hell don't. For all I know this is a trap. He could just be spying on us and I don't believe that story of his for one second. If Iago wanted him dead, he'd be dead."
Theresa bit her bottom lip and scowled.
"Suppose you do, by some act of God, take care of him before he tries to take care of us. How do you think his business partners will take that, hmm? They may be reasonable and just kill you. If not, then we're all pushing up daisies. Either way that's not good for business. A dead Seven is not on my wish list and a dead me, sure as shit isn't," Eleven said.
"As if my occupation has not already left me marked for death by countless people," Theresa remarked. "I have managed to evade it thus far and I am fully confident that I can continue to do so. Do you consider me so stupid that I have not weighed the risks of my plans?"
"Oh, I know you're smart, Seven. But I know what revenge can do to somebody and I know for a fact that once you have it, not a damn thing will be different. So you kill Iago and think everything will be all better. It won't. Never is," he said coldly, swirling the scotch in the glass. "What we've got here is a tenuous co-existence. We don't mess with him, he doesn't mess with us. We go about our business. Do I like it? Hell no, but I don't like the consequences of shitting everything up either."
"She could make it look like an accident," Sebastian muttered.
"Gunshots to the face often resemble accidents," Theresa said matter-of-factly.
"Not like that, stupid," Sebastian said, cracking a smile.
"We know what you mean, blondie," Eleven said. "That's not happening. If it comes down to her just shooting him, I'll be surprised."
"Look, Fred," Sebastian started. "I know leaving pissed you off but it wasn't anything personal. I only left because Iago made me a better offer. It was just business to me, that's all. I've got nowhere else to go, you're the only one I can turn to that might save my ass."
"Ever think for a goddamned minute that it might be personal to me? You just give up on the whole idea to build up your bank account. Some of us aren't in it for the money, Sebastian. Some of us are in it for more than that. And right now you're telling me the only reason you want back is because you're in trouble. So what's gonna stop you from leaving again once things cool down? The damn world doesn't revolve around you, blondie. You're just as insignificant as the rest of us. And until you learn that and accept it, I've got no use for you," Eleven said calmly.
Sebastian took a deep breath and turned around, seething with anger but trying his best to hide it. He started to pace back and forth across the room.
Finally he spoke, "So that's how it's going to be is it? I come to you in my time of need and try and be a big man and apologize to you for the shit I've done. And you turn into a fucking baby and take your ball and go home? My life is on the line here, you asshole. There's a chance I step out that fucking door and get shot right there. BANG! DEAD! You probably wouldn't even bury me, would you? Just leave me there to rot outside your house. Nevermind the fact that I fucking helped you with Mr. Incomparable. Yeah, you come with open arms when you need help but when I need it it's just fuck you, isn't it?!"
Eleven scoffed, "I didn't need you, I needed anybody. It could've been any of Iago's goons but he picked you. You got lucky. And all that does is make us even. I wouldn't take him back and I'm not taking you back either."
"I will kill him," Theresa spoke up.
"What?" Sebastian and Eleven asked in unison.
"Clearly the issue is trust," she said. "Eleven, you expect him to betray us just as he did in the past. The three of us know him quite well; we are keenly aware that it is his nature to do what is best for himself regardless of the effects it may have on others. I suggest We allow him to return to the fold with the stipulation that if he fails to redeem himself and his egocentricity takes hold, that I will put him down myself."
Eleven strokes his beard for a moment and nods, "I suppose I can live with that."
"So, I'm dead if you don't take me back and if you do take me back, I've got the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head?" Sebastian asks.
"Essentially," Theresa says with a shrug.
Sebastian paced back and forth across the room again, pondering the situation. Eleven sipped from his scotch, finally finishing off the glass. Theresa sat with her arms crossed on the couch.
"Alright," Sebastian acquiesced after a few moments. "Definitely dead is still worse than possibly dead."
Eleven smirked, "Glad to hear it, I've got your first job back for you too."
"What's that?" Sebastian asked.
"I'm gonna need you to kill Ox," Eleven said. "And bring me his head."
Sebastian sighed heavily and collapsed into the loveseat beside Theresa, "Great."