Cola 16: Promise
Title: Promise
Main Story: In The Heart and Polyfaceted
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Cola 16 (with a name like Smucker’s…), My Treat (Nathan/ Isabella AU: Aaron learns more about his dad's new paramour's family history), milkshake, malt (SC 413 “Terrible Thought” by Poe), fresh blueberries (The unrestricted competition so commonly advocated does not leave us the survival of the fittest. The unscrupulous succeed best in accumulating wealth.. ~ Rutherford B. Hayes), chopped nuts (AU FULL OF LULZ).
Word Count: 666 (I DID NOT DO THIS ON PURPOSE. But I did laugh.)
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Aaron learns a lot more about the Corlionis then he ever really wanted to, and gets nervous.
Notes: Okay, ordinarily I'd hold off on posting this, but I've been working on it for weeks and it's finally done and Sara approved it so. Here. Have it. Thanks to Sara for the headlines and the spot-check.
Aaron sort of knew who the Corlionis were, before his dad started dating one. It was hard to live in New York City and not know of them, frankly, especially if you paid any attention to the news. He'd never really known more than the surface details, though. Crime family, pretty famous. That was all he needed to know.
Now, though... now he had a vested interest in finding out everything he could about them.
He spent a few Saturdays mewed up in the library, paging through newspaper archives, and a few more surfing the internet. What he found was... not reassuring.
Not that it was all bad, or even mostly bad. They got quite a lot of good press for a mob family. It was just... well, what was bad was really, really bad.
David Corlioni Implicated In Drug Bust.
Salvatore Corlioni Questioned in Murder of High-Ranking Judge.
David Corlioni Involved in Drug Ring?
Nicoletta Corlioni Person of Interest In The Death of Local Meth Dealer.
FBI Stymied By RICO Case; David Corlioni Released.
Murder. Drugs. Prostitiution rings. Headline after headline, all bearing the Corlioni name. These were dangerous people, the more so since the FBI had never gotten anything to stick.
And his father was smack in the middle of them.
--
He'd been haunting Dan's for a couple of days when it finally paid off-- Isabella walked in, heading straight for the bar. She looked as if she'd had A Day. He felt vaguely guilty, since he was planning to accost her, but not guilty enough to change his mind.
"Isabella," he said, and got up from his seat.
She stopped when he said her name, turned around, and blinked in surprise. "Aaron? What are you doing here?"
"I have to talk to you," he said, catching up to her. He gulped in air, then said, "Look, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I'd really like you to promise that my dad won't get hurt."
There was a beat of silence, in which Aaron reviewed his words and realized that there was hardly any other way she could take them. "I mean," he said, fast, "I mean physically, not emotionally. Emotionally, well, he's a grownup, he can take care of himself. I mean... and I don't mean that you'd hurt him, either physically or emotionally, because I can see that you love him and I know you wouldn't. I mean... I mean please don't let anybody else hurt him. Your family, or your enemies. Don't let somebody after you hurt my dad, please."
To his relief, she seemed to actually be giving the question some thought. "I... can't promise that," she said, slowly. "I wish I could, Aaron, but... I can't control other people."
"I know," he said, sighed, and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm fucking this up. I know I can't ask you to control other people. It's just... he's my dad, Isabella. He's all I've got."
Which wasn't strictly true, but as much as Aaron loved his mother, she was far more like a favorite aunt than a mother. He pulled in air through his nose, then said, "Can you at least... can you promise that you'll try?"
"Yes," she said, with gratifying immediacy. "No one's going to hurt your father and get away with it, Aaron. I can promise you that."
He blew out a breath, and felt his shoulders relax. "Okay," he said. "Okay. Thank you. That's all I wanted." He turned towards the door-- he'd just accosted the poor girl, the least he could do would be to leave her alone.
"Hey, Aaron," she said, and he turned, gave her a quizzical look. She smiled, and said, "Come have a drink with me. I've had a fucking awful day and I need to bitch at somebody about it."
He laughed a little at that, his shoulders relaxing a little more. "Sure," he said. "I'm a good listener."
"Come on," Isabella said. "I'll buy."
Main Story: In The Heart and Polyfaceted
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Cola 16 (with a name like Smucker’s…), My Treat (Nathan/ Isabella AU: Aaron learns more about his dad's new paramour's family history), milkshake, malt (SC 413 “Terrible Thought” by Poe), fresh blueberries (The unrestricted competition so commonly advocated does not leave us the survival of the fittest. The unscrupulous succeed best in accumulating wealth.. ~ Rutherford B. Hayes), chopped nuts (AU FULL OF LULZ).
Word Count: 666 (I DID NOT DO THIS ON PURPOSE. But I did laugh.)
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Aaron learns a lot more about the Corlionis then he ever really wanted to, and gets nervous.
Notes: Okay, ordinarily I'd hold off on posting this, but I've been working on it for weeks and it's finally done and Sara approved it so. Here. Have it. Thanks to Sara for the headlines and the spot-check.
Aaron sort of knew who the Corlionis were, before his dad started dating one. It was hard to live in New York City and not know of them, frankly, especially if you paid any attention to the news. He'd never really known more than the surface details, though. Crime family, pretty famous. That was all he needed to know.
Now, though... now he had a vested interest in finding out everything he could about them.
He spent a few Saturdays mewed up in the library, paging through newspaper archives, and a few more surfing the internet. What he found was... not reassuring.
Not that it was all bad, or even mostly bad. They got quite a lot of good press for a mob family. It was just... well, what was bad was really, really bad.
David Corlioni Implicated In Drug Bust.
Salvatore Corlioni Questioned in Murder of High-Ranking Judge.
David Corlioni Involved in Drug Ring?
Nicoletta Corlioni Person of Interest In The Death of Local Meth Dealer.
FBI Stymied By RICO Case; David Corlioni Released.
Murder. Drugs. Prostitiution rings. Headline after headline, all bearing the Corlioni name. These were dangerous people, the more so since the FBI had never gotten anything to stick.
And his father was smack in the middle of them.
--
He'd been haunting Dan's for a couple of days when it finally paid off-- Isabella walked in, heading straight for the bar. She looked as if she'd had A Day. He felt vaguely guilty, since he was planning to accost her, but not guilty enough to change his mind.
"Isabella," he said, and got up from his seat.
She stopped when he said her name, turned around, and blinked in surprise. "Aaron? What are you doing here?"
"I have to talk to you," he said, catching up to her. He gulped in air, then said, "Look, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I'd really like you to promise that my dad won't get hurt."
There was a beat of silence, in which Aaron reviewed his words and realized that there was hardly any other way she could take them. "I mean," he said, fast, "I mean physically, not emotionally. Emotionally, well, he's a grownup, he can take care of himself. I mean... and I don't mean that you'd hurt him, either physically or emotionally, because I can see that you love him and I know you wouldn't. I mean... I mean please don't let anybody else hurt him. Your family, or your enemies. Don't let somebody after you hurt my dad, please."
To his relief, she seemed to actually be giving the question some thought. "I... can't promise that," she said, slowly. "I wish I could, Aaron, but... I can't control other people."
"I know," he said, sighed, and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm fucking this up. I know I can't ask you to control other people. It's just... he's my dad, Isabella. He's all I've got."
Which wasn't strictly true, but as much as Aaron loved his mother, she was far more like a favorite aunt than a mother. He pulled in air through his nose, then said, "Can you at least... can you promise that you'll try?"
"Yes," she said, with gratifying immediacy. "No one's going to hurt your father and get away with it, Aaron. I can promise you that."
He blew out a breath, and felt his shoulders relax. "Okay," he said. "Okay. Thank you. That's all I wanted." He turned towards the door-- he'd just accosted the poor girl, the least he could do would be to leave her alone.
"Hey, Aaron," she said, and he turned, gave her a quizzical look. She smiled, and said, "Come have a drink with me. I've had a fucking awful day and I need to bitch at somebody about it."
He laughed a little at that, his shoulders relaxing a little more. "Sure," he said. "I'm a good listener."
"Come on," Isabella said. "I'll buy."
