Part VI: The Most Unlikely of Alliances

Jan 01, 2010 16:51

[Still waiting for the preceding fic, that'll be up today or tomorrow, but in the interest of moving along, here is the log between Sara and myself, done on AIM.]

A reasonable hour, of course. It was only ten in the evening, and Lucifer had made sure he chose a day suitable for the most esteemed mayor Jones to visit the third most elegant Stark speakeasy on a day where he could close it off and lose few profits. And it was elegant, in its way - deep red walls with Victorian patterns on them, cherry wood and plush sofas for clientele. Not at all a terrible place to hold a meeting.

Lucifer confessed himself shocked when he answered the phone a few days ago and heard Alfred on the other end - first horrified by how the man had gotten his number, but then intrigued by the fact he wished to meet with Lucifer and "pool resources against the Russians." His words exactly. Curiosity piqued, Lucifer had agreed to meet Jones, and now sat with a wine decanter out - placed on a coffee table between two large arm chairs. The rest of the speakeasy was empty, waiting for its second patron to arrive.

With the rise of the Russians and their leader, Ivan, making rather successful attempts to make him look bad, Alfred was almost at his wits end. People were starting to doubt his efficiency as a mayor and Alfred could not have that! It took him a few days of hard thinking, but the mayor finally decided to contact one of his former enemies, Lucifer of the Stark Family. He knew that the mob boss was also having problems with the Russians, so maybe...maybe they can work together for once.

He walked into the agreed upon place, spotting Lucifer almost instantly in the chair. For once, there wasn't a hamburger in his mouth, although there was one hidden away in his pocket.

Lucifer smiled as Alfred entered, gesturing to the seat opposite of him. "Glad to see you made it." Ever gracious, or at least that's how he liked to think of himself. "And on time. Please, sit. Relax."

Alfred gave Lucifer a small nod, his normally cheerful facade gone for his more professional behaviour. He walked to the opposite seat and sat down, gazing at Lucifer with a serious expression. "Lucifer."

Well that was a new face. Lucifer reached for the decanter of wine on the table and poured himself half a glass. "Open for consumption, if you wish. Times being what they are, this is the best vintage I could find." He paused to take a sip, looking Alfred up and down. "So then. You didn't come here without purpose. Tell me. What do you want?"

"No thanks." Alfred declined the offer, he was here to discuss, nothing else. "The Russians. I know that you are having problems with them too."

"They are a bother, yes." He was lying, of course. The stupid fucking Russians had his family on the brink of non-existence. "What of it?"

"I know that they are more than a bother, Lucifer." Alfred placed his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together before leaning against them. "They have been ruining my political image too. They are out of control."

"Political image?" he snorted into his wine glass, then placed it down on the table. "Jones, if you're here to ask me to help you doctor your ego, the door's right where it was when you came in."

Alfred didn't say anything for a while, staying in his position for a few minutes. "This isn't about my political image. It's about the people of my city."

"Yes, yes, the local populace is scared shitless. I'm aware of that part too." Callous as he sounded though, he was including himself in that statement. "And so what, you think that illegal activity will solve the problem once and for all?"

He finally looked up at Lucifer past his entwined fingers. "I wasn't thinking that small, Lucifer." Alfred paused again, but for a shorter time. "I was thinking of an alliance."

"Come again? I want to make sure I heard that right."

He lowered his hands and looked squarely into Lucifer's eyes. "An alliance. Between your family and my police force."

Lucifer nodded slowly, an eyebrow raised. He had heard right, and what this was- shit. Jones had to be desperate at this point, and that wasn't even mentioning the Stark family’s own shambled state. "This goes against every single value of our respective organizations, you realize."

Alfred was well-aware of the values that not only he's betraying, but the values of the entire police force. He would never hear the end of it from Vorenus, but things were becoming more chaotic with each passing day. "I'm aware of that. However, we have never seen such a huge threat like this before."

"They are pretty greedy bastards, huh?" Lucifer flashed a brief grin. "And don't respect local tradition at all when it comes to how this whole mafia thing works in our city. What did you have in mind, with this alliance?"

"They are not only greedy, but evil doers who are against justice!" Alfred chimed in, his cheerful persona etching in for a brief moment. At the question, the mayor almost sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I haven't thought of any complex plans yet. Just a formation between your family and my police. Pool in resources and intelligence too."

"Intelligence," Lucifer mused, crossing one leg over the other. "That is, perhaps, the one thing both sides have been lacking all along. Of course, I would not expect your resources to conform to my family's style, nor would I expect vice versa."

"I'm not expecting that either!" Alfred nodded. "After all, you guys are still bad guys, just not as bad as the Russians!"

"I believe the phrase is marriage of convenience. I expect to return to normal operations as soon as the Russians clear city limits." Lucifer paused for a moment or so, looking off into the distance. "Does anyone else know you're here?"

"Yes, I wouldn't have it any other way." It wouldn't quite be his city without some sort of mafia group. "Nope! I came here without anyone knowing."

Hah. Tony had told him time and again about the weird relationship that the family had developed over the years with city hall. It was interesting to experience it first hand. "I do trust that this won't be leaked to the media. As much for my sake as yours."

"Not if I can help it. The police should know that leaking something like this to the media would only hurt our reputation even more."

"And I've no reason to. All fellow families I have ties with would be ah, most displeased." Lucifer frowned at that. "Our people aren't going to like this."

"We'll just have to bring up their morale! You worry about your side and I'll worry about mine." Alfred gave him his award winning smile.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Seriousness suits you much better. And the point remains that communication between us will be tricky to maintain."

"People don't want a serious mayor though!" Alfred continued to smile at him. "We'll work it out, the city depends on it!"

"And what do we do, pray tell, if this alliance fails?" Lucifer sighed, reaching for the wine decanter again, pouring himself another glass. "Then what?"

Alfred's smile faltered for a bit, but he still forced his cheerful disposition. "We'll just have to cross that bridge if it happens."

"I like having back up plans, Jones."

"....Well, what kind of plans were you thinking of, Lucifer?"

"I assumed you had one." He took a long sip. "Supposing the Russians out do us both..." Lucifer shuddered at the mere thought. "I am quite frankly unsure if my family would even survive." And there he had gone and done it. Admitted to the opposition the state of the family.

Alfred seemed a bit surprised at Lucifer's admission. He wasn't quite aware how bad the Stark family is doing. It seems that Tony's imprisonment dealt a blow that they couldn't recover from. "We might have to contact the FBI or some outside people...But things won't turn out that bad!"

“Contact the feds, shit," Lucifer groaned. "Then we would need to leave. Entirely."

"Contacting the feds won't look good on my city either, so I rather not have that." Alfred admitted,

Lucifer downed the rest of his glass. This was a good enough back up plan for him, and the mutual agreement that the FBI was to be kept out of the city at all costs seemed to be motivation enough for both of them to not fuck this up, as far as he was concerned. "We have an agreement, then."

Alfred nodded, somewhat glad that Lucifer is being all agreeable about this. It wouldn't be good if the Stark Family didn't cooperate with him. "Yes! It seems so!"

He stood up and walked over, offering a hand, as per tradition. They would figure out technicalities later, of course, but this? This could be either a brilliant move on getting the goddamn Russians out once and for all, or leading the family to its own death. But it was better than being a sitting duck for the red menace.

Alfred stood up as well, glancing at the offered hand before shaking it with his own. This must work...it has to! He's throwing aside his own personal justice for this....like he said before, he'll do anything to help his city!

Lucifer let go after a few moments. "Best not linger too long. People'll get suspicious." He paused. "I do thank you for contacting me." So I didn't have to come crying to you, he added mentally.

"Yes! You're right! I shall take my leave then." Alfred didn't say anything to the thanks he received. Instead, he grabbed the hamburger from his pocket and unwrapped it before taking a bite out of it. "Let's work together for justice for once!"

"I believe the more appropriate saying is the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Lucifer said, shaking his head in amusement.

plot: the red invasion, type: chat log, year: 2009, character: alfred jones, character: lucifer morningstar

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