Numb3rs Series/Universe: Virtue (1/2)
"Vice is most dangerous when it puts on the garb of virtue." - Danish proverb
Virtue is...
Part of the Viceworld universe...
The sequel to the novel Vice...
An AU. A *very* alternate universe...
Virtue - The Series
Virtue is the second novel published in the Viceworld Universe in which Don and Charlie are career criminals running an organization that uses restaurants, bars and nightclubs as fronts for illicit vices such as gambling and prostitution. It's a mirror AU where everyone who is good in canon is bad and everyone who is bad is good. (Millie? Brothel madame. Dwayne Carter? Squeaky clean FBI Agent. You get the picture.) Vice, the first novel published, was posted throughout late 2007 and the first half of 2008.
If you haven't read Vice, or have and need a refresher, there is a recap below. Be aware that it spoils the entire novel so don't read it unless you've read Vice or you have no intention of ever doing so. FWIW Virtue is the last novel in the Vice epic saga chronologically - it picks up exactly where Vice, the penultimate novel, ends - however it's the second novel out of an estimated ten all together. The remainder will be prequels, starting with Homicide, which will hopefully be published in late 2009 or early 2010. There is also a planned spin off series - Sin - which will focus on Megan running the organization.
Whereas Vice was the story of the criminal Eppes Brothers' conflict with Vice cop Ian Edgerton on a vendetta, it was also the tale of how the incestuous relationship that began with the murder of their parents finally came to an end. Virtue, while still about the resolution of the conflict between Ian and the Eppes organization, looks into what comes next: Don reuniting with Kim and Charlie finding his way in the world outside of the shelter of Don's constant focus.
It truly is a time of many new beginnings and numerous endings.
In this novel, everything changes.
How the Series will work...
Virtue will be published every Tuesday and Wednesday during the summer of 2009 starting with the Prologue on Tuesday 7/7 followed by Parts 1 and Part 2 on Tuesday 7/14 and Parts 3 and 4 on Wednesday 7/15 and so on. (See schedule at the bottom of this post.) The entire ~100K novel will be posted without interruption on this schedule.
Each Part is a half-day - either day or night - and will be marked as such. At the beginning no time is skipped but later Parts will skip forward in time so the day/date and AM/PM designations may prove helpful. While Vice was published one half-day per installment, Virtue - which is twice the length of Vice - will be published in full days, that is, two half-day installments per post. These half-days will always be the day and night of the same day to avoid confusion. The dates listed in the Parts will be the date in the Viceworld universe itself.
Since the Viceworld universe is so different from any of my others, I'm not doing normal Confessions for Virtue. Virtue will be handled the same way Vice was: this Series Post will be updated with the equivalent of my Confessions each time I publish an installment so please check back as you read each Part for updates here.
Cautions...
Virtue contains graphic violence and sex, mostly het (unlike Vice which was mostly slash with a little cest). There is not, however, any Don/Charlie incest in Virtue. That relationship, or rather that aspect of the brothers' relationship, ended in Vice. It will be referenced briefly and vaguely in passing in Virtue, but that's all.
Canon characters die and are already dead. As mentioned in Vice, Alan and Margaret are both dead - their death (in the first prequel Homicide)being the event that set Don and Charlie on this path as teenagers. There are violent deaths and serious injuries in this novel, however they are handled tastefully and gore is not an issue.
This fic contains slash and het pairings, both canon and not. Virtue is, by far, a het oriented story. There are some slash relationships, but slash sex is minimal. Het sex is abundant as there are multiple het pairings. There are a few OCs, but I've tried to keep them to a minimum and used as many canon characters as I could. Quite a few characters were minor guest stars so unless you know Numb3rs canon well it might seem like a lot of OCs, but it's not really the case.
Thanks...
As always, the most massive thanks possible to my slashwife melissima. She dragged me into NaNoWriMo - which is where Virtue was written (95K in 22 days! OMG! /headspins/), supported Viceworld from the beginning and helped me get through the writing of Virtue and beyond. Huge thanks as well to beta/first reader rinkle who graciously did a line by line check of the whole novel /marvels/ and deserves some great reward for her endless patience. And finally a ton of thanks to my first reader magisterequitum who was the first person to read Virtue after I wrote it. I needed someone to assure me the book I'd just written wasn't a horrific mess - five interlocking major story arcs with a myriad of minor story arcs in a universe that spans decades and a tale that draws from prequels unwritten and Vice and has to set up a whole spin off series. Whew. To the rest of my F-listers who supported me and my attempts to bring Viceworld to fruition, my gratitude goes out to you as always. A final thanks to everyone who read and commented on Vice. It wasn't the kind of fic that sounded appealing at first glance, but even those who didn't like cest and read it told me they were glad they'd taken the chance on it and that means a lot.
A Recap of Vice...
SPOILERS FOR VICE BEGIN HERE!
Tipped off that his close friend and employee, Billy Cooper, had been tapped as an informant by his enemy, Vice cop Ian Edgerton, Don Eppes killed Billy and made it look like a suicide.
When Ian learned of Billy's death - ruining his plans to finally prosecute the untouchable criminal Eppes Brothers - he began abandoning the constraints of the law, starting to go after Don and Charlie using any means necessary. The stress drove Don and Charlie to seek comfort in each other, a relationship that began when their parents were gunned down and Don was forced to shoot their attacker to save Charlie's and his own life when he was only eighteen.
Meanwhile, as Don groomed second in command Megan to replace him when he retired, Millie found a young math geek that Charlie could groom as his successor: Oswald Kittner aka Kit. Charlie, a player who wantonly enjoyed bedding both men and women including staff, took the young Kit under his wing and into his bed.
In order to deal with the Ian issue, Megan suggested tapping Don's ex - FBI Agent Kim Hall, who had left him the year prior when she discovered evidence in his mansion that he was a criminal - a fact she had not known before since Don had built up a convincing facade as a legitimate business owner. After the split, Don's organization helped hide evidence of Kim's younger brother's involvement in an auto theft ring, so Megan used that as leverage to convince Kim to spy on Ian for them.
When Ian learned of the new boy on Charlie's arm, he targeted Kit, alerting their competition to him as well: J. Everett Tuttle and his own math genius, Marshall Penfield. Newbie Kit was essentially put under lock and key in a secured apartment for his own protection, a fact that rankled the former skateboarding street boy.
Without Kim's knowledge, Don sent two prostitutes - Robin and Nadine - to spy on Kim's brother Tim and his best friend Jesse. The intent was to keep them out of trouble and to steer Tim towards a job in the organization. Robin and Tim hit it off for real though and Tim wound up accepting the job offer happily.
As the opening of a new and bigger club approached, employees vied for positions there. Amita, the hostess at the existing club, Code, was passed over in favor of Robin for the hostess job at the new club. Amita felt resentful, exacerbated by Charlie continually blowing her off when she believed them to be friends, maybe more, based on their shared love of math.
At Billy's funeral - after the ME declared it a suicide - Ian confronted Don face to face only to be ridiculed and angered by Don's flippant lack of concern at his threats. Don and Megan used their lawyer, Howard, to file a complaint against Ian with the police department, further infuriating him and getting him in trouble with his captain.
As thanks for helping them with Ian, Don had roses and the box of Tim's evidence delivered to Kim. Kim took a leave of absence from the FBI and dumped the box into the ocean far off the coast using a friend's boat. She found out later that her partner Dwayne had been reassigned to an organized crime task force during her time off and that there might not be an open position in LA for her to come back to when she returned.
Kit, in training to take over for Charlie, impressed management with his work, but was increasingly unnerved by the cabin fever caused by his pseudo-imprisonment. Despite his begging to be let out for a while, Charlie and Megan stood firm, believing his safety more important than the fun they thought was what he wanted.
In a bold and aggressive move, Marshall walked into Code and even though he was thrown out before he could do anything more than meet fellow mathematician Amita, it triggered Don and his management team to be wary of an attack by Tuttle's rival organization - likely targeting Kit.
When Tim celebrated his new job, Kim joined him and recognized Robin and Nadine from her time with Don. She was furious with Tim and with Don for the deception and went to Don at his mansion to confront him. They argued loudly until Kim discovered that Don had bought her an engagement ring and had been ready to propose when she walked out on him the year before. Don revealed he left the clues about his criminal activities for her to find, needing to know if she could still love him even if he was a criminal. Kim bolted, leaving in tears. Charlie encouraged Don as Tim encouraged Kim, however both of them feared the other did not share their love and that there was no way they could get back together. As a sign of his faith in the future of Don's relationship with Kim, Charlie declared an end to his incestuous physical relationship with Don, clearing the way for Don to be completely monogamous with Kim.
Kit, freaked out with claustrophobia, escaped his apartment and snuck out to the beach. He was found by Marshall and his armed gunmen and only Megan's smart intervention saved him. A week later, en route to the mansion, Ian snatched Kit during a staged traffic stop and hid him away, torturing the young man in hopes of getting dirt on Don and Charlie's operation. Kit held strong and when Don called Kim in to help as Ian's confidant, she was able to convince Ian to bring Kit into the police station where Howard produced a writ to get the young man released. Shaken, but still loyal, Kit no longer craved leaving his safe apartment, but Megan kindly arranged to give him access to her penthouse's rooftop patio to help ease his claustrophobia. Amita came to the mansion to comfort Charlie over the Kit scare, but was turned away, unwanted, and became angry and bitter at being spurned.
The very next day, a desperate Ian arranged for Don's limo to be pulled over and he planted drugs on Don and in his car in order to get him arrested. As Gary - the main cop Don had on payroll - tried to help and Howard and Megan shut down operations in case Ian got warrants for their properties, Charlie decided to take matters into his own hands, arranging a meeting with Ian. Once Ian arrived Charlie manipulated a parking garage's video camera recording to frame Ian for attacking him, using his two bodyguards as witnesses to back up the purposefully vague video.
Kim, stunned because she knew Don's organization had nothing to do with drugs, confronted Ian to ask if it was a frame job. As Ian smugly confessed, Kim recorded the conversation, bringing the tape to Ian's captain and Gary to get the charges against Don dismissed and Ian arrested. When Don was released he was shown the video and believed Ian really did try to attack Charlie. In a rage, he rushed to where Ian was being held in the same cell block Don had just been released from. A locked door barred his path, but he could see Ian through the window and Ian could see him. The confrontation was explosive with unrestrained hatred, but Don was pulled away, swearing that it wasn't over yet.
Don collected Charlie and on the drive home Charlie confessed the frame job and promised Ian had done nothing to him. In relief, Don decided they would retire immediately - it was over.
Ian seethed in jail, now convinced Gary was in Don's pocket, and swore he'd get out and get even. Once Gary left another visitor arrived: AUSA Alvin Brickle - a dirty prosecutor in Tuttle's pocket - clearly there to secretly help get Ian released so he could continue to be a thorn in Don's side.
At the mansion, late in the evening, Charlie opened the door to an unexpected visitor: Kim. He smiled, let her in and told her to go on up and see Don, that he needed her - giving her his tacit blessing for them to be together - before he turned out the porch light for the night.
Vice ended with Kim heading up familiar stairs to the man she loved and left and loved still...
SPOILERS FOR VICE END HERE!
Notice: To anyone who did not read Vice because it contained incest or graphic sexual content
I am willing to offer versions of Vice with either all graphic sexual content removed or just incest sexual content removed via email for anyone who wishes to read the novel without content they might find objectionable. Contact me via email and let me know which version you would like. Vice is, by and large, a gen tale of good versus evil (just who is good and who is evil is up to interpretation) however it is filled - as life tends to be - with people in relationships, both heterosexual and homosexual, which are part of a number of subplots outside of the main conflict. After Virtue is published in its entirety I will offer a version of it with graphic sexual content removed as well.
Note: The following Confession sections contain spoilers for Parts of Virtue.
Prologue Confession
The lights dim, the curtain lifts and we find we enter right where we left off: Kim ascending the stairs to Don's master suite.
It's a reunion a long time coming and so lovely when it does happen...
Parts 1/2 Confession
And so we begin!
I confess I'm no fan of yellow gold, but given Kim's warm coloring she'd look best in yellow gold so the engagement ring is made with it even though I'd have preferred platinum. It doesn't even matter what Don would have liked - he'd get what would make Kim happy even if it cost far less than he was totally willing to spend.
We have canon that David is into comic books (Alimi Ballard supposedly is as well IRL) and I can see him being into Green Lantern since for whatever reason he seems like a DC guy to me (I'm a Marvel girl) and Green Lantern had one of the earliest black superheroes.
Collecting chess sets might sound odd, but some of them look really cool!
Dennis Matthews, the lawyer Tuttle sends to Ian, isn't an OC. The actor who portrayed Tuttle's lawyer in Democracy wasn't given a name in the show or IMDB, so I figured I'd use the actor's name. Only his name is Dihlon McManne. /blink blink/ I looked into his IMDB bio and what do I find? His birth name is Dennis Matthews. I've heard of actors simplifying their names for Hollywood, but not complicating them or making them more ethnic sounding! Huh. So I used Dennis Matthews for the character, figuring someone who is such a minor supporting character shouldn't have too weird of a name.
Forbes listed Louis Roederer Cristal 1989 as one of the top ten most coveted champagnes. I figured Howard could easily afford it and it's kind of a once in a lifetime thing to celebrate.
Baseball Samurais is a real book and Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki are all real baseball players.
Matt Li is a canon character, in case anyone's forgotten him. It just took TPTB forever to give him a name in IMDB instead of him just being the recurring anonymous Asian tech geek. (Still waiting on a first name for Stendhauser - the recurring anonymous black female agent. WTH TPTB? Does it *cost* more to give someone a full name? /rolls eyes/)
Darby's maxim "If your enemies know where you are, then don't be there" is from one of my favorite movies - Dogma. (Alan Rickman FTW!) Not sure if the movie stole it from somewhere, but it has a bit of a Sun Tzu (The Art of War) feel to it IMHO.
Anyway, if anyone was wondering after Vice ended what the conflict in Virtue could be? Voila! Ian's going to get out of jail to cause more grief for the Eppes brothers plus Don's nemesis Tuttle is sicking Charlie's nemesis Marshall on them again, only this time rather than targeting Kit as the weak link, he's going to go after someone they're not watching as closely: Amita. Game on!
Parts 3/4 Confession
For anyone who doesn't remember certain characters and thinks they might be OCs, here's the recap on them. Darby is not an OC, she's CHP Officer Morris from Man Hunt (aka Christina Cox - my slashwife's TV Girlfriend). Her being CHP made it a natural for me to put her on a motorcycle, thus earning many smiles from said slashwife although not getting her to forgive me for killing off her TV Boyfriend Max Martini (Billy Cooper, also from Man Hunt), though I have promised to put him on a motorcycle too in the prequels. /grins/ Also, Brickle refers to AUSA Alvin Brickle from The Art of Reckoning aka Jeremy Sisto (now known as Cyrus Lupo on L&O). Olivia Rawlings is from The O.G. She ran the community center David later volunteered at. You might recognized the actress Tamara Taylor as Cam from Bones. Sharrlyn Smith (Kit Paquin) was the math/computer geek who helped her boyfriend figure out the race fixing in Longshot. Alex is Alex Trowbridge of Thirteen, the blonde Cal Sci professor who was brought in as a numerology expert. Kelly is from Hardball, the dead baseballer's wife. She's said to be a former model and to like the finer things in life, so that made her work out nicely as a high priced call girl to the elite. Nadine I hope people remember as she was a recurring character in Season 2. Suzanne, as a reminder, is Stendhauser who - like Matt - is a recurring FBI agent whom TPTB can't seem to bother to give a proper name to. (The actress is Susan Beaubian but I already had a Susan in Viceworld from canon so I switched her to Suzanne.) J. Everett Tuttle is from Democracy, Marshall Penfield is from Convergence and Frienemies, Gabriel Ruiz is from Assassin, Dr. Karen Fisher is from Man Hunt (useful ep that!) and Bradford is William Bradford, a recurring character in Seasons 4 and 5 as Don's therapist. And, of course, Kim is from Counterfeit Reality.
Xerxes, AFAIK, doesn't exist, but Glenfiddich does, and it's an expensive single malt scotch - the 'youngest' of which is 12 years old. The Platinum Rail was made up as well. Supposedly brass rail refers to a rail "attached to the bottom of a bar or the floor, designed to rest your foot on while seated at the bar" and, well, since this is an upscale bar they'd imply a finer level than just mere brass. FWIW I actually had horse racing in mind, since rail is a term used there as well, but I couldn't remember the terminology from Longshot that Alan had used and wasn't familiar enough with the sport to come up with anything better than what the muse fed me in the first place. The Bandolino Hotel is made up, though I think it might be some shoe web site's name. /grins/ DoJo is kind of an odd name: a dojo is a martial arts training facility and DoJo kind of sounds short for Dow Jones. It was intended, in my head anyway, more as a play on the term DJ since it's a club where DJs spin electronica versus having live bands play.
FWIW the term 'code black' is from The West Wing, though I use it somewhat differently. And if you're wondering about the real time data spreadsheet thing Kit worked up with Sharrlynn and Suzanne? Yeah, I'm a big old computer geek. I have fun with stuff like that. /grins/
Regarding David and Olivia and Claudia, don't think poorly of David for having two women. He's kind of stuck. He honestly likes Claudia, but he was encouraged by Don because she'd be an asset to them. However since, at this point anyway, she's good (the only good person in canon who is good in Viceworld so you know that can't last!) that means they can't truly be together because he'd have to hide his real self from her. Olivia, OTOH, knows his work and is involved in it as the owner of one of the bars that partners with Don's organization when it comes to gambling. She's hot, but not the kind of woman David wants to settle down and have kids with. Vice!David, I think, sees Antoine's life and kind of wants that: an exciting youth in the flashy world of gambling, settling down with a wife and kids, then semi-retirement where he gets to hang out with his grandkids plenty yet keep his fingers in the fun parts of the work pie. Only he's not going to get that from Olivia and he can't from Claudia - not yet anyway. Though it's not written yet and anything can happen, I kind of want David to wind up with Claudia in Sin. Although the muse is evil. She might just decide to kill Claudia off. Hehehe In the mean time, Robin and Tim have celebrated their one month anniversary. Aww... How sweet. /smiles/ They were a most unexpected couple, but I kind of find them hopelessly endearing now.
The Bourne Ultimatum was released in theatres August 3, 2007 and it didn't come out on DVD until December 11, 2007 so Don must have very good friends indeed to score a screener a month before the film's release to the public. But then again, he is in LA and he is one of those 'knows where the bodies are buried' kind of guys. ;-)
Parts 5/6 Confession
It amuses me that Marco speaks Italian to Gabriel, who speaks Spanish back. Like the word aloha, ciao means both hello and goodbye, even though Americans tend to only use it for goodbye. (Then again they seem to only use aloha for hello.)
Councilman Jason Brasher was the clueless politician Tuttle had elected in Democracy. Ella and Warren Pierce are from Tabu - the supposedly kidnapped daughter and the rich father.
Megan's date is Steven Buckley aka J.W. Piennar from Robin Hood. He was a good bad guy in the episode so he's a bad good guy in this one. (Not that you'll get to see much of that.) In the episode he revealed he had a brother Rafer (who died as a result of the Promises House fire ergo Steven's efforts to continue the work of that charity) and that Rafer had kids so I had him bring Rafer's widow Deirdre (I picked her name) and her two sons, his nephews, on the boat with him. FWIW I've had a hard time finding lovers for Megan in canon. I liked him because he's both good and bad, plus the description 'navy seal with the surveillance skills of an FBI agent' sounded rather appealing. Plus sexy accent FTW! I do have someone I like in mind for Sin though, so stay tuned. /grins/
Antoine and Celeste, from Vice, are rare OCs so their son Leon and his wife Sherie plus their two granddaughters are also OCs. Sandra, Millie's partner, is also an OC, but sometimes I see Sandra Bennet from Heroes in her place FWIW. Dr. Onagu's an OC as well, but I don't anticipate using him much. Rafe's one of my rare OC prostitutes so it oddly fit to give him an OC client.
"If your adversaries know where you are, don't be there." Tuttle quotes the exact same strategy as Darby did earlier.
The Security in the apartment building - having people check in and such - may seem a bit much, but considering the stakes it's not that much more than say a posh New York building with a doorman and such.
There is an actual place called Paradise Island in the Bahamas, but apparently it was renamed for marketing reasons (hard to blame them since it was originally called Hog Island) so I can see the island where Don's retirement estate is also using that term as a nickname - handy for keeping the actual name a secret.
Parts 7/8 Confession
Wine and pate aside, I kind of put what I like in that gourmet basket they sent to Liz. /grins/ I like dark chocolate best (preferably Belgian) and dislike walnuts and pecans (I'm not so much a nut fan as a sweet and crunchy aficionado). I've always really enjoyed the unpacking part of a gift basket, discovering with delight what's inside. It's always rather sad once you've unpacked the last item and there are no more surprises, but at least then you get to eat it!
Boutique hotels seem to be an ideal strategy for Megan's expansion: high end yet intimate luxury properties with bars/restaurants that the public can also patronize. What better way to lure in customers for gambling and prostitution than a hotel? Talk about full service! Plus that way they'd pull in a clientele not as comfortable with going clubbing as their cover. Anyone can excuse away a weekend at the beach at a boutique hotel as a respite even if they live in city, so it's a great cover for an illicit weekend of vices.
Poor OC Stephan at The Loft! Waiter to so many, yet no storyline of his own. I may have to give him a life in Sin. ;-)
Not sure if anyone remembers a brief discussion about office furniture in Vice, but it's what Megan is referring to when Kit asks why she doesn't just move her old Vice President furniture into the President's office now that she's - figuratively speaking - the *Vice* President. LOL The point was the way you furnish your office speaks volumes about you and your role as a leader so while Don wanted a massive cold hard steel desk to make a statement about his power and invincibility, Megan now needs to make a stronger statement now than her cozy former furniture does.
I confess I have no clue what Megan's going to change the name of Eppes Enterprises to. /hides/ (I don't think Sin Incorporated would work. Hehehe) FWIW the word Phoenix just came to me and I rather like it. We'll see.
Regarding Matt's commentary about Kit's fast metabolism and his own inability to bulk up even using protein powders - I based that on my ex. We fed him like mad, he choked down protein powder like crazy and worked out really hard and still was only able to put on ten pounds. As soon as he stopped the crazy regimen he pretty much lost all that he'd tried so hard for. I guess some people are kind of stuck that way, especially if it's not worth the massive effort for just a few pounds.
Yes, Megan's line to Kit: "That'll do, Kit. That'll do." was inspired by the movie Babe. No, I've never seen the movie.
A Kir Royale is made with champagne and crème de cassis - blackcurrent liquor. Interestingly, it's named after the man who pioneered the concept of sister cities. (Learn something new every day! One of my regular parks was devoted to an early sister city, listed in the article, and had some lovely sculptures from there so I definitely perked up at this.)
You know I don't think it's ever been stated anywhere, but in my mind - if not on paper yet - Sandra works for Howard's law firm. One assumes that's how she met Millie, but I'm nowhere near that prequel just yet. ;-)
Not sure how well known this is, but Virtue was written in 22 days last November during NaNoWriMo. And then it sat for months while I recovered from said insanity. /grins/ At that insane pace (95K/22 days) it's not unlikely things will be forgotten. One of them apparently happens to be where the name Mike Lloyd, Ian's LAPD union rep, came from. I feel like there should have been at least one episode with an LAPD union rep since they've had dirty cops as a plot, but my brain is empty. I just hope that name doesn't come back to bite me later. I mean, I picked Tim for Kim's brother (cute, but it was in for a while for parents to name their kids in rhyme - hello Donnie and Charlie!) and then they give us Tim King in canon. Grr. I'd really like to use Tim King in Sin, but I hate repeating names. Ah well, maybe I can get away with him being a Timothy. (And is it just me, or does Tim make an adorable boyfriend for Vice!Robin? Breakfast and Oreos at 2:30AM! FTW!)
Parts 9/10 Confession
In this installment it is revealed that Don and Charlie go on biannual retreats. More information will arise as the upcoming July retreat nears and they actually go on it, but it's enough to know now they go once in January, mostly as a ski vacation, but also for therapy and medical check ups, and once during the anniversary of their parents' death, mostly for therapy and private grieving time away from the public eye, but also for medical check ups. Yes, you will find out what Charlie's taking medication for - in time.
In Viceworld William Bradford is an independent psychologist not a law enforcement oriented therapist, Dr. Karen Fisher is a psychiatrist and Dr. Kenneth Hill (Reed Diamond - a personal fave - from Bones of Contention) is not only a medical doctor (Internal Medicine - like a GP) instead of an anthropologist, he's also married to Karen. Dr. Bradford is married to Rene, who was taken from the episode The Art of Reckoning. She was contract killer Pony Funez' ex-wife and the mother of his daughter, Lucy, who in this universe is still Rene's daughter. I gave William and Rene OC twins as well and gave Kenneth and Karen an OC son Kody for reasons that will be clear once the story's at its end. One hopes everyone remembers the illustrious Dr. Susan Berry, Charlie's former live-in girlfriend in England, from All's Fair. She's still a neuroscientist, but I have her leaning more towards the medical end of things instead of just pure research. Dwayne Carter is, of course, of The Mole and Janus List/Trust Metric fame.
Kit and Matt on a date! Hee! Dwayne being a bit of a doofus during lunch with Kim amuses me. His language comes across very blue collar, which seems to work for him, helping to set him apart from Don, making Don seem much more refined by comparison. Shawn Hatosy, the actor who played Dwayne, has such a distinctive sounding voice I had to find someway to make Dwayne sound unique in text form. I chose slang and casual phrasing. Here's hoping people think it works for him. Sorry about the 8 million random waitress OCs. Someone has to serve the food and these are the kinds of places where servers do introduce themselves by name. Mea culpa.
Broken Halo India Pale Ale exists as does Pyramid Crystal Wheat Ale. Hefeweizen is also a popular kind of beer. I don't drink alcohol, so I couldn't tell you if they are any good, but I do research my alcohol for verisimilitude regardless.
Amelito's might not exist, but I so hope that someone somewhere opens "the quietest sports bar in existence" with that technology. I might even go there if they did. Normally I have an extreme allergy to sports bars, but as we saw in Vice, Amelito's has the best (fictional) pizza in L.A. so I might be tempted. /grins/
The Gronsfeld cipher is real as is steganography, which has been used in Numb3rs, most notably in In Plain Sight. If you'd like to try out the Gronsfeld Cipher (the message in the fic really is done with it) there's a site to encrypt and decrypt messages for you.
Millie's observation about Megan delaying her own furniture's arrival to take gain some of Don's power and fear via proxy by using his existing imposing furniture is something that snuck up on me in the writing, but makes total sense. Vice!Megan would so do that.
I feel really bad for Darby in this installment. Ironically, if Billy had been alive, Ian wouldn't have given her the slip - ironic because Billy's death is what set Ian on the path that caused him to lose his badge, get thrown in jail and stop going after Don using the law, instead relying on his own law: his sniper rifle.
Parts 11/12 Confession
Yves Darien (amusing he was called Yves Demian at first but oops, that's Dylan's son's name!) doesn't exist, but I like the idea of an inviolate courier for the rich. Who knows? Perhaps something like that does exist in the world.
"Salute!" "Salud!" "Santé!" LOL I love how international Don's team is. Excuse me, that would be Megan's team. ;-) FWIW I picture Antoine as possibly being old New Orleans creole and thus speaking French.
Charlie and his meds: you wouldn't like him when he's angry. Hehehe I have heard people say their meds dull their thought processes so I can see a genius having a real problem with meds affecting their mind.
"I'm going to talk to Megan," Charlie pronounced. "There's got to be some way for my math to help predict his actions, to get to him before he can get to us."
Ha! The voodoo works against Ian in this universe! I confess to being amused that the sniper math from Sniper Zero is used to defeat Ian not assist him.
Ian misses his shot, but I'd like to point out the newspaper clipping Ian was looking at during the end of the last installment mentioned the new club opening in August - not the birthday party. /evil grin/
Councilman Jackson isn't real, but he was in Vice - as a politician holding a fundraiser at The Loft. Skylar Wyatt's from Obsession, as is Dante Baker, and John Mayer's a real singer-songwriter. Brett Chandler and Josh Ryan are from Hollywood Homicide. Senator Tallman is from Brutus. LaCroix Swiss watches exist; they are lovely and very expensive.
"Oh god..." Megan said as it hit her. "I will have to do this party on my birthday, won't I?"
Hee! I'm actually looking forward to writing Megan's first society birthday party at E now. I don't think I'd realized this being part of taking over for Don until I typed his line the first time.
Welcome to the brand new hot pairing in Virtue: Colby/Gabriel! If you're swooning like I am, thank my lovely slashwife. It was Mel who suggested Gabriel when I was fishing about for characters to use for the new managers on Megan's team. Putting Colby and Gabriel together was a much needed dose of hotness in a novel where steamy het abounds, but steamy slash ends up taking a bit of a back seat. (Sorry, Matt/Kit is adorkable, not smutty.)
Poor David, caught between two women: Olivia, who is hot but will never be interested in more than sex, and Claudia, who is totally the marrying kind, but isn't in on his life of crime. He'll have to pick one at some point in Sin. I'm rooting for Claudia. ;-)
So Amita finally figures out what the rest of us knew from the start: the flowers weren't from Charlie. Delusions are a dangerous thing...
Parts 13/14 Confession
The first two scenes juxtapose Megan/Steven, who can't be fully comfortable since she has to hide the crime from him, and Colby/Gabriel, who are fully comfortable since Gabriel's in the organization himself now, to show how hard it is for someone in the organization to have a real relationship with someone who doesn't know about the illegal activities. This explains, at least partially, why Robin/Tim works so well and why David struggles between Claudia and Olivia. Considering it's what came between Don and Kim and what's kept Charlie and Susan apart, this does not bode well for Megan settling down any time soon. Never fear. I have plans for her in Sin. Hehehe
"Yes, but you're not in Don's inner circle and he'd never have anyone to his house for his birthday he hasn't known forever."
Ironically, he does though. He has Tim there (though notably not Robin or Marco) because Tim is his kin to be via Kim. One assumes that Kim tacitly vouches for her brother since she's known him his whole life, so he gets in on that account.
Colby/Gabriel... /fans self/ Originally that scene ended with Colby pulling the sheet off Gabriel and making his comment about smart guys (i.e. Charlie). There's so little slash sex in Virtue compared to Vice that I decided to expand it for your viewing pleasure. /grins/
I've never had them, but Arepas sounded like a good brunch food for those two.
"I may be a potato-fed Idaho boy," Colby said.
I amuse myself by drawing parallels between Riley of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Colby. (Think about it! Really!) There's a line in Buffy about Riley being a 'corn-fed Iowa boy', thus this line having to be in Virtue. ;-)
FWIW, even though Colby is older than Gabriel - and bigger - I see him as a subordinate type: Charlie tops him in the past, he's happy being second in command to David at work and he isn't anywhere near as driven or ambitious as say, Terry. (Come on, you had to imagine there's at least some pegging going on in her and Marco's bedroom, right?) Gabriel, OTOH, seems incredibly confident, self-possessed and likes being in complete control. Ha! No wonder Terry wanted him to replace her!
Liam and Edgar are OCs. Ivy is from the episode Power. I needed a woman who would work well on a motorcycle to contrast to Darby and Ivy's attitude totally fit the bill for Marshall's field operative. (LOL I typoed when I first wrote this and put 'fit the billy' - fitting since Billy was Don's motorcycle riding field operative before Darby joined up as Billy's second in command in the field.)
I lay no claim to the names Tweedledee and Tweedledum nor to the phrase 'red meat, let's eat' since that's from canon. Cristal is real and really expensive. It's supposedly an 'in' champagne for the young and flashy set who want to look important, thus it being perfect for Amita.
"For a beautiful woman with a beautiful mind."
A reference to the mathematician movie A Beautiful Mind, but also a veiled slight since that mathematician, John Nash, was mentally ill. So like Marshall to insult with praise and for Amita to not consider that aspect.
I confess I'm not sure what's the better gift: the perfect painting of the Craftsman or the perpetual baseball scholarship. Too close to call...
The song Can't Wait To Be With You has both lyrics that fit the Charlie and Susan situation and was released around 1994 when Charlie was about 19 or 20 - right about the time he would have gone to England and met Susan. Well, in canon at least. It remains to be seen in the prequels how that all works out in Viceworld.
Parts 15/16 Confession
About the trip... It's twofold: first we have the need for them to get away as they spend the anniversary of their parents' death grieving away from prying eyes and second we have their need for medical care and therapy. Both require men to be vulnerable - something that's not easy for men like Don and Charlie in LA. So, to make this easier and more private, they arrange for their doctor friends to go on a little vacation with them near a private clinic. In January they all ski and have a great time, plus get their medical tests done and such. In July they grieve and get their medical needs addressed again. With all that red meat I bet their cholesterol isn't great /grins/ but a good portion of it is for therapy and Charlie's meds. It just makes sense to handle all their needs: psychiatry, psychology and general medical during the same time period. Susan, being a neuroscientist, specializes in brains - thus her interest in studying Charlie's. So two weeks, twice a year, not counting long weekends - they get a nice amount of time away from the office. /is jealous/ FWIW Kim says no one knows where they go, even Megan, but I think Howard knows and is bound to stay silent about knowing unless there's a major catastrophe that warrants them being contacted.
FWIW I think Don's being a putz. Kim lost her parents too, albeit less violently, but she understands on at least some level and should go with him to the retreat. But this is stubborn Don we're talking about and his 'we've always done it this way and this is our last trip so don't rock the boat' type stance makes me want to thwap him. This being the last one makes it ideal for her to come - it's the last chance for her to be a part of this private part of his life and for him to let her in as part of this grieving ritual. But our Don? He's going to use Charlie as an excuse to duck out of facing her while he's vulnerable. Argh. In his defense? He is right about Kim needing to do some thinking about her future and that is best done without Don around to cloud her judgment.
About the chalet... It's not said where it is, but it's somewhere that's snowy in January, not snowy in July. The flight's not super short, but not super long so it's probably somewhere in North America. I'm not sure how they made it untraceable for them to own it and not have their enemies locate them through it, but it's possible one of their friends - perhaps William - set up a shell company with Charlie and Don's help and bought it through the untraceable shell company so it's not linked back to any one of them. There's a small staff to maintain it and they're paid well to come in and do so and not talk about it.
About the clinic... The chalet would have been chosen for its proximity to a small yet well equipped clinic they could bribe the staff to empty out briefly twice a year. Kenneth probably found the clinic and arranged the deal where they pay them off to hand over the keys for a few days and look the other way. I'm sure this is a clinic that already caters to rich people so as long as Don and Charlie handed over enough money, they'd vacate to give them privacy knowing they had real licensed medical doctors in charge. They don't need it for the full two weeks, but to them I'm sure it's worth the money to not have to worry for those few days.
Charlie/Susan... Forgive me slashers, for I have sinned. /bows head/ I wrote in the Vice Confessions, I'm sure, about how I fought the muse tooth and nail about how she turned Vice from a Don/Charlie slash angst story into a Don/Kim love story. She was adamant that this go towards Don/Kim and I fought so hard against it I couldn't see that it truly was the logical direction for this universe. Unfortunately once I gave in and wondered what would become of Charlie, I got her second volley: Charlie/Susan. Now hot as these two are together, I still argued it because I don't buy that this Susan would want such a messed up Charlie. It remains to be seen how they dance the dance given that Susan's repeatedly turned him down in the past (and I admit I'm still considering some rewrites) but in the interim even I have to admit all the Don/Kim and Charlie/Susan sex is pretty hot. So forgive me my het trespasses and enjoy the sinners. Hehehe
In case anyone has missed it before - and I can't see how - I have a hair fetish (and a skin fetish too). So Susan's lovely long hair bound up in ornate chopsticks and then released to fall around her bare shoulders? I don't even like blond hair and that's a yummy thought.
"Worth every penny," Charlie said, his voice lowering into a huskier register. "I completely enjoyed breaking that furniture. Quite the memorable session."
Oh, I'm going to enjoy having that scene in a prequel. /big grin/
All the dinners in Part 16 make me hungry. I am glad though that Megan and Kim made their peace after their confrontation in Vice when Megan went to Kim to basically threaten her into spying on Ian for them. The salon they are in is the same room Don and Charlie are in in Part 1 of Vice as they review the figures on Charlie's laptop and discuss Billy. Also, the second floor study desk Charlie was fucking Colby over in that same Part 1 is in the same study Don is now using as his retirement office.
1734 15th street (ETA: Typoed as 1738 here AND once in the fic! /headdesk/), Santa Monica is a real address AFAIK and it's where I described it. No clue what's actually there, but one assumes it's houses on that side of the cul de sac from what I can see on the satellite image. It's one of the rare actual locations in Viceworld. I don't mention where the apartment building or the mansion are ever, but you can assume they are near the coast approximately west of downtown Los Angeles. (The mansion's likely to be northwest in the hills and the apartment building southwest on the flat land overlooking the beaches.)
Godel's incompleteness theorems are real. What seems unreal to me is how Marshall and Amita actually look good together in my head. Hmm...
Parts 17/18 Confession
'Red meat, let's eat' = high cholesterol ;-)
Kim's pregnant! Surprise! I'm not specifying how long she's been pregnant, but it would be romantic if it was that first night back that did it - unfortunate, given how much wine she's had since her return, but romantic in a fateful sort of way.
I don't think there's a good place for me to go into Charlie's condition in this fic, even if I rewrite it, so I think I might just leave the details for a prequel. I know, that sucks of me to do that, but I like having some interesting bits to hold back so people have something new to look forward to in the prequels. It's enough for now to know the symptoms, the effect it has on Charlie. In part, at least, it helps explain why he's so casual about sex with the professionals (and staff) in the organization. His difficulty viewing them as human beings with a full range of emotion he might have a negative effect on means he doesn't think of the repercussions of his actions. Some scientists have done studies they say show that geniuses have a higher rate of mental illness than the rest of the population. I don't know the science behind it, but I'd be hard pressed to debate against them.
The Geneva Conventions exist and being former military, Colby would know them enough to crack a joke about how one of the listed items in them is that even prisoners of war get fed.
"You meet this long all the time?" Alex marveled.
"You all think this is long?" Liz asked, chuckling.
ROFL Oh, we all do have different tolerances for meeting length. I have a good tolerance for long meetings as long as they are fruitful, but then I'm not the fidgeter Colby is. ;-) This part amuses me every time I read it.
I confess I've completely forgotten where Amita's online username of denemore comes from. /headdesk/ I thought I'd made a note of it, but no luck finding it so far. I'm pretty sure it's not a specific word, but probably dene from one place and more from another. The only thing I could find in Wikipedia that looked familiar was the topic of necklaces in Combinatorics - which I felt would be appropriate for Amita and Marshall. But that only gave me a more in Moreau. Here's hoping it pops up one day and I can update this bit to explain the username. /sigh/
The Milner-Barry Gambit is real. The world's smallest violin is a joke, but you can see an example of how it's played. It's supposed to be kind of an insult: someone pulls a 'woe is me' complaint and in return you play the violin, as if to accompany their maudlin tale. Try the Urban Dictionary definition or the Wikipedia mention to see what I'm talking about. Priya means dear or beloved and it's used as a person's first name. It makes sense for a Westerner such as Marshall to co-opt it as an esoteric term of endearment. The IM convos feel weird written into a novel, but they are how they communicate so they had to go in.
Parts 19/20 Confession
No, Kim doesn't drink the wine with Dwayne at The Loft. She probably gives him some lame excuse about a migraine coming on and not wanting to trigger it or something. Those of you expecting a PSA about fetal alcohol syndrome? Keep waiting.
I probably mentioned this in the Vice Confessions, but Evangeline was a rare mistake. She was supposed to be Emmanueline from Nine Wives, but I messed up the name and didn't realize until it was published. Argh. Oh well, forgive me my trespasses and an unnecessary OC. A.D. Thomas Lawson, Kim's boss, is the old federal agent in Protest.
There used to be a wonderful little Malaysian restaurant in Pasadena. Sadly I think it's gone now. The parking lot - in my mind at least - actually belongs to a wonderful Mexican restaurant, also in Pasadena, which I enjoyed many times, but for the life of me, can't find anymore because the name eludes me and I don't remember what street it was even on. /is made of fail/ I was taken there by a friend who grew up on a ranch in Mexico so her recommendation was unimpeachable. Awesome food, talented mariachi musicians strolling around from table to table in the evenings and flan to die for. It's killing me that I can't find it. /cries/
Ivy? Evil. I'm just saying.
Maserati might sound kind of unusual for Marshall, too old for him, but I thought it looked kind of hot. Plus he's on the taller side. I can't picture him squeezing into a tiny Porsche. ;-)
Parts 21/22 Confession
Officially in the second half of the novel now! That's based on parts though. Technically I've published over 66K (way more than halfway) so far so I'm also well past the length of Vice at this point. Plus, during the most recent additions and edits, Virtue passed over 100K in length! I anticipate more words added as many of the later scenes were sprinted through in first draft, but for now I'm celebrating crossing the 100K mark as a kind of badge of honor as a novelist. /polishes fingernails on shirt/ LOL
New Scene! For those few who read Virtue before it was published, the Matt/Kit scene is new. I also moved the Ian/Ivy scene from Part 22 to Part 21 so if things seemed a bit different than you recalled, you're not wrong. I've managed not to make too many changes to the original draft/scene list, but I really felt that it was important to show the effect of Ian being in the wind on Kit, having been tortured by him in Vice. Plus there being so little slash sex in Virtue, I thought I'd indulge in letting these two have some comfort sex. It's not hot, but it's not meant to be, but it ups the slash quota in a way that makes the novel feel more balanced and less heavily skewed towards het.
Route 2 does go through the Angeles National Forest, which is not far from Pasadena or Montrose, which is where canon!Don supposedly lives if his driver's license is to be believed. For the doubting thomases amongst you, yes there are mountains over 7K feet in SoCal and they do get snow on them. This is just one such area that fits that bill.
I have no idea what kind of vehicles criminals prefer IRL, but I do enjoy the irony of Viceworld's criminals and LEOs both liking the exact same car, down to the color.
Amusingly iGoogle just added a social gadget for playing chess online. I might have to learn how to play properly for once in my life. (Now which piece is the one you want to capture?) ;-) FWIW it pained me to type out the chat lines sans punctuation like that. I had to balance out my need for order and how each of them really would type in chat. Neither seems to me to be a chatspeak type (thankfully), but I can't picture them punctuating their sentences perfectly either. So some mixed case and a few carriage returns to save me from dealing with the lack of periods. Global Thermonuclear War is a reference to the lovely 80s movie War Games. Netflix it. It's worth two hours of your life.
Dante's Hog Heaven is a reference to a motorcycle shop on the show John Doe. While Viceworld isn't listed as a crossover that doesn't mean characters from other media might not show up from time to time. *cough*The Unit*cough* Giuseppe was in Vice; he owns the limousine/luxury car rental business that Don's organization works with. It's the place that vetted Tim as a driver for them and the business Don was trying to lure into the fold the same way he brought in Millie's prostitution business as she was once a third party contractor to him as well. Giuseppe is also Rodolpho's father - rare OCs, like Antoine, that I needed to flesh out the business model. If you want to consider the scene between Darby and Megan a PSA for wearing proper gear when riding a motorcycle, be my guest. I've known some people who got seriously messed up on bikes and I've known some people saved by good leathers and such.
"Ah, it's too late," Darby said, joshing. "They already auctioned off Steve McQueen's Indian motorcycles last year."
"That's disappointing to hear," Megan mused, barely hiding a smirk. "Because Don thought you'd prefer the 1953 Vincent Black Shadow to one of the Indians. I'll have to tell him he bought you the wrong motorcycle last November."
A large collection of Steve McQueen's motorcycles did get auctioned off in November of 2006 as mentioned, including that 1953 Vincent Black Shadow, which did go for over 70K. (You can see the rest of the motorcycles in the auction's online catalog in lots 402-444.) Truly an impressive collection. I really like the idea of the Indian motorcycles, but the Richard Thompson song 1952 Vincent Black Lightning might have swayed me a little.
Hello Ian/Ivy! Anyone see that coming? /wicked grin/ I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to write the actual sex for them, but the psychology behind their hate sex foreplay was just too fascinating to not spend all available time on. Besides, this novel has more than enough het sex in it already. ;-)
Kim thinks the chalet might be in Colorado or Canada. I'm not breaking the secret, so don't look at me. /grins/
The OC Bradford Twins, Tate and Tara, are probably older than I'd like them and I made Lucy probably a bit younger than in canon (figuring that Rene didn't have a child with Pony and that she met William and had Lucy with him after they split up) so there's not too much of an age gap amongst the kids on the island. They won't be peers to each other, save the twins, but a seven year old can play with five year olds okay and a two year old can play with five year olds as well. Not that they're the only kids on the island, but I wanted Don's compound there to be kid friendly - and kid full - from the start to show how family oriented this all is. The retirement, not the novel. The novel is way too NC17 to be kid friendly. Hehehe
Parts 23/24 Confession
In Viceworld!California there is a headstone: Alan and Margaret Eppes, Loving father, beloved mother, died July 22, 1989. People lose family members. I've lost family members. But it's different when they die slowly of natural causes at an older age. You expect it, you grieve preemptively, then you grieve again once they are gone. Then you move on. Not as easy when they were ripped from you without warning, lost violently at an early age. Since Alan and Margaret didn't just die on the same day, didn't just die young, didn't just die as victims of a violent crime, Don and Charlie can't move on like others do. They're saddled with the firsthand visual of the carnage exacerbated by the gunman turning his gun on Charlie to shoot him only to have Don fight to stop him and shoot the gunman instead, killing him. All this as teenagers. People just don't get over that sort of trauma. But they do eventually, one hopes, move on with life. After about twenty years, Don and Charlie are finally doing just that.
I remember learning, rather young, about the idea that a man's biological imperative was to basically spread his genetic material around because he could and that statistically more offspring meant a better chance at least some of them would survive. Women, on the other hand, could only have one offspring per year so their biological imperative was to find the best quality mate who would ensure the best chance for her one offspring to survive. Quantity versus quality. Rather diametrically opposed. /grins/ It's a wonder there's six billion plus people on the planet. /grins/
"'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,'" Marshall quoted offhand.
"Yeah, yeah," Ivy said with a dismissive gesture. "I know as much Sun Tzu and Machiavelli as anyone in this organization."
Sun Tzu's The Art of War is probably required reading in most MBA programs these days, as are the works of Machiavelli (who also has a work called The Art of War), but there's no hard evidence if it was Sun Tzu or Niccolo Machiavelli who said this. Although it is in the movie The Godfather Part II. ;-)
Parts 25/26 Confession
Hot enough for you? ;-) Between Susan pegging (here's hoping at least some of you caught the juxtaposition to Part 1 of Vice) and hot sweaty Don/Kim, not to mention Amita/Marshall, Part 25 definitely earned its nickname of 'The Sex Part'. /grins/ It almost felt wrong to drop a non-sex scene in that part, but it's couple based and even mentions Tim/Robin so I figured I could get away with it.
A week has passed in Viceworld time since the last day posted so we've moved from the angst of the anniversary to the final day of their vacation - a marked difference in Don and Charlie's demeanors was certainly called for. This was their last chance to relax, cut loose, indulge their passions before the mantle of responsibility and the shroud of danger fell over them again. Thus, sex. Hehehe
I confess I felt like I was going to miss the chalet myself, but as long as I'm patient I'll get to it eventually in the prequels. It's just going to take me a book or two before William and Karen even come into the picture, much less Susan. I know the wistful angst of leaving behind a much loved, long historied dwelling, so this moment of Don's gets to me every time.
Now that they're back, we begin the inevitable ramp up to the climax of the novel. Yes, there will be things you expect in the climax and some things you don't expect. I wanted to make sure that anyone who felt certain of how this would all end would still have a surprise in store for them by the time the novel's over.
Virtue Confessions are continued in the Numb3rs Series/Universe: Virtue (2/2) post.
Series Information - Virtue
Virtue - Prologue (Published 7/7/09)
Virtue - Parts 1/2 (Published 7/14/09)
Virtue - Parts 3/4 (Published 7/15/09)
Virtue - Parts 5/6 (Published 7/21/09)
Virtue - Parts 7/8 (Published 7/22/09)
Virtue - Parts 9/10 (Published 7/28/09)
Virtue - Parts 11/12 (Published 7/29/09)
Virtue - Parts 13/14 (Published 8/4/09)
Virtue - Parts 15/16 (Published 8/5/09)
Virtue - Parts 17/18 (Published 8/11/09)
Virtue - Parts 19/20 (Published 8/12/09)
Virtue - Parts 21/22 (Published 8/18/09)
Virtue - Parts 23/24 (Published 8/19/09)
Virtue - Parts 25/26 (Published 8/25/09)
Virtue - Parts 27/28 (Published 8/26/09)
Virtue - Parts 29/30 (Published 9/1/09)
Virtue - Parts 31/32 (Published 9/2/09)
Virtue - Parts 33/34 (Published 9/8/09)
Virtue - Parts 35/36 (Published 9/9/09)
Virtue - Parts 37/38 (Published 9/15/09)
Virtue - Epilogue (Published 9/16/09)