"The Kids Are All Fucked Up" *Part 6*

            “Nothing?!?” Joe Trohman screamed as he stood up from where he sat behind the big table that he and Andrew had currently been sharing a joint around.

            “Apparently not sir…” Brendon replied, as he shifted his hat in his hands uncomfortably. He always hated delivering news that he knew was not what his bosses were expecting.

            “How the FUCK did they find nothing?!?” Joe shouted at him, the rage obviously radiating through his eyes and into the young man standing in front of him.

            “I…I…I don’t…” Brendon stumbled over his words, always feeling inadequate when he was in front of these two men. He was glad Ryan was the only other person who ever saw him as weak as this.

            “Chill dude,” Andrew spoke calmly as he exhaled a big puff of smoke. Brendon couldn’t see Andrew’s eyes because they were well hidden behind his Ray-Ban sunglasses that he wore all the time. “Sit down, kick your feet back, and take a hit off this.” He instructed, his partner doing exactly what he was told. “There, that’s some good shit, right?”

            “Yea, it’s nice…” Joe agreed, instantly mellowing out.

            “Now,” Andrew spoke calmly, turning his attention back to Brendon and Ryan. “Since this one’s obviously a little rattled, mind telling us the details?” he asked, facing Ryan.

            “Oh!” Ryan shouted, purely out of the surprise of being addressed. Ryan winced a little as he received an evil glare shot back at him from Brendon. He ignored it as he took a couple steps forward to stand even with Brendon. “Peter said they went through the entire apartment with a fine tooth comb, and didn’t find a single thing.”

            “We got that part.” Andrew snapped quickly, showing a little anger. He mellowed down before he opened his mouth again. “Elaborate on what you mean by ‘nothing’ please.”

            “Uhm…” Ryan’s voice waivered as he strained to think of how to answer this seemingly simple question. He really wished Brendon had been allowed to continue to speak; Ryan really wasn’t cut out for this type of pressure. “Peter said that if we hadn’t told him what kind of guy this Saporta fellow was, he never would have deduced it from going through his apartment.”

            “So by ‘nothing’, you mean there was nothing to tie him to being a drug lord?” Andrew questioned.

            “That, and…” Ryan continued. “There wasn’t anything to tie him to having a…life really. I guess they found absolutely no pictures, no old identifications. Apparently they didn’t find anything to say that he had a pervious life. It’s as if he just appeared here, but as if he hadn’t spent time anywhere else.”

            “Well he’s obviously more intelligent than even we expected,” Andrew stated, more to himself than to anyone else.

            “What do you mean?” Ryan asked, not quite comprehending that what Andrew had said wasn’t targeted to him.

            “I mean that Mr. Saporta here knew we would use any and all personal things of his to get him to fuck off.” Andrew decided to respond. “If we can’t find any traces of his old, or current life, then we have no leverage. All he has is himself, and that’s one thing he can always be sure of protecting. No strings attached anywhere else…”

The three young men cast sideways glances to one another. Each of them was seated in a red velvet chair, all three facing Gabe’s rather large mahogany desk. No one knew why they had been called here, and no one knew why their boss wasn’t even here. Whether they had been there five minutes, 30 minutes, or maybe a couple hours – no one was sure. A few more silent minutes passed before William decided to speak up.

            “Okay,” he stated as he shifted in his seat to look at the younger boy seated in the middle. “What the fuck did you do this time?”

David’s eyes suddenly grew large as the possibility that this confrontation was caused by him once again. He had tried to do better – to be better, but had he made another huge mistake without knowing. “I…I…” he stuttered, trying to think of how to respond to the slightly menacing man next to him.

            “Beckett,” Travis sighed, turning to face his partner from the other side of David. “We both know that there is no way in hell that angel face over here has gotten into anymore trouble. He hasn’t left this place without one of us, and no way in hell would he have been able to slip up with one of us by his side.”

            “True,” William replied quickly, but ready to argue anyway. “But we both know that we didn’t do anything wrong, so that only leaves…” his voice trailed off as they heard footsteps outside of the office. All three boys fell silent, and faced the desk again as the door opened.

As Gabe entered the room, both William and Travis stood up to welcome their boss. David remained seated until he received a hard nudge from William, with a hissed command to stand the fuck up. Gabe rolled his eyes slightly as he watched the sad display in front of him.

            “Sorry sir,” William spoke up. “We’re doing our best to teach him, but I’m being to think it might be a lost cause…”

Gabe spun around quickly at that statement; fire burning in his eyes. “This young man has the capability to be as good as you, or even as good as myself.” He stated, knowing that his team had to stay united through everything. “You can’t question his abilities, or he’ll begin to question them himself. I put you two in charge of bringing him up right, so don’t fuck it up or it’s on your shoulders.”

            “I apologize sir,” William stated as he bowed his head to Gabe.

            “Very well,” Gabe responded, sounded bored with the subject. “Now sit down.”

All three of the men took their seats in front of Gabe’s desk again, and watched their boss walk behind his desk and sit down in the chair behind it. He got himself situated comfortably, and took a few moments to organize his thoughts before addressing the men in front of him.

            “No one did anything wrong.” Gabe stated, sensing the fear radiating from David. “But the police did break into my apartment the other day, and obviously we can’t have my security breached like that. Do any of you three know anything about police working with TJAM?”

            “No sir,” Travis responded. “But it is to be expected. All the cops in this town are as crooked as the criminals, and in some cases even more crooked.”

Gabe took in this statement and nodded his head in response. “That seems to be the way it is in most cities nowadays,” Gabe replied matter-of-factly. “Which is why my apartment would give them absolutely no clues to anything in my life whatsoever. This little meeting is only happening to let you guys know that you need to be more careful with everything you do now. I can’t have any of my men get arrested.”

            “Yes sir.” All three responded at the same time.

            “Good, now you can leave.” He stated as he turned his eyes to some paperwork on his desk. “Close the door behind you.” He added as an afterthought.

**Thanks for everyone who reads and comments on this story. I lurve you guys. PS, I get to go see Jack's Mannequin on Tuesday! Whoop whoop!**