Fighting For You

Charlotte lightly hummed as she walked around her new home. It was a very nice and huge house with three floors and a pool outside. Plus they were in a rather nice area where the end of the backyard was the beginning of a small forest preservation. A small smile came over her lips as she pressed her fingers against the smooth wood of the staircase. It was definitely nicer than their old home. This was was basically brand new and the last one her parents bought, they had went for a more Victorian mansion feel.

Though suddenly she heard her mother call for her and Charlotte immediately ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mom walked up and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. "I need you to go say hello to our new neighbors." She said before leading Charlotte towards the door. "This is a nice neighborhood and because of the community, we will want to be friendly to the people around us. Tell them that we just moved in and we would like to have dinner with them sometime."

Charlotte let out a small sigh. "Mom, aren't they suppose to welcome us to the neighborhood, not the other way around?" Her mother shook her head a bit before pushing her out of the house. Charlotte made a small face before glancing down the road. She brushed off her brush before heading over to the neighbor's house and knocking on the door.

---

Leo leaned back into the seat of the car as Henry started to drive faster. "You don't have to drive like a manic. It would be nice if we got there alive." He snapped at Henry a bit. Henry ended up rolling his eyes as he hit down on the gas harder. "Wouldn't it be better to die in a car crash then by a bullet?" Henry snapped back at him. "At least in the bullet situation we die helping the group." He growled. This led Henry to going a bit slower.

The leader had sent him and Henry on a mission that night. It was up to them to steal some of the product a rival gang was producing. They wanted to really fuck with that group and drive away their customers. Plus they would be able to up their own customers if they could push more supply. But still it was not a preferable mission to be going on. It was dangerous and possible that both of them would die.

Once they were outside of the wearhouse, Leo let out a sigh before getting out of the car. If they were quiet enough, they might be able to get in and out without the use of their guns. So both of them started to head to the back of the wearhouse.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

The McClain gang was in the middle of a transition because Ivan's father was retiring and pushing his son to take over. Ivan acted as though he had every intention of taking over, however he was only buying himself some time until he could find a good reason and excuse to leave the lifestyle behind and settle down elsewhere, away from the gang life. He hated it and he hated all the violence and he couldn't wait to get away from it all.

Ivan had been sleeping just minutes before Charlotte knocked on the door, and when she did he was in the kitchen. He headed to the front door and swung it open, looking out at her with an eyebrow raised. His dark hair was slightly disheveled and he wore only some boxers as he stood there in the doorway, his toned body covered in tattoos. After a moment of staring at her, a slight smile curved his lips and he said, "Oh, you must be the new neighbor."
-
Esmeralda's father knew that the rival gang was trying to sabotage their products, so he always had someone on watch in the warehouse to make sure that if someone broke in, they could take care of it before things were stolen. That particular night, Esmeralda was the one on watch and she stood at the back door, keeping an eye on the other doors with her hand on her gun.

She heard a car approaching and slipped her weapon out, listening closely and getting ready to defend the warehouse. She was a petite person, but she'd been trained to fight since she was a little girl and she was a force to be reckoned with. Those who tried to break in were in for it if they tried to fight her.

@ acrossleuniverse

Charlotte blinked a few times when a half naked guy opened up the door. Now she had not been expecting that. She also had not been ready to be greeted by someone who seemed to be her own age. Charlotte had assumed that an adult would have opened up the door. Though as he started to speak, she snapped out of her small daze and gave him a smile. Whoever he was, he was extremely attractive. She could already feel herself beginning to crush on him. Now she just had to open that his mouth or head wasn't going to ruin this for her.

Taking a small step forward, she started to introduce herself. "Yes, I am. My name is Charlotte Winters. I just came over to introduce myself. It is nice to meet you." Her eyes seemed to brighten a bit as she looked into his. Though soon they wandered, glancing over at his tattoos. Oh what she wouldn't give to be wrapped up in this gorgeous man's arms.

---

Leo and Henry slowly made their way to the back of the warehouse. Once at the back, both of them pressed themselves on either side of the back door. While they felt sure that no one would be waiting for them, it was not a guarantee that no one would be there. After making a few hand signals, Henry headed over to the door, and slowly began to open it. When he first looked inside, he thought there as no one and headed in.

Leo stayed where he was as his friend went in. If the coast was clear, he run inside after him. It was just that Leo was higher ranking than Henry which made his life a bit more valuable in this situation. If something happened to Henry then it was up to Leo to get out as quickly as possible.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

"Ivan McClain. And the pleasure is all mine Miss Charlotte," Ivan responded with a hint of amusement in his voice at how surprised she looked when he had opened the door. "Excuse my lack of proper clothes. I just woke up and I wasn't exactly expecting any guests. None of the neighbors have stopped by once in all the years we've been living here." Just on the fact that she had stopped by led Ivan to the conclusion that her family was indeed new to the neighborhood and that they had not yet found out that his family was in the gang business yet. The whole neighborhood knew this fact, but not one of them spoke about it except in secret when they liked to gossip. They simply avoided the McClains to avoid any kind of trouble.

-

Esmeralda hid in the shadows while the two rival gang members thought they were being stealthy while breaking into the warehouse. It was going to a strategic waiting game for her to be able to catch both of them without one of them being able to escape. She watched Henry enter the warehouse and made sure to avoid him as he was checking to see if there was anyone in there. She kept her gun in her hand, ready to shoot as she watched Henry go out to let Leo know the coast was "clear."

@ acrossleuniverse

"Well that is too bad." Charlotte said warmly before she pushed her hair to the side. "Well I hope that you don't mind having friendly neighbors because my family is exactly that. Though we'll be sure not to get in your way or anything like that. We just like to know who we're living by." Charlotte clasped her hands together, folding them nicely in front of her body. She was quite glad that Ivan hadn't said anything odd. Charlotte then looked over to his shoulder at the tattoos on his arms. Charlotte didn't want to stare too much but she found them so attractive. "And, perhaps this is too forward of me, and I apologize if it is. But I love your sleeves! Do all of them mean something?"

---

When Henry came back out, telling him that the coast was clear, Leo carefully and quietly made his way into the wearhouse with him. It did seem that no one was in there, which was a good sigh. Leo then turned to his partner, waving him over as they headed towards the middle where the goods were. They weren't there to steal everything, just a few things that the boss wanted. Leo glanced around again before beginning to pull the one crate open and grab what they needed from inside of it.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

"Oh, sweetheart, your family won't be friendly neighbors for long. Trust me on that. I'll give it a week and you won't be allowed down at this end of the block again," Ivan replied with a chuckle, shaking his head as he ran his hand into his slightly disheveled hair. When she complimented his sleeves, he grinned a bit and told her, "Most of them are just cool decorations, honestly. But some have real significance." He began pointing some of them out and explaining, "This one is for my best friend that got shot and killed a few years back, this one is for my love of music, and this one is my family's mark. " It was the McClain gang's symbol, though she obviously didn't know that. "You got any tats?"

-

Esmeralda stealthily snuck around, making sure she didn't make a sound as she got up behind Henry. She remained in the shadows until she came right up, knocked him hard in the head with her gun so he'd be knocked out, and then trained her gun right on Leo. "I suggest you stop searching for whatever you're looking for and toss your gun this way or I will put a bullet between your eyes without flinching, you thief." She stepped closer and into the little bit of light there was in the warehouse, keeping her gun aimed at him as she moved. She was definitely not playing around.

@ acrossleuniverse

Charlotte was quite surprised when Ivan said that they wouldn't be so friendly. Why did he say that? Was there something wrong with him and his family? Or was it just that no one in this neighborhood was friendly? "Why do you say that?" Charlotte asked him curiously. "Are you dangerous or something?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

When he asked about her tattoos, Charlotte gave him a nod. "Yes I have two. One on my shoulder, which I can't really show you because of my shirt. Though I also have one on my ankle." She leaned down, pulling her jeans up enough to show Ivan the bear cub sitting under a tree. "I was also thinking about getting a quote on the arch of my foot."

---

Leo looked over at the girl and just stared at her. It took him a few moments before tossing his gun to the ground and holding his hands up. At first he had been trying to figure out how to disarm her, but there wasn't a clean opportunity to do so yet. "No reason to shoot." He told her before glancing down at his friend. At least this girl didn't seem to dangerous. After all she didn't kill Henry immediately. "I will play along. And if you want I will pick him up and leave the warehouse."