Freedom is Just an Illusion

Mother.of.Dragon's Character
Real Name: Emily Daneths
Undercover name: Roxi Thorne


The Punisher's Character
Nathan Colombo

@ The Punisher

Emily let out a small groan as she looked at the name of her undercover character. Roxie throne? What kind of name was that! Who the hell had the name of Roxie? She rubbed her face as she let out a frustrated sigh. It was ridiculous what the government was asking her to do. In order to not have to go to jail, they were having her go undercover as a mafia leader's daughter. Though she being sent to apparently what was a rival gang. Now why the Hell did they all think the rivals wouldn't just shoot her on site?! But...on the other hand Emily did not want to be stuck in prison for the next 20 years. At least this would be significantly shorter...

Emily pulled on her hair slightly before folding her arms and leaning into the booth. She had been sent to the nicest hotel in town and told to sit alone at the bar. Apparently the rivals were suppose to come pick her up here because it was a safe pick up and drop off zone....Though it was just dumb how much the cocktails were.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan in the car with his three brothers. The youngest one at seventeen l named Peter fake punched him and stuck his tongue out. "Ready to meet your blushing bride to be?" he asked with a wink. Nathan couldn't help but smile a little bit. Peter had always been the fun one and could lighten the mood no matter how serious the situation was. Nathan responded with a hair tousle he knew would annoy him. "Stop!" Peter yelled as he shoved Nathan'a hands off of him.

"You're going to make my hard work all for nothing Nate." Gabriel told him. Gabriel was the oldest one of the bunch. Leading the rest at twenty-five years of age. If someone googled big older brother Gabriel would be the first page result. A huge hulking beast of a man standing tall at six foot seven with muscles the size of bowling balls. "It took half an hour to get his hair straight."

Nathan shrunk back at little. "Now, now Gabriel. His hair was going to get tousled either way by one force or another." the last brother commented. Ian was the intelligent one of the four. When their father was picking successors he had considered Ian until Ian had politely declined. He was the one driving the car and began to pull into the hotel parking lot. After getting a reasonably close parking spot they all got out of the car. "Well. Time to meet her." Gabriel told him as he patted his shoulder and they entered the hotel bar.

@ The Punisher

Emily immediately spotted the four brothers when they entered into the bar area. Besides the fact that she happened to already know what they all looked like, it wasn't like they were being that discrete either. If they were, only one of them would have came... Though this was probably a good sign for her, for if they were going to kill her it would have been better to be quiet and for them to go unnoticed.

Though while all of them were something to stare at, Emily's eyes landed and stayed on the man in the middle, Nathan. He was the future leader and the one that she was suppose to 'marry'. Well she planned on destroying the gang before that would ever happen. And even if it were to happen, luckily it would not be official since she would be using the fake identity of Roxi Thorne. But still she wanted to get this done with as soon as possible. That way she could finally go back to the life she was living before she got caught.

As they moved closer, she pushed the glass jar with the black lily farther up the table so it was easier to see. It was meant to identify her as the one they were meant to be meeting, if they didn't already know what she looked like. Though she wanted to make sure that they came to her. It would be uncharacteristic of a gang leader's daughter to have to go chase someone down.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan pulled out the picture that Ian had searched for before they left to come here and pick her up. Peter was about to rush in when Gabriel stopped him. "Calm down. We don't want to scare her or get one of us killed. People don't know us in this town but we can't be too careful." Peter looked at Nathan and Ian as if they would back him up.

Ian looked back at Peter and nodded his head in response to Gabriel's suggestion. "Nate and I will go talk to her. Gabe, you and Peter stay here and be ready to get the car." Ian told them as he motioned for Nate to lead the way.

Nate led on as Peter poured a little. Nate knew that feeling well. His older brothers got to do what he thought was cool things for ages before Nate was wrapped up in them. Then he actually got to do them and found out they sucked. So the day he got to bring Peter in would be a proud and hilarious day.

Passing around tables, waitresses, and other customers soon the pair came up to the table she was sitting at. Nate was impressed. She was very pretty. Almost too pretty for a min boss' daughter. "Ms. Thorne I presume?" Ian asked.

@ The Punisher

Emily looked up at the two once they finally reached her booth. She was rather thankful that the other two had been sent away. "Yes. You must be Ian Colombo." Her glazed moved and landed on Nathan. "And you must be Nathan." There was no reason for her to pretend like she didn't know who was who. It wasn't like they weren't holding a picture of her... She reached over, taking another drink from her cocktail until it was gone. And with that done, Emily moved out of the booth and stood in front of them.

Her eyes stayed on Nathan for the most part. When the agency finally showed her a picture of the man, she was beyond thankful that he wasn't some hideous man she had been picturing. Instead Nathan was actually quite handsome, which made pretending to marry him so much easier. She moved her hands together, playing with one of the rings on her finger as she did so. This whole situation just felt so surreal. "Should we head out or are there a couple of questions you want to ask first?" As far as Emily knew, this part was only a pick up and nothing more. She was unsure of what the brothers would want besides her though.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nate raised his eyebrows for a moment as he looked at Ian. Ian shook his head to her question. "We have a place to be. This is simply pickup. Your family has been made aware of where we are taking you but there is a multitude of risks in staying here at the moment." Ian told her as he pulled out his phone and texted Gabriel to go grab the car.

"We're going to stay for a few moments. Then leave after Gabe pulls up." Nathan told her as he and Ian sat down in the booth and attempted to act like they belonged there. Nathan felt super awkward so he was glad that Ian was there because he had a knack for establishing a rapport with nearly everyone.

"I trust your flight in was to your satisfaction?" Ian asked.

@ The Punisher

Emily moved back into the booth once those two got in. She was fine with waiting quietly for them to get in the car. She was rather annoyed that she had somehow managed to get herself into this whole situation. And what kinda of gangs created arranged marriages anyways?! Emily let out a small sigh as she started to look around the bar.

Though her eyes went back to Ian when he started to speak. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he asked about her flight. "It was fine." She said nonchalantly. If he wanted small talk, Emily was sure she would be able to fill that need. Hopefully with something more interesting than her flight too. "So...there's four of you hm?" Emily asked before her eyes landed on Nathan. "You all must get into some pretty crazy trouble. Have any of you ever stolen an animal from a zoo?"

Emily looked down at Ian's phone, waiting for it to go off so they could get into the car.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Ian sat back and chuckled for a moment. "Yes, all four of us. Bound together by birth in a bond unbreakable." he told her. "As for stealing an animal from the zoo. We've never done that. But Gabriel and I did leave Nate in the monkey exhibit once."

Nate wrapped his arms around his head and slammed his head on the table. Ian always opened up with this story no matter who he was talking to. "Ian, please. No." Nate mocked begged.

"Now, now little brother. You have your stories. I have mine." Ian chided him. "Our story begins when Nate was seven years old." Right as he was about to continue Peter came back in. "Oh dear, time to go."

Nathan breathed a sigh of relief as Ian got up and went over ot Peter. "Sorry about, all of this." Nate told her as he massaged the back of his neck. "I know this is super weird." he didn't say much else as they left the hotel and got into the car. Peter and Nate slid into the back while Gabriel got in the passenger seat and Ian took the wheel.

@ The Punisher

Emily looked at the two with wide eyes as Ian started on a story about putting Nathan in a monkey exhibit. She actually was quite excited to hear about the whole thing so she was a little disapponted when they were interrupted about heading back to the base. Though it was better that they were leaving now. Hopefully where they were bringing her had a decent bed.

She followed them out to the car, but stopped walking and listened to Nathan as he started to apologize. All she could do was nod since he headed off to quickly. But when everyone piled up into the car, Emily made sure to slid in next to Nathan, which was what she thought she was expected to do. With that done, she looked up at him with pure curiousity in her eyes. The agency had told her a lot about him but nothing about his personality. She wondered what kind of man he was.

Though as the car started to move, Emily leaned over and whispered to him. "This whole situation is very weird." Emily whispered to him before smirking a bit. "Plus now I'm concerned that I'm engaged to a monkey that they pulled out of an exhibit instead of their brother." Emily joked lightly. She wasn't much of a jokester but she felt awkward in this situation and was trying to break the tension a bit.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
(bit of a lore idea here. Also sorry for the late response. It's final's week here).
Nathan nodded his head. "As you your family has no doubt dealt with there are three big mafia families in North America. Your's, ours, and the Valentine family. While we have maintained connections here in Chicago. This is still primarily run by the Valentine family." Nathan explained to her as they buckled up and Gabriel began to drive towards their destination.

"Indeed. We shall be leaving as soon as we get to the airport." Ian told her. "All of your luggage and things are already at the family home."

Peter looked at Roxi. "Welcome to the family." he told her as they pulled into the airport. "Looks like the family jet just arrived. We'll be able to get out of here quickly."

@ The Punisher
(It's okay! I just finished with finals week.)

Emily just gave Nathan a nod when he mentioned the Valentines. She knew about them but knew that there was really no reason for her to ever have to deal with them. The valentines were not her targets and there was no reason for them to go after her when the rest of her 'family' was moving about to take care of them.

Once they were in the airport, Emily slid out of the car and waited for the guys to start leading the way. While she was sure she could guess where their jet was and what it looked like, it was probably best to just let them lead. As they headed over there, Emily turned to Peter. "Where is the family home?" She asked him. No one at the agency had mentioned where it was, but that was probably because they didn't know where the colombos were bringing her until earlier today.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Peter looked at her and smiled. "A little aways from New York City." he told her before pulling out his phone and began to text on it. Nathan nodded as they turned the car back into the rental place and grabbed their tickets and all of the things they would need to get through security.

Nathan hated riding on airplanes. They just felt like they could fall apart at any minute as they soared through the air. A bolt of lightning, random turbulence, anything that could knock them off course. They headed to security where they emptied everything out of their pockets and handed it to the personnel who put their belongings into a plastic tub.

After they scanned, prodded, and wanded him into near oblivion the five was allowed to go through and board the plane. The plane wasn't as flashy as something called the family private jet would lead someone to think. Nathan's parent's were still a little old school and didn't buy as many flashy things as one would think considering they had more money than god at this point.

"Make yourself comfortable. We'll be leaving soon." Nathan told her as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of sweet tea.

@ The Punisher

Emily looked around the plane, taking it all in before heading over to the fridge and grabbing herself a drink. She was surprised that it wasn't super showy. When they said private jet, Emily was expecting something crazy...though having their own private jet was crazy enough she supposed. Emily then sat down on one of the airplane chairs, messing with the ring on her finger as she did so. She was able to update her location to the agency through the ring. Once she knew it had been sent out, Emily let do so it looked like she was no longer fiddling with it.

She then leaned back into the seat and started to look at the four brothers. Emily found it a bit odd that all four of them were sent to go pick her up. Maybe they thought she would cause trouble for them? That or Nathan had been concerned about meeting her which also was a possibility. She let out a small hum before looking out of the window for a moment. Emily wasn't so interested in talking to them as she was in watching them. With her nerves about this situation, Emily felt like it was better if she kept her mouth closed.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan sat down next to Roxi. He was unsure what to say at first and was unsure why he had even sat down. So he was glad when Peter walked over and asked, "It's going to be about a three or four hour flight. Do you wanna watch a movie?"

Nathan took the brief moment to stand back up and walk over to Gabriel. "Jesus dude, I don't even know her. Why the hell am I so fucking nervous?" Gabriel was pouring himself a whiskey and coke before handing it to Nathan. "Drink that and calm down. You're just jittery. Remember at the end of the day she's a person. Just like you." he told him.

Nathan took a sip and felt the whiskey burn as it slid down his throat. "Aight. Hey, thanks for coming with me. I feel like it was easier with you guys than if we brought who dad recommended."

Gabriel patted his shoulder. "No problem buddy." he told him before Nathan left to go sit back down and see what he had missed.

@ The Punisher

As Nathan suddenly got up, Emily's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Why in the world did he sit by her and then leave immediately? She pressed a hand to her cheek as she looked at the man with concern. What in the world was going on? And how the Hell did she find herself in this mess?

Though with Peter still standing in front of her, Emily pulled herself together and looked up at him. "Sure." She told him before giving him a small smile. "What should we watch?" Emily asked as she started to look through the movies. They had a wide selection and it was just a matter of finding one that the boys would watch. At this point Emily did not really care what it was since whatever was put on she would probably mentally check out anyways.

When Nathan came back over, Emily looked up at him before looking back down at the movies. "Is there anything that you want to watch?" She asked him, somewhat wondering if he was just going to get up and leave again.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan took another sip of his cocktail before looking over at her. "Not particularly. Whatever you want to watch sounds fine." he told her as the pilot told them to buckle their seatbelts as the plane was about to take off.

The four brothers all sat down and buckled in as they felt the plane back up and get into position. Soon they were in the air and on the way to New York. For about five minutes Nathan had a deathgrip on the arm rests. He really hated flying even if it was the best and safest way to travel. He'd take a horse and buggy even.

@ The Punisher

Emily glanced over at Nathan as she noticed his grip on the seats. She wasn't sure what to do exactly though. On one hand, Nathan was her fiancé and it was her job to get him to like and trust her. Though on the other, Emily actually did not know Nathan that well and was unsure if he would even want her to notice his fear of flying.

So what she did was lightly place her hand on top of Nathan's and gave him a soft smile. Hopefully, it would comfort him somewhat but it didn't force him to say anything about the situation. While she kept her hand on top of his, Emily choose an action movie for the three of them to watch, figuring that the boys on the plane would like that. "I heard that this movie was pretty good." Emily told them before she leaned back into the airplane chair.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan felt her put her hand on top of his. He was confused for a second but he felt himself starting to calm down just a little bit. His grip started to loosen for a moment until after a few minutes he was relaxed enough to start drinking his cocktail again. He made a mental note to thank her when they got done flying and got back to the homestead.

Gabriel and Ian walked from the snack bar. Ian had a big bowl of popcorn. "Ah, the new James Bond movie. Excellent choice Ms. Roxie." he told her as he sat down next to Peter and Gabriel sat in an oversized chair built for him. After about thirty minutes an alarm beeped on his phone and he got up to excuse himself. He went into the bathroom and locked the door behind him as he pulled out a medicine bottle and took a couple pills out of it.

He put the pills in his mouth and then turned the faucet on and cupped his hands. Letting them fill up with water before bringing them to his lips and letting the pills wash down his throat. He turned the faucet off and then wiped his hands dry before joining everyone. Sitting down next to Roxie and easing back into his seat like he had before.

@ The Punisher
As the movie went on, Emily wrapped one of the blankets on the airplane around her body as she pulled her feet up onto the chair and crossed them underneath her. She leaned completely back as she stared, somewhat blankly at the movie. Her mind was just whirling with everything she needed to remember and do now that she was officially undercover. Emily may have been training for this moment for a year, but the real thing felt different than what the agency put her through. Most of all she was afraid of getting caught in a lie and then getting shot by one of them.

Though when Nathan's phone went off, Emily snapped out of it and watched him as he headed off to the bathroom and came back. She wondered what it was for...but she supposed it really only mattered if it would be useful to the agency. So she leaned back into the chair and went back to the movie. Though soon she back to thinking through her cover story.

By the end of the plane ride, Emily had managed to calm herself down. She knew her cover story by heart, and it was just a matter of not saying anything that Emily wouldn't be able to explain. Once the plan had landed, Emily got up and looked at the four, waiting for them to either speak or lead the way.