The Family [Finished]

[yamikuronue]

Vic looks out the window. "I almost died a couple weeks ago," he says, quietly. "I'm not going to provoke them now."

[accalia]

"If you almost died because of them I'd say this is a Fuc- a damn fine time to tell them to take a five mile walk on Georges Pier." Bear says, hastily replacing a swear word and naming a pier by the water side that's only about two hundred and fifty feet long and barely wide enough for one fisherman to walk down.

[yamikuronue]

Vic lowers his head, his hands trembling. "I was... there were some guys, they had a gun... it was... I still have nightmares. Tony took a bullet saving me."

[accalia]

"I wondered how that happened. Sounds like him too. Too brave and stupid for his own good. Best friend you can have in a pinch, even if he does tend to forget about his own hide." Bear says softly " Sounds to me like you need to get out while you can. If you stay in it won't be long before they make you do one of the big seven, and then none of us can turn a blind eye anymore. And i've got the feeling that that would be the least of it anyway. If you're getting nightmares from what you went through already going further would probably break you."

[yamikuronue]

"But the money... the money's good." he says, softly.

[accalia]

"Is the money worth the nightmares, or worse?"

[yamikuronue]

"Just the money, maybe not, but... keeping the house... for my brothers, I can... I can handle it."

[accalia]

"hmm. helping your family is admirable. Okay answer me this then. how much do you get paid for all this? on average per month i mean."

[yamikuronue]

He names a figure; it's considerably more than he's getting for his work at the station, more than he'd expect to get at his age, but it's not astronomical.

[accalia]

Bear smiles "So..... about two-third what we pay our junior investigators." He says after a moment of calculation. "I always knew crime didn't pay but i didn't realize it payed so little."

[yamikuronue]

"There's four of us. We've managed to keep the house, and there's a lot of debt we're paying down. So it's tight as it is. Moving out helped, because I eat a lot, but..."

[accalia]

"More money would be nice? Especially since i'm pretty sure Tony hasn't even thought to ask for anything from you for your room and board?"

[yamikuronue]

He shakes his head. "I know what he'd say if I asked: you're family, no charge." His approximation of Tony's voice isn't too far off the mark, either. "I took the job at the station because one of my brothers had some... medical bills that needed paying. But he couldn't work for a bit, at least, not good jobs, so that adds up."

[accalia]

"Yeah, that's Tony alright." Bear agrees. "and theres no talking him down from that decision either."

[yamikuronue]

"I've been helping with the house some, trying to make it up to him. If I'm family, that means I should do cooking, cleaning, and look after him. That's worth probably the same, right?" Vic looks up, searching Bear's face in earnest, hoping to see signs of approval.