CYPHER

MI HERMANA...

Dean looked around at the faces of the men and women that had c****d their guns at them , they all did not look like they really understood the concept of joking or he might have made a brilliant joke .

He slowly raised his hands and signified for the others to raise their hands too .

Dean wanted desperately to believe that they would recognize that they had done a good deed here and leave them be .

Top dog stepped away from Dean's side and moved towards the man without a shirt .

" Carlos , I brought them in . I brought them to help Martha and they just finished , I was escorting them out ".

Dean got the vague feeling that Top dog was explaining himself a little bit too much for someone that had seemed super confident a while back .

The woman giggled , her hair bouncing as she did while the thin man's facial features widened even more .

Carlos only tilted his head to observe Dean and the others more.

He pointed a finger at Dean .

" Him ..."

His voice was soft and gentle, like an Opera singer .

And then he pointed a finger at Jade .

" And Him... "

And then pointed at May .

" And Her ... "

And then at Blade .

" Even him ..."

He finally turned his finger to Top dog , pushing this fingers softly into his chest before letting it fall down .

" Juan , you brought all of this people into my home even after everything . After all of the rules and the promises and all of the oaths ".

Top dog was a Juan ??? Plot twist !!

Dean had not noticed that he was Latino at all, maybe because Dean had not even noticed him .

Juan took several steps backwards as he frantically pointed at Martha who was still laying on the table .

" I know Carlos , I know all of those vows that I made but I was the reason she fought and she was floundering and none of us knew what to do and we tried to ... You know ?? We tried to fix her shoulder that had been dislocated but we only made it worse , so I asked for their help , that is really all. That is really all that happened , nothing else happened ".

He turned around , pointing at everyone else in the room as he did .

" I swear nothing else happened and all this people are my witnesses ".

Dean had began to feel uneasy with the subtle pleading tone in Juan's voice , he was supposed to be a top dog but he was not even showing his teeth , what the hell was Dean supposed to expect now ?

Carlos walked forward to the table to observe Martha , he pushed a lock of hair out of her face and bent to kiss her head before lifting his face back to Juan .

" You got her involved in the fight Juan but it was her choice , she could have refused to do it ".

He tapped Juan's shoulders before grabbing him and kissing both of his cheeks .

This felt a lot like a Jesus situation , maybe because Carlos' hair was also mid length and he had that serious Latino male look going on.

" I told you , everyone that is not under my protection is an enemy and because , just because I forgave that you came back with a defeat , she came back with one too from the same team and as if that was not enough , you brought them into the centre ?? My home?!? "

Carlos' voice had deepened over the last few words as he walked past Juan , heading for the chairs at the end of the room .

The purple haired lady and the man with the wide face followed after him along with their small , armed detail .

Juan fell on his knees in the centre of the room .

" Please , it is all my fault . If I had never called her into a fight then none of this would have happened , I am so sorry Carlos ".

" I will do anything you want me to do , I will fight in the gauntlets everyday for you ".

Dean was sensing some serious issues here , he turned slightly to make sure everyone on his team seemed okay.

Carlos reached the end of the room and sat on the highest chair , when he turned around to face them with his legs crossed , he was holding a gun .

Dean hissed , this was not going well .

Dean looked at Jade when he noticed he was poking his stomach for some reason .

He realized that Jade was trying to return his gun to him and quickly let it fall into his pockets .

Carlos was using the gun to stroke his shoulder length hair .

" So , you decided to save Martha's life at the risk of the whole of our operation ? "

Operation?

It seemed someone was lying to Carlos about what kind of retreat this was.

The other two organizers arranged theirselves on two of the chairs around the table while everyone else quietly watched .

Carlos hit the butt of the gun on his head and made an ' Aha ' sound .

" I have the perfect idea since we can not kill these guys after they after all helped save Martha's life , we can keep them alive ".

" You will take their tongues and eyes out so they can not see or speak any evil , we could just leave them to hear as much evil as they want ".

The rest of his council laughed with him while Jade whimpered by his side .

Juan was not moving and Carlos was watching him not move .

" Well , what is it going to be ? Those pricks that cost you your streak , Martha's streak and our reputation here or our lovely Martha who did nothing but listen to your s**t ? "

Dean looked around at all the guns that were pointed at them and looked back at the door .

There was no way they could all get out without getting shot at .

He turned to May and Blade and made eye contact with them , apologizing for dragging them into this mess .

He could have allowed them leave with Juan's men then or even refused to treat Martha all together .

May rolled her eyes and Blade only grinned while Jade continued to whimper and shiver behind him .

" Well !?!? What is your decision, Juan ? "

Juan continued to fidget on his knees as he tried to beg his way out of the situation .

It seemed a little bit basic to keep their fate in him .

" Carlos , think of it like this , there is no point in taking their eyes or their tongues . We could just keep them here , you know ? Keep them tied here till it is time for the gauntlets . We will starve them of food and water and make them fight . That way when they lose sloppily , we would have gained our reputation back ".

Juan had gotten on his feet somewhere during his description and even though Dean was one of the subjects of contention he had to mention that Juan's plan was quite shitty , especially with the set of people he had listening .

Carlos looked like he had a very large opinion on men and their general attributes .

He of course did not say this out loud but that was not the case for May .

" f*****g shitty plan you have there 'Juan' ".

She drawled his name out in such a messed up manner that it would have been impossible to believe the plan had been about her .

Carlos chuckled at the front and they all turned their attention to him .

" She is right , Juan . Your plan is not just shitty , it is shameful and not something a real man would ever think to do ! ".

Carlos' voice curled around the R of real , elongating it with his accent .

Dean smiled , he could have easily been a psychologist or at the very least , one of those people that made up personalities and tests for others to take on the internet .

" Juan , a real man should always be decisive . A real man should not falter , a real man don't need to be getting assurances from everyone to do what he got to do , a real man does and waits for others to follow ...."

Carlos' speech on Real men of 2021 was interrupted by the sound of a buzzer going off , the kind of sound that buzzers usually made when someone gave wrong answers .

Everyone turned to find the source of the buzzing but everyone at the back had stone expressions that kept them from laughing out .

Blade and May were doing the most though and Dean sighed .

If he was going to go blind or deaf , he could never allow May or Blade be the last people he saw or heard .

Carlos cleared his throat noisily to gain back the attention he had just lost and we all turned to look at him again .

" A Real man always knows how to prioritize important over not important or not so important and since you have no idea how that is done , allow me to teach you ".

The gun in Carlos' hand went off and Dean froze with shock and apprehension , that went from zero to hundred really fast.

He felt nothing , it was not him .

He turned to Jade whose eyes were closed but he was unharmed .

He whirled around to Blade and May and they were both okay too .

The bastard had shot Juan .

But when Dean turned to Juan , he had not been shot , he did look shocked though like the bullet had passed right by his side .

He fell to the ground in what Dean still thought of as shock but then he was beginning to sob and crawling towards Dean , that was when it dawned on Dean .

He looked at Carlos' gun , it was in the direction of the table that Martha lay .

He could not have ,who would shoot an unconscious person ?

Juan's sobbing had intensified into a hearthrobbing sound that filled the room with anguish as he lifted her body and wailed while continuing to mutter a word that Dean had heard too often in Spanish classes.

He was saying It over and over again.

" Mi Hermana ".

" Mi Hermana ".

" Mi Hermana ".