Macy's Corner Cafe

Chapter 14

The mansion is impressive. Peter gawks at everything, but he's still disciplined as he is in the presence of a top ranking officer, Corporal John Lance. The respect he has for this man is beyond words. Three years his senior, John has seen more action than some forty year old vets.

Peter went on many missions in his time in the army, but none was more organized and precise than the ones John lead. He made sure the whole team came out alive. Every time.

"Corporal, you're back!" A loud voice snapped Peter from his daze. A young man, maybe in his early twenties comes running down the stairs. Corporal? He watches the youngster bounding like a small kid, making a beeline towards John. Tackling him in a sour attempt. It looks like he just ran into a solid wall. John is not even budging. "Damn, still as strong as ever." The boy smirks, his curly black hair bouncing everywhere, rubbing his shoulder. "Paxton. Still a busy body, I see." John laughs as he takes the young man in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles in his hair. " Peter, meet the geek of the Black Dragons. Anything to do with IT and electronics, Paxton's your man." John states, releasing a grumbling Paxton, attempting to fix his unruly hair. "Good to meet you." Peter says, extending a hand to Paxton. "Same." Paxton says, as he shakes Peter's hand.

"Geek, what's with all the noise.... Corporal! Hey, Shovel. Corporal's back." A man calls as he walks through the door. Soon another buff man joins. Twins. Peter looks up at the two massive men standing next to each other. Peter himself in 1.80 meters tall and he is looking up at these two giants.

"Peter, meet Shovel and Dig. They are the clean-up team. Their real names are Sam and Dan. Identical twins. Works like clockwork." John smirks. "You give us too much credit, Sir." The two smile as they greet Peter and John.

"Why are you here?" Paxton "Geek" asks. "The Boss summoned me and Peter for a meeting. Guess something came up." John states as he makes his way deeper into the house. "Must be the one in the conference room then. Auto and Gunner is already there. We're just waiting for Keys, Bullet and Doc. Jackson and Boss will join us soon. They're on their way from Mrs.Palmer. The Boss still visits her every week." Paxton says as they walk down the hallway.

"How is Mrs. Palmer doing?" John asks, a hint of worry in his voice. He never met Mason's father, but by what he heard. Life with him was not easy. "She's still locking herself up from time to time. But she's more relaxed around the lot of us. Even starting to call us her boys." Pax answered.

Paxton is the youngest on the team. The guys are a bit overprotective when it comes to him. They almost lost him at one point when an attack was launched at the office. An enemy g**g went on a shoot-out and Pax got hit. All the guys went feral and the enemy was overthrown in mere minutes.

As they enter the Conference Room, two more men met them. "Auto, Gunner. Meet Peter Drew. He was in my team in the military. Best sharp shooter I know, apart from Jackson." John introduced Peter with pride in his voice. "Welcome to the g**g. Good to have you back , Corporal. Now Jackson can get off our asses." The man they call Gunner, smirked.

"I heard that." Jackson says as he walks into the room. "Damnit." Gunner sulks. Mason follows close behind along with three more men. "Gentlemen, welcome to the meeting. Sorry that it was at such a short notice." Mason begins as he makes his way to the head of the huge table. "I take it you all met already. Mr. Drew, you are new at the table. Have you met all the guys, yet?" He asks Peter. "I have, Sir. Except for the four gentlemen who entered with you just now." Peter says as he motions in the direction of Jackson, Doc, Bullet and Keys.

"Very well. Jackson is my driver, Doc next to him. The name speaks for himself as well as Keys. He is your locksmith. Bullet is in Firearms along with Gunner" Mason introduces the rest of the g**g. Peter will remember the names by next week, he hopes. Wait, he's part of a g**g now? Where did that come from? He looks at John. He seems relaxed. He knows these guys. They are like a big family. At least, that is the feeling he gets.

"Guys, may I have you attention, please. I have a announcement to make. As from today, John and Peter will join The Black Dragons. John will be Second in Command once again. I think it's only appropriate to give the position back to him. If any of you have a problem, please speak now." Mason says. But huge cheer erupts from the men, sitting around the table. Second in Command. What does that mean?

"Peter will be John's right hand as they were a strong team in the military already. They know each other's motives and operations." Mason states as the nods go around the table. Everyone is happy with the decisions. John has a side smile on his lips. It's good to be back. He missed the Guys.

"Now, the main reason I asked you here." Mason speaks, his voice stern once again. "Geek, please." He says as he looks toward Paxton. "Oh, right." Paxton utters and jumps up. Knocking the chair over. "Paxton!" Mason says, his voice an octave higher than earlier. "Sorry, Boss." Paxton apologizes and grabs the chair to put it upright again. Then makes his way to the front. Laptop in hand.

An uneasiness creeps into John's chest. Something is not right. He tries to ignore the feeling, but it only gets worse. He tries to focus on what Paxton says. Suppressing the tightness in his gut.

"You all are familiar with the rival g**g, The Crouching Tigers, right?" Paxton asks as he shows the g**g photos on the screen of the Rival g**g's head and Second in Command. A few nods can be seen in the darkened room. "You all know Mr. Hill's son, Derek?" He states as he shows a photo of a young man in his mid to late twenties. Dark blond hair, green eyes and a mouth full of pearly whites. A heartthrob.

"Well, he is snooping around in our business and it's getting personal." Paxton says as he shows the next clip. Macy's face appears on the screen. John almost chokes on his water and whips his head around to look at Mason.