THE ROME HIT
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own John Wick or its characters.
Summary: Extended scenes of John Wick gearing up to take out Gianna D'Antonio.
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John arrived at JFK via cab, and was immediately shown to the private section specially reserved for members of the Continental.
He was escorted, via private car, out to a private airstrip on the outskirts of JFK.
The car parked right in front of a Gulfstream 500, a pilot wearing the standard flight uniform and a pair of sunglasses standing at the side of the stairs that lead into the plane.
John thanked the driver of the car and walked towards the plane.
"It's good to see you again, Mr. Wick." the pilot said to him.
"Jeffrey." John acknowledged the pilot.
"And where are we going today?" he asked the hitman.
"Rome." John said.
"Haven't been there in a while. Have you, sir?" he said with a smile.
"No. I haven't." he said as he looked at the plane. "New plane." he commented.
"Hotels get facelifts. Planes, get replaced." Jeffrey stated.
"Of course." John said as he walked up the stairs into the Gulfstream. Jeffrey followed him in and headed to the cockpit.
John went over to the middle seat, nearest the wings, on the right side, and sat down. The fine leather was soft and comfortable. It looked like it had been newly polished and treated.
A beautiful and shapely stewardess, with short black hair and tanned skin, approached John, giving him a small bow.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Wick. My name is Mindy, I'll be your stewardess for your flight." the woman said.
"What happened to Sarah?" John asked.
"Came down with the flu two days ago." she replied.
"I see." he nodded.
"Can I get you anything before takeoff?" she asked.
"Bourbon." he answered.
"Ice?"
"Yes."
"You have your choice of meals today."
"What do you recommend?"
"The steak."
"Medium well. Onions on top, vegetables on the side."
"Of course, sir." Mindy said as she headed back to get his drink.
John sat back in the fine-leather seat of the G500 plane, taking a brief moment to enjoy how the plane looked, smelled and felt. It wasn't what he usually did, but he had taken time before to admire the facelift that the New York Continental had received when he last visited it. Even if it was four years ago.
Mindy brought John his drink, seated comfortably on a tray.
"Prepare for takeoff. Flight time to Rome will be approximately 8 hours. Please sit back and enjoy your flight." Jeffrey said over the intercom.
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(Rome, Italy)
After checking in to the Continental, John set about to gather his necessary resources.
His first stop, The Cartographer.
John entered the small bookstore and approached the lone middle-aged man (if the graying parts of his hair and beard were any indication of his age) in the gray suit and pants, white and black sweater-vest, spotted tie and striped long-sleeved shirt, who had been reading peacefully before John arrived.
"Mr. Wick." the Cartographer said as he smiled at the assassin.
Having been called ahead, the man knew why John was there. Without a word, John was lead to the back of the shop, where the Cartographer opened up the rear wall, to reveal a large hidden room. Inside the room were several special books and maps, and a few other interesting trinkets, such as a suit of armor in the corner.
"I am quite excited to show you something." the Cartographer said as he hustled himself over to the work table. He flipped a switch, and the table itself lit up with a bright, but not blinding, light. "First..." he said as he reached for the maps.
The first one he pulled out looked very old, like an ancient parchment of some kind from the days of Ancient Rome.
"This is the original map of the D'Antonio estate. Here, you have all the ancient ruins." he said as he waved his hands over the archaic map. "This, of course, is the topographical map." he said as he carefully slid it aside and pulled another one up to the table. "This is the map of the temple and catacombs underneath." he said as he showed John the map which was more of a side-view of the temple and grounds of the D'Antonio estate.
John could see the catacombs that ran underneath the temple estate, which showed several entrances and exits, as well as at least two different levels of the catacombs themselves. That was good to know.
The Cartographer then set the ancient second-map aside, placing it onto another table, and reached under the table itself to grab something else.
"And this, is the modern blueprint." he said as he pulled the blue-paper and white-outline map of the D'Antonio estate and catacombs. The details were finer and much more easy to interpret. That, and there was writing to indicate what was what. "There are one, two, three gates." he said, pointing to a specific are, which lead out to a street that John was familiar with. "You will need to pass through all three to reach the catacombs."
The Cartographer then stepped back and pulled something out of a drawer that was behind him. It was a set of very-old looking keys connected to a large talisman-like keyring. These were the keys to the gates that lead into the catacombs.
John looked at the man as he fished something out of his pocket.
"Well done." John said as he handed the man three gold coins.
He then left, with the blueprints and keys in hand.
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His second stop was to The Tailor.
John entered the textile mill and approached an Asian-looking woman in a colorful apron, as she was working on a new dress. He pulled out a gold coin, placed it on the table, and slid it over to her. The woman took the coin, then got up and lead John to the back of the mill.
The seamstress lead John to a row of suits and other hanging clothes, before turning a corner and approaching two men wearing black suits, guarding a finely polished pair of wooden doors. She flashed the gold coin and the men immediately opened up the doors, allowing both the woman and John to step inside a large room that was much higher quality than the rest of the mill. To the right was an open bar with several varieties of liquor, and glasses, on it. Straight ahead of him were a pair of comfortable-looking couches, in the middle of several glass cases and a closet-row full of shirts and pants. Some of them had weapons.
Between the couches, was a trio of full-length mirrors.
Three men were at the back talking when John and the seamstress walked in. The head tailor looked over and smiled as he approached John.
"Buongiorno, Signor Wick." a middle-aged and balding man in a fine suit said as he extended his hand to John.
"Ciao, Angelo." John said as he shook the tailors hand.
"Welcome back to Rome." Angelo said in English. "Would you be in need of a new suit?" Angelo asked in Italian.
"I am." John replied in English.
"Right this way, please." he said, leading John over to the full-length mirrors.
John removed his current jacket and put on a special tailors jacket that they used to custom-make their customers orders.
"Tell me, Mr. Wick, is this a formal event of a social affair?" Angelo asked as he took John's measurements, and passing them off to his assistants.
"Social." John replied, staring himself in the mirror.
"And is this for day or evening?" Angelo asked.
"I need one for day and one for night." he said.
"In what style?"
"Italian."
"How many buttons?"
"Two."
"Trousers?"
"Tapered."
"How about the lining?"
"Tactical."
"We have just the thing." Angelo said as he instructed the seamstress to give John a demonstration.
The seamstress took a gun, a Heckler and Kosh according to John's eye, took aim, and fired at one of the jackets hanging on a torso-mannequin figure.
John watched as the seamstress then took the jacket off the figure and brought it over to Angelo.
"Silicon carbide discs. Ceramic matrices. Accompanying laminates. Cutting-edge body armor." he explained as he removed a thin piece of material that was inside the jacket's lining. "We just sew it between the fabric and the lining. Zero penetration." he said as John examined the material, which had several bullet slugs ingrained into it, but did not show any sign of breaking through. "However... quite painful, I'm afraid." Angelo said with a wince, indicating that the bullets would not kill him, but he would be bruised and injured.
A trade-off. John thought as he listened to what Angelo was saying. The material was thin, so it wouldn't kill him, but he would feel it.
And he was fine with that.
"Could you do a rush order?" John asked.
"I sure can. Where would you like to have it sent?" Angelo asked.
"The hotel." he said.
"Certainly." he said with a nod. "I can have the evening suit sent there in a couple of hours. The day suit, of course, will arrive there shortly afterwards. Unless you want them both at the same time."
"I'll need the evening suit as soon as possible."
"Of course." Angelo said as John handed him five coins.
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Johns final stop was to The Wine Steward.
Returning to the Continental of Rome, John immediately went to the concierge.
"Can I help you, Mr. Wick?" the beautiful dark-skinned woman asked in a rich voice.
"Is the sommelier in?" John asked Lucia, the Continental of Rome's concierge.
"I have never known him not to be." she replied as she pointed to his office.
Turning several corners and into the back of the hotel itself, John stepped into the private room that was set up for both wine and weaponry. He walked passed several tables, on top of which sat many expensive-looking and fine bottles of wine. He made his way into the center of the room, where a serious, yet calm-looking man in a suit, with a gold medallion around his neck, was examining a new handgun he had just received for his armory.
The sommelier turned and saw John approach his main display table. The table itself was simple and rectangular, but had a row of lights emitting from the edges so as to illuminate the merchandise set up on it.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Wick." the sommelier said to John. "It's been a long time."
John nodded to the man before speaking to him.
"I'd like a tasting." John said simply.
The sommelier smiled and then turned to the display cases to his right.
"Of course, Mr. Wick. I know of your past fondness for the German varietals, but I can wholeheartedly endorse the new breed of Austrians. Glock .34 and .26." he said as he pulled John's new primary gun and his backup.
John examined the guns, checking the sights, feeling the hand grips, and the loading of the clips.
"Recontoured grips. Flared magwell for easier reloads. And I know you'll appreciate the custom porting." the sommelier said as John physically examined the handguns.
John agreed with his choices.
"What's next?" he asked.
"I need something robust. Precise." John said.
"'Robust. Precise.'" he repeated, then raised an eyebrow as he smirked.
He pulled a large automatic rifle from the row of weapons behind him and presented it to John.
"AR-15, 11.5-inch. Compensated with an ion-bonded bolt carrier. Trijicon accupoint with one-six magnification." he explained as John examined the weapon, feeling it light and strong in his hands.
John set the weapon down on the table and turned to the sommelier.
"Could you recommend anything for the end of the night? Something big, bold." John asked.
"May I suggest the Benelli M4?" the sommelier said to him.
He handed John the automatic shotgun, the weapon itself looking more tactical than a standard shotgun that John had used before. He had, of course, used a Bernelli M3 before, but this was a little different.
"Custom bolt carrier release and charging handle. Textured grips, should your hands get... wet. An Italian classic." he said as John checked the reload function, cradling the gun a certain way so as to make it easier to reload the necessary shells without making it awkward to reposition should he need to fire off again quickly.
He set the 12-gauge, semi-automatic shotgun on the table.
"Desert?" John asked.
"Desert." the sommelier said with a smile.
Reaching behind him and pulled out a case with several fine-looking knives in it. He pulled back on the top level, revealing it to be a split-level display case.
"The finest cutlery. All freshly stoned." the sommelier said with pride.
John choose one of the knives and held it up to examine it thoroughly.
"I trust you're satisfied with your selections?" the sommelier asked.
"I am." John said with a nod.
"Shall I have everything sent to your room?" he asked.
"Yes. Thank you."
"Excellent."
John placed several coins down on the table and then turned to walk away.
"Mr. Wick?" the sommelier said, causing John to pause and look back. "Do enjoy your party." he said.
John nodded and then proceeded to his room.
He would order dinner and take a nap so that he would be fully rested before his late night rendevous with Gianna D'Antonio.
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Authors Notes:
Just a little something I came up with after watching John Wick Chapter 2. The whole scene, or scenes, where he is preparing for his hit job on Gianna was just so cool. Like he knew everyone he was interacting with. Like it wasn't just a job he was doing, like he had worked with them many times before. And of course, there was the little matter of how he got to and from Rome from New York. There wasn't a scene where he took a plane or anything. So I just added something for him to use, namely a service that would be provided to certain people in the John Wick universe.
I'm not really interested in making an additional chapter for this, seeing there to be very little variance from the movie itself. I just thought to do something else, since I already made a short story for John Wick.
This was mostly for my own amusement.
Please let me know what you think.