Set pre-show. I don't think there will be spoilers beyond what Lasse and Lockon did to earn a living before joining Celestial Being

Many thanks to smartass-telepath for the fic title meme ask(s) that inspired this AU and ninthfeather for help with mafia research

Deck of Marbles

March 23, 2019

Happy birthday the-stray-liger!

For as much time as he had to stand around waiting, Lasse wasn't very good at it.

He stood next to the ornately carved wooden column outside the ballroom that was hosting the council, waiting in tense silence until he was called inside. He crossed his arms for a few moments, staring down at the tips of his steel toed boots, then uncrossed them again. Paced back in forth in a broad semi-circle around the column. Glared when Donnie St. Clare laughed at him from behind the counter.

"Take it easy, Tiger," the man laughed, his raspy voice rumbling in warm exasperation. "You look like you're stuck in a cage."

Lasse stopped and frowned.

"Why are you even in here?" Donnie asked, clinking some glasses together as he swept them off to one side and leaning forward to more comfortably puff at his electric cigar. "You need to talk to Michael or something? 'Cause I think they're gonna be in there a while."

"No," Lasse shook his head. "He told me to be here. Said someone would come out to get me."

Donnie's eyebrows shot up. "In there?" he asked, jabbing a mechanical thumb over to the ballroom doors. "Someone would come ask you inside?"

"That's right," Lasse said, trying not to bristle at the obvious doubt in the man's voice.

Donnie whistled.

"You know what's going on in there?" he asked conspiratorially a minute later.

"They're… holding a meeting. Probably discussing a job," Lasse hazarded.

"Must be some kind of job," Donnie laughed.

Lasse worried at his lip as he glanced toward the door and back again. "Why's that?" he finally asked.

"Do you know who's in there? Don Coll's got the heads of the other two families in there," Donnie said, swinging his cigar in their direction. "It's a full council. And they haven't had one of those in…" he trailed off, wracking his brain for the last time he could remember one.

Lasse ran a hand over his mouth. His fingers slowly worked across the scar on his chin as he let out a deep breath. "That's not all," he said.

Donnie quirked his head, clearly excited at the prospect of hearing even more.

"Don Mineo's in there," Lasse told him quietly.

"Oh shit," Donnie said, suddenly choking on the fumes of his cigar. He futilely waved a hand in front of his face to clear the air. "Is he really?" he coughed when he'd found his voice again, eyes darting to the doors.

Lasse didn't bother answering him as he walked back toward the column.

"I mean, I heard he was coming in but I— and they called you into this meeting?" Donnie's face twitched before breaking into a conspiratorial grin. "Big day for you, then, huh? You got any idea," he asked, bobbing his head around from side to side, "what it is they're talking about?"

Lasse looking up from his pacing and shook his head.

"Eh, don't worry about it!" he said, kicking back and running a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "Michael's recommended you for this job, yeah? And if he says you're good, then you're golden. Whatever it is."

But that didn't stop Lasse from worrying. He turned once he reached the double doors and retraced his steps back toward the counter again.

"Hey, this could be a good thing for you," Donnie continued, inhaling deeply and blowing out a long stream of dark red smoke. It swirled through the air, almost imperceptible against the lacquered walls. "It's about time they start sending you out on some real assignments," he sniffed. "So play your cards right and this'll be a big step up."

Before Lasse could reply, the doors opened. Both of them stiffened to attention as a thin man with black hair appeared. "Aeon." he called, his piercing gaze settling on Lasse as he jerked his head inside.

Lasse's world instantly narrowed to just him.

Just him and the doors.

Him and the doors and the room beyond, and the men who would decide his fate.

He didn't see Donnie giving him a sly thumbs up, no longer noticed the man who was ushering him inside. They disappeared to either side of him like the cloud of red smoke and he took a deep breath. He didn't have time for another.

They were waiting.

Lasse straightened his shoulders, lifted his head, and pressed through.

Lockon smiled and nodded a greeting to everyone in turn as he took a seat around the briefing room table.

"Didn't know you would be here too, Tieria," he said, settling in beside him.

Tieria scowled at him. "What kind of meister would I be if I weren't kept informed of our operations?" he demanded, crossing his arms and shifting angrily in his seat.

"That's true," Lockon agreed with an easy tilt of his head and Tieria only scowled harder. "Although I didn't think this was quite an official mission?" he asked, turning to Sumeragi.

She shrugged.

"It was still a good idea. Still approved by Veda," she said. "So while we're still not fully operational, I don't see why this shouldn't be classified as a mission and afforded all the attention and resources currently at our disposal. That's why," she said, voice sharpening into businesslike tones, "Chris and Feldt, you'll be running background support for Lockon and Allelujah, who will be wired with earpieces throughout."

She looked around the table, as if expecting someone to speak. When no one did, she turned to the screen and tapped two fingers against it until it bloomed into a black and white blueprint of a city block. Deftly, she pulled and flicked at the screen until it changed to a cross-section of a single street.

"Right," she said, tapping to enlarge the section she wanted. "The meet will be here, in this back street."

"That looks more like an alleyway," Lockon frowned, craning his neck around to get a better view. A few seconds later, he pushed out of his chair. "They'll be here?" he asked, pointing to the place she had indicated. "Not here?" he dragged his gloved fingers around the corner of a building to the street behind it.

"No. It looks like a through street on the map, but many of the buildings down this block have been abandoned and the back streets haven't been kept up to code. This line right here is a chain link fence," she said, swiping her hand up to change the view to a three dimensional rendition of the area. "Not particularly conducive to either of our purposes."

"So there's only one way in or out? And they've actually agreed to this meet?" he asked in amazement, sitting down again.

"There is another alleyway that cuts in here, halfway back to the main road," Sumeragi answered. "It's too narrow for cars to pass through, but still passable. This is why they thought they were being clever. They think they'll be able to leave through here and take Allelujah with them without attracting attention from the main street."

Everyone turned to look at Allelujah, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not looking at the map or meeting anyone's eyes. The knuckles of his tightly clenched fists went white.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tieria asked. "Letting him get within arm's reach of these men?"

"Why, Tieria," Sumeragi canted her head, "is that concern for a fellow meister I hear?"

"No," Tieria made a face like the very thought offended him. "Only concern that he'll manage to truly get himself captured and screw everything up."

"Ah," Sumeragi sighed.

"We haven't even identified our fourth meister yet," he pointed out, glaring hard at Allelujah, who seemed to fold in on himself as Tieria continued. "I can't see how it could possibly help the plan for us to be reduced to two before we're even ready to start our real work."

"Then you must have forgotten the part about this being a Veda-approved mission," she returned. "And if you don't have anything that's actually useful to add to this briefing, I'll remind you that you are currently the only superfluous person in the room and that you don't actually need to be here," she said, pinning him with a stare.

Tieria stared at her for a long moment, then sniffed but said nothing.

"Vito Mineo's returned to the city for the first time in years," Sumeragi said seriously, looking around at all of them. "Ever since he and Don Coll split the family business, he's preferred to do any work here from a distance. But thanks to Chris' diligent work, we've laid an enticing enough trail that he's coming out to this meet in person."

Lockon mouthed his congratulations from across the table and Chris flushed at the praise, trying to hold back a smile as Feldt bumped her shoulder against hers.

"What makes you so sure that he'll come himself?" Tieria cut in.

Sumeragi turned. "Because we've made him an offer he can't refuse," she said, the corners of her mouth twitching.