ARROW INFERNO [Man X Man]

Chapter 17: A perfect balance of danger and charm...Duty Calls!

Stanley 'STAN' Norris vs. Ian 'WILL' Williams

Pix: An unamused Stan

Video: Without You by Mariah Carey

Dedicated to: Hridita_Saha

Apologies for the long delay, y'all.

Enjoy!

***

Sydney, Australia

In the basement of an abandoned building, a roguish-looking hunk who looked to be in his late twenties let out a piercing whistle for silence. Eight pairs of eyes focused on him with rapt attention. After all, he called the shots.

"I can tell you're excited," Jaxon Spencer bellowed from where he stood in the doorway. His hard gaze shifted from one face to the other. "But don't count your chickens before they're hatched. "You will only get that money if you execute the job I'm about to give you to my satisfaction."

"We won't disappoint you," One of the eight men said with confidence, eliciting agreeing nods from the others.

"Succeed, and you're set for life with your share of that money you're all excited about. Fuck up and you'll find yourself in the lion's den with no help." Jaxon stared the men down.

"What do we have to do?" The oldest amongst the men asked.

"See that building?" Jaxon said as he switched on the projector on the desk. The men in the room stared at the building on the screen with grave expressions on their faces. "We're going to steal something from there."

"ASIS?" Gasped one of the men. "How the fuck do you expect anyone to rob the Australian Secret Intelligence Service?" he questioned harshly.

"You don't need to know the how." Jaxon shrugged. "Just show up when and where I tell you to that's all."

"Hey, I know you're paying us to do a job but you need to tell us the plan," The man argued. "Surely you can't expect us to just blindly show up. What if you've arranged for the police to arrest us? I for one, am no fool."

"So leave," Jaxon said quietly. Too quietly. His dark eyes bore into the eyes of the speaker. "Now!"

"I was only..."

"If you don't leave now, I'm going to break your neck." It wasn't what was said really. It was how it was said. The man quickly grabbed his backpack and left the basement. "Does any other person want to leave?" There was silence as everyone looked at Jaxon. "And there were seven," he muttered. 'Good."

He stood up and folded his arms across his broad chest.

"For this job, two things are needed." Jaxon addressed the men. "Courage and a poker face. That poker face just might save your life. For that shit load of money, I'd practice my poker face morning, noon, and night if I were you."

The men laughed. Who would refuse all that cash when all they had to do was school their features? Just a week earlier, none of them had any hope for a good life. But thanks to the man standing before them, they had some hope.

"Any particular reason you picked us?" The oldest asked with a curious look.

"Good question." Jaxon looked from one curious face to the other. "I always work with professionals. This is the first time I'm working with...people with no training whatsoever. I must be nuts," he gave a brief chuckle.

"We're not complaining," One man bellowed, drawing chuckles from the others.

"I've watched each of you for months," Jaxon said. "Y'all reek of poverty. I'm sure your pac...families would rather you were dead. One less mouth to feed." He shrugged. "So I just thought...why not give them a break. But what's the fun in merely giving you money? You enjoy spending money better when you actually work for it. I say stealing is a lot of work." He grinned, making the men laugh.