🦈 Bounty (Shane Madej/Ryan Bergara) 🦈

I'd say, I'm a lover, not a fighter

I never stare nobody down

'Til one night my girl I could not find

She never made it back from town

This crime thing was dangerous, that's why you were told from the get-go should you ever find yourself having relations with a fellow member, friendly or not, you'd be either a right dumbass or extra careful who you or them pissed off.

Shane 'Legs' Madej though he and his fellow associate/boyfriend Ryan Bergara, otherwise known in the streets (and sheets, even) as 'Night Night' had managed to avoid that part completely, given they were not only on the same wing of the LA arm and double crossing snitches if needed, they were also not out to anyone.

However, Shane couldn't help but be quite worried they weren't as safe as he'd originally thought today as his eyes found the clock in their apartment again and his brow creased even further seeing it was also 3 hours later than when Ryan usually came back from both the casino and the grocery shop down the street.

Given Ryan was usually a stick in the mud when it came to timing, both in and out of "work", it was not like him to be later. 'Night Night' was never late and no one, not even the big boss had called him to tell him if Ryan was on a last minute hit. He was worried and being worried when you're a high ranked mobster is never good. Things like that can get you killed.

Found my Shannon crying in the woods

Wicked man he held her down

So I stuck him deep and I buried him good

Not deep enough to fool the hounds

Eventually, it gets late enough to the point where Shane knows this can't be good and locks Obi (their ever loyal cat) up in the apartment, arming himself with his well used handgun as he stalks down the road towards the grocery, deli and bodega, LA's streetlamps illuminating his path.

Maybe he was being a little too heavy handed on Ryan and he'd be coming up the street any minute now, arms full of bags and muttering excuses on the winter wind, cussing in a variety of languages from how he hates the cold and global warming is a son of a bitch when Shane's heart calms to a steady pace and his nerves finish sizzling beneath his skin.

Unfortunately, that is not what happens. What does happen is Shane hears a yell, an all too familiar yell and suddenly he's running and skids into a nearby alleyway, his tall figure casting a shadow over what he's seeing that's making his blood boil.

Ryan's being held against a wall with his feet dangling by the fists of a man clearly from one of the rival mobs in the area, his nose bleeding and bags that used to have things in them scattered everywhere, eggs smashed and a milk bottle broken in half and weeping from impact. Everything about this guy screams 'loan shark' and knowing Ryan's past given how long they've been together (both as associates and later, a couple) he's guessing that Ryan's father, a dentist with a rather innately bad gambling habit since his early teens when he first arrived from Asia, hasn't paid up in a while.

This was bad. Like, really bad.

Shane doesn't know exactly what happens next, but he can take a guess as when his mind snaps back into place and stops roaring like the rest of him at what he was looking at and there's a new scene in front of him.

Ryan is sagged, hyperventilating against the wall he had been pinned on top of moments earlier, a spray of red blood covering both his face and clothing, as well as Shane's, his handgun cold in his hands as the assailant lies on the concrete with the groceries, a bullet hole clean though his skull.