You're a Family Man [WIP]

Chapter 1

Tony lived. Maria didn't.

The moment stuck in Tony's mind like a bullet, but he hadn't been so lucky as to get the sweet mercy of death. See, Chino had never been a particularly good shot. This fact was part of the reason why everyone had been so nervous when word spread that he had obtained Riff's gun.

He had been aiming for Tony, but his hand was shaky and his aim was poor. The bullet had only grazed the man's shoulder as it barreled past, instead lodging itself in Maria, who was so worried about her lover that she didn't realize she'd been shot until she fell to the ground.

The Sharks never forgave Chino for the accident. Neither did Tony. A part of him wanted to turn around right then and there, take the gun out of the Puerto Rican's hand, and shoot him dead for killing the girl he'd fallen for.

But, he couldn't do that. Not to Valentina. Not to the Jets. Not to Riff. Not to Anybodys. Not to Maria...

Not to himself.

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Years passed by. The world kept spinning.

The town once broken and riddled with crime was now a lively haven where more wealthy folks lived in nice homes. The Jets and the Sharks became little more than a blurb in articles about the city's past life. The only real remnants of what the place had once been was a few shops that had stayed open.

One of those shops was Doc's Drugstore, which Tony had been running ever since Valentina passed a few weeks after the fallout of the rumble.

It wasn't the grimy paradise him and Riff had dreamed of back when they formed the Jets. It wasn't living in domestic bliss with Maria out west. But, he still loved it all the same. The store brought him a sense of comfort, just as it had all those years ago when he was released from prison with nowhere to stay.

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Anybodys had left the city after Maria died.

He hadn't known the girl personally, but it showed him just how senseless all the violence truly was. His view on the Jets had also soured when he learned about what they had nearly done to Anita. He realized that, as nice as it had felt finally getting their validation, he also didn't really want validation from boys who had no moral qualms about gangraping someone.

So, he left.

He found another town nearby, one that wasn't quite as strict on things like gender roles. It was a small town, one that needed all the help it could get, so they tolerated pretty much every type of person so long as they were a good worker, even the kinds of people that they didn't particularly like.

And, oh boy, Anybodys worked hard.

So hard in fact that he rose through the ranks of the company he worked for, eventually finding himself as the head of operations. At some point, people had pretty much forgotten what his sex was listed as on his documents and no one bothered to check.

He passed well enough as a guy, so they just assumed he was born as one. It was a nice feeling, if a bit stressful since he had to be careful not to out himself. He was a smart guy. He knew that wouldn't end well.

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The door to the drugstore opened.

Tony was in the back of the store, stocking shelves, so he shouted a quick "Be there in a minute!", allowing whoever had come in to just look around a bit.

"Tony?" a familiar voice asked. He couldn't place it immediately, but he had definitely heard that voice before. So, he turned around, eyes widening as he saw who was standing in the front of his store.

"Anybodys?"