The Extent of Love

22

Looking through his papers, he studied the layout that Marco had mapped. It was nine in the morning at this point, they would be meeting at six at night. There was still the fact that he either had to get Ivan to come with him, or knock him out for an entire day. He didn't really want to do that.

Looking through the map one last time, he took in a deep breath. Pushing himself away from his desk, he went to his suitcase, pulling out twin pistols. Placing them to the side, he pulled out his ammo bag, shaking it slightly to count the jingles. He probably had enough.

Standing, he walked over to his closet, pulling out his suit and putting it on. It was pure black, with a white tie. Pulling out his holster harness, he put it on, slipping the jacket over. Putting his pistol's away, he made sure they were flat, and walked out of the room. Time to confront Ivan.

"You look dressed dorogoy," Ivan said, looking up from his book. God, he was handsome in the lighting. The thing not handsome- the fact this suit was so tight.

"I have to go somewhere today, it's urgent. You have a suit... do you want to come with me?" Alfred said, looking to the ground, embarrassed. This was hard for him. Asking for people to come with him. Most of the time they called him a dumbass for wanting to go alone and volunteered.

"What would this urgent thing be? I don't want to intrude on your government."

"Mafia related, not government," Alfred replied, as Ivan's eyes shot open. He probably wasn't expecting it. "Do you wanna come...?"

"You are not going alone to deal with people as dangerous as them," Ivan said, standing quickly, "I'll be out, give me fifteen minutes, we'll go together."

"I'm not going alone, there'll be friends there!" Alfred called to him, "We have someone on the inside to!"

"One nation with about a hundred enemies? No," Ivan replied, "humans barely count for anything. Some are smart enough, but they hardly do any good in a fighting situation."

He wanted to defend them, say they were immortalized- but nations weren't allowed to have immortalized anymore. They were supposed to strip them of their immortality and kill them after World War 2. The nations didn't know that he still immortalized humans after WW2, or that he kept them.

He didn't have the heart to kill them. They were his friends, unlike most nations who just immortalized humans for power.

As promised, Ivan came out fifteen minutes later with a suit on, his scarf still tight around his neck.

"When do we leave?" Ivan asked, coming in close and wrapping his arms around his shoulders, bringing him into a hug.

"I'd say now. We have to get to Chicago by four so we can find the warehouse that this thing's being held in," Alfred sighed, leaning in more to Ivan.

"What would 'this thing' be exactly?"

"An animal auction," Alfred said softly, "if it goes through, the Chicago Mafia will have millions. Maybe billions. And money just grows when you're smart."

'It could hurt him so badly if it goes through,' Ivan realized, 'kill his police, make the city more unsafe than it already must be.'

He understood. Moscow was basically Chicago before Putin.

"Then, let's go," Ivan said, pulling away. Alfred's face lit up, him rushing to get his keys before backtracking into his room and coming back with a gun harness and pistols. Ivan took it and followed him out the door. As soon as he got in, Alfred started driving.

It took a while, but eventually they were in Cincinnati. They got food before continuing. Indianapolis to Chicago, where they went to the harbor. The sun was going to set soon. They ended up at a harbor, full of warehouses. Alfred seemed to know where he was going, and the two ended up behind a warehouse farthest from the water. He parked behind a load that had been dropped for the night.