John and Cyrus

As the two walked into the main building office, Cyrus couldn't help but smell the scent of freshly made black tea from the two cups that were lying on the table.

Cyrus was thinking, 'If it smells this fresh and still has steam going into the air then it couldn't have been long since it was last made. I get the feeling he has been looking forward to having this conversation with me for quite some time now.'

John took one cup for himself and passed the second one to Cyrus, he simply stared at his his holding the cup and refused to take it.

"It not poisoned, I can guarantee that," John said as he drank from his cup, "But if you don't wish to take it then it is a waste of tea."

"I prefer coffee," Cyrus said as he took a seat down in front of the desk, "Now why did you bring me here? Surely you didn't just wish to check up on my well-being."

"Of course I did," John said placing a hand on his heart, "The well-being of all those under the care of Alex is paramount to me."

Cyrus took a good look at John before letting out his next question, "And what about Ariel?"

John put the cup down as he decided it was time to get a little more serious in this conversation, "Ariel is a close colleague of mine."

"So close that you would let her get away with what she does, John?" There was a harsh tone in Cyrus's voice as he said that.

"Tell me," John said, "What part of her do you not like? The fact that she told you to kill Terra or the fact that she is the dealer of life and death? The way you are acting right now, this feels a bit more personal than neutral don't you think?"

Cyrus folded his arms as he let out his breath and calmed down, "I knew someone once from a long time ago. He wasn't my friend but he was close enough that I would care about him. And Ariel so happened to kill him a few months after I learned he went missing."

"How sure are you that it was her?" John asked.

Cyrus explained, "There was a bouquet of flowers found spread around his body, a multitude of different flowers and colors each with a beauty that compliments the other and each with a symbolism associated with death.

"You and I both know that the dealer of life and death likes to make a show of people she gets rid of. It helps build reputation."

John took another cup of tea as Cyrus finished talking, he wanted to enjoy its unique flavor while it was still hot. After taking his time drinking it all he could say was, "Yeah, that sounds like her."

Cyrus could see that John was quite laid back despite who they were talking about, this would either be the case if he had known her for a very long time or if they were more than close. Perhaps, family.

"Still," Cyrus spoke again, "There is also the fact that you knew she wanted me to kill Terra, and yet I never heard any mention of informing Alex about this intention of hers at all or you making an effort to stop her. If you ask me it would seem that you let it slide."

"If you are willing to let this slide then how much more are you willing to turn a blind eye towards?" Cyrus asked as he stood up a little and leaned against the office table.

John calmly replied to him, "Intentions are just that. They are merely thoughts we have in the moments and sometimes they are justified. She is not the only one who would see Terra as unfit for this kind of situation and many others would say the same. Including you."

"Don't lie to yourself and say that you truly believed in him from the moment you saw him and that he was something special. You are just like the majority of everyone else, you thought he was incompetent."

"It is no wonder that Ariel who is far older than you and more experienced in these matters would think the same. Still despite her knowing who the representative is she never outright tried to hurt him or force him into giving up his position. At the end of the day, her action became more apparent than her words."

Cyrus got up from his seat completely and it caused the chair to almost fall back, "Don't you try and sugarcoat it. She didn't take any actions because she couldn't, only another person chosen by the planet could become the representative so she didn't have many options!"

John and Cyrus were now face to face as John took another sip of his tea, "If it brings you any consolation, Alex knew a situation like this was inevitable, he and Ariel argued about this for days as she just couldn't accept a teenage being the one chosen to represent instead of an adult."

"This was why I was put in as an intermediary to prevent her from going too far."

Cyrus had sharpened his gaze when he heard this and said, "An intermediary who watches from the side might as well be nonexistent."

And John replied, "And an intermediary who over-involves himself on one side might as well preach favoritism."

John now placed a hand on his face as he was vexed at the child's stubbornness. He seemed hell-bent on not trusting him the way he wanted him to so he decided to make things clear one last time.

"Listen, I am grateful to Ariel because she saved my life once, but I am faithful to Alex because he gave me a new one. I wouldn't do anything to compromise the safety of you and the others. I just want to help you grow with the time we have left."

Speaking of time," Cyrus said, "Isn't it time that you leave? Your replacement is already here so I hope you have a safe travel wherever it is you are off to."

With that, he turned his back towards John and was making his way towards the door.

"Saint Mickey," John said in a soft voice.

Cyrus froze in his steps, he turned around and for once during this entire conversation, he showed an emotion that lacked the confidence he had earlier. Cyrus showed fear, hatred, and disgust all in one.

He turned around slowly and asked, "What did you just say?" He wanted to make clear what he heard.

"I am sure you know his name well, John said with his hands holding each and his elbows on the table. He was now digging into a more serious matter.

"Of course, you recognize the name, You spent the last 7 years of your life looking for him, agent white wolf."

Cyrus marched towards the table and slammed both hands down on it as he stared down John and said, "Don't call me that."

"My apologies, Cyrus," John replied.

"Now, your cup of tea is getting cold, won't you have some? I spent a lot of time making it myself you know?"

Cyrus sat back down in his seat and then took a glance at the cup but didn't touch it.

John let out a *sigh*, "I guess that is asking too much out of you too soon."

"Anyways as I was saying you may be familiar with the mafia families in California. These families were made to mimic the prominent power of the five families of New York but compared to them they are just a joke."

"But even then a funny enough Joke can kill somebody if they laugh too hard."

"The five families include the Black Hand family known for censoring and manipulating information, the Cosa family and their ties to politicians and anyone who has any sort of power, the Morello family which has now become inactive but still has members who deal with the shipment of international goods, special international goods."

"The most powerful and dominant of the five the Rosalie family with their handle on drugs and prostitutes making them the most successful out of the five and earning the most income. And last but not least the Magaddino family, which no longer uses their underground name but is known to a select few by their public name, Gotti."

Hearing the mention of Vito's family name brought back certain memories that Cyrus didn't like but would never hide away from.

"I am well versed in the Gotti family," Cyrus said.

John looked at Cyrus thoughtfully before he shied away, "I know you are and I am sorry about what happened to you.

For a moment Cyrus clenched his fist and closed his eyes before saying, "Thank you, now go on." It seemed to John that he had accepted his sympathy.

"First," John said, "Tell me how much you know about the Gotti family?"

Cyrus explained, "They are the ones who started the gang war in California one year ago, and it was said to have been the biggest one ever recorded in history, they are known for their monopolization of guns and firearms to such a degree that even policemen would buy from them. And the current head of the family is also the one responsible for shooting my father all those years ago and placing him into a coma."

John nodded to the information being passed along and then spoke after Cyrus had finished, "Most of that is true except for one thing which even you know about. The gang war that started one year ago was indeed started by the Gotti family but they themselves were manipulated into starting it."

"And the family that manipulated them to start the war is the same family that manipulated their Godfather to shoot your father."

Cyrus then asked, "But why did they do it? Even when I was searching I couldn't find out the reason behind shooting my dad, nor the gang war."

John then went on to explain to him, "I am not quite sure why your father was shot." This information let down Cyrus as he finally thought he would get some answers about the reason why it happened.

"As for the war, it was to lessen the competition. There were only two families that could start a war of that scale, the Magaddino and the Rosalie family, but the Rosalie family were much more valuable at the time."

"Hence the Magaddino was targeted to start it, if a family that was somewhat stronger than the majority of the families was to start the war, they would inevitably weaken themselves and the other families along with them, all except the Rosalie family which was the strongest."

"By weakening the other 4 families, the Rosalie would take control of their territories and in the end, California would be under their rule. This was when the 6th family would attack and kill the head of the Rosalie."

"By killing off the head of such a big group, the ones under wouldn't know what to do and would fight for their shares within the family, this is when the 6th come in and fully take over everything that the other 5 families used to own."

"Though it is not right for us to call them the 6th family even though they are the smallest. For they have been here longer than any other family that existed in California."

"The Mickey Mouse Mafia," John said out loud with extreme confidence.

Cyrus was taking John fully seriously until he said that last part, he then made a face to mock him letting his mouth hang open in fake shock as he stood up to leave again.

"No wait! Listen!!" John cried as he stopped him, "They used to be called the Mickey Mouse Mafia because they named themselves after their favorite cartoon show back in the 1900s but now they've changed their name.

"They now go by the Lanza family and though much time has passed, the Godfather of said family still uses the name Saint Mickey to respect traditions and his ancestor's history."

Cyrus was taking in everything John said and was thinking to himself, that it all made sense, every last detail would explain why certain things that were strange for a family to do seemed to happen and why the war even began in the first place.

"Let me ask you this," Cyrus said and John told him to ask away, "If they have existed before any other family then tell me why I couldn't find any information on them after 7 years of searching?"

John explained, "Some people are good at staying hidden especially when they don't want to get found."

Cyrus was dissatisfied with that answer because it made him feel like all the work he had done in the past was for nothing despite him being able to get the name, Saint Mickey. "Then tell me, why did you decide to reveal any of this information to me, John?"

John hearing his smiled to himself as he told Cyrus, "Because this is the business I have with Ariel. We are working together to use her connections to find the Lanza family and bring them to justice, that is part of why I am so close with her."

"And because I wish to build a bond of trust with you," John now got up from his seat as he approached Cyrus, "I don't like leaving places on bad terms with people, especially people who I plan to work with again in future, so I decided to reveal this to you to assure you that I am not you enemy."

"And neither is Ariel. Does she have a bad history? Definitely. But will she attack anyone of you, no. So just this once Cyrus, will you let your guard down a little?"

Cyrus was staring down at the floor as his mind was still processing everything he had learned but what he did know was that maybe he had misjudged John from the beginning and that the two of them could get along better in the future.

John had his hand reached out to Cyrus for a handshake and Cyrus considered it for a while but then said, "Before I shake your hand, tell me your real name, John. I know it starts with K."

John smiled at him as the two of them shook hands, "Sure, my name is ****"

John then opened a portal through a wall and as he was about to walk out he stopped in his tracks and asked Cyrus a question, "Tell me Cyrus, had you not found out in your years of searching that the Gotti family were not truly responsible for what happened to you...."

"Then would you still have had the guts to call Vito Gotti your friend right now?"

Cyrus took up the cold cup of black tea that was lying in the room and drank it right in front of John. He then told him, "Have a safe travel, I hope we meet again in the future."

And with that John had left the building.