The Hustle ~private, me and Smoke~

"We have it, don't frizz your hair darlin'", Felik growled rudely. "Now we've got formalities out of the way, how about a game?"
The fat man's smile dropped, "What do you mean, kid?"
"Well", Felik continued, starting to enjoy himself, "I thought it was a bit bland us just giving you the money, so I thought maybe a game of Cheat to win it."
"This wasn't part of the deal!"
"Relax... It's just a game."
The smoker's smile returned, "Alright", he grinned, "Flanks, Benny, go get a table and two chairs, NOW!"
A few people cleared out of the way and the ones hiding in the shadows, including Josh, were revealed to Felik and Vale.

Ooc: What's hearts? .-.

Vale's face froze and heart seemed to stop beating, or it was going so fast she couldn't tell which it was. Like when you touch something so hot or cold, that it almost seems like the opposite.
Vale gave a slight nod of her head towards Josh, acknowledging him before standing a tiny bit closer to Felik. She knew he would never betray her like Josh did. There were signs that he didn't love her, but she'd been so blind that she didn't see them.
'Flanks' and 'Benny' brought back the chairs and table before setting them down in the middle of the dark alley way.
Well, this was bound to be interesting.

Ooc: It's a card game, but it's super complicated, so I changed it to Cheat which is a bit easier to explain.

Taking a deck of playing cards from his pocket, Felik sat down facing the bald leader of the rival gang. "I'll shuffle", he said, smiling slyly. The Hustler began to shuffle the deck of cards in the most complicated ways he could. His hands were a blur as the cards were flicked and mixed and tossed in the air.
Finally Felik began to deal a hand for himself and his opponent. "We all know the rules of Cheat, do we not? A turn consists of discarding one or more cards face down on the table, calling out their rank. The next cards to be put down must be either the number one above or one bellow the previous cards. After Tens come Jacks, then Queens, then Kings, then back to Aces, etc. If you suspect the other of lying about what cards they'r putting on the table you shout cheat. If you were correct and I was lying, I take all the cards. If you were wrong, you take 'em. The person with the least cards at the end wins. All okay, right, fine, good, lets play. I'll go first."
Felik had gone through the rules as fast as his tongue would let him in order to confuse and distract his opponent from the game.
The Hustler, before putting cards down to the table, took in his opponents eyes. He was reading his cards off the reflections of the mans eyes and planning a way to ensure his victory. It was going to be a piece of cake.

Vale took a small step back away form the table, not out of fear or cowardice, but when Felik got competitive you left him alone. Behind the dark-haired brunette a shadow formed and she whirled around silently as to not distract Felik from the game that could possibly have their lives depending on it.
She pulled out an intricate blade from her pocket, the one she always kept with her. It had an Egyptian queen on the tip, the wings of Ra as the top of the hilt, and hieroglyphics going down the actual blade as well as the sheath. It was a family heirloom- she was part Italian, part Egyptian.
She immediately pressed the beautiful dagger against the prosecutors throat, not pushing hard enough to draw blood but enough to show who was in charge.
"Hello Valentina," Josh whispered, his breathing slightly short from the alertness of being pushed against the wall so quickly causing his adrenaline to pump in.
"Hello Josh," Vale whispered in a reply.

Whilst this was going on (not that Felik was aware, he was so focused on the game), the pile of cards on the table had grown substantially. Felik knew Harry Dean, his opponent, had cheated several times during the game, but hadn't called them. The Hustler had decided to let the cards pile up and catch Mr. Dean out when most of the cards were on the table. Also, the fact that Harry Dean felt like he was getting away with so many Cheats would have made him confident and unfocused, giving Felik the upper hand.
"Two nines", Harry bellowed triumphantly. The same cards he had already put down twice. It was a cheat. The man had a tell of blinking twice every time he lied. All he had left in his fat hand was three cards. Felik had five.
The Hustler smiled. Dean's face became panicked and gloomy.
"Cheat."
A roar erupted from Harry's huge, gold-toothed mouth as he picked up the 44 cards on the table. "Alright, wise guy", he growled, "but you haven't won yet."
"I think you'll find I have", Felik said, exhaling and showing the man the five BLANK cards in his hand. "I win."
Harry Dean exploded. He threw over the table, sending cards flying everywhere. Felik grabbed the two bags of money (the one intended for the Aristocrats and the one placed as a bet by the gang) and turned to grab Vale's hand, only to find her with Josh, the boy's back against the wall and Vale's favorite dagger to his throat.

Vale took notice that the game had abruptly ended. From the looks of the money in Felik's hand, he had won. She smiled slyly at the thought of just how easily he had gotten that money.
"Until next time Gunner," Vale said menacingly, making Josh wince at the new nickname given to him.
She grabbed Felik's wrist that didn't hold any money and made a run for it.

The two ran side by side, hand in hand, down the ally, shouts and cries coming from the crowd behind. Felik was able to pick up Mr. Harry Dean bellowing to one of his gang, "After them, the thieving little b*****d, I want my money back!"
Felik smiled broadly. There was nothing he liked more the ticking off a thug like Harry Dean every now and again. "I don't know why he's so upset", Felik laughed breathlessly, "The game's called cheat. Of course I cheated."
Suddenly there came a loud barking of dogs from behind and the Hustler knew they had set the Doberman on them. Felik blew a loud whistle and shouted, "Sable, deal with that lot back there, would you? Good girl."
Sable, who had been belting off ahead of Vale and Felik, skidded to a halt and dashed back, claws clicking on the concrete ground. She raced passed Vale and her master and as the two turned the corner, they were not followed by angry doberman.

Vale smiled as the two ran alongside each other. It had gone extremely well- but then again, luck was on their side. It always did seem to be on their side.
The dark haired brunette slowed down, slightly panting from the 40 minute run that had gotten them at least 7 kilometers away from the aristocrats. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She always missed these kinds of scams. It was how she began working for Lucas in the first place- heck, it was how she met Lucas in the first place. Vale might've said that they knew each other from the orphanage, but she lied. Lying, after all, is her specialty.

Just then, Sable came back with a few bite marks that looked a bit nasty, but seemingly alive. She was full of energy and didn't pay mind to her wounds. She really is the perfect little guard dog, Vale thought as she bent down and kissed her on the nose and scratched the doggie's ears.

Sable wagged her tail at Vale's affection and licked her face. Felik patted her head in praise, "She's a big softy really", he said. "She's just not crazy about other dogs. Or other people come to think of it."
Just then a couple of rain drops pattered onto Felik's forehead as it began to rain. After a few seconds it was raining down on the two pretty heavily. "Come on, we best get back before we drown", Felik's voice battled with the growing sound of a monsoon as he took off the suit jacket he'd been wearing and shielded both Vale and himself from the down-pour with it.
They were still quite far from home and it was going to be a grim walk. Poor Sable had to survive the rain without the protection of the jacket, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Besides, the rain water would wash the nastiest of her wounds free of whatever diseases those hideous pedigree attack dogs may have been carrying.

Vale shuddered in Felik's jacket and scurried home with him as fast as she could. Huh. She hadn't called a place home in a while. Actually, in forever. She enjoyed being with Felik more than she would like to admit. He was like a big brother to her.
"Already replaced me I see," A sad voiced said, loud enough for the duo to both hear the man.
The dark haired brunette angled her head to see through the rain and see the source of the voice in a way that her head wouldn't get wet. She heard a deep growl come from Sable as her eyes glanced up.
"Josh...."

Ooc: Tell me if you can find any errors in here :3

Ooc: The only one I could find was: "Already replaced me I see,". I thought the comma should go outside the speech marks, but then I looked in a couple of books and they put it inside the speech marks, so I'm assuming I'm wrong.

Felik turned to see Josh, eyes on the ground, hair and clothes dripping, face shadowed from the street lights. Sable's back was hunched and the fur along her spine stood up straight as she prepared for attack. Her growl was so hostile even Felik felt a little unnerved.
The Hustler stepped out in front of Valentina in full protect mode. "What do you want, Josh?" he shouted through the torrent of rain around them, "Why are you here?"

Ooc: You are. There were no errors chika ;D

Josh's POV:

"I... I need to explain myself. I was going to back at your little 'game', but Valentina decided to almost kill me instead," The black haired boy spoke.
He had barely turned 21, and over the past 2 years he'd been regretful of his decision to join the Aristocrats. He'd been waiting for an opportunity like this. The opportunity to apologize. But he knew it was impossible for Vale to accept it now, since being shot and all wasn't a very nice thing to have done to you.

"And a good thing too," Felik snapped, "We don't want you. Go back to those street-dumb baboons before they kick you out as well."
Felik wouldn't have admitted it, but in truth he only wanted it to be him and Vale. Anyone else in the picture would make him jealous, especially Josh. Besides, whatever he did to Vale, it was pretty bad, and the Hustler didn't want a person like that around.

"Actually," Josh snapped back, "They kicked me out. Thought I was going to run away with you guys. Turns out they were only half-right. Please, just let me come along, listen to me, and if you don't like what I say I'll leave; never to be seen again."
Vale narrowed her eyes at her ex-love. She could tell when people were lying, sincere, or just bluffing. She'd perfected it since the man in front of her shot her.
In truth, he seemed to be the 2nd one. Truly sincere. She knew she was never going to forgive him for how much damage he did to her. He didn't even know the half of how much he had hurt her future. Because of him, if she were to ever have a child, it would kill her insides.
Rain pouring down on the abandoned street of Paris, Vale analyzed her surroundings. No ambush, snipers, or anything. This wasn't a trick.
Vale nodded, before stepping beside Felik grabbing his hand and walking the way they were going. She tapped his hands in a small beat to one of her favorite songs, signaling to him that they were going to their fake hide-out. No matter how sincere, she couldn't show Josh where the duo lived.
She motioned for the pale boy to follow them and put part of Felik's jacket around her, trying to block out the rain now coming down in heaps.

Ooc: Green is Josh, and black is Vale :3

Ooc: okay, got it X3

Felik got the signal and walked passed the turn off they usually took to get to their squat, heading strait for the little back up shed on the edge of a park.
"What's the plan?" He whispered into Vale's ear, knowing Josh couldn't hear them over the rain.

"We listen to what he has to say at the fake hideout, and do what he said if we don't like it. Get rid of him," Vale spoke loud enough only for her partner to hear.
Sable was walking behind Josh, snapping at his ankles whenever he would try to stray off from the dog's direct path. Vale had to admit, it was a bit funny.

Felik laughed quietly, "That dog loves being in control. If someone gets embarrassed, even better."
The Hustler turned round and called, "Sorry Josh, you can't stop her, so don't bother trying!"
The three criminals continued on their way until they reached the old shed at the edge of the park. Felik stepped inside with Vale and left Josh to let himself in. "Make yourself at home", announced Felik teasingly. "The cardboard box is over in the corner, the toilet is outside behind a tree and the TV is nonexistent. Can I interest you in a puddle of rain water? Fresh from the ceiling."
After he was done with his cruel teasing, Felik sat on a wooden crate in one corner of the one, concrete room. "What is it you wanted to say to us, then?" He sat back and waited for an answer. It had better be good.

Ooc: Gotta go! The family is meeting my brother's gf for the first time.

Ooc: ooohh, have fun! ;D

Ooc: Ugh, they're just talking. I'm gonna try and hang out on here for as long as possible XP

Vale did what she thought was a laugh, others as a scoff. It was hard to be in an upbeat mood with Josh around. She pulled out 3 fold up chairs and set them in a triangle type thing and waved her wand over them, inviting Josh and Felik to sit down like she was doing.

Ooc: Good idea XD

"Thank you, Vale," Felik sat in one of the chairs next to his partner so the both of them were facing Josh. Now for a bit of interrogating...
"So," Felik leaned back on his chair, resting hist hand on the back of his head, "What was it you wanted to say to us, Josh?"

"I wanted to say sorry for what I did to you, Valentina. I was under orders, and I tried to do it away from a kill-area, because I knew you would die either way if I didn't. The people who told me to do it threatened to kill you if I didn't shoot you," Josh blurted out so quickly that Vale could barely tell what he was saying.
Shit. He told her secret right in front of Felik. A hard look came into Vale's eyes and Josh immediately knew he had lost her part way already.