Chapter Text
“Come on, Alban,” Luca yelled, laughing. “We wonʼt wait for you.”
“Iʼm on my way,” Alban yelled back, running after the car.
“You have ten seconds, Alban! Come on!”
“Alban,” Sonny leaned out of the window, waving his hand.
“Alban, hurry! Go, go, go!” Luca was enjoying it, watching his friend in the rearview mirror, tears forming in his eyes from laughing.
The three of them – quite different from each other, a mafia boss, a phantom thief and a police officer – were being chased by a group of men. They didn’t plan it, really. It was just a chain of accidents.
“Luca, open the door!” Alban started hitting the window, grimacing at the mafia boss behind the wheel. “Luca!”
Luca waited a few seconds, slowly going forward with the car before letting Alban in. Alban got in, groaning in frustration.
“Youʼre so annoying,” he said, surprisingly affectionately. “Now go!”
Half a year ago, the infamous phantom thief, Alban Knox decided to rob a mansion one day, only to walk right into the beastʼs lair. When he climbed into a room through the window, hoping it was empty, he found himself in the middle of a very strange scene. A blond man laughing loudly, his hands being tied up, while another blond was standing next to him, talking to someone on the phone.
When they noticed the intruder, the standing man lashed out, jumping at Alban, and caught him. It happened so suddenly, and the next thing the thief noticed was handcuffs on his hands. A police officer, he realized.
“Good catch,” said the other, walking to them, hands now free.
“What?” The police officer looked at him dumbfounded.
“I told you, Sonny Brisko,” he said. “You guys can’t catch me.” He patted the other man’s shoulder in a friendly way and left before the other officers would arrive.
Their relationship had always been like that—a game of a cat and a mouse, playing hide and seek, challenging each other. Alban was a nice addition to that, his skills were very useful both to the mafia and to the VSF. And when they didn’t try to catch each other, they hung out as long-time friends would.
Gunshot.
Then another gunshot.
“Since when do they have guns?!” Alban yelled now, lowering his head.
“We should change,” Luca said to Sonny. “You play within the laws. Iʼm outside of them.” He pulled out his gun, waving it. “You drive. I shoot.”
Sonny nodded. He didnʼt even try to argue.
Luca stopped the car to change seats with his friend. When Sonny started the engine, Luca leaned out to shoot. He wasnʼt aiming at the people, he just wanted to scare them. He wanted to show them who the real mafia boss was. He wanted them to know he wasnʼt just playing.
When they changed seats, the distance between the two cars got shorter, so Sonny tried to leave them behind. They tried to get away as fast as possible, without drawing other people’s attention to them. That was why they drove into the forest in the first place. However, the more they drove, the more endless the forest seemed.
“Sonny, I donʼt want to—” Alban said, looking out of the window to make sure he wasnʼt just imagining things. “I donʼt think thatʼs the right path. I feel like we passed by this tree. Three times at least.”
“Oh wait.” Luca sat back into his seat and raised an eyebrow. He had a weird feeling. “Alban is actually right. I remember this tree.”
“Wait, are we lost? That can’t be—” Sonny furrowed his brows. “I know this forest. I’ve been here—” He looked at the tree Alban pointed at before, now passing by it for the fourth time at least. “Okay, you’re right. We’re lost.” He sighed, exasperated. “But that just doesn’t make sense. I turned in the opposite direction after you said we already drove past that tree.”
“Then it could be another tree,” Alban said, unsure. “Maybe they just look the same.”
Luca grinned at Sonny, an idea sparkling in his mind. “I see how it is. You try to take me to a place where the law canʼt reach us, so you can finally end this,” he said dramatically.
Sonny, not understanding what Luca was talking about, stopped the car.
“Play along,” Luca whispered to him, only to draw out a mirthful laughter from Alban.
Sonny bit his lip. “Thatʼs right,” he said. “Iʼm gonna end this. Once and for all.”
Lucaʼs face turned serious. He pointed his gun at the police officer. “Okay, Sonny,” he said, voice low, trying not to laugh. “I– I really didnʼt want to do this.”
“Luca…” Sonny acted as if he was shocked because he didnʼt think his friend would realize his plans. He held up his hands.
It was a silly roleplay. They did this sometimes, even in dangerous situations, but no matter how many times or what the roleplay was about, it was still funny.
Luca giggled. “Look, man, itʼs really hard—”
A crash. Screeching noise in the distance. The world suddenly came to a halt, then darkness devoured everything.