Viper sighed. there was nothing he could do but rest and regain his strength. And his mind, he wasn't much of a help if his mind wasn't fully sane. He kept the information that Specs had been at their abode last he saw- when Fang had called him to the raid. Anad he had to wonder- why hadn't his trainer answered the call?

Nodding at what seemed like the respectful silence of the other, UPS backed away from the issue and away from the boy as he walked toward the doorway and took his spot again. In total silence, he waited for the room to clear of the silence while he watched the boy with care.

(sorry. No idea what to post ^o^; ))

Viper found himself crying several more times that day, hugging himself tightly as he remembered little details of his ordeal after thinking of the most simple things. He waas caught between wanting to die and wanting to get some form of revenge. What a miserable state he was in but he wouldn't quit the gang. He couldn't after Fang had risked so much for him. He longed to see the charismatic leader again. The hours went by and eventually he slipped into fitfully nightmare ridden sleep.

Taking the shift when UPS left to become his everyday self, to become a normal man with work to be done in the place where goods were sold, SweetPea watched the younger member as he wept and as sleep came in fitful waves. Late into the night it was simply she and one other who came and left. When the sun did begin to rise SweetPea fetched a bowl of fruits that had been brought from outside the city and treenuts from beyond the walls. She then took her final shift and left to find her rest as a familiar hoodie-clad man arrived to check on the progress of the newbie that was now was called his apprentice.

They were kind peopel he realised, watching over him while he mad a fool of himself like this. Not speaking a word to enourage or discourage him from voicing the emotional depths of his soul. And when morning came he saw SweetPea again anad shyly thanked her for whaat shed done.

When she left there was Fang, the one man he dared not face as a quivering tearstained mess. "You get all my goods?"He asked quietly, avoiding eyecontact with his superior.

"Your goods, man? Whatever wasn't left in the city with your friends is yours. Not like I think I'd need it with so many merchants being around.", Fang shrugged from his place just outside the door. Without any of the others to fend for his apprentice's motives Fang was left to assume it was some idea of compensating losses to the gang, "Just got to get you on your feet and in the street as fast as we can."

"No.. you said you'd get my stuff.. before the Un took care of the people that.. that did this to me."He shuddered looking up to Fang with almost hopeless eyes. "I don't think I can fight like this, Cobra went out feeling like this after Asp died and he got himself all shot up."He was frusterated with himself for being so weak and foolish. "Besides, how do you know I won't be stupid enough to get caught again?"

"Yeah. The s**t's yours. Once you get back on the street and make some use it's sitting around here; Yours to be taken.", Fang nodded back at the door to the large residence in which they sat, "As for you going and getting shot down, the city's too d**n dangerous to have that s**t happening unless you're feeling peak. Aside, though, I do offer my condolence that I couldn't at least have known that you would be held at gunpoint once we handed over the deeds and cash.... If I could go back you know I'd do it on a heartbeat."

Listening he nodded mumblyand rose from the bed. He had to move on, had to regain what little honor he'd had and lost on his knees. A cocky smile split his pale lips wide. "It sok- you did what you had to do. Now where do you want me out there?"

Fang smiled wickedly and dropped his softer voice in favor of the cold leader he was known to have been outside his social dealings. In a heartbeat he was back into his fighting mode, "You got guts, but I said you ain't getting shot til you're in peak f**king form, Vipes". His cold words were a syringe full of ice and his eyes were a shot glass of fire. Chilling and hot. Yin and Yang. He was a bit of the wise**s he'd always seemed and a bit of the psycho he had painted himself to have been, "But you know that already. So why don't you tell me what you think you can do with that beautiful, albeit broken, form?".

Viper bit back a whimper and scooted back into bed. He looked at Fang warily before answering in hushed tones. "I can still sneak- tell me the routes and I'll be able to transport stuff. Or- I kinda know how to make bandages an patch people up but I'm sure I've outworn her welcome."He hugged himself tightly and looked up at Fang. "Unless theres something else you think I'm suited for like this."

"yeah.", Fang looked at him sideways and made a small gesture as he spoke in an all too honest tone about the case, "Laying face-up on that table. You aren't ready to go back out there yet. Not physically or mentally". But even with those words Fang was willing to compromise to a small extent; "Why not just spend the day working out that body of yours, try to tone it back into shape after having it so badly beaten on?".

Viper almost spoke up that his body was fine, that it was his mind that had taken the worst damage. "I suppose- you got a place where I can do that in privacy Fang?"He didn't feel like being around people with how badly brusied up he was. "I feel bad failing you my first time out."

"Meh. If that ***hole of an informant had done his job to start with you'd have known not to go toward the fishery, and you wouldn't have gotten mixed up in rival turf.", Fang stepped out of the room for a moment and loitered outside as a pair of zippers were drawn and something heavy was cast aside. When the noise stopped Fang returned with a small weight in each hand, "Here, start with these. Thanks to this, and to Specs not properly plotting a route or teaching you about the city itself, I'm taking over this sh*t and training you right. Starting now, so go". And he nodded toward the two small handweights that he had thrown toward the male with a dominant sort of stare.

Viper dodged the weights and stared at them and blinked, picking them up to test the weight. They weren't too heavy but they weren't light enough that it was too easy. he started using them one at a time, then together as he thought about what Fang had said. "Its ok... he's been busy and we got off to a bad start."He admitted.

Viper dodged the weights and stared at them and blinked, picking them up to test the weight. They weren't too heavy but they weren't light enough that it was too easy. he started using them one at a time, then together as he thought about what Fang had said. "Its ok... he's been busy and we got off to a bad start."He admitted.

Fang nodded. He didn't want to start a civil war within the gang, and he knew he easily could. As he thought on the issue he also took to another matter that was of graver impact than the other, "You were putting off micro-electric pulses when we found you. Did he... Were you injured when you were with him?"

Viper paused in his efforts and frowned. "No. I helped him fix that mecha joint of his.. so he could move it better." He thought for a moment, fingering the wire on his neck. "Unless you think this did it. My necklace broke and Specs restrung it on this- says the stuffs the same as his nerves."

Fang looked over and tried to pass off a smile, "That would do it. Did he give you anyth-...No. Don't worry about it". He was getting paranoid with lack of contact. Not many knew, and fewer still to what extent, that Specs was feeding information out of the group, but to think that he would smuggle goods through the kid was absurd. As he watched the boy with the weights he began to mock the lifitn gmotion as a reminder that he needed to work the unused muscles.

"Its supposed to be real strong- but I can restring it with cord or something else if this is a liability."He picked up the weights again and returned to the lifting, smiling softly at Fang. "Since he didn't tell me anything about the city why don't you give me a bit of a lecture- work my braina nd my brawn."

"Sure. Before the war, or rather the attacks, the city was a commerce hub for Germany and largely controlled by the German-American-Swiss trade circle. Because of that the city held alot of illegal gold reserves and wealthy hideouts. When the first of the nukes hit it killed what was then a swiftly resolving conflict over legal actions against such corruption. Those protestors walked straight through the downtown block...", Fang shuttered hard and raised his eyes to oversee those weights as he spoke back up, "At the time hundreds of civilians were being herded into the masses by sheer body count, but for that the police were getting desperate. I think it ended up with an expected unarmed non-participant death rate of around forty percent. That was when the Jades got big. We took out another local gang based in the eastern side and expanded the grounds to surround the others. By the time that the Berlin Civic Act was enlisted the Jades had swept out all opposing gangs and burning the markings off of every follower that didn't convert. That left us with one hundred percent control of the city. Can you even imagine that?? The police literally came to SweetPea with a payout so that we would watch the streets instead of them; Which she gave to the boss to his instant agreement."

"Wow. I never knew things got that big within the city."He whispered, still pumping the irons. "And after all that violence. No wonder those guys had such a hate-on for me."He shivered and set the weights down for a moment, trying to recover the proper state of mind to continue building back his muscles."If it hurts to talk aout this stuff man I'll find someone else to tell me."Viper sighed, not wanting to see Fang shudder like that again.

Fang laughed through his nose, "Nah. After I saw Gypse hit shot... I..". The enforcer looked like he would gag before fighting back his nerve and making an awful face for the things he had seen that day and lived with since, "After that and my run-in with the police I was shipped to a work prison and given the command to shank a rival Informant I was made a second tier. You won't find anyone else who knows this shit like me. Except maybe the big guy you saw before". Fang nodded slightly and offered his hand as he spoke, "Okay man. Hop down and stretch your legs. See if they still work". He cleared his mind for a moment and breezed through the rest, "Yeah. After Gypsy there was the shot-out that led to my jail time, the murder, and then bombs three, four, and five hit; Tore one of the outer fence clean off the building, killed alot of us from rad poisoning. And from there the next two hit and cleared the rest of the town out, that one still unarmed down in Heitser Square if you ever get down there. And once that happened the Jades took me back and set up a civilian militia to watch the streets. Some people disagreed and they became the guys who caught you; The Civics, named after that law. They own the western side of the city and most of the industrial block as well. But they're just a bunch of yahoos that still think the Italian forces were wrong to send their aid thanks to the obvious mafia ties that came with it."

He set down the weights and took Fangs hand. He was worried about the man but he'd seen his own share of horrors. Not as bad as Fang but intensity didn't matter with these things once you saw the ugly side of the world you never forgot the things you'd seen. "I know my legs still work I didn't spend that much time on my knees."He snapped bitterly, quieting to listen to the rest of the sad story before appologizing for the outburst.

Fang laughed and began the stretching himself as he followed up on the war, "Basically the Civs came about and started opening war against us, mainly for letting Italy send in troops and supplies despite us knowing where they came from, and forced the gang into a corner. Before I got where I am the big cheese called in the threat of our elimination and got the real familia to back us up. By fearing the mafia's influence those jack***es caused it; AND drew that final bit of attention to us. Thanks to that the Civil Guard was pulled from northern Asia and stationed here to monitor the gang war and to kill anyone who is infected. Those would be the guys in the mech-suits". Ceasing his stretching Fang finished up, "We haven't let the outside factions hear about this, and the UN is keeping the world outside informed only as needed but at least the UN swore the outside bombing were done for. So long as we don't cross the UN or break territory without back-up, we're really just waiting for the air to be safe so we can rebuilt this city and maybe form some real sort of control instead of having us second tier gang members and a foreign militia governing our lives."