Don: The Blood Chains-Chapter 54: Stage.

Though Joseph and Pablo, after eyeing Julian a bit, just straight walked past him until he spoke.

"I hope you didn’t touch my agent."

"I’m not a molester." Joseph said.

"Oh, you know I didn’t mean it that way, Cassian." Julian said as he turned around, now facing Joseph.

"Really? Well, not the best first introduction." He eyed him, though Joseph immediately knew that Julian is not on Olivia’s level, no, he is far more dangerous, far more experienced... just this vibe coming off him that he is different on a whole other level.

Even his look, he looked exactly like a director should, not the old fat type, but a worked-out man in his mid-50s with some scars on his face and greying hair.

"Yeah, it’s not, though you’re different from what I imagined." Julian said as he eyed him.

"Oh, do I look more handsome than you expected?" Joseph said as he smiled at him, though he had a feeling that this meeting between them could be something far better if he stuck to the opportunity, and even Julian knew that this could be something.

"No, you’re just more fucked up than I thought you would be." He said as he noticed those eyes of his that are truly otherworldly, something he only saw in soldiers with PTSD and many traumas, but it was sprinkled with something he never saw in his career... like he was enjoying it or controlling it, embracing it all.

Something far more dangerous than he ever saw... yeah, only by looking at him he could tell that this motherfucker is completely insane and on another level than others... like a fucking comic book villain.

"Huh... well, thanks, you look fucked too, like somebody who deserves to be beheaded." Joseph laughed, though Julian didn’t really get the joke... which was actually just a joke, with no threat behind it and it told him more than that, Joseph is really something else... joking about beheading him, while other criminals hide when he’s in public. "Well, it was nice to meet you, mister. Have a good day and be sure Olivia eats those chocolates I brought her." He said and just waved his hand as was walking away with Pablo.

Though he suddenly stopped and turned back to Julian, who was still looking at them. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Hey... I’m indebted to you, so if I can help, just reach out," he said, then waved again and walked toward the cars, leaving Julian frozen on the spot.

Though he understood it, what he said was a call not for an alliance, not for a truce between them, but a helping hand for each other, with the twist that they still remain enemies.

"Abort mission." He said into his sleeves, and within a second, Fian ran up from the side of the hospital toward him.

"Is she—"

"Nothing happened to Olivia, you can go up to her." He looked at her and she immediately ran into the hospital, while dozens of agents came out from nearby parked cars and even from the hospital itself.

"Are you sure about it?" It was Jimmy. "Like, he was here we could have just—"

"No, he is far more dangerous than I thought he would be."

"But he did nothing though..." Misa said. "He just stood here."

"That’s exactly why." Julian looked at Misa. "I’m hundred percent sure he knew all about it, it was almost like he waited for me, that’s why he was in the hall for that much time." He explained. "Second, he just stood there, knew he surrendered and still talked in a calm way and even joked... but the last thing he said gave me goosebumps."

Jimmy and Misa looked together, because they never saw him like this, like he was the iron-hearted motherfucker of the DSA who never spoke this way, nor ever even came out to take part in a mission.

"What did he say?" Jimmy asked.

"He’s indebted to me, and he offered a favor, so if I need anything, I just have to reach out to him."

They stood in silence as once again they just looked at each other.

"An alliance?" Misa asked.

"No." Julian shook his head as he laughed a bit. "He’s ready to play a game with us. Like that cartoon, the mouse and the cat. They’re always against each other, but none of them actually destroy the other. He’s not trying to win, but to have a fun little play that actually benefits each of us."

"So... we’re just part of some twisted game... with Cassian?" Jimmy asked.

Julian nodded slowly. "Exactly. He doesn’t want us dead, he wants us moving, reacting... being a part of whatever big thing he’s got planned, though he implied one more thing with it."

"What?" Misa asked, stepping forward.

"We both know there are worse enemies than each other."

Jimmy blinked. "So he wants us to... what? Team up without teaming up?"

"Yeah. He’s playing the long game and we’re on the board now, whether we like it or not."

Misa didn’t say anything at first, just looked down, thinking hard like she was trying to see where all this was going. "So if we step wrong, he’ll be watching. If we step right, he still gains from it."

"That’s the beauty of it, right? Every move we make, he’s already got a use for it. Win or lose, he gets something."

"And if we try to back out?" Misa asked.

"He won’t let us." Julian said without hesitation. "Not through threats. Just... through options. He’ll make it so the only path forward always leads back to him."

"Like a maze." Misa muttered. "And he’s the one holding the map."

"Exactly. Though that’s good for us, he’s leading the way, benefiting from us just as we do from him. He knows we’re bigger and more powerful than he is, but the one thing he’s ahead of us in... is the underworld." He looked at them. "We think in a law-enforcement way, but he was born in the underworld. He knows it and learned from it without even trying. And now, all that knowledge will be used to go against the tide, until he’s the only one left standing."

"So he’s not trying to take over the underworld, but destroy it?"

Julian nodded. "Yeah. And he might pull it off. No more sides, no more bosses. Just him."

"What do we do?" Misa asked.

"Nothing, because this is exactly what we wanted with the blacklists. The board agreed to put him on the list so he can destroy everybody, while we just gather the evidence, his weaknesses, everything he builds up, we’ll have information on... and when he decides to turn against us, we strike him down. We will truly benefit each other." Julian explained, and he felt excited about it, because their plan was actually working how it was supposed to and now even Joseph himself implied that there was some kind of connection between them.

A true masterpiece in the making, that’s what it was... though one thing was also clear about it.

It is going to be a massacre... a massacre they just prepared the stage for.