[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/YWqLekM.png[/img][/center] [center][h2][u]Springtime is the time for Growth[/u][/h2][/center] It had been a busy time for Lekh. His first spring in America was not a quiet one. The Syndicate was a hive of activity bubbling under its calm exterior, with everything slowly returning to normality after the recent meta-human crisis opportunity for crime was writhe. Luckily he was not adverse to hard work. Because he was working double time. With every task he completed in the name of his new faction, climbing the ranks quickly after his vital role in the unfortunately unsuccessful kidnapping, he carried out two jobs to further his own aims. Stealing valuable items to fund his varied projects even as his privately hired researchers worked tirelessly over the blood sample he had stolen from Ms Desdemona. However, even outside of this not so secret and painfully secret activity respectively, he carved out a small but not insignificant part of the Syndicate for himself. It was not an obvious thing, nor an official one, but some of the Shroud’s membership in Lost Haven hesitated when deciding on who they would report a tid-bit to. Their loyalties were certainly to the Cowl, but for many he was little more than an idea, a figurehead of sorts. Silence was real, and he impressed many of them, scared some more, in the rest he invoked their ire. As was the way in the criminal world, some will always hate you, but Silence dealt with the more outspoken personally, and seemingly not so many were outspoken any more. All the while they drifted around him, spoke about him, listened to him. He made many of them far richer than they had been before, and when all else failed, money would often talk. Silence was not a fool, and so he knew all too well that the Cowl would have become aware of some of his manoeuvrings. For most of spring however his activity was hardly unusual, in fact, in a dog-eat dog world like that of the Syndicate it was almost encouraged to take control of what one can. Most of the local bosses still maintained their mentalities from before their streets became a creeping and very illicit organisation. Kill or be killed, gather men and women and even children around you and have them prop you up above the rest, just high enough to keep your head out of the water, but not so high that it gets cut off. It was only as spring drew to a close and the days grew so long as to seem never ending that the activities of Silence had grown unusual. Even to someone as intelligent as the Cowl. It was almost as if he was siphoning off the man power from the lower levels of criminality in Lost Haven, exploiting their discontent and their own inability to rise naturally. If he was to be measured against the local bosses, Silence had stepped just a little above them all. He was peaking over a precipice that few before him had reached, but he chose to teeter there. If he had ill intentions, he had shown none save for that gathering of power. His men stepped to in order to fulfil the wishes of the higher ups just as quickly as they had before they began to question who they saw when they thought of the Cowl. But undeniably, as spring gave way to summer, Silence had carved out a faction of his own within the Syndicate in Lost Haven. The real question was what he wished to do with it. [center][h2][u]Spirits in Summer[/u][/h2][/center] [b]Present Day: Eden (Lost Haven)[/b] “You do forgive me don’t you?” [color=bc8dbf]“Of course, I have already said as much before, Brat.”[/color] The cold-faced criminal who had risen so quickly through the ranks forgave his blood easily, lapsing in and out of his native tongue as they were want to do in conversation. “Because you know I do feel bad about ratting on you, you know?” His brother’s words were only slightly slurred, but for a Pole, that was no mean feat. The half bottle of vodka across the table between them in Adrian’s lavish office was obviously responsible for that. Adrian was apologizing again for what he told the Cowl when Lekh had first arrived, as he had almost every time the brothers had spoken in the last few months. [color=bc8dbf]“Adrian, I would have done the same in your position, do you understand?” [/color] He lied, not for the first time. “Yes, yes of course, anyway, tell me about this plan of yours.” Adrian always acquiesced a little too quickly, it gave his game away. He was not as drunk as he seemed, nor as innocent. [color=bc8dbf]“I have already spoken to you about this, Brat, you must understand that I cannot afford to divulge too many of my secrets at one time.”[/color] He frowned apologetically. [color=bc8dbf] “Though I can tell you that I intend to make something of a move on certain, ‘aquatic’ holdings in the following weeks.” [/color] He lied of course, fully aware that his words would see their merry way back to Adrian’s supervisor, the very same woman who had introduced Lekh to the Syndicate just a few months ago. [color=bc8dbf] “Anyway, I am not here for business. I am here to drink with my brother and speak of old times, cliché as it may be.”[/color] Now it was Adrian’s turn to frown, he did not like to think back to his time in Poland, growing up in Lekh’s shadow, the one with the talent for the family ‘gift.’ The good older brother, the heir as it was, and the talentless younger brother who abandoned his duties. He filled up a shot glass and drank it down, gritting his teeth and letting the familiar burn run its course. The hour grew late, though it was not a club night fortunately. The Brothers had waxed political over current affairs, spoken of the ills that beset the homeland, and even talked of their Father a little. But now, it was time to go. Lekh pressed his hands atop the table to leave, as was his way he often chose to abruptly stand before making his goodbyes. As he did so, the sleeve of his fashionable jacket rode up, revealing his right hand fully for just a moment. Marked there was a red thumb print, though it was not obviously so it was still distinct and drew the eyes of his Brother. “What’s that, Bro? You don’t have a birthmark there, not that I can remember anyway.” Adrian looked at it bemused, and Silence bit back a curse, letting his sleeve fall down and calmly waving away the remark. [color=bc8dbf]“Paint, I believe. I had cause to dabble in some impromptu art just last night, apparently I missed a stubborn spot.”[/color] “Right.” Disbelief, but the importance of such a trifling thing hardly warranted further pressing of his older brother. [color=bc8dbf]“Brother.” [/color] His voice was serious then, and he flittered into his native tongue for his parting remarks. [color=bc8dbf]“You should return to Poland, you should see her."[/color] Adrian’s eyes grew cold at Lekh's words, but he did not reply. [color=bc8dbf]“Anyway, I will be off now. Until the next time we meet, Brother, do widzenia.” [/color]