(1) Sinless Day (Pt. 4)- The Smuggler and The Visitor

--- Mercer ---

Walking down an alley several streets away from the Den he did a brief count of the money he’d gotten from the safe stashed in the bedroom of the Den penthouse. A hiding place few people outside of the Den’s current owners were aware of, one that had also included what was probably a fair amount of evidence against the Den’s owner as a drug dealer as well as a number of connections that could lead to whoever was trying to get a foot in the Way. (But that’s not as important as getting the house set up for me and the girls.)

Taking a turn down another alley, he walked up to the backdoor of a building that the owner of definitely didn’t want anyone to see him walk inside of before picking the door’s lock and letting himself in.

Even without his helmet’s night vision to help him he was able to easily make his way through the dark building and to the office where the owner kept most of their incriminating things as well as the majority of their money.

He took a seat and put his boots on the desk as he waited.

He didn’t have to wait long before the lights turned on and a thin balding man with glasses kicked the door down while pointing a gun at him. “Don’t touch anything scumbag!”

It took the man only a moment to realize who he was pointing a gun at, and a raised brow to make him pale considerably.

“M-M-Mercer!” The man practically screeched as he fumbled the gun, dropping it on the ground.

“Vincent.” He nodded back in greeting.

“Wh-What are you doing here?”

“I need a bit of help acquiring some things and getting them to a specific place without anyone finding out.” Because while he had no problem with people knowing where he lived, he preferred to keep a low profile until the place was fortified enough to take on a siege if necessary. (Need to remember to make things a little more blast proof this time if people are bringing rocket launchers into the Way.)

“A-and you couldn’t w-wait until I was open?” Vincent frowned, picking up his gun.

“Would you want the criminals of the way to know you’re supplying not just them but the guy hunting them with goods?” He asked rhetorically.

“Right, right.” The store owner sighed. “What, what exactly do you need?”

“My apartment blew up.” He told the man calmly, before adding, “With me and most of my possessions in it.”

Vincent ran a hand down his face. “I can replace the stuff you got from me, but since we’ve, we’ve only been doing business for a few months…”

“You need a list of everything I need replaced, and in all likelihood you can’t get me the more military hardware at the moment.” He figured, counting out several hundred dollar bills.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“No, I uh, I probably can’t.” The store owner admitted eyes locked onto the money in Mercer’s hands. “I um, I’ve got a hook up with a lot of Deviants throughout the city though, so I can uh, I can hook you up with your own um, stuff.”

“I can rebuild most of my stuff if you can get me the parts, but there are some things I can’t replace on my own.” He sat notably more money on the table than what he was going to ask for. “For now I need you to get me a few king sized mattresses, sheets, blankets, dishes, cookware and so on, basic house furnishings.”

“You want me to get you a couch and TV too?” Vincent scoffed.

“Mm, TV yes, but my wife ‘ll want to help with the actual furniture.” He admitted.

“This… This is all stuff you can get on your own.” The store owner told him. “Why are you making me find all of this?”

“Because I’m paying you to bring all of it to my new place of address by tomorrow morning without anyone finding out.” He explained, pushing the money forward.

“By tomorrow morning?” Vincent glanced at a nearby clock. “As in today morning, or tomorrow tomorrow because it’s three A.M.!”

He but a few more bills on the table. “You’re a resourceful man.”

The store owner stared at the stack of money that likely included a couple of thousand more than what he was being asked to acquire before shaking his head as he gave in. “Fine.”

“Good.” He nodded in satisfaction before standing from his seat.

“Is, is there anything you want other than this… homemaker junk?” Vincent asked him as he walked passed. “Getting you actual gear might be easier than this stuff.”

He paused as he considered the offer.

(On the one hand I could probably get the parts to work on some of my gear, but given the short notice Vincent ‘ll probably only be able to get a few things.) He considered, before frowning as he realized, (If Scarlet -and less likely Bell- do end up following me on a couple of my patrols, it’d probably be a good idea to make sure they have something. Though given their powers I don’t actually know what would go good with their natural kits, meaning I’d have to guess at whatever I got them. Then again, it might do them some good just to grab them a gift or something to help them settle in…)

“You know what, there is something you can get me while you’re at it.”

A/N: For new readers I like to do reader choices a lot to decide the flow of the stories, this was one of them. Since And All The Sinners, Saints posted on other sites first, the choice has already been made however. (There will be plenty of future choices once everything is caught up.)

What should Vincent get?

[]-Mercer’s Gun Parts

[]-Mercer’s Armor Parts

[X]-Mercer’s Helmet Parts

[]-Armor Parts for the Girls

[]-Gift for the Girls

---

Having made sure Vincent would take care of everything for him so that he wouldn’t have to do all of that mundane shopping, he used his grapples to quickly make his way back to the boarding house where he found the lights still on.

Which actually wasn’t too much of a factor given how he was fairly certain the girl’s might be nocturnal. -(Though I’ve only got the one Malcontent to compare that to.)- What’s more even if they weren’t, he wouldn’t be surprised if they slept in shifts until they got used to being out of those labs or if they both stayed up until he got back.

(Actually, probably should’ve come back sooner if that was the case.) He frowned, realizing that if he was going to be taking care of these two he’d have to be careful of being gone for too long. (At least until they get settled in.)

Like he was half-way expecting, he found both of the girls in the boarding house lobby waiting for him. With Bell looking mildly frightened yet interested in everything outside of the lab and Scarlet looking suitably frustrated and/or annoyed by the world at large.

Unlike he was expecting he also found an exhausted looking man in a trench coat scratching at his five o’clock shadow while ignoring the claw marks on the wall. “Mercer”

(It’s just one thing after another isn’t it?)