Belloq chose...poorly

[archeologue]

Who: Tuco and Belloq, Niko and Belloq, Una and Belloq, and open to others as desired
What: Threads of Belloq's bad choices coming back to haunt him. All threads of comeuppance are welcome here.
When: First thread after this thread with Tuco when Belloq was announcing Niko's "death." All other threads after Niko returns alive and well.
Where: All around Blackway.
Notes & Warnings: Swearing. Probably much swearing. Threats of violence. Others tba.

Comments

Closed to Tuco

[archeologue]

Belloq waited in his room for Tuco to arrive to discuss the job he had for him. These goods were hotter than his usual fare and he wanted to get them to an Orion smuggling ship and off planet quickly. He paced the room, jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up. Ever since he'd left Niko sealed in that temple he felt like he was sweating more than usual.

[theugly]

While he wouldn't have necessarily passed a breathalyzer test, Tuco managed to turn up at Belloq's door relatively sober, with most of his synapses still functioning. He knocked twice and waited, glancing over his shoulder like he had a reason to be worried.

Not that he was worried—it was more that standing there, he couldn't help but have a certain appreciation for what a job with Belloq might entail. Niko was dead, sure, and that was reason enough to be wary... but the guy dealt with serious artefacts, and he'd already promised a lot with what little he'd said so far.

Or maybe Tuco was projecting a little, but regardless of that, he felt like he had a reason to be excited. That maybe this was the start of the ever elusive good luck every other bastard seemed to experience.

[archeologue]

Belloq unlocked the door and opened it, stepping aside to let Tuco enter.

"Come in, come in."

One person visiting another wasn't itself a cause for suspicion, but still Belloq thought it best if no one saw this meeting taking place. The Black Sun Syndicate had a way of finding out things that other people knew, and the way relations were starting to deteriorate between the crime rings, he wouldn't put it past the Black Sun to drop a tip to security just to strike a blow against the Orions.

[theugly]

Tuco grunted a wordless greeting and stepped through, hat slipping down to his hand, with the ugly scarf he'd settled on quickly following suit. His eyes zipped across the room, making little pitstops along the way as if a wardrobe or light fixture might have helped clue him into what was about to follow. Still none the wiser, he turned to face Belloq and looked up at him expectantly.

"Well?" he prompted, raising his eyebrows.

[archeologue]

As Belloq spoke, he turned away from Tuco and made his way to a safe kept in his wardrobe. Careful to block the view of the wheel, he spun it this way and that in the combination sequence.

"I need you to assist with a delivery, nothing more. I don't anticipate any trouble, but the item in question is very valuable and there's the potential that it might attract thieves. That's where you come in, to serve as a guard and deterrent."

The safe clicked open. He opened it and reached inside, drawing out a long object wrapped in plain brown cloth.

"So you understand the seriousness of this job, this is what you'll be guarding. I will carry it myself, and you will accompany me. In exchange, I will pay you one-tenth of my finder's fee, a generous salary for what is, in effect, merely a walk across town."

He drew the cloth from the object and revealed a sword of pure diamond. It sparkled even in the low light of Belloq's room.

[theugly]

Tuco was silent. His jaw worked like maybe he wanted to say something, but his Judas tongue felt like a piece of dry leather that someone had clumsily tacked to the roof of his mouth.

Now, to say his thoughts immediately went to betrayal would be disingenuous. His first feeling was a sense of shared excitement—a wave of do you realize what you have there, complete with a stupid grin and a burst of adrenaline. Moments later, however, there was just an edge of something else in his expression. A glance that was almost nakedly calculating.

It was like Sad Hill all over again, only this time, all that was standing between him and a veritable fortune was a man with a stick. And, unfortunately for Belloq, even if the stick appeared to be very shiny and very pointy, he just so happened to be a man with a gun.

"Generous?" he began, punctuating with a short, sharp laugh. "Sure... But, uh... tell me, friend: what makes you so sure Tuco isn't a thief, too?"

[archeologue]

Belloq gave Tuco a hard stare. He double-crossed Niko for this treasure, so he all too easily imagine Tuco double-crossing him for it.

"I am not. But it would be most unwise to steal from the Orion Syndicate, especially when the planet is under quarantine and difficult to escape. Jabba is known for his tenacity and his inventively cruel vindictiveness against people who steal from him."

[vengeance_driven]

OOC: After this.

[Niko storms the path between the hotel and the exit to the village, trying to make it before patrol catches him. He knows that's where Belloq will have to leave from. He needs to catch him, to show him what it is to betray someone like him. Niko's friendship is given freely, it isn't hard earned, but if it's wasted then there is hell to pay.]

[And Niko's camaraderie has been thrown back in his face.]

[He has a keen eye- years as an assassin has helped him to be quick about picking out targets.] Belloq! [He snarls when he lays eyes on him, jogging through the now mostly empty space of a tourist shop side street (which once bustled with traffic, but had been dulled by the quarantine) before he could try and make an escape.]

[archeologue]

[Belloq had packed a light bag and was hoping to slip out of town unnoticed before anyone could find him. He knows just enough about Niko's history to be very very afraid. Betrayal always makes enemies; he's used to that. But in the past they were typically rival archaeologists, academics. None before were so dangerous as Niko Bellic.

He should have known that it wouldn't be so easy to evade a professional guide and tracker. At the sound of Niko's sharp Slavic accent, he starts to run, on instinct, like a fox running from the snapping of the hounds. But only a few steps into his flight, logic kicks in and he thinks the better of it. He couldn't evade Niko and he certainly won't be able to out run him. But, perhaps, if he's very very careful and very very lucky, he might be able to reason with him.

Belloq drops his bag and slowly turns around, his hands raised in the universal gesture of surrender.]

Niko. You have every right to be angry, but you wouldn't kill an unarmed man on a public street, would you?

[vengeance_driven]

Do you think I haven't before?!

[He runs over, racing suddenly, grabs Belloq by the collar and wrenches him to the ground. His fingers are tight in the fabric, nigh on choking him. Yes, there's a couple of people ducking back- this end of town rarely gets as fierce as the far reaches.]

[But this street is sparsely populated, and he's done worse with more people around.] Do you honestly think that I haven't shot down a man with his wife standing right beside of him? Do you think that I haven't shot old neighbors, friends turned enemies during a civil war?! What right do you have to say what I would or wouldn't do, ah?! You traitorous fuck.

[His knuckles are hurting. His expression, actually starting to look as wounded as he feels. He just got this life. Does he want to do this? Does he want to throw it away?]

[He stops himself from pulling his gun. It's a miracle, but he does, and he throws Belloq back onto the street.]

I am not that man anymore. You're right. I made a promise to myself. [Then, another thought occurs to him. And he points at himself.] I made a promise to myself that things would be different here.

[But his vow is only his own.]

[archeologue]

[Belloq coughs and retches and grunts in surprised pain as his knees hit the ground hard. He thinks he might have made a poor choice here. And what an ignominious way to die, not on a battlefield, not during an archaeological adventure, but killed on the street by a friend he'd betrayed. The artifact he'd double-crossed Niko for wasn't even real, the Orions would soon be crying for his head, despite having done what they'd asked, thinking he stole a sword that doesn't exist. What a bloody waste.

He keeps his gaze to the ground and his shoulders low as Niko vents his fury. And when Niko throws him to the ground again, he stays there.]

I have always thought that you were a better man than your past suggested, Niko.

[vengeance_driven]

I would have always been a good friend, good man or not.

[He takes a step back, putting some space between him and Belloq. He's sure that, with Linda and Boone having been there, patrol knows he won't be in the best of moods. That if the call has gone out by one of these shop keepers, he should be expecting company soon.]

I would have helped save you from them. I would have fought beside you. I would go to hell and back to save a friend, Belloq. And you thought that this was worth getting rid of.

[The choice between friend and money is one Niko's had to make before, and he doesn't regret his choice. If he doesn't see to it that he regrets this, well... then other people will.] Just fuck off. Go! And know your fucking sword is for the museum. I didn't want the piece of shit. [He's figured out that there was only supposed to be one sword. He doesn't know what went wrong, he just knows one thing. Diamonds are nothing but trouble.]

[thumbsdown]

[Sure enough, Boone shows up in time to see Belloq on the ground with Niko stood over him. If he had his way, he would have let Niko kill him. He's here as part of patrol, though. Kay specifically sent him to stop his friend from doing something he might regret later. That means he has to stop Niko, whether he likes it or not. Of course, he doesn't know that Niko has already decided Belloq isn't worth it.]

Niko!

[He doesn't have to raise his voice much. It carries pretty well. As he gets closer he throws Belloq a disgusted look. Sure, he's stopping Niko from killing him, but he's not bothering to hide his contempt for the traitor who tried to kill his friend.]

Later

[una_persson]

Una was sat in her office at the Travel Agency. It was late, well into second shift, and most of the staff had gone home, leaving Una alone.

Earlier she'd sent Belloq a message: yes, Rene, I'm troubled by this turn of events, but I'd like for us to talk, all right? Come and meet me at my office. Come in through the back of the building; it's better if you're not seen. We can talk there and I assure you we won't be interrupted.

There was a bottle of cognac on her desk. Two glasses. And something in her pocket.

[archeologue]

Belloq came to Una's office, bearing her message in his thoughts. He was under no illusions that she was indifferent about the deception that had been revealed, but her note seemed calm, rational, and not hostile. He had hopes that he might be able to salvage something there.

He sneaked through the back of the building as requested and rapped on the door to her office before entering.

"Una. I am glad you wish to talk. I owe you an explanation."

[una_persson]

"Yes, Rene, you do." She stood up and poured drinks for them both, in his plain sight. The needlegun in her inner jacket pocket shifted as she moved, but wouldn't be immediately noticeable to an observer. "Let's have a drink, shall we? It will be much more pleasant all around that way."

Her voice and manner were cool enough, but not threatening. She even managed a very small, formal smile as she slid the glasses toward him, offering him a choice.

[archeologue]

He choose the right hand glass, and appreciated that she offers him the choice. Hopeful though he was, he was still cautious and might otherwise have been concerned about the chance of poison.

"Would you prefer to ask me questions about what happened or shall I simply speak?"

He raised the glass and offered a cheers before taking a sip.

"Santé."

[una_persson]

"Cheers." She raised her own glass, drank, and sat back down, leaning back in her chair.

"Why don't you start, and we'll see where that gets us, shall we?" So pleasant.

[archeologue]

Belloq swallowed the cognac down in one gulp. Not the best way to appreciate a good drink, perhaps, but he needed the fortification.

"Niko was my friend. I was not pretending, not manipulating him knowing that I would kill him. But I was put in a difficult situation."

Later

[ratkicker]

Jade sat outside Belloq's museum office, waiting for that backstabber to show up. He had to. She was already planning to talk with him about an upcoming expedition when she got the news that the supposedly-dead Niko was alive and betrayed, and she seeing that Belloq was one of her best clients, she needed to face the possibility that she could have been the victim instead.

Waiting was easy for her, especially when she had a quiet place to meditate.

Later

[archeologue]

Belloq walked down the hallway to his office. He'd escaped legal charges from Niko, and escaped with his life, but there was more to come. Whether it came in the form of vengeful friends of Niko, or the Orions looking for their lost sword, he didn't know.

He didn't see Jade until he was practically on top of her.

[ratkicker]

Jade could hear someone walking down the hallway, and it most likely was Belloq. She didn't bother opening her eyes until whoever it was got closer to her, and sure enough, that archeologist was there, surprisingly unharmed.

"So you're back." She didn't get up from the floor yet.

[archeologue]

"I am. For now." He was wary after the reception he'd gotten from others.

"I will ask this bluntly: what are your intentions?"

[ratkicker]

"Just curious about our working relationship now," she says as she stands up. "I don't really like working for people that plan to stab me in the back once it's useful."

[archeologue]

"Then it sounds as though you have already made a decision. You do not trust me."