Partners in Crime

Jackson Bright

The name was on every sheet that Charlie scanned through. He was standing in an office, the lights were dimmed and he was told to be here at exactly five pm, sharp. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, or where he was for that matter.

There was a quick knock on the door before it opened. In came a tall man, he wore a long sleeve, dark blue, button up shirt - a black vest over top. A tie was centered on his chest, glasses perched on his nose and his hair perfectly swooped to the left and he had a sharp jawline that Charlie couldn't just ignore. He was not smiling. His mouth was in a thin line as he examined Charlie.

Charlie was much smaller than Jackson had expected, he looked too innocent, too pure for the job. He scanned him from top to bottom. He was wearing a light blue sweater that just barely covered his hands and dark blue jeans. His face was rounder, softer. His eyes shined a bright blue and his hair was mussed up, his freckles bothered Jackson. Everything about the man in front of him, bothered him. He did not seem right for this job.

"Jackson Bright?" Charlie asked, only getting a nod in return. "I'm Charlie Humble! It's a pleasure to meet you." Charlie walked closer to him, sticking his hand out, waiting for Jackson to shake it.

"It's...a pleasure to meet you too." He shook Charlie's hand in a rushed manner. He quickly took his hand back, clasping his hands behind his back while giving Charlie another once over.

"Are you ready to leave?" Jackson tightened his wrist watch, glancing up at Charlie when he didn't get a response.

"If you are to work for me you need to learn to talk once spoken too. Am I understood?" Charlie nodded.

"Yes, sir. Sorry. May I ask where we are going?" He asked, walking, out of the office with Jackson.

He did not get a response.

~~~~~

Charlie was sitting in the passenger side of Jackson's car. He could tell that it was expensive. Anyone could tell just by looking at the exterior. He was afraid of breaking something or touching anything. Jackson gave him the impression that he would definitely regret breaking anything in his car.

Jackson scared him.

Charlie fidgeted with his seatbelt, looking out the tinted window as they took a turn. The further they drove the more the sun had set. They had been driving for at least an hour or two. The more turns they took, the darker and sketchier the streets became. He couldn't help but close in on himself.

"We're almost there. I expect you to stay quiet and stay by my side. You must not step out of line." Jackson warned him, taking one more turn before parking his car. Charlie gave a quick nod.

"Good. Now, for your own safety I need you to take this." He opened up the middle console and grabbed an item. Charlie's eyes widened once he caught sight of the object.

"A gun?!" He exclaimed, regretting going along with him.

"Yes. Do you have any experience with one?"

"Yeah...but I haven't used one in years." He glanced up from the gun to Jackson.

"Alright." Jackson held the gun out in front of him.

"Make sure you hold like this, keep your finger off of the trigger at all times. You only move your finger to the trigger if you are about to shoot. Understood?"

He nodded quickly.

"Good. Now, to load the gun," Jackson cocked it, the clicking sound was satisfying to Charlie. "You do that. I'd normally inform you to keep it on safety. But, considering what's about to happen, I ask you to keep it off."

"Okay." He took the gun in his hands. The metal was cold against his bare skin and the weapon was heavy. Jackson grabbed another gun from the console. Loading it before he got out of the car. Charlie followed.

The two walked in silence. Charlie stayed next to Jackson, the darkness surrounded them and his ears were on alert. The sound of their footsteps echoed down the alley.

Jackson held his hand out, stopping Charlie from walking. They were stopped outside of a door. He knocked.

"Where-"

"Stay quiet." Jackson hissed, watching as the door opened. A man stood there. His posture straight and his face as cold as stone. Half his face seemed to be covered in old burn marks. He had clearly been through some things.

"Dorian."

"Jackson. We've been expecting you." His eyes finally lifted off of Jackson and fell to Charlie. He felt so out of place.

"And who is this?" His hand reached out, his index finger tilting Charlie's chin up.

"Don't touch him." Jackson pushed his way past Dorian, Charlie meekly following behind him.

"Remi." Jackson practically growled. He glanced down towards Charlie when he felt him lean against him. He was indifferent about him. He didn't seem to be qualified for this job, but Jackson would know for certain after today. "I need you to return everything you stole from the cooperation."

"Can't do, babe." Remi hopped up, two men dressed in black following him.

"You see, what I took belonged to me since the beginning, and I'm pretty sure you already knew that, didn't cha?" Charlie hated the way Remi got close to Jackson. He glared at the man who paid him no mind.

"That's not true. My business was 'skyrocketing' as one says. And then you came in, held my employees at gunpoint and stole hundreds and thousands of dollars from me." Jackson seethed, not moving from his spot, even if Remi was standing uncomfortably close to him.

"Just let it go, baby~" Remi cooed, leaning in to whisper in Jackson's ears. Before he could get another word out, Charlie quickly pushed himself in between the two, glaring up at Remi and not letting his height determine how scary he could get.

"Oh? And who is this?" Remi smirked, watching as Charlie became protective of Jackson, who's eyes had widened, fearing for Charlie's safety.

"None of your damn business." Charlie spat, glaring up at the man in front of him.

"What did I tell you?" Jackson growled, he had no effect on Charlie.

"I was spoken to."

"Yes~ He was." Remi stood closer to him, leaning down so Charlie could hear him better. "Why don't you come with me, baby?"

"No." Charlie kept up his demeanor. The adrenaline was rushing through his veins.

"D'aww, c'mon."

"No, just give Jackson what he wants so we can get out of this hell-hole."

Everyone was slightly taken aback, even the two men who were protecting Remi from behind. No one thought Charlie was one to speak back so harshly. He seemed so harmless - which is exactly why Remi didn't trust him.

"I don't think you understand." Remi stood closer, his smile becoming more venomous as he talked. "I don't owe that man shit. And he's better off walking out the door than trying to get anything from me." He looked up at Jackson. "Understood?"

"Remi, don't make this hard."

"I make everything hard, babe." He winked, reaching his hand out to touch Jackson's face. That was what made Charlie snap. He quickly grabbed Remi's wrist with one hand and swiftly turned him around, pinning his arm behind his back and holding him still. Remi growled, trying to move away from him but he only seethed through his teeth when he felt his pain worsen.

Jackson quickly moved, knocking the other two out without an issue. Dorian was the difficult one. Dorian had made sure to lock the doors before darting towards Jackson. He knew Jackson knew what he was doing - he must've had a plan. So he scanned his surroundings. He knew he could've used his gun but he also knew Jackson would be quicker than he was. He swiftly moved over to Jackson, trying to dead leg him, but wasn't very successful. Jackson had turned around before he could even reach him, he aimed his gun up and shot faster than Dorian's mind could process.

"Murder wasn't supposed to be on today's agenda..." Jackson spoke aloud, giving Dorian one last look before turning to the others.

"It's not on anyones?" Charlie questioned, looking at Jackson as if he were crazy.

"No, it's on mine, just not until next Thursday." He smirked at Charlie's confused expression. He had been telling the truth and Charlie knew he was.

Jackson scanned the room, spotting rope hanging on the wall on the other side of the bar. He made his way over there quickly. He was trying to go as fast as possible so Charlie didn't have to hold onto Remi any longer than needed.

Jackson walked back over to them, tying Remi as tightly as possible and pushing him against the back of the wall. Charlie made sure he didn't do anything stupid while Jackson tied the other two together.

"Kinky~" Remi spoke once Jackson was done with the others.

"Are you clinically insane? Or incredibly annoying?" Jackson asked, grimacing at Remi.

"I dunno, probably both." He laughed, he didn't show any signs of fear or regret. He'd die willingly and Jackson knew that. But he would still get Remi to play along.

"Alright Remi. I'll give you two options." Jackson reloaded his gun. Not liking the fact that it wasn't completely full. "One, you can give in. Tell me your password to log into your computer so I can get into your bank account and take back the money that is rightfully mine." He pointed the gun at Remi, keeping his face stoic even when Charlie walked over to him - keeping his gun pointed at Remi as well. "Or, two. You don't give me the password. You be incredibly difficult and in seconds I take this gun, pull the trigger, and then you die. Your choice." Remi laughed, rolling his eyes before focussing on Jackson.

"Yeah, I'm gonna give you the password after you killed the love of my life. I'm just gonna hand it over after you tie me and my men up. I'm gonna give you the password after everything you've ever fucking done to me. You're a douche Jackson, and I hope you burn in hell." Remi spat, he was fully ready to die.

"Charlie. I want you to shoot him." He pointed his gun at the floor, looking down at Charlie expectantly. He needed to know that Charlie was okay with killing others. That was an important factor in this job.

"You don't have to do this." Remi told him, his eyes soft as he watched Charlie. He stared at the barrel of his gun. Tears stung at his eyes. He took a deep breath, aiming the rifle at his skull.

"I wish that were true." The sound of the bullet echoed throughout the room. Remi fell to his knees, blood running down his forehead. There was a perfect circle in the middle of his forehead. Charlie had perfect aim.

"Do you feel guilty? Like, at all, ever?" Charlie asked, staring up at Jackson after setting his gun to safety.

"I don't have time to feel guilty. And neither do you." Charlie looked down at his gun. A smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked back up, a few tears slipping from his eyes.

"That felt amazing." Charlie chuckled. He hadn't held a gun in years. It felt nice - nostalgic. And he had no idea why he ever stopped.

"Didn't it?" Jackson fixed Charlie's hair a bit. Wiping away his tears before walking over to the laptop that was left open on the bar. Charlie had known what he was doing but the way Jackson knew how to use the computer so easily confused him.

"They were already logged in. They're fucking idiots, they always have been." He closed the laptop after finishing his work, making sure he had signed out beforehand.

"Let's get going."

They both sat in the car. Jackson replaced the guns in the middle console. As he pulled out of his parking space, he turned to face Charlie.

"You were mediocre back there. I know you can do better than that. It was as if you were second guessing yourself every step of the way and I can't have you doing that. I've seen your files, your record. I know you were responsible for many deaths, year after year you were responsible for...very unique murders. Then you stopped. You disappeared. Before I assign you to my team, I need you to tell me your reason for doing so." Charlie thought about it, a smile relaxing on his face after he finally realized what had happened, what had stopped him. He looked over to Jackson, who was paying his full attention to the road.

"I had a son."