I Want Candy

Participants:

ash_icon.gif candy_icon.gif bao-wei_icon.gif

Scene Title I Want Candy
Synopsis Candy comes into conflict with the triad when one of their member recognizes her from television in a most unfortunate way.
Date June 1, 2009

Long Island City

Long Island City, a run-down neighborhood on the western edge of Queens, just across the water from Manhattan. From here, the skyline that was changed forever by the bomb is a constant reminder of what once was. A window into the past as well as a scathing reminder of the present. The waterfront is a largely industrial area, riddled with freight train stops, warehouses and shipping companies; the vast majority of which have ceased operations or gone entirely out of business in the wake of the the bomb. While this neighborhood was spared from the disastrous nuclear fallout, it was crippled by the equally disastrous economic fallout. Businesses closed left and right, leaving blocks of abandoned facilities all across the neighborhood. As the property values took a steep nose dive, so too did crime in the area rise. Now, rife with gangs and refugees, the once bustling region looks more like a ghost town.


In some ways, the orange glow of Midtown's still raging fires to the west is a picturesque backdrop for the otherwise grim and somber-looking Long Island City. That warm amber glow between the skeletal frames of skyscrapers long ago destroyed by the bomb seems to cast a scrap of needed color on an otherwise gray and lifeless neighborhood.

However. for the first time since the fires started last week, the wind now comes off of the East River to the west, blowing smoke and ash in from the distant flames, dappling mostly empty streets and desolate buildings with a faint chalky residue. No amount of ash from the fires, however, can truly turn down the loud colors of the Cliffside Apartments. This garishly painted hunter orange building is bedecked with colorful graffiti and paintings that announce to the otherwise drab gray of the industrial neighborhood that there can always be a spot of light in an otherwise dreary time.

It's a shame Cliffside shares that ideal in facade only.

Across the street from the tenement building, several motorcycles and a black sedan have been parked for well over an hour, and only now are their owners coming out from inside. Six men in worn leather jackets and clothing tailored well enough to indicate they don't live anywhere around here exit from a warehouse acros the street from the apartments, one with a realtor sign posted out front, with a large FOR SALE notice atop it.

The jumbled and mirthful tones of Cantonese slurred only slightly by alcohol indicates that the men weren't there to take a tour of the real estate. Surrounded by the men in leather jackets and business casual attire, a much heavier and older looking man seems to be escorted by them. Wavy gray hair swept back atop his head, round-lensed glasses reflecting both the setting sun and the glow of the distant fires across the river in muted shades.

It's any other day in this run-down neighborhood, a day where people keep their heads down and their mouths shut, provided they know what's good for them.

Ash is walking along in this run down neighborhood slowly, his eyes scanning around him, looking.. similar to a tourist with the way his eyes move from place to place and take in everything around him, but he also seems to know where he's going, suggesting to a perceptive person that he might be a returning New Yorker. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his wool coat as he moves through the streets. When he spots the odd group he tilts his head, peering at them intently, his pace slowing even more.

Along the streets, comes the hunched figure of Candace Allard. She's wearing a small jacket that really just should not be called a jacket at all. She has the collar flicked up to protect herself form the ash that is falling to the ground as she takes in a deep breath when she thinks she can, letting out a sigh as she does. Life blows. A hand runs through her hair to insure that not too many flakes of ash have a chance to get too far in. Her green eyes glance towards the skyline and look at the lurid glow of the fires for a bit, before her trek continues on her way home.

She stops in front of the apartments, taking a moment to look around and insure that she isn't being followed. Yes, she is slightly paranoid, but she did appear on national TV threatening the President's Aide over FRONTLINE.

So perhaps his hair is not entirely gray, but with the ashen breeze and enough time spent in it- Bao-Wei's hair might as well be. He speaks with one of the more sobered men of the group around him in that foreign dialect, glancing over a shoulder towards the building they have just left as he does so. "«Get it done as soon as possible. Nobody here seems to be in the mood to wait.»" The doctor spots Candace hovering around the possibility of going inside the apartment across the street, but otherwise says nothing about her, or the other figure of Ash meandering his way down the walk, pausing to examine them on his way.

"«Mister Ye wants to make sure the shipment gets there on time too,»" one of the men at Bao-Wei's side states, reaching into his jacket pocket to produce a pair of sunglasses, sliding them on to aid in the glare from the setting sun. Once his eyes are shielded, he now spots the same people Bao-Wei noticed, but at first gives them no attention. "«We're going to need double what they're producing here,»" he jerks a thumb over his shoulder to the warehouse, "«to be able to push enough on Staten to meet demand. Maybe you should mention to— »"

"«Hey.»" Another one of the Triad members chimes in, stepping between Bao-Wei and the dark-haired man he was speaking to, "«isn't that the bitch from the news?»" One hand holding a bottle of beer motions across the street towards Candace. Another man, hearing that, peers across the street in a considerably obvious manner, nodding his head in agreement.

"«Yeah, that's the Humanis First bitch.»" Upper lip curling into a snarl, the bald-headed member of the Flying Dragons glances over to Bao-Wei, then the man at his side. "«Huang, you wanna' go get her autograph?»" A snorted laugh escapes the thug, as he squints at Ash for a moment, but then just returns his attention to Candy, now halfway across the street on his way back to the motorcycles and the car parked in front of Cliffside.

"«Liu was pissed when he saw that too. You know how he's been lately. Hey— fuck— maybe he'd give us something nice if we dragged her as sback, right?»" Another of the men chimes in, giving Candy an askance glance as he motions in her direction.

"«Maybe he'd give us her.»" Huang adds, one hand rubbing as his chin as he looks to Bao-Wei, as if gauging exactly how favorable he is to the idea of a kidnapping on top of their other business tonight.

Ash turns his eyes and when he sees Candy near by he arches a brow at her, very obviously recognizing her from the news, but he doesn't say anything, or give any other reaction to her presence, dismissing her out of hand it seems. His eyes move back to the group and his hands slide out of his pockets slowly, his arms then crossing over his broad chest, quite obviously curious about that group. He doesn't speak thier language, but he does understand body language, and does understand when looks are being given somewhere. He hms softly for just a quick second before he makes his way over towards Candy, scooting across the street to end up a few feet from her. He whispers softly to her. "Keep moving." Then he strikes up a random conversation about the weather and baseball to cover his whispering.

Yes, because Candace can't make brain matter leak from your ears, but other than that little piece of badness, she does have the body to make one fine… Anyway, Candy notices the eyes that are on her as she stands there, and she looks right back. Her green gaze going from one suit to the next as she considers them. Her hands go behind her back, as she leans against a garbage can for now, looking like she is waiting for someone. She nods her head to a couple of passerby's, and the homeless man who is in the trash pile to her left.

Yes, because Candace can't make brain matter leak from your ears, but other than that little piece of badness, she does have the body to make one fine… Anyway, Candy notices the eyes that are on her as she stands there, and she looks right back. Her green gaze going from one suit to the next as she considers them. Her hands go behind her back, as she leans against a garbage can for now, looking like she is waiting for someone. She nods her head to a couple of passerby's, and the homeless man who is in the trash pile to her left. Her eyes go over to Ash, as she says, "No need," before giving him a condescending smile and nodding her head as she gives him that condescending baby-talk that women are known for, "I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

Bao-Wei turns his head back in that direction when the first of them point her out, the mismatched eyes behind his glasses narrowing slightly as she simply idles there, visually posturing by staring back. In terms of any visuals that Doctor Cong might be sending, the primary one is suspicion at her hanging out near where they are headed.

"«If she lives around here, it may simply be easier to come and locate her at another time.»" Wet blankets have nothing on Bao. He looks pointedly to Huang, as if a glare could simply combust that less celibate area of his silly brain.

"«But if you are all so insistent-»" The doctor pauses and looks to the man joining Candy. "«A few of you can go up and gauge her reaction to coming along for a business proposal. If she is not interested, we shall return another time.»" A compromise, and not entirely false, judging by the clockwork on the older man's features. "«I'll need one of you for the car.»" Not that Bao-Wei could not drive himself- he is simply used to the respect given by it.

"«I'll drive,»" Zhao states as he snatches the keys out of Huang's hand, kicking both brows up as he turns back to Bao-Wei with a crooked smile, "«Huang and Lo can handle the bigot.»" There's a mildly perturbedlook from Huang as the keys to the car are taken, but it's quick to fade as he passes off a look to the bald-headed Lo, and then over to Candy.

Fine,»" Huang notes with a rub of one hand at the side of his head. "«I'll meet back up with you all later. Lo, come on, let's go introduce ourselves.»" Lo nods curtly, smoothing a hand over his bald, tattooed head before moving to follow in step behind the thinner man.

The remaining four members of the Flying Dragons make their way across the street with Bao-Wei, one opening the rear driver's side door and standing their patiently for the old doctor. The others move to the motorcycles, each mounting one and starting up the engines with a loud and whining roar of the engines.

Meanwhile, Huang and Lo make a steady approach towards Candy and her new friend from their side, popping a hand up in an all-too-friendly wave for his neighborhood as he calls out in accented English, "Hey! Hold on, television girl!" There's a smirk crossing Huang's mouth, even as the more stoic Lo just tucks his hands into his jacket pockets and trundles along behind.

Ash sighs at Candy's response to his advice slash warning, a slight nod is given to her though, his head dipping shallowly forwards. "Fine, try to help someone and they spit on you for it." He snorts in irritation and moves in, walking a good thirty feet down the sidewalk to lean back against a brick wall, a good vantage point to see whaat's going on. His arms cross over his chest and his face goes neutral, the man simply relaxing against the wall to watch how it all unfolds.

Candy looks at the two approaching hunks and eyes them up and down. Her hands go to her jean pockets as she says, "Television? I don't know what you are talking about." Yep, thats become her standard answer these days as she looks at the two. The homeless guy in the garbage also figures that this is a time to find a new place of residence and so moves across the street to his other pile of garbaging. His hand reaching over to a fresh beg, as he rips it open a little. His eyes lighting up when he sees a bag of popcorn and he pops one in his mouth. "Only a little stale," he mumbles, before his eyes go to the two thugs and Candy, ready to watch the show.

Candy continues to lean back non-chalantly as she looks over Ash and says, "Not spit on, just advised that someone has a situation fairly under control."

Bao-Wei keeps his eyes on the departing men as he gets to the car, pausing to peer over the top of the door at them before sidling into the sedan. Thankfully, he is still able to watch the proceedings through the middle of the front windshield.

"No, no girl." Huang states with a wag of one finger, "Yeah I wouldn't forget a ah…" his eyes wander down to her chest, then back up again, "face like yours, not in this lifetime." Lo stops a few feet away from where Huang and Candy converse, even as the other members of the Flying Dragons just rev the engines of their motorcycles. The rear door of the sedan is shut, and the car's driver moves over to open the driver's door, sliding in to the car before closing the door behind himself. The engine starts, the subtl enoise swallowed by the roar of the bikes around it.

"Yeah, see… you got many people's attention attention with that stunt you pulled." Huang picks up his pace, moving to circle around in front of Candy and then begin walking in a bit of a backpedal, keeping his facing towards her. "My boss, he's an important man. See when he saw you on the news, it got a nice, big reaction, and he wants to meet with you, yeah?" Huang's head tilts to one side, hands held out in a half shrug, half offering gesture.

"Boss wants to talk business with you, see? Because you're famous now," a crooked smile slips up Huang's lips. "He likes famous people — especially women. So, what do you say?" A nod is given to the sedan in front of the apartment building, "Come for a ride with us, promise you'll get taken good care of."

Candy raises an eyebrow at the man as he goes off on his, speech. "So… what all does this talking business have to do with, hmm? Because, I don't see why I should be inclined to go kabolting around with soem stranger. Perhaps he should come to me, yes? If I am such a big hot shot." She grins as she moves her hands to cross them below her considerable chest, having an idea already of what this stranger wants and it doesn't really involve her talking.

Ash remains where he's at, watching the men harass Candy, harass rather politely, but propositioning is still harassment. A smirk touches the man's lips for a few seconds before it fades away again, his features going back to neutrality and simpleness. He looks down at his shoes as he scuffs them on the ground, then back up to the group.

Huang scoffs and folds his arms across his chest. "Girl," he notes with a furrowing of his brows, "Boss don't come to nobody. I said you were famous, I never said you were important." Huang takes a few steps closer to Candy, one dark brow raised. In some strange mirroring of postures, Lo is looking past Candy and Huang, and towards where Ash has positioned himself, quietly observing the only other person aside from the hobo who seems to be paying this any attention at all. A quick rise of Lo's brows and a nod of his head makes a subtle go away gesture in Ash's direction.

"Boss wants what boss wants, and it doesn't matter none why he wants it. You either want to come with us, or…" Huang tilts his head down, giving Candy an inspecting look, "you pass on his hospitality." There's a certain gravity given there, to that latter choice. "It's your call, miss television."

Candy lets out a faint chuckle as she says, "Okay… so let me get this straight. I'm supposed to want to get into a car with a complete stranger, because you saw me on tee vee? You know, there are some who would call that harrassment. Luckily, I'm not one of them. So why don't you just scram and find some two-bit hooker to get your jollies off with, eh?" Her eyes almost twinkling with merriment as she adds, "And I'll pass on his hospitality, if that wasn't quite clear enough."

Ash lifts his chin in greeting to Lo, but he very pointedly seems to ignore the go away part of the look. He's got an amused smirk on his lips too, having graced his features once more. His arms uncross and his hands slip down and tuck into his pockets once more, his coat done up snugly around his chest. He continues to watch what's going on, his eyes flickering to Lo every few moments, then back to Candy and the other Asian.

Huang narrows his eyes and begins to take a step forward to Candy, only to have Lo immediately reach out and lay a hand on the hot-head's shoulder, squeezing to remind him of what Bao-Wei had said. Lo tenses up, flicking a stare over his shoulder at the bald man, then back to Candy. "Hey, maybe you're right, maybe I should just go get a two-bit hooker…" he holds up both hands, in a gesture of backing off, and starts to turn, eliciting a sigh of relief from Lo…

"Oh, but hey," He turns, a smirk spread across his lips. "How much are you charging then, huh?" The implied insult comes off with a bit of a barbed tone, and it's all Lo can do not to grimace as Huang shoots his mouth off for the second time today when he really should not.

In the car, Bao-Wei's driver looks back over the driver's seat with a raised brow. "Should… we wait for them, sir?" His eyes flick to the side, looking to Huang and Lo not too far away, then back to the doctor. "Or…"

In the back of the car, Doctor Cong is watching intently, eyes switching from person to person, but otherwise unmoving. "Another moment, yet. I want to see how well Huang listens to me." And so far, he seems to be failing the test.

Ash sees the anger on Huang's face even from where he's at. He shakes his head at the man's behavior and pushes off from the wall, eyeing the trio a bit more. He makes absolutely no move towards the group though, simply watching and observing, perhaps being a good citizen, perhaps just being a pest.

Candy smirks at the suit before she leans slightly forward to get a little into his grill. "More than you can afford, I promise you that," she says softly to him, with that grin still on her face, as she leans back away. She nods her head to Lo as she says, "Best listen to your pal, he has the smart idea." A giggle escaping her lips while she deems the whole encounter to be good fun so far. It'll be better phone if she can make their brains leak from their ears, but alas.

Rolling his tongue inside of his cheek, Huang takes a step towards Candy again, reaching inside of his jacket pocket, but Lo steps in with a firm tone in Cantonese. "«Idiot»," he spits out, "«Let her go. We'll come back for her later.»" There's another grab at Huang's sleeve, and the thinner man looks back over his shoulder at Lo with a long, steady stare, then finally turns his attention back to Candy.

"I'll go get my wallet," Huang sneers, then glances over at Ash, only now really noticing him, then begins to look around as if expecting to see a few more eyes on this altercation. Hesitantly, Huang steps back towards Lo, and nods in Candy's direction. "I'll be seein' you again real soon, sweet-legs." Huang's tone of voice causes Lo to shake his head, tugging on the younger man's sleeve again before the two begin to turn in the direction of their motorcycles.

Seeing Huang and Lo turning to leave, the other members of the Flying Dragons rev their engines one more time, and then one by one begin peeling out from where they parked together, flicking on their headlights and roaring down the street, two bikes at first, then the sedan pulls out from it's parking space with a motorcycle behind it.

"Looks like they listened…" the driver notes with marked surprise, "I was expecting one of them to get knifed." He almost sounds disappointed.

Candy snorts faintly as she watches them leave. "Thats right boys… leave with your dicks between your legs," she yells after them. Nope, she couldn't resist it as her laughter rings across the street. She leans back on the wall as she continues to laugh for a couple of moments. A hand coming up to wipe a tear from her eye as she stands there next to her apartment. Of course, it won't be her apartment by tomorrow, she may be antagonistic, but she isn't stupid.

Ash seeing the situation diffused turns away from the conflict and heads on about his way, though it's up to debate on whether he'd have gotten involved in the first place or not. His shoes scuff on the concrete as he turns, hands in his pockets, his head shaking in amusement as he walks along.

Huang scowls as he's led away from where Candy is, with Lo holding on to his jacket the entire time. "«Bitch has a mouth on her, doesn't she?"» Lo notes in a grumbling tone, and all Huang can do is scowl, listening to the bald man speak rather correctly of the situation as he leads the younger man back to his bike. "«Don't worry, she won't be nearly as mouthy when we give her something to shut her up… or if Song gets her hands on her first.»"

By the time they're back to their bikes, the sedan slows down beside the two, and Lo knocks on the driver's side window as it rolls down slowly. "«Hey,»" Lo leans into the car, "«Call Li, have him keep an eye on this place. I want to know when that bitch comes and goes, and who she's talking to.»" The driver nods, then glances into the rear view mirror to Bao-Wei.

"«Shall we go home, Sir?»"

Bao-Wei wanders a look out of the window to Lo as he leans in to mention something to the driver. A rather fitting end to an otherwise surprising stumble-upon. He has no doubt in his mind that he will be seeing Ms. Allard soon enough. "«Yes. Drop me off at the clinic, would you? I have some work to do.»" You know, the other kind, that has practically nothing to do with drugs or crime.

Candy watches them go off, before she heads up to her apartment. She's going to have a busy night getting her computer equipment out of that apartment and to the other one that she had secured in case things went south. She whistles though, as she walks up the steps to her apartment, having enjoyed the whole process.

The window to the sedan rolls up, and the black car is led on by its motorcycle escort as the Flying Dragons vacate the premises, headed west towards the burning island of Manhattan, into the haze of smoke and heat and flames from whence they had come.

But for Candace Allard, the fires would eventually come to her.


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