Lanny Zelkovii

He really had no clue where to start his search, but this seemed like a good a place as any. There were walking and biking paths that led from the city, as well as the abandoned railway that cut aimlessly through the woods as it branched from its parallel run along the highway. So it was that Lanny had parked his bronco several blocks away and trailed quietly along one of the more prominent paths, keeping his eyes and ears alert.

Conan

After spending one entire week and the better part of another almost completely bed-bound in the Wallock's home, and doing his utmost to convince the worried couple that he was just tired and not suffering from anything that merited a hospital visit, the teen was glad to be taking up his morning walks again. His steps were slower than usual, due to the fact that his overstrained body was still recuperating, but he was much better than he had been; so much of his days had been spent in feverish sleep and a lack of any sort of appetite that he was not up to his usual physical par, just as Johann had said. But that didn't keep him from seeking out the bay today - Raimi loved the water, and Conan liked to come here and remember the toddler's love of beach activities and splashing in the wavelets; it was one of the few places in town that he could attach no ill memories to. So he was moving slowly through the trees - he rarely followed a path - but his steps were clearly hearable, if one was listening. He was a few hundred yards from the beach yet.

Lanny Zelkovii

It had been quite the battle, albeit in quiet words and unabashed concern from the couple, but in the end they had respected his wishes and hadn't sought out a hospital visit for the boy. That meant, of course, that Summer was bustling around the house and checking on him almost constantly in those many days. And when she wasn't present to hover over Conan, Collin and frequently checked in with the teen to make sure he was getting plenty to drink, and eating whenever he could manage it.

It didn't take much for Lanny to pick up on the footfalls of the boy. In his gray bunnyhug and dark jeans, the drab colors blended well with the rocky terrain and silvery white bark of aspens and maples that dominated this particular stretch of beach. Slowly pulling his handgun out, Lanny cut across from one trail to the next, until he was slinking along a few dozen yards behind Conan. It was in this fashion that he made sure there was no one else following the kid when he closed in the distance and, despite the way that his gut instincts told him to shoot and get it over with, Lanny found himself talking instead, "Stop right where you are."

Conan

It wasn't really a surprise that Conan hadn't heard the steps behind him - after all he'd been ill, and now his mind was distinctly set upon other things. But strangely, the soft tones of Lanny's voice did reached him - he stopped midstep, and spoke without turning around. "Ze'kovii...," he murmured calmly, his broken version of the name eerily reminiscent of Raimi's joyful 'Zekovi kovi kovi' that he'd often parroted to Lanny. "I've been... wond'rin when you were... gonna fin'sh this thin' out." He didn't sound afraid; truth be told, his voice was dry and tired. He sounded like he'd almost welcome the shot Lanny could so easily take at him, as long as it lead to darkness and an end to the misery.

Lanny Zelkovii

Instincts and common sense told him to fire now and get this over with, as he'd done countless times before. His finger was tight on the trigger, but he didn't squeeze... he wanted too, but that little spike reared its ugly head up again, more profoundly than ever when Conan's troubled speech reflected the innocent babbling of Raimi. The toddler's face flashed to mind, along with the look of misery and tears that couldn't be abated by anyone other than his older brother. Lanny strove to shove these fiercely aside, yet still his finger wouldn't draw the trigger close, "Here I thought you'd just keel over yourself." The young man retorted in anxious sarcasm, "Enough chit-chat; head towards the shoreline. Slowly."

Conan

The teen didn't respond to Lanny's sarcastic comment over his health - let the fellow make his insults; Conan was just about as impenetrable as a stone now that he had no Raimi to defend and care for. Instead of being insulted or frightened, he shrugged one shoulder carelessly, and kept walking. However, he didn't seem inclined to cease with his banter - as a matter of fact, he kept right on talking, but quietly, so that no one but Lanny would hear him even if they were passing on one of the many paths that crisscrossed this area. "Ya know... 'sa real shame, Lan. You really don' know much about me... an' ya hate me so bad. S'funny in a way - I know plen'y 'bout you... an' I thin' maybe ya've jus' had a har' time of it."

Lanny Zelkovii

"Oh, you think that's it, huh?" The young man copped back in on going sarcasm, using that to belay the confusion that was trickling into his head. He could have Conan dead, gone... just one shot, and the Carlyle's would be gone - not counting his Randy, of course. "You think you know so much about me? Then you should have known this would happen when you sent that letter." The sarcasm turned into a growl as he marched behind the red-head, keeping his gun drawn and leveled at the other's back. He couldn't quite bring himself to make a shot yet, but he'd definitely go for a crippling shot if the teen tried to make a run for it.

Conan

For the first time since they'd met, something of emotion showed in Conan's voice - it was surprise. "Letter?" The confusion was genuine, and then he actually turned to look at the other young man, and finally began to understand. "Oh I see - somebody's threatened her then, have they? Safe enough it isn't me, then." He murmured that quietly - and then hopped back to his earlier topic seamlessly. "I know lots about you Lanny -" Conan's voice went on calmly, continuing to pace slowly along without stopping. "I know that some years ago your cousin Conner was murdered, and that six months ago, his younger brother Carl also was killed, along the same stretch of road. I know that you drink - binge drink - and get into drunken brawls with whomever crosses your path first. I know that you've got a girl... and that you're not the father of her baby, whatever the rumors say. And I know that's why you want so badly to kill me - because with me out of the way, and my father dead, no one stands to claim Raimi from you anymore, and you believe all threats against Cassidy will be ended. But mark this well - there is one who is a far greater threat to her than I, because he has the allies and resources to end her if he chooses. And the only thing that keeps him alive is something that he shares with Cassidy - he has a child; a daughter. And I will not take her father from her, anymore than I will put an end to your Cassidy and leave her baby motherless." He paused there, and faced Lanny, murmuring, "I know you hated my father - well, that's one thing you and I have in common, anyway. But he did one thing for you, which is more than he ever did for me in his lifetime. He may have raped your girl, but from the moment he got her with child, she was forever safe from me."

Lanny Zelkovii

What Conan laid on him had Lanny momentarily stunned, and swirling through a varied range of emotion. Unlike Conan, Ben, and Johann, the young man didn't bother with controlling or concealing his emotions most of the time, and now was not an exception - he looked just as surprised as Conan had when he spoke of the letter. It was more unnerving than he'd admit to here so many intimate facts listed off so simply by his enemy, especially since Lanny didn't know nearly as much in return about the kid. Of all the things he wanted to say and glean more information from - particularly Conan's declaration that he wasn't planning on harming Cassidy - Lanny was caught off guard by this 'other' man. "Who are you talking about, Sasuke?" He was an obvious choice, and from what Lanny heard, he had more than one child under his name now - but on the other note, he saw no way for Mr. Uchiha to know of Cassidy's pregnancy.

At this point, Lanny had stopped walking, once Conan turned to face him. The gun lowered just a hair, still angled at the teen, but Lanny's focus didn't seem to be on that just now, "What's to make me believe you wouldn't hurt Cassidy?"

Conan

This was the sort of situation that Ben Linus lived for - his opponent was thrown off balance by the knowledge that Conan had just revealed, and Lanny's face revealed plainly that he knew nothing near that depth of information about Conan. But where the blue-eyed manipulator would have smiled inwardly in victory, Conan only offered Lanny a tired stare. "Sasuke Uchiha can rot in the seven hells for his deeds, but he's not the one you're to look for." But again, he did not offer any names; he didn't dare, or this whole thing would blow sky high. Instead, he absorbed Lanny's newest question, and felt the shock show on his face despite his permission. He cursed himself for that, but since the expression was there, he knew it was useless to deny it. So he used it, letting his eyes burn into Lanny. "What sort of monster do you think I am, Lanny? To look after Raimi so keenly - to risk my own life and another's to get him back from you - and then to turn about on the other foot and attack a woman whose pregnancy will already be difficult for her? I may be only the second youngest son - but I know a little about birthing. Your girl's thin - too thin, even for not being expecting. The whole thing's gonna be hard enough on her without me trying to hurt her!"

Lanny Zelkovii

It had been jumping the gun to name the Akatsuki leader, but aside from him, Lanny just couldn't figure out who in the world Conan might be talking about. No one else fit the bill, as far as the young man knew. Confusion and surprise turned in quick order to frustration. His drawn faced blushed a little in the way of anger, and the gun was drawn right back to point at Conan's chest, "Shut up! I'm not going to puzzle about your morals. I want to know who sent the note, and I have a hunch that you're making up this nonsense about it being someone else." The thing of it was, Conan's words did make sense to Lanny - as much as he despised the kid, the red-head had never shown and inclination towards violence, aside from getting Raimi back. He'd never been part of the rival gang, and was virtually off the radar. And if he really was telling the truth... Lanny knew that killing him would lose the one opportunity he had to figuring out who the real threat was, "Tell me, who is behind the letter!"

Conan

When the gun came back up again, Conan didn't look the least bit alarmed - he sighed tiredly like a parent with an errant child who was near losing their carefully-built patience. "I can tell you no more, Lanny. To do so is not only to make my own life void, but to place in danger someone about whom I care as much as you do for Cassidy, in a different way. If I do not tell you, you will kill me - but Raimi will live because you love him, and so will this someone, because you do not know them. If I tell you, then that someone will die. Bad enough those who are already scarred by these events - I will not add more blood to my name by giving you the information you seek."

Lanny Zelkovii

"Dammit, kid, I'm not playing around here!" Lanny snarled again tightening his hand on the gun, but curiously refraining from firing. And then, something dawned on him, and the young man's looked turned dangerous in a heartbeat, "Once you're gone, I'll find this special someone of yours and finish them off as well. And you better believe I'll find them - I've got sources." His stance shifted a little as he raised himself up a bit, squaring off his shoulders and putting on a show of confidence that was trying to rattle the weary teen, "Either you tell me who this mystery person is, and I'll think about sparing you and your special someone, or you both die."

Conan

Ordinarily, a threat to Aralyn was the very quickest way to rile and alarm Conan, but today he only shook his head. "Their name and mine will never be connected in any source you will find. I have been very careful, and I am not entirely without allies in this city." His tones were calm, his face unruffled - he was confident that Lanny would never be able to find out about his sister and how she might tie into this convoluted scheme that was so much bigger than them. "I'll tell you this - bit of free advi-" He was struck with coughing very suddenly, as he had been before with Ben when he'd put his voice to such strain as long conversation. It was a few seconds as he coughed and gasped for breath, his face turning a delicate puce shade, before he went on, "Cassidy's not the immediate target - she's the means to an end. He doesn't want her dead - not yet. He wants something from her. And what that is, I truly don't know."

Lanny Zelkovii

Now he was really riled, and it showed by the blaze in his narrowed eyes. Nostrils flared a little as he took in a sharp breath, battling impatience when Conan had a coughing fit as all of his talking caught up with his abused throat, "You're going to tell me, or you'll be sorry." The hold on his gun shifted, and in a quick, lightning-fast blow, he swung the weapon towards Conan's cheek, trying to land a blow harsh enough to knock the teen down, "I've had it up to here with you. If you don't give me the information I need, I'll see to that Arab friend of yours once you're dead. Maybe Greggo knows? Trust me kid, I'll figure this out one way or another." It was partly a bluff - as secretive and low key as Conan was, Lanny was seriously doubting he could uncover this special person in the kid's life, and more importantly, who this other person was that was a threat to Cassidy.

Conan

The teen staggered back from the blow, managing to remain upright through his experience with taking such hits - that and a fortunate backward blunder into a tree trunk that kept him from falling over altogether. Spitting out blood and part of a tooth and wiping his mouth carefully, the teen looked up, shaking his head a bit to recover from the blow. Contrary to his calm facade, he was sweating under his thick coat, which he'd thrown over his sweater for the chill in order to keep Summer from worrying quite so much - even if he wasn't really afraid of dying, his adrenaline was pumping with the intensity of the situation. When he recovered his voice, he ventured, "They don' know 'nymore than you do. If-"

A gunshot rang out - and it wasn't Lanny's gun, or the one Conan had tucked in the small of his back. But whatever it was, it came from just behind and to one side of Lanny, and the teen crumpled to his stomach on the grass, one hand clutched over the left side of his chest where the Silver co-lead had earlier had his own firearm aimed. Now Conan was really gasping - he felt as though he'd been kicked in the chest by a horse - it was hard to breathe. His eyes didn't travel up to try to find who'd shot him though - he lay still on the grass, not responsive to anything that might be said to him.

Lanny Zelkovii

Showing no pity or remorse for the attack he'd dealt on Conan, Lanny watched him with all the callous intensity of a murderer. To Lanny, his actions were all perfectly justifiable, and in the name of Cassidy's wellbeing and safety, he'd likely work over the guilt over Raimi just enough to finally finish off the elder brother. But he never quite got the chance. The shot made him duck instinctively, even though the shot had landed on Conan rather than him. Spinning around, and blindly aiming his weapon, a wide-eyed Lanny tried to figure out just who the shooter was; and with his reflexes, make a split second decision whether to shoot at the other, or hold off.

Conan*Others

There was a rustle in the trees, but the mysterious shooter left not even a shadow to give Lanny any hint other than his ears to know where to shoot. And after only a moment's pause, three more shots rang - one ricocheting off a tree and burying itself in the sand, one flying wide and disappearing into the underbrush - and one aimed for Lanny's stomach area, to cripple him and make him angry enough to want to strike back at the hidden third person.

Lanny Zelkovii

From having the situation entirely in his control, Lanny suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a bullet. He flinched a ducked again, but there was no way to dodge a bullet, especially if he couldn't discern exactly where it was coming from. The young man was about to shout out, to either incite the gang name as a warning, or anything to keep the other from shooting at him, but it came a second too late. A white hot, fiery shot of pain lit into his abdomen and he dropped with a gasp. Old reflexes had him shooting just as the other wanted, emptying an entire clip in record speed in the general area of where the shots had come from.

Conan

Another few shots rang overhead - obviously the shooter had more than one gun on them - but none landed this time; they were meant to keep the pair cautious, and to convince them that running was a poor idea. It was several seconds before the shots stopped - and by the time it was quiet and Lanny might be able to turn over and assess where Conan was and what sort of condition he might be in, the grass beside him was empty. There was a small puddle of fresh blood on the ground where he'd lain, but the boy himself was gone. And if Lanny got up the gumption to follow the trail of blood to try to find the teen, he might find that it ended at the edge of the water, with Conan nowhere in sight - apparently, he'd taken to the bay to escape both Lanny and the unknown shooter.

Lanny Zelkovii

Breathing in short, irregular intervals that were a poor attempt to lessen the pain, Lanny couldn't only wince and grit his teeth as the shots were return his way. When all went silent, the young man's first priority, by a slim margin, was the red head he'd seen go down just prior to himself. Obviously, whoever attacked them wasn't an ally to Conan either - though Lanny wasn't sure what to think of that.

With a stifled grunt, the young man sort of picked himself up and turned his head to the side. To his astonishment, Conan was nowhere in sight - and neither was the shooter. Very, very slowly, Lanny strained to pick himself up, hunched over slightly, with a hand held over a blossom of dark crimson on his midsection. "Show yourself, coward!"

*Others*

No matter how Lanny turned and whirled, there was not a sound around him to suggest where the shooter was - or where Conan had vanished to, for that matter. As the minutes passed, Lanny was left only with silence - and after a few moments, the woodlands noises started up again, signaling more definitely that whomever it had been that had attacked them was now gone, and Lanny alone in the woods, just as before; only now, he had to go back and attempt to explain to Cass how he'd managed not only to fail in killing Conan - but to get wounded in the process.

Yoohoo! I'm out on a limb, you think.
Yoohoo! I'm down on the ground in a wink.
My enemies say, 'Gadzooks, it's spooks!'
Shivering in their socks.
They know that they'll never, I'm far too clever
They'll never out-fox the Fox!

Lanny Zelkovii

A task that should have been so simple for him had ended in absolute failure, with Conan escaped, himself wounded, and information on suggesting that there was a far greater threat to Cassidy that the red-head. He stood there for several long moments, listening as the dead silence quietly gave way to the usual chatter of the forest, telling even the city boy that his attacker had gone. He debated for a moment whether or not to call James, but on second thought, figured it was wisest for him to get treated first, and then try to explain how he ended up getting shot while engaging in activity he had kept secret from the CS leader. Using trees as support where he could, the young man traveled back down the trail to reach his bronco, and from there, he drove himself right back to the hospital.