A few days later, Cage was debriefing Hunter in his office. They were discussing the details of the fight the evening before when Charlie happened by the room. His blood ran cold listening to Cage discribing Luke's barroom antics.
Charlie had always known Luke was a loose cannon. His methods were unscrupulous. His fighting style was cruel. And he was reckless. But to think he was deliberately going out of his way to fight was something which caused him to feel concerned.
The idea that his kid brother was out there and could end up on the streets, hurt or even dead was tearing away at his heart. How many times would he have to endure this torment? This kid just wandered off on his own, all the time, without any warning or thought for their friendship was like a knife in his heart. Charlie, however, could not leave the kid alone.
He stood at the door listening for a few moments. Trying to get a rough idea of where he could find this kid. This time he wasn't going to let him walk away, he was going to kick his ass until he was so damaged he had no choice but sit still and listen. It was long past time for Luke to smarten up and stop worrying people around him.
As soon as he had an idea of the kid's whereabouts he left the building and made his way to the parking lot. Removing his bike from the kickstand he threw on his helmet and made his way to the club which would be Luke's next target.
Charlie was not as cool-headed as Cage though. He didn't have the fortitude of mind the way he did to separate emotion from rationality. He wasn't out there to supervise. He was wound up, frustrated, and itching for a fight. It was a feeling completely unusual for him.
Entering the bar, he sat at a table to the far left and waited. His eyes never once left the door until he saw Luke swagger his way into the room. He was trying to think of what to say. How do you casually bring up that you are following someone, and then proceed to tell them to stop being an idiot? Right now, Charlie was the one who felt like an idiot. He charged all the way here without a plan. For now, he would just have to bide his time.
Luke walked into the bar a few moments after Charlie. As per usual he gave the room a precursory glance before he made his way to a stool and ordered a shot. Four drinks later he began to survey the area for a target. His eyes immediately zeroed in a man to his right. With his usual assured arrogance, he made his way over to the target.
Luke dropped himself into a seat at the table, kicking his up on the table he immediately earned himself a scowl from the older man.
"Excuse me, kid, I know you?" The man raised a slightly jagged eyebrow in Lukes direction, but Luke only shrugged.
"Well not really, but you see...I kinda need a table, and lucky you! You seem to have one so, if you don't mind..I'll be using this" He smirked back at the man over the toes of his boots.
The man across the table grunted. This kid had some nerve trying to commandeer his table. Seriously, who just walks up to a stranger and demands their table. Sure, the punk was sporting some fancy colors. What of it?
The other man glanced around the room. There were no other Soldiers in sight. So this kid was either a fraud, or he was a rogue. If he was a fraud he had nothing to worry about. If he was a rogue, well he would be doing their leader a favor. Having the mighty boss of the Soldiers owing him a favor didn't seem like a bad idea.
The chair he was sitting on grated across the floor as he pushed himself up from his seat. The man had to be approximately six feet tall, by Lukes calculation. He had a solid build and he carried himself like someone who had seen his fair share of fights. This one should be interesting, Luke thought to himself as he stood tilting his head up to glare into the man's eyes.
"What you have a problem with letting the better man have a seat?" He taunted.
This guy was unlike the others. He seemed to have a cooler head than the rest and wasn't as easily provoked. This meant he was probably just as capable of keeping a level head in the midst of the fight. But Luke was determined. This guy would become unhinged, no matter what it took to get him there.
"The better man huh?" The man laughed. "Look, kid, I don't know how you came across those fancy colors or the jacket, but you are obviously here alone. I'm only going to give you one chance, go back to your table."
Luke smirked at the man's words, his tone immediately turning to one of mockery.
"Oh Gee thanks, Sir!" He crooned in reply, his voice tinged with fake gratitude. "But you know, I don't really fancy sitting at the bar counter. The view is much better from here so if you don't mind.." The words trailed off as Luke kicked the man's chair away while he went back to his seat across the table. "Be a champ would you and take your chair with you, you're ruining my view."
That had finally done it. The older biker had lost his patience and immediately lunged at the kid. It wasn't his tone of voice or his words. It was sheer fact that this kid was really cocky enough to believe he could take him on. Just who did he think he was?
Meanwhile, a few feet away, Charlie was watching this scene with a knot of fear beginning to slowly coil in his stomach. This guy was almost double Luke's size and it was evident to Charlie, he wasn't just your average gangster.
The tension coiling up in his body was phenomenal as Charlie watched him lunge at his kid brother. His movements were precise and well thought out. He wasn't brash or reckless like the others that Luke had fought before.
Luke though, was fully aware of the man's intentions. He had been watching intently as he lunged taking into account his momentum and body language, he dodged.
But not before Charlie had intervened yet again, this time, taking a knife for his brother. He had seen the man pulling out the knife far in advance. His fear and protectiveness for the kid brother he cherished so much had propelled him forward. In the end, he had essentially become a human shield.
When Luke saw the blood coming out of his friend he panicked. He had just suffered the loss of his grandfather. The idea that Charlie too might die from this wound as one thought that Luke, try hard as he might to ignore it, could not disregard.
The other man dropped his knife, witnessing the second Soldier appear from nowhere. His eyes took in the blood on his jacket. The bloodied knife he had dropped. And his face turned ashen. If word of this got back to Hunter he was as good as dead. He had been wrong all along. Where the hell had this other guy come from?
The man took two steps back. His neck and face beading anxiously with sweat. Trembling, he almost stumbled over himself as he fled. His only choice now was to leave town. Even then, that might not even save him.
In his wake, Luke was desperately pressing his hands to the wound on Charlie's body while the other patrons either fled the scene from fear or stared numbly onward.
It was a stroke of luck for them both, that Hunter had found himself someone to tail the ever elusive trouble making Kid. Cage who had been watching from the shadows by the door. In an instant, he was on his phone.
"Boss, we got a problem here. You better come quick. And bring my brother."
Things did not bode well for the kid now. No matter how much Hunter doted on him, not only had Lukes stupidity caused him to have another Soldier injured. There was no way at all Hunter would take this laying down.