Shawn Owens / Nathan Hawley | Head of Bravta Drug Sales / Architect
When i tell you that my go to is absolute pieces of shit, i mean it
Shawn Owens is obvs Skylars stellar older brother... and Ryan’s good old best pal
Bit of a rough roundhouse mess when he was growing up, the kind of golden child that pushed all the boundaries he could, but never really faced any consequences for it ever.
Would burn the entire world down for his sister, without even asking questions first.
Ended up graduating and becoming a child psychiatrist bc of their shitty ass parents, and he liked that job for the most part, but it ended up lacking a loooooot of the bullshit and trouble that he was just always drawn to.
Became a pilot in the military (and the psych too) but was discharged medically after one rather rough blow to the skull which left him with permanent damage and that ended up driving him absolutely fucking insane, bc he was still absolutely capable of all of it. Somehow, one thing led to another and he was approached by the Bratva with an offer to use his skill set. He rose through the ranks and about 8 years ago was promoted to head of drug sales and boooooy did their profit go through the roof.
Ya boy got hold of another mafia’s product and laced it - ended up killing a bunch of people and driving their sales up instead. Has absolutely gone down the path of fraudulent prescription meds etc etc etc.
Feds began to catch up with him a couple years later and because Shawn did such a damn good job, instead of throwing him under, Zeph, Jack (insert ur characters involvement here) helped to fake his death and get him out of chicago to somewhere that he could still run things just, not the way he wanted to.
Officially, Shawn Owens was hit by a car late at night in the city of Chicago, pronounced dead at 3.37am on a Sunday morning.
Unofficially, Shawn Owens was working their drug syndicate from Moscow and has been closely keeping an eye on Skylar ( he sees u )
Noted that things with his sister were growing worse, annnnd he was getting bored, he convinced the higher ups to let him come back.
Which he did, not long after the LITE bombing. Except, now he goes by the name of Nathan Hawley, a recently divorced architect who just wants to live in his cute lil brick home with his golden retriever
The idea had been to be gone and stay gone, but it had been much more than he’d bargained for. Knowing that everything he’d ever built in his life would be passed to someone who didn’t deserve it, that he’d have to start over, made for a difficult time trying to start over somewhere else, as someone else. Even if he returned under a different alias - into a city that saw more faces than it ever did names, at least what he had here was his. “Despite what I know you think,” he started, the depth of his voice sinking with the guilt he felt and wouldn’t share with another soul. “It killed me.” Perhaps more so than his supposed death did, but… the fact remained, even had he not done what he had, and the untimely death of Shawn Owens had come about as such.. her choice would have been the same. It wasn’t one of his own doing and neither one that he believed he deserved blame for - but he’d wear it.
…
Skylar stared at him, the emotion coming across her features. There was one point in time where she thought Shawn would be the one person in her life that wouldn’t hurt her. Someone who had experienced the same childhood as her with two withdrawn parents and maybe she had been the first one to poke a hole in their relationship by sneaking around with his best friend but that was something she felt like she kept paying for… whether it be because every time she laid her heart on the line over and over with Ryan or the fact that her brother had faked his own death for reasons he had refused to fill her in about. She blinked, a tear rolling down her cheek as she pulled out of his grasp. She raised her hand up towards her face, brushing the tear swiftly off her cheek. “Do us both a favor… and stay away from me.” Her voice cracked as she turned and walked away from him towards the bathroom.
Lucia didn’t ever consider herself to be a weak person. She’d held everything together when her mother passed while her father crumbled with grief. She worked her ass off within the Syndicate and as things became more difficult she faced them head on. Yet, when she looked upon the man that stood before her she hated the piece of her that had allowed weakness, that allowed her to….It didn’t matter, the lips that were upturned in a fake smile fell into a hardened line as she regarded him with a cool stare. “You were always shit at compliments Owens,” she made it a point to look away as she mulled over her next words. “Kinda cliche don’t you think. Returning.” From the dead no less, she wished that him being back would be short lived but Lucia had never been lucky.
There were a great many things that Shawn had done wrong in his life, but Lucia Montes would continue to stand out as one that left a rotten taste in his mouth. Not because he felt regret for an ounce of it - on the contrary - he quite liked the absolute fucking mess they’d been. Even if it had undoubtedly shown the worst of both of them. Now, it existed as a joke to him - she existed as a joke. “You’ve been the inspiration for those shitty compliments for years, give yourself a little more credit than that.” Still, the smug look rested upon his features almost naturally. It’d been a while since he’d felt that - comfortable, within his own element. “You’d be the expert on cliches, so.. If you say so, then it must be true. P’raps I learned from the best of ‘em.”
Green hues drift away from the male as the emotions cover her features shamelessly. Her eyes find the bar as she sways with her brother in the middle of the room. Her tongue brushes along her lower lip as she breathes out at his words. “You don’t know shit,” she spits lowly under her breath as a figure gets in the way of her eyesight to the bar, the male by the bar is the only one in this entire place that can keep her low to the ground, pulling the itch to dance with the devil away from the edge. A wave of calm relief washes over with a simple lock of eyes with another set of green. Her shoulders instantly letting go of the tension in them as she pulls her gaze away from him to look back at her brother. “How did you do it?” Instead of the harsh tone she had previously this one is broken and soft. “Watch me go through life in a drug induced haze because I lost you? That’s all I want to know. How was that possible for you?”
The idea had been to be gone and stay gone, but it had been much more than he’d bargained for. Knowing that everything he’d ever built in his life would be passed to someone who didn’t deserve it, that he’d have to start over, made for a difficult time trying to start over somewhere else, as someone else. Even if he returned under a different alias - into a city that saw more faces than it ever did names, at least what he had here was his. “Despite what I know you think,” he started, the depth of his voice sinking with the guilt he felt and wouldn’t share with another soul. “It killed me.” Perhaps more so than his supposed death did, but... the fact remained, even had he not done what he had, and the untimely death of Shawn Owens had come about as such.. her choice would have been the same. It wasn’t one of his own doing and neither one that he believed he deserved blame for - but he’d wear it.
“Not at all, I’ve made peace with my decisions over the years.” The former Navy Seal countered, with a slight shake of his head. While the way things had been left between the adolescent best friends had been a heavy regret that remained upon the eldest Marshall’s shoulders, the shadow of the other man’s despicable decision to allow everyone around him, everyone that ever cared and most importantly his younger sister, inspired an air of contempt and indignation. “You on the other hand, should feel a world of guilt for what you put your sister through.“ He remarked, ignoring the others feeble attempt at an insult.
“He says, ever the better man.” Regardless of whatever might have existed between the two as brothers once, it was a difficult thing to let go of, knowing that Ryan understood exactly how protective Shawn had once been over his sister. The slight to their trust in one another marked beyond what he would consider repair. Instead, it left a bitterness that harnessed something far darker within him than Ryan likely knew about. “My sister is a grown woman. I’ll take responsibility for what I did, but I didn’t make her choose the path she did in order to deal with it, Marshall.” It was harsh, and didn’t nearly convey how much it hurt to know how much his decision had hurt her, but he wasn’t about to allow his once best friend to see that.
Skylar delicately sets her fingers upon his shoulders as her green hues drift over the other people dancing around them. She sways silently to the soft music playing in the room and plans to keep tonight as free from the negative emotions she has been trying to bury deep inside of her. His words pulls her out of her thoughts and her gaze shifts to look at his face as she let out a soft sigh. “You’re a little late for the speeches, big brother.” She muses as she thinks back to the night she broke one person in particular. “I’m going to assume that you’re aware of what I’ve been up to the last three year,” the statement leaves a bitter taste on her tongue, thinking about the fact that instead of helping her all he did was stand aside and let her suffer.
He wonders, briefly, how long they could simply exist in a time and place that didn’t draw them back to the mistakes and choices made between them that shattered something important. Pieces of him long to go back to a time when all he felt was adoration and the absolute need to protect her at all costs, somewhere, he knows it still burns, but perhaps not bright enough anymore. “This isn’t a speech,” he sighs out, because he knows anything close to such would only end in harsh words and realities that neither of them were all too quick to take to. “Just because I wasn’t here, doesn’t mean I don’t know everything.” Shawn, despite being a ghost, had eyes and ears in many places - after all, the sale of drugs within Chicago was his domain.
Skylar tilted her head in confusion as he stood up from his stool. Her head turning towards the freshly poured soda on the surface of the bar before looking back at him. It had been months since she had laid eyes on him after he came back from the dead and now he was asking her to dance. It was kind of confusing but she found it difficult to keep her guard up after all this time especially with all the temptations around her. Her head turned to look over her shoulder to see Peter occupied with someone else at the moment then looking back at him. “Fine,” she turned to start walking towards the dance floor.
Admittedly, Shawn had little doubt that there would be some kind of rebuff from her. A blow out between them was much more likely than simply sweeping everything under the rug. Inevitable, even. It was only one more reason for him to make some attempt to push that out a little longer, after seeing Skylar on the mend from the deep dive he hadn’t even witnessed himself. He laughed, softly, head nodding towards the dance floor as he followed, sure to case an unkind glance at anyone willing to look sideways at his little sister before his hand found her the small of her back and he pulled her in to dance. “You can be upset at me all you like, hate me even, but don’t let it poison you, Sky.”
Skylar lifted her eyes up from the bar when she heard his voice, her head turning in his direction as she reached to grab the glass of water as it was placed in front of her. She stared at him for a few seconds as her fingers tightened their grip on her drink, knowing she had to make sure she was extremely careful tonight because the temptations of everything were easy for her to get here. “Ah, Nathan.” The bitter taste it left on her tongue as she said his name. “Quit bein’ such a Debbie Downer.”
He had to laugh, truly. The heavy weighted sound rumbled deep within his chest as he barely glanced across at his baby sister. Undoubtedly, Shawn understood the bitterness in her tone, welcomed it even - it was a step up from what he might have deserved where she was concerned. Regardless of how necessary his choice had been; the fracture that it would inevitably add to their relationship was not one he chose lightly. “C’mon,” he noted, rising to his feet and offering very little room for her to argue, “Dance with me?”
“I’m not sure the opinion of a man that faked his own death holds much weight.“ Ryan mused, as he came to a stop beside the man that he once whole heartedly believed would be his best friend and brother for the rest of their lives. Inseparable from the moment the Marshall’s moved in to the quaint Texan home next door to the Owen’s family, it seemed as if it were fate that the pair would look to join their respective military units and travel abroad together. However, it seemed some obstacles were too hard to overcome.
“Do you really feel like going into who’s opinion and choices are worth anything right now, Marshall?” He peaked with a certain underlying conjecture that he’d welcome Ryan if he really wanted to get into it now - but truly, opinions between the two of them meant very little these days. Bitterness seeped into the next mouthful of liquor before cerulean hues took in the sight of his once best friend - brother. “Shouldn’t you be off babysitting? Wouldn’t want the big man see you more than ten feet away from her.”
Lucia was ready for tonight, even though wearing a dress wouldn’t have been her first choice it did well to conceal the holster around her thigh. She entered the ballroom, giving a nod of thanks for the champagne she plucked from one of the passing waiters. The voice greets her and despite herself she turns to see the one person she was hoping would just stay in her past. “Never have I ever returned from the dead.” she stated through a fake smile although tone dripping in disdain.
Piece by piece, the people of the world he’d disappeared from would inevitably come slipping back through the cracks. It was something that Zephyr, Sera and Diana had all warned him about and something he knew he’d have to move slowly through. The less attention he drew to himself, the easier slipping back into business as usual would become for him. Lucia, however, was someone he might have preferred to never see again. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” He feigned confusion, though the irritation he felt, he couldn’t hide, “You look terrible, Luci.”
“Never have I ever trusted a party less than this one to not turn to shit.” Nathan Hawley, Shawn Owens, while being missing for the last several years on the Bratva front, hadn’t been entirely cut off from all the information he needed to know that the city sat atop a precipice it could only topple from. The glass of champagne in his hand lifted to his lips far too easily, the number of glasses he’d had already slipping his mind.
OUTSIDE PURGATORY NIGHT CLUB
September 22nd w/ @sowcns
It was Skylar’s first shift in the office of the night club. It’s the first time she’s worked and didn’t feel disgusting after. The blonde shifts her bag onto her shoulder as she turns her head to look behind her with a smile on her features. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Destiny!” She calls out as she pushes open the door to the outside. It’s cool and crisp, giving her a reminder that Fall is on it’s way and for the first time in her life she’s seeing the outside with clear vision. It’s not blurry or daze like. She looks down into her bag, opening it up to pull out her keys when she bumps into someone. Her blue hues raise up to find one of her old costumers staring back her, his hands reach out to grab her shoulders and the drunken mumbles of wanting to know where she went and why she would abandon him the way she had. “Sorry I have to go,” she tells him, moving to go past him when he blocks her path again. Her eyes resting on his features as the fake smile she was trying to give him fades.
Despite the fact that Shawn had been irrevocably absent for what he knew to be years, he still found himself feeling a strike of pride settle against his spine when Sera had told him that she’d recently hired Skylar at the club. It certainly wasn’t what he’d hoped, but knowing that now, she was under the unyielding protection of two of the most formidable, in more ways than one, he knew that the hole she’d inevitably dug herself (his guilt and involvement absolutely notwithstanding at this point in time) would grow a little less cavernous. After giving Sera the heads up that he was going to stop by the club late that night - a warning of some sort that something might go awry, he waits across the street for the early evening hours to set a bright glow across the city before the city becomes unholy once again. It’d struck him rather sharply, listening to the old drunk badger the security for his darling sky, Shawn quickly doubting the mans claim that she was waiting for him and when he returned some time later, irritable and ragged in his ability to do anything at all, he followed him towards the entrance he knew most of the Bratva used. It’s the blonde features skewed by the drunks arm as he blocks her path that sets him alight. Shawn knows he’s made plenty of mistakes, done far more wrong than he’s ever suffered consequences for - but intimidating the fairer sex and the like, has never been something he could stomach. His hand shoves out roughly, catching the drunks shoulder until such features press sharply into brick, “She said she has to go.” nimble fingertips grip the scruff of his neck, knee rising to collide with abdomen, the man doubling over and near instantly forgetting Skylar even existed. It’s then, that Shawn’s hues lift from the mess of a man to his baby sister. “You always abandon men like lost puppies or is this just a once off?”
