— “YOU PROBABLY DON’T EVEN HEAR IT WHEN IT HAPPENS, RIGHT?”
pairing; mentions of bobby baccalieri x janice soprano (turned baccalieri)
summary; tony gets a call that informs him of a great loss within his crew.
PLEASE DON’T READ IF MENTIONS OF DEATH, GRIEF AND VIOLENCE AFFECTS OR DISTURBS YOU IN ANY WAY.
note; (haven’t written in a while but DAMN. this is a bit of a short one y’all, but still has deep meaning to it. takes place whilst the gang war between new york and new jersey is going on)
Tony swiftly drove his Nissan Xterra around a corner of the Jersey roads. His mind was filled with complete dread. Fuckin’ Phil. No one, not a soul had any idea where Phil had fucked off to after the failed hit.
But Tony knew one thing was coming.
His phone began to ring, and he groaned, pulling in across the street from some toy store looking place. He could see posters of model trains on the windows. Tony chuckled a little, immediately thinking of Bobby.
“Hello?” Tony said, answering the call.
Paulie was on the other line. “T, where are you?”
“Near that fuckin’ toy place, Trainland. You know, the one our Bobby goes down to.”
There was a slight pause, the silence on the other end of the line became deafening. Tony was starting to grow confused, and a little impatient.
Tony could hear him sigh. “Yeah.. yeah i’m here, T. But.. I got some.. well… news.”
“What’s the matter?” Tony replied, his brows knitting together with confusion.
“You.. you said you were by that train store, right?” Paulie gulped.
Tony glanced over, thinking for a split second he could see Bobby’s car in the parking lot. He pulled back, answering Paulie’s question.
“Tone.. I don’t even fuckin’ know how to tell ya this..” Paulie’s voice had a hint of sadness to it, making Tony even more anxious.
“What the fuck’s going on, Paulie?”
There was a sigh again. “It’s Bobby. Fuckin’ Phil’s guys. They.. they got him...”
Paulie voice came out nothing far from an almost silent whisper.
Tony’s mind began to wander off, barely taking in what Paulie had just told him. His finger clicked the button to end the call.
He slowly came back to reality, glancing over at the train store again. This time, an ambulance had pulled up, and he saw a body bag being put into the back of it.
The car being identical to Bobby’s.. the fuckin’ body.. now… now he knew.
“Fuck. AW, FUCK!” Tony shouted angrily, repeatedly hitting the steering wheel in pure rage.
He felt as though his whole body was taking an actual permanent pause. Phil had started this war with a bang. No warning. Now his guys were paying the price.
Tony’s footsteps were heavy as him, Meadow and Carmela entered the lounge of Janice and Bobby’s home. He could barely look his sister in the eyes after this. He knew him and Janice definitely had their differences, but this man had just practically been ripped from her.
He could see Bobby Jr and Sophia sitting on the couch across from Janice. Their faces were blank, numb, and by god Tony felt it.
Carmela and Meadow walked closer towards where Janice was sat, a hanky in her hand.
“Oh my god..” she whispered. “Oh my god.”
Tony turned around as he heard little footsteps tip toe towards the front door. It was his niece. Nica. She walked over to the door, but instead of standing, she just sat down, legs in a basket.
She turned around to look at them all, that pure look of innocence danced in her eyes, making Tony wince. “I’m waiting for Daddy.”
Tony squeezed his eyes shut as Janice’s sobs started to fill the air. He paced anxiously, and headed for the back door.
“Tony..” Carmela quietly called out.
“I’ll be back.” Tony said.
Hours later, Tony sank into the softness of the mattress he sat on. The guys had to stay here for the night. Precautions were a big priority right now.
Carmela and the kids were somewhere else. And Tony had made sure there was no chance of them being touched. He’d imagined Janice would be in bed by this point, the other side missing a grave touch to their lives.
There was a soft knock at Tony’s door, and he called out for whoever it was to come in. Nobody else was in apart from Paulie and a few of the other guys.
Paulie peeked his head in, giving Tony a small smile.
“You gonna be okay, skip?”
The corners of Tony’s mouth twitched upward, signalling a smile back. “I’ll be fine. Go. Get a little bit of sleep in ya. We’re on the move first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Got it boss.” Paulie said firmly.
Tony began to grind his teeth as he thought what he was about to say. “Hey, Paulie?”
Tony looked up at him again. “We’ve been through tough shit. But you and I, we’ve played the game. We’re fuckin’ soldiers. We’ll manage.”
Paulie gave him a nod. “Night, T.”
He shut the door behind him, leaving only Tony and his thoughts in the room.
There was a case on the floor, and he knew what it was. He picked it up, taking out what was inside.
The AR-10 assault rifle was heavy as Tony began to unravel the packaging he’d left it in inside the case. He smiled a bit, remembering the first day he’d got this bad boy.
“The AR-10? That’s my birthday present to you.”
He sighed, bringing it closer to him. Another memory popped into his head. A saying he knew he’d never forget. Whether it haunted him, or just stuck with him in remembrance.
“You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?”
Tony’s smile faded as he thought about the tragedies he’d dealt with today. What disturbed him more is he’d heard how many times Bobby was shot by Phil’s guys. Apparently the bastards never stopped.
He did hear it when it happened.
His relationship with his brother in law was sure as hell complicated, but Tony had long ago came to the realisation that no matter what he did, he couldn’t hate the guy.
He was the strong silent type, what Tony wanted to be. Fuckin’ Gary Cooper.
Tony lay down and securely placed the gun on top of him. His head was stuck in memory lane, but he wished the circumstances tonight would have been different.
He chuckled to himself, thinking about this life, the death, the sacrifices, everything.
This life was the life he chose. The life that got him here today.
