Fun Vikdecai scenario for you
and by "fun" I mean pure angst
After the events of the Pilot its not hard to imagine Ivy giving Viktor more details about the trio''s "successful" rum run and their encounter with Marigold. Whether to brag or because Viktor wants to know exactly how much danger she was in.
She might mention the moment when she looked over her shoulder and it looked like Mordecai had his gun aimed right at her, and maybe she was seeing things, but she could swear it looked like he had the shot but lowered the gun
Viktor pauses for a moment but casually dismisses the idea. Mordecai shot his partner of over six years in the knee, just because Viktor refused to "retire" while he ran off to join Marigold (whether or not he told Viktor he was doing it to investigate Atlas's death is speculation)
Plus Ivy still has that wide eyed optimism about her, so of course she is going to read kinder intentions into what could have been a simple matter of the car being too far away or the gun jamming etc.
He doesn't think too much about it after that. Eventually, after recovering just about enough from his injury from the pig farmer attack, Viktor insists to Mitzi that he go with the two crazy noodle armed cousins instead of Ivy.
Mitzi is reluctant but knows when Viktor isn't going to budge, and so she agrees on condition that he not try and throttle Rocky or Ivy's boyfriend while on the job.
The terms are accepted.
Begrudgingly.
But the inevitable happens, and of course, they have a run-in with Marigold.
This is a nightmare for Mordecai.
This is exactly what wounding Viktor's knee was supposed to prevent. He can't let the Savoys go after Viktor, but even if he manages to get them to focus on the two crazy amateurs, Mordecai won't be able to get away with just wounding him and then leaving him be like the kneecapping incident, because the Savoys will want to finish the job, and what reason could he give them for refusing?
Killing Viktor is clearly not an option. He couldn't do it to Ivy and there is no way he can do it now. Betraying his trust, the years of always having each others backs, and the unlikely bond they shared when he left Lackadaisy, had been hard enough. However much he told himself it was "for his own good".
Now either Viktor or his invesitgation into Atlas's death are doomed. Likely both.
He has to try and force Viktor to retreat. He fires warning shots close enough for Viktor to feel the bullets fly past him but just miss his large frame.
Viktor knows how deadly Mordecai is at range and considering what limited weapons Viktor is working with surely the stubborn and still visibly injured and slower moving Ox for once will do the sensible thing!?
But there's a problem with that strategy. Viktor knows Mordecai. More specifically, he knows how well he shoots. He has seen him hit much less tall and broad targets in much more difficult circumstances without breaking a sweat, but here he is missing multiple shots? That's when what Ivy said months before comes back to him.
He knows Mordecai is missing those shots on purpose.
What the hell happens now?
Mordecai can't retreat but has no idea what to do either with Viktor clearly not backing off, while Viktor is not only too stubborn to do so but now knows Mordecai is trying not to shoot him. Does he take the opportunity to confront him? Get out from behind any cover and just start walking with as strong and determined a pace as his bad knees will allow? Does he want to pull Mordecai's head off his body, get payback for his knee, demand an explanation why someone he considered a friend betrayed him?
All the while, Mordecai is getting more and more panicked with every heavy step.
