WHO: Darius Anderson (mentions of Blaine Anderson, Santana Lopez, and Roman Lynn)
WHAT: A speech from a leader.
WHEN: December 13th 2018, 8PM
WHERE: SouthSide Library
WARNINGS: None
Dare wasn’t an idiot. Bringing Blaine along was going to be met with animosity from some, but not only would Santana and Roman have his back, he wasn’t about to leave Blaine behind. Not that it was ever an option in the first place. Since nearly drowning, his twin had been superglued to his side. Not that Dare minded in the slightest. He almost liked the clinginess. Almost.
They entered the library together, heading into the basement where everything was locked down as he’d requested and instructed. The basement wasn’t insufferably cold, but not the most comfortable. A dozen or so space heaters had been provided thanks to connections with some heating and cooling Serpent families, and blankets and pillows were in heavy abundance to keep everyone who’d sought shelter comfortable. Not every serpent was present...but a good amount. Most of them teenagers, young adults, people who had lost their homes and didn’t have any other means of escaping or getting by until things cooled off. Which was why they’d situated here. Dare re-locked the door after he and Blaine stepped inside and a hush fell across the room. The space wasn’t all that big, the floor lined with pillows and blankets, pizza boxes, food the others had scrounged up. He even saw a few hot plates and additional survivalist items like flashlights and sleeping bags. It felt like a room after a natural disaster which...this kind of was. They were homeless and driven underground by Northside retaliation.
The Serpents were silent and staring, Santana off to the side, Roman nearby. Blaine stayed close to Dare’s hip.
“You brought a Northsider here?” A smaller boy demanded from the back, standing up and pushing his bag aside. “He could give away our-“
“-Be quiet.” Dare snapped. “You know damn well who this is and why he’s here. Blaine isn’t any Northsider. And not one of you will give him a hard time.” He paused to cough into his arm, that sickening rattle in his chest still prevalent. Fucking pneumonia.
Silence returned, everyone waiting, expecting, needing Dare to stay something to make this better. He wasn’t a public speaker. But he needed to be their leader.
“I know a lot of you are scared...most are probably just pissed off. You all want answers and...I wish I had them for you. I wish I could tell you why my father did this, and why he pulled every single one of us into his line of fire. I can promise you that when I do get my hands on him, he’ll be removed of his tattoo and exiled for turning his back on his brothers and sisters. We...I…won’t stand for betrayal like this.”
“Is it true?” Another voice toward the back, hidden by other Serpents. “That the Smythe Father was the one that tried to kill you at the lake?”
“I never saw his face.” Dare answered immediately before anyone dared to interject otherwise. “I don’t want to start a war against Sebastian’s family if it’s not true. At this time...I don’t know what happened. What I do know is that you are all worried about what’s to come.”
Dare stopped again and tried to stifle his coughing fit, shaking his head when Blaine tried to take his arm. He cleared his throat after a moment and addressed his gang once more. “Much like what happened with Bruce, we can’t punish everyone northside for the actions of isolated people. But don’t for a second believe that I’m going to let us be driven underground without retribution. I won’t stand for this. And when this time does pass, and it will, the Northsiders responsible will be paying us back by restoring every destroyed home in Sunnyside. I’ll be handling this situation personally when things die down a little bit. I know it won’t make up for the loss of material items, but I will get our homes back. That is my promise to everyone here.”
Murmurs of approval followed, though the few darting eyes and angered expressions of the others led Dare to continue. “If one of ours was killed...we would want the same thing the Northsiders do. Revenge. Blood. But there are others taking it out on everything we own. Destroying what little we have when we’re beyond the means to repair it. The circumstances are incredibly shitty.”
“You just want to protect them.” Geico sneered, folding his arms over his broad chest. “You’re here to tell us to behave and not hurt your friends or your precious brother. You don’t care about us—“
“—You’re my brothers too. My brothers and sisters. And that’s why I’m here. What I want,” He paused pointedly. “Is for there not to be anymore innocent people dying. No matter which way you look at this, a pregnant girl was killed. By someone who was supposed to be our brother, but went to prison taking us all down with him. He declared a war as his final act of being a fucking coward, and I won’t hesitate to relieve him of his position. We...are a family. And I will do everything in my power to protect my family. If it meant giving them my life to stop this, I fucking would. But one scapegoat is not gonna satisfy the people that hate us just to hate. People are using Sebrina Smythe’s death as a reason to just cause more destruction here—not because they care that an innocent life was lost. And those are the mother fuckers that I’ll force to pay for everything they’ve taken from us.”
“How exactly do you plan on finding these people and making them pay up?”
“You let me worry about that. Santana and Roman will help. In the meantime, have you not all been taken care of?”
A collective muttering of agreement followed, albeit reluctantly.
“Has everyone had an immediate lifeline for support and assistance and protection? Clothing, food, shelter?”
More agreement.
“This situation isn’t ideal, but every last one of you have been protected and taken care of. And if I don’t deliver on my promise to have our homes restored, you can be assured I’ll be relieving myself as your leader. But you will not continue to question my devotion to the Serpents. I am here. I am one of you,” He coughed again, locking his legs to keep them from shaking. “I live, breathe, and die by this group, same as any of you. I’m not asking you to not be angry. I’m not asking you to forgive or embrace the Northsiders. But I am telling you, you will not punish the masses for the choices of the few. And that is an order. Anyone who doesn’t fucking like it can turn in their jacket and take your chances out there. Anyone who feels like they are not being protected or looked after, get the hell out now. But for the rest of you...we are here. We hear you. We are going to get through this. Laying low is our best choice right now. If you walk out that door, the target on your back is yours to bear.”
Dare waited, watching everyone with careful, stern eyes, holding glances and glares alike, but not a soul took even a hesitant step to leave. He shrugged a duffel bag off his shoulder and deposited it on the ground, revealing cans of various foods and other miscellaneous items and sundries. “Starting tonight we’re going to head to the high school so everyone can have a shower. We’ll go in small groups, and everyone will be escorted by myself or Ro and Santana. We’ll be dividing up food and other items. Anyone with questions, you know who to ask.”
Dare gave his gang one last lookover. “We’ve suffered through worse, and we’re going to get through this. Together.”
