Queen of Spades

"Mother understands. Mother's here to help you. All I have is one request." Vivianne Spade • 47 • Mob Boss

[vivianne--spade]

akira-romono:

— “What? Buy it myself? With my money? Ew, no! Anyway, I’m sure my mom would love to have me dependent on her always and forever; you know how mom’s are… always worried, desperate to always have them in their sights, and worried when they’re gone onto other… places. You know?”

“So charming to find an independent person who has no sense of entitlement whatsoever.” Vivianne rolled her eyes. It was bad enough that this person did not take the hint that she wished to be left alone, but to share trivial details of her life was getting on her nerves. “I’m sure that she is very worried about you. When was the last time that you called her?”

[vivianne--spade]

roxiewilliams:

“Sounds more like cowardice than stupidity. It would be so simple to own up to your shit and deal with the consequences.”

“That would be the mature thing to do, but sadly people like that are in limited supply.”

[mr-ethan-holmes-blog]

“Now let’s not be condescending. They give you more trouble than you would ever admit to,” he pointed out, although, you could tell from his expression that he was far from mocking her. 

He stayed silent. It would have been ill advised to comment on whether it was just Rebecca that had been too spoiled, or to say something about Charlotte. If he wanted to, he could have said something about her children and Rebecca’s being just as spoiled, but he stayed silent the whole time she was speaking. It was nice to see that he was not the only person completely delusional in this city. 

“They must, but no one can say for sure that they will.” Especially not when Caroline and Tyler were siding with the enemy.  

He was not going to lie, that made him more happy than he would ever care to admit.

“I’m not surprised. You always struck me as the kind of woman that plans ahead.”

[vivianne--spade]

“My children? Of course, they do. That is part of being a parent. I’m sure that you know about that.” Benjamin was a good kid, but any child was a trail upon their parent. Her fully grown children were certainly more difficult to handle than when they were toddlers or teens. Sometimes she wished that she could shrink them back to as they used to be. "If not, I can come back and haunt them. That should scare them straight.” Vivianne chuckled, knowing that there would be very little that she could do to fix the damage that had already been done. Still the woman prayed that things would get better.

“I am. I’ve got a nice little beach house on the Jersey Shore picked out. I was going to go to Italy, but that is so far from the children. They hardly visit me as is. I can only imagine the excuses should I leave the country.” She raised a brow at Ethan. “And what about you? Surely you do not wish to do this for the rest of your days.”

[vivianne--spade]

ben-holmes:

“I know. We’re working off of very minimal information. Security has nothing else and what I just described is all any of us know. We can only hope that it was hired help seeing as they didn’t succeed in actually finishing the job. Hired help is at least less dangerous that if it was someone of more importance.” He had been worrying himself sick thinking about it ever since it had happened and in truth, it made him feel useless. He wasn’t a capo, underboss, security, anything that could possibly help in a situation such as this. 

“So I’ve heard. There is still the police report to obtain, not that those monkeys ever do anything right.” Vivianne rolled her eyes. The incompetence of the police had always been a boon to the Spades. When the police could be purchased or too incompetent to do their jobs, it made her life so much easier. But seeing Rebecca in the hospital had made the brunette wish for something a bit more concert to go off of. “Whoever they are, we will find them, Benjamin. I can promise you that.”

[vivianne--spade]

the-joker-queen:

“Tyler? Oh! Yes, that darling little boy! He is a jewel, hmm?” Daniella fixed a smile on the woman, barely containing the giggle that threatened to fall over. “Here’s the thing, though. I didn’t take your son for my little club. He came to me. Hilarious you should care so much now. You’re entire family, if you can call it that, has been quite the little comedy show honestly.”

"Indeed he is a jewel. I know all of his virtues and vices seeing as I raised him.” She glared at Daniella wishing to smack the smile off of her face. “He would not have willingly gone against the family. He was taken by force. I know because I looked for him the entire time, and that search started with his ransacked room. And I suppose that your little mess is the ideal I should strive for.”

[vivianne--spade]

jabba-wock:

      “You can either make this worth my while or you can’t fucking leave me in peace. I’ve been laying low and it feels nice so get to it. I’d like to get back to it.”

“Ten thousand upfront and the rest to be determined at a later date. Do I have your attention now?”

[vivianne--spade]

mr-ethan-holmes:

Technically it was not going to be his case, but someone else’s (who he wouldn’t trust with cracking it) and he would have to be discreet about it, but that, he wouldn’t tell. Of course he would look into it, but giving them a fake sense of safety was the first step to success. “I suppose you mean the Jokers?” As if they ever needed them to have dead bodies in the streets. 

“So you believe they’ll be able to do something you’ve never achieved? I would have never guessed you were such an optimistic woman. Not that it’s an unattractive trait, but I’m very surprised.” It just sounded unrealistic to him. Why would any of these children be akin to letting their older brother take it all, just because he was born the first? Sure they often made it look like they were part of a monarchy, but sometimes you had to hand over the power to the most able, and not the oldest. As far as he was concerned James would always be an immature buffoon.  “Truth be told, I’d rather spend the rest of my days at home rather than in one of these death homes, but sometimes, you don’t have a choice,” well this was certainly joyful. “I’d arrest anyone serving me soup, for bad treatment, and putting me in a dangerous situation,” he mused, with a thin smile. “And I’d win.” 

Vivianne rolled her eyes at the mention of her new supposed rivals. The Jokers were nobodies who had gained far too much footing in the city. Were it not for Tyler being with them, Viv would have used violent measures to send a message. Perhaps she was going soft, but she would not risk Tyler’s life with a direct attack. 

The brunette groaned, playfully smacking Ethan’s shoulder. “Your time in sing sing has not improved your sense of humor. But to answer your question, yes I do believe that there will be a uniting at some point. Rebecca was far too spoiled to see sense, but the children must.” Alice would allow James to be leader. Allison and Bree might. Tyler was always the difficult child. Then on Rebecca’s side, there was Daniel who would possibly see the prospect of being a united force. Jacob and Charlie would protest, but they had sense. Caroline wouldn’t count. There was a possibility that they would be able to do what their mother’s had not. “I agree completely. I’ve already got my retirement property picked out.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Those poor caretakers do not stand a chance.”

[vivianne--spade]

roxiewilliams:

“So long as you stick to low expectations. But what brought this question on, if I may ask?”

“The same things that always do. Someone decides that they are smarter than everyone else, and when things backfire they make excuses instead of taking the blame.”

[vivianne--spade]

roxiewilliams:

“Can you really expect that much forethought from people with such ignorant beliefs?”

“I can expect that Darwinian principles apply to them.”

[vivianne--spade]

mr-ethan-holmes:

“Then, I’m flattered.” He had to agree that one should not distribute compliments like candy, especially if they were high in the chain of command although he suspected that were she to lose her throne, she would be just the same. “Then let me take that weight from your shoulders, I won’t turn into that,” he did not smile this time. Probably was it that he feared what he’d do if he were confronted to the ones who had done this to him, sentenced him to spend months in the dark. 

“Concern.” He corrected her. “They may have redeeming qualities,” they may, “but do you think they’ll agree to let James take it all?” The way he saw it, they’d all want to have a piece of this kingdom and like the old French dynasties, they would split their realm in equal pieces, weakening it as a whole. If the Heart children did the same, it would be a matter of time before someone bigger came and ate them all. “I don’t know if I’d miss you,” he pointed out with a scoff, “by the time you retire, if you don’t go on a murder spree either, I should be enjoying my old days too. Maybe we’ll even end up in the same retirement home,”

Nodding her head, Vivianne felt a sense of relief. The woman would not mind seeing the Joker’s child prosecuted to the fullest; however, she did not want to woman to drag James down with her. He had come too far. “It certainly is a relief to hear that. There has been far too much violence as of late. We need a peace and to get rid of those who would threaten that peace.”

“I assume that Tyler would give James a bit of difficulty should I step down now. He is a bit concerned after some tragic events, but I have no doubt that he will come back to his senses soon. As for the girls.” Vivianne smiled fondly. “I believe that they will support their brother. And they do get along with their cousins to some extent. Perhaps they will realize the benefit of reuniting their legacy even if I never could get Becca to.” The idea of all the children coming better seemed as far-fetched as a Utopian ideal in which everything the Spades and Hearts did was completely legal. Still the woman held onto some hope that the future would be better for them. “I’m touched that you would wish to retire with me.” She smirked waiting for Ethan’s objection. “Oh Lord help anyone who has the responsibility of taking care of us in our old age. I am certain that you would be just as stubborn as I when it comes to simply staying put and accepting limitations.”

[vivianne--spade]

capospade:

      “Not yours maybe.” He sighed, referring to his father, but that was neither here nor there. “I’m not objectifying myself. If I were, I’d think we had something in common then.” James held his arm out to stop his mother from colliding into him, the action reminding him of something a child would do. “I’m not the one that wants to constantly kill everyone. That would be my wife. I merely want to know how deep their pockets go and what their connections are so that I might be able to use them as future assets. She’ll have a nice party, I’m sure of it. Mostly exclusive. I don’t want just anyone around my daughter… Mum, she’s a singer. Lydia’s been going on about her for days.”

She gently placed a hand upon his shoulder. Vivianne expected that he would shrug off the small gesture of comfort, but she still tried. She was his mother and despite how he might protest, she did care deeply for him. “What have I told you about mouthing off? You want to be respected, not feared.” The brunette shrugged her shoulders. “There are some people who do deserve to be gone.” Chuckling, Vivianne grinned at her son. “There is my ghiandaia. Have Cameron run a check on their phones. Everyone is so happy with their little pocket computers that they forget how easily a phone call can be traced and accounts can be monitored. As for the singer, I shall try to find her on the youtube.”

[vivianne--spade]

cameronxpeterson:

“I can switch you back to Windows XP,” Cam said, stifling a sigh. “I’ll need a day or two to reconfigure our security system to compensate for that. Although…” A starry-eyed look crossed over his face. “This could mean a new security assessment. Developing more programs to test for weaknesses I haven’t considered yet. Then rebuild our defenses. Make a game of it even. Let any hackers in our midst see if they can break through. I highly doubt they will, but…” He rambled on, caught up in the excitement of it all.

Vivianne’s eyes glazed over as Cameron went over all the particulars. She was able to detect a few buzzwords in the jargon that she had to know, but otherwise she had no idea what he was prattling on about. All the woman was concerned about was that she would be able to use her computer again. “Do what you think best. I only ask that I be able to access the internet, my emails, minesweeper, and a way to add more music to my zune.” She knew the last bit would more than likely make the man cringe, but she did not see the need to update when the mp3 player worked just fine.

[vivianne--spade]

mr-ethan-holmes:

“The White Knight of Chicago? Now you’re either mocking me or trying to compliment me. Either way, I’m not sure I want to know,” he smiled, to show his amusement, and rubbed at the back of his neck. There was not much you could do in jail, other than reading and exercising.  “You make it sound like I’m going to turn into a revenge thirsty monster now that I’m out,” which was something he hoped would not happen. He doubted it. Unless someone came shoving evidence in his face, he would not go and chase those who framed him. “It’s unforgivable. That’s why murderers get life sentence. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather not you fall for this. It’d be very romantic but do you really want to let your realm to your kids just yet?”

“It is a compliment, Mr. Holmes. And you should wish to know that for I do not give them often nor lightly.” In her own way, Vivianne did sincerely mean what she said. Ethan Holmes had been a thorn in the side of her enterprise, but he was a gifted and dedicated member of the police. No matter how hard the Spades had tried, he was not one to be bought off. She admired him for that, she also thought it was foolish but still admirable. “I do hope that you don’t. There has been enough blood to coat the front pages as of late. I would so hate to see more.” The woman nodded her head, schooling her features. She did miss her husband, yet she knew the truth of his death more than anyone could possibly imagine. It had to be done, yet that did not make it any less of a tragedy. “If I didn’t know better, I would swear I detect a hint of fear in your voice. Surely my children are not all that bad. Or is it that you might actually miss me?”

[vivianne--spade]

roxiewilliams:

“Because Americans care greatly about their right to behave like utter morons.”

“I would be more inclined to tolerate their idiocy should they not proclaim their ignorance in such a verbose manner before recording and celebrating their so-called achievement.”

[vivianne--spade]

ben-holmes:

Ben’s lips pursed at the memory, at the very mention of Alistair Beckett the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He had never thought to think of the man as an enemy, but he never thought he would become a Red either. “Good. He seemed to be losing it a little towards the end there, anyway. Hence his complete lack of judgement on me.” His eyes rolled and he wasn’t afraid to talk to Vivianne like this, about this, after everything that had happened. “I don’t doubt that it wasn’t you. You wouldn’t have done something like that, not on her birthday.” Maybe not ever with how things were between the two sisters at the moment.  “They do have a flare for dramatics, but I don’t want to pin it all on them and rule anyone else out completely. I believe the only description that was given was tall female brunette.”

Vivianne nodded her head, keeping silent about her former second in command. Alistar had been one of her dearest friends, but he had gone against her wishes. He had been paranoid and acted without heeding the consequences. It was better that he was gone from Wonderland. “That is extraordinarily unhelpful. The perpetrator might have been wearing a wig. All we have is tall and female, if we assume that the shooter was acting on her own volition. There is a chance that she is nothing more than hired help.” Running her fingers through her hair, Vivianne sighed. When Charlotte was harmed, it was easy to get rid of the man causing the trouble. Yet Rebecca has almost lost her life with barely a clue as to who was behind it all. 

[vivianne--spade]

mr-ethan-holmes:

“If I do take a life it”ll only be to save another. Thank God this day has yet to come. Perks of being a detective from the beginning, I suppose.” He gave her a shrug when she explained how glad she was that the falsly accused had been cleared. “It won’t give me back the past 5 months, but thank you. It must pain you, to see the one who killed your husband put so much effort into slipping through both the justice’s and your fingers.”

“You are just a regular Joe Hardy. I’m sure many will rest at ease knowing that the White Knight of Chicago is back to protect them.” She smiled demurely before looking away. She had dealt with the death of her beloved husband and all those involved in her own way. She could continue grieving when the lives of the rest of her loved ones were not in constant danger. “Knowing you, that time was hardly wasted though. I’m sure that you exercised your mind as well as your body. You could think of it as training. And it does, but I am certain that the whole affair is hardly over. I have prayed for the power to forgive the person who took my Edward, but I fear that I should I ever met the true culprit, well let’s just say I would gladly accept orange as my new color in exchange for justice.”

[vivianne--spade]

mr-ethan-holmes:

“As if you’d expect any different from me. And that’s when the neutral representatives of the law intervene.”

“What can I say. Apparently they had it wrong and I’m not a cold blooded murderer. Why? Is that such a disappointment? Not happy to see me?”

“I forget who just and fair the legal system can be. I’m sure that I needn’t tell you about such things though.”

“Not at all. Personally, I am of the opinion that you do not have what it takes to take a life, but the evidence presented was rather damning. It puts my mind at ease to know that the falsely accused has been cleared. Honesty is so hard to find these days.”