Don Stracci considered Soren's request, and slowly nodded. "These Purifiers... it's become a rather dirty business as of late. While I can neither confirm nor deny if I deal in augments, the Purifiers have never been able to prove anything with me, and they know better than to randomly raid my trucks. I own a construction company... mostly road repair, but..." he paused here, his eyes not leaving Soren. "I would be willing to extend you this favor, and get your workshop and house rebuilt. However... the Purifiers are not my concern, even if they did invade the sanctity of your home. But... with that said..." he glanced over at Tony now.
"You did save my son and bring him home. For this kindness, I would be willing to lend you more... indirect assistance, shall we say, against these Purifiers. I don't like them personally." Don Stracci continued. "But I also have no war with them at present. However, there's an old saying... the enemy of my friends... is my enemy." the don stated, cracking a slight smile here.
"Sir, we were talking about maybe some guns. Firepower." Tony spoke up now respectfully.
"Guns?" his father smiled again. "I don't provide guns. I do however, provide hardware." It was clear what the euphemism meant, and also why the don was choosing to use it. "Hardware I can provide in abundance. All untraceable; the cops will never know where you got it, if it comes to that. And if you do get in trouble..." the don pointed at Soren now, still smiling, but in a much smaller way. "I can recommend some very good lawyers... or even a judge or two who sees things my way, provided you keep tight-lipped about where you obtained your hardware." The smile grew a tad here. Tony noted Max was present at the table... most likely for legal reasons. This conversation would be refuted by all of his siblings if it ever leaked, and Max would of course provide the clincher. Tony also knew that anyone who ratted his father out had extremely low expectations of actually making it to court to testify... it was amazing how many friends in unexpected places his dad actually had.
"If you could please provide Mr. Fontana the address of your workshop and home, I will ensure that one of my crews are sent out there. I can't guarantee work will start immediately... it's dependent on what current contracts I have, but we'll get the job done at some point." he promised Soren. "I never forget a favor requested of me." he said with finality.
"Oh... should we also ask for Adrian to be checked into a hospital under the protection of my family?" Tony asked Axel in a low voice now.
The family doctor backed away from the mechanical contraption now who was insisting it be allowed to attend to Lily. He merely gave it a nod. "Suit yourself." he said, moving off to at least get a chart started on Lily on his data pad.
