Adam nodded slowly as he understood the importance of the conversation that Salvatore had invited him to. Baxter. The original Adam. A man who apparently had a deep history with Salvatore and, despite showing kindness to Adam, seemed to have a mean streak that everyone else was aware of.
"First… I wanna apologize." Salvatore said as he reached back into his pocket and retrieved a new cigarette. Despite having just smoked a minute ago he seemed stressed and needed the cigarette in his hands to stop from fidgeting.
"You have nothing to apologize for." Adam said. Cutting in before Salvatore could explain.
"Nah, I do. Cause at the same time you were finding out that the other you was still alive, and an asshole, and going so far as to kidnap you, I was distant as hell." He sighed and then lit up his cigarette.
"It's okay Salvatore, I don't blame you. You clearly had a deep history with him. I don't blame you for having mixed feelings about the whole thing." Adam said again, calmly. Salvatore just sighed again.
"That is exactly why I am apologizing." Salvatore frowned. "Cause you are like this. You are so goddamn good natured. You are nothing like Baxter." He paused to take a hit of his cigarette. Adam nodded.
"I had a brief conversation with him before he left, I heard a bit of his story. I don't agree with his choices but I do understand how he became the man he did."
"Well I think you should know more than a bit of his story. You are his clone after all." Salvatore paused. "Which means I should tell you my story too." He looked off to the side for a moment contemplating himself before continuing. "As you probably guessed there was a period of time when I was with him and his… Baxter Brigade." Salvatore began taking a slow hit of his cigarette again.
"This was a while ago, I don't really remember how long to be honest. Point is I was not always a mercenary. Before that I was a… raider…" Adam nodded slowly, understanding where he was getting at.
"The last time I saw you, you called Baxter a raider." Adam said, piercing it together.
"Exactly. I was part of it all. I was a piece of shit going around taking from the less fortunate." He sighed and tapped his ashes onto the ash tray, letting his hand rest on the table. "Back then I was really unsure what to do with myself. When I met Baxter he was charismatic, intelligent, skilled, and a damn good shot. Not to mention the luckiest son of a bitch I ever met." He chuckled darkly. "At first it was simple stuff, we did mercenary adjacent work. Killing for the right price and all. It was when people stopped being able to pay us for our work that we took what we were owed. Then it quickly became obvious it was easier to simply just take what we needed instead of work from it… things sort of… spiralled out of control from there…" He paused again, once more taking a hit from his cigarette.
"We all knew what we were doing was wrong. Hell, most of us didn't like it. But Baxter was just so damn smooth and always managed to keep us in line. Then he killed Calloway…" Salvatore sighed. "Calloway was getting antsy. Didn't like the direction our group was heading. I know he may have been having second thoughts but he sure as fuck was not planning to betray us or anything. That didn't stop Baxter from blowing his brains out one night." Salvatore frowned again. "I'm not going to get into the gory details but the meltdown was huge. I left, to find my own path. Wandered around for a while, found Magdalene, Mandy and Eric's mother, and helped her to safety, found a new place to settle here, in Chicago, and have been here ever since."
"I already knew that Baxter was a bad guy but…" Adam said, putting his hand to his mouth as he considered the implications of Salvatore's story.
"Point is, when I learned you were that asshole's clone I was unsure what to think. I know you, you are good people. Probably one of the few left in the fucking world. But being that man's clone brought me to some strange… thoughts…"
"Theres no shame in that." Adam said back, sympathetically. "You went through a lot, and learning I was his clone was probably more shocking for you than me."
"Maybe." Salvatore said softly. "But it wasn't right. You surely had enough going on at that time that you didn't need me mucking it up too. I… am proud to call myself your friend." Salvatore said with a slight blush, only to quickly continue talking to hide his embarrassment. "And you needed me then. There was a fight on the horizon and I was not there for ya."
"You were busy. You still had to escort Chuck and-" Adam began only to be cut off by Salvatore.
"No, I chose not to go." He said with a dark and sad tone. "I knew what you were going to do, Chuck would have been fine at Midway for the week or so I needed to be gone. I didn't go because for some time there I couldn't… trust you…" He admitted softly. It was Adam's turn to sigh now.
"So what do we do from here?" Adam asked now.
"If I can have it… I want your forgiveness. I fucked up. I see that. And I don't want to lose a friend because I am a fucking idiot." Adam let off a soft chuckle.
"You are forgiven Salvatore." Adam smiled softly. "I can see that this was eating at you, but it was not a big deal to me. We all got our stories. We all got pasts, some of which we don't share. And not a single one of us is always going to make the perfect call. But if you want my forgiveness you got it. So long as we can move past this and you can still trust me." Salvatore sighed again.
"Yeah, I trust you kid. I heard about what you did, and what it took. I was an idiot for thinking who you were cloned after would change who you are." Adam shook his head.
"No, as I said at the beginning, I get it. If I were in your shoes I bet I would think twice too. But you came back Salvatore, you even apologized. It's okay. I forgive you." Adam said with a smile. Salvatore let off a final sigh, but this time of relief.
"You are a saint, kid." He grinned a bit.
"No, I'm human, just like everyone else." Adam smiled.
"Maybe that's what sets you apart. You are you even despite just being human." Salvatore let off a soft chuckle and then reached into his bag and pulled out some really nice looking liquor.
"Bought this when I was out with Chuck. Care to share a drink?" He asked as he held it up for Adam to see.
"You bet I would." Adam smiled back.