Meadow: A Sopranos Fanfic

F.B.I. Friday's

"You gonna eat that?" special agent Ryan Grazio asked, remarking over the last donut in a box on the long conference table that had long since been nicknamed 'The Splinter,' due to the painful hours the group usually spent every week discussing what were, to them at least, unimportant topics.

Everyone at the FBI knew that the best way to be taken seriously and get ahead in the agency was by working counterterrorism or moving valuable information over to ICE that brought back hits on more possible terrorist raids. The agency had a hard nosed, focus on crime, but the mob? It was a bad joke.
Organized crime had once belonged to the prohibition era bootleggers, the Al Capones, the Albert Anastasias, and in modern times to the flashier Don Gotti's of the world. Those were the days where the FBI had had teeth to fight them; and fight them they had, until beating the mafia back so badly that it no longer had legs to stand on.

In 2019 organized crime didn't, for sure, belong to the bookies, the pimps,  and the dealers pushing a bit of crank to the weary housewife and the snot nosed students. It sure as hell didn't belong to the hackers often times generating a bit of revenue off Bitcoin, or the ocasional mob-related hits. No; organized crime now belonged to the people who moved in weight. Specifically in metric tons. Organized crime now belonged to the people who would place your mother's head on a fence post and let it wait till you got home, and then gut you, your wife and your kids as well, just because someone didn't like your comment on the weather. It belonged to the people so scary that being a cop meant nothing and being an FBI agent meant even less in their eyes. Organized crime now belonged to people who had enough money to have their own informants, their own safe houses, their own military grade tech and their own counterintelligence.
Organized crime now belonged to the Cartels, and the Cartels had always belonged to the DEA.

So sitting at The Splinter and going over what could only be the eleventh millionth change in the mob's power hierarchy in the last decade was not something anyone really cared to do; but at least there were donuts.

The reason for this task force convening as often as they did actually had less to do with agency policy and more to do with tradition. Retired Chief Frank Cubitoso had had a special place in his heart for the Italian 'families,' and the current Chief, Robyn Sanseverino, was partial to the old ways; even if not particularly partial to her cultural history. Robyn made her bones in taking down the old school, and was proud of keeping the new school in check; even if it didn't mean all that much to the news, or her approval ratings.

Ryan Grazio And Kaitlin Friday were part of a front to look like a couple running a bakery on Hoyt Street, 2 blocks from Satriale's, the old Soprano hangout. Ryan was the one running most of the surveillance on the deli, but it was Friday's show, everyone knew that. Kaitlin was young, had an Italian mother, an Irish father, and a serious Erin Brockovich complexion.

"Take the fucking donut - hey," snap snap went her fingers, bringing everyone 's attention back to the board up front, "I know it's a pretty big fucking inconvenience to all of you to  have to do this now, but now's the time to do it. I mean who would have thought? Paulie Gualtieri, Jesus Christ."
While Agent Friday moved a picture of Paulie up to the top of the Jersey section of the hierarchy, Adam Lee raised a hand. No one noticed for at least 20 seconds and when they did it was met with an exasperated exhale.
Adam was their youngest recruit into the group, having worked the Triads of New York, Friday believed he was the right set of fresh eyes to see things they couldn't. He was also no more than 23 and came from a Korean household that had wanted him to be a doctor, so of course he spoke first; he had the most to prove. "Why is this a bad thing again?"
Meghan Blunt, a special agent from out west, rolled her eyes at Adam.
"What?" he said, throwing his shoulders up and looking around the room as the rest of them snacked, completely ignoring what was happening around them.
Kaitlin was having none of it. "Ok, that's it." The collective frustrated exhale was heard around the room.
"No, I don't give a shit," Kaitlin picked up a waste basket, going around the Splinter one by one, shoving the bin in their faces and waiting till they spat out whatever they were eating. "This is how we're all going to learn to take this seriously. I gotta fuck with your food time in order to get you to take this shit seriously.  Like fuckin babies over here."
The last person she went to around the table was Adam Pontz, who everyone called Pontz as to not confuse him with special agent Lee, who in turn they all called Adam so as not to confuse him with the three other Lee's working on the same floor with them.
Pontz, a black man in his 30's, well dressed, bald and muscular, didn't even look up at Kaitlin as she stood there with the waste bin.
"Is this because I'm black?"
Silence.
Everyone looked around at each other for a moment. 
After a moment Friday threw up a hand as if to say 'Get the fuck outta here' and then actually said it out loud as everyone in the room laughed with familiarity.

"Adam, wants to know" she continued, "Why having Paulie, two big fucking Walnuts, both  in his head, none in his dick, as the new DiMeo boss is a bad thing. Anyone want to share as to why?"
"Before Silvio Dante, we all had a rockstar up there," Pontz said, one hand on his sandwich and the other pointing at the board with the many faces on it, "before your time, but you may have heard of him anyway."
"Soprano." Adam said, nodding.
"Right," Pontz nodded himself, "well, Soprano was a real sociopath, textbook stuff. In just a few years he took a sledgehammer to his own men, Chris Multasanti, Ritchie Aprille, hell we're pretty sure he even wacked his own cousin Tony Blundetto for not wanting anything to do with the business, or whatever."
"That thing with his mom, oh and Adriana La Cerva," Ryan interjected and Kaitlin IMMEDIATELY shushed him, looking around to make sure Chief Sanseverino hadn't overheard him in the next room.
"My point," Pontz continued, "is that Soprano was a sociopath but he wasn't stupid. He was just too smart for his own good. Now - what do you think a psychotic 2 bit hood like Paulie Walnuts is going to do with that crew now that he's got the crown?"
"Probably start a war," Chief Sanseverino said calmly from the edge of the door.
Everyone turned toward her and froze.
"Probably," Kaitlin confirmed, not letting on that she knew why the Chief had come in.

"Anyone have a dosier on Walnuts? I'd like to take a look at it as soon as it's ready please," Sanseverino said while looking around the room.
"Guys?" Snapped Kaitlin and Adam woke up from his daze.
"Yes ma'am I'll get you something right away, I was just compiling details about the meeting at 'the Firm' before sending anything over. Meghan winced at Adam's use of the nickname for Sullenberg and Miatzo, it was a tacky reference to the John Grisham novel from the 90's and while it was funny for their circle, it's not something lightly used when talking with the chief of the FBI.
"What meeting is this special agent Lee?" Sanseverino asked and watched him scramble through his notes.
"Uh, low level sit down between Walnuts,  the attorney Lupertazzi, a guy from the local union and the Blundetto twins."
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" She asked.
"No one of any rank other than Walnuts, ma'am," Adam stated nervously.
"I see. Ok, well then keep me posted," the Chief turned to leave when Adam blurted out, "Oh and another attorney was there but merely as a formality to observe."
Frustration was peaking around Sanseverino's eyes and Friday could see it, but knew better than to jump in and save a sinking swimmer.
"Yes, agent Lee?
"Um, a Meadow Soprano, ma'am," Agent Lee finished.
Everyone looked back at Adam in shock. "Wait," Kaitlin asked, forgetting all about the Chief's presence, "Meadow Soprano was at that meet?"
Adam looked over his notes and then around the room at all the very serious faces.
"Uh," Adam said, before swallowing hard, "uh, y.. yes mam. DiMeo Boss Walnuts, Attorney Alegro Lupertazzi, Justin and Jason Blundetto, and Meadow Soprano..."
Meghan was the first to say it, "It's like a wall of fame lineup of important names."
"What Surprises me is that it's a who's who of the greats," Agent Friday searched her mind by looking off into the distance, "with no real bite in their first names. Except for Walnuts of course. Either way Adam I want you to look into this, these guys could be bad news. All except Soprano."
"Really?" the Chief questioned, and in front of her own men.
"Why? You think...? I mean, it's little Meadow Soprano...," Friday said uncertainly.

"Not so little anymore," Chief Sanseverino finished as she left the room.