#cameron.ask

Before:

A young and overly excited Gavin had the whole world in front of him. He was finally accepting who he was and couldn’t wait to tell his parents he was genderfluid and wanted to be called Gavin. The lad ran home from the school yard with a smile on his face.

When he got home his parents were fighting which they never do. They saw their daughter enter the house and got even more upset. Gavin’s father turned and started walking towards him and quickly changed into some sort of monster. A fist was thrown into the wall next to the lad’s head and tears sprung into Gavin’s eyes.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing out here, calling yourself Gavin? I found your journal open on your desk this morning, and I am beyond disgusted. Get the fuck out of my house. Now!” The booming voice and harsh words echoed around the house, a place Gavin once knew to be safe now turned into a living hell.

Being that the lad was only 15, there wasn’t anywhere for him to go if he left, so he stayed in the toxic household. His mother grew distant and his father grew cold. There was no form of love anywhere. The only person Gavin had in his life was a fellow student at school named Dan. He was kind and accepting, but was mean and cold-hearted when needed.

Gavin had a bit of makeup and had gotten good at covering up the various cuts, marks and bruises his father would leave. The school had no idea of any of this, no one knew. If anyone found out, Gavin was afraid he might get killed. One day, his father walked into his room and saw all the makeup and made comments. “So the tranny decided to act more ladylike and put on makeup? About damn time, bitch.

Over the years, Dan and Gavin had become great friends and would spend a lot of time together. During their last year of school together, Dan had let Gavin stay at his house. He was the only one who knew anything about his friend’s life and swore if he ever got the chance, he would beat the living shit out of Gav’s father.

Dan also taught Gavin how to use different computer programs and Gav found it interesting and started to experiment with different things. He quickly learned how to do basic programming and soon knew how to complete complex tasks within a matter of seconds with his new skills.

Things were tight living at Dan’s house, and they didn’t quite make ends meet with a new face living under their roof. Gavin felt like he needed to help out, so he did the only thing he could think of. Late nights where he spent awake because of nightmares, he would get up and sneak outside. No one in the neighbourhood would ever expect the scrawny 18 year old to be the one stealing their cash or prized possessions.

There was one night where Gavin had managed to snag an expensive gold watch from the small brick house at the end of the street and he knew it would be worth a lot. Yet, he was so entranced by the shiny metal, he decided to keep it. No one ever questioned where it came from which helped him stay undercover.

After Dan and Gavin graduated, they went their separate ways. Dan enlisted in the military and Gavin booked a one way ticket to America with the leftover money he stole. His plan was to go to Los Santos to have a fresh start. It was a big city and no one would know his name. It sounded like heaven.

One ten hour flight later, the lad was finally in Los Santos. It was bright and hot and vastly different from his hometown in England. Gavin felt out of his element, but he couldn’t be more excited. On the plane, he heard a few passengers talkin about the rise in crime in the city. The names Geoff and Jack were mentioned briefly. He wondered who those two men were and why they were causing a scene.

And he wanted to know how to get in touch with them.

With his luck, he would never meet these people and would be stuck on the streets forever. He knew how to survive, but what if he got himself into a situation he couldn’t get back out of. He would end up dead and no one in this damned city would give two shits about the british bloke who got stabbed to death. There was one point shortly after arriving in the city where he debated just giving up on everything. He couldn’t make it on his own. He wasn’t good enough for this.

Weeks passed and Gavin had managed to find himself in an old abandoned apartment complex with a bit of cash he managed to get from pedestrians walking by. He could live like this, but he needed more. A computer would be ideal, but maybe he should think about smaller things first, like food and heat. Granted, it didn’t get very cold in Los Santos during December, but it definitely wasn’t hot.

He also needed to locate these mysterious people who seemed to be climbing the ranks faster than Gavin could blink. He was gradually making a name for himself, but he could never compete to them. Gavin needed to try to one up his previous robberies.

The gas station next the the abandoned apartment complex would be perfect to hit up, and he’s surprised he hasn’t gone there yet. Gavin grabs his knives and his black beanie he converted into a mask and heads out. It’s a quick walk over and he is feeling confident about tonight.

Except he wasn’t aware other people had plans to rob the gas station tonight.

Gavin was just planning on making it a quick thing. Go in, get the cash and some food and leave. No big deal. But these people, they went all out. One was waiting in a car outside with tinted windows. There were two other people inside, one was at the counter, twirling his moustache as the clerk filled the bag. The other was off grabbing various items off the shelves. Gavin knew he couldn’t take these people, they were too good for his skill level.

He turned on his heels to leave and came face to face with a red headed woman who quickly gave him a right hook and laughed when he fell to the ground. The last thing Gavin heard was a deep voice coming from the moustached man saying, “This is the kid, we need him to succeed. Trust me Jack.”

The next time Gavin opened his eyes, his head was pounding and he was in a foreign room. He was expecting to be tied up and get tortured for ruining their heist, but he was laying in a bed instead. The door opened and in walked the same redhead who punched him. He wanted to glare and make his face look darker than it usually was to scare her off, but he was too tired to care much about that.

“Oh, you’re awake. That’s good, thought I punched you a bit too hard out there. Sorry about that by the way. Boss’ orders. Speaking of, he probably wants to speak to you. I’ll go grab you a glass of water and see where he is.” The woman walked off again and Gavin was more confused than he was previously.

A few minutes passed and a new face came in holding a glass. He had tattoos covering his arms and a moustache which Gavin recognized from earlier. This must be that woman’s boss or something to that sort.

The man set the glass down and cleared his throat. “So, you’re probably wondering what the hell is going on here. Well, in case you didn’t know, I’m Geoff Ramsey, leader of the Fake AH Crew. You’ve previously met Jack, the redhead who kicked your ass, which was funny as dicks.”

The man, Geoff, paused and let Gavin absorb the information. These are the people he first heard about when he came here. Jack and Geoff. He’s been trying to find them for months, and they found him first. But, why him?

“Judging by your expression, you’re probably wondering why we grabbed you. We knew where your hideout was and faked a heist to take you back here to our base. Didn’t do a very good job at hiding your tracks. However, we’ve begun to catch word of your skills and as the leader, I decided to see for myself just how good you are.”

Gavin was now sitting on the edge of the bed, his thoughts running faster than he could process. Not only was he in the penthouse of the biggest up and coming gang in Los Santos, but they wanted to possibly take him in as their own.

He cleared his throat and took a sip of water. “So, Geoff, if you’ve heard about me, I assume you probably know everything about me. You, you don’t think I’m a freak?” His voice cracked and his insecurity started to seep through. He promised himself he wouldn’t let this happen but he couldn’t stop it.

Geoff had a confused look on his face. “Kid, why would I think you’re a freak? Because you’re genderfluid? Christ Gavin, just because we’re criminals doesn’t mean we’re not accepting or cruel to others because of their identities. That’s the last thing we’re worried about here. Now come on, we’re making Christmas cookies. Plus Michael and Ryan want to meet you.”

The moustached man walked out of the room and Gavin followed behind. The two made their way out to the kitchen where they found Jack and two other men Gavin could only assume were Michael and Ryan.

“Crew, this here is Gavin Free. Be easy on him, will ya? He’s fragile.” Geoff snickered after he finished talking and the younger lad reached up to punch him lightly in the shoulder.

The five of them gathered around the counter and started introducing one another while cutting out cookies. Gavin could see himself with this crew for a while and hoped they liked him enough to let him stay.

The next few days consisted of various tests to see how good Gavin’s skills actually were. Michael quickly found out to not trust this British lad anywhere near explosives. Ryan had shown the kid how to properly throw knives and where the best places were to stab someone. Jack discovered that Gavin was definitely not the best pilot or driver but it got the job done. Plus, he could easily talk his way out of a situation since no one end in Los Santos had a british accent.

Geoff’s tests were the most important ones. The leader needed to see if Gavin had any skills with computers and more importantly hacking because no one else knew how to do any of that stuff. Needless to say, Gavin was more than excited with this specific task. He had 6 hours to hack into the LSPD security system and erase the files they had on the current member of the crew.

Gavin finished within 4 hours. Geoff was more than surprised at this and debated hiring him right then and there. But he still needed to discuss it with the others. The other members held a meeting the next day and within minutes of discussing their test results decided to hire Gavin full time. Considering it was Christmas Eve, what better present than getting hired to the best crew around?

Gavin woke up on the 25th to find his room was decorated with lights and there were new clothes in the closet. He got up and made his way to the living room. When he got there, he noticed Michael and Ryan sitting on the couch while Jack was in the recliner. They were all staring at him.

“Morning loves, anyone care to tell me what’s going on here?” The lad questioned to which everyone pointed behind him. He turned around and found himself face to face with Geoff. He had his arms open and quickly embraced Gavin in a hug.

“Welcome to the Fakes, kid. We all decided you will be a great fit here, and this is your Christmas gift. Merry Christmas Gavin!” Geoff laughed and everyone else joined in, causing Gav to smile. Jack got up and handed the British lad a small case. Inside was a pair of golden sunglasses. She must’ve caught him looking at them online the other day and got them for him. The two hugged and he tried the glasses on. A perfect fit.

This was his new family. They took him in when he thought no one in this world liked him anymore. He hoped to do them well.

After:

“Gavin! Get your ass out here, boi! You’re gonna miss the news report!” An overly-excited voice yelled down the hall of the penthouse.

The hacker sighed and saved his progress then proceeded to shut down his computer for the night. After all, it was Christmas Eve and he planned on spending the night with his family. Gavin made his way out of his cave as the others liked to call it and walked out to the living room. He found his other lads on the couch with the remote in their hands.

The whole crew had been out all day on a heist that they didn’t need Gavin for so he wasn’t paying much attention to them all day. He was gathering information on the other rival crews and potential next victims.

“Gavvy, comensit! You showed up just in time for the news report!” Jeremy patted the seat next to him. He’s only been here for a few years but Gavin still couldn’t get over his overenthusiastic behaviors. Once the Lads were all settled in, the Gents filed in as well. Geoff and Jack were cuddled up on the love seat and Ryan was lounging in the recliner.

The crew focused their attention to their beloved news reporter, Jon Risinger, as he began to talk about the crimes that happened during the day. The first few mentioned were harmless robberies where the suspects had gotten caught. Gavin snorted over this.

Then came the big story of the night. Jon had started his report the same as he had done the other ones, but one phrase caught Gavin’s attention. “The Fake AH Crew is back at it again with another big heist, but this time, they seemed to have had a certain end goal in mind.”

Gavin glanced around at his family and noticed all of them were staring at the tv, smirks on their faces. He turned back to the report.

“The Kingpin and Mama Bird can be seen here at Vangelico, taking only the golden accessories. In this next shot you can see the Vagabond at Ammunation stealing all the golden plated guns and knives. The last few clips we have here are of Mogar and Rimmy Tim, seemingly in a stolen car. It looks like they took it to Los Santos Customs and sprayed the car with a gold paint.”

Risinger stopped talking for a bit to let the audience see what the Fakes had been up to all day. The last shot the news showed was of the 5 of them on top of Mount Chiliad shooting off fireworks. Gavin was getting ready to ask them what the hell they were on about today and why they did all that when Jon began to talk once more.

“It seems like these crimes were all linked together and that it was all for the crew’s Golden Boy. No one has found out why these crimes were committed but if anyone founds out any information, contact the LSPD.”

Geoff clicked off the tv and stood up. He made his way over to Gavin and dragged the lad up off the couch into a hug. No words were said but there was no need for them. Gavin was fully aware this was his anniversary of joining the crew, but he wasn’t expecting his family to do all this for him.

“Gavin, you’ve been an amazing part of this crew, this family, and most importantly, this relationship. You do so much for us and you don’t get enough credit for the work you do. We decided to do something special this year and spoil you rotten for Christmas. So, Merry Christmas Gavin. We love you.”

Gradually the rest of the Fakes joined in on the hug which quickly turned into a cuddle pile on the sofa. Jeremy made popcorn and Jack put on some classic Christmas movies for them to watch. Gavin didn’t pay much attention to the movies, but instead thought back on his life and how he had gotten to this point.

He was forever grateful for these people in his life and would do anything to protect them. Afterall, they’ve saved his ass countless times from random bar fights he got himself into. Gavin took his golden shades off of his head and placed them on the coffee table as he settled down into the arms of Ryan and rested his legs on Michael’s lap.