#wwbbhf

You’d had to brush up on every detail you could on all of these groups to figure out how they operated and who ran what. You’d been doing this for a long time. When you first started you were in a little ragtag crew out on the East Coast near Liberty City but when things got out of hand you all had to go your separate ways. From then on, you had pretty much been on your own; flying under the radar you’d travel around the country pulling jobs wherever you could for whoever was paying the most.

Which is how you eventually landed yourself in Los Santos.

A Motorcycle club that you’d had a run in or two with back in Liberty City was operating a drug ring out in San Andreas in the arid Blaine County area got ahold of you with a proposition. The Fakes Syndicate was making their lives a living hell and they needed some help to get rid of the competition. They’d given you an upfront payment of $25,000 to take out an individual who was working with the FakeChop crew. You were only given a first name and a list of places he was known to frequent from time to time, along with a promise of an additional $25,000 when he had been taken care of.

Apparently, this Asher was the one who found out all of the Lost MC’s contacts and had gone out of his way to sabotage a large number of deals that they had set up. The Lost didn’t care how you did it, they just wanted the job done.

You had been in Los Santos county for a few days, trying to locate your target and find his patterns. It had taken some time but you’d managed to find where he lived and decided to make your move. Normally, you were methodical when it came to commiting your hits. You’d plan everything down to the very last detail to avoid suspicion and detection. However, the longer it took for you to find Asher the more often you’d receive calls from the leaders of The Lost on your burner phone demanding you to hurry up or there’d be hell to pay.

Honestly, you knew for a fact that a group of poorly organized, drugged up bikers wouldn’t really be much of a challenge for you, but you needed the rest of the money and were beginning to feel more than a little anxious the more time that you took. From where you sat in the front seat of a car you’d acquired a few days past, you could see the lights in the apartment that you were watching turn on. You took a steadying breath and reached over to your passenger seat to grab your pistol. You turned the hardware over in your hands and made sure you had your suppressor attached as well as extra ammunition. You definitely didn’t plan on going through with the hit in his apartment considering that there was the possibility of neighbors and strangers either hearing or someone seeing you enter or leave the building. But, you knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

After taking a steadying breath, you opened the car door and slipped out into the cool night air, tucking your gun into the back of your waistband. You flipped your jacket out to cover your back and you started to make your way across the street. You walked casually as you ran over details in your head. From the intel that you’d gathered, this Asher guy was not the most skilled when it came to using weapons but he seemed to be decent at close combat. You subconsciously ran a hand over the front of your your jacket, the feeling of your knife tucked inside calmed you slightly.

You half-jogged up the steps leading to the correct floor and made a quick glance of the area, not spotting anyone around. Silently, you approached the door and made a swift test of the door. You’d often been surprised at how many people just didn’t lock their front doors, especially those who were involved in less than savory activities. At finding the door to be locked, you reached into the pocket of your jeans and pulled out a lock picking set. Over the years you’d grown quite efficient at using it and you knew that you would be able to pop the door open in a matter of moments.

However, just as you crouched down and inserted the torsion wrench into place, you heard the telltale click of a pistol before feeling the barrel press against the back of your head. You swallowed hard and slowly lifted your hands away from the door to hold them out at your side. Hopefully, this was just an over enthusiastic neighborhood watcher and you would be able to sweet talk your way out of this situation.

“Y’know, I honestly thought that the illusive merry murderess would be a little harder to catch in the act,” a voice spoke calmly from behind you.

You ducked your head down slightly to stare at the ground in front of you, silently cursing yourself. You’d gotten too antsy and didn’t secure the area, trusting only your quick scan. The barrel pressed harder against your skull and you felt whoever it was behind you reach under the back of your jacket to remove your gun from your person. You gritted your teeth and glared down at the stupid welcome mat that you were knelt on, trying to figure a way out of this scenario with your brains still firmly inside of your head.

Slowly, you lifted your head to stare straight at the door in front of you as you attempted to calculate just how fast you would have to move in order to not only grab your knife, but open it, turn, and embed it into the person behind you, before they ever pulled the trigger. However, no matter how sharp your reflexes were, there was no way you could move faster than a bullet coming from a gun pressed to your head.

You took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “Okay, look…”

“No, you don’t get to speak,” the man behind you said, “You do, however, get to come with me.”

Before you could process what it was he was saying, you felt the gun against your head move away and an arm wrap tightly around your neck. You gasped softly in surprise and both of your hands shot up to attempt to claw at the arm around your throat as it began to tighten. As your brain began to grow fuzzy and your vision started to darken around the edges, you tried to lower a hand down to the front of your jacket. Your fingers struggled and groped for the pocket on the inside and just as you felt then wrap around the cool metal of the knife handle, the man behind you yanked you backwards and your hand fell away just as your completely blacked out.

When you felt yourself coming to, the first sensation you were aware of was the dull throbbing inside of your head. Your face scrunched up as you tried to work through the blackness in your memory. Inhaling slowly, you attempted to move your body from the strange uncomfort you felt settling into your joints but found yourself to be bound to the chair you were sat in. With a low groan, you peeled open your eyes to see that you were in a dimly lit open room. You sighed and squinted as you tried to take in your surroundings.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” a voice from your right said.

Your head snapped in the direction of the voice and could only vaguely make out the shape of a person in the shadows. “Where am I?” you asked, voice low and slightly rough. The person in the shadows chuckled lowly and you heard the soft click of a knife opening, the sound of which set your heart rate into overdrive. “You’re in the Slaughterhouse,” the voice said, and you recognized it as the voice from the man who had come up behind you outside of Asher’s apartment.

In your head, you ran through every piece of information you had about the Fakes until you realized what was happening. The Slaughterhouse was what FakeChop called their base of operations, it was where they ran through their plans and oftentimes took care of business. You swallowed hard and tried to squint through the dark at the figure. “How long am I staying in the Slaughterhouse?” you asked, pulling at the restraints around your wrists. You knew full well that more often than not, people who visit the Slaughterhouse did not leave in one piece.

There is another chuckle, “That’s not entirely up to me.”

“Who exactly is it up to, then?” you asked with a slight grunt, pulling on your other restraints.

You watched as the figure seemed to stand up from a chair and walk around you. As he moved you could catch glimpses of him other than the darkness but he was quick to move away again out of sight. “My associates can’t quite seem to come to a consensus on what to do with you,” he drawled, circling around you, “So, we’re waiting for them to finish deliberating.”

“So, you’re on babysitting duty,” you asked with a slight smirk.

There was a slightly disgruntled noise from the darkness and you chuckled lowly. You’d learned after a certain amount of time of being in your line of work that you could more often than not talk your way out of a situation. You tried not to make it a habit of being captured but in the few instances that you couldn’t help it, you had managed to distract your captors enough to find a way out.

Finally, the man from the shadows stepped forward into the dark. He had platinum blonde hair and wore a pair of black Ray Bans on his face. As you watched him walk closer, you narrowed your eyes at him in a studious sort of way. Something about this man was oddly familiar but you for the life of you, you couldn’t place why or how. “I appreciate your attempt to rile me up,” he said with a slight laugh, “It’ll make this whole waiting period more interesting.”

He pulled a chair closer and turned it around in front of you before straddling himself over it, laying his arms over the back of the chair. He stared in your general direction, but you were unsure if he was looking at you due to the dark lenses obscuring his eyes. “So, who sent you after Asher?” he asked, head tilting slightly to the side. You raised both of your eyebrows at him and smirked just little back at him.

“You can’t honestly think that I’d tell you that,” you shot back.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Worth a shot.”

Staring back at him, you tilted your head as you narrowed your eyes at him once more. There was something about the way that he carried himself and spoke that definitely struck you as familiar and it was beginning to nag at the back of your brain now that he was closer to you. “How much did they pay you?” he asked, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and beat the bottom of the pack against the heel of his hand before opening it to pull one out. He stuck the cigarette between his lips and, in a flash, pulled out a lighter to hold the flame to the end of it.

“Enough,” was your only answer.

He breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled a breath of smoke into your face. Your nose scrunched up as the smoke hit you directly but you made no other sign of discomfort, which just made him smile and raise a single eyebrow over the top of his sunglasses. He leaned back slightly in his chair and slid the leather jacket that he was wearing off of his shoulders. Underneath he wore a white baseball shirt with black sleeves ending at just about the middle of his forearms.

It was then that everything seemed to click in your head.

On his right arm you could see brightly colored tattoos and from where you were seated you could see an all too familiar design featuring satellites and stars in space. Your eyes snapped up from his arm to his face and you assumed that he must have seen the shock present on your face because he was slowly raising his sunglasses to rest on the top of his head. That was when you were met with a pair of all too familiar brown eyes.

“Aleks?” you breathed, “Aleks Marchant?”

It was his turn to look surprised. He seemed to be taken aback and leaned further from you in his chair, watching you with suspicious eyes. There was a long stretch of silence as he continued to stare at you until, finally, a look of recognition broke out across his face. “Holy shit… Y/N?” he questioned, dropping his cigarette to the ground in disbelief.

Your head suddenly swam with memories of your first crew; a group of misfits who had gotten too big, too fast and quickly found themselves in over their heads. You remembered car chases, explosions, and gun fights all with Aleks by your side. The two of you had been younger then, not as jaded. You recalled laughing with your hand out the window of a speeding car that Aleks was driving, raining bullets down on those attempting to follow. Most of all, you remembered the nights after a successful heist, wrapped up with Aleks in his bed.

Two members of your crew got taken into custody after a mishap with a deal and they were quick to sing when the cops pressured them. Everyone else had to scatter fast in order to avoid being taken in as well. That night was the last you had seen Aleks, both of you meeting in a dark alley, cars packed haphazardly, and kissing goodbye with whispered promises. The last you had heard, Aleks had made his way out to Colorado and joined up with another crew there. That was the last bit of information you’d heard on his whereabouts and that was quite a few years ago.

The air suddenly felt thick and you struggled to collect your thoughts to keep yourself in the present. You hadn’t ever imagined you would see Aleks again, but here you were in a less than ideal situation face to face with a ghost from your past.

Before either of you could formulate a word, two men came around the corner with hard expressions on their faces. The first, a man with a baseball cap on and looked to be very well built, came to a stop beside Aleks. “Has she talked?” he asked in a low voice.

The question seemed to catch Aleks off guard as his only response was to mutter, “what?”

“Aleksandr,” another man scolded as he approached, “has she said anything?”

The presence of the second man seemed to jar Aleks from his thoughts, and he quickly pushed himself up from his chair. He removed his sunglasses from their spot on top of his head and ran his finger through his hair. “No, but-“ he started to say but he was promptly cut off by the first man pulling out a gun and aiming it between your eyes.

Aleks inhaled sharply and held his hands out as he got to his feet, “Brett, man, wait…”

“Wait for what?” Brett scoffed, cocking the gun, “She was sent to kill Asher and we all know her reputation. She’s the goddamn Merry Murderess, Aleks.”

“No, she’s not. I mean, she is but that’s not all. Put the gun away, dude,” Aleks all but pleaded, eyes wide.

The second man placed a hand on Aleks’ shoulder to draw his attention. “What are you talking about, Aleks? You’re not making any fucking sense,” he said, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner. Aleks sighed and shook his head as he carded his fingers through his hair. He dropped his sunglasses to the chair in front of him and stared back at you.

“James, man. She’s… she’s Y/N,” he said softly.

While the revelation seemed to make sense to James and he looked back at you nearly flabbergasted, Brett only made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Aleks? What does it matter what her damn name is? She was going to kill Asher,” he grunted, gesturing at you with his gun. Aleks ignored Brett’s questions and rounded the chair in front of him to step in front of you and crouch down to your level. He locked eyes with you and for a moment it was as if you were both eighteen and fresh faced again.

“If we let you go, we’ll help you get out of your contract and you can join our crew. We can protect you,” he offered in a single breath.

From behind him, both Brett and James made very disgruntled noises in protest to his words. You let out a soft sigh and slowly shook your head as you blinked back at Aleks. “It’s not that easy, and you know it. For how much money that they’ve already paid me, it’s not a simple get out of a contract,” you said with a low, humorless chuckle, “It’s more of a kill or be killed thing at this point.”

“So we kill them, whoever the fuck they are. You act like that’s something we’ve never done before,” he argued, his expression growing slightly more deranged.

Brett’s grunt from behind him finally seemed to catch Aleks’ attention and he looked over his shoulder at the man to his right. “Aleks, what the actual fuck is going on? You can’t just offer to let go the fucking assassin who was hired to fucking murder Asher,” he said through gritted teeth. His hand tightened around the grip of the pistol in his hand and for a moment you were a little worried he would just pull the trigger to lose a bullet in your skull. Aleks very nearly snarled and stood up to his full height before turning around to fully face Brett.

“Look… we can kill her but we know they’ll find someone else to do the job, or we can use her to help us get rid of the assholes who put a hit on Asher,” Aleks explained, shrugging slightly.

James shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck with a hand, “Aleks, dude, just tell him who she is.”

“Someone better fucking tell me something,” Brett said, his voice raising slightly with each word.

You let out a huff of a breath and tugged uselessly against your binds. “Look… Aleks and I used to run together in a crew back when we were kids on the East Coast. We were… together for a while,” you started, quickly glancing at Aleks before looking back at Brett, “Some shit went down and everyone pretty much fled to their own corners of the Earth. Hell, I haven’t seen him since the night we all ran off. Last I knew, he was in Colorado. But here we are, together again after I took a job to take care of one of your guys.”

There was an uncomfortable silence that settled over the four of you as Brett took in all that your had to say. After a few moments, he slowly lowered his gun and you could feel the tension that you didn’t know you that you were holding release from your shoulders. He locked eyes with you and for what felt like a goddamn lifetime, the two of you held one another’s gaze. “Untie her,” he muttered, motioning to James and then you.

Your eyes widened in surprise as James walked behind you and began cutting at the ropes the were holding you to your chair. Once your hands were free, you brought them in front of you and rubbed at the indents at your wrist to try and expedite the blood flow to your fingers. “Who sent you?” Brett asked, putting away his gun. You took a slow, deep breath and looked between Aleks and Brett before you shrugged a shoulder.

“The Lost MC,” you answered after a moment.

Brett cursed under his breath, “How much did they promise once the job was done?”

“Twenty-five,” you replied, licking your lips.

James finished cutting away at the ropes around your ankles and you let out a sigh of relief as you stretched your legs out in front of you. The telltale tingle of your appendages falling asleep ran up your legs from ankles to knees and you groaned lowly and you bent over to rub at the muscles there. When you looked up again, Aleks was holding out the gun that he had taken from you with an all too familiar smirk tugging at his lips.

“Let’s go get you your money.”

You took in gun in hand and quickly checked it over to make sure that it was in the same condition it was when Aleks had lifted it off of you. When everything checked out, you got to your feet and winced slightly as all of the blood began flowing once again. You looked up and locked eyes with Aleks who was watching you with a slight smirk ghosting over his features. Cocking a single eyebrow at him, you put your gun back in the waist of your pants.

“This is going to be more than a pistol job, dude,” you said, shaking your head, “There’s gonna be a whole lot of guys out there.”

Aleks smirked and slid his sunglasses back onto his face, “Oh, I’ve got you covered.”

He turned around and motioned for you to follow him but made no attempt to look behind to make sure that you were. You glanced at both Brett and James before hurrying off after Aleks who was leading you to a ladder on an inside wall which lead to the top of a small area. He climbed up without a word and you simply followed behind him, knowing it was easier to not question him. He made his way over to a few sizable trunks along a wall and knelt down to pull one of them open.

As you approached, you had to take in a breath of surprise. Within the trunk you could see quite a few grenades, explosives, and, other means of destruction. You crouched down next to Aleks and glanced over at him, letting out a low chuckle. “Still a pyro, I see,” you said, clearly amused. Aleks gave you a look and shook his head slightly as he began to pull out different explosives to stow into a bag he grabbed from beside the trunk.

“As impressed as I am with your collection here, I don’t know if just blowing the place the hell would be the most practical course of action,” you offered to him with a low chuckle.

Aleks only rolled his eyes and closed the trunk. He stood upright and shouldered the bag as he started to make his way back to the ladder. “I’ve got that taken care of too,” he answered as he turned and began to climb down. You followed behind him and found him back on the ground slipping into a room to your left as your feet touched the concrete floor. You sighed and shook your head as you followed his path into the room but stopped almost immediately upon entering.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” you whispered in astonishment.

Every wall in the room held a such wide array of weaponry that made in next to impossible to even see the wall behind them all. You had been proud of your little collection of faithful pieces that you toted around with you but it only paled in comparison to this treasure trove. The sound of Aleks’ laugh was the only thing to draw you out of your stupor. You blinked a few times and shook your head to clear away the fog before looking to the center of the room where Aleks was standing.

“What’s the plan?” Aleks held his arms out to gesture around the room, “Do we go into their compound guns blazing, taking out as many as we can, or do we try and be discrete?”

You raised a single eyebrow, “Aleks, since when has discrete ever been our style?”

His eyes crinkled around the edges and he let out a loud laugh as his left hand wrapped around his middle and his right hand went to his face. You started to slowly walk around the room to take a look at everything that was displayed, occasionally letting out impressed sounds as you passed certain guns. “Even if we don’t do this quietly, I don’t think just charging into the Lost’s base of operations would be the most prudent decision we’ve ever made,” you said, stopping to remove a special carbine rifle.

Aleks watched you carefully and raised his eyebrow curiously, “So, what do you want to do?”

“Get me something of Asher’s,” you said absently, turning the rifle over in your hands with a grin, “I’ll call them, tell them it’s done, and I want to meet for the exchange… then we fight our way out.”

Almost as quickly as he walked out of the room, Aleks walked back in carrying a jacket and a pair of sunglasses, which you almost didn’t notice as you were too busy pulling out some bulletproof vests. When you looked up at Aleks you couldn’t help but smile. Preparing for some stupid, incredibly reckless stunt brought back so many memories that you were beginning to feel giddy inside despite what it was you were getting ready to do.

You stood upright and chuckled as you took the items from Aleks, “Do you think Asher will mind if I shoot this full of holes?”

Out in the yard, Aleks was supposed to set up explosives around the perimeter to distract the other members of the Lost and scatter them so that the two of you could get to work. As you pulled up just outside of the rundown trailer park, you could only hope that Aleks could hold off on shooting anyone until you were out of the room with the money. You looked into your rearview mirror and saw Aleks’ car quite a bit back taking a turn onto a side path and disappearing from sight.

You glanced around your car to make sure you were ready. The rifle was in trunk along with some of the explosive that Aleks was so fond of, but you’d stashed a shotgun in the backseat as well an AP Pistol in the middle console. With a deep breath to steady yourself, you grabbed hold of Asher’s jacket and climbed out of the car. It seemed that almost instantaneously, every member of the Lost that was outside had their eyes on you.

With as much confidence as you could project, you walked through the compound and straight for Vinny’s trailer. You climbed up the few steps and raised a fist to bang loudly against the door. “Who the fuck is it?” a gruff voice called from within. You could only roll your eyes. How stupid could the guys be? You had called them to tell them that you were coming and they still insisted on being like this?

“I’m here for my money, numbnuts,” you shot back with a scoff.

There was a fair bit of rustling behind the door before it slowly opened the reveal one of the guys who had been there the last time you paid a visit. “Did you take care of him?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at you. You pursed your lips together and raised your eyebrows at him as you took a purposeful step forward. “Do I answer to you? Are you the one paying me?” you asked in a low voice.

The guard took a tentative step backwards but cleared his throat and shook his head before he opened the door all the way. “Vinny is in the back,” he said, grunting softly and motioning to a closed door. You smiled sweetly and reached up to pat him on the cheek as you passed by. “Thanks, darling,” you purred, walking off towards the door leading to Vinny’s office. Before you could even knock on the thin, plywood door, it flung open.

In front of you stood a man who was looking more than a little ragged and was covered in fading tattoos under his worn out leather. “Lovely to see you again, Vin, looking as meth-y as usual,” you greeted, strolling into the room. He let out a less than impressed grunt and closed the door behind you. You paused in the center of the room and looked around the see that other than Vinny there was only one other man in the room. Trying to hide your pleased grin, you cleared your throat and sat yourself down on a ratty plaid couch along the wall that was patched with duct tape and had accumulated an array of mysterious stains.

“You said you took care of our little problem,” Vinny said, walking over to sit himself down at a tarnished old metal desk.

Nodding, you tossed Asher’s destroyed jacket across the room to land on the desk. Carefully, Vinny lifted the garment up to inspect it. He ran his fingers over the bullet holes and the patches of dried blood, humming softly to himself. “What did you do with the little shit’s body?” he asked as he set the jacket down again.

“Now, Vin, you can’t expect me to tell you all my trade secrets,” you said with a slight chuckle.

Vinny only rolled his eyes at you and shook his head before he motioned for the other man to come closer, which he did so carrying a case along with him. You slowly licked your lips and got to your feet to make your way over to the desk as well. The second man opened it up and you grinned slightly at seeing the money sitting inside, your thoughts suddenly racing as you had to think of a way to get it and yourself out of that god forsaken trailer.

However, as you reached out for the case, the second man slammed it shut with his hand resting on the top of it. Your eyes shot up to see Vinny leaning back in his chair with a nonchalant smirk on his face. “What’s going on, Vin?” you asked, agitation slipping into your tone. Vinny only chuckled and folded his hands behind his head as he propped his feet up on the desk.

“I have another proposition for you,” he said, shrugging a shoulder, “Another job to take care of one of these other Fake assholes.”

You shook your head and ground your teeth slightly, “No can do, Vinny Boy. You said Asher, I killed him. I want my money and I’m going home.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong… Either you do this job or your body gets found next week floating down from the Alamo Sea to the ocean,” he said, sniggering to himself.

It was in that moment you were ready to just get out, and you saw your opening. In a flash, you reached into the inside pocket of your jacket to pull out your knife; you quickly opened the knife and leaped forward to jam the blade through the guard's hand, pinning it to the case. He let out a shocked scream but before either him or Vinny could comprehend what was happening, you reached behind you to pull out your gun and promptly fired a shot through the guy’s head.

As he fell limp to the floor, you ripped your knife free and turned the gun on Vinny. His feet fell from the desk and he looked as if he was going to reach for something so, you cocked the gun and raised a brow at him. “Try it,” you urged with a smirk of your own, “Move a muscle and see how fast this bullet splits your head like a goddamn melon.”

When Vinny stayed in his seat, you let out a low chuckle and returned your knife to your pocket before grabbing hold of the handle of the case sitting on his desk. “Here’s the thing, Vin. You don’t fuck with me, and you don’t fuck with my people,” you threatened, taking a few steps back towards the door. Vinny’s face crumpled in confusion and he leaned slightly further forward. “Your people?” he questioned.

You smirked and shrugged a shoulder, “FakeChop sends their regards.”

Before he could say or do anything else, you pulled the trigger and you watched as the blood splatter from his head hit the wall behind him. You turned and ripped open the door to fire three shots at the other man in the trailer, each of them nailing him in the chest. You stepped over his body and threw open the front door to the trailer. In almost that same instant, a series of loud explosions went off, encircling the compound in fire and smoke.

There were shouts and screams followed by the sound of gunfire ringing out. You made quick work of popping a few shots off at those around you before booking it out to your car where you threw open the trunk, dropped the money, and picked up your rifle. Quickly, you made your way to the back door and pulled out your shotgun to sling it over your shoulder. You crouched down and peered around the car to take in the scene around you. You could hear and see more explosions going off followed by the faint sound of Aleks’ laughter and shouts. “Some things never change,” you murmured to yourself as you began to move back into the compound.

You worked quickly and efficiently to make your way around the area and take care of anyone who was in your path. By the time you were sure that you had cleared the yard, you ran into Aleks who was looking a little manic but also like he was having the time of his life. You let out a breathless laugh as he ran up to you with a wild look in his eye. “Just like old time,” he breathed out a laugh. You could only nod your head as your chest heaved with each breath that you took.

“Just like old times.”

Before you were able to even process what was happening, Aleks stepped closer and slipped an arm around your waist to pull you flush against him. As you gasped at the sudden change of position, he ducked his head down to crush his lips against your own. Your eyes slipped shut on their own accord and your free hand found its way to the back of his head to hold him there, your fingers gripping into his hair.

It had been years since you’d thought about kissing Aleks like this, and even longer since you’d been able to, and the feeling of his lips working against your own made your head swim and your heart pound so harshly you were sure that you could hear it in your ears. You lungs burned with a need for air so you very reluctantly pulled away and stared at him with blown out eyes. He chuckled and cast one last look around the compound before looking down at you with a smirk.

“Race you to the warehouse.”

And just like that, he was off again. You watched as he ran through the smoldering chaos that the two of you had created and for just a moment it was as if you were eighteen again, free and reckless and falling for the boy who made your emotions burn hotter than the fires he so gleefully set. As his figure shrank in size while he hurried off to where he had parked his car, you snapped yourself out of your daze and decided to make one more pitstop before heading back to your car.

You found the trailer where Vinny’s office was and made your way inside and to the back room where the office was. You had figured that if Vinny was going to make that offer, he had to have something else to give to you. Sure, he was a slimy asshole but he was an okay businessman. You stepped over the body of the guard by the desk and eased the chair where Vinny’s body was back away from the desk so that you could rummage through the drawers.

In the very bottom drawer, you came across a case very similar to the one that was currently stashed in the trunk of your car. You pulled it out and set it on the table, and when you opened it you couldn’t help but let out a delighted giggle. It looked to be significantly more money then the contract you had with them, but you didn’t want to waste time in a near warzone counting money when you knew the cops had to be on their way.

Quickly, you closed the case and all but ran from the trailer to your car. Before actually getting into the car, you peeled off your shirt and swiftly removed the lightweight body armor you wore underneath, leaving you in just your undershirt. You tossed the case into the passenger seat and dumped your rifle and shotgun into the back before hopping in and turning the car on. You peeled out of the area and sped away through the dusty back roads to begin the long ride back into the city and to the Slaughterhouse. You rolled down your window and stuck your left arm out to feel the wind and for a moment you felt this pure sense of euphoria. Was it from the adrenaline of the shootout that just happened, or from the way Aleks’ lips felt against your again? You weren’t sure but at this point you didn’t want to question it.

It was dark by the time that you got back to the Slaughterhouse and Aleks was already there waiting for you. He was out of his car, leaning against the back of it with his arms folded over his chest. As you pulled in, you watched him carefully and took the time to really watch him for the first time. He had grown up a lot since you both left the East Coast. Aleks carried himself with more confidence than you’d ever seen him with and he was almost like a completely different person; except for the look in his eyes.

You turned off your car and slipped out of your seat, your eyes never leaving Aleks. The glow of the city lights cast shadows across his face and when he looked up as you approached you felt as if your breath was being sucked from you. His eyes were dark and warm but hinted at a playfulness that lied deep within that you had grown to know and love when you were younger. “Still alive,” Aleks grinned, pushing himself off of the car.

You nodded your head and chuckled, “Still alive.”

There was a deep pull within you all of a sudden that you could not explain. It was as if both you and Aleks had two powerful magnets sitting in your chests and you were almost drawn into one another by some unseen force. Both of Aleks’ hands took up residence at your hips while your own hands found their way to grasp at the sides of his neck. Within your chest, you could feel your heart begin an assault against your rib cage that was starting to border on almost painful. Your eyes slowly slipped shut and reopened to focus upon Aleks’ face.

The corner of his lips twitched up with the hint of a grin and you were sure for a fraction of a second that your knees were starting to feel weak. Your thoughts were suddenly flooded with everything that was pure, distilled Aleks; the way his hands held onto you like the had so many times before, the deliberate open-close-open of his eyes as he maintained contact with yours, the way he smelled of sweat, gunpowder, and smoke that was just barely hidden under a veil of his cologne.

His face bent down into yours almost as if in slow motion, like a dream, blurred, and then disappeared as you felt his hot mouth close over yours. Those lips met yours and your world exploded into shards of molten light. His grip tightened at your hips, pulling you into him, pressing himself into you. Your hungry mouth melded into his, situation that led to this moment completely forgotten. The tip of his tongue brushed your lips, insisted, and you opened to let him in, welcomed the urgent thrusting that sent a wildfire of searing flames racing through your body.

The streets of Los Santos which had kept you awake most nights since you arrived were blissfully quiet to your ears. Your fingertips danced up the sides of Aleks’ neck until they came into contact with the hair at the back of his head, as you let out an unintentional moan into Aleks’ mouth, your fingers threaded into his hair and tugged sharply in an all too familiar way. You felt more so than heard Aleks’ gasp before his hands gripped tighter to the point you were sure there would be some sort of bruise or mark left behind come morning light.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

As Aleks pulled you just that much closer and your arms slid back in order to loop around his neck, you felt his fingers just barely brush over the hint of skin that must have been revealed by your shirt riding up as you stretched to kiss him. Normally, the touch of skin against skin would send a shiver rippling down your spine and set a low fire within you; however, a sudden jolt of pain shot through your entire body and you had to pull away with a near yelp. Aleks stared down at you with confusion etched onto his face, an expression that quickly melted away to concern. His hands lifted away from your body and hovered an inch or so away from you as if he were afraid he would cause you more harm if he were to touch you anymore.

“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked in a rush.

Your face crumpled and you looked down at yourself as you felt your side begin to throb ever so slightly. Gingerly, you reached down to grab hold of the hem of your shirt and that was when you noticed that it was warm and sticky with blood. You very carefully lifted the edge of your shirt up to see what looked to be a rather large laceration running just above your hip from front to back, almost as if it were a shallow trench. At catching sight of the wound, suddenly everything felt much more vivid, fresh, and painful.

Aleks stared down at you and let out a shaky breath, “What the fuck?”

“I guess that I must have gotten hit earlier,” you mumbled, feeling unexpectedly dizzy, “I must not have felt it while everything was happening.”

He watched you carefully and you felt your knees go a little wobbly. Despite your chosen career path, the one thing you couldn’t stand was the sight of your own blood. Aleks cursed softly under his breath and promptly scooped you up into his arms to carry you into the actual warehouse. Aleks huffed loudly as he struggled to get the door open, muttering mostly to himself under his breath as he finally managed to get the damn thing to swing open.

“Lindsey!” he called out into the open area, “Where the fuck are you?”

From somewhere within the warehouse you could hear clattering and muttered swears followed by the sound of shoes slapping against the concrete. You turned your head to the side to see a woman you’d never seen before rushing over to the two of you, looking a perfect mix of frazzled and annoyed. “What is it, Aleks? If you cut your hand building bombs again I’m going to- Whoa, who is that?” she asked, cutting herself off at the sight of you in Aleks’ arms.

Aleks shifted you slightly and grunted, “Y/N… she’s, well… that’s not important right now. We were up north and had an altercation with the Lost. She got hit and she’s got a pretty nasty wound on her hip.”

He turned to the side so that she could see the barest hint of the wound on your side under the hem of your blood soaked shirt. Lindsey hissed softly through her teeth and stepped closer, making eye contact with you as she reached for your shirt. “I’m gonna take a look, alright?” she asked softly. You swallowed hard and nodded your head. She carefully eased the garment up away from the area, letting out a rushed breath of air. “Well, that looks pretty nasty,” she murmured, looking up at you, “You’re gonna need stitches. Aleks, take her over to the table.”

Without another word, Aleks walked across the warehouse to a small curtained off area that, once inside, looked to be some sort of makeshift medbay. He brought you to the exam table and gingerly laid you down on the side that was not injured. Lindsey was right behind the both of you and went right to work pulling out all of the necessary instruments she would need. Aleks must have sensed your nerves, and he pulled up a stool to sit beside you.

“Remember the first time you had to get stitches? That guy wouldn’t pay up and he grabbed a broken bottle and got you right in the arm,” he laughed, casually reaching out for your hand.

You rolled your eyes and outstretched an arm to show the jagged almost circular scar near your elbow, “I have a permanent reminder of the first time you tried to threaten someone, and the aftermath when it didn’t work.”

Aleks scoffed and playfully reached out to pinch just above your scar. You laughed softly and swatted at his hand before turning your attention back to Lindsey. She had pulled out a syringe, a needle and thread, and some bandages as well. She must have noticed you looking and gave you a sympathetic sort of smile. “I’m gonna clean it up a bit to make sure there’s no debris or bullet fragments in there and get to work, alright?” she asked, pushing your shirt back up.

You only nodded your head and tried to relax as she grabbed a water bottle and some wipes. The cleaning wasn’t the most painful thing you’d ever experienced, obviously, but the sudden feeling of the cold water rushing over your open wound was a shock and you hissed through your teeth at the feeling. Lindsey was quick, however, and once she deemed the area to be clean she grabbed the syringe.

Aleks looked at her with a confused expression, “What’s that?”

“Lidocaine,” Lindsey answered as she carefully inserted the needle to your skin near the wound, “To numb the area.

“Oh, you bitch. Every time you stitch me up or some shit you give me a shot of whiskey and tell me to stop being such a fucking baby,” he protested, dropping your hand.

Lindsey snickered softly under her breath as she picked up the needle and thread to begin closing the laceration on your side. “Well, if you weren’t such a baby about it, I’d stop doing it,” she said with a grin. You laughed softly to yourself, but tried to keep yourself as still as possible, and glanced over at Aleks with a smirk tugging at the corner of your lips. “You can be a bit of a baby,” you agreed.

Aleks huffed loudly and slumped slightly in his stool, crossing his arms over his chest.  You cooed softly and used your outstretched hand to gently squeeze at his knee. “Aleksandr,” you murmured, smiling up at him and batting your eyes, “You can’t be mad at me.” He rolled his eyes and for a moment seemed as if he were going to hold steady but his resolve very quickly melted away as he took your hand in his own once again.

“I can be mad at her though,” he muttered almost petulantly.

Lindsey scoffed but didn’t look up from where she was working, “Be mad all you want; you’re still a baby.”

You gave Aleks’ hand a squeeze before lacing your fingers together, making him glance down at you and smile. Lindsey, from where she was, glanced up at the both of you momentarily. “So, what’s the deal with the two of you?” she asked, looking back down with a sigh. Before you could answer, Aleks straightened up in his seat. “Y/N is new to FakeChop,” he answered, give you a grin, “And we used to know each other.”

“In another lifetime,” you said, chuckling softly.

Aleks nodded, “We were kids together in a crew back home… We lost touch and just now ran into each other.”

“After the Lost hired me to kill Asher,” you explained with a grin, “Which I totally didn’t do, by the way.”

Lindsey paused for a moment and took a small step backwards to look you over. There was a brief second of confusion before her look gave way to realization. “Holy- Holy shit! You’re the Merry Murderess,” she exclaimed loudly. You fondly rolled your eyes and shrugged the shoulder you were not lying on. You both loved and hated that nickname and at this point you weren’t entirely sure how it came to be yours, but if your reputation precedes you, you weren’t going to complain.

“I’m stitching up the Merry Murderess,” Lindsey murmured as she went back to what she was doing.

You honestly couldn’t help but laugh softly at her reaction, though it wasn’t entirely an uncommon one. However, usually people who figured out who you were didn’t get to revel in the information for too long. After a short time more, Lindsey took a step back and pulled off her gloves. “You’re gonna want to keep it dry for a day or two and then you can wash carefully around them… dab it dry with a paper towel and re-apply a bandage,” she instructed as she began to clean up the area, “They should dissolve but if there’s any issue let me know.”

Slowly, you nodded your head and pushed yourself up to sit on the table, your legs dangling over the side.”Thank you, Lindsey,” you said softly. A flash of black in your vision caught your attention and you looked over to see Aleks holding out a jacket in his hand. “Here, take that shirt off and put this on. You don’t need your dried blood all over that shit,” he said. You nodded your head and very carefully removed your shirt, before pulling on Aleks’ hooded jacket. You breathed in deeply and the garment smelled of Old Spice and whatever cologne he had been using as of late.

You let out a soft sigh and looked over at Aleks with a grateful smile, which he returned. Slowly, Aleks got to his feet and helped to ease you off of the table. “C’mon, I know you’ve got to be staying in some seedy motel… I’ll take you back to my place so you can rest,” he offered, holding a hand out for you. You looked at his hand and then back up to his face and you couldn’t help the smile that tugged at your lips.