How Am I Supposed to Live Without the Ones I Love?
Fem!Boss x Kinzie Kensington, mentions of Oleg x Kinzie, Viola x Fem!Boss
Rating: T (Language, angst, mild violence)
Spoilers: Saints Row IV
Summary: Kinzie tried warning the Boss and the Saints about the imminent alien invasion but it's too late; they've paid the ultimate price.
Cyrus Temple; he had indeed proven himself to be a worthy adversary during his time in Steelport. Initiating a special tactical force unit against the Third Street Saints was an absolutely terrible idea to begin with but underestimating the boss and her crew while bringing the fight to them had been his worst mistake. The Saints had won that fateful afternoon and Cyrus had not only lost the battle but his best lieutenant in the process as well. The boss could see how one would lose their mind when fighting with the Saints. She had seen it in the eyes of her enemies far too many times and Kia taking it upon herself to taint the image of the Saints while attempting to kill off both Viola and Shaundi in the process? It wasn't any different to when Maero finally flipped his shit over the loss of Jessica and tried running over the boss with several monster trucks in that arena several years ago only to no avail. Or even when Shogo Akuji could no longer hold himself accountable for his countless failures and disrupted Aisha's funeral only to be buried alive by both the boss and Johnny Gat.
It didn't matter who it was that tried standing up to the Saints; the boss and her crew took care of business well and put out their enemies at the drop of a hat. Taking out Cyrus and dismantling that rocket in order to save the world was just another job well done.
The President had been reminiscing about the past in her office when she was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. She'd been silently looking over a wrinkled photo a minor Saint had taken of Shaundi, Pierce, Johnny, Aisha and the Boss making a mess of things in Johnny and Aisha's home, celebrating the downfall of the Brotherhood before they were faced with the threat of the Ronin. Alexis quickly hid the journal she had been writing her memoir in and shouted, "It's open!" Her voice had been shaky but she cleared her throat in order to maintain her composure in front of her frazzled Press Secretary. "Kinzie, you look a little disturbed. Well, no more than usual when you're forced to socialize with people but what's up? Did Oleg not respond to any of your sext messaging by sending you the picture of his giant penis that you demanded to see?" The President teased, enjoying the mortified look on Kinzie's face. The former FBI Agent hesitated before responding. "T-that's none of your business, lady! There are more important matters to discuss. Look, I'm not going to hold back anything that I have to say right now no matter how insane it sounds but all that I ask of you is to listen. I believe we're under going to be faced with an alien invasion sometime soon and we need to start preparing for imminent doom right now!" Kinzie disclosed this alarmingly insane sounding information under one breath and almost with a calm certainty.
The President was baffled by what Kinzie was trying to tell her. She reacted the only way she knew how to when it came to having these types of conversations with the brilliant genius standing before her; she laughed. Alexis ran her fingers through her wavy blond curls before she looked up at her press secretary and offered the younger woman a small smile. "Kinzie, that's so typically strange of you to say. An alien invasion? How am I supposed to believe that when I haven't even seen one piece of evidence that suggests Area 51 exists?" The President continued to laugh until she had seen the genuine hurt look written on Kinzie's face. It was so unfamiliar and it actually made the boss feel uneasy around the seemingly harmless member of her cabinet. The punch to the face was unexpected and it hurt a lot.
"You know…of all the people I've ever looked up to in the Saints, I expected a much more reasonable reaction to this kind of news from you. The Earth is under immediate threat and you laugh in the face of the one person who is more than capable of saving humanity. I thought you matured after being elected President of the United fuckin' States but of course I'm wrong. Maybe I'll take this information to Shaundi and MI6 so something can be done in order to prevent worldwide catastrophe"
With that said, Kinzie stormed out of the Boss' office and Alexis was left massaging her jaw, tending to her wounds in awkward silence. "Well, that was a bit of an overreaction. How is anybody supposed to take her seriously when she says shit like that?" Alexis asked herself as she observed her reflection in a nearby mirror. Damn, Kinzie could pack a punch because that shit was already starting to bruise. She figures she'll let this one go and allow Kinzie to come up with a sincere apology before issuing corrective action. It's not like ignoring the "imminent threat of alien invasion" would conjure up severe consequences anyway since aliens do not exist. What's the worst that could happen?
Alexis was distracted from her train of thought when she received a phone call from none other than former Syndicate member, Viola DeWynter, who had recently been made Head of the Federal Reserve. "Well if it isn't the Bloody Canoness calling upon the President of the United States. What can I do for you today?" The boss greeted in a teasing manner. Viola sighed with exaggerated exasperation. "You're never going to let me live that one incident down, will you? You're so childish." The newly appointed Head of the Federal Reserves stated matter-of-factly. Alexis rolled her eyes and began playing with the ends of her curls, wishing so badly that it could be Viola playing with her hair. "That may be true but you still love me anyway. When are you coming back to the White Crib? I miss you. I started cuddling that rocket launcher you bought me for my birthday because it's so lonely in my bed." The President whined, knowing fully well that this conversation was being recorded and could be leaked at anytime. If Kinzie and Keith David weren't running the show when she wasn't off being her reckless self, somebody probably would have impeached Alexis a long time ago.
Viola chuckled. "God, I bet you sleep with it armed and ready to misfire. You better get rid of that thing by tomorrow evening because you know me; I'm not too fond of sharing anything that belongs to me. You heard right, boss, I'm coming home tomorrow. I can hardly wait." She replied in a husky tone that sent shivers down the President's spine. Alexis smirked. To this day, she couldn't believe that Viola was her girlfriend. Hell, she couldn't believe Kinzie and Oleg were a thing because the mechanics of sex between those two legit terrified Alexis. She's not sure when it happened but there was definitely a change in their relationship the day she saved her and Shaundi from that STAG menace several years ago. Viola looked at her differently and even spoke to her differently and while it threw the boss off guard, it was rather refreshing. They began working together more and seeing each other outside of assignments that were given to them from the government (STAG was a bigger threat to the United States than they ever were, look at what great lengths Cyrus had gone to in order to rid of the Saints). The boss found herself slowly getting over her tiny and insignificant crush on Kinzie when Viola came in and hogged her attention. One evening, they were having drinks back at their old headquarters when the boss finally brought up the subject of Kiki and apologized for her death, even though she personally nothing to do with it. Viola aggressively reached over and grabbed the boss by the hair, pulling her in for a rather passionate kiss that lasted for what felt like a lifetime. When it was over, the tension in the air was so thick and heavy but it wasn't awkward. It felt right and from then on, things progressed.
"Mmm I love it when you get all possessive. Punish me for my decadent ways, Ms. DeWynter. Listen, there's something I've got to address tonight with the Saints and I'm sure it's just Kinzie being paranoid but I'd like to clear the air so she doesn't feel bad. I love you. I can't wait to see you tomorrow." They both exchanged their goodbyes for the last time though Alexis had no idea of what was to come the very next day. Had she known that she was going to be separated from Viola…well, her last goodbye would have been more meaningful.
It was gone; everything the Saints had ever known was gone. Earth had just been destroyed. Seven billion people died because the leader of a superior alien race known as the Zin could not stand being defied by someone who could not be broken. What an arrogant piece of shit. He was going to pay for the virtual and psychological hell he was putting the Saints through. Those people did not deserve to die. Their friends and loved ones were gone for good. Oleg, Josh Birk, Burt Reynolds, the Saints, and Viola; they were dead in a matter of seconds. The boss felt as though her heart had just been struck by lightning at the thought of Viola who had been on her way to Washington to reunite with her. She was dead. That motherfucker Zinyak killed the best thing that's ever happened to her since befriending Johnny Gat and he was going to pay for it. She wasn't the only one who seemed to be suffering from the unbearable loss of their beloved home planet. It was hard on everyone, and being put through these unstable simulations that caused them to relive their worst nightmares over and over again only made things that much more difficult.
The boss was doing everything she could to reunite the Saints, even risking her own life for MI6 agents Matt Miller and Asha Oadekar. She would die for them as they would for her but she would never ever put them in situations where they couldn't be saved, not again. She couldn't afford to lose her best lieutenants, or as she prefers to call them, her family. Zinyak was doing everything he could do to place the blame the President for the loss of seven billion lives but who would ever want to submit to a pathetic narcissist trying to assert his dominance by taking over several different worlds in the universe? Alexis wasn't going to submit to anyone and she was going to take that fucker down with Kinzie's help.
Oh god, Kinzie.
She was grieving the loss of Earth in a different manner, immediately putting aside her own feelings in order to assist the boss with the destruction of their simulated prison. She knew Kinzie was hurting bad, especially since she lost Oleg, the one person that truly ever understood the former FBI Agent. It wasn't hard to see that she missed him. Whenever the boss wasn't in the simulation, she walked around the ship interacting with her lieutenants and every time she walked towards Kinzie, she'd find the younger woman staring blankly at her screen as though she had been hypnotized. The red headed Saint would play with her necklace that Oleg had gifted her some time ago and it physically hurt the president seeing Kinzie in this state, so vulnerable and fragile. It was so unlike Kinzie to express any sympathy for the human race since she wasn't much of a people person but after losing someone you care about, it changes you. It feels like your heart just shattered and there's absolutely nothing you can do to repair it and that's exactly what Kinzie was going through. Her other half had completely disintegrated in the destruction of their home planet and the boss could plainly see that she was trying so very hard to stay strong.
"You know, Kinzie, nobody would judge you for shedding a tear every now and then. We lost our home and the ones we love are no longer with us. You can't keep bottling up your emotions. They're only going to come out at the worst possible time in the worst possible way." The boss offered gently, slightly backing up towards the wall a little when the red headed genius snapped at her with a ferocious glare. "That's easy for you to say since all your feelings come out in the form of murder and mayhem! I'm not like you. Oleg was special to me and he deserves a proper memorial service, as with Viola and the rest of our friends." Kinzie replied through gritted teeth. This was clearly not an appropriate topic to talk about with Kinzie but the Boss had to press on. She needed Kinzie to be strong. In order for her to achieve this, she had to push her genius friend over the edge.
"Revenge, murder and mayhem are all I'll ever know in my life. Who I was before joining the Saints was just an empty vessel conforming to the standards of modern society. I feel things too, Kinzie. It was hard for me to go on when I thought I lost my best friend but I did what I had to in order to stay strong for my crew. The Saints need a leader who doesn't wear their heart on their sleeve so just because you don't see me losing my shit, it doesn't mean I'm heartless and incapable of feeling. So cut the crap and let it out, Kinzie, show me that you gave one shit about Oleg or Viola, whom you thought of as a sister!"
That apparently did the trick.
Kinzie shot up from where she had been comfortably sitting and aggressively shoved the boss against the wall, throwing out punches and cursing the slightly older woman. "You don't know a thing about the relationship I had with Oleg, you don't understand! How could you!?" She cried out, her voice quivering and the tears flowing freely now. The President took her punches in stride, knowing fully well that Kinzie needed this. The punches grew weaker before Kinzie finally gave up on attacking the boss. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed, stomping her foot in aggravation. The President had never seen her Press Secretary like this before and she figured the woman would want her privacy. After all, it wasn't very often that the two could share an intimate moment like this as their relationship had always been fine the way it was before. "Feels good, doesn't it? Look, I don't want you to feel embarrassed so I'll just step out. I'll get with you again before I enter the simulation." The boss proceeded to turn around and walk out the way she came in but she was stopped when she felt slim fingers wrap around her bicep and held her firmly in place.
"Please, don't leave me here all by myself. I-I don't know what I would do – what we would do without you. Just stay with me so I know you're real." Kinzie pleaded, the tragic look in her eyes pulling the strings of the boss' heart. The President wasn't great at emotional support. She was the worst possible person to go to for comfort but without Viola or Oleg here to lend their shoulders for the girl to lean on, the boss sighed and stepped forward. Alexis awkwardly opened her arms and was nearly knocked over to the ground when Kinzie ran into her. The smaller girl wrapped her arms around the President's waist tightly and practically snuggled into her like a warm blanket. Alexis bit her lip nervously and gently patted on Kinzie's head before Kinzie reached up and grabbed her wrist, forcing the taller woman to return the hug. "I'm not a dog, you idiot. I know you're used to hugging Viola's face with your legs but this is a friendship hug." Kinzie informed the President, causing the older woman to laugh wholeheartedly at the comment.
"I uh wasn't aware that friendly hugging without the sex existed. On a more serious note, I wouldn't know what the Saints would do without you. We couldn't do this without you. The Saints have got your back, Kinzie; I've got your back." Alexis said with absolute sincerity. The President swore she could feel Kinzie smile through the fabric of her clothing as the smaller girl adjusted her position. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. The President wasn't sure of what was to come in the near future but all she knew was that she had to protect Kinzie Kensington at all costs, even if it meant losing her own life to protect her. If they were going to take down Zinyak, she needed her friends to be at their very best by overcoming their self doubts and insecurities. She could only hope that there was indeed a way she could take down Zinyak and his shitty empire.