A/N: Hi guys! One of these years, I'll stop waiting to post until the last few hours of the year! Don't count on that! This can either be a short little oneshot on my take of the events of Saint's Row The Third, or I can make it into a chaptered story on Saint's Row The Third. Lemme know what you guys think! The concept came from the Tumblr post of the same idea. And then I found that there's a movie on it called Timer. Check it out it's actually really good! Anyways enough blabbing, lemme know if I should make it a story or not! (Also, note: The Boss is the main character I frequently use, Fem!Boss with Female Voice 3. The blue anime hair is used, "love bites" and green/blue eyes.)
Saint's Soul
She always remembers the watch on her wrist, even before she knew she could remember. When she was younger, she saw the watch, felt the watch, knew it was there, but never really paid attention to it; everyone had it, so it must not make her any different from anyone else, right? Even her parents had it. Kindergarten taught her that it counted down until the exact time she met her soul mate, whatever that was. It wasn't until she was older, the border between elementary school and middle school, that she began to actually take notice of it, examining the time ticking down on it and comparing it to those who had become her friends; some had more time than hers, some less, but all counting down at the slow, steady pace. Her ten-year-old mind silently watched the '16y:64d:48h:09m' tick down, adding in her head to find the age she would be when…whatever happened. '26?' She sighed internally, giving her wrist one last glance before deciding to pretend it wasn't there until the day it stopped ticking.
It was the fifth grade year when she finally learned the meaning of it, how it came to be. Long ago, before her mother's mother's mother was born, a company called TiTinTech (often affectionately called Titty by herself and her peers) researched the soul, the body, and the mind, trying to connect one to the other. Several experiments later, millions of dollars gone, and more than a few bodies later, TiTinTech released the first 'Soul Watch' as it became to be known as, attaching it to one of the founding members, an unmarried, single man in his forties. It bonded with his nerves almost instantly, changing from '-y:-d:-h:-m' to '00y:05d:18h:01m' the second it sent the shock through his body. But he was alive, and exactly five days, eighteen hours, and one minute later, he bumped into the love of his life, meeting somewhere he never would have gone if his soul hadn't pulled him in that direction. His counter remained a sharp '0' the rest of his life, even after he was dead and gone, a few months after his wife.
No one truly understood how the Soul Watch worked, the science behind it and the connection between souls, but the world came to accept it as it was, implanting the watch onto each being the moment they were born. No one complained, internet and speed dating became a thing of the past, and domestic violence dropped to virtually nothing. It was peaceful, to say the least.
Years passed, and she hardly ever glanced at the watch on her wrist. After all, what was the point of watching it if it counted down at the same slow pace, never changing. When she finally dropped out of college and joined the Third Street Saints, she checked it even less, and by the time she led the gang, she forgot it ever existed. It could have stopped and she wouldn't have known; not that it mattered, the leader of a gang had no time for relationships, especially after leading the life of threatening violence she did. She checked it briefly after she awoke from her coma in the prison, sighing in relief as the watch orchestrated yet another few years to go; while her coma had been a long five fucking years, she was still alive and her watch hadn't stopped ticking yet.
She, not unlike many others of the Third Street Saints, was surprised as ever that Johnny Gat, badass of all badasses, had his watch eternally set at zero before almost all of the other members in the gang (all except Rick, that asshole). She was there when they met, when he proposed, when Aisha died, and she was there to see his watch never restart again. It was part of the reason she decided to ignore her watch and forget about it, because she definitely didn't need that pain in her life if this was how Gat handled it.
She briefly entertained the thought of a fling with Carlos, but that ended badly. So had Maero.
Time passed, and once again the Saints were on top. New gangs to annihilate, new members to recruit, more fallen members. They had changed, each in their own ways. Shaundi was older, more mature. No more were the drugs and smoking. Pierce stepped up his game, marketing new ideas to aid the Saints in the market venue. Gat was gone, killed by Phillipe Loren (who was later crushed to death by the Boss in his own building), but not forgotten. And the Boss was more relaxed than she ever was, living off the thrill of being Steelport's reigning leader, despite the many gangs she had soon to take down. But even that had to end as they finally had Gat's funeral, or tried to, but fuckin' Monica Hughes just had to stall traffic for her piece of shit husband. And of course that had to be ruined by a Luchadore attack, sending them into the water below, alive but drenched.
"Whoever this crew is, they float pretty damn good," Pierce commented, shoving aside the body that bobbed up in front of him. His suit stuck to him, and his frown was shared by the other Saints.
"They're Killbane's thugs," Oleg, the newest addition to the team, explained, waving his large arms around as he waded.
"Kill-who?" Boss questioned. Blue hair, normally spiked up, fell flat on her face, and she ran her hand through it annoyed; it fell flat again and she groaned in defeat. At least the cut on her lip stopped bleeding.
"He's the Syndicate's attack dog," elaborated Oleg.
"What he did to Johnny's funeral…that's over the fucking limit," Shaundi snapped, slamming her fist into the water.
"He doesn't care about rules of engagement."
"No rules? I can work with that." The Boss smirked. After all, what rules had she actually played by as of late?
"You're not ready to fight the Syndicate," Oleg said softly but sternly, not wanting to push the already-irritated Boss over the edge. Boss opened her mouth to speak, but Shaundi already cut her off.
"Watch us." The Boss shot her a glare, lips pulled down into a scowl.
"Just relax, Shaundi," The Boss commanded, turning her attention back to the giant man floating besides her. "Alright big man, what do you got?"
He nodded slightly, pleased that she was not at all irritated by him, and continued. "There are others who hate the Syndicate as much as you do. I will take you to them." The Boss grinned, nodded her head to the shoreline, and took off. The Saints followed without a word.
Above them, Monica screamed to the heavens.
"Who's at the top of the list?" Finally, they were safely on shore, clean and dry-pressed from one of their favorite shops – Planet Saints. They owned it, so why wouldn't they go there for free clothes? Either way, they had money to spare.
"We're pickin' up a girl named Kinzie Kensington. The Deckers are holdin' her on a barge on the river," Pierce informed, lightly jogging to the boat at the end of the dock they were on. The Boss followed, along with Shaundi in the rear.
"What's her deal?"
"Oleg said she was with the FBI –"
"You're joking," Shaundi interrupted, a snarl lacing her tone as a frown set on her face.
Shooting her a look, Pierce shrugged, dropping off the dock and into the boat's captain seat. "Don't stress, she was kicked out."
"So we're getting a shitty fed?" Shaundi dropped down in the back as The Boss took co-pilot. Pierce started up the engine, immediately shifting the boat into drive and cruising down the river. The water was obsidian, city lights sparkling off like small jewels. Boss sat back in her seat, throwing her legs up onto the deck and crossing her arms behind her head in a makeshift pillow.
"Don't start hatin' because we're gettin' a new girl," Pierce mused, guiding the boat through the water with ease.
"Are you serious?" Shaundi snarled, sending a glare at him that could've stopped his heart if he noticed. He shrugged, lips curling up into a half smile.
"I'm just sayin', I'm just sayin'."
"I'm not jealous."
"Who said jealous? That's all on you, girl." The Boss looked on, amused but irritated. Leave it to her crew to make the atmosphere relaxing, but she couldn't get the Luchadore's attack out of her mind.
"Oh my god."
"Not now!" The Boss cut them off with the single phrase, successfully silencing them from continuing with their banter. "What else to we need to know?" Pierce sobered up, shooting her a glance over his shoulder.
"Oleg didn't give me all the details, but he made it sound like Kinzie was about to out the Syndicate so the Deckers set her up for a fall.
Shaundi only sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and kicking her feet up and onto the dashboard. "Hope she's worth the hassle." She was not jealous. She wasn't.
Pierce shrugged again; "Only one way to find out. We gotta get on that barge." Speaking of which, the barge came into view as they rounded the corner, a mass of bright lights and a blue suits growing bigger the closer the boat got.
"Fly Pierce, fly!" The Boss yelled, holding onto the edge of the boat as Pierce nodded in confirmation and yanked at the wheel to make it turn onto the ramp the barge so kindly left for them. For a long moment, they were airborne, the feeling of weightlessness settling deep in the Boss's stomach. And then they were crashing into a cargo box, the front of the boat sparking with flames as she screamed at them to abandon ship. Not a moment after Pierce slid off the edge, the flames caught the engine and it exploded, sending debris over their heads and fires to the air. "Jesus fuckin'-" Another explosion boomed over their heads, and the Boss barely had time to roll to the side before a thin sheet of sheet metal torn through the air and landed sharply where she had just been. With an ungraceful scramble, she got to her feet and whipped out her twin Tek Z-10's. Once the dust cloud from the explosions cleared, she was greeted with the sight of a large gathering of blue-dressed Deckers ready to blow her face off. A moment later, Shaundi and Pierce appeared on either side of her, guns at the ready.
"What the hell these guys wearin'?" Appalled, Pierce frowned at the cloud of blue and black, crinkling his nose. The Boss shrugged, letting an easy smile slip onto her face.
"I dunno, but it kinda turns me on…"
"What."
"Nothing. Find that fed!" The Boss fired the first shot, piercing through the front lines of the gang in front of her. They fell, and the barge turned into a battlefield. Avoiding a hailstorm of gunfire, she rolled behind the nearest cargo box and returned fire. In the light of the barge, she caught the reflection of her watch, eyes widening at the '0y:0d:0h:4m' that stared back at her. "Uh, Shaundi, we've got a problem!" She called across the battlefield, locking eyes with the former druggie. With a nod, Shaundi shot fire back to the Deckers, launching herself across the space between them and coming to a rest at the Boss's side. Both ignored Pierce's cry of, 'Man, why I always gotta be alone?'
"What's up, Boss?" Boss held out her arm, letting the watch put into words what she herself could not. "Oh shit. You think it's one of these assholes?"
Boss scowled, tossing a grenade into the fray of blue. "I sure the fuck hope not, because I'm sending every one of these motherfucker's to their grave. Let's go!" She demanded, pushing forward the moment her grenade exploded. The amount of Deckers had significantly diminished from when they first arrived, and she had no problem pushing through the remaining ranks, using her spiked baseball bat rather than waste any more bullets. By the time she got to the other side, she had a mere one minute staring back at her rather than the earlier four, and she held down her anxiety in order to order Pierce and Shaundi on either side of the navigation room. This was it, the thing she had spent her whole life avoiding. With a clench of her jaw, she pushed past the two of her crew, entering the building and locking eyes with the woman on the floor.
"Kinzie, right?" She called softly, slipping her knife through the redhead's restraints and backing away before she could stand.
"Yep."
"You don't seem all that excited about being rescued," Shaundi commented dryly, stepping up behind the Boss and pocketing her pistol.
"I'm waiting to see if you were sent to kill me," Kinzie retorted, pulling herself to her feet and rubbing at her wrists.
"Girl's pragmatic. I like her," Pierce grinned, flashing his teeth. Boss stayed silent, eyes trained on Kinzie's hidden wrist, waiting for a chance to catch the number on it.
"So whaddya want with me? You don't look like feds." She momentarily caught the Boss's eyes, narrowing them when she caught her staring.
"We heard that you know people who hate the Syndicate as much as we do." Pierce took over, relaying Oleg's information from him to her without a moment's pause.
"I might, I might not. What's it to you?"
"We just saved your goddamn life, you owe us to - " Shaundi started, anger pulsating from her as she spoke, but the Boss cut her off, knocking her back a few steps with her shoulder.
"Shaundi, knock it the fuck off." She turned to Kinzie, eyes narrowing at the covered wrist. "Kinzie, what does your watch say?" The redhead stared at her quizzically, moving to pull the jacket sleeve up her arm.
"It says -" She cut off, mouth dropping slightly in silent shock. Not a moment passed before her head snapped back up to lock eyes with the Boss, sleeve falling back down onto her wrist. "You're the one, aren't you?" She hissed, glancing down at the Boss's wrist, confirming her own suspicions. The Boss reluctantly nodded, pushing her wrist into the air between them.
"I'm your soul mate, Kinzie."