(Author's Note: I always thought it was strange that in Saints Row the Third, your character could not only gain superhuman-esque skills, but have outlandish skin and eye colors and not one character said anything about it being weird. Sooo long story short, I decided to make a little fic about some silly headcanons I have about The Boss and why they keep giving cash to some shady app that gives them godly powers on their smartphone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'll probably make several parts to this piece and probably most definitely a bonus M!Boss/Shaundi ending with a side of sauce, but for now who knows~
Please enjoy!)
She just didn't get it.
Furrowing her manicured brows and rhythmically cleaning the gun in her hand, she watched as Pierce and Oleg's chess pieces slid across the board. There was classical song playing softly in the background and the two players exchanged snickers and taunts as they played, but Shaundi kept silent, apparently the only one getting crushed by the elephant in the room.
Steelport was turning out to be an excellent home, and with the Saints' having most all the districts by the balls and barely a rival gang member dumb enough to walk the streets anymore, it should have been dandy. But there was something pretty damn obvious that was a change from their old city, but nobody bothered to talk about it. Shaundi just knew they had to have noticed - after all, it wasn't the scenery change that was of the biggest concern to her.
"So have you both just not noticed our boss's skin is blue since we've gotten here, or-"
"Is it not just a medical condition?" Oleg interjected without bothering to look up from the match, moving another piece while Pierce protectively moved the chess board nearer to him and the Russian at Shaundi's tone.
"Since when did medical conditions make you blue? You didn't think he was just one of the Syndicate's weird reject experiments did you?" she retorted.
"I didn't," the burly man replied easily, "but I wasn't exactly going to be looking a gift horse that was liberating me from the Syndicate in his periwinkle mouth, either. I feel as though if the Boss wished us to know about his skin condition, he would've told us."
"A guy who doesn't like being called by anything but nicknames, telling us about how he suddenly gained blue skin. Yeah, I somehow doubt it."
"Damn Shaundi, chill," Pierce finally piped up, knocking one of Oleg's pieces off and picking it up to waggle at her, "you don't know the Boss's name and you're still okay with it, plus you never asked about his weird purple hair before, so why care about his weird-ass skin secrets?"
"Don't you tell me to chill when I know you knew he wasn't that color before coming to Steelport," Shaundi snapped back, her intense scowl averted as Pierce looked back down at the chess board, "c'mon, you're telling me you also didn't notice he's gone from tan to blue but he hasn't told you shit about it?"
And she so knew the Boss's name! It was... it was... well, she was sure she had read it before on a medical or prison file of his before. It'd come back to her eventually. Pierce did have a bit of a point about the hair, though: she always figured he just dyed it that iridescent black-purple considering the Saints's colors, though she never saw any packages of hair dye around and she couldn't imagine that anyone sold purple beard dye despite the fact his executive cut-groomed beard was that color since he woke up from his coma in Stilwater.
"It's not like I didn't ask," Pierce finally admitted, setting down Oleg's captured piece and looking from the board to Shaundi. A frown tugged at his face, and he seemed too bothered to even try to call Oleg out for casually moving the table around, "and I noticed, a'ight? The Boss just hasn't said jack shit about it other than some bullshit about a spray tan gone wrong, then just tellin' me to fuck off when I called him out on it."
"If you are so concerned, why don't you go ask him yourself," Oleg asked curiously, gesturing out to the helipad as Pierce scowled at the chess board, "he told us he was going out near that old nuclear plant we took over a few weeks back to take care of some additional business, I'm sure if you wanted to go find him and told him you wanted to have a heart-to-heart, then he would listen."
"The Boss isn't exactly a 'heart-to-heart' sorta guy, Oleg," Shaundi replied dryly, popping all the cleaned pieces of her handgun back into place as she spoke, "besides, if he wouldn't say anything to Pierce, then why would he tell me?"
"Well you've got two reasons more than I have," Pierce teased, though his mischievous smile was met with Shaundi crossing her arms over her chest and a pointed glare, "for real though, he never seems to get pissed with you the way he gets pissed at other people, especially since you got rid of the dreads and cleaned yourself up. I think our big Russian friend has a point here, Shaund - the most the Boss'd do is tell you to stop asking."
"Right," Shaundi agreed with some hesitation, picking up her gun off the table and tucking it into the holster at her side, "though..." She trailed off, and stared out the large windows of their lavishly decorated penthouse. Well, if you want a job done right, she supposed...
"If I get my ass handed to me Pierce, you're going to pay for it out yours, got it?" Moving off the couch, Shaundi headed to the elevator doors, punching the button for the lift down to the garage.
"Yeah yeah, good luck." Pierce bid her farewell with a snort of a laugh, turning back to the chess board as Shaundi rolled her eyes and stepped into the elevator. Oleg waved farewell to her retreating figure and soon turned back to the game at hand, and stared at the board with Pierce silently for a solid minute.
"... You know, it, uh, it ain't bad outside and there's still some daylight. You wanna go play in the park?"
"After you, comrade."
Not for the first time, the Boss wasn't answering his phone, though with a particular goal in mind other than dicking around this time, it was mildly pissing Shaundi off. Just what the hell was he up to? She decided to cruise around town, keeping an eye out for her boss, eyes peeled for any sign of his usually destructive trail down any of the seedy streets of Steelport. No sign of him in the nearby Friendly Fire, Zimos said he hadn't run off to any of the strip joints or with any of his hookers, and the radio ads for Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax lacked any mention of the Boss joining them for an episode tonight. Sighing, Shaundi stopped at a red light and pouted down at her phone, pressing the dial button once again on her phone. Putting her phone to her ear, she strummed her nails on her steering wheel, watching as a few cars sped along... only to be smashed out of the way by the driver of a purple Bootlegger and the three police cars hot on his tail.
"Oh fuck me." Shaundi groaned under her breath. Jamming her phone into her pocket, she slammed her foot on the gas and cut the wheel, making a hard right turn to catch up with the cops and her bastard boss. Of course. Of course the one time on the one day she wanted to maybe tread into dangerously personal waters with the Boss, and he has gotten himself into a police chase. Slamming her hand on the car horn to get both the Boss's and the police's attention, she quickly removed it to whip out her pistol.
Sorely wishing she had brought more than a pair of .45 Shepherds and an assault rifle in the backseat, Shaundi stuck her arm out the window, firing at the squad car closest to her until she hit both back tires. Maneuvering in front of the car as it veered and dragged itself along to a stop at the side of the road, she fired at the second one while the Boss screeched his own car to a halt, twisting it so the car nearest him would crash into the side of his vehicle. Leaping out of the car just seconds before the collision and tumbling a little less than gracefully against the pavement, the Boss scrambled up and opened fire onto the police still shooting at him and Shaundi.
Shooting another one of the three officers left standing in the knee, Shaundi grabbed all her guns and bolted over to the Boss as the blue-skinned man dove into one of the Peacemakers that still had the lights on, the brunette throwing herself into the passenger's seat as the Boss floored it.
"Fancy meeting you here, love." The Boss commented over the squeal of the wheels and the roar of the engine as he took off, mowing down a man in a Saints Flow suit as he drove the car onto the sidewalk, cutting every corner he could to get the sirens behind them to fade faster.
"Don't you 'love' me, jackass," Shaundi snapped back, clinging to the car as she was jerked around by the sudden turns and acceleration. Rolling down the squad cars' windows, she contorted her lithe body half-outside the window and looked around for any more of the boys in blue still tailing them, firing a few shots at the one car still following them by a particularly stubborn bleeding cop, "what the hell'd you do this time? Don't tell me you were car bowling with those protestors again."
"Then I won't." The Boss gave her a grin that walked the fine line between sheepish and cocky, and she scoffed at it. For a guy who would get more pissed off than terrified of someone putting a gun to his head, this was the third time in two weeks he'd been smashing his car into the protestors that picketed spots around town near their cribs.
"Least you could do is make sure there aren't any cops around before you go running people over," Shaundi said, giving the street they turned into a good look around before sliding into the passenger's seat. Putting the safety back on her gun and shoving it back into her holster, she gave another tired sigh and leaned against the seat. She was silent for a moment, before adding as the Boss started toying with the radio, "just what the hell do those protestors keep doing to piss you off, anyhow? I doubt any of the shit they say is either untrue or about your grandma."
"Considering my family, I'm pretty sure anything they'd come up with about my grandmum may be true," the Boss gave a snicker as he spoke, stopping on The Mix - Bonnie Tyler was playing, and Shaundi reached over to bat the Boss's hand away when he tried to crank the volume, "and it isn't like all of 'em make me want to. It's mainly the ones that make signs about you that make me want to give 'em a bit of a tap with my ride."
"The ones about me?" Shaundi vaguely recalled seeing them: most just said she was a whore, though considering that was far from the worst thing she'd been called both here and back at Stilwater, she had barely batted a lash at them considering she usually had better shit to do than murder pedestrians.
"Well, not just you, but," the Boss gave her a blue-lipped frown, and then blinked in sudden realization. Checking his phone, he hissed down at the time, "oh, shit. Hang on, Shaund."
"What is it?" Giving a soft 'oomph' as what was once a daresay average car speed accelerated at the drop of a hat, Shaundi's hand immediately went back for her pistol but the Boss waved her off, gold eyes focused on the road up ahead.
"Got some business to attend to, I got distracted with those fucking cops s'all." Heading straight towards the docks out near Kinzie's place, he turned on the car's headlights as the sun crept further down past the horizon.
"Call up the crib and ask for a car and get back to your place, I got this."
"What, and leave you to get distracted defending my honor again?" Shaundi teased. Though she'd never admit she found it strangely... endearing that the Boss would kill someone who insulted her (not that he usually needed much reason to get his hands dirty), she too was here on business, and she wasn't going to let the Boss slip out of her grip that easily. The Boss gave another snort of a laugh as he parked the car up against the curb.
"Very funny, but I mean it. I got this, get going."
"And I meant it, too," Shaundi replied, "it's fine, I'll come with. I got nothing better to do tonight anyways." Well, she did have one thing to do, though the fact the Boss was acting like he was in the hot seat over something as simple as getting backup was weird. He was scowling at her stubbornly - when he could hold her gaze. He was mainly altering between looking from her, to his phone, to the docks where the wood creaked against the waves.
"Shaundi," his voice was low, the playfulness in his tone dying as seriousness took over, "leave."
"No," she shot back defiantly, "unless you're going to be making some 'business deals' with some of Zimos's hos at those docks, I'm coming with you."
"I wouldn't come out here to d- fuck it, Shaundi, it doesn't matter. C'mon, I don't want to get this done."
Shaundi scowled at him, and forced the blue skinned man to hold her pissed stare, his golden eyes clashing with her rich brown ones as neither backed down.
"Even if we both know that I could hold myself up against whatever the hell you're going to play hero dealing with, fine. You gotta tell me something before I go, though."
"Fine, what?" The Boss spat.
Mentally crushing the sudden feeling of awkwardness as she had not expected him to agree so easily, Shaundi bit the bullet and spoke, giving a small hand gesture to the gang leader's muscular figure.
"Look, I'm sure I'm not the only one of the gang that's noticed, but... you've changed since Stilwater, Boss. Not just in personality, but in regards to... to... Boss, why the hell is your skin blue?" The boss blinked, taken aback by her question. Tilting his head to the side like a confused bird, he looked down from his icy blue hands back to Shaundi.
"The fuck's it matter to you, Shaund?" The Boss asked defensively, his British accent thickening as he gently clenched his fists. Well, if Shaundi had any lack of suspicion that this was more than meets the eye, she knew she was probably right.
"I don't know, maybe because people just don't up and turn that color overnight?"
"I'm fine if you think it's some sorta medical condition, Shaund-"
"If it's not a medical condition then what is it?"
"It doesn't bloody matter, just go home, I want to close in on my damn deal already-"
"Not until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you."
"Fine, it's... uh, paint."
"It's paint."
"Yeah."
Shaundi gave the Boss a deadpan stare before grabbing his wrist, tugging it closer when he instinctively jerked his arm away.
"Bloody hell Shaund, what are you-" watching as Shaundi licked her thumb, the lieutenant rubbed it against his wrist. Nothing happened other than the Boss making a face at the feel of her spit drying on him and Shaundi giving him a flat glare.
"Paint, huh." She said. The gang leader frowned at her and sheepishly tugged his arm away, rubbing where she tried to wash away his skin.
"It's waterproof," the Boss lied. Shaundi gave him an irritated sigh and kept her stare locked on his. Finally, the Boss slumped his shoulders, and leaned back against the seat of the car, closing his eyes, "... okay. I give." Watching as he checked his phone again, he tapped the app for his bank account, and the two silently watched as several grand wired itself into his system.
"Okay?" Shaundi asked with a hint of wariness.
"Yeah, okay," the Boss sounded defeated and pissed - a deadly, but foreign combo if she ever heard one - and started to get out of the car, "you might as well come along if you're so damn curious, but I swear to God if any of the others find out there'll be Hell t'pay."
The salty air tickled against Shaundi's midriff, and she was surprised the Boss hadn't brought much to wear out in this brisk weather other than a black leather jacket (unzipped just enough to show off the burst of bright golden and orange ink of the monarch butterflies fluttering up his chest - something that could be surprisingly distracting when both trying to fight or talk with him), black boots, and a pair of those battalion pants she'd seen a few of those STAG fuckers wearing before but in Saints purple with black straps. He must've noticed her grimacing at the cold the further out on the docks they walked, considering he nudged her with a cocky smirk.
"Didn't know you found business meetings so exciting." he taunted.
"Fuck off," Shaundi spat back, crossing her arms over herself self-consciously, "who're we meeting out here, anyways?"
"I'm meeting an old business partner of mine," the Boss retorted, unzipping his jacket all the way as he spoke, "you are going to keep quiet. I don't usually have anyone around when I do these deals, and I don't exactly know how my guy is going to deal with it."
"What, he like you all to himself?" she teased back, though she quickly changed tones as the blue skinned man stopped walking to try and shirk off his jacket.
"Keep your clothes on, Boss."
"Not for nothing love, but having tits so hard they could cut diamond isn't very professional."
"Well neither is going shirtless!" Shaundi responded, causing the Boss to laugh as he tossed his jacket at her, revealing the low-cut tank top he wore underneath as well as several other tattoos: a Saints shield taking up his entire right arm, "SAINTS" with their logo taking up part of his upper arm while a pair of purple serpents wrapped around his forearm.
"Nice to know what you think I go commando doing business." He taunted, grinning even more when Shaundi smiled despite herself, flipping him the bird as she caught his jacket and pulled it on. Even if he was still pissed she was coming along - and though he'd never admit it, uneasy about it - he could never stay furious at her the way he could at others.
Heading to the farthest end of the dock, the Boss stopped near a large set of shipping crates, digging around his pockets for his phone as Shaundi looked around. There was no sight of cops, or rival gangs, or... anyone else, really. The dirty ocean water lapped against the docks, and a boat chugged along several miles away.
"You sure your guy's here, Boss?"
"Positive," the Boss said, gesturing for her to come closer, "and I said keep it down, Shaundi." Heading closer to him, Shaundi looked down as he pulled up his phone screen and tapped an app she wasn't sure she'd ever seen him checking before: it was just a picture of a white arrow with a purple circle around it, titled "Upgrades". Upgrades? She didn't exactly take the Boss as a gamer, what could that-
"Health or damage?"
"What?" Shaundi asked, confused. The Boss rolled his eyes, and gestured down at his phone to the list of options: two, she noticed, were listed simply as "Health" and "Damage".
"I got enough cash for one upgrade, which should I pick?"
"Health or dam- in reference to what?"
"Just pick, Shaund."
"Health," Shaundi said after a moment's hesitation, "but Boss, I don't get what that has to do with-"
With just two taps, the Boss brought up another screen with a list of different terms: "Health - Regen" and "Health Upgrade", all of which having numbers next to them, and a few with checkmarks in the boxes beside them. Tapping on "Health - Regen 4", he gave Shaundi a quick grin.
"I was thinking this one too, I skipped it a little while back to bump up my stamina."
"Boss, what the hell-"
With a tap, the Boss accepted the purchase on the screen, and Shaundi watched as 42,500 dollars disappeared from the gang leader's account in just seconds.
"Thank you for your purchase," an androgynous voice purred out from the boxes, causing Shaundi to give a slight jump in surprise and grip at her pistols, "I have also included a reward of sorts for you - should this do as advertised, consider it on the house." With that, the voice that echoed from within one of the metal crates died out, the crackling of static taking over.
"Well that went better than I thought," The Boss commented, putting his phone into his pocket and heading over to the sound, "didn't even need to introduce you. As long as they get their cash though, eh?"
"'Should' it do as advertised?" Shaundi questioned, following the Boss into one of the shipping crates, looking with some surprise at the sight of just a walkie-talkie standing next to a small cardboard box.
"Well, you said you wanted to know where I got the blue skin from..." the Boss picked up the box and opened it up, taking out the two bizarre syringes one at a time to inspect what was written on the sides before choosing one filled with what appeared to be a gelatinous lavender concoction.
"Boss, what the fuck," Shaundi spat out, trying to snatch his box out of his hand and scowling when he stepped away, "what is that? Don't tell me you're seriously going to do what I think you're going to fucking do."
"It's good shit is what it is," the leader spat back, and before Shaundi could make another grab at the box, the Boss tugged up his shirt and sank the needle right into one of the inked stars that curved from the bottom left of his stomach down past his hip. Shaundi made to move forward again, but the Boss stepped back again, taking the second syringe out of the box and gesturing for her to wait with it in-hand, he added, "hold on a sec, Shaund. Just trust me, will ya?"
"Boss you're injecting who-knows-what into your gut and you want me to 'just trust you'," Shaundi hissed, "this isn't even- that looks like some hardcore shit. Like loa dust meets meth or something."
"I'm not some exotic drug junkie if that's what you're suggesting," gold eyes glared at her harshly, but the edge soon faded as she stared back at him looking both pissed and daresay a little hurt, "just... c'mere, get closer."
Slowly pulling the needle from his skin once he injected all of the serum into his body, he purposefully gently scratched himself, connecting two of the stars with a red line. Hesitantly approaching the Boss, she inched closer and watched with disbelief as the tiny wound rapidly healed itself up, soon the only sign of anything left from the wound the small droplets of drying blood left. Oh, she thought, oh my God.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Shaundi said under her breath, "Boss, seriously, what was that?"
"I told ya, it's good shit," he replied, giving her a grin as he inspected the unused syringe still in hand, squinting to read the silver print on the glass against the oily red-and-black mixture within, "'Vampire: suck the blood out of your human shield to regain health.' Shit, I bet that Miller brat might actually grow the stones to kill a man in the real world for this one, eh?"
"Yeah, I get it, but I mean what's - what's in it? And are you sure you should be sticking yourself with that one with what your 'guy' said about it?"
"Nothing they've given me so far's killed me, Shaund," his smile wavered guiltily as she stared up at him with a surprised, accusing gaze, "whatever this one'll do to me can't be worse than purple hair and blue skin." If that was his idea of a joke to make her unwind, it was backfiring spectacularly.
"How..." Shaundi trailed off, watching as the Boss pricked his skin with the needle - reaching out a hand instinctively, but holding back and letting her hand stay awkwardly in midair before letting it fall to her side. The further the gunk inside sank into the Boss, her boss, the more rattled she felt. The guy she thought she could trust her life with and was one of the closest things to a friend she had in this shitty world especially after what happened with Johnny, was different. And sure, they all were, especially after Johnny and being stuck in this shithole of a town for months, but she never realized... "you... you said purple hair was a side effect. Christ, Boss, how long have you been doing this?"
"Oh, that doesn't matter," the Boss waved off her question easily, pulling out the needle when the injection was complete, "as long as it does its job."
"Boss, you can't just tell me that sorta shit after showing me you're- you're injecting yourself with some crap you probably couldn't name five ingredients from to get powers-" She was confused, daresay a bit scared, and so pissed. None of this stopped her from instinctively grabbing for the Boss-man as he buckled over, gripping at the stars where he stabbed himself with the needles, a nasty bruise forming near the injection site. "- shit Boss, what'd you do to yourself? You all right?"
"Feels like I'm happy I let you come with," he replied, kicking the dropped box towards her as he dropped his arm around her shoulders like a sack of potatoes, "hey, grab the box, I gotta toss these needles."
Maneuvering herself so she could scoop up the cardboard box and the previously used Health Regen needle, she put the strange syringe in the box and moved herself so she was still holding the Boss's arm over her shoulders, offering him the box to plop the Vampire needle in as well.
"Let's get you the hell away from this place," Shaundi grunted, shouldering more of her boss's weight as she helped him stagger out of the shipping crate, "c'mon, I'm taking your dumb ass to the hospital. I'll call Pierce once we get to the car and-"
"Do not tell Pierce," the Boss hissed angrily through gritting teeth at his lieutenant, "you gave your word you wouldn't squeal. We gotta get rid of those needles first."
"Yeah, that was before I knew what the hell you were doing!" Staggering to careen her towards the sea, Shaundi fumbled but followed his footsteps, dropping the box but quickly picking it up with a mumbled apology. With all her might, she chucked that damn little box out, but got little satisfaction watching it get swallowed up almost simultaneously by the dark waves. The two of them watched the waves for a drawn out minute, the Boss's breathing steadying to match the beating of the waves against the dock. Shaundi could feel his ribcage moving, and could smell the oceanic air mingle with the Boss's scent of leather, gunpowder, and some overpriced cologne that smelled like a pine log fire.
"You okay?" Shaundi asked after the Boss's breathing slowed and he leaned on her less for support and more for... something. Shaundi really wasn't in any shape to be doing much psychoanalyzing at the moment.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"You scare the shit outta me sometimes, you know that?"
"I sort of figured that, yeah."
The Boss gave a weak laugh as he felt her elbow dig at his ribcage, and he pulled her into an embrace with the arm he already had around her shoulders, holding her in it before letting go and dusting himself off.
"My teeth hurt like a bitch, though. Hopefully that'll go away soon as I sure as hell don't plan on visiting a dentist anytime soon."
"Let me see," Shaundi instructed, and the Boss obeyed, baring his teeth for her to lean in closer to his mouth and inspect. The brunette bit back a grimace by biting her lower lip, looking at the still-bleeding gums of her boss's teeth, his canines now notably sharper and a tad longer. Shaundi gave a soft 'tch' and asked, "your pulse still going, Boss? 'Cause you definitely got some vampire teeth."
"Really?" the Boss sounded a bit more excited than he probably should have been if Shaundi's stare was any clue, but he didn't seem to notice at the moment. He hurriedly checked his neck for his pulse, then stuck his fingers into his mouth, feeling around and tapping at his new fangs experimentally.
"Nah, still breathing, but bloody Hell! Getting rid of those Syndicate bastards'll be a lot more fun scaring 'em shitless with these new babies!"
"Getting rid of-" Okay, she had to admit the idea of seeing those spineless bastards pissing themselves over the Boss tearing out one of their guys' throats with just his teeth was as satisfying as it was gross. Still, she inquired, "is that why you've been putting that junk into your system?"
"Well, that's just the biggest bonus for doing it at the moment other than getting to have a shit-ton of superpowers." the Boss replied, though he had the sinking feeling Shaundi knew damn well he was avoiding the real answer.
"You've been doing this before we got to Steelport though, haven't you Boss?"
"I plead the fifth."
"You of all people are not allowed to try and hide under the law for protection." Shaundi scoffed, and the Boss gave her a stubborn snort before starting to head back, taking out his phone and hitting the Vehicle Delivery button.
"Look, Shaundi," the Boss finally said as the phone rang, "you wanted to know about my blue skin, yeah? Now you know: not a medical condition, just... side effects."
"And how many more of these side effects do you think you'll be able to take?"
The Boss gave her a long, hard stare. Someone picked up on the other line.
"Yeah, I need a ride down by the docks," looking around at the glittering lights of the sleazy city before them, he tilted his head thoughtfully, and ran his tongue over his new fangs. "I think I'll just take the Torch. Yeah, see you in five." The Boss hung up and looked back at Shaundi, sighing at her heavily as he put his phone away again once more.
"I think I'm going to go out on the town for a bit longer, but I'll drive by HQ and drop you off. You okay with that?"
No, Shaundi's conscience howled angrily, and she felt her stomach try to rebel from the turbulence her anger and confusion simmering inside her by escaping through her throat, even for us what you've been doing to yourself isn't right! Do you even know the person who's giving you those cocktails? How can you do this to yourself so soon after Johnny left without wanting anyone to know?
"That's fine." She lied.
The Boss adjusted his shoulders he hadn't even noticed had stiffened, and gave her an understanding nod.
"Got it," He said, and turned to greet the Saint honking the purple Torch's horn as it neared them, "c'mon, let's go."
"Right behind you," Shaundi called. Slowly, she slid her hands into her own pockets: feeling the texture of the diamond studs on her phone case with her right hand, and the fragile glass of the Health-Regen syringe she nicked when she dropped the box with her left. She added, a bit more softly, "I'm always behind you, Boss."