A/N: I'm writing the next chapter as I'm typing this. Hope you guys like this 'build up' chapter. I feel like I'm taking a risk with this chapter, but let me know what you think.

The next few months flew by in an instant. The Boss, Shaundi, and Viola were busy shooting their scenes in the movie. Pierce was able to convince Erik to give him a small role in the film. The director eventually gave in after Pierce wouldn't stop sending him demo reels from his Saints Flow commercials. Zimos was hovering around young female fans who were circling around the set. Oleg was there to make sure the Boss wouldn't do anything stupid that would get him caught up with statutory rape charges. He also had to deal with legions of guys trying to get a peep out of Shaundi. They were mostly scrawny, but their persistence can be annoying after several hopeless attempts. He was glad that Kinzie obliged to keep him company throughout the day. She had to have her laptop with her the entire time but Oleg hardly complained.

Despite Erik's eccentricities, the Saints surprisingly enjoyed themselves during shoots. He would mostly tell them an outline of how a scene should go, and he would pretty much give them the freedom to do their own interpretations. They had a lot of footage to work with. Sometimes they would just shoot different variations for one scene for over two days. There were times when they felt like they were being watched. Erik would try to shoot scenes on his own without them knowing. The Boss would see the Belgian hiding conspicuously behind small bushes with a camera in hand and Erik would defend himself saying that it was solely for 'art' whatever that means. The Boss would never tolerate anyone prying into his personal life, but Erik was far from a threat. Creating a poor excuse for a film is the only concept of harm the man knew.

"You called for me?" The Boss entered a brightly lit white room with a glass pane and control panel right in front of the doorway. It looked like recording studio, but felt more like an interrogation chamber. Erik was seated by the panel with two busy technicians on both his sides. He swiveled his chair to turn around and face the Boss.

"Indeed. We are about to shoot our next scene." Erik said with much enthusiasm in his voice. "Come, sit, and watch," he motioned the Boss to sit beside him in front of the glass panel. Seconds after the Boss obliged, lights flickered on the other side of the glass pane. He realized that the other side was the interior of a warehouse the studio barely touched.

It was nothing of interest until Shaundi entered the warehouse doors. She was walking around and looking at the old movie props that were set aside. She stood in front of the glass pane to look at her reflection and adjust her make-up. The only thing she could see was herself. She was oblivious to the fact that the Boss and Erik were on the other side.

"Woah." The Boss looked at her and casually waved to check if she could see him. It was a one way glass pane. "What are you up to Belvaux?" He turned to face the director.

"Just sit back and let the maestro show you what art is." Erik leaned back on his chair.

"Why am I not surprised that everyone else is late?" Shaundi thought to herself after gussying herself up in front of the mirror. She was told by one of the associates that there was a shoot scheduled at this warehouse and that she had to be there on time. "Well, here I am," she shrugged.

She thought she was alone until she heard the sound of glass cracking in the distance. Instinctively, she tapped her hand on the side of her hip but there was nothing there. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. She forgot to strap her 9mm while she was getting ready inside her trailer. The Saints didn't have any formidable enemies at the moment, but she always knew that it helped to stay on her guard especially after what happened with Johnny. "Please, let this just be Birk stalking me," she hoped her lapse in memory wouldn't bite her in the ass. For once, it would be great to find out that it was just Birk following her around.

Another glass cracked. Shaundi surreptitiously made her way towards the sound. The cracks soon became more frequent, but she was getting closer. She crouched behind a massive stack of props. The culprit behind the sound was a few feet away from where she was. She leaned to the right to reach towards a piece of shattered glass as an alternative weapon. Without hesitation, she stood out of cover to surprise whoever was there. She stood dumbfounded upon realizing that it wasn't an assassin or some obsessed fan. It was only a squirrel and it was staring right back at her as if it was mortified. Shaundi laughed at herself and was kind of embarrassed she was about to stab an innocent little creature. "Thank God, no one else saw-," Shaundi sighed but she was interrupted when an object came in flying through the window. It was a flashbang. "Oh, shit," she muttered before running towards the other side of the warehouse to duck for cover.

She barely made it just in time to escape the flashbang's radius. She peeked outside her cover to check what was going on. Commonly dressed thugs entered through the window with shotguns and AK-47s. "What the fuck is going on?" Shaundi asked herself in disbelief before one of the thugs spotted her and started shooting. She immediately leapt away from her original position and started sprinting towards the door and away from the gunfire. The door was locked and there was no time to pick it open.

The Boss stood from his chair forcefully and was about to speak but Erik held up his hand to stop him. "Relax. Non-lethal rounds. All of those thugs are trained actors. They're not going to shoot directly at her, just around her. However, if she shoots any of them with the weapons we conveniently placed there… they will of course pretend to die," the director explained without looking at the Boss. He was too busy enjoying his 'masterpiece' with a glass of wine in one hand. "By now, you should be familiar with my methods. I wanted to capture Shaundi under pressure and see real fear and wrath boil out of her," he finished.

The Boss rolled his eyes and sat down. "You do know that Shaundi can kill all your actors with or without a gun," he crossed his arms as he turned to face the director. He could have stopped this ridiculousness, but he believed in Shaundi's capability and it won't hurt to let others see it for themselves.

"Which is why I made sure all the actors are equipped with the best safety gear," Erik casually took a nibble out of the cheese platter in front of him. "I also made them sign a waiver just in case she gets caught up in a violent frenzy," he added with a conniving smile on his face. It was evident that this man would do anything to achieve his vision.

"Well, pull this shit with me and you can bet on having all your actors stuck in the emergency room," the Boss shot back before continuing to watch the spectacle Erik orchestrated. He noticed that the technicians in the room were watching the entire thing unfold in different panels. There must be a hundred cameras hidden inside the warehouse. The firefight must have disabled five or more.

"I can deal with that. If filmmaking was easy, then it wouldn't be so exciting no?" Erik replied before taking a sip of his wine. They both turned their attention towards the faux ambush to catch up on what was going on.

Shaundi managed to snag a shotgun that she found lying on the floor. She gunned most of them down with ease. It surprised her how none of them were able to hit her. The interiors of the warehouse didn't have a lot of items to use as cover. She was expecting to get grazed by a bullet at least considering the waves of thugs raining down on her. She shouldn't be complaining about her luck, but she always loved a challenge. Shaundi continued firing at them until the shooting stopped. It looked like she got all of them, but she kept her shotgun raised just in case there were more surprises. The lights in the warehouse dimmed. Shaundi couldn't see anything through the pitch darkness.

A spotlight lit up in one area of the warehouse. A man wearing a ski mask stood under it with an automatic weapon in his hand. Shaundi swiftly aimed her shotgun towards the man and fired. The man immediately stepped aside and kept a distance. "You've killed me once. Now, you want to do it again?" The man asked as his voice echoed around the warehouse like it was being amplified through speakers.

"This is seriously some fucked up shit. What do you want from me? Who are you?" Shaundi aimed her weapon at him, trying to get some answers before shooting him.

"It's me. Johnny," the man took off his mask and it revealed a familiar yet haunting face. It was Johnny Gat. "You left me to die on that plane. I died because of you," he raised his voice as he spoke with spite.

Shaundi's eyes widened and dropped her weapon. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. He was dead. This couldn't be real, but he was right in front of her. Her mind was telling her that this was a trick, but her heart was quickly filled with grief, guilt, and anguish. "I wanted to go back, but-" her voice started to crack. Suddenly, numerous figures of Johnny under small beams of light appeared around the warehouse. "It's your fault," they all said in unison.

This was too much for Shaundi. She pressed her palms on her ears, trying to make it all go away. "Stop, please. I didn't mean to." she begged helplessly. This wasn't real, it was a nightmare.

"I knew you were just some girl with dreadlocks," The first Johnny Gat figure taunted her. There was hate and bitterness in his eyes and it absolutely crushed Shaundi.

On the other side of the glass pane, The Boss's fury was well past his limit. "Stop this right now," he coldly ordered Erik.

"But, this is the best part! Shaundi in her darkest moments. Real fear, guilt, and emotion," Erik proudly refused.

In an instant, the Boss pulled out a pistol that was lodged on the side of his hip. He fired the gun directly at one of Erik's Cesar award figurine and pressed its mouth on Erik's forehead as he held him down. The tip was still warm from the burst and it burned through the director's skin. "Stop this right now, or this burn will be the least of your worries," The Boss pushed the pistol even deeper.

"Alright, alright. Just let me go," Erik finally relented and ordered the technicians in the room to cease the theatrics. They hastily carried it out out of fear of rousing the Boss' wrath.

"Cut," Shaundi heard an amplified voice reverberate around the warehouse followed by a loud ringing bell. The numerous holograms of Johnny dissipated in thin air. The lights came back on and the thugs she gunned down stood up and walked away. She turned to her right and she saw Erik and The Boss on the opposite side of the glass pane. The latter was still pushing his pistol on the director's head. Somehow, disabling the theatrics made the pane visible on both sides. There were tears in her eyes. The Boss didn't know how to react in front of her. There was pity lurking in his gaze. Shaundi could see it in his eyes and her anguish turned into embarrassment. She was a wreck and that was a side of her she didn't want anyone to see especially the Boss. Before both of them could react, she hastily made her way towards the exit.

The Boss pulled his pistol away and grabbed his coat on his way out. "Try that shit again and we are done," he added before twisting the doorknob. He was cool with all of other Erik's stunts, but this one crossed the line. He wasn't even thinking about the repercussions of losing this movie deal. It didn't matter to him. The only thing on his mind right now was Shaundi. He would usually let her deal with her own problems, but this time felt different. He saw the pain and guilt over Johnny's death slowly carve itself on her face. He thought that she had already moved on from his death. Clearly, he was wrong. She tried to hide all the lingering emotions in an attempt to mask her vulnerabilities. He can't help but feel responsible for it. The Saints were his family and he should have helped Shaundi out with whatever she was going through. "Dick," he called himself as he shoved through a crowd of suits.

He was nearing the exit at the end of the hallway. He could see Shaundi entering her car that was parked on the driveway. His footsteps quickened, but he was too late. The car drove off as soon as he pushed the glass door open.

"Damn," The Boss held his knees to catch his breath. Oleg approached him from behind with a confused look on his face. "Who pissed her off again?" He shook his head.

"Don't get me started," The Boss finally caught up his breathing and stood up to face Oleg. "Did she say where she was going?" He asked.

"Nyet," Oleg shook his head to give a simple reply. "Kinzie can track her using her computers," he suggested.

"There's no need. I think I know where I can find her," The Boss entered his vehicle and ignited the engine.

"Where?"

"Stillwater," The Boss said through the window of his car before driving away. He could have been wrong, but he had a strong feeling in his gut that he would find Shaundi there. Right where it all began.