Boss: So, I made this one a little less tense. I have reasons, but I promise in the next chapter, it's gonna pick back up. I get a little too emotionally invested when I start writing, so when I start writing upsetting things from different pov's, it actually weighs on me. Like I really see the cutscenes play in my head.
Anyway, read and please please please review. I'm in a little bit of a rut and need feedback.
Enjoy.
This may have been the most peaceful Johnny had ever seen the Boss. He never thought he'd be able to put 'the Boss' and 'peaceful' in the same sentence before, but turns out, it could be done in a strange 'what a precious little sociopath' kind of way. She was currently asleep in the living room of their ship, her hands both resting atop her stomach to avoid accidentally laying on them. Johnny continued to look at her now stitched up hands with an expression of deep concern. When he was stitching up her right hand, he discovered that her palm was also badly lacerated and had to stitch that up, too before eventually proceeding to wash away all the paint and excess blood from her. As much paint as there was, he ended up having to empty the tub and use the shower head to wash her hair and of course, the Boss voiced her objections to him, telling him she could do it herself, that he didn't need to cater to her, that she was a fully functional adult (mostly), and that it was just weird for him to be doing this for her, but he simply told her to shut up and deal with it and that he didn't want her to accidentally bust her stitches open just because she wanted to be a pain in the ass. It wasn't even an issue with nudity. She stayed curled up in a ball for the duration and Johnny didn't ogle her or stare at anything. He didn't look at anything she didn't want seen and turned his back while she managed to dry off and change (he was going to help her but decided to let her have this one).
The walk back to the ship could only be described as a tired one. She was drained, he could tell and he was feeling it, too. Sleeping space on their ship was a bit tricky but the Boss was more comfortable on the ship with her crew than anywhere else (as were they, seeing as how none of them wanted to be left alone with the Zin for too long), especially at a time like this, so when Johnny saw nobody was in the living room, he made her lay down on the couch and this time was met with little protest on her part. It wasn't often the Boss gave control to someone else, but she just didn't have it in her right now to reclaim it and did as Johnny asked. He sat beside her while she vented a little, most of it being a flurry of 'I'm sorry's and 'I don't know's and Johnny let her say what she needed until she eventually dozed off, giving way to her exhaustion. The slow rise and fall of her chest let him know she was in a deep sleep and he rubbed his eyes.
Johnny had to do it. He had to. He couldn't watch her do this to herself anymore. Couldn't watch her torment herself anymore. Couldn't stand to let her hurt herself anymore. It made him clench his jaw but he solidified the decision in his mind. They had to know what was going on. That there was more to those recordings than the Boss having freak fits and trying to kill herself. It had to have something to do with that fucking simulation. She may have had some lows before going in, but none of it got this bad until the last few visits she made to simulated Steelport. Something in there was making two different things happen at the same time, showing one thing to the crew while making the Boss go through another. The Boss couldn't just make shit like that up and he could tell it was driving her insane because she knew how it sounded. And now, he was struggling with the same thing. He knew how it sounded but he still needed to tell them.
Quietly, he stood up from his spot and looked down at the Boss. He was going to find out what this was and fix it one way or a-fucking-nother. A frustrated sigh left him as he was forced to acknowledge what was happening to him. Those 'pussy ass feelings' he told himself he would leave behind didn't leave at all. Damn it, he still felt things and these days, a lot of those things were for the Boss and it was beyond fucking with him now. But at the same time, it didn't surprise him in the least. It only made sense this would happen. However, that would have to wait until later. He gently brushed the hair from her face and sighed, heading to the cargo bay.
This was it.
Kinzie and Matt couldn't help the way they cringed when they heard the telltale sound of the cargo bay doors sliding open. They dreaded the sound more and more these days. Pierce was still seated on the couch with his head leaned back as he ran through scenario after scenario of possible reactions from the feared Saint. They never dealt with anything like this before, so despite what played in his head, he really had no way of knowing what he'd do. But needless to say, they were about to find out. Johnny stood in front of the three and crossed his arms.
"Alright. Show me what you found", he said. A deep sigh came from Pierce and he looked up at Johnny.
"Where's the Boss?" he asked.
"She's clean, bandaged, and asleep in the living room", he responded. "Not without some bitchin' on her part, but I got it done and she's out for now." Pierce got up from his spot and approached Johnny, his facial expression telling him everything he needed to know.
"Look, man, Imma be real with you. You ain't gonna like what's on that feed, so we're gonna leave the room while you watch it. We'll be in the living room when you're done", he said. Johnny nodded, already not liking the situation as it was.
"Alright. Just don't wake the Boss up"
"If she wakes up, I'll let you know", Kinzie said as she headed out. Pierce patted Johnny's shoulder as he followed, leaving Matt in the room with Johnny, the laptop balanced on his arm as he tapped a few keys gently. Matt's bright blue eyes looked up at Johnny nervously and he scrambled to piece together his thoughts properly.
"J-Johnny, before you watch this, I-I just-"
"Spit it out, kid", Johnny sighed. Matt's brow furrowed and he let out a sigh.
"I just wanted to tell you that even though we're very much opposites and I may not be someone you would have chosen as a Saint, I really do consider you my brother, so if by chance you ever needed...I don't know...someone to talk to, I suppose, I could lend an ear. At least until we get this mess sorted out", he awkwardly managed to say, uncomfortably shifting. "I never had any siblings or close friends to talk to and I noticed how much more at ease the Boss became after finding you and being able to talk to you again, so..yea. I mean, if you want to. I, of course, have no qualms with the idea. Or if you're ever on the look out for quality fiction, I could always show you-" but Johnny interrupted him before his ramblings went any further.
"I'll keep that in mind, kid. I appreciate it. That's gonna have to wait, but I'll remember that. Now, the video?" Matt bit his lip gently and set the laptop down on the couch beside them.
"Just hit the space bar to play and pause the video", he quietly said before heading out after Kinzie and Pierce, leaving Johnny alone with the footage of the Boss's meltdown. In all honesty, the pause screen alone made him uneasy. But he had to know what happened. This would decide just how much he would divulge to them.
He sat down and hit the spacebar.
"Uno. I win again", Kinzie proudly announced. Pierce threw his arms up in annoyed defeat and pointed at her.
"Now, that's bullshit. I was three cards away from that fuckin' uno", he said, to which Matt rolled his eyes.
"Excuse me, but I don't think you should be complaining seeing as how you weren't the one that had to draw half the deck in BOTH rounds", he frowned. "Where the hell did you two even get all of those +2 cards anyway?" Pierce and Kinzie raised their brows and smirked at the sore loser.
"Luck of the draw, kid", Pierce chuckled.
"Well, I demand another rematch, dammit!" Matt said, collecting the cards and vigorously shuffling them in the hopes he could turn his luck in the game around. As Matt began to deal out the next hand, Kinzie took a peek over his shoulder at the Boss who remained asleep for once. Her erratic sleeping patterns sometimes bothered Kinzie, despite her far more unhealthy sleeping habits. While Kinzie was not at all effected by the schedule she developed, it was evident that the Boss still didn't have a very good hold on her unspoken insomnia. Her eyes wandered to her bandaged hands, making her eyes narrow a bit. Even though she couldn't see how bad it was on the video, she had a pretty good idea about what her hands looked like beneath the gauze.
"You wanna go ahead and deal while you're over there bendin' the shit out them cards?" Pierce asked Matt. Matt stuck his tongue out at him as he began dealing the cards to the other two sitting with him.
"You two cheated somehow, I know it", he mumbled, setting the deck in the center of their circle. Kinzie rolled her eyes, organizing her cards.
"Oh, quit being such a whiny baby", she said. Pierce chuckled as he flipped the top card.
They soon became too engrossed in the game to notice Asha leaned against the doorway, watching them play. She found it...childishly cute. Not that she didn't appreciate a good card game here and there, she just enjoyed watching how pumped up everyone would get over it and especially loved when everybody began laying down +2 cards one after the other, eagerly watching to see who was going to be the sorry, card eating bastard that told everyone to go fuck themselves. It made her sometimes forget that they were floating around in space in search of a new planet to call home as she would be too busy laughing at the wonderfully sweary things everyone said when they tallied up their cards after a 'cheating motherfucker' called Uno. Her eyes did wander over to the Boss. They took in the exhausted figure on the couch and the white bandages around her hands. And she was smart enough to put together that something had happened, but was broken away from her analysis upon hearing Matt promptly tell Pierce to 'take that skip card and shove it in his ass'. The Boss gently rolled over onto her side, making her face the couch, hiding her hands between her and the cushion, which was convenient when Shaundi, Keith, and Ben joined Asha at the doorway.
"They're playing Uno again, aren't they?" Shaundi said, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. Asha nodded.
"You could tell?" she asked.
"Of course. Matt never tells anyone to put anything in their ass unless he's losing." Asha chuckled and nodded. Ben smiled a bit and joined the trio on the floor.
"Redeal them cards, Miller. I want in", he said, taking a seat between Kinzie and Matt. Kinzie looked up at the rest still standing at the doorway and raised an eyebrow.
"You guys just gonna stand there or are you gonna get in here so we can bombard the shit out of Matt?" she asked, which was all the incentive they needed to join the rest of the crew as Matt mumbled about how they could all go fuck themselves while shuffling up all the cards along with a second deck Pierce passed him. They found it easier to double up on cards when they all wanted to play. It helped the game last longer (and meant there were plenty of cards to piss each other off with).
Small distractions like this were nice. Better when there was no tension in the room.
Too bad that wasn't the case for Johnny.
"That's not what fucking happened..."
Johnny's mind was blank. Absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt blank. It wasn't that he'd never seen the Boss lose her shit before. There was just normally a person there that was taking the beating. But there was paint where there was supposed to be blood. The only blood anywhere in the room was hers and it was on her knuckles and smeared against glass, wires, and metal in a tarp of vomit.
Everything.
He had to tell them everything.
There was no more beating around the bush. He couldn't dodge the questions anymore or cover for her when she suddenly tensed up and left. They had to know the truth and they had to know it now. Something was taking advantage of a problem that was already there and making it worse. Something wanted her dead and if he was going to protect her the way he told himself he would, he had to break his silence. It was for a good reason, but it still felt like snitching. Johnny was never a snitch under any circumstance. He'd take another hit from a shotgun in his other knee before he snitched. But he wasn't telling a cop or any of that shit. It was the crew. The same crew (and then some) that helped take over Steelport, that stood by the Boss after he was taken and took down the Syndicate, that all made their way to the White House, and that helped the Boss take him back even after they knew just how dangerous it would be. This was the crew. This was the Saints. And the Saints always took care of their own. So, no. He wasn't gonna snitch. He was gonna let the Saints know that one of their own was being attacked and that it was time to make some shit happen, even if it meant the Boss would be upset. Johnny had to.
Her life depended on it.
Johnny rose from his spot on the couch and left the cargo bay, heading to the living room. The sound of an audible 'fuck' and laughter caught his attention and he picked up his pace to be greeted with the sight of the crew sitting on the floor in front of the couch the Boss was (still) asleep on, playing Uno. It had been a while since he had seen these moments on the ship. The moments they were able to just let go of the day and relax and just enjoy each other's company like they used to. He kinda smiled.
"Johnny", he heard Shaundi call. "You gonna get in on this too or what?" He thought about it for a moment as he looked at the Boss and nodded.
"Sure, I mean, if you all wanna get your asses kicked at once, why not?" he joked, sitting between Matt and Ben, his back against the couch the Boss was on. One more night to just be as they used to was all he had to offer them at the moment. One more night to pretend nothing ever happened and they were still in Steelport or Stilwater, just sitting with the crew with a card game, an empire, and no worries like before. Johnny looked over his shoulder while organizing his cards at the Boss as she rolled back over, her hands cupped against her chest, still fast asleep.
Asha's murmur of 'oh, you motherfucker' aimed at Kinzie made Johnny turn back to them while Asha drew 2 cards from the deck in the center, laughing the whole time. Shaundi's laugh as she rested her head on Keith's shoulder made her almost seem like their favorite, happy go lucky dreadhead again (who used to actually kick everyone's ass at Uno). Ben let out a deep chuckle as he put down the +4 color change card and said yellow, to which Johnny mumbled 'asshole' as he drew the four cards. Beeping was heard coming towards them and CID floated over to the group.
"I see you are once again playing Uno. While I have no interest in playing myself, I would like to keep score and listen to the awful things you call each other while you play. Please proceed", he said, floating above them all.
"And that means nobody will be able to cheat!" Matt said, putting down a yellow card. Keith chuckled at Matt as he also put down a yellow card.
"Kid, you're only sayin' that because you suck at this game." Matt became a little flustered but turned his head with a pout.
"Nuh-uh. Everyone else is just cheating." Shaundi just smiled as she laid down a +2 card.
"Either add or eat em, Pierce", she said, keeping her head against Keith's shoulder. Pierce raised a brow.
"Oh, so we're startin' that shit already, huh? Gonna just come right up out the gate with it?" he said, putting another +2 down. "I'm not eatin' em. Kinzie?"
"Not on your life", she said, quickly adding another. "How about you, Asha?"
"While I appreciate the kindness, I'm going to have to ask that you promptly take that shit elsewhere", and she added another. "Ben, would you be a dear and draw 8 cards?" Ben laughed.
"Look, I'm a classy man, but even I know when to tell a lady to go fuck herself" and put down another dreaded +2 card. "Yo, Gat, you got this one?"
"Not on your fuckin' life, Ben." Another +2. The crew all turned to Matt. "Well?" Johnny said. Matt looked around at the rest of the Saints and let out a frustrated huff.
"Fuck. All. Of. You", he said from between his clenched teeth as he drew the 12 cards that had been racked up. The crew busted out into laughter, including CID, who decided to let Matt in on his likelihood of winning the game at this point. "Fuck you, CID!" Through all of the yelling and laughter, the Boss remained asleep and Johnny took a peek back at her again with a small sigh.
Just one more night.
Boss: I know this chapter is shorter than the others. I'm having a few issues right now that are screwing with me and making it a bit hard to type everything out. But still, I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated.
Thank you.