This was by far, the hardest chapter I have written so far. I've revised this chapter over and over for the past week, and it was really hard to write. Again, it's another chapter that'll change the plotline greatly, and I hope you all enjoy it.
I've been trying to improve my writing style by reading some of the Saints Row stories in the archive like Forever A Saint (Which BTW is amazing and is a must read) and have made some changes in my narrative style. As we follow the story with the Boss, we will now also follow the story with Johnny in some parts, so I hope you all enjoy that.
Leave a review at the bottom and I hope you enjoy!
A few hours passed after the Boss and Shaundi were reunited with Tommy Quiver, and after a long drive throughout the streets of Hampton Heights, the Saints reached the safe-house that Kinzie had told them to head to as a backup to the original plan; the Boss had asked for one as he knew that there was far too much at stake. Far too much to lose to someone like Edgar in a strange city like Stalicoast.
The trio had set up a base inside the small apartment close to the coast of the island, and the Boss and Shaundi were planning how they would escape the city, after they rescued their friend Oleg of course. It was Pierce's turn to patrol the area, to make sure that none of Edgar's men were close to discovering where the Saints were hiding, but strangely, Pierce was taking longer than he usually agreed for his shift.
It was not like Pierce to willingly risk his life when it wasn't needed, and especially when there were others who were prepared to step in for him. The Boss however, dismissed this thought, as Pierce wasn't his main concern right now; it was Shaundi.
"Give me the knife Shaundi!" The Boss demanded, Quiver was tied to a chair and had accepted defeat at the hands of the Saints, but Shaundi didn't care, as she still wanted her revenge, and held a knife firmly against Quiver's doubled-chin.
"No Boss! We have to end this today!" Shaundi protested, the Boss was trying to circle around her but she kept moving in the opposite direction around Quiver, and as their arguing grew louder, the Skipper had finally woken up.
"Stop! Help me!" Quiver quickly grew frantic as the first sight his eyes were laid on was the light sharp knife already piercing his skin, and his fear only gave Shaundi more of a reason to kill him once and for all. "This is not the deal…I should be on a helicopter now, heading back to the headquarters…"
"Then tell us where your friend will be…And we'll let you go…" The Boss suggested, he had managed to push Shaundi away from the chair and took the knife away from her, then decided to try and interrogate Quiver. He was the only person in that room who actually believed Quiver would give a straight answer.
"My only bargaining chip, and you think, I'll just hand it over and let you take control?" Quiver mocked, he began to laugh until Shaundi lunged herself at him and began trying to squeeze both of his eyeballs with her thumbs. The Boss managed to shake her off, eventually, though the blood pouring out of Quiver's left eye-socket showed that the damage was still done. But in Shaundi's eyes, it wasn't enough, even though she was the one with better eye-sight now.
The Boss grew tired with Quiver's arrogance towards him, and kicked the chair onto the floor near the wall, and told Shaundi to sit on the couch and to stay away from him. She agreed, reluctantly. He brought out his phone and began calling Kinzie, hoping that she would be able to help them through the situation.
"Kinz, it's me."
"Where the hell have you been? What's happened?" Kinzie began; she had been worried throughout the entire night over Oleg and her friends, but little did she realise that the next conversation she was going to have with her faithful leader would devastate her.
"Shit happened Kinzie, everything fucked over…There was more to the weapons deal than we were led to believe by your intel, Killbane is now dead and Angel is allied with Winslow. We've lost contact with Oleg, and we're hoping to set up a prisoner exchange with Quiver for Oleg." The Boss replied, there was a long five minute silence after he ended the explanation, then Kinzie finally returned after calming herself down.
"Then we'll have to send in reinforcements-Wait twenty mintues and I'll send Viola and Farid to your location-You'll be able to storm the whole island-And-" Kinzie tried to decide, but she was growing even more anxious at the minute and wasn't thinking as logical as she normally did. The Boss cut her off and explained further what he needed from her.
"If we send in reinforcements, we'll alert all of Edgar's men and the boys will all be fresh meat for Edgar…Oleg is his hostage as well Kinzie, we cannot give him the heads up to kill anyone; we've got to this our way." The Boss interrupted, in the background, Quiver snickered at his planning, infuriating the Boss enough to spit on his face whilst holding the phone.
"You're right…" Kinzie whimpered, the tone of her voice dropped and the Boss began to hear the sensitive side of her speak out for the first time. She was always slightly head strung and dedicated to assisting the Saints with her intellect and technological skills; now she was lost and concerned deeply for her friends, and had no idea how to save them.
That was the quality she respected the most in the Boss; no matter what situation he landed the gang in, he'd always find a way out, and would never let her down. Always.
"There is one thing you could do that'll save us a few bullets though; send one of our boys over in a plane and sweep the whole island; pinpointing the enemy will be good for us and it'll help to tell where the best place for an evac will be." The Boss concluded, Shaundi sat amazed at his planning and both ladies were relieved when, despite the situation the Boss and Shaundi were in, the leader still knew how to move forward.
"Got it, dispatching a few members from the northern island now. They're running off, into the plane, willingly risking their life, for Oleg's…I-I can never understand this…" Kinzie started, she seemed more confident in the Boss but was still lost in her own thoughts. "I can never understand how every day, we can let more and more Saints run off to fight for us when they could just die in the blink of a second…"
"They're soldiers Kinzie, brave trustworthy soldiers that deserve everything they fight for. Oleg is no different in heart, but he puts more on the line then the rest, and that's why we respect him more-" The Boss tried to help Kinzie understand his view on the risks each of his friends pay every day for the gang, for him.
"-I know that, and that's the problem…All he cares about is protecting us. Me. You. The Saints. Everywhere he goes; he's either fighting for us, or enjoying himself with us. I thought, having a baby together, it would change the part of him that would put everyone else first before himself…So that he would have a reason to want to make sure he'd live the next day, instead of willingly stepping in to save everyone…"
The Boss almost dropped the phone when he heard Kinzie's words, and he never thought for a moment about the damage Oleg's job in the Saints actually had on Kinzie. He fell onto the arm of the couch, and Shaundi looked on as he slid his arm onto the cushion on the chair. Quiver sat behind the two, amused at their suffering.
"I'm a couple of weeks pregnant, and trying to figure out what to do with the baby; what name to call it, what clothes to buy it, what school it'll go to, but Oleg; he never talks about it. I ask him what he wants more, a boy or a girl, but he just works his way out of the conversation and focuses his attention on the Saints, on you…"
"Kinzie, I give you my word that when the baby comes, when he stands in the operating room of the hospital…When he's holding the small fragile kid in his large paws, he'll be a different man. Completely. This is something he's never done before, maybe inside…He's scared. Terrified."
"The man who fought through Afghanistan and some parts of Russia, and managed to survive being tortured by Loren? None of that fazed him, and you think he'll be terrified of a baby?"
"It's something new, new for you both…He's never been a family guy before, I know I'd be pissing myself if I got told I was going to be a father…Give him time Kinzie, he'll come around."
"You can't ever be sure he'll come around…You think everything can be alright with time, don't you? Even with what happened to Tag, you still th-"
The Boss fell onto the rest of the couch, and Shaundi sat trying to push him back up, but struggled. Talking about Tag was a deep issue for the Boss, and Kinzie knew that he never wanted to bring up what had to be done for the poor clone; it both troubled the Boss and worried him.
"You know I didn't have a choice about that Kinzie…The guy was…Fucking lost! He needed it the most and nobody else was going to do it, were they? Had to be fucking done…" The Boss cried, he brought himself back up and sat straight on the chair, with Shaundi keeping her eyes firmly on the Boss.
"I'm sorry, it's just Oleg, I don't want that little asshole to kill him; I'll be doomed." Kinzie muttered, she had let out all of her rage onto the wrong man, and was trying to resume her role in the Saints again. She needed Oleg to change as a person, but he wasn't the only one who needed to change. Little did the former FBI agent know how much bringing a baby into the world would truly change her life. Forever.
"He won't Kinzie, you have my-" The Boss tried to plead, but a startling ringing drove through the Boss's ears, and he couldn't hear himself think. He searched across the room, and found the noise to be coming from Quiver's pants. Shaundi drove her hands into his pockets, and found a phone. The fat bastard had a phone on him, all this time, and didn't mention it.
"Little fat bitch…From this point on, you have to fucking TELL US, if you want to fucking breath!" Shaundi roared, she punched Quiver in his plump face and began trying to dislodge his jaw, until remembering the phone, then picked it up and handed it to the Boss.
"I guess this is the answer to our fucking problems…But this better not be bugged with a fucking tracker system you piece of shit!" The Boss settled, he looked at the name of the number on Quiver's phone, and found that it was the Boss's new favourite person in the whole world; Edgar.
"Listen up bitch, you may have one of my guys, but I've got your moneybags right in front of me, and if you want him to live, you'll do exactly as I say…Head to the Abandoned Storefront east of here, and come with nobody else but Oleg…If you don't do any of this, you'll be seeing a fat little dead man floating in the fucking ocean…See you soon, bitch."
…
20 Minutes Earlier
Hours had passed after the Saints had tried to ambush Edgar Winslow and Tommy Quiver in the weapons deal, but Edgar was able to predict what the Butcherer would try to do next, as in a way, he planned for the Boss to find him in Stalicoast. It wasn't because he wanted to be killed or wanted the attention; somehow, Saint Lieutenant Kinzie Kensington discovered Edgar's weapons auction in the warehouse and had tried to kill him, and it was all because one person told them.
It was obvious to the soldier who this man was.
A horde of Saints had tried to invade the warehouse, but to their horror, explosives were planted in preparation for their attack, and Edgar managed to slip away once more. He ran out of the warehouse through one of the backdoors with Angel and his assassin, whilst Quiver simply cowered in the warehouse and tried to find his own way to escape Shaundi's wrath.
The trio ran out of the back of the warehouse and stood on the main road of the street, and Edgar looked down where he saw the Butcherer of Stilwater, in the distance, running into an alleyway.
"Not this time Butcherer, but very soon, you will suffer once more. Every man has a weakness, and yours is already in my pocket." Edgar mumbled to himself, he was tempted to chase the Boss down the street and fight with him once and for all, but he knew he had to bide his time, and calculate his next course of action.
"What happens now?" Angel asked, his motives were now unclear as the main objective of his life since leaving the Luchadores was now completed; kill Killbane. Most men would be lost in trying to refill the empty void in their life, but Angel knew it would fill easily, and was a man who could move on from anything in life.
"Now, we tie up loose ends. Your former leader could not give you what you wanted, but I could, and did. You and Killbane led the Luchadores, trained the young boys into respectable fighters and helped them stand on their own two feet…Until Killbane took advantage of their naivety. Perhaps now, you may lead a part of my organisation, and teach my young soldiers morality and what they should be fighting for; themselves." Edgar replied, each of his words struck Angel with surprise, and the wrestler stood with an astonished look underneath his mask at Edgar; he realised that he wasn't a gangster that wanted power and control, he wanted respect and to change the people of his country forever.
"I will, though just because you handed me Killbane, doesn't mean I fully trust you yet. I want to know that you will be loyal." Angel replied, he was already convinced to join Edgar, but he need to hear Edgar tell him that he will not try to kill him. Edgar's assassin stood silent behind his leader, his feet tapping on the ground suggested to Angel that he was bored. Edgar however, paid no attention.
"You have my word Angel; I will lead you into battle and fight alongside you into battle, just like with all of my other soldiers." Edgar placed his hands on Angel's shoulders and gave him a calm nod, then looked towards the other direction of the street he was on, and saw a few faint figures approaching him.
"Now it is time for you to see who you will be leading. Razor, introduce Angel to the others and take him onto one of the helicopters that will be coming down soon."
Razor looked to his leader and nodded, then turned his attention to his new boss and told him to follow him down the street, almost with an aggressive and jealous tone. Edgar smirked as he knew how much it pained Razor to let someone else run his gang, but it was necessary as Razor did not have the qualities of a true leader. In some ways, Razor reminded Edgar of Johnny Gat.
Razor and Angel disappeared into the distance as they walked past two men, and within seconds some of the helicopters landed behind a group of skyscrapers and warehouses, seemingly for Razor and Angel. One of Edgar's right hands shook his hand as they met each other after so long, whilst Johnny stood with his arms crossed, showing his resentment for his new boss.
"Han, will your men be ready to sweep the island?" Edgar asked, the Chinese warlord looked to him with a grin on his face as he placed a cigarette in-between his crusty ragged lips, and drew out a phone from his leather black pants.
"Is that even a question? The Golden Dragons will always be ready for war; as soon as I give the order, they'll burn the island to the ground…" Han replied, Johnny looked at the Chinese commander with disgust in his face, not only was this man going to burn hundreds of innocent people on the island to death, just to find the Saints, but he was also going to do it just for Edgar's approval.
"You won't find them…They'll be long gone by now." Gat sneered; he unfolded his arms and focused his attention on Edgar, whilst Han rolled his eyes in disbelief.
Gat unzipped his dark red jacket and revealed the white tank top underneath, and judging from the unnecessary force he used to unzip the jacket, Edgar concluded that Johnny did not like the clothing he had given his new lieutenant.
"No, they'll still be here, hiding somewhere. You think you know your leader better than I do, but you are wrong. All he cares about is getting his own way and whether or not he is winning a fight; I have one of his men as a hostage, which will annoy him enough to try and strike back, in hope to try and change the tide…Fool."
"I'm not really a hostage Winslow; you let me walk freely wherever you go. I could run any minute I want, the only reason I'm still here to keep an eye on you, not the other way round."
"Of course…It is not because you are concerned of one of my other hostages; the young boy?" Johnny's face tightened with anger and the Saint was about to break the soldier's nose, but then stopped when he saw a helicopter landing in front of him, with more of Edgar's soldiers in that were heavily armed. It wasn't that he felt outnumbered or outgunned; he was concerned of Pierce's son.
"Ah, they are here…Good, the Dragons are here. Now, we can be-"
Before Edgar could finish his sentence, Johnny was relieved to listen to the asshole when his phone started to bleep, and after checking the number, he found that it was Quiver, who had strangely disappeared during the ambush. Before Edgar had the chance to ask him where he was, a familiar voice spoke on the other line;
"Listen up bitch, you may have one of my guys, but I've got your moneybags right in front of me, and if you want him to live, you'll do exactly as I say…Head to the Abandoned Storefront east of here, and come with nobody else but Oleg…If you don't do any of this, you'll be seeing a fat little dead man floating in the fucking ocean…See you soon, bitch."
The call ended, and Edgar placed the phone back into his pants pocket, then looked to Johnny with a smug look on his face, whilst the latter simply turned his back away and looked to the helicopter that had finally landed.
Two goons dressed with yellow shirts and black vests emerged, whilst pushing a young boy in front of them with the tips of their assault rifles. Johnny quickly ran to the boy and kept him away from the arrogant thugs. The boy still did not speak or let the gangster touch him, but allowed him to guide him away.
"It seems as though there will be a change in the schedule everyone…Chang, have your warriors overlook the Abandoned Storefront on the rooftops and set up explosives across the roads." Edgar turned his attention to Johnny, who stood in front of Pierce's son, trying to shield him from any surprise attack from Edgar.
"You two will get into that helicopter and head back to the headquarters-Your time will come soon, but not now…"
Chang walked away with the two goons into the gloomy night, whilst Johnny reluctantly entered the helicopter with the boy. He sat with his arm around the child's shoulders, whilst giving Edgar the middle finger.
No matter what situation he found himself in, Gat would never stop telling people what he really thought of them.
…
"Shaundi? Are you in position?" The Boss asked over the phone, he was standing in the parking lot of the Abandoned Storefront with Quiver, waiting for his enemies to reveal themselves.
"I'm moving to the roof of the north building-I've messaged Pierce, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet…Probably trying to keep a low profile and doesn't want to alert anyone nearby." Shaundi replied, the Boss began pacing when she did not answer his question. Quiver stood behind him, chuckling at him angrily.
"Great…Keep me updated, and if you see any of Edgar's goons, get the fuck outta before you're seen, or they'll kill Oleg."
"Got it."
The Boss let out a deep breath and shivered as the cold breeze from the coastline hit him in the face. For the first time in months, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, then blew out a puff of smoke directly into Quiver's face, causing him to cough until his throat couldn't take it.
"It didn't have to be like this Quiver…Sure you would still be working for Quiver and we would have killed you eventually, but now we're gonna have to break your fucking mind 'cause of what you did to Shaundi…" The Boss muttered, he glared at Quiver who appeared more nervous than the Boss, but despite this, his arrogance did not fade in the face of fear.
"'What I did'? Can't even say it can you? 'Rape'. I did it, because Eddie owed me big time and that was just one helluva present to pay me back. You won't have a chance to kill me; after this, I'm running, running straight back home where you'll never find me. Then I'll return, return for Shaundi, and there won't be anything you can do about it…"
The Boss drew out his pistol and smacked him in the nose with the bottom of his gun, and as the fat businessman fell to the ground, he began kicking him aggressively, and started to lose his touch on reality.
"You don't even care do you?" The Boss roared, Quiver was getting to him, and he was forgetting the plan. "She was in fucking pieces you bastard, she's lucky to still be alive! That shit is never gonna happen again…"
"Oh…It will, and you won't be able to stop it next time."
Before the Boss had a chance to strike him again, the sounds of footsteps caught his attention, and he grabbed Quiver from the ground tightly to his chest, holding the pistol to his head, and watched as Edgar emerged out of the darkness, with Oleg.
The Russian Saint looked dreadful; there were bloodstains all over his clothes, burn scars on his face and a few bullet holes in his shoes. Oleg also had his hands tied, but with more rope than Quiver, and Edgar had a shotgun trained on his stomach. His eyes looked down towards the Boss, and for a moment, they looked happy, relieved even, but then they fell further down towards the ground, almost as a sign of defeat.
"I knew I would see you soon…Are you not delighted to see me Butcherer?"
"Fuck off Edgar, I don't give a fuck what you think right now, just hand over Oleg and I'll hand over this fat little bastard…"
"And let you gain the upper-hand on me? No, you hand over Quiver, then I'll hand over this…Monster…Although, I already have gained the upper-hand over you…Do you not realise Butcherer? There is a…Traitor, in your midst, and you do not even realise…"
The Boss stood in shock at his words, and for a brief moment, he actually thought his skin was starting to crack in his nemesis's face, like a broken mirror spelling out years of nothing but bad luck. At first, he thought Edgar was referring to Angel, but if Edgar had prepared for his ambush, someone else must have been the traitor and warned him of the plan. Despite this however, the Boss was able to keep his attention to the matter at hand, and towards his well-valued lieutenant.
"Shut the fuck up Winslow! Now hand over Oleg!"
The two gang leaders grew aggressive at each other as they tried to control the situation more than the other, until Oleg spoke out, which was reason enough for the Boss to be silent.
"Calm down, both of you…We'll both walk over at the same time, untouched by each opposing side, and leave quickly without any signs of violence. Understand?"
"Deal…And I thought you were nothing more than an oversized thug. Go then, before I change my mind and kill you." Edgar replied, he seemed unwilling to let Oleg go free, but knew that it was a compromise he had to pay if he wanted Quiver away from the Saints. He knew far too much of Edgar's plans, and defeat would have come quicker if the Butcherer still had control of him.
The two hostages began walking towards the opposite side, with Quiver slightly jogging in fear towards Edgar, and Oleg limping slightly towards the Boss. Quiver reached Edgar before Oleg could reach the Boss, and Edgar raised his arms in the air for the Golden Dragons to rain fire on the Saints. His calculations were once again exact; if Quiver had already been killed by the Boss, he could have took the Butcherer out there and then, but if he hadn't, then the Boss would have been even more weak and vulnerable to hurt.
"Shit! Oleg! Get here now and I'll get you out of here! Hurry!" The Boss began shouting over the shoots of the machine guns, but Oleg did not respond, which the Boss quickly assumed was because he could not hear him. He ran towards the 'Russian Superman' to try and help him. He took a few bullets to the shoulder, but brushed them off quickly and tried to help Oleg walk forward but struggled due to his superior height and weight.
"No Boss…It is too late. Leave me…Get out of here now before you are killed…"
"Don't be stupid Oleg! We're in this together! You're a father now, I have to get you out of here!"
"A father…It is, a blessing finally, after all these years of pain and torment…I would never become the ordinary family figure-like father the child would need; it is best that Kinzie moves on and finds someone suitable for them…All those years of teaching the child, how to ride a bike, how to read and write, how to handle a shotgun…No, it is not for me. Kinzie will be a natural mother…
But you, despite my failure, you still want to help me?"
"You're my friend Oleg, and I'm not leaving you! You didn't fail me-You've never failed me! I failed you, now come on, we have to get out of here!"
Tears began to roll down his face as he tried to shield his leader from the bullets, whom tried to tuck at his suit jacket to bring him forward. Was he really crying? Crying for his family? Crying for his Boss?
"You are…An unforgettable, and irreplaceable friend…I have learnt, so much from you, and none of it has ever been wasted…Give my love to Kinzie, tell her of my sacrifice and to never forget my love…And please Boss…don't ever change…"
"Oleg!"
Oleg tore off his suit jacket with his fists, and the bullets started to fly on the former KGB member. The Boss fell onto the ground, looking up in amazement at his friend, who was brushing off the bullets and not giving the goons any satisfaction of defeat. A true fucking legend for the Third Street Saints. The Boss looked towards his purple sweater, and after noticing a flashing red mark, he realised what Oleg was trying to achieve.
He must have had an explosive with him all this time, and was planning to give the ultimate sacrifice for the Saints. For Kinzie and his son. For the Boss. Before the Boss had the chance to claw it away, Oleg began charging towards Edgar and Quiver who were trying to sneak away in the confusion of the attack, but a few pellets from Edgar's shotgun stunned Oleg as blood dripped from his knee, but this did not keep him down. It could not keep him down.
"You cannot defeat me! I will fall, but only by my allowance, and not by you! Do you know who I am? I am a fucking fa-"
Before he could finish his sendiment, the Boss felt something grabbing onto both of his shoulders, and pulling him away from the area, as Oleg grew smaller and smaller into the distance. The noises of the machine guns still blazed in the Boss's ears, but he had finally lost his senses as the moment became even more surreal. He struggled to keep himself awake, and as he began to close his eyes, he thought of Oleg. Just Oleg. Thought of the last words he had said to him. Kinzie was right; he was more devoted to the Saints than he was to his family. It pained him.
It pained him more than the fiery explosion that had knocked him out. Thankfully he couldn't think or he would have realised what had caused the explosion.
Oleg Kirrlov always had his back, from the day he saved his life in Syndicate Tower to the day he died. There was nothing more that he wanted to do now in his life; he had friends, good friends that knew about his past, but still respected him for it. One even loved him with that knowledge, and was going to have a child with him. But he took the sacrifice. The sacrifice that would help the rest of the Saints survive the war they would have, with Edgar.
He took that burden to the grave. Gladly. Like the irreplaceable soldier he was.
…
"Boss! Wake up! I'm begging you man! Wake up!"
The Boss could hear a familiar voice shouting at him, then when the man started slapping him in the face, he remembered his name and whispered it in his face. Pierce Washington. He must have found the Boss, saved him from Edgar, he must have been planning that all along.
The Boss found that he was being dragged to a landing helicopter by Pierce and Shaundi, and they carefully lay him into the back on one of the chairs, in front of the one person he did not want to talk right now.
"Where is he? WHERE'S OLEG?"
"Kinzie…There's something he wanted me to tell you…"
The flight back to Stilwater was a long and painful one, and there was never a moment in which Kinzie didn't let the waterfalls rain down her face. Would anything have changed if the Boss had said something different? Yes. If the Boss had told her the truth, if he had told her what Oleg had actually said, she would have thrown him out of the helicopter, and shot him to death herself. She was right all along; Oleg was more devoted to the Saints than he was to his family, but she didn't need to know the truth. She needed the lie, and only the Boss could have given her that. One day she could hate him all she wanted, but for now, she needed to be strong, strong for what was about to come.
As Shaundi rested her head on Pierce's shoulder in the passenger seats, each of them with their own silent tears, Kinzie rested her head onto the Boss's shoulders, tired of where her life was going. She was feeling many types of pain inside of her, but one feeling, one sensation caused her to jump.
"I…I think it just…Kicked."
I was aiming to try and make at least one person cry for Oleg and Kinzie at the end of this chapter; really hoped :D Please, please leave a review as that's what I'm loving the most. Chapter 12 will be up soon and I'll be sure to review your stories if you'll be reviewing mine!