This was an unexpectedly long chapter. Thanks also to the guest reviews that I can't reply to directly! You guys are great.

"Freaks and misfits," said Kate. "That's what we are. Including myself, of course."

Johnny looked at her. "You're sounding real enthusiastic about this," he said.

"It's just – I get shooting up some Ronin as a way to prove how great I am. Stunt jumps, a little less. Towing some asshole's car because of a personal debt – shit, you can hire a fucking debt collector to do that."

Johnny sighed. "Katie – we don't have much of a choice. It's not like we got the resources to assemble a crack team of mercs or something. We've gotta work with what we've got. Plus Carlos is your boy, man, that one's on you."

She frowned. "He's so young," she said. "I feel weird about it."

"He's probably had more experience on the streets than you," said Johnny.

"What?"

"Well you didn't grow up in a gang family, far as I can tell. You were in for half a year five years ago and you're only just coming back in. You said Carlos had an older brother in the Saints, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think he's dead. Didn't want to ask."

"Well then he knows how things work. Doesn't matter how old he is."

She stared at him, unconvinced.

"I'm not saying he can handle himself better than you or anything," Johnny continued. "Though you – when you first joined the Saints – versus him now might be an interesting fight. Fuck, your canonisation was hilarious." He grinned. "You were all fuckin' elbows. Dex and I laughed about that for-" he paused, the smile sliding off his face. "For weeks," he finished.

"If you're getting nostalgic for laughing at me being a fuckup I'm going to punch you," said Kate. "Let's get the team together and work out what we're doing."

Johnny sneered at her, but got out his phone and began dialling.

An hour later, they were all gathered around the open fire in the middle of their new base. The marble stairs were crumbling, and there was a huge stone statue poised on the landing that had lost its arms.

She was uncomfortably aware of the space outside the room, extending back into the dark, silent ruins of the old city. The rooms overhead had holes in the walls and sometimes the floor, and the creaking as people walked across the floor above concerned her a little – but it was a start.

There were men and women she didn't know, who'd somehow heard about their nascent gang and decided to try their luck. She even thought she recognised a few faces, maybe prior Saints who'd missed their old ways and latched onto the gang when they heard about it – but she couldn't be sure.

They crowded around the fire, almost filling the room. Their faces were eager, questioning.

"What's happening?" Kate whispered to Johnny.

"Say something," he hissed back. "They're waiting for you to tell us what we're doing."

"What?" She stared at him. "Why me?"

"Because you're running this show, that's why."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Jesus." Johnny closed his eyes. "Tell them why they're here and what we're doing. It's not like you're holding a seminar or some shit."

"Alright," said Kate, her voice quiet in the silence. "Well, thanks – everyone – for coming." She paused. "The Saints used to be a big deal in this town – some of you might remember. We systematically eliminated every other gang in town over the course of a few months. We faced long odds, and we beat them. And we can do it again."

Kate was startled as a voice from the crowd behind her yelled out "Yeah!" This triggered a cheer that rose up around her. She waited for it to die down before she spoke again.

"Okay, so - let's talk about our first moves. Pierce, I want to put you on the Ronin, 'cause you seem to have some kind of background with them. Shaundi, I'm going to give you the Samedi-"

Shaundi gave an indrawn hiss of breath. "Really?"

Kate looked up at her. "Well I don't want to give them to Carlos."

"Why not?" Carlos asked, defensively.

"I just don't, okay?" said Kate. "Samedi have got some kind of drug distribution ring going on. Keep your head down if you're nervous about investigating it. I just want you to observe at this stage, I don't want anyone rushing off to get killed."

"Fine," said Shaundi. "Alright."

Kate turned to Carlos with a smile. "And that gives you the Brotherhood. Think you can handle it?"

"No problem," he said, his face solemn.

"What about Johnny?" asked Shaundi.

"He's-" Kate tapped her fingers together, trying to find the right word. "Resource. Trust me, it'll work better this way than having him focus on just one target."

There was a low hum of conversation around the room.

"And come to me if you have any problems," she added. "We'll sort them out."

They seemed to take it as their cue to disperse.

"Great speech," said Johnny. "You sounded like a little league coach. Real inspirational."

She glared. "Well next time, fucking warn me if I'm going to have to say something. I'm not Julius, okay, I can't pull inspiring speeches out of my ass on command."

Johnny snorted. "I don't think Julius could, either. Remember what Benjamin King said that one time? About Julius stealing his lines?"

Kate frowned. "Yeah, actually. Yeah. I'd forgotten."

"I've been thinking about what you said about Julius being some kind of janitor for Ultor," Johnny said.

"Custodian," Kate corrected.

"Same thing. Point is, something here ain't right."

"Why?" she asked. "Maybe he just wanted to fix his life up."

"Quick change of heart, don't you think?" Johnny said. "One minute he's all 'we run this fuckin' city' and then he gets picked up by the cops and the next minute he's working for those assholes who destroyed the Row."

"I really want to know what was happening in those last few weeks," said Kate, frowning. "Things got insane and then suddenly it's all over. Well, for me."

"Actually it was kind of like that for all of us," said Johnny. "Well, those that didn't drop their flags at the first sign of trouble."

"There was no succession plan," said Kate. "Well, there was, but it didn't really go far enough. That's why things fell apart."

"No what?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, who gets to be the leader if you lose your current leader, and everybody knows about it. You need, like, a proper plan instead of the last three assholes standing trying to figure out what's going on. Right now, if I die, it's going to you."

"Well, shit," he said. "Guess I have to make sure you don't die, then."

She grinned. "Well I'd appreciate it."

Johnny looked over her shoulder. "Looks like your boy wants to talk to you," he said. "I'll see you later. Call if you need anything. You know how it is."

She turned to see Carlos standing behind her, watching her with his large dark eyes.

"Hey," she said. "You need something?"

He looked at her, hesitantly, for a moment before answering. "Boss-" he began.

"Call me Kate," she said.

He took a deep breath, waiting until Johnny was out of earshot. "K-Kate," he said. "Can you- what am I supposed to be doing?"

"Oh!" her eyes widened. "Yeah. Sure. Okay, so. Three gangs in this city, as you'll know," she said "They're all going to have different areas of, you know, activities. Girls, drugs, cars, arms smuggling, money laundering, front companies, you know, that kind of shit. What I want you to do is do a little investigating. Find out what they're into, see what their game is. Suggest some ways of taking them down a notch or two. Find a way past their defences. See what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," said Carlos. "Think so."

She smiled. "Carlito," she said. "I don't expect you to just go to some neighbourhood and shoot everyone wearing red. Yeah, there's going to be trouble, but – I don't want you to put yourself in a position where you're going to get yourself killed, okay? Be careful. That's my number one rule."

He smiled back. "Okay. Kate." He paused. "Katie?"

"Oh, Carlito," she said. "Not yet. Maybe one day."

He looked away, with a grin. "Kate. I won't let you down."

True to his word, he was the first to call her after the meeting had ended and the new Saints dispersed.

"I got something for you," he said, proudly. "Maero wants to meet you. Down in the tunnels by the docks."

Kate froze where she was, phone held up to her ear. "Did you just go see him?" she asked, incredulously. "Ask him if he'd talk to me?"

"Yeah," he said, proudly. "That's right."

"Jesus fucking Christ," she said. "Well – shit. Alright."

Carlos met her at the entrance to the tunnels, a huge old building that now housed a gift shop. The words "Phantom Caves" were spelt out in gold above the entrance to the building. She could hear the waves crashing against the wharf, ships' horns sounding over the water.

"The fuck are we going?" she asked, following him into the building.

"It's a tourist attraction," he said.

She pushed her way past a group of old women gathered around a cheap sunglasses stand. "If it's so touristy, why are we meeting this guy here?" she asked. "You'd think he'd pick somewhere more isolated."

"Maybe he picked it because of that," said Carlos. "So you'd be less likely to start something."

Kate hesitated, turning towards him. "Yeah," she said. "That's not a bad theory."

They made their way down the metal steps and into the caverns themselves. Huge stalactites, worn smooth by years of water running over their surface, hung down from the cave roof overhead. Water poured down through holes in the rock.

It was still crowded, even once they'd dropped down a couple of levels. The air around them was damp, the chill of the rock encasing them sinking into their skin.

'How much further?" she asked, quietly, as they descended yet another flight of stairs.

"I, ah, don't know," said Carlos. "I'm not much of a tourist, you know? Haven't spent a lot of time down here."

Kate closed her eyes. "Alright," she said. "So we just walk around until – what, we-"

Carlos put a hand out to stop her.

Leaning against the stone wall up ahead was the biggest man she'd ever seen. His hair was a vibrant red, and his face was half-covered in a black and red tribal tattoo. He seemed to be alone. He stood up when he saw the two of them. Kate grimaced as she saw how big he was.

"Maero, I assume," said Kate, offering her hand to shake. Maero gripped it in a painfully tight squeeze. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

"And you've spoken to Carlos already, I take it," she continued, flexing her hand.

Maero shrugged. "This your crew these days?" he said, his voice a low rumble.

There was an insult in his tone, but she didn't take the bait. "Well, we had to filter out the police officers," she said, with a faint smile. She could feel Carlos' tension by her side.

Maero laughed. "I remember you. What you were. What you achieved. I think we could-"

"This way!"

There was a call from further up the trail. They all turned towards the sound of the voice.

"Police! Freeze!"

Kate reached for her gun, but Maero was already firing. She dashed after him, swearing under her breath. She paused behind a large stalagmite, then leaned out carefully and squeezed off two shots before ducking back into cover.

She heard Maero laugh. "Nice work," he said, before running off ahead.

Kate followed, but was panting by the time she'd climbed the third flight of stairs to the exit. Carlos was almost a flight ahead, but stopped when he noticed her leaning heavily on the rail for support.

"You okay, boss?" he said.

She gulped down air, willing her heart to stop pounding so hard. "The fuck did the police find us?" she gasped out. "We weren't followed. We weren't fucking followed."

"Anyone know you were coming?" asked Carlos.

She frowned, thinking about Troy. "No," she said, and then "no," again, more certainly.

"You think he called them?"

Her frown deepened. "That doesn't really make sense either," she said. "Fuck it. We need to catch up to him."

By the time they reached him again, Maero was in the gift shop, pinned down behind a rack of tshirts and stalagmite hats. Kate took a half-step out of cover and fired off her full clip, covering Carlos, who ran out behind her shooting, taking out the remaining officers.

"Not bad," said Maero. "For someone who's been in a coma. Follow me, we'll head back to our HQ."

They ran out the door.

The Brotherhood's hideout was at the docks – and wasn't much of a hideout to start with. Gang members wearing red were scattered around outside the warehouse, smoking, talking, leaning on their cars.

Kate smiled tightly but blankly at them as they passed, focusing on escape routes, who was packing, what she'd have to do if things turned bad-

"Donnie," said Maero, startling Kate out of her concentration. "You done with my truck yet?"

Kate's eyes widened as she looked down at the mechanic. Donnie caught her wide-eyed stare, and turned to look at her. He froze. He looked older – there were wrinkles around his eyes and his face was thinner, and his hair had a red tint instead of blue, but it was unmistakeable.

Maero frowned. "You two know each other?"

Kate hadn't seen Donnie since that last glimpse of him before the lid of the car trunk closed. "We've – met," she managed.

Donnie was still staring at her, his eyes wide and full of horror.

She could remember the sound of the waves slapping against the car as it slowly sank. Maybe he could too.

"It's – it's good to see you," she said. "Alive. I guess."

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "You too."

"Well wasn't that heartwarming," said Maero. "Come inside."

There was a skinny blond guy in the corner, strumming on a guitar. A red-headed girl greeted Maero with a kiss, then turned to the visitors.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Jessica."

The situation felt – disarmingly friendly. Like meeting an acquaintance's girlfriend. "Kate," she said in response. "Nice to meet you. This is Carlos."

Jessica's eyes slid to Carlos for a fraction of a second, then back to Kate. "You look familiar," she said.

Maero laughed. "That might be because she's been in the news lately."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "From – I don't know. Did you go to Stilwater University?"

"Not at any time in the past five years," said Kate.

"Huh," said Jessica. "I'll figure it out."

"If you two have finished getting acquainted," said Maero.

Jessica smiled brightly. "Sure," she said, and sat down in the corner.

"So," said Maero. "It makes sense to work together. I was thinking an 80/20 split, seeing as you're just getting started and we're going to be pulling most of the weight."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "That's a little lower than I was really looking for."

"As a show of goodwill," he said. "I'm willing to go up to 70/30. Seeing as you showed you can handle yourself."

Kate cast a glance back at Carlos. "Yeah," she said, slowly. "I feel like we might be better off going it alone."

Maero snorted. "Your choice," he said. "Good luck."

"Oh, it's not luck," said Kate, turning towards the door. Her tone was clipped. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again. But in the meantime-" she paused. "It might pay for you to understand that there is nothing you can possess that I cannot take away."

She walked out the door, Carlos close behind.

"Donnie," she said, loud enough for Maero to hear. "Come with me. Now."

Donnie looked up at her, alarmed. "What? No!"

She fixed him with an unsmiling stare. "I want to talk to you about Lin."

"L-lin?" he asked, quietly, almost breathlessly.

"That's right," she said. "This is a one-time offer. Come with me, now, or never find out what she wanted you to know."

Donnie stood up, shakily. "Okay," he said.

Kate smiled. "Bring your car," she said, cheerfully. "And follow us. We'll talk once we're back home."

Donnie left his tools where they were and stood up.