Sorry about the late update guys, I'll be moving house in about two weeks and starting my new job so just a heads up, updates might end up being a once-a-week thing.

Now, I give you, SHENANIGANS!

DECEMBER 24

"Okay… Dasher!" "Dancer" "Prancer" "Blitzen" "Don… Com… ah fuck."

This drinking game shouldn't be this hard. I tipped another shot down my throat and quickly chased it with my beer. We were at Rex's, the only bar in Stilwater that was guaranteed to be open Christmas Eve since about ninety percent of it's clientele weren't the kind to be singing carols around a fireplace. And considering neither me nor Gat really had family, it was where we found ourselves, celebrating the festive season the only way we knew how.

With vodka.

I blinked running through the names again then gasped, pointing accusingly at Gat.

"Wait a sec! It's not Blitzen! It's the other one!" I said and he cringed.

"Hoped you wouldn't notice," he said, tipping his own shot down his throat. I pushed my empty shot glass away, starting to feel my head spin. "Aight, we need a new game," Johnny said, starting to slur a little when he spoke. I twisted my lips thoughtfully.

"I only know one other drinking game," I mused, "but last time I got fucked in the first two minutes."

"Oh yeah?" Johnny asked with a wry smile, "Did you end up drinking at all?"

I snorted a surprised laugh into my beer and dropped my head to the table, smiling.

"Not sure if I want to hit you or high five you," I finally said as I looked up to him. I sighed; the bar was quiet and relatively deserted, though there were a few frat boys from the University at the pool tables, clearly the ones who hadn't wanted to go home for Christmas. Aside from that were a handful of the regulars, sitting alone, quietly drinking away whatever sorrows the festive season had brought them. Rex himself was on the bar tonight, quietly polishing a glass and watching the TV, some black and white Christmas movie was playing. I stood up.

"Gonna put on some tunes," I said, fishing for a few coins in my wallet, "Any requests?"

Gat drummed his fingers on his beer then nodded, "Only this, no caroling, no Kings of Leon."

I just nodded, meandering my way over to the currently silent juke box. The uni boys in the corner were starting to get pretty hammered and were making a lot of noise; you could always tell the ones who weren't regulars. Twisting coins in my fingers I leant against the jukebox, scanning the list of names and titles for something I liked. That's the thing about juke boxes, takes forever to find a half decent song in the mess of old radio hits.

"Hey darling," a familiar voice cooed behind me and I felt myself freeze up. Great. The guy swung drunkenly to stand next to me, leaning on the juke box and checking my song choices.

"Whoah, Nirvana, nice choice," he said, grinning charmingly at me. I looked him up and down as I tried to remember his name (can't even remember the guy's name, real classy…) he was dressed nicely enough, and still as moderately cute as I remembered, dark Italian colouring and all. Didn't change the fact I really had no interest in continuing the acquaintance, particularly not tonight.

"You should put on some Metallica-"

"You should go back to your table guy," I said icily. If I had to hear Enter the Sandman one more fucking time I'd scream.

"Whoa, hey, sorry, no disrespect baby," he said, not getting the hint. If anything he made himself more comfortable against the juke box. "Sorry honey, I didn't catch your name last time, you are…?"

"Uninterested."

He only laughed, "Cheeky one, aren't you? You know, I uh, actually play in a band-"

"Super."

"-And we got a gig coming up, I think it might be up your alley,"

I scowled. I hadn't come out looking for a fight tonight but if this guy wouldn't leave me alone I might have to send a message. What was his name? E something. It started with an E… Don't engage, I warned myself. Flattering as it was I wasn't going to give him any line.

"Hey, how'bout some Muse?" he said and I blinked, spying the song as he pointed it out and quickly punching in the numbers to add it to the playlist. Love Muse. He chuckled, "See? You got good taste girly,"

I rolled my eyes again – I could tell him off but this dickhead wasn't really worth my time. He went quiet after a while, just hanging around like a bad smell while I punched in other songs.

"What? Awe, Blink 182? I thought you were cool girl, you're breaking my heart here! Those guys suck!"

Oh THAT DOES IT! No one disses Mark Tom and Travis in front of me! I snapped around to look at him icily and he blinked, stepping back a little.

"Liste-"

"Everything alright here?' the dark voice purred from behind me. I felt Johnny standing over me suddenly and looked up to him; his gaze was trained on the other guy (Ezio! That was his name!) who'd gone a little pale seeing Gat.

"Nah, we're cool, just picking out some tunes," he said, then gave me a disgruntled look, "Didn't know the lady was spoken for."

I blinked and looked from him to Gat, and Ezio must've spied my expression.

"What? Oh she's not your girlfriend?" he said coolly to Gat, giving him a drunk grin and leaning against the juke box. I felt Gat's chest rumble with a growl and the stupid guy didn't stop talking, "I guess it's no real problem for me to talk to her then. So step off." Ezio finished, taking a swig from the bottle in his hand, the arm that was slung over the juke box moving as if it was about to move around my hips. I pulled away and spoke up before Gat had a chance to kill him.

"Take the fuckin' hint; I got no interest in seeing you again. Go back to your friends." I said calmly, "You've got no idea who you're fucking with here."

Ezio snorted, his pride truly beaten and he glared at me. Huh, and I thought I'd been nice about it.

"Oh, tough shit bitch, huh?" he slurred and quick as a flash Gat had moved me out of the way and was just about chest-to-chest with the guy.

"You talk to her like that again, I'm gonna throw you a beating," Gat snarled. I blinked; I shouldn't really have been surprised by this but I didn't really want Gat picking a fight tonight. I put my hand on his arm and he relaxed back a little, looking swiftly down at me as if to ask if I was sure. Unfortunately Ezio was drunk enough to be unafraid.

"What the fuck ever. You really think I'm scared of some slanty-eyed fuck and his little goth ho?"

There was a loud crack and Ezio all but screamed when Johnny's skull crashed down onto his nose, blood spraying everywhere. Johnny shoved him hard when he stumbled and the guy fell back onto a pool table, everyone around his booing and yelling at him when their game was messed up. A few of them recognised Ezio as their buddy and looked to Johnny, who was cracking his knuckles and neck. I sighed and stretched out my shoulders when I saw the guy's friends advancing.

Bar fight it was.

"Try not to kill'em" I said lightly to Johnny. He looked disappointed but nodded, and we launched into the fray just as Smells Like Teen Spirit came blasting out of the speakers. I ducked under a swing and returned it sharply with a jab of my own, turning and landing a heavy back-kick into a guy's stomach as he tried to get the drop on me from behind. Gat had started out simply but now he was pretty much throwing people. A few spectators were egging us on but most of the regulars at Rex's were just looking on with boredom from over their beer – this was nothing new to them. From the corner of my eye I could see Rex watching with a frown, edging towards where he kept his shotgun; I heard a loud shout from behind and dodged to the side, a beer bottle whistling past my head and shattering into someone else's face. Finally I was getting over fighting and not really wanting my favourite watering hole getting trashed; I'd just wanted a nice quiet night out, was that so much to ask?

I drew my gun and fired into the ceiling, and people started screaming and hitting the floor.

"Right." I shouted, levelling my gun at the frat boys, "All you motherfuckers out. Now." I said, and the guys started scrambling away, nursing their injuries. Johnny dominated the rest of the space, snarling at anyone who didn't move fast enough. I holstered my gun, looking over my shoulder to where Rex stood behind the bar, trying not to frown at me. I gave him an apologetic look but he just forced a smile and held up his hands, giving his head a slight shake.

"Didn't mean to trash the place," I said after a beat, then started rifling through my wallet, pulling out a few notes as I walked over to him. Rex pulled two more beers as I approached.

"Ain't no problem girl," He said, setting the glasses up in front of me as I dropped a few bills onto the counter. Enough to cover replastering the new bullet hole in the ceiling; I might be a gang leader but I wasn't a dick.

Four hours later me and Gat were stumbling along through the parking lot out the front of Purgatory slipping over the ice; I probably should have felt colder but all those vodka shots had done wonders for my thermoregulation (not that I would have been able to pronounce that word). Gat slid over to me, throwing an arm over my shoulder as I started for the elevator to get inside.

"Okayokay hold on, I got summin for you," he said, his words sloshing together a little. I blinked at him and let myself be led over towards the garage and he kept talking, "Before you ask, no, s'not for Christmas, it's a birthday thing."

We slipped into the side door of the garage rather than try and open the roller door. I narrowed my eyes through the darkness and fumbled blindly at the wall for the light switch, the dim fluorescent blinking on weakly, illuminating my Kenshin, Bootlegger,

"… Whoa, where's the Venom?" I said worriedly; there was a different car in its place, one covered by a really big calico blanket. Gat moved to the car and was smiling, gripping the fabric.

"Downtown loft," he informed me, "had to move it to make room for this one."

Then with a flourish worthy of David Copperfield, he threw the blanket back, the fabric sliding off the smooth metal of the vehicle beneath. I felt my jaw drop when I saw it…

"Your new car. You like it?" Johnny offered when I didn't say anything. I finally managed to choke out words.

"Holy shit Gat! It's a fucking Bezier!"

The car was beautiful. Pearlescent purple, with a black, flame-like design curling up from the front wheels; when I looked closer I could see they warped to subtly spell out 666 and I had to smile. Gat stumbled a little and leant against the car as he pulled the keys from his pocket, jangling them at me and grinning. I quickly closed the gap between us, reached out and took them.

"Seriously?" I said with a laugh, "Where did you get this thing?"

"EBay."

I felt a small laugh through my grin, and I quickly opened the driver's side door, slipping into the car. It smelt wonderfully new, and the seats were so comfortable… the passenger door opened and I felt the car shift as Gat dropped in next to me.

"Man…" I breathed, running my fingers over the steering wheel, "I wanna take it for a test drive but I don't think we'd even get out of the parking lot,"

"Eh, we'll just sit for a while," Gat replied, lounging back comfortably. Then he continued after a moment, his tone uneasy, "And uh, now I got you buttered up, I should probably tell you something…"

"I don't like the sound of this,"

Gat cleared he throat, "Shaundi… may have an idea that your birthday is coming up,"

I groaned and thudded my head against the steering wheel, "Oh shit, Gat, no."

"Look, she doesn't know the actual day or anything; she just wants to show she cares," he quickly tried to placate. I breathed out, too sleepy and drunk to stay riled up.

"Well, she's gonna do what she's gonna do…" I mumbled, then shot him a sideward smile, "smart of you to give me the car first," I leant over and wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug, and after a moment felt his slide around my waist, "Thanks Gat. It's awesome," I said happily, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Thought you might like it," he mumbled into my neck, and he ran a hand over my back comfortingly. I found myself reluctant to let go; he was warm, and smelt nice. But then, Gat wasn't a really huggy person and I didn't want to weird him out… I pulled back, though he seemed slow to release me, and I dropped back down into the driver's seat. We were quiet for a while, and I felt my eyes slipping closed; the car was warm and the seats were comfy, and I was pretty drunk. My fingers fumbled down the side of the seat, curling around the little lever; I yanked at it and the back of my seat dropped down a little. Ahh, well comfy now…

"You ain't goin' to sleep there are you?" I heard Gat say as I closed my eyes.

"Yessir I am," I replied quietly. I thought I heard him chuckle, then he shifted and the car jolted a little as he dropped the back of his own seat down. There was another long silence, and I was slowly drifting to sleep, my swirling head suspended somewhere between waking and dreaming. Eventually though, I was half stirred when Gat spoke.

"… Hey, that guy back at the bar…"

I blearily opened my eyes again, just barely, turning my head to look at him. He was staring up at the roof of the car, as drunk, but not as tired as me. I stifled a yawn, trying and failing to keep my eyes open and I let them slowly slip closed again.

"Hmn?"

"You know, how he was talking all that shit… do you ever think-"

I sleepily, blindly reached my hand out and rested my fingers on his forearm.

"Thanks for having my back," I said, trying not to yawn. Translation, shush, sleep time now. We were quiet for a while after that but as I was drifting to sleep, I thought I heard him keep talking. I've got no idea what he had been saying; I was already halfway into a dream.

DECEMBER 27

The day had sort of crept up on me; I didn't think I would care too much, but after jolting awake from a really weird dream and seeing the time on the radio clock next to my bed, 10:32 I dragged my carcass (still fully dressed from the night before) into the bathroom and reluctantly flicked the light on.

I sighed heavily, staring at myself in the mirror; my self-cut and dyed hair flopped over one eye, the rest of my hair dropping well past my waist by now with tips curling a little; I'd been unable to bring myself to cut it any shorter despite the ends being forever tangled and dry. I lifted my hand, pushing the locks out of my eye, staring hard into my reflection.

It wasn't the same girl looking back at me.

It wasn't a girl at all.

"Twenty four." I murmured. I studied my features – the weird little tuft of hair that was growing out over the gash I'd gotten in that car crash. The tiny, old scar that cut through my right eyebrow from the piercing I'd gotten and lost within a single week after having it get punched out of my face. The single freckle that sat just above the sharp cupid's bow of my lip, and my eyes, once sky blue, baby blue, now starting to drift to an icy blue-grey, losing their colour, but not their vibrancy. My gaze ran down my reflection to my clothes, the faded old camisole and tired, worn jeans, the purple canvas shoe with the hole in the side. I frowned. I was dressed like a god damn sixteen year old scrub. Scowling I began pulling off the rags, kicking the shoes and pants off till I stood there in my underwear, eyes scanning the skin marked with a thousand tales of criminal adventure. The burns that warped on the back of my legs and shoulder suddenly didn't seem so ugly – the light shimmer of scar tissue here and there looked as decorative as the new tattoos that crawled over my skin.

I looked back to my face, the woman in the mirror looking back at me with a slight frown. The straight nose that I used to wish was cuter and more button-like now looked perfect on me, elegant. My jaw, which I'd always wished was narrower, looked instead feminine and defined like my high cheekbones, playing homage to the East-European side of my blood, just as my inky hair, blue eyes and skin that refused to tan pandered to my Celtic heritage.

I touched my cheeks, wiping away a panda-eye left over from sleeping in my makeup, and then ran a hand through my hair again.

"I'm twenty four…" I muttered again. And surprisingly, I wasn't upset. I had been when I had woken up from that coma and felt robbed of my life, like a teenager thrown kicking and screaming into a woman's body and that the only upside was having bigger boobs.

But in that small space of time, I'd grown into it. I grimaced down at the clothes on the floor, kicking them out of the way and stepping back into my room, hunting through my wardrobe, wracked with an insane desire, a wild, unprecedented urge that I had never before felt.

I wanted…

…to go shopping.

"She ain't ever gonna go for this." Johnny said, striking a flame from his lighter and drawing on a cigarette, watching Shaundi with disdain as she sat with Pierce, checking things off lists, "You know she hates parties."

"Yeah, well, she's not going to hate this one." Shaundi assured him. Gat just raised an eyebrow.

"And why's that?" he drawled.

"Cos, you and Pierce are going to help me pick up her present. Which she will love." She said with a smile to him, Pierce grinning at him.

"Huh. What you got in mind? Cos I already got her a car." He said, matter-of-factly. Pierce only blinked at him.

"You bought her a car?"

"Got her a car," Johnny corrected with a sly grin. Shaundi chuckled.

"Never mind. Look. We've got a plan for this, but it's gonna be tricky; we'll need to take a few extras along for the drive back, I was thinking Carlos' old crew. And the target might be guarded. And… it's on the mainland." She said waving her hands and looking to Pierce. "You wanna give him the run through?" she asked, pulling out her phone to check texts. Pierce responded with a cocky laugh.

"Oh hell yeah. Johnny, you gonna love this one…"

DECEMBER 28

Gat's eyes narrowed as his foot pressed up on the gas, spying the bus ahead of him as the raw, frosted country landscape of the mainland whipped by him. Beside him, Jack was checking his gun nervously. Gat clicked the talkie on to get through to Pierce.

"Target in sight. You in position?" he said, increasing his speed and listening keenly.

"Good to go. Shaundi?"

"The Damsels are in Distress. Let's do this boys."

Johnny checked his rear view mirror, seeing Pierce's car close behind him. They rounded the corner onto the main stretch, catching a brief glimpse of Shaundi's car a half-mile down the road, her tiny distant figure wandering in the road, waving her hands. Ahead of them, the bus began to slow. Johnny grinned – Shaundi was dressed in the tightest of jeans and high heels, her thin parker fitted tightly to her, the hood up with a soft cap of fur surrounding her face and she was shivering dramatically as she leant against the 'broken down' car, and Tasha was sitting up on the bonnet, her long legs stretched out, languid. He'd seen pornos that had started less suggestively. He kept his speed, gaining on the slowing bus which eventually pulled to the side of the road…

Shaundi sighed dramatically, contorting her body into uncomfortably sexy positions and holding back a grin when she saw the bus slowing down, pulling over to help them, the poor, stranded women. The door opened, and the driver hopped out, a blonde haired middle aged man with a slight paunch. He took of his cap as he approached, blushing hotly.

"Scuse me ladies, you havin' some trouble?" he said with a smile. Shaundi pouted.

"Yes, we are…" she said with a sigh tossing her dreadlocks, "I just can't seem to work out what's wrong with this damn car!" she cooed miserably, eyes that were hidden by sunglasses darting far down the road as the sound of the boy's Bootleggers got closer. She walked to her car, leaning in through the window to reach for her guns, wiggling her ass suggestively just as Tasha slid discreetly off the hood. "And I can't even find the manual!" she called out hopelessly over her shoulder as her fingers gripped around a rifle. The driver cracked his knuckles.

"Well now, let's see if I can't work out what's goin on there little missy," he said, strutting over to the car. Shaundi spared a glance over her shoulder as the first jet black car shot by, suddenly screeching to a halt and skidding around to block the narrow road.

"What the-?" was all the driver managed to get out before Gat was out of the car, yelling at him to get on the ground. Shaundi whipped herself and her gun from the window, racing over and pressing the muzzle to the back of the driver's neck.

"Stay calm honey and we won't have to put a bullet in you." She said with a smile. Gat strode past her to the bus, hopping inside, and Pierce skidded to a halt behind them, blocking the bus' path backwards. He jumped from the vehicle, striding out with a shotgun in hand just as Reece slipped into the driver's seat.

"Hey, why're we stopped?" Dominic yawned, rubbing an eye as he woke up in his bunk. Chris and Matthew blinked over to him, their thumbs working away on xBox controllers that they were twisting and using to battle half-naked anime girls.

"Dunno man," Chris said, glancing down the hall of the bus for the driver then flicking his attention back to the game.

Dominic stretched his frame out, looking blearily down the hall. Suddenly a figure erupted up the stairs and onto the bus – it took a moment before the men realised the stranger was carrying a freaking rifle.

"Holy shit!" Matt shouted, jumping up.

Johnny strode towards the trio.

"Where are your phones!" he shouted, gun pointed at the startled men, who in shock pulled their phones from their pockets. "Throw them down!" he yelled, and they carefully tossed the cells to him, glancing to each other disbelievingly. Another man clambered aboard the bus, settling himself into the steering wheel and roaring the engine back into life.

"We good to go Johnny?" Pierce yelled over his shoulder.

"Yeah." Gat shouted back quickly, turning his attention back to the others. "Now you boys listen," Gat purred darkly, taking careful steps towards the trio, "You gonna take a little detour. Don't worry; it won't be for more than a night or two, and if you do what we tell you, we won't have to kill your asses and you can still make it to your New Years… whatever the fuck you do."

They blinked at him in freaky unison.

"Listen, please guy, we got famil-"

"So we understand each other. Good." Johnny said, lowering gun with a relaxed smile. "You boys got any beer? It's gonna be a bit of a ride back." He said with a smile. Matt, Chris and Dominic glanced towards one another.

"Uhh… bar fridge?" Chris said, nodding towards the narrow kitchenette.

DECEMBER 29

Shaundi's mouth twitched nervously with a smile as the Boss crossed her legs, staring out the window of the car as she was driven to the hideout.

"What?" the Boss stressed when she noticed Shaundi often smiling at her. Shaundi just chuckled, sparing her a sidewards glance.

"You actually did do something with your hair," she said slyly, quite surprised at the Boss' recent transformation, to which the other woman shook my head with a sardonic smile.

"So…" she said with a sigh, eyeing Shaundi off, "It's nine, and you're taking me back to the hideout and not telling me why. Am I right to assume this will be something I'm not going to like? You know how I feel about parties."

Shaundi rolled her eyes. "Listen Sir Buzz-Killington-Smyth, it's not a party, and you will like this; I'll stake my life on it."

"Deal." She replied coolly. Shaundi blinked nervously at her thinking for a moment she was serious.

"You look hot tonight," she complimented, eyeing the new outfit. The other woman shrugged.

"New clothes will do that." she added dismissively, but there was something about her slight smile that indicated she was secretly drinking in the accolade. It wasn't really a new look, but a more… mature one.

The Boss gave Shaundi a dark glare as they pulled up to the hideout, hearing loud base music pounding from inside, and spying a few people making out in the parking lot.

"Shaundi…" she warned in low tone. Shaundi just quickly waved her hands.

"Please, please Boss, just trust me. I staked my life on this, right?" she breathed quickly. The other woman merely narrowed her eyes, stepping out of the car regally and making her way to the elevator, turning her key to call it up. The heavy base of the music vibrated up from the floors below and the Boss rolled her eyes at Shaundi, who only patted her arm nervously. The elevator pinged open and the women stepped inside, doors sliding closed, the elevator dropping silently down into the hideout, music swelling as it did and erupting when the elevator doors parted. They walked out into the hallway towards the office, striding along to look over the staircase and banisters to the crowd below, already in the full swing of the party.

"Okay. This better get good soon," she shouted coolly over the music to be heard. Shaundi rolled her eyes, exasperated with her stubborn pessimism and started guiding her to the office where Gat and Pierce stood at the balcony, leant on the banisters and watching the party below. The both glanced up when they heard the women enter the room. Gat and Pierce froze for a moment when they saw the Boss enter, before slowly turning to greet her.

They could hardly recognise her. The long lank hair that usually flopped down around her waist was now immaculately styled, black on top but with generous chunks of purple flashing occasionally from underneath and cascading sexily down past her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. Her face, which was glowing like moonlight and elegantly made up, eyes lined in thick black makeup and lips shining with cherry gloss. Her shoes were knee high buckled boots, only inch-high heels, but that was more than she'd usually gone for, her jeans black, tight and perfectly fitted over her legs and hips, accented by a purple studded belt. Over that she wore a long black leather coat that came down to her knees, framing her figure beautifully – she slipped it off over her low-cut, fitted black top and lastly, a long, thin purple scarf, more for decoration than warmth, wrapped once around her neck and hanging down her figure.

The young woman looked to them both expectantly, oblivious to the hungry way they drew her figure in.

Shaundi spoke up first. "Happy birthday Boss," she cooed, following the leader of the Saints into the room. She tilted her head and smiled at her lieutenants.

"I thought you said this wasn't a party," she warned Shaundi, but there was a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"Well you know, she wasn't lying, not really," Pierce said with a smile, waving a hand over the balcony to the foyer below. The sofas had been pushed to the sides of the room and just off centre, a small make-shift stage had been set up. The Boss raised an eyebrow when she spied it, and the three figures who stood on it, clutching instruments and looking to each other nervously. She narrowed her eyes at them curiously, edging her way to the balcony edge, her jaw dropping slightly as she began to recognise the faces.

"…You didn't," she breathed, incredulous. Gat and her two lieutenants sidled up next to her, grinning at her reaction, the lights dimming for a moment at Pierce's indication.

There was the rattling of a hi-hat and with a dramatic roar from a guitar, the stage lit, and Muse struck out the opening riff to Starlight.

The trio grinned at their Boss, who was staring, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Holy shit…" she barely breathed.

"Shaundi's idea, Pierce's plan, my execution,"

"Fuckoff Gat,"

Shaundi went to add something but was interrupted by the sudden, unbelievably high-pitched shriek that erupted from the Boss' throat suddenly silenced when she slammed her palms over her mouth, trying to calm down. She released her face, her mouth a tight and determined line and her hands gripped the balcony railing and she stretched up onto her toes, eyes glistening. Johnny smiled and after a moment rested his hand on the small of her back, watching as she tried to stop herself from bouncing and swaying along to the old familiar tune.

Below them the crowd was jumping and dancing enthusiastically, showing their appreciation for the band by throwing cups and bottles of beer onto the stage which Matt and Chris nervously dodged. Eventually that song drew to a close, the last echoing guitar chord sailing out over the screaming crowd. Matthew stepped up to the microphone.

"Hi!" he greeted anxiously to the purple mass, all too aware that guns probably outnumbered people in that room, "Uh, this song goes out to the Leader of the Saints, it's call 'Please Don't Kill Us' and it goes like this,"

The Boss laughed as they started playing 'Supermassive Black Hole', but then she slowly stopped, taking a few steps back from the balcony and looking accusingly at her lieutenants.

"… Guys, how did you get them to play here?" she said. The trio glanced at each other, suddenly tense.

"Uhh…" they hunted for words but the Boss had already cottoned on.

"You kidnapped MUSE?" she shouted, her hands on her hips. They edged nervously.

"Now kidnap is an ugly word," Johnny offered with a nervous smile, "I prefer the term abduction."

The Boss' jaw was dropped and she stared at them.

"Guys…" she said, looking incredulous, "…this is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me!" she stepped back up to her suddenly relieved lieutenants who greeted her in a huge group hug. The Boss gave a huge and happy sigh, her cheeks flushed as she pulled her family in tighter around her.

Why? Because it's Saint Row and I can do what I want, that's why! :)