What's the Plan?

Author's note: Happy New Year, everyone! Here I am back with another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Also, this will be split into two perspectives. With some parts touching on Liz, and others will be centered on Franklin.

Franklin took off and left Liz all by her lonesome at his home. He told her to call up any friends to see if she could spend some time with them while he is out trying to sort stuff out.

It had been a rough few days for him and Liz, as they had been facing a major dilemma on their hands. With Liz's ex Alonzo wanting to earn his stripes, the obsession had hit a major point that he was willing to not only kill both Franklin and Liz, but also their friends and family.

Liz couldn't be anymore scared for herself, but she had to keep head up high. She was too stressed out to even go to school or work. But it was a Friday and she didn't have classes on that day. She didn't want to be alone. She was afraid that some of the Vagos would invade and try to kill her right then.

But she had to think positively. Even though she feared that Franklin was about to head into Rancho on his own, he was not stupid. There had to be a plan. But what was the plan?

In the meantime, she looked through her contacts to see if she could try to hang out with them at the moment. She could try reaching out to her friends Lupe and Cecilia, but it was still morning and they were likely at work. She then came across a person that she didn't expect to want to contact.

I could see how she is doing. I just need someone to talk to right now, even though we're not that close, at least not yet. She thought. But she made the call and the call went through.

"Hello, Liz?" A girl's voice said.

"Tracey, hey, how's it going?"

"Going fine. This is kind of weird. You called me pretty early."

"Yeah, well, Franklin's out right now," Liz said. "I am at his house. He needs to take care of some stuff. I was wondering if you want to meet up at Bean Machine."

"Sure, I would like to do that," Tracey said. "Which one would like to meet at?"

"Hold on." Liz then looked on the app for EyeFind Maps and found one on Eclipse Boulevard in West Vinewood. "Let's meet at the one on Eclipse and Strangeways. Does that sound good to you?"

"Sure thing," Tracey said. "I'll meet with you in a bit."

"See you in a bit," Liz said. The calls had ended. She then got her keys to her Gauntlet. She didn't just choose that location because it was the closest for her at the moment, but she was also certain that none of Alonzo's friends would scope out the areas of Vinewood or Rockford Hills.

MEANWHILE…

Franklin had headed into East Vinewood. He pulled into the cab depot on Mirror Park Boulevard and Tangerine Street. It appeared that the main thing he wanted to do was get an explanation from the manager/dispatcher at the depot.

He got off his bike and then quickly walked towards the front entrance of the depot with his helmet in hand. An Asian female receptionist looked up and jumped at the sight of Franklin right in front of her.

"Mr. Clinton, what a surprise," the receptionist said.

"Where's Raul? I need to talk to him," Franklin said.

"Oh, he's in his office right now," the receptionist said. "Business is slow right now. He hasn't received any calls right now."

Just when he heard that, without any words, Franklin rushed towards Raul's office and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for the door to open as Franklin faced an overweight Mexican man with light tan skin and shoulder length black hair. The man also appeared to be in his late-30s or early-40s.

"Mr. Clinton, this is a surprise," Raul said. "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought it wasn't the time to check on the business."

"That ain't why I'm here, Raul," Franklin said. "I wanna know about that guy you had me go pick up a couple of days ago. You said that this guy asked me, right?"

"What's going on?" Raul said.

In a matter of minutes, Franklin had told Raul what had happened to him. After he was done, Raul sat there in complete silence and shock as to what had happened.

"Wow, boss, I don't know what to say," Raul said. "I know Alonzo is a dick and all, but I didn't think he was that crazy. And as for the other guy, he only asked for you. He didn't say why, even though I tried to ask what the reason was. He didn't even tell me his name. That's all I know."

Silence then plagued the air. "Wait, you don't think I set you up, do you?"

"Hell nah, that ain't the case, dog," Franklin said. "I ain't gonna fire yo ass or nothin' like that. You didn't know shit about what was goin' on."

"Well, after a while, Alonzo kept on asking for you to give him a ride, but I banned him after a while. I got tired of dealing with him. Some of our drivers even got sick of how he talked about his girl or some shit."

Franklin wasn't about to tell him about how he was dating Alonzo's ex-girlfriend, because he wasn't about to delve into his personal life at that point. His relationship with Raul was mainly professional. However, he was not surprised that Raul had banned Alonzo from the Downtown Cab Co. Besides, even Franklin was intrigued by the clientele that the cab company had, whether it was a guy who wanted revenge on The Lost MC, or even some thrill-seeker who wanted Franklin to drive recklessly, or even some drunk guy who wanted to get some more alcohol.

After a while, it was time for Franklin to head out. He was about to set everything straight once and for all, but first things first. He needed to talk with a few friends of his, whether it was Trevor, Michael, Lamar, or even some of the other CGF members. He wanted to go and talk with Big Queso to have him call off the hit, but Franklin knows that if he set foot on their turf, he's a dead man. So he's going to need all the support he can get.

Liz had pulled up to Bean Machine. The moment she put the car into the park and took the key out of the ignition, she took a deep breath. It wasn't that she didn't want to hang out with Tracey. Far from it. She was just under a lot of stress. She wanted nothing more than for it to end.

What's crazy about all of this was that she didn't think that she would fall for Franklin like this. Even if she wasn't with Franklin like this and Alonzo still would have targeted them, she still would worry both of their well-beings. But not like how she was feeling. It was also crazy to see how their friends-with-benefits relationship had developed into something much, MUCH more. She had not felt this way in a long time, maybe even ever. She was with Alonzo on and off, and while she did love him at first, things crumbled the moment he started abusing her. She felt that Kyle was different, as he was much older than her and thought he would be more mature. However, he was not faithful and often slept with his clients.

Even when she and Franklin had their relationship be strictly physical, even at some point she started seeing him in a different light. She was not in the least bit surprised that he was having sex with strippers and she even slept with some male classmates. She even experimented with women here and there, but it wasn't enough that she considered herself bi, even though she was clearly into what she was doing with Sapphire in their three-way.

But she felt some kind of connection with Franklin. It developed into something more and she felt that she had fallen pretty hard for him.

As she sat in the car, right behind her, a yellow Issi pulled up and parked behind her. A young blonde woman got out of the car. In that moment, Liz quickly got out of the car.

"Hey, Liz," Tracey said. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah, I just got here," Liz said. "You want to go inside, or do you want to sit outside?"

"I would like to sit inside," Tracey said.

"Okay, let's do that."

Liz and Tracey sat inside the coffee shop. They talked about school and other things related to their lives. But then something sprung into Tracey's mind.

"So tell me, Liz, how did you and Franklin meet?" Tracey said. "It seems that I'm the only one in my family who doesn't really know him, but he's friends with my dad and my brother. Even my mom has actually talked to him before."

"Okay, just between us girls, he gave me a ride home once from a little incident with my ex." Liz turned her face another way, as she felt strange even thinking about Alonzo. "We had our own little relationship before, but then I started to like him."

"So what, you two just fucked a lot for bit and you started going out?" Tracey said. "It's weird how that always works out. Most guys want me for my body. I mean, yeah, I know that I have quite a history with fucking other guys, but one day I just want to meet someone who doesn't just want to fuck me."

"Well, I didn't expect things to develop the way they did with Franklin," Liz said. "But I can't help the way that I feel. He's not like any other guys who I have met before. There's just something about him. I do have a question for you, though."

"What's that?" Tracey said.

"Your brother, what's up with him? When me and Franklin were at your house, he was staring at me. He was drooling over me even at the hospital. I do wonder one thing. Is he a virgin?"

"Well…," Tracey's eyes shifted to her left when she heard that. "I think he is. He tries to talk to my friends when I bring them over, but he gets all weird around them. Not just because he's so shy, but he says stuff that he shouldn't be saying to girls at all."

"Well, he was gone for quite a long time when we were having dinner. I wouldn't be surprised if he was, well, you know."

"You should have seen when he went with my dad or Uncle T to the strip club. He would be talking about how one of the girls was all over him. I tried to tell him that they're there to make money and that they wouldn't want a loser like him."

"You and your brother don't get along that well, do you?" Liz said.

"We've had our moments in recent memory when things got better," Tracey said. "But for the most part, he doesn't even try to make something of himself and would rather play video games all day long and smoke weed and jerk off pictures of my friends or some shit. I tried to be a big sister and tell him that he should try going to school, but he said that school is for chumps and that he had enough of it before graduating high school."

"Well, at least you're trying to be a good sister to him," Liz said. "I am pretty close with my family. I have a good relationship with my mom and my stepdad, and also my stepbrother."

"What about your real father?" Tracey said.

"I talk to him but not all the time," Liz said. "He wasn't good to my mom that much."

"You have a stepbrother; can I see what he looks like?"

Liz got out her phone and showed her a picture of a young Mexican male.

"Whoa, he's cute. Is he single?"

"Please, let's not get into this. I mean I like you, Tracey. But I'm not ready to set my stepbrother up with anybody."

"Oh, okay, I understand. I would like to know more about other parts of Los Santos. I sometimes get bored about the life in Rockford Hills. Even when I get out of these parts, I would go to Vespucci Beach, but that's about it."

Both women didn't realize that they would form a friendship like this, especially when they are from opposite ends of the spectrum. Then again, Tracey wasn't always a girl from Rockford Hills. Her mother had noted to Liz during their dinner that they were originally from Ludendorff, North Yankton.

"Can you tell me something, Tracey?" Liz said. "At the hospital, you said something about some guys coming into your house to kill you and your mother, but then your mom cut in. I want you tell me what happened. Because Franklin and I are going through some stuff right now."

Tracey then took a deep breath. "These guys dressed in camo gear. They invaded my house and tried to shoot me and my mom. It was so scary. It wasn't the first time I had been in any danger. My dad went to save me from some crazy porn producers at a yacht. They tried to shoot me and my dad. I'm going to tell you right now. I can't tell you how lucky I am to still be here right now if it wasn't for my dad, even though he can be a bit of an asshole sometimes."

"Well, let me tell you something." Liz looked down a bit. "Franklin and I have some problems with my ex-boyfriend. He tried to have some gang members go and try to kill us."

Tracey's eyes widened a tad with a clear "Oh no" expression on her face.

"We took off to Sandy Shores to run for a bit, but then my roommate told me that some of those gang members threatened them. It caused Franklin and I to come back. I have been staying at his house right now. I need to be away from them. It's been a rough few days."

Tracey had so little to say in response to that. "Listen, I think Franklin will be able to handle all of this. He seems like a tough guy, especially with how my brother idolizes him and what my dad says about him. I usually don't say this a lot, but you got to have faith."

"Thanks, Tracey," Liz said and then smiled a bit.

Franklin had pulled over somewhere to make a call. He first called Trevor and asked if they could meet at the strip club. He then made a call to Michael and asked him to come to the strip club for the meeting. The last person he called was Lamar. It seemed that there were some things he wanted to do before he goes into his death trap.

It was the daytime, so he was not likely to run into Infernus or Sapphire, but rather Juliet and Nikki. Franklin pulled up on his Bagger, and parked the bike close to Michael's Tailgater, Trevor's Bodhi, and Lamar's Speedo. They all agreed to discuss this whole thing in the back part of the strip club, where the meetings for the heists took place.

Franklin headed right for the backdoor and then went inside.

"Hey, F, what took you so long?" Michael said.

"Yeah, we were getting really worried about you, amigo," Trevor said. "You're almost as slow as sugar-tits here."

"Eh, shut up, T," Michael said. "So, Franklin, what's this meeting all about?"

Franklin took a deep breath. "Okay, y'all know about all the shit that I been going through, right? Well, it's time I settle all this, but I'm finna all need your help. Lamar here can round up some of the OGs and other BGs that be finna put it down for the set. But if I go in there all by lonely, I'm finna get a lot a slugs up in me. So I need some of y'all to scope out and bring in some reinforcements if shit gets hot over there."

"Hold on a sec, Frank," Trevor said. "Lamar here told me about some asshole shooting up your neighborhood and almost killed him and your aunt. I want to find that son of a bitch and teach him a lesson. No one, and I mean no one fucks with my boys like that."

"Geez, T, you ain't about to cook up that guy and then fuck him, are you?" Michael said.

"What if I am, Mike? This don't concern you and you know it." Trevor said.

"Hold up, before you two start yammering like a couple of bitches, I think we need to handle some of this shit later on today. Because it's too early for me to get shot up like this and have all a LSPD all on our shit. I mean we done shot shit up in the day, but we ain't prepared for nothin' yet."

Lamar added. "Hold up, nigga. If I got a say in this, it should be me who takes care of that motherfucker who shot up the hood. I got a right to rip that fool a new asshole."

"Maybe we can both do it," Trevor said.

"Look, you two could do what the fuck you want," Franklin said. "I'm just sayin' that it will be hard for us to get in there. The only thing I wanna do is talk to their shot-caller to call off everything so I can take care of that fool Alonzo. I am scared for my girl, so I wanna take care of that motherfucker."

"Well, you know, Franklin," Trevor said. "I got a lot of weapons we can use. So if shit does get heavy, I know I can go in and blast everyone in sight."

"I ain't finna shoot anybody who don't deserve it," Franklin said.

"What do you take me for? I only kill those who fucking deserve it," Trevor said. "Besides, F, if you want me to snipe out everyone, I can do it."

"How about we both do it, T?" Michael said. "But if shit does get heavy, you can go down there and shoot up all you want. It's all gonna go down one way or another. Mark my words."

"This ain't a fuckin' heist we doin', you guys," Franklin said. "It would be much more simple if I didn't have the Vagos on my ass or my girl's ass. So what we need to do is this."

Franklin had started going over a plan for everyone to do their part. It wasn't going to be easy, but if it's successful, then the unrest will now be put to rest. It will result in gunfire and bloodshed, but as long as the attempt on his life and also his girlfriend's life is put to rest, everything will be fine.

It was now evening. Franklin had told Liz that he was going to settle everything. She didn't want him to do this, but there was no other choice besides what he was about to do. She stayed over at Franklin's house with Chop. She was going to be alone. She would ask Tracey to come over, but even Liz wanted to be alone for a bit. She was not happy that Franklin was about to do this, but it was more that she was scared and concerned than anything.

Franklin drove his Buffalo down to Rancho and parked it a little far from the neighborhood. He had texted everyone to get into position. He walked in alone to make it seem like he had no support.

He walked towards the area where a couple of Vagos were standing and having a smoke. One was wearing a baggy yellow T-shirt with beige khaki pants and had tattoos on his right forearm, one saying Rancho 4 Life. Another was wearing black jacket with a yellow T-shirt underneath and had a yellow bandana around his head and was wearing black jeans.

"Hey, guey," one of the Vagos said. "What you doing around here, cabron?"

Franklin said. "I'm for Big Queso, and I'm here for Alonzo."

The Vago who asked him took a puff from his cigarette and then blew out some smoke. "Follow us, guey."

Franklin suspected that he would be walking into a trap, but it's not like he didn't have support. Not even close.

Another note: Okay, I'm leaving it on a cliffhanger. It will continue in the next one. I'm debating whether I should do two more or three more. I still plan for the final confrontation between Franklin and Alonzo to happen, but I don't know how soon.

Also, the bit with Franklin going into the jungle like that, it was inspired by that scene in Training Day when Jake goes to the Bloods hood to look for Alonzo (As in Denzel Washington's character). Ironically enough, the antagonist for this story is named Alonzo. Crazy to think that I characterized him and Liz, when so little was known about them in the game.

I will pick up where this left off very soon. I hope you all enjoyed it.