Solutions to the Problems

Author's note: Hope this isn't so soon. This was an idea that I had. This will be a set of interludes from different perspectives. Enjoy!

It was the day after. The party left the Saints HQ in shambles to a point, but it was nothing that the Saints couldn't afford to fix. All that was needed was the right amount of resources and the right kind of workers to help fix up the penthouse.

However, Vince had something else in mind. He wanted to have another sit-down talk with Shaundi. Though she had a good point, if was right about the party situation, with there being some assassins going in dressed as exotic dancers and wrecking the party. Aside from some of the damage to the penthouse, not a lot of people got hurt. There were a few casualties from some partygoers, but most the bodies were that of the assassins.

He had arranged for Shaundi to meet up with him at Smiling Jack's, as for the night, some of the crew stayed at Derek's apartment. Vince basically just forwent sleep as he and Johnny went to go look for any areas where the Morningstar operated, at least in New Colvin now that Downtown belonged to the Saints. Johnny felt tired at some point and needed to sleep. Vince suggested that he go crash at Zimos's place, as Vince told him that Z wouldn't have minded.

Vince would sleep, but there were times when he didn't. This was one of those nights. How could anybody sleep when they were almost killed? But nonetheless, he told Shaundi to meet him at the diner. She stayed at the apartment. It was close by. It was also now morning, so why not meet up?

Vince had arrived at Smiling Jack's. It was during the week, as a lot of the clientele during that time was usually retirees, among other older people, as well as some people who were off of work. There just weren't families there for breakfast, as would be the case during the weekends.

He had asked for a booth close to the kitchen area and a mirror. It was in the corner, to be exact. A waitress came by as Vince sat there awaiting Shaundi's arrival. He told her that he would like a coffee for now.

It wasn't long until Shaundi had arrived in her Torch. She pulled up and parked and went inside. She looked like she cleaned up, as it was morning and wanted to look presentable. She dressed a little casually, just in a purple Stilwater Sharks T-shirt and purple jeans, not in a low-cut crop top that she would usually wear.

"Hey, Boss," Shaundi said.

"You know, since you've gotten more comfortable calling me by my real name, I'm surprised you didn't call me 'Vince,'" he said.

"I don't know what call you right now, it's so confusing," Shaundi said as she sat down in the booth.

"You can call me Vince if you want," he said. "Listen, I called you over because I wanted to have a talk with you."

"About what?" Shaundi said.

The waitress came by and gave Vince his coffee and asked if Shaundi wanted something to drink. She said she wanted a coffee as well.

"Listen, about last night, me, Pierce, Johnny, and Zimos got into some serious shit," Vince said. "I want you to know that you had a point about the party. Some of the strippers tried to shoot us."

"I heard," Shaundi said. "Pierce came by later on with some of the others and crashed. So I was right, huh?"

"Nobody expected this to happen," Vince said. "None of us did. Shit, if we have a woman shaking her ass in front of us like that, it can sometimes cloud our judgments. Lucky for me, I was the first to notice."

"Men, always powerless to the power of pussy," Shaundi said.

"That may be true, but we all took care of the problem," Vince said. "But here it goes, while maybe your actions from last night may have saved us a bit, I also want you to know that there is a time and place to let loose."

"Oh, come on, are we really having this conversation?" Shaundi said.

The waitress came by and gave Shaundi her coffee.

"Thanks," Shaundi said and turned to Vince.

Vince said, "I'm just saying that maybe you should calm down a bit. I know you're not the same stoner that you once were, but even when we used to handle all our shit a while back, there was always a time and place to kick back and party. Pierce and Johnny had a good point. Even though Johnny may handle his shit, he knows when to just relax."

Shaundi sighed and took a drink of her coffee after what she had just heard. "It's just that the only thing that's been on my mind is all this shit with the Syndicate."

"It's been on my mind, too," Vince said. "But there is only so much we can do. Yes, we didn't expect those strippers to try to kill us, and I know it was the Syndicate's doing. However, in some ways I think some of that was because Zimos had some connections."

Shaundi scoffed when she heard that name.

"Something wrong?" Vince said.

"Let's just say that Zimos and I have crossed paths before," Shaundi said. "I'd rather not get into it, but it happened during that Spring Break I came out here."

"Oh…," Vince said it in such a way that he kind of figured what she meant. "Never mind, then."

"Okay, you are right that maybe I need to calm down a bit," Shaundi said. "When we first got here, I was upset that Johnny was killed. It turned out he wasn't. Yes, I was a bit jealous of the new people we recruited before, but I am kind of over it. I am going to try to be a little calmer now. I don't think I'll get high like I used to, but I think I can try to help any way that I can."

"That's the spirit," Vince said. "We will take down the Syndicate. We just got to know how we're going to do it."

The waitress came by once again and asked if they wanted to have something to eat. Vince and Shaundi declined and asked for the bill for the coffee. Vince paid and tipped the waitress and the two Saints were off. Their day was only getting started.

Inside a boardroom, Senator Monica Hughes called for a meeting among some powerful figures in Steelport. Though she was a member of the senate, a lot of the problems with gangs had been occurring in Steelport, especially the destruction of her husband's bridge.

Monica stood before some people, with Mayor Burt Reynolds by her side, as he was the mayor of Steelport. She called to get everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has come to my attention that Steelport has been going through a gang problem as of late," Hughes said. "Ever since the Richard Hughes Memorial Bridge was destroyed, I had decided that we need to put an end to this problem once and for all."

"But Senator," a man said. "What can we do? The Steelport Police Department seems to do nothing about this problem, especially with a lot of the gangs in Steelport doing as they please."

"There has to be a way, right?" a woman at the table said. "Remember the gang problem in Stilwater? There was talk of police corruption that goes back, even though there are some honest cops willing to uphold the law."

"Let me remind you," Hughes said. "Stilwater may have had corruption in the department, gangs roaming the streets, as well as corrupt corporate businessmen trying to take out some gangs and inhabitants to fix up some pieces of land."

"Wait just a minute," another man said, who seemed younger than some of the other members in the meeting. He was African-American and was wearing a suit with an orange tie and had an Ultor symbol on his jacket.

"If you're saying that Ultor didn't have a reason to make Stilwater a better place, then what do you suggest that could be done about the problem in Steelport?" the Ultor businessman said.

"Excuse me, Mr. Jackson," Mayor Reynolds said.

"Please, you can call me Dexter, or Dex, it doesn't matter to me," the Ultor businessman said.

"Okay, Dex," Mayor Reynolds said. "I think what Senator Hughes is trying to say is Steelport has undergone a major issue after the incident at the bridge. There are more gangs in this city to deal with that maybe we can try to eliminate the problem."

"I see," Dex said.

"Mr. Jackson," Senator Hughes said. "With all due respect, Dane Vogel died thinking that he could take control of the problem, but it would take a lot more than the police or the FBI to really control the gang problem. Let's not forget that the Masako teams caused more destruction than it was worth in Stilwater."

"Senator Hughes, let me just say that I am sorry for what happened to your husband's bridge," Dex said. "I know that I am little younger and less experienced than some of the people here, but as the person running things here in Steelport with Ultor's factories, I just want you to know that we can help fund the proper solution to all of Steelport's problems. Sure, I can see if some of my associates at Ultor can provide the Masako if necessary, but Ultor has been funding this new unit that can help with the gang problem. Maybe you can talk with the White House and the Pentagon about this."

"Okay, what is this unit you're talking about?" Hughes said.

"I am talking about a paramilitary unit that could really put the gang problem to its knees," Dex said. "They will enforce the law and take care of the gang problem. Maybe you can talk with the president and the rest of the senate about this. I know I have no room to talk as I am only a businessman, but Ultor can help with the funding and maybe help with the problem as well."

Mayor Reynolds nodded his head and looked at Senator Hughes. "What do you say to that?"

Senator Hughes nodded her head. "I think we can work with something. I'll talk with my fellow senators about this."

What a night it was for the DeWynter twins and not in a good way. Kiki was hospitalized from taking a beating from fellow Morningstar members. It was clear to both of them that they were marked. They were unsure that it was safe enough for them to stay in an area the Saints ran, but it was better than the hospital in Camano Place.

Viola stayed overnight to keep Kiki company. There was no denying how close these two were. Sure, there some differences in their personalities, as Kiki was the more outspoken and outgoing one, while Viola was the calmer one and kept more to herself. In the end, they were still close and had each other.

Viola woke up and saw that Kiki was awake. She was still bruised on parts of her body. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if she had suffered cracked ribs. After all, she was kicked pretty hard.

Kiki turned and saw Viola looking at her.

"Viola, you stayed?" Kiki said.

"Yeah, I did, I couldn't leave you like that," Viola said. "How are you feeling, Kiki?"

"I'm still pretty fucked up, but I think maybe in about a day or two, I'll be fine," Kiki said.

"Look, I don't know what we can do about this," Viola said. "Even if we leave Steelport, the Syndicate will find a way to find us and we'll be dead."

Kiki nodded her head. "I'm surprised that the Luchadores didn't join in and try to rough me up some more."

"This isn't funny, we can't go on like this," Viola said.

"Didn't say it was," Kiki said. "I'm just saying that if Barry would have called Eddie and brought in his roid monkeys, I would have suffered a lot more."

Both sisters paused for a bit.

"Listen, I'm going to find a way for us to get back at the Syndicate," Viola said.

"How are you going to do that?" Kiki said.

"Trust me, I know a way," Viola said. "It's time we fuck up the Syndicate ourselves."

Kiki nodded her head and smirked a bit.

Another note: Okay, I hope you enjoyed these interludes. It wasn't long, but I wanted to give more insight to the story as to what's to come. I hope it wasn't too soon, though the previous chapter was something I wanted to do to put more into the stuff with the DeWynter twins.

Next up, the Saints invade Safeword once again. Stay tuned.