Chapter 17: The Concrete Soldier Vs. The Haitian Hitman

The Final Showdown

Red Stick

The sun was already starting to rise on this day in Red Stick as Alison found herself finally opening her eyes to notice that she was in an unfamiliar room sleeping on an unfamiliar couch while sunlight was beaming onto her face from the window above her head.

As her memory quickly started to return to her Alison found herself groggily wiping her eyes while looking around for any signs of the youngest Roman, who she remembered cuddling with the night before. The sound of voices from the adjacent room quickly caused her to snap her head in the direction of the doorway leading into the next room. She couldn't make out the words but she knew the voices were somewhat familiar.

The FIB Agent then let her judgement get the better of her as she rolled off the couch before making her way into the room where she quickly noticed Mark, Lee, Link, Felix, Buck, and Manfred talking amongst each other before going silent to look back to face her.

"Well look who's finally awake." Came a familiar voice that caused Alison to turn her head and notice a familiar Asian woman in a bright red dress standing in the corner with her arms folded over her chest.

"What's going on?" Alison asked while sending a look to Mark.

"This is me taking the boys here on a field trip." Ana replied with a half-smile while Alison's eyes widened.

"Aye, nothing really major from what she says but it does need extra hands." Stated Lee as Alison sent a look to Mark before speaking.

"You can't take them, they have to answer questions about what happened at the apartment complex yesterday." She stated earning a nod from Ana.

"I'm aware and that's why I'm leaving Mark here with, only his name was listed as a resident in that apartment complex." The IAA replied earning a surprised look from Alison.

"Don't worry I'm here." Mark declared while Alison gave a slight nod.

"Alright then." She replied earning a smile from Ana.

"Well then if you don't mind, we'll be on our way." She said while sending a look to Mark.

"You know the music." Said Mark as he sent a look to Lee who nodded his head before leading Felix, Buck, and Manfred out of the room and pass Alison where the Chinese man stopped before the FIB Agent to whisper in her ear.

"Keep an eye on our brother while we're gone especially in the belly of the beast." He said earning a slight nod from Alison before she sent a look to Mark.

"I'll have them back to you later today." She said earning a nod from Mark.

"Have them in one-piece and we won't have any problems." The Creole replied earning a light chuckle from the IAA Agent.

"I like problems." She said while leaning forward to give Mark a goodbye kiss only for the youngest Roman to pull away from her. "Oh, I see." She said before noticing the hickey on the side of Mark's neck and then sending a look to Alison.

"See you later tonight soldier." She added before walking past Alison who watched her leave closely before turning back to Mark and Link.

"What exactly does she need them for?" the FIB Agent asked while Mark and Link both shook their heads.

"No clue she didn't really give a good description of the task." Link replied.

"It can't be nothing too serious if she's taking them without me. Occasionally she did take Lee and Jimmy to do jobs or the three of us together, but if she's taking only Lee with amateur gunmen like Felix and Buck it ain't nothing to serious." Mark added while Alison eyed him closely.

"So are we going to discuss what two are going to say when you go to the police station today?" Link asked while taking a seat on the bed bag chair.

"I'll just gonna tell them the Ballas sent guys to kill me after I beat those guys down at the club." Mark replied.

"That still implicates you, plus you weren't present when police arrived at the scene so that makes things looks suspicious, on-top of that they're gonna want to know who killed those other Ballas." Stated Link.

"Well that's the best we got so far." Stated Mark before Alison interrupted the duo.

"Say me." She said causing the duo to look her way.

"You were in my apartment when the Ballas attacked, tell them they were there to kill me." She stated earning mixed looks from the group.

"That could work and Lee and the others threw those bodies of the Ballas in the fire, you could say they were in the building when it collapsed." Link stated earning a shake of the head from Mark.

"No, because that will implicate you." Mark replied with venom in his tone.

"I know, but at least if they're looking at me I can work around it." She shot back earning another shake of the head from Mark.

"It's the only way to keep you from being arrested Mark, just say you were in your apartment when the Ballas showed up, you heard gunshots, smelled fire, and ran out the backdoor where you started to help people out of the fire." Link stated while Mark continued to shake his head.

"It's not happening." He replied.

"This isn't a negotiation Marcus." Alison ordered to the duo's surprise. "Whether they came for you or me doesn't matter all that matters is that we both walk away from it." She added to the brother's shock.

"I'll admit I was mad when I found out you were what you are, but you did a good thing yesterday by saving all those people and you shouldn't have to burn because of it." She stated earning a few seconds of silence from Mark before he spoke.

"Well what about you, this won't look good on your record." He replied earning a nod from Alison.

"I can work around it." She declared earning a few more seconds of silence from Mark before he responded.

"Alright then, let's do it." He said before making his way for the door while Alison stood in silence as the Roman passed her. "I should go first that way they won't suspect anything." Mark stated earning a slight nod from Alison before she watched him leave the room and ultimately walk out the door of the house.

"Wow you must really love him." Said Link earning the attention of Alison as she turned to him and noticed the smile on his face. "You'd risk your career with the FIB you must really care about my brother." He added earning a slight blush from Alison before she responded.

"I…do, I do love him." She stated to the Irish surprise.

"Well I wasn't expecting that." He replied while turning away from the woman and reaching under the bed where Alison noticed him pull a large duffel bag before setting it on the bed.

As Link opened the duffel bag he watched as Alison reacted the same he and the others did when Mark revealed to the group that bag was filled to the brim with money, probably more money than the FIB Agent had seen in her lifetime.

"Mark feels guilt about you losing all your things in the fire so he wanted me to give you money to replace everything you lost." Link stated to Alison surprise as she watched him present to her a large stack of money in one-hundred dollar bills. "Here's five thousand he says if you need more to just let him know." He added to Alison's shock and surprise as she looked over the stack of money in the Irish man's hand.

"Where'd you get all this money Link?" the Northeast Native asked with a hint of venom in her tone.

"It mostly came from Mark's jobs with Ana, but Joe payed him another fifty-thousand for what happened at the club two nights ago, he paid him another twelve thousand for that fight at the club, and occasionally Mark and Lee still rob drug dealers and they give the drugs over to guys in New Arcadia for a profit." He stated earning a surprised look from the FIB Agent.

"It may look like a lot but it ain't." he added earning a chuckle from Alison.

"Link I have a feeling this is more money then I make in a year." She replied earning a chuckle from Link.

"Yeah well, at least you can spend your money. We have so much money we don't know what to do with it. On paper Mark is listed as some made up job the IAA gives it's worker and the rest of us are unemployed so we can't go leaving paper trails only he can do that." The Irishman declared earning a slight nod from Alison before she took the money in her hand.

"He been wanted to give you that." he added to Alison's surprise. "We figured with your medical bills and being layed up in the hospital you wouldn't have a lot of money so we decided to help you out."

"There's a clothing store around the street from here if that's what you're looking for, and that's probably where you'll find Mark he didn't have any clothes here." He yelled out while Alison walked out of the house.

Meanwhile

The drive to Task's home wasn't long for Lee as he pulled his Dominator up in front of the home while Ana sat in the passenger seat before watching as the Lakota and Creek Warrior stepped out of the house with their weapons in hand.

"Is that one carrying a bow and arrow?" Ana asked while looking at Lee quizzically.

"You're one to talk, Mark told me about your little job a few months back with Crossbows." He stated earning a slight chuckle from Ana.

"They made for better weapons when your target sleeps with over thirty armed guards and a house that rigged with sensors that can detect when a fly is buzzing." The IAA replied while Lee chuckled to himself.

"You have to wonder how much use a bow and arrow would be in robbing a bank or getting into a shootout with cops." She declared.

"Don't worry he's good with a gun." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"He better be as far as Mark's concerned." She stated earning a chuckle from Lee.

"So that's what this is about, you're pissed that he's with someone else?" he asked earning a laugh that seemed almost out of character for the woman and shocking the Chinese man.

"If you think I'm jealous you're mistaken Lee, Mark can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants but at the end of the day he'll always be there for me despite my husband." She stated with a smile. "And you want to know why he'll always be there for me?" she asked.

"Enlighten me." He replied with a half-smile.

"Because Mark needs the love and touch of a woman to keep his demons in check." She declared to Lee's confusion. "You all try your best to hide the scars of what happened to you during your time in foster care. You all got hurt in the system, in that house, and all of you found ways of dealing with those scars whether it's by looking to each other or drowning yourselves in blood, but Mark is different." She added with venom in her tone.

"You all look to him as a big brother, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to take your pains away. You lay all of your pains on him and he has to deal with them plus his own. He needs someone to help him deal with that pain…and he trust me with that more than anyone else." She finished earning a few seconds of silence from Lee.

As he went to respond, the duo was quickly interrupted by a knocking on the passenger side window that caused them to turn their heads and notice Task, Adahy, Felix, Buck, and Manfred standing on the otherside of the door with mixed looks before Lee rolled down the windows.

"If you two are done we're ready to go." Said Adahy with a hint of venom in his tone.

"Then let's go!" Lee replied before starting up his car and then watching as the group made their way to their vehicles.

"Who is that woman?" asked Buck as he walked beside Felix as the duo made their way to the Moonbeam.

"I don't know much about her other than her name brother, but she's really close to Mark and I know she has him do thing for money." The Mexican replied while sliding into the driver's seat while Buck slid into the passenger's seat.

Red Stick

The drive wasn't long for Alison as she parked her car outside of a Suburban just a few blocks from the BSU Clubhouse. As she looked at the parking lot she quickly noticed that Mark's car was parked outside the store. As she made her way into the store she quickly spotted Mark as he was coming out with a bag in his hands.

"Hey!" she said while grabbing the arm of the youngest Roman.

"I'm guessing Link showed you the money?" he asked earning a nod from Alison.

"Mark, we're gonna have a serious talk about this." She said earning nod from the youngest Roman.

"I know but it'll have to be later tonight, after I leave the station I gotta meet Ana, Lee, and the others for a briefing." He replied.

"Okay but what exactly does she have them doing?" the FIB Agent asked while Mark remained silent. "Why can't you tell me?" she added with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Because it's classified and I fear that if the IAA believe that I'm leaking information to someone-." He started before Alison finished his sentence.

"They could you, and me as well to prevent a leakage of information." she finished earning a nod from the youngest Roman.

"Yeah it may sound like I'm making excuses, but this does happen and this is the IAA we're talking about." He replied. "It's nothing too bad to worry about and I can promise I'll be fine." He added.

"It's not being with Ana I'm worried about." She replied to Mark's confusion. "When you're on the streets you're not safe, when you're at home you're not safe, and I just…I don't know what to do with you." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

The sound of her breaking voice seemed to almost cause a train wreck in Mark's gut as he moved to wrap his arms around the woman and bring her in for a tight hug while she rested her head on his chest. The youngest Roman knew that even-though he wasn't in New Arcadia it was still risky to be seen hugging the FIB Agent, but he didn't care all he could hope for was that nobody he knew saw him.

"You don't have to worry about Brian Rose for much longer." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone that caused Alison to look up at him with wide eyes.

"Wait, are you planning to kill him?" she asked with surprise in her voice.

"As of this point I see murder being the only thing that can stop that prick and it's worked for me in the past when I've been in situations like this." He replied to Alison's shock.

"No you don't have to kill him, he's a criminal with a mountain of charges against him. Just let the legal system take care of him." She stated earning a loud chuckle from Mark.

"I like your confidence in the system, but letting Brian live is too risky. He knows too much so if he gets behind bars and starts opening his mouth that can be bad for the both of us." He stated earning silence from Alison. "I know you don't like the idea of murder, but it's the only way we're getting out of this whole." He added before walking away from the woman and leaving her in silence.

"I'll see you at the station." After saying those words and waving to her goodbye the Roman quickly climbed back into his car and drove away from the clothing store while Alison stood in silence.

New Arcadia

Pain

That was the first word that came to mind for Brian as he opened his eyes and felt an intense shocking, throbbing, almost thumping like feeling wash over his entire body. The pain was all over but it was mostly coming from his face and midsection. Mark's double-knee strike to the face broke his nose, the Chinese guys kick to his chin had knocked out one of his back teeth, and the white boys tackle had bruised a few of his ribs. There was also a pain in his hand where he had been hit by that arrow, luckily the arrow didn't do too much damage and he was able to pull it out without losing the function in his hand.

The pain was unbearable so in order to take it away he had to rely on a form of medicine he didn't really like to take. As he reached over the side of his bed and grabbed a small backpack he quickly pulled a small bag of crystal meth and set it down on the dresser next to his bed and dumped some of the drug on the hardwood. He then drew his combat knife and used the handle of the weapon to crush the crystals into a powder before sucking the powder us his nose.

"AH SHIT!" he yelled as he felt the effects of the drug almost instantly start to kick in. He then started to chuckle as the pain in his body disappeared almost in an instant.

"Now that that's taken care of-." He started with a chuckle. "It's time I finish what I started when I came here." He added while thinking of the youngest Roman.

The Haitian Hitman wasn't in his right mind at the moment, he wasn't a frequent meth user and only took it when he really needed it. The drug made him feel superhuman and that was just what he wanted if he was gonna take on the youngest Roman. Thankfully he already had a plan for doing that.

Outside of Red Stick

Just a few miles outside of New Arcadia Ana found herself standing with a wide smile on her face as she watched Lee, Felix, Buck, Task, and Adahy unload their weapons into a few dummy targets while she stood behind them taking note of the group.

"Ceasefire!" she said before eyeing the targets and looking them over with an unreadable look on her face.

"Good!" she said with a smile that Lee could easily tell was forced, but he didn't blame her.

So far she's had the group firing at targets at a variety of ranges and from what he can tell they weren't doing so good. All five of them had nailed the close range targets that he knew for sure, but mid-range is where they started to struggle. His Tactical Mossberg 500 had a longer barrel and was designed to handle a more ranged targets so he was easily able to hit his target. He could also tell that she was impressed with Task the Lakota Warrior had managed to hit his target rather easily with three shots from his arrow all in the head.

The others were a different story.

First came Buck who only had a Pistol that he was still learning how to use and need to fire all seventeen rounds in his magazine to hit his targets. The teenager had missed his first four shots before finally hitting his target, luckily for him he managed to hit the targets twelve more times. If Mark could see him now he'd be disappointed while Lee felt a hint of embarrassment.

Felix had managed to hit numerous targets with his Assault Rifle and didn't need to empty his first clip, but the downside to it was that he didn't get many headshots and when he attempted to get a headshot his shots got less accurate and accuracy was that's mostly what the group needed.

Then came Adahy who Lee knew was gonna be one of the biggest problems. The Creek Warrior didn't have a sight for his AK-47 Assault Rifle so instead of lining up a shot he mostly fired a barrage of rounds from the hip. Lucky for him his barrage of rounds managed to hit their marks.

Long Range was a different story, he had to switch to his Pistol but he still managed to hit his targets along with Task who did the best shooting out of all of them, and Felix who had to empty his clip but he managed to hit all his targets. Unlike them Buck and Adahy were the different story only three of Buck's seventeen shots had hit their marks and only seven of Adahy's thirty rounds had hit there's.

All in all the Chinese man could tell things weren't looking for the group.

"Alright then let's move on to your next challenge." She said before leading the group away from the shooting range and into a warehouse that the group quickly noticed was made into the shape of a bank.

"What is this?" asked Adahy as the group looked around the bank setup with mixed looks.

"This is where I see if you can handle yourselves in a setup for a bank robbery. If you can handle the pressures of robbing a bank you can do anything." She stated earning a nod from Lee.

"Lee you're the most experienced so you take point, now go back out." She added earning a nod from the Chinese man.

"This is gonna be interesting." He said with a half-chuckle.

New Arcadia

"I was watching a movie." Stated Mark as he sat in the interrogation room of the New Arcadia Police Department while Locke and Regina stood across from him.

"What movie were you watching?" Locke asked while eyeing Mark closely.

"Rapid and Ruthless six it's not so bad when you get pass all the unrealistic bullshit, horrible stunts that people really should die from, and the shit they do at the end where they think faking a main characters death is supposed scare the audience but all it really does is piss people off." The youngest Roman replied with a chuckle.

"Did you see the end?" asked Regina.

"No, there's only so much bullshit the human body can take." Mark replied with a chuckle. "And that's when the sound of gunshots started." He added earning nods from the duo.

"Did you see who was doing the shooting?" Locke asked earning a chuckle from Mark as Alison walked into the room and noticed Tavon and Sawyer standing outside the room with angry looks on their faces.

"Sorry no, you have me confused for someone who's brave." Mark replied with a half-smile.

"You don't think you're brave after you got into a fist fight with armed gunmen?" Regina asked with a half-smile.

"I said I wasn't brave I didn't say I wasn't reckless, idiotic, and a junkie for danger." He replied while Regina rolled her eyes.

"Okay then what did you do after you heard the gunshots?" Locke asked as Alison watched the Roman closely.

"I went out the backdoor into the walkway of another apartment. I got the people there out and proceeded to do the same with the others." He replied earning nods from the group.

"So you helped them escape the flames, I guess you think that makes you a hero." Locke stated earning a chuckle from Mark.

"I prefer the term good Samaritan I hate the term hero. Heroes are people who are living in a false reality that believe they matter and what they do make difference it's all bullshit though." The Creole shot back earning a chuckle from Locke.

"So you don't think we're heroes?" he asked earning a laugh from Mark.

"I can honestly say none of you bastards are heroes, maybe you start off thinking you're heroes but by the end of that first year…all of you are nothing but a bunch of corrupt assholes who think a badge protects them but in reality it makes you know better than us." The Roman stated earning a chuckle from Locke.

"You really believe that?" he asked with a smile.

"I have the scars to prove it, every day you abuse your power and you do it with smiles on your face. You claim to uphold the law but in reality… you beat us, hurt us, shoot us down like dogs in the street and instead calling an ambulance to save us you call your union representative to cover your own ass." He stated with venom in his voice. "And at the end of the day you go home kiss your wife, hug your children, and look all of them in the face and tell them…"I did a good thing today, others might not see it that way but I DID GOOD." He yelled with emphasis on the words.

"So yeah I don't see any of you fucking bitches as heroes not NAPD, LSPD, LCPD, SBPD, DCPD, NONE OF YOU!" he added with a hint of anger in his voice while Locke continued to smile at him.

"I have to say Marcus, you really know how to get under someone's skin no wonder Tavon lost his head with you." The cop replied earning a chuckle from Mark.

"No that prick lost his head because he thinks just because he had a fucked childhood he can treat people any kinda way. That's why with him I have no regrets for what I did to him or what happened to his brother." The Creole replied earning a low growl from Tavon as Alison noticed him clench his fist in anger. "To me he's living proof that cops aren't unhurtable, you don't have to hurt them physically to get a point across." He added causing Tavon to move for the door but before he could reach it he was stopped by Alison who quickly snatched his arm and held him back.

"Easy!" said Sawyer earning a slight nod from Tavon before he looked back into the interrogation room.

"Can I go now?" he asked earning a slight chuckle from Locke.

"Getting nervous?" asked Regina.

"Nervous is an understatement, I'm starting to fear for my well-being and trust me when I tell you this…an afraid Roman is not a Roman you want to meet." Mark replied with a half-smile half-chuckle.

"Well then you took the gunshot residue test and came back clean and you've answered all our questions about what happened yesterday, so yeah you're free to go Marcus." Locke shot back earning a nod from Mark while he lifted himself back up on his feet.

"Have a nice day Marcus." The officer added earning a chuckle from Mark.

"Stay safe lieutenant, there's a guy on the loose hunting cops and I think you all need the added luck." The Creole stated before opening the door to the interrogation room and noticing Alison, Sawyer, and Tavon standing on the otherside.

"Move!" Mark said while getting in the face of Tavon and Sawyer before turning to Alison who was eyeing him closely. The Roman then responded with a low growl before watching as the duo stepped out of his way and allowed him to make his way for the door.

"You gonna get yours one day." Said Tavon earning a chuckle from Mark.

"I was gonna tell you the same thing friend." The Creole replied before he walked out of the room while Alison stood by and watched closely as he left.

"I don't understand how you could live next to that all this time." Stated Regina.

"That's exactly what I want to know." Declared Locke as Alison noticed that the man was staring her down closely.

New Arcadia

"Welcome to Ammunation sir." Stated the Cashier as he stood behind his desk and watched as hooded man entered the building.

"How may I be of, OH SHIT!" He yelled before watching the man draw a pistol from the back of his pants and fire a single shot.

"Yeah I need you dead for this part." Said Brian with a sick chuckle as he noticed the man's brains were splattered across the wall behind him like a paint stain.

"Time to shop." He added before setting a duffel bag on the counter and then looking at the weapons before his eyes fell on something that brought a smile to his face.

"Daddy like!" he said before taking the weapon and looking it over. The weapon was an M4A1 Assault Rifle but what brought a smile to the man's face was all the attachments that came with the gun. It had a Holographic Sight, a 100-Round Drum Magazine, and an M203 Grenade Launcher on the underbarrel. All in all the weapon was made for war and he knew that was what he was about to have with the youngest Roman.

The Haitian Hitman then grabbed a USP .45 Pistol, four Hand Grenades, and four canisters of Tear Gas and loaded them all into his duffel bag. He then went to load up a bullet-proof vest and some ammo into the bag but afterwards he was interrupted by the sound of the front door of the store opening causing him to whip his head around and notice an elderly Caucasian man in the door way.

"Don't shoot!" he said with fear in his voice that was easily ignored by Brian as he drew his pistol and fired the remaining four shots he had left in the pistol and struck the man in the chest easily dropping the elder man who hit the ground hard before a flurry of screams could be heard from outside the store.

"SHIT!" said Brian as he grabbed his duffel bag and quickly ran out of the building without realizing that he was on security camera.

Outside New Arcadia

"MOVE UP!" yelled Lee with authority in his tone as he, Adahy, and Buck broke from cover behind a tree line and approached an armored truck that was stalled in the middle of the road.

"Alright Felix we're blowing it." Said Lee as the trio approached the back of the truck and planted a Sticky Bomb on the door just as Felix came speeding towards the armored truck in a black truck.

As the bomb exploded Lee, Buck, and Adahy quickly noticed that the doors had been blown open revealing bags filled with dollar signs on them.

"Load um up." Said Lee as he, Buck, and Adahy started to load the bags of money in the back of the trucks just as the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Task what we got?" the Chinese man asked while the Lakota Warrior found himself sitting on a hill with M14 EBR Sniper Rifle In his hands overlooking the road where he quickly noticed a four police cars speeding towards the group.

"I'm seeing four cars." He replied to Lee's annoyance.

"What kinda police uniformed officers or NOOSE?" he asked with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Uniformed and they're getting close." The Lakota replied while Lee turned to Felix and the others.

"We got company prepare for combat." He yelled out while watching as Adahy and Felix drew their guns and got behind the truck to use it as cover as the first squad car pulled up and the group watched as a uniformed officer stepped out wielding a pistol.

"Bring them down." Said Lee as he and the others started to fire on the officers forcing them to take cover behind their cars just as a NOOSE truck pulled up and the group found themselves outgunned.

"Concentrate fire." Lee yelled as a NOOSE Soldier jumped off his truck and started to send a barrage of rounds in the direction of the robbers causing them to duck for cover behind the truck.

"We got them." Started Adahy as he jumped up to Lee's dismay and was almost instantly knocked back down by a round striking him on the side of his neck.

"Damn!" said Lee as Task watched the Creek Warrior fall he felt a sense of anger wash over him causing him to break cover and fire on the NOOSE Officers striking one man in the vest and causing the others to redirect their fire in his direction.

"Fuck!" he yelled before being struck nine times in the chest and twice in the legs and the rolling down the hill where the group continued to fire on him until he was hit with a shot to the left side of his neck.

"What do we do now?" asked Buck as he looked to Felix and Lee who were continuing to fire at the NOOSE Officers.

"Leave them and let's go." Said Lee as he opened the driver's side door of the truck while Buck and Felix moved to hop in the back, but before they could get a foothold Felix was knocked to the floor of the truck as Buck noticed the Mexican man now had five shots on his back.

"Otherside!" Buck yelled before turning around to notice a group of NOOSE Officers blocking the otherside of the road, but in that split second the teen was taken off his feet as a hit dead center in the forehead.

"Bucky!" Lee yelled while looking back at the fallen teen.

"Goddamn it!" the Chinese man yelled while tossing his weapon on the ground. "Game Over!" he yelled before being struck once in the chest and then looking up to notice Ana approaching him with a gun in hand.

"This game isn't over until everyone is either dead or you get away, no other choice." She said before watching as Adahy, Felix, Buck, and Task started to rise to their feet. "You boys better be lucky these are paintballs and not real rounds or else you'd all be dead." She added with a slight chuckle.

"They're paintball shots but the shit still hurts." Yelled Adahy as he rubbed the side of his sore neck.

"Tell me about it." Said Task as everyone turned to him and noticed he was almost coated in red splatters of paint along with Buck who had it between his eyes.

"Come on Lee you've hijacked armored trucks before this should be easy for you." The IAA Agent stated earning silence from the Chinese man.

The group seemed surprised by the Chinese man's actions, he was always the one to never be silenced by anyone but he knew Ana had a point. He had hijacked armored trucks before but he had never taken point on a robbery with heightened security, that was Mark's department, and he really couldn't plan out a good heist that was Link's department. His pride told him to respond but he knew he was best not to.

The added fuel to the fire, came from the team he was working with. Sure he had done heist with Felix and Buck but never one where a shootout with police was a given, and this was Task and Adahy's first major heist ever. This was a new team to work with, a new team with new strengths and weaknesses that they have to learn to work through and the more he looked at them they more he realized they weren't his old crew. Adahy was no substitute for himself, Felix was no substitute for Jimmy, Task was no substitute for Link, and he hated to admit it but he was nowhere near a substitute for Mark.

"Let's see you do it." Came a familiar voice that caused the others to turn their heads and notice Felix eyeing Ana with a serious look. "You saw us in the bank and you're seeing us here, but we have yet to see what you can do." He added earning a slight smile from the woman.

"Okay then, it's only fair you get to see me in action." She replied to the group who watched as she took one of the Paintball Pistols from an IAA Agent dressed like a NOOSE Officer.

"Same rules as your own but the truck stays where it is." She stated while walking away from the group.

"You're doing this alone?" asked Buck.

"No I'm doing this with less than half the man-power you had, besides all I need is this." She shot back while allowing the group to look at her phone before Lee led the group up the hill overlooking the road.

"You really think she can do this?" asked Task as Adahy gave a loud scoff.

"I doubt it, nobodies that good." The Creek replied.

"Never doubt Ana." Said Lee earning the group's attention. "There's a reason why whenever we do big heist we call her to help us and it's not because she can keep us out of jail." He added causing the group to look down at the woman as the buzzer finally sounded alerting her to start the hijacking.

After hearing the buzzer Ana quickly drew her cellphone and instead of running to the group's shock the woman causally walked to the armored truck while typing something on her phone. She then surprised them more by making her way towards the driver's side door of the truck instead of the back just as the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"I don't get it what's she doing?" asked Task as the group continued to watch Ana type on her phone just as the police cars pull up before the uniformed officers started to setup position around their cars with their weapons drawn.

"I don't get it why aren't they shooting at her like they did us?" asked Adahy with anger in his voice.

"Because you shot back." Came a familiar voice that caused the group to turn their heads and notice a familiar blonde haired Irishman approaching them from behind.

"Police have protocols for things like this and she knows them. In a situation like a hijacking, hostage situation, or active shooter uniformed officers are supposed to establish a perimeter around the target to keep them from escaping and await NOOSE Teams to arrive." Link stated to the group's surprise. "You guys opened up on them which resulted in them shooting back, mostly to keep you shooting so you use up all your ammo." He added to the group's shock.

They then watched as a NOOSE truck pulled up behind the cops and NOOSE Officers quickly hopped out before making their way towards Ana who was still working on the door.

"On the ground-." Started a NOOSE Officer before he was hit in the face with a paintball courtesy of Ana who couldn't help but smile as she fired three more shots that struck three more NOOSE Officers in the head.

"So long!" the woman said while sticking the tip of her tongue out her lip-gloss covered lips as they contorted into a smile as she fired another shot that struck a NOOSE Officer in the chest bringing him down to his knees. As the man went to lift his weapon Ana then responded by swinging her right leg from under her and kicking the man in the side of the head with enough force to knock him to the floor.

"WOAH!" said Task with a shocked tone in his voice.

"She's amazing." Added Buck earning a nod from Felix.

"But now she's dead." Replied Adahy as the group noticed two NOOSE Officers approach from the IAA Agent from behind but before they could fire a shot the two officers were brought down by shots to the back of their head causing the two men to fall down while Ana took a look over her shoulder to notice a familiar Creole standing behind her.

"There's my hero, always saving me a bullet." The IAA Agent stated with a smile while Mark rolled his eyes.

"Whatever just get the door open." He replied while taking cover behind the truck.

"Wait we didn't agree on Mark helping her." Added Adahy.

"We kinda did." Said Felix earning the group's attention. "She said she'd hijack the truck with less then half the man-power we had. There's five of us and the two of them, they're sixty percent less then we have." He added earning a nod from Lee.

"Aye, and you really can't see her doing any kinda job without Mark…he's her battered knight in bullet-proof armor." The Chinese man stated as the group watched as Ana reached for the handle of the door and pulled it open to the group's shock

"I thought the door was on electronic locks?" asked Task as he turned to Link.

"Aye she hacked the locks." Stated Link to everyone's surprise. "The IAA is blessed with tools many of us don't have access to, including tools that allow them to hack into electronic devices like car locks and find out the combination to open doors on electric locks.." he added earning a surprised look from the group.

"We did say use anything available to you." Said Lee as the group watched Mark continue to duck from the NOOSE Officers as they peppered the truck in paintball splatters just as the other NOOSE Officers finally arrived and blocked the otherside of the truck.

"Mark!" yelled Ana earning the attention of the Concrete Soldier as he watched her toss a Smoke Grenade in the direction of the NOOSE Officers. "Let's finish this." She yelled before tossing Mark a Grenade while he looked up and noticed the woman push a white over her mouth while a cloud of red smoke rose behind her. The group then watched as the woman disappeared in the smoke as it started to engulf the NOOSE Officers in the front of the truck.

The Creole then responded by saying something in French before tossing his Grenade in the direction of the other officers and then watching as a cloud of black smoke quickly engulfed the men.

"I can't see anything." Said Buck as the sound of shots being fired filled their air followed by the screams of those on the receiving end. As the smoke finally started to clear and the group looked on with wide eyes as Mark and Ana both stepped out of the smoke while all the NOOSE Officers lay on the ground splattered in paint from the paintballs.

"They did it." Said Task with a smile as he watched Ana hop into the driver's seat of the armored truck and start the vehicle up to the group's surprise.

"I guess this qualifies in them winning." Stated Felix earning a nod from Lee as he looked to Mark with a half-smile.

New Arcadia

"So Alison, how long have you been staying across from Mark?" asked Locke as he, Regina, and Sawyer stood across the woman.

"Since I moved in, but I didn't find out who he was until a few days afterwards with the club fight." She replied earning nods from the group.

"Did he know you were a cop?" Locke asked earning a chuckle from Regina.

"He must not have since he was flirting with her." The woman replied to Locke's surprise.

"Flirting!" he repeated while sending a look at the woman.

"He flirts on occasion, but he does that with almost all the woman in the apartment complex. They told me that when I first moved in." she lied hoping her plan would work.

"Did you ever speak to him about being a cop?" he asked earning a shake of the head from Alison.

"He didn't realize I was a cop until the day we arrested that shooter in the third ward, since then he kept his distance from the apartment and only really came to sleep on the weekend." she replied earning a nod from Sawyer.

"All this time, and we could have had a wire right under his nose and he wouldn't have known about it." The man replied with anger in his voice.

"You wouldn't have gotten anything, like I said he's barely there and the building manager was strict about visitors. He wouldn't allow Mark to have visitors over who were-." She started but stopped when she couldn't find the right words.

"Black, we get it those apartments didn't have any black residents there it other than Mark." Stated Regina earning a nod from Alison.

"Which makes me wonder exactly how he managed to skate under our noses with that one." Locke added before looking back at Alison.

"You brought Mark in after the fight at the club right, did he come to you or did you go to him?" he asked.

"He came to me, he said if he was gonna turn himself in he'd rather do it with me than anyone else." She replied.

"So he trusts you?" asked Sawyer.

"I wouldn't know, exactly." She replied earning a nod from the Locke, but before the man could respond Tavon had burst through the doors of the room.

"What's going on?" asked Locke as all eyes fell on the homicide detective.

"Brian Rose." He said causing the group's eyes to widen. "They got him on camera robbing an Ammunation and shooting two people before walking out with a bag of weapons." He added.

"Alright then, Regina, and Sawyer you two are with me. Alison and Tavon I need you two hang back here in case we get a call on his whereabouts." Locke ordered to Alison's surprise as he watched Regina and Tavon follow him out the door.

"Well this is fucked up." Stated Tavon while Alison lowered her head before the sound of Tavon's cellphone rang out breaking the silence that was building between the duo.

"I gotta take this." He said before walking out of the room while Alison watched him leave.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the cop asked with venom in his tone.

"Solving our problem, and all I need from you is a number." Came the familiar voice of Brian on the other end causing Tavon to grit his teeth in anger.

Outside New Arcadia

"So explain to me again how you all fucked up the bank robbing scenario?" Mark asked while standing in front of Lee and the others almost like a parent scolding his children.

"Well Task shot a security guard, Adahy shot the bank manager, and Bucky forget to check the small bundles of money for dye-packs." Lee replied earning a nod from Mark.

"Really dye-packs." Mark asked while looking to Buck who lowered his head.

"Shooting the security guard seemed like a good idea at the time." Stated Task.

"You're not supposed to kill the security or any if it can be avoided because if you do you'll have more response from officers who won't hesitate to shoot you and the increase precense of police will be a problem." Stated Link earning a nod from Mark.

"Killing a cop means someone has to take the fall for a heist because they're not just gonna let that shit go." The Roman added.

"Explain to me this though, how exactly did you kill the bank manager and how did you know it was the bank manager?" Mark asked while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"He shot him after he stood up and said he was the bank manager." Lee replied earning a slight chuckle from Mark.

"Ah man you guys are awesome." He stated while laughing.

"And if it were up to me, none of you would be doing this heist." Stated Ana as she approached the group from behind. "But, I assume Mark won't turn you away." She added while looking to Mark.

"Aye, they'll learn this is a learning process." He replied.

"Well then will all of you follow me?" the woman ordered before leading the group over to a car where they noticed a few pictures and blueprints layed out.

"When we do heist we prefer to do things the loud way." Said Ana as she sent a look to a smiling Mark.

"Loud and out there." Mark replied with a chuckle.

"Originally I was planning on having you hit the trucks that would be transporting the money from the main building to the bank where it would go through the process of going through the state and then electrically wired to the winners." She stated with a half-smile. "But I decided to have a change of plans seeing how all of you faired out there." She added while looking the group over.

"I've decided that for this plan to be a success we go with a more…subtle approach." She stated while pointing to the map and pictures. "Instead of hitting the money while it's on the move you're gonna steal it from under their noses without them knowing."

"The plan is simple, the money is being housed at the main building in Red Stick locked in a secure vault on the fifth floor. On the last day before the drawings Mark will take all of you, minus the kid, inside dressed as janitors for the twelve O' Clock shift change. You will then make your way up to the fourth floor where you'll be planting these." She said before the group watched her set a glowing orange device on the car.

"Thermal charges." Said Mark earning a nod from the woman.

"We rig these charges to detonators you'll have enough time to make it to the fifth floor. Lucky for us there's nothing on the fifth floor but the vault and you should be able to get that open with a Sticky Bomb, but you'll have to synch the explosions together so nobody knows the vault has been opened-." She started before Task interrupted her.

"What's the fourth four look like?" he asked earning the woman's attention. "I don't want to hurt people in this explosion." He added earning a half-smile from the woman.

"Offices, but lucky for you at twelve those people go to lunch." She said earning a relieved nod from Task.

"As I was saying, once you get the vault open you go inside take all the money, and once you're done make your way down the fire escape with the other employees and slip out the back where a getaway car will be waiting." She stated earning nods from Mark and the others.

"I like it, but what will you and Buck be doing while we're doing that?" Mark asked while eyeing the woman closely.

"Your friend will be with me, knocking out the security cameras." She replied earning a nod from Mark.

"I like it." He said before sending a look to Lee and the others.

"It's solid to me." The Chinese man replied before the group sent looks to Task and Adahy.

"You guys brought this heist to us, what do you think." Mark asked earning a few seconds of silence from the group before they responded.

"We're in!" the duo said almost in unisons earning a nod from Mark who was interrupted by the sound of his cellphone ringing.

"That your new friend?" Ana asked causing the group to turn to Mark who rolled his eyes at her comment.

"It's an unknown number so probably." Mark replied before putting the device to his ear.

"Hello!" he said.

"Glad to see you ain't too much of a punk ass bitch to answer your phone for real nigga." Came a familiar voice that caused Mark's eyes to widen in front of the group.

"I've yet to meet any real nigga in your ranks." The Roman replied to the group's confusion.

"Who is it?" asked Lee as the group watched Mark put the phone on speaker mode.

"Please I'm the realest and you be a soon-to-be dead bitch." Said Brian earning the attention of Lee and the others while Ana watched the group closely.

"So did you get my number to talk shit to me from a distance or did you actually call to tell me something relevant?" the Creole asked earning a chuckle from Brian.

"Yes, I want to make a proposition for you." He stated earning confused looks from the group. "One final battle between us." He added earning a chuckle from Mark.

"If you're forgetting dickhead you don't have anyone to fight beside you and I'm pretty sure those injuries you have aren't gonna make you fight any better." The Roman stated.

"I meant a one on one fight between me and you." He replied to the group's surprise. "And don't think just because I'm injured you have an advantage because if I can recall just a few days ago you were blown out a window and that's something you don't just shake off." He added earning a few slight chuckle from Mark.

The Roman wouldn't admit it, but he did feel discomfort and pain in his arm and shoulder from when he was shot and blown out the window. He was only really able to hide it by constantly taking adrenaline shots to numb the pain and he figured Brian was doing the same.

"Plus whether you want to admit it or not makes no difference but I'll say it your face Roman…you can't beat me unless you have someone watching your back." He shot back earning a chuckle from Mark.

"Please I can easily kill you on my own." The Roman shot back with confidence in his tone.

"Please I had you dead yesterday and at the club, but if it wasn't for your friends you'd be dead and you know it." The Haitian declared.

"If that's so, then I guess today is the day we'll find out who's the best." Mark replied with a chuckle while Lee and the others looked at him confusingly.

"Good, there's an abandoned parking garage in the tenth ward where you can meet me on the fourth floor. Come alone and I'll let you in but come in a group and I'll pick your friend off until you're alone." The man threatened before hanging up while all eyes fell on Mark.

"I guess it's time I end this." Said Mark as he started to walk away from the group who quickly started to follow him.

"Wait brother you can't be serious?" Lee asked earning a chuckle from Mark.

"Unfortunately I am." The Creole replied before making his way to the back of Lee's Dominator and popping the trunk.

"You're not thinking of doing this?" asked Felix.

"Looks like it." Mark added while pulling off the lining of the trunk to the weapons stored underneath it.

"This is probably a trap." Added Link.

"Probably." Mark shot back while picking up his two Glock 17's, SCAR-L Assault Rifle, and Desert Eagle.

"Marcus!" said Ana causing the Roman to eye her as she approached him.

"We've talked about things like this." She said earning a nod from Mark.

"Yeah we have, but you know how I operate just as well as anyone." He replied earning a slight nod from Ana.

"True, well then if you wish to do this I can't stop you but I will make sure you have an advantage." She said before turning to walk away while Mark followed her and the others watched the duo make their way into the tree line.

"I brought these out here to see if your friends would be smart enough to use them, but they weren't." Ana said while bending over to pick up three smoke grenade and two Flashbang Grenades, giving the Roman good view of her perky behind.

"What you're doing is more important." She said before rising back up and handing the Creole the Sub-Weapons.

"Thanks!" he said before putting them in his back pocket.

"Do you have a vest and ammo?" she asked.

"I plan on stopping at an Ammunation, before I head there." He replied earning a shake of the head from the woman.

"There's ammo in the back of a truck as for a vest-." She trailed off as Mark watched her undo her red button-up shirt to reveal that she was wearing a bulletproof vest under her shirt.

"IAA Issue." She said with a smile while Mark rolled his eyes before moving to take the protective armor off the woman without knowing that the duo were being watched by Lee, Task, and the others.

"What's going on?" asked Buck causing Link to put his hands over the boy's eyes.

"You're not old enough for this." Stated Link as the group watched Mark finally took the vest off the IAA Agent revealing the black wife-beater that was underneath.

"No bra?" he asked earning a half smile from the woman.

"I was hoping you'd take it off." She replied while Mark looked away from her.

"I know you care about her and I understand, but I want you to know that's I'm always gonna be here and I'll be here if she leaves." The woman replied earning a nod from Mark while he looked at the ground. His gaze was then moved to look into the eyes of the IAA Agent.

"Can I kiss you, since you feel the need to-." She started before being taken by surprise as Mark pressed his lips against her in a move that didn't surprise her but left her smiling on the inside.

"No wonder they're so close." Stated Task with a slight chuckle.

"Hey Lee does this piss you off?" Adahy asked while sending a look to the confused Chinese man.

"Does what piss me off?" he asked.

"Mark being with a Chinese woman?" the Creek asked earning a chuckle from the Chinese man.

"Hell no I forget you Natives don't like to mix but us, as individual's, we don't care." Lee replied with a chuckle.

"I do, unlike them I've never been with somebody who wasn't the same race as me." Declared Felix earning a roll of the eyes from Lee.

"He's a stiff but me, Link, Mark, our brother Jimmy we like to test the waters." He replied with a chuckle. "Besides I can't be mad Ana's one of two Asian's Mark's been with, but me I've been with more black, white, brown, and yellow women then Mark and Link combined." He added with a chuckle.

"He's a whore." Said Link earning a chuckle from Lee.

"Who's a whore." Came a familiar voice that caused the group to look up and notice Mark standing behind them.

"Lee's a whore." Link replied earning a chuckle from Mark.

"True, speaking of you we need to talk come on." He said while looking to Lee and then walking away from the group while the Chinese man followed behind them.

"Change your mind about going alone?" he asked earning a chuckle from Mark.

"No, I want to talk to you about that monumental fuckup that was heist you pulled." The Creole replied earning a roll of the eyes from Lee.

"What do you want from me brother, I've never taken point on a heist like this and you're more skilled for it-." He started before Mark interrupted him.

"So you're saying I'm better then you?" the Roman asked with a raised brow,

"No, yes, what do you want to hear?" he asked earning a chuckle from Mark.

"I like the flattery, but I'm not better then you brother. We have the same level of experience and training." Mark replied.

"No you have military training from an Ex-Marine and you have IAA training from Ana, I just have what you taught me." He shot back.

"That still doesn't make me better then you, you think that plan you came up with back there was bad but it wasn't. The problem you're having is leading these bunch of rookies, I know you know where the fuck-up came from in that brain of yours now tell me where it came from?" the Roman asked with authority in his tone.

"Task breaking cover after Adahy went down, if he would have stayed in cover he could have easily picked off those cops, successfully taking the fire off us, making the other team of NOOSE Officers come in with caution, and giving us enough time and breathing room to escape." He stated earning a nod from Mark.

"Exactly, now go back there and get it done. We're doing a subtle heist this time, but they won't always be subtle and we'll need a team for that…so let's start building it up." Mark stated earning a nod from Lee who smiled at the Creole before shaking his hand.

"Be safe brother." He said earning a chuckle from the Roman.

"Please this is about to be a walk in the park." Mark replied with a chuckle before walking away from the Chinese man.

"Hey Mark, what are we gonna do about our new friend in law enforcement?" the Chinese man asked earning a smile from Mark.

"One shooter, dressed in purple, aim for the head." Mark replied earning a nod from the man.

New Arcadia

There was a long silence going on between both Alison and Tavon as the duo found themselves in the office of the Task Force sitting at their desk doing various things to pass the time. That silence was soon interrupted by the chiming of Tavon's cellphone.

"Damn!" he said before rising from his chair.

"Where are you going?" the FIB Agent asked earning Tavon's attention.

"Something with my brother." He replied while making his way out the door.

"We're not supposed to leave." she called out only for him to close the door behind himself and leaving Alison alone.

"Damn!" she said as a new wave of silence started to wash over her and with it a series a dark thoughts started to worm their way in her head.

First was the thought of Brian Rose, a dangerous gang member with military training, on the streets of New Arcadia armed with an Assault Rifle outfitted with a Grenade Launcher and enough ammo to stop anything coming at him. Her next fear was on wondering on how her plan to take the heat for the Ballas attack on the apartment complex would affect her career. Her last fear came from Marcus being with Ana, it was small and seemed meaningless but Alison knew the woman held a lot of influence over the Roman and could get him to do just about anything.

Her mind then returned to Brian and her eyes quickly widened as a new thought worked it's way in her head…Brian had stolen the Assault Rifle to go after Mark.

Once those words played through her head she quickly forgot about her order and rose from her desk before running out the door of the office.

East New Arcadia

Things were quiet for Brian as he stood in silence in the fifth floor of an abandoned high rise parking garage on the East Side of New Arcadia. The building had long since been abandoned since the hurricane and made the perfect battleground for him and the Louisiana Creole. There were a few cars in place around the floor that both men could use for cover. Brian had the advantage in weaponry, but he didn't want this fight to be boring he wanted the youngest Roman to work for his fight.

The sound of feet hitting the hard pavement is what alerted the Haitian to the arrival of the youngest Roman. As he turned around to look at Mark he noticed him unwrapping a grappling line from his waist and then setting it on the floor.

"You know you could have taken the stairs." Brian pointed out with a slight chuckle.

"Where's the fun in that." Mark replied with a slight chuckle.

"I expected that of you, tell me where exactly you served?" the Balla asked earning a chuckle from Mark.

"West Side of Dockington, Maryland." Mark replied earning a chuckle from Brian.

"Hard to believe someone as skilled as yourself could be a challenge to me." he replied with a chuckle.

"I think you're underselling Dockington." Mark shot back with a chuckle of his own. As he watched Brian he couldn't help but notice the man's eyes were dilated and he had this weird vibe coming off him.

"Glad to see you took up my offer on coming alone, I thought you wouldn't do it seeing as you can't beat me without someone watching your ass." The Balla hitman replied while Mark merely chuckled.

"Are we just going to stand here and talk-." Mark asked started before Brian watched him unstrap his SCAR-L Assault Rifle off his back. "Or are we going to fight?" he finished with venom in his tone while Brian merely chuckled.

"If you want to die so quick-." Brian started before reaching behind his back and pulling the pin of a Hand Grenade. "THEN DIE!" he yelled with venom in his tone before tossing the explosive at Mark forcing the Roman to jump for cover just as the device exploded causing a shockwave that pushed the Creole away, but luckily he was able to catch himself and turn to Brian who he noticed carrying an well-equipped Assault Rifle of his own.

"Let's have some fun." He yelled with a chuckle as he and Mark lifted their weapons almost at the same time and fired three shots at each other.

Outside of New Arcadia

"We did it!" said Buck as he found himself high-fiving Felix, Task, and Adahy in celebration of finally hijacking the fake money.

"And you doubt them." The Irishman said earning a chuckle from Ana.

"I still doubt them, and if Mark were smart he'd do the same." She replied just as Lee approached the woman from behind wearing a black jacket, black pants, purple shoes, a purple belt, and a purple bandanna hanging out his back pocket.

"Well I think I'm ready." Lee replied while Task and Adahy approached the group.

"Well don't you look like you belong in Los Santos." Said Task earning a middle finger from Lee. Like Mark the man had a strong hatred for the Ballas and also hated Asian gangs that emulated them, in particular a Triad Organization that was kicked out of San Fierro and moved into Los Santos and went to war with an Asian gang claiming Families.

"Well then since we're done here we're gonna head home, unless you need backup." Task asked earning a chuckle from Lee.

"Nah I got this covered, it ain't my first time playing pretend." Lee replied while tucking his Sawn-Off Shotgun in his belt.

"You have my number now, I'll call you when I need you." Said Ana earning a nod from the duo before they walked away from the group.

"Still think we'll do bad?" the Chinese man asked with a chuckle.

"Teach the kid and the big guy how to shoot and the other one how to remain calm and you'll do fine. I won't complain much though, you and Mark didn't fare better yourselves.

"Hey robbing a bank is a lot different than robbing a corner boy." Stated Lee earning a chuckle from Ana before a man dressed as a NOOSE Officer approached her and started to whisper in her ear.

"PACK IT UP!" the woman yelled to Link's surprise as he watched a few NOOSE Officer jump into the armored truck while the rest hopped in their cars and drove away.

"What's happening?" Link asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It seems Mark's new friend came looking for him." She replied while before the group noticed a familiar car speeding down the road then stopping in front of them.

"Showtime!" said Ana as she looked to Lee who watched Alison step out of the car before approaching him.

"Ali what brings you here?" he asked with a half-smile.

"Mark said he would be with you after he left the station, and I haven't been able to reach him…or track his phone." She said earning a nod from Lee.

Yeah he turned it off and left a few minutes ago, I think he said he was going back to Red Stick." The Chinese man replied while Alison looked him over.

"Lee why are you dressed like this?" she asked in an emotionless tone.

"Style." He replied in a shaky voice.

"He's dressed like that so he can kill your friend." Stated Ana earning the attention of Alison. "The one who broke Mark's arm, Lee's dressed to kill him." She added causing the FIB Agent to look at Lee with a look of anger.

"I thought you were letting that go?" she asked with venom in her tone.

"That's not why we're killing him." He replied to Alison's confusion.

"We kept one of those Balla locations away from you." He stated to the FIB Agents surprise. "We went to go see if we could find Brian Rose there…he was, but he wasn't alone." He added to Alison's confusion.

"Your cop friend was there with Rose." Stated Ana to Alison's surprise. "And a few hours later the Ballas know where Mark lives, that can't be coincidence." The IAA Agent added to Alison's shock.

"That's not true." She replied with sadness in her voice.

"All three of us, plus Manfred, saw him." Added Lee.

"It's not that want to kill him, killing a cop is bad for everyone, but he wants Mark dead…and we have to strike before he does." Added Link earning a few seconds of silence from Alison before she responded.

"Where's Mark now?" she asked.

"Killing Rose." Said Ana to Alison's shock and surprise.

"He got a call a few minutes ago about meeting him at abandoned parking lot to finish this one-on-one." Stated Lee causing Alison's eyes to go wide.

"No, he's gotta get out of there." She said to the group's confusion.

"Why?" Lee asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Earlier today they got Brian on camera stealing guns and Grenades from an Ammunation in New Arcadia and right now he's armed to the teeth." She stated to the group's surprise.

"I knew I should have went with him, everyone load up." Lee ordered earning nods from the group while Alison sent a look to Ana.

"He's not gonna be happy to see us." She said with a half-smile.

"As long as he's alive I don't care if he's happy or not." Alison shot back earning a chuckle from the IAA Agent.

"You've seen him fight, do you really think Mark is struggling right now?" the IAA Agent asked with a smile.

New Arcadia

"DAMN!" Mark yelled while ducking behind a car as Brian sent a barrage of rounds in his direction. Their battle had almost just started but seemed Brian had the advantage from the start with superior firepower while Mark could only by his time and wait to strike.

"Come on dawg come out and fight me like a man." Yelled Brian with a sadistic chuckle as Mark easily analyzed that the Haitian Hitman was out of his mind on a stimulant.

"I'll do that when you become a man." Mark replied before hearing a loud cocking sound that caused his eyes to widen before running from the car just as Brian launched a Grenade at the vehicle and sent it up in a fiery explosion that shook the building.

"I'm not a man yet you keep running." Brian yelled as Mark grabbed his Assault Rifle and set it to Semi-Automatic. He then leaned back and fired three shots that missed the Balla before firing a fourth that hit him in the chest but was lodged in his bulletproof vest.

"Gonna have to do better than that." He yelled out before firing another barrage of rounds at Mark causing him to leap behind a concrete support beam just as Brian stopped firing and went to reload his gun.

"Got you now." Mark yelled as he went to fire on Brian only to notice that the man had tossed another hand grenade in his direction causing him to move for cover as another explosion rocked the building.

"At this rate I'm gonna tire myself out before I can do any real damage." Said Mark as Brian finished reloading his weapon.

"I gotta create an opening." Said Mark as he peeked from behind his cover and noticed Brian getting ready to pull the pin of another Hand Grenade.

"And there's my opening." Said Mark as he watched Brian pull the pin before tossing the Grenade just as Mark jumped from cover with his SCAR-L raised.

"FOCUS!" he whispered to himself just as everything in his sight seemed to slow down, including the Grenade.

"LIGHTS OUT!" Mark yelled before firing four shots at the Grenade, a smile then spread across Mark's face as one of his rounds struck the Grenade and caused it to prematurely explode blinding Brian and causing his ears to ring.

"More where that came from." Mark yelled out before drawing his Combat Knife and then tossing the weapon at the face of the Haitian Hitman, he struck the man in the nose fortunately for Brian he was hit by the hard metal handle of the weapon but the momentary distraction of him rubbing his nose and taking a few steps backwards was all Mark needed.

The Creole responded again by tossing a smoke Grenade at the feet of Brian and as a cloud of black smoke started to flow out of it Brain felt himself being blinded and choked by the weapon, causing him to take a few more steps backwards where Mark noticed he was now standing almost close to the ledge of the parking garage.

"HAVE A NICE FALL!" Mark yelled before running at Brian and jumping up to hit him in the chest with a spin kick that made the Haitian Hitman move backwards before falling over the ledge of the building.

"Well, I guess I win." Mark said with a slight chuckle before moving to pick up his Assault Rifle.

Just as a grabbed the weapon though a loud explosion went off causing the ground to shake, followed by another, and then another, and then another until Mark noticed a hole blow upward from the floor below him causing him to look down and notice Brian on the floor under him.

"I had a feeling once of us might go over the edge so I made sure that there was something grab onto if it was me." He yelled while Mark watched him load another Grenade into the Launcher on his Rifle.

"SHIT!" Mark yelled before running away but he didn't get far as the weak gravel below him exploded upward creating a hole in the ground that he fell through and hit the asphalt hard.

"Smart plan, but a lot of flaws." Said Brian as Mark quickly drew one of Glock's and fired four shots in Brian's direction, striking him three times in the vest, he then went to move to cover behind another support beam while waiting for more bullets to come his way.

The bullets never came though, instead there a series of canisters being thrown in his direction with white smoke coming out of them and filling the air around him.

"Tear gas." The Creole whispered while using his shirt to cover his nose and mouth.

"If you don't want to come out of hiding I'm gonna smoke you out." Yelled Brian's as Mark's head started to spin causing him to take a peek in the direction of Brian where he noticed the man moving towards a car while getting ready to fire his weapon.

"Hope this works." The Roman said before drawing his Desert Eagle and then jumping from cover to fire a single shot while Brian fired over fifteen. Thankfully only six of them had managed to hit their intended target which was his vest covered chest but the force of being hit by all six shots was enough to knock Mark off his feet and send him flying into the gas.

Celebration seemed guaranteed for the Haitian Hitman but instead his gaze traveled to his right side where he noticed that Mark's bullet had pierced the side of the car he was standing next to and gasoline was leaking from the holes.

"Son of a-." started Brian as he turned to Mark and noticed the Concrete Soldier pointing his Desert Eagle in the direction of the car.

"I see the garage." Yelled Link as he sat in the passenger seat of Lee's Dominator while Ana, Alison, and Felix followed behind them in their respective cars as they drove down the freeway.

"Looks like the cops haven't showed up yet, that could be a good thing." Said Buck as he looked to Felix while Alison and Ana looked to the parking garage.

"Lack of fighting isn't a good-." Started Lee before an explosion on the fourth floor of the building quickly caught everyone's attention as they noticed a ball of fire shoot out of the building.

"That can be good or bad." Said Link as Lee slammed his foot on the gas petal sending the sports flying down the streets without any regard for public safety while Ana, Alison, and Felix did the same as a cloud of black smoke could be seen coming from the building.

"Shit!" yelled Brian as he tried to force himself to his feet. The explosion had forced him off his feet and thrown him across the fourth floor of the parking garage luckily for him he didn't have any major injuries from it, but his downside was that he was beginning to come down from his meth high.

The first thing that seemed to hit him was the feeling of fatigue and pain overtaking his body followed by a nauseated feeling that left a pain in his stomach.

"Damn!" said Brian as he reached into his pocket and pulled a small bag of crystal, but before he could take a sniff of the powder a white shoe had stomped down on his hand with enough force to break three of his fingers.

"There will be no more of that." Mark said with a chuckle before picking kicking the bag away from Brian and then putting the barrel of his Glock to the man's head.

"This fight is over and I win." He added with an evil smile before a cocking sound behind his head caused him to think otherwise.

"Put the gun down Mark." Came a familiar voice that made Mark growl.

"Put it down then get on your knees." Ordered Tavon causing Mark to slowly lower his gun but in a quick flash the Roman had spun around with his arm extended knocking the gun from Tavon's hands and then hitting the cop in the chest with a kick that knocked Tavon to the floor.

"You really think I'm gonna lower my gun to the cop that's trying to kill me?" asked Mark as Tavon lifted his head to face the youngest Roman just as Mark ran at him and delivered a swift kick to the cops abdomen.

"All this means is that now I can kill you myself." Said Mark as he kicked Tavon again in the shoulder earning a loud shriek of pain from the man while a smile spread across Mark's face as he fired another shot into the man's right leg.

"Your brother screamed like a bitch when he was in your shoes, I wonder if you'll do the same." Said Mark as he stomped down repeatedly on Tavon's right arm with enough force to hear the man's bone actually crack while he shrieked like a Banshee out of Hell.

"Time to end this." Said Mark but before he could finish the man off with a headshot from his pistol he was hit from behind and knocked off his feet forcing him to look up and notice Brian pointing his M4A1 Assault Rifle at the Roman.

"Goodbye!" said Brian as he sent another barrage of shots at Mark causing him to run for cover while firing his other Glock at the man.

Just as Mark went to fire again he noticed that his gun had clicked empty while a smile spread across Brian's face.

"This is-." The man started before he was taken by surprise as Mark quickly threw his Pistol at the head of the gang member and struck him in his already hurt this time rebreaking the breathing tool while Brain inaccurately fired five shots that hit Mark in the chest and a six that struck him in his already hurt shoulder, tearing through his shirt and ripping through the bandages on his arm.

"Son of a bitch!" Brian yelled while looking up with blood leaking from his nose, his eyes then widened as he noticed Mark running at him until the Roman's right fist connected with the center of the man's face and forcing Brian to take a few more steps back while Mark continued his assault.

The Creole was as relentless as it came in his attack as he struck Brian with a strike to the leg before following up with three punches to the face and then a jumping knee strike that hit the Haitian Hitman in the chin. He didn't have time for a follow-up attack as Brian swung his right fist and caught Mark across the face with a wicked haymaker.

The Balla then swung his Assault Rifle and struck Mark over the head with enough force to leave the Concrete Soldier seeing stars and momentarily seeing the world in the color blue while a stream of blood leaked from the left side of his mouth.

"Come on!" said Brian as Mark sent him a look before charging the Haitian Hitman who swung his Rifle again but this time Mark had lifted his left arm to block the attack but the strike had enough force behind it to make him feel a sharp pain in his arm that made him think he may have fractured his arm again.

Despite that knowledge and the pain though Mark was on Brian striking the man three times in the face with his right before kicking the Rifle from his left hand and adding a kick to his stomach. The attack was then met with a barrage of blows from Brian who struck Mark four times in the chest and then followed up with a punch to the head.

The duo then seemed to be trading blows with one another like two boxers who were doing their hardest to not falter to their opponent and each hitting the other with blows harder than the next. As Brian finally hit Mark with a left jab to the face Mark quickly responded with a knee strike the man's abdomen followed by a Double Axe-Handle to the back of Brian's head forcing the Haitian to take a few steps back while eyeing Mark and yelling at him in Creole.

"Speak English." Said Mark as he and Brian charged each other again but instead of trading blows the duo brought their arms to the others chest and tried to grapple the other down with brute force all the while snarling at each other.

As the duo continued their clinch hold Mark made the first move and lifted his knee in an attempt hit Brian with another knee strike, but Brian quickly countered it by raising his own knee to collide with Mark. The duo then proceeded to try and hit the other with a successful knee strike but both would always counter the other and one could easily see the blood starting to leak from both men's battered knees.

Following Mark's lead Brian then tried to break the stalemate by leveling his head backwards and sending his forehead rocketing towards Mark but the Haitian had only managed to collide against his forehead as the duo found themselves in another stalemate of head-butting the other until blood was leaking from the tops of both of their heads.

"ASE NAN SA A." Brian yelled finally breaking the stalemate by taking his arm off Mark's shoulder and hitting him over the head with a sideways head that caused the Roman to break his hold from off the man.

As Mark went to shake off the punch Brian had responded with several punches to Mark's stomach that were thankfully softened by the bulletproof vest.

"FUCK YOU!" yelled Brian as he threw another punch at Mark's head only for the Concrete Soldier to duck under the arm of the Haitian Hitman and move behind him. He then wrapped both of his arms around the waist of Brian and clutched him tightly.

"LIFT OFF!" Mark yelled before falling backwards and bending his knees to lift Brian up well over his shoulders and then Suplexing the man into a hard slam on his neck that had enough force to leave Brian's body temporarily paralysis.

As Mark let go of the man he found himself taking a few breaths of air before rising to his feet and looking to Brian whose eyes looked almost lifeless in his unconscious state.

"I guess…I win after all." Said Mark as he picked up his Desert Eagle, checking it for ammo, and then putting the weapon to the back of Brian's head.

"NO!" came a familiar voice that caused Mark to lift his head and notice Alison, Ana, Lee, Link, Felix, and Buck staring at him with mixed looks.

"I said I could handle this." Mark said in a tone that was filled with exhaustion.

"Yeah that was before we knew Grenade Launchers were being used." Stated Lee.

"Mark you don't have to kill him." Said Alison causing everyone to turn to her and eye her with a confused expression. "I know you think this is for the best, but there is another way." She added while Mark sent a look down at Brian.

"I know killing is how you handle things like this, but it's time for a change. You don't have to kill to solve all your problems anymore." The woman added while Mark sent a look to Ana, Lee, and the others.

"Whatever you do I will respect." The woman replied while Mark sent a look back to Alison.

"Please don't." she in a saddened tone while all eyes fell on Mark who gave a loud growl as Brian started to wake up prompting the youngest Roman to strike him in the back of the head with his pistol while Alison looked on awaiting the inevitable.

That inevitable didn't come though instead of putting a bullet in the back of the True Haitian Posse Balla member's head he reached down and grabbed the purple bandanna from the man's back pocket before yanking it out and holding it high over his head.

"I gotta admit you're lucky to be alive friend but I gotta be honest with you, you're the toughest Ball-Sack I ever faced and I'm honored to have your trophy." Said Mark with a chuckle before he walked away from the fallen Brian while everyone looked on in surprise as Mark approached him.

But before the Roman could reach the group the sound a gunshot caught them all by surprise as Mark fell forward with another bullet hole in the back of his vest.

"Mark!" the FIB Agent yelled before running to the fallen Roman. Luckily the bullet didn't pierce his vest but Mark could feel the bruise already forming in the center of his back. The group then turned their attention to Tavon was standing with a smoking gun in his hands.

"None of you are going anywhere." He said with anger in his tone.

"Tavon stop this." Yelled Alison.

"Stop this, you know what he did to me and here you are defending him." Tavon yelled with force in his tone.

"Why are you even here with him or any of them?" he asked while sending looks to Lee and the others.

"Oh I get it now you and him." He said before pointing to Mark, who was eyeing him angrily while trying to stand up. "So are you working for him or are you two-." He started before trailing off while Alison looked away from him.

"If you like him so much then you can die with-." He started before the sound of a gunshot caught everyone by surprise as Tavon looked down and noticed blood starting to pour out of a bullet-wound in his stomach.

"You should have known that there was no way you were getting out of this alive did you." stated Ana before everyone's eyes fell on the Haitian Hitman who was starting to stand up with his M4A1 Assault Rifle in his hand.

"This doesn't concern you." Said Brian before he spit up a few trickles of blood while Tavon turned to him and fired a shot that struck the Haitian man in the shoulder. The man was then met with a barrage of rounds courtesy of Brian who shredded the cop with over thirty five rounds that turned the man's body into a shredded piece of paper.

"Oh god!" said Alison as she looked at the fallen Tavon as his corpse started to go through the stages of rigormortis.

"Now I'm gonna-." Started Brian before a gunshot resonated from behind the group who watched in awe as a bullet literally ripped the man's right cheek and blew out his left with enough force to spray his blood across the room and leave him screaming at the top of his lungs while the group looked on in shock as the tip of Brian's tongue fell out of his opened mouth.

"I get tired of hearing you speak." Said Ana as the group watched Brian fall to the floor shrieking in pain while the woman held a smoking Smith and Wesson Model 4506 in her right hand.

"You have your suspect make the arrest." Said Ana as she looked to Alison who stared at her with wide eyes just as the sound of police sirens started to fill the air.

"Looks like we got company." Said Lee as the group sent a look to Mark, then to Ana, then to Alison, and then back to Mark while a look of confusion spread across all their faces.

"I got an idea, but Mark's not gonna like it." Said Ana as Mark gave the woman a confused look before turning to Alison who eyed her closely.

The sound of police sirens had finally reached the parking garage as Locke and Regina stepped out of their car with over a dozen other officers and made their way into the parking garage.

"Go!" said Locke as he, Regina, Sawyer, and a group of officers started making their way up the various floors of the parking garage before finally arriving at the fourth where they were greeted by a sight that shocked them all almost to death.

"Oh god!" said Locke as he, Regina, and Sawyer quickly took in the sight in front of them before running towards a fallen Tavon who was lying in a pool of his own blood.

"Shit!" said Locke as he looked at the body angrily while Regina and Sawyer lowered their heads.

"We got another body here." Yelled a NOOSE Officer causing the trio to start running to another part of the parking garage where they were greeted by the sight of another one of their officers lying on the ground.

As they approached the body of an unconscious Alison the group noticed blood leaking from a forehead wound while a pistol was resting on the asphalt next to her hand.

As the group continued to look the woman over they noticed she was wearing a black bulletproof vest over her shirt that was almost lined with bullets that lodged themselves in the vest, blood stains, and dirt. Her clothing also had some rips and tears in it as well and her hair was thrown over her face.

"She's alive." Said Locke as he put his hands to the side of the FIB Agents neck and quickly felt a strong pulse.

"Holy shit, she brought him down." Said Sawyer earning the attention of everyone as they turned their attention to Brian who was lying flat on the ground unconscious with his weapon next to him.

"Is he dead?" asked Locke, but as Sawyer went to touch the Haitian Hitman the man quickly lifted his head and let out a loud moan that was filled with pain. With the man's tongue being on the otherside of the room his voice came out in a mumbled shriek that the group couldn't understand, but got quite a laugh from Sawyer.

"Well he's missing his tongue and worse for wear but at least we can bring him in alive." He stated with a chuckle while Locke and Regina approached the injured Balla.

"Brian Rose you are hereby under-arrest." The Lieutenant said with a half-smile while Lee found himself leading a convoy away from the parking garage with a half-smile on his face.

"You think that was the right choice?" asked Link as Lee gave a half-chuckle while he continued to drive.

"Letting him live…no but at least this way we don't have to worry about either of our cop problems and this way Ali gets a win, if they don't arrest her for this." Stated Lee earning a nod from the Irish man.

"So what happens now?" asked Link as Ana looked into the backseat of her car and noticed Mark lying face down fast asleep resting on her leather seat while his weapons were on the floor. She didn't like the idea of the Roman sleeping with a possible concussion but she didn't fault him for it, for he had been through hell and back today. He also didn't show any of the signs for a concussion so she more than willing to let him rest.

"I don't know, hopefully things go in our favor." Lee replied while the group continued to drive away from the parking garage.

Authors Notes: And there you have it people, I know almost all of you wanted to see Brian dead but I wanted to change of pace with how I get rid of my main villains with new characters who deal with things differently. You gotta admit though the battle between Mark and Brian was awesome as hell though.

Some of their battle was based on the battle between Wash and Locust on Red Vs. Blue, Goku vs. Majin Vegeta, and even some wrestling matches. That Suplex Mark hit on Brian to end the fight is actually based off Jake's back melee in Resident Evil 6, which is a wrestling move I can say from being on the wrong end of it hurts like hell. And yes if you drop someone on their neck hard enough they can go through a temporary state of paralysis or even a permanent state of paralysis.

I already talked with some of my readers about how they wanted the heist done before this chapter came about. It was a close tie and a lot of people wanted to do an obvious heist but Subtle won it out, one of the reasons for it was because of the lack of experience in the group carrying out the heist. Mark and Lee are the most experienced and taking a group into a full on gunfight would leave the group at a disadvantage.

One of the reasons I did the practice heist was to show just how inexperienced the group is. Frankly I wished they would have done the same in V, because you can take a cheap gunman, a cheap hacker, and a cheap driver and have them do the same as the more expensive guys and get the same results so why bother spend more money on someone who can do the same as a cheap guy. Plus it makes more sense of things, not everybody can do a heist. Guys crack under pressure or they make key mistakes.

I didn't show the fake bank robbery because it was a bust but it was inspired by that episode of Family Guy where Peter and Meg starting hanging out and he did a cutaway of him and Meg robbing a bank. If you didn't see it I will tell you that he told Meg to check that smaller bags of money for Dye Packs, which she didn't do, and she shot the bank manager. Two acts which played out in the heist.

Adahy shooting the security guard is based off something a friend of mine said if he were to ever rob a bank, he'd shoot the guard before they shoot him. Killing someone during a robbery is bad especially a cop it means increase police response. If you choose to do the obvious Jewelry Robbery in V with a weak gunman you'll have to shoot a fleeing shopper and you'll have more police after you because of it.

Mark talking about watching the movie Rapid and Ruthless is based off the movie Fast and Furious.

What Link talked about with protocols police take when they're under fire is somewhat true. With all these shootings involving the police they actually talked about protocols the police have to take when confronted with active shooters and knowing what they're going to do is always good. Knowledge is half the battle and if you don't have knowledge of your opponent you fail similar to Lee and the others.

Stick around for next chapter as the group go through with the Cotton State Lottery Heist, the city of New Arcadia deals with the fallout of Brian's arrest, and Alison does something that have consequences down the line.

Also next chapter will mark the end of the first half of this story and once it's done it will move onto a time skip and into another part of the story. Almost like a television show goes through seasons so this story isn't ending its just moving to a new season.

PS. I said I was gonna update Roman Empire before I updated New Arcadia, but earlier this week the power went out and I fucked up and lost both chapters of Roman Empire and New Arcadia without saving either of them. I was 17,000 words in next chapter of Roman Empire and then to lose it all in a day, you can guess I was pissed.

I also go through a writers blocks when that happens and I don't want to rewrite what I wrote because of it. New Arcadia had less words so I could get over rewriting it so I was able to write this and get it up faster then I wanted.

I also started back working on rewriting Roman Empire and am now 5,000 words into it, but because I'm still in a writer's block so I'm not writing spending a lot of time writing it.

So to compensate I will cut somethings from the chapter and just have it in the next so it'll be less than 17,000 but still be as long as you expect from me but not extra-long. I can give an exact date but I can say that I'm working on overcoming my writers block so hopefully soon.

Thank you all for reading have a nice day and be safe Zilla out.