(A/N: Yes, I have decided on what series I could add as crossover material. For those wondering, the DW Arc is going to cover several missions from early Online while building up to the first heist. But why I am starting with Isaribi flashback…two goals. Buildup and setting a vibe. This flashback scene takes place in the early GTA IV/Lost and Damned.)

Note: For this chapter, bold text is Present Isaribi commentary.

TWG:R

~The Dirty Work Arc~

Chapter 9: Liberty City Isaribi Chronicles 2

2008. A year of screw ups, good decisions, and poor decisions. One of my poor decisions was letting Dimitri manipulate Niko into killing Mikhail and helping him kill Faustin. I suppose covering up and letting Billy pin the blame on the Angels of Death could have been a poor decision, because it led to me seeing the cursed heroin for the first time.

[Action/Reaction]

Isaribi looked upon what she had done with the brothers. The Angels of Death clubhouse burned as she stormed it with Johnny, Billy, and Jeremy. Not that Jeremy was shooting, he left Isaribi to cover him much to her annoyance. As they went downstairs, Billy found exactly what he wanted and he cackled.

"The Deadbeats have got themselves one shit-load of heroin." Billy remarked, before turning to Johnny. "Pack it up."

"Wait, I don't understand. What the fuck is this? I thought this was payback for Jason." Johnny said.

Billy went on about the worth, but Isaribi had simply left wanting to make tracks.

I had left. Was I an asshole for letting Billy manipulate the Lost into a war with the Angels of Death? Yes, but I realize now that I was mentally checking out of the Lost more and more. I had found solace elsewhere. In hindsight, I was close to coming to the point where I was with the Lost out of obligation. It was that same day Dimitri tasked me with stealing something…the deed to Faustin's mansion. I stole it, but I lied to Dimitri that Faustin must have moved it. He seemingly believed me…but I didn't want to take chances.

[Russian Revolution]

A few days had passed her by as Isaribi was in the Bellic cab depot. Since then she had met, aided, and befriended the leaders of the Yardies with Niko. She was getting her things out of the locker as she had spied Russians prowling around the area more. It had made her uneasy. A lot of times considering Billy's increased risk taking. She swore that the job he sent her on yesterday was a trap to get her killed. Ironically, it got her a good payday, and she lied to Billy that it was a wash. She was loading up into her Vapid Gang Burrito, which she had modified herself to get rid of the gang livery. Once she was done, she entered the back to close it to get the driver's seat. Once she was driving, she got a phone call from Niko. Dimitri had told him that he had the money to pay him, but to come alone.

"Niko, I smell bullshit. Where's the meet? Yeah? I'm on my way." Isaribi said as she drove.

Once near the warehouse, she had changed her clothes. Namely, not wearing her Lost jacket. She got on a green down jacket zipped up, a pair of camo-colored fatigues, moss green boots, black gloves, surgical mask that hid a voice modulator, dark glasses, and a black ushanka.

I wanted to be prepared. In hindsight, I was over prepared mostly due to Niko and his protagonist status. Looking back, I really got lucky that I knew the 'protags'. I met up with Niko and Jacob.

"Gentleman." I said.

"Good to see ya, sista." Little Jacob said.

"Sharp eyes, huh?" Niko said to the both of them as Isaribi cocked her Automatic 9mm.

Niko went to meet up with Dimitri.

I was listening in on the conversation. The moment he mentioned Niko's past, I knew it was going sour. Even more so when I saw him. Ray Bulgarin. Ironically, I'd end up working for the prick thanks to Luis. The moment he called for Niko to be 'removed', Jacob and I sprang in.

"Looks like you're dead!" Isaribi said as her bullets tore through a mook's skull.

Niko and Little Jacob were using his Micro SMG while using cover to dodge enemy fire. For Niko, it was like slipping back to old tactics as he stealthily moved around to take out who he could. He supposed this 'system' making it easier. A guy was sneaking up from behind on Niko, only to get his skull cracked by Isaribi hitting him with a baseball bat.

"Thanks." Niko remarked.

"More men gwan come up." Little Jacob said as more men descended on them.

Niko ducked for a new cover.

I realize now he was switching weapons, but then I didn't question how he carried a Rocket Launcher.

KA-BLAM! Niko fired a rocket into the side of the building within the warehouse, burning debris and glass falling on several mooks. Isaribi put her pistol away and found Molotov Cocktails. She lit them up and started throwing. One hit the wall right above Dimitri's head. The trio kept fighting which got Dimitri and Bulgarin to flee as everyone could hear police sirens.

"Bumba clot, Babylon! Mek we step outta de place!" Little Jacob said as Isaribi collected some dropped cash.

Niko had scooped up ammo as cop cars were coming in the front.

"Where we meeting up?" Isaribi asked.

"The Cafe." Little Jacob said as Isaribi left through the back.

While LJ and Niko faced the cops to escape, I was going out the way we originally planned. I had a feeling the cops who arrived there were on either Dimitri or Bulgarin's payroll.

A cop car ambushed her and she used her last Molotov to nail a cop in the face before the second cop swung her baton at Isaribi's head. The lady cop was clawing at Isaribi's face only for Isaribi to headbutt her. Grabbing the cop by her ponytail, Isaribi slammed her head into the glass before she fell like a sack of potatoes. Isaribi slipped into the van as cops were swarming the warehouse. She yanked off her clothes leaving her underwear before wrapping herself in a beach towel and getting on the wheel to drive. To everyone, she'd look like she was going or coming back to the beach. Niko drove Jacob's Virgo leading the cops on a bit of a chase which keeped Isaribi under the police's radar.

I had rode up by the Russian Shop to get some clothes. I don't think the old woman questioned anything when I put $150 on the counter and came with a towel around my body, she kept reading her magazine. Pretty sure one of those bills was stained with blood. Not like it mattered.

Isarbi got on a blue track top under a brown leather jacket, new fingerless gloves, jeans, a pair of blue jeans, a pair of wide yellow sunglasses, and a green Russian army cap. She walked to the front with the towel around her neck.

"Keep the change." Isaribi said before leaving.

She drove away before calling Little Jacob.

"What's the status?" Isaribi asked.

"Lost them Babylon. You?" Little Jacob asked.

"Same. On my way to the cafe." Isaribi said before hanging up.

It was a short drive to the cafe where Niko and Little Jacob had beat her there.

"I'm going to speak to Badman, you keep on the low, call Roman, and get outta dis place." Little Jacob said as Niko got out of Little Jacob's car.

"Thanks for the help. Both of you." Niko said before LJ got out.

"One love, me breda." LJ said before going inside as Niko got in Isaribi's van.

Isaribi started driving.

"This isn't going to end well. I had my suspicions, but no smoking gun to expose him for a snake." Isaribi said as Niko put a hand on her shoulder.

"He played us both to do his dirty work." Niko said fuming. "And he'll want us both dead."

"Call Roman. We need to get the hell out of Broker. I also wonder what Ivan's doing…because he was right that Broker sucks ass." Isaribi said as Niko called Roman.

"Niko, please come and meet me in the alleyway off of Hopper Street in EIC. Quickly, cousin!" Roman said in a heated whisper.

"Roman, why are you whispering?" Niko said worried. "Don't worry, I'm coming."

[Roman's Sorrow]

"Crap. He could be in trouble. I need to drop off the van. Valuable belongings of mine. I need to make a phone call." Isaribi said.

I called Tony. He was at least helpful considering I was not stashing anything illegal. Of course, I didn't tell him everything.

"Thanks, T. You're a blessing." She said before hanging up. "Ok, I just need to drop this off at Trenton Avenue."

"That's Steinway. Good, it's on the way." Niko said.

I dropped off the van there and Niko managed to jack a Patriot. Frankly, one of my favorite SUVs. I rode with him and together we got to Roman.

"Roman?" Isaribi asked, seeing no one around.

One of Roman's Taxis was around, but no one was around.

"Roman? Where are you?" Niko asked before they heard a knocking from the trunk.

"In here! I'm stuck! Let me out!" Roman said as Isaribi opened the trunk.

"Shit, man. What are you doing there?" Niko said.

Roman hung his head admitting he got scared as people were calling the house and hanging up.

"Fuck." Isaribi snarled.

"Neither you nor Isaribi were answering your cells. What happened?" Roman remarked as Isaribi saw she had a missed call from him.

"We've got a big problem. Dimitri was not a man of his word." Niko said.

"So we're dead?" Roman asked, putting his hands on his hand.

"Yeah. Worst part is I might have almost ended up getting ambushed like Niko. Days prior, Dimitri had me do some dirty work for him after we killed Faustin. I got what he wanted, but I lied to him saying I couldn't get it because it was moved." Isaribi said to the cousins' surprise. "I didn't give it to him because what asked me to do was fucking scummy as hell. I'm pretty sure he would have had me killed."

"Everything was fine before you…

Roman was berating us. Niko had spilled to Roman about Bulgarin. Roman did have a point on that we could not afford revenge. Not at the moment at least.

"Please come on… let's go back to the apartment." Roman said getting in the Patriot.

Niko got to driving as Isaribi was in the backseat.

"I also have something else. I've been seeing Russian goons in their cars more often around the depot and the street where the apartment is lately. So much so, it got me spooked to move a few things out of them elsewhere." Isaribi remarked.

Roman called up Mallorie.

"Hey beautiful. Listen, me, Isaribi, and Niko are in a bit of trouble - need to get out of Broker a few days. Do any of your cousins have a place we could use out in Bohan? You're an angel - beautiful and kind. I love you. We'll see you there." Roman said before hanging up. "Maybe things are not so bad."

"This, I did not expect." Niko said sternly.

"I was thinking about getting out of the cab business. Last night I had a dream…" Roman remarked.

"Really?" Niko and Isaribi shot back.

"Yes, you and I had a place of our own. A place where people come to eat and relax. A classy place. None of this fast-food, diner bullshit. We own a real restaurant, a tavern. It is a place of distinction, you know?

"I can't see myself settling down." Niko said.

"But it's a nice dream." Isaribi admitted."

"Not now, but in the dream you've met the right woman. She is beautiful. Pure like my Mallorie. In the dream Mallorie and me are married. As for Isaribi, she's grown up and helping to manage the place with prospects lining up for her. Everything is perfect. This could be the start of that. A fresh beginning." Roman said optimistically.

"All I know is we have to get as far from Dimitri and Bulgarin as we can." Niko said bringing them down to reality.

"We will, but I have left something important at the apartment. Something I must show you, cousin." Roman said. "And then we can check out Bohan."

"What are we going to do in Bohan? Pick up the whores on Chase Point? Maybe they will let us live with them in their crack dens." Niko said sarcastically.

"Even I would not go with those hookers on the point, cousin. You know what you can catch from those girls?" Roman said.

"I always put a saddle on a horse before I ride her, Roman. I won't catch nothing." Niko snarked.

"Besides, I've been to a few of them. Having the clap's bad for business." Isaribi chimed in.

"You are a sick fuck, cousin. No wonder half of Broker wants you dead." Roman said before turning to Isaribi. "And you…I didn't peg you for a…"

"That's because I'm into both. It's all in my mood." Isaribi said with a shrug. "I just never really bring it up…"

"I am glad you both have a sense of humor about this now. It was just a joke... about the whores, you know?" Niko said dryly.

"Sure it was, Niko. Sure it was. I will add that to the long list of your secrets that are safe with me…what the hell?!"

There it was…the burning apartment…and shortly after…the burning depot.

Seeing it burn was painful. It wasn't the best place, but it was ours. I had good times playing cards and just hanging out. Roman, for all his faults, did not deserve this. This and the attack on the depot was a show of power. A way of saying, Broker isn't safe anymore. I barely noticed Johnny riding by the depot on his bike…thankfully he had not seen me.

"We need to get out of here." Isaribi said as Niko hit the gas.

"Roman, we have to go-"

"I have nothing now!" Roman cried out.

"You have Mallorie!" Niko insisted.

"And you two! For all the good you have done me." Roman said with tears.

Roman went on about how hard it was to set up.

"I said I was sorry." Niko said.

"You have a lot to apologize for. Since you got here I've had my computer smashed, I've been beaten up, I was kidnapped and then shot in the stomach, my apartment got burned down and so did my business. Things have been going so great, just great, since you showed up." Roman said.

"Ok, no. The only thing Niko has to apologize for is the kidnapping." Isaribi said sourly. "Might I remind you the Albanians were on your ass because you owed Vlad money. Considering Vlad's dead and Mallorie doesn't have to see him again so you don't get gutted."

"You remember that time we went to the bar back home and found it razed to the ground? Just a pile of rubble... everything smashed, except for that one bottle of vodka." Niko said thoughtfully.

"Yeah... we sat down and finished it off there and then. Wait... wait... I don't want to talk about going back home. We're here in America now and I should be thinking about my life here, my life which is ruined. Just drive, shut up and drive." Roman said before turning to Isaribi. "Nothing out of you either. I'd fire you if I could."

"But you'd lose your most reliable and loyal employee." Isaribi snarked.

Roman's phone rang as they were at the toll booth and he answered to talk to Mallorie for a few minutes before hanging up.

"Look, what I wanted to get was an engagement ring. I wanted to have her, really have her." Roman remarked.

"You do. Ring or not." Niko said gently.

"Well gentleman, welcome to Bohan." Isaribi said they arrived in it.

Bohan. The smallest district in Liberty City. And the most crime ridden, which was a perfect place to lay low. Too many mafia and drug dealers for Russians to penetrate. A place riddled with prositution and vice. Mallorie had gotten us set up with apartments in a building on the corner of South Bohan. It wasn't much, but it actually was much more than the old one that I had to share with Niko and Roman. At least we all got our own, plus there was a nice back area where I could stash my rides. Mallorie, at least, knew people in Bohan…could help us get work.

Niko had left the apartment as did Isaribi. She got a cab to get to Dukes to get her van when her phone rang. She saw it was Dimitri as she got out of the cab after paying.

"Hello?" Isaribi said.

"Isabella. I…"

"I know what happened, you fucking snake. You know nothing of loyalty." Isaribi said.

"Isabelle, don't be irrational. Niko's a dead man walking, I had to sell him out to Bul-"

"FUCK OFF WITH THAT SHIT! You didn't have to do shit. You did it because you're an opportunistic bastard. Mikhial would have told Bulgarin to fuck himself." Isaribi yelled as she got in her van. "Consider this my resignation."

"That is a poor decision that you pay dearly for." Dimitri hissed. "You won't find work that pays as well as I do."

"Maybe so, but I won't have to worry about being backstabbed." Isaribi said, hanging up.

I suppose I should take a bit of a solace that he was more focused on Niko than me.

(A/N: The dialogue for Roman's Sorrow actually includes some alternate dialogue if the mission is replayed. But the flashback scenes continue, yes I'm skipping a few missions (just assume they happen without Isaribi). But I wanted to keep sowing the seeds for the present and the future. Now, we open this season properly.)

(A/N: I've come to a bit of a decision. I do want to include some features from Saints Row (namely the second one) in the system to expand on it, and simply give more to do (features from the older GTAs will be considered and possibly implemented in some form). The System's setup is going to be closer to the one I used for Grand Theft RWBY: LSS with some changes. Also, before you ask, all the content from the updates before Gunrunning (excluding the Holiday specials) is on the table for at the moment. Moving on, here's to Season 2, prepare for the unexpected.)