"Okay, so tell me something." Lui asked and shoved his hands in his pockets as he and Delirious scouted out the Ammu-Nation building. They leaned back against the brick wall across the street and watched customers slowly filter in and out of the store. To everyone else they looked like two friends having a simple chat, but they had ulterior motives. Such as waiting to see if one person in particular showed up to make a trade with the owner, Fitch. Fitch had tipped Evan off a few days prior that one of the guys that the crew had been looking for had come forward with an offer and he was willing to give him up in exchange for protection from his gang. Evan had agreed and here they were scoping the place out waiting for the guy to show.

"Hm?" Jonathan cracked his knuckles before he casually thumbed through his phone, pretending to be busy.

"I know you're like, technically the co-leader and everything of the crew. But how long have you and Evan been, you know, together?" Lui asked and Jonathan looked up at him, squinting against the midday sun.

"Together? Or together together?"

Lui shrugged. "Both, I guess. I never really heard either story from the beginning."

"Alright. Well, I came across a recruitment message that had been sent out. This guy, Evan, was looking for a point man for a robbery. This was years ago now, but I remember that I was on the verge of being desperate for a job because I didn't have a gang or a crew. All I had was Luke and he was gone on business at the time. So I contacted the guy and after the job went down he asked me to stick around and I did."

They watched another guy leave the store, but it wasn't who they were looking for.

"So he liked you that much on that job that he asked you to stay?" Lui asked, clearly in disbelief.

"Yeah." Jonathan smirked at him.

Lui shook his head and huffed, "If only it had been that easy for me. I had to show off and then beg to stay."

Jonathan gave a laugh, "I know. I remember."

Lui rolled his eyes and leaned back against the brick, "So when did you guys get together together? I know you guys just slowly got there, we all saw it, but don't know when it actually happened."

"I mean, I liked him from day one. I don't know when he became attracted to me, but he saved me from my addiction and I've loved him ever since. Now as for when it actually came to light, it was after we let that huge shipment run out on the streets so they could track it all down. It was after all that commotion died down and we finally had the time to talk about us. It was then, so like, a year and a half now we've been together."

Lui looked at him and grinned crookedly, "You guys are cute, I admit. You're like Bonnie and Clyde."

Jonathan smiled and shrugged, "If you say so."

At that moment, their target walked into the store and they pushed themselves off the wall and made their way across the street.

"So, you come up with a way to make this guy's death look like an accident yet?" Lui asked.

"Yeah," Jonathan said and nodded as they parted ways. Lui went in through the front door while Delirious circled around to the back exit if the guy ran.

And he did. They always ran.

Marcel was waiting in the alleyway when Jonathan tightened a ziptie around the smuggler's wrists after he had tackled him to the ground. Lui helped him cram the guy into the suv and Jonathan told Marcel to get them up to Mt. Chiliad.

He cut the guy loose once they had reached the top and the cold air whipped around them.

"If you're gonna kill me, then do it already!" The man yelled.

Delirious simply smiled and cut him free before he handed the confused thug a parachute.

"The fuck is this for?"

"You." Delirious pulled out his pistol and pointed it at his chest. "Jump."

The guy went pale but he didn't hesitate as he strapped himself in. They watched him jump and soon they saw the parachute open as the sun set in the distance.

"Shoot one of the straps, Lui."

Lui didn't bat an eye as he set up his scoped rifle on the cliffside and in one silent shot, he met his target. They watched the man struggle, watched him fall, watched him hit the earth.

It was a beautiful day.

"Let's go home, boys. We're done." Delirious sighed as he looked out at the scenery one more time.

"Aye aye, Captain." Lui clapped him on the shoulder and they rode back in a calm silence. What they did, they did to make life easier for the whole city, even if no one agreed with it. Even if no one knew they were actually the good guys.

Everything was going the way it always did, according to their well thought out plans. Everything was always as it should be under Evan's command. And if Evan wanted Delirious to run downtown with Brock and Tyler to get groceries, then that's what they would do. Someone had to and they had to eat.

"You want some JuJubes?" Jonathan asked Evan before they left and his boss gave him a look.

"Is that rhetorical? You know I do." Evan said and Jonathan gave him a wink before he left him alone in his office.

They looked like three normal guys buying enough food for an army, which technically they were. This was as close to family as Jonathan could get. This gang was his life and they were his brothers.

"Mm. Oatmeal! Delirious, your favorite!" Brock laughed when Jonathan made a disgusted face.

"You know I hate that shit. Get it away from me!"

"Haha!"

They shopped for a good two hours and had three carts full of food and snacks and as they were loading up the bags into the truck Jonathan ran across the street to the only gas station in the city that carried JuJubes. The gummy sweets that were Evan's favorite. As he was checking out at the counter he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. A cold chill ran down his spine and for a moment he wished he hadn't decided to go out without his jacket. But when someone behind him said his name he felt the goosebumps rise on his skin. He'd never forgotten that voice.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Jonathan."

He swallowed and the girl behind the counter, Liza, whom he'd befriended months ago caught his eye. She was scared and he could see her starting to go pale.

"Go to the storage room and don't come out until we're gone." He said and she skittered off without a word. Then he turned and met the guy's cold stare. "Murphy."

"Not so little anymore, I see."

"What do you want?"

The man shrugged and his two thug bodyguards laughed when he said, "Just what you owe me."

Jonathan saw familiar headlights coming across the street. "I don't owe you shit."

"We'll see about that."

Evan knew something was wrong but he couldn't tell what it was. All he knew was that Jonathan was acting off. He smiled differently when he handed him his JuJubes. He laughed differently while they all had dinner. And anytime he caught his eye, Jonathan would look away. That alone made Evan sick to his stomach. So he waited until Jonathan said he was going to bed and pulled Tyler and Brock to the side where he asked them quietly, "Did something happen while you guys were out?"

Tyler raised a brow, "No, everything was fine. We were all laughing, having a good time."

"Yeah, everything was fine." Brock nodded. "But he got quiet after he came out of the gas station. I mean, Delirious can be quiet and it's nothing out of the ordinary but considering we were all in a pretty good mood when we came out of the store, it was a little off. I don't know. We came across the road to pick him up, but nothing happened. He didn't say anything at least."

Evan shook his head, "He wouldn't, because he's such a stubborn ass."

"There were a few guys in there, big guys. Maybe they had something to do with it?" Tyler tried.

"I'll talk to him." Evan said goodnight to everyone and retreated to the bedroom where there was already a long slender figure beneath the sheets. He stepped out of his clothes and crawled into the blankets behind him, pulling him close so he could kiss the space between his shoulders. He waited to see if Jonathan was going to relax, but he never did. His muscles remained tense and Evan knew that meant he wouldn't fall asleep that night.

"You know I'm going to ask, so why don't you go ahead and tell me what happened." He kissed the back of his neck reassuringly. "Unless you don't want to talk."

"I really don't."

"Well, you're not going to sleep, so if we're gonna lay here all night we may as well talk. Or do something else." Evan ran his nose across his skin and Jonathan sighed.

"Let's do something else." Jonathan said and turned in his arms to kiss him.

"You're going to tell me eventually." Evan said as he gripped his body tight, the heat rising between them.

Jonathan straddled his waist, "Yeah, but not today."

It had been a week and Jonathan hadn't heard from his old enemy yet. Murphy wasn't someone who forgot and he wasn't one to show his face like that either, not since he and his gang had disappeared over ten years ago. Just up and vanished after they had been found out by the feds and had made too many enemies.

"Hang tight, Marcel. I'll be right back." Jonathan said and hopped out of the truck with a package in hand that was to be delivered to a fellow gang leader, Olsen. He made a turn down an alley and beat his fist against the metal door.

When it opened, he wasn't prepared for the fist that met his face, or the one that hit him in the ribs. He looked up from the ground only to find Murphy's men staring down at him.

"Where's Olsen?"

Then the massive Latino stepped into view, "Don't worry about Olsen. I'd worry about yourself."

"I told you, I don't owe you shit."

"I took you in! I gave you money to live off of when you were on the streets!" Murphy yelled and Jonathan could see the spit flying through the air. He pushed himself to his feet.

"I didn't ask for any of that. You saw me alone on the road one day and shoved your offers down my throat. You forced your money on me so that I was obligated to do your dirty work. And then you disappeared. I didn't want it and I don't owe you. If anything, Murph, you owe me for fucking sticking around as long as I did." Jonathan kept his cool. He was outnumbered and if he avoided further punches it wouldn't be long before Marcel realized something was up.

Murphy laughed, "Jonathan. I'm back in business and from what I hear you are one of the top dogs around here now. So, sounds to me like you should be helping me out as a favor for keeping your ass alive all those years ago."

Jonathan stood tall, "No, Murphy. I'm second in command of the most powerful gang in Los Santos and you must think I'm stupid. One signal and I could have you killed right now where you're standing."

"I'd shoot you before they could pull the trigger." Murphy threatened and Jonathan heard the cock of a gun. He turned to find Marcel locked and loaded standing at the end of the alley.

"Try me, big boy." Marcel aimed and then Jonathan saw the red dot of Lui's sights on Murphy's chest. He couldn't see the little guy but he knew he was up high somewhere out of sight.

"This isn't over." The man spat and turned around, disappearing intside of Olsen's hideout with his men.

The ride back was tense.

"Who the fuck was that?" Lui asked when he jumped in backseat as they sped off.

Jonathan turned on the safety on his pistol, "That was Murphy Ortiz. Back from the fucking dead."

"Murphy Ortiz? Are you fucking serious? That guy and his entire gang vanished ten years ago because the feds drove them out." Marcel shook his head. "Fucking Christ. Olsen is probably dead and Evan is going to be pissed."

Jonathan cut his eyes at him, "No one says a word to Evan. Not until I do, you got that?"

They both nodded as they raced down the road.

"So how does he know you?" Lui asked and Jonathan took a deep breath. He thought this was one thing about his past that would never surface again, but here it was.

"I used to be his dealer."

The walk from the garage to the house was excruciatingly nerve wracking. Jonathan knew his lip and eye was swollen and he probably had a pretty bruise on his rib cage by now. He could feel it every time he took a breath. Evan was going to see him and then shit was going to hit the fan. Big time.

They walked through the front door and the house was quiet all except the television that was softly playing in the background. Some of the guy were stretched out on the couch, either napping or sipping at their drinks. Brian turned and caught his eye, his brows inching up his forehead when he saw how rough he looked. Jonathan put a finger to his lips and Brian nodded, keeping his questions to himself and staying quiet.

"You got this?" Marcel asked him when he approached Evan's office door.

"I got it, thanks." He gave them a nod as they turned to leave. He turned the knob to find Evan sitting at his desk going through papers, blueprints, and scribbling things down with a pencil. He had a leg pulled up in his chair and he was biting at his thumb. The fact that he was shirtless and only wearing sweatpants completely threw Jonathan off for a moment. He almost forgot why he had walked in there in the first place.

"Why are you so fucking hot?" He said and walked up behind him, running his fingers down his sides. Evan hummed and turned his head to look at him and the shock that spread across his face was terrifying. He went to from confused, to concerned, to angry all within a few seconds and he was standing with his hands on Jonathan before he could process it.

"What the fuck, Jonathan!?"

He gave a light laugh and pulled Evan's hands down away from his face, "Evan, I'm fine. Before you try to play Doctor and take care of me, let me explain."

"Who did this to you?" Evan asked after he calmed down slightly. Jonathan could still see the anger in his eyes.

"Murphy."

Evan went still. "Murphy Ortiz."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah. He's back in town, but you probably already knew that. I didn't. Last week I ran into him at the gas station and he's been insisting ever since that I owe him."

"Why would you owe him?" Evan asked and Jonathan was becoming visibly stressed they longer they stood there. Evan caught his chin, "You're hurting."

He nodded and tried to fight back the pain in his side, but it was stabbing at him and he took a quick breath, "Okay, you can play Doctor now while I tell you the rest."

Evan ran and got him some pain reliever and bandages and rags from Tyler's stash while Jonathan stripped and stretched out on their bed. "Talk to me."

Jonathan relaxed the best he could while Evan placed ice on his side and ran his hands over him soothingly. "When I was sixteen, I was living with Luke and at the time I was looking for anything to do. He was gone out of state and I was alone and I made the stupid mistake of walking into the slums one night. That's where Murphy's guys found me and picked me off the streets. They forcefully recruited me and Murphy threw money in my face, said if I wanted to keep it that I better start doing what I was told."

"I heard about him a long time ago." Evan said. "I heard about him stealing people off the street and making them do his work. Bribing. He's fucking dirty."

Jonathan sighed, wincing slightly. "I didn't know what to do, so I kept working for him. I ran deals and I was surprisingly good at it and soon I was his favorite. Until the feds showed up when I wasn't around, he disappeared. They all did and I was left with a shitload of money that I could never get off my hands. So I waited for Luke to get back and I told him and he said that we should take the opportunity to get ourselves going. For years, that's all we did. We did random jobs and small contracts until we had some reputation. Then I met you."

Evan leaned down and kissed his shoulder.

"Evan. I think he killed Olsen. He's probably using his set up to get himself going again and we have no idea how many men he already has."

"We can handle it."

"I want him dead." Jonathan said without a second thought. "I want him dead today, Evan."

"Yeah?"

He sat up, "Yeah. I was just thinking about the first time you ever kissed me. I had a fucking bullet in my shoulder and there was gunfire and blood everywhere. And watching you kill the guy that shot me . . . . just did it for me. I think about you sticking your blade through his skull and I fucking get chills every time. I want you to do that again. I want you to kill him, Evan, because he put me through so much shit and I was only sixteen. He always threatened to give me to his men if I didn't do as I was told. And you know, no sexually confused teenager wants to get raped by a gang. I have such a fucked up life. I wish I could have killed him myself back then. Now he's back to fucking haunt me and I just want him gone."

"Hey," Evan ran his fingers over his lips before he kissed him soft. "I was going to kill him today whether you wanted me to or not. Just because he touched you."

It was dark, Jonathan favorite time of day because he could disappear into the night, into the shadows, and his targets never knew he was coming. Just like now in the alleyway. His footsteps were silent and Brock was right behind him as they approached two guards outside of Olsen's door. They slipped up behind the unsuspecting men and he felt the snapping of his neck beneath his fingers. They fell to the ground with two heavy thumps and Jonathan gave the signal. Evan appeared from the shadows and Craig was behind him with a lockpick and he quickly got to work on the door. It creaked open once he heard a click and they moved in fast with precision, silencing any that stood in their way.

They heard muffled cries coming from somewhere in the building and Evan glanced around at the them, "Brock, Craig, Nogla. Search down below. Lui and Marcel get up top. See if you can't find where that's coming from. It could be Olsen's men. He might be there, too. Go!"

Jonathan watched them run off and he stayed right behind Evan as they cleared out the rest of the rooms. But they were empty. All but one that was locked from the inside. Evan shot the handle and kicked it open to find the guy he was looking for.

"Murphy." Evan pointed his gun at him and the man froze in his seat. "Please, don't get up for me."

He raised his hands and glared at Jonathan, "Who the fuck is this?"

"I told you I was only second in command." Jonathan said and felt a shiver run through him when Evan pulled out his knife and leaned in close to the man.

"This is what happens when you show up on someone else's turf and touch something that doesn't belong you." Evan seethed and at that moment a loud bang could be heard below them. They all jumped and Jonathan felt something hit him on the back of the head and his vision blurred before his knees hit the floor. He looked up to see Evan and Murphy in a muscled mess on the floor, rolling, punching.

"Ahh!" Evan yelled when something pierced his side. "Enough playing, you worthless fuck!"

He grabbed the small concealed blade from Murphy's hand and threw it at the man that had joined them in the room after knocking Jonathan to the floor. It stuck him in the chest and his stumbled back out into the hallway. Evan found his own knife again when Jonathan met his eyes and slid it across the floor where it had landed next to him.

His fist closed around the hilt and it sank into the soft tan flesh of Murphy's tattooed throat and Evan had never felt so satisfied in his entire life. He'd never wanted so badly to see blood spewing relentlessly as he watched the life fade from the man's eyes. And he almost grinned when he coughed around words that tried to form before his head hit the floor as his soul left him.

"Evan . . ." He heard Jonathan say but he was extremely dizzy and he saw the room starting to go dark. "You're bleeding. Shit!"

"I'm . . . okay." He muttered before he fell to floor unconscious.

"No, no, no!" Jonathan screamed and all of a sudden there were too many people in the room. Their guys, Olsen, and Olsen's men, and he was panicking. "Someone fucking help him!"

He could hear Olsen's voice within the crowded room, "Get Abernathy. Set up the clean room. Roy, Miller, get Vanoss in there right now!"

"Jonathan."

Luke wasn't sure what was worse; the fact that his best friend hadn't shut his eyes in two days or the fact that he'd been staring at the sun for hours.

"Jonathan."

"What?" He finally spoke and Luke swallowed past the nerves in his stomach at his friend's bitter tone.

"He's okay."

"No fucking thanks to me. He could've died and it was all because of me."

Luke sighed and sat down next to him. "I could have died every day that we were friends. You could have died, too. But we stuck together anyway. It is the exact same thing with you and Evan. With all of us. We take that risk because we matter to each other. Don't fucking blame yourself."

Jonathan finally took his eyes off the sun and for a moment he was blind and he blinked away the spots, feeling Luke's fingers squeeze reassuringly at his shoulder. "Why don't you go see him, he's awake now."

When Evan opened his eyes it hurt and he knew he was home in his own bed now instead of on the terrible metal counter of Olsen's med bay. The light was blinding him and he reached for the sheet to pull it over his eyes but he touched something warm and alive instead.

"Mm." He breathed in the smell of Jonathan and he ran his fingers over him, feeling him breath. "Hey."

"Hey." He whispered and guided Evan's hand up to his face where he kissed it before pulling him closer. "How do you feel?"

"Fine. I told you I was okay."

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right before you passed out and hit the floor. You big idiot."

Evan smiled and tried not to laugh as not to hurt his side. "I'm going to have a scar."

Jonathan smiled, "One of many to come, I'm sure."

"Just another form of art in my opinion. Art with a story behind it. And I'd take a scar for you any day if it means protecting you." Evan said softly and ran his finger over the tiny scar that had settled on the inside of Jonathan's thigh months ago. It was such an odd shape, almost a perfect heart and Jonathan didn't like to talk about it because it involved a cookie cutter and brownie batter and he'd never forget the way he had fallen to the floor. Brownies flew through the air and Evan couldn't breath from laughing so hard. But once that scar had healed, Evan couldn't keep his fingers off of it and it made Jonathan hot.

"It's kind of sexy, to be honest." Jonathan kissed at his jaw where a small scar resided and he moved down to his arm until he kissed his faint childhood scar that ran down his bicep. "Don't ask me why. Your scars are hot. Everything about you is hot."

"Even my scruff?" Evan asked as he felt his unshaven face and grinned like a little kid when Jonathan looked up at him.

"Especially your scruff." Jonathan continued his journey down and pulled at the briefs around Evan's smooth hips. "Want me to show you another form of art?"

-w.a.l.k.