Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter and this one promises to be longer than some you've seen in a while. My muse is coming back so right now I'm on an upswing oneshot and playlist submissions are still open so if you want to participate, leave a message or review. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Saints Row and it's related material is owned by Volition. Any original characters and concepts are my intellectual property.

"Serena?"

"Angel!" I beamed and started walking toward him.

He stood there with his expression shifting from shock to confusion. He started to take a step forward, but doubled back and slammed the door to his gym.

"Angel!" I followed and punched the door, "Let me in!"

"No!"

"Please, STAG will kill me if I stay out here! Please!" I begged.

There was a painful silence, but finally the door opened. Angel looked at me for a second before walking back inside. His face had gained a few wrinkles, a testament to all the shit Killbane, and I, put him through. I trailed behind, trying to keep a distance. There was a worn knee brace on his leg, a painful reminder of how we parted ways. I knew that it wouldn't be easy to heal what we had but I'd die trying.

Angel walked toward a punching bag he had in a column and started training as I sat down on a filthy mat. He moved with purpose, anger. The bag swung back to meet his every punch. It was another opponent he had to face, another outlet for his grief. When he finally stopped, he slumped onto the mat near me, staring straight ahead.

"I missed you," I offered as a start.

He sneered and angled himself away from me.

"So what's pissing you off worse, me leaving or being with Killbane?"

He sighed, "I don't even know."

"I know what he did to you."

He sighed, "Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you would be with him. That makes it even worse. But my girlfriend with my best friend is the oldest story in the book."

"I didn't have a choice; I was kidnapped."

"Yeah, right," he growled.

"Angel," I grabbed his face so he could look me dead in the eye, "I hate him as much as you do for what he's done to me, and you."

He shifted from anger to concern, "What has he done?"

I sighed, "Bad things, bad enough to make me despise him."

"Well he's not that hard to hate."

That made me laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a tiger walk out of the back room. "Xibalba!" I yelled in delight.

The cat's ears perked up as he started stalking toward us.

"I'm surprised you remember him," Angel commented.

"How could I forget Xibal-," I was cut off by the tiger pinning me to the mat. His paws pressed into the wound in my arm, making it throb.

"Serena, he's going to bite you." He started to yell and push him off, "¡Xibalba, suelta ahora! ¡¿Que haciendo?!"

"No he won't," I replied as I rubbed the spot behind his ear. His growl turned into a pant that beat down on me in hot waves. He leaned down and started licking my face. I giggled, "So you remember me from when you were a kitten?"

He gave my face a big lick, making me laugh even harder. It felt like wet sandpaper.

Angel grinned a bit, "Yeah, I guess he missed you."

Xibalba finally got off but licked my chest, making fire lance through me.

Angel finally seemed to notice all the blood staining my clothes and skin. "Holy shit," he said quickly.

"It's okay," I reasoned and got into my bag. Xibalba cocked his head

"Nothing about that is okay. Two shots to the chest, several to the arms and legs. How did you make it from downtown?" That seemed odd coming from a former Luchadore, he himself has had worse than this.

I pulled out some bandages, "I have no idea, maybe God's taking pity on me," I replied. "Hey can you hold my arm up? It'll kept less blood from spilling out and getting on everything."

He grabbed my arm and held it straight above my head. I put gauze over the entry and exit wounds and wrapped bandages around the two of them. All that could be done to keep my leg elevated was to bend it and hope there wasn't a shot in my calf.

"Is it okay if I take my shirt off? I need to get a bullet out of my intestines."

He blushed a bit, but he obliged and turned away. I peeled my shirt off and got the tweezers from my bag, saliva would be the next best thing to antiseptic. I stabbed in and yanked out the hot piece of metal. Blood oozed out with it, so I put gauze on that hole and the one in my back and wrapped a bandage around it.

"I'll probably bleed through this in a hour," I joked, "so if I pass out randomly, don't freak out."

He turned back to me and commented, "You act like this is a normal day for you."

"This is better than a lot of days I've had. I'm free now."

"Well that's good at least, but it's taken a lot out of you."

"It's a small price to pay."

He nodded slightly, "True. Do you have any place to go?"

An explosion sounded outside, nearly shattering the windows with it's blast. I sighed, "I did but now it's kinda trashed. I need to find my men assuming they aren't dead yet."

"You have any idea where they are?"

"No."

"So you don't have anywhere to go."

"... yeah."

"You can stay for a while," he stated reluctantly, "long enough to heal. You won't survive this war while being this damaged, veteran or not."

I sat straight up, nearly ripping the bandage off, "Thank you!"

"Just for a while! And we aren't going right back to being lovebirds. I'm still pissed about this whole thing," he said angrily.

"I would expect you to." I staggered to my feet.

"Can you do anything else for the wounds?"

"Nothing except sleep and hope I don't get infected. I can lay here," I gestured to the mats.

He shook his head, "You'd be better off lying in a sewer than on those."

The irony made me smile, "So you have a bed?"

"Yeah." We walked to a side-door and entered the hallway. It was no better than the front, dust caked over the bits of trash and boxes that seemed to be everywhere. Pallets of cheap beer lined the wall. Some of them, a lot of them actually, had bottles or entire rows missing.

"So were planning to have a bar in here?"

"Yeah."

"And how long has this place been closed?"
He shrugged, "A while. Now I've got more beer than I know what to do with."

"Not much of a problem. I could bring some guys and get rid of this for you if you want," I joked.

He snorted, "You're too kind."

I stepped into his room and was greeted with a destroyed poster of Killbane. Revenge was scrawled wickedly into it along with his face being marked out. There was another besides the twin bed held up by beer boxes. It wouldn't be wise to make a comment on it while Angel was still pissed off at me. "So there's the bed. Night," he gestured to it and started backing out quickly.

"Wait," I said quickly.

He rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me you need me to tuck you in?"

"No. Just where are you going to sleep? I don't want to take your bed."

"On the mats or wherever. You don't need to care."

"But I don't want to take your bed."

"Serena, I appreciate the concern but I am a big boy and I can handle it," he said through clenched teeth.

I tensed up, readying for aggression, "Okay."

He noticed my tension and relaxed, "Hey I'm not going to hit you, okay? You can take the bed, it's not big deal."

"Okay," I stepped to it and sat down.

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

I laid down and put my head on the pillow. Relief swept over me, but with a mix of apprehension and fear. I prayed that this would last at least for a little while. My eyes closed once and I was unconscious.

Something banging around roused me awake. It was dark but I could see, so it must've been nine' o'clock. I opened my eyes and sat up on my good arm. Angel stumbled into the wall, nearly breaking the beer bottle he held in his hand. He came to the front of the bed.

"Man, I'm so far gone I'm seeing Serena. It's gonna be one'a those dreams again," he slurred and pulled the covers off. Before I could object, he was already in the bed and pressed up to me. He pulled me so I was tucked under his chin and kissed the top of my head. Blush crept to my cheeks as his warmth radiated into me. It lulled me to sleep while being in his arms.

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed! Also, please forgive my horrible internet Spanish as it's no language of mine. If you liked it or hated it, leave a review!