Trying to get these uploaded regualrly, most of the chapters for SR1 are actually finished, so getting them out of the way so I can start on SR2 fics :)

When I looked to Julius, I saw him as the noble criminal, a man fighting fire with fire. He was a leader in all aspects, instilling not fear, but respect and trust in every Saint. He was stern, but he was good to us. Better, of course, if we did well. Which I guess is how I so quickly rose through the ranks to, in the end, be his right hand. I fought well, for him. I'd jump buildings, take lives, and bring the gangs of Stillwater to their knees. For him. Yes, I had everything to gain here, and gain I did, but I never would have landed on this course if it wasn't for Julius.

Being canonised was not the best of experiences. I had always been a good fighter – I'd been doing kickboxing after school since I was a kid, so I had the moves down. My only trouble in this case was that my mass was so small, and I was generally weak and out of shape. The first three I managed to get the better of, but the fourth was a huge guy who cracked me hard in the head, sending me straight to the pavement. My ears were ringing, but I was determined. I glanced over my shoulder and kicked hard into his knee. He yelled out, dropping heavily to the ground, and I turned and kicked again, this time landing one in his face sending him back and making blood pour from his nose. That was it, all they had for me, and I grinned in triumph moving to stand.

Bad move.

My head spun and vision went dark. My legs gave way beneath me, but I never hit the ground.

"You earned your colours today," It was as if I were hearing the voice underwater. I blinked, vision beginning to clear and feet finding solid ground. Someone had me by the elbow. He was cocoa skinned and had an easy going smile. The lopsided purple visor on his head made him look much younger than he should have been.

"Never seen a bitch kick that much ass since Lin." Someone in the crowd said. I assumed it was a compliment, and eased my weight back on to my own two feet, standing steady with my chin raised.

I got that feeling again, the same one I had in the shower the night I shot Seth. The same dark smile edged at the corners of my mouth.

Power. Strength. You are in control now.

Julius stood strong at the top of the steps to the church, smiling approvingly at me. In retrospect, I can pinpoint that moment as the instant I became a sucker for Julius' praise.

Didn't need a therapist to tell me I had some father issues.

So, I was a Saint. The Saints would be the family looking out for me, the brothers and sisters who I had a duty to protect. The church was my home, my safety. Gang life was my career.

And I was the ambitious type.

It had been a few days of helping the gang clear out the Row, and running a few odd 'jobs'. But soon it was safely in Saint control – though it was not exactly a prime piece of real estate so there was not as much fighting over it as I had expected. But the small neighbourhood wasn't enough… Julius made that clear when he called a meeting the next night, and I got my official introduction to the lieutenants.

We stood in the church, gathered around the altar that Julius stood in front of, alone and imposing.

'Just like a Caesar' I thought, smiling at my little pun.

"Listen up people, I got some serious shit to discuss. Yeah, we cleared out the Row, you think for a second that's gonna stop'em? Unless we wipe all these muthafuckers out they gonna keep comin'. And they ain't gonna be happy. It's not gonna be settled till the Carnales, the Rollerz, and the Vice Kings ain't nothing but a memory."

I blinked. This was bigger than I thought. Though tearing apart the VK seemed like a pretty enticing idea. 'I could find them, the last two. I could make them suffer…'

Julius then began to disperse duties amongst his lieutenants. Dex, the guy with the purple visor who'd helped me to my feet after being canonised, was put in charge of Los Carnales, a smart move on Julius' part.

My first impression of Dex was pretty accurate; He was not so much easy going as he was sensible and level headed in a way no other Saint was. His approach to the Carnales would not be Johnny's 'Walk in and Shoot Anything that Moves' or Lin's 'Fuck'em up as you go'.

Dex's corner of the church was covered in maps, plans, profiles and a mind map of connections. He was clearly much smarter and more pragmatic than he seemed. I'd often wondered how he managed to fall in with the Saints, but his similar mentality to Julius made me think he may have been related to him. Chances were I was just reading into that too far.

Julius had originally wanted to put Troy in charge of the Vice Kings – I was happy enough with the idea; Troy had been there to save me that night, I felt I wouldn't have trouble trusting him. So his response to our leader rattled me a little.

"Not a chance." He said, blowing a plume of cigarette smoke. Julius did a double-take.

"Fuck you say?"

"Anyone but them." Troy continued, showing an amazing amount of cool.

"Man, fuck that, I'll take King out." I turned to look at the speaker – I recognised him from the day I'd been canonised.

Johnny Gat. I didn't know it then but Gat would become the best friend I'd ever had.

He was a mad mixture of youthful brashness and sarcasm, with an insatiable thirst for danger to boot. His sharp, hard, east-Asian features were softened by a thin layer of puppy fat and I figured there was no way he could have been much older than me, landing him in the early twenties at most. He constantly sported silver rectangular shades and I realised there was a good possibility he was actually short sighted, which might have accounted for his shitty haircut, but I couldn't be one to judge.

Regardless, he was quite canny and would turn out to be one of the bravest, baddest people I'd ever know. Dex would mention there was a thin line between bravery and insanity, but Johnny strolled along it quite happily.

And then there was Lin, the only chick lieutenant, strolling in among us, dressed in blue and ready to act undercover in the Rollerz at Julius' request. From the moment I saw her break a guys jaw for calling her a ho I knew she was the kind of girl I could look up to, the kind of girl I wanted to be. She was ambitious, irreverent, and understood that for a woman to make it anywhere, even in the underworld, she had to have bigger balls than any man she's up against or working with.

Julius looked through the crowd, speaking;

"As soon as we're done here, talk to one of these guys," he said, then his gaze fell directly on me. I watched back intently, "They'll have something for you to do." He raised his hands to his Saints,

"It's our time now, let's get this shit started!"

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