Chapter 2: Trouble Stirs
Shaundi heard the elevator beep the arrival of someone else entering the penthouse floor. She wasted no time in slamming the dresser draw shut and hurriedly dashing out of the Boss' room, making sure to close the door behind her and head down the stairs to the lounge area.
The Boss had finally come home from wherever she had been. Alongside her was Pierce, Oleg, Viola and the infuriating newest addition to their team; Josh Birk. Shaundi didn't hide her exasperated sigh as she went to greet her friends.
"Ah! Shaundi there you are! The bright - " Josh began in his over dramatic voice but was cut off by the Boss.
"We've been looking for you." She says even though she's glaring at Josh. No one else notices it because she does it so quickly but she also looks a little hurt in her eyes but then it's gone.
Shaundi took a good look at the woman who had basically become her sister over the last couple of years. Sure the Boss was short and petite but that was due to her are more than anything. The Boss was around 5'2 and scrawny looking as she barely had any meat on her bones. She was toned but she didn't have any feminine curves on her and was practically flat-chested so she resembled more of a teenage boy than a girl. However Shaunid was sure that when the Boss finally developed into a woman and started dressing like one, then her beauty would surpass hers.
She was dressed in a baggy white t-shirt and baggy jeans that just managed to cling to her hips instead of falling off of her lithe frame. Her dark brown hair was styled into that of an anime character that the Boss had loved growing up. She didn't wear any make-up and didn't pluck her eyebrows and she didn't wear any perfume. She didn't act particularly girly either, she never dressed up for a night on the town or party, instead wearing an identical outfit to what she was now.
Shaundi could see that under the shaggy hair do and in all honestly crappy fashion taste, she could see how beautiful the Saint leader really was. Her skin was flawless and her dark blue eyes gleamed with a touch of violet. She had a slender face to match her slender figure, but her lips were full and plump and she had a cute little nose.
"What's up?" She too ignored Birk which was what she always did so it wasn't hard.
"Found a warehouse that the last of the Morningstar are hauled up in!" Pierce answered rather excitedly and he pumped his shoulders to get the adrenaline going.
Shaundi was eager to kill more Morningstar considering that they had killed Johnny Gat. But she also saw this as an opportunity to get her plan into action.
"Erm well you know I'd love to but I wouldn't want to distract Birk here." She waved her arm lazily at him and everyone in the room couldn't miss the way he was staring at her.
The Boss was glaring at him again but he was oblivious. Eventually she released a heavy sigh and ran a hand through her hair before answering her friend. "Yeah I guess you're right."
"Well if she's sitting out then so am I." Viola announces and goes to stand next to Shaundi. "I don't really fancy him drooling over me out there. I'm more likely to shoot him."
"Now look here ladies, you may be very lovely but nothing can distract me from wiping out the enemy to protect you!" Josh over dramatically declared with his arms open wide gesturing to the world around them.
Pierce and Oleg just exchanged glances before Pierce burst out laughing and Oleg chuckled.
"Then you go protect us and we'll stay safely here." Shaundi persisted and placed her hands on her hips. She wasn't that cool with Viola but appreciated the former Morningstar lieutenant siding with her. It made her plan a heck of a lot easier with her out of the way.
"Fine stay here." The Boss spoke gruffly and grabbed Josh's collar and started dragging him back into the elevator. "Let's go Romeo."
"It's Nyteblade!" Josh protested and was trying desperately to get out of her hold but to no avail.
Pierce and Oleg merely shrugged and followed quietly behind them. When the doors closed and only Shaundi and Viola were left, the two women sighed a heavily breath of relief.
"I have something to show you." Shaundi stated and led the confused and wary Viola up to the Boss' bedroom.
Meanwhile the Boss, Pierce and Josh piled into a truck with Oleg in the trailer as they drove away to the docks. The Boss was driving and trying her hardest to block out the conversation happening right next to her. Being typical guys Pierce was ribbing Josh about his attraction to Shaundi and Viola and was giving him useless tips on how to succeed in getting her attention. Josh was just telling Pierce that he had it all wrong when she'd finally had enough and blasted the radio on full volume. The two men looked at each other nervously but didn't say anything for risk of being shot.
When they pulled up into the docks, the Boss forgot to turn off the radio on their approach and thus alerting the Morningstar that they were being attacked. When the Boos stopped the car, gunfire came crashing down on them and Oleg dived out of the trailer and into the nearest warehouse. The Boss and Pierce had the instincts to duck down but Josh just sat there stunned before the Boss grabbed his head roughly and made him duck down beside her.
Oleg had started returning fire and gave the others the signal to move over to him. Pierce kicked the door open on his side and barrelled out of the truck and ran for the safety of the warehouse, firing as he went. The Boss then pushed Josh with all her strength and propelled him into the warehouse too; she was firing from her sub-machine gun to give them more cover. Panting heavily they made it to the safety of the warehouse without any injuries.
"I already asked Kinzie to send over support." Oleg informed them as he fired more shots across the street.
"Hell shouldn't have bothered Oleg. This fun is all ours." The Boss spoke gleefully as she flashed her trademark grin and reloaded her sub-machine gun.
Pierce was covering the other door, insuring that they weren't flanked when they wasn't looking. Josh who was unused to real combat and gunfire was crouched down behind Oleg, holding his small handgun so tightly but showing no intent to use it.
The Boss sighed irritably and slapped him across the face, bringing him out of his shellshock daze. "Birk you either fire that thing at the enemy or risk dying!" She yelled at him and muttered something else under her breath before kneeling in front of Oleg and firing her weapon.
It was the first time anyone had dared to slap him. The stinging sensation hurt a lot more than he thought a mere slapping was capable of. He was sure that his cheek was marked with an ugly red hand print but at that moment he didn't care for once. The Boss had a point, though he hated to admit it. If he wanted in with the Saints then he was going to have to get his hands dirty, it was the only way to prove himself to Shaundi.
He took a deep breath and mentally readied himself. He stood up and tapped Oleg on the shoulder. "I think Pierce could do with a hand."
Pierce was shouting and cursing to his heart's content but none of it sounded like he was in any trouble. The truth was that Josh didn't want to cross the warehouse, he wanted to show the Boss that he had guts and to do that he had to stick by her side. Oleg must have realised this as he didn't say anything as he dashed over to take up position opposite Pierce.
The Boss was grinning like the bloody Cheshire cat as Josh stood in Oleg's place and nervously started firing wildly. Sure he wasn't hitting anyone but at least he was trying and she'd give him credit for that. She remembered how scared she'd been when she fired her first gun, but then it hadn't been by choice and it was either her or the enemy.
"Atta there boy." She praised him coyly still firing bullets into the Morningstar gangsters. They were slowly falling down by her handiwork and the grin on her face kept getting wider and wider which seemed pretty impossible.
"I think we've nearly got them all!" Pierce called out to them and the gunfire did appear to ease off a bit.
Suddenly the Morningstar guns fall silent and so the Saints stop firing as well. Josh believes that they have won and lowers his weapon and begins to relax and offers to help the Boss stand up. However her eyes are too busy scanning the area for any sign of the retreating Morningstar. Satisfied she looks up at him and smiles slightly as she takes his hand and gets to her feet.
It's in that moment, when she's let down her guard for a mere few seconds that she hears the unmistakeable sound of an RPG being fired and heading straight towards them. Instantly her body reacts quicker than she can think and she roughly grabs Josh by the shoulders and launches him away from the door.
The blast knocks her off her feet and she's propelled in the same direction she just threw Josh. She can feel the heat on her back and the sharp stabbing pain as bits of debris insert themselves into her soft flesh.
Pierce and Oleg rush towards them from their safety on the other side of the warehouse. Josh struggles to sit up from where he's been heaped to on the floor but he manages to prop himself up on his elbows. With the blazing embers not far from them, he notices that the Boss is lying next to his feet. Her back is all bloody and she's unnaturally still. As the world blackens around him he hears the reinforcements pull up and start shouting to search for survivors.
He just hopes it's the Saints.
A/N: So let me know if you like it and if I should continue!