While working on Take Two I got hit by a bunch of little ideas. The first few might be limited to SR1, but they're going to eventually cover all games and feature most (if not all) of the characters. The ones that have popped up more often than the others have shiny new character tags now (I'd list more but ff.n only lets you have so many), but I do hope to get them all someday. In the end, this collection is a way to fill in some of the blanks while also helping me get some characterizations and events down on paper. Hooray for brainstorming, right?

There's no real order to this, but if one story references another, or comes before a certain point in the timeline I'll make sure to address it in the author's blurb at the start. I've actually been knocking these out over on Tumblr, so if you want to pop by there to see what I have, feel free! They're also up at AO3 if that's more your thing.

As a side note, expect someone to try to use the spears in Price's mansion at some point. It'll probably be Johnny.

The order that these fall into can be found on my profile! The mess of numbers that was here before was starting to get out of hand, so I apologize for any confusion that caused. Also, for convenience's sake I'm switching to the chapter titles over at AO3 so that these all line up properly.

"Yo, Sammy!" V gave a fistbump to one of the Saints standing by the side entrance. "You see Dex or Troy today?"

"Yeah, but I think Dex is tied up with the boss-man. Troy's somewhere inside. You got some shit to get done?"

"There's always shit, Sam, but I'd rather tackle it now than have it tackle me later. Going to hit up FB tonight?"

"Hell yeah, girl. Catch you there?"

"You know it," she said, grinning. "I'll give you a call later once things are done."

Things were looking pretty busy for an otherwise normal morning. Saints were moving in and out, all or most of them armed, and she hoped she could get in on the action as well. With all three gangs starting to take notice, the call for Saints to take up the cause was stronger than ever, and they needed their crew to stand tall. Hell, she needed to stand tall, and whenever she was left alone she always grew restless with nothing to do.

She found Troy near the back, sitting at a junky old table. Cigarette in hand, he waved once when he saw her, and she dragged over a chair to join him.

"Morning. Dex still with Julius?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't take much longer, but they've got a lot of stuff to cover."

"Ooh. Think I'll get to hear about any of it?"

"If they think you need to know," he said. "Should still be plenty of work to throw your way, though."

"Ugh. Got to deal with the suspense as always, then." She fished around in the pockets of her hoodie and removed a crumpled cigarette pack. Upon opening it, only one stared back at her. "Fuck. This is not going to last me all day."

Troy looked over and winced. "You lost count, didn't you?"

"I guess. I didn't think I was going through them that fast." She put it in her mouth and didn't bother lighting it. "Shit. I don't even know how many I'm averaging a day any more. Used to barely go through a pack, and now they're making a fortune off of me."

"That's how it starts, kid."

She tried not to frown at the name, but always did. "Speaking from experience? Being my esteemed elder and all?"

He caught the dig and frowned back. "Comes with the territory. Give it a few years and you'll start looking for excuses to talk about the good old days."

"Troy, you're what? Thirty? You're not that much older than me."

"I'm old enough," he replied, going back to his cigarette.

Choosing to ignore that, she spun her cigarette between her fingers, and focused on searching for her lighter. She found it just as the group at the front split to reveal Johnny, and almost set the sleeve of her hoodie on fire when she realized he was coming their way. He always moved like he had a purpose, and V sat up a little straighter when he got close.

"Julius in?"

Troy gestured towards the back. "He's with Dex. Carnales business."

"Fucking A. Dex needs a damn time limit." He raised his chin and glanced over the two of them. "Got a spare?"

"Afraid not," she said, keeping her cigarette spinning. "Down to one."

"Same here," Troy added.

"For real? I don't believe either of you motherfuckers for a second, but if that's the case-" He reached forward and snatched hers right out of her hand. "you won't mind me borrowing this, right?"

Oh, he would. He would. She shot forward and swiped at him. "Hey!"

"What? You weren't using it." Johnny popped the cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "And I don't want Troy's sloppy seconds."

Troy raised his eyebrows up and down once, shrugging. "Your loss, man."

She tried not to watch as Johnny took a drag off of it, but failed miserably. "Asshole. You owe me."

"Right. Like you owe me for the Attrazione you wrecked a few days ago? I think we're even," he said, smirking as he wandered off towards the office.

V waited until he was out of sight to put her chin in her hand. The huff of air she let out barely brushed her bangs. "…Are you really out?"

Troy held up the rapidly disappearing cigarette and placed it back between his lips. "Didn't have time to buy another pack this morning, so if you're wondering if I have any, you're looking at it."

"Crap. I really should work on that."

"Being prepared?" Troy smiled a bit, and leaned back in his chair. "Never did the scout thing, eh?"

"Not well." She frowned and picked at the wood on the old table. "My business pitch needed work. They also had a problem with scouts that tried to eat the merch instead of selling it. Big fucking deal."

Setting her head on her arms, she sighed deeply and stared a hole into the wall of the church. Troy watched her do this for a whole five minutes, each minute punctuated by a loud sigh. His fingers began tapping on the table, then stopped. "Getting desperate?"

"I would do damn near anything."

"You really do need to work on your pitch, kid," he said, giving her a look. "Too many people would take you up on that."

She pretended to bat her eyes at him. "And you?"

His lips became a thin line, but he quickly relaxed. "I'm a perfect fucking gentleman."

"Is that why you're going to offer yours?"

The corner of his mouth curved up. "If you don't mind my sloppy seconds."

He handed it over, and the eager smile covering her face must've made her look ridiculous. "You amazing thing, you." She inhaled and let out a smooth stream of smoke. "Not bad. I had an ex who used to smoke the worst off-brand cigarettes. Pretty damn gross. "

"Why'd they keep on buying them?"

"Cheap. She was always out of money and had to settle for whatever came along, and you know how it is when you need a fix. They have one on hand, you borrow it for a few, and then hand it right back. You don't complain, even if it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Besides, it was kinda sexy, you know?"

He kept an eye on her hand as it flicked at the ashes. "What?"

"Sharing," she said, looking at his cigarette. "It's really no different than sharing a beer, but there's just a hint of something about it that drives me nuts. …Even if back then it was like kissing a skunk. " V inhaled and tried to blow a smoke ring, the motion making her lips pop. The resulting ring fell apart fast. "Shit."

"You're choking on the last step."

Her eyebrow went up. "Oh? You want to demonstrate?"

"Sure thing, kid," he said, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He took it back and he produced a near perfect ring, following it up with a smaller one. "You're doing something weird with your mouth."

She had been biting her lip, but let it go and glared at him. "Says the expert."

"It's not even complicated. You've just got to be patient."

"Jerk," she teased, loving and hating the way he was making it look so easy. "You've got to teach me a few tricks."

"I don't do tricks. What does this look like? A magic show?"

"With your tongue pulling moves like that? Yeah." …That did not come out like she meant it to. Troy's odd look only made her flush harder as she let out a nervous laugh. "Um, yeah. Because that's exactly what I should be focusing on right now. Right." She folded her arms and stared at the entrance to the offices. "…Dex done yet?"

Troy chuckled. "Way to nail the recovery, V."

"Shut up."