#4

Not much going on for a while. No jobs or errands from anyone else. Good thing anyway, Niko boy needed a rest and a good casual night. And a couple of hangouts with Roman and Brucie at the bar. Most of the time they talked – or rather listen to Brucie – about recent street race around Algonquin, which he claimed to partake soon. That, or Roman's topic of his blooming taxi business.

But it was quite alright. He needed a quick getaway from the intense task-givers to his actual friends, normal friends. If he ever considered Brucie normal.

"Hey bro, are you free this weekend?" Brucie suddenly asked.

Niko simply shook his head. "I don't know, depends. Why'd you ask?"

"Yeah bro, I wanna take you to this car party I got in. Big party, man. Cool dudes like me, fast cars like mine. It's gonna be awesome! You gotta come."

"I don't think I'm fit for that kind of party."

"Well, the bitches! Hot models are gonna be there and man when we walk in together, they are gonna be screaming for Brucie!" this only received a laugh from Roman and a eye-roll from Niko. "No, bro. For real. I'm talking about the girls! To warm your bed. Brucie thinks you need that, my Nicky."

"No I don't."

"When was the last time you seen Michelle's titties, NB?" Roman piped in. When he couldn't answer, he pointed out. "Exactly."

"She was busy. And so was I."

"Ah bullshit Niko," Brucie objected. "There is always time for big boobs tight pussy fat ass all that shit. Listen man, I hear fucking is good for your health, man. Pump up your cardio, stretch out muscles, energy release! It's all about release!"

"I don't worry about my health. I'm perfectly in good shape, thankyouverymuch."

"You're in good shape but you gotta go with the perfect, bro! Like me!"

Niko merely chuckled. "Sure. Sure."

The bell clinked as a couple of more customers came into the bar. This time however, Niko had an eye of a group of three, looking very shady to him.

"Hey cousin, you don't have another of those loan shark coming to get you, huh?"

Roman frowned. "Uh, not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Some suspicious men came in, looking for someone here." Niko eyed them. "Take a look."

When Roman denied them, Niko decided they were only some punks doing their own business. It was very common actually to have something going on in local bar. He had done some trading and exchange the same way. Yet Niko decided to track their movements. These thugs, there were three of them, all dressed up in casual tee shirt and jacket. As he thought they were on a surveillance, looking through tables and booth for someone in particular. That was when they marched to a particular one man sitting on a table alone. Or rather, a woman.

"Niko, tell me, that isn't Sidney sitting over there?" Roman asked. At this point both Roman and Brucie had already followed where Niko was watching.

Brucie made a face. "Sidney? Geez, that woman gives me creeps. A dangerous woman, like those deadly housewives or sumthin."

"Remind me why do you hate her so much, Brucie?" Niko stated, eyes still locked on them.

"Nicky, she stole my fucking Turismo! That's a low blow to steal a super car, bro. A low blow! She is a snake. A fucking slippery snake!"

Niko watched as they exchanged words, animatedly talking about something. An envelope was put on the table, and then a package, which meant it could very well be a drug trade. That was a smart move, to have a deal within the public area without anyone gave a fuck.

Something wasn't right, Niko thought carefully watching them. A movement occurred between them as one of the men sitting in front of her pulled out a gun directly aimed at her. Another had moved to sit next to her while the other two had already stood up, blocking the view.

"Niko, I think you should go to her. She is outnumbered." Roman suggested. "Things could turn very ugly."

"What? Why do you want to help that bitch—"

Already ignoring their rants, Niko had already walked up to a booth just by, blending in yet alerted, his balled fist ready. He tried to listen to their conversation that might indicated disagreement, that was when he realized they weren't talking English. Nevertheless, he tried to read the situation.

Just then, as quickly as it started, it ended. The three men had already strutted away and walked out through the door.

"I knew I thought I saw you over there. But I wasn't so sure." Sidney had made her way to the empty stool next to him. "I appreciate the intention to help though."

Niko stared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on." Sidney said, gesturing a hand to the bartender for a drink. "I knew you were watching me the whole time."

"Still don't know what you're talking about." Niko said, casually taking a chug on his beer. "Who were they? They are not from around, I hear."

"Some Malay crooks I had to do bid with. Thank god it went as well as I hoped."

"Was 'a gun at your face' your plan?"

Sidney just shrugged. "I have the money, still. It's a success."

At the corner of his eyes, he noticed Roman and Brucie had already talking between themselves, talking about him. When they noticed him, Roman gestured a hand moving up and down in front of the O-shaped mouth. While Brucie could be seen making face and mouthing on what he could assume 'release'. Niko mentally cursed. He was about to ignore that when she waved a hand to them and placed a V on her mouth and moved her tongue out in a sensual way, returning the gesture to them. And Niko grunted in annoyance.

"You have fun friends." She stated, raising her drink to them. "That chub guy is Roman, right? That fat ass. Can't say I have seen the other one."

"You don't remember Brucie? He seemed to have grudge on you. Said, you stole his car during a race."

"Oh, that's Bruce? You mean when he puked himself all over the board? I didn't wanna have food bits near me so I kicked him out of the car and left."

Hearing that, Niko actually laughed. "Hahaha, that's not what he told me."

"You wanna hear the full story? Alright. So I went to this car race in Alderney, yeah. I came across this buffed dude, Bruce, and his shiny red sport car, very nice car. After the race we hooked up for some time, you know hanging out and whatnot. I asked if I could drive his car, right? So I did and then you've heard the rest." Sidney told him.

"You actually went on dates with him? Can't imagine the dread in that."

"I don't have much choice. My client wanted his car. It was rather easy actually, just flood him with compliments and he got soft." Sidney laughed along. "Oh man what a day that was – hey wanna bounce?"

"Bounce where?"

"Maybe a night ride? I have to get this money to someone. You can come. If you free that is."

"I guess. Need to talk to—"

Only then Niko realized that Roman and Brucie were nowhere to be found. Fuck they had left him. And took his fucking car.

"So?" Sidney took one last chug of beer, slamming the glass on the table. "Bounce?"

Niko made a mental note to kill Roman and Brucie after this.

…

When both didn't have a car to begin with, Sidney and Niko made a telepathic agreement to steal one of the parked cars on the side of the road. The closest and the safest bet for them was a Blista Compact.

"Whoa whoa, what are you doing?" Sidney stopped him before he could slam his elbow to the window.

"I'm reading a book." He cynically remarked.

Sidney shook her head and pushed him to the side. "Let the pro do the work!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a foldable piece of metal sheet from her denim jacket. She said it was called Slim Jim, a tool to unlock car doors from the outside. As she explained, she slipped the metal into the window part and began jiggling it to find the locking mechanism inside. At first Niko was impressed. He never thought of a way to break in without actually break the car. That'd be very useful. But then when she began to get frustrated with it, he couldn't help but laugh. In the end, Niko broke the window anyway.

"I promise you it works. She muttered as they rode off. "Maybe the tool has worn off."

"Yeah, maybe it's just an excuse – so where to?"

"We go to Middle Park. Alright?"

"Yes ma'am." Niko said as they began their night ride along the road around the city. "So who are we meeting? Elizabeta?" Niko started.

"No. This one isn't her business I take care of. It's mine." Sidney told him. "It wasn't drugs anyway, the packet. It was a traditional trinket or something, I don't even know exactly."

"You've been busy applying resume, I see."

"The town ain't that big, dude. You turn right and left; you'll see every sort of business there is. This guy in particular sells rare and antiques from all around the world." Sidney said. "I can introduce you to him if you want. He pays alright."

"One more job wouldn't hurt. Hey quick question. What were you telling the guys when they aimed guns at you?"

"I told them: you are stupid to think I came here alone. I have seven armed men around the bar watching you as we speak. Even with you three kill me, you're going to lose. Something like that."

"Was there really? Seven other people?"

"No. I have three. You and your buffoons."

"Ha. Shit," Niko chuckled. "And what if they didn't believe you?"

"Hm, I haven't thought about it, not that I have to now. But I guess I could jab one person's neck, choking him. Then I might be able to quickly grab my gun and shot another. But then there was another dude… yeah guess I'd be damned. And dead." In the end, she shrugged. "Lucky that it didn't happen."

"Yeah, right." Niko rolled his eyes. "I have to be honest. Never I met or ever consider someone like you doing this kind of job."

"Someone like me? Me as a person or me as a woman?"

"Err, perhaps both?"

"Even in the criminal world, sexism still exist." Sidney shook her head. "I see you must be thinking that us girls are nothing but a good cook and hard fuck but man, that's where you got it all wrong. In fact especially in world of a 'man's world' we, women is superior in anyway. We are more versatile, more capable to do things that any men can't."

"Like what?"

"Well, be a good cook and a hard fuck – no, I'm only kidding. But I mean… it's useful. And the best thing about it is that no one's going to suspect anything from a weak innocent woman making their way into a man's pants."

"So basically, what you're saying is knowing how to cook and practice a hard fucking is a plus?"

"No! I meant we have our ways to thrive in a man's world."

"By cooking and fucking?"

"Ugh, you sumbitch. Forget it, dude."

"Hey I'm just messing around. I understand what you say and I couldn't agree more."

"Nah fuck you."

Niko couldn't hold a laugh at her sudden tantrum. He watched in amuse when Sidney began scrolling down the radio station. To his surprise, she ended up sticking with a Russian channel. Niko rose an eyebrow at this. "You speak Russian now?"

"Well, don't you?"

Niko couldn't help but to role his eyes. "I'm not even Russian."

"Oh. I thought…, never mind," Sidney shrugged. "Anyway, I like this song. It gives a vibe that I like. I've looked up of it in the net. Nikogo Ne Zhalko, No one To Pity." She spoke. "We are all people in movies about war, or about life of lonely hearts. Every movie has its own end. There are no friends, no buddies. There are no enemies, no traitors. Many of us don't want to live anymore. We are only fucking or fucked."

She continued. "It does make sense to some extent, right? I mean, life is full of made-up stories, depending on what we feel towards something or someone. In reality, there is no one. Friends and enemies are made, not born. Stories are first written, then told. Like war; they told us that we've won, yet they never said what we lost. In the end, no one cares for nobody."

"Winning is winning, losing is losing. There's no both." Niko added slowly.

Winning was winning and losing was losing, there was no in between. Boy, he had experienced it firsthand. What was the point of winning when he lost that day when his friends were betrayed and killed?

He knew this though; there were always enemies and traitors in this world. That was no made-up stories.

#4

The weapon felt heavier than he had expected, he thought as he examined the piece on his hand.

Niko had experience with so many guns since the beginning of his military campaign, yet sniper rifle wasn't his most suitable. Even during his early training, where he scored big for numerous of combat firearms, he failed several times to hit some long-range targets. He remembered coming so close to beat Mijo's distance record, which he lost thanked to those birds shitting right on his head. Bird's Crap, that was the nickname he got, Mijo and the rest of his friends mocked him. What a load of bullshit, that day was.

But even weakness could be compensated. Niko, for his best ability in quick operation led to him being assigned to the frontline. His critical thinking and reflex made him best asset as special soldiers in the battle always ready for anything. That was the clue: he was trained to always be ready for anything. Not even a game of lure could shake his determination to get the job done. So there he was, driving to Denver Avenue for his next target.

Again, it was one of those cop duty McReary was throwing, a drug dealer that somehow had damaged his reputation. It sounded simple like the usual 'kill this guy' work he did. He was informed that this particular dealer was one of Clarence's Lieutenant who wanted to turn into the states. And Francis didn't want that or his own sin was enclosed. So there Niko stood in front of the apartment building the dealer lived and hid.

He was about to enter the area when his phone suddenly rang, startling him a little. Unknown number?

"Hello?"

"You have a new set of jacket. Such a shame I could put a hole on it."

"What?" Niko looked down to and notice a red dot pointed directly on his chest. He wasn't all too worried though. He knew whose voice it was and already got used to Sidney's unconventional way of greeting by now. He just looked up to the other side of the building to see a silhouette already standing by.

By the time Niko went up the stairs and ladder, Sidney had already sat on the ground leaning to the concrete walls. "I thought I jammed the door shut."

"It is but I just kicked it off." Niko waved to her. Just then he noticed the equipment around her: black suitcase on the ground, some bullet magazines around, that lovely sniper rifle at hands. "You look busy?"

"And you're about to be." She nodded at his visible gun. "Who is it you gonna do now?"

Niko walked closer to edge of the building to scan the surrounding. "I'm going for that guy." He said, already locking eyes to a certain guy in a certain room across the street.

She took a peek down. "Dude, are you really?"

"What? Am I not allowed to kill this guy too?"

"As it happens, you can." She stated. "I was aiming for him too."

"Let me guess, Elizabeta was pissed?"

"Well, yeah. This guy is with Clarence. With Clarence gone, thanks to you, we expect him cooperate." She simply stated. "Sadly he's just worse."

"McReary said the same thing about him too."

"The cop McReary again? How long are you going to suck his balls, huh?"

Niko just rolled his eyes and made a watch to the dealer. He was just sitting around the living room, appeared to be enjoying his meal. He paid a close attention to him, his doing, the layout of his window. A swift of shadow made its move as Sidney stood next to him, her precious rifle already locked and loaded. He watched as Sidney raised her rifle to her cheek and aimed. Perhaps today was going to be an easy day for him. Perhaps he didn't have to kill people after all.

Out of nowhere, she offered the weapon to him. "You wanna have a go?"

"Uh, no."

"You want him dead, right? You take the shot."

"You also want him dead. You take the shot."

Niko squinted his eyes when she kept holding the rifle at his face. He had to admit though, he secretly had been wanting to try to shoot with an AWM rifle, said to be one of the best at the field. He felt giddy the first time he saw it. Perhaps it wasn't so bad to try.

The weapon felt heavier than he had expected, he thought as he examined the piece on his hand. It had everything a sniper could hope for, good grip, comfortable cheek pad, balanced distribution across the weapon. Overall it had a good feel to it.

"Is this your first time doing a long-range rifle?" Sidney asked.

"First time using this type of rifle." He said, positioning for an aim. "Shit, he's gone."

"He went to the other part of the apartment as we spoke. Let's lure him out, shall we." Sidney said and she dialed a number. He saw the dealer's phone by the window rang. Soon enough he came back into view.

"Shaniqua, baby?"

"Kevin, how fucking dare ya! How dare you do this to me!" Niko rose an eyebrow at the horrible accent Sidney tried to imitate, which she just shrugged off. "I can't believe you cheat on me with that stupid hoe!"

"Look baby, the five-o is trying to kill me. I'm in a real stress and she was there for me. I know that was a mistake, baby. I'm sorry."

"No you liar! I don't believe you choose her over me!"

"But I didn't know she was your cousin. Baby, I'm sorry."

"I hate you Kevin! I fucking hate you - fucking make the shot, dude." Sidney whispered urgently to Niko. "This dude is fucking my cousin and I'm already running out of ideas to say."

A shot has been fired but Kevin the dealer stayed standing, now alerted of a sudden clink of bullet hitting the stairs outside. When he took a sneak to the window, Niko and Sidney quickly crouched down. Bird's Crap. Niko thought randomly. Laughing a little, looking up to the sky to make sure no birds were all above. Perhaps it was never the birds after all.

"Dude, what the fuck was that? You missed?"

"I thought I had it."

"Sheesh, come on. It's not very far distance between us and him."

"What can I say, sniper isn't my best. Here."

"Nonono, you do it again. Consider this a training for you." She said pushing away the weapon back to him. "Get ready. I'll call again."

"No, you do it."

"Fine, chicken. Be Shaniqua, whatever."

Watching her with her toy, he knew already she was doing better than his. Her posture was different; straight and steady even with her standing, which wasn't the best position to shoot. The way she held the weapon and pressed her cheek on the pad was way more comfortable to look at. The moment he called nd Kevin was sighted again, Sidney took a deep breath and held her pose. And then she pulled the trigger.

"And that there… is how you snipe, Niko."

"Beautiful, beautiful." Niko cynically clapped his hands and nodded to her. "Show-off."

"Hey, it's not showing off when I know you're not good at it." She shrugged and went on to pack her things.

For a moment neither said a word as Niko simply leaned by an air vent, making an observation. And Sidney sat there calmly humming to a song while dissembling her rifle, mounted off the scope, unscrew the suppressor and all the things she needed to do. She was quick and proficient. And for a loud, all over the place girl, she had a systematic method of working, with spare parts already stock up in orderly manners.

"How did you learn how to do this?" Niko couldn't help to ask, examining the items. "How did you get all of this? I don't think the current market has military weapon like this. Not even in legal market."

"I have my own connection. Besides, I have this for a while." She simply answered, locking in the suitcase.

"And you are going to carry that big thing all the way down? Just like that?"

"Uh huh."

"And you're not worried?" Niko only grunted when she shook her head. "You know, for someone who is known for stealth, you are not very careful after all."

"For a quiet man you ask a lot of stuff." She made a comment, putting on a baseball cap on her head. "Come on, job's done. We should leave."

"We?"

"Uh, I'm sorry. You're welcome? You owe me for that shit." Grunted Sidney. "Fine never mind."

Sidney stomped away. She could most definitely hear his cackle, that ungrateful sumbitch. Sheesh, a thank you would be nice. Or a treat to some bars downtown. And this thing was freaking heavy. She had a mental note not to bring the rifle around anymore. If anything, it was Elizabeta's fault giving false info. Kevin was said to have a meeting in building in Alderney and that had a nice vantage point from above. And when she learned that he was actually at his apartment, her rifle became rather useless. Well, not necessarily. At least Niko could have a try. Hmm, that ungrateful sumbitch.

Too busy contemplating her concern, she didn't realize she was being followed. Just then she felt a tug pulling her back, almost making her slipped the stairs. She looked to her back to see the chicken dude had walked pass her with her belonging on hand. She couldn't resist to punch his free arm. "I know you won't walk away from me, dude."

"What can I say, you're a charmer." Niko mocked without even turning to her.

"Ha! You just can't resist me, Cutie."

A crowd had gathered around the apartment building after someone noticed the dead body upstairs, not paying much attention to the pair that left on the other side of the street. When they were out on the open, Sidney took him to a car parked only few buildings away.

"So where are we going?" Sidney asked once he entered the driving seat.

"I don't know. Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"In that case, goodbye—

"Hey-hey-hey," Sidney grabbed his arm to prevent him from going out of the car. "Is this how you treat me after I help you out? Ditching me out."

"That was no help. That was only coincidence."

"Oh of course! You missed his head was merely a coincidence. How awesome."

"What do you want?"

"A thank you would be a great start."

"Thanks for killing the man."

"You're welcome."

"Now let me get off—"

"And maybe treat me some dinner?" she held his arm again. "Hey I know some street diner is nothing compared to what Francis paying you. Come on, give a hungry girl her food."

Niko rose an eyebrow at her. "Did you just ask me on a date?"

"Well, did you?" Sidney let out a chuckle. "There's a really good Chinese resto in Purgatory. You ever been?"

"No."

"Sweet! Lemme tell you dude, their pork ribs are amazing. You really need to try one." She said excitedly.

Now that she mentioned it, his stomach rumbled a little. Well, quiet a lot. He was pretty hungry actually and he couldn't remember the last time he ate a proper meal other than junk food and street vendor. One time when he barely understood anything in Liberty City, he managed to eat just hot dogs for the three-times meal straight for two days to save money. He ate too much that Mallorie made him some salad and kale smoothies, whatever a kale was.

Shit, that was almost two months ago since. he came to Liberty City. Looking back, not much had changed. Sure, he had some money now but overall, he didn't have what he wanted.

Not quite yet.

…

"Sidney?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Sidney straightened her body. "You ask question now? This is a new side of you—joking, joking! Come on, dude." she rolled her eyes when he shook his head almost calling her off. "What?"

"Elizabeta is ignoring me, isn't she?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I tried to call, looking for some work. Her respond is not so good." He told her. "Was this about two days ago? With Clarence?"

It might be."

"You snitched her about me, didn't you? About McReary?"

"I might have or might have not."

"I don't really care if you did. No hard feeling."

She took a lazy gulp of her rice wine, eyes wandered on the room. "What you mean by that?"

"I still remember you said you were going to kill me on that rooftop. I am just curious on how are you about it now. I mean, all of this 'play nice' could be just a scheme to kill me."

"By the sound of it you're actually the one taking this problem personally. Tch," she snorted. By then she had fully turned her attention to him. "We live in a small town, you know. And words travel fast, faster than bullets. Liz already knew you work for McReary even before I saw you on the complex… and what I said is true, she had her gun towards your head." She told him casually but pressing on certain aspect she knew he'd like to hear.

She continued. "Well… for Lizzy's interest, she's in deep of a hole right now and I don't think killing you would solve anything. Besides I'd like to think you're just some guy looking for money, really. Not really something else bigger."

"And as for your interest?"

"A friend? Oh wait, you don't need friends. Yes, I forgot about that." She chuckled lightly. "But who knows? Maybe I am the one who need friends—there. Does that even answer your question? I don't even remember what you asked honestly."

"I don't either. Just want to hear a little talk from you."

"Oh. That's… why?"

"I dunno. Just feel like listening."

"Alright! My turn with questions!" She exclaimed and he couldn't silence a groan. "Oh, come on! That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair anyway."

"Nonono, this is just a simple question, really." He rolled his eyes, but proceed to listen to what she had to say. "So, I've seen how you work, yeah. You are all good with weapons and shit. And I don't mean like OG gang type shit. I think you're actually trained—calm down, I'm not gonna ask about your history and shit. This is really simple: how the fuck did you miss the shot, dude?"

Niko had to admit, the fact that she had gone off that long for something so simple was starting to be amusing. He smirked. "Ah, so it comes back to that then?" he concluded. "Why are you so pissed off about it?"

"I'm not pissed. I'm just curious, that's all."

"I told you I just don't snipe so good." Niko let out a chuckle when he noticed a slight downward curve across her lips. "Sidney, if you really must know, this eye is a little blind."

Sidney finally looked up to him when he gently tapped his finger around the area of his left eye. Now that he pointed out she noticed the scar on his eyebrow went along his eyelid, thin anf faint. Just ended a little under the socket. "What happened there?"

Niko's lips curved into a sly smile. "That's all I'm telling you."

"Dude! That's not—" Sidney tried to hold her frown. Funny, her lips turned into a small smirk. "You like being the mysterio all that shit, huh?"

"It's good to keep things in the dark."

"But too much dark can make you blind. On in your case, it has." She heard a rough groan followed by a harsh laugh coming out from him. "What?"

Niko chugged another shot of rice wine before slamming the ceramic glass to the table. "Maybe I like being in the dark."

"Geeh, is that a fetish of yours?"

"Could be." He slurred, filling in for some wine.

She snickered. "I thought you said you don't like rice wine."

"I've come to adjust… it's not so bad." He paused to chug another shot.

Their night went on as they took a little trip around Algonquin, driving around under the dimmed road lights neon signs. With Sidney's nature of talking, she went on. From downfall of Irish mobs to paranormal story of some old factories to folklore about Liberty Lady blinked when no one's watching; she told him all about stories and rumors around the island.

Funnily enough, he kept listening.