Author's:

Damn, it has been forever since I've been slacking to this story. But alas, it's here... And hopefully I am catching up!

Anyway, enjoy!

#6

Niko and Sidney had ditched the car and headed to a laundromat along with several clothes to wash, supposedly to keep an eye on the alleway nearby. They had noticed that one party's car was already parked on the other side of the street. So now awaited the other crowd to arrive, the one with the goodies. By then Sidney had already received a text as their cue to leave for the job. The plan was relatively simple. Watch over some exchange, ambush the party – kill, take the drugs, store them and then back home.

Relatively… the tricky part of this was to do this all covertly. Reading back the address, the exchange took place in a neighborhood in East Holland, under the nose of Spanish Lords. The Spanish Lords had been nothing but a pain in the ass, at least for Elizabeta's drug crown, with lots of paid-offs and bail-outs. Lords outdone themselves by stabbing and stealing behind her back over and over again. So It was no surprise that the one they were going to ambush is one by the Lords themselves.

"Eyes ahead, Niko. The Lords are coming." Niko heard Sidney speak closely behind the newspaper. It was when two cars made their way to the scene. Once parked, a couple of men got out of the cars.

"There're seven of them. Four are going in, with the goodie-goods." She noted two of them stayed by the walkway at the entrance of the alley.

"I don't see anyone else in the front. We should definitely take out the three first, they are after all looking out for any intruders, like us." Niko said, visioning. "The alley is not a dead end, right?"

"No it's not. Two other exits to Denver Ave and Vausxite. Though, my intel said those have been blocked off for constructions. So their way in or out is through that alley, and some back doors and rooftops I guess. So we definitely can take out the three bufoons there. Whatchu' thinking, dude?"

A happy couple exited the laundromat with a bag of fresh clothes for a new day tomorrow, as they had planned for a trip down to Hawaii. They dreamily talked about how they would spend the day hiking and exploring the forest and mountains, learning how to hula and war dance as part of the Polynesian culture, and later the night skinny dipping by the beach. They were so indulged with their dreamy fantasy, unaware of three tugs by a minivan who was watching them closely. The three Spanish Lords pawns spoke to each other of their suspicion to the unusual couple, passing by the turf late at a late hour, coincidentally at the same hour with the drug exchange the High Lords was having.

Though, at the very same second of their suspicion, another couple–a deadly one–attacked them from behind. Niko pulled one of them and stabbed a knife to the body, while Sidney grabbed a hold on the second guy and broke his neck. The last thug was so stunned, he failed to miss a heavy knock-out punch from Niko. The happy couple, who turned out to be just two broken homeless, finally walked past the entrance of the alleyway, accepting a couple of hundred bills Sidney had slipped into their hand.

"I didn't think that would work, honestly. I thought they would bail." Niko finally confessed, watching the homeless couple run away from the scene and disappear to the other side of the neighborhood, now three hundred richer.

"Yeah, me neither. We're lucky these guards did a shitty job on surveillance. Newbies I suppose."

"Would you think the homeless would snitch on us?"

"Hmm, if so I just got robbed by hobos. If that's the case should definitely split up from here. Take them ammo, Niko, just in case."

Niko was checking on the slumped body in the middle of the walkway when Sidney broke into a closed barbershop. The bell jingled by the movement of the door but the owner of the shop was too scared to say 'I'm sorry we're closed', just as she already raised a finger to the mouth, requesting for silence. As well as her pistol to the owner's face. Sidney carefully made her way to the back side of the building, now crouching down and peeking outside through the blindfolds. She was correct, there were four Spanish Lords and another three as the buyer. She watched intently as each rep seemed to exchange talks, before her eyes drifting back to the bag laid on the dirt and a suitcase on one of the Russian's hands.

Russians? Hmm, her intel never mentioned the Russians before. Nor the Spanish Lords ever deal with them bozo in the first place. Korean Mobs, yes but Russian mobs? She reminisced about her time working with the Trunchez Brothers, remembering any details of Russian mafias but none came to light. Despite that, scanning the bag and the suitcase in the middle of the talk, yes, this was definitely a drug trade.

Sidney kept her watch, looking for a sign from Niko's flank. As planned, he would flank from the alleyway while she would storm out and snatch the drugs before they all bailed the place. So she waited patiently for the start of the movement, or perhaps a gunshot, for a cue.

And waited. Waited.

Even when the Russians had delivered the cash and the Lords had the bag of cokes being dropped to their feet, Niko was nowhere to show. "Fuck, what now."

There was a split second of doubt and decision time, whether she checked on outside or just bolted out and hoped she was as fast as she imagined the plan in her head. A split second of torn whether to find Niko or to follow her own orders.

She was too torn. But she needed to concentrate.

Fuck. Fuck. The last thing she needed was a phone call, to which she forgot very much to silence.

By the time she turned off her phone, men from the Lords and Russians were already strutting to the door, the source of a slight noise of ringtone, armed with more guns than she had. With limited time and options, Sidney quickly bailed, just as the door was kicked open. Fuck!

Though it was too late.

All plans were shutted down.

…

The rule of the drug trade, there was only sellers, buyers and dead people. Even a slight witness like Sidney, snooping around by the window could cause a horrible state for the two gangs, especially if she decided to turn herself in to whoever. That slippery rat Sidney… they had lost her in-between the buildings and houses. But that didn't mean they would stop trying. Well she had a taste of their try and it was shit. Looking at the smear of red on her t-shirt, it was deep shit.

Clasping her jacket to cover as much flowing stain as possible, Sidney made a walk down the street. Though she was away from the scene, she knew so damn well that she was in their territory, the Lords would have already been alerted and could jump at her in any minute. Scanning through the parking area, she spotted a car. A car for escape sounded so risky, but with limited time it was more of a must than a choice. Carefully she took out her slim jim, praying hard that the tool worked wonders, unlike one embarrassing time when it failed her greatly.

As the wires connected and the engine roared in the middle of the night, a series of other roar of cars also approached from the street. Shit. Quickly she drove out of the parking lot, with the Latino heat tailing behind her. She wished she would have driven out more often because there was no way she could outrun these freaks. She sped up a bump, and she groaned when she felt an unpleasant sting going through her shoulder. She felt her jacket was damp red. How much blood had she already lost? A lot, by the throbbing on her head.

For a second, she saw blur followed by a screech of tires and the sound of a car hitting a car, then hitting something else. One of the Lords' cars had slammed its way to hers, making her lose control and took a dive downhill. If it wasn't for the belt, her body would have been thrown out of the car and smashed to the ground. Sidney tried to clear her eyes, to situate her surroundings. She hit a concrete barrier, pretty hard. The shape was a car no more and the smoke from the engine meant no good. Come on think, think! Sidney could faintly hear some Spanish words gathered around her, blocking her escape, if she tried to. Even if she tried, she knew all too well that would not work. By this stage, she thought of surrendering to her death.

Sidney heard yelling again, now follow-up with a couple of gunshots in between. The gun drew closer and this time, a shadow of a man towering outside the car.

"Sidney, you alive? Can you move?" but she was already too weak to answer, she pulled the belt instead, a sign of wanting to get out. Once the belt was freed, a pair of hands pulled her out and carried her on their shoulder. And then into another car.

"We need to leave now Jacob."

"Hurry up, get inna di cyar! wi ave fi get outta here!"

The last one sounded like gibberish, or she was starting to lose it. How many minutes has it been since she was shot? twenty, fourty? She thought randomly, slowly her consciousness slipping away.

#6

"Hey Jacob–whoa Niko, what is this? What is going on?"

"Move out of the way." Niko ignored his cousin, carefully bringing Sidney down to the couch. "Roman, find a cloth or something."

"Is she dead?" Roman piped, already carrying a couple of small towels from his room.

"Ya, Roman. Sidney did shot pan di shoulda'"

"By who?"

"Di mothafuckin' Espanish Lords. Dem did chasing her afta a powder trade in East 'Olland."

"Oh shit, she doesn't look good. Here I think Mallorie had an aid kit or something, let me see. No. I need to ask Mallorie. I'm going to call Mallorie also."

Niko didn't even hear the rambling from Roman, slowly peeling off her jacket and t-shirt, dumping it off the floor, along with dripping blood that didn't seem to stop. A groan escaped her mouth and he was thankful that she was still alive. Barely. "Sidney?"

"Liz?"

"No. Niko here. You must be awake from the pain." He said, wiping the dried blood away to clean the wound. "I can see the bullet. It's not too deep. I am going to l take the bullet out then you'll need it stitched up, okay?"

Now that Sidney was finally awake, she felt a sudden urge of exhaustion running through her body. "Where am I? This ain't home?"

"This is my home." Niko briefly responded.

She only replied with a groan before leaning back to the couch. A new sight appeared when Jacob came to give her a glass of water and an aid kit placed on the coffee table. Jacob? Since when Elizabeta ever asked Jacob for help? Nonetheless she took the glass, which she drank heartily. She didn't realize her throat had dried out and a taste of tap water felt as a relief.

"Sidney, I am going to put some alcohol on the wound. It will sting."

"I guess so–shit! Aagh!" If Niko and Jacob didn't hold her down, she would already fall from the couch to jump away from the pain. But as quickly, the unbearable pain dissolved into something uncomfortable. Sidney grunted. "Shit. That does sting."

Jacob went to the window to look for any sign of pursuit so Sidney focused her attention on the man next to her, all quiet and concentrated on the stiching. Slowly she remembered what happened. What had actually happened these past hours. In all honesty, this would be the first time in a long time that she had a chase-down from someone that intense. Even running from cops was never this badly turned. A gunshot to the shoulder, a car crash, cuts and bruises, a throbbing headache, and a failed job. The past hours were shit.

"So dude, are you going to say anything at all? Come on, I know you're not stitching anymore." she asked after a little while. "What happened back then?"

"I fucked up. I miscalculated the timing and the people there."

"Whatchu' mean by miscalculated?"

"I… I got caught. So I left. I thought you would take it to leave too."

"Got caught? That's bullshit and you know that. So talk."

She heard his breath hitched slightly. She glanced to examine his tightened jaw, pursed brows, cold eyes. She examined his features, looking for a sign of guilt, perhaps regret for what he had done. "Niko, I don't understand. I–,"

"Did you know that it was the Russian mafia we are dealing with? Rascalov?" It was a demand rather than a question and Sidney swore there was a sign of rage sparked in his eyes.

"Uh, no. No, I wasn't aware until I sneaked around... Dimitri Rascalov, I have heard of him and his cocaine importation. But I didn't know he was the buyer for today." Sidney told him. "Is there anything I should know? There is, isn't it?"

Niko leaned forward, leaning his elbows to his knees, his body tensed. "I worked for him for a few weeks I came to Liberty City. Actually I worked with him for the Faustin Mafiya."

"Faustin? Mikhail Faustin? Lizzy told me he died."

Betrayed! Betrayed by Dimitri, and by you!... Too kind. That's what I was, too kind! I gave them everything, and they took everything from me! And now they sent you to take the only thing I have left.

"Yes. And with him dead, Rascalov rose to lead his own crime syndicate, said to restore the ones ruined by Faustin." Niko said slowly. "That was until he sold me out."

"Sold you out to who–"

"I really wanted to kill the man. I trusted him enough to want to fucking kill him down to his last drop of blood. But he has become very powerful, I was not ready to face him and his men. And after what happened to Roman in Broker, after what happened to my own family… I was not ready yet to fight him." He let out a deep breath, his palms roughly rubbed against his face. "I am sorry I got you shot, Sidney."

Niko looked up to see Sidney's dark blue eye bore into his, a wide smile carved lightly on her face. "About damn time you tell me something." She jabbed lightly, gratefully. "Lizzy told me about how you needed an escape from Broker. I didn't realize it was with the Russians you were dealing with. I'd admit it myself, I was never really fond of the Russians either. They are... a bitch, really…. Rascalov guy, which one was he?"

"The one with the glasses on."

"Figures, he does look most like a bitch." She heard him snorting. "So tell me again, what actually happened? After you... y'know... left me to die in the lion's den."

"Just so you know, I didn't leave right away. I was about to get you into the store–I was already at the door, but there's another car pulling in, another Russians. That's when I really hid on the other side of the block. When the shooting and the chasing started, I had called Jacob and followed close."

"You know what? Actually I was fine in the store, hiding and listening to what they were talking about. You know what fucked me up? You fucking calling me and they heard my phone, you sumbitch."

"Well I don't know. Not my fault you had your phone on the rings." He shrugged. "Now that I followed you; you had a really interesting chase down."

"Indeed an eventful day that was." Sidney said, slumping her body deep into the couch even more. "Hey Dude, I really didn't think I'd make it if you and Jacob weren't there. Thanks for helping out."

"No problem. In a way, that is my fault. Worry not."

"Yeah… oh, and thanks for tellin' me that. I'll note if we ever deal with Russians, I won't be calling you... or maybe if you think you are ready for it." She joked. "Good to know that the heartless Slavic killer can be scared of something."

"You asshole."

"Nice place by the way, Niko."

"Tch."

…

"You look like shit."

"Geeh, thanks a lot." Sidney only rolled her eyes. "I appreciate the visit, though."

Lizzy let out a chuckle, moved to sit on the side of the bed next to her. "Hey come on now, I will always be with chu'. I always take care of you… But someone has already taken care of you, I see." she commented, nodding her head to the bandage. "Listen, amigos, can I borrow your room and have an exclusive girl-talk with my baby girl here?"

"Of course, sugar. Take the moments you two all need." Mallorie exclaimed and let out herself, Roman and Niko of the door. "We'll just be in the living room if you ever need anything; just call up. Come on boys!"

Sidney once again let out a deep breath and leaned her body against the pillow. "Well I guess I'mma first to say, the trade went downhill very quickly. We fucked up, Liz."

"I know. Niko had told me everything before you woke up."

"Oh wait, how long were you already here? How long have I been asleep?"

"Twenty minutes or so. It's okay, Sidney. You've lost quite a lot of blood. You need a lot of rest anyway." Lizzy said gently.

"How much everything did Niko tell you?"

"Everything. Right to his beef with the Russians." Lizzy said, her face dropped slightly.

"You didn't know." Sidney realized. "You didn't know the Russians would be there, did you?"

"No. And Barry didn't know either. He only mentioned the Spanish Lords stole our drug and was trading it. He didn't say the 'who' – which now I think was very stupid on my part. If I had known it was Russians, I would have canceled the job completely." Lizzy moved to climb on the bed, resting down next to her. "Was it one of them who shot you?"

"No. I think they escaped once I got caught. The Lords who banged me up pretty bad."

"You and your fucking ringtone." Lizzy let out a laugh. "You know, for someone who does things quietly, you are not very careful."

"Sheesh, yeah I get it. I get that a lot by now."

Sidney leaned her head against Elizabeta's shoulder and for a moment neither moved as they laid there under the dimed light. She breathed in and out, a sigh of consideration of what happened to her over the past day, over the past years.

Then she heard it.

"Sidney, when you think the moment is right, there is something you must do." That was it, a shift of a tone and the tension started to build up. A request. "Matar a Niko."

Sidney instinctively leaned forward to straighten up, a slight flinch of the pang in the shoulder hit but none of it compared to how her eyes bore sharp to Lizzy's.

When she didn't say a word, Lizzy continued now fully speaking in Spanish. "This connection with Niko, especially after last night, escalates very quickly. He is in more trouble than I know, and that risks us. What if the Russians saw him? By then they already knew who you are, I am sure the Lords would tell them. And then they would know you work with me. It was only a matter of time until they were knocking on my door, torturing me, you, everyone else, just to get to Niko."

"I-I don't like this."

"Sidney come on. These people are mafias. A whole other level of threat is coming to us. This is our only chance." Lizzy sighed. "For a long time I asked you to kill him but you always vouched for him and I considered your decision, I respect that, my friend. But now I think it is already too late. We have no other choice but to free ourselves from any danger."

"¿Y qué hay de Mallorie? Eh?! He is her boyfriend's cousin. He is practically her family. What are you going to say to her when she learned he died? She is your friend; is she not worthy of consideration?"

"Sidney, calm down–,"

"What about last night? He could have left me to die inside the car, yet he came to rescue me despite the fact that he was running away from his enemy, his own enemy. Is that not good enough for you? Is my life not worth considering for you? He saved me. He saved my life and now you want me to kill him? You want me to betray him too? You ungrateful selfish prick–"

"Sidney, stop moving. Your stitches break."

Sidney halted her temper, now looking down at her shoulder to see the white bandage had been soaked of red that kept getting bigger. In an instant Lizzy had moved back to her other side of the bed to tend the shoulder while Sidney was forced to rip the tank top once more.

"Hmm, I take my words back. Niko didn't do a very good job taking care of you. The stitches are a mess." Lizzy had taken her jacket off and went on to fetch some tools from the aid kit box. "The more reason you should kill him."

"That's not even funny." Sidney glared.

"I wasn't trying to be." Lizzy's tone showed a slight jest to it.

Neither of them said anything at all, other than grunting and hissing of pain, once Elizabeta started to repair the stitches. The feeling of needle and string going through her skin was, to say the least, itching; but none of that compared to the heavy burden she didn't realize she had been holding for dear life.

"Did you really just ask me to betray, Liz? That's really a low blow under the belt." Sidney began, a lot calmer now. "You know damn well I wouldn't do that. You know where and how I stand on that."

"I know. It was never my intention to." Lizzy just hummed in gentle response, gently tapping some blood away from the wound. "Tell me, what do you see in Niko? Why do you vouch for him so much?"

"What'chu mean by that?"

"I think you know what that means even better than I do."

Sidney took a deep breath. "I told you before, he is a skillful and decisive hired-gun, which I believe could be good for our situation. And I was right, he helped a lot without even bothering to ask questions." Sidney pursed her lips together and stared at the ceiling fan above. "And then I learned more about him. I listened to him, listening to his story. The whole rage he had against Rascalov, I could see it in his eyes. I could feel it. He was hurt very much, yet he couldn't do anything about it… Something about that unsettled me and I don't think killing him would give us closure, not certainly his closure."

"He was hurt very much, yet he couldn't do anything about it… that is oddly familiar, don't you think? That's why you cover for him. He reminds you… of you." Lizzy offered a conclusion. "I-I was doubtful too, to kill him. I still don't think that was smart. I guess I became so paranoid that people around me were going to turn me in. What can I say? Business had been going really slow these days–,"

"Michael is still alive."

Lizzy's hand froze on the spot and for a brief moment, she felt her heart stop. "W-whatchu mean?"

"I lied to you." Sidney confessed. "Michael had escaped me from Tennessee. I couldn't find him since. I failed to kill him then. So he is still alive."

"Oh shit, Sidney–,"

"I know how it feels to have the rage, the loath of anger, but not be able to do fucking anything about it. And when you thought you were about to do something, he… slipped away right under my nose." Sidney told her, finally, heavily. " I lied to you. I said I shot him by the mountain but it was the other way around. He shot me and ran off. And there I was helplessly waiting to heal. And when I thought I had enough strength to come back, he vanished again."

"Shit. You didn't tell me about this for so long… why?"

"Because I thought about moving on, to forget. I really did. I-I tried to focus on what happened to us now. I tried to get my attention away, by doing you dirty deeds and whatnot. But I might as well go crazy when I stop thinking about it. Like, my life already depends on it, on him… on killing him."

"Now that you know; what you asked I couldn't do, Liz. It wasn't him I wanted to kill. Niko and his story remind me so much of that part of myself. A part of myself I couldn't get rid off. "

And it wasn't me I wanted to kill.