Chapter Text
It hadn’t been that bad this time. A scratch here, a graze there. Some powder burns where Michael had hurried too much and didn’t pay attention. But that wasn’t what stunned them all at the end of the day. No, it was how close they had been to seeing their own end.
It hadn’t necessarily been anyone's fault, just a collection of small slip-ups coupled with the other crew being more intelligent than anticipated. But everything added up, and while Michael was stunned from his own dynamite, a well aimed bat to the back took care of him. Gavin, having moved away to avoid the blast radius, didn’t know anything was wrong until the comm went dead. Jeremy was on the other side of the building and quickly running out of bullets. Ryan couldn’t be everywhere at once, and too much gunfire made it impossible to get away.
Jack had been the one to get them out. As soon as she heard it go wrong, the fearsome woman was sprinting back to their getaway vehicles. Why she had agreed to stay behind, she would never know, but it was too late to regret that now. Now she needed to be focused and the large bulletproof van would be the perfect option for her plan.
Black. Swirls of color. A single line of light whirling around in his vision. And his ears; still ringing, still muffled with a high pitched whine as he tried to sit up. Geoff remembered why he couldn’t move as soon as he tried; someone had got him in the shoulder with a bullet. A hard kick to the chest by someone else only added to his shock, the fall ending with a resounding crack as his head hit the concrete floor.And now someone was standing over him again, grinning as they pressed their foot into his wound. A blurry face suddenly filled his vision, swimming in and out while the dirty grin stayed constant.
“This is what happens Ramsey. You tried to grow too much and now you’re here. Maybe you’ll remember why you can never be ‘King of Los Santos’ when your whole family is dead.”
The words were loud, like they were right in his ear, yet so muffled at the same time. Something else was covering up the noise. It was all so cloudy, his body trying to tell him different things and none of it comprehensible. His own gasp suddenly filled his ears before the loud noise replaced it again. Oh… that loud noise was his own screams.
He opened his eyes blearily, still gasping out in pain, to see the blurred face lean closer to him and a gun come into his vision. As it loomed ever closer, his chest grew heavy. Why did it get so hard to breathe?
“I’m happy I’ll be the one to put you down, Ramsey.”
He closed his eyes. Waited for the inevitable. Heard the shot being fired.
Was this what death was? Confusion, pain, and gunfire all around him; the exact same as living? Geoff was still on the ground, was still in pain. Maybe this was what he deserved, to stay exactly where he had been in life and suffer for eternity. He had accepted long ago that whatever happened to good people wasn’t for him. The things Geoff had done, the people he had hurt and killed. No one would ever look at the growing kingpin of Los Santos and say he was good.
“Geoff. You can’t take a nap buddy, I need you to get up.”
Hearing the voice caused him to become cognizant, realising that something warm and heavy was still on his torso. Opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of the crew leader’s legs still straddling him but the man had fallen over, eyes wide and blood slowly trickling out of a hole in his temple. The shot he heard… had been from someone else?
The kingpin turned his head to see Jack standing there tense but with a small smile on her face. His lovely second in command, always fearsome and stunning in the heat of battle.
“You’re not dying today, Geoffrey. Not on my watch. Now let’s go save our boys.”
That night was quiet, everyone licking their wounds and just being there with each other. They all wound up in the living room but no one talked. No one put on a movie or made a noise. It was peaceful silence after the storm. A gentle lean into each other with an unspoken I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re alive.
Jack, ever the caring figure, walked around to check on everyone’s wounds. Everyone knew how to take care of themselves but she couldn’t merely sit by. She needed to make sure, see for herself they were all living and breathing. Once she made her rounds, the ginger sat down next to Geoff and fiddled idly with her shirt. Seeing the other gang leader that close to pulling the trigger had froze something inside of her. Made her remember for a second what it was like to be alone. And while she wasn’t always one to resort to violence, putting that bullet in his head took no consideration.
Her way to relax was caring for others; helping with charities, bandaging her crew the best she could. The last few years she had gotten quite handy with a needle and a pair of forceps. But now there was nothing to do besides emotional support. Which she could handle just fine. Years of therapy had helped her learn the basics. However, all of her boys, they were so emotionally constipated that the idea of needing help never crossed their minds. They never considered that they needed to relieve stress.
Those who had figured it out often went on sprees, waking up the next morning in a haze and trying to remember what had happened. Geoff had chosen the bottle and always woke up on his bed or in the bathroom, clothes reeking and eyes bloodshot. Ryan had violence, going away as the Vagabond and maiming anyone in his path. Those mornings after were always quiet as the blonde’s hands shook with the knowledge of what he had done, the blood stains never quite leaving his memory. But, physically, he was never injured. And he couldn’t be mentally when he didn’t even know what he had done. He never tried to find out. Michael… Michael was still learning. Still fine-tuning his addiction with explosions and fire. Nowadays, every news report about arson was due to the skinny kid from New Jersey, and he never could get rid of the scent of smoke and gasoline.
It was Gavin and Jeremy she worried about most. They had nothing to break up the work. Nothing to use as an escape yet. They were still learning. But she needed to do something. She couldn’t just let them sit by.
It was time to start up her backup plan.