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“Yo Boss, I got you that ice cream you asked me to bring.” Pierce yelled as he exited the elevator of the penthouse loft. His voice echoed around the place.
The place was deserted; it was only 11:30 in the morning and the majority of the crew usually arrives there in the afternoon. The gang was still settling into Steelport, after their return to the industrial city to end the Syndicate once and for all.
“I’m in the bedroom!” Boss’ voice could be heard yelling back at Pierce.
“Man, why you gotta say it like that?” Pierce complained about the Boss’ wording of the sentence, as he started to walk towards her location. The penthouse had multiple bedrooms, but it was safe to assume she was in the master bedroom on the 2 nd floor; the one Boss reserved for herself when they first took over the crib from the Morningstar. The man prayed he wouldn’t walk into the Boss in her lingerie as he entered the room, only to be greeted by something much worse.
“What the hell?!” Pierce yelled out in shock. One of the brute clones was sitting on the bed, playing with a flower vase. The Boss was gently caressing his cheek while he did so.
“Don’t scream, you’ll scare him.” Lina said to the Boss, letting go of the clone and walking closer to Pierce.
“What the fuck is that thing doing here?” The Face of the Saints was quite shocked to see an enemy in the penthouse, let alone the Boss being so friendly with one.
She took the bag with the ice cream out of his hand. “One of the Morningstar goons hired me to kill him.” The Boss took the ice cream out of the bag before continuing her sentence, “Apparently some cloning error. It came out too sensitive for them and wanted me to take him out.” The Leader of the Saints took the vase out of his hand and placed the ice cream cup in it instead, instructing him how to eat it with a spoon. “You’ll love this.” She told the brute, as she placed the vase on the nightstand next to bed.
“You’ve been doing deals for Morningstar…?” He paused, “No, wait. I agree with them, why isn’t this fucker dead?”
“How can I kill such an innocent face?” She caressed his cheek once more. Even if the man could crush a man’s skull with his bare hands, The Boss saw the innocence in the brute’s eyes. His underdeveloped mind was child-like, and he couldn’t even bring himself to hurt a fly. All that the clone wanted to do was to play with the flowers in the park.
“Blue lady nice.” The brute responded to her as he enjoyed his ice cream, with a smile on his adult face. He referred to Lina by the color of her face, still struggling to remember her name as anything else.
Pierce looked at the two in shock, the Boss, already being barely shorter than Oleg, could look the clone in the eye as he sat down on her bed. “And how do you know he’s not some decoy Morningstar sent to get to you?”
“Because I know kids.” She sighed for a second. The Boss could recall the days back in her childhood where she desperately needed help from other adults to escape her abuse, but never got any. After becoming the feared leader of a gang, she helped all the misguided children in Stilwater feel safe at home in the Third Street Saints. She became their caregiver, making sure no one else will ever go through the pain and misery she went through as a child. Just as much as all of those teens needed a proper guardian, this clone needed one too, and Lina wanted to be it. “He doesn’t deserve death just because he’s different. We’re not Morningstar.”
Pierce was quiet for a second, thinking of what the Boss said. She was right, he watched her handle kids like no one in Stilwater so many times, as if she was their second mother. “I guess you’re right.”
“Perfect.” She turned towards Pierce and approached him, not to disturb the big guy from eating. “Because I need your help with something.”
“I knew it.”
“He can’t stay here. The Morningstar have a price on his head.” As much as The Boss wanted to have the brute around her, she knew the best thing for him was to send to Stilwater, and have the Saints there handle him. “I need you to organize a transportation.”
“Oh, that’s no problem. But there’s something we need to do first.” The face of the Saints approached him finally, making the clone notice him.
“Funny little man.” His thick Russian accent spoke.
“Hey there…” He spoke to him, before pausing for a second and whispering to Lina. “Does he have a name?”
“Well, Loren’s thugs called him Brutus,” The Leader of the Saints talked, as her mind was deep into a thought “but he’s mine now, and I’m not calling him that. We need a new name for him.”
“Good thing. He’ll need a new name anyway, so the Syndicate couldn’t track him down.” Pierce thought for a second, trying to think of something quickly. “What about Dustin?”
“Maybe.” She wasn’t quite satisfied with the name, but it’s better than Brutus.
“Hey there, Dustin…” Pierce talked to the brute once more, this time using his new name. “I’m Uncle Pierce, and I’ll help you get somewhere safe.”
“Pierce.” He repeated the name, as he attempted to remember it. So far, he failed to remember the Boss’ name every time she told him. “Little man funny.”
“Right. Look, Dustin, imma be real with ya, but we gotta get you some new clothes.” Pierce’s contacts in the fashion industry that could get in a tailored outfit on moments notice, last time it took them only three hours to throw something together for Oleg.
“No, we have to get him somewhere safe, then we’ll worry about his outfit.” As much as the Boss wanted to get him out of the dirty, ripped tank top all of the clones were wearing, she was more concerned for Dustin’s safety rather than his appearance.
“Don’t worry, I got this. We need a disguise.”
The Leader of the Saints sighed “Fine, but make it quick. He has to be on his way to Stilwater by the end of the evening.”