Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The lovely smell of sewage and piss in the night air was always such a pleasant reminder of where you were. Stilwater has not changed a single bit since Alexa last left to go to school out of town. She was back in the area on vacation to visit home, but of course there really wasn’t anyone to actually visit. Her family was out in the city and her friends weren’t coming home for vacation until next week. So really, what else to do than to take a nightly stroll and maybe grab a beer with her fake ID that she picked up while away.

She was walking down one of the streets that was better lit up than some of the rest, when a guy standing off to the side shouts at her, “Watches! I’ve got watches here!”

“Ugh… Just ignore him and maybe he’ll shut up” Alexa thinks to herself

“Yo! Hey man, this shit’d cost you 600 dollars in the store” he continues

“Just keep walking…”

“Aw, whatever… Watches!”

Thank god, probably a good half of the population in Stilwater is trying to scam you at any given time. And she wasn’t going to fall for any of them any time soon.

“I think the bar is just a little further…” she says to herself, but then is stopped by a very scantily clad woman

“Hey baby, I could show you a good time…”

Alexa turns to the hooker, “Listen, I’m all for a good time, but-” she’s cut off by someone yelling a few feet away

“Oh hell no!”

She looks over to see who’s yelling. Just a bit down the sidewalk are a group of guys dressed in yellow and standing by a tag that says Rollerz.

“Man, fuck the Rollerz!” another one with a yellow bandana proclaims

“Levar! You gonna let those bitches disrespect us?!” the one next to him says

“Shit, what you think?” the man presumed to be Levar replies

Levar goes up to the tagged wall and starts to spray over the graffiti with a yellow spray can but is stopped by another group of men but dressed up in blue.

“Fuck you think you’re doin’?” a man in a blue visor with a bat says

“Jus’ bein’ civic minded, is all” the bandana guy replies

“That so?” a blue collared-shirt man responds

The other man standing next to Levar steps closer to the group in blue, “Yeah, some dumbass cracka went and shit on all ova’ this wall” he gets up to the man with the bats’ face “and we jus’ cleanin’ it up”

Just as he finishes his sentence, the man with the bat winds up and slams the end into the man’s head, causing him to fall back on the ground and spill red onto the pavement.

Alexa’s eyes widen in shock from the violence, and she takes a step back as Levar elbows the man with the bat in his face. He then turns to the last standing guy in blue and sprays yellow paint directly into his eyes. The man cries out in pain and falls to his knees while Levar runs past him and chucks the spray can at the fleeing man with the blue visor.

“What the fuck?” Alexa says as he runs past her and pushes the hooker out of the way

As she watches him race away, a red convertible with three men all dressed in matching shades of red, pull up to the curb where the other men are still fighting. The man in the back seat sits on top of the bench and pulls out an AK-47 while a guy with a red bandana covering his face, sitting on the passenger’s side, looks over at the group and takes out an uzi.

The red bandana man points the gun at the pack of yellow and blue and delivers them a message, “Hector says ‘Buenas noches’…”

A blue shirted guy and the yellow bandana man immediately pull out their guns and point to the men in the car.

“Shit!”

Both of them fire rounds at the car while the man in the passenger seat proceeds to unload his clip onto the gathering of gangs.

Alexa looks on in horror as one of the blue shirted men is shot in the neck and collapses onto the ground dead. Not a few seconds later, the yellow bandana guy is hit between the eyes and falls on top of the deceased man below.

The two remaining men in yellow continue to fire at the man in the passenger seat while he retaliates back until he eventually runs out of rounds in his clip. As he is reloading, Levar runs up to the car, puts his gun in-between his eyes, and squeezes the trigger, killing him instantly.

The man sitting on top of the back seat fires his gun into the chest of Levar and watches him crumble to the ground, crying out in agony.

“This can’t be happening… oh my god this can’t be happening” Alexa says to herself as she slowly tries to back away, but freezes up as she hears footsteps behind her

The man in the blue visor who ran away earlier comes barreling down the sidewalk with his own AK-47 and points it at the red car.

“Fuckers!”

He unpacks his magazine and in the random barrage of bullets he manages to hit the driver.

“No… No no no! Fuck this I’m so out of here!” Alexa begins to run away from the scene, but the driver’s dead weight causes the gas pedal to slam down and steer the car directly towards her.

“Fuck!” she barely succeeds to leap out of the way of the car as it collides head on with the wall and bursts into a fiery wreck

She begins to slowly crawl away with tears streaming down her face as she looks back to see the guy wearing the blue visor step towards the man from the back seat and kill him in cold blood. His eyes then slowly turn towards hers, but then he falls to the ground as the last remaining man in yellow shoots him in the back of the head with a glock.

He looks over to Alexa’s petrified face and walks towards her, gun pointed to her chest.

“Wrong time, wrong place, dawg”

She closes her eyes.

A gunshot rings out.

She keeps her eyes closed.

Is she alive?

Suddenly a voice coaxes her out of her head.

“You okay, playa?”

Alexa slowly opens her eyes to see a man in purple turtleneck with cross necklaces and a backwards flat top hat.

“Julius, let’s move” the man behind him says

Julius grabs her arm and lifts her up a little too fast which causes her to stumble a bit. Julius adjusts so that her arm is over his shoulder, and he can prop her up to walk her away from the burning wreckage and bloodbath.

As the three walk away, the other man with Julius holds out his gun and swings it around in case there are more people coming their way.

After only stepping a few feet away from the trashed car, it explodes and thrusts the group forward towards a wall on the opposite end of the scene.

Julius sets Alexa down against the wall and checks her over to make sure there aren’t any open wounds and that she hasn’t been shot. He looks at her leg and gives her a little push on her arm.

“That don’t look so bad, you should be fine.”

He points to the man behind him, “That’s Troy. You can thank him later”

“Hey” he says relaxing the gun down to his side

Julius lifts his head towards you and begins a little speech, “The Row ain’t safe no more, girl. We got gangs fightin’ over shit that ain’t theirs, and you in the way? They don’t care if you representin’ or not.”

“Shit is that what this was all about?” she thinks to herself

“Julius, this is no time to recruit…” Troy says, clearly annoyed

Julius turns his head towards him and scoffs.

“We need all the help we can get, son” Julius says back, equally as annoyed

“No, we need to get our asses outta here” Troy retorts

“In a minute!”

Julius sighs, “Look, the Row’s got a problem… Come to the church when you wanna be a part of the solution.”

Julius pats her good leg and gets up to leave with Troy. Once they are out of sight, she releases a breath she didn’t even know she was holding and lays her head back against the wall behind her.

“I need a fucking drink”

Chapter Text

Alexa woke up in the morning tangled under her sheets and the sun trying to pry its way through her blinds. Last night was a fucking wreck and she just wanted to forget it even happened to her. So instead of being logical and going immediately home, she limped her way to the nearest bar, slammed her fake on the counter, and got the cheapest beer she could get in mass quantity. Then promptly after being kicked out, she made her way home while totally not puking on the neighbor’s front lawn.

Slapping her hand down on her nightstand, she knocks over a few knick-knacks and finally finds some ibuprofen to kick this raging headache.

After swallowing a few pills, she slowly lifts her throbbing head and looks at her clock.

“Two in the afternoon… wonderful” she thinks to herself

She slinks herself back down under her covers and thinks about the previous night’s events that she tried so hard to forget. But who can forget nine people getting shot right fucking in front of you and then immediately being asked to join a gang war?

“I should have just stayed in my dorm for my vacation”

She gives a heavy sigh and closes her eyes.

“A few more hours of sleep and this hangover should be pretty numbed by then”

Alexa curls her blankets around her tighter and drifts off to sleep once more.

About two hours later, Alexa wakes back up to the sound of her phone buzzing.

She puts her hand under her pillow and pulls out her phone to see she has a new text from an unknown number.

Mission Beach church -J

“Huh?”

She stares at the phone a little longer and then pushes her face into the pillow.

“Oh god…” she says muffled into the fabric

How did that guy get her phone number? Did he steal her phone? No, hold on, something must have happened when she was drunk last night. Or maybe he picked up her phone when she leapt out of the way of the car?

Wait.

When he was helping her walk! He took her phone and then put it back when he was checking her leg out.

“You sneaky fucking bastard…” she mumbles into the pillow

She flips onto her back and puts her arm over her face.

“God, what have I gotten myself into?” she thinks to herself

“I’m nearly killed by three different gangs on my first night back home and now I’m asked to join one. What the fuck is my life?”

She sighs and rubs her eyes while pouting and kicking her feet like a child having a temper tantrum.

“Fuck!” she finally yells in frustration

She looks back down at the text message on her phone and throws her arms into the air.

“You know what? Fuck it. I’ll do it”

Alexa swings her feet off the side of the bed and stands up a little too fast for someone still with a hangover. She grabs the edge of her nightstand to stabilize herself and walks over to her dresser to grab some clothes.

“This town is full of shit and smells like shit. I’m tired of it. After spending my life trying to do charity work for people and volunteer, maybe it’s time to start using some violence to get these fuckers to change their minds on how this town should be run” she says out loud to herself

She opens the drawers and throws on her underwear, a black graphic t-shirt, some black leggings, and a pair of tennis shoes. She looks at herself in the mirror. Long dirty blonde hair, green eyes, ghostly pale skin with some freckles, and standing at a meager four foot eleven. Yeah, definitely not looking like someone who would join a gang at the ripe age of eighteen.

She goes to her bathroom and cleans up then heads down to the bottom floor of her parent’s house. She looks around and sighs.

“Hope mom doesn’t find out about this…”

Alexa turns to open the door, breathes in deeply and exhales slowly before exiting her house and walking in the direction of the church.

Once she gets to the church, she looks around the corner and sees a gathering of people standing outside. She makes her way over slowly and hears a familiar voice yelling over the crowd.

“Every muthafucka here knows what we need to do. Those bitches be ridin’ around, thinkin’ they own these streets” Julius says

“I don’t care what flags they’re flyin’… Rollerz, Carnales, Vice Kings…”

Alexa steps a bit closer, standing behind a tree.

“No one’s makin’ this nigga scared to walk the Row” he says strongly

“We ‘bout to lock this shit down… right now”

The group liked what they were hearing Julius say and started to cheer as Alexa started walking into the rally.

“Alright yeah!” one of them yells

“Yeah!” another shouts

She steps close enough for people to start taking notice of her presence.

“Fuck yeah!” the man with the shitty hair says and then turns around to see Alexa, “Who the fuck’s this chick?” he points to her

Before she can even open her mouth to cuss him and his hair out, Julius steps in to prevent an argument from starting.

“Troy and I found her, I was gonna see if she’d ride with us”

“Julius, if she wants to run with the Saints she’s gotta be canonized” the guy with the frosted tips says back

“Hey, he’s right, Julius. Everyone had to do it” Troy shrugs looking over at Julius

Julius looks down at her from the stairs he’s standing on and gives her a small smile, “You ready for this playa?”

She gives him a smirk back, cracks her knuckles, and gets into a boxer stance.

“Good thing I played sports my whole life and dad gave me those boxing lessons”

The first guy to come up to her throws a high punch towards her face. She puts up her left fist and blocks it easily with her wrist then drives a right hook back towards his own face. She lands the punch cleanly, and the man hits the ground with a thud.

Alexa looks around and a girl runs up to her this time and tries to punch her in the stomach but misses by a couple of inches. Alexa takes this opportunity to kick her in the leg, sweeping the girl off her feet, and she goes down as well.

Alexa looks back up to the circle of people around her and smiles, waiting for her next matchup.

Now two guys walk up to her and get into boxing stances too.

“Finally, a real fight”

The bigger man, out of the two, lunges at her instead of throwing any punches. He tries to wrap his arms around her, but she wiggles out of his grip, puts her hands together, and slams her fists down onto his head. He’s disoriented and she seizes the moment to climb onto his shoulders. This causes him to slouch over, and she jumps on his back making him collapse face first onto the pavement.

The second guy watches on in slight shock as his friend is knocked down effortlessly. He looks at Alexa, and just like a bull, charges head on into her. Her eyes widen but she sidesteps out of his way, and he goes barreling into the crowd, knocking down a few people.

She lets out a snicker but is caught off guard by a punch to her side by a tall woman.

Alexa looks up at the woman with pure rage in her eyes. The lady takes a step back out of fear but keeps her fists up close to her face.

Getting into a wrestling stance this time, Alexa steps up to the woman, grabs her arm to put over shoulder, and leans down to grab the area behind her knee. With adrenaline rushing through her body, she lifts the large woman up to put her whole side on her shoulders into a fireman’s carry and flips her over onto the concrete.

“WWE Smackdown, bitch!” she shouts in her head

Alexa stands up and looks at the remainder of the crowd that is not knocked out on the ground. She throws out her arms to her side in victory with a giant smile on her face and with sweat streaming down the sides of it.

She sees Troy walking up to her and she sets her arms down to her sides only for him to pick up one of them and give her a fist bump.

“You earned your colors today” he says

A man with a purple sideways visor walks up to her and gives her a fist bump too.

“That’s some impressive shit; the only other Saint who kicked ass like that was Johnny” he says pointing to the man with the Sephora brush hair

“Shit, took me half the time” he claims

Julius walks down from the stairs and gives Alexa a smile.

“Welcome to the 3^rd Street Saints”

He clears his throat and looks over the gang, “Let’s get down to business”

“If we’re serious about takin’ back the Row, we gotta let those muthafuckas know what time it is”

“Now you break it down, and it’s all about respect. Get enough of it, they’re gonna back off, and we’re gonna move right on in”

“We got some friends in town that could use some help. Give ‘em a hand” he says motioning towards the street in front of the church

“Course, you can always drop any muthafucka flyin’ the wrong flag. So long as word gets out that the Saints is on the Row, I don’t give a damn how you do it”

“You feel me?” he says looking at Alexa

She gives him a nod and he pats her on the back then tilts his head, gesturing for Troy to come over.

“Alright man, time for you to buy a piece” Troy says to her

Alexa’s eyes bug out a bit and she gets a little uncomfortable which Troy picks up on.

“Oh man… don’t tell me you just joined a gang and have never fired a gun before” he says in disbelief

She gives him an uneasy smile and laughs anxiously.

“Fuck…” he says, putting his face into his hands

He sighs, thinks to himself for a little bit, and looks back up at her.

“Alright, let’s go to Friendly Fire and find ya somethin’ that fits you and won’t blow outta your hands when you’re firing”

He starts walking away and Alexa follows him to the church parking lot. He hops into a black and gray Hammerhead convertible and pats the seat next to him.

“Ain’t got all day. Let’s go”

Chapter Text

Alexa slides into the passenger’s seat, buckles her seatbelt, and idly fiddles with the strap.

Troy looks over at her and lets out a sigh.

“Listen, I know this all is goin’ kinda fast, but with the way you slammed those guys’ faces into the pavement back there, you’re gonna be a natural”

Alexa looks over at him with a quizzical look and gives a breathy laugh.

“Alright, well, as much of a natural as someone can be with firin’ a gun for their first time. Just tryna make you feel better” he says while scratching the back of his head

She lets out another laugh, “Thanks” she says so quietly that Troy almost doesn’t hear her.

He looks at her blankly for a moment and gives a small smile, “Pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve heard you talk” he says while starting up the car

“Now let’s get goin’ to Friendly Fire. They’ve got everything a new gangbanger like yourself needs”

Alexa glances over at Troy as he starts the car and shifts it into gear while pulling out of the church parking lot.

“A gangbanger, huh?” she thinks to herself, “Didn’t realize how fucked up that sounds until now…”

The next couple minutes while driving are silent except for the people walking and talking around the sidewalks and Troy’s radio playing the ‘Generation X’ station.

Troy clears his throat and catches Alexa’s attention.

“So, why did ya come to the church after that near death experience last night?” he asks clearly attempting to fill the awkward silence

Alexa looks back at the landscape and shrugs, not really willing to give him a full answer.

Troy shrugs in turn, “Alright, I get it. Not the talkative type, but you’ll have to speak up sooner or later if you wanna survive with these assholes. Having friends in the Row makes it a lot easier to handle enemies if you know what I’m sayin’” he says as he focuses his attention back on to the road

After a few more minutes of driving, Troy parks next to a store front with a big sign saying, ‘Friendly Fire’. He kills the engine and gets out.

“Alright let’s get goin’” he says walking to the front door

She nods and follows him.

He swings the door open and the man behind the counter perks up at the sound of the little doorbell chiming.

“In the market for some good defense?” he says looking at them both with a grin only a sleazy businessman can pull off

“Always am, but today it’s her that needs somethin’” Troy says while pointing his thumb to Alexa

She stands there awkwardly next to him while the man behind the counter looks her up and down.

“This cute lil’ thing needs a weapon? Sure, I got just the piece”

The man pulls out a gaudy pink leopard print pocket pistol and sets in on the glass counter.

Alexa cringes and makes a disgusted face at the gun that is assaulting her retinas while Troy holds back laughter.

“This beauty has got everything a cutie like ya needs, sweet thang” he turns the gun around and gives her a wink

Troy chokes back a laugh, but then busts out laughing after not being able to hold it in anymore.

Alexa looks at the man, puffs out her chest, and begins to take a step forward to beat the seedy man’s face into a pulp, but Troy puts his arm in front of her while still laughing.

“You’re gonna kill me man” Troy says slightly winded from laughing so hard

Troy puts his arm back down to his side and clears his throat in an effort to recompose himself.

“But for real, we need a piece that’s maybe a little less…” Troy trails off

“Hooker like” Alexa says under her breath, clearly annoyed

The salesman laughs and moves the gun off the counter. “Aight then. How’s ‘bout this?” He sets down a black VICE 9 pistol.

Alexa walks up to the counter and picks up the gun examining it, “Wow, that’s way heavier than I thought it was gonna to be…”

She puts both of her hands on it to make the weight a bit more manageable and points the barrel to a picture on the wall while looking down the center.

Troy gives her a smile, “Alright man, whaddya say we take that piece and clean up the Row?”

Alexa nods while setting the gun back on the counter as Troy persuades the man to throw in a few free clips with the gun.

She goes to her waistband to pull out her wallet, but Troy already whipped out a hundred-dollar bill.

Troy turns to her and gives a smirk, “Hey don’ sweat it. First one’s on the house”

She gives him a smile back and takes the gun in her hands again.

Troy claps his hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly, “Alright. Before we head out, we gotta train ya a bit”

He pulls his hand back and looks up at the salesman, “Gotta range downstairs?”

The man gives a small smile, “’Course I do man. What kinda honest gun salesman do ya take me for?”

Troy laughs and looks at Alexa, “Alright, let’s get down there an’ I’ll show ya how to use that thing the right way”

She nods and follows Troy to the corner of the shop where a door leads down to the aforementioned gun range. Troy opens the door, and they make their way down the stairs as Alexa takes in her surroundings. From what she knew about gun ranges, they were neat with individual booths with thick dividers and new target sheets ready for whoever were to strike them next. This one however, had a couple of long card tables with bullet casings littered all over the floor and shredded practice dummies that looked like they were on the brink of keeling over if the smallest breeze hit them.

Troy noticed her subtle grimace at the scenery and gave a small chuckle, “It ain’t pretty, but it’ll do for practice”

Alexa nodded slightly and Troy motioned for her to go over to one of the tables. She walked over and set her gun on the table. He sets down three clips he was able to barter from the man and straightens up.

“Alright so let’s talk basics. First, ya see this little button here?” Troy points to the trigger on the pistol and she sees a little almost button looking piece jutting out from it.

“That’s the safety. It’s gonna be the most important part of the gun. Ya won’t be able to fire until you press it all the way down. It’s not like other guns that got a switch on em’ so remember that”

She nods as she listens to him continue.

“Aight… next is the slide,” he points to the top of the gun, “This gun ain’t an auto or anything so you’ll have’ta pull back the slide every time you wanna fire”

He picks up the gun and pulls the slide back showing her how it operates.

“Once you got the slide back, flip this switch here on the side and it’ll lock it in place” he points to the small indent on the side and pushes it.

Troy then picks up one of the clips he had set down and presents it to her, “Okay. Now, loading the gun,” he moves the clip around so she can see into it and look at the bullets stacked neatly on top of each other.

“This is what the bullets look like in the clip. Ya fill from the top and then,” he turns the gun and shoves the clip into the bottom of the grip until there’s a click, “ya shove it in til’ you here that click”

Alexa studies everything he’s doing and tries her best to ingrain his words into her brain, “Almost feels like I’m back at school getting lectured by a teacher. Should’ve brought a notebook and pencil”

Troy continues his explanation, “After you put the clip in, put the slide back,” he puts his hand on the slide, pulls back, and lets go, “and now you’ve got yourself a loaded gun” he looks over at Alexa and gives a small grin.

She looks at the gun and moves her hand to grab it, but Troy pulls it back.

“Ay, easy there. One last thing ‘ta show ya”

Troy turns the gun, so the grip is facing her, “See this last button here by the trigger? That’ll release the clip, but remember there’s one in the chamber so make sure to do this…”

He sets the clip on the table and then sets his attention on the gun in hand. He puts his hand in a comfortable position on the gun with his finger on the slide and flips his hand around, so the gun is upside-down. He then takes his other hand and pulls the slide back, letting the chambered bullet fall into his hand. Troy sets the bullet and gun on the table and looks over at Alexa.

“Also, try not to grab a loaded gun from someone if you can help it. Bad practice ya know?”

When he’s done, she feels her face flush the slightest bit warmer. The way his hands worked over the gun and with such precision… it was methodical and disciplined. It was… attractive.

Troy gives a small chuckle, “Hey, eyes up here kid”

She snaps out of her little daze after realizing that she had been staring at his hands, and worse, Troy had caught her doing it.

He sets his hand on the table next to the gun shoves the other in his pocket.

“Alright how’s about we practice shooting, huh?”

After about an hour and a half of practice, Alexa got the basics down on aiming and shooting with keeping the recoil at a manageable level. Her stance was… questionable, but her aim was better than anticipated by Troy since she had never shot before. He was kind of impressed, but he’d be more impressed if she could handle herself out on the streets.

She fired off the last round of the third and final clip and watched as it sunk into the chest of the dilapidated practice dummy. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and slowly put the gun down to her waist, still holding it with both hands.

Troy looked at her and whistled, “Nice shot there”

A smug look etched across her face as she unloaded the empty clip onto the table.

Troy picks up the discarded clips and looks at her, “Think you’re ready for some action?”

Alexa looks up at him with the smug look still on her face and feigns confidence in her stance. She nods to him, and he motions for her to follow him out of the range. She holds the gun down to her side, and she lets him guide her back to the shop. They climb up the stairs and Troy closes the door behind her once she’s made it into the shop. The salesman looks up from the magazine he was reading and starts talking.

“So, how’d the piece handle?” he says setting down the magazine

Troy puts the empty clips in his pockets and smiles, “Like a gangsters dream, man”

The man behind the counter lets out a belly laugh and returns to his reading.

Alexa looks at Troy and he starts making his way to the door. She follows suit as he pushes the door to the outside open with his shoulder.

Troy keeps the door open with his body as Alexa exits and then moves towards the car. He puts his hand on the passenger side doorhandle and opens it up for her, “Ladies first” he says.

Alexa stops and gives him a tight-lipped expression. Troy looks back at her with a deadpanned face. She relents, lets out a sigh, and gets in the car as he closes the door. He walks to the other side of the car and hops in over the door onto his seat.

“Ya know,” he starts, “You kinda remind me of Lin. She’s with us and has got a ‘doesn’t take bullshit from anyone’ attitude too,” he looks at the transmission and starts the car, “Think ya might get along with her once you meet ‘er”

Alexa looks off into the distance after he finishes his sentence and realizes she still has her gun out. She goes to put the gun into her pocket but fails to remember that she chose to wear leggings today… which don’t have any.

“Fucking women’s clothing I swear…”

Troy looks at her fidgeting and notices the dilemma, “Hey when we get back to the church, we got spare clothes. Always need extras when you come back from a fight that gets a little outta hand. Might also help if you wore some purple too so people know who you’re reppin’”

She looks up at him and nods in thanks and as he shifts the car into drive and pulls them away from the curb towards the church

The ride to the church was uneventful. Troy gave some insight on who the Vice Kings are and turned on the radio to fill the silence when he wasn’t talking. Alexa wasn’t mute or anything like that, she just didn’t feel the need to talk if it wasn’t necessary. Plus, she barely knew anyone in the gang since she just joined so there wasn’t a trust built up yet between her and them for her to start making jokes or shoot the shit. But even so, she felt comfortable around Troy, and she had only known him for barely a day. He gave off an aura that felt protective and welcoming. She felt safe around him, which was rare these days in Stilwater.

She turns her head towards the car door, staring at the buildings going past her. With the tiniest voice, she whispers, “Thank you, Troy”

After a moment she peeks over at him and sees him looking straight ahead at the road still.

“He probably didn’t hear me” she thinks with a small feeling of relief

A few more minutes pass and they pull into the church parking lot and Troy shuts off the car. Alexa gets out first and after closing the door Troy looks at her and says, “You’re welcome” in reply to her ghostly quiet ‘thanks’ earlier.

Her face is graced with the subtlest tint of pink on her cheeks. She has never been more grateful to have long hair than in this moment which partially concealed her face after it fell over it while exiting the car.

“He heard me!” she screams internally

Troy studies her reaction for a moment then hops out of the car, “Well let’s get ya geared up huh? Gonna be a long first mission for you”

They both make their way into the church which is mostly empty except for a couple of Saints milling around the main area. Troy makes a right once they reach the altar and heads through a short hallway that leads to a makeshift office. Alexa sees Julius standing over a desk looking at a map of Stilwater with a bunch of yellow, red, and blue dots. Once he notices their presence, he looks up with his eyebrow raised at Troy, silently asking him what he needs.

“Got her a piece. She just needs a change of clothes to fit in” Troy says to Julius

Julius gives him a nod and looks over at Alexa and gives her a smile, “Extra gear is further down the hall ya both came from. Glad to see you’re sticking with us playa”

She gives Julius a small smile and a slight nod then walks back towards the hall, going the way Julius told her to go.

“I’m gonna stay here til’ you’re done. Don’t think you need me to help with an outfit change” Troy says to her

Alexa gives him a thumbs up then continues to the next room. Once she enters, she sees another thrown together office area with pictures of people on a cork board and a second map of Stilwater next to it on one of those reversible chalkboards you see in classrooms. She scans the room some more and spots a rack in the corner with clothing hanging on it that’s close to a table and a locker that’s been bent in from what looks like a heavy punch. She makes her way over and flips through the clothing, looking for something similar to her size. After a minute or so, she finds black cargo pants that are a bit too large for her, but will have to do for now, and a purple zip-up hoodie. She picks the clothing from off their hangers and walks back to where Julius and Troy are.

Troy, now at the table looking over the map with Julius, turns towards her once he hears her footsteps.

“Good shit. Why don’tcha get changed over there. Gotta broom closet you can use for some privacy” he points to a door across the room with his thumb

She makes her way over and enters the closet and attempts to lock it the best she can with how busted the doorknob is and throws the clothes on the ground along with the gun. She looks down at herself and sighs a little, “This has turned out to be one hell of a day, huh?”

She kicks off her shoes and pulls down her leggings, revealing her pale legs dotted with some moles and freckles. She kicks them aside as well and grabs the cargo pants on the floor and yanks them up to her hips. The pants threaten to fall back down so she grabs the hoodie and ties it around her waist and double knots it to make sure they stay there. She leans down and puts her shoes back on, puts the gun in her side pocket, and grabs her discarded leggings then leaves the broom closet to go back to Troy and Julius.

Alexa steps to the table and Julius looks up at her, “Lookin’ like a true Saint now, playa”

“Yeah, not too shabby” Troy agrees, giving her a once over

They all turn their attention to the map on the table and Julius puts his finger over a yellow dot on the map near the church, marked with a purple fleur-de-lis.

“Alright now listen up,” Julius starts, “We gotta couple muthafuckas on some street corners around here. Troy and you will pull up on ‘em and show them that the Saints mean business and that we’re taking back the Row. Ya feel?”

They both give a nod to him.

Julius reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pack of bullets and puts it on the table. He looks up at Alexa, “Watch ya’self playa. Don’t want you getting hurt on your first day”

She gives a sly smile, “I feel ya”

Chapter Text

Troy’s POV

Troy gives a small chuckle, “Hey, eyes up here kid”

He watches her cheeks turn the slightest tint of pink as her eyes dart away quickly from his hands. “Shit… don’t do that to me…” he thought as he felt his heartrate speed up slightly

He sets his hand on the table next to the gun and shoves his other hand into his pocket to steady himself and looks at her.

“Alright how’s about we practice shooting, huh?”

She gives him a timid nod and grabs the gun swiftly as if to not linger near him. He looks down at her as she pieces the gun together just as he had showed her. She’s clumsy with how she fumbles with them in her hands, but she’ll get the hang of it after a few more tries.

Once she has the gun sorted, he steps closer to her, “Alright let’s see how ya did”

He examines the gun for a moment and nods in approval.

“Hey, you did pretty good there” he smiles

She turns her head away slightly from his praise and fidgets with the gun.

Troy watches her then clears his throat, “Okay let me get you into the proper stance” he says as he shifts behind her body

She stiffens as he goes behind her and he takes notice, so he takes a step back to give them some space.

He scratches the back of his head nervously, “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you” he apologizes

She puts up her hand and waves him off in acceptance of his apology, “S’okay” she faintly mumbles

Troy’s eyes widen slightly at her voice, catching him off guard.

“Right uh, so let’s move your feet apart and put one in front of the other just a bit”

He taps her shoe with his and she shuffles her feet to a little less than shoulder distance, putting her right foot in front of her left.

“Good, now straighten out your dominant arm,” she lifts her right arm, “Then with your non-dominant bend it a little”

Alexa bends her left arm to a comfortable position and holds the gun firmly in her hands.

“Lookin’ good so far. Now I need ya to bend over just a little. Might not be able to do this while fightin’, but it’s the proper stance so that’s what I’m gonna teach you”

She bends her torso slightly and along with it, pushes out her butt unintentionally.

Troy looks down and sees her ass move towards him, but quickly looks away.

“Be cool Troy. She’s trusting you to teach her, not gawk at her”

He moves back to her side and looks at her new stance, “Aight last bit. Let’s check how you’re holding the gun. Keep your trigger finger on the slide when ya ain’t shooting and always have a firm grip with both hands”

She adjusts her hands to do as he instructs.

“Now look down the center of the barrel and raise up your right shoulder”

Again, she shifts into position.

“You’re lookin’ like real gangster right now man” he says, causing her to quirk up a smile

“’Kay now shoot that dummy down there. Pretend it’s your worst enemy or your ex ‘er somethin’”

He watches her move around to get into a better position. She closes her left eye and squint down the barrel with her other towards the target. A beat passes and then she fires off her first round at the dummy.

The recoil sends her arms back and the gun points to the ceiling.

They watch as the bullet takes an unfortunate liking to the left side and follow it as it whizzes past the practice dummy into the concrete wall behind.

Alexa makes a pouting face and lets out a frustrated grunt.

Troy laughs, “Hey don’ sweat it. Was your first shot ever. I wasn’t expectin’ ya to hit it. Try again!”

She positions herself back to a comfortable spot and slowly moves the gun to a different area. When she’s satisfied, she pulls the trigger and let’s the shot ring out.

They both watch the bullet again and this time it hits the dummy in the left shoulder.

Troy let’s out a surprised laugh and smiles, “Alright! Wouldya look at that! Second shot and you got him. Not bad at all”

He looks over at her and sees a huge grin on her face like she had just won a toy at a carnival.

“Now let’s see you do that some more and then I think you’ll be prepped enough for today’s mission”

She readies back up and continues firing off shots into the poor dummy.

After an hour and a half of Troy praising and guiding her through their expediated ‘Gun 101’ lesson; he feels that she is adequately comfortable enough with shooting to go out with him on the mission. While her stance still needs some work, her aim has gotten better and better as she’s gone on.

He watches her take aim one last time and Alexa shoots the last bullet, hitting the dummy square in the chest.

He looks down at her and whistles, “Nice shot there”

Her face switches from a focused expression to a smug one.

“She’s gonna be a real natural” Troy thinks to himself

She puts the gun down in front of her and Troy speaks, “Think you’re ready for some action?”

Alexa gives him a look of confidence that he can tell isn’t truly there, but he’ll accept it for now.

He cleans off the table of the discarded clips and they head out of the shop towards the car after having a short chat with the salesman. Troy holds the door open for her with his body then reaches for the car door handle and swings it open for her too.

“Ladies first” he says as he gestures for her to enter with his other hand

Troy watches her face scrunch up into an expression of ‘what the fuck?’ and ‘I’m gonna punch you’. He returns her look with one of a deadpanned expression and watches her release a rough sigh then get into the car.

“Like a Lin 2.0. She and her are gonna get along real well” he thinks

He closes the door shut and goes around the car to his side and hops in.

“Ya know,” he starts saying, “You kinda remind me of Lin. She’s with us and has got a ‘doesn’t take bullshit from anyone’ attitude too,” he says voicing his thoughts as he starts the car, “Think ya might get along with her once you meet ‘er”

He watches her look away past her car door and fiddle with her gun and her leggings. Troy tells her not to worry and that they have extra clothes plus gear back at the church. She turns to him to give a nod then turns back to her side.

Troy shifts the car into drive and pulls away from the curb. It’s mostly quiet between him and her, but he tries to fill the silence with information on who the Vice Kings are and turns on the radio as well to keep the mood from getting awkward.

A minute or so passes between them as they get closer to the church. Troy is focused on the road and if he wasn’t kept his ears open, he would have missed the faint whisper of Alexa saying something to him.

“Thank you, Troy” she says so quietly it could have been mistaken for the wind

Troy’s eyes widen with a surprised look and his eyes dart over to her. She’s still looking away from him. Her voice sounded so soft and gentle. The way she said those words caught his heart. They were only intended for him to hear, and he was savoring them.

“Shit…” Just as quickly as he had moved his eyes to her, he maneuvers them; albeit begrudgingly, back onto the road.

“I shouldn’t say anything. It’ll be better that way. Don’t be rash”

He feels her eyes on him for a brief moment and then they are gone.

“You just met her Troy… and she’s so much younger too. This isn’t right”

Another minute passes and they arrive at the church, and he pulls into parking lot. He puts the car into park and shuts off the engine.

“No attachments”

Alexa gets out of the car and shuts the door.

“Don’t fucking do it”

She takes a step forward, but Troy stops her in her tracks.

“You’re welcome” he says responding to her thank you from before

He sees her body tense.

“Dumbass!”

He can’t fully make out her reaction with her hair fallen onto her face.

A beat passes.

Troy looks away.

He hops out of the car and straightens up, trying to regain whatever fleeting composure he has left.

“Well let’s get ya geared up huh? Gonna be a long first mission for you”

“And a long day for me…”