#Boss x Gat

[crimescrimson]

Johnny Gat + The Boss: Personal Distance Before and After Aisha's Death

[and-its-with-one-l-bitch]

"Damn it, Johnny, let me—"

[lexi-does]

Had these guys rotating in my mind for the last week fr

Miss them something fierce 😔🤲

[putosekahel]

Tb sketch of Johnny Gat and my OC Kiro (The Boss) lmaoooo

[nrtrnwnd]

i… NEVER NOTICED THIS BEFORE LMAO

[1moss-moss]

*Boss and Johnny at a red light*

Johnny: Damnn she's hot

Boss: Yeahh

Johnny, confused af: What?

Boss, also confused af: What?

[masschase]

M-A-T-T-M-I-L-L-E-R

I finally commissioned @whoredmode 😊

There was a stunned silence, his eyes searching her as if he was still trying to process. She gave him a hopeful smile. God, if he somehow rejected her after all of this, she was going to run straight into the simulation and shoot everything up for a month.

I just can't stop staring at it. This is exactly how I pictured this moment in my head. Amazing job, thank you so much Ted.

Full context and excerpt below. But TLDR... Casey decided to give an a more accurate answer to Matt and Shaundi's questions at the start of GOOH.

To set the context, after the whole Matt-getting-shot-love confession thing(I wrote about that in an ask answer here), Asha appears in 2016 after Casey in 2022 remembers and sends her(though not before having to be physically restrained from going to rescue him herself and risking erasure from existence), and manages to jump Matt back to the ship in time for the Zin to treat him.

They put him in a medically induced coma which is supposed to last up to 48 hours but ends up roughly double that as Zin estimates for that kind of thing tend to be off. But (once she's gone after the perpetrator, who unfortunately gets away for now due to her heel snapping at an inoppurtune moment) she barely leaves his side until he wakes.

When he does though, after they talk for a while she asks if they want to go back to "what we were doin' in 2016" and he looks like he's struggling with it but turns her down, saying he can't go through that again and that their friendship is too important to him. This throws her. She's crushed and leaves in rather a hurry.

When she relays this conversation later, Asha points out she made it sound like she was interested in another "sex only" arrangement, and that if she really wants to be with Matt she's going to have to make a very clear statement that she's looking for an actual relationship. Possibly even be romantic. Johnny, having talked to Matt after Casey did, is pretty mad at her for not just telling him how she feels when she knows he loves her.

Jane helps her talk through things and when she admits that she's not surw which version of her Matt's love confession relates to, even though she knows it makes no sense for it to be the younger her. She told Jane her feelings for Matt must have started to develop since she came back from hell; with her making Matt her lieutenant and the two of them spending more time together. Jane tells her she believes Matt has had some form of attachment to her since at least that time, because of the question he asked the Ouija board at Kinzie's party.

From that comes her idea. That, and the candles she happened to think he looked so beautiful in two weeks ago when they were cuddled up together during a powercut. She also makes pecan pie because she found out in 2016 it was his favorite, and it's the only thing she can cook, and sets Last Dance to come on at precisely 8pm. She is throwing everything at the wall here.

So it's no surprise that around 7.45, Ms. "I-don't-get-nervous" finds herself waiting by the couch they spend every Friday night on, growing incredibly nervous.

God she hoped he was going to show up. He’d better fucking show up. She shouldn’t have come down here so early. She was fucking pacing. Maybe she should’ve worn something sexy, not her usual spacesuit. Maybe she should have gotten some booze to loosen them both up first. She couldn’t do this. No, she could. She had to. Ugh it was all stupid. No it wasn’t. He’d love it. He’d turn her down again. FUCK. She took a second to try and stop overthinking and just breathe. When she opened her eyes, he was just coming around the corner, hands awkwardly tucked behind his back much as hers were. “Hey!” she greeted. “Alright?” he replied, smiling, then stopped in his tracks. “Bloody hell, that’s a lot of candles.” She nodded. “Yeah, kinda.” She had dotted them all around the couch. At least three times as many as when they’d cuddled up together there two weeks ago. Thank god they were flameless; she could barely be trusted with fire inside the simulation, let alone outside of it. Looking around her reminded her she had gone too far to turn back. Looking at his beautiful face in the candlelight reminded her that she didn’t want to. “Are we... expecting another power cut?” “Uh... no... uh... hey, are you... feeling ok?” she checked. “Should you be standing?” “Actually it feels nice to stand for a sec. And the Zin physio is fantastic.” “Lucky you.” she commented, remembering her own unpleasant post-coma recovery. “Oh I... I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” “No... it’s OK...”. She smiled. “I’m... I’m glad they were able to fix you up so fast.” “Yeah.” he said, sounding unusually awkward. “I um... I didn’t see you at dinner.” “Oh...” she replied. “Yeah.”. It was true, she'd been so preoccupied by what she was doing that she hadn't eaten since Shaundi had brought her lunch to Matt’s bedside. Actually she’d barely eaten anything for the past few days. “It’s OK.” “Oh... well... I um... I got you something.” She looked at him, intrigued. He was kind of making her more nervous here by making him wait but she’d be damned if she ruined it. He smiled and pulled out a Freckle Bitch’s bag. “You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, though.” “Matty, that’s so sweet!” she exclaimed, a smile lighting up her own face too. “You’re... you’re always so nice to me.” “And um...” he said awkwardly. “I... wanted to thank you for... everything you've done and you said no-one had ever really bought you flowers before so um...” he pulled out a small bouquet of white roses. “They um... reminded me of your hair and...” he glanced down at them. “I don’t know.” He’d bought her food and flowers. The most ridiculous grin spread over her face. It took all her strength not to run across the room and kiss him. But she was in the middle of something, so instead she lingered awkwardly. “So, Nyte Blayde?” he checked, taking a step towards her. “I’m guessing you only watched one last week so we’re on-“ “One second.” she blurted out, interrupting him and halting his advance across the room. He frowned ever so slightly. “Everything alright?” “Yeah, I uh... just want to talk to you about somethin’.” “Oh... ok?” “Uh...” she gave him a nervous smile. “Matty, you uh... you remember that Ouija board you brought to Kinzie's party?” she asked gently. “Um... the one that led to you being dragged into a massive portal into Hell?” he replied, grimacing. “Hard to forget something like that.” “Yeah... that one.” she confirmed. “Do you remember... how all that shit happened?” “Um... I think so...”. He stared at her, obviously trying to work out her intentions. “Are you about to finally make me take the blame?” She laughed a little. “No. Just wondering if you still remember what you asked it.” “Oh... um... yeah.” he said, looking confused. “I asked um... “Will the President slash God-Emperor-for-life, ever choose a partner to reign alongside them?””

She hesitated. Was she really going to do this? This was fucking lame. But she'd made the damn thing now. She pulled out the shitty fake Ouija board she’d drawn on a piece of card, and the bracelet Johnny had leant her. She held it up for him to read, and slid the bracelet to ‘Yes.’. His face turned from slight confusion to utter bemusement. “And then you said...”. She rolled her eyes as she continued, imitating his sing-song tone. “Someone’s gettin' married!” “Right.” he laughed, looking embarrassed. “And you said “Shut up Matt.”” “Can you blame me?” she asked with a smile. And then uh... Shaundi said... uh...” They both paused for a second, thinking. “She asked it... um...” Matt said nervously, then looked her straight in the eyes. “Who will... tame the Emperor’s... wild heart?” She paused, staring back at him. She angled the board a little so she could see what she was doing, and slid the bracelet across it to spell “M-A-T-T-M-I-L-L-E-R.”. There was a stunned silence, his eyes searching her as if he was still trying to process. She gave him a hopeful smile. God, if he somehow rejected her after all of this, she was going to run straight into the simulation and shoot everything up for a month. “I just want to check this means... what I think it means?” he asked, sounding apprehensive. “I wanna be with you, Matt. More than anything.” she admitted. “If you want somethin’... like... a real... relationship... y’know... whatever that... would be...” she added in a mumble. He seemed to freeze up completely at that, his eyes wide, his mouth a little open. She wanted to beg him to say something, anything, but the silence forced her to continue. “And look... I uh...” she sighed. “I'm never gonna be able to give you the romance you deserve because I’m shit at talkin’ about my feelings and... I know I’m thirty-one now, and I’m kinda an asshole, and I’m sure not as cool as I used to be but y’know, I really think-“ She was interrupted as he walked straight up to her, threw his arms around her and kissed her passionately, dropping both the bag and the roses onto the couch behind her. She brought both arms up around his neck as she returned the kiss, the badly homemade Ouija board crumpling and falling and the bracelet clattering to the floor. It had been so long since she’d felt him kiss her like this. Like he fucking adored her.

(Which is the moment I drew here.)

Thanks to some creative use of Casey's obsession with Jane Austen on Matt's part, she was able to overcome her issues and confess her love for him that night, too.

Of course, the Freckle Bitch's was ruined after being dropped so suddenly, and the roses got left on the couch overnight.

But unsurprisingly, neither of them gave a shit about that.

[luvsavos]

unironically bossgat lives in my brain rent free

[robotsprinkles]

hm.

apparently fromsoft nerfed a bunch of bosses in the new patch.

I really would've preferred they just added an easy and a hard mode or difficulty sliders (enemy health, enemy damage, enemy attack speed, boss stagger windows, etc)

(I'm actually not going to blame this entirely on all the people who complained that the game was too hard or unfair or unbalanced (even though they're idiots) and instead blame some of this on all the idiots who kept going on and on about how fromsoft should never put easy modes in their games because it would ruin their games even though an easy mode literally wouldn't affect them because they'd never use it. this is what the alternative is: now everyone has to play the game on a lower difficulty because you didn't want people to have the option to choose)

[reddenedrust]

Just Agent Gat holding his Ultor Executive/Club-Owning Wife! (In the AOM universe I like to think that Roxxi keeps her hold over Ultor and also runs Purgatory with Aisha, Shaundi and Viola!

[crimescrimson]

Every Single GatBoss Moment Recorded [12/14]: Saints Row IV (2013)

[and-its-with-one-l-bitch]

i want to see . johnnytito flowers. NAOW!!!!!!!

ALL DONE, EAT UP 👇

[theodorequartz]

[ His Companion ] Hazbin Hotel Various x Male Reader

Chapter 4: A Matter Of Time

You walked in a path of shadows, darkness completely surrounding you. You've been walking for ages. Yet you didn't feel tired.

How long has it been?

Why are you here?

Where are you?

Where are you going?

Why is everything so dark and empty?

You can't see anything ...you can't hear anything. Not even the sounds of your footsteps or breathing. Where you even breathing?

You stopped.

A little ball of light appeared right in front of you.

It looked so delicate.

So pure.

You raised your hand to touch the little glowing ball of light. Caressing it, a sting was felt deep inside you.

No.. it's more of like .. a pull. A sharp pull in your chest telling you to do something. But what?

Your body didn't seem like yours anymore as it moved on its own as if to form the light. Forming it into something...

...

...

......

" M/n? Honey?"

" Ah.. Asmodeus.., Apologies , I was.. thinking. "

* Sigh* " Well, don't think too hard babe. It's not good to overthink. "

You sighed softly and smiled up at him.

" Yes Azz. I'll try not to. "

Asmodeus looked at you with a soft gaze, almost the same as he looked at Fizzarolli. He put a hand on your shoulder.

" Hun, whenever you need help, just remember that we're here for you. "

Your smile widened slightly and placed your hand on his, nodding.

Then, Fizzarolli suddenly came to the door, laughing and bouncing everywhere.

" I won! I won again! " Fizz said with a joyful exclamation. You smiled at the adorable sight. You came up to him and patted his head.

" Good job. You're always great at what you do Fizz. "

" Yes, great job as always love. " Asmodeus praised his secret lover with a fond look. He's happy that the two most important people in his life get along so well. The only thing missing is that...

Asmodeus looked at you and sighed quietly to himself.

Meanwhile, Fizz blushed at the praises and giggled, hugging you close to him with his long robotic arms. His long arms circling around your form.

The scene warmed Asmodeus heart with one of pure love. He was about to join the hug when a ringing suddenly went out from your pocket.

Immediately, you carefully let yourself free from Fizz's hug and took out your ringing phone. You put it close to your ear and walked a bit further away from the both of them.

Asmodeus and Fizz looked at each other with hidden messages only they understand. They looked black at you. They could only hear bits of pieces of what you were saying.

" ..... Yes........ I'll be there........ Of course...... I'm on my way. Yes, goodbye." * Beep*

They looked at you for an explanation, in which they don't need. It's probably your 'boss' calling you to get you back to work. They didn't know who this boss was as you never told them.

You smiled somberly at them.

" Sorry guys... I need to go." You said with an apologetic voice.

Asmodeus sighed and Fizz's arms hanged in his sides in disappointment at you leaving so early.

" It's alright. We understand." Asmo said with a reassuring tone.

" Yea! We hope you visit again soon!" Fizz added as he jumped at Asmodeus shoulders and waved enthusiastically at you with a wide grin.

You smiled softly and went up to them to pat Fizz's head and caress Asmo's fur.

" Of course, I'll visit again. That's a promise." You said as you let go and started to gat ready to leave.

You looked back at them and waved back as they waved at you from their position.

* Sigh* "... Ozz?"

" Don't worry Fizz. We'll have him soon."

________

You walked to a dark alleyway somewhere in the lust ring and disappeared in the shadows. You appeared at the other end of the alley, which is another supposed to be alleyway with a dead end in pride ring.

You fixed your attire and started to blend in the crowd. It proved to be quite hard as you attract a lot of demos from your gorgeous looks alone. You also have quite a figure.

Most of all, you were Vox's beloved assistant, which is already a big deal.

You were walking towards the V-tech establishment. You could feel eyes everywhere. The cameras. They all seem to be faced at you.

Yet you were unfazed as you kept walking with elegant strides. You kept your hands in your back and your chin up, and most importantly, keep a smile on your face. Just like your lord has thought you.

You entered the facility in a calm manner and walked to the elevator. It automatically went to your desired location without a button being pressed, as if it knows where you were supposed to go.

You could feel the lens of the camera in the elevator zoom at your figure.

The door of the elevator opened, revealing a very spacious room filled with many different shades of the color of blue. There's a path towards the middle in which numerous monitors could be seen, which are the only source of light in the dark room. Though your most favorite are the mechanical sharks swimming in the air just bellow them. Fortunately, the sharks like you as much.

You walked towards the tall chair in the middle of the room, the monitors glitched a bit as your footsteps neared.

The chair spun around, revealing one of the most fearsome overlord down in hell, and one of the Three Vee's.

Vox.

His grin widened as he saw you near him, his eyes squinting in delight.

" M/n! How are you this fine day?" Vox laughed as he stood up from his seat and walked towards you with his arms wide open.

" Sir Vox." You slightly sighed with a fond smile as he hugged you. You hugged back in return, patting his back lightly.

" I've been doing well. Thank you, sir. But is there any reason for your sudden call? Is there an emergency? " You asked with a worried voice as you pulled away from the hug and looked at his screen where his eyes are located.

" Are you hurt anywhere? " You asked holding back from shouting in panick. You held his shoulders and looked for any signs of injuries on his body.

Vox smiled at your actions and chuckled fondly.

" My, you worry too much. That's what I like about you." He said with genuine adoration in his voice.

" But I'm okay, I just wanted to see you, my cute little assistant~" He said, caressing the side of your face.

You huffed softly and smiled, nuzzling in his hand. You then halfheartedly shoved his arm away from your face and looked at him in mock annoyance. Furrowing your brows and squinting your eyes slightly, your arms crossed over your chest, and your lips in a small frown.

" Well, if that's the case.. you just ruined my visit of a friend. I missed them a lot too. Do you know how hard it is to go to one circle to another?"

Vox held back a fond chuckle and held your waist, guiding both of you out of the spacious room. You smiled as you let him guide you.

" I'll pay you back, don't worry. Now how about you get yourself ready. We're going to be meeting you the others."

" Anything you say, Sir Vox." You nodded obediently.

Going to your own room that Vox had made for you, you showered and cleaned yourself thoroughly. You scrubbed the side of your face which Vox had touched. Sigh. Alastor wouldn't like this.

But ...

You held out your hand. Blue sparks emitted from your palm and fingers.

You smiled. It's only a matter of time.

You then sighed as you recalled something. Once your lord show's himself in public again, he would absolutely humiliate Vox in front of every demon in hell.

You went out of the bathroom and put on your clothes. Walking out of the room, you were assisted opening n where you were supposed to meet. Halting in front of a large room, you nodded at the imp that had assisted you politely and raised your fist to knock softly on the door.

" Sir Vox? This is M/n."

A delighted voice that didn't come from Vox's voice enthusiastically accepted your presence from the inside.

The door opened and you were greeted with an exited Velvet and a smirking Valentino. Vox was behind them, smiling at your arrival.

Behind you, your hand emitted a small mint blue spark, a hot pink mist and a velvety swirl. They twirled and danced between your fingers.

It's only a matter of time.

______

Alastor's eyes turned to dials and he clenched his staff in irritation.

The way this fucking mediocre video podcast is holding his darling in such an intimate way is pissing him off. Oh if he could only-

He stopped his malicious thoughts as you signaled something to him.

He hummed. It's good to know that his darling is still focused and aware of his eyes. However....

He glared deadly at the TV demon and started chuckling maniacally. Radio statics and ringing filled the dark room.

It's only a matter of time...

[casualblacklight]

I've drawn this already a while ago and finally got myself to share it here too 👉👈

I'm totally lost in BG3 currently and my BG3 Boss x Gat is on my mind 24/7 🥺💜

First made Gat into the Guardian but I sadly got spoilered and decides Playa and Gat get a different story to share in their BG3 verse 🥰

And they still get purple colour every here and there 🥺👉👈 And Playa with burn scars aii 💜

[missmungoe]

Spoilers for chapter 1079! Shanks x Makino, follows this is what the kids call couple goals

Coasters are non-negotiable

“Are you sure that’s all of them?”

She was moving between the pirates on deck, most of them still out cold, while some were slowly coming to, coughing up seawater. Even with Brogy and Dorry’s help, it had taken some effort getting them all out of the sea, but then she had insisted on getting every last one.

Kneeling down beside one of the pirates who’d awoken, Shanks saw him look at her in surprise. It was the guy who’d surrendered their poneglyph rubbings, his confusion evident as he looked from Makino to the crew who’d gathered around her. “W-We’re not dead?”

“You’re in luck,” Yasopp said, his arms crossed where he leaned back against the mast. “Boss wasn’t messing around.”

Seated on the crate beside him, Shanks said nothing, observing her progress as she moved between the pirates, his haki having already assured him that they were all still kicking, but then she’d insisted on checking them herself.

Her voice was pitched too softly for him to hear what she said to them, but he saw their faces, shaped first with confusion, then something akin to wonder, their hands reaching after her instinctively as she moved on, until she finally arrived at their captain where he’d been laid out in the middle of the deck.

He was coming awake, blinking blearily up at the sky. Shanks saw that he was bleeding from his head, and didn’t envy him the headache. He’d heard his haki in its dormant form described as a mild hangover. After a direct hit of the undiluted stuff, Kidd would be nursing the mother of them all.

His crew had noticed him coming to, their voices sobbing with relief. “Captain!!”

“He’s alive!!”

For his part, Kidd didn’t look it, but then he’d looked like a mess before Shanks had stepped in.

He saw his eyes moving, his brow furrowing at the sight of Red Force’s masts, before they settled on Makino where she sat on her knees beside him.

He blinked up at her, before he noticed the rest of their crew where they loomed protectively behind her, and his eyes widened, his reaction as instinctive as his anger as his mangled arm reared back to lash out at her, but Shanks had already seen it, and didn’t move, even as his crew did, but before they could intercept him, the gentle touch of a small hand to his arm had Kidd seizing.

“No need for that,” Makino said, with the inflection Shanks had once heard her use with Luffy when he’d thrown a tantrum, as she lowered the scraps of his arm back down. “You should be taking it easy.”

Sitting up now, Kidd looked like he wasn’t sure where he’d woken up. “Who the hell are you?” he croaked, the seawater in his lungs leaving his voice even rougher than usual, as blood-shot eyes took her in where she sat, pausing on her kerchief and her velvet and silver-threaded cloak, before lowering to Siren on her hip.

A barkeep with considerable experience, Makino was unfazed by the rude address, although the same couldn’t be said for the rest of their crew.

“That’s no way to address our lady!!”

“And after she insisted we save your ass from drowning, too!”

“Boss, do you want us to toss him back in?”

That last question hadn’t been directed at him, Shanks noted wryly, and saw Kidd’s confusion where it pulled at his features.

“No one is going overboard,” Makino said. Then to Kidd, still gawking at her, “But there’ll be no violence in my bar. I’ll also expect you to use coasters on my new counter. Are we clear?”

Half-drowned and beaten within an inch of his life, Kidd just stared at her, before he blurted hoarsely, “What?”

Yasopp leaned in to ask Shanks, “Is he just thick, or did you hit him a little too hard?”

Kidd’s gaze moved from Makino to Shanks, who pointed towards the deckhouse and the door to their galley, above which the sign of their bar hung suspended, the carved siren on her rock swinging gently in the breeze.

Kidd stared at it for a long beat, before looking back at Makino and the crew gathered around her, pausing briefly on Ben where he stood holding the baby, before his gaze finally settled on Shanks, still sitting on the crate, his outward ease betrayed only by the hand resting over the pommel of his sword, but then if he made any sudden moves towards her, he’d be dead before he could finish thinking it.

Smiling, Shanks made sure he knew it, but what he said was, “She’s dead serious about the coasters. I forgot yesterday and she threatened to divorce me. Do I need to remind you who built you that pretty counter, wife?”

“The coasters are non-negotiable,” Makino said demurely, the words directed at all of them, before she turned back to Kidd, whose crew had gathered around him, sobbing with joy, and who still looked like he wasn’t sure where he’d woken up.

“So what will it be, Captain Eustass Kidd,” Makino said, the tilt of her head making the gold rings in her ears catch the light. “Will you have a drink, or will you keep resisting?”

She smiled, her kind eyes curving, and with a gentleness that Shanks felt compelled to point out was far more terrifying than anything he could have managed, said,

“Choose wisely.”

[masschase]

20 FOR CASEY

Touching prompts- still taking!

20. bandaging/stitching up an injury

OK, so since a pairing wasn't specified here, this was the perfect oppurtunity to do something I'd already wanted to do and rework a piece to form a part of the Ultor AU-AU that me and @whoredmode have been working on. For more on the basics behind this AU check out Teddy's original version of this AU. Credit to him for the general differences that define this universe as well as other details mentioned such as Johnny and Aisha's son's name and I'm sure a few other bits. The key difference here is that Casey is also around in this version; having been a part of with the Westside Rollerz from 2004-2006, doing jobs for The Brotherhood up until 2011 and then the Saints when they re-form under Johnny, eventually joining them for good as part of the altered Brotherhood questline and taking over as Boss in SRTT.

The piece I originally wrote already had this trope in it (it's one of my faves!) and was originally going to be the setup to a GatBoss fic that we would find at the end was the night before the start of Saints Row 3. However, in this AU Aisha is still alive (as is Carlos as you'll see in the fic) so the attraction is very much one-sided. But hey, delicious angst!

Fandom: Saints Row

Universe: Ultor AU AU (we'll give it a real name eventually! 😅)

Pairing: Boss OC Cassandra "Casey" Clark x Johnny Gat (one-sided), Johnny Gat x Aisha (offscreen)

Synopsis: When a robbery goes wrong, it's obviously going to lead to an argument. 2895 words, set just before the start of SRTT.

The atmosphere was strained as they got out of the car and ran down to the crib, shutting the door firmly behind them. Neither of them liked running away; it always hurt their pride. The silence that hung between the two of them in the tiny studio only heightened the tension. Shaundi and Pierce were at the Penthouse Loft having the huge party they'd arranged as a distraction. The assisting homies had fled to Purgatory. But the cops were on Casey and Johnny, and it had taken some time to get enough distance to finally lose them by ducking into the Red Light Loft.

Casey plopped down on the sole comfy chair, sucking in a loud hiss of a breath now she didn’t have to hide the pain, resting her bleeding arm in her lap. In front of Johnny she felt she could at least show a little vulnerability. “Bandage my arm.” she ordered flatly, holding it up show him the wound.

“You’re fine.” her best friend responded, perching on the arm of the chair beside her and giving it only a cursory glance. “You made it this far without bleedin’ out, didn’t ya?”

She turned her head to him quickly, mildly offended. “What? You know the rules, Johnny. You caused this shit, you fuckin’ patch me up.”. It was a good excuse, but there was probably a little more to it than that. He was the only one who bound it tight enough. The only one she trusted to do it right.

“Oh yeah? I didn't tell you to punch through a fuckin’ window, Boss.” he replied sarcastically. Johnny was still very much the leader of the Saints, reluctant as he often seemed to hold that position. That said, ever since his son was born, he’d taken somewhat of a step back. Shaundi had recently been busy focusing on sobering up, Pierce always had shoots and tv appearances taking up his time, and Carlos still didn’t feel confident to lead, so Casey had been the one to step up. She’d been doing enough behind the scenes by that point that it didn’t even make much of a difference.

“I wrapped my hand.” she insisted. She’d thrown her jacket around it to punch into the car window but she’d still managed to cut her forearm on the way back out. Better than a bullet in the head. “No fuckin’ way were we gonna get away otherwise. Not after you started shootin’ up the place.”

“Thought that was the fuckin’ point.” Johnny complained. “What, you wanted to go round givin’ out cookies or some shit?”

She sighed exasperatedly. “Johnny, we said we'd start round the left side and take ‘em out one by one.” she reminded him. “Then at the last minute you suddenly go for the guy right in the middle of the store?”

“I told you, he was lookin’ at me funny.” he insisted.

“Funny how many guys seem to fuckin’ look at you funny Johnny!” she snapped in return. If it was a one off, then perhaps she wouldn't think much of it. But not only had it been a rather frequent occurence lately, but this shit really wasn’t going to fly when they had a big bank heist planned.

“Look, I don’t see the problem in doin’ this shit like we used to.” Gat pointed out. His jaw was a little clenched though, like he wasn’t telling the full story.

“I just think when you’re reppin’ a fuckin’ brand, you try a little harder to remain professional.” she complained, standing back up, pushing her hair off her face and walking over to the kitchen area to rinse her arm in the sink.

There was a pause, like he was processing that. He turned slightly on the arm of the chair. “Man, when’d you start fallin’ for all this “professional” shit?” he complained, getting up and taking a couple of steps in the same direction, arms crossed suspiciously.

“Maybe since it got us street gang of the fuckin’ year?” she replied, a combination of defensive and just a little smug. It was just a stupid magazine award but still it was something, some kind of mark of status. She wouldn’t usually care about that kind of thing. But she couldn’t deny that it was the one thing that had most undermined her credibility in Sharp’s eyes years back; way more than the money. She fumbled through the cabinets and managed to locate a bandage.

“That’s what it’s about, huh? You gettin’ to parade the Saints around like a fuckin’ prized poodle?” he asked.

She snorted even through her annoyance, turning back to him, leaning back against the counter. He made no secret of the fact he didn’t like the direction they were going, but at the end of the day, if he wasn’t fucking there, it wasn’t his call to make. “Please, you know if the Saints were a dog we’d shit on the carpet and steal someone’s burger.” she retorted. She began attempting to wrap her arm pretty clumsily, being that it was her right one and she was right-handed.

“Then what?” he replied, his eyes trained far more on what she was doing than her face.

“Johnny, it’s everything that comes with the success. The money, the power, the fuckin’ women...?”. She hesitated. Obviously that one wasn’t really relevant for him. Not when he seemed almost sickeningly happy with Aisha. Still she pushed on with her point. “Man... none of that means anything to you?”

“You really think- holy shit, you’re drivin’ me crazy.” Johnny interrupted himself. He stepped closer and took the bandage from his best friend, starting again and applying it to her arm much more precisely to stem the bleeding, shaking his head at her.

“Not like I didn’t fuckin’ ask.” Casey muttered, hiding her relief. There was a moment of quiet as Johnny focused on the job, and she focused on him. His hands brushing her arm as he worked. His face considerably closer than usual. His attention on her, and her only. “Look... I just want what’s best for you guys...” she insisted in a softer tone. “The other three all seem to be doing better since we signed that damn contract, and you...”. There was an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, but it didn’t change that she was happy for him. She was. “You got your perfect little family, right?” she said, giving him a slight smile as she looked up at him.

He didn’t smile back, but something within his eyes brightened at the mention of them, something she found so nice to have trained in her direction, even for just a moment. “So this is you playin’ hero, huh?” he mused with interest and a little scepticism. “You doin’ all this for us?”

She blinked at him, not knowing exactly what he meant by that. “What the hell else would it be for?” she asked curiously.

He tied up the bandage, but kept his hand under her arm, supporting it. “What about you, Case?” he asked, that same mystifying tone to his words. Like he was insinuating something. “The hell do you want?”.

Something about the fact it was Johnny asking her that made her so uncomfortable. Because there were a lot of accurate answers to that question, but the most obvious one was something she’d recently admitted to herself, could probably admit to Shaundi or Pierce... but not to him, never to him. But the way it made it feel like he was teasing the answer out of her? God, it made that feeling in her stomach all the worse because it felt nicer, lighter, hopeful when she knew it really couldn’t be. “What do you think I want?” she asked, shifting her shoulders slightly.

He released her right arm slowly, leaving her to bring her left one up to support it. It wasn’t as gentle as it could have been, but for Gat, it seemed pretty gentle. She guessed the moment couldn’t last forever. “C’mon, Case. I know what this is.”. He said, rolling his eyes slightly. “You got the lifestyle you think you deserve, without having to run home to daddy.”

That shocked her a little. “You don’t know shit about my parents Johnny.” she pointed out. No matter how much they bonded, she never let it go that far back. Suffice to say she hadn’t seen her father since she was 3 years old at most. Thanks to her mom, neither did she have a home to run to.

“We know you were with the Rollerz.” he pointed out. “Don’t take a genius to fill in the gaps.”. He folded his arms. “What, you get tired of tryna piss ‘em off, decide to go clean?”

She hated that not only was he assuming things of her that were completely untrue, which she was pretty sure everyone had been doing since the moment she joined, but it felt like he was actually mocking her for it. “That’s what you think of me?” she asked, mentally clutching at her injured feelings the same way she was clutching at her hurt arm.

“That’s what everyone thinks of you, Case.” he informed her, like it was nothing. “But I think somethin’ else, too.”. His mouth finally broke into an ever-so slight smirk. “I think deep down... you love this shit.”

That expression, not to mention the hint or solidarity, threatened to draw her in like a moth to a flame, and she hated it. “You love this shit.” she replied defensively. “I just do what I gotta do, Johnny.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, his tone still amused. “And what makes you feel more powerful? Drinkin’ champagne in the VIP section of a fancy restaurant...?”. He came right up to her and stared her down. “Or when a guy twice your size is standin’ in front of you and you hold out your pistol and pop him between the eyes?”

She wasn’t sure if it was his words or the dizzying proximity, but she drew a sharp intake of breath as she stared back at him. She swallowed, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Yeah, that’s what I fuckin’ thought.” he said smugly, stepping back and then turning to walk away.

“Hey!” she replied, affronted from the sudden release from overwhelmed to abandoned. “Don’t you fuckin’ walk away when I’m talkin’ to you!”

He turned back, but he still looked amused. “Well, I know you ain’t gonna admit I’m right, so what’s the point?” he asked flippantly.

She emitted another angry sigh. “OK, fine Johnny!” she replied. “I fuckin’ love...”. It was weird actually saying it. Coming face to face with the weight of what they did on a regular basis. “...killing people.”. She lowered her voice to a mutter. “Especially with you.”. She didn't really remember it being this way before though. She’d been in the gang life a good ten years now but since she started working with Johnny... she'd began to lose her head a little. She had to rectify it, here and now. “But we gotta stick to the plan, y’know?"

“Jesus..." he said in a low voice of realisation. "You sound like fuckin’ Dex.”

Casey didn’t know Dex, not really, not like Johnny did. But the comparison to someone she knew her friend hated, that stung. She wasn't afraid of him though. “Well then maybe Dex had a point.” she challenged.

Johnny's anger broke more openly on his face at that. “Do you even hear yaself?” he responded, tapping his index finger against his temple and nearing her once more. “You’ve really got it into your head that you’re right, don’tcha?” he accused, the volume of his voice beginning to crescendo. “You’ve bought into this shit so bad you’ll say anything, anything to support your bullshit!”

“Johnny... no-one else seems to have a problem with this shit except for you.” she pointed out, her tone rising to meet his.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, what, I'm supposed to be real happy that we're fuckin’ corporate sellouts?” he practically yelled back.

“You're supposed to be happy that we don't have to engage in stupid little turf wars just to survive!”. She couldn’t help but step closer, dangerously close to getting right in his face right now. “You're supposed to be happy we have food on the fuckin’ table and aren't getting shot at 24/7!”

"I AM HAPPY!” he shouted right in her face, although he certainly didn’t sound it, so he paused, then spoke a little more slowly so he could clarify, his tone still dripping with bile. “I’m happy when I’m at home with Eesh, and Tye, and every second, every fuckin’ second I’m away from ‘em I just wanna get this shit over and done with and get back to ‘em! How do you not understand that?”

“Oh, ok, ok, I get it!” she snapped back, finally getting the sudden impatience. It was very much fighting fire with fire now; once one of them started it was hard for either of them to back down. Him throwing his happiness in her face, as a reason to endanger both their lives no less, only stoked it. “Jesus I always knew you were violent but I never realised you could be this self-destructive.”

“Yeah well I never knew you could be such a stuck up bitch!” he snapped.

"JOHNNY!" she yelled. "UGH, I just... I swear, sometimes I just wanna...”. She reached for her pistol but her hand squeezed itself tight before she could even near the holster.

“Just what?” he taunted viciously to her unfinished sentence. “Just what, Case? What, you gonna fuckin’ shoot me? No you ain't, so just-“

His words were interrupted as she grabbed his face and her lips crashed up against his in a pretty violent fashion. All of that which she had held inside for so long, all of that which she didn’t even fully understand herself, suddenly violently erupting. The culmination of so much she’d held back, only to last for less than a second as Johnny pushed her away roughly, taking several steps back from her in shock, almost tripping over the chair.

“Woah, woah, what the fuck, Case?!!!” he exclaimed, staring at her both confused and completely horrified. She meanwhile, was frozen, no idea what to say after doing... that. Her mouth opened but no explanation came. “You... like me?” he assessed disapprovingly, staring at her almost like she was a complete stranger. Like everything had changed. She hated it.

“Well not right now...” she muttered flatly.

Johnny gritted his teeth, eyes still boring into her, shaking his head. “Trust you to give a fuckin’ bullshit answer to that, Case.” he replied. “Cause I fuckin’ know you.” he responded, pointing a finger at her in accusation. “I fuckin’ know if you just wanted to fuck me you’d have tried somethin' sooner." He paused. "So I figure this has gotta be more than that.”

She was silenced once again, because that was such a loaded statement. No matter what the exact nature of her feelings, she would never have tried to make something happen with him, never. It made it feel like he was boiling her down to nothing but her promiscuity based on this one mistake. At the same time... his conclusion that this was more than just lust was probably entirely true. “Look, Johnny...” she began.

“You realise I have a wife and a son?” he interrupted before she could even get any further.

Every single thing he said felt like he was twisting the knife. “I know, I fuckin’ know that, alright!” she replied, her tone oddly pleading. “Look I tried to ignore it, every time I thought about it I fuckin’ ignored it Johnny because... I don't even want more than we got. This is what I want." she said, flicking her finger between them. "And you know I love Aisha and I love Tye and-“

“Every time?” he interrupted, the rest clearly not placating him right now. “Just how long you been feeling like this?

Another tense silence. She couldn’t even answer that. She knew it hadn’t been that long since she'd actually realised. Maybe a month or two, and she’d spent the whole time beating herself up about it. But how long it had actually been going on for? She’d spent too long in denial to say. “I don’t know.” she said truthfully.

He stared at her again, shaking his head in disappointment. “Bullshit.” he said flatly. “Bull. Shit.”. Barely looking at her anymore, he headed for the door again, unlocking it quickly. He paused, not even looking at her this time, gritting his teeth and shaking his head again. “Y’know I really thought you were my best friend.” he said darkly, before slamming the door behind him, Casey flinching slightly at the noise in the state she was in.

“I am!” she shouted back with as much conviction as she could muster, but there was no way he was going to hear her. She stood there for a moment, left hand gripping tight around her bandage, making the wound sting. Then she walked back over to sit in the chair and put her head in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut tight. No way, no fucking way was she going to cry over some guy.

But the weight of her mistake came crashing over her like a tidal wave. Johnny wasn’t just some guy. He was some guy who could destroy every single one of her friendships, friendships that had already had a rocky start due to her past allegiances. He was some guy who could topple whatever semblance of a career she considered herself to have. But above all, he was some guy whose sudden absence from her life was liable to completely destroy her.

It was too late though. She’d already set it in motion. “...I was.” she corrected in quiet realisation.