Continues on from the continuity established in Take a rest, now take a rest, and expanded on in a few of the other one-shots. To sum that up a bit, post-game the Saints manage to pick Troy up. It's an interesting change to say the least, and they all learn how to adjust to it from there.

This is a silly attempt at his 'loyalty' mission. I call it silly, because all of them were silly to an extent, and Officer Grumpy isn't going to be exempt from that.

"Hey, I've been thinking-"

Johnny took the gun V handed him and examined it. "About?"

"Taking Troy through the sim again. He's getting a lot better with it, but there's something missing. That hint of pizzazz. Something jazzy."

"You start going into needing that special something to kindle that spark and I'm walking out the door."

"Shame, you're usually pretty keen on helping us out," V teased, running a finger along his bicep. "I thought it was fun for you."

"Fun? Last time I almost had to carry him across the fucking thing. I'm not a taxi or escort service."

"Ooh, testy. Guess it's kind of different when he's literally on your back, eh?"

"And breathing down my neck? You're the one who gets off on that, but I didn't see you jumping up and down to take him."

That got him a flick to the arm, even if it made her laugh. "Fuck you. I'm sure he's just as frustrated, and that's why I've got an idea. You remember those bonuses that Matt gave to us in the sim? I think he's well overdue for one. I mean, Matt could probably get us a quick unlock with Zinjai helping now, but there's something about doing it the old fashioned way."

"He'd have to come up with something to do, right?"

"Yeah, or I could pitch ideas at him and see what sticks. All we have to do is give the program enough time to compile the info. Complete the transition. Move from point A to point B. Whatever. The point is there's no set thing that we have to stick to. It could literally be anything." Johnny grinned and V poked him in the shoulder. "Hey, what's that for?"

"Nothing."

"You don't smile like that for nothing."

"Just coming up with things he'd want. It's a short list."

"You mean boring, right?"

She caught his eyes over his sunglasses. "No, but even if it was the most mundane shit in the world you'd still do it. He tries to shove any paperwork on you, though, light it up. Nothing's worth that much bullshit."

"You're acting like he's going to make me sort through his taxes or the station's traffic violations. Hell, my traffic violations." Johnny tilted his head to the side to consider it and V's jaw dropped. "No, he wouldn't."

"He ever give you an actual number, or did he just start dishing them out left and right?"

"Jesus, stop talking about it. He might pick it up via brain waves or something." Blowing at her bangs, she crossed her arms and frowned. "Most were blank. He'd tell me to fill out the info later to save him the trouble of going through the footage at the lights."

Johnny laughed, and there was nothing reassuring about it. "You're getting slammed. No way around it."

V poked her head into Ben's office, and sure enough Troy was there with him. He'd taken to evening the workload hefted onto Ben since she stuck to more of the brute force labor, so it wasn't a surprise to see them going over said paperwork. Most of it was digital, but as they flipped through what they had she was sure there was still plenty to go.

The care and tending of an intergalactic empire was a bit much for two men to handle, let alone everyone on her crew, but she had a feeling that the majority of the shit that came their way was only a fraction of what Zinjai did. For all the skulking that the Zin did, he seemed to know his stuff, and as long as he kept to his role and let them stick to theirs they'd get along.

But she didn't see him turning anytime soon. When you literally tear the head off of the big bad in front of everyone then punt it, you kind of leave an impression, and his excessive stuttering every time he caught a glimpse of her said enough.

She leaned against the doorway and knocked on the wall. "Do you two ever take a break?"

"Can't afford to if you want this place to keep on running," Ben replied, glancing over the tablet. "Though we are a far cry from being hours away from starvation and extinction, so one here and there wouldn't hurt."

"And you can't exactly write a book if you're busy micromanaging."

"It'd be easier to do if you didn't claim that rules and regulations gave you hives."

"You saw me during the promo for the presidency, Ben," she stated, walking over to them. "Hacking, wheezing, the shakes. Ugly stuff."

"And the hangover from the campaign bus didn't have a thing to do with it." His glasses didn't take the edge off of his look at all. "Right."

"Can I plead the fifth? Since I'm technically still the president, even on this boat, I think I will." Her attention went to Troy, and she noted that his focus was decidedly not on her. "Anything to add to that?"

He flicked his eyes towards her, then back to the papers in his hand. "No real reason to. I think he hit most of the major points."

"Damn straight," she said, and grinned at his struggle to keep from smiling. "Anyway, got a minute?"

"For...?"

"I want to pick your brain on something."

That got his attention. "Pick my brain? On what?"

"Uh-uh, Chief," she tutted, wagging her finger. "You're going to have to step outside for that one."

Ben cleared his throat and Troy put the papers down on his desk as neatly as possible. "...Sure. Lead the way."

They didn't go far, only to the unoccupied rec room, but as soon as they were in the clear she let some of her excitement slip through. "You're getting pretty good at working in the sim, right?"

He tilted his hand from side to side. "I'm all right. Could use some more practice with the basics, but at least I'm not falling on my ass anymore. Why?"

"Well, what if I could get you a boost?" She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked at him from under her lashes. "Some kind of a pick me up to ease some of the wrinkles out."

His curious expression went wary. "Boost."

"It's not even half as suspicious as you're making it sound."

"You're the one being coy about it. How else am I supposed to-wait. Boost, as in superpowers boost?"

"That's right. I need to talk to Matt or Kinzie, but I think you're more than ready to suit up and join the rest of us."

"What do they need to do? Go over a few details and enter them in?"

"It's a little more involved than that, but not much. It's supposedly grade school level number crunching, but that's taking Matt's word for it. He goes over this shit in his sleep."

"So, how does it work?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"It's an unlock. It's a way to gain exploits in the program."

"Exploits?"

"Matt said it's like getting an upgrade in a video game. It's your new suit of armor or expanded skill set. The trick is that it requires you to be active in the sim while it's doing it's thing so that it can be applied properly. There's some last-minute scanning and sorting going on, but whatever. It's not a big deal."

"Any specifics I need to be aware of?"

"Not really. You just need to find something to do while you're waiting. You could plan a race, run through a wrestling cage match, or jump through a couple of hoops without setting yourself on fire. Or maybe something simpler. I guess it doesn't have to be off the rails, but I've done Genkibowl and Nyte Blayde fanfiction. There's really no limit to what you can tell the program to do."

The curiosity was definitely back, but he didn't immediately reply. Just thought it over for a good minute while she stood there rocking back and forth on her feet to keep from pacing all over the place. "So, anything?"

Paperwork hell flashed through her mind briefly, but she forged ahead. "Yep. Anything."

"Shit, that's...wait." He rubbed his chin, and after a couple of minutes V couldn't help but nervously twiddle her thumbs. "I think I might have the perfect thing for this."

Those words refused to leave her head for the next twelve hours. Kinzie said to give it a day at the most to implement, but as the hours ticked by it felt like she was waiting for the sand to drain grain by grain through an hourglass.

So, she tried to stay busy. Laps around the ship? Check. Inventory time with Pierce? Check. Work out with Asha followed by subsequent schooling in MI6 basics? Check.

Troy tried to intercept her when she was in the middle of helping Shaundi check the ship's systems, but shooed him out when she couldn't fake her way through the jargon like she usually did. His confusion would've been priceless if she hadn't been so anxious, but he shut his mouth and left.

Johnny, on the other hand, didn't let her off the hook at all. Not during dinner, or in bed that night. She'd be drifting to sleep with her legs tangled in his and Troy's arm draped over her, and he would whisper something about a pink slip, making her eyes snap open. It was all rinse and repeat from there, and when he tried it again in the morning she almost kicked him out of the shower.

Troy made a hasty exit while she was distracted, and when she made it to the kitchen later she didn't ask before grabbing Matt. Only tugged him by the collar towards his coffee machine and pointed. He took one look at her and got her a triple.

She'd finished choking it down when someone poked her in the back. Kinzie didn't say anything when she turned, only nodded in the direction of the simulation room.

V planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek and booked it.

"Took your sweet time getting here, I see?" Troy joked, leaning against a bench. He hadn't gone far from the portal, so when she shot out she zipped right by him and had to do an immediate course correction. He was in his Chief's uniform as always, and checked his watch before looking back up. "You didn't bowl over Kinzie on the way, did you?"

V dusted off the red skirt of her super suit and shook her head. "After the news she gave me? I don't think so. You, however, have some sharing to do."

His eyebrow went up. "I do?"

"Yeah, because as hot as it would be to follow your directions with my hands tied, I'd rather not. At least not now. So...?"

"I talked to Kinzie and came up with a few things to do. Nothing too tough on the system, or too out there in terms of things that have been done before."

She took a few steps closer and crossed her arms. "And?"

"And before we get started we've got to establish a few ground rules."

"Okay," V said, tapping her foot on the pavement. "Which are...?"

"No powers. No zipping, flying, flamethrowing, etc. We're keeping it simple," Troy said. "In fact, you shouldn't need anything other than your own two legs to carry you, but I think we can squeeze a few cars in without too many problems."

"Weapons?"

"You'll be armed. Basic handgun or shotgun. Standard issue."

"Standard, eh? For what?" The corner of his mouth twitched up, but he didn't cave. "Troy, seriously. You are being the biggest fucking tease right now."

"We're going on a patrol. Just your basic by the book run. Kinzie never gave me a timeline for how long the upgrade takes, but this should keep us busy until she radios us back. "

"Wait, patrol?" Troy nodded and V gave him a sidelong glance. "Bullshit."

"No bullshit here. Should probably dress the part before you try to act the part, though."

Her suit was gone in an instant, replaced by the same uniform the Steelport officers wore. Troy's old uniform was as well, and it took a moment for the change to kick in. "The hell?"

"You wanted to know what it was like, right? Well, now you can."

She didn't think it'd be possible to get her mouth working again, but after running her hands over the buttons and sleeves of her coat, she stared at his and found her voice again. "But what's with your getup? This isn't your usual, Chief."

He cracked a smile. "Someone's got to show you the ropes, even here. The route's not my usual either, but we can figure it out. Just like the good old days, eh?"

"You ass." She wanted to kiss him, and barely held back the urge. "Just can't help it, can you? Guess that means you're driving too?"

"Yep. That's how we're doing it, seeing as I'd like the car to not turn into a flaming death trap with us inside of it."

"Spoilsport. Shit, maybe that should be the name on your badge..." She peeked at the one on her coat and tried to twist it around to check it. "What's on mine, anyway? Please tell me that Kinzie didn't put my actual-"

"Get in the car, V."

She dropped it and huffed. "Fine, Officer. I'll comply." He chuckled, and when she walked by she made sure to slap him on the ass. "Mostly," she threw back over her shoulder.

He looked good. This was his element, and she could see him almost come alive in it. It reminded her of the times she'd been out with him in Stilwater when she'd managed to wrangle him out from behind his desk. It took a weight off of him, gave him something with substance he could bite into, and he never hesitated to prove that his aim hadn't slipped one bit.

Part of her enjoyment came from the mode he'd slip into. The careful explanation and breakdown. It was vintage him, and as his hand moved to emphasize his point she wondered how many other rookies had been through the same spiel. How many other Saints had benefited from this same talk before she'd come along.

It made a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as he moved onto his next point, and she rested her chin in her hand as she ran her eyes over the lines of his uniform.

"Makes sense, right?"

"Sure," she said, barely aware of the expectant way he was looking at her.

"Hey."

The glance went sharp as she snapped out of it just in time to catch another classic of his. Stern disapproval. His lips were turned down just enough to highlight it, and she'd seen so many different versions of it over the years she'd be hard-pressed to forget it. She missed the cigarette, however. The toothpick he'd been idly chewing on just wasn't the same.

"Done fucking me with your eyes yet?"

"Is that a trick question?" she asked, blinking back at him. "Because I was hoping more for admiring, but..."

"Did you catch any of what I was saying?"

"I did. Maybe not all of it, but I caught the major parts. Promise."

"Want to recite them back to me?"

The dare made her fidget in her seat. "Be safe, be aware, and always lend a helping hand?"

He scoffed. "Geez, what billboard did you steal that off of?"

"Not even going to try and take that for an answer?"

"Nope."

She crossed her arms. "Fine, it might've been something I stole off of an old after school special, but it's the same idea, right?"

"We're on patrol," he said, starting over. "Should be simple. Straightforward."

"Should be."

"You start off by checking your gear before entering the vehicle, and then checking that everything's in order once you're in as well. I know a lot of this is due to nervous habit, but you need to make sure you're covered. Any call that comes through could be yours, and you need to be ready to handle anything."

V nodded once and watched him adjust the rearview mirror so that he could see her without turning. That got him a wink, and he shook his head before aiming his eyes back at the road.

"And that means you also need to be able to drop everything on a dime. You just sat down for dinner? Leave it and go. Gearing up for a power nap after a long day? Grab another shot of coffee, because that's all you're going to get. There's only so many cops in this city, and they can't be everywhere at once. ...Though this sim's definitely going above and beyond the call of duty there," he said with a wry grin. "Wouldn't trust any of these cops much, though. Disturbing the peace would probably get us two in the head for our trouble, uniform or no uniform. For this trip it's all us, and I need you to cover me if things go bad."

"Be your illustrious back up?"

"Sure, rook."

She sat up. "Rook?"

Troy's calm expression had nothing on the glint in his eye. "It's your first time out. That shit with Fuzz doesn't even come close, because we're playing it by the book. No funny business."

"Hey, you should've seen half of the shit that they suggested! I went light!"

"Nope, I don't want to hear it. You follow my lead, got it?"

"...It's because of that donut place I burnt down on accident, isn't it? The one down the way from the station with your damned cherry eclairs."

He pursed his lips and flipped on the radio, tuning it to the dispatch's frequency. When the scattered chatter began to come through, V sighed and slumped back in her seat.

"Fucking Ken. Just had to push me to go for the bonus points."

Their first call was to a house in one of the nicer areas of Steelport. The programmed voice didn't come across as urgent, but told them to check it out so the threat could be assessed.

"Assess the situation?"

"Got to see what's happening. Quiz the locals. Could be serious."

"No burning houses. No group of cars clustered suspiciously on someone's lawn. No rocket launchers or guys dressed like luchadores. Hell, I don't even see the random wandering group of teenagers," V stated, ticking each off on her fingers. "Seems minor."

"Sure about that, rook?" Troy asked as he pulled up to the house of interest.

"Mostly. Though I should probably defer to you since you're the senior officer. What's the damage here, sir?"

He cringed, and she knew she'd found a winner. "Inconclusive."

"So that means that we need to take a closer look, right?"

"That's usually what happens in an investigation," he replied stiffly. "Questions, answers, and a little thing called tact."

"I can be subtle."

"Says the woman covered in red at least ninety-nine percent of the time. It's a hell of a lot more delicate that what you're used to."

"That's why I've got you, Chief. Can't temper this charm on my own," she said, resting her arm on the console between their seats. "And you do have a soft touch. ...Most of the time."

He let out a breath and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Just tone it down, okay?"

"Sure thing. Let's go take a bite out of crime."

The large doorway pulsed as they waited outside of it, and V wondered if this was a construct of the sim only, or if it had existed outside of it. She poked the doorbell, noting how it glowed faintly at the contact with her finger, and Troy eased her hand away when she tried to punch it again.

Soon enough the door creaked open, and an elderly woman stuck her head out. "Oh, good. I was afraid that no one would come by."

V slowly turned her head towards Troy, and he smiled. "Evening, ma'am. You called about a disturbance?"

"Yes, it's the most dreadful thing. It's been hours since Maurice has eaten, and if he stays this way there's no telling what might happen!"

Maurice? "Uh, want to take us to him? ...Ma'am?" she asked, watching Troy out of the corner of her eye. He was still in picture perfect cop mode, and it made her want to jab a finger in his side.

"Just follow me. He's in the backyard and absolutely inconsolable."

The woman took off down the hall, and V hissed at Troy. "Backyard?"

"Backyard," he replied. "You heard the lady, rook."

The yowling started soon after they'd slipped outside. V had her initial question on the tip of her tongue, something about the woman's name, and it died with that noise. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Troy cleared his throat, but V didn't change her stance at all. only threw him a dirty look. "You hear any laughing?"

"No, I'm just...surprised," she forced out through ground teeth. "A cat stuck in a tree. That's original."

"Some would call it a classic," he replied, turning back to the worried and scandalized woman. "So, Mrs...?"

"Wilson."

"You want to tell us exactly what happened?"

It'd gotten out through one of her windows. Apparently it had a feeding schedule like clockwork that it missed due to climbing higher than normal, which sent Wilson into a fit. Her search eventually led to the backyard and the tree in question, but the branches it had latched to stretched over the massive swimming pool below it. This was the real issue, and when the call had been made.

Troy nodded as he jotted down every note that she shared, and V didn't move her eyes from the tree. The cat called again, the sound even higher in pitch, and by the time Troy nudged her her teeth had begun to hurt.

"So?" he asked.

"So what?"

His toothpick moved up and down, and her eyes followed every motion. "Break it down. What's the situation?"

"Cat caught in tree. Owner in distress. In about five minutes, I'll be too from the damn thing clawing my face off if I don't drown in the pool." The fake smile she plastered on didn't hold up well. "Because it's my ass climbing up that tree, right?"

"If you want to handle it like that, sure." Troy offered. "It'd probably be the quickest way to-"

"Quick? Done and done," V said, scrambling for the tree. Troy didn't even try to discourage her as she moved forward, and simply stood there with his arms crossed as she reached for the first branch.

Her boots scraped against the bark and that was strike one. Her slipping down the side as her gloves refused to hold on was strike two. Losing her hat to an errant branch was strike three.

Watching Troy take notes when another branch smacked her in the face was strike four, and she shot him a withering glare when he flashed her a thumbs up. She hadn't even made it to the cat yet. The cat that had its ears pressed back flat to its head as it bared its teeth.

"Please be gentle! The poor thing's terrified!" Mrs. Wilson, called.

"Sure it's fucking terrified," she muttered, "it's absolutely petrified and has no intention of bleeding me out like a stuck pig."

V clung to the tree as she inched closer and closer, and tried to ignore the way the swimming pool stretched out under them.

"Almost there. Think purple. Purple, sparkly and obnoxious." Yeah, she thought, stretching her arm out. I can get Matt in on this, and we'll get him something choice. Something that no one in their right mind would even w-

It scratched at her, and she yelped. Even with the uniform it stung like hell, and she pushed forward to grab at it again. The cat blinked, the programming code showing through in a bright flash.

"The hell?"

Her branch creaked, and gave way.

When she climbed out of the pool looking like a wreck and gasping for air, Troy was right at the pool's edge. He gave her a hand up, concern written all over him, but that disappeared the moment he took in her petulant frown.

"I'd give that an A for effort, but for the execution? Roughly a C+."

"Bite me," she groused, shaking her hat off. The bundle in her other arm took one last shot at her, before darting across Troy towards its owner.

Mrs. Wilson didn't catch the one-finger salute V flashed while she was fussing over her cat, but Troy's elbow cut that short by the time she turned back.

She smiled wide and felt it strain under the disapproving look. "Have a nice day, ma'am."

The amount of time it took to throw them out was a record, even for her. Her shoes squished the entire journey to the door, and as soon as it slammed behind them she snagged Troy's walkie-talkie and made a beeline for their car.

"Kinzie? Please tell me you're watching, but not watching."

"Nice job, boss."

"I didn't call to get sassed, Kinzie," V said, shaking the last of the water off. "I wanted an update."

"Thirty-five percent complete. This is going to take some time, especially since we don't have the data pool available for Troy compared to you or Johnny. It's borderline excessive, but you can never have too much information-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I can't help it if snap-freezing aliens is an amazing form of stress relief. Can you at least do something about the way this uniform chafes when it's wet? It's kind of a bummer."

Troy chuckled, and she whipped her soaked hat in his direction. The radio crackled, another voice drifting in and out, and she felt the code shift and overwrite. The uniform came back and she sighed in relief.

"Better?"

"Oh, yeah. Though I could've done without the whole pool experience, period."

"Environmental hazard. It was only one way of handling the puzzle."

"She's right," Troy added, jotting down a few more comments on his notepad.

"Hey, that lady got her soaked data cluster back safe and sound. It might've been pissed off, but it was like that when I got there."

"Course it was." He clicked his pen and put it away, before flicking his toothpick at the nearest trash can. "Though you sure did work that charm of yours. Glares like that don't come easy. Any other instance would've had someone waiting outside with a grin and a gift."

She threw one of her own at him, but the easy smile that earned made her drop it fast. "You're lucky I like you, Chief. So, what's next?'

Disturbance number two called in the moment she'd finally coerced Troy into going for coffee and donuts. The donut was half in her mouth when she punched in, but she managed to mumble her way through the request and even managed to throw in a '10-4' for good measure.

Troy nodded and stole the other half of her donut while she messed with the radio, heading towards the spot where the last sighting was had.

Their target? Skateboarders. It was almost word for word one of the scenarios she'd done before in Fuzz minus Ken and his penchant for satchel charges. She'd nearly blown their own car up in the attempt, so that idea had been tossed fast.

Troy did not have satchel charges, nor grenades. This was probably a wise move on his end. There were however, some flashbangs, but even those were hit and miss.

"Do you have anything in here?" she asked, digging out a taser. "You really want me to work for this, don't you?"

He flipped on the sirens and V actually sat back in her seat when they flew through the red light. "Thought you liked a challenge."

"Don't even try that line on me. You said that the car was equipped! I mean, it had basic shit, but not even a net?"

"Nope. Got to earn this the hard way."

"And all it would take is a little ice here, and a slip there, and presto. One fixed problem, but fine. Hard work and guts it is." They skidded and she felt her heart skip a beat. "Shit. Troy, where were these moves back when we had our rides?"

He laughed. "There. Why? Trying to tell me something?"

"Maybe. You've been holding out on me." She caught his eye in the rearview mirror, and grinned wide as they kept on speeding along. "Don't stop."

The GPS's vague directions sent them in a circle as they rounded the area, finding everything from the area's local mascot ring to what she assumed was a bunch of seniors off to bingo. No boards, no punks, no prize. She hit the dashboard when another spin didn't give them anything, and when traffic picked up they had no choice but to slow down.

"Hey, you see that?" Troy asked, tapping her shoulder.

Bright blue and a set of skates made her experience some serious deja vu. A few had hopped from one alley to another, but some were lagging behind. "Looks like the cyberpunk brigade's back for a second round." Troy gave her a questioning look, but she was already rolling down her window so she could hang out of it. "Yo, geek squad!"

One stopped to flip her off, but didn't notice what she had in her hand until the taser's prongs hit him squarely in the stomach.

The rest scattered with assorted levels of panic, and V whooped. "Cease and desist isn't just a set of guidelines, you motherfuckers!"

Her boots hit the ground after she hefted the rest of her herself out of the car, and broke into an all-out run. Troy had been yelling something at her when she'd jumped from the moving vehicle, but it hadn't registered. She was in it to win it, and saw nothing but blue trying to zip away ahead.

They were quick. Deckers always did have that knack for cutting in and out when they needed to, and she patted down her uniform for anything worth throwing as she fought to catch up. One took a spill when they couldn't cut around a woman fast enough, while the others went flying head on into traffic.

The train wreck sucked her in as cars struggled to avoid the others, and V had to jump to slide along the hood of an overzealous Sovereign to keep from breaking her stride. The flood of cars slashed the distance between them, leaving the Decker in front of her panicked as she kicked the board out from under her. The last didn't even bother to look back, and V grabbed the first thing within reach that could be pitched.

The bottle went flying over their shoulder, and the Decker spun on their board, choosing to circle back around instead of flee. Fancy board trick aside, she was glad to see one with a set of brass balls large enough to stick around, and waved them forward. She might've been breathing hard after almost getting splattered across the pavement, but she held her ground as a smile spread across her face.

...And pulled off a clothesline that had no business succeeding.

She stood there, frozen, as the board went sailing into the nearby trash cans, and frowned. Then she glanced down and nudged the Decker with her foot. "Wow. Didn't even try to win that one, eh?"

They disappeared in a cloud of code as she tried to pull a set of cuffs out, and she felt even more confused. Troy caught up while she was kicking around random pieces of garbage to find them, and he didn't have anyone tagging along with him either.

"Shit, did you get them all?" He whistled and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Way to put me to fucking shame, rook."

"Should've run faster, sir. But I did leave you in a strange spot. Where the hell did they go, though?"

"My loss," he said, catching his breath as he pulled out his notepad to jot down something. "As for where they are, the object was to catch or disable. As much fun as it would've been to sit and walk you through the printing process, we're cutting through a few steps. Keeping things interesting."

"Ah, back to blessed cyberspace for them then. Paperwork aside, I guess it is important to introduce me to the beat cop's bread and butter. Chasing down hooligans? Ne'er do wells?"

"They're not even adults. They're all fucking kids that think they know better. Cutting deals on their parents' front lawn when they think we aren't looking. Almost too easy."

V laughed. "You add ten years to your age when you say shit like that. What's funny is you always have."

"I can't imagine why I'd have a reason to." He adjusted his hat and flicked at the brim of hers. "Keeping up with you was hard enough. Don't know what I would've done if there had been more than one of you fucking around."

The irony of that statement made her mouth twist. "It'd get a bit weird. Or interesting. ...Yeah, I think I'd go with interesting."

"I feel exhausted just thinking about it."

"Oh, please." She put her hands on her hips and lightly kicked the side of his shoe. "You love the excitement and you know it."

"Excitement?"

"Or me. Could be that."

He gave her a look, but ducked his head to kiss her. She pulled back when he touched her, but not far. All it'd take for her to lean in again was a millimeter or two, and she was tempted.

"Whoa, there. I thought there was no funny business going on." Her gaze raked over him, and he almost mirrored the gesture. "Unless this is your way of telling me you've lifted the ban, because I will totally get in the backseat of your car and fuck your brains out."

The hint of a flush as he stood up straight told her it wasn't. "...No. We're not done yet."

Her hand toyed with the knot of his tie, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. "Shame. I think I would've liked figuring out how many layers the sim slapped on."

He swallowed, then cleared his throat. "Try to dial it back a bit more, will you?"

"But I'm already doing that, Chief," she said, her tone going low. "You ever get the memo?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just...just wait until we have fewer eyes on us to pull a fast one. I know they record this shit, and I don't want to hear any of Gat's bitching about it later."

"Hey, if he misses out I wouldn't mind going over it again. With help." Leaning up on her toes, she put her mouth by his ear and let her tongue dart out. "You do take some pretty detailed notes-"

"V, I'm not doing the rest of this with a hard on."

"Okay, okay," she conceded, stepping away with her hands in the air. "The business face is going back on."

Her exaggerated frown echoed his old stand by, and when she put a finger over her top lip to imitate his moustache he groaned. "What the hell am I going to do with you?"

She perked up. "Well..."

He gently pushed her along, guiding her towards the car. "Not another word."

"Was this your thing for a while?"

Troy glanced over at her, surprised. "What?"

"This. Running around dealing with small-time stuff."

"Wasn't always small-time, but yeah." He didn't quite relax, but the hand that remained on the steering wheel didn't tighten its grip either. "You always need people on the road, so I went where I was needed most. It wasn't where I was aiming, but when you first start out you don't always get to choose."

"What did you-oh, right." He looked away, and she felt stupid for even wondering. "Undercover work. Thought they always needed guys for that too."

"They do. It's not exactly something they're eager to throw rookies at, so they stalled for a long time. I kept on putting in requests and they kept on giving me the runaround. 'We'll get back to you later.' 'If you're needed then we'll put you up for consideration.' Fuck, at that point the Carnales and VKs had been established for years. We had a gang problem, but not one that the department was willing to make waves in with King's payments, and Lopez's low-key dealing."

Troy sighed and began to rub his fingers together, but started tapping them on the wheel instead.

"The Rollerz woke them up. The kids that Price recruited were flashy and wanted attention, good and bad. Then Lopez decided that maybe he didn't want to sit back and watch King's people take their turf. It all went sour at about the same time, and when I put my request in again they couldn't put me through fast enough."

She'd seen it develop too, but almost through a haze. Shivington had always been under King's control, so the petty fights that happened on the fringe hadn't become obvious until they'd spilled into her space and demanded more."They were scared, weren't they?"

"Not scared, but Monroe was certainly sweating with Hughes and King breathing down his neck. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I was too busy getting set up for whatever the hell was waiting for me. I'd wanted it, and I was finally getting it. The shit that was going on in the department wasn't even on my radar, because my concern was finding an in."

"And that happened to be Julius?"

He nodded. "The Saints were fresh then. He'd pulled a few people together, but had nowhere near the numbers you saw when you joined up. We knew he'd been tied to King back in the day. Rolled together until they fell out. What we didn't know I picked up fast. The Row needed change. Stilwater needed change, and to do that he needed people willing to save it."

"Save?" V spat the word out, and tried not to remember the way Julius had looked at her. Like she was the only one that was capable of bringing that change. It had built her up and sent her crashing down."Yeah, so much for that. ...But you believed it too, didn't you?"

Troy's eyes didn't leave the road, and she watched him closely as his lips formed a thin line. "Course I did. Man had a way with words. Give him five minutes to sell you something, and he'd spin it well enough that by the end you'd consider following him for it. So, I bought it. Believed it. Still kinda did up until the point that he tried to put you in the ground." The set of his jaw tightened. "Wasn't sure what to think after that."

"I don't think any of us did," she said, leaning back. The anger and confusion that had held on to her then was so faint now. Far off. "You didn't think I was going to wake up, did you?"

"It'd been five years. Five years of coming up with every reason, idea, and excuse in the book to justify why you needed to keep on breathing. ...I honestly didn't know." He took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "I did know one thing, though. If the plug was going to be pulled, I wasn't going to be the one to do it."

"Even with that lovely vice around your neck?"

He didn't hesitate. "No."

V let her eyes slip closed, and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Good to know."

"Eighty-eight percent and rising, boss. It's making decent progress, but it's not complete yet."

"Too many wrinkles to smooth out?" V guessed.

"The bulk of the data's converted, but yeah. That answer works. Save us both some time."

"Cool. So, keep busy?"

"That would be the easiest thing to do, provided you don't set off the systems and make it all go haywire. ...And I'm not daring you to, so don't even try."

She pretended to frown and Troy took the radio from her. "Might want to stand by in case the sirens start going off." V punched him in the arm, and he winced. "I mean, no more than usual, right?"

"Right," Kinzie replied flatly. "Have fun."

The police dispatch kicked in as soon as Kinzie left. "A large degree of gang activity has been spotted over in Yearwood. An old warehouse appears to be the center, and back up is needed to contain the threat. I repeat, back up is needed to contain the threat."

"Ooh, that sounded urgent."

"In a call for assistance? You bet."

"Urgent enough for the sirens again?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. Troy shrugged, but the moment he flipped them on V pumped her fist in the air. "Hell yes."

The cars clustered around the sides of the warehouse, digitized cops from the system trading as much ammo as possible with the gang on the other side. The red made her sit forward, but it wasn't until she saw the dark tribal tattoos and their signature Swindles that she knew for sure it was the Brotherhood. The slugfest going on in front of them was about as close to a standstill as it could get, and they weren't about to punch through it. Not without help, or the vehicular equivalent of a battering ram.

Johnny, what I wouldn't give for you right now and your tendency to carry high-explosives. Would probably clear some of that out in a pinch.

"They've got to have most of those points flooded with people," V said, watching another set of Brotherhood vehicles slam into the cops' barrier. "There's no way we're getting through this shit without something heavy, unless we try our luck on the other side."

"That could work. Any other ideas?"

"Well, I wish I had some grenades right about now-"

Troy tossed one to her as he got their car into an isolated spot. Her head slowly craned towards him, and he started checking his loadout. "That work for you?"

She was almost too surprised to respond, but came around. "...It'll do. Thought you weren't going to hold out on me anymore?"

"You didn't ask," he replied, his neutral expression breaking into a smile at her reaction.

"Asshole. Okay, so that adds one extra step to the plan."

"Which is...?"

She drew her handgun and pointed from the mess unfolding before them to the warehouse. "Which was run to the other side, spray and pray, jump the through the gap and keep on going. Now we can run to the other side, spray and pray, chuck this, jump through the gap, and keep on going."

"...That's it?"

"What? It's a valid plan."

He put his hand to his forehead, but shrugged it off. "Okay, fine. We'll work with it and try not to get shot to hell in the process. Ready, rook?"

"If you can keep up," she threw out. "We're looking at some intense legwork here." His glare didn't sting like it could've, but she climbed out of the car before he could snap back.

With her gun out and her fingers itching to pull the trigger, the two skirted the corner of the main fight, but couldn't avoid it entirely. Brotherhood tended to spray what they had on hand, and it didn't take long for V to start trading fire as they crawled up the opposite side to check for another in.

Troy stuck to her every step of the way, tagging every person that dared to fire her way. One shot in particular made her whistle in appreciation, causing him to roll his eyes when she fanned herself, but he didn't let up. Only focused harder when a stray bullet almost took her hat off of her head.

He shoved her down, and she pawed at the grenade in her gear while Troy looked her over. The old white Hollywood they were pinned behind wasn't ideal, but it kept the brunt of the fire off of them while she curled her fingers around the metal ring. "Open shot?"

Glancing over their cover briefly, Troy gave her a tight nod and got his weapon back up.

When the ring came out she took in a slow breath and exhaled it fast, whipping the grenade towards the building in a messy arc. The car shuddered against the blast, but the minute it settled she heaved herself up and ran for it.

A few other policemen tailed them as they crawled through the charred space cleared for them, and she slapped at her pantleg as a stray flame tried to catch. Troy took her arm as she hopped, letting go as soon as it went out, and she rushed forward again. They had to stay ahead of the crowd. If they got cornered now they wouldn't be able to break out of it, so she refused to stop.

Her aim scored her an SMG before long, and she sighed as it caught the set of Brotherhood guarding the stairs to the catwalk. "Man, now this is something. Haven't we seen this movie before?"

"Hey, focus," Troy told her, angling her towards the stairs. "People are still fucking firing here."

"Yeah, I get it, but seriously. I know we've seen this movie at some point."

They both fired at the guy charging down the stairs, and Troy exhaled slowly when he fell into a heap at the bottom. "You kidding? We've seen at least three like this."

She kicked the body to the side and grabbed the other SMG. "And the big bad's gotta be waiting for us at the top."

"Wouldn't doubt it."

"Fucking awesome," she said, every nerve in her singing. "I've always wanted to dramatically kick someone off of something like this. Shame it isn't a gangplank."

"V, wait-"

She slipped away from Troy and couldn't hear much else as she charged up the stairs and threw herself down into cover. It became a process after that, one to two steps forward for every Brotherhood member that hit the ground, interspersed with small breaks for trash talk. Sometimes she skipped steps. Sometimes she jumped right over them, but one by one she carved her way across the catwalk, keeping an eye out for the odd member out that happened to be larger and meaner than the others.

Her head poked out from behind the crates she was crouched by, and had to jerk back when a hail of bullets tore through it.

Minigun. Has to be. Hello, large and angry. She kept her body down as she attempted to circle around the large tattooed figure. They didn't stop firing once, emptying buckets of brass as she tried to avoid them, and when the hail paused, she popped back up.

"Yo, cranky," she yelled, making them jerk their head up, "going to have to try harder than that."

She fired twice, one hitting their shoulder and the other their forehead, and in a dull flash they faded.

V gaped. "The fuck? Oh no, not this shit-"

The figure glitched, then reformed, shifting into an imposing, jagged alien she hadn't missed at all. The Warden roared and moved itself directly into her personal space, giving her barely a second to drop another obscenity before it backhanded her across the platform.

It was the hardest hit she'd taken in a while, and when she slammed into the metal floor it rocked her. The breath in her lungs rushed out, and she gulped down air as she scrambled to get up, yelping when someone dragged her up and out of the open.

"Hey, you hurt?" Troy asked, his jaw clenched. He took a second to steady her and immediately opened fire, emptying as many rounds as he could.

She pounded her fist on her chest and coughed. "Still kicking, Chief. Also, pissed."

She took the other side of the crates and fired, splitting its attention as it shook the surface beneath them with every step. It was staring at her, but swung its head towards Troy when he kept on hitting his mark.

Her grip tightened on her gun and she didn't bother to fuck with the radio. "Kinzie? You better pick up, because we need an update!"

Kinzie's voice picked up loud and clear in her ear. "It's not ready yet! The system's going through the last few lines of altered code-"

"Then get me a fucking override! I'm not going to sit back and get wasted due to some bullshit involving zeroes and ones!"

It landed, shaking them off balance, and V didn't wait for it to draw its arm back before getting in the Warden's face. The field triggered at the same time she tried to whip her SMG across its chin, and the blow bounced right off, sending her weapon flying out of her hand.

"Ah, shit," she muttered, pulling her arms in front of her just as it whipped her away for a second time.

When she hit the ground level the impact struck then dulled within seconds, leaving her feeling like a million bucks. The switch had been flipped, and when she hopped up and looked down, her red boots and suit met her eyes. "Fuck, yes."

"Good to go, boss?"

"Good to fucking go is right."

Cracking her knuckles, she crouched low and flew, aiming right for the spot where the Warden was standing. The catwalk curled as she punched through it and slammed the creature through the ceiling. They burst out into the open air, and she landed flat on her feet while it skidded to a halt further down.

It was shaken, but when V moved her hands smoothly through the air to gesture it forward, a familiar red began crackling around it.

She pressed a hand to her heart. "Why, I'd love to have this dance. Gotta learn to let other people lead, though."

V jumped as it let the blast off, and flicked her wrist over her head as she flipped. Flames exploded around the Warden's head, making it shriek as she touched down and drew one of her pistols. She ticked off each shot in her head as it launched itself towards her, and cartwheeled to the side as its mass dug into the concrete beneath it.

The foot she planted in its face seconds after was incredibly satisfying, but didn't throw it off enough to keep it from latching onto her ankle. The sensation of hitting the concrete multiple times wasn't as easy to ignore as each swing upped the force, and she kicked hard at the claws holding her. They gave, but didn't loosen enough for her to break free.

"Handsy motherfucker, aren't you?" The ice in her palm hit its wrist, making the next directed kick a thing of beauty.

It shattered, sending her sprawling onto her face. She rolled away as its fist connected with the ground and found her feet as another blast sailed towards her. Another roll made her miss it by inches, and she opened fire again.

The shield flared, causing the hail to ricochet, and she felt her teeth grind together. "I get it, you're not going to let us steamroll you, but this is getting annoying." The Warden let out an unintelligible stream of sounds and V threw her hands up. "Don't even try to pin this shit on me, pal! You don't want to play nice, I don't see why I fucking have to."

It made a gesture, and V gave it three in response.

"Any of those translate over, because I don't have a Ph.D. in shit, but when they say something's universal, something's universal-"

Ice crusted the floor around the warden's feet, and V paused halfway through the motion to stare at Troy. Back in his old Chief's uniform, he shook his wrist out and scowled at her. "The fuck are you doing?"

"Working on it. Slowly, but surely." She blinked at him, and her grin only made him frown more. "Hello, upgrades. Strange, I expected you to be shinier or glitzed out."

"I'm not, okay? Now can we-"

"...Also, please don't tell me you took the stairs up."

"No, I took a goddamn elevator!" he shot. "Look, can we just focus on the fact that there's a fucking thing trying to wipe us out-"

The blast sent her tumbling into him, and V hooked the edge of the building as they skipped off of the concrete and over it. Her back collided with the brick wall, but her grip on Troy's hand didn't loosen. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you?" he asked, the tense hold he had on her growing with each second.

"I'm good. Ready for round two?"

He gave her a quick nod, and she swung him high enough to get a decent hold on the ledge. When he was secure she heaved herself up and over, rolling her shoulders as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Then she was skating forward again, grazing the ground as she made the Warden spin on a dime to keep a bead on her.

Exposing its back was key, and when Troy lit it up, she cheered and zipped forward with her fist drawn back. Its head snapped to the side with the force of the impact, but she immediately resumed her circuit around it while Troy reloaded, taking shots whenever she had an opening.

It jumped, and V tried to jump with it to avoid the shockwave, but felt the ground give and fling her skyward. The recovery wasn't difficult at all, but when she flopped down into Troy's arms she nearly pitched him over.

When both of his feet were firmly set on the ground he let her down and jerked his head in its direction. "That's no pushover. Any ideas?"

"Only bad ones."

"So...?" he started, looking at her expectantly.

Her eyebrow went up. "You seriously want me to go for one of those?"

"Not like we've got a lot of options right now, V."

She looked between him and the Warden, weighing their other choices, and shrugged. "Okay, one bad idea coming up. You might want to make yourself scarce."

"Like five feet far away, or-"

She pointed towards the hills. "Far away. I usually save this for special occasions, but I can make an exception. See you on the other side, Chief."

The jump charged beneath her and she shot straight up, hoping that both her luck and the height was decent enough to work. The other areas had higher buildings nearby that she could climb, but this area didn't give her a lot to work with.

Then again, maybe she didn't need much. Just enough to trigger that vital spark.

Holding for a second, she soared back down with her fingers crossed, and felt everything go white-hot around her. It was strange being at the center, feeling everything light up and blow, but what was stranger was feeling nothing aside from the initial flash. It was almost like turning the hairdrier on your skin for too long. Uncomfortable, but manageable.

And when the dust cleared, there wasn't much left to see. Only sparks in the air as they drifted by.

The building had given way, collapsing before being spread outward, and V jumped from piece to piece until she found the crumpled body of the Warden. It buzzed, full of code that kept on writing and rewriting, but didn't move.

Kicking its arm didn't generate any response either, and she sighed. "I think that's what we call overkill. Oh well, what can you do?"

"Dial it back like we went over before?"

Folding her arms behind her head, V turned on her heel to peer at Troy. "On patrol, yes. In the middle of a fight with one of those? Not so much. Besides, I warned you. Can't complain now."

He climbed over a large chunk of the wall as he made his way towards her, and took in the damage with wide eyes. "Guess not, but Christ, that's a hell of a way to put your foot down."

"Thanks," she said, digging the toe of her boot into the ground. "I'll run you through it later if you'd like. It's pretty handy if you're being swarmed, but the sim doesn't like it too much. I'm honestly surprised that Kinzie isn't yelling at me right now-" She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "Wait a minute! You've been upgraded. Where is it?"

He froze. "Where's what?"

"Your suit! Your fancy, 'Hey, I'm a Saint and super' regalia?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that." He dusted off his coat and walked up to her. "I talked to Kinzie and we came up with something that would work with that. Simple, not too flashy, but still isn't bad to look at."

"And?"

He held his arms out by his sides, and V waited for something to happen. Nothing did. "You're looking at it."

"You motherfucker!" She threw her hands up and paced around. "You went right over me! You went right over, and after the glittery shitstorm that was the last set of suits Kinzie gave it to you! I don't even...Argh!"

Troy watched her tug at her hair with amusement as she dropped it and settled into a sulk. "Hey, you said anything."

And she was certainly kicking herself for her word choice. "Not even purple?"

"It's there." he said, crossing his arms with a smirk. "Just got to search for it."

"Tease. You're missing out on all the fun, you know. Leather, capes, bright festive colors. Most of that was Matt, but Kinzie had ideas. I'm sure she could've helped you out in a jiff if you weren't feeling up to snuff."

"Yeah. Not happening."

"Killjoy. Please tell me they at least..." She tugged at his pants and pouted. "Damn. Not even tear away."

"Fuck's sake, V," he said, exasperated, "this is all stuck to me, got it?"

Troy pushed her curious hands to safer areas, and she ran them down the front of his coat. "Got it. It would be too much to hope for."

"Besides, I don't think you'd give me much of a chance to take them off myself. Isn't that the point?"

The only answer she gave to that was a coy smile. "So, do I pass?"

"The mini nuke's definitely not kosher, but I think they would've flunked you shortly after you clobbered that kid. Probably would've given you an 8.5 for the flip, though. I didn't think I'd ever see anyone go head over heels like that."

"I am good like that," she said, buffing her nails on her coat. "Thought I had something good going, though. Go for the gusto and all that jazz. You don't have an actual letter grade for me, do you?" He shook his head. "Shit, not even an E for effort?"

He laughed. "I stopped adding up points right after you hit the pool, but sure. We'll go with that."

With her hair loose again, the breeze blew it wherever it could, and she wrinkled her nose when it tried to get in her face. Troy tucked whatever strands he could behind her ear, his fingertips barely grazing her skin, and the warmth in his eyes made her want to duck her head. Even now he still brought that out in her.

"I'm happy you're here." His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth and she almost couldn't get the other half of her thoughts out. "After everything, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." His lips tilted up, and he cupped the side of her face. "I mean, someone's got to keep an eye on you and Gat, right?"

"True! We would need someone able to deal with our special brand of bullshit, and I'd need to see some serious qualifications."

"Years of experience, letters of recommendation, the whole nine yards?"

"Hell, I think we'd have to have a meet and greet where we'd see how long it'd take for Johnny to just punch them in the face."

"I might have some of them beat there." Troy said, placing his hands on her hips. "Pissing him off isn't a problem."

"But let's face it, it'd be you every time. Application or no application. ...The being picked bit, and not the getting punched in the face bit. Just in case it wasn't exactly clear."

"Of course."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, angling her head up. "And as many times as you've pissed him off, you're still standing. That counts for something too."

His skepticism held, but something soft came with it, making his lips quirk up. "...Sure does, doesn't it?"

"Guess that means you're stuck with us, Chief."

He leaned in to kiss her. "Guess I am."