Hello everyone, been a while, hasn't it? Well, with our world slowly descending into a real-life version of 28 Days Later, I figure this would be a good time to update this story. I've been pondering on where I want to take the narrative next over the past couple of months, and I think I ought to start wrapping this thing up sooner rather than later. In fact, I'm not even sure about doing the last two heists at this point.

When I started writing this, I had these grandiose imaginings of Alexia and her friends doing all of the lowrider missions, more of the contact missions, et cetera. But over time, I've come to realize that I can't do everything I want to with this story, and so I should be focusing on the main plot above everything else. This is why I've been using the last two heists as devices to drive the story forward, rather than just presenting them as they happen in the game.

Speaking of which, a very major story development happens in this chapter. So grab some popcorn, a soda, and a life-size replica of Mr. Raspberry Jam, and enjoy this thing, everyone. As always, I hope you all stay safe and healthy. :)

The members of J.A.N.E descended in the elevator of 3 Alta Street, decked out in body armor and with assault rifles slung on their backs.

"So, you've bought this car already, N?" asked Alexia.

"Yeah; I bought it last night after I got off the mountain. I went to L.S. Customs and installed some mods too."

"Wait, what?...I thought you needed a loan from me because you couldn't afford the car."

"Maybe I inflated the price a bit so I could customize it. I'll still pay you back the full amount, so it won't matter."

"A girl's gotta have a little spending money, Lexi," said Jess with a wink.

"Exactly...You'll see, guys, we'll be well-protected."

The elevator stopped at the apartment complex's underground parking garage, prompting the girls to disembark and head for Noël's designated section of the space where she kept all of her vehicles. Due to her status as a professional street racer, having multiple cars was essential to ensure she could win races on all sorts of terrain.

"And here she is!"

Noël pointed to the armored Kuruma that she had upgraded with a massive wing spoiler and twin chrome exhaust pipes, along with a set of white-rimmed bulletproof tires. The car's body had been resprayed to a glaring pink, while its window and roof armor contrasted with heavy matte black paint.

Jess audibly oohed as she looked over the beast of a car in front of her, crouching down so she could ogle at its glimmering chrome wheels that were in the shape of dollar signs.

"Bright pink?" asked Elena. "Are you sure that is a wise choice for our purposes, N?"

"Of course; I wasn't planning on bringing it to stealth missions. I bought a full armor upgrade too, so it won't matter if they see us-"

"I call shotgun!" Jess shouted, sprinting over to the passenger seat.

"Wha-?! Oh no you don't, get the fuck out of there!"

"No can do, I called shotgun!"

Jess grinned before closing the armored door behind her.

"Yeah, but it's my fucking car! Tell her, A!"

"Sorry, N, I don't control the rules of shotgun. It's a time-honored tradition."

Alexia shrugged, proceeding over to the rear drivers'-side seat.

"Wha...?"

Noël stood, her mouth agape at her boss's betrayal, before she turned to Elena.

"H-how about you, E? Can you drag her out of there or something?"

"Not in good conscience, no."

Elena followed in heading over to the car, leaving Noël red as a beet with vexation. However, she knew she was outnumbered three to one on the issue of Jess sitting next to her, and thus stepped grudgingly into the driver's seat with her car keys in hand.

Noël started the engine and mashed on the accelerator, careening off the small uphill grade that led onto Alta Street before turning south toward Dock City. Jess had proactively changed the in-car radio to Nonstop Pop FM, her blonde hair swaying as she headbanged to the rhythmic boom of Britney Spears' "Gimme More" pulsing through the cabin.

"Yeah, it's not enough to call shotgun, you've also gotta touch my fucking radio, huh?"

"I thought you liked Nonstop Pop, N."

"I do, but please respect my ownership of this car that cost me over five hundred thousand dollars!"

"You did promise you'd give her some space, J," Alexia recalled with her eyes glued to her assault rifle, loading several magazines with ammunition.

"I have!" answered Jess. "...I mean, I haven't called her cute in a long time. I know she hates that, so I've resolved not to do it anymore."

"Yeah, you know what else I hate?" asked Noël. "Dipshits thinking they can mess with my cars without permission!"

"Fuck, I..."

Jess sighed, leaning back in her seat.

"I'm sorry, N. Look, I'm not trying to be an asshole to you, I'm just trying to treat you as an equal."

"An equal?...So, I can just go into your garage, rub my grubby hands all over your cars and you'd be a hundred percent cool with it?"

"Yeah! I'm not really into cars like you are, but I'd be cool with you messing with me a little. Me and Lexi, we play pranks on each other all the time, don't we, boss?"

"Sometimes, but...J, if N really doesn't like you messing with her, you should back off a bit. Keep treating her like an adult, but refrain from doing things you know she doesn't like if you can help it. It just gets her mad."

Jess looked at Alexia, then back at Noël, whose sideways glare reflected extraordinary contempt. This signaled overwhelmingly to Jess that her methods were not working as intended.

"...Alright. I'll...back off, N."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," dismissed Noël.

"Well, I mean it this time...A and E, you guys back there will hold me to it, right? Whenever I do something that's infringing on her, just...smack me upside the head or something, okay?"

"We will let you know, J," said Elena while inspecting her rifle. "But maybe no slapping you unless it is excessive."

"Hey, if you need to smack a bitch so that I get the memo, don't hold back," Jess said seriously. "You too, Lexi, even though we're BFF's."

"I think a verbal warning will do just fine, J. And N, if she slips up, just try not to get mad, okay? For the sake of the team and everything."

"I'll try as long as she does," said Noël. "Any anger I have towards her, I'll just...take it out on the Merryweather guys."

"Thank you," said Alexia with a smile. "Y'know, I think we might actually be making some progress with you two."

Noël frowned, mostly at the prospect of actually having to sustain a relationship with Jess.

"Tell you what, J; if you can actually respect my boundaries like a decent human being, then I'll...respect some of your eccentricities in turn, even though I may not necessarily like them. I feel I owe you that, considering you did save my life at the quarry."

"Aw, that was nothing, N! We're teammates, that's just what we do for each other. Me and Lexi, we've saved each other more times than I can even count, but we don't hold it in much regard. It's just...par for the course in our career. Don't feel like you owe me anything."

"We've all got your back, N," Alexia nodded. "As long as you have ours. That's the pact we've formed with each other as J.A.N.E."

"Hell yeah!" Jess cheered. "So N, next time you get shot, I'll be there to help!"

"I'm hoping to avoid a 'next time', J," said Noël. "Generally speaking of course, the objective in a gunfight is NOT to get hit by bullets or shrapnel."

"I know, I'm just talking hypothetically. And if I get shot, I know you'd do your best to help me too, although you probably won't be able to carry me until you're older."

"Well, with this car, there's not as much of a chance of that happening," said Alexia. "Anyway, we should probably keep it down, we're almost there. N, you can stop up the road a ways so we can put on our masks."

"You got it, boss."

Noël maneuvered her armored pink vehicle into a vacant parking lot, where the members of J.A.N.E simultaneously retrieved their ski masks and slipped them over their heads.

Alexia looked down at the hand that held her tricked-out AP Pistol, which she noticed was visibly trembling. Internally, Alexia knew that this was as standard of a job as her team had pulled before, but she also knew that Merryweather's base was incredibly well-defended, and much of its security measures were known only to the soldiers within. As the leader of J.A.N.E, she could only anticipate any complications and advance her team through them as best she could.

Taking a breath, the gun in her hand ceased trembling as much. She steeled herself for the upcoming fight, looking up towards her three trusted colleagues.

"Alright, are we ready?"

"Yes, boss," said Elena.

"Ready as can be, A," said Jess.

"Yeah, let's fucking do this shit already! God!"

Noël immediately revved the engine, her tires squealing on the weathered pavement as she turned around in the parking lot and headed towards the Merryweather base.

Immediately up ahead was a roadblock manned by several soldiers, which only prompted Noël to press down harder on the gas pedal. The Merryweather soldiers directed fire at the bright pink hunk of speeding metal, but could only attempt to dive out of the way as the Kuruma collided with one of their armored jeeps, caving in its fender and spinning it off the road.

Alarms immediately went off inside the facility, prompting more soldiers to rush out and attempt to stop the vehicle. Once outside, most were killed either by bullets from the vehicle's occupants or were directly run over by the Kuruma, which left several mangled corpses in its path through the warehouse.

"WHOO! J.A.N.E IS HERE TO PARTY, BITCHES!" Jess yelled out of the window, killing a nearby mercenary with several automatic bullets to the chest.

"You idiots wanna die for Don Percival?!" Noël shouted. "Get out of the fucking way!"

The pink Kuruma plowed into another mercenary, crushing his legs and sending him flying several feet in the air.

Alexia watched as the man's body landed in a pile of plywood, sending splinters flying in all directions from the source of the impact. Merryweather soldiers continued firing from sources of cover, but had no hope of hitting the girls within as the car reached the back of the warehouse, which opened into an expanse of concrete extending out into the Pacific Ocean.

As bullets pinged against her car, Noël skidded her car to a halt as the helicopter they were under came in sight. The Valkyrie attack chopper sat on a helipad, surrounded by a few resolute Merryweather soldiers that were quickly fired upon by the members of J.A.N.E.

Once the ground units were taken care of, the four girls exited the car; Noël had proactively positioned the car so that its drivers' side faced the helicopter's co-pilot station, which the injured girl only had to hobble a short distance to.

The other three girls were stopped in their tracks by a heavy object thwacking against the concrete dock.

"FUCK, SNIPER!" yelled Jess as she ducked behind cover.

Alexia and her team scrambled behind the pink Kuruma, with the heist leader drawing her Special Carbine from her back. It took her little time to find the Merryweather soldier atop a dockside crane, where he once again fired but failed to hit any of her teammates.

Taking careful aim as she peered down the scope of her rifle, Alexia took a breath before firing two or three rounds at the man's head. One of these pierced his neck, just above the protective layer of armor across his chest, and sent him stumbling backwards over the railing of the crane. Alexia looked away, but could not help but cringe at the loud smack of his body as it hit the concrete dock.

With plenty of Merryweather soldiers still inside, Alexia climbed into one of the machine gun nests opposite Elena. Jess entered the pilot's seat and expertly hotwired the helicopter, bringing its rotors to life as a horde of mercenaries descended and fired upon the helicopter.

Elena fired several heavy rounds at the advancing soldiers, killing several as the chopper took off into the late-afternoon sky.

"Whoo! See, I told you my plan would work!" shouted Noël.

"We're not out of this yet!" said Alexia. "The agent said they had an air unit too, didn't he?"

"Uh-huh!" said Jess. "And that looks like the bastards over there!"

Following Jess's pointed finger, Alexia caught sight of a horde of Buzzard attack helicopters approaching from the north and east, no doubt coming towards the Valkyrie with murderous intent.

"So, I did some research on this chopper last night! N, you're in the copilot's seat, so you control the guns in front that shoot explosive rounds! A and E, you guys just have standard miniguns! I'll get you as much of an angle as I can, but this thing takes just one or two missiles and it's going down!"

"In that case, fly quick and avoid some of them if you can, J!" ordered Alexia.

"Affirmative! Everyone strap in, this could be a bumpy ride!"

As the helicopters approached and fired a deluge of missiles toward the Valkyrie, Jess pushed the flight stick with all her might, narrowly avoiding the projectiles as they exploded in mid-air. Alexia and Elena were quick to retaliate with minigun fire while Jess made a beeline for the bridges in Port City.

As the chopper came under heavy fire, Noël configured the electronic dashboard in front of her, which allowed her to operate the Valkyrie's explosive gatling guns. The little girl took careful aim before firing several rounds in rapid succession, eventually imploding a Merryweather chopper with a few well-placed shots.

Alexia and Elena continuing firing with their own manually-operated guns. Even Jess managed to get some indirect kills with her skillful maneuvering of the chopper through narrow gaps and underneath bridges, causing less-adept pilots in the Merryweather fleet to crash in their pursuit of J.A.N.E.

"Another wave is coming from the northwest!" said Elena.

"Hmm, you think they'd risk shooting us down over the freeway?" asked Jess.

"They care not for the sanctity of human life, J. As long as it means completing their mission, they have complete disregard for civilian casualties!"

"Shit!...Noted, I'll try and lose them over East L.S.!"

Jess turned and headed for the expanse of flat and desolate urban decay that encompassed East Los Santos, relying on her teammates to take care of the incoming choppers. Alexia, quickly becoming adept with the large gun in front of her, took out one of the incoming aircraft from long-range, then incapacitated another with a few shots to its rotor. The disabled chopper spun in circles, shooting off machine gun rounds in vain before it exploded over an abandoned factory.

Reaching the northern boundaries of the city near the Land Act Reservoir, Jess flew low to the ground, maneuvering her chopper to confuse the remaining Merryweather forces after them. After clearing the peak of a small hill and quickly descending to remain low, Jess lost the few helicopters still after them, allowing the girls to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Alright, J, I don't see any more. You can fly the chopper to the same place we took the Insurgent. The agent should have some people there."

"Roger that, A...Man, your shooting was tight back there!"

"Thanks, J," Alexia smiled. "Good work from you guys as well. I'm...I'm real proud of all of you."

"Especially me, right?" said Noël. "'Cause I was the one who thought of using the Kuruma! And spent my own money on it for the sake of the team! So, like, maybe my cut should be a little bigger! What do you think, boss?"

"I think you used my money as well, N," Alexia countered fiercely. "I'm at a deficit too right now. Besides, if I made your cut bigger, I wouldn't feel justified in making J's and E's smaller. They've been putting in extra work, too."

"Well...maybe the agent could recompense me or something! Call it a work-related expense!"

"Yeah, good luck trying to wrest money from the government; N, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to deal with a net loss for now. The Kuruma is a long-term investment though, so it'll help us in future missions!"

"Urgh, you're fucking kidding me! I literally spill my own blood for this job, break the bones in my foot, and I still walk away poorer than when I started?"

"Them's the breaks sometimes, N!" said Jess. "But y'know what, if we didn't have the Kuruma, we might have all died back there and not walked away at all! So...y'know, it could be worse!"

"Fucking Christ..."

Noël emitted an exasperated huff as she pouted in her seat.

"N, if you need money, then perhaps consider helping the Skulls!" said Elena. "After this job, we will need assistance in setting up our underground base! Help us, and I will ensure you are paid well!"

"And, uh, the raid that's coming up too, on the big tanker truck!" said Alexia. "Have you been briefed on that yet, E?"

"Yes, Damien called me about it this morning! The planning sounds rather dubious, but...N, I could secure you a spot on the ground assault! I will be there in one of the Insurgents, you could assist in a Ruiner 2000!"

"You mean the bunny-hopping car with the parachute?" Noël perked up. "Oh hell yeah, I'm in! I've always wanted to drive one of those!"

"Then it is settled. Once we complete this job, all four of us can focus on the raid!"

"No rest for the wicked, I guess!" said Jess with a shrug, gazing out of her window as she flew over the Alamo Sea.

"We're not wicked, J, we're just looking out for our own!" answered Alexia. "If we let the Roses rake in cash with their arms business, who knows what they'll be able to do to us! We need to kneecap them now while we still have the chance!"

"No need to get defensive, boss, I like killing Roses as much as the next girl!...So you're saying that if we do this, we'll be hurting their war effort?"

"That's the goal, yeah! We hit them where it hurts like this, and maybe there won't be so many Skull deaths in the future!"

"I will be looking into how we can disable their business permanently," said Elena. "From what I hear, however, bunkers like we both have can sustain a direct nuclear blast! Destroying theirs may not be an option, but we will still need to disable its weapons-producing capabilities!"

The chopper crossed the north shore of the Alamo Sea, coming within sight of the abandoned fish hatchery. Jess hovered above before setting her chopper down gently on the barely-legible dirt path.

Alexia and her team exited the chopper, where they were shortly met by the agent's two lackies, who carried a set of tools with them.

"Quite a bird you've brought us," remarked the shorter of the two men . "Nice work, ladies."

"Don't mention it," said Jess. "Just, uh, give it back when you're done with it, okay?"

"Sure thing. And listen, 14 wanted me to let you know; he'll expect you all back here at dusk tomorrow so you can deliver the EMP."

"Yeah?" asked Jess. "Well, tell him that we said he can go diddle himself...A-And that we'll meet him here, as well."

"I'm gonna stick with the latter," the man said with a frown. "Now seriously, get gone, all of you. We got work to do."

Alexia motioned for her team to follow her out of the abandoned compound as the men set to work, power tools already working away at the helicopter's exterior.

"Alright, another job complete," said Alexia. "N, you wanna ride back together?"

"Sure, boss," answered Noël while withdrawing her phone. "Hell, I'll even chauffeur you there, like a good team member should."

"Awesome...J and E, you coming?"

"Nah, I got some other business to attend to," said Jess, texting on her own smartphone. "I'll see you in the morning, Lexi, for our next swimming lesson."

"Sure, J...What other business, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nothing for you to worry about." Jess smiled. "I just have to settle some...outstanding debts from some of the drug dealers up here. I shouldn't need any assistance."

Despite a warmhearted grin from Jess to assure her of this, concern nonetheless furrowed Alexia's eyebrows as she looked over her friend.

"Okay, well be safe, J. E, I guess we'll drop you off first. Let's, uh, meet up at J's house tomorrow afternoon, and we'll all carpool back up here. And guys...good work today. If we can keep up this momentum for this last setup, we should all walk away with a bunch of cash."

"Gotta start paying off your loan somehow, boss," said Noël.

"Hey, in this economy, it's good to build up credit while you're young, N," said Alexia with a smile. "And, y'know, feel lucky you're borrowing from me instead of some loan shark who breaks peoples' legs for nonpayment."

"That's...one way of looking at shit, I guess," answered Noël, whose eyes subsequently widened in fear. "...Remind me never to take loans again after this, will you, A?"

The delivery of both Jess's and Noël's cars were announced with short honks from their horns. The two sports cars sat a short walk away on opposite ends of the bumpy dirt road leading into Grapeseed. Elena entered the back seat of Noël's pink Fugitive, while Alexia sat in the front passenger seat, browsing the local news on her smartphone.

Noël started the engine before looking quizzically at her boss.

"Y'know, we've hit Merryweather at least twice now. Don't you think they'll be expecting a hit by the time we hit their lab?"

"Most likely."

"Well...how are we gonna do this if they're gonna see us coming a mile off?"

"Same way we've always done things, N," Alexia shrugged. "Even if they do see us coming, if we move quick enough and hard enough, we'll still pull it off."

"Of course, boss."

Noël sighed, accelerating rapidly up the road towards the tiny town of Grapeseed.

Simultaneously, Elena's phone vibrated in her pocket. Retrieving the device, she caught sight of a text message sent by Jess:

"hey girl, don't tell Lexi but I lied about going to settle debts, i'm actually going to talk to the boss for you! :) dont worry, i'll try not to fuck it up. - J."

Elena could not help but give an anxious sigh; looking up from her phone screen, Alexia did not seem to notice, instead continuing her conversation with Noël about the upcoming heist.

With her eyebrows furrowed with vexation, Elena replied to the message:

"J - I truly appreciate this favor. Hopefully I will be able to make it up to you someday. - E."

"you don't owe me nothing, i woulda done it either way," Jess replied seconds later with a heart Emoji. "brb tho, i'll def tell you how it goes."

Elena grimaced before pocketing her smartphone, then gazing out at the desert landscape as it rocketed past her window. Leaning back in her seat, she settled in as Noël's hectic driving carried them back to the city.

Arriving at the Black Skull compound, Jess parked her pink Buffalo in the massive underground garage before making her way up to the main lobby, where the elevator to Remus' office was located. A lone guard wielding a Combat MG stood by the elevator panel, keeping watch over the limited activity inside the lobby. Jess happened to know the man and acknowledged him with a friendly wave, which he returned.

"Hey Jess, how's it goin'?"

"Hi Rodney, oh just the usual. Me and the girls just killed a bunch of Merryweather guys over at Port City."

"No fuckin' way," Rodney laughed, followed by a sigh. "Man, I envy you guys right now, getting to go on an op, kill some fuckin' meatheads. Meanwhile, I'm just stuck on guard duty."

"Well, it's still important work you're doing, protecting the big guy upstairs," said Jess, gently squeezing Rodney's shoulder. "Speaking of which, is he taking visitors right now?"

"Not right now. He's pretty busy planning things out for the raid, Jess, I wouldn't risk disturbing him."

"Oh, well I just have a message to give him from Lexi," Jess lied. "I shouldn't be too long."

"Sorry, Jess, I can't-"

He was stopped when Jess moved closer while keeping a hand on Rodney's shoulder and placing one on his chest, almost hugging him while giving a seductress's playful smirk.

"I know you have your orders and all, but I won't be long. I just need to deliver this message and then I'll be on my way. Lexi said it was pretty important, and she's busy right now."

Rodney tried to maintain a straight face, although Jess quickly picked up on the fact that his cheeks had turned red. Jess giggled, tracing a path along Rodney's chest.

"Goddammit...Okay, but just make it quick. I don't want an ass-chewing later."

Rodney proceeded to the elevator, Jess skipping as she followed behind. Once they had ascended to the compound's 27th floor penthouse, Rodney passed Jess through the security checkpoints with his swipe card before standing outside the door to Remus's office.

Jess mouthed a 'thank you' to Rodney before giving two short knocks and pushing her way into Remus's office. The crew leader sat alone at his desk, looking up with surprise as Jess entered his quarters.

"Jessamine. I...wasn't expecting you today."

"Yeah, sorry about that, boss," said Jess with an innocent smile. "I just got back from an op with Alexia, we stole an attack chopper to use in the raid. She did really good, too!"

"Well, I expected as much from her. Considering how well your team has completed these setups, I remain confident in her abilities."

"Yeah, she's an awesome leader," Jess grinned, seating herself in an armchair opposite Remus. "She's smart, decisive, works well under pressure...And I must say, it's a complete 180 from that stammering shy kid I helped on that drug deal a month ago."

"Well...I appreciate your efforts to acclimatize my niece to the criminal world, Jessamine," said Remus with a brief smile.

Jess nodded her head in agreement; hopefully, she reasoned, praising his beloved niece would work to make her boss more talkative.

"Of course! That's what you wanted me to do when you promoted me, right? I mean, you never ordered me to do it directly, but that's what I inferred anyway."

"Yes, that's what I wanted. I knew better than to send my niece into harm's way without a proper support network, people who could have her back on jobs. I suppose you becoming her friend is an added bonus."

"Hell yeah, I'll always have Lexi's back, no matter what. I-In fact, right now, I'm trying to protect her from people that might try to take advantage of her. That's another thing you warned about then, isn't it?"

"That's right. Is there...anyone specific you've noticed might be trying this on her?"

"Well, most of her bosses are okay; there is this one car salesman she's working for who's scummy as all hell," Jess frowned. "He hasn't been paying her very well, even though she's been repossessing cars for him outside of J.A.N.E. She thinks that she owes him a debt because he helped her out when she first got here, and I don't know how to convince her to just tell him to fuck off."

"You shouldn't. I'd much rather she learn to do this on her own. You can advise her of higher-paying work, but she's an adult, and she has some experience now thanks to you; she should be the one to end the relationship when she sees fit."

Remus reached under his desk and retrieved a velvet-lined box, which he opened to reveal a row of luxury Cuban cigars. The crew leader took one of these for himself before turning the box to face Jess, who laughed in return.

"Ohh, I haven't smoked in a while. I-I'm trying to go straight-edge."

"Well, the way I see it, one cigar isn't going to hurt anything. I was offering one as a reward, for helping Alexia as you have."

"Well..."

Jess was forced to debate the ethics of taking one of the pine-scented rolls of tobacco leaf before her, considering the ongoing promise she had made to Alexia. It wasn't like she was performing random drug tests on her to check her progress, and it wasn't like she was returning to narcotics. Besides, it might be rude to refuse Remus's congratulations for supporting his niece.

She quickly accepted one of the cigars, rolling the tough dried outer shell between her thumb and forefinger. Remus ignited his own cigar and placed it casually in his mouth before offering his lighter to Jess. She took this, using it to ignite the flat ring-shaped end of the cigar and taking a long and deep drag.

Finally being able to smoke anything after so long abstaining from drugs was almost cathartic to Jess; as sweet, earth-flavored smoke entered Jess's lungs, she found herself relaxing quite a bit, her shoulders dropping considerably as she released the cigar from her mouth, slowly exhaling the smoke from her lungs.

This peace was interrupted by a series of sharp coughs, which Jess leaned forward in order to stifle. With an embarrassed smile, she looked up towards her boss.

"Jesus...I guess my lungs are more sensitive now that I've stopped smoking crack."

"I'm not trying to get you back on drugs, Jessamine. Just savor the cigar while you can, they're even better when you smoke in moderation."

Nodding affirmatively, Jess tried again, taking a much shorter drag so that she could tolerate the amount of smoke in her lungs. Holding the cigar between her fingers, she held the smoke in her lungs before slowly releasing it, this time with no difficulty.

Remus and Jess smoked in silence for a few moments, with Jess glancing occasionally at the papers scattered about her boss's desk. Most of these detailed plans for the attack, routes for vehicles to take and instructions for personnel. However, there were a few receipts relating to purchases made for the Skulls' new bunker, which the crew could not have purchased without Agent 14's help.

As she took another longer drag of her cigar, Jess felt it was time to discuss what she truly came to talk to Remus about, and what Elena had been so worried about; she looked up from the desk, Remus meeting her eyes almost immediately.

"Boss...is it okay if I talk to you about something that might be...personal?"

"Depends on what that may be. Is it about Alexia again?"

"Sort of." Jess rubbed the back of her neck. "As you know, Agent 14's been supervising J.A.N.E on our missions. And he's been...well, I don't know how else to say it, I think he's setting someone up for a fall here."

"What makes you think that? He's been helping us immeasurably in buying and stocking our underground bunker; in fact, we wouldn't have gotten the deal we did if it wasn't for his connections in the government. I understand he may be secretive...You're far from the first crew member to have grievances about him. If I could have contacted someone else, I would, but I assure you he is our only hope at defeating the Roses."

"Yeah, but...I mean, you've given him a lot of access to intel and stuff. He knows that Lexi's your niece, and a lot of seasoned crew members still don't know that."

"Are you questioning my judgement, Jessamine?" Remus interrogated with an edge to his voice.

"N-no, boss, not at all!" Jess laughed nervously. "I guess I just...fail to see the reasoning, is all. I'm sure you know what you're doing, but-"

"I told him that so I could get him to trust me. Alexia's identity isn't going to be a secret forever anyway. But it is our crew's big secret at the moment, and I figured that by telling him this, he would think that I'm dumber than I actually am. Trust me, there's a lot that he still doesn't know about us."

Remus drew in some more air through his cigar, exhaling gray smoke out of his nostrils as he surveyed his cluttered desk. Jess, meanwhile, still wanted to obtain more information; after all, Remus could still be in the government's pocket with plans to bail on the crew when things went south. But, why would the agent want the crew he was helping out to fail?

"Look, I-I'm sorry if I appear presumptuous, boss. It's just that...well, if he has untoward plans for Alexia, I would want to know so I could protect her before it's too late. I'm sure you feel the same way."

"Of course I do. Look, Jessamine, the fact is that we don't know exactly what he's up to. It's our ability to keep him on a short leash that guarantees our success in the future. The agent is getting a paycheck from us for his services as well, which will hopefully keep him satisfied enough to not try anything. He's with the government, but he's not stupid."

Jess nodded, a concerned frown spread across her face.

"I hope so...And uh, what about Elena?"

"What about her?"

"I mean...I've been working with her for a few weeks now, and she's been a really kickass partner. But then again, I know she has duties here as well. I mean...are you gonna need her back at some point?"

"At some point, yes; she'd requested a leave of absence to help with operations in J.A.N.E. I granted the request because she felt she needed some field experience to better be able to help plan things. However, I expect her to return to her position after the raid is completed."

"Oh. Well, what if J.A.N.E were to re-form after the job? I mean, we work really well together, boss, and Lexi thinks so too. I think that after this is over, we could continue doing heists together, y'know? And..J.A.N.E just wouldn't be as complete without her."

Remus took Jess's words into consideration as he took another long drag, letting smoke escape from his nostrils as he pondered the question.

"...You're asking me if I trust Elena as much as I do the agent?"

Jess's cheeks puffed with smoke in her mouth, taken aback that Remus had guessed her true intentions for this meeting. She exhaled slowly while nodding, to which Remus clasped his fingers together in further thought.

"Well, Jessamine, there's...something you might want to know about Elena before you go on praising her. She probably hasn't told you this, but I suppose I might as well."

Remus cleared his throat, leaning forward in his chair as Jess perked up to listen.

"Back in Russia, Elena was involved in several shady organizations, many of which I still don't know the names of. One of these organizations that I do know of was the Bulgarin Crime Syndicate. They had a big operation in Liberty City, but they mostly operated in Eastern Europe. And, unfortunately, they were involved in human trafficking - sex slavery - and Elena played a big part in coordinating that operation."

Jess's pupils widened, her limbs freezing as the cigar continued to burn in her hand.

"Y...you're kidding!"

"Not at all; she claims to have disavowed the practice, of course, but...the Skulls have never been involved in such a business as that. The Roses are, but I resolved to keep the crew out of that sort of work. We might be a group of criminal degenerates, but I think we're above selling women and girls into slavery."

Jess looked downward, unsure of what she should say or how she should react. In her interactions with Elena, she seemed to her to be honorable and trustworthy, as principled as a criminal could be within reason: definitely not the sort that would participate in human trafficking.

Swallowing the stress-induced lump in her throat, she took another drag of her cigar, which had almost burned out.

"Did she...tell you she was a human trafficker?"

"Not directly; I had to pry it out of her a bit when I interviewed her...Like I said, Jessamine, I like to keep those who work for us on a short leash. Both Agent 14 and Elena have shady backgrounds, and there are still some things I don't know about both of them. I try to feed them things; a little intel here, a little there, but not enough they can develop a comprehensive profile on us. That's why I chose not to tell her about Alexia until I felt she needed to know that information."

"I...God, I-I had no idea, boss...Thanks for telling me, I guess."

Remus shrugged.

"I figure you've been loyal enough, Jessamine. However, I trust you'll keep this information in confidence."

"Y-yeah, definitely. But...I mean, we all have our pasts though, right? We all do stupid shit we're not real proud of."

"Perhaps. But in my experience, people only change as much as it benefits them. We can't trust people to entirely shed their pasts for our sake...You understand what I mean?"

"Yeah. I...I do."

With a despondent sigh, Jess extinguished her cigar in Remus's ashtray as she stood from her chair.

"Anyway, sorry to have disturbed you, Mr. Knight. I'd best be on my way."

"Very well...Take care then, Jessamine."

"You too, boss."

Jess turned and left, letting her smile fade as soon as she was out of Remus' sight. The crew leader returned to his work as Jess left his office and entered the darkened passages.

Rodney met Jess with a scowl as he escorted her out if the 27th-floor penthouse.

"That took a lot longer than an urgent message should."

"Don't worry, Rod, he wasn't mad or anything."

"Maybe not at you, but for his bodyguards, it's a different story...I don't like being lied to, Jess."

"I know, and I'm sorry...Here, take this for your trouble."

Reaching into her pocket, Jess fetched a 100-dollar bill, which she handed gingerly to Rodney as a peace offering. Swiping the bill from Jess and pocketing it, Rodney refrained from speaking further as he walked her past the security checkpoints.

Meanwhile, Jess was still struggling to process what she had just learned. Judging from Elena's condemnations of Merryweather, she considered her to be a principled criminal with a distaste for innocent people suffering. To not only be involved in sex trafficking, but coordinating it for the Russian mafia, seemed to be a complete disregard to her morals.

Jess also knew that she had promised Elena a status report from the meeting. Withdrawing her phone, Jess composed a quick text to her friend.

"meeting went well :) the boss doesnt not trust u, he's just paranoid of everyone is all. when u get to the compound, meet me at my car in the garage an i'll give the deets."

Once the elevator reached the ground floor, Jess exited, waving goodbye to a stone-faced Rodney as she departed the Black Skull compound.

Reaching her pink muscle car in the Skulls' underground garage, Jess entered, browsing her phone while she waited for Elena to arrive. In the meantime, she was forced to again confront her lockscreen, which remained as the silly picture she had taken with Alexia.

Jess's eyes glazed over with sentimentality as she contemplated the picture. She was not lying to Remus when she said she'd wanted to keep Alexia safe. However, as her friend grew in the Skulls, she supposed she could not continue to hold her friend's hand; rather, she would have to let Alexia lead her own life and take on her own jobs. It would be hard, but she also had to let her make some mistakes so that she could learn from them, as Remus had suggested. Even if it hurt Alexia financially or otherwise, the experience would only add to the knowledge she would need to effectively run a criminal enterprise.

Jess held a finger to her phone screen and over Alexia's face, running it down as if to stroke her friend's cheek. However, she was interrupted as her passenger door opened, and she rushed to turn off her screen.

"Elena! Sorry, girl, you scared me a bit."

"I apologize for that, Jessamine," said Elena, shutting the car door behind her. "I read your text, of course; how do you know he is not...?"

"Because he says he regarded everyone with suspicion, not just you. He's strategically feeding bits of intel to him so he can get him to trust him. He's doing the same to you, just not the same intel."

"I had...considered that a possibility."

Elena nodded slowly, meeting Jess's eyes as she contemplated her words.

"So, that's good news, right?" Jess posited with a smile.

"Not necessarily. There is also the matter of why he told this to the agent, despite knowing that a bounty will likely be placed on Alexia's head."

Jess's smile faded.

"A...bounty? O-on Lexi?"

"Come on, Jessamine, it would make perfect sense; if he wanted to erase our crew from history, he would want to eliminate the next in line to our leadership, so it was downright reckless to reveal that information. However, as far as I know, Alexia has not had any attempts on her life yet."

"S-so...maybe he does really want us to stay afloat, right? He's not trying to take us down from the inside, at least."

"We cannot really prove that he is," said Elena. "However, a bounty would still be easy money for the agent, and he could still deflect blame for it should Alexia die-"

"Don't...say that, okay? J-just...I don't wanna think about that happening."

Jess requested this at the behest of tears forming in her eyes, necessitating her reaching into her glovebox to fetch some tissues.

"Of course, I...I'm sorry, Jessamine," said Elena quietly. "I was just trying to think rationally about this, is all."

"I-It's cool, E, but I..."

Jess started, but did not continue. The two girls sat in silence for a few moments; Jess dabbed at her eyes with the tissue while Elena twiddled her thumbs as she thought over the situation.

"So...Assuming there's no bounty on Lexi's head, that means he still wants her to be the next in line, right?"

"I suppose so. And assuming he thinks lowly of Remus, like he insinuated to me, he must favor Alexia being..."

A moment of realization suddenly struck in the car, feeding like electricity into the two girls' minds.

"Oh god..." Jess whispered. "He...couldn't be planning what I think he is."

"Yes...this wasn't a strategic feeding of intel, Jessamine. That was a lie he told you. Rather...I think the agent was right that Remus wants out. Out of the life. And the IAA is his best bet of escape. Remus leaves, and Alexia is instated as leader. Because of her youth and inexperience, maybe he thinks he can manipulate her more easily in his favor."

Elena sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"Remus has been in isolation for some time due to the price on his head, so it would make sense he would want out. The question is...who is he going to sell out in the process?"

Jess could say nothing as Elena rubbed her temples in frustration. Realizing she may have been duped brought Jess great shame; she had barely even considered the possibility that Remus was lying to her.

Elena continued, her voice breaking slightly.

"I am a prime target for selling out to the feds because of my past. I have...done things, Jessamine. Things I am not proud of in the slightest, but which would be perfect to build a case against me."

Tears again built up in Jess's eyes as she remembered what Remus had told her; Elena's statement seemed to confirm this, rather than painting it as another lie.

"Wh...what do you think will happen to you if you go down?" asked Jess.

"Since I am staying in this country illegally, I will likely be deported back to Russia. Then, well...I don't know. The organization that betrayed me there, they would probably send someone to assassinate me in prison."

Elena sat up, her face flushed red and her mouth quivering as she struggled to hold herself together.

"It's my fault, I realize that...I should have never trusted that bastard in the first place."

"E, we can't give up! There has to be some way we can-"

"J..."

Elena appeared more tired than usual, resigning herself as she met Jess's eyes to morose impartiality.

"I am old. Much older than I'd ever expected to live in this profession. So, I figure this is merely the universe punishing me for my sins. I deserve it, I know that."

"No, you don't!"

Jess reached over and grabbed Elena's arm, squeezing it forcefully as she spoke.

"We all make mistakes in our past, Elena. Fuck, until recently, I was a dumb bimbo who took drugs and slept with anyone who asked for it. So what if you did things back in Russia, you've changed for the better since then! And not only are you my friend, but you're my sister in J.A.N.E! And I'm not gonna sit idly by and let you go down because of shit that happened twenty fucking years ago! I'd...I'd never forgive myself if I did that!"

Jess had once again teared up, but she held back her sobs so she could finish her speech, looking Elena in her eyes the whole time. The Russian woman was silent for a few moments, swallowing hard as she contemplated Jess's words.

"Thank you, J, I...I-I don't quite know what to-"

"You don't have to say anything. The only thing that matters is, how am I gonna get you out of this?"

Sitting in silence for a few moments, the two girls mulled their brains for a way out of the events which were to transpire if they did not take immediate action. Both gurls felt the anxiety tightening in their throats as the burden of their mission dawned on them. If the agent had control of the Skulls, it was anyone's guess what he would use them for; perhaps more suicide missions like the ones he had assigned to J.A.N.E?

As Jess racked her consciousness for a way out, she caught sight of Elena, whose bangs fell in a straight line across her face as she pondered. After knowing what she did about her past, Jess supposed she should have felt disgusted at her partner. Instead, looking over Elena's weathered skin and a few noticeable scars across her hands, she could not find it in herself to hate Elena for what she had done. To her, she was still the same stone-cold criminal who believed in her own street-bred principles and stuck to them at all costs.

"I...I think we need more information," said Elena. "He must still be meeting with the agent in his office. Maybe we could somehow...plant a recording device in there and listen in when a meeting occurs. Either way, we will need physical evidence if we want to proceed further with this."

"Do you...still think we could be wrong about all this, E?"

"Maybe. But I would rather not wait until it's too late to find out, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Once we do have some proof though, we should be able to get the other Skulls on our side."

"Including Alexia, right?" asked Jess. "Because she's gotta find out about this eventually."

"Yes. We can let her in once we have some evidence. If we told her now, she would probably not believe us. This is her uncle, after all."

Jess's face creased as she mulled over the information she had gathered so far. Somehow, the dissemination of this traitorous act by Remus still seemed to be playing into someone's hands, even if it was not the agent's.

"But...wait, I don't get it. Why did the agent tell you this if he knew we would try to ruin his plan?"

"I..." Elena paused. "I'm not really sure if he really cares what happens to us. I think he likes chaos, Jessamine. Turning people against one another. Either way though, we cannot get rid of the agent either. Doing so would only anger the agency enough to unleash a horde of IAA tactical teams on the Skulls."

Stress lines grooved on Jess's forehead as she sat leaned forward in the driver's seat. The knowledge that only she and Elena knew of this plot was stressful enough, but factoring in Alexia was certainly an added complication to this whole thing.

Jess felt a hand grab her shoulder, and her eyes met Elena's stone-cold glare.

"Look, Jessamine, if we do find this evidence...I think you know what must happen. What Remus plans to do, there is only one punishment for it."

"Y...you mean...?"

Elena nodded silently, maintaining eye contact with Jess.

"But E, that's...he's Alexia's uncle, man, how could we-?"

"If Alexia wants to lead the crew, she will have to understand. He might be her family, but we cannot afford to make excuses. It is either us, or him."

Jess exhaled, holding her head in her hands.

"It feels wrong to leave her out of this, E," said Jess. "...I lied to her earlier today during our swimming lesson. Justin, the traitor, I did know him. He was my boyfriend for a while, and we did drugs together. And I fucking lied to my own best friend about it. I...guess I wanted to spare her feelings."

"That is why I propose leaving her out of the loop for now," said Elena. "She has enough to worry about in leading J.A.N.E, and so we should wait until we can confront her with some physical evidence. If she has any sense whatsoever, she will know what needs to be done."

A single tear rolled down Jess's cheek, after which she rubbed her eyes vigorously. She could not believe how quickly things were coming together to disassemble the crew that she loved so dearly, who had rescued her from a life in nuthouses and looney bins after her early retirement from acting.

These concerns, however, were secondary to those Alexia would have to face after Remus's treachery came to light. Having to impose the ultimate punishment on Remus would be hard for her, but she knew that Alexia still loved her uncle, and that having to do what's best for the sake of the crew would present even greater cognitive dissonance. She hated seeing her friend hurt emotionally or physically, but at the same time, her friend would have a right to the truth if and when it was uncovered.

Jess wiped her nose with her sleeve, working quickly to compose herself.

"Alright...How are we gonna bug his office without him noticing? He's in there most of the day, isn't he?"

"That does present a greater challenge," admitted Elena. "But...what if we wait while he is torturing a prisoner? Specifically, the traitor we are to bring in after the raid."

"I guess that could work," Jess nodded. "...Do you need any help?"

"No, I've got it covered. I will bug his office and maybe search for any incriminating papers while I'm in there. Because I am operations coordinator, Remus gave me my own swipe card when I arrived here."

Elena sighed, looking to Jess.

"Besides, you have done more than enough for me, J. It's...well, it's good to have you as a comrade during all of this."

Jess forced a smile, sniffing as she met Elena's eyes.

"Y'know...despite how fucked up things just got in the span of like, fifteen minutes...It's nice to have you with me too, E."

As she looked at Elena, she could hardly believe her eyes as she saw the corners of her mouth turn upwards into an appreciative smile, an expression she had never seen cross Elena's jagged features. Jess was only able to take in the sight for a microsecond before further tears obscured her vision, forcing her to retrieve more tissues from her glovebox.

When her eyes were dry once again, Elena's smile was gone, forcing her to consider whether she had merely imagined it, an optical illusion induced by the blurring effect of tears.

Stretching her legs out in the passenger seat, Elena reached for the door handle of Jess's car.

"Anyway...I will see you tomorrow, Jessamine. Let's, uh, keep in good contact over the coming days, yes?"

"You got it, E," said Jess, swabbing the last moisture from her cheeks. "W-we're gonna get you out of this too, don't you worry."

"I hope so."

Elena exited without a further word, making a quick egress from Jess's car. The girl in the driver's seat leaned forward, her forehead resting on the top of the steering wheel as she contemplated her situation.

As much as it would pain her to do so, J.A.N.E still had to play along with the agent for the time being. If they didn't, she knew that he would immediately pull all support from the Skulls before setting a bounty on Alexia. Therefore, she knew that any action she and Elena took would have to be careful; otherwise, Agent 14 would sic all of his resources on the Skulls in order to cover his tracks.

In addition, another obstacle would be presented by having to tell Alexia of her uncle's betrayal. The emotional turmoil that would result for her friend pained Jess to no end, but she knew that the choice Alexia would have to make would be nonnegotiable; she would have to side with either her family, or her crew. Alexia often talked of how much she cared for her uncle and how she had known him as a small child, so she could not imagine the pain of having to side against her own kin, even if he was a traitor.

Jess started the engine of her pink Buffalo, letting the car idle for a few moments in the still air of the garage. Afterwards, she shifted her car into drive and floored it out of the garage, tires screeching behind her as she rocketed uphill towards her upscale mansion house.