Chapter 14: Epilogue

The first hour of the party had been devoted to storytelling.

The boss told Shaundi, Pierce, Oleg and Matt about what had happened from when he and Jamal touched down, explaining why half of their party guests were the hated Luchadores. Looking at the two gangs openly expressing their friendship, the boss wondered if it truly was peace in Steelport. Of course, there were those on the fringe, both Morningstar, Deckers and Luchadores, but there would always be conflict where the Saints were concerned.

Jamal shared some jokes at the boss's expense about their time in prison, and the big guy laughed, jokingly threatening to strangle his apprentice. Life was good. The youngster was ingratiating himself well into the group. Pierce sealed the vote of confidence by slapping Jamal on the back and saying "man, this kid cracks me up" to the boss.

Once the jokes had been exchanged, talk shifted to plans of action. Thanks to the fighting, the reactor was in need of repair, and the HQ was awash with blood. Thinking of this forced the boss to think about all the deaths that had occurred during the war. The Saints were going to be on the up and up again, but they had paid a cost in blood.

"You okay?" asked Shaundi, looking up and seeing that he was distracted from the conversation.

"I'm fine," he replied, gulping his champagne. He took a brief scan of the party again. The only people not having a good time were Kinzie and Matt, who were locked into an argument over who was going to be whose boss in the Saints' tech department. He was sure neither had ever thought they would be on the same side as the other.

"Oh, wow, is that eleven?" said Jimmy suddenly, breaking his concentration. "I gotta get home, my mom's gonna kill me."

"Thas' alright, Jim," he said, shaking the teenager's hand. "You free tomorrow? We could use some help with the cleanup. Then we'll just be chilling in the penthouse afterwards."

"You mean it?" said Jimmy, his eyes wide. "You'd let me chill in the penthouse again?"

"Of course," said the boss. "After all, you're a Saint now."

"I am?"

"You didn't tell him?" Pierce asked the boss, raising an eyebrow.

"Slipped my mind. Yeah, Jim, you're one of us." He turned to Jamal. "You too, Scarface. I'll have to teach you how to fire a gun properly, though!"

Jamal grinned. Pierce slapped him on the back again and turned to the lift. "Hey, Donnie! You leavin' as well?"

Donnie Strauss turned around. "Yeah, I gotta go meet my buddy," he said, pressing the button. "I won't be long."

"Hurry back, motherfucker," said Pierce, smiling and waving him off.

Donnie took the lift to the lobby and headed out of the building. He walked two blocks until he reached an alley. Standing in the darkness, he searched around to ensure he was completely alone. When he was satisfied, he dialled a number.

"It's over," he said as soon as the receiver picked up. "Viola DeWynter lost. You were right to monitor the situation. They're as weak as they ever were now."

"Good," said the voice on the other end of the line. "I'll tell the committee tomorrow. It's time to authorise Operation King Snake."

END

A/N: So, the end is here. I'd like to thank both CertainUncertainty and HeartWritingM for your reviews! With an added thank you to CertainUncertainty because this would have been a deadfic without your input. There will be a sequel, as of the end, but I can't really give an ETA for the first chapter.