#rip to all the random russian heroes we never heard from again

[talented-headache]

A Sense for You

Pairing: HundarHD

Summary: Brett always seems to find Aleks when he needs him the most as he tries to navigate the criminal world. (Or 5 times Brett saved Aleks and the 1 time Aleks saved him)

[AO3 Link] [Link]

Aleks had done this dozens of times.

Of course, that was back in Russia, where the clerks were less likely to fire back at him first before making any returning threats. Not that he had to deal with a lot of clerks in the first place. He wondered what went wrong as he stared down the shotgun barrel; it could have been anything really, but his stupidity was probably what fucked most of it up. He was usually stealthy, never careless or brutal, preferring to instead sneak in after hours and get away scot-free. He was good at it too, but this time was different, he was desperate and needed the cash.

It was a dingy little gas station at the outskirts of the city, at some cross section in the middle of nowhere. Aleks went in thinking it would be simple. A dash of that Russian charm and a tiny old man, all kind smiles and soft-spoken words, nothing he couldn’t handle. Simple, like in the movies. At least it should have been.

There wasn’t anyone at the counter when he walked in so Aleks waited, choosing to take his time and think while he surveyed the little shop. As far as he could tell there was only the one camera, so he stayed near the chips where it could only capture the back of his head. He didn’t have his hood up, wanting to appear as non-threatening and inconspicuous as possible for the moment, blending in with the teenagers wandering around, as the random tourists perused the snacks and the homeless man huddled near the hot dog stand looking for warmth.

 Aleks almost wished he could be like those kids. Small house in the suburbs with those passive aggressive parents who actually cared for their children. No constant crippling fear of not waking up in the morning because the wrong boss got pissed off. Almost, being the key word. At the end of the day Aleks liked his life as it was.

The doorbell jingled and dragged from his thoughts. He looked over to note the departure of the few remaining customers. Oh good, he wouldn’t need to have a fucking staring contest with his ceiling tonight.

Now it was time to make his move.

 Grabbing some random chips off the shelf, and upon verifying that the teens had moved out of sight of the window, he made his way over to the register. He rang the little bell, subtly moving to grip the pistol in the pocket of his hoodie. Then he waited.

 The man that came out of the doorway was not what he had been expecting. He was old all right, if the white cropped hair and wrinkles were anything to go by, but tiny and frail were not the right descriptors. Oh no. His arms alone were about the size of Aleks’ head, fluffy hair and all. Right then and there Aleks probably should have just walked out, but he wasn’t one to back down after making the decision to do this kind of thing.

 “Is there anything else I can get you, kid?” The clerk asked moving around to scan the chips.

 “How about everything in the fucking register?” Aleks responded, his voice calm and his accent thick, levelling the gun to the man’s forehead.

 For a quick second the clerk froze, then, slowly, he raised his hands and moved to open the register. Too slowly. Aleks waived his gun at him, a clear indication to speed things up.

 Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, in the mirror behind the counter, Aleks saw someone rushing towards him. How the fuck did he miss him?! Without even blinking Aleks turned his body and shot, intentionally missing the homeless man who tried to tackle him. The ceiling would not get its way. He fell to the floor cowering with his hands over his dirty blonde head. He probably wouldn’t have done much damage, but Aleks felt a rush of satisfaction as he listened to the kid whimper.

 “Did not think you were stupid enough to try that. I have the gun so do not move.” Aleks commanded. Not yelling. Instead he kept his voice strong, just loud enough to be heard by anyone else who might want to play hero. Then came the sound of the shotgun pump, and what little semblance of control he had over this situation disappeared.

 Shock rippling through his body, heart beating a mile a minute, and with the world in slow motion, he whipped around to see the old man’s fingers tightening around the trigger, beady blue eyes glaring down the barrel at him. His mind raced to identify his mistake and a find a solution, any way to survive this. He came up empty handed. He was going to die. Then a force was slamming into his side pushing him towards the ground just as he heard the gun go off.

 His head hit the floor with an almost nauseating pain. Suddenly, while trying to shake the blurriness from his eyes, alarm flared through his chest as Aleks felt his gun being ripped from his hand. In a panic, he tried to wrap his legs around his assailant’s waist, in an effort to flip them over. Dread settled in when he didn’t move even an inch. The punch or bullet he was expecting to his face didn’t come though, and he looked on in bewilderment as his attacker instead turned to shoot the clerk. The bullet pierced his shoulder, knocking the old fuck back into the cigarettes that lined the wall and sending the shotgun flying across the floor.

 Aleks’s head snapped towards his attacker, maybe savior, and stared at him in shock. The other man was looking down at him with cold dark brown eyes that seemed to show a perfect mixture of amusement, annoyance, and disappointment.

 “We should probably leave.” The stranger said and Aleks was surprised by the higher pitched voice that came out of his mouth, seeing as the man was double his size. Before Aleks could even reply he was being hauled to his feet and dragged out the door. As he flailed about, trying to catch his balance, he caught sight of the slushy machine that had been right behind him, now burst open and spilling the sticky ice all over the floor and candy. He tried not to think about how that could have been his head and brains. The cool air hit him in the face and Aleks was able to shake the rest of the surprise from his mind.

 The calm didn’t last long. Just as he opened his mouth to confront the older man sirens started their piercing song across the city.

 “I hope you have a way out of this.” Aleks yelled looking around for an escape.

 “I’m sorry, but do I have a way out?” Aleks heard the other man scoff. “You just failed at robbing a convenience store like an idiot and you’re asking me if I have a way out?”

 “I wasn’t counting on the cops coming this quickly!” Aleks explained knowing his reasoning was flimsy. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Aleks had known what to do and where to go hide when he was just by himself, but now he had another person with him. His brains would have been all over the shelves if it hadn’t been for this asshole, so he had to return the favor somehow.

 The disbelieving look Aleks got from him almost had him basking in some weird sense of accomplishment. Their small stare off didn’t last long, as the flashing red and blue started to show over the buildings. Aleks felt a rough hand grab his wrist through his sweatshirt and they were running again. They sprinted into the small side parking lot and towards a car that was almost too sensible for a man who just shot someone.

 “Get in you fucking idiot!” The man snapped and Aleks did as he was told, opening the passenger’s side door. Aleks didn’t even have time to close the door properly before they were tearing away from the gas station. He relaxed into the seat as they drove, which had to be his second mistake this night, once he realized they were driving right towards the cops.

 “What are you doing?” Aleks screeched at him taking a moment to determine whether jumping from the car would kill or just extremely maim him.

 “Shut up and put on your seat belt. Hurry. We’ll be a little less suspicious and it’ll give us a few minutes before they realize they missed us on the road.” His rescuer calmly replied to him not taking his eyes off the road for a second.

 “That makes no sense.” Aleks huffed but did as he was told. He looked up just in time for them to pass the cops and he watched with wide eyes as they drove right past them. “Jesus fuck, dude.”

 “See? Nothing happened.” The man said in probably what was one of the most condescending tones Aleks had heard in a while making his lips curl into a sneer as he glanced away.

 For a moment a weirdly comfortable silence settled over the car.

“Nothing happened, but now I have no money.” Aleks whispered, but in the silence of the car it could have been a yell. He hadn’t meant for it to come out so sarcastic, but Aleks knew he had one of those voices that made everything sound snarky or angry.

 “Fuck off. ‘Oh, I’m sorry Brett, for almost getting my rookie ass shot because I’m fucking retarded.’” Brett mimicked in a really high-pitched voice, which didn’t sound that different from his already high pitched voice. Aleks wasn’t going to point that out to him. The other man’s torso was twice the size of his own and he’d much rather live to tomorrow. After all, this was some crazy ass luck going on tonight.

 “What?” the attacker-savior who is now named Brett, asked.

 “Nothing, just wasn’t expecting your name to be Brett.” Okay, admittedly Aleks was still a piece of shit. Just because a man could kick his ass didn’t mean anything really.

 Brett glared at him from the corner of his eye before sharply turning off the road. “Get out of my car.”

 “Sasha.” Aleks gave. It wasn’t his real name but it was close enough.

 “I don’t care. By the way, your accent fucking sucks.” Brett snorted, once Aleks had climbed out to the sidewalk, dark brown eyes returning to their state of annoyance and amusement, before driving off down the road.

 Fucking asshole. Aleks thought before turning to figure out his bearings.

 ~~

James and Sly fucking left him. Aleks didn’t really blame them but they still ran off without him. They were supposed to be infiltrating some rich guy’s house, something about their current client needing some information stashed in the old man’s office, which they could only get to during his fancy ass party. Aleks hadn’t paid much attention during planning because he wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. They’d ended up needing a last-minute replacement though and that’s how he found himself in a ballroom, surrounded by pansies, and pretending to be the nephew of a guest who ‘conveniently’ didn’t show up.

 It had only been about a year since he started working with The Creatures, originally as hired help. Thanks to Sly, another thief he had meet over time and had worked a few jobs with, he eventually became an official member. He’s a good thief that didn’t have a problem with getting rid of witnesses or evidence which was always needed in their line of work. The fact that he didn’t make a fuss about anything was just a bonus. His temperament and lack of patience occasionally caused problems though, because undercover work while not a big part of their jobs always seemed to be needed and he was absolute shit at it. Despite that he remained an asset to the team. James probably factored into that somehow. His only saving grace on the job because while James seemed to have all the charm in the world he came with an extreme side of brutal honesty making him equally as shitty.

 Speaking of which. Where the fuck did those two go? Aleks thought, glaring at nothing. The last he saw of them was Sly walking towards the buffet table and James disappearing into the crowd near the fancy ballroom stairs. He didn’t know what to do or where to go while he waited for the signal he needed to start moving up the stairs. He looked around once again and immediately went for the bar. Fake IDs had become his best friend since moving to the States. Not that these rich fucks would actually check them.

 He probably should have expected it, but when a hand softly touched his back he jumped a mile into the air. He tightened his grip on the small glass in his hand, after all it wouldn’t be good for it to go flying at the newcomer’s head, and turned to look at them. It was a woman old enough to be his grandmother, if his grandmother had millions of dollars to spend on fixing her face. Cougar alert anyone?

 “You look like such a sweet young thing.” She said moving her hand from his back to grip his chin so she could slightly move his face about. The look in her glassy eyes made Aleks feel like a dog on a podium waiting to be judged. “What are you doing in a place like this?”

 “I’m here in place of my uncle.” Aleks put on the most charming smile he could muster while trying not to flinch away from her breathe. Unfortunately, Aleks could not remember the asshole’s name. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to care about it.

 “Those old geezers are always sending in new blood. Half the time they don’t even know how to properly talk business.” She sneered, red lips curling back to show her sharp smile. Aleks had to stop the chill that threatened to roll down his spine. This was the sneer of someone who had been in the business far too long. She could probably eat him alive.

 “But I don’t want to talk business with you.” Strike that. She was definitely going to eat him alive.

 “Now, now Buffy let the boy go.” A deeper voice cut in and Aleks nearly rolled his eyes. His self-control was all but destroyed with the effort to conceal the motion. He took a second to look over towards the voice. Grandpa! Stark gray hair against a black suit and equally dark eyes. While his smile was more fake reassurance then pointy bloodsucker he wasn’t any less intimidating than Buffy. This man wanted to be trusted, bu tAleks was young, not stupid.

 “Jenkins. Go away.” Buffy huffed but let go of Aleks’ face. He tried to look around for even a glimpse of his team but saw nothing. He was going to kill  them or at the very least stab them.

 “Now now, don’t be rude.” Jenkins laughed, causing the woman’s scowl to deepen. “We can’t have you sticking your fangs into every young person who comes to visit.”

 “Oh, but you can stick your d-“

 “Sorry, everyone, but he’s with me tonight.” Aleks heard the familiar high pitched male voice before he felt a rough hand slid around his waist, tugging him closer. Aleks turned to glare at Brett, his dark brown eyes looked at him with obvious go with it vibes and Aleks nodded reluctantly. The older man’s face hadn’t aged but he had cut the sides of his hair and his beard seemed fuller than before.

 “Damn you, Hundar. Can’t you ever leave the younger ones to us?” Jenkins laughed, taking a small step back and straightening up.

 “Fuck no.” Brett’s deadpan but amused voice seemed to cut the older man off. “Now if you will excuse us, Aleks and I have some other business to attend to.”

 Aleks didn’t even blink at the use of his real name, he figured that Brett had probably tried to find him just like Aleks used a few sources to learn about him. Before they could even say their goodbyes Brett was already leading Aleks away and for the nearest exit. Realizing this, Aleks waited till they were far enough out the grandparents’ sights before stopping and pulling away from Brett’s grip. The older turned to glare at him, managing to keep his arm around Aleks’ waist.

 “You shouldn’t be here, ‘Sasha’.” Brett said looking around to make sure no one heard him. It was brief motion and if Aleks hadn’t been looking at him directly he probably wouldn’t have even noticed. His voice too, especially around his fake name, was filled with exaggerated hate and exhaustion.

 “Don’t you even want to know why I’m here in the first place?” Aleks asked. If Brett wasn’t worried that someone was listening in than he wouldn’t bother looking around himself.

 “Not really. The fact that you’re even here is giving me a headache.”

 “Look, my friends are somewhere here.” Aleks started to explain before hesitating. He was nervous to bring Brett in on this, but he needed the help and seeing as how Brett seemed to know these people, it wouldn’t hurt to have him around. He leant forward to whisper. “Can you get me upstairs? That’s where we’re supposed to meet.”

 Brett hunched his shoulders staring down at the floor between them, he was either thinking or his head was about to explode. After a beat he finally sighed “Fine, but you are out of this building by ten. Understood?”

 Aleks just nodded and smirked up at him slightly.

 Later when he was back in his apartment removing his suit, a feeling almost like shedding a second skin wrapped around him, he found a little card in his pocket  with a simple phone number written on it. He smiled softly, not at all thinking about the ways he could annoy Brett. Definitely not.

 ~~

 If there was one question that never failed to repeat itself in his life it would be: How did I end up here?

 That is exactly what he asked himself on a Saturday night, in some rundown nasty-ass bar not that far off main street, while swinging his fists around like a madman. Things are a bit fuzzy, but he was pretty certain he’d started the fight.

 It hadn’t been the best week, or month, or year even. As things got worse everything started to blur together. Spending most of that time not sober probably didn’t help.

 It was like everything was crashing down around him and there wasn’t anything he could reach out to hold on to. He hadn’t seen Sly in years, Brett was currently off the radar, and everybody else was in some version of that boat or another. He could call James, but his partner was probably dealing with it worse. Closing himself off from the world probably only exacerbated it. Aleks hadn’t seen him in a few days; their last conversation was tense as they stood over Joe’s bleeding body. The smaller man was fine now, but the attack had left them all bruised, bleeding, and thinking about their futures. A dark feeling of uneasy and betrayal had seeped into their bones.

 There wasn’t actually a reason for this fight, Aleks had simply been angry and while he wasn’t one to lash out he’d been very drunk this evening, and honestly had just wanted to feel someone’s face under his fist. Even if it wasn’t the right face. What started out as him punching a guy for bumping into him turned into the whole room throwing chairs, bottles, and fists.

 Aleks caught the dull glint out of the corner of his eye, as he saw the man’s other hand disappear. Already prepared for the attack, he twisted his body around to catch the wrist carrying the knife, knowing that he was leaving his face vulnerable. A punch was better than a stab wound though. Before he could even prepare himself to try and block the man’s arm a tan hand caught it for him, pushing it back behind the attacker’s back.

 Aleks watched as Brett used his other hand to push the man’s head down, hard enough that it whacked against the counter and bounced back up before resting on it again. The man went limp and when Brett let him go he slid off the counter, hitting the floor with a soft thump.

 Before Aleks could deliver a kick at the unconscious man, Brett was dragging him out of the bar. The Russian initially fought against the pull, but when the cold air hit him he stopped and let himself relax as he was guided across the parking lot to lean against a familiar car. He glared back at the bar. Through the window he could still see people beating the shit out of each other.

 “Where are you going?” Brett asked. Aleks didn’t even realize he had taken a step forward until Brett’s voice stopped him.

 “I’m going to go light the bar on fire.” Aleks replied bluntly making to move forward, but he stumbled and had to brace a hand against the car to stop the world from spinning.

 “I don’t think so.” Brett moved quickly, pushing Aleks back against the car before heading to the driver’s side. “Get in. We should talk.”

 “Do you just fucking stalk me?” Aleks drunkenly glared at Brett over the roof of the car. The older man had beefed up since they’d last seen each other a few months ago, more muscle than the chubbiness Aleks recalled from the meeting that had had him flying out to Los Santos. No one knew he had used his down time during the trip to see Brett and he didn’t let himself feel guilty about the lies he told. He had also let his beard grow a little wild and Aleks wondered what the mission had been to make him do so.

 “No.” Brett’s soft voice cut through Aleks’ head and he watched as Brett [EH(12] moved back over to stand in front of him. “I must just have a sense for when your dumb ass is about to do something stupid.”

 “Yeah, well, I think you missed a few times.”

 “So I’ve heard.” Brett chuckled moving to stand next to him, arms folded and one leg over the other. The picture-perfect image of casual. “Look, I came back to see if you needed any help. I know things are going down the drain.”

 “Nope. Everything is fine. I’m fine, we’re all fine.” Aleks snapped turning his head away from the older man so he couldn’t look at him. There was a difference in talking to a crew member about what was happening and talking to someone who didn’t even know them, but Brett always had a look in his eyes that made Aleks want to spill all his secrets.

 Of course, the movement of his head, the nausea he was feeling, and the fact that his eyesight was already blurry and dark made him sick. He couldn’t stop himself from vomiting, just barely missing himself and the car, except for the small amount of splash back from it hitting the pavement. Aleks felt a strong arm around his waist; he hadn’t even realized he was on the verge of collapsing into his own puke. He groaned as another wave hit him.

 Brett didn’t say anything, at least nothing that Aleks could hear over the thumping in his head, not that he’d remember much of anything the next morning. It was all flashes after that. Brett carefully maneuvering him into the backseat of his car, and not so carefully pushing him to lie down. The lights as they moved through the city and the silence of the ride were all comforts as he allowed himself to relax for the first time since the heist had gone wrong.

 The next morning, when he woke up in his bed, fully clothed and with Mishka curled up on his pillow, he didn’t need to think about how he got there. Brett seemed to learn everything about him over the years. He managed to make his way into the kitchen for water and pain killers where he found the note.

 We still need to talk. Aleks crumpled it up in his fist before throwing it away, not ready to think about what he was going to do just yet.

 ~~

 “This is all your fault!” James yelled at him, and Aleks scoffed and rolled his eyes in return. But he didn’t deny it. He had been a little reckless over the last few months and Aleks didn’t want to admit that it had started not long after his last bar experience with Brett.

 James continued to yell, but this time it was directed at the cop tightening the cuffs around his wrists. Aleks stayed perfectly still as he was manhandled into the car. He had been arrested before, but James was good at getting off their radar, it helped that Aleks had the younger of the duo. The Russian smirked as he watched James’ head hit the hood again before being thrown in next to him. The older officer just laughed with his partner as they shut the door.

 Aleks and James angrily shouldered each other as they tried to make room in the small backseat. Hopefully they were able to make enough of a distraction to let the others get away. Before long they were being driven towards the police station, which was across town and gave the two time to figure out a plan of escape.

 The static of the radio cut through the silence of the drive, a female voice calling in about a robbery at a convenience store not that far away from them. Aleks risked looking over at James to see that they shared the same calculating look.

 “Shouldn’t we be getting these guys to the station?” The younger one asked as the other officer changed course.

 “Nah, besides if they happen to get shot in the cross fire it’s not gonna be any skin off my back.” The older cop chuckled, before laughing louder when James growled at him and roughly kicked the cage.

 “Okay, sir.” The rookie sounded unsure about it. He turned on the siren and Aleks tensed looking for a way to get out of the cuffs. While he didn’t feel like he was heading to his death he’d rather not test his abysmal luck.

 By the time they made it to the convenience store Aleks could feel James working his cuffs. He was close to breaking his thumb if the pained look on his face was any indication.

 “Looks like we missed it.” The rookie said and if Aleks hadn’t been a seasoned criminal he might have believed him. There was another squad car but no cops, likely already inside. But shots weren’t being fired, so they had probably gotten the robber and were waiting for the response.

 Or this was all a trap set up by the robber. In this case Brett, because his dumb practical car was waiting for them right across the fucking street.

 “Stay here. I’m going to check it out.” The older man moved out of the car gun already drawn and pointed ahead of him. He was silent as he made his way into the store.

 “He’s going to get fucking killed, dude.” Aleks caught the rookies’ eyes through the review mirror. He turned to glare at the Russian and Aleks could even feel James’ piercing stare on him. His head barely moved as he gave James the indication, so that he knew to shut up and let him work.

 “What are you talking about?” The officer said turning to stare back at them. Before Aleks could even open his mouth to reply two loud gunshots rang out from the store.

 They turned to stare as Brett calmly walked out of the shop. The rookie barely had time to react in the duration it took Brett to make his way over to the car. He fumbled for the radio, before dropping it in fear as Brett casually, well as casually as could be managed in this situation, tapped the window with the tip of his gun. The two stared at each other, no one making a move, before Brett finally pointed down.

 “Roll down the window.” Brett yelled. In all honesty that was probably the loudest Aleks had ever heard him get and it wasn’t even that loud. Nowhere near the level that was James’s normal talking voice. Completely shocked the rookie, slack jawed and wide eyed, did as he was told.

 “Thanks, now get out of the car.” Brett said pointing the gun at the cop. The rookie silently moved out of the car, all the while staring at the gun. Brett just clapped him on the shoulder as he took his place in the driver’s seat. “Good job, bud. Have fun with the mess. Uh, hope to see you never. Bye.”

 Aleks just smirked out the window leaning over James’ lap to see the rookie clearer. They sped off and Aleks could still picture the blank wide eyes staring back at them.

 “As for you fucks.” Brett snapped at them.

 “Who the fuck are you?” James yelled back and Aleks relaxed into his seat to get away from the angry men.

 “Dude, I’m Hundar.”

 “Brett.” Aleks said at the exact same time. He caught Brett’s glare through the mirror and just smiled innocently back at him. The older man just huff-laughed at him through the glare.

 “Whatever, I’m the guy that just saved your asses. Now, I heard you were looking for a new gig.” Brett raised his eyebrow at them and Aleks smiled back at him.

 “I may know a few people.” Aleks replied thinking of what’s been happening. He looked at James with a raised eyebrow and while he looked stoic and calm Aleks could see the slight nerves in his dark always angry eyes. It had been a rough few months as they watched their old crew start to collapse in on its self. While Aleks was already on his way out with a few friends he had started to collect on the side, people like Trevor and Aron,  James had tried to fix everything, but Aleks could see how it was slowly killing him to stay.

   “Good, now how do you feel about Los Santos?”

 “Like the Fakes?” Aleks asked completely baffled. Why would the Fakes want anything to do with them? They had people in every major city in the country, why would they need a broken gang in Danver?

 “Exactly, I have this exciting new business plan you two idiots may like.” Brett explained not sounding that excited at all. But he did just kill a bunch of people, kidnap a couple criminals, and steal a cop car.

 “What the fuck is going on?” James cut them off, but even he seemed intrigued by the proposition.

 ~~

 It had to be a bad luck charm or maybe a curse. Aleks was convinced of that. Every time something good happened and things were staying on track, something horrible happened to him. He’d say it was karma, but in all honesty, he probably deserved worse than a little kidnapping and torture.

 Not that they were any good at either of those anyway. He was more terrified of Joe than these idiots. With the official and now noticeable split from The Hub a few of the lower gangs had started getting ideas, thinking they could take over the city.

 The only problem was that Fake Chop was less than a week away from their move to Los Santos. It had taken months of work moving their shit, finding bases and places to stay, working with Fakehaus so they weren’t killed the second they moved in. They probably wouldn’t have been able to have done it without Brett, who lived in the larger city, and James’ bank account, beefed up from years of work.

 They no longer had warehouses or secret bases throughout the city. Most of the things outside their personal effects had been moved already.Of course, when Aleks told his lovely kidnappers that, they didn’t take kindly to it. Which had been the plan, but he really didn’t appreciate the feel of the new bruise on his jaw.

 He had been biding his time, hoping his crew would get here, so he could handle a few hits and dunks into the water basin. But from the heat entering the crappy warehouse Aleks could tell it was well past noon and he had been taken around midnight while on a job. He fucking knew they should have waited to take Trevor’s equipment until the last day.

 “You are one stubborn fuck, aren’t you?” Asshole #1 said moving back and shaking his hand out. Aleks just glared at him from his one good eye. God, he wished he could punch the smirk off his face, but his hands were currently cuffed to the sides of the wooden chair they decided to put him in.

 Had they even done this before? Aleks couldn’t help but think as he watched # 1’s fist come at him again. He just grunted against the pain and kept his head as still as possible. #1 shook out his fist again and before Aleks could prepare himself a hand grabbed his hair and turned his face up. There was Asshole #2 with #3 still by the door.

 “I told you everything. Fake Chop doesn’t work here anymore.” Aleks explained through gritted teeth.

  “Then why are you still here?” # 1 asked like a broken record. It’s been the same questions for about an hour at this point.

   “I’m lazy and haven’t moved everything from my house yet.” Aleks replied. They needed new questions. Of course, all he got was a slap from #2. “Fuck.”

   “Fake Chop. If you were really with the Fakes you think you’d be better off. Or at least have them looking for you.”

  Wow, so original. Aleks thought as he rolled his eyes at them but kept quiet. Maybe if they didn’t like his answers he’d just be silent. Obviously not, as the grip on his hair tightened and yanked.

  “Stop.” Asshole #1’s voice came, causing #2 loosen his grip and eventually let go. He looked like he wanted to protest but #1 stopped him with a wave of his hand. “Get out. I’m taking this to the next level.”

  “We’re not supposed to actually hurt him.” #3’s voice popped up from the door. It was softer than he expected.

  “Well, if he wasn’t an annoying piece of shit I wouldn’t have to. I’ll keep it tame.” Asshole #1 snickered but his voice remained firm. He pointed at the door. Both henchmen exchanged a nervous look before finally leaving the room.

 Aleks and #1 watched them go, although Aleks made sure to do so from the corner of his eye. Never fully losing sight of the main man.

 He clenched his jaw when #1 turned slowly back towards him. What a dramatic fuck. He dug his heels into the ground. Happy it was rough and old. Now if he could just get out of the chair he’d be golden. He could find his crew. He refused to acknowledge the voice in the back of his head suggesting something had gone horribly wrong.

 “Now things are about to get a lot more painful.” #1 said leaning over Aleks. He slowly pulled a small pocket knife from his back pocket; at least Aleks thinks it was slow, the concussion he was sure to have probably didn’t help with his perception of time. He tried to stifle a laugh. The tiny blade was nothing compared to his growing collection. This thing probably couldn’t do any real damage if the dulled blade and its size were any indication. Even a stab wound could be walked off.

 #1 growled angrily at him and spun the knife to stab down at Aleks’ thigh but the Russian was too quick. He kicked at the ground, rocking the chair back and bringing his knees up to kick at the asshole’s chest. Using the momentum to both push his kidnapper away and propel himself and the wooden chair backwards.

 He felt the chair begin to break before he made contact with the ground. He didn’t allow himself time to catch his breath, rolling away from the splintered wood. His chest burned and his back ached as he tried to reorient himself and get to his feet, wrestling with his handcuffs as he slid them off the arms of the chair.

 #1 started to get up so Aleks didn’t hesitate to take the most impact part of the broken chair, the seat by the way, and swung it at his head. The asshole crumbled to the ground and Aleks took off towards the door. He was fast, but not fast enough because right before he could grab the knob his captor collided with him. He screamed out in pain as he was simultaneously shoved into the door and thrown to the ground by a fistful of his hair. Aleks was pretty sure he was now missing a chunk of it.

 The asshole loomed over him and Aleks tried to kick at his legs but #1 just kicked back. His attempts to crawl away were cut short when the man jumped on top of him to straddle him, preventing him from moving. The anger on his face meant he probably felt nothing as Aleks wrestled with and hit at him. One of #1’s hands wrapped around his throat and squeezed. Aleks did everything he could do loosen the grip: clawing at his wrists, kicking and bucking his hips, but the other man was too strong and too angry.

 #1 said something but he couldn’t hear it over the roar of blood in his ears.

 Aleks felt himself weaken, his sight a mismatch of brown and black haze. He didn’t really know what happened, but he could suddenly breathe and the asshole was no longer hovering above him. In a small last minute panic, he tried to scoot away and hide, but his body hurt so much he could hardly breathe let alone move.

 He didn’t even flinch when a hand grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted his dead weight up. He was brought into a familiar chest and Aleks let himself relax into it. Brett’s familiar, calm brown eyes were filled with relief when they caught his and it took everything he had to not pass out.

 “You’re late.” Aleks gasped out instead.

 “Yeah, well, I was in Los Santos. Took me a bit to get here.” Brett chuckled, but there was something in his voice that Aleks couldn’t identify. He passed out not long after.

 Later, when he woke up in his bed and after taking the time to cuddle with Mishka, he walked out to find Brett sleeping on his couch. He didn’t need to wonder how long he’d been there, but knowing Brett had stayed close made the aches in his body feel a little less painful.

 ~~

 Aleks slammed into Brett sending them both toppling behind a car. Thankfully, it wasn’t his gorgeous baby, but one of theirs. They had been trying to close a deal for explosives with a buyer who’d been passed up by everyone else in town. In hindsight that made a lot of sense.

 It was a weird-ass deal and Aleks almost put his veto in on it, but the merchandise was high quality, so he chose to ignore the feeling. Besides, when did they not deal in the weird? One of the dealer’s big stipulations was that only two members of Fake Chop could show up or be around the area and that the one leading the deal, Brett, couldn’t have any weapons. They had been able to barter down the members the sellers were allowed to bring, but they didn’t think ahead on the weapons part.

 They both gasped as they hit the pavement, Aleks landing on top of Brett’s chest. He used his body to cover Brett as much as he could; even though he’s gained some mass over the past year he was still thin when compared to the older man.

 “Isn’t this how we met?” Aleks laughed, the adrenaline making him giddy.

 “I’m pretty sure it’s a little backwards, but at least this time it wasn’t because of your stupidity.” Brett grumbled and grabbed Aleks by the hips so he could roll the blonde off of him. “Now start returning fire!”

 Aleks threw him a thumbs up before doing as he was told. He could hear Brett on the phone, with whom he guessed was either James or Trevor by the tone of his voice. Aleks took a brief look at him and flinched when he saw Brett’s gray shirt sleeve turn red.

 Fucking idiots, Aleks thought. Don’t they know to always take headshots? Just to prove a point he shot the guy standing next to the dealer. Aleks briefly watched him fall before taking cover again.

 “Will you just fucking get here?” Brett sighed angrily into the phone. James then. He, Asher, and Anna were staking out the bank on the South side neighborhood, only a few miles away. There had been rumors of increased security there and James wasn’t one to be interrupted while working.

 “How much time?” Aleks yelled over the gunfire not taking his eyes off the other gangs, but knowing Brett was safe behind cover.

 “Ten. Maybe fifteen. Think you can hold them off for that long?” Brett replied and Aleks just nodded leaping up to take a few risky shots. He saw two go down with only four still standing.

 “You okay?” Alek kept his voice low as he watched Brett rip his shirt to make a tourniquet, using another part as a bandage.

 “I’m fine, it’s shallow. I’ll handle this you just focus on getting us out of here.” Brett growled as he tightened his tourniquet.

 “I have a plan.” He said ducking back down and turning to Brett. The older criminal nodded and remained quiet letting Aleks take control of everything. Which was new for the both of them. Brett was usually the mastermind in their group, with Aleks and James being the ground operation.

 Aleks popped his head out and let out a brief scream before ducking down behind his cover. When Brett raised an eyebrow at him Aleks shushed him quietly. The other gang quieted down and they could hear as they ordered one of their men over to check. Aleks pulled his knife, gorgeous and red, and waited until he could see the person’s legs.

 He slashed, cutting the man’s ankle, but he didn’t take any time to relish in the man’s scream before he was yanking him over to use as a human shield. The kid squirmed and whimpered in his grasp, but couldn’t speak with Aleks’s arm around his throat. They weren’t that far away from the stairway to the exit. He felt more than saw Brett move to stand directly behind him.

 “Now, kid, don’t do anything reckless.” The dealer yelled and honestly Aleks wondered if he was talking to him or the hostage.

 Aleks kept quiet as they moved towards the door, Aleks never taking his eyes off the enemy. Even when he wanted to look back at Brett to make sure he was moving. No one talked during the stand-off and when Brett yanked the door open Aleks threw a quick look at him, not really seeing him, telling him to run. Brett sent him a slight fleeting glare in return before sprinting away.

 “You shot mine, I shoot yours.” Aleks yelled out, pushing the hostage hard enough to make him stumble, and shooting the kid in the back of his head. He heard the dealer yell out and Aleks slammed the door shut, not looking back at the gore he had caused. There wasn’t a lock so he just took off down the stairs. He was already down a few flights when the door slammed open and the yelling started again. Along with the gun shots, he kept his head down as they fired at him.

 “Aleks?” Brett’s voice yelled out to him and Aleks caught a glimpse of him as he turned the corner on his flight of stairs.

 “Keep running, they should be here any second.” Aleks yelled back at him, yelping when a bullet put a hole in the wall in front of him. He looked up to see the last remaining men, one firing down as the other two continued down. “Fuck.”

 He looked down over the railing. Moving quickly, he flipped over the side and jumped to the flight below him. It may not be the safest way to do it, but it would get him down there much quicker than running could. He yelped as he landed, but didn’t stop his running.

 By the time he hit the bottom floor the door had been jammed open by Brett, door stop kicked so far into it he wondered if they’d ever get it unstuck. Thankfully though, a familiar car was peeling around the corner so he didn’t have to see Brett awkwardly stand there as they waited for their team.

 “Hurry!” Anna said bluntly from the driver’s seat, smiling brightly as ever, and Asher pushed the back door open. She refused to be a passenger anymore when James was in the car. He grinned at her as Brett got in. Aleks turned to take a final few shots. He could hear James yelling from the passenger seat as Aleks covered them.

 “Get in the fucking car.” Brett snapped and grabbed the back of Aleks’ shirt yanking him into the car. He landed awkwardly, legs thrown across Brett’s lap and his head in Asher’s. Brett held him down lightly as they peeled off. Aleks finally got to actually look at the older man, he was still bleeding, but it had slowed down thanks to the bandages and he was smiling. Probably from the left over adrenaline, but it was still nice to see.

 “You fucking assholes.” James muttered but he wasn’t heard over their laughter, which Aleks honestly wasn’t even sure of who had started it. While James glared at them over the seat Aleks couldn’t bring himself to care. He just moved his legs from Brett’s lap, instead moving to lean into him and make sure he wasn’t bleeding to death.

 “Next time listen to me.” Aleks grumbled while he tried to stop his laughter. Brett raised an eyebrow at him and Aleks glared back in return not happy to be in such a reverse situation. Brett just huffed and continued to chuckle at him. With that the laughing fit in the car started up again as they drove off leaving the remains of the dealers behind.