71Hello, strangers and freaks of the Internet. You may have noticed that this update doesn't directly continue the heist storyline. Rather, I wanted to make a mini-installment where Alexia learned how to swim in preparation for the raid...I say 'wanted to' because this still ended up being nearly 8,000 words, but hey, I guess that's 'mini' for me now. :P A far cry from the early days of this story, that's for sure.
While this does feature Alexia and Jess in swimsuits, the last thing I wanted to do was make a pure fanservice chapter; this does advance the plot in a big way, I promise. ;) That being said, let me shut the hell up and let y'all enjoy this chapter.
"Of course…Y-yeah, I understand, boss. It's all taken care of."
Agent 14 stood hunched over a payphone in a derelict part of East Los Santos, a hood pulled over his head to conceal himself as much as possible as he spoke. As much as he loathed the inconvenience of using such outdated technology, he knew that his call would be traced if he used his cellphone to call his mysterious boss.
"Look, we've got almost everything we need," he continued. "All we have left is the Valkyrie and to get the device in the facility, and we should be good to go. The old bastard's niece is heading the op."
The agent listened for a minute, glancing over his shoulder as a transient walked by with his homeless cart full of recycled cans that audibly clunked as it traveled down the sidewalk.
"Oh yeah, totally inexperienced," commented the agent. "But, a lot more stubborn than I'd anticipated. Whether that's a good thing will depend on how much I can get her to trust me...Yeah, I'll get her to see reason before we move on Phase Two."
By this point, faint rays of sunlight had begun to flash off of windowed skyscrapers to the west as the sky was painted brilliant orange, the product of another picturesque tropical sunrise.
"Looks like day's breaking, I gotta make my exit. And uh, don't worry; these girls are one of the most efficient groups of killers I've ever seen. Trust me, no one's gonna want to mess with them."
Meanwhile…
"Alright! I call this jump the Blonde Bombshell!"
Jess's bare feet padded along the concrete next to her swimming pool, her skin sparkling with freshly-applied sunscreen. She mounted the diving board and prepared to jump into the expanse of rippling blue waiting to embrace her bikini-clad body.
With impressive agility, Jess ran a short distance before going into a jump. Her feet landed squarely on the edge of the diving board so that it flung her upwards, giving her enough time to complete a front-flip before her butt hit the water with a resounding crash.
Resurfacing, Jess spat out a small stream of water, laughing as she swam around in the pool's deep end.
"Lexi, come on in!" she shouted. "The water feels awesome right now!"
A few feet from the edge of the pool sat the entrance to Jess's bedroom, separated from the main pool area by a sliding flass door enveloped by curtains. Slowly and cautiously, a single toe peeked out from behind this barrier, followed by a bare, sunscreen-slathered shoulder, and finally one of Alexia's eyes, which scanned from left to right as she concealed herself from the outside world.
"…Okay, you're SURE no one can see me besides you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure!" assured Jess, lazily paddling on her back. "I mean, there's my neighbors, but they all keep to themselves! We could be out here doing naked yoga and they wouldn't bat an eye!"
"You've…done that before, Jess?"
"Maybe," she smiled deviously. "Or something similar to it. A-anyway, just come on out, Lexi, you'll feel great once you're in the water!"
"Alright…" Alexia sighed, her body visibly trembling. "Alright, I-I'm coming."
Every fiber of her being wanted to chicken out from the swimming pool in front of her; at the same time, every rational part of her brain knew that this would be impossible. The only viable escape route from Humane Labs, according to the agent, was through the underwater tunnels that led into the Pacific. If she did not learn how to swim at this very moment, she knew that herself, J.A.N.E, and the Skulls would all suffer dire consequences. Therefore, it was up to her to show her crew that she was not afraid of anything, even a giant body of water like the one she had nearly drowned in at Hef Hilton's house.
Before she could double-think the situation, Alexia forced herself to start walking, even as her bare flesh was exposed to the early morning sunlight. Contrasting with her starch-white skin was a modest black bikini top, decorated with white skulls in a polka-dot pattern across her chest. This was accompanied by a matching black bottom with skirt-style ruffles, whose length was sufficient to completely cover her thighs and her rear end. While this swimsuit was conservative compared to some of those she had seen among women at Vespucci Beach, having to show off her body in such a fashion still struck Alexia's muscles with anxious rigidity.
While Jess had claimed that wearing a shirt in the water would restrict her movements and make her uncomfortable, Alexia nonetheless longed for something to cover her pale, featureless stomach and meager hips. Lacking such an article of clothing to escape self-consciousness, her hands guided themselves to her midsection as she walked to the edge of the shallow end.
Jess had swum over to meet her, completely uncaring of how much or what parts of her were exposed by her tiny pink string bikini. Then again, Alexia wondered, Jess had no reason to be ashamed of showing such a perfect figure as hers.
"Come on, Lexi, just walk right in…I warmed it up for ya'."
Jess gave a silly grin at her joke, which was enough for Alexia's red-faced visage to reflect a timid smile in return.
Reaching out a hand to help her friend, Jess guided Alexia as she descended the stairs into the pool. Contrary to her expectations, the water lapping at Alexia's legs was just above lukewarm, making for an experience like stepping into a pleasant bath that immediately worked at relaxing her. Jess, knowing this, urged Alexia along into the shallow end, where the water reached up to just above her navel.
"Wow, this is nice…" commented Alexia. "…Wait. Jess, you didn't really-?"
"Oh Lord, of course not!" Jess laughed. "I have a heating system for the pool. Like I said, I wanted you to be comfortable for your first time…By the way, I'm glad I convinced you to get that two-piece, it looks so cute on you!"
"I-if you say so," responded Alexia, arms crossed over her chest. "So, uh…where should we start with learning?"
"Oh, that part's easy!" shouted Jess, her loud voice startling a nearby bird nesting on her roof. "First off, we're just gonna practice moving around in the water…Here, grab both my hands."
Jess offered her palms to Alexia, who was forced to refrain from covering herself so she could accept her grip. Afterwards, Jess started moving backwards slowly through the water, guiding her smaller friend along with her.
"Now, Lexi, you and I are mostly made up of water already," observed Jess. "And we're about as dense as water, too. So really, we're right at home in this pool. I'll go around the shallow end for a bit and keep your head above the surface. You don't have to kick or anything yet, just get used to how it feels moving around in it, okay?"
As uncomfortable as Alexia felt as her feet gradually lost traction and she was left to float in the shallow depth, she consented to Jess's gentle pull as she guided her around the pool. During this time, she floated with her legs trailing behind her and her belly fully submerged. While her head remained consistently above water thanks to Jess's grip, she consequently found herself floating at eye-level with her friend's abs, which glistened in the abundant San Andreas sunshine.
Not wanting to covet her looks, Alexia quickly averted her eyes from Jess's toned stomach. Instead, she looked at her face, meeting her warm and receptive gaze as she smiled down at Alexia. She smiled back, her anxiety steadily dissipating as she grew steadily more comfortable in the water.
"Okay, relax your body and try to start kicking a little bit," encouraged Jess. "I'll keep holding your arms for now, but try to propel yourself instead of me pulling you."
Jess lengthened her arms, increasing the distance between her and her friend. Alexia's feet kicked up water behind her in a vain attempt to swim forward.
"No-no, keep your feet in the water," cautioned Jess. "And kick behind you instead of straight down."
"Alright…"
Struggling to orientate her legs sufficiently for this task, Alexia kept her feet below the surface, successfully propelling herself at a snail's pace towards Jess without her actively pulling.
"Awesome, Lexi!" Jess cheered. "Let's keep practicing kicking for now, then we'll add in some arm motions. And after that, we can try swimming underwater with some rebreathers."
Quickly excusing herself, she advanced gracefully toward the edge of the water, where several pool floats were stacked in preparation for the lesson. Picking one from the haphazard pile, a jumbo-sized pool noodle, she tossed it javelin-style over to her friend, who stumbled backwards as she caught the projectile thrown to her.
"Use that to support your upper body and try to propel yourself with your legs. When you get good at that, you'll be able to move a lot faster."
Jess relaxed, propping up her elbows on the side of the pool as Alexia positioned the float underneath her arms, uneasily allowing the inanimate object to prevent her head from going under. With her chin just inches from the surface of the water, Alexia strained to keep her head above the tiny waves lapping at her face as she steadily advanced forward.
"Try and swim over to me, Lexi!"
Jess waved to beckon Alexia over. From where the newbie swimmer was positioned, the dozen feet or so that separated her and Jess may as well have been the length of a football field.
Her hands squeezed the pool noodle that kept her afloat while she admonished herself for her cowardice; what kind of a criminal mastermind was she, to be scared of a little water? During her time in Los Santos, she had dodged innumerable bullets, enemy gangsters, explosives, and had even survived a massacre in which more than one hundred of her fellow crew members had perished. By this point, she reasoned, she should be used to danger, especially when Jess was there to rescue her should she start drowning in the waist-high water.
Jess, perceptive to her friend's hesitance, nonetheless knew that it was crucial that Alexia learn to propel herself in the water.
"You got this, girlfriend!" said Jess with a fist pump. "…Pretend I have two tickets to Love Fist in my hand, and the only way you'll get them is to come and grab 'em off me!"
"Two tickets?" questioned Alexia. "…Wouldn't we be going together already, then?"
"Nope," Jess smiled. "You don't swim over here soon, I'll just sell yours on the Internet!"
"You'd better not!" shouted Alexia, her kicking growing more intense.
"Ohh, but I will," chuckled Jess in a villainous voice. "I'll double the price of it too, just to be an asshole about it! They'll be paying beaucoup bucks for nosebleeds, Lexi! You want that?"
"No! No, I don't want that!"
Gritting her teeth with determination, Alexia swiveled her hips to decrease water resistance against her forward motion. With the assistance of kicking, she gradually made her way over to Jess, who clapped with glee on seeing her friend progress.
"Now, try and add some arm motions! That'll make it easier to keep your head above water!"
Jess demonstrated these motions to her friend, chopping the air with both of her friends in smooth arcs down and away from her body. Alexia tried to mimic these in the water while still keeping the pool float under her armpits, but felt her muscles gradually starting to tire as she inched closer to Jess.
Once she was within arms' reach of Jess, she felt herself being pulled, then colliding with her friend's nearly-naked chest as she was pulled into a constricting bearhug.
"Oh my God, Lexi, you're doing so awesomely!" Jess cheered, swinging Alexia about in the water. "I would never have even known it was your first time swimming!"
"Th...thanks, Jess," answered Alexia uncomfortably, her face pressed firmly into her friend's cleavage.
"Well, I did tell you I was a great teacher," Jess winked. "In fact, you're doing so good, I think we can try swimming without a float."
Releasing Alexia from the hug, Jess took her hand and transported her into slightly deeper water. As the safety of the shallow end grew more distant, she felt as water creeped up her midsection and past her chest until it reached up all the way to her collarbone.
"By the end of today's lesson, I want to see you swimming in the deep end without assistance," encouraged Jess. "But first, I'll have to show you how to tread in deeper water."
Jess deposited her friend where she stood, while she made her way into deeper water where the taller girl could demonstrate to Alexia.
"Now, treading water is easy, Lexi. Just move your arms in big, smooth circles away from your body. With your legs, keep 'em bent, and kick downwards in a constant pattern, like riding an invisible bike."
Through sparkling and translucent water, Alexia was able to see Jess's movements, which she executed effortlessly due to her years of experience.
"Coordinating your arms and legs is hard at first, but if you keep your arcs smooth and controlled, you can do this for hours without trouble."
Jess said this confidently, leaning back so she could navigate into even deeper water. Alexia, meanwhile, ventured cautiously out to where the glimmering blue surface reached up to her neck and lapped at her chin.
Pushing herself off with her feet so that she had some water beneath her, she tried to mimic her friend's effortless treading, but instead found herself sinking, causing her kicks to grow more intense.
"Don't panic, Lexi," said Jess calmly. "Like I said, control your movements. Create as much surface area with your arms and legs as possible."
Jess continued to tread in deeper water so that Alexia could reference the motions she performed. Taking a breath, she pushed off once again and tried to accomplish treading, this time managing to keep afloat for several seconds before her feet touched the bottom.
"Much better!" congratulated Jess. "Here, you keep practicing those movements, I'll be back in a minute."
With that said, Jess glided over to the edge of the pool and effortlessly pulled herself out of the water. Alexia, meanwhile, continued to practice treading water with mixed results as her movements remained clunky and uncoordinated.
With a frustrated huff, she tried again to hover in the water as effortlessly as Jess had. Following her advice, Alexia's arms moved in great circles in front of her, her palms oriented to chop the surface with little resistance. As she grew more accustomed to the kicking motion that kept her afloat, she noticed plinks in the water in front of her, followed by the sight of objects slowly sinking into the deep end.
Looking behind her, she witnessed Jess throwing several brightly-colored sticks into the water, which immediately sank as they hit the surface.
"That's gonna be your final test, to dive under and retrieve all those sinkers!" shouted Jess. "We can practice with some rebreathers now, but I also want you to do it without 'em!"
After tossing in the last of the sinkers, Jess reached back into her pile of training equipment and fetched a handful of rebreathers, masks with built-in oxygen canisters that allowed its wearer to breathe underwater for a short period. She slid back into the water, handing most of the rebreathers in her hand to Alexia.
"I can hold my breath for a really long time, so I'll just take a couple," smiled Jess. "But you can clip those to your bikini bottom and just use them as you need them."
"Sure, J, but how do I...?"
"Once you have the mask on, just push this button here to activate the oxygen," Jess demonstrated. "It'll only give you about a minute of air, but you shouldn't be in those tunnels very long."
With a worried grimace spread about her face, Alexia clipped her supply of rebreathers to the hem of her swimskirt, saving the last device so she could strap it onto her face. Jess chose to forego the use of rebreathers until she needed one, attaching the two that she had onto either side of her bikini bottom.
"Alright, you ready, Lexi?"
"I guess so," Alexia replied beneath the metallic black mask covering her mouth and nose. Consequently, Jess started to snicker.
"Oh my God, you totally sound like a badass movie villain with that on!"
"No, I don't. Come on, J," Alexia urged her friend to stay focused.
"Alright, j-just real quick; could you say 'The shadows betray you because they belong to me'?"
"What?"
"Just do it, please!"
Alexia groaned, seeing no other alternative than to indulge her friend's movie fantasies.
"'The shadows betray you because they belong to me'. Now, can we get started with this?"
"Absolutely," said Jess with a satisfied grin. "Empty out all the breath in your lungs first, that'll make it easier to sink. Then, when you can't hold your breath any longer, use the rebreather."
"Okay, got it."
Alexia took a deep breath, looking down towards her chest as it expanded with the inhale, then relaxed on the exhale. Once her breath was emptied, she dunked her head underwater, Jess quickly following suit.
She opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the stinging sensation of chlorine flooding into her corneas. She reflexively rubbed her eyes, although the underwater environment was quick to provide more irritation. Jess, who seemed to have no trouble seeing her friend, grabbed her arm and waved to assure her she was there. She then guided her friend over into deeper water, where the faint glowing outlines of sinkers were visible to Alexia.
With her chest starting to tighten from lack of oxygen, Alexia quickly activated her rebreather, which provided a stream of artificial air that she eagerly gulped in. Following Jess as she swam with graceful movements through the deep end, Alexia kicked steadily behind her while simultaneously propelling herself with her arms, resulting in a steady forward motion.
Alexia took a moment to smile underneath her mask; she was now officially swimming, with the rebreather on her face preventing her from drowning. Sunlight filtered in through the shimmering surface above her, streaming down into the depths where she swam, just above the bottom of the pool as it gradually sloped down to a depth of about twelve feet.
Following the blurred outline of her friend's bright pink bikini, she was guided toward the first sinker, which she readily grabbed and held in her fist. Jess, who still went without the assistance of a rebreather, sat casually on the bottom of the pool with her legs crossed meditation-style, motioning for Alexia to proceed with grabbing the remaining sinkers.
Astonished that Jess really could hold her breath for so long without visible difficulty, Alexia was nonetheless quick to discern where the remaining objects were around her. Simultaneously, a barely-audible series of beeps emanated from her mask, signaling that her supply of oxygen was almost out. She took in a lungful of air, causing her body to rise slightly in the water, before removing the empty rebreather and replacing it with a fresh one, attaching the used device to her swimsuit afterwards.
Steadily releasing the air in her lungs so she could sink once again, she set about collecting the half-dozen sinkers that remained for her to collect. While she could now swim underwater without much difficulty, she could still do so at a moderately slow pace compared to Jess as she grew accustomed to the required swimming motions, meaning that she had to consume a couple more rebreathers as she traversed through the deep end.
Once she had obtained every sinker, she showed her collection to Jess, who gave a thumbs-up of approval. She had since run out of lung capacity, requiring her to use one of the two rebreathers at her disposal. Grabbing Alexia's hand, the two swam upwards and surfaced, reveling in the fresh air as compared to the pressurized oxygen in their rebreathers.
"Whoo! I must say, you were a lot quicker at that than I expected you to be, awesome work!" Jess cheered, removing her mask.
"Yeah, I saw that too. Nicely done, Lex."
Alexia whipped her head around, immediately recognizing the male voice behind her. At the edge of the pool stood Damien in the mid-morning sunshine, carrying what looked to be a folder in his hand. On his face was a grizzled beard, whose length had since grown to conceal his entire face, a jarring sight to the girlfriend who had not seen her partner in such a long time.
Jess, instantly elated at the sight of him, climbed out of the pool to greet him.
"Damien, what's up?!" Jess shouted, leaving a trail of pool water on her patio as she moved over to him. "Man, I haven't seen you in forever, it feels like!"
"Yeah, I've been real busy," said Damien, accepting a brief dripping-wet hug from Jess. "...Listen, I wish I could stay and chat, but I've got something I need to brief you two about, a mission I'll need your help with."
"Oh. Well, uh, we'd love to, but we've got our own thing going on right now-"
"I know," Damien nodded. "It ain't gonna be happening right away, I just wanted to make you aware of the details. I've been going around explaining to the other high-ranking members as well."
"Okay then, we can help you out," saluted Jess. "Lemme get some towels from inside real quick."
Jess quickly excused herself, still trailing water behind her as she ran inside her house.
Damien turned as Alexia ascended a ladder out of the pool, rubbing her eyes that were irritated by chlorine. Her vision remained blurry as she met eyes with her boyfriend, who cracked a small grin as he looked over Alexia's swimsuit-clad body.
Simultaneously, Alexia too noticed that she was half-naked in front of Damien. Even though he was her significant other, this nonetheless marked the first time she had been so exposed in front of someone of the opposite sex, causing her entire body to visibly turn red.
Her arms immediately went to her stomach and chest in a vain attempt to hide her nakedness, immediayely irking laughter out of Damien.
"I-I'm not covering myself, okay? It's just...drafty up here," she lied.
"Yeahh, whatever you say, babe."
"Shut up!" she pouted over Damien's continued chuckles. "...So tell me, what the fuck have you been doing that's so important that you ignore me for like a week?"
"I'm sorry," he said more seriously, trying to contain his laughter. "Like I said, I've been real busy. I didn't even have time to hit you up after the Bolingbroke job, and I feel really shitty about that...After I explain this job, I think you'll understand better."
"Oh, yeah?" she asked skeptically. "...This wouldn't have anything to do with that file my uncle gave you, would it?"
"It does," he admitted.
The air stalled awkwardly between the two, Alexia squinting to see her boyfriend hetter through the haze of chlorine.
"...Listen, babe," spoke Alexia. "I know that our respective careers are gonna keep us apart from each other sometimes. I understand, and I can adapt to that. But at the same time...I've had to deal with a government agent for the past two weeks. So, let me just say that by this point, I'm fucking sick and tired of all the shadiness and the secrecy that comes with that. And to not only be kept out of shit by him, but by you too-!"
"That ain't gonna happen anymore," he assured her.
Damien took the initiative, taking his girlfriend by her slender shoulders.
"I'm sorry for the cloak-and-dagger shit, Lex, it ain't normally my style unless I'm undercover. But I only did it so you wouldn't worry about me."
Damien's warmth quickly spread through Alexia, which calmed her from her angry tirade. He rubbed his girlfriend's bare back, immediately causing her shoulders to droop as she leaned into his embrace. Nonetheless, she could not help but question what Damien meant by his statement.
"What do you mean, worry about you? I know you do dangerous stuff, it's kinda your job."
"Yeah, but I knew you were leading your own squadron as well. I know what that's like, so I didn't wanna give you more worries on top of that. Or to make you feel obligated to help me until I needed it."
Alexia laughed slightly, tracing her hand gently along her boyfriend's chest.
"Well, were you worried about me?"
"Not particularly," he denied while petting Alexia's wet hair. "Because the whole crew's been talking about you guys...J.A.N.E, I think you're calling yourselves?"
"Yeah, Jess came up with it, it's an acronym of all our first initials. Kinda fits with an all-female crew, don't you think?"
"I guess," Damien laughed. "Anyway, I heard what a good job you were doing at leading your crew through hell. I mean, taking on fucking Merryweather, of all people?"
Alexia shrugged innocently.
"They're not so tough. From my experience at the quarry, it's like taking candy from some roided-up babies."
"I wouldn't go that far," dismissed Damien. "These are the guys waging our secret oil wars in the Middle East. They ain't quite as dumb as you think."
"Well...we're still smarter than them," she declared. "And we're gonna stop them before they release nerve gas on the city."
As she said this, Alexia looked toward the Los Santos skyline, clearly visible through a haze of smog in the distance. Despite its pollution, unbearable traffic, and rival gangs wanting her dead, it was nonetheless the only place she could presently call home. If everything went to plan, it would also be the skyline she would one day be leading.
Jess emerged from her bedroom, still clad in only her bikini, tossing a mustard-colored beach towel to Alexia. She caught this and used it to dry herself of pool water that clung to her skin.
"I brought a third towel, Damien, unless you wanted to join us later," smiled Jess with her arms raised, shaking the towel as she dried her frizzy blonde hair.
"No thank you, Jess, I've still got people to contact and weapons to source for the op...Maybe some other time though."
"Sure! I was planning on buying a yacht when I got enough money, you and Lexi are definitely invited to the maiden voyage."
Damien laughed at Jess's childlike enthusiasm. Decent yachts sold for over ten million dollars on average, which he knew was several times her current income even after the prison break she had helped with.
"You can count on it, Jess...You two dry yourselves off, I'll go over the plans with you."
Damien moved over to a nearby patio table and sat down, Alexia and Jess grabbing their own chairs and sitting next to him with their towels wrapped around their bodies.
"So uh, what's the deal, D?" asked Jess.
"The deal is, we have to steal something to complement that weapons data you're gonna get from Humane Labs. Agent 14, he's helped us to source an underground bunker like the one the Roses have, so we can compete with them and develop new mods and ammunition. But, the Roses also have an additional ace up their sleeve that helps them in trafficking and modding their guns."
Opening the black folder in his hand, Alexia and Jess peered down at a picture of a huge tractor-trailer driving through the desert.
"This here is an MOC: a Mobile Operations Center. The trailer here contains a command center that operates the turrets, a small weapons workshop, and a vehicle customization bay, essentially meaning they can take their business on the go. We wanna stop them from having that advantage on us, so our goal is to steal the Roses' MOC and to store it in our own bunker."
"That huge mamma-jamma?" observed Jess. "Oh, with that on our side, the Roses won't stand a chance!"
"Yeah...Trouble is, the Roses know that too," Damien grimaced. "So from what we've surveilled, they have some serious security around this thing whenever it cones out of the bunker: in addition to the turrets, they've got weaponized vehicles driving around the perimeter, guards along the planned route, and jets that fly behind the truck and scan for trouble."
"And the police are just cool with a huge convoy of trucks, jets, and death machines cruising down the highway in broad daylight?" questioned Alexia.
"We think the Roses bribe them to ensure they don't interfere. I've spent the last week tailing the convoy, spooking it a bit to see how the guards respond, and trying to gain a backdoor into their communications networks. Eventually though, I was able to follow one of the Roses home and...'persuade' him to spill the details of an upcoming delivery. We intercept that, we can steal the MOC while it's en route to its destination. It's not ideal considering the heavy security, but it's the best shot we'll have at this."
"So...where do we come in at?" asked Alexia.
"It's time for you to earn some stripes as a crew rep, Alexia. You'll be with me on the ground assault, with a bunch of the other guys. Jess, I'll need you to head the air squadron."
"That's what I do best," saluted Jess.
"I know..." Damien sighed. "But still, this is gonna be really fucking tough unless we can disable those turrets. The trailer's got two of them in the rear and one in the front, which can all shoot explosive rounds. So we on the ground team will have to throw sticky bombs directly onto the turrets to disable them. That's the only way we can do it without blowing up the whole trailer."
Damien flipped the page to another picture, a drawing of a birds'-eye view of the Rose convoy sketched on graph paper.
"From my observations, the convoy's got at least eight weaponized Tampas around the truck. Each of these are gonna have a set of dual miniguns mounted on the roof, these can blow up an average car or jet in a few shots, so Jess, definitely keep your distance. Use your heat-seeking missiles to provide air support, and keep the Rose aircraft busy while we try and disable the trailer...And if that wasn't enough, a couple of APCs are usually on hand, these usually have a mounted turret gun as well as anti-aircraft missiles."
"This does sound dubious as hell," Alexia remarked. "...Why can't we just buy one of these trailers for ourselves?"
"Because we've already dropped four million on the bunker and upgrades to it," dismissed Damien. "And the boss thinks disabling the Roses' business like this is best in the long run."
"Jesus, four million?!" shouted Jess. "...That bunker wouldn't have a hot tub, would it?"
"Uhh, no," Damien shook his head. "But it does have a bigass shooting range where we can test out the weapons we can manufacture. I'm sure you'll be using that frequently, Alexia."
"Testing weapons all day? Sounds like a fucking dream job," Alexia laughed. "Assuming this all goes to plan, that is."
"Yeahh, last time we hit the Roses this hard, they knew we were coming," voiced Jess. "That's not gonna happen again, is it?"
"Here's the best part of all of this," said Damien with a sly grin. "...We've fuckin' found him, guys. The mole, 'Justin', is gonna be in the truck."
Damien flipped the page once again, this tike showing a mugshot of a bald man in his early 30's, who maintained a neutral glare at the camera while holding up his middle finger.
"We did some digging into crew records and found out he used to work security detail at Bahama Mamas before he was promoted, so he'd know all its weak points and the best places to infiltrate. The guy's real name is Jay Maxwell, but one of his past aliases was 'Justin'."
"I think I recognize him," stated Alexia. "Wasn't he a...?"
"Yep, he was a commissioner," nodded Damien. "Recently promoted too, believe it or not. We believe he's been feeding the Roses information ever since the attack. El Gordo Lighthouse, the prison break, the FIB raids on our warehouses...all compromised by this fuckin' asshole. He finds out we were closing in on him and runs, and the Roses are planning to stow him away on this convoy heading to the docks so that he can flee the country."
Alexia looked down in awe toward the picture in front of her; after a month of constant searching by the Skulls, they had finally found the man responsible for their woes, the instigator of a bloody gang war with the Roses. Bringing him down would mean that all those deaths would be avenged.
She thought back to the raid on El Gordo Lighthouse, where she had to watch as Brian's head was split open by bullets fired from a Rose Hydra. The gruesome scene still replayed in her nightmares occasionally, along with the sight of his mangled corpse the next day as she led a few other Skulls to recover his body. Such a kind man did not deserve to die so violently, but at least killing the traitor would finally put his soul to rest.
"So, uh, what's our plan for stopping the truck without destroying it?" asked Alexia.
"We're gonna stage an ambush," explained Damien. "When the convoy passes down a secluded point on Senora Road, we activate some sticky bombs on the side of the road, hopefully that'll get rid of some of the Tampas. Then, we come out of the trees in Insurgents and Ruiner 2000's equipped with missiles."
"Wait, what was that second one?" asked Alexia, unfamiliar with these vehicles.
Damien turned to a page that demonstrated the appearance of the tricked-out muscle car.
"If we're gonna have any chance at this thing, we're gonna need some explosive capabilities. Jess, your missiles will give us the edge we need and will also distract the Roses' jets, but some missiles on the ground will let us take out the APCs much easier."
"Ohh, I've heard of that car!" shouted Jess. "Isn't that the one that can bunnyhop?"
"You bet it is," smirked Damien. "Don't even ask how many channels I had to go through to get some of these. It also has a built-in parachute should we need it, but Jess, I think you and your squadron can provide enough support in the air."
"I dunno, I kinda want to drive that thing instead now," said Jess, intensely eyeing the picture before her.
"No, Jess; we pay you to be the Skulls' air captain, so that's what you're gonna be doing."
Damien closed the book, rising from his chair afterward.
"So uh, if you guys don't have any more questions, I'm gonna head out."
"You sure I can't just drive it around after the mission? J-just for a little bit!" Jess begged with big puppy-dog eyes, prompting a conceding sigh from Damien.
"I'll...see what I can do on that front."
Damien opened his arms for a goodbye hug, which Jess gladly delivered by wrapping her arms about his torso. Damien patted his ex-girlfriend's hair before they parted from the hug
"Alright, I'll see you later, babe," said Damien to Alexia. "You two stay safe."
"You too, Damien."
Alexia and Damien hugged, which was followed by a brief smooch on the lips before they parted. Damien left through an open fence gate that led to Jess's patio, his girlfriend's eyes following him as he left.
"Ah, he's amazing, isn't he?" remarked Jess, arms folded behind her head.
"Yeah," said Alexia, blushing heavily as she smiled. "I mean...I wish we got to see each other more often, but when we do, I'm just completely swept off my feet by him...I don't know though, is it selfish for me to be feeling that way?"
"No, not at all!" assured Jess, leaning forward in her chair. "Look, when I was with Damien, he could get a bit distant from me too because of his work sometimes, it's just part of who he is to be focused on his job. But it's not unreasonable to want to spend more time with him. Be assertive about it, Lexi, and he'll have to allocate time in his schedule for you. Maybe you could have, like, a certain time every week for you to have some couples' time together."
"Yeah, I...I really wanna make this work in the long-term, y'know? For us to be more...intimate with one another, aside from just seeing each other every now and then."
"Hey, you have a right to be happy in this relationship, just as much as he does," said Jess. "Just let things progress naturally, and if it's meant to be, you two will grow ever more close by just being together."
Nodding at Jess's sage advice on romance, Alexia smiled, standing up from her chair and removing the towel about her waist.
"Alright, well, you ready to continue the lesson?"
"Wow, Lexi, already?" Jess laughed. "Well alright, I won't be the one to quell your enthusiasm."
Jess removed her own towel and grabbed a nearby can of sunscreen, applying a solid protective coat to her bronzed skin. Afterwards, Alexia held her arms out to her sides as Jess hovered behind her, spraying her entire back and legs.
Once she was finished, she handed the can to Alexia, who reciprocated the favor by spraying Jess's back for her. The taller girl's muscles clenched at the cold spray, but she nonetheless held her T-pose as Alexia coated her back in sunscreen. As she was doing this, she noticed several tattoos of Jess's that she had never noticed before, including the butterfly between her shoulder blades and a Black Skull emblem emblazoned on her left side.
Once she came to Jess's thighs, she happened to notice the names of past boyfriends inked into her flesh, several of which had been crossed out. The latest of these was Curtis, whose name had yet to have been struck through by further ink.
"...Boyfriends, Jess? Really?" teased Alexia.
"Hey, you do some stupid shit when you're on drugs, okay? And I was on them almost all the time because I couldn't stand being around those guys otherwise!"
Alexia laughed, remembering that she had met Curtis along with Jess when they had helped her with het first ever drug bust. The perpetually-stoned man did indeed seem to be only tolerable to be around when completely wasted.
As she continued to spray Jess's legs, she stopped laughing when she noticed one of the other names on the list of exes. She stopped spraying, much to the confusion of Jess.
"Huh? Is it empty?" Jess asked, looking behind her to see her friend's deer-in-headlights expression as she looked at her tattoo.
"Uh, Jess...One of these names is..."
She would have liked to think it was a trick of the light on Jess's glistening skin, or the residual effects of pool water on her vision. However many times she blinked, however, she still saw the name inked clearly onto her friend's thigh.
'Justin'.
After an initial moment of confusion, she realized what her friend was talking about. Jess smiled, giving a slight laugh at Alexia's misconception.
"Ohh no, it's not the same guy. I met that Justin at a rave long before the traitor even joined up. We did drugs together and had sex a few times, then he left me for some other chick when he got bored of me. Same with a lot of guys on that list."
"You're sure?" asked Alexia seriously. "...Do you know what happened to him?"
"Killed in a gunfight, I think," Jess shrugged, eyeing her friend suspiciously. "You're not...accusing me of something, are you Lexi?"
"N-no, of course not, J. I was just...curious if you knew him in the past, is all."
"Well...I didn't. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"
Alexia could hear a tinge of vinegar lacing her friend's words, indicating she very much did not like being lumped in with the recently-revealed traitor because of an incidental tattoo on her thigh. Her eyes reflected this same suppressed malice, being narrowed slightly at her friend as she knelt behind her.
In response, Alexia looked towards the ground in shame.
"I'm...sorry if I offended you, Jess."
Jess sighed, her shoulders relaxing as she turned back toward Alexia.
"Ah, no harm done, Lexi," she said while tusseling her friend's black hair. "I mean, I can see why that'd be cause for worry, but...nah, I don't remember ever meeting the traitor. Which is odd, because I get around a lot in the Skulls and I've made a bunch of friends there. But him? Way unfamiliar."
Alexia nodded in agreement, meeting her friend's eyes with a brief smile. However, her initial discovery did come as a violent shock to her system, one which Jess's words alone could not seem to shake.
She realized that Justin was a very common name and Jess's story was most likely true. However, her uncle had previously mentioned a lack of people named Justin in the Skulls, besides the traitor, who had only used the name as an alias. Whether or not he picked up girls with this alias, however, was not known to her, and thus she knew she should not have spoken to Jess in such an accusatory fashion without first accruing more details.
Seeing this, Jess pulled her friend into a hug to further convince her that she was forgiven. Alexia stood on her toes and leaned into her embrace, arms wrapped around her friend's slender waist as they stood together under a perpetually hotter mid-morning sun.
Jess hugged her friend tighter before she pulled away, squeezing Alexia's shoulders affectionately.
"Here, just spray down your front, and meet me in the pool, okay?"
Alexia nodded, using the spray can to coat her entire torso and legs with sunscreen. Shielded from ultraviolet rays from the oily coating, her pale skin began to glisten in the sunshine as she stood next to the pool where Jess had begun to splash around.
As she descended the stairs into the shallow end, Jess playfully directed one of her splashes to Alexia, which was followed by a cheeky smile. Taking up her friend's challenge, she kicked a deluge of water towards Jess, who shielded herself before the wave hit her face.
As Alexia fully entered the shallow end, the two continued their splash battle, with Jess directing a gigantic two-handed splash toward Alexia and completely drenching her hair. Laughing hysterically as the warm water ran down her face, she moved to retaliate, only to see Jess paddling backwards into deeper water.
"Uh-oh, you can't get me unless you swim over here!"
"Oh, you dick!" called Alexia, trying in vain to fling water far enough to hit Jess as she stuck out her tongue in a taunting fashion.
"C'mon, Lexi, you can do it! Swim over and get your revenge!"
Steeling herself internally and remembering all that Jess had taught her, she launched herself forward with her feet, using her arms to keep herself above water and her legs to paddle forward.
With Jess urging her onward, Alexia swam into water that easily reached above her head if she were to stand on the bottom. However, with her teeth gritted in determination, she continued moving her arms and legs in a smooth fashion that displaced the water around her, allowing her to advance ever closer to Jess until she was right beside her, where she assumed the position to tread water.
"Whoo, fuckin' A, baby!" Jess cheered with a fist in the air. "Before, you were scared to even go in the deep end, but now look at you!"
"S-sure," answered Alexia with a breathless smile.
Noticing that she was growing tired, Jess spotted the pool noodle floating not far away. She pushed it over to Alexia, who gratefully took it so that she could float for a few seconds.
"Just keep traing those muscles and keeping a steady stream of breath, that'll up your endurance," assured Jess. "We can practice for maybe another hour so you're super comfortable in the deep end, then tomorrow morning, I'll teach you some more advanced techniques."
"Sounds as good a plan as any..." said Alexia, taking deep breaths as she prepared to let go of her float and continue swimming.
Releasing her grip and treading water, she did as Jess instructed and steadied her breathing, noticing how the rising and falling of her chest coincided with up-and-down movement of her body in the water. Nonetheless, she was growing more confident in her ability to keep herself afloat with her arms and legs.
Jess watched with utmost pride as Alexia again doggy-paddled through the center of the pool, knowing that she had succeeded as a teacher.
