Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The music in April’s club, The Honey Pot, was booming loudly, the bass ricocheting off every surface in the club. It was the exclusive opening night before it opened to the public. Hiccups could feel the music reverberating throughout her entire body as she sat at the bar, stirring her drink with a little straw. The club was filled with the who’s who of Los Santos, dripped out in their finest yet sluttiest attire. Gang members conversed with city council members, broke playboys drooled over the millionaires – anyone who had money and notoriety was here.

Well, and of course her. Yes, technically she was famous as Queen of the Clowns, but she had not come as Clown Queen - she was here as April’s BFF, Ray Mond.

This was weird for her for so many reasons. Usually, at this time of night, she could be found driving around in a beat up, most likely stolen, car, masked up with Kirk or Hostage co-piloting. But April had annoyed her about this party for weeks and then, Sooty and Kirk pushed her to go and have fun, get away from her queenly duties. She couldn’t remember the last time she went out as Ray Mond and wasn’t in a clown outfit with her mask. Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time she went anywhere without some sort of mask on.

And this dress - which April had leant her after she tried to get out of coming by saying she didn’t have anything to wear - was not helping any of her worries. Hiccups normally showed a lot of skin, wearing low cut skirts with cropped tops or tight corsets, but this – this dress was a whole other level. It was made of a shiny metallic material that was cool to the touch. The back was cut so low (stopping right above her panty line) that she couldn’t wear a bra, no matter which one she tried, and the skirt stopped only a few inches below her hips. The only thing keeping it on her body was tie at the back of her neck, allowing the fabric to drape over her chest and cling to her hips and thighs.

The club was also brimming with gang members, whom she hated with a fiery passion. Luckily, none of them seemed to notice who she was, and those who would know were too busy with other things to pay her any mind. Not that she didn’t panic anytime those people got too close to her or looked in her general direction. But it had been a long time since any of them saw her dressed like this.

So, here she was at the bar, trying her best to hide away from the craziness while also being a supportive friend. She took another sip of her drink, letting the liquid soothe her nerves.

“Another one?” the bartender asked as she set the empty glass down.

“Sure, I’m not paying for it.” Hiccups replied, making the bartender chuckle.

Probably a pity chuckle, she thought as she watched the bartender make her drink.

She sighed and leaned on the bar, her wavy hair falling in front of her. All she wanted was to go home to the Funhouse and slip under the covers and curl into a ball on her bed, waiting for sleep to take her. But she promised April when they came back to the city that she would be a better friend - and she wouldn’t let April down, not again. A familiar feeling of guilt started to pool in her stomach.

The bartender placed the new drink in front of her and she immediately drank it, downing it all in one go.

_________________________

Jagger hated parties and crowds and loud spaces. So, dimly lit night clubs packed body to body with blaring, heavy-bass music weren’t his favorite. Though for the last hour or so, he stood between Taco and Zaceed on the dance floor of the Honey Pot, listening to them bicker and call each other names. It was the VIP opening night and since April Fooze had a long-standing friendship with Chang Gang, the entire gang had been invited. Jagger didn’t want to come, telling everyone who asked that he was busy with work. His plans were ruined, however, when K found out and threatened him with a month of sani runs if he didn’t show.

His head hurt slightly from the noise and probably the alcohol. He decided it was time for him to leave. He had made an appearance and socialized for a little bit to satisfy the boys, making sure that Mr. K had noticed his presence. Surely that was enough for them.

Jagger exited the dancefloor, weaving in and out of people, and made his way towards the front exit. Focusing only on his desire to get the yuck out, he didn’t notice the woman also making her way to the exit until he bumped into her.

“Woah.” He caught her, wrapping his hands around her waist, before she stumbled into the wall or the floor.

“Fuck, sorry,” she muttered, placing her hands on top of his arms for more support. His skin seemed to jump at the connection, goosebumps forming on his arms. She wobbled slightly for a moment before regaining her balance. Her dark, wavy hair covered her face, masking her identity, as she stared at his chest while steadying herself.

A moment passed where they just stood like that in the middle of the hall, his hands holding her steady. The cool, metallic fabric of her dress hindered any warmth he would have felt from the touch. He stared down at her, almost towering over her, and she made no movement to look up at him.  

“Are you okay?” Jagger asked, still holding onto her.

“Yeah, I’m fine now,” she replied and looked up at him, dark eyes meeting his. Something seemed to shift within him - time seemed to stand still and the noise of the club faded away as she met his gaze.

“Are you sure?” he said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. He smelled alcohol on her breath when she spoke.

“Yeah, yeah.” Waving away his concern, she broke their gaze and looked back down, chewing at her bottom lip.

He slowly removed his hands from her waist and backed away from her. His body immediately cried out for her warmth and the feeling of her hands on his skin, but he ignored it. She readjusted her dress and swept her hair behind her ears.

“Thanks.” she muttered before walking away, still slightly wobbling in her heels. His eyes followed her closely as she walked away from him, hips swaying and dress bunching at her lower back with each step. He clenched and unclenched his hands.

It was a moment before Jagger realized he was staring and immediately looked away. He cleared his throat and gathered himself before following in her footsteps to the exit.

Once outside, he talked to valet about getting his car and then saw her standing further off on the sidewalk. Against his best judgement, he slowly walked over to where she was standing. He didn’t want to seem creepy and that he was following her or something, but also craved to be near her again. He noticed goosebumps on her skin from the cool night air as he came up next to her. She was typing furiously on her phone and didn’t notice him.

Jagger quietly stood next to her, his hands in his pockets as he waited for his car. He found himself watching her curiously out of the corner of his eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed as she typed and scrolled. He was intently watching, almost studying her reactions. She huffed loudly and turned off her phone. He quickly diverted his eyes back to the street as she finally noticed his presence.

“Do you not have a ride?” he asked. He didn’t know why he asked that. He knew that truthfully it wasn’t just to be nice, but he wouldn’t allow himself to admit or even think that it was to chase the feeling he experienced holding her small frame in his hands.

“Hah,” she breathed out, “Why do you wanna know? Looking to get lucky?”

Yuck. She had read him like a yucking book. He blushed and he whipped his head to look at her.

“No, no, no!” he protested loudly, “I would never...!”

Her eyes narrowed at him, but a sly smile crept unto her lips as she watched him squirm at the notion. His thoughts were a jumbled mess since she had found him out.

“It’s okay,” she said, flipping her hair while turning to gaze out at the street, “I know I’m irresistible.”

His cheeks reddened even more as he was now just one of the many men in her life that had objectified her. He quickly calmed his thoughts down and looked back out at the street, clearing his throat.  

“I was just offering cause it seems like you’ve been drinking and that you don’t have a ride.” He slowly articulated each word, willing her and himself to believe what he was saying. Whether or not she did, that answer seemed to appease her as she let out a long sigh.

“Just trying to prevent one less drunken accident,” he added under his breath, again trying to convince himself too.

She laughed.

Jagger’s entire body jumped in surprise at the sound. He turned to look at her again and his entire body melted at the sight of her: her head thrown back, curls bouncing as she laughed, her face lightened with amusement. For some reason, seeing her amused by something he said caused his stomach to flutter and a warmth to spread throughout his chest.

“Well, you’d be the first,” she replied, standing up straight again after she was finished.

He looked away again, not wanting her to catch him staring.

“Especially since no one else seems to be answering me…” She turned her phone back on, checking her notifications, and he eyed her cautiously.

“But that’s nothing new.” She turned her phone off and looked out at the street too, her expression becoming cold and unreadable.

Jagger’s heart squeezed at the implied idea that there was no one waiting up for her or who cared enough to answer, and that this wasn’t the first time this had happened – that it had happened so many times now that she had come to expect it. He sympathized with her, remembering the time when no one had cared whether he lived or died or even knew his name. A time before CG and the boys, before his phone was ringing every 5 minutes on someone checking on him or needing something from him.

“Well,” he cleared his throat again as the valet finally pulled up to them with his car, “If you need a ride, I am happy to give it.”

He turned to look at her, hoping that his sincerity was showing. She turned to meet his gaze, eyes searching and scrutinizing his face for a reason to not believe him. He held her gaze and watched as her entire face, her entire body softened.

“Ok,” she said almost bashfully, a faint pink dusting across her cheeks. Jagger felt the energy in his body swell and a small smile broke onto his face (not that she could see it because of his mask covering the bottom half of his face).

“Ok,” he repeated back.

________________________

Hiccups groaned slightly as she came out of sleep. She could feel the headache even before she opened her eyes, something that usually only happened after she was hit over the head. However, this headache wasn’t caused by a wrench to the head, but from April’s party – the party her best friend begged her to go to. So yeah, this was technically April’s fault.

Hiccups slowly opened her eyes, the sun light from the window hitting the perfect spot to make her already pounding headache even worse. She winced at the brightness, taking a moment for her eyes to adjust before sitting up in the bed. Her head reeled at the movement. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly, allowing herself to adjust to the pain before opening her eyes back up. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light again.

Uh, where the fuck am I?

She was in a bed and an apartment she did not recognize. It definitely was not hers, even though she had rarely slept there anymore. She saw the dress she had worn last night (the one April had leant her) crumpled on the floor by a shabby, oversized chair. Her small purse (also courtesy of April) was thrown haphazardly on the arm of said chair and both of her heels were lying in the entryway by - what she assumed was - the front door to the apartment.

As she followed her trail of clothes back to the bed, her stomach dropped as her mind caught up with her body and finally registered the warmth and weight next to her. She slowly turned her head.

Lying next to her was a man sleeping peacefully, breathing softly and calmly, lips parted. His dark hair contrasted sharply with the morning light cascading around him, creating a halo of sorts. Hiccups noticed a deep scar just above his brow and more around one corner of his lips, some stretching from his jaw all the way down to his neck. Her eyes meandered lower and she saw more scars, and also tattoos, littering his muscular arms and chest. While she took in the half naked man next to her, her own nakedness became very apparent to her.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck fuck fuck FUCK.

Hiccups scurried out of the bed and over to her purse, thankful she didn’t wake him in her panic. She noticed more clothes littered on the floor as she found her phone. So many missed call and message notifications popped up on her screen as she navigated to her contacts. She had turned her phone on silent for the party and apparently had not turned the ringer back on before going to *ahem* bed.

She clicked April’s contact number and put the phone up to her ear, praying that she was awake. She nervously chewed her bottom lip while the line rang.

“Hey Hiccups, it’s ya girl April!” Her cheery voice breaking Hiccups somewhat out of her state of panic.

“Where are you right now?” Hiccups replied quietly.

“Uh….I’m just leaving the club.”

“How fast can you get to the apartments?”

“Probably about 5 minutes.” Hiccups let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Why, what’s up? What’s wrong?” April’s voice shifting to a worried tone.

“I need a pickup. No questions asked.”

There was a moment of silence as Hiccups heard the sound of a car door shut.

“I’ll be there in 2 minutes.” The line clicked.

Hiccups took a deep breath and put the phone back in the purse. Then she quickly and quietly collected picked up her dress and slipped it on, collecting her shoes as she rummaged around the apartment. For the life of her though, she couldn’t find her panties. The dress was cut low in the back, so she had to go braless but she was very sure she wore underwear last night.

It was taking too much time, and she didn’t want to be there when he woke up, so she begrudgingly gave up on the panties. She hurriedly grabbed her purse and made her way to the door. Before leaving, she took a jacket off one of the hooks near the door and then silently slipped out of the apartment.

Hiccups ran down the stairs of the apartments, heels and purse in hand. She texted Sooty on her way down, letting her know she was alive and to meet her at the Funhouse. By the time she made it to the lobby, April’s pink LFA was already waiting outside. Pulling the stolen jacket closer to her body, she quickly ran out of the building and slipped into the car. As soon as the door closed, April sped away.

Chapter Text

Jagger jolted awake to the sound of his phone ringing. He immediately rolled over and picked it up off the floor, answering the call without even looking at who was calling.

“Hello…?” he grumbled, still waking up.

“Jagger, where the fuck are you?” Vinny’s voice boomed on the other end. He winced at the volume and rolled back onto the bed.

“Ramee’s been bitching all morning that y’all were supposed to go on a money run and you never showed up.”

Jagger’s brow furrowed and he checked the time on his phone. 12:17. Yuck.

“Oh yuck, I just woke up.”

“Just woke up?” Vinny scoffed, “The fuck you mean you just woke up?”

Jagger sighed and threw off the covers, slowly getting out of bed.

“The fuck- you been sleepin’ alright?” Vinny’s voice was laced with concern. All the guys had terrible sleep schedules, but Jagger’s was the worst. Vinny was one of the few who knew about it.

“Yeah, yeah. Slept fine,” he replied, brushing off Vinny’s worry.

“Uh-huh.” Vinny definitely didn’t believe him, but Jagger actually meant it: it was the first time in years he had slept peacefully through the night.

He ran a hand through his hair and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

“Well, I’m just makin’ sure.” Vinny sighed, “You know how you get when you don’t sleep enough.”

Jagger rolled his eyes as he listened to Vinny lecture him about the importance of sleep. It wasn’t the first time he had heard this. It was then he noticed a particular item of clothing peeking out from under the foot of his bed. He slowly bent down and picked up the article of clothing: lacey, black underwear.

Vinny’s voice disappeared as memories from last night flooded into Jagger’s mind: dark eyes full of desire and need, tanned skin soft to the touch, hungry lips devouring one another, the sweet sound of her gasps and moans, her nails digging into his back and shoulders, the way she screamed when she came on his tongue. He vividly remembered when he pulled out and the slight whimper she let out at the loss of their connection. Her hair was a dark, curly mess against the pillows and her entire body shimmered with sweat. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face, before going to the bathroom to clean up. When he came back with a wet cloth, she had fallen asleep, her eyes closed and breathing steady. He quickly and gently cleaned her up before nestling in bed next to her, pulling the covers over both of them.

A smile spread across his face and warmth bubbled in his chest at the memory. That wild woman who had made his heart full and break in one quick conversation - who hadn’t run away or screamed in terror when he took his mask off. “You’re very handsome” she had said, her hand caressing his cheek, thumb lightly tracing his cheekbone.

He looked up at the bed, where they had slept together yet where he had woken up alone. She had come and gone in just one night. This wonderful, intense woman who had given him a sense of peace for one night. His heart squeezed at the loss of her presence, the same way it did when he let go of her waist in the Honey Pot. Except for the panties in his hand, he would’ve thought her a figment of his imagination.

“Hello? Jagger?? You still there?” Vinny’s voice on the phone startled Jagger out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry.” He started walking to the bathroom again, panties still in hand, “Still waking up.”

Vinny let out a long sigh.

“Listen, get your ass up and over here. K and I want to go over some things with you about the council meeting, and don’t forget we got a meeting with the clowns later.”

“Yeah, yeah I got it.”

“Okay.” Vinny said warily, “I’ll see you soon.”

The line clicked and Jagger set the phone down on the bathroom sink. He let out another long sigh. It was gonna be a long yuckin day again.

________________________

Hiccups had intentionally not looked at herself in the mirror before getting in the shower. She did not want to know what she had looked like running out of the apartments and into April’s car. But now that she was cleaned up and dressed, she finally decided to look at her reflection in the mirror.

Fuck.

Purple splotches littered her neck and chest, the largest splotches presenting at the base of her neck in the front. She gripped the base of the sink as her eyes jumped from one mark to the next.

Fuck.

She had wanted to put last night past her – not think about waking up in some stranger’s bed and forget the entire thing. But that was kind of hard to do when there were hickeys covering her entire neck and chest, broadcasting to everyone that she had been fucked.

Hiccups blinked away the angry tears welling in her eyes. Why the fuck did she have to be so fucking stupid? Why the fuck did she have to drink so much? Not even 7 years ago, when she had several men in the palm of her hand, waging wars over her, did she ever make such a stupid mistake. Never had she woken up in a strange man’s bed after a night of drinking.

Fuck.

She gripped the sink harder, her knuckles turning white. A few tears escaped and she blinked rapidly again. How could the Queen of the Clowns be such an idiot?

A muffled knock at the bedroom door brought her out of her spiral as the sound of another voice joined April’s out in her room – Sooty’s voice. She turned away from the mirror, unclenching her hands from the sink. This was not the time to be thinking about last night’s decisions; clowns would be here soon, and she could not hide out in her bedroom all day, wishing the ground would swallow her.

She smoothed down her skirt and took a deep breath, preparing to show her two friends the truth.

“April?” she called out.

“Yeah?” Her voice echoed on the other side of the bathroom door.

Deep breath.

“Could you get me a different top?” Hiccups slowly opened the door, stepping out into the room where Sooty and April sat together on her bed. They turned to look at her together, eyes widening as they gazed upon her.

“Something to cover….” she cleared her throat and looked away from her friends’ rapidly changing expressions, “…this.”

 “Oh. My. God.” April breathed out.

“Holy yuck!” Sooty laughed.

Hiccups swallowed and finally looked at her friends. Mouths agape and expressions of surprise lighted their features as their curious eyes roamed over her marked chest.

“April?” she said quietly, voice wavering. April finally met her eyes and fixed her expression.

“Uh yeah, let me check.” She got up from the bed and walked out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her.

“Yuck, Cups.” Sooty got up and walked over to Hiccups. Hiccups watched her carefully as she closely inspected the markings before looking up at her, eyes full of questions but brows knitted together in concern.

“Are you okay?” Sooty asked, her voice lower and filled with concern. Sooty knew Hiccups too well to know that this “mistake” was eating her alive.

Hiccups swallowed and smiled slightly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Slight headache but that’s what I get for drinking too much,” rolling her eyes to emphasize her okay-ness.

Sooty took one of Hiccups’s hands in hers.

“Are you going to be okay today? With the meeting and all…?”

Hiccups mouth dried: shit, she had forgotten about that. There was a pre-planned meeting with CG today regarding Clowns selling weed on CG turf. Not only did she have to round up the clowns before that, but then she had to spend however long in a meeting with the people she hated most.

She regathered her confidence and smiled wider:

“Of course.”

Sooty didn’t look like she believed her, but the door opened, and April came back in.

“Okay, so I found a few things that could work.”

They both turned to the bed and April set down the tops she had found on the bed. Once she was finished, she backed away and Hiccups stepped up to the bed, letting go of Sooty’s hand.

Hiccups surveyed her choices for a second before picking up an oversized hoodie with a flame pattern printed around the edges. It would cover everything nicely, but it didn’t really fit her style these days.

“Sooty,” she turned around and looked at her, “Do we have scissors in the kitchen?”

“Hm, I don’t know but I can check for you.” Sooty replied and bounced out of the room.

Hiccups looked back at the hoodie, figuring out how she would alter it.

“So…” April clasped her hands together loudly and walked towards her, heels clicking on the wooden floor, “Was it any good?”

Hiccups shot April a nasty look over her shoulder.

“What!” April huffed and plopped down on the bed, “Like you wouldn’t want the details thing if I came running out of the apartments covered in hickeys!”

Hiccups rolled her eyes and bit her lip, trying not to smile. Leave it to April to make fun of something that was driving her into madness. She was so happy she had decided to rekindle their friendship.

________________________

Hiccups hatred of gang members and gangs was unbiased: it didn’t matter who you were or what you did, if you were part of a gang, you were dead to her. Chang Gang, however, held a special place in her heart. She went twice as hard with them: harassed them twice as much, snitched on them for any little thing, booted their cars, vandalized their businesses. Her hatred of gangs was one thing, but she made it her life’s duty to make Chang Gang’s lives in Los Santos a living hell. And all of Los Santos knew of this hostility.

Despite their long-standing feud, Hiccups was now in a meeting with them, along with a handful of other clowns, discussing the agreement for Clown’s to sell weed on CG turf. God, it made her blood boil and her stomach turn to just be standing in the same room as them, all smug and arrogant as they talked to them – well, more at them then anything. CG had never really recognized the Clowns as humans, let alone equals, so the fact that the discussion hadn’t devolved into bickering or fighting yet was unheard of.

Kirk had taken over the discussion, since he was the one who made this all happen anyways, and was currently arguing about the cost of the bricks with Pigeon. This argument had been going on for several minutes now and didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Then, Vinny stepped in.

Hiccups’s heart lurched when Vinny took over: the sound of his voice brought back distant memories that she had buried deep within her and willed herself to forget. Bile forced its way up her throat at the disturbing images replaying in her mind. She bit her lip hard under her mask and forced herself to swallow, letting it burn her throat. She tasted blood from the force of her bite. The pain grounded her out of her memories and back to the discussion at hand. She cleared her throat and shifted her weight.

Fuck, how long is this going to take?

“You okay?” Twinkles whispered. Hiccups glanced over her shoulder at him. He had moved a bit closer from his original position, probably noticing her unease.

Not trusting her voice, Hiccups nodded weakly.

“Twinkles can get you out of here if you want?”

Hiccups shook her head, her braids swinging slightly against her chest.

“No, no. I should stay. I’ll be fine,” she replied quietly and turned her attention back to the table. She could feel his eyes still watching her with worry.

She would not leave and give CG the satisfaction of watching her run out. No way in hell.  

Vinny and Kirk were still talking, Pigeon chiming in every so often. This was taking too long and she worried what else she would remember as the meeting dragged on. To distract herself, she decided to play a game: she challenged herself to name each of the CG members present. She went down the line.

White hair is Zolo, sunglasses is Pigeon, pink hair is…Zaceed. He was new, he wasn’t with CG seven years ago. Chodie is next to Vinny, Hazel is the girl…

She felt her heart stop as she laid eyes upon the next member. He was leaning against the wall at the back of the group, arms crossed and eyes carefully watching the proceedings. Even though he was farther away, shrouded somewhat in shadows, and a bandana covered half his face, she recognized him immediately. Or, more accurately, her body recognized him immediately.

A shiver went up her spine and she could feel a heat beginning to pool in her lower stomach. The way his dark eyes stared at the group; his scarred brows pinched in thought as he listened had her heart beating loudly in her chest. She had seen that expression before, on top of her the night before:

He lined himself up at her soaking wet entrance and slowly pushed himself in, stretching and fulling her in ways she never thought possible. She had moaned loudly, her nails digging into his shoulders, nicking his skin. And when he bottomed out, she could hardly breathe. He didn’t start moving immediately, allowing her to catch her breath. When she had finally gotten used to him and met his eyes again, she saw just how much he was holding back, how much he wanted to move.

“Are you ready?” he gasped out; his internal struggle blatantly apparent on his face. It was killing him to stay still. Her heart swelled and his kindness only fueled the fire raging within her.

She adjusted her grip on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around him, drawing him closer to her. Her eyes retraced all the scars on his face. His eyes flashed to her lips before meeting hers again. She licked her lips in suspense and then, nodded.

Hiccups face flushed furiously at the memory, and quickly adverted her eyes from him. Her body was buzzing with a completely different energy now as it seemed to remember everything he did to her last night.

She shifted nervously again and swallowed. Her mouth was dry. Even though she had cropped it, she regretted choosing the hoodie with its thick, plush fabric. It was way too hot in the room now.

The rest of the meeting was a blur to Hiccups; she was just trying to keep her control over her own body and not let a stray moan or whimper accidentally slip out. She tried focusing on the conversation but then her eyes would flick over to him, and a new memory would take hold of her mind, causing her skin to tingle and more heat to pool in her belly. She could feel an unwanted wetness in her underwear. God, she felt like a fucking teenager again, unable to control her own bodily reactions. None of her “situationships” beforehand caused her to react like this – why the fuck was it happening now? With him!

When the meeting was finally over, she couldn’t get out of that house fast enough. She didn’t even try to act cordial and say her goodbyes. She immediately ran to her car and locked the doors. She ripped off her hoodie, letting the fresh air cool her skin, and threw it on the floor. She didn’t care if someone saw the marks on her chest, she just needed to breathe. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on taking deep breaths.

Once her heart rate had calmed down and that her body was on fire anymore, she opened her eyes.

Fuck.

She had to get out of here before anyone noticed her having a mini breakdown in her car. She hastily turned the keys in the ignition and stepped on the gas, whipping out of there as fast as the car could.

Chapter Text

Her back hit the door to his apartment. He continued walking towards her like a predator that had cornered its prey. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, her heart beating loudly in her chest. Goosebumps pricked up on her skin as he caged her against the door with his body. The fire that had been ignited under her skin started to burn at the slight touch of his clothed body pressing against hers. He gazed down at her, his eyes full of need and desire and a warning of what was to come. She held his gaze, tilting her head upwards to get a better view, wanting to know what danger awaited if this continued.

And god did she want it to continue. Fuck all she wanted was for him to touch her; for him to run his hands through her hair, pulling her into a bruising kiss, fulfilling the need and warnings that had been hinted numerous times on the drive. Maybe she shouldn’t have teased him so much in the car. Maybe she shouldn’t have made a point to have him walk behind her up the stairs. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so genuine and kind and so goddamn frustrating and hot. She felt like a hot summer’s night right before a storm, the air heavy and buzzing with electricity.

He exhaled and the warmth of his breath muffled by his mask sent a shiver down her spine. She wanted to close her eyes and relish the feel of his presence, breathe in his scent, but she didn’t dare look away from his haunting, desire filled eyes. She wetted her lips and saw his eyes flash to them at the movement before returning back to hers.

Fuck this was driving her insane.

“I thought you just wanted a ride home…” he whispered quietly, his voice sending shivers down her spine, “…no strings attached.”

She bit her lip, a smile creeping onto her face.

“What if I’ve changed my mind?” Her voice barely above a whisper, but still giving away her evident desire.

“What if I’ve changed mine?” he replied, a smile in his voice.

  She inhaled sharply and blinked rapidly at his response. He was teasing her, giving her a taste of her own medicine. Fuck this man. Fuck his kindness and sincerity and his stupidly hot face and body. Fuck him for getting her all riled up on just a fucking car ride. Fuck him.

He started to lean away, and panic seized her body: of letting this, HIM, get away from her and not finishing what she had started, not letting the fire burning through her body be quenched.

 “Please,” she gasped out, finally giving in, body betraying her mind.

He stopped, and she saw something change in his eyes before he swiftly threaded a hand through her hair, cradling the back of her head against the door. There was a slight moment of hesitancy before he pushed his mask down and brought his lips crashing down to hers.

Hiccups swung open the door to the Funhouse and beelined for the dining room. She threw open the doors of the liquor cabinet and took out an opened bottle of whiskey. Not even getting a glass, she popped the top off and took a swig, letting the burning liquid soothe her racing mind and heart. She slammed the bottle on the lip of the cabinet as she caught her breath.

Fuck.

So not only had she had a one-night stand – something she never did – but she had also begged him to do it after she teased him for only giving her a ride so he could get in her pants. However, it turned out, she was the one who begged to get in his pants.

Oh, and to top it all off, he was a member of Chang Gang: the gang she had vowed to burn to the ground, the gang that was the source of her rage and pain, the gang that had abandoned and left her for dead 7 years ago.

Her grip on the neck of the bottle tightened and she took another drink.

God, she felt so fucking stupid. She should’ve never gone to that party - she should’ve pretended to be sick or had Hostage and Yappy kidnap her.

Fuck. She hiccuped once.

Her phone started ringing. Annoyed, she fished it out of her pocket with her free hand and answered the call, not even checking to see who it was.

“Hello?” she grumbled into the phone.

“Hiccups,” BonBon’s sultry British? Australian? voice answered on the other line, “What’s this I hear about us making a deal with CG?”

Fuck.

“Uhm, yeah.” She squeezed her eyes shut, collecting her thoughts as she shifted mindsets from panicking and berating herself to being Clown Queen.

“Yeah, uhm,” she hiccuped again, “Kirk was the one who talked to Taco and made the deal, I guess?”

She opened her eyes and walked towards the living room where they had all their clown meetings, whiskey bottle still in hand.

“I’m not too sure of the details myself cause I let Kirk handle all of it, but yeah!” She stopped right behind the shabby couch, “We’re going to be selling weed on CG turf.”

There was a moment of silence and she turned around to lean against the back of the couch. BonBon let out a long sigh.

“I thought you said we would never work with a gang again as long you were Queen,” his voice drawled out, “And especially not with Chang Gang.” Another hiccup.

Hiccups pressed her lips together and furrowed her brows. She knew what he was getting at, and he was right – not being a gang or working with gangs was one of the only reasons she joined the clowns, one of the reasons she had convinced him to join the clowns. And she felt guilty as hell about the whole thing knowing what she had promised him and herself.

“What happened to being mortal enemies and burning them down?” he added.

But things were different now. With debtor’s law now in place, clowns couldn’t fuck around like they used to and not be afraid of the consequences. It was a smart move by Kirk, and one Hiccups wholeheartedly supported, even if she loathed it too.

“Things have changed, BonBon,” she sighed into the phone, “We can’t fool around like we used to. We need to make some kind of money so that no one ends up in debtor’s prison for years. And weed’s making good money apparently.”

“Ok, so why don’t we do it ourselves? Make our own strain, get our own turf?”

“We’ve already looked at that,” she pushed herself back off the couch, “It’s going to take a lot of money and time for us to be ready to be on our own, but we’re planning on doing it. It’s just going to take time.”

She stared down at the liquor bottle and swirled it around in her hand. BonBon didn’t say anything, so she continued, remorse about the whole deal starting to creep into her mind.

“So, for now,” she swallowed and wetted her lips, “We’re going to be selling for CG.”

Another long moment of silence, another hiccup escaping from her. Her anxiety started to boil over as she nervously chewed her bottom lip. She knew how hypocritical this was, especially coming from her, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Honestly, it had taken Kirk several days to convince her about the deal and several other clowns talked to her about it before she made her decision.

“Listen, you don’t have to do anything with the weed!” she rationalized, her anxiety gnawing away at her as the conversation dragged on, “No selling, no pick-ups, nothing! It’s just for the greater-good of all clowns, okay?”

There was another long, agonizing silence as she waited to hear BonBon’s response. Hiccups’s normally didn’t care what others thought about her or what she did, but being Queen meant that her decisions affected other people to. She hated when she had to make a decision that she knew others wouldn’t like – especially when it negatively affected those whose opinions she did value and care about. And BonBon happened to be one of those people; especially since he was her first clown recruit and his reason for joining was similar to hers. Now she felt like she had betrayed his trust.  

“Yeah, for the greater-good of all clowns….” BonBon finally grumbled back to her and then hung up.

Hiccups stared at her phone and let out a long sigh. Her mind was a mess: upset at herself for aligning with CG, upset about the one-night stand, sad about upsetting BonBon and breaking their promise. And, to top it all off, she was still hot and bothered from seeing what’s his face at the CG meeting. She groaned as her body lit up at the reminder and took another drink.

As the bottle left her lips, her phone lit up again with another call. It was Sooty this time.

Fuck.

“Cups! Are you okay? Kirk and Twinkles told me you practically ran out of the meeting when it was over!” Sooty’s voice, laced with concern, cried through the phone.

For a moment, Hiccups considered brushing it off again, pushing it all down and just saying that she was okay, something she was good at, familiar with. But she also knew that bottling everything up never worked out for her and led to a giant breakdown that had been boiling over for weeks: it would affect her friends, the clowns, her queenly duties, her ability to function as a normal fucking person. And this was Sooty; someone who had seen her at her weakest and never left her side, taking care of her until she was ready to stand on her own again.

“No…” Hiccups breathed out shakily, grip tightening on the bottle. The weight of her decision to tell the truth was starting to crash down on her. Her body seized as her mind and heart raced with panic, and she wanted to take it all back.

“Ok,” Sooty’s tone dropped, “Are you having flashbacks or anything? Is it cause of the meeting with CG? Did something bad happen at the meeting?”

Hiccups panic was momentarily replaced by confusion at what Sooty was talking about before Hiccups quickly realized what Sooty was talking about was not the same thing she was referring to.

“Oh no! I’m not talking about that.” Hiccups clarified.

“Oh,” Sooty’s voice lightening a little, “What’s bothering you?”  

The panic set back in. Hiccups stomach turned in preparation of finally telling someone the information she discovered about her partner from last night. She took another deep breath.

“He was there,” she admitted quietly. Her body trembled slightly at the statement, her heart beating a little bit faster.  

“Who was there?” Sooty had no idea what Hiccups was talking about.

“The guy…” God, did she have to say it out loud? Did she really have to tell someone?

Fuck it. She was in too deep now to not say it.

“The guy I slept with.” Hearing herself say it out loud made her feel even worse than she did when she realized he was a fucking CG member.

There was a moment of silence and Hiccups anxiously chewed at her bottom lip, panic coursing through her veins and making her slightly nauseous.

“You mean…the one from last night? The one who left all those marks…?” Sooty asked, her voice hushed.

“Yup,” Hiccups emphasizing the “p” and nodding slowly as she confirmed Sooty’s guess.

“He was at the meeting with CG?”

“Yup.”

“He’s a part of Chang Gang?”

“Yup.”

Another moment of silence.

“Holy yuck Cups…” she breathed out.

Hiccups exhaled a shaky laugh. She found a little comfort in Sooty’s disbelief matching her own.

“Wait, did he recognize – does he know it was you?”

Hiccups stomach fell to her ass. A whole new wave of fear and anxiety gripped her body from the suggestion. She hadn’t fucking thought of that.

“I really fucking hope not.” The words slipping from her mouth before she could even comprehend the panicked chaos happening in her mind.

Sooty let out a loud laugh on the other side. Hiccups jumped slightly at the sound, bringing herself out of her spiraling thoughts.

“I mean,” Hiccups blinked rapidly, gathering her thoughts again, “I don’t think so?”

She walked back to the kitchen, her body acting on its own as she was preoccupied with trying not to spiral into a panic attack.

“I mean, I was wearing my mask the entire meeting and didn’t really say anything. Plus, I was wearing the hoodie and didn’t hang around too long, or even really talked with him,” she thought aloud, “I don’t think he recognized me.”

“Holy yuck, yeah that would be….yuck.” Sooty’s voice trailing off as she contemplated what Hiccups said.

There was another moment of silence as they were both lost in thought. Hiccups stopped in front of the kitchen table, setting the bottle of whiskey down on top of the old wooden table.

“Does April know…?”

Hiccups eyes widened as another wave of panic crashed down on her. Another thing she hadn’t really thought about. Her mind started to spiral again.

“Oh god no! You’re the first person I’ve told!” Hiccups practically yelled into the phone; her rising panic evident in her voice.

Sooty chuckled. Hiccups took a moment to compose herself again, suppressing the panic attack that threatened to take control for the fifth time today.

“Please don’t tell anyone…especially April.” Hiccups whispered once she had calmed down a little.

“Of course! I wouldn’t think about it ever!” Sooty responded loudly.

“To be honest, I don’t think anyone would believe me if I did!” Sooty laughed, “Could you imagine me trying to tell Kirk? Or Ratchet? Or Twinkles???”

Hiccups giggled softly at the thought. Sooty was right – none of the clowns would believe her, even though she was a respected and revered clown in the community. Hell, very few people in Los Santos would believe that Hiccups, the self-proclaimed #1 hater of CG, had accidentally slept with one of their members.

“They would have my tongue for even suggesting such a thing!”

Hiccups giggled a little louder, her own laughter soothing her racing thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Hiccups sighed, her body relaxing a little more.

“So, are you going to do anything about…?” Sooty’s hushed tone was back.

All that panic came rushing back and Hiccups inhaled sharply, eyes widening.

“Not that you have to!” Sooty quickly added, louder, sensing Hiccups’s panic, “Or that you need to tell me!”

Hiccups exhaled.

“I wasn’t planning on it…”

“Ok! That’s totally fine!” Sooty reassured her, “You can just move on! Never even happened! That’s allowed.”

Hiccups swallowed nervously, trying to calm her nerves down once again.

“Yeah, never happened…” Hiccups repeated shakily.

“Yup.”

Hiccups closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths, steadying her raging pulse and racing mind. So much emotional and mental whiplash had occurred in the few minutes of this phone call that she needed a second to recover.

“Thanks, Sooty…” she said once her breathing had softened and opened her eyes.

“Of course! Anytime my Queen!” Sooty chimed back.

Hiccups smiled softly, happy she had told Sooty and picked up the call. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she could finally breathe again. And for the first time since she woke up that morning, Hiccups didn’t hate herself.

Chapter Text

A few days had passed since the CG meeting and Hiccups’s one night….fling. Since then, she had become busy again with her queenly duties, especially now that Clowns were pushing CG weed. While Kirk was dealing directly with CG, Hiccups was helping organize everything on the Clowns end like which Clowns wanted to push, the logistics of cleaning money, where to keep the money and the weed, etc. It was all way over her head, but the clowns only really listened to her. So, with the help of Yuno and Kirk, they came up with a solid plan to make sure everyone got paid and weed was easily distributed. Consequently, Hiccups had become even busier - which had seemed impossible considering how often her phone rang already from Clowns calling her over any little thing. But she was quickly proven wrong.  

Hiccups was pacing around Legion Square Park, talking on the phone to Windsong, Bozo, Ember, Mini. One call would end, and her phone would immediately ring a second later. Yuno was letting Yappy drive his death-trap of a car while they waited for her to finish. They were currently drifting in circles around Legion Square, drifting around each corner to see how far they could get before having to drive normally. She had lost count how many times she had seen them pass by her or repairing the car on the sidewalk while she was on the phone.

Truthfully, she was a little irritated. This was supposed to be her day with her brother – one of the few days where he took a break from gang stuff and dawned his Hostage persona to clown around with her. But ever since she had woken up and met up with Yuno at Senior Buns, her phone had not stopped ringing. She was getting really fucking tired of this bullshit.

The call finally ended and Hiccups had a moment to breathe. She sighed loudly.

Fucking clowns. She loved them to death but god were they needy. It was like they couldn’t decide or do anything without her input.

Well, I guess it’s better to be needed than discarded and left for dead. Unwanted memories started to flash in her mind, and she shook her head. This was not the time or day to be reliving her past.

She noticed Yappy and Yuno parked on the sidewalk again, hood open and engine smoking as Yappy fixed the car. She walked over to them, switching her phone to silent.

“Hey, phone calls all finished?” Yuno asked as she walked up to them.

“Yep.” At least all the phone calls she’d be answering for now.

“So, what was it you wanted to do today?” she asked, crossing her arms and shifting her weight in her hips.

“Well, I thought about racing from the top of Mt. Chilliad to the Funhouse. And then Yappy suggested we steal CG cars and use their cars to race.”

“Hey!” Yappy cried out, bonking his head on the hood of the car.

Hiccups smiled under her mask. Yuno always knew how to come up with a fun plan that would lift her spirits – and messing with Yappy was always a bonus.

“It was your idea to steal the cars! Not mine!” Yappy complained and shut the hood.

“Oh,” Yuno’s voice dropped, “So I shouldn’t have called Mr. K and told him that I saw you lock picking his car?”

Yappy ran to tackle Yuno, missing entirely and falling face first onto the concrete. A laugh bubbled out of Hiccups, her stress from earlier disappearing.  

“Come on, let’s go!” Yuno ran to the other side of the car and slipped in the driver’s seat. Hiccups ran over and popped into the passenger seat, forcing Yappy to ride in the trunk, grumbling about it as he did. Once they were all settled, Yuno peeled away from the park, tires squealing beneath them.

“I saw a bunch of their cars over at Senior Buns earlier,” Yuno exclaimed, “Do you have a lockpick?”

“Yep!” Hiccups chirped and patted her pocket.

“Good.” He made a sharp turn at a light and they both shifted in their seats from the force. “You and Yappy can lock pick the cars and then we’ll all meet on top of Mt. Chilliad.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the food court. Thankfully, they didn’t crash, and no one was ejected along the way. Yuno sped past the front of the building and made a sharp left at the light before the overpass. He took another left and then abruptly stopped on the street behind the parking lot situated across from the food court. There, no one would see them as they executed their plan.

“Ok, the black demon with the red racing stripes and the blue Weevil are both CG cars.” Yuno pulled on his clown mask as Yappy popped out of the trunk, “Don’t get caught, and I’ll see you on top off Mt. Chilliad.”

Hiccups nodded and hopped out of the car. Hostage sped off once she and Yappy were out. She climbed over the concrete barrier on the backside of the parking lot. Her boots hit the black top of the lot first. She surveyed the lot for the two cars her brother had described, her eyes moving swiftly from one car to the next.

Black car, red stripes. Black car, red stripes. Black car, red stripes.

She quickly located both cars just as Yappy landed next to her on the lot: the black demon was parked on the opposite side of the lot in the back row and the blue weevil was on this side of the lot parked in a top spot closer to the street.

Hiccups immediately ran off to the demon before Yappy could. No way in hell was she going to be driving that small, old ass car. It would make for a terrible getaway if CG came out and she had to escape quickly in that thing.

“Hey!” Yappy yelled out after he realized what she was doing.

A sly smile crept on her lips under her mask, her heavy boots pounding against the concrete. You snooze, you lose.

She swiftly made it to the driver’s side of the car and tried the handle – it was locked. She bashed the window in with her elbow and unlocked it from the inside. The car alarm started to sound. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She was completely fucked if CG came out and caught her now. She slipped into the driver’s seat, shutting the door behind her, and took out the lockpick from her pocket. Taking a deep breath to steady herself from the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she then leaned forward and inserted the lockpick into the keyhole.

Hiccups had lockpicked many cars in her days in Los Santos, and she was pretty good at it if she did say so herself. Of course, some cars were harder than others and there was the occasional time where she fucked up and didn’t get it, breaking her lockpick in the process. This, however, was not going to be one of those times – a demon was one of the easier cars to lockpick and she was not going to allow herself to fuck this up.

Her fingers skillfully turned the lockpick one last time and she heard it click. A full smile broke out on her face as the car erupted to life, radio blasting and engine purring. Not waiting for Yappy, she immediately reversed the car out of the spot while buckling herself in. She sped past Yappy still lockpicking the other car and flipped him off.

“See you at Chilliad!” she yelled before flying out of the lot. She could hear Yappy calling out after her but couldn’t hear him as she sped away from Senior Buns.

The wind from the broken window rushed loudly through the car, strands of hair that had come loose from her braids whipped around her as she navigated the winding city streets. She pushed her braids over her shoulder so they wouldn’t bother her. She was pushing 100 as she made her way towards the freeway. She changed the radio channel till she found something with a deep bass and good beat and cranked the volume all the way up, letting the wind and the music overwhelm her mind. Once she hit the freeway, she slammed the gas pedal, hitting close to 160, zooming away from the city.  

Just as Hiccups had past the old casino, her phone started vibrating in her pocket. All of the stress from earlier seemed to flood back into her. She cursed under her breath and fished it out, glancing at it to see who was calling. It was Twinkles. She would never deny his calls – so she reluctantly answered.

“Hey Tinkles!” she yelled warmly over the wind and music.

“Hey Hiccups,” Twinkles’s soft voice contrasting the chaos happening in her car, “Are you busy right now?”

“Not particularly – was just driving to Mt. Chilliad to race with Hostage and Yappy.” Yanking the steering wheel to swerve around some locals, scraping the side of the car on the median, before she pulled out in front of them.

“Ok, Twinkles has a big favor to ask of you.”

“Of course! Anything!” She knew she was going to fucking regret those words, she knew it, but she couldn’t say no to Twinkles. Ever.  

“So you know how Kirk was supposed to pick up the weed from Pigeon?”

Hiccups stomach flipped and her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she maneuvered around more cars. Fuck.

“Yeah….” she muttered out loudly between gritted teeth.

“Well, so Kirk isn’t going to be able to make it.”

Fuck. She chewed her lip nervously.

“Well, that’s okay. Can you go pick it up?” she asked, her voice straining a little.

“Well, you see – agh!” Twinkles voice cut off at his outcry and she could hear what sounded like sirens and someone else’s voice in the background.

No fucking way. She really hoped this wasn’t going where she thought it was.

“Twinkles, are you and Kirk in a cop chase right now?” She veered around another car and across the inner section, now driving on the wrong side of the road.

“Yeah…”

Hiccups sighed loudly. This wasn’t fucking happening. Just as she was getting into something fun, something to let go of all the stress she had been dealing with the past couple days, of course something had to happen to ruin it. It was like the fucking universe was conspiring against her.

“Twinkles promises he won’t ever ask you to do it again! And Kirk promises that he didn’t intentionally push this on to you!” Concern was evident in his tone.

She knew that; she knew they wouldn’t purposefully fuck her over like this. Same way she wouldn’t threaten Twinkles with fire. They wouldn’t do this to her – they weren’t CG. And Kirk promised when he first pitched the CG deal to her that she wouldn’t have to interact with them any more than necessary – that he would deal with payments and pick-ups and drop offs. But of course, as one of the more responsible clowns, she would be down that chain of contact eventually, if something happened where Kirk or whomever else couldn’t make it. She knew there was a possibility of it happening, she just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“No, I know,” she sighed into the phone, “But, Twinkles – I don’t have any money to pay for it.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Kirk already paid Pigeon for the first order after the meeting a few days ago.” He was back to his chipper tone again.

Hiccups groaned. This was really fucking happening.

“Ok, fine.” She steered back onto the other side of the road, passing the prison, almost clipping several cars on the way, “Where am I meeting this guy?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, what’s your ping?”

She swiftly looked at the app on her phone all the while trying to dodge the slower moving cars around her.

“Um, 359.” She put the phone back to her ear.

“Okie, just sent you the location.” As soon as Twinkles had said it, the notification popped up on her phone. She hit accept and it immediately opened up the GPS with the marked location. The pin was dropped in the north-east corner of the desert in Sandy Shores, past a small motor-home park near the highway.

“Alright, I got it Twinkles.”

“Alrighty, thank you Hiccups! Promise this is the only time!”

“Yeah, yeah of course.”

She hung up the phone and dropped it in the cup holder. She let out a deep sigh.

Fucking fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

She floored the gas pedal, going from 160 to just above 180 in a few seconds. She didn’t really want to get there any faster than she already was – she really didn’t want to go at all – but her anxious mind needed to be distracted. And right now, that distraction was a fast car and loud music.

The music blasted in her ears as Hiccups raced off the highway, swerving left onto the main road into Sandy. She tapped her fingers against the wheel and chewed the inside of her bottom lip. The street with the motorhomes came up on her left and she turned sharply onto the dirt road, barely missing a collision with an oncoming car. Her entire body started to tingle as the reality of the situation started to set in. She could see a lone car parked up ahead in the distance as she passed the homes. The music and wind couldn’t distract her panicking mind anymore. She practiced taking deep breaths, trying to control the panic attack threatening to take over. Every cell in her body was screaming for her to just turn around and drive away. Or just drive past and don’t look back.

She was now close enough that she could see a figure leaning against the car. Her breath caught in her throat: she recognized that red car and the leaning figure. A shiver went down her spine as excitement began to mix with her nervousness. Heated memories flashed through her mind: the feel of his burning touch on her skin, his hand threading through her hair, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin on her neck, teeth biting and bruising her chest. She could feel the heat rising in her face as her body and mind remembered.

The burning memories battling with her nervous tingling, she impulsively yanked the steering wheel to the side and hit the brakes. The car smoothly drifted to a stop a few feet in front of him. Her back hit the seat again as the car lurched to a complete stop.

Hiccups just sat there for a second in the idling car, staring at him, a storm brewing within her.

This seriously couldn’t be fucking happening right now.

________________________

Jagger leaned against the side of his car, hands in his pockets, in the middle of the Grand Senora Desert, waiting. He wasn’t particularly happy when he got the call from Pigeon begging him to do the drop off. Weed wasn’t his thing - it had never been his thing! He much preferred the shooting, the planning, the heists, the cop chases. Yeah, he was at the weed meeting earlier in the week but that was to just show support for his gang, just in case the Clowns started any “funny” business. He was kinda disappointed when they hadn’t. To be honest, he really had no interest in working with the Clowns or selling weed at all, but Pigeon got caught up in some…thing and of course couldn’t make it. So, who did Pigeon call to do it instead? Him.

Jagger sighed and looked up at the sky. He dreaded whatever kind of colorful freak with a high-pitched, annoying yucking voice that was going to pull up. He was going to yucking kill Pigeon once this was done.He had nothing against clowns in general, wasn’t afraid or out-right hated them or anything - he just didn’t understand why these clowns felt the need to go around dressed up as one all the time. And he could never get a straight answer from them: they were always pulling some prank or starting some bull-yuck or talking around in circles. It was infuriating.

He was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of wheels on the dirt road. He looked out at the road to see a black car, a Demon, speeding towards him, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it, the radio blasting. For a moment, he thought the driver was going to run him, since they seemingly made no effort to slow down as they got closer to him. Fortunately, at the last minute, they swerved sharply and drifted to a stop.

Jagger sighed again and got off his car, removing his hands from his pockets, preparing to meet whomever – whatever – had come to meet him. They took their time, music still roaring from the idling car as he stood there, waiting. Then, the car shut off and the door opened.

Oh.

Out stepped a female clown in a bunny mask with tanned skin and dark hair in long, messy braids. She was wearing these giant black, platform boots with black stockings and the smallest red skirt Jagger had ever seen (it barely covered anything). A white top poked out from underneath the cropped hoodie she wore. Black fingerless gloves adorned her slender hands while dark polish coated her nails. His mind went blank as she walked towards him.

To be clear, Jagger was familiar with women wearing skimpy clothing in the city – he was in a gang with Carmella and Paris for yuck’s sake, who both wore actual lingerie all the time. But this, for some reason, ignited something different within him; something needy, almost primal. He could feel it spreading throughout his entire body as she walked, hips swaying with each step she took.

Oh yuck. He realized he had been blatantly staring at her and quickly looked away, his cheeks burning. In this moment, he was very thankful he wore a mask, so she couldn’t see him blushing after ogling her. He cleared his throat, simultaneously trying to clear away the unwanted thoughts from his mind, before looking back at her. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms and popping out a hip.

“So, you’re the clown picking up the weed?” he asked, trying not to look anywhere but her face, lest his thoughts betray him again.

The clown scoffed and rolled her eyes, shifting her weight in her hips. Again, he fought to keep his eyes on her face and not follow the movement of her body and the tiny skirt that hardly covered her.

“Where’s the Bird?” she asked, completely ignoring his question.

“The Bird?” Jagger raised an eyebrow at the name. He had heard Pigeon called many things, but this was a first.

“Fuck, are all CG members as dense as you?” she muttered quietly. It was definitely something that Jagger wasn’t supposed to hear but did anyways.

“I’m sorry, what?” He took a step towards her, trying to seem somewhat intimidating and confident and not at all bothered by her. Big mistake. Instead of seeming threatening, all it did was make him more aware of her presence. He refused to break eye contact with her as he fought to stay in control of his body.

There was a moment he saw something flicker in her eyes – something other than annoyance – before they returned to their cold, judging gaze. He couldn’t place it, but it made his skin tingle slightly in expectation? excitement? Oh, he was yucked.

She cleared her throat and turned away from his intense gaze.

“Pigeon? Where’s Pigeon?” she clarified, twirling the string of her hoodie in her fingers, his eyes flickering to the movement before going back to her face, “I thought he was supposed to be the one handling all the weed things?”

“Ah…” He took a step back and ran a hand through his hair, trying to expend some of his restless energy, “Who knows. Probably chasing someone with long legs in a short skirt.”

Yuck. He blushed profusely as he realized he had basically just described her. God he really was so yucking dumb.

“Huh, guess he would’ve come if he knew I was coming instead of Kirk.” she sighed, shrugging it off while throwing one of her braids behind her shoulder.

For a moment, Jagger was taken back to standing in the cool night air in front of the Honey Pot, waiting for his car.

“It’s okay,” she said, flipping her hair while turning to gaze out at the street, “I know I’m irresistible.”

He shook the memory from his mind. Why was he thinking of her right now? He hadn’t thought about her in a couple days and why his brain decided to bring it back up now, he had no idea. He was already struggling to be courteous with the scantily clad clown in front of him, he didn’t also need to start thinking about her and that night again.

An awkward silence passed as he struggled to bring his mind back to the present situation. It also didn’t help that the clown started to tap her foot, the buckles on her boots jingling with the motion, drawing his attention to her feet and then her long legs.

“So, you got my weed?” she asked, her voice cutting through his internal struggle. He eagerly tore his eyes away from her legs, thankful to focus on something else as he focused his gaze back on her face. She was staring back at him, their eyes briefly meeting again.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat, blinking rapidly and fishing the car keys out of his pocket, “yeah.”

He headed towards the back of his car. He heard her boots crunching on the dirt as she followed. He unlocked and swiftly opened the trunk.

 “Ten thousand dollars’ worth of Sam Gaas.” He stepped back, allowing her to examine the contents of his trunk. 

She stepped up to the trunk and leaned over, giving him a clear view of her backside. Jagger averted his eyes quickly as she checked everything, not wanting to seem discourteous or add fuel to the fire starting to pool in lower stomach. His cheeks started to burn again. He clenched and unclenched his hands. He was seriously struggling.  

“20 bricks?” she asked. He looked back over at her. She had straightened back up and was staring at him again.

“Yep, 20 bricks.” he confirmed, his voice cracking slightly. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything, but just leaned back into the trunk. Jagger looked at the ground, kicking a small rock with his feet, focusing and willing all his attention on the small rock.

“Are you just going to stand there? Making me do all the work?” her voice cutting through the awkwardness. He whipped his head back up – she was holding several bricks in her arms, carelessly stacked against her chest. Even though her face was hidden behind the bunny mask, he swore he could see a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Chivalry really is dead,” she mumbled – again something he probably wasn’t supposed to hear – and then started walking towards her car.

Jagger huffed out a hollow chuckle, hands on his hips, and set his jaw. This clown was driving him crazy, in several different ways. Begrudgingly, he picked up a stack of bricks from the trunk and followed her to her car.

He whistled as he took in the black demon, slowly walking to the back of the car.

“I didn’t know the clowns were up good.”

“It’s not mine,” she replied nonchalantly, passing by him to get more weed from his car.

“Figures…” he said under his breath and then placed the bricks in the trunk.

He took a step back, admiring the car: it’s sleek black body with red stripes painted down the top of the car. For some reason, it seemed familiar to him – but there were a lot of black demons in the city, some that surely had red racing stripes too. He glanced at the license plate and noticed the dragon frame around the plate. Then it clicked. This was Zolo’s car; he had seen it parked on Grove Street, outside the gang’s house numerous times. A bunch of the guys in the gang had that dragon license plate frame, made their cars a lot more recognizable when they were out and about. And he had never seen someone not associated with the gang have it.

So why the yuck does this clown have it? Jagger glanced back up at her. She was walking back towards him with the rest of the weed to put in the trunk. Surely, Zolo wasn’t that down bad to lend his car to a clown. But to be fair, Jagger would understand if Zolo had.

The clown followed him with her eyes as she walked along the side of the car.

Or maybe she stole it. He looked off to the side as she leaned down and placed the remaining weed in the trunk.

“So, friend’s car then?” he asked. He heard the sound of the trunk closing and took it as his queue that it was safe to look back at her.

“Uh, yeah.” She headed towards the front of the car, completely ignoring his gaze.

 “Really?” He whistled again, following her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clown with this kind of car.

“Seems like a car a gang banger would drive.” He stopped a few inches in front of the car and turned to face her. She had stopped by the passenger door and was looking at him, eyes narrowed.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I mean, not sayin’ a clown couldn’t have a car like this,” he exclaimed, trying to sound as ignorant as possible, “Just that it doesn’t seem like the clowns’ style.”

“Oh, and a ‘gang banger’ like you would know what a clown’s style is?” she snapped back, crossing her arms. His smile widened at the response – he discovered he liked pushing her buttons.

There was a moment of silence as they stood there, staring at each other. Jagger didn’t really have an end goal to this. He didn’t really want to fight her or start anything - CG cars got stolen all the time, it was just a part of living in the city. He just liked pushing her buttons, seeing what reactions he could elicit from the clown that was driving him mad.

“Are we done?” she finally asked, her tone flat again, “Or are you going to keep questioning me?”

So, she wasn’t going to push back.

“No, of course. You got your weed.” he said, putting his hands up in defeat. Her eyes narrowed at him again. She was obviously not trusting of him, as he wasn’t of her, but, again, he didn’t want this to end in a fight and a trip to the hospital.

“See ya around.” He turned back around to his car, to show in good faith he wasn’t going to push any further. A stupid smile was still plastered on his face, a newfound feeling of excitement flowing through his body.

He didn’t hear her come up behind him as he slowly walked to his car, reveling in his “victory”. He was only a few steps away when everything went black, and his legs gave out beneath him.

Jagger came to lying face first on the ground, dust in his nostrils and mouth, ears ringing slightly. He blinked slowly, allowing all his senses to adjust again. The first thing he noticed was a pounding ache in the back of his head and neck. He slowly lifted himself up off the ground, rocks digging into the palms of his hands. He heard the screeching of tires as he got up, kicking up more dust into his face.

Standing up, he saw the black demon speeding away from him, and the clown’s hand sticking out the driver’s window, flipping him off. He chuckled to himself as he watched her drive away. Oh, he was totally yucking yucked.