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-Darlyn, Derek, What are you doing right now? –the leader asked, quite curious at seen both kids jump at the same time of hearing her. It had been around a month since she notice that the twins had been doing a project in secret so far and they wouldn’t tell her, which was starting to annoy her because she hated waiting or surprises! She wanted to know now! The only thing keeping her from checking what they were doing was that neither of her people knew nothing about it, which meant that she had to just be patient and wait.
-Get out of here! This is off limits to old grannies like you!
-G-Grannie?!?
-Hahahaha come on now, Darlyn, don’t tell her that, don’t be mean – Darlyn just stuck her tongue out to her brother and guardian while she decided to hide what she had on her hands under the blanket that was covering something that wasn’t big but it was neither small, taking then the mug of hot coffee that had been brought by her guardian and sipping at it with gusto, ah, how she loved coffee with lots of cream.
-Hmph! Well then, I won’t ask any more if you both won’t tell anybody about it!
-You always say that! And then at the next occasion start asking again!
-I can’t help it ok?!
A laugh was heard from the only male in the room, both women staring at him before he just smiled fondly, drinking his apple juice slowly, enjoy the taste too.
-Well, whatever. Why are you here Cathy? Haven’t you been busy lately with the idea of expanding our territory?
-Yes, but…I fear that at the end we might need to really use violence instead of alliances, which is something I was hoping not to do.- her voice had a tone of annoyance, moving her hand to motion both teens to start following her and get out of the garage. Derek and Darlyn stared at each other, worried before walking behind her, turning off the lights and closing the door.
-It is complicated to expand when not only other small crews are trying to do the same, but also the big ones, like the Fake AH Crew, they grew really fast during these years. –the twins notice how their guardian seemed worried about this rubbing her earlobe like that. It was something she tended to do, especially when she was talking about that crew in specific.
Cathy’s Crew was small and so it was her territory, it was ok to expand at first near the beach, but other crews would always take a part of it, leaving them with what they got from the beginning, making it hard for her crew to have more space.
-I’m really worried about expanding, ya know? I don’t want to be at the bad side of another crew, I don’t want to get into a battle or something.
The twins stared at each other again before watching their guardian’s back, they knew what she meant, after all, besides not wanting deaths, the leader of the crew was not much of fighting or making others fight, it was always more of sneaking, stealing, persuading and the likes of that, heck, she didn’t knew she had been the leader years ago, or that’s what they were told, that Cathy had been so clueless to the point she just though that the house they were right know was a place for women to relax or be safe after escaping from abuse, hiding from the police for being criminals or other funny business.
Really, the crew was made by all women.
-But that’s the only option left! We’re a small group and ok, its fine, but we need more resources! And what better way to get them? By defeating other crews, growing our reputation and expanding! That way we can be known as a powerful crew and not just a group of women and a kid.
-Hey.
The leader bit her finger with a bit of force, really distraught with the situation at hand and not only was she worried about expanding, but also about that damn list that Project NEON had put online, she wanted to protect both her kids that were almost at the top of the list, and sure, some risky gunner came from time to time but they ended always dead, not even getting a glimpse from her kids before one of her great shooters shot them in the head. It was stupid to believe that just because they were all women they were going to be weak, for god sake, some were really good with guns, knives or at fist fights, hell, she could even be sure that some of them were even good at torture if they were asked to do it.
-Maybe…maybe we should form an alliance with the Fake AH Crew? I mean, I know the beach it’s a good place for lots of things, especially for business with shipments or escaping by sea if needed to.
-What?!? Why with them??
-Think about it Darlyn, if we form an alliance with them, we could be not only protected , we could even get a name between the rest of small crews that are around here and expand even if they end up getting a part of it, I believe it would be a good deal.
Darlyn stared hard at her twin and let out an annoyed sigh, he was kind of right there but that still didn’t make her happy with the idea of needing men to get help in stuff like that.
-Not to mention that I want both your well-being, ya know? – both teens stopped walking at the same time and stared at the brown haired woman that was their guardian, same guardian that turned around when she stopped hearing the footsteps to see the twins in the eyes. – If we form an alliance we could protect you, after all, Fake AH Crew has gunslingers right? I assume they would protect them too…and well, you two could maybe bond with them more?
The woman cringed when she saw the expression on both teens, it was distaste from part of Darlyn and insecurity from Derek, both again staring at each other, communicating in their own way before the older of the two huffed annoyed .
-I’m not sure what you have in that head of yours but not all gunslingers get along , Derek and I are a different case, since we are twins and could possible work together way better than other gunslingers that are not related by blood.
Cathy nodded, remembering the first time she actually met both kids. One of the girls that she had saved, by mistake might she add had given them to her as a way for paying her for rescuing her from this small group of guys that had kidnapped her and were demanding a heavy amount of money from her parents. She didn’t mean with some of the other girls to just appear there where they were hiding the girl, they actually were following this god damn cat that had been missing from an old lady some days ago.
And well, something leads to another thing and in the end they had beating the shit out of those guys, being in that moment where she got her nickname.
Mama Bear.
The girl that had been rescued used the money that was been asked from her parents to buy two cute nine year old twins, using her name to put her as the guardian and so that they could help with the crew “It the least I can do for helping me out” were her words .
From there an adventure started with those two.
Oh, and her crew too.
A crew that wasn’t really a crew at the beginning, it was more like a group of women that reunited there and had a nice time at the beach house but when other women started coming there, it was not like she would reject them, so it was no surprise to find either criminals or other women that made a different kind of living there, nothing was stable at the beginning but it was slowly changing.
And of course Cathy hadn’t notice all that from the beginning, hell, she didn’t notice she had been selected as the leader or that she had been giving orders to plans that the other girls had in mind, she always thought they were asking for her advice and there she was ‘giving them advise’.
But the day she received the twins was the day she noticed the situation she was in and, oh boy, did she had a huge headache during the resto of the day. How the hell hadn’t she noticed? Was she that scatterbrained?
-Darlyn and Derek, those are really some cute names ya have there.
Nothing. She hadn’t received an answer to what she said from them, they only stared at her, like waiting for orders from her, something that broke her heart in pieces, they were kids after all. What the fuck had that project do to them to make them like that? Her only hope of helping these kids was watching them be so close to each other, but there were no touches or whispers, just complete silence.
During the next days and weeks it was really more used in opening the kids, to make them socialize more with the rest of the girls and with her.
Derek was easier from the beginning, he had a gleam of curiosity in his emerald eyes every time he saw a few women repairing or painting some cars or motorcycles, the way he moved his small hands like he wanted to help, tell them what was wrong or not, that he could do it, that he could help them but there was this wall that was stopping him from socializing and that was Darlyn, a stern look and a shake of her had was all it took to take that shine from his eyes, to wait from an order from their guardian , they couldn’t do whatever they wanted, they were thought to obey and protect with their lives what was most important.
-Ya know? If you really want to help with the cars and stuff you can go, I know you specialize on that and you don’t have to only repair my things- Cathy had commented on it one day while they were alone, Darlyn had been sent with a few of the girls to go get something that were needed in the base, Cathy’s way of hoping that her gunslinger would open with the older women in some way.
-. . .
-Come on, I know you want to, I always catch you staring at them, moving your fingers as if you want to just do something there, have some action – she smiled once she saw the neutral mask fall from his face, chubby cheeks going red of embarrassment replacing it, but he nodded and without being told twice he got out of the small room that was made into an office, going to do his work or better yet, enjoy himself.
From there on everything started to go well, Derek became more of a social butterfly, interacting with the rest of the women there which took a liking to always having him there with them, being guided or letting him repair and paint some parts , revealing his talent and passion for mechanics.
Darlyn took longer, a whole year and a half to finally open up to the rest of the crew, while Derek only took half a year, it had been hard but in the end it had been worth it.
The kids besides interacting better with them they had started mastering their abilities to the point they would teach the rest of the crew how to repair little stuff if they ever had a problem and they were not close by.
-…thy! Cathy! –the woman jumped when she saw fingers snapping really close to her face, coming out from her memories, blinking and watching the two teens that were staring at her with worry in their eyes.
-Sorry, I got lost in thoughts –a small smile appeared on her lips, the brown haired woman coming close to the twins before hugging them tightly to her chest, some tears inevitably falling from her eyes hugging even more the teens, finally laughing when Darlyn started trashing to be freed from that hug once she noticed that her guardian started crying, exclaiming she didn’t want her snot to be sticking to her clothes.
Derek rubbed her back and once he was free he gave his guardian some tissues he always carried with him whenever this happened.
-I really don’t understand why the call you Mama Bear when clearly you should be called a Cry Baby! You cry for little things!
-I sometimes ask myself that –she couldn’t help but whisper that, smiling big once she cleaned her face, guiding them to the office that wasn’t that far, after all they still needed to do some things.
-In the end you never told us why we came here?
-Oh …um… Project NEON told me they had sent us some weapons to help us with all this list thing, that they were more like gifts since you two were in the top five- she couldn’t help but to roll her eyes when she saw her Darlyn’s chest inflated with pride, after all they had been passive and to get fifth position was joy for her.
-And well, the only condition they asked from me was that you two would go and get it; I guess you’ll find someone there that will give you the weapons, right? - the leader was still scared sending her two kids alone, they didn’t know how to defend themselves that well, Darlyn at least knew how to make good use of a dagger but anything other than that was a big zero, especially with guns, both of them sucked at that.
The twins furrowed their eyebrows at the same time but nodded in the end, if it was a direct order from the Project they had to follow it.
=-=-0-=-=
-They’re taking too long…m-maybe I should go and find them.
-Calm down Cathy, they are fine.
-But the list! T-they could’ve…!
-Hey, listen, stay calm, ok? They know how to take care of each other, Derek is the best driver of the crew, and if something happens they can run away without problems.
-I…I k-know but…ugh –the twins guardian had to close her mouth when she thought she was about to throw up, she had been feeling ill since half an hour ago and it was getting worse, with shivers invading her as well, she obviously rejected any kind of food or drink, she wasn’t going to eat, not unless the kids returned soon, first because if they did come home she would feel so much better and second, since the moment she knew them she had always ate with them.
-Time to eat~!
The brown haired woman put the two plates in front of the kids, having order them to sit down, something she wished she hadn’t had done, hoping that they would sit by themselves , well baby steps, right?
Once the plates of spaghettis for the kids were on the table, she took her own plate and sat herself in front of the kids, she was so hungry to the point she couldn’t remember if she actually ate something during the course of that busy day, making sure everything was ok with the rest of the girls.
The kids stared at her and then their plates.
-What? …Oh, don’t tell me you don’t like it! It’s not bad, I swear, you can even ask the other girls whenever I cook! –she had though that they didn’t like it one bit, so when the next question was asked she could feel her heart break once more into little pieces.
-What is this?
A short laugh escaped from her lips once she remembered that the one who asked that had been Darlyn and Derek was the one that nudged her with his elbow to stay silent. Of course she could laugh now at those days, but at that time she had been horrified and sad that these kid didn’t even know what was in their plates, so from then on she had promised herself to make them eat everything, whether she cooked it, one of the others did it or if it was take out.
At that moment hurried footsteps could be heard coming to where they were, making Cathy’s eyes lift and star at the door, noting that the girls that had come were really pale and agitated.
-What’s wrong?- her second in command left her side to come closer to the two girls that stared at the floor before one of them decided to be the brave one and lifted her head to whisper to the older woman in front of them. And she didn’t heard what was said but by the way her second in command stiffened , she knew something was wrong, feeling her stomach drop even more at the bad feelings she started to get.
-Susan?
-…You need to stay calm, Cathy.
-What…? No… no no no no no no no no no! What’s going on!?!? Is it the kids?!? Did something happen to the twins?!?- She stood up from the chair she had been sitting, her brown eyes staring at the two girls that were still at the door, staring still at the floor.
She wasn’t going to lose more time waiting there; she had an even stronger shiver than before crawling all her spine and before she could be held there she ran away from that room, set on finding her twins until she stopped in front a door, the whimpers and sobs making her stop.
The leader stared at the floor before closing her eyes and hugged herself.
-Cathy? Are you really that strong as a bear?
It had been one morning when Derek asked her that, it was a day like the rest, they were in the garage, the boy fixing the engine of a car that had been used for a small heist the other day but had broken down near the base, thank god they had eluded the police by the time that happened so they were left pushing the damn thing back to base.
-I’m not that strong…-the guardian stared at her cup of cold milk before taking a small sip, sweet god how she loved cold milk during the mornings.
-But Susan said the other day that you are as strong as a bear! Is that the reason you have your nickname? –Darlyn had interjected, drinking her coffee, sitting next to Derek while giving him the tools he asked from time to time.
-Well, it was Susan who gave me that nickname but the rest started using it after the story I told you. –she scratched her head, yawning and sipping more of her milk.- I guess it happened the day I met Susan, at that time she was pregnant with Joy and well –she made a face just remembering that moment -…her husband used to beat her up and one time he started doing that in the middle of the street, that fucker was drunk and was kicking and punching her, no one dared to come close and that infuriated me so much I stepped in and bit the shit out of him.
-You fought him? Did you know Susan before that?
-No, I never met her before, Darlyn.
-So why fight?
-I don’t fight Derek, I protect, I defend. I guess at that time she saw a bear in me, a mother protecting their cubs from danger with teeth and claws.
She opened her eyes and slowly entered the room, everyone falling silent the moment she came in, all eyes on their leader, watching her come close to the two stretchers that were covered with a blanket each, both of the fabrics having a blood stained spot near the head area.
With shaking hands she got a hold of both blankets and yanked them off, feeling herself stop breathing once she noticed the twins there, unmoving, eyes closed and clothes a bit bloody.
-…Derek…Darlyn –she whispered and with that the rest of the crew left the room, to leave their leader alone for the moment. Cathy extended her hands to caress their faces feeling them so cold.
Her hands left their faces to have a hold of their hands, grasping each in one of her own, holding them tightly, expecting them to jump at how hard she was squeezing them, to tell her it was an I joke and that she shouldn’t cry because she believed the act.
But there was no act, this wasn’t a joke either.
-Are you stupid?!?
-You could have died!!
-You had no right to defend us! We’re here to give our lives for you, to protect you from everything!
-But…you’re only kids and...a-and besides! I’m fine am I not?
-You still have a fucking bullet on your goddamn leg!
-Weeeeeeeeell…minus the bullet on the leg, I’m alive and once they take it out, check that it didn’t hit a nerve or something, I’ll start walking again and be goo- -she stopped talking the moment she felt two pair of arms hugging her, surprised by that, after all it had been almost three years and the twins never had started the touches first, it had always been her, so when she felt the hug, she hugged them back tightly, making her cry and plead for forgiveness from the other two, that she would take care of herself better next time but also asking for them to take care of themselves, after all they were family, her family and hell if she was going to let anyone hurt her kids.
Not being able to feel her legs, she fell to the ground on her knees, still holding the twins hands. She felt so empty inside, they had taken away from her the happiness she got to feel in those long seven years, she knew she wasn’t going to be the only one to suffer their loss, the crew had been after all really close with them but the kids had passed more time with her than with anyone from the crew.
They’ve been together in good and bad days, caring for them when they got sick, taking them to places to eat new food or pastries, she even had been teaching them how to cook recently, both of them were even fired up to the idea of making her dinner, one she would never forget.
-Besides, maybe one day you will find someone you will love and the best way to conquer them is by the stomach- she explained while patting her on stomach, watching the two teens as they stared at her with raised eyebrows, passing her the cut vegetables and meat.
-We already have someone we love –ah, she always liked when the twins would talk at the same time, it was really adorable.
-Oh really? And who is this person? And no, I don’t count.
-But we do love you!! You’re the most important person for both of us, leaving aside the project; you are the best thing that happened to us.
The older woman had bit her lip and once again with tears in her eyes she had hugged them to her chest, kissing both their faces and ruffling their curly black hair into a mess.
-Cathy! Cathy! The food is burning!
-Aaaaah!!
She didn’t knew how much time had it pass when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her lift her head and stare with dulled eyes at her second in command which was asking her in a gently voice that she should rest, to drink at least something, it had already past three hours since she was left there and she couldn’t be any longer.
Her eyes went to the hands she was still holding and nodding lightly she slowly stood up with the help of Susan who was holding her shoulders. She shrugged her for a moment, just enough time to put both stretchers together and then intertwine the teen’s hands together.
-. . .-she opened her mouth but nothing came out of it, she just bent herself a bit to deposit a small kiss on both twins cheeks, letting Susan cover them again with the blankets before she was pulled away from them.
-I…I want them cr-cremated, ok? - She whispered, staring at the floor while walking; only hearing the affirmation from Susan that let her further away from there.
=-=-0-=-=
It had been almost a week and a half since the twins were killed, the next day they had been cremated and they both were now in a pair of jars that she was holding close to her chest, sitting in the sand, closing her eyes when she felt the breeze in her face, feeling herself relax during that time of the day, when there was few people walking and the stores were beginning to open.
Sighing slowly she opened her eyes, holding the jars a bit tighter than before, remembering when she found out that everything had been planned, the Fake AH Crew wasn’t meant to be there and yet they were, things just weren’t supposed to have happened like that, she didn’t knew what went there but the outcome had left her without her twins.
She knew she was supposed to be mad at Project NEON, because it was them who had told her to let the two kids to go alone, yet she was more angry at whoever had shot them. She wanted to punch them and scream at them, tell them that they had been just kids with a future, that there was no reason to have killed them.
And it was with that in mind that she had come to the conclusion that yes, she wanted an alliance with Ramsey, to eliminate the damn Project once and for all, she knew that yes, her crew was small but the people inside her crew could be way better than any other hired gun they could get, the women that formed her crew were strong.
But the only thing she was asking besides protection was for her to punch the living hell out of the person who had killed her kids, it was stupid but she knew she would stay at peace once that was done…if she could do it of course; she knew she would break down and just ask them why.
-I better start going now…and I know both of you wouldn’t have been happy with this but, it’s for the best, for everyone –making sure she had a good hold on both jars, she lifted herself and returned to her base, to leave the two of them in the other garage that they had proclaimed as theirs for their projects.
Once there, she left them at the shelf, next to a cup of coffee and a bottle of apple juice that she would always change every day for them.
But before she could leave, she saw the white sheet that was covering their last project between them, once she had completely forgot to check.
She could feel her heart clench itself when she came close to it and took of the sheet to see what was hiding under it, her eyes going big as she extended her hand and had a hold of what seemed to be a new cellphone on top of the other thing, one she turned on, feeling her tears almost spill from her eyes, the cellphone had as a background a picture of the three of them together, smiling and covered in tomato sauce, from that time they had tried to cook lasagna.
She checked at the content, there weren’t much really, only a few pictures until she found something different… a recorded message?
-Testing, Testing, one, two, three…yeap, It’s working fine so far, I just hope the sound isn’t loud.
-Is that how you want to start the message Darlyn?
-Shut up! You know I can delete it later and make a new one.
-But come on, you know she would like this kind of things too.
-I know, that’s why I’m telling you to shut up already!
-Fine fine, I was just saying.
There was a grumbled sound and then a sigh. - Any way, Cathy, if you are hearing this, it means we completely forgot to erase it and we didn’t have time to make a new message.
-Darlyn...
-But it’s the true! Whatever, just Happy Birthday and all that sappy stuff, we didn’t knew what to give you and during all this years of knowing you we never got the chance to give you something, mostly your fault.
There was a annoyed sighed and then the sound of fighting before Derek’s voice was heard.- What Darlyn is trying to say is that this time we weren’t going to leave you without a gift this time around. This cellphone and the motorcycle were things that had been in planning for two years, at least the motorcycle.
Laughter was heard and again the sound of some shifting before stopping. - Anyway! This time you won’t deny our gifts, we love you so much and want the best for you and what better way that being made by hand from the best mechanic and technician of all Los Santos?
-I don’t think we should cons- Ouw Dar! Stop hitting me!
-It’s your fault! Shut up and let your older sist –
-Darlyn, Derek, What are you doing right now? - At the moment the audio got cut and that was the end of the message.
It was the first time since they died that she cried, holding her face and bumping her back to the wall, sliding until she was sitting on the floor.
In front of her was a motorcycle, but not like the rest, it was personalized, it even had Derek’s signature D at one side, such detailed D that it was hard not to miss it. The motorcycle was painted in her favorite colors and it seemed there where some paw prints there, perhaps Darlyn’s idea.
She cried until she couldn’t do it anymore, feeling exhausted but lightly better. The ex-guardian stared at the cellphone she still had in her hands and kissed it before putting it away in her pocket, moving until she was standing again, walking slowly to the motorcycle and caressing it carefully, smiling a bit at it.
Cathy cleaned her face with her sleeve and hoped on top of the vehicle, it felt amazing, it was indeed meant for her after all.
-Thank you…thank you – she whispered, patting the vehicle, breathing slowly before straightening herself and searching for the keys, finding them hanging to the side of the motorcycle. She turned it on and noting that it had still gas on it, she opened the garage door and got out, she had a mission after all and that was to go to Ramsey’s base and talk with him.