Chapter Text
When I was 17, I came to America to work for a company that my Dad had ties to that was called Rooster Teeth in Los Santos, California. I quickly learned after arriving in America that this was the cover name for the gang The Cock Bytes and that I had been hired as an evidence eliminator due to my pyromanic tendencies.
At the start of each day I was given a list of things to burn or electrically fry in a warehouse the gang owned so that the gang could keep working behind the scenes. At the end of the week the Boss, or one of his commanders, would stop by and pay me for a good week's worth of work.
On my days off I would wander Los Santos, noting places that were safe for me to roam by the Cock and Teeth marks spray painted on buildings, hidden in sign designs, and taped to windows on posters. One day, roughly 3 years after I first arrived in Los Santo, I paused outside of a bookstore that I frequented. On the wall of the building opposite was the usual Cock and Teeth but next to it was a fresh new mark of what looked like a green duck in a gun scope.
Scrawled underneath it was what to a normal person would be a bunch of random symbols: a cross, a bottle, a broken rock, and a dollar sign and a house squished close together.
I quickly translated it remembering what Simmons had taught me of the gang's code:
The cross meant Church, the Boss' official name in the circuit since he was the head of the Cock Bytes.
The bottle was one of his commanders, Grif to be exact, reknowned for his drinking.
The broken rock meant that someone was breaking away (perhaps Grif?) from the gang.
The dollar sign represented the gang's broker, Caboose, and the house was one of the lieutenants, Junior, so I guessed if you wanted to know more you had to see one of them.
"Like it?" A voice spoke directly into my ear. I jumped and spun around, my hand instantly going for the BBQ lighter that I had stuck in the back of my waistband. I stopped seeing who it was.
Smiling placidly at me was a pale, dark haired, scruffy guy in battered boots, torn jeans, a faded orange t-shirt, and a frayed dark green hoodie that had the familiar Cock and Teeth on it. His pale blue eyes blinked sleepily at me as he grinned "You're Vav right?"
I nodded, letting go of the lighter before self-consciously adjusting my Creeper hoodie. He offered me a hand, that had a few tattoos on it, "Grif. Though soon it's gonna be Lazer once the main crew is established." I shook his hand politely and asked "Grif? So what this says," I gestured to the wall behind me, "is true? You're leaving the Cock Bytes?"
Grif shook his head, the sun glinting off of two piercings in his left ear, "Not so much leaving as heading a new branch of it. The Fake Achievement Hunter Crew, the AH Crew for short." He leaned in and smirked at me "You wanna join? I could use someone who knows how to burn things properly..." I nodded eagerly "Of course! Church won't bloody let me go anywhere but home and the warehouse!"
Grif, or Lazer as he would soon be called, laughed happily and said "Welcome to the Crew then Lad! I already got 4 members and with you that makes the 5 needed to start the branch up!"
I jumped slightly as he threw his arm around my shoulders and started walking me to a BMW.
"4 members? Who do you have so far?" I asked as he opened the passenger side door and ushered me into his car.
"So far I have Junior, Caboose, Ultimate, and Sun." Lazer replied, starting up the car, "Next on my list is X-Ray."
I whistled at the group he had so far: Junior had incrediblely good bargaining methods that rarely ended in violence, Caboose was both a money and information broker with a finger in everyone's pie, Ultimate was one of the best messengers that the gang had, and Sun was one of the strongest people in the gang.
As for who he was planning on going for, X-Ray was a feelancer, a gun for hire, and a last resort. He was perfect for long distance assassinations and getting rid of unwanted people without a trace. He had no loyalty to anyone but himself.
"I think I can help you nab yourself an X-Ray." I confidently said. Lazer grinned at me as he started the car, 'Light 'Em Up' pounding in our ears, "Nice to know that kid. Nice to know..."