Nothing. She felt nothing.

"Did you get a good look at her face?" A distant wailing sounded like that of an ambulance. A familiar sound to her, but it sounded as if it was coming from far away. She couldn't see, she couldn't move. Everything was just black, darker than the night. She felt like there should be pain- at least that's what happened when you got blown the fuck up, right?

"No, she's a mess. No ID on her either. What was the Mayor doing with this girl? What happened on that boat?" She could feel movement next to her, like someone was touching her but she couldn't be sure. It sounded a little like she was underwater, the voices sounded so far away but she knew they were right next to her. Hold up your hand you idiot, she thought. Just let them know you're alive.

"Illegal, maybe?"

"I don't know. Hughes is definitely dead. She's strong though, explosion that big? She should be at the bottom of that dock."

"Fuck." A long pause. She could hear someone asking if they were responding on the radio. Yes! She wanted to scream. Me! I want to respond!

"What? We're nearly there… Well she's alive, but needs urgent… you can't be serious? She'll die if we take her there… What are you talking about? She's just a kid…" The voice sighed "I'm taking her to the hospital, you guys can pick her up from there. She's unresponsive and needs to see a doctor, I don't give a shit who you say she is. There's no way this kid could be that monster."

"What are they on about?" The other voice asked. She felt something being pushed onto her arm and the first voice sighed. It felt like her skin burst into flame, but she couldn't scream out in pain. Pain engulfed her whole body, and the voices quickly faded away.

Then everything went black again.


"I can't believe that bastard wants her alive." A man close to her commented. A second voice snorted at this.

"He's too soft. Spent too much time in that fucking gang, got too attached to 'em. That's why Gat walked away when the Saints went under." The second voice said, clearly thinking he had the authority on this.

"You think?" Someone moved near her, picking up her hand and waving it around. She cringed, she didn't like knowing that someone could touch her and she couldn't do anything about it.

"I know. My sister's ex-boyfriend got involved in it all- saw Troy a couple times when he was still undercover. Kept telling her to break up with the boyfriend, but she thought she loved him. When it all went down he got on the first train out of the city and abandoned her and the kid."

"Shit man, I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter, she's better off without him- she's away from all that shit. Never liked him anyway."

"What time are they coming?"

"Should be any time now." A pause. She could hear the men walking around the room, but couldn't tell what they were doing. This blackness was starting to piss her off now. A knock on the door had the men walking to the opposite side of the room. The door opened and the men welcomed someone into the room.

"You got everything you need?" The first voice asked.

"Yes, yes." A woman answered. "We'll just need you two to step outside- that way you can deny all knowledge this ever took place."

"Got it. You want a coffee?" One of the men said. She felt something be put down at the end of her bed, but she couldn't move or see what was happening. A hand began to touch at her face, but she couldn't pull away.

"Black, no sugar. Now go. You can't see what is about to happen." The door closed and there was silence for a few moments.

"Now, Jane Doe. Troy Bradshaw may be protecting you, but there's a lot of people in here who want to see some justice for what you've done. We might not be allowed to harm you, but we can use you in other ways."

There was a rustling, like the woman was looking through a bag.

"We have some plans for you. You're not going to be able to hide the way you did before the accident ever again."

Something pierced her skin, and her whole world went black again.


Time moved strangely in her mind-prison. Sometimes, it would feel like she could finally return to consciousness and other times it felt like the pain would never stop. The woman visited over and over, sending the men away and doing the same thing every time. She had no clue what was happening, and she hated being so powerless. She longed for even a little bit of light, but it felt like nothing ever came.


People always said "don't go toward the light" but in this case, the light was more than she'd been able to sense in a long time. So she was going toward the fucking light because it was better than lying here in complete blackness.

When her eyes finally opened, she had to blink a few times before things started coming into view. The ceiling was grotty, as if no one had cleaned it in years. Whatever she was lying on was uncomfortable, and the bright orange suit she was wearing was stiff and itchy. She tried to lift her arm to readjust it, but something stopped her from getting much further than a few inches up. Something crashed near her, but the noise sounded like she was returning to the surface after being underwater for a long time.

"Shit!" A voice shouted out, snapping her back to reality. She frowned. Where was she? What was this place? A door slammed closed, and the lock quickly turned. Blinking, she tried to turn her head but every movement felt far too difficult.

It looked like she was in some kind of hospital, but she'd spent enough time picking up random Saints from the ER to know this wasn't any hospital in Stilwater. Her limbs were heavy and uncooperative as she tried to look around. Sighing, she tried to lift her hand again to be met with something cold around her wrist, stopping her from moving. It took almost everything she had to turn her head to see that she was handcuffed to the bed.

What the fuck?

Things were starting to get a little less fuzzy in her head as she looked at her other hand. She'd gone to see Hughes on that stupid boat. She could remember how smug he was, that he thought he'd outsmarted her. Guess she was having the last laugh, now that she knew she was definitely alive.

The door opened, and she turned to look at who was coming into the room. Her head hurt from the sudden movement, but she pushed through the pain. She knew she had to be as alert as she could now she was awake. Something told her that she wasn't safe here, that she needed to get out as soon as she could. Fuzzy memories were coming back to her of the woman who visited her, and she didn't trust a single person in this strange place. Something had happened to her here. She couldn't remember what, but they had done something to her, she knew that much.

Two men walked over to the desk at the back of the room, as far away from her as they could get. One of them looked far more terrified than the other, so she assumed this was the person who had run out of the room before. He was younger than the guard and dressed in a lab coat. A doctor maybe? She didn't know, but she glared at him for good measure. That made him cower behind the guard and she smirked. She might be burnt to a crisp, but she's still got it.

"Fuck, you were right. She's awake." The older man said, looking her up and down quizzically.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" The doctor asked, avoiding her glare.

"I don't know, the Captain just assumed she was a vegetable."

"You can't leave her in here with me!" The doctor protested

"She's handcuffed to the bed, what do you think she's gonna do!"

"I can hear you, you know." Amethyst piped up, her voice hoarse from lack of use. The two men froze and turned to look at her. "Where the fuck am I?"

"Shut the fuck up prisoner." The guard said, clearly rattled at the sound of her voice. Prisoner? Was she in prison? The guard pointed at the doctor. "Do not take your eyes off of her, I need to inform the rest of the guards."

The doctor nodded, clearly terrified at the thought of being alone in a room with her.

"You sure you think he can handle me?" Am smirked as she jangled her handcuffs and the guard ignored her. He walked out the room without another word.

"He seems nice." Am said, watching how the doctor pointedly refused to even look at her. "Oh come on honey, I don't bite. Unless you ask." He paled even more, and she let out a laugh. Her mind was trying to put the pieces together from the fragments of time she had from when she was out.

The boat exploded; she could remember that much now. It was hot, too hot. So hot that she could remember the pain more clearly than anything she had ever felt before. Hughes had been clawing at her, screaming as she tried to get away. Her clothes had been burning, melting into her skin. She shook her head. She didn't want to think about that right now. She was alive, and from what she'd seen, Hughes was not. Okay, so what happened after the boat went up in flames? Had she jumped? She remembered being in the water, how cold it was against her burning skin, but how had she gotten there? The details were so blurry, she hated not being able to pinpoint exactly what happened that night. It had felt like hours before she'd been pulled from the water, but she didn't know who by or why. Why hadn't they left her there? Did they not know who she was and what she'd gone there to do?

Thinking about this was making her brain hurt. She had too many questions that only she knew the answer to, but it was like her mind was withholding information. She could feel her eyes closing, and she slipped away into unconsciousness again.


It was maybe a few hours before two guards entered the hospital room. She couldn't see the doctor from before, but they collared a nurse to ask questions about her like she wasn't even in the room. She hated being treated like this. Even when she'd first joined the Saints, at least Johnny, Troy and Dex had treated her like an actual person with thoughts and opinions even though she didn't speak.

She cleared her throat loudly and the three figures turned to look at her.

"I've already told one of you fuckers that I can hear you, do I have to tell you three too?" She propped herself up the best she could with what little space the handcuffs allowed her. One of the two men sneered at her.

"You've got a big mouth for a bitch about to go on death row." He said and she pouted

"It's cute you think I'm sticking around here for that long." She tilted her head at him and he turned bright red in anger. Before he could say anything else, the doors burst open and the doctor from before ran in, pushing a stretcher.

"What the fuck happened there?" The red man asked, looking startled.

"Shanking! You need to get back out there, they're almost rioting!" There was blood splattered on his scrubs, and the two guards looked at one another. Amethyst could hear faint shouting from above, and longed to be up there right in the middle of it.

"We'll be back for you." The red guard growled before turning on his heel and marching out of the room, dragging the other man behind him. The nurse put down her clipboard and sighed.

"I'm going on break, Mark. If they've been fighting with those stupid plastic shanks again we're gonna need to eat something before we deal with it."

The doctor's eyes flitted from the nurse to Am, and she could see him panicking about being left alone in a room with her again.

"I'll grab some antibiotics from the main office, we'll have to ration them but I'm not having the prisoners all die of infections. Too much paperwork."

The nurse marched out of the room, clearly irritated about the fight going on upstairs. For a few minutes, the doctor worked in silence to stitch up the kid in the bed next to her. She could hear him biting his lip to stop from making noise every time the needle pierced his skin, but the doctor ignored his discomfort, instead wiping the wound down and bandaging it as fast as he could. Little care was taken into sewing this kid up, and Amethyst felt a little sorry for him.

"Psst" She heard from the bed next to her. She ignored him, she needed to come up with a plan to get out of here. "Hey!" He whispered when she didn't respond.

"What?" She answered, irritated that he was interrupting her plotting.

"Is it really you?" Furrowing her brow, she turned to him. What did he mean?

"Do I know you?" She asked, looking him up and down. He didn't look familiar, but then again by the time she got blown up there had been too many recruits to know if she knew him or now. He was clearly Latino, so maybe a Carnales defector- but far too young for someone she would've canonised. Gat wouldn't have brought a kid so young in either. Dex maybe? The kid looked at the doctor and muttered.

"My brother was in the Saints." The doctor looked up and frowned. Amethyst considered him and took a chance. Slipping into Spanish, she responded to the kid.

"And what has that got to do with me?" The kid looked taken aback but leaned closer to her.

"Look, we gotta get you out of here." He readjusted himself, flinching as he moved.

"No shit, Sherlock. What do you think I was trying to think about before you interrupted me?"

"Well you're not going to get very far handcuffed to that bed. It's not like the Saints are coming for you." He said, and then realised what he'd done. Narrowing her eyes at him, she glanced at the doctor who was clearly trying to busy himself to stay out of her vicinity. She'd deal with that comment later.

"You think he has a key?" She said, nodding once toward him. The kid's vision followed hers and he nodded. "Wanna prove yourself? Get me the fuck out of these handcuffs."

"I'm Carlos by the way." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't care." She sighed and watched as the doctor turned around. She nodded and Carlos stood, sneaking over to where the doctor was stood, eventually sucker punching him when he got close enough. The man went down to the floor like a ton of bricks, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Carlos rummaged through his pockets, finding the key and pocketing his wallet.

"Can you hurry the fuck up?" She said, jangling the handcuffs. Carlos ran back over to her and uncuffed her, and she lifted herself up off the bed. Her body ached, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She had other things she had to do right now. Swinging her legs around, her feet tentatively touched the floor. It didn't feel as bad as it should've done, but that was another question for later. Standing up, she walked herself toward the doctor as Carlos watched her.

Carlos had only knocked him unconscious, but she knew she needed to cover their tracks better than that. Leaning down, she took his head in her hands and snapped his neck. Carlos let out a disgusted noise as she dropped the doctor's limp body to the floor.

"What?" She asked him, straightening up and scanning the desk.

"You just…" Carlos stammered and she rolled her eyes. If this kid was going to protest every time she killed someone then it was going to get old real fast.

"He saw too much." She was rooting through the desk, looking for anything they might need. "We don't have long, the nurse will be back from break soon and this way he can't tell her what happened."

Her hand found a small box of painkillers and she quickly scanned the box before throwing it to Carlos.

"Take one of these now, keep hold of the rest for later. If you're gonna be a bitch and complain about the pain I'm leaving you behind."

Carlos nodded, doing as he was told. A folder on the edge of the desk caught her eye labelled "Jane Doe". Something told her that she should take this with them too so she passed it to Carlos.

"Hold this. Do not lose it." He nodded profusely, but she was already focused on something else. A calendar had caught her eye, and her finger followed the date as she registered what it meant.

Five years.

Five fucking years.

Her anger felt white hot like a knife held under a flame. She'd been in a coma for five years and no one had done anything to wake her up. Her friends hadn't come for her, she was in this shithole and people had done god knows what to her. Some kid had come to save her and for what? So when she got out of prison there would be no Saints?

Stepping over the doctor's body, she tried to stop her body from shaking. She had to get out of here right now.

"If we get up to the roof we can probably buy ourselves some more time before people realise where we are." Carlos said, and she nodded.

"We won't have long before the alarm is raised anyway." Amethyst pointed out, looking at the dead doctor.

"We'd encounter less guards, and we don't have any weapons." He'd got her there. She felt a little lost without a gun at her side. Hopefully she could rectify that soon.

"Okay, roof it is."

They crept through the prison, heading to an old service exit that led to the roof. She had no idea how Carlos knew about this exit, but she appreciated his knowledge. Carlos kept checking that she was still following him, like he couldn't believe this was actually happening. Parts of memories were starting to come back from her time in a coma. Conversations she'd overheard, people coming and going. Had Johnny been there at one point?

"Carlos?" She asked, and he looked back at her again.

"Yeah, Boss?" She could really get used to being called that. She'd take it over "kid", like she'd been called five years ago.

"I remember someone talking about Troy. He was protecting me?"

"I forgot you didn't know… Troy was undercover the whole time. He was a cop."

"Shit, really?" God, she was a terrible judge of character if she hadn't clocked that one. Carlos paused at a door.

"When you got blown up… He led the charge to disband the Saints. Got promoted to Chief of Police for it."

"Really? They want him in charge?" She asked, climbing up to the door out. Carlos nodded.

"Stilwater PD ain't exactly known for good cops." He opened the door, and the cold air hit her immediately. It felt so good to finally breathe fresh air again. Hopefully she'd be able to wash the prison stink off of her soon too.

They were silent as they ran across the roof together. There was a surprising lack of guards up here, but that was really a testament to Stilwater's shitty police force. Her mind was racing, trying to think through things. If Troy had disbanded the Saints, what happened to everyone? And more importantly, are Johnny and Aisha alive? She was going to need her best friends if they pulled this off. But she didn't want to ask Carlos any more questions, she'd already revealed too much to a relative stranger. Once they got to the other side, they began climbing down the fire escape. Carlos held his hand out for her at the bottom, helping her duck behind a bin so they could check for guards. Looking at each other, she nodded and they quickly set off toward the docks.

As they ran down the hill, the alarm blared in the prison behind them. They'd gotten further than she thought they would before someone realised they were gone. She knew the police department here in Stilwater were pretty useless, but she didn't think they were quite that incapable of checking their prisoners were still where they should be. They carried on as fast as they could- knowing that it wouldn't be long before police swarmed this part of the island to cut off the escape route.

"Can you hotwire a boat?" She asked, looking at the police boat coming up in front of them.

"That's offensive, Boss." Carlos said, clearly not registering why she was asking him.

"Jesus, Carlos now is not the time." His eyes widened when he saw the boat and he sighed.

"Yeah… Yeah, I can."

"Thank you, now can you get on with it?" She said, indicating the opening door back up the hill. Police officers were starting to come out, and she knew they didn't have much time. He hopped on the boat, and disappeared from view.

"I'm trying!" He shouted back at her as she climbed in. Ducking down so police couldn't see her, she caught her breath as the boat roared to life.

"Hey Boss, can you hold this while I drive?" he asked, straightening up and handing the file she'd grabbed in the hospital back to her. She took it and put it into her jumpsuit, trying not to crush it too much while he took the boat's steering wheel and the boat lurched out of the dock. He drove slowly- while he was clearly trying to keep to the darkest parts of the water, the speed was slow enough that they'd be mistaken for a search vehicle. She watched him keeping an eye on the shore, and when he was sure they wouldn't be followed, he put his foot down and they sped off into the night. She sat down on the bottom of the boat and let out a breath. She almost couldn't believe they'd actually pulled that off, but they had. She watched the sky race past, until a bright light caught her eye in the distance.

"What the fuck happened while I was out?" She asked, looking at the area that she remembered the row stood on. It looked terrible. So white and sterile, the new buildings all lit up so you could see them from around the city.

"Ultor." He said, pulling the boat into the dock.

"The clothing company?" She asked, confused. They made hats, didn't they?

"After they found Hughes' body, Ultor started buying everything. Yeah, the new gangs moved in, but Ultor own everything they think they have control over."

"Well, shit." Am began to climb off the boat, storing that information for later.

"The row is ugly as fuck now." Carlos said, getting off behind her. She nodded. "They pulled down the church, rebuilt it as a symbol that the gang war was over. If only that was even half true."

"I want it back." Am said, turning to him. His eyes widened.

"There ain't no way the two of us are storming that thing. They have their own private army. Don't fuck with Ultor."

"Honey, you're greatly underestimating me." She looked down at their orange jumpsuits. The dock was quiet but they stuck out like sore thumbs. "Though first we really need to ditch these clothes"

"You're right, Boss. A cousin of mine has a place near here, she should be able to lend me some cash." He nodded toward and alleyway and they began walking.

"Didn't know you'd be a blonde." He said, clearly trying to make conversation.

"Trust me, that's the first thing that's getting done before we start making moves." She replied, cringing at the thought that her natural hair colour was back. Then again, it'd been five years, what did she expect? The choppy cut she'd given herself back when she'd been hiding out was long gone, instead replaced with a mess of blonde. Clearly that doctor hadn't cared enough to take proper care of it, it felt heavy and matted from not being washed properly.

"And the Spanish was surprising." He said, before checking to see if the street needed to cross was clear.

"I'm a surprising person, Carlos." She said, shaking her head at him. "Came in handy when I first joined up. People don't expect you to know when they're talking shit about you in another language."

"You learn when you joined up?" He asked, and they darted across the road toward an apartment block.

"Nah. English isn't my first language; I was taught at the same time I was learning English."

"Wait, so what is your first language?" He looked confused, and she laughed slightly.

"Ah, now that's something you don't need to know about me, honey." He shook his head, but they'd reached the stairs.

"Okay, she's on the third floor. Wait here." He darted up the stairs, leaving her alone. Sitting down on one of the first steps, it felt like she could finally let out a breath she'd been holding since they got off the boat. Had she really just got up from a five-year coma and immediately escaped from prison completely unscathed? How was that even possible? Her body ached, but she thought she would've felt way worse than this.

Taking the folder out from her jumpsuit, she looked at it for a second. She was glad it didn't have her real name on it, so she guessed her father's lawyers had done a pretty good job of erasing her if the police were still referring to her as Jane Doe. She made a mental note to take a trip to see Troy when they'd gotten rid of these jumpsuits just to double check. Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of the irritation she felt at the fact he'd been undercover that whole time. This was the guy who'd taken her out on her first outing as a canonised Saint. He'd taught her how to drive, bought her a gun. But Troy also wouldn't have the balls to have rigged up that boat to blow. It was Johnny's MO for sure, but Johnny would never have risked her life like that. Yeah, he loved blowing shit up, but he was too loyal to pull such a risky stunt. Even when they'd blown up Kingdom Come records, he'd told her exactly how far her and Eesh needed to be away from the building so they were safe. That whole operation had been more thought out than a lot of people had given him credit for. So who else knew she was going to see Hughes that night? Who else had access to explosives?

She sighed. She had more questions than answers at the minute, and people were going to pay for what they took from her. But right now they had more pressing issues to attend to. Looking down at the folder in her hands, she opened it.

Scanning the page, she felt the anger rise. A lot of the information had been redacted, but she could put two and two together. Someone had signed off on her being used for experimental treatments over the last five years, and she was pissed.

"Boss?" Carlos' voice brought her back down to earth. He was looking at her with concern on his face. She realised what it must look like; and shook her head. She'd also deal with that later. Someone will die for this. So she put it on her mental to-do list.

"You got the money?" She asked, trying to steer him away from questioning her over what she'd just read. The less people knew about her, the better. That way they didn't get hurt.

"Yeah, she had a couple hundred stashed in there. We are gonna pay her back, right?" He sounded unsure and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you underestimating me?" She asked, and he backed off.

"No!" He protested, and she stood up.

"Good. I think I saw a thrift shop on our way here, it must be nearly opening time now. Is there somewhere round here we can get a phone?" She asked, already heading back the way they came.

"There used to be a pawn shop a few streets away, I can go see if it's still there?" She nodded, and he stopped to hand her some cash.

"You think we got enough cash for a gun?" She asked, and he frowned.

"Why, what you planning?" She laughed at that. He sounded concerned already, and she wondered how good a gangster he would actually make.

"Do I need a reason to want a gun?" She was only half asking, having a gun in this part of Stilwater was just common sense. From the look of things, nothing had changed in five years.

"Well… no." He responded and she smiled. Unzipping the front of his jumpsuit, she tied the top half at his waist. He looked more like a construction worker on his way to work this way.

"Go get the phone and the gun Carlos. I'll grab us some spare clothes and we can torch these disgusting outfits."

He nodded and jogged off in the opposite direction. It was time to go shopping.

Jogging toward the direction of the thrift shop, she prepared herself. Undoing the jumpsuit a little, she began to stagger as she entered the shop. The guy behind the counter was young, so she knew she'd fool him pretty easily. Walking over to him, she giggled.

"Hey can you help? I was at a fancy dress party last night and I lost my house key." The guy looked up at her, immediately coming round the counter to her aid. It's amazing what could be done when you were an attractive woman, even if your hair hadn't been washed properly in five years. The minute he stepped out from behind the register, she grabbed him and smashed his head off the counter until she was sure he was dead. Dropping him to the floor, she looked at him for a second.

"Men make it way too easy." She rolled her eyes and stepped over the guy. Rooting through his pocket for his keys, she kicked the body out of sight and locked the door. Rooting through the stacks of clothes, she quickly found some jeans and a plain vest top to put on. Carlos knocked on the door just as she was pulling the vest over her head. Letting him in, he looked around.

"Shouldn't there be someone else here?"

"Don't worry about it." She said, throwing him a change of clothes. He looked behind the counter and made a noise of surprise.

"Boss, what the fuck! We're flying under the radar, not killing dudes for fun!" He shouted and she rolled her eyes again.

"Carlos if one dead body freaks you out this much, you're really not cut out to be a gangster."

He shook his head in disbelief. Okay, maybe it was more than one dead body if you counted the doctor. But no witnesses was better than people knowing her face. This gave her more time.

"You got the stuff?" She asked, picking through the cash register. He nodded, and handed over a phone and a gun.

Grabbing a piece of paper, she wrote down a few names that she remembered from five years ago. It was a long shot, but they needed to get some money coming in and fast. Throwing the phone back at him, folded the note in half.

"Set that up for me will you, I don't know how to use that thing."

"It's a standard phone, Boss."

"Look Carlos, I barely knew how to use a phone five years ago- this thing is way too complicated. Just put your number in it so I can call you." He chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Boss." He unlocked the phone and started tapping the screen. She pulled a face. She hated technology with a passion. If there was a way she didn't have to carry a phone with her, she would. But for now, she'd put up with it. After a few minutes of doing… something on the phone, he handed it back over.

"Okay, all done."

"Right, I need you to find a place for me to stay- preferably close to here and I also need you to do some digging around. These are my contacts from five years ago, I need you to do some digging, find out if any of them still need work doing. If they're a bust, you need to find me some people who're active. If you've got any contacts from prison, call them up now. We need to start earning some money before we do anything else, got it?"

"Got it. What are you gonna do?" He asked, and she tilted her head to look at him. He didn't quite get how this dynamic was gonna work, but she'd train it into him.

"Well, I think I'm overdue a haircut. Then I'm gonna get my ear to the ground. Find out what's been going on, see if I can pay a visit to some old friends." Carlos nodded, and went to ask another question, but she held her hand up.

"Carlos, I swear to god if you ask me anything else I'm gonna be real pissed."

"Okay, okay!" He said, backing off slightly. He knew what she was capable of, and he clearly didn't want to get on her bad side. Handing him some of the cash from the register over, she began to walk toward the door, looking back at him while she said:

"Let's get this shit started, Carlos."