Chapter Text
Gavin was a free lance Hacker/Grifter, willing to lend his expertise to anyone who could offer him what he wanted. Now it wasn't always money he wanted, gods knew he had enough of that, he loved gathering potential blackmail material off of his clients, a small facet he kept from one of his earlier 'lives'. The Brit hummed softly and he got out of his seat, stretching languidly as he took a break from a personal project to grab food, after all, death by starvation was one of the worst deaths he's ever suffered, and he's died a lot.
As he was nomming on some ramen his computer dinged. Another person looking for him. Well they could at least wait until he was done eating. His last real meal was probably two days ago before he started researching the validity of several claims running rampant in the criminal world. Was Geoff Ramsey really breaking off of the Empire he helped build? It was ludicrous to even believe, but it inspired Gavin to find out what was really happening.
Gavin shuffled back and sat in his rather comfortable chair (he spent most of his time here, better be comfy) and looked at the message he had received from the one and only Burnie Burns. Now it wasn't a weird thing to get request from the Cock Bites, but this message, this was one of the best he's gotten so far.
"Now isn't this a surprise!" He said to nothingness of his apartment. It seems that the rumors were true. Burnie wanted to hire Gavin to sabotage everything Geoff did, from the little things like his car, to prematurely setting alarms if his crew ever made it to heisting. Now long jobs weren't a favorite thing of his. They often got tedious after doing the same thing again and again. Also, Gavin sorta knew Geoff, met him a few time to exchange info, and money (Always in the shadows of the night). The man was a drunkard, sure. But ultimately he was a good man, as good as you can be when you're a crime lord that is.
Gavin weighed the pros and cons of taking this job, suffer the wrath of the CB's if he declines, or suffer the inevitable wrath of whatever crew Geoff dredged up. He felt his core tingle softly as his eyes slipped shut and the possibilities played out in his mind. With a satisfied hum Gavin quickly typed a response to the crime boss, smirking softly. Oh man was he in for it. But then again, Burnie would never find him, he wasn't called Umbrae for nothing.
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Burnie opened his email a few hours after he sent the elusive Umbrae an email on one of the countless emails the guy had. He was expecting a hefty price to be requested, and was more than willing to pay it, anything to keep Los Santos under his thumb, he wasn't expecting a flat out no
Dear Burnie Burns,
Yeah no. I've decided that I will not be helping you with this.
Cheers,
Umbrae
In two sentences Umbrae flat out refused the leader of the Cock Bites. Burnie grimaced and clenched his fist. No one stood up to him. No one told him no. Now Umbrae was just one more person on his hit list.
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Geoff huffed as yet another contact fell through. It seemed everyone was siding with Burnie on this. Fuck them all. If they were too blind to see the destruction Burnie was causing, then they could burn with him. Geoff picked up his phone, scrolling down to a number he hadn't called in ages. They had both agreed never to talk to each other again after the whole Austin debacle. But he needed her, and surely she still couldn't be that mad.
Yeah, well she was. Geoff winced as she yelled at him through the phone. Eventually she stopped and sighed. They both knew how this would end though. They both knew she would join, because as much as she hated to admit it, they were family. So with that she said she'd arrive in Los Santos in a two days and that together they'd commence a search to create a new crew.
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Gavin hopped out of his apartment, the last of his equipment in the bags beside him. Good bye apartment. But now that he was being hunted by Burnie, he needed to move out. Besides, he'd been in there too long, beginning to grow complacent, which was unacceptable in this line of work. He needed to always be on his wits end, ready to flee at the drop of a dime.
Gavin watched the world go by as the cab lazily wound its way to his new place of living. He thanked the man and payed him for the ride before retrieving all his stuff. The apartment was a bit of a downgrade, but it was closer to the inner city, easier run from. He moved his things in his room and set up. No need for him to lose out on potential jobs.
With a few key strokes Gavin directed his computer into the latest news from Los Santos. It was mostly business as usual. Which was good. He let out a small sigh and leaned back in his chair. He pulled up several of the camera feeds he had hacked into around the city and checked out the crime ridden city.
Oh! Looks like Geoff was at the airport! Gavin felt a chuckle rise through him as he watched the man navigate the terminals and attempted to keep his face hidden. Was he leaving? What a shame. It appeared Gavin brought Burnie's wrath upon him for nothing. Gavin shook his head as he leaned back.
A few minutes later the male on screen perked up as he saw something not in camera shot. A few seconds a short ginger haired fem made her way across the screen, a simple rolling bag behind her. She went over and sternly looked over at Geoff before hugging him.
So Geoff was bringing in help? Gavin whirled around in his seat before screen capping the woman's face and beginning a search. He didn't find much, only that her name was Jack Patillo and was apparently a hell of a good get away driver. Gavin let himself grin. Geoff was building a crew. He was going to bring in the best of the best. This would be an amusing stunt to watch.
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It took Geoff three months to pull a semi respectable crew together. So far he had ten people on his side, four of them he considered the 'main cast'. It had taken a lot of persuasion, and a lot of cash, to gather most of his crew, the Fake AH's as he liked to call them. When asked what AH stood for he shrugged and responded with 'It sounded cool.'
The crime boss shuffled over to look out the windows of the penthouse he commandeered as his own. The former owners were taking a nice long vacation, aka Geoff had gotten them shipped god knew where. What, did you think he killed them? No, he just shipped them off god knows where. Killing them would have been too risky for him right now. Besides he wasn't too into murdering bystanders like a certain crime boss he used to work with.
Geoff frowned when his laptop dinged from across the room. Who the hell was emailing him? He broke his gaze away from the skyline and went over to the laptop. He plopped down on the couch and went to his emails to see what crew member was bothering him.
Mr. Ramsey,
I hear that you are putting together a crew! I also notice that you are lacking a competent hacker. Like really. It took me three seconds to break in. I wasn't even trying. Luckily I mean you no ill intent! I would actually like to offer my services. If you'd be interesting in meeting me there's a delightful internet cafe on the corner of Theatre and Eisenhower, I'll be there tomorrow at 9:00 sharp!
Sincerely
A Concerned Hacker
Geoff blinked at the email. Looks like he had a meeting tomorrow.
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Gavin twirled in his chair. Did he regret sending that email? Nope. Was he excited? Yup. Was Geoff going to bring muscle with him, undoubtedly. I mean he never said not to. Maybe he wouldn't. Heh. That would all be found out tomorrow. Gavin stretched and let out a small yawn. Welp, he was due for a nap, just a short one.
And by short nap, that apparently meant sleep until a half hour before the meeting. Gavin let out a squawk and flew around his room, grabbin his stuff and hastily throwing everything on. Gavin nabbed his wallet and shades and was out the door.
Gavin languidly walked into his cafe and took a seat, waving to the barista's. Yes, he did say his. It was a way for him feel like he was doing something legalish. All the employes were paid well above minimum wage and he veiwed everyone as family here.
After a quick check of his phone revealed he was five minutes late. Gav sighed and placed his head in his hands. Welp here's hoping Geoff was late as well. After all, no one associated with the male was any where around.
"Heya. You look like death. I put an extra expresso shot in your mocha boss." Miles said as he gently placed the styrofoam cup down.
"Thanks Miles." Gavin said with a small smile as the male went back to his post. Gav sipped his mocha and browsed the web on his phone while he waited for Geoff. Fifteen minutes later he was ready to quit. Then the bell dinged and lo and behold Geoff and Jack walked in.
Gavin smiled and leaned back as the two scanned the cafe. They didn't seem to expect the brit at all as the two took a seat near the door. Gavin another sip of his mocha before standing up and stretching. He strode over and gave the two a friendly smile before taking a seat.
"We're kinda waiting for someone." The mustached man said, causing Gavin's grin to widen.
"I know that Geoffrey! After all I was the one to send you the email! Woulda thought you'd bring Mogar or Vagabond with ya, then again they're a bit noticeable. Almost as much as you two walking in and not ordering anything." Gavin said, pushing up his golden frames and leaning back. He saw Miles looking over, slightly confused, to which he just gave the male a comforting smike and an 'I'll explain later.'
"You're the hacker?" Geoff asked, a bit incredously.
"Yup! Did you think I'd be more of a nerd, less flashy, less self confident?" Gavin asked and looked between the two, their sheepish expression saying it all.
"Wow, thanks for putting me in a stereotype guys." The hacker said with a roll of his eyes before straitening up.
"Now let's talk business. I'll give you my services, Hacking and Grifting, you pay me as much as you pay the others. Oh and lodging in that Penthouse would be nice as well!" Gavin said, crossing his arms as Jack and Geoff stared at him, baffled. The two whispered between them, seemingly fighting about something before Geoff relented.
"Okay. First we need to know you're the real deal." Geoff said, causng Gavin to roll his eyes. He was Umbrae for crying out loud. Sure these two didn't know, but it was still insulting.
"I can get 100 bucks off any random guy off the street. You two pick. As for hacking. I'd be happy to sure you a demonstration." He said cheerfully. This was going way better than expected.
"I'm going to take the fact you found and emailed me as your hacking demonstration. But as for grifting..." Geoff eyes went out the window before stopping on someone.
"Get me 100 bucks from the guy with the tan briefcase ad we'll consider." Gavin simply smiled as he got up. Miles was looking over again, and again Gavin shrugged him off before walking outside and catching up to the briefcase man.
Ten minutes later a smug Gavin walked in and placed a crisp hundo in front of the two crew members. Needless to say they were impressed. Geoff had never in a million years expected that to work, but it did.
"You hired. Welcome to the Fake AH Crew."