âAnd Ray?â Jack called, and Ray paused in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at him.
âYeah?â
âCome here,â Jack ordered, and Ray obeyed bemusedly. Jack leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. âGood job out there today.â
Ray looked up at him, smiling softly. âThanks, Jack. You, too. Great driving and all that jazz.â
Jack chuckled, shaking his head. âGet outta here, asshole. Enjoy the rest of your day of not getting shot at.â
âAwww, stop ruining my plans, Jack.â Ray pouted, dodging as Jack mimed swatting him up the head. âSeriously, dude, that was fun. We should do that again sometime.â
âJust you and me, huh?â Jack chuckled self-conciously. Ray stopped and shot him a serious look.
Summary:Â After heists, Ray likes to go up to the roof and go over the people he's killed. Jack comes in to check up on him.
Warnings: Fem! Jack, Fake AH Crew, brief talk of torture, talking about killing a cop (basically Ray questions if heâs a monster and Jack talks to him)
Note: I had a might need for FAHC! Ray/Jack interactions. Also this doubles as writing practice (seriously, tell me if there are any glaring errors. I know I need to work on my tenses because I tend to switch between past and present, so if you see that, Iâd appreciate if you told me)
âItâs going to rain.â
Ray doesnât bother to turn around. Instead he lifts his joint to his lips and takes a deep breath in. âI know.â He replies.
Jack walks up next to him, high heels clacking against the concrete roof. Ray doesnât have to look at her to know that sheâs got one hand on her cocked hip, concerned eyes raking over him. Ray knows her well enough that he would bet his Tacky Tacos discount card that her mind is racing, going over all the events of the day; their breakfast together this morning, going to buy ammo with Ryan and Michael, shooting flares at pedestrians as they drove too fast to their meeting point. Â The heist.
Ray knows she figures it out when her eyes land on the paper in his hand. âWhatâs that?â
âPicture.â Ray takes another hit of his joint. âBilly Welson, age 25. Mom and dad own an ice-cream shop in Missouri. Sisterâs in college and his brother is in the army. In two months, he would have hit his one year anniversary of being on the force.â
âCop.â Jack sounds surprised.
âYep.â Ray draws it out, pops the p. âShot him this afternoon during the heist.â
âAh.â
Ray feels the beginning of something like anger ooze through his veins, at how simple Jack made the whole situation sound with that one little word. âShot him through the lung and he choked on his own blood. Died with his partner standing over him.â
âAnd it bothers you.â Jack says it with finality, as if sheâs head the same scenario a thousand times. She probably has. Â
âNo.â Ray spits, finally getting fully angry. âI donât and thatâs the problem. I looked at the guy through my scope, basically looked him in the face. And shot him. Killed him. And it doesnât bother me. Just like everyone else Iâve killed. I donât feel a fucking thing.â Ray quickly takes another hit, trying to get back into that peaceful place before Jack showed up.
Jack sighs and moves to sit down next to Ray, legs hanging over the side of the building. âGood.â She says.
Ray whips his head to look at her, mouth opened into an angry âoâ, only to find Jack there, grabbing his joint and sucking in. Her other hand grabs Rayâs face and brings him in, mouth fitting itself against his and blowing in. His ire dies away and his eyes flutter. When he opens them, Jack is staring at him, soft smile on her face. She gives him back his joint and looks out over their city, sunset shinning along the windows. Ray looks down at the cars below, small. The people are even smaller.
âHow do you deal with it?â He asks.
âHm?â
âThis. Our business. Fighting other gangs, dealing drugs. Killing people.â Ray looks down at Welsonâs picture. âI know how the others deal. Geoff drinks. Gavin throws himself into his work. Michael works it off in the gym and RyanâŠwell, Ryan is Ryan. He was made for this life. But how can you look yourself in the eye when you stare in the mirror and not wonder how this became your life.â
âHonestly?â Ray eagerly nods, turning his whole body to face her. Heâs wondered for a while how Jack can stay so calm when everyone else was thrown into chaos. Jack never seemed fazed, no matter what she was doing and Ray was dying to know so maybe, possibly he himself can learn how to copy it.
 âI donât think about it.â
Ray snorts. âAlright. Thought we were having a moment there. Guess not.â
Jack shakes her head. âNo, really.â
âBullshit.â
âThatâs what I do.â She insists.
Ray eyes her. âSeriously?â
âYep. I just donât think about it.â
âHow? Itâs impossible not to think about what youâre doing. Weâre criminals, Jack. How can you not?â
Jack hums, looking back at the city. The dying light lights up her hair, red turning flaming for a few seconds. âItâs because every time I start to think about it, when my nightmares start to claw at the back of my mind, I think of you guys. And how, if I didnât do what I had to do, you might be dead.â
Ray stares at her, silent as she continues. âLast week, that guy whose fingers I cut off? If I hadnât, he would have sold weapons to our rivals, which might have led Geoff getting shot. I rob banks so we can live the way we want and Michael doesnât have to go back to what he was doing before he joined us. I join Ryan on hits so I can make sure he doesnât fall too deep. Shoot anyone that shoots at Gavin or you. And that includes cops.â Jack looks back at him when she says the last part.
Ray frowns. âI care about the crew too.â
âThatâs not what Iâm saying. Like you said, everyone else has a way to deal with their demons. Thatâs how I deal with mine.â Jack stole the joint from his limp fingers, sneaking a hit.
Ray bit his lip. âButâŠyou donât think it makes me a monster? The not feeling bad thing.â
âRay,â Jack breathes out a cloud, eyes closing briefly. âIâm saying embrace that monster. Itâll do you good. Certainly, better than sitting out here, beating yourself up about it.â
Ray sighs, stealing the joint back. He takes a quick hit, breathing out hard. âYeah, I guess.â
They sit in silence, passing the joint back and forth until the moon hangs high in the sky. Finally, Jack stands, stretching her hands high above her head, back popping. âGotta go drag Geoff out of the bottle.â She puts her hand on Rayâs shoulders. âIf it helps, remember youâre doing this for your family. Itâs up to us to protect our crew. If that means becoming something you fear? Well, Iâm not going to stop you.â
Ray looks down at the photo in his hand.
Jack squeezes him before turning to walk towards the door. âTry to get some sleep, will you? Donât want to hear youâre bitching tomorrow about how tired you were because you stayed up playing some obscure video game.â She calls over her shoulder.
Ray smiles, enjoying the slight echo of her laugh. The city below him was abuzz with life, even with how late it was. Ray listens to the music of cars honking and people talking, the occasional helicopter flying by all tied together by police sirens in the distance.
The door creaks back open. âIf you ever need help forgetting about it, my bed is always open.â
Ray smirks. Climbing to his feet, he crumples the picture in his hand and throws it over the side. Billy Welson fell to the ground below as Ray turns to eagerly follow Jack. âI think Iâll take you up on that.â
Five times Ray wooed someone with something expensive (Part 2)
((Remember this? Honestly, neither did I. But at any rate, hereâs the next part, because Iâm always an impolite word for JackRay. And also Ray being a sap.))
Fake AH Crew. The name was renowned throughout Los Santos, as some of the most dangerous criminals in the country.
Ray had never even dreamed of getting in with the Fake AH, and yet here he was.
He fit in fairly easily, honestly. He and Michael had even started moving their stuff over. They had their own rooms in Geoffâs penthouse, and as much as Jack complained of constantly cleaning up after them, the penthouse was honestly starting to feel like home.
So going out and getting something for Jack didnât really seem too out of place. He didnât really want to buy anything for Geoff, because he didnât want to seem like a suck-up (Michael and Gavin already had suck-up in the bag). But Jack was a different story.
She was beautiful, for one thing. In the way she walked as though she ruled the world, the way she always seemed to have a backup plan, the way she tried so hard to make Geoff laugh. She was also (honestly) the one in charge. Everyone went to her for heist plans, a shoulder to cry on, a broken weapon, or a slightly less confusing explanation than Ryan would give. So he probably still got brownie points for getting her something. Maybe. Probably.
Regardless, he hoped it would be enough. It was practically all the money from the most recent heist, after all.
He was already wishing heâd gotten something better, or at least taken it to someone who knew how to wrap things. Heâd awkwardly tried to wrap paper around a small short thing, and failed miserably. There were about eighteen rips in the wrapping paper, and the whole thing was more scotch tape than present at this point. It was okay when heâd just been giving it to his best friend, but now just looking at it made him cringe.
Jack had smiled at first when heâd produced the item. He hoped it wasnât out of pity. âWhatâs this for? You didnât have to get me anything,â she smiled.
âJust for⊠being good. To me. And Michael.â Oh god. Next time he tried talking, heâd consider just finding the nearest bridge to jump off of instead.
âWell, you really didnât need to do this, butâŠâ Jack peeled back the paper, picking the bits of tape off her fingers.
The tears started dripping down her cheeks even as she was just unearthing the handle. Did everyone he buy gifts for have a history of getting this sappy? Then again, Ray wracked his brain for the last time heâd bought something for someone any more substantial than a burger, and couldnât name a single person besides Michael. Oh right, the gift.
Jack was gazing down, sniffling faintly but unable to form words. A brand-new custom pocketknife sat in the palm of her hand. The handle was made of mother-of-pearl, gold spelling out the letters in pretty cursive âJack Pattillo.â
As she flipped out the blade, squinting as it caught the light, a set of tiny letters on the base of the blade snapped into focus.
From Ray.
âHow much did you pay for this?â Jack asked, immediately reaching for her wallet.
Ray stopped her. âItâs a gift. It wouldnât be much of a gift if we had to go dutch.â
âBut this mustâve been expensiveâŠâ Jack traced the blade with one finger before grabbing Ray and holding him close to her.
âWell, it was just a couple games worth, honestly. Iâd rather it go to you than my steam addiction,â Ray murmured into her shoulder.
He was lying, and he knew she knew it, but he also hoped that she knew him well enough to give in and accept the gift.
âThank you,â she exhaled, shoulders trembling.
Ray wished heâd said something profound or even vaguely interesting after heâd given her something she liked.
In reality, she proceeded to kiss his forehead, and his instinct when a beautiful girl kissed him was still to swoon forward like a regency era heroine caught in the rain, in all of those movies he definitely didnât watch as a pick me up.
(He found out later from Michael that Jack had proceeded to bridal-carry him into the penthouse like a regency era heroine, so it wasnât all bad.)
(1/2) Small headcanon: Ray likes to sit in one spot and play games for hours upon hours upon hours. Out of concern for whether he can actually move from that position, Jack will occasionally try to tug him up and judge his level of tired-ness based how much of a struggle it is to stand. If he can move around, Jack drags Ray down to the fridge and makes him eat some actual food, no you CAN'T take the vegetables out of your mac n cheese, you will eat them and you will enjoy them, stop complaining,
(2/2) Then Jack puts Ray to bed, which usually goes like this: âGo to bed. âŠI can see the light of your DS from under the covers. âŠYour phone too. âŠAlright, Iâll cuddle you.â If Jack picks Ray up and Ray mumbles sleepily about the game and his knees give way, Jack knows Ray's sleepy + just picks Ray up, sits Ray on his lap and wraps his arms around Ray. Ray is all warm and cuddly and nods off in the first few minutes. (Jack either carries Ray to bed, or realizes he's trapped on the sofa. Whoops.
Summary: The office was empty except for Ryan and Michael editing, and Ryan was still in his âMad Kingâ mode. Jack had finally turned off his computer and headed out the office to go home, and when he did, Michael immediately saved his editing and swivelled his chair around to watch Ryan work.
WC: 768
Rumpelstiltskin Bullshit by gatorfever
AO3
Summary: What about a fantasy AU where Dark Wizard Haywood pursues the town blacksmith (or baker) Michael?
WC: 4,482
Ryan/Michael + Geoff/Gavin + Jack/Ray
You Gotta Fire Up (You Gotta Let Go) by Purplesauris
Summary: Michael has nicknames for everyone. Why is it so weird that he gives one to Ryan? So what if his heart races every time he calls Ryan Rye-bread?