I entered the building, the smile Nureyev gave me as I left haunting the back of my mind. I placed my hand on my gun. Didn't take it out yet, though. I didn't expect they were up for negotiations, but I had been wrong before. I know, I know. The great Juno Steel - wrong? Impossible! Well, guess what. Wrong seemed to be my middle name ever since I m-...Never mind.
My footsteps echoed through the building like a train through a tunnel. Walking this quickly to a known destination, I felt like one too. I took a left, then a right, then a left again and then some other directions I can't even remember. The whole building was quiet, as if the universe hadn't been born yet. You'd be surprised how many things can hide in silence, though. That proved itself when I suddenly found myself up against a wall with a gun pointed at my head. I guess the directions Rita told me were wrong after all… Damnit, I never should've gotten rid of that damn eye, no matter how annoying its voice was. I went from feeling like a train to feeling like a truck, blind spots and all.
"Com'on then. Boss's expecting ya."
"Funny, I was expecting them too. You know, I don't think they like me very much, considering they sent you first."
"Hmpf. I'll hav' ya know the boss li-"
"Maybe don't say so much, hm?" a voice interrupted him. A tall woman with a face like a knife and hands with, well, knives in them rounded the corner. Somehow I was sure she'd been there all along. I must've walked past her.
"Juno, what a pleasure to meet you!" she told me.
"Already on a first name basis, are we?" She laughed. It didn't surprise me to find that her laugh sounded like knives too. She waved her hand at the gunman behind me and he left; then placed that same hand on my back, ushering me forwards.
"Got a little lost, did we now?" Goddamnit, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Don't worry, I'll bring you to them. Contrary to what you might think, Juno,-" She placed emphasis on my name, "-they like you very much. Oh yes, very much indeed. So much even that they've decided to kill you themselves! Oh what an honor that is!"
"I never liked honor much," I replied. I could hear her smile drop and slither away like an annoyed snake.
"I'll be sure to tell them that."
It took us a surprisingly long time and multiple awkward trips in elevators to reach what she kept referring to as "The Leech's Bedchamber". No leeches nor beds to be found.
"Weird naming scheme you have h- AARGH!" Before I knew it, my right upper arm looked like a porcupine. Because, you know, why would you stab someone with one knife if you can stab them with three? I tested my hand. It still worked, which meant she hadn't cut through an important nerve, yet. It also meant I could still shoot. For some reason, they hadn't taken my gun away from me.
I looked around the room with the only eye I had left. Funny, I never realised how much the title private eye suited me until that moment. The chamber was oval in shape and mostly empty, with exception for the columns that I hoped didn't support the ceiling. I didn't want it to flatten me in my last and inconsequential fight in case I did knock them down. There was also a vent system with exits opening above where I stood now, on the eastern- and westernmost edges of the room and above them.
They were seated in a large throne on the other side of the room, way opposite me. They even wore a cape and a crown. So much for discrete.
"Juno! You know why I called you here today, don't you, darling?" they spoke.
"What's with the first name basis here? What are you all, family or something? Whatever it is, I'm not interested in taking part. I'm more of a 'push everyone you love away' kinda lady." They laughed. I didn't. Guess brutal honesty is the best kind of comedy, sometimes.
"I suppose you don't want to just give up and die, do you?"
"Not really, no."
"What a shame. I don't like wasting blood, you know."
"Huh, I figured you bathed in it. Seemed like your kinda thing."
"Haha. Well, I might try it if I didn't expect your blood to be incredibly bad for my skin."
"Ouch, that hurt."
"I'm sure it did." Their sickeningly sweet tone disappeared somewhere during that little chat. I suppose it got tired of being around them and just, I don't know, went to take a nap somewhere.
Look, I….I was distracted, okay. It's hard not to be when you know you'll be fighting a battle you can't win any second. That smile Nureyev gave me? It still lingered in my mind, a bit more violently than before now. And Rita? God, Rita. I never even got the chance to tell her how much she meant to me...That's a lie. I had had the opportunity many times. I never did. Never did understand how she could be around me that much and not hate me for everything I am. I was lucky that way. I was...different from my mother that way…. Yeah.
The world seemed just a little meaner today. Well, Mars did anyway. This place did. I could hear them rambling on about something, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tell what that something was.
It was like that one time I went swimming when I was still a little kid. I got pushed underwater by some other kid. I remember the world fading, like the light from a broken bulb.
I felt a fist hit my jaw and a knee trying to push my stomach through my throat. I felt my hand, or no, fist hit someone's chest.
I remember fighting so instinctively to stay alive. My legs kicking the water like it owed me money.
I got thrown around the room a bit, eventually ending up at the westernmost corner. I heard a voice through all the noise. It was like an angel spoke to me, so clear.
"Juno, I'm not letting you die. Not again. I promise."
I remember being flung by the current of the water. Hitting my head against the side of the pool. I remember a voice.
"Juno, fight. I'm not helping you."
Then, everything became clear again. Just in time for me to see something fall on top of them. Or….someone. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, long enough for someone to hit me square in the face with hard fists and break my nose. When I opened them again, I was sure...Fuck.
The someone was Peter Nureyev. And for a moment, I felt like I understood everything. The way he'd talked to me, looked at me, kissed me goodbye. Everything. That all stopped when he turned around. Blood covered his hands and chest. God, I...I hadn't seen him like that since...since Miasma. It took me a moment to realise. This time, it wasn't his blood. It was theirs. He'd dropped down from the vent above and onto them, knife ready to slit their throat. If they'd moved only an inch, it would've failed. But they didn't. And now, they were dead.
Another hit in the face by some softer hands than the last guy's was enough to return me to the present. In one swift movement, I grabbed my gun and shot. Stun setting, of course. I knew that with Nureyev present, enough blood would be spilled anyways. It didn't take him and his long legs (god, those legs) long to join me in the brawl. Before I knew it, he was right there beside me. Elegant hands clenching and throwing punches.
"Peter, how did you know?" I asked him. I was breathing quite rapidly now.
"I'm glad you joined me on the first name basis, Juno." Goddamnit, it had worn off on me. "I'm just a good old-fashioned lover boy. We know when our boyfriends are in danger."
"I thought they just wrote letters, danced and called you on the phone."
"That too." I could hear him smile as he placed a quick kiss on my neck. His lips as quick as his hands.
It didn't take long before our opponents figured out they were going to lose. I'm glad they did because I couldn't take many more hits and neither could Nureyev….Peter. Not that he'd ever show that, of course. He stumbled towards me with his signature smile adorning his lips. He placed his arm around my waist and tried to help me stand. I pushed myself from the column I was leaning on and nearly fell over. Nearly. I sighed and moved my hand up to wipe the blood from my face. Peter did it for me. He also...kissed me. Our blood mixed on our tongues. Disgusting, but pleasant at the same time.
"Let's go, Juno. There's nothing left to do here. Besides, I'm sure your lovely secretary will want to know why you didn't say her goodbye." I laughed. He did too.
And when I joined him in his car, I closed my eyes and leaned on his shoulder, and listened to him narrate over the martian sunset. I'd never felt happier.