A/N: Another sleepless night, and I really like this series. Not really enough fan fiction for it…I know it's short, but I wanted to add a little something to this fandom. Who knows, I may write more down the line…but for now, I hope you enjoy.

Chained By You

"This will never work." Michiko stated since she knew it was true, at least to some extent. It wasn't anything exact, just a fact of life. Even so, somehow those words sounded oddly discomforting. "I'm really not into women."

"You're going back to the shit hole you came from anyway. I'm taking you in tomorrow, just like we agreed." Atsuko shrugged, trying to hide the pain of reality. "It doesn't really matter in the end, does it?"

"Guess not." Michiko agreed.

"That wasn't very convincing." Atsuko frowned, fearing for a moment that she missed something. "You got what you wanted, didn't you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Michiko said cryptically. Maybe it was because she was too kind, or maybe it was because she felt strangely weak after sending the little girl away with her father. She rolled onto her side, even though she'd put this woman through hell and back, she stilled by her side. Atsuko had always been there when it mattered the most. "I don't get why you stick around, you know I don't clean up well."

"You seem to do fine to me." Atsuko shrugged. "I saw you with that little girl, the way you protected her and kept her out of trouble…you were cleaning up fine."

"Then let me go." Michiko muttered with a frown. "Let me help raise Hatchin."

"I can't do that." Atsuko said sadly.

"Hey, I'll keep my word." Michiko sighed as she sat up, the blankets falling around her nude form. "I'll let you take me in, I'll make it look good...but sooner or later, I'm outta there." She pulled a cigarette from pack that sat open, lighting it. "I'm not staying forever."

"Good, I'd hate to think we'd be over before we even had the chance to start." Atsuko smirked as she sat up, taking an offered hit off of Michiko's lit cigarette. "Why wasn't I good enough for you?"

"Shit, not this again." Michiko rolled her eyes and swallowed hard.

"You better believe it is, girl." Atsuko murmured as they locked eyes. "You always run from me, but damn you, I need to know." A depth lingered between them, for which no words could begin to explain.

"Atsuko…" Whatever Michiko wanted to say died off as she realized that she didn't really know why. She hated thinking too deeply about her past, and if she were honest, she'd made too many bad choices. It wasn't as if she could change them, so she just went on as she was. "Look, I ran away from a lot of things in my life, it wasn't just you."

"Ever think to run to me, instead of away?" Atsuko hissed, voice shaking, closing her eyes to keep away the tears. They burned, just like always. "I became a cop because of you, damn it. I made better of myself because I had to, else we would both be right back where we started. I figured, if I did that, I could pull you out of the gutter with me."

Michiko smirked, her fingers lifting to caress away the warm, wet tears that continued to fall. "See you're pretty smart after all. You just answered your own question." They were different people, always had been, and always would be. "I fine, I don't have any regrets, so you don't need to worry about me anymore."

"I'm always going to worry." Atsuko murmured, leaning into the touch.

"I know." Michiko sighed with a shake of her head. "Damn it, Jambo. Why do you have to go and get all sentimental on me?" She pulled away, snuffed out her cigarette and sighed at the midnight moon that was high in the sky. "This is why I hate you."

"Because I love you, Michiko." Atsuko said as she wrapped her arms around Michiko's slender form, burying herself into the feeling of the other woman. She could have died that way, happily remiss from what role she would be forced to take in the morning.

"I do." Michiko murmured quietly into Atsuko's ear as she then pressed a kiss there. "In my own way."