I don't own Kiddy Grade. Maybe one day, but not today. Read and review. Please. And thank you.
----Desert- chapter 1------
Snatch and Shoot
I've never seen a gun in my life, well besides the movies, that is. This whole situation is just one unfortunate misunderstanding.
"What'd you say your name was?" I'm surprised I heard her. My captor rolled out in to the open fire and slammed her finger on the trigger a few times, screaming profanities at the other gunmen.
My hands moved shakily around my mouth. "Lumiere!" She made a swift roll back.
"The names Éclair, nice to meet 'cha!" Is she serious, a hand shake? What is she doing, trying to make friends? A thud hit the bar-top above us and Éclair withdrew her gloved hand. Everything else just happened in a flash at that point.
"Damn it let the girl go!" Where she got that shot gun, I'll never know, but the knife against my neck just inched its way closer. She clicked her tongue.
I took this opportunity to reflect on what I must have done for this to happen to me. Really, all I wanted to do was to make a drive up to California. How was I supposed to know my junk on wheels would break down? Who would have guessed the one eating establishment in town would be robbed and I would be held hostage by the trigger happy thug? The metal felt hot against my skin and I sucked in what I swore was my last breath.
A very loud boom rang through my ears. "Ta-da!" I dared to open my eyes and regretted it immediately. A river of blood slithered down my blouse and the weight of my supposed killer became very apparent on my back. I screamed.
Remembering much after that is hard, but the next thing I knew, I was slung over a pair of shoulders and the exploded face of the man was a view behind me. "Sorry, Lumiere." The room turned into the remote New Mexico sky. I could hear the sirens of what little law enforcement was available and then nothing but a dull pain on my spine.
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Today could have gone much better in a number of ways. First on the list, I could have remembered where I parked. The fuzz isn't getting any slower.
"I could've sworn I parked over here. Or was it the next ally way over." To top it all off, that stupid restaurant was crawling with bounty hunters. What does a girl have to do to make a living? The warm weight leaning on my back was yet another reminder of today's drama. I don't take hostages…normally.
There wasn't much I could have done. The moment I walked in, I spotted at least ten different fire arms. I can only imagine what the owner was hauling in the back room. As soon as saw this girl, Lumiere, I knew I couldn't complete the assignment without trouble. Someone like her in this kind of place isn't exactly normal. I wasn't going to let her get killed.
"Bingo was his name-o." Though, I could've been a little less obvious. What can I say? With a 1979 viper, the man was just begging to have it jacked. I slid the load in the passenger seat.
The sirens were closer. Maybe it'd be fun giving these old geezers a little car chase. I got the money and the girl was buckled and snoring in the front. Now I just need to connect the red wire and get this car breathing…
I nearly shot something when my ringtone spewed out 'love love shine.' Hehe, yeah, forgot to put it on silent.
"Eclipse?" Only one reason she would call.
"You got my money yet Éclair?" So impatient, doesn't she know I'm busy? "The deals tonight, at the old drive in, understood?"
A bullet whizzed past me face and shattered the windshield. Screw Eclipse. I cocked the shot gun I swiped from the bar. "The hell?!"
Two caked up teens; apparently packing heat, strode towards me and took aim again. Shit, not now. "Alv, Dvergr, nice to see you. How's the force treating you?" I heard her PM40 click as another bullet flew at the car. The leather seat holding Lumiere was decorated with a smoking hole. "Good, I see." Time to jet.
I shot a shell at the coppers as I slid across the hood, dukes of hazard style. "Wish I could do that without hurting' my ass." I floored it and seriously thought Alv was going to explode.
"Hold it right there, Éclair!" A game of chicken? "You're under arrest damn it!" I don't have time for this. Live or die.
Her partner, Miss Dvergr, pulled my target out of the road. And I was having so much fun too. Of course it wasn't over yet, the idiot was letting lose an entire round.
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I swung my arm from her hold. "Damn it." I heard Dvergr unclip the radio from her belt.
"She's going for the trade." The buzz rattled through the black box and I snatched it from her hand.
"Eclipse, you owe us for this!" I had one bullet left and crammed it through the machine.
"It all ends tonight."
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That was the worst nap ever forced on me….ever. Who could sleep with such racket going on? I lifted my heavy head to see hot metal lodged inches away from my cranium. I groaned and the car I was apparently in swerved. Oh yeah, I remember now.
"A lady should be more elegant." My knuckles turn white against the seatbelt. I heard the thief chuckle. She tossed me a bag pulled into an empty parking lot.
"Lumiere, get out of the car." She unlocked and opened her own door. I'd read books about this. Innocent by standers get kidnapped and then the savage killers blow their brains out once they're done with them. If there is a god out there he hates me.
I followed her lead. "I didn't think you'd wake up so fast, but I'm in a bit of a pickle." We walked up to an old looking shack, with a large widow rusted over with a cover. "Hold this and hide in there." In one fluid motion, she punched through the metal and nudged me towards the crappy structure. A really big gun now rested in me incapable hands.
"Are you crazy?! I can't use this, I've never…" With a simple bump from her hip, I was sent tumbling over the counter. Before I could protest, I heard another car pull up. "Great, friends." She kicked the tin wall.
"Éclair, nice to see you." She gasped. What, they aren't friends? I heard a rustle of fabric. Then the click of a trigger.
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"Why are you doing this, working with the blue?!" Seriously, how could she stand to work with those to drama queens? "I have your damn money Eclipse!" Her dolled up face curled into a smirk.
With Alv jumping out of nowhere and with two trained marksmen (women) makin' me dance, I concluded it's not about the money anymore. Disoriented, I felt the thrust of a left hook. This is what I get for not flatting her when I had the chance.
"About time." She looked like a zombie with her make-up running; I couldn't help but laugh before she hit me again. "We've been chasing you up and down the entire western coast." Great she wasn't finished. I coughed up some blood.
"Now, now Alv. We need her alive if we want to get paid." Eclipse stepped between and grabbed a fist full of my hair. Ow.
"Éclair, I'm real tired of this, now," I felt a pistol on my skull. I spit in her face.
"Traitor!" My stomach received a heel in the gut, complements of Alv.
My former friend tightened her hold. "Where's my money!" The spring clicked backwards. I rather die. She shook harder and lost her cool. Boom?
Yes, boom, but not from Eclipse. In fact Eclipse was limping towards her pick-up. What the hell?
Then it hit me, figuratively and physically. Alv was down and dead, a hole sizzling through her heart. I just had to smirk. "We'll always have 'Vages. " With that said I pushed her off and hauled myself up.
Dvergr was sprinting at me, taking aim when another shot exploded at her feet, turning her around towards her cruiser. Not good. So not good.
"You're gonna die Éclair, and you," She shifted towards the shack. "Right along with her!"
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"Officer down, Officer down!" Whoever the hell that was, is gonna pay. Our initial target ran from my partner's corpse directing me to the other criminal. This is far from over. Time to call in a favor.
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"Lumiere!" If I had known the girl had such a shot, I would have given her a gun earlier. As I got closer though, I was had second thoughts.
She had sunk behind the counter after throwing the gun away, sobbing.
"Hey now." I whipped the blood from my mouth and jump behind the crumbling wall. "Please don't cry, I owe you my life. Lumi, you save me." This is bad. Dvergr is no doubt preparing to rampage, more cops are coming for us both, and this girl is in hysterics.
She pushed away from my probing hands. "No! I don't even know you and yet I just threw away my freedom and possibly my sanity to save you, my kidnapper." She had me there. I could hear sirens.
"Lumiere, listen." I pulled her hands away from her eyes and brushed some of her lavender hair away from her face. "Coppers are coming. You need to come with me." 'Cause I got you into this.'
She wouldn't stop crying. "I murdered someone, hurt another."
"And saved me. I owe you my life." I spread my coat over her shoulders and felt her slip unconscious from shock. Well this seems familiar. "I think we're going to be good friends." I hope she didn't hear that, but I meant it.
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"I'm well aware of the situation. Don't worry; I have my own bone to pick."
Thank you for reading. The characters may be a bit different, but, hey, it's an AU. Ignore any mistakes; I'll try to fix them. Next chapter under construction. Later!
