Chapter 4

Vaas exploded, 'Tell me why the fuck I shouldn't just fucking kill you now?"

The pirate paled, "I- uh… Because I'll-"

"Find her?" Adriana snorted, "Please, if you lose a prisoner whose only escape route is through the window right next to the door you were supposed to be guarding, the last thing I'm going to is to trust you to find her again. Come on Vaas, we can deal with him later."

Vaas put two fingers to his head and made a shooting motion while looking straight at the pirate. It would have appeared childish if he hadn't been dead serious.

"Oh and bring the boy," Adriana instructed as they left.

They ran back to the compound without waiting for the pirates to dig up Eddy. Waiting around for the pirates to do so would take time they couldn't waste. Vaas began instructing pirates on where to look and what to do if she was found. She was not to be killed and preferably uninjured, not severely injured anyway. Adriana began looking by herself, silently cursing her naivety. Of course the damned woman would try to escape, she was about to be held for ransom and then sold as a slave. She should have brought her with her even if it revealed her little lie. Once she had her name it didn't even matter. Still, this could work to her advantage, maybe Christine trusted her enough to reveal herself in hopes of being saved. Adriana doubted it though, it was more likely they'd find her mauled by a tiger or if she was really lucky, saved by the Rakyat, although according to Vaas, Citra was just as likely to kill her as save her. It seemed insanity ran in the family.

They spent all day looking for the woman only to find nothing. It was odd that there was no trace of her, no footprints, torn clothing or blood. Vaas had used a megaphone several times threatening to hurt her friend, but she either couldn't hear or was smart enough to stay away. Once it started to get dark Vaas called everyone back to the compound. It was unlikely that she would survive the night and they'd look for her body in the morning.

Adriana woke up to a pirate banging on her door, the same pirate who had allowed Christine to escape in the first place.

"Adriana, the girl came back and she's armed!"

Adriana immediately got out of bed and began to get dressed. She grabbed her pistol and her knife before heading out the door. Christine was standing at the front of the compound, an AK-47 in her hands. Every pirate in the compound had their guns pointed at her head. One wrong move and she was gone.

"So you came back to my kingdom… Christine, wasn't it?" Vaas' voice revealed his amusement by her show of bravado.

"Let Eddy go."

"Hmm, no, I think I'd rather keep him."

"Let Eddy go or I'll kill you all."

"Really? You'll kill every one of us here, hm?"

She nodded, fury in her eyes, gun pointed straight at Vaas. Vaas laughed and took a step forward. Christine pulled the trigger, letting loose a round of gunfire, but was clearly unaccustomed to using a gun and unprepared for the recoil. Although a few bullets ricocheted around Vaas, none actually managed to hit him. This caused an outburst of laughter from the surrounding pirates, but Adriana was watching Christine, her mouth was a hard line.

Why would she come back? And so openly? Surely she knew there was no way she'd actually be successful. Vaas didn't bargain with people. At best she was going to die, at worst she was going to be severely tortured.

Vaas strode towards her, amusement in his face. Christine took one look in his eyes and didn't even hesitate to turn and run. However, Vaas was armed and well acquainted with guns. Almost effortlessly, he aimed his gun, barely pausing to look down the sights, and shot. The bullet hit her left leg and she toppled to the ground.

"Adriana?"

"What?"

"Keep her alive."

Adriana didn't reply as she walked over to Christine. She clutched her leg, but made no visible sign of being in pain. It was always possible she was in shock and felt nothing, but the was unlikely. Bullet wounds tended to be too painful for that. It was more likely that Christine didn't want to show weakness. Pointless, but admirable.

"Christine, I need to get a medical kit. Keep pressure on that wound, ok?"

Christine cursed under her breath, but did as she was told. Adriana briefly wondered if she should leave her alone again, but eventually decided it would be fine. She wasn't going anywhere on that leg. She retrieved her medical kit from the draw in her desk and brought it back to Christine. Sure enough, the woman was still on the ground clutching her leg. Adriana knelt down next to her and pulled out a bandage, the bullet had missed the bone and gone straight through her thigh. Using the bandage she began wrap it tightly around Christine's leg.

"Ok, Christine, I'm going to elevate your leg to help stop the bleeding and it's going to hurt. You ready?"

"Yes," her voice was weak.

Adriana nodded and carefully lifted it. Christine cried out in pain and Adriana slowed down. Christine's cry died down to a whimper.

Over the course of several hours, the wound slowed down but did not stop. Adriana did as much as she could but little seemed to help. Her blood pressure was low and Christine was weak. Adriana stayed by her side the entire time and held her cold, clammy hand. She talked to her the entire time, making sure to keep her awake. She was successful, but Christine was weak and without proper medical facilities, she was going to die. This seemed odd to Adriana. A gunshot wound was serious, yes, but leg wounds were manageable and with the right treatment they were easily survivable.

"Adriana?"

"Yes, Christine?"

"I'm… going t- to die. Just… let me."

"Can't do that, sorry."

"It's not the…. gunshot that's killing me. I got bitten by a… komodo dragon."

So that was why she was so weak. Komodo dragon bites inhibited blood clotting and caused hypothermia, among other symptoms. Not wonder Christine was so cold despite the tropical heat.

"When and where?"

"Yesterday. My arm."

"How did you get bitten on your arm?"

"I… tripped."

Adriana pulled up her sleeve and examined the bite. It hadn't even been bandaged and after this many hours without treatment it was unlikely that Adriana would be able to help her. The venom had been in her system for too long.

"That's why you came back," Adriana said as the realisation dawned on her, "A last ditch effort to save Eddy because you were screwed."

"Yep… got as… far as the weapons shed."

"Adriana? The cunt still alive?"

Vaas was approaching them, fresh blood on his clothes. Adriana doubted that it was his own.

"For now. She won't make it."

"What the fuck? I just shot her in the fucking leg!"

"She was bitten by a komodo dragon. Their venom inhibits blood clotting."

"I know. Well, there's now there's no fucking point in torturing her. Just kill the bitch and get someone to clean up the mess."

He didn't wait for her reply as he jogged back down towards the beach. Poor Eddy.

"You're not really a… prisoner here, are you?"

Adriana returned to Christine's side, "What makes you think that?"

"He talks to you with respect… He wouldn't do that if you were a slave."

Adriana laughed; Christine had an odd definition of respect. Hell, he'd only just started referring to her by name rather than mujer or chica.

"So… are you going to kill me?"

"I- no, I'm not."

She laughed, but it was coarse, weak.

"You act all tough… but you can't kill. Does he know that?"

Adriana felt the panic rise up in her throat. If a random prisoner had seen through her so easily, what if Vaas had too? That was bad. If he knew then he wouldn't hesitate to report it to Hoyt and if Hoyt knew, he'd be so disappointed. And angry. Adriana had tried her best to be perfect her entire life and thus had not endured his wrath very often, but on the few occasions she had… She shuddered at the memories.

"Why were you so nice?"

Christine's voice pulled her mind out of the flashbacks.

"Ever heard the phrase: 'kill them with kindness'?"

"Ah. Y-you bitch."

Adriana laughed, but found little joy in it. She wished the woman would hurry up and die on her own. At the very least it would stop matters from becoming complicated.

They were silent for several minutes before Christine opened her mouth the speak.

"Adriana, I'm going... to go to sleep now. And I'm not going… to wake up, I know that. Tell Eddy… I love him and that I tried."

Christine closed her eyes and Adriana felt her pulse. She was still alive, but just barely. It wouldn't be long now. Adriana tried to summon the will to just leave her there, but couldn't. She held Christine's hand as her heartbeat got slower and slower until it ceased.

"Hey!" She shouted at the closest pirate, "Who's the one who let the woman escape in the first place?"

"Haru, ma'am."

Ma'am? No one ever called her that. It was pleasing to hear.

"Go get him for me. Someone has to clean up this mess."

The pirate nodded and jogged away calling for Haru. Adriana took one last look at Christine, even with a blood soaked bandage, a komodo bite plus various scratches and bruises, she looked calm, almost as if she were sleeping. Perhaps she was and had only faked death in an attempt to escape again. The thought was ridiculous, of course, and made Adriana laugh out loud. She had felt her pulse only moments ago, she was definitely dead.

However, there was one thing Christine had done for her in the hours that Adriana had spent talking to her in desperate hopes of keeping her alive. She had given her an idea. One that was beginning to take roots in her mind as she went to bed.

A/N: Hey, since it's been so long since I've updated I thought I should add an Author's Note. Basically I've been really busy since I last updated, I've had birthdays, exams, Christmas and New Years and have only been able to work on this chapter periodically. However, I'm on holidays now so hopefully I'll be able to update more often. I don't know how long it will take for me to finish this, but it's likely it will take me longer as the year progresses since I'm entering my final year at school. Also I changed the name of the fic because I finally decided on the direction I'm going to take this story and it was more fitting (I got the name from one of the songs in FC3's official soundtrack: watch?v=hD6wcvIcDXo).

So thanks for reading, following and favouriting, your support encourages me to continue writing and your reviews (critical and/or positive) remind me to work on the next chapter so please keep going with those!