A/N - Sorry for the late update guys, school and family have kept me from doing anything like fanfiction. Especially seeing as I've been saving for a trip to Perth in the near future, visiting old friends and such. Not really going to well, but I'll get there. I've been thinking about getting myself a nose stud to, maybe later on Chayne will follow my lead. But that is much later on. this chapter isn't too eventful, and not yet edited either. Lazy beta who is watching Jumper right now if I'm not mistaken, this means she'll probably begin to understand my story next time she reads it. xD Hopefully anyway, next chapter will be out sooner I promise, probably within the next few days, and chapter three and four will be edited, I'm really atrocious at grammar lol. It is definitely not one of my strong points. So thats about all I have to say, I'm off to have a really crappy day at school and my sister is sick, lucky kid. Any who, on with the story!
To all my amazing reviewers -- I'd like to thank you all for you're support, and say that it is you guys who keep this fic alive. And that I love you all immensely and reassure you that this story will keep going, even if its at a snails pace. I'm hoping to get it to at least forty thousand words or more. Originally it was one hundred thousand, but I would need a really hyper-active muse to get it that far, but we'll see.
Disclaimer -- No, you see, even though I have an amazing wit and creative mind, I didn't think up this brilliant idea. I have to say that I adore the concept of anything with Griffin in... oh and the being able to teleport thing to, but no, not this time my dears, just no :)
Summary -- JUMPER -- Simple mission- get in- kill paladin scum- get out. But then some careless jumper kid has to go complicate things by getting tortured and now Griffin has to put up with someone who's almost as mental as himself and play bodyguard too.
Eleytheria
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Chapter Four
Trust only works under one circumstance
-- It must go both ways
The familiar acidic smell of vomit fills the small bathroom as she retches up the contents of her stomach. Above her, the rickety light is flickering quickly and gaining speed. Almost at her wits end with the damn thing, she lurches back over the sink and throws up again. Behind her, Griffin is holding her at arms length, firmly in front of said sink with a little more force than necessary. He has been since their spontaneous arrival back into his lair.
Grunting in disgust, Griffin leans as far back as possible without relinquishing his hold on the girl. He is unwilling to let go in case she decides to redecorate his furniture with partially digested sushi. Although the smell that is now inhabiting his cozy little bathroom makes him want to throw her off the nearest cliff, he pushes back the ever-present urge and continues to keep her where she is, whilst making a mental note to never allow her sushi during her rapidly shortening stay.
After a few more minutes, she reaches out for the tap and turns it on, washing the foul liquid down the drain. Once done she straightens and becomes painstakingly aware of the hands that are gripping her shoulders.
"I'm done," she gurgles unconvincingly before wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "you can let go now."
His eyes narrow slightly in disbelief, but he lets his hands fall back to his sides, and then slides them into the pockets of his jeans. "You'd better be," he growls menacingly. The threat however, is empty and they both know it.
An awkward silence follows. Griffin stares openly as she glares at the dying light above them, and then looks around for something to smash it with, before catching sight of her hair which she has managed to get vomit in, and then touching it in horror, which results in her getting it on her hand, and then she squeals in shock before shoving her now soiled hand under the tap and turning it on full, which causes water to spray everywhere.
"Gross," she complains sourly as she shakes her wet hands, effectively flicking water at Griffin which causes his slightly worried expression to change immediately into one of exasperation.
Catching sight of the look on Griffin's face causes her to stop and smile uncertainly.
"Gr- Griffin, can I have a shower?" She questions timidly. He blinks a few times and considers it, his nose twitching a little before he jerkily nods once in answer.
She beams happily at him and dives forward, wrapping her skinny arms around his sturdy, tense frame before pulling back and ordering imperiously, "Good, now out."
Minutes later, as he faces the closed bathroom door from across his tiny living room, he realises that the odd little teenager had just ordered him to do something... and he'd obliged.
Sitting quietly in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin comfortably on top, she stares blankly through the mist created by the running shower. The noise is a dull roar in the back of her troubled mind as she tries to make herself feel sure and balanced again. Something isn't quite right. The flashes of memory, the personality shifts, the sense of security that comes from a psychotic killer who has threatened to jump her to countless places and leave her, yet has saved her life on more than one occasion. It doesn't belong, but in this world, many things don't belong.
Like Paladins, they most certainly didn't fit. Without mercy or regret, they murdered humans because they believed that the ability to jump half-way across the world was some kind of sinful action, even though the few people who held that amazing ability didn't ask for it in the first place, and when said people found out about the horrific repercussions that the ability brought with it, they didn't want it at all, they didn't want to know that it even existed.
Jumpers may not be the most natural things the Earth had spat out, but they deserved to live just like every other being that walked the Earth. And in a sense, the Paladins would deserve life just as much, if they stopped taking it. Paladins were indeed monsters, bloodthirsty and heartless. But some of the Jumpers were exactly the same, and one of them is in the other room doing god knows what.
Yes, Jumpers are monsters too, she supposes.
Griffin is a prime example, he is cruel and heartless, but only towards his enemies. Where Paladins are enemies, Jumpers are relatively kin, and she knows that if she had just been some regular girl, she wouldn't be anywhere near Griffin's secret lair, let alone in it. Being a Jumper was why he saved her, being helpless and somewhat redundant was why he allowed her to stay, being easy to upset was why he was slightly less standoffish and rude around her.
She coughs lightly and sighs softly, the other problem that was eating away at her, was her sudden inability to Jump. It was like a part of her was missing, torn away against her will. Jumping was second-nature, a reaction, an instinct, without it she felt weird, and a ton more vulnerable. Even more so because, when she did manage to jump, she did it subconsciously, without being aware of it at all.
Her fingers intertwine and she begins to hum a tune. Her mood swings and personality shifts are worrying too. In the few days she's been with Griffin, there was a teenager suffering memory loss, a teenager who had no fear and a shit load of confidence, a nervous train wreck, and someone who was borderlining a mental breakdown.
The only thing she is completely positive about, is that her Paladin captors had fucked her up good with the amount of electricity they'd sent mercilessly through her system.
Griffin flicks through surveillance pictures, although he's been distracted by the fact that the girl has supposedly been in the shower for over two hours. It's highly possible that she's jumped off somewhere again, or that she's slipped and knocked herself out. He wouldn't put anything past her now, he'd underestimated and misjudged the oddity before, and it brought him nothing but annoyance. Right now she's probably in the clutches of the Paladins somewhere in Italy and a whole bunch of the fucking bastards are about to come charging out of his shower.
He squeezes the pen in his hand so hard that it shatters, but he doesn't notice. He's too busy with his paranoia and is staring at the door, expecting it to burst open any moment. But all he can hear is the faint roar of water, which is exactly all he's been hearing for the past two hours.
Comforting himself with the thought that she has probably just drowned herself, and there is absolutely nothing to worry about, he focuses back on the pictures that should have had his full attention by now.
Griffin is not in the least bit worried, he just doesn't want to drag a bloated body from his shower or run around the world looking for the troublesome brat and find her in a back alley with her throat slit.
Calmly pulling the shards of plastic from his hand, he analyzes the picture in front of him, or at least tries to, before growling in annoyance and standing abruptly from his chair. After running his uninjured hand through his scruffy hair, he glares at the door that has been taunting him and frowns.
Visualizing its interior, he jumps.
His hand finds the tap and he turns it, shutting the water off. Griffin located her the moment he entered, he didn't even need to see to know where she was, it was just instinct. If he hadn't learned how to pick his enemies out of the shadows, he would of been a corpse years ago. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that he has no idea what is wrong with little miss problem now, and her blank looking state isn't really keying him in.
Of course, Griffin wouldn't know what to do in any situation if it required even the slightest form of socializing with another human, so not knowing what was wrong doesn't set him back too much. Not that he cares what's wrong either, it's just, well, it is just what it is and he doesn't want to have her sitting like that in the bathroom for too long in case he needs to piss. Or something of the sort.
Mumbling incoherently, Griffin walks grudgingly over to her and nudges her still form with his foot. When he doesn't get a reaction, he crouches down to her level and glares intently at her.
"Kid, what the fuck is wrong with you now?"
"My little baby girl," murmurs the shadow as it brandishes a knife in her direction and chuckles. There isn't a hint of sanity visible in the two shining orbs; instead there is only malice, and a terrifying bloodlust.
She stands in the centre of the room, her trembling hands clasping the semi-automatic pistol with almost supernatural strength. Her pretty little dress that she'd stolen from the next door neighbour's apartment expresses innocence that will soon be erased forever.
It steps into the light and bares its yellow teeth, "my little baby monster."
… A single shot rings out.
Slowly she becomes aware of her surroundings. The light is still flickering, but the shower has stopped running and someone has said something, but she can't quite remember what it was. The last thing she notices is the man who is crouching mere inches away from her and is giving her that terrifying glare of his.
Without thinking, she reels back and slams her head into the wall. An explosion of pain causes her to yelp and moan while Griffin snorts at her stupidity. She gets the impression that something similar has happened before.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," she groans at him. The pain eases a little and she starts to rub the forming lump vigorously.
"There is something seriously fucking wrong with you." He replies coolly, there is no drawl or mocking lilt to his voice and he is regarding her with an unreadable expression. She doesn't take any notice however, and begins to get unsteadily to her feet.
"I thought I was going to have a shower," she murmurs as Griffin too stands to his full height. "why are you still in here?"
Griffin is taken aback briefly, but doesn't let it show. "You were going to have a shower two hours ago kid, what the fuck is going on in that head of yours?"
She stops what she is doing and looks at him in confusion, "I told you five minutes ago to get out, didn't I?"
"No."
Her hands begin to tremble and her eyes widen. Her breath catches in her throat and Griffin begins to feel uncomfortable as he knows what this is going to lead to. "B- but I did."
"You've been in here a hell of a lot longer than five minutes, kid."
The tears are welling up again, and Griffin groans inwardly. She opens her mouth to say something else, but he cuts her off almost instantly, "Don't cry."
She sniffles pathetically, "I- I'm n- not."
Rubbing his temples to calm himself, he tries to think of the best possible way to deal with her, as he does not want to relive a past experience involving said hysterical girl.
"You probably just fell asleep..."
The waterworks start up seconds later.
"It's nothing to cry over," he growls in an attempt to stop the tears, "considering what's happened, I'd say it's pretty normal what you're going through." He winces at his own words, they're way too kind for his liking. But they seem to do the trick.
"You think?" She whispers quietly, her doe like eyes scaring him like nothing else could.
"U-huh," he grunts roughly, before looking away and setting his jaw, "if you had come out of it fine, then I would fucking worry."
"Y-you would worry?"
"Oh dear god."
Review my dears, and many a good thing will happen too you, and me.