I have figured out that maybe double posting in one day isn't the best idea. People seem to be skipping over one by starting with the latest chapter. So... prolly no more of that : /
Warning: this chapter is lighthearted and cute, not really action packed. One might even call it fluff. Enjoy this conclusion to the Zaibatsu/G Corp Arc!
Raven raced through the cave, Leo right beside him. The two of them decided to make a friendly contest of it in order to not only get through the cave quicker, but to lighten the mood and relieve the tenseness of the situation. Experienced as Leo was, she was no match for Raven's speed and agility.
Raven emerged from the cave with a smirk, a pouting Leo following closely behind.
"Let's go. My aircraft is just ahead." he commanded as the two of them approached his jump jet.
Leo looked awkwardly at the cockpit.
"Um... this looks like a one man fighter jet."
"Exactly. So you'll have to get as close to me as possible." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Leo could have sworn he was getting a little red faced. She couldn't help but smile.
"Fine, I'll sit close to you. But I think you just have the hots for me." Leo teased.
Raven rolled his eyes and the two of them got in the cockpit. Leo sat in front and leaned her back up against Raven, allowing him to drape his arms around her to handle the controls.
"This your first time?" Raven asked.
"Y-yeah, I've always preferred land." she said with a nervous look.
"The I'll be sure to go as fast as possible." he said with a smirk as he fired up the ignition.
Leo screamed and scrunched up against Raven's chest as the jet shot into the sky and blasted off with the speed of a projectile.
Night fell after a few hours of flight. Leo was sleeping peacefully against Raven's chest, and Raven himself was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He set his jet to autopilot and made sure the coordinates were properly input. After checking his fuel gauge one more time, Raven finally closed his eyes. He didn't have much arm room, so he decided to just put his arms around Leo. The two of them slept throughout the night.
"Hey! Hey, wake up!"
Raven awoke to rapid beeping and Leo's screaming voice.
"Hey, man! I think we're outta fuel!" she yelled.
Raven's eyes shot open as he leaned over, nearly crushing poor Leo.
"Shit! We don't have time to call for support!" He yelled.
"Wha-what do we do?
"You trust me, that's what."
He firmly pulled back on the controls and slowed the jet to almost a halt. He then pushed downward and slowly started to descend. Leo, meanwhile, had her eyes shut tight and was hanging on to Raven's arm. The jet finally touched down and skidded along the highway. Leo refused to open her eyes until they were at a complete halt.
When the cockpit flew open, Leo jumped out and kissed the ground. Raven was looking his jet up and down, checking for the slightest damage.
"So where are we?" Leo asked, finally getting back to her feet.
"No idea. But it doesn't matter." Raven replied. He turned around and activated his earpiece.
"This is Raven. I've successfully retrieved the target, but I'm stranded with no fuel. Requesting an emergency refuel. I'll send you my L&L."
"Roger that. We'll get to as fast as we can. Hold your position."
"Roger that. We aren't going anywhere."
Raven clicked off the earpiece and looked over to Leo.
"Sorry for the inconvenience. We might be here a while."
"Eh, well we could be in a worse situation." Leo said with a shrug. "Hey, what do you say we find a place to eat around here?"
"You mean leave my jet here on the highway? Sorry, but that's not a good idea. Besides, I have orders not to move a muscle."
"Aw c'mon" she said, punching his shoulder. "Do you always have to be so uptight?"
Raven scratched his head for a second. Finally he let out a sigh.
"Stay close to me. That's an order."
Leo scoffed. "Do you think I can't handle myself?"
"I don't care if you can or not. My mission is to get you to Japan in one piece, no matter the circumstances."
Leo gave an grunt of annoyance. "You know what? I'm gonna save YOUR life a few times before we get to Japan, then maybe you'll appreciate me a bit more!"
She stormed ahead wearing her same annoyed look, leaving Raven with an awkward expression.
Damn, she's impulsive...
The two of them made their way to a tiny restaurant nearby. They walked inside and Raven observed the surroundings carefully. It wasn't a well kept place; the trash can was flooding onto the ground, the paint was chipping off the walls, and Raven could have sworn he saw an insect or two crawling around.
"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Raven whispered to Leo.
"Hey, when you're hungry you tend to overlook the silly little details. Now let's go!" She grabbed Raven's hand and dragged him to a nearby table. They sat down and Raven observed the menu.
"Hmm... Kimchi? Haejang Guk? We must be in Korea. We were so close..." he said, putting his hand on his chin.
"Hmmm, that looks good!" Leo said, pointing to the Haejang Guk.
"I'm not sure you want to eat that." Raven said to her.
"Why, what's in it?" Leo inquired.
"See that red stuff? It's blood. Hardened ox blood."
Leo set the menu down and gagged, causing Raven to chuckle slightly.
The waiter finally approached their table. He was a middle aged man with a horribly sour look on his face.
"What can I get ya?" he grunted.
"Kimchi Jjigae." Raven said, placing his menu down. He turned to Leo, who looked like she was stuck on a hard math question.
"She'll have the same." He said, taking her menu and closing it.
The man nodded then turned around, facing the kitchen.
"HWOARANG!" he bellowed. "TWO KIMCHI JJIGAE! NOW!"
"Alright, sheesh!" a voice called out. "Damn, why you always gotta scream at me, you old bastard?"
The man snorted and turned back around to the two of them.
"Damn kid... he was dishonorably discharged from the military, and now this is the only job he could get. If I wasn't friends with his sensei I'd..."
He then realized he was grumbling to complete strangers.
"Sorry. Your grub'll be here any minute. Can I get you a drink?"
"Andong Soju." Raven said. "And she'll have... banana milk."
"Hey, don't treat me like a baby! I want the same thing he's having!" Leo yelled, smacking Raven in the head.
The waiter eyeballed her closely.
"How old are you?"
"I'm 20!" she yelled furiously.
"You don't look 20. I need some ID."
"Ugh, fine. Just give me that banana stuff!"
The waiter bowed to them and walked off, once again mumbling about Hwoarang.
The two of them sat in silence. Leo had her chin propped on her hand and was tapping furiously with her other hand. Raven didn't dare to look at her, as she was glaring daggers at him. Finally he decided to break the silence.
"Are you angry with me or something?"
"No, but you don't have to treat me so condescendingly because I'm kinda short." she grumbled.
"I'm not! Alright, look, I don't drink anymore anyway. When the waiter leaves you can have mine and I'll drink yours. Deal?"
She looked at him for a moment then looked away and pursed her lips.
"Fine."
The waiter finally came back and brought their drinks. Raven picked his up to sniff it, but he nearly spilled it when the waiter yelled next to his ear.
"HWOARANG! HURRY UP WITH THAT ORDER!"
"I'm workin on it, keep your hat on!" the voice yelled back.
Before the waiter left, Leo grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey mister, where are we?" she asked.
"Changwon, South Korea. What are you, dumb?" The waiter walked off, oblivious to Leo sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well that answers that question." Leo said. "Now fork over that drink."
"Here, take it." Raven said and handed his drink to her. He swiped hers and took a sip of the concoction.
"Hey, this isn't bad. You shouldn't knock it till you try it." he said.
Leo rolled her eyes and took a sip of the strong alcoholic beverage. She immediately started coughing.
"What's the matter? Too much for you?" Raven taunted.
"Shut up! I've just... never had alcohol before." she grumbled, looking at her feet.
"It's overrated, trust me. Here, you want a sip of mine? It's good." Raven extended the banana milk to her, which she reluctantly accepted.
Finally Hwoarang came out of the kitchen, carrying two steaming bowls of Kimchi stew.
"Here's your food. Don't blame me if it gives you the shits." Hwoarang said, slamming the bowls in front of them and walking off, placing his hands in his pockets.
Raven looked down at his bowl and took a big whiff. He picked up his spoon and prepared to dig in, but stopped to look at Leo. She was staring at him.
"What are you waiting on?" Raven asked, putting the spoon down.
"You ordered it, so you have to make sure it doesn't kill me." Leo said, folding her arms.
"Do you even know what's in it?"
"Nope."
"Why don't you try some and find out?"
"After you."
"I don't like people watching me while I eat."
"Then why did you sit at the same table as me?"
"Because you're my primary objective."
"Aw, and here I thought you liked me."
"I do, but if I didn't need to bring you to Japan you wouldn't be here right now."
Raven realized what he just said and mentally slapped himself. Leo just looked at him for a moment with her mouth open, then looked down at her bowl and started eating. She had a look of disgust that didn't look to be disappearing.
Goddammit Raven, you're supposed to be a gentleman for Chrissake. Ah, well. I'll never see her again soon.
Raven decided to forget his outburst and eat. He ate slowly, taking in all of the flavors. The most notable was the red cabbage kimchi, but he also tasted tofu, pork, and an assortment of other vegetables. The sensation of the hot stew entering his empty stomach was pure bliss.
After about 10 minutes of eating in silence, the waiter approached them with the bill.
"Here. Pay up front." he said, then walked away abruptly.
Raven was so fixated on finishing his tasty meal that it took him a moment to realize there was no way they could pay for this. All he had was U.S dollars and the yen that he exchanged for during his time in Japan. When he realized finally, he stopped eating and looked up at Leo, trying to hide his horror.
"We've got a problem." he whispered to her. Leo kept eating and continued to say nothing to him.
"I'm serious. We can't... we can't pay for this."
Leo finally stopped eating and looked up with a worried expression.
"Oh snap, you're right! I've never even touched won before! You think they'll exchange?"
"Not a run down dump like this. We may be in trouble."
"What do we do? We can't just steal from them! Maybe we could work it off! No wait, that guy back there has an attitude problem. Kinda hot though..."
"Alright, here's what we'll do. We order something else, put it on the bill. We'll eat it nice and slow until our air support arrives. Then we'll run for it and get the hell out of here, and more importantly, never come back."
"You're kidding, you maniac! I'm not breaking the law!"
"Look, I'm really tired of this. I just want to get you back to Japan so I can get on with my life. If I have to break the law once in my career, so be it. You're coming with me whether you like it or not."
"Oh yeah, well maybe I'll just kick your-"
They were interrupted by the door swinging open. In stepped five unsavory looking characters, all carrying concealed weapons according to Raven's keen eyesight.
"Hey! You in here, Hwo?" the first guy yelled. His other friends were laughing and punching each other.
"Shit, not you assholes!" the waiter yelled. "OUT! Everybody OUT!" He walked up to them and tried to push them, but two of the guys pushed him to the ground and kicked him a few times.
"Don't you ever get in out f***ing faces, you old geezer!" the first guy yelled. "Hey HWOOO! Get your ass out here!"
Finally the kitchen door swung open and Hwoarang came out, still wearing his chef hat and apron.
"What the hell are you idiots doing here?! I'm working!"
"Hey, don't talk like that to your buddies. We come to give you a little break. C'mon, let's go f*** some people up!"
Hwoarang put his hands on his head and sighed loudly.
"Don't you assholes get it?! The war is over! There is no Resistance! I'm not the leader of anything! I'm just a 22 year old guy trying to make a damn living! Now can you please get lost?"
The guy's face twisted a little. "I don't like your tone, Hwo. If you ain't with us anymore, then we're gonna have to teach you a little lesson!"
The five guys started to surround him and pulled out varying objects. Guy 1 had a combat knife, guy 2 had a baton, guys 3 and 4 had crowbars, and guy 5 had a small lead pipe.
Hwoarang cursed under his breath and got into stance.
Meanwhile, Leo quickly slurped down her bowl and shot to her feet.
"This is it! The moment we've been waiting for!" she said to Raven with a grin.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"You just finish your food and let me handle this, kay?"
"You're not actually thinking off getting involved, are you? The guy can handle himself."
She gave a wink and ran up to the thugs.
"Hey, pick on someone your own size! Uh, I mean... don't gang up on him you jerks!" She put her hands to her hips and stared meanly at the thugs.
"Well, what have we here?" the head thug said with a laugh and walked closer to Leo, getting in her face.
"What are you gonna do, Miss Flat Chest?" The thugs all burst into laughter as Leo turned red with fury. She balled up her fist and swung as hard as she could, knocking the guy in his jaw and sending him flying out the door. The other thugs were in shock for a moment as Leo turned to them, pointing.
"Who's next?"
The thugs all prepared to rush her, but suddenly a shuriken flew towards them and knocked the weapons out of their hands. They all turned and faced Raven, who was slurping down the rest of his stew with one hand.
"There. That should even the score a little." he said, slamming the empty bowl.
Leo took advantage of their confusion and threw a palm into the second guy's pelvis, the drove her elbow into his stomach, knocking him backwards into the wall. Thug number 3 threw a punch, but the punch was parried and Leo countered with a palm straight to the chin. The fourth guy scrambled to pick up his weapon only to receive a Hammer Heel to the top of his head. As he fell onto his back, his eyes trailed upward to Hwoarang, who had his hands in his pockets and was smirking.
"Hwo, you son of a- OUUUGH!" the thug never finished his sentence as Hwoarang slammed his foot into the guy's stomach.
The fifth thug then surprised everybody by pulling a gun.
"That's it, fear me you sons of bitches! He yelled, laughing maniacally. "Now I'm calling the shots around he-AAAAAGH!"
The thug fell over unconscious, his eyes still open. Raven looked down at the guy.
"No one threatens my objective and walks away." Leo walked up to Raven and smiled, hitting his chest.
"You just can't stop saving me, can you?"
"Thank you thank you so MUUCH!" the waiter yelled, shaking their hands. "As a reward, you two can eat here for free for the rest of the day!" Leo looked at Raven with a smirk.
"See? I told you I'd handle it."
"Hey! What the hell do I get?!" Hwoarang whined. "I should at least get a raise!"
"You're the one who brought those hooligans here! Get your ass back in the kitchen before I call Baek! I have him on speed dial, you know!"
"Sheesh, no respect..." Hwoarang grumbled, kicking the kitchen door open and letting it swing to as he walked in.
"Sooo what can I get you?" the waiter asked politely, holding up a notepad. Raven and Leo looked at each other.
"Still hungry?" he asked.
"Maybe..." she said with a mischievous grin. "But this time I'm ordering yours."
After a helping of Jjajngmyeon (and for Raven, a bitter crab marinated in soy sauce and served cold), the two of them finally left the restaurant and decided to take a small stroll to walk off their meals. They walked down the side of the road for a little while before Raven finally broke the silence.
"I didn't mean to, um... offend you back there."
"Ah, don't worry about it. Look, I know what I am to you, okay? I'm your priority target, your VIP, your primary mission or whatever you call it. I know you only saved me from killing myself so I could go work for G Corp." She looked down at the ground while she spoke.
"Well I... that's true, but... look. I won't deny it, okay? In my line of work, I don't make many friends. Most of the time, I go place to place and I don't stay long enough to make myself known. Yes, you were just another mission to me. But now that we've been stranded out here for so long and we were forced to be together, you've become more than that."
She stopped looking down and finally looked up at Raven.
"Aw, you mean it? Well, as far as rescuers go, you're pretty great." she said with a smile.
Raven opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by an object descending from the sky. It was a huge aircraft, painted in all black.
"LZ secured, commencing refueling." a voice on the radio said. Raven and Leo quickly jogged back to the jet just in time to see the refueling take place. A long rod protruded from the tanker and was inserted into the jet's fuel tank. After a few minutes, the process was complete. The rod retracted and the tanker began to ascend.
"Refueling complete. Continue your mission!" the voice yelled and the tanker flew off into the distance. Leo couldn't take her eyes off of it until it was out of view.
"That.. was... amazing!" she exclaimed. "Are you military? You are aren't you? Be honest."
Raven grinned. "Sorry, but that's classified. Even for you."
The two of them hopped back into the cockpit and took off into the sky. Leo got comfortable against Raven and decided to close her eyes for a little while.
"...hey." she mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Could you fly a little, calmer this time? For me?"
Raven rolled his eyes. "I guess." he said with a small grin.
After a few more hours of flight, they finally arrived in Japanese airspace. Raven hated to wake the sleeping girl, but he decided it was best for her to be lucid by the time they got to Violet Systems.
"Hey, we're here." Raven whispered, shaking her lightly. Leo came to her senses and stretched, nearly smacking Raven in the face.
"Unngh, that was fast..." she mumbled, looking out the window. "Wow, Japan is as amazing as I remember!"
The two of them finally arrived at Violet Systems and Raven landed on the rooftop. The cockpit opened and they jumped out. Leo walked over to the edge and looked below at the nearly infinite drop.
"Hey, what gives?! How are we supposed to-EEK!"
She was caught off guard by Raven scooping her up in his arms and leaping from the rooftop. Leo was in such shock that she just screamed and wrapped her arms around Raven's neck, nearly strangling him. Despite being unable to breathe, Raven easily landed on his feet at the entrance of the headquarters. Raven set Leo down and she immediately fell to her knees.
"C-c-can we please not do that again? I don't like long drops unless I'm hooked to a rope." she stammered.
"Sorry," Raven said, helping her to her feet. The two of them walked inside the building. Raven had to drag the captivated Leo by her hand to get her inside the elevator.
"You seem pretty overwhelmed by all of this." Raven said to the wide eyed girl.
"It's just... new to me. In case you couldn't tell, I've spent most of my life crawling around in dark caves."
"Heh, if this is overwhelming, wait until you see the Millennium Tower."
Leo looked down at her feet. "Um, Mr. Agent... could I tell you something?"
"My codename is Raven." Raven finally told her.
Leo rubbed her hands together. "Well, Mr. Raven..."
"Just Raven. And what are you so nervous for all of a sudden?"
"I'm scared, okay?!" Leo yelled, slamming her fist into the wall. "I'm not used to the big city or big corporations! I just... what if I mess up?"
Raven put his hand on her shoulder.
"It's normal to be nervous, especially when you're taking on such a big responsibility. But I see great things in you, Kliesen. If you're anything like your mother, you'll be a great asset to the G Corp for decades to come."
Leo smiled and touched his hand. "Thank you, Raven. You know, you're pretty deep for such a stoic guy."
"You're the second person to tell me that." Raven said with a small grin.
The elevator finally made it to the top and the two of them arrived at Lee's office. Raven started to knock, but Leo grabbed his hand.
"Wait. Before we go in, can we get a couple of things out of the way?" she asked. Raven nodded.
"First of all, don't ever tell what happened in that cave, okay?"
"Of course." Raven replied.
"Secondly..."
She suddenly grabbed his face and pulled him in for a quick kiss. Before Raven even had time to be surprised, she pulled back.
"That's for saving me, and... for everything else." She then threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her.
"You've really helped me in more ways than I can count. I'll always be grateful to you and I'll never forget you."
She then let go of Raven and turned around.
"Now, let's get down to business."
She knocked on the door, and it was opened by Lee's secretary. The two of them approached Julia and a beaming Lee.
"So you brought her? EXCELLENT! Me and the lovely Miss Chang have finished acquiring all of the G Corporation. Now you can split the rights between the two of you!"
Leo walked up to Julia and extended her hand.
"So you're Julia Chang? Eleanor Kliesen, but you can call me Leo."
Julia smiled brightly and shook her hand
"It's so nice to meet you, Leo! I'm looking forward to working with the daughter of Emma!"
"Excellent, simply marvelous! Seeing two intelligent young beauties come together to help our humble nation is a dream come true!"
Lee finally calmed down and motioned for the two of them to sit down.
"Now, if you would sign here, here, here..."
Raven took the opportunity to slowly slip out of the room, closing the door behind him quietly. He stepped back in the elevator and folded his arms as it rode back down to the bottom.
Leo Kliesen, huh? Well, HQ was right about one thing. She's a hell of a girl.
EPILOGUE
Raven landed his aircraft on the top of the Seahorse Hotel and made his way back to his luxury room. He threw himself onto his bed and sighed loudly. Suddenly, all of the tension and stress in his body melted away. His mission was finally complete. Sitting up in his bed, he clicked on his earpiece.
"HQ, It's Raven. Got some news for you."
"What's up? Did you successfully deliver Kliesen?"
"Affirmative. The mission is complete. The war is over and the Zaibatsu and the G Corp are now under new management. Japan is sitting pretty."
"That is goddamn music to our ears, agent. You are a Godsend."
"Just doing my job, sir. What are my orders?"
"Consider yourself on leave... for now."
Raven couldn't help but smile with relief. "Roger that. I'll keep in touch. Raven out."
He switched off his earpiece and flopped onto his bed, preparing to enjoy the first time off he's had in a long time.
Whew... this chapter was exhausting, but so much fun! Don't let the epilogue fool you; this story is NOT OVER! I repeat, NOT! OVER! There's two more smaller arcs to go through. Don't worry, they're not nearly as long as this one! There's still more to see! More characters! More conflicts! More war! But for now, don't be expecting daily updates. For those who have made it this far, I love each and every one of you! Keep reading!