True to her word, three days found Mari docking at the spaceport back in West Virginia. Again at an absurd hour, and again, dialing Jim on the fuzzy screen.

"Work's done. Bring her back in the morning, yeah?" His face went a little red as he restrained an instinctive glance over his shoulder.

"Suuure, Mari. Um... are you going to be okay if Gene is with me?"

"Haven't gotten much sleep past few nights, huh?" Mari forced a smile as Jim's blush deepened. "No, I don't much care, so long as you bring Su back with him. Say 'round 9?" A muffled grunt hit the speaker, followed by an unmistakable cackle, and Mari outright laughed as Jim slammed his forehead against the comm, an annoyed expression crossing his face as he looked balefully through the screen at her. "On second thought, why don't you come stay the night, yeah? Least I can do. We can fetch 'em in the morning." It was her turn to watch the comm go dark as Jim slammed the receiver down. Twenty minutes later he was banging on the hull, a pillow and a blanket tucked under his arm as he smiled sleepily at Mari. Shortly after that he was sawing logs on the couch, Laika curled up at his feet.

Su,

Went to sleep at the Genrou. Assholes. Be back at 0900 to fetch you back.

– Jim

"Oh, Jim," Su frowned, "you were such a nice boy, once." She crumpled the paper in her hand, dropping it into the trash. Pulling the sheet a bit more tightly around her, she pulled the refrigerator open to grab a bottle of juice, gulp after gulp straight from the bottle washing the thirst and sleep away from her body. Living with men always brought out the worst in her personality. An arm slithered around her waist, pulling her back against a warm body, the other hand snatching the juice out of her fingers. She sighed, leaning back against the man behind her as he finished off the bottle, neatly tossing it into the bin before burying his face against her neck to ply her with teeth and tongue. Was she really ready to go back to a captain who dropped her Earth-side every time the woman got bored with her? "Hey, Starwind."

"Hm?"

"How do you feel about a little adventure? Fire up the Star and take off for a couple days?" She turned around, giving the red-head her best smoldering look. "Just you and me. Planet hoppin'. Causin' trouble. C'mon, what else do you have to do?" She danced her fingers up his bare chest, biting her lip and batting her eyelashes. He grinned down at her through his bangs, tossing her a lazy shrug.

"What the hell. Let's go." It was so very easy. Fifteen minutes later they were out the door, a quick glance at the clock telling Su it was 0840.

Perfect timing.

Jim,

Su and I took off in the Star for a couple days. Be back before the weekend.

– Gene

"That bitch." Mari's shout echoed through the small apartment, startling Jim as he read the letter aloud. "I go and do something nice for her, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Mari, relax! They'll be back in a few days. Gene says so right here. I'm sure you can spare a couple days resting on that bounty."

"No Jim. If I know anything about that one, she won't come back until she's good and ready. And if she feels slighted, it might be awhile. You need that idiot Starwind and your clunker of a ship. I need that girl back, if only to strangle some sense into her." Mari frowned, "We have to go after them, before she ditches him and makes off with your ship."

"You really think she would do that?"

"I just hope she hasn't done it already."

It took two days to even get wind of the Outlaw Star. Apparently, Gene and Su had engaged the sub-ether drives as soon as they broke atmo. Illegal, and incredibly stupid, but it had the desired effect of getting them out of Sol space before Mari could track them.

"Still think she's not mad?" Mari grumbled, flipping Genrou back to life after the fourth false lead in as many days. They were getting closer this time. Only missed them by a handful of hours.

"Oh no, she's most definitely mad." Jim sighed, flopping face down on the console. "Then again, at the pace we're running, Gene is probably getting a bit hot under the collar too. All this flying about doesn't leave time for much else, way I figure." Mari couldn't help the barking laugh that escaped her. The kid did have a point. Mari shut down the console again, letting the ship fall silent.

"What do you say to taking the afternoon off, yeah?" Mari stood up, stretching her arms over her head with a yawn.

"What? You mean give up?" Jim blinked at her from the pillow of his arms.

"No. I mean exactly what I said. You have the right of it, so long as we're on their heels they're not going to slow down. They don't slow down, they don't slip up. They don't slip up, we can't catch 'em. Sides, Persephone's as good a place as any to stop, as far as outlaws go. We steer clear of Badger and we'll be fine." she shrugged, disappearing down the hall with a loud whistle and returning with an eager Laika, the mutt leashed and skipping around Mari's ankles. "Come on, let's bag us a few low level bounties and drink them at the nearest bar to the station afterwards." Jim couldn't suppress the smile that crept over his face.

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

The unraveling of her first life had started with a glimpse. She and Genrou had just mugged a bookie, leaving him unconscious and bleeding in a back alley. They'd put the boots to him good, fists and feet bruising and cracking bone until the man had begged them to take his money, his jewelry, his shoes, whatever. She'd gone through his pockets then, pulling out the thick wad of cash that would feed them that month, a satisfied grin coming her way from the red-haired man keeping watch at the head of the alley. It only made sense that the bookie's men would come crashing out of the door to their backs. She was only fifteen, not very good at the streets yet, and Genrou had never been very bright. Instincts kicked in, and she was chasing him down the alley, shoving the wad of cash into her bra as they broke out into a busy thoroughfare, crashing through the crowds of people perusing the street vendors.

She had lifted her head as they drew up to the intersection, Genrou grabbing her hand to drag her through as they dodged between rickshaws, skimmers, jalopies, and bikes careening around them, angry voices cursed their ancestors and fated progeny. But she was blind and deaf to it all. The moment her eyes had lifted, they had seized on one face in the crowd, locking onto it with an intense curiosity, even as her rat brain screamed at her to run.

It was Mari. On the opposite corner the girl stood tall, smiling in a freshly pressed uniform and holding the hand of an equally dressed, happy looking young man. As Genrou dragged her onto the sidewalk her feet froze, her arm jolting in its socket as she stopped to stare dumbfounded at the girl.

"Mae-chan?" The nickname from their childhood fell from her lips as she stared into Mari's face, heart hurting as she imagined what she must look like to this respectable woman who was searching through the grime for features she could recognize.

"C'mon, Su!" Genrou shouted, jerking painfully at her arm.

"Su?" Mari's eyes flashed as everything clicked into place, glancing over the girl she hadn't seen in years. Taking in the bloody boots, the cracked, red knuckles, the ratty torn clothes, the dirt and filth covering her. It had been a lean month. Su could feel the tears starting to burn hot behind her eyes at the shock on her old friends face. A swift blow to the side of her head had startled her back to reality. She hated it when he did that, but she guessed she deserved it this time. She could hear the voices of the bookie's men getting closer. As she took off running behind the man once more, she fought down the pain and anger threatening to boil over inside at the look on Mari's face when Gen-chan had hit her. It froze into her brain, the woman's horrified expression playing over and over in her mind's eye.

That had been the first crack in her old life.

On board the Outlaw Star, Su shook her head, frowning. She hadn't thought about that tiny moment in years. Where had it come from so suddenly? She walked away from the window, flopping sideways into a passenger seat on the bridge and rubbing her eyes as she sighed. It was the first time they'd been apart in near six years. She missed her captain. Her rules and commands. It had been a long four days. The first two had been fine. Gene hadn't been a bad partner-in-crime, having a taste for the same dangerous and illegal methods as she so long as they got the job done. The sub-ether drives had got them out of Sol smoothly enough, giving them a day to spend on a jungle planet holed up in a tiny shack in the middle of a rain forest, not doing much in the way of sightseeing. Heading back to the ship in the morning, Su had recognized the Genrou landing across the docking station, and they'd been off and running. Two days of non-stop flight 'cross the 'verse.

She'd quickly gotten sick of it. Mari had the brains and training on her side, but Su had an instinct born of the streets. Mari was a brilliant bounty hunter. Su was notorious for evading the law and trackers. All in all, this game of cat and mouse could be dragged into forever. A stalemate of individual talents, and they had spent the last few years learning each others tricks and thoughts. Finally, she had talked Gene into parking the Star in the midst of an asteroid belt just off Persephone, laying low as they watched the Genrou dive swiftly through atmo to land on the surface. She needed a minute to think about what to do next. She wanted to end it on her own terms, for once. If Mari was going to attempt to leave her on Earth, she would show the woman that she wouldn't just 'sit and stay', dammit! She wasn't Laika, after all. It would drive Mari mad, but she'd given Badger a little something to keep the captain occupied for a day or two. Nothing serious, just a little distraction to give her time to formulate a plan.

The clock was ticking.

Su pushed herself up from the seat, her boots ringing across the deck of the ship as she approached the central console where Gene reclined, legs up, head back, eyes closed, and every inch the exhausted pilot. She dropped lightly into his lap, ans he closed his arms around her without even opening his eyes, tucking her neatly under his chin. "You got a shower in this tin can?"

"All the way back to the left." She nuzzled her face along his jaw, nipping at his earlobe as she whispered.

"How you feel about gettin' my back for me?" At least that woke him up a little. She shrieked happily as he levered to his feet, throwing her back over his shoulder and marching for the rear of the ship.

Time to formulate... or something.

Music: Ride – Lana del Rey