Disclaimer: Not mine.

Captive 28

Have A Nice Day

(When the world gets in my face

I say, 'have a nice day' (d-)d

- Bon Jovi)

"It's a pity Father Dende couldn't stay," Piccolo told Marron as they sat down to dinner. He gallantly held the chair next to his at the head of the table until she was seated. "It would be nice if you could meet him at last."

Marron managed to smile up at him. It was a wan, distracted stretching of her lips while her heart continued to sink and her thoughts ran riot. "I was looking forward to it."

"To arrange a wedding, perhaps?" Piccolo asked with a teasing smile. He took his seat and turned his glance to Trunks, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Marron. "Dende would be happy to marry the two of you."

"As soon as the roof on St. Lucia's is fixed," Trunks replied. "He and I talked about it on the way here. Too bad he had to hurry back to town."

"A pity," Piccolo agreed. "But when a message comes to give last rites to the dying, what can a priest do but go?"

Trunks couldn't help but wonder just who the priest had left to pray over, if it had some bearing on his and Marron's chances of leaving tonight. He did know he couldn't seem to let Dende's absence spook him. They were supposed to be friends and allies here. He wanted to ask where Radditz was. No, all he really wanted was to take Marron and get out. There was a small plane waiting at the airport that Yamcha had once controlled, but the airport was on the other side of the island. The key element in his plan had been called away while he and Marron were making love. Trunks cursed himself for being a reckless fool. The hour he'd spent indulging his passion might have cost them their lives. All he could do now was hope that Piccolo didn't receive any faxes or phone calls disproving Trunks' assertion to him that the arms shipment had been delivered and that all was well with Piccolo's Navy contact.

Marron tried not to worry. At least she tried not to show it. She'd turned into quite a good actress over the past few days, even if she did say so herself. She managed to smile at Piccolo, give Trunks a warm look that had nothing to do with acting, then put a fork full of grilled sea bass in her mouth and swallow it. She didn't taste the fish. That would have been asking one thing too much of her heightened senses, but at least she looked like a person who wasn't in the least concerned about anything. "Delicious," she complimented her host.

"Marissa will be happy to know you think so," Piccolo replied.

"I'll have to apologize to her for keeping the meal waiting. And to you, too, of course."

"Think nothing of it. You're young and in love."

Marron blushed. She searched in her memory banks for some kind of polite response, but was saved from finding words as Marissa showed Uub into the dining room.

Uub paused briefly in the doorway, his dark glance passing over Piccolo and herself as his attention centered on Trunks. "Well, well," he said in his deep, rough voice. "Look who's back."

"You have a problem with that?" Trunks responded. His tone was mild as milk, Marron noted, but the cold look in his eyes was deadly.

Uub shrugged. "No problem. Good to see you again." He looked at Piccolo while he spoke. Uub was aware that Piccolo required polite behavior from any one in his home, Marron supposed. Uub didn't wait to be invited to dinner, though. He pulled out a chair at the end of the table and took a seat. The handsome scoundrel grinned at Marron in a way that she might have responded to before she met Tiger Reese. "Did you miss me?" he asked.

"Were you gone?" she asked back.

Uub dropped his flirtatious act and looked at Piccolo. "You've heard about Yamcha, I suppose?"

"Father Dende was here when you called him," Piccolo answered. "Good of you to send for the priest."

"Yamcha was a religious man."

Marron noted the past tense, and gulped nervously. She wanted so desperately to get away from these evil people and the mad world they inhabited. She shot an imploring glance at Trunks, who gave her a slight, but reassuring nod. They would go, that gesture promised. Soon.

She believed him implicitly. Despite the constant dread that seemed to have become her natural state, there was something wonderful, something life-affirming in allowing herself to trust another person. No, she hadn't allowed it; her feelings for Trunks had just happened. As she was a staid, methodical, logical person. Marron knew these feeling needed to be taken out and properly examined, but there was no time for that right now. No, there was no time to think, but she did offer Trunks a smile in response to his reassuring nod.

Trunks wasn't sure what was going on, but the atmosphere in the room definitely didn't feel right. You didn't survive undercover without being a pretty good judge of situations, and characters. Uub was up to something, but Trunks didn't figure it was any business of his. His annoyance came from Uub having decided to make his move now and complicate their escape from the island. Then again, maybe this could work out in their favor. He rose to his feet, and Marron followed his lead.

"We hate to miss the rest of dinner," Trunks told their host, "but we don't want to interrupt your business, either. Besides, I don't like to be away from the Blade any longer than necessary." He shot Uub a look. "Especially if there's some unrest in town. No reason for me or my men to be involved in anything more to do with Yamcha, is there?"

Uub looked him over carefully, then answered. "No reason at all. If you want to get your butt off Isla San Enfado, Reese, you have my blessing to go."

Too bad I don't have your car, too, Trunks thought. He silently cursed Uub for Father Dende's unplanned absence. He hated the thought of asking for a loan of a car from Piccolo. There would be a driver involved, as well as the necessity of getting the driver out of the way. Planning escapes was so much easier on television, where hitting unnamed henchmen over the head or simply killing them was an easy task. Real life henchmen were people, and hitting them over the head wasn't always practical or easy; killing them was even more complicated, what with the moral and ethical overtones involved.

"It has been a lovely visit," Marron said sweetly to Piccolo, before Trunks could work out how to acquire the necessary transportation. She went on in a breathless gush while Piccolo beamed at her. "I've enjoyed the stay, but now that Tiger is home, I'm dying to get back to the boat. I hate to ask one more favor of you, Mr. Piccolo, after you've been such a perfect host, but could we get a ride back into town from one of the resort drivers? Father Dende was going to take us back with him, but..." She looked at Uub. She turned a cajoling smile back on Piccolo. ''It seems there's been an unforeseen complication to the evening, for all of us. And we'd hate to interrupt your business discussion, as Tiger said." She stepped away from the table. Trunks came to her side, and slipped an arm around her waist. She went on blithely to the other men, "Why don't you two go on with carving up empires or whatever, and we'll be on our way."

Trunks held his breath, waiting for disaster to strike. Uub stared, frowning at Marron's words. Piccolo, on the other hand, looked amused by her airy description of his and Uub's nefarious dealings. He chuckled indulgently. "She's been quite an amusing guest, Mr. Reese. It would have been very sad if something untoward became of her during your absence."

The mildly spoken words chilled Trunks's blood, but neither he nor Marron showed any signs of concern. She must be getting used to acting the role of Tiger Reese's woman, as she didn't so much as tense in his embrace. He nodded coolly, while Marron said brightly, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world." Her gaze was on Trunks when she spoke these words, and, for a moment, he thought she meant them. He thought the look of trust and caring in those big blue eyes could sustain him through any emergency.

It was Piccolo's turn to stand and push his chair back from the dinner table. "Why don't you make sure Marissa has finished packing for you, Marron?'' he suggested, though he was clearly dismissing her. "While Mr. Uub and I have a few more words with Mr. Reese."

Marron didn't argue. She went, trying not to give the appearance of running from the room. She didn't care why the little lady had been dismissed from their business conversation. That this was a man's world didn't bother her one little bit. She would fight her battles for equal rights and shattering glass ceilings back in Pine should she live long enough to get there.

She found a packed suitcase waiting for her in the guest room. She had no interest in taking it, but supposed it would look suspicious if she and Trunks simply walked out without the appearance of mundane normalcy. Mundane and normal was something she was good at, she reminded herself. Mundane and normal was who she really was. She still couldn't keep from taking a quick look around the room where she and Trunks had made love not so long ago. The room was all neat and orderly and held no trace of the heaven she'd experienced in it. She told herself she'd remember the heaven and not the terror as she grabbed the small red bag, and ran — though to all outward appearances she moved with decorous speed. The running was entirely in her head. So was the praying to please, please let it be over with in the next few minutes.

Luck, however, was not with her. Her prayers went unanswered. Radditz came into the dining room from a different doorway at the same time she entered from the hall way. She saw him, and stopped in her tracks. He saw Trunks and drew a gun.

What happened next could best be described as all hell breaking lose, but it began with Radditz shouting, "I'm glad Reese told you! I should have killed you and taken over long ago!"

Every man in the room brought out a weapon, and suddenly there were more men in the room — Piccolo's guards, people on Radditz's side in a sudden takeover at tempt, probably people working for Uub. Marron didn't see everything that happened, and wasn't able to piece the who, what and why of what happened together until later. The one thing she did that made any sense to her was respond to Trunks's voice. He shouted, "Get down!" And she did. Marron ducked behind a chair as someone fired a shot. She shouted Tiger's name. A bullet penetrated the back of the chair and she slithered quickly under the table. For some reason she still had the small suitcase clutched in one hand. It wasn't any defense at all, but she held it in front of her all the same. She crawled down the length of the table while people shouted and shot at each other all through the dining room. She heard the fighting spread to other parts of the mansion as well. It was ugly, and she was hardly safe where she was. She had to get out from under the table, get to Trunks.

She managed to make out pairs and pairs of legs from under the edge of the tablecloth. She picked out the longest ones she could find and inched her way out from under the table beside where those long legs stood, half-crouched behind a sideboard.

A dive and a frantic, fast roll brought her up against the wall next to Trunks. He glanced briefly down, and motioned for her to back up. She realized that he meant for them to make a break for the nearby doorway into the front hall. She hoped that the members of various factions for power on Isla San Enfado would keep their attention on their fight with each other while she and Trunks got away. She moved as fast as she could, bent over, her small suitcase held like a shield. She followed Trunks, keeping her attention focused on him, not looking at anything but him. Every thought was a frantic prayer for the completion of the next step of the journey. First to the hallway. Crossing the hallway took a few moments, and seemed like hours. They made a zigzagging dash, dodging and sprinting until they made it as far as the front door.

There was a guard at the door. He leveled a very large handgun as they approached, but the gun was aimed at someone behind them and to the guard's left. Trunks shouted, and Marron ducked. Two guns fired at the same time. The guard went down, blood blossoming onto his white shirt as his shoulder. Trunks spun around as Marron hurried to tug the unconscious guard from blocking the exit. She yanked open the door, but was careful enough not to rush outside. She bent low and stayed close to the wall as she checked to see if anyone was outside. Appearing in the center of a backlit opening seemed like a quick way to get killed by anyone watching the door to her.

"Clear, Tiger!" She called when she saw no one on the porch or on the white gravel driveway.

Trunks moved to stand close beside her against the wall. His gun was in one hand, his throwing knife in the other. "You sure?"

"Without night vision goggles?" she asked sarcastically. "I've watched too much television," she answered his equally sarcastic look.

"Right." Trunks took another quick look around. There was a thick pillar shielding their position, offering as much cover as possible in the open entrance area.

Uub came rushing up from behind them from across the hallway. As Trunks leveled his gun at him, Uub shouted, "All right, you two, let's go! No, wait!"

He turned around and took a moment to shoot out the overhead lights. Then he turned his gun on the nearest porch light outside. As the area plunged into darkness Uub dashed outside. Marron and Trunks followed swiftly after him.


(Sarcastic ne? XD I have a face... I have tons of books. But I don't have a Facebook lol I have xanga, gaia, myspace, and yahoo360 though. And thank you very, very much for being my sole reviewer, bluetinkerbell There are only a few more chapters left. I envy Marron. I mean, even in the face of death, her last glimpse would be the face - and she'd most probably be in the arms - of an absolute hunk XD)