Chapter 11 – Rest In Peace
(Thanks to everyone who r+red before, please repeat for this! It's just an
epilogue but it finishes off the fic. I don't own JSR as you know by now.)
One week later…
The scream echoed in Cube's ears as she struggled to wake.
Finally she forced the dream away, and sat up, her heart pounding.
It was morning. The garage was dotted with sleeping GGs: Yo-Yo
dozing against the battered car, Mew basking in the sunlight that wriggled
between the boarded-up windows, Piranha curled up with Garam in the place
where the sound system had been.
The garage had been hurt, but it was getting back on its feet. Cube
wasn't so sure about herself.
There was terror. There was fury. There was disgust, hatred…pity?
But she just wanted to forget. And it wouldn't go away.
The Love Shockers bore no grudge against her, or any of the GGs. Alex
had taken back her position as leader, and she had even stopped her gang
tagging for a few days to allow the GGs to even the score a little. She'd also
given Gum back her rudieship.
Mew and Gamma had stuck together, despite being from different
gangs. The Noise Tanks and GGs weren't exactly friends, but they weren't
enemies either. And Poison Jam? Well, you can't win'em all.
Cube got to her feet and sighed, wishing she could go back to sleep.
Why couldn't she feel happy about anything? It was a sunny day, the birds
were singing, the butterflies were flapping, the bees were buzzing, blah blah
blah. Why wouldn't her brain listen to her and burn those memories?
She wondered, idly, as she dressed, if she could have said to have killed
Kell. She didn't totally remember what had happened – she'd been shouting –
Kell had fallen –
But I didn't push her, Cube thought, putting on her gloves. I didn't.
Did I? No. I made like I was gonna hit her. And besides, she would have
deserved it if I had killed her. She was gonna kill me.
She shrugged, and shoved the dark thought away.
Outside the morning air was cool, and she dashed along just enjoying
the feeling of skating again. But as she reached the bus terminal, she realised
she was slowing down, and she was trembling.
Wimp, she thought. Come on. Move it. Nothing's gonna happen. No
Love Shockers. No police. Onishima was still on the force, but he was even
more of a laughing stock than before, and he was keeping a low profile for the
moment. Some well-placed blackmailing had enabled him to keep away from
the garage, despite knowing where it was.
There was the entrance to the terminal. She took a deep breath and tried
to move forwards.
It was sunny. It was normal. It was safe – the walkway – she gritted her
teeth – it was fine.
It was no good. Her legs were shaking, and her body was refusing to
allow her to enter the terminal.
She bit down on her lip, clenched her fists, and fought against it.
There. She was in. And nothing had happened.
You think that's tough? she thought to herself. Yeah, right. Now go
and touch that pole they tied you to.
She skated over, almost wishing someone would call 911 and give her a
distraction. But the terminal remained obstinately cheerful.
She saw that the hand she touched the pole with was shaking, and
scowled. I'm not scared, she thought. I'm not.
She leaned against the pole, and put her hands behind her back –
Rain cold knife blood eyes
I'm fine.
Laughter pain kiss punch agony
I'm fine!
"Ever wondered what would happen if this got stuck in your eye?"
"No!" Cube shouted. The sunny view in front of her was blurring –
going black – and she was cold – what was happening –
"Cube? Cube!"
Someone was holding her. Her head was spinning and she'd squeezed
her eyes shut. Struggling to breathe, she felt herself being helped to sit down,
and Slate was saying, "Come on. Breathe."
"Help me –"
"Breathe."
She reluctantly took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Slate – it's
you – "
"Course it is. Nothing's gonna hurt you. What were you doing here,
anyway?"
"I – I was – making sure I wasn't scared."
"Why?"
"Well – " Why had she? She didn't know. Shivering, she leaned
against Slate, and heard herself whisper, "She's not gonna beat me."
"She's gone, Cube. You survived her. You're okay."
"I'm not – I can't stop thinking about it all –"
"That's normal. You went through a lot. You can't just lock it out
afterwards."
"I want to," she said fiercely.
He was silent for a few moments, then said, "I remember stuff too."
"Like?"
"Like falling through that window in the Rokkaku building – like glass
in my face – like hurting so much I thought I'd die – like hearing you'd got
caught…" He sighed. "Like thinking you were dead."
"But what can you do? I'm not gonna go around sobbing and wailing
just because of…stuff."
"Cube, she raped you!"
Cube winced, and for a moment she couldn't speak. Finally she
managed to stammer, "Not technically."
"Don't give me that crap. We know what she did, and it's hurt you bad.
Accept it, okay? Cry if you want. Be nice to yourself."
She shoved him. "Stop psychoanalysing me."
"You know it makes sense," Slate said smugly.
"You're a conceited jerk." Cube felt herself smile.
"Well, I'm a sensible conceited jerk. No one's gonna mind if you're
gloomy. And if anyone does say anything, I'll kick their butts from here to
Mexico."
"I can do my own butt-kicking, thank you so very much."
"Fine. Just don't try and hide the memories. That's much better than
giving yourself a heart attack in the bus terminal."
"Thank you, doctor." She stood up, and smiled. "You know, Coin, it's
pretty nice having you back, but I'm not sure if you were worth all I had to go
through to get you…" She put on a thoughtful expression.
Slate's eyes narrowed. "Come here and say that to my face!"
Cube shrieked and dashed away, Slate charging after her. He caught up,
and spun her round, and kissed her.
Cube wanted to enjoy it, but inside her someone was screaming.
She pushed him away. "No. Not – not now."
"Is holding hands okay?" Slate looked a little hurt, but not mad.
"Yes…I think I could do that."
"Great." He took her hand. "Let's go find a sunset to skate off into."
THE END
(Well, it's over. The hopes, the fears, the joys etc etc…Thanx to
everyone who reviewed throughout the fic, you know it means a lot to me! I'm
starting up a new fic which I'm rather nervous about so please check that
out…and by the way, 'Cyber GGs' by Silver Star Sayain is sort of a sequel to
this so you might want to check out the next chapter…hint, hint…)
(Thanks to everyone who r+red before, please repeat for this! It's just an
epilogue but it finishes off the fic. I don't own JSR as you know by now.)
One week later…
The scream echoed in Cube's ears as she struggled to wake.
Finally she forced the dream away, and sat up, her heart pounding.
It was morning. The garage was dotted with sleeping GGs: Yo-Yo
dozing against the battered car, Mew basking in the sunlight that wriggled
between the boarded-up windows, Piranha curled up with Garam in the place
where the sound system had been.
The garage had been hurt, but it was getting back on its feet. Cube
wasn't so sure about herself.
There was terror. There was fury. There was disgust, hatred…pity?
But she just wanted to forget. And it wouldn't go away.
The Love Shockers bore no grudge against her, or any of the GGs. Alex
had taken back her position as leader, and she had even stopped her gang
tagging for a few days to allow the GGs to even the score a little. She'd also
given Gum back her rudieship.
Mew and Gamma had stuck together, despite being from different
gangs. The Noise Tanks and GGs weren't exactly friends, but they weren't
enemies either. And Poison Jam? Well, you can't win'em all.
Cube got to her feet and sighed, wishing she could go back to sleep.
Why couldn't she feel happy about anything? It was a sunny day, the birds
were singing, the butterflies were flapping, the bees were buzzing, blah blah
blah. Why wouldn't her brain listen to her and burn those memories?
She wondered, idly, as she dressed, if she could have said to have killed
Kell. She didn't totally remember what had happened – she'd been shouting –
Kell had fallen –
But I didn't push her, Cube thought, putting on her gloves. I didn't.
Did I? No. I made like I was gonna hit her. And besides, she would have
deserved it if I had killed her. She was gonna kill me.
She shrugged, and shoved the dark thought away.
Outside the morning air was cool, and she dashed along just enjoying
the feeling of skating again. But as she reached the bus terminal, she realised
she was slowing down, and she was trembling.
Wimp, she thought. Come on. Move it. Nothing's gonna happen. No
Love Shockers. No police. Onishima was still on the force, but he was even
more of a laughing stock than before, and he was keeping a low profile for the
moment. Some well-placed blackmailing had enabled him to keep away from
the garage, despite knowing where it was.
There was the entrance to the terminal. She took a deep breath and tried
to move forwards.
It was sunny. It was normal. It was safe – the walkway – she gritted her
teeth – it was fine.
It was no good. Her legs were shaking, and her body was refusing to
allow her to enter the terminal.
She bit down on her lip, clenched her fists, and fought against it.
There. She was in. And nothing had happened.
You think that's tough? she thought to herself. Yeah, right. Now go
and touch that pole they tied you to.
She skated over, almost wishing someone would call 911 and give her a
distraction. But the terminal remained obstinately cheerful.
She saw that the hand she touched the pole with was shaking, and
scowled. I'm not scared, she thought. I'm not.
She leaned against the pole, and put her hands behind her back –
Rain cold knife blood eyes
I'm fine.
Laughter pain kiss punch agony
I'm fine!
"Ever wondered what would happen if this got stuck in your eye?"
"No!" Cube shouted. The sunny view in front of her was blurring –
going black – and she was cold – what was happening –
"Cube? Cube!"
Someone was holding her. Her head was spinning and she'd squeezed
her eyes shut. Struggling to breathe, she felt herself being helped to sit down,
and Slate was saying, "Come on. Breathe."
"Help me –"
"Breathe."
She reluctantly took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Slate – it's
you – "
"Course it is. Nothing's gonna hurt you. What were you doing here,
anyway?"
"I – I was – making sure I wasn't scared."
"Why?"
"Well – " Why had she? She didn't know. Shivering, she leaned
against Slate, and heard herself whisper, "She's not gonna beat me."
"She's gone, Cube. You survived her. You're okay."
"I'm not – I can't stop thinking about it all –"
"That's normal. You went through a lot. You can't just lock it out
afterwards."
"I want to," she said fiercely.
He was silent for a few moments, then said, "I remember stuff too."
"Like?"
"Like falling through that window in the Rokkaku building – like glass
in my face – like hurting so much I thought I'd die – like hearing you'd got
caught…" He sighed. "Like thinking you were dead."
"But what can you do? I'm not gonna go around sobbing and wailing
just because of…stuff."
"Cube, she raped you!"
Cube winced, and for a moment she couldn't speak. Finally she
managed to stammer, "Not technically."
"Don't give me that crap. We know what she did, and it's hurt you bad.
Accept it, okay? Cry if you want. Be nice to yourself."
She shoved him. "Stop psychoanalysing me."
"You know it makes sense," Slate said smugly.
"You're a conceited jerk." Cube felt herself smile.
"Well, I'm a sensible conceited jerk. No one's gonna mind if you're
gloomy. And if anyone does say anything, I'll kick their butts from here to
Mexico."
"I can do my own butt-kicking, thank you so very much."
"Fine. Just don't try and hide the memories. That's much better than
giving yourself a heart attack in the bus terminal."
"Thank you, doctor." She stood up, and smiled. "You know, Coin, it's
pretty nice having you back, but I'm not sure if you were worth all I had to go
through to get you…" She put on a thoughtful expression.
Slate's eyes narrowed. "Come here and say that to my face!"
Cube shrieked and dashed away, Slate charging after her. He caught up,
and spun her round, and kissed her.
Cube wanted to enjoy it, but inside her someone was screaming.
She pushed him away. "No. Not – not now."
"Is holding hands okay?" Slate looked a little hurt, but not mad.
"Yes…I think I could do that."
"Great." He took her hand. "Let's go find a sunset to skate off into."
THE END
(Well, it's over. The hopes, the fears, the joys etc etc…Thanx to
everyone who reviewed throughout the fic, you know it means a lot to me! I'm
starting up a new fic which I'm rather nervous about so please check that
out…and by the way, 'Cyber GGs' by Silver Star Sayain is sort of a sequel to
this so you might want to check out the next chapter…hint, hint…)