A/N: OK, this is only part 4a, so there will be more to this one. And I got so many nice reviews for the last part! Thank you all so much!! You people are great!! Please r/r ^_^
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Bounty Hunted
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Part IV
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A cool breeze blew by, chilling the bewildered boy as he stared out into the night, his vision blurred by the tears he couldn't stop. His heart felt heavy and his breathing deep, yet shallow all at once. He was so scared. So confused. So lost. "Aniki." He whispered softly into the empty ears of the darkness which entranced him. "Gene... Mel..."
Losing Melfina was one thing, she had been so kind to him, so gentle and generous, almost like the mother he never had. It wasn't fair that he should lose her so soon. And Gene? Gene was that and so much more. Gene was in a sense his 'brother', his mentor, his Aniki, and the above all the best friend he'd ever had. The best he ever would. And to lose him *ever* was just wrong.
"It's not fair." He muttered quietly, the salty taste of tears making itself evident upon his lips. "We came back.... We came back." He shook his head slowly in his disbelief as he turned to face the friend he'd been with all this time. The person he'd been with while the best friend he ever had was lost forever. "Hilda..." He said her name meekly. "How could this happen?"
Hilda merely shook her head at this as if in response to his question, as she too held the guilt of what had happened heavily in her heart. "Hilda, how?" He again begged for an answer to the questions running relentlessly through his mind. "Why couldn't we just come back sooner?" He asked and Hilda bit down on her lower lip, not at all sure of what to say. She had no idea how to help this child coop with such a thing, with the heart ache he must feel, with the pain in his crystal eye's. She was just as lost as he was. She simply didn't have the answers he wanted so badly.
"Why didn't we come back?" He demanded fiercely, his hands balling into fists at his side. "Dammit, Hilda! Why the hell didn't we come back sooner?" He was so frustrated, so scared, so sad, what was he supposed to do? What else besides lashing out was there to do? He had no idea. Hilda had no idea. Both of them were just as lost as the other, just as helpless, and it was impossible to help that. And it was times like these when Jim couldn't help but act as the scared child that he was.
"Answer me, Hilda!" He begged her. "Please! Please tell me why this had to happen?"
"I don't know." She finally spoke. "I have no idea."
"Why?" He practically screamed. "Why couldn't we come back? Why wouldn't you let me? What was so wrong about it?"
"Jim, I..." He didn't know it, but his words we cutting through her like a knife, relentlessly tearing her apart inside. But she was much to proud to let that pain show. To let him know how much he hurt her. She was much to proud for that. And so instead she just stood there, silent again as the boy broke down before her eye's. As he turned and ran into the rubble that was left of the hotel where his friends still lay, tearing at it as he did, and screaming the names of his fallen friends. Pleading so freely for there safety.
She almost wished that she could be like that. That she could lash out at people and show her true feelings. But she seemed so strong, she couldn't let them know the weakness that existed almost tauntingly inside her heart. She was to proud for that. To proud to fall apart, to proud to comfort her young friend, to proud to come back to Gene before it was to late...
She let her thoughts trail off at the thought, doing what she could to snap herself back into reality. The reality that he was gone. The reality that was the boy, who as she reflected on the feelings of her own was physically expressing his. Violently expressing his. And she knew that she was all he had left. That he was all she had left. All they had now was each other. Not Gene. Not Melfina. Just herself and the boy. She was all he had left, and she had to show him that she'd be there.
"Stop it, Jim!" She nearly screamed at the boy. He didn't even look up from what he was doing. She knew he was mad, he had every right to be. Mad, upset, what kid his age wouldn't be? What person any age wouldn't be? And yet she refused to let things go on like this any further. "Jim!" She shouted, and he paused momentarily as he looked up at her.
"What?" He cried out bitterly as he turned to face her.
"Stop it. Your not helping things by freaking out like this."
"Oh, really? And how the hell am I supposed to act?" He bit out, anger all to present in his voice. And then his face grew very sullen as he turned away again, not really caring at all about what Hilda had to say. He had to find Gene and Mel, that was priority one. "There in here somewhere, I know they are!"
"Dammit." Hilda cursed herself in defeat. This wasn't getting her anywhere, the kid had totally lost it, he was in the worst state of denial he'd search forever if he could. She shook her head and sighed as she stared at him. What the hell was she supposed to do now? "Damn you, Jim!" She exclaimed quite suddenly, grasping the boys attention. "Driving you're self crazy isn't going to bring them back!"
He looked so sad as she spoke, tears still glinting in his pain filled eye's. And yet he had no idea how bad she felt herself. How lost and scared she truly was. And if she had her way about it, he never would. She'd leave the emotions up to him.
Jim took a deep breath as he stared back at her. 'Driving myself crazy?" He thought idly, his mind all to full of confusion as he let his eye's wander from Hilda's angry form to that of his own. He was filthy, he realized getting a good look at himself, his clothes a mess and his hands totally soaked in dirt and blood. His blood. His arms were cut up too. Had he really done that? He frowned at the thought, maybe Hilda was right. He was driving himself crazy. But he couldn't do that, he had to stay strong. He was an outlaw. Gene would have wanted him to stay strong. That's what Gene would have wanted.
Hilda half smiled at the boy as he drifted back into reality. Harsh as it may be. "Your right." He said meekly, whipping his hands on his shirt and doing what he could to dry his eye's. "They're gone." He muttered. "It's over..."
"What's over?"
Jim whirled around instantly at the sound of his voice. "Gene?" He exclaimed, his voice a mix between excitement and fear. Excitement that it might be him, and fear that it was not. How could it be? And yet, there he was. His mentor, his friend, standing there wabbly and leaning on Melfina for support. "Gene!" He said again, this time with a broad almost disbelieving smile upon his lips as he immediately ran to his friends side and threw his arms quickly around the others waist.
"Gene! Your all right!" He cried in joy, still holding tight to him almost afraid to let go.
"Hey, easy there, Jim." Gene said, with a light laugh as he stared down at the boy. "I think I may have cracked a few ribs back there."
"Oh, sorry." His apologies were quick, as he immediately let his partner go, glancing over at Melfina glad to see that she too was okay. And then it hit him. They *were* okay. But how was that possible? How could they have lived through that?
Gene could see the questioning look on his young friends face, his blue eye's still staring up at him in wonder. "It was pirates." He said, and Jim looked up at him sullenly, nodding has he did.
"I know." He muttered in disgust, looking away from Gene just long enough for him to let him know something was wrong.
"You know?" Gene asked, now a little worried himself.
Jim sighed as he looked back up at Gene, again nodding as he did. "Yeah..." He trailed off momentarily. "But, Gene, tell me, how could have you survived?" He thought it best to change the subject.
"We weren't in there when it happened." Melfina spoke up, looking to Gene to explain the rest.
"I figured they'd pull something like this." Gene added to Melfina's words, his face growing serious. "We got out of there about the minute they left."
"Oh." Jim said nodding yet again. "Good." 'Okay, Jim, all this nodding is making you look nervous.' He advised himself mentally. But what else was there for him to do? He was just way to confused to think clearly now. It was really to much for the boy, the overwhelming reality of what was happening now. To lose his friends so suddenly and then to even more suddenly get them back. Sure, it was great to have a second chance, but somehow he just couldn't help but see this whole thing as some kind of cruel joke. A joke that had everyone laughing but him.
Had he really been that excited just now? So excited that he'd thrown himself at Gene like some overwhelmed child? Overwhelmed, he was, but a child? He knew that he didn't have many years behind him just yet, but a child? A kid? He knew it was true, but he'd always been so mature. He'd gone through so much in his short life, survived so much, been so strong. He didn't cry, he didn't get excited, at least not like that. He was Gene's partner, an outlaw, a bounty hunter. But he was still a child, that much was inevitable. And yet he felt so much older, acted so much older, he always had before. Why not now? And why was the concept of it all so hard for him to grasp? Children didn't witness the things he had...
"Jim?" Melfina said concerned. "Jim, are you okay?" He looked so lost, like he was a million miles away all of a sudden and not right in front of her. It was quite obvious that something was wrong. But he'd seemed so excited before, so happy, what could have possibly changed that so fast? "Jim?" She said again when he didn't answer.
"Jim?" Gene broke in, his tone a little more forceful the that of the other. "Melfina asked if you were all right?"
"Huh? What?" The boy sounded dazed as he came out of his thoughtful state, and Gene raised an eye brow at this.
"Are you all right?" He repeated his words slowly so that he was sure Jim would hear them, a slight note of concern evident in his voice.
"Oh." He said, blinking his eye's and forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No, your not!" Gene said seriously. "Jim what's the matter with you? And don't tell me nothing."
"I'm fine." Jim turned away as he lied, doing what he could to avoid his friends vision. But Gene just wouldn't have that.
"Like hell you are!" He exclaimed quite suddenly, grabbing the surprised boys shoulders and spinning him around. "Jim, it's pretty damn obvious that something's wrong. Why can't you just tell me what it is?" He shouted down at him, not even noticing the tears that were welling up in the boys pained crystal eyes.
"What the hell do you think it is?" He retorted angrily, doing his best to fight the tears he hated so much. "I just thought I lost two of my best friends, Gene! Isn't that enough to make me upset??" He bit out as he felt a tear slide warmly down his cheek. 'Damn!' He thought, his anger directed mainly at himself. Not in front of Gene. He couldn't cry in front of Gene... "Dammit." He cursed himself again, this time out loud as he again turned away from his friends.
Gene was taken aback by his words, he didn't quite know why, but they'd surprised him. And yet the concept of it made all to much sense to him. He of all people knew what it was like to lose someone...
"We're okay, Jim." Melfina offered, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry anymore."
Jim nodded as he again brushed away his tears with the back of his hand. "Thanks Mel." He said the words he's spoken so many times to her before, and she smiled as he stared up at her.
"Welcome." She replied, pleased to hear him sounding like himself again.
Gene still wasn't sure of just what to say to his friend. Jim just didn't act like this, and it was hard to think of any suitable reply. And so instead after careful thought Gene decided it would be best to simply change the subject, and so asked the question that had been on his mind since they'd been attacked. "Hey, Jim." He said the words casually as his friend glanced over at him. "You don't know anyone named Dom, do you?"
The words hit Jim like a ton of bricks, and the almost hopeful look he'd gotten only seconds ago was quickly replaced by one of fear. His face seemed as though it had been drained of all color, and his eye's about as wide as they could get. Had he really said what he thought he'd said? "Dom?" He muttered, his voice low and tainted by fear as Gene nodded slowly. "Why would you ask me..."
Gene looked at him as confused as Melfina did worried. "Well, the pirates asked..."
"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere a little more secluded." Gene was cut off, by an all to familiar voice to his right. His head whipped in the direction in shock, and it was his turn to go pale as he stared wide eye'd at the women aside Jim's car. And he shook his head slowly, in disbelief of what he saw.
"Oh my God..."
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Gene Starwind looked on anxiously at the two sitting across from he and Melfina. They'd all left the 'hotel' about and hour ago at Hilda's request and were now boarded securely on the Outlaw Star, two of them ready to give their explanations and two all to ready to get some answers. "Well?" He said impatiently, still staring at Jim and Hilda, (but mainly at Hilda.) who merely exchanged looks before either of them spoke.
"Go ahead, Jim." Hilda urged the boy beside her, receiving a sour look from him in exchange.
"What?" He asked quickly. "Why me?"
"Why not?" She shrugged, but then upon seeing the reluctance evident in the boys eye's, she sighed and began to speak. "All right, all right. It's very simple really." She began. "I guess they must have used some Tao spell to save that girl or something and they couldn't get to her without picking me up too. So basically that was all that happened, no big secret here."
Gene looked at her thoughtfully. "So why didn't you come back sooner?" He asked quite seriously. How could she have stayed away this long if she had in fact survived? How could she have stayed away from him?
"Well, you don't think they'd just let me go, did you?" She gave him a quizzical look. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they'd capture me."
"So you were with the pirates all this time?" Melfina joined the conversation.
"Some of it." She replied. "It did take me a little while to escape. If they'd have had their way I'd be dead by now."
"Well, if that's the case," Jim wondered aloud. "Why didn't they just kill you in the first place?"
"Jim!" Gene exclaimed, shooting the boy a look that practically screamed 'What kind of question was that?' Which Jim thought kind of strange, was Gene Starwind actually worried about him being insensitive?
"No, it's a good question." Hilda said and then shrugged. "It would have been the most logical thing for them to do, I honestly couldn't tell you why they didn't. All I know is that once I got wind of their plans for you, that I had to get out of there."
"Their plans for us?" Melfina was curious.
"Their plans for Jim." She motioned to the boy at her side.
"Jim?" Gene said turning to him. "Well, then I guess it's your turn to do some explaining."
Jim looked startled by the simplicity of her story and fearful at the prospect of telling his own. How could Gene ever understand? He hated the pirates. Hated them with a passion Would he hate him too? And yet the look on his friends face was a kind one, so obviously mixed with curiosity and worry. He sighed. Not to mention frustration and impatience. How was he supposed to tell him now? How could he tell him ever?
"Jim?" Gene urged the boy, to which he could only look away.
"Go ahead, Jim." Melfina added softly as he bit down nervously on his lower lip.
"I don't really know where to start." He said honestly, glancing back at them with nervous eye's.
"How about at the beginning." Melfina suggested simply and Jim sighed. 'The beginning?' He thought to himself. 'Where the hell is the beginning?' He really wasn't sure. Perhaps when he was still young, well younger anyway, maybe that's when it had all started. The moment he was born and thrust unwillingly into his eluded fathers arms by the mother he didn't know. But there was no reason to fill them in on all the painful memories of his past. They only needed to know about what happened when he'd left. When he'd escaped. The anger they'd expressed, problems he'd caused them, and of the all to painful memory that was Dominic Hawking...
"He's my uncle." He said as if in response to his thoughts, a sullen look upon his face as he continued to look away.
"Who?" Gene asked confused.
"Dom." He said the name bitterly. "He's my uncle. Dominic Hawking."
"Dom?!" Gene exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair, and Melfina looked surprised too. "You mean that guy the pirates were talking about?"
Jim nodded. "Yeah..."
"And he's your uncle?" Gene said more as a question then as a statement. Again Jim nodded. "But, Jim, he's a pirate."
"No, are you serious?" The blond said in obvious sarcasm, turning back to his confused friends as he did. "Yes, Gene, he's a pirate." He responded, his arms crossed as he spoke.
Gene wanted to say something right then, but his voice it seemed to have caught in his throat, leaving him to simply stare. What was Jim telling him? Was it really true? Could his young friend really be telling him what he thought he was? What he feared he was? "And what about you?" He asked in a suspiciously low voice that made a shiver run down Jim's spin.
"Me too." He replied in disgust, and Gene was once again silent, lost helplessly in his thoughts. Jim sighed when Gene still didn't speak, Melfina and Hilda remaining quiet as well. But Gene? Jim had to be honest, the look on his friends face scared the hell out of him, so full of surprise, so full of anger, and he knew right then that he needed to explain things fast before he lost them forever.
"I was kind of born into it." He began, glancing at his friends. "My father was a pirate, I didn't have much choice in the matter."
"What about your mother?" Melfina finally spoke, and Jim shook his head.
"I never really knew her, it was my father that raised me." He replied simply. "He and my uncle, and the two of them never really got along all that well. But then there was this weapon thing, my father built it, he said that it was the most powerful in space and his way of gaining some respect. I really don't think he knew at the time just how complicated things would get..." Jim trailed off for a moment, still quite unsure of how he should be telling his tale, he'd never been to good at things like this.
"He thrived on it though, respect and superiority. He wanted so badly to make a name for himself, and he honestly was the most intelligent of them. He didn't belong there. Neither of us did. I think that that's why he built it, he wanted them to know him and to listen to him and to belong with them more so than before." He stopped again, lost in thought, and giving the others an occasional glance to see their reactions to what he was saying.
"But no one else could use it, he couldn't have the power if just anyone could use it. That's why he made the code."
"The code?" Hilda raised and eyebrow at this, sure she'd known about the pirates, but this weapon was something new to her.
"Yeah, " He nodded. "It's kind of a start code, he didn't want anyone to know it. And he didn't anyone trying to figure it out so he just kept it a secret. Which everyone kind of hated him for but as long as he had that power he'd wanted so badly he didn't care. He never even thought about the consequences. He never cared that they hated him. I swear, he did care about anything! As long as he had his stupid power.... As long as he could have his damned legacy..... He didn't care..."
"Oh, Jim..." There was such an essence of worry and pity in Melfina's voice that Jim could only feel worse. He knew that he was starting to sound emotional, starting sound angry. He'd done his best up until now to hide that anger, but he just couldn't help it. His heart was aching terribly at the retelling of his life and that ever present anger just wouldn't go away.
"So he told me." He resumed his speech in a dark voice. "He just wanted to be sure that it stayed in the family, ya know. The Hawking legacy, he wanted it so badly. To be known, to be remembered. He could have told Dom, but I guess it wouldn't have been the same, he felt better passing it on through his son. I guess he figured that I'd be just like him, just like the others, that I actually relished the fact that I cheated and stole and hurt people daily. But I didn't! I hated it! I hated every damn thing about my life until I left. Until I met Gene."
'No!' He screamed mentally. 'Don't bring Gene into this! Don't sound so angry!' "He didn't trust Dom enough to tell him." He said totally out of the blue, doing what he could to take the attention of his red hair friend. "My father did care about his brother, but like I said, they'd never really been close. And Dom had never been very trust worthy. That's why he told me. But I think that only made Dom angrier with him then he'd been before, and I guess that it kind of pushed him over the edge because the next thing I knew, my father was dead and my uncle was doing what he could to take over."
"But I couldn't live with him." Jim said quite seriously. "My father was the only person I knew that I could trust even a little, and I was only kid, there was nothing what that psycho would have done to me. He'd have done anything to get that code out of me. I swear he was even crazier then my dad!" He paused as he looked around the room, sullen faces all around, wide eye's all on him, that is with the exception of Gene, who'd seemed to have found his feet to be very interesting at the moment. Which honestly scared Jim even more. If Gene couldn't even look at him...
"And that's why I left. I think I would have gone anyway, but at that time I knew that I had to." He stated simply. "He'd already killed his own father, I really wouldn't put it passed him to kill his nephew too. And even if he had let me live, then who knows what I would have become."
"Didn't he come after you?" Melfina wondered aloud, and the boy nodded.
"They couldn't catch me. I guess I was lucky."
"And this code," Hilda began. "Why didn't the just try to crack it? They certainly have the technology they would have needed to do something like that."
"Dad knew that too." Jim stated simply. "That's why he programed it with a detonator. If someone tries it more than five times unsuccessfully then it'll just explode. And he made sure that everyone knew that."
All was silent for a moment as the group gathered their thoughts. Jim's story made enough sense, in fact it made to much. To painfully much. For them to know that their normally cheery young friend had endured so much in his short life. That he'd held this pain inside of him for so long. And then finally there was a voice, the most unlikely of them all, and Jim's face could only grow sadder as it did.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Gene asked, still not looking up, his voice low and accusing.
"I- I couldn't..." Jim was at a loss of words. "I- I was afraid that you would hate me."
"Don't you have any faith in me at all?" He asked, his gaze still focused on the ground.
"I'm sorry." The boy apologized. "I never meant for it to be this way. I'll understand if you don't want anything to do with me anymore."
"You really don't have any faith in me." His words sounded bitter as he finally looked up, running a hand through his firey hair, and Jim gasped as he realized that there were tears in his eye's.
"Gene..." Jim said his friends name nervously. He'd never seen him cry before. And even with his tears as few as they were, it still seemed rather strange to him. Did he really hate him that much?
"I don't hate you, Jim." Gene said as if in response to the blonds thoughts. "It'll take a lot more than a dark past to make me hate you. You can't get rid of me that easily."
Jim's face lit up at this as he ran over to Gene and threw his arms around him for the second time that day. Gene returned his partners hug freely and Jim smiled. Maybe it wasn't all over after all. Not yet anyway...
To be continued...
A/N: OK, I'm gonna cut it off there. This part was starting to get to long! It was only like two-thirds of the way done, and I figured you people were starting to get annoyed wondering about Gene and Mel so I decided to split it up. Which means that next part wont be so long but trust me it will be *Very* important. Well, that's 'bout it for now. Thanx for reading! C'ya.
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Bounty Hunted
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Part IV
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A cool breeze blew by, chilling the bewildered boy as he stared out into the night, his vision blurred by the tears he couldn't stop. His heart felt heavy and his breathing deep, yet shallow all at once. He was so scared. So confused. So lost. "Aniki." He whispered softly into the empty ears of the darkness which entranced him. "Gene... Mel..."
Losing Melfina was one thing, she had been so kind to him, so gentle and generous, almost like the mother he never had. It wasn't fair that he should lose her so soon. And Gene? Gene was that and so much more. Gene was in a sense his 'brother', his mentor, his Aniki, and the above all the best friend he'd ever had. The best he ever would. And to lose him *ever* was just wrong.
"It's not fair." He muttered quietly, the salty taste of tears making itself evident upon his lips. "We came back.... We came back." He shook his head slowly in his disbelief as he turned to face the friend he'd been with all this time. The person he'd been with while the best friend he ever had was lost forever. "Hilda..." He said her name meekly. "How could this happen?"
Hilda merely shook her head at this as if in response to his question, as she too held the guilt of what had happened heavily in her heart. "Hilda, how?" He again begged for an answer to the questions running relentlessly through his mind. "Why couldn't we just come back sooner?" He asked and Hilda bit down on her lower lip, not at all sure of what to say. She had no idea how to help this child coop with such a thing, with the heart ache he must feel, with the pain in his crystal eye's. She was just as lost as he was. She simply didn't have the answers he wanted so badly.
"Why didn't we come back?" He demanded fiercely, his hands balling into fists at his side. "Dammit, Hilda! Why the hell didn't we come back sooner?" He was so frustrated, so scared, so sad, what was he supposed to do? What else besides lashing out was there to do? He had no idea. Hilda had no idea. Both of them were just as lost as the other, just as helpless, and it was impossible to help that. And it was times like these when Jim couldn't help but act as the scared child that he was.
"Answer me, Hilda!" He begged her. "Please! Please tell me why this had to happen?"
"I don't know." She finally spoke. "I have no idea."
"Why?" He practically screamed. "Why couldn't we come back? Why wouldn't you let me? What was so wrong about it?"
"Jim, I..." He didn't know it, but his words we cutting through her like a knife, relentlessly tearing her apart inside. But she was much to proud to let that pain show. To let him know how much he hurt her. She was much to proud for that. And so instead she just stood there, silent again as the boy broke down before her eye's. As he turned and ran into the rubble that was left of the hotel where his friends still lay, tearing at it as he did, and screaming the names of his fallen friends. Pleading so freely for there safety.
She almost wished that she could be like that. That she could lash out at people and show her true feelings. But she seemed so strong, she couldn't let them know the weakness that existed almost tauntingly inside her heart. She was to proud for that. To proud to fall apart, to proud to comfort her young friend, to proud to come back to Gene before it was to late...
She let her thoughts trail off at the thought, doing what she could to snap herself back into reality. The reality that he was gone. The reality that was the boy, who as she reflected on the feelings of her own was physically expressing his. Violently expressing his. And she knew that she was all he had left. That he was all she had left. All they had now was each other. Not Gene. Not Melfina. Just herself and the boy. She was all he had left, and she had to show him that she'd be there.
"Stop it, Jim!" She nearly screamed at the boy. He didn't even look up from what he was doing. She knew he was mad, he had every right to be. Mad, upset, what kid his age wouldn't be? What person any age wouldn't be? And yet she refused to let things go on like this any further. "Jim!" She shouted, and he paused momentarily as he looked up at her.
"What?" He cried out bitterly as he turned to face her.
"Stop it. Your not helping things by freaking out like this."
"Oh, really? And how the hell am I supposed to act?" He bit out, anger all to present in his voice. And then his face grew very sullen as he turned away again, not really caring at all about what Hilda had to say. He had to find Gene and Mel, that was priority one. "There in here somewhere, I know they are!"
"Dammit." Hilda cursed herself in defeat. This wasn't getting her anywhere, the kid had totally lost it, he was in the worst state of denial he'd search forever if he could. She shook her head and sighed as she stared at him. What the hell was she supposed to do now? "Damn you, Jim!" She exclaimed quite suddenly, grasping the boys attention. "Driving you're self crazy isn't going to bring them back!"
He looked so sad as she spoke, tears still glinting in his pain filled eye's. And yet he had no idea how bad she felt herself. How lost and scared she truly was. And if she had her way about it, he never would. She'd leave the emotions up to him.
Jim took a deep breath as he stared back at her. 'Driving myself crazy?" He thought idly, his mind all to full of confusion as he let his eye's wander from Hilda's angry form to that of his own. He was filthy, he realized getting a good look at himself, his clothes a mess and his hands totally soaked in dirt and blood. His blood. His arms were cut up too. Had he really done that? He frowned at the thought, maybe Hilda was right. He was driving himself crazy. But he couldn't do that, he had to stay strong. He was an outlaw. Gene would have wanted him to stay strong. That's what Gene would have wanted.
Hilda half smiled at the boy as he drifted back into reality. Harsh as it may be. "Your right." He said meekly, whipping his hands on his shirt and doing what he could to dry his eye's. "They're gone." He muttered. "It's over..."
"What's over?"
Jim whirled around instantly at the sound of his voice. "Gene?" He exclaimed, his voice a mix between excitement and fear. Excitement that it might be him, and fear that it was not. How could it be? And yet, there he was. His mentor, his friend, standing there wabbly and leaning on Melfina for support. "Gene!" He said again, this time with a broad almost disbelieving smile upon his lips as he immediately ran to his friends side and threw his arms quickly around the others waist.
"Gene! Your all right!" He cried in joy, still holding tight to him almost afraid to let go.
"Hey, easy there, Jim." Gene said, with a light laugh as he stared down at the boy. "I think I may have cracked a few ribs back there."
"Oh, sorry." His apologies were quick, as he immediately let his partner go, glancing over at Melfina glad to see that she too was okay. And then it hit him. They *were* okay. But how was that possible? How could they have lived through that?
Gene could see the questioning look on his young friends face, his blue eye's still staring up at him in wonder. "It was pirates." He said, and Jim looked up at him sullenly, nodding has he did.
"I know." He muttered in disgust, looking away from Gene just long enough for him to let him know something was wrong.
"You know?" Gene asked, now a little worried himself.
Jim sighed as he looked back up at Gene, again nodding as he did. "Yeah..." He trailed off momentarily. "But, Gene, tell me, how could have you survived?" He thought it best to change the subject.
"We weren't in there when it happened." Melfina spoke up, looking to Gene to explain the rest.
"I figured they'd pull something like this." Gene added to Melfina's words, his face growing serious. "We got out of there about the minute they left."
"Oh." Jim said nodding yet again. "Good." 'Okay, Jim, all this nodding is making you look nervous.' He advised himself mentally. But what else was there for him to do? He was just way to confused to think clearly now. It was really to much for the boy, the overwhelming reality of what was happening now. To lose his friends so suddenly and then to even more suddenly get them back. Sure, it was great to have a second chance, but somehow he just couldn't help but see this whole thing as some kind of cruel joke. A joke that had everyone laughing but him.
Had he really been that excited just now? So excited that he'd thrown himself at Gene like some overwhelmed child? Overwhelmed, he was, but a child? He knew that he didn't have many years behind him just yet, but a child? A kid? He knew it was true, but he'd always been so mature. He'd gone through so much in his short life, survived so much, been so strong. He didn't cry, he didn't get excited, at least not like that. He was Gene's partner, an outlaw, a bounty hunter. But he was still a child, that much was inevitable. And yet he felt so much older, acted so much older, he always had before. Why not now? And why was the concept of it all so hard for him to grasp? Children didn't witness the things he had...
"Jim?" Melfina said concerned. "Jim, are you okay?" He looked so lost, like he was a million miles away all of a sudden and not right in front of her. It was quite obvious that something was wrong. But he'd seemed so excited before, so happy, what could have possibly changed that so fast? "Jim?" She said again when he didn't answer.
"Jim?" Gene broke in, his tone a little more forceful the that of the other. "Melfina asked if you were all right?"
"Huh? What?" The boy sounded dazed as he came out of his thoughtful state, and Gene raised an eye brow at this.
"Are you all right?" He repeated his words slowly so that he was sure Jim would hear them, a slight note of concern evident in his voice.
"Oh." He said, blinking his eye's and forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No, your not!" Gene said seriously. "Jim what's the matter with you? And don't tell me nothing."
"I'm fine." Jim turned away as he lied, doing what he could to avoid his friends vision. But Gene just wouldn't have that.
"Like hell you are!" He exclaimed quite suddenly, grabbing the surprised boys shoulders and spinning him around. "Jim, it's pretty damn obvious that something's wrong. Why can't you just tell me what it is?" He shouted down at him, not even noticing the tears that were welling up in the boys pained crystal eyes.
"What the hell do you think it is?" He retorted angrily, doing his best to fight the tears he hated so much. "I just thought I lost two of my best friends, Gene! Isn't that enough to make me upset??" He bit out as he felt a tear slide warmly down his cheek. 'Damn!' He thought, his anger directed mainly at himself. Not in front of Gene. He couldn't cry in front of Gene... "Dammit." He cursed himself again, this time out loud as he again turned away from his friends.
Gene was taken aback by his words, he didn't quite know why, but they'd surprised him. And yet the concept of it made all to much sense to him. He of all people knew what it was like to lose someone...
"We're okay, Jim." Melfina offered, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry anymore."
Jim nodded as he again brushed away his tears with the back of his hand. "Thanks Mel." He said the words he's spoken so many times to her before, and she smiled as he stared up at her.
"Welcome." She replied, pleased to hear him sounding like himself again.
Gene still wasn't sure of just what to say to his friend. Jim just didn't act like this, and it was hard to think of any suitable reply. And so instead after careful thought Gene decided it would be best to simply change the subject, and so asked the question that had been on his mind since they'd been attacked. "Hey, Jim." He said the words casually as his friend glanced over at him. "You don't know anyone named Dom, do you?"
The words hit Jim like a ton of bricks, and the almost hopeful look he'd gotten only seconds ago was quickly replaced by one of fear. His face seemed as though it had been drained of all color, and his eye's about as wide as they could get. Had he really said what he thought he'd said? "Dom?" He muttered, his voice low and tainted by fear as Gene nodded slowly. "Why would you ask me..."
Gene looked at him as confused as Melfina did worried. "Well, the pirates asked..."
"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere a little more secluded." Gene was cut off, by an all to familiar voice to his right. His head whipped in the direction in shock, and it was his turn to go pale as he stared wide eye'd at the women aside Jim's car. And he shook his head slowly, in disbelief of what he saw.
"Oh my God..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gene Starwind looked on anxiously at the two sitting across from he and Melfina. They'd all left the 'hotel' about and hour ago at Hilda's request and were now boarded securely on the Outlaw Star, two of them ready to give their explanations and two all to ready to get some answers. "Well?" He said impatiently, still staring at Jim and Hilda, (but mainly at Hilda.) who merely exchanged looks before either of them spoke.
"Go ahead, Jim." Hilda urged the boy beside her, receiving a sour look from him in exchange.
"What?" He asked quickly. "Why me?"
"Why not?" She shrugged, but then upon seeing the reluctance evident in the boys eye's, she sighed and began to speak. "All right, all right. It's very simple really." She began. "I guess they must have used some Tao spell to save that girl or something and they couldn't get to her without picking me up too. So basically that was all that happened, no big secret here."
Gene looked at her thoughtfully. "So why didn't you come back sooner?" He asked quite seriously. How could she have stayed away this long if she had in fact survived? How could she have stayed away from him?
"Well, you don't think they'd just let me go, did you?" She gave him a quizzical look. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they'd capture me."
"So you were with the pirates all this time?" Melfina joined the conversation.
"Some of it." She replied. "It did take me a little while to escape. If they'd have had their way I'd be dead by now."
"Well, if that's the case," Jim wondered aloud. "Why didn't they just kill you in the first place?"
"Jim!" Gene exclaimed, shooting the boy a look that practically screamed 'What kind of question was that?' Which Jim thought kind of strange, was Gene Starwind actually worried about him being insensitive?
"No, it's a good question." Hilda said and then shrugged. "It would have been the most logical thing for them to do, I honestly couldn't tell you why they didn't. All I know is that once I got wind of their plans for you, that I had to get out of there."
"Their plans for us?" Melfina was curious.
"Their plans for Jim." She motioned to the boy at her side.
"Jim?" Gene said turning to him. "Well, then I guess it's your turn to do some explaining."
Jim looked startled by the simplicity of her story and fearful at the prospect of telling his own. How could Gene ever understand? He hated the pirates. Hated them with a passion Would he hate him too? And yet the look on his friends face was a kind one, so obviously mixed with curiosity and worry. He sighed. Not to mention frustration and impatience. How was he supposed to tell him now? How could he tell him ever?
"Jim?" Gene urged the boy, to which he could only look away.
"Go ahead, Jim." Melfina added softly as he bit down nervously on his lower lip.
"I don't really know where to start." He said honestly, glancing back at them with nervous eye's.
"How about at the beginning." Melfina suggested simply and Jim sighed. 'The beginning?' He thought to himself. 'Where the hell is the beginning?' He really wasn't sure. Perhaps when he was still young, well younger anyway, maybe that's when it had all started. The moment he was born and thrust unwillingly into his eluded fathers arms by the mother he didn't know. But there was no reason to fill them in on all the painful memories of his past. They only needed to know about what happened when he'd left. When he'd escaped. The anger they'd expressed, problems he'd caused them, and of the all to painful memory that was Dominic Hawking...
"He's my uncle." He said as if in response to his thoughts, a sullen look upon his face as he continued to look away.
"Who?" Gene asked confused.
"Dom." He said the name bitterly. "He's my uncle. Dominic Hawking."
"Dom?!" Gene exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair, and Melfina looked surprised too. "You mean that guy the pirates were talking about?"
Jim nodded. "Yeah..."
"And he's your uncle?" Gene said more as a question then as a statement. Again Jim nodded. "But, Jim, he's a pirate."
"No, are you serious?" The blond said in obvious sarcasm, turning back to his confused friends as he did. "Yes, Gene, he's a pirate." He responded, his arms crossed as he spoke.
Gene wanted to say something right then, but his voice it seemed to have caught in his throat, leaving him to simply stare. What was Jim telling him? Was it really true? Could his young friend really be telling him what he thought he was? What he feared he was? "And what about you?" He asked in a suspiciously low voice that made a shiver run down Jim's spin.
"Me too." He replied in disgust, and Gene was once again silent, lost helplessly in his thoughts. Jim sighed when Gene still didn't speak, Melfina and Hilda remaining quiet as well. But Gene? Jim had to be honest, the look on his friends face scared the hell out of him, so full of surprise, so full of anger, and he knew right then that he needed to explain things fast before he lost them forever.
"I was kind of born into it." He began, glancing at his friends. "My father was a pirate, I didn't have much choice in the matter."
"What about your mother?" Melfina finally spoke, and Jim shook his head.
"I never really knew her, it was my father that raised me." He replied simply. "He and my uncle, and the two of them never really got along all that well. But then there was this weapon thing, my father built it, he said that it was the most powerful in space and his way of gaining some respect. I really don't think he knew at the time just how complicated things would get..." Jim trailed off for a moment, still quite unsure of how he should be telling his tale, he'd never been to good at things like this.
"He thrived on it though, respect and superiority. He wanted so badly to make a name for himself, and he honestly was the most intelligent of them. He didn't belong there. Neither of us did. I think that that's why he built it, he wanted them to know him and to listen to him and to belong with them more so than before." He stopped again, lost in thought, and giving the others an occasional glance to see their reactions to what he was saying.
"But no one else could use it, he couldn't have the power if just anyone could use it. That's why he made the code."
"The code?" Hilda raised and eyebrow at this, sure she'd known about the pirates, but this weapon was something new to her.
"Yeah, " He nodded. "It's kind of a start code, he didn't want anyone to know it. And he didn't anyone trying to figure it out so he just kept it a secret. Which everyone kind of hated him for but as long as he had that power he'd wanted so badly he didn't care. He never even thought about the consequences. He never cared that they hated him. I swear, he did care about anything! As long as he had his stupid power.... As long as he could have his damned legacy..... He didn't care..."
"Oh, Jim..." There was such an essence of worry and pity in Melfina's voice that Jim could only feel worse. He knew that he was starting to sound emotional, starting sound angry. He'd done his best up until now to hide that anger, but he just couldn't help it. His heart was aching terribly at the retelling of his life and that ever present anger just wouldn't go away.
"So he told me." He resumed his speech in a dark voice. "He just wanted to be sure that it stayed in the family, ya know. The Hawking legacy, he wanted it so badly. To be known, to be remembered. He could have told Dom, but I guess it wouldn't have been the same, he felt better passing it on through his son. I guess he figured that I'd be just like him, just like the others, that I actually relished the fact that I cheated and stole and hurt people daily. But I didn't! I hated it! I hated every damn thing about my life until I left. Until I met Gene."
'No!' He screamed mentally. 'Don't bring Gene into this! Don't sound so angry!' "He didn't trust Dom enough to tell him." He said totally out of the blue, doing what he could to take the attention of his red hair friend. "My father did care about his brother, but like I said, they'd never really been close. And Dom had never been very trust worthy. That's why he told me. But I think that only made Dom angrier with him then he'd been before, and I guess that it kind of pushed him over the edge because the next thing I knew, my father was dead and my uncle was doing what he could to take over."
"But I couldn't live with him." Jim said quite seriously. "My father was the only person I knew that I could trust even a little, and I was only kid, there was nothing what that psycho would have done to me. He'd have done anything to get that code out of me. I swear he was even crazier then my dad!" He paused as he looked around the room, sullen faces all around, wide eye's all on him, that is with the exception of Gene, who'd seemed to have found his feet to be very interesting at the moment. Which honestly scared Jim even more. If Gene couldn't even look at him...
"And that's why I left. I think I would have gone anyway, but at that time I knew that I had to." He stated simply. "He'd already killed his own father, I really wouldn't put it passed him to kill his nephew too. And even if he had let me live, then who knows what I would have become."
"Didn't he come after you?" Melfina wondered aloud, and the boy nodded.
"They couldn't catch me. I guess I was lucky."
"And this code," Hilda began. "Why didn't the just try to crack it? They certainly have the technology they would have needed to do something like that."
"Dad knew that too." Jim stated simply. "That's why he programed it with a detonator. If someone tries it more than five times unsuccessfully then it'll just explode. And he made sure that everyone knew that."
All was silent for a moment as the group gathered their thoughts. Jim's story made enough sense, in fact it made to much. To painfully much. For them to know that their normally cheery young friend had endured so much in his short life. That he'd held this pain inside of him for so long. And then finally there was a voice, the most unlikely of them all, and Jim's face could only grow sadder as it did.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Gene asked, still not looking up, his voice low and accusing.
"I- I couldn't..." Jim was at a loss of words. "I- I was afraid that you would hate me."
"Don't you have any faith in me at all?" He asked, his gaze still focused on the ground.
"I'm sorry." The boy apologized. "I never meant for it to be this way. I'll understand if you don't want anything to do with me anymore."
"You really don't have any faith in me." His words sounded bitter as he finally looked up, running a hand through his firey hair, and Jim gasped as he realized that there were tears in his eye's.
"Gene..." Jim said his friends name nervously. He'd never seen him cry before. And even with his tears as few as they were, it still seemed rather strange to him. Did he really hate him that much?
"I don't hate you, Jim." Gene said as if in response to the blonds thoughts. "It'll take a lot more than a dark past to make me hate you. You can't get rid of me that easily."
Jim's face lit up at this as he ran over to Gene and threw his arms around him for the second time that day. Gene returned his partners hug freely and Jim smiled. Maybe it wasn't all over after all. Not yet anyway...
To be continued...
A/N: OK, I'm gonna cut it off there. This part was starting to get to long! It was only like two-thirds of the way done, and I figured you people were starting to get annoyed wondering about Gene and Mel so I decided to split it up. Which means that next part wont be so long but trust me it will be *Very* important. Well, that's 'bout it for now. Thanx for reading! C'ya.