A/N: OK, well I'd say I'm sorry for taking so long, but that's starting to sound kind of redundant, ne? Yeah well, I'll make this quick, just wanna say thanx again to all of you who've reviewed! You people rule! I really can't stress that enough! So thanx ^_^ And now on with the fic! Please r/r!
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Bounty Hunted
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Part V
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"Dammit!" Hilda exclaimed frustrated as Gene stared down in disbelief at the broken crate before him. He'd heard his screams, acknowledged his pleas, he would have given anything to help him, to save his young friend. But he just didn't make it. He was to late and Jim was gone. Taken unwillingly by those damned pirates back into a life he avidly hated. It made Gene sick simply thinking of it. It wasn't right. Jim didn't deserve this, no one did, and Hilda felt much the same way.
She hated to see this happening, after all they'd done to keep him safe, and he just ran himself right into trouble. And then there was that code. If the pirates had Jim then they also had the code, and as worried as she was about Jim she couldn't help but let the knowledge that the pirates had anything that powerful in their hands bother her just as much. She didn't even want to know what they'd do with that weapon Jim had mentioned. The destruction would be to much.
And then there was Gene, how could she not worry about him? He looked so angry and bewildered and passive all at the same time. So not like him. He really did care about that kid. She sighed at the thought. That was one of the things she really liked about him. He seemed so hard and tough at times, but just knowing that he could have that kind of compassion for an eleven year old boy that wasn't even related to him, that was an incredible thing to her. And she really respected him for it.
However that did mean that he was hurting now, deeply in fact. He was worried about Jim. And she also knew that part of him blamed himself for what happened. He couldn't blame something like this on Jim or Gilliam, that just wasn't like him. He'd blame himself for the rest of his life if they didn't get him back. That was just the way he was. Hard yet compassionate. That was Gene. The Gene she knew. The Gene she loved...
'No! No! No!' She shook her head firmly. This was not the time nor place to be thinking of him. Not like that. Not now. He needed her thinking clearly. For her to stay focused. He needed her to get Jim back. That's what she needed to concentrate on now. On Jim. not on his older partner. Not on Gene or her mixed up feelings. She had to concentrate on Jim.
"Come on." Gene stood up quite suddenly, and Hilda blink as she realized she'd been staring at him. He turned towards her just then, walking swiftly past her almost as soon as he did, the Outlaw star now in his sights. Hilda just watched him, his face was so passive, he seemed so indifferent. He was trying to hide it. The pain and the anger. Jim was gone and he blamed himself, the mere thought of it all was ripping him apart inside, and he was just letting it. He was hiding it. He would hid it forever if he could. That was just the way he was.
"Well, are you coming, Hilda?" He sounded almost angry with her. Had she stood there to long?
"Gene..." Her voice caught in her throat as he turned around to face her once again. The sound of her own voice had surprised her just then. Her tone sounded so pleading. So unlike her usual cool one. She glanced down almost as soon as he looked at her, doing what she could to avoid his quizzical gaze, only to gasp as she realized that her hand was in his.
"Hilda?" His tone was a questioning one as he noticed the same. Her hand was out of his immediately as she held it firmly in her own. It was beyond her to blush, but the expression on her face said much the same thing. She was embarrassed. This was ridiculous. Why was she acting this way? This simply wasn't her. She had to quit. Had to stop. Had to focus.
"Let's go." Her face suddenly grew serious as she spoke. "We have to get to Jim before it's to late."
"Gene looked almost bewildered by this, as Hilda walked on ahead, and he glanced at his hand once more before following along behind. Had he just imagined the whole thing? No. No, he hadn't. What was up with her? She was acting so strange. She'd been acting strange since she'd gotten back. What was up with her? And then glancing down one last time as he walked he was surprised to feel his own face grow warm. What was up with him?
It didn't take them long to make there way through the maze of crates and back to the Outlaw Star. Melfina was quick to greet them as they arrived, dashing quickly from her place at the window and over to the panel door as it slid slowly open. "Gene!" She exclaimed as he and Hilda entered. She was almost tempted to throw her arms around the handsome outlaw, she'd been so worried, but refrained from doing so as she noticed the look of defeat upon both of their faces. "Gene, what's happened? Where's Jim?"
Gene glanced back at Hilda before he replied, doing what he could to avoid the girls soft questioning eye's. "They've got him, he's..." Gene trailed off, he sounded so defeated. But he couldn't afford to feel that way. He had to stay strong. For Jim, and for Melfina, hell even Hilda. He had to stay strong for himself. He couldn't feel sorry for himself, not now. So why couldn't he stop.
"Oh, no..." Melfina's face suddenly grew very sad as she stared at the other. She too had grown close to Jim. He was almost like a brother to her, and this reality hit her quite hard. Could they really have gotten him? Could they really have won? And then still gazing at Gene she noticed something strange. She could barely see his eye's and he looked awfully pale. That worried her too. "Gene, are you...?"
"This is all my fault." He cut her off, an all to painful tinge of regret in his nearly wavering voice. He actually sounded more angry than he did sad. He looked angry. "I should have stayed awake, I should have looked harder, I could have done something. I..."
"Stop it!" Now it was Gene's turn to be cut off as Hilda stared at him in frustration. "Stop it, Gene! Don't you dare blame yourself for this, it's not your fault."
"Well, then who the hell's fault is it?" He snapped back. "I'm in charge of him, Hilda. Anything bad that happens to him is my fault. He needed me and I wasn't there, you know that's true." What was he doing? He was getting much to angry. He needed to calm down. This wouldn't help anything.
"It's no one's fault Gene." Melfina joined Hilda's attempts to calm him. "Please, Gene, don't beat yourself up over it."
"Dammit!" Gene shouted, pounding his fist against the wall as he did. "Why does this have to be so complicated?" He sighed as he heard himself. He still sounded defeated. Still sounded mad. He couldn't do that. It was time be strong. He had to focus. Had to help Jim. "Let's get out of here." He said, breaking the silence that had emanated the room as he headed in the direction of the cockpit.
"But Gene," Melfina began. "We don't even know where we're going. We need to stop and think this through first, don't you think?"
"We don't have time to think thing's through! We have to get out of here!" Gene said rather harshly, regretting his choice of tone immediately after. "I'm sorry Mel." He in a much softer voice. "I don't mean to be such a jerk, I'm just..."
"Your just confused." Melfina finished for him. "And your not a jerk, Gene. It's just that under the circumstances," She thought a moment. "Well, just... Gene, you don't have to be sorry."
"Thanks, Mel." He said half heartily, folding his arms comfortably over his chest as he turned to the other woman in the room. "You too, Hilda. I just need some focus here, that's all."
Melfina nodded. "Yeah, and we do need to know where we're going."
All was silent for a moment as they thought over Melfina's last statement. Where were they going anyway? "It's called Galatea." Hilda's arms were crossed much like Gene's as she spoke.
"What?" Gene wondered looking at her with evident interest.
"Galatea." She said again. "That's the name of their ship."
"You mean the pirates?" Melfina asked as she too turned to Hilda.
"I mean Dom." She stated simply. " That's the name of Dom's ship. That has to be where they have Jim."
"And you know this how?" Gene asked her, his voice sounding almost skeptical.
"Well, let's just say that this isn't the first run in I've had with the guy, okay?" She said the words dully, as though it should come as no surprise to them. And the more Gene thought about it, it really shouldn't have. This was Hilda after all. The mysterious, thought to be dead outlaw, who had quite an interesting share of enemies, so why not Dom?
"So," Gene began, a somewhat hopeful look on his face. "Do you know where they are?"
"Galius most likely." Hilda spoke slowly as though she was thinking. "That's where you tend to find them when they're hiding out, just north west of Galius. It's..." She paused a moment as the others eyed her curiously. What if she was wrong? The question hit her suddenly, and she turned away from them at the mere thought. How could she stand there staring into those hopeful prying eye's of there's if she wasn't totally sure? And she wasn't. Not totally. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all.
"Hilda?" Gene sounded confused, she'd waited to long. Been silent to long. "Hey, are you gonna tell us the rest or not? Where the Hell is Galius?"
Hilda sighed as she turned back to them. She knew she looked stupid. Why did she even care? She wasn't sure. Why was she worrying over such trivial things? Not that Jim's being kidnapped was even the slightest bit trivial, but to worry over something so ordinary as giving instructions. That just wasn't like her. "It's a star." She finally spoke, avoiding their eye's as she looked did. "A small one, just above Karanon."
"Karanon?" Gene pondered. He'd had obviously heard of the place before, but where? He wasn't quite sure. "That sounds familiar." He said in his thoughtful state. "Isn't that place a resort or something? That doesn't make any sense. Why would they want to be in an area with so many tourists??"
"It's neutral territory." Hilda explained, still staring past them rather than directly into those piercing blue eye's. "It's a good place for them to hide out."
"Oh." Gene nodded. Now that did make sense. "So that settles it then. Gilliam?"
"Yes, Gene?" Asked a previously silent Gilliam. (Now that's not something you hear everyday o.O)
"Set the coordinates for Galius." He replied. And the rest went like clock work, Gene hopping into his pilot seat as Melfina was lowered into her chamber, Hilda too taking her appropriate place in the cockpit. However Gene was quite annoyed to find just how long it would take before they were cleared for take off, sitting for nearly a half an hour as they awaited further instructions. He wasn't even smiling this time as they were thrown into space. Usually the prospect of adventure excited him, but not now. Not with Jim's very life on the line if they screwed up. It was strange taking off without him.
Gene sighed. He was growing soft and he hated it. He'd promised himself long ago that he wouldn't let himself be like this. Promised that he wouldn't care this much about anything. Anyone. Caring that much only got you hurt in the end. Caring that much only made you lose it. Gene frowned at this, he couldn't let himself think that way. Not now. Jim would be okay, he would see to that. He had to. "I'm coming, Jim." He whispered so that no one else could hear. "I promise I wont lose you too." And with that he prayed silently that he wouldn't break another promise that day.
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Jim felt lost as he lay there, trapped helplessly in his maze of a mind. So full of questions. So many unanswered questions, desperately entwined in that strange void of empty thoughts. He was laying on a platform of some kind, the cold hard surface making itself uncomfortably evident beneath his small body. Metal most likely, the pirates never had been ones for comfort. 'The pirates?' Jim's eye's snapped open at the thought, and he was sitting up briefly before the rooms gravity pushed him back down. He squeezed his eye's shut tightly as his head it the metal surface, bringing his now noticeable headache to an all time high as he did what he could to block out the light. His head was throbbing with pain at that moment, the ability to think clearly now a distant memory. And the fact that his whole body ached immensely didn't help matters in the least.
What had happened to him? He didn't remember. Couldn't remember. He was so lost right now. So confused, and even the simplest tasks as piecing it all together seemed almost unbearable. Painful. And yet he had to think. Had to remember. He knew he did. But first he'd have to sit up. Laying down only made him tired, and he couldn't fall asleep. Who knew how long he'd be out if he did? He might even have a concussion, and he probably did seeing as his head hurt the way it did. The fact that he could barely think in sentences. Weren't you supposed to stay awake when you had a concussion? He didn't remember that either. All the more reason to sit up. To stay awake.
And so, painful as it was he forced himself to do it. His head was in his heads in a second, it was as if the whole room was spinning beneath him. Spinning fast. He was so dizzy, and it was all he could do to keep consciousness as he leaned himself against the wall, wincing at the chill of the cold metal on his back. 'Breath, Jim. Breath.' He followed his own instructions, taking in a few pained breathes as he again tried to think clearly.
He remembered leaving, remembered running, and all to vaguely remembered being caught. And Gene's voice. "Jim! Where are you?" It was still ringing in his ears. His was too. "Gene! Aniki, I'm over..." He'd never completed the sentence. Gene hadn't saved him. He hadn't been able to. This was his own damn fault and he knew it. It was his fault he'd been caught. His fault he was here. It was his fault and yet he knew perfectly well that Gene was beating himself up over it.
And here he was. Where was here? He wasn't sure. All that he knew was that the room was made of metal and that it was in some sort of gravity chamber. That much had been obvious, but as for the rest of it, he just didn't know. Maybe if he opened his eye's. Maybe then he could see. It wouldn't be so dark. So empty. But could he really endure the blinding pain that came with it? That of the light bouncing off the walls, into his eyes and making his headache even worse. That was the last thing he needed. He had to think clearly now and a headache any worse than what he already had could only make that harder.
It was another half an hour before his eye's were open and he was sitting up without the aid of the wall. He still didn't quite have his balance back yet, but he could stand now if he wanted to, could take a look around. What he saw was more or less what he'd expected, his current area of residence being a tiny white clad room interlay made of metal. This type of cell was common amongst the galaxies more powerful pirates. His fathers ship had cells like these, complete with the gravity enhancer. Perhaps this was his fathers ship. The place he'd grown up. It did seem awfully familiar, and besides he really wouldn't have put it past his uncle to take his fathers ship. After all, taking his own brothers' life sure hadn't been to much trouble.
He sighed at the thought, his shoulders slumping as he let his mind wander. His father hadn't been such a bad guy, not really. Sure, he did find pleasure in killing and maiming and plenty of other horrible things but he was still his father. And he wasn't so bad with Jim. Neither of them belonged there. And the thing that probably hurt him the most was just how much his father had cared for Dom. Not that he trusted his younger brother at all, not that he could, but there'd always been this bond between them. One his father cared about deeply. What could have happened to change things so? Why did Dom have to change?
Not that Jim's uncle had ever been that great of a guy, or that he'd ever liked him much but he was his uncle and he did help raise him. What could have gone so wrong? Was he really that power hungry that he'd just kill his own brother? None of it made any sense to Jim. Not a single part of it. Why did the only family he had have to be such a jerk? Dom was his uncle, shouldn't he care about him? Shouldn't he love him? Isn't that what family was supposed to be? His father had loved him. Loved him enough to trust him with the legacy he'd wanted more then anything. The one Jim would stop at nothing to destroy. Was he betraying his dad? Was Dom betraying him?
Jim shook his head as the thoughts rushed over him. Why did he even care what Dom thought? Uncle or not Jim himself had never loved the man. He hated him. Why should he expect anything different? He didn't know. He was to confused. Maybe this was his concussion taking. Maybe it was making him crazy. Yeah, that had to be it. He was simply going crazy.
He took a few deep breaths as he stood to his feet, a difficult task under the current conditions, what with his injuries and the accelerated gravity. Standing in itself was pure torture to the boy, and as it was he nearly fell over as a sharp pain shot through his leg. He's forgotten about twisting his ankle, just one more complication to check off the list. But he had to stay standing. Had to get his barrings. Had to see strait. He was just lucky that the gravity in the room was only double what it should be, any stronger and he wouldn't even have been able to sit up strait, if at all. He almost laughed at his own thoughts. He was lucky? What a joke. Since when had luck been on his side?
Jim turned to his left as he continued his observation of his tiny cell. There was the door, it was right beside him, the only way to get out. He frowned at his only path of escape almost bitterly, that door was at least a third of a foot thick and locked from the outside. There was no way out for him there. No way out for him at all. Unless... He glanced up briefly at the metal bars covering the tiny window at the top of the door. "Hey..." He coughed suddenly in his attempt to yell, he hadn't thought of how weak his voice would be now. "Hey!" This time he cleared his throat before shouting, more pleased with the results then he'd been before. "Let me the hell out of here!"
Immediately there was a pair of brown eye's peering in at the boy through the thick white bars. "Hey your awake." The guard uttered as he stared down at Jim, laughing slightly at what he saw. "Damn kid, you look like shit."
'Okay, Jim, here you go.' And he again cleared his throat before speaking again. "Like you look a whole hell of a lot better." He retorted at the guard. Kin. The name flashed briefly through his mind. He had been was one of his fathers guards. So this was the ship he'd grown up on. "At least I can get cleaned up, your just screwed either way."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" The man shouted back.
Jim just shook his head. "Damn, your stupid too."
"Go to hell, kid." Kin turned away, and Jim smiled a little in his on coming triumph.
"Come anywhere near me and I'll be there." The boy laughed lightly as the guard turned back to him, irritation evident in his eye's. His plan was working well.
Kin glared at the boy behind the bars. "Why don't you shut the hell up, you little brat!"
"Make me, asshole!"
"Damn you!" And with that he could hear the man fumbling with the keys. 'Yes!' The boy mentally cheered himself. 'Thank God for making pirates so stupid!' This had worked more quickly then he'd thought. A lot, more quickly and he couldn't help but grin at that.
It was only a matter of seconds before the door slid open, quickly revealing the tall hulk of a man standing behind it. 'Whoa.' Jim thought to himself. 'Kin's been working out.' And with that he made a quick mental note not to insult someone until he could see more than their eye's. Okay, so what was he supposed to do now? Sure the door was open, but there was also a large, muscular and overly ticked off man blocking his path. Damn concussion. He still couldn't think clearly. If he could have then he'd have known better then too get this man so angry without any further planing. What the hell had he been thinking?
'Run!' That was the boys' first instinct as the guard continued to glare at him. But where? There was no where! 'Dammit!' Why couldn't he think clearly? Everything was spinning again, he felt so light headed. Why couldn't he see clearly? Why were his legs so wobbly? Why did he feel so heavy?
Kin laughed at Jims' current state. "Should've known you were all talk." And with that he back handed the boy so hard that it spun him completely around before he hit the floor. In a second the blond was swimming in darkness. Or perhaps drowning would be a more appropriate phrase, he couldn't breath, couldn't get out. Couldn't see. Couldn't think. All he could do was lay there in pain as he instinctively covered his head with his hands to protect himself from further injury.
"Awe, dammit, Kin. Don't kill the boy." The voice sounded distant. Reality seemed so far away.
"The little brat was making an ass out of me."
"Seems to me you do a good enough job of that yourself, you idiot! Now get the hell out of here before you ruin everything!"
Now it was his ears that he covered as Jim tried did his best to tune out the shouting. Distant as it was, the sound of it made his head pound even harder and he couldn't stand it. 'No.' He thought. 'No, I can't give up now. I can't!' He couldn't just lay here. He couldn't let it end like this. 'Get up, Jim.' But his body didn't respond. 'Dammit Jim! Get the hell up!' This time he tried to listen, fighting his hardest just to move. 'Come on, come on.' He urged himself as his eye's fluttered painfully open, once again letting in that damned light that had hurt so much before. What he saw next made him gasp, as he forced himself to sit up.
"Well, well, well," The voice that had been so distant before now seemed painfully close. "We meet again, James." The words were spoken all to calmly as their owner sneered down at the boy below.
The man was still a blur to him but that once distant voice was unmistakable now, and it spent an overwhelming sense of defeat through the already bewildered boy. He couldn't move. Couldn't think. All he could do was stare up bitterly into the icy eye's of his uncle. It was all over now...
To be continued...
A/N: How was that? I dunno, I don't think I really liked that part, but I keep getting writers block and I had to get something out. Forgive me! Please! *Ahem* Yeah, well, the next part'll probably be a shorter one. I'm not sure yet. But anyway that's 'bout all I've got to say here. *Yawns* I got to go to bed! So C'ya later. And thanx for reading!!
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Bounty Hunted
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Part V
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"Dammit!" Hilda exclaimed frustrated as Gene stared down in disbelief at the broken crate before him. He'd heard his screams, acknowledged his pleas, he would have given anything to help him, to save his young friend. But he just didn't make it. He was to late and Jim was gone. Taken unwillingly by those damned pirates back into a life he avidly hated. It made Gene sick simply thinking of it. It wasn't right. Jim didn't deserve this, no one did, and Hilda felt much the same way.
She hated to see this happening, after all they'd done to keep him safe, and he just ran himself right into trouble. And then there was that code. If the pirates had Jim then they also had the code, and as worried as she was about Jim she couldn't help but let the knowledge that the pirates had anything that powerful in their hands bother her just as much. She didn't even want to know what they'd do with that weapon Jim had mentioned. The destruction would be to much.
And then there was Gene, how could she not worry about him? He looked so angry and bewildered and passive all at the same time. So not like him. He really did care about that kid. She sighed at the thought. That was one of the things she really liked about him. He seemed so hard and tough at times, but just knowing that he could have that kind of compassion for an eleven year old boy that wasn't even related to him, that was an incredible thing to her. And she really respected him for it.
However that did mean that he was hurting now, deeply in fact. He was worried about Jim. And she also knew that part of him blamed himself for what happened. He couldn't blame something like this on Jim or Gilliam, that just wasn't like him. He'd blame himself for the rest of his life if they didn't get him back. That was just the way he was. Hard yet compassionate. That was Gene. The Gene she knew. The Gene she loved...
'No! No! No!' She shook her head firmly. This was not the time nor place to be thinking of him. Not like that. Not now. He needed her thinking clearly. For her to stay focused. He needed her to get Jim back. That's what she needed to concentrate on now. On Jim. not on his older partner. Not on Gene or her mixed up feelings. She had to concentrate on Jim.
"Come on." Gene stood up quite suddenly, and Hilda blink as she realized she'd been staring at him. He turned towards her just then, walking swiftly past her almost as soon as he did, the Outlaw star now in his sights. Hilda just watched him, his face was so passive, he seemed so indifferent. He was trying to hide it. The pain and the anger. Jim was gone and he blamed himself, the mere thought of it all was ripping him apart inside, and he was just letting it. He was hiding it. He would hid it forever if he could. That was just the way he was.
"Well, are you coming, Hilda?" He sounded almost angry with her. Had she stood there to long?
"Gene..." Her voice caught in her throat as he turned around to face her once again. The sound of her own voice had surprised her just then. Her tone sounded so pleading. So unlike her usual cool one. She glanced down almost as soon as he looked at her, doing what she could to avoid his quizzical gaze, only to gasp as she realized that her hand was in his.
"Hilda?" His tone was a questioning one as he noticed the same. Her hand was out of his immediately as she held it firmly in her own. It was beyond her to blush, but the expression on her face said much the same thing. She was embarrassed. This was ridiculous. Why was she acting this way? This simply wasn't her. She had to quit. Had to stop. Had to focus.
"Let's go." Her face suddenly grew serious as she spoke. "We have to get to Jim before it's to late."
"Gene looked almost bewildered by this, as Hilda walked on ahead, and he glanced at his hand once more before following along behind. Had he just imagined the whole thing? No. No, he hadn't. What was up with her? She was acting so strange. She'd been acting strange since she'd gotten back. What was up with her? And then glancing down one last time as he walked he was surprised to feel his own face grow warm. What was up with him?
It didn't take them long to make there way through the maze of crates and back to the Outlaw Star. Melfina was quick to greet them as they arrived, dashing quickly from her place at the window and over to the panel door as it slid slowly open. "Gene!" She exclaimed as he and Hilda entered. She was almost tempted to throw her arms around the handsome outlaw, she'd been so worried, but refrained from doing so as she noticed the look of defeat upon both of their faces. "Gene, what's happened? Where's Jim?"
Gene glanced back at Hilda before he replied, doing what he could to avoid the girls soft questioning eye's. "They've got him, he's..." Gene trailed off, he sounded so defeated. But he couldn't afford to feel that way. He had to stay strong. For Jim, and for Melfina, hell even Hilda. He had to stay strong for himself. He couldn't feel sorry for himself, not now. So why couldn't he stop.
"Oh, no..." Melfina's face suddenly grew very sad as she stared at the other. She too had grown close to Jim. He was almost like a brother to her, and this reality hit her quite hard. Could they really have gotten him? Could they really have won? And then still gazing at Gene she noticed something strange. She could barely see his eye's and he looked awfully pale. That worried her too. "Gene, are you...?"
"This is all my fault." He cut her off, an all to painful tinge of regret in his nearly wavering voice. He actually sounded more angry than he did sad. He looked angry. "I should have stayed awake, I should have looked harder, I could have done something. I..."
"Stop it!" Now it was Gene's turn to be cut off as Hilda stared at him in frustration. "Stop it, Gene! Don't you dare blame yourself for this, it's not your fault."
"Well, then who the hell's fault is it?" He snapped back. "I'm in charge of him, Hilda. Anything bad that happens to him is my fault. He needed me and I wasn't there, you know that's true." What was he doing? He was getting much to angry. He needed to calm down. This wouldn't help anything.
"It's no one's fault Gene." Melfina joined Hilda's attempts to calm him. "Please, Gene, don't beat yourself up over it."
"Dammit!" Gene shouted, pounding his fist against the wall as he did. "Why does this have to be so complicated?" He sighed as he heard himself. He still sounded defeated. Still sounded mad. He couldn't do that. It was time be strong. He had to focus. Had to help Jim. "Let's get out of here." He said, breaking the silence that had emanated the room as he headed in the direction of the cockpit.
"But Gene," Melfina began. "We don't even know where we're going. We need to stop and think this through first, don't you think?"
"We don't have time to think thing's through! We have to get out of here!" Gene said rather harshly, regretting his choice of tone immediately after. "I'm sorry Mel." He in a much softer voice. "I don't mean to be such a jerk, I'm just..."
"Your just confused." Melfina finished for him. "And your not a jerk, Gene. It's just that under the circumstances," She thought a moment. "Well, just... Gene, you don't have to be sorry."
"Thanks, Mel." He said half heartily, folding his arms comfortably over his chest as he turned to the other woman in the room. "You too, Hilda. I just need some focus here, that's all."
Melfina nodded. "Yeah, and we do need to know where we're going."
All was silent for a moment as they thought over Melfina's last statement. Where were they going anyway? "It's called Galatea." Hilda's arms were crossed much like Gene's as she spoke.
"What?" Gene wondered looking at her with evident interest.
"Galatea." She said again. "That's the name of their ship."
"You mean the pirates?" Melfina asked as she too turned to Hilda.
"I mean Dom." She stated simply. " That's the name of Dom's ship. That has to be where they have Jim."
"And you know this how?" Gene asked her, his voice sounding almost skeptical.
"Well, let's just say that this isn't the first run in I've had with the guy, okay?" She said the words dully, as though it should come as no surprise to them. And the more Gene thought about it, it really shouldn't have. This was Hilda after all. The mysterious, thought to be dead outlaw, who had quite an interesting share of enemies, so why not Dom?
"So," Gene began, a somewhat hopeful look on his face. "Do you know where they are?"
"Galius most likely." Hilda spoke slowly as though she was thinking. "That's where you tend to find them when they're hiding out, just north west of Galius. It's..." She paused a moment as the others eyed her curiously. What if she was wrong? The question hit her suddenly, and she turned away from them at the mere thought. How could she stand there staring into those hopeful prying eye's of there's if she wasn't totally sure? And she wasn't. Not totally. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all.
"Hilda?" Gene sounded confused, she'd waited to long. Been silent to long. "Hey, are you gonna tell us the rest or not? Where the Hell is Galius?"
Hilda sighed as she turned back to them. She knew she looked stupid. Why did she even care? She wasn't sure. Why was she worrying over such trivial things? Not that Jim's being kidnapped was even the slightest bit trivial, but to worry over something so ordinary as giving instructions. That just wasn't like her. "It's a star." She finally spoke, avoiding their eye's as she looked did. "A small one, just above Karanon."
"Karanon?" Gene pondered. He'd had obviously heard of the place before, but where? He wasn't quite sure. "That sounds familiar." He said in his thoughtful state. "Isn't that place a resort or something? That doesn't make any sense. Why would they want to be in an area with so many tourists??"
"It's neutral territory." Hilda explained, still staring past them rather than directly into those piercing blue eye's. "It's a good place for them to hide out."
"Oh." Gene nodded. Now that did make sense. "So that settles it then. Gilliam?"
"Yes, Gene?" Asked a previously silent Gilliam. (Now that's not something you hear everyday o.O)
"Set the coordinates for Galius." He replied. And the rest went like clock work, Gene hopping into his pilot seat as Melfina was lowered into her chamber, Hilda too taking her appropriate place in the cockpit. However Gene was quite annoyed to find just how long it would take before they were cleared for take off, sitting for nearly a half an hour as they awaited further instructions. He wasn't even smiling this time as they were thrown into space. Usually the prospect of adventure excited him, but not now. Not with Jim's very life on the line if they screwed up. It was strange taking off without him.
Gene sighed. He was growing soft and he hated it. He'd promised himself long ago that he wouldn't let himself be like this. Promised that he wouldn't care this much about anything. Anyone. Caring that much only got you hurt in the end. Caring that much only made you lose it. Gene frowned at this, he couldn't let himself think that way. Not now. Jim would be okay, he would see to that. He had to. "I'm coming, Jim." He whispered so that no one else could hear. "I promise I wont lose you too." And with that he prayed silently that he wouldn't break another promise that day.
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Jim felt lost as he lay there, trapped helplessly in his maze of a mind. So full of questions. So many unanswered questions, desperately entwined in that strange void of empty thoughts. He was laying on a platform of some kind, the cold hard surface making itself uncomfortably evident beneath his small body. Metal most likely, the pirates never had been ones for comfort. 'The pirates?' Jim's eye's snapped open at the thought, and he was sitting up briefly before the rooms gravity pushed him back down. He squeezed his eye's shut tightly as his head it the metal surface, bringing his now noticeable headache to an all time high as he did what he could to block out the light. His head was throbbing with pain at that moment, the ability to think clearly now a distant memory. And the fact that his whole body ached immensely didn't help matters in the least.
What had happened to him? He didn't remember. Couldn't remember. He was so lost right now. So confused, and even the simplest tasks as piecing it all together seemed almost unbearable. Painful. And yet he had to think. Had to remember. He knew he did. But first he'd have to sit up. Laying down only made him tired, and he couldn't fall asleep. Who knew how long he'd be out if he did? He might even have a concussion, and he probably did seeing as his head hurt the way it did. The fact that he could barely think in sentences. Weren't you supposed to stay awake when you had a concussion? He didn't remember that either. All the more reason to sit up. To stay awake.
And so, painful as it was he forced himself to do it. His head was in his heads in a second, it was as if the whole room was spinning beneath him. Spinning fast. He was so dizzy, and it was all he could do to keep consciousness as he leaned himself against the wall, wincing at the chill of the cold metal on his back. 'Breath, Jim. Breath.' He followed his own instructions, taking in a few pained breathes as he again tried to think clearly.
He remembered leaving, remembered running, and all to vaguely remembered being caught. And Gene's voice. "Jim! Where are you?" It was still ringing in his ears. His was too. "Gene! Aniki, I'm over..." He'd never completed the sentence. Gene hadn't saved him. He hadn't been able to. This was his own damn fault and he knew it. It was his fault he'd been caught. His fault he was here. It was his fault and yet he knew perfectly well that Gene was beating himself up over it.
And here he was. Where was here? He wasn't sure. All that he knew was that the room was made of metal and that it was in some sort of gravity chamber. That much had been obvious, but as for the rest of it, he just didn't know. Maybe if he opened his eye's. Maybe then he could see. It wouldn't be so dark. So empty. But could he really endure the blinding pain that came with it? That of the light bouncing off the walls, into his eyes and making his headache even worse. That was the last thing he needed. He had to think clearly now and a headache any worse than what he already had could only make that harder.
It was another half an hour before his eye's were open and he was sitting up without the aid of the wall. He still didn't quite have his balance back yet, but he could stand now if he wanted to, could take a look around. What he saw was more or less what he'd expected, his current area of residence being a tiny white clad room interlay made of metal. This type of cell was common amongst the galaxies more powerful pirates. His fathers ship had cells like these, complete with the gravity enhancer. Perhaps this was his fathers ship. The place he'd grown up. It did seem awfully familiar, and besides he really wouldn't have put it past his uncle to take his fathers ship. After all, taking his own brothers' life sure hadn't been to much trouble.
He sighed at the thought, his shoulders slumping as he let his mind wander. His father hadn't been such a bad guy, not really. Sure, he did find pleasure in killing and maiming and plenty of other horrible things but he was still his father. And he wasn't so bad with Jim. Neither of them belonged there. And the thing that probably hurt him the most was just how much his father had cared for Dom. Not that he trusted his younger brother at all, not that he could, but there'd always been this bond between them. One his father cared about deeply. What could have happened to change things so? Why did Dom have to change?
Not that Jim's uncle had ever been that great of a guy, or that he'd ever liked him much but he was his uncle and he did help raise him. What could have gone so wrong? Was he really that power hungry that he'd just kill his own brother? None of it made any sense to Jim. Not a single part of it. Why did the only family he had have to be such a jerk? Dom was his uncle, shouldn't he care about him? Shouldn't he love him? Isn't that what family was supposed to be? His father had loved him. Loved him enough to trust him with the legacy he'd wanted more then anything. The one Jim would stop at nothing to destroy. Was he betraying his dad? Was Dom betraying him?
Jim shook his head as the thoughts rushed over him. Why did he even care what Dom thought? Uncle or not Jim himself had never loved the man. He hated him. Why should he expect anything different? He didn't know. He was to confused. Maybe this was his concussion taking. Maybe it was making him crazy. Yeah, that had to be it. He was simply going crazy.
He took a few deep breaths as he stood to his feet, a difficult task under the current conditions, what with his injuries and the accelerated gravity. Standing in itself was pure torture to the boy, and as it was he nearly fell over as a sharp pain shot through his leg. He's forgotten about twisting his ankle, just one more complication to check off the list. But he had to stay standing. Had to get his barrings. Had to see strait. He was just lucky that the gravity in the room was only double what it should be, any stronger and he wouldn't even have been able to sit up strait, if at all. He almost laughed at his own thoughts. He was lucky? What a joke. Since when had luck been on his side?
Jim turned to his left as he continued his observation of his tiny cell. There was the door, it was right beside him, the only way to get out. He frowned at his only path of escape almost bitterly, that door was at least a third of a foot thick and locked from the outside. There was no way out for him there. No way out for him at all. Unless... He glanced up briefly at the metal bars covering the tiny window at the top of the door. "Hey..." He coughed suddenly in his attempt to yell, he hadn't thought of how weak his voice would be now. "Hey!" This time he cleared his throat before shouting, more pleased with the results then he'd been before. "Let me the hell out of here!"
Immediately there was a pair of brown eye's peering in at the boy through the thick white bars. "Hey your awake." The guard uttered as he stared down at Jim, laughing slightly at what he saw. "Damn kid, you look like shit."
'Okay, Jim, here you go.' And he again cleared his throat before speaking again. "Like you look a whole hell of a lot better." He retorted at the guard. Kin. The name flashed briefly through his mind. He had been was one of his fathers guards. So this was the ship he'd grown up on. "At least I can get cleaned up, your just screwed either way."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" The man shouted back.
Jim just shook his head. "Damn, your stupid too."
"Go to hell, kid." Kin turned away, and Jim smiled a little in his on coming triumph.
"Come anywhere near me and I'll be there." The boy laughed lightly as the guard turned back to him, irritation evident in his eye's. His plan was working well.
Kin glared at the boy behind the bars. "Why don't you shut the hell up, you little brat!"
"Make me, asshole!"
"Damn you!" And with that he could hear the man fumbling with the keys. 'Yes!' The boy mentally cheered himself. 'Thank God for making pirates so stupid!' This had worked more quickly then he'd thought. A lot, more quickly and he couldn't help but grin at that.
It was only a matter of seconds before the door slid open, quickly revealing the tall hulk of a man standing behind it. 'Whoa.' Jim thought to himself. 'Kin's been working out.' And with that he made a quick mental note not to insult someone until he could see more than their eye's. Okay, so what was he supposed to do now? Sure the door was open, but there was also a large, muscular and overly ticked off man blocking his path. Damn concussion. He still couldn't think clearly. If he could have then he'd have known better then too get this man so angry without any further planing. What the hell had he been thinking?
'Run!' That was the boys' first instinct as the guard continued to glare at him. But where? There was no where! 'Dammit!' Why couldn't he think clearly? Everything was spinning again, he felt so light headed. Why couldn't he see clearly? Why were his legs so wobbly? Why did he feel so heavy?
Kin laughed at Jims' current state. "Should've known you were all talk." And with that he back handed the boy so hard that it spun him completely around before he hit the floor. In a second the blond was swimming in darkness. Or perhaps drowning would be a more appropriate phrase, he couldn't breath, couldn't get out. Couldn't see. Couldn't think. All he could do was lay there in pain as he instinctively covered his head with his hands to protect himself from further injury.
"Awe, dammit, Kin. Don't kill the boy." The voice sounded distant. Reality seemed so far away.
"The little brat was making an ass out of me."
"Seems to me you do a good enough job of that yourself, you idiot! Now get the hell out of here before you ruin everything!"
Now it was his ears that he covered as Jim tried did his best to tune out the shouting. Distant as it was, the sound of it made his head pound even harder and he couldn't stand it. 'No.' He thought. 'No, I can't give up now. I can't!' He couldn't just lay here. He couldn't let it end like this. 'Get up, Jim.' But his body didn't respond. 'Dammit Jim! Get the hell up!' This time he tried to listen, fighting his hardest just to move. 'Come on, come on.' He urged himself as his eye's fluttered painfully open, once again letting in that damned light that had hurt so much before. What he saw next made him gasp, as he forced himself to sit up.
"Well, well, well," The voice that had been so distant before now seemed painfully close. "We meet again, James." The words were spoken all to calmly as their owner sneered down at the boy below.
The man was still a blur to him but that once distant voice was unmistakable now, and it spent an overwhelming sense of defeat through the already bewildered boy. He couldn't move. Couldn't think. All he could do was stare up bitterly into the icy eye's of his uncle. It was all over now...
To be continued...
A/N: How was that? I dunno, I don't think I really liked that part, but I keep getting writers block and I had to get something out. Forgive me! Please! *Ahem* Yeah, well, the next part'll probably be a shorter one. I'm not sure yet. But anyway that's 'bout all I've got to say here. *Yawns* I got to go to bed! So C'ya later. And thanx for reading!!