A/N Hello. Writer's block sucks. Well, is everyone still enjoying the story? It's ok if you're not. My mom reminded me of why I started this in the first place. (Tanx mom!!) I did it for my own enjoyment. But I still want input. This chapter is more of something to get through writer's block than anything, but I still made it pretty well. The last chapter seemed like I was implying yaoi, didn't it? Well, I wasn't intending to, it just came out that way. I honestly don't think anything happened between Vash and Wolfwood. =P Oh well. No matter. On with the insanity! ^_^
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As the morning progressed into early afternoon, Jess went puttering around the bar, desperately trying to look busy so Nicky wouldn't try to engage him in another arm wrestling match like the one earlier that morning. The bald barman paused in his work and looked over at his bored assistant. She sat cross-legged on a stool behind the bar, looking despondently at the doors.
Jess sighed, knowing he should get her busy doing something, he just wasn't sure what.
He rubbed his arm absentmindedly, the tingling sensation still present.
Why not? Most of the feeling is gone from it already anyway.
The stocky man threw down the rag he had been using to clean the tables and walked over to the bar, sitting down in front of the blond woman and offering his arm to her as a challenge.
Nicky blinked and looked at her employer, a few of the longer bangs brushing her forehead.
"Come on kid, let's see you beat me again!" Jess smirked at her.
Nicky shifted her gray and gold eyes from the bearded face to the offered arm, raising her eyebrows.
"Can you feel it?"
He smiled. "Barely."
She rolled her eyes. "If you can't feel your arm, I'm not playing you again. I could very well break it the next time."
Jess frowned at his young companion. "I think you're over estimating yourself a little there, Nick. It's just a bit numb. Come on, I challenge you!"
The blond shook her head, the silver hoops in her ears dancing. "No. It's likely that a few nerves got pinched that last time. Another round would probably do more permanent damage."
Jess's frown turned into a scowl as he turned around in his seat and leaned back on the counter. "Oh, you're just scared that I'll beat ya the next time! You big sis…"
He stopped suddenly, and upon hearing a tapping sound, realized what he had almost said and looked behind him.
Nicky looked completely calm, leaning on her left arm, except that her eyes were half lidded and her right hand was drumming its fingers along the counter top. She gave the bartender a half smile, the look giving her the appearance of a seasoned trickster fox, one that knew it was about to snap up a gullible mouse that had wandered into its den.
"Sorry, what was that? You didn't finish."
*Sweat drop* "Uh…nothing!" He turned back around and stood up. "I think I'll go and fix lunch."
The fox watched the mouse scurry out of the den, content to let the other's error in judgment pass, as she was really only bored.
Nicolae sighed, boredom taking over her mind again. She stared unblinking at the doors, eyes quickly glazing over, as she turned inward for amusement.
Images floated in the earthling's mind, the better memories that she enjoyed revisiting when unoccupied. The happy faces of all of her childhood friends and family. Laughter echoed throughout the twisted corridors of her mind; what she liked to think of as the echoes of her angels. Nicky thought of the new family that she had cultivated in the army, people who trusted her with their lives, and who she trusted with hers. She frowned slightly on the outside.
I wonder what ever happened to them? I couldn't have been the only one to have survived.
She returned to the present and blinked a few times, getting her vision back from zoning out for that little stretch of time.
"I guess that should be the next thing I do here. After I get paid, I should go and see if there's any news of the others. Hmmm…they shouldn't be that hard to track down, what with all the problems we each had."
She smiled lazily out the window; a low chuckle escaping her slightly parted lips as the heat of the day started making her drowsy.
Jess stood quietly in the kitchen doorway, watching the girl as she drifted into a light doze, and wondering, not for the first time, what her reason for being in Slater was. She was a dangerous person; he could see it in her eyes. Perhaps she was hiding out from a bounty…
**CRAK-BANG!!**
Jess's head snapped up to the doors and then back to his assistant.
"Huh?"
He craned his head around looking for her.
"What the…?"
A hand reached up from behind the counter, followed by an arm and then a largely pissed blond head. ( -_-X)
( sweat drop. O_o) "Nicky?! What happened?"
"The fuckin' gunshot scared me and I fell off my stool!"
She headed toward the doors, and Jess quickly fallowed.
Outside, a large crowed had already gathered at the left far end of the street, facing the place where Nicolae had originally entered. The blond got there first, and stared at the scene before her.
At the end of the street sat two battered cars and around 11 men, well, boys really, in their middle to late teens. All seemed to be packing pretty lethal weaponry.
"Uh, what's going on here?" She asked no one in particular.
"It's the Crosser Gang. They come every month to pay us a 'visit'." A middle-aged man beside her answered in a bored manner.
Nicky glanced at the man, the situation intriguing her.
"What do you mean by 'visit'?"
"They come and torment us basically."
Jess caught up to his assistant by then and started filling her in.
"Yeah, they take some of the local gals back to Crosser and usually some of the towns money too." He finished, glaring at the young hoodlums down the street.
Nicky looked at the bartender, quite taken aback by his response.
"They take women and steal from the bank? Why the Hell doesn't anyone stop them?!"
"They're too strong kid. We don't have to fire power to stop um. Besides, we're not allowed to."
**CRACK-BANG!!**
Another gunshot rung through the air, silencing all talk and stopping Nicky from asking Jess what he meant.
A man stood on the hood of one the battered vehicle, his light brown hair tied up in a high ponytail at the back of his scull. He looked no more than 17, with a sheer white t-shirt and faded jeans on, and a smoking rifle propped on his left shoulder. The teenager smirked and started to speak.
"My fair citizens of Slater, it is time for your monthly donation!"
A collective sigh ran through all those gathered at the square, as the leader signaled 3 of the other men to head to the bank down the street.
"And now, if you would be so kind as to send all the young women up here for inspection, we'll be out of here soon." The brown haired teen leapt down from the hood and stood expectantly before the crowd.
A murmur swept through the towns folk as they all turned to each of their respective families and ushered all the women toward the front.
Jess looked at his assistant, and saw her moving toward the front as well.
"Nicky! What are you doing? Don't go up there!" The bald man called.
The shorthaired blond craned her head around to her elder. "Hey, they called all the young women up to the front. It seems that I qualify, so I think I should go." She winked a gray and gold eye at the barman.
Jess stared at her for a moment and then nodded his head solemnly. "Fine, but be careful. I don't feel like looking for a new assistant just yet."
She smiled and held her right hand up in a peace sign, then turned back around and resumed threading her way through the crowed to the front.
When Nicolae finally reached the front, several women had already been forced into the old cars, watched over intently by the young men.
She squeezed up in between a pretty redhead and a comely brunette, watching as the brown haired teen made critical judgments about the gathered females. He moved down the line, sending quite a few more women back to the cars. When the teen finally reached Nicky's position in the line (which was near the end) he sent the brunette to the car but not the redhead and headed back to the cars. Nicky gazed after him.
"Hey, what about me?" She shouted after him, hands on her hips.
The boy turned and stared quizzically at her a moment, before his eyes (and the eyes of his cohorts) widened in astonishment. The tall blond rolled her twin colored eyes. "Yes, I'm a girl too. So what about me?"
The brown haired teen looked almost disbelievingly back at gang, who all started snickering. The town's folk just remained quiet, realizing that the unconventional young woman who had set up residence with them recently, was up to something.
The teen turned back to the blond, a condescending smirk marring his otherwise attractive face. "You're new to Slater, aren't you girl?"
Nicky raised her eyebrows at him, a smile quirking up her left cheek. "Yes, I am new to Slater. And my name is Nicolae, not 'girl'."
The smirk still played on the youth's lips. "My apologizes, Nicolae, but we only take attractive women back to Crosser with us." His cronies all chuckled behind him.
Nicky frowned at him. "And just what do you do with these beautiful girls?"
"What do think we do with them?" The youth chuckled, his buddies following suite.
"What's your name?"
The teen blinked at the blond before him, surprised by the sudden change of subjects. "Uh, Jeremiah."
She nodded. "Ok. Well, Jeremiah, why do you think it's appropriate for you to take all the attractive girls from Slater, and do those things to them, hmm?"
Jeremiah's smirk vanished as he lowered his rifle to the ground and used the butt as a prop for his hands. "Why not? My father has decreed that I can do what ever I want and anyone who tries to stop me will be under arrest."
Nicolae stared disbelievingly at him. *sweat drop* "What the Hell kind of decree is that?!"
Jeremiah shrugged. "My dad's the mayor of Crosser and holds sway over the people of Slater since we share the same plant. I asked him to grant me immunity and he did." He gave the blond a half smile. "I guess it pays to have an eccentric dad who adores you as mayor."
Nicky smacked her forehead. "God, please help these men!" she asked beseechingly of the sky, eyes closed.
She looked back at the leader of the Crosser Gang. "Alright Jeremiah, this has got to stop! What the Hell makes you think you can do something like this and get away with it, never mind that you have immunity, just on principle!"
The teen glanced behind him as the 3 who had gone to the bank came back and then turned back to the rather butch blond in front of him, smiling. "What principles?"
Nicky closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Upon opening her eyes, she contemplated the boy before her. "Look, Jeremiah, I'm only going to ask you once. Put the money back and release the girls. Including the ones at Crosser. Please."
The smile disappeared from the brunette's face. He picked up his gun and slung over left shoulder again, and took several strides forward until he and the blond were only a foot a part. "And what if I refuse?" He reached out and grabbed Nicky's shirt collar at her throat. "What are you gonna do, girl?"
Nicolae gazed steadily at the youth, refusing to let on that he had roused her ire. "Please, do not touch me."
Jeremiah sneered. "Or what? There's not a damn thing you can do about it girly, so I suggest that butt out and…"
He didn't get a chance to finish his statement. In what looked like a blur to the townsfolk and gang members, Nicolae kicked Jeremiah's legs out from under him, sending him flat on his back, and had her Colt pointed right between his eyes before he could blink. A collective breath was taken by all those gathered, the tension in the air almost tangible.
With her head angled down to look at her prisoner, no one could see the look on the blond stranger's face. Well, all accept one.
Jeremiah stared up at the woman straddled over him, terror blatantly stamped on his features. What scared him most was that her face was completely devoid of emotion. All but her eyes. A fire shone there, a cold one ready to consume all of the living world. It rested within the twin colors, which seemed to roll and tumble on the curved surface, like two battling entities. Her pupils were gone, lost in the battle.
She opened her mouth and exuded a voice as cold and flat, yet full of raw power and hatred, that the boy felt like he lost control of his body. It did not belong to the woman he had been talking to.
"I told you," she hissed. "DO- NOT- TOUCH- ME."
The youth broke out in a cold sweat as the hammer on the silver gun was pulled back and clicked into position, ready to fire. He tried his best to voice some cry, something to break this horrible spell over him, but all could do was close his eyes and wait.
"NICOLAE!!"
Two calls roiled through the air, melding into one. That single shout echoed through the air, bringing with it the sanity of a young woman.
Nicolae blinked, her eyes returning to their normal state, and looked at the scene that greeted her sight. She gasped at the youth, Jeremiah, lying on the ground, her gun pointed at his head. She jerked her arm away, quickly clicking the hammer back to it's original, non-lethal, position.
Jeremiah took this opportunity to scramble away and head back to the safety of his gang. Nicky looked at the crowed as the people in front all moved back, fear all too evident in their eyes. Suddenly, the townsfolk parted and let two people through.
Jess stood there, along with Vash, each of their chests heaving in panic. They both took in their friends bewildered expression and the fact that the boy wasn't dead. Each sighed in apparent relief.
"Nicolae…"
Both stopped and turned to look at the other, obviously neither realizing the other was there.
Jess glared at Vash, who just sweet dropped and smiled nervously in return.
"Uh, guys…" They turned to the confused blond. "What happened?"
Jess and Vash looked at each other, but said nothing, just shrugged. Jess reached out to his young assistant. "Come on Nicky. I think we should get you back to the bar…" Vash nodded.
"Ok, but hang on a minute. There was a reason I started this…" She said, and then turned and started striding toward the Crosser Gang. They all cringed back in fear.
Nicky stopped several feet from them, her face set in determination. "Alright, I told your boss to let the girls, even the ones in Crosser, go free and to give back the money. He declined my offer and had the nerve to threaten me. You saw what happened. Are you going to comply with my wishes?"
The boys all nodded frantically. Quickly, they threw open the battered car doors and practically threw the girls into the crowed, and the 3 who had gone to the bank shoved the money into the arms of a random citizen. They started to scramble into the cars before Nicky called them back.
"Hold it."
They all froze and turned to look at her.
"One more condition. When you back home, have Jeremiah tell his dad that he refuses to carry immunity anymore, and you all have to do whatever the punishment for kidnapping and rape is. Do I make myself clear?" Some of the boys looked ready to refuse, but Nicolae glared at them and fingered her Colt. They all nodded and scurried in to the cars.
"And…" They cringed and looked up.
"Don't forget to bring the other girls back." She smiled sweetly.
Again, they all nodded and, before another word could be said, revved up the engines and sped out of the town called Slater.
Nicky heaved a relieved sigh and turned to her two waiting companions. They both gave small smiles as she walked to them. All three turned and headed down the dusty street, the sullen blond in between her two friends, and the crowd parting silently as they passed.
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A/N Another short one…*sigh*
Sorry people, but unless I get a total of 6 reviews, I'm gonna stop worrying about putting up another chapter. I've got 3 summer reading books to get trough in 2 weeks, and I start acting classes on Monday. Sorry, but life is getting a bit too hectic right now. So get those reviews in and I'll pull out another chapter.
-Nimbychan
Later Dayz and Tanx!! ^_^