~*~Aftershocks: Chapter Two- Hunting the Green-eyed Man~*~

~Silverium~

Disclaimer: I don't own One Must Fall 2097, Crystal, Jean-Paul, Milano, or any other character.

Sleepless nights and weary days made up the rest of Jean-Paul's week. Every morning looking at himself in the mirror brought silent curses to his mind. He looked worse than Crystal.  Pressing a facecloth up against his skin he blocked out the sight and spent more time than usual keeping clean. Anything to not see those bags under his eyes, it was humiliating. The defeat had gotten to him in the worst way: silently eating him alive and sucking out the life.

At least the hype had worn off. People were a bit more polite with their staring now, and Jean-Paul could walk in public without a crowd gathering and photos being taken. People could be so stupid.

Striding to his fridge and opening it to reveal that he was seriously low on food Jean-Paul felt a headache coming on. A tired sigh escaped his lips and he trudged down the stairs of the apartment building (he hated being stuck in the elevator with people who only wanted details of his loss) to his car. Grocery shopping was a dull chore.

Surrounded by people casting small glances at him before ducking their heads, Jean-Paul sifted through the aisles in a trance, throwing various foods and cans into the cart and moving on like a wraith.

"Hey, watch it!" Cried an angry voice, which soon turned to confusion, "What are you doing here?"

Jean-Paul looked down into the familiar blue depths of Crystal's eyes. Why here? Why now? His face remained stoic, "I have to eat,"

"Don't tell me you're actually human," Crystal raised her eyebrows in a challenge,

"Humans are inferior," Jean-Paul began to push past her,

       "No!" Crystal darted in front of his cart and slammed her hands on the end, turning her knuckles white with the effort, "Tell me what happened to my parents, Jean-Paul,"

       He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, it was getting longish but he didn't mind it that way, when it covered his eyes slightly people couldn't see the bare disgust there.

       "I'm busy,"

       "You're shopping, you piloted a HAR, don't tell me you can't do two things at once," Crystal snapped,

       "I was a HAR, it was me, now I'm not, now I'm this," Jean-Paul stared into her eyes intensely, "Forget everything that happened, as you said, it is over."

       He jerked the cart from her hands and steamrolled past her with cold fury. He could hear a soft gasp come from her, followed by some muffled cursing.

       "You think you're so smart, Jean-Paul? Then why didn't you win the tournament?" Crystal asked scathingly.

       It stopped him in his tracks. Instantly the feeling of defeat, the taste of failure, surfaced inside him. Swallowing down the urge to blow up completely, Jean-Paul pushed the cart into the rush of people and disappeared from Crystal's sight.

       She stood there, looking after him, tears of frustration in her eyes. Jean-Paul knew the secret to her parent's deaths, and she had to find out. She couldn't end up a failure! This was what she had been fighting for and it was still within her grasp!

       Head resting on a pillow propped against the couch, Jean-Paul was calm and collected as he flicked TV channels again. There was the news, so dependent at ten pm every night.

       "…Main news for tonight after the break…"

       Jean-Paul stood up and grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, choking it down and exhaling sharply. He listened to the commercials chatter on about products he'd never use, but when the familiar voice of the newswoman came back he returned to his comfy spot on the floor.

       "The main news for tonight is that the new representative of Ganymede has revealed that he is not, in fact, Milano Steele! Milano changed his name to create a different identity not known by the members of WAR before he joined the tournaments; he is, in truth, Milano Angston! The very wealthy and only son of WAR's founder, Herbert Angston…after winning the presidential election for WAR, Milano revealed himself at a press conference at Ganymede's capital."

       Jean-Paul stared at the screen. It wasn't a surprise that Milano was now president, but that he was the son of WAR's founder? Certainly news to him. The phone rang, making Jean-Paul have to get up and turn the volume of the news down,

       "…"

       "Hello?"

       "Crystal?" Jean-Paul didn't even ask how she got his number,

       "Did you hear? Milano is actually the son of—"

       "I heard," Jean-Paul said crisply,

       "Well? Are you getting your job back?" Crystal asked,

       "Does it matter?" He responded coldly,

       "You're being offered a chance, Jean-Paul! Take it, get out of the aftershock,"

       "Why do you care?" He asked softly,

       "Because you're the only one left," Crystal sounded odd then, emotional, but not the customary rage he was used to,

       "Left," He repeated dully,

       "Christian is gone, disappeared, he couldn't deal with the loss. Have you noticed they don't talk about any of the other pilots? Shirro and Ibrahim work for War, always have, always will, they never had anything to lose."

       "Ibrahim didn't—"

       "He designed, that's all it took, didn't you know? He's working for WAR," Crystal sounded tired, "That doesn't matter, the rest of them are gone, dead, missing, faded off."

       "They are not me,"

       "Exactly, so live damnit," Crystal now sounded exasperated,

       "Why do you care?" Jean-Paul felt like he was moving in circles, "Are you still trying to find out about your parents?"

       "Of course I'm going to still search, I'll fight until my dying breath for that knowledge!"

       "Like your brother?" Jean-Paul asked with an icy tone,

       "Meet me at the shuttle port, we're going to Ganymede," Crystal announced,

       "What?" Jean-Paul's attention focused,

       "We're going to Ganymede," she repeated, "I'm going to talk with Milano, and you're going to make sure the job is yours."