Thieves

They arrived near Jolly Roger as the sun was setting. But Virginia wanted to camp out, it would be nice to see the stars as she lay awake. Besides, it would save them some money on the saloon fees. So they each stretched out their sleeping bags, and set up their camp. The duo made a campfire, and toasted marshmallows for S'mores. Virginia assured Jet that the creation of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers was good. He tried them, and liked what he had eaten. The two of them then made several more.

Around ten o'clock, they prepared to get to sleep. Jet went to bed right away, but Virginia wasn't ready to fall into dreamland just yet. She pondered her past, and what could have happened on that day.

'Who could have saved us?' she wondered, 'If it was Daddy, then why hasn't he come home? He's the only person who would be frantic if I was hurt. But maybe it was Uncle Elliot, since Jet has his son's DNA inside of him. He wanted him to be his son. Or Uncle Pete, he's a Baskar and has a great reverence for life. Chances are that Uncle Duran died, he was the closest to the generator. Uncle Malik might have wanted to make sure Jet survived, since his team was primarily responsible for his creation, and he does have that interest in reviving the dead. But I don't think he would have cared about Jet. Aunt Melody would be only looking for her missing eyeliner, probably not even noticing us. And as for Uncle Leehalt, probably not. I still can remember what he said the day before the accident, when he and Daddy were arguing again."

~ ~ ~ ~

"Why do you even let that creature live, Werner? We've got all of the data on him and his life, so why not destroy him? There's no need to see how he reacts to human society, it will do nothing to aid in our regeneration of Filgaia. All you want is to have a friend for your brat of a daughter," Leehalt boomed.

Werner replied, "He is a life, and we should not destroy him. Heck, even Malik, who would rather dissect him for study, is more concerned than you. You wouldn't even want to study him. He's not just another android, he'll be almost as human as you and I when done. Why can't you care about anyone besides yourself, Leehalt?" She had never heard her father so angry before, even when she got in trouble.

Leehalt laughed a little bit. "It's ironic you should say that, when you were the one who took the girl I loved from me. You even set me up, Werner, so I would have to feel the bitter sting of rejection. And now you've left your mark by having a child together. If you hadn't betrayed me to get what you wanted, I would have someone to care about, Ekatrina, and probably a few children of my own. Remember that my heart is your own doing, and nothing you can do will ever change how I feel. Nobody can change the planet's past."

~ ~ ~ ~

'Definitely not Leehalt,' she thought, 'If he had found us, he would have let Jet die because he had no respect for the boy they'd created, and left me just to spite my father. Oh, Jet, I wish we didn't have to live these lives, that things could have been different. If that had happened, we could have been living in my hometown together, with Mommy and Daddy, and everyone would have been happy. None of this sorrow.'

"Well, look what we have here boys. A girl, camping out. What do you thing, is she my type? We should take her back to our hideout, see what she's made of," a rough voice said from behind her. When the girl turned, she saw a gang of thieves, three, staring at her. All of them were men, in their twenties, and armed with pistols. The leader stared at her, with a scary look on his face. She'd heard stories about men like this, men who took young girls with them against their will, and raped them. Fear filled Virginia's heart.

As the men came closer, she fired two nervous shots. They missed their targets, since she hadn't been concentrating very good. But they did manage to wake up Jet, and he saw the men. Rage began to build up in the boy, as Virginia was about to be assaulted. He got up, and shot the leader with Airget-lamh. But he wasn't dead yet, and the leader shot Jet back. The bullet hit his shoulder, causing the boy to wince in pain. Not that something like that would stop him, his best friend was about to become some thief's little toy, and he wouldn't stand for it. Jet got back up, not caring about the pain in his arm, and fired once more.

One of the thieves went down, hit in the heart. Then Jet killed the second man in the same manner. But the boss was a little bit tougher. He put down his pistol, and grabbed a rapid fire machine gun instead. Then, he shot Jet again and again, in the torso area. But that didn't stop the boy either, if anything it made him want to fight all the more. This man was not going to get away with trying to harm Virginia, he'd die.

The boss stuttered, "You, you're a monster! No normal human can survive such an attack, what in the heck are you?" He backed off, firing off his gun rapidly. These attacks, however, didn't hit their target, as he wasn't concentrating. The boss was too afraid to think strait, just like what he did to Virginia before.

Jet brought Airget-lamh into firing position. "I think I have a different definition of what a monster is than you. Because you're trying to take Virginia away, to hurt her in some way I don't know of, or maybe even kill her. You messed with me, and so you die." He fired again, killing the man cowering in front of him.

"Thanks, Jet," Virginia said, "If it weren't for you, then those men would have taken me away. I don't think I want to lay with any of them, I'm only twelve and a half, too young for that sort of thing. And they're so much older. Oh, Guardians! You're hurt, Jet. Let me take care of that wound. Oodoryuk, give strength to this injured soul. HI-HEAL!" In amazement, Jet saw his wounds begin to fade as if they never were there.

"These Shaman power really are something. You've demolished enemies, and healed allies with them. What else can they do, fix rips in blankets?" Jet asked, half joking. He looked at her, and smiled.

Virginia told him, "We should really take turns keeping watch, so more don't come to attack us. I'll go first, I'm not ready to sleep just yet. Besides, you were hurt from the attack, and need to get back your strength. When the hour is up, then I'll wake you and you take an hour. Or we can use two or three hour intervals, just divide the night. We each get to sleep, and we keep safe too. That's how we used to camp when I was a little girl, and went with my father and mother. 'Better to be safe than sorry', as they said."

Jet lay down, to sleep. As Virginia watched him breath, she smiled. He had emotions as any human would, despite his laboratory origins. She would make sure he could live like a human being, it was the least she could do for him. For Jet had been the only one, besides her family, who cared about her as a living girl. Even the monument was one to someone thought to be dead. They were now their own family.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words..

My car stereo is cool! Got it for a Graduation Present. I can see Leehalt saying something like that. He would be the one to want to kill Jet for no reason, just because. After all, he doesn't respect humans, so why would he respect a person he created in a lab? Besides, better reason for Virginia to beat him up. Darn, now I want some S'mores.