Part V

Clive removed his glasses to wipe them on his shirttail. For some reason all eyes were directed at him, could it be they were all waiting for him to speak? Taking his time, he slowly raised his glasses to check if they were adequately clean. Deciding so was indeed the case he placed them back where they belonged on the bridge of his nose and took a long look at each team member. "Well," he began slowly, "considering this place is a veritable deathtrap for unlucky people and that our mission was to investigate and exterminate any threats…" he deliberately trailed off, still watching his teammates to see if they caught the drift.

"You're saying we should kill them?" Virginia asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Yes." the sniper confirmed grimly, "Monster extermination is common work among drifters. As cold as it may sound, these creatures were never meant to wander Filgaia. Were they ever to leave this mansion they would stop at nothing, massacring entire villages for food."

"Ginny, they're not human anymore…" Gallows offered her a sympathetic look.

"Gallows is right." spoke Clive again. "However, you are the leader" his eyes fixed on her, "the decision is really up to you." he offered her an understanding smile.

Virginia normally wasn't one to hesitate. She was used to making decisions for her team members. After all, she was the appointed leader and she had been from the start. Her eyes traveled from the sniper to the Baskar, who gave her an encouraging nod, and then to over to Jet. The young man shrugged wordlessly, assuring her he didn't really care what she decided.

How very supportive of him, Virginia smiled feeling strangely nostalgic for some reason.

"I suppose we have to do something," she agreed, "but we don't even know how many of these creatures there are. Wouldn't it be kinda dangerous to take 'em head on?"

"Yes, you are correct." Clive nodded, "We should come up with a plan before we proceed." he suggested, feeling all warm inside as he spoke. It was common knowledge that he immensely enjoyed the process of plan making. That was where he, with his brains and oratory skill, shined like a star on one of those dark, cloudless nights in the wasteland.

"How about we split up and cover different areas?" suggested Gallows.

"That's just stupid." Jet made his grumpy contribution to the discussion.

"Hey!" the Baskar tribesman didn't look very pleased. "Watch it, punk!" he shook his fist at the younger man.

The accused punk sighed, "Can't we just blow the place up or burn it down or something." he turned away from his friends. "I'm sick of this house, anyway." he muttered sullenly kicking the stone floor in his usual way of displaying annoyance.

"I suppose that would take care of our problems..." Clive agreed while scratching the back of his head, "In a very destructive way, but still."

"Yeah, think of the huge explosion!" Gallows exclaimed having gone from annoyed to inappropriately excited, nearly bouncing on the spot.

"Calm down guys." Virginia interrupted, "Do we even have explosives?"

Gallows wide smile turned upside down in disappointment as she pointed out the one big flaw he'd overlooked. For a moment Virginia feared he was about to break down and cry.

"That would be the problem, right there." Clive confirmed. Seemingly deep in thought he began tapping the side of his head with his index finger, "…A desolate house like this would usually have a power generator somewhere...." he went on muttering, thinking out aloud, "If we were to find it there may still be fuel left…"

"Yeah!" Gallows was quick to catch on, as happy as ever, "Let's turn this house into a freakin' barbecue!"

"Cool it, big boy." spoke Jet, earning himself a death glare from the Baskar.

"So we'll go look for this generator, then?" Virginia wondered.

"Yes, but in a house this size it may take us a while to locate." Clive reasoned.

"I still think we should split up" that was Gallows input, he glared at Jet while speaking daring the boy to interfere, "At least into groups of two. We could cover twice the area that way."

"Yes, that may be a good idea but how will we contact each other?" Gallows grinned as Clive acknowledged his idea.

"How about gunshots?" Virginia suggested. "We already know that works."

"Ok, it's decided." Clive spoke, "Fire two shots if you find the generator and, uh, a helluva lot if you get into trouble. The group that finds the generator will gather the fuel and then we meet up back here."

"Sounds great! I'll go with Jet!" exclaimed Virginia causing both Clive and Gallows to raise their eyebrows. Jet sighed. "What?" the girl demanded, "This was supposed to be our time alone, remember!?" She stared at them, daring them to comment the arrangement of the groups. They dared not.

Instead the two men wordlessly directed their knowing and very insinuative smiles at Jet.

"Can we please just get this over with?" he groaned in annoyance.

"Why of course." Clive excused himself. Teasing Jet was entertaining but right now there were more important business to be dealt with, "Should we fail to find anything let's meet back here in say two hours?"

"Sounds fine by me" Virginia agreed.

"Take care and keep your clothes on!" Gallows called as he followed after Clive.

The two men soon disappeared around the corner and Virginia turned to face Jet. Their eyes met and she smiled sweetly. He suddenly felt very vulnerable without his two other teammates.

Calm down Jet. No need to go all jittery now. Remember: you are NOT afraid of Virginia! Jet didn't quite know if he believed the mental pep talk. Nevertheless, it continued, determined to ease his anxiety: Why, you've already spent a good couple of hours alone with her. You're doing just fine… the soothing voice inside his head slowly faded as Virginia walked closer.

"Finally alone again, huh?" the brunette said in a playful tone of voice.

He tried to hide his blush by looking in another direction, "I don't know what you're talking about…" he claimed, when in fact he had thought very similar thoughts just a moment earlier.

"Heheh, did you know you act completely different when it's just the two of us?" the girl asked him. She leaned sideward trying to see his face.

Being fully aware of that Jet decided to do the only natural thing: change the subject and avoid the topic.

"Shouldn't we be looking for that generator?" his eyes were busy searching the room even though he perfectly knew there was no such thing there.

"Don't change the subject." Virginia latched on to his arm, laughing. Hugging it tightly in a manner he was quite used to by now, she continued, "You know, I'm really getting tired of all the interruptions…" she trailed off and suddenly there was something else in her eyes. Replacing the playful glint was a tentative look of longing. "I…" she hesitated, "I would really like to hear what you were about to say back there… in the lounge"

"Uh…" replied Jet, suddenly taking a huge interest in his shoes. He felt his throat constrict in a panicky manner and beads of nervous sweat form on his brow. What was he supposed to say, again? Did he really want to say it? Was this an appropriate time? And was that rust on his shoe buckle?

Ultimately the sheer amount of uncertainties overwhelmed him and he managed nothing but remain silent and stiff as a board. Granted, it was not the best way to answer but it was the old fashioned Jet way.

Virginia sighed, slightly discouraged by his response or rather lack of such. Then again, she reminded herself, it was Jet Enduro she was talking too. The fact that he hadn't shrugged her off yet was a small wonder in itself.

Still, she couldn't help but want more from him. His indecisive behavior this particular night hardly made things any better. One minute he was blurting out confessions she'd only dreamed of hearing before, making her heart gallop in excitement and anticipation, and the next he was back to his usual cold, introvert self.

"Fine" Virginia muttered in disappointment, letting go of his arm, "Let's go then." she started off walking toward the stairs.

…Jeez, that went smooth, Jet thought while watching her leave, Well, at least it isn't the first time she angry with me… He sighed, just how did that make things any better? It was clear her expectations of him were set far too high. She should know him better by now. The blame couldn't be put solely on him, right? He was just being Jet.

The excuses failed miserably in offering the comfort he had wished for. After all, he reminded himself, he had been the one that accidentally confessed his feelings for her, not the other way around. And now it was his lacking emotional awareness and uncertainty that complicated everything.

He utterly despised uncertainty. It was nothing but a sign of weakness. If that was what emotions brought him, then screw emotions! He had been doing just fine back when he was traveling solo. If he could only go back to that again everything would be fine. There would be neither uncertainty nor insecurity. He could forget about Virginia. Everything would be fine.

Except of course that was all a big lie. Unlike before, he had memories now; lot's of them even. Most of which seemed to involve that certain drifter girl. There was no way he could simply forget. Besides, deep down he really didn't want to, even if it would mean the return of his past carefree and lonely life-style. Despite his past of badmouthing memories he realized he had come to treasure them himself. And she was, as much as he hated and feared to admit it, precious to him. He would just have to make up his mind.

Silently cursing himself he set off to catch up with her.

They had been walking around the first floor for quite a while before they came across the huge dining hall. Much to their surprise they hadn't encountered a single freak as of yet, except for the two half eaten bodies they had discovered earlier, rotting away in what had appeared to be the doctor's study.

Virginia gasped as she laid eyes on the huge room. It was the first sound any of them had made since leaving the basement. In the center of the space was one of those ridiculously long tables with a surface so polished you could see you own reflection in it. If you first removed the inch thick layer of dust, that was. Upon it stood several expensive looking silver candelabras shrouded in a thin layer of cobweb, and a bronze statue of a posing man.

Through the huge windows on both sides of the room, half of which faced the outer yard and the rest the inner one, moonlight shone its silver rays dimly illuminating the space.

The walls between the window were crowded with oversized paintings of various people, relatives of the doctor perhaps. The pictures were of the creepy kind that followed you with their eyes as you moved.

Virginia walked into the room gaze moving over the furniture and the walls. Jet watched from his spot in the doorway as she lifted a pushed over chair back to its original position by the table. Dust stirred around her like a pale aura as she moved through the moonlight. For a moment Jet was utterly spellbound by the sight, trapped in the beauty of the scene and the angelic girl in the middle of it all.

"Ginny…" for the first time in god knows how long, he was the one that broke the silence, his voice unusually soft. Virginia stopped in her track sending him a curious look as he used her nickname. Before he had always dismissed it, accusing it of being far too cute. "Um…" he looked down awkwardly, feeling as if he'd ruined the magic of the scene by opening his mouth, "…About earlier…I'm, uh, sorry about that." he silently scolded himself for being such a lousy speaker.

Virginia flashed him a sweet smile and took a few steps towards him. "It's alright. I'm not angry"

"No, it was silly of me. I mean, you probably know what I was about to say anyway…" he looked up at her to see how she reacted to the assumption.

"Maybe…" she smiled secretively, "but that's the kind of thing a girl has to hear..."

Jet tried to block out his quickening heartbeat ringing in his ears. How many times in one night could he find himself in the same situation? He would go through with it or hurt her feelings again.

"Virginia, I think I-"

A shot rang through the air silencing him mid-sentence. It was followed by another one.

"It's a curse!!" Virginia exclaimed.

"They found the generator" said Jet, not quite certain whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"I know that!" she snapped, "But couldn't they have waited for like a minutes or two?" she had tried not to sound desperate, but failed.

Jet felt his lips involuntarily curve upward. What was this odd sensation he experienced? Could it be… he was in control of the situation?

"What's the hurry?" he grinned, "I mean, this really isn't the time to chit-chat, anyway…"

Virginia looked horrified at first, her lips trembling and her big puppy dog eyes shining with distraught. Luckily this only lasted for a second or two before she guessed his game. Had it been any longer he was bound to have given in.

"Hmf!" she turned her back to him, "There's no hurry. I just thought maybe you needed to get it off your chest."

"Nah, I'm fine" Virginia should have known better than to challenge Jet, he was after all the king of indifference. "Let's go" he smiled again, realizing he was actually enjoying himself.

"S-Sure" she replied with forced nonchalance, but she was already faltering.

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As you might already have noticed the focus of this story is hardly the plot but rather Jet and Virginia figuring out their relationship… so uh, that would be my excuse if you don't like the plot.

Oh, and I'm trying to end this now so the next chapter will probably be the last.