Code: awaken

-(-

Blip.…..blip…..blip….blip..blip…blip…blip…blip… My thoughts gradually coagulate in my head as I slowly open my lead-heavy eyelids. My teal eyes spurt open for air as I realize I am miraculously alive. Jet must have really pulled some strings, cause this hospital is very hi-tech. I notice all the highly advanced devices and supplies, and even some newer improved upon equipment, shining like soldiers in the slanted morning light. My room, for the most part, is sparse. My clothes are in the chair beside my bed to my right, my IV dispenser on the desk to my left, the Silver Circle Clinic's logo above the door.

"Wait a minute…the Silver Circle Clinic…this organization is heavily tied to the Red Dragons. The Silver Circle Clinic is a front for the solar system renowned Mr. Kaze, the hitman employer." I choke out, my voice clogged of lack of use. I sit up in my bed lazily, the exact time a nurse comes through the door.

"Sheryl come quick, that super cutie in room 10 has woken up!" A nurse with the name tag 'Venice' skips over to me, her red curly hair bouncing around her light blue eyes as she injects me with something I don't quite recognize. She smiles excitedly, I wonder how long I have been here….a week…a month…how long?!

"I'll be right there Venice, I'm just callin' that other cutie who brought him in! He wanted to know when he would wake up!" Another, even higher pitched voice if that is possible, squealed to Venice in here with me. My ears are ringing and I've only been conscious for a few minutes.

"How long have I been asleep?" I ask quickly as Venice looks at me and laughs.

"You? Only about a day or two…it was mostly cause our new equipment and serums finally came in…Your friend wanted to make sure you made it, he isn't that bad looking either, but I can tell that he has someone to go home too…." Venice went rambling on as I tried to remember the last thing that I did. I was in my zipcraft, I know I was shooting a Syndicate ship. Faye was there….Wait…Faye! Goddamn it, I need to make sure that Vicious knows about Faye!

"The man who brought me in, did he have silver hair?" She looked at me as if I were crazy, oh…so it must have been Jet. Wait does Jet have ties to Silver Circle Clinic? Just then the other nurse, with cropped brown hair and hazel eyes came bustling in.

"That gorgeous man, with the silver hair, is coming to pick him up right now!" Venice and the nurse I could only assume to be Sheryl, jump up and down squealing. They must not get to see a lot of men in this clinic or something, 'cause these women are going insane.

"I guess that answers my question." I begin to unstrap myself from my bed, frowning at the hospital smock I have on…I've always hated these things. Venice turns to look at me and immediately helps me to gently take out my IVs and other contraptions I didn't know existed.

"The man did tell the doctor he was in a hurry…Big surprise, everyone who comes in this clinic is. Somewhere to go, someone to meet—" Venice said

"Someone to kill." Sheryl completed and Venice sighed. "But you don't look like the killing type, or the hating type. At first glance your silver haired buddy did, but he had a glint in his silver eyes that made me think otherwise." Sheryl put a manicured finger to her purple painted lips.

"You two aren't very usual in this place; it's nice to have a breath of fresh air!" Sheryl beamed and Venice and I finished up. But before I could try out my legs to see if I could stand, Venice stops me.

"Are you crazy or somethin'? You broke your left ankle in three places; you can't walk on that even with this new equipment!" I made a gesture to protest, when the immaculate white room was silenced by the arrival of my 'friend' Vicious. Though, I hate to admit it, I probably owe my life to the guy.

I look at him before he has a chance to speak. His long silver hair, which has grown out past shoulder length is slightly tangled and pulled back into a horsetail, revealing his forehead bullet wound. I inwardly frown that is what Spike did; Spike could have been just as ruthless and deadly as Vicious can. Something else though pulls me away from his scar, sure enough he looks different. I can't put a finger on it, but he doesn't look like the crazy killer Vicious that I have witnessed for the past six years, he looks like…He looks like the old Vicious, the Vicious before Julia.

"Why hello there handsome—" Sheryl, Vicious fan club president, was cut off

"Sorry, but I need to talk to him in private." Vicious usual chilly voice laced with a slight tinge of something implacable, filtered through the morning sunlight. Sheryl and Venice, nodded with practice, and left the room smiling slightly. I soon find myself angry, for no reason at all except we left something open that needs to be closed. The something that has just come to mind is Lin.

"Hold on Vicious, I need to know something and you better tell me! I need to know if you really killed Lin!" My sharp voice cuts through the sunlight rendering shade upon the ivory walls. Vicious doesn't look surprised, but he doesn't want to discuss it now, I can tell.

"I didn't kill Lin. He took a bullet for me when Gren tried to shoot me." Vicious candid voice mocked my angry tone as I put on my clothes, in spite of my ankle. I feel pain in my ankle; I won't let him see me wince though.

"How do I know it's the truth?! I only have your word cause Gren and Lin and even Spike is dead! You liar, you could just be covering your own ass!" My voice quips like lightening, striking him like a wake-up call. Then I realized I had gone too far, he sweeps across the room and hold me up by my shirt collar, his piercing titanium eyes impale my mind with sickening clarity.

"You are right, you only have my word, but let me remind you Shin that I have never lied to you." Vicious put me down, but his eyes still remain in small silver slivers. He stands imperially in front of me, his lips in a taught line with his empty katana hilt. I feel somewhat guilty, Vicious has always been honest, viciously honest; he has never lied to me. But those weird dreams I have keep plaguing my mind. Then again, who died and made Julia the honest angel?

"Faye, I suppose you know she has been kidnapped right? Do you have a plan or what?" I utter, changing the subject and breaking the dense as fog silence. He nods slightly, a few strands of his silver bangs, escape from his horsetail and hang framing his angular face.

"Faye is being held in the Black Falcon Syndicate compound, and Julia put on a quite uncharacteristic show. She has a plan that includes Daemon. So we are going to storm the Red Dragon main compound, and simply take it out from under Daemon." I nearly drop my jaw, he is planning to take over a Syndicate…again?

"How does that make any sense at all?" I argue. This has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It will never work…

"Simple, Julia is expecting us in less than 36 hours. The defense will be heaviest at night because she thinks we are going to go stealth. The only way we can beat Julia, is at her own game; If we can get a big enough distraction." Vicious concludes with a flourish of icy revenge.

"So, you are saying; you're going to recruit Red Dragon men to fly their zip crafts and attack the main Black Falcon compound! How are you going to pull that off? They wont listen to you they have no reason too!" My teal eyes widen in indignation.

"Shin, they won't listen to me, they will listen to you. Daemon's displays of domination, so I have learned, have not waned since he blew up the last compound. They will listen to you because you represent the leader that the old syndicate members respect." Vicious cunning voice blows upon me like a thunder cloud; I can't believe it. I thought Vicious wanted the leader job, doesn't he? He wanted to be the flawless leader like his father.

"I'm no orator, I can't lead an attack! That was Lin's job, or yours! It won't work, they wont listen to me of all people!" I protest, there has got to be another way, a more sensible way, we could maybe involve the ISSP or…go rent some zipcrafts…

"Shin, it is time for you to get out of Lin's shadow. If I did not think you were able to do this, I would have left you for dead." I am slightly pissed by Vicious' choice of wording, but then I realize, he is right. It's time for me to swing the bat. It's time for me to prove what I have learned, so I can save Faye, and possibly a whole Syndicate from annihilation.

(POV change)

"Ok, I'll do it. Just don't be an ass about it." He frowned, smoothing back his ruffled hair with his hand. He has changed. A year ago I would have never thought he could lead an attack, but now, after this whole fucking ordeal, he seems prepared.

I turn to the window, to the skyline of Pageant. Venus has a great deal of innocent life, so unlike the crime riddled Mars. I crack a small grin at least I got that straight. Shin will be able to lead the attack, at least with the information that Mr. Kaze has just told me. He told me that Daemon has one thing in mind, and that is total control of Tharsis then Mars.

He is ruthless and emotionless, much like I was for a time, and that is what is most unsettling. I know what he is capable of, not just because he was like me, but because on Titan. He would paint the sky with the blood of his comrades before admitting defeat. I turn from the window, looking at the chrome instruments while Shin stretches his healing body.

Daemon cares about absolutely nothing, but power. He thinks that there is nothing in the world worth believing in…I was like that, I still carry apart of that outlook with me now; it has just faded. I realize that those three words I said to Faye, might have been the most fateful I have ever said. I know Julia knows what I said. I said those same words to her and told her what they meant. Julia put on a charade, and I fell for it purposefully, but that did not mean I was not genuinely enraged. Daemon, holding my katana to the throat of my spirited Faye made me want to rip out his intestines with my bare hand. Daemon is apathetic and ruthless as a stone blade, I clench my fist, it brushes up against my empty katana sheathe.

That is precisely why the Red Dragon Syndicate members want a new leader, they are afraid that he will sacrifice each and every one of them for his cause. And to think that Julia, is offering some deal to him in order for him, to help her, kill me…too much power for Daemon to pass up.

The way Julia purposely was callous towards Faye, and probably towards Daemon means one thing; she wants to start a fight between him and I. I reveal a sadistic smirk; I will get my katana back and dismember the Red Dragon's reprehensible leader. My eyes narrow, looking off into a random part of wall in the immaculate Venusian clinic, Julia wants Daemon to do her dirty-work; I bet Julia is even reluctant to see me. She wants to close the door to our past, but she doesn't want to do it herself. I notice out of the corner of my silver eye that Shin winces as he stands up.

"Get your crutches and let's go; we need to pick someone up before we put into effect our plan." I state simply, I cannot afford to waste emotion on Shin right now, a leader must be calm and detached, therefore, the least amount of emotion I show Shin, the better.

My thoughts drift over to Faye, but I brush her out of my head reluctantly…I am still not sure if saying those words to her were a good thing or not, I have never felt this way before, the last thing I want to happen is to be dependant on someone. The last few people I was the least bit dependant on ended up dead or trying to kill me.

"Who are we picking up? Jet?" Shin asks as he finds the crutches in the corner of the room where his clothes were and hobbles over with me towards the exit. My heavy legs sift through the air and walk down the hall beside Shin. All my limbs are starting to ache from lack of rest.

"I have to fulfill an agreement. We are taking Mr. Kaze's son with us on this mission so Mr. Kaze's son doesn't get 'rusty'." I cringe at the thought of having this man come with me on this mission, but a deal is a deal. And he does know a bit about fighting, I know from experience. Though, the reliability question is still unresolved, I don't trust this guy.

"Who is the guy?" Shin asks as we exit the clinic into the hanging gardens known as the Venus atmosphere, getting tearful goodbyes from the two nurses. Shin waves goodbye to the red-haired one and, she squeals. Shin goofily grins and I shake my head.

"Andy, the friend of Faye's from Phoenix is ironically my employer's son." I let my eyes roll, I think I'll have to duct tape Andy's mouth shut as we go to Tharsis, the idiot can't shut up and he has some sort of memory problem. I see Shin chuckle a little out loud as we near the zip craft I stole. It is silver and gray, the same basic make as the syndicates only a little bigger. It wasn't my fault the guy made his zip craft so easy to hotwire.

As I near the windows of the zip-craft I notice that my forehead scar is visible with my silver hair pulled back. I almost put a finger to it, but that would be stupid. That scar will never fade, and neither will the memories of that night, the suffocating realization that everything came out wrong that I ever wanted to be right. It was true what I said to Faye all those months ago; I didn't want it to end that way, but it had to end that way. Spike and I were doomed for that fight since he ran off with Julia, but what makes me feel livid the most is, I did not do anything to prevent the fight.

I didn't do anything to prevent it, and that's why all those irksome people died, Gren, Lin, Spike… I guess even Vincent. I just wanted 'the dream' to take its toll and to let everything play out, like Spike eventually did; that is the one mistake I will never make again. Life isn't a fuck dream…and because I thought it was, I almost died. I'm still missing a part of myself that I am slowly regaining. I turn from my reflection in the mirror, I feel my legs sting a small bit; I might have re-opened my wounds.

"Andy huh? Jet told me about him, he said he used to be a bounty hunter. Andy and Spike didn't get along one bit, mostly 'cause Andy pissed Spike off too much." Shin grinned, his slanted teal eyes showing some emotion. I could imagine that the Spike-look-a-like would press a few of Spike's buttons. That odd bastard Andy…

I walk evenly to the zip craft, trying my hardest to not show fatigue. Even though I was unconscious for about a week and a half; I am still getting over my numerous injuries and I feel very drained. Though I would never admit to anyone that is the case.

"Vicious…did you steal this; I didn't figure yourself to sink so low as to steal!" Shin laughs as he nears the passenger side. I accidentally let out a smirk, Shin always seems to invoke humor in me….always…it's annoying.

"Very funny, you're driving." Shin looks wide-eyed at me as he switches sides and sits in the driver's seat. Throwing his crutches in the backseat, he starts up the familiar engine and presses down on the accelerator, good thing it's not his right ankle that's broken.

Fluidly as possible, I sit down in the passenger seat, my sore legs; still recuperating from the gunshots, collapse into the floorboard. I hear the hum of the engine and the whirring of the thrusters as we propel off. I don't look at my legs, just out the window, trying to get some rest before I have to fight.

"Hey Vicious we are heading to Phoenix ri—whoa Vicious, your legs, they are bleeding!" I look down lazily, sure enough blood is seeping out staining my pants permanently. I grumble, today just isn't my day, and Shin pretending to be worried is not helping me ignore my injuries either

After all…they are really only minor.

"It's fine, it's not serious, keep driving. It'll stop…eventually." I lean back in my chair, Shin looking at me with a 'you are an arrogant idiot' look, but I ignore him and close my eyes. We are already behind schedule and every minute we waste, means that Faye will be with that sociopath, Daemon, even longer. My facial expression softens a small bit, Faye shouldn't worry, lest they forget, they call me Vicious for a very good reason.

"Hey Vicious, since you don't have your katana, are you gonna use a gun?" Shin asks innocently, I roll my closed eyes.

"No, I'll find something." I clip out, weapons don't matter, I will infiltrate the compound with a trashcan lid if I have to. My choice of weapon really doesn't concern me, what does concern me is that Jet and Ed are not going to hold up their end of the plan.

Since breaking into a syndicate compound to steal its zipcrafts is nearly impossible without the codes, I told the girl to hack into it's mainframe to shut down all the security systems. It should be a simple procedure, but cops have the irritating tendency to fuck simple stuff up.

Cops…I don't trust a single damn one.

I open one eye to see Shin dart his eyes away from me quickly, I don't entirely trust him either…I relax my shoulders and try to get some rest before we land in Phoenix, but I'm not going to fall asleep. If I fall asleep, who knows where Shin might take me. I tightly shut my pensive eyes and succumb to my thoughts of Faye that I have been trying to ignore. It's almost unnerving; where she is, and how I didn't do a single thing to help her.

-here alone again-

-(-

AN: Sorry for the looooooong wait, but our power went out and ffnet has been having a conniption fit…But don't useless filler chapters rock?! My summer school is keeping me occupied so I'm sorry if I am slow to update… ()

XD yeah…sorry, this one was slow because I had to tie up some loose ends and I just thought that this would be a good time to set the mood for the final few chapters. Heehee I hope you like them, prepare to be surprised….I hope…geez, you better be surprised! XD

Oh recently I have discovered the ultimate food….!FUNNEL CAKE! …I have tried it before, don't get me wrong…but I have never liked it till now…. hypnotizes readers to get me funnel cake and review

Well…nothing else new…after this CB fic I will lay low in the CB range while I finally write out some other fics in other genres I have been cooking up…..yay!

Well….please….read and review, and one last shout out, sorry about Ed not having a huge roll in this fic, it's sad…but I am proud of myself for giving Shin such a large roll puffs out chest I am making up for it with some….well…you figured it out by now…Julia butt-kicking….XD just wait and see.

Well, I got to Jet!

Ja Ne!

your ffbuddy L.O.H.