It was nearly three o'clock in the morning when the tall blonde warrior pulled into the desolate drive way of Bill's hacienda. She turned off the engine and blue eyes slowly moved over to Bill sitting in the passenger's seat.
A smile tugged at the sides of those pink shaded lips as she gingerly poked a hand at his shoulder to rustle him. "Bill, wake up."
Bill snapped awake, "Hrm?" He glanced over at Beatrix with a slightly hazy look. But the grogginess didn't last long, as he was used to having to often wake up very quickly. "Ah...." He looked at the familiar abode in the near distance. "Home sweet home..." His gaze returned to Beatrix who was watching him under the dim dashboard lighting. "That jacket really brings out your womanly figure...." he joked with a smirk, returning her gesture and prodding her playfully on the shoulder.
He had removed his tie hours ago and not surprisingly unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. This was a perpetual Bill mannerism, as if he just unconsciously couldn't help himself. He stretched in the partially tipped back seat and undid his seatbelt, "I've gotta put something on my face right away...." he grumbled, starting to get out of the car. He glanced at Beatrix, with a wicked grin, "Are you going to help me?" A chuckle, "Ya know...just in case my old age gets the better of me....and I fall.....and I can't get up?"
Beatrix laughed, pearly white exposed in a wide smile of amusement. "Of course, I wouldn't want you to fall." Still smiling she unbuckled and slipped out of the car. Before Bill could even take a step away from the car she rushed over to him and slipped her own arm under his own in a supportive manner. She was mocking his ass off and enjoying every minute of it. "Come on," she began moderate steps, supporting him, while she walked to the door.
Inside she settled him on the couch and went off to retrieve an ice pack from the freezer. At this particular moment she was ravishing over playing 'doctor'. It didn't take her long to come back over with a blue-gel-ice-pack wrapped in a dish towel. The tall blonde plopped down next to him, turned, and gingerly pressed the cool cloth against his bruising features. "Better?" She inclined with a raised brow.
She was mocking the hell out of him, but that didn't mean Bill wasn't enjoying every second of this. He had every intention of milking this situation as much as he could, to a point of course. He had spread himself out on the couch in a very all encompassing and manly style. He was now watching her intently as she preformed her doctoring duties. "Yes….somewhat better.....move it a little lower though......" He grimaced, "Yeah..there......" he flinched away from the ice pack. "Don't press on my face so hard....Christ woman.....ow...." Like most men Bill was a pain in the ass baby when like this. And now Beatrix was stuck with it until Bill tired of the game....which for the time being, was not looking like it was going to be anytime in the next hour or so....or not until both of them managed to doze off.
"Bill's in a bad mood," Nikishi offered this bit of...not so surprising information to Beatrix as she stood in the doorway. It had only been two days since they had paid Bill's former client, now...former living client, a little visit. Nikishi was becoming more sociable to Beatrix and thus more likely to reveal these little tid bits of information to the tall blonde before she entered the "lion's den" so to speak. She lowered her voice, "I do not think he is angry with you....but.....it is hard to tell." With a little nod, she then turned and went back to her duties.
Bill was leaning heavily on the living room bar, both of his hands clamped onto the marble edge of its surface, leg's kicked out at a far distance. He was obviously attempting to physically dispel whatever was pissing him off....with little success. He glanced at Beatrix over his shoulder with a dark glare when she entered, but remained silent. His days of utterly cruel opening zingers to her were long gone. He was past that.
After a moment, he straightened up, his expression not softening in the slightest. She was watching him with an imploring look and he knew it was best to just give in and reply. "I just.....had to turn down.........," he took a breath, "..a huge....huge assignment. We're talking the type of thing that comes along...maybe once a year. And the reason I had to turn down such said assignment...." he began pacing the living room, "....was because I was improperly....staffed to do so." He thrust his hands into his pockets, spinning to stalk the other side of the living room, "....I can't fucking believe my organization has reached this point......were I don't have enough assassins that can properly work together....to….fulfill a fucking assignment!" His hands flew out of his pockets into he air with frustration, "Twenty years Kiddo..." he turned and fixed her with a hard look, "....to come to this!" He knew that she knew he was referring to that in a professional capacity...not personal. Bill put a lot of pressure on himself to strive towards his impossibly set goals. And this was taking such a low plunge that he was having a hard time dealing with it. "Fuck!" He turned away to pace again.
Beatrix watched her 'boss' pass the living room with hard eyes and softened features. She more or less understood his dilemma and why he was angry. She was glad that he wasn't angry at her or at least not directly. Thus, she was implored to see eye to eye with him. Too an extent. Bill put a shitload of 'shit' into the making the DiVAS what it was today. Twenty years was put into creating one of the most effective and successful assassination groups in the world and now it was 'falling apart', so to speak. She could tell her boss in a professional manner to go find new members but that was like telling Bill to go find a nail in a pile of hay. One couldn't just go find members and hire them. She knew from hearing past stories from her associates how many fucking 'members' Bill went through before sticking with the five he had now. Budd was a no brainier but the rest of the members had to be properly 'hunted' down.
There were only so many people that could go on the types of assignments Bill assigned and not get killed during it. Not only did the assignments pose a challenge but actually working up to being sent on an assignment was a whole other game. If Bill thought a member was good enough he usually sent them to Pai Mei for a much more extensive training. One only knew how many backs were snapped like twigs before Bill gave up on that. When this type of training to see if one was good enough wasn't an option any more leaving the whole concept of acquiring new members an even harder.
All in all the options to fix this dilemma weren't celestial. The tall blonde took a step towards him but kept a good distance between them. She was well aware that no one could get along during an assignment because of her. She licked her lips and began in a cool and leveled tone voice, "All of this shit started because you and I fucked." Blue eyes coated over with a serious glint. "I'm not regretting the after-math," Beatrix never regretted, she could question her decisions but that didn't go far either. "…And I know you aren't. Which leads me to believe with my full confidence that you will find a way around it. But…finding a way around may be…messier than past problems."
Bill's face, which still retained a good amount of cuts and bruises from the other day...which did nothing to help his fearsome look, remained unchanged in expression……although, he could tell that Beatrix could understand why he was angry...something which he did appreciate. Yet, this did nothing to help his current situation...if only it could. She was right of course. Most of this had started because he and Beatrix had decided to succumb to their feelings for one another. They were both ultimately all too human and like all actions, this had caused a reaction. Sleeping with Beatrix was probably the thing Bill would be least likely to ever regret, which in fact...he regretted little or nothing in his life to begin with. So, thus that wasn't the issue...and again she was right he had to find a way around it. She had the utmost confidence in him...that, at the moment, Bill wasn't feeling very strongly. And yes, whatever solution this "problem" entailed....it was not going to be as neat as he would have liked.
This current lineup of the Vipers had been ideal.....it had been Bill's epitome of the organization, an organization that had been his "life's work" so to speak. Up until the point of the Deadly Viper Association, Bill had generally worked for somebody else...in one capacity or another. Now, he was the boss....he was "the man".....and, despite all his efforts, the Vipers were crumbling. He would never go back to working for somebody else, and thus the dissolving of the Viper's was looking to be the end of his "career" at least...in its current form.
Bill spun around, anger far from abated, "I appreciate the vote of confidence Kiddo.....I really do.....but this is fucking ridiculous!" It seemed even Beatrix's rational words weren't helping him for the moment. "I can't believe this.........." he paused, fury rising, "...this is happening!" He spun around the other way, pacing in the opposite direction, shoulders set in an angry line. He grumbled something unintelligible to himself, fingers curling with a restrained effort not to completely lash out. More than anything it was frustrating because the catalyst for most of this happening was something that made him happier than he'd ever been. It was ironic, in a very, very frustrating sort of way.
Bill rounded the corner of the living room; silent and glaring...which was usually a worse sign then him yelling. He needed to get this out, somehow.... His furious glare did a quick sweep of the immediate area, and then without really thinking he snatched up the fuzzy iridescent pink bear that had lovingly been sitting next to his Hanzo sword ever since that one fateful night. The object was grabbed at random, but there was a strange irony in this...seeing as this bear partially led to the series of events that had put Bill in this current professional position. With one vicious movement, he tore the head of the bear away from the rest of its pink body. A sharp tearing noise ensued. It didn't take much to do this. A small amount of puffy white stuffing came floating out. "GODDAMNIT!" Bill shouted, the two pieces of Julio now clutched in his hands. He spun and threw the head at the bar, the body he simply just threw to the ground. He spun back around, breathing angrily out of his nose; rather unaware of what he'd done....it was the simple matter of destroying something....and that something had just happened to be easy to spot. He threw himself onto the couch, slouching there with a brooding dark cloud almost visibly hanging over his head.
Beatrix had been watching this whole display with high raised eyebrows. She knew he was angry and for logical reasons and she had tried to 'calm' him down. She knew calming him down was impossible so she had tried rational words and that only seemed to spark the flames. She watched his angered stomping through the living room with placid eyes matching her façade. But when he went and tore of the fucking head of the bear her façade and blue eyes hardened. Beatrix knew that too was out of anger but he so ironically had to choose Julio as his target? At least he didn't pull her head off. But with Bill it was hard to tell.
The tall blonde casually sauntered around the bar, leaned down, and picked up the decapitated teddy bear head. She came back to her full height and stared at the head of a pink bear with big bulging cartoon eyes. It was so ironic. This was indirect anger towards her and what happened. It was all her fault the Vipers were going downhill. That pissed her off. She kept that same casual demeanor and walked back to the couch.
She stood a foot away staring at her 'man' with frozen over blue eyes. Beatrix then ruthlessly pulled back her arm that was clutching the bear's pink head and threw it at him. The bear head hit directly at the side of his head and bounced back to the floor. The blonde just stood there partially irate and silent.
Bill stared up at Beatrix for a couple very long seconds, looking more stunned than anything. He appeared to have snapped out of whatever had taken over him.....of course, that wasn't to say he wasn't angry anymore.
"What the fuck was that for?" He snarled, eyes piercing into the tall blonde. Bill's eyes then dropped to the floor, where the silly looking decapitated bear head now sat motionless. His frown deepened, brows knitting together as he came to the explanation to his own recently posed answer. After a moment of looking pensive, he bent down and picked up the lone head in his hand. A few small bits of stuffing trickled out as he brought it up to eyelevel. He stared at it intensely, and then lifted his gaze up to Beatrix, mouth still set in a grumpy frown. "That wasn't intentional symbolism," he said softly, eyes softening just a tad as well.
"I know. I felt like throwing something at you," she casually lied. Beatrix was aware it was unintentional but she couldn't help feel that somewhere subconsciously it had been intentional. Every single action one performed had a reason no matter the insignificance of the gesture.
Such as; her walking back over to him and plopping down next to him was a subconscious gesture to dissipate her own anger and work on his. She reached over and snatched the teddy bear head from his hand. More bits of stuffing began to liter the flooring. Beatrix then leaned back and held the head in her lap, slender brows narrowed assessing it. "Suppose I should be thankful that wasn't my head," she commented with a touch of civil sarcasm. Blue eyes still dropping a few degrees below zero slid over to the man beside her. Her mouth partially opened but closed quickly. She wasn't sure what to say to him. It was hard to comfort Bill when it came to things 'professional' but she had to admit even when it wasn't professional Bill wasn't an easy person to comfort nor resolve.
Bill knew he was a hard person to be around when was like this...well harder than he normally was to be around. He wasn't going to make amends for him being a bastard....even to his "gal." She knew what he was like, and she sure as hell could handle it. He didn't see anything deeper in his decapitation gesture than a simple need to let out a little steam on something inanimate. Of course, Beatrix certainly had the right to speculate on that one.
Bill continued to frown, which didn't mean much coming from him. He often frowned when he was happy. Leaning back, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He hadn't been doing his normal morning meditation sessions for a few days, and he could feel the effects of that neglecting, most pointedly right now. "I would never....rip your head off Kiddo...." he grumbled, eyes still closed. Either he hadn't caught on to her sarcasm, or he was attempting to throw in a touch of dark humor into the mix. "I just......need to.........sit here for a moment........." his voice dropped into that calming almost melodic tone.
He had to sort all of this out, and being furious was a very unwise state of mind to be in when attempting to do that. He could feel Beatrix's much more calm energy next to him and tried to feed off some of that. Bill knew he had a tendency too........overreact at times and what he'd just done could perhaps qualify....although it had been far more tame than most of his previous..."overreactions." He needed to get back in his normal state of mind. He was coolly clever and sadistic, not irrational and out of control. He let out another deep breath, finally opening his eyes. A good amount of his anger had obviously vanished....but certainly was not completely gone.
He glanced over at Beatrix, "Well...it appears Julio has joined his namesake...." a hint of a smirk.
While Bill had undergone his 'meditation' of sorts she had been staring off into vacant space. Her thoughts ran wild but into no particular area leaving her with an easy exit back to reality. She slowly turned her head and a placid smile curved across her face. "It appears so."
Beatrix gave another glance at the teddy bear head. She really did like that stupid bear, too bad it was going in the trash. Leaning her head back once more she let it slip to the side and nestle on Bill's shoulder. She wanted to give him reassuring words that everything would work out but she knew that was a lost cause. She'd be wasting her breath so she went with lame sarcasm, "Are you better now or would you like me to get you another stuffed animal to rip apart?"
Bill turned and gave Beatrix a sly smile, "I'm fine......and...besides, good luck finding another stuffed animal in this entire house." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, staring straight ahead in thought. He knew he had to let it go, and put it behind him if wanted to deal with whatever was to come in a rational manner.
Blinking away the last vestiges of that dangerously leveled anger, Bill propped his feet up on the coffee table...something that very few people could get away with without being told to immediately take them off. He reached over and picked up the TV remote, clicking it on. His hand near Beatrix's head idly toyed with her hair in that familiar unconscious gesture.
"I think they are having a Chuck Norris movie marathon one of one those....'for guys' cable channels right now," he said conversationally, as he flipped through the ridiculous amount of satellite television channels. He stopped finally, "Ah..here we go...," a chuckle, "...Delta Force....this is classic stuff Kiddo...." He grinned at her, his hand lifting off her hair to tweak her ear, "...pay close attention to the terrible fighting chorography and the even worse acting..."
And just like that....Bill had gone from one side of the spectrum to the other. The rest of the day was spent in bad action movie reviewing bliss.