Houses and Hearts
Sam left the horrible mess that was his room and shut the door quietly. He looked around the kitchen. "Jin?" he called aloud. "You there?"
"Yah, I'm here," Jin mumbled. He was laying across the couch, his legs dangling over one side and one arm covering his eyes. He was still thinking about the conversation he'd had with Cloria the night before. He'd been running it over and over again in his mind and still he could find no way to reconcile with her.
Sam peered at Jin then said "I saw a new Bounty on that cowboy show, it's here! Wanna go find him? We do need money..."
"Yah," Jin said reluctantly getting up. He needed to get out, get his blood pumping and his mind centered on something other than women. "Let's go. Clory wanted us to go get another bounty anyway. We'll have to do it alone though. Kade's caught some bug and refuses to come out of his room."
"I have a feeling he's just being lazy" Sam said with confidence "But he still probably won't go, let me just get my bounty stuff" Sam said as he dashed to his room.
Jin grabbed his holster belt from off the coffee table. He wasn't really in the mood to hunt bounties but it was his job and as provider and captain of the ship he couldn't just sit on his ass all day.
Sam later returned with a small pistol and a wool hat with a small eye sewn into the forehead. Sam gave all indications that he was ready.
They made their way to Jin's zip and moments later were flying about Estoria. "Where does that third eye of yours say we should go?" Jin asked over his shoulder.
Sam, who was never trusted with a zip for obvious reasons, was sitting in a cramped makeshift backseat of Jin's zip. "I feel like we should look for low buildings and lots of sales people." Sam said after a second of thought.
"Alright, any district in mind?" Jin asked.
"Well I suppose we look for a poorer area" Sam said with a moment of insight. "Not many high buildings and lots of street vendors"
With a few adjustments in the controls they swerved to the left and headed towards the poor district on the outside of the city. After a moment he landed the zip and they crawled out. Jin stretched his arms and lifted the brim of the cowboy hat to peer about their surroundings. "Now what Sherlock?"
"How should I know?" Sam said as he hopped out of the zip craft. "I'm a psychic, not radar."
Jin laughed at that. "Yah, I guess the constant beeping would be a bit worse than that horrendous static you insist on listening to," Jin said. "Alright for now let's just scope the area and see what we can find."
"Alright" Sam said as he followed Jin, pausing every now and then to listen to the wondrous promises street vendors were attributing to their various shiny wares.
Jin picked his way through the vendors. His outward appearance seemed like that of any other shopper at the bazaar, but in reality his eyes and ears took in everything. He stopped by a vendor selling necklaces and on impulse stopped to look through them. He still had a few woolongs left from their last bounty, and Cloria hadn't bought anything for herself in so long. Maybe a little trinket would make her smile again. One necklace drew his attention and made Jin mentally freeze. It was a small silver necklace shaped like Saturn. Stunned by the memories of a girl long ago he literally had to shake himself back into the present. He picked up a necklace shaped like an old earth flower he'd seen pictures of once. He quickly purchased it with one last quick glance at the Saturn necklace and turned back to Sam. "Let's keep going," he said his mind still muddled.
Sam followed but paused to look at the necklaces, "That's not the one you want Jin," Sam said with a bit of concern, Jin had bizarre ways, but buying things he didn't absolutely need was unlike him.
"And why isn't it the one I want?" Jin asked crossly. Immediately he regretted his tone, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He had way too much anger built up at the moment, he really needed to find this bounty so he could relieve some of it out on him.
"Because this one shaped like your zip craft fits you better" Sam said holding up a new piece of probably stolen jewelry.
Jin stared blankly at Sam for a moment. "I'm not buying it for myself you dolt!" Jin said lightly smacking Sam in the back of the head. "What kind of man do you take me for?"
"Well I just thought you liked flowers..." Sam replied while rubbing the back of his head.
"See this is why I keep you around...I think," Jin said starting to walk down the streets of the bazaar again. "I knew there had to be some reason."
"I'm worried" Sam said as he glanced around the bazaar, the third eye on his wool hat keeping watch over things directly in front of him. "On the cowboy show they said that this bounty, Mr. Gohl Digger... nobody knows what he did but they put 150,000 money on him." Sam continued. His left eye twitched a bit.
"Eh," Jin replied as led them back down the street. "A bounty is a bounty. They are all dangerous in their own way that's why their bounties in the first place. Don't tell me you're starting to chicken out on me?"
"I'm just wondering why they're putting up 150,000 woolongs for someone if they don't even know what he did. He'd have to do something decent to get that much on him."
"Nothing will get accomplished just thinking about it," Jin said glancing at some shady looking vendors across the street. "Any more cosmic readings with that eye of yours, radar?"
"Well the first thing I see is that you and Cloria are hitting it off better than usual" Sam said with a smile, "But even Kade can see that."
Jin scowled down at Sam he'd managed to hit the mark. How had Sam, who always seemed to be oblivious to things, realized her feelings when he himself had had no idea. "Cloria is our shipmate, and that makes her off limits not just to me but for anyone on the ship," he grumbled. Subconsciously his fingers played with the necklace in his pocket. "The last thing we need on the SeaDog is some sort of love triangle."
"Better one between You, Kade and Cloria than You, Kade and I," Sam said as he patted Jin on the shoulder jokingly.
Jin nearly choked after hearing Sam's words. "Better no complications at all," Jin sputtered still trying to recover his composure.
Sam then reached into the pocket of a man behind them; he pulled out a wallet that looked suspiciously like Jin's. "You should be more watchful, even when embarrassed," Sam clucked disapprovingly.
Jin snatched his wallet back from Sam annoyed. With a quick check as to the contents he slipped to an inner zipped compartment of his jacket. "The bounty Sam?" Jin asked. He was a normally patient man but sometimes Sam knew just the right buttons to push to send his tempers flaring.
Sam pretended to look hurt "Fine fine... all you blunts are so impatient..." Sam looked up into the sky and thought deeply. Sam spun on his heel and pointed off down a main street. "That-a-way!" he shouted happily.
Jin stood their watching their surroundings as Sam went into his concentration. He'd known the guy for nearly a year now, and still the way he found bounties managed to freak him out sometimes. "After you my clairvoyant friend," Jin said chuckling at the man's sudden enthusiasm.
Sam half skipped down the street trying to remember exactly where his extra sense pointed him. Sam stopped next to the door of some sort of jazz club. "I think he's somewhere in here,"
After a minute or two of walking in the direction Sam had alluded to, Jin started to become skeptical. There were times when Sam's sixth sense would lead them no where at all. Just before he was going to say something he Sam stopped them in front of the Jazz hall. With nothing else to go on Jin walked up the steps and through the door. "Back corner," Jin said to Sam as his eyes immediately honed in on their target.
"No... That's not right..." Sam said as he stared off into a different corner entirely. "Jin, I don't think that lady's a lady at all...." Sam said with worry. "Oh wait... you meant the other corner…" Sam said with embarrassment. "That might be our man" Sam said as he looked into the correct corner.
Jin would have started to hit his head against the wall if he didn't think it would draw too much attention to them. The bounty was sitting at a table playing poker with four other seedy looking guys. Jin wouldn't be surprised to learn that one or two of those guys had a bounty on their heads as well. "You're good at cards aren't' you Sam?" Jin said eyeing the table as a plan formed in his mind.
"People don't like me playing cards..." Sam said with a hint of worry. "I've been thrown out of a lot of places by jealous blunts... no offense to you"
Jin laughed despite himself. "I'm not worried about you getting kicked out," Jin said. "Actually that's exactly what I want you to do. I think or pal Digger over their might have more than a few aces up his sleeve. Join the game, and call him out if you can catch him. If we can make the other players mad enough at him it shouldn't be hard to haul him away to the next police station."
"Alright..." Sam said before walking up to the table while trying to seem tougher than he actually was. He pulled over a seat from a nearby table and said "Deal me in" to the group.
Jin joined the crowd of men standing around the table watching the game. With luck it wouldn't take long for Sam to pull out his usual tricks and upstage digger by exposing him as a cheater.
"Three Kings!" Sam shouted happily to the dismay of all the gambler's present, he swept up all the chips in his arms the same way he saw it in all the old movies.
Jin couldn't help but smile at the antics of his partner, he didn't understand how he did it and right now he didn't care.
"What you playing at son?" Digger asked from across the table.
"I'm not playing at anything..." Sam said smugly. "But I'm pretty sure the ace of spades you had last round looks a little different than the one the guy next to me has..."
There was a collective gasp from those around the table. It was a ballsy move to call anyone a cheater. Gohl Digger could feel his face turning crimson. With all eyes on him he knew he was trapped. In a last act of desperation he stood up from his seat and flipped over the table causing the cards, chips and wagers to all go flying across the bar. In the ensuing confusion he tried to make a run for the backdoor.
Not missing a beat Jin was off after him. "Come on, Sam," Jin called over his shoulder as he jumped over a patron scrambling to pick up as many chips as he could manage.
"Alright!" Sam said as he chased the bounty with Jin. He wasn't in as good shape as Jin, but he had adrenaline.
Digger knew the twist and turns of these back alleys well. Leaping he reached up to an emergency staircase and began to climb.
This was Jin's favorite part of hunting. The quarry knows it's been spotted, and the chase begins, the adrenaline begins to pump and it all comes down to the sheer strength of human vs. human. Jin easily climbed the ladder and was soon on the roof not far behind the bounty.
Sam huffed and puffed his way onto the roof he looked around trying to figure out which way everyone went. Sam hated this part of hunting, the adrenaline pumps, his head hurts, and he isn't useful anymore.
Digger turned back to see that they were still following him. With a small running leap he crossed from the roof of the building they were on across a four foot gap to the roof of the next building over. With only a quick glance back he began to run again.
Jin easily made the gap between the buildings and never lost his stride as he continued on his mind completely focused on the bounty. He could shoot the man in the leg or the arm to slow him down, but that wouldn't be fair fight and it would be a waste of bullets.
Sam barely cleared the gap, scrabbled to his feet and continued the dogged chase. He could feel his lungs burning in his chest. Sam's left eye twitched before he shouted between ragged breaths. "Jin, dodge left! Gun!"
Jin didn't second guess Sam but ducked and rolled to his left and came up with his own pistols in hand as he heard the shot whiz by his ear. He had wanted to bring the bounty in without any bloodshed but this man had just changed that situation. Hardly taking a second to line up his aim he shot off one of his own weapons taking off the man's middle finger and making him drop the gun in a howl of pain.
"Thanks Sam," Jin said brushing himself off as he cautiously approached the bounty who was howling like a banshee from his wound.
"No.... problem..." Sam said as he bent over to catch his breath.
Jin chuckled at his friend as he managed to force the bounty to sit up and slapped on some handcuffs he had bought for just such an occasion. "I'm going to go take this guy to the station," Jin said hauling the bounty to his feet. "All and all I think this has been a pretty successful day."
"Yep, now all this needs to be better is for you to buy me a souvenir!" Sam said happily and hopefully.
Jin laughed he had needed this outing to clear his mind. "Yah, yah Sam," Jin said as they walked down the stairs. "You've earned it."
*********************
Vicious smiled, "I want to find the right house for you Julia. They are all just houses to me."
Julia pushed down her sunglasses. "But this is our house, not just mine. You have to like it too."
"I'd like anything that you'd like," Vicious said. Really, he could care less. He was buying the thing for Julia. He parked the car at the realtors. "Here, why don't we have someone show us around?"
Julia nodded and opened the car door. Stepping out, her short leather jacket contrasted her tight stonewashed blue jeans and her white blouse. "Sounds like it would make things a lot easier." She waited for Vicious to come around to her side of the car before taking his hand.
Vicious pulled Julia close, as the pair walked into the realtor's office. They were greeted by a woman, who smiled brightly as she ushered them in. "What can I get for you?" she said, taking a seat.
"We are interested in a house. Something nice. Whatever Julia wants. We'd like you to show us what is available."
"Not a problem, can I get your price range?" she asked.
"I don't have a range. I can afford whatever you have to offer." Vicious replied. "We'll be paying cash for the house."
Julia smiled and nodded along with the women as she showed the pictures of houses from the outside. There was one, however, that Julia did have her eye on. She looked to Vicious, "Any thoughts?"
Vicious picked up one of the drawings, "I like the way this one looks. I wouldn't mind seeing the inside. What do you think Julia?"
She nodded and a smile crossed her face. She wanted him to be more active in this sort of situation and it pleased her. "Yes, I think that's a wonderful idea."
The realtor stood and after sorting through a few keys walked towards the door. "I'll go ahead and show you," She said driving them out to the house. Once there, she began her speech about the insides and the design.
Vicious yawned. The details didn't matter to him. "What do you think?" he said softly to Julia as they walked slowly through the kitchen.
It was very beautiful and extremely huge. "I simply adore it." she said as she squeezed his hand.
"Then why don't we shut her up and just buy it?" Vicious said. "Right now."
Julia smiled. "I wonder ... " she said to him and looked up to the women, "If we were to purchase this right now, when could we move into it?"
"As soon as we order some furniture." Vicious replied. "Pay enough, and you can get anything instantly." He hugged her, then walked up to the sales lady. "We'll take the house. I'll buy it today and wish to move in as soon as possible."
The lady nodded. "We just have to fill out the paper work." she took them back to the office.
Vicious handed the realtor a card. "You'll find enough money in this account to pay for the house. Just transfer it directly." She nodded, and left the room. "Julia, I think it would be best to put the house in your name." Vicious said as he began to fill out the paper work.
Julia blinked, "Why is that?" she questioned as she watched him fill out the paperwork. "I want to sleep there tonight." she said to him, looking into his eyes.
"Because, I don't want other syndicates to be able to trace me to this place. I don't want you be unsafe." Vicious reached over and squeezed Julia's hand. "Your life is too important to me to risk." He continued filling out the papers, then handed her the pen. "You'll need to sign here ok."
He smiled at her, "And if you want to stay there tonight, we shall."
She signed the paper and smiled. "We can cuddle up in front of the fireplace." she squeezed his hand back as she held back her excitement. A house of her own with Vicious, what a life.
With the paper work finished, and the house paid for, it was time to shop for furniture. Vicious led Julia out the door, carrying the lease and the keys to their new house. "We'll need to order some furniture and some firewood then," He said, opening the car door for her. He was surprised as how fast they had decided on what they wanted. He wondered if part of that wasn't the desire to be together as soon as possible.
Julia felt like she was floating, everything was happening so quickly that she felt that she wouldn't have enough time to just breathe. "We shouldn't rush too much." she said, leaning over to kiss Vicious's neck. Wrapping one arm around his she looked to him. "Don't you think that a bottle of wine, a few blankets and pillows and a fireplace sounds romantic. I mean yeah, we can pick it out today, but don't be in any rush." she smiled, just slipping a few hints his way.
Vicious leaned over and kissed her on the lips. "I like the sound of that, Julia" He said softly, running a hand through her hair. It was as though he were back in the old times, when they had been so much in love. "Why don't we go buy those blankets then."
Smiling, Julia pushed down her sunglasses. "Sounds good, we could get some wine, some firewood and curl up. Catch up on what we've missed these past few years."
"I couldn't imagine anything more fun," Vicious replied, one hand resting on Julia's leg as he drove back down the hill. "I think I'll play hooky from work more often."
*********************
Cloria walked out of her bedroom, a half drunk bottle of wine in her left hand. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy. She had obviously been crying. She stumbled, and nearly fell, before a pair of strong arms were around her. She tried to push away - she didn't want anything to with Jin at that moment - but she was too drunk to coordinate much of a fight.
"Cloria." The voice was not Jin's. Cloria looked up and through her blurry tears could see it was Kade who had caught her. She sniffled, and looked back down. She didn't want him seeing her like this either.
"Cloria, why don't we go sit down and talk," Kade said softly. God, what had Jin done to the poor girl? He couldn't imagine his friend purposely hurting Cloria. For all the Jin appeared rough and ragged, it was obvious how much he cared about the girl. Kade was surprised they weren't together already.
Cloria nodded, and let Kade lead her to the couch. Halfway there, she took another swig of wine and burst into tears. She had never thought it would be this difficult to accept that Jin didn't care about her. She felt foolish acting this way, especially around Kade, but she couldn't seem to control her tears.
"Cloria, what happened." Kade asked, wiping a few tears from her face. It pained him to see her crying. She was too sweet a girl for this. "Tell me ok."
Cloria shook her head. It was embarrassing, and she didn't want to tell Kade what Jin had said to her.
Kade hugged her tightly, "Cloria, I can't make it better if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Cloria sniffled, "You can't make it better, Kade. You can't change the way he feels about me." She burst into tears again, and buried her face into Kade's chest.
It was as though a lightbulb came on. Kade should have figured it out before. Cloria had obviously told Jin how she felt, and Jin didn't reciprocate the feelings. Kade looked down and the beautiful mop of blonde hair in his lap, and let a finger run through it. "He's a fool, Cloria. There isn't a man alive who wouldn't be a fool if they turned you down." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her softly. He'd have a conversation with Jin about this a little later.
He looked down as the sobbing seemed to have subsided. Cloria was sleeping softly in his arms. He held her, rocking her a bit as she slept. He would stay there with her until she woke up.
*********************
Julia smiled as she took out the keys and she motioned to Vicious to put his hand there too. She wanted both of them to open the door together, for the first time. She rested the paper bag of wines on her hips and they had bought special glasses for the occasion, added onto the fact they didn't have any.
Vicious placed his hand softly on top of Julia's and turned the key. Then he reached down and swooped her into his arms. "Isn't a man supposed to carry his woman across the threshold?"
Her eyes widened and a smile crossed her lips. She held the bag tightly and laughed. "Yes." she said as she kissed his lips.
Vicious carried her into the living room and tossed the blanket he was holding down. He set her softly on top and then lowered himself down. "How about we bring that wine out?"
As he had passed through the doorway she had locked and shut the door and she tossed the keys onto the floor as he set her down. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea." she said as she kissed his cheek.
Vicious grabbed the bottle of wine and popped the cork. He picked up the two glasses and poured the wine in both of them, spilling a bit as he went. Once finished, he handed a glass to Julia. "Let's toast, to our new home, and our refound love."
Julia touched her glass to his and drank half the glass. Setting her glass down she asked Vicious to start the fire, while she laid down the pillows and blankets.
Vicious picked up the lighter fluids and some matches and spent a good five minutes trying to get the fire going. "We are definitely putting in a gas system if we're going to be lighting fires," he said, a little frustrated, as he returned to the pillows with Julia.
Julia tried to restrain a giggle but couldn't help it. "We should, it would make life easier." She had taken off her coat and set it on the floor a crossed the room. "It was cold in here, but it's getting warmer." Julia put one hand on Vicious's cheek as she snuggled into the blankets. "It's been a long day."
Vicious laid down next to her and wrapped one arm around her body. "It's been a wonderful day," he said giving her a kiss. "Julia, when I'm with you, I forget about everything else. The syndicate, and work, and, well everything. I'm just happy you're here with me again. Promise me, you'll never leave."
Julia smiled, before she would have hesitated, but now it felt so right. "I won't leave your side." she snuggled up against him, "So what has been going on?" she asked with a smile.
Vicious breathed a deep breath. It felt good to hear her say those words. "Well, Lin has seen to it that Gordon and his casino are now Syndicate property. It gives us another income and another place to use a base should we need it. I think it will give us a large advantage over the Blue Snake, whom we wish to drive out of business. I'm happy with Lin's progress."
Julia smiled. "I'm glad things are going your way." she ran her hand along his cheek, twirling a piece of his hair around her finger. "How does it feel to run the show?" Grinning she let his hair slide off her finger and she propped herself up onto one elbow.
"It's only the second best feeling in the world," Vicious replied, "Next to being with you."
Julia blushed at his comment and moved down to kiss him slowly, but she didn't want to pull away.
Vicious let his own lips linger on Julia's. This really was the best feeling in the world - to be with her.
Julia pulled away, but kept her eyes closed. Laying back down she pulled Vicious close to her and rested her head against his chest. His arms around her made her feel so good, so safe.
Vicious hugged her again, and pulled her close. He moved a hand down to her waist feeling her soft skin. He'd have her tonight, slowly, gently. And they would fall asleep together with the fire roaring behind them.
*********************
Kade hummed softly, out of tune, as he continued to hold the sleeping Cloria. He wished he could help her in some way, and he knew he'd need to talk to Jin about this soon. He couldn't stand to see Cloria hurting. She moaned a bit, and Kade brushed a few tendrils of hair of her eyes. She was beautiful. Jin could be so stupid sometimes.
Sam walked into the living room, removing his favorite hat. He surveyed the scene in front of him. Thousands of thoughts flew through his head at once but the primary one was that if Jin finds out about this he'll kill Kade.
Sam said quietly to Kade "Um... Kade... is this what it looks like?"
Kade placed a hand on his forehead. "Sam, sometimes you amaze me." He looked down at Cloria. "This is Cloria passed out from drinking too much." Kade looked back up at Sam. "She drank too much, because she's hurt. I told you before, she cried all last night. I only now think I know why."
Cloria moaned again, muttering something about a headache. Kade watched her, his eye soft. She was like a little sister to him, a little sister who was in love with his best friend. Kade's own heart hurt to think about her pain.
"My bad... so what do you think is the problem?" Sam asked, taking a seat on a table tentatively.
Kade bit his lip. He wasn't sure he should be sharing that type of information with Sam. "I think something happened with Jin last night, from what he said in my Journal."
"Oh... I thought things were happening between Cloria and Jin too... just not bad things" Sam said while beginning to slouch forward.
Kade sighed softly, "I thought that too, Sam. I thought they were, well, perfect for each other, ya know?"
"Yep... I guess not everything goes as planned" Sam sighed to himself.
Cloria's eyelids flickered, giving indication that this particular topic of conversation would be put on hold. "Hey Cloria," Kade said as she opened her eyes to the world. She winsed a bit, her head pounding.
"Kade, I need medicine now," she muttered, raising a hand slowly to hold it over her forehead. "I hurt."
Kade supressed a small smile. She was beautiful even then. "Sam, can you grab some medicine from the kitchen for Cloria?" He didn't want to move and cause her more pain.
"Sure" Sam said as he ran to the kitchen, he later returned with a few bottles of various medecines. "Take your pick,"
Kade grabbed a bottle of Advil and gave Cloria the pills. She swallowed them down, then forced herself to sit up. "What did I do?" she muttered.
"You got a little drunk," Kade replied, helping her up.
"You should probably be lying down," Sam said to Cloria.
"No, I'm ok," Cloria replied, "But thanks for the concern, Sam. I'm sorry I... got like this."
"So is there anything I can do to help?" Sam asked hopefully.
Cloria shook her head. "I really appreciate that you guy care, but this is just something personal I'm going to have to work out on my own." She really hoped she hadn't said anything to Kade while she was drunk.
Kade swallowed. He wouldn't tell her he planned to talk to Jin about this.
Sam's left eye twitched a little and he suddenly looked to Kade. Sam tapped Kade on the shoulder and pointed to the kitchen.
Kade squeezed Cloria's hand. "Why don't you stay here for a moment, and we'll get you something to eat, ok." He then got up and started walking for the kitchen.
Cloria didn't bother to say she wasn't hungry. It was too much effort. Instead, she collapsed back down on the couch.
Sam followed behind Kade and when he was sure Cloria couldn't hear them he said "Don't tell Jin about this, he'll take it really hard if you do and I don't think that will help."
Kade shook his head, "What are you talking about, Sam?" Jin should take it hard! This was all his fault.
"You were going to talk to Jin about this, and I know you so the talk will involve some yelling and maybe something being thrown." Sam said flatly. "Jin knows what happened, don't you think he feels terrible about this as is?"
Kade sighed, "I don't think Jin knows that THIS happened." Kade made a motion back towards the living room as he hissed under his breath. "Have you ever seen Cloria act this way? I don't know what he said to her, but it wasn't good."
"Listen, Jin likes Cloria, no matter what he says you and I both know he has.... well... feelings for her." Sam said the last part somewhat uncomfortably. "We should focus on a way to solve the problem not concentrate on the problem itself.:
Kade was a bit shocked. Sam was, for once, actually making some semblence of sense. "You can't force Jin to see that. He has to see if for himself." Kade glanced out to see Cloria passed back out on the couch. "I just want to see her happy. She loves him you know, you can see it in her face."
"Of course, even a blunt can see that" Sam said casually. "I think the best way we can solve this problem is by making Cloria feel better, that's all we can do for now"
Kade took a deep breath. He would try, but he had the distinct feeling this would come up in his next conversation with Jin. They were all just too close to simply ignore something that affected one of them so much. "Alright," Kade replied. "I think for now, she needs to sleep off her hangover."
"Yep, that would help..." Sam said while rubbing his chin in though as if this was a revolutionary idea.
*********************
Jin had been wondering about the streets of Estoria for an hour now. He had no real direction or purpose. He just couldn't stay on the ship anymore with the sounds of Cloria crying and the disapproving look on Kade's face. Why hadn't Cloria fallen for Kade? He was a handsome man, much kinder the Jin was, even if he sang like an alley cat. More importantly as far as Jin knew, Kade still had a heart to share with the girl he loved.
Kicking at a can in his path, Jin finally became aware of his surroundings. Night had fallen and somehow his traitorous feet had managed to drag him to the last place in the universe he had ever wanted to visit again.
Valhalla.
The sounds of a band playing inside wafted out onto the street, and like a man possessed Jin found himself walking through the door and into the bar he hadn't visited in three years. Immediately the nostalgia of the bar hit him and he nearly took a step back to compensate. It hadn't changed much in the time he was gone, and he knew a few people were looking at him with recognition in their faces, but Jin had eyes only for one person.
Standing on the upraised platform that made up the stage, was a girl singing into a microphone with her eyes closed, oblivious to everything in the room but the sound of the music behind her and the cheers of the crowd before her pushing her on. It seemed as if nothing had changed, except that the guitarist who stood at her side was no longer him.
"Jin!" he heard his name called out from the bar and saw the bartender, Jake, who had taken Rua and him in when they would have slept out in the streets. "It is you isn't it.?"
"Yah," Jin said. He couldn't just leave now he was going to have to face his past. "It's me, but you've gotten a little grayer since last I saw you."
"It was you goin' missin' that stole my youth!" Jake said placing a double shot of whiskey in front of Jin as he took his old seat at the bar. "You look like you need this, son. What happened to you all these years? You don't look much different. Still being a hooligan and terrorizing anyone you come across?"
Jin laughed at the barrage of questions from the old man; nothing seemed to have changed at all. If he wanted Jin was sure he could just slip back into this world he left like nothing had ever happened. But then his eyes floated back to Rua hitting her stride on the chorus and dancing with the music, and the ache in his heart hit him again.
"She's missed you, a lot," Jake said his voice becoming solemn. "For a year there I thought she was just going to cry for the rest of her life. She didn't sing, she couldn't stand to hear the sound of a guitar or any of the old songs. She lived each day waiting for you to come in through that door."
Jin through back the shot in one swallow, appreciating the feeling of it as it burned all the way down. Jake's words were not helping the ache in his heart or the small amount of guilt he had always held for just walking away. "So things didn't work out with her and Kai then?" Jin managed to choke out. He could still remember the night he walked into find Rua and Kai together on his bed.
"What are you talking about, you stupid boy? Haven't you grown up at all these past three years," Jake asked smacking him in the back of the head. "I'm not going to say anything about it. You're going to just have to talk to the little lady herself."
Jin nodded at his words and turned back to watch as the band finished up the last few chords of the song. Rua looked out over the audience finally and found that their attention was focused not just on the band now but on a man sitting at the bar. Jin saw the second recognition dawned in her eyes. Her face fell and Jin watched as the smile melted from her face.
"Jin?" she whispered but the sound was magnified by the microphone she still had held to her lips. She dropped the microphone without a care for the stand and leaped from the stage, cutting through the crowd to reach him. She spent only a moment standing before him before she drew her hand back and smacked him hard across the cheek.
Jin rubbed the abused side of his face without complaint, he was sure he deserved that slap. "Hello Rua," Jin said smiling roguishly at her. "How've you been?"
All Rua could do was stare at the man in astonishment. He disappears, and after three years all he says is a grand 'how do you do?' Rua thought to smack him again, but figured his head was too hard to knock any sense in him. Instead she grabbed his wrist and pulled him all the way through the bar to the back stairs, and up to the room they had once shared together.
"What are you doing here Jin?" she asked. She could feel tears building up behind her eyes and she quickly rubbed them to make them go away. She was not going to cry in front of this man.
"I came to see the band," he said. Jin felt like he was in a daze, first Valhalla, then seeing Rua singing, and now he was back in this old room, it was too much nostalgia for one man to handle.
This time Rua couldn't hold back she balled her fingers into a fist and let it fly, only to be caught by Jin. It made her even angrier but she could handle anger, anything was better than the hollow feeling she had had when he first left. "Where have you been, Jin?" she asked taking a step back from him. "You think you can just disappear and reappear whenever you like?"
"No," Jin said looking up at her sadly. "I guess I came back to get some closure. We kind of ended badly didn't we Rua?"
"It was your choice," Rua pointed out. "You're the one who left."
"You betrayed me!" Jin shouted finally loosing control on his emotions. "I came home to find you lying naked with Kai in our bed. Did you expect me to shrug if off and join you?"
"All three of us were betrayed, Jin!" Rua said raising her voice to match his. She knew they could probably hear them downstairs, but she didn't care.
"It's not her fault!" Kai said bursting through the door of the room. Jin glowered at him for interrupting, Kai was the last person he wanted to see right now.
"Lover boy to the rescue?" Jin asked with a mean smile on his face. "I won't interrupt the two of you any longer."
"Dammit, Jin you never listen!" Rua said grabbing his arm to keep him from going to much farther towards the door. She'd waited to long to tell him this and she wasn't about to let his disappear on her before she let it out. "We were drugged that night!"
"What!"
"You remember Saira right?" she asked. At Jin's nod she continued her story. "For some reason the girl fell in love with you, although why she'd want a pig-headed fool I'll never know. She was jealous of me and so she thought to tear us apart by making you think I was cheating on you, so that she could have you for herself. The night of the party she waited until it was dying down and then she slipped some kind of knockout drug into our drinks. When we woke up, you were there shouting and we were naked in the bed. I don't know how she got us up there like that, but that's what happened, Jin. We weren't cheating on you, we were all betrayed."
Jin practically collapsed in a small wooden chair as he listened to Rua's story. These past three years, all the heartache, the disappointment, the time he'd spent alone had all been because of one stupid girl's jealousy and his own pig-headedness.
"So these three years were for nothing?" Jin could hardly choke out. He could feel his throat closing up as he thought of everything that they had missed out on.
"If that's all settled I'll be going," Jake said smiling sheepishly as he left practically unnoticed by the other two people in the room.
"Where've you been all these years?" Rua asked sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the table from him. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and lit one up, she really needed a smoke right now.
"Bounty hunting," Jin mumbled.
Rua nearly dropped the cigarette from her mouth as she stared at him in shock; and just as suddenly she began to chuckle. When Kai walked back in the room out of concern for Rua, he found the pair of them rolling on the floor in uncontrollable fits of laughter.
"Bounty hunter?" Rua managed to say into between giggles.
"Yes!"
"You do realize your fathers rolling over in his grave," Rua said chuckling even harder at the thought. "With laughter of course."
"Shut up!" Jin said hardly meaning it. "I had no where else to go but to that damn ship."
Rua was sobered by that comment and managed to sit up to look down on Jin. "I want to see it," Rua said softly. "I want to see the SeaDog."
*********************
Not only was Mei Makani late for the meeting she'd set up elsewhere--and had thusly had to prematurely leave Faye's presence for--but she'd returned to her hotel room to find out that she was being thrown out. The manager had gotten wind of something 'funny' about the girl he was renting room 309 to and had decided to end her stay. He didn't want any trouble.
Muttering obscenities under breath after having it out with the manager, Mei lugged a suitcase and a bag down the flight of stairs. Her patience was at an all-time low. The stair beneath her foot suddenly gave away and she stumbled down the last few stairs, dropping her suitcase in lieu of catching herself on the railing. The old piece of luggage--only used to lug around the things she didn't absolutely need all the time--bounced off the final stair and promptly broke open, spilling the contents upon the sidewalk.
"Un-fucking-believable," she muttered and began to try and collect her things.
Kade wandered down the streets. Things at the ship were a mess. He was lost and confused - he had no idea how to handle situations of love. Cloria was still crying in her room when he had left, and Sam insisted he stay out if it and leave Jin alone. All Kade knew was that he couldn't stand to see her crying.
He rounded the corner, and not paying attention to where he was going, tripped over and open suitcase and went crashing to the ground. He sat up, a pair of underwear resting in his lap. "I think these are yours."
"Gee what was your first guess?" Mei said through clenched teeth, snatching them away from him. As quickly as possible, she began stuffing everything into the suitcase. Shit. She'd have to wrap something around it to keep it closed. At least until she could find something else. The lock had broken on the damn thing and probably wouldn't close again.
"You forgot this," a voice said coldly from the stairwell and Mei turned to have a jacket thrown at her. The manager went back into the building as Mei only barely managed to catch the jacket and avoid getting hit in the face with it.
"I hate this fucking city," she growled, not really noticing Kade. Rather, she was too pissed off to really care. Frankly, she wanted to kill something.
Kade watched the scene with a bit of amusement. Finally, when the manager tossed Mei's jacket at her, he burst out laughing. "Really, looks like you've come up on a bit of bad luck." He pulled himself up off the ground and reached to pick up her suitcase. "I've had a shitty day myself. Why don't I buy you something to drink and we can, well, bitch about life."
Anything to distract him from his current problems. Jin was a handful he just wasn't ready to face.
Mei looked at him, honestly surprised when he took the suitcase and offered to buy her a drink. She was about to make a biting remark and decline when the words "yeah... sure" escaped from her lips without her permission. Oh screw it. She'd find the Bebop later. She had a better clue now as to where it was, thanks to her new 'friend'.
"Ever have one of those days where you just wonder why you even rolled out of bed?" she grumbled, slinging her jacket and bag over one shoulder while holding her free hand out to take her suitcase from him.
"All the time," Kade replied, his tone both serious and sarcastic at the same time. "I think today was one of them," he continued as he led her towards his favorite bar. "Honestly though, the life of a bounty hunter is hit or miss. You have your good days and your bad. You think by now I'd be used to that."
He led her into the bar, and placed her suitcase under the table. "So what does a lovely lady like you like to drink?"
"Vodka would be really nice right now," she said as she slid into her seat, tugging uncomfortably at the strap of her tanktop. "So you're a bounty hunter? Solo? Crewed?" Mei asked, idly looking around the car. Nice. Two bars in one day. At this rate, she'd be an alcoholic in no time!
Kade ordered two Vodka's and then turned his attention back to Mei, "I'm on a crew, I guess. My friend, Jin, pretty much picks up any drifters and we all end up being bounty hunters together." The drinks arrived in rather quick fashion, as they were the only two people in the bar. "Hey, let's have a nice little toast to making the day less shitty."
"I'll toast to that," Mei said, raising her glass a bit to clink against Kade's. Her dark eyes were lowered a bit and centered somewhere on the table, mind racing. She'd need to catch up with the Bebop and/or the SeaDog soon. If she screwed this up, she'd end up chasing them around in a craft that wasn't quite space-ready. With a couple days work, Mei would have it up and running to a point where she was sure she wouldn't die due to the craft. Not that Mei Makani feared death. She was sure it would be unpleasant and, well, boring. After all, after death... what was there?
"So what's the name of your ship?" she asked, merely as a way to invite more conversation.
Kade took a sip of the vodka and placed the glass back on the table. "The SeaDog," he replied. "It's a rust bucket, but we still call it home sweet home. I've been living there for a few years now, and it's not a bad joint. Gets us from place to place, and Jin and I have our zips for easy travel around the cities."
She couldn't help it. Mei choked on the sip of vodka she'd just taken. Covering her mouth, she put a hand against her chest and winced, coughing. What was she today? A magnet for odd luck?
Regaining her composure, she hid her face behind a hand and a curtain a hair, taking a couple deep breaths. "Sorry," she mumbled, "went down the wrong way." Her hand lowered, leaving half of her face covered by long black hair. "So the SeaDog, eh? Must be nice to be able to travel and still have a place to call Home."
"Oh I love it," Kade replied, giving Mei a funny look. "I like being a drifter. We aren't tied down to one location and we don't have to answer to anyone. And hunting bounties carries this excitement that a lot of other jobs just don't have." Kade smiled, "What about you? What do you do?"
"A little of this, a little of that. Whatever comes up. Last week I was a mechanic," Mei said casually. //This week I'm a Syndicate member hunting down some old ex-friend// she thought to herself. A smile tugged at her lips. "Certainly never boring. I hate being bored. The only drawback is never really knowing if I'll have a roof over my head at night."
Kade smirked, "A mechanic? You know, we really could use one of those." Kade took another sip. He wasn't normally in the habit of inviting people back to Jin's ship, but the four of them really needed a distraction from the recent drama. Perhaps if Cloria had someone new to talk to, she wouldn't spend as much time hurting over Jin. Male logic - gotta love it. Or maybe it was just because Mei was hot. "You could always bunk with us for a bit. We've got a number of extra beds." Yeah, that's right. He was a player baby.
"I'd really like that. Except..." Mei said, trailing off. She gave Kade a sultry look over the top of her glass. "We haven't even introduced ourselves yet. Or does that not bother you?"
Kade blushed a bit then shrugged, "Naw, your good looks impressed me enough as it is." He smiled, and reached a hand across a table, "I'm Kade. I suppose I don't meet a woman every day who has her suitcase tossed out the front of hotel. It makes for a quite a distraction, well, that and the package."
Mei smirked and took the offered hand, shaking it in a firm grip. "Name's Mei. So if your bunkmates don't mind, I guess I'll be joining your happy little crew," she said with a grin, withdrawing her hand and brushing her hair back out of her eyes carelessly. "Do you have room for another body and zip craft?"
"We have plenty of rooms," Kade replied, "Although I've got a nice queen sized bed in mine." He gave Mei a little wink. "I'm just kidding actually." Picking up women sure did get his mind off the situation on the boat, at least until she asked about space. He pushed it back out of his mind. He'd talk to Jin when he returned. He didn't care what Sam said.
"Only kidding?" Mei asked, pretending to pout. Then she shrugged. "Oh well. I guess I can't win them all," she teased. //Gag. Just keep it up. If it takes a little T-n-A to stay on top--heh--it'll be worth it.// Without another thought, she downed the rest of her drink in one shot. "So were you heading back now? I still need to pick up my zip craft. I could meet you there..."
Kade nodded, "We're parked on the dock, row 24." He stood, and tossed a few woolongs on the table. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I didn't have to be kidding." With that, he picked up her suitcase. "See ya soon."
As Kade left the bar, Mei shook her head, smirking. This venture sure was promising to be the least boring of all her ventures to date. She got up and shouldered her back once more, heading off to go retrieve her new--well, used--zip craft.
