Rachel's eyes snapped open as she looked around the room. She was in a cold sweat, and her side was killing her. Her dreams didn't help her sleep either. She kept seeing Wong going after Jill and she couldn't do anything to stop him. "Jill?" She called out. No reply.
"Where the hell is she?" She said to herself. She sat up, only to cry out in pain. The drink that Fist, or Argo as it was, had given her had worn off and he had taken the bottle with him when he left. He said he would return a bit later to check on them, but no one was there now.
She had asked Jill to go to the store to get her some painkillers but the girl was still gone. She forced herself to stand up and gave a sharp cry. Her side was killing her but she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. There would be too many questions and until her plan was done, she wouldn't do anything to put them in trouble with Wong. Not yet anyway. Rachel began to breathe heavy as she walked across the floor to her shoes.
"Maybe she's have problems finding what I want..." And soon Rachel was walking down the street, on the search for Jill.
She made her way slowly down the street toward the store. Every block or so Rachel stopped and caught her breath; the pain in her side was really getting to her and with each step seemed to worsen. Leaning up against a building she sighed. 'That girl gets so distracted; it shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes to run to the store and back.' She closed her eyes for a moment and as she opened them she found herself looking into the face of a curious businessman.
George himself, an only moment before was suffering from a pain in his chest, but unlike Rachel, it was caused from another kind of pain. He wanted to think, but he did not know he would be running into the very girl that was causing that problem in his chest. They stared at each other for a long moment, taking in each other.
Rachel shifted her weight and made a face that clearly showed she wasn't feeling to cheerful
"Ms, Uh, I mean Rachel? Are you alright?" George gave the girl an interested look. He stumbled on his words trying to think of what to say. "Uh, I mean, uh...nice day isn't it?
Rachel shook her head and stood up as straight as she could. Her eyes got a bit wide, trying to hide how she was feeling. "Oh, I'm fine I just uh, going to the store." 'Great, it just had to be him, of all people to run into.' "Yeah yeah... nice day... um... it's uh day." She glanced around trying to find a way to get around him. 'Why the hell did it have to be him!? Damn it... I am not in the mood for this... but...' She looked at him for a moment. It's nice to see a pretty face...
George raised a brow and tried to think of something to say, it was then that he noticed the bandage on her face. "Did you have that bandage on your face yesterday? I don't remember seeing it there."
"The what? Oh! Yeah that, well um... it's nothing really. Just a scratch." She smiled. "Well I better get going."
She took a step forward and made a pained face.
George reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You sure you're feeling okay?"
She took a moment to reply, trying to catch her breath. George's brow became heavy with concern. "Yeah...I'm fine...just...a little tired, that's all..." She bit her lip to avoid the pain in her side but she could not ignore it.
"Are you sure? You look as if you are in pain, a great deal of pain." He said firmly.
She forced a smile. "No really. Just...cramps."
They started at each other for a moment until George made a face of embarrassment. "Oh...um, I'm sorry. I should not have asked about..."
"Nah." Rachel said. "It's fine."
George studied her for a moment and then nodded and bowed slight. "You were going somewhere...may I walk with you?"
Rachel frowned suddenly. "No."
That caused George to stand up and raise a brow.
"I have to go..." Rachel said coldly and began to move when she felt a sharp pain enter her side. "AH!" She cried out. The pain caught her off guard and it caused her knees to go weak. She began to fall forward but was caught before she hit the ground. She turned her head to look up at George.
"You're bleeding..." He said calmly, looking at her side.
She looked down to see her side was indeed bleeding. She took a deep breath, to calm her nerves and the pain and then tried to stand up. She couldn't though and had to lend against George. "Look." She said after a moment. "I'm fine...and..."
"Be quiet." George said slightly harsh. It caused her to jump and look at him. He was looking at her in an odd way and frowning.
She didn't like it but she did what he told her to do. Suddenly, with out a word, George bent over her slightly and was now holding her in his arms. She cried out but didn't push away. He made sure his arm was tucked tightly under her knees and her back was firmly against his arm and part of his shoulder. He began to walk with a quickness that caused Rachel to gasp.
"Whe... where are you taking me?" She asked.
"To a hospital."
"NO!" She cried out and grabbed his shirt. It caused him to stop and look at her. There was a tear that had rolled down her cheek, whether it was from the pain or something else, he did not know.
"Please..." He said softly spoke to her. "Let me help you..."
Rachel began to breathe a little heavier but her eyes soften some. "Alright...but...please...don't take me to a hospital..."
George looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "I'll take you to my home..." He said and hurried off with her. She gasped from a sharp pain that ran down her back and she tucked her head into his chest. George looked down quickly at her and then back at the sidewalk in front of him.
"Don't worry Rachel...I'm here, I won't let you go."
Sitting quietly, Jill scooted the food around on her plate. She had forgotten about getting medicine and her mind was in a panic. Every few minutes or so she glanced up and looked at Sai. He was carrying on a conversation with Domon, which she hadn't even heard. It wasn't until he tapped her on the shoulder she realized he was asking her a question.
"Hey, Jill! Are you okay? You've been dipping that one fry in the ranch dressing for the last ten minutes." Sai raised a brow at her.
"Oh! Um...yeah, I just spaced out. I'm sorry have a lot on my mind." She smiled and put the drenched french fry in her mouth. She didn't know what to say, and she was getting uncomfortable sitting there.
Sai made a face trying to think of something to start a conversation. "Um...so, how is work?"
Jill's eyes went wide and she nearly knocked her drink over. "Work?! Um... work, yeah, it's been busy. I mean, uh, the boss is really coming down on me, I mean uh... just... lots of stuff to do." She stumbled over her words and she began to sweat a little. "It's just um...non-stop in my uh, job."
Domon gave her an odd look. "Sounds very stressful. What is it that you do again?"
Jill's heart began to beat faster and she felt like the lights in the restaurant were grilling her. She couldn't form a single word and began to drum her fingers on the table nervously. Finally she choked out, "I...uh...I..."
"She does art." Sai said with a smile. It caused Jill to look at him.
Domon made a face. "That sounds boring!"
Jill gave a sigh of relief and then laughed. "Well, trust me, it's not all that boring."
Sai couldn't help but smile. He could tell she was uncomfortable with the topic of her job and so helped her out a little. He didn't understand why, she was.
Domon took a sip of his drink and then shook it. "Ah! They need to make these things bigger or something. You take to sips and it's gone!" He stood up to refill his glass, leaving the two alone.
Jill had begun to play with a fry again.
"You really don't like your job do you?" Sai whispered.
Jill looked at him and then gave a sigh. "Well, my job was much more fun when I was younger...just me and Rachel, but then...well, the boss came along and things got a little hard."
Sai nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. Things were a little easier for me before I started to work for my dad."
Jill smiled a little.
Sai smirked himself. "You should smile more. You're really pretty when you do."
Jill bit her lip to hide her blushing and then looked down. "Please, don't say that."
"Why?" Sai looked confused.
"It's just, I don't really um, uh... it's embarrassing and I don't like it." She looked down and her plate and stopped messing with her food. "I'm sorry, I'm not in a good mood today, I had an eventful night."
Sai got quiet and looked at the table. "Oh, it's okay. I mean everyone has bad days right? So um..."
Jill cut him off. "I mean, he can be such a monster! I don't need this kind of stuff in my life. I just want to quit but then some thing bad will happen I just know it. Trust me, the less media cover the better in my line of work..." She stopped, catching what she had said. "I mean uh, ya know...uh..." She shifted her wait in her seat and bit her lip. 'What should I say? That was a bad slip.' She became very quiet.
Sai raised a brow at her comment. "What do you mean?" He asked more concern.
"Oh, I mean, um..." She looked around the room and noticed Domon was walking towards them. A sudden idea hit her. "Well...my boss, he's not nice, he yells a lot when things don't go his way."
"Yells?" Domon asked as he sat down. "Who yells?"
"OH! it's nothing. He just acts like a big baby that's all. Things have to be perfect, but last night he kept yelling at how much... the painting didn't look right, next to another painting. Rachel got upset and they yelled at each other all night. It was...stressful...to say the least." Jill looked a little worried but she couldn't help but mentally pat her back for such a good lie.
Sai was quiet for a moment. "Yeah...that...does sound bad."
"And here I thought art was a quiet thing!" Domon laughed and began to eat some more.
"Yeah...quiet," Jill said with a sigh. Then suddenly her eyes went a little wide. "RACHEL!"
Both the men jumped a little.
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot about Rachel! Oh my god!" Jill jumped up and looked around. "I need to get to the store and then back to the apartment! OH my god! I'm sorry! I have to go!" She quickly shook Domon's hand. "I'll pay you back for the lunch!"
She then turned to Sai. "I have to go!! I'm sorry about your eye..."
Sai nodded. "Yeah, just my luck..."
"Yeah, must have been one hell of a kick! I'll see you later! Ok! Bye!" She waved to them and took off out of the restaurant and down the street towards the shop. "OH man! Rachel's gonna kill me!"
If Jill had turned around, she would have noticed the odd stare Sai was giving her.
"What's wrong Sai?" Domon asked as he popped a fry into his mouth.
Sai quickly looked at him and then smiled and laughed. "Ha ha! Nothing, just thinking how much of a nut she is."
"Yeah! Tell me about it!" Domon laughed.
Sai turned to look at the door. A worried look came over him. 'I never told her how I got my black eye.'
" Jones, Jonnas, James... Does no one ORDER these files anymore?" Sai frown as he flipped from on folder to another. A bit earlier that day, he wouldn't have cared if they were filed in order or not; but now that he needed certain names, he was not in a pleasant mood because of it. 'Maybe I'm just over reacting... maybe I did tell her what happened... or maybe...maybe Domon did!' He smiled a little at the thought and turn to look at his friend. "Hey, bro?"
"Yeah?" Domon looked at him as he stood in the door. He was still trying to figure out why Sai was in such a hurry to get back and look through the files.
"You were talking to Jill before I arrived right?" Sai asked in an odd tone.
Domon raised a brow, 'what the heck is he up to?' "Yeah..."
"Did you ever tell her what happened to my eye?"
Domon was quiet for a moment and then made a face as if thinking. "No I didn't, I forgot completely about it really... why?" He asked in an odd tone.
Sai gave a sad smile. "No reason..."
He looked back at the files and began to look again. 'Damn it...Jeans, Jinkes, Johanson.' His eyes got wide and he pulled the file out to look at it. 'Jill...' He opened the file and then gave a sigh of both relief and disappointment.
Domon looked at the file and raised a brow at him. "You're looking for a guy named Carlos Johanson?"
Sai looked at him and then rolled his eyes. "No." He said harshly and then through the file back with the others and then slammed the file cabinet.
Domon smirked a little. "And that's why they aren't in order..."
"Shut up!"
"Fine. It seems you need some space; I'm going to go back to my desk. Have fun, with whatever you're up to." Domon shook his head and walked away from the room.
Sai took a deep breath and began flipping through the files again. A sick feeling sat in the pit of his stomach. 'She just couldn't be that... that thief. She was just too nice of a person.'
Looking back at the files he had pulled out of the cabinet, Sai pushed his chair away from it a bit. 'What if she had been lying all this time? Maybe she was just trying to get access to the station and she was using me...' He shook his head to clear that idea. "No, she wouldn't do that... would she?'
The room seemed to slowly heat up, until it felt as if it was on fire. Sai closed his eyes and tried to get his mind off thoughts haunting him at the time. No matter how he tried, the sick feeling couldn't be shaken. The room began to spin slowly as he leaned too far back in his chair and toppled it over. He didn't get up from the floor; he was too occupied by his thoughts.
'She wouldn't lie to me, or would she? That Rachel girl did seem kind of worried when she first met me. And Jill was acting weird the very first time we met, now that I think about it, she always kind of acts odd around me...she's nervous and always looking around as if someone is going to spy on her.' He put his hands on his stomach as he looked at the ceiling. 'Maybe it was just a lucky guess... a really lucky guess.' Sai frowned and a sad look came to his eyes. His hands went into fist. 'NO! She can't be! I won't believe it! She's too sweet! She's too nice! She's...'"Well see ya later copper boy..."'
He sat up as the words ran through his mind. "Oh god...." His eyes went wide and his mouth opened a little. He remembered that. That day they first met.
"Are you alright?"
Sai jerked his head towards the door as his father was standing there looking down at him. Sai made an odd face and then stood up. He gave a sheepish grin. "Just thinking...sorry da...I mean sir."
His father looked at him for a moment and then nodded.
"I use to do that when I was under extreme stress...do you want to talk about it?"
Sai stood up quickly. "Nah...I'm just thinking...about those girls...from the museum..."
"Ah, I see."
"Could it be that maybe...they..." What was he trying to say?
His father raised a brow. "Yes?"
"Uh...well never mind, just I look at the case file?"
His father made a face but then nodded.
Moments later, Sai was looking at the case file. He had found the picture he had wanted but he didn't look at it for a long time. Finally he flipped it over and gazed at the young girl in the picture. It was a picture of the thief known as Club, it was taken at the museum by a reporter. She was looking over her shoulder at something, so it wasn't a completely good picture of the thief; but it was good enough to give him a knot in gut.
"Why didn't I notice it before?" He ran a finger down the side of the girl's face and a deeply sad and confused look came to his face. "Jill...."He whispered. "What are you doing?"
"That's what I should be asking you? What are you doing now, Sai?" Domon stood in the doorway giving Sai an odd look. "What are you looking at now?"
Sai jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly pocketed the picture before turning around. "I uh... was just looking through some case stuff. I was um... yeah, just thinking about that night and uh..." He stuttered trying to think of a good cover up story.
"Right, okay. Well I need that folder. We got some new information today and I need to file it away and your father needs it back. You done with it?" Domon put his hand out waiting for the file.
Sai nodded and closed the folder quickly and hoped that no one would notice the missing picture. "Yeah, I'm done. Here." He gave Domon the folder. "I think I'm going to go um, take a break in the rec. room... I uh... don't feel well." With that he nodded to his partner and hurried off. Once he got there, Sai shut the door and sunk into the couch. 'What am I going to do?'
'What am I going to do?' Jill thought to herself as she walked down the sidewalk. When she got to the store, she realized she didn't have any money and the place was to slow for her to steal any. 'Damn it...why did I go eat with them? Why did I forget!!? GAH! I'm so stupid sometimes! What am I gonna do!?'
She looked across the street before crossing and her eyes landed on a young man. His clothes were kind of ripped up, and unclean, and by the look of him he wasn't the nice guy around. Jill wouldn't have given him another thought expect for the fact she could tell his wallet was rather large for a good reason. 'That's it! She snapped her fingers. I just take his money and get that medicine for Rachel! Yeah!' She smiled and then began to sneak her way over towards the guy.
It should have been an easy steal, but she was shaky. She knew Rachel would be angry that she was running late, which made her nervous. As Jill reached into the man's pocket her hand began to shake slightly. She managed to pull it out, but at the same time the thug turned around and looked down at her.
"Hey! What the hell you think you're doing! Give me that back!"
Jill panicked, and without thinking she turned and ran off down the street. She glanced over her shoulder to see that man and a few of his friends chasing her, yelling loud threats and cursing up a storm.
'Shit! Why the hell did I do that!' She shook her head and turned a corner, trying to loose her pursuers, without any luck. 'What am I gonna do, those guys are gonna kill me if they catch up. SHIT!' She thought about dropping the wallet; however it felt like it was glued to her hand, she just couldn't let it go. Jill just kept running, hoping that maybe the men would just give up.
She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, the very first lesson Rachel had taught her; but she was in such a panic she wasn't thinking clearly. She had picked many pockets before and this had never happened! She turned a corner, then another and then another. Where was she going? She had no idea.
Little did she know that a pair of red eyes were watching her since she left the store. The eyes became angry when they watched Jill steal the wallet, but then became very concern when the gang began to chase her. In a flash the figure was chasing after the group.
Jill quickly turned a corner and ran down the street only to realize there was a fence in her way, causing it to be a dead in. "Damn it!!" She turned quickly to run back but gasped and took a step back.
"Well, well, well...look what we got here...a cornered bird." A man cracked his knuckles as he grinned down at Jill.
She made a face and took a battle stance.
The men laughed
"You all better back off! I'm not afraid to fight any of you." Jill pocketed the wallet and balled her hands into fist. It was true, she could fight them off, but it made her nervous, being there was no where for her to run.
The men began to close in around her, unfazed by her threat. Taking down a teenage girl would be an easy task.
As one of them reached out to grab her, she quickly delivered a kick to his stomach and backed up against the fence. "Back off! I ain't giving you the wallet back! You all probably stole it, before I took it from you anyway!"
Her attack only angered the men more than they already were and resulted in them all going for her at once. However they were all quickly halted at the sound of a gun shot. The confused gang panicked and gave Jill one last look before they took off. "Ha! See ya girly... You can deal with whoever's shooting at us!" With that final comment the men disappeared from sight.
'Great, now what?' Jill gulped and backed up as far as she could against the fence behind her. Her eyes landed on the shadow of someone approaching. "Stay... back! I uh... I have uh...pepper spray!" Jill made a face at the pathetic threat that had just escaped her mouth. 'Pepper spray? Oh yeah, I'm dead.' She closed her eyes and hoped that whoever it was would just walk by. She heard the footsteps stop, but she kept her eyes closed tightly, afraid to look at who might be standing there.
Nothing happened for a long moment. Jill began to breathe heavy out of panic. What was happening? She heard the footsteps come a little closer and she tensed up. 'Ok Jill, you can handle this. You got into it, you can get out...' She was about to open her eyes when she felt something soft, touching her cheek. She yelped in panic and forced her eyes open to look at the one who touched her face. She gave another gasp, more of a soft one and then she realized she was breathing heavy.
"Sa...Sai, what...what are you doing here?"
"Are you alright?"
Jill looked at him for a long moment, his face was very serious but his eyes looked soft and slightly sad. She felt his thumb brush her cheek for a moment and then pulled away when she nodded she was. 'What, what is he doing here?, Jill didn't understand. "Sai, what..."
"Having a little fun, Jill?" Sai interrupted her rather harshly.
Her eyes went wide as she watched his eyes look at her pocket. "Oh..." She said softly. He saw her, she didn't know what to think.
He frowned and grasped her wrist. "Or should I say, Club?"
Jill gasped and backed up into the fence. "Wha...wha..."
Sai let go of her wrist and turned away. "What happened to the skillful thief? Having an off day?" He looked at her over his shoulder.
Her hands went into fist but her head fell. "When did you find out?"