A/N: Hello, hello! :) So glad to be back! I can't thank you enough for the reviews, so…well…thanks, anyway!!! Again, like last time, there is an IMPORTANT note at the end of the fic, so please read it!!!
-FLASHBACKS ARE IN ITALICS-
Trembling, hold me now
I'm torn between silence and violent expression
tired of believing everyone wants to care
and cherish someone I'm so scared of never having anyone
Haunted by my abandoned dreams
Tiny voices where would be screams
Now be still, it won't be long
We will be together in search of a new life
Striving as one in this world to find something pure
I'm missing you now
I'm quite sure
That I've finally found someone
-"Trembling": Yellowcard
CH 4: Wilting Roses: Part 1
"I'll have a Bloody Mary, please."
The shady bartender nodded, then almost immediately placed the alcohol down before Katerina's spot, her violet irises shimmering with unshed tears as her thoughts suddenly drifted back to the bar incident with Asimov.
She knew deep-down that she had to quit being such a downer and just let it all go, and yet...she couldn't. Being on the run for nearly two years with the man would most certainly do that to her, she supposed, but that still did not change the fact that she always wished that she could wave her hand and make all of the ugly parts of her life disappear. The petty crime, the booze and incessant addictions, the regrets...it was all just too much.
In fact, nearly three hours ago Katerina had made 'amends' with the Bebop crew by leaving a note of apology and thanks that begged them not to come looking for her. After all, she obviously didn't belong, so, in the long run, she figured that she was doing them all a favor.
Her use of transportation had been Faye's Red Tail, which she had 'borrowed' since she had been getting into the habit of pillaging crew mates' zip crafts as of late. By now, however, she felt absolutely no regrets, so it wasn't giving her the headache that it had an hour before.
Taking a dainty sip of her Bloody Mary, Katerina couldn't help but feel as if she were being watched. Slowly turning and glancing over her shoulder, she gasped upon seeing a tall, laid-back looking young man in about his late twenties. Strapped about his shoulder was a large brass saxophone that was positioned protectively beneath his arm as if it were more precious than gold; it was quite clear that this was his most prized possession. What startled her about him the most, however, were his eyes. They were so blue......so sad.
"Are you here alone?," he asked, the question so sudden that Katerina couldn't help but be completely thrown off.
"Who, me?," she squeaked, re-gathering her bearings as soon as her body would allow. "I, um....yes. I am, actually. I'm a newcomer here, so I decided to come around and see if there were any friendly faces. Um...you were really good tonight. On your saxophone, I mean."
He chuckled softly. "Thank you very much, Miss, but I could have easily told anybody that you were from out of town without my even asking. Didn't you notice that there aren't any women here on Callisto?"
Katerina's eyes widened in acknowledgement, then she suddenly laughed. "Oh, my, so there aren't!," she agreed, laughing once more at her own blatant lack of observation. "I'm afraid that I haven't been paying very much attention to my surroundings, lately. It's a very bad habit that I've somehow managed to obtain over the years."
"That habit of yours could very well get you killed, one day," the young man insisted, his tone now completely somnolent. "In Callisto, one must be very cautious."
"Why?," Katerina demanded, truly not seeing the need.
The young man didn't answer, his deep blue eyes burning into her own violet ones until she could no longer stand the rawness of their contact. Immediately breaking their gaze, she shot up from the barstool with a rather panicky demeanor emanating from her rigid facade, hurriedly slamming down some hard-earned woolongs onto the table before grabbing her purse and turning to make her leave. "I-I've got to go," she stammered, not even bothering to look her newfound acquaintance in the eye. "If I don't hurry, I may not be able to find a place for the night."
The young man merely nodded in return. "Take care, Miss...and be careful."
Katerina mumbled a hushed "thank you", then hurriedly dashed off in search of the nearest exit, her frazzled mind suddenly realizing as to why the young man had appeared so dreadfully familiar. He was the man that had killed her parents when they had gone to Titan!
00000000000000000000000
"Honey, could you please carry my new pot? It's a tad too heavy for me."
Katerina laughed as Mr. Muscovitz grudgingly squatted down so that his arms were now wrapped securely about the large work of art, his face twisting into an immediate scowl once he felt his knee crack due to the excessive weight. Welp, so much for the surgical replacement.
Smiling in spite of the rather painful impediment, Mr. Muscovitz righted himself into a standing position so that the vase was now positioned snugly before his waist, his wife warmly interlocking her arm in his before he questioned anxiously, "Will we be able to go to the Lunar Museum, now? The main exhibit closes in fifteen minutes!"
Mrs. Muscovitz sighed, then shook her head. "We could, but the place is ten block away, Miles! We'll never make it by foot at this rate!"
Katerina and Mr. Muscovitz both pouted, yet this did absolutely nothing to better their situation.
Beginning to lead her disgruntled family towards the local Titanian glass-blowing shop that she had just spotted, Mrs. Muscovitz continued in a rather tired, condescending tone, "Besides, mi amor, you know very well that a war is going on nearby. I don't want to be anywhere near the fighting and subject out daughter to some traumatizing experience. The museum is only five miles away from the Titan war base!"
"What ridiculous location planning!," Mr. Muscovitz muttered, trying his best not to reveal his tremendous disappointment in front of his daughter.
"Yes, I couldn't agree more," Mrs. Muscovitz acknowledged, nodding before giving Katerina's hair a gentle stroke. "The only reason that I even allowed you to convince me to come here for our family vacation was the fact that there are hundreds of men guarding the town border. Without them, we'd be-"
"What's that?!," Katerina suddenly demanded, wailing as she clapped her hands over her ears due to the tremendously loud siren that was echoing throughout the large town like a frightful omen.
"Oh, my God!," Mr. Muscovitz exclaimed, taking his wife by the arm, "It's the military's warning siren! We're under attack!"
Sure enough, men, women and children, alike began screaming and frantically racing about with the sole hopes of finding refuge in time, the foreboding sounds of ammunition and war cries rumbling in the distance as the enemy soldiers drew nearer and nearer.
"Quick...leave the pot!," Mrs. Muscovitz urged, spinning frantically around so that she could assist her husband in placing the large object down onto the ground.
Once it was well out of the way, Mr. Muscovitz took his wife by the arms and pulled her close, demanding frantically, "What are we going to do, now, Lillian?! We don't even know this God-awful town....how the hell are we going to find a good place to hide?!"
"I know!," Katerina suddenly revealed, racing over towards a nearby alleyway before anyone could even stop her. "Quick! Follow me!"
"Katerina!!!," Mrs. Muscovitz exclaimed, watching on in absolute horror as her daughter weaved throughout the tremendous crowd and out of their sight. "Oh, Miles...where did she go?!!"
"I'm over here!," Katerina shouted, but to no avail. The malicious pushing and shouting of the townspeople was far too much for her soft and petite voice to overcome.
Just as she was about to return to the safety of her parents, however, an elderly commoner seized her gruffly by the arm and began to drag her onward, insisting frantically, "Lansakes, child, you should've been in a safe house by now! What are ya still doin' out here?!"
"B-but my momma and papa..."
"I'm sure they's already found refuge by this point," the elderly woman interjected with slight agitation, giving the poor child a rough tug on the arm as a rather painful stimulus to keep moving. "C'mon, girl!," she urged, "Quit stallin'! My bomb shelter's 'bout five minutes away, so we've gotta hurry!"
Katerina angrily stamped her foot. "NO! I don't want to go with you! Let me go....let me GO!"
The old woman frowned deeply, thus causing her abundant wrinkles to fold one over the other, her beady black eyes fiery and full of utter contempt as she squawked, "FINE! Get lost, you ungrateful little brat! When you're shot and dead, don't be expectin' me to attend your memorial service!!!"
Bursting into tears, Katerina immediately turned and fled in the opposite direction to as far away from that crazy old woman as she could possibly get, her heart beating against her chest like a boxing glove and leaving her gasping for breath as she frantically searched high and low for her parents.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Screaming, Katerina dove behind the shelter of a nearby building and cautiously peered out and over its siding, warm tears spilling down along her soft cheeks once she spotted several masked men massacring the innocent civilians of Titan with their pernicious scimitars and AK-47's. Where were the Titanian soldiers to save them?!
Suddenly recognizing her mother's soft, feminine voice from somewhere within the crowd, Katerina foolishly abandoned her hiding place and raced out into the bloody chaos that was tragically unfolding before her, the sound of bullets whizzing overhead and blood-curdling screams filling her senses to the point of near suffocation.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gasping, Katerina suddenly noticed two familiar figures in the distance, her heart racing as she forced her long legs to run as quickly and as hard as humanly possible. She had to get there....she had to!
"Mama...papa!," she exclaimed, instantly coming to realize that they were lying face-down in the dirt. "Mama...p-"
Screaming, Katerina found that she had suddenly been intercepted about the middle by a brave Titanian soldier, hot tears streaming down along her cheeks as she desperately tried to kick herself free of the man's firm embrace, but to no avail.
Sobbing and reaching out towards the lifeless bodies of her parents with her outstretched hands, it was then that Katerina noticed the young man standing solemnly over their corpses, his eyes immediately meeting with her shimmering violet ones as if through some unknown magnetic force.
His eyes; they were so blue......so sad
000000000000000000000000000
Screaming, Katerina suddenly shot up in bed, her svelte flesh damp with sweat while her body trembled like a leaf caught in an updraft, her heart practically beating out of her chest as she brought a hand up to her face and placed it shakily over her eyes.
Gren Eckener...that had been his name. His identification tags had been found on her parents' corpses as what she assumed to be his sick little way of bragging. After all, it was just SO impressive as to how he had managed to single-handedly destroy a loving family and leave her as a sniveling orphan.
Sliding dazedly out of bed, it was then that Katerina decided that she needed a long, stiff drink, no matter what the hour. With a heavy heart, she opened the hotel door and slipped out into the night, truly not caring as to how wasted she would most definitely become.
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"So did he go out to find her?"
"That's just it....I don't know," Jet solemnly revealed, his sky blue eyes soft and terribly dreary as he continued to chain smoke amidst the comfort of the commons. "There's apparently another woman...someone named Julia......"
Faye visibly stiffened, yet somehow miraculously managed to relax before her reaction could be taken note of. Leaning back against the cold metal wall, she questioned innocently, "Well who's that? Someone who owes him money?"
Jet chuckled. "Not everyone we meet owes us money, Faye. I honestly can't tell ya what this woman is doing here or who she is, but all I know for sure is that she has some sort of hold over Spike."
"I see," Faye mumbled, bowing her head forward before folding her arms neatly beneath her breasts. "What about Kat? You're not actually going to go after her, are you?"
Jet scowled. "I think you know the answer to that, Faye. Ever since she's arrived we've actually been able to live in a clean, comfortable and well-fed atmosphere. I'm not about to give that up just because you and Spike went out on a limb to make her feel unwelcome."
"Hmph...I did no such thing," Faye snarled, turning so that she was now facing the opposite direction. "Since you find her to be so damned valuable, why don't you just go ahead and leave, already? I mean, it's quite obvious that you like her, so go on, Romeo...find your precious Juliet."
"CAN IT!!!," Jet growled, instantly slamming his counterfeit fist down onto the metal table so hard that loose papers on bounties began to scatter about before slowly floating down and to the floor. His cheeks now a comical shade of bright pink due to his tremendous embarrassment, he continued in a gruff and burly tone, "This is my ship, so therefore I automatically expect you to treat me and your fellow crew mates with some respect! If you can't follow this rule, you can leave!"
"Fine," Faye agreed, more than happy to oblige, "you all seriously give me a migraine the size of Neptune, so your proposition is honestly a welcome one. Ready my ship and I'll be out of what little hair you have left in about a half an hour."
Jet smirked in triumph. "Well that's just it, Faye...it seems that Katerina has 'borrowed' the Red Tail."
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Excuse me...have you heard the name Julia mentioned, by chance?"
The young man whom had been addressed suddenly stopped shoveling snow, then nodded. "I hear a lot of things, " he began, "and the name Julia is most certainly no exception. From what I hear, she is SO hot."
Spike sighed in utter frustration. "I know what she looks like...what I want to know is where she is!"
"Sorry, can't help ya," the young man insisted, carelessly shrugging his broad shoulders in a terribly nonchalant manner. "All I've heard are rumors 'bout a blonde succubus named Julia that eats everyone's children. That, and she's a real sleazy wench."
Spike drooped. "Hrm...thanks for your help."
Apparently, he realized, searching for his long-lost lover was going to be a lot harder than originally anticipated.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Madam, your appearance is rather harmful to the eyes."
Katerina grimaced. "Get lost, creeps...all I want is to get drunk off my ass at the nearest bar. Is that such a crime?"
The henchman chuckled, then shook his head, returning smugly, "That may very well be, lady, but you just happened to pick the wrong place and time."
"Is that a threat?," Katerina seethed, her fingers just itching to retrieve her firearm from within her thigh holster. "I don't respond too well to threats, you know."
The henchman snorted. "Take it however you'd like...I'm starting to get rather bored with your tiring shenanigans. Get 'er, boys!"
Remaining strong, Katerina miraculously managed to swerve out of the way of one of the oncoming lackeys and nail him directly in the ass with her high-heeled shoe, his absolute surprise quite clear as he let out a cry of utter outrage and sailed straight into the brick siding of the neighboring building.
Spinning around with a smug smirk upon her face, Katerina then prepared to intercept the main henchman, only to be instantly thwarted the moment that a tall, familiar figure jumped in-between them and struck the thug directly across the chin with his large black saxophone case.
Gren.
"Hurry!," he urged, seizing her by the wrist and dragging her partially unwilling being down along a nearby alleyway, her eyes widening once she moved to avoid the planks of wood that her newfound comrade suddenly knocked down in order to deter their enemies from following them.
"Where are you taking me?!," Katerina instantly demanded, not about to forget who he was. "They're gone...let me go!"
"You won't be safe until we're back at my place," Gren insisted, hurriedly rounding another block. "Just stay close to me and everything will be alright."
Katerina scowled. "Don't you dare lie to me, Gren Eckener! I know who you are and I know what you did!"
He immediately pulled to a halt, his surprised comrade crashing abruptly into his backside before removing her hand from his taut grasp within a moment of sheer disgust. She did not wish to be touched; especially by the one man whom had single-handedly murdered her parents.
Not even bothering to turn around, Gren questioned softly, "Are you a bounty huntress? Is that how you know who I am?"
"Oh, how I wish that were the case," Katerina returned crisply, her eyes narrowing as she took a slight step forward and placed her hands neatly upon her hips. "You're going to take me to your apartment as originally planned, and then we're going to have a nice little chat. I, for one, want my long-harbored questions to finally be answered."
Gren nodded solemnly. He never denied a woman's request.
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Gren's apartment sure wasn't Buckingham Palace, yet it was simple and very tasteful.
When Katerina moved to hang her winter coat upon the coat rack on the wall, she couldn't help but smile upon spotting the old piano in the corner.
"You play?," Gren asked, noticing her sudden interest.
Katerina sighed, then nodded. "Used to, is more like it. You see, when I was forced to move in with my cousin, Jamie, she wouldn't allow me to bring along my grand piano from my home in vintage New York."
"And why is that?," Gren questioned, genuinely interested. "Wasn't she a music lover?"
Katerina snorted. "She loved music as much as the next red-blooded Earthling. The true problem was the mere fact that it had belonged to my parents before they gave it to me, so Jamie was far too grief-stricken to even look at it. It's all your fault, you know."
Gren raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"You were the one that killed my parents!," Katerina screamed, hot tears threatening to escape her ebony lashes as she pointed a shaking finger towards him and choked on a sob. "I found your identification tags on their bodies...I saw you standing over them, Gren, so don't you dare deny it! I was only thirteen years old when I was forced to live in a damned orphanage until I was finally able to have a home, again!"
Gren didn't move. "I did not kill your parents," he returned simply, much to her utter chagrin. "I was trying to save their lives."
"Bull shit!"
"They were dying," he continued, completely undaunted by her brash remark. "There was nothing I could do for them."
Katerina opened her mouth to reply, then immediately closed it. Collapsing down onto the yellow couch in front of him, she couldn't help but cry into her awaiting hands, her shoulders heaving violently along with her sobs as she managed to question meekly in return, "Why are you tormenting me, Gren? What did I ever do to deserve such torture?! All I want to know is why you betrayed your country and took my mama and papa away from me!"
"I did not betray my country...I will be forever true to Titan," Gren returned in a surprisingly soft and soothing tone. "If you let me explain my past to you, perhaps you will finally come to realize that I would never commit such a heinous crime."
Katerina raised her tear-stained face up from her hands, then nodded. "I-I'm listening."
Gren smiled, then nodded his thanks in return, gradually reaching out and slipping his hand over hers before grasping it tightly as a sign of comfort.
"Gren...where are you?"
He stiffened.
His comm. link......
"I'm out with honroutou along with the mang and the reverse dragon," the cold, clipped voice continued. "It's 32,000...I'll be waiting."
Click.
Katerina immediately spring into action and retrieved the firearm from within her thigh holster, her eyes fiery and full of red-blooded accusation as she questioned dryly, "More illegal activities, I presume? What don't you do, you sick sonofabitch?"
"Perhaps if you'll let me explain, it will be worth the wait," Gren insisted, still managing to wear the same smug smile that always adorned his face.
Katerina immediately shook her head. "Oh, no," she argued, slowly pulling back on the trigger, "I've given you more than enough time, already."
THE OTHER IMPORTANT NOTE:
Okay, as you all know, this fic is rated R, and it is done so for a reason. In the very near future (possibly only two more chapters to go) there will be a lemon. I find that it may be along the NC-17ish range, so I may decide to post the lemon portion on If you think this is a good idea, please tell me, cuz I've already made the mistake of putting something like that on here, before! There will be 2 or more lemons in this fic (one for each pairing, so that everyone's happy), and couples will be decided accordingly. As for what just happened up there in my fic, I screwed with the timeline a bit (as always ) and made Gren 17 and in the war when Katerina was 13. I just thought it was a kind of cool concept; perhaps unbelievable, but good enough for fiction, right???? LoL But anyways, I'll try my best to post the next chapter ASAP! Thanks for all your support! PLEASE leave a review!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Kendra Luehr