We keep driving, it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, So stop asking!
#15: Opportunity for a Change
"Breach sealed. But I'm still picking up a single contact." Belvedere said, staring at her station screen.
"Fine, I'm going, I'm going." Jack said, holding his hands up and backing out the door, after the look he got from the captain. "Man, can't even sit down for a minute…" he was cut of as the door slid shut behind him. The captain sighed, and for a brief moment envied the young, but quickly banished the thought, as another explosion rocked the 'Nirvana'.
Jack began to sprint down the hallways as another explosion shook the deck beneath his feet. Someone ahead of him fell to the deck. He stopped, and she blushed slightly as he grabbed her hand and helped her up.
"Thanks, but what are you doing?" It was one of the Redge crewmembers. Most of his fellow workers had become a tad smitten, enjoying his cunning wit, and friendly attitude. He had never refused to help or offer help to anyone who looked like they might need it.
"Well, there is a minor gas leak, and I thought I might go see if they needed an extra set of hand's." He said, with a small grin. The deck shook again, as if to illustrate his point. "Well, I'll talk to you later." He continued running down the hall. She waved after him, and was a bit envious of Barnette for having found such a good person to be with. He pulled open a door, and was lifted of the ground, and thrown into a wall, falling in a heap to the ground. General horn stood over him.
"Wait just a minute!" Jack said, rising to his feet.
"What?"
We can't do this!"
"Why not?"
"Because, I know exactly what is going to happen. I've seen it a hundred times."
"What?"
"It goes like this, you're going to beat me to within an inch of my life, and are going to be gloating, about to deliver the final blow, then something magical with happen. And someone with go on about how love always wins, and that kind of crap, then you'll die, saying something like 'I can never be defeated' and then you get a happy ending, and the credits roll." General Horn just stared at Jack, confusion in his face. "It's one of the most used plot's ever! It's in nine out of 10 of those movies I got from the colonization era." Horn sighed, and drew his sword. "Fine, if you insist on doing this, fine." Jack said, drawing his swords, looking disappointed at having to do this. He kept talking as the swords clashed, the lights flickering. "Something is going to happen, and I'm going to say something noble, right before you deliver a devastating blow. Then the magic thing will happen, happy ending, then everything gets boring and everyone loses interest." Horn blasted him into the wall, and he had a bit of trouble getting up. After he stood, he was blasted against the wall again, and he didn't get up. A trail of blood ran down the wall, where he hit, and to where he lay, crumpled in a heap. A door slid open next to horn and he whipped out a pistol and pointed it at the person standing there. There was less that a foot between the gun's tip, and the other person's chest. And, just to prove that the universe really did hate Jack, that person happened to be Barnette. Jack jumped up in front of Barnette, the pistol's mouth actually touching his chest inside of the cloak. Horn fired, and he couldn't miss at this range. The bullet passed through Jacks sternum, and exited about an inch from Barnette. He collapsed again, a pool of blood forming underneath him.
"I told you." Jack said, as Horn started laughing. Barnette looked down at Jack, like she was expecting his collapse, and remark, like it was a every day occurrence. She simply unclipped the silver pistol, and shot Horn in the head while he wasn't paying attention.
"What the fu…" Jack goggled up at her, trailing off.
"I know, it is anti-climactic, but I heard what you said about a cheesy ending, so I though I'd do something about it." She smiled, steeped on him, walked across the room, and left.
"Damn…" He said, getting up, and hobbling toward the medical wing. He wasn't going to admit it out loud, but he was impressed at how she had finished the fight, and then walked out, unfazed. He got a weird feeling when she had done it, and was a good feeling. The word 'turn on' floated up out of somewhere in his sub-conscience, though he didn't what it meant. He slid the medical door open, waved to Duero, who was working on one of the dread pilots, climbed into his usual bed, and passed out.
Barnette arrived on the bridge, and started talking to the captain.
"I have taken care of the intruder, and I think Jack went to go see Duero." She said, the captain nodded, and Barnette left to go back to her room. She was deep in thought the whole time. Jack was always getting hurt lately. Before Christmas, he never got a scratch on him, but literally the next day, got the crap kicked out of him by Hibiki, Dita, Jura and Meia, with her help. Then he blew himself up. Then this Horn guy beat the hell out of him, and he took a bullet …for… her! He had been off since she had gotten close to him. Was she bad for him? She loved him, but she hadn't really been that nice to him lately. After he had just gotten shot, she stepped on him and walked out without even saying thanks. She hadn't even thought about it. Was she killing him? She felt a grip of sadness grab onto her as she stepped into her room and laid on the bed, she rolled around for a while, thinking hard and making herself. One thought struck he and made her very uncomfortable. "This is why I despised me in the first place, they just complicate everything, and are one big pain in the ass." This brought up another string of thoughts. Did she still hate men? If she did, why was she in a relationship with one? Did she feel bad about this because she thought was hurting him, or because, deep down, she still hated men, and was mad for being in a relationship with one? She finally drifted of into a fitful sleep.
Jack had been treated, and was laying in the bed in the hospital, drifting of to sleep, as his thoughts were still on Barnette and the way she had almost lazily gunned down a foe he couldn't defeat himself.
Sorry for another short one, but I been thinking about doing another fic, like that Girls vs. boys show on that Canadian channel, but with some of the Vandread characters, and a few of my own. It would be a funny on, laden with swear words, and stuff I couldn't put in this one. e-mail me and tell me if you think I should!