Howdy hey hey hey. Chapter 16!
Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, Catch the ball!
#16: Why do you do this?
Meia was sitting at a table in the mess hall with John, and were just chatting. Celtic was walking with Bart, who had just been released from the medical ward, several small scratches and bruises dotting his body from the battle above Tarrak. He had his arm wrapped around her and hers him. Vinn and Jura were against a wall in the mess hall, dosing off after having a little too much to drink. Victor and Belvedere were on the bridge, alone, watching the stars on the main screen. Dita and Hibiki had taken a page out of Jura's book, and were sitting in the bay, making-out. Hibiki had opened up allot to Dita lately, and enjoyed her company allot more than being alone now. The other men were off doing various things with the girls they had found favor with. Jack sat alone on a bench in the environmental room, asleep. Barnette walked in, and sat next to him, though he didn't wake up. She smiled and snuggled up next to him, her head on his shoulder. She was half asleep when she felt a clod hand grasp he shoulder. She jumped almost a foot of the bench.
"Nice to see you, to." He said sleepily. She smiled at him. Why does he have to do that, making everything a joke? It was kinda cute. She sighed.
"No thanks, I'll have number three." He said, sleeping again. She snuggled up to him again, this time with his arm already around her, and fell asleep. She felt more peaceful than she had in quite a while.
Jack was sitting at a little wooden table, staring into a pair of purple eyes. The thing that caught him by surprise was that they were not Barnette's. He was looking at a little girl of about six or seven. She was basically, a small version of Barnette. She had a little set of china, and a small plate of cookies. A pair of arms encircled his neck, and he looked up at their owner. This time, it was Barnette, but something was different. Slight creases lined her face, and her eyes had lost some of the shine of youth, but were lit with a kind of happiness that he had never seen before. He green hair was longer now, reaching down to rest between her shoulder blades.
Jack woke up with a start, and waited for his eyes to adjust to the pitch darkness. He didn't remember where he was, or why he was sitting up. He finally noticed the weight on his side, and realized he didn't know what that was either. His mind was reeling from the strange dream he had just had. What was that? Who was the small child? Why did this small thing disturb him enough to wake him up? After a few minutes, he realized why the dream had gotten to him. It wasn't like his normal dreams. Not dark, depicting horrible deaths of him or his friends, or his own battle field experiences. It was sort of like the ones where he had gotten a bomb with more than 6-Megaton yield, everything was happy and hopeful. His eyes adjusted and he could finally see the clock, 2:00 in the morning. He looked over, and saw Barnette asleep on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her. His arm was asleep, and it tingled like hell. He decided to go back to sleep, he didn't need to wake her up yet, he thought it was rude to wake her up if it wasn't necessary. He laid his head back against the bench's headrest, and nodded off again.
Barnette woke up to see Paiway running off, camera in one hand, and frog puppet in the other. It was still only 5:30 in the morning. Ugh, Paiway would have this scene spread around the ship in no time. She looked over at Jack, still asleep, she took his arm off her, and stood up, stretching.
"You can't imagine how good a view your giving me right now." Jack said, and Barnette jumped a little. She realized what he had meant, and smacked him across the face. "I love you too." He said, also standing, a flexing his arm. "Arms been asleep for about three and a half hours now." He said, yawning. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "Well, you're in a good mood this morning."
"Yes, well you don't often stick around long enough for me to spend this much time you." Barnette said casually.
"Well don't get used to it, I'll probably try to sacrifice myself for the common good again." He said, jokingly.
"I think you should stick around for a while this time." She said, still embracing him. A light flashed nearby, and she sighed. Paiway had decided to double back and check things out again, because there wasn't much else going on this early in the morning. Mainly because Parfait and Duero had locked the door so they could have some alone time. The three people were still awake, Duero and Paiway had been attending to the injured from the assault on Tarrak, and Parfait was expediting repairs with her crew.
"So how long you think it will be before everyone knows about us sleeping together." Barnette said, looking at the ground.
"Well, if most of the people get up by 7:00, and the last one by 8:05, I'd give it till, oh, I don't know, about 8:09." He said, also holding onto Barnette.
"How you doing? You got beat pretty bad back there." She said, changing the subject.
"Well, my colon is acting up, and when I sneeze, my eye's loose focus, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before." He said, in his usual joking manner.
"No, seriously." She said forcefully, not looking up, her head buried in his chest.
"I am!" He said, faking being hurt in a feminine voice.
"Really!" She said, even more forcefully, not bringing her head up. He sighed.
"It's nothing, just a few scratches and bruises. Besides, I stopped coughing up blood an hour ago. Don't worry about me, I'm as fine as I ever was." He said softly, and rubbing her back. "Of course, I've never really been the epitome of normalcy, have I?" Barnette looked up, finally meeting his eyes, tears welling in her eyes.
"How can you just brush everything off like it's nothing? Just look away, and joke?" She was upset, and the more she thought about it, the more upset she got. "How do you do it? You've done so much, and been nearly killed, maimed, smashed and exploded so many times since… since…" She was having trouble finishing her sentence. She was afraid that if she said it, that he would confirm her fears, and it would all be over. He sat down with her on the bench, still holding her. She was holding back the tears, she had used so many over the past month, and had been stretched to the emotional breaking point often. "Since… you and I… got… to… to… together…" She dropped her gaze to her lap, and buried her face back into his chest. Her it came, she though, and found she was unable to stop herself. "I think I'm the reason you keep getting hurt, and it really bothers me." Her muffled voice came. Jack had to struggle to keep himself from laughing. Stupid girl, getting all worked up over nothing. He decided not to joke to much, he had put her through enough over the past month, and he wasn't going to heap more stress on her that right that minute.
"You know, I think your right." He said, seriousness in his voice she had never heard before. She knew he wasn't kidding this time, and she found it even harder to hold back the tears. "I do just brush everything off as if it's nothing." She wasn't expecting this, and a brief flare of anger spiked through he mind. "I seen to much to take life seriously anymore, and there's just no point in it."
"But you never get mad at anything!" she said, her voice still muffled.
"Like I said, there's no point, it just makes other people mad, and it just isn't worth it. Allot of things are better when you just don't take them seriously." Barnette was angry with him justifying that with a perfectly reasonable explanation. "As for you being the reason for my recent bit of bad personal management, it is your fault in a certain ways." This is what she feared, and the misery broke through her barrier, and the tears leaked down her face. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."
The end! Hope you like, sorry if you don't like my weak cliff hangers, but if I don't, I'd never be done, and I'd never update, so you'll just have to bear with me. Also, read my new fic, Vans vs. Dreads, under the Mature rating, for gratuitous language!