An Amusing Interlude: Part 5 – Colleagues – In which those who travel together must work together.
By
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown

Hunter X Hunter is copyright Yoshihiro Togashi. Quoll and Kurapika aren't mine more's the pity.


QUOLL:

I stare at the words on the page, too tired to quite work out their meaning. It's been a long day and I'm getting tired. Beside me, Kurapika has already nodded off. I sip at my wine, watching the stewardess move through the cabin. I think I may be the only one awake aside from the crew. I should be sleeping too. We still have five hours to go and I've slept little in the last couple of days.

My thoughts are interrupted by someone rising from their seat and walking past me. Some instinct makes me follow her with my eyes. She sets off my alarm bells, though I couldn't say how. Her movements aren't furtive, if anything they're direct, as if her destination is perfectly innocent. She steps into the toilet and I look back at my book. Paranoia, apparently. It's a strong force, though, and I find myself keeping an eye on the door.

Not nearly long enough later, she steps out and glances back towards the stewardess, who's busy helping a young man who's seated towards the back of the plane. Now my paranoia gets a touch more intense. When the girl walks further forward, I call up my Skill book. Invisibility should do the trick, at least long enough to get me to the cockpit. I don't know how many allies she has – the one in the far back at the least – and the last thing I want is interference.

The Skill I'm using isn't one for a fight. It requires too much concentration. In jobs like this, where stealth is needed, it's invaluable. It doesn't actually turn me invisible, but it causes people not to notice what I'm doing. A nen user could probably penetrate the illusion, but they'd have to know that it existed.

Walking to the front, I listen as the girl tells the pilot there's a bomb on the plane and that he is to land in Maraphul. Then I return to my seat. "Kurapika."

He wakes instantly. "Something's wrong." He doesn't have bother asking, sensing it from the tone in my voice.

"We're being hijacked. There is, apparently, a bomb on board. Can you use one of your chains to find it?"

His blue-grey eyes glance forward, then at me. "Yes." A shake of his hand releases one chain, the one with the ball at the tip and he begins swinging it lightly in front of him. When it raises and points up above our heads, he says, "In the luggage compartment."

"Others?"

KURAPIKA:

I give Quoll a sharp glare. His dark eyes are distant, as if his mind is on a hundred different things. His tone, on the other hand, is commanding. The tone of one used to giving the orders and expecting them obeyed instantly. I consider reminding him that he's not talking to one of his Spiders, but realize something else at the same time. He's right. I'm not a strategist and I'm not experienced in this sort of thing. I don't know if the hijackers will kill us or hold us for ransom and neither possibility appeals.

Focusing my attention on my chains again, I search around the plane. "That's the only one."

"Weapons?"

A moment later I answer, "I can find guns on three. I need to have an idea of what to look for though, and if they have a weapon I don't know"

His gaze defocuses further. "Chain Jail?"

"Useless unless they're Ryodan," I answer, regretting both the fact and the need to admit it. I hate letting him learn so much about my abilities. And what did you think was going to happen, traveling with him? I ask myself sourly. No matter how short our journey might be, the likelihood of my not needing my nen is nearly infinitesimal.

He nods. "I thought that might be the case. All right. Identify the people with weapons for me. Once I take care of the bomb they'll be next."

When I've done so, he stands up, "You'll get a stiff neck, sleeping like that," he tells me in a louder voice. "Stewardess? Are there pillows up there?" He glances back at the woman dealing with one of the other passengers behind us and points towards the luggage compartment above us. The hijackers are apparently doing their best to keep her distracted, which I think is playing into his plans as well.

"Yes, sir. If you'll wait a moment"

"That's all right. I can get it," Quoll tells her, smiling genially. I can see why Neon had been charmed, that night before the auction. "Thank you."

"Be careful, sir. The luggage will have shifted." Still, the stewardess looks sort of relieved to not have another distraction to deal with.

Standing up and stretching slightly, Quoll puts one hand closer to his chest and materializes his book. As his other hand opens the compartment he flips it open. When a blanket not quite matching the color of the airplane blankets drops down, then is swooped up into the luggage compartment, I realize he's using his stolen skill to shrink its contents.

QUOLL:

I sit back down and hold out my hand to Kurapika, showing him the miniaturized luggage. "Check it," I order, voice low as I put a pillow behind him with the other hand. His chain swings free again, makes a tiny motion straight towards what I hold and I sigh in relief, picking the suitcase out from among the others and dropping it in my pocket. Transformed like this, the bomb is in stasis. Even if the hijackers set it off it won't explode. I pat him on the head, adding in somewhat louder voice, "You should go back to sleep. I'm going to stretch my legs a bit."

His glare just makes me grin. I do so enjoy teasing him. It's the only way I can get back at him for what he's done to me, after all. In a softer voice I add, "The best I can do is the one in the cockpit and one other. Be prepared to back me up."

Kurapika's sour look is followed by a nod of confirmation. I pat him on the head again and get up before he can bite me. He certainly looks like he would if he didn't know it would get us noticed.

As I get up, I eye the three men Kurapika's dowsing had identified as having weapons. One, a large, mid-eastern looking man in front of us looks almost too good to be true. The sort of person who would have been stripped searched at every possible checkpoint – and a few times more just for good measure. Considering that security was nervous about Kurapika's bracelet chains – as innocent as he looks – I found it hard to believe such a man could have gotten away with carrying a weapon on board.

As I pass the man I let myself stumble, taking advantage of a slight shift in the plane's motion. Landing in his lap makes picking his pocket child's play. Then, to his growls of annoyance and my own apologies, I make my way to the washroom.

KURAPIKA:

Now why'd he do that? I wonder, watching Quoll do his little stumble routine. It surely wasn't in order to disable the man. Not when his victim's growls of annoyance resemble nothing so much as a large bear woken from a deep sleep.

I watch him go into the washroom and try to decide what to do next. I have to let him begin things, since I don't know his plans, but I can work out a plan of attack none the less. I begin planning trajectories for my attack chain, working out the best way to hit each of the three men I'd identified for Quoll. I can't choose my first target until I know which one he'll go for.

Something brushes at my mind. A touch that becomes a sharp stab of pain that makes me long to find its source and wipe it out of existence. The man Sky Marshall. Leave alone Then the touch is gone and I sit there, trying to regain my breath, heart throbbing so fast I think it'll burst.

I want very much to chase Quoll down and attack him. Something about his power, about its touch, sends me into a frenzy. I hate him, both for what he's done and for what he is, but I can control it – as long as our minds don't interact. He must know it too, which means he took the risk for a reason.

Glancing forward at the man Quoll had stumbled into, I find it hard to believe he's a Sky Marshall. Yet it would make sense and now that I think about it, I see that he's almost too good to be true. Too obviously a questionable character to be what he seems. Now I can understand why Quoll made sure I knew. Taking down the hijackers will be complicated enough without mistaking a potential ally for enemy. Besides, that means that if Quoll gets two then there's only one left for me. I can get one person with my attack chains without a problem.

The door to the bathroom opens and Quoll steps out, Skill Book in hand. I'm surprised to see how pale he is. From this distance I can't be sure, but I think there's a faint sheen of sweat on his face. From using the Eyes? I wonder. He doesn't look my way and something about his posture says he's almost afraid to. Expecting me to launch myself at him?

Something happens around him then and he seems to fade from view. Or rather I find myself no longer interested in looking his way. Another of his stolen Skills, obviously. Since there's no reason to watch him, I lean my head back and wait for him to make the next move. There's still two men in back to deal with.

QUOLL:

I feel my head swim as I move towards the cockpit door, even while I damn the Kurota Eyes and everything associated with it – including and especially my own. If it hadn't been absolutely necessary to warn Kurapika I would have just gone on with my part in things. Leaving things to chance, however, is a dangerous business. One which I'm philosophically opposed to in situations like this.

I'd like – very much – to go back and slap Kurapika silly. Two things prevent me. One, his Judgment Chain would kill me if I did. Two, it isn't his fault. Not his fault that my Eyes create an aura of enmity that neither of us can control. Not his fault that I have next to no control over them. Not his fault that that tiny bit of communication took all my concentration to keep from grabbing every mind in the area and sucking them dry. Not his fault that he hates me.

All of which angsting is not getting you anywhere nearer to solving the current problem, Lucifer Quoll, I grumble as I open the cockpit door and step through, closing it quickly behind me.

The hijacker is watching the pilots carefully, but the door opening is enough to draw her attention to me. That's one of the unfortunate aspects to this Skill. If you do something that affects the environment it reveals your presence. In a larger area I could make a dive and restore my concealment, but in this tiny space such an effort is hopeless. I drop my Skill Book and look around the cockpit with a confused air. "Oh dear. Am I disturbing something?" I finger my benz blade's hilt, having restored it to its normal size, and smile sweetly at the woman.

She turns and fires at me, not even bothering with the niceties. Fortunately, her silencer destroys her aim and I'm able to dodge the bullet and, in the same motion, get close enough to cut her with my knife. She collapses instantly, eyes staring wildly, gasping curses.

"Mister! You shouldn't have"

I look at the pilot. "The bomb is taken care of. Return to your previous course."

Pale eyes stare at me from pale features. "But"

"Don't worry. My partner and I will help with the other hijackers." I sheathe my blade and slide it back up into my sleeve. "If only because we want to make it to our destination without delays. Now, this is what I need you to do."

KURAPIKA:

"Would Andrew Mullins please come forward to the cockpit?" The pilot's voice is shaky and I see the Sky Marshal ahead of me look up with a puzzled expression. At the same time one of the other two men I'd identified gets out of his seat and saunters forward.

I glance back at the other man, preparing to make my move. As the first man enters the cockpit and the door closes behind him I release my chain, letting it fly upwards, twist and angle its way back to strike the man mid forehead. There's a sharp sound and a gasp of pain, but my aim is good. He slumps unconscious. With so many people asleep, or drowsing, my action goes unnoticed.

The cockpit door opens and Quoll steps out, glancing back towards the second man. He nods slightly, walks past the Sky Marshall and says something very softly into his ear. At which point the man leaps up, pushing past him and rushing up to the front.

Quoll comes over and sits down beside me. "Rude," he comments wryly. "And after all we did for him. Nice shot, by the way."

"Did you kill them?" I can't help but ask, ignoring the compliment.

He glances my way. "Try saying thank you, first." At my expression he continues, "Here. It isn't hard. 'Thank you, Quoll, for the compliment you just gave me.'" His lips compress a little as he looks at me.

I take a deep breath. "You're pushing it."

"Really? Believe me, I've not yet begun pushing." He gives me a sharp eyed glare and I realize that he's in an irritable and unhappy mood. "I have no choice about coming with you. I have no choice but to let you drag me along by your damned Judgment Chain. I can't attack you and I can't do anything that will make you mad enough to attack me. Whereas you get to harangue me all you like."

I want to scream at him but something in his eyes dares me to. Dares me to push him to the point of breaking the Judgment on him. He's testing the edges of his freedom, I realize. Testing my patience because he chafes at what I've done to him.

Before I can say anything, though, a heavyset woman in a colorful caftan stands up and walks towards the front. We both pause in our argument and watch her apprehensively. As she flings open the cockpit door, though, the Sky Marshall is standing there, pointing his pistol at her. "I wouldn't," he says.

QUOLL:

Watching the scene, I realize that she must be an unarmed back up. Either that or she's The blinding flash of light that throws the Marshall back answers that question. Another nen user. Why the hell didn't I have Kurapika look for that too? The answer, of course, was simple. Just because someone had nen skills didn't mean they were automatically suspect.

"Quoll"

"I'll handle this, Kurapika." I tell him.

He looks at me, suspiciously and I give him a sweet little smile before rising to my feet. Others are doing much the same and the woman has swung around to glare at us. "Don't move. There's a bomb on this plane and I have the ability to set it off any time."

Startled cries follow the woman's announcement and most of the people sit. Two others, however, move towards her, though I can tell they're scared. "I told you to back off!" she yells, tossing another blast of light at one. It hits him in the face and he screams, falling to the ground. An intriguing talent that. The creation of plasma blasts. Not unlike old man Zoldick's talent, though not as elegantly formed. I continue forward, drawing my Skill Book out.

A shield this time, I decide, choosing quickly. "I didn't expect a nen user in this group," I tell the woman as she turns her attention my way. Between us, people cower in their seats. Knowing Kurapika, he'd be pissed if I let someone get hurt, so I stride quickly up the aisle so there's no one in the way. "What an intriguing talent."

She laughs. "Another nen user? So, you're the one who interfered with us. You'll pay."

"Possibly I will," I agree happily. "It's all a matter of luck and skill. I do hope you have a decent skill."

"My plasma blasts will char you to ash!" she screams at me and I grin even more broadly, bringing up my shield to block the one she fires at me. That's two. Get the third now and the fourth is cake. I have to love the way people walk into that requirement. Seems not many are willing to keep their mouths shut about their nen.

The unfortunate thing is that I have to drop the shield to finish this. I close the book in my hand a bit regretfully as I reach her. It would have helped if Kurapika could bop her one, but I suspect that he's not likely to cooperate at the moment. Not with what I want to do. Not when he's made his opinion clear.

She sees my shield drop and laughs triumphantly, firing off a blast that I dodge only partially. My shoulder takes the shot and I have to bite back a cry of pain. Then I'm on her, grabbing her by the hand, pressing it to the cover. Three and Four. GOT IT!

She raises her hand, trying to fire another blast at point blank range. When nothing happens she stares at her fingers, unable to believe they've failed her. It gives me a chance to drop her in her tracks with a quick blow to her chin.

KURAPIKA:

I watch the woman fall with a mix of relief and annoyance. In the middle of the air, on a crowded plane, and he wastes his time stealing her nen. Even more irritating is the fact that he's gotten himself hurt in the process. I get up, hurry forward as he drops onto the floor and slumps against the wall.

Pulling out my healing chain, I focus its power on his shoulder, kneeling beside him. He barely notices me, just sits with closed eyes, taking long, deep, breaths. At last, when the healing is over, he looks at me. "Thank you," he says. "That was closer than usual."

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" I demand. "You nearly got yourself killed playing around like that."

He blinks at me, that peculiar look in his eyes again. "The words you're looking for are 'You're welcome'," he points out dryly. "Are you planning on helping the others? Or would you prefer to let them writhe around in pain while you quarrel with me?"

I snarl something in my clan language and turn to the nearest man. As I'm healing him, Quoll comments wryly, "I doubt it's physically possible for me to do that." It barely registers on me that he understood what I'd told him to do. It's not until I'm done with the Sky Marshal that I realize and when I turn to ask him how he knew he's already gone back to his seat.

"I have to thank the two of you," my patient says, sitting up. "But Who are you?" His dark eyes, set in heavy, swarthy, features are confused.

I pull out my Hunter's license, showing it to him. "We were just in the right place at the right time," I tell him and hope he makes the assumption that Quoll is a Hunter as well. "If you're okay, though, I'd better sit back down."

He nods. "I'll need to debrief you two when we land, though. Would you mind?"

I don't like it, but realize it's better to stay on authority's good side right now. I nod and go back to my seat, sliding past Quoll. He's leaning back, eyes closed, but I sense he's awake. "We have to talk to them after we land."

"Surprise."

I look at him. It's really not fair that he can look as innocent as that. I have to remind myself that he's not. That his boyish features hide a mind as convoluted and complex as Machiavelli. And not a lot nicer. "Why did you waste your time on that?" I ask.

"Wasn't a waste," he answers. "I got her power. At the expense of a good shirt and some pain. All things considered, it's worth the trade." He settles more deeply into the seat. "Now, I'm tired. Save scolding me for later."

To Be Continued


Author's notes:

My Partner in Crime – who is reading this and making comments privately, would have me know that a quoll is a marmoset and a close cousin to the Tasmanian Devil. They are, apparently, also vicious enough – despite their general air of 'cute' (at least to me) – to take on their larger kin. Talk about a strangely apropos name for our Dancho. See

Yukiko: I always like to thank the reviewers. Especially when they say such nice things to me. I'm glad no one's screaming bloody murder about my making Quoll a Kurota (Kurata? Karuta? ARGHH!). Glad you're having fun with this. As for not killing each other. It's going to be a close one, I think. (Kurapika: I would like to point out that quoll are endangered species. He keeps opening his mouth, he's going to be even more endangered.)

XD: Hey! Cool to get a review from someone whose fic I've been enjoying. Your Kurumon fic is a lovely, amusing, piece. (Points at XD's fic and suggests others read it too.) I want more, you know. Much much more. The first person POV is even *MORE* prickly in present tense. I don't know why I do things like this to myself. (Gallery: Masochism. Pure plain masochism. Kosagi: Shut up you bunch.) I understand about the POV switches getting confusing sometimes. If you catch an obvious pronoun problem, please, let me know. I think that's one of my weak points. Oh, could you tell me where in the anime the spider on Quoll's arm shows up? I might be able to use it to check the manga. Though I have my doubts. I'm pretty sure the only non anime art that ever shows the spider is fanart, darn it, and that on his back! And yes, the anime does vary somewhat from the manga. It's an alternate universe Yeah that's the ticket.

Lynlyn: And *another* review from someone with a good fic. Yours is *very* good, Lynlyn. (Points again and says suggests reading that one too.) Don't let worry if there's a similarity in phrases. I won't scream. I like where "Wild Hearts" has been going and want very much to see more. Quoll's name drives me batshit too. I used that spelling for a couple of different reasons, one of which is the aforementioned beastie and the other will be explained later. Re: Recent events. I'll email you to avoid spoilers, 'kay?