A/N: Coming back down to earth again for this one. Thank you to those that have reviewed! I'll be responding, I promise - the first half of my weeks are always hectic so I've just been juggling a lot. I appreciate the support. :)

Day 3 | Gideon, Salima | Rated: T

Unpopular Character

Salima thought it was weird that he'd asked to meet in a bar. It wasn't the type of place that she would have pictured Gideon and his pristine, albeit garish, suit. She got more of a hotel tea room vibe. Somewhere with fancy cakes and teacups the size of thimbles.

He definitely was not the type of person she'd expect to see in a seedy bar on the bad side of town. One with boarded up windows and a door that was open to patrons starting at breakfast time, no less.

It must be her, she realized, wincing when she accidentally trod in a puddle. The water went right through the hole in her boot to soak her sock. He could wait in a fancy hotel all he wanted and they'd never let her in to meet with him. Not dressed in the same clothes she'd worn for three days with a backpack full of all her essentials tossed over one shoulder.

It had been a rough couple of weeks.

That was why she entertained the idea of meeting with him in the first place. If she wasn't convinced she had no other options, she would never have agreed to meet with a grown man who approached her in a park to compliment her beyblading technique.

The guys would have ten thousand fits if they could see her.

There was a bell over the door – it was missing its middle bit so it could only clang forlornly as she let herself inside. A scan of the room revealed a couple of day drinkers, one nonplussed bartender and, in a far corner, the man she was here to see.

He noticed her right away and waved her over.

Salima took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and plastered the toughest look she could muster on her face. Then, against her better judgment, she joined him.

"Ah, Salima!" he exclaimed jovially. "Please, take a seat." He gestured to the booth across from him.

To her credit, she took stock of her surroundings before she sat down. Unfortunately she failed to consider that the bulk of the booth would hide her from view and block her off from the rest of the bar. It immediately put her on edge. She gripped the strap of her backpack until her knuckles were white. If needed, she could swing it at his head and run.

"Is this table all right, my dear?" he asked, eyeing her with concern.

"It's fine," she answered, too quickly to be believable. She gave Gideon a small smile, but inside she was berating herself. She didn't know if it was a bad thing to admit she was suspicious of him or not. In her mind it seemed like a good idea to play her true emotions close to her chest, but he seemed able to read her anyway. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "Why did you ask me here?"

A strange mix of emotions ghosted through his eyes, but she couldn't read them. It was like figures moving behind a sheer curtain – there was something there, but the details were lost. His lips curled into a grin.

"Ah, yes. Business first – a trait I can admire." He reached for a glass to his left and sipped the blood red liquid inside. Afterward, he took great care to blot any traces of it from his lips in a manner that would have made more sense if the napkin was cloth rather than cheap paper. Then his attention was back on her.

"As I said in the park, I have a proposition for you."

Salima felt her stomach drop at all the possible connotations of that word. Some of her concern must have shown on her face because Gideon held up a hand.

"Nothing illicit," he assured her. "It involves beyblades. You like the sport?"

Salima sighed and nodded slowly. That was what she was doing when he approached her and introduced himself.

Goki had picked up beyblading first. She hadn't known him well back then, but after seeing each other regularly in passing, they'd got to talking and he ended up getting her into it as well. That's how they met Kane and Jim. The four of them became fast friends – she and Kane, she sometimes thought, a little more than friends.

Salima wasn't used to having people in her life she could trust, let alone friends. It was refreshing after feeling alienated from her peers for so long, due to her living situation. With Goki, Kane, and Jim, it didn't matter how different they were or what they went home to or if they went home at all – they'd always be connected by their passion for beyblading.

"I do."

"It shows," Gideon complimented, pressing the tips of his fingers together and observing her over top of them. "Your skills are impressive, from what I've seen. Not many people realize that beyblading takes a great deal of mental control – some of the best beybladers in the world could take note of your level of discipline in that area. It's what would make you perfect."

When your life was as much of a mess as Salima's was, it was almost a relief to encounter a problem you could actually solve. That's what beyblade battles were to her. She loved finding the next-to-impossible openings in battle or learning new moves that gave her a leg up on the competition. It gave her a semblance of control when she needed it most.

Salima slid her bag off her shoulder and hugged it in her lap to hide the way she sighed, then asked, "Perfect for what? Sir." She added the last bit as an afterthought because he seemed like someone who would appreciate it.

Gideon took another drink, used another napkin, then said: "I am working on developing a new beyblading technology, at the request of my employer."

Salima nodded, indicating she was following, and he continued.

"My company has beybladers lined up to perform the necessary tests during development but, from what I saw in the park, you're in another league." His smile was probably meant to put her at ease, but it only made her more wary. "I think you could be the missing piece – the one who can wield the finished product successfully."

"Why me?" Salima wasn't stupid. She knew there were world class beybladers out there who could leave her in the dust. She fiddled absentmindedly with the zipper of her backpack. "I mean, surely there's someone more qualified. Someone with more experience."

Gideon hummed thoughtfully. He picked his wine glass up between gloved fingers and studied it in the dim lighting. This time he put it down without drinking.

"In my experience, and backed up by my extensive research, it's not so much a case of how long a person has been beyblading," he revealed, leaning in. "It's more to do with the strength of the mind. And, forgive me, but I don't believe I'd be wrong to assume that your maturity is a result of overcoming challenges others your age could not begin to understand."

Salima didn't answer, instead remembering the day she'd packed her rucksack and left home. It was a blur of strangers' hands, stumbling figures, and her mother agreeing that she wouldn't be missed. It wasn't said to be cruel. Just matter-of-fact. Her mother was too drunk to remember most things, and if she worried she'd just drink more to forget.

Gideon was right. Even her own friends didn't understand what she went through daily.

"Will it be dangerous?" Privately, she thought that it couldn't be any worse than what she had already left behind.

He laughed and his teeth were perfectly white and maybe a little pointy, if that wasn't her imagination. "Oh, no, my dear. Not at all. I wouldn't dream of putting someone as lovely as yourself in peril. Our project will undergo a multitude of tests before you even become involved."

"So," she began, running her thumbnail along the seam of her bag, suddenly restless, "what happens if I say yes?"

"Nothing right away. We've got a few months to go before everything is prepared. But, in the meantime, I would see to it that you have whatever you could possibly want or need. Do you need somewhere to stay?" His eyes flicked to her backpack, then back to her with a concerned curiosity.

His gaze was innocent enough, but the question made alarm bells go off in Salima's mind.

"Why?"

He smiled gently, like he knew what she was thinking, and reached over to pat her forearm. Salima fought the urge to clench her fist and press back into the cushions.

"If we'll be working together I'd like to know you're taken care of," Gideon crooned, sugary sweet concern layered on thick. " And I don't expect you to work for free. Your skills are much too valuable for that. So, tell me Salima: what is it you want?"

Salima blinked. Her eyes drifted to the table and she looked at every watermark and scuff without really seeing them. It had been longer than she could remember since anybody has asked her what she wanted. Maybe even longer since she'd let herself think about it.

"I want to get away," she whispered and immediately regretted how pathetic it sounded. She cleared her throat, shook her head, and said to him: "I meant that, I always wanted to see the world." Go somewhere different, start fresh. "My friends and I talk about traveling around when we're old enough and learning about different cultures. We want to meet other beybladers and learn from them."

He was looking at her like he took her seriously and she wasn't used to that from adults. She tucked her chin down with all the embarrassment of a child sharing their most astronomical dreams.

"As it so happens, our business will require a trip to Japan," he revealed.

Salima looked up with a carefully schooled expression. Something about Gideon still rubbed her the wrong way, but if he could promise her a trip to one of the world's top countries for beyblading (that just so happened to be far far away from her own hometown) she could get over it.

"I'm sure we can arrange for something supplementary in the meantime," he continued, speaking like she'd already agreed. "We wouldn't want you to grow stagnant, practicing the same old techniques you've already perfected. Just tell me where you'd like to go and I can arrange it."

This time she sincerely doubted that the flare of excitement didn't reach her eyes.

"But…" She hesitated, afraid if she put up any roadblocks for their plan that he'd take every promise back. "I don't have a passport. And I'm too young to get one on my own."

"Trifles," Gideon insisted, waving his hand dismissively. "There's ways around that sort of thing. What I'm more concerned about is you traveling by yourself. The world isn't always kind to a young woman traveling alone."

Salima held her breath, waiting for his offer of company. A shared hotel room. Some reason why this man who was willing to give her everything she ever dreamed of would even want to do so in the first place.

"Would your friends accompany you, do you think?"

Salima blinked, hardly able to believe what she was hearing.

"What?" Her voice sounded small.

Gideon grinned. Somehow she knew he knew that she was hooked. She couldn't pass up her ticket out of town or the opportunity to live the life she'd always dreamed with friends she loved more than any person she'd ever called family.

"I don't know what to say."

He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out an embossed business card. She didn't recognize the corporation when he set it down in front of her, but the name was his and the number was local.

"You can reach me at this number for the next three days while I'm still in town," he said and waited until she picked it up to continue. "I'm able to offer you – and your friends, if they so choose – the means to travel the world and continue your training. In exchange, the four of you will beyblade for me when the time is right. Does that sound fair?"

It sounded too good to be true. Every bone in her body was telling her to decline, leave, and run if he ever so much as looked her way again. But another part of her, small and hopeful, wanted to believe she was meant for more than making sure her mom didn't aspirate in the night and fending off advances from whichever boyfriend she had living with them that week.

"How soon can we leave?"

A/N: Is there a character more unpopular than Gideon? Maybe, but he's gotta be down there on the list. And yes, I enjoyed using this prompt as an excuse to write more Salima. I have a lot of Salima feels.

Thanks for reading!