Seeing the Sun

Uh.. that one chapter

A/N: Sorry my updates haven't been to consistent. I can't really concentrate for too long... on anything. Even guitar. :P

Meg is crying, silently sobbing as tears fall down her cheeks. Jo pulls her close, completely numb in comparison to her girlfriend. Her eyes seem to have gotten colder and glassier as she told the story, pensive. She'd been spacing out like that since America, though Meg had no idea why. The sun had long set now, and the moonlight reflects off of Jo's hair, which seems to cast a light of it's very own, somehow.

It's gotten colder, causing the gunslinger to subconsciously take off her jacket and give it to Meg. Meg is calmer, now, but she's still crying a bit. It all made sense to her now. Jo's hate for her own powers, Jo's reluctance to talk about America (or go there, in the first place), the nostalgic look in the older girl's eyes whenever she spoke of her sister...

She kind of wished she'd been able to find out sooner, so Jo wouldn't have to say it.

Jo, who had just practically relived her worst memories, was still dry-eyed. The silver-haired girl wondered if her powers had dried up all her tears. Then it would make sense, why she hadn't cried in all that time. Something was stopping her. Like some sort of barrier. She could feel the tears, but she could never summon them. It was hard. It was simply impossible for her.

If it didn't sound so mushy to say so, she'd swear that it was the tears she was holding in that were killing her. But she faced the facts. It was her powers that were killing her, eating her alive. She knew that eventually she would be nothing but a pile of ash and blood. And she would accept her fate, even though she would try to put it off for as long as possible.

What she had on her mind was both the reason she was silent and the reason she had not yet told Sei and Amy of her past. NTNW, the company that Bai-Lan was supporting. The company that had, in fact, ruined her life all those years ago. A company that she planned to bring down.

She could not strike so soon, because she was not yet prepared. She didn't want to depend on her powers too much, because frankly Bai-Lan would not be able to support her after this, no matter how good she was at putting a bullet through "bad people's" eyes. After all, they were officially partnered up with the evil corporation. She already knew two people who would help her out with it: Leo Jinno and the arms dealer.

Leo would definitely help her. He was black-mailed into joining the syndicate, something she knew from the start. She had a good eye for people who were mistreated in some way, or reluctant to be doing what they were doing. As the saying goes, it takes one to know one. He could give D'jango great improvements, and he would do so gladly. Of this, she was certain.

The arms dealer was practically a definite yes. She was there for a reason that was only a bit similar to hers: She too needed a daily supply of medicine. The disease was different, of course, and the only reason Jo knew about it was, first of all, because the woman cursed Bai-Lan with every drunken breath she could muster, and secondly, the woman seemed to develop an unhealthy dependency on them. With how she acted now, Jo wouldn't be surprised if the woman just flat out quit, so she had to act soon, but not too soon.

The problem resided with her family. Knowing Katsumi, he'd punish them for something she did, if she were to die. That wasn't likely, but it was still a possibility. She'd hidden any intentions towards NTNW from Sei and Amy, though she'd almost lost it when she'd seen the paper. And oh, how tempting it had been when she'd had to watch their meeting. She almost went in there, but she didn't.

Then she remembered something. Meeting Katsumi to receive that very mission. Anger, not at her, but something else in his eyes as he explained the meeting through grit teeth. He'd been forcing the news about the meeting through his lips. She knew enough to know what that meant.

NTNW was threatening Bai-Lan.

It all made sense now. Her plan did not change, for NTNW probably had agents within the syndicate and she could not declare an allout war between the two companies. But her family would be perfectly safe if she did it. She could do this. She just had to get things ready. But one more dillemna...

"What are you thinking about, Jo?"

A promise she'd made...

"Don't die anytime soon. I don't want you to die."

"Nothing, Meg. Let's go."

She won't die.

She'll win.

"Well, kid, you sure have grown up," comments the dealer, taking in what Jo had told her. It was tempting, that was for sure. "Hey, what the hell. I'm dying soon anyways. Sure, I'll help you out. What you need will be ready in two weeks, tops. Now get the hell out of my store so I can get to work."

The woman follows Jo to the door so she can flip the sign to closed. She'll stay closed until she's done working. Jo's only seen her close the shop like that twice. Once for when her sickness got really bad, and another time when she had a huge job to do for Bai-Lan. This was enough assurance that the job would be done, and done well.

Now to talk to Leo.

She walks over to her apartment, but instead of going through the building she scales the side of it. It's not too hard for her to find footholds in between the bricks, especially since some bricks had fallen out. She climbs it with ease, using only the stregth of her arms to pull herself onto the roof, where Leo made his workshop. The only think keeping the wall of the worshop from being another part of the apartment was it's lack of ceiling. The walls were elevated to keep anything Leo worked on top secret.

She knocks on one of the walls, causing the mechanic to jump. He turns and, knowing that she hadn't taken the stairs, smirks.

"Anything I can do for you, Spiderman?"

Rolling her eyes, Jo explains her plan.

A/N: Sorry it's so short. :P I wanted to see if people made ties to Jo's Past and the chapter before, where they went to America.