My Cause-

Disclaimer- I do not own the characters or lyrics from the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera

Plot Summary- A year after the events of the Opera, Amber (the new CEO of GeneCo) assaults and leaves Graverobber for dead. Fortunately for him, a certain teenager stumbles upon him and takes care of him. Grilo.

She woke up later afternoon with him resting by her side. Her arm wrapped tightly around him as if to keep him there. Shilo had brought him to the bedroom to check his wounds before bed; and both of them ended up falling asleep the minute they reached the bed. Locks of his long hair tickled her face; but she was still too tired to bother with it.

Shilo was exhausted; but her mind was still plague with one thing. It wasn't something necessarily wanted to deal with right now, but was afraid to hope unless she did. "Graves?"

With a groan, he stretched out but didn't flip to face her. "What?"

"Remember when you said I owed you a night? I think you're wrong."

"Oh?" Graverobber picked up his head in interest. Shilo leaned on to her elbows and nodded.

"I think I owe you my life; if you hadn't saved me last night, I would have died, or worse, stuck at the opera forever." Shilo said softly. Her hands nervously drifted over the white dress she hadn't bothered taking off. There was a sudden ache to get it off and change into something more comfortable.

Graverobber sighed and rolled onto his back. Shilo rose from the bed and tried to rebend her body. It had been almost a week since her last workout; it was irrational, but she was almost afraid she'd get sick. "I got you into that mess kid, you don't owe me a goddamn thing."

Shilo pondered the thought for a moment, her hand pressed against the doorway to stop her from leaving. "And I've saved you before so… I guess we're even now. We have no reason to owe each other." Shilo's eyes met his as she twisted herself back to him. "Graverobber, I … I think I love you."

The words moved him; after all, he had been waiting to hear them. However, he tried to hide it though, under the blanket of his emotions. He wasn't a lover—a sexual partner maybe, a friend, surprisingly yes—but not a lover. "Look at yourself, your barely a woman, how could you possibly know what love is?"

Good question, Shilo thought. An even better one was why bother with it when it was apparent he didn't want it. What had made her think he would? His rescue? His kiss? "My dad told me something a long time ago. When I asked him why he couldn't let mom go. It wasn't a fight or anything; I just wanted to know. And without even thinking, he told me that when you loved someone, you'd die for them. You die a little inside when something happens to them. You give up yourself and everything you care for, because none of it could possibly mean as much as them. I don't know if I truly love you like he loved my mom but… well, we both made a lot of sacrifice didn't we?"

"Yeah…" Graverobber felt himself caving. Like it was becoming more and more useless to fight it. "Look kid, I…I like you a lot, and not like a friend sort of way. I mean, you're fucking incredible. But do you really think it's a good idea to love me? I'm not exactly a safe bet…"

"Amber showed me what happened between you and her." Shilo said matter-of-fact like. He pushed himself into a sitting up position. He heard a familiar hint of jealousy but with none of the malice it had when he told her of his first kiss. "Your life was on the line, you could have gotten yourself out, but instead you rejected her."

"Because she wanted to control me…"

"Bullshit, I've seen you and Amber tango but it was never like that!" Shilo exploded, walking back towards the bed. "You may deny it, but there was a time when you 'liked her a lot' too. I sincerely doubt your refusal to have sex with her was because of your little game with her!"

By the time she reached the bed, he was leaning forward. Their faces were now only inches apart. The fire in her eyes sliced through his resistance. A smirk came across the elder's face. "Well, then… you've figured it out, haven't you?"

Her anger dissipated. "What do you mean?"

Graverobber put both hands on either side of her face and passionately crushed his lips against hers. Shilo moaned and gave into the kiss, pressing his body against hers. He lowered his back onto the bed, bringing her down on top of him.

"The only girl who pulls my strings is you, kid." The kiss continued, his hands roamed, pulling her white dress down.

"Careful, it's Mag's." Shilo added breathlessly.

Graverobber chuckled. "Doesn't matter—when I'm through with you, white won't suit you."

With that final thought; they gave each other the time they had promised what seemed so long ago but was really only a few days. Both of them blown away from the feelings, emotions, and passion it brought.

And it was awesome.

()

By all accounts, they were taking it slow. And by that, Shilo didn't say she loved him again, and he didn't confess his love for her quite yet. There were no big decisions made of their future, sacrifices made or anything of that sort. Graverobber simply wasn't allowed to accept sex as payment for zydrate anymore; something he hardly missed. There was something deliciously wicked about having a girlfriend at least 10 years younger than him.

Things seemed relatively normal; he was healed and back to work, and she was back to class. That was until Amber reappeared yet again.

"Here." She threw a wad of money at his feet, her arms crossed in anticipation. The nerve of he- to walk in like nothing ever happened.

Graverobber kicked the money back. "Piss off; I don't want your business anymore."

With a humor-filled smile, she asked in a patronizing voice. "Why is that, Graves? Because your little girlfriend won't let you play? Where's your balls?"

He answered with an equally patronizing smile. "They're right where you left them Amber, you know, after the past few times you tried to kill me!" Figuring she wouldn't leave, he started walking away. He cursed when the sound of clicking heels followed him. "You're a piece of work, you know that? I'm tired of playing with you. I've found a new toy to play with…one that hasn't been used."

"Fine, insult me... throw me away, I don't care, just… give me the hit." He stopped and looked over his shoulder. Those pleading eyes she use to use when they were something of item. He felt sorry for her; but mostly, just thought she was pathetic.

He took the gun and put the vile of zydrate in. He trusted it into her hands. "Here, you want a hit? Do it yourself… I don't even want to touch you."

Amber took the gun and glared at it, positioning it on her skin. Graverobber watched; making sure she would try and take off with the gun.

Even he couldn't foresee what would happen; even if he should have. Before he could stop her, Amber placed the gun on his shoulder and shot it off. Graverobber fell, reaching for where she had injected the zydrate. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

He was growing dizzy; enough that Amber was able to grab his bag and draw out another vile. "This fucking game—you're right, it's over. But not because you said it is…"

She pushed the gun against his arm and injected another dose of zydrate into him. This time he fell over too dazed to even comprehend her. She continued to speak at him as she loaded the gun yet again. "You're the only thing that makes my life worth something you know. That and the company, but everyone is pushing for that brat to try and reclaim it since that night at the Opera… And what's stopping her?"

"My dad always fucking hated me! See, Shilo was the daughter he always wanted; the daughter he thought he deserved! But he couldn't see me for my beauty; my talent… so I had to try and change myself, try to become a superstar. Neither of those things happened either. My father didn't leave a thing to me! Left it all to that bitch!"

She injected him a third time; this time on his back, he groaned, tried to focus on breathing. At this rate, he was going to overdose. "In a way; you're just like him…chasing after someone else when I'm right here. The same person even! Well, she got my father, but she's not taking you…"

"Am- ber…St..Stop." He managed to mumbled through his cloudy haze. Amber shook her heard, tears falling from her eyes as she held the reloaded zydrate gun to her thigh.

It shot off; and then she too was dazed. Despite this, she reloaded the gun again and held it against her wrist. "It's a perfect way to die…painless, and justified."

The gun went off and Amber tumbled to the ground next to him. Graverobber managed to turn on his wrist phone Shilo had given to him a few days ago. "Kid…"

The phone dialed and a voice came on. "Hey Graves, what's up?"

"Al…Al…Am…"

"What's wrong?" Shilo asked suddenly, her voice heavy with concern. Graverobber shook his head clear and spoke again.

"Ally…Am…Amber…help."

He wasn't sure if he hung up or if at that point he passed out. If he hadn't, he gave into the black soon after. He could feel his heart rate slowing, his breath growing shallow. It sucked; he had finally found someone worth liking; a potential woman to be true to, and now, he was probably going to die.

Amber was right though; it was painless, and in a way, it was justice. Beautiful, poetic justice.

But a pain buried beneath, hoped that Shilo would find him and keep him with her.