Oh god, Alex what have you done?

Frank slumped backwards, still on his knees. Raven narrowly remembered it feeling like he was frozen in time. Stuck in the same position, but not looking like he was quite done moving. Suspended like this, forever.

Vaas knelt before his body, his pistol tapping thoughtfully on the side of his head directly over his scar. He had his eyes closed when he began speaking. "Such a fucking waste. You know that? That was a FUCKING waste." He was shaking his head then, a slight chuckle rose from the back of his throat. " I think Hoyt knows some fucker in Hong Kong who would have paid high price for this sack of shit." He stood up almost lazily and kicked frank in the side. His body toppled onto Nicole, staining the poor chef's clothes with blood.

The moment Frank fell, the screaming began. The sound rang as clearly in Raven's ears as the gun shot it followed, and it woke her from her thoughts of weightlessness, of Frank and his everlasting freeze frame.

He's not frozen anymore. This is real.

Nicole wriggled uselessly, practically flailing in an attempt to move away from the body. The look of horror never leaving her face. And her screams never silenced.

Vaas rubbed his temples and motioned to one of his guards. "I want her gagged. I can't stand the sound of that shit much longer." He began to walk down the line, continuously rubbing his temples. "Alright, now listen. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make some phone calls, see how much you lovely bunch of coconut-fucks are worth. " He brought his hands down to his lips and tilted his head thoughtfully to each side. "And then I'll give them a week to send me the money. If not, I'll be feeding your remains to my dogs. "

This caused Nicole to cry out again, and in a flash Vaas had turned away from the group and to his own men. "I SAID I WANT HER FUCKING GAGGED. DID I STUTTER?! HURRY UP YOU STUPID FUCKS!" His men moved into place almost instantly then, silencing the girl. She hardly put up a struggle. He was tapping his gun against the side of his head again then. "No, No, No… I'll be cool. It seems I have already failed to entertain Mr. Peters, I would hate to burst the bubble of Mr. Whitehead over there."

There were a few chuckles amongst his men as Vaas grinned almost boyishly at his own joke. Inwardly Raven was reeling. The man before her practically dripped insanity. He lost his temper on the drop of a hat, and clearly wasn't afraid to kill. She wondered briefly if her brother had met up with this psychopath. Worse yet, she wondered if he were still alive. This thought alone made her close her eyes, and bite back the urge to cry. But if he were still out there, he would have no use for her crying like a lost child. Crying lost children never found their way home, and could never lead anyone back home either. Her inner monologue brought her to the thought of Rei.

"If your brother is really in any sort of trouble, I don't think he'll be too concerned with how neatly you have your hair up."

She sighed. She could build up a façade all she wanted, but she had to focus if she actually wanted to make a difference.

Alright. Breathe. Focus. Center.

She was acutely aware that Vaas had begun moving towards her when she allowed herself to exhale, not realizing she had been holding her breath for some time.

He knelt before her and looked almost kindly into her face. "Now you have been quiet little bird. Have I failed to entertain you like Miss Sparks over there?" He motioned idly to the woman, now bound and gagged placed all too comically in the arms of their dead captain. It might have been his pirates idea of a joke.

Raven looked at the girl only for a moment, meeting his gaze steadily and narrowing her eyes.

His eyebrow raised, almost challengingly. "I really wish you wouldn't give me that look Amiga. You and I… We're going to get to know each other very well over the next few weeks. You and your little bunch of bumbling assholes. "

He seemed to snicker as he drew brought out his hand to brush his thumb across her bottom lip, leaving Raven to do all she could not to cringe. "Still nothing to say. A shame" He said, leaning in closer then to whisper in her ear " Didn't Maya Angelou say the caged bird sings for freedom?"

Her body went rigid, if only for a moment. But in that instant, she knew she had to stop being the lost child. The caged bird had to sing.

She closed her eyes, braced herself, and slammed her forehead into the bridge of his nose, as hard as she could.

Thanks for reading!

We got to see a bit more of Raven this time! Yaaaaaaaaay!

Not that having a ton of Vaas is a bad thing. :P

Thanks so much for the continued support! I'll be updating again soon!