Author's Note: Much thanks to BaCa19 and Leena39 for the editing.

Chapter Five: Quit Your Bitching, Lair.

Fang inwardly flinched. Even through her drug-induced sleep, she could feel Lightning's dream piercing stare. She could not yet tell whether that stare was life threatening or not. That would require her to open her eyes. Something she was really trying to avoid doing.

"How long do you intend to play possum?" Lightning asked whilst keeping her voice low and soft. She could tell Fang was no longer asleep. She knew firsthand what the extreme headaches left by head blows felt like, along with a killer concussion. High-pitched voices were at the top of the list for making things worse. Luckily for her, last nights frustration had dissipated. She was not quite sure how to feel as she placed her cool soft hands on Fang's forehead and brushed away the dark locks

"Depends," Fang opened her blue eyes. They were cloudy with sleep and slightly glazed over. Lightning could not accurately judge how Fang felt. The raven-haired woman sensed Lightning's discomfort and gave her, what she hoped to be a comforting smirk.

"Don't give me that look," Lightning said, trying to hide her annoyance. "I just suffered through a night with your best friend dancing on my nerves."

"Fine, the next time you end up in the slammer I'm leaving you there, Sunshine."

"I'm rather curious to know what you promised her in return," Lightning said. "Having something as precious as me in her grasp must have come at a pretty high price."

Fang sighed. She had not had time to prepare for that question. It never took Lightning very long to get to the point. Only god knows what the two women talked about while Lightning was Jihl's captive audience.

"Don't flatter yourself," Fang said. "It was nothing big."

Lightning watched her closely. Fang was never one to look her in the eyes when she lied. She watched the stiffening of the older woman's broad shoulders and the way her fingers shook as she fidgeted with her I.V.

"You're lying," Lightning said. "And there is only one reason you'd lie."

"I don't want to talk about it," Fang replied.

"Oh, it had to be something really worth the price," Lightning said. "I wonder if I called Vanille…"

"It's none of your business," Fang snapped. "Do you have any idea how much of my pride I lost just by making that fucking phone call."

"Quit your bitching, liar." Lightning said. "If we weren't in this hospital I'd kick your a-"

"Is there anything wrong ladies?" The nurse that was seeing to Fang asked. "I thought I heard someone calling."

"No," Lightning said. "I was just on my way out."

Lightning got up and without another word, she left. Fang scoffed. Lightning could be such a pain in the ass.

Lightning checked the mailbox on her way inside the house. She was done visiting Fang, the woman infuriated her. Vanille would have to go and fetch her from the hospital tomorrow morning when she was released. The envelope in her hand was light and the handwriting on the front was familiar. She put it aside and went to go make herself comfortable.

Serah was not home. She had been spending more and more time with the boys over the last few days. It was pathetically apparent how much she missed Snow while he was gone. After changing her clothes, she went into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. She was going through one of her binges. It would die soon.

She went back to the note and took a seat at the island in the kitchen. Opening it, she read the neat handwriting on the small slip of paper. It was just as she suspected. Her small group was being called out on another mission. She was not sure they would be up to go so soon after just coming back. Serah was locking down on Snow. Vanille was becoming bored with traveling all the time. Sazh could not afford to be away from Dajh for longer than need be, and Hope needed more stability.

If she were speaking to the older woman she would probably have been able to talk Fang into going, but she really did not feel like having the Oerbian female dancing on her nerves in the middle of nowhere. Fang would disagree but she was in no position to go off fighting any hardcore battles.

They would simply have to turn the assignment down.

Lightning heard the door in the living room open and shut gently. Whoever entered shuffled around at the door with their shoes. Lightning felt a smile pull at the corner of her mouth when her guest tripped and fell over. A short time later, Hope appeared.

Lightning tucked the note away in her pocket and met the boy's eyes. He blushed a little but brushed it off.

"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously. Ever since Lightning had spent the night in jail, she had been acting funny in his opinion. She had always been secretive but now she was actively keeping things from them.

"Nothing really," Lightning responded. "Just wondering when I'll get that transfer."

"You're really eager to leave us, aren't you?"

"Don't be such a baby," she told him. "I'm not going to leave you."

Hope nodded but did not look convinced. He was always afraid she would pack up in the middle of the night and leave him with their friends. Lightning sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Why are you so devoted to someone you don't trust?" Lightning asked him, catching eye contact with the boy and refusing to let it go.

"Sorry," Hope said looking down. "I just don't want you to get so stressed out you feel like leaving is your only option.

"Quit worrying about me," Lightning said. She got up from her stool and went over to him; placing her hands on his shoulders, she gripped him firmly, forcing him to look into her eyes. "You're starting to sound like Serah."

Hope wanted to protest but he left the issue alone.

"What else is on your mind?"

She left him and went over to the refrigerator it was time for lunch and she was sure the boy had not been fed. Spoiled brat.

"I've wanted to go and visit Fang but no one will take me," Hope said. "I was hoping maybe since you were going to go I could go with you."

"I don't see why you couldn't go on your own. I trust you'll stay out of trouble."

He nodded.

Hope stayed longer and had lunch with the slightly older woman. They complimented each other nicely with their sincerely quiet natures.

An hour and a half later, Hope found himself in the elevator of Bodhum's only hospital. When the doors dinged and opened, He got out and looked around. There were not very many nurses bustling about so it was relatively silent.

He found Fang's room with ease. As he approached her door, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He shook it off. He had never been a fan of hospitals.

Fang was awake when he entered and welcomed him with a smile. She had been in the hospital nearly a week and was glad to be finally going home the next day.

Hope would have returned the smiled but the presence of Fangs other guest made him step back a few feet. He had moved back so far he was almost completely out of the room again.

"Hope," The tall blonde sitting in the chair next to Fang's other guest bed greeted. "It's been a while."

"Uh, yeah," Hope said. "I'll come back later."

"No, it's fine. I was just leaving," Jihl said. She got up. The older woman leaned over and whispered something in Fangs ear. When she was done with her message, she cupped Fangs cheek and brought the other woman's lips to hers.

Hope turned away to give the two privacy, but disapproval churned within him. Jihl, he was sure was more than likely a nice person. A tad jealous and manipulative definitely but Fang had to see something in her to be giving her a second chance.

Jihl made eye contact with him as she brushed past him on her way out of the door. Her heels clicked softly along as she walked. He waited until he could no longer hear her. Fang looked uneasily at his grim face.

"Don't worry," Hope said. "I'm not touching that one."

"Thanks," Fang answered. "You know that gals, Vanille'll have my head and Lightning, well she just won't speak to me."

"Those are best case scenarios," Hope reminded her. "But I'm not here to talk about the problems you're creating for yourself. How have you been feeling?"

"Like I should have been out of bed days ago," Fang said. "I'm bored most of the time but sometimes I get visitors and that makes the experience brighter."

"I just don't understand why you two fight. All of Bodhum knows you two are formidable." Hope said. "Is it a dominance thing?"

"What do you mean?" Fang laughed.

"Like when dominant animals in the wild fight off younger challengers," he explained. "They get put in their place but are resilient, so no matter how many times they lose they come back for more."

"No, but close. And if it were are you insinuating Lightning is our dominant female?" Fang asked. She looked skeptically at the boy.

"Well," He said. "Isn't she?"

"More like a lioness keeping her cubs close," Fang said. "Cubs being everyone except me."

"Right," He said. "But that still doesn't explain why."

"You'll understand one day," she said. "Lightning and I have a unique situation."

"Whatever," Hope said. "So what have they been feeding you in here?"

"I'm not sure," She replied. "Serah and Vanille are like clockwork. Vanille has been making these amazing breakfasts' as of late. You?"

"I had lunch with Light and she made these great sandwiches and an autumn salad that would have made you want to swallow your tongue."

Fangs stomach growled at the thought and Hope smiled.

"You really know how to make a girl homesick," Fang said.

It went quiet. Hope looked out of the window in Fangs room. The bedridden woman had a nice view of Bodhum. Fang watched the expressions pass over his face. They never lasted longer than a few seconds but she caught all of them.

"What's eating you?" Fang asked.

"I think we have another mission," Hope answered. "But no one is prepared to go so she might try and do something rash like go all commando, ya know?"

"Don't you trust her?"

"Yes," Hope said. "I trust Lightning to be Lightning and sometimes she's like a kid with a ball. She plays with it and when that ball gets away from her and rolls into the road, she doesn't always consider all of the possible ramifications before running out after it."

"That's because in her mind the ramifications don't apply to her," Fang said. "And the ones that do are just minor inconveniences for her."

"That's our Lightning," Hope said. He smiled proudly at the bedridden woman and she nodded. They wouldn't have her any other way.

Lightning awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She groaned and turned over. She didn't want to open her eyes so she felt around for the electronic device until her hands found it. Without looking at the caller I.D she answered it. The drowsy woman held in a curse when Fangs voice met her ear. It had only been a few days since Fang had gotten out of the hospital and the woman was already driving her nuts.

Instead of trying to go back to sleep, Lightning got up and decided to make her bed. She pulled off all the blankets and started from the very bottom. She liked her bed made a certain way. The sheets were always first then, depending on the time of year, a light blanket. She tightly tucked the corners. When she was finished she smoothed out the remaining wrinkles. She had left her large comforter on the floor until now. She picked it up and brushed it off before folding it and laying it neatly at the end of the bed.

She inspected her handy work with a critical eye and then set off to get dressed. She shuffled through her closet and pulled out a pair of tan cargo pants and a pale blue shirt. It would be too hot out for an undershirt. Her phone rang again and she ignored it. Just like she had every other time the woman had tried to contact her since their last meeting.

She was leaving the bedroom when someone knocked on her door. It was still pretty early. She figured it must have been someone she knew. Lightning eyed the door and walked toward it but stopped when she got closer. The silhouette cast through the curtains over the doors window made her think back to her annoying phone. Her eyes turned to slits and she reached over the back of the couch to retrieve Blaze Edge from its resting place.

Apparently just being ignored wasn't going to be enough.