An Unfinished Story
I never could figure out how to end this, and I'm still sure I failed on Ryuuichi characterization. But hey, at least I can put it up. Way post the canon ACAW that we went through.
It's a gunshot that awakens him, or at least draws his attention because who could sleep in a place like this? While he'd grown used to them over the last day and a half, and it was to be expected of this area of the city (gang wars were rampant, he knew that from years of fleeing the cops through this area, and a while now from pursuing suspects through the same area), but the shots coming from far closer than normal is what caught him off guard. That and the fact that his captors didn't seem the normal sort of crooks, not people who dealt illegally in guns These men were undoubtedly Zeroes, and the only reason that Zeroes would be shooting at people would be if they had orders to, or they were a direct threat. The gangs here would know there were Zerodantai and wouldn't even dare to come near. This could mean only one thing... some idiot risking a rescue.
Jiro.
As the shots grew closer, Ryuuichi began to struggle against the bindings that kept him bound against the pillar behind him. Unfortunately after that last escape attempt his captors had bound his wrists together so tightly that even moving them hurt. Well, the beating hadn't helped, or the busted lip, and that broken finger or four. No pain, no gain though, and if that was really the calvary out there they would need to know what Ryuuichi had learned when a taunting captor had decided that since they were going to kill him anyway, they could tell him about what their boss had in store for the chief.
Still the shooting persisted as he struggled through the pain, but training caught the sound of the door of the room opening. He'd grown used to the creaking, but never unaware. Immediately he went still, not ready to encourage whatever captor it was coming to check on him that the bindings needed tightening, or he needed dead. Last thing Ryuuichi needed right now was a bunch of cools risking their lives for him and him getting shot by a jumpy guard.
"Why the hell can't we get our communications through?"
"Probably using some jammers. Damn rebels. All this for a single damn cop?"
"He must be one of them," the first voice said as the pair drew closer to Ryuuichi. Their voices were familiar to him, the same old guards, but he didn't lift his head. Better to be thought unconscious. "We should just kill him and head back to report in."
"Sorry boys. I can't allow that," a third voice interrupted, low and smoky and definitely female. A moment later two shots rang out, rather near to Ryuuichi, and two groans, and finally two thuds. For a while there was silence (at least in this room, the sounds of a fire fight still came from the hall beyond the door) and then high heeled boots clicking closer and closer on the floor. After that initial movement, the first click, things begin to happen again. The gunfire actually dies down, there is shouting beyond the door, and the sounds of more people entering the room.
"Ma'am, we've finished the last of them, save two holed up in an office," someone reported as the heels came to a halt before him.
"Kill them. We leave none alive. No one to say what happened here."
"But ma'am..."
"And we leave behind a treat. The bitch needs to know we aren't happy with her tactics, even if she knows not who we are. Have them leave the mark nearby, I'm sure he'd like the credit for this."
"Yea ma'am."
"Now leave us. There is little time and much to do."
There is more noise for a while, feet retreating as the heels begin to move again, this time behind him. Ryuuichi doesn't even flinch when a hand closes over his and a cool blade brushes against his wrist. Nor foes he really move when the restraints are cut, or when the hands move to remove his blindfold.
It is only once this was done that he began to look around, and only for that does he move. Buit it's not far. A sharp pain from what was probably a broken rib kept him from too much motion. There was a hiss to go along with the pain, which quickly brought the woman to his side, looking on with concern. This is a familiar face, he knew it would be once he heard her voice, but the look on it is far from common. Concern, fear, worry, the way the laugh and smile formed wrinkles around the eyes and lips deepen the frown that he's never known before. It fits too well with this old storage room in an old factory, with the dark and dull colors, with the guns he can clearly see at her sides.
"You're..." he began, only to find his voice hoarse.
"Yes," she answers, and it's not wholly unexpected.
"Luine, why?"
"Jiro came to me, asked for help."
"He knew?"
Luine smiled sadly and shook her head. "No. Dear Heimdall didn't know. I would never ask him to be a Kuushuugou. You know his problems with both sides, even though he doesn't realize how much of a tool he's been for both. All they do now is repay a debt to him."
"Where...?"
This finds her looking away, refusing to meet his eyes. "Are you badly injured? We have a doctor to take you to, one of ours, before heading underground."
"Underground?" he demanded, mustering what authority he could.
"It is that or death little Loki. This is a choice made for you, by Jiro, by the Kuushuu, by the Zeroes, and by that bitch Saita."
"Explain."
"There is no time. We must go before she realizes what we've done."
"Luine!"
"Come on," she insisted, suddenly anxious and looking to the door where another man stood. A man with only one hand.
"Takeshi?" The question is weak, the most Ryuuichi can manage through the pain and quickly approaching fatigue.
The former pianist actually jumped at the use of his name.
"Get him to quiet down," the man whispered, "We don't have time for this, Lu."
"I know," she hissed back. "Trust me, I know better than anyone."
"Luine," Ryuuichi cut in, finally annoyed with having his question dodged, "Where is Jiro?"
Both of his near relatives grew silent, and from what he could tell in this light, pale.
"You have to tell him Lu, or he'll never listen. We don't have time."
The woman nodded in agreement. "Walk and talk if you can. They're probably already setting up Joker's gift."
They are into the halls before she speaks again, their pace slow and easy considering the greater damage Ryuuichi had taken than originally suspected. When the silence is broken the words are what he had feared they would be.
"He's with the Ichibantaichou," comes the whisper from the side Takeshi has taken to supporting.
"Giving us time enough to save your life," Luine adds before Ryuuichi can question further.
"He didn't tell use what he was planning either, other than the whole idea of going to her to earn your freedom."
"Fucking idiot went to the source of the problem to save me? What the hell was he thinking?" Ryuuichi demanded, knowing he would get no answer.
"About how much he loves you," comes the immediate response from Luine. "About how he couldn't lose you. About how he should protect you as much as you protect him, no matter the price. That you are his life, you're more important to him now than she ever was, than anything ever was, and like hell he'd lose you to Saita's manipulations. No matter the price."
No one says anything then, as they continue their pace down the hall, turning a corner, and seeing a bright light at the end of the next hall. Freedom, freedom was there, the city was there, and somewhere out there in that city, was Jiro.
"And he thinks that his life is an acceptable price for my freedom? Damn idiot."
"No," the woman says after a few more paces, each one bringing them closer to the outside, "No Ryuuichi. He knows it is the only one he is fit to pay, the highest price he can afford."
"But he's going to..."
"I KNOW," a growl finally comes from the woman. Her patience has worn out. "I know as well as you do. But the longer you fucking take, the more time I have to waste here saving your damn ass, the longer it will be until I can get there, the less likely it is that I can help him. So hurry your damn self up so I can go save the fucking fool!"
And it actually takes him a moment to process the order and it's implications, but once he does, he's trying to speed their pace up. No way he was going to let her do this alone.
"I'm going with you."
And that was all she wrote before she realized all the flaws in tense and plot and all that other great stuff and how OOC Ryuu probably was.
It's a gunshot that awakens him, or at least draws his attention because who could sleep in a place like this? While he'd grown used to them over the last day and a half, and it was to be expected of this area of the city (gang wars were rampant, he knew that from years of fleeing the cops through this area, and a while now from pursuing suspects through the same area), but the shots coming from far closer than normal is what caught him off guard. That and the fact that his captors didn't seem the normal sort of crooks, not people who dealt illegally in guns These men were undoubtedly Zeroes, and the only reason that Zeroes would be shooting at people would be if they had orders to, or they were a direct threat. The gangs here would know there were Zerodantai and wouldn't even dare to come near. This could mean only one thing... some idiot risking a rescue.
Jiro.
As the shots grew closer, Ryuuichi began to struggle against the bindings that kept him bound against the pillar behind him. Unfortunately after that last escape attempt his captors had bound his wrists together so tightly that even moving them hurt. Well, the beating hadn't helped, or the busted lip, and that broken finger or four. No pain, no gain though, and if that was really the calvary out there they would need to know what Ryuuichi had learned when a taunting captor had decided that since they were going to kill him anyway, they could tell him about what their boss had in store for the chief.
Still the shooting persisted as he struggled through the pain, but training caught the sound of the door of the room opening. He'd grown used to the creaking, but never unaware. Immediately he went still, not ready to encourage whatever captor it was coming to check on him that the bindings needed tightening, or he needed dead. Last thing Ryuuichi needed right now was a bunch of cools risking their lives for him and him getting shot by a jumpy guard.
"Why the hell can't we get our communications through?"
"Probably using some jammers. Damn rebels. All this for a single damn cop?"
"He must be one of them," the first voice said as the pair drew closer to Ryuuichi. Their voices were familiar to him, the same old guards, but he didn't lift his head. Better to be thought unconscious. "We should just kill him and head back to report in."
"Sorry boys. I can't allow that," a third voice interrupted, low and smoky and definitely female. A moment later two shots rang out, rather near to Ryuuichi, and two groans, and finally two thuds. For a while there was silence (at least in this room, the sounds of a fire fight still came from the hall beyond the door) and then high heeled boots clicking closer and closer on the floor. After that initial movement, the first click, things begin to happen again. The gunfire actually dies down, there is shouting beyond the door, and the sounds of more people entering the room.
"Ma'am, we've finished the last of them, save two holed up in an office," someone reported as the heels came to a halt before him.
"Kill them. We leave none alive. No one to say what happened here."
"But ma'am..."
"And we leave behind a treat. The bitch needs to know we aren't happy with her tactics, even if she knows not who we are. Have them leave the mark nearby, I'm sure he'd like the credit for this."
"Yea ma'am."
"Now leave us. There is little time and much to do."
There is more noise for a while, feet retreating as the heels begin to move again, this time behind him. Ryuuichi doesn't even flinch when a hand closes over his and a cool blade brushes against his wrist. Nor foes he really move when the restraints are cut, or when the hands move to remove his blindfold.
It is only once this was done that he began to look around, and only for that does he move. Buit it's not far. A sharp pain from what was probably a broken rib kept him from too much motion. There was a hiss to go along with the pain, which quickly brought the woman to his side, looking on with concern. This is a familiar face, he knew it would be once he heard her voice, but the look on it is far from common. Concern, fear, worry, the way the laugh and smile formed wrinkles around the eyes and lips deepen the frown that he's never known before. It fits too well with this old storage room in an old factory, with the dark and dull colors, with the guns he can clearly see at her sides.
"You're..." he began, only to find his voice hoarse.
"Yes," she answers, and it's not wholly unexpected.
"Luine, why?"
"Jiro came to me, asked for help."
"He knew?"
Luine smiled sadly and shook her head. "No. Dear Heimdall didn't know. I would never ask him to be a Kuushuugou. You know his problems with both sides, even though he doesn't realize how much of a tool he's been for both. All they do now is repay a debt to him."
"Where...?"
This finds her looking away, refusing to meet his eyes. "Are you badly injured? We have a doctor to take you to, one of ours, before heading underground."
"Underground?" he demanded, mustering what authority he could.
"It is that or death little Loki. This is a choice made for you, by Jiro, by the Kuushuu, by the Zeroes, and by that bitch Saita."
"Explain."
"There is no time. We must go before she realizes what we've done."
"Luine!"
"Come on," she insisted, suddenly anxious and looking to the door where another man stood. A man with only one hand.
"Takeshi?" The question is weak, the most Ryuuichi can manage through the pain and quickly approaching fatigue.
The former pianist actually jumped at the use of his name.
"Get him to quiet down," the man whispered, "We don't have time for this, Lu."
"I know," she hissed back. "Trust me, I know better than anyone."
"Luine," Ryuuichi cut in, finally annoyed with having his question dodged, "Where is Jiro?"
Both of his near relatives grew silent, and from what he could tell in this light, pale.
"You have to tell him Lu, or he'll never listen. We don't have time."
The woman nodded in agreement. "Walk and talk if you can. They're probably already setting up Joker's gift."
They are into the halls before she speaks again, their pace slow and easy considering the greater damage Ryuuichi had taken than originally suspected. When the silence is broken the words are what he had feared they would be.
"He's with the Ichibantaichou," comes the whisper from the side Takeshi has taken to supporting.
"Giving us time enough to save your life," Luine adds before Ryuuichi can question further.
"He didn't tell use what he was planning either, other than the whole idea of going to her to earn your freedom."
"Fucking idiot went to the source of the problem to save me? What the hell was he thinking?" Ryuuichi demanded, knowing he would get no answer.
"About how much he loves you," comes the immediate response from Luine. "About how he couldn't lose you. About how he should protect you as much as you protect him, no matter the price. That you are his life, you're more important to him now than she ever was, than anything ever was, and like hell he'd lose you to Saita's manipulations. No matter the price."
No one says anything then, as they continue their pace down the hall, turning a corner, and seeing a bright light at the end of the next hall. Freedom, freedom was there, the city was there, and somewhere out there in that city, was Jiro.
"And he thinks that his life is an acceptable price for my freedom? Damn idiot."
"No," the woman says after a few more paces, each one bringing them closer to the outside, "No Ryuuichi. He knows it is the only one he is fit to pay, the highest price he can afford."
"But he's going to..."
"I KNOW," a growl finally comes from the woman. Her patience has worn out. "I know as well as you do. But the longer you fucking take, the more time I have to waste here saving your damn ass, the longer it will be until I can get there, the less likely it is that I can help him. So hurry your damn self up so I can go save the fucking fool!"
And it actually takes him a moment to process the order and it's implications, but once he does, he's trying to speed their pace up. No way he was going to let her do this alone.
"I'm going with you."
And that was all she wrote before she realized all the flaws in tense and plot and all that other great stuff and how OOC Ryuu probably was.