Aberrant: The Middle Children of History - Chasing the Dragon [Complete]

[z-Infinity]

My phone buzzed, jarring me from my work. Well, I'm sure some would put quotes around the word 'work' as drawing shitty pictures isn't work. Still, I was doing okay on this image until the damn opphone shrilled at me, and I lost the image in my head.

"What?" I snapped, tapping the wireless pod thing in my ear.

"Nice greetin' for a man vith a job for you, sveetheart." Nikoli's thick Russian accent rolled out of the phone.

Grimacing, I reached for my cigarette, only to realize I'd left the fucker burning and had wasted most of it. That on top of talking with the guy who hadn't left me alone since giving him my number the last time I'd been at the LA Amped Room left me in a bad mood. It wouldn't be so bad, I decided as I jammed a fresh cigarette between my lips and lit it, if he were actually interested in dating me.

"You still there?" Nikoli asked with a grunt. He sounded fat on the phone, but that's his accent. He's not fat - he's got a great body. And smile. And eyes. And you get the picture.

"I was refilling my mouth," I said, knowing that he'd get a kick out of the statement and all the dirty thoughts it'd give him. Indeed, Nikoli's chuckle filled my ear. I gave him a moment, then said, "You said 'job'?"

He went all business with the alarming speed that only the sociopathic can achieve. "Da, we need a neutral party to deliver a message."

"Fuck, Nick," I growled, pulling the cigarette out of my mouth so that I could be as clear as possible. "Is this some more C-Z bullshit? I meant what I said - last time was the last time."

"Nothing ve do is bullshit," Nick shot back, sounding sore. Apparently, he couldn't handle me cursing at his little group. Fuckin' baby.

"Sorry," I mumbled without any real conviction. "But seriously, why should I get tangled up in this?"

"It's a peace mission," he said softly. "They're getting taken out and so are ve, and ve need to set up a place to talk about it. So ve need an unaligned party to go meet 'em and offer a time and place."

"Wouldn't you want someone who can make decisions to go?" I asked.

"They're vatching us," Nick replied, sounding put out. "Some of the vays our guys have veen killed... they're avle to track us. So ve need someone vho von't be vatched to play courier. This ain't any different from any other job ve've asked of you. Safer than the last even."

"Yeah, remind me of when you almost got me killed," I growled, drawing in a lungful of relaxing smoke. "That really makes me wanna take it." That'd been a bollixed up mess, and I'd nearly been shot when my passcode hadn't been right. I'd been given the wrong one, and the nervous little brown kid guarding the herion had nearly filled me full of holes. Fortunately, his boss had stopped him, slapped me around a bit for "daring to mess with the Medellin Cartel" and sent me back to Nick. Nick'd been real sweet; paid me double what was promised and had the guy who messed up the passcode messed up on my behalf. I'd even gotten polariods of the final result of the guy's punishment. It hadn't been enough. I'd almost been shot by some fifteen year old wetback. There's not enough money in the world to apologize for the moment when I'd looked at the wrong end of a gun and knew I was seconds from a painful and rapid death. And the rapid part was assured only if the kid had been a good shot; I had my doubts on that.

Nick had been silent while I'd mused; clearly, he was thinking. I could almost hear the gears grindin'. "Ten thousand," he said.

"Ten thousand wha- Wait, dollars?" I gasped, my cigarette hanging from my lip for a second before falling. I reached to catch it and got burned for my efforts. "Fuck!"

"Don't get greedy on me, sveetheart," Nick growled as I carefully picked up my still-burning cigarette and set it in my ashtray.

"Jesus, Nick, chill. I just burnt myself," I grumbled, checking out my hand. I wasn't too worried about it; I was too busy thinking about ten-k. That was more than twice what they had paid me for the last job. That would pay for my apartment for a while, and I could stop buying the shittastic GPC and get some cloves again. I missed my fucking cloves. I wanted that money, but I was also curious about why they wanted me so bad. "Why me? Just send one of your own men and save yourself ten-k."

"You're a nova," he said patiently. "I'm needed here, so I can't go."

Translation: The boss is scared and wants his attack nova at his side. "So send... what's-his-name... the guy who likes to make stuff from shadows."

"He's not available either," Nikoli retorted. "Hence, ve vant to pay you twelve thousand - last offer."

"I'm not saying no, but why not someone else?" I asked. "Someone who can do stuff."

"Vhen they sense you're a nova, and they vill, they'll think you're tough," Nikoli answered. "They don't have to know, Infi."

I sighed. When it came down to it, I was the token nova called when you needed one. I didn't look like much, couldn't do much, but I could set off a nova-scanner with the best of them. And because I couldn't do much other than that, I came cheap compared to other novas. And, I thought as I sourly glanced at my empty kitchen, I could use twelve grand. "Fine, I'm in," I said. "When and where... and you'd better have all the right fuckin' passcodes this time."

[z-Infinity]

"God, Nick, I hate you so much," I muttered around my cigarette as I stared at Ozaku's Fine Dining and Sushi Bar. I hated raw fish, despite my bisexual tendencies. Go figure. Also, meeting the Nakata Gumi at a sushi bar just seemed too clichéd. Why not a nice titty bar? There was Ms. Sai's which featured Asian women - seems to me that'd be their speed.

With a sigh, I started in, only to catch the no smoking sign. "What kind of mob place doesn't allow smoking?" I muttered, completely put out. I had seconds to finish, and I so did, huffing the last of the cigarette so quickly that I choked. Coughing and waving my hand in front of my face to dispel the smoke, I entered.

It was classy; I was glad that I'd worn a dress, even if it was the black one with the striped corset and the ragged hem on the bottom. I'd temporarily colored my hair red today - the bright red that used to only be used by clowns. With my socks and imitation Keds, I looked a little like a cracked out Raggedy Ann.

I stopped next to the 'Please Wait to be Seated' sign. I wasn't sure if that applied to neutral parties coming to work out the details of a truce, but figured that it wouldn't hurt to err on the side of caution. The customers were quick to notice me, as only the rich picking up the scent of the poor stepping into their world can be. And, I wasn't making the guy rushing to meet me happy, either. Seeing as he could bench three of me, I was a wee bit more focused on him than on the women making loud 'harrumphing' noises.

"Can Iha helpa you?" he asked, flexing his shoulders in a way that was not designed to make me think of cooking or food, but the ease with which he could flatten my nose.

"Sure," I said, biting back the 'Tojo' that my tongue wanted to add. I'm no dummy, really. "I'm here to see Mr. Sasaki, please. I'm Nick's friend." That was what I'd been told to say, and I cued my feet to run as I waited to see if it was right.

Tojo nodded immediately, his eyes still blank, a mechanism just filling orders. Creepy-creepy. "Follow me," he said with a voice that could grind rocks.

"Thank you," I said, displaying that I did have the basic human etiquette mastered, at least outwardly. Inside, I was chanting, "Grond lead. Lead to master."

We crossed the restaurant; at first I thought he was taking me to the kitchen, but that was probably a health code violation or something. Instead, he ducked to the side, down a hall past the bathrooms to another door marked 'Staff Only.' He dug out a key and turned the key back and forth a few times. A panel appeared on the wall next to the door, its dark screen looking like wall until the lights came on. He stepped between me and him, and I heard beeps. He was inputting a pass code, I cunningly intuited.

To my surprise, the wall behind us opened, showing stairs going up. "Secret stairs. Nifty," I said before I could stop myself. At least it had been a compliment instead of an insult.

Tojo just scowled at me; I wonder what he'd done if I had insulted his hidden stairs. I smiled at him, that fucking annoying smile that you feel like an asshole if take insult at, but you know wasn't meant in a nice way, and started up the stairs.

At the top was a little room with a paper door to the front and shoes to the side. I love the Japanese and their shoe-thing. The whole reason I'd worn the Keds was for this. Tojo took most of the available space as he entered the room after me. "Are you armed?"

I gave him my best incredulous look. "I'm a nova," I said. "We're always armed." It'd been a torturous decision to leave the gun at home. First, I don't know how to use it, not really. Second, a nova carrying a gun is like using a cucumber to stuff your pants; if you had anything to be proud of, you wouldn't be trying so hard. And third, I was going to be out numbered, and since I couldn't bounce bullets like superman or dodge them like Neo, I would be fucked if a firefight started. Best to not even try.

He still patted me down, which was another reason to not carry. He was thorough but professional; when he was done, he knew where I was pierced but I didn't feel totally like I'd been given a gynecological exam. I kept the remarks to myself while reminding myself that he was just doing a job that would probably kill him if he failed to do right. It'd make me paranoid.

Who says I don't have empathy for the zips?

Satisfied, he knelt next to the door and then pointed to the other side. I looked blankly at him until he hissed. "Remove shoes."

I tried, but I couldn't stop my eye roll. I did manage to cloak it in my motions of getting my shoes off. They joined the other pairs in a neat row. After I'd turned back to him, Tojo nodded and slid open the door, and I got my first glimpse of the head of Los Angeles' Yakuza.

[z-Infinity]

LA must be where they send all the hot yakuza, because the first guy I saw is smoking. He's Japanese, natch, which has never been my speed, but I'm completely willing to overlook that this one time. He's thick through the shoulders, with large hands - a personal favorite mark of mine. His eyes are deep and dark, and his black hair is neatly combed back. I've never wanted to be a three-piece Armani more in my life.

He's also the guy sitting at the far end of the table, and a quick flashback to every single samurai movie reminds me that when they put someone far away from the door, he's the guy they don't want dead the most. My manners came back to me, and I bowed, making sure I incline my head too, even if I wanna keep staring. When I've straightened, I finally realize the obvious: dude's too pretty.

Well, fuck.

"You are the C-Z representative?" one of the guys sitting down the side said. He's older and looks like he's seen eight miles of hard road from the underside of the car. His voice was full of doubt and I glared at him.

"No, I'm the neutral party you requested. I'm here to work out a time and place to meet," I said, moving forward and taking the chair at the end of the table. My mouth was dry and my heart was pounding, now that I was in the lion's den, but a lifetime of dealing with people who can routinely kill me has made me renitent to fear. I'm not jaded to it; I was still prepared to run like hell, but you can only be afraid of novas for so long. Oddly, I was more afraid of baselines; my background was zero help with them - and often a detriment - and there were a lot more of them. Protesting my ability to damage them personally often failed to move them, either; they usually were faster to shoot at me. "My name is Infinity Jones."

Ah, a flicker of recognition flashes through Pretty's eyes, and I relax a bit. People may not respect me, but when you have a father that is a temporal manipulator and a mentalist, you tend to get a little respect by proxy. And that's not accounting for the fact that my mother disintegrates things, which makes my dates unnaturally respectful. Even my baby brother can drop kick King Kong. And last, it let him know that I was really truly neutral in this situation.

"We were expecting Mr. Panin," one of Pretty's four not-so-pretty hench-goons grunted

"Mr. Wh- Oh, Nick, right," I said, frowning. "Didn't he tell you I'd be coming?"

"No," Pretty said simply.

"Well, he sent me," I replied, trying not to get upset that they were expecting someone else.

One of the men said something in Japanese and it didn't sound friendly. Of course, most Japanese sounds that way, but this went a little further than that. Pretty waved his hand and just like that, Fugly Extra Number One shut up. "Ms. Jones, I am Mr. Sasaki," Pretty said. Turning, he introduced the four other men with him. I didn't bother with their names; Sasaki was the important one. And with that, we went straight to business.

Five minutes in, I was impressed. Clearly, none of these guys really wanted me here, or particularly liked me, and it didn't matter on bit to the process. They kept their mouth shut, and worked with me on the tedious details of a meeting between two secretive and paranoid groups. "So," I said, pausing to take a drink of the water they'd offered and wishing to god I could fucking smoke, "you're willing to give on the concession of twelve men-"

"Be quiet." Mr. Sasaki's voice cut me off in mid-sentence. I started to give him an angry look, but one look at him and I knew he hadn't cut me off to be a bastard. He was intently listening to something we couldn't hear.

I turned my head instinctively, listening as well. We all were, but Sasaki and I were the only ones to hear the second round of gunfire. "Fuck!" I yelped, jumping out of the chair. "Someone's fucking shooting!"

Sasaki snapped something in Japanese that sounded even worse than what Fugly Number One had said about me. The men moved; two ran to the back of the room while one went to guard the door. The fourth grabbed my arm and jerked me toward the back. "Hey!" I snapped.

"We will defend you," Guy-Manhandling-Me-osho replied.

The floor exploded around us. I screamed as something hot and painful tore through my arm. Mother fuckers were shooting through the floor!? Fuck!

Guy-No-Longer-Manhandling-Me-osho fell dead, his body riddled by bullets from below. Shuddering, I ran to join the others, pressing a hand to my bleeding arm. Tears raced down my cheeks; I didn't dare look at the arm because the sight of my fucking blood would make me faint. When I got close to the knot of men, they pushed me back to where Sasaki was fucking with something on the floorboard. "What are you doing?" I hissed, kneeling next to him. "This isn't the time-"

The kneeling saved my life. There was a whispering of noise, like a line going taut. And the three standing guys collapsed in a spray of blood as their heads fell off their necks, covering Sasaki and I with gore. Naturally, I started to scream, but Sasaki slapped me, hard enough that I saw stars. By the time I'd recovered, he'd peeled the paneling back on the wall to reveal a passage. He'd also picked up a shit-ton more muscle. He pointed at the hole, and I started to crawl in.

Something popped through one of the bullet holes in the now tattered door. I heard it bounce twice before it burst with a small pop, releasing a gas into the air. I clapped a hand to my nose and started a three-limbed crawl down the passage. Behind me, there was a flash of light and a masculine scream, and Sasaki dropped.

I paused and glanced back. Unlike the others, Sasaki still had his head. He was also still breathing. I started to continue my crawl, but I stopped. I couldn’t leave him, not him, not another nova.

Fuck. Fuck.

I love being small. With little effort I got myself turned around and hustled back for him. I took one breath of clean air and crawled into the area affected by the gas that had crept after me. I reached out of the tunnel, grabbed his gore-soaked jacket and tugged.

God, the fucker was heavy. My ears were starting to ring as I wiggled onto my ass, braced my feet and heaved. He slid on the blood and kinda oozed toward me and then I found myself under his dead weight. I groaned, drew breath and inhaled gas.

Fuck! Fuck! OH, FUCKFUCKFU-

I was fine. I took another breath and coughed, but was fine-

My brain sneezed. I swear to god, that’s what happened. For a second, my node twitched or something, but then it was done, and I was fine. A little tired. But fine.

What the fuck? Something that knocks novas on their ass but doesn’t touch me? I need to get some of this shit. I wonder if they’d roll it into a cigarette if I asked really nicely.

I wiggled out from under Sasaki. Everything but his legs were now in the tunnel. I could also hear voices, speaking some language. I was out of time. I crawled over his body, curled up his legs, braced them not far from where I’d braced my own feet dragging his ass, and pulled the panel back into place.

The door opened in the room I’d just left and I froze, heart pounding.

[z-Infinity]

Some clever monkey had put peep holes in the panel. From the other side, it had looked like shiny decorations, but from this side, it was tinted glass. I pressed my face to the wall, and looked at the mother fuckers responsible for ruining my day.

There are about twelve Asian men of various sizes and types, and all of my courageous, angry thoughts fled in a wash of fear. This was completely, totally fucked and not good.

The men spread out, moving the bodies around. They knew they hadn't gotten Sasaki, not when they'd gathered all the heads and lined them up. They wiped away the gore and muttered angrily. I tried to find a leader, to see if someone was directing them, but it was hard to tell, especially when they were talking in Japanese or something. Then one of them started to pace and get angry, and I heard him say my name.

Fuck this. Time to go.

Awkwardly, I started to crawl backwards when I felt my knee slip of something in Sasaki's pocket and thump to the floor. I froze, wincing at the noise and the pain in my knee. I peered out through the peep hole, expecting to see them staring suspiciously at the wall. My expectation was almost right; most of the men were still talking. One, however, was staring at the floorboard.

After a second, I realized what he was looking at; when I'd dragged Sassy into the hole, he'd slid on the blood and worse on the floor. Which meant his ass had left a nice track in the blood pointing right to us.

I should have thought of that and hidden it somehow. I should have been smarter or faster or just better. And now, it was going to get me killed. I fumbled behind my sore knee, my hand going for whatever I'd just hurt myself on. I was hoping for a gun.

I got a knife hilt. That's it, just a hilt, no blade. I glared at the end and saw a slit for the blade. What the fuck?

There was a little stamp of writing around the round cross guard. Peering in the dim lighting, I picked out the letters, "Do not look in slit or hold this end toward breakables."

I jerked it around so that it wasn't pointed at my fucking face, my already-pounding heart taking another hit of adrenerline. Maybe if I kept this up, I could kill myself before the bad guys found me.

Speaking of... I looked out the spy hole. Another man was looking at the blood-marks, and the two were confering. Worse, the others were starting to notice, and I heard the Shouting-Pacing guy ask a question with the distinct tone of "What are you guys looking at?"

As they came over to look at it, I crawled back over Sassy and dug in his other pockets, looking for something more useful than a bladeless hilt. A gun would have been nice, but then I found something better: a cell phone.

But who to call? I couldn't call the police; even if they could help, Sassy's group would never forgive me for calling the cops. Same for any other outside group, but I don't know anyone in his group. Surely, he had someone on speed-dial. Praying it wasn't his mom, I opened the phone and pressed '1'. And the phone screech a tone at me.

I heard them hear it too; a quick peek showed that they were all staring at the panel I was hiding behind. And then Shouting-Pacing screamed something and they grabbed the panel and began ripping at it.

My heart jumped again; with a shaking hand I pointed the empty hilt at the opening and put my finger on the button. When the paneling gave way and I saw a face, I stuck the hilt against his cheek and pressed the button.

There was a pop and blood gushed from the face I'd seen. The man didn't scream; the light went out of his eyes and he slumped.

I'd killed him. I'd fucking killed someone.

Now that the weapon was out, I could that iw as a monofilament blade-knife thing. I could barely see the cut I'd made on the man, but there was a red line, and it was dripping blood.

All hell broke loose on the other side; there was a lot of shouting. I was too busy hitting 'Talk' on the phone. I managed to miss twice and erase the '1' once because my fingers wouldn't work right. But I finally got the number dialed, just as another guy poked his head into the tunnel and grabbed my wrist holding the weapon. "No!" I screamed, jerking back, unable to break his hold.

The phone picked up or stopped ringing or something, but I had no time for that. My whole body shook with terror; I couldn't think or feel anything then, nothing but the hand on my arm. I twisted and slashed the weapon, but the angle was wrong.

Then I fell. I dropped the hilt, hearing the blade close. There was a blue light and a snap of static around my body, and I knew I had passed through a warp set in the floor under us.

Sassy's unconscious body hit the floor, followed by me landing on him and the guy holding my wrist getting pulled through and landing on me. The air wooshed from my lungs and I gasped for breath in vain as someone stepped behind him and cut the top his head off. Brains and blood poured onto me for the second time today, and I fucking lost it. Turning to the side, I vomited, pissed and shit myself in one explosive declaration to the quality of my day.

Nick owed me so big.

[z-Infinity]

I shivered miserably when the convulsions stopped. Men were talking around me, their voices babbling foreign languages. Why couldn't they fucking speak English?

A hand grabbed me by the back of the neck and jerked me painfully off of Sassy. I yelped and choked on vomit and snot. While I was trying to sort out my body, I was dumped on the floor. At the same moment, I heard the guy tossing me around said something that ended with "nova." And that's when I heard the unmistakable sounds of guns being pulled and thrust at me.

Don't ask what I heard. But guns make noises, especially when they're being pointed, and they make a lot of noise when they're being pointed at you. Without looking up from my attempts to breathe, I raised my hands in surrender.

Hands caught my hair and jerked my head up and I whimpered in protest. Forced to look, I saw who was manhandling me now. He was tall, even for a white guy. For a Japanese guy, he was a fucking giant. He had at least a foot on me, which put him easily over six feet tall. He'd also dyed his hair platinum blonde, a shocking color when matched with his Oriental features. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about what a guy wore, save that they normally don't wear orange suits with pink shirts. I didn't know you could buy orange suits. Still, it worked for him; he was striking, possibly even handsome, in a raving psychotic kind of way...

Oh. That was because of his eyes. There was a cruel mirth in them, along with casual glint that suggested impulsive behavior. Also, his other hand held a hilt very much like what I'd found in Sassy's pocket, only his was already active. I could see the fucking blade, making the air shimmer like heat.

"Hi," I tried, my voice cracking from all the abuse my throat had taken.

"Hi," he replied, his face creasing into a grin that didn't help my unease. "You are a very powerful nova," he said.

My eyes widened, because I knew how this dance went. Protests that I didn't have any power to use wouldn't be believed; after all, who could believe that I had all this potential and couldn't do jack shit with it? Maybe, there was one way to explain it. "I'm Infinity Jones," I said.

Sadly, unlike with Sassy, I saw no reaction. "I am Katsuro," he said. "It's nice to meet you." He smiled a little wider and raised the knife higher. "Who do you work for?"

Oh, fuck. I was being interrogated. "Not like that," I babbled. "Nikoli Panin from the C-Z hired me to set up a meeting to talk about the people offing you guys." I wasn't sure if that was completely right, but I was going with my gut on this one.

Sassy, who'd been moved to the couch in the room, spoke suddenly, his voice breathy and weak. Damned quick-recovering novas. If I'd been gassed, I'd still be unconscious. Though, I had been gassed and hadn't passed out at all. But I forgot about that when I heard a familiar word: Eclipsidol. I'd heard some of the Cultists talking about it; it over-stimulated nodes or something. It was bad, but only a few groups used it.

Before Sassy was done talking, Katsuro had put away his knife and let go of my hair. "Sorry," he said, offering me a hand. "Nothing personal, eh?"

"Right. Nothing personal," I lied as I stood up. "Where am I and who was the warper?"

"Me," Katsuro offered, letting go of my hand and wrinkling his nose. "You're in Toyko. Can I take you outside and hose you off?"

"Yeah, eat shit and die," I growled before I remembered who I was talking to. The only reason I didn't apologize was because I was sure the only thing worse than smarting off was acting like it was a mistake.

"Calm down, kimoi, everyone normal has that reaction," he grunted. "You're normal."

"Normal... reaction?" I asked.

"To violence," Katsuro said. He spoke to the other men, who I really hadn't noticed since they hadn't been trying to directly kill me. Then he turned to me and offered, "Want a shower and clean clothes?"

"I would kill for both," I said before remembering that it isn't as funny when you've actually killed someone that day.

But Katsuro laughed. "Maybe later," he offered, leading me out of the room.

[z-Infinity]

The bathroom was delicately decorated in pearls, pinks and beiges. Seahorses and seashells danced around the room in the form of borders and inlaid bas relief. The first room had a changing area, while the second room had a couple of shower heads and a massive tub.

I stripped out of my clothes, the mess of what I was doing bringing tears again. I felt filthy. I was filthy. I put the clothes straight in the garbage can; they were ruined, and I'd never be able to wear them again, even if they could be cleaned. There was a robe, as promised, but I passed that by to beeline for the shower head. I smeared blood and worse across the floor and the showerhead, but I didn't care.

I rinsed myself and lathered and rinsed again, all sitting on a bench. Then I climbed in the tub and lathered again, working on really getting all the blood and filth off of my body. The water was mercifully hot, and I scrubbed until I was pink, then drained the tub while I rinsed again. Then it was back in the tub to scrub again.

My wound, covered over with clotted blood and forgotten in the heat of the crisis, started to bleed again when I scrubbed too hard and tore off the clot. I cursed for five minutes while cleaning the wound, then cursed again when I found another, smaller wound on the underside of my arm. I guess I should be thankful that it had clearly gone straight through, but it hurt a lot. After I'd cleaned both wounds, I wound a towel around them to stop the bleeding.

I finally felt clean again, or at least as clean as I was going to feel for a couple of days. I toweled off and pulled on the white silk robe, aghast at how short it was. This wasn't a robe, it was a large towel with sleeves. The soft slippers were welcome, though.

I stepped out into the hall, my red hair hanging in wet tendrils around my face. To my surprise, Katsuro was waiting for me, leaning against a wall like Dirty Harry. He smiled when he saw me. "You look better."

"Thanks... were you waiting here? The whole time?" I asked, feeling violated a little by the thought.

"You're a nova," he said with a shrug. He pushed away from the wall. "The Executive wants to talk to you."

"Ha-ha," I mockingly chuckled. "That sounds ominous."

"It would be, but you've been cleared by Sasaki, and you saved his life," Katsuro said. "Kinda means you have a free pass. Don't fuck it up though. The Executive will still gladly kill you, if you fuck up." He glanced down at me and the corner of his mouth curled up. "Flash him once and you might get a second free pass."

"Shut up," I muttered, tugging the robe closed again. I skirted around a blood-and-shit-and piss footprint, left from my walk to the bathroom. "Sorry about the mess."

He shrugged. "I don't have to clean it up."

"Fair enough."

He led me to different room. It felt like we were in somebody's house somewhere, which made me even more nervous. At least I had no idea where we were, so that they couldn't use that as an excuse to keep me here indefinitely. There were several comfy looking couches, and a lot of Japanese men with hard eyes watching me. Thankfully Sasaki was there and I relaxed a little.

"Jones-san," the man in the middle of the room said. I saw the other subtly deferring to him, and so I did the same.

I pressed my hand to the front of the robe and held it closed while I tipped myself forward into a deep bow. Too late I remembered that Katsuro was standing behind me and I jerked back upright as blood shot through my cheeks. I glanced back to see Katsuro giving me a big grin. Bastard probably thought I'd done it on purpose!

I forced my attention back to the man I assumed was the mysterious Executive. I waited for him to speak, knowing that he'd ask for what he wanted. Sure enough, he spoke in a gravelly voice. "Please tell us, in your words, what happened."

I started with my first job for Nick, giving the background I needed to explain why he'd hired me for this job. I laid out the facts as clearly as I could, giving times and dates for my meetings. When I got to what had happened at the sushi bar, I heard my voice tremble. Swallowing, I made myself finish.

"Nikoli Panin died three nights ago," the Executive said. "He was killed by whoever is picking off our men."

Nick? Dead? I felt tears well in my eyes; I'd known him. Hell, I'd had a crush on him at one time. Maybe I still did, a little, I acknowledged as I sniffled a little. Realization struck me as the Executive waited for my response. Son of a bitch! Three nights ago... that was before Nick had called me. That meant... "Nick never hired me." Which meant no twelve grand, and more importantly, someone had drawn me into this for some reason. "Who got him?" I asked, because they might be after me, now.

"We don't know," the Executive said. "We believe he is a nova and works for another one of the organizations. All we know is that he kills us indiscriminately, both us and the C-Z in Los Angeles. Tonight, by phone, we have agreed to work together on this. And, at Sasaki's urging, we wish you to continue to be the liaison between us both."

I was shocked into silence as Sasaki nodded in agreement; in the void, Katsuro's snicker could be heard. I'm so glad that someone was having fun. Fucker.

[z-Infinity]

"Why me?" I hissed to Sassy. I was in a bad mood. I was still in my short, skimpy robe, my arm ached with a dull, unending thud and Katsuro was still in the room. The Executive had left, which is the only reason I was whining like this, or that I was curled up on a couch, my body twisted so that the only thing putting pressure on my arm was the bandage. It hurt a little less that way.

"Because you know both sides," Sasaki answered me. He'd been really nice to me since he'd woken up, and he was in a robe, too. His forehead was bandaged, though I'd been watching the edge of the cut crawl back under the white gauze before my eyes. Damn regenerators. "You have some trust with the C-Z, and now, with the Nakato Gumi."

Fantastic. Just what I needed. Never make yourself too useful; it never turns out well. "But I don't know exactly what you expect me to do."

"Help us talk to them," Sassy said, frowning. "You can talk between us when we aren't able to talk clearly to one another. And help me to talk to them. Your presence will engender trust from them."

I paused chewing on my thumbnail while I thought. The last thing I needed was to get pulled into the middle of a gang war. And if these talks when poorly, that's exactly what would happen. I needed to not be at the center of that when it happened. "You guys aren't going to Mal them if they come to the table peacefully to talk, right? This isn't some big Yakuza trap, is it?"

"Our men are dying. We hear theirs are dying too," Sasaki said, his chocolate-brown eyes deep enough to fall into. "I want to end this. Do I care about their men dying? Of course not. But I want ours to stop, and if I have to work with them to stop it, then so be it."

I wanted to tell him to stop being so pretty. But he'd just use it against me, and I didn't have the strength to fight focused prettiness. So I just said, "How much are you going to be paying me for this?"

"Double what Nick offered you," Sassy said.

I felt my eyebrows rise. "Twice? Twenty-four grand?" The second I said it, I knew I should have thrown a higher figure out there. Stupid fast tongue!

"Done," Sassy said without hesitation.

"Wait, I didn't say I'd do it!" I protested, fighting to say aware. So... tired... "We're still negotiating."

"No," Sassy said. "We're not." His eyes were dark and angry. "We're not because for whatever reason, they involved you in this too, which means you're in danger."

I felt the blood drain from my face. Sasaki only paused long enough to draw breath; then he continued, "You'll take the money I offer, and the security I offer, and you'll be happy for it. You'll stay with me in my Los Angeles home."

I swallowed hard and said, "No." Katsuro, silent and still until now, popped his knuckles, making me jump. The blonde nova was making me nervous, with all his knuckle-snapping, but I didn't look away from Sasaki, whose face was getting red. "Two reasons. First, I know how this game works. There are three kind of women in organized crime: relatives, girlfriends and one of the boys. The first doesn't apply to me, and no one will see me as anything other than the second if I shack up with you, no matter the reason."

That caught him off guard; his expression lost some of its wrath and his color began to fade. Jesus, but these guys don't like to be contradicted for any reason. "The second reason is that the C-Z can't trust me as a go-between if I'm guarded only by your guys. Put me up in a hotel and both of you can have guys watch me."

"It makes sense," Katsuro said, just to irritate Sasaki. He grinned at the dirty look Sassy gave him.

Sasaki glanced at me and then glanced down. His eyes widened and he barked something to Katsuro, who blinked at me for a moment before dropping through a warp. Sasaki moved over to the couch and began to tug at my robe. "Hey!" I shouted, fighting with him. "Knock it off. No means no!"

Sasaki glared at me, clearly irritated. "Maybe I should let you bleed to death?"

I looked at my arm. The robe had a wet, red spot on the sleeve - one that was increasing before my eyes. "Turn away," I ordered; when he didn't move, I snapped, "Just give me some fucking modesty, ok?" Growling, he turned away.

It didn't matter in the end; I couldn't get my arm to work right and he turned around when I whimpered from the pain. I'd caught it half-out of the sleeve, and couldn't make the arm twist enough to release it. Sasaki helped, pulling the robe down enough to free my arm. His right hand closed over the now-red towel and squeezed. I screamed and passed out. Before I went under, I thought I felt him wrap the robe under my arm and around my body, but I wasn't sure, and the sucking darkness didn't let me wait around to find out.

[z-Infinity]

I was warm and encased in something incredibly soft. Sighing sleepily, I stirred, enjoying the slide of the material over my bare skin. I shifted onto my left side, slipping my arm into a comfortable position cradling my head through a pillow. That comfortable position became uncomfortable when pressing on my arm hurt.

I hissed and half woke up, just as the bed shook from someone else's weight and someone grabbed my shoulder. I was instantly awake, kicking and thrashing, screaming, "Fire!" at the top of my lungs. I tumbled backwards over the edge, sliding on what felt like silk sheets, landing shoulders first.

I went limp and felt my hips and legs slide the rest of the way to the floor. I went limp because I'd had the wind knocked out of me, and there were stars dancing in my vision on a gray skyscape. And behind all those flashes and grays, I saw a concerned blonde Japanese man gazing down at me from the top of the bed. He wasn't wearing anything, or at least, nothing from the shoulders down. "Infinity!" he said, before scrambling to the side.

Ok, he knew my name. In my life, I'd actually had a couple of times like this, waking up in a strange place with no idea of where I was - or who I was with. About the time he knelt next to me - wearing pants, which always helps with any awkwardness these situations cause - I was realized I was naked. And my arm was really hurt, as in, there was real pain, not just an ache or a throb. It was fucking agony.

That's what make me remember I'd been shot. And the blonde guy lifting me up while smirking and somehow looking concerned at the same time was Katsuro. He'd picked me up so that my right side was pressed against him, and I curled into the warmth of his body, my bare skin pressing into his. I knew that doing this was probably just encouraging to him, but my shoulders were one tight band of pain and my arm felt like something was trying to burrow into it.

"Hey, she ok?" another male voice, thick with a Brooklyn accent asked. I lifted my head as a blush exploded across my entire body. It wasn't often that I met someone naked, especially a dark handsome man who looked like he'd just stepped off a boat from Rome. When Katsuro turned and he saw me, he scowled. Stalking to the bed, he pulled a sheet loose and tucked it around me. "Geez, man, what, you raised by barbarians? Give the lady some privacy."

Katsuro shrugged and set me on the bed. "She doesn't mind," he said. As I scowled at him, he grinned, brushed by my ear and whispered, "Love the piercings."

"Fuck off," I growled as my skin burned hotter, sounding as tired as I felt. I must not have been asleep wrong. I pulled the sheet around me and sat up, ignoring a wave of dizziness. "Who're you?"

"I'm Stanley," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm your C-Z guard."

"Stanley?" I asked, smiling a little. "That's not very Italian."

He grinned a one-sided smirk, and it only made him cuter. He was cute in a baseline way, not a nova way, but when I pulsed a bit of energy at him, I got an answering beat in return. It looked like the C-Z planned to meet nova with nova. "I'm one-hundred percent Italian," he was laughing and I joined him.

"Hey." Katsuro looked irritated.

"Yes?" I asked sweetly.

"They're waiting on you," he said, only to be interrupted by Stanley.

"C'mon," Stanley protested. "She just woke up. Get 'er some damned breakfast, right?"

"Who's waiting?" I asked, giving Stanley a smile for his consideration of my needs.

"Everyone," Kitty said, lighting a cigarette and pushing it between my lips. "There. That should be all you need."

The sad thing was that he was half-right.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The cigarette bolstered me, but getting to sit down and eat breakfast did more. That all occurred after I'd gotten dressed and the seat was in a conference room. And that conference room has hard-eyed C-Z on one side and hard-eyed Yakuza on the other. This was actually in my hotel suite; since I'd insisted on my own room, I got to be at ground zero.

The hotel was one of the nicer ones in Hawaii, as they had decided that the islands were close to neutral ground without actually being held by anyone else. Apparently, a lot had happened while I was sleep. My terms had been met, a location arranged and secured and my arm stitched up. I had known that the large criminal groups could be efficient, but this was the first time I'd seen them in action.

But that was the only action we'd had. For the past three hours, they'd been casting vaguely veiled accusations at each other, blaming the other group for the killings. we were getting no where fast, but I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to draw the rage-driven attention to me, at all.

Sasuki barely turned his head and glanced at me, the unspoken plea in his eyes clear. I'd said I'd help him, and right now, he needed help. "Hey, guys?" I said into a moment of silence.

Every eye in the room swiveled to me. I was the focus of all the powerful men in the room, all the representatives of two of the major criminal organizations in the world. It was enough to whither my tongue and dry my mouth. I took a quick drink of water - I had to, to talk - and said, "Has anyone considered that it might be a third party? That this isn't cyclic retribution between you two but someone outside your groups?"

You could tell who had already come to that decision, but hadn't said it because they didn't want to be wrong. As a relative outsider, I could be wrong. And if they didn't like my idea, they would consider me to be completely wrong, regardless of any proof. But some already believed that it was possible, and one of them was Sasaki. "Find out who's moving in on your territories, or after your... dealings." I shifted my arm; the pain was making it hard to concentrate. "Everyone should give their contacts a call. See what you find."

[z-Infinity]

I was warm and encased in something incredibly soft. Sighing sleepily, I stirred, enjoying the slide of the material over my bare skin. I shifted onto my left side, slipping my arm into a comfortable position cradling my head through a pillow. That comfortable position became uncomfortable when pressing on my arm hurt.

I hissed and half woke up, just as the bed shook from someone else's weight and someone grabbed my shoulder. I was instantly awake, kicking and thrashing, screaming, "Fire!" at the top of my lungs. I tumbled backwards over the edge, sliding on what felt like silk sheets, landing shoulders first.

I went limp and felt my hips and legs slide the rest of the way to the floor. I went limp because I'd had the wind knocked out of me, and there were stars dancing in my vision on a gray skyscape. And behind all those flashes and grays, I saw a concerned blonde Japanese man gazing down at me from the top of the bed. He wasn't wearing anything, or at least, nothing from the shoulders down. "Infinity!" he said, before scrambling to the side.

Ok, he knew my name. In my life, I'd actually had a couple of times like this, waking up in a strange place with no idea of where I was - or who I was with. About the time he knelt next to me - wearing pants, which always helps with any awkwardness these situations cause - I was realized I was naked. And my arm was really hurt, as in, there was real pain, not just an ache or a throb. It was fucking agony.

That's what make me remember I'd been shot. And the blonde guy lifting me up while smirking and somehow looking concerned at the same time was Katsuro. He'd picked me up so that my right side was pressed against him, and I curled into the warmth of his body, my bare skin pressing into his. I knew that doing this was probably just encouraging to him, but my shoulders were one tight band of pain and my arm felt like something was trying to burrow into it.

"Hey, she ok?" another male voice, thick with a Brooklyn accent asked. I lifted my head as a blush exploded across my entire body. It wasn't often that I met someone naked, especially a dark handsome man who looked like he'd just stepped off a boat from Rome. When Katsuro turned and he saw me, he scowled. Stalking to the bed, he pulled a sheet loose and tucked it around me. "Geez, man, what, you raised by barbarians? Give the lady some privacy."

Katsuro shrugged and set me on the bed. "She doesn't mind," he said. As I scowled at him, he grinned, brushed by my ear and whispered, "Love the piercings."

"Fuck off," I growled as my skin burned hotter, sounding as tired as I felt. I must not have been asleep wrong. I pulled the sheet around me and sat up, ignoring a wave of dizziness. "Who're you?"

"I'm Stanley," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm your C-Z guard."

"Stanley?" I asked, smiling a little. "That's not very Italian."

He grinned a one-sided smirk, and it only made him cuter. He was cute in a baseline way, not a nova way, but when I pulsed a bit of energy at him, I got an answering beat in return. It looked like the C-Z planned to meet nova with nova. "I'm one-hundred percent Italian," he was laughing and I joined him.

"Hey." Katsuro looked irritated.

"Yes?" I asked sweetly.

"They're waiting on you," he said, only to be interrupted by Stanley.

"C'mon," Stanley protested. "She just woke up. Get 'er some damned breakfast, right?"

"Who's waiting?" I asked, giving Stanley a smile for his consideration of my needs.

"Everyone," Kitty said, lighting a cigarette and pushing it between my lips. "There. That should be all you need."

The sad thing was that he was half-right.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The cigarette bolstered me, but getting to sit down and eat breakfast did more. That all occurred after I'd gotten dressed and the seat was in a conference room. And that conference room has hard-eyed C-Z on one side and hard-eyed Yakuza on the other. This was actually in my hotel suite; since I'd insisted on my own room, I got to be at ground zero.

The hotel was one of the nicer ones in Hawaii, as they had decided that the islands were close to neutral ground without actually being held by anyone else. Apparently, a lot had happened while I was sleep. My terms had been met, a location arranged and secured and my arm stitched up. I had known that the large criminal groups could be efficient, but this was the first time I'd seen them in action.

But that was the only action we'd had. For the past three hours, they'd been casting vaguely veiled accusations at each other, blaming the other group for the killings. we were getting no where fast, but I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to draw the rage-driven attention to me, at all.

Sasuki barely turned his head and glanced at me, the unspoken plea in his eyes clear. I'd said I'd help him, and right now, he needed help. "Hey, guys?" I said into a moment of silence.

Every eye in the room swiveled to me. I was the focus of all the powerful men in the room, all the representatives of two of the major criminal organizations in the world. It was enough to whither my tongue and dry my mouth. I took a quick drink of water - I had to, to talk - and said, "Has anyone considered that it might be a third party? That this isn't cyclic retribution between you two but someone outside your groups?"

You could tell who had already come to that decision, but hadn't said it because they didn't want to be wrong. As a relative outsider, I could be wrong. And if they didn't like my idea, they would consider me to be completely wrong, regardless of any proof. But some already believed that it was possible, and one of them was Sasaki. "Find out who's moving in on your territories, or after your... dealings." I shifted my arm; the pain was making it hard to concentrate. "Everyone should give their contacts a call. See what you find."

[z-Infinity]

I would kill for a cigarette. My arm was throbbing. I was bored. The papers in front of me were littered with doodles that I had made over the last four hours. We were, collectively, waiting for some information that might shed some light on motives for striking both of the groups at once. Most people were calling in favors or waiting around, bored. I was one of the later.

My phone ringing was a sudden shock and I jumped out of my chair. Everyone glanced at me while I fumbled for the phone, blushing from all the attention. Phones had been ringing on and off for a while now, but this was the first time mine had gone off.

"Hey," I said, that simple greeting being more than enough once I'd seen the caller ID. Skeet was in Pandemonium, and I thought he might have an idea of what drugs were flowing where. It was a shot in the dark; while drugs are a large part of the C-Z's flow, they weren't a big thing to the Nakato Gumi - they did a large business in slave trade and black market porn. So it was a really long shot, but had eaten up five minutes in hour two.

"Hey, Infinity," Skeet said, his voice tinny over the line. That wasn't the fault of the phone; it was because most of his internal organs were circuity, including his tongue and vocal cords. He always sounded far away and tinny. "I've got some information for you. Heard of 'Lanche?"

"'Lanche? As in Ava-?" I clarified.

"Right. It's a new opium derivative to hit the market," Skeet said. "It's pretty sweet - doesn't affect novas, but I've mind-simed it and it lives up to its name. Pow! Avalanche to your celebrium."

Mind-siming was when a telepath connected you to a tripping brain and let you experience the high. It was a popular past-time among the Terat-Party-People, and I'd experienced it more than once while slamming with them. "Sweet," I said, wondering if Skeet would get to the point. "Is that the new popular drug?"

"Oh, fuck-yes," Skeet crowed, and I could almost see his silver smile in my head. "It's really new, really popular and really expensive. What I thought you might wanna know is that Medellin recently told my favorite dealer that they'll be the sole supplier of 'Lanche. She didn't ask about it, but she said he seemed real sure of it."

I'd been thinking that it might be another one of the groups moving against C-Z and the Nakato Gumi, but I didn't think that Lehrder's group of facsist jerks had enough weight to go up against either the Nakato or the C-Z. "Right. Hey, thanks, Skeet. I owe you."

"Of course you do," he said, grinning. "Give your folks my love."

"I will." I closed the phone and said, "Gentlemen, we have a contender."

It took another two hours, but my hint was confirmed by someone Stanley knew. With that, talk turned to retaliation I stood up, stretching. "I need to not be here," I said, nodding to the room. I didn't need to add anything like 'plausible deniability.' That was understood.

I headed back to the room, Katsuro and Stanley trailing me. Stanley looked like he wanted to be back in the room, planning; Katsuro actually seemed happier away from it. "So guys... I need a ride home, and then to the airport. I've got a birthday party to attend."

[z-Infinity]

I would kill for a cigarette. My arm was throbbing. I was bored. The papers in front of me were littered with doodles that I had made over the last four hours. We were, collectively, waiting for some information that might shed some light on motives for striking both of the groups at once. Most people were calling in favors or waiting around, bored. I was one of the later.

My phone ringing was a sudden shock and I jumped out of my chair. Everyone glanced at me while I fumbled for the phone, blushing from all the attention. Phones had been ringing on and off for a while now, but this was the first time mine had gone off.

"Hey," I said, that simple greeting being more than enough once I'd seen the caller ID. Skeet was in Pandemonium, and I thought he might have an idea of what drugs were flowing where. It was a shot in the dark; while drugs are a large part of the C-Z's flow, they weren't a big thing to the Nakato Gumi - they did a large business in slave trade and black market porn. So it was a really long shot, but had eaten up five minutes in hour two.

"Hey, Infinity," Skeet said, his voice tinny over the line. That wasn't the fault of the phone; it was because most of his internal organs were circuity, including his tongue and vocal cords. He always sounded far away and tinny. "I've got some information for you. Heard of 'Lanche?"

"'Lanche? As in Ava-?" I clarified.

"Right. It's a new opium derivative to hit the market," Skeet said. "It's pretty sweet - doesn't affect novas, but I've mind-simed it and it lives up to its name. Pow! Avalanche to your celebrium."

Mind-siming was when a telepath connected you to a tripping brain and let you experience the high. It was a popular past-time among the Terat-Party-People, and I'd experienced it more than once while slamming with them. "Sweet," I said, wondering if Skeet would get to the point. "Is that the new popular drug?"

"Oh, fuck-yes," Skeet crowed, and I could almost see his silver smile in my head. "It's really new, really popular and really expensive. What I thought you might wanna know is that Medellin recently told my favorite dealer that they'll be the sole supplier of 'Lanche. She didn't ask about it, but she said he seemed real sure of it."

I'd been thinking that it might be another one of the groups moving against C-Z and the Nakato Gumi, but I didn't think that Lehrder's group of facsist jerks had enough weight to go up against either the Nakato or the C-Z. "Right. Hey, thanks, Skeet. I owe you."

"Of course you do," he said, grinning. "Give your folks my love."

"I will." I closed the phone and said, "Gentlemen, we have a contender."

It took another two hours, but my hint was confirmed by someone Stanley knew. With that, talk turned to retaliation I stood up, stretching. "I need to not be here," I said, nodding to the room. I didn't need to add anything like 'plausible deniability.' That was understood.

I headed back to the room, Katsuro and Stanley trailing me. Stanley looked like he wanted to be back in the room, planning; Katsuro actually seemed happier away from it. "So guys... I need a ride home, and then to the airport. I've got a birthday party to attend."

[z-Infinity]

That evening after the party, I was back at the oppressive hotel. Don't get me wrong - the joint was swanky and luxurious, but it was also a prison. A nice one, but I wasn't really allowed to leave without a guard. Even knowing it was for my own protection didn't make me very happy. I've never enjoyed being constrained outside of some very specific circumstances which need no further definition.

I had dinner and a bath under the watchful eye of my guards, though the latter occurred under a watchful eye in another room. When I'd casually mentioned that they could supply me with a female guard, Stanley looked surprised by the very idea while Katsuro had suggested that I just let him watch. I almost caught his cock in the door, he was following so closely behind me when I went into the bathroom. Still, he let me alone while I bathed, prepared for bed and even while I climbed into bed.

When the lights went out, Stanley was stretched on a cot near the door and Katsuro was sprawled awkwardly in a cushioned loveseat. As I drifted off, I thought I could hear someone humming.

I was awoken by something slamming into my ass. Jerking, I flipped over to see Katsuro grinning down at me, his hand still held in ass-popping position. "Morning," he said. "This is your wake up call."

"You're supposed to use a telephone, ass," I muttered, flopping back into bed.

The bed moved and I snapped my eyes open and sat up, popping Katsuro in the forehead with my forehead. Unfortunately, his was harder than mine. "Oww... fuck!" I growled, grabbing my forehead. My hand felt wet, and I looked at the red stain on my fingers. "God damnit!"

"Let me see," Katsuro said, using his hands to tip my face into the light. "Mmm... not too bad. No stitches needed."

"Yeah, thanks," I muttered as he began to tug me out of bed. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the bathroom to fix you up," he said. "Otherwise you'll bleed on the bed, and then the maids will gossip about you. I know, I dated one once. She used to have the funniest stories."

I let him seat me on the closed toilet while he began to bandage my head. He worked with quiet intensity, his hands gentle. "Katsuro, I have a question for you. Please answer honestly."

He drew back, his dark, slanted eyes watching me for a moment. Then he tossed the trash generated by patching me up. Finally, when that was done, he sat on the edge of the tub. "Sure, go ahead."

"Why do you keep fucking with me?" I asked, crossing my arms over the cotton top I had worn as a nightshirt. "I don't appreciate being mocked, especially sexually. The early teasing - fine, you saw me naked a couple of times, and you are male. But... don't kiss me just to upset me." He started to laugh, a soft, deep sound. "Never mind... I don't know what I was thinking, trying to reason with you," I muttered, standing up.

He caught my arm. "Stop," he ordered. "You think I'd kiss you just to get a rise from you?"

"Why else would you?" I asked. "I'm not beautiful or wealthy or particularly pleasant to be around. I can't think of any reason a guy would want me."

"I can buy a beautiful woman, or charm a wealthy one, or seduce a pleasant one," Katsuro said. His tone made it clear that he'd done so in the past. "But I've yet to met another woman with your power."

"They're out there," I said honestly. "And many of them are beautiful, wealthy and pleasant."

"But they're not here."

I rolled my eyes. "My panties nearly threw themselves off my body at that statement, Katsuro," I grumbled. "It's incredibly romantic to be told, 'Well, you're here right now, so let's fuck!' You really need to work on your pick up lines."

"I'm not trying to pick you up," Katsuro said, his gaze honest. He released my arm but put his other hand on my other arm, so that he was almost hugging me. "Otherwise, you'd be in bed right now with your ankles over my shoulders, screaming."

"Then what are you trying to do?" I asked, wishing I could step back but caught between his arms and the wall. "Isn't this about fucking me?"

He chuckled and shrugged a little. "I don't know what it's about," he said. "I rarely plan ahead at all, so asking me what I'm doing in the long-term is rarely going to work." He paused, thinking and said, "I'm following my instincts. I don't know where it's going."

I put a hand on his chest and pushed, and he backed up. "I don't like that answer, so you'll be getting no pussy treats from me."

He grinned. "Ok."

That stung a little. Wasn't he supposed to be upset about this, all broken up by my rejection? "Get out," I growled, sulking. "I have to get ready for the meeting today."

Katsuro left without argument or complaint, pissing me off all the more. He could at least pretend to be discouraged. Disgruntled, I got my clothes and changed. Still angry at Katsuro, I selected my tight little shirt and the black skirt that had the sweet flare at the hem.

He didn't even notice when I came out. Instead, he just gave me a nod and a smile. Stanley raised his eyebrows - where had he been anyway when Katsuro had been assaulting my ass? He clearly noticed my cleavage-enhancing shirt and bare legs. Unlike Katsuro, he was polite enough to not say so.

We left the living area of the room and entered the conference room. A number of the mobsters from both sides were waiting. Sasuki wasn't there, nor were any of the leaders. When we entered, several phone calls were made, and people started to show up.

Katsuro's phone rang. He answered with a lot of 'hai's' before closing the phone. "I need to pick some people up," he said, sounding irritated. "I'll be back soon."

"Whatever you have to do," I said, shrugging. He grinned, that unexpected smirk that made me wonder what he was thinking. "What's so funny?"

"You," he said, then ducked when I tried to smack him. His warp opened behind him and he gracefully danced through, laughing at me.

"Jack ass," I mumbled as I flipped him the bird just before the warp closed. He blew me a kiss through the portal. Perfect. If he kept that up, I'd be sure to get labeled as a girlfriend and demoted. I'd have to talk to him about that tonight when we got back to the room.

The warp began to coalesce again, and I turned toward it, feeling my stomach jump with anticipation. God damnit! I didn't want to anticipate his return. Fucker!

"That's not..." Stanley muttered, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he grabbed me and pushed me down. "Under the table!" he screamed just before the room was filled with the sound of screaming voices from hell.

[z-Infinity]

That evening after the party, I was back at the oppressive hotel. Don't get me wrong - the joint was swanky and luxurious, but it was also a prison. A nice one, but I wasn't really allowed to leave without a guard. Even knowing it was for my own protection didn't make me very happy. I've never enjoyed being constrained outside of some very specific circumstances which need no further definition.

I had dinner and a bath under the watchful eye of my guards, though the latter occurred under a watchful eye in another room. When I'd casually mentioned that they could supply me with a female guard, Stanley looked surprised by the very idea while Katsuro had suggested that I just let him watch. I almost caught his cock in the door, he was following so closely behind me when I went into the bathroom. Still, he let me alone while I bathed, prepared for bed and even while I climbed into bed.

When the lights went out, Stanley was stretched on a cot near the door and Katsuro was sprawled awkwardly in a cushioned loveseat. As I drifted off, I thought I could hear someone humming.

I was awoken by something slamming into my ass. Jerking, I flipped over to see Katsuro grinning down at me, his hand still held in ass-popping position. "Morning," he said. "This is your wake up call."

"You're supposed to use a telephone, ass," I muttered, flopping back into bed.

The bed moved and I snapped my eyes open and sat up, popping Katsuro in the forehead with my forehead. Unfortunately, his was harder than mine. "Oww... fuck!" I growled, grabbing my forehead. My hand felt wet, and I looked at the red stain on my fingers. "God damnit!"

"Let me see," Katsuro said, using his hands to tip my face into the light. "Mmm... not too bad. No stitches needed."

"Yeah, thanks," I muttered as he began to tug me out of bed. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the bathroom to fix you up," he said. "Otherwise you'll bleed on the bed, and then the maids will gossip about you. I know, I dated one once. She used to have the funniest stories."

I let him seat me on the closed toilet while he began to bandage my head. He worked with quiet intensity, his hands gentle. "Katsuro, I have a question for you. Please answer honestly."

He drew back, his dark, slanted eyes watching me for a moment. Then he tossed the trash generated by patching me up. Finally, when that was done, he sat on the edge of the tub. "Sure, go ahead."

"Why do you keep fucking with me?" I asked, crossing my arms over the cotton top I had worn as a nightshirt. "I don't appreciate being mocked, especially sexually. The early teasing - fine, you saw me naked a couple of times, and you are male. But... don't kiss me just to upset me." He started to laugh, a soft, deep sound. "Never mind... I don't know what I was thinking, trying to reason with you," I muttered, standing up.

He caught my arm. "Stop," he ordered. "You think I'd kiss you just to get a rise from you?"

"Why else would you?" I asked. "I'm not beautiful or wealthy or particularly pleasant to be around. I can't think of any reason a guy would want me."

"I can buy a beautiful woman, or charm a wealthy one, or seduce a pleasant one," Katsuro said. His tone made it clear that he'd done so in the past. "But I've yet to met another woman with your power."

"They're out there," I said honestly. "And many of them are beautiful, wealthy and pleasant."

"But they're not here."

I rolled my eyes. "My panties nearly threw themselves off my body at that statement, Katsuro," I grumbled. "It's incredibly romantic to be told, 'Well, you're here right now, so let's fuck!' You really need to work on your pick up lines."

"I'm not trying to pick you up," Katsuro said, his gaze honest. He released my arm but put his other hand on my other arm, so that he was almost hugging me. "Otherwise, you'd be in bed right now with your ankles over my shoulders, screaming."

"Then what are you trying to do?" I asked, wishing I could step back but caught between his arms and the wall. "Isn't this about fucking me?"

He chuckled and shrugged a little. "I don't know what it's about," he said. "I rarely plan ahead at all, so asking me what I'm doing in the long-term is rarely going to work." He paused, thinking and said, "I'm following my instincts. I don't know where it's going."

I put a hand on his chest and pushed, and he backed up. "I don't like that answer, so you'll be getting no pussy treats from me."

He grinned. "Ok."

That stung a little. Wasn't he supposed to be upset about this, all broken up by my rejection? "Get out," I growled, sulking. "I have to get ready for the meeting today."

Katsuro left without argument or complaint, pissing me off all the more. He could at least pretend to be discouraged. Disgruntled, I got my clothes and changed. Still angry at Katsuro, I selected my tight little shirt and the black skirt that had the sweet flare at the hem.

He didn't even notice when I came out. Instead, he just gave me a nod and a smile. Stanley raised his eyebrows - where had he been anyway when Katsuro had been assaulting my ass? He clearly noticed my cleavage-enhancing shirt and bare legs. Unlike Katsuro, he was polite enough to not say so.

We left the living area of the room and entered the conference room. A number of the mobsters from both sides were waiting. Sasuki wasn't there, nor were any of the leaders. When we entered, several phone calls were made, and people started to show up.

Katsuro's phone rang. He answered with a lot of 'hai's' before closing the phone. "I need to pick some people up," he said, sounding irritated. "I'll be back soon."

"Whatever you have to do," I said, shrugging. He grinned, that unexpected smirk that made me wonder what he was thinking. "What's so funny?"

"You," he said, then ducked when I tried to smack him. His warp opened behind him and he gracefully danced through, laughing at me.

"Jack ass," I mumbled as I flipped him the bird just before the warp closed. He blew me a kiss through the portal. Perfect. If he kept that up, I'd be sure to get labeled as a girlfriend and demoted. I'd have to talk to him about that tonight when we got back to the room.

The warp began to coalesce again, and I turned toward it, feeling my stomach jump with anticipation. God damnit! I didn't want to anticipate his return. Fucker!

"That's not..." Stanley muttered, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he grabbed me and pushed me down. "Under the table!" he screamed just before the room was filled with the sound of screaming voices from hell.

[z-Infinity]

I went down easily, cursing my own choice of clothing as I burnt my knees on the fucking carpet. I didn't question Stanley's order, not with that god-awful racket and the flashes of light that were starting to fill the room. I crawled under the table and the screaming began, men getting hurt, their flesh being split and their bodies being torn. I wished I didn't know that last part, but I could see it happening, as I scrambled under the table.

I rammed my shoulder into a chair before I got it out of the way and scurried into the darkness under the table. To my surprise, there was another guy there, huddled in the darkness; I could practically see the yellow streak glowing through the back of his jacket. Typical cowardly zip. Yeah, I was hiding under here, too, but it wasn't my job to stand out there and take a bullet.

He tried to pretend he was guarding me, grabbing me and wiggling so that he was lying on top of me. I allowed him to pretend that he was guarding me because it put another layer of skin, bone and blood between me and whatever was happening in the room.

The 'whatever that was happening in the room' was bad, real bad. I couldn't see anything above the waist with any accuracy, but what I did see was horrible. A man dropped to his knees, blood splattering down his body. He collasped with a messy splat, throwing up a grisly crimson spray. Whomever had put this room on their card was facing hefty cleaning costs. I couldn't see what had caused such massive trauma because he'd fallen onto his chest or throat wound. Above me, my human shield moaned and hid his face, pressing it into my neck.

The baselines died fast. It took time to take down Stanley. I saw his shined shoes dance and bounce over the floor as he fought the three assailants. It was easy to tell them apart, because their shoes weren't shiny at all. Back and forth, for what seemed like forever. Stanley began to bleed, and instintively, I started to move, thinking only of helping him. The man pinning me grabbed me by the hair and began to desperately shake his head; when I tried to pull away from him, he slammed his elbow into my back and smashed my face into the carpet. He was a professional, and really good at beating up unarmed women. It felt like my back was on fire and I feebly struggled, trying to breathe around the fibers in the carpet and the pain.

Stanley tumbled onto his knees and fell onto his back, his chest and stomach a mess of shredded meat. He died choking back a scream, dying like a 'man,' while I began to cry. I mourned the death of a nova, and of someone who was kinda an ass, but not an awful person. The man pinning me leaned harder on my head, trying to muffle my sobs. I began to have trouble getting enough air. If an ally suffocated me while trying to hide me from enemies, I was coming back as one pissed ghost.

Sudden light flooded us and I heard the man on top of me cry out. The pressure was suddenly gone and I drew a deep breath, gagging at first. I spit out carpet fibers and looked around to see three identical man standing over me. They had to be triplets - they were all of medium height with the same angular Oriental features. The table we'd been hidden under was end over against the far wall.

My former guardian was begging for his life. I didn't speak Japanese; I didn't need to. The subtext was as clear as text. I gazed up at my new captors, fear making my heart pound. I was almost seeing double, I was so scared, and I was fucking grateful that I'd used the bathroom when I'd dressed or else I'd be ruining another set of clothing. Of course, this assumed that these fuckers weren't about to ruin these clothes for me by putting holes through me.

One of the triplets walked around me with purpose; I didn't bother to watch them kill the guy. I was pretty sure that they weren't going to kill me, or they would have done it. That left a lot of stuff they could do, but I wasn't going to start worrying about that yet, because otherwise I'd start blubbering, too.

Still, when they moved to stand in front of me I started to shake. Then one guy folded into the middle, followed by the right one and the triplets became a guy who can clone himself. "Infinity Jones," he said, his voice thick with the tones of China.

"Why?" I asked, pointedly not looking at the carnage room. I needed to stall until Katsuro could come back and rescue me. "Why did you do this?"

"Because," he said with a smile, "I wanted to." Then I think he moved, but I know something hit me in the face. One shot, and I was out.

Yeah, yeah... I know I have a glass jaw. Shut up.

[z-Infinity]

I woke up crumbled on the floor of a ten by ten room. Clearly, Triple-Jerk had dropped me here on the floor. Ass. I started to move, but I'd laid on a cold floor for far too long, and my muscles had stiffened. But at least I wasn't naked. Some kind of oversized shirt hung on me, though it was all I was wearing. Still, I'd take one itchy shirt over nothing. I was freezing as it was.

Light seeped into the dark room around the gaps between the door and the frame. It pooled dimly on the walls and floor near the door, giving me the slightest definition to my new world. My piercings ached from the cold and I curled my lip into my mouth, trying to warm at least one. I take that back; one piercing was actually warm and the rest were like fucking icicles in my skin.

Shivering, I got to my feet and started to move around. I found the bed when I nailed it with my shin. I found the empty bucket with a toe. "Fuck," I whispered and the lights snapped on.

I don't mean a nice overhead light bar - I mean the Fucking Mal of Lights, the all-and-everything of lighting up a god damned room. I went from darkness to seeing everything lit up in a billion watt glory. There wasn't much to see, once I'd managed to adjust to the blinding glare - though I didn't so much adjust as surrender. The cot against the back wall, the bucket in the corner for the obvious and annoying purpose and the door, with the classic sliding panels at eye level and on the floor.

Jail cell, this is Infinity. Infinity, this is your jail cell.

"Fuck," I whispered again. I sat on the bare matress and drew my legs up under my body. I was terrified; there was nothing that I could do but consider what was going to come through that door, what they were going to do to me when they did come. And all I could do was wait for it, anticipate it until it became a living monster in my head.

A low hum became audible, creeping up on me. At first, I thought it was the lights, but it grew in intensity until it was a shrill screech. It tore through my brain, sundering my ability to think or do anything but hurt. Even clamping my hands over my ears didn't help much.

The noise stops when they arrived the beat the crap out of me and so I'm happy to see them. But of course, that's exactly what they want from me. I'm not strong enough to fight them, not with the techniques they were using and going to be using on me. I'll be lucky to survive this.

I wonder if I'll want to survive it.

[z-Infinity]

I lost track of time and space. On some level, I knew I was in my room. It was mine now, despite the fact I really didn't want it. It'd witnessed my fight to survive. It didn't help me track days or hours really well and I'd never been good at that myself. In a way, I was glad; had they known that the ticking of a clock drove me nuts, they might have installed one.

I think, on the fifth day, Katsuro came to me. It wasn't him, and it probably wasn't the fifth day. I didn't know what day it was because I had no way of measuring time and my captors actively disrupted my eating and my sleep cycle.

But anyway, Katsuro came to me. At the time, I thought he must have snuck into the room somehow. The lights were off again, and the noise gone; this is when I could sleep or just be. "Hey, Infinity, what's up?" he asked, his voice casual. I felt him sit on the bed, felt him lift up my head and place it on his lap.

"Should be obvious, Kitty," I murmured, feeling the pain from various assaults on my being.

"Kat-chan, please," he said, his hands stroking my hair.

"Really? That's what you want me to call you?" I asked, my fingers curling around his leg.

"Sure. It's cute," he said. "How's your sunburn?"

I shivered a little and it stang, reminding me it was still raw. "It hurts. It keeps peeling. They're having great fun with it."

"That doesn't sound very good." His fingers trailed over my face, only to pause on the rip in my eyebrow. "What happened?"

"They pulled some piercings," I sighed, feeling like I was floating. I was falling asleep, but I didn't want to. He was the first person I'd talked to lately who wasn't screaming at me or beating me. I wanted to enjoy his company, to feel his soft touches. "I miss you."

"No, you miss being treated right," Kat-chan replied softly. "It's understandable."

That was when I knew. "This isn't real," I moaned. "You're never this nice." And he was gone. I shouldn't have argued with him. I should have just let him comfort me, because now I was alone in the dark again.

Stanley's visit was a lot less pleasant. When they shut off the noise, leaving me in darkness with my ears ringing, he was there. "Hey," he said, but he didn't sound happy.

"You're dead," I said wearily, glancing in the direction his voice was coming from. Other than that, I didn't move. I'd found a spot on my side that didn't hurt, and I didn't want to shift. "Kat-chan fooled me, but you won't."

"Yeah, I'm dead," Stanley agreed. "You should know, since it's your fault."

He was right. He wouldn't have been there, if he hadn't been watching me. "I'm sorry," I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. "I'd go back and fix it, if I could."

"I have a wife and two kids," he said. "Had a wife and two kids. And would you? Would you fix it?"

"Yes, I would," I said, as tears leaked over the bridge of my nose and crawled down the side of my face.

"Would you die, so that I didn't have to?"

The silence stretched on for quite a while. I wanted to say that I could, but I couldn't. I wouldn't die for anyone else. I liked living too much to sacrifice myself. "Stanley-"

"Don't bother, Infinity. So much for the Brotherhood of the One Race, huh?" he said. Then the lights snapped on, and the noise came back, and he was gone.

It was later, much later when I saw my mom. Whiplash stood with her back to the door, the bright lights boring down into her. Her dark hair fell in loose waves to frame her gorgeous face. Her green eyes, one of the features I didn't inherit from her, seemed gray in the overwhelming light. "Infi, baby... what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Mom," I whispered, lifting my head. "Please, take me home."

"I told you a long time ago that you make your own bed, sweetie," she said, moving to kneel next to the cot. "You play baseline games, you end up in baseline messes."

"But... the guy who brought me here... the one who keeps hurting me... he's a nova," I said. I blinked and she was gone. "Damn it! Is that always your answer, Mom? Ignore me when you can't argue with me? Well, fuck you!"

The shouting brought them again. It was always one who entered, but he always duplicated himself. And they hurt me - not too much, but enough. They were good at what they did. I'd admire it, were I viewing it from another perspective.

[z-Infinity]

"Do you know one reason I hate white people?" Yaozu asked. That's what he'd told me his name was, anyway. He was in my room again, sitting on my bed. I was flat on the floor, where I belonged. No, I didn't belong here, I had to remind myself. If I don't scuttle to the floor, he beats me. So I lie flat on my belly and listen to him. Only he's asked me a question, and I have to decide if he wants an answer or just wants me to listen. He paused after the question, so I take the risk that he's actually quizing me.

"Shèng Yaozu, you have given this humble worm many reasons you hate my people," I replied, lifting my head enough to speak.

"So I guess you do know one reason," he said, laughing, and I waited tensely. Laughter was both good and bad. "Name one."

A direct order, and I obeyed directly. "Shèng Yaozu, a white woman killed your father," I said, reciting something I said often.

"That's an easy one, and that's not the complete answer," he replied.

"Shèng Yaozu, she gave you the scar when you erupted and went after her for revenge," I said. "It wasn't that she defeated you, but she laughed at you, failing to give you honor or respect. She was a bitch." That rather described my mother, so I had no doubt that Yaozu was telling the truth about it. My mother had killed his father, and now I paid for it. That was about par for the course.

"Good. Well, here's another one, one I'm sure I haven't told you." This time, he didn't wait for me to answer, so I kept my mouth shut. "Because of what you did to dragons. Did you know that here, they are not an evil creature? That here in China, it is actually a blessing to say, "I hope your son becomes as a dragon? It is a desire that a man-child becomes as strong and powerful as a dragon. And yet, the West perverts their beauty, and turns them into rampaging, fire-breathing beasts that must be sated with the flesh of a woman."

"I'm sorry," I said immediately, and a heartbeat later, added, "Very sorry, Shèng Yaozu." I couldn't forget that formal address. Forgetting it was very bad.

"Of course you are. A little worm like you is always sorry, a soft, pathetic little thing," Yaozu said. His condensending tone didn't even bother me anymore. It was a part of life. "Well, at least you will understand how you are wrong, now. The lòng is a sacred creature, a bringer of rain, rulers of the oceans, waterfalls and rivers..."

He went on for a while. I paid close attention, despite the pain in my body. Yaozu periodically stopped to quiz me, so I had to be ready.

To my surprise, when he stopped, he said, "I'm pleased with your progress today. There'll be a treat with your dinner."

I smiled, pleased, before I caught myself. They were winning. I was losing myself to them. When Yaozu left, I lay on the floor for a long time, trying to find the strength to care or to move. There didn't seem to be a point, anymore.

I thought of that night on the roof of my building, when I'd wanted to throw myself off. I thought I'd been miserable. I thought I'd known what angish was, then. I'd been a fool.

The young are always fools.

I lifted my head at the voice. A lòng stood in the open yet closed doorway, staring at me. Laughing at myself, I dropped my head back on the concrete. I'd finally lost my mind. "I've cracked," I giggled, as my head started to hurt from the impact with the floor. "And I'm hurting myself!" This only made me giggle harder. Hysterical and crazy - at least I wasn't miserable.

Someone shouted something in Chinese - it was the same sounds they made anytime I got too loud, and I assumed it meant 'shut up, crazy, giggling bitch.' I pressed my mouth into my arm and tried to smother the my hiraility before someone came in to forcibly stop me. The slide on the floor rattled and I heard the scrape of the metal tray. Dinner was here.

I didn't move, though I could see the tray. You have some candy.

"Must be his idea of a treat," I muttered, still lying still and prone.

You're hungry. You should eat.

"You're not real. Go away," I mumbled.

It doesn't matter if I'm real or not, only that I'm here, it said. Wait, he - Eastern Dragons were male.

I turned my head, looking up at him. He was huge, massive. He shouldn't have fit in the door, much less the room. But he did. He filled up all that space perfectly, yet he was bigger than it. "All right, I'll bite," I said. "Why does it matter? Why should I give two fucks that you're here?"

I'm not saying you should. But you should definitely eat that piece of chocolate before the roaches do.

"Why? It's a degrading treat, supposed to make me feel better about being a good girl." I whispered that last bit. Sometimes, I thought I could hear them listening to me.

One massive eyebrow rose. Because you don't know when the next bit of sweetness will come. Enjoy what you can of life. Don't be afraid of enjoying it, or think that extra suffering will make your life better.

Do you know what 'Chi Ku' means? I shook my head. My children use it to remember to suffer stoically in times of hardness. Yet, for all the bitterness, there is also sweetness. You have suffered; come and have your sweet.

It occurred to me that it would sit here and argue with me until I gave in, and since it was in my head, there wasn't really anywhere to hide, either. I ignored the slop they'd given me. There were four pieces of candy. Despite my sour thoughts about them, I savored them, as the dragon watched. "Want one?" I asked him.

The gigantic horned head shook. No, I have my own sweetness.

"What's that?" I asked.

The deep blue water awaits me. His head swiveled around, listening closely to something I could barely hear. One of my children comes. Soon, you will be done eating bitterness.

The door opened, and the dragon was gone as light poured into the darkened room. I put my hands up to block the light even as I tried to see whether life had given me sweetness or bitterness this time.

... to be continued in another fiction...