S2E6.2 - Hunter or Hunted

[Ian Dugan]

Abe and Ian's Cabin

As she turned back over, Ian had to smile.  She really had a nice body and was glad that they had not only kept their friendship going, but moved closer.

He thought about her question as he worked the muscles in her back then moved down to her upper legs, skipping over a certain part of her body, though, truth to tell, his eyes did linger.

"Legs gettin better every day.  Soon I'll be able ta do more'in just give ya a rub down."

He knew she could not see it, but there was a smile on his lips.

"An, try not ta worry much about the Marshall.  Right now, he's just people, just like us."

He said it because he had lawmen on the Glory as crew very often, and reporters as well.  He figured that if he treated them right, they would treat him right.  He also figured that one day, he'd be wrong.

One day.

[Donovan Casey]

Donovan looked over his shoulder at Lin's tone, not used to having folks use such a tone with him and not receiving a boot to the face. The man was his employer now... and a very dangerous man. Donovan was dangerous in his own right, but in a one on one fight... the former Marshall had no doubt Lin would be the victor there. His insubordinate nature began to work it's way up until suddenly was there, in the cockpit with a plate of food for Donovan.

She was the one that terrified him the most on this ship, and yet... something about her was relaxing. Victoria was an enigma... and he wanted to know the story behind her puzzling life. He looked at the food she held out to him and narrowed his eyes at it and the gentle, friendly tone she used. His walls slammed up. "I don't need your sympathy. I can get my own food." he growled at her, but immediately regretted it. He didn't sense any hidden intentions or slights behind her actions and words, just friendliness. He took the plate from Victoria with a sigh, he looked down at it for a moment before he could look her in the eyes. "I... Thank you." He suddenly felt very ashamed.

He decided to change the course of his thoughts. "Don't worry, Captain, I won't start a fight on the ship. I do owe him a good punch though once I'm mobile again. More of a wounded pride at letting him get the drop of me. Boy's got skills that one." He gives Lin a look. "Don't be going and telling him I said that now."

[Lin Kuei]

"Donovan, do you know why sometimes have former crew wanting to return to this ship? ... The number one reason is not my charming personality but Victoria's cooking. Her leftovers make protein bars seem like go se from the most disgusting animal." Lin raised an eyebrow as he reached up and grabbed the comm. "Okay, folks, we've temporarily relocated. Kyle, I need you up here in the cockpit." Lin set the comm handle back in place as he looked out over the landscape in the darkness in front of them. "I won't tell him but I'd rather that sort of aggression between crew members gets resolved in one form or another with both people alive. We've killed some crew members on board this ship when they persisted in going after crewmembers. Our first mechanic tried to kill everyone on board in the Black and a merc we had onboard at one point threatened me directly while we were docked at the Baroness several years ago. He departed into the station on his own accord. Rumor has it he died before the station was detonated."

Climbing out his seat, he made his way back to Ops and pulled up the immediate area on the 3D modeler, displaying the surrounding hills. Lin had it pull back and focus through the ship's radar for a full spectrum look. It confirmed what he has suspected. There was a shuttle coming down from the Black to the town they where they were previously. Someone was dogging their location and it was a concern. Lin did not need to inform Victoria as she was probably more aware than he was at the narrow escape from that situation.

[Victoria Dare]

"I don't need your sympathy. I can get my own food."

Victoria's eyebrows eyes went up and her eyes widened slightly, though she didn't look alarmed.  Was that... amusement?  Donovan amended his attitude quickly, and when he thanked her, she smiled.

"You're welcome," she replied, passing him the water.  "And it's not pity--it's practicality." Her smile grew into a grin.  "If our pilot stumbles on the stairs and cracks his head, who's going to fly our ship?"  Her tone made it plenty clear that simple practicality wasn't her only motivation.  She was deadly when she needed to be, but she was also kind, especially where her crew was concerned.

A shadow passed over her features as Lin mentioned their first mechanic.  She didn't have the best memory--faces and names faded into obscurity more quickly than they should, events vanishing from her recollection into the abyss of time, but she would never forget the day she'd had to sink two blades into their mechanic to stop him from killing everybody on board.  Of course, she'd been no stranger to death and killing even then, but something about killing a member of her own crew had been deeply unsettling to her.

She gave her head a little shake, and the shadow passed.  Lin left the cockpit and headed for Ops, leaving Victoria and Donovan alone.  Lin was right--she didn't need him telling her how delicate the situation was.  She knew better than anyone, and despite the smile on her face, there was tension in her stance.  She was ready to fight, but she had no enemy to fight against.

[Vega Barnet]

As Vega entered the engine room Luke was facing away from the door. Vega heard what Luke said, and for a second he thought Luke was talking to someone, but there was no one else there. A moment later Luke turned around, it seems he hadn't noticed Vega enter right away, and after a short awkward pause Luke greeted him. "Hey. Just woke up, slept though takeoff and everything." He paused, unsure if he should inquire about who "her" was. Ah, Hell with it... "Mind if I ask who the "her" is? If you do just say the word and I'll drop it, I don't mean to pry into other peoples business."

[Luke Donovan]

"I guess that means our Captain's a good pilot," Luke joked offhandedly to the fact Vega had slept through the flight.

"Mind if I ask who the "her" is? If you do just say the word and I'll drop it, I don't mean to pry into other peoples business."

Luke's eyes darted off to the side where Adriana Lucy was standing, giving him a little shrug. He was a little embarrassed that his admission of emotion had been overheard by Vega but it wasn't a big deal. And maybe it'd be good to talk about her with someone who had a pulse. Luke took up a casual lean against the bulkhead.

"Nah it's alright," Luke first assured Vega he wasn't prying. "'Her' is Sabrina. A raven-haired hottie I met on Bridgeway, just 'fore I came aboard here."

Luke folded his arms and grinned. It was actually kind of fun boasting about a girl. It had been a very long time since he'd been in a position to do that.

"Tight body with curves in all the right places and the kind of face that was all sultry sexy and dark one moment and the next..."

Luke stopped at the realisation that he couldn't find a word to aptly describe her beauty. It was pretty, cute, sweet, and womanly all at once. How did he describe that without sounding like a dweeb? He just shook his head.

"And dude, when I say she could kick my ass without breaking a sweat I am not joking. You ever been with a woman you were pretty sure could kill you in half a breath? It is hot."

[Abenette Kelker]

Abe and Ian's Cabin

Abe smiled and sighed in content as Ian moved down her body, kneading out all the bunched muscles.  She chuckled a bit when he passed by her backside and resumed his hands on efforts down to her legs.  That's her Capt'n, ever the gentleman.

She thought things were going to be awkward after they both admitted that they had feelings for one another, but in fact, they just became closer.  They didn't rush headlong into anything, they were just letting things happen as they were meant to be.  She knew that it probably would seem odd to folks, but their relationship wasn't exactly typical.  Typical folks didn't sleep together - platonically - when they weren't in a relationship.  Abe just liked it and it just seemed calming and right.

"Legs gettin better every day.  Soon I'll be able ta do more'in just give ya a rub down."

She smiled wider.  What he said made her feel pretty and desirable, even though he didn't give details.

"An, try not ta worry much about the Marshall.  Right now, he's just people, just like us."

She snorted a little as she turned back over and faced him.

"No, he's someone who could make our lives way too interestin' for my likin'," she told him rather honestly.  "I don't trust him, but then again, I don't trust most of the folks on this boat.  This ain't Glory.  It just feels... different."

She looked into his eyes and found herself falling into them, even though he was somewhat above her.

"You though?  You, I trust.  Implicitly," she said at a whisper.

Her eyes dropped to his lips and suddenly had the desire to do something.  It would be upping the steps in their relationship, but she figured it was time and it felt like the right place.

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

[Vega Barnet]

After his question Vega watched Lukes reaction. Vega, while perfectly willing to bull-in-a-china-shop into someones business if they had a price on their head, had never really been one for sticking his nose into other non-bounty peoples business. Not to mention he was trying to make a friend, not alienate someone by asking to many questions. So he saw Lukes eyes dart to the side and worried for a moment that he had over stepped, but then Luke reassured him and answered.

"Nah it's alright," "'Her' is Sabrina. A raven-haired hottie I met on Bridgeway, just 'fore I came aboard here."

Luke crossed his arms and flashed a grin. It was obvious he was boasting now. Girl must be really somethin.

"Tight body with curves in all the right places and the kind of face that was all sultry sexy and dark one moment and the next..."

Here Luke paused as if trying to find the right words to continue, and then shook his head. Vega grinned, he knew what the kid meant.

"And dude, when I say she could kick my ass without breaking a sweat I am not joking. You ever been with a woman you were pretty sure could kill you in half a breath? It is hot."

At this Vega actually chuckled and took a moment to think back over the women he'd been with. "Oh I definitely know what you mean. Damn near every woman I've been with was a bounty-hunter of one sort or another. You wouldn't think it by lookin at them if you didn't know them, but they were damn dangerous. It is hot indeed." Vega didn't trust people easy, and in fact most people would call him paranoid. Which, among other things, made hooking up rather difficult. As he thought back he realized that indeed the only women he had been with were bounty-hunters that he'd known or worked with for a year or 2 before anything happened. Most of them were dead now, maybe all of them. Bounty-hunting was an odds game. You played with your life and theirs as the stakes. You prepared and did your recon and everything you could to tip the odds in your favor. No matter what there was always the chance you missed something, or hit them at the wrong time, or they were simply faster on the draw. The thoughts made his eyes unfocus for a moment, and his grin slipped a degree. Luke might have even seen a shadow cross his face for a split second before the grin snapped back and he banished the shadow.

"So where is miss Sabrina? Still on Bridgeway?"

[Ian Dugan]

Abe and Ian's Cabin

As Abe's lips pressed into his, Ian moaned and put his arms around her back.  It was an awkeard position for Abe, but Ian didn't want her to pull away, not just yet.

He parted his lips and darted his tongue across hers until they parted too.n it became a reall kiss,with heat, passion and promise for more.

How long they were like that, he really didn't care, but they had to come up for air sometime, and they had to start the day with the rest of the crew... sometime, but not yet.

[Luke Donovan]

Luke nodded his head and grinned as Vega agreed that dangerous women were hot. It was actually a nice feeling, sharing like this. Luke hadn't had a friend in a very long time. They might not be sharing the deep secrets of their past but at least it was something. A place to start.

Vega's expression changed for a moment. Again, Luke thought he saw that same darkness he felt pass over Vega. It was gone all too quickly and Luke couldn't be sure he'd even seen it, or had just been projecting.

As for Sabrina's whereabouts, Luke had no reason to think her plans had changed since he'd left. "Yep, she owns and runs a restaurant there. The Jaded Palace. The home brew is gorram good. If we ever stop by there, I'll have to buy you one. She's a great cook too. Maybe not compared to Victoria, but," Luke's loyalty felt challenged, and he was going to step up, "There's something about a hearty meal cooked by your woman that can't be beat."

He'd started now, and it was hard to stop. "She's an artist too. Gave me a few samples of her work, oh," he'd almost forgotten, he did actually have a picture of her he could show off. "One of them's a self portrait.." He wanted to show Vega, because it was a beautiful - and truthful - image of Sabrina. But at the same time he would feel a bit idiot school-boyish if he ran off to his room to get it.

[Abenette Kelker]

Ian and Abe's Room

Abe wasn't sure How Ian was going to react to her planting a kiss on him, but she was quite satisfied when she heard that moan and felt his arms wrap around her.

Even more satisfied when the kiss (singular) turned into kissing (plural).  Then once there were tongues and passion involved, her core temperature shot up.

Why hadn't they kissed before now?  Why would they have waited?  Maybe they just didn't realize how good it was going to be?  Abe wrapped her arms around his neck as her fingers slid into his hair.  Once there, she moaned and pulled herself closer to his body as the passion between the two of them spiked.

All too soon, the need for oxygen reared its ugly head and she was forced to pull back a little.  She looked into his eyes and smiled softly.

"Wow..."

[Vega Barnet]

"Yep, she owns and runs a restaurant there. The Jaded Palace. The home brew is gorram good. If we ever stop by there, I'll have to buy you one. She's a great cook too. Maybe not compared to Victoria, but," "There's something about a hearty meal cooked by your woman that can't be beat."

Vega raised his eyebrows at the mention of the Palace, and then grinned at Lukes obvious defense of his womans cooking. "The Jaded Palace? Heard of it, never been though. Always had... other business when I've been on Bridgeway. Best Juniper beer in the verse I hear though." The couple times he had been on the station he'd been chasing bounties. Being a full-time hunter hadn't allowed him to to enjoy the local color that often. Quite rarely in fact.

"She's an artist too. Gave me a few samples of her work, oh," "One of them's a self portrait.."

Vega noticed the slight pause and how Luke trailed off. "She sounds like quite the woman, cook, fighter, and artist too. I'd love to see the portrait sometime, assuming it ain't to personal... Again I don't mean to pry."

[Luke Donovan]

Luke shrugged and waved away Vega's concern about prying. It was unlike Luke to feel like sharing. He appreciated that Vega wasn't trying to pry; maybe that was exactly why Luke didn't mind sharing. Or maybe it was because it was Sabrina and, for the first time, he had something he wanted to talk about that he couldn't talk about with Adriana Lucy. Ghost or figment of his imagination, it didn't matter; gushing to his sister about the hot chick he was banging last month would never feel right. Sabrina meant more than to him than just that but Luke didn't want to admit it. Adriana Lucy wouldn't let him get away with that. At least Vega couldn't tell that Luke might - might - actually be in love with this girl... well, he'd be polite enough to pretend he couldn't tell.

"She is... she is," Luke agreed with Vega's assessment of Sabrina. As for showing Vega the portrait... "Come on," Luke said with an inclination of his head out of the engine room. "I'm done here, I'll show you and we'll have a quick toast to all the beautiful dangerous women we've left behind."

He started out towards his cabin. He still had a bunch of assorted liquors in there. Though maybe a drink wasn't a good idea - Luke was already feeling a little drunk.

[kysenp]

A broadcast came in to the Ronin from one of the ships in orbit. It was wideband and probably linked via satellite to all of the terminals on the planet. In the wave there wasn't much more than a grainy couple of photos from the bar's security feed, and a message which read.

Reward for any information leading to the capture of these dangerous individuals. Please report any sighting directly to the authorities in your town or to our local representatives.

The signal was on a forged Alliance security feed, so all but the trained techie wouldn't be able to determine its authenticity. They had received it as a broadband burst, but even so the firewall was triggered as some type of piggybacked virus was attempted to be brought along with the feed.

[Vega Barnet]

"She is... she is," "Come on," "I'm done here, I'll show you and we'll have a quick toast to all the beautiful dangerous women we've left behind."

Vega grinned. "Sounds good to me." He followed Luke out towards his cabin. He thought back to the women he'd been intimate with. It wasn't a long list, more than 5 and less than 10. Not bad for 22 years flying here there and everywhere in the verse. He knew 5 of them were dead. 4 of them on the job, all quick deaths at least. The 5th found herself a husband and settled down, got killed in a bar fight she hadn't even been a part of, stray bullet in the neck. She bled out in her husbands arms. The rest... he didn't know. It wasn't like he kept tabs on them. The ones he knew to be gone had all died while he'd been involved with them with the exception of the one who settled down, he read about that by chance one day surfing the cortex news reports.

With Luke in front of him and no one* able to see his face he let the mask he always wore slip for 3 full seconds. During that time a cascade of emotion washed over his face. Mostly loss, sadness, longing, with a bit of rage that he had been unable to save any of them. His fists clenched and he forced himself to relax, the mask went back up and he resumed he normal expression. He glanced around to make sure no one had seen his lapse in composure, and continued along with Luke to his cabin.



* Except maybe Adriana Lucy if she was watching.

[Lin Kuei]

Reward for any information leading to the capture of these dangerous individuals. Please report any sighting directly to the authorities in your town or to our local representatives.

Lin's eyes went from suspicion to concern to irritation. Something was serious wrong for this to be happening. The evidence of it was relatively conclusive that someone was zeroing them. It was a decision that needed to be made and Lin felt there was no time like the present. He stepped swiftly from Ops into the cockpit. "Sorry to force you to break from your dinner but we need to break orbit immediately. That feed we just heard far too close for my liking. I'm sure Victoria won't mind if you need to set it aside. In fact, the moment you hit the Black, I want you to hardburn for Jiangyin. I'll let you know when to change course." Lin grabbed the handset for the comm and spoke clearly. "This is the Captain. Buckle up and hang on. We may need to prove all of the speed our home is worth." Lin slammed the handset down into its cradle. Things were devolving and Lin was not fond of it.

[Blake Snow]

Blake had almost finished his meal when Lin's voice was heard over the comm. He grumbled a little, shoveling the rest of the food into his mouth before standing up and putting the plate anywhere that might not make it fly away and break into a million pieces. He then made his way to a seat where he could buckle himself in so that he too would not fly away and break into a million pieces (or something less exaggerated but still rather painful and/or deadly).

He somewhat knew what this was about due to the fact that he listened to conversations in the past and even experienced a time where he had to buckle himself in on a ship. But that was different in that he was just traveling to another planet for another job; in this case, this was technically his job. Well, more or less. If it meant dealing with things he hadn't dealt with before, then so be it. He would adapt, even if he wasn't entirely happy with the circumstances and/or individuals about. Thankfully there was only one person he was not on entirely okay terms with, but he wouldn't let that get in way of his work. Hopefully.

[Luke Donovan]

"I don't know what you're so excited about," Adriana Lucy goaded Luke as they walked down the hall. "Yeah, she's pretty but she's not that hot." Luke ignored her comments, so she turned to Vega; she was hoping that he wouldn't be too impressed by Sabrina's picture. She kinda had a crush on him.

When he and Vega reached his cabin, Luke went straight to the folio case to pull out the self-portrait of Sabrina. He looked at it for a few seconds himself, sighing, before passing it to Vega. It was an excellent likeness and showed off her simple beauty, as well as her talent for drawing. He was reaching into the cupboard beside his bed for a bottle of drink when Lin's announcement came over the comm.

"Aw wuh de mah," Luke swore, knowing that he would have to hurry back to the engine room now to be on stand-by for a hard burn. "Sounds like that toast will have to wait," he said with disappointment. He stood and made to start back to the engine room.

[Donovan Casey]

Donovan was suddenly realized he was along with Victoria on the bridge... without anyone else around. Now would be the perfect time to ask the questions that cost Donovan his job. Best way to ask it... straight forward, usually the best. He turned in his seat to look at the small girl in between bites, swallowed his food at looked at her. Really looked her. "Victoria, I'd like to ask you something personal. Who are you? Back when I was still with the Marshals you were one of our top fugitives, but there was never any information available as to why. I was curious... I dug deep. Way deep and even then only found bits and pieces of the truth. Even that small amount cost me dearly. What's your story?"

His attention was suddenly diverted by the broadcast. 'Ah hell...'

He stepped swiftly from Ops into the cockpit. "Sorry to force you to break from your dinner but we need to break orbit immediately. That feed we just heard far too close for my liking. I'm sure Victoria won't mind if you need to set it aside. In fact, the moment you hit the Black, I want you to hardburn for Jiangyin. I'll let you know when to change course."

Donovan nodded and handed his plate to Victoria. "Another time." He went straight into pilot mode without another thought; he flipped switches, completed a thorough, but quick preflight check, and started warming up the engines. Within a few short moments Donovan was hauling back on the controls and Ronin lifted up off the ground. She went vertical to a few hundred feet to clear the terrain before rotating the engines into a diagonal lift. Once Donovan had enough forward thrust, he rotated the engines into a flat plane and put on full power to clear the planet.

[Victoria Dare]

Her gaze settled on Donovan as he asked his question, and her expression did not waver.  If his inquiry troubled her, she hid it very well.  She didn't have a chance to answer, of course--before she could have even opened her mouth, they were on the move again, but she took it all in stride.  When Donovan held out his plate, she took it, and without missing a beat settled into the copilot chair and buckled herself in.

"Rest easy, my love," she said to Lin.  "This is the trouble I sensed before, and I'm not seeing anything new yet."  She flashed a smile at him, and though there was still tension in her posture, she seemed relieved that her premonition had finally come to pass.  She always was--there was a stillness that followed the fulfillment of a vision that gave her a peace she rarely experienced. "I will let you know if I see anything else."