Gatekeepers 21 Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ One Wild Trip ❯ Chapter five ( Chapter 5 )

Hey ppl. Silvertales here. Slowing it down after the last chappie. A little sadness here. Break out the Kleenex boxes.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Expect maybe a couple pair of dirty socks and a broken lamp. No wait, I don't own the lamp. Dammit.

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"If you keep moving, I'll never be able to clean your wounds properly GateKeeper," Dante scolded me as I pulled away from the cotton ball with peroxide on it for the 6th time. Apparently, human bodies aren't up to being thrusted thru ceilings at high rates of speed.

Who knew?

I was back at Dante's apartment, sitting on his bed while Dante tried to clean the various cuts and scrapes I had received from out little escapade.

"It's not my fault someone decided to go thru the ceiling! And that stuff burns like a mother!" I hissed thru tightly clenched teeth. I heard Dante sigh and he leaned forward to blow on my cut arm. I shivered a little as his breath raced across my skin. White-blue eyes connected with mine and I couldn't look away. Dante started to lean towards me, closer…just a little closer… Then I had to go and do something completely fucking stupid.

"How much money do you need?" I asked. Dante froze and his eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, money?"

My mouth gaped open and I was amazed at my own stupidity. Holy shit…the hottest man in the world (and I'm pretty sure in 17 other different dimensions) had been about to kiss me and I had to go and ask him about his daily income?! WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING?

Wait, I know. I wasn't thinking. I couldn't have been.

"Um…can we erase what I just said?"

"No," Dante sat back on his heels and got a fresh Band-Aid out of the box sitting on his desk.

"Fuck…" I sighed, under my breath.

"Since when have you become concerned with my earnings, GateKeeper?" Dante's tone was cool and I flinched as he pressed the Band-Aid on a little too hard.

"Well…I was just looking thru some of my manuals the other day and I saw that GKA welfare rate isn't very high and," two blue-white eyes met my own, a raised eyebrow also came into view. "Okay, so I'm lying. Sue me. I'm asking because Devo recorded your little conversation with me the other night and you talked about losing this apartment. I wanted to know how much money you needed to keep it so…"

"You could pay the necessary funds and I could be even more indebted to you. Yes, a wonderful plan GateKeeper," Dante's tone was sarcastic and he turned quickly, knocking the Band-Aids off the desk with his elbow. He swore under his breath and we both stooped to pick them up, my hand coming down on top of Dante's, making him look up.

"I never meant it like that and you know it, Dante. Why can't you just accept the help for once? I don't want you to be living out on the street!"

"And I don't want to be any more connected to you than I already am!" Dante yelled back at me, his eyes flashing a dangerous ruby color and his voice deafening. I gasped and was so startled that I fell backwards on my ass. By the time I had righted myself, Dante (and the Band-Aids) were gone.

"You messed up big time. You really need to work on your timing…"

"DEVO!!!" I bellowed. "YOU WILL LEAVE ME ALONE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" My little PC blipped and raced under Dante's covers. Good thing too…I was ready to dismantle anyone or thing that came too close to me.

I sat there, on Dante's bedroom floor for a little, contemplating my ringing ears and my hurt rear end. After a little bit, I turned around and climbed into Dante's bed, gently opening Devo's lid. I could feel my eyes starting to burn with tears.

"I'm so sorry I yelled. I didn't mean to. You're not a piece of shit. I was angry at myself. I'm sorry. Can you figure out how much I would need to give Dante a month for rent for me?" I whispered, afraid that raising my voice above a whisper would cause the bubble that had settled itself in my throat to burst.

My little computer whirred and a number came up on the screen silently. "Okay. Thank you," I sniffed, closed his lid gently again and placed a soft kiss on his black casing. As I turned away from Devo, I bit my lip trying to force the tears to stay in. I wasn't doing a good job of it and I could soon feel hot tears rolling down my face to splash on Dante's bedsheet.

What did Dante mean by not wanting to be connected to me? We're business partners and I thought we were friends…well…I guess not. Were we ever friends? I pressed my face into Dante's pillow and I could faintly smell his cologne. A deep longing erupted inside of me. I wanted to apologize to him and beg him to forgive me. I wanted to plead with Dante and tell him that I was just worried about him. That I didn't mean to insult his pride.

I hoped to God and the great GateKeeper above that Dante wasn't angry with me. I couldn't handle that. I pulled the comforter up around me and sunk deep into my thoughts. I racked my brain, trying to think of reasons why Dante might be angry at me.

Pretty soon, my body was shaking with the force of my thoughts and the sobs that overtook me. My mind kept betraying me, giving me thoughts like, Dante doesn't like you because you always need saved and He doesn't want to be held back by a weakling like you. The worst one of all was He never liked you in the first place and you were stupid to think he did. I was almost screaming with grief, my body being ripped apart.

I felt 8 little pinpoints touch my arms and back and a slight weight settle itself in front of me on the bed. A cold, metallic something brushed my tear stained cheek. "Don't cry anymore Ayana. It really doesn't suit you," a warm but unfamiliar male voice said. I gasped and opened my eyes, looking up.

Devo was sitting in front of me and I was pretty sure the voice had come out of him. Who else was there to speak? My surprise grew as two, chocolate brown eyes opened and a face with soft, gentle lines materialized before me on Devo's screen. The face looked amazingly like…someone I knew from before. But different. The eyes were softer and there were giggle lines at the corners of them but the face wasn't old. It was, wise.

"Hey Ayana. I got another upgrade…" the sort-of familiar face smiled at me, showing off perfectly white teeth. And deep dimples. The jaw line was chiseled but not jutting out. The cheekbones were defined but had a soft effect on the overall look.

It took a few moments, but my brain and mouth finally worked together to form a reply, "So that makes you…Devo 5. ?"

The face chuckled. A deep, comforting sound. "No. No more 5.'s. I'm Devo 6.4 now."

I sniffed loudly, gathering the sheets around my shoulders. "Wow. You really skipped a few there. From 5.8 to 6.4. Why?"

The face smiled, "I have a wonderful GateKeeper looking after me. Haven't you noticed yet Ayana? As you grow…I grow too. Tonight you've learned something very important." The face nodded to emphasize its point, and a piece of long, brown bang fell into those mahogany eyes. For the first time I noticed the hair sitting on the top of the face. It was the kind of hair that you just wanted to run your fingers thru. Long bangs framed the face and the length came down to the face's cheekbones. It looked silky smooth.

I snorted and shook my head. "What exactly did I learn? That I have bad timing and I'm the victim of unrequited love?"

"No Ayana," the face scolded me gently. "You learned that someone loves you very much. In fact, so much that they would sacrifice their own happiness just to make sure you stayed safe."

I laid there silently for a moment, thinking. "But Devo, I didn't learn any of that. At least, I don't think I did."

Devo smiled, his soft brown eyes crinkling, "Maybe your mind didn't learn that. But your heart most certainly did. I'm proof. I would still be talking to you thru text if it wasn't for Dante…"

Devo stopped as I flinched at the mention of my ex-best friend's name. He sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"Are you real?" I whispered, reaching forward to brush the face with my fingers.

"Only as real as you make me out to be." I wanted to cry when my fingertips touched the cold LCD screen instead of warm flesh, sending distortion green thru-out the face. "Don't get too attached to me, Ayana. I'm just a machine…" and with that, the face faded away and the PC shut down, the soft whirring of the harddrives dying away and leaving me with the sound of my own heartbeat and the sound of my renewed tears dropping on the pillowcase.

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Didn't mean to make anyone emotional (if anyone did get emotional). Sorry!

Thanks to the one person who reviewed. It means a lot when I get such positive feed back.

Please review ppl! I need to know where to go with this story. I'm out of ideas. Give me some fresh concepts and I will be forever grateful!