Outlaw Star Fan Fiction ❯ Never let You Go ❯ Never Let You Go ( Chapter 1 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
Never Let You Go
By: Karie
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Hey! OMG, Karie's making a OLS fic! *lol* Kill me later. Its yaoi, Gene/Jim fic. And if you don't like it, cry me a river, build me a bridge and GET THE FUCK OVER IT YOU WHINE ASS BIOTCH! *grin* Thanks! Enjoy Minna!
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Jim sat up and pushed back the curtain that hid his bed in the little area reserved for the crew's sleeping quarters. He slid out and shivered as his bare feet hit the cold metal floor. He pushed a handful of dirty blonde hair out of his eyes and peeked around the curtain to Gene's bed. He was out cold. Jim took a deep breath and slid away, turning and going down the hall. His watch told him it was four in the morning. He turned off into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. As he waited for the machine to finish perking, one of the many Gillium bot's came in, specifically, the one he'd claimed as his, the pink one. "Jim, what are you doing up this early? It's hardly time for you to be making coffee." Jim laughed slightly, burying the memory of the nightmare that had woken him away for later. "I woke up and couldn't get to sleep, thats all. I figured I might as well have some coffee." The little bot waved its tiny arm-like apendages at him. "But, its barely morning! You should go back to bed Jim." Jim laughed and pulled the coffee pot away as it finished and poured some coffee into a mug and added lots of sugar. "Gillium, I'm not tired, I can't sleep, so I'm going to stay up. If I get sleepy, I'll go back to bed, okay?" The pink bot seemed annoyed. "Alright, just be careful Jim." The thing whisked away with a slight whirring sound, going back to where ever those things came from. Jim took his coffee and went into the ship's control room and sat in his seat, pulling out the cup holder he'd put in for himself. He sat his mug on it and brought up a game. He leaned back and ran his fingers over the small keyboard for the game, playing mindlessly. After a while he looked at his watch. "Geeze! Its seven AM! Gene, you slacker!" Jim saved his game and picked up his half empty coffee mug and left the control room, heading off towards where the crew slept. He peeked into the kitchen and waved at Melfina. "Morning Mel!" The sweet bio-andriod waved back at him. "Morning Jim! Can you get Gene up? Breakfast is almost ready." Jim grinned and gave Melfina a thumbs up. "Yeah, sure, I was just going to get him anyway! Bye Mel!" Jim walked on, passing Aisha who was dragging herself to the kitchen. "Moning squirt." She mumbled as she passed him. He also passed Suzuka who nodded and went on her way. When he got into the sleeping quarters, Gene was still asleep. Jim sighed and sat his mug on a table by the wall and yanked back the curtain. "Gene! Gene, you bum, wake up!" Jim crawled into the small space and sat on Gene's stomach, bouncing hard, trying to wake the big lump. The only response he got was an unintelligible grunt. Jim glared at Gene and grabbed a handful of hair, yanking on it hard. "Gene Starwind, you loser, wake up!" That got him up. Jim squaked as Gene shot up, clamping a hand to his head. "Ow! Hey, Jim, don't do that!" Jim called up from the floor where he'd landed hard. "Well, if you were easier to wake up, maybe I wouldn't have to do that! Get out of bed now, Melfina's almost done with breakfast." Jim picked himself up and walked back to the door, getting his coffee on the way. "Everyone else is up already. I was up before Melfina was." There was a noncomittal grunt and the curtain to Gene's bed opened and the tall outlaw slid out of bed. Jim looked at Gene for a moment before he turned and tried hard NOT to run out of the room. He stopped at the kitchen to leave his mug and then dashed to the bathroom. He scrambled into it and the door slid shut with a small bit of wind then he collapsed back against it. "God..." There was a small scratching sound and then the door under the sink poped open and a small black cat with red points like a siamese scrambled out, hissing at the door angrilly. "Hey kitty, how'd you get in there?" The cat whirled and mewed up at him for a moment. Then it blinked. Jim noticed that it had really bright violet eyes, which were unusual. The cat stoped mewing and hopped up on the toilet which was closed and sat down. As it sat, it began to grow at an alarmingly fast rate. Before long a tall girl was sitting on the toilet. She has pale ivory skin and wore a pair of black leather pants and a black silk shirt with long sleeves that flared at the wrists. There was one little thing though. Poking out from her long black hair were two crimson cat ears. And stead of hands and feet, she had crimson cat paws and a black tail with a crimson tip was twitching beside her. "Sorry," the girl seemed to purr, "But, I keep forgetting that humans can't understand neko speach." Jim blinked. "What? What are you?" The girl smiled wide, revealing sharp teeth, like a big cats. "I am a demon neko. I have two forms. The small black/crimson siamese neko you found, and this, a neko-human form that retains a few neko like traits but is otherwise human. My name is Crimson Point. And god, how long has that bar of soap BEEN in there!" The girl waved a paw towards the cabnet. "Its disgusting!" Jim shrugged. "Ask Melfina." The girl snorted and brushed at a section of black hair that was hanging in her face. It fell right back after she tried to move it. The girl stood up and patted Jim on the head. Then she sniffed slightly. "Hmmm...You smell like someone else... The tall red head, whats his name?" Jim blushed a little. "Gene Starwind." The girl nodded. "Yeah, him, you smell like him. I also smell...," she sniffed again, "Joy... Oh! You LIKE Gene!" Jim turned bright red. "Yeah, but he hates me. I'm just a kid and anyway he doesn't like boys." The neko waved a paw at him. "Nonsense. You learn a lot living in that cabnet. He loves you, James. Trust me. I'll get him to tell you, leave it to me. Now, I'm going to go explore, hopefully this time I'll find the kitchen." The girl shrank down to her neko form and mew up at him, as if she were asking something. Jim opened the bathroom door and pointed. "Down the hall and on the left. You'll smell it." The neko mewed happily up at him and padded off. Jim closed the door and sighed. She could TELL? Creepy... Another cat girl... At least this one seemed nice, and she had a sweet little kitty form. Maybe she could stay around and he could let her sleep in his bunk. He brought his blush under control and left the bathroom. He went into the kitchen where Aisha was hissing at Crimson angrilly. The neko had jumpped up and was eating the bacon right off her plate without a care. Jim yelped and picked up the neko, holding her away from Aisha. "No Crimson! Wait a sec and I'll get you a plate!" The neko looked up at him and mewed, then hissed back at Aisha, swiping a paw at her, claws extended. Jim looked pleadingly at Melfina who quickly piled bacon onto a plate and sat it on the floor. The neko in Jim's arms immediantly looked down then up at Melfina in such a way that, Jim knew, had she been in neko-human form, she would have said, "You want ME to eat off the FLOOR?" Melfina immediantly picked the dish up and put it on the table. Jim put Crimson up on a seat. The cat sat down and grew into her neko-human form in front of everyone. She waved a paw airily at Aisha and then picked up a bit of bacon with her claws and nibbled at it calmly, tail swishing behind her. Jim sat on the other side of Crimson and ate his food, piling scrambled eggs on some toast. Gene finally came in, shirtless and almost didn't notice Crimson until he'd sat on her. Jim covered his ears and Crimson screeched and snapped at Gene angrilly. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!?" Jim tugged on Crimson's tail. "Be nice and calm down." The neko-human immediantly went back to eating while Gene sat on Jim's other side and leaned forwards, looking at her in confusion. "Jim, who is that, what is she, and WHY is she HERE?" Jim sighed. "This is Crimson Point, a demon neko. And she was in the bathroom cabnet. Which needs cleaned out by the way." Gene seemed even more confused. "How did she get there?" Jim shrugged. "Ask her. I don't know."
Gene blinked as the neko-human girl sat beside Jim and ate silently. "Hey, kitty girl thing." The girl looked over at him and sighed, waving a paw. "I have a NAME, Gene Starwind." Gene blinked. "Oh, Crimson, yeah. Hey, how'd you get in the bathroom cabnet anyway. And how did you FIT in the cabnet?" The girl shrugged. "I'll show you how after I eat. An how I got in there was purely by accident. I came on board while you were at Cenntinal3. I was looking for the kitchen, figuring maybe someone on board would feed a hungry cat, and then I could leave and find someone to get me off the planet and back to Blue Heaven. Swanzo was probably looking for me. But, I missed and got stuck in the damned bathroom cabnet." The girl speared three more peices of bacon easily and Gene watched as each peice was pulled off a claw and vanished into the girl's mouth, sharp teeth making slight snapping sounds as she gulped her food down. The girl licked her claws clean and then waved a paw at Melfina. "Thanks, that was great. I haven't eaten in SOOOO long. Appriciate the meal." Gene watched as Melfina smiled back and patted the girl on the head. A loud, almost roar like sound filled the air and then after a moment Gene blinked. Crimson was purring. Melfina was scratching her behind the ears and that in turn produced the most soothing purring sound. Gene coughed and Melfina pulled her hand back, appologising. The purr died off and Crimson slid off her seat and streached, waving a paw at Gene. "And now, as to how I can FIT in the cabnet. Watch closely now." Gene blinked and watched as Crimson shrank down into a black/crismon siamese cat. The cat lept up into his lap and mewed up at him, turning in a cirle and laying down. Gene looked at the cat, and frowned. "Crimson?" The thing lifted a head and mewed questioningly. Gene picked her up by the scruff. "You really are a demon neko. I thought you guys were just old legends." The cat mewed indignantly at him and gently raked her claws over his wrist. Gene dropped the neko. She landed on the floor lightly and streached back into a neko-human. "Yeah, I'm real. There USED to be a whole lot of us. Then people started popping up in places you don't BELONG and hell, look what we get stuck with. Ledgends and myths." The neko-human sniffed indignantly. "I want to go back to Blue Heaven if you don't MIND. Swanzo probably has forgotten about me." Gene shrugged. "To Blue Heaven it is then." The neko-human girl smiled, teeth flashing as she bounced into the control room. She seemed to be searching for something then she slid under the control thing. She pulled a small black box out and sat on the floor with it. While Gene settled in he noticed she was cradling the box carefully. "Whats in there? Catnip?" The neko-human girl sneered at him. "Hardly. Just, get me to Blue Heaven already. I have to see Swanzo." Gene shrugged. "Whatever. Hold on." The ship came to 'life' and jumped through sub eather space twice before Gene docked at Blue Heaven. The moment they were off the ship, Crimson was a lot more assertive of herself. When she started chatting with Swanzo it was like no one else existed. Gene thought he heard the word 'pirate' and 'box' a few times. He waited until they were done. "Hey, so, whats this about Crimson?" The neko-human waved a paw in dismissal. "Its not your business. You can leave now." Gene felt something latch onto his arm. "Gene, lets go, we don't need any space adventures. Lets go home." Gene gently shook Jim off. "No way, I can swear I heard you two mention 'pirates' more than once. What is going on." Swanzo moved forward, blocking Crimson. "I can see you don't know. Crimson Point is part of a neko daemon pirate society. There are only five main members that have the most power. Crimson is one of those five. But, the others turned against her and tried to get rid of her. She took something valuable and worked on the XGP when it was being built and stored it under the control deck. Then she some how managed to get onto the Outlaw Star and luckily its the same ship. She's got what she stole and will be hunted down again. She's biding her time here until she has to take off again. Space is where she loves to be. She's a born fighter." Gene sighed. "Thats it. No, girl, is going to do something like this by herself, demon or not. Back to the Outlaw Star, you too Crimson. And WHAT is in that box!?" Gene pulled the unresisting neko-human girl onto the ship. The girl smirked. "I can't tell you yet." Gene sighed. "Pirates. Again. I can't believe I'm getting involved with PIRATES. I hate pirates. They make things so complicated." Gene sat Crimson on the floor and hopped into place. The Outlaw Star took off. As they went along Gene questioned Crimson. "So, what is all this pirate stuff about anyhow?"
Jim kept his mouth shut as Gene grilled Crimson for any information she could have. Soon he started his game back up. After a while the Outlaw Star was put under Melfina's control. There was silence then Crimson's voice rose to a peircing shriek. "What do you mean Gene Starwind! No! Let go! Thats not to be opened! Gene! No!" jim slumpped in his seat, taking long, slow breaths. There was a loud gust of wind that nearly tore Jim from his seat and then Crimson's voice came again. "I told you not to open it! Don't you listen to anybody!" There was silence and Jim sighed softly. Aisha's voice was low. "I don't like Crimson to much. Shes creepy. And rude. She acts like she knows some amazing secret that no one else does." Jim snorted. "The only reason you don't like her, Ashia, is because she acts like you. Creepy, rude and secretive." The Ctarl Ctarl yelped and snarled angrilly. "I AM NOT RUDE!" Jim got out of his seat and flipped Ashia off as he left the control center. He passed the kitchen where Gene was talking to Crimson. They both looked at him but he only trudged on down to the cabins and crawled into his. He yanked the curtain closed and curled up, closing his eyes and breathing slowly. Soon he was asleep. When he woke up someone was carrying him. "Umm? Nani?" Crimson's interesting toned voice answered him. "Shh, James. Go back to sleep. Don't worry, nothing bad is happening." Jim grunted softly and fell back asleep. When he next woke there was something warm under him. He mumbled incoherantly and tried to burrow into it. Then he made a face and cracked open an eye. He was definantly in a bedroom. It was nice too. But he was sharing a bed with someone. He pushed himself up a little and looked to see who was his pillow. He about threw a fit! Gene was laying there, staring at the ceiling blankly. "Wauk!" Jim scrambled backwards and fell off the side of the bed, cracking his head on the floor. "Ah! Itai! Damnit!" There was a soft sound and then Gene's head poped up from the edge of the bed. "You okay Jim? Do you intend to make a habit of falling out of beds?" Jim sat up on the floor and rubbed his head gingerly, glaring at Gene. "No. Only when you either throw me out or surprise me." He pulled himself off the floor and sat on the edge of the bed hesitantly. "Why are you sharing a bed with me?" He looked narrowly at Gene who'd gone back to laying over the bed looking at the ceiling. "Because. Crimson had to go do something. We're on her planet. Or at least, the planet she came from. Besides, you were making weird sounds in your sleep, like you were crying or something." Jim flinched and got up, streching. "WhatEVER. So, can we like, get up and DO something?" Gene grunted. Jim sighed and pulled his on his jacket which had been layed over a chair. He pushed open the door to his room and found himself in a huge hall way lined with thick black carpet and with paintings covering the walls. Jim whistled. "Wow... Nice place." Jim went in search of the bathroom. Once he'd finished he made his way back to the room he was sharing with Gene. The man was sleeping. Jim looked at his watch. Two AM. Why did he keep waking up so damned early?! Jim shed his jacket and crawled back into the bed. He pulled a pillow to him and curled up on his side, facing Gene. He closed his eyes and clutched at the pillow as he fell asleep. The nightmare came back...
~*~*~*~(nightmare begin)~*~*~*~
Jim found himself running down a long dark hallway, alone. After a few moments a tiny spark of red appeared in the distance. The closer he got to it the brighter it became. As he came upon it, it vanished and Gene stood there, grinning like always.
"Hey Jim, whats wrong?"
Jim gasped for air and reached out for Gene. The closer he got to Gene, the farther the tall red-head seemed to be from him. Then someone stood behind Gene. Jim couldn't see who it was really, just a dark shadow. Then something went off. Gene seemed to flinch slightly then his eyes went wide. Jim saw the hole that became his stomach.
"Jim! Help me!"
Jim kept running. But, as fast as he ran, he never seemed to be able to reach Gene in time. Just before Gene fell, Jim found himself screaming and crying...
~*~*~*~(nightmare end)~*~*~*~
Jim woke up crying, clutching something. Or rather, someone. He recognised who was holding onto him. Gene's arms were wrapped around him tightly and he was clinging to Gene as much as he could, his face burried in Gene's chest. He gulped in air, trying to calm himself down. He wouldn't move though. As calm as he became, he couldn't make himself leave Gene's hold. He just stayed there, clutching Gene tightly, hiding his face against his best friend and, he wished, more. After a moment, Gene's voice broke the silence that appeared to have fallen. "Jim? Whats wrong?" Jim flinched, his hold on Gene tightening reflexivly. Gene had said the same thing in his nightmare, except then he hadn't sounded so worried. Jim gulped softly, getting air into his lungs before hs whispered against Gene's skin. "'S nothing. Just...a nightmare." Gene's arms didn't tighten, but they didn't loosen either. "Must have been some nightmare. You were shakeing and crying and mumbling something the whole time. A few times you screamed and called out for me." Jim shook his head, keeping himself tight against Gene. "It was a nightmare. Just, a really bad, reoccuring nightmare." Jim lifted his head from Gene's chest and looked up at the older man. Gene was looking down at him with a semi-confused expression. "Wanna tell me about the nightmare? Make you feel better if you do." Jim sniffled slightly and shifted, noticing he was being held in Gene's lap. He got comfortable as much as he could and layed his head back on Gene's chest. "I guess. Well, its starts out, I'm running down a really long, really dark hallway. I can't see or hear anything at first. And then there's this tiny red light in front of me. The closer I get to it, the bigger and brighter it gets." Jim sniffled again and closed his eyes, listening to Gene's heart beat. "And?" Gene's voice broke the small pause. "Then, when I get to the light, its gone. Instead," Jim gulped slightly and flinched, tightening his hold on Gene again. "Instead, your standing there, grinning like you always do and asking me what's wrong like somethings funny. And then this shadow comes up behind out and something like an old fashioned gun goes off behind you. After a moment, this shocked kind of look comes over you and there's a huge hole where your stomach is." Jim released one hand and pressed it against Gene's stomach to make sure this wasn't a dream, that there wasn't a hole there. He felt the firm muscles under Gene's skin and smiled slightly, leaving his hand there. "And then, you call out for me, for my help but no matter how much I run, or how fast I am, I can't reach you in time to save you. I start screaming something and then I wake up. I don't want to know how that end's Gene, I don't want to know!" Jim looked up at Gene, eye's filling with tears again. "And that, that scares me. No matter how close I would get to you before you get shot, I'm never close enough. I can't reach you, Gene, and it scares me!" The shocked look on Gene's face scared him more than the dream. Jim attempted to pull away, looking off towads a wall. "I'm sorry Gene, you didn't really want to know that." But Jim was held fast by Gene's arms. And Gene's voice held him more than his arms did. His voice was low, and soft. Jim had never heard him sound like that before. "I'm sorry, Jim. I'm sorry that its me that scares you so much. Maybe when we leave, you should stay here, with Crimson and the other neko people. Crimson likes you. Thats obvious. But, she seems to know something about you that even I don't know. And she won't tell me what it is. Its like that box. I tried to open it and something started a huge wind that pushed me back." Jim pulled away and looked at Gene with shock. Then he shook his head, moving forward to wrap his arms around Gene's neck and cling there crying. "No, no I don't want you to leave me behind! Please, don't make me stay here without you Gene! I don't want to stay if your not here!" Gene's arms tightened around him. "Okay, if you don't want to stay, you don't have to. I won't make you do anything you don't want to." Jim just stayed there, crying, his arms around Gene's neck. He whispered continuously, the nightmare returning to haunt him. "No, don't leave me behind Gene, please don't leave me behind. Please don't leave me behind. Don't leave me behind." Jim slowly fell asleep again, crying into Gene's shoulder. The nightmare picked up where it left off this time.
~*~*~*~(nightmare continues)~*~*~*~
Jim kept running, screaming and crying. Gene fell slowly, dropping to his knees, reaching out towards Jim, his mouth open soundlessly, still seeming to call for him. Blood streamed from the missing gap of his stomach and it trailed from his lips. Jim finally was able to reach Gene as the man fell forward. He caught him and fell with him, the man landing over him heavily, trapping him against the floor. "Gene, Gene! Gene, you can't die! You can't die on me Gene!" The man's eyes were looking at him. His mouth was shut and he was smiling a little. His voice was rough and weak.
"I knew, that you'd come for me, Jim. I knew, I could always count on you. Jim, hold onto me... Don't let me go alone."
Jim cried, hugging Gene's bleeding body to him, tangling his finger's in his friend, father, his dream lover's hair. While Gene could still hear him, Jim whispered softly through his tears. "I'll never let you go Gene Starwind. Gene, you can still hear me and I just want you to know, that, I love you Gene. And I'll never leave you, never let you go. Never let you go." Gene's eyes slid shut as he let out his final breath.
"Love you, Jim..."
Jim sobbed as he held Gene's lifeless body against him. Soft echoing laughter surrounded him. Jim opened his eyes and looked up to see the shadowy figure standing over him. "Who, are you? Why did you have to kill Gene?" The figure just laughed. Then, lights came on. "AISHA?!" The nightmare Aisha just laughed down at him and pointed a gun at him. Jim clutched Gene to him and rolled, protecting Gene's body with his own smaller one as the gun went off. There was a shock and then a saving numbness came over him. He clutched Gene to him and whispered.
"Never let you go Gene Starwind... Never let you go..."
~*~*~*~(nightmare end)~*~*~*~
Jim woke up screaming. There were hands pinning him down. And voices around him. He struggled against them violently, screaming. Then Gene's face appeared over him. "Jim, just calm down, its us." Jim tore his hands away from who ever was holding them and flung himself against Gene, clinging to him desperately. Suddenly there weren't anymore hands holding him down, just Gene's arms holding him tightly. There was a voice and then a door closed. He felt himself being lowered onto something soft... Bed, it was the bed he was sharing with Gene. He opened his eyes and looked at Gene. "It... It was, its was awful Gene!" Jim clung tighter to the man, his head on Gene's shoulder while Gene held him, not saying aything at all, just holding him. Jim slowly felt himself getting calmer. "It, the person, that shot you... It was, Aisha. She, shot you, and laughed. I made it to you Gene. You would have hit the floor face first but, I made it and you landed on me instead. You, could barely talk. You didn't want me to leave you alone. You said, that you knew I'd come, that I would be there for you. You asked for me to, to hold onto you, to not let you go alone. She was going to shoot you again, and I, I rolled over so that you were under me, so that she wouldn't shoot you. She, she shot me instead. We died Gene, we really died. And, it was all okay. Because..." Jim stopped, slowly, hiding his face against Gene's shoulder. He felt Gene's hands rubbing his back in a sort of soothing motion, the red haired outlaw's voice next to his ear, soft and warm. "You were whispering and talking in your sleep Jim. And thank you, for not letting go. Love you, Jim." Jim tensed and pulled away from Gene, looking at him with wide eyes, searching his face for any hidden amusement. There wasn't any. "Gene!" Jim loosened his hold on Gene, reaching up and tangling his finger's in Gene's hair slightly. Gene's eyes were calm and they drew him in as much as Gene's arms pulled him. "Love you, Jim." The whispered words were clear, their faces so close that Gene's breath was warm against Jim's lips. Jim nodded and leaned forwards just a little, only going to kiss Gene lightly then pull away. But Gene pulled him closer and pressed their mouths together firmly, kissing him deeply. Jim finally pulled himself away and stared at Gene. "But, I thought, Don't you-" "Like women? Not really." Jim smiled suddenly and pulled Gene closer to him, kissing him again. They stayed like that for as long as they could then pulled away. "Love you, Gene Starwind. And I'll never never leave you, never let you go."
~OWARI~
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*blows her nose and waves another kleenx at you* Wah! That was sooooo sappy! *sniffles and blows her nose again* I can't believe how sweet that is, I'm getting a toothache just looking at it! Like it? I hope so even though I wrote it for ME. I'm not a sell-out, I don't write so you like, I'll take requests for couples, yaoi only thanks, but I'll write the story so I like it. *sniffles and runs off to talk to Akito* ITS SO SWEET!
By: Karie
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Hey! OMG, Karie's making a OLS fic! *lol* Kill me later. Its yaoi, Gene/Jim fic. And if you don't like it, cry me a river, build me a bridge and GET THE FUCK OVER IT YOU WHINE ASS BIOTCH! *grin* Thanks! Enjoy Minna!
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Jim sat up and pushed back the curtain that hid his bed in the little area reserved for the crew's sleeping quarters. He slid out and shivered as his bare feet hit the cold metal floor. He pushed a handful of dirty blonde hair out of his eyes and peeked around the curtain to Gene's bed. He was out cold. Jim took a deep breath and slid away, turning and going down the hall. His watch told him it was four in the morning. He turned off into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. As he waited for the machine to finish perking, one of the many Gillium bot's came in, specifically, the one he'd claimed as his, the pink one. "Jim, what are you doing up this early? It's hardly time for you to be making coffee." Jim laughed slightly, burying the memory of the nightmare that had woken him away for later. "I woke up and couldn't get to sleep, thats all. I figured I might as well have some coffee." The little bot waved its tiny arm-like apendages at him. "But, its barely morning! You should go back to bed Jim." Jim laughed and pulled the coffee pot away as it finished and poured some coffee into a mug and added lots of sugar. "Gillium, I'm not tired, I can't sleep, so I'm going to stay up. If I get sleepy, I'll go back to bed, okay?" The pink bot seemed annoyed. "Alright, just be careful Jim." The thing whisked away with a slight whirring sound, going back to where ever those things came from. Jim took his coffee and went into the ship's control room and sat in his seat, pulling out the cup holder he'd put in for himself. He sat his mug on it and brought up a game. He leaned back and ran his fingers over the small keyboard for the game, playing mindlessly. After a while he looked at his watch. "Geeze! Its seven AM! Gene, you slacker!" Jim saved his game and picked up his half empty coffee mug and left the control room, heading off towards where the crew slept. He peeked into the kitchen and waved at Melfina. "Morning Mel!" The sweet bio-andriod waved back at him. "Morning Jim! Can you get Gene up? Breakfast is almost ready." Jim grinned and gave Melfina a thumbs up. "Yeah, sure, I was just going to get him anyway! Bye Mel!" Jim walked on, passing Aisha who was dragging herself to the kitchen. "Moning squirt." She mumbled as she passed him. He also passed Suzuka who nodded and went on her way. When he got into the sleeping quarters, Gene was still asleep. Jim sighed and sat his mug on a table by the wall and yanked back the curtain. "Gene! Gene, you bum, wake up!" Jim crawled into the small space and sat on Gene's stomach, bouncing hard, trying to wake the big lump. The only response he got was an unintelligible grunt. Jim glared at Gene and grabbed a handful of hair, yanking on it hard. "Gene Starwind, you loser, wake up!" That got him up. Jim squaked as Gene shot up, clamping a hand to his head. "Ow! Hey, Jim, don't do that!" Jim called up from the floor where he'd landed hard. "Well, if you were easier to wake up, maybe I wouldn't have to do that! Get out of bed now, Melfina's almost done with breakfast." Jim picked himself up and walked back to the door, getting his coffee on the way. "Everyone else is up already. I was up before Melfina was." There was a noncomittal grunt and the curtain to Gene's bed opened and the tall outlaw slid out of bed. Jim looked at Gene for a moment before he turned and tried hard NOT to run out of the room. He stopped at the kitchen to leave his mug and then dashed to the bathroom. He scrambled into it and the door slid shut with a small bit of wind then he collapsed back against it. "God..." There was a small scratching sound and then the door under the sink poped open and a small black cat with red points like a siamese scrambled out, hissing at the door angrilly. "Hey kitty, how'd you get in there?" The cat whirled and mewed up at him for a moment. Then it blinked. Jim noticed that it had really bright violet eyes, which were unusual. The cat stoped mewing and hopped up on the toilet which was closed and sat down. As it sat, it began to grow at an alarmingly fast rate. Before long a tall girl was sitting on the toilet. She has pale ivory skin and wore a pair of black leather pants and a black silk shirt with long sleeves that flared at the wrists. There was one little thing though. Poking out from her long black hair were two crimson cat ears. And stead of hands and feet, she had crimson cat paws and a black tail with a crimson tip was twitching beside her. "Sorry," the girl seemed to purr, "But, I keep forgetting that humans can't understand neko speach." Jim blinked. "What? What are you?" The girl smiled wide, revealing sharp teeth, like a big cats. "I am a demon neko. I have two forms. The small black/crimson siamese neko you found, and this, a neko-human form that retains a few neko like traits but is otherwise human. My name is Crimson Point. And god, how long has that bar of soap BEEN in there!" The girl waved a paw towards the cabnet. "Its disgusting!" Jim shrugged. "Ask Melfina." The girl snorted and brushed at a section of black hair that was hanging in her face. It fell right back after she tried to move it. The girl stood up and patted Jim on the head. Then she sniffed slightly. "Hmmm...You smell like someone else... The tall red head, whats his name?" Jim blushed a little. "Gene Starwind." The girl nodded. "Yeah, him, you smell like him. I also smell...," she sniffed again, "Joy... Oh! You LIKE Gene!" Jim turned bright red. "Yeah, but he hates me. I'm just a kid and anyway he doesn't like boys." The neko waved a paw at him. "Nonsense. You learn a lot living in that cabnet. He loves you, James. Trust me. I'll get him to tell you, leave it to me. Now, I'm going to go explore, hopefully this time I'll find the kitchen." The girl shrank down to her neko form and mew up at him, as if she were asking something. Jim opened the bathroom door and pointed. "Down the hall and on the left. You'll smell it." The neko mewed happily up at him and padded off. Jim closed the door and sighed. She could TELL? Creepy... Another cat girl... At least this one seemed nice, and she had a sweet little kitty form. Maybe she could stay around and he could let her sleep in his bunk. He brought his blush under control and left the bathroom. He went into the kitchen where Aisha was hissing at Crimson angrilly. The neko had jumpped up and was eating the bacon right off her plate without a care. Jim yelped and picked up the neko, holding her away from Aisha. "No Crimson! Wait a sec and I'll get you a plate!" The neko looked up at him and mewed, then hissed back at Aisha, swiping a paw at her, claws extended. Jim looked pleadingly at Melfina who quickly piled bacon onto a plate and sat it on the floor. The neko in Jim's arms immediantly looked down then up at Melfina in such a way that, Jim knew, had she been in neko-human form, she would have said, "You want ME to eat off the FLOOR?" Melfina immediantly picked the dish up and put it on the table. Jim put Crimson up on a seat. The cat sat down and grew into her neko-human form in front of everyone. She waved a paw airily at Aisha and then picked up a bit of bacon with her claws and nibbled at it calmly, tail swishing behind her. Jim sat on the other side of Crimson and ate his food, piling scrambled eggs on some toast. Gene finally came in, shirtless and almost didn't notice Crimson until he'd sat on her. Jim covered his ears and Crimson screeched and snapped at Gene angrilly. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!?" Jim tugged on Crimson's tail. "Be nice and calm down." The neko-human immediantly went back to eating while Gene sat on Jim's other side and leaned forwards, looking at her in confusion. "Jim, who is that, what is she, and WHY is she HERE?" Jim sighed. "This is Crimson Point, a demon neko. And she was in the bathroom cabnet. Which needs cleaned out by the way." Gene seemed even more confused. "How did she get there?" Jim shrugged. "Ask her. I don't know."
Gene blinked as the neko-human girl sat beside Jim and ate silently. "Hey, kitty girl thing." The girl looked over at him and sighed, waving a paw. "I have a NAME, Gene Starwind." Gene blinked. "Oh, Crimson, yeah. Hey, how'd you get in the bathroom cabnet anyway. And how did you FIT in the cabnet?" The girl shrugged. "I'll show you how after I eat. An how I got in there was purely by accident. I came on board while you were at Cenntinal3. I was looking for the kitchen, figuring maybe someone on board would feed a hungry cat, and then I could leave and find someone to get me off the planet and back to Blue Heaven. Swanzo was probably looking for me. But, I missed and got stuck in the damned bathroom cabnet." The girl speared three more peices of bacon easily and Gene watched as each peice was pulled off a claw and vanished into the girl's mouth, sharp teeth making slight snapping sounds as she gulped her food down. The girl licked her claws clean and then waved a paw at Melfina. "Thanks, that was great. I haven't eaten in SOOOO long. Appriciate the meal." Gene watched as Melfina smiled back and patted the girl on the head. A loud, almost roar like sound filled the air and then after a moment Gene blinked. Crimson was purring. Melfina was scratching her behind the ears and that in turn produced the most soothing purring sound. Gene coughed and Melfina pulled her hand back, appologising. The purr died off and Crimson slid off her seat and streached, waving a paw at Gene. "And now, as to how I can FIT in the cabnet. Watch closely now." Gene blinked and watched as Crimson shrank down into a black/crismon siamese cat. The cat lept up into his lap and mewed up at him, turning in a cirle and laying down. Gene looked at the cat, and frowned. "Crimson?" The thing lifted a head and mewed questioningly. Gene picked her up by the scruff. "You really are a demon neko. I thought you guys were just old legends." The cat mewed indignantly at him and gently raked her claws over his wrist. Gene dropped the neko. She landed on the floor lightly and streached back into a neko-human. "Yeah, I'm real. There USED to be a whole lot of us. Then people started popping up in places you don't BELONG and hell, look what we get stuck with. Ledgends and myths." The neko-human sniffed indignantly. "I want to go back to Blue Heaven if you don't MIND. Swanzo probably has forgotten about me." Gene shrugged. "To Blue Heaven it is then." The neko-human girl smiled, teeth flashing as she bounced into the control room. She seemed to be searching for something then she slid under the control thing. She pulled a small black box out and sat on the floor with it. While Gene settled in he noticed she was cradling the box carefully. "Whats in there? Catnip?" The neko-human girl sneered at him. "Hardly. Just, get me to Blue Heaven already. I have to see Swanzo." Gene shrugged. "Whatever. Hold on." The ship came to 'life' and jumped through sub eather space twice before Gene docked at Blue Heaven. The moment they were off the ship, Crimson was a lot more assertive of herself. When she started chatting with Swanzo it was like no one else existed. Gene thought he heard the word 'pirate' and 'box' a few times. He waited until they were done. "Hey, so, whats this about Crimson?" The neko-human waved a paw in dismissal. "Its not your business. You can leave now." Gene felt something latch onto his arm. "Gene, lets go, we don't need any space adventures. Lets go home." Gene gently shook Jim off. "No way, I can swear I heard you two mention 'pirates' more than once. What is going on." Swanzo moved forward, blocking Crimson. "I can see you don't know. Crimson Point is part of a neko daemon pirate society. There are only five main members that have the most power. Crimson is one of those five. But, the others turned against her and tried to get rid of her. She took something valuable and worked on the XGP when it was being built and stored it under the control deck. Then she some how managed to get onto the Outlaw Star and luckily its the same ship. She's got what she stole and will be hunted down again. She's biding her time here until she has to take off again. Space is where she loves to be. She's a born fighter." Gene sighed. "Thats it. No, girl, is going to do something like this by herself, demon or not. Back to the Outlaw Star, you too Crimson. And WHAT is in that box!?" Gene pulled the unresisting neko-human girl onto the ship. The girl smirked. "I can't tell you yet." Gene sighed. "Pirates. Again. I can't believe I'm getting involved with PIRATES. I hate pirates. They make things so complicated." Gene sat Crimson on the floor and hopped into place. The Outlaw Star took off. As they went along Gene questioned Crimson. "So, what is all this pirate stuff about anyhow?"
Jim kept his mouth shut as Gene grilled Crimson for any information she could have. Soon he started his game back up. After a while the Outlaw Star was put under Melfina's control. There was silence then Crimson's voice rose to a peircing shriek. "What do you mean Gene Starwind! No! Let go! Thats not to be opened! Gene! No!" jim slumpped in his seat, taking long, slow breaths. There was a loud gust of wind that nearly tore Jim from his seat and then Crimson's voice came again. "I told you not to open it! Don't you listen to anybody!" There was silence and Jim sighed softly. Aisha's voice was low. "I don't like Crimson to much. Shes creepy. And rude. She acts like she knows some amazing secret that no one else does." Jim snorted. "The only reason you don't like her, Ashia, is because she acts like you. Creepy, rude and secretive." The Ctarl Ctarl yelped and snarled angrilly. "I AM NOT RUDE!" Jim got out of his seat and flipped Ashia off as he left the control center. He passed the kitchen where Gene was talking to Crimson. They both looked at him but he only trudged on down to the cabins and crawled into his. He yanked the curtain closed and curled up, closing his eyes and breathing slowly. Soon he was asleep. When he woke up someone was carrying him. "Umm? Nani?" Crimson's interesting toned voice answered him. "Shh, James. Go back to sleep. Don't worry, nothing bad is happening." Jim grunted softly and fell back asleep. When he next woke there was something warm under him. He mumbled incoherantly and tried to burrow into it. Then he made a face and cracked open an eye. He was definantly in a bedroom. It was nice too. But he was sharing a bed with someone. He pushed himself up a little and looked to see who was his pillow. He about threw a fit! Gene was laying there, staring at the ceiling blankly. "Wauk!" Jim scrambled backwards and fell off the side of the bed, cracking his head on the floor. "Ah! Itai! Damnit!" There was a soft sound and then Gene's head poped up from the edge of the bed. "You okay Jim? Do you intend to make a habit of falling out of beds?" Jim sat up on the floor and rubbed his head gingerly, glaring at Gene. "No. Only when you either throw me out or surprise me." He pulled himself off the floor and sat on the edge of the bed hesitantly. "Why are you sharing a bed with me?" He looked narrowly at Gene who'd gone back to laying over the bed looking at the ceiling. "Because. Crimson had to go do something. We're on her planet. Or at least, the planet she came from. Besides, you were making weird sounds in your sleep, like you were crying or something." Jim flinched and got up, streching. "WhatEVER. So, can we like, get up and DO something?" Gene grunted. Jim sighed and pulled his on his jacket which had been layed over a chair. He pushed open the door to his room and found himself in a huge hall way lined with thick black carpet and with paintings covering the walls. Jim whistled. "Wow... Nice place." Jim went in search of the bathroom. Once he'd finished he made his way back to the room he was sharing with Gene. The man was sleeping. Jim looked at his watch. Two AM. Why did he keep waking up so damned early?! Jim shed his jacket and crawled back into the bed. He pulled a pillow to him and curled up on his side, facing Gene. He closed his eyes and clutched at the pillow as he fell asleep. The nightmare came back...
~*~*~*~(nightmare begin)~*~*~*~
Jim found himself running down a long dark hallway, alone. After a few moments a tiny spark of red appeared in the distance. The closer he got to it the brighter it became. As he came upon it, it vanished and Gene stood there, grinning like always.
"Hey Jim, whats wrong?"
Jim gasped for air and reached out for Gene. The closer he got to Gene, the farther the tall red-head seemed to be from him. Then someone stood behind Gene. Jim couldn't see who it was really, just a dark shadow. Then something went off. Gene seemed to flinch slightly then his eyes went wide. Jim saw the hole that became his stomach.
"Jim! Help me!"
Jim kept running. But, as fast as he ran, he never seemed to be able to reach Gene in time. Just before Gene fell, Jim found himself screaming and crying...
~*~*~*~(nightmare end)~*~*~*~
Jim woke up crying, clutching something. Or rather, someone. He recognised who was holding onto him. Gene's arms were wrapped around him tightly and he was clinging to Gene as much as he could, his face burried in Gene's chest. He gulped in air, trying to calm himself down. He wouldn't move though. As calm as he became, he couldn't make himself leave Gene's hold. He just stayed there, clutching Gene tightly, hiding his face against his best friend and, he wished, more. After a moment, Gene's voice broke the silence that appeared to have fallen. "Jim? Whats wrong?" Jim flinched, his hold on Gene tightening reflexivly. Gene had said the same thing in his nightmare, except then he hadn't sounded so worried. Jim gulped softly, getting air into his lungs before hs whispered against Gene's skin. "'S nothing. Just...a nightmare." Gene's arms didn't tighten, but they didn't loosen either. "Must have been some nightmare. You were shakeing and crying and mumbling something the whole time. A few times you screamed and called out for me." Jim shook his head, keeping himself tight against Gene. "It was a nightmare. Just, a really bad, reoccuring nightmare." Jim lifted his head from Gene's chest and looked up at the older man. Gene was looking down at him with a semi-confused expression. "Wanna tell me about the nightmare? Make you feel better if you do." Jim sniffled slightly and shifted, noticing he was being held in Gene's lap. He got comfortable as much as he could and layed his head back on Gene's chest. "I guess. Well, its starts out, I'm running down a really long, really dark hallway. I can't see or hear anything at first. And then there's this tiny red light in front of me. The closer I get to it, the bigger and brighter it gets." Jim sniffled again and closed his eyes, listening to Gene's heart beat. "And?" Gene's voice broke the small pause. "Then, when I get to the light, its gone. Instead," Jim gulped slightly and flinched, tightening his hold on Gene again. "Instead, your standing there, grinning like you always do and asking me what's wrong like somethings funny. And then this shadow comes up behind out and something like an old fashioned gun goes off behind you. After a moment, this shocked kind of look comes over you and there's a huge hole where your stomach is." Jim released one hand and pressed it against Gene's stomach to make sure this wasn't a dream, that there wasn't a hole there. He felt the firm muscles under Gene's skin and smiled slightly, leaving his hand there. "And then, you call out for me, for my help but no matter how much I run, or how fast I am, I can't reach you in time to save you. I start screaming something and then I wake up. I don't want to know how that end's Gene, I don't want to know!" Jim looked up at Gene, eye's filling with tears again. "And that, that scares me. No matter how close I would get to you before you get shot, I'm never close enough. I can't reach you, Gene, and it scares me!" The shocked look on Gene's face scared him more than the dream. Jim attempted to pull away, looking off towads a wall. "I'm sorry Gene, you didn't really want to know that." But Jim was held fast by Gene's arms. And Gene's voice held him more than his arms did. His voice was low, and soft. Jim had never heard him sound like that before. "I'm sorry, Jim. I'm sorry that its me that scares you so much. Maybe when we leave, you should stay here, with Crimson and the other neko people. Crimson likes you. Thats obvious. But, she seems to know something about you that even I don't know. And she won't tell me what it is. Its like that box. I tried to open it and something started a huge wind that pushed me back." Jim pulled away and looked at Gene with shock. Then he shook his head, moving forward to wrap his arms around Gene's neck and cling there crying. "No, no I don't want you to leave me behind! Please, don't make me stay here without you Gene! I don't want to stay if your not here!" Gene's arms tightened around him. "Okay, if you don't want to stay, you don't have to. I won't make you do anything you don't want to." Jim just stayed there, crying, his arms around Gene's neck. He whispered continuously, the nightmare returning to haunt him. "No, don't leave me behind Gene, please don't leave me behind. Please don't leave me behind. Don't leave me behind." Jim slowly fell asleep again, crying into Gene's shoulder. The nightmare picked up where it left off this time.
~*~*~*~(nightmare continues)~*~*~*~
Jim kept running, screaming and crying. Gene fell slowly, dropping to his knees, reaching out towards Jim, his mouth open soundlessly, still seeming to call for him. Blood streamed from the missing gap of his stomach and it trailed from his lips. Jim finally was able to reach Gene as the man fell forward. He caught him and fell with him, the man landing over him heavily, trapping him against the floor. "Gene, Gene! Gene, you can't die! You can't die on me Gene!" The man's eyes were looking at him. His mouth was shut and he was smiling a little. His voice was rough and weak.
"I knew, that you'd come for me, Jim. I knew, I could always count on you. Jim, hold onto me... Don't let me go alone."
Jim cried, hugging Gene's bleeding body to him, tangling his finger's in his friend, father, his dream lover's hair. While Gene could still hear him, Jim whispered softly through his tears. "I'll never let you go Gene Starwind. Gene, you can still hear me and I just want you to know, that, I love you Gene. And I'll never leave you, never let you go. Never let you go." Gene's eyes slid shut as he let out his final breath.
"Love you, Jim..."
Jim sobbed as he held Gene's lifeless body against him. Soft echoing laughter surrounded him. Jim opened his eyes and looked up to see the shadowy figure standing over him. "Who, are you? Why did you have to kill Gene?" The figure just laughed. Then, lights came on. "AISHA?!" The nightmare Aisha just laughed down at him and pointed a gun at him. Jim clutched Gene to him and rolled, protecting Gene's body with his own smaller one as the gun went off. There was a shock and then a saving numbness came over him. He clutched Gene to him and whispered.
"Never let you go Gene Starwind... Never let you go..."
~*~*~*~(nightmare end)~*~*~*~
Jim woke up screaming. There were hands pinning him down. And voices around him. He struggled against them violently, screaming. Then Gene's face appeared over him. "Jim, just calm down, its us." Jim tore his hands away from who ever was holding them and flung himself against Gene, clinging to him desperately. Suddenly there weren't anymore hands holding him down, just Gene's arms holding him tightly. There was a voice and then a door closed. He felt himself being lowered onto something soft... Bed, it was the bed he was sharing with Gene. He opened his eyes and looked at Gene. "It... It was, its was awful Gene!" Jim clung tighter to the man, his head on Gene's shoulder while Gene held him, not saying aything at all, just holding him. Jim slowly felt himself getting calmer. "It, the person, that shot you... It was, Aisha. She, shot you, and laughed. I made it to you Gene. You would have hit the floor face first but, I made it and you landed on me instead. You, could barely talk. You didn't want me to leave you alone. You said, that you knew I'd come, that I would be there for you. You asked for me to, to hold onto you, to not let you go alone. She was going to shoot you again, and I, I rolled over so that you were under me, so that she wouldn't shoot you. She, she shot me instead. We died Gene, we really died. And, it was all okay. Because..." Jim stopped, slowly, hiding his face against Gene's shoulder. He felt Gene's hands rubbing his back in a sort of soothing motion, the red haired outlaw's voice next to his ear, soft and warm. "You were whispering and talking in your sleep Jim. And thank you, for not letting go. Love you, Jim." Jim tensed and pulled away from Gene, looking at him with wide eyes, searching his face for any hidden amusement. There wasn't any. "Gene!" Jim loosened his hold on Gene, reaching up and tangling his finger's in Gene's hair slightly. Gene's eyes were calm and they drew him in as much as Gene's arms pulled him. "Love you, Jim." The whispered words were clear, their faces so close that Gene's breath was warm against Jim's lips. Jim nodded and leaned forwards just a little, only going to kiss Gene lightly then pull away. But Gene pulled him closer and pressed their mouths together firmly, kissing him deeply. Jim finally pulled himself away and stared at Gene. "But, I thought, Don't you-" "Like women? Not really." Jim smiled suddenly and pulled Gene closer to him, kissing him again. They stayed like that for as long as they could then pulled away. "Love you, Gene Starwind. And I'll never never leave you, never let you go."
~OWARI~
######
*blows her nose and waves another kleenx at you* Wah! That was sooooo sappy! *sniffles and blows her nose again* I can't believe how sweet that is, I'm getting a toothache just looking at it! Like it? I hope so even though I wrote it for ME. I'm not a sell-out, I don't write so you like, I'll take requests for couples, yaoi only thanks, but I'll write the story so I like it. *sniffles and runs off to talk to Akito* ITS SO SWEET!