Outlaw Star Fan Fiction ❯ Trouble, with a capital A ❯ Out of the frying pan... ( Chapter 3 )

Ok, it's a short chapter, but them so is my muse's inspirations!

Gene stirred gently at the slight weight next to him on his bunk. He reached over to hold her closer.

"Thass' right, Iris. Gimme a kiss." Gene mumbled.

The Cellmate smiled, he knew this Hot Young Stud would get horny enough. Cellmate parted Gene's lips with a slip of the tongue. Gene groaned and his eyes flew open, and opened wider at the pockmarked visage of The Cellmate.

"ACK! PERVERT!" Gene spluttered and coldcocked Cellmate. "Hey, guard! Get me outta here! I'm stuck in here with a homo-pervert!" Gene howled and began shaking the bars. The guard yawned.

"Maybe this'll teach ya to keep from killing women. Is this what they call poetic justice?"

"Hey, I didn't do it! This is called 'This sucks' !"

"Yeah, you will be. Take it all, bitch!" The Guard cackled.

"Hey! I said that I didn't do it!"

"Of course you didn't. Everyone here is an innocent, cocksucker."

"What did you call me?" Gene challenged. The intercom conveniently hissed.

"Hey, Jesse, you read me?"

Jesse the Guard sneered at Gene and hit the button. "Yeah, I read ya." Jesse's gaze never left Gene.

"Bail had been posted for prisoner Gene Starwind. The Red-headed punk. Bring him out."

"Fine." Grumbled Jesse. There goes the entertainment.

"Why does everyone insist on calling me a punk?"

The Guard said nothing as he slapped cuffs of Gene, unlocked the cell, and brought him out.
Detective Hai was outside the cell block, and next to him stood Jim, again posing as the young girl. After several minutes of going through formal paperwork, Hai gave Gene a last warning.

"Mr. Starwind. Remember, you are out only on bail. Don't do anything stupid. You'll need to keep in contact with me -here's my card- every other day and let me know your whereabouts and activities. Your hearing is in two weeks from today."

"Yeah, sure. See ya later." Gene stuffed the card into a pocket and quickly followed Jim into the open. "Ah! It's about time I got out of there! Now I can take a shower without worrying and get something decent to eat!" Whooped Gene.

"You're welcome.' Said Jim rather flatly.

"Thanks for getting me out. Where'd you come up with the money anyway? Did you hack it?"

"Only amateurs hack into accounts overnight. I could to it, but it would take several weeks and a lot to work to cover my cyber tracks. I needed to get you out ASAP, so, I had to go to see Fred Luo- my father's boyfriend. Just remember you're not getting out for free. You need to help me find Althea and figure out why my father is doing double duty."

Gene shuddered. "Ugh, I can do without that thought."

"What, finding Althea? I got you out of jail, and I can put you right back in so fast…"
"No! Double duty! I don't see anything sexually attractive about men." Gene shuddered, Cellmate's stench still lingering in his clothes.

"Neither do I, but let me warn you, you'll need to meet Fred."

"Why? You didn't promise him…."

Jim blushed.

~~~~~~>

Fred was poring over his latest business deal when the comlink clicked on.

"Master Luo, Mr. Hawking is here to see you."

"What are you waiting for? Send him on in, you know that my best customer needs no introductions!"

"Y-yes. Of course." Fred hummed to himself, an absent little ditty, and quit when he saw that the Mr. Hawking who pushed open the heavy oak doors of the office wasn't his "best customer".

"Why, James. What are you doing here?" Fred was a little put out. Just a little.

"Hi Fred." Jim never knew how to act around him.

"Well? Where's your father? He was supposed to call me today. Men! Are you coming in his stead?" Fred brightened slightly.

"Um, he doesn't know I'm here." Jim hoped Fred couldn't smell fear.

"Well, that's different. Thank god I'm not yet legal either…" Fred grinned.

"Um, it's not exactly like that." Jim coughed, Fred frowned.

"So what do you want then? I'm very busy with my first major deal out of HeiFong."

"That's cool. But I need your help."

"Why don't you go to your father?" Fred began scribbling in the margins.

"I just…can't. It's actually a gift for him, but I'll need your help to get it."

"Where is Jimmy, anyway?" Said Fred, somewhat absentmindedly, tugging at his left ear.

"You've heard about Althea, so he's had his hands full trying to cover a series of business meetings that she was supposed to be conducting." Jim blushed, hoping that his father's hands weren't "full" at the moment.

"That's right, I'm sorry that she got killed, but they arrested the punk who did it, so that's taken care of. But now Jimmy will have less time to spend with me." Fred pouted.

Jim flopped casually into an overstuffed chair.

"That's why I'm here, this will be to your benefit!"

"What do you propose? Ha! That's not quite how I meant it!"

"Well, I just thought that since you two have been together for nearly a year now, that you should have an anniversary party."

"Why James, I didn't know that you cared that much! But why should I have to pay for my own party?"

"I'm just a kid, remember? I don't have the kind of money. It could be a gift to my dad from both of us."
"What's going to be your contribution?"

"I'll arrange everything, you will only need to show up and have fun."

"That's a sweet thought, that you'll be doing all the work, but how much are we talking here?"
"500,000 wong." Jim said quickly. Fred cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk.

"500,000 wong for a party? Do you know how extravagant and ridiculous that is, even by my standards?" Fred demanded, while Jim sweatdropped and thought fast.

"I was planning on getting a cake from the XXL bakery." Jim blushed. Fred blinked.

"You know, I keep on forgetting that you know way too much for a boy of your age. All right. If you can get the hottest studs on sentinel for the cake, do all the work, guarantee that I'll have plenty of time with Jimmy to myself, AND owe me some favors, then I'll agree to that price."

"What kind of favors?"

"I'll think of them when the time comes, remember, this is just an investment on my part."

Jim didn't like the sound of that. "You don't mean…?"

"Ha! Of course not. You're fun to tease, but you haven't even hit puberty yet." Jim swallowed. "Leave me your account information, I'll have the money ready for you by tomorrow."

"Thanks, Fred." Jim hopped out of the chair and forced himself to walk, not run, out of the office and past the bodyguards.

<~~~~~~~~

"Jim! Hello! Your lights are on, but nobody's home! What did you promise him?" Gene demanded, waving a hand in front of Jim's flaming face.

"Oh, just a few favors." Jim said offhandedly.

"Ah, who cares. I'm out! WhoooHoo! I need a drink."

"Hang on, that's what got you into trouble in the first place!"

"You're not my mother!"

"No, you Punk, I only got you out of jail! Let's get off the street and somewhere quiet where we can come up with a strategy. Where do you live?"

Gene bit his lip. "About half an hour from here. I don't know what happened to my car. I know that you couldn't have one."

"I do so, but I can't legally drive for another year."

"Figures. Let's just rent a car."

"I don't have any money, I just spent it on you."

"I still have some from my last job. Let's just get outta here!"

>>>>>>>>

"What a dump!" Jim wrinkled his nose at the stink of days old food that had been left out, heaps of laundry, magazines, papers, and at the cracked plaster walls, but it was spacious enough for several people. This seemed to be somebody's garage that they had rented to him for cheap.

"I'm sorry, Master James, that it's not up to your spoiled brat standards!"

"Whatever. Anyway, I don't know what to do from here. You're the bounty hunter, what do we do?"

"Where did your dad take Althea?"

"I don't know."

"That's helpful. Can't you just ask him? You just managed to squeeze 500,000 wong out of your dad's rich boyfriend and get me out of jail, so you obviously have your sources. Find out where he took her, and then we'll catch her alive and bring her in. That'll clear my name right up!"

"But I'm worried about my father's involvement, I don't know what she might be trying to do to him!"

"That's what we'll find out before we take her in, ok?" Gene ruffled Jim's hair. Jim grinned lopsidedly back.

"Ok. Can you give me a ride home when we're done planning and plotting? No one knows where I've gone, not that anyone really pays much attention, but I don't want to draw any unusual attention to myself."

"Where's your mom?"

"Dead." Jim stood with his chin raised and defiant. Gene softened, and didn't speak for a minute while he diverted his attention to clearing away a spot on the couch then flopped down, slinging one arm on the back, the other over his eyes.

"My mom ran off with a Sylgrian just after I was born." Gene slid his hand down his face before continuing. "That's all I know, I don't even know her name and my dad threw away all her pictures. My dad raised me by himself. It was tough. He was a Spacer and began training me when I was 12. Then we were attacked by pirates, but he managed to push me into an escape pod so I could watch him die. That was six years ago. That's how I ended up on Sentinel 3 totally alone." Gene's voice quivered, his eyes nearly black.

"Gene, that's awful. I'm sorry. My mom died giving birth to me. I think that's why my father hates me more than he loves me. He doesn't seem to know what to do with me." As Jim began to cry, Gene saw the scared and lonely nine-year old child that usually hid behind a bravado facade. Gene was confused; he never knew what to do when tears fell. He pulled the kid onto his lap, held him against his chest, and let him cry.