Outlaw Star Fan Fiction ❯ Unlikely Circumstances ❯ Reflections & Phone Lines ( Chapter 3 )

Unlikely Circumstances- A OLS fanfiction- by masamune

Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star or any of the characters.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, angst, some foul language

Archive: If anybody even has an OLS fanfiction archive I beg them!

Pre-note: I know that I've seen it different ways but the crew at outlawstar.org say MacDougall is actually the correct spelling rather than McDougal or other forms like that. Also, I'm still not sure about adding my own original character Jijomi Zorlin to the plot. I've gotten mixed responses to him… So I'll add him every now and then as a hindrance to Gene, but I'll hold gene up in other ways, as you'll see in this part.

Part 3- Reflections & Phone Lines

The rain poured down on the glass panes. The consistent thump of heavy drops allowed for a quiet, mundane, and dreary evening. The night air was cold and misty, fog rolled over the streets and buildings. The rain had started after twilight, only as soft innocent drizzle, now it hurtled down from the clouds endlessly, dampening the night streets and sidewalks.

"Stupid rain," Harry muttered to himself, as he scowled out the window of the apartment. The fog blocked the view from the 32nd floor penthouse that he shared with his brother.

/How come people always say the rain is so 'fascinating and romantic'? / He wondered to himself, walking over and cranking up the thermostat. /It's only cold and messy. I honestly just don't know what anyone except farmers could see in it/

The door from Ron's room closed and Harry noticed his older brother was wearing one of his heavier jackets.

"What're you doing going out in this weather?" Harry asked, turning from the window.

"I'm just going to stock up on weapons and stuff," Ron answered, checking to make sure he had his keys. "A buddy in the Space Forces has arranged for some more toys for us. I won't be long, just check on that kid, make sure he's not up to anything Ok?"

"He's just a harmless kid Ron," Harry replied, shrugging. "I don't think he can do much of anything to hurt us. But do you really have to go out tonight?"

"Why? Was there something we were supposed to do?" Ron was in a hurry but noticed a hint of disappointment in his younger brother's voice.

/We were going to see that movie I asked about last week/ Harry though sadly to himself. But all he said was, " No. There's nothing."

"When I get back we'll call Gene Starwind," Ron paused at the door. "If he gives a damn about that kid he'll hand over the XGP and the girl without conflict."

"I sort of feel sorry for the poor boy," Harry wistfully said, knowing that he really did feel sympathy for Jim. "It must be scary for him to be in this situation. If strangers grabbed me off the street and held me for ransom I'd be scared, and I'm not an 11 year old anymore, he is."

"Don't get soft on me now Harry," Ron offered solemn support. "Just remember to keep it professional. I'll be home as soon as I can. See ya later."

The door closed and Harry was left in the room alone. The rain pounded just as before on the windows and rooftops. Harry sighed and turned back to looking out the window at the calm night sky. He thought about going out to a club or just driving around town, but none of those options seemed to interest him. Going out and spending time with people he didn't know, people he'd never see again, wasn't what he was hoping to do tonight. But he had few options otherwise.

/Sentinel is such a strange place/ He thought turning away from the window. The sight of skyscrapers a mere 60 stories high was nothing outstanding. /And a place called New York City can't be anything normal. I've never been so bored in my life/

He got up and paced around the room for a minute. He thought about brushing out his hair but knew it would only be a waste of time, since he'd have to do that exact thing the next morning. Then a thought hit him, and as strange and uncouth as it was, it brought a smile to his face.

/Since there's nothing to do I might as well go and talk with Jim/ He concluded, walking towards the door. The elevator to the basement where the poor boy was being held was just outside.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE SHUTTING DOWN MY PHONE LINES?!?!?!"

Aisha, Melfina, Gilliam and even Suzuka shivered as Gene's scream echoed through the house. It had been what you could call… a bad day…

First Fred Lowe had called. He'd requesting the money that Gene owed him. Of course, Gene couldn't possibly pay back all of the wong he owed the arms dealer, but he'd managed to put off Fred's demands for another three days. At that time Gene would have to go visit Fred personally.

It was at midday that the worst call of all had come in. The Power Company was rather upset; it turned out that Gene hadn't paid his electricity bills in over four years.

"Listen! I know that I'm a little behind on my payments," Gene begged the representative over the videoscreen. "But just give me a few days to pull out a few loans and I'll pay you back in full," The red haired outlaw pleaded. "You can trust me beautiful, I never lie to a girl."

"We've already talked to several of the major banks," The indifferent, blonde woman on the screen replied. "All of them considered your past credit history and advised us not to believe any such claim that you'd find a loan."

"What about the other banks?" Gene asked hopefully.

"They don't have enough money in their possession to clear your debt Mr. Starwind," The woman said.

"It's that bad huh?" Gene said aloud and rubbed his hand to his forehead. "Would it make a difference if I told you that you're the most beautiful thing I've seen all day and that I'll treat you to dinner?"

"No, you thick-headed male chauvinist pig. I don't go that way," was the sharp retort. "Besides, you won't have enough money to pay for a dinner at Burger Star after we're done extracting the money from your account. The amount you have is enough to pay your heat, water, electricity and gas bills. But you're going to have to do without a phone service for a while."

/Goddamn lesbians! / Gene thought, frustrated and tired.

"Now, now, wait just a second baby," Gene stammered, coming up short of ideas. "Uh… how about this? I know a very close, very generous friend that would be more than happy to pay off the debt for me…"

"If you gave me three wong for every time I've heard that one, I'd be rich enough to buy a contract on your fat head," Came the dark answer. The connection was cut and the image on the screen faded.

/You and everyone else… I've already got enough people hunting me…/ He remembered the events of last night's phone call. /First Jim disappears, and then that ugly assassin threatens me, Fred wants his money, and on top of all that we've got no phone lines… This was starting off to be a good week too…/

He walked back into the living room feeling defeated and deflated. Nothing seemed right. The whole entire house was gloomy and even Aisha was quiet. Not having Jim around took much more out of the atmosphere than any of them could have ever imagined. As he entered Melfina gazed over at him.

"Is everything alright Gene?" She asked in her usual, innocent way.

/I'm broke, I owe people stacks of cash, I've got a contract on my head and above all my best friend is gone/ Gene sullenly though, almost irritated by the naïve question, /How come I've got such bad luck? /

Gene shook his head; he couldn't even look Melfina in the eye. He walked to his favorite chair and was about to sit when Aisha yelled from the other side of the room.

"HEY! I can't get a dial tone! I'm supposed to report regularly to the Consul of the Ctarl-Ctarl!" She whined loudly, shaking the phone receiver in her hand. "Stupid human phones! Gene! What's wrong with this thing?"

"The Power Company cut off our phone lines," He said dryly, it was like rubbing the wound with salt. "There isn't anything we can do about it until I get enough money to pay them back…"

Aisha tilted her head sideways and answered, "Meow. If Jim was here, he could just hack into their mainframe and do something about that I'm sure! But it looks like the job will be up to me! It looks pretty easy the way Jim does it. It sure can't be anything a Ctarl-Ctarl can't handle!"

"We can't connect to the Internet Aisha," Gene reminded the cat-girl. "That phone line is down too."

"Meow," Aisha answered, "Then I can't think of anything else to do… Hey! How about we all go out to eat and think about it then! You can't think on an empty stomach ne? There's a delicious seafood place right across town that we could go to! Yeah! It got a great review in Fish&Chips Weekly…Hey! Gene! Where're ya going?"

The outlaw had thrown on his yellow shawl and was heading for the door. He threw a sidelong glance at the proud Ctarl-Ctarl warrior and tried to manage a smile. He came up with a poor attempt and Aisha could tell that Gene was feeling pretty down. She guessed he was going out drinking again. The thought had crossed Gene's mind actually, but he had another plan in mind.

/It's been long enough/ He'd told himself earlier, /Something seriously wrong's happened to Jim. I'm such an idiot to not have acted sooner. He always tells me that I don't take things seriously enough… he's right. I don't know what happened to him… I can't think of a single place to start looking, but doing something is better than nothing/

"You're going to go look for Jim aren't you?" Melfina called after him, standing up and walking towards Gene. "Do you think he'll be ok?"

Despite his dark premonition Gene managed a smile and answered optimistically, "Don't worry about Jim. He's a smart kid and always manages to get out of tough situations. He's got the devil's own luck too. I'm going to go try to find him though, just to make sure."

/Yeah, Jim's smart, but it's too easy for something to happen to him that he can't stop/ Gene told himself, wanting desperately to get out on the streets to begin his search. /All I can hope is that I'm not too late to help him/

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/He looks so small and frail when he sleeps like that/ Harry was thinking at the very same moment. /It's strange, I've never really connected with anyone except Ron, but I feel that this boy and I, share something. Maybe it's that we feel abandoned by the world, like there really isn't any place for us… at least that's how I feel sometimes. How could I know what he thinks though? /

He'd come into the room that was serving as a cell for Jim with the intention of striking up a friendly conversation. That in itself was a strange occurrence. Harry hardly ever spoke to anyone outside of the crews on both the El Dorado and the Shangri-La, and they were only working partners. There was no bond of friendship, just loose comradery.

/Might as well stay here until he wakes up/ Harry said, slouching comfortably in the chair by the door. /There's nothing good on TV here anyway/ He rationalized, knowing that it was just a lame excuse for staying down here with Jim.

/What am I really doing down here? / He asked himself. /There's no purpose for me to stay, especially when the kid's asleep. Ron just warned me about not getting attached to him, and I think that's exactly what I'm doing/

Harry's eyes roamed over the dank, dim cell. It was terrible living conditions. It made Harry shudder with the reminder of the dark, smelly back alleyways and streets that he'd grown up on. He felt another pang of guilt at holding Jim hostage like this, treating him so badly.

/First thing I'll do when Ron gets back is talk about transferring him to a different place… There's no reason to keep him in a shit hole like this. Even if it's the most 'secure' place… we could probably set up a barrier in any of the other hotel rooms/

/How scared is he? What's he thinking? Will he get home safely? Will he get home at all? What's going to happen to his friends, his loved ones? When's it going to end, more importantly, how's it going to end… Gods, I don't have the faintest idea what I'd think if I was him…/

Harry stood up from his seat and walked over towards Jim. His steps fell heavy on the hard, concrete floor and he only stopped when he was inches away from the invisible barrier, the faint hum barely loud enough for him to pick up. A strand of his long hair fell in front of his face. He let the aquamarine strand hang there, noticing that it looked even more distinctively green in the shadows and bare light.

Harry pushed the rogue strand back and sighed loudly. His gaze was fixed on Jim's sleeping form, burrowed beneath the thin blankets. His legs were curled to his chest, struggling to keep warm and get a decent sleep in the cruel prison.

The entire scene reminded him so painfully much of himself, as a poor, helpless boy struggling just to stay alive in the hard, mean world that gave him nothing except a hard smack in the face. Harry wanted entirely to help Jim out in some way, anyway…

/There isn't anything I could do to help him…/ Harry sadly realized. /We have to keep him prisoner until Gene Starwind gives us the XGP and the bio-android girl that serves as the navigation system. I can't let him go free…not yet… I can't take him from this cold dark cell… Ron would kill me… I can't take him to his loved ones or back to his friends. How can I offer him anything? /

Harry clenched his hand into a fist. He felt the anger burning inside of him and growing. It was like an overpowering wave that he could only bite back for so long. There was little Harry could do about it…once it started it was impossible to suppress. He'd found that the best way to cope was to let it out immediately; scream, punch, shoot, anything to let it out before it grew and ate at him, making his head spin and driving him insane. His mind would get foggy and then whatever carnal, dark impulse surfaced would be let out in an unholy display of raw power and hate.

Helpless… He was helpless against the outbursts. Just let it out fast before it builds up and takes control.

"Shit! Goddamnit! There's nothing I can do," He spat angrily to noone in particular.

/It's always the innocent people that get hurt. I've never been able to help anybody, I've always been helpless myself/ His thoughts turned sinister and he wished again that he could kill Hot Ice Hilda, whom he was convinced was the start of all this trouble. /That bitch! She just had to go out of her way to fuck things up didn't she!?! She stole the damn ship in the first place! URGH! /

"GODDAMNIT! WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING?!?!" He finally howled, banging his fist brutally against the invisible barrier. A loud clang rang throughout the room but it was nothing compared to the echo of Harry's burst of pain.

And even as the loud, anguished cry died from the wall, Harry was horrified at himself. He wanted to sink into the sewers below the hotel and stay there forever like the freak he was.

"What is it?!?! What's going on?!?!" Jim yelled, jumping awake, jolted awake by the scream. The shocked boy fell off the stone bed and landed in a heap on the floor, tangled in the thin sheets. His sandy, blond, hair was matted and out of order and his large, blue eyes stared out from under a blanket in fear.

"Jim! Shit!" Harry cursed, mostly at himself. He felt brazenly ashamed for having woken Jim up, especially in such a shocking way. "I'm…I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, I,I…" He lost track of his words, completely unsure of what to say or how to explain his bizarre behavior.

"Are you ok?" Was all that Jim said in reply, and the soft, caring response very nearly made Harry's heart melt.

/I break out into a tirade and scare him awake… and he's concerned about ME? / Harry almost couldn't believe it. /Even though I'm his enemy and keep him locked down here in this horrible cell, he looks at me with those adorable, kawaii eyes and asks if I'm ok…./

"Jim," Harry said softly.

The door opened suddenly from behind him and Harry whirled around in absolute surprise, almost ready to attack whatever or whoever entered. His heart beat faster as he got a shot of adrenaline, but it was quickly washed away as the form of his brother.

"Harry I need to talk to you upstairs," The taller, olive skinned brother said. "We have a problem."

-end part 3

Note: One thing still really makes Harry my favorite character is the fact that he's INSANE! Well, maybe just a little insane but still not right in the head. I've of course developed millions of my own ideas about why he's that way. I'm also trying to keep him as much in character as possible. Well, I hoped you all liked it. Hopefully I'll be faster with getting the next part up.

Oh yes, I made up all that stuff about Harry living on the streets when he was young. I don't think the series ever tells you that about his past except that he's known Ron for a long time. So I guess that just opens up the area to nutcases like me to do my own poking and prodding. Well, if anyone knows better about Harry's past (or Jim's for that matter) please tell me.

MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com

masamune