Phew, I’m onna roll, another chapter finished. (All that time I couldn’t get on the Forums because of certain flippin’ hackers…
) Anyway, yep, here it is…
Betrayal Can Go Both Ways…
Bailey woke up slowly. She knew before she opened her eyes that she was suspended above the floor by the way she swayed gently from side to side. She felt dizzy and sick, the pain in her leg throbbed, there was a bandage tied tightly around it, she feel the rough gauze and the soft pad on the wound, and she felt a tickle of warm, glutinous liquid slowly making it’s way from her temple and down her cheek.
“Must have been where I was hit…” she thought groggily. With that single recollection everything that had happened to herself and Stranger came back. The feeling of warning, the premonition of something coming. The ambush, the attack. All of it came flooding into the dark space of forefront of Bailey’s mind.
Bailey jolted into full consciousness.
She looked around, her head feeling heavy. She found she was alone in what looked like some kind of storage warehouse. There were barrels scattered around the floor and crates were stacked up against the walls.
She also found that she no longer had her pack, hatchet, guns, daggers, whip or sling and her jersey had been removed.
Bailey tried to move but she found coarse rope was tied tightly around her middle clamping her arms to her sides making her feel like a trussed fly. The rope fibres rubbed the skin on her arms until they were raw.
Bailey was hung from a metal ceiling beam by another coarse rope that came down and was attached to the cords binding her. Bailey gave a sigh of futility and drooped.
“Ug…” she muttered. “I am in so much pain right now…” her voice sounded hoarse even in her own ears. She looked around again, looking for her equipment, she found it eventually; a little pile, right along with Stranger’s poncho, hat and crossbow.
Wait a second…
Where was Stranger?
Bailey looked around again. She was completely alone. Where was everyone? Had she just been left? This idea was quashed when a door Bailey couldn’t see was thrown open with enough force for it to hit the wall with a crash.
Bailey looked up sharply and followed the sounds with eyes like a hawk. Finally they came into view. The Outlaw Stranger had called Caste Raider came with four minions, and with them, dragged by a chain and collar like a dog, arms tied behind his back, was Stranger…
When he caught Bailey’s eyes, Bailey cracked a half-grin and he returned it with a tired smile, even in this situation glad to see Bailey awake and apparently alright.
Bailey couldn’t help noticing that Stranger limped on every other step and that he too had a bleeding gash on his temple. Bailey had never seen Stranger look so vulnerable and powerless. To see Stranger, who was such a naturally strong person, so beaten was an unpleasant revelation for Bailey. To her, Stranger had seemed invincible, unstoppable. No one could beat him. But someone had. And they’d hurt him.
Bailey felt the traces of the Rage rise up in her. The same Rage that had possessed her completely when she had been fighting her way out of Rupture Farms. The same Rage that had blinded her, and had only cleared when she had broken the neck of an adult Scrab that had been driven mad by rabies…
But it was only a faint trace and nowhere near it’s blinding intensity that it could reach at full strength. That had only ever happened twice…
Bailey strained against the ropes, snarling. Raider and his cronies broke into gales of cruel laughter. Bailey stopped struggling and gazed at Raider with such cold intensity that his and his minion’s laughter died.
“You got somat ter say ter me runt?” Raider snapped, Bailey smiled. There was no humour in that smile. It was cold and deadly, like the smile of a great white shark.
“I am going to rip out your spine and stick your decapitated head on it and feed you to the Fuzzles.” She said this with such perfect calmness that Raider felt fear stir in his stomach.
“You can’t do that.” He said finally, Bailey cocked her head very slightly in a very raptor-like way. She grinned.
“I’ll remember that later.” She said. Raider narrowed his eyes in a cold calculating look. He was looking for a way to hurt her, Bailey realised. She’d just undermined him in front of his men, and now he was looking for revenge. And unfortunately he had it.
Raider leered at Bailey and drew a very familiar sheet of paper from his vest, he looked up at Bailey, saw how she took one look at it and dropped her head fractionally,
“Oh no…” she murmured more to herself then anyone else. The Outlaw cackled, it was just as he’d thought. For some reason the human had been keeping this bounty secret from Stranger. It was something she didn’t want him to find out about. Well he was going to find out about it now…
“He don’t know do ‘e?” Raider guffawed, he turned to Stranger, “Yer don’t know what yer lil’ friend’s bin up to, do ya?” and he shoved the paper in front of Stranger’s face.
Stranger looked at it.
His eyes dulled. Those fantastic neon green eyes that so fascinated Bailey dulled and lost their iridescence. He looked older and greyer and sadder then Bailey had ever seen him. He made a rough sound of disappointment, almost as if he was in pain. Bailey let out a sigh and let her head drop, staring at the floor.
¤§¤
When Stranger saw the Steef bounty it was if his heart stopped and his world shattered.
Bailey was hunting Steef.
He felt like he’d been betrayed.
“Bailey… What have you done… What have you gotten into…?” with a stab he realised that he had betrayed her trust no less…he’d never told her about the operation and his reasons behind, maybe if he had then she wouldn’t have-
Raider cackled. He had broken both Stranger and Bailey with one stone and he gloated.
“Seems yer didn’t know ‘er half as well as yer thought ‘ey Stranger?” Stranger growled furiously and jerked his head, twisting his shoulders, turning to get free. The Outlaws all howled with mirth again and one hit the back of Stranger’s head with the butt of his gun. Stranger dropped to his knees.
“GET OFF HIM! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Bailey shrieked, “YOU’RE DEAD, YOU’RE ALL DEAD! I’LL KILL YOU!” she raged, thrashing, “I’LL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH HIM AGAIN!”
“Stick ‘im up wiv ‘is lil’ friend.” Crowed Raider, still laughing. Soon Stranger was hung up with Bailey in an identical way on her right. The Outlaws were practically falling over themselves in their laughter, Bailey used the opportunity to talk to Stranger.
“Stranger?” he didn’t answer, just stared dully at the floor, “Stranger please…I’m sorry…” Stranger looked at her slowly. His eyes looked dead.
“Why did yer do it?” he asked, his voice deadpanned. “Why did yer agree ter hunt Steef?” Bailey slumped, not meeting Stranger’s gaze, her own eyes burning with unshed tears fighting to get free.
“The Doc raised the price of the operation because of me…and my damned temper…so I agreed to work for Sekto, you need the cash…I was only trying to help…” she whispered, “Only trying to help…” she said this to herself. She blinked to try and clear the frustrated tears glazing her hazel eyes.
“Did yer ever…” he couldn’t even say it.
“No.”
“Would yer have? If you’d ever found one?”
“I don’t know…I don’t know if I could have, after you told me what happened to them…what Sekto did…” Stranger sighed a deep sigh. He felt relief rising as a lump in his throat.
“I’m sorry Bailey, for all of this.” Bailey looked at him, and smiled.
“Don’t be.” she shook her head. “Partners stick together, not matter what… We go together, always together.” Stranger returned the smile. The two bounty hunters turned and watched the Outlaws regale amongst themselves and waited patiently for whatever was in store for them.
Finally the Outlaws’ mirth subsided and Raider turned to Stranger and Bailey. He approached Bailey.
“So didja git ya bounty lil’ hunter? Didja bag a Steef?” Bailey grinned,
“No, and now I never will. Never.” Raider shrugged nonchalantly.
“Too bad, Mister Sekto liked your style.” Bailey narrowed her eyes.
“Whadda you know about Sekto?” she said slowly, Raider grinned,
“Only that he called me afta you did and offered me ¥20,000 fer a Steef head, whether I got it meself, or,” he leered at Bailey, “Or, I got it off yer.” Bailey grinned,
“Too bad jerk-off, guess you won’t git yer cash.” And she kicked him in the face. Raider staggered back, blood pouring from his mouth,
“YOU LIL’ DEMON!” he roared, “Boys, git ‘er down, I wanna do ‘er in meself!” his four minions started forward. Stranger vented a roar of rage and began to fight against his ropes, thrashing furiously.
A small pile of paper, knotted with string fluttered from under his green shirt and landed at Raider’s feet. Frowning he stooped and picked it up, snapping the string and flicking through the sheets of paper.
He broke into a grin.
“Wait!” the minions approaching Bailey obeyed,
“What tis it boss?” one asked. Raider grinned hugely and smirked at his captives. Stranger had suddenly gone pale. Raider looked at Stranger, then at Bailey. Bailey followed his gaze slowly, an expression of confusion on her face.
She saw Stranger pale under his fur and was shaken by the look on his face.
Pure, unadulterated terror.
Bailey’s eyes snapped back to Caste Raider, he smirked. Cold fear crawled over Bailey’s skin at that look. It froze her blood. Anything that scared Stranger to that extent
had to be very,
very bad…
So confusion assailed her as he said smugly;
“Looks like I’ll git my Steef bounty after all…”