Accidental Burn

I wrote this when I was buzzed.

"What? You don't wanna touch me?"

"My dear, I'd rather kill you slowly."

Everyone laughed at that. Crais was a funny guy. Even with a gun to his head. Though, the laughter stopped when Crais barreled forward, slamming headfirst into a wall. The girl was strong.

"YOU DON'T WANT TO TOUCH ME!?" She screamed. Crais rolled over, arching a brow at her, the white blood that flowed from the back of his head that reminded Eddie of hair conditioner didn't seem to deter his wit any.

"No. I've got enough threatening my life right now without having to worry about gonorrhea." He muttered. The girl pointed her pistol at him and fired two rounds into his chest. Crais looked nonplussed and stood, sitting calmly back down as the chest of his sweater blossomed crimson. The girl's jaw dropped. "If you think you're going to kill me with a Beretta, I question your sanity."

She screamed. Crais ducked under another pistol whipping motion. The guy in the leather jacket with the high tech looking pistol laughed, but pressed his own weapon to Crais' head. "Tegan's choice in weaponry may not have an affect on you Psykuujin, but a Nano-MP will manage to stop your heart, you know?"

Crais nodded.

There were five bad guys. There was the guy with the Nano-MP, his girlfriend with the shitty pistol, two guys with shotguns and a third holding what looked like a Psykuujin Rifle. The good guys were of the same number. Crais was the only Psykuujin, and he had the Nano-MP pointed at him, so he couldn't help. The Confederate Hunter was held up, Latham was unconscious, Skippy had his claws bound in some kind of energy, and Eddie looked deep in thought.

"Brave as your attempts to thwart us may have been." The guy with the Nano-MP said. Eddie thought his name was Walter. "The Voinian's are quite eager to come back."

"Anyone got a cigarette?" Eddie said in a mutter. Walter grinned.

"It's your lucky day, my friend." He said, his free hand throwing a pack of Lucky Strikes to Eddie, who caught it.

With one of the filters between his lips, he muttered again. "Anyone got a light?"

Walter nodded at Tegan, who shoved her Beretta into the waistband of her pants and pulled out a generic childproof lighter, clicking it on and holding it out to Eddie, who lit up and puffed.

"Thanks." He muttered further.

Eddie moved. As Tegan moved to shove her lighter back into her pocket Eddie's hand lashed out. The Hunter-Everyone called him Jion-took the opportunity to strike when Tegan scream, a cigarette burnt into her cheek. One of the guys with a shotgun was misted out against the wall. Jion had yanked the shotgun from his hands, spun it on him, and fired before the girl hit the ground. Just as Walter attempted to end Crais's cycle, Jion threw the shotgun at his gun hand, giving Crais time to roll forward and avoid swift death.

Eddie's hands were flying out of his jacket all at once, and in the crack of two gunshots from his USP .45[Tactical, of course], the guy with the Psykuujin rifle was heaped on the ground with half a face. The living shotgun-jockey got a shot off at Jion, but completely missed him even with buckshot. Jion lashed out at his attackers hand with his own fist, using enough force to shatter three meta-carpal plates. Eddie had time to see Crais grab the front of Walter's jacket and yank him out a window before he saw Tegan reach for her pistol. Eddie swiftly stomped down on her hand with his boot, causing her to scream again.

"Don't." He muttered, pointing the smoking barrel of his USP at her, flicking the red eye of the Laser Aiming Module to emphasize the fact that his pistol was aimed at her sternum. Looking up, then "Everyone okay?"

"I'm good." Jion announced jovially, pointing a shotgun at their other captor, the shotguns former owner.

"…Laxative." Latham groaned from deep within what Eddie was sure was a coma.

"I'm still tied up, assholes." Skippy said with a grin, orange skin splattered with blood.

"I understand that you may be a strain of Azdgari, Skimphamorda…" Crais said, climbing through the window with the Nano-MP in his hand, his form True Psykuujin again. "…but I would be most grateful if you kept a level of innocuousness around the humans, please."

Skippy was still grinning when Crais stepped over to him, wings dragging along the ground, long red braid coming to his waist and showing nicely against his gray skin. With a wave of his hand, the energy bindings disappeared, and the Azdgari Observer stood, stretching, the twenty-six inch spikes that jutted from his forearms shimmering nicely in the light. Crais then turned and tossed the Nano-MP to Eddie, who caught it with his free hand, and shoved it into his belt. Jion was still looking at his prisoner when he spoke. "Where do we go from here?" The Hunter asked quizzically.

"An impertinent question." Crais said casually.

"Yeah, we know where we're going, Jion, my man." Skippy said, moving over to the door, opening it up and peering out casually. "Nothing outside." He added.

It was Eddie who spoke next. "I say that before we head back to the Ji Nebula, we do a flyby of Werks and see how close the Voinians are to mobilizing."

"Not a bad idea." Jion agreed.

"That's how we were caught the first time." Skippy said dejectedly.

"No, they're right." Crais nodded. "Werks is only a skip from here, in any case, so it might help. And I suggest we move now, before any back up arrives for these two." He motioned at Tegan, then Jion's prisoner.

Eddie watched Skippy moved and grabbed Jion's prisoner, lifting him off the ground and waiting while Jion dropped his shotgun, moved over to his captured field gear, got a rope, and tied the prisoner up. Crais moved to Eddie's side then, nodding as Eddie shot him a thought. The Psykuujin dropped to Tegan's side, crouched, and ran a hand over the burn Eddie had placed on her cheek. It had disappeared completely.

"Now you touch her." Skippy said with a grin.

"What'd you see?" Jion asked as he pulled his captured field gear back on.

Crais looked up at Eddie, who shook his head and holstered his USP.

"Nothing." Crais lied. He then moved over to Latham, crouched, and threw him over his shoulder. "Come. Latham's going to need Medical attention. She may be female, but she can pistol whip pretty harshly."

Eddie let his comrades go ahead. Then, when he was alone with Tegan, he crouched, looked at her sternly, and took a breath. "A year ago, you and Walter came across a Nunnery on JHX-1239. You killed all of the Nun's and had their convent burned. My sister was one of those Nun's, do you understand?"

She nodded, tears now brimming her eyes. She reached up, running a hand over Eddie's cheek in a soft caress. "I'm sorry."

Eddie smiled at her and leaned down, kissing her forehead gently. When he pulled away, he reached down, brushing a tear away from her cheek. "Oh my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let mine enemies not triumph over me."

Eddie stood, turned, and walked off. Tegan looked down at the pistol in her pants, and her stomach gave a harsh churn. She felt she didn't want to touch it, but did so only to remove it and toss it aside.

Sitting up, smiling gently, Tegan held her head in her hands and wept.