I'm watching you. And I'm waiting. And this time, you won't be able to escape me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Jo, do you need me to...help you carry anything?" Meg, calling from behind Jo's bedroom door waited for the other girl to come out. The door suddenly opened and Meg, always finding herself amazed at how quickly Jo dressed, got out of the way. Jo, who was still slipping on her jacket and fixing her guns in the holster looked up at the redhead, as said redhead smiled unsurely at her and self-consciously tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "I can help you carry that?" Meg said, looking down at the duffle bag that Jo had clutched in one hand. Jo glanced at her, one of her eyebrows lifted to inquire about Meg's sudden urge to help her carry extra parts for the Desert Eagles. They were her guns. It was only normal that she carry them, on account of her knowledge of how to handle them. It was the same with Meg too. Despite the massiveness of her sniper rifle, Jo wouldn't aid her in carrying it around. If Meg didn't know how to handle her own weapon then she would learn through practice. "I can carry it," Jo said. She easily lifted the bag over one shoulder and then asked Meg, "Don't you want Leo to exchange out some parts for you?" "Oh, I'm fine." She added quickly. Jo, looking down at her own feet and then to the side of her, her voice softer than usual, casually put out, "It's a maintenance check. It wouldn't hurt"- "Okay." Meg said suddenly. Jo's eyes snapped back to Meg's face and it was the redhead's turn to feel unsure, as she looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet. "I'll go get them. I'll meet you back here. Okay." "Yeah." Jo said, her eyes still on her face. "Okay." Meg backed away from Jo, smiled shakily and then suddenly turned around and bolted down the corridor loudly. Jo watched her departure with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. All morning Meg had been clinging to her more than usual—not that Jo minded, Meg had always been wonderful company for her, but something about her attitude towards her today was...weird. She was being really...attentive, even cautious in the way she was handling her, like some small child, or easily-scared off animal. It was... Why was Meg treating her this way? Last night, they'd had sex. Really good sex, if she was any kind of judge on that sort of thing. She really (really) liked it and she'd thought Meg had liked it too. So what reason did Meg have for treating her like some type of invalid? Did she not...do it right? She could admit, she didn't know much about sex. The only things she had picked up was from watching television at a late hour and conversations she had stumbled onto when she walked through the uncensored streets of Tokyo. Sex hadn't seemed too hard and Meg had already given her a precedent to work with, although thinking back on her first time, it was a pretty high precedent that Jo didn't think herself capable of topping (Ever). Meg was really good at sex. Better than good. Amazing. She was expert level, and Jo wondered distractedly how she'd gotten to be so good... But Meg had been a virgin. Just like her. And Meg would have told her otherwise if she wasn't. Right? "I'm back." Meg said, a bit unnecessarily Jo thought, as she had heard her running (stomping) her way down the small corridor a long time ago. "You ready?" Jo said, noticing the large firearm Meg was totting in her arms. "Yeah." She said, as she hefted the gun higher in her arms. "Do you need any help?" Jo didn't know why, but Meg's attentiveness seemed to be contagious, because suddenly she was offering to carry the girl's gun. She was making herself look like a hypocrite. Meg looked startled and then smiled at her quickly, "Oh no. I can carry it." "Uh, okay." Jo said awkwardly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today was the day. She was going to corner Jo and demand that she tell her what was going on. It was about time too, because it was past ridiculous the way they were dancing around each other and the subject at hand. So yeah, today was going to be the day. Right here, right now. "Jo, how the hell do you come back here a week later with the calibrations on your guns all fucked to hell?" Right after Leo finished talking to Jo. Yes! "I duh know. Figure it out, you're the expert here." "Aw Christ, you'd think I'd be used to your sassing me all the time. Get the hell out of here and let me do my work." She noticed Jo's playful smirk at Leo's words. "I want my guns fixed. And fast. C'mon Meg." Jo was already out the garage door and Meg, smiling at Leo ran after her. It was always such a strange thing to see Jo "playful" with someone. Jo smirked during gunfights when she was winning--but that kind of smirk had a deadly edge to it--She talked trash too. Although the big difference with Jo's trash talking compared to most others was that she could indeed back it up. Jo had always been that way with Leo, though. They were kind of like...brother and sister, or...considering Leo's age, father and daughter. It was kind of nice to see them every time they sat down together and bickered about Django like—Why aren't you easier on her? Or, dear god, jesus and luciver, this isn't some kind of toy, or what the hell do you mean you wanted to press that button to see what it did? Thinking on it now, Jo kind of bickered with Takane too, although it was more of the fiery brunette screaming and shouting at Jo and Jo egging her on with her calmness. She had seen Jo tease the younger girl on more than one occasion too. It was pretty funny, but it had also—at some point in time—gotten her (a teensy bit) jealous. She didn't consider herself the jealous type. She was level-minded enough to see that Jo had eyes only for her, but... Quite frankly she was an attention hog. It wasn't her fault. When it had just been the two of them, Jo had spoiled her rotten with attention, although that goes without saying, since it had only been the two of them at the time. She'd never liked to share Jo with anyone, so it was pretty hard to get accustomed to Jo leaving on missions without her and coming back at all of hours of the night to her bloody, and grimy, and smelling of death. Sometimes she wondered what it would have been like if they'd never come with Sei to Japan. She loved Japan though, even if it hadn't been a first home. It was the place where Jo had found her own type of happiness, and when Jo was happy, she was happy. "Jo?" The white-haired girl turned to her. "Can we talk?" Jo made a move like she was about to turn around, but then halted. At that moment, she kind of reminded Meg of a mannequin. Unnaturally pale skin, combined with strange crimson, glasslike eyes and accentuated with white, doll hair. Jo was already so different from other people and her physical appearance had only served to reinforce that idea. Meg, coming up behind her put her hands gently on thin shoulders. "Last night..." "Hmm?" She felt the shoulders under her fingers tense up. "You were actin' kind of...funny." Jo's shoulders still felt like they weren't going to loosen up anytime soon. "We could talk about it." Jo was still not responding. "Jo?" Jo wasn't even making an attempt to pacify her. She was just standing there, breathing a little more loudly than usual and stiff as a board. "Please...talk to me Jo." Don't do it. She's just trying to win you over with guilt. She's very conniving, don't you agree? Using fake tears to get her way. What a marvelous, beautiful pet she'd make. "Shut up." "Jo?" Meg shocked at Jo's sudden quiet, seething response pulled the other girl into an apologetic hug. "Jo, I didn't mean to-" "I'm not talking to you Meg." Jo said, sweat dripping from her brow, her heart beating a mile a minute, her arm with the wing tattoo suddenly aching and her head feeling like it was about to split open. Listen to the voice of reason within you Jo. "Who the fuck are you?" Why, you of course. Who else would be in here? "Stop it." "JO!" Meg, coming around to face her, her hands clinging to her shoulders looked her in the face. You're making a fool out of yourself. "I know my own voice. And you are not it." Restrain yourself before she notices. I don't think you would enjoy spending the rest of your life in a stray jacket. "She wouldn't do that." "Jo, who are you talking to! What's going on!" Jo, snapping out of her anger suddenly noticed two, very large and very blue eyes inches away from her own. "Jo?" Meg's sad and sotto tone was more than enough to wretch her away from the teasing voice in her head. She didn't want to be the cause of Meg's sadness, even though she had promised herself that despite tears from the redhead, she would do whatever it took to shield and protect her, even if it made a liar out of her. "Please Jo? Tell me the truth." However, it seemed that she had not sufficiently prepared/trained herself to withstand Meg's sadness, because suddenly she found herself speaking without her knowledge. "Somebody's...messing with me." Don't do it- "What! But...how can they? How do you know that...Are they close by? How close are they, Jo?" Closer than you think. Jo, grabbing Meg by the arms pushed her away. "I need you to go get my guns from Leo." "But I can't leave-" "Meg, go." Jo's eyes were hard as they stared at her. There was a pause from Meg, her eyes wide and wet with leashed tears. "Jo..." "Go!" Jo shouted, her eyes still hard and not giving an inch. Meg flinched at the harsh sound, her mouth opening as her eyes shivered closed and she could stand it no more. She ran in the direction of Leo's, sparing a backwards glance and the sight of overflowing tears, before she disappeared into the building. Jo watched her go before turning back around and heading in the opposite direction. You're going to regret this. "I'm not going to be one regretting anything." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: I suck at cliffhangers. Everyone can probably guess what's coming next? I'm so unoriginal.
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