All in all, we only lost six guys which was a plus in my books.
A big con however was the fact that I got shot. My vest stopped the first bullet but the second hit the same place and pierced through and into my shoulder.
So now I was in our medical room hating the fact that we never got a proper doctor. Merribit did her best though and it didn't feel like she did anything wrong but that wasn't saying much since I didn't know what the right way felt like. I really needed to get us a doctor.
I decided to just put on a jacket to not aggravate the wound after the live surgery and bandaging. Just as I was about to walk out, I bumped into a multi coloured haired girl.
" Run me over, will you." I muttered, a smile coming back to my face despite the pain, earning a snort from the girl.
These pain killers weren't killing any pain. Supposedly the strongest shit too. "Oh, I planned to say this before the whole secure the ship and my injury but, you did well. I couldn't have done better myself."
She let out a breath, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Damn right, I did well," she shot back, but the bite in her tone was dulled by the way her eyes lingered on my bandaged shoulder. "You, on the other hand, look like you need a lesson on not getting shot."
It was my turn to snort, instinctively rolling my injured shoulder.
She stepped closer, tilting her head as she gave me a once-over. "How bad is it?" Her voice was more serious now, betraying the concern she tried to mask.
"Ah, nothing major. Just a flesh wound. Hurts like a bitch, though."
After a moment, she sighed and reached out, poking my uninjured shoulder. "Next time, try not to give me a heart attack, yeah?"
Oh, now this was interesting. My smile widened." Don't tell me. You were worried about little old me."
"Pfft. Worried? Please," she scoffed, but the slight tension in her shoulders betrayed her. "I was more annoyed, really. Would've been a pain in the ass if you went and died on me."
A second passed, then another, before she sighed, glancing away. "But yeah… maybe a little."
Heh. Damn tsunderes all over.
I gave the girl a hug. " I'm fine, worry wort. I just need to rest for some time and I'll be back to normal. So basically, you'll be the top until further notice."
"Damn right I'm on top," she muttered, though the usual cockiness in her tone was softened by relief.
She let out a breath, her forehead briefly resting against my uninjured shoulder before she straightened up, giving me a smirk. "You better milk this while you can, 'cause once you're better, I'm making you work twice as hard to make up for it."
Our time was however cut short by my responsibilities. Ain't no way I was about to allow Orga to do whatever the fuck he did in cannon. I needed to handle whatever happened to the captain porky and his assets.
Taking out my pad, I called Andre, the ring only going off twice before he picked up. " Yerp."
" I got a wild Harley here that needs time in the suits. Be a sweetheart and help her with that, will you."
There was a brief pause then a snicker then the sound of Andre making a whipping sound.
Motherfucking David.
" Sure bud. I wouldn't want you to get whipped too much."
With that, the call ended and I felt the need to strangle someone but I miraculously held it together.
" Go to the hanger. There may or may not be a suit for you there."
Harley's eyes lit up before she jumped me, causing a round of ows to escape me as she quickly got off me, apologised and ran for the hanger.
With that promise kept, I made my way to Naze's ship where the pirate piggy was being kept and walked into the command room where I was told Naze was.
When I walked in, I found Naze in his captain's seat and Orga standing next to him looking down on the begging Peppa pig with a tablet in hand. Came just in time.
Orga was the first to speak when he saw me enter. "You're supposed to be resting."
" I'm supposed to be on a beach resort with five busty woman taking care of my every need and a margarita in hand. Until I reach that moment, I am supposed to be in every important meeting like this one."
Orga just sighed, seeing no point in arguing. Naze chuckled beside him. "Told you he'd be up before long."
"We were just about to figure out what to do with this piece of shit and his ship." Orga gestured toward the beaten and restrained pirate leader. " My thoughts were to take half of all his possessions."
I knew it.
He would do something stupid.
I walked up to the man on the floor, took out my pistol and pressed it onto the pirate's shoulder before firing. " First, I wanted to make my pain known...and double it."
Porky let out cries of pain as he rolled on the floor but I wasn't done. I fired another one into the pirate's other shoulder. " We take all he has. We offer any crew worth taking a place among Tekkaden and anyone who refuses gets the bullet. Simple."
" Don't you think taking it all is a bit much?" Orga said and I shot him a confused look.
" He's a pirate, not a merchant or figure warranting mercy. He would have killed us all if he could. He deserves nothing."
I turned back to the fallen pirate then pressed a foot on one of his wounds. " We'll also have to interrogate this piggie. if I'm feeling generous and he sings like a hummingbird, we might not kill him. That's as much mercy as I can give"
"Simple, huh?" Orga finally muttered, a resigned look on. He didn't seem to fight my stance on this. Good, there wasn't much ground to fight on anyway. "That's one way to put it."
Naze raised an eyebrow but didn't interfere, allowing us to handle our own business. I took the tablet Orga was holding and found it to be the pirate's assets. " Let me sort through this. Why don't you go and check up on his crew to see who wants to join Tekkaden from the prisoners and whether we would even want them."
I paused before walking out and turned to Naze. "Thanks for your help by the way. I'll be sure to include your accountants and people in the asset distribution."
" No problem. I'm feeling quite generous so don't be afraid to keep a little more to yourself. You did most of the heavy lifting anyway."
With another nod of thanks and a glance at Orga who looked like he had something particularly sour, I took my leave.
Going through what the pirates had, I was actually surprised at the amount. They had enough money to keep us going for a few months if I was being pessimistic.
Even with the addition of our assets, we had an extra few months of cash on us. What was lucky too was the fact that they had another ship on Mars that was going through maintenance.
This wasn't even mentioning the mobile suits. We have ten new mobile suits added to our ran-
"Darius,"
Looking up from the tablet, I found the firm voice calling out to me to be Kudelia, her gaze flicking pointedly to my injured shoulder. "I see you're already ignoring medical advice."
What was everyone's obsession with being my medical advisor?
She was speaking as though she was there. Maybe she inquired but something told me she was just worrying but maybe she was. I was under some loopy meds.
People really need to relax, I was only shot in the shoulder. Didn't even hurt anything vital…I think. " I'm not doing anything strenuous, just going over some stuff. Plus, I have plenty of time to rest on our way to our next destination."
"That's not the point." Her voice was softer now, but the concern in her eyes remained unwavering. "You're hurt, Darius. Even if you're not doing anything strenuous... you're still pushing yourself."
Her gaze flicked toward the tablet in my hands before returning to meet my eyes."You always act like you have all the time in the world... but what if you don't?"
God damn, she was on my ass.
I don't remember being like this with anyone, in show or in real life. Was she always like this? Was it the type of relationship we had? Maybe, I mean, I had never seen her joke and tease in the show or with others so I guess.
Sighing, I walked to and stopped beside her, a hand going to rest on her shoulder." But what if I do? We can speculate on anything and everything."
I gave her my best reassuring smile. " Thanks for the worry, really, but I can't rest entirely when there's still things to do."
She was stun locked. Time to book it.
I began speed walking to my office before she could respond. Now, I think I saw that these pirates had a warehouse or two back on mars.
What goodies were they hiding?
*******
The funeral thing.
Wasn't as sad as it could have been. I allowed Orga to deal with this since I was still bust but I did attend. I quickly needed to part however when Cody called for the regular report.
" So no casualties?"
" Yes sir. A few of the guys were injured in the raid but nothing that couldn't heal."
" And Pete ain't running you through the ground yet?"
" Nope. A total of forty six missions done since we last spoke, most still only guard jobs. Though it seems the other gangs have increased their attacks on us so these jobs have increased in danger. I'm surprised we only lost three guys in total so far."
" And the contracts?"
" Going well. The locals love us here. I think we need to stop at fifteen though. Any more and we'll be stretched thin."
Not bad, not bad at all. If we were to go home and help out, I'm sure this alone could keep us satiated till we began taking better contracts.
" That's excellent. Now, I want you and Dexter to go to the places I sent to both of you. These are our new assets and I'd like it to be gone through just in case."
" Sure boss."
With nothing else, I dropped the call. Now, my next objective. I called Andre and told him to stand by ready for a potentially dangerous situation in my office.
Standing up and leaving my office, I quickly found the person I needed to speak to in the command room. " Miss Admoss, could we speak privately?"
Said lady turned to face me, her calm mask as fixed as ever. " Of course."
When we arrived back at my office, I took a seat downing a bottle of water while she sat and watched. I was quiet but I had a smile on, fingers intertwined as I leaned back into my chair. She adjusted her glasses with practiced elegance, breaking the silence first.
"...I assume there's a reason you've brought me here, Mr. Kingston?"
I held my smile for a few moments longer before leaning forward and taking out a combat knife from my newly acquired birch desk with gold trimming and stabbing it into said desk.
"You know, I have the power to have you killed at any point in time while you're under my care and I have every right to considering your mission from Nobliss Gordon."
Fumitan's eyes stayed locked on the knife buried in the desk, took a quick glance back at Andre who just entered and stood near the door, hands behind his back, gun ready. I could see her mind racing behind her calm facade. I did just out her like it was nothing. Slowly, she lifted her gaze back to me , the polite look on having turned cold.
"...If that's true, then why am I still breathing?"
" Because even though I know what your mission is, I know that you've begun contemplating abandoning it whether you realise it or not. I know how much you mean to Kudelia and how much she means to you, even if you try to hide it. "
Her lips parted slightly before closing again then her eyes narrowed slightly. "...What do you want from me?"
I stood up, picked up the knife, walked around the desk and leaned down, our faces inches apart. I lightly traced the knife across her throat. " We're nearing the time where you need to decide whether or not you want to complete your mission but I've taken it upon myself to decide for you. "
Being this close, I could practically see her mind whirling. The way her breath slightly hitched and slight clench of her jaw. The light trembles in her balled fingers laying on her knees. " For now, all you have to do is abandon the mission and continue to work for Kudelia like you always have. Simple right?"
Silence. A tense one where I briefly thought she would try pull a fast one on me.
"...Understood."
My smile widened at that and I trailed the knife down her neck, stopping at her collar." I'm glad we could come to such an agreement."
I finally pulled back the knife and pressed the front of my hand where her heart was, feeling the racing heart revealing how she truly felt.
I let out a breath of amusement before pulling back and heading to my seat. " You do not have to like me but know this, I can be your worst enemy or your greatest ally. It's up to you."
With that, I put my knife away. " You can go. Oh, and there's no need to thank me. "
Fumitan's face remained a perfect mask as she stood up and lowered into a small bow.
"...Understood, Mr. Kingston."
Without another word, she turned and walked out. A part of me was worried that she might do something reckless but this was a chance I was willing to make. " Andre, keep an eye on her for me."
I knew she did in fact love Kudelia and unlike what happened in cannon, I won't be allowing anyone off the ship so unless I planned to kill her which was harder than I made it out to be with how she was stuck to Kudelia's waist and my lack of evidence, I needed to ensure she didn't go through her mission with more time to think on it and thus this.
Hoping I didn't fuck up.
" I gotta ask.."
My eyes fell of Andre who stood there silently through the whole thing, nodding as prompt for him to continue.
" How much of this is you being a nice guy and how much of this is you wanting to bang t
he hot maid cause I'm almost certain, if she was a guy, you would have simply killed him."
"...Yes."