Rain

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Rain
Chapter 27: The Caged Wolf

Rain watched in slight awe as Sith left for Aurora’s room, the sleeping infant in her arms. Sith had told her to leave, like it was at all possible. Sith didn’t know why Rain never left, unless under the order of the Van or to work. Rain did. After Aurora had been born, they’d done it, they had ordered that a device be implanted in her body. Where, she didn’t know, but she knew it was there. No one but the Van, the docs and herself knew. Rain smiled, Sith had it lucky, she still had her freedom. Only death was Rain’s freedom.

Slowly, she walked to her bedroom. She sort of wished for death, but Aurora needed her mother. She wouldn’t abandon her like her own mother had. Rain’s mother had been a syndicate girl, and a good one, and then one day she didn’t come home from a mission, leaving her with her drunken, abusive father until he was killed on a currier mission and she joined the Red Dragons at age twelve and was adopted by the Van. No, she wouldn’t leave Aurora unless she knew that Aurora would be well taken care of, and not by those damned corpses. She had recently listed Vicious and Sith as her legal guardians, not that they knew. Sure, she’d mentioned it to Sith, but now it was legal. Sith loved Aurora, more than even she knew. The child seemed to bring out the best in people.

Rain closed the black double doors to her bedroom and flicked on the light. The walls were black, the carpet a deep burgundy. In the center of the room lay a king sized bed, not that she needed that much room, covered in black silk sheets and a blood red comforter made of soft velvet. She sighed as she kicked off her black leather pumps and tossed her black jacket on a chair. She needed to relax, before all the crap of her life killed her or drove her crazy.

The nearly scalding hot water beat down mercilessly on her tired and knotted muscles as she leaned against the opposite wall, her forehead against the cool stone of the shower. Her bathroom was large, held a shower and tub that could fit two people inside. The entire room was painted a deep blue that was almost black with black marble everywhere else. The fixtures gleamed gold in the dark room and gave a splash of color inside. Rain liked it dark, though, made it more relaxing. When she had been pregnant the deep tub had been a luxury, when now it was just… there. Perhaps it was postpartum, perhaps she was just lonely, but her rooms seemed… empty.

She stared at her fogged reflection in the mirror and wiped away the condensation with a dark blue towel. Her grey eyes stared back, empty. She was losing herself again, but this time faster than she had the first time. Rain gave a dejected whimper and slid to the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees as she let the cool stone touch her uncovered flesh. She then felt the pricking heat of tears as they escaped her clenched eyes and traveled down her moist, clean, pale skin. She felt like a caged wolf, beautiful and exotic, but slowly dying in its cage. She let out a ragged sob as she continued that thought. She was a recaptured wolf, one that had a taste of freedom and now would never see that wondrous world she had glimpsed again, cause this time, she had a tracking collar and a pup to worry about. Rain let it all rush out as she wept. She was a prisoner now, with a life sentence, no chance of parole.

~*~*~*~

Vicious coldly stared at his underlings. He wasn’t going to let the Van rule him anymore. They were going to lose it all, their lives, their power, everything. Vicious grinned, and he was going to be the one to take it away. Gently, he caressed the picture of Aurora in his pocket. It went everywhere with him now. It made him feel strong, she made him feel strong. He needed to be, for her, for Rain, even for Sith, who would deny such a need. He laughed at that thought, scaring his followers with the sudden sound, Sith would wait until she was near death to actually admit that she needed help. He then returned to his usual cold exterior and laid out his plan. The Van would pay for everything they’d done to him, to his women; they would pay dearly and fatally.

~*~*~*~

Faye and Ed were gone. Ed left in search of her father… maybe, it was hard to say. Faye left to find herself, her memory completely back now. Even Ein was gone. Spike and Jet were alone again, just the two of them. It was sort of like before the girls and Ein had joined them. When things were more… simplified, but things weren’t simple, not at all; Jet was in a state of just being, with no one to talk to but Spike, he’d closed up. He had no one to care for, no one to help him forget Rain. Only Spike, the only man in the universe that was living, and not a sadistic killer from the Red Dragons, that knew her better than himself.

Spike himself was moping over Faye. They had worked things out… sort of. They were going to try and raise their child together. Well, they would have. During the beginning of her eighth month, Faye had gone into labor, their child born premature. He was now at a hospital on Mars, being taken care of at the greatest facility. The funds had been deposited anonymously, but the group knew who. Ed had traced it to a Ms. Deacon of the Red Dragons, much to the joy of Faye and Spike. Rain had done the only thing she knew she could do, she’d saved their son.

Spike smiled as he stared at the ceiling fan above him. His son, he had a son. A boy named Jack Edward Ein Valentine-Spiegal, Ed had given him his middle name. Spike shook his head at that thought. Of when Edward danced and sang that she would give him a middle name, saying that her name and Ein’s name were perfect. Spike and Faye had let her, hoping to god that they wouldn’t regret it. Spike shoved a hand in his pants pocket and fingered the small ring inside. As soon as she came back, he was going to give it to her. He loved her, he knew that now.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” he mumbled to himself.

“You thinking of Faye again?” Jet asked as he took a seat on a chair.

“Yeah.”

“She’ll be back, you know,” Jet said.

“I know, we there yet?” Spike asked.

“A few more hours until we get to the Mars gate, Faye called while you were asleep, she’s going to meet us at the hospital.”

Spike smiled. Jack was being moved to a normal ward now, still required to stay at the hospital, but no longer in the neonatal ward. He had seen a newspaper from a few days ago, on the cover Rain stood next to Jack’s bed, true happiness dancing in her eyes for the camera. The headline “Rain Deacon donates seventy thousand woolongs to the neonatal ward at Hyperion Hospital.” Spike had loved that. Rain was just as sneaky as ever. He had even recognized Sith, her blood haired bodyguard in the background. Sith looked the same, just as cold looking as ever. He had honestly been surprised that Sith had been assigned to protect Rain, Sith had always been a cold blooded assassin, not one for protecting others. Sith had also been the scariest woman he’d ever met. Spike sighed, he didn’t need to think about Sith, he was going to see the woman he loved and his son. Spike let sleep slowly take him over, napping was a perfect way to pass the time, and Spike was an expert.

~*~*~*~

Levii: Sorry this one was short, but I got what I needed to get across. Sometimes they\'re long, sometines they ain\'t. Sorry if I sound grumpy... I had a tedious day at work today. I hate my job some days. Actually, I hate my job everyday. Being a coffee whore is not a desirable job. Especailly if you hate coffee, like me. Starbucks is eeevil! Especially if it\'s a Starbucks inside a Jewel. Doppio eeevil! Hah, humor... I laugh. Ah! I\'m sorry, I\'m ranting... I do that sometimes. I mean, I know my life is not as bad as other peoples\', but some of ya\'ll have it better than I do! You know who you are. I mean, not everyone is flunking out of community college, working at a job that you hate, and have a fifth surgury looming ominously over your head because your ankle bones don\'t align correctly, causing mind shattering pain after an hour or two of standing. Which, by the way, is what I have to do at work. Man, I did it again, Sorry! I need to stop now, review soon and ja ne!