For Fame and Glory

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"Kusanagi." Dahlia DeAngelo was grinning from ear to ear as she flopped into the seat opposite her partner in crime. This bar was their favourite haunt when trying to relax, and she had known where to find the other woman right away. She let the word hang for a moment and waved for the attention of the bartender and gestured that she wanted a beer. Dahlia leaned back and let her arms hang over the back of her seat, though it was clear she was damn near bursting with excitement.

Dahlia was staring down into her own coffee cup, not the usual chatter she normally was. Slender fingers were rolling the pendant she now wore over and over as she desperately sought a solution to the problem she felt she had created. "They wanted to be alone, is all." she finally lied without even glancing up.

Lily reached a delicate hand up to tough her husband's rough cheek and smiled sadly. "You never were any good at lying to me." She whispered.

"Oh please. There was more to it than that. All of you were speaking in that weird language that I hate. I'm not stupid you know." Gabbi muttered, nursing her coffee.

"I need you, my love. How is that lying?" Justice tried hard to give gerath his best devil may care grin but it didn't reach his eyes. He suddenly looked tired and almost defeated.

Dahlia did finally glance up at the mention of the 'weird language'. "I'm sorry you hate my family so much, but we weren't talking in any other language." She replied rather defensively.

"And I need you." Lily breathed, though they both knew she meant more than right that second. Her hand left her husband's cheek and came to settle upon his chest, right above where his necklace used to lie. "Rama will eat her alive..." She whispered, fear for all her family in her blue eyes as they met his again.

Gabbi didn't look up or speak for what seemed like a painfully long time. "Maybe I should move away. You know...I need to finish my doctrine anyway. You guys would be sans a damsel in distress and you would probably all be better off."

"He can't. He'll never be able to touch her. She is safe until she can get on her feet."  Justice said softly. "It will be fine. Now where is that night of passion you were promising me when we got here. It's almost sunrise."

Dahlia wanted to tell Gabbi that wouldn't be safe, that Rama would take her again because let's face it... who can resist her? But she couldn't, she didn't want to rain her newfound darkness down upon her friend. "Is that what would make you happy?"

"You should never have freed me." Lily breathed as she took her husband's face between her hands. "I could be keeping you safe from him." She added, tears leaking free as she kissed her husband just as she had that very first time.

"I guess. This whole scavenger thing isn't working. All I do is screw it up." Gabbi sighed. She didn't want to leave her best friend but it seemed that's what she wanted. "When we go back to the hotel I'll get my purse and buy my own ticket home. The laptop is just...gone." 

"I regret nothing and you know I never would have made a wish like that." Justice told his wife. The next few hours were spent reminding her exactly how much he adored her. When she woke she would find herself alone, as if he had never been there at all.

Dahlia didn't dare look at her friend. Gabbi didn't know that the man who had protected both of them would be gone, or that Dahlia and her mother's relationship was truly as bad as the young woman had said. Dahlia didn't want Gabbi to be anything but happy, even if it meant Dahlia herself was miserable. "What if I took you to your laptop? I can get it back to you... Then you can go back to school, do all the things you always wanted."

Lily found herself screaming when she woke, realising it hadn't all been a dream; her husband truly was gone. The pale haired woman sobbed into her hands, not for the first time wishing she had her darling boy back here with her. She had always blamed Dahlia for Rama getting his hands on the young man... and now she blamed the girl for Justice being gone too.

"You know where it is?" Gabbi couldn't help the desperate sound in her voice. It was like that laptop, the thing Justice had always called her precious notebook, was a part of her body. Right then she truly felt like she was missing a limb.

Dahlia nodded her head, casting a brief glance to her watch to see how long they had. "I'll take you there now." She replied, pushing to her feet. Gabbi hadn't denied that leaving was what would make her happy, Dahlia had heard that much loud and clear. "Then you have to go. The second you have your laptop back i... have something else I need to do." She was honouring her father's last wish, that was what she told herself.

"Yeah. Okay." Gabbi said, her tone almost bitter. She paid for their coffee, shaking hands with the old man behind the counter who gave her a strange smile. He spoke several things in Japanese to her and she simply.

Dahlia deeply regretted that things had to be this way, but her mother was right; she brought bad luck. Gabbi could return to her life, never knowing her best friend and sister would be always watching over her. Or at least she would be once Rama learned his place. Dahlia didn't notice the smile, or understand what the man had said, she was already standing on the street outside, surprised to find she missed home.

Rama could not contain his grin as he watched the two girls leave. He'd won. He'd accomplished everything he set out to do and more.
With a wave of his hand the shop disappeared from the building completely and he returned to his true form. 
The last Seeker and the dragon had been permanently split and soon he would be on the path to capturing her to find his treasures. But for now he would send men to Justice's home to find what the powerful dragon had hidden and take it. To the victor went the spoils after all. 
Then there was the upcoming masquerade  he'd planned. Not only was he to announce that he was choosing a mate but he had a little surprise in store for all who attended. Justice would die but only once those who hated him had taken every strip of flesh from his body. 
"I wish for you to keep the dragon lord alive until the party." He hissed at Erik as he passed the dark Djinn. The young man had a knack for showing up when he wasn't wanted.  "Can you handle that without mooning over that stupid Seeker?" He added with a growl.

"Have I ever failed you, my lord?" Erik replied, though that last part was spat with quite a bit of attitude, as the young man never addressed Rama as anything so formal and actually meant it. "Don't worry, I can take my fill of the seeker and still get the job done, unlike you and the dragon child." He mocked before stretching his muscles like a lazy cat. Erik gave little of his true self away to Rama, or to anyone. He always came across as a devil may care party boy. "Never figured it would take you so long to break her in."
Back at the hotel Lily was frantically packing up her belongings, avoiding anything that belonged to Justice, for now. Every time she even glanced at a shirt or even his toothbrush, she erupted into sobs again. The blue-eyed Djinn had had many masters over many thousands of years, yet somehow Justice had been the first man to even speak of setting her free, never mind actually doing it.

"Everyone fails me sooner or later. The only one I can count on is myself. And we are not talking about the dragon child. Because of this blood pact, she is out of my reach." Rama muttered, leaving the Djinn alone with Justice.

"Mom?" Gabbi entered the hotel room first and was surprised by the elder woman's actions. "What's going on?"

Erik only spoke to Justice once Rama was completely out of sight. "Have you lost your mind?!" He hissed. "Do you have any idea what he will do to Mom and Dahlia once he finds a way around the blood pact?!"

Lily was quick to wipe at her eyes before turning to face Gabbi. "Oh don't mind me, I'm just upset that once again my dearest husband has run away on a business venture." It wasn't exactly a lie.
Dahlia lingered in the doorway, the truth eating at her like a toxin.

Justice barely lifted his head. He'd been beaten by Rama and his men the moment he'd given himself over. His son's voice was little more than a whisper to him, it was a precious memory of things lost forever.

"What venture...what the hell is going on here?" Gabbi demanded.

"You know I can't free you, right?" Erik asked, pacing as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. "The bastard has everything he wants. He has a shackled Djinn, the last dragon lord tied like a slave, and soon he will have the last seeker!" Until now Erik had seemed to care for very little. He had even pretended it didn't hurt when Gabbi didn't even recognise him; had he really changed that much? "There's a ball... That's when he wants to kill you, and he spoke of choosing a mate. It only makes sense he would take Gabbi, then he will have all the pieces on the board."

"You know how important his work is to him." Lily breathed. "He came back here to tell me I should return home without him, he doesn't know how long it will take." The elder woman was stroking her fingers over one of Justice's shirts now, wishing she wasn't so easily able to imagine what Rama was going to do to him.

Justice lifted his head, trying to see through his haze. "Why are you mocking me? Is the beating not enough? My son is gone. You stole him from me. Leave me in peace."

Gabbi didn't look like she believed this for a moment. She knew her foster parents. They never went anywhere without one another. "You guys really think I'm stupid, don't you?" She muttered.

"No, Dad, you and Mom just made me a tasty target for someone wanting power." Erik snorted bitterly. "You really thought a Djinn without a master would go unnoticed for as long as I did?"

Lily wasn't sure she had it in her to make Gabbi believe otherwise, though thankfully Dahlia prevented her from answering.
"What does it matter? You think we speak a stupid language, and you can't wait to get away once you get your precious laptop back." The dark haired girl snapped.

"What are you..." His vision finally cleared and he was able to see. The golden eyed teenage boy he'd lost while fighting Rama's men. Erik, his beloved son. The small thin boy with the large glasses that made his eyes that much bigger. The one who couldn't stop staring at his foster sister. "Erik...they killed you. I saw your body. We buried you..."

"I'm just going to go." Gabbi said, stomping off to grab her things. "I'm getting the idea that I'm not wanted."

"You ever asked Mom how hard it is to kill a Djinn?" Erik snorted. "Not that it matters, just gave you more time with your dragon child, you know... the one you always wanted."

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Dahlia growled. "You might want this before you leave." She wasn't looking at Gabbi, but did hold a small piece of paper up between two fingers. "It's the location of the locker that has your laptop in. The combination code it there too."

Justice was on his feet, Erik's words lost in his father's emotion. The dragon hit the end of the chains and fell to his knees. "My boy...my sweet boy...thank the gods..." He couldn't stop staring, unable to believe everything the man his son had become. 

"Where did you..." Gabbi didn't take the paper, fighting her desire to run and grab the laptop. "Nevermind, you keep it. I'm leaving."

"For what? Leaving Mom and Dahlia alone?" Erik snorted. "Once Rama makes Gabbi his mate and has access to everything the Seekers know... He will break the blood pact, then Dahlia will be as dead as you, and Mom will be a slave again."

"Gabbi... You love nothing more than you do that laptop." Dahlia warned, her fingers shaking somewhat. That piece of paper was one of the last things her father gave her. It had been the promise she made to ensure Gabbi was reunited with her prized possession.

"Come here..." Justice couldn't barely move but he wanted nothing more than to pull his son close to him. So he pulled as hard as he could against his chains, ignoring everything the young man was saying.

Gabbi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It's just a computer with some stupid pictures. If you want it, take it." She grabbed the last of her bags and marched toward the door, feeling every bit as lost as she had in the deep mist.

Erik's response was to take a step further away. "I'll try and keep them safe... But you know i can't go against any wishes he makes." He breathed, already turning away.

Dahlia didn't turn to watch her leave. Was this what it was to be strong like her father? To let the people you love go, simply to keep them safe?

"They will be fine. He cannot hurt that which belongs to me." Justice said, hanging his head. 

Gabbi simply left, not even bothering to shut the door. Life was horrible and suddenly complicated. It was eating her alive that her best friend suddenly seemed to hate her. "Where did you go, Erik?" She whispered to the wind. She spoke to the teenage boy she'd loved so much. The young man that had died before knowing how she felt for him. "I wish you were here." She breathed, heading toward the airport.

Erik hesitated slightly, his father's words unintentionally wounding him. "Then you let me go a long time before Rama took me." He breathed, closing his eyes as he felt Gabbi calling for him. "There will be a masquerade ball, if Dahlia wishes to free you, that will be her only chance." He breathed before he was gone, needing to see the one who had never forsaken him.
"Well, don't you look all sad and gorgeous." He teased when he found Gabbi, once again seeming the carefree playboy.

"Don't even say it." Dahlia breathed when she felt her mother glaring at her. "I don't need this right now. Just... Do what he wanted. Return home, at least then I know Rama can't reach you there." The younger woman didn't give her mother chance to respond before she too exited the room. So much had happened, and all she wanted was enough tequila to make her forget.

"Oh hey, Tattoo." Gabbi gave him a weary smile and looked up from digging through her purse. "I can't believe I'm seeing you here again."

Rama wasn't much better off. He was pacong the darkNess of his library, angry that he wasn't happy. 
He was going to have to figure out a way around the blood pact. The thought that he couldn't have his true mate was going to eat him alive.

Erik smiled, though there was a sadness in golden eyes everytime Gabbi called him by anything other than his name. Of course he couldn't tell her what it was, but it was still somewhat painful. "Is that a bad thing?" He asked with his usual cocky grin, pretending she physically wounded him.

Dahlia didn't go to a bar, she simply found a convenience store, then sat by the docks where she believed all this trouble had started. Maybe her father should have just left her face down in the water. She laughed at the thought as she drained some of the amber liquid from the bottle in her hand. Dahlia wanted to give Gabbi enough time to be half way home before she went to confront Rama about her father, not wanting to risk the other woman being dragged back into this.

"Not at all but it is strange  that we keep running into each other like this." Gabbi said, trying to move over to give him room. "Where are you headed?"

"Are you coming to the ball little princess?" Italy found the young woman rather easily. "I'm sure you'd love to see what the master has in store for dear old dad."