The Chase Begins (Rhemy's Tail Part V)

Loping slowly, through the trees,
Rhemy had to halt.
He was now filled, with vague unease,
something here was wrong.

Within the silence of the wood,
the birds had ceased to sing.
O'erhead there was no sign,
of feather or of wing.

And Rhemy knew, within his fur,
that this would not bode well,
there were always dangers, within the wood,
that one may never smell.

His sight was keen, and in the green
and leafy wood he moved,
slowly now, with caution's song,
and creeping below thickets,

The dark was midnight, the sun had set,
and this was the most dangerous time,
when cheerful rabbits,
like our Rhemy,
should be in hole, abed.

But Rhemy wasn't at all afraid,
tho' his tiny heart hammered in his chest,
he was simply full of doubt,
that continuing was best,
in moonlight's glare, he'd have no warning,
if fox or wolf should find him first,
and his mother'd be left mourning,
her tears would slake earth's thirst.

And as he moved, so slow and cautious,
there came a sudden snap,
followed by the growl and barking,
of foxes on the hunt.

Emo Jack, Ch. 2

"I don't know, Jack. Just ... something about it was wrong." Serenity put down her cup and stared out the window. Snow was falling, slow and silent on the street outside.

"What do you mean, it was perfect. Nothing even resembling a mistake." Jack looked quizzically at his partner and lit a smoke. The waitress passing by refilled their cups and Jack watched as Serenity stirred a single packet of sugar into her cup.

"The hit was on the mark, yes." She placed her spoon back onto the saucer. Jack admired the grace with which she did so. He admired the grace with which she did everything. He'd often marveled that her every movement was poetry, a dancer's movement. From something as small as placing a spoon on a saucer, to something as complex as assembling and firing an AR-22k sniper carbine, everything she did was fluid and graceful.

Jack dumped a generous amount of heavy cream and sugar into his own cup before answering. "Then what's the problem?"

She didn't answer, just kept staring out the window. Jack put his hand on hers, and his Inner Eye could see the pulse beneath the skin, could feel the flutter of her heart. He could feel what she felt. Consternation, doubt, vague and nameless, it hovered at the edges of her mind. He thought back to the hit, and knew there hadn't been any technical foul-up. But he had learned to trust Serenity's instincts over the years. Since they had first been paired up by the Conglomerate, Jack had found her hunches to be just as reliable as his own Extrapathic senses.

He waited, trying to convey peace and comfort to her while she thought about what was bothering her.

"Braxton was a banker, Jack." She talked it out. "He wasn't anything important or special. He had low level access to moderate funds, no Sec-8 clearance, and nothing even resembling a grudge against him from what I could hack on him."

Jack shrugged, knowing she would come to her own conclusion, but couldn't help adding, "We don't ask the whys, Ser. You know that. If we did, we'd never be able to sleep at night." He stubbed out his cig and sipped at his coffee. It was weak.

"I'm the one usually telling you that, aren't I? I know better than to question assignments, Jack. But this is different. Something ... " She stared out the window again for long moments. "Something is wrong with this one."

Jack clicked his zippo in his free hand, the other still covering hers. He stared at her for long moments. He could feel the certainty within her. He could feel the nag of some hunch pounding at her now, and knew it would only be a matter of time before she demanded they do something about it. Something foolish, no doubt.

Jack lit another smoke and smiled. "Then we'd better start digging, don't you think, Ser?"

She turned from the window and looked back at him. Beneath an exterior that appeared as cold as the snow covering the cars outside the cafe, he could feel the wave of warmth and affection flowing from her. She was grateful that he trusted her so much, and moved that he had made the first dangerous statement of purpose.

"Going into CHQ with questions on our lips is a bad idea, J." She said, a half smile playing on the corners of her lips. "And if we get caught messing around where we shouldn't be ... "

A full beaming smile spread across Jack's homely face. "Then we'd better not get caught."

Emo Jack, Ch. 1

It was hard to see through the crowd. People bustled back and forth across the square, bags in hand, wallets emptied. Christmas was the worst time of the year for Jack to work. There were always crowds everywhere, and most of the time they just got in the way.

Jack stubbed out his cigarette on the concrete chimney next to him. Looking down on the busy square, the top of the lit Christmas tree barely reached as tall as the roof Jack knelt on. The multi-hued glow from the tree glared on his eyes, and he adjusted his shades to compensate. He continued to scan the square visually for long moments, before he finally gave up and switched to his Inner Senses. Closing his eyes, he could now see the square in front of his mind's eye, his Inner Eye. Each of the shoppers and other pedestrians milling, crossing, and generally cluttering up the square below him was a dim grey ghost of a glow in his mind now. The dim glow indicated they were not the one he was looking for. He was attuned to the target.

"Jack?" came a soft voice in his ear. The subdermal implant vibrated the bones directly connected to his eardrum and made sure he and he alone could hear the voice. It was a soft, sugary female voice, but there was a hint of steel in it that perhaps only he could recognize. "Any sign yet?"

Jack whispered, knowing the mic in his jaw would send his voice just as clearly to the speaker. "Not yet, Ser, keep your panties on." Jack lit another smoke and smiled as he continued scanning the town square below with his Inner Eye.

"You should be so lucky to even know if I'm wearing any at all," came Serenity's voice in his ear, the hint of steel a bit stronger but still softened, as it always was with him. "Quit toking and pay attention to the target zone, Jack."

Still smiling, Jack took a long drag from his cigarette and said nothing. He'd worked with Serenity long enough to know exactly which buttons to push to annoy her without actually getting her angry at him. His knees were beginning to hurt from kneeling behind the low wall that went round the roof, but he remained still, in position, watching and waiting. Jack was a lot of things, most of them disreputable, but he was always good at his job.

Finally, after what seemed like forever and a day, there was a soft crimson glow in his mind's Eye, moving slowly and cautiously across the square. The color of the glow told Jack this was who he'd been waiting for, the and dim strength of it showed that the target was trying hard to conceal himself. Jack smiled wider. The target was an extrapath, just like Jack was, but nowhere near Jack's strength and skill. The target may as well have been jumping up and down, screaming 'here I am' as far as Jack's senses were concerned.

"Ser, he's there. By the tree. He's trying to Conceal but I've got him. I'm sending his image now." Jack concentrated on the link between him and his partner, sending her a mental image of where the target was.

There was a very brief pause, then Serenity's voice came back to him, "Got it."

Two heartbeats later, the crowd round the tree scattered, screams and wails of panic filling the yuletide decked square. There was a dead body at the foot of the huge Christmas tree, a small hole spouting blood and oozing other fluid where his left eye used to be. Jack smiled, stubbed out his smoke, and went to meet Serenity for their customary after-job coffee.

Declined (Rhemy's Tail Part IV)

"What is there about you,
that makes you think you should,
be the one I jump with,
in all this lovely wood?

Is not the fox, covered in his red,
faster, smarter, less easily lead?

Do not the humans in their human way,
prefer the comp'ny of dogs,
that prance and bark and beg?

Why should I pick you?
so scrawny, and afraid?
what can you offer me,
that I cannot get from them?"

Rhemy tugged his ears and sat and thought on it.
and tho he gave forth effort, he'd no answer at first.
But finally inspiration,
struck him on the pate,
and words that volleyed forth just then,
would seal and decide his fate

"i'm not a fox, and not a dog,
but i'd do most anything,
for one whose love comes from within,
and leads my heart to sing

there aren't enough of words unkind,
for those who lie and cheat,
for those who promise to remain,
and leave an empty seat.

i've met them all, and they have seen,
the woeful tapestry,
that comes from listening to things,
like 'the best of you and me'

so here i'll leave you,
as i can see,
you've not a bit of heart,
you ask of me,
what cannot be,
and so i will depart."

She watched him go,
disdain on her
and oozing from the trees,

but Rhemy knew,
beyond a doubt,
that he'd made the right choice.

He hopped away,
on journey still,
and adventures would appease,

the feeling hollow,
in his chest,
and venom in her voice.