*Heh heh heh... I really loved that ending. I’ve tried to not have AN because they pull you out of the story, but alas, here we are again. I love my reviwers! Matt Locke and belle beauty- you guys are my favoritest peoples in the whole wide world!!! End AN*

Staerling stepped confidently out of the building. He was feeling especially clever today. The astroport where he was keeping his ship was only a few blocks away, so he didn’t feel that he needed a ride, even tough he felt he could afford one. His client was very pleased and had given him a bonus in advance, but he wanted to see proof.

The day was light and breezy, and sunrays bounced off the numerous skyscrapers, creating a blinding effect if you looked at them the wrong way. But Staerling was so happy that he gazed into the sky, enjoying the sounds and the sights surrounding him. He couldn’t wait to bring Jack back to his client and to get his payment.

Arawyn would be shocked. He was almost positive that he got more than her, but maybe it was because she was picky with her clients. He snorted. She only accepted jobs that were morally just, and wasted her time with lesser paying jobs. He had never seen her in her prime, but he knew no real bounty hunter would be caught dead in a bar, stoned. It was just an incredibly stupid thing to do. She was in no way a better bounty hunter than him- she actually thought he’d done a favor for her, and she was grateful that he’d stopped her from shooting out the whole nightclub.

He laughed to himself and sat down on a small bench at a shuttlebus station. If she did try and run away, or even run off with Jack, he’d know where to find her. And she could never possibly figure out the combination of Jack’s handcuffs, so Staerling knew Jack would never be leaving that ship until she were to figure it out. And a beeper in his pocket would alert him if Arawyn left the parameters of the ship.

He smiled and leaned his head back to look up at the musty grey clouds. Being near the astroport, lots of ships flew over head. A silver one caught the sun’s glare and almost burned out his eyes. Cursing, he looked up to mentally flick off the damned thing. Then he realized something- he was flicking off his own ship...

He jumped up from the bench and started jumping around and screaming madly. He cursed his beeper, too. How could he have been so stupid! She hadn’t left the ship, or the tracker would have sent a message to his beeper. But he hadn’t even thought she’d fly the thing out. That meant Jack would be with her... He ran over to a payphone, put in a coin and started making calls. He’d have her soon.

~*~

Jack smiled. He knew he could trust Arie, she seemed to be, if anything, in more shit than he. He pulled on the gear and the ship flew upward. He looked over his shoulder to see where Arie was, and then turned back to the control panel and reset the destination for Conovia. He knew both of them would be safe there. He had friends.

~*~

Arie kicked the door open again and it banged against the door with a thud. She was terribly mad at herself for being very bad at judging people. After all this she could trust Jack more than Staerling, but that wasn’t saying much. She didn’t know if she should even trust Jack.

She searched the counter with her good arm- the other one was clutched against her side. She found some painkillers and some more bandages and stepped cautiously out of the small room. She’d be able to get medical attention in Halabaestre, they had good medics that didn’t tell your secrets. But for the meantime, she sat down on one of the grey chairs, blood spilling down her arm and escaping the napkin she had pressed against her wound. She didn’t care, she planned to wreck his ship anyway. She began to clean herself up.