Departure

On a deserted stretch of road, a car could be seen coming from the distance. As the car got closer the driver was revealed to be Des. All of a sudden she did a quick U-turn then stopped the car. She got out of the car, walked over to the trunk, and opened it up.

"You know," said Des, as she pulled a body out of the trunk. "I don't know why you motherfuckers have to make this so difficult by running." The man Des pulled from the trunk, could do nothing but listen as she spoke, placing shells into a shotgun. "I mean this was supposed to be a simple job," said Des "I just had to shoot you, then get away before anyone saw me. But no, you had to make it difficult by running. I shot you in the kneecaps, but you kept going."

"So what are you going to do?" asked the man

"Well," said Des "as you can see, we're on a deserted stretch of road. Since you like running so much, I'm gonna let you run, while I count to ten. After I reach ten, I'm gonna fire, either hitting you or missing you, ready?" Des watched as the man started running, Des pumped the

shotgun. "ONE..TWO..TEN!" yelled Des as she fired a shot, blowing the mans chest open as he fell to the ground. Des brought the shotgun down to her side, then walked back to the car. She got into the car, and sat in silence for a moment. "Hmmm," said Des "I wonder if Jabo made it back to

the group? Well only one way to find out!" Des started up the car, and began driving down the road.

The sound of a door could be heard opening, as Gordon walked into James hotel room. As Gordon entered the room, he could hear the theme song from Hamtaro.

"Jesus Christ," Gordon said to himself "he's watching that damn show again!" Hearing footsteps, James turned around to see Gordon.

"Oh hey G," said James as he pulled out a joint, and lit it. "Just watching a little tv!"

"I see!" said Gordon. After a few minutes of silence, besides James taking puffs from his joint. James turned and looked at Gordon.

"Man," said James "this has gotta be some good shit, it looks like those hamsters are talking!"

"My god!" said Gordon "James, for the last time they are talking. You're watching a Japanese animated show, which has talking hamsters that go on adventures!"

"Oh," said James "but did you see that girl her..."

"I know," said Gordon "her name is Laura, but like I told you before it isn't a younger version of our teammate! I swear sometimes James, I honestly think always smoking that stuff, that you have smoked yourself retarded!"

"Sorry!" said James

"It's alright," said Gordon "it's just I don't know what the hell to do! Ever since Jabo left, Laura went into this slump, she won't eat, she doesn't leave her room, and it looks like she's gotten very little sleep."

"Well," said James "What about booze?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Gordon

"Well," said James "sometimes when I'm down, I get myself hammered. I find it helps, because I'm too drunk to be upset."

"Well," said Gordon "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm willing to try out one of your ideas."

"That's perfect," said James "because I was gonna head on down to the liquor store."

As James walked out of the liquor store bottles in hand, he was unaware of a figure coming up behind him.

"Alright!" said the person in a bad german accent, a gun to James face. "I want you to give me all your money, and your bottles of alcohol!"

"Alright!" said James as he knelt down to put down the bottles. All of a sudden he used his leg to trip his assailant, turning around quickly and aiming his gun. James looked at his assailant, it was Jabo.

"Well at least you're on guard!" said Jabo, as James helped him up.

"Jabo!" said James "Where the fuck did you go?"

"Not important right now," said Jabo "how's the group?"

"Well," said James "we've pretty much been staying at the hotel since you left. Since you left, Lauras been an emotional wreck. For someone who's killed so many people with very little emotional response, this is the first time I've really seen her upset!"

"Shit!" said Jabo "Well pick your booze back up, and lets get back to the hotel!"

As Gordon sat in a chair in Lauras hotel room trying to comfort her, he heard Lauras room door open.

"Well," said Gordon "sounds like James's back" Gordon left the room, leaving Laura alone.

"Hey Laura," said James "could you come out here for a second?"

"For the last fucking time James" said Laura angrily "I don't care about that goddamn Hamtaro show!"

"Actually Laura," said Gordon "you might want to see this!"

"Alright!" said Laura angrily as she entered the other room "But this better be fucking...Jabo?!" Laura quickly ran into Jabos arms and began to cry, as Jabo wrapped his arms

around her. James smiled as he looked at Jabo and Laura holding each other tight. With a beer in his hand, he walked over to the window. As he looked outside, he saw a car parked in front of the hotel. As he continued looking, he thought he saw a figure looking up at the window. The figure

then got into the car, and drove away.

"What the fuck?" said James to himself.

"C'mon James," said Gordon "let's leave them alone for awhile. We can partake in the alcohol you purchased."

"Huh?" said James

"We'll go back to your hotel room and get blind stinking drunk!" said Gordon

"Oh!" said James "Well why didn't you say so!" James and Gordon left Lauras room, leaving her and Jabo alone. Holding Laura close, Jabo laid Laura on her bed. As Jabo pulled Laura closer to him, with a free hand he shut off the light.

As James and Gordon sat in James hotel room drinking, they heard the sound of his room door opening. James quickly pulled out a handgun, and pointed it forwards.

"Okay you motherfucker!" slurred James "You better show yourself before I blast your head off!"

"Well," said Jabo as he came into view. "For every one shot that hits me, that's five in you!"

"Sorry Jabo!" said James as he lowered his gun.

"So," said Gordon "how's Laura doing?"

"She seems to be doing well," said Jabo "she's resting right now, she looks like she needed it."

"She did!" said James "Ever since you left, he hasn't slept. Most of her time was spent crying."

"So," said Gordon inquisitively "where did you go?"

"The answers will come when the time is right." said Jabo "For the time being, lets just say I had to clear my head." James and Gordon watched as Jabo headed for the door.

"Where you going?" asked James

"Just going for a walk," said Jabo "I'll be back soon!"

James and Gordon sat drinking, and listened as Jabos footsteps slowly faded away.

Having walked for a while, Jabo decided to take a rest in an alleyway. As he stood still to catch his breath, a figure came up behind him. As Jabo looked out of the corner of his eye, he saw a .45 barrel on his cheek.

"Alright motherfucker," said the assailant in a deepened voice. "Just let me do what I gotta do, and noone will get hurt!" Jabo stood in silence, realizing that he wouldn't have enough time to grab the SIG P-228 handgun he had in his shoulder holster.

"Alright," said Jabo "do what you gotta do." All of a sudden, Jabo saw the other hand of the assailant put their hand on his cheek, pushing his face towards the face of the assailant. Jabo soon found his lips locked with the lips of his assailant. In the dim lights of the alley, Jabo

could make out the face of his assailant, it was Desiree.

"Des!" exclaimed Jabo, as he pulled his lips away. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," said Des "I wanted to see you, and I figured that you would end up back here."

"God," said Jabo "it's so good to see you again!" As Jabo pulled Des close to him, he felt as though someone was watching him. He proceeded to pull himself away from Des.

"What's the matter?" asked Des

"I feel as though someone's watching me!" said Jabo. "Maybe this isn't the best place to meet, where are you staying? I'll head over there!"

"Well why don't you come with me?" asked Des

"I just have something I have to take care off!" said Jabo

"Okay" said Des, an eyebrow raised as she wrote down on a paper where she was staying, and the number of her room. "Hope to see you there!" said Des as she kissed Jabo on the cheek, and walked out of the alley. As Jabo walked out of the alley, he could detect the strong scent of

marijuana. Jabo made his way out of the alley, to see James standing in front of him.

"So," said James, in between puffs of his joint. "Just going for a walk,eh?"

"How much did you hear?" asked Jabo

"I heard enough!" said James.

"So," said Jabo pausing for a moment. "Why did you decide to follow me?"

"Well," said James "ever since you ran into this Des in Nagon, your mind seemed to be elsewhere. Even when you decided to go out on your own, I thought something was fucked up. You got Laura Jabo, what's the deal with your interest in this girl?"

"We'd better get to a bar," said Jabo "it's a long story!"

After some walking, Jabo and James managed to find a bar. As they sat down drinks in hand, Jabo told James everything. James sat and listened as Jabo told him about how Des was the first girl he ever loved, but a romance never happened. He explained that despite all the relationships he'd been through, he never forgot Des. He eventually brought him up to date, revealing that after all

those years, that Des revealed her love for Jabo.

"Woah!" said James, taking a swig of beer. "That is some story, but it leaves one thing unanswered."

"What's that?" asked Jabo

"What about Laura?" asked James "You still love her, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" said Jabo

"Well," said James "then you're gonna have to choose!"

James slammed the money for his beer on the table, got up and walked out, leaving Jabo sitting by himself.

As Des sat in her motel room, she heard a knock on the door. She got up and opened the door, to see Jabo standing on the outside.

"Jabo!" said Des "C'mon in!" Jabo walked into Des's motel room, and closed the door.

"Where'd you go?" asked Gordon, as he ran into James in the hall outside their hotel rooms.

"Well," said James "I went and followed Jabo."

"And?" said Gordon

"Well.." started James, when all of a sudden they saw Laura come out of her room.

"Hi guys!" said Laura, a cheerful sound in her voice.

"Hey Laura," said Gordon "You sound a lot happier!"

"Well," said Laura "with Jabo back, I am a lot happier!" Laura paused for a moment. "Where is Jabo?"

"He.." said Gordon

"He went to check out the local video store." interrupted James, letting out a nervous laugh. "You know Jabo and movies!"

"Well okay," said Laura "just let me know when he gets back!"

"Will do!" said James, as Laura smiled and went back into her hotel room.

"What was that all about?" asked Gordon

"Open the door to your room, and take a seat!" said James "You'll wanna be sitting down when you hear this!"

As Jabo came out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist. Moving over to the sink, he found himself looking at his reflection in the mirror. As Jabo stared, Des walked into the bathroom, came up behind Jabo, and wrapped her arms around his chest. She proceeded to kiss him on the cheek, then noticed that he wasn't showing any emotion.

"Jabo?" said Des "JABO!"

"What?" said Jabo, acting as though he had just come out of a trance.

"Are you okay Jabo?" asked Des

"Yeah," said Jabo "I'm fine, why?"

"Well," said Des "it's just I came in here, gave you a kiss and a hug, and you showed no reaction."

"Sorry!" said Jabo "It's just my mind was on other things!"

"You're sure you're okay?" asked Des

"Yeah," said Jabo "I'll be fine! I gotta go, maybe I'll see ya later!"

"I'll be looking forward to it!" said Des with a smile. Jabo got dressed, gave Des a kiss, and left her room. Des proceeded to sit on the end of her bed. A sudden feeling came over her, she sensed this would be the last time she would see Jabo.

As Jabo headed back to the hotel, he could hear James words playback in his head. "Then you're gonna have to choose!" As those words played over and over in his head, he proceeded to pull out his combat knife. Admiring it, he ran his finger over the blade, drawing blood. Putting his finger in his mouth, he placed the combat knife back in it's case.

"So what do you think he's gonna do?" asked Gordon

"I wish I knew!" said James "It looks like he loves both Laura and this other girl, what was her name again?"

"Desiree," said James "but Jabo kept calling her Des!"

"I wonder..." said Gordon, as they heard footsteps outside Gordons hotel room. As they looked out the door, they saw Jabo go into his hotel room, and close the door.

"Did you see the look on his face?" asked James

"Yeah," said Gordon "We'll let him rest, then we'll check up on him."

As Gordon and James were preparing to go check on Jabo, Laura walked in to Gordons room.

"Has Jabo come back yet?" asked Laura

"Yeah," said James "he came back and took a rest, we're going over to wake him up."

"Want me to come with you?" asked Laura

"Not necessary!" said Gordon "Why don't you pretty yourself up, I'm sure Jabo will be looking forward to seeing a pretty face, after having seen us."

Laura laughed.

"Good idea!" said Laura, as she left Gordons room, and went back to her own. Gordon and James then proceeded to leave Gordons room, and head over to Jabos. As they came up to his door, they could faintly hear the sound of some music playing.

"Jabo!" said Gordon "You in there?" They waited and heard no response. James proceeded to pull out his handgun, and Gordon pulled out his shotgun. Using his strength, Gordon kicked the door open. With the door open, the music was more audible. Coming from a stereo somewhere in the room was "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.

"JABO?" yelled James, weapon in high ready. "If you're in here, man ya gotta say something!" After careful movement through the room, James made his way to Jabos bed.

"Shit!" said James "Gordon, you might wanna see this!"

"What is it?" asked Gordon, as he made his way to Jabos bed. "Ah fuck!" On the bed, Jabo was laying with his back against the headboard. On his right arm, there was a slash across the wrist. The blood from Jabos wrist, had absorbed itself into the previously white sheets. In Jabos left hand, was his combat knife, Jabos blood on the blade. As they further examined the area, they found a piece of paper on the bedside table. Gordon picked up the note, it was addressed to him and James. Gordon read the note.

Gordon & James,

If you have found this note, then no doubt you have found my

lifeless corpse. I write this note to you guys, because

there are some things I want you to do. First things first

though. The reason I committed suicide, goes back to

something James told me. He told me that I had to decide

between Des or Laura. I tired and I tried, but I realized

that I loved both of them, the idea of choosing one of them

was too overwhelming. Was my act of suicide cowardly?

Perhaps! But what's done is done, I just couldn't

decide. Now, as for that favour. I know that eventually

Laura will find my body, I don't want, under any

circumstance, for her to find out about Des. As usual,

Gordon I am making you leader, I know that your leadership

will be as prominent as mine. There is nothing else to say

except...

Farewell!

As Gordon and James finished reading the note, they heard Laura come in. James made a quick dash for the door to try to stop her from seeing Jabo, but it was too late.

"Wha..What happened?" asked Laura

"Suicide" said Gordon, his voice trying to sound monotonous.

"My god!" said Laura, as she ran into Gordons arms crying. Gordon put his arms around Lauras shoulders, and let her cry.

"Just let it out!" said Gordon, as he walked Laura out of the room. As Gordon looked back at James, he saw him just standing there staring at the body.

At her motel, Des sat on the edge of her bed. She wasn't there, but she knew that Jabo was gone. As tears began rolling down her cheek, she put her hands on her forehead, and began to cry.

THE END