Win or Lose

"I'll tell you 'bout the weddin's I ended up goin' to. By the end everythin' went into the realm of real strange," I said. It was about midday at Bootleggers. No one was really around, just a few die hards. "The first weddin' was what you'd call a picture perfect one. A big church, all decked out. Everyone dressed all formal. I think Grey was more nervous then Charly was. Seems he was fidgetin' a lot. Can't Say as I'd blame him." I chuckled at that. I guess I'd be doin' the same thing, were it me.

"The reception was real nice. Big old weddin' cake settin there, chanpagne, Ice sculpture, and everyone all dressed up fine. There was some woman sprayin' folks with a hose if we didn't get up and dance too.... Strange way of keepin' everyone busy til Grey and Charly were done with their pics. Then there was real dancin' and cake. I even got a chance to dance with the bride," Smiled at that, thinkin' back on the day, "She was all decked out floatin' across the floor. Seemed like she was ridin' on a cloud, and real pretty too. I felt all clumsy tryin' to dance with her, gorram foot."

"I even danced with Lily. She's a fast learner when it comes to dancin'. I'd have to say that was the best weddin' I been to in a long time. It wasn't til later that same day I had to get dressed up for Brooke and Tee's weddin'. And I have to say it was a lot different then Grey and Charly's. They had it in the old chapel on Shadow. One of Tee's crew was askin' folks for their firearms. Don't usually have someone ask for em.... We used to leave em at the door in case of reaver attacks," I looked across the room where one person was dancin' on the floor. "Cursa presided and everythin' went off without a hitch.... Til the reception. Then things went downhill real fast. Some feller showed up claimin' to be Brooke's first husband, then Tee went all strange," I frowned remembering the looks.... and the words.

"I ain't seen anything like it. Tee shot the man in the head.... Cold blood. Everythin' went crazy then. I grabbed Tee, and then there was shootin'. I went down hard with a slug in my shoulder." My left shoulder still ached some. A little reminder of how bad a weddin' can go. "Pluto, Bri amd Izzy got me into Raivenn where I flew em back to Mac's, I think. Don't remember much of that. I can say I woke up in the doc's office the next mornin'. Still felt weak. Kitten come and helped durin' the whole mess at Shadow, ended up helpin' Bri too.... Bri had a hard time dealin' with Tee's," I stopped for a moment, rememberin' his real name, "Sorry, Commander William Faith's Betrayal.... I realized when he turned that he used Brooke to draw out her first husband to kill him."

Sighin', I looked back at the coffee mug I just had filled, "Seems that's only part of it. But that comes later, I guess. Found out a few days later Brooke's goin' to have a baby. Not a good time for that little announcement.... She ended up tellin' Faith.... Now we got to find a way to keep it from him." Lookin' 'round the room, I went on, "Then there's the situation with Lily. I had a talk with Seana. Told her I'd like to see Lily regular. Got the ok. Somethin' strange happened about three days ago with her. How she got on an old reaver ship's beyond me... She would've cooked had she been human..... I near got cooked myself rescuin' her. Ended up havin' to take the gorram rad treatment," I made a face thinkin' of the strange smell and taste it left with me.

"Durin' that night, Lily started to change.... She showed me her real form then became human.... I mean real human. But in doin' it it was killin' her. She told me to choose....," I frowned at that, "It was soemthin' that made me think real hard. I could have had a beautiful woman for a night or Lily as she was. Somethin' inside me couldn't take the easy road. So I chose Lily, with all her spots and purrin'. In human form she was downright beautiful, but not at the cost of her life. So we have our familiar fun lovin' Lily. That I can live with."

Takin' a good swig of the coffee, "There's somethin' else that happened too. Doc JJ was kidnapped. We all tried to locate her. Lily was able to use Raivenn's systems to tap into the computers and got a quick view of her on a ship. 'Liance ship.....," I growled at that. "Seems they must of taken her cause, they're huntin' for Duncan. Anyone associated with him's in danger of gettin' caught." Takin' another gulp of the hot coffee, "We had to wait to recon where she was. Found out Mindo got her away from the 'liance.... Why him?" I shrugged, "I got no answers for that one."

"Didn't help that over the last few days more reavers been showin' their ugly heads. They been comin' to Mac's and Caliban. Was there when a new attack come up. Thoth and me held em off. Thoth maybe thought they might have been a clan. Could of been. A bit later... or was it earlier," I frowned taking another drink, "Varahi had a baby. Lily was the only medic available. She was talkin' 'bout faeries and jars and all. Seems the folks there thought it was real funny. Didn't think she knew nothin'," Frowning over that, "Lily's a good field medic. Maybe not helped in a birthin' but she's good at what she does. Anyway, I headed back for Mac's to rest up til we could get JJ. Lily contacted me, sayin' she knew pretty much where JJ was. So I called for medic backup and headed to Hale's Moon. Thats where we got inside.... Blue Sun's hidden facility. Gorram place had strange lookin' reavers!"

I rubbed the back of my neck, feelin' the hair standin' on end, "Not like other reavers.... They had thing's stickin' out their shoulders... and no not just their arms.... More like tenticles.. Six gorram limbs in all.... and fast. I grabbed JJ. had to carry her out of there. Lily told me to get outside and keep the door closed. Not to go inside. I did just that. Got JJ to the edge of Blue Sun where Sentry was waitin' for us. We put her on the ship, and I headed back for Lily. Lily was ok. She had to take care of those things so they didn't get loose on the town..... Xoxo's work, seems like." Another drink of coffee, "Sentry got JJ home safe. Took care of her wounds and got her restin'. Needed rest myself. Head back for Mac's and got some shuteye. Now I got to get headin' out. Need to make a special run." Finishin' my cup, I got up and headed outside to check Raivenn.