DISCLAIMERS:

Violent Content Warning: This story contains scenes of a violent nature.

Alternative Content Warning: This story also contains scenes of a romantic nature between two women. This story is not for those under the age of eighteen.

Uber Warning: This story is an uber. The two characters are based off of the leading ladies of XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Author’s Notes: This is loosely based off of a true story. All POSITIVE comments are welcome. Negatives I will simply ignore. Send your thoughts to startrek@ellijay.com.

By: Teagen2

I woke up to a sunny, summer day. I got dressed and headed out. My two stops were going to be the video store and the grocery store, for munchies. One quick walk down Main Street will be all I need for my day of movie viewing. As I neared the video store. I noticed a large crowd up ahead. Naturally curious too, I moved through them to get a view of what was so Earth shattering. Being small, I moved through with ease, until I came in contact with a forearm blocking my path. I look up and see a police officer.

"Stand back, Mame." I move my head, trying to see around him. I was actually prepared to see a car accident or maybe a heart attack victim. This town doesn’t see much action. Instead I gasp at the sight before me.

A woman sitting in a plastic lawn chair out in the open. She was sitting rather relaxed, but why she was so calm on the outside was beyond me. She was leaning, her forearms resting on her thighs. Of course the woman sitting wasn’t what got my attention or anyone else’s. It was the gun in her hand. It was possibly a 32. I couldn’t see very well. When an officer tried to advance on her, the gun immediately came up. Bringing gasps and ahhhhh’s from the onlookers. She put it directly under her chin, moving her finger to the trigger. She was silently threatening to kill herself. As soon as the man moved away, she returned to her resting position.

I’ve seen enough reality based programming to know that they’ve probably got a sharpshooter trained on her. I could see that this was a well thought out event. Her sitting out in an open area, made it virtually impossible for anyone to sneak up behind her without being seen. She was not talking. She was not making any kind of demands, at least not yet.

Something deep within made me shake. This wasn’t right. I tried to get a better view by moving down several feet. As my head popped out of the crowd again, I made a startling discovery. This just wasn’t some run of the mill psycho. It was Jessica Jenkins, Jesse for short. We went to school together here in town. Even in this situation, I see that she is still very beautiful. Standing nearly six feet, she was the first female to ever wrestle on the wrestling team. When she finally earned her place on the team, she was State Champion her last two years of school. Her ‘never been beaten’ record stands to this day. No one ever won a match against J.J.

She was not exactly Ms. Popular. The other girls were secretly jealous of her good looks. The boys saw her as a friek of nature. Of course, they’d never say that to her face. Jesse didn’t have many, if any, friends. The friends she did have didn’t call her Jesse or J.J. They called her by her nickname, Sony. She got that name because of the fact she always had headphones on her head. Even when a teacher would confiscate her Walkman, she’d have another the next school day. So, they eventually gave up and let her keep them. The thing I remember most about her was, she was my first crush. Obviously, I never told anyone about it, willingly anyway.

My trip down memory lane was stopped short when I saw her make eye contact. She had started looking over the crowd some time ago. I was so wrapped up in memory that I didn’t comprehend that until her gaze fell on me. Her face was neutral, but there is a lot of emotion behind those eyes. She’s not crazy. I know it. I guess that’s why they haven’t turned her into fish bait by now. Suddenly, I realized she was still looking at me. I did something totally stupid. I waved. The cop next to me looked at me like I was a nutball. Sony did something even more surprising, she waved back. It was more of a raising her hand in acknowledgment kind of thing, but hey it was something.

An officer approached me. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah." I said quietly.

"Friend of yours?"

"Not really. We did go to high school together."

"Would you talk to her? See if she will talk to you. See if we can end this peacefully?" My rational mind screamed NO!!!! My heart however said,

"Yes." I ducked under the police line and moved closer. Her total attention was on me as I walked towards her.

"Don’t get close. She’s extremely dangerous." he warned.

"No she’s not.......Hey Sony." I smiled.

"Hey Jackie." The first words anyone has heard her speak since she started this. Even the police backed up slightly as sound came from her mouth. "Long time, no see." she says quietly, looking away.

The same lovely voice. I’ve had fantasies about hearing that voice call my name in ecstasy. Where was I? Oh yeah.....I moved closer, within twenty feet or so. "How are ya?"

I cringed at the stupidity of the question. She chuckled softly.

"I’ve had better days." I knew the cops were taking a huge risk using a civilian as a negotiator, but I guess they exhausted their options. Except for one, shooting her. I shook that thought out of my head. I knew if I moved closer, it could possibly put me into the line of fire, possibly dwarfing any attempt to hurt her. Why would I do that you ask? I didn’t know at the time why I did it, but I know now.

"Seems like it. Do you mind if I come closer?"

"No. In fact, please do." I knew the moment she said that it wasn’t because she wanted to use me as a human shield. She truly wanted me to come closer. When I moved within just a few feet of her, I heard the protests from the crowd and the police.

"Get back!" I heard a man yell, but I ignored.

"Can I sit down?" She gestured with her empty hand.

I sat down in front of her, at her feet. Now that I was this close to her, my memories of our earlier times together seemed to flow easily through my mind. Her hair, her face, her beautiful blue eyes still looked the same. One of her most beautiful physical features suddenly appeared, her smile. It was a very small one, but I saw it. I glanced around. There was at least twenty-five feet between us and the barricade. Whatever we said would not be heard, unless we wanted it to be. "What’s wrong, Sony?"

"What makes you think something’s wrong?" she said with an almost straight face. Her sense of humor. Forgot about that. She looked down at the gun that was still resting in her hand. "I just want to get this over with."

"Why?"

"Why do I want to kill myself?" I nodded. She sighed heavily. "My mom died, Jackie." Sony was really close to her mom growing up. You would think it was the other way around with her tomboy activities, but Sony’s dad was and still is the town drunk, not to mention scam artist. Joseph Jenkins was a man you did not want to deal with. Rumor has it he’s tied into organized crime in New York City.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know......When?"

"Last week....Wednesday morning."

"Sony, please don’t do this. Killing yourself is not going to solve anything." She looked straight into my eyes. Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. Something passed between us that I can’t explain. It was if I was suddenly apart of her. I knew. "You don’t want to kill yourself.....not really but," She confirmed the thought that I was piecing together. "you will if you have to." Sony was no fool. She knew not to make any sudden moves when leaning ever-so-slightly closer to me.

"My father killed her. I’m sure of it." I gasped. "He’s hiding it. Trying to make it look like a failed robbery attempt." That was plausible. The Jenkins’ are one of the wealthiest families in town. "Take a look around, Jackie." I didn’t quite know what she meant by look around. Was it the cops, the crowd? My eyes rested on the sign next to the video store. The very store I was heading to a short time ago.

"Jenkin’s Real Estate." I said, reading the sign that caught my eye. I looked back at her with an open mouthed expression. It was starting to make since. "It is the cops, the crowd. Its all of it. Its a publicity stunt. You want to make a statement so your father will see you and get scared......or at least embarrassed."

"Your catching on, Jackie."

"Sony, your father loves you." She huffs and smirks.

"No he doesn’t. He never did. He loved my mother, so he tolerated me. That’s all. I even heard him say it once." I felt bad for her. I knew every last person here is going to see her as a maniac.

"Why don’t you tell the police instead of fighting them?"

"I tried, Jackie. They won’t listen to me. Just like no one listened to me in high school." She reached up with her free hand and wiped the tear that fell.

"I did." I said quietly. I heard her sniff, trying to hold back the tears. "Sony, do you remember the time we were paired together in economics class? We had to come up with an idea for a working business."

"I remember."

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

"No."

"You said, If you operate within the law instead of around it, you get better results."

"When did I say that?"

"When I kept coming with all of those weird project ideas."

"Those were pretty...weird." she agreed.

"I was so nervous about us working together." I smiled.

"You mean scared."

"No, I mean nervous. You were always really smart, Sony. I just didn’t want you to think

I was dumb. So, I kept coming with ideas to keep you occupied."

"Why did you care what I thought? No one else did."

"Truth?"

"It’d be nice, yes."

"I was in love with you. I thought you were the most talented, most beautiful person in the whole school."

"Your just saying that."

"No. Really."

"What do you think now?" Her eyes shifted to the side. "BACK UP!!!" she screamed. Not at me, but at the officer that was coming from our left. The gun went to her chin again, her finger to the trigger. My heart stopped. It was a true reality check. This was still a standoff, not a pajama party. The officer backed up, but only slightly.

"We want the girl to come back. There’s no need to involve her, Jessica. Let her go."

"She’s not holding me here!" I yelled back across the distance. "I’m here because I want to be!" They seemed satisfied for the moment.

An hour passed. They offered to give Sony a bottle of water. It was kind of hot out here.

She allowed me to turn and catch it. As I handed it to her, she wouldn’t take it. "Drink it."

"Sony....."

"Do it." It was not a forceful command, but it was a serious suggestion. So, I chugged.

"Sony, their not going to let this go on much longer."

"They know what I want. My father here.....to watch me blow my head off." I’m not sure whether she was going to kill herself eventually or not. She had been scanning the crowd for her father when she found me and she continues to do so.

"He’s not coming, Jessica." a cop yelled from the barricade.

"Shit." she cursed. She ran her fingers nervously through her hair.

"You want to know what I think of you now, Sony?" Her head lifted. She seemed to forget the question she posed awhile back.

"Yes." she said, almost a whisper.

"I still love you, Sony. I always have. Please. Stop this. We’ll find another way." She began shaking her head.

"No, no, no. There is no other way." she said through clenched teeth. "How do I know your not saying this just to get me to give up?"

"Two reasons. One, look into my eyes. You know I’m not lying. Two, I’m not a cop. I don’t this for a living you know. I have nothing to gain from this, except you living. I do care, Sony."

"God damn it!" She scared the hell out of me as she stood from her chair. "I told you to GET BACK!" This time, it was from behind.

"Drop the gun, Jessica." he called. "No one gets hurt."

"Yeah, except me! Move back!" He did and she retook her seat.

I glanced around. Still no Mr. Jenkins. "Sony, they’re after me. They want me to come back."

"Don’t go. Please."

"I won’t go anywhere. Not without you." I did something that might be called dumb, but I reached out my hand and placed it on her jean clad knee. She jumped, but not from surprise. "Please, Sony." Her free hand reached out and ran the length of my neck, never taking her eyes away from mine. "We’ll fight. I promise. Not with guns, but that superior brain you have." I smiled. I reached out my hand, she took it and squeezed. Now was not the time to cry. I reached out my other hand. She knew what it was for. She looked down at the gun, then up at me. Slowly, she handed over the gun.

The moment the gun was in my hand, I heard a thumping noise behind me. I was shoved to the side. I looked up and watched helplessly as a man twice her size tackled Sony. I heard the awful sound of the air leaving her lungs. The force of the blow knocked her backwards in her chair. "No! Don’t hurt her!" I screamed as another large man grabbed at her roughly, turning her over on her back. The crowd erupted in cheers. I, however, erupted in tears. They handled her roughly, cuffing her hands behind her back. Her head raised and looked straight at me. Tears were now streaming down her face, but she never made a sound. "It’ll be okay, Sony. I promise." They yanked her from the pavement by the waist of her jeans. I watched for a second as she was literally dragged towards a waiting car.

In all of the commotion, no one thought to take the gun out of my hands right away. Small towns for ya. Just as the sheriff was approaching me, I opened the chamber and closed it back. I looked up and gave him a look that would have killed. "What?"

"Its not loaded." I tossed him the gun and headed for the police station.