Go Directly to Jail {Claudio}

[Claudio Vinccino]

"No," He said blankly, "Not Leo." He smiled at her emotional pain, and laughed. "Leo died, when you left." He slammed the heavy end of his cane into her nose, hearing a satisfying crack. "You thought I would forget about you, thought i would let you leave?" He clicked his tongue, "You never did learn to think about others, it was always about you." He stood up and turned away, the rage in his voice making it deeper, and more powerful. "You know, I actually thought you might be worth staying with." He snorted, the idiocracy of his words getting the best of him. "I could have had you followed, I could have had you killed. But here I was thinking that maybe you weren't gone, maybe you had just forgotten about our little plans." He took off his coat, and threw it on the floor, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, and unbuttoning his vest.

"Now I know that you want me to kill you," He smiled viciously, "But I am not going to. I am going to let you feel the pain you should have felt so long ago, and then I am going to throw you back out in the dirt where you belong." He turned around to face her, "I promise you, you will wish you were dead." He stepped in close, "And maybe, maybe if you try hard enough, you can imagine that you aren't to blame." He gently ran his hand along her cheek, taking the handkerchief and wiping away the blood that was now flowing from her nose. "So tell, me." He said, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead, "Where shall we begin?" He picked up the knife from the floor, and removing his fine gloves, he ran a thumb on the blade, pleased with the painless slit that formed. "Tell me, where have you been these past few years?"

[Rainea Cross]

"You had to have known, you knew... You knew everything about me you had to have known what...... You never came after me Leo, you never showed any emotion..." She looked up at him scanning him. "I was never worth staying with Leo, you know that, you deserved someone better than and you deserve.... Hell, now.." She cringed the more she spoke the more her nose hurt, however, she knew he wasn't going to let her not speak, she might as well tell him the truth, he deserved that much, but she didn't deserve this.

"I've been to almost every planet, patching up crews, doing odds and ends things, a good deal of smuggling and attacking the Alliance where I could, the average dream I have always had. I killed some folk, and even added to my tattoos." She watched his hands, watched as he cut his own thumb. "I have always kept it sharp, and clean.."

[Claudio Vinccino]

"Oh yes I knew," He said, sarcastically "I am just in the habit of spending large amounts of money on dates with no one." He cast a fiery glare in her direction, which quickly changed into an expression of patronizing amusement. "Now Now," He said, tracing the scar on her face with the tip of the knife, "We both know you are just a guilty as I am." he crouched down and looked up at her, a sad smile playing out on his lips. "You know what?" he asked with a sigh, "I would have given you anything you wanted, a life, money, anything." He stopped himself before he continued, he couldn't allow his true feelings to surface.

"But that is beside the point." He smiled and stood up mussing her hair. "this captain of yours, does he know about how volatile you are?" He licked picked up his cane, and tapped her nose gently, knowing it would hurt her quite a bit. "I hope you haven't lied to him too?" He sighed, "These tattoo's don't suit you you know, i could remove them?"

He was about to continue, when the thing he had wanted to say the whole time slipped out. "You know I hate to keep beating this horse," He tapped her burn with his cane, "I was going to give you that ring anyway, of course not just GIVE it to you," He shrugged, "I would have asked you that night, but for some reason I couldn't find it, the ring i mean." He brought the cane down on her burned hand. "That is for stealing." He said, and laughed, "The irony is just delicious."

[Rainea Cross]

"You would have given me everything but love.." She watched him. She could see something hidden behind his eyes. "I spent every day thinking about how I left, I.... I never forgot and I refused....... I remembered your birthday at least." She looked away from him. What she sent was never something he couldn't have gotten himself, but it was something she knew he would enjoy.

"He barely knows me, there wasn't enough time for him to know me." She flinched as he touched her nose. "They suit me fine, I love them... If you remove them I'll just get them put back on.." She watched him, part of her, if she was free, would have kissed him, then slapped him for everything he was doing. Her fear was replaced with anger as she looked at him.

She yelped in pain and opened her hand, she looked at it as she spoke. "I would have said yes, Leo... Though I knew that we both would have been unhappy in the long run." She opened and closed her hand several times the pain shoot through it. "Would you have married me with your fake name?" She looked up at him, she had found something to hold onto. "How many times had you lied, to protect your true self? How much of you did I really know?"

[Claudio Vinccino]

Claudio let his arms hang by his sides, for the moment. Deciding how to proceed. He longed to simply finish her off, to allow himself to forget what she had done to him, but he couldn't. No killing her would be letting her win, her little self centered, I can't live, attitude. It was the one thing he had always hated about her, even back then. "You'd convinced yourself of that before anything happened anyway." He said, spitefully, "Which is tragic, because you could have been happy."

Realizing what he was letting her do, he shook his head. "Nice try, my little siren, but talking wont save you." He smiled a sad smile, and spun the knife masterfully in his hand. He stepped in front of her, and looked at her, as if he was appraising her for a purchase. "Your scar," He said, with a wicked grin, "It ruins the balance of your face." With a fluid motion he provided the remedy, cutting an almost identical line on the other side of her face. "That is much better" He said, chuckling.

Turning away, he took several steps and then turned to look at her, "What could have possessed anyone to let you on their ship?" He asked, pretending to worry, "I hope you haven't started selling yourself for a job?" His eye gained a cruel glint. "I don't know what else you would be good for anymore though, seeing as a medic who can't save lives isn't good for anything." He smiled, "Hopefully he'll find someone to replace you. And you are lucky that no one needed care while you were there. They are better without you."

"You knew what you needed to know," He said, honestly. "Perhaps, if you had stayed you would have learned more but, hindsight is 20/20." He shrugged, "The feelings were real, even if the name wasn't."

[Rainea Cross]

"Happy? What in your world would define happy, Leo?" She struggled against the chair again, trying to get some leverage somewhere. She knew it was hopeless, but there was that beginning but on her left arm band. She looked down at it, it wasn't more than a quarter the way through, but, maybe.. She started to play with it with her fingers, pulling at it, hoping it would tear.

As he approached her, the look in his eyes, she knew it wasn't going to be good. When he pulled the dagger and drew it across her face she made a hissing sound. "Did I ever tell you how I got the first one?" She asked, pulling at her arm band. "I was in a fox whole, looking up at the alliance men coming towards my camp. I thought I was going to die, they had rollers, they had everything, and we were all that were left. A handful healthy, and the rest of us.. I couldn't leave the wounded so I stayed.. I was slashed by a Captain when I refused to give him information.. My commander officer caved." She kept pulling a little harder, she felt her hot blood running down the side of her face, and onto her neck, mixing with the still bleeding neck wound.

"He needed a medic, I needed a ride. That's the arrangement. I don't drink when I fly, but, on planet side, all bets are off.." She kept fighting at the strap, it giving only a little. "You know I would never sell myself, nothing to sell. I'm not that good lookin." She smiled at him, it was a joke she often said to him when they were together. Though for the time being, she just wanted to distract him.

That's when he changed subjects on her, to what she has asked him about, "You knew everything about me Leo, I knew nothing about you. You have always been that way, even now, you could be lying to me. How would I know the difference? You said you loved me.. But you never let me get to know all of you, does that really sound like love? It sounds like a selfish man refusing to let someone in." She pulled a little harder, only gaining another micro tear, this was going to be a while. "For once in your life, prove to me now, that you even cared back then, and I will gladly take any one decision you make about my life." If she had to bet, she didn't think he would, he would become angry with her, attack her, and she would fall back onto her 'that's that I thought' idea. But if he honored this agreement. "Before you get any bright ideas, I won't kill for you." She threw that last part out as a joke, after all he wasn't going to do anything.

[Claudio Vinccino]

Claudio reached behind him, and pulled a second chair out into the room, sitting in it and facing her. Leaning his cane against the chair, and setting his hat on the cane, he put the tips of his fingers together, and rested his chin on his thumbs, making a mask of his hands. "Do not attempt to bring memories of the past in to aid you." He said, softly, but with unveiled menace in his tone, "It will not help you, only make things worse in the end." He flashed a fiery glance to her.

"Are you intent on getting yourself killed by that chair?" He asked, in a bored dry voice, "Because I assure you, you are going about it in just the right way." He watched her intently, trying to gauge her reactions and also her intent. He knew if she managed to break one of the straps that his guards, who were monitoring this situation closely, would put her down immediately. Maybe not kill her, but she would be.... damaged.

"My dear," He said, with a sad smile, "If I didn't care about you, would I have wasted the time and money to go and retrieve you?" He cleanded the knife on his kerchief, and placed it on the arm of the chair. "And if I didn't care, I wouldn't have remembered all of those things." He made a rather broad gesture, "Like how your favorite color is Orange." He paused, his eyes clouding over slightly "Or that you never liked to be called by your full first name."

When she spoke her final words, a wicked, calculating smile spread over his lips. He lifted his hat from where it sat, on the cane, and put it on his head. "Very poor choice of a limiter," He said, with a deep laugh. "Because as it so happens, I do have a job for you." He smiled, and pointed a long finger at her. "Bring me Ryder, and his pitiful excuse for a companion too."

[Rainea Cross]

"I have never been known to do the smartest things, Leo." She watched him, she kept pulling at the strap until he spoke again. "We both know I have been looking for an excuse to get killed, you have just offered me another one." Though for the moment, she was content with what was happening. She didn't want to be hurt, or abused, but she had found him again, and for once, they were speaking without the lies. "So, you know I'm never going to stop, either let me up or have them beat me down now." She watched for ant reaction.

She was impressed he remembered anything about her, anything at all. He had a couple of good points, but then he made his demand, something he knew she wouldn't do. "That conflicts with other promises, try again." She would never break a promise, however, she still held them as first come first serve.

A smile crept over her lips "It's too bad they didn't collect my belongings, I still have that black dress you like." She pulled a little more at the band that held her wrist as she watched him.

[Claudio Vinccino]

"I think you missed my point." He said, with a smile, and he looked at his fingernails, wiping away a trace of blood. "You said anything, and I made my request." He looked up, and narrowed his eyes, "We had a deal, and I held up my end." He loved to see her conflicted by her honor. It made him see how worthless people like her really were, unless you spoke their language.

"But since I did technically asked for two things, I shall revise my deal." He leaned foward, and spoke slowly. "You will bring me Ryder, but under no circumstances are you to alert him to the plan." He sat back in the chair again, and he licked his lips, "Leave the Tenoch girl out of it, I have no use for her anyway." He wasn't in the mood for a rich girl who was broken, he had just decided to test the upper limits of his negotiating room. "Do this for me, and I'll make sure things go better for you."

"The black dress eh?" he wasn't really engaged, but he had a flashback to her wearing it. "That was always a treat." He murmured, "But this is beside the point. You have a promise to keep."

[Rainea Cross]

"You know full well, I make a deal I don't break it, their deal came first, try again.." She didn't want to turn on her Captain, and she didn't want to turn on him. She fought a little more with the wrist band then stopped, she was tired, her arms ached and her hand felt like it was one fire.

She raised her brow and stared at him. "Make things better for me? How can you offer something like that Leo?" She had no idea what he was trying to offer there. Was he offering her a place in his home? Or just a ship of her own, whatever it was, it was something that interested her.

"It wouldn't be besides the point if we went out for dinner." She tried her best to be charming, after all it was that same type of line that started their relationship not so long ago. Though now she had a different reason, she needed an out, she needed a way to escape.

[Claudio Vinccino]

Claudio pondered his next move carefully. Making sure no hint of his thought escaped into his face. He pondered her, and sat in silence, as if he was sizing her up. He could offer her anything, but he had yet to decide whether he would follow through with the deal he made. "Perhaps it is wrong of me to try and force you to turn on your own." He said, deciding to play it off as a slight change of heart, even if she knew he was lying it would unsettle her. "I'll come up with something later." He smiled a winning, and fairly beautiful smile, showing off his flawless teeth.

"Perhaps we can work something out." He said with a pause for contemplation, "I am sure we can come to some sort of arrangement, as far as your reward is concerned." He picked up the dagger, and looked at it, as if he were a collector, and then pointed it at her. "Hmmmm, dinner eh?" He asked, amused. "And what makes you think you are in any position to make demands?" He waited for her response.

[Rainea Cross]

She just looked at him, he normally had a plan, when was it that he didn't have a plan? She couldn't remember. She shifted in her chair nervously. "S... Since when did you not have a back up plan?" Oh he had a plan, he had to. No, there was more, he might try to follow her to the ship, or perhaps he was going to do something else entirely. She fought back some creeping tears, she never realized how much that ship meant to her. It meant enough she was not pondering never returning.

When he brought up dinner, she shifted gears, bringing back out all the charm she could muster, being strapped to the chair and trying to fight her desire to break down. That's when she realized he really knew her, he was getting under her skin like no one else could have. In a way, it made her realize he cared for her, but in other ways, she wished he wasn't as good as he was. "I wasn't aware that I was making a demand. As I recall we both liked dinners."

[Claudio Vinccino]

"Of course I have plans." He said, relishing in her fear, and capitalizing on it. "I could have had you blown to pieces when I found you, but I didn't. I could order the ship seized and have your precious captain sent on a one way trip out the airlock, but I haven't. And unless I have no other choice, I wont do that. You have my word." He smiled at her, and snapped his fingers.

Chris was waiting for that exact signal, and he walked in to the room promptly. "Yessir?" He said, trying to keep his voice steady, "What did you need?"

Claudio smiled at the man, "I believe it is time for dinner," He said, emphasizing the dinner part. "See that she is prepared when I return." He picked up his coat from where it lay on the floor, and draped it across his arm. Picking up the knife and the cane, he made his way over to her chair. "I shall see you soon M'dear." He said, kissing her head. "I would let you prepare yourself, but it would seem that you are the reason for many broken noses among my associates, and i hate to see the hired hands in pain." He winked, and then headed for the door, tapping her chair with his cane. "See you at dinner." He walked out the door, and headed off to change into clean clothes.

Chris nodded at his master's words. "Yes sir, I understand." He watched as he left, and then turned to the lady. "I am sorry about this miss," He said, reaching to a table that had been sitting off to the side the whole time. "But I assure you, this won't hurt but a little bit." He retrieved an odd looking wrist band, and fastened it to her arm, making sure to get the fit exactly right. "Now, sit still please." He said softly, and took hold of her arm with one hand, while reaching back and retrieving the second object on the table. The syringe was full of a clear liquid, and he looked her in th eyes,

"this is just to put you out so we can take care of your wounds without risk to you or ourselves." He smiled a dashing smile, "But off record, you did a real number on Anders' face, and i owe you one for it." He winked, and then spoke softly to her, "At dinner, don't drink the wine. Do whatever you have to do but don't touch it. Then afterwards, pretend to faint." Moving his hand with the needle ever so slightly, he opened the lapel of his jacket, revealing a carefully concealed Independent Unit Patch. "Trust me." He poked the needle into her arm, and squeezed her hand gently, "Remember, no wine." He said.

[Rainea Cross]

Rainea awoke, though it was slowly, her eyes opened first, but it took a moment before she could mover her arms. At first her right hand reached out and touched her face, the touch stung her jaw, and her nose. She pulled her hand away. Things were starting to come back, she had a dream, she thought she was back on Shadow, over looking the farm. Speaking with her father about the live stock and playing with a new baby cow.

Though now, looking around a little, she saw the chair, the chair she had been strapped in for what seemed like hours. She slowly sat up and a man came from the shadows and helped her. He held his hands on the back of her shoulders to assist her in sitting for the time being.

"Finally awake?"

She looked at him and raised a brow, everything was fading. "Yeah, this doesn't look like the bar.." She looked around again, more things were coming back, not just the chair, but Leo, and... She looked at her left hand and touched the bandage, she was instantly angry and glared at Chris.

"I need to get you to dinner. Remember, no wine, and don't fight me, or we are going to be late." He whispered it into her ear. She looked up at him, lost for a moment in his eyes then placed her hand over the concealed patch. "If you can't run anymore you walk, when you can't do that you crawl, and when you can't do that..." he whispered to her.

"You find someone to carry you." she whispered. It was the independent code of sorts, he stood then helped her to her feet. His right arm wrapped around her waist and he held her left hand. Together they began walking towards the dinning hall. She tried her best not to look at the man, and more than that, she didn't want to risk Leo from seeing that she might have a bond with him.
He stopped her before he opened the door to help her into her high heeled shoes. That was the first moment she realized the dress.

It was long, and black, almost like the one she had when she went on her first date with Leo. Though she didn't recall the one she wore having two slits up the sides, or the open back. She was more awake now, and Chris opened the door leading her inside. She walked with him, silently, his hand holding her upper arm lightly. "Here you are Ma'am." She nodded a thank you to him and sat across from Leo.

[Claudio Vinccino]

Il Diablo sat in his large chair, at the head of the table, his red cane between his gloved hands, as he leaned back and waited. If things went as planned, his "guest" should be here any minute. He flipped the hidden cover on the top of the cane open, checking to make sure everything was in order, and when he satisfied, he closed it again.

Claudio nodded to Chris as he opened the door, and stood up as Rain entered. "Oh, how wonderful" he said, with a smile. "I was beginning to think you might have decided to try something." He waited for her to sit, and then took his seat again. He reached up and snapped his fingers, and a group of servants began to set the food out on the table. "Do have some wine," He said, beckoning one of the servants over, and filling two glasses with the fine red wine. "It is amazing." He sent the servant over to her, with the glass, and he put it on the table. "Cheers?" Said Claudio and drank, watching her the whole time.

"So I had some time to think," He said, nodding as the servants began setting food out before them, and picking up the silver dagger, using at his knife. "And I wonder, what would you say to staying here, with me?" He asked in a serious enough voice, even though he knew what he thought her response would be. "Of course, you can't leave unles i let you, but if you agreed to stay willingly, we could forgo these silly precautions." He smiled, cutting a slice of meat with the dagger, and then placing it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. He swallowed, and took a sip of wine. "I can promise you that you are not going to get a better offer from the captain. He can't provide for you like I can."

He paused for a moment, then spoke again. "And I am sure with enough time, we could make amends, and settle our differences with each other." He raised an eyebrow, "We could be happy, YOU could be happy here, you know."