The door to the modest, one bedroom, hotel room opened slowly at first, and then swung open. Lily hopped in front of Jun to hold the door as he carted their patient inside and laid her carefully on the bed. Lily didn't take his eyes off her, or more importantly, of Jun for a moment, letting the door swing itself closed.

"Okay so now what?" Lily gnawed at her bottom lip.

"Now," Jun placed the girl on the bed and turned to look Lily over for injuries for the first time she could remember since the accident. "You stay here and take care of her while I go and get some medical supplies. Some bandages and disinfectant."

"Jun!" Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. "When did you become a fucking ER doctor? Last I checked you were a computer programming student who'd just flunked out."

Jun winced at the memory and Lily wished immediately she wouldn't have brought that up.
"Lil, the girl has a bullet in her shoulder that you put there whether you meant to or not. Don't you feel even the least bit responsible about it?"
She just looked at the floor and bit at her finger, kicking at the brown carpeting with her opposite foot.

"Now, please. I won't be gone but 15 minutes tops. Just keep an eye on her and if she wakes up try and be soothing until I get back," Jun moved to her and held Lily by her shoulders gently, looking right into her eyes apologetically.." and then as soon as she's all bandaged up we can leave her here with enough money for the room and make our way west, okay?"

Lily looked up into Jun's eyes with her doe like, brown ones and fell into the moment, hugging him to her and stretching her neck up to kiss him. IT didn't take too long for her to wish she hadn't. HE didn't kiss her back. She pulled away from him and looked back at the floor, with a small and hurt, "okay."

Jun sighed and walked out of the small room while lily fought off tears. She hadn't cried since she was 7 years old. She wasn't about to break such a good track record now. She tossed her hair to one side and looked across the room to the unconscious figure on the bed.

What does she have that I don't, Lily asked herself. Lily took a look at herself in the mirror that hung off the bathroom door to her right. Her hair hung just to the bottom of the little sailor scarf of the uniform she was still wearing. The skirt frilled and stopped about and inch above her knees, her little socks only coming just above the ankle and her paten, black shoes. Sure she looked somewhat ridiculous, but what man could resist? Apparently Jun could. Lily sighed again miserably and moved over to sit next to the sleeping form.

It didn't take long for curiosity to get the better of Lily. She moved the blanket that covered the sleeper to scrutinize her. Her hair, even in the dim light of the room, still shimmered a brilliant purple with eyebrows to match. Her face was creaseless, her breathing quick. Her ears hid mostly in her hair but did peek out at either side of her mane in little points. Her body was as shapely as Lily's own but virtually hairless other than the long amount that grew out of her head.

Lily also noticed that the alien girl didn't possess any finger or toenails, her digits merely curved into little points where they would be. As lily moved her gaze back up to the alien girls face she was startled to find her awake. She was staring at Lily with the most serene look on her face. Like she was completely at peace. Like a child waking up to find their mother watching over them as they slept. Lily felt a tear run down her left cheek and then her right but she couldn't figure out why. This girl, this beautiful alien, had a feeling about her, an aura. Lily had never, ever felt this way about another girl though she'd gone through dozens of boyfriends who had all been jerks in one way or another. She leaned down and closed her eyes and kissed the girl on the mouth. Not a lustful kiss, but a kiss that one would give to their sweetest love and this wonderful girl kissed back. It was a short, loving peck, but one that seemed to last many minutes. When Lily opened her eyes the girl was smiling up at her, still serenely, even with the hole in her shoulder.

"I'm....I'm so sorry I shot you....I...I didn't..."

"It is alright.... I love you.... you are forgiven."

Lily leapt to her feet. When the girl spoke, her mouth did not move, though the sound came from her. And her voice was like many small voices, a choir all speaking together. Lily wiped at the tears at her face and tried to contain her shock.

"I.... I'm sorry, I just wanted.... wanted to see."

The alien merely smiled calmly to her as she always had from her laying position.

"Um.... Jun will be back real soon to fix you up.... bandage that wound and all..."

Still, just a pleasant smile.

"I'm.... um.... I'm gonna go...in the bathroom...and take a bath, okay?"

Smiles.

"You can call me if you need anything, okay?"
:o)

"Okay...."

With that lily did the only thing someone in her shoes could do. She went into the bathroom, closed and locked the door, ran a nice, hot bath getting out the ridiculous uniform, got into the bath, and masturbated.

Lily had no idea what had happened between the car seeming to blow up in her face and waking up moments ago. She groggily took in as much as she could. She was still dressed, ridiculously, in the schoolgirl outfit. The backpack full of wallets was still at her feet. There was the airbag, deflated and laying on her lap, She couldn't really see out of the windshield for all the grayish metal that seemed to block it from the outside world and the spider webs of cracks. She noticed the car wasn't moving which wasn't a good sign. She still held her gun, which was a good sign. Jun wasn't sitting next to her in the driver's seat, which was absolutely not a good sign. She wrestled with the passenger side door for a full minute before propping her feet against it and kicking it open. She exited the car with the gun in one hand and the backpack in the other, expecting just about anything from a police barricade to 46 angry business men beating Jun in the street with their briefcases waiting for her to be their second victim.

What she didn't expect was what was really going on though. The car was parked in and alleyway, she had maybe 2 feet between the car and the brick wall on the side. She slinked between the car and the wall and closed the door. "Lil?" A voice came from around the front end of the car. "Lil is that you?" She blinked a few times before recognizing it, Jun. She ran around to the front of the car and met up with him at the corner, hugging him tightly and beginning to cry. "Oh fuck, Jun. I thought we'd fucked up. I was so scared." She was mumbling into his T Shirt. "Well I don't think were out of the woods yet, Lil." He said. She looked up at him expecting the worst. He nodded towards the car.

There, almost seamlessly embedded in the large hunk of silvery metal that had made its new resting place their car hood was a face. A girl's face. She was pretty, naturally pretty. No makeup, but pale still. Lily stared in disbelief as Jun let go of her to get closer to the face. "Jun." She wavered. "Jun don't touch it. What is it?"

"It's a girl."

"Well OBVIOUSLY it's a girl? What's she doing in that hunk of metal on top of your car?"

"Well if I knew that...."Jun trailed off not knowing what to say.

"C'mon Jun, lets get out of here."

"Lil, We can't just leave her here like this."

"The fuck we can't! Jun…"Lily held her head trying to make some sense of the situation. "Look Jun, Some airplane just lost a passenger that was going to the bathroom or something and the screws were loose or something and that section of the plane fell out and on your car. She can't still be alive. We need to beat feet before we get found with all this cash."

"If that's the case, Lil,"Jun stepped away from between the face and Lily." then why does she look so peaceful? "He motioned towards the face in the metal shard.

As if on cue the eyes on the face opened, they were golden colored, and the face became pained, tears running down it. IT moaned wordlessly and the metal shard became as a pool, rippling outward from it. Both onlookers froze. The face was soon joined by a neck, then a body, two arms and two legs, quite human in fact as it seemed to slide and fall out of the metal shard. Jun, being the closest hurried to catch the girl falling out of the shard. Lily put her hand to her mouth and hurried up behind him stopping after only a few steps as he caught the girl and set her down gently on he pavement in front of the car. She looked around to make sure no one else was wandering through the alley to see what couldn't possibly be going on before looking back to the scene. The girl was even prettier now that there was a form to put with the face. Her form was lithe and proportionate and seemed bereft of hair besides the long flowing mane that came from her head. That too was strange. It was the brightest purple Lily had ever seen, almost translucent.

Jun turned to look at Lily. "She's hurt, Lil. You shot her." Lilly looked down at the gun in her hand in disbelief. Sure enough one of the shells was missing from the six-barreled little cannon. She looked back to the girl and saw a great black hole in her chest just above her left breast. Another strange bit, the blood that should be seeping out of the wound was not red, but a white, milky, glittery substance. Jun stood up and said something Lily didn't quite catch and headed toward the back of the car.

"What?" Lily shouted to him.

"Keep an eye on her. I'm gonna get a blanket from the trunk."

"Excuse me? Jun, have you lost your mind? We just robbed a fricking bank! We can't be bothered playing Good Samaritan. We gotta get the fuck outta Dodge."

Jun whirled on Lily with a look in his eye she'd never seen before. "Lily, she would be perfectly fine if you hadn't shot her. Even if it was an accident. We gotta help her, it's our fault she's hurt."

Lily wanted to argue a million different points at Jun. But that look told her none of them would matter to him. "Well we're sure as hell not taking her to a hospital."

Jun wrapped the girl in the blanket and picked her up gently. "Of course not a hospital. Jun, this girl is obviously NOT normal. We'll catch a cab and take her to a hotel and then I'll go and get some bandages and first aid supplies and patch her up and then we can catch the first plane to...wherever it is you want to go with all that money." He smiled to her.

Lily couldn't tell if it was the concussion or just her emotions but she fought off a swoon and nodded solemnly and followed him out of the alley.

Sighing, Jun changed the radio station for the twelfth time. He wished every station in the area didn't feel the need to play the exact same song within about a minute of each other at the same time every day. Or that they wouldn't play a different song by the same artist every hour, on the hour like clockwork. He also wished Lily would hurry up.

"I STILL can't believe I'm going through with this." He felt the need to say out loud to the car full of no one. The conversation still hung in his head as clear as when it first happened, which he couldn't get over in the first place. That he'd actually HAD this conversation with anyone, much less Lily. She was okay, kinda flighty, but a looker and good for a bit of fun. He'd known her since he was, what, 12? When she'd beat off the school bully from taking his comics. Jun smiled at that memory. It wasn't a necessarily pleasant one but he could still see her with the chipped child's tooth and silly grin telling him to get out of sight before the teachers came to break things up. She'd taken the rap for him then, maybe that's why he felt the need to help her with this. Still insanity as far as he was concerned but maybe this was Jun's fucked up way of repaying her for that time.

"C'mon. We could really do it!"

"Lily, no offense or nothing but, have you really thought this thing out, REALLY?"

"Of course I've fucking thought it out! Besides I don't know what you're so worried about. All you haveta do is drive the car."

" I'm worried, cause I'll still get counted as an accomplice. I'm still as guilty as you."

"Pff! You won't be so scared once were miles away from this town and living like hogs on the take."

Jun shook his head again. "What takes so frigging long, robbing a bank?" He again talked to no one. Sure, he was parked a good block away and sure, he was inconspicuous enough, but STILL. Jun pressed the gas pedal to let his frustrations out a bit. It didn't do him any good. A glint of the noonday sun caught his eyes and he shielded them with his hand and continued to watch the front doors of the 5th National waiting for Lily to come bouncing out merrily in her ridiculous getup.

"It's simple really. You wait in the car in front of the ballet school while I go inside the bank with my backpack and my .45 wearing this."

" A schoolgirl's uniform? Nice disguise."

"Airhead! I'm half Korean. All the cops will get out of any one is,' It was awful. This Japanese schoolgirl came in waving a gun around and shot me in the foot and stole my wallet!'

"If you say so, and explain to me again why THIS is the absolute best time to hit THIS particular bank?"

"Because it's the only one for nearly a mile and every business in the area makes their drop-off at that time. Look, Jun, If you don't want to help I'm sure I can find someone more willing to get rich quick. I merely figured seeings how you just lost your job and my tuition ran out..."

"Alright, ALRIGHT! Jesus, your a pusher."

"Yeah, but that's what you like about me so much"

Lily emerged from the bank just as Jun imagined she would, skipping merely. Her backpack held by its top strap dangled back and forth at her left side looking filled to the brim. Her skirt flopped up inches with every skip. Jun couldn't help but smirk and shake his head as she made her way to the car. She was good looking and she knew it. "Sorry it took so long," Lily popped her gum as she got in. "One of our cats wasn't so ready to give up their canary." She giggled.

"You didn't...?"

" Oh, for god's sake! Of course I didn't!" Lily pulled the gun out and spun the barrel to show Jun that all the bullets were still in their places. Satisfied, Jun pulled out onto the street.

And then it all went wrong. Something big, something almost half of the size of the car landed promptly on the front hood of the car, causing the airbags in both sides to expand. Lily, in the panic let a shot fire and there was a cry, like a child's. Jun, unaware of just what was going on pressed the gas pedal to the floor and sped through an intersection causing three other cars to slam into each other.

Everybody screamed.

She hung there on the edge of an atmosphere, protected by her spacesuit. She enjoyed these quiet moments of life of which there were few. , What with the war and all. She had been trained since conception to exterminate without a second thought. She knew who was good and who was evil. There was never any doubt. But at these quiet moments, when it all seemed so far away, did she truly enjoy being alive. No radio buzz. No laser blasts. Silence. Peaceful, overwhelming aloneness.

She liked to use this time to think. To imagine, "What if there were no war?" Ahh, the thought always entertained her so. Sure she knew the many ways to use her gift to kill, but she did not have to enjoy it. "What if the dark ones were not evil?" That was a joke in itself. No dark one had ever been proven anything less than unscrupulous. They were best known for killing their mothers fresh from the womb. She still remembered seeing such horrifying visions. A single platoon could eliminate all life on a planet. But a single Ang-El could eliminate an army of the dark ones.

It wasn't always this way. In the younger days of the universe, the Ang-Els lived quietly with their mother. Giving all they had for her welfare. But the dark ones took their planets gifts and squandered them on weapons of war. They besieged most of the known planets and set their sites on the Ang-Els' home world. Finally after years of celebration the planet decided to give something back to its children who had given so much. Ang-Els were infused with natural energies they could form into whatever they imagined. Given the incoming onslaught, the Ang-Els quickly learned to form suits of armor and weapons of destruction to defend their mother. And defend her they have, for 42 generations.

There it was. The radar blip over her right eye, pinpointed in the smaller of the two largest continents the green planet held. She sighed and with a few clicks of her eye set the suit on an interception course with the incoming dark comet. The back and leg thrusters fired to life and without so much as a jolt the suit made its way to its destination, floating calmly through the outer atmosphere. Sure enough she could see the oncoming dark comet loaded down with a small platoon of dark ones. This wasn't the first time she'd actually seen a dark one, but she'd never really shaken her aversion to them. They were rather large, and lengthy, their arms reaching almost as far down as their own feet, and covered in slick oily black hair from which only two bright yellow orbs peered. She set the suit to full speed ahead and readied her scimitar.

As she neared the comet she instantly knew something was amiss. She had done this kind of thing more than a dozen times and usually, once seen, Ang-El soldiers would take quite a bit of incoming fire. This time, however, the dark ones seemed to be waiting for her, almost beckoning her on. "They must be suicidal!" she thought, for no dark one had ever bested an Ang-El in combat. She landed her hulking mass onto the surface and into the center of the mass of dark ones drawing her scimitar and saluting. "By order of the creator, you will all submit to extermination for the rite of universal existence." She had spoken the order quite a number of times but felt that this was her most powerful and confident to date, however it did her no good. Where most times she did not get the chance to do so until she was knee deep in bodies, the dark ones here merely stood their ground, keeping a perfect circle around her with their eyes closed and their arms outstretched. She hesitated, suspecting some kind of trickery. No movement was made toward her person. She decided to take the initiative and move towards the nearest dark one in front of her, as she rose her scimitar above her head it opened its eyes wide and merely stared up into her eyes. Once again she hesitated. Even this close, in this serenity it surely didn't look like the slavering monsters she was used to exterminating. Instead of casting the killing blow upon it, she backed away and took a look around the circle at the rest. All were still and had their eyes closed. She turned back to look at the one before her as it watched her every movement in stillness. She lowered her own sword and turned again to find all of them staring at her. "Say something!" she commanded. Nothing. "Attack me! Strike me down! I am here to eliminate you from existence! Don't you wish to fight for your very survival?" She asked, almost screaming, fear beginning to creep into her voice. They responded as one.

"But we are."

At first it was a small tug. At her shoulders and stomach and then in a lurching yank she was thrown from her gift into space. In her panic she only had enough time to retain enough of her gift to encase her body so that it would survive the crash landing to the green planet the dark ones had sentenced her to. But her mind was awash in questions so preposterous they hardly seemed real. How could they have done this? There was no previous documentation of dark ones possessing such abilities. Would she survive the crash? Already the heat was seeping into her armor from the ever-increasing velocity of the planet's gravitational pull. How would she get her gift back? A majority of it had been on the comet when they'd thrown her, which, although it had only been mere moments ago felt like a lifetime. Hotter still she began reaching out towards the comet as if she could swim her way back to it in the deep space. Her mind reeling she passed out for quite possibly the last time in her short life.