Prompt #177 - Courage - Reaching for Gold – Tekia - original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Reaching for Gold
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Courage
Warnings: none
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Set in a different reality, Billie and her gang begin a journey that will change the very world they live in.

Billie scowled at the paper in front of her. It had weathered a journey from across the world, she supposed, passed from hand to hand until it had reached her partner, Chili. She looked up at him from under thick black bangs and waited as he read the words scrawled over the dirty paper.
The one thing she hated about not being able to read was when Chili was silently reading the letter and digesting the words before looking up, ready to relay the message. He always took his time, too, she thought with no little spite.
He knew she had no patience and was bitting her lip to spit at him to hurry up. Which he would never do, merely looking up at her, blink his eyes slowly and then return to the letter without a word. She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back on the chair.
With one foot tapping in a steady rythym, she was just about to open her mouth when the door to their small shack opened and their third team member arrived, head covered with a heavy cloth that did little to stop the heavy rains from turning his hair into wet strings.
“What news, Soda?” she asked as he tossed his coat and scarf away.
He shook his head, sending water droplets flying. She tossed him a towel and he smiled at her, dark eyes glittering in the oil lamp’s light.
“The dock’s lost five ships to this storm.” Patting the towel to his hair, he sat at the table with them, never once looking at Chili as he perused the letter. “No lives lost, but lots of stock is gone. The villagers are going to suffer this season.”
Billie shook her head in sympathy, then shot Chili a glance. Out the corner of her eye, she caught Soda smiling at her. The man knew her so well, she thought. It wasn’t a good thing for someone in her position, but what could she do? They were like siblings, they’d been together for so long. He could read her, he knew her, better than she knew herself sometimes.
Chili too, she thought. The man spent more time watching and listening rather than acting and he learned so much about her that it near scared her.
What if they weren’t trustworthy? What if they betrayed her and tried to sell her out, or worse?
She shook off that thought, knowing that, even if Chili did leave them, Soda wouldn’t. They were too close for them to separate.
Chili finally set the paper down and folded his hands over the letter. The both of them turned to him, expectantly.
“I don’t know about this,” Chili said, a frown evident between his brows.
“What’s the job?”
“It’s in America.”
“North or South?”
“North, French owned land.”
Billie frowned in thought. “Isn’t the letter in English?”
Chili nodded, picking up the letter again. “It is. It doesn’t say much about the job itself, save for that it will involve lots of danger and can possibly change the world as we know it.”
Soda snorted. “We’ve heard that before.”
Billie nodded in agreement. “What else does it say?”
“We’ll have to infiltrate a building and take something from them. It doesn’t say what, but after we get that object, we have to destroy the building. Then we have three marks to make.”
Soda whistled and scratched his chin. “What’s the pay?”
Chili put the paper on the table and spread his hands open. “They said they’d negotiate with us.”
“They’re not telling us much.”
“I don’t blame them. They’re situated in land that’s still under fire from the British.” His eyes rolled up as he thought. “I believe that the French have near abandoned that area and the Spanish have begun invading. If they said anything in a letter about who, where, and how much, and this letter went to someone... shall we say, less worthy? They could be in great danger.”
“Why’d this letter come so far? Shouldn’t one of the others have found this first? We’re in Japan!”
Soda stood and went to their kitchen area, scowling at the bare cupboards. After some searching he turned to their barrel of rice and scooped out a cupful. He added rain water and set it to boiling.
“Nobody else is stupid enough to want to go between those three as they fight.”
Billie glanced between the two men. “Aren’t they always at war?” The both nodded. Billie shivered and stood. She walked to the lone window and held back the heavy tarp that served to keep the rain out. “I think we should do it.” She felt their eyes on her. She shrugged. “What do we have here? Rain and hunger? We can go to America! I’ve heard lots of good things about that land. Dreams come true and all that.”
She let the tarp fall and turned back to the darkened room. “Sneak in, steal something, kill some and destroy more, we’ve done it all before. It’s an easy job, despite being so far away.”
She grinned and reminded both of the men that her father was a pirate with that smile. “Come on, men, where’s your courage to try new things?”
Soda tossed his hands. “I’m up for it. Let’s go and see what we can find in America.”
Chili shook his head, folding the letter away and standing. “As brave as you both are, we’ll not go until this storm breaks.” He frowned, looking up at the ceiling as he thought. “We’ll need food, water, lots of water.” He went on, murmuring to himself as he begun the plans for their trip.
Billie and Soda shared a smile of triumph and she felt something bloom in her stomach. It was excitement. If she ever doubted that the life of a lawless child was for her, this reminded her that it was, always had been and always will be.