Midnite Tempest 10-7

When Chris had called, Raene had barely heard much more than "need some help" before she'd blurted out her agreement to meet him in Eden. She just wanted to feel useful and a part of things again. She'd come home to find her apartment just as she'd left it, but it seemed as though the memories surrounded and assaulted her. She'd hung up, looked around once more before leaving to look for something to occupy her until it was time to meet later.

When she stepped off of the elevator in the Pocket D, she told herself that it was just for one drink and the sense that there were other people around.

"Whiskey, neat," she'd told the bartender, leaning over the bar to be heard rather than shouting over the techno music. The sound of glass breaking drew her attention, and she looked over to a booth nearby. The occupant was all too familiar a face, and she found herself cursing inwardly as she scowled at him. "Great. Just what I need."

She turned back to the bar when her drink arrived while his eyes bore seething holes into her back from where he sat glaring at her between beers.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have an asshole to be home with?"

She ordered another whiskey when she realized her glass was already empty, seething. "Oh go to hell, Riley. I don't need your shit today." It had been bad enough the way he'd unceremoniously attacked her relationship with Grant and turned his back on their friendship. The crappy timing of this little encounter was proof that her life was back to normal in a way.

"Been there, done that. And I was here first anyway."

"Then at least stop trying to bait me into this fight. It doesn't matter anymore anyway, and I got the fucking message."

"What message is that?" he demanded, glaring at her.

"That you can't beat Fate. I got it, okay? I can't beat Fate. So just...spare me the fucking 'I told you so's."

"Well, I think you missed a few messages, like the one where you don't let a friend pour their broken heart out to you, then turn around and fuck the person that fucked them over."

She turned to look at him as though he'd gone insane. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He continued to glare at her between beers. "Your boyfriend, when we first met you and I, you knew the history."

Raene shook her head with a sigh. "I didn't choose Grant, moron. It wasn't like that." She looked down at the second empty glass in front of her, wondering if she'd actually drunk it's contents or if they'd evaporated, murmuring softly to herself, "That wasn't the choice."

"Save it Raene. It's not like it matters anyway, I got it, I'm not important."

"Oh to hell with you. You were the one that turned your back on me."

"When was that? While I was keeping your affair secret?"

"No, when you stopped talking to me at all, and then you attacked me for being concerned when you finally did show your face."

"Or was it when I was with the wrong...you know what, it doesn't matter, you've shown just how much you really care."

"And how was I supposed to show you how I cared? You weren't there!"

"You showed me by your choice of fuck buddies."

"He wasn't a fuck buddy!" she shouted, and the number of customers in the upper deck bar began to dwindle rapidly as dark matter spilled from her hands and eyes, filling the air around her with pain and anger.

"No, I guess that's all I ever was though. You made your bed, you should go home and lie in it, I'm sure he misses you."

She fought to rein in her emotions, feeling the world spin out of control around her. Her voice was quiet when she spoke again, though rigid. "Please just stop. I didn't come here to be attacked."

"No, I'm sure that will come later. Good luck Raene, I really hope you're happy," Riley spat in her direction, unaffected by the change in her demeanor.

"You know...I considered you my friend. You're the one that seems to think differently. What happened with Grant had nothing to do with you. And that burns you up for some reason."

"Go to hell Raene."

"Just...just go get married and be happy and leave me alone." Another time, she might have realized she'd hit a nerve, but for now, she was simply staring at the third empty glass in front of her, gripping the bar with white knuckles surrounded by inky black.

"Oh? Now who is attacking who?"

Her black gaze left the glass, and she turned to go as tears joined the darkness that poured from her eyes in a slow, drifting haze.

"I guess you couldn't pull yourself off him long enough to get the memo, I'm no longer engaged."

She stopped without turning around, genuine empathy in her voice. "I'm sorry to hear it."

"I'm sure you are," he retorted sarcastically as he turned back to his beer.

"You're the one who turned this into some kind of betrayal of our friendship. All I was doing was living my life, Riley. I really am sorry things didn't work out for you. Lotta that going around lately." She'd managed to get all the way to the elevator before he caught up, grabbing her by the shoulder to turn her around to face him, and it was all she could do to keep from cold-cocking him right there.

"Get back here. I'm not finished."

"I'm sick of being dumped on because you've got some grudge. I don't need this today."

"Yeah, well I don't need it any day, but welcome to my world. The one that's been shit for the past five months."

"I didn't tell you off or abandon you. You're the one who did that to me. I don't know what your world's been like because you shut me out."

"You weren't interested in anything but making sure your secret was safe."

"That's not true."

"Whatever you say. Have a nice life with Grant, Raene, you two deserve each other."

That was it. As the dam broke on all of the emotions she'd been holding at bay, she turned to leave, finding her way out onto the streets of Talos, sobbing, and she wondered why the bastard just couldn't leave her alone when she heard his voice behind her again.

"What's wrong Raene? Is the truth starting to hurt?"

"Leave me the hell alone! Do you enjoy trading on other people's misery? What the hell is your problem? You need to make everyone else as miserable as you are? "

"What do you possibly have to be miserable about? You got everything you wanted."

Pure rage drove her fist toward Riley's jaw, doing nothing more than giving her the fleeting satisfaction of having hit someone who seemed to relish in tormenting her for his own pleasure. "Fuck you, asshole!"

"What? I didn't watch you move on every time you wanted someone new then? And yet you blame fate for screwing you somehow? You've been given more than I could ever hope for."

"I didn't ask for this! I didn't -want- any of this! I don't see what I've gotten aside from a string of heartaches and the contstant reminder that I'm fucking doomed to watch everything I love die or get taken away! So leave me the fuck alone, you bastard! Just go the fuck away! If I'm so terrible, I should think the last thing you want to do is follow me around to consistently tell me what a---"

"Last I checked I'm the one most likely to watch what I love die."

"Oh, you really don't know what you're talking about." This time, she pulled energy from him, drawing on his own strength to speed her escape, and she fled until she was sure he wouldn't be able to find her.