**Disclaimer**: All the… 3 characters in this fic belong to Namco. All Tekken Related stuff mentioned, belongs to Namco. I take no Credit for Tekken, whatsoever…
Obsidian Solace
Chapter Four - Can't Help Myself
“Sugar pie, honey bunch. You know that I love you,” A voice sang from the next room, “I can’t help myself. I love you and nobody else. In and out my life, you come and you go, leaving just your picture behind, and I kissed it a thousand times.”
Christie had found herself traveling back to the abandoned warehouse where Devil Jin had taken her. She was walking around the first room comfortably since the body was gone, when she heard the singing. It was a man’s voice and it was beautiful.
Whoever it was continued singing, “When you snap your finger, or wink your eye, I come runnin’ to you! I’m tied to your apron string and there’s nothing that I can do. Can’t help myself. No. I can’t help myself.”
She peaked into the next room to see Jin Kazama combing his hair while he pushed a bundle across the floor with his feet, “Sugar pie honey bunch. I’m weaker then a man should be! I can’t help my –”He stopped, spotting Christie, and immediately started to blush. “Shit.”
“Aw, don’t stop,” Christie grinned.
Jin shook his head, embarrassed and pushed his comb into his pocket. His eyes were flicking around the room. Why didn’t he hear her come in? How could he be so careless? Damn. It was the kind of situation that could be used for bribery. Christie had no reason to bribe him, luckily. He looked at her feet, avoiding eye contact, wondering what reason she would have for being here in the first place.
Christie stepped further into the room casually, intimidating Jin with her ease. The floorboards made an almost silent noise, startling Jin. He wondered what she was thinking. The only emotion shown on the Brazilian girl’s face was curiosity. She approached Jin with ease, yet with a slight element of caution. He noted this, growing sadder then embarrassed. She had every right to be afraid of him. He just didn’t like being a creature people feel they must be cautious around.
“I apologize,” Jin bowed his head, solemnly.
Christie shook her head, trying to catch Jin’s eye, “What the hell for? Now I can actually go to the tournament thanks to you.”
“You would have been anyway if I hadn’t come along.”
Christie smiled, slightly less playfully then usual, “Something tells me you had little to do with it. What is that thing?”
“A devil… Or so I heard my grandfather say… Apparently my father is the host of a devil and part of it got in me when he was killed.” Jin sighed and picked up the bundle, “I should be going.”
A noise startled them both. Christie whirled around and Jin raised his eyes to see that annoying Brit standing in the doorway, “Did you buggers miss me?”
The Brazilian woman’s face darkened with anger, “And why exactly are you here?”
Steve took a step back, obviously not expecting that question, “I…”
“Followed me?”
“Erm… No… I…”
“You what?”
Steve thought for a moment, “I was driving by and I realized I was being followed by this big bloke so I came in here to dodge the fella. I just found you two her by coincidence… It’s true!”
Christie glared at him; “You mean to tell me that you just happened to be driving by this exact abandoned warehouse when an assassin scared you into here? From what happened last time, it seems to me that an assassin is nothing you really need to worry about. I highly doubt you’d run away from one.”
“Well thank you for the compliments but the bloke was HUGE! By the looks of him, I could have my neck snapped by his little finger! And as for that going by this exact building, yes. I was. This just happens to be on my way to my favourite Japanese pub.”
“Likely story, Fox! That’s a little too convenient. I mean… First you were in my hospital room while I was sleeping without my permission when I barely even know you! At first I figured maybe you’re just some confused blonde, but this is just… Just ridiculous!”
Steve frowned and touched his hair. His face showed his slight growing anger, by adding colour to his pale cheeks. The poor lighting in the room did not improve the angry looks on the two young foreigners. While they stared each other down, Jin took the opportunity to slip out, doing it casually so as not to attract any attention. Steve glared at Christie, his anger flaring suddenly.
“If you are insinuating that I would be stalking you, you are even more superficial then you look!”
She laughed sarcastically. Her hair being flung behind her back as she did so, as if what he said insulted her. Her eyes flashed over him, murderously. The dark lighting only deepened the threat in her stare. “Superficial? Well tell me something, Steve. Now, if you were in my position, what would you be thinking?”
“I’d be reconsidering my style. Has anyone told you that you look a bit like a shippie?”
“Shippie? Is that some sort of British slang? Oh wait… I don’t care.”
“I’m sorry. What I meant to say was, Hooker.”
“WHAT?” Christie growled, smacking Steve across the face, “Don’t you EVER call me a hooker again if you know what’s good for you. I don’t give a flying rats ass how many hit men you’ve done in. NOBODY calls me a hooker, and I mean NOBODY! Understood?”
He held his cheek and smirked, “Your lover boy is gone.”
She looked around, “Damn it! Now look what you’ve done!”
To both of their surprise, a man ran in, immediately spotting Christie and going for her. Steve went right into action pushing Christie aside, and attacking the man who was twice his size. The Brit’s blonde head soon hit the floor painfully after taking a powerful blow to the chest. His eyes closed tight for a moment or two before he got back to his feet and sized his opponent up with his challenging gaze. He resumed his active stance, despite the pain from the previous blow.
The man came at Steve once more, dodging the Brit’s hook and hitting Steve in the stomach with his broad shoulder and tackling him to the ground. Again, Steve’s eyes were closed with pain, but he managed to launch the man off him with his feet, nonetheless. He opened his eyes and ran at the larger man, attacking with a series of jabs and powerful uppercuts. The man hit the floor.
Christie watched in horror as the strange man leaped on Steve, bringing the Blonde to the floor with great force and practically eating him alive. She kept watching for a safe time to jump in when she wouldn’t just be screwing them both, but no visible chance ever came. Then, it was too late. Steve was out cold and the strange man turned toward Christie, his face twisted into a horrendous grin, made more disturbing by the blood on his cheek and the sweat trickling down his face. The blood wasn’t his.
What scared the Brazilian most was that Steve went down so quickly. Wasn’t he supposed to be undefeated? Wasn’t that the reason he had a price on his head in the first place? Because he couldn’t be taken down, not even by the Mafia? ‘Oh great,’ she thought, ‘where’s devil Jin when I need him?’
The man walked toward her, smirking arrogantly. Christie got down on her back, deciding she might as well play with the man while she was still conscious. He took it that she was flirting with him and dropped his guard. As he stepped within range, she spun her body, sweeping her feet under his and coming up to a spin on her head. As he got back to his feet, she spread her legs while still in the head spin and knocked him back to the ground, and shifted her position into her slippery feet move. The moment he got a chance to move, he was rolling out of range and watching her. In no time, Christie was back on her back; waiting for him to take a risk that she could take advantage of.
His face twisted back into the grin as he wiped sweat off his forehead and ran at her, but before she could get into her handstand, he was leaping over her and attacking her from behind, not even holding back a bit on his strength. A tackle, a blow to the stomach, and a jab to the throat left her lying there, clutching her stomach and gasping for air. She took some comfort as she laid eyes on a wound she caused him on his arm.
“What’s a pretty girl like you doing hanging around with a freak like him?” The strange man asked.
Christie answered, still gasping, “I just,” gasp, “happen to like,” gasp, “freaks.”
He rolled his eyes and started removing her top. She narrowed her eyes in fury and kneed him between the legs. He groaned, grabbing himself in pain, “BITCH!” His fist was pulled back and flew at Christie’s face…
White. Everything was white. Christie opened her eyes and glanced around. Too White. That could only mean one thing. She was in a hospital… Again. ‘Oh damn.’ Her eyes drifted around the room, looking for a calendar. She spotted one by the door. Just as she had suspected. The tournament was the next day and she was in the damn hospital! Why did she have to get hurt! It was the men! Those men! Men were pigs, both of the men she had come to know during her time in Japan had both gotten her put in the hospital! Damn them! No more! She nodded, promising herself that she would keep them out of her life.
The curtain swung open and she stared into the beautiful blue eyes of the creepy Brit, “OH MAN!” She sighed loudly, “You’re everywhere!”
“Doesn’t that make me god?”
“No it makes you a nightmare!” She paused, remembering the previous night, “You tried to save me?” She sat up, “He came at me and you took him on even though you knew he could take you. You could have escaped.”
He rolled his eyes, “I know exactly what I could have done. I don’t need a bitch like you explaining it to me.”
“Well excuse me, but I was trying to thank you. If you find that too uncomfortable, I’ll be more then happy to just kick your ass instead.”
“Don’t bother… Why the hell didn’t you run away when I took him? That was why I took him on! Now because of you, my efforts were only in vain. Not only are you a bitch, but you’re dumb as well!”
She gasped, “Would you care to stand up and repeat that?” She stood and waited for him to take her dare.
Steve climbed out of bed, his eyes holding Christie’s with a gleam of animosity. Their identical hospital attire and the bright morning light shining in added a perverse nature to their shared anger. Christie advanced forward, almost nose-to-nose with the Brit. She figured he was bluffing and wasn’t afraid to take him if he wasn’t. She raised an eyebrow, daring him to take a shot.
He took a verbal shot instead. He gave her a sidelong glance and said, “May the best man win,” Adding emphasis on the word ‘man’.
The second he finished his sentence, Christie’s hand was on his shoulder and her fist was in his stomach. She didn’t hit him hard, but she didn’t need to. He was still sore from the previous night’s fight. She watched as he fell to his knees, cursing the whole way. He gritted his teeth and pounced on the smug Brazilian, knocking her back onto her bed. The tension in the white room was enhanced as they glared at each other, challenging each other to just try something. Anything.
A nurse walked into the room and gasped at the scene before her. Despite the potential distraction, neither Christie nor Steve shifted their focus for even a second. The nurse called into the hallway in Japanese and in no time, there were 3 security guards in the room pulling Steve off of Christie. Only when he was completely out of the room was their stare interrupted. The nurse sat beside Christie and helped the Brazilian sit up, “What was going on? Do you want to press charges?”
Christie grinned, “Eddy always said, ‘A real fighter never gets the law involved,’ besides… I hit him, he didn’t hit me.”
“Well I’m glad you’re looking better, Miss Monteiro, but you shouldn’t be picking fights with other patients.”
The Brazilian shrugged and looked around, “He called me dumb. Nobody calls me dumb. Not even a cute creepy Brit. SO how did I get here?”
“A young man dropped both of you off. Must have been strong. He didn’t come with a vehicle and he was carrying you both.”
“Jin?”
Steve looked around his new Hotel room and frowned. Just because he was fighting with Christie didn’t mean he didn’t want to share a room with her. Hospitals were not any fun! He threw one of his shoes across the room and successfully hit one of the machines in the corner. The doctors still wanted to perform a couple tests on him before he would be able to leave. That meant one more night in the white room in the starchy bluish clothing. ‘Sexy,’ He thought with a grin, ‘these clothes make me want to shoot myself. Maybe that’s the idea…’ he laughed and said aloud, “Doctors are EVIL!”
A nurse peaked her head in and shushed him. He rolled his eyes and got out of bed and closed the door again. The window was barred but there was a special latch in case of emergency. He pulled it and the bars came off and crashed to the floor in a loud clatter. His nurse ran in, but he was already out in the sun.
He ran through the bushes, suddenly thinking that he should have grabbed his clothes. Oh well. They would probably go for charity. He had plenty more clothes at the hotel… Now to get to the hotel. He ran down an alley and spotted a man with familiar hair, “Kazama!”
“Oh shit.”
Steve pouted, “Aw, didn’t you miss me?”
“No.”
Steve sighed and walked closer to Jin, “I think it’s about time I apologized for kissing you the other day. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or freak you out or anything like that… It’s just that you’re… You’re literally irresistible. Literally. Actually not only are you irresistible but I wanted to see if you would kiss back… You know, curiosity.”
Jin continued to walk, his head watching the ground in front of him, “No need to apologise for that. What I was pissed of about was that you could have blown my cover. Someone could have recognised me and Heihachi could have gotten the news somehow and that would ruin everything…” Steve stopped. Jin walked a few more steps and then stopped, turning around in confusion and looking at the Blonde man behind him, “What?”
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Depends what it is,” Jin said. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“If I,” Steve paused, “… If I kissed you now, would you kiss back?”
Jin looked at Steve for a moment in silent thought before continuing to walk again. He let the question hang in the air for a while, while he heard the Brit walking behind him. Finally he answered, his voice more playful then usual, “If I don’t give a straight answer, would you kiss me anyway?”
Steve smirked, “Depends on what you mean by Straight answer.”
Jin spun around to face Steve once again. He grabbed the Blonde man’s arm and pulled him into a more hidden corner of the alley. Steve watched in shock, not expecting someone like Jin to take charge like that, but his thoughts soon dissolved into nothingness when those lush Japanese lips embraced his own. His hand automatically placed itself in Jin’s hair and he felt a strong hand on his back pull him closer. After a few moments of bliss and shock at the lack of products in Jin’s hair, Jin pulled away. Steve looked at the man before him in question, but said nothing.
“You know I wasn’t hanging out behind a hospital expecting you to escape and run down this exact alley. I have somewhere I need to be, so if you’ll excuse me, well finish this later.” With that said, Jin was off running, leaving even more of a question in Steve’s mind.
Jin walked quietly down the corridor and knocked on an open door. He had purposely confused Steve so he wouldn’t have held him back long. Jin grinned at the distressed Brazilian in the room, “How are you feeling?”
“Horrible!” She said immediately, “I’m going to miss the tournament all because of him, but when I get down to it, I wouldn’t have met him if it wasn’t for that Devil in you, but if it wasn’t for that devil in you, who knows what those guys would have done and I probably wouldn’t be able to go anyway! So really, it’s all my fault for talking to you in the first place, but if this didn’t happen, something else probably would have! It seems to me that the fates really don’t want me to find Eddy… It’s all Eddy’s fault! If he wasn’t so bent up on revenge, none of this would have happened!”
Jin raised an eyebrow and took a seat on the foot of her bed, “I’ve got some news.”
“Good or bad?”
“Well, that depends,” Jin considered, “On who’s receiving it… Something vandalized a few of the places that the tournament was to be held. It’s been delayed so the tournament won’t start for another week or so.”
“OMIGOSH! You didn’t!”
Jin didn’t reply. He smiled and absently reached out and gently pushed some hair out of Christie’s eyes. He froze halfway through when he seen the curios look Christie was giving him. He quickly pulled his hand back, watching the hair fall back into her eyes. She grinned, amused, and tucked the stray lock of hair behind her ear. She winked, “I can’t help myself…” She sang quietly, teasing Jin.
He could feel his face heat up with embarrassment all over again. Jin lowered his eyes, shyly and searched his mind in a panic for something he could say or do to cover up his embarrassment. What a girl. She was so much like Steve, yet so different. The taste of the annoying Brit continued to linger in his mouth. How did he get involved with the two of them when they both had a habit of bringing out the worst in him? He looked up at Christie who was watching him patiently. ‘Do I actually like Fox?’ He asked himself, tilting his head in wonder, ‘No. I’m straight. I have to be straight…’
“I want you and nobody else,” Christie finally sang again, the grin remaining on her face.
Jin looked at her lips, thinking that he had to somehow block out the thoughts of Steve, and the girl was making it appear that she wanted him, so he eyed her lips in such a way that he knew she noticed, and then he looked her in the eye to see her reaction, and to see if it was safe to move in.
Christie raised an eyebrow and shook her head, “You sure know how to procrastinate, my dear boy. If you’re going to do it, do it already.”
He tilted his head a little more in wonder. She reminded him of someone… No… She reminded him of Hwoarang. Damn! How was he supposed to feel straight by kissing her if she made him think of the Blood Talon? He cursed himself and stood to go. After a couple of steps toward the door, he turned back to her. She had already opened a magazine. Her voice echoed in his mind, ‘I can’t help myself…’ He shook his head, walked back over to her, and tossed the magazine across the room.
“Hey wha–” She said, but before she could make a real protest, Jin kissed her. At first she sat there, shocked, but in no time she gave in, introducing her own expertise in the art of kissing.
Jin found himself wondering where to put his hands. One hand had automatically found it’s way to the Brazilian’s cheek, but the other hung in the air awkwardly. He wasn’t used to this kind of thing. With girls, so many things could be considered unacceptable, she wasn’t like Steve, where he could touch anywhere he wanted to… Jin winced, there he was thinking about Steve again while he had a beautiful woman’s sweet tongue caressing his own. He realised that his hand had found its way to her waist. His thoughts began to dissolve when…
“Cute.”
Jin and Christie both pulled away from each other, only to see Heihachi Mishima standing in the doorway. “Shit,” Jin breathed.