ostensible (tangerine)

chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE

River caught Tangerine's eyes. He looked a little surprised from the sudden hug, but he could tell that something was up. River's eyes went to the girl's back, which caused Tangerine to place his hand there. The girl probably just assumed it was a comforting gesture. His hand caught the sticker, and picked it off. Tangerine dropped the hug.

"Huh," He started, eyes fixed on the sticker. "Diesel. The worst. The baddest motherfucker." He tossed the sticker on the floor. River knew that Tangerine would understand.

"Ah, I knew you'd catch on eventually," The girl's scared face turned into a smirk. Tangerine's face flashed with sadness for a moment, no doubt remembering his brother.

"You killed...," Tangerine begins. His hand rests on his weapon.

"Of course I did," She smiles. River is watching the exchange, silent but ready. Tangerine is fed up. He cracks his neck, the girl is still standing, waiting. A sick smile is Tangerine's final crack. He punches her swiftly in the face, and River moves out of the way. He pulls his gun out, and cocks it. River takes out her gun, holding it in her hands. Two against one should be simple enough, so she smiles.
        The girl seemingly has no weapon, but she fights skillfully even though. Tangerine attempts to hit her with his gun, but she dodges his attack. River is behind her still, and she successfully hits her with her gun. The girl is stunned for a moment, and loses her footing. River uses that as an opportunity to put her in a headlock. Due to their collective amazing luck, the train door opens to reveal a shocked Ladybug.
     
"Oh my god!" He exclaims.

"Help me, sir, please!" The girl cries, putting on another excellent performance. River rolls her eyes, extending her gun in his direction.

"Ladybug, don't even try to fuck with me right now," River scoffs, and Ladybug raises his hands. Tangerine points his gun at Ladybug as well. Ladybug rolls his eyes.

"Are you not going to help me?" The girl continues to cry.

"Oh, shut the fuck up," River says, annoyed.

"She's just a girl," Ladybug tries to reason.

"The fuck she is," Tangerine says.

"What's his deal?" Ladybug attempts a joke.

"She killed his brother," River says, silencing the car for a sad moment. Ladybug's face drops for a second, but not too long. Tangerine's gun was still pointed at him, but then he moved it. His gun was then pointed at the girl. River points her gun at the girls head. "We can't kill her."

"Why the fuck not?" Tangerine asks, upset.

"She could have... information," River sighs, dropping her gun. Tangerine drops his gun.

"Fuck this," Tangerine grunts, hastily sitting down. Ladybug slowly lowers his hands down.

"We need to restrain her," River sighs. Ladybug disappears for a moment to find rope or tape, but then returns. He has a roll of tape. River pushes the girl into a chair, and holds her there. Ladybug comes up behind, and rips a piece of tape off.
      Once the girl was restrained, the trio took a second to relax. Tangerine, who had been sitting the entire time, closed his eyes. They had two more stops left before they met the White Death, and no one was looking forward to it.

"Okay, so walk me through it again," Ladybug says.

"Walk you through what?" River asks.

"Our plan?" He asks her, and he's standing.

"We don't exactly have one?" River smiles, shrugging.

"Yeah, well I bet if you hadn't been fucking we'd have a plan," Ladybug jokes.

"Okay, we weren't fucking," River says, a red blush coating her cheeks.

"Looked like it," Ladybug smiles. River rolls her eyes, and she looks over at Tangerine. His eyes are open now, and they make contact. He shows her a small smile, and she returns it. Her mind is flooded of memories from when they were kissing, and she suddenly wants to kiss him again. She swore she didn't have feelings for him, but maybe she did. River couldn't kiss him now, or maybe anytime soon. He'd just lost his brother. And they were all about to explode or get shot or something as soon as the train arrived in two stations. If they survived she could maybe consider taking him to a hotel room or something. The thought alone made her blush.
    A warning rang out in the train, signaling that they would be arriving at the next station soon enough. River found herself rubbing her sweaty palms on her jeans. Tangerine didn't look at any less sad than he did when he saw his brother, River had been too scared to even look at Lemon's body. She could hardly imagine what the mustached man was feeling in the moment.
      As the train pulled into the station, Ladybug stood. River gave him a confused look.
     "I'm getting the fuck out of here," The older man said, adjusting his glasses.
     "Like hell you are," Tangerine said. Ladybug looked at the man. He looked incredibly disheveled. His hair was ruffled, his lip bleeding. Ladybug almost looked sympathetic. River knew he didn't like guns, so maybe that was why he was adamant on avoiding the White Death. Ladybug proceeded to roll his eyes, and fall into a chair. He flipped River off, and placed his bucket hat over his eyes. River let out a chuckle. Then, all of their attention was called when someone entered the train car. The girl perked up.
     "The Prince," The man said, he obviously recognized her, "I am the Elder." Ladybug had removed the hat from his eyes, and he was listening intently. Tangerine was looking between 'The Prince' and River. He was torn between a new feeling of wanting to keep River safe, and wanting to get revenge for his brother's death. "Wataru is safe. Your henchmen were killed by my men." The Prince's face falls. "She is not a threat. You might as well let her go." The train's door's shut, and the group descended on their way to certain doom.