From: joan@med.unc.edu (Joan Shields)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
Subject: Deuces and One-eyed Jacks (Oct. 12)
Date: 12 Oct 92 20:38:50 GMT
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine
Originator: joan@ocean

[Takes place after Saraquael leaves and Ratz tells Blackjack that there's
somebody in a boot he ought to talk to.  For those of you who may have
missed it, Belladonna gave Nekoko a homing-device to find her way back to
the Willows (a safehouse Liralen Li had been taken to after the Rescue). 
Bella got the device from Ratz who told her that Blackjack was the one
who'd brought it in.] 
--------

	Belladonna felt Blackjack approach before he got halfway to her 
booth.  Felt him slide past the samuri only to be snagged by the old hag's
boney grey hand.  She laughed to herself as he extracted himself and
continued to her booth.
	"I'm Blackjack," he said, standing at the edge of the booth.
"There something I can help you with?"
	Belladonna looked up and pushed back her hood.  Dark glasses
shielded her eyes - thin white scars like shattered porceline
painstakingly glued back together covered the left side of her face.  The 
damp dull auburn hair curled around her face did little to soften her knife 
hard expression.  A wry smile spread across her lips as she watched him pale
ever so slightly at the sight of the Mechanics' Guild tattoo etched like
a falling tear from the corner of her left eye.  They'd never met but he
knew of her the same as she knew of him.
	"Perhaps we can help each other," her voice was like sand but also
smooth as it rolled off her tongue.  "Sit down."  She flicked a hand and a
waitress came running.  "Coffee, black - and you?"
	Blackjack slid into the booth, "Dos Equis, thanks," he murmered.  
His eyes shifted as though lining up everything he knew about her: Mechanic,
psi, friend of Liralen Li, et cetera, et cetera.  She didn't need her psi
 - didn't need to dig into his brain to see that.  He held himself well,
she smiled inwardly.  Poor chum, shoved into events he didn't fully
understand but could appreciate.  An artist who suddenly found himself
keeping company with a bunch of ruthless, hard-assed merc-types and, let's
face it, chums, psychos.  And all for love.  That last bit cut into her 
heart like a razor.
	"I'm looking for Nekoko - heard you got a possible lead on her,"
the waitress handed Bella her coffee and Blackjack his drink then scurried
back into the haze.
	Blackjack took a sip and nodded, "Yea - might."
	Bella slid the homing device across the table, "I gave her this -
tell me exactly when and where you found it and I'll be gone."
	He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.  Bella's left hand
clenched at his hesitation - she calmed herself, remembering that he loved
the girl.  Her mind shifted to MecLan, tubes and wires streaming from his
broken body - out of ICU but still beyond her reach, his mind deep in
the dreams of a coma.  
	Blackjack opened his mouth to speak then closed it - then changed
his mind again, "Why do you want to find her?  Why now?  Why weren't you
out there when her chopper went down?"  The bitterness in his eyes and
voice challenged her - he didn't give a shit of he pissed her off.  Love
made him as foolish as it made him strong.
	Belladonna leaned back in the booth, both hands flat on the table.
"Didn't know she went down until recently - too many other things
happening."  Bella shook her head, the words, the feelings, all struggling
to come out.  She suddenly leaned forward and took Blackjack's hands in
hers - the need to tell him was overwhelming. "We were at the Willows, a
safehouse in the country.  Heavy Judy and I worked on Li, we got most of
the stuff disconnected and some of it out.  I had to go into her mind, to
pull her out - she wouldn't understand why it was necessary, it hurt her...
it was necessary..."  Bella's voice trailed off and she looked away; she
caught herself and stared back at him, "Later, after they took Li away
we were heading back.  I needed to get something so I took the bike - told
them I'd meet them back at the House.  The van was hit, caught in a
blast," she giggled, "accident.  You know, of all the people after our ass
we buy it in an accident," she sobered, "Vint, dead; Kenner and MecLan,
hurt bad.  Out of ICU but still bad.  A couple of hours ago I find out
about Nekoko.  I can't help any of the rest but maybe I can help her.
Li's gone, Argent and Hawk, scattered but maybe I can help Nekoko.  Do you
understand?"
----------------------------------------

Blackjack is the property of Jim Gaynor - Belladonna is the property of 
Joan Shields.  Please do not use my character, the Mechanics' Guild or
my definition of psi without prior permission from me - or else...

JM Shields
October 12, 1992
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk