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Start Ups Bounty Hunters: Brand New Journey

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"Why? Weren't you just scolding us a minute ago?" Hazel asked Nova. Instead of her previous venom, she just sounded tired.

"No..." she trailed off, glancing at Rick. "Don't say that."
 
"Who said it was a secret?" Kari replied, "I just didn't want Bria to overhear me ordering a cake."

"Um...thanks..." Bria trailed off. She really didn't want to tell Liza she wasn't a fan of such things. She would try to eat them and put on a smile anyways.
 
Rick frowned as he listened to Hazel. "I can see the pain in your eyes Hazel... which is something I never wanted to see... I promised you that I'd be there for you... and Mordic or Tuan... christ just another confusion there... She left because I hurt her so... I never wanted that."
 
Liza looked at Bria for a moment, her tone sounded kind of vague, but with everything that had been going on she couldn't hlep but feel like she had done something wrong. "Oh my god I got the wrong food didn't I?" she said with embarassment as she looked at the bags. "I'm sorry. I'll go see if I can find something else."

***

"So who's the baker?" Kai asked curiously.
 
"No, it's okay," Bria replied, "I can eat the pancakes."

--------------------

"Oh, I don't know who they are," Kari answered, "I don't ask names."
 
Nova backed away from the two, thinking that they would prefer to be alone with this talk. He wasn't there to watch over them; that caused too many problems. No, something like this had to be hashed out by the two of them, then by Rick and Mordic.

He left the room before closing the door back.

What he did was a good thing, right? They were aware, and now Rick would have to work out those problems. He wouldn't run away from them.

He couldn't even rationalize it well enough to make himself feel better.
 
Hazel quietly watched as Nova left. "Rick..." she then began to say. "Stop putting yourself down... please." She thought for a moment. "Think of you for once. That's all I'll ever ask."
 
Rick watched Nova leave and he sighed. "Hazel I..." He sighed, not really knowing how to say what he wanted to say. "I..." He paused. "I don't want to be selfish." Rick eventually said. "I... you know I'll always be here for you... I made that promise and you know how I am with promises..." Another pause. "I guess I've always just found it easier not to think about my own needs... I just worry that when I do... someone else gets hurt."
 
Rick turned back to look at Hazel. He smiled sadly. "There's a reason for that." He sighed. "It seems to me that whenever I do something selfish, somebody else gets hurt. So I became selfless... I chose to become half monk, half hitman... it makes it so I never hurt anyone else I care about... even though I seem to have failed with you and with Tuan."
 
"But," Hazel said. "You have to be selfish sometimes. I keep on telling you... you have to think of yourself." She then listened to his last few words, frowning slightly. "It's not my place to talk about Mordic, I'm sorry." She sighed. "But, I know you haven't hurt me. Like, at all, even. If anything, it's the opposite, I..." she replied, quickly stopping herself before too much was said. "What I mean is... you're human. You need to do what makes you happy... not someone else."

Ant was still waking up, mostly. He just observed.
 
"It's quite alright," Kari replied as she looked to Kai. "It's to be expected."

Bria just looked at the food bags disdainfully. Oh how she wished it was eggs, bacon, steak, hash browns, gravy and biscuits, or country fried chicken. She was taking one for the team.

"Can someone feed me the pancakes?" Bria asked, "I can't really eat with just one hand... well I can't hold the plate with my broke arm."
 
Juli had been silent for most of the visit. She'd been doing more testing on Bria without telling anybody. Her vitals were strong and her neurological readings came back clean. It was encouraging. "I can hold the plate at least." Juliet said quietly, using her telekinesis to hold it in place for Bria.

Rick sighed. He looked at Hazel and there was clearly a haunted look in his eyes. "Hazel I..." As he tried to find the words, a wave of shame hit him like a truck. Deep down he knew that what he had been thinking and feeling for the last few days was wrong. "I backed down. I saw the choice between the right way and the easy way... and I took the easy way..." Rick looked towards the door. "I don't know what to do... the right thing is to walk out that door, find her and fix all this... and yet, I don't want to. I want to stay right here... does that make me a bad person?"
 
Hazel froze for a moment, trying to process what Rick was saying. "The decision's yours," she quietly said. "But, please know you're far from a bad person. I..." she then trailed off, not knowing what to add.
 
As Hazel spoke, Rick realized what he had to do. With a tinge of regret, he started putting on his armor. Notably, he put on his helmet, something he hadn't done in a long time. He wanted to hide his emotions, they were threatening to compromise him even further. "I have to go." He said simply. "I need to find her. Nova was right. I don't know where this conversation is going to take me or where it's going to leave me and her... but it has to be had." Rick said simply. His swords spun in his hands as he slid them into the sheathes on his back and he grabbed his wakizashi and did the same. "I'm sorry Hazel. For dragging you into all this." And then he walked out the door. He saw Nova and nodded. "I'm going to find Mordic. Don't tell her I'm coming. And before you ask... this hunt is me back in my element. I'll find her and do what needs to be done." And then he was gone.
 
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