By the time they hiked down to the makeshift landing pad where Vash and his crew of hired guns - none of whom appeared to have made it out of the cave alive, yet the pilot didn't seem too torn up about that - had left the cruiser they'd flown in on, Raena was completely worn out. A cold sweat spotted her brow, the pressure of her body armor almost unbearable against her wounded shoulder. She didn't want to complain about it, wary of slipping up in front of Vash and letting him know how rough a state she was in, which meant he stood a better chance of fighting her for possession of the artifact.

But that was only if he figured out she had it in her back pocket. After planting that misdirecting kiss on him, she'd flirted with him the whole way down the mountain, not just for the hell of it, but to keep him from realizing what she was really up to. Not flirting too hard - she didn't want to be obvious and seem like she had a whole personality swap since they'd exited the cave. Just enough to tease the possibility that, in spite of the bad blood between them, she might do more with Vash than kiss him again. Though that was really the farthest thing from her thoughts while she was in pain.

Vash didn't know what to make of the flirting. It was nice - he liked it, of course he liked it. It might have been years since they had been together, but it wasn't something he had ever forgotten, and the more she flirted the harder it became to think clearly. Lips still tingling from the kiss she'd planted on him after their narrow escape from the mountain, Vash kept sliding secretive looks towards her, trying hard to figure her out. Maybe he should just enjoy the lack of punching, he thought. Maybe she hadn't been as upset as he had heard when he'd left her all that time ago. That thought almost made him feel disappointed. She was still the same Rae that he knew, but there was something more to her now - harder edges, a sharp look in her eye sometimes.

They stopped at the ramp lowering down from the fancy looking cruiser. All sleek and shiny and expensive, like it was rarely taken out of its hangar except for a special occasion such as this. Rae let out a low whistle. "Nice ship." Then she glanced back at Vash, a brow quirked, "But this isn't yours. Your boss expecting to get it back soon, or do you think you have time for a joyride?" Better yet, they would have a whole luxury cruiser all to themselves.

As they neared the ship - that wasn't his, of course - when had he ever had a ship that was truly his? The ship he loved more than anything was sitting hidden in a hangar on Terminus, kept safe from her true owner. This one was glitzy and luxurious but he would return it eventually - it wasn't quite his style. He grinned nonetheless at Rae and motioned for her to make her way up the ramp first before he followed. "Joyride is my second name," Vash replied languidly, watching her from behind. Her shoulder still looked strange. He wondered whether or not she would ask him for help yet.

As he made his way up the ramp, he brushed his hand quickly over his pocket. His hand stilled over it, and he knew then it was empty, and it didn't take much thinking to figure out who had snitched it from him. Vash was a little surprised to feel a surge of disappointment that the kiss hadn't been - well, genuine, he supposed. It had certainly felt genuine. Nonetheless, Vash pushed through it, giving no sense that he knew the artifact was no longer on his person, and he flicked a switch as he entered the ship to close the ramp behind him. There was no way he was letting Rae out of his sight while she had that piece. Besides, two could play at that game, and Vash always enjoyed flirting.

The interior still had that fresh 'new ship smell', so clean that Rae felt a little bad about dragging in all of the cave dust and dirt coating her armor and her cloa. She'd taken back her helmet during the walk, making a mental note to change out the filters and clean the interior when she had time. Since they weren't in any rush to take off just yet, Rae took her time in the ship's lounge, carefully placing the helmet on a seat. Vash was hovering behind her attentively, almost like he really did think she was about to fall back into his arms. Like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't come into her life, upended it, and left her devastated and alone. She really didn't want to be that crazy, bitter ex-girlfriend, but, well. He'd made her that way.

Shrugging off his scarf and coat, Vash tossed it to the side and moved around to Rae, eyebrow arching and hand hovering over her limp arm. "You gonna need a hand with that?" Vash moved closer, with a smirk, "We've gotta make sure you're as comfortable as possible."

Rae watched him toss the coat aside. A prize worth almost 70,000 credits on its own was supposed to be in that pocket, yet he was dumping it like it was nothing. Either he knew she had the piece now, or he was waiting for her to say something that would get him to check if it was still there. Shit. Rae's gaze shifted back to him with a slow, sly smile. "You wanna help me strip?" she asked playfully, not backing away from him as he came into her space.

It was too much fun, flirting with her again. It was also definitely not how he had expected his day to go, but if Vash was anything, it was flexible. He knew, of course, that she couldn't be entirely genuine. A small, ignored part of him hoped that it was, but Vash really did know better than that. She had always been clever, but thankfully so was he when he needed to be. So she had the piece - Vash wondered why she was staying around. Maybe she really was just using him for a quick ride down to her bike. There wasn't any chance he'd be taking her to where she wanted to go - not just yet, anyway.

She started removing one of her vambraces, taking it off the injured arm and setting it on the table nearby. "Almost forgot. You've never seen my armor before. Bought it when I became a bounty hunter. After you left." Her smile faltered for a brief second, but she was torn between wanting him to know how much he'd hurt her, and wanting him to think he'd never mattered at all. Whichever was worse. Rae continued, tapping on a spot on the breastplate, "Anyway. It's top of the line. And a little harder to take off with an arm out of socket."

Her faltering smile held him for a second, but he didn't give anything away on his own face. He couldn't read her in that moment, couldn't tell if she was pleased, or sad, or a mixture of both. It was easier to breeze past it. Vash had never once stopped to linger too long on any problems, especially not ones they'd had. "It's slick," he answered with a languid smile, and moved to touch his fingers against it, inching up so he could carefully unstrap her remaining vambrace. It was an opportunity to touch her, and also one where he could search for little hiding spots in her armour for wherever she might have stashed the artifact.

She tried not to tense up when his hand reached the belt and the pouch - there were enough items inside to make the artifact indistinguishable from her tools from the outside, but if he was to dig around in there, it wasn't hard to take back. Despite already slugging him once, Rae didn't want to get into a full-blown physical fight. Which she could still win literally single-handedly, but then she'd just be stranded on a freezing mountain top in a ship she didn't know how to fly, and he definitely wouldn't cooperate after he regained consciousness. So they were stuck drawing out this charade, each waiting for the other to crack.

"This might hurt a little." He was only an inch away now, eyeing her injured shoulder and the pauldron part of her armour still encasing it. Vash reached up, brushing the bare skin at her neck as he worked his fingers into the clasps there to loosen that piece of armour and slowly move it away. Did she always smell this good? That was annoying. Vash deposited that piece next to the two vambraces and idly placed one hand against her waist, then to the small of her back, along her belt. He looked down at her - the perfect picture of idiotic innocence, all hopeful eyed and arched eyebrows - and as his hand came to rest against her gear pack (he couldn't grab it enough to feel whether or not the artifact was inside), his other held onto the bicep of her injured arm, ready at any second to pop it back into place for her. "Ready? I'll catch you if you feel faint."

At the very least, Vash was going to fix her arm, even though she hadn't asked him to directly - and they both knew she wasn't going to, too stubborn and prideful for her own good, maybe even worse these days than she'd been before. Life in the "real world", without the support of the ADF and her neurogenic handlers to rely upon, taught her not to be complacent or reliant upon anyone else. But he already had his hands on her, and was looking at her with that soft expression, the one that used to make her feel safe. It was a trick. Her head knew that; her heart, though? It gave a little lurch, remembering how he'd held her close like this, and how it made the rest of the universe fall away.

That wasn't about to happen now, though. The acute stab of pain in her shoulder kept her grounded in harsh reality. He was only helping because he had an agenda, too, and she wasn't going to get fooled twice about thinking he could be anything but ultimately self-serving. "Like I'd ever swoon at your feet," she quipped back, still smirking to show she was bantering with him, not trying to genuinely insult him. Not at the moment, anyway. Gloves discarded with her vambraces, Rae put her other hand on his shoulder, bracing herself in anticipation of the intense pain to come. "Ready."

She took a deep breath as he rotated her arm, feeling the snap and grind of bone on bone and the tear of muscle around it as the joint tried to find home. Raena bit down on her lip, but wound up letting out a sharp, agonized gasp as her arm slid back into place. Knees turning to jelly, she pitched forward and leaned her head against his chest, her fingers digging into his shoulder until the wave of pain passed. After a few seconds, her grip loosened, but she still clung to Vash, falling into his arms while on the brink of blacking out. Only she couldn't, because she had the artifact, and if she did pass out, he'd have free range to dig through her pockets and ditch her somewhere.

As she clung to him, Vash felt conflicted. He winced in sympathy at her pain as he twisted her arm back into its socket - he'd dislocated enough things to know that it wasn't a pleasant experience. And then she was leaning into him, gasping like that and holding onto him like old times. It would have been so easy. If she had just been some girl, some pretty mercenary, Vash would have had no qualms rifling through her pockets while she fought for consciousness. But she wasn't just anyone, and suddenly Vash wasn't so sure about what he was doing. He took a selfish moment to appreciate the feel of her against him again, how perfectly she fit there. As she held him, he wound his arms around her to steady her, his hand resting again on her gear pouch, his fingers itching with the desire to open it just enough for him to get a peek over her shoulder.

Instead, he abruptly dropped it away, and ducked down a little enough to slide a hand underneath her knees. He lifted her from her standing position and into one prone in his arms. Vash set her down gently against the plush seats, so she could stretch out, and before he pulled away from her he loosened her armour some more, but then stopped abruptly because it suddenly all felt too intimate and he wasn't sure if he should be regretting not just stealing the artifact back again. He wondered if she would disappear the moment he looked away. He drew back and checked on his commlink and found a message about picking up another piece of the alien artifact. Great. Vash still had to sort this one out first.

It really wasn't fair how he was bigger and physically stronger than her, able to make that mad dash ahead of her in the cave with those long legs, now scooping her up in his sturdy arms like she weighed nothing. Without the extra armor and gear on her, Vash wouldn't have had any trouble whatsoever, but even with half of it still secured to her body, he carried her without struggle. It was a little humiliating, and a little romantic. Rae had to remind herself that he was only being kind and gentle with her because he'd likely figured out her deceit, and he was just waiting for the opportunity to catch her off guard.

Settling into the plush cushions, she could feel the pouch pressing against the hard backing of her chest piece. Her shoulder ached, but she was no longer immobilized by it. When he pulled away to look at his commlink, she started to unbuckle her belt, continuing to dismantle the components of her armor. There were so many pieces to it that she was fairly certain she could move the artifact out of its current hiding spot into another place without his notice, like a shell game. Vash was clearly distracted by whatever he was reading, anyway. Maybe a message from his boss, asking for an update? She wondered what he might tell them about their adventure. If being short a few mercenaries and the prize he'd been sent to retrieve would land him in trouble with whoever his benefactor might be.

That wasn't her problem. But now that she had time to think beyond the act of getting the piece, Raena had begun to question her own motivations and intentions. Even when they were pretending to flirt, she was still angry at Vash, and part of her wanted to punish him for that. But she didn't want someone else to punish him for failing to do his job. It was complicated, being a mercenary with a moral code. And still emotionally attached, for better or worse, to the person who'd hurt her the most. Her thoughts were turning in her head when Vash looked at her.

He'd leaned back, moving so he could sit on the circular table and rest his arms on his knees as he looked at her. The game had to be back on - he couldn't get too distracted. But this time, he shrugged, and smiled at her. "So, I wouldn't have been able to find that piece of the artifact without you." He opened his palms up towards her and then winked, "And you wouldn't have been able to get there without me, either. Like you said - we work really well together. I think it's only fair that we split the credits fifty-fifty. I hear Senator Rato on Mahoroba is offering double. Plus, if you're interested, I have intel on where another one is." Vash watched her face. "Interested?"

By that point, Rae had taken off most of her armor and set it aside. Essentially everything on her torso, leaving her in her black bodysuit and leg plates. She'd also carefully tucked the artifact under one of her pauldrons, just in case. When he mentioned it, her eyes went toward his abandoned coat, lips pressed thin like she was still annoyed with him, before looking back at Vash. He was actually sounding pretty reasonable, and in absolute fairness, neither one of them would've made it without the other. He'd be trapped under a pile of rubble, and she'd be at the bottom of a pit with a broken neck. They were good together. Always had been.

The prospect of getting a second piece to add to the collection was incredibly tempting, though. Especially if it could get her access to Dania Rato, the woman she was investigating for unrelated accusations. But their little head games aside, there had to be a catch. "You're really okay with that?" she eyed him skeptically. "What about the person who hired you to fly here? Are we cutting them out of the deal?"

She was a good actor, Vash had to give her that. It took everything in him not to start to giggle when she glanced over to his coat, but his eyes shone in amusement instead. Even when he had initially grabbed the artifact from under her nose, Vash was under no impression that she would have let him get away with keeping it to himself. Sure, he had expected a fight and not a kiss, but it would have been a fight he would lose. If he shared the spoils with Rae, he would still be coming away with more credits than if he had had to split it with those three mercenaries. Speaking of them, Vash shrugged casually, and leaned back with one hand planted on the table.

"You know, this ship isn't really my style." Vash smiled at her, and glanced around them at the plush gold finishings. "I didn't really have much intention of bringing the artifact back in the first place." It was true. Vash wasn't lying about that, at least. As soon as he had heard that the Senator was offering double - and then he had met her and she had gotten him extremely, disgustingly drunk - he'd made up his mind to return to her with the artifact in hand. "I'll return the ship to my boss. There was no guarantee I'd be able to get the piece, anyway, especially not since his entire team died in there. I'll get a slap on the wrist, and no payment from him. No big deal. I've gotten out of worse. And I really don't want to see some dumb Antillian socialite getting a shiny new rock when we can be the ones who benefit the most."

All in all, it sounded like a good plan to him. "Anyway, I'll just explain that we were jumped by Black Sun, the mercs were killed, and some extremely sexy armoured bounty hunter stole the artifact from right under my nose." Vash smiled, bright and cheeky, and pointed at her discarded armour. "Which isn't too far from the truth, from what I can tell."

Strangely enough, Rae didn't get the sense that he was lying about his plot to double-cross whoever hired him. He was hiding other things for sure, but nothing about his statements rang untrue. Knowing he wasn't in any real jeopardy put her at ease, even though he probably didn't deserve her concern. He was a grown man who'd made plenty of mistakes before and after they'd ever crossed paths. Maybe even their relationship could be counted as one of them.

But that wasn’t relevant. Rae sat up a little, about to agree to his plan to go after the next piece. Then he was pointing at the pile of armor next to her. Game over. She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it quickly and returned his smile. "And here I thought things were going so well," she laughed once, then held her hands up in mock surrender. "Okay. You got me. I was just going to see how long it took you to notice. Hopefully not until we stopped off at Terminus. But you've always been a clever one." She meant it. He came off as a goof, some clumsy, buffoonish, fly by the seat of his pants guy who stumbled through life. But he had tricks up his sleeves.

She stood up, blocking the armor and the treasure, but also standing really close to him. Enough to stretch out her hand and trace a feather light line down his chest with her fingers. Her smile took on a sharp edge. "So. Do you still mean it? I got us the last one. I can probably do it again. But you'd better not try to fuck me over."

Vash raised his hands as if to ward off Rae's compliment, lips still quirked into a lopsided smirk. It faltered a little as she came closer - Vash always felt a little on edge now that they had reunited, like he should be expecting another punch to the jaw at any second. But then her hand was gentle on his chest and he leaned back again, just glancing up at her with a darker look.

This was just too much. He was going to bust if she kept playing this game, with the flirting and the touching and the vague sense of a threat. Dangerous women were, of course, his weakness, and Rae was the most dangerous of them all. "We got the last one," he corrected, and placed his hand over the one she had resting against him. "I wouldn't even think of fucking you in that way." Vash continued, batting his eyelashes in innocence up at her.

She was too close to handle, and while still gripping her hand at his chest he reached his other out to hook her knee, to bend it in a quick movement to pull her even closer and into a straddle over his lap. He wasn't sure whether to expect resistance or if she would lean into it, so he gripped her leg and gazed up at her. This was going to be trouble. But he hoped their interactions might continue like this - tense but flirty, as long as she didn't start to ask him any deep questions about his feelings and why he had left and all of the reasons why he had avoided her for so many years.

Before she could react, he had yanked her to him, kneepad hitting the table edge, his leg caught between hers as she was forced to stand on the tips of her toes. With her hand still between them, Rae instinctively pushed back against his chest, but he had a firm grip on her. And once the initial shock wore off, she didn’t struggle to break free. It wouldn't have taken much - she could slap him with her open hand, over the same purpled spot on his jaw. Telekinetically slam him into the wall or the ceiling like a ragdoll. She could seriously hurt him if she was so inclined. For some reason, she wasn't.

"I have a feeling you're more likely to throw me off a cliff before you took a hit." Vash smiled, a gentle bite behind his words, but pulled her just that tiny bit closer and arched his brows. "Should we seal the deal like old times? You mentioned something about a joyride…" He was highly doubtful that she would take him up on what it was he was suggesting - which had to have been obvious by the way he was holding her and gazing at her - but Vash was as incorrigible as ever, even moreso than when they had been together, and the excuse he gave to himself was that she had started it in the first place. She couldn't expect to kiss him and flirt and touch him that way without him returning the favour.

Instead of pushing him away, Rae relaxed a little, the flash of irritation giving way to an equally mischievous smile as she let some of her weight rest on him. No longer the blushing, prudish virgin he'd seduced away from the ADF all those years ago, she played into his suggestion, dipping her head to his neck, breath ghosting over his skin. Her other hand skimmed the length of his thigh, up to the juncture at his hip, leaving it to rest there. "Oh, it wouldn't be anything like old times," she whispered like a threat. Or a promise. Tilting her head around the other way, she moved in as if to kiss him, but stopped short of touching his lips, giving him a wicked grin. "But you'll just have to dream about it, flyboy." Leg still against the table, she kicked off of it hard enough to break his grip and shoved him back with her other hand, withdrawing from the heated exchange.

Vash seemed to thrive off of riding the line between potentially being murdered or kissed. When Rae leaned into his embrace, he wondered for a moment if he had bitten off more than he could chew. She was intoxicating, and it was dangerous to feel those things again when he had spent so long disconnecting himself from his prior attachment to her. It was just flirting, he reassured himself. Maybe it would be just physical, if anything were to happen. It wouldn't be like when they had been together the first time, when he had run away before he could tell her that he loved her and that it was frightening. Now, though, all he could focus on was how close she was, and how her hair dropped and brushed against his skin, and her lips so close - and then suddenly she was yanking away and Vash let out a groan and went with her shove until he was laid flat against the table.

Raena turned to her stash of armor, picking up the artifact. There was no point in hiding it from him anymore. While she was still a little flushed and more worked up over their close interactions than she wanted to admit, Rae took on a professional tone. "I'm good for my word. I'll split the credits with you, fifty-fifty. If the buyers will only take the full set, maybe we can make a deal with whoever has the other ones... I'm okay with cashing out as long as it's for a fair price. But I'm hanging on to this one until then. We both know it's safer with me. And you know you don't want to cross me."

Reaching his hands up to rub through his hair, Vash just lay there prone, taking a good second to gather his thoughts away from the gutter they had immediately dropped into the moment her hand had come close to his hip. He needed a cold shower - an extremely cold shower. As Rae started talking again and picked up the artifact, Vash propped himself onto his elbows to watch her. It didn't seem like he had much room to negotiate with whoever would keep ahold of the artifact - but, really, it was safer with Rae. She could telekinetically rip apart anyone trying to steal it, and Vash was fine with her taking on that responsibility.

"No need for threats," he smiled easily, "I know you can pop my head off with a thought. I'm not gonna push it." He rose up at that, standing so he could step closer to her and offer one hand out for a shake. "That sounds like a deal to me. Partners?" This was not how he had expected this entire day to pan out. "We'll pick up your bike and take this baby for a spin. Drop her off on Terminus, and head out to get the next piece. Does that work for you?" He wanted to throw in a pipsqueak there, but it was too strong a callback to the way he used to tease her, so he held his tongue and just smiled.

Rae had enjoyed toying with him a little too much. Not just the satisfaction of getting him wound up and left wanting, but there was a familiarity to it, knowing where to touch him and how, flexing old muscle memories. That went both ways, though - Vash still got under her skin, and when he'd caught her off guard by pulling her close, she'd been tempted to cross that line with him. Just a for a second. Get all of the physical tension out of the way so they could focus on the next hunt. But she'd backed off instead, and felt suddenly very eager to locate her hoverbike, then find a shower and a bunk. Only to wash up, or to rest her shoulder. Nothing more than that, even if he was looking over her body like he'd forgotten the shape and wanted to remember what she had going on under the fabric.

She rocked back on her heel when he stepped toward her, uncertain if he meant to grab her again, uncertain if she'd resist twice. But he only offered out a hand. Rae stared at it, then gave him a firm shake, smiling. "Sure. Partners." This wasn't how she expected things to turn out, either - running into Vash, let alone deciding to strike a deal with him, instead of tearing him a new one. He hadn't even bothered asking how she'd been all this time. Hadn't apologized for walking away from her so coldly. Like it didn't happen. Like it didn't matter.

But she needed to get that other piece of the artifact. Raena didn't really know why - the credits were more than she needed to sustain her lifestyle, and she could find other ways to get leverage on Rato. Yet she felt driven to see this through. Like it was more important than anywhere else she had to be. "I had some business on Mahoroba I needed to finish. But I think it can wait a few days." Wasn't like the last dead boyfriend of the senator was going to get deader. "So where's the intel taking us? You have another ship lined up for transport?"

It was tempting to use that grip of her hand to pull her close to him again. He held onto it for a moment too long because he was fighting with the desire to have one more try, one more shot to see how far he could push her and how much she would relent. Vash had never been one to learn when to stop pushing, but the part of him that kept him from drawing her close again was the part that didn't want to see the back of her. He knew that was a risk, that at any second she could be out of his life again and everything would go back to normal. Maybe it would have been better that way - maybe he should be running again, to put enough distance between them before things became even more complicated than they already were. But he liked hearing her say ‘partner' too much and, ultimately, he would probably need her help when it came down to it.

Regretfully, Vash pulled his hand away once she had shaken it, and quickly flexed his fingers and pushed them through his hair again. "Business, huh?" He didn't expect her to answer him on that, and pressed on with a shrug. "Might have a ship. Real pretty, too. If you're lucky I'll show her to you." The Sparrowhawk. Vash took a moment to imagine Rae sitting in the cockpit with him, then shoved it down.

His body was still warm from their moment on the table, and right now it was far too difficult to keep standing so close to Rae in her skintight bodysuit, so he quickly cleared his throat and moved past. Hesitating at the steps that would lead to the cockpit, Vash glanced back at her as casually as possible. "There are bunks - showers. If you want to, y'know. Clean up." Now that would be an impossible situation. "We should get moving, just in case any of those Black Sun idiots got out alive." Vash knew he looked awkward and uncomfortable and couldn't do anything about it - the more he tried to act suave, the worse it got. So he swung himself up into the cockpit and started hitting buttons and flipping switches that made their ship give a low growl and power on.

In an attempt to save face, Vash went straight to humour - and he ducked his head through the cockpit hatch, upside down and grinning at her. "And, you know, if you need someone to help wash your back, I'm here. I've got very good scrubbing hands, I'm sure you can remember."

Rolling her eyes at his last comment, Rae flipped him off and stalked to the other end of the ship in search of personal quarters. Vash mimed grabbing it as if he were catching a blown kiss and fake slipped it into his pocket. He watched her leave - which had always been one of his favourite angles of her to peruse - and then got back to work getting them off the ground. Strapping himself into the pilot's chair - which was just as cushy as the rest of the ship, and not something Vash would complain about - he hummed a random pop song idly as he set about booting up the engines and slowly lifting the ship from the plateau. It was smooth to fly - it was expensive enough to have to be - and Vash was seconds away from kicking them into a gentle ascent into the atmosphere so they could loop over the mountains and go find Rae's bike.

Despite his suggestion, Rae wasn't ready to shower, but she took a little time to freshen up in the head, or at least scrub away some of the dirt and grime caught in her hair and streaking her face. She unzipped the top of her bodysuit, letting her skin breathe and checking the tender shoulder that had blossomed with red and purple marks. It would need ice and rest, and she would need some painkillers, but Rae thought she might be alright by the time they started the next leg of their treasure hunt. She could feel the vessel lifting off, but it was smooth by design, otherwise there wasn't any point in paying a lot for what amounted to a luxury yacht.

The ship suddenly shuddered, throwing Rae against the sink as the lights dimmed. "Ah...shit." Just like Vash had worried, at least some of the Black Sun gangsters had likely made it back to the surface. And even if they didn't escape the cave-in, anyone waiting for their return would've noticed something went wrong after the mountains began to shake. For lack of a better place to put it, she tucked the artifact inside of her bra, closing her top halfway, and ran to the front of the ship.

After turning the ship around, all it took was a second long glance through the transparisteel window to know that it was a Black Sun ship that had snuck up on them, and it had been cloaked or its signal modified so that it hadn't popped up on his radar. "What a cheap trick," Vash grumbled to himself, just as Rae appeared again in the cockpit. He glanced sharply to her as she made herself at home in the co-pilot seat, a comment ready on his tongue about how they were always ending up in worse situations, but he was distracted immediately again by another shot by the gangsters.

"Forget the bike," Rae grunted as she strapped herself into the chair, "Does this thing have weapons?" She studied the blinking controls, not yet touching anything until Vash gave the word.

Vash grit his teeth and twisted their sleek little ship to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast and quickly turning them around so he could start to hightail it out of there. "It's more looks than substance," He grunted out, "But she's got guns." Inclining his head to where Rae would find the controls, Vash directed them to shoot close over the sharp mountain range, hugging close to the earth so the Black Sun's sensors would have difficulty locking on to them to shoot. Their luxury cruiser was built for style and speed, but the Black Sun's was a battle machine, and their weapons would outdo Vash and Rae's in an instant.

As soon as Vash had pointed out the controls to her, Rae was on top of manning weapons. She wasn’t the greatest pilot, but she rarely missed her shots. It took a moment to adjust to the layout and find her rhythm, then she was ready to return fire. The guns weren't powerful enough to penetrate the shields or the hull of the Black Sun vessel, but they didn't need to be. All she had to do was keep them off their tail while Vash flew them to safety. Forcing the other pilot to veer just a little to the left, then to the right, narrowly missing an ice pillar in their path. It bought them a few extra seconds and a few kilometers of distance between ships.

Vash twisted the ship around sharply, the Black Sun shooting out underneath them and having to slow to turn as fast and to catch up again, but once they had they sent out a barrage of oncoming fire again. As they dodged and weaved, Vash gave an over dramatic sigh and cast Rae a teasing look, "You know, you seem to get me into a lot of trouble."

Not wanting to break her concentration, Rae kept her eyes on the console, but smirked at his comment. "What are you talking about? Every time I get on a ship with you, someone's trying to shoot us down." While everything else might have changed, this was just like old times. Getting chased by violent criminals. Vash in the pilot's seat. The thrilling adrenaline rush from being in danger of blown out of the sky. But they would make it - they always did.

Vash laughed at Rae's response. She wasn't wrong. But he flashed her another quick grin as they banked a hard right, and once they had levelled out again he shrugged and said, "Maybe it's both of us, then."

Despite the high risk of their high speed chase, they had this under control. Mostly. Another blast struck their port side, shaking the ship, the straps of her seatbelt biting into her shoulder and forcing a gasp from her. "Think we can lose them?" Rae asked through gritted teeth, pointing at a narrow gap cloven into the mountain. If he could thread the needle - and she knew he could do it - and she could hit the face of the rock wall at the right time, they might just be able to bury the Black Sun under an avalanche.

The jarring shaking of their ship made Vash grunt and focus again, and Rae's suggestion to the cleft in the mountains brought another grin to his face. There was no way they were going to let the Black Sun get them at this point - Vash had no doubt in his mind that they would escape, skin intact. He still hadn't lost his sense of optimism over the years, even though it was often deeply unfounded. Especially now - with the Black Sun loading up their strongest guns behind them.

"You know we can," Vash smirked back to Rae. With her as his co-pilot this would be the easiest escape that he could think of. He usually preferred to fly alone - putting up with the random co-pilots here and there that he would have to use or whoever would man the ships weapons. With Rae, it was easy, and fun, and exactly why he enjoyed flying in the first place. With her, he could relax in his seat, and loose-limbed looked like he was just out for an afternoon spin, not evading death at every second. Eyes bright with determination, he careened their ship sharply towards the mountains. For the Black Sun behind them, it might have looked like a suicide shot - a straight line taking them towards the sheer cliffs, until at the last second Vash let out a low breath, stilled, and twisted the ship smoothly to into a vertical line.

It was a tight fit, but not one that could outdo them, and Vash knew Rae would be seconds behind with whatever she had planned. The Black Sun followed - their ship was bigger, but it was strong and when it clipped the cliff walls it just broke the shale and ice away. Vash could see up ahead a gap large enough for him to shoot them out of and they would come flying out on top of the mountains and able to disappear into the upper atmosphere of Verglas - if Rae could get the Black Sun off their tail long enough.

Much as she liked to make fun of his oft-used phrase of 'I can fly anything', there really weren't many pilots Rae considered to be in the same class as Vash. Whoever was flying the Black Sun ship behind him wasn't bad, but they weren't good enough to make their heavy frigate turn as smoothly or easily as he made it look. She didn't even flinch when the ship made a hard roll to one side, feeling her weight shift uncomfortably with the motion, too focused on pulling off the second part of their escape plan. He didn't even ask what she was planning to do - that was how well they worked together in situations like this. No questions, only a fair amount of faith.

While they had speed on their side, the Black Sun still had better armaments. But that's what Rae was banking on. As they zipped through the crevasse, the ship's sensors picked up two missiles locked on to their trail, getting closer and closer... She wasn't worried, though. For a moment, it was as if she was one with the mountains crowding around them - just ahead and above them, there was an outcropping jutting from the jagged walls, supporting a mound of precariously balanced chunks of ice and boulders. Vash just had to get them ahead of it.

Snapping back to her immediate surroundings, Raena aimed the guns at the missiles, waiting until almost the last moment to pull the trigger. A streak of plasma bolts shot out and struck the projectiles, detonating them before they could reach their ship. The resulting explosion happened just beneath the shelf she'd sensed, shattering the walls and shaking the mountains. There was a slight delay, but just as the frigate came through, the rockslide began, showering the Black Sun in debris. They tried their best to pivot around before they got crushed by stone and a flurry of snow, but it didn't matter - their own cruiser had already broken free and was climbing steadily toward the heights of Verglas' thermosphere.

It wasn't possible to look at Rae while he had them skirting precariously through the crevasse, but he could feel her next to him and they weren't even particularly close. She emanated something when she worked like this, and it was almost intoxicating for him. It felt so right, again, to work in silent tandem like they were now. He knew she would have their backs, and his, even if he didn't deserve that sort of protection. All it took was watching where she aimed those plasma bolts and Vash knew what she had planned, and grinned and gave their ship another last ounce of speed that slingshotted them into the sky and, behind them, the Black Sun either destroyed - or at least considerably stopped - by Rae's ingenuity and his speed.

"Woo!" Vash cried and they soared vertically up - the higher they went, the faster and easier they would be able to put a greater distance between them and the gangsters, if any had survived. It was unlikely - or at least unlikely that they would get their ship out of the rubble fast enough to track them. "I'm guessing you're alright leaving that bike behind?" Vash gave her a grin, adrenaline pumping. They weren't being chased anymore but he kept the speed up and turned them in a flip or two with another ‘whoop' and a laugh, until he had started to calm down enough to level them out enough to safely exit the atmosphere.

Vash paused, finally catching his breath, and leaned back in his chair with a big exhale and another look Rae's way. He took a second to enjoy it all - to enjoy seeing her again, despite the throbbing at his jaw, and enjoy how they worked together, and how he could appreciate this moment without addressing the funny feelings bubbling up inside him again. But they bubbled up anyway, and he caught himself staring, and quickly jerked his gaze away and out to the stars ahead of them. A lopsided smile grew to cover his awkwardness, and he asked with a wink, "Where to next, Captain?"

His excitement was contagious, as even Rae was laughing and grinning broadly as they broke past the cloud cover over the mountains, higher and higher up to the stars. There was really nothing like the rush she got from a high-octane, death-defying race against the odds - and most of those moments had happened when she was flying with Vash. Once the detonation had gone off, she'd released the weapons controls and relaxed in her seat, watching the view in front of them darken into the glittering, serene expanse of space. Below them, Verglas gave off a soft white glow as they flew parallel to the planet's surface. She could feel Vash's eyes on her for a moment, but only turned to look at him when he'd looked away.

"Might as well chart a course to Terminus," she replied with a lazy smile. The rental company could bill her for the bike. "Don't want to lose any time on following this intel." Even with the shortcut of hyperspace, the flight would still take a day. That would be a long voyage for just the two of them. More than enough time for a joyride. Raena glanced over at Vash, as if the absurdity of the situation was only hitting her then. The last man in the galaxy she expected to find and wanted to be around was sitting right next to her.

No regrets about punching him on sight. But in the quiet calm after a harrowing escape, which they'd only managed by trusting each other, she was hesitant to bring up all of the things she'd spent years stewing over. It would have to come up eventually, even if he wanted to dodge the conversation and act like he'd done nothing wrong. For now, she was too tired to argue, and it didn't seem worth it when they'd agreed to keep working together. Maybe they could keep things professional. Unlikely, but possible. "Nice job getting us out of there," she said with utmost sincerity. "I'm gonna go finish washing up. Let me know if you want to trade places." Raena undid her seat belt and slid out of the chair, heading for the hatch. She paused, catching his eyes in the faint reflection on the transparisteel window, "But... I bet you can set this on autopilot, right? You look like you could use a good scrubbing, too."

As soon as she mentioned Terminus, he started charting a course for it immediately. The sooner they were away from Verglas the better he would feel about their victory, and the less likely it would be for the Black Sun to be able to track them, especially once he returned this ship to its rightful owner. Her compliment took him by complete surprise, as well as how genuine it sounded, and he glanced to her quickly and then back to the controls, unsure of how to reply. But as her eyes met his in the ship's wide window, his surprise only doubled. Vash's heart had still been beating fast from their daring escape but at her words it kicked up a sharp notch. His eyebrows arched back at her, and when she didn't immediately follow her words with laughter he abruptly set the ship to autopilot and was unstrapped and out of his chair in seconds.

"I do. I do need a really good scrubbing," smirked Vash, and he moved to join her near the hatch that would lead them down to the rest of the ship and whatever it was she was suggesting. Grinning lewdly, he teased, "I'm just so dirty." He leaned his arm against the wall above her, still just a tiny bit worried that this was all a trick. And maybe it should be - maybe the added complication of joining Raena for a wash was not something either of them needed right now. But that was a problem for future Vash, because present Vash had been thinking about at least kissing her again ever since she had landed one on him outside the caves. Maybe even before that, when she had sucker punched him. Desire was confusing.

Leaning close over her, Vash lifted his free hand to touch gently at her chin and jawline, at the same spot where her fist had left bruises on his own. He wanted to say something with substance, wanted to tell her how he wanted to kiss her, but he felt that if he said that it would make her run away like a wild animal, so instead he grinned. "You wanna lead the way? I love the view from that angle."

This was a terrible idea. Like playing with fire. Teasing him, tempting him, getting him to want her badly was all in good fun. But actually letting Vash get close again seemed like it could only result in disaster. Because as much as she hated what he'd done to her, she still liked the way his hand felt on her chin, how deftly he could pilot a ship and then touch her so gently. All of it was a thrill, sparks shooting across her skin, down her spine. She remembered what it was like to be kissed by him, how addictive it had been, and thinking she could never get tired of it. Except he hadn't felt the same way, clearly, since he'd all but abandoned her. Not long after she'd told him she...

"Love?" she laughed, but it was harsh and humorless. "I don't think you know the meaning." Rae leaned away from his hand, slipping down the hatch to the corridor below. But she didn't storm away angrily, though some part of her wanted to do it, throw a tantrum and scream about how much of an idiot he was. Another part of her still wanted him to follow, to pin him up against a wall and show him what he'd been missing. Neither side was exactly rational. That little voice had gone quiet the moment she'd set foot on the ship with Vash.

Still standing at the end of the hall, she waited a beat, then shouted, "Are you coming or not?" Love didn't have to play a role in any of this.