AJ walked into her family's sitting room. On the left couch sat the three boys. Ivan was in an all-black suit with his head held high. His chaser ID was laid on the table in front of him. He had a bored expression on his face. Michael- a strong boy with brown hair and blue eyes- was in a white suit with a gray tie. He was also a Chaser. Harvey was a very smart fellow, and not very strong. He worked with Willa- AJ's old friend- at Chaser HQ, giving out information to the Chasers. Harvey wore a tweed suit with large glasses. AJ just stared at them in silence.

"Amylia," her father cleared his throat. She glared at him, but he took no notice. "May I present to you your suitors: Ivan Silas, Michael Hart, and Harvey Creen."

AJ stared at them a second longer. "Y'all can leave." She sat down next to Razia who was on the opposite couch and grabbed her hand. "I know I sure as hell am."

"Is this... a joke?" Michael said slowly.

AJ looked over at Razia. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are," Razia responded.

Michael stood up. "This violates Zarrocan laws."

AJ gave him a sideways look. "Don't make me shoot you." She and Razia stood up hand in hand.

"I'll give you one chance to back down, Miss Kane."

"Yeah, I'm gonna say no. See ya." She ducked a punch quickly and kneed Michael in the crotch. "You know, if you weren't such a dick, I might say you're good-looking."

By now, Ivan and Harvey had stood up too. "Amy-"

"Ivan, don't you dare."

"AJ, don't make this hard. Apologize to him and marry the guy." Ivan said, still looking bored. AJ pulled out her gun and flipped off the safety.

"Ivan," she pointed the gun at his chest. "Get out of my way."

"You know they're going to send me after you, and I'm going to find you."

"No, you won't. And if you do, I'll kill myself before you take me."

~*~

AJ woke up in a panic. She was drenched in sweat. It hadn't gone good from there- 4 Chasers killed, and she knew them all. She wasn't sure what scared her more- the fact that she went through with murdering them or that she felt no remorse for what she did.

She looked through the rocket's window- a black expanse with glittery, far-away stars. She was staring into the literal void of space, something no one on Zarroco had done before. Exhaling deeply, she stood up from her pallet on the ground- Razia was still asleep. AJ grabbed her rucksack and pulled out a clean blue t-shirt. She pulled it on and looked at Razia one more time. She kissed her on the head and walked into the cockpit area of the spacecraft.

It was a large, white control center with multi-colored knobs and levers. There was a large screen in the middle of it- 26 hours, 35 minutes, 7 seconds, it read. AJ sighed and sat down in the pilot's chair. They had been in space for 3 days. Oxygen and food were running low. They still had another day until they reached earth. That would not please Razia- apparently, she did not find space as exciting as AJ.

AJ went and pulled a sketchbook out of her rucksack, something she had put in with the rest of her books. She had found some pencils on the rocket and took those as well. Her last drawing had been a castle- she loved castles and knights- and now she was going to begin a dragon.

She sketched quietly and was immersed in her work. Every now and then she would stop and stare at the space ahead of her and listen to the sound of the rocket. She jumped slightly when cold hands touched her shoulder.

"Sorry," Razia whispered apologetically. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's OK," AJ said, looking up. Razia leaned down and pecked her lips. "You call that a kiss?" Razia laughed quietly and gave AJ a longer kiss. "Better." Razia slid into a seat next to AJ.

"So, what are you doing, my love?"

"Just working on this drawing. What are you doing?"

"Hmm... trying to stay awake."

"Will you sing for me?" It was a well-known fact that AJ couldn't sing to save her life, but she loved music. Luckily for her, Razia could sing. She would only sing for AJ, and AJ loved it.

"What do you want me to sing?"

"Gasoline." It was an Earthling song, yes, but one of AJ's favorites. "Then Bad At Love, please."

"OK." Razia took a deep breath.

         "Are you insane like me?

          Been in pain like me?

          Bought a hundred-dollar bottle of champagne like me?

         Just to pour that motherfucker down the drain like me?"

AJ smiled as she listened to Razia sing. She continued to sketch her dragon as Razia went on to the chorus.

         "All the people say

         You can't wake up

         This is not a dream.

          You are part of a machine

          You are not a human being

          With your face all made up

          Living on a screen

          Low on self-esteem

          So you run on gasoline"

AJ loved to pull apart songs and this was her favorite. She liked to relate it to her life. She was part of a machine, just a Zarrocan pawn like everyone else. She meant nothing to the Zarrocan leader. Everyone in Zarraco conformed to be covered in make-up and fakeness. And god, oh god, she hated it. Razia ended the song and AJ held up her dragon for her inspection.

"You amaze me, love. That's incredible." Razia said.

AJ shrugged. "It's meh."

The couple continued on into space, counting the minutes- the seconds- until they touched land.