You stared in horror as the man's head bounced on the ground, smile still wide on his face before it had registered it's decapitation.


His sliced neck hit the floor first then jumping slightly like a ball, bouncing two more times before rolling under an empty table and out of sight.

It took a few tense moments to pull your gaze away from the shadowed booth where the unseen head rested and when you finally turned away you realized there was nothing but chaos now.

After watching one of their buddies get executed, headless body still sitting in the booth, they attacked.  One of the few who had brought his musket to the dining car pulled it out and fired wildly, rage set on his face and eyes screaming for bloodshed.  You shrieked, hastily taking shelter under the booth and covered your head with your hands.  This turned out to be a good idea as the walls became littered with bullets, the officer obviously not caring if he injured civilians.

You jolted when a sound of a body near you hit the floor, the husband in the booth opposite you having been hit while his wife screamed and quickly fell to the floor and shake him, her face now streaming with tears as she sobbed hysterically.  You paled and looked away before you could even think of what you just witnessed.  Hopefully he was alive...

"You bastard!!"

Your head snapped up at the shout, watching the end of the car as one of the military men charged forward with a steak knife, seeming to have no weapon on him at all.  The stranger in black easily dodged his swipes, and though you couldn't see his face, you got the impression he found this attack mildly inconvenient.  The swordsman grabbed the officer's arm and twisted it with ease, making him cry out in pain and drop the knife.  You noted all but one of his buddies had been taken out easily and you wondered how the attacker had done that in so little time.  The other officer left was cowering in his booth and trying to load his pistol, but he kept dropping the bullets with his shaking fingers.

The man in black seemed to have asked the man in his hold something only to be replied with a shake of the head that meant no.  Obviously not liking the response, he gave the officer's arm a hard twist until it popped, making the man fall to the floor and cradle his broken limb.  His cry of pure agony and the sight of watching such a thing caused you to whimper, but you quickly covered your mouth when the attacker turned towards the noise.  He looked right at you with cold grey eyes that looked like the could freeze over hell itself.  You could only stare back in dread, wondering why he was doing all these horrible things until you noticed the last man standing had finally loaded his gun.

Your eye movement alerted the cold eyed man, his form dodging the rapid fire shots of the pistol.  He was crying out each time he missed, tears of fear running down his face until the pistol stopped firing and just clicked over and over.  The swordsman moved out from behind his cover, gripping his sword tightly and ready to attack.  But before he could do anything, the officer pulled out something from his coat pocket and threw it wildly and without hesitation.  The man in black quickly took cover when he realized what it was but he didn't really need to as the desperate toss caused the object to bounce off his overturned table and towards where you and the couple were.  It bounced again and into the air above the tables, shining a bright blue as it flew closer towards the wall and-

You quickly covered your ears as a blast went over you, eyes shut tight as the woman under the table on the other side of the dining car screamed, the blast making a hole in the wall above her.  The sound of rushing wind entered the car and papers, napkins, and other lightweight items quickly flew out into the dark, night sky like a vacuum sucking in air.  You looked at the stranger as she cowered, her fancy yellow dress in tatters and dirty with wine while her husband laid unconscious next to her.

Gulping, your eyes widened when you noticed the pool of blood forming beneath him and started to feel sick.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!"  The man shouted further down the car as gunshots sounded, making you flinch and cover your head, fearful of a stray bullet.  It the seemed soldier had taken the time to quickly reload his gun while the grey eyed man had taken cover.

But for some reason, his bullets weren't hitting, and not because of his shaky arm like before.  It was like his bullets weren't even firing close and the male in his long black coat with it's smiling skull was walking towards the officer.  His sword was back in it's sheathe and he was doing something strange with his right hand, the rings on his fingers making a whirling sound as the tiny gears turned and clanked together.  He raised his palm, his other one still gripping his long, intimidating weapon and said something you couldn't hear over the howling wind.

An alarming screech abruptly sounded as the car started to lean to one side, almost making you tumble over to the other table where the woman and her husband hid.  You quickly grabbed onto the bolted down booth and whimpered as nausea welled up inside you once more.  The train then righted itself and you were all flat once more.

A soft clatter reached your ears as something landed in the aisle between you and the woman.  You opened your eyes and stared at the glowing trinket, noting it was no bigger than a pocket watch and oddly shaped.  It almost looked like the thing that the officer had thrown earlier-

The woman screamed once more and quickly covered her possibly dead husband's body with her own.  You were too afraid and confused to realize what was happening until you noticed the item was shining a bright blue, the light growing brighter and brighter with each passing second.  The object gave one last bright flash before turning completely blue, alerting you that this was it... 

Until an ear piercing screech sounded as the train finally start to skid to a halt, the momentum making the bomb fly forward to the back where the two men were still fighting.  At the same time, the sudden stop caused you to fly forward as well, head smacking hard into the metal work of the table and form a deep gash on your forehead.  You felt yourself go dizzy as your body slowly slumped to the ground and your vision turn darker and darker.

The swordsman in black heard a rattling behind him then noticed the glowing object slide between his feet and stop in the middle of him and the other officer.  He reacted more quickly than any normal person, jumping for cover in an intact booth while the other man stood dumbly, staring at the grenade with wide eyes-

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

You weren't sure if the sickness you felt was because someone had died horribly in front of your eyes if it was the horrible head injury you were hurting from.  All you knew was that there was a lot of smoke and luckily too thick to really see the damage.  The train jerked once more as it finally stopped but your eyes were already closed as you faded out and into unconsciousness.


~


"_________!"

You blinked in surprise, not expecting to see Robin's face right in front of yours. 

"Robin?  What are you doing on the train?"  You frowned, looking around at your surroundings when you noticed it was nothing like your room you had rented out.  Actually, it looked a bit familiar...

She looked a bit relieved and smiled, "You're home.  After the accident you were taken to the hospital but since you didn't see your injury as anything life threatening I was able to bring you home."

"...H-Home?"

You looked around in confusion.  Yeah, it did kind of look like your room.  It even had your cat who was rubbing his paws on the side of your mattress before scurrying off to do some other cat thing.

"________,"  Robin said softly and frowned when you kept looking around with a dazed look.  "_________."

You finally looked up at her, seeing the concern in her eyes.  "You were out for three days."

"T-Three?  Three days?"  You were finally catching on, everything becoming more focused and real now.  "B-But!!  How!?"

You reached out to touch your forehead as you felt a pounding in your head and quickly pulled away when your hand touched what felt like cotton.  Robin gently grabbed your hand and placed it back in your lap, checking the spot carefully.

"Careful, you're still hurt.  The doctor said to leave this alone for a little while."

Doctor?  Accident?  Three days?  You don't remember any reason why...No, you know you did.  It had something to do with a train.  Most of it was slowly coming back to you when Robin gently touched your cheek, startling you from your thoughts.

"You need to rest," She insisted.  

Rest did sound good.  You closed your eyes a little and felt relieved that your headache seemed to lessen a bit.  A nice nap....


You opened your eyes again, but instead of seeing Robin like you had expected, the room was empty and dark.  Not at all bright like it had been when you had first woken up.  You must have really passed out.  

Your body begged you to just do it again but the sound of voices outside your room made you curious.  Though it was close to pitch black, there was a bit of light coming out from under your closed door and what looked like movement.  Getting up, you shakily made your way towards it, not realizing that you had almost fallen a good few steps.

When you finally made it and opened the door, you looked down to see your cat waiting patiently.  He looked up at you with his large yellow orbs before skittering into your room, now wanting more then ever to be in there since it had been closed for hours.  You stared at the spot he had been before continuing onward down your narrow hallway.  The voices seemed louder now until you realized they were in your living room.

The voices suddenly stopped when you stepped into the doorway.  There were three people here, Robin being one who was sitting in your armchair while the other two sat tensely on the red chesterfield across from her.  The other woman wore red rimmed glasses and had her black hair tied back from her kind looking face, wearing a strange floral top and white jacket and...

You mentally gasped, having never seen a woman wear pants before.  You had heard it was a new thing, most likely a fad, but to actually see it?  And in your home?  Fascinating.

The fact she was wearing pants almost distracted you from the sword leaning against the side of the couch next to her and you suddenly felt sick.

"________,"  Robin stood, blocking your view of the weapon.  "You shouldn't be up."

"I-I heard voices," You whispered, sounding like a child who had just had a nightmare.

"O-Oh!  We're sorry-"  The woman in pants said quickly as she stood.  She genuinely looked concerned at waking you but then the third person stood and silenced her.

This one was a broad shouldered, tall and nicely fit, his waist thick with muscles.  He had slicked back silver hair and a long, terrifying looking scar on his forehead.  He wore navy pants, black gloves and a long white jacket that lay opened and showed...nothing...He wore no shirt and didn't seem the least bit modest he was practically half naked in your living room.  You quickly wondered why it was so hazy until your realized the man was also smoking two cigars in his mouth.

That was definitely not good for his health...

"If you're awake then we can do what we came here for."  The man grunted out, arms crossed as he looked at you with serious eyes.

Robin turned and glared, "She's still hurt.  I told you that she won't answer any of your questions, detective."

Detective?  You looked back at the man and studied him, wondering why a detective was in your home.

"She's the last and one of the few who saw the incident.  I need all I can to continue on my investigation.  If she's able to stand then she can handle a talk."  The man scowled, not looking the least bit caring of your situation.

This made Robin seem to bristle, though she hid it quite well.  You knew she was now about to turn into the infamous ice queen she had been known for in the field so you quickly stepped forward and sat in the last free chair and smiled.

"I'll answer to the best of my ability."  You noted that you felt much better now that you were sitting and watched as the other three warily sat back down as well, watching you closely as if you were a sideshow attraction.  

Robin sighed and gestured to the two strangers in front of you.  "They are Detectives Tashigi and Leading Detective Smoker.  They are investigating what happened when you were on assignment."

"Okay."  You watched as the man as he pulled out a notebook and prepared to write down everything you said, looking at you with his narrowed eyes.  You wondered if he ever seemed to relax, he looked like a wound up dog ready to attack at anything that so much as looked wrong.

"I need to know everything you saw on the train the day of the incident," The man started out, but his partner quickly interrupted him.

"Ah!  If you can-!"  She quickly got quiet when her superior gave her a glare.  You felt a bit annoyed at how rude he was being.  He was half naked in your living room, smoking two cigars without care if you even liked anyone smoking inside, and now he didn't seem to care if you could remember or not so long as he could get whatever he wanted out of you.

It was like this throughout the whole interview, he would ask something and you would bristle a little at his rude tone or how blunt he was.  You were growing to dislike the man the more and more you talked and you quickly wanted to get rid of him.  Even your headache seemed to grow worse the more you were in the same room as him.  And what was worse, he knew it.  Smoker seemed to know exactly how you felt about him and it didn't seem to affect him one bit, only going forward with his job and nothing else.  It was a bit maddening.

You surprisingly remembered everything, down to the last detail.  You recounted all the things that had happened up until the point where the bomb had landed between you and the other people on the train, after that it was all a blank space in your memory.

"That's it?"  He asked with a scowl, making your patience finally wane thin.

"Yes," You scowled right back, something that was a bit out of character for you.  He glared at you a moment before standing and putting his notebook in his inner jacket pocket.

"Let's go Tashigi, we got what we could."

You crossed your arms in annoyance, feeling that you had given an excellent account of what had happened, but he still sounded disappointed.  Well, it wasn't your fault and it's not like you were the one who caused the whole thing to happen!!  

He looked at your huffy form and blew out a puff of smoke, "Be sure to change those bandages."

You looked up, confused.

"They'll get infected if you wear them days at a time.  Wash before putting on new ones then stay out of a bright room for a while or the headache will get worse."

You blinked in surprise as he turned and left the room without another word, Robin leading them out.  You briefly wondered if he was trying to help because he'd gone through the same recovery from the scar he had.  Then you wondered why he seemed to even care?

Robin came back minutes later and sat down next to you, tucking some hair behind your ear.

"Are you okay?"

Looking at her, you nodded slightly.  She smiled before handing you a card.  On it was a telegraph number and address.  "This is the detective's information.  He said to call if you remembered anything more and needed anything..."

You frowned and stared at the card, listening to her continue.  "He also brought home your stuff."

"My stuff?"  You looked up with a frown again and she laughed.

"Your luggage.   Everyone had gotten their belongings back but since you were taken to a hospital you didn't get yours back.  He thought it'd be easier to bring it with him instead of you waiting for the company to mail it."

Well...Maybe you weren't so sure if the Detective was such a jerk after all.  Maybe he was secretly a cream puff?  A hard shell with a fluffy inside.

You held back a laugh at the thought and found yourself leaning against Robin without meaning to.

"You're still tired," She smiled, helping you up and leading you back down the hall.  She shooed the cat off the bed and dutifully tucked you in, making you feel special that this amazing woman was taking the time out of her day to take care of you.

You sniffled, prone to cry easily at situations like this.  "T-Thank you Robin, you're my best friend."

She looked shocked for a long pause then smiled warmly and patted your cheek.  "Get some rest, we miss you at the office."

And like that, you were out once more.

~~

You woke up to your cat laying on your chest, staring at you and demanding to be petted.  You groaned and sleepily stroked his orange fur, too tired to just turn over on your side to get him to leave.  The tomcat purred in content as you did this for a while before finally getting off to go do cat stuff.  Once he was gone you realized how awake you were now and started to move.

Your bare feet touched the cold, wood floor of your room and you hissed, wishing you could just buy one of those giant rugs the train had...

The train...Where people had died.  You stood and pushed the memory into the back of your mind, intent on getting some food.  No need to make yourself feel sick with worry over strangers and their families; a good meal would help you get through this right now.

You left your room and went towards the kitchen, turning on the gas lamps before searching through your pantry for something quick and easy.  You found some bread and figured it was good enough.

Time seemed to feel like it was skipping for some reason, one moment you would remember doing something and the next you would just sit and stare into space for who knew how long.  It was a bit alarming and you hoped this didn't last for much longer.  Perhaps it was your head injury still at work?

It must have been real bad to finally realize Robin wasn't anywhere in your house now.  You looked around after finishing your humble meal before finding a note taped to the pantry door.  You wondered how you had missed it as you read it over.