Jupiter Ascending /Caine Wise

Chapter 5 - Queen Bee

Caine and Jupiter stare out at the highway in front of them, in a stolen car. Turning to Caine, she says still out of breath, "L-look it, I just need to know what in hell is going on!?!"

"I think we may have stumbled into a war within the Abrasax family, " Caine explains as he glances at her and back to the road.

"The Abrasax family?" she said, scrunching up her eyebrows.

"They are by far the most powerful dynasty in the universe."

"I don't care who they are. They can't just blow up a bunch of buildings and get away with it..."Jupiter's voice is strained to the point of cracking at the emotion of what is happening. Looking at Caine, she tries to decipher his thoughts, but he remains focused on the road, determined to get away from the city

"Those buildings will be rebuilt by tonight." Caine explains, somewhat impressed that she is not deterred or intimidated by such power.

"That's impossible..." Jupiter says doubtfully.

"Look behind you."

Jupiter turns in her seat to look out of the rear window. Already much of the damage is repaired. Stunned, she shakes her head trying to take this all in. "Holy crap, But a bunch people, they saw it... they can't cover that up."

"You have a picture of some keepers on your phone that you can't remember taking, right?" looking over to Jupiter as she recalls looking at the photo while waiting in the clinic. "They blanked you," he continues. "Short term stuff is easy. They won't get everyone, but nobody ever believes the ones that slip through the cracks."

"Oh my god," she breathes, looking out her window. "Why is this happening to me?"

"I asked Titus that when I took this job. All he said was 'it was personal.'" he replied in a serious tone.

"This is ridiculous, " she says, turning to face Caine again. "I've never even met this Titus whats-his-name."

"Abrasax," Caine supplies. "The House of Abrasax. It has three primary heirs, the eldest is Balem. He is the one who controls this planet and he is the one who obviously wants you dead."

"This is insane. I swear I'm a nobody."

Never would I think that the remarkable woman in the seat next to me was a nobody. Instead he only says, "Balem wouldn't just destroy an entire city for a nobody."

As they continue to drive, they turn off onto gravel roads with cornfields on either side. Jupiter looks in the cars glove box for something to write a note for the owner. Looking over at Caine, she gasps when sees blood seeping through his shirt, "Oh my god, you're bleeding."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." Caine says casually.

Reaching into the glove box she says, "Lucky for you this car is owned by a woman." Pulling out a pad she reaches across Caine's abdomen and gently presses it to his wound.

"What is that? Is that a... " Caine says pulling back and looking down at a feminine hygiene pad. Jupiter shrugs as she continues to hold it to his rib cage. She is so close he can feel her breath on his arm. A delicate strand of hair falls over her face as she leans in looking at his side. He has to resist the urge to tuck the hair behind her ear. Breathing in he can smell the shampoo in her hair. Caine clenches his jaw as he grips the steering wheel.

"I want to thank you..." Jupiter says after a moment of silence. "for saving my life. I've never been so scared when I started falling..." Caine nods stiffly and averts his eyes back to the road. Slowly he turns his head back to her, gazing into her golden brown eyes. Continuing, she says softly "...and then you were there." Caine turns his eyes back to the road and Jupiter asks, "D-do you do this thing a lot?"