𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 (Kill Bill)

𝐕.

𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑: 𝐕

𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Danielle and Budd watched from the doorway as she came speeding down the road in her black Pontiac.

She looked entirely out of place in her black suit, a bright red suitcase in hand as she strode up to the door.

"Budd," she greeted, breezing past him without a care. She flashed a smile, laced with poison, in Danielle's direction. "Dani."

Danielle kept a tight hold on the sword, her knives close at hand. She stuck close to Budd as Elle settled down at the table. If anything went wrong, she'd be ready. Though, with four years of no practice, she was pretty sure the scales were not exactly tipped in her favor.

Budd prepared drinks as he explained what he had done to Beatrix.

Elle actually seemed kind of impressed, something that Danielle had never seen from the California Mountain Snake.

"So that's a Texas funeral?" she asked Budd.

"Yep," Budd answered.

Elle nodded. "I have to give it to ya, Budd. That's a pretty fucked-up way to die. What's the name on the grave she's buried under?" She drew a notepad from inside her jacket.

"Paula.." Budd began, trying to remember as he tossed ice cubes into the blender.

"Paula Schultz," Danielle concluded. She blinked back all thoughts of Beatrix being dropped into that hole.

Elle scribbled the name down, her eye landing on the sword in Danielle's hands. "Can I look at it?" she asked.

Budd pointed to the suitcase with a bottle of tequila. "That's our money right there in that red bag, isn't it?" he responded.

"It sure is," Elle said.

"Well, then, it's your sword now. Dani, give it up." He didn't turn away from the blender as he poured in tequila and margarita mix.

Danielle made no moves.

Elle's eyebrow raised. "You really don't want to fight this fight, kid," she said.

Budd's voice was firm as he slapped the lid on the blender. "Give up the damn sword, Dani. It's over." He pressed a button on the blender, filling the trailer with the sound of blades whirring and ice crushing.

She handed it over without a word, eyes locked with Elle's, who flashed another terrible smile.

She mouthed out a 'thank you' before she drew the sword from its sheath, admiring the blade. She said something that neither Danielle nor Budd could hear over the sound of the blender.

Budd turned it off as he asked, "What's that you said?"

She put it back in the sheath. "So this is a Hattori Hanzo sword," she repeated.

"That's a Hanzo sword, all right," Budd agreed, tossing the blender lid onto the counter like it was a Frizbee.

"Bill tells me you once had one of these of your own," Elle said.

"Yeah, once," Budd said, grabbing glasses from the cupboard.

"Yeah? How does this one compare to that?"

Budd didn't answer for a moment. He occupied himself with pouring the drinks, one for everyone. "If you're gonna compare a Hanzo sword, you compare it to every other sword ever made- -wasn't made- - by Hattori Hanzo."

He cleared his throat, handing a glass to Elle. "Here you go," he said. "Wrap your lips around that."

He handed a glass to Danielle, as well, before he sat on the couch, pulling the suitcase toward him. Danielle sat beside him. Her hands were shaking as she took a drink.

"So..." Budd said, propping a leg up on the suitcase, "... which 'R' are you filled with?"

"What?" Elle asked.

"They say the number-one killer of old people is retirement. People got a job to do, they tend to live a little bit longer so they can do it. I've always figured that warriors and their enemies share the same relationship. So now that you're not gonna have to face your enemy no more on the battlefield, which 'R' ya filled with?"

Elle leaned back in the rocking chair she was sat in, considering the question as Budd continued, "Relief? Or regret?"

She shook her head slightly. "A little bit of both."

Danielle scoffed, and Budd agreed, "Horseshit. I'm sure you do feel a little bit of both. But I know damn well that you feel one more than you feel the other. And the question was, which one is it?"

"Regret," Elle answered in a soft voice.

Budd nodded. "You know, you gotta hand it to the old girl. I never saw anybody Buffalo Bill the way she buffaloed Bill. Bill thought she was so damn smart. And I tried to tell him she was just smart for a blonde." He chuckled as he waved a hand toward Danielle. "That's why I stick with brunettes."

He picked up the suitcase, settling down at the table. Elle watched from the rocking chair. Danielle remained firmly rooted on the couch.

Something very bad was going to happen.

He unzipped the suitcase, opening it to reveal stacks upon stacks of money. A laugh escaped him. He looked at Danielle, first. "Look at us," he said. "Movin' up in the world." Then, he looked at Elle, who had risen from her seat. He was grinning. "Thanks a bunch."

She just nodded, raising her glass to him. Danielle took a drink. Her hands were shaking enough that it nearly spilled.

He started to take stacks of money from the suitcase, flicking through one of them with a satisfied sort of smirk on his face. "All right," he said, drawing away two more stacks.

Danielle heard the hissing.

She saw a shape emerge from the suitcase, lunging out at him.