Chasing Nothing

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Author's Note: Have always loved Mirror's Edge, and was inspired by an event in my own life. Aliya's name is pronounced Uh-lee-yah, but if you wish to pronounce it differently, have at it. I do not own Mirror's Edge etc, simply my own ideas and of course, Aliya.

No one knew that when Faith took the major fall that put her out of commission, she did it on purpose. She had tried to hurt herself. Maybe not exactly kill herself, but she had been asking for it—pushing herself to run in ways that she knew she couldn't handle and wasn't ready for. She wanted to be forced to stay behind. So she did it anyway. And she knew when she jumped off the corner of the building that she wasn't going to make it. Faith wanted to fall. Faith hadn't lost faith, she was chasing after it.

For someone as strong as Faith was, no one would have ever expected her to do it. But Faith would never try to fall for no reason. There was a reason, and that reason had been Aliya.

Aliya was another runner. Part of a different sect of the runners, and Faith had seen her for the past year on and off as she ran and dove and slide off and on the rooftops of New Eden. Aliya was beautiful, but what really drew Faith to her, was the fact that she had just as much confidence as Faith. Aliya's confidence didn't come from her shoulder length hair that she dyed a pure snow white, or her flawless skin. It didn't come from her perfect body, nor did it come from her incredible running skills: It came from her outgoing personality. It wasn't an overbearing personality; Aliya wasn't afraid to put herself out there, to make jokes, to be a little dramatic to crack a smile on people's faces. In fact, Faith noted, had New Eden existed many years ago before the rebellion and mass government oppression, Aliya would have probably been in theater. Not the stand alone theater person who bathed in the limelight, but the theater person who simply loved to perform and make others smile and laugh.

Aliya was so very different from Faith though. Faith usually kept to herself. She wasn't the outgoing type, and especially not a theater person, but she admired Aliya. Faith had, had this crazy idea that she wanted to get to know Aliya better, and maybe it could lead to other things.

Faith began to request specific handoffs from Merc, knowing it could possibly put her in direct contact with Aliya. And it did. It worked so perfectly well, that when Faith vaulted over the small service shed and caught a flash of bright white hair out of the corner of her eye, she froze up and almost forgot to land, pulling herself into a tight somersault at the last second. However, despite Faith's last minute save, she still managed to land fairly heavy and fast, careening out of control and nearly flying off the edge of the building.

Faith hurriedly picked herself up and awkwardly thrust the bag at the now laughing Aliya. Faith mentally kicked herself. Her chances with Aliya were shot, but god she was so damn beautiful. Faith's eyes discreetly ran from the bottom of Aliya's black running shoes, up her smooth exposed long legs to the white shorts, across the slightly loose one shoulder black tank top that just barely hugged her curves, and revealed her strong shoulders and toned arms, the runner's telltale mark embodied in red satin cloth wrapped around each lower forearm. Faith's eyes continued higher to Aliya's neck, the neck that Faith so desperately wanted to kiss and suck on, to her softly defined chin, high cheek bones, and dancing dark eyes, Aliya's left eye almost hidden by bangs, as Faith's own eyes were drawn back down by her beautiful white hair. Faith caught herself staring. She could have sworn Aliya caught her too, and give her a slight smirk, but before she could confirm, Faith abruptly turned to run off and race home to bury herself in a hole. Aliya called out to her.

"I know your name's Faith, but maybe it should be the 'Flying Squirrel.' Aliya then continued to laugh. Faith was mortified, but she couldn't turn herself away. At Faith's apparent awkward frozen silence, Aliya's eyes quickly faded from amused to apologetic, "I'm sorry. It was just really funny to see you fall, but OH GOD no I didn't mean to say that it was funny to see you mess up or anyth—"

"You know my name?" Faith asked incredulously.

Aliya, caught a little off guard shrugged, "Yeah, I mean, I heard all about you last year. I worked a lot with Celeste. Didn't she tell you?"

Faith shook her head gently as a no, her soft black hair swaying with her movements, but she knew. Oh she knew a lot actually. How Aliya had fallen for Celeste, and how Celeste had led her on a little. How Celeste had really been chasing after another runner girl, and had let Aliya get crushed. But Faith was truthfully a little happy it had happened. Now Aliya could forget about Celeste, and hopefully be able to focus on Faith. Hopefully.

"Uh…I have to get back to work, but I'll see you around," Aliya smiled. Faith snapped back to reality—she hadn't noticed her sudden drift off from the world.

"Yeah, see ya," Faith quietly replied, waving. Aliya turned and gracefully leaped off the building to a platform below. As Faith watched her go, she couldn't help but notice her beautiful form as it grew smaller and smaller. The only indications that it was Aliya were the two red armbands.

The casual handoffs had continued, and Faith, being so incredibly unskilled at the art of small talk, continued to fumble her words around and embarrass herself. Aliya was nice enough to her, but Faith wanted more. She wanted Aliya. She wanted Aliya's body. She wanted everything. And so far all she had gotten were the 'how's it goings' and 'the sky is so blue' comments out. So stupid. Faith was frustrated. She had been running and running, trying to get Aliya out of her head, but she just couldn't. Exasperated, Faith stopped. She calmly walked to the edge of the very tall building she had somehow ascended, and looked down past her toes to the seemingly endless space that separated her and the cold hard ground below.

Did she really want to be with Aliya? Or did she just want Aliya? Faith wasn't sure. And that was the hard part. Risk hurting Aliya to experiment and figure it out, or let herself be confused and regretful at the end of the day. What to do? But Faith barely knew Aliya at all. Perhaps a casual hook-up wouldn't be entirely out of the question. Maybe it would clear things up for herself. Plus Aliya was so beautiful, so sexy, so….desirable. Faith knew she wanted that girl's body. She wanted to touch her and make her moan, she wanted to let her fingers slip past unknown folds and ju—was that bad? Faith wondered and sighed out loud. No, hook-ups couldn't be good, but they were always fun.

How much time did she have left to even pursue Aliya? Not much. Merc was talking about moving hideouts closer to the middle of New Eden to take the brunt of the secret underground. There had been talk of a counter runner force, what with the massive political tensions that were rising. Faith would be closer to her sister, Kate, who was on the police force, but Faith would instead be farther from Aliya. Being that far from the outer city where Aliya's sect worked would be hard, not to mention being closer to Jacknife's group. It would be dangerous. Jacknife's group had always been questioned. If she potentially tried a long distance relationship with Aliya, and Jacknife got ahold of that, he would hold it over her head and soul to find a good blackmailing return price. What a snake.

Faith's thoughts were interrupted by a small click. She whipped around. It had sounded like a camera lens click, but she saw no one. Faith's almond eyes narrowed and she slunk behind some nearby crates, cautiously peering out to see if the click had been real or if it was merely her imagination. A subtle movement behind a heating unit caught her attention, and she silently launched herself up and over the crates and landed barely making a sound. But whoever was hiding behind the heating units heard her land, and dashed off. Faith began chasing after her unwanted photographer. She couldn't see the face, but the entire body was obscured in foreign baggy clothing that could hint as a guy or girl. Faith had the stranger cornered on one side of the building. Confident of her success, Faith began to slow. The photographer didn't stop though, and practically flew off the building. Faith's blood went cold. Did she just force an innocent photographer off the edge of a building to their death? Rushing to the edge, Faith instead looked on in shock as he photographer had landed safely on a building several meters below and across. Whoever they were turned and looked at Faith for a few moments before turning and running away lightly.

Faith panicked. She knew Merc had talked about a possible counter runner force. This had to be them. Her heart racing in apprehension, Faith sprinted back to the lair, scared out of her mind at the possibility of the rooftops, HER rooftops, no longer being safe.

Faith hadn't gone out running for days, the encounter with the photographer had gotten to her. She lay on her simple tatami mat on the floor of the hideout, and stared out the diagonal opening. Merc would come and go, as would Celeste and some of the other runners under Merc. But Faith wouldn't go back out no matter who talked to her. They were now all in search of the strange photographer. Merc had originally panicked when Faith told him. Merc was normally a very calm and collected guy despite his occasional outbursts when his runners were in a tight spot, but he literally had to take a moment and sit down. He had told them how he truly thought the counter runner force was merely a rumor being spread to scare runners away from continuing their services to the city's oppressed citizens. But this seemed to change everything.

"I need to get in contact with the other runner groups. They all need to know and be warned in case of an attack," Merc finally stated. He calmly stood and walked over to the comm. system.

Faith was suddenly reminded of Aliya. Though her and Aliya didn't really have anything, she still wanted to warn her in case anything could happen. She wondered what Aliya would do when she found out. That was when Merc decided to take the rest of the team out to begin searching for this counter runner force. He let Faith stay, and she lie angered. Her red running shoes neatly displayed against the wall above her head. How could anyone make her feel so threatened? She was Faith goddammit! One of the best runners in all of New Eden! No one took away her prized possession, her safe haven, her passion, her life!

But here she was, staring at that damn diagonal opening. If they moved to a new place, she wanted a lair with a ceiling opening. That way she could drop in and not have to awkwardly slide in sideways. But before she could ponder more about her dream hideout in New Eden, a foreign figure slide through said diagonal opening. Faith tensed, and leapt up. Before the intruder had time to scout out his surroundings, Faith barreled into him, sending both of them flying into the wall. Faith scrambled up, ready to attack again, but the intruder halted her in her tracks.

"Dammit, I told you, you should have been called the 'Flying Squirrel!'"

Faith froze in shock, "A…Aliya….?" Her mouth hung open as the hood came off and Aliya's shimmering white hair fell down to her shoulders, "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Faith rushed to help Aliya up.

Aliya grimaced slightly but smiled her mischievous little smile, "That's a cute look for you, complete shock. Just wait until I show you what I have," and from her pocket she produced a folded piece of paper.

Faith took it, and opened it before dropping it on the ground and taking a few steps back. The paper lay open on the ground, revealed to be a photograph; a photograph of Faith standing on the edge of a very tall building, looking down past her toes to the ground below.

"Like it?" Aliya grinned, "You looked so serene, and the photograph was just too good of an opportunity, so I took it. Then you got all crazy and panicky so I took off. Didn't want to ruin the surprise."

"Y-you! You mean YOU'RE the one who took the photo of me?" Faith seethed, "You made me think you were a damn counter runner! And then I told Merc, and now he's out looking for the counter runner, who's YOU, but he won't find you because you're HERE!"

Aliya's eyes narrowed, "Geez. That's the most you've ever talked to me. And it's not even a 'Hey thanks Aliya for the picture!' your paranoid ass is welcome!" She strutted over to the window seat that was inlaid into the wall and kicked her slim black running shoes off

"Don't you dare make fun of me! I've been trying my damn hardest to talk to you, and now I don't even want to anymore! Get out of here!" Faith yelled, her red gloved hand forming a fist.

Then Aliya jumped up and slapped Faith. Tears welled up in Faith's eyes, and she reeled backwards in shock from the attack, before doubling around and crashing into Aliya again, pinning her to the wall, "What the hell do you think you're doing? I can't believe I ever wanted to talk to you!"

Faith was so close to Aliya, she saw the tears that also welled up in Aliya's beautiful eyes. Faith trembled, but she was so infuriated. Before Faith could think anymore, Aliya closed the gap between their faces, and pressed her lips against Faith's. Faith was in shock again. She froze for a moment, but she suddenly found herself kissing Aliya back. Her lips pressed against Aliya's, then barely closed around her bottom lip. Aliya felt the momentary weakness, and shoved Faith back, spinning them and slamming Faith against the wall, feverishly pressing her lips against the black haired girls' lips once more.

"Don't you dare tell me you're never going to talk to me again," Aliya forcefully whispered into Faith's lips as she ran her tongue across the slightly taller girls' bottom lip. Faith's mouth opened slightly in an involuntary moan, and Aliya slipped her tongue into Faith's mouth, massaging her tongue, and Faith's initial resistance lessened into an aggressive battle against Aliya's tongue. Aliya's hands were still holding Faith against the wall, and she pressed her body into Faith's, their breasts pushing against each other. Aliya pushed her leg in between Faith's legs and up causing Faith to break their heated kiss and let out a moan.

Faith was struggling. She felt so good, but dammit she was supposed to be angry! She couldn't get out of Aliya's grasp though, so she moved her head down and bite Aliya's neck. Aliya let out a cry of surprise, and Faith found herself being turned on by her cry. Their aggressive battle for dominance continued as the rusty brown haired girl leaned down and kissed Faith's neck, opening her mouth and tracing small circles against Faith's neck, even as Faith tried to resist and instead was pushing into Aliya's leg even more. Faith and Aliya were venting their emotions into their aggressive kisses against each other, but they were losing steam, and instead falling to the overwhelming lust.

Aliya loosened her grip on Faith, and Faith pushed her backwards. Aliya gracefully fell into a backwards somersault and looked up as Faith dropped to the ground and crawled up Aliya's body to capture her lips once more and to let their tongues no longer battle, but dance. Aliya opened her eyes for a moment to see Faith's eyes shut, the eye tattoo fully displayed, and Aliya made a mental note to take a picture of it later. It was Faith's symbol, her symbol of confidence, and now, of dominance. Faith was still lying over Aliya, her left bare hand slid down Aliya's side. Her hand found its way beneath Aliya's black tank top, and gently traced a pattern over her hip bone. Aliya's hips bucked up as the secret sensitive spot on her hip was teased. Faith brought her gloved hand up to Aliya's mouth, placing a finger between their lips to silence Aliya. Aliya made a little pouty face before she grabbed Faith's signature red glove with her teeth, and pulled it off, tossing it aside. Aliya smirked mischievously as she pulled Faith's pointer and middle finger into her mouth. Faith gasped at the unexpected act, and began to moan as Aliya moved her tongue over Faith's fingers, sucking and innocently looking up into Faith's eyes.

Faith was amazed at how the sensation in her finger was being translated to the sensation between her legs. And the eyes. God Aliya's eyes! They were heavy with lust. She was so expressive, and Faith knew that Aliya knew what her eyes and her expressions were doing to her. Aliya grabbed Faith's hand, and lifting up her own shirt, moved Faith's wet fingers over her already hard nipple. Faith let Aliya guide her fingers before she moved them on her own, rubbing Aliya's light pink nipple in circles before squeezing the hard bud in between her finger and thumb. A moan escaped Aliya's mouth, and she managed a begging whisper, "Be rough with me Faith."

And that was all Faith needed to hear. She quickly pulled Aliya's shirt completely off, and lowered her mouth onto her nipples that were simply begging for attention. Even though Faith was sucking on Aliya's breast and pinching and pulling her other nipple, Aliya needed more. Aliya reached up and put a hand in Faith's soft raven hair, pushing her closer to her breast. Faith's closed eye narrowed in frustration, and she lightly bit down on Aliya's nipple, causing Aliya to jerk back and let out a strangled cry—a mix of the strange pleasure that erupted from the pain.

Faith was struggling to wait any longer. She wanted to make Aliya cry out her name, she wanted this power and dominance over Aliya, and she needed it now. Tearing a hand away from Aliya's breast and ignoring the dejected whimper that escaped from Aliya's lips with the loss of contact, Faith's hand snaked down to Aliya's white shorts. Without hesitation Faith quickly pulled the last innocent color of Aliya away, revealing thin black satin underwear. Faith's hand was drawn to the cool slippery fabric, and she coyly pressed her finger against the seductive material, sliding her finger ever so slowly upwards. She could feel the heat emanating from Aliya's core, and her lips twitched up in a smirk as she felt the wetness that threatened to soak the satin cloth. Aliya hissed as Faith continued letting her finger travel upwards, grazing the small bundle of nerves that lie above Aliya's hidden dripping folds. Aliya anticipated more, but Faith pulled her hand away, teasingly chastising Aliya as she kissed her neck and bit down on her pulse-point. Faith changed her mind, she wanted Aliya to pay for the mess she had caused.

Aliya, infuriated once more, abruptly sat up, pushing Faith beneath her and straddling her stomach. Aliya let out a small sigh as her sex finally got some release. Aliya nimbly unraveled the ribbon from her left forearm and grabbed Faith's wrists, knotted them together, and leaned over Faith to tie her the cloth to the leg of the comm system, pulling Faith's arms well above her head. Faith pulled the fabric, expecting it to tear, but it was stronger than it led one to believe. Faith instead took the opportunity to lean up and capture Aliya's nipple in her mouth once more and softly bite down again. Aliya jumped slightly and turned to look into Faith's eyes. Faith saw a new emotion expressed in Aliya's eyes; it wasn't just lust anymore, it was an animalistic hunger. It scared a Faith a little, but strangely, she found it only stirred the yearning that had grown between her legs.

Aliya's hands lightly danced over Faith's breasts outside the fabric, and Faith arched her back seeking more contact, but Aliya laughed darkly and pulled away. Wasting no time, Aliya unbuttoned Faith's pristine white cargo pants and eased them off, only to discover Faith's white boy shorts. Spreading Faith's lithe limbs, Aliya laid teasing wet kisses on the inside of Faith's thighs and on the outside of her boy shorts. Aliya tasted a small hint of Faith as she kissed outside her boy shorts, noting how wet the material was. Faith squirmed under Aliya's kisses, and she let out a frustrated cry as she struggled against her bonds. Aliya leaned down and took the soaked boy shorts between her teeth, dragging them down and revealing a neat triangle of soft black. Faith felt the sudden cold air and she gasped; Aliya smiled and licked her lips in anticipation. Lifting Faith's legs up over her shoulders, Aliya began to massage Faith's clit with her tongue, and Faith's hips began to buck. Aliya stroked Faith's sensitive spot over and over and pressed harder. Faith could hardly think as Aliya continued her ministrations, and she found herself squeezing Aliya's face between her legs. She wanted more: needed more. Aliya pulled her head back a bit and began running her tongue from the bottom of Faith's sex all the way back up to her clit, opening her lips and sucking on the little bud before she released it once more and began the stroke again. Faith couldn't control her body any longer, and she cried out.

Aliya, turned on by Faith's cries and her own actions, moved her hand down to her own sex, and quickly slipped two fingers down and inbetween her wet folds, thrusting her fingers in and out of her wetness. Faith was begging now, and Aliya sucked long and hard on Faith's clit before moving down and teasing Faith's wet opening with her tongue. Faith practically screamed Aliya's name, and Aliya finally obliged and slowly slid her tongue all the way into Faith. Faith's back arched, trying to get more as Aliya slid her tongue in and out of Faith at an antagonizing slow pace, her finger replacing the spot her tongue has previously satisfied on Faith. Aliya began to move her tongue faster, the hand in between her own legs matching her pace. Faith was so close, she could feel the massive tension building up, and she just needed release. Aliya felt Faith's walls tightening around her velvety tongue, and she continued on faster and harder. Aliya was closer to her end though, and her muscles locked up as her fingers finally pushed her over the edge. Aliya cried into Faith's pussy, and the vibrations almost pushed Faith over the edge. But Aliya smiled wickedly, and suddenly pulled her hand and mouth away from Faith's pussy. Faith's eyes shot open and she whimpered at the sudden loss of sensation, but Aliya untangled herself from Faith, moving up and pressing the fingers that had pleasured herself to Faith's lips. Faith admitted Aliya's fingers and tasted the delicious fluid that glistened on her fingers. She began to suck more, hoping to encourage Aliya to return to the place between her legs, but Aliya moved to put her clothes back on—the tight black shirt, the white shorts, the black running shoes, making sure Faith watched her every move.

Faith angered. She struggled against the red ribbon that kept her tantalizingly close yet so far from the release she wanted, "Aliya!"

Aliya smirked and sat Faith up. She leaned down and kissed Faith deeply once more, slipping her tongue into Faith's mouth and letting Faith moan into the kiss as she quietly undid the ribbon holding Faith back. But Faith didn't notice, and Aliya broke the kiss, her eyes portraying a gentle teasing as she looked into Faith's own confused and heavy eyes, "Don't go chasing after nothing now," And Aliya dangled the ribbon besides Faith's face. Faith, realizing what it was, lunged out at Aliya, but she lithely dodged the attack, and danced to the diagonal opening in the wall before turning, her white hair spinning with her movements, "Until next time, Faith," and silently disappeared.

That was the night that Faith had decided she had to stay. It was a huge risk, and it certainly almost guaranteed that she would get hurt, but Faith had been left with nothing, and she didn't want the hollow emptiness that Aliya had left her with. But even as Faith leaped off the building, knowing she was going to land badly and be forced to stay behind, she knew Aliya was right, and she was only chasing nothing.