Outlaws and Angels By: Lizzie Bundick

~***~

In the year 3045 a chemistry teacher was demonstrating the effects of wormhole travel on certain metal alloys when the wormhole collapsed. No one was injured and the metal alloy seemed to have received minimal damage, it looked to be noting more than a freak accident. The teacher reassured the class, and then looked down at the metal. It was no longer in the brick it had been, it had liquefied, turning from solid metal to a puddle of silver. It would have been completely ignored if not for one curious student who poked the metal alloy. It latched on to the student's finger, only for a few seconds then dropped to the floor, as if nothing had happened. The class was startled when the metal grew right before their eyes into an exact metallic copy of the student who it had latched on to. The metal was given the name Feickron Metallica and was consider to be a living organism. To the populous of the Universe it was Bio-metal. This Bio-metal revolutionized many fields, health care, Military force, and crime. It was deemed the greatest discovery since wormhole travel, or the controlled laser beam, but the greatest quality of Bio-metal wasn't discovered until 3056. A Bioengineer was working with Bio-metal when she accidentally added animal DNA to a batch, the resulting animals proved to be something almost magical, although magic had been disproved by Laura Markerson in 2051. The animals were fiercely loyal to those who cared for them; in return they gave their greatest abilities to their owners. Those who owned dog seemed happier and more at easy, cat owners were stealthier and had a fascination with tassels. The owners of Bio-metal animals had such startling differences from others they were given an entirely separate classification in the Space Travel Records, Symbiot. Yet the racism this stirred revealed the great down fall to this bond. If a Bio-animal was killed its owner either died with it or was left mentally unstable. Slowly the number of Symbiots dropped, I am one of the few that remains. How long I remain is unsure, but I am still a being apart.

~***~

The club was noisy, dirty and utterly detestable. Where else would my employer like to meet, I pondered, my hand resting gracefully on the glass of gin that was before me on a faux black marble table top. Little drops of the drink bounced onto my palm as the music pounded. The bass traveled from the speakers to my feet, pulsing in my bones as if I was standing right next to them. I could have been over tens of miles away from the speakers and still have been able to hear their pulsing techno music. That was part of my gift; besides the heightened sense of hearing I could smell and see far beyond the normal human range. In the club I could smell the sweat of the dancers, I could tell who was wearing what perfume, what drink they got their hang over of choice from and even whom they had been dancing with. I could see through the darkness when the flashing colored lights turned off to see sweat roll down someone's nose, then follow that drop 'till it hit the floor and disappeared in a puff of steam. Gifted beyond those around me I ran a finger lazily over the rim of the glass, most of my sense turned towards smelling. When my employer walked through the door I wanted to know he was here long before he found me. I was in the back of the club, waiting patiently for him to appear. He had contacted me a week ago, while I was recovering from a business discussion that got out of hand. I unconsciously snarled when my thoughts turned to my employer. A man I hated with such fierce passion I continually pondered what kept me under his eyes. He had his own answer, 'You can't leave this business behind you, it won't let you.' he said this with such malice in his eyes all the heat in my blood drained away but his next words charged it again to anger, 'I won't let you.' I flared my nostrils to breath in the stream of cold air and cheap cologne that signaled my employer had arrived. My eyes followed the direction from which the scent had come and I spotted him. King, my employer, was walking through the mass of women who had thrown themselves at him. They found him irresistible, long hair the color of aged whiskey, eyes of the deep green that drew women to him and a smile that I knew was faked. He was dressed in a suit of sheer black fabric, a brimmed hat was tilted over his eyes, and black suede shoes skillfully avoided the sports of spilled drinks as he walked towards me. I snarled again, a dangerous counter part snarl blended with my own. Meri, hidden under the table near my feet was echoing my hatred for King with her own feelings about the small time crime lord. That was my business; I am a criminal for hire with the incredibly powerful crime syndicate, The Ring, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Boss. When King broke free of the adoring fans he saw me and smiled, a smile with no feeling or joy in it. He came over taking a chair from another table to sit across from me; the chair turned backwards, his arms lying across the top.

"Lynx," he said in greeting. My code name, as his was King mine was Lynx given to me after gaining Meri. Meri was a bobcat, but it was a better code name than my old one, Grub.

"King," I lifted my glass, tossing the remaining gin down my throat to feel it burn and to wash away the bile I felt at seeing King.

"It's been awhile," King reached out an arm and grabbed the waist of a passing waitress, "Two shot glasses and some of your strongest whiskey."

"Of course, sir," the waitress said stepping out of King's grip and walking off towards the bar. I glared at King, setting my empty glass down with my hand still resting on its rim.

"Why did you call me King? This isn't a friendly visit," I let my voice float over to him, hoping he caught the nuances of hate and anger that I was keeping suppressed. Even though I hate him, I needed King he paid me well for my services.

"Who says my intentions aren't friendly?" King smirked, still no feeling in it, I kept my face emotionless and my eyes cold. King sighed, the fake friendly façade falling letting me see the hatred that burned in his eyes and the malice that carried in his smile. "I need you," he hated me for that, I indulged the need to gloat with a confident smirk, "My second didn't make it back from his last trip, so I need you to take my collections for this year to the Boss."

"How green is he?" I asked, the waitress had returned with the whiskey, I snatched the bottle up before King had a chance to pour the shots and took a long drink. Alcohol could never dull my senses, something that annoyed me and something I was grateful for. My job required me to drink copious amounts of liquor and if it dulled my sense I could very well lose my life.

"How green is who?" King snapped, angry at how I seemed to jump from topic to topic.

"You wouldn't dare let me take the collection alone, you don't trust me," King frowned, his eyes flashing sever disgust and that distrust I had pointed out.

"Have you given me a reason to trust you as of late?" I hadn't, my behavior in the circle had become increasingly erratic, reports of me snapping and going berserk on those hired to work with me and my enemies were easy to find, only I knew the truth of what caused those moments. I wasn't about to pour my heart out to anyone, especially King.

"How green?" I asked again, pouring a shot for King, keeping the bottle to myself.

"He's skilled, in the rankings they say he may take your place," my mind smiled, but I kept my face impassive, the agent known as Wild Card, had to be him. Wild Card was a good friend of mine, both of us unsure of the world around us, but sure in each other. We had been throw together very early in my career, back when I was Grub and we kept getting throw together over the years. We were fast friends, and better partners in the crime world than Batman and Robin had ever been in fiction.

"It will be good to see Wild Card again," I nodded, but King let out a laugh that had nothing to do with joy. It was filled with gloating malice and hand my normally steady nerves shaking at memories of that laugh and the actions that had followed it.

"Wild Card's dead, Lynx," King said this with a cold smile, "I had him Dispatched, he two-timed me."

"You son of a bitch," my hand tightened around the neck of the whiskey bottle, anger flowed hot and venomous through my veins. This was neither the time nor the place for an attack, I told myself though it did nothing to calm my anger that was slowly turning to rage. King finally had laughter in his eyes; it turned them to a dazzling emerald that was infinitely cold.

"You know the rules, Lynx, loyalty before life and death before divulgence. He knew the law, he broke the law he had to be punished," King had that cold but victorious smile on his face, the one that accompanied those shinning, terrible eyes.

"Wild Card would never, he's as loyal as you are," I growled, feeling Meri stir against my legs. My mental uneasy and anger was getting to her. She was ready at a simple mental command from me to rip King's throat out. I had been tempted many times to use Meri on King, but I refrained, I needed King, damn him.

"He wasn't," King was laughing at me, though he didn't show I had been around him long enough to know he was taking great pleasure from my reaction. "I even watched it myself." King paused to let a cold laugh escape and lean forward his eyes boring into mine, "He never fought either, I never gave him the chance. Just had one of my men walk right up behind him and good-bye." King held his hand in the shape of a gun and pressed it to my forehead, pretending to pull the trigger. I almost felt the hot burn of a single laser blast as it burned through the flesh of my forehead.

"Fuck you and your job, get yourself another fucking lackey," My whole body had coiled like a spring as King gave his little speech, my hand's hold on the bottle had become too tight and it gave way, shattering glass and whiskey cascaded over the table. I was too angered to feel the shards that remained in my palm, to caught up in it to control the blackness that was creeping into my vision to feel the warm whiskey that dripped of the table onto my legs and to the floor.

"Tsk, tsk, Lynx, such temper," King reached inside his jacket, I knew it was for a pistol to threaten me with, I didn't care. Just give me a reason, I told him mentally, one reason to spring across this table and turn you into nothing more than a bloody pile of rags. But King didn't pull out a weapon, he pulled out a large stack of credits, "See this?" he waved the small cards of plastic before me. Money and good alcohol are my weaknesses; I watched the credits change color in the dancing lights of the club. "This is my down payment, two million, and there's a custom bike waiting outside for you, nice model of a Racer 600. My agents have seen you lusting after them for awhile now. You take this job you keep the bike and you get three million more credits."

Five million credits, how can I even resist that offer? Yes King killed my best friend but I needed money more than friendship, "Damn you," I whispered softly as I took the credits from him, King smiled, sliding a set of keys over to me.

"Normal time, normal place, one week," King still had that triumphant smile on his face when I got up, my hand's bleeding had left a bloody palm print of the table. King reached out and snagged the hand; he smiled up at me and kept his eyes on mine as he kissed the palm. "Take care." My hand curled into a fist and I felt myself tense, ready to deck him, but I could see in his eyes that's what King wanted. I walked away, stepping out into the night and air that didn't smell of old spilled drinks and sweat. The night was cold and I closed my eyes as it swept across my face, temporarily forgetting the encounter with King. There was freedom when I closed my eyes but it was fleeting because with eyes closed I was vulnerable. I opened my eyes to see Racer 600 that was waiting for me stopped before it was King's black limousine. The Racer was a bike built for speed and was normally used in the motorbike speed racing circuit. King had made a few adjustments; the most noticeable was a gun rack on the left side, within easy reaching distance for me. The Racer had been painted a deep black, on one side of the bike the illusion of a lynx ripping out of the side had been painted. I would have to go see Machine and have it repainted to a normal color, maybe adding in tribal designs that Machine was so gifted with. It would be too risky to keep the paint job King had chosen, it was something that would be remembered, and I should not be remembered. I pulled the helmet off the handlebars and spilled it on. My life expectancy was short, thanks to my career, I took no stupid risk. Meri looked up at me from the sidewalk, there was no way she could ride on the bike with me.

"Go home, you aren't particularly fond of Machine's shop," I added a mental note to see if Machine could add on something for Meri to ride on. The bobcat nodded and trotted away, liquefy into the shadows. I could find her easily, even though no one else would look for her in the shadows of the night. Shadows that would hide her and me if needed now kept watch over out safety, if not the safety of others. I stood the bike up, and tossed a leg over. With I wistful sigh I started it and felt the engine come to live between my legs. Machine was a burly man who worked with any type of engine and vehicle he could get his hands on. Working on the Racer would be a real treat. I gunned the engine, taking off like an old fashion metal bullet down the street. I went well over the speed limit, turning the neon signs and flashing lights of the clubs that flanked both sides into blurs of color and muffled music. I dodged between the lazy evening traffic, not caring if the police force saw me. Lazy, undetermined cops could careless about a speeding motorcyclist. The Racer was heaven to drive, especially for an outlaw like myself when a speedy get away was something I practiced often. It's engine purred as I pushed the bike to one hundred miles per hour. It never flinched as I wove between the other drivers and cars, who honked their horns, and shouted as I sped past them. I tossed my head back, consumed for a brief moment of freedom once again, pulling the bike into a wheelie and laughed at them. The club where I had met King was in the ritzier part of the city, Machine's shop was more near my home, the dark under belly were crime and death were lord and master. The shop was dark when I pulled in front of the garage, but the sound of rock music told me that Machine was in. Machine's shop was one story, perfectly square with two bays for cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles. I jumped of the bike, my hand lingering over the Racer as I walked towards the two solid steel garage doors. I kicked one of the garage doors, the music was turned off and out walked Machine's second in command, Doc. Doc is tall and thin with glasses, he looked more like a nerd than a shop kid, but Doc could fix anything. He was new to the Ring, but he was a damn good shot and clever enough to talk his way out of the trouble he sometimes found himself in.

"Adel, good to see you," Doc smiled, his smile genuine, unlike King's. "Woah, nice ride!" Doc stuck his head back into the work area, Machine was undoubtly waiting to see who had disturbed him while he was working, "Open the door boss man, it's Adel." The door was opened and I walked the bike in. The floor was concrete, the walls were concrete brick, and the ceiling was white steel. The lights were harsh, bright and white.

"Good Lord, Adel where the hell did you get that ride?" Machine walked over, away from a classic 2012 Dragon he had been working on before I interrupted.

"Down payment," I said, looking over the Dragon. It was an open top, sleek, arrow like car with black leather interior and blood red paint job. I could see that Machine had been about to install hydraulics and a set of sensors. The sensors would look for bombs that would undoubtly be strapped to the underside somewhere along the cars career.

"You know there's blood on this handle bar," Doc looked over the rim of his glasses, and then he spotted my injured hand, "Good Lord Adel, you're bleeding." For the first time that night I looked down at the wound on my hand. Large pieces of glass had buried themselves into my hand, causing a good amount of blood flow out and over my palm. They had stopped bleeding profusely but a few drops of red life dripped from the jagged peaks that weren't buried in my flesh.

"Work related hazard," I said, but Doc grabbed my arm and led me over to a stainless steel table strewn with tools and grease. He swept his arm in an arc and cleared a space to set my hand, palm up on the surface.

"Go ahead and fix her up Doc, so why'd you bring me a Racer that's in prime condition?" Machine continued his inspection of the bike. Machine is shorter than Doc, well muscled with long gray hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a black muscle shirt and dirty torn jeans while at work. I had seen him cleaned up once and he wasn't half bad, but my nature was to be a loner, Machine was a good friend and an even better mechanic. Doc pulled out the first aid kit and started pulling the glass fragments out of my hand; the sharp pain when they were freed was a minor note in my mind.

"I want it repainted, something that doesn't draw attention, and is easily forgotten," I looked over at Machine who looked pained, he liked the way the bike looked. "If you have to, add small accents not as extravagant as what's painted on there now."

"Don't we have some pre-painted shells for Racers?" Doc said, beginning to stitch the wounds that needed it. There was a pile of about fifteen shards lying next to my hand, winking red in the brilliant light of the shop.

"To show the racing teams, and some of the rich muckity mucks, yeah, the deep blue with chrome accents might be nice," Machine ran a hand over the instrument panel of the bike, his callus fingers catching on the fine leather.

"As longs as people will only be left with a vague recollection of the bike, and fix something on it so Meri has a place to ride, I had to tell her to go home," Doc pulled my hand up, wrapping a bandage around the stitches.

"That's why your partner in crime isn't here, Doc go check the warehouse, you know the combo," Doc got up from the table and went through a back door, Machine and I listened as an engine turned over and Doc roared out of the back lot.

"Have you heard about Wild Card?" I asked Machine as he began to take off the fiberglass plates on the bike.

"They found him about an hour ago, they say it looks like someone just walked up behind him and blew him away," Machine didn't look up at me, Wild Card had been a dear friend to him as well as. I remembered King holding his finger against my forehead and felt rage roar like an untamed beast in my chest, pounding against my rib cage, demanding that I let it free. I began to control my breathing, concentrating on that until the beat of anger was dull and slow.

"King said he betrayed the Boss, but two timing was not Wild Card's style, whatever his name implied," I stated firmly, both hands clenching and unclenching. The bandage on the right had was tight and it made it easier to feel my pulse, it was menacingly steady.

"Wild Card was getting less and less reliable, the rumors were he was seeing a lady detective, was falling for her. Detective Harrison they say," Machine had stripped the bike of the fiberglass sides, now he was studying the inside workings. "Word on the streets was Wild Card was going to go straight for her, leaving behind organized crime and work as a double agent," I snorted at the idea of Wild Card being in love. He had loved many women, but he loved them only for a night.

"Don't, Adel, just because you can't feel doesn't mean every other criminal for hire can't." Machine's tone was sharp with pain, the pain I wouldn't allow myself to feel because pain made you weak and slow. "Wild Card was a passionate man, you two were lovers often enough times to know this, but haven't you seen it?" Machine was right; Wild Card was a man of long buried dreams and hope. Passion raged inside him and I had been his lover often enough to see it. "I've done a bit of looking on the detective, she's a fiery woman they say, the kind Wild Card enjoyed, she was definitely a looker, and she seemed a bit work up when the found him."

"King had him killed, told me when I got my new job assignment. I wanted to know who I was working with, King made it sound like it was Wild Card, now I have no idea," I sighed, wondering if I should check on this Detective Harrison, maybe pretend to be Wild Card's family or something. "Have you heard anything about a criminal for hire who's damn good? Good enough that he might match me?"

"No, and I'm surprised you took the job," Machine stood up from the bike, looking over at me like I was a fool, "the man had one of your best friends and most trusted killed on a rumor, why are you still working for him?" Machine tested my loyalty ever chance he got, and I have yet to falter or stumble.

"You know I have to, or else I end up like Wild Card. What else could I do? This has been my life for so long," Machine sighed and walked over to me, his blue eyes bored into mine.

"You'll end up like Wild Card anyway, Adel, think about it," The air was thick with Machine's frustration towards me, at the situation with Wild Card, and the world around him.

"I might, I've survived this long haven't I?" I challenged, the anger I had not spent on King rising again, ready to take my mind and force me into another attack.

"So far, but you've come here with some pretty nasty scars," Machine reached over, pulling the collar of my white tee-shirt down, revealing the long jagged scar that ran across my collar bone, starting at the top of my left shoulder and stopping just above my left breast. "I remember patching this one up,"

"I survived, I will always survive, and I'm different from the others."

"How different?" Machine let my collar go, the sound of Doc pulling back into the lot stopping any further fighting. I hated at that instant, when he stepped away, for one violently strong instant I hated everything and everyone. I let my insides tremble, but showed nothing of that hate on the outside, I needed Machine as much maybe even more that I needed King.

"I thought the iced black was the best, Adel," Doc came in with a large box, setting down next to the bike. If he noticed the tension between Machine and me he made no comment. Just pulled out the black sided and fenders of the Racer.

"Very forgettable, everyone has one like it," Machine picking up the main fiberglass cover, showing it off to me. It sparkled with silver flecks on top of a black background when the lights caught it. Yes, that would allow me to be forgotten by everyone who saw the bike.

"Good, King might be pissed I changed the paint job, but I don't give a shit," I watched as they attached the new covers, waiting to ask if something could be done about Meri.

"Yeah, we'll extend the back out a bit and your cat can cling on. I've seen you ride your other bike with her, I think she can handle this, the repairs on that one are almost complete, and you'll have to walk home tonight. Pick up the bike in the morning," Doc said smoothly, getting out some drafting paper to work on a sketch. I left the boys to their work, walking through the under belly of the city my hands stuffed into the pockets of my jacket. The buildings here were nothing like the neon and money of the clubs I had left behind. Theses were brick and gray stone testaments to poverty and depression. They were also testaments to what the human spirit could endure, the story of my life, I thought. I was trying to lose myself in the recesses of my mind when a scream came from an alley up ahead. I looked up, smelling fear and greedy lust. I kept walking towards the alley, looking through the darkness to see two large guys and a small well dressed woman. Something within me came rising back to the surface, it was that anger and hate I had felt towards King and had been suppressing.

"Leave her alone," My tone was cold and heartless, producing a bravado that I was not capable of if I was feeling normal. This was an attack; this was a moment when I was outside myself. The two goons looked over at me, laughing thickly, they threw the well-dressed woman away from them. When they started walking towards me I blacked out. Not into unconsciousness, I couldn't see the two thugs as I started towards them. My senses, already heightened by Meri, reached their peak and I hunted down the two men by their breathing. I kept my attack strong and constant on them by finding them by the scent of their sweat. Anger and rage blocked all thought as I tore the two apart. The sounds of snapping bones and the sharp taste of blood clouded my mind further as I was dragged deeper and deeper into my attack. I only came to my sense when the screams of the woman yelling at me to stop finally broke through to my ears. I looked down at the two, both were dead, I had not only beaten them to the point where they were unrecognizable, but I had broken their necks. My whole body was covered in the blood that had come from their broken noses, and the deep, cutting wounds I had made with fingers and teeth. Their blood caked into my hair, clothes, and on my skin.

"What did you do to them?" The woman was sobbing, looking in panic at me. "You're a monster."

I let out a cruel laugh at her, she shiver with fear at it, "I'm a damn good one," and I walked away. No one in this part of the city would notice me, even if I was covered in blood and bruises. For all I had done to those two they had managed to do some major damage on me. I knew my shoulder was deeply bruised and my ankle had to be broken, but after an attack it didn't matter. I walked calmly to my apartment, not surprised to meet one of King's agents when I walked inside along with Meri.

"Jesus," the agent said, looking me over.

"Fuck off," I snapped, all too ready to get into another fight. The blood kept the edges of my vision tipped with black, and there was still rage bowling in my chest.

"Look, I was sent to make sure you made it home alright? So, now that you're here I'll leave," The agent stopped in the doorway, "Call a doctor," he said and was gone. I grunted and closed the door. As I walked towards the shower I pulled off my cloths, making a mental note to throw them into the incinerator. The shower was hot and the water turned red as it washed away the blood. 'You'll end up like Wild Card anyway, Adel.' Machine's words echoed in my head, as I let the water burn away at my skin. I would end up like Wild Card; these attacks were going to make it a necessity to Dispatch me soon. The idea didn't even faze me, death always hung over me. I stayed in the shower until the water felt like ice on my skin, then I dressed in new clothes and burned the old ones. Calling a doctor that asked no questions I followed a practiced routine for what to do after killing or beating the bloody hell out of a person. The doctor healed my wounds; the advanced technology of the era taking what would have taken weeks of healing and turned it into minutes. I paid the doctor and let myself slip into the oblivion of sleep.

~***~

The night was cold, making her look colder, but it suited her, suited her very well. I had only seen pictures of her before and they did her no justice. Long raven hair, cold green eyes, and a powerful frame for being only five feet nine. In our world she was supposed to be the best, the one that if she was your mark you were better off killing yourself then letting her get you. Tonight I was to follow her, learn about her movements and her actions. I had been with her since morning, but it was now that I got to see the true monster within her. It seemed like nothing had changed in her when she turned down the alley, her body was still relaxed, her hands steady, her eyes clear. But when the two men turned towards her, threatened her eyes went brilliant, as if lighted from some fire from inside, and she attacked. The two men were well over six feet tall and maybe 250 or 300 pounds, compared to her barely 200 frame I was already reaching for the gun on my hip. I did not need the weapon to protect her; she finished both men off in five minutes with her bear hands. I watched carelessly as blood turned her white shirt deep red and her skin dropped with ruby points. The screaming of the woman, the one she was trying to protect, broke whatever had captured her and she shook violently when she stopped. I noted the episode and left my surveillance. This incident needed to be reported. I held my arm out for Lee, my eagle companion, as he dropped from the sky and landed on my leather wrapped wrist. He watched me with one bright, intelligent yellow eye, asking me questions.

"If I knew, my friend, I would tell you why she is that way," I told him, it was the only answer I had to the question. I climbed down from the rooftop and began walking. Even with the night so cold I didn't want a cabby to remember me. I reached into the inside breast pocket of the jacket, and pulled free my cell phone.

"What?" the distorted voice of my contact asked when he picked up.

"There's something wrong," I told him in a whisper as I walked towards home. "She's just killed two men, not a job, and I don't believe they have any connections with either you or them."

"Maybe they were encroaching on King's territory, look, I don't have time for this." I imagined he had begun to pull the phone away.

"Don't you dare hang up on me, damnit, she's going to cause problems. If you want this to run smoothly as half as bad as I do, you're going to dig up everything you have on her, and if you've been holding back on me when I get back I'll kill you myself," I talked quickly, harshly and let anger slip into my voice. Silence echoed on the other line, but I kept hanging onto the hope that he hadn't hung up on me. I could still hear breathing, and what I thought was the sound of papers shuffling.

"Alright, alright, they're nothing more than rumors. She's a nut, goes a little berserk, when thing's get harried."

"And this wasn't worth telling me about?" I was incredulous, angered beyond belief and a little scared. If she could break the necks on those two, what could she do to me?

"You play dumb with her, understand? She'll ignore you if you play dumb, now don't call me until you finish with the first check point." He was gone and I stared at the phone. I wasn't just making sure a plan ran well for him, I was playing human shield for him too. The night was cold, but it was nothing compared to the hearts of some people.

~***~

The week went by and I pushed the memories of the attack and the look of utter horror the woman had worn out of my mind. Dwelling on death and fear do no one any good, so I simply shoved the memory deep in my mind and started to prepare for the job. I bought two new high quality laser pistols with the money from my down payment; paid off Machine for the work he did on my bike, and paid the next few months for rent. My landlord never questioned where I got my large amounts of money; there was no point in asking. His job was to keep my hot water running, and my job was to make sure he didn't find out what I did for a living. On the day of pickup I woke early, facing the day with the mindset of a harden criminal. I dressed in black and guns. I owned three, legally, but I have five unregistered weapons. I wore two guns holstered on my belt behind me, two in shoulder holsters, and one on the inside picket of my long black trench coat. I had gotten over an ingrown fear of guns years ago; they were now extensions of my hand. The more I had, the more I could do. Meri looked up from her sleeping place on the couch, her yellow eyes blinking away sleep.

"Come down stairs when you're ready," I told her watching her stretch, her movements fluid and smooth.

Outside I walked towards the adjuring garage to the apartment. My footsteps echoed in the maze of cars and concrete. I owned one spot, but parked two motorcycles there, the Racer and a low rider, Freeze, painted iced white. Doc had returned home with me the night I had gotten the fixed Racer. Machine had lengthened the back of the seat on the Racer where Meri would dig her claws in for a grip. I started the Racer, waiting as Meri came into garage, and pulled out of the garage when Meri had settled in. King lived outside the city in a mansion that put the capital building of Phoebus. I gunned the engine once outside the limits of the city and the cops in there by taking one of the roads with the GPS system. Once you logged onto the system, it drove your car to where ever you were going. This left the other three lanes that had no GPS system in them wide open where you could test your car's engine. I never bothered with the GPS system, if I did log on I might no be able to make a quick get away if the cops were ever after me. The cops didn't know about me I was too good to be a suspect in any crime I committed. There had been many jobs in my career, and over the years I had become an expert in destroying evidence and leaving no trail. I watched a car pass me its drive asleep. In the back of my mind I wondered if I would ever get to do that, or would I always be jumpy and alert. Only driving when I had to drive for hours on end to get away from whatever job I had just done or driving to get to my next job. My life was made from going job to job, next hit of money to the next hit of money. The world of organized crime was based on money, everyone wanted it, some needed it, and I just survived by it. That's all the crime world was to me, a place to survive. It seemed thrilling in the beginning, being a 'gangster' of sort. Then I had been young and impressionable, I had thought it would be glamorous. The movies lie to you; there is no glamour in the world of organized crime. There is death, hate, and greed, but never was I touched by glamour. I gunned the engine, over taking the man sleeping in his car. King lived miles out of town, it kept the cops from getting to close, but he was just within the limits of the district and that kept the cops from wondering about why he was so far. I turned off of the large highway, checking my mirrors for a tail. No one was following me, but I made myself take twisting routes to King's. Never the same route ever, and that made it an hour drive on twisting side streets, after a three hour drive on the highway. When I made it to King's I was stopped outside a black wrought iron gate and pulled my helmet off to exchange a few words with the gate guard.

"Nice to see you again," I said, handing over an identification card made to look like a driver's license, but actually the card hid a coded strip that when the guard scanned it would open the gate.

"Yeah, welcome," he replied, as the gate slowly rolled open. I took my card back and began the drive up to the front of King's home. It was a three- story house, built in the style of the twentieth century architect Frank Lloyd Wright. I stopped the Racer just below the steps to the front door and sighed. I was not looking forward to this meeting. I walked up to the front door, slamming my fist onto it as a curt knock. The door was opened and I fought back revolution at the smell of King's house. The scent of sex, drugs, and cheap wine billowed out to me.

The partially dressed woman who had opened the door looked me over with one eyebrow raised. "If you ever think about getting out of this line of work, I think my line of work could use a looker like you," she said stepping to the side and letting me walk in.

"Hooker isn't one of my aspirations," I told her looking for King as I stepped inside.

"Don't call it hooking then, call it selling love," the woman had a throaty voice that was pleasant to listen to. I could see why she would be good in her line of work.

"More like selling lust," I replied, walking towards the backyard of King's house, my ears had picked up King's voice. There was the sound of girlish laughter also with it; King had friends over, if I had to guess.

"Good one," the woman said with a laugh, "if you ever feel like selling lust, call me," she handed me a card and walked down a different corridor in King's house. I continued on my way, the card finding its way into my pocket. I found King outside swimming with a few gorgeous women. He looked over at me standing just outside the doorway leading out to the backyard.

"You're early Lynx," King hosted himself out of the pool, toned, tanned body sparkling with water as he walked over to me.

"You like early," I commented dryly, leaning with my weight balanced on one foot and my arms crossed over my chest.

"I prefer on time. You partner is out in the crowd here somewhere." King wrapped a towel around his waist and looked around the backyard. I had already done my work of scanning the faces of the people gathered around there. Most were in my line of work, born into crime and the lifestyle that came with it. Some were more women selling lust and a few were drug dealers. There was one man I didn't recognize, he was tall, about three or four inches over six feet tall with shaggy brown-bronze hair, he was smiling and the smile actually reached his eyes. Dressed in baggy jeans and black muscle tank top with an old suede brown jacket on him looked like a normal middle class working man.

"Eagle get over here!" King yelled, and the unknown man turned his head towards us. He nodded and left the dice game he was playing to walk over to us.

"Yeah, King what do you need?" Eagle walked over to us, his steps lights and his body relaxed. Use to King and his fellows, obviously.

"Time to meet your partner, well call her Lynx." King reached over and tried to pat my cheek, I jerked away from his touch, angered that he tried to touch me. King narrowed his eyes, his glare easily showing that he was stung by this show of rebellion in front of Eagle.

"Nice to meet you finally. I've heard a lot about you." Eagle offered his hand to me; "You can call me Toran if you'd prefer."

"Lynx or Adel, your choice," I told him, ignoring the offered hand. I don't work well with others; they get in my way and do their best to piss me off. There was only one person I was comfortable working with and he was six feet under in the city morgue.

"And who are you traveling with?" Toran asked, turning his hand away from me and down towards Meri. She had been watching the exchange between the three of us with interest, but kept her questions out of my mind.

"Meri, how about yours?" I shifted my gaze to look over Toran's shoulder. Sitting in one of the large oaks in King's backyard was a Bio-metallic hawk; its gaze had been watching me since Toran had walked over to King and me.

"Lee, how'd you spot him for mine?" Toran's eyes flashed deep surprise. He must not have figured I was good enough to spot the hawk. I let Meri growl the sharp sting of anger at his attitude towards me.

"I'm good," I said simply, my tone conveying my dislike of the upbeat Toran.

"Damn near the best, Lynx, don't be so modest," King interrupted the banter, "here's the drill kids, when the truck arrives a few of my guys are goin' load the sucker up, then you drive it to these designated check points. You miss a point and I send my guys after you." King held out a map, I let Toran snatch it up and look it over.

"We drop it off or are we actually going to meet the Boss?" I asked, taking the map when it was offered to me, but not reading it.

"Depends on the Boss, the last check point is when you'll find out," King shrugged, "Do what you wish 'till then, relax for once Lynx," King laughed, heading back towards the pool and the women in it. With no reason to hang around in the backyard I turned on my heel and walked back into the house. There were only two places I enjoyed in King's house. One was the shooting range in the basement, a room frequented by all members of the Ring that visited King's house. But it was not my first stop; I wanted to visit the Zen garden that King had built for his third wife. There were memories there, memories that were going to be raw with the current settings, but I needed to go. Meri called to me, telling me of Toran's presence. I carefully looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that he was indeed following us.

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" I asked, turning sharply around to face him, it was obvious that he had not expected me to be agitated by him following me.

"I thought we should get to know each other, since we're going to be working with each other," He replied smoothly, acting as if he wasn't spying on me.

"I don't talk," I gave him a poignant look "To anyone."

"Well maybe I'm someone else, you've got to talk to me some time, we are partners," Toran took three careful steps to be toe to toe with me.

"You're a green blood fool," I said to him, and turned away. I had wanted to honor Wild Card in some way while in the Zen room, but now with my happy go lucky partner tailing me I had no choice but to do my ceremony quietly and quickly. I pulled open a screen door in the wall; stepping out of my boots I lifted my feet from the shinning wood floor to the slightly warmed sand of the Zen room.

"I may not have been working as long as you have, but I can tell you I'm no green blood fool," Toran stepped out of his own boots and followed me as I walked down the sand path towards the gentle falling of a waterfall.

"Yes, you're not," I kept my voice low and respectful as I walked steadily onward, "You are catching up to me, the agent Wild Card use to be right below me, then he was killed and now you are right under me." I had my suspicions that the agent Eagle had killed Wild Card to move further in the chart, but this seem highly unlikely now that I had come face to face with Eagle.

"You are a very different person, Adel, than what I expected." Toran's tone became the joking tone he had been using, but the fire still shone in his eyes.

"I am never as I seem," I told him my feet coming to rest before a stone rimmed pool. The water rippled lightly, but I could see that the waterfall that sent them ripples outwards was powerful. This was the one place in King's house that only certain people were allowed to enter. Only those who knew King's third wife, Roxanne, were allowed to enter. I let the steam from the waterfall caress my face and breathed in a deep breath. Wild Card had spent some time here; his sent lingered in the steam. Reaching over to the lilies that circled around the stones I tossed it into the pool that surrounded the waterfall. A simple memorial, I watched the lily float over the water, pulled by the current into the crushing power of the waterfall. What remained of the lily when it appeared were a few torn petals. The pollen mixed with Wild Card's remaining scent and I felt the pain rise again, and clenched my fist against it.

"Are you willing to answer some questions?" Toran asked, looking down into the water with me, his eyes focused on mine from the reflection in the water.

"Taking a collection to the Boss is a hard job. We'll run into small time crime rings that will try to get the collection so they might make it big. We'll run into larger crime rings, even the Galactic Station, they'll want it just the screw over the Boss, it's that hard," I didn't know if Toran was going to ask me about this job, but I let business be all we were going to talk about.

"I figured that out," Toran lifted his gaze from my reflection and looked towards the top of the waterfall, something in his eyes that instant before he looked away had me curious, "How long have you been doing these type of runs?"

"Three other occasions," I said simply, turning away from the water to leave. I had spent enough time surrounded by the memories here.

"Have you ever run into any type of trouble before?" Toran asked, following me once again.

"Trouble on these runs is common, we'll run into a lot of it," I told him. As I stepped outside to return to the rest of the house I paused to rub my hand lightly over the head of the life size Foo Dog. The dogs would protect the room; I was hoping their protective powers would move to me.

"And what do you suggest we do when we run into that trouble?" Toran did as I did, stepping back outside and touching the Foo Dog, but I could see that he wasn't focused on what he was asking, there was something else that was nagging on his mind.

"We are going to go shooting, partner, and I'll show you what to do," I let him follow me to the elevator that would lead to the basement, I only had to pause to type in a code, four numbers that were personally adjusted depending on a person finger prints, so I didn't care if Toran looked over my shoulder to read the code. The elevator was filled with our breathing, mine barely audible, Toran's just as light as his tone had been. When the door opened the shooting room looked like nothing more than a metal plated room with florescent lights hanging from the ceiling. Toran walked comfortably out into the room, use to the shooting room. That simple action told me that Toran was well trusted by King, but that didn't put him much higher in my mind. I trusted few people, one of my little quirks.

"Hello, agent Lynx, what would you like to run today?" A mechanical voice asked as I stepped into the middle of the room. It was the computer program that ran the room, ran the virtual hologram program that would make shooting practice more real.

"I want the simple target run, live rounds, my registered Smith and Wesson six shot laser, two unregistered Glock, thirteen round laser semi- automatic. I've got a guest," I turned towards Toran, "Tell the nice computer program what you're carrying Eagle."

"Two unregistered 45. Colt semi-automatics, bullet rounds," Toran said, pulling off his brown leather jacket.

"Bullet rounds are not allowed here, agent Eagle, please use non-lethal rounds. If you have none some will be provided for you." The voice said, the tome somewhat commanding. I love the computer program, it had moments were it turned into a smarmy ass black woman who likes to be called Suga' Mama.

"I would be very pleased if you would provide me with some of those non- lethal rounds," Toran replied easily, emptying his bullets into his hands. Bullet guns were so rare these days because they were traceable; laser shots were untraceable by modern police detections.

"You are an unexpected man, Toran," I said, choosing my favorite of the three weapons, the Smith and Wesson. It fitted my hand the best, and it was personalized by a cat paw print on the stock. My Smith and Wesson wasn't as old as Toran's Colts, but it was older than the other two guns. You loaded it with bullet like charges of electricity; those reacted with a complicated network of LEDS and other technology to create the laser shot.

"I try to be." The warning bell rang and I pivoted towards the dropping down holograms of targets. I went to work, quickly hitting the center of the targets in lightning fast succession and when the six shots had run out I grab one Glock and emptied all thirteen rounds, before reaching for the remaining gun, and emptied that one.

"A new record, agent Lynx, you hit center on all targets, under three minutes, well done," the computer sent a sound bite of a cheering crowd through the speakers and I smiled over at Toran. He was holding his weapons, one in each hand, and I could see all the non-lethal rounds on the opposite wall, Toran had been done long before I had finished. Our eyes held, each sparking something different within them. Mine was partial respect and mostly distrust, his was something deeper, harder to read than my own emotions.

"Again," I told the computer, holding both Glocks facing off with Toran. Shots ran out and we both finished quickly, almost exactly at the same time, and I noticed it, we worked well together, I had worked well with Wild Card also. I tossed the guns away as memories flooded back to me, I had been down here before with Wild Card and those memories were staring me in the face when Toran looked over at me, "Computer, end program, let's go see if the truck is here." Meri, who had been sitting near the elevator, walked over to me the guns in her mouth, and I took them, carefully hiding my shaking hands from Toran's view. We rode in the elevator with our breathing the only sound. We moved in silence through the house until I burst into the backyard.

"King, the truck?" I yelled, mustering up shields to stand against the memories that were slowly turning my vision a little black on the edges.

"It's getting loaded, Lynx."

"I want to bring my bike, I'm going to load it onto the truck," I turned towards Toran, "Go to the weapons room, pick out what you think we'll need, and make sure it gets into the truck. You know where the room is?"

"Yes," Toran nodded at my order, "Why the bike?" he asked, walking beside me on my way out to my bike.

"A.M.T., alternate mode of transport, I like other options," I said, stepping outside and watching Meri as she ran ahead to jump onto the back of the Racer.

"I'll make sure the truck is stock," Toran stayed in the doorway, watching me as I drove to the right side of the house. Hidden by large trees the huge garage that looked like the west wing of the house was filled with numerous trucks and large crates of drugs, along with a lot of money. The truck was waiting, a large ground transport, 18 wheels and a large cab that connected to the cargo hold. Men with muscle so big that they were prevented from scratching the top of their heads were loading large tanks of what was labeled Nitron, but was really filled with paper money and credits. Nitron was derived from nitrogen, but with more explosive force the nitro when mixed with hydrogen. Nasty, nasty stuff to be hauling around, but it insured safety from local authorities, and with the truck marked as a food transport we would be unnoticed by the intergalactic authorities. King was always prepared, I thought as I walked the bike into the back of the truck, like the Boy Scout from Hell. Toran came in about ten minutes after I had loaded the bike carrying a large cart of laser weapons of varying sizes. "I'm going to places these while the men finish up loading, you need to input the map's route and make sure the cab is stock," he said walking the cart up into the cargo hold. I pushed myself away from the side of the truck where I had been leaning and walked up into the cab of the truck. For the truck to be stock in this business it needed to have three important things in the clove box of the cab. For this trip the order was doubled, two pairs of high tech glass that had everything from infra red to radar built in, two pairs of gloves that picked locks and kept finger prints off of anything and everything, then two small 22. hand held pistols. All three were in the glove compartment, each was functional, and I thought this was a bad omen. There were two beds in the cargo hold that folded down from the wall, inside the glove compartment were two keys that would unlock the beds from the wall. I closed the glove compartment and turned towards the GPS system built into the dashboard of the truck. This was the first chance I had to look at the map with the route. It was long and twisting with paths of travel meant to confuse everyone but Toran and me. With a sigh I input the map information into the GPS computer, 22 hours to get to check point one. That meant an all night drive, with Toran and I taking shifts of about four hours. When I finished with the GPS I hopped out of the truck, walking over its length to make sure it was a good truck. When I had looked over the outside I had Meri crawl under and look for anything she thought was suspicious. Nothing unusual underneath, she informed me, crawling out from underneath the cargo hold, oil in spots on her fur. I grunted with a shrug and moved my inspection to the engine. If one thing had to go wrong on this tip it would be the engine, I thought looking down at the gas-guzzling antique King had chosen to run the massive truck.

"He stuck us with a shit engine didn't he?" I didn't jump at Toran's question but his silent approach unnerved me.

"Yes, we'll have to check it every time we take off for the next check point," I said slamming the hood on the engine and turned around to face Toran.

"Great, damn good thing he makes us learn basic mechanics," Toran held out a nylon black band wrist watch to me, "we've got 22 hours to get to stop one, it's about a ten day drive, set your watch and let's haul asphalt." I tightened the watch on, and entered the 22-hour time limit before jumping into the passenger side of the truck cab. Toran slid on a pair of his own sunglasses before turning the engine over with a little prayer for luck. The ancient thing started well enough, so Toran pulled on the horn, clearing our way before leaning on the gas pedal and moving the truck forward and out of the garage. I sensed that Toran had driven a truck before as he carefully navigated the twisting routes that lead away from King's mansion. I waited until Toran pulled the truck into highway traffic then got up and walked into the hold. There was little light in the back, but with Meri resting on a large box that held the fake Nitron canisters I just look through her eyes to see. I pulled a shoulder bag off the side of the bike where I had secured it before leaving for King's. In it I had put things to entertain myself with while driving out to the checkpoints, the most important item for this was a pair of glass that projected a book for you to read when you wore them. When I rejoined Toran in the cab I didn't feel like reading though, I pulled out a video poker game, and started playing. Video poker is entertaining enough, but I've played so many games of real poker, where you can read the other players and win actual money, the electronic version only keeps me entertain for a short time. When I tossed the game away after a mile's worth of playing Toran looked over at me one eyebrow arched at me.

"I'd suggest I-spy but you might also toss me like that," he said, before turning back to the road. We were going a steady 75 miles an hour, over the posted limit by ten miles, but we were just moving with the speed of traffic.

"I'll take over the driving when you need me too," I ignored the attempted of friendly chitchat and continued to ignore Toran.

"Don't worry, I can drive forever if I need to," with that we lapsed into silence. I watched the world of the major highway pass by, mind playing over a simple bum-da-bum tune to keep me from running around in my own mind. The afternoon faded into night but Toran and I only paused to grab some burgers from a fast food stand. "We've got ten hours left, Adel, how many miles?"

"Over 100 left," I said look over the map, hell we were making impeccable time. With ten hours left it wouldn't be long before we reached the checkpoint, a place call Desperation bar. I'd been to Desperation a few times; only it had been years back when I was just beginning in the Ring.

"Tell me when the exit comes up again."

"You want exit 5A." And silence descended between us again. I reached into the glove box and pulled on one of the sunglasses. If anything they would let me see if anyone was hiding outside Desperation. Toran pulled off at the exit and the scenery changed from gray highway and black asphalt to desolation in the form of run down brick buildings, and shattered windows with jagged teeth of grinning glass. There was no one around when Toran stopped the truck in front of the glowing neon sign that read 'Desperation'. The Desperation was in a desperate situation, run down and empty the interior was covered in a thick layer of dust, and with the only other soul in the bar the bar tender it was obvious when Toran and I walked in. Our contact was due to arrive in four hours, so we sat in the only booth facing the door, the flickering pool table light that hung above out table left us sometimes cloaked by shadows. The bar tender came over with a large pitcher of beer. "Gin," I said, letting Toran take the beer. The bar tender nodded and walked back behind the bar looking over the bottles that were covered with as much dust as the rest of the bar. I took the bottle from the bartender when he came over to pour a glass. He opened his mouth to protest, but went silently back to the bar when I glared at him. We waited the four hours but no one appeared, I looked towards Toran out of the corner of my eye. His face was of barely controlled anger, and his eyes behind the sunglasses were locked on the door.

"Go ahead and check the truck, I'll wait here," I said. Toran didn't wait for anymore, he walked out the door at the brisk walk. The door to Desperation closed with a slam, and the bartender walked out from behind the bar. I watched him as he locked the door and turned to look at me, a double barrel laser shotgun clutched tightly in his hands.

"Do you know how much you're worth?" he asked me, leveling the shotgun at me, aimed right between my eyes.

"Not enough for you to actually shoot me," I replied, carefully taking a sip from the gin bottle. I began to slow process of weighting out my choices in my head, I could draw my own weapon to try and shoot the crazed bar tender, but he could shoot me before I could aim. But I could dodge, even a speeding bullet or laser shot couldn't hit me when I needed to survive.

"With the money I'd get from killing you I could rebuild this place, make it what it once was," The bartender's hands were still as stone, even when his voice shook with wild abandon. Faster than he could get off a shot I was face to face with the bartender, my hand closed around the barrel of the shot gun. Out of surprise the bartender fired, I tilted the gun up and the shot hit a light, sparks cascaded down behind me.

"You forget that I was here, you forget that my buddy was here, you forget about reviving this place with money gotten from blood, got it?" the hand that wasn't wrapped around the shot gun barrel was slowly getting tighter and tighter around the bartender's neck. He nodded and I threw him back into the corner booth. The shotgun went sailing with him I didn't look back as I walked out of the bar. I found Toran easily; he had a man backed against the side of the truck, about a foot off the ground. I turned away, I don't like watching some else beat a man to a bloody pulp, but I couldn't block out the sounds of bloody fist hitting a bloody face. I was soon distracted from the noises as I heard a gun being cocked. With a jump I was on the other side of the truck cab, where I had been standing there was a singe mark. The bartender had shot at me through the door of Desperation. I pulled my own pistol and aimed into that hole, three shots went through smoothly and I smiled at the sound of a body hitting the floor. The bartender had stupidly looked through the hole after he had shot; now he didn't have to worry about how to revive the Desperation bar. To finish the job I walked back into the bar, briefly looking down at the bartender, he had a smoldering hole where his left eye should have been. Taking the shotgun from the dead bartender I hopped the bar and began smashing bottles with the stock. Just as I was empting the cash register Toran walked in, there was blood spattered on his face and hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, kicking aside the bartender's body.

"Making it look like this was a robbery, it will take the cops a little longer to put together this was a shoot out between two people."

"Whatever, they know we've made it, we've got 43 hours to get to our next check point," I followed Toran out into the street, looking over to see the man Toran had been dealing with lying on the sidewalk in his own blood.

"Is he dead?" I asked climbing back into the passenger seat.

"Not yet," Toran walked around the front of the truck and hosted himself inside. I climbed into the passenger seat and studied him for a few seconds. He started the truck with one hand while he cleaned the other one off, when he moved to clean his face he pushed aside his sunglasses and I could clearly see that he was running low on energy.

"You want me to drive?" I asked as we left Desperation behind us. Toran just shook his head, and carefully pulled into highway traffic. I let him set the silence in place and leaned back into my seat, preparing to torture my neck by sleeping in the passenger seat. I was far from tired but in this business you learn to shut down your mind and will yourself to sleep it's better for you over all. I caught two hours before I opened my eyes to what I thought was a gunshot, but was in reality Toran opening my passenger door. He looked up at me, eyes clouded with the need to sleep.

"Your turn," He said, reaching over my lap to unbuckle me and then he pulled me out of my seat. I growled and walked around to the driver's side to hoist myself into the driver's seat. Toran climbed past me from the passenger side and climb into the back.

"You need a key," I yelled, as I leaned over, retrieving one of the keys and leaning back to let Toran snag the key and stomp back into the cargo hold. I started the truck and finally took over the driving. While driving I keep my eyes dancing back and forth over the road to find every escape route possible. I had never needed half the escape routes I find, but each has served me well when I needed it. I drove through dawn and on into mid morning before Toran re-appeared and sat himself down in the passenger seat.

"Why are we moving so slow?" He asked, rubbing his eyes clear of sleep.

"We've got plenty of time," I commented as traffic became slower and slower.

"I know," he said, running his hand over his face, "I just don't want us to be reduced to running out of time. Where are we?"

"Mile 12 of the drive." I looked over at Toran, as I cracked the joints in my neck. He was watching the traffic, but he wasn't looking at it from the seat, he must be looking through Lee's eyes.

"There is a three car pile up, two miles ahead," Toran still had his eyes looking distant and lost, "They emergency vehicles are stuck in the traffic also."

"Look for an escape route, if you find one, we'll get out of here," I told him, preparing for some tricky driving and maneuvering.

"When the ambulance moves, the right lane we start forward, make sure you get into the opening this will create." Toran had me tense as I waited for his signal, "Go." I let the horn be my warning as I launched the truck into the opening of the right lane.

"What's my next move?" I asked over the thundering of the horns, and shots of panicked drivers.

"We're going to get into the truck lane, it's not blocked and it's moving. Keep moving to the right, I'll give you the signal." I felt it sliding into place again, that teamwork that unconsciously flowed between Toran and I. His signals came quickly, right as I needed them and I acted quickly to them. It was that teamwork that had us moving along in the truck lane within ten minutes of starting. Toran shook his head and I saw his eyes snap back to normal. I knew the feeling; a connection of mind and senses when used always felt chilling when you let go for a second. "Where are we going?" Toran leaned over to the dashboard and called up the route, looking over the red line and black dots that told us our checkpoints.

"What are you doing?" I asked as Toran ran a finger over the map, and then zoomed out from it.

"Finding patterns, King always has patterns in his works," Toran grunted as he typed in a few more orders, but I was too busy watching traffic to care and Toran was probably harmless.

"Who cares about how King works," I hissed, Toran sounded like where King walked was sacred ground.

Toran looked over at me, with one eyebrow raised, a look he adopted often, "Don't like our gracious employer I take it?"

"Do you like him?" I snapped, cursing myself for losing my careful track I usually kept on my thoughts. Toran grunted in response, and kept fiddling with the controls on the GPS system. "How much time do we have left?" I asked, mentally and physically drained from the driving. Both Toran and I needed to sleep longer than a few hours caught here and there.

"36 hours, why?" Toran was leaning back into his chair, arm crossed over his chest, and eyes closed, but I knew he wasn't sleeping.

"It's five hours until sunset, look in the GPS and see how long an over night stay is going to set us back. If it's not a big deal we'll stop." I picked up the pace by slamming my foot down on the gas pedal.

"There is a hotel, off exit 21, there's no name listed for it, but it's close enough to keep us on schedule."

"The hotel has to be Pop's place, it's a safe house for those doing runs for King or anyone else in the Ring." At exit 21 the streets became rural with motels everywhere, but Pop's was easy to see, the large neon sign was shinning brightly with no flickering in it. I pulled the truck outside the front door and turned to Toran, "There are about three cops inside, can you spot them?" Toran shook his head, his eyes must not work very well in the dark, unlike mine, "There's the couple on vacation, but they're plain clothes and one uniform. If we mess this up a quick escape is not going to help us."

"There's no bulletin out for you yet, they don't know that I exist so our chances are pretty good, but to insure those chances you go in," Toran looked through his window at the lobby, "those aren't normal sunglasses are they?"

"No," I replied jumping from the cab to saunter into the main lobby of Pop's. Pop's was behind the counter a wall of keys behind him. He smiled when I walked in, tilting his head towards the young couple sitting on one of the lobby couches planning the trip to the city that was about a mile up the road. Plain clothes like I had guessed, the uniform was off in the corner, pretending he wasn't there.

"Hello there, how can I help you?" Pop's asked when I leaned against the counter.

"If you've got a room, you can help," Pop's arched an eyebrow at me. Pop's is an old time member of the Ring, when he got to old to do runs he talked the Boss into giving him a run down hotel, some money to fix her up and now used the place as a safe house for those who were young enough to make runs. The Boss had listened and Pop's was doing well. There was the occasional attempted by the police to shut the place down, but Pop's insure no one who might cause problems would show up on his door step.

"Well I don't know, it's pretty much booked to the gills. You havin' some rough times travelin'?" Necessity is the mother of invention, Pop's had come up with the code when he got worried about the cops finding out he wasn't all legitimate business. That particular phrase meant 'do you absolutely need a room,' in code.

"Making a large run for the man, you know how it is. Just awhile back hit some rough weather, sure hope it doesn't catch up with us," translated it meant 'I'm taking the collection, ran into some trouble, cops don't know it's me, but they might soon.' Pop's looked a little worried, but I had never caused him any trouble before. He reached behind him and pulled a key off the wall.

"The only room we've got left, hope you enjoy it. It's one of our better rooms," I traded Pop's for the key with a stack of credits and sauntered back out. Toran had rolled down his window, so I tossed him the key, he caught it easily and I jumped back into the driver's seat.

"The room we got is sound proof, and almost completely laser proof," I said fitting the truck into only two parking spaces.

"Let's hope we don't need it," Toran stepped outside, looking towards the sky. I watched a shadow circle for a few seconds then drop, Lee was returning home. Meri had opened the door that lead to the cab and landed beside me. I scanned the parking lot as I walked towards the room, Toran was hanging back to get the luggage. The lot seemed empty enough, but I spotted what I supposed was an empty car with two more cops in it. Of all the night to stop with Pop's, damn cops trying to ruin Pop's business. There was one problem with the room and I noticed it as soon as I had the door open. One bed, of course, I thought, I should have expected this, Pop's said the room was better than the others. "I don't like the way those two cops in the parking lot were watching us, this might not go the way we planned."

"One bed," I pointed to the bed, Toran looked at it.

"Fuck, not the least of our problems." Toran tossed my bag on to the bed and just dropped his.

"I think that Pop's had a link, I want to find out if he might, without him knowing for course." Meri looked up at me, her eyes were pleading, "No, no, and again no." I told her, shaking my head for emphases.

"What?" Toran asked, looking between Meri and me.

"She wants to go retrieve the book," Meri looked over at Toran hoping he would side with her and tell her she could go.

"Adel you know it's a good idea, Lee couldn't get in and neither could we, but Meri? She could be in and out in seconds," Toran walked up to me and gave my shoulders a shake, "if we screw up it's death for both of us. You've got to let Meri do it."

"I have to see what she sees before I let her go, and if something goes wrong you have to create a distraction," I sighed, letting Toran smile and victory shine in his eyes. Meri leapt for joy and went flying towards the door, jumping up to paw at the doorknob. Toran let her out and I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes not seeing the room anymore. I saw the hallway, Meri's point of view. She was moving down the hallway hugging the walls like a shadow. With her thought blending with mine I sensed her joy in finally being free to run around, and be sneaky. Meri enjoyed hiding in shadows, she also liked playing tricks on people, stealing the book would be one hell of a trick. The halls were empty, and Meri moved without interference. She came to the doorway that that lead to the lobby, her view perfect to see behind the counter. My eyes scanned with hers, looking for anything that might be seen as a quest book. I ordered her to go behind the counter, and with a burst she was. Nothing there was labeled a guest book; there was a book for the accounts, and a classic novel but nothing in the way of a quest book. I swore and Meri growled, dodging underneath the counter when Pop's appeared. Meri and I watched him pull a stool up and sit down, reaching under the desk for the novel. As risky as the whole situation was I made Meri move out from underneath the desk and look towards the lobby. There was a restaurant off to one side, the plain- clothes cops were still in their places and the uniform was in the corner, standing out because he was under the red neon sign. Meri looked around, her eyes landing on the restaurant entrance a woman; one of Pop's employee's was smiling at walking in guests, taking down their names. No way to get the book, but one hell of the clue. I called Meri back, jumping to my feet and throwing the door wide for her.

"Restaurant entrance, there's a woman taking names, we go in, there's got to be a clue there, let's go," I tapped my foot at Toran, who looked to be deep in thought.

"King has restaurant workers working for him?" Toran followed me out, leaving Lee and Meri to guard the room. The hotel restaurant was filled to the gills; Pop's was doing well. Toran and I took a seat at the bar, I waved for the bartender who knew what I liked to drink, Toran nodded for one of the same. The drinks were slid our way, I picked mine up, and Toran took the napkin from underneath the glass.

"It says 'we're known', that's it," He handed the napkin over, letting me take my own ideas from it. It was definitely Pop's hand writing, and the message was in code, but a particularly tricky part of the code. The message either meant the cops figured us out, or that Pop's knew we were here on business.

"It's an odd message. We'll stay here 'till the place closes, if we get no other message then we'll go with the lesser of two evils," Toran nodded and we moved from the bar to a vacated table. Toran leaned back into the seat, his eyes scanning over my head, my eyes were doing the same and they would be all night. It was a way to keep track of who went in or out, who may be the leak in Pop's and who might be a problem. To solve any problem that might arise there was my Glock laser in the holster behind my back, hidden by my long black trench coat. I knew Toran was carrying, where he had the guns hidden I couldn't figure out. The night passed in silence, like most of the truck drive after our conversation in the Zen room I believed Toran had given up on trying to get me to talk. We were chased out of the bar around midnight no one had looked suspicious and no one had approached the cops to whisper in their ears.

"You might have been wrong about the leak, it's nothing to be worried about," Toran said to me when we were back in the room.

"Hell, there is a leak, we just have to fine him. Maybe they had a connection to the guy you beat the shit out of back at Desperation," I glared at Toran as I sat on the end of the bed, pulling off my boots.

"There is no connection between the guy trying to break into the truck and the problems here." Toran picked his bag off the floor from before he, placing his face only inches away from mine, "I just taught him a lesson for messing with the Ring."

"Oh, then who the hell was our contact?" I asked, jumping to my feet to place a hand to Toran's chest and pushed him away to walk away from him.

"There was a camera outside Desperation, I'm betting three to one that's our contact since the Ring owned the damn bar. Yeah that bartender you killed was an ex-agent. I pulled your ass out of the fire by saying that guy tried to kill you."

"Don't think I'm going to throw myself into your arms at that idea, because he was trying to kill me, so try again," Toran growled, picking up his bag he turned away and into the bathroom. The door was slammed and I growled while Lee peered at me from a lamp. "What are you gonna yell at me too?" the door to the bathroom opened and Toran leaned out, his shirt gone but his glare still in place.

"Leave him out of this," he slammed the door closed again. I growled at Lee again, the bird tilted its head and sent a warbling screech in my direction. Picking my bag off the floor I opened the side pouch, taking out the cleaning supplies for the guns. I kept focused on the cleaning of the gun while Toran blasted away anger with hot water. I channeled my anger into carefully cleaning the guns; laser guns are tricky since they are composed of mirrors that channel the beams. It took time, but it took away my anger. I carefully moved from weapon to weapon and slowly my mind had moved on from how infuriating Toran was to wondering about the contact at Desperation. A camera wasn't that reliable from information, nor was a bartender who wanted desperately to bring back the glory days of his establishment. Toran's assault on the truck thief seemed too convenient for me a pasty in the right place, wrong time. Was Toran smart enough to sabotage something like this run, I thought, carefully cleaning another weapon. He didn't seem to be the type that would pull a double cross, he was too stupid. I slid the guns back into the holsters when Toran walked out of the bathroom. His jeans were loose, belt undone, his hair soaking wet, and a towel thrown around his neck.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at me, he did look apologetic for the fight. I smiled back, nodding at him. Then Meri's head shot up and she sharply turned her ears towards to door. I heard it too, the sounds of footsteps, the sounds of hushed orders, and high tech body armor clinking together. My instant reaction was to fly to my feet, sliding the guns out of sight, I reached out an arm to wrap around Toran's neck to pull him downward and force his lips against mine with bruising power. The cops came storming in just as Toran wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my hips into his.

"Wrong room," the lead cop said curtly, leading his men out, gently closing the door behind them. I stepped out of Toran's embrace before the feelings that were stirring in me took over. Toran looked just as stunned as I did. Memories of Wild Card had forced their way into my thoughts and they had my insides shaking.

"Works every time," I said, trying to keep my head at a casual tilted. Toran was trying to read into me once again, I tried to hide within myself from those eyes. Toran gave up, a sigh escaping as he turned away from me. I check the damage done to the door, chain lock was shit, and the dead bolt was dead. I took the chair from the table and jimmied it under the doorknob. I scooted past Toran and into the shower. I understood what was making me want to erase the feeling of Toran's lips on mine and his arms around me, but not even the water could erase those memories. My lips still tasted like the gin Toran had been drinking; my shirt had two large wet arm prints on the back of it, hard to admit to myself that it had felt good for a spur of the moment idea on how to get the cops gone. There was a memory in the back of my mind, of Wild Card, taking me in his arms to do the exact same thing, but that was the in the old days. In the days when King was still climbing the ladder of organized crime that would have done nothing to deter the cops, they had been one hell of a force before the Ring and Galactic Station had made their presence well known. The knowledge of today was you reported a crime, you became one, usually murder. The cops had suffered enough losses of their best men to learn not to mess with either syndicate. I walked out of the bathroom to a room that was dark. Toran had turned off the lights and climbed into bed. I stood there, seeing in the room like it was just beginning to get dark, watching Toran. He looked incredibly at ease while sleeping, I thought. Climbing into bed next to him I wondered if I looked as peaceful. I didn't sleep for very long, the alarm on the truck went off around three in the morning, sending Toran and me scrambling from bed, picking up guns as we went racing towards the truck. I wasn't surprised to see the cops, one carrying a pair of bolt cutters the others were already inside the truck.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled, sliding the gun into the waste band of my jeans, anger flaring in my eyes.

"Sorry mam, but it's a routine check," I came toe to toe with the cop, glaring at him.

"Routine my ass, your people have been here all night. You first barge into a private room, now you break into a private truck without a warrant I'm thinking that actions like this might just be against the law," Toran was standing behind me, his gun still hanging loosely in his hands.

"Your trucks labeled for food delivery, you're hauling Nitron, I don't think that's exactly legal either," The cop replied.

"You want to see how legal?" Toran jumped into the truck, rolling one of the canisters forward. I didn't know what kind of trick Toran was playing but I forced my face to stay angered, and my eyes in a glare. With a twist Toran opened the tank and out poured Nitron gas. "Nitron, certified, I've got the hauling license in the glove box, and I've got the regulation safety precautions down pat, and there followed on this truck. So Officer, I suggest you and your fellows get the fuck away from my truck and drive away," the cop looked at me, seeing that my glare was just as stone cold as Toran he jerked his head the other cops walked away. Before the leader left he took my hand and dropped the cut lock into my hands. Toran and I watched them drive away, including the car that had been sitting in the lot when Toran and I had first come to the hotel.

"Who tipped them off?" I yelled to the empty lot. Toran pulled the truck closed, looking at the lock hold.

"No one, the cop was telling the truth," Toran grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the hotel.

"What? How the hell would they know we're carrying Nitron without unlocking the cargo?" I yanked my arm away from him, before turning to walk backwards and in front of Toran.

"Some of those cops were carrying a more advanced but much chunkier version of our sunglasses. They saw through the truck's walls. The canisters were not food, so under suspicion of the trucks contents they could open it."

"You claimed it was illegal," I said, stepping to the side I let Toran open the door to the room, he had wisely grabbed a key before rushing out with gun in hand.

"Bursting into the room without a search warrant was, there's probably some law that protects the breaking into the truck," Toran tossed his gun onto the table, mine joined his and we both crawled back into the single bed.

"How do you know so much about law?" I asked, stretching my shoulders before sinking deeper into the blankets.

"My father was a lawyer," I nodded before slipping off into sleep. Morning came to soon and with Toran pulling me out of bed.

"Bastard," I grumbled, pulling back on my boots.

"Thank me for letting you cat out so she could watch the truck for us," He replied, pulling on his suede jacket.

"Meri would have bugged me for hours, she snuck out when we came back from meeting the cops," I slung my bag over my shoulder, following Toran out. We ate breakfast in the restaurant, leaving a tip large enough to make up from the damage done to the door.

"Our check point had to be reached within 24 hours, we're pulling an all nighter," I told Toran as I hosted myself into the passenger seat, Toran could drive since he'd woken me up this morning. "We're stopping at a small restaurant, Ling Toa, you'll go back to the highway and stay in any moving lane until you see the Mercurian toll way. Take that until you see the large gold dragon. I'm going to the back to catch more sleep," I told him, taking a key. I walked into the back, leaving the single light off I carefully pulled the bed down and threw myself onto it. I willed myself to sleep in a matter of minutes. ~***~

I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out the phone. Carefully keeping one eye on the road and one eye on the phone I dialed my contact. He let it ring for a few seconds before silently picking it up. "She's asleep in the back of the truck, you can talk."

"What is it you want now?"

"Why did you send someone to take the truck at Desperation, it wasn't part of the plan." I kept my tone curt, smooth and a little angry. I was risking my life running this plan for these ass holes and now they wanted to change it on me with no warning, I had a God given right to be angry.

"We were just trying to preserve your cover, if you had let the."

"My cover is nothing to you, and you know it. We need to keep this going as we planed it," I hissed, looking over at Meri who was sleeping comfortably in the passenger side seat.

"Leader wants your cover to stay secure, so we're going to change the plan and keep you ignorant okay?"

"No not.." but I was talking to a dead line. Cursing I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket, this was not going as planed.

~***~

I woke to pounding on the door that lead to the cargo hold, "Let's go, we're here." I looked down at the watch on my wrist, it was the next morning, I'd slept through the day and we were late. I didn't bother to lock the bed home just scrambled into the front cab and out the driver's side door. Toran stood there tapping his foot impatiently.

"Traffic didn't move as fast as we needed?" I asked bitterly as I looked into his eyes behind the sunglasses.

"Yeah, didn't go as planed, now let's get some dinner shall we?" Toran's tone was just as frustrated as I was. We walked together into the bright interior of Ling Toa. Both of us scanned the single open floor restaurant, looking for anyone we might know, anyone who could be out contact.

"What would like?" a small Asian woman walked up to us, handing over a folded paper menu.

"Table, facing the entrance," Toran told her, letting me look down at the list of traditional Earth Asia dishes. I followed when the woman lead us to a table square in the middle of the room, I sat down and watched in interest as Toran grabbed the woman's arm and whispered something to her. When I silently asked him about it he just shook his head and held out his hand for the menu.

"I grew up on Earth, I've had Asian food before, try the Sweet and Sour chicken, I recommend it," Toran smiled easily as he looked over the menu.

"Earth has the lowest crime rate in the whole Intergalactic system, how do you get into our line of work living on that planet?" I asked, still searching the room. If we missed out contact it could mean our lives. King would not care for the interruption from the cops being our reasons for being late.

"Shredding documents and stealing truck loads of post it notes is a good way to get into the business. We'll split the Sweet and Sour Chicken," Toran said to the woman when she returned. Then I heard it, the simple click of a holster coming undone. I studied Toran, but he had both hands on the table before him, I hadn't reached for my weapon. I closed my eyes and folded my hands in my lap, turning my ears towards listening. Slowly I blocked out all the noises from the kitchen, the chatter of the restaurant guest disappeared and I heard only the movement of skin against cloth. It was on my left and slightly behind me, the hand was moving slowly downward, and when I heard it brush against the metal stock of the gun my eyes flashed open. I whirled, my hand snaking behind my back to draw my gun, but the metal wasn't there. I watched the man in the fore most booth, he had also stood and he had a gun pointed at me.

"Blood," I said in greeting, I knew the thin black man with the scar over his right eye.

"Lynx, haven't seen you in a while," Blood answered moving away from the booth he was sitting in to stand a few feet in front of me, the gun still held in front of him.

"No, though I must say I'm not that happy to see you again." I heard Toran start to move, but had already heard the click of anther holster coming undone. I held a hand towards Toran; there was no need for him to get involved in this.

"Well, I'm happy to see you. You know I've always thought you were pretty," Blood kept his gun trained on me, "How about you folks leaving us to finish this alone hmm?" The place emptied in three seconds flat and it was just what I wanted.

"Eagle, why don't you duck under the table, I'm not feeling to well and for your own safety I'd get out of the way," I commented lightly as I called on reserves of rage that hid under the surface of my personality. Blood had companions; I couldn't move quickly enough to dodge two bullets, if I was feeling normal. I watched as my vision turned slowly black. I launched myself forward, acting like I couldn't move fast enough to get there, but before Blood could blink I had my hand wrapped around his throat. I pivoted on one foot and let Blood catch the bullets that his friend had fired my way. I quickly snapped Blood's neck and tossed his body away from me. His friend still thought shooting me would be the best choice. I dodged under the bullets he fired towards me. With a little laugh I was before the friend, my hand wrapped around his wrist I broke it and he dropped the gun. I grabbed the front of his business suit and dragged him off the ground.

"You are going to tell whoever is after this truck that they should give up now," Toran's voice said from beside me, and it broke through my black haze and I felt my arms shivering and weakening.

"You don't I'll come find you and you won't die as quickly as your friend did," I growled and tossed him towards the entrance and through the huge glass window there. I watched, dispassionately as the man scrambled up and ran. I turned towards Toran, who was searching my face again for clues of how or what had happened.

"You still want dinner?" He asked, looking over towards the empty kitchen.

"No, I want to continue on, we've got two days to get there. I want to go on for a few more miles, I drive, and you sleep." I started towards the door and whirled when I heard him draw in a breath, "No arguing," I gestured to the other enacted glass window behind me, "There is another perfectly okay glass window I can throw you through."

"Where's the next stop?"

"Some abandoned house off exit 45, Twelfth Street," I turned away again and pulled myself into the rig. Toran sat solemnly next to me and settled in, "I told you to get some sleep," I said as I started the truck. Guest were filling into the restaurant and it was best to make a quick get-away.

"I'm not tired, so I'll stay," he replied, folding his arms he settled in for a long drive. When I pulled onto the highway he was already asleep his chin resting against his chest as he breathed deeply. I shook my head and pulled the truck over. Moving carefully I lifted Toran into my arms and carried him into the back.

"Thanks Mom," Toran said as I walked back towards the driver's seat. I ignored him and started driving.

~***~

When she was gone I pulled the phone out and dialed quickly, "Who is Blood?"

"Blood was just to move things along," my contact laughed, "how'd he do?"

"Dead, Adel killed him, and his friend you sent went through a glass window and now is on your way." The silence from his end was heavy and I smiled. "Yeah, see now why don't we switch back to the plan, and we keep her out of anything fatal."

My contact laughed, "Yes, we should save your precious partner, you two were so cozy for the cops weren't you?"

"You sent the cops?" I whispered indigently.

"Just part of our plan, you found the Nitron we placed there for you. We'll see if we can work something out."

~***~

Toran appeared after three hours of sleeping, and we switched places. I curled up in the passenger seat and settled in for another long morning drive. "Okay, I spy with my little eye something that begins with H," Toran said as the traditional silence fell into place. I looked over at him wondering if he was serious. "We've been sitting in silence for most of this trip. If you won't give me a run down of your history, let's do something to test the sense okay?"

Toran was impatient, suddenly angry, and I was slightly suspicious. "That helicopter, circling about two miles away," I replied cautiously, watching Toran's white knuckled grip on the steering wheel slowly relax.

"Jesus, I was sure you wouldn't be able to see it," Toran kept his eyes forwards, but they were distant, Lee was playing for him. I smiled on the inside, no self-respecting criminal played fair.

"I can't, I can hear it though."

"How good is your hearing?" Toran asked as the rig started to slow down and we both jumped at a huge backfire.

"Good enough to know you need to pull this truck over." I leaned forward and pressed my ear to the dashboard, the engine was not making good engine sounds.

"You're not serious, right?" I pulled my head back, the engine backfired and smoke began to billow up from it. Toran did some creative cursing and pulled over. I jumped out walked around to the side of the truck, "It's probably hot." Toran said as he came to stand next to me.

"I'll get a pair of gloves from the dash and we'll see what kind of shit we're in," I kept my feet on the street while I searched the dash for gloves, "Did you move the gloves?" I asked when I couldn't find any in the dash.

"No, try underneath the seat," Toran called, still focused on the engine.

"Yeah, thanks," I said when I found them underneath the seat. I unlatched the locks on the hood and threw it open. Toran and I backed away as smoke came pouring out. "Looks like our cop friends left a present," I growled pulling a chuck of wires and computer chips off the blockhead.

"What the hell is this stuff?" Toran asked taking the components from me. I looked over the engine and answer that question pretty quickly.

"Where the wires touch gets eaten away, look at all the holes and burn marks, it's a corrosive device. Very commonly used in the Galactic Station," I slammed the hood closed, "We need a new engine, and the wires hit everything important."

"Who do you think did this?" Toran asked, tossing the wires down and crushing it under the heel of his boot.

"Blood had a friend outside of the restaurant obviously," I pulled off the gloves and tossed them onto the hood of the car.

"How are we suppose to get to our check point by tomorrow morning?" Toran asked, holding one arm forward I got my first good look at Lee. All Bio- animals are silver with a hint of color; Lee had slight colorations of gold and bronze over his feathers. Meri was the color of rust underneath the silver when the light hit her correctly.

"You mean this morning? We'll call King, tell him the engine's gone to the great beyond and get ourselves an extension, if we can't I take the Racer to the check point and you watch the truck."

"Alright, but we'll both talk to him, he's more likely to listen to both of us," Toran pulled out of his jacket pocket a cell phone and speed dialed King, "Nothing's wrong, King, we have engine problems," Toran said, and paused to listen to whatever King was saying, "I don't know I've never seen anything like it." Toran rolled his eyes and handed the phone to me, "He wants to speak with you."

"What the hell happened?" King roared when I placed the phone to my ear.

"We had a little run in with Blood, he left a present on our engine and now we are stuck," I replied coolly, use to King's out burst.

"Why would Blood bother doing something with the engine. He shoots first and forgets to ask questions," I could hear King pacing over bricks, he must be outside.

"Blood brought friends, and while I was busy dealing with him, his friends slip on a corrosive device onto the blockhead of the engine. We've got no power and there is no way the engine can run. Send a tow truck," I explained as Toran paced, checking his watch every three or four seconds.

"Now you want special treatment for a mistake you made?" King laughed.

"Listen you scum sucker, you get us a tow truck company that can be trusted or we call someone who may figured out we're not legit, it's your choice."

"Okay, but you get your ass to the check point. Crusher is going to be waiting for you." With that I hung up the phone and handed it back to Toran.

"The plan is I go on, you stay here and wait for the tow truck, okay? I don't like it either," I hissed when Toran looked doubting.

"Why don't you like it? You get to go on and make sure everything is hunky dory, I've got to risk my ass waiting for the tow truck," Toran snapped, to keep myself from killing him I turned around and started towards the back of the truck.

"I don't trust you," I hissed when I heard him draw a breath to contradict me, "You happy now?"

"I saved your ass last night when the cops showed."

"Hell, I could have gotten rid of them," I scoffed.

"How? By having another one of your psychotic episodes?" My hands paused in unlocking the back door for a split second before I jumped in to the back.. "Damnit, Adel." I heard Toran growl and start to run down the side of the truck, I ignored him swinging a leg over the Racer and starting to turn it towards the open cargo doors.

"Look I'm sorry," Toran swung up into the cargo hold as I pulled on my bike helmet. "Will you at least accept an apology?" Toran grabbed my hands when I fully faced the exit.

"I'm going with the plan, you stay here and sit on your hands, okay?" Toran moved to straddle the front wheel of the bike, his eyes sharp on mine.

"You're not going just to complete the plan, Adel," Toran hissed, but he had to jump away when I turned the engine on and revved it. Without a glance back I sailed out of the back of the truck and pulled into the traffic with my mind seething. I forced the bike to the edge, speeding faster and faster in the predawn traffic. There was no reason he deserved my trust, I told myself as I weaved in and out of traffic. It didn't matter we worked well together, it didn't matter that he had broken through an attack to keep me from killing Blood's friend. He was no Wild Card; he was just another fucking lackey. Then why does his word hurt so much, the little voice in the back of my mind asked. I let the thunder of the engine drown it out and kept focused on driving towards Crusher and doing my job. I woke alone, I told myself, I always work alone.

~***~

I had my phone out and had dialed my contact before Adel was out of sight, "We have to cancel the plan, she's gone on without me." I said, pacing back and forth in the cargo hold.

"What?"

"Cancel the plan, we ran into some engine problems, she drove off without me," I spoke quickly, sending Lee after Adel.

"She's alone?" The contact sounded interested at this.

"Yes, damn woman drove off without me, she's going to the check point alone," I worried when the other end of the line went silent. I prayed for a plague on the man's treasure jewels.

"The plan goes on, this may just be what we need," the line went dead and I cursed creatively. My fingers flew as I typed in the phone number.

"King I need a ride, something fast and I need it with the tow truck," King was silent for a few second, I could tell he didn't want to hear this and not from me.

"Fuck, Toran, what the hell for?" King growled, he was getting pissed off that we kept calling him. That was nothing if he found out what awaited Adel.

"Adel's gone off on her own, I've got one of those feelings that this won't turn out good," I paced while talking with King, one eye focused on Lee's point of view. Adel was speeding and being reckless, I winced as she drove between to semis.

"Damn it, alright, I'm sending it." I slammed the phone closed, and stuffed it into my pocket pacing the length of the truck. Meri was pacing with me; I stopped to look down at her, "Where is she?" I asked the bobcat. Meri did not answer, just looked up at me with eyes that showed nothing. An hour went by before the tow truck showed up, carrying along with them a low rider motorcycle, not the Racer like Adel's. It was slower than the Racer, but I could push it.

"Take the truck to your shop, I'll meet you there when I finish with what I'm doing. Got it?" I snapped at them, taking the keys and helmet and the bike. Meri followed me, jumping onto the back of the bike. I went off, following Lee's direction to where Adel had gone. God, let me make it in time, I thought.

~***~

I pulled to a stop outside a rundown two-story house, the checkpoint. Crusher wasn't waiting outside, but there was a light on inside. I checked the weapons I was wearing; today I had gone light, only the two Glocks attached to my belt holstered behind me. I try to wear all my weapons all the time, but I had gone with light today because I was feeling lax. I lost the lax feeling when I opened the door to the house, it was unlocked, and the hallway dusty and poorly lit. I was surprised to hear no sounds in the house, just silence. An uneasy feeling went through my bones; my hand reached back under my jacket, and slid the gun out of the holster. I walked through the house, gun at the ready, no one waiting. I waited, pacing in the living room. Two hours went by before the sound of a motorcycle reached my ears. I went to the door and threw it wide, suddenly faced with Toran. A moment went by with us staring at each other in wide-eyed surprise. Toran recovered from the surprise quicker than I did, he grabbed my arm and dragged me forward and out of the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, trying to break free of his grip.

"No time to explain, Adel, we need to get out of here, the tow truck made it by the way," Toran dragged me towards the waiting motorcycles.

"Toran, we've got a check point to make!" I yelled, tearing my arm away and stopping in the driveway of the house.

"Fuck it, King already knows were on our way. We've made the check point," Toran turned away from me, looking down the street for something.

"You got proof?" No warning, had to be a sniper shot, but Toran suddenly tackled me to the ground of the driveway, one single shot went sailing over our heads.

"Yeah I do, come on!" Toran rolled again, this time I was lying on top of him, his arm lying over my shoulder, gun in hand. He fired one shot, eye unfocused on mine, though he was looking right at me. When his eyes were focused back on mine, he quickly turned as again, covering me as a volley of shots came at where we had been. This time I held the gun over his shoulder, shooting towards where I heard the sounds of the guns, my ears aiming my eyes. I heard the groans of two, but my other shots missed. Toran waited until the firing stopped before rolling us again. His aim was becoming better; I heard the falling of three, before he had to roll us over again.

"How many are there? I know Lee's telling you," I asked, while shooting.

"Enough to keep us rolling for awhile," He replied, a smirk on his lips. I rolled my eyes, fighting down a burst of laughter. It wasn't that I wasn't worried or focused on the fight; I just found Toran's reaction to this amusing. Toran flipped us again, shooting off another volley. Fifteen minutes of rolling around brought the shoot out to an end, I was on my back and Toran was kneeling over me. A few more minutes went by, Toran and I had our eyes locked. He was smiling down at me I was smiling back. Memories of the past were rising, but for once I wasn't worried about them, they weren't important right now. Meri called to me so I broke the connection I had with Toran's eyes and looked over his shoulder to see what she was complaining about.

"Those sons of a bitch!" I grabbed Toran's shirtfront and hauled him off of me. I jumped to my feet and ran over to my brand new Racer. It was on fire, in the fight laser rounds must have hit the gas line and now I had a smoldering bike.

"We'll ride mine back to the shop, pick up the truck and get on our way," Toran got up from the grass, his suede jacket covered in dirt and dead grass. I looked at the cruiser and decided I wanted my Racer back. Toran took the front, Meri jumped to the small area before him. I picked up my helmet, left undamaged, damn irony. I straddled the bike behind Toran, arms linking around his waist. The bike came to life and off we went finding the garage. When we walked in the mechanics said it'd be awhile.

"Pity about your Racer, though, those are good bikes," he said, offering us a seat in the waiting room for worried car owners.

"No shit," I said, collapsing to a chair. Toran collapsed next to me, and we stared at the opposite wall. One problem, I kept looking at Toran out of the corner of my eye, seeing him in a different light. With I sigh I looked over at him, "Thank you. for saving me back there."

"We're partners, there's nothing to it," Toran said on a shrug.

"I shouldn't have acted the way I did," I closed my eyes and sighed out the words.

"Hey, you have every right not to trust me," He must have turned his head away from me; his voice changed the direction it was coming from.

"Not after what you did," I yawned, suddenly and irrevocably exhausted.

"Get some shut eye, I'll wake you when the trucks ready," I leaned my head back against the wall and willed myself to sleep, escaping to the safety of the blackness behind my eyelids.

~***~

I was jarred awake suddenly, Adel who was also dozing had fallen, her head dropped to my shoulder. I moved over a seat, which didn't help, she fell further, her head landing in my lap. She stretched out; keeping her head nestled on my thigh. With care I reached a hand out and slowly ran it over her black as ink hair. "I wish I deserved that trust," I whispered to her. I kept my hand slow and steady over her hair, there was more to her, I had realized that long ago. I moved my hand to lightly place it on her cheek, and jumped slightly when my cell phone went off. I pulled it out of my jacket pocket and checked if it was important. With a sigh I slipped out of the jacket, balling it up and sliding it under Adel's head as I moved to the other side of the room. "What?" I asked flipping the phone open.

"I'm getting impatient," it was not the voice of my contact; I knew who it was and shivered at what might cause him to call me.

"We're following the schedule that King set for us, and I'm keeping to the plan," Leader laughed on the other end of the line.

"Yes, you've been listening to the orders I have given very well."

"I've just hit some problems, it took longer that I thought to get her to trust me."

"It took ten of my best men, seven of whom you killed yourself."

"How else was I to get her to trust me, she'd have known if I kept missing. You've got to be patient," I paused, my mind slowing as Adel stretched, arching her back.

"I think it would be better if you let us take care of your trust problems," I stiffened, that chill becoming a freeze.

"It's not part of the plan, you wanted her to work for you," I snapped, his words were unnecessarily sarcastic.

"The plans gone to hell, Toran, I want my money, I want it soon. Where is the next checkpoint, and I want the time, you will do nothing to stop what I order. Understand?" I gritted my teeth.

"It's a club, Foxy Lady, when the truck is fixed we have a week," I turned away from Adel and closed my eyes, tilting my head towards the ceiling. The silence on the other end seemed to drag on.

"We'll see if I can wait that long," and the line went dead.

~***~

The truck was fixed within three house and we started off. Toran was quite, and so was I, I was thinking about the attack. Long range weapons, not something used by police, with the corrosive device had everything pointing to the Galactic Station, but how would they no the route? King made sure that his runs never used the same route twice, that everyone was a trusted member of the Ring. Blood and his friend's hand found one checkpoint, now a well arranged strike force had found another. Everything was working out too well for the Galactic Station; nothing was working for Toran and me. My mind jumped back to the leak in Pop's place, was the leak following us? I checked the mirrors, where there any cars I kept seeing or any faces I recognized. But no, I didn't notice anyone that was familiar. I sighed and watched Toran turn towards me, his traditional look of the eyebrow raised. My mind shot towards him, he had to be the leak, he was the unknown factor. No, no, I thought, just because I didn't know his past, that gave me no reason to trust him. He saved my life in that morning, and if it was the Galactic Station that was behind it why would Toran shoot his own men? Well if he was already turning tail on King what would keep him from killing his own men? I sighed and rubbed the heel of my hands into my eyes. I had never second-guessed Wild Card; my faith in him had been complete. Even if the teamwork Toran and I showed was eerily similar to what I use to have with Wild Card, but there wasn't that sense of trust and devotion. I'll never have it again, I thought, before I had to reach out and brace myself as the truck fishtailed.

"Watch it," I hissed at Toran when the truck was back on course.

"Sorry," Toran said distractedly, he wasn't focused. I went back to looking out at the rain soaked road. It reminded me of blood, for the rain that hit the red ground made it look like Phoebus was bleeding. Blood in Phoebus was an idea that was well known and well shed. When people started living out of Earth they were given the nickname of Angels, and they were supposed to be living in a sort of Heaven anyway. Then slowly, Earth became Heaven as then outlaws there moved into Heaven. The Ring had been the first group to form, then the Galactic Station had appeared, and their had been mafia war for a few years and now the two syndicates had a very tentative working relationship. The Ring stayed on Phoebus and ran the local scene while the Galactic Station handle smuggling. Yet I had occasional run in with the Galactic station, when I ran into Meri I was facing off with the Station, it was raining then too. The night had started out fine, the job had been running smoothly, until some hotheaded members of the Galactic Station came in and started shooting. I had been so young, only seventeen when I met Meri, and then I had been reborn. There had been the over whelming need to run away from the fight, from the shots and guns, then I had found Meri and there had been no fear. I couldn't fear, not with Meri, and then I had turned around and gone back into the club and killed every Galactic Station member inside. I woke three weeks later with Meri lying next to me, the scar that went from my collarbone to the top of my left breast a permanent marker to my reawakening as Lynx. I got up from the passenger seat, shaking a little at the memories of the past and went quickly into the cargo hold. The darkness closed around me and I slid down the back of the door, hands running through my hair. Meri came out of the shadows, her question floating to me.

"No, I could never regret you, never," Meri came to sit before me while my eyes watched memories so long buried play before my eyes like they were some old movie. I would have been lost in them but Toran pounded on the door.

"I need you, Adel," Toran yelled, I came into the cab, sitting back down and looking at the road. Four cars had pulled along side the truck, the men inside where carrying large weapons, "Have you noticed the check points are getting further apart?"

"Yeah, what does this have to do with the cars Toran?"

"We're getting deeper into some Galactic Station territory. They've made their presence known." I watched the cars move to try and slow us down.

"I have a plan, it's stupid and risky, and I'll need all of what you used to make the truck stock," Toran pressed a button on the dash, and the truck came alive with the sound of gears, "Open the cargo door," Toran pressed another button and I walked back into the cargo hold. Light folded in and illuminated the changes made by pressing one little button. It had changed from being filled with Nitron tanks to guns, lots of them. I pulled two down from the wall and clipped them to the cruiser. I slid on the thigh holster and added a belt of clips to my own belt. I tied my hair back and grabbed a head mounted radio. Helmet and gloves in place, I turned on the engine and went flying out into the rain, one gun already hanging loosely in my hand.

"You ever do anything half-way?" Toran's voice came in over the headset as I caught his eyes in the mirror.

"What? And ruin my reputation, fuck off Toran," I replied, keeping the gun steady in my hand I aimed for the nearest car and shot towards the tire. I had gone with old fashion bullet gun because laser shots had a tendency of sealing the tire closed again when the shot passed through. The tire exploded, sending the car and its occupants towards the embankment. I didn't hear any metal grinding against metal so I moved forward to shoot at the windows of the car across the nose of the truck, but was forced to fall back when they started to shoot towards me. "A little help would be nice!" I said over the headset as laser shots ricocheted off the bike and my helmet.

"Yeah, okay, just hold on," Toran yelled, blaring the horn he gunned the engine and began to force the truck between the three cars. I went wide on the left, ducking fire as I pulled up on the passenger side of one of the cars, and didn't give them the time to roll down the window. Laser can't shoot through glass, but bullets can. I braked quickly as the car went wild and I figured I had shot the driver, which is what I wanted.

"Great, two left, right?" I yelled, starting the bike up again and rejoining the fray.

"Get behind the truck, you don't want to get caught in what I'm about to do," Toran answered and I dropped back once again. I watched Toran over take the two remaining cars, one hell of a feat in the truck, but the fire was now concentrated on me. Of course I was glad for that fact when Toran swung the truck into a fishtail and the two remaining cars tried to drive under the cargo hold and didn't quite make it. Toran proved his driving worth by being able to dislodge the truck from the wreckage and start down the road again. I dodged through the rubble and pulled along side the truck.

"You okay, Adel?" Toran asked as he caught my eye in the mirror.

"I'm fine, pull the truck over so we can get the bike inside and me out of the rain," Toran complied and I stopped behind the truck as the ramp lowered. Toran came around and helped me walked the bike back into the mass of Nitron canisters. I paused and looked over at Toran when I pulled my helmet off. He grinned, and I found myself grinning back at him. I don't know who started it, but I think it was Toran who started laughing first but soon both of us were lost in fits of laughter.

"Why are we doing this?" I asked, leaning on Toran as we walked away from the bike.

"You look like a drowned rat, that's why," Toran replied through his deep laughs.

"I didn't see you volunteering to help me," I gasped at him. We had stopped walking and stood, in the rain laughing at each other as we closed the back doors. I shook my hair, trying to keep the long, wet tendrils out of my eyes and suddenly stopped laughing as Toran reached out with great care to push them out of my way.

"We should get going to the next stop," I said quickly, turning away and walking towards the passenger side. I was silent as Toran pulled himself up into the driver's side and started back on the road.

"Would you like to stop for the night," Toran leaned forward to look up at the still rainy sky, "or is it day?"

"Look at your watch," As Toran looked down at his I looked at mine, it was three in the morning, leaving us with six more days to get to the Foxy Lady, "Not here, if we've already been met with such opposition as those cars, we can't risk taking a break. If you need me to drive." Toran was dressed in white today and he was soaked through, I was too, but I didn't think I could hang my shirt on the back of my chair and not stop traffic. I turned the heat up and reached behind me to pull a blanket forward. I wrapped it tight around me, and rested my chin on my knees. I closed my eyes and shiver. Soon I felt myself sliding into sleep, and sliding into the past and there was nothing I could do to fight either.

~***~

The room was filled with women who wore next to nothing; one man sat in a large white chair and gun clearly visible as it jutted out from his pants. He watched me, with his legs crossed and hands folded, "She stole the car you say?" He asked, coldly.

"Yes, King, she broke into the car and drove off. Luckily I just put on an engine killer, so I stopped it," a man huge in size wearing baggy jeans and a ratty tee shirt kept his hand on my shoulder. I looked defiantly around the room, fighting against the hold of the man's hand on my shoulder.

"Does she know what the punishment is for stealing from the Ring is?" the man, King, asked, looking at me like I was a fool.

"Yeah, I get to go home," For being fourteen I've been trained well. I grabbed the guy holding me and tossed him over my shoulder into King. Raised on the streets I had learned that strength was made in skill, I had learned to fight out of necessity and with what I knew I could take on those in the room. The women fled at the sound of cocking guns, I stayed, crouched in a defensive stance. The man I had thrown disentangled himself from King and looked at him for orders.

"I like her," King said, turning towards the man who had held me, "Train her Machine, and train her good."

~***~

I came rocketing forward, breath quick and eyes clouded with black fringe.

"You alright?" Toran asked, looking over as I wiped away the cold sheen of sweat that had appeared on my face. I knew Toran was looking at my trembling hands, but I was glad he made no comment on them. I laid my head in my knees but kept my eyes open. I remembered that day, so many years ago, when I gave up what little freedom I had. I jumped as I felt a hand rest lightly on the back of my head and fingers begin to run through my still slightly damp hair.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, though I didn't know if Toran would hear me or not through my knees and blanket.

"Only a couple of hours," Toran murmured, his finger still buried in my hair, soothing and enticing at the same time. I felt my shoulders were relaxing and my muscles weren't as tense, I felt as if I could pour my soul at Toran's feet and he won't walk through them like they were a puddle of rain water.

"Where are we?" I asked, focusing on work instead of Toran's fingers.

"About twenty miles from where you knocked off," Toran said, finally dropping his fingers from my hair and placing them back on the wheel.

"Do you want me to take over driving?" I continued on question asking to keep Toran from asking his.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"It was nothing, Toran, a bad dream," I snapped, throwing off the blanket, anger making me alert quicker than coffee could.

"Then maybe you want to talk about it, since it's nothing more than a bad dream?" Toran suggested, his tone making it a challenge. The bastard was attacking my pride with my own nightmare.

"If it's nothing more than a bad dream then it's not worth discussing. Now, answer the question, would you like me to take over driving?" I was close to yelling, but I checked my anger and tried to be clam. Anger clouds the mind, and sends me into attacks; this was neither the time nor the place for one.

"No, I'm fine with driving." The silence was thick and heavy over us, but we let it hang between us. There was nothing I could say, nothing I wanted to say to Toran, and it was easier to leave the anger there then make amends. I had tried that once, back when waiting for the truck to be repaired, and obviously it did nothing. He's not another Wild Card, I thought, why had I tried to make him one? Toran worked well with me, yes, he obviously cared for me somewhat, but that made him no Wild Card. I watched out the window, the day still over cast and gray, holding the promise of more rain to come.

"Would you like to stop tonight for some place to rest?" Toran asked when the hours had dragged by at it was finally sunset.

"There's no need, since I can take over driving and you can catch some rest, so we can continue on."

"No, need?" Toran shook his head, "We'll stop somewhere."

"We don't need too," I growled, "I'm fine."

"When I believe you, we'll keep going, but for now, you need rest so you'll get it," Toran ordered, pulling the truck off at the first exit we came to. I sat in my chair, like an admonished child, and sulked as Toran looked for a hotel. I was quite pleased with myself when Toran couldn't find one.

"I guess we have to continue on," I commented to him as he was forced to turn around.

"No, we can just go to a truck stop, there are the bunks in the back." And once again I kept my mouth shut and tried not to whine like a scorned child. We pulled into the Last Stop truck stop and Toran looked over at me, his arms draped over the steering wheel. "I know you're not tired, but why don't you just try to rest, okay?" I reached into the glove box and handed over on of the keys to the bunks.

"We'll see," I growled, opening the door, tossing the blanket over my shoulder and jumping out. Toran stayed inside while I climbed on top of the cab, then hosted myself onto the roof of the cargo hold. The night was warm and from this run down truck stop I could see the stars clearly. I lifted one arm and let Meri slid underneath, she purred as I scratched between her shoulders.

"As long as you're sane, Meri, I have nothing to worry about do I?" I asked her tossing the blanket over the both of us. I closed my eye, letting the sound of the distant highway and Meri's content purring lull me into sleep.

~***~

In the morning there was no mention of my sleeping on the roof, or of the lagging morale between us. In the night I think both of us realized that this was a job, and on a job you don't get personally involved. I watched out the window on the passenger side most of the time, Toran bent on driving and keep me resting. It was a particularly hard job, and the interferences we had so far weren't particularly hard to deal with, but this job seemed more stressful than the other jobs I had done. I shook the feelings of doubt and uncertainty off as the Foxy Lady appeared out of the night. "Do we have a plan?" Toran asked, pulling the truck behind the club, instead of in front of the club,

"Get in, meet our contact, and get out without getting into any trouble," I said as I dropped out of the cab and into the shadows.

"Are you up to this?" He asked, reaching out to grab my hand before I could turn away and walked into the club. I gave my answer silently, with eyes cold and mouth set in determination, "Right, what are you carrying?"

"Enough," I said, as I walked into the back entrance of the club. Toran and I walked through the kitchen before entering into the smoke and music of the club. I didn't dare go any deeper, the kind of men that hung out in this club where not men I wanted to associate with. Instead I contented myself with leaning back into the wall and tried to disappear. Toran settled in next to me, but he looked unsatisfied. We began our silent watch, looking for anyone we would recognize or who would approach us. The darkness was thick, but I could make out the features of those sitting around. Both Toran and I turned towards the door as it was opened, but the group that walked in had no members that I recognized. It was obvious that Toran knew who they were because suddenly he was standing before me, his body pressing mine against the wall. "What?" I asked him as he leaned his forehead against mine and locked our eyes.

"The men that just entered is with the Galactic Station," Toran didn't look away, from my eyes, but I cast mine away to catch a second look. I looked around him to find the men who had just entered, it was easy they had walked straight towards us, but now was paused in their approach. "Some of them were part of the car gang," Toran said when I met his eyes again.

"What are you planning?" I asked slowly, tentative as Toran moved one hand to behind my lower back and the other moved to behind my neck.

"Something to scare them off," Toran's voice was slightly hesitant and I prayed that he was doing the right thing. The hand that was hooked behind my waist pulled me forward, off the wall, the hand behind my neck gave me no chance to escape and Toran pressed us close. I was paralyzed from taking action as Toran slowly kissed me. I gasped, suddenly and completely engulfed by Toran's presence. My blood was heated, my ears were ringing, and I wanted more. I felt the arms I had thrown around Toran's neck tighten as he pulled away, looking down at me with smile. "Inspired by an old friend," he whispered, a little breathless, before taking my lips once again, slower this time, but with the same aching result. I was drowning in this feeling, but that wasn't enough to stop the world around us. The door to the club flew open and the club goers screamed.

"Galactic Station, everyone out or we start shooting!" Toran wrenched himself away from me, going for his gun, a shot ripped the stunned silence and Toran groaned, his hand flying to cover his shoulder. I grabbed him and kicked over a table, dragging him down next to me as the lights of the club were thrown on. Without thinking I drew my Glock and waited. I could see Toran's wound wasn't serious, but it did nothing to make me any less angry. Rage, violent and terrible rose into me; increasing as I listened to the Galactic Station members flipped over tables and pushed those who remained in the club outside. The most distressing noise was sitting next to me, as Toran took deep, pained breaths

"Are you alright?" I asked, watching another table go flying.

"Fine, let's just get out of here, through the back," Toran grunted, holding his should, with gun in hand. I checked over the edge of the table and had to flatten myself as shots raced towards my peaking eyes. "We won't make it, we've been cornered," I said, laying out my guns before me, a quick way to reach them and to keep track of the situation. "Can you shoot?" I asked Toran, who was doing his best to stay awake, but he nodded anyway, "Yeah right. Just stayed back, and out of the line of fire." I braced my hands, a gun in each over the back of the table and was forced to shoot straight above me. While I had been having my little conversation with Toran one member of the Station had moved in, trying to catch us unaware. I heard Toran fire next to me; someone had tried to sneak up behind us also. I ducked under the table's cover as I came under fire and paused to look over Toran's wound more closely.

"It's nothing," Toran yelled over the gunfire, it looked like nothing, but that wasn't what was so dangerous about laser shot wounds. The chances of the muscle and nerves that had been shot away would come back greatly decreases as time wears on. I met his eyes, he must have seen it, "No, Adel, no, that's suicide." But I was losing the fight against the attack.

Breathing hard I turned away, "I'm sorry." And I was gone.

~***~

I watched Adel jump over the top edge of the table, starting a deadly volley of laser fire. I groaned as I used my injured arm to pivot and brace my good arm on the table to provide cover fire for Adel. She certainly looked impressive, her jacket thrown wide and both arms rigidly held forward. I never saw her head move, but her shots were deadly when the recipient didn't react quickly enough.

"She's gone insane!" Yelled someone from behind their cover. The sound triggered something in Adel, she threw the guns away and dove towards the turned over table. Adel kicked it to the side and lifted the crouching man with one arm above her head. I knew him, James, struggled against her hold, landing blows that didn't seem to matter to Adel. I closed my eyes against the image of Adel snapping James' neck and tossing him away like a rag doll.

"Shoot her, damnit, fucking shoot her!" I recognized the voice of Bart, a fairly new member to the Galactic Station, and he'd never have a chance to move up in the ranks. Adel's hands closed over a fallen pipe, and she lunged towards the voice. I watched the table go flying, was forced to dodge under it as the table went careening over my head, and only heard Bart's grunt and Adel swung the pipe to his head. Pain lashed through my arm and I looked towards whoever was touching my arm. It was Rali, a member who I had worked with a few times. I could clearly see in his eyes fear, and panic. I clamped my hand over his mouth, if he spoke he risked Adel coming over and killing both of us.

I pulled his ear close to my mouth and spoke in a bare whisper, "Keep the men quite, she finding them by sound. The truck is out back if.." I was thrown backwards as Rali sprawled on top of my, Adel standing over him, the bloody pipe clutched in her hand. I stared up at her, amazed at the way she looked. Her eyes were wide, the green almost completely gone under the wide black pupils, her lips were pulled back in a snarl, and blood was splattered over her face in great red arcs. I had never seen something so terrifying and in it's own way deadly beautiful.

"Adel!" I called to her by name, hoping to break through whatever had her, but it didn't seem to work. The pipe was swung downwards and hit the no longer living Rali. "Damnit Adel, it's me!" She swung the pipe again, crushing in Rali's skull. I pushed Rali off of me and into Adel, hoping to send her backwards, but I failed. She swung her arm at Rali and sent him flying to where I could see the fallen form of the other members. They all looked to be dead, and I was gripped by the fear that she'd kill me too.

"Meri, remember Meri?" I asked, dodging the swing of the pipe. It was a slower attack than her pervious one, but it was close. "Meri, your bobcat, you remember her?" Adel let loose a feral roar and swung the pipe again, this time I wasn't fast enough, she caught my injured shoulder. A cry clawed at my throat and I fought back the pain that lashed through the shoulder. "Adel, listen to me, God, please!" I yelled and half blinded by pain I rushed her. I was purely lucky to catch the pipe, and tripped her backwards. Fighting through the pain I pinned Adel's wrist above her head as she bucked and thrashed underneath my weight.

"Adel, wake up!" I yelled, inches from her face but that didn't work. Out of equal parts desperation and frustration I kissed her. Her body tightened under mine, and her gasp brushed against my lips.

"What?" She said, looking at me with surprise when I pulled away to look her in the eyes.

"You're okay, good, ahh!"

~***~

Toran groaned, and rolled off of me, clutching his shoulder where he had been shot. I sprang to my knees and took a second look at the wound. It was now bruised around the two burned edges. "God, let's go Toran, there's a safe house near here." I grabbed his unharmed shoulder and pulled Toran to his feet. I grabbed up one of my weapons from the floor and pulled him outside towards the truck. I dragged him around to the passenger side and helped him into the seat. I slammed the door closed just as I was pinned from behind.

"Think you're clever, bitch?" A harsh voice said into my ear. My mind wasn't thinking of my own safety, I had to get Toran some help, and this fueled something more dangerous than anger, this fueled desperation. I let another growl free and pushed away from the door, slamming my attacker into the wall behind us both.

"Meri!" I yelled, calling the bobcat mentally as well as my yell. She jumped out of the cab, I ducked and she ran full force at my attacker. My arms were released as Meri's claws dug into flesh. "Let's go, we've got to help Toran," I called to Meri as I threw wide the driver's side door. Meri jumped in and I hauled myself inside.

"We've got to get out of here," Toran said, wrapping a bandage around his shoulder, but he was fumbling.

"Not when you have that shoulder wound. I know of a safe house near here, I can fix up the wound, and we'll wait them out."

"No," Toran reached the uninjured arm out to grab my arm, "don't stop here," I stared as Toran let go of me to catch some of the bandage that had fallen off.

"Sorry, but I'm pulling rank on you, we are going, I don't care what you think or your reasons for not going." Toran groaned and leaned back into his seat. The safe house was not very far from the club, and was in the middle glass part of the town. I pulled in the large gravel driveway that was behind the house and helped Toran out of the passenger side. "There's some first aid in these cabinets, you go rest on the mattress in the floor." I told Toran as I pushed open the back door. The safe house was left bare with only a bear minimal of necessity. While I searched through the cabinets and began to calm, I found one of the technological wonder of a speed-healing machine and brought it to Toran in the living room. The house, being one story had the bedrooms turned into storage rooms and gunrooms, and the only place to sleep was a mattress on the floor of the living room. Toran was pacing the floor; ignoring the order I gave him to rest.

"Would you mind holding still?" I asked him, holding the healing machine under one arm, the other was resting on my hip. Toran looked over at me and grinned like an idiot, causing me to roll my eyes. "What?"

"You look like the one who needs that machine," Toran said, stopping his pacing and just standing grinning at me.

"Sit down, and let me look at that wound with this machine, okay?" Toran must have heard the slight desperation in my voice, because he dropped down onto the mattress. I kneeled next to him, and pushed back his suede jacket, burned where the shot had hit him and then helped him pull off the shirt underneath.

"How bad?" Toran asked as I carefully placed the machine to the wound. I knew how much the machine would hurt, remaking the skin and muscle, stitching together nerves and blood vessels. I didn't hesitate in linking my fingers with Toran's when he reached for my free hand.

"It's not as bad as it could have been, you were lucky to take a hit from a twenty two caliber, probably a six shot Smith and Wesson old fashion laser revolver. You're really lucky about that," I said, watching the little dials and read outs on the machine.

"What's our next move?"

"We'll wait for you to get healed, I'll check the map to see our time limit, if I have to I'll call King and tell him what's happened," I said, keeping a steady hand in Toran's even though I was drained from the attack I experienced at the club, this was not a time to deal with my own problems, no matter how strong they might be.

"No, now, we leave now." Toran's grip on my shoulder became tight and his eyes pierced mine, "We're too deep into Galactic Station territory to hang around. Adel we've got to leave."

"We can't risk leaving, they'll be looking for us by now, we've missed our window of opportunity. We have to stay the night at least, then we'll leave, I'll promise." I ran my hand over Toran's cheek, a natural reaction to my long buried desire to comfort.

"All right, but reach into my jacket, I've got a phone in there," Toran sighed and laid down on the mattress, releasing my hand. I scrambled over to the jacket and pulled the phone free. King picked up after one ring.

"You fucked up my club!" King roared over the phone and into my ear.

"I could care less about your damn club. Toran's been shot, the Galactic Station some how found out our route, and we've taken refuge in a safe house." I didn't bother staying I the line; I hung up on King, which wasn't going to help. I looked down at Toran, the machine had finished, but he hadn't noticed, he had fallen asleep. With my mind at ease over Toran's injury I picked up my gun and finally did a walk through of the house. No one was inside, which made sense, and I relaxed. Time to take care of yourself now, I thought, moving to the bathroom. I pulled off my jacket first looking over what damage I could see with that gone. There were a few bruises, but my arms weren't that damaged. I pulled off my shirt next and looked over my sides. My sides were completely black and blue, I didn't remember receiving the blows but they must have come from the dead members of the Station. My hands gripped the edge of the metal sink and I stared into my own green eyes. They were bright, clear, and cold, I thought when I met them. I turned on the sink and began to wash away the blood that had accumulated on me from the fight. I carefully wrapped my sides with cold, wet bandages to act like ice, which there was none in the house. I cracked my shoulders, trying to loosen tense muscles that never truly relaxed. I needed an escape, something to take away the feeling that hundreds of pounds were pressing against my chest, that wasn't from the tightness of the bandages around my sides. I threw back on my shirt and walked back out to the truck, bringing in my duffle bag. I poked my head into the living room, Toran was still out and Meri was sitting on the edge of the mattress. I walked back into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I left the water on close to scalding and tried to step back into a different time. Once, two years ago, I had tried to escape the Ring, with help from Wild Card, I made it all the way to Earth's Moon, before I had been caught and dragged back to my old life. The escape had failed but the time I had spent with Wild Card was well worth being captured again. There was freedom from the world when I had been with him, but freedom was risky. It never lasted, and the desire for it made you stupid and slow. I only desired freedom for moments that never lasted long, but were terribly powerful when they hit me. I turned my face towards the spray and washed away the blood caked in my hair. The scent of blood was sharp and brought memories of first blood shed back to my mind. Survival dictated life, I thought as I stepped out of the shower into the steam of the bathroom. I gripped the sink once again and looked into my reflection. I had to close my eyes against the brutal memories I saw there. I felt the blast of cold air as the door opened, but didn't open my eyes. I didn't jump when arms closed around my middle and pulled me back against their solid form. Toran's breath was light against the back of my neck as he slowly ran kisses up the back of it.

"What?" He asked when I turned in his arms to face him. I just slowly shook my head and brought Toran into a slow, deep, kiss the brought endless freedom to us both.

~***~

I woke, remembering the frantic tumble to the mattress, the almost feral crawling of hands on flesh that had driven Toran and me here. I stretched and opened one eye, a little surprised not to see Toran lying next to me. My sense sharpened with confusion and I heard Toran talking.

"I have her, I'll turn over the truck to you if you promise not to kill her," As my confusion heightened at his words, I carefully turned towards where I heard the voice coming from, acting as if I was still asleep. I kept my eyes closed and moved to look through Meri's. Toran was standing a foot away from the mattress, talking on the cell phone I watched him pace the floor in his jeans and bare feet.

"There's no way I'm giving you the truck if you kill her," Toran paused letting whoever was on the other end of the line respond, "It's not a matter of my life, you ass hole, it's a matter of her's. Yeah, why don't you put him on and we'll see what he thinks." Toran looked back over his shoulder at me and I felt myself warm at the natural smile that spread over his face.

"Yes I'm here, Leader," I felt my heart slam into my throat, Leader, the name for the Galactic Station criminal mastermind. Pain at betrayal spiked deep, and the strange sensation of heart ach forced me to turn away from Meri's eyes and back to my own eyelids. In anger and hate I slowly sat up, giving Toran a chance to hide the phone, and deny everything.

"You betrayed me," I said simply when he looked at me, the words were hard to say and they ached their way through my throat.

"No, Adel, I was talking with King," Pain lanced through me at his denial and he dared to take a step towards me. I backed away from him, clutching the blankets of the bed tight to my chest Toran stopped advancing towards me.

"Stop, please, just take the damn truck and leave me here, I won't try and stop you. Just go," I kept my eyes on him, keeping them cold and clear of any pain I felt.

"I'm sorry, it's out of my hands. They're bringing plenty of back up and weapons with them. They're going to try and subdue you, please don't do anything, just stay still." Toran pulled from his back pocket a length of rope, and I fought fresh pain as he bound my hands together.

"Come on, let's get you dressed," Toran pulled my to my feet and I stood there waiting for him to find the duffle in the bathroom. I was not going to run, though escaping would be easy. I submitted as Toran helped me step into jeans and briefly untied my hands to pull on a shirt. He stood before me, gripping my chin to make me look into his eyes. "I'm really sorry for this, Adel, but I have saved your life. I know that does nothing to make you forgive me, but please, just don't hate me." I softened my eyes; I relaxed my muscles and swayed towards Toran.

"I don't hate you, Toran," I said, and acted before he could react. I brought my knee up and landed it in his groin. He went down and I stepped back, "Hate doesn't come close to what I fell for you." Meri leapt up from the floor and used her claws to cut the rope. I picked up the truck keys and ran bare foot on to the gravel driveway. I heard the scream and raised my arms to block the attack from Lee, but I felt no talons dig into my flesh, but the keys were ripped from my hand. I watched Toran walked out from the back door, gun leveled at me and Lee dropped the keys into his hand. I turned away from him and watched the cars come into the driveway, their tiers screaming as they came to a halt. Only five cars came forward but I knew they had snipers placed strategically around the house. I was not going to let it end like this, I thought, watching in astonishment as one of the Galactic Station members unrolled an electrically charged submission rope. Rage, pure, white hot, rose as I turned back towards Toran to see him nodding at those who had stepped out the cars. The pain, heart ach, and rage combined to slam the black covers over my eyes and I went gladly into the attack.

~***~

"She's gone, everyone be careful!" I yelled, watching Adel snarl and charge me. I was moving faster than she was, her feet stumbled over the gravel, while my shoes let me side step. Adel never made it to me though, Malachite, a very senior member of the Galactic Station, wrapped around he neck and he turned on the juice. Adel did nothing more than hissed, and turned. She wrapped her arm around the rope and gave it a pull. Malachite came forward a full feet before he turned up the voltage. You could see the sparks fly from the rope, and still Adel stayed on her feet. I smelled the burning skin, "Turn it down, your orders are not to kill her!" I yelled, stepping forward and glaring at Malachite. He turned down the current and we all waited until Adel collapsed under the constant assault of the electrical rope.

"God, she took over fifty volts for four minutes, what does she do?" Malachite asked as I walked over to the unconscious Adel.

"She doesn't do drugs," I said, looking over the burn marks on her neck and arms. Her feet were pretty torn up also. "Alright, careful with the bobcat, you can't kill her without risking killing Lynx. You do and I'll kill you myself. Let's get out of here!" Everyone moved quickly, they knew I was in charge of everything to do with the sting operation. I took the keys and climbed back into the truck cab. I never wanted to see this damn tuck again after this, I thought, as I followed the convoy of cars. It seemed so empty without Adel, even quite Adel, exuded a presence that you noticed. God I had noticed too well, I thought, remembering what she had done to me. Loving her had been an experience that I wasn't going to soon forget; because there was no way I was going to forget her. It was supposed to be just another job, I yelled at myself, just another easy, simple job. If Adel got in the way she was supposed to be killed and now I couldn't even fathom the idea of hurting her.

"Toran," It came in over the radio one of the small members had given me, "We're going to the air base. Take the truck around back and make sure the unloading goes smoothly, ten-four." I nodded, even though they couldn't see the action. The Galactic Station had captured the air base long before I was involved with them, and it served us well. I hadn't realized how deep we were into the territory before I reached the safe house, which was surrounded by safe houses run for the Station. It was a five-hour drive from the safe house to the air base and I was the last vehicle through the gate entrance. With the runways reduced to chipped asphalt and let the truck bounce as I drove to the main compound. I didn't care for the feelings that rose within my chest as I saw the car carrying Adel drive towards the front door of the main compound while I went to the back entrance. I kept my mind clear as I backed the truck into the garage for unloaded.

"You open the tanks by pressing down the joint of the top most dial," I told the young man who approached me. "Inside you'll find paper money and credits. Start separating them and make sure they get to their proper place. I've got business to attend to." I held up a hand when the boy made to ask most questions and started towards the main part of the building. I needed to find Adel and make sure she was well taken care for. The air base was an anthill and today it seemed to be alive with hundreds of people. It was hard to go unnoticed through the halls, there were reports to sign for the truck and the damn kid followed me out into the halls.

"Sir, you're supposed to supervise the unloading," he said, running to keep up with me.

"Yeah, right, you keep an eye on the unloading truck and I'll talk with Leader," I yelled, watching the kid flinch. I took a deep breath, "Look, kid, there are things I need to do, please just take care of the truck." The kid looked away for a second and I lost him in the crowd. I went running towards the main room, hoping that Leader would have Adel held there. I pushed the double doors wide and came to have my heart stop. Adel was on her knees, chained to the floor with thick metal shackles and some of the most terrible members of the Station stood around her in a circle. I could see leader standing there at the top of the circle, covered completely by huge white lights that were behind him.

"Ah, Agent Toran, nice to see you so quickly."

~***~

I woke to a sensation of deep pain around my neck and arm. I didn't know where these new wounds had come from, but they were the worst I had felt in my long career of getting myself injured. I opened my eyes and blinked against the bright light that beat down on me. I began my assessment of the situation, chains that kept me on my knees held my arms behind me, and there was an array of lights shinning down on me. This was not going the way I planned. To keep my eyes intact I closed them and turned towards listening. I tuned out the lights and heard the breathing of three people on each side of me.

"Who are you?" I asked, knowing that would startle them. The six made no reply, "Look I know there are six of you, two of you smoke tobacco the rest avoid it. Someone drank liquor before coming here so why don't you give me an idea of what is going on?"

"I see you are as highly sensitive as the rumors tell." A voice said from behind the lights and I listened to the voice's footsteps and someone moved to stand before me, blocking the lights that were beating down on me.

"Well, seven to one, that's not fair odds, boys," I said, using hearing to find the face of the man before me and I looked at him with my eyes closed.

"Oh, well how dare we not play by the rules for the lady," the voice reached out a hand and closed it over my chin "What do you boys think about the odds?" Laughter, cruel cold chuckles drifted to my ears and I jumped as an electrical submission rope cracked in the air like a whip.

"Leader," I said, knowing that this that to be the voice of the Galactic Station commander, a man best known for being heartless and evil beyond what the any sane human should be.

"You are good, Agent Lynx, not everyone would take the risk of calling out to me. That's a very." Leader paused in his speech and I listened to a set of doors slam open and Toran's scent drifted to my nose. "Ah, Agent Toran, nice to see you so quickly."

"The truck unloading is going smoothly, Leader, I thought you might want to talk with me about the plan," Toran took a couple of steps into the room and joined the circle of men.

"Well thank you, Toran, you always have thought of business first," Leader released my chin and took one step back, "Maybe you'd like to tell me why you have come to interrupt my business."

"I'm sorry sir, but I thought you'd like the news about the money before anything else," Toran's voice was smooth and slightly submissive.

"Yet you know the importance of this woman to me," I could almost hear the smirk in Leader's voice, "She's also very important to you, isn't that right?" Toran stayed silent, "Answer me Agent."

"Yes, Leader, she is very important to me," Toran was perfectly confident in speaking, and I thought how dare he. I struggled against the chains, suddenly distracting Leader from Toran.

"Don't like hearing that he care do you, how interesting," Leader said, "Well, Toran, must be very hurt over this fact, I guess for you sleeping with someone doesn't mean love." I went half blind with rage and strained forward against the chains.

"I waiting for something to happen, Leader, so if you want me dead then attack me," I growled, eyes flying open to seek out the face of Leader. There was no way to see the details of his features with the lights and there was no way to take care of the lights with my hands held behind me.

"And miss all the fun? I think not, my dear Lynx." There are moments in every battered and beaten soul's life when everything is too much; I had been driven to this point. I pulled against the chains have blind by the lights and cried out with fear and desperation. My shoulders ached from pulling, but nothing is, as it seemed, the chains weren't really meant to hold continual force. Links snapped and I flew to my feet and got close to Leader. I finally got to see his face. It was covered in deep scars, he was missing one eye and there was a deep slash mark on his throat. I felt my heart slam against my chest wall. I remembered him now, and my mind went flying back to the night I found Meri.

~***~

I pushed the side fire exit door wide and stumbled into the rain. Tears poured from my eyes and sobs choked my throat, there had been so much blood. I continued stumbling away from the club and was surprised when I heard a quite mewling sound. I whipped away the tears and looked down at the box with an adolescent bobcat looked up at me, calling to me. In the second, when our eyes met, there was completion. Meri was my missing soul and I was her's no one would take this away from us. With the new confidence I had found with this pet by my side I slipped back inside the club, taking my shoe lace out I wrapped it around the neck of the nearest Galactic Station member, keeping the hold tights as he choked. When he dropped to the floor I took his gun and shot the two standing next to me. A blow caught me from the left; the last remaining member had caught me upside the head with the butt of his gun. My pet, Meri roared and leapt at the man, claws unsheathed as she mercilessly attack his face. He shot wildly, as I moved in closer, one shot caught my left side burning my collarbone and down to the top of my left breast. Meri jumped away from his face, moving to attack the right arm, she tore it apart, leaving it a bloody torn mess that no surgeon could repair. I pulled the knife I carried out, Meri jumping out of the way for me to slash out across the man's throat. Blood spilled from him like a river; raining down on me until I was drenched. I dropped the knife and backed away, running when the sound of sirens reached my newly heightened ears, the bobcat my shadow on the rain drenched streets.

~***~

"I thought you'd remember me," He said, I was frozen in shock, my change had come to an end, meeting a man I thought I killed. Leader reached out his right, Bio-metallic arm and grabbed the front of my shirt. He lifted me and looked pure hatred into my eyes, "I survived you, Lynx, and you made me what I am today." I was helpless as he tossed me over his head and into the array of lights behind him.

"Do you think you're lucky?" He asked as I staggered to my feet, pain so sharp and acute it made involuntary tears escape from my eyes.

"No," I said, staggering forward, "I'm the best." I came at him, swinging the chains still attached to my wrist I caught him around the neck, and dragged him forward. He reached up with him Bio-metallic hand and crushed the links. He reached for me again, I dodged left, wrapping the longer chain around his leg I pulled him down. I worked free the wrapped chain and froze once again. Seven guns, all aimed at me, stared me down.

"Take her, beat her, rape her!" Leader yelled, getting to his feet, "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, JUST BREAK HER!" I heard the death sentence and let blind desperation cause my actions. I leapt towards the nearest member and was almost relieved as the shots came and I dropped unconscious to the floor.

~***~

"Alright, act quickly, get her to a cell, make sure she's healed. He wants this slow," Malachite, who was nearest to Adel, dropped down next to her, carefully turning her on to her back. "She's breathing, but we don't know hoe long that's going to last, move!" Everyone around me scrambled but I stood still, watching the white floor get slowly over taken by rivers of red, all spilling from Adel. I had shot her out of natural reaction; I had missed out of my own personal inner conflict.

"Agent Toran," I looked up at Leader when he addressed me. His eyes were cold and calm, where they had been raging a few seconds before, "I told you she'd be better off dead. Enjoy what you've brought down on her." I nodded slowly and watched him step behind the ruined lights and leave through a back door. I stayed were I was until they had lifted Adel onto a stretcher and carried her out. The machines they had attached to her said she was still alive, but the weak beeping from them said it was iffy if she would survive the night. If she did it wouldn't be a much better fate than death. Breaking her would take time, she was trained to stand against torture methods, and she was strong enough to take most of them. The beatings would be nothing to her, I guessed that being in this line of work she had been raped before, she could stand that, but how long was the question that bothered me. I walked away from the room, I was going to work on the truck and over see the unloading, I'd dive into work that wouldn't leave room for Adel to sneak into my mind and tear apart my heart.

~***~

I woke with a wave of regret. I was wanted to die and they had healed me and left me to live out a torturous and slow death. I'd have to endure beatings; just to be healed and have them beat me again. There was no life left for me after this, they'd kill me eventually. I sighed and sought out Meri, she had escaped and was hiding on the air base, waiting for me. I told her to leave me, that it would be over between us soon and that she shouldn't risk her life to wait for me. She didn't leave, didn't break the connection of our minds and I thanked her for that. I still had one person who cared for me. I reopened my eyes and looked around the cell they had placed me in. My hands were once again chained together, but this time they had used heavy duty work chain, I couldn't break these, much less have the fight left in me to break them. The room was about six feet by six feet and made of concrete. I had been tossed onto a raised part of the room, a make shift bunk for me, and there was a flickering light hanging above me. The only way in or out was the steel door that was in one corner of the room. The room was meant to torture its occupant by its size, but to me there was nothing wrong with it. I liked enclosed dark and small places. I watched the door open and was gone into the safety of Meri's mind before the huge man with chains wrapped around his fist took one step into the cell. My connection with Meri allowed me to seek shelter from the outside world in her, and she could do the same in me, but she felt the echoes of the blows my body was receiving. I felt the strength seep out of me, the strength I needed to stay in Meri's mind, with a mental good bye to her I was forced back into my body.

"There you are," said my torturer, his voice thick and stupid, "I was wondering when I'd get to have some real fun." I looked up at him through swollen eyes and swore at him. I received a long, drawn out beating for that act of defiance. He left when I could barely breathe and every inch of me had to be covered in bruises. One of my ribs had to be cracked and my nose was definitely broken. I watched the light above me flicker and die, darkness settled in on me heavy and complete. I don't remember what woke me; I think it was the footsteps first, the heavy and steady footsteps. Fear lashed into my mind first, my torturer had returned for me. I let out a little whimper of pain and pressed myself into the nearest corner, holding my hands out before me in defense.

"God, kid, what did they do to you?" I felt grief erupt into my chest and strained to see in the darkness. He was there, his scent drifted to my nose and I could hear him breathing, but I couldn't see him.

"Wild Card?" I croaked, part of me told me I was going insane, the other desperately wanted to launch forward and find him in the blackness.

"Yeah, kid, it's me," I felt someone settled before me and a touch I could never forget ran over my cheek, lightly to keep from hurting.

"You're dead," I whispered, though I leaned into the touch. I begged everything before this moment to be a dream, something made up in my mind, all my fears just acting out and this touch and voice to be alive and real.

"Yeah, I'm dead," His voice portrayed untold sadness at that fact, "You're just so close to death yourself they let me see you."

"Will I get to leave with you?" I asked, still trying to find him, physically in the darkness. I could feel his gentle touch, I could feel him sitting on the edge of the bunk, but I couldn't see him.

"No, you can't leave with me." This ghost Wild Card sighed, "You've got more to do while you're alive."

"I won't, can't do anything more, Wild Card, they will kill me after all I've done to Leader."

"He won't let them, he'll realize that he loves you soon enough, and some day," Wild Card's hand stopped moving against my cheek, "You'll love him too, and you'll finally be free for the first time in your life."

"Who are you talking about?" I asked, moving my cheek against his hand, I needed to feel him, to make sure he was still here, with me.

"The one who brought you here. It's killing him to know what you're going to go through because of his betrayal."

"Toran doesn't care about me," I said in automatic denial, "He's a traitor."

"I know how you feel, kid, I've been betrayed once or twice in my life. I'm telling you, you've got to hold on, there's more you've got to do, and even though I want you with me, I'm patient spirit, I can wait."

"I don't want to lose you again," I sobbed, feeling the tears pour down my cheeks, "I can't lose you again."

"You haven't lost me, stupid kid," I heard the tears in his voice, almost felt them drop on to my legs that were curled towards him, "We've got some good memories and any time you need me go find them. I'll be waiting for you, okay?"

"Okay, you stubborn spirit." I felt grief come back full force when his touch was gone, and though I was still surrounded by darkness, I felt my strength come back and hope arise from somewhere within. I moved out of the corner, slowly and laid down to sleep. There were some memories I needed to visit.

~***~

I was cloaked by night, crouched low on a building with night vision goggles pressed against my eyes to see the deal that was going down. Wild Card was leaning against the wall, waiting for the Galactic Station member that would be arriving soon. Insured that Wild Card was safe I slowly began to assemble the sniper rifle, letting Meri watch the scene. The low whistle signal pierced the night, just as I had the rifle set up. Wild Card gave over the large suitcase, and then walked away. I aimed at the head of the new suit case holder and with a single trigger pull the suitcase was back in Wild Card's hand.

"Good work, Lynx, why don't we go back to your place and celebrate? I don't feel like looking for someone else," I laughed at the radio transmission and Wild Card.

"Oh I've been waiting for a reason to celebrate, might as well celebrate this. I'll finish folding the rifle and meet you at my place," I told him, feeling good for completing another mission. With the rifle folded and hanging off my shoulder I patted Meri on the top of her head and climbed down to the street. Wild Card had waited; he was smiling at me when I dropped to the street.

"Have I ever told you how much I enjoy working with you Lynx?" He asked, tossing an arm over my shoulders and walking with me towards my apartment.

"Not enough for my ego to be inflated, but enough that I don't need to hear it again," I replied, slipping one hand into Wild Card's back pocket.

"Well, maybe I should say it more often then." We both laughed into the night air, then the shots started. I grabbed Wild Card and pulled him into a doorway. He looked out one side, pulling his hand laser pistol giving me cover while I remade the rifle. One constructed I slipped the night vision goggles back on and began lining up shots. None avoided our fire, Wild Card getting those who were close enough for the range of his weapon, my shots going for those who were positioned on the farther buildings. Wild Card laughed when the gunfight ended, tossing away his pistol and taking my rifle from me he pinned me against the wall and kissed me, he had decided to celebrate a bit earlier than expected.

~***~

Dreams brought the solace that I couldn't find while awake. My life had been turned into a schedule of pain and mental torture. I didn't mind the physical attacks, I could escape into Meri, who they had yet to find, and when I came back I fought. The continual abuse wasn't breaking me; they realized this after a long time of beatings. In the cell I had lost track of time in the concept of days, weeks, and months, I couldn't see outside to find out when it was day or night so time was nothing to me. I just knew that it took them a long time to beat me, and that the longer it lasted the more I ended up hurting. Now they had given up on beatings and had moved to starving me. I was becoming paper thin, and weaker with every breath I took. They hadn't bothered to heal me after the last beating and I was left deep in pain and hunger. I was curled tight in a corner when the door opened; I blinked against the sudden light. The light in my cell had gone out maybe weeks ago and I had learned to see in the darkness. Toran was silhouetted by the light and blinked at him.

"God, Adel, what did they do to you?" He asked, dropping before me he reached out a hand to run it over my pale cheek.

"They seem to be having a food shortage, I guess prisoners don't get as much as you do," I tried to say this angrily, but it would take to much energy and instead it came out as dry as a desert.

"They're starving you? How long has this been going on?"

"I don't have my watch any more, Toran, I don't know." Toran stood up and slammed the door of the cell closed; I had long ago learned that the door only opened when a member of the Galactic Station touched the handle, inside or out. Toran wasn't locked in as I was.

"Leader sent me to Mars," He said, pacing the length of the cell, all six feet of it, "I had to take care of a zealot governor who wanted to end organized crime. If I had known I would have come back, but I had to cut all communications." Toran whirled to look at me, "Damnit I asked that you be taken care of!"

"In some ways I am being taken care of. They couldn't break me by the beatings so they are starving me to the breaking point. It's almost the same thing." I tried to shrug, but the weight of my shoulders was too much.

"I'm going to talk with whoever is in charge of this, Leader has washed his hands of you by now," I tried to reach out to grab Toran's arm, and almost lifted my hand from my lap, "God."

"There's not point now Toran, I'm dying as we speak. I'm just so tired, you've done all you can, thank you for that." I felt my eyes closed, I was so tired, just so tired.

"Adel," Toran's voice sounded so far away, "Adel!" I though I heard Wild Card calling with Toran as I collapsed into blackness.

~***~

I picked her up, not surprised that she weight almost nothing in my arms. Out in the bright lights of the cellblock she looked worse. Her skin was pale as death and her eyes were sunken in. Starvation had probably set in quickly for her; she needed to eat more than normal to keep herself and Meri alive. Meri, I thought, not caring that other members were looking at me as I carried Adel, what had happened to Meri? I had heard of her escape and that no one had seen her since she had lost them, if Meri were dead I'd never get Adel back. I kicked open the door to my room and carefully placed Adel down on the couch. Unconscious I couldn't feed her, but I knew enough about doctoring that feeding her would be a bad thing. I had to keep her fluids up and get something sugary into her. I scrambled to the small fridge in the room and looked through for something that could help. Orange juice, I grabbed it and rushed back to Adel. I lifted her head and made her sit up. I opened her mouth and poured in a small amount. Then forced her to swallow, I noted how it seemed like a great task for her to undertake.

"That's it, come on Adel, don't give up without a fight," I said, voice raw with emotion as I poured more orange juice into her. Slowly, almost drop-by- drop I made her drink the whole thing. I took it that I had done the right thing when she gained back some of her color and when I lifted her eyelids to check on them they were back to bright, cold green, instead of the filmy color they had been. I let her rest; I needed to make sure my tracks were covered. I grabbed a bundle of blankets and wrapped them around a set of pillows. The result was a rather human looking bundle, pulling on my most heart torn face I carried the bundle out into the halls and went to Leader. I stood before him, the bundle head tight to me.

"She died finally?" he asked when he looked up from the forms he was going over.

"Yes," I said, in a tone I hoped was convincingly torn up and disparaging.

"Well then," Leader motioned for one of his body cards to come forward, "Take that from him and make sure she's dead."

"I saw her," the body guard said, he had seen her when I was carrying her to my room he had been one of the masses to see my frantic run, "He was trying to save her, but he looked to be too late." The bodyguard shrugged, "Guess he was."

Leader looked up sharply, still a little distrusting, "I don't like this, Agent, it seems to easy."

"She was a Symbiot, we starve quicker than normal. We have to keep out counter parts alive also," I didn't need this, I thought, she was dying right now in my room, hurry this up, "I'm taking her to be burned, Leader, no one will find her that way and if you don't like it I don't give a damn. I did what you asked and lost her anyway, so consider this my last rebellion." I turned on me heel and walked out, praying he wouldn't stop me. Leader didn't call me back, nor did he send one of his bodyguards after me. I went to the basement and tossed the blankets and pillows into the incinerator. For the camera's sake I broke down as I stared at the flames. No one would suspect a thing, I thought, it was flawless.

~***~

I felt something warm and tasty being poured down my throat and slid awake. My eyes landed on Toran's, he looked as if he had been crying lately.

"Shhs, just drink this okay? You're getting better, but it was close there," He said, pressing a spoon against my lips I drank down more of the warm brought. I had been close to death once again, this time though some one was helping me pull though, and I was happy for it. I drank all the brought, the first food I had that barely stayed in my stomach. Toran had been helping me sit up, and now he helped my stretch out on the couch, laying my head back down onto a very soft feather pillow.

"What's going on?" I asked weakly, watching him move around a room that was not my little six by six cell. This was a nice room; there was a bed in one corner, a smaller love seat across from me and a window. I could see the sky through the window and I felt like weeping for joy.

"Don't talk, you're too weak to waste energy on that. As for what's happening, everyone thinks you're dead; I've been taking care of you. I've been force feeding you for two weeks now, I glad you're finally awake."

"I feel better, thank you, Toran," I curled an arm underneath my head and pretended to sleep. My body had been asleep for so long I didn't need anymore, but I needed to put Toran at ease and pretending to conserve my energy would do that. Instead of sleeping I reached out to Meri, found her still on the air base grounds. She was over-joyed to see that I was alive and back with her. I asked her to tell me how close to death we had both come and she replied that she had been keeping my alive a long with Toran. She had been hunting mice, rabbits and other small animals that were around the air base, she was strong and had been sending me her strength. I thanked her for her dedication.

"I know you're not asleep, Adel," Toran said, sitting across from me in the love seat. I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

"You went to Mars, why?" I asked, through talking took energy I couldn't stand being quiet for any longer, the sound of my own voice inside my head was going to drive me insane.

"There was a problem with a governor who wanted to be a town hero, nothing important."

"Please, tell me about it," I begged, pleading with my eyes and voice to hear the whole story box.

"I left a month ago, that's probably when they started to starve you," Toran's voice was steady, but I could see that he was angry with Leader, with himself and his actions. "It started out where I was supposed to just enforce Leader's ideals on him. Are you sure you want to hear this, you've done hundreds of these type of missions."

"I'm tired of my own voice, Toran, I need to hear other people who aren't shouting insults or curses."

"I could understand your feelings after what you've been through." Toran sighed, "The senator who I was assigned to was William Stone, a man of morals," Toran chuckled at some private joke, "He wanted to start by cleaning up the drug problems, but it soon involved getting rid of the Station completely."

"Wait, wait, how was he going to get rid of the Station completely, everything to well hidden," I sat up, leaning forward to look at him.

"He was offering money and protection to those who will come forward with information, any information. He's so desperate he doesn't even care if it doesn't lead to a conviction, just a warrant."

"And you killed him?" I asked, a little of the excitement in me draining at that idea if he was dead my one chance to do more may be gone.

"No, he's to well protected for that, I mostly made sure that those who were going to talk couldn't."

"Does he offer the same deal here? On Phoebus?"

"Yes, I believe he does, but I'm not sure."

I rocketed across the table and grabbed Toran's hands in mind, pleading with touch and eyes, "You keep helping me, Toran, will you help me one last time? I'm alive because I've got one last thing to do, and I know what it is now, but I need to escape here, can you help me with that?"

"Adel, breaking out of this place isn't easy, almost everything has sensors and camera's are on constantly," Toran said quickly, a little amazed at my bust of energy and what I was saying.

"I'm the best in the business and you know this place like the back of your hand. With Lee and Meri we have the upper hand we have a chance. I've got to try, with or without your help."

"Alright, Adel, what will you need?" Toran looked concerned, and expressed that concern by lifting a hand and touching my pale skin.

"A map marking sensors and cameras, a multi tool set up, and a hand held cutting laser."

"Time to get better, also. Rest for now, I've got time to waste, since Leader wants us to lay low for awhile longer. Will you wait for awhile before you act, until you're much better, healed, okay?" I nodded and reached up a hand to touch my hair.

"Is there a shower or some clean clothes?"

"Yeah, my stuff is going to be a little big on you. The showers through there, clean yourself up and if you faint in there I'm going to be really pissed of." I smiled, even though the possibility of me fainting was very probable, I ignored it. I feel happy, I thought, stepping under water that wasn't thrown to chill me to the bone or add to the pain that was from electrical shock. The water was warm, clean and God I felt lighter as I soaped away the feeling I had kept from the cell. I never wanted to see concrete again; I was never sleeping with out a light on again. I looked with disdain at the clothes I had been wearing for a month or more, I never wanted to wear anything black again, jeans were off of my list of favorite clothes. I looked into the mirror and wasn't surprised to see I was crying. It was being alive that made me cry, I hadn't given in, I had survived and now I had a plan. I wiped away the tears and pressed my ear to the door of the shower, I didn't want to walk in and find Toran talking business with some of his Galactic Station buddies. The only sound was Toran pacing, he was worried. I leaned my forehead against the door, the irony of this had just hit me, and I was torn between crying once again and laughing, really laughing for the first time in a long time. I pulled the door open and Toran stopped dead, looked at me and I could almost feel how weak I made his knees.

"The clothes are on the couch, Adel," He said, turning away as I walked towards the couch, "I tried to find something more you size." Apparently my size was a large gray wool sweater that hung off my shoulders and was long enough to reach my knees.

"I don't think you exactly got it right," I said, pulling on the sweats that came with the sweater. Toran stayed quiet as I stood there. I walked over to him and leaned against his back, my cheek rested against the space between his shoulder blades. "I don't hate you."

"How did you know that was what I was thinking?" He asked, reaching back he took my hands and pulled them forward to hold in his. 'He'll realize that he loves you soon enough,' I thought, touched by the simple connection.

"I spent a long time with you trapped in a truck, I can figure you out pretty well by now."

"I wish I could understand you," Toran turned around, and I left my arms around him, "One second you're not fighting anything, and then you come back and now you're almost fine."

"I'll never be fine, Toran, but I need to get out and do something more than what I've done, been doing," I smiled, "How'd a really nice guy like you get involved in this?" Toran stepped out of my arms, "If I said something wrong," I began but Toran just shook his head. I watched him walked towards a set of shelves and pull off a picture frame. I figured who ever was pictured there was important the way Toran looked down at it.

"My sister fell in love with Tony, a runner for the Galactic Station," He started walking over to hand the picture to me. Three people stared back at me, a woman with bright blond hair, her arm held around the waist of a man with Toran's hair color, and a young girl standing between them, his family. "When Tony ran off, Leader went after my sister, he got her and the rest of my family. When I got the letter saying that if I didn't make that money up my family would be killed so I joined, but when I made that money I found out my family was already dead. They had tried to escape, and had been killed. By the time I knew the truth it was too late to pull out."

"I never knew my family, but I could imagine giving everything up for them," I said handing him back the picture, "You lost a lot for them." I could see the raw pain in his eyes.

"I've lost nothing I couldn't make up. I've still got my family's fortune and home back on Earth. I could give this up and leave this all behind." Toran paused and rubbed a knuckle over my cheek, "Get some rest, whatever energy you had is gone now."

"Let me be with you," I whispered, "Just hold on to me for awhile, I need someone right now."

"Okay," Toran ran a hand through my wet hair, "Okay."

~***~

I was keeping very still, curled into the corner where Toran had thrown the blankets as he scrambled out of bed. Someone had woken us both with a knock and to hide myself I dove under the pile of blankets. Long ago I had learned to keep my breathing slow and almost imperceptible when I needed to hide.

"Hold on, you jackass!" Toran yelled, as he walked towards the door. I couldn't see through the blankets, but my hearing was just as sharp as my eyes could be.

"What took you so long, man, I've been standing here for a good amount of time," this voice from the hallway.

"Snake Eyes, Jesus man you could have called in a warning for me," Toran replied. I heard Snake Eyes walked into the room and drop to the sofa.

"Why would I need to call in a warning, Eagle, you just asked for a lay out of the compound, common stuff actually." I heard something being rolled out onto the table there, "I don't get why you'd be worried."

"Because I asked for a modern lay out, not one of before when this was an air base," Toran sat also, and I listened to Snake Eyes hum. "That's why I was worried."

"Now why would you want a modern layout, you know that's going to be harder to get, and it's gonna be risky."

"I want to go home Snake Eyes, nothing else to it. You dream of home sometimes too don't you?"

"Yeah, I miss home. You and me we cause some serious havoc back home, didn't we?" Both men laughed, "You really want that lay out, cause if you going home, I'm gonna want to come with you, we can get it together and get out."

"You're hooked on slam, Snake Eyes a habit like that isn't going to be sustained out of the circle," There was real sympathy in Toran's voice. I knew slam's reputation, a hybrid mix of cocaine and LSD it was highly addictive and often deadly. It was common for many criminals for hire in the Ring and Galactic Station to be paid off it slam instead of money.

"Kinda sucks, huh? I've been trying to get clean, you know how hard that is man?" I heard beads clack together and figured that Snake Eyes had shaken his head; he must have cornrows with beads on the long ends. "I'll get you that map, man, if you help me get off my habit, we'll help each other out, just like old times."

"Yeah man, just like old times." Both men stood and I heard the door open, and close. I waited a full minute before sliding out from under the blankets. I stayed hidden in the alcove bed, watching Toran walked back into my line of sight.

"A very kind thing for you to do," I said rubbing my arms for a little warmth. The fear of being caught seemed more real now; I had almost been caught this morning. Sleeping was dangerous; apparently, I had to be more alert.

"Snake Eyes and I go way back, I'd do a lot for him." Toran walked over to me and cupped my chin in his hand, "You're getting more color, but you're still too thin."

"Then feed me," I told him, staying where I was. I couldn't be seen from the door and if I dodged under the blankets every time someone came in I might be able to stay one step ahead of those who wanted me dead. Toran grinned down at me and turned towards the small fridge I had noticed during a quick scan of the room.

"I don't have much here," He said, kneeling down before the fridge to find something to eat. "There is a mess hall here, but I don't think you should show up there. I'll go and bring you something back." I nodded, waiting to act. Once he was gone I was going to get those plans and work out an escape. If I was lucky I could escape by the end of the week.

"You can have more of the soup and orange juice, for now, I'll try to get something more solid," Toran said as he walked over to me, holding out a bowl and glass bottle.

"You're doing a lot for me, Toran," I told him when I took the soup, "But couldn't you have at least made the soup warm?"

"It was warm, now, you eat and do nothing strenuous," Toran ordered, kissing my forehead as he turned and walked away. I instantly drank down the soup, drinking it quickly even though it was cold. Toran was right though; I needed something solid to eat. It didn't stop me from drinking down the orange juice also. Once I was content I reached out to Meri afraid that she had been out in the elements for too long. Meri replied that she was a wild animal at heart even if she would have been more comfortable with me in that room. Carefully I walked over to the table and grabbed the map to carry back with me.

"I've got work to do with you, Meri, do you want to work?" I asked out loud and quietly. Meri was eager for work, she was getting bored. I looked down at the map and began to send it to her. Her eyes and mine scanned back and forth over the map. It was a simple lay out of the building in blue lines one a white background. It was shaped in a hexagon, about 100 yards wide corner to corner. I asked Meri to do a walk around. I wanted her to stay out of sight of the guard that might be out there, but I needed to see what was around the area. I closed my eyes and slipped into Meri's mind. We started out on the edge of a near by forest, I commanded Meri to wait, I wanted to hear what she heard. There was a highway near by, and faintly I head children laughing. We were still near the subdivision where I had been taken. I let Meri move now; she stayed close to the edge of the forest, blending into the shadows that remained around her. The area wasn't taken care of very well, the under brush was tall and thick. I watched the steel and concrete side of the air base block out the sun, there were no windows but there were guards walking on the roof. Meri slunk deeper into the forest, but through the plants I could still see the building. One guard stood at each corner and one stood in between them, well spaced and heavily armed. AK-47's with laser rounds were over their shoulders, I could see handguns holstered on both sides and knives on their boots.

"Good, Meri, good," I muttered, "Get closer," I told her. She waited for the nearest guard to whisper into his radio before dashing out and pressing herself against the steel side of the building. I had her look up and make sure she couldn't see the guards and the guards couldn't see her. Safe, Meri reassured me, and started walking again. The base was incredibly busy, Meri's ears were pressed against the wall and through that she could hear footsteps moving continually. The guards were not only on the roof, but when the forest banked off it revealed chain link fencing with barbed wire tops, maybe twelve feet tall. I ignored that for now and had Meri continue on her walk around. The three front sides of the building were relatively inactive on the outside, but the back three were all large bay doors to allow cargo inside them. Meri paused, one paw lifted as she studied them. There were a lot of them, either counting what was unloaded or unloading it. I needed her to get around it; I needed the full walk around. Meri moved quickly, a red streak through the underbelly of the trucks and transports that waited. I caught only glimpses, but the pictures would be stored in Meri's memory and I would be able to slow them down and go over them once again. Shouts reached her ears and she dove into the cover of the forest and settled under the root of a very large tree.

"Thank you," I told Meri as I slipped back into myself. Coming to myself I felt some one was griping onto my shoulders and calling my name.

"Adel, come on, Adel," I looked into Toran's concerned eyes and smiled. "Where'd you go?"

"Meri," I replied, looking down at the map in my hands. Everything was as it said; I was ready to start planning once I knew what was on the inside. "What'd you bring me to eat?" I asked, smelling the food that he had brought. Toran looked over his shoulder; I guess he had forgotten the food that he had brought.

"I had the cook bundle a complete meal, said I wanted to eat in my room." Toran stood up and went towards the food he had brought. "Pancakes." He held out a white Styrofoam box and held it open. I felt my mouth water and almost moved towards him, but remembered that I needed to stay in the bed, and out of sight, there was a window.

"God, stop tempting me and bring me those over here." Toran smiled and sat next to me on the bed, finally handed over the box and dug in.

"Snake Eyes should be here with the plans by late tonight, that's just a guess, but I wanted you to be ready for him, unlike this morning," Toran explained, taking the map from my lap and carefully folding it.

"Good, he startled me this morning," I said, having to slow down my eating as to keep the food in my stomach.

"No one here thinks you're alive, but I think Leader has his suspicions about you. I'm working on getting those tools for you."

"When I have them I can start planning my escape from here. I only have to figure out how to keep you from looking like you were involved," I paused, "I don't want you to go through what I went through."

"They aren't going to do that to me. I'm not afraid of being involved with you. or your plans," Toran added the last part as if it was an after thought. I smiled and continued with breakfast. This didn't seem so bad, I thought, eating breakfast with Toran almost felt normal.

"Did you have any breakfast?" I asked before silence took over, I was so sick of silence. I had spent too much time sitting in silence with my only company being Meri, whose voice in my head was enough for a while, but I needed someone else's voice.

"I had enough." Toran looked over at me, "Don't disappear like that one me, okay? When you slip into Meri leave me some type of sign, you look to close to death when you do that."

"I won't be dying for awhile yet, Toran, there something left I have to do. I can die after I finish it."

"You keep mentioning that fact a few times, where did this idea come from?" Toran leaned back against the wall that the bed was flush against and looked up at the ceiling.

"A friend told me about it," I said, smiling down at the empty box.

"That doesn't help me, but I have to see to the truck and some other little facts of business about the job," Toran explained as he pushed up from the bed.

"What other details are there to tie up?" I asked, curling my legs underneath me I set the box on the ground.

"Leader wants to know about King and how everything runs in the Ring."

I jumped to my feet and grabbed Toran, "You can't!" I almost yelled, but contained it in a harsh whisper; "You can't do that right now."

"Adel, why?" Toran looked a little startled at my quick action and sudden conviction.

"If you turn King in, you destroy my last act, my reason to live," I begged.

"Adel, telling Leader about King and how everything is run won't stop your reason to live," Toran was confused deeply by my actions.

"When you tell him how everything is run Leader will move in, he'll take over and get rid of the Ring completely. I lose my chance, please Toran, sell him some bull shit, please." My hands were white knuckle on his arm and I made my eyes as wide as possible.

"You know this is going to step over me being uninvolved?" I watched his eyes, in them I could see he was prepared to risk every thing for me, and I was deeply touched. He might not know it yet but he loved me, and it didn't matter to him if he was involved.

"I know, Toran, but maybe I need you to be involved." I let go of his arms and wrapped my arms around Toran's neck and pressed my face into the crook of his neck, "I really think I need you to be involved." Maybe it was manipulation, but I did need Toran and everything he could help me with. I had to do this for Wild Card; I had to do this for myself.

"God, Adel, I'm going to have a hard time letting you go," He spoke into my hair, "But I'll help you out." I slipped back to the bed and settled onto the bed, watching Toran as he walked out. What kind of person was I becoming, I wondered. Here I was begging to get help, when before I would have forced my will on him, but now I was hoping. Death, or coming close to it, had changed me. This whole event had changed me, would I be free of my attacks now? I hoped so; I never wanted to drop into that black hell again. I curled into a corner of the bed, tired, even with food and a purpose I didn't have the energy to stay awake for the day. I had to conserve what little I had, I needed it all of it. I had to leave by the end of the week, my luck couldn't hold that long. I dropped into sleep quickly, but not long, a knock on the door had me jumping in reaction.

"Yo, Eagle, open the door, I've got to talk to ya!" Snake Eyes had returned, and how to make him wait. I frantically looked around the room, something to hide in because it seemed to me as if Snake Eyes was ready to break down the door. I grabbed the edge of the blanket and threw it over my head, pushing myself against the wall I willed myself to disappear. "Come on, T-man, I heard some moving around let's go!" I waited, cold fear keeping me still and hidden. It took Snake Eyes three tries to bust the door in, and then it took him three steps to see me.

"What do you think you're doing still in bed, man, we've got work," I watched as his hand grabbed the edge of the blankets and pulled them off of me. I shot forward, my hand clamping over his mouth, using what little energy I had to keep him still.

"Just act like I'm Toran, understand, go back to the door and close it. I have no weapons, my Symbiot is outside, I can't hurt you. Please, help Toran out like he's helping you." Snake Eyes nodded and I let him go.

"Man I didn't think you'd be the type to get smacked out of you ass drunk," Snake Eyes said, walking towards the door to close it slowly. When he turned back to me we both were studying each other. He was tall, thin, almost like a African version of Doc, minus the glasses and Doc would never have his hair in shoulder length corn rows with silver beads on the ends of each. His eyes were bright yellow, his pupils had been turned vertical and they looked like a snake's eyes.

"Thank you," I said, sitting shakily back down on the bed, tired suddenly and relieved.

"You'd be the dead woman," He said, crossing his arms over his chest, he had a cobra tattoo on each arm.

"Yes, but I'm not dead," I replied.

"He's gonna fire his ass for you?" Snake Eyes looked skeptical.

"I hope not, but I believe that he'd help me even if I didn't want it."

"Are you the reason he wants the map and tools?" Snake Eyes felt comfortable enough to sit on the floor, folding his legs, and resting his elbows on his knees, then resting his chin in his hands. I found it very child like and thought that for a man hooked on one of the most addictive drugs on the market.

"Yes, I need to escape here." I gestured to the room around me, and mimicked Snake Eyes pose. "You want to escape also. I over heard you and Toran this morning."

"Yeah, I'm getting a little sick of this place." Snake Eyes grinned, and revealed long fangs, "I'm not good at taking orders, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand that. I heard you're hooked on slam," I commented, leaning back and sitting up straight because I was falling asleep if I rested my head in my hands.

"Nasty ass stuff," He sighed, "You ever touch drugs of any sorts?"

"Yes, my employer forced me to take slash once," I said, slash is a less potent version of slam, and I had barely survived what King had pushed into my arm the drug. I remember sweating, cold pain, and sickness; the high had never registered with me. There was nothing that made me love drugs, nothing that I could ever take would feel good.

"Slash, nasty stuff that is," Snake Eyes chuckled, "Not like slam is much better. Look, lady, I ain't got no problem with you, a'right? I'm not gonna rat you out to Leader, just don't do anything stupid okay?" Snake Eyes reached into his pockets and pulled out a roll of leather. He unrolled it and revealed a set of escape tools, well made and cared for.

"These are your personal tools," I said, looking at the snake insignia that was carved into each tool.

"Yeah, I was thinking I was gonna use them to escape, but I can get another set. They're getting a little old anyway."

"How'd my door get mess up?" Toran asked pushing the busted door open, he had a gun out and ready to defend.

"Hey, nice lady you got man," Snake Eyes jumped to his feet and smiled at Toran, holding the tools out to him. "Me and her were having a nice conversation, offered me a ride any time she wasn't busy with you." Snake Eyes winked, the guy for being connected with drugs was as sharp as a whip.

"Great, thanks for your loyalty sweetie, you get the map I asked for?" Toran asked, closing the door and sliding a chain before it to keep the unwanted out.

"Now that's gonna take longer than I thought, those maps is privileged information."

"Which direction is this room facing from the window?" I asked, watching the shadows outside, trying to judge which direction it was by the shadows cast by the setting sun.

"It faces north, Adel, why?" Toran tossed the tools to me, and I caught them expertly.

"North side, front façade, forest maybe ten yards away. Goes for five more years before the chain link fence. How far is the drop from the window?"

"Enough that if you get a good landing you still might break something," Snake Eyes looked at me with suspicious eyes, "You're not thinking about escaping that way are you?"

"No, not seriously," I said, shaking my head for emphasize. I was seriously thinking about it though, if I had Meri cause a distraction I could make it to the cover of the forest I could make it free.

"Good, Snake Eyes, when do you think you're going to get this map?"

"Hard to say man, two weeks, maybe at the longest." Snake Eyes shrugged, "Nice to have a conversation with you, cutie." And he left, moving the chair and stepping back into hall. I looked at Toran, he looked frazzled.

"How did it go?" I asked, laying down on the bed, stretching out under the blankets. Toran sat where Snake Eyes had been sitting, looking up at me with those expressive eyes that kept me fascinated.

"Not good, I haven't been yelled at like that since I was caught chasing skirts," Toran said on a laugh, "I didn't give him everything he wanted, but there's enough so that he'll hesitate in sending me back into the Ring."

"You've done a lot for me," I sighed, feeling really guilty for what I had to do.

"Yeah, but I did a lot to you also." Such unveiled that emotions that I was reminded of a moment I had almost forgotten. Wild Card had looked at me like that once, so long ago. I slipped out of the blankets and kneeled down before Toran.

"There is nothing I can say to express the debt of gratitude I can never pay back to you." I reached my hands out and cupped his face in them, "The risk, the pain, everything you're going to endure for me, there's nothing I can say more than if I was capable of love once, long before this world stole that from me, I wished I knew you back then."

There was so much that flashed into his eyes that one brief instant when he met my eyes, "There's no risk in love, Adel," so much in those words I felt like nothing when I kissed him. I wasn't promising him all the things he thought I was when I drew him into my arms. He was never going to forgive me for what I had falsely offered when I drew him to the floor. In those actions I was as evil as I could ever be.

~***~

I left him sleeping, and began to prepare. I slipped back into the clothes I had been brought in and secured Snake Eye's tools to a belt I borrowed from Toran. I also borrowed a weapon and left a simple note saying only 'good bye'. I opened the window and looked down into the night-covered ground below. Snake Eyes was right, there was a chance I'd still break something if I jumped. Their starvation of me was a good thing; I slid right through the small window and fell. I couldn't risk my legs, so I landed on my shoulder and ignored the pain that rolled through it.

"We've got noise on the north wall," said the guard from above me. I signaled Meri and she chased the rabbit she had been holding out into the sight of the guards, "Disregard last report, false alarm." I waited for a full five minutes before moving. Crouching low to the ground I darted out, moving silently and praying. I dodged under forest cover and waited, barely breathing. There we no warnings, no alarms. I looked into Meri's eyes for the first time in months and smiled. I launched myself forward and made it to the fence. I had Meri scan the fence for sensors, as a Bio-animal she could sense other electronic devices. There were none and I drew out the little laser cutter and cut myself free. I stepped outside and heard the sirens. No, no, no, I thought and started running. I moved like lightning, or the human equivalent, dodging through the residential area. My feet moved through soft, well cared for grass, over pebbles and I dodged around swing sets. Meri was my set of eyes and ears as I moved through the neighborhood, my feat beating a frantic rhythm with my heart. I had run, many times before, with nothing like the desperation I was feeling tonight. I could hear them, smell them, they weren't close, but they could be. I needed to hide, soon they'd be sending up a helicopter and I might not be able to out run that. Dodging left I followed Meri towards a house with all lights off. I pulled out Snake Eyes tools and set to work. The locks popped over after a few minutes of tinkering and I dove inside the safety the house offered. I crouched low, under the level of the windows and sent Meri to do the walk through. No one was in the first story of the house, but someone had left their purse. Meri snuck back to me, and I dug a nice amount of credits out. Meri went out again, carefully climbing the stairs, avoiding all the spots that creak and groan. There were three bedrooms; each had their doors closed, not worth going inside them. I called Meri back and dug into the other contents of purse. My hand closed around car keys and my luck was holding. The problem was if I took the car it would be reported, and once it was reported I risked being caught by police. I slipped back into the night, listening carefully with Meri at my side. I heard them, driving slowly through the streets, they had their headlights off to try and keep me from finding them, but they didn't count on me hearing their engines. Everything had come down to this; slow movements in the shadows would allow me to almost disappear. I waited until the nearest car was as far away as possible before jumping the fence and getting caught under a motion sensing light. I froze under it, and watched the car roll up and spot me. Desperate I ran forward, already shooting the four sitting in the car. I reached the car, hauled four bodies out of the car, and slid myself in. Not a stolen car, technically, I told myself, turning on the headlights to race through suburbia. There was no choice for me now, if I stopped driving I would be caught, I had to keep going. Back to the city, back to King, back to life.

~***~

I jumped to my feet at the alarms; I noticed right away that Adel didn't jump with me. Damn it, I though pulling on my jeans before running into the hallway. She should have waited for the map, she should have waited until she was better, and god damn it she should have told me. I heard the guards on the roof moving towards the transport bay, and cars started revving their engines. I called out to Lee, he was already on her tail, watching her as she moved through the backyards of the near by houses. Lee could barely make her out in the darkness but he had her. Now I was my job to make sure no one found her. I grabbed a walkie-talkie out of the pile that was left in the transport room and tuned in to the frequency that the guards were using.

"We'll run the capture run five, move slowly and quietly." Came through the static.

"I've got her on visual, this is Eagle, Lee's got her," I said, cutting through to them.

"The signal came from the north side, did she stay along the fence or run straight out?"

"She stayed along the fence for a mile, then darted out. She's running in the street, heading north again." She was jumping fences in backyards, heading northing, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

"Alright we're heading towards there, I want a fan pattern, when she hears the cars she's not going to stay on the street." I held my breath watching as they turned into the neighborhood. There was nothing to keep her from getting caught but luck. Lee circled over a house she had broken into, waiting, praying for her to come back out. I watched as a car went slowly down the block she was on and let go of my breath as the car made it to the far end of the block and Adel came to life under the bright light of a motion sensing light. The shots rang out and Adel pulled the bodies from the car and drove off.

"Eagle, what was that? Those shots came from mile back and car ten had gone silent."

"Car one is taking pot shots at shadows, nothing more," I lied, watching Adel pull out of the neighborhood with tires screaming. Okay she had escaped, now it was time for Snake Eyes and I to plan our own.

~***~

I stayed in the shadows, carefully muffling my steps as I followed him through the shadows. He hadn't realized I was watching him yet, nor would he, until I wanted him too. My planed destination was a little empty hardware store that would be perfect for my to hide in the shadows and keep him from seeing me. I was walking behind him now, but he was too wrapped up in whatever case he was working on to care about me walking behind him. He started to take a right turn, something new on his route and I stepped in front of him. He looked a little started at me, but I smiled reassuringly. "Look, I'm new to this city and I'm a little lost, do you think you can show me how to get to Cassiopeia lane?" I lied.

"Yeah, sure, you turn this way and it's about a three blocks and then it's a simple left turn." I smiled but continued to look totally confused. "You understand anything I just told you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm from a wheat colony on Mars, so I'm not that familiar with the city lingo. Can you show me?" I put on my most heart melting eyes, "Please?" I knew that his reputation had him as an upstanding citizen and it was easy to see that he would do it because I was a pretty face and a sympathetic soul lost in the big city.

"Yeah, I can show you the way," I fell into step with him, walking towards the empty bar. I stayed on his left, better able to push him into the hardware store. "How long have you been here?"

"Only two weeks, my aunt lives here and I've come for a visit." I said off the fly, counting steps to the store. One more and I acted. Digging my shoulder in I caught him on the side and pushed him through the front door. He stumbled into the darkness and Meri jumped to guard the door. I slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

"What's going on?" He asked, standing in the middle of the room, dust rising around him as he tried to find me in the darkness.

"I just want to talk counselor," I said, moving before he looked at where my voice was coming from.

"About what?" He didn't sound so nervous now, he had that stance he always had in the courtroom. I had watched him today and I figured this was my best choice. He was ruthless with an incredibly sense of right and I needed him.

"You probably know the name the Ring, don't you counselor?" I pulled myself up and sat on the dusty counter, keeping my face in shadows.

"Yes I do, why?" He paused "If you are here to offer me money that you can leave now. I'd rather be dead that let you people corrupt the law any further than you already have."

"No, no, I'm not here to offer you money, counselor. I'm here to offer you evidence."

He turned to face me, and tried to make out my face in the darkness of the shop, "Who are you?"

"The same person who asked for direction, now don't you want to know what I want from you?" I asked, pressing my foot against his shoulder when he tried to up close to me.

"I'm not getting one of you little friends off the hook," He said, glaring at me, "if that's what you want?"

"No, that's not it. I want to help you, counselor."

"Look, if you're going to play games here I'm not going to stand for it, just get to the point and we'll see if I am interested."

"Well, well, aren't we being a little pushy. But, you're right counselor I should get to the point." I reached into my pocket and watched him stiffen, "I'm not reaching for my weapon, counselor." I pulled out of the interior pocket a digital tape recorder and hit play.

"What the hell am I paying you for?! You lost the god damn truck!" King's voice yelled through the speakers and I remembered the earlier conversation.

"You said I would get the rest of my money when I came back. Well King I'm back."

"You think I give a fuck about that? You lost the truck, my money didn't make it, you don't deserve your god damn pay!" I switched the tape off and smiled into his stunned face.

"I can give you this tape so you can get a warrant to record more, through me."

"How?" He asked, keeping his excitement contained in just his eyes.

"You see that shadow in the door way? That would be my pet, she carries the tape recorder in her, I spend time getting you what you need."

"Can she absorb a camera also?" He asked, eager for anyway to get evidence. I asked Meri how she would feel about a camera in her and she didn't care.

"You meet me here, when you have that warrant and we'll start planning, counselor," I told him holding out my hand. He took it, a little tentatively, but he took it and the promise was made.

~***~

There is nothing like coming back from the dead, I thought, standing before King and some of the other rookies. They watched me with curiosity and some with concern. In their minds I had been dead with the truck, and my punishment for my resurrection was baby-sitting. I looked them over; each still thought this was a day-trip or the end for them. Half of the day- trippers would never leave this room again; other would evolve into the next great criminal mastermind.

"You want me to take all of them or a shake down?" I asked King, looking over at him with pure disgust. I will enjoy watching you fall, I thought.

"They all can shoot, they all can run and they know how to make sure everything goes smoothly and with out causing distractions." King didn't bother looking at me; he was too busy with his belt and the pretty little blonde trying to get it undone.

"Fine, let's go kids," I said, motioning for those who were going to come with me to move out.

"Hey, we're not kids," some rookie muttered as they followed me, I threw my head back and laughed out right, they'd get called kid until they die.

"You ever get some guys brain splattered onto you so that it get cakes into your hair? You ever watch some one die because your laser wasn't properly taken care off and misfired?" I listened to the comforting silence, "When you can answer that I won't call you kid." I walked into the garage, watching the constant ebb and flow of the activity in it. I had been part of this activity only months before and now I was baby-sitting detail. I looked down at Meri, who was scanning the room like assistant district attorney Michael Holmes had instructed. Meri would never be suspected in filming what was going on.

"How many of you have fired a gun?" I asked, opening the door to a small black SUV.

"We've all had to fire guns before, Agent," said some kid with enough earrings to be a metal detector.

"How many of you have fired into flesh?" I countered, slamming the door closed on them I walked around to the passenger side, we had a personal driver. I sat back a listened to the silence, a sound I enjoyed greatly. Our job was a simple shake down; we go to a business that isn't exactly listening to the demands of the Ring and make them see it differently. To avoid getting in trouble with the law I would hang in the background while we let the kids have all the fun. I hate baby-sitting detail. The SUV pulled in to the loading dock of an electronics store. I went in first, kicking down the back door I leveled guns at those inside. "Howdy boys, why don't you put those boxes down, find your manager, and we'll have a nice talk." The two boys on the inside dropped the boxes they were carrying and held their hands up. From behind me the kids walked in moving outwards they surrounded the back room.

"What about the front?" One over eager kid asked, his hands not stone still on his weapon.

"I'll go," I volunteered, stepping out front I walked over to the woman behind the counter. I leaned over a smiled, "Tell these nice people that today you're closing early, and that they need to take any and all purchases to you or leave." I smiled, and leaned forward a little more to let her see the gun hidden under my arm. The woman made the announcement and flipped the sigh to closed.

" do you want?" She asked, trying to get behind the counter, but I had already jumped over it and cut the silent alarm button. "Can the windows be shaded?" I asked, leaning casually over the counter.

"Yes," she stuttered, afraid for her life, which she shouldn't be.

"Please, shade them, I don't want people to see what's going to happen." She paled but did as she was told, "Please, go into the back and I'll make sure you're well taken care of." We both went into the back and I snapped into being the leader, "In to the corner, all of you, and" I turned to a man older that the three workers, "Must be the manager." He nodded and I smiled.

"Now what?" the over eager kid asked, he was going to be a problem, and I don't like problems.

"You use to work for the Ring, didn't you?" I asked the manager walking up to him with a polite smile on my lips.

"Yes, and it was a mistake." He was rebellious and I under stood his need to break away, but we'd both be free if I succeeded.

"Well, we at the Ring still think you're a valuable player and would greatly appreciate it if you gave us just a little back for all we gave you," I said with casual force.

"No, I don't over the Ring anything," The manager said stubbornly. I shook my head slowly and frowned.

"Well then, kids, let's show him what happens when you ignore the Ring. Trash the place." I stood back as boxes were pushed over and the contents destroyed. I walked between the front room and the back room. The trouble started when I was in the front room, over seeing the systematic destruction of the glass displays. The shot made all of us jump. I flew into the back room and saw it was Mr. Eager with the smoking gun.

"What the hell did you do?" I roared, running over, but stopped dead in my tracks when he turned the gun on me.

"I'm sick and tired of this little shit, you think trashing a shops going to change this fuckers mind?" the kid roared right back in frustration.

"No, but killing someone won't do it either," I side stepped quickly and raced forward, my own gun was pressed to the side of his head, "It doesn't matter what one of us thinks, we are a not individuals in this. We are one, and as one we thinking together. Anytime you have a brilliant idea," I moved the gun and shot the hand that was holding the little nine millimeter, "Don't act on it."

"Now what?" asked one kid.

"Genius here is going to learn what laser weapons are better than bullet guns," I reached into my pocket and pulled out a tool. It was a long set of tweezers, "If you use a bullet gun you carry one of these around because you see that hole you put in her head?" The kid looked down at the cashier, who he had killed. "Do you see it?" I kicked the back of his knee and sent him to his knees.

"Yes," he said, not able to face me or the woman he had killed.

"You see this tool?" I asked him, holding the tweezers very close to his nose, "You are going to reach into that little hole you made and pull the bullet free."

"What? You aren't serious, that disgusting."

I grabbed the kid by one earring and pulled with enough force to rip the earring free from the hole it was in, "I am deadly serious, do it or the bullet will be found by the police and traced to you." I stepped back and watched coldly as the kid pulled free the bullet. I let him run for the outside to spill his guts. "Everyone back into the truck." I waited while everyone ran for the truck, I turned towards the manager and handed him a large stack of credit, "I'm sorry for what happened here, this should pay for the damages." And I turned on my heel and left.

~***~

Michael looked horrified at me when the tape was finished, he couldn't believe the amount of cruelty I had shown. "This should be enough to obtain a search warrant along with the pictures and video footage you've provided."

"They won't go down with out a fight and don't let these officers in on your plans, they're corrupt." I handed over the long list of police on the Ring's pay roll. Michael looked down at it, and I could see the anger he contained.

"This is over half of the police force," he commented, "How am I going to shut down King's main compound with less than half of the police force?"

"With this," I answered, handing over the lay out and security details to the compound. Michael looked it over with interest, trying to pin point weak spots and easily infiltrated areas.

"You won't be there when this goes down, I'll make sure of that." He looked up when I snorted at that.

"I've been forced to live there, I have no choice. My freedom has been revoked since today's incident. I can fight my way out, if needed."

"But I need you to testify at the trials, if you are killed, accidentally by my men, or if King figures it out, then I lose my key witness. I need you still," Michael explained a bit frantically.

"I know, but I'm very hard to kill, counselor. If we are done here, I'll take back my tape recorder and the cameras." I jumped down from the counter where I sat and held out my hand for both pieces of technology.

"Are you sure you don't want protection?" He asked, handing over both.

"There's not need for it counselor, I've been protected from everything and I only need myself." I walked into the night and slid onto my motorcycle. I had only two people to warn, I couldn't stand them getting involved, or being hurt. Doc and Machine would be in the shop this late, working on personal projects. There was music coming from the inside and I was relieved to find them there. Instead of knocking I blasted my horn, and the door rolled up. Neither had changed, Doc was still tall and lanky, Machine burly and strong.

"Adel!" Doc ran out and caught me in the hug. I joined him in relieved laughter, and even planted a kiss on his cheek when he set me down. "We've been hearing rumors you were back, but you never stopped by to visit, so we didn't know what to think."

I tossed and companionable arm over his shoulders and walked into the shop with him, "Well King placed me under house arrest, so I've had to sneak out to see you guys. God, it's good to see you." I felt at home in the shop, watching Machine push himself out from under a car and wipe the grease off his hands.

"We heard you had a rather rough time with your run," He said, pulling over a chair to sit on and listen to me talk. "Care to tell us the gory details that you don't get through the grape vine." I told them, the real story, how Toran was a traitor, how I escaped from the Galactic Station air base and made it here.

"But that's not why I've come here, there's something more recently I've been doing and I need to make sure you guys are safe and for warned," I finished, watching them carefully, "Something is going to happen, I've been warned as a courtesy and I don't want you two to get hurt in any way. Can you run to some place far away where no one can find you?"

Both Doc and Machine studied me for a few minutes then Doc turned and blasted the music, and Machine leaned in close, "This place is wired, Adel, for reasons unknown, but you've got to be careful about what you say, most likely King is on his way right now," Machine said, looking over at Doc who was locking down all the oil and gas that might explode if a gun fight opened up.

"I don't care about that, I can get away long before King gets here. It's you two that need to run, the cops will be breaking into King's any day now I don't want you two to get caught or hurt, please, just get out now." I clamped my hand over Machine's, and tried to plead with my eyes and hope he understood.

"We go now or not at all, Machine, because they are undoubtly on their way," Doc said, yelling over the music. I needed them to live; I needed at least two friends left after all of this went down. I had lost one great friend; I was not going to lose two more.

"Fine! Damn it, Adel, I know you won't come with us, but take your own advice and get the hall out while you can!" Machine leapt to his feet and we all ran out the back door. Machine and Doc pulled themselves into a large van, armored most likely. I watched them drive away and felt an immense weight lifting from my shoulders. I had saved their lives, I thought, and it felt pretty good. I didn't get a chance to enjoy the feeling for long, my shoulder suddenly screamed with pain and I turned to see King standing behind me, a pistol in his hands with a silencer. He looked deranged and victorious at the same time.

"You came alone." I turned to face him; behind King was a single car, no one else inside or around him.

"Yes, Lynx, I come alone to all my victories," King took a step into the back lot and I took one backwards. I had no choice; King could shoot me before I could shoot him. My shoulder ached from the single shot, my nose stung with the scent of blood and I felt fear rise and grip my heart. I remembered this same event, years ago, when I had been fourteen, brand new to the Ring. I had disobeyed, I had messed up, and King had decided my punishment. He took my to a plain white room, he had shot me in my shoulder with a laser weapon, the grade of the laser was so poor it had felt like small burning darts had ripped through my skin.

"Just like old times, eh?" I laughed a bit, stumbling back as he took another confident step forward.

"I should have killed you then," King's voice was a harsh whisper that made me more afraid than any weapon he could have pointed at me. He'd shoot me knee next, send me to the ground, I was ready for that shot. When he shot my other shoulder I had no time to dodge, and the pain was burning darts in my conscious. "You have caused me more grief that I ever needed!"

"I have done everything that you have asked!" I yelled, desperate for someone to hear me, someone to appear in the nick of time and save me.

"You had me kill my own brother!" King smiled when he saw the shock appear on my face, "You didn't know did you? About how he was talking to the police because he wanted to get you free of this world? He loved you," King spat out, looking at me with utter disgust and hate. "He loved you, and gave everything for you, including his life, but he betrayed me. His own brother."

"And you killed him," I hissed, pain breaking through my voice.

"I had no choice!" King's hand trembled and I moved, dodging and pulling my gun free. I couldn't shoot him; I couldn't destroy Michael's case. We watched each other, my hand steady, but my mind horribly shaky. "Are you giving me no choice again, Lynx, do I have to shoot you also?"

"No, King, you have a choice, all I've done, can't be undone. I've won my final freedom, you shoot me, and I still win," I said in supreme confidence, even though I felt like nothing I could do at this moment would save me. I watched him, watched everything that danced across his face, and watched him go down. Meri, he had forgotten about Meri, who used his focus on me to creep up behind him and pounce. He would be up quickly enough and I ran, shoulders in pain I went scrambling for my bike. The first shot hit my left side, barely scraping it; the second went through my chest. I ignored the pain as best I could and swung a leg over and started the bike. Half blinded by pain I drove away towards a hospital. I can't clearly remember if I made it with out getting shot more, but I remember crashing into ambulance bay. Doctors stood over me and I tried to tell them to stay away, King would follow, but I couldn't, I couldn't get past the sharp sense of blood, and the closing in blackness.

~***~

It was an appropriately sun-less day. The skies were overcast and they held the threat of rain, it was sadly appropriate. I looked down at the freshly turned dirt and the plain gray stone marker. Such a simple marker of such an extraordinary woman I thought as I tossed a single white lily on the grave. I wasn't surprised that I was the only one here; I was the only one who really knew she was dead. I had come to the hospital because they said she asked for me, but when I had gotten there she had already died. The doctors just hadn't gotten the life saving medical technology to her quickly enough. I had paid for all the arrangements and had granted her one last wish. I had gotten that bastard who shot her, who destroyed her life, who killed her. I had put him behind bars as fast as I could get his ass before a grand jury, and convicted him. My hands tightened on the cane I walked with now. I had stopped King, but he had destroyed my knee in the processes. I had done much more to him though, something to his pride. She had been cleared of all charges and given a heroes honor. I know stood over the simple gray marker with her name, 'Adel Thorn, Meri'. I had found the bobcat outside the hospital, lying on its side, it had followed its master into death and I mourned the cat as much as I mourned the human.

"You knew her?" I jumped out of my skin and turned to face those who had walked up behind me. There were two of them, one was most recognizable by the vertical slit pupils he had, the other had a Bio-metallic hawk settling on his shoulder.

"Yes, I knew her," I answered, feeling defensive of the grave, even though I knew whom these two were. The man with the vertical eyes was Snake Eyes, the agent for the Galactic Station who had helped with Adel's escape. The other was Toran Lee, the agent who had turned Adel against the Ring. I could tell both men had come a long way to be here, both were tired looking and Toran had a five o'clock shadow. I watched in wonder had he reached a hand up to run a Bio-metallic had through the feathers of the hawk. All three of us studied each other and found each other expectable.

"Do you know if she suffered any?" Toran asked, coming to stand at the foot of the grave shoulder to shoulder with me.

"The blood loss she suffered was incredible, they say she pulled up to the hospital entrance bleeding. Shots had torn through her chest and shoulders, she wasn't dead but unconscious." I took a steadying breath, "King drove up and shot her five more times. The doctors said it was painless."

"And you knew her how?" This from Snake Eyes, Toran had gone silent and I could tell he was weeping for her. Adel had said he had loved her, that she loved him for all he had done for him.

"Adel turned over evidence that put King behind bars forever along with other key members of the Ring. I was the attorney she was talking with," I explained watching Snake Eyes stiffen, then nod.

"You know the whole story then," Toran spoke slowly, I could hear the sobs he was fighting down, fighting to keep the grief he was feeling inside.

"Yes, she told me all that she had been through."

"I'm glad that someone was there for her," Snake Eyes pulled a cigarette out and lit it. I watched a smile form on his lips as he took the first drag. "She was one in a million and I really liked her."

"She liked you too," I told him, "said you were one hell of a character." I tuned out Toran who had dropped to his knees, sobs finally breaking free. I had shed my tears hours before while a minister said somber words and I had been the only one to listen to them.

"Yeah, but I was nothing compared to her." Snake Eyes walked over to Toran and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze to comfort. Adel had said they were old friends that had been closer than brothers. I wanted to know more, but asking here seemed like a mistake.

"Would you like to come to dinner with me? We seem to be the only mourners she has and I'd like to get to know her friends better," I offered, felling a little awkward, but asking none the less.

Snake Eyes gave a snort, "You want to pump us for information, counselor, but I'll come with." He looked down at the kneeling and hopeless Toran, "You want to come with, T-man?"

"Yes," Toran rose, and I was amazed as the hawk stayed easily on his shoulder, and that he managed to move with such grace after pouring his heart out to the dead, "There are things I want to ask." As the three men walked away they only has to cast a glance over their shoulders to see two ghostly figures. The woman sat on her tombstone, legs crossed she wore a simple white dress, like the one she had been buried in. Her hair was like smoke, silky but opaque black that seemed like it belonged over a bright, burning fire. Her bright green eyes looked as cold and as deadly as emeralds with untold depths of light. She watched them walk away with sadness, but her saffron lips turned up in the corners with a contented sadness. The other figure was a man, his eyes were brilliant gray, almost silver, and they stood from the rest of his gray form. He was standing behind the woman in a simple white shirt and jeans. His hair was the color of slightly tarnished copper almost antique looking. He walked closer to the woman and wrapped his arms around her shoulders; turning his head he kissed her smoky hair.

"They're going to do incredible things for you, you know that?" The man said watching them with the same content but sad eyes.

The woman turned and touched a hand to the man cheek, "Like I did for you?"

"Yeah, kid, like you did for me."

"Stop calling me that would you Wild Card?"

THE END