It was late - perhaps close to midnight. I sat in my living room with various files spread over the coffee table in front of me. Ein sat at my feet and was snoring loudly so I nudged him hard with my toe, causing him to shoot a glare in my direction and move to the other side of the room where he promptly fell asleep once more. I had been going over my new case files for close to five hours and they told me little that I didn't already know. Little information was given on Vicious, the new bounty head. There were a few snap shots of him and I currently found myself studying one of them.

The first thing that drew my attention was the color of his hair. It was so blond that it almost looked white and it hung like a halo around his face (very ironic for a murderer). Like Spike, it acted as a blanket, casting shadows and allowing me to see very little detail. I could see that his chin was strong and that his lips were thin. I could make out the shape of his eyes and that he sported dark rings under both of them. He was believed to be around 27 years of age and that was odd for a man of his profession. He held a lot of respect within the crime world and that took a lot of guts...

And a lot of blood.

I yawned loudly and stretched out my back. I reached for my beer and finished it off with a few more gulps and decided that I had better call it a night. Too tired to get up and move to my bed, I turned and punched the pillow that sat next to me and then stretched out on top of it. I clapped my hands together twice which caused the lights to go off, leaving me in darkness.

10 minutes passed and I was finding it very difficult to fall asleep. My mind was running through all of the files and the faces until it stopped on one face in particular...

Oh Lord, that man was going to cause problems, I could already tell. Spike. What kinda name was that anyways? Did he think that it was tough or something? I was willing to bet that underneath the attitude was just some helpless boy that thought he would be cool if he carried around a gun. That's what most of them turned out to be when faced with pressure. I doubted that he would be much different...

Or maybe he would. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but something about him seemed strange to me. He looked to be around 25, but watching him caused me to wonder if there was something he knew that went beyond his years. As if he's seen things, ya know?

...What am I going on about? I'm not the kinda girl who dwells on stupid things like men and their problems. What he's seen in his past is of no concern to me and so long as he stays out of my way, I don't really give a shit.

_________________________________

I sat at my desk with coffee in my hand. A cigaret sat in the ashtray in front of me, emitting smoke from the end that lifted toward the ceiling in swirling waves. I once again had Vicious' file in front of me, searching for something that I may had previously missed.

All that we knew was that he was born in Osaka, Japan and was 27 years old. He had no family, and was recored going in and out of several orphanages as a child until he came of age and disappeared from the face of the earth. He reappeared again several years later as a Red Dragon member. He caused a bit of trouble for a few years and we happen to know that he was interested in knocking off the leader of the gang and taking control himself, but the they wouldn't have it. It is now understood that he started is own little gathering and is focused on taking out the rest of the Red Dragon leaders. He's already knocked off 5 of them, leaving only a few left.

The thing that struck me the most about this guy was how he killed his victims. Not with a gun, but with a katana. It seemed odd to me that he was able to be so swift with this weapon and strike down men with guns as if it was the easiest thing in the world. He had to be a master at the art.

A knock at the door tore me from my thoughts. "Yeah, come in," I sighed as I refocused my attention on the file. I heard the door open and someone walk inside. I glance up to see Spike standing in front of me with a bent cigaret between his lips and his hands shoved into his pockets. He stared at me with a bored expression and I felt anger bubble up in my chest.

"What do you want?" I growled at him with narrowed eyes. He exhaled smoke in my direction and then leaned forward and tapped the end of his cigaret over my ashtray.

"Jet wants us to go over the mission plan," he said as he stood straight again. I continued to watch him carefully as he took a seat in the chair that sat in front of my desk. He slouched low in the chair and crossed his arms behind his head.

I couldn't help but scan my eyes over his body. He was wearing a thin yellow button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a plain black tie hung loosely around his neck. Plain blue slacks clung to his legs and black steal-toe boots were on his feet. Despite his smaller size, he played the part of a man who didn't take shit.

"I don't like making plans," he said, his cigaret bouncing between his lips. "But if we're going to bring this guy down we're gunna have to have something."

"Yeah? And what do you know about him?" I asked before taking a long sip of my coffee.

"He taught me everything I know."

I almost spit my coffee over my desk, but managed to swallow at the last minute. "What? You mean you know this guy?" I asked. He simply nodded and scanned his eyes over my office.

"Nice place you got here," he said. I raised an eyebrow and stared at my plain walls and dead flowers that sat in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, thanks." I said. I was beginning to wonder if this guy was a little off. "So what do you know about Vicious?" I tried not to sound too interested, but I doubt that it worked.

"It's in the past," he said, and I gave him a look which caused him to grin. "We met up in Red Dragon years back."

"What?"

He stared at me like I was ridiculous. "Are you hard of hearing?"

"You used to be part of Red Dragon?" I asked, just to make sure he knew what it was we were talking about. He nodded his head again and I started to get annoyed. I tried to play it cool as I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs.

"So why did ya drop out?" An odd expression crossed over his face before it settled on his normal hidden expression once more.

"Like I said, it's in the past."

I watched him lift his cigaret to his mouth and take a long drag before closing his eyes and exhaling the smoke. When he opened them again they were focused on me and he had another grin on his face.

"Tonight there's a little gathering downtown in a restaurant called the Blue Balloon. Some big shots are going to be there. I wouldn't be surprised if our guy's right along with them." I stared at him for a moment, sizing him up.

"Where did you get that information from?" I asked. He stood and walked over to my desk. He leaned forward and put his cigaret out in my ashtray before turning and walking toward the door. Who did this guy think he was? "HEY," I yelled at him. "I asked you a question!" He stopped when his hands wrapped around the door knob.

His back still turned to me he said, "Lets just say I heard it from a little bird." And with that, he opened the door and left.

I sat in silence for I don't know how long, watching the spot where he had been standing with a blank expression on my face.

God damn fucking asshole.

Who was this guy? Why was Jet so confident that he had given up his old ways as a member of the greatest crime family today? How was he sure that he wasn't going to lead me into a trap? I've brought down some pretty big guys in my time, and there were a lot of people out there that wouldn't mind seeing me dead. It played a part in my mistrust of every person that I meet, and I knew that I didn't trust this guy. I could tell that he was hiding something from me. I just wasn't sure what it was yet.

But I was going to find out.

____________________________________

I checked online for the name of the place Spike had mentioned to me - The Blue Balloon. It was a family owned restaurant tucked away in the slums of downtown. The man who owned it was a known member of Red Dragon, though no crimes were pinned against him. It seemed a bit shady to me, but I decided to check it out none the less.

As I exited the elevator into the parking garage, my eyes were immediately drawn toward the dark figure that was leaning against my car.

"What the fuck do you want?" I asked, as I approached him. Spike pushed himself off of my car and I eyed the place where he had been leaning against.

"If you scratch my car, I'll kill you," I growled as I stepped closer to his face. He grinned at me and looked over his shoulder.

"You call that a car?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Anger flooded through my body as I raised my fist and sent it flying through the air toward his face. My eyes widened in shock as he titled his head to the side at the last second, causing my fist to fly inches from his skin. He moved so fast that I barely saw him.

I lowered my fist once more and pointed into his chest. "Listen here. I don't know who you are or where you came from, but try anything funny and I won't hesitate to shoot you." He continued to grin in my direction and I rolled my eyes and I shoved passed him and unlocked my car. I climbed inside and started my engine. Before I was able to reverse out of my parking spot Spike opened the passenger door and climbed inside.

"What the hell! Who said that you could get in my car?!" Oh man, was I pissed. He turned to me and smiled. It was a cocky smile and I was starting to think that he was doing it to piss me off even more.

It was working.

"We're partners, remember?" he said as he rolled down the window and lit up another cigaret. "You need to take 85 North and take the number 3 exit." I sat there staring at him for a few moments, contemplating on whether or not I just just push him out of my car and run him over on the way out. It seemed as though he wasn't going to give up anytime soon, and I do admit that I was anxious to see how he would handle himself out there. I watched him through narrowed eyes as he leaned his head back against the headrest of the seat and closed his eyes. He wasn't afraid of me...

And that I did not like.

My mind made up, I threw my car in reverse and pealed out of the parking garage going 50. His eyes widened as he was thrown sideways in his seat and his head thumped against the car door window. I grinned as I swerved in and out of traffic, making my way to the carpool lane which was practically empty. At least there was one good thing about him tagging along. His hands were clenched into fists and his knuckles turned white as I made a last minute swerve around an SUV.

"Whoa! What are you trying to do, kill me?" he yelled. "Slow down!"

"You don't like how I drive then get the fuck out!" I yelled back at him.

I got off on the number three exit and quickly found the restaurant tucked away between a fish market and a flower store. I parked my car in front of the flower store and climbed out. Spike stumbled out of the car with shaky legs and he rubbed a hand over his sweaty brow as he stared at me.

"Good god, woman..." he mumbled as he pulled his dark denim jacket on and popped the collar. He stuck his cigaret between his lips and pushed his hands into his pockets and once again I got a look at the man I saw in Jet's office - mysterious and dangerous. He made his way into the restaurant but I stayed back to pull a red sweater over my small white tank top. The sweater was a little big so I tied it into a knot under my breast and tucked my gun inside. I knew that this place was dangerous and though I doubted they would recognize my face if they saw it, I didn't want to draw attention to myself either.

I walked inside and saw that it was a small place with a few tables and a bar in the left hand corner. I saw Spike sitting on one of the stools, and was impressed by the way he seemed to blend into the dark atmosphere that surrounded him. Few people were there, I could see that our party had not yet arrived so I made my way over to the bar and grabbed a seat close to Spike.

"What'll ya have?" asked the bartender.

"Rum," I said. He poured me up a glass of thick brown liquid and sat it in front of me. I could see that Spike too had a drink, though I couldn't make out what it was. A few moments passed before a man in a dark grey suit took the seat between me and Spike and I sighed as he turned in my direction.

"Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?" His words were semi-slurred together and I lifted my drink in his direction, not looking at him as I did so.

"I got one," I said.

"So what's your name? I haven't seen you around here before." I could feel his eyes scan over my body, stopping for a few moments on my breasts.

"Fuck off," I told him. He simply laughed and took a swig of the beer in his hand.

"Come on baby, don't be like that. Let me buy you a drink."

Don't bring attention to yourself, don't bring attention to yourself, I repeated over and over again in my mind as I clenched my eyes shut.

"Fuck. Off." I hissed out off clenched teeth. He didn't catch the hint. He begin to lean closer to me and I could smell the booze on his breath.

Fuck it.

Keeping my upper body totally still, I swung my foot sideways to kick the legs of his stool, causing it to tumble backwards with him on top. He went crashing onto the floor, sending his beer flying onto a near by family eating dinner. In less then a second the bouncer was picking him up from the floor and dragging him outside.

"You're done for tonight," the bouncer told him as he threw him out the door. I smirked as I took a large sip of my rum and I glanced over at Spike who raised an eyebrow a me. I simply shrugged my shoulders and faced forward once more.

A half an hour passed and I was on my second drink. I knew that I shouldn't drink too much in such a dangerous situation, but I was bored and I just couldn't help it. Soft music was playing in the background and I felt comfortable as I scanned over the people who sat around me. They were mostly businessmen who more than likely wanted a drink before getting home to their wives and children. A few lonely looking people sat with their shoulders hunched and a drink between their hands. The restaurant was practically empty and I was beginning to wonder if they were even going to show.

I was beginning to feel a little lightheaded and I knew that my cheeks were rosier than usual. I glanced over at Spike once more and saw that he now held a beer between his hands. His face was almost completely in shadow but whenever he lifted the bottle to his lips, light spilled over his face. I couldn't help at the moment but appreciate the build of his face and the way his hair looked soft to the touch.

I hadn't been with a man for over a year. I don't trust men (as I'm sure you already know) and although I could bag just about any man I wanted, I just didn't feel like dealing with the complications that came along with that sorta thing. Fucking is fabulous, don't get me wrong, but over the last year my mind has been focused on my job. This is the first time that I've been out in I don't know how long.

I heard feet shuffling into the door behind me and I glanced at Spike out of the corner of my eye. I could see that he was tenser than before and I knew that it meant that our guy was here. I nonchalantly glanced over my shoulder to see 4 men in dark coats and one woman walking through the door. A large man greeted them with a smile and I could only guess that it was the owner of the restaurant. He led them to the back of the room were a small table sat alone. I faced forward again and was excited to see that their table was reflected in the mirror that covered the wall behind the beer taps, which sat directly in front of me. All I had to do was face forward and watch their every move.

I quickly spotted Vicious, due to his white-blond hair. He wore a heavy black jacket with a white button up shirt and a dark tie. He was talking quietly with the man that sat to his right. One of the men I recognized but the three others I didn't. The one I did recognize was a man by the name of Hector. He was a member of Red Dragon, but claimed to of dropped out after the cops started asking him questions. Seems like good ol' Hector's back in the game.

The woman that sat to Vicious left looked oddly out of place. She was beautiful - she had long flowing brown hair that shown in the dim lighting like a beacon and I could make out the soft blue color of her eyes even from this distance. She looked sad. Her hands were folded in her lap as she stared at the table.

For the next 45 minutes, I watched them talk amongst each other. At one point it looked as if they were arguing and I saw the delicate looking woman flinch away from Vicious as he slammed his hand against the table. Other than that it was sorta boring.

When it looked like they were getting ready to leave, I started to feel antsy. My blood was flowing through my vanes and my heart started beating against my chest. Two of the men I knew I could take down, easy. I knew that the woman wouldn't be a problem but Vicious and the large man to his right caused me to examine the situation thoroughly. I figured that my best bet was to get him while I still could.

I made sure that my handcuffs were tucked away in my back pocket before downing what was left of my drink and getting up to make my move. Just as I was about to take my first step away from the bar, I felt a hand grab my wrist.

I glared at Spike and pulled my hand free of his grip. "What?" I hissed at him in a low voice.

"Not now," he said, still hunched over his drink. He reached forward and took another sip of his beer and I felt my anger grow. This guy thinks that he's running the show, does he? Whatever.

I walked away from him and toward my bounty.

All of the men turned in my direction as I approached their table. The woman looked up at me with a worried expression and then scanned her eyes over the bar, as if she was searching for someone. I smirked at them and stopped once I was close enough to do some real damage.

"Hey there," I said, placing my hand on my hip. "You Vicious?" I nodded in his direction. I could see the men at the table stiffen and their hands slowly move under their jackets to grab hold of their guns, but Vicious sat still, a cold expression in his eyes and a tiny smirk on his face. He scanned his eyes over my body and my grin grew wider. He didn't see me as a threat.

That will be his downfall.

The restaurant had gone quiet and all eyes were on me. I could feel them burning into me and that only added fuel to my fire...

...watch me burn, baby.

I reached into my sweater and grabbed hold of my Glock 30. The men were on their feet in less than a second and I flipped the closest table to me onto its side as they began shooting in my direction. I heard people screaming and most of them ran for the door, but I stood my ground as I heard their empty magazines fall to the floor. I smirked...my turn.

I drove from behind the table and released two bullets. One hit Hector in the right shoulder and the other hit the large man to Vicious' right. I landed behind a large fish tank that sat near the front door and I quickly reloaded my gun before holding it back up to my chest. I counted to 3 and took a quick peak around the corner and saw that there were two men left standing, and one of them was Vicious. I planted my back against the wooden stand once more and waited.

Suddenly I heard Vicious call out to me. "You've got some skill, woman." he said. I smirked, well duh. "I have a proposition for you. You put down your gun and we'll put down our gun and we'll do this thing right. If you beat me, then i'll go with you freely." I sat quietly for a moment and a smile spread over my face.

"Sounds like fun," I called back to him. I peaked around the corner once more and saw Vicious nod to the man that stood beside him. He threw his gun over the bar and then I did the same. I slowly stood, and then made my way over to them.

I could see the woman hovering in the corner with a hand over her mouth and eyes wide with fright. I couldn't see Spike anywhere and figured that he just ran off like I thought he would. Vicious watched me more carefully this time and I smiled at him sweetly.

"You ready?" I asked with false kindness. He narrowed his eyes and smirked.

The man to his left ran at me and swung at my face. I jumped to the side, easily dodging his fist and then high kicked him in the back, causing him to stumble forward with pain written all over his face. He quickly composed himself though as he ran at me again. I threw my fist forward, but he caught it and squeezed. He smirked at me for a moment, as if he had won and I smirked back before lifting a knee to his groin at a bone-crunching speed. It did the trick. He landed on his knees and then his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell onto his side and went still.

I glanced up at Vicious and he no longer looked so confident. He stepped out from behind the table and shrugged off his jacket and dropped it to the ground. My eyes went to the scabbard that hung on his left side as he grabbed hold of the hilt and pulled his Katana out. He bent his knees and pointed the sword in my direction.

Tricky bastard...

I moved first. I ran at him at a fast speed as he swung the sword to my left. I barely had time to dodge out of the way before he swung right. I jumped backwards and he lifted his sword over his head and swiped downwards.

Gods this guy is fast...

I slid over the top of a table and grabbed hold of a wine glass as I passed by it. I threw it at his face but he swung his sword and knocked it away before it made contact. I landed about 10 feet from him, and was breathing hard as I glared at him. This guy had some serious moves and I was starting to think that maybe I had rushed into this thing. He smirked at me and bent his knees once more, getting ready for another attack. But before either of us were able to move, the woman in the corner yelled.

"Spike!"

Vicious' eyes narrowed as he stared over my shoulder at the man who stood behind me. I raised an eyebrow in the woman's direction and turned my head to see Spike leaning against the wall with a cigaret in his mouth. His collar still popped and his face in shadow, he exhaled smoke and then dropped the cigaret to the ground and put it out with his heel. He crammed his hands into his pockets and pushed himself off of the wall and began walking toward us. I turned back around to face Vicious only to see him less than a foot away from me, his sword getting ready to strike.

I dodged out of the way a little too late. His sword sliced into my left shoulder and I winced in pain as I crashed into a chair and fell to the ground. Holy crap it hurt. I clenched onto my shoulder, which was slick with blood and looked up out of blurry eyes to see Vicious standing over me.

"Goodbye," he said as his sword began it's decent. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for death but opened them again when I heard Vicious grunt and move away.

Spike had delivered a kick into Vicious' side, which caused him to stumble backwards, away from me. Vicious stood straight again and flicked my blood from his sword.

"I was wondering when I'd have the pleasure of killing you," he told Spike, who stood a few feet away from where I sat on the floor. The corner of Spike's mouth lifted and I watched with wide eyes as he darted toward Vicious at an alarming speed.

Vicious swiped his sword left and right and Spike dodged it every time. I couldn't believe my eyes - it looked more like a dance than anything. They both moved with such fluid motions and I could see similar techniques used by both of them. Spike kicked at Vicious' back, which caused him to stumble sideways. Vicious ran at Spike with his katana raised over his head and Spike jumped backwards as it hit the ground at his feet. Vicious took this opportunity to punch Spike's face with his right hand, and I could see blood run from his nose.

I was starting to feel woozy from all of the blood that I lost and my vision kept blurring as I struggled to get back onto my feet. No way in hell was I going to let Spike steal my bounty from me. I heard the woman in the corner scream again as the sword came close to cutting Spike's arm, and I glance up to see Spike's eyes dart to hers.

I watched as a strange moment passed between them before all of our attention was drawn to the sound of sirens, signaling that the police was on their way. Vicious slid his katana back into it's scabbard and then grabbed hold of the woman's side before smirking at Spike.

"It seems that our little meeting is cut short once again. Until next time," he bowed in Spikes direction before his eyes shot to mine and he grinned. My blood boiled as I watched him kick out the window to his left and jump out side, the woman still stuck to his side. For a moment it looked like Spike would go after him, but his eyes darted in my direction and he sighed as he reached down and picked me up form the floor.

I was too out of it to struggle with him. I didn't like the idea of being the helpless one, but the cops were nearing and I really didn't feel like dealing with them. He fished my keys out of my pocket and I slapped his hand as he went to open the back seat.

"You aren't driving my car," I told him, though the normal fire was gone from my voice. He shook his head and raised an eyebrow.

"And you are?" he asked. My vision was slowly darkening and I sighed in defeat as he opened the back door and lied me down inside. He climbed into the drivers seat and turned the keys and we pealed out of the parking lot just as the cops came riding in.

I watched as the streetlights shot across the window and I vaguely remembered him asking me where I lived. But I didn't have time to answer before I closed my eyes and finally gave in to the darkness.

___________________________________

A/N

Chapter two is complete, and wow was it a hard one to write. I hope that it sorta made sense to you guys. Let me know if you have any questions!!

--Eminite--