a/n: I'm back with a new Death Sentence fic. It's been a while and it feels good to be back with a lot more inspiration. I'm working on the next chapter of Gunslinger (there might also be Wasteland and Back to the Streets updates) but until that's up I pulled out an old plot bunny that I was suddenly inspired to continue. So, here it is, enjoy!

Silhouettes

Chapter One- Astro

"Whose the girl?" Billy asked pointing to the girl in the middle of the room and the cause of it becoming a dance floor.

"Trouble," said Bodie as he took a swig of his beer.

"Ten times more trouble than I enjoy," Baggy added but Billy couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"Anyone got a name?" he snarled annoyed with his boys already. He heard Paul a few tables away laugh and walk over. Paul was the local wise old man of sorts. He had hung around the bar since Billy could remember. He patted Billy on the shoulder and said, "Calm down, Bud." Paul sat down across from him after Baggy reluctantly scooted over.

"Holly, she goes by Holly. Her real name is Holiday, never got a last name and so far that's all I know other that she's going to state here for some degree."

Billy stared at him blankly.

"Don't give me that look. She's a nice girl."

"Nice girls don't hang out here."

"Maybe not but don't go breakin' her now 'cause we already got too many o' them."

Billy glanced around at all the girls in short barely there clothes and knew exactly what he meant. Everyone else here was a leech feeding off him and his boys like they were the only food source for miles. Unlike the others this Holly girl had some class that wasn't too often seen around these parts. Her jeans fit her properly and plain red t-shirt covered everything else. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a pair of worn brown cowboy boots. Red was her only bad choice. Red around here meant she belonged to him.

"I guess that means you wanna meet her," Paul said giving Billy a sly smile.

Holly noticed him staring, Billy Darley, drug lord and leader of the most feared gang in the city. Paul waved her over and reluctantly she did so with a smile.

"Hi, ya!" She greeted as Paul ushered Baggy and Bodie to another table. Billy watched her silently as Paul gestured for her to sit across from Billy and winked at her before he left them alone.

"You look scared," were his first words.

She looked up and smiled, "It would be stupid not to be. I mean you are Billy Darley."

"You' heard?"

"Of course you're practically a legend."

"Why ya here then?"

"There was an ad in the paper and I needed a job but you see the people here are unpredictible and that's dangerous. So I probably won't be taking the job. I was just having a little fun while I decided. Sammy insisted I had a drink before I left."

"I see." Billy responded gears seemed to be turning in his head.

"I live by the campus anyway so transportation is a problem. I don't have a car and taking the bus would be stupid cause I'd have to walk to the station."

"I could drive you."

"And that would definitely be stupid."

"Why's that?"

"'Cause I'd owe you a favor."

He laughed. "This isn't the mafia."

"Favors aren't just for the mafia. It's about the type of people you make deals with. People like you. People that seemingly do a nice thing but in a week will want something in return and they will take it no matter what."

"Alright, I'll drive you in favor of you working here. You bring something fun to this place."

"And my fun is my payment?"

"Exactly which evens out the playing field. You don't owe me nothing."

"Well then I better go tell mi amigo over there that I'll take it."

He smirked over the rim of his glass.

"By the way," she turned back and leaned in and got close to his ear. "It's rude to stare at people. One thing I'm not afraid of are you're tricks, Darley."

Holly started keeping a semi-automatic pistol in her purse and a switchblade in her boot. Her roommate and bestfriend Cole hadn't been very happy about her new job and newly formed link with the Darley Gang but he had supported her, gotten her the gun and taken her out to the shooting range to practice the next day. Her dad had taught her how to shoot when she was growing up and she could disassemble and reasmemble several different types of guns with ease but it still made her nervous to actually carry one with her. Cole had grown up in the same neighborhood as the Darley boys and although he had kept his distance from them he knew what they were capible of. Cole's father was a truck driver and his mom was a nurse. He had fallen in love with motorcycles in his early teens and now worked at a shop on the other side of town. The opposite direction of where Holly was working. They'd met in highschool when Cole has started an apprenticeship at Holly's fathers shop. The one he now worked at and they'd moved into an apartment together when they both started taking classes at the state university.

Luckily, Cole had left for work by the time Billy pulled up in his black mustang otherwise she might have had to tie Cole down so that he didn't confront Billy. Holly locked her apartment door and walked over to the mustang wearing a black t-shirt instead of red. She'd been warned by Cole not to make that mistake again. She opened the passengers door and was greeted with a cloud of cigarette smoke. Billy looked annoyed.*

"Thanks for picking me up," she said as he sped out of the complex parking lot and onto the street.

"That was the deal," he gruffly spoke after taking another drag on his cigarette.

She smiled at him and motioned to her window even though the drivers side was already open it wasn't helping circulate the air as much as she would like. "Can I roll it down?"

He nodded.

She felt a sense of relief as soon as the outside air hit her. The rest of the ride remained fairly silent other than a couple phone calls that seemed to piss Billy off more. She felt alittle bad for the people on the other line. Once he stopped outside the Four Roses she looked at him and smiled before opening the door.

"Hey," he stopped her by grabbing her arm.

She looked at him a bit surprise by his firm grip. "Yes?"

"I can't pick you up tonight. One of the boys will have to drive you home. Ask Missy if you need anything, she'll know."

She nodded as he released her. "Okay, thanks."

She shut the door and gave a small wave as he sped away. All the tension and nerves left her as soon as she entered the bar and was greeted by Sammy yelling in spanish and Missy smacking him.