2 Broke Girls: And The Bounty
Caroline Channing is a famous bounty hunter. And she has set her eyes on the biggest bounty in the land: Max 'Nightshot' Black. Caroline heard the legend of how she earned the nickname. After one hell of a dangerous job, the guys that were to pay her decided to turn on her. It'd been late at night, the building where they agreed to meet was empty. Max entered, and saw just how quickly things were about to go sour.
There were six of them and one of her, so it should've been quick and easy. Max made fools outta them. She snuffed out the lights, and shot 'em all dead. In pitch darkness. How true this story was Caroline couldn't be sure. But she had read actual eyewitness reports on her, and she had seen the autopsies of her would-be foes. This Nightshot was a crack-shot, regardless of the legend being true or not.
Any regular gunslinger would've been shakin' in their boots, preferring to meet the hangman. But Caroline ached for this opportunity. She would finally have someone that could go toe-to-toe with: Caroline "Quickdraw" Channing. She could empty a clip before most could get off three shots, and reload before they could get off six. She wasn't afraid of any bandit under the sun, legend-having or not.
Her father, Martin, was extremely afraid though. After that bank business, her father had become a fearful man. Especially for his daughter. He still thought of her as his little girl, born with a silver spoon in hand. And while she admits she misses those days of being rich, the idea of roughing it always had an allure to her.
Now, no one could deny the fact she earned her money. Sure, it had taken a while to get used to. But now she was a well-respected bounty hunter that put fear into the heart of criminals.
And if this 'Nightshot' didn't fear her, she would soon.
After, yet again, listening to another long bout of nagging from her father; about how dangerous Nightshot was. (That she ignored). She loaded up her supplies. With enough food and water for the trip, the town where Max's supposed hideout was is about a week or so riding west. She also packed extra rounds for her renowned pistols; name of 'Business' and 'Pleasure'.
Considering how much of a danger her bounty was, she was going to need all the ammunition she could get.
She hopped on her horse, Chestnut. Her once prize winning stallion, now a swift instrument of justice. She kissed her father on his forehead and rode off.
It was a long, lonely trip. She didn't mind though, it gave her time to clear her head for what she had to do. It wasn't all bad, after all she had Chestnut to keep her company. Also, the weather was nice the entire time.
She had made great time and made it there in a week flat. The town sat over the horizon. She slowly made her way while the sun rose steadily. It was going to be another hot day. She heard things about this town, Williamsburg. It was a weird place. It was lawless, the people dressed and acted weird, and things were outrageously expensive. With any luck, she wouldn't have to stay here long.
But it was early in the morning, so Caroline doubted she'd find Nightshot walking around, so she went to an inn. The accommodations were far sub-par compared to what she used to, but that was what life was like now. She cleaned her guns and went to sleep, hoping the bed wouldn't have bed bugs.
She had her recurring dream, as always, about that day. She used to wake up, sweating and shaking from it. She used to consider it a nightmare; a cruel reminder of what happened and what she became. Now, she considered it should reminder that she had the strength that day.
She woke up as the sun was starting to set. She put on her belt, jacket, and hat and headed out. Williamsburg was kind of a big place. And she didn't want tip off Nightshot by asking around for her because she might run away, or worse, ambush her. She could be in any one of the town's many bars, Caroline would have to check all them.
Dive bar after dive bar proved fruitless. There weren't many women fitting Nightshot's description. And the ones who did, certainly weren't gun slinging bandits. There was only one place left to check, a little place that had no sign. She entered the establishment to see only a few patrons, and a racially mixed staff.
An aged African American man was working one side of the bar as well as the register. Another man, who also behind the counter, was white. But the way he spoke and how hairy he was, showed he wasn't from here; he was probably eastern European. An Asian man was taking orders and giving them, as well as serving the few people there.
Caroline was about to leave, but then, she saw her. She had walked out from what Caroline assumed to be the kitchen. She matched the description: long dark hair, blue eyes, a little on the short side, and uhh, ample bosom. She was very pretty, in fact, Caroline might've mistaken her for a prostitute. But the ammo belt on her waist, Colt on her right hip, and the way she walked? She clearly wasn't that kind of working lady.
That was her bounty alright. That was Nightshot.
She dared to walk further into the saloon. Neither the staff nor the customers bothered to look at her. Not even Nightshot turned her gaze, she was talking to the old man serving.
"You Nightshot?" Caroline asked bluntly. To be perfectly honest, Caroline liked the bluntness that came with this line of work. None of the metaphors and playful euphemisms that came with dealing with socialites. Everybody in the bar turned to see who dared to utter that name, then they turned to the owner of said name. She was leaning on the counter, her eyebrow quirked up at the blonde.
She slowly approached the bounty hunter.
"They call me that in the streets. But they say Max in the sheets! Who's asking?" She was now within arm's reach of Caroline. She held her gaze, refusing to break eye contact.
"I'm here for the bounty on your head." Caroline wasn't going to let Nightshot's jokes phase her. Max looked her up and down.
"Yeah, the twin pieces you have let me know you're not here for something more fun," she said with a wide smile. Caroline knew that she was joking, but she couldn't help but be a bit bothered by it. Not that she showed it. Nightshot grabbed her coat and hat.
"C'mon, let's get this over with. I got drinking to do," she said while getting dressed. Thanks to the ego that comes with being a wanted criminal, most of her bounties reacted this way. Calm and unwilling to think that Caroline was a legitimate threat. It was only on rare occasions that she had to stretch her legs and run after one. Usually those types were cowards or just smart enough to run. Caroline didn't peg her as either.
"Gladly," she replied, wanting to leave this town as soon as possible. She stepped outside with a now fully dressed bandit. They stepped into the street and turned to face one another.
Without all the people and furniture getting in her line of sight, Caroline could focus on how Nightshot was dressed. Under her coat, she had on a plain white shirt with a black corset over it, jeans that she had dyed black, and dark brown boots. It was a stark contrast to the beige color theme of Caroline's outfit.
"That bounty on my head," Nightshot started, effectively bringing Caroline's mind off her outfit. Nightshot had reached into her cleavage and staying pulling out bullets to load her gun. Caroline saw that Max had an ammo belt, so she must be doing this as a distraction tactic. She can see how effective this would be on men. But she wasn't sure why she bothered doing it to her... even if she couldn't take her eyes off of how her hand slipped between her breasts, to pull out each bullet.
"How much was it?" she finished, finally done loading it. The subtle CLINK of metal hitting metal snapped Caroline back to the matter at hand.
"2,000 dollars." She tried to sound calm. Like she wasn't just staring at her chest. Nightshot whistled loudly.
"That's a hefty price for little ol' me." She put her gun at her side.
"Let's see if you can earn it. How well can you shoot?" she asked the bounty hunter. Caroline's hands were a blur as she grabbed her gun, aimed and fired. Nightshot's hat flew off. A hole was punched through it as it drifted down to the dirt road. Nightshot was impressed, her smile was wide as she picked up her hat. Caroline holstered her gun, pleased with her work.
"Hmm, alright. But wanna see something real impressive?" Nightshot asked. Before Caroline could respond, Nightshot took out her gun and fired. The bullet went through Caroline's belt on her right side. The belt fell down and so, too, did her pants. She scrambled to pick them both up (having no desire to expose her underwear out in the street). She heard quick footsteps coming towards her. She looked up in time to see Nightshot punch her right in the face. She fell back, knocked unconscious.
Chapter end