After the battle of the titans ended and they thought everyone was absolutely dead, Vicious lay on the ground semi conscience and bleeding out from his gunshot wound. He heard the voices of his former men on the ground floor, trying to figure out what to do about the two dead bodies of the would-be heads of the Red Dragon syndicate. He counted the hours until soul evacuation. He figured he had to wait just long enough to convince everybody he was really dead and then he could make his next move. Spike was lying there on the stairs, not moving, not breathing, and not making one sign of life. Vicious copied it and slowly the ambulances and police came. They took the wounded, but left the two dead soldiers for the morgue people.

After all the commotion and after The ISSP had left, Vicious stood up. His former men were gone, all the other wounded men were gone, and Spike was gone. "Huh," He said to himself. "I wonder why they took him and not me. Maybe I have past on already." Vicious pinched the skin by his wound and no, he wasn't dead yet. But he would be soon if he didn't do anything about his excessive bleeding.

He winced as he began to walk down the long length of stairs. He didn't question why he was the only one still at the scene of the battle. He just thought about what he had to do next. Nothing. He had nothing to work on. No other syndicate would take him because of the coup. He had no experience in business except for the dirty, low down business of the syndicate.

"Enough." He said to stop his brain. "I have to get to a hospital."

Vicious picked up what was still a working phone and called for an ambulance to pick him up a block away from where he was.

"Yes, Yes I have everything I need, just get here!" He was now frustrated with not having a plan for the future, but right now staying alive was top on the list of things to do.

He managed to walk all the way to his rendezvous point without passing out from blood loss. The ambulance came and picked him up and shortly after that he went into a deep dreamless sleep…

****

Three Years Later…

Lyssiah found herself chasing another idiot bounty for pennies through grimy the streets of Mars. With the help of Spike and Jet, she was now free to do as she wished. They had cleared her of the murder charge and now she was back to chasing bounty heads all over the Sol System again.

She desperately wanted to start singing the blues and jazz again, but didn't know enough people to break back into the business. This bounty was now about to loose her on the streets while she was in her head and. Lyssiah picked up the pace without paying any attention to where she was going. She ignored fellow pedestrians and shoved anyone in her way, out of the way. She ran with careless regard to the people surrounding her in the market place this afternoon.

The perpetrator dipped quickly down an alleyway and Lyssiah tried to stop but instead she slid right by it and into a pedestrian. They both toppled over in the street. After a bit of confusion by both parties, Lyssiah looked down at who she had knocked over.

He was a handsome thin man in a black suit who she vaguely remembered. He was slim but had built up all the muscles in his body as much as possible. He was tall with white and silver streaked hair; his eyes matched the color of his gray highlights. They were cold from a long life filled with desire with no passion. She looked down at him, finally realizing who this man was, and could barely speak.

"Can you please get off me?" He spoke and she shivered. She knew who this man was. But he was supposed to be dead.

"Um, Oh! I'm so sorry Vicious…" She said his name without even realizing it. "I'm sorry." She blustered but still didn't move off of him.

Slowly he placed his hands on her shoulders and stood her up vigilantly. They both brushed the dirt from the mars streets off themselves. Now she had no words to say. She couldn't find one damn thing to say.

"Are you alright?" Vicious spoke, quietly and calmly.

"Yeah, I think so." Lyssiah shook as she stood there talking to a dead man. She tried to find the right words to use to ask him what had happened "Aren't you supposed to be…um, how do I to put this?"

"Dead."

"YES!" Lyssiah realized she was too excited over that word. "Yes, you're dead, well no you're alive but last I heard you were six feet under. What happened to you and Spike?"

"That's another story for another day." Vicious felt his chest pound. His hands became sweaty and he couldn't find anything to say to this gorgeous woman. He was completely dumbfounded by her beauty. "Give me your name, I'm sorry but I can't seem to remember who you are. My mind hasn't been the same since then."

Lyssiah stood stunned. She was known all over mars for hunting bounties and singing the blues. She still couldn't walk down the street in old town or by her condo without being asked for an autograph. "Lyssiah, Lyssiah McCarty. But my last name used to be Stormwhisper. I was married during most of my career."

"Ah." Vicious said and put a hand on her elbow. He felt her shiver again. "I remember you now. I have a couple of your albums I would like you to sign." He paused for a long moment, trying to figure out how to ask what he desperately wanted to ask her. "Are you free this evening?"

"What?"

"Are you free for diner this evening? I would like to have you sign your work that I have. It may become priceless one day. You were a very wonderful and good singer."

"I still am a very good and wonderful singer!" Lyssiah quickly became defensive. She knew what he really wanted from her, her body. The last time she did that, she fell in love and ended up with another dead lover. "I'm sorry; no I'm very busy tonight."

"With what?" He bantered back with her, trying to smile.

"I don't know. I'm sure I'll find something to keep me occupied."

Vicious huffed out a breath in frustration. She started walking away and he began walking beside her, keeping pace with her quick steps easily. Her long sexy legs were no match for how much taller he was than her.

"Are you following me?" She asked, somewhat perturbed.

"Yes." He laughed this time. Lyssiah was shocked that she didn't find it annoying or evil in any way. "I figure if I follow you around long enough I can break you down and get you to come to diner."

"Huh. Highly Unlikely." Lyssiah stopped dead in the middle of the crowd, nearly causing Vicious to topple over her. "Let me ask you a question, and if you answer it correctly, I might, MIGHT, go out to diner with you."

"Ok, shoot."

Lyssiah already knew the answer to this question before she even had the time to think of it. "Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with?"

"Yes."

Lyssiah and Vicious stood there, stopped dead in the middle of the crowd, just starring at each other. The song by Charles and Eddie from her favorite movie popped into mind. She couldn't figure out why, but suddenly it felt she was in her favorite movie of all time. She wanted to stay right there with him, she didn't want to run away, like usual. She wasn't scared of him, she didn't shiver or shudder. Vicious finally interrupted the comfortable silence.

"So does that mean we have a date?"

"No." Lyssiah said and began to walk away. "I'm sorry. Even though you answered correctly I just can't do it. I just can't do it again."

"You loved Spike didn't you?"

Once again she stopped dead, this time in the street. She couldn't move. She couldn't even turn to face him. Suddenly silent tears began to run down her face and drip from her chin.

"It's not just Spike. It's not just Cassius. It's you. I don't want to get involved with someone that could die at any moment. I'm not into the whole death thing. It's dirty and low down and it cheats the nicest people out of great things."

Vicious shivered from head to toe from what she had said. He understood, but couldn't comprehend how she wouldn't give him a chance. "I'm not with the syndicate anymore. I run my own businesses. I no longer have anybody gunning me down at a moments notice. And there is something else…"

"What else could there be?"

"Spike was in love with Julia, just as I was. And she loved him. She left me for him and I still felt the sting of rejection. I am human after all, somewhere underneath this skin."

Lyssiah broke down and started crying. Before she collapsed to the ground from the emotional pain, Vicious quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her close, trying to calm her. He stroked her hair and shushed into her ear. He guessed she had gone through this type of pain too much to reclaim her sanity quite yet. But maybe this happened to people who loved so deeply and passionately. Maybe this is why Spike and Julia did what they had done. Maybe this was why Lyssiah wouldn't even take a chance with anyone anymore. Maybe this was what it meant to be human.

"Come now." He calmly whispered into her ear. "Let's get out of the middle of the street. Were going to be hit by a car and I just may die again." As soon as Vicious said it, he knew he shouldn't have.

"Why the fuck would you say something like that after what I just told you?" She snapped at him. "Why in the world would you want to make this worse?"

He heard a car's horn honk behind them, maybe inches away from Lyssiah's legs. Without hesitation, Vicious picked her up, spun around and placed her on the curb. He looked into her violet eyes and saw everything he could look for in a woman. His Reasoning and brain told him it was fake, it told him that love was fake, but he couldn't stop his heart rate from accelerating every time he touched her skin.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that. It was better in my mind." Vicious chuckled a little and tenderly moved his thumb over one of her tears. "Anyway, will you please let me take you out tonight? You look like you could use some alcohol. And if you don't like it, I will take you home and you never have to see me again."

Lyssiah sighed and wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes. She looked at him and then looked at her toes. She didn't know what to do. Inside of her was an emotional storm and she couldn't make heads or tails of it. It was too confusing, but the offer was one she could get out of afterward. One date and that would be the end.

"Fine, I'll do it. Pick me up at eight, promptly. Hopefully I should be ready by then. You make the plan. I want to see how creative you can be." She tried to smile, but the pain was still written all over her face.

"Alright, thanks you Lyssiah…" Vicious kissed her cheek. He wrote down her address for his chauffeur and then went on about the rest of his day.

Lyssiah stood there for a moment, shocked. She had no idea what she should do. Vicious used to be a professional killer and liar. She remembered how he used to bribe the other officers at the local ISSP office. She remembered how he sliced and diced someone right in front of her. The blood stained had her face for a day or two.

She sat on the curb, not being able to gather herself together and go on with her usual life. She sat there on the dirty murky street staring at her shoes. She had also found out that Spike had lied to her, and had been lying to her for a long time…