Somehow the day passed by and sadly Bittah avoided her friend, telling everyone to let her sleep the day away. Then she went hunting as she sold her papers, gathering as much information about the guy that raped Gip as she could and got his name somehow. Tracked him down too, a regular at a bar close to the lodging house.

The man sat in the bar looking for his next prey, hoping she'd be more willing then his last nights conquests.

Bittah put on her most seductive grin and took a seat next to the man, ordering a whiskey on the rocks and giving him a wink.

"Hey beautiful," he grinned watching her. "What's a girl like you doing around these parts?"

"Oh just checking out a new bar I usually go to Mc'Coy's a few blocks down..." Bittah grinned, downing her whiskey in one gulp.

"Oh?" he grinned. "You know a girl like you could get in trouble in a place like this?"

Bittah licked her lips and batted her eyelashes in mock innocence. "Trouble? Here?" she laughed as if he were joking. "Meaning you'd like to take me home and protect me from all this trouble..." she quirked an eyebrow, ordering another whiskey.

"Is that an offer gorgeous?" he grinned. Success.

"Let's just say I can show you how much I can handle trouble on my own in that back alley there..." Bittah smiled seductively, downing another whiskey before standing up and walking towards the side door, swinging her hips wide so he knew what she meant exactly.

He grinned. "Let's go," he smiled and walked with her, his hands going to her hips.

She guided him deep into the alley, turning around and pushing him gently against the wall, pressing her mouth to his as her hands glided down his stomach.

He groaned his hands gripping her hair kissing her back.

As her hand made her way down his stomach, one hand slid into her pocket, seeming to him like she was undoing her pants and pulled out her dagger, shoving it hard into his stomach. Her lips pressed tightly against his to silence his cries of pain.

He groaned and gripped her hair not sure what the fuck just happened but that it hurt like hell. His knees started folding, leaning on her.

She shoved the knife deeper until he went totally limp and pulled away, cleaning her knife on his clothes and shoving it back in her pocket. She let out a deep breath, spat at him and said, "That's what you get for raping my friend you asshole..." kicked him, and then left like nothing had even happened.

A whistle turned her attention as she left the alley, her eyes scouring for the person whose lips the whistle had just escaped. A smug looking boy smirked at her, his piercing blue eyes familiar to her. "You know that's a murder charge just waiting to happen Mel," Spot said, tilting his head to one side with that same cocky grin on his face as usual.

Melody looked up and glared ever so slightly, simply pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "I suppose you're going to blackmail me now?" she inquired, quirking an eyebrow as she let out a breath of cigarette smoke.

"Why would I black mail you baby, come here," he said motioning her over as he leaned carelessly against a wall striking a match against the wall and lighting a cigarette.

"Don't call me that.." she said before inhaling again, making no movement towards him, leaning against the brick wall just outside of the alley in which the dead body of the scumbag who raped her friend lay.

"Don't be a pain in the ass. Come here," he said. "We got to talk." he said, blowing smoke from his nose.

Bittah rolled her eyes and stepped towards him, standing in front of him as she took another long drag of the cigarette. "About what?" she said, for her it was over between them.

"About us, baby. Come here," he said, holding a hand out to her.

Bittah scowled at his hand and shook her head. "Spot there isn't an 'us' anymore..." she said, looking away from him bitterly.

"It isn't what you think with her. You jumped to fucking conclusions. Again," he said and rolled his eyes. "Get over here Mel. Quit being' like that," he said.

"Listen Spot..." Bittah said, stepping towards him, but still not taking his hand. "There have been too many girls that I've supposedly jumped to conclusions about. I don't know if I can believe you anymore..." she said, shaking her head.

"Oh come on. It's part of the territory," he said. "I'm a fucking leader Mel, it happens!"

Bittah scowled. "Well all the easier to fool around if you don't have me around right?" she said, shaking her head slightly and putting out her cigarette. She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. "Listen, I've had a long night. Can we talk about this some other time?" she asked.

"Who the fuck says I want to fool around," he said and then stopped, scrutinizing her appearance. "Is something wrong?" he asked noticing several bruises on her arms and one on her cheek. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"I'm fine..." Bittah scowled and abruptly stopped rubbing her head. Her body became rigid and tense like it did when she was hiding something. She pulled her cap lower over her eyes. "That guy put up a fight back there..." she lied, hoping he hadn't seen the whole thing. "He raped Gip last night..."

"What the fuck Bittah? That's the stupidest lie I've ever heard spill out of your damned mouth," he said, tossing his cigarette aside and grabbing her wrist, pulling her to him before taking her cap off. He furrowed his brow. "Who?" he asked and caught a glimpse of a dark hickey on the side of her neck. "WHO?!" he repeated loudly when she didn't answer.

She winced at his tone. "I had a bad night last night... I went to the bar to cool off with a fight and I found an old friend who well…" she looked at the ground, trailing off. "Guess Gip wasn't the only unlucky one last night..."

"Who smacked you around, then raped you?" he asked, still holding her wrist, knowing she'd bolt if he'd give her chance to. "Give me a name. NOW Bit!"

"God damn it Spot..." she said, tugging her arm away from him and grabbing for her cap. "I'm FINE. I'll handle it..."

"You are not fine! I can tell when you're fucking fine," he shot back at her, pulling her back to him before his expression softened. "He hurt you."

Bittah gulped and then looked away, not fighting the grip he had on her arm. "I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly.

"Tell me," he said brushing some hair from her eyes. Spot may not have treated her as well as he knew she deserved, but he would definitely not tolerate anyone else harming his Bittah.

She shook her head a little, not meeting his gaze. "Spot. Please..." she said softly.

He sighed. "Let me hold you tonight," he said softly.

She rested her head on his chest and nodded a little. She felt like she was going to cry, a lump beginning to form in her throat.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Shhh. I won't tell anyone if you cry," he whispered, gently rubbing her back.

"Let's go," she said, forcing the tears back, her words choked as she looked up at him.

He kissed her forehead and walked with her, still holding her closer. "I'll kill him," he whispered into her hair.

She just shook her head slightly. "He says he'll kill you," she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes and tumbling slowly down her cheeks.

"Kill me? I'm Spot Conlon. Even the Devil couldn't kill me," he grinned, knowing that would comfort her and maybe even get a slight smile from her.

"He's worse than the devil. His eyes are yellow with madness," she whispered. "He's hunted me since I left..." her voice trailed off as more tears fell down her cheeks and she tried hard to suppress a sob.

Spot held her a bit closer and sighed. "I'll kill anything that hurts you," he said softly into her hair before giving her a few small kisses. "It's the guy from Chicago isn't it? The one you ran away from?"

Bittah nodded a little. "Vlad... the only thing worse than the Devil..." she said quietly.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll take you away from here. You'll stay with me," he said.

She sighed softly, pushing away her tears. She knew that wouldn't last long. Spot and her never lasted long together.

He led her back towards his place, rubbing her back gently as they walked. Their journey was full of silence, Spot not knowing what to say and how to comfort her, without making everything worse. Bittah wasn't about to bring anything up as well, she'd rather leave those thoughts left alone in the back of her mind.

When they were back at the lodging house, he led her upstairs quietly and into his room. She lay down on the bed in his room, placing her cap next to the bed and throwing her shoes aside. He laid next to her and wrapped his arms around her, wanting more but knowing after what she went through not to push her

Bittah sighed as she felt his strong arms snaked around her and pulled her closer, curling up beside him, hoping for once he would let his libido go and let her sleep. He ran his fingers through her hair gently and kissed her forehead. "Don't hate me," he whispered, knowing she was still angry with him.

"I'm trying not to," she said honestly, closing her eyes and trying to relax.

Spot ran his hand up her rib cage slowly and smiled to himself. She put her hand on his gently to stop him, shaking her head slightly.

"I'm not asking for anything," he whispered. "I just like the feel of you." She gently let his hand go, knowing there was quite a chance that he was lying to either her or himself. He ran his hand back up to her hair and played with the soft strands. "Sleep," he commanded her with a soft voice.

She relaxed, nodding slightly as she began to fall asleep.

He sighed. Tomorrow morning he'd have her... he thought, pulling her a bit closer as he began to feel a bit protective of her. She slept soundly within a few minutes, feeling safe in his arms and curled up beside him.

Spot finally fell asleep after playing over and over in his head what he'd do to that bastard when he found him. The fearless leader was bound to have dreams about tearing the young man limb to limb. He wanted the man to suffer as Bittah did and would offer him nothing less than a slow and painful death. Those were the thoughts that comforted him as he pulled Bittah closer and he let himself finally fall asleep.

------------------------------------------

Gip woke up several hours later and rubbed her eyes, "Fuck, "she groaned as she sat up. She had missed selling newspaper. Just something else she needed. Phantom got up from the chair he had perched himself on for the last hour. Bittah had approached him after she had bumped into him and asked him to look after Gip. "Feel okay?" he asked as he stretched.

"What time is it?" she asked, looking up at him and smoothing her hair.

"Nearly nine at night..." he said, stepping towards her.

"What?" she asked, sitting up, looking at him and then sighing. "Great. Where's Bit?" she asked.

"Hell if I know..." Phantom said. "You know her she's probably out killing' the bastard who hurt you last night..."

She blushed and looked down. "I told her not to worry about it," she said. "You know she got hurt too?" she asked knowing the he already knew.

"I saw the torn clothes in the bathroom... Did she say what happened?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

She shrugged. "Like she'd tell me," she said. "You know better then that."

"Shit..." Phantom muttered, shaking his head. He had never once known Bittah to get hurt badly in a fight, so it must've been something else with the lack of blood. He didn't want to think about the alternative, for it made his blood boil to think about someone raping her.

Gip stood up and walked toward the washroom and splashed some water on her face.

Phantom paced the room, trying to think about what to do.

"Upset now that you know you're precious Bittah got raped too?" she asked with a small smirk after drying her face.

"Jesus. Did you have to say something like that?" Phantom said, gritting his teeth.

She smiled; she always said what wasn't expected of her. "Sure I do. You got a problem with that?" she asked taking her hair from her braid, letting the brown waves fall down her back.

"Yeah..." he said, moving past her, he wasn't in the mood to deal with this at the moment.

"Phantom. Jesus Christ, would it kill you to lighten up once in a while?" she asked, turning towards him and watching him leave.

"Yeah... It would..." was all he said and he disappeared through the doorway without as much as a glance back.

She rolled her eyes and sighed watching his back. Yep not even a glance back. She was used to that by now. "Why the hell do you even hang around me if you hate me so much," she called after him even though she didn't expect a reply from him, needing simply to get her frustration out. She sighed and walked down the stairs and out the door. She was stir crazy, and wanted to find Bitter... she knew there was a reason why she left her sleeping, she was about to do something to the man that had hurt her, she just knew it.

"Hey hey pretty lady..." a boy catcalled as Gip walked past, barely a block away from the lodging house.

"Go to hell," she shot over her shoulder, not caring who it was.

"Oh c'mon baby. I know you'll like what I got to offer..." the boy called after her, following her with a teasing smile on his face.

She turned around. "Listen you little creep..." she trailed off when she saw who it was and then sighed. "Jesus Christ, go away," she said, but her tone had changed to one less vicious.

"Oh c'mon doll I won't hurt ya..." he said, putting his hands up and smiling broadly. He was a decent looking guy, wearing a bowler cap and spectacles. "Let me take you out for a drink or something, I promise I mean no harm..."

"That's what they all say. Try another fish this one ain't biting," she said and kept walking, but glanced over her shoulder at him.

"C'mon... how about dinner than, dinnah's harmless right?" he said, following her, trying to keep enough distance to make her feel safe.

She turned around, looking at him. "I know you," she said looking over his face

He quirked his head a little to the side and looked at her a bit funny, before grinning again. "I guess you do..."

"Specs leave me alone," she sighed. "I'm not in the mood," she said, even though she probably would not fight him tonight on his propositions.

"Oh Gip. It's been ages. You won't even let me take you out to dinner?" he asked, stepping closer.

"Why do you want to take me to dinner so much? Why do you keep fighting for something you haven't gotten yet?" she asked crossing her arms

"Cause I miss you Gip... I'm not the type of guy you think I am I swear!" Specs said, stepping closer, testing his ground.

She sighed. "Specs, we spent one night together," she said softly, looking up at him,

"But it was a good night…" he replied with a smile. She blushed and looked away trying to hold back a smile.

His smile broadened. "C'mon Gip.. I promise you only what you want if you go out to dinner with me..."

"Fine. Dinner." she said, not believing that she had just given into him.

He smiled, approaching her with that goofy, cute grin of his and held out his arm to her. She smiled, knowing that his smile got her every time. She took his arm and started to walk with him.

"We'll go just down the street…" Specs said, leading her towards a half decent restaurant.

"It's not that crazy Polish place again is it?" she teased him.

"No no…" he chuckled.

She giggled softly, "Good."

He led her to a decent Italian place and told her she could get anything on the menu. After a while of figuring out what she wanted she finally decided on some pasta with chicken in it, finding it easier to talk to him then she could remember. They talked for a good hour over food, Specs dropping subtle hints of what he wanted to do later that night.

After eating, they walked silently together. Gip glanced up at him, wondering what he was thinking and moved just a bit closer to him as they walked. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head.

"Are you getting fresh with me?" she teased looking up at him.

"Mm hmm..." he laughed, letting his hand sink towards her round ass.

She blushed but didn't make a move to stop him: something about him made her feel safe.

Specs squeezed her ass gently, inhaling sharply. Oh the things she did to him.

She giggled and playfully pushed him away from her. He chuckled. "I told you we'd do anything you want. So tell me, what do you want Gip?" he asked, pulling her back to him, resting his hand on her waist.

"You do this to me on purpose don't you? You just want me to say it," she said, letting herself get pulled back.

"Mmm I do. Tell me, what DO you want?" he asked teasingly.

Gip smiled and leaned up, running her lips against his before pulling away and climbing up the lodging house steps with a smirk on her face. He followed her, hesitating only a moment after that kiss. "Are you going to invite me in?" he teased, grabbing her wrist right before she reached the door and pulled her close to him.

She looked up at him. "I'm inviting you to anything you want," she said softly, biting her bottom lip. He smiled, reaching past her and opening the door, swooping down and kissing her before pulling her inside.

"Mmm," she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and walking backwards into the house. He scooped her up into his arms, still kissing her as he carried her to the sickroom.

"Do me a favor," she said kissing down his neck in between her words. "No questions until after," she said into his ear before kissing it knowing she was full of bruises.

"Mmm okay," he moaned softly, pulling her into the room and shutting and locking the door behind them. He then set her gently down onto the bed and covered her body with his own. She ran her hands up his back, kissing him as her legs wrapped around him. Specs slid her skirt up around her waist before snaking his hand up her shirt and cupping her breast gently, teasing the nipple to hardness.

This caused Gip to arch her back into his hands and, eagerly, she pushed her hands between them, undoing his belt. He groaned as he kissed her deeper, undoing the buttons of her shirt and kissing down her neck. He paused as she slid her hands inside his pants, her hands grasping and teasing him gently, making his need for her grow by the minute.

Hurriedly, Specs looped a finger in the side of her underwear tugging them downwards as he adjusted his body. After succeeding in tossing them to the floor, he finished the buttons of her shirt, his mouth capturing a taut nipple in his mouth, his tongue caressing it.

Gip arched her back and moved her hands from him gripping his hair. Moaning, she closed her eyes and lifted her legs so her knees were on either side of his hips. "Specs," she whispered lustfully.

"Yes?" he responded, releasing her nipple before nuzzling it again with his tongue and mouth. He pushed her skirt further up and pressed the tip of his manhood against her.

She lifted her hips pushing towards him. "You are such a tease," she said, closing her eyes, surprised that she wasn't scared with him. Even last time, all those months ago, she was a little nervous, but now all she could think of was how much she wanted him.

Grasping her hips, Specs slowly pushed into her, kissing back up to her neck and then nibbling on the bottom of her ear. "Am not…"

Gip gasped, arching her back as he entered and wrapped her legs snugly around him. She bit her lip as he suckled gently on her ear and then down to her neck as he started to move inside of her, his fingers grasping into her hips as he thrust deep inside of her. She ran her lips over his shoulder before biting the place where his shoulder met his neck, hard enough without hurting him.

They moaned together as he began to thrust harder, having dreamed of no other girl but her for the past six months. Now he finally had her and he'd be damned if he couldn't convince her it was worth being involved with him.

"God Specs... oh my god, "she panted her nails digging into his back ever so slightly as his movements increased pleasureably.

Specs grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head, thrusting deeper as he looked down at her, watching her breasts heave with each move he made. She felt no fear from him holding her down; even after all she had been through. Instead she simply moaned out the words: "Show me how much you want me. Don't hold back Specs!"

A groan escaped Specs' lips as she said that, moving faster and pinning both of her hands with one of his own so that the other could roam her body freely. His hand went to her breast first, gripping and massaging it and causing Gip to moan louder beneath him. She adjusted her position, moving her knees up, sliding them up his sides towards his armpits so that he could move deeper inside of her.

"Oh God..." Specs cried out in pleasure, his movements becoming harder and faster, roughly but pleasurably grasping her nipple and tugging on it.

She moaned and balled her fists up as the pleasure started to build. "Don't stop, don't stop," she moaned, her hips grinding against his. Like he could stop now and he just kept pounding into her, breathing hard as his balls slapped against her ass with each long, hard thrust.

She cried out tipping her head back her legs shaking around him feeling her orgasm start to build up in her stomach. "I'm so close," she panted. He groaned in response, feeling her body quake beneath him in pleasure, the feeling only making him thrust harder, wanting to give her the orgasm she desperately needed.

"Oh fucking God!" he cried out in pleasure as he felt her orgasm overcome her, pushing him over the edge of his orgasm, moving harder and breathing raggedly as he filled her up with his warm liquid. He groaned as she relaxed beneath him, slowing his pace until he relaxed on top of her, releasing her wrists and lying gently on top of her. He ran his hands gently down her sides lovingly, trying to steady his breathing.

"Mmm," she smiled, holding him close as she closed her eyes.

"You okay?" he asked gently, having noticed the bruises earlier and hoped he hadn't hurt her in any way. She nodded, unable to talk just yet, instead, kissing his shoulder a few times. She ran her hands up and down his back slowly taking in deep breaths. He smiled at this, running his fingertips lovingly up and down her smooth stomach.

"Why do you like me?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You're beautiful and witty.. And fun..." he said with a smile.

"I've been awful to you," she said softly.

"No, you've been sweet to me. Well, besides all the avoiding you did..." he chuckled.

"I didnt avoid you," she lied, blushing.

"You did..." he smiled, kissing her gently. "Ever since the last time I bedded you…"

She blushed. "Well I couldn't make you think you won me that easy," she said softly.

"Mm I knew I hadn't... I just didn't expect to wait nearly half a year to see you like this again..." he said with a small smile.

She blushed and looked up at him. "I can't promise after tonight... but you have me all night," she whispered softly.

"Promise me you won't disappear in the morning, like last time?" Specs asked her, his eyes gazing at her with such open, obvious love.

She nodded. "I won't, this isn't like last time…" she said with a small smile.

"Good…now let's make the most of this night…" Specs said, pouncing on her once more.

Gip let out a squeal and next thing she knew it was hours later, their bodies entangled in a tired mess. She managed to get comfortable, kissing his forehead as his eyes closed and his breathing growing deeper. His arms loosened around her and he was fast asleep not minutes later.

Gip left right Specs right after the sun rose. She walked down the road hating that she left, but knowing that she had to leave... they could never be together.