I must be afraid
but I'm drawn to the dark
I don't know exactly
where the gravity starts
somewhere behind
the black of your eyes my will dies.
I need you to want me
I need all you can spare
slip in beside me
and follow me there
somewhere beneath
all my layers of skin
you creep in.
Don't make me ask
but don't let me go
if you're afraid of this thing
don't let it show
if you die loving me
you'll slide so easily
underneath my skin.
Underneath my skin
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" Shit. What should we do?" Sean has a knack of asking the obvious. Horatio sighed and holstered his gun.
" What else could we do? Weinvite her in." The others followed his lead and holstered their own guns. Horatio jerked his head to Sean and stepped to the door. " Let me open it. At least she'd already talked to me." Sean gladly stepped behind him.
" Hey, it's your death." Casey slapped a hand at the side of Sean's head. " Ow." The others glared at him. What he said wasn't wrong, all of them had thought of it, but it was something they didn't want to acknowledge. Horatio took a deep breath and had his hand on the cool steel of the doorknob. He jerked the door open.
And sure enough, it was Faye Valentine in all her finery smiling at them from the doorway. She was wearing a peeka boo lacey boob tube that ended just beneath her breast and a short leather skirt. The scars on her stomach and the one at her thigh stood harshly with all that black around it, usually you could hardly see it. A long leather coat that came down to her thighs and high heeled black leather boots that came up to her just below her knees. It looked uncomfortable to wear all that leather, but the leather she had on looked as soft as butter. Horatio would bet his paycheck that they were real. Besides, although the day is hot, here in Mars, the nights were cold. On her two hands were bottles of Midnight Mars, the most expensive whiskey that you could get.
" Hey, guys. I come in peace. I would say lead me to your leader but I don't give a fuck about your leader so, here." She pushed the bottles on Horatio's hand. They stared at her. She walked past him, the guys gave way, didn't want to give her any ammunition then she already had. She walked towards the living room, looking around, peeking at the stuffs on the tables and drawers. Whistled at their stack of guns and ammo then fingered a book that Tony had brought. She open the window and peered down, checking the view. They all huddled on the doorway, easier to get away if she went all ballistic on them. Tristan leaned to Casey, their eyes following her tour of their room. " I don't know what drug she's on but I want it." he whispered through the corner of his mouth,Casey swallowed a laugh and it disappeared into a cough when she suddenly turn and looked at them. They tensed.
She gave them a wide smile. They tensed even more.
" Don't worry, boys. If I wanted to kill you, I would've told you already." They only stared at her more. She grinned. " Just kidding."
" About what? Killing us or telling us about it?" Sean asked under his breath. Horatio elbowed him but he was thinking of the same thing.
" You probably wondered why I'm here." Nathaniel wanted to say, 'well duh', but he held his tongue. She sat on the loveseat and crossed her legs, it wasn't possible but the skirt scooted up some more but no one commented on it. She frowned at them and gestured them in.
" Guys, I'm not gonna kick you out of your own room. Come closer." There was impatience in her voice so they moved towards her in careful steps.
" You, pour me a glass, will you? Thanks." She said to Horatio and settled herself more comfortable on the seat, then stood up and took off her leather jacket. They stared at the guns she had on the double shoulder holster, they hardly even noticed she was wearing one under the jacket. It looked like it was custom made. She looked around to stash it somewhere but Tony stepped closer to her.
" Let me, Ms. Valentine." She beamed at Tony like he was her prized student. " Why, thank you..." Tony resisted the urge to bow and she handed him the leather coat. He hung it beside his jacket.
" I'm Tony, mam." Casey sniggered and mouthed 'mam' at Tony from behind Faye. Tom glared at him.
" Don't snicker. It's impolite." She said without turning to Casey, he shut up pretty quickly. She smiled at Tony. " Thank you, Tony. Call me Faye, please."
Tony gave her a careful smile. She turned to Casey and lifted an eyebrow.
" What's your name, smart ass?" Tony smiled for real this time. " Casey, mam." She asked for each and one of their names as she sat down. She reached for the glass Horatio handed out to her without even looking at it. She let Tony sit by her. She gave a crooked smile at Nathaniel.
" I've been seeing a lot of you." Nathaniel nodded." I'm Nathaniel. Spike had appointed me your everyday guard. Jet too." He added when the smile on her face dimmed. She smirked hearing Jet's name. Her eyes went wickedly mischievous.
" Probably wanted to put a face on a person he can blame." Nathaniel smiled warily." Figured as much." She laughed. They felt their lips quirked into a smile. It was surprisingly easy.
" Anyway, I'm going out, since you'll probably follow me might as well we go together." They exchanged glances.
" Could we ask about our destination?" Faye knocked back her whiskey expertly." I'll tell you on the way. You guys gotta car?" They nodded.
" You guys brought your syndicate uniform?" They blinked and looked at her wearily." I just want it to look like I got myself body guards so I don't have to shoot some stupid smuck when he made a pass at me. What better body guards then the syndicate? I just want a good bluff. I want to meet some friends in the darker side of Mars. I won't do anything that would soil the syndicate's reputation." She added with a bitter tone. They guys looked at eachother. Horatio shrugged. The fact that she would bother to explain herself was enough for him.
" We'll change if you would wait." She smiled at Horatio and sat back on the couch. " Take your time."
She whistled when they appeared out of the bed room where they stashed all their gear and clothes. She sighed.
" You're such a good looking bunch." There was just something about the way she looked at them that they even preened a little at the compliment.
" Well, now. Lets go." She let Horatio helped her into her leather jacket and smiled when she did a very female thing and checked her reflection on the door of the coats cabinet near the door. She caught their eyes on the mirror.
" What? I'm a girl." They hid a smile at the indignation in her voice. " Just because I have a bigger gun then you guys doesn't mean I can't be female." She checked her make up and flipped her hair.
" Yes, mam." they mumbled. She stood infront of the door, her hand on the handle." Call me Faye. Well, lets get this show on the road."
They stomped their path towards the big ass private elevator that opened directly towards the penthouse. When it opened towards the lobby, people stared at the group when the trooped out of the elevator. Horatio got out first and cleared the way for Faye and when Faye got out he took her side and the others made a half circle around her. Everybody stared at the beautiful woman in the black leather and the men in their black syndicate uniform, and their combat boots. The concierge hurried to them and said that they had prepared the limo for them.
" I called down when we were changing." Nathaniel, that was positioned on her left side answered her look. Horatio nodded at the concierge and took the key that he was handing out. They started walking as a group with people avoiding them.
" Initiative. I like that in a man." she smiled. Nathaniel smiled back.
He had also called Shin and Shin forwarded his call to Spike. Spike gritted his teeth but allowed them to escort her since he had no choice anyway. He was glad for that. He didn't want to really tie Faye up in her room. And get shot in the process.
Sean was driving and Casey was in front with him. Horatio, Tony and Nathaniel got to sit with her. She sighed when she sat back on the cushy seats.
" I could get use to this. We're going to Magdelene." She could actually feel them cringe. She smiled.
" Whats the matter guys? Never been to a brothel before?" Her smiled was even wider when she saw Nathaniel shifted uneasily. Magdelene was a surprisingly upscale female budoir in a not really upscale part of town. It wasn't merely a place for sexual entertainment, it also got its own night clubs and strip joints and casino's. But mainly it was the strip joint and the 'companions' that drew in the customers. Very rich and influential customers.
" Uh, Faye. May I ask why we are going to a" Tony hesitated.
" Whore house?" She laughed when Tony frowned at her. " Aw, come on. Guys are so squemish about sex. About not having it, about talking about it. Geez." She caught the look that Casey sent her.
" I don't swing that way, Casey. I have a friend there."
" A friend." Faye lifted an eyebrow.
" Yeah, can't I have friends?"
" Yeah, but" She rolled her eyes. " Give me a break. Just because she's a prostitute doesn't mean that she's a bad person. We should know about that."
They had to agree. They kill people in their jobs, doesn't make them bad people. Right.
Magdelene was a classy swing place, with a big tacky neon pink sign. It made Faye smile. She was still smiling when she walked to the lobby of Magdelene, even when a big ass bulky woman stopped infront of her. She was wearing some kind of robe the color of fuschia pink, there were pink feathers in her also pink hair and her face was covered with a ton of make up. Faye guessed this was probably the madame of the establishment. She gave Faye a grimacing smile.
" I don't understand. I thought the syndicate already had the routine check last week." Faye lifted a brow." Huh?"
Horatio leaned down and whispered in her ear. " The syndicate checks out the place twice a month for underage prostitutes and illegals."
" Didn't know you guys cared." Horatio smiled. " We don't. Spike does." Faye lowered her eyes.
Horatio nodded to the big woman. " We're not here to check anything, Madame Cynthia. We're here for other business."
" What business?" Her ugly face turned sneaky and calculating.
" I want to see Siren. " She frowned. " Siren? Why?" Faye merely stared at her.
" She has an appointment in another hour. She has an important guest. I want her to rest for her performance." She shifted under Faye's chilling stare.
" I don't fucking care. Either you call her or I will. Now, do you really want to set me loose in your establishment, Madame?"
" Wait for her in the blue room. I'll call her." She turned without another word.
" She doesn't like you guys very much, doesn't she?" She smiled. Casey chuckled.
" It's not us that she doesn't like, Faye. I think it's you." Faye widened her eyes and batted her eyelashes. " Now, whatever did I do to her? Anyway, where is this blue room that she told us to wait in." A waitress approached them and told them that she'd lead them. to the blue room.
Faye had just sat on the, guess, blue couch when chimes of bells, light and cheery trickle to the room. She looked up and realized it was coming from the wide majestic circuler stairs behind her. She stood and smiled when a woman jingle her way down the stairs in a bright melody of bells.
" You're already in costume." The woman snapped her eyes to her. Her eyes were the exact same shade of Faye's emerald green. Her hair was a thick smooth black wave that spilled all over her slim slender body and reached her butt, her creamy colored shoulders were small and uncovered, she was dressed in a swirl of a material so light it fluttered around her as she moved like seafoam. It was the blue-ish green of the ocean, only it paled around the edges and faded to the color white. Her hands were thin and delicate, the legs were long and shapely, they peeked out from the flutter of her costume which seemed traslucent but not really. She was barefoot, her hands, arms, ankles, neck and laced in her hair were little gold and silver bells that jingle merrily as she walk. She moved in a precise, elegant, graceful and almost dreamlike state. And her face was a work of art that God had made in a good day. Her heart shaped face was dominated by her almond shaped that tilted at the side, the nose was long and straight and her mouth was full and carnal, with a dent in the middle of her bottom lip. She looked like how mermaids in fairytales should look. Exotic, mysterious and mouth watering seductive. Those wonderful eyes widened, that face was bright with the light of her smile.
" Lorelei!!" The bells jingled even more loudly as she went into a flat out run and almost threw herself on Faye. Faye staggered and took a two steadying steps backward. " Oh, by the Goddes. I thought I'll never get to see you again. It's been so long. I'm so glad to see you." She said all the time bouncing up and down while hugging Faye.
" Then why are you trying to kill me?" Faye said and took a great heaving breath when she was let go. Siren laugh." Oops. Sorry." Her laugh was the same sound as her bells. Light, cheerful and almost innocent, if not for her low husky voice.
" How? What are you doing here? Are you looking for a job?" she pulled on Faye's hand to the sofa where Faye had sat earlier. She glared at the guys that snorted and waved her hands at them.
" Okay, guys. Scram. Girl talk." They hid their grins as they trooped out of the room and close the doors. They took guard of the door and speculate on the new piece of information.
" It's Faye, now Siren. Faye Valentine." Siren tilted her head. " Faye Valentine. I like that. It suits you." They smiled at eachother, at their history and memories together.
" So, what are you doing here? And with body guards no less?" She frowned. " They're body guards, right? They're not giving you any trouble cause I could" She did a karate chop in the air that had the bells in her arms clinked together and made Faye laugh.
" They're bodyguards and you know me. I can take care of myself. I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to see you."
" Aw, and we only have a couple of minutes..." she paused then her lips spread in a smile. A smile that Faye had learned to fear. " What? Why are you smiling like that?" Siren laughed.
" LoFaye. Dance with me." Siren bounced on her seat, her bells jingled loudly." Come on, like old times. I have an important guest coming." Faye grimaced.
" I can help you out of here, you know." Siren smiled gently.
" I don't do sexual favors, Faye. I only sing and dance just like we used to." She rolled her eyes." There are a couple of guys that doesn't seem to understand, but Madame makes that clear nowadays. I think because this new guy likes me, I don't know who he is, but he's loaded and he seems to be important. He's not bad looking either. He's really nice." she hesitated. " He doesn't give me money, Faye. He brings me books and music, and sometimes cloth for my costumes and tiny bells, you know how rare that is." Faye did, working by dancing or singing, depending on your looks had always felt degrading for her, she never felt comfortable in getting money for it. It was just another way of selling yourself. Your body. But sometimes a nice one came along and gave tips in things, small meaningless things but worthwhile all the same. Siren smoothed the skirt of her dress. " This is from him, also the bells in my hair." she giggled and Faye heart sank.
" Siren, you're not falling in love with this guy, are you?" Siren gave her a small smile. It wasn't a happy one. " I sometimes pretend that he is mine." She shook her head slowly. " But I'm not that foolish, Faye."
" It's not foolish, it's human." Siren took a deep breath." I think he likes me 'cause I look like someone that he cares about. He likes to come by and just talk sometimes, just about everyday stuff, sometimes he comes down here just to hear me sing until he falls a sleep. There are times where he looks at me, just looks at me and I knew that he was looking at someone else, wishing that I was someone else." She blinked and the soft expression on her face disappeared. " No, I'm not in love with him or in any danger of falling in love with him. But, seeing him look at me sometimes, I wish I was." She shook her head and smiled. A determine smile.
" So, what about it? Come on. I miss the old times." Faye rolled her eyes. " I don't remember anything."
" Liar. Please?" Faye sighed. She felt her reluctance was slowly receding as she looked at the eyes so similiar to her own despite the still innocent look in them. " I don't have anything to wear." When she saw Siren grinned, she knew she was in trouble.
" I can't believe you still have my old costume." she murmured through her veil of the lightest cloth that men had ever made. Siren giggled through her own veil. " I swear you had done something with it, I'm afraid if I move it'll tear opened. I can see everything. And I have nowhere to hide my gun." Faye turned her body infront of the gigantic sea corals and sea shells framed mirror in Siren's bedroom which was above the blue room. She lifted her hands and sucked in a breath.
" I can see my boobs." she covered that part of her and looked almost aghast. Siren lifted a brow. " You're not bringing your gun.You cannot see your boobs and for a girl who flashes it everytime she can you're growing very prudent all of a sudden."
" Fuck you, Siren. And I do not flash my boobs everytime I can." Siren muttered something in the lines of: yeah, right. She was busy inserting tiny bells in and out the loopholes in Faye's costume. Her costume was similiar to Siren's, just much more greener, and was mischievously designed to tease the imagination. The cloth was thin, like Siren's, it began from the bosom, and trailed long to the floor, tiny pearls were embroidered on the cloth, it gleamed like fallen tears. Faye turned to the side and she could see the long line of her body, every curve and every shadow showed itself clearly. She looked pretty much naked underneath the dress, but the truth was, her privates were covered by strategically placed skin colored cloth that made it seemed like she was naked from the outside. Long strands of white cloths that changed its color everytime the lights hit it flowed from the back of the dress that stopped just under her shoulder blades and glittered and flowed like fairy wings.
" Here put these on. " Siren handed out several jade and moonstone braclets and last but not least, hundreds of bells. " It was cute the first time, but now it's just damn annoying." Faye growled at the cheerful sound.
" Really? I like it." And to show it she jumped around and laughed when Faye gritted her teeth. " Aw, is wittle Faye nervous about her first dance?"
" You mean my last dance, don't you." There was a knock on Siren's door. " That's the sign." Siren grinned, she was almost bursting with excitement. Faye was actually having second thoughts but not dor all the worlds would she ever dimmed that smile.
" Fine. Let's just do this." She sighed at the sound of the bells.
She looked around after they got out of the room. " Where are my guys?" Siren hurried infront of her.
" They're probably showed to the ocean room, already. Come on." Faye sniggered. " Ocean room." Siren smirked back at her over her shoulder.
" I know. Remember those sailors we've once entertained." Faye grinned. " The minute we were done with them I bet they would let us drown them if we must." " Siren and Lorelei's big comeback."
" Only comeback. I have a day job." They were almost infront of the heavy door of the ocean room. " What is it?" Siren saw the snarled in Faye's face.
" I'm a cowgirl." Siren's eyes bulged under all the eye make up but before she could ask something, the sound of a gong sounded from behind the door.
Siren grinned at her. " Get ready. It's showtime. And be nice." Faye made a face in answer that put a light in Siren's eyes.
The door opened and Siren entered first in tip toed steps. She raised her arms high above her head then bowed to her waist, her right leg bent infront of her in elegant and courtly gesture. Well, Faye had never bowed to anyone, she imitate Siren's first move but then continued with an inticate movement of her fingers and hands that made a melodic song of bells. She ended with opening her arms at her sides, the strands of multicolored cloth laced on her arms, her left leg out of the slit of the dress, and her head held high. It used to be her usual greeting, even on the times she had serve, she had never bowed down.
And it showed, her dignity, her pride, even her arrogance on the tilt of her head, on the lines of her body. The men in the room quieted down even more. Faye's eyes caught a flash of black and red and glanced at it, expecting to see one of the guys, instead she met the eyes of a stranger. She saw something moved behind that someone and met the eyes of Horatio. There was something in his eyes. A slick ball of dread bounced in her stomach.
She lifted her eyes to the center of the wide ocean colored room, and met the eyes of Spike Spiegal.
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Author notes:
Hahahahahaha! What a cliffhanger, huh? Did you see that coming? Didcha? Didcha? jumps around like mad
Anyway, I just wanna say thanks for all the reviews. Love you all.
Ps: You guys, know any other songs that I can use? I'm running out of them. I'll try to update soon. Probably about a week or so...laughs evilly Naah, kidding.