Disclaimer: I don't own these guys, wish I did, not making any money, wish I was, don't have anything valuable to give you if you sued me anyway.

Session 13: Gunning Down Romance

Spike pulled the felt hat lower over his forehead, and stood the collar of his coat up. Keeping his head down, he stepped into the waiting room outside the office Vicious had taken over as his own. He immediately reconized the dark haired Kier, who was standing by the door. Spike looked up and gave the young man a lopsided grin.

"I believe a friend of mine has come to see Vicious. I was wondering if I might be able to join the party."

Kier stepped forward, hazel eyes worried. "Mira's in the cell downstairs. She wounded. Pretty bad."

Spike felt his old hot-blooded nature start to take over. "How bad?"

"Gut shot."

"Vicious?"

Kier nodded.

"Go down there and get her out. Take her to the docks. There's a ship there. They'll see you and take care of her. Go."

Kier nodded his head and left. Spike glared at the double oak doors. He threw off the hat and trench coat, pulling out two Jericho pistols. He cocked both guns and kicked the doors open.

Vicious stood in front of the desk, katana drawn, waiting for him. "I thought it was Julia's death that had awakened your anger towards me. Now I see she only created a spark. Apparently Mira is more valueable to you."

Spike ground his teeth together. "Value had nothing to do with it."

"Then what else could it be? Certainly not love. People like us don't know how to love."

"Speak for yourself Vicious."

"Did you love Julia, Spike?"

Spike's anger ebbed slightly due to confusion. "Huh?"

"You loved Mira. You always did. But you ended up with Julia. Did you love her or where you just seeing if you could steal her from me?"

"Julia was never yours. If she was, she would never have agreed to leave the Syndicate with me. You used her for what you wanted and forgot about her. Just like what you did to Mira."

"Mira was my sister. I loved her. Then she found someone else to love. That was when I began to hate her. After a few years, she became expendable, just like everyone else."

Spike felt his temper rise again, only this time, he let it go. "Last time I wanted to end this. So this time, stay dead!"

Raising both guns, he fired off a volley of shots. Vicious bolted towards him, katana ready. The Syndicate leader brought the sword up and knocked one of the guns from Spike's hand. Spike whirled, extending his leg and landing it squarely in Vicious' chest. He heard the breath escape him, and Spike brought his other leg around, aiming at the white haired head. But Vicious had recovered and leaned forward, Spike's foot passing over him. Vicious brought his sword up again, and Spike twisted out of the way, but not before feeling the blade bite into his left arm. Spike turned, and just as he brought the end of his gun to Vicious' forehead, he felt the cold steel of the blade at his throat. Vicious' voice came out like a low growl.

"You fire and I slit your throat."

"You'll be dead before you can slit my throat."

"Want to chance it?"

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Kier opened the cell door to find Mira in the same position he had left her in. Running over to her, he gently picked her up and started out of the cell. Her eyes fluttered opened and looked up at him.

"Spike?"

"No, it's Kier. Spike's dealing with Vicious right now."

He felt her start to struggle in his arms. "I have to go help him."

"No, you're in no condition to go. I'm going to get you help. Hang on."

"Hey!"
Kier turned to look who had called his name. A fellow Syndicate member, one he didn't reconize, turned the corner.

"Where are you going with the prisoner?"

Kier hoped his voice didn't quaver. "I was taking her to see Vicious. He asked to see her."

The Syndicate thug looked at her and then back at Kier. "I didn't recieve such orders."

"Then there must have been some mistake. You should have recieved those orders."

Kier turned to leave as the other guard pulled out his transmitter to check on the orders. At least he could get around the corner before the guard figured out what was going on. He leaned down to whisper to Mira.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, good enough for now."

When they rounded the corner, he set her down and they took off running. Kier passed off a gun to Mira so she could defend herself. He watched her stumble the first few steps, but grow stronger as she went. She was still weak, but refusing to acknowledge it. Suddenly she spun around and fired a shot over his shoulder. Kier turned around long enough to see the guard that had stopped him fall. Mira pulled the trigger again and a second guard that had followed him dropped. Kier turned back around to see another guard coming from the other direction. Kier took aim and fired at the same time as the other guard. The last thing he saw was guard falling.

Mira looked down at Kier's body and felt a new surge of rage. Too many had died. She couldn't stand there and fight off the entire Syndicate. She had to get back up to the office and stop Vicious before he killed Spike. If she remembered correctly, there was an elvator located in the cell area that went directly to Mao's office. Hopefully Vicious hadn't done anything to it.

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Spike felt the gun in hand and felt sure he could get the shot off. But he also felt the cold steel against his throat. Before now, he would have pulled the trigger without a second thought. However, he knew Vicious would slit his throat, bullet in the head or not. But this time, he had something to live for. He had people to go back to. He didn't want to give that up. He could see a sickening grin spread across his enemie's face.

"It appears we have reached an impass. What should we do Spike?"

A gun shot went off in room. Vicious' eyes widened. Spike felt something warm and wet hit him on the side of the face. The gun in his hand hadn't gone off, but Vicious slumped to the floor. Spike reached up and brushed the side of his face and pulled his hand away. It was bright red. Looking down at Vicious he saw the bullet hole in the back of his head. Spike turned to see Mira standing in the doorway, gun in her hand. She had stepped off a hidden elevator and pulled off a perfect head shot, hitting Vicious in the back of the skull.

"Mira..."

She walked over to him, surprisingly steady for her appearance. Her shirt had been soak in blood due to the gun shot wound from eariler. Her pale skin seemed paler, almost as white as her hair.

"Are you hurt, Spike?"

He lifted a hand to his neck and found it bleeding, but it wasn't deep. "It's only a scratch. We need to get you help."

"Wait. Is he really dead?"

Spike looked down at the body. "I hope so."

Mira opened the chamber of her revolver and slipped two more bullets into it, making sure all eight chambers were filled. Standing over the body, Spike watched Mira aim at the prone form. He watched, horrified, as she fired off all eight bullets into the body. Her face and eyes were empty, completely devoid of all emotion. When the last bullet was fired, she stared down at the floor.

"Now he's dead."

"Mira-"

She turned her eyes towards him. He was glad to see the life finally return to them. The gun slipped from her hand and she stummbled towards him. He caught her in his arms and lowered her the floor. She laid a bloodied hand over his as he cradled her against him.

"We're finally free, Spike. No more running. No more looking over our shoulders. We're free."

Spike watched helplessly as her eyes closed. He fummbled around in his pocket, his throat constricting as he flipped his transmitter on.

"Jet, get me an ambulance, fast."