Alright, I didn't explain the whole FLASH concept before, but its basically a switch over to the past. So.. whatever is in-between the words FLASH is the past, and everything before and after is the present.. hope that clears things up for the first chapter. If not, sorry.




Just a little further..

By just an inch the hand missed it's target.

Heading into one of the clothing stores, Faye noticed the stalker by the reflection in a mirror. So happens she may have been paying attention to the fact that the same person hasn't strayed too far from all the places she's been to. Ducking behind a clothes rack, Faye reached a hand inside the right breast pocket of her coat.

A hand covered Faye's mouth and she jerked, firing the weapon at the ceiling. The stalker snatched the gun from her hands and hit her across the face with it, shoving her backwards. Faye hit the ground and immediately got to her feet, leaving out the backdoor as quick as she could manage through the clutter of people frantically screaming and yelling.

Up ahead in a back alley a dim light came from a bar, a neon pink sign winking to itself in the fading sunlight. She was blocked off by a fence. Faye shook the metal confinements and spun around to see how much time she had to kill. But it was too late. There she was, face to face with death.

The figure reached out a hand and pulled the woman effortlessly up by the throat. Faye struggled to get loose raking her nails across those pale arms, but the effort failed as the grip tightened.

Escaping from her gaping lips a yelp as a twisted blade ran through her, shuddering between them. Her face disturbed, lips drawn back in a grotesque sob as she realized her heart would stop beating, that the pain would pull her down and nothing would pull her back..

She'd fallen with her eyes open, her body sliding off the length of the sword, the weight of her body taking her further down into the shallow pool of old rain. Wide open and losing sight.

The figure knelt down slowly and grasped the chin of her face. "Warning.."

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Primal red curled between Faye's clenched fingers. Why.. A spasm tore through her tender stomach with each step taken, and the pain was becoming an awesome thing to bear. Puddles of water absorbed the blood as it left her body, faithfully ensuring her future to come to a halt, staggering the remaining length of the alley. A presence not like her own consciousness reacted to her, urging her to find help or safety. A cough.. a sputter emptied its vital contents onto the distant ground. This was the end of the road.

"Faye!" Called out a voice that rung a million times but received no answer. Her limp body sagged, falling back her head hit the ground heavily. Blood lining the edge of her mouth, trickling in the crimson puddle below.

"Faye!"

Spike..

"Faye!?"

Hallow eyes of emerald hue fluttered to the familiar sound frantically calling her name. Spike fell to his knees and pulled Faye's limp body into his arms, cradling her frail figure, calling her name repeatedly, even if it didn't seem like she knew where or who he was.

You.. you were the only one that saw past my facade.. the one that thought it didn't matter who you were because.. the past is the past.. And now.. now...

I was weak... stupid..... selfish.. I.. needed you..

"Hey!"

His face darkened and her eyes rolled back leaving everything far, far behind and out of focus.

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"So, turns out someone hired this woman," Jet tossed a picture to Spike over the table before continuing on. Spike picked it up holding it between two fingers and studied the woman standing next to a rather feminine man. "Her name is Miona Snow." Her features or any physical trait for that matter, hidden behind a white porcelain mask of tragedy with a jagged crack racing down the left cheek. "The bounty on this one is a whappin' 150 mil. No one knows what she looks like, apparently this is what she hides under to keep a low profile obviously, but she's no joke.." Peeping barely through the slit where the eyes observe, something solid and ruthless beating behind the shell.

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah.."

"Lucky for Faye, she wasn't killed."

"..."

Jet curiously looked at his friend, wondering what was on his mind so suddenly.

"It's been three days... you think she's gonna be alright?"

"She's a strong woman.."

With a sigh, Spike shoved the worry to the back of his mind. "How'd we get all this information anyway?"

"Well, seems like our little Faye got in a cat fight before going down. I found tissue under her finger nails and analyzed it. Then looked to see if she had a record and surely enough, here she is. So.. you in?"

"Do you even have to ask." More like a statement rather than a question as he looked up momentarily at his partner.

Jet smirked, running a hand over the slick surface of his head. "You're right.."

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Back to the scene of the crime. Jet suggested that it would be the best place to start looking for some clues. Spike cautiously knelt down and ran a finger along a dry streak of blood on the soiled ground.

Footsteps.

Standing, he turned to face the intruder and smirked. Never thought the target would come looking for me. Hell, beats going through all the trouble to find her anyway.

"Are you here to avenge your little girlfriends life?"

Spike cocked the gun he'd pulled from the breast of his coat. "I'm here to collect the 150 mil bounty on your head.."

She sneered. "Then let's not waist anymore time.."

"Fine with me."

Before he could react, she leapt forward, slashing the weapon in hand in his direction. A scythe blade half her size. How she could wield such a weapon with such a thin frame was beyond him. Caught off balance, he stumbled back. Miona sprung from the ground and came down, slamming the metal into the ground Spike just then fled from, leaving indents of the structure to claim its mark. This was too risky. Spike was in no condition to be in a physical fight. His wounds were still trying to heal.

Another swing.

He'd caught it with his bare hands. Clutching the metallic steel that streamed blood down its surface from his grasp. Enraged he slammed her frail body onto the ground having caught her off guard by luck. Tossing the weapon from her possession he got atop her, holding down her arms with his knees. His fist pounding into her face. A thirsting cry for pain that induced pleasure. But her brutality lacked. Why is she holding back? Flaking shards scatter across the ground. Each pounding embrace of his fist breaking further into the structure of her mask. Harder until the final raise of the fist bore the raw muscle of his knuckles.

Surprisingly she had overpowered him and managed to shove him off, giving her enough freedom to snatch the scythe resting near. Spike staggered to his feet, looking down to see the curve of the blade held to his neck. "You're pretty strong.." He said, forcing a chuckle, wincing from the pain as he surely knew his wounds would reopen if he continued on with this childish act.

Her night-black hair, fashionably bobbed, was hanging slightly over her face as the mask slowly crumbled and broke against the ground below. She wore no makeup or jewelry, save for a serpent tattoo curling up her jaw. "What a joke... Find me again when you're fixed up."

He didn't exactly know why he let her walk, but he did. The thought of Faye scraping up his body again nagged at him.




Emerald oculars shifted to a corner, trying to glue together numerous visuals of a man seated near her side lighting a cigarette. That funky hair-style.. how could she not know it was Spike.

"That was a close call Faye.." He muttered, not even knowing if she was sober enough from the drugs to actually understand what he'd just said. So he continued, taking his chance, but she interrupted before he even uttered a single word.

"Do you know what it's like.. to love someone that could never love you the same in return.." She winced, shutting her eyes tight as the tears began to flood. How could she confess something like this. It's the drugs. Blame it on the drugs.. She groaned from the pressure inside her chest that stabbed at her wounds. "Everything that I ever touched.. crumbles to dust.."

"There once was a tiger-striped cat. This cat died a million deaths and was reborn a million times.. ..and was owned by various people who he didn't care for. The cat wasn't afraid to die.. One day, the cat was a free cat, a stray cat. He met a white female cat, and the two cats spent their days happily together. Years passed, and the white cat died of old age. The tiger-striped cat cried a million times, and then died. It never came back to life.."

Faye sniffled, her watery eyes fluttering open once again to see him. The anguish that hung heavy in her heart glistening over the moist surface of her gaze.

Spike chuckled, giving her a cunning smile. "I guess I haven't found the right white cat yet.."

Faye pulled herself upward, unsure whether or not she could handle the pain in her torso, and as though he knew exactly what she wanted, he stood from his seat, smashing the cigarette in the ashtray as he knelt down before her.

He leans forward.

Such alluring passion. Could it really have existed all this time right under his nose. His lips pressed firmly against the ruby tiers that trembled underneath their touch. His hands hesitant to take hold, yet calmly found their way to lay upon the smooth curves of her hips. Her slender long arms extend and those spider-like fingers gently slither over the wrinkled cloth of his beige shirt to connect from behind and embrace tightly. Parting their lips, his rough hands levered to caress the silk feel of her visage, running the thumb over her speechless lips, smearing the ruby lipstick down her chin. Another embracing moment between the two as they again locked lips, his hands cupping her delicate face in their palm, inching over the texture as though if he pressed any harder, she'd crack under his touch.

This feels.. so right.. Please don't go..

Spike's lanky build stood from its position and moved onto the couch, her arms leaving his torso, resting her hands over his, feeling his fingers between hers as he stayed true to her, never breaking their intimate contact.



See You Space Cowboy...