Faye kept her handgun in the sleeve of her red jacked as she entered the shop. She hadn't gotten far when the woman from the counter called out from behind a nearby aisle. "You need somethin', honey?"
"Yeah," Faye said as sweetly as possible. "Did you see a guy with a gray suit and a briefcase, kinda nervous-looking?"
"Oh, yeah," the woman said. "I just sent him upstairs."
"Thanks a bunch."
Faye had already begun to rush toward the stairs before she heard the woman yell for her to stop. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was startled by the sight of the very man she was after sprinting in the opposite direction.
"Hey!" Faye exclaimed as she raised her gun. Serj's eyes widened as he saw the gun and tried to stop, but his foot slipped on the step and he slid down the stairs. Faye accidentally let off a round into the stairs above Serj as he fell directly on top of her.
Faye pushed the man's foot off her face and reached for her restraints. "You must be Serj," she said.
"Who the hell are you?" Serj asked, crawling backward toward the steps. "You with the syndicate?"
"I'm just a nice young girl with a crush on that big bounty pricetag that's over your head," Faye said, batting her eyes seductively at the man.
"There's a bounty on me?" Serj exclaimed. "Those bastards! They double-crossed me!" Before Faye could react, Serj jumped to his feet and scrambled toward the door. "I've got to get out of here!"
"Wait! Hey!" Faye said as she stood to go after him. Serj ran toward the shop's front door when he saw the armed men getting out of the car outside and stopped in his tracks. Faye heard Serj's gasp as she turned and looked up.
Faye grabbed the fear-paralyzed man and dragged him down before the bullets shattered the shop's windows. Faye pulled Serj behind the corner near the staircase and drew her pistol. "Syndicate slugs! They're after you, too?" she asked as she returned fire.
"What do we do?" Serj asked.
"What do you mean we?" Faye asked incredulously. "I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm getting the hell out of here!" Faye fired twice and sprinted up the stairs.
"Wait, please!" Serj yelled as he scrambled after her. The syndicate soldiers jumped through the shattered windows into the store in pursuit. Faye looked around at the top of the stairs before seeing a large window at the end of the hall. She sprinted toward it and shattered it with a few rounds of gunfire. The window was directly over the street.
"What are you doing?" said Serj as he ran up behind her.
"Get lost, will ya?" Faye said. "I'll be lucky to save my own ass without you tagging along."
"But I can't hide from them! Please take me with you!" Serj begged. "I have information in this case worth thirty million. I'll split it with you if you take me with you."
Faye paused at the statement and looked over her shoulder. "Thirty million?" she asked as a syndicate soldier reached the top of the stairs. Faye turned and fired three shots into the man's midsection.
She looked down to see a large truck coming down the street. "You better not be lying," she said as she grabbed Serj's collar and jumped out the window.
"Uh, Jet?"
Spike glanced over as he watched the television monitor on the wall. "How am I supposed to pay for this hospital visit?"
"Don't worry," Jet said. "ISSP is paying for your medical bills under the table as a reward for taking Vicious out. They knew he was a cop killer but could never prove it."
"So Vicious really is dead…" Spike looked down and recalled that final duel with his friend and enemy. He remembered getting a shot off and being cut by Vicious' blade, but couldn't remember whether or not he got him. The pain he felt as he leaned forward reminded him of how deep his own wound was.
"Yep, and you almost were too," Jet said. "We never would have found you if not for that tracker Ed designed a while back."
"How'd you get me back here?"
"Faye went and got you. She went after you a few minutes after you left. She flew right into the roof and picked you up. She insisted on finding you a hospital as soon as she brought you in."
Spike raised an eybrow in surprise. "Faye did that?"
"Yeah. I never saw her so concerned about someone. Let alone you."
"I guess you learn somethin' new every day," Spike said.