This story is almost through.......and i'll be starting another very different from it. It'll be Cowboy Bebop.....just a tad different.

Wanted: Dead Or Alive: Like a Prayer

Jaxx studied the redhead before him as if she were some type of magical creature never before seen in captivity. And Edward could feel his warm eyes burn her skin as he watched her pack her usual weapon of choice - the same gun that had killed Vicious now lay in her hands. It was ironic, he thought, that Ed would use the same gun that her enemy hated her for. Ed gave a long sigh as she collapsed against the wall, her jean clad legs twisting in incomprehensible moves. She fingered a delicate lace dress in her hands as she thought about the things to come. It was present Jaxx had given her during their brief time together and now she feared that the dress would be all he could remember her by. Jaxx noticed her uneasiness and chose that time to take a breather outside. He stopped before the eixt and turned to Ed with a boyish grin.
"I expect to see that dress on you when I come back." Ed nodded and ran to the bathroom to change.

Jaxx slipped a thin cigarette between his lips and searched for a lighter amongst his many pockets. He had quit smoking a year before, but gave back into temptation as the eventful days unfolded before him. He cursed loudly as the journey to find a lighter proved to be pointless. A flicker of a flame caught his attention as he leaned over to light the nicotine stick, knowing who had given him the light. Jaxx's eyes traveled up the lanky character , from his clunky shoes to the green mop upon his head. He exhaled deeply, leaving a cloud of second smoke in front of Spike's face.
"What do you want?"
"I think you know..."
"Enlighten me."
"Miggs told me what you did to her after she joined the Syndicate." Jaxx had to fight back the laughter boiling in his throat.
"Did she now?"
"Yes. And yet you stand here like nothing happen."
"That's because nothing DID happen, my naive friend." Spike smiled and whipped out a fist. He managed to get one hit in Jaxx's gut before Jaxx retaliated with his foot in Spike's side. The two fought on for quite sometime before Spike pulled out a pistol that Jaxx had somehow missed during the confrontation. Jaxx paused, his hands in the air, signalling his defeat. He didn't have much time to debate the matter for a large silver bat crashed into his ribs, sending a blast of pain throughout his body and creating a sickening crunch from the impact. The bat went down for a second blow, this time on his back. Jaxx descended into a black unconciousness. Spike stood motionless as he watched the beating. He had never fought like that before. He had never....cheated like that before. He watched Miggs drag the body to a beat up station wagon and throw the young man into the back seat. She motioned for the cowboy to follow, bringing Spike out of his mental guilt trip. Perhaps, Miggs couldn't be trusted. If that was the case, he needed to look out for not only his back, but Jaxx's as well. She signaled for two large men in the front seat to get out, both heavily armed for combat.

Ed kicked away the debris as she danced in her lace dress. The shop that Jet had once owned was now a pile of burnt walls and rubble, yet it still held its roof high above of their heads. The tiny shop proved to be stronger than thought possible. She had asked Jet and Faye to seek shelter somewhere safe while she tended to some long overdue business. She had not told them that she may not return and knew that they had a sense of deja-vu as she left them. She threw on her favorite leather jacket, considering she had used up the rest of her clothing, and ventured outside.
"Jaxx?" The night was eerily quiet for a usually noisy city. She stepped out furthur and repeated her savior's name. A click of a gun calmed her panic. A fight, she could defend herself on. But not knowing where a friend had went to, that sent sheer terror through her body. A brute redhead inched towards Ed. He was the larger one of the two men and stood well beyond six feet. He clasped his huge around Edward's throat, squeezing sightly as he hoisted her up into the air,Ed's petit feet barely scraping the sidewalk. She could feel her lungs working hard to find a breath of air and her throat trying its best to hold up against the man's crushing strength. Ed winced as he continued to strangle her in mid air.
"Who the hell are you?", Ed managed to choke out.
"Just call us messengers delivering a belated intimation." He smiled as the other man reached into Ed's leather coat packet and pulled a loaded wallet. He flipped through the numerous cards, counting a large amount of woolongs as he did so. Ed's anger boiled inside her.
"Sorry. I don't do C.O.D's." With all her might, she kicked the large man in the groin and elbowed the other man in his stomach and launched herself into the shop of rubble, her hands closing around her gun as she rolled past her bag. She dodged a few bullets by pure luck and took refuge behind a cement wall. She inched closer towards the edge, noticing that she could only hear one gun being fired. Why is there only one gun going off when there are two men, she wondered. Her question was answered as two daggers flew past her, one catching her side and the other sticking out of her left arm. She yelped in pain as she pulled the knife from her shoulder, the metal burning her flesh. She breathed in deeply instead of succumbing to the pain and cocked her gun. Slowly, she turned, and fired at the larger man. He fell down, dead, as a bullet hit him in the chest. The smaller man chose that time to run in the opposite direction only to be gunned down in the leg. Edward stood, her blood creating a long trail down the creamy dress. She limped over to the fallen man who was now holding his leg in pain. She knelt before him, careful of her fresh wounds.
"What did you do with Jaxx?" Her eyes were now golden slits of frustration. She was tired of putting up with the backstabbing and the secret plans and the deception. She wanted to end all this - now. The scrawny man scrambled up against the wall of a nearby building, afraid of the female bounty hunter. She followed him on her knees, her gun aiming at his forehead, ready to blow his brains upon the pavement if necessary. "I'm going to ask you one more time then count to three. If by that time, you haven't told me an ounce of information on Jaxx's whereabouts, then you face will be a permanent fixture on this street. Now....What did you do with Jaxx? One..."
"I'll never tell you!!"
"This isn't helping your case, sir.......Two....." Sweat droplets formed on the man's scalp as his eyes desperately wandered for someone to help him. Ed sighed and took more precise aim at the man's head.
"Thr-"
"Alright!! Alright......I don't know the woman's name but she called the other man Spike. They told us to keep an eye out for you and to stop you if you tried to go after them. All I know is that they were taking him to some cathedral. I don't know the name but that's where they're taking him." He didn't have to say anymore. Ed had heard the stories of the famous cathedral that Spike and Vicious had battled in, ending in Spike's fall from grace through a stained glass window. She stood up, her gun never leaving his head. She quickly slid the gun to the side and fired two warning shots to the right of his head.

She hopped into "The Duke" and took off, her mind sat on one thing and one thing only : finding Jaxx and putting a stop to her former best friend. Okay, so maybe it was two things that she had to take care of but she had her mind sat on them and them only. She paged Jet and Faye to let them know where she was heading and then tore the wires from her communication device. They would not try to talk her out of this one. She grimaced as her arm rubbed up against the seat. She was bleeding badly but she wouldn't let that stop her. Not after all she had gone through to get here.
Edward parked the great Duke on top of a building and rushed downstairs. Her mind was becoming fuzzy by the moment and she feared that she would black out from blood loss soon. Her crimson hair was a wild red waterfall flowing around her face. She hesitated as she closed in on the the church doors, wondering if her dream was coming true at that exact moment. Would she walk in to find a slain Spike; her cowboy? Or would Jaxx AND Spike be killed by the hands of Miggs? Light flooded in as she smashed open the doors, not caring if she would be welcomed with a round of bullets or not. Blood dripped down her hand as she held her gun up high, awaiting her friend's blurry image to focus in her eyes. Edward gasped at the scene before her, unable to speak.
"Take another step closer, Ed, and i'll kill him on the spot."