Standard Disclaimer

Liabilities

Fanning should have listened to those little voices inside him that said not to trust Claudia any farther than he could throw her.

"Okay, the one in the car is gone," Claudia had said, counting off the dots on the radar. "And now he's found the one in her underwear." She shot Fanning a decidedly wicked look. "Care to speculate how he managed that?"

Fanning just glared at her. She started up their vehicle, the engine nearly silent as it came to life.

They followed. For hours they followed. Vincent was taking a very obscure route, and since they had a location on them at every minute, it was safer and easier to take a more mainstream route, just to let their quarry feel like they had lost their pursuers. They found the car at some desert island of a rest stop, with it empty and the engine still warm.

"I should have bugged the dog," Claudia said.

Fanning shook his head. "They would have either gotten rid of the collar, or if you'd taken the lesser route, that would have been lost the first time he took a shit."

She winked at him. "There are other ways." She showed him her arm, the soft underside where the blue veins could be seen through her pale skin. There was a dark smudge in the middle, easily mistaken for an old scar. Fanning looked closer and noticed the faintness of the rising ridges, almost like the lines on a scanning tag.

"You think they don't know where I am at all times?" she asked. "You think they let people like us just wander around, unchecked? They teach me how to be invisible, Ray darling. They have to have a way to watch me, somehow."

Fanning rubbed his arm in sympathy. True, there were days when he felt like the L.A.P.D. thought they owned him, but he'd never been branded. It must be a strange feeling, that mark on her arm.

"So how do agents go rogue then, if they're tagged like that?" he asked as they climbed back into the car.

She looked down at her arm. "The braver ones just use a knife. But they implant it very close to the major artery, so that cutting it out is a rather dangerous thing if not done properly. Then, if you have a lot of money, there are ways to sabotage it. But that hurts even worse than cutting it out."

She turned the car back on, and focused on the radar screen. The last blimp, the very last bug she had planted on them, was still blinking. It headed in a steady northern direction.

"Think they're headed back to the states?" Fanning asked hopefully.

"That was the plan," Claudia murmured, "but somehow I think Vincent is going to hold off. Problem with chasing guys like him, they know all your tricks. Anybody else would have fled back to the states right now and that way we could have gotten him into legal custody without any more subterfuge, but Vincent will wait. Victoria, though...I don't know."

Fanning considered her words. "You think she'll leave him?"

"That's what she said before, isn't it?"

"You don't think that was just a reaction to what had happened? You don't think Vincent will talk her out of it?"

"You know her better than me, Ray," Claudia said, looking for a moment like a very ordinary human being, as flawed as the rest of them. But there was a sharpness in her eyes that clearly told Fanning she was just trying to pick his brain instead of letting him pick hers. "You think she'll stay?"

"I think she'd be stupid to stay," Fanning said, "but considering what she's done already, she might feel like she doesn't have another choice."

"The baby will drive her away," Claudia said confidently. "Look at those tire tracks. Big, wide ones. A motor home passed through here. It's in the same general direction. I think Vinnie and his chickadee hitched a ride."

"Why will the baby drive her away?" Fanning pressed.

Claudia shook her head, talking casually as she drove, one arm hanging out the window. "You still haven't picked that one up? Vincent is not going to be a father. It isn't part of his make-up. You know how fucked up his real father was? He doesn't have a single clue. No more than I do about how to be a mother. And she won't give the baby up. It's not in her make-up either. They've come to an impass and the only way out is to part ways." Claudia paused. "Which does pose a slight problem for us."

"Like?"

"Like now we're racing the clock. We have to corner them before Victoria can walk. If we don't, Vincent won't have any liabilities. He'll be a free agent and that will make him extremely dangerous."

"You're saying he isn't dangerous as long as Victoria is around?"

Claudia smirked. "Let's just say, she dulls his teeth. Either she's going to leave him or he'll leave her. Although if he hasn't done it by now, it's only going to make things worse later."

Fanning let the silence rest for a few minutes. It bugged him to no end that Claudia kept referring to Victoria as a "liability." While Claudia had promised not to hurt her during the earlier interrogation, the bruise she had left had really pissed Fanning off. Claudia insisted that it was mostly harmless, completely superficial, and that it was absolutely necessary because if she hadn't, Victoria might have alerted a neighbor and spoiled Claudia's chance to talk to her. Not that there were a lot of neighbors around, Fanning noted, but couldn't help but agree with the effectiveness of her choices.

He hadn't liked listening to the way Claudia preyed on all of Victoria's weaknesses and fears, but as a cop, he knew it was just good old fashioned interrogation. A part of the job. He'd done it himself once or twice. It wasn't personal, it was just business.

Although he was sure that the bruise on her temple was just one little thing that was a prelude to the rest of the shit about to go down.

He really should have listened to those little voices.

In the trunk of the car, with his wrists and ankles tied so tightly he could feel his fingers and toes starting to lose circulation, Fanning struggled. He should never have taken his eyes off Claudia for a second. All that talk, all that sharing about her job, all that openness had just been a ruse, a distraction. The second they'd arrived at the resort, his little alarms had started to go off - the alarms that told him he was standing in the middle of a major crime scene, even though there was only broken glass, tire tracks, and spray patterns of blood. Claudia was too cool, too rational. They'd parked all the way on the other side of the resort's huge lot, where all the rich people had their expensive vehicles parked, and there were high black iron gates with security all around. She showed the man at the check-in window something that Fanning didn't see before he let her through, and also after she'd slipped him a hundred dollar bill. In a private corner, she'd gotten out, and called to Fanning to come over and help her with something on the other side.

Not imagining what in the hell she would need help with, he'd come around the corner. No one saw her clobber him head-on in the face, right between the eyes. She hadn't broken his nose, but she had scrambled his brains long enough for her to knock his feet right out from under him and land him on his back, where his weight effectively knocked all the wind out of his lungs. As he struggled to breath, she had him flipped over and her knees in his kidneys, pinning him in place. She tied his wrists first, hard and tight, then his ankles. She had slid the back door open and pulled him inside, then opened some compartment from the back seat that led right to the trunk, which she shoved him through.

"What...what...what the fuck are you doing?" he gasped, finally able to breath again.

"Sorry, Ray," she said, smoothing back the hair that had fallen into his face. "You were a big help, but now I've got to do this on my own, and I know you're gonna be really pissed at me for doing what I have to do right now."

"What are you going to do?" he croaked.

She just shook her head. "Trade secret, dear. Now you be good and wait here. Victoria is probably going to need you pretty badly when I'm done. It was a lot of fun working with you, while it lasted." She kissed his cheek. "Bye." And she locked him in.

From his carrier, on the floor, beside the bed, Max was barking up a royal fit (a/n: see, told you I fixed it). It had reached his ears the second he'd come into the room, but he was used to Max's barking fits when he was in unfamiliar places, and hadn't thought much of it.

"Careful," Claudia said, when she saw the jump Vincent made. "I will shoot her."

"You shoot her and I'll kill you," Vincent said in a very low, very dangerous voice.

"You'll try. But I will take her with me, and it will be too bad for you." She smiled. "Plus, I'd think I have pretty good odds on walking away from you, Vincent."

"You didn't last time."

"Oh, bother," she said with a sly shake of her head. "Well, then I guess it stands to reason that I want a rematch, isn't it?"

Max continued to bark.

"Quiet, Max," Vincent said, his voice only a few notches above his speaking voice. Instantly, the tiny animal obeyed. To Claudia, he said, "What the fuck do you want?"

"First of all, I want you to put all that stuff down. Right there." She pointed with her free hand. "Now."

Vincent obeyed. The bottles of water rolled around on the sleek dresser's top, one of them hitting the floor.

"Leave it," Claudia sighed. "Clumsy ox."

"What are you doing here, Claudia?" Vincent snapped. His eyes went down, taking in the damage done to Victoria again. "What in God's name were you thinking?"

"Oh, relax, Vincent, I was very careful not to hit anything that might hurt the baby," Claudia said in a voice that was so coolly professional, Victoria shuddered underneath the gun pointed at her head. "Looks like this mommy is going to be confined to bed rest for a while, though, after we're done."

Vincent gritted his teeth so hard they ached.

"You didn't listen to me, Vincent," Claudia sighed. "I tried to tell you, really I did. Liabilities. Two of them, now. Look at you! Six months ago you would have slashed my throat already. Now, you're worried about somebody's life. It's practically amusing."

Victoria turned her face and pressed it into the mattress in an attempt to stifle her sobs.

Vincent had been relatively calm until that moment. But the word "liabilities," coming from her mouth again, referring to Victoria and now the baby, it was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Whatever it is you think you're going to accomplish with this," Vincent said, his voice dangerously calm, "I hope it was worth the risk."

"Oh, it's worth it," Claudia said with a toss of her head. "Now, the first thing you're going to do, Vincey baby, is you're going to strip."

He blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Strip," she said, her voice much colder this time. "Shirt, shoes, pants. All of it off. I want to make sure you don't have any weapons."

Vincent smirked at her. "Why don't you just admit you want to see me naked, Claudia."

Claudia scoffed. It was a rather transparent attempt to throw her off. He should have known better. "Please. I've seen Brad Pitt naked. Take off your shirt and your shorts. Now."

Vincent hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached up and started to undo the buttons of his shirt. It slid off his shoulders, and then he pushed the shorts he was wearing down to his ankles and stepped out of them. All this time, he did not take his eyes off of Claudia, and she met his glare the whole way.

"Good boy," she said. "Lift up the undertee. Want to be sure."

He lifted it up. By now Victoria had quieted her sobs into shuddering breaths, and she looked up in time to see the very ugly scar that the bullet had left in his chest, the night Max had shot him. It felt like such a long time ago.

Claudia clucked her tongue. "Looks like that one hurt."

"So-so," Vincent said.

"Probably nearly killed you."

"Probably did."

"Good thing you had the good doctor here to take care of you, huh?" Claudia said with a nudge of the gun barrel against Victoria's shoulder. "Well, at least now I know where it all came from."

"You don't know shit, Claudia," Vincent said smoothly. "You never will."

Claudia stared at him for a moment, and then chuckled. "Oh, with love comes wisdom, is that it? I don't know shit because I've never been in love. Well, from where I'm standing, it really looks like a pretty shitty situation to me. I mean, someone comes in, puts a gun to your girl, and you do whatever you're told. Let's see what else you'll do, other than show me your shorts. Go sit down in that chair." She pointed to the of the hotel chairs, its arms made of solid wood, sitting pulled out a bit from the room's solitary table. "I've got four of those plastic utility straps sitting there. Pick them up.".

Vincent glanced at the chair. He hesitated this time, glancing down at Victoria, who could only stare at him, mute with remorse.

"Yeah, it's all her fault," Claudia said aloud. "You sure you just don't want me to shoot her for you now?" She cocked the gun.

"No," Vincent said, his eyes shooting up to Claudia's arm. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" Claudia taunted.

"Don't threaten her. I'll do it." He walked over to the chair. "Uncock the gun and I'll sit."

Claudia seemed to consider. Then, both heard the sound of the hammer being put back in place. Vincent, true to his word, sat down, the plastic straps in his hand. He couldn't help but notice they were exactly like the ones he'd used to tie Max's hands to the steering wheel.

"Now put them on your ankles first, then your wrists. You'll have to pull the last one with your teeth."

Vincent had his hands on his knees at the moment, and considered the strips of plastic with their squared ends. Victoria waited in agony to see what he would do. If he tied himself to that chair, he was utterly helpless. That was it.

"I really don't know what you want to accomplish with this, Claudia," Vincent said, not moving his hand. "I mean, if you wanted to bring me in, to testify against Felix, this is really not the way to do it."

Claudia smiled at him. "What makes you so sure we need you?" she said. "We have Max. He talked to Felix. He identified you."

"That isn't enough and you know it. Besides, why else would you go through all of this? What is it you really want?"

"Put those on and I'll tell you," Claudia said, her voice a mild sing-song.

Vincent waited another moment, sighed, and bent down. The straps went around his ankles, and then he loosely pulled them around his wrists. He bent down and used his teeth to pull the plastic tight and then let go, with them locked firmly in place. First the right wrist, then the left.

"Good," Claudia sighed, then crawled onto the bed, sitting down at the head, Victoria at her heavily booted feet - clear kicking distance, Vincent noted. She moved wrong and Claudia would knock her senseless. "Now we can talk. That gun was getting heavy. Don't have the arm power I used to."

"Cut the shit," Vincent said. "You said you'd tell me. How did you even find us?"

"That would be Victoria's doing," Claudia said. She lifted up a card and flashed it at Vincent. "When I came to see her before, I gave her this - Detective Fanning's business card. You remember Fanning, don't you? The cop you shot outside the club Fever?"

Vincent rummaged through his memory. "Max was really pissed at me for that."

"Yeah, well, he was wearing Kevlar, lucky you. We left his card so she could call us to let us know when you were ready to come in. From what I can see, she didn't tell you about it. She probably knew you'd never do it, but wanted to keep the card for herself in case she needed it. Very much like a woman."

Vincent's head snapped to Victoria. "You didn't tell me you had a card from her?" he barked.

Victoria flinched. "Sorry," she muttered.

Vincent looked away, features taunt with rage.

"See, Vinnie?" Claudia said softly. "Liabilities. You would never have let her do something that stupid. But you can't be everywhere at once. You can't be inside her head making sure she doesn't fuck stuff up for you. And you certainly can't make sure she doesn't get herself pregnant."

Vincent whipped his head back around again, his rage even uglier full-frontal. His eyes darted from Claudia to Victoria, not sure which one he wanted to hate more at the moment.

"The way I see it," Claudia sighed, "we can do this two ways. Vincent, you can agree to come with me, back to the States, and turn yourself in. Your arrest would be a great way to wipe that big smudge off my slate that you made when you killed Shakespeare. Sure, you'd get arrested, but the Feds would probably want to use you to testify to a dozen murders or so to help them with some cases. They'd probably cut you a nice deal...if you lived to enjoy it. Or," she continued, "I can take Victoria here with me back to the States, and she can be arrested for illegally practicing medicine in the state of California, aiding and abetting - in her case, literal with that 'bed' thing, huh? - a criminal, and she can either expose you and testify against you in whatever case the Feds want to put together, affectively ruining your career, or she can spend the rest of her life rotting in jail. Not a good situation for a pregnant woman, really." Claudia shrugged. "I don't know, it's fucked up either way. I'd probably let me take her. I mean, you could always get plastic surgery, get your face changed, change your name, change everything, and go on with business as usual. Sure, they'll probably manage to successfully indict Felix, I'm sure Victoria will be no small help in that, and you're going to be in a lot of trouble with your employers for fucking up that job, but there are other fish in the sea. But if you've fucked up as bad as I think you have, I think you're going to go for option one."

"What makes you think you can keep me?" Vincent said. "What makes you think I won't escape, go to the States on my own, and execute every single person involved in this attempt to blackmail and terrorize me?"

Claudia shrugged. "True enough, you could. Might even work. But the second I hear you've escaped, and I will hear it, I will find and execute this little lady here, and her baby." She nudged Victoria with her foot, against her backside. "If you think you can beat me to her, that's a risk you can take."

Vincent glared again. Claudia laughed at it.

"Oh, the irony is perfect, isn't it?" she chuckled. "You've spent the last six years of your career terrorizing everyone into doing whatever you wanted - Max, that cabbie in Oakland, who knows who before that - and now it's being done to you. Really, really sucks, doesn't it?"

Slowly, her arms shaking the entire way, Victoria lifted herself up to a sitting position. "Knock it off, Claudia."

The ice blue eyes snapped to her. "You really aren't in any position, darling, to start with me," she said, the toe of her boot twitching ominously.

Victoria shook her head. She glared down at her bloodied feet. Now that the shock and the pain had mildly worn off, her head was starting to come back to her. "What if I volunteer to go with you."

Claudia nearly smiled. "That's very noble of you, Victoria."

"Something you wouldn't know about," Vincent muttered, looking away.

Claudia's eyes flicked to him and she shrugged, indifferent. "True enough. There isn't a single noble bone in my body. Or in yours, Vinnie dear. We're all about the mission, the kill. But you want to come back to the states with me, and save the daddy of your baby from making the hardest decision of his life. That's...admirable."

Victoria pulled herself up farther, careful not move too quickly. "Although with the way you fucked up my feet, I don't know how in the hell you're going to get me there, but yeah. That's what I'm going to do."

"No go," Vincent said, turning back to the situation. Wherever he'd been, it hadn't been there, at least, not mentally, for a good few minutes. "You're useless to them, Victoria. Your testimony would be thrown out as hearsay. And the hoops they'll have to jump through to use Max almost isn't worth the trouble. They need me, and she's not going to stop until they get me."

Claudia was silent, but her lips were curling into a rather superior smile.

"Think you guys can keep me alive long enough?" Vincent asked.

"No," Victoria said, more strongly. "You said either him or me, Claudia. I say me. Let's go."

Claudia held up a hand. "Vincent, are you asking, or are you requesting?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not. We could keep you alive long enough to testify. After that, I think you're skilled enough to keep your skin intact. It's a big world, there are lots of places to hide."

"It's a small world, Claudia, and you can't hide forever," Vincent returned.

"You always were so cynical. Your nihilism took all the light out of you."

"Claudia," Victoria interrupted, a hint of desperation in her voice now, "how can you do this? I mean, weren't you and Vincent...didn't you practically grow up together? Didn't you mean something to each other, once? Isn't there anything in your history together that would make you want to help him instead of seem him hung out to dry?"

Claudia looked at her as she spoke to Vincent. "What do you say, love? Is there anything?"

"Not a thing," Vincent muttered.

"You see, dear, I left him. Not because I fell out of love with him, but because I never loved him to begin with. It was just a matter of convenience that we were together, a stepping stone, if you would. And don't think it was any different for him. In fact, the Vincent I knew would never have gotten himself involved with you to begin with. Although I think I've made that clear enough times already. Right, Vinnie?"

"She's a murdering bitch, Victoria," Vincent said. "Don't try appealing to her humanity for a second. She hasn't got any."

"Sticks and stones. Neither does he, really. That's why he's having trouble saying he'll go. You notice you had to be the first to sacrifice yourself. The self-centered, cynical bastard in him that's been there his whole life, keeping him alive, is currently at full fledged war with the simpering wimp who thinks he's in love with you. And he can't get either one of them to give in."

"Then take me," Victoria pleaded, her chest tightening again. "Why don't you just take me, like you said?"

"Because Vincent was right, he's the real prize here. Sure, I could take you, but it's not nearly as good. They want him."

"Then what are you going to do with me?"

"Interesting question. Well. I could torture you for him to watch until he breaks. That might prove fun. Got a wire hangar? We could take care of your little problem."

Victoria's whole body recoiled with anger and horror. Her legs curled up and her knees locked together. No words vile enough could come out of her mouth.

"But I guess not," Claudia said, just as smoothly. Amused with herself. "That would probably only make Vincent happy, wouldn't it?"

Victoria edged herself away. Any farther and she was going to fall off the bed. With a sweep of her long, black-clad legs, Claudia rose from the bed and stretched.

"This is really starting to bore me," Claudia said. "Vincent, you'd better make up your mind soon, or I'm going to start doing some very ugly things, instead of just talking about them."

Vincent watched her, watched Victoria, his fists clenched together, knuckles starting to turn white. "All right, Claudia. But I have a few conditions, first."

Claudia turned to him, still smirking. "Oh, this must be grand."

"Untie her," Vincent said, pointing one finger at Victoria.

"Why?"

"Because she's harmless. Untie her."

Claudia shrugged. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a switchblade. She walked over to Victoria and cut the cord, which unwound itself from her wrists. Victoria rubbed her skin, getting the circulation going again in her hands.

"Max is probably ready to pee himself," Victoria said softly. "Can I get him out of his cage and take him into the bathroom?"

"What, he's going to use the toilet?" Claudia mocked.

"We put him in the bathtub," Victoria explained patiently. "He pees, we rinse it down-"

"Too much information," Claudia said. "No, no bathroom, but you can take the little runt out. Let him pee on the rug, I don't care. Just don't try anything stupid."

As Victoria bent down, there was a very dull humming sound. It came from Claudia's pocket. She reached inside, pulled out a small beeper, glanced at the phone. She went to the phone, picked up the receiver, and began to dial. She had her eyes on Vincent and Victoria the entire time.

When whoever answered, she said, "What do you want?"

Victoria opened the cage. Max practically flew into her arms. She reached farther inside, up into the lid. There was a slot there, for emergencies. A small pocket knife, kept razor sharp.

She had no idea in hell on how to get closer to Vincent.

Claudia was watching her the whole time. Her hand was hidden from view, but only for a few more seconds. She palmed the blade and slipped it into her pocket. As she pulled back, her bloody feet hurting too much to support her, she lost her grip on the dog and he went running across the room, to Vincent's feet.

"Get him!" Claudia snapped. "No, not you," she growled into the phone. "This is not the best time for this....no, I know there's a time table....by eight tomorrow, I know..."

Victoria crawled on her hands and knees toward where Max was sniffing Vincent's feet. She reached for the dog around his wiggling body, tried to pull him back. The slashes on her feet rubbed against the carpet, sending fresh shocks of pain up her legs.

"Get the fuck away from him!" Claudia barked, turning around. She aimed the gun at Victoria, who temporarily froze. The phone was still in Claudia's hand. "I'll call fucking back!" she hollered into the receiver, but whoever was on the other line would not be dismissed so easily.

Ignoring the pain, Victoria reached out with the blade, now open in her hand. She cut the plastic holding Vincent's ankle. The blade was so sharp it slipped through easily. As Claudia retorted something nasty to the other person on the phone, she cut the other ankle.

As Claudia turned around again, Victoria was at Vincent's wrist. Claudia saw it. She cocked the gun and fired.

A/N: you want to know the really awful part? I did have an extra half-paragraph describing what happened next, but I'm in just too evil of a mood to let you guys off the hook like that. Guess I've been writing Claudia for too long! Muh-ha-ha-hah! Anyway, too tired for responses tonight, and this was a very long chatper that wouldn't stop, so I'll just leave you with it. I'm sure I'll be getting plenty of angry reviews at the two cliffhangars in a row. But hey, I gotta keep you coming back, don't I? :) See you in a few days!