A/N: I don't have much to say except thanks Victoria for being the only person who reviewed it so far. Also, Sophia is going to be known as Rena from now on.
Chapter 2:Late Night Irish Coffee
Two hours later, the coffee house had cleared out except for Spike, Rena, and a few people sitting at the bar.Rena took a long drag of her cigarette and dropped the ashes into the tray. "So Spiegel, you want anything to drink?" Spike looked at the ceiling. "I don't want anything with coffee in it, that's for sure." Rena laughed a bit and whistled to the bartender. "Hey, Gareth! Two Irish coffees. One without the beans." Gareth nodded and went on his way. Rena looked at Spike. "He's going to bring you whisky instead. That's the code around the houses if you want straight booze." Spike shook his head. "I'll try to remember that." Just then, the drinks arrived. Rena took the glass with coffee and Spike took the glass of whisky.
"So, Spike," said Rena after taking a sip of her coffee, "What have you been up to for the past 5 years?" Spike sighed and lit up a cigarette. "I left the syndicate three years ago and became a bounty hunter." Rena took a long sip. "I never figured you would. Become a bounty hunter, I mean." She stared down the glass. "Did you fake your own death too?"
"I had to. It's the only way you can get out without them killing you."
Rena took another sip. "I bet you went out with a fight." Spike took a puff and blew up smoke. "Yeah, but you know you theory about happily ever afters?" Rena nodded. "That Prince Charming's Cinderella runs away before the wedding?" Spike put the cigarette in the ash tray and took a sip of his whisky. "Mine ran away."
Rena circled her glass with her finger. "Julia, huh? She was sweet. Oh well, Que Sera, sera. What happens, happens." Spike laughed a bit. She always said that. She didn't blame anyone. It was always Que Sera, Sera. "Are you still a bounty hunter, Rena?" She nodded. "Not much anymore." She pulled her license out of her pocket and showed it to Spike. "I mainly do this now." "Sophia Orlivio," he said, reading it. "When was the last time you went by your real name?" Rena lit up another cigarette. "You're the only person outside of Phoebe who knows it. Not even Annie knew it and she knew almost everything about me."
Spike handed her license back. "Lets see. In the syndicate, You were Sophia DeMarco. As a bounty hunter, you're Sophia Orlivio, and as a singer, Sophia Conners. Why?" Rena rolled her eyes. "To prevent background checks. If the coffee houses knew I was a bounty hunter, I couldn't perform. When I renewed my bounty hunter license, they didn't know I was in the syndicate. It's circular logic." She finished her coffee. "I bet you didn't change your name though."
"Correct." Spike sipped his whisky when something caught his eye. "You still have that?"
Rena looked at him strange. "What?"
Spike rolled his eyes and pointed to her neck. "That."
"Oh..." Rena took a blue and purple guitar pick necklace and a locket out of her shirt. She pointed to the pick. "This. Yeah, I still have it. I'll never get rid of it."
"You remember how you got it?"
"Like it was yesterday Spike. Six years ago, we were at the open air market and there was a man selling instruments. He had the prettiest guitar. A nice cedar with purple accents." She patted her guitar case and continued with her story. "I bought it, but I didn't have enough money for picks. You bought me three. One of them had a hole in it, but I kept it anyway." She grabbed the one around her neck and smiled. "That was a year before I left."
Spike nodded, remembering everything. "What about the locket?" "This?" Rena took it off and opened it up. She dangled it in front of Spike. The left side had a picture of a younger Rena and a woman hugging her. The right side had a photobooth picture of her and Spike. "From 7 years ago.", he said to himself.
"That's right," said Rena, "When we went to the old arcade on that rainy day. I think I tried to give you the strip but you told me to keep it. I still have it, but the one in the locket is my favorite. And it's weird, you're the only person I willingly put into the locket that wasn't my mom." She closed the locket and put it back on. "Hey Gareth! Put this on my tab, ok? I'll pay next time I'm here." Gareth rolled his eyes. "You've been saying that for the past two years!" "Well, this time I'm serious." Rena stood up and picked up her guitar case.
"Hey, where are you going?", said Spike, also standing up.
"I have a shuttle to catch for Ganymede in the morning." She put a purse over her shoulder. "It was nice seeing you again Spiegel" She dug into her purse and pulled out a little music box. "I wanted you to have this. It's been in my purse for four years, waiting for you to show up again." Spike took the music box and opened it. It started to play a song. "It's Simple and Clean." Rena nodded. "I remembered you liked it when I sang that song. Just open it up and wind it a few times if it stops." She walked over to the door and opened it. "See you soon, Spike." And with one swish of her hair, she was out the door and on the road again. Spike looked at the music box. The last time Rena said 'See you soon' was five years ago, before she fell.
A/N: How do you like so far? Please Review.