Chapter 4: Hook, Line, and Bounty!

Faye drew in a deep breath as she stood in front of the casual dining restaurant that the bounty-head was rumored to visit often. She smiled as Jet pulled her closer to himself. According to the information that Ed had found, the bounty-head had a soft spot for women and especially hated men who abused women. The strategy was to get him to take Faye to an apartment or some other place away from her 'abusive' boyfriend.

Over the past several years, Faye and Ed had begun to use regular make-up to give the appearance of bruises, scars, and other similar injuries and blemishes. Ed had spent some time studying in a movie make-up effects course to learn how to do all of these things. This time, they gave Faye a pair of mirrored sunglasses to hide her 'black eye'. They gave her a few other 'bruises' over her arms and a thin scar over her wrist to fully exhibit the idea that she had been beaten.

She decided to wear a three-quarters length sleeved shirt that hung loosely onto her thin form and a pair of baggy jeans barely held onto her by a belt. She held close to Jet and often looked around the diner, as though she was looking for a place to escape. Finally, she noticed that her bounty-head was sitting in the smoking section by himself and appearing bored out of his mind. As his gaze met hers, she flashed a thin, flirtatious smile before Jet sat her down at the counter on a barstool and handed her a menu.

Jet scowled as he growled out his order to a young waitress. His eyes flared in anger as he saw Faye looking away from himself. He grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at him instead of their bounty-head. His words were angry and insulting, not to mention just loud enough for all of the smoking section to hear, "Just who do you think you were making eyes at, you stupid bitch?"

Faye's eyes widened, not only as part of their façade, but also in surprise from hearing Jet use such harsh words—it just wasn't in his nature. "I—I'm so sorry, Lee… I thought I saw something over there that I wanted to order…"

"Well, don't you worry about that, 'cause I already ordered for you. You aren't getting much, 'else you'll get too fat for me to look at." Jet sneered as he reached into the pocket of his sable trench coat and pulled out a small bottle of gin.

The man could take no more. He nearly leapt up from his booth as he stormed towards Jet and Faye. He placed a hand on Faye's shoulder as his eyes shot daggers at Jet. "Men like you disgust me… You have no right to treat this poor woman in this manner. If you know what's good for you, mister, you'll leave her alone from here on out."

Jet slammed his hand onto the counter in frustration. "Are you trying to tell me how to treat my woman?"

The over-cocky bounty-head nodded as he slammed his fist into Jet's jaw, sending him flying off of his barstool. As he watched Jet begin to slink out of the restaurant, he shouted, "And don't come back!"

Faye's eyes sparkled as she looked up at her 'savior'. So far, the façade was falling in place perfectly. "Omigod!!! I don't know how I could ever thank you! Lee was so mean to me… and he would hit me whenever I said I wanted to leave… Thank you so much… My name is Natalie… and who are you?"

The man smiled as he brushed his hair out of his face with his right hand. "I am known as Charles Whitman. Call me Charlie."

Faye smiled as the young waitress brought out a small milkshake and handed it to her. She quickly pushed a straw into the drink and blushed as she saw Charles watching her with an unrelenting fascination. This bounty hunt seemed to prove the easiest money that she would receive in years.

Back on Mars, in a high rise apartment reserved for only the richest occupants, sat the woman whom had given Faye the latest solid lead in her search for the man known as Spike Spiegel. She stared at her empty fireplace as she sipped a glass of fine wine. Silently, she stood and approached the mantel that hung over the elaborate fireplace. She reached out for a framed photograph and spoke quietly to it. "My darling… Soon enough, I will exact vengeance for your death. I will not allow his death to be quick nor easy… He prevented us from receiving that which was rightfully ours… he will pay."

Vee sighed as she replaced the photo amongst the other various items over the mantel. She walked into the adjoining room and opened a tall, cherry cabinet. She withdrew a small bottle and with a slight rattle of its contents, emptied two sleeping pills into her palm. Just as silently as she had opened the cabinet, she closed it as she hastily threw the pills into her mouth. She flipped the light switches off as she took another sip of the wine to wash down the twin gel-caps. She snickered as she thought back to Faye's determination to find Spike. What she doesn't know is that she's going to lead us straight to him…

Faye giggled flirtatiously as she followed Charles into his apartment. He had paid for their dinner in the restaurant and left the young waitress a decent tip as they left the restaurant. It seemed that cash flowed endlessly from his wallet. He thought nothing of telling Faye that he was the leader of a widely known organization or taking someone strange to himself to his apartment. What kind of man with a bounty on his head was he? Apparently he did not even suspect Faye of being after the bounty placed on his capture.

She sat back on a leather couch and relaxed into the gentle curves of the cushions. Immediately, her mind began to wander to Spike. How many more places will I have to go? Will he still remember me? Will he be alone, or will he be with someone? A woman? … I never really thought of it that way… I don't know what I would do if I found him with someone else. I've spent all of this time searching for him, imagining how it will feel to hold him in my arms and feel his skin touching mine… I don't know how I'd react…

Charles grinned at Faye as he sat next to her. Minus the bruises, she really was a beautiful woman. Not just on the outside, he noted, but there was a special woman within her heart as well. He mentally laughed at himself as he realized that he had thrown all caution to the wind, just to comfort this woman. He knew very well about the price on his head, but he also knew that he had back-up, if he needed it.

Faye fingered the pill packet in her pocket—this was how she was going to make sure that this operation was going to go smoothly. She smiled as she stood and made a move towards Charles's kitchen. "I'll get us something to drink, okay?"

Charles nodded as he slumped down into his couch. His mind was already beginning to cloud with the pleasurable things that he considered were definitely in his near future. Moments later, when the woman he knew as 'Natalie' returned with a pair of filled wine glasses, he could only envision how the finer details of the night would occur. Yes, he did respect women enough that he refused to hurt them, but he also considered the perks of having one spend the night with himself.

Faye watched quietly as Charles reached for his glass. The burgundy wine hid the slight discoloration of the drink caused by the drug that she had added to it. She silently reached for her glass and took a sip, just in case he would suspect her of drugging the wine. She had learned over the years that if she would only drug one glass, often the plan would slip through her fingers when she lost track of which glass she had drugged. So, in recent years, she had found a stimulant-type drug that countered the effects of the sleeping powder that she used to pacify her targets. She took the stimulant before she would begin drinking the drugged liquid. She often told the very bounties that she was about to turn in that she was taking an aspirin or other type of medicine. None of them ever questioned her motives.

Sweat beaded on Faye's forehead as she waited for the swift results of her 'magic powder', as Jet had once called it. Once more, her mind wandered to Spike. Was he still hunting bounties? No, he couldn't have been—she would have found him by now. Perhaps he had moved into another line of work…

"Natalie, are you well? You seem… distracted." Charles took a sip of his wine and moved closer to Faye.

Long ago, Faye had discovered that it was far easier to be honest, though vague, while talking to bounty-heads than to make up everything as she went. Too often she would trip over her own words and contradict herself. Faye shrugged as she took another sip. "Just… thinking of something."

"That scumbag that was hurting you? Don't tell me that you feel bad about that!" Charles hunched forward, fidgeting with the wineglass in his hands. He hastily gulped half of the drink before looking back at Faye. "Why ever did you deal with that man?"

Faye had prepared for this question, but her dialogued answer slipped from her mind for a few moments. "He didn't used to be this bad… He's had things go wrong for him and he just… takes it out on me sometimes."

"That doesn't make it right, Natalie! He hurts you! What if he actually did permanent damage?" Charles sipped the last of his wine as he awaited Faye's reply.

Faye paled for a moment as she watched Charles drink the wine nearly as fast as water would be drunken. "I don't know… he's gonna be mad enough as it is…"

"Don't go back to him… Stay here in this apartment with me. I won't let him come for you, I promise." Charles leaned toward Faye as he began to feel the weight of the alcohol on his eyelids. He hooked a finger under her chin and pulled her face closer to his, drawing the woman into a kiss.

Faye was beginning to wonder how much longer she would be able to act as she felt the man's entire weight slump over onto her. She gingerly lay him down on the couch and withdrew her handcuffs from her purse, making sure to lock them onto his wrists tightly as she also pulled out her communication devise and called for her partners to come retrieve their bounty.

Faye's thoughts wandered once more to Spike as she stared at Charles. Would Spike be that caring when she found him? This man whom she had barely met seemed willing to risk his everything just for her comfort. Then again, she wondered, would she ever even find Spike?

A.N. Okies, I know I took way too long to finish that chapter, and anyone who was looking forward to it six months ago or whenever I was working on this last—I'm sorry. I've been seriously neglecting fanfiction lately—my side jobs especially. I can't begin to promise or estimate when the next chapter will be done, but I am willing to take a list of those readers who would like to receive a newsletter or bulletin from me in the advent of my finishing of this fic. By my plans there should be at least another four to five chapters left on this one. I'm not trying to ruin anything for anyone, but I'm going to try to keep the plot line simple from here on out. I am not sure that I will have the energy to create another 40 chapter fan fic, especially one that has a much darker mood than I am normally used to working with. (Sorry if I sound lazy, but thats just the way life works.)