Disclaimer: See chapter 1

All in the Name of Love

Chapter II: Part 3

The three were sitting at the bar enjoying a drink while the marshal and two of his deputies went through the task of identifying the bodies and totaling up the bounty. One of the deputies called the marshal over. Conversing amongst themselves quietly, Aisha took another drink of Ctarl Ale and said. "One of the guys we killed didn't have a bounty on his head."

Suzuka and Gene turned their attention to Aisha.

"In fact, he didn't have a criminal record at all."

"You could hear them from over here?" asked Gene.

"Mmm hmm." She nodded while taking another drink.

"Do you know which one of us killed him." Suzuka asked.

Aisha listened carefully for a minute then said. "He died from a bullet to the head." She turned. "That means you Gene."

As if right on queue.

"Hey Gene!" The marshal called.

Gene turned around, "yeah."

"Looks like one of you got a little trigger happy and gunned down an innocent man." said the marshal.

"Boy is more like it, this guy couldn't be more than nineteen years old." added the deputy.

"Well, that would have been me. I'll admit I didn't go around asking everyone in here for proof of identification but I did say for anyone not wanted by the law to leave."

The marshal turned to the bartender who was making a futile attempt at straightening up the place.

"Is that right Pete?"

"Ugh, ah, yeah marshal that's right. The red-haired fella over there made it real clear they were here to take down all them criminals and if there be anyone not a criminal here. They udda leave in a hurry like. He waited some couple minutes before the figh'n start'd. No one took heed o' his warning, no one. Cep me, I hid out in the boss's office till they gave me the all clear."

"Well, that's good enough for me. Must have been a recruit of Tanner's." He looked down at the body. "Pete, the deputy here is going to take down your statement and have you sign it. Alright?"

"Sure Marshal, anythin you say."

The deputy closest to Pete walked over to him and pulled out a palm pad to take down Pete's statement. Satisfied the issue was dead; Gene turned around and went back to his drink.

**********

"All right, your total bounty comes out to 770,000 wong. Unfortunately, I'm not authorized to sign over a sum that large. You'll have to hang around town another day or two till I can get authorization. That won't be a problem will it?"

"No, I suppose not." Replied a disappointed Gene.

"You'll have to settle up with the owner of the tavern on your own." The marshal added.

"Yeah, okay. Can we go now?"

"Yeah, you're free to go."

As they walked out into the mid-afternoon sun Aisha caught sight of Jim and Melfina running in their direction.

"Hey you guys, Jim and Mel are coming."

Gene and Suzuka turned in the direction Aisha was pointing.

Gene stepped forward to meet them.

"Jim, what's wrong?"

"That's what we came to find out." Jim responded.

"Gene, you've been shot!" Melfina rushed over to him to check his wounds.

"Just a couple of scratches, that's all."

But there was no stopping Melfina from dawdled over him.

"Aisha! You're covered in blood." A shocked Jim announced.

"Don't worry about it Jim, it's not mine." Aisha waved off the boy's concerns.

"So what happened?" Jim asked. "You guys left without saying a word."

"A stool pigeon from over at the space dock said the last of the bountyheads were held up at this tavern." He pointed at Tario's Tavern.

"He said they were planning on leaving the system if they didn't hear back from them within the hour."

"So we raced over here to get them before they had a chance to get away." Aisha added enthusiastically. "And it was worth it, 770,000 wong worth it. He, he, he." She clapped her hands together and smiled broadly.

"Though we did cause a considerable amount of damage to the Tavern. I am sure repairs will take a considerable portion of the total bounty." injected Suzuka.

"That was you and Gene. I don't know why I should have to cover any of the damages from my cut?" The cat girl protested, placing her hands on her hips.

"Because that's what we agreed. Whenever more than one of us would take on a bounty, we would all share in any damage expense. And if I remember correctly, you were the first to agree." Gene reminded her.

"Hmm." Aisha pouted.

"So what do we do now? Can we finally leave this place and go back home to Heifong?" asked Melfina.

"Unfortunately no. The marshal isn't authorized to pay out a bounty this large so we have to wait around a couple more days to get our money." The outlaw stated.

"Oh." Melfina's expression fell slightly.

"I say we celebrate!" The Ctarl Ctarl yelled.

"I'm all for that. What about you Suzuka?" The outlaw asked.

"As much as I enjoy all of your company, I feel I must decline. Drinking myself senseless is not my idea of a good time." She started off in the direction of the spaceport.

"Suit yourself." Gene responded. "So Melfina, Jim, what do you say? Want to celebrate?"

"Sure." Responded Melfina with a smile.

"Sure, lets start by getting something good to eat." added Jim.

"Sounds good, lets go." Gene turned towards the car.

"Wait!" yelled the Ctarl Ctarl.

"What now?"

"I'm not going out to celebrate looking like this." She said gesturing with her hands to her bloodstained clothes.

Gene grabbed the edge of his shirt and gave it a whiff. "Hmm, I suppose I could afford a change of clothes and a shower too. Lets go."

Jim and Aisha headed over to the car Jim and Melfina arrived in, and Gene and Melfina went to the car he had driven, got in and started to head for the Outlaw Star. As they approached Suzuka, who was already a kilometer way, Jim offered her a ride back to the ship. She accepted it, getting in the back seat and remaining quiet during the ride while Aisha entertained Jim with stories of her heroic actions.

~~~~~~~~

AN: Sorry it took so long to update. I hope to update more frequently in the future, at least once a week.

While OLS ff doesn't get the attention it once did, it's still one of my favorite shows and has some of my favorite characters in all of anime. For this reason, I will continue to update this story to completion. I hope those of you who do read this enjoy it. I know I enjoy writing about Aisha, Mel, Jim, Gene and Suzuka. ^_^

A. Amishi