Off to see the Wizard...

Spike stood in the center of the massive room, immersed in a sea of sound. Somewhere above him was a speaker playing piped-in cool jazz. To his right was the four-story-tall artificial waterfall whose spray was gently dampening his jacket. And all around him was the chattering of people and the whirring, shuffling, and dinging of the games.

Faye sighed and tapped her foot. She was standing near the entrance, trying her best to keep from dashing after Spike. She could see him from where she stood, and although nothing had happened yet, she expected an attack at any moment. She calmly told herself that Spike knew what he was doing, and she should stay put.

Gordon sat in his office with Sid, his new head if security, perusing the security monitors and trying to make small talk. Sid's face suddenly turned ash-white. "Call Lin, right now," were Sid's only words to Gordon before he rose and headed towards the door. "Tell him Spike's in the casino!" he shouted as he ran out the office door and down the hall to the elevator.

Gordon spun around in his chair and started to reach for the phone, but then hesitated for a second. "Hmm, what is this?" he thought to himself as he noticed an attractive young woman standing outside the casino doors, pacing back and forth.

Spike stared up at the camera set into the ceiling and smile darkly, then walked forward out of its line of sight. He strolled past a bank of computer slots, where gamblers were frantically feeding 100-woolong coins into the hungry machines. Quickly and suddenly, Spike sidestepped, opened a door, slipped through, and closed it behind him.

The smooth, gently-curving white walls of the service corridor were a relief after the bright flashing colors of the casino proper. Spike leaned against a wall and paused a moment to light a cigarette. Once his light had been returned to his pocket, Spike took an idle puff and started down the corridor.

Faye turned around and realized that Spike was no longer standing in her view. She took a few steps into the casino, hesitated, then headed in the direction she thought he had gone.

Gordon picked up his phone and dialed the number Lin had given him to use in case of an emergency. Judging by Sid's reaction, this was just such an occasion. He glanced back towards the monitors and noticed that the young woman wasn't outside the doors anymore, but just as he began to scan the other monitors to discern her whereabouts he heard Lin's voice crackle through the line. "What's going on, Gordon?" Lin's voice still sent shivers down Gordon's spine, and he was almost too scared to speak. "Sp-sp-spike's in the casino, sir," Gordon stammered into the phone, fearing the reaction he would get from Lin.

The news hit Lin like a kick in the stomach, "What in the... I'll be right there! Tell the men not to make any moves until I arrive!" Before he had even hung up his phone Lin was rushing through the doors to the cockpit, screaming for the pilot to turn back around.

Spike strolled down the service corridor. He paused at a t-junction, then turned left. The corridor ended in a door that in turn opened into a stairwell. Spike climbed the steel steps one at a time, the clangs of footsteps resonating in the enclosed space.

Finally, he emerged at the top of the stairwell. This next service corridor was much plusher. And, if Spike was correct, led directly to Gordon's office.

Gordon sat in his office with his head in his hands. How did he let himself get caught up in all this? Lin had sounded furious over the phone, and from the way the security personnel were behaving it seemed like no good could come of this Spike character being in the casino. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "There's Red Dragon soldiers everywhere, they'll keep an eye on him while he's out on the casino floor. When Lin gets here, he'll handle the whole situation. I'll probably never even see this guy in person," Gordon chuckled to himself nervously. Just then he caught a glimpse of his hallway monitor, and the man Sid had called Spike was making his way towards Gordon's office. Suddenly, Gordon's face went as pale as Sid's had when he had first seen Spike outside the casino.

Spike paused in front of a plain door. It was, like the rest of the corridor, painted a neutral beige. On it were the simple numbers "0253." From here, janitors and other unsightly staff could access Gordon's suite without being seen by any casino patrons.

Spike turned the handle and was gratified to see that the door was unlocked. He stepped inside.

Gordon's eyes snapped from the monitor to the door as he heard the latch click open. The beads of sweat that had formed on his brow started to roll down his face and his bottom lip began to tremble as he rose from his chair and began to put on a display. "What in the hell... do you know where you are? Do you know who I am? You're going to get yourself killed!" " Gordon tried to take the offensive, hoping that he could stall Spike until Lin arrived to take care of business. "One push of a button and this room will be swarming with armed security. I suggest you leave the way you came in, right about now!"

Lin's ship landed in the dock of the casino, and he was halfway out the door as soon as it opened. He didn't know what to do, dealing with Spike had never been something he thought he'd have to handle himself. He swiped his card and entered through the service doors, where Sid was waiting for him with several armed guards. "Where is he?" Lin demanded, pushing Sid against the cold cement walls of the corridor. "I, I don't know sir, we were waiting for you..." Sid tried to explain himself, but he saw the anger in Lin's eyes. "Incompetents, all of you!" Lin screamed as he let go of Sid and proceeded down the corridor and though the door onto the main casino floor. He drew his guns and began scanning the casino for Spike, still not sure of what action to take. He knew Vicious wanted Spike captured alive, but Lin still felt some loyalty to Spike after they had been through together. "Damn this, I'll go to Gordon's office and check the monitors," he thought to himself as he headed towards the elevator doors.

Spike paused a moment to take another drag on his cigarette. The tip glowed red in the darkened corner of the room. He stepped out of the shadow, Jericho light in his hand. "Yeah, I know," Spike said calmly... "But there's something that I don't know. Something that you're going to tell me."

He moved forward and placed his free hand flat atop Gordon's desk. "You'd be dead before security got here, and you know that. So don't even think of touching that button. It's a fair exchange - you tell me what I want, and I leave."

Spike plucked his cigarette from his mouth and held it between his fingers for a moment. "So tell me, Gordon. Where's Vicious?"

Faye rushed through the casino. Where could he have gone? She hadn't seen him leave - she had only looked away for a moment, and then he was suddenly gone. Glancing behind her to make sure she wasn't being watch, she slipped into one of the back corridors.

Sid was trying to compose himself to go out and face Lin and Spike when he saw the casino doors open at the end of the corridor. He drew his pistol and ordered his men to raise their weapons as well, not knowing what to expect coming through the door. A dark-haired young woman closed the door behind her, peeking into the casino to see if she had been seen slipping into the hall. "Hands up, bitch!" Sid ordered, he loved flexing his authority, especially to women.

Gordon was visibly sweating at this point, and he could feel his silk shirt sticking to his body. This man had the upper hand on him and was fully aware of it. "Look, I don't know anything about a Vicious, all I know is that my security are all Red Dragon soldiers, even if you kill me you'll never walk out of this casino alive." Gordon realized he had just blown his act of playing dumb by mentioning the syndicate, but it was too late to back down now. "I answer to a man named Lin, that's all I know, please don't kill me..." he begged as he prayed for someone, anyone, to show up and get him out of this mess.

Lin kicked open the door to Gordon's office and strode in without even acknowledging Gordon. "Need to check your monitors, Chief," he muttered as he walked into the room. He glanced over to look at Gordon and noticed Spike staring back at him. Lin bit his bottom lip and considered the situation. "Of all the gin joints in all the galaxy..." Lin cracked as he tried to read his former comrade's intentions.

Spike grinned. "Lin," he said, as both a greeting and a label. "Good to see you again. I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm running on a tight schedule here. Maybe you can help me out, and we'll each go our own ways?"

He toyed with the Jericho, counting on his reputation. Lin knew perfectly well how fast on the trigger he was, and hoped that that would be enough to ensure his survival. Because he really didn't know if he could kill his old friend.

Faye turned around slowly, "Come on, would you really point a gun at a lady trying to find the restroom?" She asked, tilting her head to the side trying give the impression of an innocent young woman who was completely lost. Inside, she was kicking herself. Spike was going to kill her for this. Absolutely kill her.

Sid was not amused by the woman's explanation. "Well then by all means, please allow us to escort you ma'am," he spat as condescendingly as possible. He strode to the end of the hall towards Faye and grabbed her roughly by the arm, "Let's go to the executive washroom upstairs." He dragged her through the casino towards Gordon's office, his men in tow.

Lin eyed Spike somewhat suspiciously, not sure of how he should handle the situation. "As long as your way takes you out of this casino and far, far away from anything to do with the syndicate, we might be able to reach a deal," he began, "But if you came here hoping to be some kind of hero, you might be interested to know that the syndicate's under new management. I've got orders to capture you alive, but we both know that's not going to happen."

Gordon couldn't believe how calm Lin was being in the given situation, "What in the hell are you doing? Shoot this motherfucker!" he half-yelled, half-pleaded. Lin raised his pistol and fired a shot right past Gordon's head and into the chair behind him. "You can go ahead and leave the two of us alone, Gordon," Lin ordered quietly, "Tell the others to wait outside as well."

As always, Lin had defused the situation with grace and ease. That was one of the many things about Lin that Spike had always admired. And now, despite the fact that they were old colleagues, they were technically enemies. If Spike regretting anything about this little fact-finding mission, it was that fact that he regretted most of all.

"I just want some information, and then I'll leave," Spike told Lin. "Mister Executive here couldn't find his ass with both hands, much less tell me what I want. So I'll make you the same deal I offered him. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll leave quietly. No one needs to get hurt."

Faye struggled as Sid grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along. "I don't think this is what I had in mind when you mentioned an escort," She muttered under her breath. Her eyes scanned the corridor, looking for possible escape routes for when she freed herself of Sid's grip - if she could.

Sid dragged Faye across the lobby and towards the elevators. He pinned her against the wall with one arm while he pushed the "up" button with his free hand. "Don't worry Sweetheart, it's much nicer upstairs," he chuckled as the elevator doors spread open and he tossed Faye inside, "Just you wait and see." The men filed into the elevator and waited quietly as it rose to Gordon's floor. The doors opened to reveal a shaking, sweaty Gordon pacing nervously in front of his office...

Faye sighed softly as they exited the elevator. She watched Gordon pacing in front of the doors and held her breath. Not only did she owe him more money than she'd made in her lifetime, the fact that he was out of his office meant only one thing. Spike was in there.

Lin turned his back to spike and let out a heavy sigh, he knew he could trust Spike not to shoot him in the back. "Damnit Spike, you can't keep doing this on-again, off-again thing. You know damn well I can't help you, and if I do it just means that we'll have to meet up on less friendly terms. Don't think I don't know why you're here." He turned back around to face Spike before speaking again, "So why don't you just drop this whole hero act and call it a day? For both our sakes?"

Spike shrugged. He dropped the butt of his cigarette onto Gordon's plush carpeting, then withdrew the rumpled packet from his pocket. He selected a cigarette for himself, then offered the packet out to Lin. "I'd like to," he said. "But if I don't seek him out, then he'll find me - and I'd rather do this all on my own terms. Surely you've noticed something about him - that he's been rather obsessive lately."

Spike smiled ruefully. "There's another thing we have in common. Neither of us is willing to let go." He looked up at Lin and regarded his friend-and-enemy with a steady gaze. "I appreciate the effort, but you can only delay the inevitable. Maybe ... maybe I'm coming back to Red Dragon one last time."

Lin glanced down at the pack of cigarettes Spike was offering him. He waved his wand and shook his head in refusal, he didn't want to come out of this feeling like he owed Spike anything. "Maybe you are, but you don't understand what it's like these days. The Dragon isn't just about business anymore, Vicious doesn't care about anything but killing you. Why do you think we took this place over?" Lin walked across the room towards the double doors of the entrance, "Look, come downstairs with me, I'll get you some woolongs for your trouble, enough so that you can disappear and we can call this a day." He swung the door wide open hoping that Spike would accept his proposal, but knowing that he would refuse. He saw Gordon waiting as expected, but Sid was there as well with several guards and a young woman. "What the hell is this about?"

Faye watched the doors swing open and Spike and a man she did not know were standing inside. Her eyes met Spike's and conveyed an apology that she wouldn't speak. She didn't want these people to know that she was with him. It would give them the upper hand.

Spike shot Faye a harsh I'll-deal-with-you-later look, then focused his attention back on Lin. He needed to worry about getting what he wanted and staying alive, not on reprimanding Faye for getting in trouble once again.

"Close the door, Lin," Spike said quietly. "You know I can't take that offer. I don't need your money or anything else from you, except to know where Vicious is." An edge crept into his voice. "I have to find him. And you know why that is as well as I do."

Faye cringed at the look in Spike's eyes. He was obviously not happy with her for this. She had expected that, but when he vanished did he really think she wouldn't follow him?

Lin noticed the exchange between Spike and the woman who was standing outside Gordon's office. There was definitely a connection there. Judging by Gordon's reaction to her presence, he knew her as well. An idea sparked in his mind and in a flash he raised his weapon towards the woman. "Seen this woman before, Spike?" Lin cracked knowingly, hoping he had read the situation correctly. "It would be a shame for something to happen to her. Maybe you should speak up before something does."

Gordon's eyes widened in fear. Faye was into him for a lot of money and if Lin killed her, he would never see any of it. He started to protest Lin's actions, but as he raised his arm and opened his mouth one of Sid's men elbowed him in the ribs, knocking the breath from his lungs. "Stay quiet for now, little man," hissed one of the Syndicate guards ominously before he turned back to see how Spike and Lin would resolve the situation.

Spike shrugged noncommittally. "I don't care what happens to her," he said. He glanced about the room, panning across each of its inhabitants indiscriminately and unconcerned - including Faye. "Right now, she's the least of my worries... And this doesn't change anything," he added, before Lin could respond.

He stepped forward, fixing Lin with his piercing stare. The look was neither friendly nor hostile - simply intense. "I don't know whether or not I could get out of here alive, but I do know I could take most of you with me," Spike said, directing the statement to the room at large. "If I do get away, then you'll be dead for nothing. If I don't ... well, I think Vicious would be upset with you because he wanted the honors for himself. So we're at a stalemate, Lin. I told you before - it's best for everyone if you tell me what I want to know, and then I'll leave."

Faye closed her eyes, wondering if Lin would carry out his threat. She hadn't known what to expect from Spike, and she only hoped he had a plan to get her the fuck out of there. Hell, she hoped he was bluffing. She wasn't ready to die, even though she had followed Spike there to make sure it was he who stayed alive.

Lin shrugged, "Suit yourself." Knowing that the girl could be of use to Vicious in the future, he raised his gun slightly, aiming for a non-vital spot on Faye's right shoulder and fired. He lowered his gun slowly, but his eyes quickly returned to Spike. He was not at all sure if Spike had been bluffing when it came to his concern, or lack there of, for the girl.

The bullet tore through Faye's flesh, and she let out scream as she fell backwards. The scene of her standing with Spike replayed through her mind in slow motion as she hit the ground. She could feel nothing but pain - so much so, that she couldn't tell it was pain - and she no longer cared about where she was. Her eyes, closed when the bullet had hit her, remained that way.

There was no way that Spike ever would have thought that Lin would call the bluff. "Faye!" he exclaimed, rushing forward to her side. When he saw that she was quite unconscious, bright red blood staining the shoulder of her outfit, the tiny part of him that had kept his emotions restrained finally snapped.

As Spike whirled around and to his feet in a single motion, he drew his Jericho and leveled it exactly two feet from Lin's forehead. He heard all around him the sounds of guns being readied and primed. If he did anything, Lin's goons would fill him with bullets until he was more lead than flesh.

"If anyone tries something, the first one to die will be you," Spike said, his voice so cold that it could have shattered steel. "Loyalty before friendship, Lin - but I guess that's always how you were. This is useless. Tell your men to back off, and I'll take Faye and get out of here."

Lin's eyes looked past the gun in his face and directly into Spike's. "All I've asked you to do so far is leave, now you can." He cleared his throat and raised his voice as he addressed the Syndicate soldiers, "Noone is to accost either of these people on their way out, now lower your weapons and get the hell back to your positions."

Lin turned his attention back to Spike, who still had the Jericho pointed at his forehead. "Not that we've got this sorted out, let me tell you, as a friend, not to go any farther with this. You've obviously got far too much to lose," he nodded in Faye's direction before turning to go back into the office. "Maybe I'll see you later, Spike, but I hope not. For both of our sake's"

Faye moaned softly on the floor. She could hear voices and make out words, but she couldn't put the words into a formula that made a sentence. Her brain was dull, but moving enough to remember now that she was hurt. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to stop breathing. It hurt to breath; the moving of her chest up and down caused her shoulder to throb. Her brain focused on that one thought, but even as she tried, her body refused to acquiesce. With each breathe, she moaned softly again.

Spike backed up, not taking the gun off Lin's face, until he stood over Faye's inert form. "This isn't over, Lin," he said. "You know I'll find him, even if you won't tell me." He should have known that Lin would refuse to help ... that's how he'd always been. Loyalty before friendship.

Spike carefully replaced the Jericho and picked up Faye in his arms, trying to jar her injured shoulder as little as possible. He headed for the door, praying that he wouldn't be shot in the back.

One of the guards left his gun in the air, sweeping it along to follow Spike as he walked over to Faye and picked her up. Faye's eyes opened slightly as she was lifted and through the haze she could see the gun pointed at Spike, "Spike," she said softly, her voice strained and barely audible. Pain shocked her body again, but she was aware enough of the surroundings that she had to warn him.

The warning wasn't needed. The syndicate guard spoke up shortly. "Stop right there. I don't care what Lin said, Vicious ordered us to bring Spike back to him at the main Headquarters. Put down the girl now, Spike." The young guard was brash, but he didn't want to disobey the order from their highest leader. He was already shocked that Lin would consider disobeying Vicious - it had been Lin who had guided him in training, the main point of which was the loyalty the syndicate should never be compromised for personal reasons.

Not good. Spike gently lay Faye back down on the ground, silently apologizing to her in his mind. He'd tried ... oh, he'd tried. Getting partway back to his feet, he started to raise his hands.

Then, he spun around, right hand diving into his pocket to retrieve the Jericho and fire two shots at the guard who'd spoken. The man went down, his face a bloody ruin. Spike used the rest of his momentum to dive across the room and behind Gordon's heavy steel desk. which provided a slight barrier and brought him closer to the door. An instant later, the air was filled with flying lead.

The door was ten feet away - ten open, exposed feet during which he'd be a sitting duck, plsu the extra second or two it would take for him to open it and get through. The wall in front him him had once displayed a gorgeous tapestry, which had been completely shredded by submachine gun fire. Spike wasted a fraction of a second contemplating what those same bullets would do to him, then wiped it from his mind.

Carefully, he leaned around the edge of the desk and fired off three shots and rapid succession. Two of his marks went down, while the third man remained standing. And shit - they were moving forward. They'd be at the desk in a moment, at which point he wouldn't stand a chance.

Faye's unmoving form lay on the floor where he'd left her. In the face of pain, all her masks were gone, leaving only the impression of terror and helplessness. She seemed so small that for a moment, Spike almost felt bad about leaving her -

Disrupting the train of thought, a bullet buried itself in his left arm, lodging next to the bone just above his elbow. With a sharp grunt, Spike pulled back behind the desk, clutching his bicep. Dark blood leaked between his fingers, staining the blue fabric of his jacket. He had to make a run for the door.

Keeping low, Spike dashed across the room, emptying his Jericho in the direction of the Syndicate guards. He wrenched open the door and started through just as another bullet impacted into his side. Spike landed ungracefully in the hall and slammed the heavy service door behind him, bolting it.

The moment the door closed, the sound of gunfire was muted so it seemed almost like a far-off dream. But far too much adrenaline surged through his system for this to be anything other than reality. With a grimace, Spike tried to get to his feet, but a sharp stab of pain from his side forced him to fold once again. He collapsed against the wall, teeth clenched.

There was no time. The door wouldn't hold them for long. Using the wall as a support, Spike slowly pushed his way back to standing again. The cream-colored walls of the long hallway stretched before him. The world started to blur, then snapped back into focus as he shook it off.

Slowly, painfully, and laboriously, Spike staggered the distance to the nearest door - in this case, a service closet. He ducked into it and closed it behind him, then hid in the darkness behind a row of buckets and mops. A thin line of light from under the door was the only witness that he was not trapped in some tiny, hellish cell. Spike took several deep breaths, trying to overcome the pain. A part of him just wanted to stay here and fall asleep -

- No. That was the blood loss talking. Outside in the corridor, Spike heard a slam as the door to Gordon's office finally popped open, followed by hurried footsteps. He counted to twenty after they were gone. Getting to his feet, he opened the door a crack and peered out into the hallway.

It was, for all purposes, deserted. In the opposite direction that the footsteps had gone, perhaps a hundred feet ahead, was a service elevator. Feeling slightly more revilatized as the endorphins kicked in, Spike bolted for the steel doors.

The elevators doors slid aside moments later to reveal a portly woman in a white apron accompanied by an ugly cart. She opened her mouth to scream, but was cut off when Spike stepped inside the elevator and clapped a hand over her mouth. He hit the "Close" button, then the button for the parking sublevels. Safely inside, he slid back against the elevator wall.

The maid stared mutely at the armed-and-bleeding man who'd just entered her elevator. Spike treated her to one of his meaningful looks. From there, she decided that the best course of action would be to cower behind her cart and hope he wouldn't notice she was there.

With a cheery "ding," the elevator doors slid open to reveal the invidiual airlocks where casino patrons could park their zips, shuttles, and other assorted spacecraft. The Swordfish rested gently in Bay #2307.

A long, painful, and incredibly nervous walk later, Spike slipped into the familiar controls of the zip that had been gifted to him by the old racer Doohan. As the adrenaline wore off, he began to feel dizzy and sick. The pain that wracked the entire left half of his body was unrelenting. Spike forced himself to focus - he had to get back to Estoria. If he passed out somewhere in space, he'd bleed to death and the faithful zip would drift until some lucky pirate picked it up - and probably sold it for scrap metal.

That thought alone was enough to shake Spike out of it. With iron self-control, he mentally clamped down on the pain and sent the Swordfish rocketing down towards Mars.

Footsteps clanged on metal, and with a quiet whoosh the door of the Bebop slid aside. The living room was deserted except for Paris sitting on the couch. Spike stared at her blankly for a moment, uncomprehending, then finally managed, "They've got Faye."

Back home and message convey, Spike finally let himself crumple to the floor. The darkness closed in over his head, bringing its sweet release.