hides behind kate ehehe, soo sorry for the long wait. i just hope you like the update enought to leave a review.

ed: review! review! or ed will come and find you.

chaos: yeah, what she said. and no i do not own cowboy bebop. damn!

An Eye for an Eye

Chapter Four: Cirque de Soliel: Macabre

Slowly, green eyes fluttered open to a hall of mirrors. A shaky hand felt around a fiery red-haired covered head, finding a rather large bump on the left side. Kate hissed as her fingers grazed the sore spot and quickly withdrew her hand from her head. The lump was still tender and her vision blurred with a wince every time she moved her head too much. She hadn't even tried to get up yet and the memory of the butt of a gun connecting loudly with her skull was still painfully fresh. Lying there, Kate did her best to take in her surroundings. The mirrors seemed to enclose her, cutting off any escape route that flitted through her mind. The blood pumping loudly in her ears was the only sound she could hear until the floor beneath her began to hum with life. The ceiling seemed to rush down at her and she screamed in fear of being crushed. 'I always knew I would die this way. Kasmira had constantly told me that my claustrophobia was stupid. But I knew better. Now I wish I was wrong' To Kate's surprise however, the ceiling opened and gave way to a giant rotating stage.

Cold, maniacal laughter echoed throughout the auditorium as Vicious came into view. Kate sat up to get a better view of her surroundings, leaning back on her hands to stay up. Vicious looked at Kate with a fierce, cold-blooded glare and nodded his head. Two men came from behind her, grabbing Kate by the arms and dragged her toward her captor. He seized her roughly by the chin as he kneeled down to meet her gaze. Kate struggled to free herself from the henchmen's grips but they held steadfast and kept her on her knees.

"Where are all the files Kate, where is all the money? I know he told you where everything is Kate; everything he stole from us," Vicious' low, gruff voice demanded. His icy calm demeanor only added to his intimidation as he looked her straight in the eyes. Kate just glared back defiantly, daring him to try something. He took the dare, calling her bluff and back handed her across the face.

"Tear it off," he said, looking at the two men who held her immobile. They reacted instantly, one grabbing her shirt collar, the other the back of her head to steady it. Yanking the collar back, the shear force caused Kate to choke as she began to suffocate under the pressure of her windpipe. Finally, the shirt began to rip at the seams as it came off, allowing her to breathe again. Vicious smiled as he lowered his face to hers, barely an inch away. His hand reached for her leg and he began to whisper into her ear. "It would have been healthier for you and your boyfriend if you had cooperated." Vicious shoved his hand into her boot and retrieved the knife, grazing it down the front of her abdomen.

"I asked you a question Kate. I thought you knew better than to stay silent." He threatened to slit her throat now, gliding the sharp blade across her jugular and placing pressure dangerously close to breaking skin.

"Screw you!" was all she could say before he punched her square in the jaw and then reached back and threw another punch at her stomach. The familiar coppery tang of blood flooded into her mouth and she spit it out, all over Vicious' face.

Calmly wiping off the blood, Vicious stood up and addressed his henchmen. "You know what to do, and don't be gentle about it either."

O.oo.O

Spike would never openly admit it, but he kind of missed being handcuffed to Kate. Well, not literally handcuffed, but he missed her company. She always had him on his toes with her quick wit and thought-provoking statements. The friendly banter between them always escalated into an argument and she wasn't the one to back down. Half the time he had provoked her for fun, just to get a rise out of her. She was so cute when she got all fired up and angry. Her face became flushed; her eyes held a passionate spark and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Spike always had to suppress a smile, which became increasingly harder every time they argued. He silently laughed at the memory of the time she had gotten so mad she had tackled him to the floor. She had caught him off guard in a rare moment. The only other person who could ever catch him so off guard was…… 'Whoa whoa whoa. Did I just compare her to……yes. Yes I did. Wait what the hell am I thinking! Where did that come from?'

"Spike?" He glanced over at the broken man beside him. Jason had his head in his hands and had been silently berating himself the whole time.

"Yeah Jason?"

"Why do you think he kidnapped her?" Spike thought for a moment, remembering his time with Vicious and what they did. Vicious always had a reason for everything he did, but his latest move still had Spike guessing what his motives were. .

"Vicious liked to play mind games with his victims; it's possible that's what he's doing now. Though, he has other means of torturing me from a distance, why he chooses this one is beyond me." Jason stared into the bottom of his glass, now empty after his fifth shot. He felt numb inside and it wasn't the liquor. The betrayed look on Kate's face haunted him, reminding him of what an idiot he was for what he did. 'Spike was supposed to be taken and Kate would be safe with me. What could Vicious possibly want with my precious Katie?'

"Don't be too hard on yourself; Vicious can be a very persuasive businessman. But don't let that fool you; he's a true snake in the grass, never coming out of hiding until his real goal in sight." Spike looked around Jason's tiny apartment. The small kitchen opened up into what some could call a living room; Spike thought it was a rat hole not fit for human habitation. Then again, the Bebop wasn't exactly what you would call clean either. The living room gave way to a small bed room with looked as cramped as a closet. 'God, Kate's bedroom is bigger than his whole apartment. Wonder why he hasn't moved in already.'

'Now why did you use her bed room as a reference, eh there Spikey boy?' a voice questioned teasingly in his head.

"God I don't know!" Spike shouted unknowingly aloud. Jason looked at him like he was nutters before Spike sighed and lay back again on the couch. They were playing the waiting game and waiting was not really one of Spikes fortés. Ed had tracked down the frequency of the UPS tracking device, but all they found was the discarded chip covered in blood and no other leads were coming through. So all they could do was wait. As it turned out, Jason had worked at the company that had developed the UPS chips and knew how they worked.

"We just have to make the chip think you're dead. That way it will come out nice and easy." Jason smiled at the simplicity of it all.

"And how the hell are 'we' supposed to do that? Not to mention, Vicious will know something's up.' Spike frowned. Jason didn't know what he was dealing with, even if he knew what to do with the chip, Vicious would still come looking for proof. Spike had cheated death before. Vicious hadn't believed it then, and he wouldn't believe it now.

"What's the matter? Dontcha trust me?"

Spike gave him an incredulous look. "You know what I think about bounty heads. But you're just chump change compared to the bigger fish out there."

Jason's eyes went wide. "You knew? This whole time, you knew?" Spike just shrugged. "Well, it's not like your girlfriend would have let me do anything about it, and no, I didn't know the whole time. I recognized you but I couldn't remember why. Then it hit me. Anyway, what do you have planned for making me 'dead'?"

Spike looked down at the dressing "Dr." Morgan had done. It was pretty uniform; it looked like the military's handiwork. Judging by Jason's bulky frame, he probably had served, not too long ago.

"What's that noise?" Jason asked dejectedly, not bothering to look up from his empty glass once again. Spike looked up after being brought back from his musings and focused his ears. The distinctively familiar sound of a certain Black Dog swearing obscenities left and right fell upon his ears.

"It's Jet. They must have found something." Spike hopped off the couch and opened the door.

O.oo.O

No, they definitely were not being gentle. Kate lay numbly on the floor with a split lip, a gash above her right eye that bled profusely, a few if not broken ribs and welts all along her body. Her thighs hurt the most after being attacked by Vicious' lackeys. It had been awhile since she had felt so disgusted with herself; since she had ever felt so dead, so worthless. Crying didn't even seem an option because by now she had learned not to cry, it only made it hurt worse. The past was making up quickly for lost time.

Vicious silently walked into the dark room seeing the naked form in the middle of the floor. She looked dead, skin paled and bruised, her body showing no signs of life. If he hadn't ventured closer, Vicious really would have thought she was another dead body to get rid of, and his plans didn't call for that. The shallow breathing that raised her chest ever so slightly showed that indeed Kate was still alive. Walking over to her side, he tossed what was left of her clothing at her to get her to move. She lay still as stone, not acknowledging the added presence of the torn pieces of fabric as Vicious loomed over her.

"I know you're alive, Kate, I can see you breathing. Now we had better get you dressed for our special guest." He motioned forward the same two men, and they held her up so that only the tips of her toes could scrape across the floor. Vicious unwound the long spool of blood red crimson fabric and began to tightly wrap it around Kate. He wrapped it twice around her left arm, sliding it over her shoulder and across her right breast before crossing her back and around her thighs. As he reached her toes, he wrapped her body in crimson again, criss-crossing everything to give her the tiniest bit of dignity. He finished her right arm and took a large silver ring from one of the men. Unclasping the large ring, he slid it through a grommet hole in the fabric before tying the ring to a rope.

"Bring her, we will loop the rope around the scaffolding above the stage before tying it off." The men nodded, dragging Kate toward a small servicing elevator and began to ascend to the maintenance walkways. They dragged her toward the center scaffolding and tossed the rope around the beam at the end of the walkway and looped it around once before clasping the ring in the grommet hole on the left side of the fabric and tying the rope to the ring. The guy smirked at Kate as he picked her up and tossed her off the walkway. A scream escaped her lips as the strain on her shoulders became unbearable. Wishing they would just dislocate already, Kate thankfully slipped into the awaiting arms of unconsciousness.

O.oo.O

"Damnit Spike! Why didn't you turn on your goddamn phone!" Jet yelled from the bottom of the three flights of stairs. Spike couldn't help but laugh at the scene; Jet was sprawled amidst a pile of garbage bags and a banana peel covered his bald spot. It seems that Jet had tripped on the rather large crack in the sidewalk while trying to make his way to the apartment. Jason stuck his head out of the door and had to smile as well. Kate had done that the first time she came over too. He could still remember her yelling at him pretty much the same way Jet was yelling at Spike. But then he frowned, the memory reminding him exactly what he had done.

Finally, after they finished laughing at Jet's predicament and helped him up the stairs, Jet told them why he was there. He took out a piece of paper and unfolded it onto the kitchen counter.

"This," he said pointing the paper that looked mysteriously like a flyer for a circus act. "was faxed to the Bebop 20 minutes ago, along with this picture." The flyer showed an illustration of a performer wrapped up in a streamer and hung like Jesus on a cross. The heading said, "Cirque de Soleil: Macabre." A/N: I do not own Cirque de Soleil or any of its affiliates The picture was of Kate, in the exact same pose as the performer, only the word Macabre seemed more appropriate for her than the poster. Kate looked dead, and Jason looked like he was going to join her, soon.

"What the hell is this! What the hell does Macabre mean! Is this his idea of a sick joke?"

"It's pronounced Macab; the -re is silent. And, it's French for dance of death. Other meanings are having death as a subject: comprising or including a personalized representation of death; dwelling on the gruesome; or tending to produce horror in a beholder. So, I would say this is eerily fitting and to answer your last question, I think it's both a sick joke and an invitation to a trap." Spike looked over at Jason who was trying to take it all in. Tearing his gaze away from the shocked man, he looked down at the poster, noticing a date, time and place, all out of date. He knew the place the poster mentioned and it had been abandoned over a decade ago. No doubt the most likely place for Vicious to hide out and keep Kate away from the prying eye of the curious public.

"Let's go. I want my Katie back, away from that creep!" Jason grabbed the poster and headed for the door. A firm hand clamped down on his shoulder, halting his progress.

"You do realize it is most likely a trap right?" Spike inquired, trying to see just how far Jason was willing to go for Kate, and making sure he didn't go in there blind.

"Of course I do! Do you think I care! He's after you, not me! I just want my Katie back safe and sound! Now let me go. It seems I'm the only one who gives a DAMN about her!" with that he slammed the door and left both Jet and Spike a bit bewildered.

"Come on, we better go save his sorry ass before he gets himself killed." Jet motioned to Spike who was still staring at the door. The bad news was, in Jason's little temper tantrum, he had disabled the Hammer head which left Spike and Jet stranded once again.

"That little bastard! Just wait till I get my hands on him, he will regret ever being born!"

Spike whistled to Jet to get his attention, it seems Jason was into fixing motorcycles and Spike had procured one that seemed in working condition and was slowly riding his way over to Jet.

"Like you said, come on, let's go."

O.oo.O

Vicious turned to the small army amassed before him and smirked. "Get ready, our guest of honor will be here shortly."

A/N:> dun-dun-dun:::fades to black: oohohhoo i have a great chappie planned for the next update, however, my time has seemingly become a very valuable commodity and i haven't been as avalible to write as i would like. but as soon as summer comes (and i graduate w00t w00t) i will have oodles of time, minus the time a job will take away. at least that means when i get home, im free, NO HOMEWORK. :gets the lighter prepared for the annualbook burning: ehehe this year is going to be the best! please remember to review. now i must go, i need a shower and have been sporting a headache for about an hour now. ta-ta!