Gunshot Serenade

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Do not sue me.

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Author's Note: I made the chapter longer! Yay! I put in action! Yay! I changed the ending! Yay! So, I hope you enjoy! R & R!!!

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Chapter Three:

Hit Me

I have the tendency of getting very physical,

So watch your step,

'Cause if I do,

You'll need miracle

-Maroon 5

"How about you?"

Faye's green eyes flickered from the deck of cards in her hand to the man's face. He looked unsure.

"Hit me." He replied, licking his lips. Faye shrugged and set a card out on the table.

"That makes twenty three. Sorry, sir, you fold." She grinned and pulled his chips away. She glanced at the other two people at the table. A pretty brunette with big blue eyes and a tough looking man around Faye's age. "What about you two?"

"Hit me!" The woman said, her voice sticky-sweet. Faye kindly obliged, a slip of the hand securing the woman with a nine of hearts.

"Good job. That's twenty one." Faye smiled at her customer. It felt good to make people happy. She turned her attention to the other man. He was cute, with long blonde hair, dressed in an entirely black suite with a red silk tie. Maybe she would help him out, too. "How about you, sweetheart?" She said, leaning toward him with a smile. She braced herself on the blackjack table.

"I think I'll stay." He answered, his dark eyes meeting her green ones. He winked. Faye shrugged and pulled back, flipping over her own cards.

"I have nineteen." She glanced at the blonde man. He had eighteen. She pulled away his chips, giving a portion to the brunette for her win. He didn't look upset in the least. In fact, he put down a larger bet.

"Alright, Miss Valentine," The man said, grinning as he read her nametag. "Deal." Faye raised an eyebrow flirtatiously and passed out cards. She had been a blackjack dealer at the local casino for about two and a half years, since she left the Bebop. Already, she knew how to play her customers. It was the start of a new round, and she knew who was going to win.

Two hours later, her same three customers were still at her table. The ditzy woman had a good pile of chips, while both of the men, especially Mr. Power Tie, held only a handful of pricy plastic. Faye could tell the handsome man was getting agitated, but she didn't feel like letting him win so easy. It was her way of balancing the universe.

Faye flipped over her cards. "Sixteen. Looks like everyone is a winner." Faye flashed a smile and handed out chips, running a hand over her uniform. It wasn't bad compared to most; a short black dress that left a good amount to the imagination and pair of rhinestone studs.

The next four rounds Faye won for the casino, courtesy of a few choice cards slipped in the garters she wore. By the fifth round, the ditz was loaded (Faye always felt bad for the stupid ones), the man on the left had three chips, and Mr. Power Tie was grasping one single chip. He didn't look so happy anymore, and he was watching her carefully as she dealt the cards.

"Hey, Dealer," He asked, his eyes following her hand as she spread the cards on the table.

"Yes?" Faye replied. The man was starting to make her nervous. He was fingering something inside his jacket.

"Lift up your dress an inch or two for me, babe."

"Excuse me?" Faye demanded. The other two players seemed surprised as well.

"Do it now." Mr. Power Tie turned slightly in his chair, letting Faye catch a peek at what he was holding. A gun. Faye raised an eyebrow, slipping her hand carefully to her own gun, strapped inconspicuously to a leg of the table. She slid it out of the holster.

"Don't you think you should go somewhere private?" The brunette chimed softly. Faye could feel her palms sweating. This wasn't good. She had an entire deck of cards hidden in her garter.

"Good idea. We should go somewhere private if we're going to..." Faye winked. "You know." The man did not look amused. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the gun, pointing it at Faye's forehead.

"Lift up the fucking dress or I'll blow your brains out."

The dealer brought her own gun up and cocked it, the barrel level with Mr. Power Tie's nose.

The corners of the man's mouth turned up in a coy grin. "Looks like we're playing a game of chicken..."

The shadow of a smile played over Faye's face as she shrugged.

"I guess so. You're a syndicate man, aren't you?" Faye asked, her eyes narrowing.

"How did you know?" Mr. Power Tie laughed, an arrogant grin spread across his features.

Faye raised and lowered a shoulder. "Because you're pointing a gun at me in the middle of a casino. And because I can see all of your little friends." It was true. At least ten men, dressed very similarly to Mr. Power Tie, had stood. They were spread around the floor, but every single on of them had guns pointed towards Faye.

The casino suddenly went crazy. People had started to notice pistol packing men around them, and not many stayed calm. Men and woman began screaming as they flocked towards the doors. The alarm began to sound. Four shots were fired. Three holes appeared in the ceiling above Mr. Power Tie. The light dangling above Faye's head shattered, raining glass down on the woman. A shard sliced her cheek, but she didn't move.

Screams echoed through the floor, and people began to scramble under the blackjack tables and against walls. Faye took advantage of chaos, as she had always done. With a swift punch, she had knocked Mr. Power Tie back. Caught by surprise, he fell back. Faye jumped on the table, and from there to the floor she began to sprint. The other man at her table sat where he was, watching. The woman, however, pulled a gun from her purse and dragged Mr. Power Tie off the floor.

"Follow her!" She screamed. Faye didn't waste time.

She ran as fast as she could towards the doors. Bullets zinged past her, one scraping her arm. Faye winced and shook it off. As Faye continued forward, one thing became devastatingly clear. The doors were locked. Once the alarm had started, automatic security had shut and locked all major entrances to the casino.

Faye ducked into a large group of hysterical people. She could hear guns still firing as the syndicate men continued their search. The screams of the surrounding people became louder suddenly. Faye guessed they had found her.

Slowly, on her hands and knees, she eased herself out from the group of people, slinking behind the front desk. Faye exhaled. She would be safe for a while, but eventually they would find her. She had to find a way out.

"All of this over a few lousy woo-" Faye paused her whispered curse as a security monitor under the desk suddenly flashed into static. Slowly, the screen melted to black. A smiley face popped up. "Ed?" Faye whispered. A flashing red arrow popped into the bottom of the screen. It pointed left.

Slowly, Faye eased herself around the edge of the desk. She peeked her head around the wooden built-in, looking for where the arrow was pointing. It wasn't long before a large television went black. Sure enough, the face and the arrow popped up. It was a clear path from the desk to the screen, with nothing to hide behind. After a quick prayer, Faye slowly crept around the edge of the desk.

On her hands and knees, Faye slowly and silently crawled towards the screen. Her course allowed her to stay against the wall. That turned out to be a good thing. If she hadn't been against the wall, she wouldn't have noticed that a bullet whizzed by, two inches from her nose, to fly through the wall on her right with a crunch.

"There she is!" Faye grimaced as she heard the cry from her left. She wasted no time in scrambling to her feet and making a mad dash towards the TV screen. Faye skidded to a halt as she reached the screen, bullets at her back. The arrow pointed left. Faye followed.

At the other end of the floor was a door. Placing all of the little trust she had left in a few TV screens, Faye began to run. Bullets followed her closely, pock marking the wall she followed. Faye swore under her breath as a bullet came a little too close for comfort.

She shoved the heavy door open as soon as she reached it, slamming it shut and driving the bolt home. The sound echoed eerily. Moving away from the door, Faye found herself in a cement stairwell. Stairs spiraled up and down almost as far as Faye could see the only light coming from a small window on the landing.

Carefully, Faye made her way to the landing. She had no idea where to go. Faye clutched something in her hand. She looked down, a smirk on her face. Her gun. She had completely forgotten she still had it. Faye's smirk disappeared quickly as she heard gunshots. They were going to shoot the door down.

Sweat broke on Faye's pale forehead. She quickly turned to the window, hoping that somehow she would be tipped off. A grin appeared suddenly on Faye's face. There was a television shop across the street, and every single screen on display had the same image. A smiling face and an arrow pointing down.

Faye started her journey down the stairs just as the door burst off its hinges, flying with a screech across the cement. Mr. Power Tie and the brunette were at the front of the pack. Faye and the woman made eye contact. Faye broke away and began a mad charge down the stairs.

The men didn't seem to bother with their guns as they scrambled after Faye. No gunshots were heard over the booming clatter of feet as they pounded the cement steps. Faye had opted for faster travel; she slid down the banisters, cards spilling out after her.

She must have been sliding for five or so minutes before she halted herself abruptly. The screen of an old, abandoned cell phone flashed between a grinning face and an arrow. Faye hopped off the banister; heels pounding the ground as she yanked open the indicated door. A hall. Faye turned back. Sliding had done some good; the syndicate men were far behind her. Carefully, Faye slid into the hall. The door clicked shut, blocking out all light in the narrow space.

There was an emergency exit at the other end, Faye had seen it. She just had to find it.

"Crap!" Faye exclaimed under her breath as her knee banged painfully into what felt like an unused blackjack table. Grumbling, she continued on her way. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but it wasn't helping much. Faye paused for a moment. She heard voices from outside the door.

"I think she continued down the stairs... she probably wouldn't think to go hide in there." She recognized the brunette's voice.

"No," Mr. Power Tie replied, his voice confident. "She went in there."

Faye decided to ignore the rest of the conversation and make her way slowly toward the door. She could see a narrow strip of light a few meters away. Faye had her gun in a death grip as she slowly tip toed towards she light.

Crash.

Faye bit back a scream of pain and frustration. Of course, the casino couldn't have one clear hallway. No. They had to leave an antique slot machine in the middle of a fucking dark room so that people escaping untimely deaths at the hands of overly sensitive syndicate members could trip, fall, and give away their location.

"Good one, guys..." Faye muttered, flipping off no one in particular. She could hear Mr. Power Tie's arrogant voice echo through the door.

"What did I tell you? She's inside." There were some mutters of agreement. Faye cursed again, and began to count down to their entrance.

3...

2...

1...

Right on time, the brunette kicked the door open with unneeded force. To find a completely empty hallway. Save the blackjack table and slot machine, of course.

Faye closed her eyes, wishing she could see their faces as they filed in the hallway. But she couldn't. From her place under the blackjack table, Faye could barely make out the feet scuffling in the darkness as they murmured amongst themselves.

Slowly and carefully, Faye began to ease herself toward the exit. In the darkness, she knew no one could see her as she crept on her hands and knees toward the strip of light marking her way out. The gun clutched in her hand made it difficult to move silently in her current position, but, Faye reminded herself coyly, beggars can't be choosers.

Light burst violently into the room as Fay slammed the door open, triggering another alarm as she made a mad dash outside. She could hear the shouts from the syndicate men as they followed, accompanied by rapid gunshots. Faye had to be careful to make her motions unpredictable.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the emergency exit opened onto a busy Martian street. At rush hour. On a Friday. The result was a woman in heels dodging in and out of cars while being shot at and searching for any kind of screen with a smiley face on it. Eventually, Faye did find that screen. She blindly followed where it lead her, ducking behind cars to avoid the bullets aimed at her head.

Faye fired back every once in a while, peeking over the hoods of cars, nearly giving the occupants heart attacks. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear police sirens, but apparently there was a traffic jam.

Soon enough, Faye reached an old office building. It looked empty; she assumed because it was around the time people were heading home for the weekend. Faye exhaled, relieved. Another monitor had the same arrow and smiley face. This time, it directed her toward the elevator. A small 7 flashed at the bottom of the screen. A quick glance out the window told her that her 'friends' were gaining on her quickly. With a ding and the closing of elevator doors, that didn't seem to be a problem.

Come on, baby...Faye urged, tapping the button for 7 repeatedly. 3... 5... 6...

Ding. Bingo.

Faye grinned to herself as she stepped off the elevator.

Funny how fast a good punch can wipe a smile away...Faye thought, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. She slowly brought her head back up, a little dizzy from the hard punch she had just received.

Mr. Power Tie stood before her, a group of his cronies behind him. It looked a little pathetic, like he was trying too hard to look tough.

"Looks like no one ever taught you how to treat a woman." Faye spat, smirking. Mr. Power Tie punched her again, this time snapping her head sharply to the right. Faye licked the blood from the other corner.

"Looks like no one ever taught you to take the stairs when you're in a hurry." Mr. Power Tie replied, a cold smile gracing his beautiful face. Faye crinkled her nose, considering. After a moment or two, she shook her head.

"No... that just didn't have the same punch that mine did." Faye critiqued, before slamming her fist hard into Mr. Power Tie's jaw. He looked a little surprised that Faye would fight back, and she used the moment he spent considering to drop into a crouch and swipe his feet out from under him. She stood, fired, ran in rapid succession after that, another of series Ed's little signs herding her through the office building.

Faye's eyes widened as she skidded to a halt. Ed's arrows had pointed her into a corner. She was in a conference room. One whole wall opposite the door Faye had just entered was a window. A wooden table ran down the middle of the room, a television at one end. Faye ducked under the table and scrambled to the window. She had nowhere to go. Two by two, the syndicate men filed into the room, Mr. Power Tie and the brunette gently closing the door as they entered.

"Well, Miss Valentine, it looks like the house finally lost." Mr. Power tie drawled, grinning. Faye shrugged, her index finger on the trigger of her gun.

"Who knows? I may just think up some amazing escape plan. But isn't this a little excessive for a game of cards?" Faye questioned, an eyebrow cocked. She was buying time... maybe Ed had some magical plan cooked up.

"Not when one person looses seventy million woolongs in day." The brunette answered.

"Hey! I let you win!" Faye pointed out. The brunette opened her mouth to reply, but the TV, suddenly switching on, drowned her out. An image of a burning building filled the screen. A countdown was set at one minute. Faye swallowed.

"Faye-Faye!! It's Ed person, reporting for duty!" Ed's voice filled the building. Faye could see the image on every screen in the office. "You better jump before it's bombs away! Bye, bye, bad guys in forty seconds!! BOOOM!!!" Everyone besides Faye seemed a little disturbed at the sudden development. When the countdown started, Faye knew Ed was serious.

"Not like I have anything to live for, anyway..." Faye muttered as she swung around to the window abruptly. She fired four shots in quick succession, shattering the entire glass wall. With one more glance back, Faye stepped into the open space.

$$$

Falling through open space was actually sort of fun. She felt a little like Spike: stupid, careless, a little sexy. But after the first few seconds, she began to wonder about hitting the ground. Surprisingly enough, she didn't want to. Hit the ground, that is.

Luckily, Ed had planned her course well, and Faye landed with a thud on a fourth story fire escape. Not sure how much time she had left, she clambered down hurriedly. Faye didn't bother to turn and look up at the building when she reached the street.

Apparently, the syndicate members hadn't thought she would survive the fall, because no gunshots were fired. Faye managed to get a good distance away before the building exploded.

Flaming pieces of twisted metal and glass showered down, narrowly avoiding Faye as she began to run from the scene. It would be a long walk back to the apartment, so the visually shaken Faye hailed a cab. As it pulled over and she told him her address, she caught one last glance at the burning building.

$$$

The door to Faye's two bedroom apartment was unlocked. She cursed under her breath. Had the syndicate destroyed her apartment already? Making sure she had her gun, she slipped in the door.

All of the little fear she had felt evaporated as soon as she saw him. The little Welsh corgi lounging on her red couch, watching the news. Faye had never really liked dogs, but the sight of that little mutt made Faye want to cry. She rushed to him, scooping him off the couch.

"Einstein, where have you been!" Faye whispered to the dog, who was wagging his tail happily. "I've missed you..." She muttered into his fur. When Ein yipped, she grinned and placed him back on the couch. If Ein was close, Ed was closer.

Sure enough, Faye found the girl typing on her computer in the spare bedroom. She looked like she had always been there. Her equipment was spread all over the room, the few clothes she owned in piles on the floor. Faye assumed the girl would be staying. Ed didn't notice Faye as she stood in the doorway to the room, but she didn't mind. It was good just to have someone there.

After two years of being by herself, Faye could definitely use the conversation. As the woman slowly made her way down the hall to her small bathroom, she sighed.

She felt like crap. And she now had a dog and a kid.

But she would never have to face her memories alone. And that was more of a pick-me-up then a hot shower could ever be.