Here I am again...new chapter...by the way I dont know if I mentioned this or if you noticed, but the title of each chapter is the name of a song...:P yey...that's pretty much all I have to say right now...I'm pretty sure this is a good chapter..I dont even remember...I think it's longer than the previous ones...hmm...maaaybe. oO!

Chapter 4:

Cinderella Undercover

This was one risk she'd have to take. But there had to be a easier way to go about it. Finally she got it. It was brilliant. She was going to be a chameleon, blending into her surroundings with each stimulus. Camouflage: that was the key; camouflage.

Emp was running low on everything. Within a week, she had finished two bottles of brandy and half a bottle of tequila. She knew she had to stop drinking, but the stress was too much for her to handle. Alcohol: with it, she'd just be more depressed. Without it, she might loose her head.

With a long flowing skirt, a white top exposing midriff, a new hairdo, and a long overcoat, Emp looked like any regular Martian. There were big crowds; perfect. The bigger the crowd, the harder it was to pick her out. Briskly walking with the fluid flow of the crowd, she walked for about half a mile.

Finally, she reached a little market on a street corner. There weren't many people inside so she tried to hurry up her shopping. First, she picked up the necessities: cup-o-noodles, chocolate, and coffee. Then, she picked out the obvious: two bottles of brandy. They were all she needed in order to keep herself concealed from bounty hunters until she figured this problem out.

Other than the mindless music playing from the store's speakers, the noise level was very low. You could almost hear voices from across the whole room. If anyone said anything suspicious to Emp, she'd hear it. So, when the person the next row over from Emp starting talking, it definitely seemed intentional.

"I'm looking for a gift for a friend." Said a familiar voice from the row next from Emp's.

"What kind of gift were you looking for?" said the clerk that was helping the gentleman customer.

"Well, she seems to like tequila." Emp's heart skipped a beat; it was Spike. It had to be. It was his voice. She couldn't have possibly forgotten the sound of his voice. His voice to her was her lullaby; the heavenly words she focused on time and time again. There was no mistake; he had found her. However, as much as she wanted to see him again, there was no way he was going to let her free again. So, struck by fear, she quickly bought her items and strode out.

There were no crowds on the usually busy street. It was as if it was affected by the events of the past few minutes. What was she going to do? Her apartment! She had to get back to her apartment. A few drinks and she'd forget the nostalgic voice that soothed and frightened her. However, with the lack of a crowd, she'd most likely be seen. The longer way to her apartment was sheltered by alleyways and small side streets, so nobody important would see her. It was only a quarter of a mile longer anyway.

She felt the relief wash through her like a breath of life. It was refreshing to be back again. She walked into her apartment, not notice Spike standing the dark corner next to the door, blending in with the shadows. Into the kitchen she went, basking in her relief and after she had set her groceries down on the kitchen table, she decided to take a nap before putting them away. Throwing her overcoat onto the floor, she walked, with her back towards the door, and was about to climb into her bed; her heaven, for the moment, at least.

"What? No 'hello'?" said the voice she could not forget. Spike. She wished she could run to him, but no. This was a one-way infatuation. Slowly, she turned around to face him. The only sensible part left in her mind continued to ask the question she couldn't answer: how could feelings like these, as strong as these, build up after only seeing someone once?

For moments, they stared at each other; Spike bearing a grim smile of satisfaction and Emp wearing her sick, grieving, tattered soul in her eyes. However, Emp didn't know how hard it was for Spike to cover up his true feelings. He didn't want to face them. He didn't want to give in to them, like Emp did. Instead he bore this gruesome smile; a smile that could drive even the most violent bounty to insanity. It was just so taunting and for Emp to stand and stare at it was almost too much.

"You know why I'm here, I presume?" he asked, his grin unmoved. Emp sighed, walked over to her window.

"Yeah. You're here to turn me into the police." She stared at the darkening streets outside. "You're here to receive you're check."

"That's right. I'm here to receive my check."

"I'm probably just chump change to you, right?"

"You don't get it do you?" his voice sparked with anger; annoyance.

"Get what?" she turned around and looked at him. Her face was a mask of pride and courage, for she didn't want him to see the face behind which was trembling at his anger.

"You're worth 11,000,000 woolongs. That's hardly chump change!"

"Well, then, can you tell me why I'm worth so little?" she asked him, shakily.

"You murdered a ISSP executive. But of course, you had no idea." Emp turned to the window again. The street was even darker now. However, the darkness didn't bother her; her life seemed darker than the midnight sky.

"No…I don't." she spoke, her voice flowing solemnly.

"I see." Spike trailed off. Suddenly, he continued, but with a calming, concerned tone. "Come here for a second. I want to look into your eyes."

The tone of his voice was like a thunderbolt to her heart. The temptation was too great. She had to go to him; she had to be closer. After a few steps, she was close enough to hear his breathing. To Emp, this was bliss; it was ecstasy. Spike continued, with the same soothing voice she loved so much.

"Now, close you eyes. Close out the world." Slowly she did. She closed out everything; everything except the slow, smooth sound of Spike's breath. Unexpectedly, Spike snapped two cold handcuffs on her wrists and Emp's eyes instantly blinked open in surprise. She felt like she was going to be sick. Her heart, her feelings had been played with, like a toy. The only one she had feelings for, the only one that made her life feel worth living, had rejected her with two quick snaps of handcuffs.

"You know, for an ex-ISSP officer, you should have enough money to at least fix up you're apartment. And, you have such a large bed for such a small apartment." Spike abruptly changed subjects.

"I used to have money, before the pension was cut." She spoke, her mask trying its best to stay solid.

"Pension?" he asked.

"Yeah, a pension." She could feel her mask quickly fading back to what were her real emotions.

"Why were you on a pension?" he continued to prod her.

"Because I got hurt, okay?" she snapped. It was too much for her. His job was to get money from her, not interrogate her. "I got injured on the job, so they sent me away on a pension. It was supposed to last another year, but it got cut after 6 months."

"I get it. You got mad because they cut you're pension, so you killed their head executive." He said, acting as if he completely understood. The story had almost no holes in it, but it wasn't accurate.

"Geeze. Are you bounty hunters completely unaware of time? He was murdered before I was even on pension!" She said with an angry criticizing tone. She couldn't stand it anymore; she couldn't bear to look at him. So, she turned back to the window, her shackled hands in front of her.

"Get some sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow."

"Where?"

"Where else? You're bed. It's big enough for both of us. If I stay on this side and you stay on the other side, you won't even know I'm there."

"Right." She wouldn't ever forget his presence. Although it seemed as if she hated him, her love for him pierced through hatred's dark clouds. She walked past the window to one side of the bed and lay down while Spike took the other side of the bed.

"Well, good night, my beautiful bounty head." Spike said cheerfully.

"Good night…Spike." Emp replied, tears slowly and silently rolling down her cheek. With a click at the lamp, they were shut into darkness. Emp knew now that her life wasn't worth living. Not a single being in the entire solar system cared about her existence. They probably would be grateful to Spike for getting a freak like her off the streets. She didn't feel like a murderer, but everyone else was almost sure she was.

Spike was facing Emp's back. He wasn't quite sure what kind of cover up she was trying to pull; sometimes she would act like a bounty head, other times she wouldn't. He just couldn't figure her out. As much as he needed the money, he couldn't help but notice the pain she felt inside. The whole time they were talking, she had acted as if something wasn't wrong, but he had sensed it all along. The pain. He knew it had something to do with him and he was almost sure what it was. Like he was attracted to her, she was attracted to him. She had given into her emotions, unlike he, and had been cruelly rejected. That little voice that told him she was innocent the first time in the alley was coming back. It was telling him that she really didn't do it; that she needed his help. No. It was a lie; an alibi. She did it; if she didn't, then why was she worth 11,000,000 woolongs. How come he had a passion for someone who was worth more to a bounty hunter than to anyone else? He longed to understand more, but his job came first. In his book, money was prioritized above love and affection.

"The first day…in the alley, why did you pretend to be innocent." He asked her, the loudness of his voice piercing the silence. She sniffed and almost laughed.

"I don't know. I thought I could accomplish something. I should have known no-one would believe…." She paused, her voice barely a whisper.

"…The truth?" Spike continued. Half of his body tensed up; that was almost like a gut reaction. He was starting to believe her. Then he heard Emp's laugh, filled with grief and sobs.

"Yeah. The truth. Nobody ever believes it anymore, do they?" her laugh was pitiful; it was the laugh of someone who was ready for the end. Spike chose to stay silent; this woman was already in enough pain and he wasn't helping. From the looks of it, she had been in trouble for a long time. He wanted to help her, but being a bounty hunter wouldn't allow him to. He had to become something different. He had to become what she wanted him to be; he had to be who, deep inside his soul, he wanted to be.

Wow...god...sometimes I feel that I pull Spike in and out of character...he's REALLY hard because while Emp is like SUPER DUPER EMOTIONAL GIRL...Spike is practically jaded...xx; dialogue between them is pretty tough...wowza..hope you enjoyed. :P LATER!