Howdy, y'all! ; OMG! x-X; you flatter me toooo much!...pause not like I MIND it, of course. eE; Anyway...this is an important chapter...for the most part...yeah...okay...READ!

Chapter 5:

Pinch Me

Emp woke with a start. The warm breathcaressing her neck and the bodyclose toher startled her. What was going on? Had Spike rolled over in his sleep? She didn't care if he did; it made her feel better. It was as if her dreams had come to life. Content, she began to slip off to sleep again.

Suddenly, before she drifted back to sleep again, Spike's arm rested around her, pulling her closer to his body. His hand reached for herownand his fingers slipped between hers. Emp, confused and a tiny bit afraid, looked over her shoulder and saw Spike's face buried in the back of her neck, his warm and steady breath caressing her shoulder. This wasn't a dream; this was real. So, as much as Emp didn't understand his affectionate actions towards her, she gave in. She snuggled up closer to him and he tightened his grip around her. Slowly and peacefully, she drifted off to sleep and, for the first time, she actually wanted to wake up.

With a wide yawn, Emp awoke from her contented sleep. She scratched her head and reached for her clock. That's when she noticed it, the handcuffs. They were gone. She quickly rolled over in her bed and she looked all around. Spike was gone too. Why did he leave? What was going on? Was the affection shown to her the night before just some sort of front?

"Gone…he's gone." Her eyes swelled up with tears. "He let me go. Why?" She didn't want to be free unless she was with him. Her life wasn't worth enough to stay alone. Now, there was only one thing to do, but the bottles didn't come off the shelves this time. They couldn't; Emp was unable to find them. Everything was gone: the cup-o-noodles, the chocolate, the coffee and the brandy; all of it. He must have taken it with him. What was going on?

There weren't any words to describe how angry Faye and Jet were with Spike. It was unimaginable; to let her go twice. There was no doubt about it: Spike had fallen for the bounty head and everyone was almost positive that a third try for Spike wouldn't accomplish anything but wasting time. Money on the BeBop was almost gone, so someone would have to catch Emp and get paid, before some other bounty hunter got to her first.

"It's 11,000,000 woolongs, Spike! Think of how much food we could buy!" Jet yelled in disbelief. Spike yawned and blinked his half closed eyes a couple times before he responded. He was tired; he had to leave Emp at 4 am so she wouldn't see him leave. He knew she would want him to stay, but he couldn't. As much as he loved her, he still had a job to do. He needed to find a way to prove her innocent, but how?

"I'm not hungry." Lied Spike, sleepily. He was starving; he hadn't eaten more than two meals in the past three days. He looked to his right. Ed was laying the on couch, next to him, drooling.

"Well, we are!" snarled Jet. "I don't care if you need food! We do! At first, I thought you could handle something like this, but obviously I thought wrong."

"Meaning?" Spike yawned.

"Meaning…you're off the case!" Something in Spike's head snapped awake. If he were off the case, he'd never see Emp again. He wouldn't be able to protect her. There was one way, however, he could go and see her, but it meant that he'd have to go against his rulebook. He'd have to put love in first priority, before his job. He didn't have to think about it. If it had to be done, it would be done. The strange feelings inside of him were too strong to forget. He loved her too much to let her go.

"Don't worry about Emp. I'll take care of her." Faye chimed in, haughtily. "You need a woman's touch anyway."

All the questions she was asking herself were giving her a headache without her alcohol. She had to have it so, she fixed her hair, grabbed her overcoat and some cash, and left the apartment. If she couldn't get her own alcohol, she'd just get it with a bartender's help.

The bar wasn't as busy as it was when she had last come. The only person at the bar was a woman dressed in skimpy yellow shorts and top. Emp didn't think there were any female bounty hunters so she sat next to the person in yellow. This was a lucky shot for Faye; it made her job a lot easier.

After Emp had ordered her shot of tequila, the bartender had gone into the back to get more tequila. This was Faye's chance; she spoke softly but strongly to Emp, who was startled by her words.

"I think Spike has lost his bounty hunting edge, Emp." She said, acting like she had known Emp for a long time.

"What?" gasped Emp. "How do you know Spike? Are you his…"

"Yeah. You could say we have a relationship. But that's beyond the point. I've caught you and I'm going to get my 11,000,000 woolongs." Emp couldn't do anything. Even if she tried to outrun this femme hunter, she knew that there were two bounty hunters sitting near the door. She had seen them give her looks as she walked in. There was no escape, but at least she would see Spike again if she went with his lady friend.

"Okay, Emp Nemio! Stand up. I've caught you." Announced Faye, deliberately trying to get the attention of the two bounty hunters at the door. What was she trying to do? Show off? With the gun pointed at Emp's stomach, she stood up and accepted the handcuffs that Faye snapped onto her wrists. She was then corralled outside and around the corner to where Faye had parked her space cruiser, the Red Tail. However, before Faye could shove Emp into her ship, the two male bounty hunters began to give her trouble. Without even noticing it, they gave Emp time to escape.

After examining her surroundings, she found it. The perfect escape route: a traffic jam. With a wild dash catching all three bounty hunter's attentions, she made for the slow moving cars. The bounty hunters were all chasing after her, but after almost getting hit by a car, they lost her. Emp was safely hidden behind a mail truck. When they turned their backs towards her, she ran to her apartment, which was sitting a block away.

She fumbled with the lock and key and finally, she entered her apartment once again. The first thing she did was lock her door and then she went to her side of the bed. She slumped down on the floor, so she was concealed by her bed, and began to sob. She was afraid. That was a close call for Emp. She was almost sure that this time, she would most definitely not get away. It felt like her first streak of luck, ever.

When Faye Valentine entered the living room of the BeBop, she didn't see anyone. She even walked right by Spike, who was smoking silently in the corner.

"Couldn't find her, could you?" he said, throwing his cigarette onto the floor to crush it out.

"Oh, I found her. But I found two other bounty hunters as a big bonus." She sighed and lit up her own cigarette.

"So she ran away. Good."

"Spike! Why do you think she's innocent?" Faye yelled.

"I don't think. I know."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of Emp. Why did he believe her? She hadn't any proof. Absolutely nothing and that was exactly it. She didn't have anything: money, job, friend, or a decent life. Maybe he just pitied her. No. He saw something in her eyes; her soul was in her eyes and he saw it. It wasn't a soul of a killer; it was a soul of someone who was ready to give up on life. She needed one last chance, and Spike had a feeling that her chance was him.

"Why do you love her, Spike?" asked Faye, solemnly. Spike didn't answer. He didn't have to tell Faye anything. As far as they knew, he was still denying his friendship to her. "Tell me. Why is she worth more to you than her bounty is?"

"Lives aren't always measured by money, Faye." Said Spike, his voice a cold monotone.

"Fine. I don't care if you like her or not, but you're going to tell me where she lives." She sneered. Spike didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the picture in his hand once more and put it pack into his pocket. "Well, if you don't tell me, it doesn't matter. I snapped them on tight enough…she'll never get them off," Faye snickered,"Not unless she's a magician."

"Get…what off?" he asked, trying to keep his cool. Deep inside, a sudden jolt of fear struck his heart.

"Why, the handcuffs, of course. I am a bounty hunter, after all." He knew now how deep of trouble Emp was in. She wouldn't be able to do anything with the handcuffs on. He had to find her, but she would probably not want to talk to him. She would think that he told Faye where she would be. He had to get her to talk to him; it was the only way. Her fate depended on him.

Woot...that last paragraph was written late at night...can you tell? XD My my...shakes head I do like Faye's dialogue...it seems to me that I captured the "essence of faye"...sweatdrop yeeaaah...but can you tell that I dont like Faye? ee; myeh...SEE YA! wave