Four days had passed since Nathan had sentenced Sukiko to be a prisoner in Vicious' home. It had given a welcome lull from the constant research of bounties, and dodging of stray bullets. The only issue was that she'd never know if Vicious would pay her an unwelcome visit. Thankfully, Jeren had been the only one she'd seen since the unpleasant encounter.
Lashing out at thin air she thrust her hand through the wall into something metallic. Gritting her teeth tightly against the pain she clutched her fist until it stopped throbbing. An odd beeping brought her attention to the shattered wall, and a hidden computer.
With a grin she quickly set to work hacking the system. Video surveillance was the first thing on her mind and to find Vicious. He appeared to be meeting with Nathan in his office which she figured was at the opposite end of the hall.
"We have place prepared for the woman if she lives." Vicious said nothing to this bit of information coming from Nathan.
The over sized man chuckled lightly sending a chill up Sukiko's spine as she tried to adjust the volume louder. "I want you to do the honors." He dug around in his suit for a moment before pulling out an oddly shaped gun with a long barrel. "It's not a pretty piece but it'll do the job."
Swallowing Sukiko watched as Vicious stood and headed out of his office into the hall. She could hear his footsteps as he approached closer to her own room. Desperate to escape whatever they had in mind she grabbed a chair that sat alone in a far corner, and threw it into the window shattering it.
The door behind her slammed open behind her as she launched herself out the window. Vicious' yell echoed behind her, and then a gunshot. The sound pounded in her ears as she reached out for the branch that was only inches from her fingers as mind numbing pain shot through her body causing her grip to fail, her hand not to grasp the branch, and her fall to the ground.
Gasping for air and holding onto the bullet wound in her side she launched herself to her feet toward the main gates. If she hadn't been in so much pain at the time she'd probably have noticed she had scaled the gates far too easily as she dropped down on the other side, and ran for the alleyway.
"Bring her back Vicious!" It was the last thing she truly heard as she ran blindly through the alleys without much though to where she was heading.
Daren looked down at the woman drenched from the rain who stood trembling outside the back door to his bar known as the Bloody Bucket. "Don't say I didn't warn you about chasing after him." Quickly he moved to let her inside and sat her down to tend to the wound in her side. "How do you feel? Where all does it hurt?"
"Everywhere, damn it. It's like someone is yanking me by my arms and leg in four different directions, and my eyes burn."
Carefully he lifted her face to see her eyes and grumbled lightly. "I'd say they hit you some sort of mutating drug; you'll see what I mean in the morning. Drink this."
Sukiko grinned as she saw the bottle in her hand marked as the "House Special." The first swig would burn all the way down, and would only get worse as one continued through a bottle. Few people every ordered a second because they'd be dragging themselves out the front door.
Groaning a bit as Daren removed the bullet her head jerked around as the front door swung open, and two familiar faces entered. Sukiko realized the drink had to have already been taking effect since when she looked to Daren he was already started wrapping the wound in her side.
"If you gentlemen will have a seat I'll be right with you." The two nodded and took bar seats to better see what was going on behind the counter that had the bartender busy enough to make them wait.
"Somebody get into a bit of trouble?" Mocked the dark-haired man with a chuckle. "How'd you escape?"
Sukiko looked back at them as she realized that she had met them from the Face Value. "It's a long story I'm not at liberty to discuss."
"Damn it woman! Pass out or something so I can finish these without you twitching so much." Daren hit a particularly sensitive spot causing Sukiko to hiss slightly in pain.
"This is my personal doctor. He does fine work if you don't mind a few scars."
Sukiko groaned as she clenched her eyes shut against the light as Daren opened up the window shutters. Peeking over at the balding man and the dark-dark haired man something clicked. The green tinge in his hair sparked part of her memory.
"Spike." The word was hardly a whisper but the man raised his head to look up at her. "You worked with him at one time; didn't you?"
"With Vicious? Yes." Moving aside one of many empty bottles that lay scattered across the table out of his way as he rested his elbow on the counter. "That was before the change in him was all that noticeable. When he still had a shred of humanity to him."
Daren patted Spike on the shoulder as he leaned over handing Sukiko a printed-paper. "This is all I could find."
Glancing over the paper she felt her body freeze at her reflection on the table. Twisting around she looked into the wall mirror behind the bottles. "Daren, explain." Taking in her slanted eyes, pointed ears, and golden hair with silver streaks, she found herself having issues breathing. Reaching up to touch beneath her eyes she jumped as her attention was drawn to the claws on her fingers, then to the fangs that had taken place of her canines.
"As I said, they must have shot you with some mutating enzyme. It was barely obvious last night, but this morning . . . I don't think you done yet so try keeping an eye on how people react around you." Daren looked up at her with a tormented expression.
Glancing back down at the paper she scanned Vicious' payroll. There were the normal bills of gate travel, house utilities, and various other normal things for a man of his statue but one threw her off. It was to a private address on Earth; a large sum of money was being discretely transferred through several nonexistent addresses.
Forgetting her situation, she looked up at Daren appreciatively. "I know you did a lot of work to find the final destination, but could you get an exact address for the recipient?"
Snapping out of his out state of sorrow he reached into his back pocket pulling out the final address. "It swung back around to a permanent residence on Venus."
Jet cleared his throat knocking several empty bottles to the floor. Luckily they bounced and didn't break from the fall giving them all a reason to sigh in relief. "How do you expect to get around like that? I mean, someone going around looking like some sort of mutant is bound to get noticed."
"I don't. I go straight back to Vicious and use him for a cover. I need to be close to find out the rest." Biting at her lip she winced in pain as her fangs broke skin. "Spike, Jet, do me a favor and go to this address. Bringing Vicious and whoever is behind what happened to me will count on whoever is at this address."
It took several hours for the Bebop crew members to final give into her, but as they slipped out the door they felt more alive than ever to find them selves in the middle of something big. Perhaps, it was the thrill of never knowing what was coming, or the fact that their very lives could be taken at any minute that had them more alert than ever.
Pushing her sunglasses back up into place and pulling the hood of her cloak tighter against her, she scaled the gates to Vicious' mansion. Her gut coiled and instinct told her to turn back swiftly as she stepped onto the gravel road. Sukiko had enough to worry about as moved up the driveway.
Her body was trembling inside as she stepped up onto the steps. The door swung open and Vicious stood there grinning down at her as she brushed by him. Closing the door she waited until he moved in front of her again to remove the glasses that hid her eyes from him.
At his sharp intake of breath she looked past him to the empty walls. "Perhaps, you could explain." Holding out the paper with his money transfers to Earth she watched as fear, then cold hatred took hold of his face.
Once you got past the stoic look he often wore that sent shivers though one's body he was really quite handsome. He possessed a fine build that was slightly scarred from many battles that should have taken his life. As if someone had removed a blindfold she realized he stood before her in nothing more that his slacks.
It was a dangerous way to meet one's worst nightmare. He must have sensed her though for he looked up at her curiously and flopped down on a couch placed in a shadowed corner. "How?"
"My business. Why?" She motioned to herself as she took off the cloak.
"It was what I was hired to do. When?" He held up the paper.
"Recently, I have the exact address as well. What?" Again she motioned to herself and then the paper.
"I have no clue what you are. As for this, it's none of your business. Where?" He looked to the paper.
"Simple transfer records. Everything is recorded if one is willing to look deep enough." She watched as an unfamiliar emotion shadowed his normally cold expression, and softened his features. "I, and only a handful of others know of this. Who?"
She looked into his troubled eyes seeking the answer. Who had made the serum that had turned her into the creature she now was? Neither looked away as he leaned over closer to her; his lips a mere inch away from her own.
"I don't know. Ask Nathan Eldred; he's the lapdog." Pulling away she carefully quieted the hum he'd stirred in her traitor of a body. "How did you know me?"
"A long time ago, forgive my lame opening, you killed my parents, broke my arm, and left with a smile on your face. I vowed then to kill you or die trying."
"Karin?" His expression turned thoughtful for a moment. "The Karin case was the last one my partner and I ever worked together. He was to say the least, unimpressed by my tactics. He had to go."
"Spike Spiegel, and Julia. Sorry, I never had time to learn her name prior to realizing she was no longer part of the big picture." Fatigue chose that inopportune moment to kick in and she felt herself struggling to stay upright.
As she met his eyes again Sukiko squirmed beneath the intensity of those faded eyes. Eyes that had seen so much pain and suffering that it was only obvious the rest of the body would wish to inflict more. He was a product of harsher facts of the world. There was something else though, something darker, more primal, lust.
Holding his hand out to her he smiled surprisingly warmly. The look lightened his feature even more as she took his hand and he lifted her up into his arms. He took care going up the stairs when she winced as he stepped down to hard pulling at her stitches.
"Tonight, We're on even terms my Tsukiko." His voice was soothing as he laid her down on his bed, and much to her surprise she reached out for him as he joined her. Even in the late hours after their intimate activities she felt oddly safe in his embrace.