She reached the edge of the bar and walked past the man who bought her the drink. She knew he was watching her, but she paid him no mind. She continued to walk, but she heard the sound of a chair moving out and footsteps following behind her. She turned right at the other end of the bar to head to the coatroom and by now she was out of Blade's view. She continued to walk with a quickening pace until she arrived in the unattended coatroom.
"You know, you should at least talk to the person who buys you a drink," a voice from behind her said. She whirled to see two brown eyes, one a little darker than the other, smiling down at her. "You just might know the guy!"
"Spike?!" she asked in surprise. He smiled at her.
"You know, I like that hair straightener you have. It works really well."
"What are you doing here!" she scolded. His expression changed from playful to serious in a flash.
"Why don't you tell me why you're necking with your buddy? Do I mean that much to you?"
"Touché." She said somewhat disappointed in herself.
"Alex, I came to protect you. One wrong move, and you're as good as dead!" he warned her somewhat angry with her.
"What are you talking about? Blade wouldn't do anything to hurt me."
"No, Blade won't, but the Red Dragon will. Did he say anything to you about some sort of internal politics regarding someone that a member is involved with of the other sex?" She thought back through their conversation.
"Yea, he mentioned it but then quickly dismissed it. Why?" She asked after a few seconds of silence. Spike took a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh.
"Inside the syndicate, there's a law stating that if any member is involved with a person of the opposite sex, they must marry and live together all the time, or…" he trailed off. Alex was left hanging.
"Or what? Come on Spike." She said growing impatient.
"Or the person the member is involved with must be killed. They don't want anyone sneaking off with all the internal secrets of the syndicate even if they aren't that sure of what's going on." he said quickly and painfully. It hurt him to say it, but it hurt her to hear it. It was quiet for a few moments as the ears welled up in her eyes and he didn't know what to say. "I put my life on the line to come here and tell you this. If anyone recognized me, they'd kill me right away. I left the syndicate once a few years ago by faking my own death, but after they found me, they hunted me down like an animal and tried to kill me. If they find out I cheated death again, they'll be even worse than the last time." He said as she wrapped her arms around him. He rested his chin on her head and sniffed her hair. It smelled lightly of roses, but the stench of hairspray almost drowned it out.
"I came back here to use the phone to call Jet." She began. "Blade wants me to go with him to a photo shoot he has after dinner."
"I'm going too. Where is it?" he asked hastily.
"No, you can't. You just said they'd kill you if they found out you're still alive!" she yelled.
"I don't care, I still love you. Even if you two were kissing like that and there was some sort of something between the both of you, I'd still die for you." The tears streamed down her face, smearing her makeup all over, but she pulled herself close to him as it rubbed off on his suit jacket. It was black, so it wasn't visible, which Spike didn't care either way.
"Spike, I'm so sorry I did that. I don't know what I was thinking. Something just came over me and…" she began, but she was cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. She wasn't expecting it, which made it even more enjoyable on both parts. As it deepened, Spike pushed her back up against the inside wall of the coatroom to give a little privacy. Even if someone did walk in, they wouldn't be able to see them, unless they walked in a little bit and looked around. They were in that corner for about five minutes before Alex decided that was enough. "Blade's probably getting worried." She said as she caught her breath.
"So let him." Spike said as he went to kiss her again. She stopped him abruptly.
"Come with me. I'll get us out of here in one piece." She said with a smile as she took Spike's hand and pulled him along. She took him out of the coatroom and led him out into the restaurant. She let go of him and he followed her as she walked straight into the room where she was to dine with Blade. He was surprised with the fact she brought the man that was watching her, to talk to him.
"Alex? What's going on? Who's this?" he asked as he stood up and looked somewhat annoyed. She walked around the table and hugged him.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but there's a huge emergency back on the ship, Jet needs me back right away." She said acting upset.
"Well, let me give you a ride back. The limo is really quick about getting through the city."
"That's not fast enough. This is a friend of ours; his name is…" she said as she was cut off.
"Lee, Lee Spiegel." He said as he reached out and shook Blade's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. McGowan. You must be quite a wonderful man to have hooked Alex here." Blade smiled.
"Yes, well. Alex take the limo, it's the least I can do." He urged.
"It's not fast enough. Jet sent Lee over with a zip craft, it'll take us right over to the ship faster than the limo. I'm so, so sorry Blade. When are you going to leave? I'll meet up with you tomorrow if I can." She said hugging him again. "If you'd like, you can stop by later on. You have the number; you can call before you come. Not to mention, I was looking forward to that dinner. It sounded excellent."
"Alex, I leave on Friday morning. I don't know about later on tonight, but we'll see, okay?" he said kissing her on her forehead. She nodded before kissing his lips softly. She could feel Spike mentally stabbing her as she did, but then the unexpected deep kiss from Blade had to have really gotten to him. As she stood there kissing Blade, Spike didn't utter a word. As Blade backed off, they smiled at each other and hugged one last time before Spike led Alex out of the room, across the restaurant, and out the door.
"What the hell was that?!" he practically screamed as they walked around to the alley where they could climb the fire escape to the roof.
"Acting. Jealous are we?" she taunted playfully as they walked further down the alley. He grabbed her and pushed her against the brick wall.
"Like you wouldn't believe." He said as he pinned her up against the wall and crushed his lips onto hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his right hand held her head to him and his left wrapped around her back to hold her close. They stood and kissed for a good amount of time before they heard footsteps in the alley. They pulled apart from each other and quickly walked to the fire escape. He began to climb it first and she followed behind him, up the side of the four-storied building. He reached the top and he helped pull her over the edge onto the roof. The Swordfish was parked right in the middle of the roof, waiting for Spike and Alex to board. "Your chariot, my princess." He said as the cockpit opened.
"It's like a sight for sore eyes." she said as he jumped up into the seat. He held out his hand to her and helped her climb in. he leaned forward and she sat behind him. She leaned forward onto his back as the glass over the cockpit shut and sealed and the engine started. She wrapped her arms around him as the Swordfish lifted into the air and began to fly off.
"Hold on tighter." He said. She could see his smile reflecting in the glass.
"Why, you aren't going that fast." She asked.
"No, it just feels good." He said as he put his hand over hers that were clasped together and holding on to him. She put her head down on his back, as if ready to sleep as the ship flew towards the docks at an easygoing pace. The wings sliced through low clouds as the craft lazily cruised through the dark sky. "Don't fall asleep on me now." He said with a chuckle. She was honestly trying not to, but her eyes felt so heavy and her body ached from trying to keep a perfect posture the whole time, she couldn't help but dip in and out of consciousness when she was so comfortably positioned on his back.
"But I…" she murmured as she shifted herself around to an even more comfortable position.
"Alex, come on. Wake up. We're just about home." He said, but she didn't answer. She was sound asleep with her arms around him. He landed the ship and parked it in the hangar before pulling out the unconscious Alex and taking her to her room.
"You know, you should at least talk to the person who buys you a drink," a voice from behind her said. She whirled to see two brown eyes, one a little darker than the other, smiling down at her. "You just might know the guy!"
"Spike?!" she asked in surprise. He smiled at her.
"You know, I like that hair straightener you have. It works really well."
"What are you doing here!" she scolded. His expression changed from playful to serious in a flash.
"Why don't you tell me why you're necking with your buddy? Do I mean that much to you?"
"Touché." She said somewhat disappointed in herself.
"Alex, I came to protect you. One wrong move, and you're as good as dead!" he warned her somewhat angry with her.
"What are you talking about? Blade wouldn't do anything to hurt me."
"No, Blade won't, but the Red Dragon will. Did he say anything to you about some sort of internal politics regarding someone that a member is involved with of the other sex?" She thought back through their conversation.
"Yea, he mentioned it but then quickly dismissed it. Why?" She asked after a few seconds of silence. Spike took a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh.
"Inside the syndicate, there's a law stating that if any member is involved with a person of the opposite sex, they must marry and live together all the time, or…" he trailed off. Alex was left hanging.
"Or what? Come on Spike." She said growing impatient.
"Or the person the member is involved with must be killed. They don't want anyone sneaking off with all the internal secrets of the syndicate even if they aren't that sure of what's going on." he said quickly and painfully. It hurt him to say it, but it hurt her to hear it. It was quiet for a few moments as the ears welled up in her eyes and he didn't know what to say. "I put my life on the line to come here and tell you this. If anyone recognized me, they'd kill me right away. I left the syndicate once a few years ago by faking my own death, but after they found me, they hunted me down like an animal and tried to kill me. If they find out I cheated death again, they'll be even worse than the last time." He said as she wrapped her arms around him. He rested his chin on her head and sniffed her hair. It smelled lightly of roses, but the stench of hairspray almost drowned it out.
"I came back here to use the phone to call Jet." She began. "Blade wants me to go with him to a photo shoot he has after dinner."
"I'm going too. Where is it?" he asked hastily.
"No, you can't. You just said they'd kill you if they found out you're still alive!" she yelled.
"I don't care, I still love you. Even if you two were kissing like that and there was some sort of something between the both of you, I'd still die for you." The tears streamed down her face, smearing her makeup all over, but she pulled herself close to him as it rubbed off on his suit jacket. It was black, so it wasn't visible, which Spike didn't care either way.
"Spike, I'm so sorry I did that. I don't know what I was thinking. Something just came over me and…" she began, but she was cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. She wasn't expecting it, which made it even more enjoyable on both parts. As it deepened, Spike pushed her back up against the inside wall of the coatroom to give a little privacy. Even if someone did walk in, they wouldn't be able to see them, unless they walked in a little bit and looked around. They were in that corner for about five minutes before Alex decided that was enough. "Blade's probably getting worried." She said as she caught her breath.
"So let him." Spike said as he went to kiss her again. She stopped him abruptly.
"Come with me. I'll get us out of here in one piece." She said with a smile as she took Spike's hand and pulled him along. She took him out of the coatroom and led him out into the restaurant. She let go of him and he followed her as she walked straight into the room where she was to dine with Blade. He was surprised with the fact she brought the man that was watching her, to talk to him.
"Alex? What's going on? Who's this?" he asked as he stood up and looked somewhat annoyed. She walked around the table and hugged him.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but there's a huge emergency back on the ship, Jet needs me back right away." She said acting upset.
"Well, let me give you a ride back. The limo is really quick about getting through the city."
"That's not fast enough. This is a friend of ours; his name is…" she said as she was cut off.
"Lee, Lee Spiegel." He said as he reached out and shook Blade's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. McGowan. You must be quite a wonderful man to have hooked Alex here." Blade smiled.
"Yes, well. Alex take the limo, it's the least I can do." He urged.
"It's not fast enough. Jet sent Lee over with a zip craft, it'll take us right over to the ship faster than the limo. I'm so, so sorry Blade. When are you going to leave? I'll meet up with you tomorrow if I can." She said hugging him again. "If you'd like, you can stop by later on. You have the number; you can call before you come. Not to mention, I was looking forward to that dinner. It sounded excellent."
"Alex, I leave on Friday morning. I don't know about later on tonight, but we'll see, okay?" he said kissing her on her forehead. She nodded before kissing his lips softly. She could feel Spike mentally stabbing her as she did, but then the unexpected deep kiss from Blade had to have really gotten to him. As she stood there kissing Blade, Spike didn't utter a word. As Blade backed off, they smiled at each other and hugged one last time before Spike led Alex out of the room, across the restaurant, and out the door.
"What the hell was that?!" he practically screamed as they walked around to the alley where they could climb the fire escape to the roof.
"Acting. Jealous are we?" she taunted playfully as they walked further down the alley. He grabbed her and pushed her against the brick wall.
"Like you wouldn't believe." He said as he pinned her up against the wall and crushed his lips onto hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his right hand held her head to him and his left wrapped around her back to hold her close. They stood and kissed for a good amount of time before they heard footsteps in the alley. They pulled apart from each other and quickly walked to the fire escape. He began to climb it first and she followed behind him, up the side of the four-storied building. He reached the top and he helped pull her over the edge onto the roof. The Swordfish was parked right in the middle of the roof, waiting for Spike and Alex to board. "Your chariot, my princess." He said as the cockpit opened.
"It's like a sight for sore eyes." she said as he jumped up into the seat. He held out his hand to her and helped her climb in. he leaned forward and she sat behind him. She leaned forward onto his back as the glass over the cockpit shut and sealed and the engine started. She wrapped her arms around him as the Swordfish lifted into the air and began to fly off.
"Hold on tighter." He said. She could see his smile reflecting in the glass.
"Why, you aren't going that fast." She asked.
"No, it just feels good." He said as he put his hand over hers that were clasped together and holding on to him. She put her head down on his back, as if ready to sleep as the ship flew towards the docks at an easygoing pace. The wings sliced through low clouds as the craft lazily cruised through the dark sky. "Don't fall asleep on me now." He said with a chuckle. She was honestly trying not to, but her eyes felt so heavy and her body ached from trying to keep a perfect posture the whole time, she couldn't help but dip in and out of consciousness when she was so comfortably positioned on his back.
"But I…" she murmured as she shifted herself around to an even more comfortable position.
"Alex, come on. Wake up. We're just about home." He said, but she didn't answer. She was sound asleep with her arms around him. He landed the ship and parked it in the hangar before pulling out the unconscious Alex and taking her to her room.