DISCLAIMER: Once again Spike ain't mine. Oh that he and Vicious were. Picture it... hot tub, bubbles, champagne and just the three of us. Aww shuckey duckey.
Sounds slowly filtered through the thick fog clouding Tilly's brain.
"Can't I just shoot her?" a woman's voice whined.
"Faye, that's not the way we do things," a gruff voice answered.
"Jet's right," another man said.
The man in blue.
"Huh!" Jet and Faye exclaimed, amazed.
"She's no good to us dead. The bounty said 12 million alive." Tilly heard the one called Jet laughing as Faye sighed in disgust. "Besides," the man continued, "She can lead us to others in the Syndicate. Bigger fish, bigger money." Tilly could almost hear the smug smile in his voice. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking in shock as a virtual forest of bonsai trees came into focus.
"Or we can just shoot her," Faye repeated.
"Spike's right," Jet ground out. "We should see what information she can give us before we turn her in."
"I still say we shoot her."
"No, Faye!" both men shouted.
"She lives and she stays," her eyes widened. "For now."
Turning her head, Tilly took a good look around. When she tried to shift her body, Tilly realized her hands were cuffed to a pipe above her head. Her feet were similarly cuffed.
They must think I'm a real dangerous girl.
Outside the door Tilly heard footsteps approaching. She turned her head, wincing as pain shot throughout her body, and not all the injuries were familiar. Faye must have been really pissed. The door opened and the man in the suit stepped through, the guy called Spike.
"How are you feeling?" he asked with a smile.
"Like I got hit by a big rig," Tilly ground out. He chuckled.
"Not far off. Jet packs a wallop." He pulled a cigarette from a pack and stuck it in his mouth.
"How long was I out?" she asked, rolling a shoulder to stretch it out.
"About three hours," he said casually as he lit up. Tilly's eyes flew open in horror.
"I need to make a call."
"Sorry," he replied, leaning back against the wall. "I'm a bounty hunter, not the county jail."
Shaking her head in frustration, and mild panic, Tilly struggled to sit up straighter. "You don't understand. Turn me in, I don't care. You won't get any money anyway. But I have to call home."
"Why?" he asked. Tilly could tell Spike was as curious about her need to call home as he was about the money.
Suffer, pal, she thought. Taking a deep breath, however, she released a long, heavy sigh as she tried to put the right words together. "I need to ask my mother to get over to my house and make sure the kids are okay."
"Kids?" Spike pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to crouch in front of Tilly. "You have kids?" His voice was disbelieving, yet soft. She stared up into his eyes, surprised by his interest, but a little relieved to discover he possessed a compassionate side.
"Yes," she answered slowly. "Twins. My niece and nephew, sort of. Just turned three last winter."
He tilted his head and smiled that obnoxious grin of his. "Who's the mother?"
Tilly's eyes narrowed. "An old friend of mine."
He waited for her to say more, but she merely met his gaze. "Is she Syndicate, too?"
Tilly took in a sharp breath, clenching her teeth in anger. She raised an eyebrow in disdain, hating this man who sneered at her. "I am not Syndicate," she hissed. As Spike opened his mouth to speak she cut him off, continuing. "Yes, I have, on occasion, done a job for them, but I work freelance. To answer your poorly phrased question, though, yes, she is." Tilly's anger left her suddenly as she thought of her friend. "She's in deep. Too deep for kids, so I took them. I rarely work, so they have a stable, safe life with me." Tilly looked up to see Spike watching her, considering her. She found herself becoming lost in his eyes for a second, astonished at the tenderness she saw there.
I'll bet he's a great kisser, she thought. Quickly she banished the imaginary sensation of his mouth on hers. "I want to make sure they're okay. That's all. Please."
He stared into her eyes for a moment longer, trying to read her. Tilly's heart pounded in her throat. She was positive he was going to say no. "Okay," he nodded, and uncuffed her hands and feet. Helping Tilly to stand, he steadied her when she almost fell due to the pins and needles in her fingers and toes.
"You okay?"
Tilly nodded, breaking the burning contact with him as quickly as possible. Spike frowned a little, but turned and walked out into the corridor, waiting at he door for Tilly to follow him. He led her past a surprised Jet and scowling Faye into a large sitting room, where he guided her to the couch taking a seat beside her.
"Hey, Ed," he called.
A red patch of hair suddenly appeared between Tilly's legs from beneath the couch. She yelped in shock and pulled her feet up onto the couch, falling into Spike's lap in the process.
"YES!" the kid shouted, wriggling out like a snake from beneath the sofa.
"I need you to make a call," Spike returned, a smug grin once again on his face as he helped Tilly to sit upright. Ed danced around the room, cart wheeling and somersaulting, finally flopping down in front of the monitor.
"Is he okay?" Tilly asked a little scared of the gurgling and whizzing noises the kid was making. Spike threw his head back and laughed.
"She, actually. She's fine." He turned to Ed, ignoring Tilly's shocked expression. "Ed, find the number for Tilly's mother. Make the call."
Tilly chewed her lower lip, saying nothing. She knew the search would fail. She had paid too much for it to succeed. Ed sang some nonsensical lyrics as she tapped away on the keyboard. After a few moments of silence, though she squealed and screamed as though in pain causing both Spike and Tilly to jump.
"Awwww! The Tilly bounty has no mother person!" Ed fell backward onto the ground, kicking her legs into the air in frustration. "No mother person! No last name! Only Tilly!"
Spike turned his head and leveled a hard stare at Tilly. She winced and bit her lip again, her fingers nervously scratching at the hollow of her throat. After a moment or so Tilly cleared her throat and spoke up.
"She's right. It cost a lot of money, but you won't find any history of me on any database."
"Okay, then," Spike said, clearly pissed. "Give Ed the number. This better be for real."
Tilly gave Ed the number from memory and tried her best not to be intimidated by Spike's stare. Ed tapped a few more keys and the screen came to life as Tilly's mother answered the line.
"Tilly! Where are you? What's going on? The kids called and said you hadn't come back from the market-"
"Mother!" Tilly broke in. "I'm fine, but there's a small problem... Something's come up. I need you to-"
"Oh my God!" she cut Tilly off. "Spike!"
