A/N: I forgot to mention the first time around, I'm also very eager to please my readers. Which means that I take every review and every suggestion to heart. Nothing you will be ignored - so please, don't hesitate to say it! Just leave a review and let me know what you think. :D

A woman, with flawless skin and long red hair, sat in in the passenger side. She jerked her backwards when Todd leaned into the car - and he noted that the shirt she wore, light blue and perfectly fitted to her curves, was spotless. An expensive brand too, if the small white bird on the shoulder was anything to go by.

The drivers seat had a man in it, and Todd could tell by the sudden bunching of his shoulders that he was nervous. Tanned fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel, and they were gripping it tight enough that his knuckles were turning white.

Not there for sex then. Fuck.

"Uhm, no, no. We're fine." the girl said, waving one hand slightly. She shifted in her seat, trying to put a few more inches between herself and the unwelcoming man. In the fading evening light, his skin looked almost gray and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of disease he happened to have.

The half-hearted smile slipped off of Todd's face, and a scowl settled there instead. He let out a harsh sigh through his nose, then had to fight back a cough at the action because, damn, that hurt his lungs.

"You stopped for somethin', babe." he snapped. "So if you need directions or shit, just ask. You already wasted my time."

The woman glanced at the driver out of the corner of her eyes, and then the man was leaning closer to the window. He had on a pair of sunglasses, Todd noted, despite the fact that it was far from bright out.

"Actually, we could use some help." he said, and one hand moved slightly to rest on the red-heads.

Dating, then. Not married, because there was no ring and Todd knew that for a fact because his sharp eyes would never miss the glint of gold. Not when it sold for bundles at pawn shops.

"Spit it out then." snapped Todd, because he had no reason to be kind or polite to someone that wasn't going to pay for him. Fuckin' assholes were costing him valuable street-time.

The man nodded, fingers twining with the woman's slender ones. "We're looking for someone. A girl. She, uh, she goes by the name of Lace?"

Without thinking, Todd jerked out of the car and took a hurried step back. Automatically, he was on gaurd; shoulders and back collapsing and feet inching apart; hands held just slightly in front of him, one open, one curled into a tight fist; eyes narrowed into smog-colored slits.

"Lace ain't takin' no more customers, bastard." he spat, and he let himself have the flash of satisfaction when both of the high-life customers in the car had the grace to look surprised.

Maybe a little bit ashamed, even.

"It's not like that - " the man started.

Todd didn't give him a chance to finish. Words little more than snarls, he gave a harsh shake of his head. "Fuck off. She ain't interested in nothin' you got, geeks."

And while his mind was focusing on Lace (and wasn't she what everyone on the streets was thinking about lately? Who everyone had just unanimously decided to protect?), he missed the slight flash of recognition in the woman's blue eyes.

Suddenly, she was leaning close to him, gaze scrutinizing. Like she could see straight through him, deep into his soul and mind - and, fuckin' Hell, something was suddenly prodding at the tattered shreds of his mind, trying to see where one ruined thought began and another ended.

But there was nothing there, nothing they could do or he could do. He was broken, shattered, ruined - and he was screaming too, even though he didn't register that fact. Every obscenitiy and insult he knew, instincts taking hold when his mind failed.

And, at the moment, his instincts were set for flight.