Chapter 11

Like every job, the first few months of being a bounty hunter (or a 'freelancer' as he filed it on his taxes) can be rough. You don't have a reputation for yourself just yet so you're stuck with low paying gigs like obtaining and transporting relics or weapons you had obtained from black market dealers. Clients don't even bother to know your name and you're stuck with 'kid'. From there, you can network your way into the more interesting catches like wild, endangered animals (if you haven't upgraded your health insurance provider yet, this would be the best time to do so). If you survive that, then people really start paying attention to you and although you get stranger clients with even stranger requests, the bounties get significantly greater.

In this profession, you will never forget your 'firsts' because they will always teach you something valuable, like the time he first caught a person. A billionaire business person had put the biggest bounty Célestin had ever been offered at the time on a young girl at the age of 12 years old. It took 7 weeks for him to finally find her in a shady motel on the outskirts of Manhattan. She had gotten some facial reconstructive surgery and her hair was dyed blue, which could've fooled him, but not his trackers. What made him the best bounty hunter in the universe, although he would say otherwise, were the gadgets he took from his father. The second thing was his handsome looks, which often fooled people that he could be trusted.

He stalked the girl the first 24 hours. Accompanying her was a slightly older girl who had similar features as the reconstructed face- no doubt intentional. When he was ready, he bought a 3 year old black lab from the mall and parked the hover in front of the motel. He opened the hood, pretending to check the oil. When they came out, the dog was running up to them.

"Finn! Come back here!" Célestin threw his hands up, shaking his head.
The 12 year old got on her knees to hug the dog, she was smiling as it licked her face. He jogged over to them, "I am so sorry. I hope my friend Finn didn't scare you." He folded his arms looking at Finn with a scolded look.

The older girl looked at Célestin suspiciously up and down and then peeked at his hover.

"Thank you. If he didn't stop here, I might've had to chase him down the block." He took the collar, tearing the dog away from the young girl and met the gaze of the older girl, his blue eyes twinkling in the light of the nearby lamp-post "He likes pretty girls." The two girls blushed.

"Hey, there's a diner right around the corner from here. It's a dog friendly one, thankfully. Would you ladies like to join me?"

The two immediately looked at each other in shock, both hesitant. Their stomachs were growling, they hadn't eaten in days. "No it's alright.." said the younger one.

"Okay! Well have a nice evening. Come on Finn!" He smiled at the two again waving turning starting a slow jog back to the hover.

"Wait-!" The voice of the older girl spoke up, stopping him immediately. Before he turned to face him, a large grin couldn't help itself creep up on his face. "I guess we both could go for something to eat."

"It's my treat." He responded.

After dinner, the two had been so full and tired they agreed to drive back to the motel. The older girl, who said her name was Anna sat in the front passenger seat and the younger girl, who called herself Maggy was slowly falling asleep in the back with Finn's head resting on her lap.

"So how long have you had your dog?" Anna asked, trying to remain awake while watching the lights flicker by as they whizzed by. Eric (the name he told them) was awfully quiet, not like the talkative, humorous young man telling stories and making them laugh in the diner earlier.

"I've had Lucky for 4 years now." He said, not removing his gaze from the street.

"Lucky?" She peered at him from the corner of her eyes. "I thought you called him Finn,"

He said nothing, only chuckling.

"Earlier you mentioned you were a engineer? How long have you been doing that?"

"Well my father was great weapons engineer and he taught me many things, including to be very versatile with your skills. You know what I mean?" He looked over to her, her body completely lifeless on the seat, she tried hard to keep her eyes open. The girl in the back was already toppled over taking up the seats. The dog was licking her face, whimpering.

He sighed "Of course you don't. Well I've been called many things: transporter, smuggler, but I really prefer bounty hunter."

It took half a second before the panic set in. She suddenly remembered the milkshakes he had brought out as dessert before they left the diner. She remembered how he smiled watching the two finish their drinks. It was too late. Her vision blurred as she tried to focus on the objects around her. Anna tried to turn back to the other girl, her arms wanted to reach out to her, but her body would not comply. "Magdelena..." escaped her lips, revealing the true name of the young girl in the back.

He watched her from from the corner of his eyes before looking at his countdown where he had expected when the drugs would kick in. 00:00:00, "Good timing." He dropped Anna and the dog next to the dumpsters behind the motel. "Well done Speedy," he patted the dog's head, who was barking and snarling at him.

When the 12 year old girl finally woke up from the sedatives in the backseat of his hover tied up, she was hysterical. "Please don't bring me back to my father," she cried trying to wriggle herself free.

"Well hun. why'd you run away in the first place?" He wagged a finger at her looking at her from his rear-view.

"I can't go back," She sobbed "Please! He's a monster!"

Somehow he completely overlooked the fact people could talk, unlike the wild animals and relics he had previously dealt with. "Oh yeah? And what could you possibly offer me for your freedom?"

She sniffled, wiping her wet face on the seat, "You can sleep at night knowing you did the right thing," she responded.

It was silent for a moment, as if he were truly considering the weight of her words. She felt a tiny pang of hope.

He slowed the hover, stopping on an empty landing dock floating in the sky typically there for emergencies, and searched for something in the passenger's compartment.

Soft tears flowed from the young captive's face, "So will you free me?"

He looked into her eyes for a half a moment then laughed, "I'll sleep just fine on the stack of units your father is going to pay me."

Her eyes widened in shock and then slowly closed, the rest of her body finally relaxing as he shot a tranquilizer dart into her neck.

"Ugh, too much talking." He stretched his neck left and right, throwing the gun back into the compartment.

Célestin Leroux learned two important lessons that day: he needed stronger sedatives for longer rides and a tinted, sound proof window that would border him and his future captives.

His port was ringing.

Célestin answered his comm-putting it on speaker. Still dripping wet from the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist. The luxury hotel where he stayed was far from the town of Rieux, but he refused to stay in a hotel given less than 5 stars.

"And how was it?" A voice on the other side did not wait for him to speak and he lacked interest in exchanging greetings or engaging in small talk.

"Well she's still smoking hot, but she reeks of her grandmother's disgusting farm. I wonder why she stays at all..." He took another towel and began drying his hair. "She's filthy rich. Why, the European federation alone must have given her at least a billion units to reward her for killing the Lunar queen." He wasn't wrong, he had already checked with his sources. He started to become excited thinking about his redhead beauty and her fortunes.

"That's nice Mister Leroux..." the voice began again, sounding exhausted. It wasn't his first time dealing with the bounty hunter. Célestin was reliable, but his petty rants were beneath him. "However…I wasn't inquiring about Ms. Benoit..."

"Oh yeah, her pet." Célestin rolled his eyes, feeling disgust, "I took a good look at him yesterday. He won't be too much trouble, I'm sure. By the time I get to their heads, he'll be at your door with his tail between his legs and she'll be running into my arms." He sneered.

"Did you get a bio-scan?"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Célestin was becoming impatient. Still damp he reached for his glass tablet and plopped into bed, "I'm sending it to you now. I've dropped some spyders into their home too, in case you need to observe his behavior. I won't say I won't be watching either..." He smiled impishly, "for my own research of course."

"Good." The voice responded. "Soon enough we will both get what we want Mr. Leroux." The comm disconnected.

"Thank the stars." He sighed agreeing with the man, "I need an early retirement." He picked up the tablet, activating the cameras on the tiny spyders who had hidden themselves all over the crevices of the Scarlet's home. He saw Scarlet sitting legs crossed, reading a book and drinking tea and he thought of the voice on the other side no more.