Bad: Chapter 6

"Once I wanted to be the greatest
No wind or waterfall could stop me
And then came the rush of the flood
The stars at night turned you to dust"

- Cat Power


Baker Panchorero. She'd chased this guy before, and they'd caught him too. Now he was out on the street again, having skipped bail for the charges they'd picked up him for in the first place. At first, Faye felt like she was getting one over on the system—being able to turn in the same guy twice for basically the same crime with an even bigger price on his head than before. She had all of the advantages—knowledge of his known associates and hangouts, what he looked like and how he operated. Still, the more she thought about it, the less good it felt. For the first time since becoming a bounty hunter, she felt herself wanting to grouse about the inefficiency of the system. Thinking about all the effort they put into finding these fuckers, only to find out that they were just turning them loose with so little supervision—was this the sting of pride she was feeling?

She'd probably been working too much. It did seem like that was all she'd been doing lately.

Faye peered through her binoculars into the window of the building across the street. The setting sun was unbearably hot on her back and the rough rooftop had scraped her elbows and stomach. She was gonna get this prick for sure.

"One-eyed son-of-a-bitch."

She rolled onto her back and lit a cigarette. The sky was going all pink and purple. Sometimes, even Mars' moons looked pink. Maybe it was the reflection of the planet or something. She didn't know. Every now and then she wished that she has paid more attention in science class. It was always her worst subject. It was something of a sore spot with her father. He was a doctor, after all, and he had always hoped she might go into medicine as well.

She rolled back onto her stomach. She couldn't think about her father for too long. Remembering him was the hardest.

"This fucker better show up soon."

"He's already here."

She heard the click of a gun being cocked.

'Fuck.'

She heard Baker's gruff voice. "Stand up."

She pushed herself up on her knees and grimaced, realizing that he was probably getting an obscene view of her ass. She straightened up slowly, raising her arms above her head.

"Careful there, cowboy. Bank robbery and bail jumping is one kind of thing. Kidnapping is quite another."

He pressed the cold barrel of his pistol into her bare lower vertebrate.

"Who said anything about taking you captive?" He nudged her forward a little. "Maybe you just…slipped."

"C'mon, Pancho. We both know you're a first-rate scumbag, but you're no murderer." Faye lifted one foot to scratch her ankle.

"Make one more move and we'll test that theory."

Faye sighed. "Well, in that case, I guess I'd be better off just jumping on my own then, huh?"

"Wait, wha—"

She smiled to herself as she stepped up on the ledge and turned around to face him.

He was trembling violently, both hands gripping his gun. "I said 'don't move'!"

She saluted. "Be seeing you, Pancho."

Baker's face was one of total horror, and for a second she felt bad as she stepped backward off the rooftop. He even reached his hand out to grab her. It was kind of sweet.

She tumbled awkwardly into the Redtail's cockpit, and tried to right herself quickly. It had really hurt her ass.

The door whooshed shut and she zoomed up the side of the building, pointing her guns into Baker's still-shocked face. His hands immediately shot into the air, and he began trembling comically. She felt bad again. Well, just a little. She shook her head and smiled.

'What would Dad think of me now?'


Faye pushed open the door of the ISSP precinct, leading a cuffed Baker in by a rope tied to his shiny bracelets much like a lassoed steer.

"Ms. Valentine. I was wondering when we were going to see you."

"Hi, Lester. I've brought you a very special present."

She jerked her rope, pulling Baker forward. The desk clerk smiled excitedly.

"Pancho! Nice to see you again. We've missed you."

"Hi, Lester," he said woefully.

"I think he's just happy he'll be rid of me soon."

"This bitch is crazy."

Lester cackled and buzzed Baker through the gate for processing.

"How's business been, darlin'?"

She leaned on the counter girlishly. "Oh, ya know, about the same. Just a bunch of small fries. Got anything new on the roster? Something like in the 5 mil range?"

"Nothing yet, but I've heard we'll be getting a lot of new additions next week. Apparently, this hotshot new DA is going on the warpath."

"What about?"

"Syndicate crime."

Faye felt something cold in her stomach.

"Any particular reason he's cracking down now?"

"Not that I can say for sure, but all the stuff with the Red Dragons has to be part of it."

She nodded slowly. "You're probably right about that. You can't blow up a building and expect to get away with it, huh?"


Spike was such an asshole. Nevermind that that was half of his charm. He was still an irredeemable bastard of the highest order.

She felt sick. The fact that she'd just gorged herself on a plateful of barbeque pork ribs played a part in that, sure, but it was mostly due to this ISSP shit. Everything was going to pieces again.

She paid for her meal and picked up her to-go order from the front counter. He so did not deserve beef brisket. But she couldn't help herself. She was fucking hopeless.

Her recent zealousness regarding her work served a few unmistakable purposes.

For one thing, it helped her keep her sanity. Since regaining her memories, she'd been unable to control her mind. Her thoughts were always racing, always rolling over past events, re-examining them through the filter of her new life. It had sent her into an emotional tailspin for a few weeks and it was the primary reason she'd been unable to sleep for what seemed like ages. The only thing that seemed to mitigate this was staying busy. So she worked as often as she could, as much as her sleep-deprived body would allow.

With all of her earnings, she was able to help take care of the boys—something she'd never had any special desire to do before, but that now seemed to be a crucial part of her existence. Jet had needed a lot of help getting the ship in working order again and the bond between them had grown in such a way that she wanted to help him out. She and Spike owed him that much, and Spike could do little do carry his end. And with Spike, well, despite her extreme anger toward him, she wanted to help carry him through this bullshit. She just wanted him to be okay.

The evening was warm and the smell of burning leaves wafted through the night as she clomped down the city streets toward the Redtail. She wiped away a tear that was beginning to form.

'What a prick.'

She wanted her sentiments toward him to be the same as those that she held for Jet, but they weren't. How she'd quantify them, she couldn't say, but they affected her in a far deeper way. They were an enormous intrusion, and it fucking pissed her off. Even now, knowing how close he had been to oblivion, she wanted to fall to her knees and cry her heart out.

Her solution was to avoid him as much as possible. That was her plan, and she was sticking to it.