Into Western Space ( MasterOfWhispers and Ms_Muffintops)

Lily feared run-down rooms when they checked in to the hotel, but it was something she could deal with if it was only a mere over night stay. In most circumstances, the young woman would not stand for sharing a room with a man she hardly knew, but she did know Miguel to an extent... she knew his name, what he looked like, that he was a bounty hunter... who was her competition up until today, and seemed like a bit of a flirt. He didn't give her any bad vibes.

When they went to the clothes shop, she picked out a few things herself. A classic black dress and a red one for formal occasions or when she needed to be seductive, a few skirts, denim shorts, and tank tops for comfort. Of course she needed shoes... she got some boots, and a pair of high heels. She was now set for their new ship.

She let out a sigh of relief when they finally sat down at their table at the diner. As soon as Miguel made his remark, which the female bounty hunter took to be flirtatious, her cheeks immediately turned beet red. Her eyes shifted his way, and immediately shot away. Those words, and that look of his, that wink. "Yeah well...", Lily spoke, "Not like I had much of a choice. You kind of got my ship destroyed." She didn't want to easily give into his charm, he was probably like that with a lot of women he encounters. It was in the nature of men like them... to be so charming. Lily was nothing special. Because of her lifestyle and career choice, she never got the change to indulge in her feminine side, yet she couldn't quite stand the idea of being a butch. There was absolutely nothing attractive about that. Then again, why did she care? With the way she lived, she wasn't around a guy long enough to attract one, much less get to know them and develop a romance... that she was aware of.

Lily blocked Miguel from her view with the large menu as she scanned it for something she wanted to order. Eventually she decided on and ordered a steak and baked potato; She deserved it. She used the food as an excuse to keep quiet after his remark. As she waited for the food, she just idly sipped on her drink, avoided eye contact, and as soon as the food came, she dug right in, stuffing her mouth so that she was unable to speak. A few women at the bar of the diner scoffed at the sight of Lily, a woman who was tearing into a steak before a gentleman. Did she not care about maintaining her figure? What about manners?

"It's like she grew up with a pack of wolves... feel bad for the guy...", one of the girls whispered and giggled to her friend. Unfortunately for her, Lily overheard the comment.

Immediately the young woman swallowed her current bite and shot a glare their way. "You two have a problem?", she hissed. Lily stood... her clothing was still dirty from their earlier fight. She gazed at the clothing of the other girls... dressed up like they were some jezebels--- floral dresses, heals, purses, hair done up, caked in make up. "I could look like you! Only difference is that I'm not some lazy little bitch who sits on a high horse all day while others do things for me. You don't know who I am do you? I'm Lily Ellenford, the bounty hunter, and I could shoot those pretty little smiles off of your faces before you could even blink!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?", one of the women snared as the two quickly got up and trotted out of the diner as quick as their 4 inch heals would take them.

With a huff, Lily flopped back down in her seat, arms crossed, and her brows narrowed. They had pushed one of her buttons. She had almost forgotten that Miguel was right there with her. After that brief little freak out, she found it a little harder to look him in the eye.

Miguel was watching the whole scene in rather mild amusement. From the way Lily was wolfing down her own steak to the angry retort at the the women's little comment about the girls femininity. After the girls have left, the gunmen couldn't help but burst in laughter; his smile brightening the dark haired man's features. Watching as she hid her self behind her menu he spoke:

"Little fiery this afternoon young lady, I wonder if your as energetic in the mornings though. Maybe I should be scared." Miguel let his tease hang in the air for just a brief moment before going on. "Word of advice though, not many people announce that they're bounty hunters in a public place. After all, you never really know if your mark is in the same room as you or other potential rivals are in the room. Take a look that group sitting in the corner for example."

The volume of his voice dropped into a whisper as he directed his head to three shady looking men dressed in ragged clothes and jeans, sporting brown khaki jackets.
"Just noticed that group as you were having your little spat with those women, now before the argument that group was talking about say cargo delivery, and marks. Would have been the most opportune time to you know ease drop and find out more, maybe even tail them and see if they are targets or going after potential bounties. After all, the line between criminal and bounty hunter tends to be very thin. Just look at me." Miguel smiled his hands gesturing to himself. "Half the folk that see me think I'm a danger to society. Well half true, and the other think I'm a danger to their pure innocent daughters."

As he finished his little talk the waitress came by and asked if they wanted any dessert. Being a space traveling tradition, Miguel always asked for the same thing. Pie.
"Course I don't mind if you go off on your little rants. I find that it only augments your beauty more and more." He finished with a smile.

As the meal finally finished, the group of men that Miguel pointed out left the diner quietly. The bounty hunter never really forgot those men though keeping them in the back of his mind, and bringing them to the surface of said mind once they left and he had a chance to draw out his holo-watch. A piece of tech he found on Jackal 9's bedroom.
"Lets see here, All I have to do is type in descriptions and...." The holo watch began to project a variety of images. After a bit it stopped. at one image. An image that made Miguel slightly disappointed.
"Damn another registered bounty hunter. Still though if a bounty hunter is around the area, that means that a bounty can't be too far off."

Inputting more commands in the watch, he accessed the criminal data base and began pulling up potential bounties that could be in the area.
"Dale Saunders was reported to be in the area according to the latest intel. Not really a high price but it will help sustain is for a fair bit before were ready to go after any of the high profiles. Why don't we bag us a bounty before we call it a day." Miguel said with a smile. It was the perfect opportunity to strengthen their "relationship".

Lily simply refused eye contact as Miguel spoke to her. Even though her method of getting her bounties was subtle, when someone pushed her buttons, she was anything but. She despised Mary Sue damsels who pranced around town with their girlfriends and judged the women who worked their asses off. God forbid they get a little dirt under their nails. The woman's ship was destroyed earlier and all she had on her was really all that she could say was genuinely hers. It didn't helped that Miguel was just being himself. Always smiling, always acting so... damn charming, why was he so damn nice to her? She didn't want to answer that, part of her wanted to be convinced it was all an act to get her in bed or something sleazy like that.

Though she wasn't much for hunting down a bounty in her current state, she supposed there wasn't anything better to do. They were spending a ton of cash just to get this ship worked on, they might as well earn some of it back. With a reluctant sigh, not wanting to admit defeat in methodical thinking, the female bounty hunter stood up and made her way out of the diner.

"I think I will go search the ship for something to use. I'll meet you at the---" Lily began to speak as she made her way down the poorly paved road when she heard a rugged voice calling out to them.

"Hey you! You two!", a man called out. Lily turned to see that it was the group of men from the diner whom Miguel had mentioned. "What kinda idiot you think you are?! You tryina' scare the fish away?" he spoke as he and his crew approached them.

"Well well, look who's calling the kettle black. That raspy I-smoke-too-much voice of yours can be heard for miles," the short bounty hunter retorted with her arms crossed before her. Her demeanor appeared to be that of a lap dog--- Small, not so intimidating, but lots of bark and only a little ankle nipping.

The man walked past Miguel, snorting as he took a glance at the man, and straight to the women of the pair. With a firm sausage like finger poked to her chest, he spoke quiet, but sternly, "The bounty... belongs to us. A little lady like yourself should be in a finishing school anyways, not out playin' with some wannabe cowboy tryina' play wit tha big boys."

Not wanting to let her guard down and give the men their satisfaction, Lily maintained her attitude filled with confidence. "Big boys? Don't make me laugh. You know...", she spoke as she took a few steps closer to Miguel, "You guys will never be an ounce of a big boy that this guy is here. Have you even seen us in action? I honestly didn't want to waste my time on such an... insignificant...", she made sure to lower her voice, "bounty... but I take your little command as a challenge."

Without waiting for a response, Lily took off in the other direction, now feeling far more driven to hunt down that bounty than she was minutes before. She just needed to pick up a few things from the ship and gather some more information from Miguel so she knew how to approach the situation.

There was already a small group of men going to work on the ship, but she was still allowed to go inside to gather a few things. She got a change of clothing so that she was a little more presentable, and gathered a few weapons and ammo. Of course all was concealed under her skirt, with a little secret stash hidden in her bra.

That was so stupid. Yet it was hot blooded. That's a turn on Miguel thought. He smirked at the group of people trying to call out Lily. Personally, he should have chastised her for picking a fight, and making their next job a tad bit harder. However, Miguel had a thing for passionate girls, and he would be incredibly happy to help stomp the competition with his boot to satisfy the passionate girl that is currently walking back to their ship.

"Bitch is going down." He overheard one of the bounty hunters say. For a moment his eyes flashed in anger. With one swift motion, he stepped towards the little dissenter and planted a fist to his face, breaking his nose.The other two bounty hunters stared at him in astonishment. The brown coat game them both a cold smile.

"You must have been hard of hearing. Your nothing, and that bounty Dale Saunders is as good as ours." He turned away to head back to the ship. One of the men pointed a gun to his back. Hearing the sound of a bullet enter a chamber he let out a mirthful chuckle.
" Your sure you want your license revoked son?" The man behind him placed the gun down. "Good. See you on the field."

===

Dale Saunders was by no means a high profile criminal. In fact, at best he's mid level and at worst he's a simple weasel who does some of the criminal syndicates garbage work. By garbage work; It means heavy lifting for the Red Star Mob's smuggled illegal cargo, or the occasional collection of protection money from shops in mob controlled territories. However, there was one reason why Dale Saunders had a modest fee on his head. He ended up pissing off the local Don by sleeping with his no longer virgin daughter. Thus the Don with the help of moles sold out his now hated subordinate's head to Alliance Enforcers who in turned added the poor unwitting fool to Their Data Base. The Don framed him for several murders in order to increase the bounty. Though the alliance is well aware that this information is false. In hopes of bringing said Don to justice, they plan to capture him squeeze out any information. Hence the real reason behind the high but not so high bounty.

Miguel himself found this intriguing, and wondered if he can actually negotiate for a higher pay. But though better against it. It was his first official job together with the dear Miss Ellenford and he though better of it. Dale was currently hold up in a hidden shack several miles away from town, and the gunman was currently wondering how to go about his. After all he was a simple weasel and weak fellow but he was a desperate weak and weaselly man.
"How do you want to handle this?" Miguel said contacting Lily over his ear piece.

Lily hadn't heard the comment that the man had made, but she did happen to catch him falling onto the ground. With red cheeks, the female bounty hunter had continued on her way. After getting dressed, she met Miguel in the first floor of the ship. She was much more presentable now... for a lady. With a sigh, she dusted her skirt, making sure it wasn't riding up.

With her hands on her hips, and her foot tapping, Lily pondered about the best way to approach the situation. The man didn't sound very threatening. She had heard of him before... he was a notorious weasel and there wasn't a gangster nor cop out there that wasn't after his ass right now. The bounty wasn't the highest, but it should be easy.

"Well, he holds valuable information for investigators, so without a doubt, they're going to want him alive. We can't kill him, so, we're going to have to use other means of force... or get him at his own game. He's a weasel after all. If he's going to come with us hassle free, we're going to have to offer something to him. I don't care if we have to bullshit him, he'll probably try to trick us too if he can find something to his advantage... I don't know what he'd have up his sleeve."

Lily then went back to the ammo room, this time coming out with a sack filled with various nonlethal tools the two could use to their advantage when they do find the man.

"Well, I'm ready. I leave the rest up to you partner. If all else fails, maybe my feminine charm to get him to come with us," she spoke teasingly with her hands pressing her breasts, and a flirtatious wink.

((Sorry for the short post. Not home today but I wanted to post.))

"In and hard it is then." Miguel responded, a smirk on his lips. Don't think you'll need to use your feminine charms. My fist will do most of the talking." Taking a look at his gun, his mind began to calculate how to best to go about this. He really didn't feel like wasting ammo on a chump like this one. At the same time, firing warning shots would be a lot easier to do.

Finally making up his mind, he figured he an do the easiest thing: Bust in from a certain point and choke him out, and knock him unconcious. As he readied his position to one side of the shack, Something rather unexpected happened.

"What the hell?" Miguel yelled over his ear piece. He hard the sound of gunpowder echoing through the woods. The he heard the sound of glass breaking. Pulling out his gun, he loaded the chambers and took cover behind some rocks.
"Looks like the competition is here, and it seems like who ever is attacking, once to kill poor Dale here. I doubt it's a bounty hunter. I'm going to see if I can sneak up and capture them. Be careful when you arrive."

"Uh oh", Lily spoke in response, she too could hear the sound echoing through the land; It could be heard for miles. It was only a matter of time before those damn bounty hunters showed up too. If there was at explosions or gun shots being fired in the area, it only meant one thing to any bounty hunter... someone was after the bounty. Instantly, the female bounty hunter took off into the woods where her partner, the bounty, and company were now located. "I'll search the area. I think its best to keep our distance for now", she added as she headed in another direction, yet remaining parallel to Miguel's presumed position.

Since she was lighter on her feet and agile, it was easier for the young woman to travel through the woods without making a sound. The leaves and twigs under her feet hardly got a chance to snap and crunch before she took another step. It was something she had to learn over the years in order to get a good look at her surroundings when closing in on her target.

Lily stopped in her tracks as she came to a small clearing in the trees, and there parked in the center was a decent sized ship. Plain in appearance, but its maker, and model spoke otherwise for what was inside. There were men dressed in black guarding the door of the ship. One thing she noticed though was that the two men had tattoos, identical in appearance, both located on the side of the men's necks, an indication they belongs to a group of some kind--- in this case, the mafia.

"Um... Miguel...", Lily whispered into her mouth piece, "I don't think you're going to like the competition. And I don't think they're after the bounty. I mean, well, they're after this Dale guy, but I don't think they really care about collecting the bounty. I think its the mob! I'm looking at their ship here."

By then the young woman was backing away and making her way to Miguel. Naturally, Lily didn't want to stick around and risk getting caught alone by one of their men. It'd surely be her last day on Earth, or well, whatever planet they happened to be on.

They couldn't let them kill the damn guy. What a waste of money that would be! Their job was either done before it got started, or it just got even more difficult than once they thought it'd be.

More gun fire sounded, as he heard the panicked man hide behind something in the shed.
"Our bounty isn't going anywhere." Miguel responded. He heard foot steps. Footsteps which were growing louder by the minute. " Your right we can't. Maybe we can set a trap. You know, you can take out who's ever on that ship and when they get in, you let hellfire loose on the returning group."

After some careful thought, he shook his head. "Never mind, to risky. I'll improvise right here and now." Miguel's improvised plans had a success rate of fifty percent. A fact which he was careful not to tell Lily. Loading his gun, he crawled and sneaked through one of the windows, taking a quick peek from his position.

At the moment the shed didn't really have anything inside, but Miguel did here some whimpering from a dresser. The bounty hunter almost felt sorry for the man. Almost. If it weren't for the fact that he screwed up majorly in the Mafia, he would feel actually sympathy.

The door flew forward as the four black suited men broke in through the front. Hearing the whimpering from the shed, the leader of he black suited man spoke:
"Dale the snitch! it's been ages! You don't call! You don't write! You don't even come to the door to greet me!" The Mafia enforcer, broke open the dresser with his bear hands. Miguel's eyebrow raised. Enhanced strength? Genetic modification. The enforcer may even have even have regenerative abilities built in. If he does then so must the rest. This was not going to be easy.

"Hey... Willy, its been a while." Dale responded nervously. Miguel could tell he was literally pissing his pants. "I was just going to see you..."

"Oh I bet. Though word on the street is that your in contact with an alliance officer. More to that, he discovered something you shouldn't. You'll understand that because of that, the boss can't have you talking now." Willy responded, pulling a gun out from his Jacket.
"Nothing personally."

"Please Willy don't do this" Dale responded his voice lined with panic. The dark haired hunter was in a panic. What to do? Well the decision was obvious. He had six bullets, and there were only four of them. Ther was only one thing to do.

"No body is going to save you this time. This bounty hunters that were searching for you earlier in the woods. We killed them. No way in hell your ass is staying alive good bye ya rat!" Willy raised the gun, aiming it at the snitch's head.

Bang, Bang, Bang

Before he could pull the trigger, Miguel planted a bullet in three of the men's heads. Willy turned around just in time to respond with a bullet of his own.
"Shit." Miguel grunted as a bullet found it's way to his left shoulder. His own aim was true as he responded with a another gun blast to Willy's head.

With all four mob enforcers down, Miguel turned to Willy
" Alright mister Snitch come al-"
His eyes caught sight of one of the gun men. The wounds Miguel had inflicted were slowly but surely vanishing.
"Shit, A regeneration mod. You, stay here and die, or come with me and live. Which do you want."

Dale nodded, quickly following, Miguel who was quickly rushing out into the forest.
"Lily, I have our bounty, however we ran into a bit of a problem. Mafia here have had some genetic mods done on them. Meaning they have enhanced strength, and can heal quickly far as I can tell. What's your position?"

Lily had turned her stealthy skips into a sprint the second more rounds of gun fire went off. Some of them sounded oh too familiar... like Miguel's gun. "Aw crap you better not be dead Miguel. Please don't leave me alone in these woods with bounty hunters and the mob", Lily mumbled to herself as she made her way towards the shack. The woman breathed a sigh of relief when a familiar voice came ringing through her ear. Miguel actually did it!

"M-my position? I'm... I'm uh...", she began, thinking of how one would identify their location in the middle of the woods. But then she spotted two men making their way through the woods about 50 ft away; It was Miguel and Dale... following willingly? "I'm right here!" she called out as she ran up next to them.

"Wow, that was easy", Lily commented as she took a look at Dale as they ran. The man returned a gaze and scanned the girl head to toe, "Is this pretty thing with us? This might not be so bad...", the perverted weasel said. "Can it, weasel", the female bounty hunter huffed, "You two go on ahead, I'll take care of these guys!"

Lily then began to run in the opposite direction. Trailing them were a pair of the regenerating men. Killing them would prove useless, but Lily was perfectly equipped for the two men. Gun fires were shot, but the petite and agile bounty hunter could dodge gunfire with ease. With full force, she ran towards them head on. The two men stopped and stood their ground, expecting a full on gun battle. But nope, the short lady continued her, her teeth gritted, with her arm and elbow aimed forward.

"Yarr!" the women growled as she knelt down further, running at full force into one of the men, her elbow slamming him right in the groin and causing the man to flip over her. She couldn't waste a second, as soon as the first man was flying over her, out of her bag, she grabbed a rope. The other was lasso'd before he could even react. The man fell to the ground face first and struggled to get up, but the female bounty hunter quickly climbed on top of him and managed to hog tie the man. "Don't think I forgot you!" she squeaked, eyeing the man whom she had hit in the groin. He had managed to get up on all fours and was crawling for his gun. But was knocked back down with a shot from a stun gun.

Both men were now immobilized, and hopefully would not be able to track the three down.

"Got rid of them", Lily relayed to Miguel as she walked away.

"Be careful, Regenerators are a pain in the ass..." Miguel responded. Grabbing Dale's arm he quickly rushed into the back of town, groaning every so often due to the bullet wound on his arm. The browncoat himself would very much like to help Lilly but as of the moment, He was severely weakened and was losing a lot of blood. The nanites that he had injected to his blood stream during war would help slow down the bleeding somewhat. However, the nanties he had were outdated and were worn down due to age.

Once he finally arrived back into town with Dale in tow; The first thing he did was approach the sherrifs office located in the center of town. Upon entering, he spotted an older gentlemen sporting a beige uniform.

"Good day sir, What Can I do for you?" The older man spoke looking up at him at interest.
" You must be the sheriff?" Miguel responded to him scanning him up in down. He was clutching his wound tightly. "I'm here to turn in a bounty."

The sheriff scanned him, peering behind his glasses with a great interest. His eyes then went over Dale whose eyes were looking downwards rather nervously. "I have room in one of the cells, I'll take him in for now. You get yourself over to Marta's Clinic across the road."

"Thank you" Miguel responded, and nodded. Slowly but surely, he walked over across the road to Marta's Clinic. Marta herself was a rather attractive blond, wearing a white lab coat. Her eyes scanning the bounty hunter wearily.
"I got the call from Sheriff Shane. Come in." Miguel smiled/

"Thank you pretty lady."

====

After he was patched up, he received the call from Lily.
"Glad to hear it, I have Dale over at the Sheriffs prison. He agreed to hold him until we're ready to move him off world and transfer him to an alliance patrol station. We'll get our bounty then. I'm over at the clinic right now being treated by the lovely Miss Marta." He carefully emphasized the last few words, looking over at the blond doctor who gave him an exasperated look, but then giggled
"Shall we meet back up at the Motel then? Maybe dinner before we turn in. You can regale to me how you took down what was it three regenerators! " Miguel added, his tone slightly more flirty this time. .

"The clinic?!" Lily blurted out as he spoke, huffing between breaths as she continued sprinting her way through the woods, confident that no one was at least accurately or closely on her trail, but the woman chose to just in case. She could feel a flash of nervousness flash through her. When did Miguel get hurt? She didn't notice while he was running. She didn't get a chance to continue speaking before she heard him mention he new friend, Miss Marta. Her brows narrowed before rolling her eyes. Yup, typical guy. "You sound like you want to take Miss Marta on a date," she answered, "I'll meet you at the motel." Lily then pulled her ear piece out of her ear and slowed her pace. She had reached the outskirts of the woods and was now just outside the town. Now covered in sweat and a bit tired from practically running for her life.

The female bounty hunter took her time walking to the motel. Miguel hadn't yet returned from the clinic once she got into the room, so she took advantage of the time to shower and get cleaned up some. A nice hot shower was just what she needed after such a long day. Though she couldn't help but feel annoyed and offended at what Miguel had done. "Honestly, who flirts with two women at the same time! He was totally flirting with her, and then turns around and talks to me in a flirtatious tone?! And the dude claims he likes me so much!", she groaned quietly to herself, "Yeah right... probably just looking to get laid..." Sure, she was naturally jealous, no girl wanted to know that a guy had essentially replaced her. Not that there was much to replace... they were a thing or anything, but he had always been so flirtatious with her. She had never seen him flirt with someone else before, though she knew in the back of her head it was probably true that he did indeed flirt with other women. It was still surprising seeing him actually do it, and with her knowing of all things!

Now annoyed with herself for feeling such a way, Lily quickly washed her hair, and stepped out of the shower, dried off and brushed her hair, she took her time doing her usual care routine consisting of various face creams and lotions to keep her looking young and maintain her natural beauty, and then put on a simple sun dress for a change of wardrobe now that the work for the day had been done. That was when she finally stepped out of the bathroom. She half expected Miguel to be standing there in the room with Miss Marta clinging to him, or maybe some broad he met on the way to the motel. Her nose was stuck in the air as she held her standards high and wondered what was so wrong with her.

After getting patched up by the doctors at the Clinic and receiving a phone number from the lovely miss Marts, Miguel quickly made his way back to the hotel. From the way Lily responded, she was not happy with his little flirtations with the nurse. Granted, when it came to women especially beautiful women, Miguel had a tendency in the sentence he spoke with. Sure he's taken women to his bed after a long night in a bar but things were different. He wanted Lily. That spitfire. That dangerous beauty. He would have to apologize of course. Stopping by one of the nearest flower shops in tow, he purchased an assortment of exotic flowers and carried them all the way to the motel.

Once she returned from the shower, Miguel stood there, flowers in hand a smile plastered on his face. " Well darling, As I was passing through, I saw these flowers in a shop and thought of you. I thought, this would be a wonderful gift from one partner to another." He wanted to say "
I'm sorry." But the apologies never really worked out for the soldier turned bounty hunter. He had hoped that the flowers would speak for themselves.

"You like them?"

"Oh please", Lily huffed as she snatched the bouquet and walked past him. She made sure to leave one more blow, "You sure they're not for your date?" Lily didn't get why she was still so offended. It wasn't like he was her boyfriend or anything. He had the freedom to do as he pleased, he wasn't bound to her. But... it was the principle of the matter! If he wanted her so much, why the heck would he call her all the while flirting with yet another woman at that very moment?!

With a sigh, the female bounty hunter sat upon the bed and gazed over at him. The look in her eyes told him that she was still rather disappointed in him. She reached over and placed the flowers on the nightstand before continuing. "I know that shit works on other girls, but not me. Honestly, if that Miss Marta broad gave you her number after witnessing you speaking to another woman in a flirtatious tone, I'd reckon she doesn't have a brain in what I can assume is a blonde head of hers."

Her glance shifted to the side as she crossed her arms before her. "Honestly, if any man wanted to go out with me, he'd certainly have to earn it and prove himself worthy. But what am I wasting my time telling you this for, we're clearly not each other's types. No man I'd let lay claim to me would be off trying to get laid while I'm off in the woods with criminals!"

Perhaps it was simply her ego that had been damaged. Miguel was beginning to seem like a decent guy, maybe someone she could grow to like. But he was quickly throwing that out the door with that stunt.

How to recover from a situation such as this? It was a thought that ran furiously to the brown coats mind as he watched the girl go into a angry rant. It was obvious that she was incredibally jealous of the Miss Marta. He wandered if telling her that he wouldn't call her would sooth the angry girls temper. After much deliberation, he decided not to. A whole other rant would ensue and he would be no closer to fixing this little argument they were having. He'll have to play it cool and control his tone.

"You got to ease up darling" Miguel said walking towards her. "She doesn't hold a candle to your beauty no other girl does. It's the reason why I'm here with you now. I'm also here with you because your smart, your witty, and you sure as hell can fire a gun. Look how long it took you to take down the men trailing us. You killed them in seconds I'm guessing."

He looked at the clock and sighed deeply. It was almost midnight. They really should get some sleep if they are to get ahead on their next bounty
"Listen Lily." Miguel spoke her name with a great deal of warmth to it. "Obviously we're both stressed out after that little fight. Why don't you and I get some shut eye. Tell you what breakfast will be on me when we go to the diner. Hell I'll even do more to make it up to you. How does that sound?"

He was doing it again. Why did he have to act like that? So... charming... No matter what, he always ended up acting like some nice guy... the way he was calling her beautiful, claiming no other woman could match, and exaggerating her efforts out in the woods earlier that afternoon. Did Miguel honestly like her? Or was he simply kissing her ass to spare his own? Or was there other ulterior motives, like getting her in bed with him. Either way, Miguel's words sent a shade of pink spreading across Lily's cheeks.

Her eyes shifted to the side as she avoided eye contact with the man. It was getting late, and they had business to do. If he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't bother meeting up with that broad of his while they were in town; They had more important matters at hand and if Lily's company was so wonderful, he'd have no need to the other girl.

Was she jealous? Lily doubted it; But Lily may have also been in denial.The girl had too much pride. But at the end of the day, the girl was still just a woman waiting for the right man to charm her, and Miguel had a way with words.

"Whatever", the female bounty hunter mumbled as she scooted further back onto the bed and flopped down, lying on her side. After a hard day's work, there was nothing better than laying her head down onto a soft pillow.

"No idea what more you could do to make it up to me. Just don't waste my time," she added before sighing and closing her eyes. A yawn stretched echoed from between her pink lips as her mind began to calm down some thanks to the comfort of the bed.

As the tension finally settled down between the two (At least Miguel was under the impression that the tension was drifting down.). His eyes finally closed and the first few breaths of sleep started to flow into his body. He began to dream that night

Normally Miguel was a sound sleeper however, on this night, nightmares began to fill the mans head with moments of times he really wish he would forget. One particular moment was his betrayal of his unit. The memories kept playing in his head over and over again like a broken record.

Bleeding profusely on the floor of the shuttle gazing back at his four men his eyes lined with despair, Miguel gazed upon on his mutineers.
"Why" Was all he could say.

The mutineers leader stepped forward his expression unreadable.
"The new era is here, and in order to seize it there will be sacrifices. I truly am sorry Captain."

A gun shot, and then silence...

Miguel woke up, sweat all over his face. For a moment he forgot where he was. Upon looking on the sleeping form of Lily he relaxed, and for the first time in a while felt a little safe.

The female bounty hunter didn't have much luck getting a good night's sleep. First, she had a guy in bed next to her... not something that typically happened to her, second, the guy kept squirming and breathing heavily in his sleep, he even got up at one point which briefly sent her heart racing as she could sense his eyes on her as she pretended to sleep. But thirdly, and lastly, Lily hoped that the make over to their new ship would go smoothly. She could already feel herself stressing over it. What if there was a GPS planted in it somewhere? What about the costs? It was a rather large ship, and a ritzy one at that. They'd definitely have to get some serious bounties to maintain the ship. "Guess this means I'm going to be stuck with him for awhile..." she thought to herself as she let out a soft sigh.

Lily managed to get a few hours of sleep. Not as much as she wanted, but it was enough to leave her feeling rested after what they had been through the day before.

She rose early as soon as the sun hit her eyes, Miguel was still asleep. She preferred it that way; It allowed her to do her morning ritual. She washed her face, put on her moisturizer, applied some sun block to protect her flawless skin from the sun they'd be under all day, a little make up... enough to enhance her beauty, but not hide her natural looks, and she got dressed, her usual attire--- a free flowing shirt, tank top, utility belt, and brown leather boots. Strapped to her thigh was a pistol and dagger, as always. The skirt allowed easy access, concealing, and room to move around.

She didn't bother waking Miguel. He'd wake up on his own eventually. Instead, the petite girl made her way outside. The sun was high in the sky, and not a cloud was in sight.

Down the road at the end, a tall old brick building, was where their ship was. She could hear the hissing, clanking, and whistling of tools coming from the little warehouse. Surely it was their ship they were working on, and hopefully they were finished. A small town such as this one couldn't be terribly busy, could it?

Her gaze shifted over to the diner. It was breakfast time.

"I suppose I should wait for him... but it doesn't mean I can't sit down and have a nice warm cup of tea, right?" she mumbled to herself. Lily shrugged and made her way into the diner. The place was packed with the morning rush. The place was filled with travelers and locals alike. Lily managed to find one empty booth in the far end of the building. She scooted her way through the diner and sat down alone in the booth. It wasn't long before a waitress showed up and took her order--- Lily ordered some a hot cup of tea. She didn't particularly like coffee.

As she took her first sip of the scalding hot liquid, her eyes began to scan the place with curiosity. Surrounding the center bar was a bunch of locals laughing and chatting about. She was about to return her attention back to her tea and the menu set down before her when she heard Miss Marta being spoken in the crowd. Her head immediately shot up and caught noticed the nice looking blonde broad sitting at the bar with a bunch of the other locals. Pristine hair in a tight bun, ruby red lipstick, eyelashes caked in mascara, cheeks red with blush, her uniform... hugging her figure tightly of course.

The female bounty hunter let out a soft groan and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah?" Miguel responded talking into the communicator. Miguel was all cleaned up and dressed in his standard brown coat and dark shirt. Holstering his gun on his belt. Ralph Cain finally called, and to the bounty hunters none-surprise repairs to the ship were already finished.

"New paint job as well as custom job ready. Gotta say, you sure picked up a beauty this one." Ralph said with a tinge of envy in his voice.

"Indeed how much is it?"

"Tell you what I won't charge you anything if you can do me one favor." The mechanic said. Miguel noted a slight hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Shoot."

"It's a job, I'd like you to do. Body Guard work see. Ever heard of Casino Eclipse?"

"Yeah... I've heard of it. " He was wondering where this was going.

"Well a good friend of mine happens to be the owner and he has it on good authority that a famous burglar is about to make a hit on his safes. He needs to beef up security but he needs people He can trust. I reccomended you, and he would be very interested in meeting you."

"Who's the famous thief." Miguel asked curious.

"Robert Shark eyes" Miguel breathed at that. Robert Shark Eyes is a very high bounty indeed. Three hundred thousand credits. Along with the body guard work he'd be doing with the pair it would get him and Lily back on their feet in no time. Not to mention ship fees would be relieved.

"We'll take it then!" Miguel enthusiastically said.

"Great, hear are the details..."

---------

Miguel arrived in the diner, slightly curious why a group of men were crowding around someone. His eyes spotted Lily, drinking her tea an annoyed expression clear on her face.

"Lily I got us a job. Something That I think you'll like." Before he could go into more details. He heard a certain set of words which would soon make this breakfast really painful and awkward...

"Miguel there you are!"

A familiar female voice called from crowd of men. Miguel looked over his shoulder, a slight sense of panic creeping in.

"Marta... Hey there.."

For a second, Lily had hoped that maybe she had won the short battle versus the blonde bimbo nurse--- your typical beauty. Sure, up front, Lily didn't have that girly charm, but what did they expect of her? One can't go on missions to disarm or even on some occasions, kill, a man! She could look like that and snatch a man if she really wanted. And Miguel was right now a prime example of how easy men could be when it came to lipstick and heels.

But of course, the man could hardly even make it to the table before Nurse Marta came waltzing over.

"Well. I guess this is my que to leave, then!" the female bounty hunter squeaked, imitating Marta's voice. "You can tell me later after you're done flirting with your bimbo nurse friend..."

"W-what?" Nurse Marta spoke, overhearing Lily as she got to the table.

Lily flashed Marta a smile and nodded, "Have a lovely day... don't get too many collouses on your feet, now!"

Lily then pushed her cup of tea away from her, and got up. "I'll be checking up on the ship... you can meet me there and tell me there." But little did she know, it was done and ready. It was just what she needed. She didn't bother waiting for Miguel to catch up.

"So how's it coming along?" Lily asked as she stepped into the warehouse. Mr. Cain approached her and held his hand out presenting a freshly painted shape. It looked completely different. And as soon as Lily could get a hold of the inner tracking system, it would be a completely different ship, as far as registration goes.

"Did your partner not tell you? It's read to head out. I just need a little favor from you guys. He can fill you in on the details" the older man spoke.

Lily gazed up at her new ship in awe, just barely listening to the man speaking to her. "Eh... he can tell me later. Right now, I'd just like to get back on a ship."

"You're free to board Miss. Make yourself at home. Gotta say, I took a look inside. That place really is like a house with wings. I'm almost afraid to ask how you managed to acquire such a magnificent ship."

"Oh, you don't want to know..." the young woman spoke with a nervous laugh just before boarding the ship. Having her own room and the ability to get some space was going to make having to endure living with a womanizer much easier.

She let out a sigh as she walked around the ship. She dropped off all of her things into the bedroom that would be hers. It was nice to have a place that felt more like a home for once. In her old room, she just had a bunk and a few drawers to store her things. But not an actual bedroom. She had a closet to store her clothing, and a bathroom, to store all of her toiletries and necessities. She had a shower! They'd definitely have to snag some serious bounties to maintain such a life style in space. Speaking of bounties...

Why was Miguel taking on another job while they were supposed to be taking in that thug they turned in the day before? It'd better be a good one if she was going to drop what would have been a guaranteed bounty.