Flynn was passed out in the captain's chair of his ship. Suddenly a large alarm blared in his right ear. Flynn awoke with a start and stood up in a daze trying to find out the source of the noise. The alarm kept blaring as Flynn started yelling. "Shut up shut up!" After a few minutes of scrambling around the cock-pit of his ship, Flynn realized he still had in his ear piece. "Damn it!" He screamed throwing it out of his ear onto the floor of the ship.

"The hell is it VIC?" Flynn asked falling backwards into the chair. His head felt a few sizes too small and he rubbed his temples. Suddenly the windshield lit up with a soft blue light and a soft computerized voice filled the cabin: "Flynn, you have a new bounty."

"Bring it up VIC." Flynn said looking up onto the screen. Text began to scroll and a picture of a young woman appeared next to the text. Flynn quickly skimmed through the text. "Cute girl." He mumbled to himself. "Drug lord? The hell? VIC, is this information correct?"

"It is." The voice replied. "Who put this bounty out?" Flynn demanded. "Unknown." Replied the voice. Flynn reread the bounty information. "5,000 credits isn't enough if all this info on her is true, but business has been slow lately. VIC, what was her last known location?" A map of the known universe sprang into life and slowly began to zoom in until it showed just a single star system. It was single star orbited by three planets and an asteroid belt.

"Hey, uh, VIC. Is there anything out there?" Flynn asked. "There is a small base on the edge planet. It acts as a refueling station and is on the perimeter of the Galactic Federation's jurisdiction." The voice spoke. "Sounds like a perfect place to start." Flynn said excitedly as he jumped into the chair and began to key in commands. "Hit it!" Flynn yelled excitedly, slamming his palm down on a large red button labeled "The Button". Slowly the warp engine hummed into life and the stars began to bleed away as Flynn's ship careened into the distance.

Within the hour, Flynn's ship shot out of warp and slowed to flight speed. "Destination planet ahead." VIC chimed in. "Show me the base VIC." Flynn commanded. A small part of the windshield flashed blue and drew a virtual map of the planet and where the base's star port was located. A gruff voice came over Flynn's earpiece. "Identify yourself immediately." This was supposed to be a refueling station, so Flynn switched to his drill sergeant voice: "This is Corporal McTaggart of the UNMC. Requesting permission to land and refuel."

There was a crackle of static and voice came back on: "Sir, I don't see your ship listed in the authorized military vehicles..." Flynn cut him off: "Goddammit man! I don't have time to explain my every damned action to you Private! You either open those docking bay doors or I swear to almighty God I will crash this ship into your base!" Silence for what seemed like an eternity, before the voice came softly back: "You are cleared for landing Corporal."

Smiling to himself, Flynn docks his ship. As he gets out of his ship a creature resembling a small elephant walking on its hind legs is waiting at the doors to the entrance to the base. He salutes Flynn as he walks closer. Flynn salutes back. "I'm so sorry, Corporal." The creature stammers. "We just haven't gotten any marines out here in awhile. I forgot my place."

"At ease." Flynn barks as the creature slowly relaxes. "I need a drink." The tiny creature scuttles ahead of Flynn and leads him into the small base. There is almost nothing to the base. Connected to the hangar is a small hallway that connects what looks like a few sleeping quarters to the main dining hall. The tiny creature holds up a small glass tablet that Flynn puts his thumb on. "Thank you...Flynn Mctaggart." A voice emanates from the tablet. "You currently have...two hundred credits." The creature pulls the tablet back and looks awaiting Flynn to give his next order. "Fuel up my ship and I'm going to have a drink and leave soon." The creature nods it's head eagerly and runs as best as it can on it's stubby legs back to the hangar.

Flynn sits at the bar and orders "Whatever passes for human alcohol here." A cup full of a brown liquid rises up from the bar top and Flynn takes a drink as he surveys the dining hall. It is pretty sparse. He sees a small group of people huddled around a central table. Their faces almost buried in the table top. "They're either licking something or snorting something." He thought to himself. "Hey guys." Flynn shouts to the group of five. A skinny pale looking guy raises his head, wipes something from his nose and looks towards Flynn. "Bingo." Thinks Flynn to himself. Flynn points at his drinks and waves the guy over.

The pale faced man turns back to the others and mutters something. They all look up at Flynn and he waves at them all. They say a few other things to each other until the pale faced man nods, and walks over to Flynn. "The hell you want?" The man asks sitting down. "Nothing really." Flynn says taking another drink. "I'm just flying through and looking for some medicine." The man furrows his brow and laughs. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh well." Flynn says finishing his drink. "Can I at least buy you and your friends some drinks?"

Several hours later Flynn has learned that, while no one knows anything about an "Alyson", they do know that all the drugs for this sector come go through one planet nearby, "Aeros". One of the men drunkenly warns Flynn that it's hidden in the asteroid belt and you have to know the exact location to even have hopes of landing on it. "I bet none of you are smart enough to remember the location. You probably had to write it down." Flynn smirks as he observes the group.

A few minutes later Flynn leaves the table as the last of the men have passed out from a mix of drugs and drinking. He saunters back to his ship and hops in. He gets on the radio thanking the small elephant creature for allowing him to land and takes off. Flynn keys in the set of numbers one of the men had given him and the asteroid belt appears on the screen. It then zooms in until a small planetoid appears. Flynn chuckles to himself as he maneuvers his ship in the direction of the planet.

“You still in there, Al? Girl, you need to chill the f*ck out..” A man, roughly 180centimeters lifted his finger up from the intercom button on the other side of the glass. As he crossed his arms and shook his head, frowning at Alyson on the other side. On the other side of the glass, Alyson was holding up a few plastic zip lock bags. With her right hand she selected a few of the bright red capsules stored in a glass cylinder connected to the floor. She held up her hand a few seconds, beckoning he should leave. Though, he didn’t. After filling up the last zip lock bag on the table, Alyson smacked the red button next to the cylinder and it slowly lowered into the ground. A click sounded as the ground closed up the opening, leaving no trail of the drug whatsoever.

“What is your problem, D?” After giving the glass door a 4-digit number it slid open and Alyson came out. “I was just finishing up some last packing. Do you know how many damn phone calls came in today? I don’t think we’ve got enough to get by this month!” She shook her head with a pained look on her face, and walked over to her kitchen. “Common Al, we got enough to last for two years, and you know that. We just have to pick our customers more carefully, that’s all. No more mister nice guys that call in the middle of the night. Just, the regular ones.” D was the name Alyson gave David. It also covered up his name for clients whom would suddenly call, or friends they both didn’t trust yet. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right..” Alyson mumbled when opening the fridge. “Just stick to the 202 list from now on. And block all the other numbers. I’ll let Alice deal with those, alright?” With a can of beer in her hand, Alyson descended a few stairs leading her into a small office. “You got it boss!” David shouted.

“Alice?” On her left there was a huge safe that currently stood wide open. This seemed strange to her, because she ordered everybody to close it right away when they needed something inside. The rest of the room was empty: A few desks with computers on it and stacks of paperwork, a tall glass fridge with a huge amount of blue glass bottles and sofa against the right wall. On the sofa there was a backpack, which belonged to Alice. Something told Alyson something wasn’t right. She placed the beer car on one of the desks. With a quick movement, Alyson unhooked her lazergun from her belt. With a steady aim, she walked over to the safe and opened up the door a bit more so she could have a look inside. The safe itself contained heaps of plastic packets, all about the size of 5kg, neatly stacked onto metal racks. They were filled with a strange red powder, which Alyson had named ‘Aloon’. It gave you this euphoric feeling, together with some minor hallucinations. Aloon was slightly addictive, Alyson had to admit. Even she enjoyed a good sniff once in a while.

And there, in the middle of the safe, laid the body of a girl. “Alice, for fuck sake! Are you kid-“ With a smack Alyson threw herself on her knees and took her friend by the shoulders. On the ground, there was a packet cut open together with a rolled up dollar bill. At least half of the drugs inside were gone, leading Alyson to swear once again. “God dammit!” Without hesitation Alyson grabbed her friend by the arms and pulled her over her own shoulder. A light grunt escaped from her lips as her friend wasn’t the lightest. “D! Heat up my ship! We got a downer!” Already out of breath, Alyson ran out of the safe but remembered to give the door a hard kick so it shut.

Once upstairs and into the garage, David had already powered up her space ship. It was of a decent size, and seemed like one of the newer models. “You run this place now, be back in a bit.” David nodded to his orders and returned to the elevator. “You’re gonna cost me a fortune, Alice.” Alyson finally mumbled, throwing her on the sofa. After fastening her seatbelt, the ship already hovered off the ground. “Dr. Tomaho, stealth mode.” Alyson spoke loud and clear, now also seated in her chair. “Good evening, miss Parker.” A deep male voice spoke. “Evening darling..” She whispered back.

Flynn's ship neared the asteroid belt near the location of the planetoid. Flynn paused for a moment as he observed the massive belt. "Pretty clever hiding spot." He murmured to himself. "VIC, give me manual." Flynn barked as he jumped into the captain's chair and stretched his arms out in anticipation of the flight controller rising up from the ground. "Flynn, it is not advisable..." VIC's voice began. "I don't have time for your shit VIC. Manual, now!" Flynn shouted. With that the flight controller rose out of the ground and into his hands. A grid popped up over the windshield's view, highlighting all the asteroids and space debris.

Flynn slowly maneuvered his ship between the asteroids towards the planet. As he gazed out, a large asteroid near the planet caught his eye. It was matching the speed of the planet exactly. It was about the size of the planet and it wasn't spinning. Flynn slowly maneuvered his ship towards that asteroid and landed his ship facing towards the planet. "You need to trust me more VIC." Flynn boasted, leaning back in his chair. "Give me a full sweep of that planet VIC."

A blue grid encircled the view of the planet and it began to rotate. After several minutes VIC's voice came through: "Unable to scan planet. Unknown interference." Flynn frowned and leaned forward. "Dampers." He muttered. "Of course. Can't be a good drug lord if anyone can scan your home." Something still didn't sit right with him. How could this young woman be some drug kingpin? Even if it wasn't galaxy wide, to be wanted enough for a bounty meant you were doing something right, or wrong. Flynn leaned back and rested his chin on his hand. "VIC." Flynn started. "Just put out a general scan and let me know if any ships come within range of the planet."

"Yes Flynn." VIC chimed back. With that Flynn walked to the back of his ship were everything else was. It was his bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room and entertainment center. He grabbed a beer from his fridge and chugged it. The tossed it in the trash, grabbed another one and flopped down on his couch/bed. He grabbed a small tablet and turned it on. He brought up Alyson's file. He shook his head as he took another look at her file. He mumbled the words as he read. "Left alone as a kid. Possible gang affiliations. Alleged drug trafficking." Flynn shook his head again and he finished his beer and went up to the cockpit. Mable he was naive, but some young girl couldn't be a drug trafficker, could she?

The moment Flynn sat down in the captain's chair VIC's voice interrupted Flynn's thoughts. "Ship detected leaving the planet." Flynn perked up. "On screen." He said. Sure enough, the screen zoomed in on a ship leaving the planet's surface. Before Flynn could observe it anymore, it vanished. "VIC, quick, fire a tracking beacon before we lose it!" The "beacon" was just a piece of ionized metal that could not be masked by any cloaking device. The beacon hit the tail of the leaving ship and VIC's voice chimed: "Beacon successful. Tracking confirmed."

Flynn flopped in his captain's chair and contemplated his next move. He would have to act fast if he wanted to follow the ship, but the leaving ship could just be some drug runners and information on his bounty may still lie on the planet below. He quickly shook his head. Any ship with a cloaking ability is highly unlikely to be a normal drug runner's ship. It might be Alyson's personal ship, or it could be a high level "client" of hers. Either way, if that ship was important enough to have cloaking ability, it probably knew something about Alyson. Flynn waited for a few minutes before taking off from the asteroid's surface. He kept the ship in manual drive and a good distance away as he followed. He didn't know where they were going, but he was going to follow.

The trip would take about 3 hours, even with light speed, so it would be a close call for Alice. The autopilot was on, and to be fairly honest, it was one of the best ones on the market. Slightly illegal twitched here and there but giving the piloting company her real identity was no option. “Stabilized. You can move freely now.” Appeared onto the middle screen. Alyson quickly unbuckled and got onto her knees next to Alice. There still was no movement from her side, so bigger measurements were needed.

Alyson slid open a cabinet right beneath Alice’s chair. There, she took out a small tin box with a red ‘X’ marked on the lid. Inside the box was a soft, velvety fabric with just one syringe inside of it. It was already loaded with a shot of blue liquid. The liquid inside was one of Alyson’s special creations. It was some kind of antidote that broke down the chemicals in the Aloom drug. Taking about a month to make it, Alyson only had a few shots of it lying around. It contained even more chemicals than the drug itself, but less damaging to the body. The antidote impressed even Dr. Tomaho, coming from a girl with no training whatsoever.

“This is going off your pay check.” Alyson mumbled, throwing the box aside. After taking the cover of the syringe, she brushed the hair away from Alice’s neck. Carefully, because needles did freak her out a little, Alyson injected the needle and pressed the plunger down. Rather quickly after that, she jumped up from the ground and took a few steps back. Alice eyes spread wide open with a hint of realization, and started to vomit over the edge of the seat she was laying on. “Newsflash: you’re in my ship Alice, you took too much drugs. I’m taking you to Tomaho, and I’m bloody risking my life for you. Think about that for a moment.” She mumbled and walked back to her chair.

When Alyson finally got out of the rim out asteroids, a warning appeared onto the screen. “Miss Parker, we’ve got a problem.” The computer voice sounded. “Hmm? What’s up dear?” Alyson flopped back into her chair and buckled up, then inserted her headpiece and engaged light speed. “One moment. We’ve been located. A tracking device model A1090 has been attached to the right tail of the ship.” The computer spoke. “We’ve.. Oh that’s just great..” Alyson frowned and looked over her shoulder. “You hear that Alice?! This is all your fault!” Even though this was something she could not fix right away, it did not mean she was doomed. “Engage transformation, computer. And switch to bloody light speed so we might shake this sucker off!” Slightly annoyed, the computer confirmed and the ship increased speed.

Once arrived on a much more populated planet, Alyson had already send out a video message to Tomaho that she’d drop Alice off first. Luckily, he was a private doctor and his hangar one the most secure ones she’d ever seen.

After parking her ship, two men already entered her ship and dragged Alice out of there. A young, slim and very attractive girl walked over to Alyson and nodded. “The doctor will see you in his office.” She spoke in a high-pitched voice. “Tell him I have some things to take care off first.” Alyson waved her hand in front of her face and quickly returned to her ship.
The tracking device was easily located as it was one of the older models. The guy chasing her or wasn’t too rich, or was just doing whatever to get clues on his bounty. Alyson did figure out that if she’d disconnect it from her ship, he’d get that notification. So there had to be a better way. “That’s it..” She mumbled, and ran back inside. It wasn’t before long she returned with a mini detonator and a small bomb the size of a piece of gum. Sticking it right on top of the tracking device, she grinned.

Right before buckling in, Alyson quickly glanced over in the mirror above the control panel. Instead of her regular ash blonde hair at mid length and somewhat weird body, she had had a different view. Still dressed in her regular jeans and black sweater, she now had dark brown hair cut to her shoulders. Instead of the blue eyes she normally had, she had brown ones. And not to mention the slim figure and large bosom. Overall, she was hot.

Leaving the hangar, she flew back into the atmosphere and as far away from human civilization. If this guy were still near, he could try to attack her. And we wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt, right? “Sorry computer, you might receive slight damage on your tail but it won’t be much. You can handle it.” Alyson said, staring in the mirror one more time. “Clear.” The bomb exploded, disconnecting the device from her ship. “You are not being located anymore, Miss Parker.”

After a few minutes of following the hidden ship VIC's voice chimed up: "The beacon is preparing to enter light speed." Flynn immediately put a halt to his ship. "VIC, can you tell where that ship will come out of light speed at?" Flynn asked. There was a moment of silence before VIC's voice came back. "With a 74 percent certainty." Flynn let out a nervous chuckle. If VIC was wrong, the he would loose his only lead. They could jump right behind the ship, but they would defiantly be noticed or, worse, collide with the ship. "How certain are you of that calculation VIC?" Flynn asked nervously. Silence again. "There is an 82 percent chance that my calculations are correct." VIC chimed.

Flynn buried his face in his hands. VIC was a very basic ship AI. It was the model that came with most all ships, but was usually upgraded. Flynn liked VIC because it didn't try and reason or act on what it thought best. It didn't argue with him. VIC was a simple voice integrated command for the ship and that's why Flynn liked. However, he had never had to trust his life to VIC and he didn't know how eager he was to do that now. "Alright VIC." Flynn said exasperated. "Calculate where they will drop out of light speed at and follow them in ten minutes." Flynn hoped that would give the ship he was chasing enough time to get a good lead on them so they wouldn't see him coming. Slowly the ship's warp drive hummed to life and it shot through the stars. For a little over three hours they traveled. Flynn used the time to read himself for whatever they may find when they dropped out of warp. God knows VIC might have piloted him into a dying star.

The ship dropped out of warp safely over a planet. "Thank you VIC." Flynn said. "Where is the ship." There was a brief moment of silence before VIC replied. "Unknown." Flynn stood up angrily. "What do you mean unknown? Where's the beacon at?" Another pause. "Unknown." VIC chimed. Flynn kicked the base of the chair. "Goddamn machine! What good are you?" Flynn roared. "Unknown." VIC chimed back. "I'm going to erase you." Flynn said angrily. With that, he flopped down, defeated into his chair. Flynn sighed heavily. "Where did you jump us to VIC? Can you tell me that? Are you capable of that function?" The sector map flashed on the screen. Flynn slowly looked up and leaned forward. "What planet are we closest to?" Flynn said with interest. The view zoomed into the planet. Flynn grinned evilly.

"VIC." Flynn started. "Radio down to that planet and tell them we're going to land." As the ship slipped into orbit of the planet a voice broke through on the radio: "State clearance." Flynn cupped his hands on the back of his head and leaned back. "Tell the good doctor that McTaggart is here to see him." There was a long silence before a voice came over the air. "Mc...McTaggart. What do I owe the pleasure?" Flynn spun around in his chair. "Let's skip the formalities doctor. You just had a patient come by. Either picking up or dropping something off. I need to know what."

A long silence fell over the inside of the ship. "That's okay doctor." Flynn sneered. "I have to head to the Federation later today and I'm sure they'd love to know about all of your operations. Don't think your clientele would appreciate the Federation knowing all their secrets. Do you think the Federation would get you first, or your patients?" Another brief silence. "Clearance granted." Came the voice over the radio. Flynn landed and immediately sprang from his ship, pistol in hand. He strode into the office, pushing a small orderly out of the way.Dr. Tomaho stood in the doorway and nervously pointed to a small room.

Flynn stepped in, gun raised at the girl who was obviously recovering from something traumatic. She was laying in a bed and jumped back as Max came in. Max leaned against the door frame, gun softly tapping against his leg. "Tell me sweety, ever heard of a woman named Alyson?"

"Yes! Success! Thank you computer.” Alyson jumped up from her chair, definitively in a good mood. Whilst humming one of her favourite songs, she grabbed a beer and took a sip. There was nothing like a cold beer to celebrate her freedom. Though Alyson decided to wait a couple of minutes to see if there was anything still following her, not wanting to take the fight back to the city. She opened up her zipper and threw her sweater to the other chair next to her. She walked over to the old school stereo next to the build in leather sofa on the side of the ship and hit play. One of the Milky Way’s favourites played through the entire ship, making Alyson swing her hips now and then. “Ahh.. If only I had someone to dance with. Whatcha think computer of mine, wanna dance?” She jokingly shouted on top of the music, and took another sip of her cold one. “If I had a body I would have danced with you, Miss Parker.” The computer sounded, increasing the volume of its own voice a bit. “I know my dear, I know.” Alyson smiled for a second as she drank the last of her beer and threw the bottle behind her. There was puke on the floor anyhow, no need to keep it clean now.

Suddenly, a mail icon popped up in the centre of the screen. It was addressed to ‘Miss Candy’ and came from.. “Doktor Tomaho? What’s the matter?” And even stranger was, it was not even a video-message. It was a plain, old school text message. Alyson quickly clicked the ‘open’ button on the right.

”Miss Candy,

As advised you should stay in for the week because you’ve had a high fever.
Though, if you like, I still have a few pills for you the pick up.
Careful now, they are nasty ones.

Greetings,
Doctor Tomaho.”

As Alyson’s eyes scanned through the message a few times, she realized it was a warning. The person that had been looking for her had entered his office and was most likely going to ask Alice some questions. “Fuck..” Alyson’s mood had decreased so drastically, she set up her ship to manual and flew straight back towards the private hangar. She knew Alice was still under the influence of the drug. Although she trusted her co-workers and friends by heart, there was no certainty she would keep her mouth shut.

Almost at the hangar Alyson tried to think this through. She had her disguise on, true. She had enough bullets and guns to take out an entire army, also true. But what if the hunter had enough skill to take her down with one hit? What if Alice had already told him her hide out? Alyson did not waste another minute after realizing that would be a disaster. There was no time to waste, he had to die.

Arriving there in stealth mode, she parked her ship hovering in the air, just a 3-meter jump from the ground. It was the safest way to enter the building without making too much of a noise. After putting on her bulletproof vest, loading her guns with enough bullets, and hiding a knife in her belt she opened up the door to jump. “Computer, if anyone but me enters this ship, use.. Self destruction.” Alyson swallowed for a moment. She’d miss this ship if that was the case, but her auto routes to all her hide outs and clients were not something she could leave lingering around. “No problem, Miss Parker. Be safe.”

The ship parked there was a very old fashioned model, nothing too special. With a grin, Alyson quickly adjusted a small tracking device to the side of the ship, barely noticeable. This, so D could track it if she failed miserably.

Once inside, the building was empty. It was as if the doctor had cleared it already for her arrival. With a deep sigh, she ran up the stairs and smiled when she saw the doctor standing in the middle of his office. He had a frown on his face, and turned his head to the side. He motioned to something or.. Someone. With her gun in her hand, she slowly stepped inside only to hear a faint talking. It was in one of the patient’s rooms. Pushing the door open slightly, she pointed the gun at the head of a man. Although she was young, she knew her aim was perfect. On the bed sat Alice, shivering.

“Can’t you see, she’s scared.” Alyson mumbled in a whiny voice, and pulled up her upper lip trying to look frightened. She quickly took a few steps closer and held her knife to his stomach and her gun to his head. “Drop the gun, now.” Still in disguise she stared him directly into the eyes. ”Hmm..”

Flynn stepped towards the woman, who was obviously terrified. "Look here missy." Flynn said. "Just tell me what you know about Alyson and I'll leave you alone." As he stepped forward toward to the girl, he noticed her gaze go from him gun to just behind him. He spun around to see a gun pointed in his face. He slowly lifted his hands and eyed the girl. "You know," Flynn smirked. "women who usually try and kill me aren't usually as pretty as you." With that, the woman stepped forward and put a knife right to his stomach and ordered him to drop his gun.

His gut sucked in a little on reflex. Flynn slowly bent down to place the gun on the floor. "Easy princess." He cooed at her. Just as he was about to place the gun on the floor, the girl behind him went into a coughing fit. The woman holding the knife and gun to him's gaze shifted toward the sick girl slightly. Flynn saw his chance. With one swift move he stood up and knocked the knife out of her hand. He kept hold of her wrist as he spun behind her and grabbed her other arm and wrenched it behind her.

She attempted the jerk her arms free, but Flynn was stronger. He quickly took out his handcuffs and cuffed the woman's hands behind her. He picked up his gun, her gun, and her knife and holstered them. The guns at his side and the knife in his flack jacket pocket. He spun the girl around and grabbed her by the handcuffs. He pushed her forwards, squeezing her wrists to let her know what pain would befall her if she struggled.

"Aren't you the little spitfire?" Flynn laughed as he led her towards his ship. He saw Dr. Tomaho huddled under his desk as they walked past his office. "Thanks doc." Flynn jeered as they kept walking. They got to his ship and the canopy opened up and Flynn pushed the woman inside. "Nice junk heap." The woman growled as she fell to the floor. "You really like it?" Flynn said sarcastically. "I was going to go for the double sized, but, you know, inflation and all."

The canopy closed and Flynn grabbed the woman and stood her up. "VIC. Take us back to Aeros." Flynn commanded. He felt the woman's body stiffen when he named the planet. Flynn led the woman back to the other cabin. Which would now double as a hold. "So you do know something about all this." Flynn said throwing her to the floor again and sat on the bed/couch in front of her. He looked her over. She was very attractive, but Flynn learned early on that business always came first. It had saved his ass many a times.

He un-holstered the gun he had taken from her and pointed it at her. "We're going to have a few hours ride back, which will give us time to play a little game." Flynn started waving the gun around carefree. "I ask you a question, you tell me the answer. Simple enough, right? So," Flynn reached for his tablet and brought a picture of Alyson up on the screen. "This girl's named is Alyson. She looks really sweet and innocent right? I know you know better. So, this is the ONLY question I want to know the answer to: Where can I find her? That's all. I don't want in on any drugs or anything like that. I don't want some petty vengeance. I'm just going to get her, turn her over to the authorities and get some money."

Flynn pointed the gun right in between her eyes. "Now, you're going to tell me. Like the good girl you are, aren't you? Because I'm not going to torture you or beat it out of you. If you don't tell me, I kill you. Then your little friend back at the hospital."

Sadly, it happened as soon as Alyson let her guard down for just a second, he had grabbed his moment. She already knew he was not one of those easy bounty hunters she had let off trail plenty of times. Apparently, this one was worth something. He quickly unarmed her and even cuffed her under the minute. A sting of disappointment raced through her head and her body felt sore when he wrenched her in all the wrong places. It was true Alyson was quite a small girl in reality, and not a single transformation could change her strength.

It wasn’t before long the man took her to his ship just outside the office. And it was indeed the piece of scrap metal she had tagged a few minutes ago. In less than 24 hours David would most likely send a search party for her, if he were that smart at least.

When they entered the ship, Alyson fell to the floor hard. Her knees slightly started to itch when he pulled her back up. It seemed like he did not care whether she was a girl or not. But what he said scared her the most:

”VIC. Take us back to Aeros.”

The words lingered in her mind whilst she got throw to the floor once more. ”He knows the name of my planet. He knows where I live..” Alyson sat up slightly after the 2nd hard throw, and thanked David in her mind a thousand times. He had picked out the most incredible technology out there for a drug baron like Alyson. The earpiece she was wearing was almost invisible, and her dark brown bob cut did a masterpiece at hiding it. If he’d find it and find a way to destroy or disconnect it from her servers, he’d get to see the real her. And then it would be game over.

With her back against the wall, Alyson looked up at him. Even though she was in a pretty messed up situation, but if she managed to stretch time long enough she’d get out of here alive.

“Did this approach work with others? Because it sure ain’t hell working on me.” Alyson spoke, smiling slightly. “So, mister whatever your name is. This is your job? Cleaning up the dirty rats from this milky way?” Alyson let her head lean against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, trying to get in as much information as she could. She already found out the type of ship and on what software it ran. After all, it could save her life. “Must be a lonely life you’re living. Always on the go, no family or friends..” She mumbled in between her teeth, actually meaning what she said. Her family had been gone for the longest time, and the friends she accumulated were more like fellow crooks than friends, sharing the same problems. It brought back a few memories of how life used to be, back when her parents were still happy and alive. If this wasn’t the time to get sentimental, then it never was.

Flynn smiled at the girl's spirit. He holstered the gun and leaned back. "Fair enough." Flynn said. Her jabs about a lonely life had hit a little close to home, but he put in out of his mind. "Your verbal retorts leave something to be desired, but you've got plenty of attitude. So what do you think is going to happen?" Flynn leaned forward. "You don't talk? You escape, run back to Alyson? You swear you didn't talk. You were a good solider. Think she's going to believe you? Now you're a loose end to her. Now you're dead."

Flynn stood up and grabbed a beer from his fridge. He motioned towards the girl. "You want one? No, I guess not." He chuckled sitting back down. He took a long swig and spoke again. "Like I said, I don't care if there is some crazy drug ring going on. I don't want to shut it down. That's not what I'm getting paid for. Hell, you could take over." Flynn said pointing his beer at her. "Isn't that what you want? Take over? Big money?"

He sat back for a few minutes just letting the silence sink in. He couldn't get a good read on her. He thought the girl back at the hospital was her friend, but that didn't seem to be the case. They must both work for Alyson. He had to figure out a way to get her to tell him where Alyson was. That's all he wanted. To get his bounty and get the hell out of here. Of course, no one ever made it that easy.

"Let's start again." Flynn said standing up and finishing off his beer. "We're going to go to Aeros and then we're going to land. I'm going to kill everyone I have to until I find Alyson. So, you can tell me where she is, or I can take that whole planet down. Piece by piece and then I'll leave you on that god-forsaken rock to die." He finished his statement by getting right in her face. She winked at him and smiled."Goddammit!" He yelled throwing his empty beer bottle against the wall. Flynn fell back on his bed in exasperation. "VIC. How much longer?" VIC chimed in. "One and a half hours Flynn."

Flynn lifted his head towards the woman. "Fine. We're going there no matter if you tell me something or not. So I'm just going to sit here and we can get to know each other." Flynn said exhausted from his bad cop routine. She was driving Flynn crazy. Normally he can figure out what makes someone tick and threats usually worked. With this woman, though, he couldn't and they didn't. It frustrated him and intrigued him greatly.

The way he tried to make her talk was too hilarious. Although she seemed like a very serious man, underneath Alyson found he was actually quite the loser. He tried to break the situation down for her, assuming every single possibility that could happen. ‘Alyson’ could throw her out, kill her, she could take the drug business over,.. Hah, if only he knew whom he was dealing with. Though if he knew, this would be a one-way ticket to jail. So better to keep that a secret right now, Alyson figured.

All things aside, the guy was pretty handsome and Alyson haven’t had a date in ages. Slightly shaking the thought of she felt like pinching herself. ”Hello? Are you thinking this through? It’s a bounty hunter. Not a pick nick in the park. Get your act together Al!”

“You do realize I don’t give a single fuck about that planet, right?” Alyson pulled up her eyebrows and looked him directly into the eye. “I couldn’t care less to be fairly honest..” That wasn’t true, many of her high-class clients lived there. And without them she was out of business. Well, she could move to the more populated areas and sell on the street. But that would be as good as being a prostitute.

She sat up again, but pushed herself off the ground this time. It wasn’t a very easy move but her new/fake figure made it look graceful as ever. If he’d seen her get up with her normal body he’d probably laugh till he choked. But the transformation gave her the confidence she needed, so she slowly walked over to the sofa. “Alright, we can get to know each other. But you wouldn’t let a lady sit on the floor now would you?” With pouted lips she dropped herself next to him, and lifted one leg over the other, revealing how skinny she was. Her own behaviour made her feel slightly nauseous. If this were the kind of girl guys liked she would end up being old and alone. Nonetheless she kept up her appearance.

“And, I would love to drink a beer.” With a broad smile on her face she leaned in and whispered: “Kinda hard with these handcuffs on, don’t you think?”

Her flirty behaviour was just a rough guess. She figured it would just take his mind of the mission and once on Aeros it would be an easy escape. There is no way they will be letting a strange ship land on her planet without investigating or alarming her headquarter. After all, the planet was hers.

~~~

“He’s on his way here.” David pointed out. A somewhat chubby man stood behind him staring at the computer screen. “I have no idea why Alyson activated a tracking device attached to this ship, but it must be something big.” She other man spoke, making his long bear move along. “You’re right Grunt, it must be some client that is late in payment. Let’s just alert the docking station and sent out a few men.” David got up from the chair and shoved a few guns into his backpack.

Meanwhile, Grunt, one of Alyson’s co-workers was already sending out a highly anonymous text message to the docking station. Everybody working there were colleagues as well, but not nearly as close and trusted.

The hide out from Alyson was left to be alone, but highly secure by the many alarms and locks keeping everything extremely safe. Nobody had ever found the hide out, let alone break into it. That would be a milestone in history, Alyson always said.

Both getting in a different ship loaded with guns and a few armed men, they made their way to the docking station and settled themselves there. It would take another hour before they would reach the planet, but that gave them time to work out a strategy.

Flynn watched as the girl quickly got up from the floor and sat next to him. She proceeded to cross her legs and give him a flirty look. Flynn grinned and shook his head. He knew what she was doing, but, then again, maybe she knew what he was doing. Who knew, though, maybe this good cop routine would pay off. He sighed loudly as he got up off the couch and turned to face her. "You're cute, you know that? Real fucking cute." He stood her up and turned her around. Placing one hand on the base of her neck he took off the handcuffs. She rubbed her sore wrists. "Now sit down." He ordered, slightly pushing her to the couch.

As she turned and sat down, he grabbed her arms and handcuffed her with her arms in front of her. He didn't tighten them as much this time. A decision he would probably regret later. She looked at him disappointed. "I may have a soft spot for a pretty face, but I'm not stupid." He grinned at her as he went to the fridge. He grabbed two beer and popped the cap off both. He handed one to her as he un-holstered his guns and sat them on the table just out of reach. He plopped down next to her. "Name's Flynn." He said clinking his beer next to her. "And I'm sorry for the rough treatment. But it's just business, you know?" He took a swig from his beer. "Now, I'm really not a bad guy, but I like money and if you just tell me where this girl is. We can all go home, happy and healthy." He said nonchalantly as he took another sip from his beer.

He patted her knee as he got up and walked over to the table where guns were and set down his beer. "So then." Flynn started. "This is not a threat or anything of that kind. I'm just going to tell you how it's going to go down. We have about, how much longer VIC?" VIC's voice chimed up: "45 Minutes until arrival". Flynn continued: "45 minutes. Once we get there, if you're still quiet about where Alyson’s is, I'm just going to bomb the planet." He saw her eyes widen a bit. "Now, I don't have military grade bombs, but they are quite destructive. They'll pock-mark the planet something nice. Then we land, check for survivors. If Alyson’s not there, I turn you in instead." He picked up the beer and sat down next to her. "Sound fair?"

He smiled as he finished off his beer. He looked at her again. Something about her caught his eye. He couldn't tell what, but something was a bit off. He leaned in a little closer and furrowed his brow. He stood up and put his empty beer on the table. He placed both his hands on the table and leaned on them and smiled at her. "You know, I forgot to do something when I brought you in. It's a basic bounty hunting rule. I can't believe I forgot it. I forgot to have you scanned for any devices that might be on you." She played it off very well, but he could tell she was getting nervous. He placed his hand on one of the guns. "Now do you want to talk?"

The compliments he gave her were nice, but it did nothing to boost her self-esteem. It even made it slightly worse. After all, he was complementing the transform she was wearing which looked nowhere near her real self. Nonetheless Alyson tried to look flattered and went along when he pulled her off the sofa. It wasn’t until he pressed her back down Alyson felt how muscular he actually was. Somehow, it was bothering her she noticed these things. This guy was trying to give her to the authorities and earn money for it and here she was, flirting and actually meaning it. ”You whore.”

When he pressed a cold beer into her hands, Alyson took a quick sip but tried to remain feminine. Damn, she was thirsty. Quietly she followed him with her eyes as he tried the good cop instead of the bad one. It made her smile a little. He wasn’t convincing her at all that he would let her go after finding this ‘Alyson’.

“You cannot blow up the planet. I saw the missiles your ship carries and it won’t even bring a dent to it. You’ve got to try better than that, Flynn.” She was clearly mocking him. But he wasn’t done. A painful silence made Alyson nervous to the bone. He was staring at her, and that kind of stare only came after realization. As he walked over to the table, Alyson knew something was terribly off. Quickly, she took a sip of her beer to act casual but the beer did not taste her anymore. He wanted to scan her for any devices. This was a complete nightmare! He’d find the earpiece, take it off, disconnect it and voila. She was done for. Her only hope was that he wouldn’t recognize her right away. She did change quite a bit since that picture was taken. Her acne was non-existent anymore and her hair was much longer than on the picture. Also, it seemed to be a lot darker on the picture.

Alyson leaned in to place her beer on the table in front of her, which acted as a barrier between the both of them. With a deep sigh she sat up again, looking into Flynn’s eyes. “Fine.” She swallowed and clenched her hands together. “Let’s make a deal.” She pointed at the timer, which now counted 20 more minutes. “When we reach the planet, I will take you there. I cannot promise Alyson will be there though.” Alyson quickly looked up into his eyes, and smiled a little nervously. Lowering her eyes back at her hands she mumbled: “But don’t scan me. I am actually not that cute.. I ehm..” Her cheeks getting slightly red as she spoke. It was true how she felt, so her words sounded very sincere. “I am not beautiful, never been, never will. But at least this skin gives me the confidence I need.” It was a long shot, but she already gave him what he wanted anyhow: acces to the planet and hint on where Alyson might be.

Something had worked! Goddamn, something had finally worked! Flynn tried to hide the elation on his face. He plopped down in the chair completely spent. No one had been so stubborn and made his life so difficult as this woman. He admired her in an odd way. He was kind of impressed actually. Whoever this woman was, she was a fighter. She reminded him a little of himself. He's always had to fight for himself. That's why he's so good at it. They almost seemed to be slightly kindred spirits.

Flynn shook his head. This was about the money, nothing more. "That sounds fair." Flynn said as he went to shake her hand. Then something in the back of his mind hit him. Violence didn't work. Promise of freedom didn't work. It was the scan. She was hiding something. He wasn't sure what, but his gut instinct told him he needed to scan her. Her words, begging him not to scan her cut him to the core. They were the most sincere and honest thing she had said the whole time. Her pleading eyes imploring him made him feel so bad. Flynn leaned back in his chair as she looked at him. "What's wrong with me?" He thought to himself. "This is a bounty and she has the information. You scan her!" He was so angry that he was even having this argument with himself.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "VIC." Flynn's voice trembled slightly. "Scan...scan for any new objects on the ship." The devastated look the girl gave him almost sent Flynn to the floor. "It's business. Just business." Flynn mumbled looking away from the girl in shame. VIC's voice chimed up and the girl looked terrified. "New objects found. Laser pistol, one. Hunting knife, one." Then there was silence. "VIC?" Flynn said. "One moment please." VIC replied. "Unknown object, one." Flynn's voice went from sadness to anger. "The hell do you mean 'unknown object'?"

"I cannot identify the object." VIC chimed back. "Well, where the fuck is it?" Flynn commanded. "Rear cabin." VIC replied. "No shit. Where on the girl is the object?" Flynn spat out. "Unknown." VIC replied. "I hate you a lot sometimes." Flynn said shaking his head. "Alright princess." Flynn said standing in front of her. "What do you have?"

When he shook her head Alyson took a deep breath, finding herself calming a bit. She couldn’t believe he actually agreed to it. It made her smile a little, thinking of what a good guy he was. For a moment there, Alyson felt happy to be captured by such an honourable man. In her life she had already met plenty of douchebags that were or after her body, not that is was so great or after her money, when she actually earned big time. All of them lied to her, cheat on her or even stole from her. And in the end she never really knew what real love was. Her parents had never shown it to her, always on the run. And when they died at a fairy young age, Alyson had to toughen up. Flynn actually gave her a spark of hope there were still good guys out there.

He looked ecstatic for a moment, when he suddenly frowned to himself. It was clear he thought about the deal they just made and Alyson nervously bit on her lower lip. ”He’s gonna back out from the deal.. No.. He can’t!” Alyson widened her eyes. He apologized and ordered his crappy computer to scan her anyway. At that very moment, Alyson felt entire face grow hot and felt a thorn of disbelief in her side. “What? No! What kind of men are you, leaving out from a deal!” Alyson quickly stood up, but VIC had already started scanning the area. “You’re not even sorry are you?!” Alyson raised her voice slightly and shook her head rapidly. She had to do something.

”Unknown.”

“No, you stay away from me.” Alyson said loud and clear when he walked over to her. She took a few quick steps back whilst holding out both of her hands. “You get nothing from me, you hear me? A lying piece of shit, like all the other men out there. That’s what you are.” She spat out the words like it was venom, whilst waving her hand towards him. “And you will not. Touch. Me.” The last few words were pronounce separately and slowly, so he would know how serious she was.

The moment he took one step closer to her, Alyson ran towards him. Both of her hands were clenched together to form a giant fist, and without hesitation she launched it against Flynn’s jaw. Not short after that, she lifted up her knee and whilst holding down his shoulder she rammed it against his stomach. When he fell onto the floor, she had to be certain. Quickly grabbing the gun from the table, turning it around in her hand, she said: “I’m real sorry. But I’m not.” She mumbled, and smashed the handle of the gun against the side of his head. Just hard enough to take him out for a few hours, she figured. Surprised of her own strength and speed, Alyson backed off.

Staring down at his knocked down body, Alyson tried to catch her breath. ”You had potential. But not anymore, Flynn.” She thought whilst searching through his vest for the key to her cuffs. When he loosened them up he had tucked them in the front pocket on his chest, so that’s where she first looked. Fishing out the keys and freeing her hands was the most amazing feeling she has had in days. “Ohhh yeah…” And she attached the cuffs to his hands this time, on his back.

“VIC! Unknown, really? How old is your system?” Alyson walked over to the captain’s chair and sat down in it. “Year 2145. I needed an update two years ago.” VIC responded. “Well Flynn, you got a pretty comfortable chair, I give you that.” Alyson laughed a little, knowing this would be recorded now that she had taken over the ship. “You were so close, yet so far.” Alyson mumbled, now focussing on the route she had to take. It only took her about 5minutes to reach the inner bay of Aeros. “I’m sorry Sir, you are not authorized landing on this planet.” The radio called. Alyson opened up the keyboard and inserted the right access code, making sure she was hovering her other hand above the numbers so the recording wouldn’t pick it up. “Access granted.”

The moments after that were a quick blur to Alyson. Once arrived in the docking station, armed men stood waiting at the entrance of the ship. Flynn got dragged out, Alyson was warmly welcomed and asked if she was all right, and they shipped their prisoner back to her hide out. It was only until Flynn was locked behind steel bars in the lowest part of her basement, Alyson decided to disconnect the earpiece and store it safely. You never know when he might want to talk to this persona again.

With a tablet in one hand and a beer in the other, Alyson decided to wait for her prisoner to wake up. She made sure he had no electronics on him, and had removed his nifty safety vest. And even if he managed to make some kind of device, the connection this low in the basement was non-existent. With her feet up in the air in one of her most comfortable chairs, she sat and was reading her book.

It had all happened so fast. One minute he was cocky and self-sure and then next he was lying face down on his own ship. He slowly sat up and rubbed his head. "Jesus, fuck." He mumbled. Then the events of the past few minutes flooded into his head. He opened his eyes wide in surprise as he stood up. He looked around. He was in a bare cell. Nothing, no bed, no sink, nothing. He ran towards the small barred door and shook it vigorously. It didn't budge. He really didn't expect it to. He did notice that when he shook it, small pieces of drywall fell from the corner of the door frame.

He walked back and slumped down against the wall. He took a quick stock of his situation. His vest and weapons were missing. All he had on was his tank top, jeans, and combat boots. He tilted his head up and laughed. "This is what I get for letting some no account BITCH make me go soft!" The slammed his head back against the concrete wall. He was mad at himself for letting his guard down, but also felt bad for making that girl feel so betrayed. He had known betrayal and it wasn't something you forget so easily.

He heard a soft rustle across the room from the cell. He slowly walked to the cell door and grasped the bars. He looked out to see someone sitting in a chair across from his cell. They were holding a tablet that covered their face. "Hey, buddy." Flynn called out. "Where the hell am I?" As the words left his lips, the person in the chair lowered their tablet and Flynn saw their face. It was Alyson.

He recognized her immediately. He always studied the faces of those he hunted intently. On instinct he tried to leap through the cell door at her. His arm extended as far as it could go through the doors. "Let me out! Let me the fuck out!" Flynn yelled as Alyson casually strolled over to him. She stopped and stood just out of his reach. He calmed down briefly as he retracted his arm. He stood looking her up and down as he clasped the bars in the door. Flynn narrowed his eyes at her and sneered maliciously. "I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to take you in and them I'm going to make you and your little right hand girl, the one who brought me in, watch me destroy this place."

A soft grunt sounded from inside the cell. Alyson did not bother to get up right away, so she continued to read. It was only until a few minutes later he called out for her with the name ‘buddy’. Alyson slowly lowered the tabled and stared into his eyes for a moment. She saw the anger bubble up inside him, and he went into a frenzy. As she put down the tablet and got up, he slowly calmed down until she stood right in front of him. He couldn’t get to her, which she made sure off.

“Let you go? Why would I?” Alyson spoke softly, not able to grand him a smile. Not after what he did to her in the ship. And her smile was not worth looking at anyway, she figured. “Well good fucking luck with that then, Flynn.” Alyson spat at him when he tried to threaten her. It made her stomach twist just thinking about how many faces he’d already shown the past few hours. Drawing a knife from her belt, she held it up against his neck, slightly cutting him already. “You’ve done enough harm towards her! You should be ashamed!” And she took a few steps back again, shaking her head. With a deep sigh she pulled her chair a bit closer to the bars and sat down. For a long time, she just sat there, looking at him. The silence was painful, to both of them, she figured. He just had been defeated by a real cutie, and she felt deceived.

Once a few minutes have passed, Alyson got up again. “Are you hungry?” Her voice clearly calmed down now. With a few swift movements she ran her fingers through her long, blonde hair and twisted into a ponytail. A few strands still framed her face.

Alyson's words fired back at Flynn and it caught him off guard. He was normally the one in charge and he didn't like the role reversal. As she strode forward, yelling at him, he found himself taking a few steps back. She flashed a knife at his throat, cutting him slightly. Before he could react and attempt the take the knife from her, she had walked away. He slumped back against the wall and let the blood trickle down his neck a little before wiping it away. He inhaled and exhaled a few times. He wouldn't get anywhere by losing his cool. He wiped more of the blood from his neck. The cut had stopped bleeding, but it would probably leave a scar. He scoffed a little to himself. "Captured by women." He thought. If he got out of here it would be a hell of a story.

He watched as Alyson moved her chair a little closer to the cell. As she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, he began to realize why she was so successful at being a criminal. A pretty, young, innocent looking girl would never be the prime suspect as a criminal leader. He laughed a little to himself. Hell, he couldn't even believe it at first. She got up from her chair and approached the cell. She asked him if he was hungry. He looked at her from his sitting position and smirked: "Seeing as your little friend kneed the shit out of my stomach, I think I'm good." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

He sighed loudly. He always had some type of plan or solution for everything. This time, though, he didn't. The top right corner of the cell door may give way with enough force over time, but it wasn't a sure thing. He tilted his head forward and opened his eyes. Alyson was still standing at the cell door looking at him. He didn't know why, but he felt bad for being so short with her. "Look." Flynn groaned, propping his arm on his knee. "Thank you for the offer of food, but no thanks. Did you teach that girl how to fight? Cause she's actually quite good." He smirked despite his pain. He figured he might as well get comfortable. Since he had no idea how long he'd be there or what she planned on doing with him. If she was planning on killing him, he'd at least not hurry it along by being a dick.

Alyson felt odd as he let his eyes scan over her body. It gave her the shivers, to be fairly honest. When he talked about her persona, she smirked a little. “Did she now?” Alyson shook her head once again and stared at him a few more moments. It seemed like she had killed his fighting spirit, at least for today.

“Hah..” Alyson laughed a little, but immediately covering up her mouth so he couldn’t see any of her teeth. They were actually perfectly straight and white, but it was a habit from long ago. When she was younger, before all this business had started, she roamed around the bigger cities. Living from car to car, living from unhealthy food, using drugs to forget about her poor life, had taken its toll on her teeth. They were crooked to begin with, but the colour had faded to a dull yellow. Hell, she didn’t even have toothpaste for the first 3 years her parents died. It was only when Alyson started to earn money she had them fixed up, and that was already 4 years ago. I guess she would never let go of that habit.

“She was out of practise actually.” Alyson felt weird talking about herself like this. It was good he didn’t know it was her, so it gave her some kind of cloak if she ever needed it. Slight annoyances started to build inside of her stomach. Why was he talking about her persona all the time, was she that pretty? “But yes, she was my top student. What’s with all the questions about her anyway? You like her?” Alyson mumbled and pushed her chair against the wall.

Picking up her knife and her tablet, she walked over to the door to her right. It was a double plated armoured door, again, with a passcode. It had a small lid of plastic to the side of it, so the prisoners couldn’t see what she was dialling. Without another word, Alyson left the room, locking the door behind her.

“How’s our prisoner?” Once she got into her kitchen, her crew was assembled on the sofa. Alice, already fixed up, David, Grunt and Sarah. Alyson took the last spot next to Sarah and took a deep breath. “I might stabbed him a little. But he’s fine, I suppose..” The whole group laughed for a moment, and then continued to their subject. All of them clearly have had some aloom, except for Alice. There was some residue on the glass table and there were 3 rolls of 1-dollar bills next to their bottles of beer. “Hey guys.. Guys? Guys!” Alyson quickly sat up. “A new rule: no more aloom during working hours. Alice screwed up big time last night and I can’t handle any more of this crap. Look what it got me into: almost arrested.” Grunt and David nodded, but Sarah crossed her arms and Alice pulled up her nose. “What? Girls, common. You, Alice, cost me 5 grant. That without me spending 3 fucking hours with that lunatic in the basement. It is what it is. No more aloom during work.” Alyson bit her lower lip waiting for a response. “Yeah, I assume we can make that work.” Sarah nodded eventually.

It wasn’t before long when all of her friends left to their own apartments, not far from here. Alyson had them on speed dial when something might happen, so she didn’t worry. “Woo.. 5AM.. I need some sleep..” Alyson mumbled, throwing the bottles of beers from her friends in the right trashcan. That reminded her: Flynn did not have anything to sleep on. Although it was against her principles to give him some sort of comfort, she descended to the basement anyway. On her way down, she picked up a clean towel and a bottle of water.

“Hey.” She said softly when the door unlocked. “I grabbed you a towel for the bleeding.” Without looking at him, she threw it between the bars and unscrewed the cap of the bottle. Next to the table Alyson opened up a panel. Inside she clicked a few switches: the light was now less bright and a very simple bed popped out of the wall. It was just a plank attached to the wall with a thin matrass on top of it. Then, stepping closer to the cell, she squatted down to the floor. Without a word she put the bottle in between the bars.

She sat down and pushed herself away from the bars to safety.

Flynn laughed as Alyson seemed to get jealous when he asked her about the girl who had brought him in. "No. I don't like her. She's the one that brought me in here." Flynn grinned slightly. "Do I sense some jealousy?" Alyson didn't reply and went to walk out. Flynn eyed her as she punched in some code to open the door. He couldn't tell what she pushed, though. He waited several minutes until he was sure she was gone.

He got up and frantically ran his hands over every inch of the cell. He felt a small recess in the middle of the back wall, but it wouldn't budge. After an hour of searching he went to the cell door. He examined the bars and noticed that part of the door frame was still in tact and wasn't pure concrete. He slammed his fist against the top corner of the bars. Little pieces of drywall fell down. It wasn't much, but it gave him hope.

For the next several hours Flynn slammed his fist, full force, against the top corner of the bars. Each time a tiny bit of the drywall fell to the ground. As he kept going it felt as if his hand bones were breaking. He didn't care, he was going to get out of here. Another hour later his hand felt wet. He looked at it. Blood flowed down his hand onto his arm. He lifted it back up and kept banging at the bars. He used his anger at getting caught to drive his strength. After an uncertain amount of hours, his arm fell limply at his side.

He examined it closely. No bones were broken, but all strength had left his arm. He had lost a lot of blood out of his arm. He took his tank top off and wrapped it around his hand. He examined the floor and wiped up all traces of blood and drywall there was. He took his left hand and brought it up and shook the bars. The moved a little more freely. Flynn fell backwards against the wall defeated. Sure if he kept at it he might be able to push the bars out, but it would take weeks and he didn't know when the strength would return to his arm. Exhausted and feeling dejected, he fell over and passed out.

He awoke hours later to the sound of the outside door opening. He sat up as best he could. A little strength had returned to his arm, but he still felt weak. He quickly took his shirt off his hand to avoid suspicion and held it to his chin. He heard a soft voice call out to him. It was Alyson. She had brought him a towel. Her soft words were oddly calming after the day he had. He noticed the lights dimming and she placed a bottle of water within his reach. He normally would have though it was some sort of trick, but he was too tired and thirsty to care. He grabbed the water and chugged it.

As he drank the water he heard a soft "whirring" noise behind him. The small recess he had found in the wall earlier hid a small cot. He was too weak to even think about using this as a tool for escape. He slinked onto the cot and laid down. He rolled onto his side and faced the cell door. "Thank you. So much." He whispered. Slowly closing his eyes. In his broken down state Flynn, for the first time, was genuinely thankful.

As Alyson watched him sleep for a little, she couldn’t help but wonder. Why did she not kill him yet? Right now would be the best timing, he wouldn’t resist at all. For some reason, she wanted to keep him around a bit longer. He had something that intrigued her.

Seeing him in this state, she wondered what made him so tired. The rolled up shirt in his right had did seem suspicious, but Alyson was too tired to care. Even if he might try to escape, getting through all the glass doors in her house wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Sitting against the wall of her own basement, Alyson took a deep breath. The past few hours gave her a lot of flashbacks from how life used to be. She remembered everything so vividly, thanks to Flynn. It wasn’t a pleasant thing really, but it was enough to make her determined to fight for what she had. This guy cannot arrest her and take her back to the shitty life she had before. There was no way she was going back to that.

Whilst yawning, Alyson lifted herself up from the ground and pulled out the pillow from a drawer underneath the panel. It was supposed to be for the prisoner, but Flynn seemed to handle things just fine. Curling herself up in the one-person sofa in the corner of the basement, she tucked the pillow underneath her neck. It wasn’t her king size bed, and not nearly as comfortable, but she did not trust this guy to be left alone. With her last energy, she put her watch to an alarm: 3 hours from now. With a grunt, she padded down her pillow to a more comfortable position. ”You did good today Al. You don’t need anybody, despite what others say. You’re perfectly fine on your own..” And with that thought, her eyes shut and she fell asleep.

~~~

BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP. “Hmmm…” BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP. “Ughhh.. Seriously..” Alyson grunted and clearly had trouble waking up. BEEP BEEP. With a frown and very sleepy eyes, she pulled her arm up and switched off the alarm. ”This is the worst.. Why did I.. “ Then remembering she had a guest, she scanned the cell for Flynn. And there he was, right in his cell.