The heavy heat wavered in the dry air. Mordecai waited, kneeling unobserved behind a wall of rock for his Bloodwing to come back. He checked his sniper rifle's barrel again out of boredom and tuned in to the yelling in the camp below. The lack of breeze easily transmitted the cries of some of Pandora's craziest inhabitants as they yelled obscenities at the hurtling mass of wing and beak.

"Now it's time for my pound of flesh!"

They'll never get Blood, thought Mordecai.

Another cry from Blood and he felt the familiar weight alight on his shoulder. He welcomed his pet with an affectionate bump on the head.

There was a light whump of sound and Blood took off. Mordecai shuddered and turned his head slightly.

"You the one that's been following me?"

A snicker…a girlish snicker. He looked up at her and his eyes drank their fill from behind the red lenses of his goggles.

She had faint markings lining the left side of her body, running tantalizingly in and out of the spaces between the items of clothing hugging her lithe frame.

Something familiar tugged at the edges of his brain as he looked her up and down. He furrowed his brows underneath his hood and frowned.

She had faded hair and her eyes flashed in amusement.

"Mordecai."

His eyes widened. That nagging familiarity rose a little closer to the surface of his memory but remained hidden.

"You're in there somewhere, princess, I just can't…princess…Princess!"

He stood slowly and smirked.

"I never thought…hell…what in the hell are you doing following me, Lilith? It's too much blood out here for you. This world's crawling and you…"

"Can handle my own." She held out her hands and, in an instant, she was gone in a ball of electricity.

Mordecai's hand went for his holster and suddenly his wrist was enveloped in the grip of an invisible hand.

"Don't worry, Mord," Lilith's voice sounded in his ear, soft and close. He could feel her lips brush his ear. That strange barely audible whump sounded again and he saw Lilith's hand encircling his wrist. Her long half-gloved fingers released their grip and he turned to face her.

"What are you?"

The corners of her lips turned upwards.

"What makes you think I'm anything different than what I used to be?"

"Nice art." He ignored her question and inclined his head to indicate her tattoos.

Her lips parted, revealing a dazzling smile.

"I can explain later. I'll tell you now though that they're the reason I can do what I can."

Mordecai nodded.

"What makes you think there'll be a later, Princess? Those guys out there are out for blood and they're between us and shelter."

"This." She disappeared and the slight sound made him shudder again. He raised his sniper rifle and focused on the camp of bandits and psychos that Bloodwing had raided a few minutes earlier.

Through the sight he watched as men were dazed left and right and, all of a sudden, Lilith appeared in the midst of them all. She raised a very nice Maliwan HellFire and let loose a volley of shot that exploded heads and made men burst into flame. Within seconds, the whole camp was ablaze and Lilith stepped from the smoke into view. She looked up at where she knew he was, blew him a kiss and disappeared again.

Mordecai looked up at Bloodwing, who was chattering on a rock high above him, facing the demolished camp.

"You did good, Blood. You did good." The bird tilted his head to watch his partner and decided to land on his shoulder again.

Mordecai stowed his sniper rifle in his holster, chose a revolver and started the trek back to New Haven, Bloodwing on his shoulder and revolver in his hand.