Chapter 9 - A Different Tune

Having left the party at a rapid pace, Meg now raced down the highway, weaving in-between cars at break neck speeds. Pressing a button on the steering wheel she heard ringing and then Sei's heated voice. "What the hell was that, Meg?!"

"Geez, relax, Sei." Meg rolled her eyes as she spoke. "I got the information, didn't I?"

"At the expense of your cover and you risked your life!"

"Sei, you heard him as clearly as I did. He already knew I wasn't Alexandria." Meg chose not to respond to Sei in an annoyed voice, that would only make her testy. "Think about it, Sei. If I had continued to deny it, don't you think Antonio is the type of person who would get annoyed and offended that I'm questioning his intellect? Plus, no matter how suave the man is, he has a massive pride. I was in more danger by denying his accusations than I was by confirming them."

After a moment of silence, Sei signed loudly in defeat. Meg could even imagine the older woman rubbing her forehead as if she could physically fight off the headache that was fast approaching. "Okay, Meg, I see your point. I still think we made a mistake in sending you back in there."

"Don't be ridiculous." Meg replied with a grin. "We have the information and I am heading home as we speak. What could happen?"

As if rehearsed, Amy broke into the conversation. "Meg, I think you have a tail."

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Meg spotted stylish sports car that seemed to mimic her every move. "Antonio?"

"Uh hu. Even Antonio's hit men drive nicer rides than that. It's nice, but not to Antonio's standards." Amy replied, the tapping of her computer keys could be heard in the background. "From the make, model, and plates I'd say it belongs to the Shiga Syndicate."

"Right," Meg paused as she whipped her car between to close vehicles and across three lanes of traffic. "Remind me again who they are."

Signing in irritation, Amy replied, "They are the ones you stole that micro-disc from two months back. You know, the ones with the plans for hacking into Tokyo's security firewall network? Geez, Meg, your memory is already going down hill."

"Well, forgive me if I can't remember the name of every group of scumbags we come across!" Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the car was joined by yet another two and they were all three closing in. Casting her glance forward again, she yelled, "Crap!" One of them had appeared directly in front of her going much slower than the traffic around them. Meg had only once choice, whip the wheel to the right and take the ramp off the highway into the back streets of the Shiga district, the Syndicate's home turf. "Shit! Sei, this isn't looking great! They were ready for me!"

"Want me to send Jo and Django your way?" Sei asked, worry clear in her voice. And Meg could tell Amy was freaking out because of the frantic keys being punched in the background and the lack of commentary.

Seeing that there were more cars closing in from side streets Meg's thoughts turned grim. "I don't think she'll get here in time, but the help wouldn't hurt."

"Jo!" Sei yelled from the cockpit of the trailer and moments later Jo appeared, dressed for battle.

"Meg?" Was all she asked, anger already blazing in her eyes.

With a nod, Sei turned her back to stare back at Amy's screens. "Django, now!"

Jo needed no more encouragement. An instant later she was out the back door of the trailer and climbing up into the Django's open hatch.

Leo, who was standing at his work bench off to the side, turned and waved an oily wrench at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Jo?! If you think you're gonna touch my well endowed lady friend without a proper refresher course in how to handle her virtues effectively you've got another thing comin!"

Turning her crimson gaze to stare bullets into the mechanic, Jo growled her reply. "Meg is in trouble. Do you really want to try and stop me?"

Scratching the back of his head, Leo chuckled softly. "I guess it is you and your gal… Ok, but if you muck her up you'll be helping me wax here tonight."

"Whatever,"

"And Jo,"

"Yes?" Jo asked impatiently, inches from disappearing into the cockpit.

Winking at the silver haired girl, he gave his final words of instruction. "Beat those SOBs and bring our Meg home."

With a wicked grin, Jo disappeared into the machine and moments later Django raged to life. Fixing her eyes on the view screen, Jo spoke a silent pledge to Meg. "I won't lose you again, Meg. Hold on, you're Angle of Death is coming."

Meg was frantic now. A half a dozen cars were chasing her farther and farther into the Shiga territory, away from Jo or any other source of help. Seeing a possible escape, she took a sharp left into an alley, but as she was exiting the other side, a syndicate car blindsided her. The impact sent Meg's Jag screaming into the side of a building.

The world went black for a moment and her ears rang, but Meg soon say the shapes of bodies coming toward her. She tried in vain to pull herself from the wreckage and soon felt the rough hands of thugs pulling her out. She screamed in pain when one of them grabbed her arm that had a fresh gash. She couldn't tell where else she was injured, but pain was definitely registering on her radar.

"Come on, wench! Get up and fight!" A man out of her view yelled. Before she knew what was happening she felt a foot launch into her gut, causing her to cry out in pain. She tried to hold her sides, but her arms were being held up by two sets of callused hands. Tears formed in her eyes as a fist slammed against the side of her face. And a terrible feeling, a feeling that was worse than all of her physical pain put together, came to mind. Jo wasn't going to get there in time.

Just when she say the foot of the man wrench back to pummel her again she heard it, a loud humming sound. It wasn't Django, but it was definitely a machine. Soon the men on the ground were yelling and pointing up. Meg was too out of it to understand what was happening. Before she knew it the hands that held her let her go and she crumbled to the ground with no strength left to stand.

As the bullets began to rain from the sky, Meg managed to lift her arms to cover her head and finally got a look at what had just arrived. A helicopter was hovering just above her with men hanging out the side with assault riffles. She would have run if she thought she could escape, but the position she held underneath the copter was shielding her from the bullets. All she could really do was wait and hope that Jo would show up with enough time to save her.

When the screams of the Shiga thugs grew more distant and the gun shots more sporadic, four large black ropes were thrown from the helicopter, followed by four men dressed in black body armor and holding assault riffles. They landed on all sides of Meg with backs turned to her. When they landed they instantly unhooked themselves from the ropes and spread out to check the perimeter. Before Meg could comment or respond in any way, another four men hit the ground around her. Three joined the first four, but the fourth stood before her with no weapon and no helmet.

"An - Antonio?" Meg whispered, eyes wide in astonishment. "Whu - What are you doing here?"

The helicopter moved off and landed not far away. With a flash of his suave, debonaire smile took a step toward her and knelt. "Ah, mi flor, why do you think you were being followed by these men in the first place?"

"Because, we've screwed them over in the past." Meg responded roughly, suddenly angry at the spaniard.

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Antonio pulled a data pad from his back pocket. "That may be the case, but from my security reports, these men followed you from my estate." As he tapped the touchscreen of the pad he continued, "You see, I knew there was one group in particular that has been shadowing my movements over the past six months. We have not been able to flush the rodents out by normal means, but it was obvious what they wanted."

"And that is?" Meg asked, a light of confusion in her eyes.

"They wanted this." Turning the pad toward Meg, he showed her schematics from a new aerial artillery turret.

Shaking her head, still confused, Meg looked him in the eye. "But why follow me?"

"You may not have noticed, mi flor, but we were being watched back in that corridor, by one of these men." He pointed to a dead thug laying off to the side. "I knew they were watching so that is why I gave you the micro drive."

Suddenly, realization flashed in Meg's eyes and she used what little strength her had to pull farther away from Antonio. "You knew they would follow me! You set me up!"

Shrugging, Antonio stood and placed the data pad back in his pocket. "I had my suspicions."

"But, they were going to kill me!"

"I would not have let that happen." Antonio's eyes flashed with anger at the accusation. "No matter who you are, spy or flower, I would never send a woman to her death for personal gain. I may be a criminal, but I am still a gentlemen."

"Tell that to my bruised ribs!"

With a grin, he leaned back down toward her. "I can, if you wish." He reached his hand out toward her, which she quickly slapped away.

"Don't lay a finger on me, Antonio!" Fear was now slipping into her voice.

He opened his mouth to respond, but at that exact moment a load crash came from behind them. Meg turned just in time to see Django turn the corner. "Jo!" With what little strength she could muster, Meg pulled herself to her feet.

Antonio chuckled lightly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ah, this must be your tune?"

Meg didn't respond, only began making slow steps toward her rescuer. A moment later, the hatch to Django's cockpit opened and Jo jumped to the ground. "Meg!" She screamed as she wasted no time in running to the redhead. She caught her just as Meg was about to fall. "Meg, are you alright?"

Wrapping her arms around Jo's neck, Meg held onto her are hard as she could. Tears were in her eyes and she knew that she couldn't speak without revealing her emotions, so she stayed silent, except to whisper her name. "Jo…"

Holding the cowgirl up and close to her body with one arm, Jo drew her gun and pointed it straight at Antonio's head. "Wanna meet hell, Tony?!"

At first Antonio did not speak, only stood and stared at the two of them. Finally, he lifted a hand to rub his chin. "Well, your tune a quite different than what I had expected, mi flor."

Not understanding what the spaniard meant, Jo tightened her grip on Meg and growled, "What do you mean by that?"

Meg, knowing exactly what he meant, didn't turn to the man, but instead turned Jo's face so that they were looking in each other's eyes. "I've had the same tune since I left America. Meeting you, wasn't going to change that, Antonio."

"Well, your acting could have fooled me." Chuckling, Antonio turned his back on them.

"Wait, don't you want your stupid micro drive back?" Meg growled, placing her head on Jo's shoulder.

Without turning to face her, Antonio replied, "No, mi flor, my main goal was to stop those who would have killed me. Think of the drive as compensation for the medical attention you are now in need of."

"I should blow your freaking head off and send you straight to hell you son of a" Jo yelled, turning her attention back to the spaniard.

But Meg cut her off. "Jo, no." Resting her hand on Jo's gun, she lowered it for her. "Antonio, you better go before my tune kills you and the rest of your men. Trust me when I say, none of you would survive her rage."

Turning only slightly to glance over his shoulder, Antonio studied Jo for a moment for replying. "I believe you are right, mi flor. But keep in mind, if your tune ever does change, you know how to find me." With that he turned and disappeared around the corner.

Turning confused eyes on Meg, Jo asked, "What tune was he talking about?"

With an amused smile, Meg placed her hand on the back of Jo's neck and pulled her head down so that she could kiss her tenderly on the lips. Holstering her weapon, Jo instantly wrapped her arms around the younger girl and held her close.

Grimacing from the pain in her ribs, Meg pulled away. "Take me home, Jo."

With a determined look in her eyes, Jo lifted the girl easily into her arms and walked smoothly back toward Django.

After a shower, some intense pain killers, and a nice long nap Meg was feeling a lot better. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet, but she could already tell her ribs were feeling better, though a little stiff. Yawning, she stretched her arms above her head and then to the side. She jumped when she felt her hand touch hair. Opening her eyes and turning on her side, she saw that Jo had fallen asleep sitting up against the bed.

With a soft giggle, Meg slowly scooted toward the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through her angel's silver hair. Jo hummed softly in appreciation and with sleepy eyes turned her head to look up as her redhead. Without a word, Meg leaned down and kissed Jo, instantly running the tip of her tongue over Jo's lip, asking for permission to enter. Grunting in appreciation, Jo opened her mouth and their kiss turned primal. Their tongues clashed in a battle for dominance and Meg won out.

Pulling on Jo's shirt, Meg guided her up onto the bed and then pushed her back onto the bed. Laying half on top of the her angel, and half off, Meg used one hand to rub her fingers through Jo's hair and along her neck while the other rested gently on Jo's hip.

Jo, though surprised by Meg's dominant behavior, enjoyed the attention. She wanted to hold the younger girl closer, but feared causing her any more pain. When Meg's lips left hers and moved to her neck, Jo took the moment to speak. "Oh, Meg, your lips are amazing." She could feel Meg smile against her skin as she continued to suck on her pulse point. Rubbing her hands along Meg's shoulder Jo noticed a large black bruise where a fist had pummeled her the day before. "Meg, I'm so sorry you got hurt. I should have been there. I failed you again."

At those words, Meg stopped her ministrations and sat up on the bed. "Jo," She groaned, rubbing her forehead.

Confused, Jo turned on her side and stared up at Meg. "What did I do wrong?"

Letting her hands fall onto the bed, Meg looked up toward the ceiling and shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's the meaning behind what you just said that's the problem."

Crimson eyes revealing how lost Jo was, Meg decided to take another approach. Pushing Jo back down so that she was laying on top of her once more, Meg moved so that her face was only inches above Jo's. Grasping the older girls arms, she lifted them above her head and pinned them against the bed. With a hard glint in her eyes, Meg spoke again. "You keep forgetting that I don't need a protector anymore. I'm not an innocent little girl who cannot take care of herself."

"But yesterday"

Meg cut the girl off by squeezing her wrists. "Yesterday even you would have needed backup. I had the entire Shiga Syndicate on my tail. Yeah, sometimes I will need backup, and I know you'll be there. But I need you to know that your cowgirl is no longer crying as she falls of the ponies. She's busting it with the broncos and holding her own. And I can dig my spurs in as hard and fast as the next person. I need you to trust that I can take care of myself and should I get into trouble or be harmed it is not because you failed me. You had nothing to do with it! You came as soon as I asked for you and you brought me home. That's all I asked for! That's all I needed!"

Jo lay still as Meg spoke. She felt the tension in her muscles and saw the determination in her eyes and heard it in her voice. Finally, she turned her eyes away, letting silver hair hide her face. "So, you don't need me anymore."

Once again, Meg's grip tightened on Jo's wrists. "That isn't what I said." When Jo didn't turn back to her, she continued. "I need you, Jo. I need you in my life. Your love, your caring devotion, your crimson gaze that strips me of my fear and" She smiled as she added, "sometimes my clothes - I need it all." Releasing her grip on one of Jo's wrists, she gently brushed the silver hair out of Jo's eyes and away from her ear. Leaning down close to her ear, Meg began to whisper. "I need all of you." Taking Jo's ear lobed in between her lips she gently nibbled on it. "You're mine, Jo." Leaning back, blue sapphire eyes met a smoldering crimson gaze that sent shivers down her spine.