Long time coming. Hope it works for someone out there 'coz this was the intended ending (minus some extra violence).

/

The look in her father's eyes could have chilled a corpse. It wasn't hate but understanding - a cool and wicked understanding. He knew that his daughter would have a hard road ahead of her. He knew that his daughter's life wouldn't be worth a damn from the moment she set fire to the garage and stood there gawking - wilted match in her hand and smoke all around.

The look in her father's eyes made her feel like the most important girl in the world.

Ashley looks at the magazine. Ashley grips the lighter. Ashley looks at that bottle of liquid fire.

Then the door knob slowly turns.

And death, always an unwelcome guest, is about to come right in.

/ / / /

The look in her brother's eyes could have stopped a beating heart. It wasn't sadness but understanding - a broken and wistful understanding. He knew that his sister would have a hard road ahead of her. He knew that his sister's life wouldn't be worth a damn from the moment she started screaming as his knees hit the cold ground - the squealing of tires and the smell of gunpowder all around.

The look in her brother's eyes made her feel like the most important girl in the world.

A hand goes up in the distance and that means the wires are cut, rendering Aiden Dennison and his men blind. If they are smart then well-paid lackeys will soon come barreling out of the viper's den. If they are stupid then dying at Spencer's command will be akin to a favor to Aiden Dennison.

Well, at least until Aiden's head hits the chopping block. It probably won't seem like a favor then.

Spencer pulls out her phone and quickly presses 'send'.

Five minutes later, the hand goes up again and now Dennison is truly in the dark.

Her men pile out of the SUV and they don't need to be told twice - this is cleaning house, this is sending a message.
This isn't about taking back what was hers because she never lost a damn thing in this little game. She didn't lose the city streets. She didn't lose any money.

And she won't be losing Ashley Davies.

Not tonight anyway.

/ / /

Think on your feet.
Move quickly.
Always look for a way out.

These are things that you learn the hard way. These are steps to a very deadly dance and you cannot afford to have your toes stepped on - two left feet leaves you buried.

So, when the lights suddenly go out and she hears Aiden shout out angrily, Ashley does not think twice. This is no time for flames. This is no time to lose her already fucked-up soul. And this is not her time to die.

She can hear her own breathing.
She blinks and tries to see movement in a pitch black room.
She can hear Aiden's shoes move towards her.
She feels a hand coast by her face and she dives forward, knocking into that table. She can hear the bottle hit the floor. She can hear the magazine flutter and tear.

She can feel the arms wrap around her waist and pull her back.

So, she fights. She fights every step of the way.
She throws elbows and kicks out and screams as Aiden holds onto her tighter. She can hear the scrambling of feet outside of this room, the bobbing of flashlights along the wall and getting nearer and nearer.

"You fucking bitch, did you think I'd let you get out of here? Did you think you could hide away forever from me?" Aiden hisses and Ashley rears her head backwards, happy for the subsequent pain when the man howls out in agony.

"I'm going to kill you." Aiden grinds out and one arm is gone and Ashley tries to shove him fully off but anger makes you stronger. Anger makes you dedicated. And anger is driving Aiden's hand around Ashley's throat.

Think on your feet... Move quickly... Always look for a way out... Set fire to the whole universe... Watch it burn... Police cars and fathers long gone...

Ashley doesn't want to die, though.

She isn't sure that there is much to live for but she sure as hell doesn't want to go down like this.

Not like this.

Not like this at all.

Not fucking like this.

And it is dark in this room, darker than anywhere Ashley has ever been, and still the lights are going out - one by one - as breathing becomes more difficult.

And Ashley doesn't want to die.

But her eyes just cannot help but close.

/ /

There's a second when he feels this surge of power go through his body and it feels better than alcohol, better than drugs, better than sex. It is the feeling of being in total control, being the factor that decides life or death - it is like being God.

There's a second where he feels like it is his name that should be on everyone's lips.

As quickly as it comes, though, the feeling leaves. And it is replaced by something hot and something cold, something shocking and something horrible. And it hurts and it stills his mind and it's gonna be the end of him.

A beam of light hits his eyes and his hand slides away from flesh that has ceased to struggle. That's when something warm and sticky slides from his mouth and he coughs and he drops to the ground.

Aiden thought the sound was familiar, two loud bangs that rattled his ears, and so it is the last sound he'll ever hear.

/

The look in her eyes is one of too much desire, the kind of desire that will wind up being more trouble than it is worth. The look in her eyes is staking claims that no one has ever attempted before and it won't end well, you know?

None of this was ever meant to end well.

Spencer sits on a bench in a park, ten days later, sunglasses on and legs primly crossed at the knee. To anyone casually looking, she is the perfect picture of a pretty lady out on the town - shopping bags at her feet and designer clothes against every curve and sporadic sips from a plastic Starbucks cup.

To anyone casually looking, Spencer does not look like someone who orders killings and pays off politicians. It is kind of funny what money can cover up, isn't it?

The look in her eyes is one of too much loneliness, the kind of loneliness that will wind up being more terrible as time goes on. The look in her eyes is demanding things that no one has ever begged for before and it won't end well, you know?

None of this was ever meant to end well.

Ashley sit down quietly and keeps her gaze trained ahead, watching kids play in fallen leaves and men jogging by and women on cell phones. She's never been here, to this park or to this place of happy families or to this realm of such elusive simplicity.

Ashley used to want this 'normal' world so badly. Now it just makes her uncomfortable.

Now it just makes her want to flee as fast as she can.

"How's the throat?"
"As good as it can be."

A bruise in the shape of a palm lingers on Ashley's skin. It bothers her for all the wrong reasons. She woke up in a hospital bed with a false name and smattering of blood on her face - not her own blood either. But the bills were paid for and the cops didn't ask questions.

That's when Ashley knew that Spencer must have showed up just in the nick of time.

"Didn't expect to see you again actually..."
"You are still under contract, Ashley. You still belong to me."

There was no blaze by her name. She didn't pull that trigger.
Ashley did not take Aiden's last breath away and so she did not follow the plan, she didn't come to heel and she supposes that being saved might have been a bad thing after all.

But then Spencer sort of chuckles and Ashley finally looks at the woman beside her, ignoring how good the daylight looks against Spencer's features, how golden the woman's damn hair is in the sun.

"What so fucking funny?"
"Your face. You look like a kid being told that there isn't a Santa Claus."
"You tell me that you own me and... what? I'm supposed to jump for joy or something?"
"Ashley-"
"You should have just let Aiden finish the job then because this won't be much better."

Her hand is cold, but strong and sure, and Ashley knows this touch like she knows color of her own eyes, like she knows the way wind curls through her own hair.

Spencer's grip is firm upon her wrist and Ashley wants to push the woman away. She wants to bite the hand that feeds and that leads her into temptation, into danger, into this world that Ashley knows all too well and just cannot seem to disappear from.

Spencer jerks her to the side and those lips, those lovely and awful lips, are pressed to Ashley's with force. With intention. With heat and determination and finality.

Like always, it tastes good, it tastes amazing. Spencer is unique in a town full of stale and bland people. Spencer is the flavor of all things wrong and wonderful.

The look in her eyes is one that should never be there at all.

The look in her eyes is one that shouldn't even exist.

The smack of an envelope hits Ashley's chest and then she realizes that Spencer is no longer kissing her. The woman is back to sipping that drink and staring out at nothing behind expensive lenses.

Ashley looks down at a sizable amount of cash and then back at Spencer and then at the money once more.

"I don't get it-"
"Your sense of humor needs work, you know?"
"...What?"
"You were not the best employee, Ashley, but you did your part and didn't bullshit me, at least not much, so this is a buy-out. This is your freedom. Of course, I am sure I do not need to tell you this... but don't keep in touch. Forget my name and I'll do you the service of forgetting yours as well."

Spencer is standing up and Ashley remains seated. The shopping bags are picked up. The coffee is thrown away, hitting the trash can with an audible thud.

Ashley's throat still hurts like a son-of-a-bitch, but really, it's talking right now that is the hard part. How do you thank someone for saving you when they've hurt you, too? How can you feel so much for someone who you can never really touch? Never really know? Never really have? How can this be the end of something you never really knew that you wanted?

Spencer starts to walk away and Ashley's throat hurts, but that's just a minor thing and just an excuse and they won't ever see each other again... So this is a one time thing.

Because none of this was ever meant to happen anyway.

Ashley snags Spencer's elbow and spins the woman around, causing one of those bags to topple to the ground. And she leans in fast, capturing Spencer's lips.
And Ashley holds that kiss for all it is worth, which is a lot and a little all at the same time.

It is hello and good-bye.

And Ashley walks away with enough money to start over again and the knowledge that, for a minute or two, Spencer Carlin returned that kiss just because the woman wanted to.

/

e n d