Cal groaned as she felt herself being cushioned by the man. [i]That was lucky![/i] Somehow she managed to escape relatively unscathed. She swore she heard swearing coming from under her. She tumbled off as the gunman stood up. 

She dashed her head against the rough asphalt ground and her eyes became slightly unfocused. She pulled herself up slightly only to have a massive fist slam into the right cheek. The impact turned her head sideways as a blue-green patch began forming on her right cheek. 

“Urgh…”

Callie clutched the side of her head helplessly as he pulled his arm back. She fixed her electric blue eyes on his livid face. She screwed her eyes shut and turned away slightly. The next one would be worst. 

[i]“Hitting a pretty lady is a no good, no go.”[/i]

One eye opened then the other. Soon the battered airhostess stared at the woman restraining her assailant. She blinked slightly in an attempt to clear her double vision. Yet the the scene unfurling before her was sending off very bad vibes. She shuddered. The tables have turned…

But…

She watched as Vida for the man’s face…

[i]“There was payment you said. Yes, yes. Payment was said. How about your life? Would it be enough to pay?”[/i] 

“Stop! We don’t have to kill him.”

Both turned to look at her. Her eyes looked into the man’s fearful ones and her heart skipped several beats. Slowly she turned back to her yet-to-be-known companion. The eyes appeared normal, but no, this definitely wasn’t the woman from before. 

[i]“Pretty lady, are you ok-ok?”[/i]

“I-I… yes. Thanks.” 

Cal gave Vida a grateful smile in an attempt to distract the other from committing murder. “We don’t have to hurt him, okay?” 

Her eyes glazed over as the world began spinning again. There seemed to be hundreds of people all around. Multiple clones moving around. It was all very surreal. The edges of her vision grew dimmer. All the sounds around them faded away. Cal swayed slightly. Those blue eyes that were looking straight into Vida’s closed as Callie fell backwards. She flopped on the ground and lay very still.