“[color=00746b]Pangalactic LOVE baby! Hold down the button and blow up the stars. OOOooooOOoooOo.[/color]” Ursa sang loudly, her voice carrying up with the steam to fill the wooden banners supporting the single bathing room. She sunk into the suds, the wire from her old yellow headphones cascading down into the water before connecting to a CD rom beside her. It was old technology but the bathhouse itself was centuries old with bricks from ancient times hosting the warm stone bathing pools. The owner, Angelica Mataeo was an old soul and hated new music, so anything from generation X era was her jam.  If it couldn’t be played on a CD she didn’t want it. Ursa became fast friends with her, even providing transport for some illegal drug induced bath salts that only high paying customers indulged in. 

     She lifted her toes up out of the water, balancing back against the rim of the large bathing pool, letting the stress of the last few days soak out of her with ease. [i][color=00746b]See this is the life. The meaning of life. The simplicity is all I need. If only I had a book this would be perfect. Also a Leroy to give me a backrub to. Yeah, that’s the good stuff.[/color][/i] She shimmied a little closing her eyes as she hummed to the tune when suddenly she heard a small little noise from behind her. She didn’t know what came over her or why she decided to move but she sunk down immediately as a bang shot off and a small projectile erupted into the water just in front of her barely missing her head. She twisted diving down towards the bottom of the pool while staying near the edge. She swam for her life barely dodging two more shots before her lungs demanded she leave the water immediately. She reached the other side of the small pool and pulled herself up to the rim, where she knew a small stool was located. She grabbed a leg pulling it down to block one more shot before she pulled herself awkwardly out of the water. She ran towards the wall, pulling down a table of candles to hide her naked form. Shots followed her, one grazing her leg, as blood began to spill out onto the stone. She hid behind the table swearing profusely when a voice made it’s way through the steam, “[color=bc8dbf]You better come out from behind there Cooper before I really hurt you. I promise if you surrender it will be quick.[/color]” 

     Ursa shut her eyes. Maria Delgado. Like Emmett, she was one of the top assassin’s of the galaxies and incredibly lethal. Ursa had, again like Emmett, transported her to many of her hits, shared plenty a drunken night with her and one some would say lesbian experience. She looked down at her leg then spoke back with a bored voice, her yellow eyes scanning the area around her, “[color=00746b]Ugh Delgado. You know I hate fighting. I mean seriously...YOU are going to make me fight for my life naked.[/color]” 

     Maria laughed, her voice slightly closer, “[color=bc8dbf]You could always not fight. Makes my job easier.[/color]” 

     Ursa rolled her eyes as she scanned her area looking for anything to help her survive this encounter. She knew her chances of survival were in the 15% range and that was being generous. She was naked, without a weapon and injured. Also, Maria was a good fighter, completely skilled in multiple martial arts. Ursa could hold her ground but she doubted she would play the offensive field often. Maria was fully armed and moving her way over. They were in a closed area and her clothes and guns were over by the door that Maria had entered, currently, about 5 to 10 feet from where she guessed the woman was now. She adjusted her footing knowing that her chances were bad. [color=00746b][i]Alright Ursa. What have we got? Candles. No. Towels. No. Headphones, soaked. Table Leg. Useless against a gun. Come on you asshole search..search. GOT IT! [/i][/color]

     Ursa spoke up, grabbing a few of the candles before speaking up, listening intently to the footsteps to the left of her “[color=00746b]Not funny Delgado. Come on, as sisters of the criminal persuasion, I think we should support each other in…[/color]” 

     She stood up quickly and bolted a candle towards where she had guessed Maria was. Thank the gods, she had great aim. The candle hit the assassin square in the face giving Ursa some time to run to the opposite side of the pool, whilst throwing two more candles hitting Maria in the arm and then, unfortunately, the wall behind her. Maria swore as she let out two shots that barely missed Ursa. Ursa jumped over to the only other table located in the room. It had a collection of soaps, bottles of salt, and a few other bath essentials. She hit it hard on a corner and tumbled over, bruising her arms and legs as she moved the table to cover her body. She didn’t give herself a moment before she started digging through the soaps to grab one. She let out a breath before Maria suddenly spoke about a few feet to the left of her, moving towards the table quickly. She had two black eyes already beginning to form around her hazel green eyes which made her furious. Maria was from Mars, like Ursa, and like most Martians on the eastern side, unlike Ursa who was from the Northern parts of the planet, she had beautiful olive skin, deep auburn hair and a thin physique. Ursa grit her teeth as the gun let out a few shots, one grazing Ursa’s arm as Maria roared,“[color=bc8dbf]You throw a candle at me? I come all the way here from Omeron Eight to get a candle thrown in my damn face! I was going to go easy on you Cooper but you can forget it now.[/color]” 

     Ursa raised an eyebrow. [i][color=00746b]Omeron Eight? I’ve heard that before..FUCK![/color][/i]

     Suddenly the table was raised and a gun was shoved in her face. Ursa stood grabbing the barrel as she shot the shampoo straight into Maria’s face. The gun went off and Ursa screamed, the shot grazing the top of her shoulder before she kicked forward forcing Maria to let go of the gun. She turned it around quickly taking a shot at Maria but the gun was out of bullets. She raised her nose in confusion, “[color=00746b]Ahh shi..[/color]” 

     She was mid-sentence when Maria let out a sucker punch right in Ursa’s face, knocking her back on her ass. She twisted to the side just as Maria kicked out knocking her back again. She gained some footing barely dodging the second kick as she threw a punch herself, her knuckles hitting Maria in the gut. She doubled over for a second, not prepared for the punch and partly blind due to the soap. Ursa took the momentum and ripped her elbow around and up into Maria’s jaw knocking her back a few steps. She rounded around taking the advantage as she landed a solid punch into Maria’s face before Maria was back on her game and kicked out knocking Ursa into the wall. She snarled, “[color=bc8dbf]I will fucking kill you, Cooper.[/color]”

    Ursa hit it hard letting out a painful gasp before she tried to stand. She slipped on a bottle falling down onto the rough stone just as Maria shot out a punch her fist hitting the wall angrily. Ursa twisted to the side, pain searing through her bruised body as she reached out to grab anything useful to fight with. Ursa let out a small gasp, as  Maria grabbed her leg meaning to pull her back to her just as Ursa grabbed a bag of soaps and slammed it around to knock Maria to the side. She stood up whipping the bag up and down until Maria stopped getting up. Ursa was breathing heavily, her hair sticking to her face as she took a few steps back to look at Maria who was letting out rough scratchy breaths, but was very much alive and preparing to stand up. Yellow eyes met hazel ones before they both shifted to the gun in between them. A small pause filled the space before Maria jumped for it and Ursa jumped backward grabbing at her holster. Maria was ready with a new set of bullets. As soon as the gun was in her hand, Ursa took a shot and Maria’s shoulder was blown backward, just as Maria raised her newly reloaded gun. Maria dropped her gun falling back on her ass in pain as she looked up at Ursa with a bored expression, “[color=bc8dbf]Good shot.[/color]” 

     Ursa kept her gun poised as she licked her busted lip, “[color=00746b]I play a lot of video games. [/color]”

     Maria spoke evenly holding her bleeding shoulder, “[color=bc8dbf]You going to kill me?[/color]”

     Ursa remained in shooting position, “[color=00746b]I don’t want to. Who sent you?[/color]”

     Maria shook her head smiling, “[color=bc8dbf]Oh no, babydoll. You know the code. Never snitch on the client. I love my job more than I love my life..you know that. Your gonna shoot me long before I tell you that.[/color]” 

     Ursa sighed, “[color=00746b]You assassin’s and your codes, and you think that my job is difficult. Fine. You like your life more than your client. Fair. Do you like pain more as well?[/color]” 

     She let off another shot in Maria’s other shoulder, making Maria scream out an anguished cry, “[color=bc8dbf]YOU FUCKING BITCH![/color]” 

     Ursa aimed the gun towards Maria’s leg, “[color=00746b]Who sent you?[/color]” 

     Maria glared angrily up at Ursa, “[color=bc8dbf]Fuck you.[/color]” 

     Ursa let out another shot and Maria let out another cry tears streaming down her face, as Ursa calmly spoke, “[color=00746b]Who sent you?[/color]” 

     Maria breathed heavily biting her lip before she spoke softly, “[color=bc8dbf]His name is Bob.[/color]” 

     Ursa blinked, understanding and panic reaching her eyes before pulling the gun away, “[color=00746b]Thank you. Maria.[/color]” 

     She turned towards the door reaching for her clothes when Maria spoke harshly, “[color=bc8dbf]I will find you..you know. I WILL HUNT DOWN YOU, YOUR ENTIRE CREW AND THAT OLD ASS BASTARD YOU CHERISH SO MUCH. I SWEAR COOPER I WILL.[/color]” 

     Suddenly she slumped down in death as Ursa lowered her gun, the smell of gunfire breaking through the smell of shampoo after she loaded a slug into Maria’s head. After a second Ursa sunk down and a few sobs left her frame as the full weight of her wounds came over her. The adrenaline rush over. [i][color=00746b]You couldn’t have just shut up, could you? You couldn’t have just shut the fuck up and let me walk away. FUCK![/color][/i]

     Ursa collected herself moving towards the door, knowing that the front desk would have some bandages for such an occasion. Miss Angelica wouldn’t be happy about a dead body in her establishment but she knew that if you go into business with high criminal clientele it was bound to happen. She would deal with the removal of the body and provide Ursa with a few spare bandages to get her by but that wasn’t what was on Ursa’s mind. It was the name [i]Bob[/i]. She knew the name alright. In fact, she was hired through the grapevine..by said Bob...and so was one other person she knew. Emmett Draykon. She had to get out of here fast and warn Draykon that they were being set up. If she was almost killed just for transporting then Draykon and Juniper by association were going to be in deep shit as well. She stopped just before leaving and turned to look at Maria, moving towards her slowly before she reached into her pockets to pull out some keys and a wallet. She looked around before she pulled out what money was inside and dropped the wallet into Maria’s cold lap. She headed to the door, limping slightly, “[color=00746b]I am soo..going to hell.[/color]”