Present Time

Missy stumbled out the Inn and into the alley, bottle of Southern Comfort tightly grasped. Their impromptu tending job broken up earlier than would be desired. The owner of the inn had caught her pocketing money meant for the till, and she thought to get out of there before things got nasty. JC, however, had bolted way before that. And so she went looking for him. "Where ya at, then?"

"Coverin' yer ***." JC replied from the shadows between buildings, a cloud of smoke slowly creeping into the moonlight. The smoke traveled up into the light that spilled in from the street. She could see the cherry of his cigarette and the glint of his too-blue eyes-- that was all.

"Dun think we can try that again. That guy coulda takin' us both. Chris'." Missy shook her head as she started down the alley and towards him. She loved the way he looked in this kind of light. It made her smile.

"It was nothin' anyway, baby. Ain' like we gonna live off of it." Another puff while he took a step out of the shadows. He had a nonchalance about him. He was taking care of her always, dismissing her worry and keeping them on track. They both knew it, and it was both the strength and the weakness of their bond. "Wha' places were you talkin' about?"

Missy moved over to where he was, she stepped right on into his personal space. She looked up at him and shrugged. "There's a marketplace. Jewelery, for one."

"Prolly oughta be a weapon's dealer somewhere 'round here. Can sell that #$%^&* too." He offered the cigarette over to her, passing it with the cherry pointed at his chest. "Though figures ya'd find the shiny stuff first. Prolly keep a ring ta play preten' an everythin'." JC must have been mad at her, he went straight for the rawest of all her nerves. And with such a flippant nature, that it took everything in her not to splatter his brains on the alley wall.

"Doesn' have to be pretend, jackass." She scowls at him as she grabs the cigarette and takes a drag. "Gotta go rubbin that in. Tha' you'll never make an honest woman of me." She shoved him, as good naturedly as you could shove someone. It started out as kidding. It always started out as kidding. But they both knew where this was going. And it only had one solution-- they would be very drunk tonight.

"Hell, girl, ya don' wanna be honest anyway. All tha' ring'll do is scare yer other guys off." Pushed back a step and returned immediately with a laugh. He grabbed the bottle from her since she had the smoke. JC's face seemed to change as he realized she was serious. It was everything in him not to sigh. "Fine, Missy. Ya wan' it so bad, fine. Eventually." Just one more capitulation among many.

"Ya said that last time." She muttered a little and slumped against the wall. Her brows raised and she shook her head. Missy's eyes had little flecks of gold in them as she watched him for a moment, collecting the thoughts he rarely hid from her. The thoughts of her parents almost made her laugh. "They won' care no more, ye dolt." She spoke it quietly; their parents were something long gone, something they had decided never to mention again.

"Ya worry too much, an' ya know there ain' no one else." She suddenly actually sounded serious. Was he really worried that she was sleeping around on him? Or was he hopeful?

JC hated when she did that and loved her for it all the same. He took a drink from the bottle and set it at her feet, rising again within her personal space "Don' mean it wouldn' have been an event ta see. And ya know wha' happens when someone let's their guard down." His hands found her hips while he spoke, fixing his eyes on hers.

Missy's hands slid into the back pockets of his pants and she tilted her chin up to look at him. Her lips curled into an almost smile, but she met his eyes. They were too blue. It bothered her sometimes, cause she remembered when they weren't like that-- an easier time-- but a few blinks and those memories were gone. "Remind me?" she whispered.

"S'when thing's get stolen..." He said with a knowing smirk as he pinned her against the wall with his lips against her's. His right hand raised to clasp around the side of her neck. It was possessive and meant to calm her, distract her. He only showed dominance when she wanted commitment. Marriage was to be avoided, change was always a disaster, and Missy didn't do well with disaster. JC knew he could only hold them together for so long.

Almost gasping, Missy let him push her against the wall. It was grimy and the exposed parts of her shoulders were now gross, but she didn't much mind. She liked having him kiss her, it happened less and less the angrier they got at each other. So she let him do what he wanted. Even if he was purposely distracting her from marriage. Again. Her hands pressed into his side and she returned the kiss happily. Though one hand was looking for that gun he should have tucked back there where his shirt met his pants...

This is where it would be real handy for JC to be able to read minds. The gun was there. Once the kiss broke he stayed close to her, eyes again on hers once they opened. "Thin' he's gone? Doubt he'll let us back ta tha room if he's still there."

"Dunno." She muttered. Fingers closed around the hilt of the gun. He didn't choke her, and so she didn't threaten to shoot him. Yet. Just rested her hand there. "Whatcha scared of, JC? Ya already gunna die with me." her eyes never left his. Sure, what she said was dark, but it was also serious. They were bound in more ways than one-- would always be that way now. They both knew it.

His thumb traced over her pretty little neck while he thought for a moment before speaking "Ya gonna end up wantin' lil' cryin' babies and a whole normal life an' I know it. Gonna go an' ruin everythin'. Wha' ya gonna tell me ya wanna real job now too?" Though he was kidding in his own way, he was serious. Things had worked for almost five years now, and it was like they were suspended in time. They didn't have to confront the past, they didn't have to move on. Marriage? All it would do is reopen wounds. Restart problems. He just wasn't ready for it. He wanted to make this last as long as he could, them last as long as they could.

"Course not." There was a click and she had the gun pressed to the base of his neck. It wasn't just that Missy was crazy, it was that she was desperate. Just what he was scared of, was what she wanted. For Missy? It felt like they were stuck in the rut of her mistakes, and she wanted to rectify them. For the both of them. "I ain't never gunna be normal, JC." She was smiling like the devil. It was a good thing she didn't have shakey hands.

He gave a small flinch, mostly from the sudden rush of pissed that just came over him. She'd gotten him, and now he didn't have a choice. And she knew it. He didn't move, but his hand tightened ever so slightly around her neck, not yet choking her "What ya thin' yer doin' Missy. Said yerself we die together."

"Well, can't kill myself first, JC. Wouldn' work that way." She sighed at his stupidity, then the golden flecks in her eyes came back as she looked straight into his. "Sayin' you wouldnt' die a happy man right now?" And she knew the answer before he bothered to answer.

"*** you Missy. *** you. You gonna off us both if I don' marry you?" His hand grasped violently at her neck, only long enough to remind her how easy that way would be for him. For the both of them, really. Then the sudden release when it was long enough to make her gasp for a breath.

Smart enough not to instantly pull the trigger when he grabbed her neck, she did gasp for breath when he let her go, but did not relent. "Come on, Jack. You're all I got. Been ten years an' ya won' promise yer nah gunna leave. Reckon I'd rather we die than ya leave me." Yes, she was that crazy.

"Damnit baby, ya know I love ya. Ain't that enough?" This was where the conversation went as if it were reshearsed. They each knew their lines, now they only had to say them. He shifted slightly toward stepping away if she'd let him.

"Coward." There was a click and for a moment it seemed like she was going to shoot him. But, even he knew she wasn't that crazy, not really, and she cut her eyes away just before she let the gun fall. Her voice was intense. She meant it.

"Dress yerself up pretty tomorrow an' well go "shoppin'." His left had slid from her hip down her leg to pick up the bottle. Maybe if he'd started to go through the motions she'd either be content or he might even feel better about it all. Things were going to change, he couldn't stop them. Now it was a matter of how. "An' get yer *** in a shower, that wall's disgustin'."

She tossed his gun back at him, the safety on(it was the whole time). Missy's face had melted into a smile. She had won this time, whether he had let her or not. "Come on, baby, I'll get lonely all by myself." She pressed into him long enough to touch her shoulders to his chest and sneak the bottle before turning for the door.

He snatched the weapon out of the air and started tucking it back into his jeans when she pressed against him. "We're gonna need a few more bottles on the way." He wasn't far behind her at all.

"Mm. Another late night? Bet ya gunna lay into me tonight, huh? I deserve it." A chesire grin thrown over her shoulder as she opens the door to the inn and holds it open for him.

He stayed with the door and pushed her into the building, followed with a loud smack on her ***. "Damn righ' ya deserve it. ***' tryin' ta kill me. Kinda wife ya tryin' ta be?"

"Yours." As she passed through the door and into the inn.