Games of Cat and Mouse Part Three

Hey! Sorry this took some extra time. My computer froze last time :)

Cats and Mouse

Pt 3

by Moonfire

Moonfire threw her bags down in her hotel room and lay on the bed for a few minutes. Space travel took more out of her then she liked to admit. Her surroundings were fairly lavish. She'd gotten the hotel suite when they had found out who she was. This meaning about 3 stars by Lunar standards. It really showed what was happening to the Martian economy. 'But are they really desperate enough to sell the entire planet? Would there really be a point to that?' Also the entire suite was pink. Moonfire was nauseous already.

Several minutes later she jumped up and threw open her suitcase, searching for an outfit that didn't scream "Force Captain" quite as much as her current black army pants and exercise top, complete with handguns strapped to one thigh and one hip.

"It's comfy!" she had protested when Craft had looked her up and down with an amused expression on his face. "I want to be comfy on a 3 hour flight don't I?"

"I think it's unlikely that you're gonna meet someone on a space shuttle,"

he said, slapping her bare midriff affectionately.

"Roll your eyes any higher and they'll get stuck in the back of you head," he warned with a smile, and then he patted her head and was off to Mercury.

'Well at least I get to prove him wrong,' she though, the pangs of loneliness returning. "Big bad cat can't take a day away from her baby brother," she muttered to herself as she pulled on her black flared dress pants. "Get used to it girl." She pulled a shimmery navy tank top over her head.

She sighed as she twisted what she considered to be her only good feature up into a messy double bun. Too bad, but the long silver hair was a big Moonfire trademark and she didn't actually want to get jumped by a group of rebels that night.

'As if I'm not walking into a trap already.'

'Hand gun goes under right flare. Check. Dagger goes under belt. Check. The little gold holster and dagger go around my forearm. Check.'

The thing was so delicate it was almost formal. Her cousin Jade had given it to her when she had joined the army. Now it just basically told people that she meant business.

Little black heeled sandals completed the ensemble. "Why did I even bring something this fucking formal?' she growled at her image.

'In case you met a guy you wanted to have a fling with,' Craft's voice in her head told her. Rolling her eyes at her memories, she went to answer the door. 7:01. 'I don't even need Nap here, my mind does his job for him!' Moonfire reached the door and took the time to make sure that she'd stopped scowling at her absent brother before she actually opened it.

"Woah doll! And I didn't think you could get any prettier."

Moonfire rolled her eyes and bit back the suddenly shy smile that threatened to creep onto her face. "You don't look too bad yourself Peaches." Vinnie had on a pair of navy pants and an extremely tight black shirt. 'Mmmm....extremely tight black shirt....'

"Naturally," was the response she got.

They headed out of the hotel and onto the street. It had rained a little while she'd been getting ready and the air was pleasantly moist.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked. "There's a great little Venusian restaurant and few blocks from here. It's quiet, private.....very romantic." He winked at her.

"Oh really." She said with a half smile.

'It will never cease to amaze me how you manage to be sarcastic and coy at the same time Sarah.' She sighed to herself quietly. 'Get outta my head nap,' she growled in her mind. She could almost hear him laughing at her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She almost jumped.

"Ahh nothing, just thinking about the guy who's meeting me here in a week," she teased Vinnie.

"Okay doll, you're going to have to tell me who this guy is before I go beat up every Lunar I can find."

Moonfire started laughing uncontrollably. "Vinnie, he's my brother!" she laughed even harder at sudden his look of self-mocking. "Yes I was a bit surprised that you didn't know that."

"I didn't pay much attention in Lunar history class," he said, "but I knew

I'd heard that name before!"

Moonfire smiled. "I don't think we're quite in the history books yet." "Maybe not the earlier editions," he said seriously. "You're very well known and thought of here Moonfire. This treaty could change that." She nodded slightly. "Nothing's gonna stop the treaty signing Vinnie," she looked at him pointedly, "so if that's what you're trying to do it won't work."

Vinnie didn't respond. His anger was fairly obvious.

"That's just a detail though."

"The treaty's just a detail??"

"Shhh, don't explode on me, we're probably being watched by everyone." "Not yet," he said. "No one knows for sure that you're here yet."

"Uh, Vin, the government knows that I'm here."

"Yeah I guess so," he admitted in a slightly worried voice. "It'll be alright," she said. "I'm extremely good at dodging government intelligence. If it can be called that."

To be continued