Angelle is mine, but the rest belongs to Joss.

=================================================

Past....the steps you have already taken and the words that have already been spoken...things that no matter how much you want cannot be changed. It has a habit of haunting you, linking you to places you would have rather not gone, and to people you would rather not know. Worse though than all that, it has a rather horrible way of biting you in the gorram ass.

"What do we do now?" I heard Zoe beside me as we moved back inside the safety of the bathroom and Aunt Lou Lou gasping as she heard a noise coming from outside the door. "I've got a single shot pistol on me, but I'm sure Jayne somehow strapped something to him, even in that tight suit."

"Unless they search him." I smiled, positioning myself between the girls and the entrance. My hand rested on the knife at my thigh as the door swung open, light pouring in as well as noise from the ball. The first man walked in and I pounced, wrapping my arm around his neck, even though he was a little bigger than me. The next one in was Zoe's and she slammed her fist into his face, dropping him like you would a rock. It didn't take long for mine to do the same from lack of oxygen.

"Got any other bright ideas?" Lou Lou asked as we both turned to see a group of five standing in the door with guns drawn. Lifting our hands in surrender, I huffed.

"How good is Mal at negotiating?" I whispered as Zoe just gave me a funny look. "That bad, huh?" She nodded as we were taken out of the bathroom, the men stripping us of our jewelry and our weapons.

"Bring the woman in black to the front. The one with the red hair..." I heard the ring leader comment and as I looked around, I realized I was the only one in all black and red. Mal moved toward me, but a gun to the chest stopped him. Raising my hand to signal that I would be alright, or at least I hoped, I saw him frown still, the worry lining his face.

A barrel in my back made me move, and brought my eyes away from