Title: The Last Night

Author: Akanue

Fandom: Cowboy Bebop

Rating: M

Warning(s): Explicit sex.

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop or its characters. They belong to Studio Sunrise, Shinichiro Watanabe, and other licensors and distributors. This is a not-for-profit fan work.

Summary: Vicious and Julia spend one final night together before he leaves for Titan.

Author's Note: The urge to write an introspective Vicious/Julia smutfic just struck me for some reason. Don't know why. I hope you enjoy. I went with the possibility that Julia cheated on Vicious with Spike while the former was away fighting on Titan, although there's no real canon basis for this and it's just as likely he left for Titan after discovering the affair.

The Last Night

The envelope containing his dispatch orders stayed in his hand as he climbed the two flights of stairs to his apartment. He'd been drafted to head off and fight in the war that was raging on Titan.

Of course, that hadn't been left to chance. The Syndicate wanted the best person for the job, and he'd been it. Vicious wasn't entirely opposed. It would sharpen his lethality and further prove his dedication to the Syndicate he had decided he would lead one day.

Julia already knew. He'd told her the night before, after his meeting with the Van where the decision had been made. He was reasonably certain she'd either figured it out beforehand or learned through other means.

The powers that be had worked fast, and his dispatch orders had arrived late in the day. He was due to leave in the early afternoon tomorrow.

Inserting the key into the lock, he turned it with the extra force it needed and gave the door the shove it required to open in the tight doorframe.

"Welcome home," said a melodic voice. It sounded like she was in the kitchen. Vicious turned in that direction to greet her while reaching down to take his shoes off. It wasn't something he'd done before she'd essentially moved in with him, but she preferred they both take their shoes off at the door and he'd chosen to humor her.

Julia stood in the kitchen, her back turned towards him as she put the dishes away. Her long, blonde hair flowed down her back like a river in a golden afternoon. His eyebrows rose just slightly as he noticed she was wearing a revealing black chemise.

"I ship out tomorrow. Early afternoon," he said in his usual, monotone voice. As he walked over to the kitchen table to set the letter as well as his bag down, however, his eyes never left her.

"I heard," she said, a definite tinge of sorrow in her voice. "Shin told me."

Vicious paused, standing next to the table and looking directly at her. "It's what I have to do. Whether I like it or not."

"I know that," she responded. She reached up and put the last dish away with a clink before finally turning to face him.

Vicious felt his cock stir in his pants as he drank in her beauty, fully on display for him and him alone. The chemise was low-cut, exposing the tops of her breasts. The hint of a black lace bra could be seen beneath the sheen of the slip that barely covered her body. He guessed she was wearing black lace panties too, the kind she knew he liked, especially when they were around her ankles.

It was clear she was in the mood. It may have been because of his impending departure: the kind of grand romantic gesture lovers made before one went off to war. Perhaps the timing was inconsequential and she was simply horny. Or maybe HE was particularly horny for some reason and seeing sex where it wasn't. Although it happened more infrequently than most, Vicious was not immune to the natural urgings of a man.

And Vicious saw no reason not to indulge himself. As cliche as it sounded, there was a very real possibility he would not be coming back from Titan, and the chances of him seeing her again for quite some time in any case were rather slim. Unlike any other woman he had ever met, she always possessed the ability to drive him wild. His carefully guarded inhibitions went down whenever she was in the mood for sex, and he found it difficult, if not sometimes outright impossible, to refuse her.

"Are you trying to catch my attention?" he said in a semblance of playfulness.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she replied jokingly as she sauntered over to him, deliberately moving her hips in a seductive manner.

"This," he said, sliding his fingers under the straps of her chemise as he put his hands on her shoulders and drew her in for a kiss. She returned it with an equally fierce and passionate force - something he loved about her.

"I'm going to miss you," he admitted as he held her close, almost in a possessive way.

"You won't get so desperate as to fuck other women - or even men - while you're out there?" she said with a trace of humor in her voice as she trailed kisses down his neck.

"Of course not," he replied with greater honesty and force than many would have thought possible for him. "You know that."

She did know. She wasn't even sure how she did, given Vicious's near-absolute refusal to talk about himself in any amount of detail. She had never gleaned a clear picture of his past before the Red Dragons, or even what events had led up to him becoming a member in the first place. But she did know Vicious to be a deeply passionate man, if an aloof one who did not easily become intimate with others.

It made her feel powerful. Special. She liked to think she knew quite a good deal about both men and women. Even when accompanied by otherwise faithful husbands and wives, she would observe eyes wander to a pretty face or a nice ass. Vicious… she had never seen him do that. Not even once. And he'd told her many, many times that he saw something in her he didn't see in other women. It didn't matter if he was lying or not. It was what she wanted to hear.

She wanted to give herself to him now. She felt a twinge of guilt pang at her heart as she thought of how close she had become with Spike over the last few months, and where she could already see it going. Would she be able to remain faithful during the long years Vicious could be away? Even she wasn't sure.

"Is something wrong?" Vicious asked, pausing in his kisses to look at her.

Damn that man's keen observation skills. She quickly pulled herself back into the moment. "No. It's nothing."

He gazed at her for a long couple of seconds before resuming his attentions.

Locked together, kisses raining and hands groping, the two of them made their way towards the bedroom. Julia managed to stub her toe on the doorframe as they entered, but the vibration and jolt of her body when she yelped out her pain only served to turn Vicious on more.

A bit roughly, he pushed her down onto the bed, his hands trailing up and down her sides as they continued to kiss. Her hands were already busy at his front, unbuttoning the buttons that held his black suit to his body. The pain of the stubbed toe had already given way to the intense sensations coursing through her body.

A sharp smile on his face, he lifted the hem of the chemise to discover he had been correct about the panties. The dark lace stood out against her pale skin, considerably adding to her appeal.

"You like what you see?" she asked as she managed to get his suit coat off.

"Always."

He reached up to work on removing his own clothes. First came the tie, which Julia hummed appreciatively at the manner in which he did it. Then came the undershirt, revealing his pale, muscled torso that had collected quite a few scars, and finally he reached down to undo the belt on his pants.

The clothes ended up in a pile on the floor as the couple descended onto the bed together and began enjoying each other's bodies. Slowly, he slid down her panties, leaving the chemise and bra on for now and revealing the sweet spot between her legs where most of his attentions would be focused for the rest of the evening.

Breathing in her sweet scent, he trailed his tongue along her slit. She shivered in pleasure and ran her hands through the gray strands of his hair in response.

With soft moans that only served to turn her on more, he continued to expertly massage her clit with his tongue. They had been together long enough that he knew exactly where she liked to be touched, where she liked to be pleasured. He didn't particularly care that he was performing oral on a woman - he prided himself on his ability to do what many other men could not.

Sensing that she was getting close already, he pulled back and turned his attention to her chest, where his hands sought out her breasts. He felt their gentle softness under his hands as he began massaging the nipples, bringing them to full hardness. Julia responded by kissing him again before reaching down to his stiff cock, taking it in her hand and beginning to massage it slightly, her thumb moving over the sensitive tip. The animalistic growl that emerged from his lips told her she was pressing the right buttons. It was strange. For a man many considered to be so closed off and unpredictable, she'd learned his particulars fairly quickly. Perhaps all men really were the same.

Breaking the kiss, he returned to her pussy, fondling the mound for just a moment before returning to using his tongue. She gave up on the handjob after that. He was already at full mast and didn't need any additional help, and if he wanted to pleasure her while she sat back and accepted it, she wasn't going to say no.

Penetration felt so much better when she was fully wet, ready for his entrance, and the sexy black chemise only served to heighten his pleasure. He was already close to bursting when she came, the strong, pulsating movements of her body under his causing his cock to harden even more.

As she lay there, recharging and breathing heavily, he reached down to remove the rest of her clothing, which she allowed with a small smile. By the time he was done, she found the energy to roll over and get up onto all fours. This position wasn't always her preference, but something so raw and primal just felt… right tonight.

She felt him pressing into her entrance, and, consumed by the moment, she arched her back and plump rear upwards, wanting him inside her.

He complied, pushing his way in. Vicious wasn't a gentle man, although they both liked it a little rough. She wailed like a cat in heat, shoving back against him to get more friction as his thighs slapped her ass.

Her intense reaction spurred him on, and he began thrusting faster. The rest of the world fell away from him in that moment, everything becoming an intense white blur of pleasure. Finally, he came, filling her with a warmth she craved.

They both released moans of pleasure as Vicious slowed his thrusting, continuing to kiss her neck and run his hands along her shoulders, upper arms, and chest as he came down from the high.

It was astounding how alert he remained after being so spent following sex. As she lay there in a heap, probably unable to move even if she'd really needed to, he stood and commented, "I'll go shower."

A few moments later, she heard the water turn on, and she rolled over, the moment gone and replaced with the same sense of unease she had felt before they'd started.

She loved Vicious. She did. But… he had continued to grow colder during the time they had been together. Spike… Spike was so alive. So warm.

Perhaps Vicious really was changing. Perhaps she had never really known him in the first place. But either way, she was scared. Once, she had broached the topic of leaving this life with the Syndicate behind, but he had immediately shut her down and ordered her never to speak of such things again.

He had broken her heart then by proving he valued the Syndicate and his place in it over her happiness and their potential life together.

She felt the tears begin to come. Angry, sad, desperate tears that she fought to blink away. She couldn't fall apart now. If she did… she wasn't sure if she could ever put herself back together.

As she heard the water turn off in the other room, she rolled over and turned out the light. It wasn't a complete deception. She was genuinely tired.

When she woke in the morning, he was already gone.