Unfortunately I don't own CB.

Takes place just before Brain Scratch.

The Package

"What's this?" she thought, staring down at the package wrapped in brown packing paper that she held in her hand. It was fairly flat, and had a depth of about ΒΌ of an inch. Sure, it had her name on it in bold thick letters. Faye Valentine. It most likely was another object from her far past. The past she so desperately was trying to remember. Perhaps now, here was another clue to the person she used to be. This suited her so well that she paid the C.O.D. charges without a second thought.

Now here she was, holding the package still, mentally preparing herself for what could be inside. Perhaps only bills were in it. She shook her head as if to rid herself of these thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she quickly unwrapped it to find a square, black, box. Looking at it from several angles, she found a slightly indented place where it seemed a seam was that fitted two halves of the box together. Forcing a nail in the crack and hoping to god that it wouldn't break [the nail that is]; she created a wedge that caused the box to open.

Inside was a round flat disk with a hole in the center. Carefully taking it out she noticed that while one side was rough and white, the other was shiny with all the colors of the rainbow as she tilted it from side to side. She had no idea what the hell it was but she had an idea of who would. "Ed!" she called out. "Faye- Faye?" she heard the familiar voice call back. "Ed, come here." "Okie- dokie!" She popped down out of the ceiling in front of Faye. Faye held the disk out to her. "What is this?" Ed's eyes lit up. "Oooh, CD!" she said reaching out for it.

Faye's face was twisted in a look of confusion. "What?" Ed smiled. "About 80 years ago they made disks for audio functions. They were called compact disks or CDs for short. After a while, though, they began to shrink in size and expand in storage space until they were the tiny disk size they are today. Faye smiled at Ed. "Do you think you can arrange for me to listen to it?" Ed giggled. "Of course Faye-Faye! Be right back." With that she ran off. Three minutes later she came running back with a strange looking box with wires sprouting out of it. "Here," she said, showing Faye the box. "Ed will plug it into the Red Tail for you so you can hear the music." She ran off toward the hangar with Faye closely behind.

In the Red Tail, Ed hooked wires together and fit plugs into the holes they belonged in. Then she held the box to Faye. She pressed a button and a slot popped out. "Faye-Faye puts the CD on the slot and pushes this button. The slot will go into the box. Press this button and CD will play." With that she left, leaving the box on the seat of the Red Tail. Faye waited till she was sure Ed was really gone. Then she walked slowly over to the box. She placed the CD on the slot and pushed the button that closed the slot. After a moment's pause she took a deep breath then pushed the play button.

Spike was lying on the couch smoking. His eyes were closed and he was enjoying the quiet. All of a sudden he heard music. He sat up, stubbed his cigarette out and went in search of it. He came upon the hangar and noticed the music was coming from it. Opening the door he noticed Faye standing there by her Red Tail. And, was she singing? He craned his head toward her and confirmed she was. She really sang quite well. He'd just been kidding when he said she sang off-key.

He also noticed the song she was singing. It was a tune from about eighty years ago. From before even her time. He had come to believe that she really was from fifty years ago. Still as it was a little creepy seeing a seventy-year-old in a twenty-year-old's body, the creepiness itself did not drive away the feeling of attraction he felt toward her. Sure she was a shrew and dressed like a whore, she was still hot; very sexy. She had continued to grow on him since he first had seen her. Now he just listened to her sing with a slight smile on his face as he realized with strange irony that the lyrics mirrored his life.

Faye hadn't expected the song that came out blasting out of the Red Tail's loudspeakers. The music that came out was familiar but not. It definitely wasn't from this day and age. Real guitar and people singing. When the singing started, she started singing too. She had no idea how she knew the words, she just did. As she sang the words, she noticed how ironic it was that they seemed to [at least of what she knew] speak of Spike's life. With that thought she sang louder as if her singing could bring him to her. "Move yourself, you always live your life, never thinking bout the future."

Of course she found him attractive, very sexy. She had been drawn to him and his smirk the first time she had seen him. The mysterious aura that hangs around him was alluring, too. Of course he was a lunkhead and a jack ass, he was still damn hot.

She then was at the chorus. "Owner of a lonely heart. Owner of a lonely heart. [is much better then a] Owner of a broken heart. Owner of a lonely heart." Now came the second verse. She opened her mouth to sing but from behind her, a rich, sultry voice sang the words. She spun around to see Spike standing there staring straight into her eyes, singing the sad song. "Say you don't wanna chance it. You've been hurt so before. Watch it now, the eagle in the sky. How he's dancin' one and only." With every verse, he stepped closer, so by the refrain he was directly in front of her. She noted how ironic it was that these lyrics spoke of her life since she had woken up. At the refrain she sang too so as their voices mingled, he singing the lower part, she singing the higher part. The harmony was giving both of them shivers up and down their spines.

Spike didn't know what he was doing. As he sang the lyrics for the second verse he noted how ironic it was they mirrored her life [as he knew it] from when she had been awoken from her cryogenic sleep. He had no control of his body. All he was aware of was her beautiful emerald eyes staring back into his mismatched brown ones.

As Faye sang the refrain, all she could focus on with his beautiful mismatched brown eyes. Soon the middle part of the song came with the instrumental. A smile came to her face as she went and turned the sound up. Spike smirked. "Jet's gonna have a cow." He told her. Faye just shrugged and threw her head back, shut her eyes, and let the vibrations take over. "I love this part." She said. Because the walls of the hangar were made of metal, the sounds bounced off and gave the appearance of the music surrounding them. Spike breath caught in his throat. She looked so innocent standing there, so childish. He couldn't stop himself and leant in.

Faye was startled when she felt lips on hers. Was Spike kissing her? Opening her eyes to slits she saw he was. Without thought she put her arms around her neck and kissed him back. Coming up for air she smiled coyly at him. "Are you an owner of a lonely heart, Spike?" He smirked back. "A broken heart too, but from that I think I'm not the only one."

He was surprised to see she was blushing. Faye was surprised at herself, too. Faye Valentine, blushing? She felt so awkward standing like that in front of Spike so she turned her head and looked away. Spike frowned and turned her to him. "Hey, what's wrong?" Faye gave him a smile. "Nothing, I didn't know you sing. Are you musical in any other way?" Spike grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Well, I play, or I used to play the guitar. Faye shook her head in amazement. "Well, you're certainly the man of a million talents. Do you think you could still play?" He shrugged. "Wouldn't know till I tried." "Well?" she prompted. "Fine then, go to the living room and I'll there in a minute." He left the room and walked in the living room a minute later with an acoustic guitar. He sat down on the arm of the couch faced toward Faye who was seated on the cushions towards him. He spent several minutes tuning it to his liking. "Okay," he said to her. "What would you like to hear?" Faye shrugged. "It doesn't matter as long as it's in key." Spike smirked then thought for a minute until his face lit up. "Okay, I've got it."

Faye comically frowned. "Aren't you going to tell me what song you're going to play?" Spike smirked at her. "Nope, you'll have to figure it out by yourself." And he began to play. It took Faye a second before she realized the song: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. "Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life." She sat fixated the whole song, staring into Spike's eyes as he stared back at her not once looking at the guitar in his hands.

They sat like that for minutes after Spike had played the last chords.