INTRO:
Faye ran out into the livingroom, or what is called a livingroom by their standards. She found Spike half conscious on the couch, his zzzz's making a loud noise in the interior of the room, and her voice, anxious and frightened called out, nudging him awake,
"Spike, wake up wake up"
Spike woke with a lazy languor, saw it was just Faye and with a slight annoyance, called out"What"
Faye rushed out"We need to leave right away! They are after us"
"Alright, just hold on there okay. I've got a noggin in my head and I want to know what exactly happened before I went off to sleep."
Faye shook her head"I'll tell you as soon as we highjack that spacecraft"
"Who's after us"
With exasperation, she grimaced at him,
"You are hopeless"
"Ok ok, let me get my bearings together here."
Spike got up slowly, feeling his back ache from the position he slept at. It was unbelievable as to the pain he felt and there was Faye trying to look very nervous and very fetching. Well its not like he never noticed before.
"You ready to go"
she was anxious and the tone of her voice made Spike uneasy. She usually wasn't so hyperbole about anything.
With a slight tease to ease her mind perhaps he winked at her,
"You bet, Romane"
"Stop calling me that"
They walk over to the space craft and Faye tries to hotwire the engine and the top part opens up. Spike still feels a little bit woozy from the fall and he wishes he could feel better but then the guns were shooting at them and they were being followed.
"Oh no! here they come! It's them", Faye yelled out with fear.
Spike rolled his eyes and looked at her with great suspicion,
"I still have no idea who you are talking about! Did you get us in trouble again, Faye"
She giggled, but it wasn't her usual giggle with the deep tone of mischievous, it was laced with unsureness. And she held up two fingers coming close together,
"Just a little, Spike, only a tinsy insy bit"
She showed him her two fingers coming together to make a small gap. Then started the engines as the gunfire came closer and closer. They heard shouts from the men coming out of the casino. They looked very angry. Spike made no argument as he hopped inside the craft as Faye controlled the engines to a full throttle. She was a first hand driver at this stuff and quite adventurous too. Spike felt the back of his head and there was a lump forming. What the hell happened? But then he felt the craft zip off into the black space and off they went as the gunfire hit their craft just making dents and slight holes.
Faye yelled out,
"Oh I thought I'd be able to learn to be more careful"
Spike was on edge now. He wanted to know everything.
"Ok, now that we are out of range. Just what the hell happened back there"
She gave him a little nervous laugh,
"don't be mad at me, Spike but I had to"
He was furious, by the look of his face, he looked like he would just about throttle her,
"had to" then the look took on a different reaction and he remembered. "You didn't, Faye"
She whimpered,
"I had to! I owe a lot of money you know"
Angered beyond belief, he yelled out,
"You know shit! Yes and you know why? Because of your damn foolish spending and your stupid weak willed way! You need to stop what you're doing and remember yourself"
"Oh Spike. If only you could pay off my debt." She didn't really think he would but saying it out loud would perhaps give him a slight feeling of pity for her. Fat chance of that she thought with resentment.
He humpfed,
"that's your problem."
Faye smiled prettily,
"Spikey"
Spike looked over at her and thought to himself that she was a very irritating woman but nonetheless he couldn't help himself. He had lost Julia anyway and those days were long gone. He needed someone to fill his days and nights and thinking about Julia in-between just doesn't do it for him anymore. He breathes out a great big groan and Faye looked over at him while she kept her control of the space craft.
Reaching over to touch her hand she slaps his hand away.
"Spike I'm trying to concentrate! I'm not used to this spacecraft! Its'one of those old models. I'm surprised the bullets didn't go through it"
He casually tells her with his knowledge of spacecraft engines and series,
"The older models usually have these tough exteriors. And why did you slap my hand away. Its not like you are going to crash into a meteor anytime soon. I know you are a great driver."
She rolls her eyes,
"Oh I get compliments from the great Spike."
Spike lifted a dark thin brow,
"We heading home now"
Faye eyed him from the corner of her eye,
"Depends. Is home with me"
He merely replied with his arms crossed,
"you're pretty bold, Romani"
"That's right, Gorgio"
They made their way through the moons of Jupiter and flew by as quick as can be and with Faye behind the drivers' seat you'd never know if you were on a roller coaster ride or in a dream! Spike touched his head and the lump that formed there felt tender and he smiled over at Faye. A determined look was on her face and she gritted her teeth at the meteor showers coming their way.
Faye: "Hold on! This is not going to be pretty!"
Faye made a great whooping noise just like a cowgirl would and she squealed shifting gears in and out to avoid big giant rocks.
Spike groaned out loud and glad that this piece of old junker spacecraft had at least automatic seat belt and the meteor showers that came their way came in different shapes and sizes. The smaller ones were harder to avoid and Faye flew around them with easy motion and with zig zagging speed hits the full throttle to the extreme.
Spike: "What else do I not know about you? You do a mean shuffle with the cards back at the casino and you cheat like hell and you drive like a lunatic on acid!"
"I do it all for you, Spike! Oh you think those guys are following us?"
"If they don't I don't see why they would not? You probably ripped them off did you not?"
She pointed out,
"Oh look Spike! It's Calisto! Should we land?"
"No, we should head home to our home base. Besides I have this terrible noggin on the back of my head and with your driving I don't know if I am going to be alive."
"But Spike! You can't be seriously not wanting some adventure!"
He rolled his eyes,
"With you everything is an adventure. I think signing up with the Jupiter UAS Marine space-avian Corporation would be less of a challenge."
Faye squeaked,
"I'm landing!"
Languidly, Spike says,
"Did I even have a choice?"
Giggling, Faye seemed to have gotten back her amusement, her tone from being afraid earlier, now was back to normal,
"You are just so cute when you are sweet to me you know that?"
"You think that's sweet? You are on drugs woman."
"With more than 6 million or was it 6 billion? The bounty on my head should be well enough to keep you making sweet talk to me! You want me and I know it."
"You keep it up and you're going to actually make me want you more than the bounty head that's on you."
He replied laconically.
Faye was quiet. She actually heard Spike and the thought gave her a big sort of happiness that she couldn't breathe and they collided with a large piece of meteor that shook their ship. The damage was big and Spike became very angry.
"What was that all about? I already have one noggin in my head! Do you want to get us killed too?"
"Oh no! The ship's mechanisms won't work! I think we are going to crash!"
"Scratch what I said earlier!"
They ended up crashing on the hot side of Calisto with their ship damaged beyond repair but they ended up getting a few scratches and a few bruises in the process. Faye could hardly move really and Spike thought he got another lump on his head. He still wondered what happened earlier to cause the first lump. He remembered a lot of what happened but not the whole thing. He hated it when thing got fuzzy.
"Great, I get two lumps in one day. Just like I like it in my coffee. Hey you okay, Romani?"
Faye felt redemptive,
"Spike, I am sorry."
Did he hear her right? Faye saying she was sorry? He looked at their situation and though the ship itself was much damaged he was thankful for the older models that created their heavy duty exteriors and luckily they fell into a medium sized crater that they can at least climb out of. He looked again at her and saw her tears. Now tears? Must be the pain of getting bruised and scratched on her pretty skin that caused it. He couldn't help but snap at her when he did not want to be here on Calisto.
"Hey what's with the emotional stuff, Romani?"
"Sometimes you can be so insensitive! We Romanys are sensitive and look for love and adventure!" Faye then took on an exaggerated expression of dramatic show and she put her hand over her forehead for the effect.
"Insensitive or not. I liked you better when you had more spunk in you. Now let's get out of here before the authorities of Calisto capture us. I have heard that this part of the moon is not so very friendly and they will be very happy to know theres a price on your head."
She cried out,
"But I can't move!"
"You've got to be kidding me"
Spike looked at her condition and she looked so pretty really in that helpless look. He took her out of the seatbelt position and carried her out of the broken spacecraft. He wasn't fooled by her condition. She was alright except for a few bruised areas but he didn't want to waste anymore time because they had to get out of there. Those people who were shooting at them could be on their tail at this moment. Not to mention the authorities on this side of the moon. Faye was very eager as she snuggled into Spikes arms. Just for a little while at least she thought with a bit of mischeviousness. She sighed a big sigh and felt happy there in his arms. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?
She sighed again.
Her Gorgio. Or was she really being too bold
Too late. The Calisto authorities were there, above the crater where Spike and Faye were at.
Authorities called out, Get your hands up! NOW!
They were outnumbered and the guns that were pointed at them made Spike drop Faye to the ground flat on her ass.
Faye screams out, "OW! That hurt!"
"You in the yellow shirt, get your hands up NOW!
Faye shakes her head, "Gosh, they're not one for hospitality are they?"
Faye raises her hands up and Spike glances over at her to not say a single word. Sometimes Faye just has such a mouth on her he didn't know whether he should shut her up by kissing her or putting some chewing gum in there to keep her occupied. Spike thinks the second one was probably better since he didn't know if he liked her enough for a long term relationship. Shit who was he kidding? She was sexy and she was all over him but the thoughts of a certain blonde not long ago kept him straying.
The authorities on Calisto had their guns pointed at them and Spike and Faye managed to climb out of the crater only to end up in a jail cell less than thirty minutes later.
Spike: "Don't I get a phone call? I need one of those calls and its my right!"
Faye sat in the other cell lounging in one of the small cot beds that allowed her to stretch her legs and file her nails with the metallic part of the side bunk.
Faye: "I made my phone call if it's any consolation."
Spike shakes his head,
"Great. Who'd you call? I hope to god you called Jet."
Faye replied, "I did. I did."
Spike looked at her, waiting for her to respond more to the answer she gave. His eyes widened in the kind of look, like, yeah and what?
"I got Ein on the other receiver."
Spike hit his head against the bars of the jail cell and he shakes his head. God help him. Two lumps on his head, a crash into Calisto and in the middle of the cold side of the moon with a girl that drove him nuts!
Spike blew from his lower lip, blowing his bangs out of his face "Might as well lay here for a while and get some rest. Damn, I need a cigarette."
"I hate this place." He spoke mostly to himself, shoulders slumping forward with emotion.
The police patrolmen of Calisto had a tougher policy and didn't let Faye out later that day when Jet Black came in to pay for the expensive amount of woo-longs he had to shell out for their release.
Jet crossed his arms,
"Spike, you can pay this back. I can trust YOU."
Spike stretches and looks over at Faye's jail cell. She had fallen asleep and was noisily snoring.
Spike points over at her,
"What do we do with her?"
Jet grumbled, with his usual grumpy air,
"Like I need more problems in my hands. She's more trouble than she's worth."
Spike thought about this, liking the idea,
"Maybe if we left her here for awhile she'll get her bail paid out."
Faye woke up and saw the two of them heading out. She gritted her teeth in anger and gripped at the jail bars.
Faye screams,
"HEY! GET ME OUT OF HERE! SPIKE! You can't just leave me here!"
Spike turned back to her,
"We'll come back for you."
"Oh no you don't! You can't leave me here! They're after me! The guys back at the casino where we left off from! They're going to find me and kill me!"
Spike walks over to her jail cell and leaned over to get his nose up against hers.
"Them and every other debt collection agency that wants your ass to pay them back!"
Faye then screams at Jet, hoping the old man would see some sense,
"Jet! You can't let him do this! Get me out of here!"
Faye hated them both. If she gets out of here she'll teach them a thing or two!
Spike looks over at Jet. The Calisto police agent looked at them with some sense of boredom and he dangles the key to Spike.
Police Agent says to them, "What are you going to do? Leave her or pay the woo-longs?"
Spike looks over at his partner,
"Jet, how much you got on you?"
Jet pulls out his pockets and there were holes in them. He then takes out his a few woo-longs left over which is just enough for them to get some food for tomorrow.
Faye whimpers,
"Spikey"
Faye's face changes into a more innocent look from the angry furious expression she had earlier. They ended up leaving her there, well, at least for a little while. Maybe they'll get enough woo-longs for her bail since the authorities on Calisto only kept them there for trespassing and destroying part of the crater side and not to mention leaving a junk pile space ship to boot.
Back at the bepop home base Spike lights up a cigarette and wonders if what he had done was the right thing. He put the compressed ice pack on his head and felt the lumps lessening. He takes a deep inhale and looks out at the star lit galaxy of black space and Jet approaches him with a big pan of food.
Jet says,
"Time to eat, Spike."
Spike looked suspiciously at it,
"What is it?"
Jet shrugged,
"Don't know. It looked edible. Something from the fridge."
Spike remained suspicious. He remembered the last time something was kept in the fridge over a year. Something that was very dangerous and very memorable. He picks up the Chinese sticks that held up the noodles and the vegetables and puts them in his mouth.
Spike makes a face,
"hmmmm tastes like shit."
Jet laughs,
"yeah, I know. But hunger helps doesn't it. Hey we got a job to do picking up that guy from Ganymede casino downtown."
Spike raised a dark thin brow, seemingly interested,
"How much is he worth?"
Jet points to the screen,
"Here. Here is the data on him."
Ed comes traipsing in, gangly and does a ballerina pose only to flop on the couch alongside Spike.
Ed stands on tiptoes and she leans over, preening, "Whatcha doing?"
Jet grumbles at her,
"Work. Now go away."
She eyes the food and smacks her lips. Then grabs a plate of her own.
Ed's eyes were round as saucers,
"Mmmmmmm yummy!"
She takes big gulps as if she was a third world hungry child and in seconds flat finishes what was on the plate. She flops on the couch with her skinny legs over the top side and lets it dangle. Her hand places over her now bulging belly and she gives a loud burp.
Ed burps,
"ooooh me so full. I can't eat no more!"
Jet grumbles,
"Serves you right. Now back to the data here. This is the man we need to capture. Snake eye Smithers."
"What's with the name?"
The face on the screen showed a man with almond shape eyes and thin face colored with a pale gray complexion. The color of his eyes black and snake like.
Spike places his two fingers on his chin, absently rubbing,
"Hm, I see."
Back at the jail cell, Faye fumes silently and looks around her surroundings. She had stopped yelling and making tantrums since there was no one around to listen to her calls. God she hated Spike. She wiped a threatened tear away and above, sees the small window that had three lined metal bars. There was no one around alright and she jumps on top of the bunk to peer out the window. All she saw was the wide plains of boring Calisto and its crater landscape.
Faye screams out,
"You better get me out of her soon, Spike or I swear!"
With that she plops back down the bunk bed and pulls up her legs to her chest and locks her arms around herself.
Spike and Jet on the other hand had found their way along the publicly crowded casino downtown in Ganymede and the link to finding Snake eye Smithers should be here. This is where he normally hung out. Here and the strip club next door. After several hours Spike and Jet decide to walk inside the club where the interior was dark and full of disco lights from the past. The women wore string shiny two pieces and pranced around the stage. Snake eye Smithers sat at the front row oogling at the women.
Jet grumbled,
"Figures a snake like him would be here."
"Hmpf. We should blend in."
Jet calls back,
"Do I look like I could blend in. You could though. I'll sit back here while you walk to him. No need to cause a scene, k?"
Spike smirks at his partner,
"Ok. No scene."
Spike walks to the table next to Snake eye Smithers and a girl in a yellow two piece string walks up to him asking what he would like to drink. The yellow of what little she wore reminded him of Faye and he smiled and asked for a strong one.
Snake was a man who was as obnoxious as they come. He grabbed the women by their butts and smacked their behinds and laughed loud while doing so. It was tolerated because he shelled out lots of cash.
Spike breathed in the cigarette and waited for Snake to get up and go to the mens room but as Snake turned around he saw Spike and pulled out his gun and started shooting. Snake was one of those people who recognized bounty hunters. It was his life to run away from them. Spike got out of the way and everyone in the club started screaming and tables were being turned. Jet had his stunner gun with him and let go to hit Snake in the back.
Jet grumbles louder,
"I said don't cause a scene!"
Afterwards in their bepop home base the man Snake was tied up and still unconscious. When they were able to turn him in Spike got his share of the amount of the bounty and walked to his swordfish.
Jet settled his brows together,
"Where you going?"
Spike simply said,
"Where else?"
With that he got into his swordfish and sped away.
Jet shook his head and grunted. Women were always trouble. Ah well. The sky was turning dark and the shooting stars were visible now. He might as well get back to cleaning up the rest of the bepop engine and wait for their return.
Faye was no where to be found when he arrived at the holding jail and the authorities were looking for her. The bars to her little cell above were opened with some kind of sharp object that sheared off the edges only to allow her skinny body to squeeze through. Spike inhaled deeply from his cigarette and shakes his head at the idiotic nature of this woman's impatient irritating nature. He'll find her. At least before the rest of the Calisto agents do and he won't be able to spend the amount of woo-longs they would be asking for her release.
Getting inside his swordfish he sped off into the sky leaving smoke trails and the gun at his head clicked loudly.
Faye's face beams,
"So you've come back."
She was still very angry but inside she was happy. She couldn't believe that Spike actually had come back for her!
Spike laughs,
"Don't get too happy, Romani. And what do you intend to do with that gun?"
Faye yells at him, feeling the urge to beat some sense into him but instead settles for nagging,
"I'm still very angry with you! Were you really going to pay for my release?"
Spike questions her seriously,
"You'd have to pay me back you know."
She rolled her eyes heavenward, "Get in line."
Spike looks at her, without feeling"You gonna do something about that gun at my head"
Faye lowers the gun and sighs. She sits down next to him and steals his cigarrette and blows out a long smoke. She asks him where they were going. He didn't even ask how she managed to escape. She was such a resourceful woman. Maybe those qualities counter balanced part of the others he found so irritating. When he failed to hear what she said, concentrating on his thoughts she asked again where they were headed.
"Home." He said simply.
"With me, Gorgio"
Spike nods,
"To bepop."
She whispers,
"Yeah. With me."
With that she sat back and smiled deeply. Spike quietly shifts the course to their destination. Faye inhales the last remains of the cigarette in her mouth and stares out the window of the seas of Ganymede with a satisfied smug expression on her face.