A/N: Oops, I have to apologize for my previous chapter, it seems the separation lines disappeared and I didn't think to make sure everything was in place. Sorry about that! It's been fixed. Anyway, this is part two of this session, and I hope you like it! Thank you for the reviews! It does my heart good to know that there are still people reading Bebop fics!
"Alright, it's our time to shine, baby" Spike said to himself with a slow smile as El Dandy went around laughing and shaking hands with his guests.
He was loud and obnoxious and when he set his beady eyes on Faye, his face broke out into a lewd, broad grin that made Faye feel dirty. She was not new to these kinds of stares from men, of course; she was more than used to them and she even used them to her advantage. But this one… this man was very obviously undressing her with his eyes in a way that Faye had never experienced before.
"My, my. I had no idea that Aphrodite herself was among us" he said as he took her small hand in his beefy one. He planted a kiss on it and Faye wanted to recoil in disgust, but she forced her best smile for him.
"You flatter me, sir" she said with practiced sweetness. Spike cleared his throat and she wanted to kick his shin.
"Mr. Weiss, you never told me your wife was a goddess" El Dandy said as he shook Spike's hand.
"I wouldn't have done her justice" Spike said smoothly, winking at Faye. El Dandy guffawed.
"I agree, my man! I agree! She is a beauty that must be appreciated in person. Up close and personal" he said, giving Spike a knowing smile.
It infuriated Faye that El Dandy was talking about her as if she wasn't there. Typical macho man. If it was up to her, she'd just punch his face right in, tie him up and get the ISSP here pronto. But they needed those papers. She forced her smile to remain on her face.
"Enjoy the party, my friends" El Dandy said as he spotted another couple in the room.
"The nerve of that guy!" Faye fumed as soon as El Dandy was out of earshot. Spike laughed.
"Well, he sure seems taken with you" he said calmly, grabbing a plate from the table and looking around at the food. "Man, Jet is missing out" he added as he began to pile some onto his plate.
"I've never felt so dirty in my life" Faye continued to rage, ignoring Spike.
"Ah well, use it to our advantage, Faye. He may be more cooperative if you work your charms on him" Spike said before tearing into a lobster cake.
"Easy for you to say" Faye grumbled, helping herself to his shrimp hors d'oeuvres. A young waiter strolled by and Faye stopped him. "I'll take one of these, thank you very much" she said, grabbing a pretty-looking, pink drink from his tray.
"Yes ma'am, enjoy" the young man said. Spike grabbed a small glass full of amber liquid. The waiter nodded and moved away to other guests.
"Oh my gosh… this is delicious" Faye said after a sip. "What is it?"
"That, my dear, is a raspberry-herb cocktail" Spike said.
"How do you know?" she asked, taking another sip.
"I was in the syndicate, Faye. Way up the ladder, I might add. I'm not new to these bullshit parties" he said.
"Hmm" she said, pursing her lips.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"Nothing at all" she answered sweetly, enjoying the smooth music in the background.
"I'm tired, Spike. I want to go home, hurry up and get this thing rolling!" Faye hissed. They had been mingling with snobby people for over two hours now, and El Dandy was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm trying to find him" Spike said, his mismatched eyes scanning the room.
"Mr. Weiss" El Dandy said from behind them, startling the bounty hunters. He reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke. His eyes were hazy and he was clearly drunk. "I know we had some business to discuss, but you know how it goes! Too many people to see and talk to. Anyway, follow me!" he said loudly. He led them away from the party and into a huge office. "Please sit down" he said as he himself sat behind the sleek, mahogany desk. "Now, tell me. What can I do for you, Mr. Weiss?" he said, pouring scotch into three glasses. He offered one to Spike and Faye as he downed the liquid in his glass.
"Well, my wife and I," Spike began but Faye tuned him out. She was looking around the grand room. It was lovely, especially the large bookshelf in the back wall, but it was the shelf that brought memories of her past life flooding in. This office reminded her of her father's study and how often he had locked himself inside, drinking himself into a stupor or else sleeping with the maids. She shook her head to clear it, but she couldn't shake the memory of her mother crying, banging on the large doors to the study, his father screaming obscenities from inside. She was a little girl again, frozen in the middle of the hallway, watching the events unfold. No, nothing good had come from her past…
"Darling?" she heard Spike say, far, far away. A hand on her shoulder snapped her back to reality.
"Oh… I'm sorry. What was that?" she said, mentally slapping herself. Spike gave her a warning look before smiling his easy smile and repeating his question.
"I asked if you would be ok handling the paper work while I step outside for a moment" he said.
"I… yes, I can handle it, no problem" she lied. She didn't even know what the hell was going on.
"I'll be right back" he said, giving her another look. He closed the door behind him.
Oh great. What was she supposed to do now?
"So… you're a beautiful woman" El Dandy said, looking at her with his beady eyes. The papers on his desk were ignored.
"Why, thank you for the compliment. You are most kind" she said.
"I could make you very happy" he slurred. Faye wanted to puke.
"I'm afraid I don't understand" she said stiffly.
"Yes you do. Why is a goddess like your married to a man like Mr. Weiss?" he said as he walked around the desk. Faye wanted to run away but remained seated, looking at him. "As my mistress, you can have whatever you want. Never mind one oceanfront hotel, I will give you a chain of them" he said, getting closer to her.
"Uh… I don't think this is going anywhere, I better just wait for my husband" Faye said uncomfortably, scooting her chair back.
"No need for that, babe, I can take care of him right now" El Dandy said, grabbing her arm.
"The man is smarter than we thought, Jet" Spike said into the tiny communicator inside the lapel of his black suit. "He's throwing curve-balls I'm not ready for"
"Well, do your best, Spike, and if nothing comes of it, we'll just consider it a job lost" Jet said.
Suddenly there was a scream and Spike new who it was.
"Faye's in trouble!" he said. Not waiting for an answer, he ran back inside the room. Sure enough, El Dandy had her pinned against the wall, trying to grope her. She was putting up a fierce fight, which made Spike proud. In an instant, the bounty hunter pulled out his Jericho.
"Get away from her" he said calmly.
"Or what?" El Dandy asked.
At that precise moment, Jet's voice sounded through both communicators.
"Are you alright?! What's going on?!" he asked in alarm.
"Ah, shit" Spike mumbled.
The man's eyes widened in realization.
"Bounty hunters" he snarled. "You fucking cunts are bounty hunters!"
"Surprise, surprise" Spike said, his gun still pointed at the criminal.
"Mother fuckers!" El Dandy thundered. He pushed back away from Faye and grabbed a chair, tossing it at Spike who easily dodged it.
"Oh no you don't, you jerk!" Faye said, pulling out her Glock 30. She was furious and didn't hesitate to shoot, her bullet grazing the large man's shoulder.
He shrieked in pain but managed to shove a chair at Spike, hitting him hard on the shins and making him lose his balance for a second. El Dandy's men, upon hearing the shot, flooded the place and the party guests screamed and ran out of the house in panic as more shots were fired in every direction.
"Oh damn, this didn't go how we planned" Spike said, jumping over the over turned chairs in the office. He looked back at Faye. "You alright?" he asked. She nodded.
"But I'll feel better when I get my woolongs" she said, following Spike out of the room. El Dandy's cronies came running down the hall and began to shoot at them. Together, Spike and Faye shot them down with ease.
"Guess we make a pretty good team, huh?" Spike said, lighting a cigarette.
"Yeah, I guess so" Faye said. "Where did he go? I'm not letting him get away."
They heard a loud noise overhead. It was familiar to Faye, but she was sure she was hearing things. It couldn't be a… could it?
"No! We're too late!" she said with a heavy sigh.
"Not yet, let's go!" Spike said.
They made their way up some stairs and onto the rooftop. Sure enough, El Dandy was aboard… a helicopter.
"What the hell? Is that a helicopter" Spike asked incredulously.
"It appears so. I didn't know we still had them" Faye said as she blocked her eyes from the powerful wind the blades were blasting.
"We don't. It's an antique. I never thought I'd see a working one" Spike said, mildly impressed.
"Never mind that! Stop him!" Faye said.
"It's alright, he can't fly it. He would have taken off already if he did" Spike said calmly and grumbled when his cigarette was blown away from his mouth. Faye shot at the cockpit.
"You will never catch me now!" El Dandy said, but the helicopter didn't rise into the air. They heard him cussing and cursing at the top of his lungs, smashing his fingers over all the buttons.
"What the hell is his deal? You said we needed him to sign papers to prove he's a crook, no? So why is he acting like a maniac?" Faye asked.
"He has more skeletons in the closet, more than likely" Spike said.
It was amusing to see El Dandy trying to escape and getting nowhere.
"Look, what if I give you the drug and you let me go?" El Dandy said, sticking his head out. "It's Bloody Eye… a case full of it. You can sell that for millions per vial. Come on now, what do you say? I'll even throw in the oceanfront hotel, so there aren't any hard feelings" he added.
Spike and Faye looked at each other and laughed.
"Get your ass out here, Dandy, you're done" Spike said, taking a step forward.
"No!" El Dandy screamed, and in his panic, he flung himself out of the helicopter, jumping high in the air. Faye yelped in surprise and then there was a sudden shower of red.
She gagged and turned away.
Spike sighed, closing his eyes and shoving his hands into his pockets. "There goes our bounty" he said.
"Gross, I'm getting out of here" Faye said, feeling queasy.
"What happened, you two?" Jet asked through the comm.
"We lost the bounty" Spike answered.
"WHAT?!" Jet roared.
"Yup. It's gone" Spike replied, taking out yet another cigarette.
"How?" Jet asked.
"He lost it" Faye said, bumming a cig from Spike.
"He lost it? What do you mean?" Jet asked.
Spike sighed. "He lost his head"
"You mean he went crazy?" Jet inquired.
"No. He lost his head" Spike repeated, taking a drag of his cigarette. "Literally."
"He died, Jet" Faye added.
"Damn it" Jet said, running a hand over his face before turning off the comm.
Spike and Faye walked on in silence. They were making their way back to the hotel as the ISSP and ambulances made their way overhead to the scene of the shoot down.
"Some party, huh" Spike said, shrugging out of his black coat and swinging it over his shoulder.
"I always knew I wasn't a party girl" Faye replied, dangling her high heels on her finger; she was walking barefoot. "I wonder what other stuff he was hiding, though. He completely freaked out when he found us out" she said.
Spike shrugged. "Who knows? We'll never find out now. In the words of Heinlein: a tisket, a tasket, a head in a basket... it cannot reply to questions you ask it" he said, taking a long drag from the smoke.
"You're disgusting" Faye said, elbowing him. Spike grinned.
"Just telling it like it is" he said.
A/N: So there you have it! Hope everyone enjoyed Session 27! The name of the chapter is derived from the jazz song A Tisket, A Tasket by Ella Fitzgerald, and of course, with a hint of Heinlein. Leave me your thoughts!
