Reopening her eyes, Iris found herself in starring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Her back was pressed against something soft and warm, the smell of peppers and beef touched her noise, causing her to sit up. It was dark in the room, a window nowhere to be seen and the sound of a child playing with a dog in the distance touched her ears. The light turned on, blinding her eyes.
"Who are you?" Iris met the eyes of a girl a year younger then she was. A smile was on her face as the dog behind her jumped on to the bed and liked Iris' face.
"I-I'm Iris...Iris Astarte. Who are you?"
The girl smiled brightly, "Ed will introduce Ed. Full name Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV!" She grabbed Iris' hand and brought her outside the room- which she guessed was Spike's- and brought her out to the living room. Spike was there sitting with a woman, her short purple hair being brushed by herself while reading a magazine. The male bounty hunter turned his head and stood up before a second passed.
"Ed, what do you think your doing with Iris?!"
"Ed found her in the room. She was lonely, so Ed brought her here!" Iris looked towards Spike before slightly flinching in pain. Ed let her arm go and stalked off to her computer in the corner with Ein. Spike sighed heavily as he approached her, looking at the arm she held before looking over to the female.
"Faye, do you know how to remove a bullet? If not, ask Jet." The purple haired woman, Faye, just stared before going off to find this 'Jet' person. Spike returned his vison back toward Iris, his eyes narrowed. Putting his hand on the long navy blue sleeve, dark crimson liquid dripping to the floor as it streamed down from her upper arm. "What happened to you?" Iris stood quite as Spike's finger lightly touched the wound. Her body winced. Spike's hand trailed up to her cheek, a serious look on his face, the two of them locking eyes. "What happened? Did she do this to you?"
Iris nodded her head, slowly pulled away. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing important."
"You've been shot, Iris! The blood is dripping to the floor, and you stand here telling me it's not important?!" Spike shouted, placing his hands on the young girl's shoulders. "We need to treat that wound, I don't care what you say!"
"Spike, who are you talking to?" Jet asked, coming from the kitchen with a plates of food- bell peppers and beef- and staring at them. The man blinked before sighing heavily and placing the plates of food on the table. He turned to Iris and observed her arm. "Looks bad. I''l take care of it, you need to eat something." Jet left, leaving Spike and Iris alone once again. Spike took one of the plates and chopstick. Iris sat down and held her arm, her eyes looking away from Spike.
The older male sighed. He stood and walked over, kneeling as he held the chopsticks towards Iris. She didn't say anything, or do anything. Her eyes moved back from the food to Spike. He never liked sharing his food last she checked. In fact, he had a deep hatred for it.
"You need to eat something and the arm that was shot happen to be your dominate one." He said, "Eat something. I'm not going to bother buying you something to eat later."
"You don't have to, Spike...Just drop me off at Mars, my brother owns a hospital there- He'll take care of me if I'm trouble. Besides, I think it's best if I do, this ship seems to be at full capacity- I would only take up space—"
Spike shoved the chopsticks in her mouth. "Now chew." He ordered, "I'm not sending you elsewhere. For all I know, that step-mother of your could have all your siblings searching, maybe even hunting, for you. You're only, what, 14, 15? You have a life a head of you, Iris. I'll take care of you."
Iris, chewing on the peppers shoved in her mouth, simply followed Spike's order. The two kept starring at each other. Not saying one word as Spike kept feeding her a share and eating his. The other members aboard the ships watched from afar, as if waiting for something to be said between the two. Their wish soon came true as Iris opened her mouth to speak. But it was in some foreign language they could not understand.
"(1)Γιατί το κάνεις αυτό?"
"(2)Εγώ τη φροντίδα σας, είπα ότι ήδη. Μην διαμαρτύρονται για αυτό." Spike snapped, looking rather annoyed at the girl before placing the chop stick close to her mouth once again. "(3) Χρωστάω ο πατέρας σου, νεκρός ή ζωντανός, ούτως ή άλλως."
Iris' eyes widen for a moment before returning to size. They close and her lips moved. "(4) Και όταν αυτό το χρέος είναι payed? Τι θα κάνετε με μένα? Βάλτε μου πίσω στους δρόμους και πεθαίνουν?"
"I would never do that to you, and you know that fact damn well." Spike growled, "You're the only kid I like having around. Where's Jet? That bullet needs to be removed before you bleed to death...Jet!"
(1) Why are you doing this?
(2) I care for you, I alright said that. Don't complain.
(3) I owe you father, dead or alive, anyway.
(4) And when that debt is payed? What will you do with me? Put me back out to the streets and die?
