AN: Here we go you guys, the next chapter for you. Take a look at the bottom for longer author's notes, I won't keep you from reading up here! Enjoy!
The Last Fragments of You
By Alternative Therapy
Chapter Three
Faye was the first to realize that the faint buzz in the distance was the wail of sirens and to realize that they were steadily growing louder. Faye figured that one of the many upper class Mercurians that had been attending the ball tonight, had the bright idea to call the police when the first shot cracked the air. Faye winced as she shifted her weight across the gravel of the roof, pain raging in her knees where the rocks had left indents on her pale skin. Shaking her head, Faye slowly forced herself to stand, her knees cracking at the shifting of weight as she slowly straightened and stretched back to rid the stiffness that had slowly built up in her back. Faye cast a weary glance over to where Spike sat still hunched over Renner, but the sobs that had been echoing eerily about the roof earlier had long since faded.
Faye brushed several lose strands of purple hair behind her ears that had fallen loose of the bun, sighing as she reasoned that she couldn't just walk away and leave Spike as he was. Rubbing the back of her neck in uncertainty, she took several unsteady steps to where Spike sat, lacking any confidence that she would be able to take on an overly emotional and overwrought Spike if he decided to lash out at the first person to wake him from his emotional fit. Faye stopped just behind him, eyes locked on the gently tremble that traveled up and down the length of his torso, not exactly sure how to proceed. She knew that she wasn't always the most delicate when it came to situations like this, but she definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of one of Spike's punches.
Faye took a deep breath, and held it as she slowly reached out, her slender fingers lightly cupping around on of Spike tense shoulders. As Spike's shoulder quivered again, Faye had to forcefully keep the grip on his shoulder, and gave it a gently squeeze as she softly questioned him. "Spike?" Even at such a low tone, Faye couldn't stop the single syllable from cracking with an emotional twinge and as her hand pressed more firmly into his shoulder, Spike visibly tensed. Faye felt a shuddering breath run it's course through Spike's muscles as he slowly stood, and turned to face her, his face masked once again by an intense calmness that she had seen too much of recently. It was only when Spike locked his intense mahogany gaze on her emerald one did she realized that Spike was waiting for her to speak. Faye jolted at the realization and quickly fumbled to spit out the first coherent sentence that crossed her mind. "So. . . you got Renner?"
Thought Faye couldn't help but flinch at the stupidity of her question, she couldn't help but be slightly surprised at how strong her voice sounded. Even in the darkness, Faye could just barely make out the features of Spike's face, and thought it was hard to see, there was no denying that there was a slight puffiness to his eyes. When Spike realized how intently she was staring at him, he looked away with a shake of his head and turned to stare at the bounty with raised eyebrows. "It would appear so, wouldn't it Faye?" It was Spike's regular nasty sarcastic tone that caught Faye completely off guard, while she had been expecting some form of his usual snide self, she had not been expecting it to be ringing clear in his voice.
Now Faye was even more uncertain as to how to approach Spike, and found herself floundering as he bent to fling Renner over his shoulder, but stopped when he thought better of it. He turned a curious glance in Faye's direction, and nodded down to their bounty. "Are you going to help me with him or are you just going to be your usual worthless self?" Faye pointedly ignored the stinging comment that had yet to leave her mind from earlier that night and walked over to Renner's other side. She looped her arm under Renner's armpit and helped Spike lift him off the ground.
Spike grunted as he adjusted his grip and motioned with his head for Faye to start walking towards the door. The pair easily pulled Renner large body along, every now and then a grunt of exertion slipping from their lips as the other stumbled over the uneven rooftop. As Faye slowly righted herself from one of her falls, she shot a sideways glance at Spike, quickly assessing his hardened features. Though his face was drawn tightly into its usual stoic state, Faye couldn't deny that his eyes were clouded over with a rich and intense emotion.
Faye grimaced at the thought of a long night ahead of her, and wondered whether Spike would ever come back around to being on peaceful terms with her. The pair paused at the door to spiral staircase, the frame not large enough to allow both to slide through at once. Spike grunted as he slowly pulled Renner's full weight onto him and gestured Faye forward. "Take his feet." Faye rolled her eyes at Spike's low snide tone but decided not to bother to voice a complaint as she stooped over to grab his feet. Faye hefted Renner's feet into her arms and cast a glance over her shoulder at Spike, who was balancing Renner's large bulk in his arms.
"Ready?" Faye's inquiry only got her a curt nod as a response, and she heaved a sigh as they started down the metal steps, her heels clomping loudly as the descended. It was a miracle that Spike hadn't heard her when she had been coming up; of course, the infuriating man had probably been too far divulged in his own sorrows to hear anything else. Faye frown as the sounds of Spike's sobbing was still fresh in her ears; it was definitely not something that she ever wanted to hear again.
When they stepped out onto the balcony, Faye had been a little hopeful that Jet had the decency to either remove or cover the dead, bloody body of the man she had shot, but was not totally surprised to see that it still lay crumpled up against the wall. Jet was down in the main hall talking to the police who had just arrived, gesturing wildly as he retold the story of what had happened. Jet had managed to handcuff all the surviving members of Renner's crew and haul them into the center of the main hall where they were now being escorted, one by one, out of the building and into police custody. Faye smiled as she saw the man that had hit her was hauled to his feet and roughly pushed forward, eyes completely dazed and the back of his head slightly bloody.
But Faye's happiness was short lived as she slowly lowered Renner's feet to the ground and moved back to take her share of Renner's weight, when she got her first glimpse of Spike's bedraggled face in the dim light of the hall. Though a bruised and scratched was a normal feature on Spike's angular face, the swelling about his eyes was much more vivid in this light. And now she could clearly see the red tint that had taken over the white of his eyes. Faye quickly adverted her gaze before Spike could catch the shock in her face, and took hold of Renner's free arm, forcefully pulled her gaze to look at anything except Spike's visage. Unfortunately, her eyes locked onto the body of the man she had shot.
Faye felt slightly sick as her eyes swept over the strange angle of the man's next and vaguely remembered how he had sagged firmly back into the wall, his blood raining down about him, and covering the wall like fresh paint. Faye turned her gaze to look down at Renner and idly noted that there were several specks of blood that had stained her pale blue shirt, no doubt from the nameless gunman when Renner had been running by him. Faye sighed and looked ahead again, eyes traveling down the length of the gunman's torso. Among the drying stains of blood there was one spot that was still richly moistened in the dark red color of fresh blood. Faye was sure that her bullet was still lodged within the soft flesh of his stomach, exactly where there was too much of the thick substance clotted together to dry quickly.
A sharp nudge of Spike's elbow in her side, jolted Faye out her of her reverie to realize that she had stopped to gap openly at the tangle of sinew, blood and bones that blocked their path. And if Spike agitated gaze was any hint, he was becoming impatient to start moving again, to move around the body that could have been his had she not taken this man's life in his place. "It's just a dead body, Faye."
The coldness that seeped from Spike's snarled tone indirectly caused Faye to shiver. It could have been Spike's body that she was gazing upon now; his body that was frozen in the pain looked as a bullet ripped through his torso for the rest of eternity. Faye now understood why the sight of the dead body bothered her so much; though she would never it admit it to anyone, especially Spike. Faye was very fearful of losing Spike, even though it appeared she already had. Faye adjusted her grip on Renner's arm and began to move with Spike, but she couldn't stop her eyes from wandering to the dead man one last time, his face forever frozen in a shocked pain that would haunt her for days to come. It seemed that Spike eyed the body too, and he let out a long low whistle. "Quite the lucky shot, Faye. If I remember correctly you got pretty much close to hitting Renner as well, but that would have been one of your usual slip ups, so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal if you had hit him, would it?"
Somewhere in the back of her mind Faye realized that Spike, with reasonable anger, was lashing out at her for happening upon him in one of his more vulnerable moments, and was baiting her to rise into an argument. Faye couldn't help but act as Spike had been expecting her too, as she sputtered indignantly at the brash insults that he had spat in her face. Faye bit into her tongue painfully to stop from releasing an already raging fire. She knew that when Spike finally pushed her too far, the end results wouldn't be pretty.
Faye was about to open her mouth and let him have a taste of her anger when Jet's booming voice called up to them. "Come on you two! Let's cash that guy in!" As her world expanded to involve more than the petty and snide remarks Spike cast her, Faye reined back any comments that were resting on the tip of her tongue. Eyeing Spike will a narrowed gaze, she tugged sharply on Renner's arm, before she moved to stomp down the flight of steps angrily, Spike grumbling beside her about how much he hated pets, kids, and women.
Faye leaned against the wall of the police station intently examining her nails while Spike sat sprawled across the steps staring up into the dark Mercury sky. Jet had taken their bounties in with the help of several officers, and the promise to put their share of the earning on their cards. The silence that had fallen over them was starting to play havoc on Faye's nerves.
She watched as Spike sparked a cigarette and took a small hit off it, leaning back onto the steps above him as though it were a comfortable position. Faye's eyes narrowed as he looked completely at ease with his surrounding, never having showed any signs of the emotions that had raged blindly on the roof. Jet had no idea that Spike had been an emotional wreck seconds before the came back into the hall. Faye sighed in annoyance and snorted loudly causing Spike to look back over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow, cigarette hanging limply off his lower lip. "What the hell is your problem tonight, Faye?"
Faye felt her eyebrow twitch in barely suppressed anger, but batted it down when it threatened to take over her more reasonable sense. Instead, she slowly straightened and clomped down the steps. Stopping on the step just above Spike's, Faye unceremoniously plopped onto the stairs, and ignored Spike's suspicious gaze. She leaned forward so her elbows rested comfortably on her knees, and a smile turned the corners of her lips skyward. "Shouldn't that be my question, Spike?"
Faye wasn't sure how Spike would take to such a direct question, but figured that he should at least know what was on her mind. To her utter surprise, Spike didn't freak out like she had expected him too. Instead, he just settled more firmly against the concrete beneath him and slowly offered her his cigarette. To say the least Faye was a little more than slightly flabbergasted at the range of emotions Spike had shown tonight, but had definitely not expected one of those emotions to be something close to what she could call companionable. But Faye managed to keep the shock and surprise from her face as Spike turned to survey her.
Faye casually reached out to take the cigarette from his hand, and Spike smirked softly as his eyes turned back to the stretch of grass that opened out in front of the police station. For the first time since Spike had come back, the pair sat in a comfortable, companionable silence, just enjoying the others company. Each time they passed the cigarette off, Faye swore that Spike's hand would linger on hers for a few seconds longer than necessary.
Faye blew some smoke out of the corner of her mouth, glad for once that she didn't have to put up with Spike's attitude, glad that she could relax a little. It was in this unspoken agreement of civility that Faye's eyes wandered down to her expensive shoes. Faye wasn't sure when they had gotten so scuffed up during the night, but it had certainly happened and left the expensive leather looking about as shabby as the cheap knock-offs.
Faye grumbled lightly and was shocked when Spike's large hand picked up one of the shredded hems of her dress and eyed it closely. There was a tightness in Spike's face as he allowed the thin stripe of fabric to slide from his fingers, and his eyes slowly traced up the dress until he met Faye's wide green eyes, shaking his head.
"Looks like you need a new dress." His voice was cold and Faye felt that she had missed something terribly important as a knot in the pit of her stomach clenched. She had a feeling that things were going to turn very bad, very quickly. "Word of advice, Faye, The next time you buy a dress; get one that makes you look less like a whore."
Faye felt a tremble of anger course through her and found herself coming very close to asking Spike what he considered Julia was, playing Vicious and him the way she did, but it took a considerable amount of resistance to stop herself. Faye closed her eyes and took a deep breath in hopes of pacifying her raging emotions. She took a final hit off the cigarette as she slowly stood before she tossed it roughly to the ground and grounded it into the cement. She blew the last bit of smoke from her mouth and stared down solemnly at Spike. "You're a real piece of work, you know that Spike?"
"Hey guys!" Jet was suddenly pushing open the doors to the police station waving their money card about before Spike had a chance to answer. Spike slowly stood and eyed Jet's frame as he walked slowly towards them, a large grin creasing his brow. "Turns out Renner's buddy's were worth a pretty woolong as well."
Though she was still furious with Spike, Faye couldn't help but crack a smile at Jet's beaming face. She moved to step forward but Spike's nimble fingers quickly grasp Faye's hand pulling her to a stop. Faye turned a cool glare to Spike and almost gasped at the intense emotion that had briefly flashed through Spike's eyes, something Faye couldn't quite place. "I said you dressed like a whore Faye. I never said you were one." At those words, Faye's throat went completely dry, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock. She blinked several times not sure if she had heard him correctly.
It was when Spike gently squeezed her hand did Faye realized that the cold and indifferent man Spike had turned into had indeed said those words. She was frozen to her spot as Spike let go of her hand and walked up the steps to meet Jet, asking the question that had long since faded from Faye's parted lips. "So, how many more woolongs have been added to my card?"
Jet slapped Spike heartily on the back as Spike pocketed his card. "Double, Spike! Double!"
Faye shook her head thoroughly confused by Spike's antics. Jet turned to Faye and held her card up with w wink. "It's your lucky day, Faye!" Faye nodded dumbly in agreement and slowly hitched up her dress to make it easier to climb the steps. She softly pulled her card from Jet's grasp and cast a weary glance at Spike's nonplussed face.
Shaking her head, Faye turned and started back down the steps, once again hitching up the fabric of her dress. Spike was undeniably an enigma tonight, jumping from one emotion to another as if someone had flipped a switch on and off. "I need a drink." Faye grumbled and cast a look over her shoulder with a lazy wave to Spike and Jet. "Don't wait up for me, boys!"
Faye took a small sip of her brandy and looked into the glass glumly. She had been sitting in some seedy bar for over an hour slowly nursing the same glass. When she had first entered in her tattered dress and heels she had definitely gotten a lot of unwanted stares and attention. But that had ended rather quickly when the first guy that had grabbed her ass ended up on the floor clutching a bloody and probably broken nose. After that incident, most of the bar occupants knew enough to leave her alone.
Faye sighed as the bartender stopped in front of her again and eyed the single glass before her disdainfully. Faye easily caught his pointed look, as he moved by, but she really couldn't bring herself to care much if she wasn't drinking as much as the bartender would have liked, she was a paying customer so there wasn't much he could do about her. Her thoughts were solely tangled upon one man.
If Spike hadn't been confusing enough before tonight, than tonights escapades were definitely the cherry on top. He had so suddenly switched emotions and freely played about them that Faye wasn't sure if he had mastered her masks of emotional deception or if he was clinically insane. Either way, it irked Faye to no end.
Faye sighed wearily again as she thought back to the rooftop and the flood of tears. She could only wonder what had sparked that rampant emotion to break through Spike's aloof façade at that precise moment, but she didn't dare yet brooch the subject with Spike yet. Faye took another long gulp of brandy and cringed slightly at the burning aftertaste. Did she even dare bring this up with Jet?
The man that had been molded into a fatherly figure took to the role easily, always concerned for and of the welfare of his shipmates, of course, Faye had to consider that this was partly due to the fact that Jet probably wouldn't be able to keep the Bebop running without them, but that wasn't so much the point. You watched out for the people you cared about, and that's exactly what Jet had always done, whether he wanted too or not.
Everything had its limits though, and Faye knew for a fact that Spike's mental health wasn't to be questioned; no, it was more of a point of giving him an outlet to vent those pent up emotions, something to help him move on from Julia and Vicious. Though, as Faye understood very clearly - as she was still trying to come to terms with her own memories and the fact that everyone she had knew and loved was dead - that it might be a long road.
Faye didn't know exactly where to go or who to turn to for advice on the matter of Spike's feelings, but she would, at the very least, try to help Spike out as much as she could. Faye was rudely drawn from her thoughts as several fingers slowly slide up the skin of her exposed back. Faye felt her eyes twitch violently as she turned to face the man who had touched her. His hair and face were greasy looking and he had a smile to match. It was obvious that the man had not been in the bar when she had decked the first guy, as he seemed completely confident in his movements.
"Good evening, lovely flower." Faye arched an eyebrow at the comment and watched as he shifted unsteadily to lean in closer to her, the smell of whiskey drenching the humid air of his breath. "I can make all your dreams come true." Faye rolled her eyes and turned back to the counter to take a sip of her drink, she really hated guys like this.
"Go bother someone else." Faye drained the rest of her drink and was about to stand when one of the man's bony hands clasped tightly on her shoulder shoving her back down into her stead.
"Stay a while." Faye shuddered as the man's had delicately traced a circle on her upper arm, his hot breath blowing light in her ear.
"Listen asshole-" Anything else Faye was going to say was cut off as a familiar voice spoke over her.
"Didn't the lady tell you to fuck off?" In the next second the man was wrenched away from her, and tossed backwards. The man gave an indignant cry which was abruptly cut off as a fist slammed into the side of his face, sending him skidding across the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Faye glanced over her shoulder but couldn't hold back the smile as Jet slide into the stool next to her, rapping his knuckles on the counter to get the bartenders attention.
"Sent Spike to watch over you – was kind of hoping you could drag more out of him – he saw you deck a guy and came back to the Bebop claiming you could watch over yourself." Jet caught Faye's hostile look and sighed. "I thought you could talk with him! I know perfectly well that you can take care of yourself!" Though Jet tried to say in with as much conviction as possible, Faye couldn't stop from sending him a sharp glare.
She rolled her eyes. "Gee thanks for your vote of confidence, Jet." Jet sent the same sharp glare back at Faye and ordered a scotch. The bartender was about to turn to leave when Faye stopped him. "Hey Barkeep, I need a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses."
Jet turned a surprised face in Faye's direction slowly shaking his head. "Hell no, Faye, there's no way I'm doing shots with you." Faye looked sent Jet a funny look as the bartender set down their drinks along with two empty shot glasses.
Faye shook her head and sighed. "I'm not asking you too. The second glass is for the lunkhead in the corner."
Jet blanched and turned to stare where Spike sat at one of the darkened tables near the back, a cigarette hanging limply from his mouth. "How long . . . where . . . how?" Jet stammered looking like he wanted to shoot himself.
Faye shrugged nonchalantly and kept her face as neutral as she could, but it was hard to fight the smile that threatened to over take her lips. "Right after you came in actually, slipped by as you tried to hid behind that newspaper." Faye filled the two shot glasses to the brim and raised one in Spike's direction, before playing it on the counter in front of the empty stool next to her.
"You knew I was here?" Jet's tone of disbelief caused Faye to send him a withering look, both eyebrows raised.
Faye didn't bother to look up as the greasy man was suddenly flung into the far wall and knocked out cold after he had attempted to charge Jet and Faye with a knife. Faye smiled, but offered no other acknowledgment as Spike slide onto the stool on her left, dusting off his hands. "Really Jet, what kind of idiot do you take me for? I haven't survived this long without being weary."
Spike carefully picked up his shot glass and downed it before he let out a coughing laugh at Faye's comment. "You weren't weary; you were just in a deep sleep." Faye glared at Spike before she downed her own shot glass. Spike took the liberty to pour both their glasses again once Faye set hers back on the counter, and then raised his glass to her in a silent salute before he downed it.
Faye sighed and looked at the liquid in her glass. "I thought I told you two not to wait up for me."
Jet sent Faye another look of disbelief. "Not saying anything against you, Faye, but you know how you get when you're drunk."
Faye growled and swung around to face Jet, anger radiating from her pore on her body. "Do I look drunk, Jet?" Faye was vaguely aware of Spike watching them intently as he poured another shot. Jet's eyes went wide and he suddenly found the top of the bar very interesting. "Jet?" Faye's voice heightened in pitch. "Answer me."
"Um . . . no?" The uncertainty that plagued Jet's voice made Spike break out into peals of laughter, leaning so far back in his chair that he fell off it. Jet rolled his eyes at Spike's behavior and brought his scotch to his lips, casting uneasy eyes towards Faye. "All right, you're not drunk. At least, not quite as much as Spike." Jet amended shaking his head.
Faye lifted a slender eyebrow as she drained her shot glass with a flick of her wrist and stifled a cough. "Not yet at least." Faye murmured and turned in time to see Spike grabbing the entire bottle of vodka and began to chug it. "Hey! I'm paying for that!" Faye made a desperate grab for the bottle, but reached too far and got a face-full of floor.
Faye grumbled as she slowly rose up onto her knees, listening to Jet's howling laughter that accompanied Spike's relishing sigh as he finished off the vodka. Faye stiffly rose to her feet and sighed, patting Jet lightly on the back as she passed him on he way to the restroom. "I'll be right back." Jet nodded still chuckling and trying to catch his breath.
Faye grimaced at the poor fluorescent lighting that greeted her when she stumbled into the restroom. The harsh yellowed light seemed to bring out every flaw in her complexion and made her look slightly sickly. But as she stared into the mirror she got her first look at the hand shaped bruise that was slowly spreading across her right cheek. She touched her cheek gingerly and drew her had away as the pain sent a shock through her nerves. "Damn bounty head."
Faye sighed and looked away from her reflection, more than a little disgusted, and turned on the faucet. She allowed the water to run for a minute, before she dipped her hands into the cool stream of water, gathering it in her cupped hands and splashing it across her sore face. Spike's behavior made Faye's stomach clench, she didn't really like the idea of spending the next couple of months with an emotionally tripping man.
Faye turned off the faucet and stared at her dripping face in the mirror again and nodded with resolution. She would definitely tell Jet what had happened tonight on the roof, but certainly not anytime soon. At the moment Faye believed that Spike was very fragile, on the edge of plummeting into some great abyss. Okay, so maybe not something quite so dramatic, but she couldn't help but feel that a push in the wrong direction would definitely break him.
Faye pulled several sheets of paper towels out of the dispenser and lightly dabbed her face dry, lightly maneuvering around the bruise. As she went to toss the towels away, there was a shout from the opposite side of the door that caused Faye to pause. Faye leaned in closer to the door to listen intently and jumped when a loud thump sounded from the door. Faye cautiously walked over to the door, and slowly twisted the doorknob; barely jumping back in time as two large bulks came barreling into the ladies room. Faye let out a small shriek of surprise as Spike pushed forcefully passed Faye, fist raised to clobber the greasy man from earlier. Seconds later Jet came rushing in brushing passed Faye and shoving her into the skin.
"What the hell?" Faye's protesting groan caused Jet to turn to her with a sheepish grin as he looked wildly about the ladies restroom to see if there were any other ladies in it. Seeing that he was in the clear he turned his focus back to Spike and the other man.
"Sorry, Faye. That guy jumped Spike!" Jet was about to go into a more detailed explanation when Spike let out a guttural roar of pain.
"Goddamn it! He bit me! What are you, a fucking dog?" Spike pulled back his reddened teeth marked hand and slammed it into the side of the man's face. Jet suddenly rushed forward and snaked his arms about Spike's form.
Jet turned a desperate look back towards Faye. "Give me a hand, Faye!" With an exasperated sigh, Faye moved forward and pulled Spike into a tight bear hug, while Jet hauled the other guy to his feet and put him in a head lock. The instant Faye's arms wrapped about Spike's slim waist he settled down, but there was no denying that he was still quivering in barely suppressed anger.
"Faye, take Spike back to the Bebop. I'm going to take this guy to the police station. If there isn't a bounty on this head, they'll at least hold him for a few days." Faye nodded mutely and felt Spike tense and hold his breath as Jet pushed the greasy man passed them, but he didn't fight against Faye's tight hold.
Once Jet was gone, Faye loosened her hold on Spike lightly and lowered her head to his broad back wearily, a heavy sigh forming on her lips. "What a fucked up night." Spike didn't say anything, but instead almost relaxed completely never making any moves to dislodge Faye's grip on him, even when Faye leaned even more deeply into him, his masculine smell tremendously comforting.
Faye looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throats and blushed deeply when she suddenly realized how she and Spike looked. Faye let go of him almost immediately as if she had been burned, but she felt herself missing the comfort that came with holding him. "Um . . . excuse me." A small, pleasantly plump woman stood in the doorway looking rather uncomfortable. "I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but you're kind of in the ladies room and . . ." The woman trailed off as a half angry half perturbed Faye stepped around Spike.
"Interrupting what?" Faye's voice was a pitch higher than it normally was and suddenly squeaked into a halt as Spike gently grabbed hold of her hand.
Spike nodded lightly to the woman as he guided Faye out of the restroom. "We'll just get out of your way then." Faye could hear the tint of annoyance in Spike's voice, but it was about as noticeable as the slight slurring of his words, the only indication that he was drunk and only really audible if one was listening for it. Spike stopped by bar and swiped his card to pay for their drinks before once again taking Faye's hand in his and leading her out of the bar.
The mercury night air wasn't exactly chilly but Faye still shivered at the drastic change of temperature, though she wasn't exactly sure if it was from the shivers Spike caused. Faye gently pulled her hand from Spikes to wrap her arms about herself and Spike eyed her through hazy eyes before moving to take off his coat. "Cold?"
He slide his jacket around her shoulders and Faye just shook her head slightly, unable to look up to meet Spike's face. "No," her voice soft and she wasn't sure is Spike could even hear her. "Just terribly confused."
Spike lightly touched her shoulder and pulled her to a stop, his mahogany eyes looked on her watery green ones. "Confused? What do you have to be confused about?" There was a soft tenderness in his voice that pushed Faye over the edge. Talking with a drunk and emotional Spike was never a good thing, and it played miserably with her emotions.
Feeling on the point of boiling over she acted the only way that made any sense, she acted the way she did when she didn't know how to feel, how to act. Faye resorted to the easiest of all emotions: anger. "You, damn it! You confuse me! You're such a fucking emotional rollercoaster that I don't know how to act around you anymore, Spike!" Faye brought a hand up to her forehead as a headache began to build in her temples.
"One fucking minute you're angry with the world because you survived, the next fucking minute you're depressed because she didn't survive and now-"
Spike viciously cut her off, his own anger rising as he roughly took hold of her shoulder. "Fuck Faye, do you think I actually like being like this? Do you think this is how I want to live? Don't you think that I feel as confused as you do?" He was shouting and Faye found that she couldn't stop the angry roll of her eyes or stop herself as she leaned closer to Spike, standing up on her tip toes to gain some height. She hated the fact that he stood above her, hated that he had the advantage of leaning over her in their battle of wills.
"See, that's just it Spike! You don't talk to anyone about anything! So how the hell are you supposed to sort anything out if you don't confront the fucking problem? Jet and I want to help, Spike. But that's kind of hard to do when we don't have any fucking clue as to what happened!"
Spike tightened his hands on Faye's shoulders and shook her violently, eyes narrowed in anger and pain. "That's just it Faye. I loved Julia and now she's dead." The sentence seemed to drain any anger that either of them had. Spike loosened his hold on Faye's shoulders, but didn't release her and though his eyes were locked on hers, Faye wasn't exactly sure if he was truly seeing her, or the memories of another woman. "The one person I opened up to lied to me. Might not have been her intention, but . . .she told me she still cared for me . . ." Spike trailed off again.
Faye swallowed painfully and slowly brought one hand up to hastily wipe her tear stained cheeks. She wasn't sure when she had started crying, but she had, and she felt all her anger redirect towards Julia. Faye slowly cast her eyes away and found a focal point somewhere in the distance. "You need to let go of her, Spike. You need to move on."
Spike shook his head regretfully. "Letting go of her isn't the trouble, Faye." There was a slightly desperate tone to his voice. "I killed her Faye. I let her die." He paused, swallowing and sucking in a ragged breath. "The only reason she went looking for me was because she had no one else to turn too. Her life was shattering around her, and I was the only person who could stop it. She came with me because she had made a promise too so long ago, when I want to believe she did love me."
Faye opened and closed her mouth several times, not exactly sure what to say. Did Spike truly believe that Julia lost his love for him? Faye wasn't sure how long they stood there in the cool Mercury night, but when his hazy eyes refocused on her, Faye was sure that she saw something much more intense than the haze of his drunken stupor.
Spike swallowed and ran his fingers through some lose strands of Faye's hair, a saddened lopsided smile quirking on his lips. "But I promise I won't let that happen again." Faye felt her throat go dry again. "Never again." And then Faye's stomach furled into butterflies as Spike's lips claimed her own in a scalding and demanding kiss.
AN: Yay! Finished . . . finally (well at least with this chapter! Sorry for the confusion, but this fic isn't quite yet out of steam). It took a while for me to figure out if I wanted it to end this chapter this way or not, but I figured I would give you guys a bit of a treat (I hope it's a treat :winks: but you never know with some people.) I kind of feel like I've gone in a totally different direction with this chapter and I'm not exactly sure if it's a good or bad thing. Let me know what you think! All right, I have a question for the experts . . . namely you guys! I've been told that the Escaflowne series is a very good anime and I should buy it right away. What do you guys think? Buy or not? Give me a shout about that or if there's anything else you want to ask me about you can reach me at: Alternativetherapy815 at yahoo!
Remember to review. Take it easy. And in the end . . . it all comes down to this.
Nusia: Thanks! I'm trucking along slowly. I hope it's still exciting. I feel like I suddenly took a swerve in a different direction with this chapter, but we'll see what you guys think. Take it easy!
Kyra1: You always managed to make me blush. . . and I don't blush very easily. I'm glad you like it so much. I do agree that Jet is a major player on the Bebop, and it would definitely not be the same without him. (winks). Anyway, we'll see how this chapter goes over with you guys, I kind of hoping I didn't rush things. See you next chapter!
Kendra Luehr: Wow. I mean wow. That was a really big compliment. I am red to my roots. I really don't believe that this fic is really that good, but damn, you make me feel like it's the best thing I've written in a while. (winks) I feel like I went a bit out of character with this chapter, but I kind of wanted to add a bit of a treat to the end of it. We'll see how much of a treat it turns out to be. Thanks for reviewing! Till next time.
CarolinaWhiteRose: Truthfully I have never been a big Julia fan either. There is nothing more than I would like to do than kick her into oblivion. (All right I lied, there are other things I'd like to do more but blasting Julia is in my top 500 things.) Although, without Julia would Spike really be the Spike we all know and love? Thanks for your review! Take it easy!
XHatori-SohmaX: LMAO. I updated as soon as I could! Please don't hurt me! What do you think of Spike now? I think he's still as confusing as hell, but I guess that's what Spike is confusing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Keep me informed on what you think! Till next chapter . . . maybe I'll have Faye slap Spike for you!
Redeve: Thank you, I never really thought my writing was that great. I'm glad that I make a good crazy Spike, though I think I might have gone a bit over the top with this chapter. Oh well. It was all for that ending. Anything for that ending. Well, at least I like it. I hope you do too. Thanks for reviewing! Take it easy.
Kuro-Ippikiookami21: I feel bad for Spike too, that's why I gave him a little treat at the end of this chapter! I'm not sure though that Faye feels the same way. We'll find out next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Zottie: You like me, you really like me! I hope that this keeps up to the standards I set with the other chapters, keep people on their toes. I don't necessarily feel like I totally accomplished that with this chapter, but you need a dulled down chapter every now and then to get to the good stuff right? Thanks for your vote of confidence!
Dannie-chan: But my next chapter isn't on the floor, silly. It's on the computer! (winks) You make me blush under your praise and I can only hope that this chapter has and will keep you drooling and sniffing around for the chapters to come. Thank you so much for your review, it means the world! Take it easy.
