Being alive was painful, at least when one thinks so when they try to leave this plane of existence only to get pulled back. Everything hurt; every touch, every breath, and every movement. Spike was angry too. Despite the grogginess in his head he was aware of his body, and the restraints on his ankles and wrists. He opened his eyes and tried to focus beyond the blurred vision in one, ignoring the dead darkness in the other. Spike knew it wasn't the Bebop, too clean, but not a hospital or Dragon infirmary, too small. Also, no police cuffs where keeping him down. It was a made up series of ripped sheets.
Whoever had him tied down wanted him alive, or else they would have left him on those steps. He was furious. He just wanted to die. He knew he was dead all along so he had to make it real. Why not? His present was gone, his past is where it was supposed to be, but now he wasn't sure.
His vision cleared and he could see in his peripheral; a petite short haired blonde in a tan sweater and patterned leggings was facing away from him, working on something on the counter. He had never seen her before, but if this person was keeping him alive, she was going to pay for putting a halt on the second plan he made in his whole life; it would have to wait until he could kick ass again, though.
She turned around to see that he was awake, looking pleased that he was alive. "Finally decided to wake up, huh?" she said. She grabbed a stethoscope and made her way to him, flipping a leaver to raise his upper half.
Spike glared at her, "Where am I?"
The blonde feigned caring, and continued her observations methodically. "You're aboard The Scorpio. We just entered Earth's atmosphere." She placed the cold object on his chest. "You're a lucky little asshole."
Spike scoffed, "Don't say that."
The blonde, "Well regardless, I took an oath and so did your rescuer in her own way, Mr. Spike."
Spike jerked at the mention of his name from a complete stranger. It pulled on his injuries sending shocks of pain through his limbs and chest. He shifted to avoid it, but found it make it worse.
"Take it easy, Cowboy," she commented as if to say, I could have told you it would hurt, but you wouldn't listen. "You have been out for two days and have some nasty muscle and nerve damage. It's one of the positives of having you tied down so you don't try anything to slow your recovery."
Spike coughed as he tried to gain his composure, "Who the hell are you?"
The blonde grabbed a small cup from the counter and leaned over him to assist him in a drink, "The name is Reya, now just a few sips, it will help chill you out."
Spike refused the warm scented drink. While he wanted to die, death by poisoning was for the weak.
Reya rolled her eyes, "I took the Hippocratic Oath, you moron. It's naturopathic."
"Not until you tell me who brought me here."
She sighed and took the drink herself. "It's guys like you that got me to leave the practice, I swear. Too damn stubborn. Do you remember a lady by the name of Annali?"
The memory of that stint in Olympia came back to him; the friendly rivalry and the tragedy that he kept at length.
"Ah, I see you do remember," she commented. "She said she owed you, but I say you actually owe her, big time."
/ / /
36 hours earlier:
The four members of Scorpio gathered in the control room. Ryker called for a meeting to make sense of the recent events. Vonn and Reya stood together acknowledging their actions, both commended for saving a life but also reprimanded for being a potential accomplice to a crime. Ryker didn't stand for that and warned that he would not cover for anyone on his ship. The last comment was indirectly meant for Annali who was looking out through the large windows with Earth in their sight, only half listening to her captain's speech. Reya and Vonn sat down around the glowing map table in the middle, waiting for Annali's response.
"What is the status on our guest, Reya?" Ryker asked.
"Stable and healing. Of course we are going to sedate him a bit so he doesn't reinjure himself and we can find out how he got into the shape he is in now," Reya answered.
Ryker nodded in agreement, "Sounds fair enough. Vonn, where exactly are we heading?"
Vonn replied, "I'm expecting to land in Old Cleveland, on the shoreline. It's populated enough we can regroup, stock up, but hide if necessary."
"Well, I hope we are not hiding from anything," Ryker added. He looked over at Annali who was still looking out into space. "I can tell you're listening, Willis. Might want to join in the conversation before I toss you out. It's a bit hard to talk when one is freezing to death and can't breathe."
Annali turned to the crew and shrugged, "I don't know what to say to you, Captain." Annali continued, the sound of defeat in her tone. "I was finishing up a quick job, and I followed my old instincts."
Their captain sighed, "I thought you were doing better, Annali."
"Yeah, well so was I. It's not like before when the clatter of a frying pan landing on the floor set me off. There was a big boom and it was like I was back on Titan. It didn't register that it was a syndicate hellhole."
"At least this guy Spike blew it up. Those thugs had it comin', it's called kharma, right?" Vonn added.
Reya slapped him up the backside of his head, "Read between the lines! No one can pull that kind of demolition unless they didn't plan on getting out. Something had to have had happen that we don't know about that made him make the decision he did…this was a suicide mission, literally. It's going to add an extra level of our possible implication."
Annali felt the weight of her friend's words. How could she have done this? Why did she get in the way? She should have been in more control and should have left it alone. Now her crew could be in danger and she has the guilt of stopping someone's last moments. The last one she understood more than she would admit.
Ryker dismissed Reya and Vonn, leaving Annali behind for a more personal conversation. Annali turned away from her leader, ashamed at what she had done and not ready to face him.
He leaned back against the side of one of the consoles. "I don't do punishments, but just help me understand, Willis, and we will figure this out."
Annali sighed, "A year ago I found my brother, the one that was MIA and couldn't find for the life of me. Spike found him first and I followed him. Turns out Johnny had a bounty on his head, but under an alias. Whatever happened after our military mission, whoever got him, they must have brainwashed him and he became a hitman for hire. We tracked him down, but someone else managed to get a shot at him and he was gone."
The older man heard this story, but only at the length and detail his first mate allowed. The crew had their own issues, but most were aware of the baggage everyone carried around. Annali was the only one who had yet to split the weight.
"I still think you are insane for taking me on," she lamented.
"I was in your shoes once. Saw a kid who looked like she lost everything after looking for it for so long. Couldn't just let her go on like that. She wasn't looking to be saved, but she was a little blinded by what was supposed to stay behind her," he recited.
Annali scoffed lightly, smirking at the old man's allegory. "You needed a crew member any way."
The captain chuckled, "Not just any crew member. Had to be someone not afraid to get the boots on the ground."
"Nice choice of words."
"I'm just saying that I get why you did what you did, but we have to be prepared. We'll know more when we land and he wakes up, but that will be on you."
Annali agreed.
/ / /
Present Day:
Annali stood in the doorway looking at Spike and trying to put together a plan for conversation.
Plans were fools for though, at least in both their experiences.
She walked in a pulled up a chair next to him. "You awake?" she whispered.
His eyes fluttered open and he looked over to her, a look of confusion mixed with annoyance and grief. "You're a real son of a bitch. Have been since the beginning."
"If you're talking about that incident on Olympia when you blew your chance at some clearance bin bounties, that was when you became a real son of a bitch," she corrected half-heartedly.
Spike turned away from her. The restraints were since removed and he was sedated enough to relax but be able to be cognizant of the world around him.
"What happened, Spike?"
He muttered, "What do you think happened?"
"Well your suicide mission was to end the syndicate. That much we know, but we need to know the why and what we should be expecting?"
"It doesn't matter," he replied quietly. "They're gone now."
"So you have nothing to say as to why I found you a near-death mess?"
Spike turned back to face her, slowly sitting up, "Why the hell were you there to begin with?"
"It's called PTSD. Depending on what sets me off, sometimes I'm back in that desert village. Google it."
"What?"
"Never mind. You'll understand that soon too."
Spike pulled open the borrowed button up shirt to get a better look at his torso and the sterile bandages Reya placed on them. "That's going to leave a scar," he said nonchalantly.
"And you'll probably have phantom pains. Reya has a remedy for that. She practices that holistic stuff."
"No," he whispered. "I want to feel it."
She couldn't believe this guy. She had heard this song and seen this dance in herself and in the military hospital. While she could relate, this was just a pitiful sight and it made her angry. "If this is your way of guilt tripping me for your interrupted psychological break, I will not have it. I didn't know and I thought I was doing the right thing. At least tell me why so I won't try to stop you the next time you go into the fire and flames."
Spike sighed and leaned back into the gurney he had been occupying, "It's a good story. I'll tell you someday just…not right now, okay?"
