Bebop Blues

Chapter 10: Spokey Dokey

Slap.

Ouch.

He should have expected it.

Her finger was pointed against his chest, tapping fervently.

"Some nerve you've got! Dead! We thought you were dead! Then you just come waltzing back like nothing's changed; you make your grand Spike entrance; you save the day; you go and save me, and you have the nerve to just say "Yo?" No, "Gee, Faye, sorry I worried the hell out of you guys all this time while I went off to face death for no goddamn reason." No apology! The nerve of you, you-you-"

"Lunkhead?"

"Ugh!"

She stormed into the bar.

Despite the redness on his face from her palm, he was still smirking.

THAT was the Faye he remembered: the shrill-voiced angry woman who wore her heart on her sleeve, the crazed shrew who never gave him an inch.

He missed her.

It was always refreshing to see someone display their emotions so prominently when he couldn't do so.

"Spike?" Mai asked behind him.

"Yeah?"

"You're an idiot." She shook her head and followed after Faye.

"Can you believe him?" Faye was sitting on a bar stool, eyes alight with ire and mouth pulled taut.

Mai walked behind the bar. "What'll it be, little lady?"

"The strongest shit you've got."

Mai grinned and poured a glass of whiskey.

Everything else had been lost to bullets and shrapnel.

Faye took a long swig. "I mean, a year and a half, and he pretends like nothing's changed!"

"I knew."

"And then he has the nerve to-" She stopped. "What?"

Mai closed her eyes, crossing her arms. "I knew." She looked a lot like Jet at the moment. Faye found it perturbing.

"You said you never met him."

"I said I didn't meet my husband's younger brother back in the day."

Faye grew eerily silent.

"You're free to slap me, too."

"You didn't lie to me."

Mai blinked.

"You kept it from me, but you didn't outright lie. You didn't say he was dead."

Mai remained stoic.

"He had me believing-"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Faye blinked this time.

"He never told you he was dead, either."

Faye sipped. "Damn your logic."

"Damn it all indeed."

Faye slammed the glass on the table. "Stop. You're not cryptic with me. You've never been. I don't want this crap from you, too."

Mai remained silent. "You're hurt, Faye. Even if I'm honest right now, it won't make you feel better. At least if I'm indirect, you can interpret what I say as you need to in order to soothe yourself."

"What the hell happened here?"

Jet was standing in the doorway.

Faye downed her drink. "Syndicates and desert flowers and lunkheads."

Jet paled. "About that..." His voice was thick with guilt. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Don't tell me you knew, too?"

Jet didn't move.

"Jet! Really? I can't believe this. I thought maybe your dumb boys club wouldn't matter after all this time of me saving your ass and pulling my weight, but I should have known that nothing changes with that damned green-haired monkey!"

She stomped her feet as she stormed to the storeroom.

She was running out of places to hide.

Mai sighed.

"She mad at you, too?"

"More at the situation. I told her I knew."

"Ah."

"I think we should let her cool off for a bit. We should see about everyone else."

Jet nodded, and they ventured back to the front, a little girl running past them through the door.

"Who was-"

"Momentarily."

Spike was talking with Rose, and the little girl bounded towards them.

"Mama! Your arm! Are you okay?"

Rose looked to her. "I'm fine, little one. It'll heal in no time."

Flora hugged her mother's legs.

Jet looked to them. "Anyone mind filling me in?"

Edward saluted. "Mai-lady and Faye-Faye were following the desert flower so Spike and me and Ein followed! We came here and silver snake men were shooting! Big crazy battle, and now you're here!"

Mai realized that Jet had arrived and entered the bar the moment he found them.

He was worried about Faye.

Such a sense of honor.

"Ed summed it up fairly well," Spike added.

Mai gestured toward Rose. "And this is part of the desert flower."

Rose extended a hand. "Rose Santiago."

Jet took it. He appeared as though he were about to kiss it, but shook it instead. His eyes lingered on hers. "Jet Black."

"Flora!" the little girl yelled excitedly.

"Part?" he then questioned.

Rose nodded. "The other part is in the storeroom."

She led Jet back to the bar, Flora hot on their heels.

"How's Faye?"

Mai raised an eyebrow to Spike. "Hurt. I thought that was apparent."

Spike lit a cigarette. "I thought she was angry."

Mai frowned. "You're awful with people. She reacts with anger because she's hurt."

Maybe she didn't quite wear her heart on her sleeve after all.

Maybe she just wore it differently.

"You're awfully blunt for someone who speaks in riddles."

"I have no need to be indirect for the moment."

"Why is she hurt?"

Mai raised an eyebrow. "You can conquer any enemy in your path, but interpreting human emotion requires finesse you seem to lack."

He went silent.

She couldn't possibly have missed him.

That would require selflessness and care that Faye didn't posses.

Unless she did.

Damn. Mai and the cigarettes were starting to get to him (Paranoid about the shrew's feelings).

He shrugged it off.

Mai walked to join everyone else inside the bar (Ed and Ein had bounded after Jet), so Spike followed suit.

"I've asked Rose and Flora to join us," Jet informed them as they entered.

Mai grinned. "Oh? You're so welcoming, Jet." She stuck her tongue out.

He crossed his arms and have her a stern look. "It's your ship, and you made me captain."

She looked to Rose. "You mean it this time? You'll stop?"

Jet looked between them. Rose smirked a bit. "I'll stop. You can put the thing where it belongs." She handed Mai the box. "I want to spend as much quality time with Flora as I can get." She kneeled down to hug her daughter.

Flora wrapped her arms around her neck. "I love you, mama."

It was the purest bit of emotion the crew had truly seen in a long time.

It was refreshing.

Something sweet and simple in a world of adult complexities.

Interrupting the moment, Ein nudged at Mai.

"Hm?" she looked down at him. "Ein?"

"Oh! You know Ein's name! Do you already know Ein?" Ed asked, intrigue in her eyes.

Mai bent over to pick him up. "You didn't tell me you had a Data Dog as part of the crew."

"Huh?" Jet asked.

He had heard the term; he hadn't heard the definition.

She put him back down and winked at the dog. He panted happily as she scratched his head. "Never mind. Talking out loud."

Jet blinked and looked to Spike, who shrugged and lit himself a cigarette.

"Where are we headed next?" Faye called from the storeroom.

It seemed that Jet, Rose, and Flora had pretended not to notice her for her own benefit.

Mai grinned and walked to the doorway, opening it slowly. "You can't hide forever, doll."

"I can run."

"I wouldn't enjoy that very much."

Faye blew her hair out of her eyes and readjusted her headband. "But with Spike back, everything will go back to normal."

She was crouched on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Mai crouched to her level. "Maybe normal's different, now. I, for one, would hate to see you go."

"But Jet and Spike always stick together, and you two get along so well and work so well and-"

Mai kissed her briefly. "Stop that nonsense. If you run, I'm just chasing you."

And with that, she arose, turned tail and walked out the door.

"What's her issue?" Spike asked.

"An annoying swimming bird."

He ignored her and rolled his gaze.

Faye rejoined them seconds later, a slight pink to her cheeks. Spike looked at her with interest. "I never got an answer," she said to no one in particular.

"We'll have to take to the sky until we figure out where to return this gem," was Jet's response.

Spike was still staring at Faye, the pink to her face completely gone now. He could have sworn she was blushing, but that would be ridiculous.

The shrew didn't know embarrassment.

They exited the bar, and Mai summoned the Mezzo.

The ship hovered before them a few minutes later.

"Oh! This is the new ship! Edward likes!" She flailed her arms happily, and Ein yipped.

"You finished it after all," Rose commented softly.

Mai gave a solemn smile. "I couldn't let the dream die."

Spike and Jet gave her quizzical looks.

Ed clacked at her Tomato, and the Swordfish zoomed into the Mezzo's hangar.

With Mai looking wistfully somber, Faye walked forward and grabbed her hand. "Let's go." She pulled her forward, and she laughed heartily and followed Faye onto the ship.

"What's up with them?" Spike asked.

Edward and Ein were half-traipsing, half-marching up the ramp, Flora twirling next to her mother behind them. Spike had lingered behind with Jet.

"Don't know and have no opinion."

Spike smirked. "Where have I heard that one before?"

"Don't know and have no opinion."

Spike said nothing. He supposed that was the end of that. If Jet wasn't talking, he would have to ask Mai.

Or Faye.

It could be a good opportunity to push her buttons.

He missed that.

She was always so passionate when she was angry. She would throw everything she was into an argument.

No holds barred. No holding back. Faye against the world.

As the ship departed Earth, bound for an adventure unknown, the crew went in separate directions.

Ed and Ein took to making friends with Flora; the trio took to exploring every nook and cranny of the ship.

Jet had stridden past Spike to talk to Rose, offering her a tour of the ship.

'Always such the gentleman.' Spike gave a resigned sigh.

Faye and Mai were nowhere in sight.

Curious, Spike went searching. The ship was even roomier than he imagined, and he could see why Jet was willing to act as Captain.

It was higher technology than the government had.

Or any Syndicate.

He passed the large kitchen, pausing a moment to peek in on a nervous Jet scratching the back of his head, and a giggling Rose holding her hand to her mouth. It was about time Jet meet someone on his level: maternal and macho. Even with all the explosions and firearms, the woman was demure, and he guessed that she was older than Jet.

She was perfect for someone like him.

Ed, Flora, and Ein were in what appeared to be a living room, a large projector television keeping them occupied, sound emanating from every corner. Ed and Flora were playing some virtual reality game, and Ein was napping.

How he could sleep through that noise, Spike would never know.

He passed a door and heard running water like that of a shower.

Well, that was one found.

He kept searching; either woman would work for his question.

He just wanted a straight answer.

As he entered another room, he was pleased to find a gym. He would definitely be in use of this.

Her back was turned to him as she practiced her kata.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm just finishing up; I'll be there in a-" Faye turned. "Oh."

Spike blinked at her.

She didn't mean join Mai in the shower, did she?

"Hey doll, I was waiting-" Mai walked in, stopping at Spike's back.

She was wearing only a towel.

'A Spike sandwich. Not exactly how I would have pictured a moment like this.' He closed his eyes, put a fist to his mouth and coughed politely. "Well, now that the shower is empty, I suppose I'll take my turn."

They watched him walk away, a lingering sense of awkwardness in the air.

The shower had never been colder.

Maybe he didn't have to ask them after all.

Jet said they spent every waking moment together, so why would this time be any different?

Sleep, shower, and meals: they were apparently inseparable.

As he toweled off and slipped into some gym pants, he heard his stomach rumble.

He hadn't had a real solid meal in quite a while, since he was a guest on Mai's couch, now that he was thinking about it. As he headed towards the kitchen, he could hear humming.

It was some bluesy song, but it wasn't Earth. It was much brighter. It reminded him of summer and sunshine. Yeah. It was the sun.

He stepped into the kitchen, the sound causing the singer to turn on her feet. "Oh! It's Spike, right? I saved you a plate of spaghetti." Rose sashayed to the microwave, retrieving a plate.

So Rose was the Sun.

He thanked her and ate heartily.

It was the most amazing meal he had ever consumed.

Maybe even more than Mai's infamous meatloaf.

Rose smiled as she put the dishes up, humming once more.

"What's your story?"

"Single mother of a dangerously ill child who will stop at nothing to protect her."

She didn't miss a beat.

"So you really did kill-"

"You're tactless, you know. Mai was right about that."

"She called me tactless?"

"And indirect. Faye, well, the tigress thinks you're quite a number of things."

"She would think that."

He finished his meal in silence.

He was never the bad guy before, but now he felt singled out.

He thought that with Mai aboard, he would have had some type of cohesiveness.

But she seemed more interested in Faye.

He was actually a little jealous.

Whether or not it was over Faye or Mai, though, he wasn't sure.

Rose left the kitchen with a nod. "Good night, Spike."

"Night."

He decided to do some exploring of his own.

The ship seemed massive, and right now he wanted some sense of normalcy.

He departed for the hangar.

And as he settled onto the old, yellow sofa, his eyelids dropped.

He missed this.

Familiarity.

He thought things would have been somewhat familiar, but so far, the only things he assumed correct were Jet, Ed, and Ein, and even those three were somewhat changed.

Faye was... Different.

He couldn't put his finger on it.

The fact that she was practicing kata and sleeping with women and paying off debts and putting Poker Alice to rest were all so foreign to his memory her.

But they seemed to suit her perfectly.

She still had that spark.

But she seemed stronger.

And weaker.

All at the same time.

He groaned. He didn't return to the Bebop to reminisce over the shrew.

Crash.

He sat up.

He had dozed off.

"Ow."

He walked quietly to the edge of the hallway.

"Spike? Are you in here?"

It was Mai.

"Yo." He walked towards her to help her up. She was rubbing her bottom.

"Damn stairs. I tripped."

He shook his head. The woman was pure grace in battle; she was useless with her guard down.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for you."

He looked at his com from his pocket. "It's 2 in the morning." He extended is hand to her.

"And Faye's finally asleep. She's restless with you around. I didn't think she would ever drift off." She stood up without his assistance, leaving his gesture awkwardly in the air.

His stance stiffened.

So they did sleep together.

"Stop thinking."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For my selfishness."

"What?"

"The homeward dove flies with broken wings."

Bang.