Meaning of Things

One week after the Faye-Alesandre encounter

Faye glanced at the glass building for the fourth time in less than a minute and sighed. Deep down, she felt herself falling into an emotional trap. Well, she said to herself, I did say I wanted to know about my past. Here's my chance.

Twenty minutes and an unconscious secretary later, she found Alesandre's office. The room was decorated with cherry wood furniture and art from what appeared to be 19th century Asia. Faye rolled her eyes, curious yet annoyed at yet another so-called clue appearing and masking itself all at once.

"Faye?" Alesandre's voice rang from behind a closed door. A moment later, Alesandre appeared in the doorway. "Come in! We have a lot to talk about."

"I bet," Faye replied, rolling her eyes and following Alesandre to a conference room.

"Have a seat," Alesandre said, pointing to a chair to the right of the director's chair.

Faye took a seat, finally allowing herself to fully look at the man who called himself her brother. The two shared similar noses and mouths, but were different in every other way. Taking a deep breath, she finally broke the awkward silence. "Why am I here?" she asked. "Why call now?"

"You look like a woman with a lot of questions and I happen to have a lot of the answers," Alesandre replied. "As for why not, I can't think of a better time to answer you."

Meanwhile…

"How dare he!" Nico exclaimed, kicking and abusing everything in sight. "Until last week, everything we worked for was going to be mine if anything happened to him! And now…" He paused as Faye entered the building. "He's leaving everything to some whore he didn't even know existed until a few days ago!"

Nico stumbled back toward his office as Faye climbed up the stairs. He opened his office door and ran toward his desk, throwing open the drawers. Finally finding what he wanted, he smiled. "Let's see if I can change your mind," Nico said.

Meanwhile…

"You think she can handle it?" Spike asked via COM while flying toward Athenti City.

"I don't know," Jet replied, scratching his head. "Faye acts tough, but even she has a soft spot for the past."

"I've never understood her," Spike said. "One minute, she claims to be a gypsy. The next, she claims to be a woman from the past who's as old or older than both of us combined. Which one's the truth?"

Jet sighed. Up until he read the story of their bounty (thanks to Ed's research), he had the same question. "I believe her when she says she was cryogenically frozen," he finally replied. "That man has tried too many times in the past to find his long lost baby sister."

"With a sister like that, who needs a gold-digging girlfriend or wife?" Spike asked, snorting.

Meanwhile…

"Don't think I haven't looked for you," Alesandre said. "I can show you hundreds of ads looking for a woman named Faye Liang or a woman who was born with that name." He sighed. "I just never counted on you becoming an amnesiac or not being awakened for fifty-plus years!"

"That explains all the stickers on that crazy video and video player," Faye muttered.

Alesandre smiled in recognition. "Your class project," he said. "You tried talking Dad into flying all the way to Singapore so he could be in it." He shook his head. "After the accident, that was one of the things he regretted, that he didn't spend enough time with you. He was always gone…always distant."

Faye's eyes widened as Alesandre talked. Dad. I had a dad, Faye thought. Why do I keep picturing fuzzy brown hair?

Seeing Faye's reaction, Alesandre dug into his wallet and pulled out a picture. "This is Dad," he said, pointing to a smirking man with wild brown hair and emerald eyes. He was standing next to two women. One had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was holding the hand of a hyperactive child with blonde hair and green eyes. The other woman had black hair and brown eyes. She held a very small child with black hair and emerald eyes.

Faye stared at the picture, studying all the faces. A single tear escaped her left eye. She suddenly shook her head. "I barely remember any of you," Faye said quietly.

Alesandre nodded, a small piece of his heart breaking following Faye's statement. "Before I dive into your past, would you like something to eat?" he asked. "I'll get you anything you want."

Faye smiled. "How about some Beefy Ramen Stroganoff?" she said.

"Anything but that!" Alesandre shouted, smiling and rolling his eyes. "I guess you remember how much I stunk at cooking." He laughed to himself. "Over fifty years later and I still can't cook worth a damn!"

Faye laughed. "In that case," she said, immediately wanting to shoot Jet, "how about some Bell Peppers and Beef?"

"Coming right up," Alesandre said, calling for takeout.

A few minutes later…

Nico happened to be walking downstairs to grab dinner when he noticed a very confused delivery woman standing in the middle of the lobby. "Can I help you?" he asked the woman.

"Delivery for a Mr. Marshall," she said, holding up a stuffed bag.

"I'll take it to him," Nico replied, taking the bag and walking toward the staircase.

The woman stiffened. "What about my tip?" she asked.

Nico whipped around, pulling out an older Smith & Wesson handgun, and shot the woman in the chest. "Never piss off a former cop that still packs heat," he replied. "How's that for a tip?"

Meanwhile…

"What's taking them so long?" Faye asked.

"I wish I knew," Alesandre replied. "I'm starving!"

A few moments later, Faye stretched as the two siblings heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," she said, walking toward the door and letting Nico in.

"Here's your dinner," Nico replied, sitting the food in front of Alesandre. "I ran into the delivery woman downstairs and figured I'd save her the trouble."

"Thank you," Alesandre said, looking inside the bag.

"Before I leave," Nico began, "can we discuss a little business?"

Alesandre looked up at Nico, his chin becoming rigid and his eyes holding a steely glance. "No," he replied, sitting back in his chair. "For over fifty years, I've waited to spend time with my dear Faye-Faye." Faye, in turn, winced at the all-too-familiar nickname. "Finally, I have the chance to do that. So anything you have to say to me can wait until at least tomorrow."

Nico grumbled, walking behind Faye and pointing his gun at her head. "No," he replied. "I'm afraid it can't."