Still docked on Earth
Early the next morning
Faye stood on the deck of the ship with her back to the rising sun. She cradled a mug of coffee in her hands and smoke curled around her face from the joint in her mouth. The wind eddied it into her eyes on occasion, making them sting with irritation, but the collaborative efforts of the coffee and joint relaxed her beyond noticing that minor discomfort.
It wasn't quiet.
There were sounds of life and livelihoods all around from the other ships docked nearby and from the folks going up and down the pier. It was one of the few busy days around here, when farmers and fishermen and intergalactic importers could set up stands between the buildings here in the wharf and the casino district. Aside from herself, there was no one else awake and active on the Bebop yet.
A time for some contemplation. For some meditation. For Faye to bask in the solitude and the glorious dawn of a brand new day.
The joint had become a roach between her lips by the time any of her crewmates made the trek from bed to deck. Jet moseyed his way out, giving her a wave as he noticed her. She started to walk back towards the entrance, nodding at him in return.
One of Faye's favorite stoner pastimes was losing track of herself and time in the shower. That was her new goal now, before any other lunkheads might wake up and sneak in to use all the hot water.
She offered Jet the roach as she passed, even though it was super tiny. "Went out but it's all yours," She warned.
"Thanks Faye," The ex-cop acknowledged. "Breakfast will be ready by the time you're done showering." He informed her.
She grinned as she continued on her way.
Some days she really enjoyed the routine.
xxx
Faye often disparaged the Earth and considered the residents to be weirdos but despite her general dislike of humanity's home planet… she couldn't deny her awe at the beauty of it.
She had watched the sunrise with reverence and was looking forward to sunbathing and cloud watching now that she'd eaten and rolled another joint. Spike hadn't been present for food but she'd found a pack of his cigarettes wedged into the couch from whenever he'd passed out there last. Considering how their last conversation had gone, she figured he owed her so she liberated all but two of his tobacco sticks. He should be grateful she was being that kind. Really she was too nice, none of her comrades deserved it save for Ed.
Ed. So the young hacker had returned! Faye had not had much time to interact with the girl since waking up on the couch a few weeks ago. After her midnight dinner with Spike she'd still been made to sleep on the couch so they could keep an eye on her and she'd woken the next day to Ed's face looming directly over her.
The teenager had lit up on seeing Faye wake. She'd shrieked with glee, planted a very wet kiss on Faye's lips, and streaked off hooting and hollering. Shortly after that, Jet had taken Edward in the Hammerhead to Doohan's place somewhere further inland.
Most of Ed's daylight hours were spent with the old mechanic and his enthusiastic assistant Miles. They were teaching Ed how to build a mono racer from the ground up. Supposedly it would make her a better driver if she understood how literally every piece and part worked together to make the ship run.
It made sense but Faye was just glad she wasn't the one stuck in driver's ed. She'd never been particularly concerned with how anything was put together or worked - as long as stuff did the job it was supposed to, that's all that mattered. If her ship broke down, she'd have someone else fix it. Why bother doing it herself when someone more knowledgeable could do it for her?
She smirked at her own thoughts as she made her way to the far end of the flight deck to set up her lounge chair with its attached umbrella for sun shade. It was the perfect day to soak up the sun and just...zone out.
Speaking of, she sparked up that joint with the lighter she kept stashed in her swimsuit top and settled onto the chair to gaze around and embrace the peace of the moment.
Earth's docks tended to be depressing places, at least compared to the ones on other planets and moons.
The cities themselves were typically on the smaller side since most of society had retreated underground. When there was a good chance the sky would fall on your house and ruin your roof, why wouldn't you try your luck elsewhere? But there would always be people who simply didn't care. And there would always be a need for those boundary folks - those people who straddled the line between surface dweller and underground, who dared interact with the people from ships that ventured to Earth for trade.
This particular dock had seen better days. The town attached to it had only a dozen or so rundown buildings, three of which were bars, and most days there was not another ship docked or parked anywhere in sight.
Meanwhile the casino district further on tended to be busy year round - or at least busy enough to be self-sustaining. Half of it was above ground and half was dug deeply into the landscape to provide a semblance of shelter to the remnants of humanity posted up here.
Supposedly this place had once been a huge tourist attraction before the Gate Incident and before global warming and before the fault lines began crumbling the continent into the ocean. She doubted this city had ever been a coastal city during her previous life, but it had certainly become one at this point.
She didn't want to gamble right now so she purposefully turned her back - and the lounge chair - on the pathetic little cluster of buildings and the temptation that lay scant miles beyond. It was a beautiful day - only a 26% chance of rock showers here in the Reno Bay area - and the sun was boiling overhead. It would toast her up in no time out here on the deck.
The joint was long gone by the time she'd rolled from her back to lay on her front and expose her backside to the burning sun. Gulls called along the rocky shore and the Bebop itself hummed beneath her as the various systems continued their job of heating or cooling or ensuring clean air flowed.
Like with most mechanical or technological things, Faye wasn't entirely sure how any of it worked. Fortunately, Jet was always on top of ship maintenance - sometimes with Spike's help - and Ed would no doubt be able to lend a hand if it was ever needed. Yes, Faye could relax and rely on her comrades in this instance.
Footsteps rang out across the deck. No metallic clunk from Jet's boots, nor the slap of bare feet against the hot metal, so that left only one option for who could be about to disturb her peace.
Sure enough, Spike wandered all the way over to stand directly between Faye's deck chair and the sun overhead.
"Ughhhh are you trying to ruin my tan?" She demanded irritably, turning her face to look at him and glare. His face was in shadow with the sun behind him and his expression was unreadable because of that.
"Surprised you're feeling so good," He noted.
Faye turned her face away from him. "Oh whatever I was barely even drunk."
He moved to sit on the edge of her chair, pushing her legs to the side to give himself more room.
"Hey!"
"C'mon, Faye, the deck is hot as shit I don't wanna sit there. Sit up and smoke with me,"
"UGHHHHHH," She groaned loudly but did move to sit up because it wasn't every day that Spike Stingy Speigel offered to share shit with anyone. Besides, she could tell from the tight feel of her skin that she'd reached a good point to stop. If she stayed exposed for much longer she'd no doubt wind up sunburnt as shit.
It felt good to scooch under the umbrella shaded portion of the chair and lean against the backrest. Part of the appeal was due to Spike being stuck on the foot portion of the chair and therefore completely exposed to the brutal sunshine.
He was squinting out across the water as he reached into his pants pocket for a lighter. He'd foregone the suit jacket due to the heat of the day and even his button up wasn't very buttoned up. A bedraggled looking joint hung from his lips, clearly one of his own making.
They blazed in silence for a few minutes until the joint turned into a stubby little roach that singed Faye's fingers on her last toke. Sucking at the digits, she watched as Spike curled in on himself a bit. The heat was making him wilt. Sweat beaded up on his forehead but he made no move to wipe it away, merely braced his arms on his knees and leaned his chin on his hands.
"I had to put you in a body bag to smuggle you out of the hospital. It was… not a great experience." He spoke out of nowhere, startling her with the words and the abruptness with which he'd jumped into this conversation. She made a face at the notion of having been in a plastic bag but had nothing to say about the matter. She had no recollection of it happening.
Spike didn't seem to need her to say anything. He kept talking.
"Ed rode with you in the ambulance to the hospital. She wouldn't leave you alone. I went back to our ships so I could program yours to fly back to the Bebop. Before I could even take off to come find you both, Ed was calling me all freaked out. She said the doctors had been discussing taking your blood." He frowned and shook his head. "I mean here you are about to fucking bleed out and they want to take more blood? So she threw a huge fit until I got there but they at least had hooked you up to do a transfusion. Guess they realized you needed to survive if they wanted viable blood to harvest."
"My... blood?" Faye asked weakly.
"Yeah so while Ed was screaming and shouting and jumping around causing as much destruction as possible, I managed to get a hold of a stretcher and a body bag. It's not like you were gonna be able to walk out under your own power and I couldn't think of how else to hide you in plain sight."
"Well. That was smart thinking, I suppose." She acknowledged.
He sighed heavily. "I could have told you sooner. I just...didn't want to think about…" He trailed off but the glance he sent her over his shoulder spoke volumes.
Faye had never really had to deal with death.
She'd been around bodies here and there of course, sometimes she'd even been the reason that people died in the first place. But she usually didn't have to deal with the aftermath. Someone else cleaned the bodies up. Someone else handled the mess. Aside from that, she hadn't had to deal with the unexpected loss of someone she knew well.
Whitney's fake death hadn't haunted her once she realized he'd saddled her with more debt. She hadn't known him well enough to feel much regret over his death and ultimately she was grateful for that because the asshole hadn't even been dead in the first place. But if she'd had to identify the body maybe it would have been different. If she'd had to see someone she recognized in the horrible plastic of those black bags… It was a disturbing mental image.
"I've been trying to figure it out," He spoke up again, straightening up on the chair. An unlit cigarette had materialized between his lips somehow - perhaps one of the two she'd left him, perhaps from a pack she hadn't stolen from. "Why would they want your blood? What could be special about it? The poison from that mutated lobster didn't change our biology enough for the doctors to say shit when we woke up from that ordeal. But...I guess it could have taken a while to be noticeable. Otherwise, they'd have drained you back then and the rest of us too. And, obviously if it was something from prior to that, I mean, they wouldn't have even bothered to thaw you from your cryo sleep. It just doesn't make sense that no one noticed anything special about your blood until now."
Faye bit her lower lip thoughtfully. She reached up to try and swipe his cigarette but Spike leaned further and further away until he slid off the edge of the chair. He hopped up from the hot deck instantly and glared at her before finally lighting the cigarette, taking a deep breath, and blowing the smoke in her face like a truly mature adult.
"It's because of Vincent." She decided. "That terrorist, remember?"
"What would he have to do with your blood?"
She sighed and stood up to make her way back into the ship and the cooler air of the shaded interior. Spike followed, lazily smoking his cigarette.
"I...got a little close to him at one point. Managed to cut him. Things...got weird. He licked his wound and kissed me with blood in his mouth," Her features twisted with revulsion, an expression that Spike's face held as well. "There's something in his blood, see. Some antibody to that shit he was gonna fuck everyone up with."
"Yeah right," Spike's tone indicated his lack of belief in this hypothesis of Faye's.
Faye shrugged. "I never looked into it. Didn't think much about it. The idea of a blood antibody being transferred through ingestion doesn't hold much water if you think about it," She told him. "But I mean… what else could it be?"
"I'm sticking with the mutation theory," Spike replied. "Bet we're all blessed somehow thanks to those bites."
"Oh yes because typically being bitten by a radioactive creature has worked so well for people." Faye muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, Faye, do you think you've got any super powers?"
"Somehow I've got the strength to endure living on this bucket of bolts with you, so… yes."
"Aw, c'mon Faye-Faye, living with me ain't so bad. Besides that's a pretty weak super power."
She glanced at him as they reached the living room. "You're right, but I don't need any super powers - I'm fucking incredible just as I am." With a wink and a smirk she sashayed her way towards the stairs to the lower level, leaving Spike to shake his head at her while claiming his usual spot on the couch.
xxx
The next day…
An unholy shriek pierced the air on the Bebop.
Jet and Spike crashed into the living area from the kitchen and workshop respectively, but the sound hadn't come from there.
Sharing a look of worry and uncertainty, they advanced back-to-back down the hallway towards Spike and Faye's bedrooms. Spike's room was dark and quiet but there was definitely a commotion further down in Faye's.
Again the men traded a look of disquiet. Neither wanted to venture into this unknown and potentially dangerous territory.
Finally, Spike drummed up some courage and knocked briskly on the door.
"Yo, Faye! You okay in there?"
There was a sound of a scuffle. Ed's voice, crooning a sad melody, was clearly audible under Faye's voice as she talked to the younger girl.
"You can fuck off, Spike!" Faye called back finally. "Thanks for checking on us but we're just gearing up for some…" the door sprang open and Faye came rushing out, pulling Ed in her wake, "shopping!"
Both girls were gone before Spike or Jet could react. They shared one last look of confused commiseration and then each went back to what they'd been doing before being disturbed.
No doubt about it - women with attitude were always a pain.
xxx
"Hurts, Faye-Faye!" Ed moaned, dragging her feet through the sand as the girls made their way from the docks to the shopping and gambling district in the distance.
Faye slowed her stride as she looked backwards at her normally indefatigable companion. She sighed at Ed's despondency. "Yeah, I know. We'll get you some midol once we get to the store."
They continued their trek towards society with Ed moaning and her arms wrapped around her middle. She staggered behind Faye and sang sadly to herself. This discomfort was an entirely new experience for her and not something she was enjoying at all.
It had been a particularly grueling morning for young Ed who had woken up in considerable agony and with a profound sense of dread as she'd discovered blood in her bike shorts. It was a good thing they were a dark material.
Ed had gleaned a bit of knowledge about periods from her web surfing over the years but reading about something that didn't currently apply to you and then one day undergoing that very experience were worlds apart.
She hadn't known what to do or how to handle the cramps and so she'd run screaming and bawling into Faye's bedroom, sobbing and singing her sad story until the older woman cottoned on to the situation.
Reacting with alacrity, Faye had thrown her red hoodie around Ed's waist, knotting the sleeves to keep the fabric from falling off her slim hips. She'd quickly thrown on a sundress instead of her own typical outfit because she hadn't wanted to waste the time slipping into multiple items of clothing.
The guys had already come running thinking that something was amiss and the last thing she had wanted was for them to realize what had happened. Then again she wasn't sure if it was something that would embarrass Ed the same way it would most young girls. Ed wasn't your usual young girl, after all.
"Faye-Faye …do you know what mothers are like?"
Faye's mouth dropped open a bit and she found herself unable to do more than turn to stare at the redheaded teenager walking behind her.
"Ed doesn't remember her mother very well but that's okay because she's got Faye-Faye and Spike-person and Jet-person and they're like big brother and big sister protectors for Edward. …and, Ed has a star-mother too. Ed will show you someday but Ed wants you to know that even if you don't remember your real mommy there will always be a star-mother to watch over and love you." There was a pause as Ed looked towards the sky, a wistfully distant expression on her face. She glanced over at Faye after a moment. "Sometimes Jet-person feels like the closest thing Ed has to a mother," She confided.
Faye couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, Jet's a good caretaker," She allowed. "And, I gotta tell you… I don't know shit about what mothers are like. I don't remember mine much. But, well, yeah we'll always be here for you, Ed. I think that's the most important thing parents can do… just be there for their kids. So, I mean, yeah… we're here for you."
Ed grinned at her. "Ed's here for you too, Faye-Faye!"
They trudged on towards their goal in quiet contemplation after that. Well, Ed kept singing and humming and mumbling under her breath but Faye's introspection was entirely inward.
She thought about her memories, some of which she had regained just before Spike left to face down against Vicious and the Red Dragon Syndicate. She thought about how most of her memories had faded elusively shortly thereafter. She thought about the bounty they had chased on Venus, only getting money for the old man since the creepy granddaughter wasn't a bounty herself. She thought about how close she had come to death that time and how she had felt on stage in front of intoxicated and horny men. Feeling nauseous at the memory, she dipped deeper into her mind, sifting through blank pages that should have had memories in vivid color, and searched for a memory of her mother.
"I wonder if you're right, Ed." She whispered after a time. "I hope that there is someone out there who protects and loves me. I know that there has to be someone like that for you, and obviously something watches out for Spike or else how could he possibly still be alive?"
The idea of a compassionate spirit keeping a benevolent eye on lost souls like theirs was a lovely concept but Faye had her doubts. Fortunately, she realized it didn't matter whether some sky-daddy god or star-mom was looking out for them… Ed herself had proved to Faye that she had plenty of people she could rely on right here. Her comrades would watch over and protect and love her, just as she would endeavor to do the same right back.
xxx
Hours Later…
Spike was lounging in his usual place on the couch when Faye was finally ready to settle down for the day. She plopped down next to him and kicked her feet up onto the table to directly mirror his position on the other end of the furniture.
"What's on?" She asked, gesturing lethargically at the monitor on the table between their kicked up feet.
"Eh. Some sci-fi from a century ago, a Western from even further back, the usual infomercials and soaps." Spike paused in his litany and nodded to the screen. "The sci-fi is pretty funny."
There were aliens on the screen with gigantic heads inside their space helmets. Faye was a fan of the shimmery capes they wore. It didn't look familiar to her, but then again few things did. At the very least it was something to stare at while she let her mind drift. Spacing out was one of the best ways to idle away the empty hours on the ship. Everyone enjoyed doing it.
The world around her became suddenly hazy and she realized Spike had blown his cigarette smoke at her. She turned to yell at him but saw he'd done it to get her attention because he was trying to offer her an unlit cigarette.
"Oh. Thanks."
He waved the generosity away along with the smoke cloud. "What was with the abrupt trip today? You never like to shop with Ed."
She frowned. "That's not true, Ed can be a lot of fun and a good distraction. She's not the ideal companion for my own shopping trips but she's got her uses in the mall." Faye considered whether to tell him more and decided she should. It's not like Ed asked for anything to be kept secret and it would be better if the cowboys knew what was up.
Spike was eyeing her through the smoke as though he knew there was more to the story.
Faye sighed. "Oh fine - it's just...Ed… *ahem* became a woman today. So… if you and Jet wanna just...be extra nice to her…" She trailed off. Spike had turned his face fully towards the sci-fi movie but Faye could tell his expression was mildly uncomfortable. Hah, served him right for asking.
Unfortunately, her own body had at some point synced with that of the younger girl. Faye could tell her own period was annoyingly imminent just based on the sympathy cramps she'd begun feeling that afternoon. They were nearly to the point of being too painful to ignore much longer, but Faye had a remedy for that.
"Think it's late enough for a midnight toke?"
Spike didn't turn from the screen. "Ed's been down a bit now. Don't think she'll wake up for hours. Yeah. The air'll clear out here before then. Light 'em up, cowgirl."
xxx
Days Later…
Still Earthside…
She knew it would get under his skin. For someone so carefree he was surprisingly easy to fluster. After having lived on this ship for well over a year, Faye considered herself an expert at getting under Spike's skin.
She'd overheard him telling Jet and telling Ed and telling Ein even… "fix that ear!" Now, Ein's ears weren't nearly as floppy as some dog breeds but sometimes one of his ears still got flipped backwards and it tended to drive Spike nuts. She'd also seen Spike attend to the issue himself when no one else was around to fix it so she knew it wasn't a squeamish thing from seeing inside the dog's ear. No, she was nearly positive it was something else altogether.
She was testing her theory now by sitting on the couch to paint her toenails. She was in her comfy booty shorts and a spaghetti strap thin tank top but the true magic was in the red sweater she was carefully shifting around beneath.
It had to be a natural fall. She couldn't simply adjust the sweater how it needed to be or he would somehow be able to tell it was staged. So she rolled her shoulders and sloped her body more towards her toes, which actually would help with painting them, and finally felt the fabric slide over her collarbone and towards the edge of her shoulder. There! Stop!
With painstaking precision she slowly began to apply a fuck-me shade of red to the toenails of her left foot first, leaving her right foot on the floor to stabilize herself while propping her left beside her on the couch. She had to go slow or she wouldn't be able to conduct a full experiment.
She only had two nails left to paint on that foot when Spike finally slouched into the living area from the hallway. Faye made sure to appear as though her full concentration was on her feet so she ignored his arrival like she always did. But she noticed his gaze slip to her shoulders when she rotated her ankle to give herself better access to the last two toenails.
One more...little slouch...and...yes! Her sweater slipped just past the edge of her left shoulder to hang against her upper arm. The sweater had ridden up on her right side to accommodate for the gravitational adjustment.
She finished with the tiniest nails and then extended her leg to consider the effect from a distance. Nodding with satisfaction, she twisted on the couch to put her left foot flat on the ground and bring up her right foot to rest beside her instead. This move also allowed her to see Spike more easily from her peripheral vision.
He was looking at her shoulders again and while his face appeared blank she could see a subtle frown trying to take form. She smiled as though appreciating her nail work and hoped that the smug smirk she could feel inside wasn't revealed through her lips. He lowered himself onto the chair across from her, his eyes narrowed.
After a bit Spike began to tap a foot on the floor. He had not acknowledged her in the least but with no deck of cards at hand, no magazine to hide behind, and the visual monitor not on there was absolutely nothing else for him to look at. Normally he'd probably try to lay down on the couch she was sitting on, but her presence there made that impossible.
It was something she'd thought of when she came into the room with her plan in mind. It was always better to take over the couch than the chair anyway and if you missed your opportunity you'd wind up sitting on the stairs or the floor or living room fridge for lack of better options.
She knew he wasn't likely to take the spot next to her on the couch. When there were alternatives available it was only natural to indulge in having personal space. But that meant he was stuck directly across from her. Unable to notice anything aside from the bright red sweater sitting crookedly on her body.
Watching him bounce his leg as she drew to the last nail of her second foot, she was pleased to hear him give a long low sigh of building irritation. She purposefully took her time as much as she could without seeming like she was doing it too intentionally, and stretched out the second leg to consider her completed work.
The sweater remained ajar.
It was too good, really. For someone with literally lopsided eyes to be so testy about discrepancies. Apparently Spike had an appreciation for feng shui or at least visual balance. Her sweater didn't normally attract so much of his interest, nor did it typically make him jittery with the need to adjust it. But it was always either all the way on or hanging off both shoulders, looped around her elbows. She herself wasn't a big fan of having clothing hang off one side. It made her feel gangly and like she needed to fix the issue. And it was undeniably having the same effect on Spike.
They sat in awkward silence for a minute or two longer before Spike finally broke first. He jumped to his feet and glared at her. "Dammit, Faye! Fix your fucking shirt!" And then he glared even harder, clearly irate that she'd provoked a reaction of that level. Shaking his head in aggravation, Spike stalked from the living room as Faye's laughter erupted into the space.
xxx
Later, after Faye had left, probably to gamble away the last of her woolongs, and while Jet was cooking in the kitchen, Spike wandered back into the living area to see what Ed was up to. The teenager had been quietly lost to her own devices for hours now and Spike was getting curious. Reading the screen over her head Spike asked "What the fuck is Zoogma?"
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Ed replied archly.
"C'mon kid,"
With a long suffering sigh and a roll of her eyes Ed gave him an actual answer. "It's a band name from the long long ago. Hmm. Maybe Faye's time? Not important. There's so much out there to listen to! To observe! To experience! Ed likes to know it all. Ed wants to hear and see and feel it all!"
Spike chuckled. "Well don't let me stop you. But hey, when it comes to music - don't just jam it on your headphones. Some of it might be shit we'd enjoy too. I'm not always gonna wanna hear it but it can be nice to open your mind to new things."
Ed sat up straight and crooked an eyebrow at him. "The mooooooooore you knooooooow!" Her grin was positively demonic and made Spike regret the words he'd just spoken and the permission he'd just given.
xxx
Days Later…
Loitering around TJ for small fry bounties…
"Lunkhead lunkhead!" Ed's voice traveled down the corridor to reach Spike's ears where he lay lazily sprawled on the couch in the living area of the ship. The girl herself was not immediately visible, nor were her intentions clear in the least.
The ship was quiet otherwise. Jet was out on a restock mission, getting various parts and pieces for the Bebop and the zip craft, and hopefully also bullets and some good food. They'd been able to wrangle a few worthwhile bounties since getting to the Asteroid Belt.
Bad Leroy Brown, a street tough wanted for murder worth a cool 1million woolongs. His associate Big Jim, a boxer with a gambling problem wanted for that same murder but worth more because of his moderate fame as a boxer and due to his gambling debt.
A deadbeat named Earl who was wanted for cheating by his fiancee's angry father. And the darling Jolene, wanted for breaking up marriages or - as in the case of Earl - derailing things before they got to the altar. Which, if you asked Spike, was Jolene doing the poor fiancee a favor in the long run.
And Big Beef McCaffrey, a mountain of a man wanted for skipping out on bar tabs. Quite a few local bars had pooled their resources to put a substantial bounty on McCaffrey.
The woolongs from those bounty heads would bring in a decent amount of bullets, meat and cheese - three of the things they simply couldn't provide on the Bebop for themselves.
They finally had a decent selection of vegetables regularly available ever since they'd managed to convert one of the storage rooms into a hydroponics space. It served several purposes - whether the most important was to provide sustenance to the crew or to provide an opportunity for the most senior member to relax and care for something that responded well to positive attention was unclear. No doubt Jet considered the horticulture aspect the best, but Spike himself was just a fan of having fresh food on hand anytime he felt snacky.
He wasn't sure where Faye was but given the peace on the ship it was likely that she wasn't anywhere nearby. At any rate he hadn't noticed her soft floral scent in the room or hallways, and the shower water had been warm when he used it earlier - all of which pointed to the likelihood of Faye being somewhere else. TJ didn't have much to offer but it seemed like Faye had a tendency to take off whenever she fancied.
There came a scuttling sound. The fuck?
"LUNKHEAD!" Ed appeared out of thin air, looming over the back of the couch to peer at him closely as though trying to judge if he were actually asleep. The fact that he'd just jumped about two feet in the air from her startling him seemed to be not enough of an indicator to his conscious state. Wearily, Spike moved the arm that had been covering his eyes so he could stare back at the wild teen.
"ED." He shouted right back in her face.
She grinned madly. "Ed's bored. Shall we play a game?"
Spike shifted his gaze from the girl to the ceiling fan as he tried to become even more a part of the couch he was reclined upon. "What kind of game, Ed?" He asked after the silence had stretched on too long.
He could still see her hair as she bounced on her toes behind the couch. Her giggles filled the air and made something in his heart shift around. It was odd. Normally he didn't pay much attention to the moods of his shipmates aside from Faye. Whenever she was in a good mood, he knew he could turn his own grumpiness around by aggravating her. If she was in a bad mood to begin with, well, then he knew he could get her fired up even further and that was always an interesting way to make time pass quicker. Snarky responses, idiotic challenges, the occasional item throw at him… her answers to his poking at her varied but never failed to make him feel slightly more alive.
Lately he'd been trying to think more about the others on the ship. Since his rebirth as Faye called it. Ed referred to it as "Spike's big bang" which apparently alluded to the start of the cosmos. Ed hadn't even been on the ship when he'd left to face down Vicious and reduce the Red Dragon Syndicate to rubble, but just by having spent time with the Bebop crew she could have been at risk thanks to their prior association. Truthfully, she had been the safest of them all because she had been aimlessly wandering Earth at the time and anyway she seemed quite capable of keeping herself hidden when need be. It had still been a thought that crossed his mind which made him feel guilty about endangering her.
There had been so much driving him.
Keeping Faye and Jet and Ed from being killed in the crossfire.
Ending the stalemate with Vicious.
Getting vengeance for himself and Julia and the life they could never have had together.
There were many reasons he had gone off ready to die if need be.
Some days he wished he had died then. Most days he was glad he hadn't.
He was pretty sure he had used up quite a few lives by this point but it was like peeling an onion - he kept getting deeper and deeper, layer by layer, and each life seemed to bring him closer to being awake and truly alive.
Whether it had been Mao taking him off the streets when he was just a brat picking pockets and scrambling over rooftops, showing him not all men in suits were evil - or Anastazia sharing with him the power of friendship when he had only known competition before - or the biggest hit to his heart… when he'd foolishly fallen for Julia that night in the pool hall. Or had it been before then? Perhaps he'd loved her since he first saw her but all those memories were a blur.
More than Mao with his kindness... more than Annie with her openness... it had been Julia with her cool affection and endless dreams that had cracked his reserve and made him feel human. Misguided yet enthusiastic love for her had kept him from following Vicious down that dark and brutal life path both men had been on.
She had made him vulnerable. Had put him in danger. Had given him a desire to be good. She had unlocked a part of himself that he had never been able to guard against again - experiencing empathy for others.
Being on the Bebop had further aggravated that issue.
For years it had been a non-issue.
Lying low after his deception on Mars, hopping across the galaxy at random, he had found himself up against an ex-cop on a tricky bounty and then somehow found himself partnered up with that same stalwart man. Neither had volunteered much information on themselves and neither had demanded or expected anything from the other except for each to pull their own weight. He was able to be as apathetic as a heartbroken fool could be.
It had been so easy to work with Jet. So easy to drift through a few years just cleaning up the solar system whenever they felt like it or were low on woolongs. Life was slow and boring and easy. They didn't fight often because they didn't discuss much beyond bounties and food. It had been the perfect bachelor experience, really, just two cool dudes living with no responsibilities beyond staying alive. Even when Ein became part of the crew, nothing really changed.
Well. No, Ein had an effect on the cowboys.
It was because he'd been worried about the mutt that he'd lost the opportunity to corral and collect for Hakim. Was it because the pup had seemed helpless? Just an innocent life, trying to exist.
Spike knew he had a weakness for protecting the downtrodden which likely stemmed from his own crappy childhood and his first tentative friendship with Annie. That weakness had been what had truly gotten him in trouble with Julia. Seeing a sadness in her, seeing a longing for something more than the hand she'd been dealt.
He couldn't stand sad, lonely women.
And now look at him. Back on the Bebop, back to the life he'd nearly lost. Back with these crewmates he was becoming more and more enamored of and vested in. Oh he would protest vehemently if they ever accused him of caring, but that wouldn't change the facts. He did care about the others here.
About Jet, who could be gruff and short-tempered but who always did his best to ensure they all had something to eat. Jet, whose moral code had given Spike something to follow because it meant something to the ex-cop. Jet, who had Spike's back time and time again even when the older man didn't necessarily approve of Spike's actions.
Of course, it was the same in reverse - though Jet hadn't gone as off the rails as often Spike tended to. There were still quite a few instances where Jet had chased after the spectres of his own past and wound up in trouble. But that reliance despite disagreement, that reliance without the necessity of comprehension, was something quietly understood between them. He didn't need to know Jet's whole history to know that the other cowboy was a man with principles, integrity, and a gritty determination to do right.
It was something not commonplace in this era of crime syndicates and gangsters and hustlers. So many people were just in it for themselves, looking out for their own good and never mind anyone else or the trouble they caused. Jet was like an homage to a better time, when men were tough and decent and kept the law because they wanted people safe and happy. A true cowboy hero.
Spike cared about Faye too, though she was a fucking handful. Shrill and obnoxious, sarcastic and secretive, she gave off an air of selfishness that had been her true character once but was now mostly just a guise to keep herself protected.
He knew more of her past than anyone else - probably as much as she herself knew. Whether it was because she'd been talking to the dog or talking in her sleep or talking aloud while he was recuperating so he had no choice but to overhear. He'd seen her videotape. He'd met the players in her game who had first led her astray and crushed her ability to trust in others. She'd had a strange life - stranger than most - and it was all sorts of heavy emotional baggage. He didn't think she knew who she really was these days and that bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
After all, he was pretty familiar with feeling out of place, out of time, out of sorts and unable to reach out to others for help. She'd been betrayed and she'd done her share of betraying others - like whenever she'd ditch them in her quest for self. Like now perhaps.
A part of him felt worry for the harpy.
Sometimes she seemed more of a child than Ed. Ed was like a bouncy ball or one of those stress balls you could squeeze that would revert automatically to its initial shape. Faye was like a porcelain doll that you could dress up pretty and paint with makeup but she could be broken if she wasn't handled with care.
Despite trying her best to be ruthless and indifferent, there was an underlying vulnerability in Faye that seeped out in the dark hours and which called to Spike incessantly. Sometimes he hated how much he cared about what that woman was up to. Caring about women always leads to pain and trouble.
Ed was the easiest crewmember to care about and the easiest to admit caring about. Not that he had or would. She was just easy to be around. She wasn't as demanding of attention as Faye, she wasn't as stoic and reserved as Jet, she wasn't as lethargic and elusive as Spike himself. No, she pulled her weight around here better than any of them except maybe Jet.
Spike had seen Ed doing dishes before - flooding the entire kitchen with soap suds and losing the privilege of having dishes as a chore. Spike wondered how much of that incident had been genuine confusion over the process and how much had been carefully staged so she wouldn't be asked to do dishes in the future.
He'd seen her helping Jet with the plants in the hydroponics room - though she was apparently not trusted enough to help him tend to the bonsai. He'd seen her painting Faye's toes and keeping Faye distracted from her woes with Ed's own wonderful brand of nonsense. And, aside again from Jet, she was the one who took the most care of Ein.
Plus she was on another level in terms of her hacking skills. Without Ed's ingenuity and tech talent, they would have probably starved ages ago even with Jet's connections and computer savvy. Ed was just born to traverse the interwebs and conquer the netscape.
Her inherently happy-go-lucky attitude and general optimism had been extremely welcome on this ship of angsty assholes. She kept them all from losing faith in the world. If Ed was around and okay - then maybe the universe was doing all right. The few times she'd been out of sorts were times when the crew was as stressed as they ever got. And Spike wasn't particularly inclined to upset her for no good reason - not that she ever seemed to get upset regardless of how her crewmates reacted to her requests or abnormal behavior.
He sat up with a sigh and Ed came vaulting over the couch to land in a heap on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Spike moved like water when he fought, but Ed moved like a limp spaghetti noodle at all times. The flexibility was something Spike found himself slightly envious of. Maybe he should start doing some yoga to improve his own range of motion.
"Well?" He asked, wondering if they were even having a conversation. "What kind of game did you have in mind, Ed?"
She grabbed her own shoulders and spun herself around in a circle. "Oh you'll play? Yay hooray! It'll be a fun game, Spike-person."
Spike moved to stand up, sliding his hands into his pockets as he did. "Yeah yeah, I'll play."
No, he would never admit to caring about his crewmates, but none of them needed him to man up and say that sappy shit anyway. It was evident in all their interactions together, whether any of them wanted to acknowledge it or not.
"What game, Ed?" He tried again.
"The games at the carnival of course of course!" She replied jubilantly.
Spike was stumped. "What? Wait, what did I agree to?"
Ed's grin was sly. "To play a game. But the games Ed wants to play are all at the Cydonia Carnival in Alba City! Soooooo a Bebop vacation? Instead of a day at the beach, a day at the park! You already agreed you know,"
Spike was unamused. "You've been spending too much time with Faye I think. Anyway we're not even in Mars orbit right now."
"Ohhhh yeah like the Asteroid Belt is far away," Ed retorted.
"Whatever, kid. You convince Jet and we got a deal, I'll play like I said."
"Faye would say to get that in writing," Ed told him. "But never fear, Edward believes you!" She grinned hugely and then transformed her face into a hideous scowl and spoke with the deepest voice she could manage. "It would be a terrible thing to break that belief, wouldn't it?"
He raised an eyebrow at her antics. "I'm no Faye, I'll keep my word."
"Hey!" Faye's voice preceded her body's arrival to the living room. "I can keep my word just fine!" She defended herself. "What are you bozos even talking about?"
"Playing a game, Faye-Faye! Will you play too?" Ed gave her puppy dog eyes. It looked unnatural on the teen but Faye was inclined to agree regardless because of both Ed's recent womanly transition and Faye's own natural tendency to compete with Spike.
"Sure, Ed. What's the game?"
But Edward shook her head and shook both of her pointer fingers at them. "Uh uh uh! No telling yet! It'll be a surprise!"
Faye and Spike exchanged a nervous look as Ed bounded from the living room to track down Jet. The older man was a softie when it came to Ed so the pair knew that their next destination would be on Ed's terms.
Their lives were often in jeopardy due to their chosen career but sometimes partaking in Ed's shenanigans could be just as hazardous. There was no telling what was in store for them next...
xxx
Always read the fine print, Space Cowboy!