Sinclairville
The Next Morning
"What are you doing? You need to drink some water! You haven't pissed in like half a day, Spike, you're clearly fucking dehydrated."
"I'm trying to drink!"
"That's not water!"
"I don't want water!" He snapped, taking a big swig from the bottle he held.
Faye rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and stepped away from the pile of bedding. "Ugh, you absolute child. *How* are you the man I'm attracted to?" She muttered to herself as Spike immediately began dry heaving from the pull of disgusting grape scotch he'd taken.
"Wha-" cough, cough "Whaddya say?" He tried asking, still convulsing from the devastation he'd attempted to unleash on his stomach and liver.
"Find the water bottle I gave you last night. It's somewhere in that mess. Get your shit together so we can get the fuck out of here - I am done with this graveyard of a town." She replied, ignoring his question.
He'd either heard her or he hadn't, it didn't matter much to her. She wasn't about to encourage that topic of discussion at the moment. Her head was pounding from the hangover she'd woken up with.
Taking a deep breath, she immediately regretted it when she caught a whiff of the purplish bile from Spike's idiotic persistence in guzzling booze first thing upon waking. Wrinkling her nose, she grabbed the suitcase she'd repacked since waking up earlier herself and headed outside to blaze in peace and quiet.
She was already down one outfit because she'd tossed it after the Scaggs bounty when she'd gotten covered in blood and brain matter, so that meant her bag had some available space. Unsure of their next move, she had done something completely new to her.
She had packed for survival.
Who knew where the next inhabited city on Earth was? What if there weren't any abandoned vehicles they could hotwire to move quickly? Realistically, they could call Ed and Jet at any point and get picked up but Faye was too proud to admit defeat so soon. No, she was determined to see this through.
So. She'd packed up the camp stove and the few cans of beans, soup, and vegetables that hadn't expired too long ago. She'd added a few other items like butane to fuel the stove and some cookware because her method of simply heating the cans last night had worked but hadn't been ideal when it came to pouring hot contents into containers for consumption. She'd stuffed in an emergency blanket or two, some water bottles, some more expired medicine for her cranky partner, and the remainder of her clothes that seemed worth the effort of packing.
It had been chilly when she woke so she was already wearing the bomber jacket again over a clean outfit she'd dressed in before Spike awoke. His clothing, which she'd hung along a line of fairy lights she'd found in the store, was all still damp but she didn't know what to do about that. There was no electricity to try and run any of the dryers in the appliance section, and there was no breeze inside to air dry anything.
Leaning against the brick facade of the ValueStop, she puffed away on a cigarette first and then sparked up a joint immediately afterward. She looked around at the remnants of civilization and sighed to herself. At least there were some light posts in the parking lot she could use as poles to fashion a clothesline outside to try letting the sun and fresh air dry Spike's clothes. She'd checked his luggage the night before in case he had dry clothes of his own, but his bag held only the cigarette cartons they'd brought, extra ammo for their guns, and a kit to clean the guns too.
He was semi-conscious when she ventured back inside. Muttering about grapes. Gagging every so often. What a lunkhead.
She sighed again and held her breath as she gathered up the bedding that Spike had thrown up on. It really wasn't much, basically just the swig of booze and some stomach bile - he hadn't had much available in his stomach to purge aside from any undigested soup from the previous night - but vomit in any amount was an awful smell.
She disposed of the dirty bedding in a far corner of the store and then decided to handle the clothing issue before trying to force any drugs into Spike. Hell, the clothes might even be dry by the time she could achieve her secondary mission given how stubborn Spike could be.
After she got the makeshift clothesline hung up and all his clothes out there - clipped on with plastic potato chip savers because there were no clothespins in the store - she took a walk around the town. Daylight had not changed much about the village. The daycare was still freaky looking and the funeral home not much more inviting. Neither building would have anything to offer her, nor the church, not unless there were working vehicles in any of the lots which so far had not been the case.
Gummer's Gun and Saddle Shop was still closed. She decided it would have been odd if it had been open when nothing else seemed to be operational in this place. The windows had bars on them and the door itself was locked, but given the dilapidated state of most of the buildings in this village, Faye had strong suspicions about the state of the roof. Climbing up onto a nearby dumpster so she could reach the brick awning, she managed to pull herself up and then slunk belly down from there to the roof proper. Sure enough there were spots entirely open to the sky thanks to rain, snow, and probably meteor damage over the years.
Grinning to herself, Faye made her way carefully across the edge of the drooping roof to a point near the back wall where she could see a file cabinet inside one of the roof holes. Clutching onto the brick lip of the roof ledge, she eased herself over the rough edge - grateful yet again for the protective barrier of the bomber jacket - and found her footing on the cabinet so she could release the roof and venture further into the structure.
Finally, some good fortune!
Faye found a cloth tote bag in the closet of the office and rifled through the file cabinet, the desk, the small safe under the sink in the bathroom of all places, and the miraculously well stocked shelves and drawers of the show room. Guns! Even better though - bullets!
There was even C4 but that seemed too volatile to bring along even if it could prove useful.
She felt like a kid in a candy store as she rummaged through the shop and helped herself to everything she could stuff into the satchel. Fuck catching bounties, she could make a fortune just looting abandoned Earth cities and selling off whatever treasures she found.
If only it wasn't quite so disturbing to be in places where no one else seemed to be.
Leaving was a piece of cake because she simply unlocked and walked out the front door. The sun was shining and the breeze was warm as she dragged her bag of goodies back to the ValueStop. Maybe she'd grabbed too much but she could always make Spike carry this bag. Well. Maybe not given the condition he was in.
Time to medicate the asshole and then she could go on one more tour of the town to ensure she'd checked all the vehicles in case any had gas and could function. If need be, she could always take gas from one and put it in another but first she'd have to find one that at least started up. Any issues beyond fuel and she was out of her element, although realistically the car only had to last them until they could find another town.
Spike seemed more lucid when she entered this time. The bottle of scotch had disappeared, which probably meant it had been thrown to some forgotten corner of the store.
"Expired or not, you ready for your medicine?" Faye asked him. She grabbed several boxes of various cold pills and started popping them out of their safety foil. She knelt down next to where Spike still lay and fished around under the blankets until she recovered the water bottle. Spike looked up at her crankily. "Sit up, c'mon, I don't want you choking on this and puking AGAIN."
With a scowl, Spike managed to work himself into a sitting position. The effort made sweat stand out on his forehead. Faye dropped the pills into his outstretched hand and then offered the water bottle once he was ready to swallow them. To her satisfaction he held onto the bottle after that and continued to take small, steady sips from it. Hah, she knew he was dehydrated.
"What's the word, bird?" He asked her eventually, his voice rough.
"Robbed the gun store, made out like a bandit." She said proudly. "Got us a go bag all set for taking our camping trip on the road again but I don't know if you're gonna be good to leave today. You look like shit."
Spike huffed and moved to lay back down, turning his back on her. "You really know how to make a guy feel good,"
She shrugged even though he wasn't looking at her. "Well, you're the lunkhead who took a walk in the rain and then days later mucked around in the lake, I'm not surprised you caught a cold." Feeling sympathy for him again, she reached over and rubbed his back in a slow circular motion. He had been in a tense fetal position but her actions made him sigh softly and relax a bit.
"Thanks, Faye," He said quietly.
"Mm," She replied, continuing her soothing motions. "Just get some more sleep, you'll be better when you wake up." It was rewarding as hell when he soon started to snore. Faye settled into a more comfortable position at his side and reached over to the nearby shelf where she'd stashed a few cans of peaches and pears. It was time for breakfast!
xxx
Meanwhile…
On Ganymede...
"You in position, Ed?"
"Yup yup yup! Officer Edward is in place and ready to go, sir!" Ed replied jubilantly.
Jet couldn't help cracking a grin despite his attempt to remain stoic. It was important that Ed understand how serious the business of bounty hunting was. He didn't want her flying by the seat of her pants the way Spike did, or stuck reacting to a shitstorm the way Faye tended to live. If he could play his cards right, Ed could be the best of the best.
Today he was teaching her reconnaissance and surveillance. He was going to have her track him as he made his way through the port city of Phokaia. His goal was to familiarize her with the area and also with the difficulty of tracking someone actively trying to avoid being tailed.
The day before, after leaving Spike and Faye in New New York, he'd contacted Doohan about teaming up for repairs on the heat system. In a curiously convenient twist of fate, the parts they'd need to fix the Bebop happened to be available in a shipyard on Ganymede, which was also where the extraneous luggage in the cargo bay was destined to go. It would be a cold trip there and back, and then probably the better part of a day to get the repairs done, but Ed and Ein were the best companions he could hope for on an uncomfortably chilly trip. Unlike Spike and Faye, neither Ed nor Ein complained very often - usually only when they were hungry - and they weren't especially bothered by the chilly air.
No, Ed had taken to wearing Spike's puffy pink jacket and she'd put on half a dozen pairs of Faye's pink tights, which were held up on Ed's thin legs by her wrapping the elastic around her waist into a tangled knot of a belt. Ein just made himself a nest in the bedding left in Faye's room for the duration of the space flight to Jupiter's moons. Due to the load they carried, they'd been able to access the freight gates and had made much better time than they would have had they been traveling in the standard gate lane. Spike might frown on this type of work but Jet was more convinced than ever that it was the way to go.
It was shortly after taking off to make the delivery and acquire the machinery for the repairs when Jet had decided to utilize the time with Ed to get some training under her belt. Spike and Faye were concentrating on self defense, which was obviously very important. But Jet planned to teach her the observational skills to hopefully keep her out of any dangerous position where she'd even need to defend herself. Being prepared, or better yet a step ahead, was just the smarter way to go about things whenever possible.
The more situational awareness and understanding of humanity a person had, the better their odds of riding out any scenario. She could learn to use her environment to her advantage with reflections and understanding how sound echoed off various building materials.
If she paid attention to someone's hands she could learn all sorts of details about a person's life… if they were married, if they gardened, if they bite their nails down to nubs. And if she learned how to watch a person's eyes she could discern their honesty when they spoke.
There were countless tricks and tidbits he'd picked up during his time on the force and since then. It made him feel good to finally have someone to impart these lessons on. To be able to helpfully shape a young life.
He was nearly giddy about it all, to be honest.
Things were falling into place all around him and life was starting to be…comfortable, even good. They'd been knocking out bounties left and right trying to get a little nest egg growing since there were always unexpected expenses that would need to be paid. Somehow there was always property damage whenever Spike and Faye went after bounties, after all.
Having converted a portion of the ship's storage to a hydroponics bay was paying off in wonderful ways beyond just saving them cash on groceries. They had fresh herbs and vegetables and Ed was learning how to garden, which was yet another crucial life skill for a self-sustaining individual. And then using the other storage space to actually store and transport stuff? Why hadn't he been multitasking like that this entire time? He'd fallen so fully into the lazy bachelor lifestyle with Spike, he hadn't even considered how simple it was to live off the grid with just a little time and effort and initial investment. Hydroponics equipment wasn't cheap.
There was no point in regretting missed opportunities though - now was the time to focus on what could be done. And right now that meant running some errands around town to see how well Ed could follow along.
His first mission was to head over to the Baiwa Real Estate office downtown.
They'd made the order for tons of sand, which wasn't even something Singapore exported en masse. No, the company they'd contacted on Earth - Kettel Corp - had reached out to a parent company based in the vast African desert and had tons and tons of sand hauled over from there. The issue at that point became a lack of delivery companies willing to haul that much weight from Earth to Jupiter space, though usually a trucking company was the easy answer.
Apparently, however, they'd already lost several shipments and the Baiwa folks and the Singapore based Kettel Corp Co who'd lined up the sand sale initially, had decided they needed to put an end to this perplexing problem. Hence the hiring of bounty hunters to ensure the sale and delivery actually went according to plan.
The Baiwa folks were keen on getting as much dirt and sand as possible so they could create new property on the largely water-covered surface of Ganymede. It wasn't a terrible idea, just not a very realistic one. Still, it wasn't up to Jet to tell anyone else what to do with their lives and their money - it was just his job today to make sure the damn sand got where it needed to go. Whatever came of it after that was up to someone else.
He'd left Ed on the bridge of the Bebop with Ein. They'd been under very strict orders to keep an eye on the payload while tracking him on the monitors via the cameras throughout the city and any satellite footage Ed could hack into. He'd told her she couldn't cheat and use an actual tracker on him because what were the odds she'd be able to stick a tracker onto bounty heads if she needed to?
This background bullshit was important. Familiarizing yourself with the likely location of the suspect. Observe routines and identify people to question if need be - once the legwork part begins. He wasn't ready to release Ed into the wild just yet though, mostly because he was worried about her interrogation skills. They'd had bounties on board who'd seemed very nervous around Edward and he had to wonder what went on when no one else was around.
Legwork could come later though. Tapping into footage, research, observation, tracking - these were all things Ed had done before. None of it was new to her and it should all be a breeze no matter how hard Jet tried to make things. The point of all this was to test her patience really. Sure, she'd been able to devote days on end to playing chess, but could she focus for hours on end watching a lot of nothing going on?
Most of bounty hunting was research, after all, and then trying to create or manipulate a situation that worked in their favor to grab the bounty. Only the last five minutes tended to be action packed and adrenaline fueled. The rest was endless hours of screen time and questioning locals and trying to get an idea of their target. Patience was perhaps the most important virtue a cowboy could have.
Jet had been breezing into buildings, slipping out side exits, ducking under covered stalls of various folks selling fish and other foodstuffs. He was trying to make it hard on Ed but wanted to keep it somewhat fun as well just to keep her from getting bored and falling asleep.
Glancing around at the bustling harbor, Jet winked at a nearby camera and went into the back door of the Baiza building. It was time to get the ball rolling on the main part of his mission here - training Ed was just the icing on the cake! He had to unload all the sand and then find Doohan's mechanic friend down at the shipyard across the port. Okay, Black Dog, time to get to it!
xxx
Sinclairville
Early afternoon
"Okay, so hear me out," Faye began.
"Faye." Spike was leaning against the ValueStop. He had gotten about four feet from the building when the monstrosity before him in the parking lot truly registered. Now he was leaning against the building for a lack of anywhere better to go. She'd already dismantled the pillow fort inside that he'd been enjoying.
"Keep in mind, you have no say about this." Faye went on, bulldoggedly. "It exists. It started. I was able to put fuel in it." She shuddered and continued. "I risked my life to scope out that horrifying daycare and turns out they had a lawnmower in the shed with gas in it still."
"Faye. This is a hearse."
"Spike. This is a bubblegum pink hearse, god alone knows why, that was left at the funeral home *thankfully* empty. All of our stuff is already loaded and I made you a bed in the back so you can just," She made motions with her fingers to indicate walking and then brought her hands together under her cheek and tilted her head to pretend to be sleeping.
"I'm not gonna be able to sleep in the back of a hearse!" He argued, blowing his nose on a scrap of tissue. He had a roll of toilet paper stuffed into his pocket.
"If this is gonna be your attitude it'd be a whole lot cooler if you did," She informed him primly.
He sighed and pushed away from the building.
"Well, fuck it, let's go I guess." He muttered.
"Alright! Hey, um, siphoning gas… that was a first for me and I didn't do the best. I didn't inhale any but I definitely got some in my mouth. Remind me not to smoke for a while, hey?"
"Jesus, Faye,"
"I even drank that gross grape shit once I found where you tossed it but, ugh, I can still taste the gas," She made a face.
"Fuck, should I be driving? Are you blitzed right now?"
She pushed him towards the back of the vehicle but he swerved back towards the front.
"I wasn't huffing the gas, Spike! And I didn't drink much - that shit tasted worse than the gas."
She'd mistaken his attempts to get into the front as a desire to drive. "No, I just - I don't want to lay down right now. I just woke up again. Lemme sit up front for a bit to keep you company."
She gave him a look like she didn't trust his reasoning but finally nodded and stopped trying to redirect his steps.
"So ...got any memories of road trip games we can play? I think I remember one about license plates but we're fucked there since apparently no one else drives around here." Faye asked as they climbed inside.
"Hm. A couple," Spike admitted. "But I think for some reason they all involve booze."
"Eh," Faye waved that off. "You're still sick and I should stay sober. Nevermind. How about… twenty questions?" She asked, starting the car.
"How about not?"
"How about a nap, mister whiny baby crabby pants?"
Spike sent her a sly look. "Wait, are we down to nineteen questions each or do they only count as a question if we answer?"
She couldn't help laughing at him. "Your math is wrong since that was also a question."
"Okay. Whatever. Let's call this...sixteen. What did you do after you woke up? Before we met."
Silence stretched in the vehicle for a few minutes. Spike glanced over at his companion and saw her frowning as they got back on the road towards the Toronto Heights.
"Well. I didn't know where I was. Who I was. I barely knew *when* I was. All I had to go off was what that so-called Doctor and his nurse told me. And the lies from Whitney." She huffed. "I ran away again. I thought Whitney had been killed because the collections agencies were after me. At the time I had no way to know he'd staged it all to get himself out of debt."
"A true gentleman," Spike said drolly.
"Yeah a real peach," She muttered. "So, I mean. When there's nowhere you really recognize - what do you do? I ran until I reached the casino district. All the bright lights, the harmony of all the buzzers and bells and jackpots going off, the confident way the people dressed and walked… knowing they were about to go broke. It was attractive. It felt safe - there weren't a lot of shadows or dark corners, I could see anyone approaching me. And I'd already learned that deception was the name of the game in this new world, gotta look out for number one. So… I picked pockets to begin with. I'd choose a guy who looked like an easy mark, maybe brush up against him or trip into him. You know. It wasn't much usually but it was money people were gonna throw away anyway so I didn't feel bad about it."
Spike let the sound of her voice wash over him as he watched the world roll by outside the window. He could visualize a slightly younger, less confident Faye wandering through the flashing lights and smoky air of a busy casino. He could also imagine just how much of a target she herself would have been back then. Unknowingly skilled with guns, but probably unarmed. Young, attractive, and alone. It was a recipe for disaster if you asked him.
She sighed and it was the saddest sound he had ever heard from her. "Anyway, yeah that's how my second life started out." There was clearly more to her tale but Spike could tell she wasn't about to get into all of it now. Apparently his question had stirred up some depressing memories, because she turned her own ill-ease and discomfort against him with her next question as she pried into his past. "So what did you do before the Syndicate?"
"Well that's a waste of a question. I've told you all I remember. Ran wild in the streets. Learned to shoot and fight. Tried to get the notice of the Van. That's all life was…"
She scoffed and took her right hand off the wheel to give him a little shove. "Bullshit. You had to have had some kind of job. Hell, how'd you meet Doohan and get your ship anyway?"
So she thought she could just get away with another question? "Sorry, Romani, not your turn."
"You change the rules of this game whenever it suits you." She complained.
The gall of this gal!
"I didn't think it was possible to cheat at this game." He joked but she kept her eyes and focus on the road despite a decided lack of other traffic in either direction. "Oh fine, stop pouting. It's a short story. Boy steals racer on a job. Boy astounds onlookers!"
Faye laughed softly. "Okay, now that I can see. You were probably such a ballsy little hot shot."
He ignored her commentary and continued, turning his short story into a longer one of his own accord. "Since I was already in the Syndicate they figured they could use me while I was so young as a flyer. Lots of money gets tossed around betting on the mono racer circuit. So I did some events. Got a little cocky. Tried to run off on Earth but Doohan caught on and talked me into going back. Said he knew who I worked for but I couldn't just disappear like I wanted. I was only like sixteen - they would've found me in a heartbeat. It sucked but it was smart advice. Gave me a ship though and told me to buck up because he knew I could find my way free someday."
"Aww, he bet on you to succeed."
"You done with the game then?" He asked dryly.
"No! Jeez, what's wrong with that? It's sweet. But anyway it's your turn to ask a real question."
He thought for a moment and then remembered a scene he'd witnessed between Ed and Faye in the living area not long ago. "Have the flashcards been helping?"
Faye flashed him a grin. "How daring to ask while I'm behind the wheel. But yes, actually, it's been… kind of fun to sit with Ed and try to jostle loose my memories."
"That's good," He rubbed his nose. It was still stuffed. They'd only been on the road for maybe an hour but the motion of the vehicle traveling down the road was beginning to put him to sleep. "I can't stay awake," He whined unhappily.
Faye laughed at his plight. "Trying to get out of the game I see. Well, lucky for you this thing has a bench seat. I won't make you climb in back - just lay down." She patted her lap invitingly.
Being sick sucked, but being coddled by Faye wasn't too bad!
"Please don't kill us in my sleep," Spike requested as he stretched out as best he could in the space of the long front seat. It was much worse lying down for some reason - his congested head was confused by the transition. So he closed his eyes to try and trick himself into thinking he was still sitting up.
In no time at all he was back asleep.
xxx
"I don't understand."
"I don't think you need to," Faye groaned. "It was free so what does it even matter?"
"I just… they took my vitals, gave me a shot, and then sent us on our way and I don't have to pay for the medicine?"
Faye glanced at him. "I mean what do you expect from a drive thru pharmacy? And it's Canada. I feel like… health is covered here? Like, by the people that run this part of the world."
"They pay for everyone who gets sick or hurt?" He asked, puzzled and still feeling like he owed money somehow. The shot they'd given him had been incredible. It had been like an energy drink, an expectorant, a nasal decongestant, and a cooling agent all in one. He felt like he could take on the world and his throat and lungs seemed to be made of menthol. Okay, so the drug or his dissipating cold had also made him a little loopy still.
Faye was laughing though so it was okay that he was struggling. "I don't know how it works," She admitted. "Let's just be grateful because that means more money to splurge on the hotel!"
"Aw crap, I forgot you got to choose next."
"Oh don't be such a turd in the punchbowl - you'll love my good taste."
Spike made a face at her. "Gross, Faye."
She laughed again. He was starting to really enjoy it when she did. "Oh whatever, let's pull over here for some grub quick. I am starving for some real food!"
"You didn't wanna camp out and have expired soups again?" He teased.
"Hey, I've learned there's nothing wrong with being prepared. But no, I absolutely do not want to dine out of a tin can tonight. And I am not sleeping unless I have a penthouse suite somewhere!"
"Shit, we better catch that bounty first then, little Miss high class. Let's touch base with Ed for details while we eat."
"Donino's Pizza, WcDonalds, or Seymour's?" She asked, turning their hideous pink death ride towards the exit that indicated food ahead. It might turn out to be a lie but Spike was trying to be more optimistic about things today.
It had been gorgeous weather since he'd walked out of the ValueStop earlier, happily back in his own clothes. They weren't the cleanest but they were at least dry now thanks to Faye.
The sun had been shining on them and the area they had driven through was slipping from summer into autumn so nearly all the trees were changing colors. Reds, oranges, yellows, browns, greens, golds… The air smelled fantastic too, now that his nose had unplugged and he could breathe more easily.
Coasting along the edge of the Great Lake Basin he could even appreciate how pretty the water was when there wasn't a vehicle submerged in it. At least they'd used fake names when renting it so there weren't any new strikes against either of them for ditching it where it died.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up on the dash.
"You okay there, cowboy?" Faye asked. She rolled down the windows and waved to clear the air. "Sorry to clam bake ya but I wanted to burn one before we eat. Guess it's a good thing I didn't offer you any."
"When did you park?!"
"Hmm, maybe I'll just leave you out here…"
"Where are we?" He could not keep anything straight in his head. What the fuck had been in that shot they'd given him?
"You zoned out so I chose. I wanted Seymour's Steamed Hams."
He blinked at her. "I - yeah, no, I'll wait. Get me something good."
She eyed him critically as she turned off the car and pocketed the key. "I'm gonna leave the windows down so you can enjoy the fresh air. You just...stay put."
He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Where the fuck would I go?" He asked her as she started towards the restaurant. She threw up her arms in a *who knows* or possibly a *why me* way but he didn't mind her getting the last bit in when it was so enjoyable to watch her walk away.
xxx
"So this bounty is still on, right Ed?" Spike asked.
"You betcha! You're cutting it close but tonight is when the meeting goes down at Casa Loma so good job!" Ed replied. Her image on the comm was just a gray smear of shaky static but at least they could hear each other. Long distance conversation was never very reliable when they were so far apart and clearly Ed and the Bebop were on the very edge of receivable communications. The young hacker kept talking, catching the full attention of both Earth-bound bounty hunters. "There's something squishy fishy about all this! Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, special agents!"
Faye groaned. "What does that mean, Ed? What even is this mission?"
Spike looked at her across the picnic table they'd set up a lunch base at. "Weren't you paying any attention when we discussed this originally?"
Ignoring him, Faye grabbed the comm and shook it as if that would improve the image. "Ed!"
"Your mission is to retrieve blackmail material from one Ms Carmen Santiago. That's the supposed mistress of Leopold Scott. He wants you to get the blackmail and to eliminate the blackmailer!"
"Well that sounds straightforward enough," Faye mused aloud.
"Yesssssss, but it doesn't ring true to Ed! Carmen Santiago looks too lovely to have been Scott's secret paramour! And she's rich herself so why would she want to blackmail him? No, something about this all seems strange and Ed does not care much for Mr Scott."
Spike finished his tray of food while Faye and Ed talked. Eating real food finally made him feel more like himself. "Well, we'll keep that in mind I guess, Ed." He assured her.
"What is the blackmail material anyway? Should we be looking for a disc or what?" Faye inquired.
Static answered. Faye tossed the comm onto the table in frustration and turned back to her own meal while Spike picked up the comm and banged it on the bench he was sitting on. After a few more bangs, he could make out Ed's voice again.
"Ed is after the Sand Man! He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye of a hurricane that's abandoned!"
"Whoa what's that now?" Spike interjected.
"Jeez, Ed! You're going after a bounty without us?!" Faye exclaimed.
"Ed was bored! You guys are catching bad guys without us too," She pointed out. "And no. Ed has been very good. Buuuuut Jet-person has Edward on surveillance and that's where Ed saw the bounty! Now… to follow or not to follow? The lesson is to always follow a stranger!"
"That's a terrible lesson," Spike started to say. Faye pushed her tray of food to the center of the table, looking despondent. He frowned at her. "Ed, we gotta get back on the road. We'll be in touch but you stay out of trouble, you hear me?"
Ed's laughter threaded through the static on the comm until the device went quiet.
"What's with you?" Spike asked, feeling concern for his partner. Not so concerned that he didn't pick up the remains of her burger to scarf down himself since she was evidently done eating it.
She gaped at him. "This could be a big deal! Don't you wanna be there for her first real chase? I mean… okay, let's look at this another way... remember that video clip she showed us?"
He thought back. "Dumb Guys Who Died Dumb?"
"Yeah!"
Spike smirked at her. "I thought you put her up to that. Trying to tell me and Jet something about being fatalistic."
She snorted. "No, but I mean whatever lesson you may have taken from that, by all means hold it to heart. But, yes that video - with the music in the background? It's called Benny Hill and it's usually used to indicate a ridiculous farce of a chase. Can't you just imagine all of us on Ed's first real bounty hunt… and the chaos that will no doubt ensue… with that kind of thematic music underscoring it all?"
Spike was quiet for a minute as he gave it thought. His mouth quirked into a smile. "Okay, Romani, you got me. That *is* something I'm looking forward to seeing and being a part of." He was slightly shook at the concept of looking forward to anything, but recovered in the blink of an eye. "But let's not encourage Ed to make soundtracks to our adventures, hey?"
"Oh but we could stream everything and charge people to view it and be famous!" Faye had stars in her eyes.
Spike bonked her on the head with the steamed ham wrappers he'd balled up.
"You'd be okay with people across the galaxy seeing you as you are right now?" For emphasis he reached over and tugged a leaf out of her hair. She blushed prettily.
"Yeah yeah, okay, I see your point." She quickly abandoned her dreams of fame. "Whatever, let's get back on the road and back to work."
They stood up and shared a distasteful grimace before throwing out their garbage in a nearby receptacle and making their way back to the pink behemoth.
"I cannot wait to get rid of this ride," Faye muttered. "Remind me to never bother with automobiles ever again. If it can't fly, don't even try."
Spike chuckled. "Don't badmouth it too much yet, it's still gotta get us further down the road!"
xxx
Meanwhile on Ganymede...
"Ed, where did you go?!" Jet had returned to the ship to discover Ed, Ein, and the sand missing. He was yelling into his comm device now, hoping that Ed had at least been smart enough to take it with her wherever she'd gone. She tended to march to the beat of her own drum, but he'd been so sure she would have stuck to her mission and stayed on the ship protecting the sand!
"Ahoy hoy!" Her voice sounded from the device in his hand.
"EDWARD!" He boomed.
"A bunch of children poured out of a dump truck - a la clown car! Ed watched them board with buckets and loaded allll the sand away! Then Ed threw a water balloon - splat! - onto the truck! Wasn't water, found more paint! So now Edward is following the spot!"
Well, apparently Ed was the one who needed to wear a tracker.
"Is Ein with you? Where are you, Ed?" He had already gotten the Hammerhead lifted to the flight deck so he could chase them down.
"Yep yep! Ein is keeping an eye on Tomato! You said we had to keep watch for surveillance!"
He'd meant that instruction to keep both girl and dog stationed on the Bebop until he returned, but naturally Ed had chosen to interpret the instruction in her own way. Jet wondered why he ever thought training Ed would be any easier or better than dealing with Spike or Faye. They were all loose cannons and he was forever stuck sorting through the wreckage they made. Although, to be fair he had also told Ed to keep her eye on the prize, referring to the sand for delivery, and while he'd hoped that would have led her to contacting him if anyone tried to steal it… he shouldn't be too surprised that she'd decided instead to let the crime happen and just follow along behind.
Her voice came over the device again. "You're following Ed? We're being sneaky sneaky so we don't get caught! Over by the hiiiiighway! Oh ho! Time to merge? Let's jump track, Ein!" Her commentary was giving Jet serious anxiety. She must be on her scooter, but that thing wasn't built for serious speed or long distance, though she'd souped it up with Doohan at some point.
Grateful that she'd dragged Ein along on her adventure, Jet activated the tracker in the mutt's collar so he could catch up to his errant young partners. Having Ed around kept things interesting, that's for sure!
xxx
Earth - Casa Loma
"Holy fuck this place is gorgeous," Faye said, sounding stunned, as they drove up the cobbled street to pause in front of the sprawling stone castle that was their destination. The mission was simple enough - track down the bounty inside the building and obtain the blackmail she had on their boss of the moment, Leopold Scott. The guy had requested Carmen be left alive, but had also indicated it wasn't the end of the world if that should prove too difficult to arrange.
Spike was also rather impressed by the structure. It stood stories tall and had all sorts of towers and balconies and fountains long run dry and countless rooms inside. Acres of gardens stretched out in nearly all directions around the castle; long given over to nature they had become wild and overgrown in a startlingly beautiful way. There were pockmarks on quite a bit of the stone exterior and some sections seemed to have crumbled away entirely over the passage of time and due to lack of care. The main body of the building looked relatively legit but Spike had significant doubts about the structural reliability of the majority of it.
Majestic it may be, but Spike had been in any number of beautiful buildings that had turned out to be death traps. Thankfully none had yet claimed his life and if he kept playing his cards right, this too would be just another hauntingly lovely place he'd see and survive.
"What's the plan then?" Faye asked as she parked in a shadowy corner of what had once clearly been stables.
They climbed out of the vehicle and walked out to the cobblestone path to regard the castle in the fading light of the sun. Spike tilted his head back to survey the full height of the imposing building before them. He wished there had been some sort of schematic or building plans that they could have looked over to get a better grasp of the place. Finding the Great Hall sounded like an easy mission, but everything about this place looked Great or Grand so he wasn't that confident any longer.
"Well, Scott set up a meeting with Carmen in the Great Hall. We're supposed to get the goods from her there," He explained the little he knew.
"Whatever the goods might be," Faye muttered. Ed had never adequately answered that question for them. Hopefully it was something that fit neatly into a pocket.
"There's a pretty good sized hole in the wall over there," Spike indicated. "Let's head in that way, maybe we can sneak into a good spot before she arrives. I don't see any other vehicles or zipcraft so it's possible we beat her here."
They made their way through the bramble of the overgrown garden and snuck in through a portion of the basement wall missing a significant section. Both bounty hunters were quiet, giving the remaining wall nervous glances as they ventured in. Neither of them had any desire to be crushed by the ceiling collapsing or a wall caving in on them and the chances of that happening seemed equally likely. Parts of the castle made disturbing creaks and groans when the wind blew.
"What in the fuck," Faye called out, stopping in her tracks in front of him.
Spike pressed up against her back to peer beyond her. "What the fuck!" He echoed.
They'd entered from outside into a gallery room that had almost immediately opened into an underground swimming pool. It was drained of water and instead held an impressive array of gravestones. Standing so close behind Faye, Spike could feel it when she shuddered. Shaking his head at the oddity and the general creepiness of it, he slipped past her to take the lead as they continued further inside.
It was quite dark in the lower section of the castle since there were no windows, but they had the flashlights from the ValueStop so they made quick progress down the hallway. None of these doorways would lead them to the Great Hall so they didn't bother exploring any of the rooms with closed doors. Who knew if the act of opening the door would bring everything crashing down?
They did however make note of a wine cellar across from the stairs leading up to the rest of the building, just in case they were able to circle back and help themselves to some of the well-aged vino still nicely preserved in the mostly undamaged cellar. Neither they nor Jet were much of wine drinkers, but beggars can't be choosers after all and since the door to the wine cellar was wide open it seemed like an invitation to help themselves once the job was done.
Arriving at the landing of the main floor, Faye caught Spike's sleeve before he could advance into the main floor hallway. He glanced back at her and then followed her pointing finger and the shine of her flashlight to what looked like clay stuffed into the upper angle of the hallway corridor where the wall met the ceiling. Her beam of light skittered further down the hall, indicating other locations of clay wedged similarly. Not clay though.
Fucking C4.
Well, this just got a lot more dangerous and considerably more intriguing.
Clearly, either Carmen had been here already and was setting up for a grand show… or Scott was leading them into a trap designed to kill them all. Which didn't make the most sense considering Leopold Scott had nothing against any of the Bebop crew as far as they knew. But, since the man was ambivalent about Carmen's potential death, it seemed like they could easily just be more collateral damage in the pursuit of destroying the blackmail material Carmen had.
Sharing a grim look, they turned off their flashlights and quietly crept into the hall.
There was nothing for it now but to continue…
xxx
Meanwhile on Ganymede...
The door exploded inward off its hinges in a very satisfying manner. Wood splinters rained down as if someone had violently shaken a dead pine tree. The debris filtered in around the shocked faces of a few men in business suits and a man wearing Ganymede City Worker clothing.
Grinning, Jet brought his gun up on the group.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here!" He called out to the occupants. "Doesn't look like a normal meeting of the Buoy Boys, I'll tell you that much."
Only one of the men had thought to raise a gun when the door burst in and that was the man Jet kept his own weapon locked on.
He heard the sound of movement behind him as the motley crew he'd spent the past hour or so gathering began to fill into the small building. It was a one room office space nestled next to the warehouse that the Musasi Real Estate company had signed a lease for scant weeks ago. Coincidentally just before the Baiwa Real Estate company had begun losing shipments of sand.
His group consisted of Ganymede City Police Officer Keach Stedenko and Lionel Bailey, president and mogul of the Jupiter Real Estate Bureau, who came up to stand on Jet's left side. Meanwhile, Holland and Hammond, the owners of Baiwa Real Estate, stepped up on his right.
Which meant there was still an unaccounted for member of his team. Maybe he should have sent her back to the Bebop after they followed the paint marked dump truck to this other dock on the West End. Well, it was far too late for regrets now.
"All right, folks, I've got places to be. How's this gonna play out, huh?"
xxx
Slipping his freshly refilled woolong card into an inside pocket of his jumpsuit, Jet dipped out of the too-crowded office space to let the authorities sort out the situation now that everything was out in the open.
He pulled out his comm to try hailing Ed when he noticed a familiar looking dog butt sticking out of an alley further down the street.
Sure enough, where there was Ein there was Edward.
She was having a hushed conversation with a small child dressed in rags. Jet could see several other children of varying ages farther down the alleyway. They all shied away when he appeared in the space between buildings but when Ed straightened up to smile at him, the other kids seemed to trust her reaction.
The child on the pallet scurried away to join the others, leaving a trail of crumbs in their wake. Jet hadn't even noticed the loaf of bread the urchin had been hiding under their threadbare jacket.
Ed spun on her heel and put her hands on her hips to regard him sternly. For a moment he felt like a disobedient child about to be reprimanded which was entirely opposite of how it should be. He was mad at her for running off!
"Remember, remember! If you see someone stealing food...no, you didn't." Ed said firmly.
Her statement derailed his frustration with the way she liked to run off. "What's that now?"
"They're just hungry, they aren't bad." Ed went on. "Those are the kids that the Musasi people were using to transport the sand. They'd get food for doing all that manual labor. They live on the streets so they just show up where they're told and load up the truck and that's a meal or two."
"Well that's crazy. They shouldn't have to work to eat. How are they hungry? On Mars, sure you gotta scrounge for food, but here on Ganymede you can feed yourself with fish!"
Ed gave him a considering look. "Who will teach them though? It's not a skill anyone is born knowing."
Ahhh. Jet was beginning to see the issue now. He'd never considered the plight of homeless kids, even after Ed had become a member of the crew. During his time as an ISSP officer he dealt primarily with adults and simply sent the teens off to juvenile detention centers if he ever caught any up to no good. He felt a twinge of guilt for never giving any of them a second thought.
Fortunately, he thought he might have a solution...
xxx
Chaos at Casa Loma
Faye was extremely anxious as they scuttled along the balcony ledge that had once run three quarters of the way around the Grand Hall. It was situated directly above the wide main stairway that led to the Grand Hall proper, but quite a few chunks had fallen down onto the stairs below.
There had once been an incredible window that ran floor to ceiling for the three stories that comprised the Grand Hall, but the glass was long gone now. It allowed all the remaining daylight to shine on in, not that twilight offered much, and it also permitted a chilly breeze through the building that kept bringing the castle to life with frightening noises.
"Not trying to tell you how to live your lives but you messed up by coming here!" A female voice shouted. Then, softer, as though talking to herself she went on, "should have known he'd never take the bait."
Bullets fired up from the landing down below where Carmen had obviously arrived.
"Hey!" Faye shouted indignantly. "We're the good guys here! We're just trying to make a deal with you!"
"Nonsense! You're working for Scott! You're the bad guys! And you signed your lives away agreeing to meet me for him! I was supposed to be taking his life right now, the coward!"
"We haven't even shot at you!" Spike threw in angrily. He and Faye both had their weapons out but hadn't had a good angle to get off a shot. Carmen was staying just out of sight below them and firing blindly up towards their voices.
Carmen's voice drifted to them airily, "Well, I can't say I'm sorry - if you work for Scott then you probably deserve to die! But I will say thanks because I needed a body or two here in the wreckage or no one will think I died!"
"Wait, what? You're staging your own death?" Spike sounded incredulous.
"What the fuck about the blackmail?" Faye was still incensed that she didn't know what was going on. Was there even blackmail material in the mix? Was this all some insurance scheme or something similarly mundane?
"Better luck in your next lives!" Carmen called out merrily.
"Fuck!" Spike and Faye spat out together. They scrambled back the way they'd come, still dodging the wild shots Carmen was firing to keep them at bay.
"Faye we gotta get outta here before she blows this place up!" Spike hissed at her, abruptly stopping her forward momentum and pressing her into the far wall. Marble turned into dust just in front of them as a bullet got very close.
"Ugh dammit! Why can't anything be easy?!" Giving up on their bounty - entirely confused on what was happening and feeling like they'd been played by everyone involved - Faye holstered her gun and hoped that Carmen had run out of bullets.
Spike was still shielding her body with his own. She looked over her shoulder and shared a brief look with him. If they ran along the wall here… the upper landing where they were ended in ruin just a few feet from the gaping hole that was the entire exterior wall of the Grand Hall.
It wouldn't be too much of a leap but the landing was going to be a bitch. They could try running in the other direction, away from the stairs spiraling down to the main floor, perhaps to another set of stairs leading to safety.
But how much of this ruin had been rigged to blow? They'd already seen several places just in the limited areas of the castle they had explored. No, going further in would be a death sentence. Leaping recklessly out might break a bone or two but modern medicine could set that to rights in a jiffy.
And if Faye remembered correctly, there were some enormous topiaries directly outside.
The sun had once again nearly set on them. Faye fancied that she could hear a clock ticking down to certain destruction. With a hard swallow she stood, prompting Spike to straighten up as well. She heard him sigh in resignation as they backed up to give themselves more space to run and launch from.
Hearing sirens approaching and knowing the pressure was on, they wasted no more time and raced for the edge.
xxx
Earth Jail
In the Custody of Mounties
Spike lay flat on his back on the thin, cold metal bench of the jail cell. Faye was stretched out atop him, from his collarbone to his ankles, and sleeping fitfully. He'd wrapped his left arm securely around her waist but let his right arm hang to the floor. He wasn't worried about it, the floor seemed relatively clean. She was still in the bomber jacket she'd usurped from him months ago. It was singed and scraped and he didn't think he was ever going to get it back from her. But it did seem to serve her well, so that was all to the good. And it didn't hurt that she did look better in it than he did, no that was something he could appreciate.
He wondered if he was in purgatory. With the bench as hell and Faye as heaven it made sense he was trapped in between.
It was painfully bright in the cell, but Faye had not taken long to pass out once she'd shouted herself hoarse. Spike figured she'd earned the rest though, considering how much he had slept that day before they left Sinclairville, and on the road too for that matter.
He couldn't believe how the rest of their night had gone. Crashing painfully awkward onto an oversized, overgrown shrubbery. Managing to catch Faye's arm but accidentally pulling her shoulder out of socket from the force.
Getting fished out of the bushes by the police - Mounties? - who had arrived on the scene as explosions began rocking the historic building. Getting immediately arrested for the destruction and the assumed murder of Carmen Santiago - who, prior to even arriving at the castle, had apparently tipped the cops off to the nonsense going on.
They'd soon discovered that their borrowed vehicle had disappeared from the stable where it had been parked - easy come, easy go Faye had muttered - but their argument to the officers that this proved Carmen was alive had fallen on deaf ears.
So, with pretty much only their guns, comms, and their current clothing for possessions, they'd been disarmed and taken into custody. On the bright side, at least they'd had a ride to a building they could sleep in for the night.
Faye had complained for hours before abandoning her efforts and opting to sleep through the whole ordeal instead.
He couldn't blame her. They'd also popped her shoulder back into place when they'd gotten to the precinct or whatever these strange suited folks called their police station and Spike knew that pain had been unpleasant. He'd had his shoulder out of socket on a number of occasions. In fact, he was somewhat surprised he hadn't thrown his own shoulder out when he'd grabbed at Faye in the commotion of the building self-destructing behind them as they jumped to safety.
So now here they were, waiting for their partners to vouch for their presence at the crime scene and with no real way to prove they hadn't murdered their bounty.
And he was stuck with the realization that Faye felt damn good in his arms, wrapped up against him like this. The bench may as well have not existed for all he noticed its discomfort in comparison.
It felt vaguely familiar. Not like how it had felt to hold Julia on the rare occasions they'd had an opportunity to bask in one another's presence in bed. It felt more recently familiar than that and he had a fuzzy sort of recollection of Faye snuggling up to him… maybe while they'd been in that store overnight? Whatever it had been - reality or a dream - it had seemed pleasant and this, too, was far more pleasing than it should be given their incarcerated predicament.
Well. There was no going back now. He had the feel of her committed to memory now. The weight of her unconscious form draped along his lean body, the soft rise and fall of her chest pressing against his stomach, the silky feel of her hair just beneath his chin. It was giving him a curious mix of anxiety and anticipation and he dreaded the prospect of accidentally getting hard while she slept so innocently on him. It had started to seem inevitable - fuck, how did she still smell so nice after all the shit they'd been through? - when the door opened and one of the red outfitted men stepped inside.
"Hello there! Sorry 'boot all this then!" He called to them with a rueful smile. He left the door ajar and Spike could see another man in the next room, sitting behind a desk and talking on a comm to a very familiar and welcome face.
Faye shifted on him, not exactly helping his increasingly inappropriate reaction to her body on his, but did not wake. Damn, it had been far too long since he'd had so much contact with anyone. He should not be so affected - at least, not while in jail and in plain view of authority.
The man who had entered the cell area began going through his ridiculous loop of keys. Spike ignored this and instead concentrated on listening to the conversation in the other room, trying to get his mind off the way Faye's left hand was curled and resting on his chest.
"Oh yah? Oh yah don't say?" The other man was saying. The volume on the comm device was too low for Spike to hear Jet's words. "Oh yah, no, we certainly do apologize. No, yah, we understand. Yah, yah. Oh? Oh, yah eh! Well okay then, yah, you betcha!"
Spike had been watching the image on the comm and saw Ed bounce into view behind Jet. She was making kissy faces on the screen. Frowning, Spike glanced around the confines of the jail and noticed several cameras pointed in his and Faye's general direction. That little spy!
"We sure do appreciate it, yah," The man was going on. "Yah, no, fer sure! Well, you folks have yourselves a safe trip, you hear? We'll get your pals taken care of! Sorry again eh!"
Spike tightened his arm around Faye as he finally moved to sit up, drawing her along to do the same. She was slumped on him but rousing grumpily by the time the Mountie at the cell door had finally managed to track down the right key to release them back into freedom.
Faye stood on her own before Spike could gain his feet. She yawned in the Mountie's face and exited the cell and then the police station itself before anyone could say a word to her. Spike shrugged at the two men and moved to leave as well, but the sitting man sprang to his feet and hustled around the desk before he could.
"Hold up there, sir! Apologies for everything, truly, we hadn't realized you folks were legit but your partner gave us all the information about your presence in that wreck. We've got a few things to offer you - to make up for our bungle!"
Well now, this could be interesting…
xxx
Faye was standing on the steps outside, hands stuffed into the pockets of the bomber jacket, and gaze fixedly pointed on the rising sun in the distance. The relatively intact Toronto Heights skyline, including what remained of the CN Tower spire, looked pretty good in the pastel colors smearing across the sky.
Spike emerged from the police station finally, carrying a plastic bag with a smiley face wearing a Stetson hat. It had words underneath the image saying "Thanks for Staying with the RCMP!" It appeared to be full of their guns, their comm devices, whatever else Spike might have had in his pockets when they'd been arrested, and a variety of… brochures? Coupons?
Grabbing one of the comms out of the bag, she dialed the Bebop immediately. Spike sat down on the steps and began rooting through the bag for cigarettes.
"Ed, what the fuck?" Faye snapped as soon as the teenager's face appeared on the screen.
It looked like Ed was hanging by her knees upside down from the bridge railing. Her smile was apologetic. "Ed said something was straaaaange about the bounty! Looks like we got hired to eliminate her - a set up for sure! But she was already setting up to eliminate others! This ain't your average extortion I guess. What do you get when one bad guy is blackmailing another?" She shrugged. "TROUBLE! Maybe we should stay out of it. Maybe we should dive in deep! We could demand answers from the guy who hired us. But do we want to get dragged all the way in? Ed says yay!"
"Faye says nay," Faye put in resolutely. "I don't like being used like this. Fucking sacrificial lamb shit."
"Anyway just come pick us up," Spike called out from his spot on the ground. He had a cigarette in his mouth and was holding another one, already lit, towards Faye. She claimed it gratefully.
"Oh sorry! No can do," Ed made a sad face at them over the screen. "Just got back with the fixing parts! Jet-person says he needs a few hours. So...maybe later today? Maybe tomorrow! Guess we spent too long fishing,"
Faye and Spike exchanged confused looks. Neither was quite willing to follow Ed down that rabbit hole of a conversation.
"Whatever, just keep in touch," Spike grumbled at last.
Faye sighed and sat down next to Spike on the stairs. They smoked their cigarettes to the filter and then crushed the butts on the cement next to them.
"All right, what now then?" Faye asked finally. They had their guns, their comms, some cigs, and their woolong cards. Sure, they were down a traumatizing vehicle, all the loot she'd scored from Gummer's, and every other article of clothing she'd brought but… they had their basic gear and they had their lives. And it was the dawn of a brand new day. Fuck it, life was good.
A black limousine pulled up to the curb in front of them. Faye stared at it. Beside her, Spike rose to his feet and reached down to take her hand and pull her up as well.
"This place is mostly crap. I think I hate Earth." He told her. "But… these guys were pretty cool. They're cops but they're called Mounties - because… horses? Whatever, they're basically super polite cowboys and I actually think I like them."
"Is that the lesson you've learned on this trip?" Faye asked sarcastically.
"What I'm getting at here is that they felt so bad for arresting us and keeping us in jail overnight… that they were willing to bend over backwards to make it up to us." He hadn't let go of her hand after she had stood. It felt nice so she wasn't about to take her hand back from him. He carried the plastic bag in his other hand and started to lead her to the vehicle.
"Wait, this is for us?" She asked, feeling perplexed again.
Spike smirked at her proudly. "Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet - those boys in there hooked us up. In this bag is a pair of passes to a hot spring nearby and apparently they even booked us a stay in some cavern hotel to make up for the poor accommodations we were given last night."
She let him lead her to the car, where the driver hopped out to let them in. How fucking fancy!
All right, their time on Earth so far had been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Their initial bounty successes had been a fine start to their adventure, but things had gotten off track so soon afterwards and had been one headache of a hassle after another. This though… maybe this vacation could be salvaged after all!
xxx
The day had gone exceptionally well. The limousine had carried them to the poorly named heart of Toronto Heights - the underground city itself - and more specifically, to a high end mall where Faye was able to waste an hour or two replenishing her wardrobe. From there, the limo had brought them to the hot springs which had been a life-changing experience for Faye. Spike had openly admitted to hating Earth but there were definite pieces of it that held value to Faye.
She had a moment of feeling glum while they were at the hot springs though. It felt like the ideal time to indulge in a soak'n'toke but sadly her tin of joints had been in the hearse that Carmen had stolen from them in her escape. Having no ganja wasn't the end of the world by any means but it did detract a bit from her enjoyment of the moment.
Suddenly, Spike splashed into the water across from her. He'd dropped a tote bag carrying their guns and comm devices onto the rocks safely out of the water nearby.
It had been a few hours since she'd seen him actually. The hot springs also featured mud baths, and boasted massage therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists on hand. It was more of a spa than just hot springs, and Faye had given herself permission to indulge in absolutely all of it.
Her shoulder had been jacked up by Spike saving her life - or at least saving her from no doubt further injury - and sleeping on a concrete department store floor and then the bony body of her lanky partner had done her no favors. So yeah, she went for the Treat Yo'Self Ultimate Care Package and gave over a good portion of her day getting pampered.
Seeing Spike in a swimsuit was rather amusing. It was always sort of funny to her whenever he wore his boxers and tank top to do his laundry - seeing his bare legs was just so unexpected. But now he was totally topless as well, which she was torturously familiar with from his workouts solo and from their periodic sparring sessions together.
Shirtless Spike had always done something to her. That took her thoughts and emotions in an entirely different direction from the goofiness of his perfectly normal legs. There was nothing funny at all about the way her mouth went dry while other parts of her opted to go the other way about it.
He had easily dozens of scars. The worst seemed to be the ribbed bit of flesh that had been the gash received from Vicious half a year ago at least. It had healed decently and could have had less of a scar leftover truthfully, but much like Jet with his peculiar insistence on keeping a reminder of past pain around, Spike had done nothing to minimize the damage left behind.
The scars gave him a rough edge. The lean muscles that made up his body gave him a desirable edge.
She gulped.
Fuck, it was absolutely unfair how scruffy and yet attractive he managed to be.
A point in her favor - she was rocking a brand new super sexy plum purple bikini that she knew for a fact could take a man's breath away. She'd already had eyes trailing after her, though honestly she had only one person's gaze as her goal.
Refreshed, recharged, and resplendent in her barely there attire, Faye was starting to feel a certain charge to the air. There was an energy radiating from Spike that she couldn't help herself from responding to. It had been building between them for so long now and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep from doing something foolish. Time to get her mind on another track before she got herself in trouble.
"It's too bad we're outta weed," She bemoaned to her companion.
"Actually…" Spike began. He brought a hand to his fro and dug through for a moment before triumphantly pulling out a crooked joint. A second venture through his mop of hair revealed a lighter as well. Fuck, he clearly needed a hairbrush, this was absurd. But wonderfully welcome!
"Oh! But how?"
He made a sound that was a cross between a cough and a laugh as he lit the joint. "They sell it in the gift shop here. Well, I think it's sold nearly everywhere to be honest. It was in a vending machine at the Mountie place but I'm glad I waited to re-up until we got here. This shit looked much better."
She laughed as she took the doobie from him.
"So. Parts of Earth are cool," He said after a moment. "I've said nothing good ever comes of Earth but that's not true. After all, Earth is where you and Ed are from."
She smiled through the cloud she exhaled before passing the joint back to him.
"I'm not chasing another bounty on this goddamn rock anytime soon, I'll tell you that much." Faye told him, just in case he was thinking about taking off after another criminal while they were here. She was more than ready to get back to the Bebop, despite how good it felt to be relaxing in the rejuvenating waters of the hot spring.
As if he read her mind, he hurriedly spoke up. "Wait, Faye," He took another toke on the joint and then set it aside completely on a rock beside them. She frowned, puzzled, but he gave her a mischievous grin and then reached out to take her hands. Curious where he was going with this, she let him drag her to her feet in the middle of the hot spring they shared. "There's one more bounty I wanna catch while we're here…"
He leaned down to capture her lips in a searing kiss.
After a wonderful eternity, they broke apart to take in lungfuls of air. Faye spluttered at him. "What? I don't… bounty? Are you trying to turn me in after all this time?"
An unexpected voice chimed in from nowhere. "Yeah, turn you into his lover!"
"Dammit, Ed!" Spike released Faye to wade out of the springs to the bag where he found and turned off the comm device. The look he threw Faye when he'd done this just about set her on fire. She found herself grateful that they were hip deep in hot springs. There was no question about it, they were finally going to broach that subject they'd been dancing around forever.
Spike moved slowly back towards her, his gaze making her wetter than the literal water she stood in. Her breath hitched as she watched his steady advance on her.
"I've drifted through life for a while now. I want more than that. I want something real."
"What are you saying, Spike?" Faye held his gaze calmly, trying to be patient with his emotional fumbling even as her own heart began to flutter with anticipation.
"My cybernetic eye doesn't actually show the past."
She frowned at the apparent subject change. "Yeah no shit,"
He stopped walking and glared at her. "Will you let me talk?!"
Faye crossed her arms, unintentionally emphasizing her breasts. To his credit Spike's eyes only strayed for a moment. "I don't want to hear any stories about a man's honor or the nine lives of adventure cat." She warned him.
"Dammit, Faye! I am trying to say something here."
She gave him a sultry smile and uncrossed her arms to put one on her hip as she jut it out. "Oh is that so?"
He answered her smile with beguiling one of his own before speaking. "Each and every cell in my whole body is awake and alive right now." His words - her own words, her past words from her past self - stunned her. He wasn't mocking her, he was being sincere. Butterflies fluttered to life in her belly.
She shifted her weight to her other hip as she took a half step forward to meet him partway.
Standing in front of her again at last, he glanced briefly down at her swollen lips before looking her in the eye. He put his hands on her hips and tugged her gently to straighten up in front of him. His right hand was covering the hand she'd had on her hip. His left arm had wrapped around her back so his hand could splay warmly against her skin, his fingertips teasing along the base of her spine.
Her heart was pounding as he held her and continued to speak.
"Faye… you know, I happen to like you quite a bit." His smile at her then sent an enticing burn through her very core. "I'm not a very straightforward person but I figured you were clever enough to tell."
They stared at one another for a long moment in the wake of his confession, and then Faye's eyes dipped to Spike's puffy lips and he rightfully took her gaze for permission to lean in close and capture her lips once more in a kiss packed with passion.
She opened up to him without hesitation and he positively ravaged her mouth until minutes later they were both panting and dazed.
xxx
Spike could feel her eyes on him again. The lingering uncertainty within those beautiful jade green orbs despite the intensity of the kiss he'd just laid on her.
It was time to clear away any doubt or confusion.
He wanted her to know exactly how things stood.
"Don't fool yourself into thinking this is just out of convenience. You should know you're the most inconvenient woman I've ever dealt with." A pause to kiss her again. His arms had both gotten wrapped around her somehow, but hers were resting on his shoulders now, her hands toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. He went on, still somewhat breathless. "This isn't because you're the only girl immediately available either. I could leave anytime and find a woman, even pay if I had to. But I don't want to. I want you, Faye. And all the hassle you are." He pulled away to grin at her reassuringly. "Honestly, I wouldn't change you for the world. There's just something about a woman with attitude who can put me in my place."
xxx
Her mind was reeling, her heart was beating a mad staccato in her chest. Was this real life? Somehow, operating on a nearly instinctual level, she found herself responding coyly.
"Ohhhh, is *that* so? Because… I might have just the place to put you after all…" Her hands had made their way to his shoulders when he stepped into her space and put his hands on her hips, but now instead of toying with the tendrils she tightened her fingers into fists, making him hiss, as she pulled his face back to hers again.
"Mm, yeah?" He mumbled against her lips as he kissed her again and again. "C'mon, Faye - show me how to live my best life. Let me be your wonderful person."
She broke away this time, pulling back to look up at him now with eyes glittering with affection and a definite hint of challenge. "Hmm, yeah? Well, what's in it for me?"
xxx
Love's a gamble, Space Cowboy!