A Chalet on Callisto
On An Edge of the Valhalla Basin
It was wild hearing sounds of nature on Callisto, but to be fair Spike had seldom ventured out of the few cities the moon boasted. Posting up in a log cabin on the slope of an enormous frozen basin hadn't been on his agenda at any point in the past. And certainly he hadn't known about the giant ice caterpillars that moved through the miles of frozen topsoil and snow.
He had been learning all sorts of interesting things about life outside the city since Ed had chosen this location for their camp trip before her next big race. They'd all insisted to her that they couldn't go to the city, but she had made a valid argument for the lodging that GLOBEX Corp maintained here for folks who got their thrills from skiing, snowboarding, snowskating, and other dangerous downhill descents politely called sports.
The next competition was set to take place here on Callisto actually, in this very Basin, so they'd been lucky to acquire a room - hell, an entire cottage - to utilize for the days leading up to the competition.
It was only a three part race this time. Helicopters were to take the participants to a spot above the highest edge of the Basin where they would jump from the air to cascade down the slope just ahead of the avalanche that would be set in motion by the presence of the choppers in the first place. It would be a very quick start. Participants had their choice of how to descend, but descend they must.
It was inevitable that each contestant would eventually fall through the icy crust and end up in the cavernous tunnels formed by the ice caterpillars that lived within the terrain. At that point it was all a matter of wrangling a ride on one of the creatures and convincing it to carry you to the spot you wanted. Which of course was to burst into the underwater salt ocean and recover a pearl from a specially illuminated section of one of the reef areas relatively near the surface.
Ed would be wearing a suit specifically made to handle the cold of the snow, the speed at which the caterpillars traveled, was waterproof as well to keep her dry and warm, and had oxygen tanks for breathing when underwater. She was ecstatic. She'd been trying to use Ein to train for the riding portion for an entire week, which Ein was extremely put out by.
Privately, Spike thought this series of daredevil risk taking was even more dangerous than what Ed had already done with the various racing craft back on Earth. He understood pushing a vehicle to the limits, being one with the machinery and letting it take you to victory. Plummeting down a steep snowy slope with the expectation of falling through and lassoing an untamed creature drawn by the sounds of an avalanche - for crying out loud - just to be trapped underground and not just underground but underwater ?
Granted, there would be vehicles awaiting the arrival of the contestants to the underwater portion - that was how the participants would be gathered up and then brought back to the surface of Callisto. The vehicles had enormous drills on their front and their back end enabling them to bore through the soil and snow in either direction. It would only be a matter of minutes for the vessels to reach the surface from the underwater depths.
Jet had only acquiesced to Ed participating in this insane competition when it was revealed to be an entirely youth-driven team of competitors. All the other participants also fell in the 12-18 year age range that was a requirement by the GLOBEX sponsors. Apparently, anyone outside of a specific height, weight, and physical ability would be denied the right to compete. It was a necessary precaution due to the level of physical contortion that would be required in order to ride the caterpillar while avoiding being scraped into a smear against the icy dirt walls. There was a very specific way to approach that whole aspect of the competition, which all the participants would be getting trained on the next day.
Faye had still not come around to being okay with it. She had come out of her hangover on Venus and had been surprisingly amenable to helping Stella with her intergalactic hydroponics dream and had buddied up to the other woman while they had gone about that mission. Which, even with help from VT and one of her horticulturist trucker friends, had wound up taking them weeks to accomplish. They were back to being depressingly broke after taking that much time off of bounty hunting, though Ed's performance in this competition could bring a bit of money their way. Not enough of a reason to participate, according to Faye. These days she tended to value life over cash, though Spike still agreed with Ed that life was only worth living if you truly LIVED it. Pushing limits just to know you're alive happened to be a significant part of that when you're young and able. Which Ed had stressed that she was.
Ed had spent hours trying to convince Faye to grant her permission. She didn't actually need Faye's permission - or any of their permission, truthfully - but she very dearly wanted it. Ed valued their opinions and feelings, but she also didn't want to have to live a pale shadow of life. Surprisingly, she'd gotten her actual father to sign off on this absurdity, though he hadn't seen fit to leave Earth to watch her in this competition. His assistant had assured them that he would make Appledelhi sit down long enough to watch when it was broadcast live and that was good enough for Ed so Spike figured it had to be good enough for the rest of them.
At any rate, the other man had been extremely proud and delighted by Ed's request and by her undertaking. He'd even mentioned how much Ed's mother had loved the snow, though it was a rare thing on most of Earth. Spike almost wished he'd left that out because it had made Ed peculiarly silent for nearly two days. They still weren't sure how she felt about learning that.
Regardless, Spike had come to a private decision of his own regarding Appledelhi and his daughter. He suspected that Ed was keen to learn as much about her past as possible. The longing in her voice when she talked about the star mother constellation and her own inability to recall much of her mom because she'd been so young… it was something all of the Bebop crew understood.
But Ed had the ability to glean some answers. If only her father would sit down and talk to her. Fill her ears and her head and her heart with whatever he might remember about Ed's mother. Her name, perhaps. Had she been a native of Earth too? If Spike had questions, he knew Ed must have a million of them too.
He didn't want to fight the other man. He could of course. If he needed to. But he'd much rather convince the other man to be forthright and forthcoming with his little girl. Ed deserved to know everything there was to know about her mother.
So, Spike was going to bring that up the next time he saw the man in person. It wasn't the type of conversation he wanted to have over a comm. Besides, much like Ed herself, Appledelhi was far too distractible and would no doubt forget to fill his daughter in as soon as they'd stopped talking. It would be better to just track the man down with Ed in tow.
He still planned to run this idea by Jet and Faye but he figured they'd be on board.
Jet was outside at the moment with Ed. They were taking runs down the slope nearest the cabin. It was one of the portions of the Basin comprised of a type of stone that the caterpillars didn't enjoy digging through, which meant it was fairly stable - hence why GLOBEX had chosen this portion of the Basin to establish the various cabins and lodges that adrenaline seekers or winter lovers could rent out.
Being a skier had not been something Spike would have ever guessed about Jet, but with how little they actually knew of each others' pasts it wasn't a surprise that the other man had hobbies Spike knew nothing about. They hadn't ever done any sort of winter vacationing, after all. And he'd also expected the metal arm to be uncomfortable when it was freezing, but Jet never seemed like the cold reached from the metal to his flesh.
It was a good thing Jet had some winter recreation experience because Spike himself did not and Faye absolutely loathed the cold. Actually, Spike suspected that was part of why Faye was so against everything about this situation. From concern over Ed, to her discomfort in the cold, to her memories of their last time on Callisto and the odd coincidence in how they'd both met Gren - something she'd only recently confided to him - there was plenty to make her cranky and depressed.
Her intense distaste for the cold was what had created the arrangement currently going on inside the log cabin.
It was a relatively small cottage compared to some of the monstrosities nearby. There was a tiny bathroom with only a shower. There was a kitchenette with a wood cook stove which Jet had already gone gaga over, much to everyone's amusement - even Faye's. Then there were two large couches forming a right angle near a huge fireplace, a queen size bed next to the door to the bathroom, a bunk bed in one corner of the room that had a queen bed on the bottom portion and was a twin bed for the upper portion, and a dining area next to the kitchenette. Scattered here and there were dressers and end tables and a coffee table running parallel to one of the couches. Faye had commandeered nearly all the dressers for her own purposes though she hadn't changed yet from the pajamas she'd worn all yesterday. She'd ignored all invitations to play in the snow and hadn't even seemed interested in the jacuzzi steaming outside.
As soon as they'd arrived, Faye had made Jet and Spike relocate the queen size bed directly next to the fireplace. She had also taken all the blankets off the couches and piled them onto the mattress and then crawled into the bundle and stayed there, pouting or sleeping or drinking or smoking, for the rest of the day and into the night. It was already midmorning of the next day and she was currently holding him hostage underneath the assortment of fabrics, drooling in her sleep as she used him as her personal space heater. He was thankful that he'd been able to maneuver them so she was the one nearest to the blazing heat of the fireplace because he didn't think he could handle it. He almost couldn't handle it even from a few feet away, but she was still sleeping peacefully so he didn't want to try extricating himself from her clinging grip.
Once she woke up, she'd be an absolute bear and he wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.
Better instead to just enjoy the soft sound of her breathing, the much-more distant roar of the caterpillars underground, and the closer but still unintelligible shouts of joy from Jet and Ed outside. It was important to bask in the quiet moments, it gave him the emotional fortitude to deal with Faye's attitude. Which typically wasn't too bad, honestly, but she'd been on a roll lately.
Yes, this cuddle monster was a much easier version of Faye to deal with.
Spike had learned a few new things about Faye's sleeping preferences since engaging in a physically intimate relationship with her. She liked to be fully enveloped in the blankets as she slept - wrapped into a human/blanket burrito whenever possible - but she absolutely had to have her feet exposed. She could be entirely tucked into the bedding, basically swaddled like an infant, but she needed to have her feet bare to the air. It was a peculiarity that probably spoke of her need to be able to escape warring with her desire for security.
When it came to sharing a bed with someone else she was absolute shit at personal space. It didn't matter how she started off sleeping… curled into a ball, stretched out along either of her sides, sprawled on her back, or - rarest of all - lying face down on her stomach. Regardless of how the night began, it always ended with her draped across him, limbs akimbo. At first it had been suffocating. Touch starved as he was, he also wasn't used to sharing such a small space, even after their week and a half on the Asteroid. He was worried he might have even lashed out at her in his sleep at some point - he sometimes had violent dreams and knew he had to be flailing all over - though she'd never mentioned it.
But...despite all her squirming as she slept, constantly rearranging herself and subsequently also him, there was something undeniably pleasant about having her weight pressed against him. Having her breath tickling his ear. The way her hand sometimes clutched at the fabric of his shirt if he wore one to bed. The way she'd mumble nonsense or press sleepy kisses against his shoulder or his chin or whatever bit of his body she had her mouth against. She was delightfully affectionate when mostly unconscious.
He remembered countless nights when he'd been sleeping solo, before being a thing had ever occurred to either of them. He'd be stumbling back to his own room after waking up at odd hours on the couch… and how she'd always get woken up by his passage down the hall and she would emerge from her own room to pound on his door yelling about how some people were trying to sleep and didn't appreciate lunkheads tripping down the hall and bouncing off the walls. In his own defense, it wasn't often that he was stagger-into-the-wall-drunk, but it had become apparent to him then that she was a very light sleeper and woke at the slightest provocation.
Was it the comfort of having someone else with her that enabled her to sleep like the dead now?
Well, on nights when she wasn't plagued by nightmares anyway. Sometimes she'd wake him up, thrashing and crying in her sleep. It had alarmed him the first few times, but he had a routine for it now. Sit up in bed, draw her onto his lap and wrap her up into his arms, whisper words of reassurance until she drew close enough to consciousness to be aware of what was happening, and then gently ask her to grab the smokes from next to the bed. There was always a mix of joints and cigarettes in the tin that she kept there, and he left it up to her as to which would be the answer to get them both calmed down and back to sleep.
It wasn't a terribly common occurrence - the nightmares - but it happened frequently enough. And, truthfully, all too often he was the one waking her with his night terrors. There were plenty of things that still haunted him, still brought him gasping to a sitting position in the bed as sweat poured from his pores. Her willingness to cradle him to her bosom, pulling him back down to rest pressed against her body - able to focus in on her heartbeat, steady and soothing under his ear - despite how grossly wet he most assuredly was… that was enough in itself for her to deserve kindness and consideration when she had bad dreams.
A familiar whine joined the other quiet sounds Spike could hear. Ah, it seemed Ein had been left inside with them. He'd taken to hiding out whenever Ed was around, nervous about being ridden and not interested in helping her train. Spike couldn't blame him one bit.
Feeling like a bomb defuser trying to avoid blowing his own face off, Spike managed to ease his way out of Faye's sleeping clutches, and made his way barefoot but boxer-clad to the door to let Ein out so the data dog could take care of his business. He tried to be quick about it, but an icy breeze swept through and he heard the sharp intake of breath as Faye felt it and woke up.
She was sitting bolt upright in a heartbeat, eyes wild as they took in the room. "Where's Ed?!"
"Playing in the snow with Jet," He replied immediately. He went into the kitchenette space to put on some coffee and to grab out the sweet rolls Jet had put into the little metal cupboard above the wood cook stove. Sure enough, just as the other man had promised, the rolls were nicely warm from being in that space above the heat.
Jet had been baking stuff up in that thing for the majority of their time here so far, which had only been two days thus far, but his efforts were very warmly received by his crewmates. It was kind of a bummer that they couldn't have a stove like this on the Bebop, but it would be severely impractical at best. Acquiring wood alone would be next to impossible without paying tremendous fees, to say nothing of the filtration system that would be required to clear smoke from the air. Honestly it was a mark of the opulence of their current lodging that wood use was so encouraged if not downright necessary. But, it would have been even more cost prohibitive for heat lines to be run here from the city. Chances were good any attempts at that would be destroyed by the ice caterpillars anyway.
No, this was just another thing they ought to enjoy while the opportunity presented itself.
He busied himself in the kitchenette, hearing sounds of Faye getting ready for the day and how she even went so far as to open the door to let Ein back in when he started scratching for admittance from outside. Spike mimicked the way he'd seen servers carry plates on their arms while they held beverages in their hands and was successful in bringing the plate of sweet rolls and two coffees out to the dining area.
To his surprise, Faye was dressing in her space suit. They doubled nicely as snowsuits but he hadn't expected her to have the slightest interest in venturing outside. She saw his look and ignored it, choosing instead to beam at the coffees he was setting on the table.
Grabbing one immediately - though she'd taken a good look to judge which had more liquid - she wrapped both hands around the mug and gave him a smile through the haze rising from the hot beverage inside.
"Did you make it the way I like it?" She asked, her eyes playful as she watched him.
He snorted. "Booze with a splash of coffee? Yeah," He ate one of the sweet rolls in two bites, prompting her to roll her eyes at his haste. But she also reached out to wipe frosting from his face and then licked it slowly off her own hand. That tease!
Before he could retaliate, the door was swinging open to admit Jet and Ed. Both were covered in snowflakes and had ruddy cheeks. Ed ran for the fireplace and crouched in front of it while Jet's sharp eyes took in the coffee mugs and made his way to the kitchenette for a pick me up.
Ed started to stack more wood onto the fire. She cackled as it grew in intensity.
"Don't put too much more, Ed, you'll light this whole place on fire," Spike advised. They were paying for their week-long stay in this place and that was going to be expensive enough on its own without them needing to pay to rebuild the damn place. They really were going to be all out of cash after this if Ed didn't take home a prize. They'd all placed a few bets on her again, but even if she wiped out and couldn't finish, they had a backup plan for funds. Callisto was, after all, a refuge for illegal trade and bounties trying to avoid notice. Actually, they might just round up a few bounty heads afterwards for the fun of it. Might as well while they were in the area.
"Can we make camping a regular thing? Pre race tradition?" Ed asked in response, though she did stop loading more logs on. "There's so much to see! Ed wants to go everywhere!"
Jet made a thoughtful noise as he emerged from the kitchenette with a steaming mug of coffee. "Hmm, well… I suppose… when work allows." He was using the mug to hide the traces of a smile trying to tug at his lips. Faye couldn't see that and had a look of surprise on her face. Ed meanwhile looked crestfallen and Jet hurried to end the teasing. "Don't worry, Ed, we make our own schedule, remember? It'll always work out."
"Sheesh, Jet, you almost had me upset for a minute there," Faye muttered.
"Oh? You're enjoying these escapades?" The ex-cop asked her, his face revealing his doubt after how Faye had been bitching and moaning for days on end now.
She blushed. "I can have whatever opinion I want to have about all this. And I reserve the right to change my mind at any time about any of it."
"Gods, you are such a woman," Jet muttered.
Faye's eyebrow twitched. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Sensing no good if the conversation continued down that path, Spike hurriedly spoke up. "Faye, finish drinking and bundling up. I want to go sledding."
"Ooh! Sledding!" Ed enthused. Even Ein seemed excited, but then again sitting on a sled was something much easier for a dog than trying to balance on a snowboard or skis. They'd be able to take him downhill with them.
Jet frowned at her. "You're still an icicle from earlier! You shouldn't go out again until your hair dries off and you're warm inside and out."
"Inside and out! Outside and In! What's the best way to warm? Hmm… hot chocolate sounds like the answer," Ed said suggestively, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'll get a kettle going!" Jet said happily, turning back to the kitchenette.
Spike sent Faye a grin, which she thankfully sent back. Jet was all about any excuse to use that stove and Ed had him wrapped around her little finger. And now that Faye was apparently opting to join in on the outdoor shenanigans, Spike felt his own excitement growing. He knew he should take it easy on her and make it fun… but he had every intention of causing them to wipe out at least a few times. Hopefully she'd manage to make that good mood stick!
xxx
The Chalet
Late Afternoon of the Next Day
"C'mon, Black Dog, we've been having heart to hearts lately… don't you want to share your load with your comrades?" Faye cajoled, leaning back on the couch closest to the fireplace.
"Hell no! That breaks the unspoken foundation of this entire arrangement!" Jet crossed his arms and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table in front of the couch he sat on. Then, for good measure, he crossed his feet at the ankle too.
"Spike?" Faye wheedled.
"If a man wants to keep his secrets, let him." Spike replied lazily. He was nearly passed out on the couch next to her, his feet also kicked up onto the coffee table.
Faye sat upright and crossed her own arms petulantly. "Ugh you guys are impossible! Running off all the time on these self-destruct missions brought about from a past you won't fess up to! What if… what if I played you for the answers?"
The guys both laughed. "What makes you think I'd agree to that? You overcharged me to buy my clothes back!" Jet growled.
Faye waved this off as inconsequential. "Nonsense, no cards or dice involved, my friend. It's a classic… Truth or Dare."
Spike laughed even harder at the look that crossed Jet's face.
"What! A teen girl game!"
"No no no, you're missing the potential here, Jet. It's truth or DARE. You don't necessarily have to tell me anything, but you'd have to put up with my dares. Meanwhile, you could make me do anything with a dare!" She hastened to add, "within reason!"
"Oh for fucks sake, what the hell did you start by telling her shit?" Jet grumped to Spike.
The lanky man shrugged. "Believe it or not, it felt nice letting someone in. Haven't you ever heard that misery loves company?"
"And why are we doing this while Ed is off at that worm practice?" Jet asked, hating that he was beginning to show signs of caving.
"Well, she probably already knows our histories better than us… or at least what's available online. Anyway she'll ask eventually if she's curious" Spike shrugged. "Besides, there's some questions I'd rather Ed didn't know the answers to." He lifted a bottle of beer from where it had been nestled at his side and tilted it back and forth at Jet. "And this way we can smoke and drink to get through it."
Spike seemed already resolved to the inevitable and Jet realized that his partners hooking up might backfire in a few ways on him. Having Spike side with Faye, or give in so willingly to her whims, was freakish. Maybe it was his tactic for keeping her pacified while they were here. She still hadn't fully accepted what Ed was going to be doing for the competition.
"We never get into details," Jet said determinedly.
Faye puffed leisurely on a joint. In what was no doubt an effort to further persuade him to agree to play, she set her joint tin on the coffee table so he and Spike could help themselves if they so desired. Jet did so desire and took out one of the fatter ones. If she was gonna be generous - and insist on this nonsense - he'd take his wins where he could.
Talking as she exhaled, Faye attempted to combat his statement with her own brand of reasoning. "That's because life is now and half the time we're too busy trying not to die to fess up about skeletons in our closet. I mean. We all have so many questions all the time. Not literally us but… society? Humanity?" She took another deep hit and spoke through it. "No one is ever guaranteed answers or explanations or for shit to make sense even though most other people expect that. Demand that, even. Everyone out there with their better than thou attitudes waiting for life to explain itself to them." Faye shrugged. "And for the most part we all know better . Why push for knowing when before stuff doesn't matter except in how it shaped us. Changed us. Continues to affect us." She stared at the fireplace for a long moment, blinking slowly, before seeming to come back to the room and her argument. "And, dammit, I am curious! I've lived with you guys for years and I don't really know that much about either of you but you both know everything there is to know about me. It's not fair!"
Spike smirked.
Jet laughed. "Ahhh I see how it is now. No wonder you want me to show my hand. Well, hell, I guess let's play."
Faye, joint in between her lips, clapped her hands together with excitement. "It's super easy," She enthused now that she had their agreement.
The first part of the game had been polishing off the only booze - Old Buncombe Bourbon - they apparently had on hand. Beers they had plenty of, fortunately, so they could continue to nurse their alcoholic tendencies as they played. But Faye insisted on using the bourbon bottle for the next phase of the game.
The second part required spinning the bottle to determine who had to answer or take a dare from the person who spun the bottle in the first place. It would be how the roles would be determined as they played.
The third part apparently involved reminding Spike that they weren't playing Spin the Bottle.
Jet sparked up another joint while Faye was grabbing Ein off his couch, where the data dog had been sleeping peacefully next to Jet, to plop him down between herself and Spike on their couch, using the corgi's small body as an armrest so as to keep him in place as a barrier between herself and an all-too-amorous Spike.
"What can I say, Faye? I've always been a sucker for a beautiful woman," His hand eased over Ein to take her hand, his thumb tracing gently over her soft skin. Ein tried to look backwards at their hands on his back but gave up and went limp on the couch. It had often been his only recourse when playing with Edward too - roll with whatever, don't fight it because there's no use.
Blushing, Faye let Spike keep his grip. "Just play the game right, lunkhead." She admonished him.
"Okay, okay, let's try again…" Using his right hand, as his left was otherwise occupied, Spike spun the bottle once more. It landed on Jet this time and though Spike waggled his eyebrows suggestively at him, he made no move to plant his lips on Jet's the way he had done to Faye in the previous round. Jet still pinked at the innuendo and then scowled for reacting.
"Jesus, just play the damn game before I decide to quit." He complained.
Spike grinned at him. "Well the choice is yours, my friend. Truth? Or Dare?"
Trusting his original partner to do him right, Jet went out on a limb. "Truth."
Spike's grin grew even wider. "What's up with the fatalistic shit?"
"Oh for-" Throwing his hands up in the air, Jet spoke around the joint. "It's not fatalistic and you know it. There are just times in a man's life where there is only one course of action he can take to be able to live with himself. You can fool other people, you can lie to anyone you like, but at the end of the day you can't escape yourself. So. Sometimes you have to put your life on the line and hold the course. Do what needs to be done, no matter the risk."
Faye held his gaze with a half-lidded serious stare of her own. "You know, that code of honor thing isn't just for men to adhere to. Women can be plenty honorable too."
Spike and Jet both gave her a dubious look and she blushed. "Hey! Just because I've been forced to make some decisions that weren't admirable doesn't mean I can't do the right thing when it's called for! Besides, men aren't honorable one hundred percent of the time unless they're Saint Jet Black, apparently." She huffed. "Anyway, you're both lunkheads for choosing to be all valiant or whatever on your own . Jeez, Jet, if Ed hadn't caught you before you ran off that one time I don't think we'd have even known you almost died! Well, not until you finally fucking called for a pickup but still." She glared at him, her eyes wet. "After all the times I've rushed out to defend the ship or all the times Spike has had your back… and you couldn't ask for help? You think it's more honorable to die fighting the good fight by yourself and leaving your comrades to wonder… what if we'd known? What if we'd helped?"
Feeling guilty, but knowing that he'd never have been able to stop and talk to them at the time, Jet glanced over at Spike and saw the lanky cowboy also looking very uncomfortable. Of course, Spike had done the same damn thing when he left to annihilate the Red Dragons, no wonder he was feeling just as called out by Faye's tantrum. It was one thing to be the hero, shouldering the burden that only he alone could carry, sparing hardly a thought for the others in his life story. It was quite another to be the other people, watching helplessly as someone they care for charges into danger without regard for their own survival, unintentionally yet deliberately spurning anyone else's willingness to help.
He'd been a wreck when Spike had gone. The cathedral catastrophe had been enough of a punch in the gut, but it had been like a gentle prelude compared to the bitter and utter certainty he'd had, after Spike's tale of the cat, that his partner was leaving to die. The anxiety and anger and fear and understanding that had all been roiling in his gut. At the time, he'd felt slightly better about the way he'd taken off to pursue Udai. At least he hadn't made them worry. But he'd been wrong. He was genuinely surprised to learn that they had been concerned. None of them had ever given away a thing though, not if they could avoid it. Emotional responses had been shuttered and nearly every conversation was a subtle competition of who could care less. Keep everyone at arm's length or further and you'll never have to worry about being stabbed in the back, or getting your heart stomped on.
Hearing Faye choke down tears as she angrily smoked a cigarette, Jet had to wonder which was worse. But… what had Spike said? It felt nice letting someone in? And supposedly letting things out was cathartic and better for the soul. Being standoffish hadn't really done him any favors. Not that it had kept Ed from pushing her way right into his heart. But it had kept him from really connecting with any of them. Even relying as heavily on his partners as he did for their flying skills, their gun skills, their ability to read and handle a situation… it was a different reliance than what Faye was asking for. Emotional vulnerability was not something that came easily to any of them but... she hadn't ever used anything she'd learned against them. She'd run off with fuel or food or funds, but she'd never thrown anything she'd learned back in their faces.
She'd poked painfully close when they'd all gone to Ganymede together for the first time, though she'd also been unintentionally poking at Spike with her jabs at women and love and tears. To her credit, she'd backed off pretty damn quick when they hadn't risen to the bait, and she'd never again tried to tease about broken hearts.
Not entirely sure what else to do, Jet reached for the bottle and spun it on the table. It landed on Faye. She stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and gave him a cool look. It was sometimes impressive how swiftly she could regain her composure. If he'd been a less trusting man, he might worry that her tears were a ploy, but he knew Faye well enough to know how much she detested being overly emotional. Revealing her actual feelings was a weakness that she hid beneath layers of sarcasm and bitchiness designed to keep people at bay.
"Truth." She told him challengingly.
"For someone talking shit about asking for help or needing backup… you sure spent a lot of time running away on your own. I lost track of how many times you bailed on us, in fact! What's with that, huh? Were you facing down specters from your own past or what?" Feeling uncharacteristically bold and blaming it entirely on the bourbon, Jet turned the tables on Faye.
She made a face and polished off the beer in her hand, setting the empty aside next to the couch. "I had backup. My RedTail. Remote controlled and always there for me whenever I needed an escape." Jet gave her an unimpressed look and she scowled. "Oh whatever. No, I was never running to confront demons the way you guys do. I was either trying to discover the truth about myself… or running away from my emotions because I hated them. Happy?"
Jet eyed her. "So… you'd ask for help if you needed it? You wouldn't go off on your own to solve your own problems?"
Faye sighed. "I tried solving my problems on my own. I got nowhere. And yes, dammit, I can ask for help. I deserve it for all the shit I do for you lunkheads anyway." She spun the bottle and it landed back on Jet.
"You ever gonna tell us about that arm? I know you've mouthed some pithy shit to Spike about it."
Jet finished his own beer and glared at her. "I didn't pick the truth this time. You didn't let me choose at all!"
"Ugh! Fine! You want a dare? I dare you to let Ein lick your lips!" Faye shouted.
Having seen Ein going to town on cleaning his junk earlier, Jet recoiled from the suggestion.
"Uhh...well, okay so I got shot. Could've been worse - they could have killed me instead of ruining my arm. Of course, I should have realized when I survived that the person I thought shot me… would have done the job right if it had been him." Jet sighed heavily. "Turns out I'd been betrayed by someone I had trusted. Anyway, it doesn't matter who took the shot. I learned a painful lesson that day even if it wasn't the truth - and the truth I learned eventually and it didn't make anything better. Didn't give me back my arm. Didn't give me anything but more weight to carry."
He spun the bottle again, determined to move past those memories. Faye would have to be happy with the little he'd revealed. No one needed to know the full truth. It wouldn't make the pain lessen, it would just make other people upset. Once again it landed on Faye. Spike smirked when they both looked towards him suspiciously.
"Come on, how could I rig this game?" The lanky cowboy asked as he lit a joint for himself.
Faye huffed and Jet realized he actually had another question he'd been meaning to ask her.
"Why did you stick around after those eco-terrorists? What made you think you were safe with us?" He'd been curious about this for ages. What would possess a woman to board a vessel bound for deep space, where no one can hear you scream, and just trust that she wouldn't be violated? Especially after the bullshit he's sure she had to experience before they ever met.
She laughed. "I didn't feel safe. I slept with my Glock under my pillow every night for months. Showered with it too. Almost shot Spike when he came pounding on the door that first night when I was trying to get clean." She glared at him. "You would've deserved a bullet to the foot if you'd barged in on me like you threatened." He blew her a kiss and she rolled her eyes and went on speaking. "Changed the lock on the bedroom door too - hacked it so it was my own personal code. And I usually laid a trap too just in case someone was able to break in."
Jet got up and retrieved three more beers from the fridge in the kitchenette, giving one each to his crewmates. He saluted Faye with his bottle. "You were never at risk from us, but that's smart that you kept on your guard."
"Well, I trusted you guys about as much as you trusted me. I just…" She laughed suddenly. "Okay so… part of it… maybe was because... " Faye turned towards Spike, falling over Ein to lean against Spike's shoulder as she laughed harder. "You gave me those bedroom eyes at the casino, right? Super charming, just oozing sex appeal trying to get my attention. And then when I was locked up in the bathroom, for a second I thought I saw some interest in your eyes. But you and Jet were so distracted by your own shit going on. You bantered a bit and I considered using my feminine wiles against you, but neither of you really gave off…" Her eyes cut over to Jet and she laughed again. "Honestly? I assumed my virtue was relatively safe because I figured you guys were confirmed bachelors."
Faye had collapsed against Spike laughing again. Ein weaseled out from under her and hopped off the couch to curl up in front of the fire. But Spike gave Jet a long, considering look as he eyed him from top to toe. His attention and the genuine appreciation in his eyes made Jet's cheeks burn.
"You're handsome and fit, don't get me wrong, but I just don't think it's in the cards for us," Spike told him casually. "If I was more inclined to men, I think you'd be a great catch though, Jet!"
"Oh yeah? Well, you're too thin for me, Spike-o. Male or female, I need more meat on the bones to be satisfied." He shot back at his partner before taking a swig of his beer.
"Stop, stop!" Faye cried, giggling. "It's my turn to spin the bottle." She reached out and gave it a hard twist, prompting Spike to whisper something not quite under his breath about nipples that made Faye turn bright red and made Jet choke on his drink of beer.
The bottle landed on Spike. He grinned at them both. "Dare."
"Duh," Faye muttered, still giggling. She took a moment to compose herself again, drink some of her beer, and to think of something for Spike to do. "I dare you…" She glanced at Ein briefly but clearly dismissed the data dog right away. It took more than a dog licking its own butt to gross out Spike. "I dare you to streak over to the neighbors chalet and ask them for a bottle of booze."
Spike frowned. "Faye, that's so far away."
"Aww, you worried about getting cold? Don't worry, I can warm you back up in no time." She purred at him.
"Hey! None of that while I'm in the room!" Jet interrupted.
"Also, it's the middle of the day. You want me to do this in broad daylight?"
Faye gave him a bored look. "You seem awfully bashful right now… should I come up with a question to ask you instead? This isn't even that bad of a dare!"
Fixing her with a scowl of his own, Spike finished his beer then got up from the couch and began shedding clothing as he moved towards the door.
Jet snickered and shook his head while Faye got to her feet as well to witness.
Ein lifted his head when the door was opened but decided he was good where he was at and laid his head back down.
After a bit, Jet wandered over to stand with Faye in the doorway and peered out at his partner, dashing back through the snow with a dark amber bottle of something in his hand.
"Huh, mission success."
Faye gave him a sly look. "Yeah, I knew it was a bunch of boozers over there after the ruckus they caused last night after you and Ed passed out. We were out in the jacuzzi relaxing, wishing there were stars we could look at but it's always so fucking overcast here," She grumbled and then shook her head as though to clear away the negativity that Callisto evoked within her. "Anyway, they were wandering from chalet to chalet, caroling - terribly, I might add - and tried to invite us over there… ahhh… as swingers,"
"Wait. They tried to get you and Spike… and you send him over there today in the nude for booze?" Jet groaned. "If some gang of horny skiers tries to bust in here to have their way with the both of you later, I'm just gonna shove you both outside."
She laughed. "I wasn't sending him over there as an invitation! More of a… tease?"
Shaking his head, Jet made his way back to the couch. "At least there'll be more booze. These were the last beers we had."
"Fuuuuck. I'm not gonna be able to be plastered for Ed's competition this time, huh?"
"Not unless you've been squirreling away cash and not telling us. I used my last woolongs to secure this place so we could be nearby for the event and the shit like today where she's learning to ride a goddamn worm."
"Caterpillar," Spike corrected as he came inside, slamming the door behind him. He made his way to the bathroom and cranked on the shower.
"Caterpillar. Worm. Insanity either way." Jet grumbled.
Faye threw herself onto the couch, the bottle Spike had brought back clutched in her arms. "You told her it was okay with you."
He looked over at Faye. "You think she'd stop you if you wanted to do something dangerous just for the fun of it?" Jet sighed. "It's one thing to be courting death the way we do - chasing after bad guys who wouldn't hesitate to hurt or kill us to save themselves from jail or death. I mean, if you think about it, we've been making Ed worry over us since before she even came on board."
Faye took a drink from the bottle and set it on the table then used a foot to scooch it within Jet's reach. "So… this is partially payback for our chosen lifestyle?"
Spike came out of the bathroom, toweling off his hair. "This is her showing us that she's just as gung-ho about taking life by the balls." He had picked up his boxers and pants on his way back to the couch and got half dressed, tossing his damp towel onto Faye who made a face and threw it onto the floor. "You wanna know how she got me to agree? I think it's crazy too, but I mean… I do love her style."
"Lay it on us, partner - what convinced you to tell her to go for it." Jet invited, waggling the liquor bottle at his crewmate.
"She spat some Latin at me. Or maybe it wasn't Latin." Spike cleared his throat. "Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. She said it means to seize the day because you can't trust tomorrow to be there. We could die anytime so we gotta make the most of our time here." He shrugged. "Most folk make it to the coffin without ever realizing that and die with regrets. Who wants to go out that way?"
Faye groaned. "Of course that line of logic would get you." She sighed. "I just… I mean, she doesn't even have any experience in snow! This was her first time seeing the stuff! I'm glad you were able to show her the ropes, Jet, but isn't it a little mad that she wants to do so much that she's never even done before?"
Jet gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Uhh… well, she didn't actually take to the skis or the snowboard, to be honest."
Narrowed green eyes regarded him. "How is she supposed to get down the damn slope if not on snow gear?!"
He held up his hands to ward off her growing ire. "Oh, come on now, Faye. What did you expect? Ed's never liked having her feet locked into anything. And all she has to do is go down. Literally she could roll if she wanted." Faye's eyes had grown enormous and Jet rushed to continue. "Not that she's going to! She plans on using a snow skate - it's just a board she can stand on to surf down the snow and dispose of once she falls into the tunnels."
Spike grimaced. "Maybe don't go into detail, hey? Anyway it's all downhill so how hard can it be to basically just let gravity bring you down." He lit a cigarette and then passed it to Faye, ignoring her icy glare.
"I get why you'd be thrilled with her living on the edge," Faye told Spike. She turned to look accusingly at Jet. "I can't understand how you're just able to let her do this though! At least when we're hunting bounties it's to make money and make the universe a better place. She's just… risking her life!"
Jet took another drink from the bottle as Faye ranted. "I used to try and tell people what to do because I knew what was in their best interest but people don't like being controlled like that. They need to be free to make their own mistakes. How many times did I tell you don't go gamble all your money on the ponies? Or tell Spike don't go after this bounty, it's too dangerous?"
"Don't go chasing waterfalls!" A new voice chimed in.
"Yeah, don't go… wait, what?" Jet interrupted himself, turning like Spike and Faye to look towards the door where Ed was standing in her fancy suit and grinning madly at them.
"Did you just get back?" Spike asked. Faye hopped up to open the windows in the little cottage to air out the smoke hanging thickly in the air.
"Yup yup! End of practice was to ride the 'pillar to the look out point. It's as close as they'll come to this ouchy rock. Hurts their teeth so they don't go through it." She tackled Faye in a hug that knocked the other woman back onto the queen sized bed next to the fireplace. "It was fun, Faye-Faye! The caterpillars are cool with being ridden - they think it's a lark! Cruising through the dark, chasing after sparks, walk in the park!"
"Uhhhh… the caterpillars can communicate?" Spike's voice was incredulous and Jet couldn't blame him.
"Of course not! But you can tell." Ed sat up in the blankets, Faye trapped beneath her. "Faye-Faye, what if we play a game? Ed wins, Ed plays - Faye wins, Ed stays!"
Wiggling her way free, Faye eyed Ed with suspicion. "Really Ed? We can play for this?"
The hacker nodded enthusiastically. "You taught me how to bet with hard candies! This is how you decide on bounties sometimes right? Or who has to do chores?"
Jet chuckled. "She's got us there. What do you say, Faye? Seems like a fair way to bring this little tiff to an end." He'd been appalled when he first discovered Faye teaching Ed card games but then Spike had quietly told him not to get mad at Faye for it because Ed had already learned everything she could about card tricks on the web.
Sure enough, after several rounds it became obvious even to Faye that she was being hustled by the kid.
Throwing her cards down on the table, Faye sat back in a huff. "Fine! Take your chances! We'll just patch you up afterwards if you get all banged up like Spike."
"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Spike protested.
"Yay! Faye-Faye, don't worry! Edward has got this !" She jumped across the table to snuggle in between Spike and Faye on the couch. "Faye-Faye likes to gamble, Ed says that's okay. Win or lose, you have fun either way, right? If Ed wasn't having fun, there'd be no point. But this has been fun. Meeting other kids who like to take risks has been fun too! We have to give each other free reign to be ourselves or we'll be unhappy like those richy rich twins."
That seemed to give Faye pause. "Ah shit."
Ed patted her shoulder and then hopped up to lay down next to Ein in front of the fireplace.
"It's okay, Faye-Faye. It's hard work to care about others. But who wants to live in a bubble? Consequences come to us no matter what we do. Ed will be as safe as possible because Ed wants to live a long, long, long, long time."
Faye closed her eyes and gave in. "All right, Ed. I trust you. Just, please, nothing extra this time? You nearly gave me a heart attack when your airplane was shot down in the last race and I know you let that happen." She opened her eyes again to glare at the young hacker.
"Ehehehehe," Ed giggled guiltily.
Jet shook his head. "Anyway, let's figure something else out while we're all here. Even if Ed wins and we all get some woolongs for the bets we've got on her… we'll still need more cash to leave. We gotta refuel the Bebop and there's a few parts I had to order here to fix up the air filtration system." He glanced at his older crewmates. "Smoking inside is hard on the system. We might have to give some thought to using the deck more."
"Jeeeeet," Spike groaned.
"Seriously? That's such a hassle…" Faye agreed. "And it's always freezing on the deck!"
"So!" Jet boomed, ignoring their complaints. "We've got quite a few bounty prospects here on Callisto. This place is a hotbed for criminals trying to hide out and I've got my eye on a few once we're done with the competition tomorrow. We wanna dice or play cards for who we go after first?"
Faye moaned. "I'm done being hustled by anyone today. I say fuck it - let's just go after all of them. Start at the top and work our way down."
Spike cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I like the way you think, baby. Yeah, let's go to town on the punks here. I've still got a score to settle from last time we were here."
Jet looked at Ed, snoring away curled around Ein, and looked back at his partners. "You see? It's that type of bravado shit that makes her think she can take on the world too."
"Well… I mean… has Ed ever been wrong?" Faye said with a shrug. "I'm done trying to be the voice of reason - we're all wildcards and it's been working for us-"
"You call the bills we get for property damage 'working' for us?!" Jet interrupted.
"ANYWAY. Why fuck with what works? Ed wants to tightrope walk on a razor's edge? Fuck it, she can cartwheel along that bitch. Yeah, I'm still worried and I never want to see her get hurt but she's right - she doesn't coddle us so we shouldn't coddle her." Faye nodded decisively.
"Besides, she's got to learn to fall and how to take hits and to make mistakes. That's all part of life." Spike said.
Jet nodded to both of them. "Also, you don't need to be so worried. I did some research this time. Aside from the avalanche risk, there's not too much that's genuinely life-threatening with this competition. It's one of the ones that's been going on for decades and the survival rate is the highest of any of the GLOBEX competitions." He gave the other two a serious look. "And I was planning on being on a snowmobile for the first part of this - just in case she needs a rescue."
Faye let out a breath. "Well that's a relief. You could have said all that days ago, you know!"
Jet grinned at her. "Sure, but it's fun to see your feathers all ruffled."
Spike scowled at him. "Fun for you, maybe. I'm the one who has to calm her down!"
xxx
A Few Days After the Competition
Blue Crow on Callisto
Callisto depressed her. The perpetually cloudy sky, the memory of watching Gren waltz off to his death while leaving her shackled in cuffs but also shackled in spirit on his bed. She could have freed herself before Jet arrived - how had he tracked her down? Well, wait… he had been a cop after all. But seriously she hadn't even stolen that much cash. Although yeah the antifreeze had been a bitch move but she'd been feeling feisty.
Why were they back on this miserably cold rock?
Mostly for Ed, who had just taken third place in a ridiculous series of challenges for a GLOBEX competition. She could have managed second or maybe even first, but she'd given up the lead in order to detangle one of her competitors from the reeds they'd gotten caught in. Which was a very Edward thing to do but it had left the rest of them terrified when she and the boy she'd rescued had been brought back unconscious after running out of oxygen in their tanks just as the underwater vehicles were able to scoop them up.
Ed had been fine. She'd barely been without oxygen for any time at all, though the boy she'd saved had a rougher time of it because he'd freaked out when he'd gotten stuck and had wasted a lot of his own oxygen hyperventilating. Still, they were both alive and relatively well. It had been another successful competition for GLOBEX with zero fatalities.
And Faye hadn't even been the one to yell at Ed when they'd converged on her in the hospital room she'd been placed in for observation for a few hours following the competition.
Jet had been beside himself. Demanding to know why she'd been so self-sacrificing - what had she been thinking?
Her answer had been simple. "Ed learned from watching you!" Which of course had shut Jet up immediately. But she'd gone on to list a variety of times she'd seen Jet, Spike, and even Faye herself taking unnecessary risks with their own lives in order to save someone else's. They'd had no good response because she'd been absolutely right. Not to mention she brought up Jet's famous code of honor and ethics, and how he'd once told her the prime purpose of life was to help others.
Ed was back on the Bebop now, sitting on the couch with Ein and watching the chaos that her crewmates were inflicting on the criminal underbelly of Callisto. Not so much underbelly though since Callisto was mostly lowlifes and criminals through and through. There weren't any families on the icy moon.
That was the only reason they were still on Callisto even after Ed's competition. It harbored a shitload of bounties. Jet had been right enough about that and they needed the funds. Ed had won a little money taking third but they didn't want her wasting her hard earned woolongs on everyday life expenses. And sure they'd each made a bit of money off betting on Ed but not enough to cover all the costs of keeping a vessel and crew going. Besides, it was always fun kicking some ass.
The men here didn't know how to handle her, but that was just fine - she appreciated having that advantage. And, while she was annoyed even now remembering how Gren had stepped in before… she could admit he probably saved her life that day. Those guys had pipes. The groups she got into altercations with these days weren't armed like that.
No, she just oozed sensuality into their midst to distract them from any danger she might pose and then when it seemed like they might all decide to join together to force her into a good time… that was when she turned into a monster. Fists and feet flying in furious motion, spinning around and smashing into as many as possible - using some to knock into others. It was invigorating. And if she ever truly got in over her head… well, that's what partners were for.
Jet was wiping his hands over by the alley entrance. Spike was grinning and cracking his knuckles in an appreciative manner. Over her comm she could hear Ed finishing her narration of the take down. "And the crowd goes wild!" With her voice changing into the 'rahhh rahhh' of her imaginary audience. Or, well, audience of Ein at any rate.
"Not a bad workout," Spike mused. "That enough for today, Jet?"
The ex-cop glanced around the groaning or unconscious men heaped on the ground. His grin was fierce and satisfied. "Yeah, these'll get us a tidy profit."
"Enough for us to finally get off this miserable rock?" Faye groused. Her adrenaline was crashing down and without the distraction of an imminent attack she was starting to feel the pressure of the clouds above pushing down on them. It was like the sky itself smothered happiness. She felt choked. They'd been here for an entire week now and it was starting to truly take a toll on her.
"Yeah, yeah, I can get the parts with this batch and have some woolongs leftover after we get fueled up." Jet confirmed. Ed's voice erupted into a squeal of rejoicing over the comm and Faye snapped it off angrily. She couldn't handle that level of delight when she was feeling so cranky and sad herself.
Jet frowned at her but Spike paid no attention as he went around cuffing or tying up their bounty heads. Sheesh, if they kept doing groups like this they were gonna need to invest in more pairs of handcuffs.
"Faye's just pissy because it's been days since we've had smokes or booze." Spike commented.
She growled but couldn't argue because it was true. They'd run out of smokes, weed, and alcohol while watching Ed's breakneck plummet down the basin and subsequent drop into the ice caverns. Of course, her emotions ran deeper than that, but better for them to think she was just fiending for a vice than still bummed as hell. Normally the answer to that is to drown one's sorrows but... There was no way she was going into any bars on Callisto. Without the alluring siren call of the saxophone there was nothing for her here.
"Hey, wouldja look at that?" Jet pointed to the sky. And that was the thing - it was clear open sky. A small patch, hardly enough to merit attention on any other planet or moon, but here…
Faye couldn't look away from that break in the clouds. It sent a shiver through her but a good one. She felt like someone was looking down from above, smiling down on her. Her ears rang with the memory of Gren's soulful playing. She wished he'd been able to kill Vicious instead of dying - it would have saved them all some grief and trouble in the long run, that's for sure, but... Gren had done his best to get the job done and get justice for himself for the way he'd been betrayed.
"Yo," Spike was nudging her. She glanced from the sky momentarily to see he'd liberated a pack of smokes from one of their incapacitated opponents. A look towards Jet showed he was puffing away with relish already. She felt a brief thrill of gratitude as she took one of the cigarettes out and let Spike light it for her. His eyes were fixed on her knowingly.
Pursing her lips around the cig, she gave Spike and Jet a rueful smile and switched her comm back on, letting Ed's chatter fill the air.
Maybe it was that miracle of sunshine, so wan yet so remarkable. Maybe it was the presence of the others with her. She'd been right in her words to Gren, but he'd been right too. There was something to camaraderie. To letting comrades ease your loneliness. It took a lot of courage to put your trust into others - sometimes it didn't pan out, but Gren had still believed so wholeheartedly in camaraderie, had placed so much into its importance. She had been blessed with better, more stalwart companions. Ones who would chase her down over something as superficial as a fistful of woolongs, though they all knew it wasn't for the woolongs at all. Maybe someday she'd thank Jet for tracking her down - for being able to see through the words of her note and understand her plea and her unspoken fear for what it was.
Though she couldn't regret that cry-for-help escape. It had led her to Gren. Who opened his home to her, who opened his heart to her, who helped her open her own eyes to her own heart. Forced her to acknowledge the truth about her actions and the reason behind her flight. Gren had seen right through to the core of her and had greeted that frightened woman with compassion and the saddest smile. He had touched her soul and she was forever grateful.
She inhaled and closed her eyes and whispered a little prayer in her mind for Gren's spirit.
Take care.
xxx
Live and let live, or live and let die...
We can't ever choose for others, only for ourselves...