Tharsis was approximately the same as Faye remembered it.
She walked up and down streets in a bedraggled yellow leather outfit and stay-ups that barely could pull themselves together enough to perform their duty. She hoped this whole movie thing, if it couldn't be put to a stop, could at least have some sort of pay-out. There was a lot of stuff she needed, including hair dye. Her colour was starting to fade back to its natural black. But the little money Jet had given her was for something healthy for Spike. Jet was worried about him. He wouldn't actually come out and say it but there was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that they'd keep a close eye on Spike. Not that Spike was the suicidal type but you can never be too careful.
Although she knew that Spike would see Roscoe Calhoun in hell before watching the guy play him in a movie. The suicide watch need not start until after this whole movie thing was figured out.
Faye made a sharp turn into a fish market. She inhaled deeply while everyone around her scrunched their noses in defence against the over-powering odour of fish and salt water. Obviously all these people had eaten in recent days. She swayed slightly with nausea caused by hunger. Fish it was.
Back on the street, Faye enjoyed the sunlight. The road ahead wobbled with steam heat and she revelled in it. She swung the bag of newspaper-wrapped fish at her side and hummed to herself. Things were sort of back to normal. But not. Something had changed.
She was content.
She felt like there was nowhere in the universe she'd rather be right now that walking down this particular street under this particular sun with a bag of stench-heavy fish. She wished she didn't look like a street walker as mothers yanked their children clear of her path but overall she was feeling pretty good about herself. Faye was happy with her life.
She wondered again about her feelings for Spike. She loved him and she hated him and at times when he'd stop breathing for a few seconds in his sleep she'd hover over him and plead with forces unknown to feel his breath on her face. It had been ages since she'd slept through an entire night without waking up to check on the son of a bitch.
The other day Jet almost had a heart attack when he found her doing dishes. Mind you, she was washing them up in the bathtub but it's the thought that counts. Jet looked pretty happy when she re-entered the main room and he was stretched across one of the couches watching some old movie on the vid-screen. Probably eons since he'd been able to watch the eight o'clock movie from the very beginning.
She crossed the street and looked into some store windows. She saw some shoes she'd like to have. A pair of capri pants, a cute shirt. As she passed a book shop window display she thought about how it had been ages since she'd flipped through a magazine or read a book. She liked to think it was because she was too busy. She bit methodically at the inside of her cheek and adjusted the heavy bag of rice she ended up buying in the cradle of her right arm while the other arm was weighed down with dead fish.
And then she smiled and inhaled warm, moist air deep into her lungs.
As she walked she noticed that the streets had emptied considerably. She squinted and raised the fish-laden hand to her eyes to see down the road better. She realized she had passed a road block.
"Don't you understand?! You'll never be her! You'll never be able to replace Jillian!" She heard a man cry wildly. She inched around a corner and couldn't believe what she saw. Spike Spiegel, blue suited and black booted, with the shoulders of a woman pinned against a brick wall in an alley. He was running a hand through his crazy dark hair every few moments. "Oh, Maye..." He suddenly moaned hoarsely. With that he pressed his mouth to the woman's and tightly wrapped his arms around her waist. Faye didn't know what to think. She had this urge to run screaming like a banshee towards them when she suddenly realized, who the fuck was Jillian? Maye...ah, yes...movie.
She turned and saw a security guard doggedly making his way towards her. "Miss! This area is closed off!"
Faye smirked then looked back over her shoulder at the couple pressed against each other in the alley. She noticed the cameras and crew finally. The she heard a booming voice yell "Cut! Who the fuck is that?" and then another voice, the voice of the woman who had been kissing "Spike" at the other end of the alley cry out, "I can't keep doing this same stupid scene over and over again. My mouth is going to be covered in sores by the end of the day!" As she pushed doppelganger Spike out of her way and marched towards Faye, Faye realized that she was wearing an outfit identical to hers. The same buttery leather hotpants and halter top.
What the hell was going on?
And why was Spike kissing Faye?