Sorry, for the delay, really, I don't have an excuse except for maybe
laziness. Um...if you have any problems with any prejudices at all, maybe
you shouldn't read this chapter. There, that's my warning.
I don't own Cowboy Bebop and I don't own the song "How much Longer"
"Vicious seems to be doing better," Spike casually mentioned to Mao as he walked into the crime leader's office. "So what's all this about?" he asked, glancing at the serious expression on Mao's face.
Mao coughed into his hand, "Hmmm...well...I've asked you here to speak with you about bodyguards for you and Vicious." He looked at Spike, gauging his reaction.
Spike's face reflected many emotions, the main one being confusion. "But why? Vicious is going to be fine, and besides I thought that it was only an accident, that someone was cleaning their pistol and it went off accidentally."
Mao arched his fingers against each other on top of his desk. "Yes, well. That was the story that we gave to the authorities, but do you really think that someone as experienced as Vicious would actually let themselves get shot in such a way?"
Spike furrowed his eyebrows, realizing the implications of what Mao was saying. But as it always does optimism and the belief that it can never happen to you took over. "I'm sure that Vicious was just caught off guard."
~Drag this neurotic to hysterics
Leave him balked and unfulfilled~
"But that's just the point, Spike. It would take a very experienced assassin to catch Vicious off guard. Even so, it was Vicious's extraordinary reflexes that managed keep the bullet from puncturing and vital organs." Mao opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a manilla folder. After shifting through a few of the documents inside, Mao began speaking again. "Over the course of the last couple of weeks, two of our best assassins have been themselves assassinated. I have reason to believe that you and Vicious, among others, have been targeted."
~Holding inside outwardly patient
'Till the time he'll call it~
"But what good will a bodyguard do?" Spike questioned. "I mean, it's people like me and Vicious who are the best in that business. And if we're being picked off as easily as that..." His voice trailed off.
Mao nodded. "I realize how this may seem absurd to you, but it's one of the few precautions we can take, considering the circumstances. Regardless, I have assigned my two nephews, Lin and Shin, to be your bodyguards."
Session 14: How Much Longer
"Lin and Shin? But what good can they do?" Vicious questioned Spike after receiving the news.
~Alluring exotic twisted hero~
Spike nodded. "I know, I told him it didn't make a whole lot of sense, to have complete newbies be our bodyguards. But he just shrugged and said, 'They need to get the experience somehow.'"
~Leaving him more lonely still~
Vicious smirked a bit. "I'd wager that it we who will end up playing bodyguard to the little amateurs. Mao probably figured that from the beginning, not wanting his precious nephews in any sort of danger." He suddenly began laughing uproariously, apparently finding the whole prospect quite amusing. Spike laughed along too, glad his friend was feeling better until he realized something.
~He waits around~
Vicious stopped laughing when he realized that his compatriot was regarding him with a look of semi-amused wonder. "What?!" he snapped at Spike.
~He's spun around~
Spike chuckled at more before informing him. "I've never heard you laugh before, Vicious. You just seem to smirk maliciously a lot. It's kinda odd."
~And left with out the power to stop it~
Vicious stared a bit at Spike before laughing again. "Yes, I guess I do." He began making faces at Spike, mocking the notorious smirk.
Spike couldn't help but laugh at his friend's out of character antics. "What the hell do they have you on, Vicious? Prozac?" He grinned. "At this rate we're going to have to rename you Jolly."
~Peers don't know what they can't see~
Vicious made a face of disgust. "Jolly? I'd have to gain about a hundred pounds to wear that name right."
~They can't see inside of me~
Spike stood up and grabbed a bowl of pudding from Vicious's bedside table. "Well, let's get started then!"
The screams of "NO!" could be heard from down the hall and when the identical twins Lin and Shin entered the hospital room, Spike was currently trying to cram a spoonful of the pudding down Vicious's throat.
~It's sickening how comforting
The privacy of the mind can be~
"Um...we heard shouting..." Shin began. They watched as Spike calmly handed the spoon he had been holding to Vicious and sat down in a chair next to the bed, crossing his arms, and pretended that absolutely nothing had happened.
Lin and Shin glanced at each other in disbelief. These were the two famous assassins that everyone was talking about back in the syndicate?
~How much longer will I try before I realize
I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
A silence fell over the hospital room. It was the type of silence that always seemed to happen either 20 minutes after the hour or twenty minutes before the hour. Surely enough, it was 4:20. (sorry, random American Gods reference, a good book by the way)
~I'm exhausting yet another topic
I've exhausted frequently~
Lin ahemed into his hand, breaking the silence. "Uh...we were just told that Vicious-sama is allowed to leave."
~With no regrets~
Spike jumped up. "Alright, then in honor of this special occasion, we should all go out and get clobbered."
It was around 9:30 at the noisy and crowed bar. Spike was on his ninth round and was getting a bit tipsy, while Lin and Shin, who had no tolerance to alcohol at all were passed out at the bar. The only one who was not at all trashed was Vicious, who was still hiding a high from his pain medication. All and all, a good combo for some sort of disaster.
~Abstruce and lacking rational
But making so much sense somehow~
Around 9:45, Spike had picked a fight with a guy who weighed three times the size he was, over some pool game. Obviously the monster of a man had not realized that Spike and his friends were members of the friendly local DANGEROUS crime syndicate, the Red Dragons. Not that he would have cared in his current frame of mind. But if he had, maybe he would've seen the katana that Vicious crashed down on the lug's head. To his credit the katana was still in it's case, meaning that no, the thug was not dead, but yes, would be out for a while.
~A stone has knocked my hourglass
No progress made, no time's run out for you~
"Hey..." Spike protested. "I wannad to take 'im out," he said, as Vicious supported Spike's drunken weight and lead him out into the rain, leaving Lin and Shin still passed out on the bar. "Oh no..." Spike murmured softly against Vicious's neck. "My shoes are gonna get wet." When Vicious began chuckling, Spike attempted to straighten up and pointed down at his weather beaten shoes. "No...you don' understand. I paid a lot of money for these shoes! They're gonna get ruined!"
~I'd almost rather have the latter
Save myself with sad defeat~
Vicious laughed as he helped Spike stagger down the sidewalk. "I don't think that you have all that much to worry about, they're pretty beat up already."
~A stone just broke my hourglass~
Spike giggled the giggle only the drunk and insane can giggle in response as they stumbled through the night to Vicious's house.
~I peel the skin that had me trapped ~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------
"I feel like I've been run over by a train..." Spike thought to himself as he struggled out of sleep. As he attempted to open his eyes against the morning light, he remembered bits and parts of the dream he had had about Julia. "Damn, I'm a horny bastard, " he chuckled to himself. The chuckle stirred his headache, and Spike brought a hand to his forehead.
~Peers don't know what they can't see
They can't see inside of me~
"Ooowwww...." he murmured as he massaged his wet fingers against his head. Wait a minute, "wet" fingers? Wha...? Spike looked down and saw that he was stark naked in a bathtub full of cooling water. "Alright, what the hell?" he thought to himself as he pulled himself out of the tub.
~It's sickening how comforting
The privacy of the mind can be~
Spike stumbled into Vicious's bedroom. He is surprised to find an also naked Vicious fast asleep on top of his bed. It was no big deal, he had seen Vicious naked hundreds of times in the syndicate showers, but it was still a bit of a shock to find out that Vicious slept in the nude.
~How much longer will I try before I realize
I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
"Vicious, why the hell was I in your bathtub naked?" Spike abruptly asks.
~I'm exhausting yet another topic~
Vicious pushed himself up groggily. "You don't remember? You wanted to take a bath after last night's festivities."
~I've exhausted frequently~
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Last night's festivities?" Then he thought back to his pleasurable dream about Julia. Vicious stood up and began walking toward Spike. "You mean...it wasn't just a dream?" he asked Vicious.
~With no regrets~
Vicious smiled, leaning over, his face level with Spike's. "Nope. Not a dream." He leaned over and pulled Spike into a kiss.
Spike's eyes widened, and he tried to pull away from Vicious, but Vicious held Spike's body against his own and Spike couldn't get away. "Oh my God, I'm kissing Vicious," thought Spike as Vicious continued to hold him in the kiss. Against his will, Spike began to find himself falling into the kiss as well. He was beginning to forget everything, all and any inhibitions he had ever had against this type of thing.
..
Spike groaned as he felt a tongue push its way into his mouth, battling his own tongue for dominance. Hands began caressing his back, and Spike pushed his own tongue into Vicious's. Mouth pushing mouth, their tongues battling furiously, Spike found his hands exploring Vicious's back, his waist, stomach, then lower....and he stopped. "OH MY GOD, I'M KISSING VICIOUS!" he screamed inside his head.
~How much longer will I try~
With a shout, Spike pushed Vicious away from him, and almost stumbled over his own two feet in his haste to reach the door. He hurriedly opened the door and ran smack into Reeds, the man he had seen in Mao's office. Spike stared at him for a moment or two. Reeds opened his mouth to say something, but Spike had already gone fleeing down the hall.
~Before I realize~
It was the scream from a little old lady that brought Spike to his senses. Realizing that he was still butt naked, he ran back down the hall to Vicious's apartment and grabbed some clothes from outside the bathroom, and fled down the hall again, this time pulling on a shirt as he went.
~I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
Spike wearedly stumbled into the bar he had been at the night before, his clothes thrown on haphazardly, and collapsed at a table, shivering. The only thoughts running through his head were: "Oh my God. Oh my God. oh my god. oh mygod. ohmygod. ohmygod. ohmygodohmygod. ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmyohmygod..." He continued like this until one of the regulars at the bar, Lucy, sat down next to him.
~I'm exhausting yet another topic~
She put a hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was alright. At the his question, Spike began giggling. "Oh, I'm alright," he said. "I'm just FINE." He pushed her away. "Leave me alone," he said forcefully. "I want to be left alone." He buried his head into his arms on the table and attempting to block the entire world out.
~I've exhausted~
A while later he felt a feminine presence at his side. "I thought I said I wanted to be left alone, Lucy."
~Frequently~
He felt a hand run its soft fingers through his hair. He looked up. It was Julia. She smiled her angelic smile at him, sadly. "Rough night?" she asked.
Spike smiled a melancholic smile. "You have no idea."
~With no regrets~
_____________________________________________________
Oh, by the way. If you liked this story, go check out Blessings of a Beast (affectionately called BOB) by ScarletStarlet. It's a sister story to this one told from Vicious's point of view. Enjoy!
I don't own Cowboy Bebop and I don't own the song "How much Longer"
"Vicious seems to be doing better," Spike casually mentioned to Mao as he walked into the crime leader's office. "So what's all this about?" he asked, glancing at the serious expression on Mao's face.
Mao coughed into his hand, "Hmmm...well...I've asked you here to speak with you about bodyguards for you and Vicious." He looked at Spike, gauging his reaction.
Spike's face reflected many emotions, the main one being confusion. "But why? Vicious is going to be fine, and besides I thought that it was only an accident, that someone was cleaning their pistol and it went off accidentally."
Mao arched his fingers against each other on top of his desk. "Yes, well. That was the story that we gave to the authorities, but do you really think that someone as experienced as Vicious would actually let themselves get shot in such a way?"
Spike furrowed his eyebrows, realizing the implications of what Mao was saying. But as it always does optimism and the belief that it can never happen to you took over. "I'm sure that Vicious was just caught off guard."
~Drag this neurotic to hysterics
Leave him balked and unfulfilled~
"But that's just the point, Spike. It would take a very experienced assassin to catch Vicious off guard. Even so, it was Vicious's extraordinary reflexes that managed keep the bullet from puncturing and vital organs." Mao opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a manilla folder. After shifting through a few of the documents inside, Mao began speaking again. "Over the course of the last couple of weeks, two of our best assassins have been themselves assassinated. I have reason to believe that you and Vicious, among others, have been targeted."
~Holding inside outwardly patient
'Till the time he'll call it~
"But what good will a bodyguard do?" Spike questioned. "I mean, it's people like me and Vicious who are the best in that business. And if we're being picked off as easily as that..." His voice trailed off.
Mao nodded. "I realize how this may seem absurd to you, but it's one of the few precautions we can take, considering the circumstances. Regardless, I have assigned my two nephews, Lin and Shin, to be your bodyguards."
Session 14: How Much Longer
"Lin and Shin? But what good can they do?" Vicious questioned Spike after receiving the news.
~Alluring exotic twisted hero~
Spike nodded. "I know, I told him it didn't make a whole lot of sense, to have complete newbies be our bodyguards. But he just shrugged and said, 'They need to get the experience somehow.'"
~Leaving him more lonely still~
Vicious smirked a bit. "I'd wager that it we who will end up playing bodyguard to the little amateurs. Mao probably figured that from the beginning, not wanting his precious nephews in any sort of danger." He suddenly began laughing uproariously, apparently finding the whole prospect quite amusing. Spike laughed along too, glad his friend was feeling better until he realized something.
~He waits around~
Vicious stopped laughing when he realized that his compatriot was regarding him with a look of semi-amused wonder. "What?!" he snapped at Spike.
~He's spun around~
Spike chuckled at more before informing him. "I've never heard you laugh before, Vicious. You just seem to smirk maliciously a lot. It's kinda odd."
~And left with out the power to stop it~
Vicious stared a bit at Spike before laughing again. "Yes, I guess I do." He began making faces at Spike, mocking the notorious smirk.
Spike couldn't help but laugh at his friend's out of character antics. "What the hell do they have you on, Vicious? Prozac?" He grinned. "At this rate we're going to have to rename you Jolly."
~Peers don't know what they can't see~
Vicious made a face of disgust. "Jolly? I'd have to gain about a hundred pounds to wear that name right."
~They can't see inside of me~
Spike stood up and grabbed a bowl of pudding from Vicious's bedside table. "Well, let's get started then!"
The screams of "NO!" could be heard from down the hall and when the identical twins Lin and Shin entered the hospital room, Spike was currently trying to cram a spoonful of the pudding down Vicious's throat.
~It's sickening how comforting
The privacy of the mind can be~
"Um...we heard shouting..." Shin began. They watched as Spike calmly handed the spoon he had been holding to Vicious and sat down in a chair next to the bed, crossing his arms, and pretended that absolutely nothing had happened.
Lin and Shin glanced at each other in disbelief. These were the two famous assassins that everyone was talking about back in the syndicate?
~How much longer will I try before I realize
I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
A silence fell over the hospital room. It was the type of silence that always seemed to happen either 20 minutes after the hour or twenty minutes before the hour. Surely enough, it was 4:20. (sorry, random American Gods reference, a good book by the way)
~I'm exhausting yet another topic
I've exhausted frequently~
Lin ahemed into his hand, breaking the silence. "Uh...we were just told that Vicious-sama is allowed to leave."
~With no regrets~
Spike jumped up. "Alright, then in honor of this special occasion, we should all go out and get clobbered."
It was around 9:30 at the noisy and crowed bar. Spike was on his ninth round and was getting a bit tipsy, while Lin and Shin, who had no tolerance to alcohol at all were passed out at the bar. The only one who was not at all trashed was Vicious, who was still hiding a high from his pain medication. All and all, a good combo for some sort of disaster.
~Abstruce and lacking rational
But making so much sense somehow~
Around 9:45, Spike had picked a fight with a guy who weighed three times the size he was, over some pool game. Obviously the monster of a man had not realized that Spike and his friends were members of the friendly local DANGEROUS crime syndicate, the Red Dragons. Not that he would have cared in his current frame of mind. But if he had, maybe he would've seen the katana that Vicious crashed down on the lug's head. To his credit the katana was still in it's case, meaning that no, the thug was not dead, but yes, would be out for a while.
~A stone has knocked my hourglass
No progress made, no time's run out for you~
"Hey..." Spike protested. "I wannad to take 'im out," he said, as Vicious supported Spike's drunken weight and lead him out into the rain, leaving Lin and Shin still passed out on the bar. "Oh no..." Spike murmured softly against Vicious's neck. "My shoes are gonna get wet." When Vicious began chuckling, Spike attempted to straighten up and pointed down at his weather beaten shoes. "No...you don' understand. I paid a lot of money for these shoes! They're gonna get ruined!"
~I'd almost rather have the latter
Save myself with sad defeat~
Vicious laughed as he helped Spike stagger down the sidewalk. "I don't think that you have all that much to worry about, they're pretty beat up already."
~A stone just broke my hourglass~
Spike giggled the giggle only the drunk and insane can giggle in response as they stumbled through the night to Vicious's house.
~I peel the skin that had me trapped ~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------
"I feel like I've been run over by a train..." Spike thought to himself as he struggled out of sleep. As he attempted to open his eyes against the morning light, he remembered bits and parts of the dream he had had about Julia. "Damn, I'm a horny bastard, " he chuckled to himself. The chuckle stirred his headache, and Spike brought a hand to his forehead.
~Peers don't know what they can't see
They can't see inside of me~
"Ooowwww...." he murmured as he massaged his wet fingers against his head. Wait a minute, "wet" fingers? Wha...? Spike looked down and saw that he was stark naked in a bathtub full of cooling water. "Alright, what the hell?" he thought to himself as he pulled himself out of the tub.
~It's sickening how comforting
The privacy of the mind can be~
Spike stumbled into Vicious's bedroom. He is surprised to find an also naked Vicious fast asleep on top of his bed. It was no big deal, he had seen Vicious naked hundreds of times in the syndicate showers, but it was still a bit of a shock to find out that Vicious slept in the nude.
~How much longer will I try before I realize
I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
"Vicious, why the hell was I in your bathtub naked?" Spike abruptly asks.
~I'm exhausting yet another topic~
Vicious pushed himself up groggily. "You don't remember? You wanted to take a bath after last night's festivities."
~I've exhausted frequently~
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Last night's festivities?" Then he thought back to his pleasurable dream about Julia. Vicious stood up and began walking toward Spike. "You mean...it wasn't just a dream?" he asked Vicious.
~With no regrets~
Vicious smiled, leaning over, his face level with Spike's. "Nope. Not a dream." He leaned over and pulled Spike into a kiss.
Spike's eyes widened, and he tried to pull away from Vicious, but Vicious held Spike's body against his own and Spike couldn't get away. "Oh my God, I'm kissing Vicious," thought Spike as Vicious continued to hold him in the kiss. Against his will, Spike began to find himself falling into the kiss as well. He was beginning to forget everything, all and any inhibitions he had ever had against this type of thing.
..
Spike groaned as he felt a tongue push its way into his mouth, battling his own tongue for dominance. Hands began caressing his back, and Spike pushed his own tongue into Vicious's. Mouth pushing mouth, their tongues battling furiously, Spike found his hands exploring Vicious's back, his waist, stomach, then lower....and he stopped. "OH MY GOD, I'M KISSING VICIOUS!" he screamed inside his head.
~How much longer will I try~
With a shout, Spike pushed Vicious away from him, and almost stumbled over his own two feet in his haste to reach the door. He hurriedly opened the door and ran smack into Reeds, the man he had seen in Mao's office. Spike stared at him for a moment or two. Reeds opened his mouth to say something, but Spike had already gone fleeing down the hall.
~Before I realize~
It was the scream from a little old lady that brought Spike to his senses. Realizing that he was still butt naked, he ran back down the hall to Vicious's apartment and grabbed some clothes from outside the bathroom, and fled down the hall again, this time pulling on a shirt as he went.
~I'm desperate in the situation that I'm in again~
Spike wearedly stumbled into the bar he had been at the night before, his clothes thrown on haphazardly, and collapsed at a table, shivering. The only thoughts running through his head were: "Oh my God. Oh my God. oh my god. oh mygod. ohmygod. ohmygod. ohmygodohmygod. ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmyohmygod..." He continued like this until one of the regulars at the bar, Lucy, sat down next to him.
~I'm exhausting yet another topic~
She put a hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was alright. At the his question, Spike began giggling. "Oh, I'm alright," he said. "I'm just FINE." He pushed her away. "Leave me alone," he said forcefully. "I want to be left alone." He buried his head into his arms on the table and attempting to block the entire world out.
~I've exhausted~
A while later he felt a feminine presence at his side. "I thought I said I wanted to be left alone, Lucy."
~Frequently~
He felt a hand run its soft fingers through his hair. He looked up. It was Julia. She smiled her angelic smile at him, sadly. "Rough night?" she asked.
Spike smiled a melancholic smile. "You have no idea."
~With no regrets~
_____________________________________________________
Oh, by the way. If you liked this story, go check out Blessings of a Beast (affectionately called BOB) by ScarletStarlet. It's a sister story to this one told from Vicious's point of view. Enjoy!
