Prolog
The year is 2075. Four years after the original Bebop adventures, four years after the so-called death of Spike. In those four years many things had changed. Faye became the head partner of the Bebop along with Jet. Then Jet felt he was getting to old for the whole thing, and so went into retirement. (However, he works as a cook for the Bebop.) Ed is now seventeen, has a little bit a meat on her bones, red hair has grown slightly longer, has gained a new set of attire, and has a little more sanity in her head. Faye is now twenty-six, going on to twenty-seven, purple-black hair growing longer, beautiful as ever, and is somewhat of the sister Ed never had. Ein is top dog, helping sniff out bounties and protecting the women of the ship. Spike is not forgotten. But his involvement in all this will be revealed in later sessions.
A Friendly Note: There will be some language in here now and then. And not just bad language... I stuck some Japanese in there. (I've never seen CB in English, only jap and subtitles, so I base my fic on that...) A '*' next to a word means its jap...Questions on the language? Write them in your reviews, or email meor something. (At CoffeesLife@hotmail.com ) Oh and... the things between the dashes? Italics.
Session One: Stuck in a Dream PART I
///"Just go," Jet had once said. "Go and grasp that thing you lost."///
Faye leaned forward in her chair, slender fingers holding the controls with a supernatural kung fu grip, emerald eyes glowing with great determination. She'd get this one. She knew she would. And if she really tried hard enough, she'd get him, turn him in, and be back in time for dinner at the Bebop.
Faye blinked slightly at the flashing button beneath the small screen in front of her. Releasing a joystick, she reached to poke at the button and kept her eyes fixed on the screen.
Ed appeared, waving. "Faye-Faye! I'm uploading the information on your screen, now. But-I'm warning you. Careful, careful."
Faye masked her soft smile with a look of extreme irritation. "I know, I know! Don't you have a chess game or something to go to? Shoo!" She shook her head when Ed's face vanished and was replaced with the information on their latest bounty. Faye began to skim the information, whispering quietly 'Arigato.'*
She tilted her head. The picture was that of a man, tall, fair-skinned, skin leathery but face comely for his old age. His graying hair was once a luminescent blackest of blacks, but, for the lighting in the picture, she couldn't tell the color of his eyes. Still, she knew they were quick and sharp. She read on: It seems the man was charged for murder, plenty of cheating, property damage, fraud, and hacking into extremely classified files. He was known as Black Jack. Short, sweet and simple.
Faye smiled devilishly, reaching out to pat Ein who sat beside her, belted down in his own makeshift chair. He grinned back slowly, bearing his canine teeth. "Hoi*, get ready Mr. Black Jack. Faye doesn't go easy on anyone," she threw her head back in a feminine burst of laughter, leaning forward again and gripping the joysticks to accelerate. They were going to Mars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faye yawned, stretching her arms high above her head, sitting back a bit on her heels. She kicked the door of her small ship to a close. Tapping her sunglasses perched on top of her head with a delicate finger, she allowed them to slide down over her eyes. "C'mon Ein," she walked in the direction of the city, away from the ship docking area. Ein trotted obediently behind.
She poked a button on her old cell, which looked more like a remote with a small monitor. "Yo," she said quietly at the phone. "Anyone there?"
"Moshi Moshi!*" Faye heard her voice first, and then saw her face, nose pressed right up to the screen, pig-like, grin big and lopsided, cheeks rosy as ever. "Need help?" Ed inquired, backing away a bit from the screen.
"Yea, sure," Faye yawned again. "What's the deal on this guy's location?"
"Hehe!" Ed giggled. "I was just searching it. Found. A bar. 'S actually part of an inn," Ed explained hastily. "The inn is called Rose Diablo. Next to a casino. Y'know, that's where he plans to cheat big."
Faye nodded. "Thanks kid. I'll be getting you a souvenir from Mars."
Ed brought clasped her hands to her chest dramatically, "Souvi, Souvi!"
Faye laughed lightly and punched at the button so that Ed's face faded out. She walked in long, deliberate strides, toe coming down on the ground before her heel each time like a cat. Men openly gawked at her-her pretty face and her long legs, clad in black leather pants. She finally came to a door, a sign with electric-wired red lettering marked "Rose Diablo" hanging over it. Kicking it open she walked in, seated herself on a stool, and patted Ein whispering the simple command "Go sniff around." She trusted he knew what else to do.
Faye ordered herself a shot of red wine, and alternated between sips and drags on a cigarette. She stayed leaning over the table, flirting a little with the bartender, letting her gaze flick here and there for anyone who looked like the man named Black Jack, or anything else interesting. Instead she just saw person after person checking into the inn, getting themselves a room upstairs or ordering himself or herself a drink. Nothing suspicious. Not really.
Big Shot came on. "Amigos!" the man yelled on the screen. "Howdy!" shrieked the woman giddily beside him. "Today we've got a pretty big bounty on our hands. About 7,000,000 woolongs, would you believe?"
"Aye?" the man jumped, "7,000,000? Haha, seven's a lucky number. C'mon then. Tell these Cowboys this guy's name!"
The woman giggled a 'tehehe', tossing her golden hair. "Well, we don't really know his name! But... He's known as 'Black Jack'." As soon as she said that, the bartender ceased his pleasant conversation with Faye and turned off the television. She raised an eyebrow, but nothing more. Something was going on.
"Ein!" she called. "Ein?" The small dog trotted up next to her, fiercely bit the bottom of the man sitting on the neighboring stool, and claimed the stool his own, pulling himself up with his paws. He tilted his head to look at her, as if to say, 'Nani?*'
"Didn't you see that? The guy just turned the thing off after they mentioned Black Jack. Something's up," she paused, taking a long drag on her cig, then exhaling the smoke in a graceful trail, which found its way straight into Ein's moist nostrils. He coughed. "Anyway," Faye continued, "Have you seen anything?"
Ein nodded his furry head, coughing still. Then he tossed his head back southeast from himself, in the direction of two men in black trench coats, dark shades and carved sort of features on their faces. Faye glanced at them and then back at her canine comrade, she narrowed her eyes as if to say, 'suspicious?' Ein nodded, ears flattened against his head.
Faye nodded back and glanced at the bartender, blowing a kiss. "I'll be back," she winked. She had some things to figure out with this man. But for now.... well.... She walked over to the two men, her hips swaying gently from side to side in rhythm to her footfalls. "Hello," she said quietly, the one word dripping with girlish charm.
They ignored her. Faye Valentine definitely did not like to be overlooked. She would have to try harder. She strolled around them, then deliberately bumped into a table, tripping herself in such a way that she found herself in one trench coat man's arms. Looking up she said, "Hey there." She blinked her big green eyes innocently, "I'm so sorry. It's just, you see, I tripped. I seem clumsier as the days go by..." She snaked one arm around his waist and pulled him closer to her, eyes meeting his as she reached still further into his back pocket and stealthily robbed him of his wallet. "Your name, stranger?"
"J-Jerry," he stuttered, his attention finally on her.
The other man, who seemed older, growled. "C'mon Jerry. Take your eyes off that wench and let's go. We'll be late pretty soon for Mr. Jack's appointment. And no one is late for the Jack."
"Son of a bitch," he muttered. "All right, Ben. Well I'll be seeing you later, lovely." He grinned at her, a hideous sight for half of his teeth were knocked out or gone. Faye forced herself to smile back, turning her head away and walking back to her stool, pondering.
Hunched over so no one could see, she flipped through the wallet. //Very nice.// Inside were a couple creds and some nice, cold, hard cash, along with his ID. Yea- his name was Jerry. Jerry I. Screme. //Real cute.// And what was that other guy's name? Ben. Ben and Jerry. What had they talked about? An 'appointment'. With a guy named Jack. The Black Jack, perhaps?
"Claire?" she shook her head slightly and slipped the wallet into a sleeve of her yellow jacket. Claire was the name she had given as hers to the bartender. She looks up at him, "Yes?"
"You're looking down," he said. "Can I get you a drink, on the house?"
"Sure," she stroked her chin thoughtfully with one hand. "What to get, what to get.... I'll have another red wine, please."
"Anything you want," he beamed at her. Underlining that grin was something sinister, and it made Faye feel rather uneasy.
Shhhrrrhhsss... something hissed in her ear. Static. She knocked her head a good couple times. "Faye-Faye!" Came the tiny voice of Ed. //Sweet Jesus//, Faye thought silently. //I forgot about the earpiece!// She had. She told Ed that she hadn't ever come along on any of the bounty-hunting (mis)adventures so she couldn't start now. Instead, she gave Ed an earpiece communication system to follow up on her progress. This was the first time they were using it.
"Faye," she said her name again. "Hot bartender-person has been listening in on your conversations... With Ein and the black-wearing men. Careful."
"Uh-huh. Keep your shirt on, kid," she muttered back.
"But Faye-sama... Ed's shirt is in the wash," the girl murmured before the transmission began breaking up. "I...."-static-"wea.."-static-"...no..."- static-"shir...." beep! The transmission finally ceased completely. Faye was left alone in silence, disturbing images of shirtless seventeen-year- old Ed in front of her little laptop playing in her mind. She shuddered. "Kid..."
"Hey babe," the bartender said as he slid a glass of red wine across the counter. "Here's the drink. Enjoy."
Faye stared at it a moment. Maybe it was just the lighting in the bar, but the wine seemed to sparkle and fizz a bit. She shrugged and downed it quickly-only to almost just as quickly experience a burning sort of feeling in her throat. "Ah," she shook her head, "I'm feeling a little tired." The world spun dizzily around her and she stretches out her arm so she could grip Ein's fur tightly. "Ein... Ein... what's going on?" He whimpered in response. As she lost consciousness, Faye heard the bartender's mean peal of laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faye woke up, hands handcuffed behind her back, ankles bound to the legs of a crudely made wooden chair. Ein had a pair of handcuffs fastened on him too: one of the rings on a chair leg, another hooked around his collar. They were seated in the middle of a dark room, with only one window. Looking at it, Faye realized that it was early evening. Her ears twitched slightly, and she turned her head abruptly at the sound of soft footfalls. Shoes-no boots, made of good, tough leather.
"So you're a bounty hunter," a man's voice said. Familiar. Faye couldn't tell exactly who it was, though. She was still feeling rather drowsy, and her earpiece was once again hissing in her ear, giving her a bad headache. "A bounty hunter, Miss... Faye Valentine," he said quietly, flipping through her wallet, which he seemed to have stolen while she was unconscious. "It's a nicer name than Claire. A whore's name, nonetheless." The man came out of the shadows, and Faye could vaguely make out the smile that played on his lips.
"Konnichiwa*, Mr. Bartender."
"Same to you, miss," he nodded in her direction. "So. Why are you after The Black Jack?" "I'm a bounty hunter, you bastard," she forced a laugh, "He's got a big bounty on his head- so I've got to have him."
"Direct and to the point," he tilted her face up toward his, "I like that."
Faye took the chance to spit in one of the man's eyes. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped at his eye slowly, but he did not flinch. "He'll like you, Faye. He'll like your spirit, and that fierce beauty you've got. Here," he scribbled something on a cocktail napkin and shoved it in her mouth. "Read it when I let you and your little dog go." He pat her head lightly, turning to walk back into the shadow, and soon after Faye heard a sound like the click of a button, and then the opening and closing of a door. As soon as the click had sounded, the cold metal of Faye's handcuffs seemed to get warmer, then softer, and finally they just melted into a stream of liquid that gathered in a silver puddle on the floor. Likewise, the ties on her feet fell useless to the ground. Faye knelt down stiffly to untie Ein, then did a quick survey of the room.
She found her jacket slung over a hook in one corner and her wallet left as if it were never touched on the ground. She scooped both up into her arms, and then, walking into the small pool of light that came in from the window, she spit the napkin out into on hand, examining it. It read:
}Black Jack will be at Casino Amigo, next door from the Rose Diablo Inn here.{
}Expect to see him playing his hand at some of the intermediate card games near the{
}back around 8:00. I think he'll let you in without an appointment. -Tim (The Evil Bartender){
"Appointment-Those guys-Hm," Faye coughed. "Let's go, Ein. It's already about 7:30. Ack!" She held her head, the earpiece hissing louder in her ear. The feedback died down a bit and she heard Ed's voice. "Faye, are you ok? It's been a while since Ed got a message from you at all. Bartender- person really knocked you out but good!" She paused, yawning. "Ed's been waiting for a while now...
"...Faye-Faye. Might this be a trap set out by the bartender man? There's no reason to trust 'im." Faye found herself nodding slightly. "Ed, I know. But I don't have any other leads. We'll all just play along for now." Faye hoped everything would be all right though... She had already screwed things up more than necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Standing at the front of the casino, Faye wore her old Poker Alice outfit. She discovered when she put it on that she'd become a tad bustier over the four years that passed since she first bumped into the Bebop crew. When she first ran into Spike... Spike.... She remembered the day her world came crashing down. The day she was told he was dead. ****
///Faye lay down on the old yellow couch on the Bebop. The fan whirred overhead, each fin cutting through the hot air like the swinging blade of a sword. There was something in the air-something about the silence. Jet had gone out to check on Spike. Faye was left alone with Ed and Ein, and for once, Ed wasn't singing song. Instead, she was curled up in the corner, holding onto Ein, terribly still, eyes rarely blinking. All of them hadn't eaten for five days. Five days ago, Spike had left with a doubtful possibility of ever returning.///
///Faye heard a door slam, and heavy, slow footsteps approaching the lounge. Through half-closed eyes, she saw Jet sit down stiffly on the coffee table, head in his hands.///
///"Mr. Jet-person," Ed said quietly, golden cat eyes fluttering as if she had awakened from a trance, "found anything?"///
///Jet looked at his feet, kicking one of the legs of the coffee table. Faye sat up and leaned forward on the couch. "Well?"///
///Jet narrowed his dark eyes. "Spike's dead," he said hoarsely. "Dead. Gone. Passed away."///
///Ed shook her head, fluffy red hair going this way and that. "No! Spike- person can't die. He on vacation. A really long vacation."///
///"Hai*," Faye nodded. "Just a really long vacation."///
///Jet spoke slowly, "You can spend all the time denying it that you want. I spent the last two days filling myself with booze to ease the pain. But you know what Spike would say? We were living in a dream. And just like that, we woke up to cold reality."///
///Faye shook her head fiercely. "No, no. It can't be. Spike's too good a shot... he's got the reflexes of a cat... he can see anything coming before it hits him. Nothing could kill him."///
///"Believe it, Faye. Or perhaps you'd like to see him now. His left eye was bloodied, arm was shot; his leg was slashed pretty bad, there was a blade stuck into his heart. And the way they said he fell on those stairs- he had a bloody nose too, and perhaps broke a bone collapsing." Jet's shut his eyes, letting out a shuddering sigh.///
///"Perhaps I would like to see him. Perhaps I can do something," Faye replied bravely.///
///"Faye-Faye..." Ed said softly. Ein howled, the sound seeming to pierce the still air.///
*****
Faye had already settled, one long leg crossed over another, behind an empty game table. She glanced at her watch. Just 7:40. She still had twenty minutes to go. She knew what this guy looked like. She knew where generally where he was going to appear. She sent Ein to lure him to her table if she saw him. She knew he could do it, for he had done it many times before. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, cracking her knuckles out in front of her. In the back of her mind, she heard the faint echo of Ed's voice. ///Careful, careful.///
author's note: I'm a thirteen year old anime fanatic freak.... & this is my first fic. Really, this was all improv. I just wrote as I went. So um... it will be edited. Sometime soon. Check back, review, review, review! I'm working on Part II now. Arigato!*
The year is 2075. Four years after the original Bebop adventures, four years after the so-called death of Spike. In those four years many things had changed. Faye became the head partner of the Bebop along with Jet. Then Jet felt he was getting to old for the whole thing, and so went into retirement. (However, he works as a cook for the Bebop.) Ed is now seventeen, has a little bit a meat on her bones, red hair has grown slightly longer, has gained a new set of attire, and has a little more sanity in her head. Faye is now twenty-six, going on to twenty-seven, purple-black hair growing longer, beautiful as ever, and is somewhat of the sister Ed never had. Ein is top dog, helping sniff out bounties and protecting the women of the ship. Spike is not forgotten. But his involvement in all this will be revealed in later sessions.
A Friendly Note: There will be some language in here now and then. And not just bad language... I stuck some Japanese in there. (I've never seen CB in English, only jap and subtitles, so I base my fic on that...) A '*' next to a word means its jap...Questions on the language? Write them in your reviews, or email meor something. (At CoffeesLife@hotmail.com ) Oh and... the things between the dashes? Italics.
Session One: Stuck in a Dream PART I
///"Just go," Jet had once said. "Go and grasp that thing you lost."///
Faye leaned forward in her chair, slender fingers holding the controls with a supernatural kung fu grip, emerald eyes glowing with great determination. She'd get this one. She knew she would. And if she really tried hard enough, she'd get him, turn him in, and be back in time for dinner at the Bebop.
Faye blinked slightly at the flashing button beneath the small screen in front of her. Releasing a joystick, she reached to poke at the button and kept her eyes fixed on the screen.
Ed appeared, waving. "Faye-Faye! I'm uploading the information on your screen, now. But-I'm warning you. Careful, careful."
Faye masked her soft smile with a look of extreme irritation. "I know, I know! Don't you have a chess game or something to go to? Shoo!" She shook her head when Ed's face vanished and was replaced with the information on their latest bounty. Faye began to skim the information, whispering quietly 'Arigato.'*
She tilted her head. The picture was that of a man, tall, fair-skinned, skin leathery but face comely for his old age. His graying hair was once a luminescent blackest of blacks, but, for the lighting in the picture, she couldn't tell the color of his eyes. Still, she knew they were quick and sharp. She read on: It seems the man was charged for murder, plenty of cheating, property damage, fraud, and hacking into extremely classified files. He was known as Black Jack. Short, sweet and simple.
Faye smiled devilishly, reaching out to pat Ein who sat beside her, belted down in his own makeshift chair. He grinned back slowly, bearing his canine teeth. "Hoi*, get ready Mr. Black Jack. Faye doesn't go easy on anyone," she threw her head back in a feminine burst of laughter, leaning forward again and gripping the joysticks to accelerate. They were going to Mars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faye yawned, stretching her arms high above her head, sitting back a bit on her heels. She kicked the door of her small ship to a close. Tapping her sunglasses perched on top of her head with a delicate finger, she allowed them to slide down over her eyes. "C'mon Ein," she walked in the direction of the city, away from the ship docking area. Ein trotted obediently behind.
She poked a button on her old cell, which looked more like a remote with a small monitor. "Yo," she said quietly at the phone. "Anyone there?"
"Moshi Moshi!*" Faye heard her voice first, and then saw her face, nose pressed right up to the screen, pig-like, grin big and lopsided, cheeks rosy as ever. "Need help?" Ed inquired, backing away a bit from the screen.
"Yea, sure," Faye yawned again. "What's the deal on this guy's location?"
"Hehe!" Ed giggled. "I was just searching it. Found. A bar. 'S actually part of an inn," Ed explained hastily. "The inn is called Rose Diablo. Next to a casino. Y'know, that's where he plans to cheat big."
Faye nodded. "Thanks kid. I'll be getting you a souvenir from Mars."
Ed brought clasped her hands to her chest dramatically, "Souvi, Souvi!"
Faye laughed lightly and punched at the button so that Ed's face faded out. She walked in long, deliberate strides, toe coming down on the ground before her heel each time like a cat. Men openly gawked at her-her pretty face and her long legs, clad in black leather pants. She finally came to a door, a sign with electric-wired red lettering marked "Rose Diablo" hanging over it. Kicking it open she walked in, seated herself on a stool, and patted Ein whispering the simple command "Go sniff around." She trusted he knew what else to do.
Faye ordered herself a shot of red wine, and alternated between sips and drags on a cigarette. She stayed leaning over the table, flirting a little with the bartender, letting her gaze flick here and there for anyone who looked like the man named Black Jack, or anything else interesting. Instead she just saw person after person checking into the inn, getting themselves a room upstairs or ordering himself or herself a drink. Nothing suspicious. Not really.
Big Shot came on. "Amigos!" the man yelled on the screen. "Howdy!" shrieked the woman giddily beside him. "Today we've got a pretty big bounty on our hands. About 7,000,000 woolongs, would you believe?"
"Aye?" the man jumped, "7,000,000? Haha, seven's a lucky number. C'mon then. Tell these Cowboys this guy's name!"
The woman giggled a 'tehehe', tossing her golden hair. "Well, we don't really know his name! But... He's known as 'Black Jack'." As soon as she said that, the bartender ceased his pleasant conversation with Faye and turned off the television. She raised an eyebrow, but nothing more. Something was going on.
"Ein!" she called. "Ein?" The small dog trotted up next to her, fiercely bit the bottom of the man sitting on the neighboring stool, and claimed the stool his own, pulling himself up with his paws. He tilted his head to look at her, as if to say, 'Nani?*'
"Didn't you see that? The guy just turned the thing off after they mentioned Black Jack. Something's up," she paused, taking a long drag on her cig, then exhaling the smoke in a graceful trail, which found its way straight into Ein's moist nostrils. He coughed. "Anyway," Faye continued, "Have you seen anything?"
Ein nodded his furry head, coughing still. Then he tossed his head back southeast from himself, in the direction of two men in black trench coats, dark shades and carved sort of features on their faces. Faye glanced at them and then back at her canine comrade, she narrowed her eyes as if to say, 'suspicious?' Ein nodded, ears flattened against his head.
Faye nodded back and glanced at the bartender, blowing a kiss. "I'll be back," she winked. She had some things to figure out with this man. But for now.... well.... She walked over to the two men, her hips swaying gently from side to side in rhythm to her footfalls. "Hello," she said quietly, the one word dripping with girlish charm.
They ignored her. Faye Valentine definitely did not like to be overlooked. She would have to try harder. She strolled around them, then deliberately bumped into a table, tripping herself in such a way that she found herself in one trench coat man's arms. Looking up she said, "Hey there." She blinked her big green eyes innocently, "I'm so sorry. It's just, you see, I tripped. I seem clumsier as the days go by..." She snaked one arm around his waist and pulled him closer to her, eyes meeting his as she reached still further into his back pocket and stealthily robbed him of his wallet. "Your name, stranger?"
"J-Jerry," he stuttered, his attention finally on her.
The other man, who seemed older, growled. "C'mon Jerry. Take your eyes off that wench and let's go. We'll be late pretty soon for Mr. Jack's appointment. And no one is late for the Jack."
"Son of a bitch," he muttered. "All right, Ben. Well I'll be seeing you later, lovely." He grinned at her, a hideous sight for half of his teeth were knocked out or gone. Faye forced herself to smile back, turning her head away and walking back to her stool, pondering.
Hunched over so no one could see, she flipped through the wallet. //Very nice.// Inside were a couple creds and some nice, cold, hard cash, along with his ID. Yea- his name was Jerry. Jerry I. Screme. //Real cute.// And what was that other guy's name? Ben. Ben and Jerry. What had they talked about? An 'appointment'. With a guy named Jack. The Black Jack, perhaps?
"Claire?" she shook her head slightly and slipped the wallet into a sleeve of her yellow jacket. Claire was the name she had given as hers to the bartender. She looks up at him, "Yes?"
"You're looking down," he said. "Can I get you a drink, on the house?"
"Sure," she stroked her chin thoughtfully with one hand. "What to get, what to get.... I'll have another red wine, please."
"Anything you want," he beamed at her. Underlining that grin was something sinister, and it made Faye feel rather uneasy.
Shhhrrrhhsss... something hissed in her ear. Static. She knocked her head a good couple times. "Faye-Faye!" Came the tiny voice of Ed. //Sweet Jesus//, Faye thought silently. //I forgot about the earpiece!// She had. She told Ed that she hadn't ever come along on any of the bounty-hunting (mis)adventures so she couldn't start now. Instead, she gave Ed an earpiece communication system to follow up on her progress. This was the first time they were using it.
"Faye," she said her name again. "Hot bartender-person has been listening in on your conversations... With Ein and the black-wearing men. Careful."
"Uh-huh. Keep your shirt on, kid," she muttered back.
"But Faye-sama... Ed's shirt is in the wash," the girl murmured before the transmission began breaking up. "I...."-static-"wea.."-static-"...no..."- static-"shir...." beep! The transmission finally ceased completely. Faye was left alone in silence, disturbing images of shirtless seventeen-year- old Ed in front of her little laptop playing in her mind. She shuddered. "Kid..."
"Hey babe," the bartender said as he slid a glass of red wine across the counter. "Here's the drink. Enjoy."
Faye stared at it a moment. Maybe it was just the lighting in the bar, but the wine seemed to sparkle and fizz a bit. She shrugged and downed it quickly-only to almost just as quickly experience a burning sort of feeling in her throat. "Ah," she shook her head, "I'm feeling a little tired." The world spun dizzily around her and she stretches out her arm so she could grip Ein's fur tightly. "Ein... Ein... what's going on?" He whimpered in response. As she lost consciousness, Faye heard the bartender's mean peal of laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faye woke up, hands handcuffed behind her back, ankles bound to the legs of a crudely made wooden chair. Ein had a pair of handcuffs fastened on him too: one of the rings on a chair leg, another hooked around his collar. They were seated in the middle of a dark room, with only one window. Looking at it, Faye realized that it was early evening. Her ears twitched slightly, and she turned her head abruptly at the sound of soft footfalls. Shoes-no boots, made of good, tough leather.
"So you're a bounty hunter," a man's voice said. Familiar. Faye couldn't tell exactly who it was, though. She was still feeling rather drowsy, and her earpiece was once again hissing in her ear, giving her a bad headache. "A bounty hunter, Miss... Faye Valentine," he said quietly, flipping through her wallet, which he seemed to have stolen while she was unconscious. "It's a nicer name than Claire. A whore's name, nonetheless." The man came out of the shadows, and Faye could vaguely make out the smile that played on his lips.
"Konnichiwa*, Mr. Bartender."
"Same to you, miss," he nodded in her direction. "So. Why are you after The Black Jack?" "I'm a bounty hunter, you bastard," she forced a laugh, "He's got a big bounty on his head- so I've got to have him."
"Direct and to the point," he tilted her face up toward his, "I like that."
Faye took the chance to spit in one of the man's eyes. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped at his eye slowly, but he did not flinch. "He'll like you, Faye. He'll like your spirit, and that fierce beauty you've got. Here," he scribbled something on a cocktail napkin and shoved it in her mouth. "Read it when I let you and your little dog go." He pat her head lightly, turning to walk back into the shadow, and soon after Faye heard a sound like the click of a button, and then the opening and closing of a door. As soon as the click had sounded, the cold metal of Faye's handcuffs seemed to get warmer, then softer, and finally they just melted into a stream of liquid that gathered in a silver puddle on the floor. Likewise, the ties on her feet fell useless to the ground. Faye knelt down stiffly to untie Ein, then did a quick survey of the room.
She found her jacket slung over a hook in one corner and her wallet left as if it were never touched on the ground. She scooped both up into her arms, and then, walking into the small pool of light that came in from the window, she spit the napkin out into on hand, examining it. It read:
}Black Jack will be at Casino Amigo, next door from the Rose Diablo Inn here.{
}Expect to see him playing his hand at some of the intermediate card games near the{
}back around 8:00. I think he'll let you in without an appointment. -Tim (The Evil Bartender){
"Appointment-Those guys-Hm," Faye coughed. "Let's go, Ein. It's already about 7:30. Ack!" She held her head, the earpiece hissing louder in her ear. The feedback died down a bit and she heard Ed's voice. "Faye, are you ok? It's been a while since Ed got a message from you at all. Bartender- person really knocked you out but good!" She paused, yawning. "Ed's been waiting for a while now...
"...Faye-Faye. Might this be a trap set out by the bartender man? There's no reason to trust 'im." Faye found herself nodding slightly. "Ed, I know. But I don't have any other leads. We'll all just play along for now." Faye hoped everything would be all right though... She had already screwed things up more than necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Standing at the front of the casino, Faye wore her old Poker Alice outfit. She discovered when she put it on that she'd become a tad bustier over the four years that passed since she first bumped into the Bebop crew. When she first ran into Spike... Spike.... She remembered the day her world came crashing down. The day she was told he was dead. ****
///Faye lay down on the old yellow couch on the Bebop. The fan whirred overhead, each fin cutting through the hot air like the swinging blade of a sword. There was something in the air-something about the silence. Jet had gone out to check on Spike. Faye was left alone with Ed and Ein, and for once, Ed wasn't singing song. Instead, she was curled up in the corner, holding onto Ein, terribly still, eyes rarely blinking. All of them hadn't eaten for five days. Five days ago, Spike had left with a doubtful possibility of ever returning.///
///Faye heard a door slam, and heavy, slow footsteps approaching the lounge. Through half-closed eyes, she saw Jet sit down stiffly on the coffee table, head in his hands.///
///"Mr. Jet-person," Ed said quietly, golden cat eyes fluttering as if she had awakened from a trance, "found anything?"///
///Jet looked at his feet, kicking one of the legs of the coffee table. Faye sat up and leaned forward on the couch. "Well?"///
///Jet narrowed his dark eyes. "Spike's dead," he said hoarsely. "Dead. Gone. Passed away."///
///Ed shook her head, fluffy red hair going this way and that. "No! Spike- person can't die. He on vacation. A really long vacation."///
///"Hai*," Faye nodded. "Just a really long vacation."///
///Jet spoke slowly, "You can spend all the time denying it that you want. I spent the last two days filling myself with booze to ease the pain. But you know what Spike would say? We were living in a dream. And just like that, we woke up to cold reality."///
///Faye shook her head fiercely. "No, no. It can't be. Spike's too good a shot... he's got the reflexes of a cat... he can see anything coming before it hits him. Nothing could kill him."///
///"Believe it, Faye. Or perhaps you'd like to see him now. His left eye was bloodied, arm was shot; his leg was slashed pretty bad, there was a blade stuck into his heart. And the way they said he fell on those stairs- he had a bloody nose too, and perhaps broke a bone collapsing." Jet's shut his eyes, letting out a shuddering sigh.///
///"Perhaps I would like to see him. Perhaps I can do something," Faye replied bravely.///
///"Faye-Faye..." Ed said softly. Ein howled, the sound seeming to pierce the still air.///
*****
Faye had already settled, one long leg crossed over another, behind an empty game table. She glanced at her watch. Just 7:40. She still had twenty minutes to go. She knew what this guy looked like. She knew where generally where he was going to appear. She sent Ein to lure him to her table if she saw him. She knew he could do it, for he had done it many times before. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, cracking her knuckles out in front of her. In the back of her mind, she heard the faint echo of Ed's voice. ///Careful, careful.///
author's note: I'm a thirteen year old anime fanatic freak.... & this is my first fic. Really, this was all improv. I just wrote as I went. So um... it will be edited. Sometime soon. Check back, review, review, review! I'm working on Part II now. Arigato!*