Chapter 11 - Shelter
"Impatience takes its toll
It's such a hefty fill for me to pay
Indifference takes control
I guess I'll keep that outside of me"

Kick! Punch! Jab!

Jet watched his younger partner with a mixture of awe and concern.
The ex-cop had always been astounded by the lanky bounty hunter's
exceptional martial arts skills, but now he was taking it a little bit too
far. If Spike wasn't careful, he was going to hurt himself.

"Hey, Spike!" Jet called out, trying to keep his tone casual.

"What?"

His tone suggested he really wasn't in the mood to talk about bounty
hunting - or anything else for that matter. Still, Jet wasn't about to give
up. After all, Spike was his friend. He could tell whatever was bothering
him was starting to eat away at him. It wouldn't be long before he broke
under the pressure.

Jab! Roundhouse kick! Punch!

Jet winced at that last one. The poor bag was sure taking a beating.
"Hey, take it easy, Spike," he called out. "Faye's gonna shit a brick if
you wreck her punching bag."

Spike stopped, grabbing the bag to stop it from swinging. Shooting him
an angry glare, he replied, "Like I give a damn about what Faye wants."

Jet blinked slightly. Ah-ha… "What happened out here anyway?" he
asked, heading down the steps towards the brooding bounty hunter.
"What'd Faye do to get her injury bleeding again? She told me a few
punches on that bag of hers wouldn't hurt it."

Spike scowled, plopping unceremoniously down on the floor. "She and
I were sparring," he replied grumpily trying to meditate and failing.
"She overdid it."

Jet stared at him in disbelief. "You were fighting?" he asked. "What
the hell… did you forget she was shot? For crying out loud, Spike,
she's not as tough as you are!"

Spike remained where he was, a look of indifference on his face. "She
certainly pretends to be," he replied, glancing up at him. "And since when
did you get to be so protective of her?"

Again, he was trying to turn the tables on him. "I treat her the same
way I treat ever body else," Jet protested. "What's eating you all of a
sudden?"

"Why did Faye leave the Bebop?" he asked.

Jet blinked. "Spike," he replied, running a hand over his head. "That's
really not for me to--"

Spike stood up, locking gazes with him. "I know you know, Jet," he
replied. "So just spill it already."

Jet frowned slightly, averting his gaze. "There was more than one
reason," he answered. "She didn't exactly tell me all her reasons."

"Humor me, Jet."

"She didn't want to go back into space," Jet replied. "After that one
bounty she went after went sour, she was kinda afraid he'd come after
her again. She never did tell me who it was..."

Spike frowned. "So, why stay on Mars?"

"It's not like she could go to Earth," Jet replied. "There's nothing there,
you know that. If you ask me, I think she was still waiting."

"Waiting?"

Jet sat down in a nearby chair. "I don't know if she told you or not," he
replied slowly. "But your so called death hit both of us pretty hard." He
rubbed his human hand over his face. "I guess we expected you to come
back - like you always had."

"'He'll be back' we kept telling each other, 'he always comes back'."

Spike's frown deepened.

"I gotta admit, Spike," Jet replied gruffly. "It was tough, but eventually
we were able to move on. Still, it just wasn't the same without Ed, Ein,
and you."

"I tried, I tried so hard to forget you - to believe that you were dead."

"How'd she take it?" Spike asked quietly.

Jet looked up at him. "Worse than I did, actually." he answered.
"That's why we had it so hard sometimes. Me with my leg messed up,
and her pretty much catatonic, it was tough."

"It was hard, Spike, it was so hard!"

"You didn't answer my question though."

Jet sighed. "Look, Spike," he replied. "Don't take my word on this, but
when I say she was waiting, I mean she was waiting for you."

The stone-face mask slipped. "Me?"

Jet nodded. "I think deep down she believed you were still alive." he
replied. "She really liked you, Spike. Really, really liked you."

"I know." He was feeling like shit right about now.

"Do you have any idea of the shit I went through? …You ruined my life!"

If only he could find some way to make it up to her.

=====

'That slimey, puff-balled sonuva--gah! How dare he? I refuse to be
some cheap thrill!'

"Faye-Faye, Edward thinks you aren't listening."

Faye blinked, rubbing her eyes wearily. "You're right, Ed." she replied.
The two of them road down the high in Faye's car, heading toward
Tharsis. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Edward was saying," the young hacker replied patiently, glancing over
at her from the passenger seat. "Tomato found info that Faye-Faye and
Spike-person requested. Edward has lead for Faye-Faye to follow."

"Really?" Faye asked, her spirits lifting slightly. "What've you got?"

"According to Tomato," Edward replied. "Both men have ties to a
place called the Casablanca Café. It's notorious for being a place
where shady dealings are made. Bounty watchers say that Arnold
Benedict has been seen there many times in the past selling stolen
Bloody Eye."

"Uh-huh…" Faye nodded, studying the road ahead of her. "And this
info is reliable."

"Of course!" Edward chirped. "That is why Edward is going along - to
prove it."

"Now what exactly is your plan again?" Faye asked, looking slightly
concerned. Knowing Edward, her concern was rightly justified.

"It's simple!" Edward answered. "Edward and Faye-Faye go to
Casablanca, act real cool - natural like. Edward and Faye-Faye pretend
to sell funky mushrooms."

Faye's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "Mushrooms, Ed?" she
gaped. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"That Jet-person's cooking mushrooms look the same as funky ones?"
Edward blinked curiously. That seemed to calm Faye down a little bit.
"Edward just has one question for Faye-Faye, though."

"What is it?"

Edward looked down at herself. Her usual ensemble had been
replaced with a fuzzy blue sweater, a black mini skirt with matching
boots and leggings. "Why does Ed have to wear so much clothes?" She
tugged absently at a headband smoothing her usually wide hair out of her
eyes.

Faye smirked a little. "If you want to fool a man, Ed," she replied. "You
have to wear the right kind of disguise."

"Oh, okay." Edward replied, glancing over at Faye's attire - her old red
jacket and yellow top, only this time she wore tight yellow pants with her
white boots. "So, why does Edward have to wear shoes?"

Sigh. "Edward…"

=====

Spike scowled slightly, staring at the note posted on the refrigerator
door. "So, it's field trip day in Tharsis, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Jet muttered, scratching his head. "What I don't get
is why Ed decided to go with her?" He looked down at Ein, who
whimpered slightly. It appears that data dog didn't have any answers
either.

"Well, it's her choice." Spike walked into the main room, plopping down
on the couch. "So long as she doesn't get herself or Ed shot."

Jet stared over at him. "You mean you're not even gonna go check on
them?" he asked.

"Why should I?" Spike asked, covering his head with a pillow. "It's
Girls' Day Out. Obviously they didn't want us to come along. They
clearly think they know what they're doing so us coming in after them
would only serve to screw things up even more."

"Whatever," Jet grumbled, heading for the exit. "You and Ein keep an
eye on the ship, wouldja?"

Spike removed the pillow, glancing up at him. "You going?"

"Somebody's got to." Jet answered, opening the exit hatch.

"Suit yourself." The pillow dropped back into place.

Jet frowned slightly. "Oh, and Spike?" There was silence, letting Jet
know he was listening. "When I get back with the women, make sure
you get off your lazy ass and tell Faye whatever it is you have to say.
This whole 'I don't give a damn' game of yours is getting old." With that,
he left the ship, leaving Spike to his thoughts.

"Bark!"

"Shut up, Ein."

=====

"Is this the place, Ed?"

Faye had parked her car in an empty alley across the street from
their destination. The two sat there, watching people come in and out
of the building. There was no sign, but building had the looks of a
seedy-looking bar packed to the brim with bounties and lowlives.

"Yup, Edward is a 110% certain. That is the Casablanca Café.
Whoop!" Edward blinked as Faye tossed her a small gun. "What's the
bang-bang maker for?"

Faye gave her a look. 'Bang-bang maker?' She shook her head, her
expression turning gravely serious. "Listen to me carefully, Ed," she
told her. "If your source is correct, then there's a good chance Aeolis
is gonna be in there." She looked around carefully, checking her gun
and stuffing it in her jacket. Another went in a holster behind her back.
"I don't expect you to use that, but just keep in mind that you have - in
case things get ugly."

"Edward understands, Faye-Faye," the young hacker replied, a sage
look passing over her features. "Edward will look out for Faye-Faye."

Faye smiled warmly, ruffling the younger girl's hair. "And Faye will
look out for Edward." She put on her glasses, her 'let's get down to
business' mask slipping into place. "Okay, Ed, let's do this."

=====

"What'll it be lady?" A hard looking bartender glared at Faye as she
stepped up to a bar with Ed at her side.

"Coke and Rum." she replied. Edward tugged on her sleeve, earning
a bewildered glare from her. "Make that two - one for my friend here…
just a spritz of rum in hers though." She made an invisible cup out of the
shape of her hand, bringing and up and down towards her face.

The bartender nodded in understanding. "You got it," He then set to
work, giving the two of them suspicious glares.

Faye waited, turning her back to the bar so that she could look around
the room. A mini camera in her sunglasses scanned the room, looking
for any familiar matches. After a few seconds, she homed in on Arnold
in the back of the room. She patted Edward on the shoulder, nodding her
head in his direction.

"Does Faye-Faye want to go after Benedict?" she whispered to her
casually staring at her boot-covered feet as she swung them back and
forth.

Faye shook her head. "Let's just see what he does." She kept her gaze
on him, smirking as he took notice of her, whispering something to those
in his company. He quickly rose from his seat.

"Your drinks, ladies." the bartender replied, setting two glasses in front
of them.

Edward let out an exclamation of delight, reaching for her glass only to
be stopped by Faye. "What?" she pouted.

Faye waited for the bartender to move to the other end of the counter.
"That guy looks shady," she told her. "Don't drink it." Edward sulked
slightly. "Besides, you're too young anyway."

"Edward is 15!"

Faye blinked in surprise. "Really?" Vaguely she wondered how much
else about the young genius next to her did she not know?

"Excuse me, ladies," Faye and Edward looked up to see Arnold and
another man standing in front of them. "Are these seats taken?"

Faye glanced at him and then the man with him. This man had brown
eyes, bleach-blond hair and a scar running down one cheek. Though
she couldn't quite place him, Faye couldn't help think he looked slightly
familiar. He had a strong build, as if he could move about very quickly -
possible ex-military, or perhaps an ex-cop… "Who's your friend?"

The man smiled at her, bowing his head slightly. "Valhoun."

"Hmm," Faye smiled. She didn't show it, but this man made her very
nervous - for reasons she was not quite sure of. "Valhoun and
Arnold, Arnold and Valhoun. Nice names - they have quite a ring to them."

Arnold was still grinning. "Well, now that you know are names, how
about the two of you introduce yourselves?" he asked. "I didn't quite
catch your name the last time we met."

'I didn't throw it, jerk,' Faye smiled coyly. "It's Valentina." she replied.
"This here is my little sister, Edith."

Edward glanced over at her before grinning at the two men cutely.

"What brings a pair like you two a place like this?" Jack asked, his eyes
roaming over Faye's attire.

"Well, you know," Faye replied. "Our parents died when we were very
young, so we were forced to make money to survive by any means
necessary." She glanced over at Edward. "Right, Edith?"

"Oh yes," Edward wailed theatrically. "Yeesssss!" She waved her
hands in front of her face, a mushroom appearing in each hand. The
two men blinked in surprise.

Faye smirked, leaning back against the bar. "Care to do business?"

=====

Jet reached the city in no time, landing the Hammerhead on a building
rooftop a few yards away from the Casablanca. It was a good thing
he had placed that tracking device in Faye's car. He knew it would
have been only a matter of time before she decided to take things into
her own hands.

'Well, it's not like I actually expected her to not recuperate a bit more
first,' he thought to himself. 'Still, it's not like the bounty would have
waited forever.' He walked over to the roof's edge, spotting Faye's car
tucked away in an alley. His eyes then drifted to the Casablanca itself.
Just as he did so, he saw Faye and Ed emerge from the exit, flanked by
a weasel-looking guy with black hair and another with blond hair.

Jet's eyes widened in shock. "Damnit!" He made a dash for the fire
escape, trying to keep his eyes on them at the same time. Those eyes,
that gait, and especially that scar - Jet knew that guy! As his feet
touched the ground, Jet pulled out his gun. His eyes narrowed
dangerously.

"Aeolis Valhoun - you're not getting away from me this time!"

End of Chapter 11