Chapter 16 - You Make Me Cool
"You can't persuade me to play your game
You turn your nose up whenever I'm acting the same
The way I move is oh so smooth, I'm cool
I know you want to hold me, Cool Kat"
"So, there you have it," said Jet, eyeing Spike to see his reaction.
Spike sat, unmoving with his arms folded over his chest. "I didn't
know about the Red Mafia." he replied.
"That's bullshit, Spike. Both you and I know it."
There was silence for a moment. "Jet…"
"You know what, Spike, forget it." Jet cut him off. "I never really
tried that hard to figure out your past before, and I'm not gonna start
now. It's sure to save me one less headache."
Spike scoffed. "Whatever." He turned instead to Ed, who was busy
typing away on her computer. "So, since we sorta know who our real
target is, how does that explain how you know who it is?"
"That's simple!" Edward replied. "When Edward first became a
hacker-person, Edward had a bounty-head friend named Madame
Hotaru. Edward never knew before why she was wanted for 5 million
woolongs. Buuut…." She paused, her skinny fingers flying over the
keyboard of her tomato. "Edward learned not too long ago that
Madame was an extreme feminist… really extreme. She wanted to rig
Earth's satellites to home in on the DNA signatures of every male in the
system, eradicating them completely."
Spike blinked. "Shit…" He blinked again. "That's really creepy…"
"I fail to see how this has to do with our bounty, Ed." Jet replied.
"Edward is getting there." the young hacker sing-songed. "A couple
years back, Madame contacted Edward. She warned Edward that
somebody was trying to track her and hurt her because she used to
be a member of Bebop-Bebop."
"Why would someone do that?"
"Because Bebop-Bebop crew members had gone up against the
Syndicate on more than one occasion." Both Jet and Spike frowned.
"Edward tried counter-tracking mystery-person, but came to a dead end.
After what Arnold-person told us, Edward did another search and found
that the mystery-person was in fact Thanatos Ragnorok - Death, the
Doomsday-bringer!"
=====
Within the confines of Faye Valentine's room, a warbled image of a
man came into view on a small handheld communicator.
"Hey, who calls and what can I do for ya?" the man on the screen
replied.
"Hey, Macy… It's me."
The man's face came into focus, revealing Macy Caldor. "Hey there,
Valentine!" he said with a grin. "What's up? How's the bounty coming?"
"It's going great… we're just about to bust him."
Macy's smile faded slowly. "You don't seemed to thrilled about it."
His expression slowly turned to one of concern. "What's wrong?"
Faye sighed, trying best to choke down a sob. "I broke my vow,
Macy," she exclaimed. "The one I said I'd never break."
"The one where you vowed never to mix alcohol into ice cream
floats?"
"Damnit, Macy, I told you that wasn't me!" Faye took a deep breath,
counting to ten in her head. "The vow I broke was to--,"
"Not fall back in love with that partner of yours?" Macy smirked
knowingly. "Come on, Faye… you're not fooling anybody."
"What?"
"You haven't broken that vow," Macy replied. "You never fell out of
love with him in the first place."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Faye snarled.
"Cut the crap, Faye. You've been head over heels for that 'lunkhead'
of yours for years. I mean, come on… you left because he died, and
you came back because he was alive."
Faye remained speechless; the man did have a point. "This wasn't
supposed to happen!" she exclaimed, letting out an exasperated
sound. "I cannot have feelings for that air-puffed jackass!"
"Who can say we have control over things like this." Macy replied.
"The best thing to do is to go and talk to him."
"Are you insane?" Faye gawked.
"I prefer to think of myself as being extremely free-spirited." he
grinned in response. Faye scowled. "You know you like him, just
accept it."
"I will not accept it!" Faye exclaimed, stomping her foot in a petulant
fashion. "I do not like him… there's no possible way I can feel anything
but animosity towards Spike Spiegel. After all, he's given me nothing
but trouble; he stole from me, he made fun of me, and he was an all
out jerk whenever he got the chance. He never takes anything
seriously… I'll bet he was just trying to get a rise out of me when
he said he loved me--"
"Hold the phone," Macy interrupted. "He told you he loved you?"
"Yeah," Faye answered. "He gave me this whole line about his past
and that everything he had told me before was pretty much a lie."
"And isn't that what you wanted?" Macy offered. "For him to open
up to you?"
The violet haired bounty huntress sighed in frustration, running a hand
through her hair. "Maybe that's what I wanted before." she replied.
"But how am I supposed to know that he isn't lying to me now? I mean,
he just comes up to me and says that he loves me - right out of the
blue… no warning, no nothing."
"Isn't there a possibility that he tried to tell you before, and things kept
getting in the way?"
Faye paused.
"I'm just glad you decided to come along."
"Do you really hate me that much, Faye?"
"Faye… I'm lonely, too."
"Faye Valentine… I think I'm in love with you."
Shaking that thought out of her head, Faye glared down at her old
roommate. "I won't be used, Macy." Her voice broke slightly,
showing signs of the crumbling of her resolve. "I don't want to get
hurt."
"Faye," Macy's voice was gentle. Faye looked up; it wasn't often that
Macy called her by her first name. "You can't love someone and
expect not to get hurt. It doesn't work that way. Sometimes you have
to force yourself not to worry about what's gonna happen further down
the road."
"But…"
Macy gave her a reassuring smile. "Just think of it this way,
Faye-baby, the hard part is over."
Lowering her head, Faye covered her eyes with her hand, mulling
over his words. After a few moments, she glanced back up at the
communicator. "That's where you're wrong." Macy blinked in
confusion. "The easy part was excepting how I feel."
"Then, what's the hard part?"
Faye sighed heavily. "The hard part is this… how to convince
Spike Spiegel that I don't hate his guts."
=====
'Walk up to the door, walk away from the door, walk up to the door,
walk away from the door… damn, I'm such a jackass.' Spike
stopped mid-stride, digging in his pockets to light a cigarette. As he
brought it up to his lips, he realized that it had been the last one in
pack. He smirked beside himself. 'I just bought this pack.' he thought
to himself.
Craning his head towards the door, Spike could hear Faye's voice
coming from within. Though he couldn't discern who she was talking
to or what she was saying, he could tell she wasn't in the best of moods.
Had the situation been any different, Spike would have just walked
away, waiting until she was in a better mood to talk.
Not this time.
'I've waited long enough,' he told himself. 'She's been avoiding me for
the last couple of days… it's about time we came to a resolution once
and for all.' Squaring his shoulders, Spike rose his hand in a fist,
preparing to knock on the door. However, before his hand came in
contact with the door, it slid open, revealing Faye on the other side.
"Spike!" she exclaimed in surprise, staring at his fist.
Opening his mouth to explain himself, he paused, noting the look in
her eye. Granted, he had always found it easy to figure out what she
was thinking; her eyes held so much emotion - it was like reading a
book. However, many times she kept her real thoughts guarded,
hiding them deep within her emerald depths where no one could find
them. Still, when looking at her now, Spike now found that all her
emotions were open for him to see.
Realizing he was staring at her, Faye quickly looked away, stepping
around him into the hallway. "Jet's out," she explained quickly. "I
gotta go cook dinner."
Spike stood there a moment, watching her retreating back. Why did
she still avoid him? He had told her how he felt about her; did this
mean she truly hated him? No, Spike Spiegel would not accept that.
"Faye, hold on." Faye blinked, feeling his hand clamp around her arm.
She turned back towards him only to see that serious 'I'm pissed at you'
expression on his face. "You and I need to talk."
She tried to scrounge up her 'I don't give a damn that you're pissed at
me' look, but just didn't have the heart. Instead, she turned away,
closing her eyes. "I can't talk to you right now, Spike," she told him
quietly. "I have things to do-"
"Well, forget them." Spike said curtly. "I've been meaning to talk to
you for a while now, and I'm not about to put it off another minute."
Sighing despairingly, Faye gave him a cross look. "Haven't we talked
enough?" she asked. "Really, Spike, what more is there to say?"
Spike's angry look melted away, replaced by a pleading look. "It's
important." he told her.
Faye could only sigh. When it looked as though she had surrendered,
Spike led her over towards the yellow couch. She seemed hesitant to
sit at first, but relented after Spike's insistence. There they sat for a
few moments in silence, looking at the television unit sitting on the
coffee table.
"Where's Jet?" Spike asked.
"Out." Faye answered, fidgeting with her bracelet. "Said he wanted to
talk to his cop friend to see if he had any more information."
"Oh." There was pause. "And Ed?"
"Somewhere around here, probably unearthing something that would
be best left alone."
Spike chuckled. "Sounds like Ed. You think she'd know it was better
to let sleeping dogs lie." Faye eyed him dubiously. "Yeah, that was
corny… so sue me."
"Maybe later." Faye replied, a small smile making its way to her face.
"Though that does seem to fit Ed perfectly."
The two sat there a few moments, nodding in agreement. Soon they
both broke out into gales of laughter. It got to the point where they
were so oxygen-deprived that they were leaning against each other for
support, struggling to catch their breath.
Spike wiped the tears from his eyes, taking quick gasping breaths. He
took a moment to glance down at Faye. Her face was slightly flushed
and hair was hanging in her eyes, which were still shimmering with tears
of mirth. She was leaning against him with her hand resting on his
stomach.
It seemed she realized how close they were, for she straightened out
quickly, straightening herself up. "Sorry," she murmured.
Spike didn't respond, setting his hand where hers had been. He couldn't
recall many occasions where the two of them had been that close, but
Spike suddenly found that he needed to be close to her. He wondered
what it would be like to hold her in his arms or vice versa. It was
strange how he couldn't imagine himself anywhere else.
Faye sighed, staring down at her hands. "Things have gotten weird,
haven't they?"
Spike blinked down at her a moment before staring at his feet propped
up on the table. "Yeah, I guess so." he replied. "But…" he trailed off,
sounding a little hesitant. "We're friends, aren't we?"
Faye froze, taken aback by the hopefulness in his voice. Spike Spiegel
was asking her if they were friends? Well, were they? Had they,
somewhere along the way, either now or three years ago become more
than just partners? Had they been friends? She found herself wondering.
Spike watched her facial expressions as all these thoughts flitted
through her head. Coming to his own conclusions, he let out a wistful
chuckle. "Maybe we weren't exactly friends," he replied. "But I think
we came pretty close." Faye could only nod. 'I wish we could become
more than that.'
Leaning back, Faye could feel Spike's arm resting on the back of the
chair. Idly she wondered what it would be like to have his arm draped
around her shoulders or around her waist, walking down the street, or
sitting in a movie theater, guarding her like she was the most precious
thing in the world.
"More childish fantasies." she mumbled to herself.
"A little fantasy here and there isn't so bad, is it?" Spike was smirking
down at her playfully. She couldn't bring herself to be angry with him.
"For me it is," she replied. "I've been hurt too many times to believe
in fantasies anymore."
Spike looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Faye."
he replied.
"You say that now," Faye replied, sitting forward all of a sudden. "But
who knows what's gonna happen down the road?"
"I can't see the future."
"I know, but I've been hurt too many times to take any chances." Faye
replied, clenching her fists in her lap. She flinched when she felt Spike's
hands rest on top of hers. Confusion and hope showed in her eyes as she
stared up at him.
Spike smiled; his expression had mirrored her own. "Being all emotional
really isn't my style," he replied. "I pretty much tend to keep that kinda
stuff to myself. But…" he gave her hands a gentle squeeze. "I wasn't
lying about what I said, Faye."
Faye remained speechless. She tried to look away, only to feel Spike
cup her chin, turning her back to face him.
He chuckled softly, watching the pinkish tint appear on her cheeks.
"You mean to tell me that the great Poker Alice is afraid to take a
gamble on someone like me?"
"If Poker Alice was alive," Faye replied slowly. "She'd be over 200
years old."
"80, 200… there's not much difference." That insufferable smirk
reappeared.
"Lunkhead."
"Shrew woman."
"Q-Tip."
"Tomboy…"
"That was a weak one, Cabbage head."
"Look who's talking, Romani."
"Garrggghhh! You, you… Gaujo!!"
Spike laughed out loud, planting a kiss right on her lips. This time, Faye
made no protests. As she felt herself lowered down onto the couch, all
she could feel was pure bliss.
End of Chapter 16
Next Time... Chapter 17 - Warning
"You can't persuade me to play your game
You turn your nose up whenever I'm acting the same
The way I move is oh so smooth, I'm cool
I know you want to hold me, Cool Kat"
"So, there you have it," said Jet, eyeing Spike to see his reaction.
Spike sat, unmoving with his arms folded over his chest. "I didn't
know about the Red Mafia." he replied.
"That's bullshit, Spike. Both you and I know it."
There was silence for a moment. "Jet…"
"You know what, Spike, forget it." Jet cut him off. "I never really
tried that hard to figure out your past before, and I'm not gonna start
now. It's sure to save me one less headache."
Spike scoffed. "Whatever." He turned instead to Ed, who was busy
typing away on her computer. "So, since we sorta know who our real
target is, how does that explain how you know who it is?"
"That's simple!" Edward replied. "When Edward first became a
hacker-person, Edward had a bounty-head friend named Madame
Hotaru. Edward never knew before why she was wanted for 5 million
woolongs. Buuut…." She paused, her skinny fingers flying over the
keyboard of her tomato. "Edward learned not too long ago that
Madame was an extreme feminist… really extreme. She wanted to rig
Earth's satellites to home in on the DNA signatures of every male in the
system, eradicating them completely."
Spike blinked. "Shit…" He blinked again. "That's really creepy…"
"I fail to see how this has to do with our bounty, Ed." Jet replied.
"Edward is getting there." the young hacker sing-songed. "A couple
years back, Madame contacted Edward. She warned Edward that
somebody was trying to track her and hurt her because she used to
be a member of Bebop-Bebop."
"Why would someone do that?"
"Because Bebop-Bebop crew members had gone up against the
Syndicate on more than one occasion." Both Jet and Spike frowned.
"Edward tried counter-tracking mystery-person, but came to a dead end.
After what Arnold-person told us, Edward did another search and found
that the mystery-person was in fact Thanatos Ragnorok - Death, the
Doomsday-bringer!"
=====
Within the confines of Faye Valentine's room, a warbled image of a
man came into view on a small handheld communicator.
"Hey, who calls and what can I do for ya?" the man on the screen
replied.
"Hey, Macy… It's me."
The man's face came into focus, revealing Macy Caldor. "Hey there,
Valentine!" he said with a grin. "What's up? How's the bounty coming?"
"It's going great… we're just about to bust him."
Macy's smile faded slowly. "You don't seemed to thrilled about it."
His expression slowly turned to one of concern. "What's wrong?"
Faye sighed, trying best to choke down a sob. "I broke my vow,
Macy," she exclaimed. "The one I said I'd never break."
"The one where you vowed never to mix alcohol into ice cream
floats?"
"Damnit, Macy, I told you that wasn't me!" Faye took a deep breath,
counting to ten in her head. "The vow I broke was to--,"
"Not fall back in love with that partner of yours?" Macy smirked
knowingly. "Come on, Faye… you're not fooling anybody."
"What?"
"You haven't broken that vow," Macy replied. "You never fell out of
love with him in the first place."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Faye snarled.
"Cut the crap, Faye. You've been head over heels for that 'lunkhead'
of yours for years. I mean, come on… you left because he died, and
you came back because he was alive."
Faye remained speechless; the man did have a point. "This wasn't
supposed to happen!" she exclaimed, letting out an exasperated
sound. "I cannot have feelings for that air-puffed jackass!"
"Who can say we have control over things like this." Macy replied.
"The best thing to do is to go and talk to him."
"Are you insane?" Faye gawked.
"I prefer to think of myself as being extremely free-spirited." he
grinned in response. Faye scowled. "You know you like him, just
accept it."
"I will not accept it!" Faye exclaimed, stomping her foot in a petulant
fashion. "I do not like him… there's no possible way I can feel anything
but animosity towards Spike Spiegel. After all, he's given me nothing
but trouble; he stole from me, he made fun of me, and he was an all
out jerk whenever he got the chance. He never takes anything
seriously… I'll bet he was just trying to get a rise out of me when
he said he loved me--"
"Hold the phone," Macy interrupted. "He told you he loved you?"
"Yeah," Faye answered. "He gave me this whole line about his past
and that everything he had told me before was pretty much a lie."
"And isn't that what you wanted?" Macy offered. "For him to open
up to you?"
The violet haired bounty huntress sighed in frustration, running a hand
through her hair. "Maybe that's what I wanted before." she replied.
"But how am I supposed to know that he isn't lying to me now? I mean,
he just comes up to me and says that he loves me - right out of the
blue… no warning, no nothing."
"Isn't there a possibility that he tried to tell you before, and things kept
getting in the way?"
Faye paused.
"I'm just glad you decided to come along."
"Do you really hate me that much, Faye?"
"Faye… I'm lonely, too."
"Faye Valentine… I think I'm in love with you."
Shaking that thought out of her head, Faye glared down at her old
roommate. "I won't be used, Macy." Her voice broke slightly,
showing signs of the crumbling of her resolve. "I don't want to get
hurt."
"Faye," Macy's voice was gentle. Faye looked up; it wasn't often that
Macy called her by her first name. "You can't love someone and
expect not to get hurt. It doesn't work that way. Sometimes you have
to force yourself not to worry about what's gonna happen further down
the road."
"But…"
Macy gave her a reassuring smile. "Just think of it this way,
Faye-baby, the hard part is over."
Lowering her head, Faye covered her eyes with her hand, mulling
over his words. After a few moments, she glanced back up at the
communicator. "That's where you're wrong." Macy blinked in
confusion. "The easy part was excepting how I feel."
"Then, what's the hard part?"
Faye sighed heavily. "The hard part is this… how to convince
Spike Spiegel that I don't hate his guts."
=====
'Walk up to the door, walk away from the door, walk up to the door,
walk away from the door… damn, I'm such a jackass.' Spike
stopped mid-stride, digging in his pockets to light a cigarette. As he
brought it up to his lips, he realized that it had been the last one in
pack. He smirked beside himself. 'I just bought this pack.' he thought
to himself.
Craning his head towards the door, Spike could hear Faye's voice
coming from within. Though he couldn't discern who she was talking
to or what she was saying, he could tell she wasn't in the best of moods.
Had the situation been any different, Spike would have just walked
away, waiting until she was in a better mood to talk.
Not this time.
'I've waited long enough,' he told himself. 'She's been avoiding me for
the last couple of days… it's about time we came to a resolution once
and for all.' Squaring his shoulders, Spike rose his hand in a fist,
preparing to knock on the door. However, before his hand came in
contact with the door, it slid open, revealing Faye on the other side.
"Spike!" she exclaimed in surprise, staring at his fist.
Opening his mouth to explain himself, he paused, noting the look in
her eye. Granted, he had always found it easy to figure out what she
was thinking; her eyes held so much emotion - it was like reading a
book. However, many times she kept her real thoughts guarded,
hiding them deep within her emerald depths where no one could find
them. Still, when looking at her now, Spike now found that all her
emotions were open for him to see.
Realizing he was staring at her, Faye quickly looked away, stepping
around him into the hallway. "Jet's out," she explained quickly. "I
gotta go cook dinner."
Spike stood there a moment, watching her retreating back. Why did
she still avoid him? He had told her how he felt about her; did this
mean she truly hated him? No, Spike Spiegel would not accept that.
"Faye, hold on." Faye blinked, feeling his hand clamp around her arm.
She turned back towards him only to see that serious 'I'm pissed at you'
expression on his face. "You and I need to talk."
She tried to scrounge up her 'I don't give a damn that you're pissed at
me' look, but just didn't have the heart. Instead, she turned away,
closing her eyes. "I can't talk to you right now, Spike," she told him
quietly. "I have things to do-"
"Well, forget them." Spike said curtly. "I've been meaning to talk to
you for a while now, and I'm not about to put it off another minute."
Sighing despairingly, Faye gave him a cross look. "Haven't we talked
enough?" she asked. "Really, Spike, what more is there to say?"
Spike's angry look melted away, replaced by a pleading look. "It's
important." he told her.
Faye could only sigh. When it looked as though she had surrendered,
Spike led her over towards the yellow couch. She seemed hesitant to
sit at first, but relented after Spike's insistence. There they sat for a
few moments in silence, looking at the television unit sitting on the
coffee table.
"Where's Jet?" Spike asked.
"Out." Faye answered, fidgeting with her bracelet. "Said he wanted to
talk to his cop friend to see if he had any more information."
"Oh." There was pause. "And Ed?"
"Somewhere around here, probably unearthing something that would
be best left alone."
Spike chuckled. "Sounds like Ed. You think she'd know it was better
to let sleeping dogs lie." Faye eyed him dubiously. "Yeah, that was
corny… so sue me."
"Maybe later." Faye replied, a small smile making its way to her face.
"Though that does seem to fit Ed perfectly."
The two sat there a few moments, nodding in agreement. Soon they
both broke out into gales of laughter. It got to the point where they
were so oxygen-deprived that they were leaning against each other for
support, struggling to catch their breath.
Spike wiped the tears from his eyes, taking quick gasping breaths. He
took a moment to glance down at Faye. Her face was slightly flushed
and hair was hanging in her eyes, which were still shimmering with tears
of mirth. She was leaning against him with her hand resting on his
stomach.
It seemed she realized how close they were, for she straightened out
quickly, straightening herself up. "Sorry," she murmured.
Spike didn't respond, setting his hand where hers had been. He couldn't
recall many occasions where the two of them had been that close, but
Spike suddenly found that he needed to be close to her. He wondered
what it would be like to hold her in his arms or vice versa. It was
strange how he couldn't imagine himself anywhere else.
Faye sighed, staring down at her hands. "Things have gotten weird,
haven't they?"
Spike blinked down at her a moment before staring at his feet propped
up on the table. "Yeah, I guess so." he replied. "But…" he trailed off,
sounding a little hesitant. "We're friends, aren't we?"
Faye froze, taken aback by the hopefulness in his voice. Spike Spiegel
was asking her if they were friends? Well, were they? Had they,
somewhere along the way, either now or three years ago become more
than just partners? Had they been friends? She found herself wondering.
Spike watched her facial expressions as all these thoughts flitted
through her head. Coming to his own conclusions, he let out a wistful
chuckle. "Maybe we weren't exactly friends," he replied. "But I think
we came pretty close." Faye could only nod. 'I wish we could become
more than that.'
Leaning back, Faye could feel Spike's arm resting on the back of the
chair. Idly she wondered what it would be like to have his arm draped
around her shoulders or around her waist, walking down the street, or
sitting in a movie theater, guarding her like she was the most precious
thing in the world.
"More childish fantasies." she mumbled to herself.
"A little fantasy here and there isn't so bad, is it?" Spike was smirking
down at her playfully. She couldn't bring herself to be angry with him.
"For me it is," she replied. "I've been hurt too many times to believe
in fantasies anymore."
Spike looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Faye."
he replied.
"You say that now," Faye replied, sitting forward all of a sudden. "But
who knows what's gonna happen down the road?"
"I can't see the future."
"I know, but I've been hurt too many times to take any chances." Faye
replied, clenching her fists in her lap. She flinched when she felt Spike's
hands rest on top of hers. Confusion and hope showed in her eyes as she
stared up at him.
Spike smiled; his expression had mirrored her own. "Being all emotional
really isn't my style," he replied. "I pretty much tend to keep that kinda
stuff to myself. But…" he gave her hands a gentle squeeze. "I wasn't
lying about what I said, Faye."
Faye remained speechless. She tried to look away, only to feel Spike
cup her chin, turning her back to face him.
He chuckled softly, watching the pinkish tint appear on her cheeks.
"You mean to tell me that the great Poker Alice is afraid to take a
gamble on someone like me?"
"If Poker Alice was alive," Faye replied slowly. "She'd be over 200
years old."
"80, 200… there's not much difference." That insufferable smirk
reappeared.
"Lunkhead."
"Shrew woman."
"Q-Tip."
"Tomboy…"
"That was a weak one, Cabbage head."
"Look who's talking, Romani."
"Garrggghhh! You, you… Gaujo!!"
Spike laughed out loud, planting a kiss right on her lips. This time, Faye
made no protests. As she felt herself lowered down onto the couch, all
she could feel was pure bliss.
End of Chapter 16
Next Time... Chapter 17 - Warning