Dreams

By the SleepWalker

Faye sat in the dark smokiness of the bar with her head down, trying not to think about seeing him.  About seeing his body, draped down the stairs.  She shouldn't have let him go; she should have stopped him.  She should have told him how she felt about him.  I love you.  Three little words could have changed everything.  Faye hadn't had the courage to say them.  Damn it!  Three words, and she just couldn't find it in herself to say them to him.  Now he was gone, and she was still there.  Why?

            She knew the gun was in her purse.  It was loaded.  All she needed was a nice quiet spot… "Hia." Greeted a cheerful voice. 

Faye lifted her eyes just enough to see the speaker.  She was thin and pale and wore a silver ankh on a necklace.  She blew a strand of messy black hair out of her face as she waited for a response.  "Hi." Muttered the depressed bounty hunter, not bothering to get her face off of the bar.

"Are you all right?"  Asked the Goth.

"No." came the short reply.

"It's because of Spike, isn't it?"

Faye didn't even look up.  "What do you know about Spike?" she asked.

"Technically everything…" replied the Goth.

"How…?"

"Well, you know who I am, don't you?"

Faye didn't know, and yet she had the moment she'd seen the young woman.  "Death." She observed without realizing it.  "You took Spike from me."

"Don't say it that way." Replied Death, frowning.  "Its just part of my job, there's nothing personal to it."

"But this was Spike!  How can you call it 'nothing personal?!'"  Demanded Faye.  "I loved him!"

"Then why didn't you tell him?"

The bounty hunter's eyes welled with tears.  "I-I was afraid…"

"Afraid that he could never love you because he loved Julia so much?"

"Yes."

"One thing I've learned from watching people is that their love isn't limited to one person…you never know, deep down, he might have felt the same way as you did."

Now Faye began crying out right.  She'd lost him.  He was gone and far away now.  "Why did he have to go?  Why couldn't he have stayed on the Bebop with Jet and me?!" she sobbed.

"He had to stop Vicious; he had to repay old debts.  That's just the way things go."

"Can't you bring him back to me?"

Death just sort of smiled sadly.  "No, I can't."

Faye, who was very drunk and not really thinking about it, looked up at the young woman for the first time and said, "Then what good are you?"

"What if I could give you a chance to tell Spike how you really feel about him?"

"How could you do that?"

"Well, the King of Dreams is my little brother after all."

"Yes."  And with that, Faye put her head back down on the bar and went to sleep.  There was nothing in the dreamland.  Except, it seemed, for the large white room that the bounty hunter was now standing in.

Spike was sitting with his back against the wall, a smoke in his mouth.  That was perhaps the most beautiful thing Faye had ever seen.  She tried to walk over to him as casually as possible and sat down.  "Hey." He greeted.

Faye smiled.  It was good to hear his voice again; she'd actually begun to distort it in her mind, but it was suddenly back again.  "Hey." She returned.  "Can I bum a smoke off of you?"

"Free loader."  Never the less, he handed her fag, a crooked grin on his face.  "Need a light too?"

"Yeah."  She inhaled the tarter and nicotine into her lungs and sighed.  This was wonderful.  "I missed you." Admitted the young woman.

"You missed me?"

"Yeah, and so does Jet.  He hasn't been the same since you died you know.  Nothing really has."

"Good to know I'm missed."

"Was it worth dieing?  Was Julia worth it?"

"I didn't do it just for Julia.  I did it for everybody.  For Gren, and Shin and Mou and Annie and you."

"Me?"

"If I hadn't gotten Vicious, he would have come after the Bebop, and you and Jet."  He explained.  "I did it for everybody."

Tears sprang to Faye's eyes again.  Spike looked a little shocked.  "Faye, you're crying."

"I have a good reason." Retorted Faye, getting defensive.  Bite the bullet, she told herself, just do it.  "I love you."

"What?"

"I love you!" exclaimed the young woman.

"Yeah, I heard you," said Spike, "it just took a second to register.  You love me?"

"Yes."  Cried Faye, "I meant to tell you, but you were so in love with Julia, and you hated me so much…"

"Ah, I have a confession too," admitted Spike, "I didn't hate you that much."

"You didn't?"

"No.  You just got on my nerves, but I didn't hate you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"You didn't love me though, did you Spike?"

"I don't know, maybe."  He wiped a tear from her cheek.  "Doesn't matter much now, does it?"

"Yes it does." Faye looked into his two colored eyes.  "It does to me."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"You drove me crazy, but ever since the black jack table I wanted to see you again.  You caused all kinds of trouble, and tried to rip us off again and again, but that couldn't make me change my mind."  He smiled at her, "I just didn't know how to approach you."

"God!  Why did you have to leave me?  You and Jet and Ed were the only people who would put up with me, and now Ed's gone, and you're gone, and Jet…" she tried to dry her eyes, but the tears kept coming, "Jet's not the same anymore."

Spike put his arm around her, "I'm sorry." He whispered.  Faye just cried on his shoulder and prayed this heaven would never end.

"I wanted to kill myself." She sobbed, "I wanted to come and find you."

"You found me anyway."

"But I'll have to go back soon."

"Maybe you'll see me again."  He said, smiling down at her.

"What if I don't?" she whispered.  Slowly, he drew closer to her, until they were only an inch apart.  Then came the kiss.  It was like no other kiss Faye had ever encountered.  He tasted like beer and bell peppers, and he was gentle, and careful, not at all like he acted.  They kissed for a long time, but Faye didn't feel like she'd ever need to breathe.  Her whole body practically melted into his capable arms, and she just wanted that moment to last forever.

That's when she found her face on the hard, cold, wood of the smoky bar.  She sat up, wiped the tears from her eyes and downed her drink.  She'd come for a reason, damn it.  The bounty was sitting in the corner, just waiting for her.  Time to collect.  Somewhere off in the cosmos, Death was watching and smiling.