Title: All's Fair (Ch. 2 -- "I'll Be Your Shelter" )
Summary: See Ch. 1
Archive: ff.net
Disclaimer: See Ch. 1. I do not own "I'll Be your Shelter," by Taylor
Dayne.
Comments: kimmie@e-mailanywhere.com
Recap: Faye brought in a bounty and collected the reward, sending half a million woolongs to Ed's bank account. She was bringing groceries home to the Bebop and a "sick friend" when Vicious and some goons captured her. Vicious tied her up and threatened her with death if she didn't reveal Spike's location. Vicious mentioned sketchy things like his oneness with our favorite dead cowboy, ranting that Spike was not our favorite "dead" cowboy. Faye taunted Vicious, and he cut her, when someone comes to her aide. Here we begin.
Faye could not make out the shadowed figure, try as she might. Her lips pressed together, pushing Vicious' crazy words out of her mind. There was no way that her mysterious savior was lunkhead. She'd seen his corpse. Faye set her teeth and went to work trying to slide her wrists from their tight constraints. Her fingers and wrists felt slick, but whether from sweat or blood she didn't know. Faye could taste victory, and at last, the ropes loosened enough for her to pull out her hands.
She looked up. Vicious had drawn his kitana, and was advancing into the darkness. "I knew you would come if I tied up a pretty prize." he leered, sword gleaming.
"It was me you wanted all along, so come on. Here's your chance." Faye knew that Vicious was far too preoccupied to notice her bent down to her ankles, hurriedly working on the last knots that kept her there.
"I assume you finally understand." Vicious continued as though the other man had never spoken.
"We're bound." his voice was threatening.
"You could never fake your death while my own heart was still beating. How could you have been so stupid? I knew all along. I was simply waiting for the perfect opportunity." Faye felt her lungs compress, ramming all her air out past her open lips.
It had to be him. But it was too late now. Her booted feet were running as fast as they could carry her. Away from Vicious, away from his goons, away from Spike. He had gone to see who he was. She had left to preserve who she was. A survivor.
**
Faye let the grocery bags hit the counter of the kitchenette with a quiet thump, just in case Jet was asleep. "Hey, is that you?" he called from his bedroom.
"Yeah. How you doing?" he shuffled to the doorway, glaring at her.
"You were supposed to be home with that bounty hours ago! What the hell-" his scolding slumped into a fit of coughs.
Faye ran over to him, leading him back to bed. "I told you not to get up." Jet frowned at the long gash on her cheek.
Her wrists were raw and red, one having a large patch of skin completely missing from the bottom of it. Faye smirked, pretending it wasn't a big deal. "He was a little more than I thought he'd be." she lied easily, pulling up the covers.
"But I deposited the cash, and soon I'll be able to afford the treatment. When's your next appointment?" Jet gestured to a calendar.
Faye went into the kitchen for a glass of water. "Drink this." she handed it to him, watching him comply.
"Alright, it says next Tuesday. Don't let me forget. I know you hate them, but-"
"I'm ok, Faye. Go ahead and put away those groceries." Faye smiled softly.
"Ok, ok. But only if you promise to eat some soup." Jet shook his head.
"I'm not really hungry, Faye." she cocked her head, eyes flashing.
"Oh no you don't. You're going to eat some soup or I'm going to set up an intravenous tube. Either way, you'll be having some." she warned him, her hands on her hips in a threatening pose.
Jet sighed deeply. "Oh all right. But don't put in any barley! I hate barley!" Jet growled, sounding so much like his old self Faye wanted to cry.
"You know I won't." she promised, leaving his room.
About 4 months after Spike had died; Jet had finally been forced to go to a doctor about some pains he'd been having in his stomach. The pains turned out to be a growth on the intestinal wall. The growth, once it had been run through a biopsy, turned out to be cancer. Jet had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments every two weeks. His health had deteriorated, and now a rare day was one he was able to hobble around the ship, attending to his beloved bonsai or doing some maintenance on the Red Tail. Faye hated to see Jet like this, and as much pain as she got from it, she knew his was worse. Jet hated being an invalid.
He hated that Faye was the sole breadwinner. Some days things were pretty bad, but days like this, when Jet was able to stay awake and argue with her, when she was able to buy groceries and make sure Ed was doing ok were the ones she kept going for. Faye set herself to washing vegetables and heating some stock for the soup.
Her mind kept drifting to her kidnapping and untimely, half-rescue by the shadowed man. "It wasn't. And even if it were, that wouldn't be something to worry Jet about. No, I was right to lie about the bounty." Faye winced as water ran over her raw, red wrists.
The open laptop on the desk bleeped with an incoming message. Faye dumped her small cubed veggies into the bubbling stock and turned down the heat a bit before hurrying to answer it. "Hi." she greeted the open channel.
The picture flickered open. A face she'd never thought to see again wavered, filled with static from a bad channel. Faye felt her mouth work up and down, as her useless lips and tongue tried to form a coherent word or two. "Don't worry, I won't expect an up front payment for saving your life earlier. We can work out an installment type deal." he assured her, a cocky grin spread over his visage.
"Why you-" she began loudly, then remembering, quickly lowered her voice. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Alive?" he finished, never missing a beat.
Faye sighed. She remembered how things used to be as this conversation turned into another of the old verbal boxing matches. "You know, I don't really want to deal with this now. Thanks for distracting him while I saved myself." she snapped, feeling his vivacity sap any energy she had left.
"Open the docking bay." he ordered her.
Faye frowned deeply, showing the beginning of wrinkles along her forehead and around her mouth. Spike suddenly noticed how much older she looked. What the hell had been going on since he died? He looked back up into the screen and realized she'd been talking for some time now. "-and you just come back here thinking that you own the place! Well let me tell you something, Mr. I'm Too Good To Let My Friends Know That I'm Ok, Mr. I Faked My Own Death Twice, Look At Me, we've been doing just fine here and if you want to mess everything up again-" he rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Faye, because I was always the one to mess things up before." she stared at him darkly.
"Wait, what was Vicious talking about back there? He said something about being joined, and that you'd never be rid of each other. He knew you weren't dead, even when we didn't. How? Is he crazy, or what?" she asked, forgetting her earlier spiel about letting Spike back onboard.
"Let me into the BeBop and I'll tell you everything over dinner. I can see Jet's rustled something up." there was that frown again.
"For your information, I cooked it." she shut off, but Spike could see the hangar doors slowly opening to let the Swordfish II inside.
Spike shut off his ship's engine and jumped out. He looked around. No Jet, no Faye. "So much for a welcoming committee," he muttered to himself, strolling into the main part of the ship.
A good, soupy smell was wafting to him from the kitchen. Fueled by hunger, Spike lifted the lid on the large pot, taking a whiff. "Mmmm." he grabbed the ladle, but Faye rushed in, smacking it out of his hand.
"Hey! I'm busy, get out." she pushed him out of the kitchen, serving the soup into bowls and cutting up a loaf of bread.
Spike wasn't paying attention to the food anymore, however. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, looking at the reupholstered couch.
It was now a classy, soft and comfortable looking grey. A pretty afghan was draped over the back, and a painting hung on the wall behind it. The ship's computer was completely revamped with a new flat screen and hard drive. The small TV was replaced with a moderately sized one that sat on a new wooden stand. "It looks like women live here now." he observed, his nose crinkling in distaste.
"A woman does live here." she snapped, setting his bowl on the nice coffee table.
"Use a coaster, you beast." she gestured to the stand on the table.
Spike followed that order, but didn't sit down to enjoy the food. "Where's Jet? What does he say about all of this frilly stuff?" the large man came shuffling to the door of his room.
"Hey, who've you got over here, Faye?" his voice trailed off as he saw Spike standing before the coffee table.
Faye sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get up?" she asked gently, moving to help him back.
"What's going on? I must be dreaming again." Jet said frankly, allowing Faye to take his arm.
"No, it's not a dream." she told him, setting up a bed tray and placing the bowl down.
Faye started to lift his spoon, as Spike watched. "No, I can." Jet insisted.
He did it, very slowly, but it was done. His hand shook just the slightest bit as he brought the spoonful to his mouth. Spike stood in silence, not understanding. Faye and Spike left Jet to his dinner. "What's he got? Space flu?" Spike guessed, having heard it was going around trade depots and other commerce-centered planets.
"No." Faye tried to avoid him by starting her dinner.
Spike moved her bowl away. "Why aren't you telling me?" Faye glared up at him.
"Look at him, Spike. Does that look like a simple case of space flu? God, I wish it was." she let her body slump, hiding her face in her hands.
Spike took her hands away from her face, hanging onto her wrists. "Ow, Stop Spike, you're hurting me!" his grasp tore open the long tear in her flesh, drawing blood.
He drew back, his face a cold mask. "What is it, Faye?" Faye nursed her wound.
"It's cancer, Spike. Jet's got colon cancer. Twice a month he's got to get chemotherapy and radiation treatments. That's the reason we've been hanging out around commerce planets." Faye admitted.
"Let me get that." Spike told her lamely, his sort of apology for causing it.
Spike wound a clean length of bandage around her wrist. "But- he was healthy. How-"
"They don't know, could be in the family, could be something from his days on strange, uncharted planets as a cop. No one knows. He- the doctor says-" her voice kept cracking.
"What is it?" he prodded, cutting the strip.
"He might last 6 months. Maybe a year, if he's lucky. I've got to take care of him. I do." she added harshly.
"I get money and put it toward his medical bills every month. When I can I send some-"
"To Ed and Ein. The rest goes toward the ship and the food. I know, Faye, I've been watching your accounts." a tear ran down her cheek.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't afford all of his treatments, and if I don't pay, they're going to let him die." Spike frowned, tying her bandage tightly.
Faye winced a bit, but left it. "We'll find a way." she looked up at him expectantly.
"We'll?" she asked, her mouth turning up the slightest bit.
Spike grinned back at her. "You heard me." he gulped up his soup and got up for another helping.
End Ch. 2
Look for Ch. 3, coming soon! We'll hear from everyone's favorite data dog and genius kid! We'll also find out a new scheme for fast money, and run into some bad, bad men. Maybe Spike will even get around to explaining Vicious' weird spiel back in chapter one.
Recap: Faye brought in a bounty and collected the reward, sending half a million woolongs to Ed's bank account. She was bringing groceries home to the Bebop and a "sick friend" when Vicious and some goons captured her. Vicious tied her up and threatened her with death if she didn't reveal Spike's location. Vicious mentioned sketchy things like his oneness with our favorite dead cowboy, ranting that Spike was not our favorite "dead" cowboy. Faye taunted Vicious, and he cut her, when someone comes to her aide. Here we begin.
Faye could not make out the shadowed figure, try as she might. Her lips pressed together, pushing Vicious' crazy words out of her mind. There was no way that her mysterious savior was lunkhead. She'd seen his corpse. Faye set her teeth and went to work trying to slide her wrists from their tight constraints. Her fingers and wrists felt slick, but whether from sweat or blood she didn't know. Faye could taste victory, and at last, the ropes loosened enough for her to pull out her hands.
She looked up. Vicious had drawn his kitana, and was advancing into the darkness. "I knew you would come if I tied up a pretty prize." he leered, sword gleaming.
"It was me you wanted all along, so come on. Here's your chance." Faye knew that Vicious was far too preoccupied to notice her bent down to her ankles, hurriedly working on the last knots that kept her there.
"I assume you finally understand." Vicious continued as though the other man had never spoken.
"We're bound." his voice was threatening.
"You could never fake your death while my own heart was still beating. How could you have been so stupid? I knew all along. I was simply waiting for the perfect opportunity." Faye felt her lungs compress, ramming all her air out past her open lips.
It had to be him. But it was too late now. Her booted feet were running as fast as they could carry her. Away from Vicious, away from his goons, away from Spike. He had gone to see who he was. She had left to preserve who she was. A survivor.
**
Faye let the grocery bags hit the counter of the kitchenette with a quiet thump, just in case Jet was asleep. "Hey, is that you?" he called from his bedroom.
"Yeah. How you doing?" he shuffled to the doorway, glaring at her.
"You were supposed to be home with that bounty hours ago! What the hell-" his scolding slumped into a fit of coughs.
Faye ran over to him, leading him back to bed. "I told you not to get up." Jet frowned at the long gash on her cheek.
Her wrists were raw and red, one having a large patch of skin completely missing from the bottom of it. Faye smirked, pretending it wasn't a big deal. "He was a little more than I thought he'd be." she lied easily, pulling up the covers.
"But I deposited the cash, and soon I'll be able to afford the treatment. When's your next appointment?" Jet gestured to a calendar.
Faye went into the kitchen for a glass of water. "Drink this." she handed it to him, watching him comply.
"Alright, it says next Tuesday. Don't let me forget. I know you hate them, but-"
"I'm ok, Faye. Go ahead and put away those groceries." Faye smiled softly.
"Ok, ok. But only if you promise to eat some soup." Jet shook his head.
"I'm not really hungry, Faye." she cocked her head, eyes flashing.
"Oh no you don't. You're going to eat some soup or I'm going to set up an intravenous tube. Either way, you'll be having some." she warned him, her hands on her hips in a threatening pose.
Jet sighed deeply. "Oh all right. But don't put in any barley! I hate barley!" Jet growled, sounding so much like his old self Faye wanted to cry.
"You know I won't." she promised, leaving his room.
About 4 months after Spike had died; Jet had finally been forced to go to a doctor about some pains he'd been having in his stomach. The pains turned out to be a growth on the intestinal wall. The growth, once it had been run through a biopsy, turned out to be cancer. Jet had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments every two weeks. His health had deteriorated, and now a rare day was one he was able to hobble around the ship, attending to his beloved bonsai or doing some maintenance on the Red Tail. Faye hated to see Jet like this, and as much pain as she got from it, she knew his was worse. Jet hated being an invalid.
He hated that Faye was the sole breadwinner. Some days things were pretty bad, but days like this, when Jet was able to stay awake and argue with her, when she was able to buy groceries and make sure Ed was doing ok were the ones she kept going for. Faye set herself to washing vegetables and heating some stock for the soup.
Her mind kept drifting to her kidnapping and untimely, half-rescue by the shadowed man. "It wasn't. And even if it were, that wouldn't be something to worry Jet about. No, I was right to lie about the bounty." Faye winced as water ran over her raw, red wrists.
The open laptop on the desk bleeped with an incoming message. Faye dumped her small cubed veggies into the bubbling stock and turned down the heat a bit before hurrying to answer it. "Hi." she greeted the open channel.
The picture flickered open. A face she'd never thought to see again wavered, filled with static from a bad channel. Faye felt her mouth work up and down, as her useless lips and tongue tried to form a coherent word or two. "Don't worry, I won't expect an up front payment for saving your life earlier. We can work out an installment type deal." he assured her, a cocky grin spread over his visage.
"Why you-" she began loudly, then remembering, quickly lowered her voice. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Alive?" he finished, never missing a beat.
Faye sighed. She remembered how things used to be as this conversation turned into another of the old verbal boxing matches. "You know, I don't really want to deal with this now. Thanks for distracting him while I saved myself." she snapped, feeling his vivacity sap any energy she had left.
"Open the docking bay." he ordered her.
Faye frowned deeply, showing the beginning of wrinkles along her forehead and around her mouth. Spike suddenly noticed how much older she looked. What the hell had been going on since he died? He looked back up into the screen and realized she'd been talking for some time now. "-and you just come back here thinking that you own the place! Well let me tell you something, Mr. I'm Too Good To Let My Friends Know That I'm Ok, Mr. I Faked My Own Death Twice, Look At Me, we've been doing just fine here and if you want to mess everything up again-" he rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Faye, because I was always the one to mess things up before." she stared at him darkly.
"Wait, what was Vicious talking about back there? He said something about being joined, and that you'd never be rid of each other. He knew you weren't dead, even when we didn't. How? Is he crazy, or what?" she asked, forgetting her earlier spiel about letting Spike back onboard.
"Let me into the BeBop and I'll tell you everything over dinner. I can see Jet's rustled something up." there was that frown again.
"For your information, I cooked it." she shut off, but Spike could see the hangar doors slowly opening to let the Swordfish II inside.
Spike shut off his ship's engine and jumped out. He looked around. No Jet, no Faye. "So much for a welcoming committee," he muttered to himself, strolling into the main part of the ship.
A good, soupy smell was wafting to him from the kitchen. Fueled by hunger, Spike lifted the lid on the large pot, taking a whiff. "Mmmm." he grabbed the ladle, but Faye rushed in, smacking it out of his hand.
"Hey! I'm busy, get out." she pushed him out of the kitchen, serving the soup into bowls and cutting up a loaf of bread.
Spike wasn't paying attention to the food anymore, however. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, looking at the reupholstered couch.
It was now a classy, soft and comfortable looking grey. A pretty afghan was draped over the back, and a painting hung on the wall behind it. The ship's computer was completely revamped with a new flat screen and hard drive. The small TV was replaced with a moderately sized one that sat on a new wooden stand. "It looks like women live here now." he observed, his nose crinkling in distaste.
"A woman does live here." she snapped, setting his bowl on the nice coffee table.
"Use a coaster, you beast." she gestured to the stand on the table.
Spike followed that order, but didn't sit down to enjoy the food. "Where's Jet? What does he say about all of this frilly stuff?" the large man came shuffling to the door of his room.
"Hey, who've you got over here, Faye?" his voice trailed off as he saw Spike standing before the coffee table.
Faye sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get up?" she asked gently, moving to help him back.
"What's going on? I must be dreaming again." Jet said frankly, allowing Faye to take his arm.
"No, it's not a dream." she told him, setting up a bed tray and placing the bowl down.
Faye started to lift his spoon, as Spike watched. "No, I can." Jet insisted.
He did it, very slowly, but it was done. His hand shook just the slightest bit as he brought the spoonful to his mouth. Spike stood in silence, not understanding. Faye and Spike left Jet to his dinner. "What's he got? Space flu?" Spike guessed, having heard it was going around trade depots and other commerce-centered planets.
"No." Faye tried to avoid him by starting her dinner.
Spike moved her bowl away. "Why aren't you telling me?" Faye glared up at him.
"Look at him, Spike. Does that look like a simple case of space flu? God, I wish it was." she let her body slump, hiding her face in her hands.
Spike took her hands away from her face, hanging onto her wrists. "Ow, Stop Spike, you're hurting me!" his grasp tore open the long tear in her flesh, drawing blood.
He drew back, his face a cold mask. "What is it, Faye?" Faye nursed her wound.
"It's cancer, Spike. Jet's got colon cancer. Twice a month he's got to get chemotherapy and radiation treatments. That's the reason we've been hanging out around commerce planets." Faye admitted.
"Let me get that." Spike told her lamely, his sort of apology for causing it.
Spike wound a clean length of bandage around her wrist. "But- he was healthy. How-"
"They don't know, could be in the family, could be something from his days on strange, uncharted planets as a cop. No one knows. He- the doctor says-" her voice kept cracking.
"What is it?" he prodded, cutting the strip.
"He might last 6 months. Maybe a year, if he's lucky. I've got to take care of him. I do." she added harshly.
"I get money and put it toward his medical bills every month. When I can I send some-"
"To Ed and Ein. The rest goes toward the ship and the food. I know, Faye, I've been watching your accounts." a tear ran down her cheek.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't afford all of his treatments, and if I don't pay, they're going to let him die." Spike frowned, tying her bandage tightly.
Faye winced a bit, but left it. "We'll find a way." she looked up at him expectantly.
"We'll?" she asked, her mouth turning up the slightest bit.
Spike grinned back at her. "You heard me." he gulped up his soup and got up for another helping.
End Ch. 2
Look for Ch. 3, coming soon! We'll hear from everyone's favorite data dog and genius kid! We'll also find out a new scheme for fast money, and run into some bad, bad men. Maybe Spike will even get around to explaining Vicious' weird spiel back in chapter one.
