Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?
By roxyravette
Chapter 3Never Follow the White Rabbit
"I think that's where I come in." she said sweetly. The rest of the Bebop crew, excluding Jet who wore an uncomfortable expression, stared at her blankly. Faye looked her up and down and decided right away that she didn't like the woman at all. She carried herself with an air of confidence that Faye thought only she had. Her smile made her seem too cheerful. Faye had half a mind to ask her what she was so damn happy about. The outfit she was wearing was ridiculous as well. Who would wear lace up heels with such a short skirt and dressy blouse? Suddenly, Faye felt an idea of how to wipe that phony smile off her face. Faye looked her up and down with the most disgusted look she could muster and spoke to the woman
"What's a hooker like you doing looking for a hacker?" she asked innocently enough. "Customers not generous enough?" Faye felt all eyes turn on her. Spike gave her a look as if to say, 'Bad move Faye' and Jet turned a deep shade of red that Faye never knew existed. Ed and Ein were lost in their own world and as Faye's eyes rested on the woman before her, she felt a cold chill. The woman blinked but not before Faye saw a betraying flicker in her eyes. Her charmingly fake smile had faltered but was replaced with one that matched her icy glare. The woman raked her eyes over Faye like she had done to her and smirked.
"Funny," she laughed coldly. "I was going to ask the same thing about you." Faye's eyes widened at the remark and she stood up immediately.
"Listen here you-." she started. Jet stepped in between the two women.
"Now Faye..." he interrupted. Faye gave the woman one more glare before she sat back down, arms crossed. The woman gave her a triumphant smirk. Jet took that moment to try and explain things.
"I was asking around at a big software company called Demosoft when she heard that I was a bounty hunter." Jet said tiredly. "I brought her here on the Hammerhead because she said she could help us."
"I'm sure the ride back to the Bebop was pleasurable." Faye quipped. Jet blushed from the implication of her words as Spike rolled his eyes
"So how can you help us?" Spike asked.
"First, allow me to introduce myself properly." she said with an air of grandeur. "In cyberspace, I am known as the renowned Queen of Hearts, but here in the real world I am simply Josephine Liddell. Jo for short." The Bebop crew remained unfazed. They looked at her vacantly, though Faye's frown did deepen. Jo gave a little cough and scratched her head.
"I guess I should explain that a little." she said embarrassed. "I got a job at the Gate Company to hide the fact that I'm a hacker and develop rival software for the black market. A fellow hacker called the White Rabbit and I made the so-called White Rabbit Virus. I was working on the anti-virus to sell to the government when he stole the key component. He also made it so that if I went to the police I'd be arrested." The Bebop crew let this sink in. Spike gave Jo a skeptical look.
"You're giving up all this information but what's in it for you?" he asked. Jo smiled a coy smile and leaned in close.
"I'm afraid that I didn't quite catch your name." she said. Faye felt something akin to extreme jealousy when she saw Jo lean in close. She had half a mind to punch that brazen little hussy.
"Hey-." Faye was interrupted however as Spike cut in, unconcerned by their nearness.
"My name is Spike." he said calmly. He stared at her with intimidating garnet eyes, searching her pleasant face and didn't even blink at her closeness. "And I think that you're hiding something." He made it a statement. Taken aback, Jo leaned away, a frown gracing her attractive features.
"Well if you insist-." She replied indignantly but he cut her off.
"I do." Spike said curtly. "Now tell us." Jo crossed her arms angrily and complied.
"He threatened to release all my personal information to the police." she said regretfully. "If even half of that information got out I'd be in prison for at least three lifetimes. I've done a lot of things."
"I think," Spike said as he motioned to the others. "We need to discuss this." Jo raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, but led me add one thing." Jo said seriously. "I'll pay you five hundred thousand woolongs if you help me." Jet and Faye's eyes widened at the amount. Jo smirked at Spike's poker face and moved away from the group to give them their privacy. As soon as he turned to face everyone, Jet snapped.
"I think we should do it." he said hurriedly. "We'd get the extra money as well as the bounty for sure." Faye jabbed him with her elbow.
"All you can see are money signs." she said angrily to Jet. "Something's not right here." Spike gave her a thoughtful glance.
"And why do you say that, Faye?" he asked.
"I don't trust her." She said as if that were enough to say no. "Don't tell me that you do?" Spike just shrugged.
"I don't trust anyone," he said nonchalantly. "So I say go." Faye frowned and turned to Ed.
"What about you, Ed?" she asked the little girl. Ed was glaring at the woman who was now playing with Ein.
"She broke Ed's Tomato." she said simply. "But she can fix it too."
"C'mon Faye," Jet pleaded. "You're usually the one that jumps at the chance to get this much money in one shot." Faye gave him a sidelong glance.
"I never said no, Jet." Faye said coolly. "Just that I don't trust her." Faye and Jet glared at each other until Spike broke the silence.
"So it's settled then?" Spike asked for affirmation. Everyone nodded. Jet turned to Jo.
"Where will we find this White Rabbit hacker?" he asked. Jo looked up from playing with Ein and laughed.
"Well I think that's the easy part." She said with a smile. "He's in Wonderland of course." Jet exchanged a glance with Spike and Faye, who shrugged it off.
"Wonderland?" he asked confused.
***
Spike leaned against the surface of a very old and decrepit looking wall lazily blowing smoke. His eyes watched as the smoke trailed slowly over the barricade then finally disappeared into the dusk air. With no more smoke to follow, Spike's eyes became fixated with the beginnings of stars in the sky. Each one twinkled with some secret it seemed. As the sun was about to set, Spike saw a meteor shoot across the sky and die away into the atmosphere. It was all a pretty quiet and peaceful evening…except for one thing.
"Where the hell is she?" Faye nearly yelled as she gave the wall a disgusted kick. Spike's brows knitted together. Of course that one thing was Faye. She was one for ruining moments. Spike grunted and threw his cigarette away, grounding it up with the tip of his shoe.
"I don't think you should take it out on the wall." Spike said calmly. "What did it ever do to you?" Faye shot the lanky man a venomous look and put her back to him.
"She should have met us already." Faye complained. "This better not be a trap." Spike nodded in agreement. She was right about that. After they had decided to claim the bounty, Jet had taken Jo her apartment to pick up some information on the White Rabbit and meet with him. The plan was that Jo would meet with the hacker as Spike and Faye came in through a secret entrance and catch him while Jo made the anti virus. It was really a simple plan. So simple it seemed that any and everything would go wrong with it. Jo's tardiness didn't help his already tense mindset. Spike looked up at the looming structures beyond the high yet damaged gate. An abandoned amusement park towered over them. Rusty rollercoaster tracks looked as if they would collapse with not so much as a breeze. A place that should have been alive with lights and laughter was as cold and dead as a cemetery. It reminded him a lot of Space Land where he fought Tongpu, an insane experiment of the ISSP. The incident with such a powerful enemy had frightened and nearly killed him.
"Hey?" Faye's face suddenly was in his view. She snapped her fingers to shock him out of his thoughts. "You all right? I've been saying your name for quite some time now." Spike looked at her and back at Wonderland.
"Nothing, but" Spike took and deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I really hate amusement parks."
"Well that's just too bad." A voice said from the shadows. Jo stepped out into the light of the street lamp. "I've always thought they were lots of fun." Faye jumped at her sudden entrance while Spike remained impassive. Faye looked at Jo from head to toes.
"Why the sudden change of clothes?" Faye asked snidely. Jo smiled lightly and twirled around. She wore an ivory vest with a short blood red tie that went over a long-sleeved black dress. The sleeves of the black dress were tied with red ribbons in two places. The dress also had a scandalous split running up the middle. It revealed sharply tones thighs and calves the disappeared into black knee high combat boots. Her hair was put up in a high ponytail and the bun was held together with black chopsticks. The hairstyle showed off a pair of ruby earrings. She looked like she was dressed for some occult ritual.
"I couldn't meet White Rabbit in my work clothes." she said to answer her question. "These are my normal clothes anyways." Satisfied, Faye backed off. She tied her red jacket across her waist and pulled out her Glock and cocked it loudly. Jo looked mildly amused.
"I take it that someone is ready." Jo said quietly. Faye gave her a hateful look.
"I just want to get this over with." she said harshly. "More than two million woolongs are waiting for me back at the Bebop." Jo just shrugged and led the way through the gates. They swung open slowly with a clanging sound. The theme park was just as it seemed, quiet and desolate. Jo motioned for them to follow. She led them through the maze of attractions. They went past the Teacups and the Carousel and the Flamingo miniature golfing attractions. Soon, Jo stopped in front of the House of Mirrors.
"In here there's a mirror that you can't see your reflection." Jo said as she pointed to the doors. "The mirror is actually a door. Push it open and follow the pathway down. At the end of the hallway, there's an elevator that will take you to that control tower." Jo pointed to the building that stood over the House of Mirrors. "I'll meet you at the elevator door." Spike nodded and Jo left to go through the main entrance of the control tower. Spike turned around to find Faye gone.
"Geez Faye," Spike thought aloud. "Couldn't you have waited?" Spike entered the House of Mirrors. The place was dimly lit but bright enough not to crash into anything.
"Faye?" Spike called out. He listened for her response but heard nothing. Spike pulled out his gun and went deeper into the maze. The mirrors were in a variety of shapes, distorting his true image. Fuzzy misshapen blobs of Spike Spiegel were everywhere and there wasn't one mirror that didn't show his reflection, however indistinct it was. Something passed by in the corner of his eye and he turned swiftly to point his gun at Faye Valentine. Her Glock was pointed to his chest and his gun right between her eyes. Spike's trigger finger jumped but he came to his senses and lowered the firearm. He shoved it back into its holster.
"Don't surprise me like that." he said angrily. Faye frowned and lowered her own gun.
"Hey, you surprised me." she cried. "I was going to tell you I found the door."
"Where?" he asked. Faye pushed past him roughly and walked up to the glass he had been standing next to.
"Ah, hello," she motioned to it. "This mirror right here. C'mon." Faye pushed open the false mirror and stared down into the dark abyss. Spike could have sworn that she paled just a bit
"So who's first to go down the rabbit hole?" Spike asked playfully. He heard Faye swallow loudly. Spike looked around and saw a flashlight hanging on a nearby hook and stairs that disappeared into the darkness. "Alright, I guess I'll go." He grabbed the flashlight, turned it on, and took a step towards the dark staircase. Faye grabbed him back.
"No I'll go." she said with a hard gaze. "You're so tense that you might shoot at your own shadow." Not waiting for his comeback, Faye took the flashlight and pulled out her gun. Taking a deep breath, she started to make her way down. The dim lights from the House of Mirrors vanished as they turned the corner.
"See Faye that wasn't so bad." He tried to comfort her. Faye stopped. "What is it?" Faye turned the flashlight on the walls. The brick of the building was replaced with sharp jagged rocks.
"Do you hear that?" she asked apprehensively. Spike listened. The sound of dripping water came to his ears.
"Water." he replied. "Now keep moving." Faye lost the uneasy look in her eyes and gave him an annoyed glare as she moved on. They hadn't been walking long when suddenly, Faye stopped, causing Spike to run right into to her.
"What now?" he nearly yelled frustrated. "If you're so paranoid, why did you insist on taking point?" Faye managed to glare at Spike through the darkness.
"Are you so dense that you don't feel that?" she asked equally frustrated. Spike calmed down. As soon as he had, he felt a telltale tremor coming from the ground.
"What the…" Spike cursed but didn't get to finish as the ground opened up below them and he and Faye tumbled down endlessly into a black tunnel.
***
"Excellent." The woman said coolly as she watched Faye and Spike disappear from the sight of the camera. A sound from behind her caused her to turn away from the security camera terminals. Harsh and cold lavender eyes met a pair of scared pink ones. The albino hacker known as the White Rabbit sat bound and gagged in one of the office rolling chairs. The woman smiled viciously and walked toward the frightened captive. White Rabbit's hideously pink eyes widened even more as he desperately tried to back away. The woman caught him by the gag and pulled him close. The bound hacker closed his eyes and began shaking. The woman feigned a look of worry and stroked the silky texture of his pale hair.
"Poor bunny, you're trembling." she whispered in his ear. "But don't worry it will be over soon" She patted him lightly on the head and reached into her pocket. The captive cringed but all she pulled out was one small seemingly innocent computer chip. She tossed it on his chest and backed away from him. The albino cracked one of his bloodshot eyes open at her retreat. The woman smiled and reached for the double barrel shotgun that lay on the console. The White Rabbit screamed through his gag as the mysterious woman raised the weapon to point to the chip. He started to struggle against the bonds as tears spilled from his eyes.
"Honestly, I don't see why you're so upset." she said as she lined up her aim. Not like she needed to. She did it purely for dramatic effect. "It's not like I was going rabbit hunting or anything like that. I just want to see if I can shoot that chip off your chest." The gag slipped and the White Rabbit screamed as the woman pressed the trigger. The shot was deafening and the kick from the gun nearly knocked the woman down. She put the gun down and went to inspect her handiwork. The man hung limply in the chair and the chip she had placed on his chest had somehow fallen to the floor. She left it where it was. It was of no use to her now. The woman gave the fresh corpse a distasteful look and frowned.
"I guess it was rabbit hunting season after all." she sighed. "Now who am I going to play with?" The woman with bizarre lavender eyes turned to the monitors behind her and smiled.
***
Spike fell to the ground with a heavy thud followed by the distinct sound of something breaking, probably a rib. Faye's gun clattered to the floor beside him. Spike looked around from his position on the ground and didn't see her. Spike tried to get up but had the wind knocked out of him as Faye fell on his already bruised backside.
"Ow!" she cried as she rubbed her head. She looked around and noticed she was sitting on Spike. "You broke my fall." Spike twitched and Faye helped him to sit up.
"I think you broke something else too." He winced as he tested his limbs. All in all, he probably had one more broken or at least fractured rib thanks to Faye. Spike groaned as he clutched his sides. No doubt that he would be in the hospital when this was all over. Faye grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry." she apologized. "Are you alright?" Spike nodded and stood up. Faye followed suit.
"Fine but where are we?" he asked. Faye took in their surroundings. They were in a white room marred by only one dark spot that resembled a closed elevator. It was barely big enough to fit both her and Spike. It didn't seem to have an exit except for the hole in the ceiling and it was too steep to even try a bd attempt to scale the shaft. All of a sudden Faye thought she heard a grinding noise coming from somewhere. She looked to the ceiling.
"Hey Spike?" she called out to her partner. "Is it just me or is the room getting bigger or I'm getting smaller." Spike turned to Faye and gave her a confused look. He had heard the grinding noise too. Spike looked up at the ceiling and nearly gasped as it continued to stretch. Faye looked up as well.
"Oh my God!" she gasped. "Do you think…" Faye trailed off but no sooner had she said it the ceiling stopped and came crashing down. Faye screamed but Spike, not really grasping the futility of his actions, grabbed Faye in an attempt to shield her from the falling ceiling. There was a loud noise and then it was silent, save for Faye's erratic breathing. Spike let go of the death grip he had on her and straightened up. The falling ceiling had stopped within three feet of his head. Obviously it was someone's idea of a sick joke. No doubt to keep trespassers away…or at least scare them to death.
"Are we dead yet?" she asked quietly, almost as if she were afraid the ceiling would fall at her next words. Well the ceiling didn't fall again but as soon as the words left her mouth, water came pouring out of the shaft they had come through. The water came in by the gallons. Both of them scrambled, looking for someway out of the room. It hadn't been more than ten minutes and the water was already at their waists. Spike and Faye looked at each other and for a moment, sheer panic kept their gazes locked.
"We're going to drown, aren't we?" she asked surprisingly calm but her eyes told a different story. Faye's breaths were coming faster and faster. Her eyes darted around the room franticly. She was hyperventilating. Spike grabbed her shoulders firmly and shook her.
"We're not going to drown." he told her. "Look up at the shaft. We can get out through there." The water level was at their chests now and steadily rising. Abruptly, the flow of water stopped and the open shaft started to close.
"NO!" Spike yelled but it was too late. They were completely sealed in. At once, Faye started to wail, saying such things about never getting married and having children, but Spike tuned her out. He banged on the panel with his fists but gave up as soon as he realized it was helping.
"Great, just great." Spike muttered. Faye stopped her lamenting and glanced at Spike. She had never seen him so defeated.
"At least the water stopped." she offered. A familiar grinding noise was heard and the ceiling began to move. Spike gave Faye a cold look.
"You know, " he spoke. "Every time you open your mouth something bad happens." Faye frowned. How could he say such a thing in a situation like this.
"You jerk!" she cried angrily. She was about to raise her fist to hit him when she met Spike's smiling sad face. He wasn't being cruel, just trying to take her mind off their imminent death. Her face softened and she paddled to him, giving him a teary hug that he returned. She couldn't believe this was the end. It wasn't fair. Faye pulled back a little from their embrace.
"Spike, I have to tell you something." Faye didn't get to finish however because the ceiling suddenly stopped and she had a vague feeling of going up. The movement stopped and the far right wall, the one with the dark spot, opened, letting loose gallons of water on the floor. Spike and Faye, still locked in embrace, gazing down at Jo's sopping wet form sprawled out on the floor.
"Well you two seem to be ok." she said breathlessly. Spike quickly disengaged himself from Faye's grip and walked over to help her up. Once she was up, Faye fired off questions.
"Why didn't you tell us about the damn elevator." she yelled. "We were nearly killed. Not to mention almost scared shitless." Jo bowed apologetically.
"Forgive me," she began. "I ran into some trouble as well. When I got to the Control Room, I found White Rabbit bound and dead and when I looked at the screens, I saw you guys in the elevator full of water. It took me awhile to figure out which were the right buttons but at least I got it." Finished, she tried a smile.
"Where's the body?" Spike asked.
"This way." Jo led the way down the corridor with Spike and Faye trailing behind. Jo pushed open the door and motioned them to go inside. Faye stepped through first and was greeted with the mangled corpse of an albino that had to be White Rabbit. His head hung off the chair unnaturally and where his chest used to be was a bloody gapping hole. Faye turned her head away quickly as Spike pushed past her. He started at the body as well.
"Well there goes the money." Faye said as she covered her nose to ward of the smell of blood. Spike ignored her.
"What do you think killed him?" he directed to Jo as he looked the body over. Jo motioned over to the console, where a double barrel shotgun lay.
"I hear that make pretty big holes." she said casually. "It's been fired recently too."
"Did you get the chip?" Spike asked suddenly. Jo pulled out the small chip. Spike nodded. "Then let's get out of here."
A/N: Ohaiyo everybody (The few who are reading this). Sorry I took so long. I got stuck on one part and finally I was like screw it. From then on, I was pretty pleased with it. Yeah this chapter's waaayyy to long for my usual chapters but I could find it in my heart to break it apart. The mysterious woman is back and I don't think she's very nice, do you? What do you think of Jo? I wanted her to be likable but not. Did it come off right? I know Spike is a little out of character but I'll get better I promise. Oh and if anyone is wondering what Jo looks like, I drew this picture but my scanner's broken. But if it helps any, her out fit is similar (actually it's the same) to Keitaro's sister on the front cover of Lone Hina 11. Any questions drop me a line. I think that's it. Standby for the next chapter. I think it's Beware the Girl Next Door but I dunno, we'll see. Leave me a lil note by the way on my progress. Cya soon.