Dun Dun Dah. This will be my last update for a while cause I have to write the rest after this. I feel like I'm spoiling u people. Its great! Kay story time.
Chapter 5: Struggles
"Mommy?!"
Faye wrestled back some of her composure. Everything was screwed, it was time to stop hiding. "In here Landis." She called out.
Spike watched as a young boy in Jeans, a tee-shirt, and a baseball cap came in and ran to Faye.
"Mom guess what; today in class we learned how to do this." The kicked out and spun around, held his leg there for a moment and then gracefully laid the foot down and stood in a fighting stance.
Faye could see Spike staring at them and she was filled with the urge to grab her son and run. Landis looked at Spike and studied him with his big brown eyes. Faye searched the larger version of those same eyes, there was only shock no sense of recognition. Maybe he wouldn't realize, who this boy staring at him was.
Landis stepped up to Spike.
"Who are you?"
"Landis, this is Mr. Spike Spiegel." Faye told him. Landis smiled and held out a small hand to Spike who absent mindedly reached for it.
Then as an after thought Landis took off his hat and brushed down his soft green hair. Spike froze immediately; finally noticing what Faye had feared.
"Landis come here." Faye said with more urgency then she had wanted to. The confused boy returned to his mother's embrace.
Faye felt like a deer trapped in headlights as Spike stared at her and his son. Yes, she knew that he had figured out it was his son. She just didn't know what he would do. She glared back at him clinging tightly to her son.
When his eyes began to loose their glaze, he looked like he was going to say something.
"Landis!" Faye said turning her son to look into his eyes. "Go upstairs and wash up for dinner; then play in your room until I call you."
"Ok mommy." He gave her a quick hug and ran up the hall to the stairs.
Spike watched him and Faye watched Spike.
"How old?" Spike asked still watching the hall. He didn't have to ask there was only one age the boy could be.
"Seven, eight this September." The room was shrinking around her; she got up and went to the hall entrance.
"Faye he's…"
"Tall for his age I know." She turned around to find Spike was right behind her. Their faces only inches apart.
"Faye he, he's my son isn't he."
Anger filled her eyes. "He's my son." She said turning and walking down the hall towards the kitchen. An arm blocked he path.
"Why Faye? Why didn't you tell me?"
She glared at him, ducked under his arm and continued walking. He grabbed her arm.
"I deserve an explanation."
She looked at his arm and back up at him. "You deserve nothing. Now get your hand off of me and get the hell out of my house."
"Faye I…" he released her arm. "I don't know…"
"Get out."
"I can't just leave, not after this."
"Yes," she leaned into his face. "Yes you can."
"No, its not like I can just forget what just happened."
"That's exactly what you are going to do. Leave, never come back; just forget that you were ever here. We don't need your help."
"Faye."
"Just get out!" She Screamed tears forming in her eyes.
He didn't move.
"Go." She tried to push him but he grabbed her arms and she felt all of the strength leak out of her body. She fell to the floor Spike helping to slow her decent. He held her against his chest.
"Oh Faye, I'm so sorry."
She wiped at her face. She wasn't going to do this, she was strong enough to raise Landis for nearly eight years she could handle talking to his father.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked her.
"Leave."
"Faye no."
"Go Spike I can't… I can't do this right now."
Spike stood and walked to the door. "This isn't over." He said as he stepped through the door.
Faye leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She didn't hear the light footsteps come down the stairs and run out until she heard the door slam.
Her eyes flying open she saw the young boy chasing after Spike.
"Landis!" She screamed and ran after him.
Spike had heard the door slam and then he felt a small hand tugging on his pant leg.
Landis looked up at him and their almost matching orbs met; ensnaring Spike. "I know who you are now. You're the reason mommy's sad all the time, it's your picture she looks at when she's awake at night." He paused. "You're the reason she cries when she looks at me sometimes." Spike couldn't breath.
"Landis!" Faye's pain filled screech pulled Spike out of his spell. Landis turned around and ran into the arms of his running mother.
Spike wasn't sure what it was that he was feeling anymore, he wasn't sure of anything anymore. But seeing Faye sitting there in the grass clutching tightly to her son, his son, their son, he knew he would be back.
* * *
The room was poorly lit, but that was probably the way he liked it, John thought.
"You said you had something for me." He asked John.
"Yes. Here." John clumsily gave him a small pile of photos.
He studied them for a moment. "So he had lunch with Faye. Interesting. "
"Sir, it gets better." John handed him three more pictures. The first showed Spike at the door of a quaint home. But the second, the second was the one that caught his attention. On the right of the picture was a woman with purple hair, that could only have been Faye running from the house towards the two figures in the center. Spike and a small boy. A sly smile spread across his lips. Perfect, it was all too perfect.
"Ah Spike after all this time you have provided me with away of hurting you that I never could have." Looking at the third picture, which had Faye holding tightly to the small version Spike, Vicious chuckled to himself. Something he had not done in a very long time.
* * *
He had wandered for countless hours, it was well past midnight by the time he got back up to the ship. He went to the kitchen and got a cup of coffee, but all he could do was stare at it. He couldn't bring himself to drink it.
Jet walked in but Spike didn't look up. Jet poured himself some coffee.
"How long?" Spike asked.
"How long what?"
"How long have you known Jet?"
Jet sighed, he knew this was coming. Idiot I told you not to go poking around.
"Around seven years now," he said sitting down.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"When was I supposed to do that? When you woke up? 'Welcome back to the world of the living buddy. By the way you have a son.'" Spike glared at him. "Besides Faye asked me not to and I respect her position."
"Her position, her position! What the hell about my position! For God's sake I'm the kid's damn father and nobody feels like telling me!"
"Faye made a choice. When I found out about Landis she made me swear that if you ever woke up I wouldn't say anything."
Spike rested his head in his palms. "God, he looks just like me, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, yeah when Faye showed him to me he was only 7 months old and she didn't even have to tell me. I just knew. And you know he's more like you everyday. He loves to give Faye trouble and he's a natural at martial arts, he's already a green belt and just the other day he beat a boy who was twice his age."
"But why Jet? Why didn't she tell me?"
"I can't fully answer that Spike only she can."
* * *
She was dreaming again; one of the same dreams that she always had. It was a dream of a memory, a dream of a day. The day everything had changed.
She had walked back from the doctor's office in a daze. They had offered to drive her home but she felt that she needed the walk. She still couldn't believe what he had told her. She, she couldn't be pregnant. It just wasn't … fair. When she noticed that the light on her answering machine was blinking she had no intention of checking it but something drew her to it.
Beep.
"Ahem. Faye, this is Jet. I ah, used Ed to track you down. I ah just wanted to let you know that we found Spike." She felt her stomach clench at the mention of his name. "Spike is ah, he's not dead." Her knees gave out. Alive, he was alive? "But he's in a Coma and the doctors don't know if he'll ever get out of it. I guess that was all just though you should know. So give me a call if you ever need anything."
Faye fell to the seat at the counter top. He was alive, but wasn't, he may never truly be alive. How could she raise her child if it knew that their father was alive but would never be able to see them; even then what if when he woke up and found out he didn't want anything to do with them. She couldn't risk putting her child threw that. No, he was dead and to her child he would always be dead.
Faye woke, there was someone in her room. She felt a scream forming in her throat when a large hand covered her mouth and she was pulled roughly out of bed. She heard Landis scream.
Two sets of strong arms dragged her into the hall where another man was holding a kicking and yelling Landis. All she could see were his eyes the man's hand covered so much of his face.
A man walked up in front of her, he was obviously in charge.
"Hello pretty lady." He ran a hand down her cheek and she jerked back. His hand came back and slapped her across the face.
"You stupid bitch!" Seeing the hurt in Landis' eyes that he had cause by slapping his mother; John accentuated the last word by kneeing Faye in the stomach. She doubled, the arms of the men the only thing supporting her.
"Mommy!" Landis screamed through the hand.
"Shut up you little bastard!" He raised his hand to Landis but it was stopped by someone new who came up the stairs.
"Don't harm the boy. Yet." Vicious' soft voice told John.
Faye's eyes widened in fear. He, he was dead. Spike had killed him.
"What do we do with her?" John asked.
Vicious looked at Faye his eyes piercing her nightgown.
"Leave her." He looked at John, "unspoiled." He signaled to the men. "We have the boy lets go."
The two men holding her threw her to the floor. She could see them carrying away her son.
"Mommy!"
"Landis" Faye screamed and then all was darkness.
* * *
Spike and Jet hadn't spoken after that. They just sat at the table for a half an hour before Jet's Phone rang.
Jet answered. "Hello?" His face immediately changed to one of concern. "What's the matter, slow down, I can't…, you're gonna have to…, Faye breath and tell me what happened."
Spike Jumped up. Faye, it was Faye and she was upset. He grabbed the phone from Jet.
"Faye what is it?"
Sobs came from the other end.
"Faye!"
"Oh God, that bastard, he, the bastard…"
"Who Faye?"
"Vicious, that bastard, son of a bitch. He was here, he came here and he…"
Spike felt his blood boil. He had killed Vicious he had almost died killing him.
"Oh God no, oh God, oh God."
"What Faye? What did he do?" A terrible thought crossed Spike's mind. "He didn't hurt you did he? Tell me Faye!"
"He took him!"
Spike couldn't move.
"He took him Spike; he took our son!" Her sobs overtook her again. Spike felt the phone slip from his hand. He wasn't sure why but for the first time in his life he felt truly afraid.