Chapter 3: The Here and Now
Jet left several more messages and Faye ignored them all. After three days, she finally admitted defeat and made the call. "Hey, Jet."
Jet's voice was tired and worried. "Faye! I've been calling you for the past three days. Where have you been?"
Faye scowled at Jet's sudden departure into the parental. "Ganymede. Callisto. Right now I'm on Earth."
"Earth? Have you seen Ed?"
Faye smiled at the mention of the young hacker. "Not yet but I've been looking for her." She paused and gave him a tired smirk. "I've also been bounty hunting."
Jet was conversational. "Find anything good?"
"Met some interesting people." Faye threw an ironic look through the cockpit glass at her new partner.
"I have news, Faye.about Spike."
Her breath caught in her throat and she had to force herself to breath. "So I hear."
"It's not that bad. He's alive." Faye could hear the grin in Jet's voice.
The breath she thought she had regained control over expelled itself from her lungs with a woosh. "Alive?"
"Yeah. He's pretty banged up but apparently the remaining Syndicate members swore loyalty to him as the victor and took him to the hospital for treatment. A friend of mine at the ISSP has been keeping me updated and he called this morning to say that Spike's going to be ok."
Faye's poor rattled brain was having trouble processing what she'd heard. "Syndicate?"
"Yeah but I think it's going to be all right." Jet sounded almost optimistic.
There was a pause, then "How could it possibly be all right!?"
Jet spoke his next words as though he were speaking to an unreasonable five year old. "Faye, I know you're upset. I'm upset, too. But."
"No! I can't hear this right now." Faye shook her head as if to negate the entire conversation. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll be home soon."
Jet sighed. "We can't see him."
"What?"
"He's too heavily guarded. They won't let us in."
Her voice shook slightly with pain. "But we're his friends."
Jet sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. "We are his friends but the Syndicate doesn't know that and they aren't taking any chances with their new leader."
"I'm going to need a little time to deal with this, Jet. I don't know what to do. Is there anything to do?" Faye Valentine sounded more lost in that moment then Jet had ever heard her sound.
He didn't have an answer for her. He couldn't tell her what she so desperately needed to hear. "I don't know either. We'll just have to hang around until he's healed up a bit more and then try to contact him through the Syndicate."
Faye nodded and prepared to hang up. "Thanks, Jet. I'll call again in a few days."
"Talk to you soon, Faye. Stay safe."
Faye turned the com off with more force than was really necessary and tossed the unit onto the dashboard. She was still sitting there trying to order her tangled thoughts when there was rap on the cockpit window. "You ok in there? You've been in there for over an hour." Andy balanced on the edge of the Redtail looking concerned.
"Fine." Faye tried to smile. "I'll be out in a minute." Andy nodded and hopped to the ground.
Several minutes later a now composed bounty hunting diva landed lightly beside her ship and crossed the parking area to her new partner. Faye smiled by way of greeting. "Men. They are so useless sometimes."
Andy grinned. "I figured it had to do with a man." She waved a hand dismissively as though gesturing at Faye's phone call. "Men are such trouble."
"Definitely." Faye focused her thoughts on the present, changing the subject. "So who's this new bounty?"
tbc(pretty please with sugar on top.I crave reviews)
Jet left several more messages and Faye ignored them all. After three days, she finally admitted defeat and made the call. "Hey, Jet."
Jet's voice was tired and worried. "Faye! I've been calling you for the past three days. Where have you been?"
Faye scowled at Jet's sudden departure into the parental. "Ganymede. Callisto. Right now I'm on Earth."
"Earth? Have you seen Ed?"
Faye smiled at the mention of the young hacker. "Not yet but I've been looking for her." She paused and gave him a tired smirk. "I've also been bounty hunting."
Jet was conversational. "Find anything good?"
"Met some interesting people." Faye threw an ironic look through the cockpit glass at her new partner.
"I have news, Faye.about Spike."
Her breath caught in her throat and she had to force herself to breath. "So I hear."
"It's not that bad. He's alive." Faye could hear the grin in Jet's voice.
The breath she thought she had regained control over expelled itself from her lungs with a woosh. "Alive?"
"Yeah. He's pretty banged up but apparently the remaining Syndicate members swore loyalty to him as the victor and took him to the hospital for treatment. A friend of mine at the ISSP has been keeping me updated and he called this morning to say that Spike's going to be ok."
Faye's poor rattled brain was having trouble processing what she'd heard. "Syndicate?"
"Yeah but I think it's going to be all right." Jet sounded almost optimistic.
There was a pause, then "How could it possibly be all right!?"
Jet spoke his next words as though he were speaking to an unreasonable five year old. "Faye, I know you're upset. I'm upset, too. But."
"No! I can't hear this right now." Faye shook her head as if to negate the entire conversation. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll be home soon."
Jet sighed. "We can't see him."
"What?"
"He's too heavily guarded. They won't let us in."
Her voice shook slightly with pain. "But we're his friends."
Jet sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. "We are his friends but the Syndicate doesn't know that and they aren't taking any chances with their new leader."
"I'm going to need a little time to deal with this, Jet. I don't know what to do. Is there anything to do?" Faye Valentine sounded more lost in that moment then Jet had ever heard her sound.
He didn't have an answer for her. He couldn't tell her what she so desperately needed to hear. "I don't know either. We'll just have to hang around until he's healed up a bit more and then try to contact him through the Syndicate."
Faye nodded and prepared to hang up. "Thanks, Jet. I'll call again in a few days."
"Talk to you soon, Faye. Stay safe."
Faye turned the com off with more force than was really necessary and tossed the unit onto the dashboard. She was still sitting there trying to order her tangled thoughts when there was rap on the cockpit window. "You ok in there? You've been in there for over an hour." Andy balanced on the edge of the Redtail looking concerned.
"Fine." Faye tried to smile. "I'll be out in a minute." Andy nodded and hopped to the ground.
Several minutes later a now composed bounty hunting diva landed lightly beside her ship and crossed the parking area to her new partner. Faye smiled by way of greeting. "Men. They are so useless sometimes."
Andy grinned. "I figured it had to do with a man." She waved a hand dismissively as though gesturing at Faye's phone call. "Men are such trouble."
"Definitely." Faye focused her thoughts on the present, changing the subject. "So who's this new bounty?"
tbc(pretty please with sugar on top.I crave reviews)