Spike and Jet craned their heads back upon hearing the door gently whoosh open; then both men sprang up in shock. Spike used the couch to vault over the railing and reach Faye's side as she fell forward. "What the hell happened?" he asked in amazement.
"Faye Fa- whoa." Edward said, amber eyes widening to take up the majority of her face. She stared aghast at the bruises and cuts covering Faye; her eyes traced over the rips and tears in the older woman's already scanty outfit and one bare foot. The remaining boot, instead of its usual white, was varying shades of brown.
"Edward, come with me." Jet commanded, in a tone that brooked no argument. The girl obeyed silently, casting one last curious look at Faye over her shoulder as she followed Jet.
Ein trailed at Spike's heels as he half- carried the injured woman over to the couch and carefully laid her down. One of her hands dangled over the edge; Ein nosed his way under it and whimpered.
Jet reentered the room carrying their medicine box, and without another word or even a glance at each other, he and Spike began cleaning Faye's wounds. Faye kept her eyes tightly shut and let them do what they would. All she knew, and all that mattered, was that she was safe.
*
"I know you're awake." Spike told her quietly.
Faye remained motionless.
He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled the smoke. "The others are gone."
She cracked an eyelid the tiniest bit; Spike was staring at a point on the ceiling, and Faye kept her eyes half- lidded. (A/N: I just had to use that somehow. =P Guess I've been brooding about Bellatrix too much… Meh.) "What do you want, Spike?" she inquired wearily.
"I want to know how this happened."
"I got my ass kicked." she curtly informed him. "By that bounty that stole whatever it was Ainsley was selling."
"It was an ancient burial doll." Spike replied placidly. "And I'd like a few more details- like where you were, and what the hell you thought you were doing."
"It's my business where I was." she snapped. "And use your brain, lunkhead. I was going after a bounty."
"In other words, you got in over your head." he summarized. She scowled, but her silence was concession enough. They sat quietly for a while.
Finally, Faye spoke. "It was a house. An old one; it looked like it used to be apartments." She flushed angrily. "I didn't realize that there were others in there. There was a- fight-, I got captured, and it took me a while to get out."
Spike didn't say anything.
Faye told him where the apartment was.
He didn't break his silence.
"What's wrong with you?" Faye demanded, turning her head to get a better look at him.
Spike ground the cigarette out on his shoe and set it on the table. The loss of the red glow left them in darkness, but Faye could hear him rise. He stood looking down at her for a moment; then he abruptly asked if she'd like to sleep in her own bed instead of on the couch.
Faye stared with sightless eyes. He seemed to take her lack of an answer as a negative, and there was the barely discernable sound of him turning on his heel. "Wait!" she said hastily. "That- that'd be nice, Spike. Thank you."
He didn't say anything, but walked over and picked her up, blanket and all. Faye allowed herself the comfort of resting her cheek against his shirt as he carried her.
Spike edged open her door with the side of his foot; crossing over to the bed, he shunted the messy sheets to one side and set her down, removed the blanket borrowed from the couch, and covered her with her own.
"Spike?" Faye began hesitantly.
"What?"
"Could you- would you sit with me for a while?"
He didn't move for a minute. "Sure." he decided abruptly, seating himself on the edge of her bed. Faye wormed her hand into his.
*
By the time Spike left Faye's room, dawn was breaking over Venus. In a sudden decision, he made his way toward the sunlight beginning to illuminate the Bebop. He watched it for a moment; a tall figure in a rumpled suit, topped with a messy mop of green hair, black against the encroaching light. He sighed and raised his face to the dawn before turning. (A/N: He's silhouetted in that window I like so much.)
A few minutes later, the other two pairs of feral eyes watching the sunrise saw a sleek racing ship streaking toward the Gate.
*
"Excuse me." Spike tapped the little man on the shoulder.
"Yes?"
"Is this where I can find Obi, that antiques dealer?"
The man eyed him with considerably more interest. "Yes."
"And did he recently get a burial doll?"
"Yes." the man was starting to get excited by the third repeat.
"Just checking." Spike told him, and brought up his fist. The little man dropped at his feet, and Spike entered the building.
The bricks were scummy, and the rug under his feet probably contained more vermin than threads. Spike ignored it and went up the stairs, where an officious woman with the harried look of a secretary stopped him. "Name and item you wish to inquire about?" (A/N: Faye snuck in. Spike just walked in the front door.)
Spike pushed past her.
"Sir-" she tagged along after him, nagging at his heels, "sir, you can't go in there!"
A musclebound bouncer came lumbering up to them. Spike blocked his punch and took him down without breaking stride.
The secretary ran down the hall in the opposite direction, screaming something about maniacs. Five more men came out of doors lining the hall and immediately commenced firing on Spike, who dove into a door on his right. He took down the startled occupants in only a minute, then darted behind the door. When the first pursuer turned the knob, Spike opened the door for him, putting the man off balance; Spike then slammed it directly into his head, dropping him. He changed his position to the wall beside the door as gunfire ripped it apart. Someone kicked in what remained of the door; Spike rendered him unconscious with a kick to the head that sent him flying into a wall. He flipped another man into the table and knocked out the fourth with the butt of his gun. Spike fended off gunfire from the fifth with a chair, in a manner reminiscent of a lion tamer, before hurling said chair at the offending gunman. With the man distracted by the chair hurtling toward his head, it was easy for Spike to land a kick on his jaw that sent him backwards into a wall before crashing facedown on the floor. Spike exited the room, calmly stepping over the spreading blood from the man's broken nose.
He shot eight more armed men in the hall moving toward the source of the trouble. Spike helped himself to the guns of two of them before going on his way.
Three men stood at the top of the stairs, firing down at him. Spike managed to shoot all three, and the six behind them, without being touched by any of the bullets they sent flying in his direction. (A/N: C'mon, you know he's Just That Good. Besides, they'd be distracted by the comrades falling around them, since they did that cool thing where their finger pulls the trigger as they fall so it's absolute chaos…)
Another little man was trying to climb into the antiquated air ducts; the several bundles in his arms made it quite difficult for him to do so. Spike's tug on his foot sent him sprawling, and knocked two of the bundles out of his arms. Spike pointed the gun at him. "Are you Obi?"
The panting man jerked his head up. Snatching up the fallen bundles, he held them out to Spike eagerly. "Yes, I'm Obi, the antiques dealer! I have only the highest- quality items! Take this burial doll for example, it's worth millions of woolongs-"
Spike shot him in the head. He holstered the pistol, speculatively eyeing the bundles. Then he shrugged and picked them up. Spike ignored the heads peeking fearfully out of the half- closed doors and walked out of the building, into the light, with his head held high.
A/N: Better ending, I think. ^_^ Next chapter: Spike's return to the Bebop and ensuing events. Either the next chapter or one after that will be the last… yes, my dears, the end is coming. * Jon Stewart- like moue of sadness* (he has the greatest facial expressions, doesn't he?) Cookies to: PimpinSatan, Jim Hawking Jr., and SpecterQueen, who also get cakes for Outstanding Reviewing (not necessarily telling me what I want to hear, but reviewing so often.) ^_^