A/N ~ Been awhile, huh? I apologize. Just don't kill me. I'm going to die during basketball practice anyway, so why waste time and effort?


Disclaimer: The song Breathing is owned by Life House. The anime Cowboy Bebop is owned by...Sunrise? Watanabe? Someone? Not I. Nope.


~Dove~


Chapter Nine: Spinning Away


///...3, 2, 1, Let's Jam!...///


Faye was surprised to find that her hands weren't shaking. That her grip on the gun was steady, almost cold. Somewhere inside herself she had realized that this needed to be done, and that she would, and could, do it.

It still slightly unnerved her how sure she was of herself, even as a voice hissed in the back of her mind that this could be a phantom, an illusion.

That maybe she had gone insane.

Spike, or Chaos, smirked and opened his mouth to say something, eyes glinting in the sunlight.

Now or never, Faye, she told herself and pulled the trigger. He wasn't getting away this time.

Never again.

She could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't expected her to do it. She could also tell that he wasn't all there as he stared at her through emotionless eyes as he fell to his knees.

The gun slipped from his hand, weeds making a bed for it against the earth.

Oh God, Spike, what happened to you?

She let her own gun fall from her hands as she threw herself to the ground beside him.

His eyes were cold as he regarded her, gasping slightly as his body shuddered from the shock of yet another bullet.

She reached out a hand tentatively and touched his pale face, feeling the ice in his skin as she searched for warmth. "Spike?"

His miss-matched eyes grew wide. "Faye?" He demanded sounding surprised and lost as he fell forward into her arms.

///...I'm finding my way back to sanity again

Though I don't really know what

I am gonna do when I get there

Take a breath and hold on tight

Spin around one more time

And gracefully fall back in the arms of grace...///


*


Jet stood gaping at her as if she'd turned into a pineapple, and by all rights, she might as well have.

Faye had one of Spike's arms draped across her shoulders, while the other held the wall in a futile attempt to steady herself.

Spike was still bleeding, half-asleep, and muttering under his breath as he drunkenly staggered forward with her help.

And Jet was still standing there growing paler by the moment.

"For the love of something, Jet! Could you get the med-kit or get him off me!"

He chose to find the med-kit.

Faye helped the wounded man to the coach, where he instantly collapsed and closed his eyes.

"Oh, no, you don't," Faye told him, "we talked about this on the ride here. No going to sleep or you might not wake up again."

His eyes fluttered open and stared into her own, "Where's Reyn?"

Reyn?

"Ahh..." Faye's eyes darted around for a moment before returning to the empty ones that made her heart break, "Not here right now."

"Okay. What about that new guy, Steven?" He drawled lazily, and there was a flash of something in his eyes.

But he was so different that she wasn't sure what it was. Of course, even when he was himself, she hadn't been sure what he was thinking one hundred percent of the time. But this was just so...different...

"Nope." What else was there to say?

"Sir." His voice was sharp, making her stand up straighter as she stared down at him.

"What?" She demanded. Had he gotten even more delusional from the ride to the Bebop?

"Address me as either sir or lord, Faye."

If he hadn't been so badly wounded she would have slapped him. Of course, that had never stopped her before. But this was just so different.

"Spike," she tried, "I don't know why you're..."

"Chaos. Lord Chaos. Or Chaos, sir. Or even just, sir, would do nicely."

By that time Jet had returned from wherever the hell he had gone, but his mouth was still gaping open in a wide O of amazement.

Were all men such lunkheads?

Telling herself it was a stupid question, Faye grabbed the kit out of Jet's useless hands, sent him a glare from hell, and then situated herself on the table by the couch.

Where to start?


*


"Jettttttttttttt?"

"Yeah, Ed?"

"Was that Spike-person?"

"...Yeah, I think it was."

"Is Jet-person surey, sure, sure?"

"Yeah, Ed, Jet-person is pretty sure, sure. Wait. Ugh...."

"Hehehehe. Come on Ein. Ed wants to see Spike-person!"

"...No, Ed, I don't think that's really smart."

"Wahhhhhhhhhhh! Let go of Ed! Ein! Help Ed! Ahhhhhhh!"


*


"Spike?"

It had been twelve hours since she brought him home. The whole time he'd been on the couch, sleeping. But just now, she'd seen his eyes flutter open, watched as he began to observe the spinning fan.

She had been sure Ed would come in here, jumping about like the big ball of freakish energy she was. But Jet had locked her up somewhere before disappearing himself, although not before shaking his head slightly at the pitiful sight of Spike.

And he did look sort of pitiful.

She'd gotten him out of the blood covered black outfit he'd been wearing, with the help of Jet, which by the way, was the only thing he'd helped her with.

He now wore a set of his old clothes but he looked somewhat strange in them.

And it hurt her heart.

"Spike?"

"Where am I?" His jaw was clenched. He sounded angry.


///...I'm hanging on every word you say

And even if you don't want to speak tonight

That's alright, alright with me

'Cause I want nothing more than to sit

Outside heaven's door and listen to you breathing

Is where I want to be...///


"...The Bebop..."

Stony silence.

"What Syndicate do you work for?"

"..."

She wasn't going to cry over him. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry. No. No, crying. No. She wasn't...


*


"Jet! Jet!"

His head appeared out of his bonsai tree door. "What?"

"I don't know what to do," she told him, feeling pathetic as she stood there with slightly red eyes as she stared at his white face. How long had he looked like that?

"...Is it...?" He seemed afraid. His eyes were darting away from hers, as if he didn't want to face what he saw in them.

"He doesn't...remember..."

"What!?"

And then it hit her. Jet hadn't been expecting anything of that sort. He'd been expecting abandonment, or just Spike acting like the lunkhead he was and disappearing to never return.

He'd expected Spike to stay dead.

And she realized, that even in her darkness moments, she'd never truly accepted that.

*


The fan was going in circles. It had been doing that for the last thirty minutes, might as well have been doing it for thirty days, because that's what it felt like.

Chaos tried to shift his position, but his side hurt to much. Had he been blind to the pain the whole time? Was it now just setting in?


Go home, Dragon. Home.


Where was home? The cutie with the purple hair told him that this was home. This Bebop place.

But it was...

Different.

There was a strange bald guy that looked like he was fifty years old, and some kid with orange hair he'd only seen for a brief second.

Where was...

...what...?

What the hell was he searching for?


///...I am looking past the shadows

Of my mind into the truth and

I'm trying to identify the voices in my head

God, which one's you

Let me feel one more time

What it feels like to feel

And break these calluses off me

One more time...///


Chaos decided he was going to kill the fan...

...As soon as he could move...

And then he was going to steal a ship and get the hell out of here, because this place made his head hurt.

And he didn't like that.

No. Chaos with a headache was not a good sign.

Hangover and eggs.

Now, where had that come from?

And the frigging fan was still spinning.

"Ughhhhh..." He muttered, wishing he had a gun. Death to the fan. Die...

Where are you going? Why are you going? You told me once... that the past didn't matter... You're the one who's tied to their past!



Which voice was that? The one from the shadows, or the purple or blond? Or the white?

Or the back?

Where did it all fit in?

Angels that are forced from heaven have to become demons. Isn't that right, Spike?

What did it feel like to die, he wondered. And why was this couch so damned comfy? He needed to get one for the office.

What kind of creature was that orange haired thing? Did a dog just bark? He hated dogs with a vengeance. Cats were much better. They were annoying but tolerable.

He had the distinct impression he'd had one as a child.

Child?

Hey, Jet, did you know that there are three things that I hate? Rugrats... beasts... and tomboys.

Had he said that?


"Yo," said a voice. And suddenly that bald fifty year old man was leaning over him. Could you get any closer?

"How you doing?" The man asked.

Like I would tell you. "Fantastic," he answered dully, eyes trained on the fan.

Watch the amazing spinning fan! Only one in a billion have this extraordinary ability to annoy the hell out of people!

"You don't know who I am, do you?"

No. I really don't. "Ahhh...Mr. Disney?" Maybe he could guess right. Maybe the guy would think it was his name.

The old man sighed. "Jet. Jet Black."

Chaos chuckled slightly.

"What?" Black sounded exasperated.

"Your name. Jet Black. Ha."

Silence. Yay, watch the fan spin. Spiny, spin, spin!

The old guy pulled out a box and stuffed it in his face.

Chaos raised an eyebrow.

"What you don't smoke anymore?"

Chaos shook his head puzzled.

It was then that he saw her. The purple one, standing in the shadows watching him, eyes full of some emotion he didn't know.

Suddenly the fan wasn't so important anymore.

///...I don't want a thing from you

Bet you're tired of me waiting

For the straps to fall

Off your table and to the ground

I just want to be here now...///

So you are finally awake. I told you before, Spike... that I am the only one who can kill you.


Chaos's eyes went wide. His eyebrow twitched as his gaze returned to the fan. Underneath the blankets covering his slim form, his fists clenched.

He needed to get out of here...

...Now...



///...I think it's time to blow this place...///


A/N~ Woah! Look at all my reviews! I never thought I'd ever get this many! *Does a little cheerful dance* Thank you! You all deserve candy and Spike plushies. I wish I had one...Oh and hopefully you recognized some quotes I put in from the series. I don't own 'em.


Responses:


Koyasha1: Rapid dust bunnies? Sounds kinda scary...Wanna borrow my flamethrower? Burning stuff is fun when you're waiting. ^_^


red-tenko: *Blushes* Thank you! That made me feel extremely special.


Hecate: I wonder how the teachers would react if I gave them homework? A nice big pile of evil nasty homework. Hope you liked this chapter!


Cowgirl13: Je parle francais tres mal. Heh. ^_^ Hope you liked the chapter!


Sanima: Thank you! I don't really have that much time right now, but I promise to read and review your story! Hope you liked this chapter! *Cough* Spike is mine! *Cough*


Kendra Luehr: Sorry! Didn't know it was that bad of a cliffie. Hadn't even thought about it really. Sorry that this wasn't up as soon as you wanted but I hope you still like it!


Ophelia-Cat: Glad you still like it!


Youkai-Onna: Sorry I didn't use one of your songs for this chappie but I sorta already had it written. Don't be sad though, 'cause I'm going to use one of them for the next chapter. Promise! *Opens Root Beer* Congrats about the piano! Favorite Authors and Alert?! *Passes out in amazement*


Aine-samma: Oy. Haven't gotten this question yet. How to explain? Hmm...Alright, Spike is called Dragon by the voice because of the whole Red Dragon thing. It's like symbolize. For Faye, it's the same thing. Remember that episode where she sneezed three times and Gren was like, "Take care." Her response to his, "If someone doesn't say that and they sneeze three times they turn into a fairy," line was "But I'm already a fairy." This making any sense? Plus her name is sort of along the lines of fairy. Take off the 'e' and you get 'fay' which means 'fairy'. ^_^ Hope you get my rambling.