Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop
Bebop Zen
Session 10: Return of the Cowgirl
________________________________________________________________________
Spike woke yet another morning alone in bed. Only this time, it wasn't his bed and he didn't go into freak out mode. Instead, he casually sat up, stretched, and yawned. Having absolutely no clue what time it was, he decided to meander out to the kitchen. He was still fully clothes and grumbled about the wrinkle in his suit on the way.
One his trudge, he noted the eerie silence and absence of life on the Bebop. It was strange, but no cause for alarm. Peace was a good thing every now and then. When he found his destination, he was greeted by the welcome sight of a fresh pot of coffee.
Well, someone is awake, he thought while fixing himself a cup. He decided a walk-about was in order and began to noisily scuffle around the Bebop, sipping his cup of joe loaded with sugar.
He eventually found himself in the hangar walking through the open door. On his way, he noticed the absence of the Hammerhead. The sun instantly assaulted him with its obnoxious, blinding glare. Blinking profusely he waited for his real eye to catch up with its light adjustment to the fake one. Seconds after his sight returned to normal, he saw Faye sitting with her feet dangling over the edge of the deck. He joined her and pulled out a smoke.
"So, where's Jet?" he asked after lighting his cigarette and taking a drag.
She turned to look at him, the sun glistening off of her ebony hair. "I don't know. He was gone when I woke up."
"So much for teamwork," mumbled Spike past his cig. The heat of the rising sun comforted him. "Where are we, anyways?…I forgot what city Jet said this was."
"I have no idea," said Faye sadly as she lowered her head. "Earth doesn't look anything like I remember it."
Spike knew he had struck a sensitive cord so he kept quiet. It was best not to provoke a woman in a depressed state. She surprised him by leaning her head on his shoulder with a sigh.
"Sometimes…I don't know how I made it through everything," she said quietly. "You know, I never thought about it until now…but we have a lot in common."
"How so?" asked Spike sipping his coffee.
"We've both almost died twice, and the first time…we lost everything," she said lifting her head from his shoulder. She stared at the water below as if lost in memories.
"That doesn't matter anymore," he said turning to gaze at her. She was a vision of melancholy beauty sitting next to him. Her skimpy cotton pajamas clung to her pale skin and her soft hair moved gently in the breeze. "We have a future," he finished averting his gaze to the distant sea.
"I've heard that from you before," she said, a bitter tone in her voice.
"I meant it when I said it the first time…believe it or not, I was trying to make you feel better," he explained. "When I found out you really didn't remember who you were…it made me think."
"Think about what?"
"About what it would be like to have no past," he answered flicking his spent cigarette into the water. "I have no idea what that would be like, but I imagine it would be difficult."
"It was," she responded. "But…when it came right down to it, remembering only made everything worse."
Spike didn't know what to say. So, instead, he stood up and bent over to tug on Faye's shirt. Catching the hint, she clambered to her feet and was startled when he grabbed her hand and led her back into the Bebop. She didn't comment as they arrived at the shower and both crammed into the room. He stripped down to his boxers in record speed then turned his attention to her.
With a swift movement, he backed her against the wall and let his face linger near her fragrant hair before leaning down to turn on the shower. She moved to take off her camisole but he grabbed her hands and forced them to her sides. Long, tan fingers splayed over her torso underneath the shirt as his lips traveled from her lips, to her jaw line, and then to her neck. Apparently, pent up sexual frustration was a potent force once the floodgates opened.
Slowly bunching the fabric, Spike began to draw Faye's shirt up and over her head. The sight before him never ceased to put him in a state of temporary awe. Not only were her breasts large and beautifully shaped, but somewhat perky. No wonder she rarely wore a bra. He ran his fingers over the soft curves of flesh before letting them rest on the waistband of her little, white shorts. He hooked his thumb on both the shorts and the strap of her underwear and pulled down leaving her completely naked before him.
This sight never failed to heat his desire to the boiling point. Faye could feel this "desire" pressing against her stomach through his boxers when he lunged forward to attack her with reverent kisses. In her mind, she would've liked to make a comment about how "lust addled" men were, but quickly forgot this as her own passion rose.
"Get in the shower," he breathes in a husky voice.
She obeyed sighing in delight as the hot water cascaded over her body. Seconds later, Spike stepped into the shower naked and it was now bloody apparent that he was aroused. His brown eyes had a lustful, driven look to them as he backed her up against the wall seemingly oblivious to the hot water weighing down his hair. His arms posted themselves on the wall on either side of her body as he leaned down and kissed her shoulder making his way down to her breasts. She tangled her hands in his mop of wet hair and moaned. This action caused him to return his attention to her mouth, practically suffocating her in the process.
When she came up for air, he chose that opportune moment to impale her. She gasped but it was such a fluid movement that she barely felt it until he froze against her. After allowing her to adjust he proceeded to hammer into her like a frenzied animal. That was the funny thing about Spike Spiegel. Sometimes he took a leisurely approach to making love that lasted hours, and sometimes he just wanted to get off. Faye was fairly amused by the variety. She became even more amused when he lifted her up by the ass and commanded her to wrap her legs around him. He seemed to enjoy this position breathing heavily against her neck as she wrapped her arms around him for more support. The whole session lasted about ten erotic minutes and had been quite the enjoyable workout.
Spike's knees gave out and he collapsed to the bottom of the tub with a thump, Faye in tow. She giggled as he fought to catch his breath.
"That was…interesting," she said as she reached out her hand to push back his wet bangs.
"Yeah, sorry…I'll go longer next time," he responded staring at her with a smirk plastered on his face.
"No worries. It was fun," she smiled. "But, we had better clean up while there's still hot water to be had."
Spike nodded and the two untangled themselves from each other and stood up to partake in the wonders of soap.
***
Now clean and clothed, Spike and Faye were lounging in the common room.
"I'm hungry. Go cook something," demanded Faye as she blew out a puff of smoke.
Spike laughed from his position next to her on the couch. "In your dreams. You know I can't do that shit. You're the woman. Aren't you supposed to do the cooking?" he asked.
"Aren't you the sexist pig!" she retaliated lightly punching him on the arm. "Hey…can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, but I may not answer," he said propping his hands behind his head and sticking his boots on the coffee table.
"Fair enough," she shrugged. "Uhm…what do you think about…uh…kids?"
Her question was regarded with an expression on weary disbelief. "Why?" he asked almost sounding defensive.
"Oh, no reason," said Faye blushing slightly. "I was just wondering if you still hate them…you know…after having Ed around for a while…"
Spike let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes as if trying to relax. "Well, I guess she wasn't that bad…as long as she was being quiet. Other than that, kids are annoying."
Before Faye could respond, the hangar door opened. They heard Jet's ship rumble to a stop and silence ensued for several minutes. The next thing they heard was a rather loud crashing sound that made them think that Jet's ship had hit something. They both leapt to their feet and started running for the hangar. When they were almost there, they heard giggling.
"What did he do…pick up another stray woman?" deadpanned Spike as the two finally emerged into the hangar. Both stopped dead in their tracks.
Around the fallen toolbox and scattered tools, danced a spunky red head and her dog. Jet stood nearby, holding bags and laughing. Normally, having his tools abused would've pissed him off to no end, but he was in rather high spirits after finding his lost crewmates.
"Faye-Faye! Spike-person! Ed is back!" sang the teenager bouncing over to the stunned duo. She hugged them both before prancing off to run in circles, Ein barking at her heels.
Jet noticed Spike and Faye's stark expressions of shock and walked over to them.
"She's been tracking us since she left," he explained. "I got a call from her this morning asking if she could come back."
"Well, speak of the devil," muttered Spike. "We were just talking about her."
Jet merely smiled before yelling, "Come on, Ed! Go grab Tomato! We have some hunting to do!"
***
"Why?" asked Eden to Vincent who sat nearby at the control panel of his ship.
"Why what, love?" he asked.
"Why did you let her help you? She almost killed you…"
"That was an accident," said Vincent swiveling the chair he sat in around to face her. "Besides, Lilith may have shot me but she also saved my life."
Eden frowned turning her head from him. "You know…they're going to find me."
"Who? The Bebop crew?" Vincent laughed in a subtle manner. "Even if they do manage to find us, I'll kill them all before they can touch you."
"You've changed," she said, her voice full of disgust.
"No…I believe it is you that has changed," he said thoughtfully stroking his chin while inspecting her with his hard, blue eyes. "I remember a time when nothing thrilled you more than killing."
"I was young and it was something I excelled at," she said in a dejected tone, still avoiding his intrusive eyes. "That doesn't mean it was a good thing to take joy in. Looking back on it, I can't believe I had such a disregard for life."
"What's not to believe about it?" he asked slowly rising to his feet and walking over to her at a lazy pace. He crouched before her shackled body draping his arms over his knees. "You were engineered and trained to be an effective killer. It is your fate."
"No!" she screamed back loudly. "I met someone who showed me that's not all there is to me. I am not bound by the woman I used to be! Being that woman drove me insane!"
He shook his head. "What drove you insane was losing your dear sister and lover at the same time by the hands of someone you thought you could trust…someone of your own blood."
Eden's bright eyes teared up at the memory of her sister, Zillah. "I hate her," she said quietly referring to Lilith. "I hate her! She doesn't deserve to be alive! Zillah does!"
Vincent merely lowered his head and stroked Eden's hair as she tried to calm herself.
"I can't help it…I want to kill her," she whispered as tears began to drip down her cheeks. "I want revenge."
Lilith suddenly strode onto the bridge, her shapely, long legs moving with fluid ease. She wore a tank top and her shoulder was wrapped in a blood soaked length of gauze. Eden immediately strained against her restraints like a caged animal. Vincent moved back and stood up to avoid her struggle. Lilith sat down at the control panel flipping her long, blond hair over her shoulder in a haughty manner.
"How is your wound, Lilith?" asked Vincent strolling over to her.
"It's fine," she responded typing in coordinates then checking the ship's stats.
"How's your head?" he asked.
"What? There's nothing wrong with…"
A deafening gunshot resonated throughout the ship. Eden stared in horror as her only living sister's brain matter splattered against the wall next to the control panel. Lilith's body was thrown from the chair to crumple lifeless to the metal floor. Vincent, with his gun smoking in his hand, kicked her body to that her decimated head rolled to face Eden. Her light blue eyes were open wide with shock and her slightly ajar mouth and nose leaked blood. The gaping hole in her skull continued to spill its essence forming a dark red pool that soaked through her bright hair and covered the surrounding floor.
The only sound Eden could manage to make while staring into her sister's dead, dulling eyes was a wretched, high-pitched scream.
***
Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak.
Edward's fingers flew over Tomato's keyboard in her ceaseless effort to find Eden. She was currently in the common room tapping away with Ein sleeping peacefully beside her on the floor. Jet poked his head out of the kitchen to holler.
"Ed! Find anything yet?!"
"No, but Ed is hungry!"
"Dinner's almost ready. Where's Spike and Faye?" he asked while throwing a cautious glance to his cooking food. The fire incident had made him paranoid.
"Haven't seen them!" Ed sang her answer.
"Did you hear that?" asked Faye.
"No," answered Spike giving her a slight squeeze. They were hiding out in his room, sitting in the dark. He had insisted that she sit between his legs and had then wrapped his arms around her. She found it amazingly comforting, but highly odd.
"You know…you're like a mystery to me," she said leaning her head back and closing her eyes.
"Why is that?" he drawled.
"Well, there's this whole other side to you that I never knew existed. It's weird," she said catching the musky scent of his hair.
"Maybe to you, it's weird, but this is just who I am," he said, his breath brushing against her cheek. "Besides, I never had a reason to show this side of me to you before."
Faye smiled slightly as she felt his warm lips tenderly kiss her cheek searching for her mouth. She tilted her head at a slightly uncomfortable angle and met his lips briefly. The sound of Ed screaming and laughing distracted them. Not even a few seconds passed and they heard her bounding down the hallway. Much to their dismay, the door to Spike's room suddenly flew open.
"There you are! Guess what?! Guess what?!" she asked jumping up and down, apparently not fazed by the sight before her. She didn't wait for them to respond before spilling the good news. "Dinner is ready and Ed found Eden-lady!"
~*~
"So, how did you find her?" asked Faye poking her chopsticks into Jet's latest culinary wonder.
Ed stopped shoveling food and proceeded to talk with her mouth full. "Jet-person said Vincent had Eden-lady, so, I looked for him. Under a fake-person identity, Vincent bought an old ship…like Bebop Bebop! After that, it was easy to track Eden-lady."
"Great," said Faye wrinkling her nose at the particles of food that had sprayed from Ed's mouth when she spoke.
"Is there a plan of action?" asked Spike nearly finished with his dinner. His shoveling capabilities were up there with Ed's.
"Well…the element of surprise isn't going to work if they don't land. I have a feeling Vincent would see us coming from miles away, even in our personal ships," said Jet, the gears turning in his logical head.
"We could wait until they land," suggested Spike polishing off the last of his mystery meal. He found that the worse the food tasted, the faster you should eat it. Starving certainly wasn't an option.
"No time," said Jet shooting the idea down. "We move in as soon as possible and hope for the best. I'll get a loose game plan together once Ed brings up the ship's schematics."
"Aw, come on, Jet. You should know by now that game plans never work for us," joked Faye between bites of questionable food.
"Let's hope they do this time," said Jet in a grave tone. "Or we're all in trouble."
To be Continued…
Author's Note: This chapter wasn't as long as I would've liked, but it felt right to break it off here. I did, however, get much more Spike and Faye into this one, which I love to write. My first attempt at a tame lemon too. I felt I could've been more descriptive, but I don't want to go overboard on the sexual stuff. And, I also felt the need to bring Ed and Ein back. Came to me suddenly and I couldn't resist. She's fun to write and livens up the serious parts. Well, let me know what you think. This one will be coming to a conclusion soon, but I have a sequel planned.
To the Reviewers:
Pimpin Satan: Unfortunately, Vicious won't be reoccurring in this fic. But of course you know I wrote another one to fulfill that passion. His character is kinda hard to work with too since he's so unemotional and mysterious. Hope I do okay 0.o Thanks for bringing up the Spike Faye relationship point. It made me think too…I don't know if that's a bad thing, since it's my fic. It seems to write itself sometimes, so I have to stop and think about the interaction more.
Red Tenko: I'm glad you liked the chapter, even if it was too focused on Eden. Sometimes, I have to get into the sticky stuff of plot development, as I'm sure you well understand. Your story has a very intricate plot. And I agree that having Spike and Faye too angsty does get irritating. There has to be a fine balance. Sorry, my update wasn't as quick as last time. School and work started stealing my time. We're having Race Week down here soon too, which means I will be very busy…*sigh* Thanks for the review ^_^
Rashaka: Thank you for explaining that to me. I was kind of confused on the exact meaning and that cleared it up very nicely and thoroughly. I really didn't purposely try to make Eden a mary sue, though, so it kinda shocked me to see that she fits most of those qualities. Though, I must say, if I chose a character to fall in love with, it would definitely be Spike ^.~ Thanks for the compliments and explanation!
Kendra Luehr: Yep, Eden's been through the grinder. I have this thing for tragic characters. So much emotional strife ^.~ I'm glad you like Zillah, though I didn't focus too much on her. I did feel like I had to involve the other Bebop characters, since it was the Titan War and all. Thanks for the compliments and I hope to get another Lethal Attraction chappie up soon. I've just been focused on trying to wrap this one up. Much brainstorming. ^_^
Brigidforest: Awwww! Thank you! ^_^ The encouragement really helps. I feel the same way. If you're gonna write, write for yourself. It's more about doing what you enjoy than following rules. That's the wonderful thing about fiction. And I like original characters too, though they do seem to catch a lot of flack on FF.net. It does get hard though, when you're trying to write a new story and you feel extremely limited with the characters you have to work with. Not that I don't LOVE the Bebop characters, there's just times when I feel an OC spices things up very nicely. Thanks again!
Outis: Yep! Jet sure does deserve the spotlight every now and then! I really dig all of the Bebop characters, so I don't mind using them all. So much potential. Thanks for the review and not being annoyed by the Eden stuff. I didn't draw it out too long, so it wouldn't be painful to read or anything. I have decided to do a sequel like I promised you if the ending wasn't all flowers and rainbows (I know, I know…I'm sarcastic, sorry) I think the ending will be a mix of happy/saddish. But, I don't know for sure.