-
Spike's eyes opened. He lay on his right side, his back to the rest of the room, gaze steady on the couch in front of him. He wasn't alone. By the smell of cigarette smoke mixed with what only a starving man would call 'food', he knew Jet was with him. "What time is it?" he asked, not moving from his position.
"It's light outside. Early morning." Jet replied. "Vash is gone."
Spike rolled onto his back, looking to Jet sitting across from him. "He is?" Part of him was relieved. It made defending the ship and themselves easier. "Any idea where he went?"
Jet shrugged as he took a drag off his cigarette. "Don't know. Wherever he went, he must've taken Ed and Ein with him. They're gone, too." He shoved the extra plate across the table to Spike. "It's not much."
"You look tired," he commented as he sat up straight in order to eat.
"I was up most of the night."
"Why? Another problem with the ship?" he asked between bites.
He shook his head, tapped the ashes off the end of the cigarette then took another thoughtful drag. "I had a lot on my mind."
Spike's fork stopped midway as he stared at Jet. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about - "
Jet waved a hand, cutting him off. "No. I had a lot on my mind, Spike."
Actually, he had struggled with the moral implications of it. A mental quandry hadn't affected Jet to this degree in years, not since his early days as an officer for the ISSP. Even so, Vash's words haunted him. No one had the right to take the life of another. For any reason. The concept sounded naive, but after mulling it over, Jet didn't think it was. Impractical, yes. Naive, no. Avoiding killing another person was always foremost in his mind, yet some people simply left him with no choice: Kill or be killed.
A hand waved in front of Jet's face and he snapped out of his daze. He saw Spike staring at him, curious. "What?"
"You didn't hear one word I said, did you?"
"Sure, I did," he replied, a bit defensive.
"So ... what did I say?"
Jet hesitated before he leaned forward to snuff out his cigarette. "It must not've been that important. I've already forgotten."
"I asked if you've seen Wolfwood." Spike sat back on the couch after he pushed away the empty plate.
"He's here," he said. He glanced up at Spike, who waited for more of an answer than that.
"Where is he?"
"With Faye." He avoided eye contact with the younger man. "Where he's been all night." He dared to look up at him. As he expected, the disbelief was firmly etched onto Spike's features.
"Are you sure that's -"
Jet nodded. "He asked me where to find her quarters. I haven't seen him since."
"Oh ... "Spike couldn't find the words. He knew they'd gotten along well enough but not that well. His mouth opened, still he couldn't think of anything to say. Finally, he let it go. The last day had been that kind of crazy. Who knew what the hell else would happen as the new one progressed?
-
Faye's eyes fluttered open as one hand swept over the small space next to her on her bed. When she realized no one was there, she sat up, holding the sheet around her. He was gone. Her disappointment quickly faded into anger. So, that's what that bullshit was about the night before. Just a way to get her to sleep with him. That was low, even for a priest.
Her head turned when she heard the click of a lighter being opened. She noticed her door was ajar and that the sound came from the corridor. This is all I need ... she thought as she wrapped the sheet around herself as she stood. For Spike to come here and laugh at me. I'm sure his best buddy told him all about last night.
Her anger turned into surprise when she found Wolfwood in the corridor, not Spike. He sat on the floor, back against the wall, smoking a cigarette staring at the closed door across from him.
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No." She brushed the unruly hair away from her face. "Actually, I thought you'd just left me. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened." She watched him smoke his cigarette. "Could I get one of those?"
He reached into his open jacket, pulled out the pack and handed it, along with the lighter, up to her. Once she was set, she returned them. For the next minute or so, the silence between them continued. Faye glanced at Wolfwood, occasionally, wondering what was going on in his head.
He took one last drag off his cigarette before saying, "I don't want to sound like the asshole here, but last night ... it shouldn't have happened." He snuffed out the cigarette on the floor beside him. "It wasn't my intention when I showed up at your door, Faye. I thought you should know that."
She stared at the burning cigarette loosely hanging between two of her fingers. He felt awkward about it, too? That was comforting, in its own way. "You're right. You shouldn't feel guilty about it. I don't."
"I didn't want you to think I took advantage of you."
"Maybe I took advantage of you?" She smiled slightly when he looked up at her. "I didn't have to let you in, you know." She turned and went back into her quarters so she could get dressed. "Don't beat yourself up," she called out as she slipped on her shirt. "It just ... happened." She tossed the sheet back onto the bed once she was dressed. "I don't expect anything from you." She reappeared in the doorway. "Not even if I'm stuck here forever."
"Just go right on with your life, huh?"
She nodded. "Right."
"And what about him?"
She dropped the cigarette butt then stomped it out with her boot. "There's no point. I've gotten used to it. So stop screwing up a decent conversation by bringing him into it."
"Sorry."
"You two plan on joining us sometime today?"
Faye's heart jumped into her throat when she heard Spike's voice. She and Wolfwood looked to the opposite end of the corridor to find Spike, hands stuffed into his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth, staring back at them. She wondered how long he'd been standing there. How much of their conversation had he heard? Her face flushed.
"Well?" Spike prompted.
"Faye?"
She lifted her head and Wolfwood nodded for her to come with him. Closing the door to her quarters, she did just that. As she neared Spike, Faye noticed a smirk on his face. Once she was in front of him, she stopped and backed him up against the wall. Her eyes narrowed at him as the surprised man looked down on her.
"You even think about saying anything, I'll shoot you," she angrily hissed. She shoved a fist in front of his face. "Do you understand me?"
"Say anything about what?"
She glared at him for a few seconds then let her arm drop to her side. He knew damn well what she meant. That sadistic glimmer in his eyes, the one thing he couldn't control, gave him away. "Not one word, Spike," she warned before she rounded the corner.
As soon as she was gone, Spike grinned deviously. If she thought he wouldn't give her shit about this development, she still suffered from that bump to her head.
-
"Are you sure this thing works?" Will asked, leaning over to Talbert.
"Silas is a whiz at building shit. Always has been," Talbert assured him. "Makes everything from weapons to stuff like that." He patted the large vehicle before them and grinned. "Ain't nothin' like it on the planet."
Will shook his head as he looked over the machine Silas MacGruder had parked in a smaller building behind the one he'd made his home. Completely metal, the machine was about eight feet tall and twelve feet long. Atop it was a turret which sported not only a high caliber gun, but a sizeable cannon that fired the largest shells he'd ever laid eyes on. The vehicle didn't travel on regular tires, either. This used metal belts, wrapped around metal gears, as wheels. No gun could render it immobile. Whatever this thing was, he knew that Silas MacGruder was too creative for his own damn good.
The hatch on the turret opened and MacGruder climbed out of the vehicle. "Everything's set inside." He hopped off and landed on the ground in front of Talbert. "If you're still willing to go through with this." He smirked at his young cousin.
"Don't worry about me."
"You better not try to screw me out of my share, Bobby," MacGruder warned as he rounded the machine to inspect the other side. "I don't bring this out for just anything. It's for special occasions. This being one of them."
"You've made some alterations since I saw it last," Talbert commented as he climbed up to the turret. He leaned over, took a look inside then laughed. "Goddamn. Aunt Sarah was right when she called you a 'genius', Sy. There's no stopping this."
"Or this," MacGruder added tossing up a black vest to Talbert. He smiled as he watched the other man look it over. "You like that?"
"What is it?" Talbert tried to bend it but it refused to yield.
"Something I cooked up one night. Tested out every gun imaginable on it. No bullet has penetrated it yet." He grinned when Talbert looked down at him, wide-eyed. "That's no shit, cousin. I have a whole suit of it myself. Bulky as hell but I've gotten used to it." He glanced at Will. "Only have the two, so your associate'll have to go without. Sorry, pal." He chuckled.
Will turned his attention back to the vehicle as Talbert slipped on the vest MacGruder had given him. "How fast can this thing go?" he asked. His hand raised to touch the barrel of the cannon hovering above his head.
"She's fast enough." MacGruder slapped Will's hand back. "She'll drive over damn near any terrain. I can carry plenty of extra fuel onboard, so that's not a problem."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, carrying around fuel like that?"
MacGruder pushed Will out of his way. "This associate of yours is gettin' on my nerves, Bobby." He climbed back onto the machine. "We'll be good to go in about ten minutes." He dropped down through the hatch.
Will backpedaled out of the building when MacGruder turned over the engine on the machine. The noise alone would scare the hell out of anyone. He backed away as MacGruder put it in drive and vehicle rolled forward, out of the building and into the morning suns' light.
Talbert grinned at the expression on Will's face. "We're going to be rich, my friend!" he called out over the thundering engine. He slapped a hand on the turret which he sat upon. "RICH!"
For the first time since they'd come to see MacGruder, Will smiled. "We sure the hell are," he agreed.
-
Not far away, sitting on the roof one of the abandoned houses near Silas MacGruder's hideout, Vash watched through the lenses of his sunglasses as MacGruder revealed his secret weapon. He adjusted his sunglasses, his stoic expression never changing, as the three men congratulated each other on a victory they had not yet achieved. Soon, they vanished into the larger building.
His hand dropped away from his glasses. He would have to be extremely creative with this one. He didn't expect them to have an armored vehicle.
-
Spike turned when he heard a clatter, followed by an even louder crash which was accompanied by a string of curse words from Jet. The other man emerged from behind a stack of crates, covered in an off-red colored liquid. Spike took a drag off of the cigarette hanging between his lips, then asked, "What was that about?"
"Goddamn piece of ..." Jet grumbled as he wiped a hand over his head, cleaning off most of the substance. "One of the hydraulics pipes for the bay door busted. Must've been damaged in the crash landing yesterday and chose now to give out." He found a rag and used it to continue wiping the fluid away. "We're not opening that door until it's fixed. This damn ship's falling apart and I don't have what I need to make the repairs. Pretty soon, it'll be worthless."
"We can't get our ships out until then?" Spike flicked the ashes off the end of his cigarette.
"I can open it enough to let ourselves out ... as for the ships." He shook his head.
"Shit." He dropped the cigarette and snuffed it out with his foot.
After some tinkering, Jet opened the bay door enough for them to get out. On top of the ship, they found Faye reclined in a chair, sunglasses on her face, and her gun sitting on the hull beside her. She turned a little, catching sight of Spike and Jet emerging from underneath the barely raised door.
"What happened to you?" she asked, eyeing Jet.
"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye out for these guys?" Jet scanned the horizon before him before settling his gaze on the lounging woman.
"I am."
"Looks like you're on vacation to me."
Faye lifted her sunglasses and looked over her shoulder at him. "I don't see why I can't make the most of having two suns as well as play look out." She arched an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be fixing something?"
Jet narrowed his eyes at her.
Smiling, she let her glasses drop back down on her nose as she faced forward.
"Where's he at?"
"Down there." She lazily gestured to her left.
On the ground below, Wolfwood sat leaned against his cross, which lay propped up on one side, gazing in the direction of April City.
"At least someone's doing his job," Jet murmured as he looked over to Spike.
"I heard that!" Faye called out.
-
For almost an hour, he sat in the blistering suns' light, his attention riveted to the horizon to the east. If they came today, he'd be ready. Despite having three capable gunslingers with him, Wolfwood would've been more comfortable if Vash hadn't have left. What else could the man do? Vash's first priority was to protect the little girl. She didn't need to be there and the kid was better off with Vash, wherever they were.
His head turned slightly when he heard someone approach. "Your friend get that problem fixed?" he asked as Spike came to a stop beside him.
"Something else broke," was the reply. He shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes steady on the landscape stretching out before him. "You sure you wanna be a part of this?" he asked after a short silence. He looked down to the priest. "You shouldn't feel obligated."
"What do you mean by that?" Wolfwood cupped his hands around the end of his cigarette, shielding it from the light breeze blowing as he used his lighter.
Spike averted his gaze when Wolfwood looked to him for an answer.
"If you have something to say, now's the time to say it," he went on, shoving the lighter back into his jacket pocket.
"I just thought ..." Spike's sentence trailed off as he looked over his shoulder to the Bebop. They both saw Faye lounging in her chair.
"You thought what?"
"Never mind." His gaze drifted to the ground.
"You don't have a problem with it, do you?" Wolfwood cocked his head to one side when Spike looked at him with surprise.
"A problem?" He laughed. "No. It's ... unexpected."
"Don't get the wrong idea. We're not engaged now."
"I didn't think you people could get engaged. Or drink ... or smoke ... " Spike noted how amused Wolfwood was by his comment. "A lot's changed over a millennium." He shrugged. "It's really none of my business."
"Why does this bother you?"
"It doesn't bother me, it's ..." He turned at the waist, looking up at the young woman, who applied more sunscreen to her arms. "Faye?"
"Would you rather I'd have slept with you?" He laughed when Spike, wide- eyed, looked down at him. Chuckling, he draped his arms over the cross behind him and reclined comfortably.
"You're beginning to remind me of someone," he stiffly said, glaring at Wolfwood.
"Who's that?"
After a pause, he asked, "Do you even have a gun? You won't be any help without one."
"I'm fine."
"So, you do?"
Wolfwood's fingers drummed against his cross. "Don't worry about it."
Spike started to say something else but stopped when he noticed the change in the expression on Wolfwood's face. He followed the other man's gaze to the east. That's when he saw the dark blotch on the horizon, growing larger with each passing second.
Wolfwood rose up to his feet. "They're here." He side-glanced at Spike. The man's behavior had completely changed. Whatever problems he had before, they didn't much matter now.
"What the hell is that?" Spike asked as the features of the approaching vehicle became more distinctive. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, it looked as though they had a cannon mounted on the front of the thing.
"Jet!" Faye cried. She leapt from her chair and disappeared underneath the crack of the open bay door. A moment later, both of them reappeared on the ship. "What is that?" she asked as they stared in wonder at the contraption rolling towards them at high speed.
He shook his head. "I have no idea."
-
More To Come ...
Song Title Used: "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne