One Month Later ...
The bay door roared to life. Jet grinned as he watched it lift up to reveal the world outside. His gaze slid over to Spike beside him. The other man simply shrugged, rather unimpressed. The accomplished smile on Jet's face faded into a semi-scowl. "You could at least say thanks," he muttered as he walked by Spike.
"Why?" He sparked his lighter, touching the flame to the end of his fresh cigarette. "Not like I didn't have a way out for the last month."
"That's not the point, Spike."
"Then what is?" he asked, stuffing the lighter back into his jacket pocket. "So you fixed the bay door? How does that help?"
"It's the last repair the ship needed." Jet stepped out of the bay and into the late afternoon suns' light. "She's ready to fly again. We can leave. If we want to."
Spike sat down on the hull, letting his legs dangle over the side. Down below, the two insurance girls played, somewhat, with Ed. Meryl attempted to get her coat back from Ed, who had it draped over her head, pretending to be a ghost. "Where do we go?"
"We could stay here." Jet looked from the top of Spike's head to the ground below. Not far from Ed and the two women, Faye was laid out in her chair, relaxing and soaking up the suns. That was pretty much all she did nowadays, unless she accompanied Spike in the hunt for another bounty. Her adjustment to her situation was rather smooth. After all, he knew, this was the second time she'd gone through it.
"Become good citizens of Gunsmoke?" Spike laughed. It was more than obvious that's what they were fated to do from day one. Only he seemed to know. The others retained their sense of optimism for a while. Faye's had vanished about two weeks ago. Ed didn't care where she was, as long as Vash was around to play with her. And Jet ... he still had the idea they could get home.
"This planet isn't that bad. We could survive here."
"Keep fighting off every jackass who'd love nothing more than to kill us and steal our ship?" Spike looked up to him. "MacGruder and his two pals won't be the last of them, Jet. For once, this pile of junk is priceless. Vash and Wolfwood can't stick around forever to help us out."
"You've managed to catch more than one bounty with Faye's help, they won't need to stay forever. As for the other thing ... "He paused, scanning the horizon. "... we're able to relocate as needed."
"Spend the rest of our lives on the run? Like we're a bounty ourselves?" Spike laughed, shaking his head. "When we run out of fuel? Then what?" He finished off his cigarette then tossed the butt away. "If we plan to stay here, we'll have to destroy everything." He let his head bow. "Even our own ships. Remove the temptation."
"After all that time I put into repairing this ship? Putting up with Silas MacGruder's bullshit -"
"Hey, that was your idea to have him help you. Not mine," Spike interrupted. He rested his palms on the ship as he leaned back. "I should've blown up the Bebop instead of MacGruder's armored car. We're not going anywhere. It's time everyone realized that."
-
"Boo!" Ed threw back Meryl's coat and grinned at Faye, who remained in her chair, eyes closed behind her sunglasses. She frowned when she'd gained no reaction from the woman. "Faye-Faye?"
"Give me that!" Meryl, breathless, snatched her coat from Ed's hands. "Ha! I win!" She glanced at Faye. "Thanks for helping out," she muttered.
Faye opened her eyes then peered over the top of her sunglasses at Meryl. "How come you're stuck with the kid today?"
"Milly!" Ed sprinted towards the other woman.
Meryl sat down on the ground by Faye, laying her coat over her lap. Milly had taken up a new game of tag with Ed. The girl had become rather fond of Milly, too, in the last few weeks. Probably because Milly joined in the fun with her and Vash. Meryl preferred to stay on the sidelines. The company didn't send her out there to play with kids. Though, some days, Vash could be the biggest kid she'd ever encountered.
"Vash isn't around, that's why." She sighed. "I don't know how you keep up with that kid."
"She amuses herself most of the time." Faye pulled off her sunglasses, watching Ed try to tag Milly. "Probably better for her here. No 'Net to surf." Her expression became more sympathetic. "She didn't have much of a childhood."
Meryl cocked an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder to Faye. The other woman quickly replaced her sunglasses and leaned back in her chair. In the month she'd been around Faye, Meryl's opinion of the woman was rather low. She was selfish, bitchy and vain. Now ... she said something like that? Maybe Vash is having an effect on her, too.
"It's good she'll have a chance to make friends her own age, seeing as how we're not leaving this place."
"You've never figured out what caused your ship to end up on our planet?" The whole thing was a mystery to her, more so than to the people of the Bebop. Her own knowledge of things like subspace, hyperspace and anomalies was nonexistent.
"What does it matter?" Faye replied with a shrug. "A freak occurrence, something that may never happen again for as long as we live." Her lips pressed together. "Besides ... I'm comfortable here. It's like Mars, except twice as hot, but my tan's never been better."
Meryl's mouth quirked. "This doesn't trouble you like it does Mr. Spiegel?"
"You haven't been around him long enough, lady," Faye said rather flatly. "Everything troubles him more than it does a normal person."
Turning, Meryl looked at the ground. She was well acquainted with that kind of a man. I only wish I knew why ... she thought with a sad sigh. Her head lifted, her eyes turning to the west where she could make out a red speck. Vash spent a lot of time on that rocky overhang the last three evenings, staring up at the sky. Why won't you tell me what troubles you?
-
A few hours later, the air had taken on a slight chill while the suns sank deeper into the sky. The first stars of the night made their appearance as weak, fuzzy blotches against a faded black blanket. No change in temperature affected Vash. He waited for something. Something only he'd seemed to notice in the night time skies the last three days.
"Why don't you just sit?" he quietly said, eyes never leaving the sky. He watched from the corner of his left eye as Wolfwood joined him at the edge of the overhang. As usual, the priest had a cigarette in his mouth. "Did you follow me up here for a reason?"
Wolfwood exhaled a stream of smoke into the air as he looked up at the sky. "Curious as to what you're doing. You've been up here all night for three days straight." He plucked the cigarette from his lips then shifted his gaze to Vash. "Usually, only people in my line of work take any interest in what's up there." He gestured to the sky. "What's yours?"
Resting his chin on the back of his hands, Vash only kept his attention on the darkening sky above them.
The next few minutes went by peacefully, until Wolfwood finished his cigarette. "You can't stay here forever, Vash."
The blonde nodded. "I've already stayed too long," he quietly replied, his gaze still on those stars. "I'll never find him ... If I don't keep moving."
"Find whom?"
Vash blinked then lifted his head from his hands as he looked to Wolfwood. "You'll be here, won't you?" he replied instead. "At the orphanage in April City?"
He shook his head then looked up to the sky himself. "I can't stay in one place too long, either. You're not the only person here searching for someone, Vash."
"They're still in danger."
"Yes, I know. They always will be, too."
"As long as they're on this planet." Vash turned his own gaze back to the sky. "And trapped in the wrong period of time." It was more than the locals who concerned Vash. In time, the one he sought would learn of their existence. When that day came ...
Then he saw it. The great miracle in the sky he'd kept an eye on for three nights, a shimmering display of color - pinks, blues, greens - the likes that none on this planet had ever witnessed. The streaks danced high above them, silently, beautifully, it filled him with a sense of wonder he couldn't believe.
Wolfwood followed Vash's enthralled gaze, noticing the exhibition of colors in the night sky. He'd never seen anything like it in his life. What was it? Could it be a sign from God? he wondered. Looking back to Vash, he was even more puzzled. The expression on Vash's face, the pure awe contained within his eyes, told the priest he wasn't privvy to what was truly up there.
"What is it?" He was quickly shushed by Vash clamping a hand over his mouth.
"Shhhhh." His gaze dropped to Wolfwood, who was rather annoyed by Vash's hand on his mouth. "It's something ... wonderful." As he looked back to the sky, his hand slipped away from the priest's face. "Very ... wonderful."
-
"Have a seat." Spike shoved the young man into the chair opposite Maxwell Morgan. He lit his cigarette and flicked the cap of the lighter shut as he looked to the sheriff. "Took me two days to find this guy." He laughed a little. "None too bright, this one."
"Fuck you," grumbled the outlaw sulking in the chair. He winced when Spike open palm slapped him in the back of the head.
"Well ..." Morgan stood up, shaking his head in amazement. "500 thousand bounty, after only two days of searching."
"Hardly seems fair." Spike blew smoke down at the man who glared up at him. "That this moron has that kind of bounty on his head. What did you do, anyway, genius?"
"I free the oppressed!" declared the man.
"He sabotages plant generators and extorts the townsfolk with the parts they need to make the necessary repairs," Morgan replied. "Town not far from here went completely under about a month and a half ago because of this guy."
"Oh?" Spike let his ashes fall into the man's lap. "Sabotage? Didn't think you had something that advanced in you."
"It's not sabotage when you're trying to give freedom to those who don't have it."
"And it's illegal when you charge insane amounts of money for parts to repair a machine that you broke." Morgan grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "I'm sure the people of New Haven's Point would agree. If there was anyone left, that is. They had to relocate because of your antics."
Spike watched Morgan practically dragged the young man out of the room, to toss him into the jail in the back of the building. He turned when Faye entered the office. "500 thousand. Not too bad."
"The work's tougher here, it's well earned," she commented. She moved around to the other side of Morgan's desk, picked up some of the newest wanted posters and looked them over. "Eric Devlin. Wow. Two million." She smiled. "My kind of guy."
"We do well enough, despite the difficulties." He held the cigarette between his lips as he took the poster Faye offered to him. "Should be able to find this guy, too."
"With their help."
Spike glanced at her. Yes, Wolfwood and Vash had been valuable in the last month. However, they'd learned the lay of the land in this particular area and they wouldn't require their aid for much longer. "Bank robbery?" He scoffed, amused. "This place is the Wild West, isn't it?"
"A million? I don't care what he's done." She gazed longingly at the man in the picture. She couldn't wait to start the search for him.
The bounty hunting may've been difficult for two people accustomed to detailed reports on their targets, but it turned out to be a bonus in Faye's case. More than ever, Spike and Jet needed her and her help. Jet spent most of his time with the Bebop, so she was Spike's constant companion on the job. She'd adjusted to her new situation with amazing ease for a few reasons. She had a clean slate here, she'd been through it before and, for the first time since she'd met him, Spike Spiegel wasn't preoccupied with the elusive Julia.
"A million?" Spike looked down on her. "Only if you carry your weight this time."
She put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes. "When haven't I? You'd be in trouble if I weren't here, watching your ass."
"Maybe if you spent more time helping instead of watching, it wouldn't take two days to catch someone who's right under our nose."
She snatched the paper from his hands. "Fine. I'll take this one for myself. You chase your own bounties, since you're apparently doing all the work anyway." She smiled as she held up the poster. "2 million ... all for me."
"All for you to waste on the local card games, you mean," Spike replied, tugging the paper from her hands. "You have a radar when it comes to gambling, Faye. If there's a game of chance within a thousand miles, you'll find it."
"What do you care what I spend my money on?" She yanked the poster back.
"You'll end up in debt again." He wagged his cigarette in her face. "Mark my words."
Morgan stopped just before he entered the room when he heard Faye and Spike arguing. These two fought more than his own parents. In the four bounties they'd turned over to him, not one went by without some argument over money, who did what or who deserved what. Today was no different.
"Mind your own finances, Spike. Do I give you the third degree on your share and what you do with it? No." She held up the poster between them. "I'll find this guy, all right. By myself!"
"That means no help from Wolfwood!" Spike called after her as she left the sheriff's office. She responded with a foul hand gesture then slammed the door shut. "I have to get away from her," he muttered.
"That lady of yours, she has quite a temper, eh?" Morgan commented as he finally walked into the room. "Sorry, couldn't help but overhear. Didn't want to interrupt, either," he apologized when Spike turned.
"Interrupt all you like. It's the same damn fight."
Morgan sat in his chair. "I'm sure the two of you will, um, figure it out ... later," he assured him.
Noting the tone in which Morgan spoke, he lifted his eyebrows slightly at the sheriff, who had a knowing smile on his face. "What do you mean by that?"
Morgan made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It's none of my business."
Spike stared the man, seeing that glint still in the sheriff's eyes. Just what kind of relationship did Morgan think he had with Faye? Certainly, he had a good idea of the man's misconception but what would make him come to that conclusion? So they were at each other's throats most of the time. What sane person wouldn't be with that woman?
Rather than delve into a conversation he'd rather not have with someone he considered an acquaintance, he bid a tired farewell to Morgan and left the building. It was time to go back to the Bebop.
-
Faye entered the main living area of the Bebop to find Milly with Ed. The girl showed her the hacking program she'd invented and all of the havoc she could wreak with it. Beside them, on the couch, Meryl was in front of an ancient device called a 'typewriter'. A stack of papers sat to her left and her concentration was on the one in the machine as she clicked away on her keys. The woman was as deft on the relic as Ed was on her own keyboard.
"Hi, Ms. Valentine!" Milly greeted as Faye showed up behind the couch. She waved a bit when Spike came into the room. "You're both back. Did you turn in Phineas Blake?"
"We did." Spike exchanged a brief glare with Faye as he walked by her.
"You're doing well for yourselves now, aren't you?" Milly commented as Spike collapsed onto the couch on the opposite side of the table.
"Yeah," was his grumbled response. He took off his jacket and draped it over his head to shut out the light and excess noise of Meryl's typing.
Faye rested her elbows on the back of Meryl and Milly's couch. "Don't let him bother you," she said to Milly. "He's been in a bitchy mood for three days." She brought out the poster she'd taken from Morgan's office. "You wouldn't know where our good priest is, would you?"
There was a muffled laugh from underneath Spike's jacket. Meryl's typing stopped as she looked over to Milly. Both women turned to Faye, who waited on them for an answer.
"Well? Where is he?"
"He -"Meryl started the same time as Milly. Neither one wanted to be the bearer of this news. Immediately, each stopped, expecting the other to tell Faye.
"He what?" Faye drummed her fingers on the couch, becoming impatient.
"Priest man go bye-bye!" Ed exclaimed, her goggle covered eyes never leaving her monitor. She began to hum a tune that Faye'd never heard from her before.
"He left?" She stood straight, a mix of anger and panic on her face. The fact she could hear Spike laughing on the other side of the room didn't help matters, either. Her right hand crumpled the poster as her hands balled into fists. "When did he leave?" she tightly asked.
"Uh ... not long after you did this morning," Meryl answered.
"Without saying anything?"
"He said good-bye to us!" Milly smiled, gesturing to herself and Meryl.
Faye thumped her fists on the back of the couch, her anger reaching a new level. After all they'd been through, he could just pick up and leave without saying anything, not even good-bye, to her? Typical man, she bitterly thought, her jaw clenching.
"Did he tell you where he was going?" she asked when she managed to calm down.
"No." Milly shook her head.
"Not even the slightest clue?"
Ed, singing in the same tune she'd been humming, replied, "He's a-somewhere a-workin' for his Looooord!"
Faye blinked. "He left me for that?" Frustrated, she threw the crumpled poster onto the table beside Ed's computer and left the room, muttering a string of curses under her breath.
Meryl sighed, relieved it'd gone that well. She'd noticed how close Wolfwood had become with Faye in the last few weeks. For some reason, their bond went deeper than being about these stranded strangers needing his help. She didn't ask questions, though. It wasn't any of her business. She flinched when she heard the loud clang of a door slamming shut elsewhere in the ship. Or perhaps it hadn't gone so well.
Still happily humming, Ed picked up the paper and uncrumpled it. "Bounty! Ooo! 2 million. Big, big money." She lifted up her goggles, shaking the paper in Spike's direction. "Faye-Faye doesn't want it, Spike."
"I'll start on it tomorrow, Ed. I'm tired."
She turned the paper upside down, sighing. "All right. Gonna be tough without Vashy-Vash, though!"
Spike threw back his jacket as he sat up on the couch. "What do you mean, without him? Is he gone, too?" When the two insurance girls nodded, he fell back on the sofa with a groan. "Great."
"He didn't go far, Mr. Spiegel," Meryl assured him. "If he'd left completely, Milly and I wouldn't be here. It's our job to follow him wherever he goes."
"Mm-hmm." Milly smiled as she nodded. "He left the same time Mr. Wolfwood did. They went in opposite directions, though. Vash went north."
"Did he say where he was going?"
Milly looked to Meryl. Her supervisor had been the last to speak to him. "Ma'am?"
"He said something about finding the solution to your problem in New Haven's Point. It's a smaller town, just north of here."
"New Haven's Point?" Spike repeated. Now, why did that name sound familiar? "The town that had it's generator sabotaged by Phineas Blake?"
Meryl's brow furrowed. "Hmm. I never connected the two until now. But, yes. It is."
Spike stared up at the ceiling. From the way Morgan put it, New Haven's Point was a ghost town because of Blake. What in the hell could be there that was so important? And why did Vash believe it was the 'solution' to their problem?
More To Come ...
Song Title Used: "The Show Must Go On" by Queen