Somewhere in the universe ...
The stillness of space was disturbed as a portal flashed into existence. Moments later, it tossed the spaceship Bebop forth and vanished almost immediately afterwards. The ship hung in space, silently waiting for something. Soon, the engines re-engaged on their own, the autopilot took over control of the ship's systems and the panels, only slightly damaged this time, blinked as the readouts at Jet's chair brought up information on their position in space.
Elsewhere on the bridge, the four members of the crew were spread out across the floor, unconscious. The only one awake padded across the floor and stopped by the ship's captain. Ein stared at Jet lying on the floor, just at the base of the pilot's seat. Whining, the Corgi pawed at him then barked.
Jet's eyes slowly opened. Ein stood before him, panting. Pushing up from the floor, he looked around the bridge then out of the forward window. As he hauled himself into his seat, he winced at the sharp pain in his side but concentrated on the computer readouts.
"Where are we?" he murmured, pressing his fingers to his temple. He banged his fist on the console and, finally, he had his answer. "We're ... back." According to the information before him, they were in the outer reaches of their own solar system - near Saturn, to be exact - but they were back.
Ein barked as Ed roused from the floor.
"Where are we?" she groaned as she stumbled over to Jet. Her eyes skimmed the console then she grinned. "Vashy sent us back!" Jumping into the air, she laughed. "Ein! Ein! We're hooooooome!" she sang.
Jet, on the other hand, wanted to know "when" they were. Sure, they were back in their own space, but were they still over a thousand years in the future?
Ed's singing and laughing woke Spike next. He lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The ship's engines were running and, at least, Ed was alive and happy. He heard Jet muttering at the computers, cursing. He moved his left hand and found that it was clamped securely within one of Faye's.
"What the ..." he started. He looked down to find the woman lying across him, still unconscious. Propping himself onto one elbow, he shook his hand free of Faye's grip, wondering how that had happened. "So ... where are we?"
"We're back," he grumbled. "Not sure if we're in our own time yet. Ed - " He jumped a bit when the girl poppled up beside him. "Find out if you can connect to the Net."
"Yep, yep!" Ed saluted him and bounded off of the bridge. Ein followed her.
Jet glanced at Spike. "Is she all right?" he asked, meaning Faye.
Spike looked at Faye draped over his lap, her hair covering her face. Giving her a hefty poke with his finger, he said, "Hey ... are you alive?"
Jet shook his head. That wasn't exactly the way he'd have gone about it.
"Mmmm," Faye moaned as one of her hands vanished underneath the veil of hair to press against her face. "What?" she snapped when she felt someone poke her in the ribs. "What the hell's your problem?"
"You're on me. Again," Spike flatly replied. He lifted an eyebrow when Faye threw back her hair so she could see him. "Would you move? I've lost all the feeling in my legs, thanks to you."
Glaring at him, she placed one hand on the floor and the other in the middle of his right thigh. As she pushed herself up, she made certain to shift her body weight to her left arm, while grinding the heel of her hand into his leg.
"OW!"
She sat back on her heels then smirked. "I thought you'd lost all feeling in your legs? Liar." She rose to her feet and made it a point to step on his hand as she went to join Jet.
"Bitch," Spike muttered, flexing the fingers of the hand she'd smashed with her foot. Grabbing onto the nearest railing, he hauled himself to his feet and moved to the opposite side of Jet's chair. "Where are we, exactly?"
"Not far from the Saturn hypergate," Jet replied. He finished laying in the course for the gate and the ship responded by changing position. "It'll be a while before we're on Mars."
"But we're back?" Faye leaned on Jet's chair as she looked from the console to him. "Right?"
"Ed's working on that." He glanced over his shoulder when Faye turned on her heel and headed off of the bridge. "We're lucky to be in our own solar system," he murmured, looking up to Spike. "It would take a miracle to have us in our own time period."
Spike leaned against the chair, focusing on the space outside of the window in front of them. They were coming up on the hypergate. At least, whenever they were, the gates were still in use. "I don't believe in miracles, Jet."
"Do you believe in anything?"
Spike remained silent as he considered Jet's question. Before them, the hypergate opened, creating a controlled wormhole in space - the way back home. "Not for a very long time," he finally answered.
"Maybe you should start again," he suggested.
A moment later, the ship was swallowed by the wormhole.
-
Meryl used all of her strength to push open the metal door leading into the plant generator. None of the machinery worked since that bright bolt of energy had erupted from the generator almost thirty minutes ago.
"Ooof!" she grunted once she had the door open. She wiped an arm over her forehead, sighing. Her eyes widened as she surveyed the extensive damage done to the bulb. The plant itself was gone - no sign of the lifeform which had once powered this mysterious, old technology. No sign of Vash, either.
"Vash?" she called. Her feet gingerly found their footing on the debris- laden floor. She didn't see him anywhere. He couldn't have left, could he? He'd told them to wait for him outside of town. After a half an hour, he still hadn't shown. "Ow!"
She stumbled forward as she banged a shin on a fallen piece of metal. Rubbing her lower leg, she caught sight of something bright red - Vash's coat. Her pain forgotten, her heart leapt with sudden joy and hope. "Vash ... "she whispered. She scrambled over the detritus until she reached him. "Vash?" She dropped to her knees beside him.
Vash lay on his back, not far away from the cracked bulb, unconscious. From the looks of him, he'd sustained minor cuts to his face and neck. His gloved hands sported char-marks, as though he'd come into contact with an intense, concentrated heat. Meryl's gaze shifted away from him, to the bulb itself. There, she saw the faintest imprints of his hands on the glass.
He was touching the bulb during that explosion? she thought, confused. How is he not dead?
Her attention went back to Vash. Maybe he was dead. Her lips pressed together, breath catching in her throat at the thought. Only one way to find out. Almost trembling hands made their way to his neck and pressed against the still warm flesh. After a moment, she sighed in relief when she detected the strong, steady beat of his heart.
"What were you doing in here?" she murmured as she grabbed him by the coat then shook him lightly. "Vash ... wake up!"
No response.
Using a newfound strength, she pulled his upper body onto her lap and cradled him as a mother would her young child. "Come on, I know you're alive." One hand gently patted his face. "Wake up, Vash. Dammit." She felt the tears sting her eyes. What if he was alive but in one of those mysterious sleeps? That was worse than him being dead. Tears splashed onto his coat as she doubled over and rested her head on his chest. Closing her eyes, she sniffled.
Wake up, Vash. Don't leave me.
-
Vash stared up at the blue sky, one so amazing that he couldn't believe such beauty existed. The red petals of a flower fluttered through the air, adding a new design to the cloudless sky above him. He heard her voice - Rem. And the sweet song she'd always sang to him, the tune never failed to bring him inner peace.
"Did they make it?" he asked as he sat up on the grass. Rem was a few feet away, her back to him as she gazed up at the sky, humming her song. "Rem?"
The raven-haired woman looked over her shoulder. She smiled. "What do you feel in your heart, Vash?"
He drew in a deep breath, his gaze shifting from her to the lush, green valley below them. This was what Rem's planet was like, before humanity had destroyed it beyond repair. Did it still look somewhat like this in their time? He searched inside of himself for a few moments, trying to find the answer to his original question.
"They're alive," he said as he looked to Rem. He saw her smile broaden. "It worked?"
Rem faced him. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she drew her knees to her chest.
He remembered the plant who'd given herself to accomplish the task. Even though he'd left the decision to her, he couldn't shake that feeling of guilt. "Life was lost, Rem," he murmured. His chest tightened as the sadness overtook him. "I asked her to die ... to save them."
"She made a choice, Vash," Rem replied. Her smile became more sympathetic when he looked at her. "She knew the consequences - you were very clear."
"I know, but I ... "His eyes closed as he bowed his head. "I could've found another way. I ... should have ... "
Rem shifted her position so she was on her knees before him. One hand slipped under his chin and she tipped his head up until he looked her in the eyes. "She was no different than me." Her fingers caressed his face in a motherly manner. "There is no greater gift one can give than her own life. Your friends wouldn't have survived on the planet, you know that."
He sighed, not entirely comforted by her words. Choices were few, time was against him, he did what he thought was best.
"Her purpose was to sustain life." Rem's hand fell away from his face. "You've done nothing wrong. Nothing to feel this guilt over. You haven't let me down." She smiled again. "I'm very proud of you."
Vash watched Rem rise to her feet and turn around. "You're leaving me?" he anxiously asked.
"I'm always with you." She gave him one last look, her eyes full of that warmth and love she held for all living things. "Always."
-
Slowly, Vash's eyes opened. He blinked a few times, his gaze focused on the night sky visible above him. Rem was only a dream, as usual. She'd come and gone. He missed her more with each passing day. These occasional visits made it all the more difficult to deal with.
The sound of someone softly sobbing brought him fully back to reality. Lifting his aching head a bit, he found Meryl holding him in her arms, her face buried in his coat as she cried. One hand lifted and gently rested on the young woman's head. "Why are you crying?" he hoarsely asked.
Meryl's eyes opened yet she remained completely still when she heard Vash speak. He was alive. And awake. She sat up, looking down on him with wide, reddened eyes. Not only was he alive and awake ... he was smiling.
"Did someone die?"
Her surprise quickly melted into irritation. She narrowed her eyes as she let go of him. He slipped from her lap and fell back onto the floor with a light thump.
"Ow." He rubbed the back of his head. "What'd you do that for?"
The more he talked, the angrier she became. He acted as though he hadn't nearly died, hadn't scared her half to death. How could he be so ... ?
Jumping to her feet, she clutched her fists at her sides. "What the hell is wrong with you! Do you have any idea how much damage you could've caused by playing around with that thing?" She pointed to the cracked bulb. "I'm supposed to make sure you don't destroy anything! You could've killed us! Yourself! And ... and ... who knows what else!"
Vash propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes never leaving Meryl as she shouted at him. The power that little woman had behind her voice never failed to astonish him.
Milly had kept her distance for a while now. She'd followed Meryl into town when her supervisor insisted on finding Vash herself. Her heart sank when she came upon Meryl, cradling Vash's body in her lap as she softly sobbed into his coat. Yet, Mr. Vash was fine and looked upon Meryl with confusion, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.
"So!" Meryl snapped, her hands on her hips as she glared at the baffled outlaw. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Moving into a full sitting position, Vash continued to rub his hand to the back of his head. He glanced up at Meryl who waited on him for an answer. Suddenly, smiling, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any of those donuts on you, would you? I'm starving!"
Meryl stared at him, her jaw dropped open in stunned silence. He sat there, with that big, goofy grin on his face, wanting to know about ... donuts? Was he serious? That was all he had to say after almost killing himself? Letting out a cry of utter frustration, she turned away from him before collapsing onto the floor.
"Ma'am!" Milly rushed forward. She kneeled beside Meryl, patting the woman's face. "Ma'am, are you all right?"
Vash leaned over, then looked from Meryl to Milly. "Was it something I said?"
-
More To Come ...
Song Title Used: "The Return of the Space Cowboy" by Jamiroquai