Oh, FF.net…what the hell are you doing to my italics? I've been putting the character's thoughts in italics, but for some reason the italics don't show up on the FF website. Sorry if this is confusing, but I don't know what to do! Grr… Whelp, thanks for the reviews! Again, I have to apologize for Spike's brutality…he repents later. This chapter explains a little more about why he acted so badly…
For the next few days, Spike confined himself to his room, mourning Julia, cursing Faye, and mulling over Vicious' death. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. When he first deduced that it was Faye who killed Vicious, he knew she must've been after the bounty money. With Faye, it was always about money. But why had she left the body then? At that moment he didn't care. He had just grabbed the body and shoved it inside his ship. At some point, he came up with the idea to turn in Vicious' body and collect the bounty himself. That way he'd have some leverage when he interrogated Faye.
And that's all it was supposed to be – an interrogation. But when he got to the ship and saw her sitting there, one slim leg swinging over the side of the couch, absently biting her bottom lip, eyes wide and innocent like a child's – it suddenly infuriated him. She was supposed to be an insensitive, greedy bitch, not some naïve little girl. Of course, the alcohol raging through his bloodstream probably didn't help either.
Spike sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Everything was so fucked up. If only he hadn't stopped at that goddamn bar, maybe he would've beaten Faye to Vicious. Maybe things would've turned out the way they were supposed to. Maybe he'd be dead. Instead, he'd arrived to discover Vicious' lifeless body, a gun clutched in his hand… A gun clutched in his hand? Suddenly things went from confusing to suspicious. Faye had some explaining to do.
Hurt me
Why in the world did you hurt me?
Just when I thought
I'd found someone to trust, you took away your love and
Hurt me
I still can't believe you hurt me
Just when I thought it was safe to come in
You let me want you, and need you, and then
You left me, like a child in the rain
Now I'm mending myself of the pain
Oh, you hurt me
Yes, you left me
Like a child in the rain
Now I'm lost in an ocean of pain
Oh, you hurt me
I fell in love and it hurt me
Can't you imagine how I'm feeling now?
Oh, will you ever know how?
You, hurt me
Faye sank to the bottom of the tub, her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees.
Hot water. Jet must have fixed the pipes. Probably feeling sorry for me…
The warm water coursed down her neck and back, soothing her aching muscles. Most of her bruises had turned yellow-green, though the one on her cheek was still dark blue/purple. She tilted her head slightly and gently traced the bruise with a well-polished nail, rivulets of water cutting intricate paths across her face.
Bastard…
She hadn't seen Spike in two days. She kept herself locked in her room for most of the day, only coming out for long showers and the occasional snack.
But it's not like I'm avoiding him…I just have more important things to do in my room.
Like reading the same magazine ten times, cover to cover. Faye sighed softly, burying her face in her arms.
That look in his eyes…like he wanted to watch me die slowly a thousand times over. That's the look he would get whenever Vicious' name was mentioned – hard, and cold, and unforgiving.
The sound of the bathroom door opening made her jerk her head up sharply. Heavy footsteps entered the room and a lean shadow fell over the shower curtain. Faye shrank back and quieted her breathing. Something long and white launched itself over the top of the shower and straight at Faye. She screamed and scrambled to her feet, only to slip on the slick surface of the tub and come crashing down. The white fuzzy thing settled over her head neatly.
"Faye, come out of there, I need to talk to you," Spike said gruffly. Faye slammed off the water and wrung out the now drenched towel the best she could. Wrapping it around herself tightly, she flung open the shower curtain and glared at Spike.
"And this conversation couldn't have waited until after I finished my shower?" she demanded icily.
"You killed Vicious."
"Is it just me, or are you also getting a sense of déjà vu?" she snapped sarcastically, shifting her weight to one leg and resting a hand on her hip.
"But you arranged it," Spike continued slowly, "so that his death looked like a suicide."
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"When I found him, he was clutching his gun in his right hand."
"Yeah, he pulled it out when he saw me pointing my gun at his head. You may find this hard to believe, but some people don't want to die." Spike's mouth tightened slightly. He's going to lose his temper again… Faye stepped back nonchalantly, pretending to study her toenails. Spike stared.
She's not…is she frightened of me?
"The thing is," he said quietly, "Vicious never carries a gun. He uses a sword."
Silence.
"When I first saw him lying there, I thought he'd committed suicide, as unlikely as that sounds. Why else would he have a gun with him? But you admitted to killing him."
"So he changed weapons," Faye said after a moment, tossing her hair and spraying Spike with cold droplets. "He got nervous and decided that a goddamn sword was no match for a gun, or whatever. How should I know?" She stepped out of the tub carefully and slipped by Spike, murmuring, "Figure it out yourself, cowboy." Spike turned and watched her drip down the hallway.
"That's exactly what I plan to do," he mumbled, shoving a cigarette between his lips.
Lyrics by Leann Rimes, song titled, "Hurt Me" (I'm usually not a country girl, but these lyrics fit pretty well).