Part Two
Twelve-Bar Blues
Spike leaned against the concrete wall, puffing on the ever-present cigarette, searching the dockyards through a pair of combination glasses-binoculars. There it was, he thought. Spike had made a few calls to some old associates, and with a little investigation and little illegal hacking it hadn't taken too long to find the location of the Bebop. In fact, it was only about five hours after the little scrap at the hotel. Spike had been starring at the old ship for a little over and hour. For some reason he could not will his feet to move. Seeing the Bebop, bobbing gently in the blue waters was such an old and familiar scene that Spike found himself overcome with memories of the past. He laughed to himself, thinking of all the arguements, the fights, the crappy food, then the endless quest to avoid starvation and find a quick and easy bounty. One memory came back to him vividly, when Jet had declared the main rec area of the Bebop smoke free- to impress a certain little cutie if Spike remembered correctly- a rule that had lasted about all of an hour's time. There were a hundred other memories, enough that he could have spent all day recalling them, but Spike realized this revere was just a delay he was causing for himself, to avoid the unpleasant task ahead. They always say "You Can't Go Home Again" he said to himself with a sardonic smile. Well, Spike loved nothing more than to prove people wrong, so here he was.
He folded up the field glasses, crushed out his cig underneath his shoe, then started walking towards the ship, hands jammed in pockets and shoulders hunched as always. By the time he reached the Bebop he'd had two more smokes, and felt sufficiently relaxed enough to go ahead. Spike checked his Jericho- he couldn't be sure what would happen when he strolled in. Then cautiously he approached the bulkhead door and knocked three times. Before, he had considered just flying over in the Swordfish II, but he'd decided to come in on foot. He was also reluctant to fly around town in the easily-identifiable craft, knowing that the Red Dragons were surely on tracking his ass.
Spike waited a while, then knocked again. With his luck he might have to stand there all day. Another minute went by and suddenly the door snapped open, and there stood Jet Black. He looked pretty much the same...though perhaps he was a little older looking, a little sadder...Spike thought to himself. He was wearing his usual attire, and Spike noted he was wearing his dark shades, so he must have been cooking. Jet's mouth dropped, and the thin black cigar he had been puffing on fell to the ground. Spike stood there for a moment, the silence and shock that yawned between them overwhelming him. Of all the ways Spike had thought Jet might react, from casual indifference to a fast punch to the face, a hug was one response he had never considered. Nevertheless, with a roaring cry of "SPIKE-O!!!" Jet wrapped the slender young man in a bone-crushing bear hug. Spike squirmed a bit but finally gave in. Just as he started to relax, Jet threw him roughly to the hard metal deck of the Bebop. Spike bounced a couple times on his ass, and shouted at Jet angrily
"Hey what the hell Jet?!"
"I was pretty damn glad to see you Spike my boy, but then I remembered how you left last time. Sorry...." Jet trailed off, and awkwardly helped Spike to his feet. The two stared at each other a moment, and Spike was unsure what to do or say. He could tell that Jet was nervous, and both angry and happy to see him. Spike started to say "Jet...I..." when Jet cut him off abruptly "I figured you were dead Spike!...All my sources back in the ISSP claimed both you and Vicious were dead, and I even saw that explosion you set off all the way back here!". Jet paused, looked Spike in the eyes, and asked "So what happened, and if you're really not a ghost were the hell have you been all this time?!" Spike gave him his old grin and replied "Why Jet, I've just been sitting around, pondering, and thinking alot". Jet just starred at him in response. Often in the past Jet had told Spike he was too impulsive, to thought-less, a man that ran only on instincts. It took Jet a moment to realize Spike was playing on those old jokes of his. He gave a hearty chuckle, slapped Spike on the back and led him into the Bebop.
"Let's sit down, have a drink, and then you're gonna tell me everything that's happened to you", said Jet as he lead Spike into the Bebop's living room. Perhaps nothing has really changed, thought Spike. The Bebop certainly looked much the same, if only looking a little more worse for wear.
Spike sat down on the old couch, and Jet disappeared into the kitchen. He came back after a moment, a steaming plate of some sort of noodles in one hand, and a six pack of godawful Callisto beer in the other. Jet set both down before him, and sat across from him with a satified plop. Though Spike realized he missed many things about life on the Bebop, eating noodles day after day was not one of them. Nevertheless, he dug into his food, knowing the pleasure Jet got out of feeding hungry people. Spike paused in between a swig of the beer, looked at Jet and asked "Where's Faye? and have you heard anything from that little girl we used to keep around here?". Jet's expression immediatly shifted into a frown, and when he spoke his words came out slowly and painfully. "Spike....when you took off...Faye stayed around maybe a whole week. You know how restless that crazy woman is! Once I'd confirmed the rumors I'd heard through the ISSP, we both figured you for dead Spike...And with you gone, Edward, and even little Ein...it felt like a broke home Spike. Just me and her, all alone in the Bebop, with nothing but the spectres of our comrades around us. I guess we both figured we'd rather be alone and miserable than together and miserable...know what I mean Spike?", Jet asked. Spike was surprised. He had never really thought that the rest of the crew really would miss him, or that his leaving the ship could so change the situation. Spike leaned forward "Jet...answer me honestly for once, did you ever have.....you know....feelings for Faye?" Jet leaned back, a bit startled by Spike's forward manner and question. Spike watched him closely, to see if he would be honest or try to lie. Jet sat still awhile then finally answered him. "Maybe a long time ago, for a brief moment I thought about her in the manner you're implying, but that never lasted that long....", Jet trailed off. "Well why didn't it last then Jet? Why didn't you make a move?" prompted Spike. He was surprised when Jet grew angry and yelled at him "If you didn't have your head up your ass trying to see the past all the time, you might have noticed she was a little more than interested in you!!". Spike sighed heavily, sat back in his seat, fished out a fresh cig and lit up. So, his ideas about Faye had been on target. He felt a wave of sadness come over him...how blind had he been to all that was going on around him? As he himself had said once to Faye he always had one eye on the past....so Spike supposed that meant he was always missing half of the present.
Jet sipped his beer and watched Spike closely, who was obviously going through some inner debate. For all the pain and trouble Spike had brought into his life, Jet knew deep down how much he liked the kid, how glad he was to learn he that Spike was alive. Jet was a solitary man by nature, but in empitiness of space any human being would come to yearn for the comfort of human contact. Spike had been the first of the crew to join him on the Bebop, and as time went by Jet had come to enjoy his company, lazy and sarcastic as it was, and also had come to respect Spike for his heart, and his fighting prowess. Jet knew he could be angry, he could demand that Spike leave, he could pretend to not give a damn, but in the end he decided that was all an act, a self-deception. He decided that he was going to take his cue's from Spike, and together maybe they could begin to repair and replace the damages of the past.
"Jet"
"Huh?"
"I'm.....I'm sorry. For all the things left unsaid...and for not seeing all that I should have. This is your ship and you gave me a place to stay and food to put in my stomach..back when I had nothing or anyone to go to.I don't think I ever thanked you for that." Spike said softly.
Jet was more than a bit surprised. An apology was a rare event were Spike was concerned, and the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes touched Jet in there sincerity. "It's okay buddy, its okay," he murmured in response.
"So where do you think Faye is? what about Ed?" Spike asked.
Jet paused and said. "Huh?...Well I imagine Ed's back on old Earth with that crazy Applederry guy, remember the one that kicked your butt Spike-0 ?"
"Yeah I remember!", shot back Spike, with some heat.
"Hmmn,...and Faye... Well Spike let me just tell you when we finally gave up any hope of you being alive, Faye...Went a little crazy...She told me that she didn't realize it until the moment you took off for the last time..but Spike, she love's you! I guess you being dead was the final straw...You know how sensitive she is beneath the bitchiness!" Jet spread his hands out wide, as if to indicate he would never understand that woman, and there was little he could tell Spike about the workings of Faye's heart and mind.
This was one topic Spike had wanted to avoid. While he felt a strong desire to be back with everyone on the Bebop, he still felt that he needed time before he dvelved into anything deeper. Anything having to do with his heart...he didn't feel like he was ready to deal with those wounds, if he ever would be ready. This idea of Faye caring for him still seemed a little unreal to him. His mind went back to another distant memory. He had been all wrapped in bandages- the results of a beating at the hands of Vicious. Faye had been singing for him...singing in a tune that reminded him of another time, another battle...and another woman. Before he'd never really thought about the similarities of the situations, but now there seemed to be something both fitting and ironic to Faye's taking care of him. He also recalled how he had told her her singing was way off key, and how she had slammed him with a pillow, sending feathers everywhere. At the time, it had hurt like hell and he'd wanted to get up and smack her one, but now he gave out a long chuckle at the memory.
Jet looked at him strangely, and Spike said "Just remembering a good memory..Say, Jet where do you think Faye may have gone?"
Jet paused a moment, lit a smoke, took a pull of his brew and replied, "Well you know her as well as I do Spike, so we better bust out our best suits and hit the casinos!". Spike gave him a slight smile "Got any money?" he asked. Jet frowned- "Shit no...I was hoping the mighty leader of the syndicate could pick up the tab." Spike laughed and told Jet, "Never was the leader Jet, now or then. And I never really wanted to be one either" Jet laughed now too, and said to Spike in a wistful tone, "You know me and you Spike my man....always have been, always will be-nothing but a coupla of broke-ass space cowboys. "
Spike surprised Jet by looking him seriously in the eye. "I know now I wouldn't have it any other way Jet", he said softly.
"Yeah, me either buddy," Jet sighed back.
Part 3 "Reelin' in the Years" Coming Soon...Spike and Jet go looking for a bounty, three lost friends and Lady Luck .
Twelve-Bar Blues
Spike leaned against the concrete wall, puffing on the ever-present cigarette, searching the dockyards through a pair of combination glasses-binoculars. There it was, he thought. Spike had made a few calls to some old associates, and with a little investigation and little illegal hacking it hadn't taken too long to find the location of the Bebop. In fact, it was only about five hours after the little scrap at the hotel. Spike had been starring at the old ship for a little over and hour. For some reason he could not will his feet to move. Seeing the Bebop, bobbing gently in the blue waters was such an old and familiar scene that Spike found himself overcome with memories of the past. He laughed to himself, thinking of all the arguements, the fights, the crappy food, then the endless quest to avoid starvation and find a quick and easy bounty. One memory came back to him vividly, when Jet had declared the main rec area of the Bebop smoke free- to impress a certain little cutie if Spike remembered correctly- a rule that had lasted about all of an hour's time. There were a hundred other memories, enough that he could have spent all day recalling them, but Spike realized this revere was just a delay he was causing for himself, to avoid the unpleasant task ahead. They always say "You Can't Go Home Again" he said to himself with a sardonic smile. Well, Spike loved nothing more than to prove people wrong, so here he was.
He folded up the field glasses, crushed out his cig underneath his shoe, then started walking towards the ship, hands jammed in pockets and shoulders hunched as always. By the time he reached the Bebop he'd had two more smokes, and felt sufficiently relaxed enough to go ahead. Spike checked his Jericho- he couldn't be sure what would happen when he strolled in. Then cautiously he approached the bulkhead door and knocked three times. Before, he had considered just flying over in the Swordfish II, but he'd decided to come in on foot. He was also reluctant to fly around town in the easily-identifiable craft, knowing that the Red Dragons were surely on tracking his ass.
Spike waited a while, then knocked again. With his luck he might have to stand there all day. Another minute went by and suddenly the door snapped open, and there stood Jet Black. He looked pretty much the same...though perhaps he was a little older looking, a little sadder...Spike thought to himself. He was wearing his usual attire, and Spike noted he was wearing his dark shades, so he must have been cooking. Jet's mouth dropped, and the thin black cigar he had been puffing on fell to the ground. Spike stood there for a moment, the silence and shock that yawned between them overwhelming him. Of all the ways Spike had thought Jet might react, from casual indifference to a fast punch to the face, a hug was one response he had never considered. Nevertheless, with a roaring cry of "SPIKE-O!!!" Jet wrapped the slender young man in a bone-crushing bear hug. Spike squirmed a bit but finally gave in. Just as he started to relax, Jet threw him roughly to the hard metal deck of the Bebop. Spike bounced a couple times on his ass, and shouted at Jet angrily
"Hey what the hell Jet?!"
"I was pretty damn glad to see you Spike my boy, but then I remembered how you left last time. Sorry...." Jet trailed off, and awkwardly helped Spike to his feet. The two stared at each other a moment, and Spike was unsure what to do or say. He could tell that Jet was nervous, and both angry and happy to see him. Spike started to say "Jet...I..." when Jet cut him off abruptly "I figured you were dead Spike!...All my sources back in the ISSP claimed both you and Vicious were dead, and I even saw that explosion you set off all the way back here!". Jet paused, looked Spike in the eyes, and asked "So what happened, and if you're really not a ghost were the hell have you been all this time?!" Spike gave him his old grin and replied "Why Jet, I've just been sitting around, pondering, and thinking alot". Jet just starred at him in response. Often in the past Jet had told Spike he was too impulsive, to thought-less, a man that ran only on instincts. It took Jet a moment to realize Spike was playing on those old jokes of his. He gave a hearty chuckle, slapped Spike on the back and led him into the Bebop.
"Let's sit down, have a drink, and then you're gonna tell me everything that's happened to you", said Jet as he lead Spike into the Bebop's living room. Perhaps nothing has really changed, thought Spike. The Bebop certainly looked much the same, if only looking a little more worse for wear.
Spike sat down on the old couch, and Jet disappeared into the kitchen. He came back after a moment, a steaming plate of some sort of noodles in one hand, and a six pack of godawful Callisto beer in the other. Jet set both down before him, and sat across from him with a satified plop. Though Spike realized he missed many things about life on the Bebop, eating noodles day after day was not one of them. Nevertheless, he dug into his food, knowing the pleasure Jet got out of feeding hungry people. Spike paused in between a swig of the beer, looked at Jet and asked "Where's Faye? and have you heard anything from that little girl we used to keep around here?". Jet's expression immediatly shifted into a frown, and when he spoke his words came out slowly and painfully. "Spike....when you took off...Faye stayed around maybe a whole week. You know how restless that crazy woman is! Once I'd confirmed the rumors I'd heard through the ISSP, we both figured you for dead Spike...And with you gone, Edward, and even little Ein...it felt like a broke home Spike. Just me and her, all alone in the Bebop, with nothing but the spectres of our comrades around us. I guess we both figured we'd rather be alone and miserable than together and miserable...know what I mean Spike?", Jet asked. Spike was surprised. He had never really thought that the rest of the crew really would miss him, or that his leaving the ship could so change the situation. Spike leaned forward "Jet...answer me honestly for once, did you ever have.....you know....feelings for Faye?" Jet leaned back, a bit startled by Spike's forward manner and question. Spike watched him closely, to see if he would be honest or try to lie. Jet sat still awhile then finally answered him. "Maybe a long time ago, for a brief moment I thought about her in the manner you're implying, but that never lasted that long....", Jet trailed off. "Well why didn't it last then Jet? Why didn't you make a move?" prompted Spike. He was surprised when Jet grew angry and yelled at him "If you didn't have your head up your ass trying to see the past all the time, you might have noticed she was a little more than interested in you!!". Spike sighed heavily, sat back in his seat, fished out a fresh cig and lit up. So, his ideas about Faye had been on target. He felt a wave of sadness come over him...how blind had he been to all that was going on around him? As he himself had said once to Faye he always had one eye on the past....so Spike supposed that meant he was always missing half of the present.
Jet sipped his beer and watched Spike closely, who was obviously going through some inner debate. For all the pain and trouble Spike had brought into his life, Jet knew deep down how much he liked the kid, how glad he was to learn he that Spike was alive. Jet was a solitary man by nature, but in empitiness of space any human being would come to yearn for the comfort of human contact. Spike had been the first of the crew to join him on the Bebop, and as time went by Jet had come to enjoy his company, lazy and sarcastic as it was, and also had come to respect Spike for his heart, and his fighting prowess. Jet knew he could be angry, he could demand that Spike leave, he could pretend to not give a damn, but in the end he decided that was all an act, a self-deception. He decided that he was going to take his cue's from Spike, and together maybe they could begin to repair and replace the damages of the past.
"Jet"
"Huh?"
"I'm.....I'm sorry. For all the things left unsaid...and for not seeing all that I should have. This is your ship and you gave me a place to stay and food to put in my stomach..back when I had nothing or anyone to go to.I don't think I ever thanked you for that." Spike said softly.
Jet was more than a bit surprised. An apology was a rare event were Spike was concerned, and the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes touched Jet in there sincerity. "It's okay buddy, its okay," he murmured in response.
"So where do you think Faye is? what about Ed?" Spike asked.
Jet paused and said. "Huh?...Well I imagine Ed's back on old Earth with that crazy Applederry guy, remember the one that kicked your butt Spike-0 ?"
"Yeah I remember!", shot back Spike, with some heat.
"Hmmn,...and Faye... Well Spike let me just tell you when we finally gave up any hope of you being alive, Faye...Went a little crazy...She told me that she didn't realize it until the moment you took off for the last time..but Spike, she love's you! I guess you being dead was the final straw...You know how sensitive she is beneath the bitchiness!" Jet spread his hands out wide, as if to indicate he would never understand that woman, and there was little he could tell Spike about the workings of Faye's heart and mind.
This was one topic Spike had wanted to avoid. While he felt a strong desire to be back with everyone on the Bebop, he still felt that he needed time before he dvelved into anything deeper. Anything having to do with his heart...he didn't feel like he was ready to deal with those wounds, if he ever would be ready. This idea of Faye caring for him still seemed a little unreal to him. His mind went back to another distant memory. He had been all wrapped in bandages- the results of a beating at the hands of Vicious. Faye had been singing for him...singing in a tune that reminded him of another time, another battle...and another woman. Before he'd never really thought about the similarities of the situations, but now there seemed to be something both fitting and ironic to Faye's taking care of him. He also recalled how he had told her her singing was way off key, and how she had slammed him with a pillow, sending feathers everywhere. At the time, it had hurt like hell and he'd wanted to get up and smack her one, but now he gave out a long chuckle at the memory.
Jet looked at him strangely, and Spike said "Just remembering a good memory..Say, Jet where do you think Faye may have gone?"
Jet paused a moment, lit a smoke, took a pull of his brew and replied, "Well you know her as well as I do Spike, so we better bust out our best suits and hit the casinos!". Spike gave him a slight smile "Got any money?" he asked. Jet frowned- "Shit no...I was hoping the mighty leader of the syndicate could pick up the tab." Spike laughed and told Jet, "Never was the leader Jet, now or then. And I never really wanted to be one either" Jet laughed now too, and said to Spike in a wistful tone, "You know me and you Spike my man....always have been, always will be-nothing but a coupla of broke-ass space cowboys. "
Spike surprised Jet by looking him seriously in the eye. "I know now I wouldn't have it any other way Jet", he said softly.
"Yeah, me either buddy," Jet sighed back.
Part 3 "Reelin' in the Years" Coming Soon...Spike and Jet go looking for a bounty, three lost friends and Lady Luck .