I have to clear something up real quick. This isn't an AU fic. I guess I
should've put that in the summary cause it's hard to tell in the beginning.
Anyway, loving the reviews!!! I'm so glad to hear that you all love my
writing. Honestly, i've put more thought into this story and I guess it
shows. Enjoy!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebeop or any songs mentioned in this story......
A Life Full Of Saturdays : She Talks To Angels
Faye woke up cold, wet, and groggy. Not only did she not know where she was, but she was naked around a puddle of water. And that fact didn't settle well with her. A woman who seemed to know what she was doing, hovered over Faye, a kind smile playing along her features. The room was cold, she noticed. Not cold in the sense that goosebumps were covering her body, but cold in the way that made you shiver when there was no wind; unwelcomed. Faye focused her eyesight on the woman, who confirmed that 'it was a complete success'. A man walked over to the two women and explained that Faye now owed the hospital 300 million woolongs. Woolongs? What was this place? Who were these people? Who was she?!
"What are you talking about? Who are you? Where am I?" The man leaned close to her as the nurse wrapped Faye up in a hospital gown.
"Do remember anything before your freezing?" Faye couldn't help but laugh deep inside herself. She didn't even remember her name, let alone what happened before the so called freezing.
"What?" The doctor decided right then and there that Faye needed rest before a bill and sent her to a room.
Our mothers tell us not to talk to strangers in fear that we will be snatched up and relive the terrors of ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre" because we gave into temptation and took the stupid peice of candy. And so we go about our lives, never excepting sweets from people we don't know because of that fact. And then there are the people fathers of young daughters warn us about. The men that hide in dark corners, armed with cheap flowers and recycled phrases to lead us into the wonders of sex. They are rotten men, taking over the male population with incredible speed. They're never to be trusted, even if they promise you the world. And, of course, we girls sit there with wide eyes wondering if we will ever meet Prince Charming if the male species if be overrun by these jerks. It is then that your father adds the small comment "Every guy is like." Damn.......
So when Whitney stumbled onto Faye Valentine's records by a very generous uncle who just happened to be Faye's doctor, Whitney was more than happy to fill her in. He found out her name. That was the first thing that had to be aquired. Whitney was truthful on that aspect. Faye Valentine was written on her driver's license, an antique in today's society, but useful in whatever era she had come from. He found the woman to be quite lovely and endearing.....and naive.
Faye sat up in bed as Whitney explained what had happened to her. She learned her name and facts about the world she was now living in. But nothing about her past. Nothing that could inform her about what kind family she came from, if she had siblings, or she even owned a fish. She entrusted her newly aquired money troubles with Whitney, but didn't tell him of her plans to run away that night, which she did at the stroke of midnight. But Whitney managed to find and treated her to dinner, thus gaining her trust. It was also after that dinner, that Whitney's life was taken at the cost of Faye's freedom. She cried into a cheaply made tissue, masscara running down her fair face. But the tears immediately stopped as an insurance man told Faye of Whitney's objective. He gave her everything he owned.....along with his very large debt. It was a hard lesson, but a lesson at that. Nobody could be trusted, especially men.
She didn't sleep that night, in the hospital room that the doctor so 'graciously' offered her. She could actually see the dollar signs form in his greedy eyes. No, she had to get out of here. A life like this was no life at all. She stared out the window, noticing a young woman on the corner in a scantily clad yellow outfit. Faye scanned her evening gown and the woman's attire. Slowly, she crept out of the hospital and caught up to the woman.
"Nice outfit." She had to compliment the stranger if she wanted to get out of the evening gown that the hospital had known her last in.
"Get lost. I ain't into that kind of thing." Faye had to bite her tounge from lashing out at the hooker. Instead, female instincts took over and Faye did the first thing that came to mind : she knocked her out. As she dressed behind a dumpster, careful of any passerbys, she scanned the area for any means of transportation. Above her, a jet like machine zoomed by and landed at a garage. It was an ugly white but could prove to be useful. She blew a piece of violet hair out of her face, and ransacked the hooker's purse. She came upon two hairclips and a hairband. Faye chose the hairband and skipped off to the garage, slipping the band through her hair and giving her an undeniable look. A look that could only fit Faye. As she came upon the garage, she stopped to come up with a good conversation to avert the lad's attention.
"Nice machine you have here..." The young man jumped up three feet as a woman's seductive voice broke his concentration. He was lanky and barely considered a man by his peers.
"Yeah.....It's the Redtail. One of fastest machines out there today." Faye leaned up against the ivory mechanical bird and put on her best smirk.
"Redtail, hm? How does a strong man like you operate such a thing?" The guy reddened but proceeded to show Faye the numerous buttons, what they meant, and how to steer. Faye leaned down into the pod and watched with glee. "I see..."
"And the best part is this...." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a bracelet. "All you have to do is send out a signal from this bracelet and the Redtail turns on autopilot to meet you at the location you sent your signal from."
"Amazing..." A ring from the shop's front door brought the man's attention away from Faye.
"Excuse me....i'll be right back." Faye ran a slender finger over the cool metal, instantly taking a liking to the small ship. It wasn't much, but Faye was sure that it could get her away from the hospital. The fuzzy voices of a rundown television caught Faye's attention as she wandered over to the broken box. A blonde woman and man dressed in cowboy looking uniforms graced the television. Faye couldn't tell what they were saying, but could clearly read the word 'bounty' across the screen. So people here caught crooks by bounty hunting? Faye gasped as the young man who literally just gave Faye the Redtail appeared on the screen. Underneath his picture, Faye read a large amount of money for the crime of stripping spacecrafts.
"Hey." Faye turned sharply to meet the eyes of a very dark man dressed a trenchcoat. "Have you seen that kid?" Faye followed the man's gaze to the kid's picture. Her mind began to put the pieces together. Hospital+Whitney = Debt....BIG debt. Picture + weird man in black = bounty hunter. Bounty hunter + bounty= BIG money. Faye leaned against the table that the television sat upon and crossed her arms.
"Nope. Never seen him before until now." The man peered at Faye for a moment before continuing on his walk. Faye sighed from relief and began a search to find some kind of weapon to apprehend the stupid kid. She went through numerous drawers before coming upon a loaded gun that someone had tried to conceal. Footsteps echoes through the shop and Faye turned on her heel to point the loaded weapon at the kid. She didn't know what she was doing and she knew that. But she had no one in the world to help her. She was on her own. The kid walked towards Faye, a grin pasted on his face. Why was he smiling?
"Stay back!! I mean, hold it right there!! There's a hefty bounty on your head and I plan on getting it. Understood?"
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Faye's eyes widened as the boy continued to stride over to Faye. She squeezed the trigger, only to learn that the safety was on. Soon after her realization, Faye felt a blow to her cheek and then heard two gunshots ring throughout the hollow shop. The man in black stood over the two people and kneeled over the kid, binding him with handcuffs. The man then moved over to Faye and checked her swollen cheek. Faye refused to move. She had just suffered a terrible embarrassment and it didn't settle well with her. She groaned out loud as the man touched her cheek.
"Oh come on now. It isn't that bad, rookie. Stand up." He reached underneath Faye's arms and pulled her up to a standing position. Faye finally got a good look at the man. He was up in age, sporting a salt and pepper beard with a matching ponytail. The ponytail was covered with a large black cowboy hat. A feather earring graced his left ear to set the entire brooding bounty hunter mood. "How many fingers am I holding up, rookie?" He held a fist in front of Faye, her eyes focusing on the large ball of skin and bones.
"Shove it." Faye hadn't intended on being so brash, but her cheek was stinging and a strange man was trying to play games with her. The man smiled and leaned Faye against the Redtail. He took of the large hat and rubbed at his grey hair. It was then that Faye noticed he hadn't handcuffed her like the kid. He obivously knew something that she didn't. He heaved the teenager over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and glanced back at Faye.
"Are you getting in or not?" Faye gawked at the man as he pulled the bracelet off the kid's wrist. After a few moments, the orange pod opened up, alsmot scaring Faye to death. She quirked an eyebrow at the man, unable to figure him out.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." Faye laid a hand on her hip. This conversation was getting her no where. The man lowered his head so that the wide brimmed hat shadowed his piercing blue eyes. "Look lady....I don't know what kind of trouble you've been in, but most folks around here know when the safety on their gun is on. Which leads me to believe that you've probably never handled a gun which is gonna get you hurt in the long run. And I particularly don't like to see ladies gettin hurt. You don't have to stay with me. You're too young for my tastes anyway. But stay for awhile and learn the ropes before you get yourself another bruised cheek." He tossed the unconcious kid in the back and held out a hand for Faye. She finally accepted it after one hell of a mental debate. She figured that at least now, she knew how to handle a gun, incase the man had bolder intentions. She lost trust in all men with Whitney. Perhaps this man could restore it.
"By the way, i'm Jim." Faye bit her bottom lip.
"I'm Angel." It was the first thing that she could come up with. The man smiled at her and started up the Redtail.
"Damn kid stole my ship last week and i've been trying like hell to get it back. This is my baby and I didn't plan on losing her like that. Oh, and he told you that this button here is for the fuel line. He was wrong. It's the communication system. And this one here is your oxygen lock."
"Oxygen lock? In case you get too high up?" The man laughed at Faye's innocence. She truly had no idea of how things worked.
"Well space IS pretty high up, I guess."
"Space?"
"Well of course darlin'. What'd you think these things were made for?" Faye sighed and looked down.
"My name isn't Angel. It's Faye."
"That's alright. My name isn't Jim."
"It isn't?"
"They call me Duke."
"Where are we going Duke?"
"Well first we're going to collect this bounty. Then i'm going to start teaching you the ropes of bounty hunting."
"Really?"
"Of course." Out of the corner of his eye, Duke caught the girl shivering from the deep space cold, and threw her a red jacket from underneath the seat. "It's not much but it will do until you get used to the space tempature." Faye nodded and peered out the pit. Millions of stars surrounded them, sending the girl into a state of awe.
The bounty had been collected and the two were now seated in a bar. After an hour or so, a group of elderly men caught sight of Duke and yelled at him to join their poker game. He laughed along with them, showing that he obviously liked the men but hardly considered them comrades. He took a sip of his frosty beer and grinned a toothy grin at Faye.
"What and learn, rookie."
"What are you talking about?" Duke didn't answer but pulled a chair out of the table across from them for her to sit. And she did in a not so lady like manner, which scored her looks from the other men. For hours, Faye watched the poker game. She watch Duke lose two games and she yawned at the man's gambling ability. Duke caught a glimpse of this and chose that moment to unleash his plan.
"Alright boys, one more game. I'll even shuffle." Faye laid her head down on the chair's back, wondering what the old man was up to. She watched Duke shuffle the hand of standard cards, unaware of what he exactly intended to do. As if the planet began to revolve in slow motion, Faye stared at the hands, catching the first deck slide into his sleeve and another carefully placed deck leave the opposite. He had his own hand of cards!! Faye gasped and sat upright. Poker just suddenly became interesting. After the game had finished and Duke took back his loss for the night plus a little extra, Faye finally questioned him as they hopped back into the Redtail.
"You cheated."
"Life is a game, Faye. And those men have cheated more than me. I gaurantee it. " Faye refused to believe him, yet she did. "That was your first lesson. Always keep your own marked hand. Sometimes they come in handy."
"I don't remember anything." Duke was startled by her voice and gave her a questioning look. "So if you're up to something, like stealing my fortune, then forget it. I woke up a few days ago, not even knowing my name."
"Heh, kinda like Charlotte."
"Who?" Duke struggled to pull out a wallet from his back pocket and handed Faye a photo of a woman with long auburn hair and a bright smile. She was wearing a sundress in a pile of fallen leaves.
"We were married young. And our folks refused to talk to us after that. But we were happy and that was all that mattered. I used to say that she talked to angels."
"Why?"
"Charlotte had a knack to pick out the scrubs of the universe and see the good in them. It was as if an angel was constantly by her, telling her who needed saving. We got caught up in some bad things. Some real bad things and she ended up getting shot."
"Do you miss her?"
"Constantly. It was my fault she got shot. I walked out one day, never to look back. And she suffered for it." Faye handed the picture back to Duke and sat back in the pit. The rest of the ride was complete and utter silence.
Faye still contemplated about the talking to angels thing. Was that even possible? Could she ever do that? Two galaxies away on Mars, a lanky, green haired scrub let a bouquet of roses drop from his hands and into the rain as he realized that his own angel just left his life. He wasn't a Prince Charming, not even close. But he had put put his heart into this, only to have it crushed by the one thing he trusted most. Fate has a funny way of working out, doesn't it? They always give you second chances but everything comes with a price. In certain countries, you can't pull off a mask that conceals beauty without getting your hand chopped off. But was it worth it? You can get married and have kids, but cheat on your husband/wife. Is marital bliss actually wonderful? Ignorance could be called bliss, too. For some, the saying "bad things happen to good people" isn't quite true. For the lives of these two wandering souls was anything but less than innocent. Both had, and would do, things that they may not have ever done. But we all do that. Nobody's innocent anymore. And growing up, you're told that that kind of behavior will never get you into heaven. But heaven has been updated folks, because these two people are not the most chivalrous. But you are given a second chances for redemption. A 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card. How you use it is up to you. Save a life.....give a compliment. You'd be surprised just who can touch your life in the most wonderous way possible. You'd be surprised that a galaxy way, your angel is talking to you....
Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebeop or any songs mentioned in this story......
A Life Full Of Saturdays : She Talks To Angels
Faye woke up cold, wet, and groggy. Not only did she not know where she was, but she was naked around a puddle of water. And that fact didn't settle well with her. A woman who seemed to know what she was doing, hovered over Faye, a kind smile playing along her features. The room was cold, she noticed. Not cold in the sense that goosebumps were covering her body, but cold in the way that made you shiver when there was no wind; unwelcomed. Faye focused her eyesight on the woman, who confirmed that 'it was a complete success'. A man walked over to the two women and explained that Faye now owed the hospital 300 million woolongs. Woolongs? What was this place? Who were these people? Who was she?!
"What are you talking about? Who are you? Where am I?" The man leaned close to her as the nurse wrapped Faye up in a hospital gown.
"Do remember anything before your freezing?" Faye couldn't help but laugh deep inside herself. She didn't even remember her name, let alone what happened before the so called freezing.
"What?" The doctor decided right then and there that Faye needed rest before a bill and sent her to a room.
Our mothers tell us not to talk to strangers in fear that we will be snatched up and relive the terrors of ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre" because we gave into temptation and took the stupid peice of candy. And so we go about our lives, never excepting sweets from people we don't know because of that fact. And then there are the people fathers of young daughters warn us about. The men that hide in dark corners, armed with cheap flowers and recycled phrases to lead us into the wonders of sex. They are rotten men, taking over the male population with incredible speed. They're never to be trusted, even if they promise you the world. And, of course, we girls sit there with wide eyes wondering if we will ever meet Prince Charming if the male species if be overrun by these jerks. It is then that your father adds the small comment "Every guy is like." Damn.......
So when Whitney stumbled onto Faye Valentine's records by a very generous uncle who just happened to be Faye's doctor, Whitney was more than happy to fill her in. He found out her name. That was the first thing that had to be aquired. Whitney was truthful on that aspect. Faye Valentine was written on her driver's license, an antique in today's society, but useful in whatever era she had come from. He found the woman to be quite lovely and endearing.....and naive.
Faye sat up in bed as Whitney explained what had happened to her. She learned her name and facts about the world she was now living in. But nothing about her past. Nothing that could inform her about what kind family she came from, if she had siblings, or she even owned a fish. She entrusted her newly aquired money troubles with Whitney, but didn't tell him of her plans to run away that night, which she did at the stroke of midnight. But Whitney managed to find and treated her to dinner, thus gaining her trust. It was also after that dinner, that Whitney's life was taken at the cost of Faye's freedom. She cried into a cheaply made tissue, masscara running down her fair face. But the tears immediately stopped as an insurance man told Faye of Whitney's objective. He gave her everything he owned.....along with his very large debt. It was a hard lesson, but a lesson at that. Nobody could be trusted, especially men.
She didn't sleep that night, in the hospital room that the doctor so 'graciously' offered her. She could actually see the dollar signs form in his greedy eyes. No, she had to get out of here. A life like this was no life at all. She stared out the window, noticing a young woman on the corner in a scantily clad yellow outfit. Faye scanned her evening gown and the woman's attire. Slowly, she crept out of the hospital and caught up to the woman.
"Nice outfit." She had to compliment the stranger if she wanted to get out of the evening gown that the hospital had known her last in.
"Get lost. I ain't into that kind of thing." Faye had to bite her tounge from lashing out at the hooker. Instead, female instincts took over and Faye did the first thing that came to mind : she knocked her out. As she dressed behind a dumpster, careful of any passerbys, she scanned the area for any means of transportation. Above her, a jet like machine zoomed by and landed at a garage. It was an ugly white but could prove to be useful. She blew a piece of violet hair out of her face, and ransacked the hooker's purse. She came upon two hairclips and a hairband. Faye chose the hairband and skipped off to the garage, slipping the band through her hair and giving her an undeniable look. A look that could only fit Faye. As she came upon the garage, she stopped to come up with a good conversation to avert the lad's attention.
"Nice machine you have here..." The young man jumped up three feet as a woman's seductive voice broke his concentration. He was lanky and barely considered a man by his peers.
"Yeah.....It's the Redtail. One of fastest machines out there today." Faye leaned up against the ivory mechanical bird and put on her best smirk.
"Redtail, hm? How does a strong man like you operate such a thing?" The guy reddened but proceeded to show Faye the numerous buttons, what they meant, and how to steer. Faye leaned down into the pod and watched with glee. "I see..."
"And the best part is this...." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a bracelet. "All you have to do is send out a signal from this bracelet and the Redtail turns on autopilot to meet you at the location you sent your signal from."
"Amazing..." A ring from the shop's front door brought the man's attention away from Faye.
"Excuse me....i'll be right back." Faye ran a slender finger over the cool metal, instantly taking a liking to the small ship. It wasn't much, but Faye was sure that it could get her away from the hospital. The fuzzy voices of a rundown television caught Faye's attention as she wandered over to the broken box. A blonde woman and man dressed in cowboy looking uniforms graced the television. Faye couldn't tell what they were saying, but could clearly read the word 'bounty' across the screen. So people here caught crooks by bounty hunting? Faye gasped as the young man who literally just gave Faye the Redtail appeared on the screen. Underneath his picture, Faye read a large amount of money for the crime of stripping spacecrafts.
"Hey." Faye turned sharply to meet the eyes of a very dark man dressed a trenchcoat. "Have you seen that kid?" Faye followed the man's gaze to the kid's picture. Her mind began to put the pieces together. Hospital+Whitney = Debt....BIG debt. Picture + weird man in black = bounty hunter. Bounty hunter + bounty= BIG money. Faye leaned against the table that the television sat upon and crossed her arms.
"Nope. Never seen him before until now." The man peered at Faye for a moment before continuing on his walk. Faye sighed from relief and began a search to find some kind of weapon to apprehend the stupid kid. She went through numerous drawers before coming upon a loaded gun that someone had tried to conceal. Footsteps echoes through the shop and Faye turned on her heel to point the loaded weapon at the kid. She didn't know what she was doing and she knew that. But she had no one in the world to help her. She was on her own. The kid walked towards Faye, a grin pasted on his face. Why was he smiling?
"Stay back!! I mean, hold it right there!! There's a hefty bounty on your head and I plan on getting it. Understood?"
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Faye's eyes widened as the boy continued to stride over to Faye. She squeezed the trigger, only to learn that the safety was on. Soon after her realization, Faye felt a blow to her cheek and then heard two gunshots ring throughout the hollow shop. The man in black stood over the two people and kneeled over the kid, binding him with handcuffs. The man then moved over to Faye and checked her swollen cheek. Faye refused to move. She had just suffered a terrible embarrassment and it didn't settle well with her. She groaned out loud as the man touched her cheek.
"Oh come on now. It isn't that bad, rookie. Stand up." He reached underneath Faye's arms and pulled her up to a standing position. Faye finally got a good look at the man. He was up in age, sporting a salt and pepper beard with a matching ponytail. The ponytail was covered with a large black cowboy hat. A feather earring graced his left ear to set the entire brooding bounty hunter mood. "How many fingers am I holding up, rookie?" He held a fist in front of Faye, her eyes focusing on the large ball of skin and bones.
"Shove it." Faye hadn't intended on being so brash, but her cheek was stinging and a strange man was trying to play games with her. The man smiled and leaned Faye against the Redtail. He took of the large hat and rubbed at his grey hair. It was then that Faye noticed he hadn't handcuffed her like the kid. He obivously knew something that she didn't. He heaved the teenager over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and glanced back at Faye.
"Are you getting in or not?" Faye gawked at the man as he pulled the bracelet off the kid's wrist. After a few moments, the orange pod opened up, alsmot scaring Faye to death. She quirked an eyebrow at the man, unable to figure him out.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." Faye laid a hand on her hip. This conversation was getting her no where. The man lowered his head so that the wide brimmed hat shadowed his piercing blue eyes. "Look lady....I don't know what kind of trouble you've been in, but most folks around here know when the safety on their gun is on. Which leads me to believe that you've probably never handled a gun which is gonna get you hurt in the long run. And I particularly don't like to see ladies gettin hurt. You don't have to stay with me. You're too young for my tastes anyway. But stay for awhile and learn the ropes before you get yourself another bruised cheek." He tossed the unconcious kid in the back and held out a hand for Faye. She finally accepted it after one hell of a mental debate. She figured that at least now, she knew how to handle a gun, incase the man had bolder intentions. She lost trust in all men with Whitney. Perhaps this man could restore it.
"By the way, i'm Jim." Faye bit her bottom lip.
"I'm Angel." It was the first thing that she could come up with. The man smiled at her and started up the Redtail.
"Damn kid stole my ship last week and i've been trying like hell to get it back. This is my baby and I didn't plan on losing her like that. Oh, and he told you that this button here is for the fuel line. He was wrong. It's the communication system. And this one here is your oxygen lock."
"Oxygen lock? In case you get too high up?" The man laughed at Faye's innocence. She truly had no idea of how things worked.
"Well space IS pretty high up, I guess."
"Space?"
"Well of course darlin'. What'd you think these things were made for?" Faye sighed and looked down.
"My name isn't Angel. It's Faye."
"That's alright. My name isn't Jim."
"It isn't?"
"They call me Duke."
"Where are we going Duke?"
"Well first we're going to collect this bounty. Then i'm going to start teaching you the ropes of bounty hunting."
"Really?"
"Of course." Out of the corner of his eye, Duke caught the girl shivering from the deep space cold, and threw her a red jacket from underneath the seat. "It's not much but it will do until you get used to the space tempature." Faye nodded and peered out the pit. Millions of stars surrounded them, sending the girl into a state of awe.
The bounty had been collected and the two were now seated in a bar. After an hour or so, a group of elderly men caught sight of Duke and yelled at him to join their poker game. He laughed along with them, showing that he obviously liked the men but hardly considered them comrades. He took a sip of his frosty beer and grinned a toothy grin at Faye.
"What and learn, rookie."
"What are you talking about?" Duke didn't answer but pulled a chair out of the table across from them for her to sit. And she did in a not so lady like manner, which scored her looks from the other men. For hours, Faye watched the poker game. She watch Duke lose two games and she yawned at the man's gambling ability. Duke caught a glimpse of this and chose that moment to unleash his plan.
"Alright boys, one more game. I'll even shuffle." Faye laid her head down on the chair's back, wondering what the old man was up to. She watched Duke shuffle the hand of standard cards, unaware of what he exactly intended to do. As if the planet began to revolve in slow motion, Faye stared at the hands, catching the first deck slide into his sleeve and another carefully placed deck leave the opposite. He had his own hand of cards!! Faye gasped and sat upright. Poker just suddenly became interesting. After the game had finished and Duke took back his loss for the night plus a little extra, Faye finally questioned him as they hopped back into the Redtail.
"You cheated."
"Life is a game, Faye. And those men have cheated more than me. I gaurantee it. " Faye refused to believe him, yet she did. "That was your first lesson. Always keep your own marked hand. Sometimes they come in handy."
"I don't remember anything." Duke was startled by her voice and gave her a questioning look. "So if you're up to something, like stealing my fortune, then forget it. I woke up a few days ago, not even knowing my name."
"Heh, kinda like Charlotte."
"Who?" Duke struggled to pull out a wallet from his back pocket and handed Faye a photo of a woman with long auburn hair and a bright smile. She was wearing a sundress in a pile of fallen leaves.
"We were married young. And our folks refused to talk to us after that. But we were happy and that was all that mattered. I used to say that she talked to angels."
"Why?"
"Charlotte had a knack to pick out the scrubs of the universe and see the good in them. It was as if an angel was constantly by her, telling her who needed saving. We got caught up in some bad things. Some real bad things and she ended up getting shot."
"Do you miss her?"
"Constantly. It was my fault she got shot. I walked out one day, never to look back. And she suffered for it." Faye handed the picture back to Duke and sat back in the pit. The rest of the ride was complete and utter silence.
Faye still contemplated about the talking to angels thing. Was that even possible? Could she ever do that? Two galaxies away on Mars, a lanky, green haired scrub let a bouquet of roses drop from his hands and into the rain as he realized that his own angel just left his life. He wasn't a Prince Charming, not even close. But he had put put his heart into this, only to have it crushed by the one thing he trusted most. Fate has a funny way of working out, doesn't it? They always give you second chances but everything comes with a price. In certain countries, you can't pull off a mask that conceals beauty without getting your hand chopped off. But was it worth it? You can get married and have kids, but cheat on your husband/wife. Is marital bliss actually wonderful? Ignorance could be called bliss, too. For some, the saying "bad things happen to good people" isn't quite true. For the lives of these two wandering souls was anything but less than innocent. Both had, and would do, things that they may not have ever done. But we all do that. Nobody's innocent anymore. And growing up, you're told that that kind of behavior will never get you into heaven. But heaven has been updated folks, because these two people are not the most chivalrous. But you are given a second chances for redemption. A 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card. How you use it is up to you. Save a life.....give a compliment. You'd be surprised just who can touch your life in the most wonderous way possible. You'd be surprised that a galaxy way, your angel is talking to you....