As long as there is one person out there reading this fanfiction then i'll
keep updating. If not, then what's the point, besides my weird petpeeve
about having lil lightbulbs flash up in my mind with ideas and making me
put them down on paper. It's a muse's curse, I swear.
Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop or "Takin Care Of Business"
A Life Full Of Saturdays: Takin' Care Of Business
Faye groaned out loud and rubbed the raw bruise that had formed upon her skull. She was getting sick of being hit in the head. If they really wanted to shut her up, then why not use tranquillizers or sleeping pills? Why did they always have to hit her upside the head just to keep her quiet? A light humming was heard in another room. Room? Last she saw, she was in a street, looking at....Spike. Spike! He WAS alive!! She bit her lip in anticipation. Could he be coming for her now? Or did he go to the Bebop for help? And what about that little girl? Did she make it out of there alive. Faye hoped so. She would never admit it, but she had a soft spot for kids, and Serenity was no exception. Steam hovered in front of her face as the man she held at gunpoint proposed a cup of hot tea. He was a looker, no doubt, with a boyish smile and manly features. He sat across from her in what Faye guessed was the living room of his apartment. Well, it was better than a dark warehouse. Blair sighed in exhaustion. He hadn't expected Spike to be alive or even show up, for that matter. But what interested Blair the most was Spike's sudden fascination with the woman he took. Faye, is what Spike called her. He ran a worn hand through his hair and continued to smile at the nervous woman, making her shift uncomfortably.
"Sorry about hitting you like that. But I couldn't have you screaming the entire time. I have ear drums, you know. I'd like to keep my hearing for awhile." Faye glared at him with sparkling emerald orbs.
"Either that, or you didn't want Spike to trail you by the sound of my voice..." Blair rested his hand on his hands and leaned back on the loveseat. He was more casual then Faye wanted him to be. She knew how to handle heartless bastards and men like Spike, but this guy was totally different. He was warm towards her, almost like Gren had been. But Gren didn't take her hostage either.
"I guess so. If you wanna be pessimistic about it."
"Either way, it's a negative answer." Blair cocked his head to the side like a lost puppy. This woman was something else.
"Depends on how you look at it. The name's Blair Whittaker." He held a hand out for proper introduction only to have Faye shun him by turning her head to the other side. Blair backed off immediately. It was one thing to have an irrated woman in your household, but it was a deathwish to have a peeved female sitting across from you. "Alrighty then. Have it your way, Faye. I was just trying to be friendly."
"If you were truly 'friendly', you would let me leave." Blair closed his violet eyes and nodded towards the ivory door. This would prove to be interesting.
"By all means - go ahead. Last thing I need in life is to have a woman constantly showing signs of PMS living with me. I always saw myself shacked up with a brunette anyway." Faye flipped her hair and began to walk towards the door of freedom. Her hand had just brushed the cool metal of the doorknob when Blair whispery voice boom in her ears. "But...take into mind. You don't know where you are, your communicator's broken, your gun ran out of bullets, and you'd be chasing after a man who wants nothing more than to die to avenge an equally dead angel." Faye paused and turned t oface Blair for the first time. He was absolutlely right. Of course, he had probably planned on being right the whole time, but his words were the truth. Blair let a cigarette and let his words sink into Faye's soul. He hadn't intended them to be so harsh but he knew Spike all to well. He knew his charms and figured that Faye had already fallen for his trap.
Faye slowly walked back to the couch, a faraway look glazing over her usually vibrant jade eyes. How could she have been so reckless, letting herself fall in love with Spike? It was a foolish idea from the beginning and nothing had chanced since their first meeting. They still had their bouts and offered a helping hand to one another when possible, but she could never fill the empty void that once held Julia's love. It was an infinite black hole that Faye would fall helplessly in if she tried to fill it up. Faye wouldn't let Blair get the best of emotionally though, and pushed her ruby lips into the form of a roguish smirk.
"And just HOW exactly do you know our ignorant Spike oh-so-well?" Blair's orchid eyes flew open and watched the woman investigate his every move. "Were ya'll partners like him and Vicious? Or did you just stalk the bastard?" Blair figured out what she was up to and decided to play along. It was best that she know a little about him before he began his own search through her mind.
"Nothing of the sort, my dear Faye." Faye leaned back and crossed her legs sheepishly. She wanted to come off as seductive, not slutty.
"So enlighten me." Blair leaned forward over the coffee table that seperated the two and looked as if he was dazing off. He sighed once before he spoke.
"I knew Julia." Faye rested her elbow on the back of the couch and rolled her kelly eyes.
"Who didn't?"
"Not in that way. I mean, I wasn't in love with her or anything. She was like a sister to me."
"Of course. How foolish of me..."
"Do you want to know how I know Spike or are you just going to insult me all night."
"A little of both." Blair gave her sharp look before continuing.
"Anyway, we grew up together and even ended up in the Syndicate at the same time. It was then that I found out about Spike. He was everything she wanted...everything she needed. Spike and I talked every once and awhile and even became allies. And then one night, I got drunk, and out of habit, I told the taxi driver's Julia address. I mean, she gave me an extra key and told me to use it whenever I needed to. So I walked in, expecting to find Spike laying on the couch like he did every Saturday night while he waited for Julia to get dressed for whatever he had planned that night. Only, this time, Spike wasn't on the couch. So I figured that the bed was free if they weren't there. I made my way up the stairs, only to find Vicious laying in bed with my best friend. I couldn't believe it. Julia was the biggest preacher of loyalty and here she was cheating?! I was quickly sobered up and sat down on the couch. An hour later Julia came downstairs for a drink of water. She must've sensed my uneasiness for she explained that Spike left without a word to no one. We would later find out it was to leave the Syndicate."
"That's it?!" Faye was yearning for a dramatic soap opera like story to unfold before her but only got a cheesy cable movie. "The way Spike looked at you, you would think you tried to kill him or something." Faye laughed nervously.
"I did, once." Faye automatically stopped laughing, enthralled with the man already.
"He called you 'Preacherman'. Did that have something to do with it?"
"Yes. I was an assassin for the Red Dragon Syndicate. Their executioner. I was known for being silent, yet leaving a cryptic Biblical message engraved upon their body to show whomever it was the Syndicate was showing that they meant business. They sent me after Spike but I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. Weird. I could kill innocent children, women, and animals. But I couldn't kill a man who used to be just like me. Instead, I did the total opposite and told him about Vicious' plan to kill him. I then told him of my plans to take Julia and run. He wasn't too pleased with that. Julia was gone before either of us could take her."
"So Spike thinks that you and Vicious was conspiring against him?"
"Exactly that. I was, but not for long."
"I see." Faye relaxed a little bit more, now that she knew whom she was dealing with. Everything seemed to make more sense now. "Sounds like Spike alright. You mess up once and you're on his most wanted list." Her eyes zipped over to Blair when he heard him chuckle.
"It's late. Get some sleep." He got up and grabbed for a dark coat hanging by the door. He hesitated beside the door and peered over at the surprised Faye. She was indeed something else. Most people would have freaked by now over his former life.
"I'm going out. I don't expect you to be here when I get back, but you can have the bed if you stay." He smiled weakly and turned the knob to leave. Blair almost fell over at the sight before him. At his feet, lay a scrawny, redheaded girl that he knew so well. He sighed before kicking at the small dog that always followed her around. Surely, he could've been blessed with an elderly couple, or an exotic temptress that just happened to be innocent, or even a small family. But no, he was cursed with a thirteen year old genius that seemed to be infatuated with exprimenting with baked goods.
"What do you want this time?"
"Sugar sugar of the sweet!!"
"How much this time?"
"One cuppy cup cup!!" She held her finger out to further accentuate her comand. Blair closed the door slightly and made his way to the kitchen to fetch the girl's damn sugar. Faye was too much in a daze to notice the amber eyes peeking inside the small apartment and widening at the violet strands, only to be pushed out with a cup of sugar. "Faye-Faye...?" It was like slow motion. She make out the purple hair, and then the pale skin, but she knew it was her idol when she spotted the yellow attire. What was her Faye-Faye doing in a place like this? Blair shoved her to her own apartment, scolding her along the way.
"Next time, but your own sugar." She nodded, wondering why her handsome neighbor was harboring Faye in his humble abode.
Faye sat on the couch in awe. She heard Blair's words as he left but didn't pay much attention to them. He had killed innocent people. He didn't seem like the person that would harm a fly, yet he had spoken memories that he preferred to be forgotten. Innocents.Did Spike do the same? Was Spike capable of killing children and women? A feathery knock woke Faye up from her day dreaming state and she peeked out of the small peep hole that every apartment came equipped with. She could see nobody but the knocking persisted.
"Who is it?"
"Ku-ku-kachoo!! It IS you!!"
"Yeah, i'm me. Who is this?!"
"Why fiddle dee dee, Faye Faye!! It's me!! It's Edward!!!" Faye gasped and swung open the door to reveal a discombobulated Ed fall forward with an even more disoriented Ein by her side. Faye dashed by the genius hacker's side and hugged her.
"Ed!! How did you....Nevermind. What am I saying?! I'm just glad you're here! I need you to find out where I am and locate the Bebop."
"Why Faye-Faye! You're in the Overture Apartments on the East side of Mars!! And the Bebop....hmmm. I shall find them!!!" Ed yanked Faye's hand and proceeded to her apartment.
Spike collapsed against the ancient yellow couch and felt a small lump of human plop beside him. Serenity. She was a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. She saved his life made his life miserable in the same breath. It took an amazing person to perform such a feat and Serenity did it with grace and patience. Why she followed Spike, he had no idea. One minute he was walking towards the Bebop and the next he heard the small pitter patter of a child's feet skipping behind him. In all reality, he didn't mind quite that much. She said little or no words and would only talk when talked to. He figured that she was a tad bit po'ed about Spike's failure to save her precious Faye. What was her infatuation with the hustler anyway? But Spike had to admit himself, that he missed the company of Poker Alice and even felt a bit guilty at the fact that he couldn't save her. The guilt took up a big part of his mind. All he kept seeing was Faye reaching out towards him and smoke clouding his vision. He could still hear his name being screamed followed by a soft grunt. She had wanted him to save her and he couldn't. He failed her.
"You're back?" Jet walked out of the kitchen in his apron and stared, bewildered, at Spike. His eyes then darted to the little girl beside him. "And you have a kid?!"
"I baragained for a warmer welcome and don't think for one moment that she's mine. I can't get rid of her."
"Not another Ed..." Jet smacked his forehead in memory of how Ed popped into everyone's lives.
"Ohhh no. Not quite a genius. More like.....gifted."
"She's a good singer?"
"More like a healer and a psychic." Jet rubbed his bearded chin and sat down across from the couple.
"You don't say. Faye's goin to be more surprised that you're alive. I mean, she practically went berserk after you left." Spike lowered his head and lit a cigarette.
"Faye's not coming back."
"What?! Why not?"
"Because I let her get kidnapped by the most ruthless assassin who ever walked on Mars."
"Ye of little faith. Wow Spike, that confession was real chivalrous of you. Too bad I made it away from him to hear it." Jet, Spike, and Serenity all glanced up to see a worn Faye walk down the stairs to the lounge area. Spike's mismatched eye followed her every move, amazed that there wasn't wound on her besides her bloody forehead and bruised skull. She walked by the trio in her absolute glory, her strut feminine and tempting to even the most innocent of men. She motioned her head back to the doorway, violet hair flipping wildly. "Oh, yeah. I brought a friend."
"WOOHOOOO hehehehehe wheeeeeee!!!" Ed flew into the lounge area, arms buzzing about her and the same smile pasted upon the blush the would never leave her cheeks. However, Radical Ed paused infront of the peach haired child sitting before and scanned over her tiny form. "You replaced Ed?" Her amber orbs glazed over with unshed tears. Serenity cleared her throat, a bright grin playing on her lips.
"I was sent here to help. That's all. I'll be leaving as soon as my mission is done." Serenity's smile was so sincere that Ed couldn't help but return the same gesture.
"In that case, i'm Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the fourth. Twice removed!" Serenity bit her bottom lip from nerves. She wasn't used to this kind of excitement.
"Umm...Serenity." Faye brought her hand to her hip at the end of the small reunion/introduction and acknowledged the fact that she was heading off to bed. Spike secretly followed behind, concealing himself in the shadows. As soon as Faye hit the bed however, Spike was knocking on her door, endowed with medicinal supplies, which just so happened to include a bottle of whiskey. Faye sat straight up in bed, partially agitated that she wouldn't be getting any rest for the next few days.
"Thought i'd fix you up. You got pretty roughed up today."
"Nothing a band aid won't fix." Spike sat down beside her on the small cot that Jet liked to call a bed and began his nursing skills on Faye. She winced slightly when he put pressure on her cut, but besides that, she took it like a woman.
"So what all did he tell you?"
"Who?"
"Preacherman." Faye rested her head on the nearest pillow and pulled her legs up beside Spike. His focus was on one thing, although her legs happened to create an aversion for a moment.
"Don't call him that. He's a changed man Spike."
"You don't know him well enough to say that."
"I could see it in his eyes. Just like I see it in yours." He laid down beside and drew his hands up behind his head. Now would be a good time for a cigarette, but he didn't want to ruin the conversation by filling the room up with second hand smoke.
"And what exactly do you see when you look in my eyes."
"Fear. Admiration. Confusion. Stubborness."
"Damn you're good." Faye sighed, almost too loudly. She couldn't take being this close to the cowboy without breaking down her recent walls.
"So you really went berserk after I left." He expected, no wanted, a smartass, sassy answer from the woman next to him. But she turned towards him with a scrunched up brow and quivering lips.
"How can you ask such a question?! I almost broke down to you and revealed the some of my deepest secrets!! And you still walked out on me, on us! The Bebop crew!! When I got my memory back, I remember a conversation with my best friend. 'Home is where the heart is' he said. And I believe him. You took away my home. YOU were my home Spike." Her voice softened a bit at the last remark.
"What do you want from me?"
"I don't know what I want. I wanted you back, and I got you. But it's like you're not really here. I want you back."
"You never had me." His words were cold and sent chills throughout Faye's body.
"I know. You never gave yourself to me to let me consider you mine." She brought her knees up to her chest, only to be grabbed from behind; arms entertwining around her waist. She gasped as Spike's warm breath radiated off her neck.
"I was scared. I have never been that scared. To know what that man was capable of and not knowing if he would do the same to you. It scared me."
"I'm still here."
"I may not be that lucky next time." His grip tightened on Faye.
"Who says there will be a next time?" Spike's voice caught in his throat as he spoke the next question.
"Faye, can I keep you?" Faye's emerald orbs squashed together in bliss. How long had she waited for that question? She turned in Spike's firm embrace and buried her face into his bloodied shirt.
"Spike, you already had me. You were just too dumb to know it." Together, they fell upon the bed in the dark and fell asleep in each other's arms.
"You sleep like this all the time?" Serenity watched the teenage hacker curl up into a tight ball next to the Corgi on the stairway. She received a sleepy nod and wide yawn. Serenity shook her head and curled up beside the infamous Ed.
Faye had only been alseep for a few moments when Spike's grip on her shifted to her shoulders. Incoherent mumblings ran off his lips and Faye strained to make out a single sentence. He squeezed her shoulders once, causing Faye to wince in pain.
"Julia....come back to me...." Faye's eyes searched for another meaning but his demand was as clear as a bell. She succeeded in her first attempt to pry his hands from her body and wiped away a lone tear as she slid away from the flat mattress. She studied the sleeping Spike and managed a half smile.
"Nothing's changed, has it?" She backed up a bit until her back hit the wall. Tears were now falling freely and landing on the cold metal of the Bebop. Of her home. "See ya later space cowboy."
Dun dun dunnnnn. What's going to happen now? Your guess is as good as mine. By the way, I am going to be making another WHR fic and Trigun fic - if you're interested. So be watching for those!
Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop or "Takin Care Of Business"
A Life Full Of Saturdays: Takin' Care Of Business
Faye groaned out loud and rubbed the raw bruise that had formed upon her skull. She was getting sick of being hit in the head. If they really wanted to shut her up, then why not use tranquillizers or sleeping pills? Why did they always have to hit her upside the head just to keep her quiet? A light humming was heard in another room. Room? Last she saw, she was in a street, looking at....Spike. Spike! He WAS alive!! She bit her lip in anticipation. Could he be coming for her now? Or did he go to the Bebop for help? And what about that little girl? Did she make it out of there alive. Faye hoped so. She would never admit it, but she had a soft spot for kids, and Serenity was no exception. Steam hovered in front of her face as the man she held at gunpoint proposed a cup of hot tea. He was a looker, no doubt, with a boyish smile and manly features. He sat across from her in what Faye guessed was the living room of his apartment. Well, it was better than a dark warehouse. Blair sighed in exhaustion. He hadn't expected Spike to be alive or even show up, for that matter. But what interested Blair the most was Spike's sudden fascination with the woman he took. Faye, is what Spike called her. He ran a worn hand through his hair and continued to smile at the nervous woman, making her shift uncomfortably.
"Sorry about hitting you like that. But I couldn't have you screaming the entire time. I have ear drums, you know. I'd like to keep my hearing for awhile." Faye glared at him with sparkling emerald orbs.
"Either that, or you didn't want Spike to trail you by the sound of my voice..." Blair rested his hand on his hands and leaned back on the loveseat. He was more casual then Faye wanted him to be. She knew how to handle heartless bastards and men like Spike, but this guy was totally different. He was warm towards her, almost like Gren had been. But Gren didn't take her hostage either.
"I guess so. If you wanna be pessimistic about it."
"Either way, it's a negative answer." Blair cocked his head to the side like a lost puppy. This woman was something else.
"Depends on how you look at it. The name's Blair Whittaker." He held a hand out for proper introduction only to have Faye shun him by turning her head to the other side. Blair backed off immediately. It was one thing to have an irrated woman in your household, but it was a deathwish to have a peeved female sitting across from you. "Alrighty then. Have it your way, Faye. I was just trying to be friendly."
"If you were truly 'friendly', you would let me leave." Blair closed his violet eyes and nodded towards the ivory door. This would prove to be interesting.
"By all means - go ahead. Last thing I need in life is to have a woman constantly showing signs of PMS living with me. I always saw myself shacked up with a brunette anyway." Faye flipped her hair and began to walk towards the door of freedom. Her hand had just brushed the cool metal of the doorknob when Blair whispery voice boom in her ears. "But...take into mind. You don't know where you are, your communicator's broken, your gun ran out of bullets, and you'd be chasing after a man who wants nothing more than to die to avenge an equally dead angel." Faye paused and turned t oface Blair for the first time. He was absolutlely right. Of course, he had probably planned on being right the whole time, but his words were the truth. Blair let a cigarette and let his words sink into Faye's soul. He hadn't intended them to be so harsh but he knew Spike all to well. He knew his charms and figured that Faye had already fallen for his trap.
Faye slowly walked back to the couch, a faraway look glazing over her usually vibrant jade eyes. How could she have been so reckless, letting herself fall in love with Spike? It was a foolish idea from the beginning and nothing had chanced since their first meeting. They still had their bouts and offered a helping hand to one another when possible, but she could never fill the empty void that once held Julia's love. It was an infinite black hole that Faye would fall helplessly in if she tried to fill it up. Faye wouldn't let Blair get the best of emotionally though, and pushed her ruby lips into the form of a roguish smirk.
"And just HOW exactly do you know our ignorant Spike oh-so-well?" Blair's orchid eyes flew open and watched the woman investigate his every move. "Were ya'll partners like him and Vicious? Or did you just stalk the bastard?" Blair figured out what she was up to and decided to play along. It was best that she know a little about him before he began his own search through her mind.
"Nothing of the sort, my dear Faye." Faye leaned back and crossed her legs sheepishly. She wanted to come off as seductive, not slutty.
"So enlighten me." Blair leaned forward over the coffee table that seperated the two and looked as if he was dazing off. He sighed once before he spoke.
"I knew Julia." Faye rested her elbow on the back of the couch and rolled her kelly eyes.
"Who didn't?"
"Not in that way. I mean, I wasn't in love with her or anything. She was like a sister to me."
"Of course. How foolish of me..."
"Do you want to know how I know Spike or are you just going to insult me all night."
"A little of both." Blair gave her sharp look before continuing.
"Anyway, we grew up together and even ended up in the Syndicate at the same time. It was then that I found out about Spike. He was everything she wanted...everything she needed. Spike and I talked every once and awhile and even became allies. And then one night, I got drunk, and out of habit, I told the taxi driver's Julia address. I mean, she gave me an extra key and told me to use it whenever I needed to. So I walked in, expecting to find Spike laying on the couch like he did every Saturday night while he waited for Julia to get dressed for whatever he had planned that night. Only, this time, Spike wasn't on the couch. So I figured that the bed was free if they weren't there. I made my way up the stairs, only to find Vicious laying in bed with my best friend. I couldn't believe it. Julia was the biggest preacher of loyalty and here she was cheating?! I was quickly sobered up and sat down on the couch. An hour later Julia came downstairs for a drink of water. She must've sensed my uneasiness for she explained that Spike left without a word to no one. We would later find out it was to leave the Syndicate."
"That's it?!" Faye was yearning for a dramatic soap opera like story to unfold before her but only got a cheesy cable movie. "The way Spike looked at you, you would think you tried to kill him or something." Faye laughed nervously.
"I did, once." Faye automatically stopped laughing, enthralled with the man already.
"He called you 'Preacherman'. Did that have something to do with it?"
"Yes. I was an assassin for the Red Dragon Syndicate. Their executioner. I was known for being silent, yet leaving a cryptic Biblical message engraved upon their body to show whomever it was the Syndicate was showing that they meant business. They sent me after Spike but I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. Weird. I could kill innocent children, women, and animals. But I couldn't kill a man who used to be just like me. Instead, I did the total opposite and told him about Vicious' plan to kill him. I then told him of my plans to take Julia and run. He wasn't too pleased with that. Julia was gone before either of us could take her."
"So Spike thinks that you and Vicious was conspiring against him?"
"Exactly that. I was, but not for long."
"I see." Faye relaxed a little bit more, now that she knew whom she was dealing with. Everything seemed to make more sense now. "Sounds like Spike alright. You mess up once and you're on his most wanted list." Her eyes zipped over to Blair when he heard him chuckle.
"It's late. Get some sleep." He got up and grabbed for a dark coat hanging by the door. He hesitated beside the door and peered over at the surprised Faye. She was indeed something else. Most people would have freaked by now over his former life.
"I'm going out. I don't expect you to be here when I get back, but you can have the bed if you stay." He smiled weakly and turned the knob to leave. Blair almost fell over at the sight before him. At his feet, lay a scrawny, redheaded girl that he knew so well. He sighed before kicking at the small dog that always followed her around. Surely, he could've been blessed with an elderly couple, or an exotic temptress that just happened to be innocent, or even a small family. But no, he was cursed with a thirteen year old genius that seemed to be infatuated with exprimenting with baked goods.
"What do you want this time?"
"Sugar sugar of the sweet!!"
"How much this time?"
"One cuppy cup cup!!" She held her finger out to further accentuate her comand. Blair closed the door slightly and made his way to the kitchen to fetch the girl's damn sugar. Faye was too much in a daze to notice the amber eyes peeking inside the small apartment and widening at the violet strands, only to be pushed out with a cup of sugar. "Faye-Faye...?" It was like slow motion. She make out the purple hair, and then the pale skin, but she knew it was her idol when she spotted the yellow attire. What was her Faye-Faye doing in a place like this? Blair shoved her to her own apartment, scolding her along the way.
"Next time, but your own sugar." She nodded, wondering why her handsome neighbor was harboring Faye in his humble abode.
Faye sat on the couch in awe. She heard Blair's words as he left but didn't pay much attention to them. He had killed innocent people. He didn't seem like the person that would harm a fly, yet he had spoken memories that he preferred to be forgotten. Innocents.Did Spike do the same? Was Spike capable of killing children and women? A feathery knock woke Faye up from her day dreaming state and she peeked out of the small peep hole that every apartment came equipped with. She could see nobody but the knocking persisted.
"Who is it?"
"Ku-ku-kachoo!! It IS you!!"
"Yeah, i'm me. Who is this?!"
"Why fiddle dee dee, Faye Faye!! It's me!! It's Edward!!!" Faye gasped and swung open the door to reveal a discombobulated Ed fall forward with an even more disoriented Ein by her side. Faye dashed by the genius hacker's side and hugged her.
"Ed!! How did you....Nevermind. What am I saying?! I'm just glad you're here! I need you to find out where I am and locate the Bebop."
"Why Faye-Faye! You're in the Overture Apartments on the East side of Mars!! And the Bebop....hmmm. I shall find them!!!" Ed yanked Faye's hand and proceeded to her apartment.
Spike collapsed against the ancient yellow couch and felt a small lump of human plop beside him. Serenity. She was a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. She saved his life made his life miserable in the same breath. It took an amazing person to perform such a feat and Serenity did it with grace and patience. Why she followed Spike, he had no idea. One minute he was walking towards the Bebop and the next he heard the small pitter patter of a child's feet skipping behind him. In all reality, he didn't mind quite that much. She said little or no words and would only talk when talked to. He figured that she was a tad bit po'ed about Spike's failure to save her precious Faye. What was her infatuation with the hustler anyway? But Spike had to admit himself, that he missed the company of Poker Alice and even felt a bit guilty at the fact that he couldn't save her. The guilt took up a big part of his mind. All he kept seeing was Faye reaching out towards him and smoke clouding his vision. He could still hear his name being screamed followed by a soft grunt. She had wanted him to save her and he couldn't. He failed her.
"You're back?" Jet walked out of the kitchen in his apron and stared, bewildered, at Spike. His eyes then darted to the little girl beside him. "And you have a kid?!"
"I baragained for a warmer welcome and don't think for one moment that she's mine. I can't get rid of her."
"Not another Ed..." Jet smacked his forehead in memory of how Ed popped into everyone's lives.
"Ohhh no. Not quite a genius. More like.....gifted."
"She's a good singer?"
"More like a healer and a psychic." Jet rubbed his bearded chin and sat down across from the couple.
"You don't say. Faye's goin to be more surprised that you're alive. I mean, she practically went berserk after you left." Spike lowered his head and lit a cigarette.
"Faye's not coming back."
"What?! Why not?"
"Because I let her get kidnapped by the most ruthless assassin who ever walked on Mars."
"Ye of little faith. Wow Spike, that confession was real chivalrous of you. Too bad I made it away from him to hear it." Jet, Spike, and Serenity all glanced up to see a worn Faye walk down the stairs to the lounge area. Spike's mismatched eye followed her every move, amazed that there wasn't wound on her besides her bloody forehead and bruised skull. She walked by the trio in her absolute glory, her strut feminine and tempting to even the most innocent of men. She motioned her head back to the doorway, violet hair flipping wildly. "Oh, yeah. I brought a friend."
"WOOHOOOO hehehehehe wheeeeeee!!!" Ed flew into the lounge area, arms buzzing about her and the same smile pasted upon the blush the would never leave her cheeks. However, Radical Ed paused infront of the peach haired child sitting before and scanned over her tiny form. "You replaced Ed?" Her amber orbs glazed over with unshed tears. Serenity cleared her throat, a bright grin playing on her lips.
"I was sent here to help. That's all. I'll be leaving as soon as my mission is done." Serenity's smile was so sincere that Ed couldn't help but return the same gesture.
"In that case, i'm Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the fourth. Twice removed!" Serenity bit her bottom lip from nerves. She wasn't used to this kind of excitement.
"Umm...Serenity." Faye brought her hand to her hip at the end of the small reunion/introduction and acknowledged the fact that she was heading off to bed. Spike secretly followed behind, concealing himself in the shadows. As soon as Faye hit the bed however, Spike was knocking on her door, endowed with medicinal supplies, which just so happened to include a bottle of whiskey. Faye sat straight up in bed, partially agitated that she wouldn't be getting any rest for the next few days.
"Thought i'd fix you up. You got pretty roughed up today."
"Nothing a band aid won't fix." Spike sat down beside her on the small cot that Jet liked to call a bed and began his nursing skills on Faye. She winced slightly when he put pressure on her cut, but besides that, she took it like a woman.
"So what all did he tell you?"
"Who?"
"Preacherman." Faye rested her head on the nearest pillow and pulled her legs up beside Spike. His focus was on one thing, although her legs happened to create an aversion for a moment.
"Don't call him that. He's a changed man Spike."
"You don't know him well enough to say that."
"I could see it in his eyes. Just like I see it in yours." He laid down beside and drew his hands up behind his head. Now would be a good time for a cigarette, but he didn't want to ruin the conversation by filling the room up with second hand smoke.
"And what exactly do you see when you look in my eyes."
"Fear. Admiration. Confusion. Stubborness."
"Damn you're good." Faye sighed, almost too loudly. She couldn't take being this close to the cowboy without breaking down her recent walls.
"So you really went berserk after I left." He expected, no wanted, a smartass, sassy answer from the woman next to him. But she turned towards him with a scrunched up brow and quivering lips.
"How can you ask such a question?! I almost broke down to you and revealed the some of my deepest secrets!! And you still walked out on me, on us! The Bebop crew!! When I got my memory back, I remember a conversation with my best friend. 'Home is where the heart is' he said. And I believe him. You took away my home. YOU were my home Spike." Her voice softened a bit at the last remark.
"What do you want from me?"
"I don't know what I want. I wanted you back, and I got you. But it's like you're not really here. I want you back."
"You never had me." His words were cold and sent chills throughout Faye's body.
"I know. You never gave yourself to me to let me consider you mine." She brought her knees up to her chest, only to be grabbed from behind; arms entertwining around her waist. She gasped as Spike's warm breath radiated off her neck.
"I was scared. I have never been that scared. To know what that man was capable of and not knowing if he would do the same to you. It scared me."
"I'm still here."
"I may not be that lucky next time." His grip tightened on Faye.
"Who says there will be a next time?" Spike's voice caught in his throat as he spoke the next question.
"Faye, can I keep you?" Faye's emerald orbs squashed together in bliss. How long had she waited for that question? She turned in Spike's firm embrace and buried her face into his bloodied shirt.
"Spike, you already had me. You were just too dumb to know it." Together, they fell upon the bed in the dark and fell asleep in each other's arms.
"You sleep like this all the time?" Serenity watched the teenage hacker curl up into a tight ball next to the Corgi on the stairway. She received a sleepy nod and wide yawn. Serenity shook her head and curled up beside the infamous Ed.
Faye had only been alseep for a few moments when Spike's grip on her shifted to her shoulders. Incoherent mumblings ran off his lips and Faye strained to make out a single sentence. He squeezed her shoulders once, causing Faye to wince in pain.
"Julia....come back to me...." Faye's eyes searched for another meaning but his demand was as clear as a bell. She succeeded in her first attempt to pry his hands from her body and wiped away a lone tear as she slid away from the flat mattress. She studied the sleeping Spike and managed a half smile.
"Nothing's changed, has it?" She backed up a bit until her back hit the wall. Tears were now falling freely and landing on the cold metal of the Bebop. Of her home. "See ya later space cowboy."
Dun dun dunnnnn. What's going to happen now? Your guess is as good as mine. By the way, I am going to be making another WHR fic and Trigun fic - if you're interested. So be watching for those!