Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop. 'Nuff said.
Dangerous Confessions
"Come on in. It's not much, but it's home," Persephone said as she led Spike into her apartment.
It certainly wasn't much, from the outside; the building had looked like it was ready for the demolition crew any day now. But the one-room apartment not counting the small bathroom seemed nice enough. There was a tiny area that just barely passed as a kitchen while the rest of the room was sparsely furnished with a couch, a rocking chair missing one slat, a coffee table littered with some old magazines and a dresser with some pictures frames neatly arranged. Other than the coffee table, the place was pretty clean. Persephone had always been one for cleanliness. Spike shook his head. She was such an unlikely person to have been through so much and have done so many bad things. Then again, he knew of at least one other woman who had been in a similar mess.
"Don't just stand there, make yourself comfortable. What can I get you to drink? I've got whisky, gin and tonic, and some ancient rum that was here when I moved in. What'll it be?" Persephone asked.
Spike laughed as he sat down on the couch. "I'll take the ancient rum."
"Ancient rum it'll be. You obviously still don't hold your life in much importance," Persephone said jokingly.
"Actually you're right," replied Spike, "I'm a bounty hunter now."
Persephone handed Spike a glass of the rum and settled into the rocking chair with a brandy snifter half filled with the burning liquor. She lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before answering.
"Is that so? Well, that's better than what you used to do. How'd you get away from them?"
"An act of God and some dumb luck," Spike answered as he lit up a cigarette of his own.
Persephone laughed bitterly. "They'll get you in the end you know. Not even an act of God can save you from them."
"I know, but as long as I'm alive, they won't get me."
Persephone didn't answer to that. They both knew how ridiculous that idea was. Spike shifted the subject to Persephone.
"What have you been up to? You're not walking the streets here are you?"
"In this cold? No. Anyway there's too much competition and this is only... a temporary situation." Persephone's voice faltered as she answered only the first question and took a nervous swig of whiskey.
No matter where you went on Pluto it was always freezing, outside and inside. And the fact that it was probably one of the worst scum holes in the galaxy didn't make things much better, so why the heck was Persephone here in the first place? What was she up to? Was she still working for them?
"What do you mean by 'temporary situation'?" asked Spike.
"Oh, well, um, it's nothing. Nothing important or anything like that." She was hiding something.
Spike took a sip of the rum and placed it on the coffee table. Faster than Persephone could see he had grabbed her left wrist and had pulled back the blouse sleeve. There tattooed on her left forearm was a white paw print with four blood red claws, the mark of the White Tigers.
Spike let go of Persephone's arm and sank back into the couch. Persephone covered up the brand and took a sip of her drink. She was shaking pretty badly. Spike ran his fingers through his dark fluffy hair. The silence could've been cut with a knife.
"Dammit Persephone. You were so close. So close to being free. What happened?"
"A lot can happen in three years Spike." She paused to look out the window as she pointlessly tried to rub away the mark. She finally sighed and began to speak.
"I was going to leave. And you're right I was close." Persephone gave a bitter laugh. "I even got so far as to tell Victor I was leaving. Can you imagine that? Me, a lowly prostitute turned assassin, was telling the leader of the White Tigers, the most dangerous crime organization this side of the asteroid belt, that I was leaving. And do you know what he said? He said fine! He even went so far as to wish me luck with any of my future plans. And you know what else? I believed him! I thought that since I wasn't a full member, since I didn't have the mark, I'd be free, that there was nothing they had on me." Persephone stopped to gulp her whiskey. She didn't continue her tale till she had finished her first cigarette and had lit up a second one.
"Anyway, after I told him, I figured I could go back to school maybe get a decent job and have a decent life for a change. But on the night I was taking the shuttle from Io back to Mars I... I was... they got me Spike. They were masked, but I knew who they were, who had sent them. They took me to an abandoned storage yard and did this." She pointed to where the tattoo was. "I thought it was bull, a mark can be gotten rid of. They still didn't have me. But then Victor showed up and he...he..." Persephone couldn't finish her sentence. Instead she pulled a gold chain out from under her blouse. Hanging from it was a blue and green locket that looked like a Faberge egg. She pulled off the necklace and handed it to Spike. He stared at it for a moment before taking it from her and opening it up. Inside was a picture of Persephone holding a laughing boy, who couldn't have been more than two. His hair was dirty blond, but his eyes were they same light grey as Persephone's. Spike snapped the locket shut as he stared down at the floor.
"His name's Keith. He'll be three in a few weeks. Victor has him and that's why I can't leave."
"Because if you do, he'll kill him?" Spike asked.
Persephone nodded. "They had decided I was too valuable to let me leave. So they decided to go with the old White Tigers' tradition of using children as insurance for loyalty- Listen Spike, I shouldn't have told you any of this. They could be watching us right now. They could kill you right now. They consider me too much of an asset to risk my escape. You're a bounty hunter, the bounty on me is 300 million Woo Long. Take me in, right now. It's the best way out for me and Keith will be safe."
Spike got up and went to the window. 300 million Woo Long was tempting, but no. Persephone was a friend and she deserved better than this.
"No Persephone. I won't take you in. But I will do this, I'll help you and your son get out of this mess."
Persephone snickered. "The last time I trusted someone to get me out of this mess only sank me deeper into it. And if I remember correctly it was you who gave me the idea to get out in the first place. It's because I trusted you that I wound up over my head in this. So tell me: why should I trust you now?"
"Because you already have by telling me this." He turned to look her in the eye. "You trusted me once before, you can do it again. Please I want to help you. You have a future Persephone, let me help you find it."
Persephone searched deeply in Spike's different colored eyes to see if he was being truthful. He had told her once that one eye looked into the past and the other one just looked. He had told her that he had no future. But if he believed she could have a future, one where she and her son would be safe, she would believe him. She had to believe him.
Dangerous Confessions
"Come on in. It's not much, but it's home," Persephone said as she led Spike into her apartment.
It certainly wasn't much, from the outside; the building had looked like it was ready for the demolition crew any day now. But the one-room apartment not counting the small bathroom seemed nice enough. There was a tiny area that just barely passed as a kitchen while the rest of the room was sparsely furnished with a couch, a rocking chair missing one slat, a coffee table littered with some old magazines and a dresser with some pictures frames neatly arranged. Other than the coffee table, the place was pretty clean. Persephone had always been one for cleanliness. Spike shook his head. She was such an unlikely person to have been through so much and have done so many bad things. Then again, he knew of at least one other woman who had been in a similar mess.
"Don't just stand there, make yourself comfortable. What can I get you to drink? I've got whisky, gin and tonic, and some ancient rum that was here when I moved in. What'll it be?" Persephone asked.
Spike laughed as he sat down on the couch. "I'll take the ancient rum."
"Ancient rum it'll be. You obviously still don't hold your life in much importance," Persephone said jokingly.
"Actually you're right," replied Spike, "I'm a bounty hunter now."
Persephone handed Spike a glass of the rum and settled into the rocking chair with a brandy snifter half filled with the burning liquor. She lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before answering.
"Is that so? Well, that's better than what you used to do. How'd you get away from them?"
"An act of God and some dumb luck," Spike answered as he lit up a cigarette of his own.
Persephone laughed bitterly. "They'll get you in the end you know. Not even an act of God can save you from them."
"I know, but as long as I'm alive, they won't get me."
Persephone didn't answer to that. They both knew how ridiculous that idea was. Spike shifted the subject to Persephone.
"What have you been up to? You're not walking the streets here are you?"
"In this cold? No. Anyway there's too much competition and this is only... a temporary situation." Persephone's voice faltered as she answered only the first question and took a nervous swig of whiskey.
No matter where you went on Pluto it was always freezing, outside and inside. And the fact that it was probably one of the worst scum holes in the galaxy didn't make things much better, so why the heck was Persephone here in the first place? What was she up to? Was she still working for them?
"What do you mean by 'temporary situation'?" asked Spike.
"Oh, well, um, it's nothing. Nothing important or anything like that." She was hiding something.
Spike took a sip of the rum and placed it on the coffee table. Faster than Persephone could see he had grabbed her left wrist and had pulled back the blouse sleeve. There tattooed on her left forearm was a white paw print with four blood red claws, the mark of the White Tigers.
Spike let go of Persephone's arm and sank back into the couch. Persephone covered up the brand and took a sip of her drink. She was shaking pretty badly. Spike ran his fingers through his dark fluffy hair. The silence could've been cut with a knife.
"Dammit Persephone. You were so close. So close to being free. What happened?"
"A lot can happen in three years Spike." She paused to look out the window as she pointlessly tried to rub away the mark. She finally sighed and began to speak.
"I was going to leave. And you're right I was close." Persephone gave a bitter laugh. "I even got so far as to tell Victor I was leaving. Can you imagine that? Me, a lowly prostitute turned assassin, was telling the leader of the White Tigers, the most dangerous crime organization this side of the asteroid belt, that I was leaving. And do you know what he said? He said fine! He even went so far as to wish me luck with any of my future plans. And you know what else? I believed him! I thought that since I wasn't a full member, since I didn't have the mark, I'd be free, that there was nothing they had on me." Persephone stopped to gulp her whiskey. She didn't continue her tale till she had finished her first cigarette and had lit up a second one.
"Anyway, after I told him, I figured I could go back to school maybe get a decent job and have a decent life for a change. But on the night I was taking the shuttle from Io back to Mars I... I was... they got me Spike. They were masked, but I knew who they were, who had sent them. They took me to an abandoned storage yard and did this." She pointed to where the tattoo was. "I thought it was bull, a mark can be gotten rid of. They still didn't have me. But then Victor showed up and he...he..." Persephone couldn't finish her sentence. Instead she pulled a gold chain out from under her blouse. Hanging from it was a blue and green locket that looked like a Faberge egg. She pulled off the necklace and handed it to Spike. He stared at it for a moment before taking it from her and opening it up. Inside was a picture of Persephone holding a laughing boy, who couldn't have been more than two. His hair was dirty blond, but his eyes were they same light grey as Persephone's. Spike snapped the locket shut as he stared down at the floor.
"His name's Keith. He'll be three in a few weeks. Victor has him and that's why I can't leave."
"Because if you do, he'll kill him?" Spike asked.
Persephone nodded. "They had decided I was too valuable to let me leave. So they decided to go with the old White Tigers' tradition of using children as insurance for loyalty- Listen Spike, I shouldn't have told you any of this. They could be watching us right now. They could kill you right now. They consider me too much of an asset to risk my escape. You're a bounty hunter, the bounty on me is 300 million Woo Long. Take me in, right now. It's the best way out for me and Keith will be safe."
Spike got up and went to the window. 300 million Woo Long was tempting, but no. Persephone was a friend and she deserved better than this.
"No Persephone. I won't take you in. But I will do this, I'll help you and your son get out of this mess."
Persephone snickered. "The last time I trusted someone to get me out of this mess only sank me deeper into it. And if I remember correctly it was you who gave me the idea to get out in the first place. It's because I trusted you that I wound up over my head in this. So tell me: why should I trust you now?"
"Because you already have by telling me this." He turned to look her in the eye. "You trusted me once before, you can do it again. Please I want to help you. You have a future Persephone, let me help you find it."
Persephone searched deeply in Spike's different colored eyes to see if he was being truthful. He had told her once that one eye looked into the past and the other one just looked. He had told her that he had no future. But if he believed she could have a future, one where she and her son would be safe, she would believe him. She had to believe him.