A/N: Poor response for last chapter. Oh well. As I understand it, people
are suffering from PMS (pre mid-term syndrome). I gotta go take the FCATS
in February and March myself, so don't feel bad. But, if you will, cross
your finger for me, ne?
Chapter 6: Waltz for the Moon
Rinoa glared at the computer screen in front of her as she had done for the past half hour. The pale glow of the monitor lit up her face, and the only sounds present were the buzzing of the computer and the ever- present humming of the ship.
"I've tried everything I could think of!" Rinoa exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I bet it was Squall who did this. Only he could do something to annoy me this much!"
The sound of footsteps echoed through the hall, and the door suddenly slid open. Rinoa cursed beneath her breath and tried to quickly shut down the computer, to no avail.
"Evil-Syndicate-Lady-Person?" a voice came from behind her. "Why you up so late?"
Rinoa chewed her lips for a moment before smiling kindly and turning to the half-asleep little girl next to her. "Edward! You should be asleep by now. But I guess since you're up, you can help me out. It'll be our little secret, okay? Now, I need you to tell me the access code to the communication line. They took my communicator away, and I really need to check with someone. Will you help me?"
Ed sat down on the floor and raised her leg to scratch behind her ear with her foot. "Mmm... Squall-person and Jet-person told me not to."
"But Ed! If you don't give me the password, something really bad will happen to me!"
Edward paused to think about it, and her empty stomach grumbled. "Edward is hungry!"
"I'll get you some food!" Rinoa promised. "But only if you give me the code."
Ed jumped up happily. "Deal!"
Dragging Edward through the darkened corridors with a hand clamped over her mouth and another hand tightly gripping one of her flailing limbs, Rinoa managed to get the two of them to the kitchen without waking anyone else up. Once there, she flicked the light on and began looking through the cabinets for something quick and easy to make.
"Well, what do you want?"
Edward jumped onto the counter and pulled out several containers of instant ramen. She pulled the cord off the bottom of one, then peeled off the lid, watching the steam rise from the noodles before emptying them down her throat.
"That's all?" Rinoa asked.
Edward nodded as she drained another cup of noodles, spilling half of them on her white tank top. "The password-password is 'raionkuro' all together-together."
Rinoa nodded and left Ed to her feast, quickly traveling back to the cockpit and attempting to log onto the communication line again. She entered the password that Ed told her, but was once again denied access.
"Shit! I should've known not to trust her," she groaned. "But where would she come up with such an unusual password? Maybe it opens something else?"
She ran a search of all the locked documents and programs on the computer, and one by one, she tried to access them until she hit on a folder called, 'Sukoru no Higeki'. She typed in the odd password for the equally odd titled file, and grinned when its contents were displayed for her.
The majority of the files were documents with a few other file types mixed in. She opened the first document and realized it was a copy of an old, on-line news article about the disbanding of the Black Lion Syndicate. Frowning, Rinoa skimmed over it and moved on to the next.
It was a simple, typed out document with what appeared to be a date for the title. It was only from a few years ago, and appeared to be a detailed account of an event from someone's point of view... she gasped as she realized it was a personal diary. Feeling guilty, she went to shut it down, but her curiosity got the better of her and she read through the document until she caught the name at the bottom. It belonged to one Squall Leonhart.
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"Well, you look lovely."
Faye turned toward the deep, teasing voice with an angered scowl. "When I agreed to come back, this was so not what I pictured myself doing."
Spike shrugged as he came to lean against the desk in front of her. "Hey, I did you a favor. Anyway, it's not like you actually have to do anything. Just play the part. Get him into the hotel room, and we'll take it from there."
"And what if he doesn't take the bait?"
Spike grinned. "Then you're fired again."
Faye lit up a cigarette and plopped unceremoniously into the chair in front of the desk. She crossed her legs, which were clad in black knee high boots and thigh-high fish net stockings before taking a long drag from the poisonous stick. "I know my skirt was short before," she complained. "But this is ridiculous."
The rest of her outfit consisted of a purple vinyl skirt that didn't even cover the bottom of her ass, a black sequined tube top, and a purple- feathered boa that was draped carelessly over her slim shoulders. Long gloves were pulled up her arms that matched the color of her eyes and the headband in her now messy violet hair. Sparkly grape-colored eye shadow and ruby lipstick painted her face in heavy coats, and her nails were painted hot pink with yellow zebra stripes across them.
"Don't you have other girls to play your whore?" she asked snappishly.
"Not my whore," he clarified. "Even my whores would be more stylish than that. Besides, you fit the part so perfectly, my dear," he taunted. The slap that followed echoed down the hallway. "I should fire you for that," he grumbled, rubbing his cheek. "I guess it was called for though."
"Damn straight!"
Spike held up his hands in defense. "Alright, calm down. Let's just go. We gotta get you on Venus Avenue before he makes his stop there, okay? Remember, he has long black hair and a beard, dark eyes and a deep voice. At least that's what we're hoping."
"What do you mean, hoping? Don't you know what he looks like?"
"Plastic surgery is inexpensive these days. Last guy we went after came under our custody as a woman."
"Alright," Faye sighed, flipping her hair. "I catch the guy's attention, take him to the Honey Bee Motel, and pick up the key for room 228. I get him there, and you'll take care of the rest. Or at least you better, otherwise I'm going to kill him myself, and kick your ass."
Spike laughed as they started down the hallway. "I would expect nothing less from you."
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Squall stumbled into the kitchen the next morning, stretching out his sore limbs and yawning. His eyes fell to the floor, and he stopped, rubbing his eyes in hope that what he'd seen wasn't real.
"What the hell happened here?" he demanded with a sigh of acceptance.
On the floor of the kitchen, Edward was sprawled out as if she'd been run over, her belly swollen and her top stained with broth and dried noodles. Empty ramen containers and spilled noodles littered the floor around her while she snored and muttered about pudding.
He bent down and shook the girl until her golden eyes fluttered open. "Shichi, hachi, kyu, konnichiwa to you, Squally-person," she muttered.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
Edward looked around her and sighed dreamily. "Foody-food. Evil- Syndicate-Person-Lady let Edward have it in exchange for the communication line password."
"And you gave it to her!"
"Edward was hungry," the little girl pouted.
With a string of curses that would make even a sailor from Callisto blush, he ran into the living area where he found Rinoa curled up beneath her blankets on the worn yellow couch.
"You tricked the kid into giving you the code and you're still here?" he questioned coldly.
"It doesn't matter," she replied quietly, without looking him in the eye. "The code she gave me didn't work."
"What about all the food you gave her? That was our dinner for tonight. Whatever else Jet scrounges up, you're not getting any until you've missed enough to make up for the ramen."
"My father won't be very happy that you starved me," she replied, this time summoning the courage to look at him.
"You think I care?"
He expected her to go into another fit, but instead, she just peeked at him over her covers and sighed. He scratched at the back of his neck, feeling uneasy at her silence, and was about to leave the room when Jet entered.
"Just got word of a new bounty over in Esthar. This information isn't public, an old police buddy tipped me off. This guy's worth half a million gil, and it's almost certain that he's going to show up at an elite party tonight. We'll get Ed to do some hacking and get our names on the list."
"Speaking of Ed, she's eaten five cartons of Ramen. Rinoa gave it to her in exchange for the password to the computer."
"Ed gave it to her?"
"Yeah, but it didn't work."
Jet turned a disapproving gaze to Rinoa. "Now I've been pretty tolerant of you so far. You seem like a nice girl, even if you are troublesome. But you have to understand that food's scarce around here, and you just cost us a lot of it."
"I told her she's not getting any food until the ramen's accounted for," Squall interjected.
"We can't starve her to death, Squall!" Jet exclaimed. "I knew you were heartless but I never knew you were cruel! Anyway, she can pay it off by helping us bag this bounty. One of us going alone, of two guys together is gonna look suspicious. So, Rinoa, you'll go with Squall to this shindig and help nab that half million. That should more than cover the ramen."
"With me? No way!" Squall said. "Why don't you go?"
"And look like a cradle-robber? No thanks, buddy. Besides, I'm not into to dressing up all fancy."
"Neither am I," Squall growled through clenched teeth. "Why don't you send Zell then?"
"You know he's not good in the field. Come on Squall, it's just for one night. Besides, I hear they're serving food there. You get food, a beautiful girl on your arm, and a pretty hefty bounty. What are you complaining about?"
"Whatever!" he yelled in irritation before stomping off to his room.
"Is he always this moody?" Rinoa asked.
"In the few years that I've known him... well, only every single day. Still, I've never seen him get as riled up as he does when you're around."
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Faye sighed as she noticed the sleek black car pull into the street and slowly cruise along. She had a bad feeling about the way things were going to turn out with this, but she knew telling Spike was a waste of breath. So instead, she pranced around at the corner of Venus Avenue and Washington Drive, making sure to put a little extra sway in her hips as she paced.
The car was coming closer now, and slowing down even further as it neared her. There were lots of women out working the street today, but she was by far the best looking one, no matter how tackily she was dressed.
The vehicle pulled to a stop at the curb, and she smiled, strutting up to the window opposite the passenger side and leaning her elbows on the door once he let down the fiberglass panel.
"Hey there, cutie," she greeted smoothly, despite the uneasy feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach as she gazed into his intensely dark eyes. "You look like you could use some company."
"Maybe," he replied in a low, guttural voice. "I just got into to town, though, and I don't have a place to stay. Any suggestions?"
Warning bells sounded in her mind, but she knew there was no way she could protest now. This was far too easy. Still, Spike was expecting her, and she didn't want to lose her job again. "Well, the Honey Bee Motel is right down the street. I know the owner. I can get you a discount on one of the best rooms."
He regarded her with the cold, void pools of his eyes before nodding his consent. "Get in."
The ride to the motel was short, of course, and she soon found herself walking into the shabby motel on the arm of the tall, mysterious stranger. She winked at the man at the front desk, who wordlessly tossed her a key card to room 228. She glanced up at her 'customer' and forced a smile. His very demeanor sent a chill up her spine, but Faye Valentine was not one to miss a beat.
(Every great woman must be a great actress) she thought as they took the elevator up.
"You know," he began, "I've been down this street many times before. Yet, I've never seen you there until today."
"I just changed locations," she spouted off flawlessly. "I used to work the train station area. You know, Augusta Street."
He didn't say another word as the elevator came to a stop on their floor, and they stepped out, Faye leading the way to the room. As he was closing and locking the door behind them, she heard a faint, but all to familiar 'click'.
She spun around, only to have him grab her by her hair and press the icy end of his pistol to her neck. His eyes wandered the room suspiciously before he said, "I know you're watching, Spiegel. You better come get your whore before I blow her away."
In the room across the hall, Spike and a few other Red Dragon members were seated around a computer monitor, watching as Faye whined, "I am NOT his whore!"
"Dammit!" Spike cursed, slamming his fist into the desk and causing the computer to jump. "He was on to us. You guys spread out and make sure he doesn't leave the room. I'm going in!"
Faye's captor pulled her hair harder as she yelled in protest, which prompted her temper to flare, and the sharply pointed heel of her boot to come crashing down on the arch of his foot. He hissed in pain, his eyes crushed shut and his grip tightening.
During that split second of distraction, Spike busted down the door and took a shot at the black-clad man, injuring his hand and skimming Faye's neck.
"Hey, watch it, lunkhead!" she complained as she dove out of the way.
"Vincent Volaju," Spike growled. "Long time no see."
The man before him clutched at his hand and smirked. "Yes, it has been awhile. And it seems you haven't changed a bit. Still just as reckless and impulsive as ever. Really Spike, did you think I'd let myself be found so easily?"
"It's been three years. What more do you have to hide?"
Vincent grinned in a way that made demons look saintly, reaching into his coat pocket, and producing what looked to be a grenade. "Tell me, Spike. Do you still live in purgatory as well?"
Before Spike could answer, Vincent threw the grenade to the before turning his back and running for the window. Smoke instantly filled the room, and Spike fired in the direction Vincent had disappeared, a coughing fit jerking his body and causing the bullets to fly in all different directions before they were swallowed by the fog. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room, and Spike lurched forward, before tumbling to the ground next to Faye. The two scrambled up and ran for the broken window, desperately trying to suck in fresh air.
"This is never gonna work," Spike wheezed, and without further warning, launched himself into the street below.
"Bastard," Faye grumbled before jumping down herself and gracefully landing on her feet as if she were born a cat.
With her long, slender legs working double time, she caught up to Spike within a few minutes. He was climbing into the Swordfish, preparing to go after Vincent who had his own ship park only a block down. Faye jumped into the cockpit next to him just as the hatch was slamming shut.
"We discussed this before!" Spike yelled. "Your ass is too big for you to be in here with me!"
"Just shut up and drive!"
Above them, Vincent's own black ship rose into the sky and took off for space. With an angry growl, Spike slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and prepared to make chase.
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Esthar was huge, even compared to Deling City. This was the first thing Rinoa noticed as she peered through the window of the Ragnarok, Squall's own blazing red ship. He sat beside her in silence, his mouth drawn into a thin line and his jaw set in irritation. For once, she wasn't going to try and make him speak to her. The typically unnerving silence was more than welcome now.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was that made her feel so guilty. After all, stumbling upon his files had only been an accident. Still, she knew that she had inadvertently intruded on a secret that, from what she read, only a handful of other people knew about. Moreover, in that file hidden away in the deep recesses of the ships computer, Squall had actually expressed his thoughts and emotions, and no one, especially her, was ever meant to know of them.
"Rinoa," his terse voice reached her ears through her reverie. "We're here. Are you coming, or not?"
Rinoa realized with a start, that while she'd been lost to the wanderings of her mind, Squall had landed the ship in front of a huge, white stone building. Blushing, she gathered her sheer white wrap around her shoulders and stepped out of the ship before wrapping an arm around his in order to keep up the guise of a happy couple... Well, a couple, anyway. With Squall's constant scowling, the happy part simply wasn't believable.
"Who are we going after, anyway?" she asked in a hushed tone as they entered the lobby.
He paused to give the guard the fake name that Edward had placed on their list, before heading into the ballroom and replying, "His name's Mao Yenrai. He's supposed to be doing some rotten business deals with some rotten people."
"I see," she replied and gazed around the sparkling room filled with dancing couples and mingling socialites. It was an all too common scene for the General's daughter. "So what, we just stand around until we see him, grab him and go? Right in the middle of a party?"
"That's the plan. We have to wait for the right opportunity of course, but that shouldn't be any problem for me. Just make sure that when the time comes, you don't get in my way."
"I'm not a child," Rinoa frowned.
"Could've fooled me."
"Whatever," she sighed. "Look, lets just do something. We can't just stand around, that would look suspicious."
"Speaking of which, you're acting awfully suspicious. Are you sick again?"
Her sullen face faltered, and softened as she turned to look at him once more. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. It's uncharacteristically kind of you."
His scowl deepened. "It's not like I care. I'm just being cautious. We can't afford to have anything go wrong here. Yenrai is that biggest bounty out right now, if we don't catch him, we don't eat for a while."
"Well, in that case, let's go dance," she replied, tugging him toward the crowded dance floor.
"What? What does dancing have to do with catching a bounty? I don't dance, dammit, and I'm not about to start!"
Rinoa stopped toward the middle of the floor and placed one of his hands on her hip and took the other in her own. "I already told you, just standing around and waiting for this guy to show up is gonna look suspicious. We have to do something, and dancing is a normal thing for couples to do at a party. Besides, it's fun."
"My idea of fun and your idea of fun are two very different things."
She giggled as they began a slow, cautious dance all their own. "Yeah, your idea of fun is sitting around and staring at the walls."
"Whatever."
"You lied, you know," Rinoa pointed out. "You're dancing just fine."
"This isn't the first fancy party I've been to," he muttered.
She realized then why he must've been so set against coming here. This was exactly the kind of thing he might've done in the syndicate, and it was obvious that he wanted to leave that part of his life behind. She unconsciously shifted closer to him, placing her arms around his neck.
"It's not my first either," she whispered back. "General Caraway was always hosting these kinds of parties, and I was always required to go. He would drag me around from person to person, showing me off like some kind of trophy. He did the same to my mother before she died. There were few things that I hated more."
"Your father was a warrior, and he expected you to be one, too, even if it wasn't on the battlefield. It was your job to play the role of the perfect daughter, and push aside whatever negative feelings you had."
"So you think that what he did was right?"
Squall sighed in frustration. "I didn't say that. I'm just saying that since there was nothing you could do, you shouldn't have let it get to you."
Rinoa rested her head on his shoulder, gently nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck as she slowly drifted off into a dream-like trance. "It's not like you never had feelings, either."
"I never cared enough to," he answered softly as he felt his cheeks redden from her close proximity.
"But you did care," she murmured without thinking. "Otherwise it wouldn't have hurt so much when the syndicate betrayed you."
He came to a complete stop, and his muscles tensed, sending the message through the haze of her mind that something was wrong. She pulled back and opened her eyes, finding his intense gaze leveled at her with such a smoldering anger that he nearly scared her.
"How did you-"
"Mr. Yenrai!" someone greeted loudly from across the room. "So nice to meet you!"
Squall roughly pushed Rinoa away. "We'll talk about this later."
She watched with a sinking heart as he walked off to go talk to Mao. She strained her ears to hear them talk as she stepped off the dance floor and took a seat at an empty table.
"Mr. Yenrai, pleased to meet you. I hear you've come across some good deals lately."
The older, dark-haired man laughed. "Yes, I've been very fortunate."
"Mind sharing the secret?"
"Oh, I don't think this business is for everyone. It's very... special."
"I understand completely. Trust me, I don't mind. I'm good with all kinds of business."
Mao smiled. "Well then, boy, why don't we find a more private place to discuss this? I'm sure my business partner will be thrilled to have a new investor."
As the two men started to leave, Squall turned to Rinoa and mouthed the words, 'Be ready to go' to her. She nodded her head and decided she's take advantage of a free drink or two before heading out to the Ragnarok. She had the feeling she would need it, before the night was through.
Once Squall and Mao were out of the ballroom, Squall grabbed for the handcuffs hidden in his suit jacket. "You're worth an awful lot of money, Mr. Yenrai."
He hadn't expected the old, beer-bellied man to be so fast, but before he could make a move for him, Mao had pulled a small pistol from his own jacket and was aiming for him. Squall made a grab for Mao's gun, only to feel a sharp, burning pain shoot through his hand. He clutched at his bloodied palm for a second, and Mao took the opportunity to run. After a moment, Squall recovered enough to grab for his own gun and chase after the man.
Squall finally caught up to him at the backdoor, and tackled him to the ground. A moment later, Mao Yenrai had his hands bound behind his back, and was being led to the Ragnarok. Squall shoved the old man in the back, and was about to take off when he realized Rinoa wasn't there yet.
After a brief battle with his conscience over whether to just leave her there or not, he locked Mao inside and stopped off into the building once more in search of the pain in the ass woman. Rinoa came out just as Squall was about to go in, and cowered beneath the murderous look on his face.
"I told you to be ready to go!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd have him that fast!"
"When I tell you to do something, don't think just do it! That kind of attitude is gonna cost you dearly in the long run."
"Why, because I'm not a mindless drone?" she demanded. "I least I know better than to waste my time arguing over nothing when the bounty is about to highjack my ship!"
"What?!"
Squall turned around to see that Mao had escaped from his binds and was now in the front seat of the Ragnarok, trying to work the controls. Squall fired a warning shot through the windshield on the passenger side, and Mao abandoned his attempts to get the giant bird flying, and instead scrambled out the door to another unattended vehicle. Squall continued to fire, but with the amount of distance between him and the escaping man, his aim was slightly off. He finally put his pistol away and took off running with Rinoa close on his heels.
By this time, Mao had control of another ship, and was slowly rising into the sky. The wailing of sirens echoed down the street, and before Squall and Rinoa could reach their own ship, three cop cars cut them off, letting Mao escape into the safety of space once more.
"You! What do you think you're doing here?" one of the officers demanded as he stepped out of his car.
"Trying to catch a bounty, sir," Squall replied.
"You got a license?"
With a weary expression, a tired sigh, and a death glare aimed at Rinoa, Squall dug out his wallet and began pulling out his bounty hunting license and registration papers.
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"So... Wasn't the best night for bounty hunting, huh?" Rinoa laughed nervously as they walked along the moonlit docks toward the Bebop. After the cops had let them go, they dropped the Ragnarok off at a repair shop to get the windshield fixed, before walking the rest of the way to the harbor.
Squall didn't say anything. In fact, he hadn't said a word to her since their argument on the steps outside the banquet. Though he tried to contain it, she could feel the rage and tension pouring off from him, almost like a warning sign to those around him that he was gonna go off at any minute. Still, the silence was unbearable, and she wanted him to at least acknowledge that she was there, something else he hadn't done since the party.
"Squall, come on. I said I was sorry."
"Sorry?" he repeated quietly, which made Rinoa wince. "This is the second time, Rinoa. The second fuckin' time you got in the way! The second time you made me lose my bounty! No one is going to be able to eat because of you!"
She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"I don't care!" he interrupted with a roar. "It's bad enough that you made me lose two bounties, ran away, gave a week's supply of food to the kid, and don't pull your weight around the ship... but you've been snooping around the computer, too, haven't you?"
"It was an accident, really. Edward somehow discovered the password to your locked folder, and told me it was the password to the communication line. When the password didn't work for that, I searched for other locked files and programs, hoping I could get something out of it. I found your folder and opened it, without knowing what it was. I didn't realize it was yours until I got to the bottom of the file, where your name was."
"What did you read about?" he asked. His voice was calm now, but she knew that any minute now, he could go off again.
"The real reason the syndicate disbanded," she replied. "About how they betrayed you, and how much it-"
"Enough. I've heard enough."
"Squall, it was just an accident, I swear I didn't mean-"
"I said I've heard enough. You're more trouble than you're worth! Caraway hasn't offered up that reward yet, and at this rate, it doesn't look like he will at all. He probably doesn't want you back anymore than I want you here!" His back was turned to her, as he spoke, and he couldn't see the two silver streams that traced their way down her porcelain cheeks. "You've been nothing but a pain in the ass this entire time!"
"I'm sorry," she choked out. "Just take me back to the Red Dragon Headquarters."
"And give you another chance to fuck things up? No way! You have money, hitch a ride out of here! You're not going any place else with us!"
"You're just... going to leave me here?"
"Yes."
With that he walked off, heading into the Bebop and leaving her to stand alone on the pier. She stared hard at the slightly rusted ship that had been her home for nearly a week, before she turned on her heels and began to run as far away as she could from it, with only the moonlight above to guide her.
She had her freedom now... So why did she want to just break down and cry?
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"What do you mean, we're out of fuel!?"
"Just what I said, Faye. We're alone, drifting in space, all systems are down, Vincent has escaped to Esthar, and we have no fuel..."
**
See you Space Cowboy...
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Next Session: "They could see nothing in the room but each other, could feel nothing but the all-consuming hatred born from years of secrets and pain. Like an unseen ghost, or a fly on the wall, I could only watch helplessly as blood pooled on the floor, and pray that if I closed my eyes and cried enough, I would awake, safe in his embrace." Session 7: An Elegy for Innocence
Chapter 6: Waltz for the Moon
Rinoa glared at the computer screen in front of her as she had done for the past half hour. The pale glow of the monitor lit up her face, and the only sounds present were the buzzing of the computer and the ever- present humming of the ship.
"I've tried everything I could think of!" Rinoa exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I bet it was Squall who did this. Only he could do something to annoy me this much!"
The sound of footsteps echoed through the hall, and the door suddenly slid open. Rinoa cursed beneath her breath and tried to quickly shut down the computer, to no avail.
"Evil-Syndicate-Lady-Person?" a voice came from behind her. "Why you up so late?"
Rinoa chewed her lips for a moment before smiling kindly and turning to the half-asleep little girl next to her. "Edward! You should be asleep by now. But I guess since you're up, you can help me out. It'll be our little secret, okay? Now, I need you to tell me the access code to the communication line. They took my communicator away, and I really need to check with someone. Will you help me?"
Ed sat down on the floor and raised her leg to scratch behind her ear with her foot. "Mmm... Squall-person and Jet-person told me not to."
"But Ed! If you don't give me the password, something really bad will happen to me!"
Edward paused to think about it, and her empty stomach grumbled. "Edward is hungry!"
"I'll get you some food!" Rinoa promised. "But only if you give me the code."
Ed jumped up happily. "Deal!"
Dragging Edward through the darkened corridors with a hand clamped over her mouth and another hand tightly gripping one of her flailing limbs, Rinoa managed to get the two of them to the kitchen without waking anyone else up. Once there, she flicked the light on and began looking through the cabinets for something quick and easy to make.
"Well, what do you want?"
Edward jumped onto the counter and pulled out several containers of instant ramen. She pulled the cord off the bottom of one, then peeled off the lid, watching the steam rise from the noodles before emptying them down her throat.
"That's all?" Rinoa asked.
Edward nodded as she drained another cup of noodles, spilling half of them on her white tank top. "The password-password is 'raionkuro' all together-together."
Rinoa nodded and left Ed to her feast, quickly traveling back to the cockpit and attempting to log onto the communication line again. She entered the password that Ed told her, but was once again denied access.
"Shit! I should've known not to trust her," she groaned. "But where would she come up with such an unusual password? Maybe it opens something else?"
She ran a search of all the locked documents and programs on the computer, and one by one, she tried to access them until she hit on a folder called, 'Sukoru no Higeki'. She typed in the odd password for the equally odd titled file, and grinned when its contents were displayed for her.
The majority of the files were documents with a few other file types mixed in. She opened the first document and realized it was a copy of an old, on-line news article about the disbanding of the Black Lion Syndicate. Frowning, Rinoa skimmed over it and moved on to the next.
It was a simple, typed out document with what appeared to be a date for the title. It was only from a few years ago, and appeared to be a detailed account of an event from someone's point of view... she gasped as she realized it was a personal diary. Feeling guilty, she went to shut it down, but her curiosity got the better of her and she read through the document until she caught the name at the bottom. It belonged to one Squall Leonhart.
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"Well, you look lovely."
Faye turned toward the deep, teasing voice with an angered scowl. "When I agreed to come back, this was so not what I pictured myself doing."
Spike shrugged as he came to lean against the desk in front of her. "Hey, I did you a favor. Anyway, it's not like you actually have to do anything. Just play the part. Get him into the hotel room, and we'll take it from there."
"And what if he doesn't take the bait?"
Spike grinned. "Then you're fired again."
Faye lit up a cigarette and plopped unceremoniously into the chair in front of the desk. She crossed her legs, which were clad in black knee high boots and thigh-high fish net stockings before taking a long drag from the poisonous stick. "I know my skirt was short before," she complained. "But this is ridiculous."
The rest of her outfit consisted of a purple vinyl skirt that didn't even cover the bottom of her ass, a black sequined tube top, and a purple- feathered boa that was draped carelessly over her slim shoulders. Long gloves were pulled up her arms that matched the color of her eyes and the headband in her now messy violet hair. Sparkly grape-colored eye shadow and ruby lipstick painted her face in heavy coats, and her nails were painted hot pink with yellow zebra stripes across them.
"Don't you have other girls to play your whore?" she asked snappishly.
"Not my whore," he clarified. "Even my whores would be more stylish than that. Besides, you fit the part so perfectly, my dear," he taunted. The slap that followed echoed down the hallway. "I should fire you for that," he grumbled, rubbing his cheek. "I guess it was called for though."
"Damn straight!"
Spike held up his hands in defense. "Alright, calm down. Let's just go. We gotta get you on Venus Avenue before he makes his stop there, okay? Remember, he has long black hair and a beard, dark eyes and a deep voice. At least that's what we're hoping."
"What do you mean, hoping? Don't you know what he looks like?"
"Plastic surgery is inexpensive these days. Last guy we went after came under our custody as a woman."
"Alright," Faye sighed, flipping her hair. "I catch the guy's attention, take him to the Honey Bee Motel, and pick up the key for room 228. I get him there, and you'll take care of the rest. Or at least you better, otherwise I'm going to kill him myself, and kick your ass."
Spike laughed as they started down the hallway. "I would expect nothing less from you."
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Squall stumbled into the kitchen the next morning, stretching out his sore limbs and yawning. His eyes fell to the floor, and he stopped, rubbing his eyes in hope that what he'd seen wasn't real.
"What the hell happened here?" he demanded with a sigh of acceptance.
On the floor of the kitchen, Edward was sprawled out as if she'd been run over, her belly swollen and her top stained with broth and dried noodles. Empty ramen containers and spilled noodles littered the floor around her while she snored and muttered about pudding.
He bent down and shook the girl until her golden eyes fluttered open. "Shichi, hachi, kyu, konnichiwa to you, Squally-person," she muttered.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
Edward looked around her and sighed dreamily. "Foody-food. Evil- Syndicate-Person-Lady let Edward have it in exchange for the communication line password."
"And you gave it to her!"
"Edward was hungry," the little girl pouted.
With a string of curses that would make even a sailor from Callisto blush, he ran into the living area where he found Rinoa curled up beneath her blankets on the worn yellow couch.
"You tricked the kid into giving you the code and you're still here?" he questioned coldly.
"It doesn't matter," she replied quietly, without looking him in the eye. "The code she gave me didn't work."
"What about all the food you gave her? That was our dinner for tonight. Whatever else Jet scrounges up, you're not getting any until you've missed enough to make up for the ramen."
"My father won't be very happy that you starved me," she replied, this time summoning the courage to look at him.
"You think I care?"
He expected her to go into another fit, but instead, she just peeked at him over her covers and sighed. He scratched at the back of his neck, feeling uneasy at her silence, and was about to leave the room when Jet entered.
"Just got word of a new bounty over in Esthar. This information isn't public, an old police buddy tipped me off. This guy's worth half a million gil, and it's almost certain that he's going to show up at an elite party tonight. We'll get Ed to do some hacking and get our names on the list."
"Speaking of Ed, she's eaten five cartons of Ramen. Rinoa gave it to her in exchange for the password to the computer."
"Ed gave it to her?"
"Yeah, but it didn't work."
Jet turned a disapproving gaze to Rinoa. "Now I've been pretty tolerant of you so far. You seem like a nice girl, even if you are troublesome. But you have to understand that food's scarce around here, and you just cost us a lot of it."
"I told her she's not getting any food until the ramen's accounted for," Squall interjected.
"We can't starve her to death, Squall!" Jet exclaimed. "I knew you were heartless but I never knew you were cruel! Anyway, she can pay it off by helping us bag this bounty. One of us going alone, of two guys together is gonna look suspicious. So, Rinoa, you'll go with Squall to this shindig and help nab that half million. That should more than cover the ramen."
"With me? No way!" Squall said. "Why don't you go?"
"And look like a cradle-robber? No thanks, buddy. Besides, I'm not into to dressing up all fancy."
"Neither am I," Squall growled through clenched teeth. "Why don't you send Zell then?"
"You know he's not good in the field. Come on Squall, it's just for one night. Besides, I hear they're serving food there. You get food, a beautiful girl on your arm, and a pretty hefty bounty. What are you complaining about?"
"Whatever!" he yelled in irritation before stomping off to his room.
"Is he always this moody?" Rinoa asked.
"In the few years that I've known him... well, only every single day. Still, I've never seen him get as riled up as he does when you're around."
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Faye sighed as she noticed the sleek black car pull into the street and slowly cruise along. She had a bad feeling about the way things were going to turn out with this, but she knew telling Spike was a waste of breath. So instead, she pranced around at the corner of Venus Avenue and Washington Drive, making sure to put a little extra sway in her hips as she paced.
The car was coming closer now, and slowing down even further as it neared her. There were lots of women out working the street today, but she was by far the best looking one, no matter how tackily she was dressed.
The vehicle pulled to a stop at the curb, and she smiled, strutting up to the window opposite the passenger side and leaning her elbows on the door once he let down the fiberglass panel.
"Hey there, cutie," she greeted smoothly, despite the uneasy feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach as she gazed into his intensely dark eyes. "You look like you could use some company."
"Maybe," he replied in a low, guttural voice. "I just got into to town, though, and I don't have a place to stay. Any suggestions?"
Warning bells sounded in her mind, but she knew there was no way she could protest now. This was far too easy. Still, Spike was expecting her, and she didn't want to lose her job again. "Well, the Honey Bee Motel is right down the street. I know the owner. I can get you a discount on one of the best rooms."
He regarded her with the cold, void pools of his eyes before nodding his consent. "Get in."
The ride to the motel was short, of course, and she soon found herself walking into the shabby motel on the arm of the tall, mysterious stranger. She winked at the man at the front desk, who wordlessly tossed her a key card to room 228. She glanced up at her 'customer' and forced a smile. His very demeanor sent a chill up her spine, but Faye Valentine was not one to miss a beat.
(Every great woman must be a great actress) she thought as they took the elevator up.
"You know," he began, "I've been down this street many times before. Yet, I've never seen you there until today."
"I just changed locations," she spouted off flawlessly. "I used to work the train station area. You know, Augusta Street."
He didn't say another word as the elevator came to a stop on their floor, and they stepped out, Faye leading the way to the room. As he was closing and locking the door behind them, she heard a faint, but all to familiar 'click'.
She spun around, only to have him grab her by her hair and press the icy end of his pistol to her neck. His eyes wandered the room suspiciously before he said, "I know you're watching, Spiegel. You better come get your whore before I blow her away."
In the room across the hall, Spike and a few other Red Dragon members were seated around a computer monitor, watching as Faye whined, "I am NOT his whore!"
"Dammit!" Spike cursed, slamming his fist into the desk and causing the computer to jump. "He was on to us. You guys spread out and make sure he doesn't leave the room. I'm going in!"
Faye's captor pulled her hair harder as she yelled in protest, which prompted her temper to flare, and the sharply pointed heel of her boot to come crashing down on the arch of his foot. He hissed in pain, his eyes crushed shut and his grip tightening.
During that split second of distraction, Spike busted down the door and took a shot at the black-clad man, injuring his hand and skimming Faye's neck.
"Hey, watch it, lunkhead!" she complained as she dove out of the way.
"Vincent Volaju," Spike growled. "Long time no see."
The man before him clutched at his hand and smirked. "Yes, it has been awhile. And it seems you haven't changed a bit. Still just as reckless and impulsive as ever. Really Spike, did you think I'd let myself be found so easily?"
"It's been three years. What more do you have to hide?"
Vincent grinned in a way that made demons look saintly, reaching into his coat pocket, and producing what looked to be a grenade. "Tell me, Spike. Do you still live in purgatory as well?"
Before Spike could answer, Vincent threw the grenade to the before turning his back and running for the window. Smoke instantly filled the room, and Spike fired in the direction Vincent had disappeared, a coughing fit jerking his body and causing the bullets to fly in all different directions before they were swallowed by the fog. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room, and Spike lurched forward, before tumbling to the ground next to Faye. The two scrambled up and ran for the broken window, desperately trying to suck in fresh air.
"This is never gonna work," Spike wheezed, and without further warning, launched himself into the street below.
"Bastard," Faye grumbled before jumping down herself and gracefully landing on her feet as if she were born a cat.
With her long, slender legs working double time, she caught up to Spike within a few minutes. He was climbing into the Swordfish, preparing to go after Vincent who had his own ship park only a block down. Faye jumped into the cockpit next to him just as the hatch was slamming shut.
"We discussed this before!" Spike yelled. "Your ass is too big for you to be in here with me!"
"Just shut up and drive!"
Above them, Vincent's own black ship rose into the sky and took off for space. With an angry growl, Spike slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and prepared to make chase.
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Esthar was huge, even compared to Deling City. This was the first thing Rinoa noticed as she peered through the window of the Ragnarok, Squall's own blazing red ship. He sat beside her in silence, his mouth drawn into a thin line and his jaw set in irritation. For once, she wasn't going to try and make him speak to her. The typically unnerving silence was more than welcome now.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was that made her feel so guilty. After all, stumbling upon his files had only been an accident. Still, she knew that she had inadvertently intruded on a secret that, from what she read, only a handful of other people knew about. Moreover, in that file hidden away in the deep recesses of the ships computer, Squall had actually expressed his thoughts and emotions, and no one, especially her, was ever meant to know of them.
"Rinoa," his terse voice reached her ears through her reverie. "We're here. Are you coming, or not?"
Rinoa realized with a start, that while she'd been lost to the wanderings of her mind, Squall had landed the ship in front of a huge, white stone building. Blushing, she gathered her sheer white wrap around her shoulders and stepped out of the ship before wrapping an arm around his in order to keep up the guise of a happy couple... Well, a couple, anyway. With Squall's constant scowling, the happy part simply wasn't believable.
"Who are we going after, anyway?" she asked in a hushed tone as they entered the lobby.
He paused to give the guard the fake name that Edward had placed on their list, before heading into the ballroom and replying, "His name's Mao Yenrai. He's supposed to be doing some rotten business deals with some rotten people."
"I see," she replied and gazed around the sparkling room filled with dancing couples and mingling socialites. It was an all too common scene for the General's daughter. "So what, we just stand around until we see him, grab him and go? Right in the middle of a party?"
"That's the plan. We have to wait for the right opportunity of course, but that shouldn't be any problem for me. Just make sure that when the time comes, you don't get in my way."
"I'm not a child," Rinoa frowned.
"Could've fooled me."
"Whatever," she sighed. "Look, lets just do something. We can't just stand around, that would look suspicious."
"Speaking of which, you're acting awfully suspicious. Are you sick again?"
Her sullen face faltered, and softened as she turned to look at him once more. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. It's uncharacteristically kind of you."
His scowl deepened. "It's not like I care. I'm just being cautious. We can't afford to have anything go wrong here. Yenrai is that biggest bounty out right now, if we don't catch him, we don't eat for a while."
"Well, in that case, let's go dance," she replied, tugging him toward the crowded dance floor.
"What? What does dancing have to do with catching a bounty? I don't dance, dammit, and I'm not about to start!"
Rinoa stopped toward the middle of the floor and placed one of his hands on her hip and took the other in her own. "I already told you, just standing around and waiting for this guy to show up is gonna look suspicious. We have to do something, and dancing is a normal thing for couples to do at a party. Besides, it's fun."
"My idea of fun and your idea of fun are two very different things."
She giggled as they began a slow, cautious dance all their own. "Yeah, your idea of fun is sitting around and staring at the walls."
"Whatever."
"You lied, you know," Rinoa pointed out. "You're dancing just fine."
"This isn't the first fancy party I've been to," he muttered.
She realized then why he must've been so set against coming here. This was exactly the kind of thing he might've done in the syndicate, and it was obvious that he wanted to leave that part of his life behind. She unconsciously shifted closer to him, placing her arms around his neck.
"It's not my first either," she whispered back. "General Caraway was always hosting these kinds of parties, and I was always required to go. He would drag me around from person to person, showing me off like some kind of trophy. He did the same to my mother before she died. There were few things that I hated more."
"Your father was a warrior, and he expected you to be one, too, even if it wasn't on the battlefield. It was your job to play the role of the perfect daughter, and push aside whatever negative feelings you had."
"So you think that what he did was right?"
Squall sighed in frustration. "I didn't say that. I'm just saying that since there was nothing you could do, you shouldn't have let it get to you."
Rinoa rested her head on his shoulder, gently nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck as she slowly drifted off into a dream-like trance. "It's not like you never had feelings, either."
"I never cared enough to," he answered softly as he felt his cheeks redden from her close proximity.
"But you did care," she murmured without thinking. "Otherwise it wouldn't have hurt so much when the syndicate betrayed you."
He came to a complete stop, and his muscles tensed, sending the message through the haze of her mind that something was wrong. She pulled back and opened her eyes, finding his intense gaze leveled at her with such a smoldering anger that he nearly scared her.
"How did you-"
"Mr. Yenrai!" someone greeted loudly from across the room. "So nice to meet you!"
Squall roughly pushed Rinoa away. "We'll talk about this later."
She watched with a sinking heart as he walked off to go talk to Mao. She strained her ears to hear them talk as she stepped off the dance floor and took a seat at an empty table.
"Mr. Yenrai, pleased to meet you. I hear you've come across some good deals lately."
The older, dark-haired man laughed. "Yes, I've been very fortunate."
"Mind sharing the secret?"
"Oh, I don't think this business is for everyone. It's very... special."
"I understand completely. Trust me, I don't mind. I'm good with all kinds of business."
Mao smiled. "Well then, boy, why don't we find a more private place to discuss this? I'm sure my business partner will be thrilled to have a new investor."
As the two men started to leave, Squall turned to Rinoa and mouthed the words, 'Be ready to go' to her. She nodded her head and decided she's take advantage of a free drink or two before heading out to the Ragnarok. She had the feeling she would need it, before the night was through.
Once Squall and Mao were out of the ballroom, Squall grabbed for the handcuffs hidden in his suit jacket. "You're worth an awful lot of money, Mr. Yenrai."
He hadn't expected the old, beer-bellied man to be so fast, but before he could make a move for him, Mao had pulled a small pistol from his own jacket and was aiming for him. Squall made a grab for Mao's gun, only to feel a sharp, burning pain shoot through his hand. He clutched at his bloodied palm for a second, and Mao took the opportunity to run. After a moment, Squall recovered enough to grab for his own gun and chase after the man.
Squall finally caught up to him at the backdoor, and tackled him to the ground. A moment later, Mao Yenrai had his hands bound behind his back, and was being led to the Ragnarok. Squall shoved the old man in the back, and was about to take off when he realized Rinoa wasn't there yet.
After a brief battle with his conscience over whether to just leave her there or not, he locked Mao inside and stopped off into the building once more in search of the pain in the ass woman. Rinoa came out just as Squall was about to go in, and cowered beneath the murderous look on his face.
"I told you to be ready to go!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd have him that fast!"
"When I tell you to do something, don't think just do it! That kind of attitude is gonna cost you dearly in the long run."
"Why, because I'm not a mindless drone?" she demanded. "I least I know better than to waste my time arguing over nothing when the bounty is about to highjack my ship!"
"What?!"
Squall turned around to see that Mao had escaped from his binds and was now in the front seat of the Ragnarok, trying to work the controls. Squall fired a warning shot through the windshield on the passenger side, and Mao abandoned his attempts to get the giant bird flying, and instead scrambled out the door to another unattended vehicle. Squall continued to fire, but with the amount of distance between him and the escaping man, his aim was slightly off. He finally put his pistol away and took off running with Rinoa close on his heels.
By this time, Mao had control of another ship, and was slowly rising into the sky. The wailing of sirens echoed down the street, and before Squall and Rinoa could reach their own ship, three cop cars cut them off, letting Mao escape into the safety of space once more.
"You! What do you think you're doing here?" one of the officers demanded as he stepped out of his car.
"Trying to catch a bounty, sir," Squall replied.
"You got a license?"
With a weary expression, a tired sigh, and a death glare aimed at Rinoa, Squall dug out his wallet and began pulling out his bounty hunting license and registration papers.
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"So... Wasn't the best night for bounty hunting, huh?" Rinoa laughed nervously as they walked along the moonlit docks toward the Bebop. After the cops had let them go, they dropped the Ragnarok off at a repair shop to get the windshield fixed, before walking the rest of the way to the harbor.
Squall didn't say anything. In fact, he hadn't said a word to her since their argument on the steps outside the banquet. Though he tried to contain it, she could feel the rage and tension pouring off from him, almost like a warning sign to those around him that he was gonna go off at any minute. Still, the silence was unbearable, and she wanted him to at least acknowledge that she was there, something else he hadn't done since the party.
"Squall, come on. I said I was sorry."
"Sorry?" he repeated quietly, which made Rinoa wince. "This is the second time, Rinoa. The second fuckin' time you got in the way! The second time you made me lose my bounty! No one is going to be able to eat because of you!"
She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"I don't care!" he interrupted with a roar. "It's bad enough that you made me lose two bounties, ran away, gave a week's supply of food to the kid, and don't pull your weight around the ship... but you've been snooping around the computer, too, haven't you?"
"It was an accident, really. Edward somehow discovered the password to your locked folder, and told me it was the password to the communication line. When the password didn't work for that, I searched for other locked files and programs, hoping I could get something out of it. I found your folder and opened it, without knowing what it was. I didn't realize it was yours until I got to the bottom of the file, where your name was."
"What did you read about?" he asked. His voice was calm now, but she knew that any minute now, he could go off again.
"The real reason the syndicate disbanded," she replied. "About how they betrayed you, and how much it-"
"Enough. I've heard enough."
"Squall, it was just an accident, I swear I didn't mean-"
"I said I've heard enough. You're more trouble than you're worth! Caraway hasn't offered up that reward yet, and at this rate, it doesn't look like he will at all. He probably doesn't want you back anymore than I want you here!" His back was turned to her, as he spoke, and he couldn't see the two silver streams that traced their way down her porcelain cheeks. "You've been nothing but a pain in the ass this entire time!"
"I'm sorry," she choked out. "Just take me back to the Red Dragon Headquarters."
"And give you another chance to fuck things up? No way! You have money, hitch a ride out of here! You're not going any place else with us!"
"You're just... going to leave me here?"
"Yes."
With that he walked off, heading into the Bebop and leaving her to stand alone on the pier. She stared hard at the slightly rusted ship that had been her home for nearly a week, before she turned on her heels and began to run as far away as she could from it, with only the moonlight above to guide her.
She had her freedom now... So why did she want to just break down and cry?
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"What do you mean, we're out of fuel!?"
"Just what I said, Faye. We're alone, drifting in space, all systems are down, Vincent has escaped to Esthar, and we have no fuel..."
**
See you Space Cowboy...
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Next Session: "They could see nothing in the room but each other, could feel nothing but the all-consuming hatred born from years of secrets and pain. Like an unseen ghost, or a fly on the wall, I could only watch helplessly as blood pooled on the floor, and pray that if I closed my eyes and cried enough, I would awake, safe in his embrace." Session 7: An Elegy for Innocence