Chapter 12: Falling Rain

[Three weeks later]

"You understand the plan?"

"Course I do, Jet. It's all we've talked about for the past few weeks," Spike said, annoyed.

"I know we have. I also know you're impulsive and bullheaded and probably won't follow it at all.

Spike gave a lazy smile and leaned back. "Don't flatter me, please."

Jet rolled his eyes.

All four of them were gathered 'round the table in the living room. Jet and Spike were going over the plan one last time. Actually, Jet was going over the plan. Spike was tuning out and making smart-ass comments every so often. Faye, who was decided to not go on the hunt, would stay in the Bebop and watch Ed. She'd also stay in contact with Spike and Jet in case something went terribly wrong. They all hoped it didn't. Ed was doing last minute research.

The whole plan was: Jet was going to a client of the assassin whose nickname they found out was Black Rain. They'd meet somewhere and Jet would tell him to go after Spike. Jet would have Rain lure Spike somewhere then 'finish' him off. When the assassin was alone with Spike, Spike would disarm him with a little of his martial arts skills. They would then turn him in hopefully with out too much trouble.

Faye was worried. Spike and Jet were bringing so much artillery. Spike alone was carrying two handguns which included his faithful Jericho. He also had his trench coat stocked with grenades and extra clips. The last time he had had so much artillery, he had almost died in his final fight with Vicious. But no she wouldn't think about that and put forth a fake smile.

Spike noticed and frowned. She'd been acting even stranger lately. Singing to herself in her room. Staying up late with her knees pulled to her chin. And how could he forget the random tears that he knew he saw, but Faye managed to hide in his presence. He didn't know much about pregnancy, but he didn't think that his mood had anything to do with it. That meant she was worried about the bounty. He sighed. He knew she'd never interfere unless it was a do or die situation, which this certainly was not, at least not yet.

Jet walked into a bar. He looked around 'nervously', and then noticed the man sitting in the dark booth. He hurried forward and slid into the seat opposite the man hidden in the shadows.

"You got it?" he was asked.

Jet reached inside the coat he was wearing and pulled out a file. He handed it to Rain who opened it and began to study it. "H-how long will it take, you think?" Jet asked, mentally annoyed that he had to play a scared, weak man.

"I can have it done tonight, granted that he sticks to his routine."

Jet let out a blatant sigh of relief, then remembered something. "Y-you're not going to do this out in the open are y-you?"

Rain remained motionless. "If you want me to I will."

Jet twisted his face into a look of horror. "No, I won't allow it. People would see. The last thing I want is witnesses."

Rain nodded. "As you wish," he said and got up. He threw some money on the table and left.

Jet took out his comm. unit and called Spike. "Phase one complete," Jet told him.

Spike nodded. "Guess it's my turn now," he said. He disconnected and set his unit down on the table in the 'living room'. He was making last minute preparations and Faye was helping him. She was silent through it all though. Spike sighed, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Listen," he said. "I'm gonna come back."

Faye nodded but tears rolled down her cheeks. Spike kissed her hard and felt something cold and hard being pressed into his hand. He looked and found it was her Glock. He looked at her with a questioned look.

She sadly smiled. "So I can be there with you even when I'm not."

"Faye, you're always there with me," Spike said and kissed her again. He then pulled away, and started to walk away when he heard her say,

"Don't get killed now Gorgio."

He turned around and flicked her gun in his fingers to his head [รก la from Cowboy Bebop: The Movie]. "I'll be seeing you later, Romani." He saluted her and walked out the door. Seconds later, Faye heard his ship take off. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then went off to find Ed.

Spike was flying but fondling Faye's gun, too. The safety was on so he didn't need to worry about shooting another hole in his baby. 'Boy,' he thought. 'Was that odd.' Faye had never broken down that bad except when he fought Vicious for the last time. But no, he wouldn't think about that and he concentrated on his flying. A half hour later, he walked into his 'routine' bar: Tom Sawyer's. He'd made it his favorite because [for the most part] there were no whores or old scumbags. The general crowd was men and women around his age. There was also open poker night on Wednesdays [which was tonight]. He loved poker and drinking with the guys, who he normally cleaned out good-naturedly. As he walked in he was greeted by a chorus of hellos, if you could call them that.

"We were wondering when you'd show up, Spike."

"You get mugged or something?"

"Look, us being good fellas, saved ya a seat."

"Thanks guys. No, I didn't get mugged, though I pity the fool who'd try. Just a little women troubles. Oh and Joe," he addressed the bartender. "I'll have the usual."

"Sure thing, Spike. Comin' right up."

Spike turned to the men. "How about a little poker, boys?" he asked and sat down.

Faye, Ed, and Jet were staring at the same picture. Faye and Ed were looking at the screen of Tomato; Jet was looking at the screen of his comm. unit. It was a good blueprint of the city which featured a red dot in its center. That dot was a signal from a tracking unit which placed in the heel of Spike's shoe. It was there so they could track him after he left the bar. Spike also had a mike secreted in the knot of his tie and an earpiece hidden in his ear so he could communicate with the crew without drawing any attention to himself. They could hear Spike talking with the guy when all of a sudden Spike said, "Hey stranger, you come here often?" In a whisper he said, "It's Rain."
[Spike's POV]

"It's Rain," I whispered into the mike.

"Well, make a move. The ball's in your court," Jet said back.

So I did. Slurring my speech a little to sound like I was drunk, I said "How about a drink and a little poker?"

"Sure," he said and sat down.

"What's your name? I'm Spike; this is Craig, Ryan, Mark, and Jonathon-Tyler Moore the Third."

"Spike you bastard! I told you not to call me that! I'm JT," JT said, offering his hand to Rain who said,

"I'm Sam," and shook hands with him.

The rest of the guys said hello and watched as I dealt 'Sam' his hand. Was I surprised that he won the first hand.

"You've got good luck, Sam," I said. "It's usually me who cleans these boys out."

The other men, in their state of drunkenness, laughed hard at this. 'Sam' however, barely smiled. I continued on dealing. The winners alternated between me and 'Sam'. After I had finished my drink [my third], I stood up, pretending to sway a little. I can hold my liquor pretty well.

"Well, I guess I'll call it a night. My lady's expecting me if ya know what I mean," I said with a broad wink.

The guys chuckled amongst themselves. I headed for the exit, leaning heavily on the chairs and tables on the way out, after I threw some money on the table. As I got to the door, I heard Rain say goodbye and head after me.

"Target taking the bait," I whispered into the mike.

"Good," Jet whispered back. "Keep it up."

I started to walk down the sidewalk keeping a hand on the wall for 'support'. Behind me I heard Rain catching up to me.

"Hey Spike. Need help? You look kind of tipsy."

"Huh, oh sure. My ship's somewhere around here." I waved my arm which was against the wall. Then I pretended to lose my balance, this gave me an excuse to stumble into him.

"Here let me help you," he said holding my arm. He began to lead me down an alley.

"Hey, where's youz leadin' me?" I asked stumbling a little.

He ignored the question and when we were in the middle of the alley with no one around, he stopped. He put his hand in the pocket of his jacket. "I've heard a lot about you, Spike Spiegel."

I pretended to look surprised and asked, "Like what?"

"Like, you used to be in the Syndicate. A very efficient killer, I've heard. And you also have a way with escaping death." He withdrew his hand and in it was a gun. He stepped closer to me with it trained at my head. "Do you know how much I hate the Syndicate?"

I bent over and forced myself to vomit. I then moved my hands to my pockets where my guns were. I stood up fast with a gun in each hand. I grimaced at him. "Please don't preach to me about the Syndicate. I've had enough of it to last me several lifetimes." I wiped off my mouth with an arm. That had been disgusting but necessary. Tell me one thing Sam, or should I say Rain, if you hate the Syndicate so much, why do you kill like them?"

His eyes flared up. "How dare you accuse me of killing like those emotionless robots," he hissed. "You all deserve what Mao Yenrai and Vicious got."

Now my eyes narrowed. "Vicious may have been crazy, but Mao did not deserve that awful and cowardice form of death," I said as coldly as I could.

He sneered at me. "You're just as bad as him; Vicious that is. I wonder what your woman would think if she knew about all the awful things you did. Yes, in my opinion, you are Vicious.

At that comment I totally lost my head.

[Faye's POV]

I knew something was going to go wrong. I knew it as soon as Ed had described the assassin. This guy was real bad news. I couldn't stop Spike if I tried. I hadn't been able to in the past, and I wouldn't be able to now.

Though, unbeknownst to Spike, the Glock was not the only gun I owned. In the back of a dresser drawer, under some clothes, was a Sig-Sauer. I had not used it often, preferring the smaller Glock to it. Nonetheless, the Sig-Sauer was a gun, and a damn good one to have on you in a fight.

That's what I went to get now. Spike and Jet were damn fools if they thought I was going to just sit this one out. Yes, I'm pregnant. That means I'll just have to be more careful. I also will take some body armor of Spike's. He didn't wear it often [obviously] because it was bulky and hard to move around in. I wasn't going to take any chances now though. I strapped on the vest over my shirt. I also strapped on a belt which held extra clips for the Sig-Sauer.

After I had outfitted myself, I looked in the mirror. Black leather pants with black boots and belt, black tee shirt and black bullet-proof vest. [I like to avoid the sight of blood.] I tightly tied back my hair so there were no loose strands to block my vision.

Satisfied, I turned and walked out to the living room. "Ed?" I called. "Can I have a favor?"

Ed popped out from nowhere. "Does Ed get chocolate?"

I smirked. "Sure Ed."

"Yay!" she squealed. "What does Faye-Faye need?"

"I need you to hook the picture of my comm. unit to the one that's on Tomato's screen. Can you do it?"

"Sure Faye!" She took my unit and pressed several buttons and handed it back to me. "Why are you dressed like that, Faye?" she asked.

I sighed. "I'm going after him, Ed," I said putting my hands on her shoulders. "I love him and my babies are going to have a father."

She nodded, though a bit sadly.

"I need you to be here and keep the Bebop running," I told her.

She grinned and saluted me. "Aye-aye Captain Faye-Faye!"

I smiled. "I knew I could count on you." I then turned and walked to the hangar. I jumped in the Red Tail and took off. By hooking my unit to the computer I could see I was fifty blocks from where Spike was. I gritted my teeth and shot forward.

[Spike's POV]

I charged at Rain swinging my fists in mad rage, which he easily dodged and blocked. I was fighting on pure emotion. Anger flowed through my veins. Now my arms were flying beyond control. Rain could not block these and was knocked to the ground. I bent down to handcuff him when his right hand reached up like lightning and fastened itself around my windpipe.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked.

My god, it was just like with Vincent.

I couldn't breathe. I tried forcing my arms and legs to move, but they wouldn't. Suddenly, I heard a shot from behind me and Rain's grip on me loosened, and then fell away. I jerked myself backwards and crawled behind a dumpster. The effort almost made me pass out. I steadied my guns in both my hands. My strength was quickly returning.

I peeked out from behind the dumpster and saw that Rain was no longer lying on the ground. He was also no longer in sight. I tensed up; he could be anywhere. Perhaps even sighting down on me right now. A hand came down on my shoulder, causing me to whirl, guns ready.

"Christ Spike! It's me!" It was Jet.

"Fuck Jet!" I spat. "Don't do that!"

"You alright? I hit him in the arm, and then I came over here. Where is he?"

"You mean you don't know?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, I was kind of concerned about you."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Just cover me alright," I said and moved in a crouch to the front of the dumpster. I looked around for Rain; there was a blood trail. With my eyes I followed it. I saw the initial blood, which was from when Jet had shot him. Then he had gotten up and moved off clenching something to the wound, for after several steps the trail ends. You may ask how I know this. After being in a Syndicate, you see a lot of blood and you learn how to interpret the different patterns; blood spray never lies.

A flash of motion at my right. I quickly jumped back and misjudging the distance, whacked my head against the dumpster. Cursing when I saw stars and that the movement was only Jet. That man is going to get us killed, I swear.

I watched as he moved from dumpster to dumpster. Then as he was moving from two far ones, I heard the unmistakable crack of a gunshot and thump as it hit its target. I watched, almost in slow motion, as Jet's eyes grew wide and he fell heavily to the concrete.

"SHIT!" I cursed. Where had that shot come from? I searched the area with my eyes, looking both high and low. Suddenly, at the roof of a building, I caught a glimmer of something. Possibly the barrel of a gun having the moon reflected off it. I aimed for the general area and took a shot because he is still a bounty and I am not going to go through with all this work and have him be killed.

I heard a cry of surprise and I wasn't surprised when a responding gunshot came several feet of where I was sitting. He would be on his guard now as I was already. But unlike me, he was shooting to kill.

I carefully stood up and started for the place I had shot at. I had switched into Syndicate mode with out even realizing. Creeping forward several feet at a time, making no sound. Keeping my mouth wide open so if I were surprised I wouldn't make a sound in respect to breathing. Before I knew it, I was standing at the foot of a metal fire escape ladder which led to the roof. Without thought I began to climb. At the top, I jumped to the roof, rolled to a squat, and aimed my guns into the darkness. I couldn't see much but instinct told me he was there.

I stood up and carefully started forward. I could barely see twenty feet in front of me. Several times I heard slight noises and I whirled guns ready toward them. Nothing. I kept moving along across the roof. Now, towards my left I saw some boxes stacked up pretty high with a big broom leaned against them. I headed that way. When I got to the boxes, I braced myself then lashed out with a foot knocking them down. They fell with a crash and there was no one behind them. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a gun being cocked behind me.

"What have we here?" I heard Rain's voice from behind me. "Hands up," he instructed.

I complied, my guns both falling to the roof.

"That was quite careless of you. You gave away your position and had your back to pretty much everything else. I've never known a Syndicate man to make that mistake."

I gritted my teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you Rain? I'm NOT in the Syndicate." I heard him chuckle and I looked around. At my feet I saw the broom with handle pointed in front of me and bristles pointed away. 'Man what were the odds?' I thought excitedly. Now to stall Rain while I got in position.

"Why do you hate the Syndicate so much anyway?" I asked him.

"If you must know Spiegel, my whole family was murdered by them. My two brothers and two sisters, my parents, even our dog was killed.

You know who led the operation? They were the golden boys of the Dragons. The best there was. It was said they were so efficient they never had a bungled operation, always got their man and cleaned up real well afterward.

You have any idea who these people were, Spiegel? I'll give you a clue: you were one of them."

I was speechless then had a thought. "Then why weren't you killed, too? If I remember right, there was no one else in the house."

"I was at the convenience store just down the street. Mom said we needed milk. So I was the good son and went to get some. Half an hour, I walk through the front door and what do I find? Everyone dead, blood was everywhere. Tell me why. Killing my father and my brothers, that's almost understandable. But my sisters and mother, that's totally incomprehensible. They had nothing to do with the Syndicate. Why?"

I frowned. This would not be easy to say, nor hear. "We weren't supposed to. Your father was the real target. Your brothers fought back so we killed them. We were supposed to leave it at that.

The thing was, Vicious and the other men knew about your mother and sisters. They were going to find, rape, and torture them. I found them before the others and...well...I shot them. Believe me I did them a favor."

As far as I could tell, Rain was shocked. The gun was lowered slightly, and then all of a sudden jabbed back into my back much harder than before. "You lie," he hissed.

This was my chance. I step down on the end of the broom, sending the handle flying up and behind me. I ducked out of the way as it slammed into Rain. His hand, with the gun, flew to the sky, and the gun went off. Twisting, I kicked the gun from his hand and pulled him into a headlock.

"It's the truth whether you accept it or not. I was doing my job but they were going to take it a step further. I denied them that. Sure, the men were mad at me and taunted me that I was getting soft. They stopped after I challenged them to fight and beat their asses into the ground."

Rain was struggling. "I still think you're a liar, Spiegel. Nothing you say will change my mind. In fact, I still think you are a ruthless son-of-a-BITCH!"

At "bitch" he slammed his foot down on my toes. I gave out a grunt and released my hold. He gave me a blow to the head that made me sway and see double vision. I fell to my knees and shakily reached for one of my guns. I felt the cold muzzle of Rain's gun press against my forehead as rain began to fall soaking us.

"Farewell," he said and started to pull the trigger.

"Rain!" This voice came from my right. "Stop!"

I recognized it as Faye's. She wasn't supposed to be here. And yet, there she was, pointing a rather large handgun at Rain.

Rain noticed her and smiled at me as he kicked my two guns on the ground over the roof. He then turned to Faye, pointing his gun at her.

"Faye," I said hoarsely. I was still real woozy. "Get out of here."

Rain's interest was drawn. "So you're the love of his life?"

Faye's eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business."

Rain laughed. Right you are. But why else would you be here?"

Faye's look became colder. "Enough of this bullshit. You and me, right now."

Rain smirked. "Alright."

I watched as Faye's bullet hit Rain in his right shoulder. His hand released his gun and sent it flying over the edge. His bullet hit Faye in her left shoulder. He fell hard, her eyes open wide. I whipped into action, pulling Faye's Glock from my rear holster. I shot Rain once in each thigh and he fell, crippled for now. I got up and ran to Faye's side.

[Faye's POV]

The pain was unbearable. My head was swimming.

"Faye," I heard. "Faye."

I opened my eyes and there was Spike leaning over me. I smiled faintly.

"Goodbye Gorgio," I said weakly, putting my hand on his cheek, then fading into the black.

A/N: oh sorry for that cliff hangar, but actually, I think this chapter was done quite well. it is by far the longest.

there will be two chapters more in this story, but don't worry, i have plans for a sequel. i have two other stories in progress right now so be on the lookout. while you are waiting for the next chapter, why don't you read some of my other pieces i have posted.

bye and thankx for your reviews, they are greatly appreciated.