Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop. I'm just borrowing it ;)

When Angels Fall from Heaven…

Chapter 2: Chinese take-out and forgotten memories

If anyone had asked Faye Valentine yesterday night what she thought she'd be doing the next day at around nine o'clock, this is not what she would have said. After watching Big Shot and seeing that bounty on Mao, she would have predicted herself drinking at a poker table in one of the casinos in Tharsis, having just come from a full body massage.

If anyone had asked Faye Valentine three hours ago what she thought she'd be doing at nine o'clock that night, this is not what she would have said. She would have said she'd be docking at the Bebop, yelling for Jet to come repair her ship which got shot up in a chase with some Syndicate goons.

In anyone had asked Faye Valentine twenty-five minutes ago what she thought she'd be doing at nine o'clock, this is not what she would have said. She would have said that she'd be dead by nine o'clock, Vicious having sliced her in half with that kitana of his.

Despite all her predictions, it was nine o'clock and Faye was eating Chinese take out. With Vicious. In his apartment. The thought alone was enough to make the inner Faye want to shake her head and give up.

My life really is strange. I wonder if it was this crazy before the cryo. MMmmm, god, this Peking duck is delicious!

Without realizing it, Faye had moaned aloud.

"I take it the duck is to your liking?"

The sound of his voice, deep and throaty, startled Faye out of her thoughts.

"Yes, thank you. When I was a child, we used to fly over to China all the time and my father and I always used to go to the same restaurant and order Peking duck."

Faye's comment was said offhand, her mind still somewhat in shock over her current location. It took her a moment to realize what she had just said, that a memory had surfaced. Trying now, she couldn't recall any more details, like her father's face or the name of the restaurant. But the smell of the roasted duck, it was the same. Even after seventy years, the smell is the same. The thought brought a wave of nostalgia over Faye.

Vicious chose to remain quiet after her comment and raised his head to watch her expression. He noticed the slight widening of her eyes, as though what she had said shocked her.

I don't suppose she wanted to tell me something that personal. Interesting.

The signs of her shock quickly faded away to be replaced by what he was coming to recognize as the Poker Alice face. Still, he could see small signs of sadness in her face; the slight downward tilt of her red lips and dull look of her green eyes. However, even those small signs vanished as she looked up from her plate to face him.

All that was left was the smiling seductress, staring at him over a steaming plate of Peking duck, egg foo young, rice and spare ribs. For some reason, that thought left him feeling unsettled.

The two continued to eat in silence, watching each other out of the corners of their eyes.

It wasn't a tense silence, it was more of a thoughtful pause. Faye was relishing the chance to eat real, steaming hot food and decided to ignore her situation in favor of snatching the last shrimp dumpling out of the container on the table.

Vicious, on the other hand, was actually enjoying, somewhat, being in the company of another person. It wasn't that he hated people so much, it was that Vicious hated stupid people. And he considered nearly everyone other than himself to be an idiot. To Vicious, at some point or another, everyone became a slave to their emotions. Stupid. When he was being honest with himself, he admitted that even he had his moment of utter stupidity. He had let himself go in those six months with Julia and Spike. He had made the mistake of trusting one and loving the other. Looking back, the signs were all there. The subtle touches in public, the shared glances, whispers when they thought nobody was looking. Giving his emotions free reign had cost him his "girlfriend", his "best friend" and nearly his life.

Flashback

"Vicious!" The decrepit voice of the VAN echoed throughout the chamber, screaming disapproval.

"Your partner, Spike, has been killed." The announcement shocked the rest of the dragons in the chamber, Vicious could see their expressions out of the corner of his eyes.

Idiots. That bastard is still alive and running from his fate.

Vicious' contempt for the VAN and his former partner shone clearly in his eyes.

"You should not look so smug Vicious. The fault for his death and the deaths of the other twenty dragons he was with is your fault."

His contempt for those old fools quickly turned to rage at the words. "How", his voice icy, "is this my fault?"

"As his partner, it is your responsibility to watch over Spike. You are responsible for him as he is for you. His death and the death of the others on his team are a strike against you."

"And I suppose that you will blame Julia's death on me as well?"

"The blonde assassin is not dead. She is missing." The pronouncement was enough to allow Vicious' cool exterior to slip for a heartbeat. But the VAN saw that heartbeat and pounced.

"As the only surviving head of your unit, you must bear the full responsibility. YOU, Vicious, will pay back your debt to the syndicate…"

The rusty voices faded away in Vicious' mind, leaving him bitter and angry. After Spike and Julia's little disappearing act, he had to pay the price. As Spike knew he would. Twenty-one days in the chamber, of starvation and torture both mental and physical. Twenty-one days for the twenty-one dead dragons. When he got out, he found himself demoted and his public bank accounts stripped. Years of pay and bonuses stripped to pay reparations to the families of the deceased and bribes to the local police to cover up 'the incident'. He was forced to drag his broken body on missions that were beneath him, though he refused to answer to anyone other than the VAN itself.

In the past two years, he had redeemed himself in the eyes of most of the Syndicate, except for the VAN. They had no trust or love for him. That had been reserved for the laughing darling of the Syndicate, Spike.   When he entered the musty chamber that housed the three relics he could see the distrust brewing in those ancient eyes.

It mattered little. Soon everything would be set right again. The dragon would fall to the venomous snake.

In the mean time, he had Ms.Valentine to keep him occupied. Spike never could resist a damsel in distress.

Author's Notes

Yeah!…another chapter out of the way. A short one but a chapter nonetheless. Writing really makes you appreciate all the time other authors spend writing those massive, amazing chapters that they do. Speaking of which, I do have a good 50 pages of writing to go do (finals and make up work are a bitch) Read and REVIEW please. Let me know what you think about my little take on what goes on in Vicious' head. Thanks! ;)