Anywhere but Here
Chapter 2: It's Getting Harder to Forget
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Faye cursed under her breath as she walked down the hall, carrying the load of laundry. It's his turn this week. Why the hell do I have to do his laundry?
She neared the stairs and took of step down.
"Shit!!"
Her foot slipped and she fell, the clothes scattering about her. This isn't my fucking day. She pulled the laundry basket off of her head and looked up to see Jet scolding her.
"Can't you do anything right, Faye?" He helped her pile everything back into the basket and handed it to her. "And I told you the washing machine broke down a week ago. I don't have the parts to fix it yet so you'll have to go into town."
"Uh. Excuse me?" Faye asked, her eyebrow twitching.
"You'll have to go into t-" he began.
"I heard you the first time." She grumbled and stomped back up the stairs to get into the hangar. As an afterthought she added, "If you find your clothes burned to ashes, don't blame me." Faye exited before he could attempt to change her mind.
&&
Ganymede.
For a while she forgot what she had come out here to do- the sky was azure and wouldn't let her concentrate. She couldn't help but smile as she raced the clouds and blasted music on the radio.
It was good to be out, she had to admit. Every other day she would mope around the Bebop and when Jet asked her if she was purposely finding nothing to do, she said "No, I'm just tired…"
And that was the truth.
She was so fucking tired.
She slammed her fist on the control board. Stop it. You have a job to do.
The Redtail continued to hover in the air, with Faye looking for a place to do some of the dirty work. She lowered when she spotted the main city and maneuvered around to make out the various buildings. There was a small one labeled Laundromatic.
Aha, she thought, and descended.
Finding a parking spot was a lot easier; she just landed in front of the building. When she got out of the cockpit she looked down at the yellow paint at her feet. No Parking Allowed.
They won't mind if I stay for a while, right? She nodded to convince herself and pulled out the laundry basket from her ship's storage.
Upon entering, all eyes were on her. Faye inspected every single one of them and eventually they lost the battle and turned back to what they were doing. She hummed as she chose an empty tumbler farest from the window at the corner of the room. She set down her belongings and become conscious of the fact that she never, in her three years, used a futuristic public washing machine before. Godamnit.
Faye paced in front of it trying to figure out what to do before she reasoned she hadn't bothered to try yet. She opened the compartment and stuffed her clothes in first, they only being the single gold outfit she usually wore on regular days. With not much else to wear, she borrowed one of Jet's baggy cargo shorts and one of Spike's old aqua-coloured shirts for her expedition.
It still smells like him... she thought suddenly, inhaling his scent.
She sighed and stared at the buttons on the machine.
Okay, simple enough, Faye thought as she read them out loud one by one.
Wash. Rinse. Dry.
She pressed Wash.
"Please transmit twenty-six woolongs."
26? Shit. She forgot about money. She checked her pockets and pulled them out. Empty. Faye was about to scream out in frustration when she heard a woman's voice.
"I couldn't help but notice your predicament. Do you need 26 woolongs, Miss?"
Faye stared at the woman, long black hair and a guitar slinged around her back.
"Yeah, I do.I can't pay you back though." Faye said and smiled.
"Don't worry about it!" She fished through her pockets and handed her her money card. "You can have everything that's in there."
Faye stared at it. This girl is suspicious, she thought but took the card anyway.
"Do you live around here?" The girl asked as Faye swiped the card through the machine.
"26 woolongs. Deposited."
Faye turned back to the girl. "No…I come from a place far from here."
The girl smiled. "I knew you weren't from here.Well I'll see you around if you ever decide to hang out at Ganymede." And then she was out the door. Faye watched her as she left, and then turned down the street disappearing. Silently she turned back to her laundrying.
"Please indicate cups of detergent," the computer-generated voice instructed.
Cups of detergent, huh? She peered in through the clear glass and crinkled her nose at the dirt on her outfit. Let's try 10 cups, now shall we? She giggled like a child as she pressed 10 and the only thing on the screen was Washing: in progress. Satisfied at her work, she took a seat in front of the machine and smoked.
"Miss? This is a no-smoking area."
Faye looked up at the guy. His name tag read Roger.
"Is it, Roger? So what do you want me to do?" Faye said as she blew out another puff. The man coughed.
"Maybe you could take a step outside?"
She rolled her eyes. "Fine."
&&
Her cigarette dropped to the floor and died. Faye stared at the blank spot the Redtail was parked only moments before and her eyebrow started twitching.
She pulled out her video comm. and dialed for Jet. He picked up and she heard something frying.
"Faye?"
"Shit, Jet. I think my ship was stolen by this woman."
Jet turned off the stove. "What? Where'd you leave her?"
She smirked. "On a no-parking area."
Jet lifted a hand to his forehead and slid it down his face. "And how would you know if a tow-truck just hauled it away?"
"Look, I just know she stole it, alright? She was distracting me and I stopped suspecting her. Well, I just wanted to tell you after I get my and your laundry done, I'll be a little late."
He chuckled. "Good luck."
"MISS!" Roger was yelling at her.
"See ya, Jet." She turned the comm. off and looked at the guy. "What is it now? Don't tell me I can't smoke here, either."
"YOUR MACHINE IS OVERFLOWING!"
&&
"That was amazingly way too easy." The woman said to herself as she flew the Redtail away from Ganymede. "And this is a nice ride, too." She smiled and turned back to her guitar, taking up the seatbelt beside her.
&&
Spike exited the bar, groaning at the pain his sides her giving him. He didn't expect to have to fucking fight anyone here, he only wanted to relax. But I guess I can't even have that.
He sat in an alley and unbuttoned his shirt to look at his wounds. They weren't even healing right from before and they were reopened already. It hurt and he knew he'd end up coming back to the Bebop; his mind took him one place and his feet to another.
He rebuttoned his front and thought about Jet, about Faye. Shit, knowing them, they're probably still mad at me. Especially Faye. He'd go to hell if he denied the fact that the woman wasn't haunting him. He'd go to sleep and still hear her trying to hold back a sob and he just wanted to forget.
Spike got up and out of the alley, crossed the street, shaking his head and loosening his shoulders as he walked down the pavement. He slipped and dodged past people and his brain registered the fact that it was too hot to be early autumn.
His feet led him to a deserted parking lot at the edge of town, the shadows playing as the sun was leaving the sky. He kicked a rock and watched it tumble and stop at the base of a ship.
He looked up and saw the Redtail.
Shit, I hate this... he thought and he tried to back away slowly. But his resolve failed and he rapped on the glass, almost jumping out of his skin when he saw it wasn't her.
"How may I help you?" The woman asked sweetly from inside. Her eyes widened. "Spike! Is that you?"
He scanned her face and tried to remember. She was familiar. "Yeah that's me. But I forgot your name."
She laughed and revealed her guitar. "It's Allison, the rolling stone."
He reddened when he remembered what she did with her shirt to distract his arm-wrestling opponent. "Right…I remember you now. But I have a question for you."
"What is it?" She asked as she hopped out of the ship, slinging her guitar around her shoulders.
"Since when the fuck have you been stealing?"
&&
I swear, today is not going right. Faye thought as she traveled away from Laundromatic on foot. Now my clothes are ruined, Jet is going to get pissed that I left his clothes there, and I had to threaten that guy with a gun to let me go. And I still lost my fucking ship.
She tried working her bracelet an hour ago but it wasn't fucking responding and it was pissing her off. Faye took a deep breath and rounded the corner, trying to think of what to do. She tried to contact the interior communication but it was disabled and she cursed.
Faye was feeling tired again and the sun was already out of the sky, leaving it pink before the indigo took it over. Her stomach grumbled and she didn't want Jet to have to pick her up. Her hand brushed by her pocket looking for a non-existent cigarette. But then the card.
She looked up and a hotel sign sparkled to her. Maybe this day isn't as bad as I thought.
By the time she locked the door to the room and walked tentatively to the bed, her heart was weighing her down. What the hell? It's happening again... Faye closed her eyes and pulled the covers over her head, wrapped herself tightly in it just to forget. She'd dream about it anyway and that was the hardest part.
I fucking hate being alone.
--
You did it better, I did the rest
What's wrong with that?
I had to set it up and end the mess
Well, that's trying, trying
-The French Kicks