By A Shot of Amber
Session 21: Birthday Party Blues
I found her in the hanger, she sat hidden in a dark corner smoking a pack of my cigarettes and drinking a bottle of rum. From the flush on her cheeks and the way her hands shook, I knew she was slightly drunk.
" What do you want?" The words sounded harsh and cold.
" I want to talk to you," Spike replied wincing in pain has he sat next to her.
" There is nothing to talk about," she picked up the bottle and took a swig. Spike snatched the bottle away and threw it out into the hanger. The distant sounds of liquid splashing and glass crashing were heard.
" What the hell was that for?" Ivy yelled sitting up and pointing out to where the shattered shards lay.
" I said we need to talk, now," Spike growled sitting up also and looking down at her.
" Fine, talk." She leaned back, took another puff of her cigarette, and looked away from him.
Spike groaned slightly has he sat back and tried not to pull at the stitches in his stomach.
" Who were those men? They said they were taking you back."
" They are nothing, just some thieves trying to make some money," Ivy replied.
" No they aren't, they are something more and I have a feeling you know them."
" Your wrong there, I do not know them and I will not go back."
" Go back where?" Spike turned his head to look down at her.
" There, I won't go back there and now I don't want to talk about it." Ivy stood up and flicked her cigarette away. " Just leave me alone." She swayed slightly then stumbled off into the darkness.
Spike stood up, strode towards her, and grabbed her arm. He pushed her against the wall and slammed both hands on either side of her head.
" Damn it Ivy, something is going on here and I want to know. What the hell is happening? You obviously knew those men." He glared down at her while she looked up at him with scared eyes.
" Why are you so interested in knowing about my past, you have never told me yours." Ivy replied.
" Maybe because mine is of little importance to you." Spike replied.
" Then I guess mine is of little importance to you." Ivy replied in the same mocking tone. She tried to escape from his grasp but he only moved in closer therefore locking her against the wall.
" I have no idea who you really are or where you really come from. You may have the others fooled into thinking you have always been her but I missed your little magic spell and so now, I want the truth. I want to know who you really are and where you came from. Obviously something is happening and someone is after you."
" It's nothing, really." Ivy moved her eyes away from his face. " I don't want to pull you into my petty problems. I prefer to handle things myself now please let me go."
" Not until you answer my question," Spike pressed himself closer against her.
Ivy's eyes widened and flew to his face. He suddenly thought about the compromising situation they were in and quickly stepped back. She slumped down against the wall and slid to the floor where she dropped her head into her arms and sighed.
" You want to hear my whole sad story? Well here it is, I'm a syndicate mistress. I'm the mistress of the boss of the White Tiger syndicate."
Spike stood still and looked down at her, she raised her eyes to meet his own and smiled warily.
" Shocking, isn't it? You never expected a sweet little girl like me to be mixed up in the dealings of a crime gang did you?"
" How long have you been in the syndicate?" Spike sat down against the wall next to her.
" Ever since I could first remember, I think about 2 years now. My past before the syndicate is a complete blank. Sometimes I remember something but it's always real fuzzy and hard to picture. My first real memories were of waking up in some hospital room and being told my name was Ivy Juliana. I lived in the hospital for two months until I moved into the house of my master. I became his mistress and in a sense a syndicate princess. He treated me like an animal, dressing me up only in black, red, and white, his favorite colors and making me parade around to show of to his friends. At first, I thought I could love him, but I soon realized I couldn't. Then one night I started having these dreams where I'm standing in a grave yard waiting for someone and it's raining. It was then that I decided to start searching for my past, so I ran away and sought refuge on the Bebop. I saw you in a park, and I followed you here. The next day when you left I snuck on board and made myself the newest crewmember. I thought while I was on board I could find out about my past but so far there has been no clues except for my dreams." Ivy took a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall.
" So basically that is my whole sad story, I'm a syndicate whore that is simply trying to figure out who I am and why I cannot remember anything past the day I woke up in some hospital bed with IV needles stuck in me."
" Sounds like a pretty cheerful story," Spike replied dryly.
" Isn't it?" Ivy asked laughing slightly. " Hard to believe too, I bet you right now you do not even believe a word I just said."
" Maybe I don't, it's sounds pretty odd that you of all people are a syndicate whore."
" Oh but I am, I have done things that you could only dream about. I have slept with men then killed them in cold blood only to destroy the people who hated my master. I was a puppet in his sick game, but now I hold all the cards and the rules of the game and I will find out where I came from."
" How so?" Spike looked down at her with curious eyes.
" When I was in the hospital the doctor told me I was his miracle patient. I was an experiment of genetic resurrection where they bring someone back from the dead and reconstruct their cells to become a different person."
" That sounds a little hard to believe," Spike replied pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.
" I know it does, but what if it's true? What if I was once someone else, the blood that runs through my veins may not be my own. It may be someone else's and I have to find out who. I want to know."
Spike turned his head to look down at her, she was close staring up at him with those green eyes of hers.
" I know you may not believe me, but I am not using you to work for the syndicate. I'm free now and I don't want anyone to get hurt, this is my own thing and even though I plead my story to you, you don't have to help me. I want to do this on my own."
" I never had any intention of helping you." Spike replied.
" Good," Ivy whispered suddenly realizing how close she was to him. She sat back then stood up and brushed off her skirt. " I better be getting inside now, I should make dinner."
" Yea," Spike agreed making no move to get up.
Ivy walked past and out of the hanger leaving him alone in the dark to smoke and think. Her words ran over his mind, she was a clan member, she was a born mistress, and she had no idea who she really was. Where had he heard that one before?
" This came for you." Jet handed her a package covered in brown tape and random address labels.
" For me?" Ivy took the package and shook it slightly. " I wonder what it could be?"
" I don't know, hopefully not a bomb." Jet replied shrugging his shoulders and walking off.
Ivy set the package down on the table and ripped off the tape. She lifted the lid of the cardboard box and brushed away the packaging.
" What have you got there?" Faye sat down on the back of the couch and peered down into the box.
" A package that just came for me," Ivy replied digging through the packaging.
" Kind of weird that should be getting a package," Faye sniffed has Ivy pulled out a small wooden box with delicate white lilies painted on the lid.
" It's a music box," Ivy breathing turning it over and winding it up then she lifted the lid has the melody filled the air.
" What song is it?" Faye asked.
" I don't know." Ivy turned over the box looking for a name but didn't see one.
" Well look in the box and see if there is anything else, it's a pretty big box to be holding just a music box." Faye replied impatiently.
Ivy reluctantly set down the music box and searched through the cardboard box but she only came up empty handed. Faye growled in disgust and got up leaving her alone with the mess of packaging scattered over the table and the floor.
Ivy began to clean these up when she noticed the letter. It was taped to the side and closed with a red wax seal. Ivy picked up it up and broke the seal. The slight musty smell of cardboard reached up towards her face has she read.
Ivy,
I know it has been a long time since I have last written but I felt there was no way I could forget such a special day. Happy 21st birthday, what does it feel like to be another year older and still alive?
I hope you like the music box, I felt the song was perfect for you. Yet, alas I can not bring all good news for you. I have word that the clan knows of your presence. I have gone into hiding and I suggest you do the same, Maximillion is a cunning and sneaky man. I would hate to see what he will do when he gets you back.
Please listen to me and get away from that ship, go far away and don't come back. Leave the people behind, your life is more precious then theirs. Please follow my heed.
Forever yours in friendship,
Alex
Ivy closed the letter and silently tore it up into pieces. She dropped the pieces into the box and gathered up the rest of the packaging. There was no way she would heed his warning, she was not going to hide anymore, she would face this man and find out her past.
Ivy stood up and picked up the box in both hands. She walked with defiant strong steps towards the kitchen looking has if a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders.
Have you ever woken up from a dream and felt like you were still in the dream? I woke up this morning and when I looked up at the water stained walls, I felt like I was still in that dream. I felt like at any moment the door would open and revel the one person I wanted to see most at that moment. I had this dream once that I was a butterfly flying away from everything, the butterfly became me only after shedding away everything that held me down and going forward.
I realized that I couldn't go backwards or stand still anymore, I had to go forward and face him. I had to stop playing the weakling who waited for his call and instead step forward and make my own.
Ivy climbed out of bed and threw off the covers. She grabbed her clothes and a basket of bathing items before heading off for the shower.
" Where did everyone go?" Jet walked into the room to only see Ed sitting in a corner typing on her computer and Spike lying on the couch with a book over his face.
" Hey Ed do you know where the girls went?"
" Nope, no clue, sorry!" Ed replied has she continued to type on her computer.
Jet sighed and walked back out of the room. He saw no point in bothering Spike who would probably give him the very same answer has Ed.
She raised her eyes and pressed the bills into his hand. " Maybe this will make you talk easier."
He counted the bills then slipped them into his pocket. " Word has it that Maximillion is searching for something, a womyn I think. Probably some slutty whore. Anyway, he's got a big reward out for whoever gets her. Says she's very special or something."
" How much is the reward?"
" I don't know, like 25 million woulongs or something close to that." The man replied.
" Sounds like a pretty good sum. Do you know what she looks like?"
" No, haven't got a clue. They won't release any pictures of the babe at all, says she's top secret on the looks."
" Then how can anyone find her?"
" All we know is that she has long black hair and green eyes but there is a million damn womyn like that, how is anyone supposed to find that one girl with a description like that?"
Ivy smiled and sat up. " Thanks for the info, it helped me a lot."
At a sunlit bar on the west side of town she ordered a drink and sat sipping it while a couple men played pool and told crude jokes to each other. She noticed their looks aimed towards her but ignored them and turned her back. Ivy finished her drink and threw down a couple bills before standing up and walking out towards the exit.
One of the men set down his pool cue and said a few muttered words to his friends before heading out after her. The other guys laughed and nudged each other has pushed open the double doors and walked out into the sunlight.
Around the corner into the alley he saw her shadow disappear has if though beckoning him to follow. He licked his lips and grinned has he walked forward right into the face of a gun being held up to him.
" Whoa! Hey Ivy cool it! It's only me!" He held up both hands in mock surrender while she lowered the gun and slipped away.
" I saw your cronies, I thought it might have been one of them."
" Hardly, they're all inside thinking I'm getting laid out here." He jerked a thumb back towards the bar door.
" Oh no," Ivy groaned leaning against the wall. " No more sex, I just fucked a guy three hours ago to get some info from him then shot him dead. I don't have time for this."
" Hey relax," he laughed holding up his hands. " I was just telling you what my buddies are thinking. I know you want something Ivy and don't worry I'll give it to you hands free."
" What do you know?" She slipped into the alley taking refuge behind some boxes.
He followed her in and leaned his back against the wall. " A girl working in the opera house can answer any questions you have. She's a backup dancer in the production they are putting on. I'll call her and tell her your on the way. She will meet you in her back dressing room, give the usher your name and he will take you there."
" She can answer any question I have?" Ivy asked.
" Yea, she's known Max for quite awhile. She used to work in the syndicate has a backdrop spy but then she dropped out and changed her look. She still does some spying for a hefty fee but mostly she's a dancer."
" That's all I need to know," Ivy replied smiling and walking back out towards the street.
" Oh yea, one more thing," he stood up and walked up towards her. " I'll have the things you'll need sent to the ship tomorrow night. If the others ask about it, tell them they are some late birthday gifts."
"Only problem with is the fact that they don't know it's my birthday," Ivy replied.
" Well then I guess they are going to find out."
" Yea, I guess so." She turned and walked out of the alley heading back into the street. Inside the bar a group of men grinned and gave each other looks as their buddy walked out after her and winked at them.
See you Space Cowboy…Ivy: I don't know why I have to do this. I don't have anything to say.
Jet: Well none of us wanted to do it so we choose you.
Ivy: Well this sucks, I don't have anything to say about the next episode except that it's called "Dancing in the Cadillac's Light" and that you should watch it.
Jet: That's good enough for me.
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