Chapter Two: The Swordfish Still Flies
When I finally got my lazy butt out of the tub, I realized that I couldn't hear anything, not even Ed. I wondered what was up, and quickly dressed. Surprisingly, I do own other clothing, some very elegant, than just my hot yellow shorts and matching top. Thinking Jet was going to make me clean the hangers like he had threatened, I put on an old baggy shirt and gray sweat pants, which were already covered in oil and grease stains.
I yawned and stretched, glancing at that machine on the top of my bed, sitting there with its blank black screen, as if silently beckoning for me to click it on. I shook my head, going to the door, ready to see what was going on, but instead, I pivoted around and went back, turning it on. I had been pulled to it, like a moth to a flame, trapped in its mystery.
The screen lit up, revealing my latest wallpaper, which happened to be a dozen different Edward facial expressions courtesy of Edward. I rolled my eyes, but didn't pause too long before connecting to the internet. I was longing to hear back from that guy. I don't know what was making me so anxious to talk to someone I didn't even know, but there was something about him. It made my insides go crazy and my heart beat wildly.
I was always a bit of a tease, but there was something different about this one. I knew that my body was sexy, something most men could only dream of holding, but if I got this guy to fall for me by just talking to him, then I was still in the game, despite the fact that I would soon be thirty. That made me shudder. It was just a mental thing I had. 30 = old, old Faye.
Ed had given me an e-mail address. It was exactly the same as my…what was it called…screen name? Yeah, that was it, screen name, so I only had to remember that edein was my password and then of course, what my online name was. Though, recalling how the other men in the chat room had taken to my name, I was thinking about discarding the yellow side of my wardrobe pronto!
As soon as I found out how to get into my e-mail account, I decided to try another go at the chat room I had previously been in. However, MeMoRyPhAsEd29 was not present. I shook with frustration, nearly throwing the machine across the room. How was I supposed to seduce someone if they weren't around for me to seduce? Biting my bottom lip, I hesitantly turned off the computer, with a curse.
Standing up, I left my room, going to the hanger. I had only taken one step inside, when I saw something that was impossible. The Swordfish was landing in its normal spot, just like it had never been gone. Please let it be Jet, please let it be Jet, I kept saying to myself, praying to all that was good and decent that it would be Jet and not…
"Hey there, shrew," he nodded to me, brushing past to get into the living room.
"Spike?"
I felt something inside pull at what was left of my heart. Then I was fuming with anger, anger that hadn't been unleashed for the past two years. That lunkhead! How dare he stroll in here like he owned the place? Jet and I had been running since he left and we had been doing a pretty damn good job too. He couldn't just waltz back into our lives like this! I wouldn't let him and I knew for a fact that Jet wouldn't allow him. I turned around only to see an extraordinary sight.
"Welcome back, Spike!" Jet patted the idiot on the back, as if he had only been gone on the latest mission. Ein ran over, wagging his short stub of a tail, and Ed threw herself into his lap. Was I the only one who saw a problem with this scene?
"Why the long face, Faye? Did you really miss me that much?" he teased, lighting up a cigarette. I glared at him, ready to throw one of my famous tantrums.
"You bastard," I hissed, swinging my hand through the air, and slapping him hard across the face.
His head snapped with the movement and I was surprise that I had made contact with his flesh. Usually, he was speedy enough to dodge one of my attacks, but not this time. Seething, I stared down at him, with the very glare of death. Jet remained silent, stunned by my actions, and even Edward was at a loss for words. But out of all of them, Spike's reaction was the most priceless. He sat there, staring back at me, one side of his face so red, it looked as if he had gotten sunburn. His cigarette lie on the floor, forgotten.
"Faye, what has gotten into you?" Jet finally snapped, reaching up from where he was sitting in his chair, to yank me away from Spike.
"What has gotten into me?!" I hollered, making Ein whine with fear. Ed made a mean face at the dog, and it ran to hide in the kitchen, Ed running after him to apologize. I groaned, grabbing tuffs of my hair. "He abandoned us two years ago. We thought he died and tried to get back to normal. Now all of a sudden, he's back, and you aren't even a tiny bit upset that he dumped us for something better, only to come back now when he's a worthless jerk again?" I shouted.
"You don't know that for sure," Jet stated matter-of-factly.
I put my hands on my hips, facing Spike. "Tell me I'm wrong, just tell me," I growled.
He shrugged from where he sat, lighting another cigarette. "You're wrong," he said simply. I expected him to give me a valid reason. Instead what I got was, "I'm not a jerk."
Screaming in frustrated fury, I stormed back to my room, mumbling to myself.
I laid in my bed the rest of the night, staring up at the ceiling, much like I had for the past two years, but this staring was different. I wasn't longing to have Spike back anymore. I had him back, but for some reason, with his return, only a muddle of problems had surmounted. Nothing good was to be expected by his sudden reappearance. Now Jet would no longer see me as serious bounty hunter. He and Spike would be buddies again and I would get stuck with the kid.
In all seriousness, I don't mind Ed. She can be very amusing at times. However, she's far too spunky for my tastes. When I need to relax, she's the one who needs to bounce around the Bebop just so she's on the same energy level as everyone else. It's kind of annoying at times, but when she left, I found myself missing her a great deal more than one would ever think. Jet caught on to that, but I didn't think he had caught onto my attraction to the lunkhead. I kept feelings for Spike far away from anyone or anything. Love had never been my strong point, more like a weakness, a place for vulnerability.
I closed my eyes, hearing the gentle whir of the ship flying through space. Strangely enough, such a simple sound that I had grown so accustomed to brought me a great deal of comfort when I felt off.
"Faye!" Jet yelled from down the hall. I rolled over onto my stomach, ignoring him. My door was opened only a crack. He'd think that I was asleep and hadn't heard him if he walked by. If not, then whatever he wanted wasn't that important. If he really needed someone, he could come and get me. "FAYE!!!"
I put my pillow over my head, trying to block out his strong lungs. All those years on the police force hadn't been for nothing. Jet could yell with the best and he wasn't a half-bad shot either. All in all, he pulled his weight rather well, better than I had ever expected.
Over the past two years, when it had just been the two of us, we had learned to not piss one another off, sort of become friends. We looked after one another, but now, that was all going to change, thanks to Spike. Already, it was like the relationship we had formed was dissolving.
My door creaked open. Slowing my breathing, I attempted to look like I was still sleeping, to fool Jet.
"Valentine, get up. You aren't sleeping." I gritted my teeth. It wasn't Jet, but Spike. I raked my fingernails into my pillow, before slamming it down on his head. Unlike earlier, in the living room, I missed him. "The Faye I know liked staying up to all hours of the night. Don't tell me she left this ship too."
"Don't judge me," I hissed. "You don't know anything about me anymore. Things are different now, Spike. After you left, things changed, and if you think that they are all just going to change back again because you're here, you've got another thing coming to you." With that, I pushed past him, to go see what Jet had wanted.
I found him trimming his Bonsai plants. He was being careful, using precision with every motion. "What did you want?" I asked, making him jump slightly and cut off a hunk of one of the plants.
"Jesus, Faye! You could have knocked! Now look what you did!" He pointed to the plant. Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned against the doorframe, watching him. "And don't even say that it is only a plant, because it isn't."
"What did you want?" I repeated with a sigh.
"I want you to go clean up the Swordfish for Spike. He's had a hard journey back and it would be nice to bring in another bounty this week," he explained.
"You want me to clean his ship!" I shrieked, thinking of how long it had been since my RedTail had been washed. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" he asked me," a gruff look etched across his face. "Get going."
"Fine," I grumbled, thankful that I had kept my grease stained clothes on.
I grabbed a bucket from the kitchen, and a rag. While on my way out to the hanger, I spotted Spike, lounging in front of Big Shot and Ed squatting in front of her computer, clucking her tongue. Ein laid aside of her, his ears flickering at the sound every now and then. It was like a shot of déjà vu. The sight was so familiar, that I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Shaking my head, I went out to the hanger, closing the doors behind me, and turning on the radio.
With the music blaring, my chore didn't seem as unbearable. I took the rag, splashed it in the soapy water, and then began rubbing away at the marks on the Swordfish. Water ran down, bubbles slipping around with it, down the sleek metal of the ship. The metal wasn't the only thing getting wet though. By the time I was done the front of it, my shirt was soaked with perspiration and suds. I pulled it over my head, tossing it on the floor behind me.
In my short tank, that showed a great deal of my flat tanned stomach, I used both arms to roughly scrub away the stains from smoke and other explosion fluids that decorated the sides of the ship. I wasn't even going to try the back or around the guns. There was so much gunk there, it was impossible to scrape the gross fungus away.
After about two hours, I was done with the outside. I climbed up into the cockpit with my damp rag, ready to swipe the panels clean. There was dust everywhere, it was sad. Then I saw all the trash from food that littered the floor. I smiled, thinking of my own messy habits. I threw all the wrappers and cups down out of the ship to the floor. I'd collect it all before I went back to my room and dispose of it.
Jumping down from the ship, I threw the dirty rag into my gray water. Shuffling all the garbage into one pile, I prepared to carry it all back inside with me. I hooked the bucket on my left arm, then gathered all the rest of the trash in my hands. I managed to walk halfway to the doors when I slipped on some water I had spilled coming in. I fell backwards, landing on my backside, the bucket splashing all over me, and the trash going everywhere, most of it sticking to my soaked body.
"Damn it!"
Hair dangling in front of my face, water dripping off the tips, I pushing myself up. I surveyed the giant mess I had created with my clumsiness. How much more could go wrong in one night?
"Need some assistance?"
Not now, not now, I groaned. Of all the times to come in, why did it have to be now? I felt like a lion that had been shot right below the heart, just as the hyenas decided to invade his pride. Why did Spike have to come now?
"I'm fine," I snapped, picking up some of the trash.
"You don't look fine," he commented, giving me one of those stupid grins as he plucked a piece of garbage from the ground.
Still glaring at him, I scooped up the now empty bucket, and began to fill it with trash. The rag was lying by the door. I figured that I had let it fly when I had been sent sprawling on the ground. Just thinking of my latest escapade made me groan. Spike probably thought I was a first class dead beat who couldn't do anything. He had no idea how hard I had worked these last couple of years. He was only seeing how bad I could handle everything, now that he was back.
"Got it all," he announced, tossing the last piece into my bucket.
I followed him out of the hanger to the garbage disposal, grabbing the rag on my way. We walked in silence. I believe the tenseness of my muscles served to illustrate how uncomfortable I was with the fact that he had again witnessed a screw up of mine.
Suddenly, he stopped and faced me. "Go take a shower," he instructed, pulling the bucket and rag from my hands.
It was like he had been reading my mind. Even though I had already taken a bath, I felt so disgusting after cleaning and only wanted to take a hot shower before I went to bed. By now, I was sure Jet and Ed were asleep. So I wouldn't have to worry about getting yelled at for wasting more of the hot water, but why was Spike being so nice? He always had complained about my shower routines before. Why did he start now?
"Go, before you stink of the hall," he told me, giving me a light shove.
I made a face. Of course, he would do that. He'd sap me up, make everything all nice and kind, like we were pals or something, then he would shot me down, with a smart ass comment like that. I grinned at him, before throwing a punch at him. My fist only grazed his shoulder, but it was enough to make him stumble backwards.
With that done, I proceeded to the shower, then went to bed, a smile spread across my lips, as I thought of what was to come in the following days.
A/N: Yay! The second chappie is finally up! Yay! I really liked writing this chapter. I don't know if it was because Spike made his dramatic (yeah right) reappearance or what, then again, I am truly in love with Spike! drools Ahem! clears her throat I'm sorry, I'll try to be more professional about this note. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it and I want everyone to have just as much fun reading it. Oh God, I sound like a freakin commercial. Sorry! Nev
