Thanks!
Kajouka
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Song of a Siren
Like the song of a siren, the intonations of a melodic voice called Spike back from the edge. The voice was gentle and soft, yet vibrant and welcoming. With it to serenade his ears, the other sensations that were slowly returning - the warm embrace of the bed, the caress of daylight across his face, the widespread aches of a dozen unhealed wounds - were shoved into the background.
Spike opened his eyes.
The ceiling of the apartment above Julia's bed looked exactly the same way it had on that similar day, over three years ago. Shifting his weight, Spike turned and saw Julia, surrounded by a halo of golden light, watching him. When she saw he was awake, the singing stopped.
"Please," he heard himself say, as though he were still caught in the dream. "Sing some more."
"How are you feeling?" Julia asked, smiling down on him.
With a gentle hand she smoothed back a lock of his hair from his face, humming a soft melody. When she had first dragged him back to her apartment earlier that night, she had thought that he would never wake up again. She still didn't know what had happened to Vicious or Faye, but she knew that she couldn't ask him just yet.
Spike closed his eyes, but opened them again, unwilling to take his gaze off of Julia's lovely face. "Like I just woke up from a very bad dream," he whispered, reaching up slowly with his bandaged right arm to gently take her hand.
Julia clasped his fingers within her own. It was a miracle he was alive, but still in the back of her mind she wondered if he had killed Vicious, or if this bad dream only just begun.
"Are you uncomfortable," she said looking over his bandages. The doctor had left hours ago, but Julia knew a thing or two about taking care of wounds.
Spike shifted his weight. Some kind of painkiller in his system took off an edge, but even the slightest movements jarred the many now-closed slashes that crisscrossed his body. Even breathing hurt - he must have broken a rib or two when he'd hit the water.
"I'm fine," he whispered, smiling more with his eyes than his mouth. Vicious was dead, and he was alive. Battered, but alive. And he had Julia. He gave her hand a tight squeeze. "I'm more than fine."
"Well, you don't look like it," Julia said teasingly. She ran he fingers down his ribs gently. They were wrapped in layers of bandages and the few patches of skin that could be seen were bruising slightly. He was in terrible shape, but still his smile could melt her resolve. It was just like the old days, Spike was alive and he was with her again.
Spike winced as Julia touched a tender spot, but his weak smile remained. "I'm with you now," he told her. "How could I be anything but fine?" Unable to sit up to deliver the job properly, Spike drew her hand to his face and kissed it.
Julia closed her eyes when he kissed her hand, and on a sudden impulse bent down to kiss him on the lips gently. "I feel like if I don't touch you..." Julia said when the kiss was over, "that you'll disappear."
Another smile tugged at the corner of Spike's mouth. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. Despite the warm euphoria of being back with Julia, the pain was starting to take its toll. He was exhausted. "Can you sing a bit longer?" he asked faintly.
"Of course," Julia said. She started off singing softly and slowly the notes of a lullaby she had learned long ago...
The serenade resumed, and Spike relaxed, closing his eyes. He fell asleep a few minutes later, the hand that holding Julia's going limp.
Julia waited until she was sure he had fallen into a deep sleep before she moved. She kissed his forehead gently and stood up. "Have sweet dreams, Spike."
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Mei Makani, the double agent, lay in the bed she'd been given the use of by the SeaDog crew. The same crew that had not questioned her appearance. She'd been in need of a place to stay and they, unquestioning, had given it freely.
She lay on her stomach, not wanting to put too much pressure on the wound in her back. The bullet hadn't gone through her back and out her stomach which left her front side relatively unpained.
But, shit. Now what could she do? Cloria knew. Cloria was on the SeaDog. Maybe she could claim insanity. Ugh.
Kade hummed a soft tune as he picked up a tray of food. It was meager - they didn't have much, but he thought Mei might be hungry and he was just happy she was alive. If he ever had the chance, he would get back at the syndicate for shooting her.
He walked into her room and set the tray down. "Hey beautiful, how are you feeling today?"
And Kade. The person she had told to 'not get attached' because she knew the consequences. Dark eyes drifted toward the door as he came in and lifted her hand to brush her dark hair away from her face. "Better. Still hurt like hell," Mei admitted almost dully. Her mind was reeling. If Cloria was awake, she would have told the others, right?
"What do you have?" she asked, curious. Mei had noticed the tray and it hadn't actually occurred to her that he had brought her food. Thoughtfullness wasn't something she was used to.
Kade smiled, "Not much. A few pieces of toast and some left over turkey from yesterday." He sat down on the bed next to her. "I should have gone down there with you." He took her hand. "And more than anything, it pisses me off that this was all a set up. One of us could have been killed. I'm surprised we all made it back in one piece."
He would have to find out what happened in that regard. Someone had known they were coming, but he still couldn't figure out how.
"Yeah well... no one died, right?" she mumbled and pulled her hand away. Rather than let it look like a cold gesture, Mei painfully shifted her position until she was sitting up, very careful about the position.
When she was settled, her gaze fell to the food and she felt a familiar pang of hunger in her stomach that was almost akin to pain. As though agreeing, her stomach gave off a loud growl and she blushed, attempting to hide it by ducking her head so her hair could hide her face.
"No one died, well, Jin's pretty upset because Rua was left behind. We don't know what happened to her yet." Kade replied, picking up a piece of toast and moving it to Mei's mouth. He could tell she was hungry, and he wasn't sure if she had the strength to feed herself after trying to sit up.
Mei winced but carefully took the toast from him and nibbled on it. After swallowing, though she didn't look up, she managed to ask "So how's Cloria?"
Kade raised an eyebrow. The question didn't seem right, "I think she's ok. I haven't really talked to her yet. Jin's been looking after her, while I've been watching over you. I think she's awake though."
She looked at him, startled. "You... watched over me?" Mei asked. Honestly, it shouldn't have surprised her. He was a nice guy. Of course he'd think her to be the damsel in distress. He just didn't realize that she was really the evil queen or something.
"Yeah, well," Kade replied blushing slightly. "It been a long time since I've cared about anyone but myself - and well, my shipmates of course." He ran a hand through her hair. "Is it so unreasonable to think that I couldn't care about you?"
"Kade, I think you need to go speak with Cloria."
Kade frowned, "Alright." He debated on asking her why, but from the tone of her voice, he had a feeling she would only further press him to go. He stood, and turned to go, but hesistated. "I'll be right back alright?" With that, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
Mei nodded slightly and watched Kade take his leave. Silently, she counted in her head. She wouldn't have long to attempt her escape.
Jin was sitting on the couch in the living room holding Cloria in his arms, he was still worried about her, the bump on the back of her head was huge. "Are you feeling better?"
Cloria nodded slowly, "It still hurts," she said leaning against him. "I'm sorry that everything went so wrong." There was something she was forgetting. Something important.
"Yah, Jin said. Every time he closed his eyes an image of Rua lying there bleeding popped into his mind and it shook him too the core everytime. "But we're alive."
Kade walked down the hallway, and smiled as he saw Jin and Cloria together in the living room. Things had seemed strained before the mission, but the two of them seemed closer now. He plopped down on the other couch, and sat facing them. "Uh, Cloria... Mei said I should talk to you."
Cloria's eyes widened. "Oh my! That's what I was forgetting." She suddenly seemed frantic, almost scared, "Kade, Mei's in the syndicate!"
"What?!" Jin shouted jumping to his feet. It took all his control not to rush off down the hall to throttle the woman. "She's the reason they were waiting for us? When did you find this out?"
Cloria fell back against the couch. "Jin.." she said softly, and she reached up to rub her head. "I found out when we were at the syndicate. She told the men who were going to kill us, that Vicious ordered them to keep us alive. I shot her." Cloria closed her eyes. "I couldn't let her go, even though I wouldn't be alive if she hadn't been with them."
Kade stood as well. "Jin. I'll handle this." He felt as though a knife had been stabbed through his heart. Yeah, he remembered now. This was why it was better to just use woman.
He turned and headed back for her room.
"I'm not going to let you handle this," Jin shouted stomping off after Kade. "You'll go easy on her. She is the reason that Rua is dead!"
Mei, meanwhile, had managed to slip out of her room with nothing but a backpack slung carefully over one shoulder. She was headed to where the zips were and knew she could take one and be gone. She could escape and get out of the upcoming situation. She could return to the syndicate and either stay or go off again. Mei didn't care.
She just couldn't stand the thought of seeing Kade's reaction.
Kade turned around and placed a hand on Jin's shoulder. "I will not go easy on her." He gave his friend a look that showed how much he was hurt. "Look, take care of Cloria, alright?"
"I did take care of Cloria," Jin said his eyes narrowing and his voice dropping to a low menacing tone. "That is why she is here now and not Rua."
"And you should keep taking care of her," Kade said, his own eyes narrowing as well. Not bothering to wait for a response, he turned and walked back to Mei's room. When he got there, he immediately noticed she was gone. "SHIT!" he called, running for the hanger. If she got away, they'd be in worse shape. He nearly ran into the wall as he skidded into the hanger, in time to see Mei trying to climb aboard. His gun was out and aimed right at her. "I'd stop if I were you." His voice was stern, but there was obvious pain in his eyes.
Mei stopped, her back to him. "And if I were you, I'd shoot," she murmured and made a move to still board the zip craft but faltered and gave a soft cry of pain as her injury was jarred.
She turned and looked at him, leaning back against the craft. Her own eyes were a myriad of emotion. Dammit! This was why she'd wanted to get out. She didn't want to see that pained look in his eyes. That thought alone shocked herself, even.
Kade took a step forward, the gun still pointed at Mei, "I want to know why. Was this all a lie?" He couldn't read her expression, although he expected that his one was transparent. "Why did you betray us?"
She couldn't answer for several moments and finally diverted her gaze from his. "I work for Vicious. You... the SeaDog... were the best way to get close to Spike. He was my target," Mei said quietly.
Kade shook his head, "So you just used us. All this time. And you knew Faye wouldn't be there and yet you let us go off to die?" He was hurt, but he was also pissed off. It wasn't just him who had been affected.
"Yes." The answer came easily and was so simple that there was no emotion held within in. Mei's cold gaze--it had always been such--returned to Kade.
Kade lowered the gun, but crossed the distance between himself and Mei in a matter of seconds. He grabbed her by the arm, and twisted it down behind her back. "You don't deserve to live." Yet, he knew he wouldn't be able to kill her.
"I've heard all I need," Jin said walking into the hanger. "Shoot her Kade, she told you to do it. So do it."
At the rough handling, Mei only winced but continued to hold his gaze solidly. Jin's voice--and words of encouragement--rang out and she looked to where Jin was, Kade's large frame mostly hiding him from her view.
"She is the reason that Cloria was hurt, that we were shot up," Jin shouted he was boiling with anger and could hardly hold himself back, but he knew he had to let Kade deal with it or he would easily loose his friend over this confrontation. "She is the reason that Rua is dead!"
Kade frowned, "I know, Jin." he said softly, pushing Mei back against the zip. As he held her there, he turned his head, his eyes meeting his friend's, eyes racked with emotion.
"Then what are you going to do?" Jin asked. He knew that his friend would be hurting from this betrayal. Just a few days before they had spoke about how much Kade had liked her, had begun to fall for the girl. But still he could not just stand by and let this girl get away with what she had done.
"Nothing," Kade said, pushing Mei to the ground. He looked down at her for a moment, then back at his friend. He took a few steps forward, then turned to look back at her, "She doesn't deserve anything I would give her."
"That's not good enough for me," Jin said practically glaring daggers at the woman he held pinned to the floor.
Mei looked back up at Jin with a strange calm. The girl wasn't afraid to be killed, no matter how painfully. She just didn't fear. "Then what is?" she asked, her voice low. The pain from the wound in her back was radiating like fire and she'd probably end up reopening it before this was over. But she didn't make a sound of this.
Kade turned back around, "Jin, you do can't right anything by killing her now." He laughed softly to himself. "Nothing can ever be right now."
"Then what are you suggesting?" Jin asked he could feel himself loosing control on the situation. "We show her off the ship and wave goodbye?"
Kade lowered his head, "No. We can't do that either. If she leaves, then the Red Dragons will know for sure who we are." His eyes slowly moved to Mei. "I suppose we have little choice..."
Her gaze drifted from one to the other as she remained silent. Would they kill her and end it? Or draw it out further? Just decide already!
"Well?" Jin asked getting impatient. "What's your decision Kade?"
He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. He should kill her. Jin was right - she deserved to die after what she did. And he should be the one to do it. After all, he brought her here. But, he still cared about her, and until he could get over that, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Lock her in her room, Jin," he finally choked out, opening his eyes. "We'll figure out the right thing to do. More importantly, we need to get off of Mars, before we're in more trouble." He looked down at Mei again.
"You will suffer for this," He told her softly, although his heart didn't believe him.
Mei didn't respond to his words. The same stoic expression was his only answer, no matter how much she wanted to speak. She had done her job. It wasn't her fault that things had gone awry. But now she must suffer the consequences. She did not fear them.
Jin lifted her up; he didn't want to treat her gently, but her wounds kept him from handling her as roughly as he would prefer. "You'll soon wish you never met us," Jin said leading her back down the hallway.
"Perhaps," came the quiet reply, held just as evenly as every other word she'd spoken thusfar. Mei allowed herself to be lead, only wanting to return to the quiet, lonely room and slip into the blissful darkness of sleep. There, she would have peace.
Kade watched as Jin dragged Mei from the hanger. He looked down at the gun in his hand. He should have done it - killed her - ended it all. But he couldn't. Anyone else, and it would have been over.
But he couldn't bring himself to kill Mei.
Jin locked the door to her room, he had made sure there was no way she could escape and had done a brief check for weapons taking a few guns from her posession. He left the weapons on a table in the hall and before he could make his way back to the living room he lost it. Punching the wall, he could feel his knuckles crunch under the pressure. He callapsed against the wall. He felt useless, he had allowed it all to happen, he had been focusing on problems and hadn't bothered to even look twice at Mei, who had nearly kiled them all, and had in fact killed Rua with her betrayal.
Cloria walked softly up behind Jin, and put her arms around him. "Jin," she said softly, leaning against him. She didn't know what to say to change the situation, but she wanted to be there for him.
Jin closed his eyes, and leaned back into Cloria. He loved her, but all he could think about was how he had failed Rua in that basement. "This was why I turned you down when you first told me of your feelings," Jin said wrapping his arms around Cloria. "I can't take care of you. I can't protect anyone."
Cloria shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. Silently, she held him. Things were going to be different on the SeaDog.
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James rest on his bed, sprawled reading an old dusty leather bound book. He wore a snug black turtleneck and some old faded jeans that fit him prefectly. As usual, his golden locks were down around his eyes. He didn't have much time to read, but he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jasi bounced into his room, "James! There is a ship up ahead. Looks like an easy hit!" She fell onto the bed and practically sprawlled across his lap. "I want to go shopping when we get to Mars, so can we please please please knock them off?" She laughed. She loved teasing him this way.
James sighed, not looking up from his book. They had just knocked off a ship, and had recently "acquired" this one. "We just did one, Jasi," he replied firmly. He wasn't going to give in this time. "And what happened to your money from the last one, anyway?"
Jasi blushed, "Well, I saw this really neat dress I wanted..." She trailed off. So what if she was addicted to shopping. "This one looks EASY, James!"
A slight smile formed on his lips when he heard her explanation. "There's always a really neat dress or blouse or shirt or heels," James said, shaking his head. He couldn't count how many times he had heard the same line about how it easy it looks, but it never failed to amuse him. "Only if it's easy, Jasi."
Jasi grabbed James's hand. "I wouldn't lie to you, James!" she said, pulling him off the bed. "Come on, besides - today's been so boring!"
"I thought today was peaceful, and of course you wouldn't," James said well being dragged off. The life of an outlaw or space pirate was one he hadn't chosen, but he accepted it and make the most of what it was. He enjoyed knocking of ships to some extent, but not like when he was younger.
Jasi pulled him to the window. "See James! they're just floating out there. It looks like a nice ship. I'm sure they have money at least. If you're feeling nice, we can just take their money and leave them be."
"How considerate of you, Jasi." James said, and looked out the window. It was a nice ship, not as nice as their current one, but it would certainly hold a decent amount of money from what he could tell." Would you like to use the grappler hooks? You're going to have to get used to them more."
Jasi nodded. "I'll suit up first so we can enter." She rushed to the airlock and pulled on her suit, before heading back to the controls. She pulled on the handles, guiding the ship into the right place before firing off the grappling hook. The ship shook, as the hook released and bore into the ship next to them.
Well slipping into his suit, he watched her carefully. "Nice job, Jasi.." James had confidence in her ablities, knowing she would one day make a great captain. If that was the path she wanted...
Jasi beamed at James. "Let's go!" she said, pulling him into the airlock and jamming down the button. A moment later they were floating in space towards the other ship. Jasi hit the button on her suit to activate her magnetic boots, as she touched down on the other ship. "Now to get in."
James nooded, floating in space for a bit longer than she had. He enjoyed the feeling of freedom that space brought, and the isolation. Activating his magnetic boots, he stepped down next to her. "Mmhmm," was all he said, purposely letting her lead.
Jasi noticed his lack of direction and shrugged. She walked along the ship until she found a hatch and quickly pulled the release lever. She floated into the ship, pulling herself along until she was in the airlock. Once James joined her, she pushed the button, letting the air close in around them. She pulled her gun and burst through the door.
Grinning to himself, Jasi was a take-charge girl. Following, he slowly took out his gun, not preferring her dramatic style and flair. Looking around for signs of people, James didn't see any; they must be at another part of the ship. Certainly they had noticed the grappling hooks though...
Jasi motioned to James, "You check the front, I'll check the back." She turned, and headed the way she had indicated, her gun in front of her. She wanted money - so these people had better have some.
He silently nodded, taking the front.. Looking through, he didn't see anyone. "Shit!" James whispered, noticing the child standing directly in front of him. James hated children, the little buggars were so sneaky and ... smelly. He couldn't kill the child, but he couldn't let it go notify his parents. Hesitating a moment, he took the child by the arm, ready to take it with him. "You're coming with-- DAMN!" He yelped, quickly letting go of the child. The thing had BITTEN him on the wrist. Examining his wrist, James let the child scurry off... Even though he had the suit on, the arms were still very thing. He could nurse his wound later though, and went off to chase the kid.
Jasi whipped around the corner and stuck her gun into the back of a woman who had been washing the dishes. "Come on bitch, give me your money." The woman didn't seem surprised by the attack, and only motioned to a drawer. "Just don't hurt billy," she said softly. Jasi rolled her eyes, and pulled out the draw. There was only 1,000 Woolongs in the draw. "This is it?" she said, pressing the gun harder into the woman's back.
Catching up with the child, he grabbed it right when it began to enter the kitchen. Looking at Jasi, he quickly pulled the child close to him. "You don't want your son to get hurt, now do ya?" Regrettingly, he held his gun to the child's neck.
The woman sighed and reached for a key. "There is a safe, in the other room, with the rest." Jasi gave James a wink, then quickly left to clean out the safe. "Alright James! Let's scram!" she said, heading for the door. "Tell the bitch if she follows us, she dies." With that, she disappeared into the hatch.
Letting go of the child, James watched it cling to his mother. "If you follow us, you die. And please don't think your son will be spared," He said quickly, running off to catch up with Jasi. Opening the hatch, let her go out first. Safely inside the ship, he released the grappler hooks and quickly steered the ship away. Only when he felt they were a comfortable distance a way did he slip out of his suit.
Jasi squealed, "See James, that was easy!" She peeled off her own suit then quickly guided their craft away from the one they had just robbed.
Watching her, James smiled to himself. "Indeed.. So how much was in the safe?" The money didn't matter to him he still had plenty left over from the last, but he liked seeing her happy. Even if what they were doing was technically illegal....
Jasi plopped down on the couch and started counting. "Comes out to be 52,394 woolongs!" The she frowned. "Damn, they weren't very well off."
"Maybe that's why they were so easy," James said, half to himself. The easy ones were usually not the most well off. Oh well, Jasi had enough money to buy her dress and whatever else she wanted. Getting up, he stretched and began heading to his room. "I'm going to back to reading, Jasi.." he told her with a wave of his hand.
Jasi crossed her arms. "Fine. Have fun." she said, half pouting. Then she turned her attention to the television, as some stupid new sitcom came on.
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Jet walked up to the sliding glass doors and watched as they opened. It has been over a week since they'd seen Faye, and he was surprised that he was looking forward to it. "Let's go Ed," he said, before entering the hospital and heading up to the front desk.
Flying around in tight little circles, Ed chorused a shout and jumped into the air. "Yay! We go get Faye Faye!" she landed neatly on the carpet, barefoot and all.
Jet simply smiled. He was used to Ed's antics. He spent a moment talking to thet receptionist, then turned to walk to the elevator. "She's on the third floor. Let's go."
"Third third...the bird is the wooorddd..." Ed cartwheeled into the doors.
Jet pressed the button for the third floor and leaned against the wall as the elevator rose to the third floor. Once there, he stepped off, and headed for room 312.
The serene atmosphere was most pleasant even to Ed as she slowed her pace to be respectable - yes, even she recognized these things - to the other patients being pushed or walked through the halls. It was also very crowded. A candy striper smiled at her as they walked past, silently wondering if Ed was there to see the lonely woman down the hall.
Jet pushed the door of room 312 open. There, in front of him, was Faye. She was laying on the bed, head turned to look out the window. He paused, not wanting to break the silence. For all that he teased her, she looked so peaceful that moment.
But Ed bounded by and leapt to her side, smiling and withdrawing a paper flower from the folds of her plain T-shirt. "Edward is here! Jet-person is here! We come for Faye Faye!" she waved the flower around, trying to catch her attention.
Faye gasped, surprised at Ed's entrance. Then she smiled, "Ed, Jet." she said softly. It was nice to see them again. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, wincing a bit as her chest wound strained. "Please tell me you're here to take me away."
Jet nodded, "It's back to the bebop, as long as you promise not to be obnoxious."
Placing the flower gently on the nightstand, Ed wrapped her arms around her back, restraining from jumping on Faye for a big hug. "Ed would like Faye Faye to come back! It gets lonely with all the cranky old people on board!" her smile broadened as she offered her glistening teeth as a peace offering to Jet beside her.
Jet only shook his head. "Yeah, it's hasn't been the same without you, Faye."
"Will Faye Faye come back?" Ed looked almost pitiful.
Faye smiled, "I'm ready to go back." She took a deep breath. "I don't think I can walk yet though."
Jet nodded, "Let me get someone to help you out. I think you'll have to sign something, and pay the bill."
"Screw the bill," Faye said. She was sending it the dragons anyway. "I'll figure that out later."
Ed began skipping around the room, ready to take Faye's things. "Edward will convey Faye Faye's thing back downstairs if they are ready!"
Jet left the room for a moment, and when he returned a nurse was with him. Together, they helped Faye into the wheelchair, failing miserably to do so without causing her pain. "Watch it!" she cried, "I'm hurt here!"
Edward rushed to her side, "Can Edward get Faye Faye something?" she asked.
"Another dose of painkillers," Faye muttered, clutching her side. "Can we just go?"
Ed could only scratch her head. Would the staff get all crabby if she went near pain killers? She shrugged, "Okay Faye Faye, let's go!"
Jet pushed the wheelchair out of the room, stopping at the desk long enough for Faye to sign out, before heading back to the elevator.
Ed went chasing after a Candy Striper momentarily...afterall, didn't they have candy? And candy was food.
"Ed, come on." Jet called out, holding the elevator door for the girl. "We need to get Faye home." He looked down. Faye was already closing her eyes. Poor girl. Who really knew what she'd been through.
Giving up the chase, Ed ran into the elevator. She looked down as the doors closed and noticed Faye's sad and quiet demeanor. As the elevator began to lurch downwards, she reached out taking Faye's hand, smiling vividly.
"It will be all better, Faye Faye!" she chirped.
Faye opened her eyes again, "I don't know if it will ever be all better, Ed, but at least I can be back home." In the only place she really belonged.
She was a bit hurt that she couldn't cheer Faye entirely up, but reminded herself that she would have plenty of time back on the Bebop. She also figured that if she couldn't completely do it, then maybe Reversi could take her mind off of it...and noodles.
The elevator doors opened on the first floor, and Jet pushed Faye to a waiting car he had rented to get her back to the bebop safely. He had debated sending her the bill for it, but decided against it. Faye didn't need anymore debt. After helping her into the car, he told Ed to get in, and headed for the drivers seat.
Ed quite literally flopped into the backseat, sprawling out over the leather and peeking out the window. She watched as Faye stared solemnly out the window as the car started pulling out, and went back to playing with the locks in the door.
Jet steered the car back to the ship. Once there, he picked Faye up in his arms. "Come on Ed," he said, as he carried Faye into the bebop. "Can you stay with her? I need to return the car."
"Of course, Jet-person! Edward will stay with the Faye Faye!" she saluted him and stood next to Faye as the wind picked up and rustled her clothing. Weather in general didn't really bother Ed, but she grabbed the sweater hanging over Faye's wheelchair and laid it in her lap. "Faye Faye doesn't need a cold!"
Faye smiled at Ed, "Thanks Ed," she softly. She wished she wasn't so tired. The girl seemed genuinely happy to see her and she wanted to express that in return.
Once inside, Jet placed her on the couch. "I'll be back soon."
Ed straightened out the blankets and looked out for when Jet was out of sight. "Shhh, Faye Faye!" she brought her finger up to her lip as she hovered over Faye. "Edward has a surprise for you!"
Faye turned her head towards Ed, "Really?" The thought of a surprise seemed to brighten her mood. "What is it?"
Giggling, Edward ran off for a few seconds and came back with a semi-large object wrapped up in a blanket. "Lookie, Faye, here is the gift! I'll unwrap it for you since you look so comfortable!" she ripped off the blanket and revealed a clunky, yet operatable computer built from miscellaneous scraps. "Edward has a computer all for Faye! She knew that you would be unable to move much, so she made you something to do! I made it all myself!"
Faye's eyes lit up. "You made this for me?" She pulled one hand out from under the blanket and touched the computer. "Can you set it here on the table?" she asked, as she tried to sit up.
Ed nodded, pulling the coffee table closer as it made a horrendous scraping noise across the metal floor. "Is right here okay, Faye Faye?" she began pulling on the computer's cords, trying to find outlets.
Faye nodded. She was half-up, leaning back against the couch in a slumped over position. "I'll get there in a moment," she said softly. "Hey Ed? By the way. Thanks for that favor you did earlier."
"Favor, Faye Faye?"
"Hacking into the system and blocking those journals." Faye said, reminding her.
"Oh yes!" Ed's eyes lit up. "Edward is always willing to help!"
"I think that's why I like you best Ed," Faye said, closing her eyes again. She was feeling dizzy, but she really wanted to try out Ed's new computer.
Ed giggled. "Faye Faye makes Ed feel happy! Oh, don't worry about this right now, Faye," she stood between Faye and the computer. "It'll take me a little bit to properly set up here, so you go ahead and rest rest! Maybe later I can paint your toe nails? I promise they won't be blue!"
Faye nearly breathed a sigh of relief as she fell back down on the couch. "Ouch," she muttered, before turning to Ed. "Go right ahead. I don't even care if they are blue."
"Okie dokie!" Edward leapt up onto the table with pounds of cords and adapters, "Oh, the world is so much greener...when you are a dreamer...la la la la..." she sang softly, becoming more and more consumed with her work.
Faye smiled softly at Ed's antics. She watched the girl for a moment longer, before her eyelids became heavy and she drifted off to sleep.
Ed became more and more emerged in her project, hoping that at last she could finally make Faye happy.
--------------------
Julia walked into the room, the morning's sunlight radiantly streaming through the window and gleaming off her hair. She stood over Spike smiling softly; in her hands she held a tray of food for him. "Good morning."
Spike smiled when he saw her. "Hey," he whispered. As before, the sight of her completely erased any thoughts of his injuries. "You look great. I'm just glad ... to be here."
"I'm glad you're here too," Julia said placing the tray on a table next to the bed so she could help Spike sit up. "I hope you're hungry. I made you the breakfast of champions."
Spike winced as the action of sitting upright pulled at the deep gash across his chest, but with a visible effort he shoved the pain away so that he could enjoy Julia's meal. "It looks great," he said, surveying the steaming plates.
Slowly, he reached for the cup of coffee and picked it up. Careful not to spill any, he took a sip, then set the cup back down on the tray. Looking up, he asked, "How did you find me?"
"The two of you weren't exactly quiet," Julia said thinking back. She had been sitting in her apartment in a chari in front of the window, she had cried a bit, and wished she knew what was going on. She had heard an explosion far away in the city and had run outside just in time to see the zips chasing after each other. "I followed your zips, and I got to the bridge just in time to see you falling into the river..."
Julia picked at an imaginary piece of lint on the bedspread before looking up into his eyes again. "What happened out there, Spike?"
Spike looked solemnly into Julia's eyes, returning her stare with one far more intense. "I met him at the tower. We fought, and I killed him. I'm just glad I survived the fall," he said simply. He didn't want to discuss Faye - especially the way that Vicious had tried to use her.
He examined the breakfast laid out before him. Most of the dishes required having to functioning hands in order to eat them. He chuckled. "Hey, I don't suppose you could give me a hand with this?" he asked, poking an egg with his fork.
Julia laughed along with him. She had forgotten that he would need help eating some of it. Taking the fork and knife from him she began to cut it up into bit sized pieces. "I don't suppose you want be to hand feed you as well?" Julia asked holding out the fork with a bit of egg speared on the end of it.
"What about Faye?" she asked looking directly into his eyes. "I know she was there Spike, and I know Vicious had to have had some sort of plan for her ... he always does. What happened to her?"
"Nothing like hand service." Spike leaned forward to delicately glom the piece of egg off the end of the fork. For a moment he closed his eyes and chewed, then swallowed. "Perfect. As usual."
Focusing back on Julia, he sighed. "I don't know what happened to her. Vicious got her involved, and she got hurt. I left her outside where someone would find her, then went back in. After that … you saw what happened." He knew he was being evasive, but he couldn't help it. It was his default mode, even around Julia. And there were far too many things that he would keep to himself. He wasn't ready to share – he didn't think he'd ever be. "It was just a fight. That's all."
"Fine," Julia said giving him one of her don't mess with me looks. "Then those are only a few cuts." With that she placed the fork back down on the plate and stood to leave the room.
With an unmistakable pang of sorrow, Spike watched Julia stand. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't alienate her … treating her like he'd treated Faye. "Wait," he said softly, unable to find the strength to be any louder. "Julia … I'm sorry. Stay with me. Please."
He took a deep breath, and even that caused him more pain. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than to leap out of bed and gather her in his arms … but he couldn't even sit up without help. Dammit. Just like before - he was helpless again.
"Julia," he repeated. "What happened … look. Vicious thought … I don't know what he thought, but he'd dressed up Faye to look like you, and told her to kill me. And then she got hurt, and …" The rest was irrelevant, just a long haze of gunshots an explosions. Julia didn't need to know any of that.
Julia had turned to hear him out and with every word she heard her eyes got bigger and she could feel herself become nauseas. Vicious had done such a despicable thing? Using her and using Faye against Spike. She took a deep breath to steady herself before approaching the bed again. She could feel her hands trembling when she picked up the fork again. "I'm sorry Spike," she said her voice barely above a whisper. Shaking, she had to try twice before she could get another piece of egg on the fork. "I didn't know...I didn't know he would..."
Spike slowly closed his eyes them opened them again. "Yeah," he said sadly. He really didn't want to remember what it had felt like, seeing Faye standing there in Julia's jumpsuit. "As I said … I don't want to talk about it. There was a fight. That's all." Leaning forward again, he accepted another slice of egg.
"I shouldn't have asked," Julia said trying desperately to calm her nerves. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her, it was only three years ago that Vicious had held a gun to her head and told her to kill Spike or he would kill her. She fed him the last few pieces of egg and placed the empty plate back on the table. A thick silence filled the room between them and Julia clamored to find something to say. "Are you feeling better this morning?"
Spike looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah," he told her, silently adding, until you asked me that question. "A whole lot better." Gently, he reached out and took her hand. Trembling with the effort, he moved his bad arm across his chest to clasp it in both of his. "Julia, I've spent the past three years seeing nothing but the past. I want to see the future." His face grew concerned. "And I have to know now … will I see you?"
Julia clasped his hands and leaned in to kiss him. It had been a long time since they had been together like this. Too long. "I'm here now aren't I?" she asked when the kiss was over.
Spike looked deep into those entrancing eyes of hers. "And you'll stay, won't you?" he asked, giving her hands an extra squeeze. "We can be together. Just like I wanted before. Just the two of us."
"We can be together Spike," Julia replied her eyes never breaking contact with his. She had to get them off this topic, she felt like he could see straight through her. Putting on her best smile for him she gave him a quick kiss. "But that egg was the last bit of food I had in this apartment. So if you don't want to starve, I'm going to have to go out and by some groceries to stock up the kitchen."
Spike watched her stand again. "Julia … please. Tell me. Can you stay with me? Or is this only another dream?"
"It's not a dream, Spike," Julia said. "We are here together again. I promise I will be back as soon as I can."
Spike nodded weakly, then closed his eyes uneasily. It didn't seem real. It couldn't be ...
"Sleep, Spike," Julia said pulling the blankets up about him again. "Dream of me."
