Disclaimer: I do not own cowboy bebop nor will I ever…oh god why does my life suck…lol
Waking from the dream
"Are you done yet?" Faye asked for the seventh time today
Faye leaned on the open panel door on the side of her Redtail. Sparks were flying every where while Jet worked on some of the electrical wires.
"For the last time Faye NO!" Jet said shutting the panel and nearly knocking over Faye, taking off the goggles he walked over the table to switch tools
"I would think you would want to hurry!" Faye said in an annoyed tone, she followed Jet back and forth from the table to the ship
"Unless you want me to blow the engine I have to do this carefully!" Jet huffed and opened the panel again
Faye leaned on the Redtail and looked to the ground.
"At least let me borrow your ship!" She burst out throwing her arms in the air
"And have you bring it back like this?" He asked smacking the back of his had against the beat up Redtail, "What's the rush? There aren't any bounties out worth catching right now."
"Its been three weeks Jet..." Faye said staring at the ground again
"Faye he left to-" Jet started
" Don't say that! He is alive!" Faye shouted, she closed her eyes and whispered, "He isn't dead..."
"Faye, don't give me that woman's intuition crap!" Jet shouted, slamming the panel door and going back to the table
"How much longer is this going take?" She asked before heading for the door not wanting to fight with Jet any longer
"...About...five hours..." Jet grunted as he tightened a bolt on the bottom of the ship
Faye sat on the floor in front of the big round windows. She thought back to the last time she saw Spike.
~Flash back~
"Where are you going? Why are you going? You told me once...that the past didn't matter...You're the one tied to their past!" Faye said pointing her gun to Spikes head
Spike leans close to Faye and stares straight into her eyes. Faye's entire body filled with fear and confusion.
"Look into these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have been seeing the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had to believed that what I saw was not all of reality..." Spike said looking into Faye's eyes, never blinking once
"Don't tell me things like that...You never told me anything about yourself! Don't tell me stuff like that now!" Faye said holding back her tears
"I thought I was watching a dream that I would never awaken from. Before I knew it, the dream was over." Spike said straightening up and starting to walk away
"My memory came back..." Faye said softly, "But...nothing good came out of it. There was no place for me to return to...This was the only place I could go back to! But now...where are you going! Why do you have to go! Are you telling me you're going to just throw your life away!" Faye shouted struggling to hold back her tears.
"I'm not going there to die. I'm going there to see if I was ever alive." Spike said as he walked away
Faye lifted her gun to the ceiling and she fired off all her rounds to cover up her cries.
~End flash back~
"Idiot..." Faye said as she laid back on the floor to fall asleep
Jet nudged Faye's shoulder with the wrench as he crouched down next to her.
"Hey. Wake up." He said continuing to nudge Faye's shoulder softly
Faye opened her eyes but she didn't move.
"What...?" Faye asked rolling over trying to go back to sleep, she hadn't slept more than a few hour a day since Spike left.
"It's fixed." Jet said, getting up to leave the room
Faye opened her eyes quickly. Shooting up she ran for the door. She jogged in place facing Jet.
"I'll uh...pay you back later or something!" Faye said quickly
As she started up her Redtail her body filled with happiness and fear. If he was alive then she would bring him home...but then what? If he was dead...
She sped off heading to the city, heading in the spot she last saw Julia. Hoping out of her ship she looked around for people. The streets were dark.
"I don't even know where to start!" Faye groaned leaning against her Redtail
"Faye." Jet said on the intercom in the ship
"Yeah, what do you want?" She said leaning back inside the ship just enough so she could see him
"Have you found anything yet?" Jet asked ignoring Faye's grumpy tone of voice
"I just got here Jet! I don't even know where to start!" She said climbing back into the ship
"Have you checked the cemetery?" Jet asked calmly
" No and I'm not going to! If you want to believe that he is dead then you can go for your self!" Faye shouted
Annoyed she turned off the intercom and sat in the ship for a while wondering what to do.
"Damn him!" Faye shouted, turning on the ship and flying off towards the cemetery.
Faye walked through out the cemetery checking the death date of every tomb stone she past.
"A lot of these are around three weeks ago!" Faye said to herself, noticing the same date on a lot of the tomb stones
"Yup! We got a truck load that day. All from that old syndicate place." An old man said, walking towards Faye moving his glasses, "Can I help you young lady?"
"Um yes," Faye said pulling out a picture of Spike, "Has a man looking like this been brought in?"
"Nope. Can't say that I remember that face." The old man said examining the picture
"Thanks!" Faye shouted as she ran towards the Redtail
Excite Faye flipped on the intercom to tell Jet the good news.
"Jet! Jet I think I know where to find Spike!" Faye shouted as she kicked on the ship and started off to the city
"Head back to Bebop." Jet said ignoring what Faye just said.
"WHAT! No way! Jet he could be-" Faye started before Jet cut her off
" We got a package. Its from earth." Jet said while kicking the large box, it shuck and barked when Jet kicked it
" Fine. I'll be there in a minute." Faye said turning the Redtail around
Bebop-
"What do you think it is?" Faye asked standing in front of the big box with Jet
"Not a clue. All I know is that its alive." Jet said kicking the box, it barked twice this time.
" Maybe we can eat it!" Faye said making what ever it is in the box whine
"Amazing." Jet grunted flopping down on the couch
"What?" Faye asked sitting on the box and lighting up a cigarette
"Right after Spike dies we have some meat in the fridge." Jet laughed lighting up too
"Spike Spike is gone?" A voice said from inside the box
Faye jumped off and stared at the box startled Jet grabbed a wrench and opened the side of the box. Ein laid on the floor of the box asleep while Ed sat up like a dog with a very sad look on her face.
"Ed?" Jet and Faye said at the same time confused as to why she would be here.
"Ed left so now Spike is gone..." Ed said looking to the ground
"Ed its not your fault Spike is dead." Jet said kneeling down in front of Ed trying to comfort her.
"He isn't dead." Faye said walking towards the door, Jet sighed annoyed that Faye wouldn't face the truth
"Faye." Jet grunted flowing Faye, leaving Ed dancing with Ein around the room.
Faye ignored Jets calls as she hoped into the Redtail. Turning it on she finally looked back at Jet.
"I'm wasting time here." Faye said glaring at Jet angrily
"Your wasting your time entirely!" Jet said throwing down the wrench
"Open the hatch." Faye said staring straight ahead
"Don't come back here crying cause all you find is a corps. Your no use to me if you're just going to mope around!" Jet yelled as he walked up to the control room to open the hatch.
Jet watched Faye zoom off as soon as the hatch was opened. Ed walked in behind Jet holding Ein.
"Is Faye Faye gone now too?" Ed asked pouting a little.
"No...she'll be back. She just has to confirm what she already knows to be true." Jet said turning to face a confused Ed, patting her on the head he started to the door," Want some bell peppers and beef with real beef?" Jet asked smiling slightly at Ed
Ed only nodded with a silly smile on her face as she followed Jet out of the room.
Faye walked through the dark halls of the building with a gun at hand ready to shoot. There was dried blood spots on every other wall. Bullet holes every where and not a dead body in sight. Faye peaked around a corner of the hall way before heading down another.
"Can I help you?" A voice said from behind Faye
The voice hit her like a ton of bricks. It sounded so much like Spike's voice. So hard and raspy but still so soft that you can't get enough of it. You just want to hear him say one more word. Faye turned around slowly only to face a young man with brown short hair. He was just as tall as Spike and just as skinny. Faye chuckled off her excitement quickly.
"No, I guess you can't." Faye said turning back around and starting back down the hall.
"Didn't you see the sign up front? This building is down for construction." The guy said taking a step closer to Faye.
Casually she leaned against a wall and closed her eyes. Lighting a cigarette she looked to the ground and sighed annoyed.
"I parked on the roof." Faye said noticing that he no longer sounded anything like Spike.
"Are you looking for something?" The guy said leaning on the wall next to Faye
Faye glared at him annoyed that he was still talking to her let alone standing so close to her. She blew a puff of smoke in his face. He inhaled it like it was a beautiful perfume. He almost had a smile on his face.
"I love the smell of smoke." The guy said slyly at Faye.
Brushing off his sad attempt to flirt with her, Faye pulled out the picture of Spike. Handing it to the guy she tapped the ash off her cigarette on the window sill next to her.
"Have you seen this guy?" Faye asked watching the ashes fall to the ground
"He your boyfriend or somethin?" he asked continuing to smile at Faye.
"Or somethin...seen em?" She sighed putting out her cig on the heel of her boot
The guy walked off towards his cleaning equipment, noticing that he was getting the cold shoulder.
"Nah. If your looking for some survivors of that big shoot out a couple of weeks ago you should check out the hospital." He said as he walked away.
"Thanks, I guess." Faye said as she walked off towards the elevator.
Pushing the roof top button in the elevator she looked around only to see what she had seen throughout the building. Plenty of gun shots. Blood was smeared on the wall. A bullet case was on the floor next to her feet. Bending down she picked it up.
"Empty." Faye said as the elevator doors opened, "Spike where are you?"
Mars national hospital-
Faye looked around as she walked over to the font desk.
"Hi I'm loo-" Faye started before the desk lady cut her off
"Name." the desk lady said, her breath smelling strong of coffee and bubble gum
"Oh, um, Faye Valentine." Faye said looking around hoping that they didn't do background checks here, "Yeah so I am looking for someone."
"What's the name of this person?" the desk lady asked smacking her gum loudly easily annoying Faye
"A Spike Spiegel. From the syndicate building." Faye said leaning over the table trying to see what the lady was typing
" We don't have a Spike Spiegel but we do have some one from that building. Named Vicious." The desk lady said blowing another bubble gum and turning the monitor away from Faye
"I need to see him!" Faye said trying to stay calm.
"Your in luck. Its his visiting hour. Follow me." The desk lady said as she started towards the hallway doors
Faye followed quickly. As the desk lady stopped at a door Faye took a deep breath before entering. The room smelled of rotting cheese. A bird sat on the edge of the bed where Vicious lay. Staring at Faye with his empty eyes. His face had no expression like always. He only stared. Probably thinking if he should kill her or not. The bird's wings opened slowly and gracefully.
The door shut behind Faye making her jump and breaking her of her trance. The bird cawed and Vicious chuckled at Fayes startled actions.
"You are looking for him." Vicious chuckled keeping his eyes on Faye.
"Where is he?" Faye asked stepping closer to the bed
"He is with the demons now. Where he belongs." He said, standing Vicious wore nothing but a pair of black pants.
Vicious walked to his sword that leaned against a chair. Faye didn't move as she watched him walk over to her with the sword in hand.
"I punctured his gut with this very sword." Vicious said as if to mock Fayes very quest
"He is not dead." Faye said emotionlessly as she watched Vicious put his sword millimeters from her neck.
"He knew I was the only one who could kill him. Wake him from this horrible dream. Pity he was too weak to do the same for me." Vicious said ignoring what Faye just said
He grabbed the hair on the back of Faye's head making her squeeze her eyes shut and tighten her jaw in pain.
"Where is he?" Faye grunted opening her eyes to small slits.
Vicious only glared at Faye. Releasing her hair he walked over to the other side of the bed keeping his back to Faye. She shook with anger and glared at Vicious.
"What you find will end your quest but it is not what you seek." He said glancing back at Faye then to the floor
Faye shook with anger looking around wondering what he meant.
"Am I supposed to know what the hell that meant?" She asked as she ran her hands through her hair annoyed at the very fact of Vicious standing there
"He is dead. That is all." He said keeping his eyes on the ground.
Faye glared at Vicious and raised her gun to be leveled with his head.
"Its you that belongs with the demons. And that angel from hell." Faye said as she pulled the trigger
Vicious turned around only to greet a bullet hitting him between his eyes. People rushed into his room at the sound of the gun shot. No one stopped Faye as she calmly walked out the hospital doors.
Faye stood at the pay phone listening to it ring as she waited for Jet to pick up. Finally he popped up on the screen with Ed sitting on the tomato playing virtual chess with Ein sleeping on the floor not far from her.
"So are you coming back yet?" Jet asked as he steered what looked like dinner. Bell peppers and actual beef.
"No not yet. I-" She started
"He is dead Faye. Come home." Jet said as he continued to stir the food, Ed stopped playing for a second and she didn't move, after a second she started playing again.
"You'd do the same if your sweet heart from Ganymede was lost." Faye grinned a little knowing the effect if would have on Jet.
"Don't call back until you're ready to come back to the bebop!" Jet said angrily slamming the phone down.
Ed giggled and yelled check mate, Ein lifted his ears and opened one eye then went back to sleep. Jet kept his hand on the phone even though it was resting in the phone cradle. Annoyed he started stirring the food again, knocking some on the floor for Ein to lick up.
Faye put the phone in the cradle and laughed. It had been a while since she had laughed. Catching herself she stared at the floor and thought of how Spike used to make her laugh.
"Spike where are you?" She asked herself as she started to walk the streets again.
Faye kept walking until three kids came running into a department store and nearly knocked her over. Each kid was holding a stick.
"Watch it you little brats!" Faye shouted as she steadied herself.
"There he is!" One of the kids said from inside the store.
"Dumb kids." Faye said as she brushed some dirt off her shoes.
"Is he dead?" Another kid said, sounding a bit grossed out.
"Don't know, he has been here for a few weeks. He can't be sleeping." The first kid said half giggling.
"What the hell are those kids doing?" Faye asked her self as she peeked into the department store.
"Look at all the blood! Hey, what is that smell?" Another kid asked as he poked at what looked like to Faye a green fuzz ball.
"Hey look! There's another dead body over there!" The first kid said as he started to walk over to it
Before he even got a step away from the first body a hand reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt.
"Don't touch that kid." A voice grunted
The kids looked at each other for a minute before they screamed and darted out the store nearly knocking Faye over again. She quickly steadied her self and walked into the store unable to breath.
"Spike?" She asked as her knees gave way
" Yo." He grunted, he acted as if his clothes weren't covered in dried blood.
"What are you doing here? Why didn't you come home?" Faye asked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind
"Ships dead. So is Annie, couldn't leave her on the couch." Spike said, glancing over at the couch then back at Faye
Faye looked over at the bloodstained couch and then back at Spike. She laughed a little then she began to crawl over to Spike. Her legs were not allowing her to walk at all. The floor was tinted red with the dried blood and every thing in the store looked shot up. The window was broken and the food and magazines on the counters were knocked over and opened. Every thing looked so dead.
She flopped down next to Spike and cleaned the blood from his face. He didn't even blink.
"Come on Spike. Come on, let's go home." She said as she pulled on his arm softly
"I can't..." Spike said as he continued to stare at the spot where Faye once kneeled
"Why not? Jets making Bell peppers and beef… And guess what?" Faye said as tears welled up in her eyes and her voice started to crack
Spike grinned a little and he leaned over so he was lying on the floor in his own dried blood and his head rested in Faye's lap.
"What?" Spike asked as he glanced up at Faye
"There is actually meat in it." Faye said with tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to smile down at spike. Her shaking hands stroked his hair slowly, "Why did you have to go Spike? Why didn't you stay at home with me?"
"I already told you. I had to see" Spike started before Faye hit her fist on the floor making him shut up but he never flinched.
"Don't give me that alive or dreaming bull shit!" Faye said, keeping her now red fist on the ground, "You can come home now. You don't have to die here...I can get you to a hospital!"
"Faye...I have nothing to live for. Vicious is dead. So is Julia..." Spike said as he looked back over to where Faye once kneeled.
"Julia...Spike you do have something to live for..." Faye said looking away and blushing slightly, Spike looked up at her waiting for an answer, "Me...Y-you could live for me..."
Spike smiled a little and reached up and touched Fayes cheek. His hand was cold and rough but Faye pushed her cheek against his hand anyways. She felt like she was already loosing him.
"Faye...I love you," Spike said caressing Faye's face softly, her heart almost stopped as she thoughs words came to her ears, "but I felt the same way for Julia. She was waiting for me. I had to go to her. I-I'm sorry Faye. Don't cry. You'll live on just fine."
Faye tried to wipe the tears from her face but they fell faster than she could clear them. She bent over and kissed Spikes forehead. Her shaking hands caressed his cheek as he closed his eyes, his breathing shallow.
"Spike. Now that you are...a-awake from the dream...Are you with her?" Faye asked as she continued to stroke his hair
She took off her red jacket and bundled it up on the floor. Quickly she wiped the tears away and moved Spike slowly from her lap and to her jacket. Faye tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to smile down at the dead body but only more tears came.
Like a baby she crumpled up next to Spike ignoring the tears that covered her cheeks.
"Spike...Spike what are we going to do without you?" Faye asked as she continued to stroke his hair
"Spike?" She cried half expecting his calm carefree 'Yo' to be uttered from his mouth.
"Spike..." She asked again as she started to shake from the truth that had finally hit her. She had lost him.
Automatically she stopped crying and shaking as she realized the truth. As Faye stood up she covered Spike with a dirty white sheet. For a while she stood and looked down at Spike. Part of her hoped he would just open his eyes and shoot up. Another part wished strongly that he was right about life being a dream. But then there was that bug in the back of her head that wished he was wrong. Just so he could never be with Julia again.
Gritting her teeth she brushed off the selfish thoughts and she started towards the door. Holding the door open Faye looked back at Spike. She tried to smile but she just couldn't.
"Take care of him..." She said softly as she headed out the door
As the door shut a small grin grew slowly on Spike's face.
End
