Chapter Ten:
"Love Is A Deserter"
Rain.
Didn't it just figure? It'd rained that day, too. Was it a harbinger of things to come? Then again, that probably wasn't what he thought it would be. Which was why Spike kept his jacket open, should he need to defend himself on this ... adventure.
He stopped in front of a row of headstones and his gaze shifted to the one beside him. Not only had Vicious destroyed Julia, he'd taken away the one person Spike was able to count on in the years after he'd left the Syndicate – Annie. Her headstone was simple. Nothing flashy. That wasn't the woman's style. He'd liked that about her. At least one woman in his life wasn't a mystery. Julia was an enigma because she chose to be; Faye was because she couldn't remember who she'd been. Annie had no secrets.
He leaned over, placed the single rose at the base of the headstone the let his hand rest on the rain-soaked granite for a moment. If only he would've been there, he could've saved her. Things wouldn't be the way they were if it hadn't been for that goddamned freak accident.
"You forgot your umbrella."
The silhouette of a figure, complete with an umbrella of its own, cast a faint shadow by the lights illuminating the graveyard.
"I didn't expect anyone who isn't dead to be here, why should I care how I look?"
"It isn't about how you look, Spike. It's about your well-being."
"That's funny, especially coming from you ..." He stood straight then finally faced the person he'd traveled all of this way to see. "... Julia."
The blonde woman held onto the umbrella with both hands as she shrugged. "You look exactly the same. I didn't believe it when I heard it, though. It's been ... " Her voice trailed off as she continued to stare at him.
Water dripped from Spike's head as he looked back at her with little expression on his face. "Twelve years," he supplied. "I never would've guessed a dead woman could keep so well."
"I can explain everything ..."
"You really think I want to listen?" he coldly replied.
"It's ... complicated."
There was that word he hated - "complicated".
"You were alive and you never tried to find me. It doesn't get any simpler than that."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she closed the rest of the distance between them. "You vanished for ten years. An entire decade. What did you expect from me? When I came looking for you, you were nowhere to be found."
"And the three years prior?" He noticed a glint in her eyes. She was growing irritated. But so was he. "What's your excuse for that? Don't tell me it was 'complicated', either. I wasn't impossible to find back then. I had the same face, the same name."
She shook her head. "What's happened to you?" she finally asked. "You haven't changed on the outside, but you're a different person. Where did you go?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He glanced over his left shoulder. He had the distinct feeling they were being watched. "You asked me here, Julia. I thought it was to give me some answers, not to get the third degree."
"You want to ask questions?"
"Yes."
"Then ask." She quickly glanced over her right shoulder. Like Spike, she suspected they were under surveillance.
"Why are you still alive?"
"You're rather blunt."
"I don't have the time to stand here and bullshit with you."
"Oh? Really?"
"I almost killed Paul Saverem because of you, Julia. Why are you alive?"
"Saverem wasn't there," Julia replied after a solid minute of silence. She was taken aback by his manner with her. "He was in the car, waiting for the others. What does he know?"
Spike's hands tightened into fists deep inside of his pants pockets. She was so ... blasé about it. He'd spent the better part of two years mourning her "death" and she didn't seem to care. "How did you survive?"
She looked away, gazing down the grassy hill at the shimmering city below. "Vicious. I wanted to ..."
"You wanted to live," he finished.
She shifted her gaze back to him. "If you were in my position, you wouldn't have felt the same way?"
"I wouldn't beg anyone, especially not him, for my life."
"Things are different when your own mortality looks you in the eye."
A silence fell between them. Only the sound of the rain gently pattering against the ground and the headstones, along with the occasional rumble of distant thunder, could be heard.
"You've been with him for the last twelve years?" Spike quietly inquired.
"He spared my life. And I gave it to him in return." She turned away from him a little. "Then ... I couldn't stand it any longer. I siphoned money from one of the lesser accounts. When I had enough ..."
"You fled."
"Yes," she said, looking to him. "He's been searching for me ever since."
"I saw your bounty."
Julia lifted her eyes to the dark sky. "The rain's letting up," she commented. Her gaze met his and she managed a small smile. "Perhaps it's a good omen for us, Spike."
"Good omens were never a part of our relationship, Julia. Why should Fate begin to look kindly on us now?"
"I wish I could hear something," Faye muttered as she peered through the thick bushes on the hill just behind Spike. She could only see Julia's face since his back was to her. Judging by the expression on the blonde's face, whatever Spike had said surprised her. "We should've hid on the other side."
MacGruder rubbed his hand over his hair. At least the goddamned rain had finally stopped. It was bad enough being huddled in the brush with Valentine, then to be soaked to the bone on top of it? He wondered what possessed him to follow her. "I gather this broad's the reason Spiegel has the Red Dragons after him?" he grumbled.
"It's ... complicated." Even she wasn't 100 certain what it was all about, only that Spike had left and Vicious hadn't appreciated it.
"If she's even part of the reason, I'd say it's worth it. How does a chump like him get so lucky?"
"Would you shut up?" she snapped as she glared over her shoulder at him, then went back to watching Spike and Julia. I wish I could hear what they were saying ...
MacGruder settled into a more comfortable position on the ground. "What the hell do you see in that guy, anyway?"
She twisted at the waist and eyed him. "What do you mean by that?"
"What do you think I mean?" He unstrapped his shotgun from his body and placed it on the ground beside him. He pulled his shirt off then wrung the excess water out of it. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Are you suggesting something?"
"If you mean suggesting that you have a thing for that punk down there, then yeah, I am." He chuckled as he pulled his damp shirt back on. "Person'd have to be blind not to see it."
Glaring, Faye leaned forward and jabbed a finger in his face. "Look, the only reason I'm here is because he makes a lot of bounty money. Jet and I need him. That's all." With a 'hmph', she whirled around and continued surveillance.
He slyly smiled. "Really now? And why didn't you tell Jet about this, instead of sneaking off?"
She spun around again. "Because ... " She paused, trying to come up with a suitable excuse. "Because ... he just would've been in the way. Besides, if he found out, Vash would've known. I don't want that moron hanging around."
The sound of a gun hammer being cocked made both of them freeze.
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Lao grinned when MacGruder turned around and Faye's eyes flicked over to him. "You two are company, he just would've made it a crowd."
MacGruder's hand inched towards the hand gun tucked into the waist of his pants. Another gun being cocked stopped him.
"Please, keep your hands down," Shin ordered. He'd attempted to sound forceful, but he wasn't convincing to himself. "Miss ... if you'll hand over your guns ..."
Lao yanked the gun from MacGruder's pants waist and kicked the shotgun towards the rest of his men outside of the tall bushes. "Goddamnit, Shin, just take them from her. Don't ask."
Shin took a step closer to Faye, who simply opened up her drenched red jacket, revealing more than her holstered weapons to him. He reached for one of them, but his hand stopped. He glanced at her. He knew how dangerous this woman could be.
Lao shoved MacGruder out of his way, to the rest of his men, as he approached Faye. "We don't have all day," he snarled. He pulled one gun from Faye's holster and handed it to Shin then reached for the other.
Faye used the slight distraction to draw back a fist and deliver a nasty right cross to Lao's face. She smirked when Lao touched the back of his hand to the left corner of his mouth. He glanced at the blood then settled his gaze on her.
"I'm glad you did that," he murmured. Without warning, he returned the favor. He succeeded in knocking her completely out, though. He wiped the blood away from his mouth again and left the bushes. "Pick her up. We'll take these two to Lord Vicious."
Shin stepped over Faye and pushed by one of the men who'd moved forward to grab the woman. "Lao ... he wanted us to - "
Lao pivoted sharply bringing Shin to an abrupt halt. "Spike is Julia's job, not ours. We're simply here to back her up, if she needs it."
"But - " Shin's shoulders slumped as Lao turned his back on him. This wasn't part of the plan. What would Vicious say?
"What do you want from me, Julia?"
She closed her umbrella. "I thought I was rather clear in my note." A hand lifted and her fingers gently traced the curve of his jaw. "We can disappear. Together. Isn't that what we've always wanted? Isn't that what you died for?" She drew closer. "Isn't it?"
"Fifteen years ago, it was."
Her hand fell away from his face. "What?"
"You're right. I'm not the same person I was then." He shook his head, laughing a little. The smile faded as he looked her in the eye. "I thought I would find the woman I loved here. I didn't. You are. And you're not her."
"What are you saying?"
"The Julia I know, she doesn't exist. She's dead. She's been dead for twelve years."
Dropping the umbrella to the ground, Julia entwined her arms around Spike's neck then pulled him to her lips. After a few seconds, it became apparent that he wouldn't return her affection. As she let go of him, she opened her eyes and stepped away.
"Goodbye, Julia," Spike murmured.
After one last look, he turned and began to walk away. He kept his head bowed, watching as the wet pavement scrolled by underneath his feet. In his mind, the bright image of the woman he'd loved faded again. By the time he'd reached the gates of the cemetery, she was gone.
He stopped then looked over his shoulder. And so was the woman who'd claimed to be her.
"Where's Faye?"
Vash lifted his head. "Huh?"
Jet was in the door way of the main living area, a concerned look on his face. "Faye – she's nowhere on the ship. You haven't seen her lately, have you?"
"Nate's missing, too," Linares added as she came up behind Jet. "I've even checked our own ship – they aren't there."
Vash rose to his feet. "I haven't seen her for a while." He watched Jet and Linares exchange glances. "You've looked everywhere?" What if something had happened to them? What if someone had?
"The entire ship," Jet replied.
"What's going on?" asked Spike as he came up behind Jet and Linares. He saw the look on both of their faces.
On the top of the metal staircase, Meryl appeared. "Her ship is still in the hanger, Mr. Black," she reported.
"Goddamnit. Where'd they go?" Jet muttered.
"Faye's missing?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "This is new?"
"Nate's gone, too," Linares added.
Spike squeezed between her and Jet as he entered the room. "Where's the problem?"
"Spike, we don't need this bullshit right now," Jet growled. "With the danger out there - "
"It's pretty obvious what they did," Spike cut in. He lit up a cigarette, took a drag and looked at each person in the room. "They're chasing 300 million woolongs."
"Our ship is still in the harbor," Linares said.
"They didn't go anywhere." Spike shrugged. "Bounty's on Mars." He collapsed onto the sofa and draped his arm over the back of it as he glanced at Vash. "Maybe they aren't even looking for your brother."
Vash looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
Spike chuckled. "Maybe they ran off together," he joked.
"That's ridiculous!" Linares exclaimed as she came towards him. "That would never happen and you know it."
Spike exhaled a cloud of smoke in her direction. "What makes you so damn sure about that?"
Vash's eyes widened in a panic as he jumped to his feet. Somehow, he just knew what was coming. He put up a hand to stop Linares, his mouth opened to say something, anything, before she could. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough this time.
"Because ... she's in love with you, you idiot!" Linares snapped.
Vash's arm fell to his side as he dropped his head. Dammit. He wasn't supposed to find out that way ... He looked from Jet, who didn't appear to be as surprised by the news as Vash imagined he would be, then settled his gaze on Spike.
His stunned expression gave way to amusement, then he laughed. "That's a good one! I swear, I almost believed you." Shaking his head, he looked up to her. To his surprise, she wasn't laughing. She didn't even have a smile on her face.
Meryl stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She glanced from Spike to Vash. She could tell Vash was crushed that he wasn't able to stop the woman from blurting out Faye's well kept secret. Her lips pressed together and one of her hands gripped the railing.
Spike shifted his gaze from Linares to Jet, who quickly looked away. He then looked to Vash. He appeared to be embarrassed by the uncomfortable silence between all of them.
He knew. Spike thought. That son of a bitch already knew ...
Once Spike finished his cigarette, he snuffed out the butt and rose to his feet. "Well," he quietly said, breaking the calm. "We'd better go look for them."
Vash opened his mouth as Spike brushed by him but he couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say? The secret, such as it was, was out. The ball was in Spike's court now. When they finally found Faye, the next decision was his to make.
End Chapter Ten
Song Title Used: "Love Is A Deserter" - The Kills
