Gaaaaaaaaaaah! Gomen! Gomen nasai! Soooooo sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Lots of stuff over break and what have you. But I sat my butt down and pounded this out for ya'll. I knew this would be one of the major chances I had to update and i have not failed! Mwhahahaha! ahem. Anyway, enjoy this next installment, because it might be awhile before I update again.
Disclaimer: aww pooh! I don't own anyone in this ficcie except Kate and Nikolai.
Ed: Nikolai, whadda guy! Lost his head, now he's dead.
Chaos: :::grabs Ed and duct tapes her mouth::: how many times do i have to tell you not to read ahead! Ehe. Pay no mind to that man behind the curtain!
now on with the show!
"Spike! Spike!" You look up towards the second level of an apartment complex to see a tomboyish girl yell after you. She looks about nine or ten with her flaming red pixie cut under a cap, her overalls two sizes too big. She begins to run down the fire escape on the side of the building, the old, steel stairs creaking with every bounding step. You tell your friend to go on ahead while you wait for the girl with the toothless grin. She runs up to you and you look down at her, she barely reaches your waist, but you were always tall for your age. Your hand is on her head and you give a rub before she smiles up at you with her whole face; her eyes squeezed shut, the gap of her two missing front teeth making you smile right back. She hands you a small package, hastily wrapped in brown paper. It fits in the palm of your hand as she gives it to you, watching you open it. The gift is a small card with a pin on it, an angel pin with a poem on the card. It reads,
For all those times I cannot follow along,
I send with you a guardian to watch over and protect,
The ones I care about, the ones that I respect.
So when you wear this angel pin, remember my little song
And be reminded that I will be with you no matter what goes on.
You look down at the little girl and smile, rubbing her head one more time.
"I don't need this," you say. "My guardian angel is right here in front of me."
She smiles that toothless smile once more as she begins to speak, "Oh silly I know that, but the pin is for good luck. I know some times you do dangerous stuff and I just want you to be safe. Will you wear it for me? Please?" She clasps her hands together, her bottom lip quivering mockingly. You roll your eyes and oblige her request, pinning the angel to your shirt collar. She squeals a quick "thank you" and hugs you around the neck. It starts to rain as you watch her walk back into her abode. The rain makes your hair stick to your forehead as the picture fades to black.
Spike sat up soaked in sweat from a fitful nights sleep. He looked down at his collar to see the same angel pin still pinned to his shirt collar. He looked over at the still sleeping form of Kate. 'My guardian angel, huh?' He fingered the pin and decided to let her stay sleeping for awhile. The past five days had been brutal for her; she had endured intense physical therapy which had been designed to have a minimal recovery period with optimal results. This meant intense conditioning for extended periods of time with little rest in between, withthe exception being the recommended eight hours of sleep every night. Spike had pushed Kate hard a lot of times, and he was quite surprised at her inner strength. He thought she would have broken down crying after what he threw at her. But low and behold the things he did to push her buttons like calling her a baby and a chicken, too weak to finish the program, it had only made her stronger, more determined to prove him wrong. That was ultimately the reaction he was hoping for, and that's ultimately what he got. She deserved to sleep in today for all the hard work she's done, but what was he going to do until then?
"Hey Spike? You awake?" Jet bellowed from the hallway. Spike waved his arm overzealously, urging Jet to be quiet. He pointed toward a sleeping Kate and Jet nodded in acknowledgment. Spike then motioned for Jet to move closer, he had an idea of what to do while Kate slept. Jet came bounding over and Spike whispered his plan.
"I want to check up in the bounty for Nikolai, see if it's gone up over the past few days."
"What? Oh I forgot to tell you, the ISSP yanked the bounty. They said-"
"They WHAT?!??!" Spike and Jet both froze in place, afraid the disturbance had awoken a sleeping dragon. Spike eyed her wearily as she rolled onto her side to face them. When she did not awaken, Spike sighed and repeated his question in a low, angry whisper.
"They what?!"
"They yanked the bounty on the grounds that it was all a hoax. Nikolai Azimov died a few months ago in prison. I even checked up on it and its true, he died of heart failure."
Spike slumped back against the wall, dumbfounded. Nikolai was dead? And that whole chase after him to Kate's house, that was a setup? No. Spike needed to see the files. All the files. He asked Jet to get him a laptop. He had a lot of research to do, maybe even a little hacking to get what he wanted. Answers.
"Ahh here it is. Nikolai Stanislas Azimov. Heh, isn't that suiting, his name is Slavic victorious military glory. And if I remember correctly, its Katia Yvonne, which after three hours of research, I believe is pure archer? Eh doesn't have the same ring but oh well."
Spike stretched, to the best of his ability, the kinks out of his back. He went back to the file Ling-Ling prison had kept of Nikolai. True to form, Nikolai had died a few months prior to their attempted break out. He dug a little deeper and found the old trial records; Kate's sworn statement, the incriminating documents she had turned in about the premeditated murders, the paper trail he left when he embezzled money from various corporate companies, the photographs of the underage prostitutes catering to high up officials who were also brought down in the scandal. Spike began to skim over what Kate had testified to put her father in jail, and a certain paragraph caught his eye. He looked at it more closely to find it was a personal account. 'Ahh! So Kate was also under her fathers' iron fist?' He read on about how he had forced her to service his wealthiest clientele along with her sister, Kasmira. Kasmira had been found beaten to death in a back alley dumpster by Kate after one long evening of conducting business. It had been then that she went to the police, giving a sworn statement and signing it as her own spoken word. She also brought tapes that she had stolen from her "clientele" for evidence. They liked to watch later on, to remember the "special night" but Kate had never given them the chance. Those tapes too were on file and Spike, letting curiosity get the better of him, clicked on it. He wasn't two minutes in when he shut it off in disgust. What was going on in those videos went far beyond your average prostitute. That was rape, and not just statutory rape either, it was hold them down and do what you will kind of rape. How could Nikolai ask his daughters to do that? What kind of inhumane thing was he? Kate again stirred besides him but did not wake. Her furrowed brow and pursed lips caught his attention as she squirmed again. Lashing about slightly, she seemed to be snared in a very bad dream as she began to murmur. Spike shut down the computer and placed it on the floor. He then crawled over to her side to gently shake her awake. He seemed to get a little too close when her left hook came flying straight at his face accompanied by her shouting, "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Spike nearly fell of the bed from the force of the blow. Kate looked around a bit confused before she realized what had happened.
"Oh my God I'm sooo sorry Spike! I was having- having a bad dream and I...and I...oh my God I'm soo sorry." Kate repeated over and over, trying her best not to laugh at the situation.
"Somebody should've warned me about your left hook," Spike replied massaging his jaw. "Jeeze you really pack a punch."
In her best impression, Kate put up her fists and said, "I coulda been a contenda!" Both looked over at the outburst of laughter from the hallway to Faye doubled over, laughing at the joke. Spike and Jet however just exchanged confused glances as to what was so funny. Kate and Faye just looked at the two boys then at each other before bursting with renewed laughter. At that moment Faye felt a certain connection with Kate, like she knew about things from Faye's childhood. This was going to be an entertaining day indeed.
"What are you guys laughing about? I don't see what's so funny."
"That's because you have no taste," Kate giggled, still recovering from the laughter. She glanced over at Faye and they both started laughing again.
"Would somebody please fill me in?" Kate and Faye laughed even harder. It would be fun talking to Faye, she seemed to like the same things. But for now leaving Spike and Jet in the dark about their little joke was just as fun. Jason would be rolling right about now too. 'Oh shit! Jason!' "He must be having kittens by now!" Everyone looked quizzically at Kate as she tried to run around frantically. If she hadn't been attached to Spike she probably would have been running in circles.
"Hold it. Who's probably having kittens by now?" Spike halted her crazed rampaging by yanking his end of the handcuffs. He looked at her stoically while she looked like she thought he was a moron. How could he not know who Jason was?! The raging dragon within her settled down as she realized that there was no possible way anyone on the Bebop could know who Jason was.
"Jason, my boy friend. He's probably mad with worry. Oh God I hope he hasn't done anything too crazy!" Jet and Spike cast side long glances at each other, wondering if Kate had truly lost it. No doubt this meant another trip to the surface of Mars.
Sure enough, Spike was back on Mars, waiting in front of Kate's house, for her boyfriend, Jason. A car rolled up and barely slowed down before it was shut off, letting it roll a little before it finally came to a halt in front of them. A rather tall, well built man ran out of the car toward Spike and Kate, and Spike felt himself being dragged along to meet this newcomer half way. He kind of reminded him of a younger looking Jet, with hair and no beard; same general stockiness without the artificial limbs. Something else was familiar about Kate's boyfriend as well, Spike knew he had seen him somewhere, he just couldn't remember where.
"Oh my God Kate where have you been?" Jason's voiced shook with relief. He was a bit too overjoyed at first to notice the "situation" between her and Spike. However when he did acknowledge Spike's presence, he looked back and forth between them both before coming upon the common link.
"Eh, is there something you, uh, want to tell me sweetie?"
"Ahaha," Kate laughed nervously. "It's his fault." Spike almost began to agree as if it had been a planned explanation then stopped.
"Wait...WHAT?! How the hell is it my fault?! I'm in the exact same situation you are!" Why was she always saying that it was his fault? Again, women were an enigma that will probably never be solved. However, maybe that was a good thing, because of the complex nature of females they were never to be truly understood by their male counterparts for the male's sanity.
"The hell you are! You fell into this trap all by your idiotic self. I was just the bait bucko, you're who they're really after, or did that just not cross your mind?" Kate poked Spike in the chest. She looked up at him with a glare that was just intense as the glower he looked with down at her. You could almost see the electricity dance around them as their auras clashed.
"Well excuuuuse me! I'm not the one with a tracking device in her arm and a mark on her head!" Jason jumped in as best he could to be a referee, trying to make sure the odd couple didn't kill each other. This was going to be a very long day.
After Kate and Spike stopped bickering, the trio made their way to a small café on the north side of town, where they could talk without being overheard. Spike did his best to explain the situation, with Kate adding her two cents in every now and then. However when he reached the part about his discovery of Nikolai's death, Kate was outraged.
"What the hell!? When did you find this out? Why didn't you tell me damnit!?" Kate's voice rose a decibel with each word. Jason reached across the table and gently shoved her back down into her seat. Kate knew that this proved her theory, that Spike was the ultimate target, but the only problem was how come she was involved? If her father was dead, there was no other reason for Vicious to hunt her other than pure entertainment. Then again, that's just the kind of thing Vicious would do. When Spike finished telling she and Jason about the report he read, Kate's left eye was twitching fiercely. He had read the report, which included her statement. Why the did the ISSP not have better protection against hackers, was beyond her. Those were supposed to be sealed court documents, meaning that they were not to be opened again.
Jason knew there was a reason he didn't like Spike on sight; he was a bounty hunter. And Jason was a big bounty head. It was hard to trust everything that he said, but Spike truly did not seem to know there was a bounty out for Jason, for now anyway. Jason just wanted to hear more about that chip in his girlfriends arm.
"Soo, do you know how this tracking chip works exactly? I've heard of similar technology, but never heard of it used in the real world." Jason leaned forward, intrigued as to what Spike would reveal.
"Well, basically it's connected to the UPS systems,"
"Right, the Universal Positioning Satellites," Jason interjected.
"Soo with a link to the satellites," Spike continued. "Vicious can track her, her vital signs and so forth, and with a push of a button, seemingly inject more rattlesnake poison. In theory anyway." Jason sat back to absorb all that he had just learned. If the hand cuffs only came off when Kate's heart stopped beating, the chip must relay a signal to the cuffs to deactivate them. IF there was some way they could....It just might work.
"How big is this chip anyway?"
The Subway. The Goddamn subway. When Spike woke up this morning, he never would have guessed he would be on a subway train to the other side of the planet to Jason's workstation. He didn't even know these things still existed for chrissake! He had walked everywhere he needed to go on Mars. Well that or fly. But his Swordfish had mysteriously broken down, 'More like sabotage.'and Jason's car had blown a head gasket. This had conspiracy written all over it. Not many people took the subway anymore so they had limited the number of subway cars to one per unit, which held five or six stations within their vicinity. Spike stood next to the bench where Kate lay asleep in Jason's lap, covered in his jacket. Jason kept looking around the car like he was expecting something to happen. Every one on the train seemed to reach for their cellphones all at once, their faces paled and at the next stop all got off, leaving Spike feeling ever more suspicious of his situation. A large explosion caught his attention and sent the subway car flying, landing on it's side. Kate was awake as ever to find herself hanging in midair by the pole that was just in front of where she had been sitting, the pair of hand cuffs caught on the pole with an unconscious Spike barely able to touch his dangling feet on the window below him. Kate looked up, then down and back up again before she grabbed the pole with both of her hands and was able to hook her feet onto the bottom of the bench. 'This is why I do ab crunches from my pull up bar every night, to save my ass from getting killed.' she reached out with her left hand and grabbed the top of the bench before placing one foot precariously on the pole. Here she had to crouch as she got both feet on the pole and grabbed the pole with her right hand before replacing her feet with her butt and letting go of the bench. One final heave-ho had her feet on the ground, making sure Spike's landing wasn't too hard. She bent down to inspect Spike, making sure he wasn't too badly hurt before looking around for her boyfriend.
"All you have to do is get them on the subway and send out this automated message to the people left on the subway train. It's that simple."
"And then Kate will be safe again?"
"And then Kate will be safe again, back with you, Jason, in your very capable hands."
Jason hesitantly accepted the device that would call all the phones that people had in the train. He had recorded the message himself. 'The three people in the back corner are dangerous criminals. Do not make any sudden movements, no hints at all that you know what they are. Just get off at the next stop as if nothing is wrong. Police will be waiting for these three at the stop after yours. If you give any indication something is going to happen, you may wind up being in a hostage situation. Just calmly get off at the next stop and everything will be fine.'
"But how will I get them onto the subway station? You say Spike has a ship and my car is-"
"You don't need to worry about the Swordfish, we will take care of that. As for your car, it will have a minor malfunction near the subway station. As a last resort you suggest taking it, seeing as it is a long way to walk to your "workstation" and all. Any other questions, Mr. Morgan?"
"No."
"Good, then lets get going."
"-son! Jason! Jason! Wake up!" A shaking hand kept coming in contact with his face, making his eyes dart open and catch the offending hand. He lay in a pile of rubble at the far end of the train. Kate looked down at him with tears in her eyes, before collapsing on top of him with a one armed hug. Spike lay next to Jason, still unconscious and bleeding.
"Gimme some of your shirt." Kate demanded, thrusting her hand in front of Jason's face.
"Eh? What for?"
"Baka! Just give it to me. I need to stop this bleeding. The last thing I need to carry around a dead body that's attached to my by hand cuffs. People might start to talk."
"Good things I hope." A cold voice blew right into Kate's ear. Kate turned her head to look straight into Vicious' frigid eyes. His reflexes were quicker and he grabbed the gun in her holster before she did with his left hand and pointed it at Jason. He grabbed Spike's left arm and inserted a tracking chip, and released his wrist from the cuffs and placing them on his own right hand. This caused Spike to bolt upright in reaction to the pain. He noticed Vicious with a gun in his hand and Kate as his shield. 'So this is the way it's going to go down huh?'
"I thought we had a deal Vicious!!" Jason sat up in rage. He was supposed to take Spike and Kate would be safe, not the other way around. At his words Vicious smiled while Kate looked at him in betrayal.
"Ah but plans change Jason, and this will make things more interesting. Little Katia here is not without guilt herself." Vicious pointed the gun at Kate tauntingly, daring either man to try and be a hero. He slowly stood up taking Kate with him. He smiled at them from behind his human shield as he backed out the other end of the train, which had been blown apart from the blast. Then they both disappeared into the darkness.
"What the hell were you thinking Jason?! You never make a deal with a snake. Especially one that poisonous!" Spike glared at him, seething in anger at his stupidity. He would chastise him later. Right now, he needed an aspirin and a doctor before he passed out again. This day could not get any worse.
:::ducks various sharp and pointy objects::: don't hate me! please! just review! and that might get my wheels turning for another chapter! eh so i am a review hore, oh well, you know how bribary works people! so show me the money! i-i mean reviews! yeah thats it reviews. i'll be going now.
