Disclaimer:  Cowboy Bebop doesn't belong to me. 

A/N:  School's starting tomorrow for me!  I'll try to update often.  This fic is killing me.  I've spent days on this chapter and I'm still not satisfied with it.  It lacks a certain flare to it I should say.  I was planning to have Vicious leave because Faye took care of the guys herself.  Then they would actually meet up at the masquerade party and then start things off from there.  Then I got into this little problem, how the hell is Vicious suppose know if Faye is there or not since it is a masquerade party after all.  So, I decided to make Vicious save Faye and have some waffy stuff in this chapter. 

A/N:  one of the reviewers asked if Vicious was naked or not in chapter 3 I believe, haha, if you want, sure he was naked.  ^____^;;; whatever floats your boat.  I need to say, thank you for all you reviewers out there.  I appreciate you guys telling me that my writing has improved but I must say, the improvement does not show on this chapter.  Haha. 

Chapter 5

            'I don't even know why I'm doing this,' Vicious thought as he walked towards the group of men surrounding Faye.  Faye was able to fight some of the men off, but there was just too much.  'I'm just asking for trouble here…it's not me to be like this.'  Without even bothering to unsheathe his sword, Vicious ran towards the man that was about to scar Faye's face and tackled him to the ground. He rolled out of his fall and immediately got back up to break the next man's knee.  One by one, the men fell to the ground with shattered bones somewhere in their bodies.  He made sure once they fall, they wouldn't be capable of getting back up on their own. 

            Vicious walked up the guy that was with Faye earlier in the bar; he was the guy Vicious tackled to the ground where he got his broken ribs on the steps of the apartment building.  Already having difficulty to breath with broken ribs, Vicious grabbed the Jared by the throat and started to tighten his grip; the chokes and gasps from the guy was pleasant to Vicious' ears. 

            "I better not see you again or else your head will no longer be settling nicely on your neck," Vicious said with a hint of malice in his voice. 

            "I'm…sorrie…I didn't…know…she was…your woman…," Jared gasped, "It won't…happen…again."

            'My woman?  Faye?' Vicious thought.  Surprised by what Jared said, Vicious loosened his grip on his about to crack neck and let Jared go.  Jared limped his way away from Vicious as fast as he could, leaving his beaten friends behind.  He finally stopped and fell to the ground when he was several blocks away.  Hate was brewing inside of Jared; he couldn't believe he got screwed over because of a bitch like Faye. 

"I won't do it again, I promise," Jared muttered, "…not when you're around." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Thanks," Faye said.  Vicious didn't say anything.  He just stood there with a faraway look on his face; he only broke out of his reverie when he saw Faye trying to get up with a sprain ankle but failed miserably. 'Stupid heels,' she thought.   

            "Are you okay?" Vicious asked offering his hand to Faye.  Faye was stunned by the hand reaching out for her.  No one had ever offered a helping hand to her before; and the hand belonged to Vicious shocked her even more. 

"Yeah, just a little shocked that you would even bother to save me," Faye said, taking his hand and got up from the ground.  Everything was fine until she started to walk; her ankle just couldn't support any weight.  She was about the fall once again, but this time, Vicious caught Faye tightly around her waist before she hit the ground. 

The first thing that registered in Vicious' mind was her body against his; his body itched for more contact between them.  The contact of their skin caused unknown emotions to stir inside of Vicious.  'Mmm…her body feels so good against mine…,' he thought while he swept her feet off the ground.  Carrying her in his arms, he started to head for her apartment. 

"You're in no condition to walk," he said. 

Faye's felt a blush creeping up to her face.  She could feel Vicious' hot breath on her neck and his arms wrapped around her so securely.  She had never felt so safe for the first time in her life.  As Vicious walked up the steps to enter the apartment building, Faye wrapped her arms around Vicious' waist causing him to stop midway from taking another step and looked at Faye.  The sudden tight embrace caused his heart to take a few skips; it was such a pleasant feeling to hold Faye.   

"I don't want to fall," she muttered lamely as she looked away from his searching eyes. 

It was true though.  All her life she had felt like she was falling endlessly deeper and deeper in a dark hole.  She could feel the emptiness of the fall consuming her inch by inch, and when it is done eating her body and soul; she will finally hit the ground.  Right now, in Vicious' arms, she could feel herself stopping from the long fall.  Instead of falling down, she felt like she was falling up because of him, or maybe it was because of the elevator going up she mused. 

Faye tightened her embrace around Vicious; she just wanted to get closer to this feeling of haven.  'Who would've thought that I would find safety in the arms of Vicious.'  She leaned in and rested her head on his chest.  She took a deep breath, taking in his intoxicating scent; it was a smell of evergreen mingled with a masculine musk.  'Smells just like back then…when I was a little girl taking a walk in the evergreen woods near our house.' 

"You smell wonderful," she muttered in his shirt. 

Vicious didn't know what to say to that.  He felt light footed when she said that; he felt like walking on air.  'What the hell am I suppose to say to that?!' he searched frantically for something to say back to Faye.

"We're at your door," he stated, "Why don't you get your keys out so we can get in?"  'I feel so stupid right now…'

Faye pulled her keys out and opened the door to her apartment.  Feeling slightly awkward about the thought of Vicious putting her to bed, she decided to get out of Vicious' arms.

"You can put me down now," she mumbled incoherently and started to climb out of Vicious' arms.   

Vicious didn't hear what Faye said, and lost his balance when Faye suddenly jerked her body to get out of his hold, causing him to trip and fall on to the bed along with Faye.  He stopped himself from landing on top of the wide-eyed Faye with his hands.  Vicious took a big gulp of air when he saw Faye lying under him with her skirt riding up her smooth thighs and her breasts trying to come out of her tight tube top.  Faye was at a very, very vulnerable position if Vicious wanted to do anything to her, and his mind screamed for him to take her right then and there.  'Argh…too much whiskey,' he thought mentally kicking himself for thinking of such perverse thoughts. 

Suddenly he felt Faye's lips pressed lightly on his.  It was a soft feather light kiss.  Before Vicious could react to that, Faye pulled away.  She blushed and looked away from Vicious to keep her face from getting any redder. 

"Thank you," she mumbled, "For being here tonight."

Vicious didn't say anything back.  The only thing that came to his mind was kiss her, and he did.  He slowly moved in to kiss Faye, but when he was merely two inches from her, Faye suddenly sneezed. 

"Aaachoo!"

'GRREAT, I just ruined the perfect moment with a sneeze!' Faye screamed at herself for always doing the wrong things at the wrong time.  Her face was beet red now; she wanted to cover herself with a blanket and never see Vicious again.  'Argh, why does it have to happen to me?!'

Vicious chuckled lightly at the whole incident while he pulled a blanket over Faye.  'She looks so adorable when she blushes,' he mused.

"It's okay Faye.  Maybe next time," Vicious whispered seductively into Faye's ear, "Next time, I promise you it'll be more than just a kiss." 

"Do you have a place to stay?" Faye asked trying to change the subject. 

"In fact, I do.  I'm residing at the Field's Hotel right now.  I guess the Red Dragons weren't as smart as I thought they were, because they forgot to freeze my account," he said.  Vicious looked around the room; it was the first time he really got a good look of it.  He noticed the invitation to the masquerade party on Faye's nightstand.

"You're invited to the party as well?" he asked gesturing at the invitation.

"Well, it's a celebration for the casino I work at.  All employees are invited," she said. 

"I guess I'll be seeing you there this Friday then," he muttered. 

"You're going?" she asked.

"To take care of some business," he said remembering his objectives now.  With that said, Vicious got up to leave the room. 

"See you on Friday," Vicious said as he left.  'Hmm…maybe it won't be all about business after all,' he thought. 

Faye went to sleep right after Vicious left.  She was so excited that she'll have another chance to see Vicious in a few days although she didn't know why she was so excited.  She was starting to like Vicious, and this bond seemed to be forming between them.  Every time one of them was in trouble, the other would always be around to save the day; they were always there to help each other. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

            Vicious decided to walk back to his hotel, which was only a few blocks away from where Faye lived.  The air was carrying a cold chill, so he walked faster.  He reached into the pockets of his pants to warm his hands and noticed a thick piece of paper in one of his pockets.  He pulled it out to see what it was; he soon realized it was the picture of Spike and Faye. 

            He took a closer look at the picture.  The picture seemed to be taunting him that he could never have the thing he wants the most, because it belongs to someone else…someone named Spike.  'Dead or alive, she's still tied to him,' the picture seemed to say, "Look at how she has her arms wrapped around his neck."

"Maybe she is free and no longer holding on," he argued back.  His eyebrows furrowed (a/n: or is it burrowed?) deeply and shook his head, 'I'm think I'm gonna go crazy.'  He took one more look at the picture and stuffed it in his pants again.  'No use in talking to a picture, I'll find out soon enough,' he thought. 


A/N:  Go ahead and flame.  I don't mind; this chapter isn't as well written as it's supposed to be.  So go for it.