Whew! I finally got another chapter done. In case you missed it, when I
moved down here for college two weeks ago, my disk kinda got left at home.
^_^ I was exactly halfway done with the chapter, so I wasn't going to
restart it. Anyways, I got it back over Labor Day and have been working so
incredibly hard to get it done. I hope you're happy with it, cause I've
pulled a few all nighters on it! *yawn* I'm so sleep deprived now. Its
hard to write something depressing when my apartment is like really
fluorescent colors.
Okay, now I've got a few things I must do before I begin. Thanks sooo much to those of you have reviewed and are constantly reminding me to work on this. I'd probably be sitting around staring at the wall if you didn't say all those nice things. ^_^
Also, I forgot earlier, so I'll say that on the prologue the "Misguided Rose" title came from Edwin McCain if you didn't already realize that. I did put that she heard it from somewhere cause, hey I figured she was frozen for so long that maybe she'd heard it then, and with all that amnesia stuff she wouldn't remember where.
Chapter 4 The Science of Descent
It was a playground for restless souls.
The shadows moved, excited by the chance to contend with someone new. Alive in the presence of battle. Alive only for the taste of blood.
Shoes squished in the darkness, proof that nearby the brawl continued unaware of the change in events. Grunts of pain and frustration emitted from the moving shadows. The sounds were ignored, all concentration was focused on the circle of ice cutting into her skin.
"You cause a lot of trouble for a woman" A smooth voice almost like music flowed over her shoulder, with no trace of any emotions that could be of aid. "and a small one at that." The flawless voice cracked allowing the pride and anger of a man slipping through.
The Raven smiled feral in the darkness, those emotions could be her aid. They were his weakness. "Its a gift." The man snorted the only indication of annoyance at her choice in words in the lightless alley.
The pavement echoed from behind. One behind the other two men stalked towards her, having finally recovered from the last attack. "Get her good!" The smaller man snarled, white teeth glowing wolf like in the dim light.
"Make it slow Gauvin!" The brute produced a knife from within his jacket pocket, a thickset finger carefully traveling the edge of the small but sharp blade.
The pressure eased in what she could only assume meant he was distracted in thought. A body tumbled to the side from the source of ignored grunts, her muscles tensing automatically by the sudden spectacle. Her eyes followed the path it made as it rolled uncontrollably on the slippery ground.
"Help them!" The gunman yelled after the body found a resting spot. His attention had been diverted.
Throwing as much speed into it as possible Raven' right arm shot backward weaving over then beneath the man's forearm in an upwards thrust meant to dislodge the gun from the crevice in her upper back.
Caught off guard, Gauvin's gun hand was thrown to the side. His gun arm turned on her's encircling it while the other gripped below her shoulder, driving inward to dislocate the offending appendage.
The Raven struggled to keep her arm from moving forward the action only slowing the gain. Muscles burned in a tired protest, a sign that it was yielding, all defenses were nearly drained. Upwards into his side a leg swung, the sudden pain caused by the collision forced his hold to falter allowing her to wrench herself free of his grasp. The limb burned as blood returned to its normal route.
The man had disappeared.
Into the gloom she searched for her assailant, eyes squinting as she spun to make sure he hadn't prowled around behind her for a surprise attack. Another rotation found her face to barrel with the revolver. Above it was a man hidden beneath long greasy strands of untamed ebony hair. Large well toned arms were extended in preparation to fire. The indentions of muscles disappeared beneath the edges of his shirt, where undoubtedly a well defined stomach was unseen. Gauvin's lips were upturned in a smug grin. "Some gift."
Only one hand felt the cool of metal beneath it, although both had shot forward for the gun, the other had been apprehended by the gunman. Every once of strength within her focused on tearing the gun from his grasp, whilst wisdom fought to free the other for the help it could bring.
Her arm burned with the fires worthy of hell. She knew Gauvin must have been aware, for his weight shifted arms, so that her weakened shoulder was supporting all of his weight. Feet that had been her brace slowly began to with draw backwards hoping to lighten the load.
Almost out of room.
The Raven could sense the building behind her, its walls soon to be her cage of captivity. The heel of her boots scuffed against the wall as she found herself pinned. The building gave her something to brace herself with, but it also cut off her precious escape route.
Everything inside screamed to her to tear the gun from his grasp, but her power was failing her. The overburdened shoulder pleaded for a rest, the other having never been her arm of choice was nearly drained of all energy from its veins.
The wall grinded against her back as Gauvin's body crushed her against it, his stench of sweat swallowing her.
She had to get him off.
A booted foot flattened against her attacker's stomach before thrusting heel first outwards. The man skidded backwards hands flying outward for balance as he tumbled to his back, a gust of air followed in wake clearing the atmosphere of the foul odor. The revolver clattered into the shadows a few feet away.
The burn in her arm had converted to a dull ache. She shrugged in test of the muscles. Swiftly Raven's feet carried her away from the wall around the body towards the last echo of the gun.
Suddenly a foot was jerked backwards. Off balance and nowhere to place the weight, her body collapsed backwards, the puddles soaking into her hair. All her weight was shifted to her shoulders as one leg after the other swung over her body propeller like before she rolled to a side, the air bound legs landed swiftly beneath her stomach. The woman lunged forward out of the crouch, eyes searching for a glimpse of the gun. Once retrieved, she returned to the man who was almost to his feet.
A potent kick to the stomach brought all air from within the man as he doubled over to clutch the injury. The butt of the gun slammed upwards into his nose, Gauvin's head was thrown backwards shock evident in his features. Once again the gun split through the air, in a downward strike it cracked out into the night atop his head. Gauvin groaned before collapsing into a heap on the pavement.
The Raven smiled as she bent to flip him over.
"Faye!"
Trails of blood now leaped across his face, the crimson visible even in the darkness. Heedless of the bleeding scrapes now adorning her knees, she straddled the body sitting down atop his chest.
"Faye!"
The voice was ignored.
The metal in her hands was almost singing for her to finish. Finish what was started. She placed it against his forehead, leaning forward.
"Faye that's enough!"
Spike.
For a second the Raven's eyes flicked towards her comrade above her. His lean figure unchanged in the lightless world around them. "He can't fight anymore Faye. There isn't any need in that. It's over."
Her vision lowered to the body beneath her. His eyes were large in a state of panic, mouth gasping fishlike for air as his body wracked in pain. She returned her sight to Spike whose expression shifted to a mix of anger and curiosity. From his face she could ascertain what he viewed within her own leafy green depths.
Nothing.
***********************************************************************
"Faye!? Faye-Faye's back!" A squeal was issued from somewhere behind the broad iron door. Its protruding side was effortlessly avoided by the streak of apple and russet that passed through as though it were fully open.
Faye found the blur circling her almost like an animal eagerly anticipating its master's moves. It lifted her foot whilst shifting into one kneeling image of a child that was twisting to view the bottom of her boot. The rigid material of her trench coat was tugged occasionally as the girl moved upwards, hands groping and probing along her as though a blind seeking to create a mental picture. Hidden within a desert of dusty skin two amber spheres studied her tresses as small fingers slid through lifting the locks away from her neck. Eyes disappeared momentarily as the child sniffed the captured strands. Proclaiming, "Faye!" the girl released the hair in trade of her waist.
Unable to give an appropriate reaction, the woman stared at the child clutching her. Unsure of how to precede, her hands remained motionless hovering slightly lifted by her sides.
A sideways glance to Spike, confirmed that he had received a similar welcome as well. Curving the edges of his lips was a grin that was reserved only for memories.
"Hello Ed." Her simple deadpanned words were enough to lighten the girl's grip, still Edward relinquished her hold with nothing short of a fight.
"Ed knew Faye would come back!" Childlike trust. She was still filled with it. "Faye wouldn't leave Bebop!"
The woman shifted sensing the presence of another entering. Her eyes riveted from Edward to the large built man who had just appeared, spatula in hand. "Spike unless you got that last bounty, don't expect me to repair..." His words trailed off, dark eyes trained on her. The drop of his hand holding the utensil mirrored the shock that was evident on his face.
Recovery was quick, with his back pressing against the wall and head bowed; Faye could no longer read him. Except for the spatula that stuck out of his hand and the white apron tied around him, with arms crossed across his chest Jet was the image of all past seriousness. "This isn't a place for free loaders."
Faye gave a concise nod.
If Jet really wanted her back he wasn't going to admit it to her, especially not in front of Spike. "You have to earn you're stay." The words emitted from deep within his throat.
Briefly she wondered whether he had anticipated Spike divulging the information to her, and if his actions were suppose to give a since of normalcy to their meeting. Instead, they only served to thicken the woolen blanket of tension that had enveloped the room.
She stood unmoving, observing Jet watching her. No more than a foot away was Spike, hands thrust into the depths of his pockets, watching them both with a countenance of mixed emotions. The last month's days were being retold by Edward who bounced unseen between the group, the only person unaffected by the tension.
The silence was chiseled through as Jet forced words into the air. "Well.you probably want to put you're things away."
Faye glanced down at the morning blue duffel bag in her hand. She hadn't even realized she was still carrying the bag. Thoughtlessly the muscles in her neck twitched in answer without any thought.
"While you're at it..." His good hand rubbed the skin atop his nearly bald head. "take a shower. You smell like garbage!" Jet stalked back into the kitchen, grumbling as though nothing had ever changed, and that it was just another evening of dispute on the Bebop. "Spike I don't have the time or the woolong to repair your ship again."
Her eyes transferred to the bounty hunter who gave a wave of dismissal over his head as he seated himself in front of the zip screen "No need."
Leaving the girl alone, Faye found herself crossing the short corridor to the room she use to call her own. In her memory the hall had been somewhat lengthier, but it didn't matter.
It was the same. Nothing had been changed. She had opened the door fully expecting to see cargo boxes, or even a featureless room that was completely devoid of furniture except for a few shelves to pile objects on, but what she found was something different.
Had they not bothered it because they wanted her to return? No. They had expected her to come back. An assumption that she'd return when she'd had time to deal, or her money ran out. Whichever came first.
The door clicked shut behind her. Inside its boundaries was a realm of immortality unaffected by time's constant ticking that summoned for her to journey further into its abyss. Seconds later, Faye found herself at the window no longer feeling the pressure of her luggage against her palm.
Stars.
Dim remnants of something grand that were now being choked from existence, their beauty no longer embellished or realized, exquisite darkness now claiming them as brethren.
For an instant, her reflection stared back with hollow eyes as the Bebop rocked. The gentle hum of the ship's engines was the only sound present. The continuous drone contracted with flicks and fluctuation almost melodious. She had never really listened to their song before. The sirens had long given way. Strange how something someone never really noticed was one of the first detected after an absence.
"Faye?" Edward called to her uncharacteristically timid from just inside the door. The girl hadn't even made a sound upon entering her room undetected.
A nod was given to show that she was listening as Faye located her duffel bag, its rumpled material of pale blue leaping off the bed's ebony and bronze.
As if she were a doe caught eating that might at any instant dart away her shipmate approached her slowly. "Why'd Faye not come back?"
Shrug.
Several crackles of unseen teeth of the zipper bounced unchallenged of supremacy around the room. Items from inside the bag suddenly became fascinating to her. Two nine millimeter semi-automatic pistols lay mocking her from inside the material. No more than an hour ago they were needed, and was unable to retrieve one. The worst mocking came however by the fact that the revolver that had held her at bay earlier in the evening was actually empty.
The girl's voice broke Faye from her own cage of thoughts. "Ed looked hard, but couldn't find Faye. Did Faye not want to be found?"
She wasn't nearly the clueless child everyone believed her to be.
On the opposite side of the bed squat Edward, her tiny nose pressing into the outer level of the thick comforter. Young pained innocence was clearly discernable from the wide amber eyes that were focused on her. A familiar tan and pearl muzzled corgi was being squeezed in worry by the child. "Do you hate Edward?
Faye looked up to view the girl, the words still being spoken in her mind. "No."
The simple one syllable answer launched the younger flying over the bed, arms outspread towards her, Ein plummeting to the floor with a dull thump. A surprising strength hugged her once again. She watched the customary smile worn by the other return to its home. Without another word the girl released her and vanished out the door, leaving Faye in confusion of the events that just transpired.
Ein brushed his icy wet nose against her ankle in a doglike greeting before following Ed into the hall.
Emptying her bag completely, Faye didn't detect the other visitor until he spoke. "You could've come back."
Never once did she glance up, from the bag that she was unpacking. To know what expression Jet was wearing, she didn't need to set eyes on him. It would be the same one she had witnessed on Spike's face in the darkened alley when he had seen her body, and known the soul had fled. Indifferent words fell from her lips. "My presence seems to cause problems."
In a few short strides due to his longer legs, the man crossed the distance to the window. He floundered for words. "You should've at least contacted."
"Somehow I was under the impression that you didn't want to hear from me." Faye lifted the final article of clothing from the bag, examining the oversized shirt from many different angles while responding absently.
"It was a difficult time" A side of Jet that only surfaced in private spoke the words.
Knowing that her next empty statement would cause him to revaluate her, Faye spoke the words anyways, and with as little interest as though they were discussing something as trivial as the weather. "Doesn't matter to me."
The man she had once thought of as a father gaped at her, probably blaming himself for her transformation. "You still should have contacted." He repeated the sentence again with a slower more irritated quality.
"It already ended." She had left him in the wake of a hurricane, trying to hold on to what was gone.
Everything.
The dark man turned away from her, his eyes trailing through the black vastness of bitter space speckled with drops of pale topaz. For a moment, she wondered whether he was also aware of their futile existence, but the lines on his face told her otherwise. "Things won't ever be the way they were before?" His words rang more to himself than to her.
Broken. Everything they had known was broken. She was descending into darkness as though it were no more than a science that she was perfecting. One that she couldn't pull herself from practicing. Perhaps for the short duration that she would be spending on the Bebop she could at least feign to be her old self. "It wasn't my fault you couldn't find me!" Faye rocked her head so that her chin was tilting upward in an expression she thought to be indignation, unable to find its memory to confirm it. Grim resolve fought to keep the emptiness from carrying into her voice, while her arms folded in an act of irritation across her chest.
"I was a little unlucky in a casino and came out with no money, so I decided to prove that despite all of you guys mocking me, that I was able to catch a bounty." She continued as though it was hard to admit, while Jet watched her in attentive silence from a few feet away. "They set me up and the Redtail was in pretty bad shape. So guess what. I had no money, no ride and left on the outskirts of some godforsaken town on Earth, and everyone wants to ask me why I never made it back!?"
She rocked on her heels sorting out the next few lines for a minute before returning to the story. "I was stuck doing any sort of work, just enough to get by. By the time I was finally able to repair my ship and make it to Jupiter, the damn ghost of Christmas past in there shows up!" She started gesturing to the door, where undoubtedly Spike would be sprawled across the couch.
Surprise flickered in the man's eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well I had to have you come back. You never paid me for the invoice." He grinned at his own wiliness.
It had worked. He had bought her story.
"What!?" An eyebrow twitched as though she were annoyed. "Ohhh"
The ghost of Christmas past entered the room, hands tucked in his pockets, and cigarette perched between his lips. Cinnamon eyes focused on the two as though he was unsure of his timing. "Since someone learned a few new tricks," Those eyes sent her an unreadable look before he finished. "we're going after someone big."
Arms remaining crossed, the woman listened to Spike's words. "Been a lot about them."
No.
Lady Luck really did despise her.
Silenced by the words she knew he was about to speak, her mind was already searching for a way to change the events that would follow. Forget the deal. Forget everything and just leave. Everything was already broken, but perhaps the hurricane wasn't over yet. "We're going after the Raven." It was only just beginning.
Do you like the end to that? I'm happy with the scene with Ed, but I'm not to sure on the one with Jet. I know I always threaten to redo a chapter, but I might really do it this time. Keyword in that sentence was might. Here's the main thingy I want to say. I use to run a website, but that was back when it was easy. I'm thinking about starting one again, and was wondering since I'm not especially good with html what's a good place to use? Lord knows I might need someone for help, if I can't figure it out. Anybody have in suggestions on where to go? Suggestions and comments are welcome on my story too! :P
Okay, now I've got a few things I must do before I begin. Thanks sooo much to those of you have reviewed and are constantly reminding me to work on this. I'd probably be sitting around staring at the wall if you didn't say all those nice things. ^_^
Also, I forgot earlier, so I'll say that on the prologue the "Misguided Rose" title came from Edwin McCain if you didn't already realize that. I did put that she heard it from somewhere cause, hey I figured she was frozen for so long that maybe she'd heard it then, and with all that amnesia stuff she wouldn't remember where.
Chapter 4 The Science of Descent
It was a playground for restless souls.
The shadows moved, excited by the chance to contend with someone new. Alive in the presence of battle. Alive only for the taste of blood.
Shoes squished in the darkness, proof that nearby the brawl continued unaware of the change in events. Grunts of pain and frustration emitted from the moving shadows. The sounds were ignored, all concentration was focused on the circle of ice cutting into her skin.
"You cause a lot of trouble for a woman" A smooth voice almost like music flowed over her shoulder, with no trace of any emotions that could be of aid. "and a small one at that." The flawless voice cracked allowing the pride and anger of a man slipping through.
The Raven smiled feral in the darkness, those emotions could be her aid. They were his weakness. "Its a gift." The man snorted the only indication of annoyance at her choice in words in the lightless alley.
The pavement echoed from behind. One behind the other two men stalked towards her, having finally recovered from the last attack. "Get her good!" The smaller man snarled, white teeth glowing wolf like in the dim light.
"Make it slow Gauvin!" The brute produced a knife from within his jacket pocket, a thickset finger carefully traveling the edge of the small but sharp blade.
The pressure eased in what she could only assume meant he was distracted in thought. A body tumbled to the side from the source of ignored grunts, her muscles tensing automatically by the sudden spectacle. Her eyes followed the path it made as it rolled uncontrollably on the slippery ground.
"Help them!" The gunman yelled after the body found a resting spot. His attention had been diverted.
Throwing as much speed into it as possible Raven' right arm shot backward weaving over then beneath the man's forearm in an upwards thrust meant to dislodge the gun from the crevice in her upper back.
Caught off guard, Gauvin's gun hand was thrown to the side. His gun arm turned on her's encircling it while the other gripped below her shoulder, driving inward to dislocate the offending appendage.
The Raven struggled to keep her arm from moving forward the action only slowing the gain. Muscles burned in a tired protest, a sign that it was yielding, all defenses were nearly drained. Upwards into his side a leg swung, the sudden pain caused by the collision forced his hold to falter allowing her to wrench herself free of his grasp. The limb burned as blood returned to its normal route.
The man had disappeared.
Into the gloom she searched for her assailant, eyes squinting as she spun to make sure he hadn't prowled around behind her for a surprise attack. Another rotation found her face to barrel with the revolver. Above it was a man hidden beneath long greasy strands of untamed ebony hair. Large well toned arms were extended in preparation to fire. The indentions of muscles disappeared beneath the edges of his shirt, where undoubtedly a well defined stomach was unseen. Gauvin's lips were upturned in a smug grin. "Some gift."
Only one hand felt the cool of metal beneath it, although both had shot forward for the gun, the other had been apprehended by the gunman. Every once of strength within her focused on tearing the gun from his grasp, whilst wisdom fought to free the other for the help it could bring.
Her arm burned with the fires worthy of hell. She knew Gauvin must have been aware, for his weight shifted arms, so that her weakened shoulder was supporting all of his weight. Feet that had been her brace slowly began to with draw backwards hoping to lighten the load.
Almost out of room.
The Raven could sense the building behind her, its walls soon to be her cage of captivity. The heel of her boots scuffed against the wall as she found herself pinned. The building gave her something to brace herself with, but it also cut off her precious escape route.
Everything inside screamed to her to tear the gun from his grasp, but her power was failing her. The overburdened shoulder pleaded for a rest, the other having never been her arm of choice was nearly drained of all energy from its veins.
The wall grinded against her back as Gauvin's body crushed her against it, his stench of sweat swallowing her.
She had to get him off.
A booted foot flattened against her attacker's stomach before thrusting heel first outwards. The man skidded backwards hands flying outward for balance as he tumbled to his back, a gust of air followed in wake clearing the atmosphere of the foul odor. The revolver clattered into the shadows a few feet away.
The burn in her arm had converted to a dull ache. She shrugged in test of the muscles. Swiftly Raven's feet carried her away from the wall around the body towards the last echo of the gun.
Suddenly a foot was jerked backwards. Off balance and nowhere to place the weight, her body collapsed backwards, the puddles soaking into her hair. All her weight was shifted to her shoulders as one leg after the other swung over her body propeller like before she rolled to a side, the air bound legs landed swiftly beneath her stomach. The woman lunged forward out of the crouch, eyes searching for a glimpse of the gun. Once retrieved, she returned to the man who was almost to his feet.
A potent kick to the stomach brought all air from within the man as he doubled over to clutch the injury. The butt of the gun slammed upwards into his nose, Gauvin's head was thrown backwards shock evident in his features. Once again the gun split through the air, in a downward strike it cracked out into the night atop his head. Gauvin groaned before collapsing into a heap on the pavement.
The Raven smiled as she bent to flip him over.
"Faye!"
Trails of blood now leaped across his face, the crimson visible even in the darkness. Heedless of the bleeding scrapes now adorning her knees, she straddled the body sitting down atop his chest.
"Faye!"
The voice was ignored.
The metal in her hands was almost singing for her to finish. Finish what was started. She placed it against his forehead, leaning forward.
"Faye that's enough!"
Spike.
For a second the Raven's eyes flicked towards her comrade above her. His lean figure unchanged in the lightless world around them. "He can't fight anymore Faye. There isn't any need in that. It's over."
Her vision lowered to the body beneath her. His eyes were large in a state of panic, mouth gasping fishlike for air as his body wracked in pain. She returned her sight to Spike whose expression shifted to a mix of anger and curiosity. From his face she could ascertain what he viewed within her own leafy green depths.
Nothing.
***********************************************************************
"Faye!? Faye-Faye's back!" A squeal was issued from somewhere behind the broad iron door. Its protruding side was effortlessly avoided by the streak of apple and russet that passed through as though it were fully open.
Faye found the blur circling her almost like an animal eagerly anticipating its master's moves. It lifted her foot whilst shifting into one kneeling image of a child that was twisting to view the bottom of her boot. The rigid material of her trench coat was tugged occasionally as the girl moved upwards, hands groping and probing along her as though a blind seeking to create a mental picture. Hidden within a desert of dusty skin two amber spheres studied her tresses as small fingers slid through lifting the locks away from her neck. Eyes disappeared momentarily as the child sniffed the captured strands. Proclaiming, "Faye!" the girl released the hair in trade of her waist.
Unable to give an appropriate reaction, the woman stared at the child clutching her. Unsure of how to precede, her hands remained motionless hovering slightly lifted by her sides.
A sideways glance to Spike, confirmed that he had received a similar welcome as well. Curving the edges of his lips was a grin that was reserved only for memories.
"Hello Ed." Her simple deadpanned words were enough to lighten the girl's grip, still Edward relinquished her hold with nothing short of a fight.
"Ed knew Faye would come back!" Childlike trust. She was still filled with it. "Faye wouldn't leave Bebop!"
The woman shifted sensing the presence of another entering. Her eyes riveted from Edward to the large built man who had just appeared, spatula in hand. "Spike unless you got that last bounty, don't expect me to repair..." His words trailed off, dark eyes trained on her. The drop of his hand holding the utensil mirrored the shock that was evident on his face.
Recovery was quick, with his back pressing against the wall and head bowed; Faye could no longer read him. Except for the spatula that stuck out of his hand and the white apron tied around him, with arms crossed across his chest Jet was the image of all past seriousness. "This isn't a place for free loaders."
Faye gave a concise nod.
If Jet really wanted her back he wasn't going to admit it to her, especially not in front of Spike. "You have to earn you're stay." The words emitted from deep within his throat.
Briefly she wondered whether he had anticipated Spike divulging the information to her, and if his actions were suppose to give a since of normalcy to their meeting. Instead, they only served to thicken the woolen blanket of tension that had enveloped the room.
She stood unmoving, observing Jet watching her. No more than a foot away was Spike, hands thrust into the depths of his pockets, watching them both with a countenance of mixed emotions. The last month's days were being retold by Edward who bounced unseen between the group, the only person unaffected by the tension.
The silence was chiseled through as Jet forced words into the air. "Well.you probably want to put you're things away."
Faye glanced down at the morning blue duffel bag in her hand. She hadn't even realized she was still carrying the bag. Thoughtlessly the muscles in her neck twitched in answer without any thought.
"While you're at it..." His good hand rubbed the skin atop his nearly bald head. "take a shower. You smell like garbage!" Jet stalked back into the kitchen, grumbling as though nothing had ever changed, and that it was just another evening of dispute on the Bebop. "Spike I don't have the time or the woolong to repair your ship again."
Her eyes transferred to the bounty hunter who gave a wave of dismissal over his head as he seated himself in front of the zip screen "No need."
Leaving the girl alone, Faye found herself crossing the short corridor to the room she use to call her own. In her memory the hall had been somewhat lengthier, but it didn't matter.
It was the same. Nothing had been changed. She had opened the door fully expecting to see cargo boxes, or even a featureless room that was completely devoid of furniture except for a few shelves to pile objects on, but what she found was something different.
Had they not bothered it because they wanted her to return? No. They had expected her to come back. An assumption that she'd return when she'd had time to deal, or her money ran out. Whichever came first.
The door clicked shut behind her. Inside its boundaries was a realm of immortality unaffected by time's constant ticking that summoned for her to journey further into its abyss. Seconds later, Faye found herself at the window no longer feeling the pressure of her luggage against her palm.
Stars.
Dim remnants of something grand that were now being choked from existence, their beauty no longer embellished or realized, exquisite darkness now claiming them as brethren.
For an instant, her reflection stared back with hollow eyes as the Bebop rocked. The gentle hum of the ship's engines was the only sound present. The continuous drone contracted with flicks and fluctuation almost melodious. She had never really listened to their song before. The sirens had long given way. Strange how something someone never really noticed was one of the first detected after an absence.
"Faye?" Edward called to her uncharacteristically timid from just inside the door. The girl hadn't even made a sound upon entering her room undetected.
A nod was given to show that she was listening as Faye located her duffel bag, its rumpled material of pale blue leaping off the bed's ebony and bronze.
As if she were a doe caught eating that might at any instant dart away her shipmate approached her slowly. "Why'd Faye not come back?"
Shrug.
Several crackles of unseen teeth of the zipper bounced unchallenged of supremacy around the room. Items from inside the bag suddenly became fascinating to her. Two nine millimeter semi-automatic pistols lay mocking her from inside the material. No more than an hour ago they were needed, and was unable to retrieve one. The worst mocking came however by the fact that the revolver that had held her at bay earlier in the evening was actually empty.
The girl's voice broke Faye from her own cage of thoughts. "Ed looked hard, but couldn't find Faye. Did Faye not want to be found?"
She wasn't nearly the clueless child everyone believed her to be.
On the opposite side of the bed squat Edward, her tiny nose pressing into the outer level of the thick comforter. Young pained innocence was clearly discernable from the wide amber eyes that were focused on her. A familiar tan and pearl muzzled corgi was being squeezed in worry by the child. "Do you hate Edward?
Faye looked up to view the girl, the words still being spoken in her mind. "No."
The simple one syllable answer launched the younger flying over the bed, arms outspread towards her, Ein plummeting to the floor with a dull thump. A surprising strength hugged her once again. She watched the customary smile worn by the other return to its home. Without another word the girl released her and vanished out the door, leaving Faye in confusion of the events that just transpired.
Ein brushed his icy wet nose against her ankle in a doglike greeting before following Ed into the hall.
Emptying her bag completely, Faye didn't detect the other visitor until he spoke. "You could've come back."
Never once did she glance up, from the bag that she was unpacking. To know what expression Jet was wearing, she didn't need to set eyes on him. It would be the same one she had witnessed on Spike's face in the darkened alley when he had seen her body, and known the soul had fled. Indifferent words fell from her lips. "My presence seems to cause problems."
In a few short strides due to his longer legs, the man crossed the distance to the window. He floundered for words. "You should've at least contacted."
"Somehow I was under the impression that you didn't want to hear from me." Faye lifted the final article of clothing from the bag, examining the oversized shirt from many different angles while responding absently.
"It was a difficult time" A side of Jet that only surfaced in private spoke the words.
Knowing that her next empty statement would cause him to revaluate her, Faye spoke the words anyways, and with as little interest as though they were discussing something as trivial as the weather. "Doesn't matter to me."
The man she had once thought of as a father gaped at her, probably blaming himself for her transformation. "You still should have contacted." He repeated the sentence again with a slower more irritated quality.
"It already ended." She had left him in the wake of a hurricane, trying to hold on to what was gone.
Everything.
The dark man turned away from her, his eyes trailing through the black vastness of bitter space speckled with drops of pale topaz. For a moment, she wondered whether he was also aware of their futile existence, but the lines on his face told her otherwise. "Things won't ever be the way they were before?" His words rang more to himself than to her.
Broken. Everything they had known was broken. She was descending into darkness as though it were no more than a science that she was perfecting. One that she couldn't pull herself from practicing. Perhaps for the short duration that she would be spending on the Bebop she could at least feign to be her old self. "It wasn't my fault you couldn't find me!" Faye rocked her head so that her chin was tilting upward in an expression she thought to be indignation, unable to find its memory to confirm it. Grim resolve fought to keep the emptiness from carrying into her voice, while her arms folded in an act of irritation across her chest.
"I was a little unlucky in a casino and came out with no money, so I decided to prove that despite all of you guys mocking me, that I was able to catch a bounty." She continued as though it was hard to admit, while Jet watched her in attentive silence from a few feet away. "They set me up and the Redtail was in pretty bad shape. So guess what. I had no money, no ride and left on the outskirts of some godforsaken town on Earth, and everyone wants to ask me why I never made it back!?"
She rocked on her heels sorting out the next few lines for a minute before returning to the story. "I was stuck doing any sort of work, just enough to get by. By the time I was finally able to repair my ship and make it to Jupiter, the damn ghost of Christmas past in there shows up!" She started gesturing to the door, where undoubtedly Spike would be sprawled across the couch.
Surprise flickered in the man's eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well I had to have you come back. You never paid me for the invoice." He grinned at his own wiliness.
It had worked. He had bought her story.
"What!?" An eyebrow twitched as though she were annoyed. "Ohhh"
The ghost of Christmas past entered the room, hands tucked in his pockets, and cigarette perched between his lips. Cinnamon eyes focused on the two as though he was unsure of his timing. "Since someone learned a few new tricks," Those eyes sent her an unreadable look before he finished. "we're going after someone big."
Arms remaining crossed, the woman listened to Spike's words. "Been a lot about them."
No.
Lady Luck really did despise her.
Silenced by the words she knew he was about to speak, her mind was already searching for a way to change the events that would follow. Forget the deal. Forget everything and just leave. Everything was already broken, but perhaps the hurricane wasn't over yet. "We're going after the Raven." It was only just beginning.
Do you like the end to that? I'm happy with the scene with Ed, but I'm not to sure on the one with Jet. I know I always threaten to redo a chapter, but I might really do it this time. Keyword in that sentence was might. Here's the main thingy I want to say. I use to run a website, but that was back when it was easy. I'm thinking about starting one again, and was wondering since I'm not especially good with html what's a good place to use? Lord knows I might need someone for help, if I can't figure it out. Anybody have in suggestions on where to go? Suggestions and comments are welcome on my story too! :P