It's about time I finally updated this! Whew.so glad I finally finished it.
I've had so many things going on and a major case of writer's block. I'd
end up falling asleep at my computer cause of my stressing day, but my best
hours are late at night, so I couldn't write anything during the day, and
was only getting a few sentences for I'd pass out. Plus, my big bro had me
reading over all his work for his class, and I must say I really enjoyed
helping out. Oh and a quick thanks to those of you who are still reading
this, I can't believe anyone would still be waiting after this time, but
thanks for sticking by me!
Chapter 7
Rendezvous in Ruins
"Surprised I knew where to find you?" A loud and mocking voice cut through the silence of the ruins that had controlled them moments before. It's owner maintaining the ready position of his gun, as he took a few careful steps forward. "Oh wait.that's right. Mercenaries are never surprised."
Muscles knotted then unknotted continuously, in an unseen ritual to prepare Raven to move in a quick burst if the need arose. "Some say that." Her eyes locked on the similar white flecked green pair that flashed through the air around her.
Giles nodded chuckling to himself. "And you don't?"
Her shoulders bobbed once while hands slipped into the pockets of her trench coat. "Those who say it are bragging and."
"You have no need to brag?" A smug grin appeared, darkening his features rather than lightening them like most. His eyes continued to focus more on her entirety and the space around them than her searching hands.
"If that was a blow to my pride, I assure you that I have none you could injure." Her body seemingly motion less, while Raven's mind twitched each toe and finger as if to check that they still worked. Eyes roved over the figure before her labeling him out of place with his black dress pants and peridot shirt.
"You won't mock me." Giles' finger twitched almost imperceptibly, the soft click of the trigger almost a horn in the silence as it pulled thunder behind it.
The half standing wall behind her right shoulder spit a puff of dust and pebbles into the air as though a man hit in a bar fight. The powdery brown substance sprayed onto her shoulder. She hadn't moved. She was exactly the same prior to the shot. "I was not mocking."
Sand covered cobblestones shuffled as he slowly approached her, gun extended towards her head. "You have no idea what I'm going to do." A smile known only to someone aware of events to come crossed his lips, a feature worthy of the wolf cloaked in sheepskin. Now, only inches from her face, the gun cast its shadow across her neck. "You don't know whether I plan to hire you, turn you in." His free hand reached forward, fingers caressing the ebony strands closest to her face. "or whether I'm just your average psycho who plans to kill and bury you in the sands, but of course after I've had my fun with you."
Her chin lifted away gauging his reaction to her movement, or rather lack of one. "Doubtful."
Giles' head lowered at an angle of curiosity, lower jaw extending passed the upper. "And why is that?" The gun was removed as both arms were extended to his sides, body twisting right then left as though in show for a crowd. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Too much trouble just to kill me." Faye stated matter of factly. "You could've just as easily shot me on the street." Her weight shifted, as she removed her hands from her pockets, stretching them above her head in feline finesse. "Besides you've already proven that you know where to find me if you planned to turn me in."
"True, but I would also know about your friends."
Friends. Could she even call them that anymore?
"You could've gotten help." Glancing over her shoulder, she stood sideways between him and the wall surveying the area the bullet had hit as though the conversation was no more than something between friends. "Only one option left."
A nod towards her gun, gave her the final confirmation she needed as he backed away placing his own in the back of his pants belt. "Clever girl. That's why I like you."
Busy reclaiming her own, an old fashioned Shepherd Arms P38 9mm, an extremely rare gun in these days that was admittedly a little slow on the reload, she didn't bother with a response. Her hand welcomed the well known feel of death warmed over beneath it.
"Would you like to hear a story?" His voice had grown lighter, almost distant, so that when she glanced up, he had already returned to the wall in which she had first seen him. A crumbling column piled to his left, the wall only climbing to his waist to create a window into the next fallen building.
"Once upon a time, there was a city on Venus that was known for its gambling." Giles' hands were clasped together behind his back that faced her, his eyes probably roaming through the window that was created from the collapse. "It gambled on life, love, and just plain gambled, until one day something happened that changed it."
Already growing tired of the game she approached him, her hands grazing the column in absent listening.
"It was changed into a city that lived at night. It was never truly alive until darkness claimed the sky." A slow knowing smile materialized on his lips. "Isn't it beautiful? Deadly too." He turned ever so slightly towards her, face blank. "Do you know what this city was known as?"
The woman knelt in the sand, fingers tracing tunnels in the grains, and then lifting it to watch impassively as it hurried back to the ground. "I suppose you'll tell me anyway."
Near perfect teeth flashed for a moment. "True." She watched him cast a final glance through the window before turning to face her completely, seating himself on the eroding wall. "It was known as Ausguck."
"That matters, how?"
All trace of mirth fled as his eyes slowly drained in pigment from cloudy forests to snow covered trees, only small fragments of the leafy color visible. "In the late twentieth century German language, Ausguck meant Raven's Nest."
Tossing the sand to the ground, the woman's legs lifted her to full height. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
He shrugged. "Where better to find a raven then at her next?"
"So what do you want?"
Faye rocked slightly, watching him chose his words. "Just a simple task, really." The bottom lobe of his ear became his interest, as he rubbed at it childishly. "Nothing different from the last."
"I.S.S.P. is still on alert, covering everything," Her head tilted back so that she squinted up at the sky. "I usually wait around two weeks before I take on another."
"How about adding half of last to it?"
"That's a lot of woolong."
"Isn't it?"
She shrugged. "Skip the smugness. Who and when?"
Laughter filled the air as Giles passed behind her, his footsteps becoming eerily silent on the sandy cobblestones. "To the point as always." The laughter slowed into a long intake of breath, barely audible even in the silence of the ruins. "Ever heard of Lilan and Ostin?"
"Enterprises?" Almost instantaneously a crest shaped with the initials "L" and "O" encircling a glaive flittered into her mind. The corporation was one of the most widely known electronics company on Mars. She had never paid much attention to the many advertisements for the corporation, its birth near to that of the demon inside her.
He nodded. "The main branch is located on Mars. Its fifty-seven floors of offices with directors, assistants, and the aspiring."
Silence cast its shadow over them, while he paused as if waiting for her to speak. "Lilan is your target." Eyes a void, she watched him retrieve a handful of wrinkled papers from his back pockets. "These are guard changes, camera locations, blueprints of every accessible area to make your job easier. The payment will be delivered just like the last time."
Except for the gentle rustling of the leaves and sand that the wind stirred, the ruins were silent. Beside her, Giles was beginning to breathe heavily, his large white-green eyes darting left and right as he apparently searched for whatever he thought was lurking in the crumbling mass around them.
The papers were pulled from his hands, her face remaining cool and distant while she fingered between them to verify his claim.
"Can I ask you a question?"
No longer than a second her eyes rested on him, before flicking back to the wrinkled pages that she was skimming, her usual technique of discouraging conversation. "You can ask." Faye deadpanned. "But it doesn't mean I'll answer."
"Of course." She could hear something scuffling before he finally spoke. "Why do you need the money if you don't have wants anymore?"
Inwardly she smiled, low and masochist. The more money she could acquire, the easier it would be for her to disappear from existence like a submarine underneath the sea's dark waters, but like any ship she would have to surface sometime, or at least until she could find a way to disappear entirely.
Mind blanking, she found her vision focusing on the strange air around her; her own emptiness. "To disappear."
"Only magicians can disappear, and fools are those who try."
Faye met his gaze squarely, her expressionless shells slicing into his in silent threat. About to make comment, the sudden beeping of her communicator ended the thoughts.
Seconds later she was staring at Spike inside the Swordfish II on the small screen. She didn't have to study him to see the anger that his voice easily screamed, or catch the agitated glitter in his foreign eyes. "Where the hell are you?"
Instinctively she fought to cover the emptiness with anything that could possibly hide the void that was constantly growing, chewing its way to the surface. "That's for me to know and you to wonder." She smiled darkly, something that she could remember doing on the Bebop several times.
He growled, body slouching closer to the screen. "I don't have time for your games!" For a moment he stared at her, eyes daring her to challenge him. "I found something. Meet me out front of the Plymouth Museum in Lasant, in an hour."
Eyes averting from the screen she rubbed at the back of her neck. "It may take longer."
"Just be there!" The words had barely escaped the transmission's closing.
Time had passed since the days that she would've glared at the device, cursing it for actually allowing him the last word, or even calling him back just to terrorize him before he could hang up on her, but instead she simply dropped the small transmitter into her pocket. Turning back towards Giles' she was already preparing herself for a question that the air couldn't provide, since it was the only thing present.
He was gone.
The wind stirred her hair, itching to run away with the charcoal strands. Grains of sand scraped against her, a light burn that disappeared with the breeze. It had disappeared like the man who had only minutes ago been in front of her.
He had left her alone in the silence of the ruins' death. Alone amongst the emptiness.
Alone with herself.
************************************************************************
It was a building of death.
Inside were the remains of everything that had died, caught in time's grasp, or destroyed by others. Each frozen in an image conjured from a mind that like them would one day be plucked from the great loom of life. It was the one place that death lived, and here she had proven its life only two months earlier.
Three old fashioned brick floors, stood ahead of her, the faint scent of death lingering in the air around it. This time, she noticed the trees and flowers planted around the outside that bloomed despite the treacherous force.
Faye stood on the grass a few yards away from the wall, vaguely listening to the young woman that was relaying to her and Spike, all which was known about the murder a few weeks earlier. Her eyes focused intently on the window three floors above the ground. Its lines of cement mocking the memories from her night visit.
"That's the window he entered through."
The window was shut, two dark shadows expanding from one side to the other, probably baring it closed. Funny, how the bars had never been used until after they would've proved useful.
"It's really hard to believe that he could climb up there and sneak in without the cameras or the security guards spotting him." Annoyed sigh. "I still say he's got help, but the I.S.S.P. wouldn't have any of it."
"No," She gave a sideways glance to Spike who was examining the upper floors of the building, as he spoke. "He's a one man show. He wouldn't chance having a partner turn him in."
Partners were a liability.
Of course there was always the chance that a partner would turn her in for money, or allow themselves to be caught, but she had never really dwelled on that thought.
A partner would eventually leave. Sometimes it was overnight without anyone knowing, or sometimes during crucial moments that would leave one at risk, but sometimes a partner would walk out in front of their ally, despite whatever pleas the other would attempt.
Yes, partners were an emotional liability, and she had severed all emotions from herself two years ago that fateful night after her departure.
Faye thrust the thoughts aside, pulling in the words of the smaller pouting woman. "Well I still say it's damn near impossible to get in without help."
All it had taken was watching the window for a week to know when it was opened to air out the room. The real trick had been finding some place to hide until the building was closed to the public and only a certain upper level employee had stayed to work over time.
"Where are the cameras from here?" The beginnings of silver clouds were already forming around Spike as his lighter flicked closed.
The woman's almond shaped dark eyes nodded towards the left. "There," A gesture to the right, located the other camera. "And there," She slumped, her blond hair cascading over the drooping shoulders.
Green, dark and alive flapped in the breeze around the camera to Faye's left, nearly concealing the object.
She had overlooked the camera, assuming that there had only been leaves. Had she been able to sneak in without being detected only knowing of one camera's whereabouts? "What about that one? It didn't get anything?"
Another sigh seeped from the worker's lips. "No. Sure the camera's move on slightly different intervals, but the time that neither of them are focusing on this wall is so small, you'd have to be in pretty good shape or have help to get in that fast." She moaned overdramatically. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys."
"Thanks, but this is starting to get boring." The moist grass squished beneath Spike's feet as he left the two.
Faye ignored him, eyes still locked on the camera that she had been able to sneak by without even trying. Maybe Lady Luck didn't despise her after all; hell she had probably just flipped a coin.
A few brisk steps and she had already caught up to Spike who was mumbling under his breath. "Just like hackers."
The words triggered a memory, and she found herself questioning. "You still have to have action before you'll work?"
"Yeah, how about you?"
Her mind played over the words, and smiled, although it may have seemed as half a grimace, her lips no longer familiar with the twist. "Yeah. I find myself some action here and there."
************************************************************************
The sky had fallen while space thrust herself downward upon the ship like a room around a dreamer rousing. A shadow had hovered over the comm. link since their departure. The only sounds were that of the gentle hum of the Redtail's engine and the meaningless whispers of Faye's own mind.
In front of her the Swordfish II was a crimson beacon of obligation, searing through the unending darkness. The cloud lifted, a gold light flickering on the panel to her left, Spike's voice playing over the speaker. "Jet told me." The words ended, but the gold light continued to parade the connection. "He told me everything."
She didn't need to search her memory for the subject that he spoke of. It was a conversation that she had planned never to have. A buffer between her and the emotions that could occur rose, its job to absorb all, so different from that of murderous demon she held inside. All false pretense of her old self was pulled from her tongue by the buffer. "There isn't anything to say about it."
"So leaving helped you to get over it?"
"Did it you?" The words following were so dull and lifeless, but yet filled with so much meaning. "That's just it Spike . . . .you never get over it. You just get use to living without."
In absence of a voice the comm. crackled its annoyance. Faye settled into the raspy silence, waiting for a snappy reply, but the one she received was similar to the last one so long ago. It was a truth told in the most unlikely moment.
"I watched her die." A slow intake of breath passed through the speaker. "She. . . . . Julia, she died in my arms . . . . . and I couldn't do a damn thing about it."
"I killed him and shut myself off from everything." His words had grown distant as though he were reveling in his own private hell. "This was suppose to have been my home I could return to, but.I wonder if something's changed."
The buffer quivered.
He was sharing with her the most private pieces of his life. It was those things that he always labeled "Confidential."
Whispers in her mind called for a reply. "Spike, you of all people should know not to hold onto the past." A dull roar broke through the inner walls of her mind. "Say goodbye to yesterday." The roar thickened, causing her vision to sway as the escaping unnamed emotions were dragged inside, nails clawing the tunnel walls.
Faye lounged in the seat, her eyes watching the topaz flickering of light on the control panel.
FLASH. Pause. FLASH. Pause. FLASH. FLASH.
The tiny light's rhythmic beat suddenly meriting annoyance.
"Isn't.." The words ended abruptly. Two silver streaks blared through the darkness between the Redtail and Swordfish II.
Automatically she leaned forward, hands grasping the levers, eyes searching the black abyss for the source of the attack.
"Made some friends while waiting for you." The transmitter emitted the battle readying words.
The Redtail surged forward, thrusters reversing direction to make an accurate shot more difficult. Silver flashes rained around her, its origins soaring over head. Faye found herself watching the gray ship disappear above. "That one's mine."
"Right."
The engine roared to life, propelling her after the younger ship. Ahead of her it danced around the window, darting outside her targeting area. "Almost there."
Her hands tightened on the levers, firing sprays that were always one step behind. She gave chase with each turn the ship made. A final spin brought her barreling into another shower of silver.
"Both are on you, Faye!"
She had become the target, expertly flipping the Redtail between the rain of fire. The second ship fell into pursuit, main cannon firing. A few clicks deploying her flares drawing the missiles away, each exploding on contact with the fireballs. The ship rocked as a stray missile passed between the arm and main hull.
Reversing around to return fire, a stray bullet struck the left gun arm. A dark puff spread from the machine, the sudden explosion pitching Faye forward.
"Faye, get out of there!"
Her eyes lifted, the first ship now hovering in front of her like the reaper himself. She released control of the ship, defeat flooding the air around her.
Three silver tears streaked towards her, and the craft rocked wildly.
On the count of three I want everyone to say "Aw." One. Two. Three. "AWWWWWW." Yep, Kyra put in a somewhat of a heart to heart. I wonder what's to become of our beloved Faye? ^_^ I'm gonna get started on the next chapter right now so that I can make up for the huge delay and have one out really quick. I absolutely despise my entire fight in space scene. I wasn't too sure on what to do, so that's kind of what came out, and I don't have a beta reader.^_^ I just let my big bro read over them sometimes and he's not too happy about helping me, and after I helped HIM!
Chapter 7
Rendezvous in Ruins
"Surprised I knew where to find you?" A loud and mocking voice cut through the silence of the ruins that had controlled them moments before. It's owner maintaining the ready position of his gun, as he took a few careful steps forward. "Oh wait.that's right. Mercenaries are never surprised."
Muscles knotted then unknotted continuously, in an unseen ritual to prepare Raven to move in a quick burst if the need arose. "Some say that." Her eyes locked on the similar white flecked green pair that flashed through the air around her.
Giles nodded chuckling to himself. "And you don't?"
Her shoulders bobbed once while hands slipped into the pockets of her trench coat. "Those who say it are bragging and."
"You have no need to brag?" A smug grin appeared, darkening his features rather than lightening them like most. His eyes continued to focus more on her entirety and the space around them than her searching hands.
"If that was a blow to my pride, I assure you that I have none you could injure." Her body seemingly motion less, while Raven's mind twitched each toe and finger as if to check that they still worked. Eyes roved over the figure before her labeling him out of place with his black dress pants and peridot shirt.
"You won't mock me." Giles' finger twitched almost imperceptibly, the soft click of the trigger almost a horn in the silence as it pulled thunder behind it.
The half standing wall behind her right shoulder spit a puff of dust and pebbles into the air as though a man hit in a bar fight. The powdery brown substance sprayed onto her shoulder. She hadn't moved. She was exactly the same prior to the shot. "I was not mocking."
Sand covered cobblestones shuffled as he slowly approached her, gun extended towards her head. "You have no idea what I'm going to do." A smile known only to someone aware of events to come crossed his lips, a feature worthy of the wolf cloaked in sheepskin. Now, only inches from her face, the gun cast its shadow across her neck. "You don't know whether I plan to hire you, turn you in." His free hand reached forward, fingers caressing the ebony strands closest to her face. "or whether I'm just your average psycho who plans to kill and bury you in the sands, but of course after I've had my fun with you."
Her chin lifted away gauging his reaction to her movement, or rather lack of one. "Doubtful."
Giles' head lowered at an angle of curiosity, lower jaw extending passed the upper. "And why is that?" The gun was removed as both arms were extended to his sides, body twisting right then left as though in show for a crowd. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Too much trouble just to kill me." Faye stated matter of factly. "You could've just as easily shot me on the street." Her weight shifted, as she removed her hands from her pockets, stretching them above her head in feline finesse. "Besides you've already proven that you know where to find me if you planned to turn me in."
"True, but I would also know about your friends."
Friends. Could she even call them that anymore?
"You could've gotten help." Glancing over her shoulder, she stood sideways between him and the wall surveying the area the bullet had hit as though the conversation was no more than something between friends. "Only one option left."
A nod towards her gun, gave her the final confirmation she needed as he backed away placing his own in the back of his pants belt. "Clever girl. That's why I like you."
Busy reclaiming her own, an old fashioned Shepherd Arms P38 9mm, an extremely rare gun in these days that was admittedly a little slow on the reload, she didn't bother with a response. Her hand welcomed the well known feel of death warmed over beneath it.
"Would you like to hear a story?" His voice had grown lighter, almost distant, so that when she glanced up, he had already returned to the wall in which she had first seen him. A crumbling column piled to his left, the wall only climbing to his waist to create a window into the next fallen building.
"Once upon a time, there was a city on Venus that was known for its gambling." Giles' hands were clasped together behind his back that faced her, his eyes probably roaming through the window that was created from the collapse. "It gambled on life, love, and just plain gambled, until one day something happened that changed it."
Already growing tired of the game she approached him, her hands grazing the column in absent listening.
"It was changed into a city that lived at night. It was never truly alive until darkness claimed the sky." A slow knowing smile materialized on his lips. "Isn't it beautiful? Deadly too." He turned ever so slightly towards her, face blank. "Do you know what this city was known as?"
The woman knelt in the sand, fingers tracing tunnels in the grains, and then lifting it to watch impassively as it hurried back to the ground. "I suppose you'll tell me anyway."
Near perfect teeth flashed for a moment. "True." She watched him cast a final glance through the window before turning to face her completely, seating himself on the eroding wall. "It was known as Ausguck."
"That matters, how?"
All trace of mirth fled as his eyes slowly drained in pigment from cloudy forests to snow covered trees, only small fragments of the leafy color visible. "In the late twentieth century German language, Ausguck meant Raven's Nest."
Tossing the sand to the ground, the woman's legs lifted her to full height. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
He shrugged. "Where better to find a raven then at her next?"
"So what do you want?"
Faye rocked slightly, watching him chose his words. "Just a simple task, really." The bottom lobe of his ear became his interest, as he rubbed at it childishly. "Nothing different from the last."
"I.S.S.P. is still on alert, covering everything," Her head tilted back so that she squinted up at the sky. "I usually wait around two weeks before I take on another."
"How about adding half of last to it?"
"That's a lot of woolong."
"Isn't it?"
She shrugged. "Skip the smugness. Who and when?"
Laughter filled the air as Giles passed behind her, his footsteps becoming eerily silent on the sandy cobblestones. "To the point as always." The laughter slowed into a long intake of breath, barely audible even in the silence of the ruins. "Ever heard of Lilan and Ostin?"
"Enterprises?" Almost instantaneously a crest shaped with the initials "L" and "O" encircling a glaive flittered into her mind. The corporation was one of the most widely known electronics company on Mars. She had never paid much attention to the many advertisements for the corporation, its birth near to that of the demon inside her.
He nodded. "The main branch is located on Mars. Its fifty-seven floors of offices with directors, assistants, and the aspiring."
Silence cast its shadow over them, while he paused as if waiting for her to speak. "Lilan is your target." Eyes a void, she watched him retrieve a handful of wrinkled papers from his back pockets. "These are guard changes, camera locations, blueprints of every accessible area to make your job easier. The payment will be delivered just like the last time."
Except for the gentle rustling of the leaves and sand that the wind stirred, the ruins were silent. Beside her, Giles was beginning to breathe heavily, his large white-green eyes darting left and right as he apparently searched for whatever he thought was lurking in the crumbling mass around them.
The papers were pulled from his hands, her face remaining cool and distant while she fingered between them to verify his claim.
"Can I ask you a question?"
No longer than a second her eyes rested on him, before flicking back to the wrinkled pages that she was skimming, her usual technique of discouraging conversation. "You can ask." Faye deadpanned. "But it doesn't mean I'll answer."
"Of course." She could hear something scuffling before he finally spoke. "Why do you need the money if you don't have wants anymore?"
Inwardly she smiled, low and masochist. The more money she could acquire, the easier it would be for her to disappear from existence like a submarine underneath the sea's dark waters, but like any ship she would have to surface sometime, or at least until she could find a way to disappear entirely.
Mind blanking, she found her vision focusing on the strange air around her; her own emptiness. "To disappear."
"Only magicians can disappear, and fools are those who try."
Faye met his gaze squarely, her expressionless shells slicing into his in silent threat. About to make comment, the sudden beeping of her communicator ended the thoughts.
Seconds later she was staring at Spike inside the Swordfish II on the small screen. She didn't have to study him to see the anger that his voice easily screamed, or catch the agitated glitter in his foreign eyes. "Where the hell are you?"
Instinctively she fought to cover the emptiness with anything that could possibly hide the void that was constantly growing, chewing its way to the surface. "That's for me to know and you to wonder." She smiled darkly, something that she could remember doing on the Bebop several times.
He growled, body slouching closer to the screen. "I don't have time for your games!" For a moment he stared at her, eyes daring her to challenge him. "I found something. Meet me out front of the Plymouth Museum in Lasant, in an hour."
Eyes averting from the screen she rubbed at the back of her neck. "It may take longer."
"Just be there!" The words had barely escaped the transmission's closing.
Time had passed since the days that she would've glared at the device, cursing it for actually allowing him the last word, or even calling him back just to terrorize him before he could hang up on her, but instead she simply dropped the small transmitter into her pocket. Turning back towards Giles' she was already preparing herself for a question that the air couldn't provide, since it was the only thing present.
He was gone.
The wind stirred her hair, itching to run away with the charcoal strands. Grains of sand scraped against her, a light burn that disappeared with the breeze. It had disappeared like the man who had only minutes ago been in front of her.
He had left her alone in the silence of the ruins' death. Alone amongst the emptiness.
Alone with herself.
************************************************************************
It was a building of death.
Inside were the remains of everything that had died, caught in time's grasp, or destroyed by others. Each frozen in an image conjured from a mind that like them would one day be plucked from the great loom of life. It was the one place that death lived, and here she had proven its life only two months earlier.
Three old fashioned brick floors, stood ahead of her, the faint scent of death lingering in the air around it. This time, she noticed the trees and flowers planted around the outside that bloomed despite the treacherous force.
Faye stood on the grass a few yards away from the wall, vaguely listening to the young woman that was relaying to her and Spike, all which was known about the murder a few weeks earlier. Her eyes focused intently on the window three floors above the ground. Its lines of cement mocking the memories from her night visit.
"That's the window he entered through."
The window was shut, two dark shadows expanding from one side to the other, probably baring it closed. Funny, how the bars had never been used until after they would've proved useful.
"It's really hard to believe that he could climb up there and sneak in without the cameras or the security guards spotting him." Annoyed sigh. "I still say he's got help, but the I.S.S.P. wouldn't have any of it."
"No," She gave a sideways glance to Spike who was examining the upper floors of the building, as he spoke. "He's a one man show. He wouldn't chance having a partner turn him in."
Partners were a liability.
Of course there was always the chance that a partner would turn her in for money, or allow themselves to be caught, but she had never really dwelled on that thought.
A partner would eventually leave. Sometimes it was overnight without anyone knowing, or sometimes during crucial moments that would leave one at risk, but sometimes a partner would walk out in front of their ally, despite whatever pleas the other would attempt.
Yes, partners were an emotional liability, and she had severed all emotions from herself two years ago that fateful night after her departure.
Faye thrust the thoughts aside, pulling in the words of the smaller pouting woman. "Well I still say it's damn near impossible to get in without help."
All it had taken was watching the window for a week to know when it was opened to air out the room. The real trick had been finding some place to hide until the building was closed to the public and only a certain upper level employee had stayed to work over time.
"Where are the cameras from here?" The beginnings of silver clouds were already forming around Spike as his lighter flicked closed.
The woman's almond shaped dark eyes nodded towards the left. "There," A gesture to the right, located the other camera. "And there," She slumped, her blond hair cascading over the drooping shoulders.
Green, dark and alive flapped in the breeze around the camera to Faye's left, nearly concealing the object.
She had overlooked the camera, assuming that there had only been leaves. Had she been able to sneak in without being detected only knowing of one camera's whereabouts? "What about that one? It didn't get anything?"
Another sigh seeped from the worker's lips. "No. Sure the camera's move on slightly different intervals, but the time that neither of them are focusing on this wall is so small, you'd have to be in pretty good shape or have help to get in that fast." She moaned overdramatically. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys."
"Thanks, but this is starting to get boring." The moist grass squished beneath Spike's feet as he left the two.
Faye ignored him, eyes still locked on the camera that she had been able to sneak by without even trying. Maybe Lady Luck didn't despise her after all; hell she had probably just flipped a coin.
A few brisk steps and she had already caught up to Spike who was mumbling under his breath. "Just like hackers."
The words triggered a memory, and she found herself questioning. "You still have to have action before you'll work?"
"Yeah, how about you?"
Her mind played over the words, and smiled, although it may have seemed as half a grimace, her lips no longer familiar with the twist. "Yeah. I find myself some action here and there."
************************************************************************
The sky had fallen while space thrust herself downward upon the ship like a room around a dreamer rousing. A shadow had hovered over the comm. link since their departure. The only sounds were that of the gentle hum of the Redtail's engine and the meaningless whispers of Faye's own mind.
In front of her the Swordfish II was a crimson beacon of obligation, searing through the unending darkness. The cloud lifted, a gold light flickering on the panel to her left, Spike's voice playing over the speaker. "Jet told me." The words ended, but the gold light continued to parade the connection. "He told me everything."
She didn't need to search her memory for the subject that he spoke of. It was a conversation that she had planned never to have. A buffer between her and the emotions that could occur rose, its job to absorb all, so different from that of murderous demon she held inside. All false pretense of her old self was pulled from her tongue by the buffer. "There isn't anything to say about it."
"So leaving helped you to get over it?"
"Did it you?" The words following were so dull and lifeless, but yet filled with so much meaning. "That's just it Spike . . . .you never get over it. You just get use to living without."
In absence of a voice the comm. crackled its annoyance. Faye settled into the raspy silence, waiting for a snappy reply, but the one she received was similar to the last one so long ago. It was a truth told in the most unlikely moment.
"I watched her die." A slow intake of breath passed through the speaker. "She. . . . . Julia, she died in my arms . . . . . and I couldn't do a damn thing about it."
"I killed him and shut myself off from everything." His words had grown distant as though he were reveling in his own private hell. "This was suppose to have been my home I could return to, but.I wonder if something's changed."
The buffer quivered.
He was sharing with her the most private pieces of his life. It was those things that he always labeled "Confidential."
Whispers in her mind called for a reply. "Spike, you of all people should know not to hold onto the past." A dull roar broke through the inner walls of her mind. "Say goodbye to yesterday." The roar thickened, causing her vision to sway as the escaping unnamed emotions were dragged inside, nails clawing the tunnel walls.
Faye lounged in the seat, her eyes watching the topaz flickering of light on the control panel.
FLASH. Pause. FLASH. Pause. FLASH. FLASH.
The tiny light's rhythmic beat suddenly meriting annoyance.
"Isn't.." The words ended abruptly. Two silver streaks blared through the darkness between the Redtail and Swordfish II.
Automatically she leaned forward, hands grasping the levers, eyes searching the black abyss for the source of the attack.
"Made some friends while waiting for you." The transmitter emitted the battle readying words.
The Redtail surged forward, thrusters reversing direction to make an accurate shot more difficult. Silver flashes rained around her, its origins soaring over head. Faye found herself watching the gray ship disappear above. "That one's mine."
"Right."
The engine roared to life, propelling her after the younger ship. Ahead of her it danced around the window, darting outside her targeting area. "Almost there."
Her hands tightened on the levers, firing sprays that were always one step behind. She gave chase with each turn the ship made. A final spin brought her barreling into another shower of silver.
"Both are on you, Faye!"
She had become the target, expertly flipping the Redtail between the rain of fire. The second ship fell into pursuit, main cannon firing. A few clicks deploying her flares drawing the missiles away, each exploding on contact with the fireballs. The ship rocked as a stray missile passed between the arm and main hull.
Reversing around to return fire, a stray bullet struck the left gun arm. A dark puff spread from the machine, the sudden explosion pitching Faye forward.
"Faye, get out of there!"
Her eyes lifted, the first ship now hovering in front of her like the reaper himself. She released control of the ship, defeat flooding the air around her.
Three silver tears streaked towards her, and the craft rocked wildly.
On the count of three I want everyone to say "Aw." One. Two. Three. "AWWWWWW." Yep, Kyra put in a somewhat of a heart to heart. I wonder what's to become of our beloved Faye? ^_^ I'm gonna get started on the next chapter right now so that I can make up for the huge delay and have one out really quick. I absolutely despise my entire fight in space scene. I wasn't too sure on what to do, so that's kind of what came out, and I don't have a beta reader.^_^ I just let my big bro read over them sometimes and he's not too happy about helping me, and after I helped HIM!