Part Three: Some More Before

Faye woke up disoriented. She blinked at the strange shapes around her and the dark ceiling far above, wondering for a moment what had happened to her tiny room while she was asleep. Her brain slowly processed what her eyes could see in the dimness, piecing it with what she sensed around her. She was laying on her side on a quilt which half-covered her and the sleeping man whose arm was holding her pulled tight against him. 'Oh yeah, it's Jet,' she remembered finally.

Faye slowly lifted his arm and sat up next to him, grimacing at the stiffness in her shoulders and back. Jet's breathing hitched and she dropped his arm by accident instead of laying it at his side as she'd meant to; but Jet didn't wake or move and his breathing continued steadily. Faye sighed and felt around for the cigarettes she knew would be nearby. There was plenty of time before she had to be out of there; Jet seemed to be a heavy sleeper.

She pulled her knees up and rested her head on them, staring at the orange glow of her cigarette. Faye let her memory wander through the preceding hours, pausing to savor a few moments, then passing on. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually fallen asleep afterwards. It was a dangerous thing to do, leaving her vulnerable. Of course this was different; she was on the Bebop and it was Jet with her after all. Very different indeed. She let her mind wander and found herself thinking about Ganymede. Spike had told her one time about Jet's old girlfriend on Ganymede. That one he went back to see and then he wound up busting her new boyfriend. Faye remembered feeling bad for ribbing him about an old flame before he went, but when he came back he hadn't been particularly sad or anything. In fact, he had seemed rather satisfied. As if he had just closed the final chapter of a good book after a long time of leaving it unfinished.

She sighed and dragged on her cigarette, telling herself to get up, find her clothes and get out of there. She didn't listen. Instead she turned her head and looked at Jet again, and couldn't help but smile. Before going to sleep, he had put his pants back on and his boots were within reach, just in case. 'How very Jet-like,' she thought, 'Always prepared for anything.' She wondered just how ready he had been for last night. She still wasn't sure if she had planned to put the moves on him, or if the urge just came with the moment. However it was, she had done it. And then he had too. Faye actually blushed a little at the memory, then shook her head.

'Time to go,' she commanded herself and stood, looking about for her clothes. She found them on and around the work table, and just the act of picking them up was difficult. Each piece she put on reminded her of how it had come off. Once finally dressed she stood, hesitant, and stared at Jet again. He hadn't moved at all, his arm still in the awkward position she had dropped it in. 'I'll just go make him more comfortable,' she thought. She meant to just straighten his arm a little, then leave. His breathing continued deep and even. She really meant to leave, but found herself lying down next to him again, this time facing him. 'It's just for a moment,' she told herself, 'There's time still.'

Faye propped her head on her hand and stared into Jet's sleeping face, which was pillowed improbably on his cybernetic left arm. She had grown so accustomed to the metal limb that she rarely noticed it was different, yet now she recalled that he had been careful to never caress her with it. She wondered why. His right hand had been so busy she hadn't noticed at the time. She touched the metal softly, tracing the joint at his elbow and wondered again why he had chosen that cybernetic model rather than an organic one. She had asked him one time, but he had been in no mood for straight answers. He never did seem to be in the mood to tolerate her presence; usually insulting her intelligence, telling her to get off his ship, demanding money, stomping out of the room, or some combination of those. He had never shown any sign of liking her, much less being attracted to her. She wondered again why he had responded to her last night.

Faye sighed and rolled onto her back. Frowning at the ceiling she spoke softly, "It could have been any woman last night..."

"No," a rough voice interrupted her, "Only you, Faye."

Faye snapped her head around and met Jet's unblinking stare just inches away. He hadn't moved at all, making her wonder wildly just how long he had been awake. She scrambled to her feet and did the first thing her instinct told her to do. She ran.

- My husband previewed this for me and declared it boring! -sigh- But it says what I wanted it to say. I wanted to show that while Faye usually acts without thinking first, she does get around to thinking eventually. Stay tuned for more action (of some sort!) in the next chapter. -Neg