Midnight Blues

3. Buena Vista

"So where are we going?"

"Mars."

"Sanders is on Mars?" Spike asked incredulously as the three of them sat round the table in the kitchen. "Mars is a hot spot for bounty hunters, not to mention the Syndicates. If this guy is as big a game as you say he is, Mars is the last place he would be."

Jet shrugged. "I don't know why he's on Mars, I just know that he is on Mars." He slid a sheet of paper to Spike across the table.

Spike grunted.

"So what's the plan?" asked Faye. "You do have a plan, don't you?"

"Sanders has very expensive tastes: cars, restaurants, hotels, entertainment. My buddy down at ISSP says he'll be attending the fiftieth anniversary of the Jade Dragon Kabuki Theater in Tharsis." Spike whistled. "After the performance there will be a celebration of the ninetieth birthday Yoichi Tanaka, the owner of the Jade Dragon," he looked at Faye. "And that's where you come in."

"Wait, wait. So Faye gets all dolled up, gets him to take her to this ball thing, lures him out into the open and we grab him?"

"Something like that."

"That's it?" Spike sounded skeptical. "That seems a bit simplistic."

"Well if we're going to put it into easy enough terms for you to understand, it would have to be," Jet shot back getting annoyed.

"So what's the complicated version?" Faye asked.

Jet pulled out a map of Tharsis. "The Bebop will land here," he said, pointing to a set of docks just inside the city as Spike and Faye leaned forward to get a better look. "You two will go separately and meet up before the performance to touch bases. Spike, I want you to land on the roof of the Aquatics International building here and Faye, you do whatever you need to do." Faye nodded. "Once inside, I want you to find Sanders and…get yourself noticed." Spike snorted. Faye ignored him. "Spike will be tailing you to make sure everything is going smoothly—"

"Whoa, whoa. I'm her backup?"

Jet closed his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "Spike, you're there in case something goes wrong. You can think of it as backup if you want, I frankly don't really care. I just care about getting this bounty."

Spike crossed his arms sulkily.

"Good," Jet said pulling another map onto the table. It was the floor plans of the Jade Dragon. "I want you two to memorize the location of every security camera, every door, hallway, corridor, bathroom, broom closet, every possible entrance or exit to the building, everything. We can't afford any surprises."

The two younger hunters listened intently as Jet detailed what would happen once the performance had ended. Faye was to accompany Sanders to the celebratory ball at Tanaka's upscale mansion and Spike would follow them there. Once they arrived Faye would pull her gun, Spike would take him out and Jet would come pick him up. They all new there was small margin for error on a high profile case like this.

"We have to keep this clean," Jet said firmly. "Keep property damage and civilian casualties to a minimum, all right?"

The younger pair nodded.

"Good. We'll reach Mars in approximately three days. I would suggest getting started on those maps," Jet said and left the kitchen.

Faye and Spike sat at the table in silence contemplating the maps strewn over the table in front of them. Faye watched her callous comrade out of the corner of her eye, wondering what had happened to him to make him the way he was. She took in the tan, handsome face, the mismatched eyes, the mop of hair that managed to somehow accentuate his good looks rather than diminish them. He had been a different man when he had returned to the Bebop, darker, more reclusive than before. While it was true that they had never gotten along well, it now seemed that his jibing insults came from somewhere deeper, more personal. She tried to think of what she might have said or done that might have given him cause to hate her, but could not come up with anything awful enough to warrant the treatment she was receiving.

"Hey! Hello?" Spike said loudly, kicking her chair and snapping her out of her reverie. "You awake in there?"

Faye looked at him in silence.

"What, do I have something on my face?" He asked, smirking slightly. "Or do you just like what you see?"

"Oh for chrissake, Spike." Faye shot him a disgusted look. "Does your ego ever shut off?" She closed the file she was holding and stood abruptly. "Now if your worship doesn't mind, I'll be…elsewhere." Spike's eyes followed her as she left the room.

Faye sighed as she walked through the ship. The file under her arm was thick with photographs and police reports. You think he'll be done PMS-ing by the time I finish reading you? She hefted the file in her hands. Ugh, unlikely.

"Bloody hell! Come on, you filthy machine! I know you know what I want—what! ERROR? What do you mean error!" The blinking screen did not respond. "I'll give you error! Take that, you piece of junk! What? Damn it!"

"Uh, Jet? Everything ok?" Faye asked as she walked into the common room file in hand.

Jet shot the machine a disgusted look. "I'm trying to disable the auto-tracking systems so that we can get into Tharsis without having to register our location."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Well, no, but it might give us a little bit of an edge if no one knows we're there."

"Why would anyone even know to look for us?"

Jet scratched his head. "I don't know…someone might."

Faye sat down beside him. "Well why don't you have Edward do it?"

Jet sighed. "Normally I would, but that's part of the problem. " Faye looked at him questioningly. "Ed's gone again."

"What?"

"She left a note…of sorts." He handed her a large sheet of paper covered with what looked like hieroglyphs written in garish orange crayon.

"You can read this?" Faye asked, looking at the scribbles from different angles, unable to tell where to start.

Jet shook his head and shrugged. "I think it says something like, 'New Spike person mean. We go fly nicer peppermint.'"

Faye chuckled. "I don't blame her."

"Trouble is, we really could use her right about now." Jet said, rubbing his head.

"We'll have to make do without her. Knowing Ed, she'll probably show up magically when we least expect her to with a suitcase full of contraband licorice and a bounty head tied up in a box."

Jet tugged at his beard. "I hope you're right." The computer screen on the table continued to flash its error message alarmingly. "You planning on a little light reading?" Jet asked motioning to the file on Faye's lap.

"Ha, yeah, light reading, thanks for reminding me." She stood and stretched. "Don't hurt yourself there, old-timer."

"Yeah, yeah."

Faye leaned back in the cockpit of the Redtail examining one of the many reports strewn about the small space. The past hour had gone by slowly, dragging its feet, as she read report after report, each one more gruesome than the last. With half the reports in a pile on the floor, she was beginning to be thankful that she had missed dinner. The last report had sent her stomach lurching at the detailed description of what had been done to the victim before she had managed to die. Faye had to admit, the guy was creative.

Yawning, she stretched cramped limbs. The Redtail was not the best place for late night reading, but with Spike stroking his own ego in the kitchen and Jet threatening death upon the computer in the common room, there hadn't been anywhere for her to go besides her room and she needed a change of scenery. Rubbing her tired eyes with the heel of her hand, she set the report on the floor with its brothers and sisters. She had spent entirely too much time sitting in the same position and now her back was starting to complain.

"Damnit," she muttered to herself, massaging now aching shoulders and neck. "No more. I'll read the rest of you tomorrow."

Flicking on her ship's com, she flipped through frequencies until the quiet strains of Latin guitar filled the space. She had always loved Latin music, favoring the sound of the single guitar with no accompaniment. When she had first met Cindy they had both been waitressing at a small Cuban restaurant in New Spain, a small province on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. There had been a musician who would come every night to play his guitar and sing. No one knew where he came from, or what he did for a living, for he would never accept payment for his music. All he ever asked for in return for his service was a meal and good company. Faye smiled at the memory. Carlos. He had been a grizzled old man with skin like leather, long black hair braided down his back and an elegant mustache. He had spent almost as much time telling them stories from old Spain, from before the gate accident, as he did playing. He had been a little boy when the gate had been destroyed and he had kept the stories of his family and country alive by passing them on to whoever had been willing to listen. Cindy and Faye had always been willing to listen.

Faye turned the small cockpit light off and climbed out onto the wing of her ship. Bathed in the blue glow of the cockpit instruments, she lit a cigarette as the sinuous guitar rhythms washed over her. A deep raspy voice added its tenor to the mournful play of the guitar. It reminded her of Carlos. He had been a father figure to her as she struggled to acclimate herself to the strikingly different landscape of a future she should not have been a part of.

The cool darkness of the hangar coupled with the sensuous music and the memories that came with it relaxed her as she leaned back against the body of her ship, one leg dangling over the edge of the wing. She closed her eyes as a trumpet wove its brassy voice into the music. Faye smiled. Carlos would have been furious. She could almost see him sitting at the bar brandishing a corn tortilla at her and saying in his deep raspy tenor, 'The trumpet is an arrogant instrument. He is always trying to be louder than the others. When Trumpet was young, he would say taking a bite from his dinner, 'he had a little voice for his size. The other instruments were always teasing him for this. This made Trumpet angry. It was not his fault that his voice was small. One day, a beautiful little girl found trumpet crying by a river. 'What is wrong?' she asked him. He let out a mournful cry so full of sadness that it tore at the little girl's soul and so she took him to her father who was a master blacksmith and he made trumpet a new, bigger voice. When Trumpet returned to his friends, he pretended his voice was still small and they began to laugh at him. Then he let out a great shout, shocking all the others into silence. From then on, trumpet has always been trying to prove himself. You see? That is why trumpet should never be coupled with the guitar. She is soft and beautiful, not to be bullied by the brassy men… She sighed quietly as tears began to form at the corners of her eyes at the memory. Carlos had loved telling his stories...

The hatch at the far end of the hangar opened with a hiss, a pool of light gathering before it. Faye froze. She could just make out a tall lanky figure silhouetted in the light pouring through the entrance. Shit! She cursed herself, wiping furiously at her tearing eyes. Shitshitshit! The figure hadn't moved. What are you doing, Spike? Don't just stand there muttering to yourself, move or something. Go back through the hatch, she coaxed silently. Turn around and go back where you came from, come on, you can do it…

Spike heard faint music drifting towards him from the darkness. Looks like old Jet is getting senile and leaving his music on. He cocked his head to the side, listening. "Since when do you like Latin, Jet?" he asked himself as he quietly made his way through the dark hangar.

The figure shut the hatch with a clang and was swallowed by darkness. She lunged for the com system, switching off the music, suddenly terrified that he should find her there. What's wrong with me? She thought desperately, eyes wide in near panic as she slid silently down her ship's ladder to the floor.

Spike stopped as the music abruptly stopped. "Hello?"

There was no answer.

"Jet? Are you still in here?"

Somewhere off in the darkness there was a crash and a hissed curse.

Faye bit her fist in an effort to keep from crying out in pain as her other hand clutched the knee she had just smashed into a table laden with tools that had lay hidden in the shadows as she tried to creep out of the hangar without Spike's detection. Damndamndamndamndamn… She squeezed her eyes shut, as more tears slid down her cheeks.

"Faye?" he called out into the blackness of the hangar. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness but he could only just make out the shadowy shapes of the three small ships looming out of the gloom. "I know you're in here, Faye. Come on," he said as he began to walk silently in the direction of the hissed oath. Without warning something warm and soft bumped into him, leaped back with an undignified squeak and crashing to the floor with a yelp of pain.

"Jesus…watch where you're going! For fuck's sake…" I squeaked. Someone please tell me I didn't just squeak! Oh god I just squeaked like a little girl who's afraid of the dark…and in front of him…I'll never hear the end. Faye was grateful for the darkness that hid her burning cheeks.

Spike chuckled quietly to himself. "You all right?"

"What do you care?" Came the tart reply.

"Fine, suit yourself. What are you doing in here anyway?"

"I fail to see how that's any of your concern," she mimicked him as she stood. "Some of us enjoy a little time away from that which causes us aggravation." She sighed, wiping her tearstained cheeks with the back of her hand with a sniffle. "I was reading up on our mark, you know, like Jet asked us to?"

"Are you crying?" Spike asked suddenly concerned, noticing the tearful tone in her voice.

Faye glared at him through the darkness. "What the hell, Spike? A minute ago you're throwing shit in my face like I shot your best friend and your girlfriend and now you're concerned for my well-being? Do you switch personalities when the lights go out or something?"

Spike winced at her analogy, thankful that the darkness hid his reaction. "Fuck off, Faye," he grumbled halfheartedly. He heard her hiccup tearfully as she began to climb up to the main level of the hangar.

"Faye?" he said quietly.

She sniffled. "What."

He hesitated, not quite sure what he had wanted to say to her, or how to say it. "You, uh, I mean, I…ah…" He floundered for a moment. "You have any smokes?" He finished lamely.

Faye sniffled as she threw him a dented box.

"Thanks," he whispered as she turned away and left the dark hangar.