a/n: so, this is pivotal chapter #2, if i'm counting correctly. in other words, really intense things happen this time around. i mean, intense. like, 'faye finds out about spike and deliliah' tense. so yeah, the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan...emphasis on hit. oh hell, let me stop foreshadowing, and just let you read the darn thing.
10. Restaurants and Ambulances
Thursday evening, five p.m. found Spike Spiegel somewhat nervously picking out something dressy to wear. Toni's Grill wasn't a fancy restaurant, but it wasn't a casual one, either. He could go with his normal attire, his rumpled blue suit and yellow shirt, but opted for one step nicer. Pulling out his fancier black slacks, the ones Faye forced him to buy, he matched that with a deep blue dress shirt and a pair of second hand dress shoes.
As he dressed, a moment of guilt washed over him, not as if the guilt had ever went away, and he almost changed his clothes as he felt as if he was being dishonest to Faye. But he kept the clothes on anyway, since he realized that he was being dishonest to Faye. He was having dinner with the woman he'd cheated with, after all.
After he was clothed in everything but his shoes, Spike flopped on his bed, a good hour left before he had to go pick up Delilah. He briefly thought to himself that one day he should buy a car, but just as quickly dismissed the idea for several reasons. One, he didn't have the money. Two, he was bad at saving money. Three, he had no permanent residents, seeing as though the Bebop wasn't exactly sedentary, and four, he would never trade his beloved Swordfish. At least there was one woman in his life that he could stay true to.
As he lay on his bed, Spike had to think of how he was going to get out of the ship undetected. If Ed caught him, she'd be disappointed, and the thought of disappointing the kid tugged at his heartstrings, which prompted him to believe that he was going soft. If Jet caught him, he'd never hear the end of it from the ex-cop. And if Faye caught him, God if Faye caught him. He might as well just castrate himself and hand his dick over to her, wrapped in a bow and all.
For a moment, he thought about crawling through the air ducts, but that wouldn't do anything, except draw even more attention to his self. Then he thought about changing back into his regular clothes and sneaking out that way. But in the end, he decided he'd just walk out of the door, and if anyone saw him, he'd simply play it off and bullshit like he always did.
"This isn't gonna work," he said to himself as he lit a cigarette. "I'm gonna get caught and I'm gonna be hanged. There's no 'innocent until proven guilty' when it comes to me. Oh well, I dug my own grave, and I guess it's high time I finally lay in it."
"You in there, Faye?" Jet asked as he knocked on her door.
"What do you want?" She asked almost irritably.
Pushing open the door, Jet reluctantly took a couple of steps inside, but didn't dare go any further. He saw Faye lying on her bed, a cloth over her head and a hand over her stomach. Her room was dark and the only sound was her slight wheeze.
"You feeling any better?"
"Is the sky green?"
Jet sighed and chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to think of what he could say. She had been sick for the past two days, and Jet discovered a long time ago that when Faye got sick, Faye got nasty.
"Can I get you anything?"
"You can get the fuck out."
"Faye," he said with a slight edge in his voice. "I know you don't feel good, but that's no reason to be a bitch."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"I think you need to get out and breathe some fresh air, if you ask me."
"Well, nobody asked you, did they?"
"Fine, then. I'm telling you to get out and breathe some fresh air. Put on some clothes, Faye, let's go get something to eat."
"How is it that we hardly ever have enough money for food on this dump, yet you always find enough money to take me out to eat?"
"This is the second time I've ever asked you to go get food, ice cream not included, and I figure you'd be grateful. Besides, Ed's coming, too."
"Oh no, then I'm definitely not going. I've had enough bodily fluids on me to last the rest of my life, thank you very much."
"And what exactly do you think was going to happen if you did have that baby? I hear more often then not, you get pooped on at least once."
Faye had to smile at Jet's words. Even though the topic of the baby was still touchy, the older man found a way to use the situation in a comfortable way. Pulling the rag from her head and slowly sitting up, Faye put her feet on the floor and stared up at him.
"No ice cream, right?"
"No ice cream. No dessert at all, for that matter. I promise."
"Well…"
"Besides, I think you and I need to talk. You've kept to yourself a lot, lately, and if I can't get…him to talk, then I should at least get you to."
"We're not big talkers on this ship, Jet."
"I know. We should change that, don't you think?"
"Christ, Jet, you're turning into a real girl," Faye joked as she stood on slightly wobbly legs.
She pushed him out of her door, telling him that she'd be ready in a few minutes, and then set about getting dressed. Jet took that time to go fish out Ed and tell her to get ready to go out, herself. As he walked past Spike's room, Jet was again faced with the decision to invite Spike to go or not. The last time he took the girls out to dinner, Spike had almost killed himself. Jet figured that leaving him alone wouldn't turn out as disastrous this time, but he decided he'd at least extend the invitation to the lunkhead anyway.
"Spike," Jet called out gruffly as he knocked on his door. "I'm taking the girls out for dinner. You coming?"
"No," Spike shouted, keeping the door closed in order to hide his attire.
"Why not?"
"Cause I don't wanna."
"That's not a real reason, Spike."
"Yeah, so sue me."
"Don't give me any ideas."
There was a few seconds of silence, almost as if they were thinking of something witty to say. Jet spoke up first, though, no wit in his words at all.
"You have to talk to her eventually, you know."
"Don't tell me things I already know, Jet."
"Then don't make me have to repeat myself. We'll be back in a couple of hours. And for the love of God, Spike, don't you dare let us find you like they way you were the last time we went out for dinner."
"You know I don't do that anymore, Jet," Spike yelled almost insulted through the door.
"Well, I'm just saying it anyway. Want us to bring you something back?"
"No, I'll just eat what's left over here."
"Whatever. We're leaving Ein, so don't neglect the dog. He tends to get lonely."
And with that, Jet headed off. Spike watched through the crack under his door as the shadow moved away, and sighed, glad to have skirted around that possible problem. He listened intently as Ed choo-chooed through the hallway, pleading with Ein that she'd bring him back something good. Spike pressed his ear to the door and heard Faye complain that she still felt sick, and to not be surprised if she was the one throwing up on people tonight. That brought a slight smile to his face, making him want to find his way back to her even faster.
As he heard the front door screech closed, Spike cautiously emerged from his room and looked around, making sure everyone had gone. Determining that he was alone, he flopped down on the couch and idly scratched an itch on his head. A nip at his heels brought him back to attention and he looked down.
"Oh, you're still here, huh?"
The little dog yipped at him and then gave him an almost incredulous look. If Spike didn't know any better, he'd say that the damn dog knew that he was up to something fishy.
"What? Stop looking at me like that. I'm not doing anything wrong."
Ein whimpered at him, definitely not believing a word he said.
"Fine, I admit it, I am doing something wrong. I'm doing a lot of things wrong, but I'm trying to make it right, I swear."
Cocking his head to the side, Ein whined again and perked his ears straight up.
"I'm gonna fix this mess and apologize and everything's gonna go back to normal."
The little Corgi sat down and sneezed, almost as if trying to call Spike a bluff.
"Fine, you can think I'm lying all you want, but I'll show you. Wait, what the fuck am I doing? Explaining myself to a dog? I must be losing my mind."
Ein barked loudly at him then, as if to say he didn't appreciate being dismissed like that. Shaking his head and getting up, Spike ran a hand through his mop of hair and brushed the wrinkles and little dog hairs from his clothes. He checked the time and tied his shoes, then headed out of the Bebop. Before he did, though, he bent down to give the dog a pat on the head, only to have his finger nipped.
"Stupid mutt," he muttered as he inspected his finger. Sighing and shaking his head, Spike closed the door and went to hail a cab.
It was 7:06 when Spike arrived at Delilah's apartment, but he didn't think too much on it since punctuality was never his strong suit. He told the driver to wait for him and he went to get his date. As he climbed the stairs to her door, Spike felt a little apprehensive. Scratch that, he felt a lot apprehensive, but he had to go through with this. Knocking on her door and waiting for it to open, Spike said a little prayer and hoped that God wouldn't spite him out of disgust.
"Spike! For a second, there, I was afraid that you were backing out!" Delilah exclaimed as she hopped into arms.
"I was never good with time," he said as he pushed her away. "Come on, the taxi's waiting."
"Aren't you going to say how nice I look?" She asked, her peppiness draining on his last nerves.
"You look very nice," he placated, noting her little black dress, silver heels and silver clutch. Her blond hair was down around her and her eyes were sparkling happily. For a moment, a very slight and insignificant moment, Spike was sure he was looking at Julia, but he quickly thought of other things as she closed and locked her door.
"Okay then, let's go! I'm so hungry, I could eat a cow!"
Spike cringed as he followed her out. If she was really that hungry, then this dinner could easily cost him more than he could afford. But if it successfully got her away from him, then it would all be worth it in the end. He had to wonder as he followed behind her, if she could tell that he was pushing her away. If that was the case, then things weren't going to work in his favor. But as she put her hand in his and tugged him playfully along, he thanked his lucky star that she was blissfully ignorant.
Dinner, to say the least, was an awkward occasion. They were only half-way through their appetizers, and they had already run out of things to say. Spike was uncomfortable with the whole situation, but Delilah happily ate her salad, seemingly glad to just be in his company.
Putting the spoon back down into his bowl of soup, Spike looked around the restaurant and took in the surroundings. As was the norm, so it seemed, the majority of Toni's Grill was a deep red color, accented by gold trimming, which made the place look fancily tacky. The chairs they sat in were plush, wooden creations, which where slightly uncomfortable. Their table was in the middle of the restaurant, as the booths occupied the sides.
Spike would have preferred a booth, for no other reason then to not be so exposed. He felt as if the whole world could watch him as he committed adultery, and judge him in kind. He startled slightly as the waiter came by to refill their drinks. Spike opted for water (seeing as though it was free); while Delilah went for diet Limon, some crazy mix of lemon and lime. The waiter informed them that their meals of smothered pork chops and lemon salmon would be out shortly, and he left the couple alone.
"So, Spike, what did you say you did for a living?"
"Huh?" He asked as he turned his attention back to her. "Oh, I'm a bounty hunter.
"Really! God that must be such a dangerous job! You really are an old fashion cowboy, aren't you?"
"Yeah, sure," Spike said, trying his best to fake interest, but still feeling like a failure.
"I can't believe you got us kicked out, Ed! We were only in there for 15 minutes, and we were waiting to be seated!" Faye yelled at the red-headed girl as she giggled and cartwheeled down the street.
It seemed that no matter how old Ed got, or no matter where they went, the girl was destined to get them into some sort of predicament. This time around, the trio had gone to a little seafood joint where Ed had poked her hand in the lobster tank, been attacked by a lobster that had broken its claws free of their binding, which had lead Ed to knock over said tank, which sent lobsters flying all over the place. So to make a long story short, Jet, Faye, and Ed's picture had been taken and posted on the wall, saying that they were banned from the restaurant for life.
"She was just curious, Faye," Jet offered as an explanation.
"From now on, no ice cream, no live food, and no taking our eyes off of her!"
Jet chuckled at Faye's reaction, which was an overreaction as always, and suggested a nice place a few block away. Reluctantly agreeing to try the food thing one more time, Faye threatened Edward with the promise of Tomato related injuries, and the girl quickly nodded and calmed down.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Jet's suggested eatery, and he held open the door for the women-folk like the gentleman he pretended to be.
"Welcome to Toni's Grill, just three tonight?" The receptionist greeted as they walked in.
"Yep, just three," Jet answered.
"Table or booth?"
"Booth," Faye interjected.
"Alright, right this way, please."
The threesome followed the receptionist to their table and scooted into their seats plush seats. They all ordered water to start with and looked over the menus in front of them.
"So," Faye began a few minutes later, "what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I dunno. Anything, I guess," Jet answered as he returned her stare.
"By 'anything', you mean the baby and me and Spike, don't you?"
"Well…"
"What do you want me to say?" She asked, somewhat confused by Jet's faux inquiry.
"I dunno, Faye, whatever you want to say, I guess," he retorted, returning her confusion as well. "You and Spike haven't said anything to each other in three weeks, so it seems, and I'm sure that that's taking some kind of toll on you."
"Not really. If he doesn't want to talk to me, then fine. It's not like we ever had much too talk about, anyway."
"You can cut the act, Faye," Jet pointed out to her. "You're hiding behind that damn mask again, and I'm getting tired of it."
"What mask?" Faye asked, knowing full well what he was talking about.
"I guess I can't blame you, though. It's a problem that all of us seem to have. We're so afraid to just be real with each other, that it takes a lot of prodding to get any real emotion out of one another.
"It's barely been a month since everything has happened, and yet it's like nothing ever happened at all. I know it's not something that we want to talk about it, but there's no reason that you…we can't show some feeling towards it. Hell, at this rate, we're going to forget that you were ever pregnant at all."
Faye sighed and looked away from her friend. He was right. Jet had a way of speaking the truth more often then not.
"You're right, Jet. I guess I have been avoiding things…been avoiding the pregnancy issue. It's just that…well, Spike got over it so fast, and I guess I was just stunned that he could move on like that. I mean, it took him forever to get over Julia, and yet his own kid…I don't know.
"I don't like saying it a lot because I'm still not positive if he feels the exact same for me, but I really do love the lunkhead, flaws and all. And this kid…our baby…it was like the icing on the cake, I guess. We were finally going to be a real family. He'd be the dad and I'd be the mom. You'd be uncle Jet and Ed would be the aunt, and we'd finally have validation that our mixed up union was okay, that it was meant to be.
"And now that the baby's gone, I'm really afraid that we're gonna fall apart again. I mean, look at Spike; he can't even look at me, let alone talk to me. And how is that going to help anything? What am I supposed to do? Corner him and demand he talk to me? I know him well enough to know that that won't go over well.
"I dunno, maybe he and I weren't meant to be together after all. We're so different; I don't think we have the strength to overcome those differences. Love can only take you so far, and for all I know, he never loved me enough anyway."
Jet watched as Faye turned away from him, tiny tears slipping past her dark eyelashes. He had heard her voice begin to crack and wished he knew what to say to make things better. It was hard for him, to continue to be the source of comfort on his ship, but it was a task that he'd never take for granted, and one he'd never throw away.
"That's not true, Faye; I know he loves you. Hell, the way I see it, I knew he loved you even before he knew it. And you two aren't too different, you're too much the same, and that's where the problems arise. You get on each others nerves because you are basically close to being the same person.
"Spike has never been good with tragedy and this one has hit way too close to home for him. His way of dealing with things is unconventional and more often then not, that's what gets him into trouble. I know that losing this baby has really screwed with him, and he's trying to forget about things to make himself feel better. The thing is, we all feel guilty for what happened, and we're all dealing with that feeling in our own unique ways."
"Guilt is going to tear us apart," Faye absently noted as she felt an odd chill run up her spine.
"No it won't, Faye. We're not going anywhere. It's a pattern with us, if you haven't noticed. We always drift apart from each other, only to come back together even stronger."
"That tether's gonna break one day, Jet,"
"No it's not, Faye," Jet said with more confidence than she had expected.
"Edward agrees, Faye-Faye. Bebop-Bebop forever and always!"
"Well...I guess so," Faye smiled slowly. She looked at Jet, then turned her gaze to Ed for a moment, noting just how much these people cared for her. Somehow feeling better, obviously thanks to Jet's ever-ready words of wisdom, Faye wiped her drying eyes and took a sip of water.
"And please, Ed," Faye started after putting her glass back down, "keep it down. I'd like to actually eat at this place."
"So, Spike, do you want to get dessert here, or go back to my place for dessert?"
"Here's fine," Spike said, suddenly feeling a little nervous for some reason.
"Are you sure," Delilah cooed, her perky tone being replaced by a sultry one. "I'm sure I'm tastier than anything they have on the menu."
"I, uh," he fumbled, cursing himself for his lack of preparation. "It's not that I don't want to, but I have a…a hunt to go on really early in the morning, and if I went back to your place, then I'm sure I'd never make it to the bounty in time."
"Oh," she said, sad but placated. "Well, another time, then."
Spike just nodded slightly and took another sip of his water as he tried to shake his recent feeling of dread.
"Well, if you'll excuse me," Faye said to her comrades as she scooted out of the booth. "I have to go powder my nose, if you will. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"If the food gets here before you do, and Ed starts digging in to yours, don't blame me," Jet semi-joked.
"Oh don't worry, Jet. We've come to an understanding, haven't we Ed?"
The girl nodded her head, wanting nothing bad to befall her beloved Tomato. Smiling back at her, Faye turned and headed off in the direction of the restrooms. As she made her way through the barrage of chairs and tables, Faye was almost certain that she spied a familiar puff of green hair, but easily dismissed the thought, as she had no idea why that particular puff of green hair would be here.
But as she got closer to the lame excuse for a hairdo, the head and body that it was attached to looked all too familiar to her. Still not believing, she looked the other way, determined not to turn back. When she heard that unmistakable baritone voice, though, she stopped dead in her tracks, unable to deny any longer.
Glancing back to the left were the body sat, Faye's eyes widened and her heart constricted as she was forced to acknowledge the fact that that was Spike, her Spike, sitting there at that table. And to make matters worse and to perhaps shatter any belief that she had left in them, Faye saw the unmistakable form of a beautiful young woman smiling brightly across from him.
In that moment, time slowed down and all she could see was the two of them. She heard no sounds and saw no movement except for the man in front of her. For a moment, Faye wanted, tried to walk away and forget what she saw, but that was something that she just couldn't do. Suddenly, crushed Faye gave way to hysterical Faye, and without hesitation, she stormed over to the table.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing!" She screeched at him before she even realized what she was saying.
Upon hearing that voice, Spike froze, not daring to look for its source. He might as well just shoot himself the head now, because the shit that he had created was about to hit the fan.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Delilah asked, bewildered by the woman's actions.
"Who am I? I should be asking you that same question! I'm his girlfriend, or at least I was!" Faye continued to yell.
Across the restaurant, Jet heard a shriek all too similar to Faye's and he stood up to see if that was her. And of course it was, but when he caught a glimpse of why she was yelling, his stomach jumped into his throat and he felt dizzy with the consequences of his idiot friend's actions.
"Stay here," Jet sternly told Ed as he started after Faye. "I think there's about to be some trouble."
"Is this why you've been ignoring me?" Faye's tirade continued.
By now, everyone in the restaurant had stopped eating and turned their attention to the scene being made. A reluctant waiter approached Faye to tell her to calm down or leave, but he was met by her furious stare, and quickly backed away.
"Did you fuck her!" Faye demanded.
"Faye..." Spike started, finally looking at her.
"Don't 'Faye' me! Did.you.fuck.her! It would explain that God damn thing on your neck!"
"It was just once," Delilah quietly said, quickly regretting opening her mouth.
"I didn't ask you, you slut!"
"Faye," Spike said again, this time his voice held a bit of a warning.
"You're seriously not sticking up for her, are you! Christ, Spike, if you were done with me, you could have at least had the decency to tell me! Is that all I ever was to you! A good lay? And now that there's no fucking baby to deal with, you think you're free? Well, if that's what you want, then I release you from your servitude! You don't have to be bound to me anymore!"
"That's not what I want, Faye," Spike started once again as he tried to calmly talk to her. "I didn't mean for this to happen. And I don't want to break things off with you. I just…I just got weak and –"
"You just got weak! What in the hell kind of explanation is that, 'I just got weak'? If I had 'just gotten weak', you'd never let me live it down!"
"I know, Faye, and I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen," he almost pleaded as he stood up to level with her. "I swear that I never meant to hurt you like this. I lo –"
"NO! Don't you dare say that! If you loved me, you wouldn't do this! Fuck you, Spike. Wait, I already did, and that's how I got into this shit in the first place. You're a miserable fuck, Spike, and that's all you ever will be! I should have known that there was nothing left in you after that bitch sucked you dry!"
"Faye…!" Spike nearly growled her name this time, clearly bristling at her words.
"Wait…that's it, isn't it?" Faye scoffed as she had an epiphany. "You still love her, don't you? And the fact that she's dead makes no never mind, does it? I can't believe I was so stupid."
Faye laughed at herself and ran a hand through her hair. Life sure knew how to be a bitch sometimes.
"That's not it at all, Faye," Spike said, his tone demanding that she look at him.
"Oh really? Then tell me, why does she look so much like Julia, huh?" She questioned as she pointed towards Delilah.
"Who's Julia?" The confused woman prodded.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Spike told her, trying to ignore the truth in her words.
"Don't I? I met Julia, remember? Let's see…blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin. I know that fits a lot of descriptions, but you'd be lying out of your fucking ass if you said you didn't see the goddamn resemblance."
"It's just a coincidence…"
"Coincidence, my ass! Trust me, honey," Faye said, now turning her attention to the woman at the table. "I pray you don't hope to get anything from him, because he's still in love with a ghost. I was never good enough, and you won't be, either. You'll just be some cheap imitation and he'll tire of you as soon as the better upgrade comes by."
"Faye, will you just listen for a fucking second?" Spike's voice was getting angrier now, as he was mad at himself, Faye, Delilah, and the situation in general.
"No, Spike, I won't listen. I'm done listening, though it's not like you've been trying to say anything to me, anyways. I...I don't want to deal with you anymore! You're not good for me, you're not good for my health! I don't need this in my life, and if I took this from you, then I'd just be saying that I'm not worth it, and heaven forbid that I think that I am! Goodbye Spike Spiegel, I hope you rot in hell!"
With that, Faye dashed towards the exit of the restaurant, unable to get away from him fast enough. Parts of her were painfully numb, while other parts of her were painfully aware of it all. She could faintly hear both Spike and Jet calling out to her, but she refused to stop, even for a second.
Not looking where she was going, Faye crashed into a waiter, spilling food all over the floor. Muttering apologies, Faye continued out, tears blurring her vision and shame burning her senses. Finally finding the doors, Faye burst out of them and kept on running. In the back of her mind, she heard the shouts of the men following her increase to a near frantic level. It was possible that they were trying to tell her something, but she wasn't able to listen at the moment.
She then heard a different sound, almost like a horn or something. She looked to her left, suddenly frozen. Similar to the proverbial 'deer caught in the headlights', Faye couldn't move. And similar to the dreams where you find you can't get your legs to run, Spike and Jet moved all to slow.
The car that struck Faye had tried to brake, the agonizing squeal of the tires signaling said effort. It had happened too fast, though, and neither slowing nor swerving could have stopped the incident from occurring. At first, the men had halted almost immediately as they tried to blink away the image now deftly ingrained into their minds. Then as people on the streets began to scream and call for help, Jet and Spike snapped back to reality and ran to the woman.
Maybe she was dead, since there was no pulse to be found, but that didn't stop them from trying. Spike administered CPR, shakily no less, and Jet continued to check for her pulse. Traffic had stopped on both sides of the street and multiple people were on there comms, begging for assistance. Curious onlookers crowded around, creating an interested circle of oh's and ah's.
"Excuse me," a girl said as she pushed her way through the crowd. "Pardon me, please."
The one making her way through the crowd was Ed. She wanted to see what the commotion was about; why Jet and Spike had run out after Faye. When she broke through the crowd, she gasped and stared before her.
"Ed!" Jet addressed her, his voice torn up by the tears he desperately choked back. "I thought I told you to stay inside!"
"Ed…Ed is sorry, Jet," she whispered, unable to take her eyes off of the broken and bloody form of Faye. "Is Faye-Faye okay?"
"Go back inside, Ed." Jet all but yelled at her.
"But Jet-person…"
"Go back inside!"
Hurt by his rough tone and confused by what was going on, Ed ran back through the crowd and back towards the restaurant. She sat on the curb and cried into her hands. What else could she do?
The sirens of police cars, fire engines, and ambulances soon sounded in the streets, their lights illuminating the road now at a stand still. For all the people that were huddled around, it was surprisingly, eerily quite. No one dared to speak because no one knew what to say.
Everyone simply watched as the woman was loaded into the ambulance and the man with the green hair climbed in after her. The man with the cybernetic arm went and gathered up the girl with the wild, red hair, and they got into the back of a police car, off to be escorted to the hospital, no doubt.
As the sirens and lights descended and disappeared down the road, the onlookers left in the wake of the accident went back to what they were doing, the incidents of earlier quickly fading from their minds. Soon, things where back to normal and traffic was flowing again, and people had already forgotten that there was ever a disturbance at all.
so...that's, uh...that's that. could we see that coming? i kinda hope not, though spike's dream a couple of chapters back could have possibly alluded to this. so i guess the big question is: is faye dead? i dunno...wouldn't that be a kick in the pants if she was? well, we'll just have to wait until next time to see. and on that note, thanks for stopping by!
phoenix
