Exodus
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Faye was packing. It was troubling to her that the only evidence of her existence on this ship was a couple of bags of clothes and other personal items, along with the Beta™ VCR and tape. She had made all of her phone calls. Devine was delighted that Faye had agreed to his offer, and he immediately made travel reservations for her. A taxi was coming to get her soon.
And she needed to leave before she lost her nerve.
Faye had eaten some of the food that Jet had made because he insisted. He'd even tried to make a sort of celebration out of the dinner, and Ed had taken pictures of all of them for Faye to keep. But the taste in Faye's mouth was bittersweet. Ed was still very angry at her. Jet was trying too hard to be chipper. Spike was probably the only person who was genuinely happy for her, although he did pepper his remarks with "about time" a bit too often.
Faye was struggling with the clasp on a suitcase when Jet knocked on her door. "Need some help?"
Faye brushed her hair out of her eyes and put a smile on her face. "I can't get this bag to close."
Jet told her to sit on the case while he worked the locks. They clicked closed, but Jet remained with his hands where they were, one on either side of her legs. He said, "You know, I really will miss you."
Faye smirked, tilted her head to the side, and said, "Oh, you don't mean that. You and Spike will party hearty as soon as I step off this barnacle breeder."
Jet looked at her with a sad look in his eyes. "Maybe we'll wait five minutes." They chuckled. Jet continued, "I need to know . . ." Faye bit her lip. "Are you leaving because of what . . . transpired between us?"
Faye couldn't help it, she had to laugh. "Transpired?" Jet gave her a look, and she sobered. "No, Jet. I'm not leaving . . . because of that. I need to move on and make a new life for me. But . . . I need to know something too. Back in the hospital, when you told me that I didn't scream when I fell. You started to say something else, but Spike and Ed came in. What were you going to say?"
Jet looked into her eyes, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I was going to say that I was afraid that you figured you would die. That you didn't care anymore about living this screwed-up life you had to deal with, and that you were ready for it to be over."
Faye drew a sharp breath, and she wrapped her arms around Jet's neck. "No. No. Never." Jet held her tight. "And regarding that night, that was absolutely wonderful. I'll never forget it, you devil. But now . . ." Faye released her grip on Jet's neck. "I need some help with these bags."
Jet laughed, and shouted for Spike and Ed to give him a hand, the wench was almost ready to get lost.
As Spike and Jet struggled with her bags, Faye sought out Ed. Ed was in her room, pounding relentlessly on her Tomato.
"Ed? I'm going to be leaving soon." Ed nodded. "I don't want to leave with you so mad at me. I don't expect you to understand why I'm doing this, but I do wish that you'd at least respect that my decisions are mine to make, whether you think they're right or not."
Ed kept her back to Faye, but she sniffed, and said, "I know. Really, I do . . .but. . . Ed just doesn't want Faye-faye to go."
"Oh, Ed . . ." Faye went over to Ed and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm going to miss you so much."
"Ed's going to miss Faye-faye too."
The tears in Faye's eyes spilled over. "Will Ed please keep being Faye-faye's friend? Faye-faye really needs Ed to be her friend."
Ed smiled at Faye, and wiped her eyes. "Ed promises. Ed will always be Faye-faye's friend." And the girls hugged each other tight.
Spike and Jet were currently standing on the deck, watching for Faye's taxi, both them filled with sadness. Neither one of them could explain why Faye's leaving this time was so different. She'd left before on any number of occasions, but this time, it seemed as thought it would be permanent. Faye and Ed finally appeared on the deck, and it was obvious both of them had been crying. Jet wished he could cry too, but his sense of masculine preservation was too strong.
The taxi appeared on the street below, and each crew member grabbed a bag of some sort and made a parade down to the street. They quietly loaded her luggage in the back of the car, and then stood awkwardly, not sure what to say next. Spike finally broke the silence by grabbing Faye in a hug, swinging her around in a circle, shouting, "Mazeltov, Faye! Now get out of here, wouldja?" making everyone laugh. The tension and sadness was broken, and everyone got in a goodbye and a hug and kiss or two. Spike warned her that he was still a bounty hunter and he would find out if she skived on her physical therapy. Ed challenged her to volleyball when her hand felt better, still calling her Faye-faye. Jet told her that regardless of what she'd be doing now, that she needed to keep her Glock and her marksmanship in shape, or else.
Laughing, Faye caught them all in a final group hug, promising that she would be keeping in touch so obnoxiously that they'd probably think she'd never left. And as the taxi drove away with her in the back seat, she waved out the window until she could no longer see them.
Sitting back in the seat, Faye took a deep breath. We're moving up and moving out, kiddo. I think we're going to make it after all. Faye suddenly had a crazy desire to throw a hat in the air, and she giggled, excited for her brand-new future.
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This is a work of fiction, and the CB characters are copywrited by someone other than me. Please leave a review!