A/N: Hello readers! First thing I want to do is apologize for taking so long to update (blame it on the semester start-up keeping me so busy). I'm not too sure this chapter is a good pay-off for waiting for so long but nonetheless it's still important. It takes place the same day as the last chapter but it clears things up between Demetrius/Lee, Donna/Jet, and Spike/Faye much more thoroughly than the last chapter. So essentially this is more like chapter 18.5. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon! Please review too! It'll fuel my writing batteries! Enjoy and thanks for reading!
Demetrius rocked back and forth in his chair, with his feet on the wooden table. He was inside the same dingy apartment room that the Red Dragons provided for him. The Red Dragons bought the property under a pseudonym, but the run-down building was no palace. Demetrius thought this was barely an upgrade from the sewer he was living in. He was barely thinking about night before where he had assassinated Marius Basque. Ever since that all he had done was sleep. It was the late afternoon and Demetrius still felt exhausted. But he was in much better shape than Spike, even with the gun wound in his hand; Demetrius's pain wasn't unbearable. The feeling of satisfaction in his revenge overpowered everything else.
Demetrius waited for Lee in the room. A Red Dragon had actually woken him up to get prepared for Lee's arrival. Demetrius knew that Lee was only coming to chew him out about being seen the night before, but he wasn't nervous about it. To Demetrius Lee was just a power-hungry gangster; he wasn't afraid of him, he had dealt with absurd employers before.
Suddenly someone unlocked the door. Then the door opened; it was Lee and Shiro. Shiro held the door open for Lee and locked it afterward. Lee glared at Demetrius whom sat in the chair with a bored expression.
"You got a key to place?" asked Demetrius in an annoyed tone.
"We own it, of course we do." said Shiro.
Demetrius scoffed. "Want me to start paying rent too?"
"That can be arranged." said Shiro with disdain.
Lee sat down in the chair across from Demetrius. Lee wiped the surface of the table with his sleeve and rested his elbows on it. He sniffed and exhaled. "Alright, who knows you were there?" asked Lee.
Demetrius sighed and rolled his neck. "No one alright, I wore the mask the whole time." said Demetrius.
"Everyone inside the building saw you; they have eyewitnesses trying to describe you."
"What are you worried about? None of them could identify me."
"What about those people you said that specifically called you by name?"
"They don't matter either. Look, the least you could do is be a little grateful and congratulate me for a job well done."
Lee stood out of his chair and pointed at Demetrius. "Don't give me any of that you little shit!" shouted Lee. "Who the hell were they?!"
Demetrius glared back at Lee. "They were damn bounty hunters alright, or have you forgotten that there's $25 million on my head? What did you expect to happen when you cut a deal with me?"
"Who were they?"
"How the hell should I know?"
"How many of them were there? What did they look like?"
"Geez Lee, come of it already-
"Don't you ever tell me what to do! Listen to me, if we don't deal with them you're done and then we're done! Understand?"
Demetrius stood out of his chair, placing his hands on the table. "I already know what you're going to do: once you find out who they are you're gonna send me to go after them. I told you I didn't want any more jobs, Basque was my last one."
"You're part of this now. You don't get to sit backstage before the whole show is finished!"
"Damn you, you take care of this! You have all the foot soldiers in the world! I'm trying to get off Ganymede intact and you're having me stick my neck out again after I just made news headlines?"
Lee stayed silent but continued to glare at Demetrius. The point got across however; Lee realized it was risky for Demetrius to be out there so soon. But the idea that someone out there knew Demetrius was there didn't sit well with him. It was a loose end and there's nothing he hated more than loose ends.
Lee exhaled. "Alright. You win this time Demetrius. I'll let you loaf around for now. But don't forget I still own this place and I'm still the one keeping you hidden. Don't get too comfortable."
Lee gathered his composure. He turned around and walked toward the door with Shiro right behind him. As they both walked through the doorway Demetrius stared at Shiro with annoyed look. Demetrius sat back in his chair, scoffed and called out "Hey, kid."
Shiro, surprised, turned around and looked directly at Demetrius. "Yeah?" he asked.
Demetrius sat back in a more relaxed position. "You know, I see you around these guys all the time but I never hear you talk." he said.
"What? I talked when I walked in I-
"Oh yeah you talk every once and a while, but with a lot of lip. What do you even do?"
Shiro became visibly angry at Demetrius's comment. "Hold on a minute, who do you think-
Suddenly Lee pushed Shiro back in order to stop him from going any further. "Look Demetrius, we won't waste any more of your time and you won't waste any more of ours. Understand? We're going to keep this professional." he said.
Demetrius scoffed. "Yeah, whatever."
Lee and Shiro exited out of the room and locked the door. Shiro put the key in his coat pocket and looked at Lee. "Excuse my tone sir, but what the hell was that?" said Shiro.
Lee exhaled. "Shiro this situation's volatile. As much as I want to tie up loose ends, I also need to stop from creating even more." he said.
"So… what? Demetrius is pulling the strings now?"
"Believe me Shiro I have it under control. We have to pick our battles, and pick wisely. The battle I picked is to quickly and quietly seize Basque's company and make his assets our own."
"Well I can I get behind that sir."
"This is what you wanted, right?"
"Absolutely."
"Good because this is where you'll start to take some responsibility."
Shiro nodded his head in agreement. On the inside he was satisfied. This is what he wanted; to make the syndicate a power house and for him to control it.
"Now, why don't we pay Eleanor Veidt a visit? I have the feeling she's going to prove quite useful." said Lee.
Jet flew inside his Hammerhead. Even though he was sore from the night before, Jet was still as determined as ever to find Demetrius Bardon. Perhaps it was all to impress Donna and even help pay for her son's condition, but Jet knew in the back of his head he needed the money as well. Survival on The Bebop was cutting it really close. "Why did I take in so many strays?" Jet thought to himself. Perhaps it was because as tough as he is, he could never be alone.
Suddenly his ship phone began ringing. Jet looked at the screen and answered the call. Donna appeared on the screen with a disappointed look on her face.
"Donna?" asked Jet.
Donna wasn't staring at the screen, she was being obviously distant. "Oh, hey Jet." said Donna flatly.
Jet was confused; he didn't know exactly what to ask. "… Is something wrong?"
Donna's nostrils flared and she became angered. She looked directly into the screen. "Yes! ISSP is what's wrong with everything!"
"Yeah, I've heard that plenty of times," said Jet with a smirk and scratching the side of his head, "What happened?"
"My Sergeant won't take the evidence!"
"What's that? They've done stuff like this before, what's different about it now?"
"I'm sure it's because Demetrius is too high-profile and everyone in the solar system is watching us under a microscope."
"They're all a bunch of spineless desk-job bureaucrats. Why do you think I left?"
"Yeah we all know why you left Jet. But that's where you also come in handy." said Donna with a grin.
"What'd you need?" asked Jet.
"Basque's head company security guard, he was fired this morning."
"Really?"
"Yeah, deserves an explanation if you ask me. He was there last night; he saw Demetrius but couldn't identify him. This is where I need you; go have a chat with this guy and see if he knows anything about what happened between Demetrius and Basque."
"You think he knows who Demetrius was working with?"
"No. I think it's an outside attack. Demetrius said he had 'new friends' so I'm assuming they're not Basque's old guards. It was a war: Demetrius and his 'friends' versus Basque and his men."
"Alright I'll see what I can dig up." said Jet with a smirk.
"Thanks Jet."
"It's no problem I-
"No, really Jet. Thank you. I have no one to rely on except you. Well… maybe Bob but who knows if enough oxygen gets to his brain." said Donna with a smirk.
Jet chuckled. "Okay Donna, I'll keep in touch."
The call ended and Jet put his focus back to the sky. The Hammerhead excelled forward reaching far away into the city.
Spike woke up on the couch that he always laid on. He sighed slightly and rubbed his eyes. The ceiling fan monotonously moved in circles as Spike gazed at it. The reflection of the fan was in his vacant eyes. Spike decided to sit up, a choice that wasn't easy since he was in a considerable amount of pain. He moved slowly while wincing in pain with the aches pressing on his shoulders and ribs. Finally his back touched the upright part of the couch and Spike groaned as he sat. He looked down at the coffee table and noticed a bottle of pain pills with a glass of water next to it. Spike reached out and hastily grabbed the pill bottle. He then rattled three pills out of the bottle and swallowed them. Then Spike drank all of the water in one swig. Spike wiped his mouth with his sleeve and decided to stand up. The motions of the water moving under The Bebop became more noticeable to Spike as each wave caused slight pain. Spike made his way to the main bridge staircase.
Faye sat in the main bridge on seat that directly faced the windows. She stared out into the night as the lights from the city swelled in the dark. It was silent and it was serene. Faye brought her cigarette to her lips and inhaled. As she exhaled she began thinking about Spike. She was worried that everything that could go wrong would go wrong. Spike's life was volatile and he ended up in harm's much too often. Even with all of the downsides Faye couldn't stop herself from wanting to be with him. It was foolish at best, but she never did make the best decisions either way.
Spike reached the main bridge and stopped in the doorway for a while. He saw Faye sitting in the front seat and gazed at her for quick second. He walked toward the seat and stood next to Faye.
"Got a cigarette?" asked Spike.
Faye looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey." she said. She dug into the carton and pulled out a cigarette. She handed it to Spike and reached for her lighter.
As Spike put the cigarette between his lips he painfully leaned over so Faye could light the cigarette for him. Faye lit it and Spike stood straight up again as puffed and held the cigarette between his fingers.
"Thanks." said Spike.
"Yeah." said Faye with a slight smile.
Spike scratched the back of his head and stayed silent for a moment. Faye continued to stare at him, but with a confused expression.
"So, umm… those pain pills?" asked Spike.
"Oh. Yeah, I thought you could use them. Seeing you groan in pain is pretty pathetic." said Faye teasingly.
Spike smirked and scoffed lightly. "Well… thanks for that too. I'll be even more grateful when they start kicking in."
Faye turned away from him and stared back out at the city. Spike followed suit and stared in the same direction as Faye. The lights warmly reflected off the windows of The Bebop, creating a comfortable atmosphere. It was comfortable enough that Faye began to work up what she was going to say to Spike.
Faye kept her intense gaze. "You know… we kind of left things..."
Spike sighed. "Yeah I know…"
"We can't let this drag on like last time Spike."
"Yeah I know that too." said Spike rubbing his neck.
"I mean, this morning you seemed fine with the whole thing."
"I'm still… you know… fine with it."
Faye turned to look at Spike and he looked back at her as well.
"You're not having second thoughts?" asked Faye.
"Well it's just that… I guess I have to be serious about it now. But I don't regret it." said Spike.
Faye was surprised at his response. Especially knowing how much Spike ran away from responsibility. It was a relief to hear it come from his mouth. Faye stood up and faced him.
"Neither of us are really good for each other, huh?" said Faye.
"Not a bit." said Spike with a smirk.
"But… you still want to try?"
"Yeah."
"You're hopeless, Spike." Faye sighed. She embraced Spike, putting her arms around his neck. Spike was taken aback but nonetheless smirked, closed his eyes and embraced her back.
Then they heard Jet walk into the main room downstairs, much to Spike's dismay. Jet rubbed his bald head with his metal arm. He was obviously tired; the stress was evident in his droopy eyes and expressionless face. Jet plopped down onto the couch and laid his head back. Spike walked downstairs into the main room before Faye and stared at Jet. Jet's eyes were closed and his head was leaned back. Faye poked her head to see if Jet was staring. When she saw that his eyes were closed she walked into the main room behind Spike. Spike sat down in the seat across from the couch and Faye sat on the coffee table; both of them looked at Jet, almost sounding like he was snoring.
"Busy day?" asked Faye teasingly.
Jet opened his eyes and shook his head to regain his consciousness. He covered his mouth as he yawned. "Yeah, what's it to you?" said Jet grudgingly.
"Hey, don't come onto the ship looking like you've been drifting in space for days and expect us not to notice." said Faye.
"I haven't been drifting; I've been working since the night before, a night in which I took a beating if I may add." said Jet.
"You're gonna pass out from exhaustion if you don't ease down a bit Jet." said Spike.
"Yeah, and lay around like you all day?" said Jet.
"I only get up once I get your go ahead. That's how it usually works: you do the office work and I do all the grunt work." said Spike.
"Oh, but not for this bounty right?"
"We went over this in the morning Jet." whined Spike.
"Well then I guess I am still in this alone."
"Hey wait I never said I was out." interjected Faye.
"What's that?" asked Jet.
"Don't overthink it, it's not like I want to do that "honorable code" or anything, I still want that reward." said Faye crossing her arms.
"Well I'm relieved I can count on you." said Jet sarcastically.
"Gee don't sound too excited." said Faye, obviously being sarcastic as well.
"Well if you're going to help, you should know what my next move is." said Jet.
"And that would be?"
"Basque's head guard. Well, former."
"Oh yeah he was there last night. But if he was fired then why him? There was plenty of other ones."
"Yeah but they were all fired this morning."
"Well it's not like they have to protect Basque anymore."
"I've discovered it's a little bit more complicated than that. These men have been around for too long to just be fired like that. They also protected the vice president and other high-ranking employees. Kind of strange why the company suddenly fired them."
"Alright, well if that's all we got." said Faye shrugging her shoulders.
"Hey! It's not that bad of a lead." said a disgruntled Jet.
"I'll make the best out of a bad situation. Just the way I did it when it was me and you Jet. How else do you think we caught all those bounties?" said Faye mockingly.
Jet grumbled to himself.
Spike stood up from the chair and put his hands in his pockets. "See Jet, just you and Faye. Like old times when I wasn't in your way." he said. Spike turned around and walked away from the main room.
"Spike!" called out Jet. Spike continued to walk away without paying attention to Jet. "Fine, go, who needs you anyway?!" said Jet as he got off the couch. Jet walked away from the main room as well. Faye sighed in annoyance. "Oh God." she said. Once Jet entered in his quarters Faye looked in the direction Spike walked toward. She had a worried expression on her face, wondering what had gotten into Spike. Normally Spike would be gung-ho about a bounty like this. But the whole situation really got to his head.