Session Twenty Five

When Jet woke up, he cleaned the Bebop. Faye was still asleep, Ed was still in the hospital, and Leon was still in Dragon custody. Jet felt like his world had been flipped upside down and thrown for a loop. Nothing was familiar anymore. He wasn't in control anymore. But he could control how clean his ship was. And that made him feel slightly less like a floating particle of dust in the middle of a wind storm.

Jet sighed and cleaned up Faye's mess of shot glasses and the blood she'd left on the couch. Ein followed him nervously, whining softly.

Jet stopped to rub the Corgi between the ears. "You don't like an empty ship either, do ya, boy?"

Ein whined again.

"It's ok, Ein. We'll get them all back." Somehow telling the Corgi made Jet feel a little better.

After that, he tidied up the piles of maps, clothing, and weapons that had been the result of their mad planning session. It was only a little over 24 hours since that night, but it felt like ages. Then Jet took a shower, put on a fresh t-shirt and jumpsuit and scoured the ship until he found Tomato. (Faye had left it in the refrigerator of all places.) He made the necessary arrangements with a delivery service to get it to Ed, then wandered into the kitchen and cooked himself some breakfast. He even let Ein have some of his food instead of the usual canned dog food this morning.

After breakfast, he walked out into the warehouse to check on the truck. He opened the back doors with a sinking feeling and cursed when he found the truck was as empty as the Bebop's bank account. Faye was right. He sat down on the edge of the empty cargo space and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and smoked for a while in silence.

Without the drugs, he and Faye had no cards left in their hand. Contrary to what Villanova first said on the radio, Andross must not be worth much to the Syndicate now that they had their drugs. Jet shook his head. They shouldn't have trusted anything out of that woman's mouth anyway. It did mean, however, that Andross might be a viable source of information if Jet could convince him he'd been abandoned by his employer. Problem was, Andross ran on woolongs and Jet didn't have enough money to make any kind of tempting offer. He also didn't think Andross would fall for the promise of fake money twice. He did have one thing that might work though. Jet snubbed his cigarette out, slid off the truck, and headed back inside. It was time for the Black Dog to put some of his old skills to use.

Once inside, he grabbed his Walther, and headed downstairs. When he got to the holding cell, Andross and his henchman were sitting on the floor of the cell, talking in hushed voices. Andross was facing the stairs and made a quick motion with his hand as Jet approached. The two fell silent.

"Howdy, boys," Jet said, stopping just out of reach outside the holding cell. "Are you finding the accommodations to your liking?"

"Real cozy," Andross' henchman said through clenched teeth.

Andross gave Jet a patronizing look, but it was offset by his messy hair and sleep-disheveled clothes. "I've hardly seen a better room, cowboy," he said, standing up. His voice was smooth and even, but guarded. He knew Jet wanted something.

"You know the Dragon came and picked up their drugs last night?" Jet asked casually, studying the fingers of his metal hand.

"They didn't!" the henchman jumped to his feet.

"Keep it together, Jack. He's lying," Andross said, but Jet could hear a note of depression creep into his tone.

"Why would I lie about something like that?" Jet asked.

"To scare us into thinking we've been cut off," Andross said.

"I could do something like that. But if you knew me, you'd know I was an honest man. I just want to let you know that your Syndicate cut and run. Without you."

"And now we're of no use to you, so you're going to execute us or something suitably frightening, right?" Andross sounded tired.

"No." Jet shook his head. "I was going to let you go."

Andross was silent for a moment. "Let us go? Aren't you cowboys all about the money?"

"Sometimes," Jet shrugged. "But right now your information might be worth more than that."

"I already told the kid that I don't know anything important," Andross scowled.

"Well, then, I guess you aren't worth much more than money." Jet began to walk away.

"Wait!" Jack called him back. "I don't want to go to jail," he said. "We might know something you can use."

Andross looked like he was somewhere between admonishing Jack and giving him a pat on the back for a job well done. Jet hid a smile. Andross wasn't as hard as he wanted to project. Like any other man, he was only human - and even cocksure humans typically wanted to avoid jail.

"Good," Jet put his hands in his pockets. "Then we can start with what the Dragon wants out of Leon."

"The kid?" Jack asked.

Jet nodded.

"Well, he's Spike's boy, right?" Andross asked.

"He is." Jet didn't see any harm in confirming anything at this point.

"So, no one's told me anything solid," Andross began. "But I've put together a few pieces, alright?"

"Go on," Jet said.

"It's got something to do with the anniversary of Spike wiping out the original Red Dragon. That's in what…?" Andross looked over at Jack.

"Two days," Jack supplied.

Jet swore under his breath. Why hadn't he put that together earlier? It was about that time of year. "What do they want the kid for?" Jet asked, feeling his stomach sink.

Andross shrugged. "At that point, your guess is as good as mine. But I do know that Villanova's planning to bring all the Syndicates together for something big on the anniversary of the Red Dragon's destruction. That's why I was shipping the Dragon's Eye. She planned to reveal that to the other Syndicates at the event."

"And they want Leon there for it," Jet put a hand to his chin in thought.

"They want to kill him." Jack broke the silence, head down.

Jet was at the bars of the holding cell in an instant, metal arm snaking through the bars to grab the unwary Jack by the collar and pull him close. "They what?" he demanded. The two men were nearly face to face, only separated by the bars of the holding cell.

Jack looked scared but he stammered, "Th-they're gonna k-kill him."

Jet looked over at Andross, but Andross just shrugged, making sure he was out of Jet's reach.

"Are you sure about this?" Jet asked Jack.

Jack nodded vigorously. "I overheard some of the Syndicate leaders talking about it. They want him to be Spike for them."

"Scapegoat," Andross suggested.

Jet swore under his breath and let Jack go. Jack scrambled back out of Jet's reach. Jet turned and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Andross called out. "What about our deal?"

Jet stopped with a sigh and reached over to the control panel on the wall. He punched in a few numbers and the holding cell door slid open.

"That's it?" Andross asked. "We're free to go?"

"You're free to go." Jet said. "But you go back to the Dragon and I will put a bullet in you and forgo the bounty. Understood?"

Andross and Jack nodded. "Good, now walk." Jet pulled his Walther from his pocket and motioned at the stairs. The two men walked up the stairs and outside the Bebop at Jet's guidance. Jet made sure to see them outside the warehouse before he let them go. He watched them walk away before he put the Walther back in his pocket. Now to wake up Faye.

"Faye," Jet called, knocking on her door.

There was no answer.

"Faye!" He pounded a little louder.

"What?" he heard from inside.

"Faye, it's time to get up."

"I am up."

"Then open the door," Jet said through gritted teeth.

To his surprise, she did, standing in the door frame in a bathrobe, her hair sticking up on one side and smashed to her head on the other. "Can't you be more quiet, Jet?" she frowned.

"They're going to kill him, Faye," he said without preamble.

Faye's eyes went wide. "What? Who?" she asked.

"The Dragon. They're going to kill Leon."

Faye paled like she'd seen a ghost and looked like she was about to pass out. "No," she whispered.

Jet put a steadying hand out, afraid Faye was about to hit the deck. She staggered out into the hall and leaned against the wall. She was paler than Jet had ever seen her and she looked like she might burst into tears again.

"Are you alright?" he asked, giving her a long look.

Faye took a shaky breath. "You said you forgave me already, Jet," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Jet asked, voice dropping into a growl.

"You promised you weren't mad," Faye said, seeming to shrink into herself.

"What are you talking about?!" Jet demanded.

"Jet...I," Faye licked her lips. "I told the Dragon about our plan," she whispered. "It's my fault they got Leon."

"You did WHAT?!" Jet's metal fist pounded into the wall beside Faye's head, leaving a dent in the metal. Faye's eyes widened as she realized what could have happened to her if the punch had hit her instead. He missed on purpose. Jet was breathing heavily, eyes dark and rage clear on his face. "I thought you wanted to keep people from dying on this mission, Faye," he said, voice dangerously low.

"I did!" Faye said, drawing herself up. "I was trying to make you lunkheads see how in over your heads you were so maybe you'd give up this crazy plan! But no! You just had to keep going, straight into the lion's mouth!"

"The lion wouldn't have known to shut it's jaws if it didn't know we were there in the first place!"

"They would have known either way, Jet!"

"But they wouldn't have had an edge if you didn't spill our plan!"

"You don't know that!"

"I know that we would have had better odds. I know that we would have come back to the ship with Leon."

"What makes you so sure?" Faye hissed. "We didn't come back to the ship with Spike."

"That's because Spike left, dammit!" Jet roared. "Don't you get it Faye? We couldn't have stopped Spike if we'd tied him down. It was his mission, and his alone. Did I want to watch my best friend walk off like that? Hell, no! But I also couldn't stop him. Then Spike's son falls into my lap like some sort of sign from heaven and I think I've got a chance to do right by my old friend. Until you march Leon off into a freakin' death trap! You wanna know why Leon got caught? Because you walked him into a dead end, Faye. You put his back against a wall and pulled the trigger. Spike knew he was going in alone when he left. Leon thought he was going in with his friends at his back and he finds out they're at his back alright - holding a damn knife."

"I was trying to protect him!" Faye yelled, livid.

"Faye, you were trying to protect yourself. Admit it. You didn't want to watch Spike die in front of you again, so you tried to keep your emotions safe by dragging Leon in over his head for the sake of your heart."

"So maybe I was, Jet!" Faye burst into tears. "Maybe I did want to save myself the pain of losing Spike again! Because maybe, just maybe, I haven't gotten over him yet. I don't know how you and Ed waltz around her so glib all the time. It's like Spike never meant anything to you at all!"

Jet's frown deepened and something almost electric crackled between him and Faye. Jet put his other hand on the wall beside Faye's head, so that he hemmed her between his arms. She had no choice but to look him in the eye. "Don't you ever suggest that Spike meant nothing to me, Ms. Valentine." Jet spoke between clenched teeth. "I loved Spike like a brother and I would have died ten thousand times to bring him back. But I'm sure as hell not gonna place his sins on his son's shoulders. How dare you accuse me of not caring."

Faye shrank against the wall, for the first time in her life, truly afraid of Jet. She realized just how strong he was and just how strongly he felt about the loss of Spike. And just how selfish she'd been, hoarding all her emotions to herself like she was the only one who felt anything.

"Now, when you think you can talk like a civil woman, I'll be on the bridge," Jet said, not meeting Faye's eye. He took his hands off the wall and walked away without looking back at her.

Faye slid to the floor in tears. Ein padded up softly and nudged her hand with his nose. She grabbed the little Corgi and buried her face in his fur.