3 months later...
As Jet cooked his famous bell peppers and "beef", Spike and Edie lounged in the common area. While Spike combed various planet police scanners and news outlets for any leads on upcoming bounties, Edie laid belly down on the couch reading mangas. It had gotten a bit more difficult to find bounties since Big Shot got cancelled.
"Why don't you make yourself useful, you wench." Spike slashed at her sourly. Edie simply peeped from under her manga.
"What a sour puss." She murmured to herself before redirecting her attention.
"Fuck it." Spike forcefully pushed aside the computer, sat himself up, and dug for his cigarettes.
"What's eating you?" Edie didn't pry her away her focus.
Spike took a few puffs of his cigarette and closed his eyes. He felt like shit. He hadn't really slept for the past week. His sleep was haunted by the same reoccurring nightmare and sometimes, he felt it even haunted him while he was awake too. Images would flash inside his mind. Spike wanted to scratch deep enough into his head to scratch at the images. Suddenly he felt a light touch. He flickered his eyes open to see Edie with her hand gently placed on his right shoulder.
"I'll take a peek." Was all she said to him. But he really wasn't listening. He was engulfed by the simple physical contact. He felt both disgusted and ensured by her touch. He gradually raised himself up and set for downstairs, emotionless. Edie had expected that sort of reaction and thought nothing of it. She figured something was gnawing at his insides. She heard him at two, three, four in the morning, either in the rec room or in the second common area that was just outside the rec room. She said nothing to him. Was it her business? No. Edie twirled the computer over and quickly got a name and face.
Joan Dilia. Last seen in Mars. Wanted for escaping bail. Questioned participation or acknowledgement of the murder of a Tharsis City politician along with extortion. Worth 9 million Woolang.
Edie studied the photo of a blonde woman with mesmerizing blue eyes. She didn't deny the beauty of their bounty. Murder? Extortion? Such harsh charges for such a pretty face. Edie knew better than to prejudge based on appearance. Women proved to be deadlier than men. Edie could validate that. Behind every man is a woman. The term "behind" does not imply that women are inferior to men, rather women support the men. Women are the ones whispering ideas in the ears of men, men just act as if they thought of everything themselves. Women were power.
Edie registered the insight on their next bounty and walked to the kitchen. Jet had just began serving plates when she entered.
"Got our next job." Edie informed Jet as she took a seat at the table.
"Good good." Nodded off Jet. Jet served himself and took a seat across from her.
"Hey Jet, what's up with the lughead?" Edie took a big bite of bell peppers and meat.
It donned on her that she was really eating another bowl of bell peppers.
"Who knows." Shrugged off Jet, looking unconcerned. He stuffed his face with food to avoid any further conversation on the matter. Jet theorized on what could be troubling Spike. The same thing that troubled Faye. The past. The past seemed to be like a open grave or a reopening wound. It secretly roamed the inner abysses of the mind. Again, it was just a theory.
The aroma of a cooked meal filled the ship, charming Spike into the kitchen.
"Bell peppers. Great."
"And beef" added Jet with another spoonful lodged in his mouth. Spike sifted through his bowl to find nothing but bell peppers. He raised an eyebrow at Jet.
"I found us a job in Mars." Edie interjected, directing her Intel to Spike.
"Where we headed?" Spike grumbled with food in his mouth.
"Tharsis City." Jet's eyes followed Spike. Spike remain unfazed and casually continued chewing his bell peppers.
"That settles it then. I'll set the ship's course to Mars." Jet stood abruptly to reveal an empty bowl.
...Tharsis City, Mars
Edie and Spike sauntered the streets of Tharsis City together, getting insight on the murdered politician. Ron Marco. From what they gathered, the guy was well liked and linked to the city. He had quite the influence and knew the right people to get the right things. Connected to police, connected to local gambling sites and connected to some dirty money. Depending on who you spoke to, you got a different side to the many-faced Ron Marco. When asked around if he had any close girl friends, most recalled a blonde, pretty young lady.
"He never said anything official in regards to her. But, there was obviously something going on between them." commented a co-worker. "I'll tell you what, I definitely did not expect to her to be his murderer. I mean, he had some interesting connections so she was the last one I thought would commit such a heinous crime."
"I know that pretty face. She looks like that young lady staying in that building over there." The fragile elderly woman pointed not too far off. "Sweet girl. Tells me good morning every day."
Spike lingered by the entrance way of the apartment, awaiting any cue from Edie. Edie investigated inside, looking for any clues. Undeniably, Joan would be under a false alias to hide her identity, so looking at mailboxes seemed pointless. Edie knocked on the door of the landlord.
"Yeah that's Melissa." The landlord smiled at the picture that Edie held in her hand. "You know, I never noticed how stunning she is. She's always wearing a hat that covers her eyes."
After peering at the photo for a few minutes, he directed Edie to the fifth floor, apartment E85. Edie duly noted the apartment's fire escape as a possible get away. She made her way up the five floors via the elevator and stopped at door E85. Edie liked to make extractions as painless and easy as possible. However, seldom fugitives, out of their own free will, handed themselves over. She needed to concoct an excuse to get Joan to invite her into the apartment.
Hmm... She could always be forthcoming with the woman, but she'd slammed the door in her face. It is not as easy as people think it is to break down a door. Got it! She snapped her fingers and knocked on the door. No response. Knocked again to show her desperation. Moments later, the door cracked open and a woman in a tasteless bucket hat peeked an eye out.
"Yes?" The woman hesitantly quizzed.
"Oh my gosh thank goodness!" Edie made herself sound out of breath and sighed out deeply. "Hi, I live down the hall and I locked myself out! I tried going downstairs to talk to Gary about it but it seems he stepped out. And now I'm frantically knocking on doors to find someone with a phone! May I borrow your phone?" The woman surveyed Edie's petite structure and deemed her harmless.
"Sure. Come in."
"Thank you so very much!" Joan allowed Edie into her plain apartment.
"Phone's over there." Joan pointed toward a corner nightstand that housed a phone.
Edie made her way over and punched in numbers. Joan kept an eye on Edie as she made her way to the apartment's tiny kitchen. Edie waited momentarily and dialed Spike's number.
"Hello?" Spike's muffled voice told her he was smoking.
"Heyyy..." Edie threw him a playful, even a little flirtatious, tone.
"Edie?"
"Yep it's me! You won't believe what happened! I locked myself out of my apartment. Can you believe it?!"
"Huh? Edie, what in the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh you know! The apartment on the fifth floor. I let you have the spare key, remember?!"
"You're on the fifth floor?" Spike looked up the apartment building.
"Yeah, a sweet, pretty lady on the same floor let me use her phone. How considerate, am I right?! So you're going to come over, right? With the spare key?"
"Sure." Spike played along.
"Thanks honey bunny! I'll see you soon! Bye!" Edie hung up the phone before she could hear Spike's disdain. Joan still watched her.
"Thank you again! My boyfriend's on his way with my extra key." Edie walked towards door, Joan following her.
"Oh and one question, ma'm." She continued on in her childish cheer.
"Is your name...Joan?" Edie dropped the act and returned to her normal pitch.
In response to her question, Joan pointed her load pistol to meet Edie's magnum.
"Jig is up lady. Sorry I hate to do this to a fellow badass woman. But we gotta eat." Neither lowered their weapons.
"I'm not scared to kill you," Joan's velvet voice intoxicated her. Edie had to give it to her.
A gunshot sounded off outside the apartments that stole away Joan's attention, allowing Edie to kick Joan's pistol out of her hands. Joan tried kicking at Edie, but using her forearm, she blocked the kick. Edie pulled back her arm and aimed a punch for Joan's chest. Joan, aware of the punch, pulled away her body and grabbed ahold of Edie's fist. Joan flipped over taking Edie along with her to the floor. But she didn't count on Edie regaining her senses so quickly. Edie kicked Joan's stomach, sending her back. Edie jumped to her feet and tried going after Joan but Joan ran off to the back bedroom of the apartment, taking along with her another stored pistol. Joan shot down the windows in the bedroom and squeezed through them. Edie shot at the windows on the other side of the apartment.
"She's on back, Spike!" Edie cried out the window and turned to pursue Joan.
Joan tackled the flight of stairs called the fire escape with such haste that by the time she reached the bottom, Spike just arrived in the back alley of the apartments. Joan, panting furiously, stood still and pointed her pistol at Spike. Spike, likewise, did the same. Joan's hat flew off in the heap of the moment, manifesting her long gold locks. The longer Spike stood, staring at her face, the more he began to get deluded by his own imagination. He wasn't pointing his Jericho at Joan, he was pointing it at Julia. It was Julia. She's not dead. She's here.
"Julia." He whispered. Steadily, he started to lower his gun.
"SPIKE!" Edie screamed as she sped down the fire escape. "It's not her, Spike! It's not her!"
Spike froze in fear. Was he going to kill her again? Kill Julia again. The thoughts swirled in his head until he heard Edie repeatedly holler the same words. Over and over.
"It's not her!" No, it's not.
Julia was dead. This woman was not his beloved Julia. Deep inside, he knew he should return his aim but he couldn't move a muscle. Something shook his spine and left him paralyzed. Joan kept her gun at his face but didn't pull the trigger. He was handsome. A dirty handsome. The man in front of her. And he lowered his weapon. Joan didn't want to shoot him, but wanted to keep staring into his brown eyes, eyes full of disarray and loneliness. She wanted to make him feel better. She wanted to cure him of his sickness. But she remembered the girl and decided she'd make a run for it. Joan dropped her gun and dashed down the alley, not looking back at the sad man. And he watched her run, even as his legs gave out from under him and he was on his knees. His Jericho laid on the ground at his side. Seeing Spike incapacitated, Edie jumped down the fire escape and sprinted after Joan. She pulled out her magnum and took two shots aimed for Joan's legs. One bullet successfully pierced her right calve and Joan slowed in agony. She tried to grab at the pain and didn't heed the alley's intersection with an upcoming street. Instead, Joan ran to the best her ability and turned back to fire a few shots at Edie. Edie took cover. Joan continued to fire shots until a car hit her, leaving her sprawled, unconscious, on the asphalt.
"Call an ambulance!" Edie yelled at passerbys. She returned her magnum to her jeans and made her way back to Spike. Spike stood still with his sight fixed on the alleyway in which Joan bolted down. His chest was heaving and cold sweat ran down his cheek. Edie walked to him and looked down at him. Edie wasn't that much taller than him on his knees.
Julia... Julia
She didn't quite know what to do get him out his trance. Hit him maybe? Kick him back into reality? Sane Spike would've probably expected it and readily give out that type of treatment. But this wasn't sane, normal Spike. This was broken Spike. So Edie thought up something. Is it a good idea...ahh to hell with it! She inched closer to him, rested his head on her chest and ran her fingers through his wild dark brown hair.
"It wasn't her... It wasn't her." She soothed quietly only for the two to hear.
