Chapter Seven: Make Up


If I could understand this better
I might be a little closer to you
Brushing my face with her hair
As she pushes past towards the door
That's a little ticklish but please just don't stop
She's probably heard this a million times before
The sweep of her brush is like a gentle lick
It seems to make her like everything you want

-Snow Patrol


Jack Bosch. Faye turned the name over in her head. Jack Bosch. When Spike had shown her Bosch's picture at the wedding she hadn't recognized him – but now, after listening to him detail the ins and outs of their current bounty, she remembered. Bosch and Luke were business partners – if you could call them that. Luke rarely discussed business matters with her, and, as a result, she was largely ignorant of the Dragons' business dealings; however, she knew Bosch was their premier supplier of bloody eye.

Faye took a breath, attempting to push the thoughts from her mind. As she sat on the low bed in her room, she crossed and uncrossed her long legs uncomfortably. Her small comm. rested heavily in her hand, and her thin fingers were clasped tightly around it. Should she call Luke? He deserved to know, didn't he?

Faye bit her lower lip and squeezed the comm. tighter. How could this possibly be a dilemma for her? After all, she was sent there to kill him, not scam Jack Bosch out of millions – possibly billions – of woolongs. Not to mention the fact that Luke would have to find out eventually anyway.

She studied the comm. for a moment before lifting it to her mouth. "Luke Kennedy," she said. She heard the familiar ringing sound over the slight static. Once. Twice. After the third tone she saw Luke's face illuminating the small screen. He always waited for the third ring. It was one of his many eccentricities.

"Hey, Babe," he said with a wide smile. "I hadn't heard from you in a while. I was beginning to get worried."

Ordinarily, Faye would have no problem coming up with a snarky response. This time, however, she blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Spike's after Bosch," she said.

Luke sat back in his oversized office chair. The leather creaked slightly as he shifted his weight. "I'm aware," he said.

Faye was taken aback by his easy response. "You know?"

Luke chuckled, kicking his feet up on his desk, "Your partner isn't as slick as he thinks he is."

"How did you know?"

Luke reached into the breast pocket of his jacket, withdrawing a neatly folded piece of paper. He opened it slowly and then held it in front of the comm. It was the wanted poster Spike had shown her at the wedding.

Faye exhaled slowly and licked her lips. "I see."

"Come on now, Faye. You don't give me enough credit. You really think I'd let him whisk you away to some far off planet? That I'd let you go without having the slightest idea where you'd be or what you'd be doing?"

"I thought you trusted me."

"Oh, of course I do, darling. But what kind of business man would I be if I were to let something like this happen?"

Faye remained silent. She'd been stupid to think that he wouldn't find out. He was the leader of the largest crime syndicate on Mars, for god's sake.

"The Dragons can't afford to lose Bosch."

"I figured."

"He's a major player in the trafficking of bloody eye. Not to mention the fact that he's responsible for keeping many of the high level syndicates here … under cover."

Faye waited for him to continue, but he remained silent. Not that that surprised her. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Bosch knows. Spiegel's not going to be able to pull a fast one on him. Just keep doing your job."

Faye raised a brow at his last remark.

"Make sure he doesn't suspect a thing. I'm counting on you, babe."

"Why can't I just – finish him now?"

"What can I say? I'm enjoying the show. Plus – I think he might be falling for you."

"What?" she asked quickly. She felt her pulse race. What could he have meant by that?

Luke just smiled as he lifted his feet off the desk and planted them firmly on the floor. He leaned forward and lowered his voice, "My eyes are open."

Faye swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and closed her eyes. "Right."

Luke smiled again. "I'll talk to you soon, love."

"Back at you."

The transmission ended and once again the glossy screen of her comm. was black.

My eyes are open. The thought sent chills down her spine. He had to be bluffing just to get under her skin. As cool and collected as he appeared, Faye knew that underneath it all, when it came to matters of love, there was no man as jealous and insecure as Luke Kennedy.

She dropped the comm. into her purse and rose off the bed slowly. She knew Spike must have been grinding his teeth and cursing her name – she was supposed to be in the hangar fifteen minutes ago.

The sound of her heels on the cool floor seemed to echo loudly off the steel walls of the ship. It was so strange and unfamiliar…sharper than the sound her boots had made. To her, it was just another reminder that she had become a stranger there. So much the worse for Faye Valentine.


As she had suspected, by the time she reached the Swordfish Spike had worked up a temper fierce enough to make even Jet look mellow.

"I said we were leaving at twelve sharp," he said through gritted teeth.

Faye smirked. His bad moods always had a way of eliminating with hers. "I was preoccupied."

"With?"

She raised her chin and placed a hand on her hip. "Now, Spike…you know a lady never tells."

"Low cut blouses and high heels don't necessarily make a lady."

Faye smirked, "A painful fact that you're no doubt aware of."

Spike's chest rose and his jaw shifted. Faye imagined he was literally biting his tongue. "Just get in the Red Tail so we can leave."

"Gladly," she said. She turned on her heel and walked toward the Red Tail, adding a bit of a swing in her hips as she did so.


The three hour flight to Venus had been, for the most part, uneventful. Spike stood beside the Red Tail in the large parking lot, tapping his foot impatiently as Faye took her time unloading her luggage.

"You know we're only going to be here for a few weeks, right? Not – months?"

Faye struggled unsuccessfully to unload a large suitcase from the cargo hold of the ship. "A few weeks? I only brought enough stuff for a one, max!"

Faye's luggage rested in a pile on the blacktop near Spike's feet. So far, she had unloaded two bags full of cosmetics and various toiletries, one full of shoes, and three more filled with clothes. She was attempting to wrestle what he hoped was her last – and largest – suitcase from the small ship.

"Did you leaveanything on the Bebop?"

"Shut your mouth and get over here and help me!"

He walked to where she was standing and nudged her aside with his arm. His hand closed around the handle on the suitcase and, in one swift motion, he lifted it from the ship's hold.

Faye glared at him, "Thanks."

"What? You asked for help."

"You didn't have to make it look so easy."

"With these arms, honey, I make everything look easy."

Faye rolled her eyes, "You wish."

She was still standing close to his side. Despite the small nudge he gave her, she hadn't bothered to move out of the way. The feeling of her arm just barely grazing his stomach made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He was never one to miss an opportunity to make Faye's blood boil so, very slowly, he leaned down until his lips found the outside of her ear. "So do you."

She jumped then and whipped around to face him. Her full lips narrowed into a thin line.

"I had to get you back for that hateful remark in the hangar. For your information, I make a fine woman."

Faye's voice remained flat, "Oh, really?"

"I bet I'd fill out those yellow hot pants better than you did."

Her lips parted as she drew a breath. She leaned close to him, and he couldn't help but notice the front of her top dipping dangerously low. One corner of her mouth curled upward as she raised a brow, "You. Wish."

With that she turned and sauntered toward the front of the hotel, her purse clutched firmly in her right hand.

He stood dumbfounded for a moment. He certainly walked right into that one. "Oh yeah? So do you!"

It wasn't until she had disappeared around the corner of the building that Spike realized she had left him with her suitcases. All seven of them.

"Goddamn it," he muttered, gathering the bags in his arms. He could only imagine what the next few weeks with Faye would be like. He had neglected to tell her that they would be sharing a room together – which, undoubtedly, was sure to cause a fair bit of turmoil in the ensuing weeks. Despite the fact that they lived together on the Bebop, they never saw much of each other while they were together. At the very least, the next few days would prove to be interesting. Maybe they'd manage not to kill each other. Maybe they'd get along. Maybe he could resist the temptation to lean against her every chance he could just to make her skin crawl – and maybe, just maybe, he could muster enough strength to not watch her every move when left a room.

A/N: Hides Please don't kill me! I know it's been a long time … things have been crazy! Thank you to everyone who kept reviewing despite my long hiatus. I was happy to see that I wasn't forgotten. I am reeeaaaaallly going to try to keep updates regular. I promise! Part of the problem is that this fic is getting way more complicated than I imagined. Admittedly, I had three scenes in my head when I wrote it and a vague plot outlined – so its pretty much taken on a life of itself by now. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I thought this chapter was a bit better than recent ones, but that may just be the fact that I am writing this at midnight. Go figure.

Till next time!

-Nevi