Chapter Two: It's All Downhill From Here
High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to life
Fight fear for the selfish pain, it was worth it every time
Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know how this ends
A clock ticks 'til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again
She sat outside for a while longer enjoying the cigarette she grabbed from Jet wondering why she ever quit in the first place. Watching as the night life slowly took over the streets below her. People coming out dressed to impress. Laughing and having a good time with their friends. She never did make friends well. She contemplated her social life while watching the cars drive up and down the street. Strangely her eyes kept wandering back to a black sedan parked at the end of her block. -You're being paranoid- she silently scolded herself. Sighing she dragged herself off the balcony and back into the house. Ed was typing away on her tomato and she couldn't help but smile. That crazy little girl made her feel normal for some reason. She plopped down on her couch and looked over the hackers shoulder.
"Faye Faye has a very tricky secret disk but Ed shall be VICTORIOUS!" the little girl yelled as she furiously typed away.
"I know you will Ed that's why I let you in on my mission" She says patting the girl on the head.
Leaning back on the couch she put the tv on and stared at it not really watching it. Why did this feel so right? She had a normal life now. The life she always wanted. So why did the thought of finding out what was on this mysterious disk get her blood racing and make her long to get back on the bebop and grab her guns. Guns, bullets, people dying that's all that life had to offer, and that wasn't something she wanted to deal with. Right?
"FAYE FAYE!" Ed screamed standing two inches from her ear.
She jumped up frantically preparing herself for a fight. Realising it was just Ed she felt foolish.
"Ed you know you can't just scream at people like that right?" she says slightly ticked off.
"But Faye Faye Ed has done it! Ed is VICTORIOUS!" the young girl shouts while waving her arms around.
"Well don't just leave me hanging Ed. What the hell is it?" she asks getting excited and sitting upright.
"Lists!" Ed shouts
She moves closer to the screen and sees it's just that. Page after page of lists. Names, numbers, addresses. It goes on and on and on. Now thoroughly uninterested she sits back.
"Well that was unimpressive. I'm going to bed Ed I have work in the morning." She says standing as she stretches.
"Don't worry Faye Faye Ed will find out what the lists mean it will be EXCITING and Bebop worthy! And Ed shall be the tricky disk's secret keeper!"
The young girl was so enthusiastic that she didn't have the heart to tell her that nothing could make her go back to the bebop. So instead she just nodded and let the girl live in her dream world. She wandered down the hallway back to her room not noticing the girl staring intently at her back. Closing the door she completely missed the young girl's words as she closed herself off in her darkened room.
"Don't worry Ein we will make Faye Faye happy again!" And she set back to work on the lists now littering the screen of her tomato.
She rolled over the next morning amazed that she was actually able to sleep through the night, but then again the sleeping pills she took before she climbed into her bed ensured that the nightmares stayed at bay. Opening her door she wandered down to the kitchen figuring she should probably feed the girl. -Thats what you do with kids right? I mean I don't think she knows how to cook. Oh god she'd burn the whole building down if she tried- She was starting to pick up the pace worried that the hacker was indeed burning down her house. As she entered the living room she saw the girl and the dog were passed out in front of the computer. Clearly the girl had been at it all night. She felt bad now, she had instantly lost all interest upon seeing the contents and the girl spent all night trying to figure it out. Sighing she went into the kitchen got out a bowl and a can of dog food. Then went to work making breakfast. She set the dog food on the ground and the plate of food on the coffee table along with a note:
ED~
Eat this. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING TO COOK! I'll be home for lunch and I'll make more food then.
~FAYE FAYE
Going back into her room to get dressed for work she didn't even notice the tiny smile gracing her face. She knew signing the note with the nickname the girl assigned to her would make her happy. She threw on a sweater dress and pair of heels and quietly left the house careful not to wake the girl. She walked her normal route to work, stopping for her normal cup of coffee. It was just another normal day in the normal life of Faye Valentine.
Work was just as boring as it always was. She spent her morning typing up reports and following up with clients. Most of whom she was positive were guilty of the crimes they were charged with, but she wasn't the judge or jury so she did as she was told. She found it ironic no one told her what she could and couldn't do and yet here she was being the perfect little employee doing everything asked of her. The door chimed and she looked up a delivery boy was standing there waiting for her to notice him.
"Where's what's his name? The normal guy?" she asks eyeing up this new kid.
"Don't know. He never showed today and his phone is disconnected. Sign here." the kid says shrugging his shoulders and handing her the forms to sign.
She signed the forms and went about her day figuring the kid finally found a way out of his shtty dead end job and took it. She ignored the nagging feeling in her gut and concentrated on her work. When lunch finally rolled around she walked the six blocks to her apartment. The entire elevator ride up she was on edge figuring her apartment was going to be in shambles.
Unlocking the door she was instantly pounced on by the tiny girl.
"FAYE FAYE! Ed was so worried but now you are home and safe!" the girl screamed.
"What are you on about now Ed?" she asked rolling her eyes and walking into the kitchen.
She was thoroughly surprised that nothing had been touched apparently the girl spent the entire day on that damn computer of hers. -i really need to get her out of the house that can't be healthy- she thought to herself. She started pulling out bread and some lunch meats completely ignoring the ramblings of the hacker. She made them some sandwiches and brought them out to the living room.
"Here ed eat this I won't have Jet on my ass for you starving while you're here" she says tossing the sandwich on the coffee table.
"Faye Faye are you listening to Ed! Big trouble Faye Faye! OOOOOOO SAMWITCH!" the girl quickly stopped her train of thought and scarfed down the sandwich left for her.
Faye shrugged and got up gathering her things. She was on her way to the door when she couldn't move anymore. Looking down she saw the tiny hacker had latched onto her legs.
"Ed I'm gonna be late! Let go I have to go back to work!" She said sternly.
"NOOOOOOOO! FAYE FAYE STAY!" She screamed holding on tighter.
Faye sighed and slowly pried the girl off her legs explaining that she had to go back to work and she would be home in 4 hours. Then promised to take the small girl shopping tomorrow. That seemed to be the trick to get her off suddenly she was going on about all the things Faye Faye would buy her and Ein. She sighed seeing her hard earned money getting up and walking out of her bank account.
The walk back seemed to take no time at all and before she knew it she was back at her desk typing away and making the same annoying phone calls. She found herself wanting to escape suddenly wishing she had never sold the redtail to make a down payment on her appartment. -get a grip Faye! We are being a responsible adult and this is what we wanted!- she scolded herself.
"Faye can you go make me 20 copies of this deposition and then fax them out to the following clients?" her boss asked dropping a stack of papers on her desk.
She sighed and nodded wanting so badly to tell him off and just go home. Reluctantly she grabbed her purse and the papers and walked down the back hallway to the shared copy room in the building. Halfway through her faxing she was distracted by shouting. She knew her boss had some difficult clients coming in today but a shouting match rarely happened. She stuck her head out the door and peered down the hallway. She saw the muzzle flash just before the blood splatter coated the window on her boss's office door. She covered her mouth to stifle the scream she knew wanted to escape. She slid down the wall and started to panic not sure exactly what to do. Sure her boss dealt with some unsavory characters but to murder him? -GET A FUCKING GRIP FAYE!- she shouted in her head.
Nodding she slipped off her heels. Thankful she already had her purse, she quietly slipped out of the copy room and slipped into the stairwell. Just before she silently shut the door she heard someone give the order to kill anything that moves. That was all it took. She flew down the flights of stairs cursing the fact that cardio wasn't really her thing. She came out on the ground floor as she heard the door 5 flights up open. Not waiting to see who it was she took off for the front door. Taking just a moment to notice that the security guard who was always so nice and always said hi to her was laying in a pool of his own blood. -He never saw it coming- she said to herself shaking her head.
She didn't stop the entire six block run home. By the time she finally made it into the elevator her feet hurt from being shoeless and she was having troubles catching her breath. -I gotta start working out- she commented finally breathing normally. She quickly walked to her apartment door and opened it expecting more bloodshed. Ed sat there at her tomato typing away. She quickly turned around and locked every lock she had on the door and was half tempted to move something in front of the door so no one could get in.
"Faye Faye! Ed was worried I called person and told them everything they are not hap hap happy!" she sang dancing around.
"Not now ED" she said moving quickly to the kitchen. She dug through the drawers looking for that stupid communicator cursing herself for never putting it where she could find it. Finally getting her hands on it she opened it and dialed Jet.
"Come on answer!" she yelled at the screen.
"Faye you ok?" his gruff voice answered.
"No. I don't know." she answered honestly.
"Whats going on Faye? Tell me" he said looking concerned.
"I don't know Jet! I was making copies at work and the bam! Gunshots, my boss is dead, they killed everyone in the building Jet! Something is not ok!" she shouted quickly getting worked up again.
"Faye I need you to calm down. Pack your stuff. Pack Ed's stuff. I'm on my way. Lock your doors. I'm coming to get you Faye it's going to be ok. I'll be there soon" he says taking charge just like a dad. She couldn't help but feel comforted.
"Whats going on Jet?" she asks sounding defeated.
"I'll explain when you're safe Faye. Right now I need you to do what I told you and be ready to go when I get there" he says.
She nods and hangs up ready to start on her task. She walks into the living room and snaps at Ed to pack her stuff jet is on his way. She continued to ramble on about how some person was coming but Faye ignored her heading to her room to do as Jet had said. She pulled out the familiar suitcase that had gotten no use in the past year. She opened it and was surprised to find it still had photos from her bebop days in there. Nostalgia was starting to take over but she quickly shook her head chasing away the memories. Now was not the time for this. She started pulling out jeans, leggings, sweaters, t shirts, underwear everything she thought she might need. Not knowing how long she would be gone, she pulled out a second suitcase and began filling that too.
CRASH!
Jumping up she didn't even realize she had fallen asleep. Her first thought was kill the little hacker. Then came a second crash and shortly after that a third crash. Something was very wrong. Quietly opening her door she crept down the hallway. Stopping at the entrance to the kitchen she peered around the corner as another crash sounded. There was Ed perched on top of her fridge throwing all her plates and cups at the man who was trying to dodge them and grab her. Most of the lights were off but in the dim light she saw it the glint of a gun being pulled out. Her eyes widened and without a second thought she flew into the kitchen and managed to use her momentum to slam him into the wall sending the gun skittering across the floor. She felt no pain but knew the glass shards were cutting into her bare feet. All it took was that one moment and the guy managed to backhand her. She stumbled backwards clutching the side of her head as another crash and shards of glass rained down on her.
"Dammit Ed stop throwing shit!" she screamed dodging another blow coming at her.
She scrambled towards the gun but the guy tackled her to the ground. More glass cut into her and her kitchen was starting to look like a horrible murder scene. She managed to get a knee in just the right spot and his grip loosened enough for her to wiggle away. But it didn't take long for him to be right back on top of her. The gun was just a few centimeters away. She reached out for it. He didn't seemed to be concerned with it anymore as he he wrapped his hands around her slender neck. She felt her air get cut off and saw the sick glint in his eyes. He was enjoying watching her squirm as the life slowly leaving her body. Black spots started to dot her vision and her hand reaching for the gun was moving less and less. -This is how I go out realy?- she sarcastically thought putting all her strength into attempting to get free one last time. The blackness was encroaching and she knew it would only take another minute and she was a gonner. The bang faintly echoed in her head and the sicko above her collapsed onto her. The pressure around her neck instantly released but it didn't help that his 250lb frame was now on top of her crushing her and making it no easier to get a breath in and bring life saving oxygen to her body. She was still fading and there was nothing she could do. The man was pulled off her and an oddly familiar face barely swam into view as her eyelids became to heavy to keep open.
"I'm dead" faintly escaped her lips.