A/N: Chapter 12 will be posted tomorrow since this one is super short.
Bebop Blues
Chapter 11: Spokey Dokey (Alternate Take)
Maybe Mai was right.
Maybe this was all just sexual tension.
And anger.
And bitterness.
And jadedness.
And rejection.
Loneliness.
Ah.
That was it.
Faye harrumphed as she rolled over to hug Mai.
She frowned when she saw that she was missing.
Odd.
Faye left the room and wandered the halls.
There wasn't a sign of her anywhere.
A light peeked in from under the hangar doorway.
Faye followed the trail.
Down the stairs and then up the stairs into the Bebop, she followed her gut.
She heard voices.
"What?"
"The homeward dove flies with broken wings."
A thud.
She ran in. "Mai! What's going on?"
Mai was kneeling over Spike, muttering something under her breath. "I'm sorry, brother," Faye heard her whisper.
"Mai!"
She snapped around, her eyes wide and her face pale. "Help me get him to the couch."
Faye, deciding that Mai would give her an answer later, ran to her side. Mai cupped her arms beneath Spike's legs. "Grab his arms."
Faye complied, Spike's head resting in between her breasts as she hooked her arms under Spike's.
They carried him to the couch.
"What the hell happened?"
"I did something selfish, and now I'm questioning it."
"What the hell, Mai?"
"I should have waited. I'm always so awful with timing. I might screw everything up." She sat in the armchair and dropped her head to her hands.
Faye yanked her by the shoulders. "Hey! What gives? What's going on?"
"It's a long story..."
Faye gave her a look of determination. "We've got all night." She lit a cigarette and handed another lit one to Mai. "So tell it."
Mai inhaled deeply. "It starts the way it ended: with the Syndicate."
Faye sat on the couch, and as Mai began speaking, she didn't even realize she had cradled Spike's head in her lap.
"He was only fifteen..."
