Bebop Blues - Chapter 16
LIVE in Baghdad: Butterfly
Faye and Spike were not on speaking terms, and it was making the mission a bit difficult.
Some argument over exact details, and Faye ran ahead of him, venturing to the bar two hours ahead of schedule to cool off.
Mai had followed her, of course, and was camped on the roof.
Faye decided a few drinks would calm her nerves; she knew better than to let too lose, though. Callisto was still a world of men. The bartender brought her a whiskey, and she sipped lightly and politely. The cellist played a somber blues, and she closed her eyes to sway with the music.
She sneezed some time after it ended.
"Take care."
She looked up to see the cellist sitting beside her, beckoning the bartender for a drink himself. He was a tall man, taller than Spike. He was thin, but lean, and his grey eyes left her a bit mesmerized.
The déjà vu was oddly comforting.
"I'm already a fairy," she answered.
"Oh? I wasn't aware, though with those eyes and hair, I'm not too surprised." He took a swig. "You're a brave woman, venturing into this neck of the woods on your own."
"And you want to protect me, right?" Her tone was playful annoyance, and she sighed a bit for good measure.
He shook his head. "I can see you don't need it. Just thought I'd give you some polite company."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what does that mean?"
He took another sip and lit himself a cigarette, the marijuana variety. "It means I just want someone to talk to, not a bedmate."
She smirked. "And I can trust you?"
He shrugged. "Just have a little faith."
She liked this guy. Smooth-talker, easy on the eyes, and a musician to boot.
Yeah, Mai had made a hippie out of her.
They chatted as patrons eyed them warily. Small talk. Normal talk. The world's troubles and liquor and patrons around them and women and men and lunkheads. He returned to his stage for a few numbers here and there between bits of conversation. Nothing but blues and small talk. It lifted Faye's spirits.
Normalcy wasn't a mode she was afforded often.
After an hour and a half, Faye's earpiece sounded. "She's headed your way, Faye-Faye!" Ed whispered.
There was no sign of Spike.
The cellist sat next to her again, his song having ended. "You look concerned."
"I was waiting for my fr- boyfriend, but he hasn't shown up for some reason." She almost let her cover slip.
"Green hair, brown eyes?" he asked with a raised brow.
Her eyes went wide. Her earpiece sounded. "Faye! She's outside! Spike's talking her up!" Mai was whispering.
She swore the cellist heard that. His posture stiffened instantly.
He winked when he noticed her unease. "Some other time, pixie "
Faye, torn between giving him a piece of her mind and running after the bounty, didn't have a second to think.
Elizabeth and Spike burst through the door in a heated flurry of fists and feet.
"Spike! What the hell?" Faye yelled.
"Well, well. You ARE a pretty one," Elizabeth purred as she licked her lips.
Spike kicked her leg aside and tripped her; various men in the bar aimed their guns for Spike.
He wasn't one to harm a lady, but whatever this woman said to him was enough to get his blood boiling.
No one liked a narc.
"Dammit, Spike!" Faye dove to him, and they rolled, dodging a hail of bullets. "Jackass! You could have been killed!" They were scrambling out the door.
"You ran off without me!"
"You didn't stick to the plan!"
"Dammit, you two!" Mai yelled. She shimmied down the fire escape. "What the hell was that?"
"It was her/his fault!" they screamed.
Elizabeth ran after them, and the four stood in front of the bar. "And who's this little number?" she asked, jutting her chin towards Mai.
As the men piled out of the bar, guns loaded, Mai parted her feet, crossed her arms, stared Elizabeth dead in the eye and said one solitary sentence, "They call me Miss Dragon."
Silence.
Even this far to Callisto, she was well known.
Elizabeth's shock was quickly pushed aside. "Oh? Them's big words for a small girl. You sure you ain't nothin' but talk, hon?"
Mai smirked. "Gimme a go, then."
Elizabeth licked her lips again. "Gladly."
She lunged for Mai, and Mai retaliated, dodging punches and kicks. As she continued her dodging for a few minutes, Elizabeth became worn. "Damn squirrel! Hold still!" She fired her berretta without warning.
Towards Faye.
Mai's eyes went wide, and Spike yanked Faye towards him just as the bullet flew through a few strands of her hair. She landed against him, her hands flat against chest.
The red was back, and Mai lunged at Elizabeth. "You said you wanted a fight, you little bitch?"
Elizabeth's grin soon turned into a look of horror as the men around her stood back.
"I'll show you why they call me a dragon!" Mai was clawing at her, and she got progressively more aggressive with each second. As one man tried to help, he learned the extent of Mai's anger. Several more men, fueled by booze and testosterone flung themselves into the fray.
Bullets seemed to miss her in her current state.
She twisted and turned, landing punch after punch, dodging gunshots, and digging her nails into flesh.
Faye and Spike stood motionless as a few of the smarter men finally backed themselves against the building wall.
Mai stood, hunched over a bloodied and whimpering Elizabeth, and growled at the remaining men. "Anyone else want to question who the fuck they think I am?" she snarled.
They scampered.
Her chest was still heaving with breath; her fingers were still outstretched like claws, and her pupils were still dilated.
From inside the bar, a song started playing.
Spike recognized the tune. It was the song Mai was humming when he woke up. He always thought of it as Earth.
Home.
Her posture changed instantly; her shoulders recoiled, and her arms fell limp to her sides.
"M-Mai?" Faye asked warily. She was still pressed against Spike.
Mai pirouetted to face them.
Tears were streaming down her face. "Sorry about that. I don't quite know what came over me." She laughed a bit and smudged the back of her hands against her cheeks, as a cat would grooming its face.
The music had stopped.
She seemed lost.
"We should turn her in now, I think. You two can handle it from here." She quivered as she attempted a smile before turning and walking towards the invisible Blues.
Elizabeth was still whimpering.
Faye was still flush against Spike.
"Faye?"
"Yeah?"
"The bounty."
She flew back as though she had touched hot coal, and nodded, a slight blush tinging her cheeks. She turned to cuff the crying Elizabeth.
"She's mad... That woman is mad..." Elizabeth sobbed.
"You're mistake was taking a shot at me," Faye informed her as she pulled her to her feet.
Elizabeth was still sobbing as they pulled her into the Hammerhead, courtesy of Jet to help the mission go smoother. Spike hopped in to pilot as Faye sat behind him, watching Elizabeth intently as she sat cross-legged across from her.
"What's your story, then?" the bounty asked. She had regained her nerves as they left the atmosphere.
"We're bounty hunters. Nothing more to it," Faye answered.
"Running around with Miss Dragon?"
"Yup."
"I don't buy it. She's a Syndicate Princess. What's a her real end game?"
"Her Zen," Faye quipped.
The glare from Elizabeth was proof enough that Faye had won the argument for now.
They spent the remainder of the trip in silence.
Once they reached the Mezzo, they gave Jet the honor of taking Elizabeth in for the bounty.
70 million woolongs split four ways.
Mai didn't want her share; she gave it to Ed. "For surveillance assistance," she told her. Faye, Spike, and Jet were happy with their gain, if a bit forlorn by Mai's demeanor.
After Faye relayed the story of the capture on Callisto, the entire crew gave her space. Faye was the only one that Mai seemed to garner a reaction towards.
"What was that, on Callisto?" Faye finally asked as they sat against the large tree.
It had been a few weeks, and there had been a few more bounties to capture. Spike, Faye, Jet and Rose seemed to handle them in shifts, though Rose mostly acted as back up. She didn't want to risk leaving Flora without a mother.
"Spike hasn't told you?" Mai seemed a bit surprised.
"He would know?"
"Ask him sometime, about his first fight, and how he killed that man bare-handed."
Faye remained silent.
"I'm just... coping, at the moment. I'll be fine."
"You need a vacation."
Mai chuckled. "I'm just tired. I feel like I'm grasping at the edges of reality here."
"Talk."
Mai blinked at her.
"You made me do it when we met. I can even go grab some liquor if you want. We can talk all night, and I can finally have a picture of the man who tamed Miss Mai Dragon."
"One bottle of liquor wouldn't be enough."
"Well, why don't we take a vacation then? We've got more than enough. Hell, the boys can handle business while we're gone, and Jet can rope Spike into babysitting so he can get some time with Rose."
"A vacation..." Mai mulled the thought over seriously. "You know what? That sounds just like the thing."
"It's a date, then," Faye said as she stood up and held out her hand.
Mai laughed warmly. "A date."
