Bebop Blues
Chapter 19: Want it all Back
As the chips slid to Faye, Spike grit his teeth in annoyed disbelief.
Mai and Roy were grinning like Cheshire cats as Faye beamed.
"I call bullshit."
"Wrong game," Faye sang as she gathered her winnings to take them to the counter.
Spike was fuming. He stared at her retreating figure as he seethed. He refused to believe she won that round fair and square.
He had counted.
He glanced over at his brother, hoping to distract himself from his annoyance.
Spike could see Mai frown as Roy whispered in her ear.
"Roy..." she started.
Crash.
Faye yelped.
All three turned their attention to Faye's location.
Victor had a hand around Faye's waist, and her arms were pinned against her sides; his sword was against her throat.
"She's not the dragon, but she'll do."
Victor was a loose cannon indeed; his brother would have preferred the cover of some place less public.
But as various card dealers and waiters revealed sleeves with silver snakes, they understood the reason for the attack.
And Roy's presence made more sense, now.
Spike and Mai gritted their teeth as casino patrons and hotel guests piled out of the large ballroom.
Spike outstretched his hands before clenching his fists.
"Now Roy, if you hand over what I'm looking for, I can let this little vixen go." Victor ran his tongue over the edge of Faye's ear.
Mai was stuck between red and reality.
Red started bleeding into the edges of Spike's vision.
Roy frowned. "You and I both know that I can't hand it over, but I'm willing to bargain," he offered.
Victor's allies were already at the ready with guns.
Mai was looking for a strategy, and as if some unknown god heard her internal pleas, she spotted Jet in the doorway.
He was crouched to the floor, and Rose was crouched opposite him.
And Rose hadn't earned her killer reputation without warrant; the woman could snipe like no other.
Victor sensed Mai's change in posture, but before he could completely turn around, a bullet flew through his shoulder.
If he hadn't moved, it would have been a clear headshot.
He dropped Faye instantly, and she swung her leg around to trip him before running back to the group.
From his position on the ground, Victor leaned over to take a shot at Faye; and as the bullet grazed her hip, and she stumbled, Spike lost all control.
Despite the small army of men now raining bullets upon them, Spike began a mad flurry of chops and kicks.
Faye watched mesmerized.
Mai ran to her. "Faye! Can you walk?"
"Yeah. It just nicked me."
"We need to get the hell out of here. We can't win with these numbers."
"But Spike-"
"No time. He can take care of himself! Get to Jet and Rose."
"Where's Roy?"
Mai stopped to look around, hoping she could give Faye an answer.
She probably would have seen red, too, as Roy was nowhere to be seen, but Victor had made himself scarce upon seeing Spike's fury; the lack of target made it easier to keep her focus.
There were few men left; most were running from Spike, and only the two he was still in the process of maiming remained.
"Faye, talk to him," Mai commanded.
"Me?"
"You triggered it. You gotta' stop it."
Faye didn't quite understand, but she wasn't really willing to go through the hell of patching Spike back together.
"Spike!" she yelled. "We need to get the hell out of here!"
He turned to her, his eyes wide and his posture hunched.
She was downright scared.
As she thought of a different approach, Spike came to his senses. He dropped the man whose collar he was holding, stepped carefully over the strewn bodies on the floor (none of them dead, Faye was glad to notice), and stopped directly in front of Faye.
She was staring wide-eyed and trembling.
He reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a cigarette and lighter, lit up, and inhaled deeply.
She was still staring.
"I steal your cigarettes, and you just stare? You're losing your edge, Faye."
Her eyes narrowed, but instead of saying anything, she walked away.
He strode casually behind her.
He'd shoot his eye out before admitting to Faye that she was the reason for that little outburst.
Maybe it was because he already lost one woman to Syndicate kin.
Wait.
He paused his trek for a moment before regaining internal composure. He kept thinking as he walked again.
He didn't just refer to Faye as his woman, did he?
Sure, they had their past.
And he couldn't really call Julia his, either.
She always belonged to the Syndicate.
From day one.
He was just a part of her.
But maybe she wasn't a part of him.
She certainly wasn't anymore.
He continued walking behind Faye and Mai; they were talking to Jet.
Spike's eye kept reverting.
His mind kept churning.
He knew that the conversation with Mai at the bar definitely brought about a whole hoard of "what ifs?" he hadn't considered before his most recent death.
After all, the whole reason he gave Faye that whole "the past doesn't matter" lecture before he left to meet the reaper was because he felt he owed her something for the dysfunctional sexual non-friendly relationship they had.
He wasn't a boy scout, and he wasn't a saint.
But he wasn't a devil, either.
He was just a man.
As the crew continued up the stairs to their suite, his thoughts kept in time with the sway of Faye's hips.
He was losing his damn mind.
"Oi, Spike? You alright there, buddy?" Jet asked him, waving a hand in front of his face.
Spike's cigarette fell to the floor. "Huh?"
Jet laughed. "You spaced out. The girls are getting their stuff to head to the new suite."
"New?"
"Roy left Mai the Penthouse key. He owns it, apparently."
"Where did he go?"
Jet frowned a bit. "Mai doesn't know. She seems pretty down about it. We figure that Victor's gone since Roy is, so Faye thought it would be a good idea to finish out the vacation and unwind."
Spike stepped on his cigarette and turned his foot, melding the ashes into the carpet. "Sounds like a plan."
Before he could enter the suite, Jet stopped him again. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Jet."
"Roy contacted us. We got here right when Faye was pulled aside."
"Ah."
"And you? I thought you were in your room sleeping until Roy told us otherwise."
Spike smirked. "Mai invited me out of pool and drinks."
"Mai did?"
Spike raised an eyebrow. "And once Faye woke up, Mai ditched me to take care of her and that awful hangover." Spike shrugged. "She's a keeper, alright. Roy better do right by her."
"Or what? You'll snatch her up?"
Spike contemplated the notion. "I have different plans."
Jet raised the eyebrow this time, but dropped the subject.
They packed their belongings and headed upstairs where Flora, Ed, and Ein were already waiting.
Given how early it was in the morning, the crew decided slumber was the only option. Everyone retired to their separate rooms (Mai and Spike handed Faye their money as they noted Rose and Jet sharing quarters), and only Spike and Mai were left in the living area.
"Something tells me you can't sleep," Spike mused. His eyes were closed, and his head was slung back over the couch, his arms stretched across the top.
"What did he say? When he called you, I mean?" Her voice was timid, meek almost. She seemed lost and hopeful all at once. She was sitting on the chair to his left, her feet barely touching the floor. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes were wide and wondering.
Spike inhaled his fresh cigarette, the cannabis easing his tired muscles. "He said he missed you. He wants to be here. He has a job to finish before he can do that, though." He inhaled again. "He also said if I tried anything, he'd kick my ass."
Mai laughed quietly at that.
Spike walked to her and looked her square in the face.
Wide innocent eyes stared back at him. He watched her odd one dilate as it focused in and out.
He put his hands on her shoulders.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
It was an awkward sight, but he never learned how to apologize properly.
So it was his apology.
Because he couldn't say another word.
She sighed sadly. "At least tell me..."
She had trailed off.
"Tell you what?" Spike asked.
"What I can't remember."
Spike frowned. "Can't do that."
He seemed pained and slightly angry, as though he didn't agree with Roy's decision to keep that part secret.
"Why?"
"It's not my place."
"Mai? You comin' to bed?" Faye asked from the doorway. She was clad in a short, blue nightgown; her hair was slightly ruffled without her headband, and she was yawning.
Spike's eyes lingered a bit longer over her legs than he intended.
Mai looked back. "Momentarily." Faye gave her an odd look, but retreated to the room, ignoring Spike completely.
"Women..." he groaned.
"Jealous?" Mai smirked at him.
"She's changed. That's all. Don't understand it."
"I thought it was obvious." Mai stood to leave.
"Oh?"
As she reached the door, she turned and smiled. "She's distancing herself. She doesn't want to go through all that hell of losing you again."
And as the door closed quietly behind her, Spike realized something terrible.
He felt something for Faye Valentine.
The woman who hounded him, stole his cigarettes, forced her way into his life, owned everything by claim, and masqueraded as an adult (when she was really a child, he had concluded), had somehow wormed her way into another spot she had no business being in.
He wouldn't label exactly what he felt.
It was something.
But that didn't mean anything.
It was just proof he actually gave a damn about something other than himself for once in his life.
Hell, he cared about Jet and Mai. He even gave a damn about his newfound brother and crewmates.
So maybe what was throwing him off was the fact that he always saw Faye as some entity that took up space and time and energy and money and food and cigarettes and alcohol and hot running water that didn't really belong to her.
And he was suddenly aware that he didn't mind it all that much.
He chuckled to himself as he fell asleep on the couch.
Maybe he was the one who was changing.
