| Black Jack and Poker Alice: Kyonen saigo no yuki no hi kataku kawashita yakusoku omoidaseba tokedashi te no hira kara koborete The day of last year's final snow, The promises that were hard to exchange, When I remember them, they melt and spill from my hands Jet looked around as he handed a plate to Spike, bell peppers sizzling. "It's awfully quiet around here," he murmured and he looked at his feet where Ein was panting, wagging his tail. "Hey there, boy…" "It is quiet, isn't it?" Spike sighed, stretched out on the couch, a book open over his face. He reached out and smoothly caught the plate and merely held it as he moved the book aside. "Sometimes the quiet is a very good thing." "Where's the kid?" Jet asked. "Fishing…somewhere…" "We're in space, Spike." Spike paused. "Whoa. Hope she's not fishing, then…" And Jet looked around once more, moving back toward the kitchen. "Is Faye still locked up in her room?" "Her room?" Spike glanced at him. "Faye took off awhile ago," he responded and he rose into a sitting position, lifting the chopsticks and poking at the bell peppers suspiciously. "Where's the beef?" "Never said there was beef. And Faye took off?" Jet shook his head to understand. "Mmm-hmmm," Spike nodded in the affirmative as he chomped down on a piece of pepper. "Something about a bounty." And he glanced up at Jet. "This is a good thing, Jet. No Faye, no stealing of the funds." "She didn't tell me anything." Ed suddenly flew into the room, down the steps leading into the back corridor, her arms up and guiding her passage down the clunky steps and onto the floor at Spike's feet, Tomato balanced on her head. "Ed was fishing! And Ed is hungry now," she said and she looked at Jet expectantly. "What were you fishing for, Ed?" Jet sighed. "Information," Ed replied and the look on her face turned pleading. "All right then, come on. Bring Ein, he's giving me the same look," Jet said gruffly and he motioned to Spike as well. "We need to talk." "About what?" Spike asked through a mouthful of peppers but he rose nonetheless and followed the group to the kitchen, pushing peppers around his plate. "What bounty did she go looking for?" "Does it matter?" Spike asked with an impatient sigh and he leaned against the kitchen wall as Ed hopped over to the stove and stared gleefully at the peppers sizzling in the pan. "It matters if I didn't authorize it," Jet replied, looking for a clean plate. He shoved Ed a bit. "Get Ein's bowl." "You authorize bounties now?" Spike asked with an arched brow. "Since you left, yeah," he answered. "We don't need to be mixed up in any Syndicate business. Didn't need any of your old friends coming up to bite us in the ass, either. We had a system going and it's not like her to just go off on her own like this." "My old friends?" Spike asked and there was a bit of a dark tone in his voice. "You know what old friends I'm talking about, Spike, don't start. If you can survive there's no reason why others couldn't have survived," he said and he handed Ed a plate that she quickly snatched with an, "Edward is hungry!" and took to the refrigerator with. Spike glared as Ed shoved him aside to reach in and take out a can of dog food. "Hold on a sec, Jet. You're not telling me the whole story. What's going on?" "There's nothing to tell," Jet said brusquely and he was already holding out his hand for the can as Ed returned with it. "The bowl, Ed." "Bullshit," Spike spat as the hacker went to the other side of the kitchen, searching. He lowered his stare to Jet's hands as he opened the can and then met his eyes as the older man looked at him. "You knew." Jet ignored him as he turned toward Ed. "You knew I was alive this whole time." Even Ed slowed a bit as he said it, her amber eyes flying from Spike to Ed and then to Ein as the dog waited impatiently. "Yeah, so what if I did?" Jet grumbled and he snatched the bowl from Ed. "You didn't say anything..?" Spike asked with a narrowing of his eyes. "To anyone?" "Only Ed knew other than me," he replied and Ed played with her feet uncomfortably as Jet turned the dog food into the bowl and handed the bowl back to the hacker. With a sigh he turned to face Spike, meeting his eyes. "A few days after you and the Syndicate guys wreaked havoc they pulled your body out. I have a buddy with the ISSP and I made sure to say that it be widely known that you were dead. I didn't want you to keep yourself mixed up in the whole mess. But you were alive, Spike. And you were tossed around, from hospital to hospital under a false name until you recovered." He paused. "Which reminds me, your hospital bill actually rivals Faye's now. Good luck there, buddy." And he turned to go back toward the living room. "My what?!" Spike demanded and he followed after the bigger man. "Hold on, we are so not done with this conversation." With a sigh Jet plopped himself down in the seat as Spike returned to his rightful place on the couch. "So, only you and Ed. And you guys never told her?!" Jet shook his head. "Nope. After you recovered you were just gone one day and I figured it was because you finally decided to leave it all behind. The Syndicate, the problems. The Bebop. It was just what I believed and I wasn't about to stop you. And I told Faye that you were dead since that day. It was the only way she wouldn't go looking for you to see for herself. I told her I had buddies with the ISSP and that they had discovered your body and that you were nice and dead and that your body wouldn't make for a pretty picture. She took it, hook, line and sinker." And he bowed his head as he said it. "But it took her a while to get over it." Spike ignored the last sentence. "So what's with authorizing the bounties?" Jet nodded. "There are a lot of bounties out on Syndicate members. I didn't need her coming across the fact that you were alive. I was sure you were gone, that you wouldn't be coming back. It was how she got over it and it was how I was going to keep going. When Ed came back I started having her look up the bounties again and she kept coming across you, in whatever hospital you were at, whatever name you were under. And one day there was suddenly a bounty on you for running from a hospital and leaving a bill the size of the Bebop. That was months ago. So I told Ed the truth about everything and now she only looks for certain bounties, and we only go after ones I authorize." Spike took a moment to respond and when he did he merely whistled. "Interesting system," he murmured. "It was how it needed to be," Jet said. "I wasn't going to drag you back. You spent too long in the trenches anyway, you needed to start over and be yourself. But I didn't need Faye finding out either and going after you to drag you back. It was too much for her to get over the fact, and then to have it all go to shit would have been worse. So she needed to think you were dead and I needed to run a damn ship." He shook his head. "Your popping up here didn't make it easier, though." "Yeah, I see," Spike agreed. And then, sheepishly, "sorry." Jet chuckled quietly. "Maybe some things do change after all, eh, Spike? It's not everyday you say sorry." Spike looked at him thoughtfully. "Yeah, some things do change." And he leaned back on the couch, picking at his plate. "Your bell peppers don't." "It's a recipe passed down through the generations. Some spices, a bit of butter and a whole lot of lies," Jet smiled. And he looked toward Ed. "Show me the bounty, Ed. The one you gave to Faye." Ed glanced up from her plate, giving Ein the opportunity to gobble up several peppers from her plate. "The bounty for Faye-Faye?" she asked and she rolled forward, managing to roll her way between the tight space between the table and the couch. Spike lifted his legs to allow her to pass, chewing on a pepper, and the hacker paused before Tomato. "Black Jack, Black Jack." "Black Jack?" Jet asked. "Is that the bounty?" Ed pulled up the file and pointed to the face. "Black Jack." Together both Jet and Spike leaned in for a closer look. "Mid-thirties, 6'2", 180lbs…" Jet murmured as he read, Spike more intent on finishing his food but looking on nonetheless. "Has a degree from the University in Boston…Earth's Boston?" Jet asked in confusion. "Who would want to study on Earth anymore? It doesn't say when he graduated." "Look at the major," Spike whistled again. "Cryogenics," Jet read. "So, how does a guy go from studying cryogenics to owning all these casinos?" He motioned to the list. Spike pointed at something in the stats. "Worked on cryogenics for Quicksilver Cryo on Mars for a few years before going into casinos. I guess he saw the beauty of owning casinos. Maybe it made him more money that cryogenics." "No date of birth," Jet read on. "No parents, no siblings. No anything-" "Wait, Quicksilver Cryo…" Spike murmured to himself with a frown. "That sounds really familiar. But it's not like I would ever have been to a place like that. Sounds boring. So why does it…" Jet stared at him for a moment too long before whirling on Ed. "Ed!" The hacker was already typing, bringing up a page of lists and then pausing on a listing. Spike continued to mumble in the background. "Quicksilver…Cryo…" "Quicksilver Cryo is on the list of facilities owned by the Syndicate," Jet exhaled and he rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Ed-" "Edward didn't know," the hacker shrugged. "You need to cross-check these things, Ed!" Jet snapped and he rose from his seat, storming over toward the back corridor. "Where are you going?" Spike called after him. "Where else? To get that stupid woman back," Jet growled over his shoulder, climbing the steps. "Are you for real?" Spike asked, staring at him. "She probably won't find out from this. He's wanted for crap like embezzling and…whatever else-" "Conspiracy to commit murder," Ed piped up. "I don't need her on my ass about this! You know what she's like when she's mad! We've actually had some good moments here since you left! She actually stopped bitching! I don't need her to go back to the way she used to be-" "She didn't seem all that different to me-" Spike retorted. "Because you've been dead to her," Jet said, pausing at the top of the staircase. "Now that you're back she'll probably go back to bitching and making a nuisance of herself. Thanks a lot, Spike." "Hey! Don't blame me for this!" Spike shouted at him as he turned into the corridor. "Watch the kid and feed the dog if I'm not back in time," Jet called back to him. And he paused. "You do know how to cook, don't you?" Spike looked from Ed to Ein and he was not surprised to see that they seemed to have the exact same look on their faces. "Uh…" he said quickly and he rose, "how about I go look for her and you stay and cook?" he suggested, backing away from Ed and Ein. "Because it means going back to Mars. Aren't you dead on Mars?" Jet asked, his face heavy with sarcasm. "Sure, but that's never stopped me before," Spike said and he floated down the hallway to his room as Jet came back into the main room. "I'm not sure I like that idea, Spike," Jet called to him. "Yeah, me neither but this isn't the first time we've disagreed on anything. And those always came out ok, right?" Spike smiled at him from the door of his room. Jet sighed. Two days and nothing. Two long days and nothing. Faye was ready to throw something. She had checked out all the casinos in the last two days, walking about, fighting against the urge to throw the little woolong that she had on the table and betting it all away. And still Black Jack was nowhere in sight. She hated this part of the bounty hunting. Staking out places was not her strong point. Moving in for the kill was. She looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the low cut evening gown she had conveniently managed to borrow from a clothing store. It fit her perfectly in all the right places, accentuating all her curves and baring just enough soft flesh to have every male in the street ogle her. She loved the feeling, the feeling of being wanted, desired. I can get every guy to want me except the guy I want the most… She twisted her lips impatiently and turned away from the mirror, tying up her soft purple hair and securing it at the crown of her head. She looked good enough to kill. She had already spoken to Ed about getting that camera. If anything it would be useful to her. She could take a picture of herself now so that when she was old and fat she could look back and reminisce. "Oh, who am I kidding?" she sighed, running her hands down the sides of her thighs. "I'm never going to get old and fat." Tonight she would hit The Poker Table, a lavish, well-renowned casino and, damn it all, she would come out on the arm of Black Jack. Even if she had to follow him to the ends of the earth. She was ready to start singing some blues. She gazed up at the starless night, coming out onto a balcony. The Poker Table was full of people and it was starting to get hot in there. The cigarette smoke itself was starting to get to her and that was a first. Usually she was pretty good with cigarette smoke and alcohol. At the moment she was sure she was going to start coming down with a headache. She sighed inwardly and, not for the first time, wished she was back home on earth. "Do your best, do you best! Me, me, me!" The day her memory had come back she had laid herself down on the earth that had once been her home and she had gazed up at the sky with tears in her eyes. Tears for her lost past. The moon had been beautiful still, even with her chunks strewn about the sky like asteroids. She could remember a day when the moon had been intact and had shone brilliantly. There was no moon in the sky here and yet, it still somehow felt like earth. And she missed it all still. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" She stiffened and looked over her shoulder to see who had spoken and she found herself face to face with a handsome man and a wry smile. She hesitated, her eyes focusing, and for a moment she was stunned. Mr. Black Jack…looks a lot like Spike…why am I always confusing bounties with Spike?! He stood a little over six feet, with a lean but sturdy frame. Black hair and deep brown eyes completed the look. He arched an eyebrow as she continued to merely gape at him and she suddenly returned to herself, looking back up. "Yes, beautiful," she murmured, a blush creeping into her cheeks. Wake up, Faye! "But…not as beautiful as you," he said quietly and she brought her eyes back down to meet his once more. The compliment seemed absolutely genuine, another gesture that brought the crimson flush to her cheeks even more powerfully. His gaze traveled down to her cheek and her jaw, trailing down her long neck and she marveled at the fact that his gaze did not drop further. Most men would have been checking out her cleavage by this point. Instead he lifted his gaze upwards once more and smiled yet again. Faye blinked at him. "I'm sorry," she said and her tone instantly became demure as she remembered what her purpose had been before she had so suddenly been woken up. "My mind has been distant the entire day…" and she fanned herself delicately. He gazed at her intently, silent for a moment before reaching out for her. She looked down as he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. "I apologize, I'm so rude. My name is Jack," he murmured as he left a lingering kiss on the back of her hand. Faye drew in a shaky breath but managed a smile. "Faye," she responded and she stared at him as he lowered her hand away but maintained a grip on it. "Faye, you are very beautiful. Has anyone ever told you that?" he asked in a husky voice, merely returning her gaze. His eyes were a dark brown, a vaguely familiar dark brown. But his eyes weren't as beautiful as the other person- Who will remain unnamed! She smiled again, shoving the thought aside. "I've been told that before but…coming from you it somehow has a different significance," she answered and she watched him as he beamed, straightening a bit before her. Score! "Miss Faye, may I take you to dinner?" he asked her politely. "I'm afraid I have dinner arrangements but, if you agree, they will quite conveniently be canceled…" he broke off, his charming smile throwing her a bit. Faye hesitated and she shifted her leg a bit, feeling the Glock model 30 attached to the inside of her thigh. It brushed against her other thigh as she moved, which would have to do because with the dress she couldn't wear the weapon on the outside of her thigh. "I barely know you," she said quietly and her smile turned sensuous, her voice low and throaty. He leaned into her a bit, lowering his own voice. "That is what dinner is for," he murmured and his eyes shifted down to her mouth. She dropped her gaze to his mouth as well. "It seems you're already looking at dinner," she said to him and she turned her face away, looking out into the night once more, gazing at the bright lights of the casinos all around. He chuckled in her ear, a warm breath brushing her cooled skin. "I admit, I'm rather…famished," he said slowly and she felt his fingers brush a lock of her hair behind her ear. How had that miserable little lock escaped her bun? She shivered faintly before meeting his eyes once more. "Dinner would be wonderful," she replied softly. And as he offered his arm to her she took it and allowed him to lead her. Dinner had been heavenly. They had been driven to a small French restaurant by a very nice chauffeur and she had dined on beef. Real beef. She could have died happily when they had been served and Black Jack's manners had been impeccable. She couldn't believe it. A handsome, well-mannered man with a bounty on his head. Conspiracy to commit murder? She sighed up into the night, feeling more alive in that moment than she had felt in the last few months. The air somehow tasted sweeter as she breathed it in, the night cool and yet comfortable. And his suit jacket around her shoulders was heavy but warm and smelled like his cologne and his cigarettes. They always seemed to smoke, the ones that she fell for. Except for that first one that had left her saddled with debts. Had he been a smoker? She couldn't remember. She fought the smirk that threatened to break out over her face. "What are you thinking?" he asked her as they sat together on the hood of the gorgeous car he seemed to own. It was in the style of the old limousines. Faye hadn't seen one in years, quite literally, and her face had been dumbfounded when he had pulled up in one. It had been sweet to sit on the car even with the way they were dressed. It brought her back to days on earth, on dates with boys, gazing at the moon before the disaster. It reminded her of one date in particular, a boy with blond hair and clear blue eyes. She couldn't remember his name but he had loved Jazz. He had gotten her into Jazz. What was his name..? The chauffeur had been conveniently dismissed for a few hours after dinner and Black Jack had driven them himself to this small neglected spot. So quiet in the night. "I'm thinking…" she whispered slowly, "that the moon was beautiful before the gate disaster," she answered. He blinked at her. "The moon was…Earth's moon?" he asked haltingly, breaking off. Faye nodded. "Yes. It was gorgeous…" and she stopped herself, cold shivers racing down her frame. "I mean, from what I saw of it! Old movies and…and pictures-" "Yes, yes, of course-" Jack nodded quickly that he understood. Eeeek! Faye nearly dropped her head into her palm. She really needed to get back into the whole bounty-hunting thing. Damn it, she knew this would happen. Ever since Spike had reappeared he was on her mind constantly, distracting her from doing a simple bounty hunt correctly. She needed to stop thinking about him, needed to set herself straight, if only for this job. She looked at the man beside her, suddenly wishing it was Spike, and she smiled at him faintly. "I need to be getting home," she lied. She actually needed to be getting out of the dress and into her comfortable yellow vinyl. And she needed to get to a bar and down a few drinks. Maybe get a massage. She didn't know if any spas were open at night but this was Mars' hotspot, there had to be some places open still. "I see," Jack said but he made no move to rise from the hood. "Where would you like me to drop you off?" Faye paused at the question, thinking quickly. "Maybe the main avenue, close to the French restaurant, actually. I live close by there, I wouldn't mind the walk home, clear my head a bit," she answered. "You have a lot on your mind?" he asked her curiously. Always. "Tonight I do," she replied and she smiled coyly at him. He returned her smile and only then lifted a hand to her face, pressing his palm to her cheek. She stared at him, eyes widening, and when he leaned into her she didn't pull away. His kiss was soft, gentle, and she held herself stiff, fighting the urge to recoil. She should have enjoyed a kiss like this, it was rare that someone was so gentle with her. And to top it off a gentleman who took her out to dinner, who spoke to her and treated her like a real person, not a piece of meat. And someone who didn't insult her every hour of every damn day. But she couldn't enjoy his kiss. She couldn't enjoy his presence, his warmth. And even behind her closed eyelids she couldn't even seem to bring the image of his face up. Someone else's face continued to pop up and it infuriated her. He pulled away from her, his head bowing, and she also bowed her head, her tongue flicking out to lick her lips as his hand trailed away from her face. "There is someone else," he stated and he sounded disappointed. Faye swallowed, averting her eyes from his, wanting the iciness in her stomach to go away. "There is…" she murmured, "and there isn't." Jack raised his head to her, tilting it in what seemed to be confusion. But as she finally met his gaze he understood and his hand paused midway through drawing away. "He…doesn't love you," he guessed and it was a damn good guess. Faye smiled at him wryly. "You, sir, win the jackpot," she joked. He wasn't amused. "But you love him," he said firmly. "At the moment, no. I'm a bit too angry with him to love him." Jack's eyes were soft as he gazed at her. "In love, even anger is acceptable. Were you with him long?" Faye hesitated then, thoughtfully. "Actually, he and I used to work together. And then one day he left to figure out some problems, right a few wrongs, and I begged him not to go but he went anyway. And I didn't hear from him for months. I thought he was dead and the whole time he was just…not around," she explained. She nodded as she broke off, gazing at him and seeing herself reflected in his dark eyes. He waited for her to continue, his expression one of thoughtfulness. She blinked, turning her eyes away and looking back at the night sky, seeing stars. "He came back just recently and that very day we had ourselves a fight. He just came back and already we were fighting. And I guess some things just don't change but I wanted…something. I wanted him to say something, explain where he had been, why he had gone alone, why he hadn't come back for so long. And I wanted to hear him say that maybe…that maybe…" and she shook her head slowly, laughing at herself. "That maybe he missed you?" "That maybe he missed me," she echoed him solemnly, absentmindedly, gazing at the stars but seeing nothing. "That maybe he had come back for me. That he had thought of me while he had been away. But he didn't. He…was the same person as when he had first left and…" And he's going to kill me this way. I'm going to burn away until I burn out, always waiting for him. "Isn't that first person the one you fell in love with anyway?" Jack asked her quietly. "Would you really still have loved him if he had come back differently?" Faye mused over that for a long moment, silently. Would she still love Spike if he had come back a changed person? If he was not as carefree, not as biting with his remarks, not as humorous with his jokes? Would she still have loved him if he had come back dark and traumatized? If he had returned softer and somehow romantic? "I think I would love him any way he ended up being," she murmured. "It's just that…he wouldn't love me." And she forced a smile, wanting to weep inside. She felt the familiar itching in her nose, the warmth of the coming tears and she inhaled deeply, knowing it would help force away the tears. But silently, Jack reached for her once more, turning her face to his and he kissed her yet again, more of a desperate kiss than the first one had been. And she found that she could hold herself together for a single moment before finally shoving away the image of Spike's face and surrendering herself to his kiss. She deserved a moment of happiness, didn't she? A single kiss without having a face haunt her even in her daydreams? And above, the stars twinkled sorrowfully. |
| All images and works done/altered by ShiNoFuriko and TasogareBan. Please do not steal and always give credit to where it is due. |