Ok. Here's my very first fic ever! Constructive criticism appreciated.
Legal junk: I own nothing, even though I wish CB were mine.
Nothing Good Comes from Earth Chapter1: Dust and Blood
Earth. Again. Faye wrinkled her nose in disgust as the swirls of dust licked her once white boots. Too many meteor showers and not enough rain had turned most of Northern California's farmland into craters of dirt filled with nothing but sagebrush. She blinked her eyes in the afternoon sun, raking a hand through her dirty hair, black wisps blowing into her mouth. She felt like she had been walking forever, even though she had crashed only three miles north of New San Francisco, 20 miles inland from the original city. But a three mile walk in 100 degree heat was enough to test the stamina of most people she knew, even if they had water with them, which she did not. She pulled out her dwindling pack of smokes. Crap! Only three left, she thought, lighting one of her precious cancer-sticks. She inhaled slowly, drawing the nicotine into her lungs. She exhaled, the wind blowing smoke and dirt into her face.
"Damn that stings!" she yelled and dropped her cigarette while trying to wipe her tearing eyes with the back of her dusty hand. Faye thumped heavily onto the ground, retrieving the smoldering, and now dirty cigarette. She stretched her legs before her, fruitlessly wiping the grime that seemed to cover her from head to toes. Her normally bright yellow hotpants were dulled by a thickening layer of dust. 'Ugh.why am I the one who gets dumped into this giant ashtray?' she pouted, not bothering to flick the ashes from the acrid stick hanging from her lower lip. She absently watched the ashes fall onto her lap and sighed. Sulking on the ground was getting her nowhere.
Just an hour ago she had been fighting with Spike about who was going to go pick up supplies. The Hammerhead was busted from their last encounter with a particularly rough bounty, so Jet going to the surface was out of the question. They had flipped a coin. Faye had apparently lost. She had left in a huff, not bothering to check the Redtail's fuel level-a stupid oversight on her part. Crashing onto the desert floor had not been on her to-do list for the day. Worse, the communication systems had been knocked offline, leaving Faye no other alternative than walking the rest of the way to town.
By the time she reached the outskirts of the city the sun was sinking towards the western hills. Sweat dripped from her sun baked forehead into her eyes. She turned the sleeve of the red sweatshirt that she had tied around her waist inside out and wiped away the burning moisture before focusing on the small settlement in front of her. The dirt roads and desert flowed seamlessly into one another until it stopped at the doorstep of a small convenience store. Actual black pavement abruptly started just beyond the fuel pumps and continued east throughout the rest of the town. Gratefully, she dragged herself into the first building she saw, a rundown half wood and brick structure with a flat roof and shaded walkway. The sign swinging above the door read The Triangle Pony in faded purple letters.
Inside wasn't much cleaner than the outside, but it was cool and there were plenty of empty seats. Faye thankfully slumped onto a barstool, resting her elbows on the counter. The woman behind the bar was as brown and cracked as the environment she occupied, as though she had sprung to life from the piles of dust outside her door. She stared at Faye for a moment, her brow creasing as if she were deep in thought. Then as if she had decided something, she purposefully smiled and brought her newest patron a glass of water.
"Are you all right, sweetie? You look like you've been out in that sun way to long."
"I'll be ok. Thanks," Faye gratefully accepted the glass, and drank deeply.
"You aren't from around here, are you." It wasn't a question.
"No, I was just going to pick up some supplies and head back out to space, but I crashed a few miles from here. I'm stranded until I can reach one of my friends in orbit," Faye hinted, putting on her best scared-little-girl face.
"Oh, you poor child!" the woman exclaimed, looking Faye over for any signs of damage; finding nothing serious she continued "I insist you call them from here."
Faye smiled, but thought the woman seemed to overdoing the mother hen bit. 'Faye, stop being paranoid, she chided herself, deciding to take the woman up on her offer.
"Are you sure it won't be a problem?"
"Don't be silly," she laughed, grabbing Faye's wrist and leading her to the back office.
****
Back on the Bebop Spike was smoking and channel surfing. As usual, nothing good was on. His stomach rumbled. Where the hell is that woman? She should have been back by now, he thought. It wasn't that he missed her company so much (in fact just the opposite), but she was bringing back food. They hadn't had anything decent to eat in over a week. As he lay on the dingy yellow couch dreaming of red meat, the com unit started beeping.
"Ugh," he grunted sitting up. He flipped the switch. "Yeah," he said before he noticed the face of a very dirty, sunburned Faye on the screen.
"Don't look so happy to see me," Faye said to the annoyed Spike.
"What happened to you? You were supposed to be getting supplies, not working on your tan. Bye the way, you're supposed to come out of the sun before you look like a gourmet lobster dinner," he smirked.
Faye's eyes narrowed to green slits as she leaned forward, an acid reply hanging onto her tongue. She swallowed, hard. She needed his help, and knowing him, if she said anything she really wanted to say, it would just piss him off and he's leave her there. She took a deep breath to calm herself before asking for his help.
"Whatever, Spike," she began evenly. "I've had a rotten day and I don't really feel like dealing with your crap right now. I need you guys to come pick me up."
Spike ran an exasperated hand through his unruly dark hair and sighed with a frown.
"What did you do now, stupid?"
She slammed her hands onto the desk, forgetting her earlier attempt to stay calm and lit into him.
"Stupid? You're calling me stupid?! If it wasn't for you cheating with that damn double headed coin, it would be you out here instead of me! I ran out of gas and crashed a few miles out of New San Fran. I'm dirty, sunburned, and tired, and if you don't come get me right now I'm going to-"
"Alright, alright! Keep your panties on. Jet hasn't finished with his ship yet, but I guess I'll give you a hand," Spike interrupted rolling his brown eyes to the ceiling. "I'll be down in half an hour. Where are you?"
"I'm at this bar called The Triangle Pony on the north end of town."
"Ok," Spike said, getting up. "Oh, and by the way.you owe me big time."
Fayed clenched her teeth. "Like hell I do! Now get your bony a--"
Spike turned the com off before she finished as he rolled off the vinyl couch. "The things I end up doing for that woman. Jet's going to kill her when he finds out he has to repair her ship.again.' He lit another cigarette and walked towards the hanger bay.
An hour and two screwdrivers later, Faye was still waiting for Spike to show. She decided to step outside for a bit. Remnants of a spectacular Earth sunset hovered below the ensuing darkness. She had replaced her empty pack of cigarettes in the bar. To her surprise the place boasted an old- fashioned cigarette vending machine. She absently lit one as her thoughts wandered to her would be rescuer. 'So much for chivalry,' she thought angrily. Where was that man?
She paced in front of the bar irritably, scuffing the toe of her boot on the dusty sidewalk. She finally stopped and rested her elbows on the wooden railing. The warm breeze picked up a bit, tossing her purple hair into her face. Swiping it angrily she resumed her slumped position, only to be stung on the neck a second later.
"Ouch! Damn it!" she cursed, reaching behind her head to rub the sore spot. Her vision started to dim, and her legs slowly fell out from under her. She vaguely noticed someone grabbing her, but lost consciousness before she could react.
Spike and Jet stepped inside The Triangle Pony. Spike knew she was going to kill him. He had told her 30 minutes, but he had decided to wait for Jet to finish working on his ship, mostly to annoy the hell out of Faye. Now, two hours later, the two men had finally arrived to rescue the Bebop's resident pain in the ass. It only took a moment for him to realize that she was not there.
"Hey, where's that woman who used your phone a couple hours ago?" Spike asked the matronly bartender.
"She went outside about an hour ago and didn't come back in," she replied with a frown.
"She probably just went to get some food, Spike. She'll be back. Why don't we go catch some dinner ourselves," Jet said. He turned to the woman. "If she shows up before we're back, could you tell her we went to eat?"
"Sure," she smiled.
After dinner at a small café they returned to the bar, only to discover that Faye had not returned. Jet ran his hand over his balding head, trying to disguise his worry as mere frustration. In the condition Spike said she was in, she would have sat there waiting for them until they showed up, no matter how long it took, just so she could guilt -trip them later on. Simply leaving for two hours when she knew they were coming just wasn't like her. He fidgeted for a moment, hating not being able to do anything, before noticing his partner's questioning look.
"Spike, I'm going to go try to locate the Redtail. I want to see what kind of damage she's done this time. Call me when she shows up." With that he turned and walked out the door.
Faye groaned, still woozy from the drugs. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. Wherever she was, it was cold. Rough rope bound her wrists to whatever she was sitting on; she tried to stand up but realized it wasn't just her hands that were tied. Her eyes began to adjust to the sea of blackness around her. Why was she here? What had happened? The last thing she remembered had been smoking outside the bar, and then she had been stung.
"I see you are awake."
The flat voice startled her. She swallowed the fear rising in her stomach. That voice.so familiar, yet she couldn't quite place it. It ignited a cold terror in her chest that radiated outward, freezing her blood. A sudden flare of light filled the room, then dimmed. She could just make out three windowless gray walls, and assumed a fourth with a door was behind her. She was trussed to a metal chair, each of her legs tied to a different side, so that she was spread-eagle. Her hands were tied together behind her to the back her seat, thrusting her chest forward. She felt like an animal awaiting the imminent slaughter. She frantically looked around as best she could for the man speaking to her, and jumped as an icy hand grabbed the back of her neck in a snake-like caress. She froze in panic. The hand crawled up her scalp, entwining itself into her hair and roughly pulled her head back. She stared into dead blue eyes, trying to scream, but accomplishing only a harsh intake of breath as her throat constricted. White hair fell around her face as he leaned closer to her, thin lips curving into a sadistic smile.
"Vicious." she breathed, barely audible.
"I'm glad to see you remember me, Miss Valentine," he stated as his fingernails dug into her sunburned scalp. His smile widened as the fear in her sharp green eyes turned to terror.
"Wh-what do you want from me? Why?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Simple," he said slowly drawing a knife in front of her face, the tip tracing red under her jaw and down her neck. "To get to Spike."
"You're wasting your time. Spike doesn't give a shit about me. Anything you do to me will accomplish nothing," she cried desperately, finding her voice.
She winced as she felt a wet, stinging trail down her neck to where the blood was trickling in between her breasts. She felt one button of her half shirt pop, and then another.
"Come now, you don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Vicious crooned menacingly.
"He doesn't," she replied, knowing trying to convince him wouldn't help her.
"Either way, this will be fun," his lips twisted into a sadistic smile as he bent over to taste the blood running down her throat.
"Please don't do this." she begged in humiliation as he sliced the rest of her shirt open. "Please."
"Please," he mimicked her, laughing. "And to think I thought you'd be some kind of challenge to break. We've hardly begun and already you're begging. Pathetic." "I'm not the pathetic one here. I can't even defend my self! You're nothing but a coward!" she spat, her voice rising. She was rewarded with a resounding blow that left her right eye purple and bloody. It was her turn to smile.
"You can't even beat me up without tying me down, and you call me pathetic!," she hollared. He struck her again, this time cracking her lip, her head swinging to the side. Faye lifted her head, a wry grin forming as she tasted her own blood. She looked at him through strands of black hair and started laughing mirthlessly.
Vicious scowled. No one called him a pathetic coward and lived, let alone laughed about it. Fiery rage filled him as he lost control and started beating her senseless. He sliced her clothing to shreds, heedless of the skin that tore underneath. He wanted to see her blood, feel it on his hands, taste it on his lips. Through it all she seemed to be laughing. Even as she screamed all he could hear was her laughing.
She was barely alive, but he thrust himself into her over and over again, his rage increasing until he climaxed. Slowly the flames died, and he slumped over her ravaged, unconscious body. She wasn't laughing anymore. A trail of blood trickled down the inside of her thighs, pooling onto the cement floor. She wasn't laughing anymore.
She awoke in a car. She couldn't see anything. Everything hurt. She suddenly felt the vehicle stop. Vicious grabbed her.
"Give Spike my regards. He'll know where to find me," he hissed in her ear. The door opened and she was hurled onto the pavement. The last sound she heard was the squeal of tires as she passed out.
***
It was last call at The Triangle Pony. Spike was staring moodily at nothing. He had been waiting for that wench the entire night. She was really going to owe him for sitting there, wasting his time. 'Stupid woman thinks the whole damn world revolves around her,' he thought bitterly. The sound of tires screeching outside the bar brought him out of his musings. He looked out the window and saw the naked body of a woman lying in the street. He rushed outside, turned her over and gasped. It was Faye. He suddenly felt very guilty for being late.
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ok that was the new and improved chapter 1. I hope you like it better because I do.
Nothing Good Comes from Earth Chapter1: Dust and Blood
Earth. Again. Faye wrinkled her nose in disgust as the swirls of dust licked her once white boots. Too many meteor showers and not enough rain had turned most of Northern California's farmland into craters of dirt filled with nothing but sagebrush. She blinked her eyes in the afternoon sun, raking a hand through her dirty hair, black wisps blowing into her mouth. She felt like she had been walking forever, even though she had crashed only three miles north of New San Francisco, 20 miles inland from the original city. But a three mile walk in 100 degree heat was enough to test the stamina of most people she knew, even if they had water with them, which she did not. She pulled out her dwindling pack of smokes. Crap! Only three left, she thought, lighting one of her precious cancer-sticks. She inhaled slowly, drawing the nicotine into her lungs. She exhaled, the wind blowing smoke and dirt into her face.
"Damn that stings!" she yelled and dropped her cigarette while trying to wipe her tearing eyes with the back of her dusty hand. Faye thumped heavily onto the ground, retrieving the smoldering, and now dirty cigarette. She stretched her legs before her, fruitlessly wiping the grime that seemed to cover her from head to toes. Her normally bright yellow hotpants were dulled by a thickening layer of dust. 'Ugh.why am I the one who gets dumped into this giant ashtray?' she pouted, not bothering to flick the ashes from the acrid stick hanging from her lower lip. She absently watched the ashes fall onto her lap and sighed. Sulking on the ground was getting her nowhere.
Just an hour ago she had been fighting with Spike about who was going to go pick up supplies. The Hammerhead was busted from their last encounter with a particularly rough bounty, so Jet going to the surface was out of the question. They had flipped a coin. Faye had apparently lost. She had left in a huff, not bothering to check the Redtail's fuel level-a stupid oversight on her part. Crashing onto the desert floor had not been on her to-do list for the day. Worse, the communication systems had been knocked offline, leaving Faye no other alternative than walking the rest of the way to town.
By the time she reached the outskirts of the city the sun was sinking towards the western hills. Sweat dripped from her sun baked forehead into her eyes. She turned the sleeve of the red sweatshirt that she had tied around her waist inside out and wiped away the burning moisture before focusing on the small settlement in front of her. The dirt roads and desert flowed seamlessly into one another until it stopped at the doorstep of a small convenience store. Actual black pavement abruptly started just beyond the fuel pumps and continued east throughout the rest of the town. Gratefully, she dragged herself into the first building she saw, a rundown half wood and brick structure with a flat roof and shaded walkway. The sign swinging above the door read The Triangle Pony in faded purple letters.
Inside wasn't much cleaner than the outside, but it was cool and there were plenty of empty seats. Faye thankfully slumped onto a barstool, resting her elbows on the counter. The woman behind the bar was as brown and cracked as the environment she occupied, as though she had sprung to life from the piles of dust outside her door. She stared at Faye for a moment, her brow creasing as if she were deep in thought. Then as if she had decided something, she purposefully smiled and brought her newest patron a glass of water.
"Are you all right, sweetie? You look like you've been out in that sun way to long."
"I'll be ok. Thanks," Faye gratefully accepted the glass, and drank deeply.
"You aren't from around here, are you." It wasn't a question.
"No, I was just going to pick up some supplies and head back out to space, but I crashed a few miles from here. I'm stranded until I can reach one of my friends in orbit," Faye hinted, putting on her best scared-little-girl face.
"Oh, you poor child!" the woman exclaimed, looking Faye over for any signs of damage; finding nothing serious she continued "I insist you call them from here."
Faye smiled, but thought the woman seemed to overdoing the mother hen bit. 'Faye, stop being paranoid, she chided herself, deciding to take the woman up on her offer.
"Are you sure it won't be a problem?"
"Don't be silly," she laughed, grabbing Faye's wrist and leading her to the back office.
****
Back on the Bebop Spike was smoking and channel surfing. As usual, nothing good was on. His stomach rumbled. Where the hell is that woman? She should have been back by now, he thought. It wasn't that he missed her company so much (in fact just the opposite), but she was bringing back food. They hadn't had anything decent to eat in over a week. As he lay on the dingy yellow couch dreaming of red meat, the com unit started beeping.
"Ugh," he grunted sitting up. He flipped the switch. "Yeah," he said before he noticed the face of a very dirty, sunburned Faye on the screen.
"Don't look so happy to see me," Faye said to the annoyed Spike.
"What happened to you? You were supposed to be getting supplies, not working on your tan. Bye the way, you're supposed to come out of the sun before you look like a gourmet lobster dinner," he smirked.
Faye's eyes narrowed to green slits as she leaned forward, an acid reply hanging onto her tongue. She swallowed, hard. She needed his help, and knowing him, if she said anything she really wanted to say, it would just piss him off and he's leave her there. She took a deep breath to calm herself before asking for his help.
"Whatever, Spike," she began evenly. "I've had a rotten day and I don't really feel like dealing with your crap right now. I need you guys to come pick me up."
Spike ran an exasperated hand through his unruly dark hair and sighed with a frown.
"What did you do now, stupid?"
She slammed her hands onto the desk, forgetting her earlier attempt to stay calm and lit into him.
"Stupid? You're calling me stupid?! If it wasn't for you cheating with that damn double headed coin, it would be you out here instead of me! I ran out of gas and crashed a few miles out of New San Fran. I'm dirty, sunburned, and tired, and if you don't come get me right now I'm going to-"
"Alright, alright! Keep your panties on. Jet hasn't finished with his ship yet, but I guess I'll give you a hand," Spike interrupted rolling his brown eyes to the ceiling. "I'll be down in half an hour. Where are you?"
"I'm at this bar called The Triangle Pony on the north end of town."
"Ok," Spike said, getting up. "Oh, and by the way.you owe me big time."
Fayed clenched her teeth. "Like hell I do! Now get your bony a--"
Spike turned the com off before she finished as he rolled off the vinyl couch. "The things I end up doing for that woman. Jet's going to kill her when he finds out he has to repair her ship.again.' He lit another cigarette and walked towards the hanger bay.
An hour and two screwdrivers later, Faye was still waiting for Spike to show. She decided to step outside for a bit. Remnants of a spectacular Earth sunset hovered below the ensuing darkness. She had replaced her empty pack of cigarettes in the bar. To her surprise the place boasted an old- fashioned cigarette vending machine. She absently lit one as her thoughts wandered to her would be rescuer. 'So much for chivalry,' she thought angrily. Where was that man?
She paced in front of the bar irritably, scuffing the toe of her boot on the dusty sidewalk. She finally stopped and rested her elbows on the wooden railing. The warm breeze picked up a bit, tossing her purple hair into her face. Swiping it angrily she resumed her slumped position, only to be stung on the neck a second later.
"Ouch! Damn it!" she cursed, reaching behind her head to rub the sore spot. Her vision started to dim, and her legs slowly fell out from under her. She vaguely noticed someone grabbing her, but lost consciousness before she could react.
Spike and Jet stepped inside The Triangle Pony. Spike knew she was going to kill him. He had told her 30 minutes, but he had decided to wait for Jet to finish working on his ship, mostly to annoy the hell out of Faye. Now, two hours later, the two men had finally arrived to rescue the Bebop's resident pain in the ass. It only took a moment for him to realize that she was not there.
"Hey, where's that woman who used your phone a couple hours ago?" Spike asked the matronly bartender.
"She went outside about an hour ago and didn't come back in," she replied with a frown.
"She probably just went to get some food, Spike. She'll be back. Why don't we go catch some dinner ourselves," Jet said. He turned to the woman. "If she shows up before we're back, could you tell her we went to eat?"
"Sure," she smiled.
After dinner at a small café they returned to the bar, only to discover that Faye had not returned. Jet ran his hand over his balding head, trying to disguise his worry as mere frustration. In the condition Spike said she was in, she would have sat there waiting for them until they showed up, no matter how long it took, just so she could guilt -trip them later on. Simply leaving for two hours when she knew they were coming just wasn't like her. He fidgeted for a moment, hating not being able to do anything, before noticing his partner's questioning look.
"Spike, I'm going to go try to locate the Redtail. I want to see what kind of damage she's done this time. Call me when she shows up." With that he turned and walked out the door.
Faye groaned, still woozy from the drugs. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. Wherever she was, it was cold. Rough rope bound her wrists to whatever she was sitting on; she tried to stand up but realized it wasn't just her hands that were tied. Her eyes began to adjust to the sea of blackness around her. Why was she here? What had happened? The last thing she remembered had been smoking outside the bar, and then she had been stung.
"I see you are awake."
The flat voice startled her. She swallowed the fear rising in her stomach. That voice.so familiar, yet she couldn't quite place it. It ignited a cold terror in her chest that radiated outward, freezing her blood. A sudden flare of light filled the room, then dimmed. She could just make out three windowless gray walls, and assumed a fourth with a door was behind her. She was trussed to a metal chair, each of her legs tied to a different side, so that she was spread-eagle. Her hands were tied together behind her to the back her seat, thrusting her chest forward. She felt like an animal awaiting the imminent slaughter. She frantically looked around as best she could for the man speaking to her, and jumped as an icy hand grabbed the back of her neck in a snake-like caress. She froze in panic. The hand crawled up her scalp, entwining itself into her hair and roughly pulled her head back. She stared into dead blue eyes, trying to scream, but accomplishing only a harsh intake of breath as her throat constricted. White hair fell around her face as he leaned closer to her, thin lips curving into a sadistic smile.
"Vicious." she breathed, barely audible.
"I'm glad to see you remember me, Miss Valentine," he stated as his fingernails dug into her sunburned scalp. His smile widened as the fear in her sharp green eyes turned to terror.
"Wh-what do you want from me? Why?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Simple," he said slowly drawing a knife in front of her face, the tip tracing red under her jaw and down her neck. "To get to Spike."
"You're wasting your time. Spike doesn't give a shit about me. Anything you do to me will accomplish nothing," she cried desperately, finding her voice.
She winced as she felt a wet, stinging trail down her neck to where the blood was trickling in between her breasts. She felt one button of her half shirt pop, and then another.
"Come now, you don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Vicious crooned menacingly.
"He doesn't," she replied, knowing trying to convince him wouldn't help her.
"Either way, this will be fun," his lips twisted into a sadistic smile as he bent over to taste the blood running down her throat.
"Please don't do this." she begged in humiliation as he sliced the rest of her shirt open. "Please."
"Please," he mimicked her, laughing. "And to think I thought you'd be some kind of challenge to break. We've hardly begun and already you're begging. Pathetic." "I'm not the pathetic one here. I can't even defend my self! You're nothing but a coward!" she spat, her voice rising. She was rewarded with a resounding blow that left her right eye purple and bloody. It was her turn to smile.
"You can't even beat me up without tying me down, and you call me pathetic!," she hollared. He struck her again, this time cracking her lip, her head swinging to the side. Faye lifted her head, a wry grin forming as she tasted her own blood. She looked at him through strands of black hair and started laughing mirthlessly.
Vicious scowled. No one called him a pathetic coward and lived, let alone laughed about it. Fiery rage filled him as he lost control and started beating her senseless. He sliced her clothing to shreds, heedless of the skin that tore underneath. He wanted to see her blood, feel it on his hands, taste it on his lips. Through it all she seemed to be laughing. Even as she screamed all he could hear was her laughing.
She was barely alive, but he thrust himself into her over and over again, his rage increasing until he climaxed. Slowly the flames died, and he slumped over her ravaged, unconscious body. She wasn't laughing anymore. A trail of blood trickled down the inside of her thighs, pooling onto the cement floor. She wasn't laughing anymore.
She awoke in a car. She couldn't see anything. Everything hurt. She suddenly felt the vehicle stop. Vicious grabbed her.
"Give Spike my regards. He'll know where to find me," he hissed in her ear. The door opened and she was hurled onto the pavement. The last sound she heard was the squeal of tires as she passed out.
***
It was last call at The Triangle Pony. Spike was staring moodily at nothing. He had been waiting for that wench the entire night. She was really going to owe him for sitting there, wasting his time. 'Stupid woman thinks the whole damn world revolves around her,' he thought bitterly. The sound of tires screeching outside the bar brought him out of his musings. He looked out the window and saw the naked body of a woman lying in the street. He rushed outside, turned her over and gasped. It was Faye. He suddenly felt very guilty for being late.
+++++++
ok that was the new and improved chapter 1. I hope you like it better because I do.