Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop
The Art of Zen Sequel of Bebop ZenCH 1: Lonely Attitude Problems
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Spike lie on the yellow couch staring at the rotating fan blades. A cigarette dangled between his fingers with an inch ash hanging precariously to its ember. Jet walked by the couch and stopped. He sighed and shook his head.
"Spike, you've been moping around the ship for two weeks now," he said placing his hands on his hips in preparation for a speech. "Don't tell me you've given up. If there's still a chance, which there is, you need to get out there…"
"And do what? I have no leads," said Spike. The ash from his cigarette fell to the ground as he slowly sat up.
"You spent the first month waiting for her, two weeks searching, then two weeks sitting on your ass," argued Jet. "If you love her that much…"
"I never said I loved her," snapped Spike rising to his feet. He brushed past Jet headed for his room.
Flopping onto his bed, Spike stared at the ceiling. His hand absently groped for a piece of clothing lying crumpled with his sheets. It was one of the shirts she had left behind. He brought it to his face and deeply inhaled her scent. This always proved to be a painful reminder of her lush body lying peacefully next to him. Some nights he still reached out for her. All of his desperate attempts to remain indifferent to her absence were failing. The ache in his heart was becoming agonizing and all too familiar.
He rolled onto his side and sighed. "God…I miss you, Faye," he whispered, and then drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.
***
Jet sat staring at the bonsai tree before him contemplating his next clip. Eden walked into the room drying her hands on her apron.
"I'm really starting to worry about him, Jet," she said.
"Me too, but there's just no motivating that kid. Every time I try to talk to him, he either acts apathetic or gets defensive."
"I…uh…I have something to tell you…" Eden trailed off unsure of how to continue.
Jet put down his clippers and looked at her. "Well, what is it?"
"I…talked to her last week."
"What?!" he blurted out jumping to his feet. "What did she say?!"
"Shhh!" Eden peeked into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. "She just wanted to let us know she was okay," she explained.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? We could've had Ed trace the call…"
"Jet," she interrupted placing a hand on his muscular arm. "I don't think she wants to be found."
Strangely enough, he hadn't really considered that option. He spoke his next thoughts aloud. "What could he have possibly done to drive her away like that?"
Eden sighed tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear. "I don't think he did anything but get too close to her. Faye is a very defensive and protective person and I think being vulnerable scares her.
Jet shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever understand women. You don't seem to work on logic."
"You should know not everything is logical anyway…especially love," she said smiling up at him.
"You're right, I guess," he conceded. "Come on, let's go to bed."
***
Faye's hand reached from the bed to the dresser grabbing her comm. unit. She slid the device onto the bed next to her resting head and stared at it. Tears began to form in her eyes at the thought of calling home again.
Home.
The Bebop.
"Spike," she whispered, her tears now dampening the pillow.
She missed him so much that it was down right ridiculous. Her vow to herself never to trust or love a man again was shattered when she fell for that lanky lunkhead. She fought the feeling for months, but it had been no use. It was there to stay and eventually be reciprocated. But it was the strength of the reciprocation that astounded and frightened her.
As she began to think about how her absence was affecting Spike, nausea churned in her stomach. She had done the exact thing she despised him for. At least when he left he had had the decency to say goodbye. She had contemplated doing the same, but figured he probably would have handcuffed her to the bed, or something equally as outrageous.
I'm sorry, Spike, she thought. It's best this way.
Her mind went on hold as her emotions drove her stomach to its limit. Flying out of bed, she reached the bathroom just in time to throw up. Hugging the toilet, she alternated between crying and dry heaving. When she finally calmed down enough, she slumped down against the wall and covered her face with her hands.
"Why am I doing this?" she asked knowing full well nobody would answer.
Letting her hands drop to the floor she boosted herself to her feet. She walked until she was in the bathroom doorway and leaned against it. What surrounded her was a crummy, run-down, barely furnished hotel room. Her money was damn near gone, there were no bounties on Venus now to resupply her income, it was too damn hot all the time, and she was so homesick she could barely keep down food.
It was then Faye realized she needed to make a crucial decision.
Trudging over to her bed, she sat down and once again stared at her comm. unit. Her eyes then traveled up to the nightstand where a faded photo of Spike posing next to his ship was propped. Her conversation with Eden a week ago ran through her mind.
"Come back, Faye. He really misses you," implored Eden.
"I'll bet," she said rolling her eyes.
"No, I'm serious…after he couldn't find you…he hasn't done much of anything. He's not even eating that much," said Eden as stark concern showed on her face.
"That should make you guys happy," she said lamely trying to lighten the mood.
"It's making us worry," responded Eden. "Listen, Faye…I can't force you to come back, but I know you love him and…"
"I have to go," she said cutting off her friend. "Don't tell anyone I called. Bye."
She had cut the link off before Eden could even utter a word. It had been stupid and dangerous to call in the first place and had only proved to further upset her.
"I can't go back," she said to the picture. "You'll understand, won't you?"
Just then, her comm. unit started to beep. It had done that a lot the first few weeks she was gone. She hesitantly picked up the device and stared at it. The small screen read that Jet was calling, but who knew if it was really him? Spike could be awfully resourceful when he wanted. She resorted to chucking the offensive object at the wall. When it impacted it shattered into pieces returning the room to its former silence.
~*~
Spike sighed and set down Jet's comm. unit. He had lost the signal, which probably meant she finally destroyed her unit. And she had been clever enough not to answer. Damn clever women. They always left him.
Walking back to his room through an empty, dark ship, he berated himself for even getting involved with the vixen in the first place. It made him angry to think he had finally opened up to another woman and she had ultimately decided to ditch him. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but she was so utterly lost to him now. But hadn't Faye always been lost?
***
Spike trudged through the common room exhausted, dressed only in his boxers, and in search of coffee. Eden looked up at him startled as he made his way to the coffee maker in the kitchen.
"Would it kill you to put some clothes on?" she joked as she prepared breakfast. She received an unintelligible grumble as a response.
"Spike!" said Jet as he peeked his head through the doorway. "Get ready to go after breakfast. Ed found us another good bounty."
More grumbling ensued. Spike took his coffee cup and slugged past Jet into the common room to collapse on the couch. Four hours of toss and turn sleep made him cranky. He desperately hoped the coffee could wake him the hell up. He took a sip and sighed as the warm liquid reached his stomach. He could already feel the caffeine beginning to permeate into his system. Ed was sitting on the floor next to the couch typing away at Tomato as Ein napped beside her.
"Ed…where's the bounty?" he asked roughly.
"Bounty-man is on Mars," she answered gazing up at him briefly through her green goggles.
"Great. Exactly where I don't want to go," he mumbled stealing a cigarette from the pack lying on the coffee table.
"Hey, guys! Breakfast is ready!" called Eden.
***
Spike wandered through the busy streets of Rome, Mars. It was the largest city built on Mars, and served as a huge tourist attraction boasting replicas of famous ancient structures of Earth. The bounty was currently hiding out here. His name was Curtis Boyd and he was wanted on several accounts of murder.
Through his mechanized sunglasses, Spike surveyed the bustling crowd of people. He came to a rest as the replica of the Parthenon, leaning casually against one of its large columns. Jet stealthed his way through people on the adjacent street halting near a replica of an ancient bathhouse.
"See anything yet?" Jet asked through his comm. unit.
"Nope," said Spike continuing to scan the pedestrians. He suddenly saw a man in the distance fitting the bounty's physical description. He zoomed the sunglasses view in on the man and was faced with the exact image Ed had shown them earlier.
"Found him. I'm heading out," he said breaking into a run. As he sprinted towards the man in question, a particularly distracting image graced his vision. A woman passed in front of the unsuspecting bounty. He recognized the lithe, casually dressed body and silky, straight black hair instantly.
"Faye?!" he called out in surprise making a b-line mad dash for her retreating figure.
"Spike? Where the hell are you going?!" yelled Jet into his comm. unit as he raced towards the bounty that Spike had just completely bypassed. Receiving no response, he tackled the bounty himself, quickly slapping handcuffs on Boyd before he even knew what was happening.
Spike's long legs carried him after Faye, but he quickly lost sight of her through the jumbled mess of people. It didn't stop him from wading through them for several more minutes desperately searching for her face. He soon gave up standing motionless and dejected as people ceaselessly moved around him.
***
"You're cracking up, Spike," said Jet sternly as he stared at his partner poking at his dinner.
"No, I'm not," said Spike throwing Jet a nasty scowl. "It was her, I know it was."
"Are you sure you weren't seeing things? There's a lot of women on Mars who could look like Faye," Eden offered.
"Whatever," said Spike refusing to debate the topic any further. Deciding not to poke at his dinner anymore, he stood up and walked out of the room.
Edward, who had been eyeing his plate, happily scooted over and devoured the abandoned food.
To be continued…hopefully soon…
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Authors Note:
Finally! I got done typing the first chapter of the Bebop Zen sequel! Took a lot longer than expected, but, hey…better late than never. (code of the procrastinator with too much homework) Hope you enjoyed reading it. I have the next chapter mostly wrote, just have to type it. Must….focus….