Chapter 15: Loses and Gains

Twenty minutes later Faye's mood had decidedly gone south as she sat on one of the exam room's tables.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate doctor's offices?" She grumbled, looking out the door irritably. Meifa and Ed didn't answer. This was the fifth or sixth time she had asked that same question and she never acted like she expected an answer so they just let her grouse in peace. Meifa sat in a chair in the corner with Ein in her lap while Ed was searching through every drawer in the room, trying to find something to amuse herself with. After taking something out of one of them she crept over to a coat rack that was in the corner opposite of where Meifa and Ein were and behind Faye. The first two watched in curiosity as she grabbed a white doctor's coat from off the rack as silently as she could. Starting to put it on Ed put her finger to her grinning lips in a 'be quiet' sign to Meifa and Ein, both of whom started to smile slightly in anticipation at what was coming. After putting the coat on she pushed a small stool meant for the examining doctor to use if need be next to Faye on her uninjured side. Before she could turn and look at what the movement was Ed had already hopped up on the stool and was now looking a very startled looking Faye at eye level.

"No need to worry when Doctor Ed is on the case!" Ed proclaimed and rolled up the sleeves of the many sizes too large coat. "Ed has never lost a patient Ed couldn't find again!" She added as she took out a stethoscope she had found in one of the drawers.

"Ed…" Faye began, getting over being startled and not in the mood for any shenanigans right now.

"Quiet please, Doctor Ed must have absolute silence to find what is making Faye Faye such a big grouchy pants." Ed interrupted as she put the stethoscope on…in a way. She placed the two earpieces on her temples and turned the device upwards, making it look like she had some weird appendage growing from the top of her head. Ein looked very amused and Meifa was starting to giggle at the sight.

"Ed…!" Faye tried to warn but once again Ed paid her no mind, leaning in and putting the bell of the stethoscope on Faye's ear.

"Please say ahhh while Doctor Ed counts the thump-thumps Faye Faye makes." She said, putting her first two fingers on top of Faye's nose. The randomness of the move quieted Faye and left her staring cross-eyed at the fingers before turning towards Ed herself, who now had a very contemplative look on her face. "Tic-tock tic-tock tic-tock. Brrriiiiinnngg!" She sang in a childish voice in complete contrast to he look on her face. Meifa was now outright laughing, but softly so not to embarrass Faye any further, while Faye herself was giving Ed what the hacker would describe as a 'real big sourpuss face' in response to her antics. Before the face could give way to words or actions Ed took her fingers back and let go of the stethoscope, letting the bell dangle over her own nose. "The great Doctor Ed has finished the examination and knows what cure sourpuss Faye Faye needs!" She announced proudly.

"And just what would that be?" The 'sourpuss' in question asked flatly. Instead of answering right away Ed reached into the pocket of the coat and presented Faye with one red and one green lollipop she had found while rummaging through the drawers.

"Take two of these and call Ed in the morning." She told Faye with all the seriousness of a real doctor telling a patient to take their medicine. Faye looked from the lollipops Ed was offering, to Ed herself, then back to the candy. With a sigh she reached out and took the candy.

"Thanks." She grumbled, trying to make it sound like she was only taking it to get Ed to stop. It was the real reason but she also didn't want to hurt Ed's feelings either. Damn conscience was acting up again.

"Another miracle recovery!" Ed proclaimed. "And if Faye Faye ever turns into a giant sourpuss again just remember to call Doctor Ed who will get it fixed faster then you can say QUACK!" She added.

"Well it's a good thing you already live where she does Ed. Keeping her from being a sourpuss is a fulltime job." An amused voice said from the doorway. Looking over they saw a smirking Jet with a small armful of the supplies with the medical mask down around his neck. "Right now though John's calmed down a little so it would probably be a good idea to get an expert's opinion."

"The great Doctor Ed is always ready to use her medical smartness on anyone around!" Ed declared before jumping off the stool and running out the door, the giant lab coat billowing almost like a cape. Jet was barely able to get out of her way before she barreled him over and an instant later Ein ran after her, barking excitedly at what Ed might be doing next. After watching them both go Jet turned to Meifa and showed her one of the things he was carrying, a second bottle of the alcohol he had used on John. Meifa nodded in response and left without a word. Once she was gone Jet closed the door and faced his next challenge.

"Don't think it's good for me to be around kids either?" Faye asked in a tone that was almost boasting.

"Nope." Jet answered simply as he put everything down on the examination table behind Faye. "But that's not the only thing. We're going to need your help with something." He said as he started to undo Faye's gunbelt sling.

"What do you need my help with?" Faye asked, wincing a bit as her injured arm suddenly came loose.

"Once John stopped yelling we had to make a decision about what to do after we've got everyone bandaged up." Jet explained. "It'll be dark in a couple of hours and I'm not going to risk flying the Bebop out of that canyon at night." Faye was about to interject about why they couldn't leave sooner when Jet continued. "It'll take almost that long to go get Kyle. We all agreed that going to the ship first and trying to sneak the body on later would be a bad idea. Meifa and especially Ed will want to be there when we bring him onboard and we don't want either of them seeing that."

"So you want me to be a distraction while you go and get him?" She asked.

"Both you and John." Jet answered as he put on a pair of gloves, put his mask back up and started to untie Faye's improvised jacket bandage. "But it wont be for that long. Spike and I are the only ones that'll be able to get him back to the ship so all you have to do is keep them occupied until we can get to the transit system, MPU promised he'll try to keep anyone from following us. Once we have Kyle we'll go to the surface, call the transport, put him on the Bebop, then come back here. Keep pressure on the front." He added as he took the jacket away and moved the part of Faye's shirt on top of the wound out of the way. Faye did as she was told and pressed the jacket against the front of her shoulder.

"I just hope it doesn't involve doing anything too stupid." Faye said in resignation. There was no way she'd let either of them see what Skynet had showed her. It made her shudder just to think about it, and she would probably be having nightmares about it for months. If there was on thing she didn't want it was to even think about what kind of effect it would have on the kids. "Not to sound ghoulish but how are you going to carry him all the way back to the Bebop?"

"This place has a morgue and that means there's got to be body bags to." Jet answered. Faye supposed she shouldn't be surprised at that since this place seemed to have everything else. So why not a morgue to go along with it? Any other musings she had about Black Mesa disappeared as she felt something that was cool to the touch and burning red hot at the same time move across the hole in her shoulder. She hissed and hunched forward slightly but stopped herself from pulling away from the pain completely. Whatever it was went over her shoulder a couple more times and the burning sensation slowly ebbed away.

"Well at least it was quick." Faye grunted as the pain finally faded.

"It'd better have been." Jet said as he tossed the bloodied piece of alcohol soaked gauze he used to wipe off the surface of the wound aside and picked up the bottle. "Considering that was just cleaning the skin." The moment of confusion Faye had at his statement gave him enough time to use his artificial arm to grab her good shoulder to push her forward so she was bent over, and pour the alcohol straight into the wound before she knew what had happened.

"*&&*%$%%# ^^$%##&^!" Faye shrieked as loudly as she could, struggling to sit back up. Jet ignored the curse and calmly held Faye in place no matter how hard she fought to move. "YOU %$# ^&%$^$**$#& #&#&&#^$^$^#& (#$*^ &#^$& &# *#&*$*$*&&#&&#! I'M GOING TO & *$*$&%*#($&$($($&*#& $& & AND #&#^#*(#&$^ &$(&#! THEN I'LL ($*$(^*^& & ^$&$* *#&!" She screamed, feeling like she was being impaled again and not being able to do anything about it thanks to Jet.

"Guess that means you won." Jet said out of nowhere. That managed to snap Faye out of her swearing tirade and look back at Jet.

"WON?!" She asked in an almost murderous tone through clenched teeth, almost panting. Now that she had stopped screaming he slowly pulled her back up while setting the bottle aside.

"Yep." Jet answered as he grabbed a large bandage along with more gauze and medical tape. "After hearing all the stuff John was able to come up with when we were dealing with his wounds Spike said that not even you could come up with anything more original. Looks like you proved him wrong because I think it's safe to say no one has ever heard anything quite like that before." He added with a smirk Faye was almost able to hear underneath his mask.

"Happy to help." Faye replied crossly as she turned back around. The pain was mostly gone now and after that it was easy to ignore Jet as he applied gauze to the hole so hard that it almost felt like it went inside the wound before slapping the bandage on it and securing it with a liberal amount of tape. It felt like someone was now pushing on the wound with their hand but that was what Jet had been going for. With all the gauze and pressure caused by the tape any bleeding would be kept to a minimum.

"All right." Jet started as he moved all the supplies to stool Ed had been standing on. "Lie down." He ordered. Faye's response was to snap her head around and give Jet a death glare. "You can't take care of that one handed, so this is going to happen one way or another." He told her bluntly as he moved the stool to the other side of the table. Faye said nothing and continued to glare daggers at Jet. "I saw a couple of gurneys with restraints while I was walking around. Want me go get one?" He asked her with a glare of his own. Faye shot him another furious glare and a sneer but she laid down.

"If you even…" Faye began with a snarl.

"Yeah I'm going to try something funny while you're bleeding all over me." Jet deadpanned at the implied threat. "Just try not to move and we can get this over with." He added in an annoyed tone. Faye almost growled at him but she took the jacket off the second wound and made sure she was the one that moved the sleeve of her shirt at all. Jet repeated the process he had used for the first wound and aside from another creative use of every profanity she could think of Faye stayed in one place. She watched Jet's eyes the entire time and they never went anywhere but what he was working on so she decided not to slap him once he finished. Once he got the last piece of tape in place and leaned back Faye quickly sat back up and pulled her shirt back onto her shoulder, being careful not to do anything to the bandaged areas.

"Thanks." She mumbled. She put a lot of sarcasm into it but Jet could tell she was grateful, but didn't want it showing.

"Don't mention it." Jet replied just as sarcastically as he took something from the stool and threw it in Faye's lap. "You'll be able to adjust it yourself so once you're done go back to X-ray, we're going to see what kind of damage Arnold has." He explained then turned and left. Giving silent thanks that Jet had given her some privacy Faye was able to get her arm into the sling and the strap over her head easily. Adjusting it took a few tries but she eventually got it to a point where her arm was properly supported. Again she looked like she was only one deep breath from spilling out all over the place but she supposed it couldn't be helped. If anything she should probably take some kind of pride in it, and she most likely would have if she actually had some choice in the matter. As she walked back to X-ray she did have to admit she did feel slightly better now. It was a wonder the effect that real bandages and a sling had instead of a wadded up jacket and bulky gunbelt. She didn't feel good but at least she didn't feel like complete crap anymore either.

Entering the exam room she was greeted with a sight that made her loose her train of thought. John was still sitting on the table, his injured leg on the table itself with the other one hanging over the side. Standing next to him on the table was Ed, still wearing the doctor's coat and stethoscope with the bell of the latter placed on the top of John's head, with that same dead serious contemplative look on her face as before. Once she was inside everyone except for Ed turned towards her.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She asked with a smirk on her face, looking at John. He responded with a 'what can you do' shrug before speaking.

"She says she hasn't found anything so I guess not." He told her. Before Faye could respond with a smart remark Ed beat her to it.

"Doctor Ed will not rest until the rattle rattle in big brother John's head is found!" She declared, making John roll his eyes. Faye's smirk widened but she noticed something. John's face no longer had a patchwork of bandages running across it but a single long double folded piece of gauze held in place by two long pieces of tape running along the sides with many smaller pieces of across it. He was wearing a neoprene knee brace, which covered up any bandaging, as well as a cage like metal knee brace to make sure he wouldn't be able to flex the joint at all. On the ground were what looked like a bloody torn up white shirt and tissue paper. Faye guessed that must have been what he used for the cut on his chest and that he now had a similar, proper, bandaging job there. Leaning on the table next to him were a pair of crutches, the only way he'd be able to get around for a while. Like Faye he didn't look good but he looked better then he had before. Even Spike had taken the opportunity and the lower portions of his arms were bandaged as well.

"Now that everyone's here." Jet spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "We've got something important to do." He nodded towards Tomato, still sitting on the end of the table by John's foot. All of them gathered around the computer's screen silently and once everybody had a good view Jet spoke again. "Let's see it." Like before with John's knee MPU created a 3D image of Arnold's skull based on combining the information of all the X-ray's that had been taken. The moment it came up you could have almost feel everyone's spirit's sink, even the ones that had expected this.

It couldn't have been any worse. The dented portion of the skull had weakened enough so that the heat of the rocket engine was enough to melt it. The molten metal had moved down and into the skull's internal workings, burning everything to a cinder or consuming it in the flow of slag.

"There's…nothing left is there?" John asked.

"No there is not." MPU answered, sounding solemn that he couldn't give them good news. "All circuits have been irreparably damaged and cannot be removed. I am sorry." The adults turned towards the two that would be most effected by the news. Meifa and Ed both looked at the screen with a sense of loss but it was oddly tempered. All of them had known this was the most likely outcome and it looked like the girls had prepared themselves if that turned out to the case. None of the adults wanted to press the two about what they were thinking so there was an awkward silence for several minutes.

"So what do we do?" Spike finally asked.

"The least we can do is give him a decent sendoff." John spoke up. "I don't know just what he would have wanted done, if anything, but he deserves to have a proper burial."

"But where would that be?" Jet asked. "Here? At Doohan's place? Take him into space and bury him at sea?"

"I think that's her decision, not ours." John answered, looking over to Ed. As Arnold's 'creator' and the only one that regarded him as a person, and an equal, from day one her word carried the most weight in this situation. Ed seemed to understand that and seemed to have a truly thoughtful look this time, even taking off the stethoscope and doctor's jacket. After a few moments of thought she answered.

"Ed thinks Arnold person should stay where he did his bravest thing." She told them in as serious a voice as any of them had ever heard her use. "Arnold person wouldn't get lost in luggage that way, less people around to bother him to." She added with a small smile. The second sentence sounded like Ed going back to being Ed but they could tell what she really meant. She didn't want anyone disturbing Arnold's remains, and way out here on a planet that seemed to be trying its best to kill you was the perfect place.

"That makes it final then." John said as he grabbed his crutches and swung his injured leg off the table. "Let's find a way outside and get started." There were no complaints from anyone else. They knew that something like this wasn't something to dwell on and the sooner it was done the better. It didn't take them long to find an exit. The medical wing was built on the surface and had a large almost greenhouse like glass encased foyer with faded but still intact couches and chairs facing outward to give recovering patients, or anyone who wanted to relax, a spectacular view of the sun going down over the desert horizon. When they got there the sun was still up but it was getting noticeably lower, proving Jet was right about not being able to retrieve Kyle and make it back to the Bebop before dark.

Forgoing digging an actual hole Ed, being assisted by Ein, fashioned out a small trench before placing Arnold's skull in it then piling rocks onto it and around it. The others, even Ein, then helped by bringing over more rocks until they had the skull and trench completely covered. The job finished everyone stood there looking at the makeshift grave in silence, each waiting for someone else to do something.

"So…do we say anything?" John finally asked. He really didn't know how one would eulogize a robot, even one like Arnold.

"Stuff like this really isn't my thing." Spike replied. Sure he knew about the sense of loss death could cause, but there was also nothing you could do about it and talking about the dead person like this never really seemed to help anyway.

"Mine either." Faye added. Unlike Spike she didn't even know if she had lost anyone before her memory loss, let alone having any experience in dealing with it. Being as guarded as she was with her feelings she probably wouldn't have said anything to begin with.

"As weird as it is we need to say something." Jet told the other three before starting to direct his words towards the grave. "I guess the best thing to do would be to say thanks. You saved all of us more then once since we first met you, and a lot more lives then we can probably count." As Jet spoke the others began to think back at his words. Going to that remote town to defend it against Skynet's second attack, helping to repel the T-800s that had been sent aboard the Bebop to kill Ed, which in turn enabled her to help defeat Skynet at the Battle of Cheyenne Mountain. Finally by sealing himself inside the silo he had enabled all of them to escape and stop Skynet from committing the killing spree he had promised to Faye once he had taken care of Ed. He had done more good in a couple months of being 'alive' then most people could in a lifetime. "You probably wouldn't think much about praise or recognition for what you did, but it should at least be acknowledged. All of us wouldn't be here right now otherwise so we owe you that much, and the guarantee that you'll be remembered." The adults remained silent and motionless after Jet had finished, figuring that would be the best summarization any of them would be able to come up with. Looking to the two kids and dog they saw Meifa had her hands together and her eyes closed, praying, while Ein had his head down respectfully and looking at the grave, as if giving a silent speech himself. Only Ed chose to put her thoughts into words.

"Ed is sad that Arnold person is gone and is going to miss him, but Ed is proud he managed to do so many good deeds and not be like every other machine man. Ed is also happy that Arnold person found his own purpose and even forgives Arnold person for making himself go BOOM to help Ed and the rest of Ed's friends." They were simple and honest statements, ones they expected from Ed. Now that the hacker had said her piece everyone's attention shifted to Ein and Meifa. After a few more moments the data dog raised his head while Meifa opened her eyes and lowered her hands before turning towards the others.

"Praying for the soul of someone like Arnold wasn't something I ever expected to do." She confessed. "It should feel odd, even wrong, but it doesn't."

"That's because you accepted him as being more then just a machine." Jet said with a slight smile. "You just said 'someone' and back on the transit car you called him a person while Skynet was a thing." Meifa gave a smile of her own before she responded.

"It just doesn't seem right to think of him that way after all he did." She stated as they made their way back to the foyer. "It would be like ignoring everyone who died fighting Skynet." She added as they entered the building. The smile on her face vanished and it looked like she had just realized something. Jet noticed it and hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was. "Jet…." She seemed hesitant to speak about it but found her voice. "…what about Kyle?" She asked. Everyone stopped and turned towards them. It was what Jet thought it was. She knew as well as he did that they couldn't leave Kyle where he was and their refusal at letting her see what had happened told her that getting him would be a gruesome task.

"Spike and I are going to go get him and take him to the Bebop." He told her. He wasn't about to lie to her. Yes he had intended to pull a fast one on both her and Ed but he wouldn't have lied about it. "Everyone else is going to stay in this part of the base, no exceptions." He added sternly, looking at Ed. "That means we'll be spending the night here but the recovery room has plenty of beds while the food and water in the kitchen should still be good if we need it. Do whatever you want, SAFELY…" He made sure to emphasize the last word while still looking at Ed. "…until we get back. Everyone understand?" He asked. He knew he could count on John and Faye to be with him and Meifa nodded an affirmative. That only left…

"Ed will have all sorts of neat and swooky toys to keep Ed busy!" She said excitedly. She knew that whatever had happened to big brother Kyle had really upset everyone, even Faye Faye, and they didn't want that to happen to her. They were afraid to let her see him and she didn't want to make all of them upset again by trying to so she might as well fool around with all the complex and possibly fragile equipment in this place and have some fun.

"Then let's get this over with." Jet replied and motioned for Spike to follow him. After the two of them had left Ed spoke up.

"Now it's time for Ed to perform all sorts of mechanical mischief and mayhem for one and all!" She announced and began walking in an almost random direction. "Please form one line behind Ed and no pushing. Plenty of fun for everyone!" She promised.

"Not me." Faye said, making Ed stop in her tracks and everyone to turn and look at her. "I've had enough excitement for one day. If anyone wants me I'll be right here." She said as she sat down on one of the faded but still surprisingly comfortable couches facing outside, using the arm of the furniture to rest her wounded limb on.

"Uh oh! Looks like Faye Faye is turning back into a sourpuss. That means Doctor Ed needs to find a new cure!" Faye slumped slightly and grumbled something unintelligible.

"There'll be time enough for that later Ed." John intervened. "Right now though you said something about mischief and mayhem?" He asked, sounding like he was eager to see what she had in mind. He kind of was since she had never actually seen her go all out when left to her own devices and if what she had done to Skynet in Cheyenne was any indication it would definitely be amusing. Besides, if Faye really wanted to be left alone for a while she deserved it.

"Mischief and mayhem and all sorts of fun!" Ed answered. "All of Ed's specialties on display for the price of one!" She sang as she led the way followed closely by the others, all of them making sure to walk slowly to accommodate John's slower pace on his crutches. Once she heard them get out of earshot Faye let out a sigh, relieved to get some peace and quiet after everything that had happened. She stared out the now tinted windows as the sun go closer and closer to the horizon, lost in her own thoughts.

Much later in a deeper part of the base another sort of peace and quiet was in effect, only this one was born out the fact that neither Spike nor Jet saw anything worth talking about with what they were about to do. The entire long transit ride had been silent, and now after walking for almost twenty minutes the silence was beginning to get to Spike.

"So you ever work cleanup?" He asked, deciding to keep any conversation partially on the task at hand.

"No." Jet answered without looking at him. "I was around for a lot of it but I never actually had to do anything. You?"

"I just made sure the bodies were there. Getting rid of them was somebody else's problem." Spike answered in a nonchalant tone. "I always thought guys like that were kind of weird though. Wanting to come to work everyday and do your job when it's something like this? Someone who actually wants to hang around dead bodies can't have all their poker chips."

"They always did seem a little…off to me." Jet agreed. They walked in silence for ten more minutes, following the map MPU had transferred to Spike's communicator. He had been able to reestablish contact with Kyle's and it hadn't moved since it's last transmission so it would lead them right to him. They still had a ways to go so Jet decided to keep their minds off what they would have to do for a few more minutes.

"So what did you hear?" He asked Spike out of nowhere.

"Hear what?" Was Spike's response, not having any idea what Jet was talking about.

"When Faye almost punched out John a second time you said you were able to hear something we hadn't. Three words that showed that John wasn't going to be on Faye's shit list, which I still find hard to believe I might add."

"Oh that." Spike replied with a smirk spreading across his face. "You'll get it once you hear them." He added before answering the question. "I managed to hear 'Bowlingballs' and 'Uncontrollable tilting'." Jet looked over at Spike in amazement. In regards to carrying Faye John had said something like that, not to mention all the other things they couldn't hear? As the realization hit him Jet actually let out a laugh.

"I see what you mean. If we ever said something like that she'd try and shoot us." He said then paused as he realized something. "Well if that doesn't prove she likes him nothing will." He added with a second laugh. Faye never took jokes at her expense very well, dirty jokes especially. Considering just what kind of things John must have told her she had then opted only to try and give him a broken nose? The implications were just too funny not to be amused by them.

The amusement didn't last very long as the two of them turned down a particularly long tunnel, one that ended in a collapsed roof. Looking towards one side they saw Kyle, still hanging motionless on the wall. Walking up to the body they got a good look at just what Skynet had done to him, and to neither of their surprise it was even worse up close then through the pictures they had seen. He had long since stopped bleeding but his wounds, his face especially, were still very bloody and raw.

"Your call on how to do this." Spike told Jet as the latter unfolded the body bag they got at the morgue onto the floor and opened it. That task done he took a good look at where the rebar had been placed before making his decision.

"Hold onto his head while I get the top two. We'll work our way out from there." He said, reaching into his back pocket, brining out two pairs of medical gloves and tossing one to Spike. "Always pays to be prepared." He said simply. Spike put the gloves on without any remarks. He knew that they would make it easier for them to handle the body.

Kyle wasn't that far off the ground so they were both able to reach his head, Spike holding it steady while after closing Kyle's eyes Jet reached up farther and grabbed the spear of rebar in the forehead with both hands. Subtlety wasn't an option here so Jet simply yanked back on the metal as hard as he could. It took a couple of tries but he was able to finally yank it clear from the wall. As hardened as the two of them were they both still flinched away when the rebar came free, not wanting to think about the sound it made, or what might still be on it. Jet quickly tossed the first piece aside and grabbed the second at Kyle's throat, forcing himself to look at the damaged neck and not the large hole that was in the man's forehead. It took roughly the same amount of force to get the second one out as the first.

"Let his head go." Jet told Spike as he threw the second piece away. "Slowly." Spike nodded in understanding. With all the damage done to the neck there was a real possibility that it might not support the weight of Kyle's head. Spike began slowly lowering Kyle's head until it was resting on his chest, looking down. He then carefully took his hands away and to both of their relief it didn't move after that. "Next we take out these three." He explained pointing to three specific pieces.

"You want to try to slide him off after that?" Spike asked, getting a good idea of what Jet was planning to do. The three he had pointed to were the pieces highest in Kyle's chest. Leaving the other two would support the body's weight but there would be less resistance if they tried to pull the body itself off.

"Yeah." Was Jet's only answer. The two went to work and it wasn't long before they had the three pieces removed and ready for what was sure to be the worst part of this thing. "On three." Jet said as he and Spike reached up, each grabbing one side of Kyle's belt and using their other hand to grab him by his vest underneath his arms. Both of them braced a foot against the wall, knowing this was not going to be easy, in any sense of the word. "One…two…three!" He said and both of them pulled back as hard as they could. It took more force then they thought it would but slowly and steadily Kyle's body slid down the rebar and after a several moments of furious pulling he finally came loose. They stumbled slightly but were able to keep their balance and carried Kyle over to the body bag, laying him on his back. As he zipped it closed Jet couldn't help but feel what a waste it was, someone like Kyle dieing like this while the corrupt brass lived on. If there was any sort of offset it was that Kyle had proven that he was a better man then any of them would ever become.

"Well…let's get going." Spike stated simply as he grabbed the handles located by Kyle's feet. Jet said nothing and grabbed the second set of handles near the head. With a slight grunt in effort the two of them lifted the body bag and began their long walk to the surface.

Faye didn't know how long she had been staring out the window watching the sun go down. All she knew was it was now halfway over the horizon, covering the sky and desert with an interesting assortment of reds, oranges and purples. It was very nice to look at and in a way kind of relaxing. She could see why they had made this little setup to being with, relaxed and quiet patients were less troublesome ones. She should have known better then to have a thought like that because less then a second after she did she heard a clacking sound coming towards her from behind. She recognized it as John's crutches and for a moment she thought he was going to being Ed back here to help 'cure her of being a sourpuss' but she noticed that then only sound she heard was of the crutches.

"Nice view." She heard John comment from behind her. Turning around slightly she saw him moving towards the opposite end of the couch she was on. "Mind if I sit down?" He asked. Faye gave him an almost bored shrug and motioned towards the empty seat before turning back to look out the window. "Thanks." She heard him say before setting his crutches on the ground with a clatter along with an odd sounding clunk. He then plopped himself onto the cushion with a sigh, happy to be off his feet for a moment.

"So Jet and Spike are back?" Faye asked, already knowing the answer to her own question. John wouldn't be here without Ed, Meifa, and Ein unless someone else was here to watch them. "Guess time flies when you're waiting." She remarked, watching the sun slide a little bit lower.

"Kind of." John replied. "Jet said that if it had taken them twenty more minutes they wouldn't have been able to make it back to the ship. That wouldn't have been pleasant." Faye didn't say anything but silently agreed with him. They would have had to bring the body here to put it in the morgue, then carry it out to the Bebop in full view of everyone. Faye had accepted death as being a part of the profession but she really didn't want to be reminded of it anymore today.

"So what did you and the kids do on your little field trip?" Faye asked, wanting to get her mind away from thoughts like that.

"Found out some very interesting things." John answered. There was silence for a few moments as he didn't elaborate. Starting to become annoyed Faye turned to John and found him still looking out the window. After a beat he turned to look at here. "What?" He asked, sounding for all the world like he didn't know what she was giving him such a dirty look for.

"Such as…." She prompted, trying to sound like she just wasn't going to let him get away with teasing her then actually wanting to know.

"Well for starters did you know that surgical robots can make some pretty good shadow puppets?" He asked as if that were asking of they thought red made a nice car color. She looked at him dumbfounded for a moment before he continued. "How about if you mix the right medicines and common chemicals you get something that smells like pancakes, gives off purple smoke and eats right through the floor?" Now Faye was looking at him like he was either lying or crazy. "Or that it's possible to reprogram a heart monitor to actually yodel?" Faye gave a slight hiccup of laughter at the absurdity of that one despite her best efforts not to.

"All right I'm calling bullshit on the last one. Not even Ed could do something like that." Faye protested, trying very hard not to start laughing at the thought of a yodeling heart monitor.

"After all the stuff we've seen her do you think something like that would be hard for Ed?" John asked seriously. Faye found herself unable to answer. Between her genius and outright insanity Ed did seem capable of doing almost anything. "Spike and Jet got back before she could but the last thing she was about to show us how to get stuff you'd never think could explode in a microwave to go, and I quote her, 'KABLOOIE!'" He said the last word in a high pitched voice and threw his arms up like a child imitating an explosion. This time Faye couldn't help herself and actually started laughing. John's smiled broadly at her reaction, happy to see the improvement of her mood.

"And what's with that look?" Faye suddenly asked accusingly when she noticed his new expression. "Oh I see. Getting me to laugh letting you see something you like is it?" She asked, switching gears to a still miffed but almost seductive tone, then moving her slung arm slightly so she gave off a much more noticeable 'bounce' then she would have just laughing.

"WHAT?! NO!" John protested, his face turning bright red before he looked away from the 'show' in embarrassment. "It was just nice to see you actually smile after all the shit you've been through!" He told her. Faye had no doubt about the honesty of that statement. Even though she could tell he wanted to look he didn't out of decency. She didn't find it surprising he wanted to look though, he was a normal male after all. In fact for the first time in a long while she actually found it, somewhat embarrassingly, very flattering that someone wanted to look at her since it wasn't just as a set of boobs and a pretty face but as a whole person. The fact that he was truly glad to see her feeling better while completely ignoring his own, much more serious condition was even more flattering. It was kind of sweet actually, but she'd be damned if she was ever going to even imply she thought something like that to anyone.

"Well since it was in the name of chivalry I guess it can be forgiven this once. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. I might just get the impression that you're doing it just so you can sneak peeks and ogle me every chance you get!" She warned him in an angry, very icy tone. She saw his shoulders hunch slightly at the rebuke and he didn't turn back to look at her, looking stung that she would think of him like that. "Then again it would prove that you have excellent taste." She added teasingly. John sat up straight and turned towards her, looking halfway between amused and angry that she had successfully made him the butt of a joke like that.

"You can be a real bitch you know that?" He asked after a moment, though with a teasing tone of his own.

"That's the Faye we all know and love." Faye quoted him, never losing the triumphant smile on her face.

"Yeah, we love you for pulling stuff like that." He responded sarcastically. Figuring saying stuff like that would be useless, especially since the look on Faye's face more or less said 'And don't expect me to stop acting like a bitch, it's too much fun.' he decided to play up to her other instincts. "Well I was going to share my discovery with you but after that I don't think you deserve it." He added, sounding like he was seriously debating whether or not to share his surprise with her and that it was something she really, really would have wanted to see.

"Just what makes you think you found something here that I'd be interested in?" Faye asked, her curiosity evident but wary that it might be some kind of practical joke he and Ed cooked up. The fact he would be interested in payback for her own little joke made her even more cautious.

"Well it isn't money." John explained as he reached over the side of the couch to where he put his crutches down. "Any leftover in this place wouldn't be Woolongs so they'd be worthless, and everything here is too outdated to sell at a good price. So that left the final option of the three things you get your hands on, if Spike and Jet are telling the truth." Faye narrowed her eyes slightly but John ignored it. "Besides, it is something you asked for earlier so I figured you'd want it." Faye raised an eyebrow, not recalling asking for anything, and watched as he lifted up a fair sized amber colored bottle and held it out so she could see it. "Now since you weren't playing nice…" He didn't get a chance to finish as Faye, with speed he wouldn't have expected with her injuries, leaned over and snatched the bottle out of his hand before he could respond. He looked at is empty hand in surprise for a moment before looking over at Faye, who was studying the bottle's label.

"Cognac? Here?" She said to herself, not believing a dump like this would have such high-class booze. "Bottled in 1998…distilled in 1962!" She exclaimed as she read the label then looked over at John. "Where did you find this?" She asked a split second before she decided she didn't care, placing the bottle between her legs and using her one good hand to work on the top.

"In one of the offices when we were poking around." John explained, trying not to laugh at the sight of Faye opening the bottle with the enthusiasm of a kid opening their Christmas presents. "Inside a box labeled 'Open only in case of emergency.'" He added, this time chuckling.

"Good to see someone had the brains to think ahead." Faye remarked as she finally got the top off. "And just who do we have to thank for this?" She asked, picking up the bottle.

"Your little gift today comes courtesy of one W. Bennet." John answered.

"Well thank you Mr. W. Bennet." Faye said, raising the bottle in a mock toast before taking a long pull from it. After finishing her drink she took another appreciative look at the bottle. "They sure knew how to make em back then." She remarked before offering the bottle to John. He took it without any protest, even though he had stated it was meant to be solely for her. Taking a long drink himself he found that Faye was right. It was incredibly smooth and actually tasted pretty good.

"You know you could have made a small fortune off of this." He told her as he handed the bottle back.

"Win some lose some." Was Faye's only response before taking a second drink and handing it back to John. It was passed back and forth a few more times as they sat there watching the sun disappear over the horizon. "So what happens to you now?" Faye asked once the stars and shattered moon started to come into view.

"Don't really know." John answered truthfully. "Between the men Skynet killed and what he did to me half of my unit is gone and I'm not sure if they'll let us keep operating. I just hope the guys have enough time to destroy the plasma rifles if they do decide to disband it. Of course I got other problems to deal with first." He glanced down at his knee. "No matter what I do I'm going to be laid up for a while, there's no way they'd put me in the field like this."

"So you're just going to mope about it?" Faye challenged in an almost angry manner. After surviving all of this she was not going to let him descend into self-pity.

"That wouldn't accomplish anything." John answered, to Faye's relief, as he took another drink. "I guess I can use the time to visit mom and uncle Bob. There's a lot of catching up we have to do." He said as he passed the bottle back to Faye. After a moment of thought he turned towards her. "You guys should come up and see them to. All of you, Meifa to if she wants to go." Faye paused in bringing the bottle up to her lips and looked over at John in surprise. An invitation like that wasn't something she had expected to hear.

"I thought that the Red Dragons put the two of them in that expensive resort so they didn't talk to anyone." Faye stated. Though that was true she used it to cover up her own feeling of unease at meeting John's family.

"Yeah, well there's a thing about my family." He said with a proud grin. "We don't really like people telling us what to do when we don't like it." Now Faye was looking at him with interest. This had to be good. "The Dragons got a lot more lenient on its communication and visitation policy after they sent a couple of thugs over to remind them after mom made a call to her family she 'wasn't supposed to.' Mom broke one guy's jaw clean in half and uncle Bob tossed the second through a window into a dumpster." Faye snickered, it had been a good one alright. "For some reason there hasn't been any problems since then." He added with a casual shrug. Faye laughed again, if nothing else John's family was certainly interesting. But that little story also gave her a way out.

"I'd better not go then if I don't want to be tossed in a dumpster." She said in a humorous tone. John's response was to give her a funny, slightly confused look. "Someone like me hanging around their son and nephew? I'm not exactly the girl next-door you know." She reminded him.

"Pffft. Neither was mom when dad first met her." John snorted. " 'The girl next-door is boring. It's the wild one down the street that you should go after.'" He said, sounding like he was reciting it from memory. Now it was Faye's turn to give him a funny look. "Uncle Bob said that's how dad used to reply whenever someone asked him why a cop would want to marry someone like mom." The corners of Faye's mouth quirked upwards slightly. "Come on they'll love you guys. After hearing so much about you they practically know you already." He said going back to his sales pitch. Faye knew about that from finding out about Ed's call to them before. Seeing that he wasn't going to give up she finally answered.

"Fine, we'll go visit when we have the time." She said, doing her best to sound frustrated as well as final with her answer.

"Good to know you speak for everyone." John remarked, smiling. Faye gave him a glare but took another drink of the Cognac so she wouldn't have to answer. They sat there for the rest of the night, slowly draining the bottle but neither one of them feeling like they were getting particularly drunk, while actually having civil conversations about things like movies.

Unnoticed by either of them a Welsh Corgi was standing around the corner in a hallway not that far behind them, watching and listening to the conversation with interest. Ein had been very careful that he hadn't been seen or heard while sneaking up on them. He had gone off on his own but knew he'd be tapped as playing the spy to see just what would happen if Faye and John were left alone. He normally would have respected their right to privacy but he was very curious to see what would happen between the two of them in light of the past couple of days. The conversation had been teasing for the most part but not at all confrontational. Once the alcohol had come out he expected it to get more emotional but things had stayed calm. Still, there were some very telling things he noticed. When Faye had asked John what would happen to him now that this little adventure was over she had done her best to make it sound like she was just curious. Ein couldn't be sure about John but he had easily heard the worry in her voice about what might come next. She was honestly concerned about what might happen to John, and he knew enough about humans to know that in this case it was deeper then normal worry. Then there was the attempt to get out of the invitation John had given. Again he couldn't speak for the human (not in English anyway) but he could see the reasons for Faye's reluctance. She was actually worried about what John's mother and uncle would think of her, and what effect those thoughts would have on John. She had never given two shits about what anybody thought about her since Ein had known her and if she was now there was definitely something deeper behind it.

John's efforts had been just as clandestine in attempt but also just as obvious to Ein as Faye's had been. His effort to make Faye smile at Ed's antics, all of which he had witnessed himself, and the modesty at her…expressive teasing showed just how much he thought of her. Yes he might have liked her looks but that was only a very small part of it. He liked her far more as a person and his concern for her over his own troubles, and other things if that blush was any indication, showed that. The second and most obvious was when he had extended his invitation for the Bebop crew to come and visit. Ein didn't need to have his super intellect to see that while he honestly wanted all of them to come it was Faye's answer he was most concerned about. When she had expressed reluctance he could see the shift in John's body language and tone of voice that showed just how worried he was at the thought of her rejecting the offer. Not the others, just her. When he pressed on and she agreed he sounded relieved when he spoke again. He honestly didn't know how the two humans weren't picking this stuff up themselves while they talked to each other. Giving it some thought he realized that perhaps they were, and they just didn't want to acknowledge it to the outside world, even when they thought nobody was looking. Then again it could just be the Cognac was making them drunker then they thought and they were truly oblivious. Either way once the conversation turned to more mundane things Ein knew he wouldn't hear anything else of use so he turned and walked back to the recovery ward to report in.

The recovery ward itself shared the same dull setup as any other hospital, beds on both sides with basic monitoring next to each ready for use and a small lane bisecting the room. Meifa and Ed currently sat on adjoining beds, Ed having her computer on and showing Jet and Spike, who stood in the lane near them, just how to make a floor polisher reach speeds some racer car drivers would be jealous of. Off to the side they heard the sound of a door being pushed opened and all looked to see Ein walk in.

"So are they hitting it off?" Spike asked with a smirk as the dog made his way over to Meifa's bed and hopped up onto it. Ignoring the question for a moment Ein lied down and made himself comfortable before giving an energetic bark. Everyone could tell it was an affirmative. It had been Spike that had noticed Ein following John when he left to find Faye after they had gotten back, following at a distance that wouldn't let John hear him. Ed had begun to call Ein back but Spike had stopped her, saying that Ein was going to go find out some interesting things people couldn't. They wouldn't be able to learn everything from a dog of course but they would be able to get a few good details.

"They're not going to end up almost killing each other are they?" Jet asked next, only partially joking. After seeing how those two acted when they were being 'nice' to each other he wouldn't put it past them to end up needing more medical attention later. Ein tilted his head slightly as if to say 'maybe' and Jet decided that was good enough. If they weren't acting rough now they probably wouldn't be. "They're drinking the booze aren't they?" He put in as an afterthought. Ein gave a snort that was easily interpreted as a 'What do you think?' and Jet sighed. Drinking alcohol when you're seriously wounded was never a good idea but that didn't seem to stop the two dopes that were now doing it.

"Hitting it off and getting drunk." Spike said with a small laugh. "I think we're going to need to assign a chaperone, with a bucket of cold water." Jet groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, more at Spike making a joke like that in front of the kids then the information that John and Faye were drinking. But he had to remind himself that the two of them probably had heard things like that before and knew exactly what they meant. The gigantic grin on Ed's face accompanied by Meifa's smaller and oddly approving smile confirmed it.

"They can handle themselves just fine." Jet finally said, not trying to flinch at the innuendos he had inadvertently made with that statement. Spike on the other hand had no problem snickering despite the glare Jet sent him. "It's their business so we're going to leave them alone. We'll deal with it in the morning. Until then, everyone try to get comfortable as you can and get some sleep. We'll be leaving as soon as it's light enough to fly the Bebop out safely." No one verbally responded but Ed hopped off of bed she was sitting on and walked out the door without a word or looking back. The others watched her go, with various levels of confusion before exchanging glances with each other.

"Do we even…?" Spike began.

"Probably better that we don't know." Jet answered. Spike shrugged and made his way over to an empty bed while Meifa laid down with Ein curling up next to her. Jet walked over to the light switch and turned it off before taking one of the beds closest to the doors. Despite the unfamiliar surrounding and the day of hell all of them had been put thorough in less than an hour all of them were asleep, their dreams thankfully not plagued by nightmares. Meanwhile Ed had taken Jet's advice to heart, making herself comfortable and was now sleeping soundly, inside the base's MRI machine.

Neither Faye nor John even remembered falling asleep, let alone how long they were out. The only thing both knew that was one minute they were both looking out at the stars talking and the next there was this impossibly bright flash that seemed to blind both of them, even though they both had their eyes closed.

"Nnnggg." John groaned as he put his arms up to block the source of the light, even though it had already faded. Next to him Faye let out a similar sounding groan and matched John's movement with her good arm.

"And that Ed is how you take the perfect blackmail picture." They heard Spike's voice cheerfully thunder through their ears, both instantly becoming aware that it felt like someone was trying to hammer their way out of their skulls from the inside. "I think we'll call it 'Rummies in repose'." He added, giving a fresh barrage of earsplitting noise to his two hung over teammates.

"Don't yell…! UHHHNNN!" Faye started to snap but needed to stop as her own voice sounded like it came shrieking out of a megaphone next to her head at full blast. She grabbed her forehead with her good hand while John grabbed both of his ears and let out an identical groan, the sound of Faye's partial outburst making the drums in his own head double in tempo, and triple in volume.

"What the…" John tried to say quietly but found even that wasn't soft enough, making the drums get even louder, so he just decided to open his eyes and see what the hell was going on. Slowly he managed to get them open, but for some reason everything looked really bright and extremely fuzzy. He could make out several people standing in front of him but other then formless blobs he couldn't make out any details.

"Will someone adjust the reception?" He heard Faye groan. Looking next to him she saw Faye had opened her eyes as well. He could see her eyes were open and trying to look at the people in front of them but she had as much luck as he did so she decided to look at him instead. Being less then three feet away made Faye's face easier to see and what John saw were a pair of bleary, slightly bloodshot eyes with an expression that screamed 'out of it' written all over her face topped off with a mussed up head of purple hair. Across from him Faye was getting a good look at an equally disheveled, spaced out looking John, complete with dull bloodshot eyes. Both of them slowly realized what all this meant and her brain was the slightly less sluggish one. "We're smashed." She told him dully, making sound like both a question and a statement at the same time.

"Well what did you expect?" Jet's voice boomed, thankfully not as loud as Spike's, but still enough to make them flinch. "That wasn't exactly tea you two were drinking." After cringing for a moment at the noise John and Faye looked down at the center cushion of the couch where the bottle of Cognac was laying. The completely empty bottle of Cognac. Both looked at the empty container slightly wide-eyed. It was a good sized bottle that was probably meant for more then two people yet they had managed to finish it off in the space of several hours.

"Should we be proud of this?" John asked Faye, starting to get his wits back but still sounding like he didn't know which answer would be the positive one.

"Only if we don't throw up." Faye moaned in response.

"Good thing you didn't." Spike interjected. "That would have made a lousy picture." Both of them flinched at the hangover induced volume jump then slowly, very slowly, began to process just what that statement meant. Looking back in front of them John and Faye's eyes had cleared enough to make out certain details. Ed was standing at the very front of the group, Tomato held in front of her, while Spike and Jet stood to the sides. Behind them Meifa stood with Ein at her feet. Jet was frowning at them while Spike and Ed were grinning almost evilly. Ein was smiling from ear to ear as well but it was hard to tell if it was just because he found what he saw funny or from the grief that the two were getting for it. Meifa's smile was even more confusing. It was one that showed she was genuinely happy, and both of them knew it wouldn't be at the sight of them in this state. Then what could she actually be happy about?

"He said blackmail at the beginning." John groaned as he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms to clear his vision better. He sounded unsure of himself, like he was trying to get a conformation from Faye and not trusting his own stupor-addled memory.

"He'll do it to." Faye sighed, looking down at the floor and making John's hope he had been hearing things evaporate.

"Well maybe I will." Spike said, making the 'maybe' sound like 'Why would you think I wouldn't?', which made them worry. "But it is technically Ed's picture so she has the final say if it goes onto the net." He continued, proving that indeed things could still get far worse for them. The two turned to Ed with the looks of someone pleading not to be executed.

"Ed thinks Faye Faye and big brother John made a very good picture and everyone would love to see it." She stated, ignoring the horrified looks from Faye and John. Before either of them could start to protest, or in more likelihood beg, Ed kept on going. "But Ed also thinks picture people want to see how good they look before everyone else does so Ed will give Faye Faye and big brother John an extra special preview!" she announced loudly, causing the two on the couch to flinch again, closing their eyes and covering their ears. What their alcohol sharpened hearing also allowed them to hear was a soft beep coming from Tomato, telling them that Ed was now displaying the picture for them. The two looked at each other's faces in anxiousness for a moment, then sighed as they realized there was no getting around this and turned to look at the picture, prepared for the worst…and got a surprise when they actually saw it.

They had expected to see one of any number of embarrassing things in the photo, ranging from idiotic posing and pranks from Ed and Spike to the sight of them having fallen asleep in awkward positions. It would have been embarrassing enough if they had just fallen asleep leaning against each other, that would have provided no end to the jokes they would have heard. It would have been worse if John had ended up doing something like ending up with his face lying on Faye's chest, or on the flipside if Faye had fallen asleep and ended up lying facedown on John's lap. If either of those things had happened literally neither of them would have ever heard the end of it. Compared to what the picture could have been what was actually there was kind of…tame.

Of course it wasn't flattering by any means either. Both of them were still on opposite sides of the couch, no closer to each other then they had been when they were awake. They were both slumped down slightly, but not sliding off the couch either. John had his chin resting on his chest with his head leaning to the right, his upper body almost hanging over the couch's arm. Faye had her head tilted back over the top of the couch, mouth wide open. It was easy to tell from the looks on their faces they had been unquestionably drunk and both of them were noticeably drooling. The empty bottle of Cognac lay in the middle, both their hands grasping it. No puke, no inappropriately placed body parts, and no evidence of anything happening that shouldn't have.

"That wasn't funny." Faye growled, glaring daggers at Spike, who was still smiling at the two of them. She'd used better material then that before on some of her bounty hunts. Low-level flunkies always talked easier if you showed them a picture of something like them passed out with their head in a toilet.

"Real great blackmail." John added with a growl of his own. "I've helped break up frat parties that looked a lot worse then that." Spike didn't loose his near evil smile, and neither did Ed.

"If you think that then you're not looking hard enough." Spike said cryptically. They looked at him blankly, neither of them getting it.

"Images in images. Truth to be told in the most itty bitty detail." Ed chanted. John and Faye looked on in confusion when Ed began pointing to one particular part of the picture. "Look and see what the all seeing Ed can see!" She challenged. Faye and John concentrated (squinted actually) on where Ed was pointing, the empty bottle, but couldn't tell what she meant. Then as their vision slowly began to focus they began to see things in greater detail. They weren't grabbing the bottle in an attempt to take it from the other, in fact it was being ignored. What they had missed the first time they had looked was that the two of them were holding hands! Add to it that despite the fact they were drunk both of them looked to be sleeping contently, it gave more then a couple of hints that neither of them really wanted to be publicly known. John's response was to bury his face in his hands, though it did him little good as his ears were now a deep red. Faye faired no better, slumping down in an attempt to disappear in-between the couch cushions while covering her face with her good hand, utterly failing to hide the fact she had turned as deep a shade of red as John.

"Told you it would make good blackmail material." Spike told them, trying his best not to laugh.

"Ed doesn't understand what's so bad about it." Ed chimed in. "Ed thinks Faye Faye and big brother John look cute like that." Ein barked several times in agreement while John and Faye both groaned in unison, much louder and even more dejected sounding then before.

"You don't like looking cute, don't get drunk when there's someone with a camera around the two of you." Jet told them. The two of them looked up and glared at Jet, who was now half smiling at them. "You'll get coffee and aspirin once we're in orbit so I suggest you get moving if you want those headaches to go away." Faye flinched and John sighed, each of them imagining what it would be like to fly back to the Bebop, then getting out of the canyon and into the orbit of a planet like this, while still thoroughly hung over.

"I think sitting here and dying would be easier." Faye grumbled, but she used her good arm to push herself off the couch. Every muscle in her body, especially her wounds, let her know just what a bad idea moving was in her condition. "Unnnnnnn!" She groaned as she lurched to her feet. She swayed unsteadily for a moment before finding her balance and looking over to John. He was having a harder time getting up then she did. With only one good leg he needed to pull himself up using his crutches and keep himself balanced while he was able to shift them underneath his arms. He had managed to grab the crutches and stand them up in front of him but Faye could see he was going to struggle to get to his feet without support. Not waiting to see if the others would help or not Faye stepped over, grabbed John underneath one arm, and lifted him with all the strength she could muster.

"Guuuuhhhhh!" It looked like John's body wasn't letting him off the hook anymore then Faye's had but he managed to stand and walk forward a little and balance himself on the crutches before he could fall flat on his face. "Thanks." He told her with a nod.

"Don't mention it." She replied, before moving right next to him, putting her arm over his shoulders and leaning against him with almost all her weight.

"Wha…?" John started to protest.

"Be quiet." Faye cut him off. "I carried you around yesterday so now you can return the favor." John looked at her for a moment before shaking his head in resignation. "Now get going. I need coffee and a shower." She ordered. John sighed and shook his head again.

"Where's the ride?" He asked Jet, ignoring look he, and everyone else, were giving the two of them.

"Flight attendant Ed will show our lucky contestants their first class flight ready to take them to their wonderful destination." Ed said, announcing it like they were getting ready to leave on a first class vacation. Placing Tomato on top of her head Ed began marching towards the exit to the foyer, Ein falling in beside her. Faye and John followed, walking awkwardly but with as much dignity as their hung over movements would allow, still pretending that the looks everyone else was giving them were just figments of their imagination. The last three let them go outside first and waited a few moments before following to make sure any conversation they had wouldn't be heard.

"Well at least one good thing came out of all this." Jet commented as he watched Faye and John both support and almost knock each other over at the same time as they staggered forward. With all the death and loss that had been inflicted in the past few days, it was good to see something truly positive emerge from the experience.

"Two good things." Meifa amended, causing Jet and Spike to look back to her. "What Arnold managed to become. He showed that things aren't chained to fate and they can make their own, for the better if they choose to." She was right of course. Arnold had been created as nothing more then a mindless, utterly ruthless killing machine but thanks to Ed giving him the ability to make a choice he had managed move beyond something so simplistic.

"A terminator learning the value of human life." Spike remarked, before letting out a small laugh. "Yeah, that's something I definitely didn't see coming."

"Maybe that means there's hope for the rest of us." Jet added. Before Spike or Meifa could offer a response they all heard Faye shriek 'WHAT?!' and looked ahead just in time to see Faye step away from John a split second before slapping him over the back of the head. It wasn't that hard of a slap but in his current state it was enough to send John pitching forward, keeping a grip on his crutches but looking like it was certain he was about to get a face full of dirt. He would have, if Faye hadn't grabbed his arm, almost making herself fall on top of him in the process, and yanked him upward. That in turn almost made the two of them fall flat on their backs but after a moment of stumbling they were able to right themselves and kept walking as if nothing had happened, Faye's arm back around John's back and now her head on his shoulder. Ed laughed and clapped at the almost wipeout while Ein let out a series of rapid barks that sounded like a cross between cheering and laughter. The other three just watched in silence for a moment before Spike put in his two cents.

"I'm going to guess no." He said in a way that made it very hard to determine if he was kidding as he watched Faye and John limp ahead. Jet let out a huff of laughter but didn't say anything.

"There's always hope." Meifa replied, smiling as she watched the two. Jet and Spike exchanged glances before Spike gave a small shrug, which Jet returned, before starting towards the transport. After all the things they had seen, who were they to determine what was possible and what wasn't?

A/N:

Thus concludes the trilogy. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading it and I'd like to give my apologies to everyone for the incredibly long time it took to get this final story out, as well as my thanks to those to stuck with it for all this time. Dividing my time between this and my other story, which came after the real world giving me such a first rate ass-whupping it actually killed my drive to write for quite a long while, had it come out nowhere near as quickly as it should have. I offer no excuses, just explanations. A writer needs to be just as loyal to their readers as they are to them and in that regard I failed miserably. I can only hope that my negligence didn't drive away as many fans of this series as I fear it might have, and that the ones that are still here don't hold it against me. Though I would not be at all surprised and understand completely if they did. On the brighter side of things being able to concentrate solely on one story for the time being (until another batch of inspiration hits me at least) will enable me to complete it at a faster rate then has been the case recently.

Again many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and enjoy these three stories. I hope you continue to enjoy my other story as well if you are inclined to read it. And another round of special thanks to long time readers who have stayed with me this entire time, it's people like you that make writing worthwhile.