Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ In The Middle of The NightII ❯ chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

In The Middle of The Night II

By: Setryochi

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Faye woke up yet again alone. Last night couldn't have been a dream! But wouldn't Spike have remembered? Wouldn't he be confused as to why he was waking up in her bed after falling asleep on his own?

Faye was now sitting in the living room pondering the events of the past two nights. She had to find something to prove that he was there to make sure she wasn't just going crazy. Then she had to find out why he was doing this.

The idea just hit her!

She would need Ed's help with this one.

* *

"We have a new bounty." came Jets voice as he walked into the main room.

Faye looked up at him as he sat a piece of paper down on the table in front of her.

"A new bounty, huh?" Spike entered the room in a pair of faded maroon pants and a white T-shirt, all of which was covered in grease and other stains.

Faye studied Spike for a while, if he remembered wouldn't he show at least a little bit of discomfort when around her? Maybe he did remember but he was just really good at hiding that he knew something. Maybe he just didn't remember, though.

"This guy was seen in libraries?" Spike raised his eyebrow.

Faye looked up to Jet; she could pretend she was paying attention. "So where is he supposed to be going next?"

Jet looked down at her, "We aren't quit sure, he was last seen in a library here on Venus. When he left the library was demolished." Jet shrugged, "He blows up big libraries, and nobody knows why."

Spike shrugged, "I'm out, doesn't sound like very much fun."

Jet ignored Spike and continued, "There's another library on Venus, I think he might be going to that one."

"How much?" Faye asked.

"6 million." Jet handed Faye a paper with his description.

"Well, since Spike isn't helping, we can split it 3 million for each of us." Faye smirked standing to get ready.

Spike scowled, "You'll have to split it 2 million for each of us."

Faye turned on her heal, "Not if you aren't helping."

"Who says I'm not?"

Faye's eyebrows knitted together, "Whatever." Turning back around she walked away to get the key to her starship. She would change her clothes also.

"You'll have to wear something appropriate for this one, Faye," Jet called walking away to the hangar to get the ships prepared to leave.

Spike strolled to his room to get dressed.

* *

Spike was drinking a beer when Faye walked out saying she was ready.

"Ok, we can go now." She stated throwing a small book carrying case over her shoulder.

Spike spit his beer out and almost chocked as it came out of his nose as well. "Ah it burns!" He bent over at the waist holding his nose.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked Jet who looked at her with shock as well.

Faye had changed her clothes and now she wore a dark blue skirt that reached down to her mid caves. She wore a long sleeved white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with a brown vest over it and a red tie under the vest. She wore black slip on shoes and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun leaving silky purple strands to fall over her face and some hung from the bun. She wore small fake glasses at the bridge of her nose and her make up was lighter and she didn't wear the red lipstick.

Spike recovered and cleared his throat. "Let's go."

Jet smirked, "Good job, now, can you be sweet and not kill anyone?"

Faye glared at him.

"Here's his picture, when you see him, pretend you're a librarian."

"I know, I know." she waved him off as she walked to the hangar with a picture of the guy they were after.

* *

Faye sat in the Red Tail; she looked over the sheet Jet had given her, "Rupert? What kind of criminal has a name like 'Rupert'?" Faye sighed and started up her ship.

She watched Spike's craft take off and she followed soon after.

The trip wasn't long; it was only a few blocks away. They parked near the library but made sure nobody noticed them. Faye walked in before Spike and he followed after. Faye stood near the front desk and tried to look calm. Spike strolled to a nearby desk and sat down with a book he copped off of a shelf. He pretended to read it while looking around for this "Rupert" fellow. His eyes landed on Faye, he just couldn't believe she was dressed like that. It was strange, and somehow she managed to make it look sexy and innocent.

Faye walked around the front desk to one of the book return carts. She grabbed it and wheeled it to a bookshelf where she made herself look busy. She tossed her bookcase into the bottom of it.

They both looked around waiting for Rupert but there was a problem. They didn't know what he looked like. He supposedly wore disguises and looked a little different every time he visited a library. Jet said Ed found some information on him but it was only a little bit. He had gray eyes and he was old with white hair. He also had a tattoo on the back of his neck but you'd have to look closely to see it because of the collar of his suit and his hair. So Faye would have to be an extremely helpful librarian and help every white haired old man she could find inside the library.

Faye bent over and placed a book on one of the bottom shelves. So far she had managed to blend in and not attract any attention. "Faye?" Spike whispered into his mic that was connected to his shirt. They both had on microphones and earpieces to talk to each other without having to look obvious.

"What?" she hissed into the mic.

Spike never let his eyes fall from the stranger who had walked into the library. "Check this guy out."

Faye looked up from her kneeled position on the floor to look for the person Spike was talking about. She watched as a man with a suit and hat on walked in. He removed his hat politely to reveal his slicked back white hair and tanned wrinkles face. He had a white mustache and bushy eyebrows decorating his features. He walked with confidence to a bookshelf near the back of the library. Faye quickly but calmly pushed the cart to the isle next to the one he was in. She pretended to be looking for the right spot the book belonged in but her eyes wondered to him curiously.

Spike watched from far away wondering if Faye would ever make a move. He watched as Faye picked a few books up out of the cart and carried them to the other side where their supposed bounty was. He wondered what she was doing but soon realized when she hastily bumped into him losing the books and letting the drop to the floor.

Faye threw on her innocent act and dropped to her knees to pick the books up apologizing to the man over and over. Kindly he knelt down and picked one of the books up for her and handed it to her as they both rose to their feet. He smiled and said, "You must be new."

Faye blushed, "Oh, well, yeah. I'm trying really hard." She laughed nervously.

"I see," he said holding his hand out, "George's the name!" He smiled kindly and his eyes squinted causing the wrinkles around them to multiply.

Faye looked and noticed the man had brown eyes and he wasn't any where near being dangerous. He was just a common visitor to the library. Faye smiled, "My name's Alice," she shook his hand and said a quick goodbye.

"He was the wrong guy!" she spoke into the mic while walking back around the shelves to grab the book return cart.

"I heard," Spike slouched into his chair with boredom.

Faye looked around over her glasses, 'where is this guy anyways?'

Faye hadn't realized it but this library has a second story to it. She watched as a shady looking fellow walked up the stairs carefully. "Watch for him down here, I'm going up stairs." Faye left the cart in the middle of the library; she took her case before following the man upstairs.

Faye made it up the stairs and searched around for him. She spotted him in the back corner facing the wall. He was awfully interested in some encyclopedias. She thought it strange and grabbed a book from a shelf and rushed over to him.

"Spike, get ready, I think I found him."

Getting closer and closer she could start to see something on the back of his neck.

"Never mind, it IS him."

The man had brown hair and was wearing a trench coat. On the back of his neck was a tattoo of a hand, the rest of the tattoo seemed to be on his back covered by his clothes. Faye smirked, she'd catch the bounty and that'd be 2 million woolongs in her pocket! She glanced around and noticed Spike coming up the stairs. He nodded to her and she nodded back.

Slowly she made her way to the bookshelf and stopped when she was next to him. "May I help you with something sir?"

The man glanced at Faye nervously, "I'm just looking for something good to read," his tone was old and worn.

Faye handed the man the book she had grabbed. "This book seems like a good one." Faye smirked.

Rupert looked at the book and read the title aloud, "Life In Prison, by, T. F. Smith." He looked up into the barrel of Faye's gun.

"Hey Rupert, honey." She said in a sexy voice.

The man glared, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't," came Spike voice.

"Who are you people?"

"Just a couple of cowboys." Spike tipped an imaginary hat.

"Cowgirl," Faye stated indicating to herself.

Rupert growled, "Bounty hunters…" Before Spike or Faye could do anything Rupert threw the book at Faye hitting her in the face, this caught Spike's attention and Rupert knocked his gun out of his hands. The glasses Faye had been wearing broke and fell but when they broke they left a long scratch down her nose. Rupert took this chance and leaped from the corner and began a sprint for the stairs. Spike grabbed his gun and ran after him while Faye recovered from the assault.

"Ow…" Faye rubbed her cheek, "That bastard!" Growling she stood up and chased him as well.

Spike had just made it down stairs when Rupert was reaching the main entrance doors. Spike stopped on the stairs and aimed for the bounty's leg. Firing one shot the bounty went down. Just as he fell Faye came running down the stairs past Spike. Spike followed slowly seeing as the bounty couldn't run. Faye made it down and when she reached him, she kneeled down and picked him up partially off the ground by his collar. "That was my FACE!" She growled. She punched him square in the nose, "Do you know what it takes to keep this beautiful face looking this good all of the time?!" She punched him in the jaw. Faye cursed several times while punching him repeatedly until Spike stopped her. When Spike finally did pull her off of the man he was covered in blood and bruises.

Cough, sputter, "I've still got bombs all over this place." The bounty grinned as best he could. He slowly pulled a small cylinder shaped item from his pocket, but fortunately before he could make anything happen, Spike stepped on his hand forcing him to let go of the device. Rupert gritted his teeth and cried out slightly as his hand was crushed.

"So why is it you blow up libraries anyway?"

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Set-chan