Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Mistress of the Syndicate ❯ Birth of a Reaper ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2 – Birth of a Reaper
Jade awoke to the pounding of her head and her body feeling sore all over. The room she was in was pitch black and it took several minutes for her eyes to adjust. For a slight moment she wondered where she was but her recent memories soon gave a clue.

The room she was in was small and was only big enough to fit a bed and a night table. She still wore her torn pajamas and badly needed a shower to wash off all the dirt. She looked like hell. Her eyes were still red from crying and she smelled of the wilderness.

A light knock broke her thoughts and she quickly stood up.

The person at the door was none other than Spike, holding a bundle of clothes in his hand. He looked a little drained, probably from lack of sleep, and had a white bandage over his injured eye.

He said nothing to her as he put the small bundle on her bed. His eyes kept to the floor in slight shame like a bad child that did something wrong. He spoke softly afraid to startle her with his words.

"There's a bathroom across the hall and towels in the top cabinet." She kept silent and distant sticking to the vow she made in her heart.

Spike stood there carefully thinking on his next choice of words. When he spoke he tried his best to sound kind hearted even if it did sound fake.

"Get a lot of rest. You'll start training tomorrow." She made no advance on his words as she stood on the far opposite wall away from Spike.

Her body was stiff and rigid and the air around her was awkward and highly unwelcoming. He took it as a sign that he was to come nowhere near her, with good reason of course.

His kindness confused her as she slightly wrapped her arms around her slim form feeling a little vulnerable.

Her words were gentle and little shaky. "Why are you being so nice to me? I don't need your pity." Her heart felt a slight pang at the recent events that flooded her mind. Jade felt the familiar sting in her eyes and her throat ached to cry out.

Surprised at her question, he then gave serious thought to an answer, but instead responded with a shrug. Spike then turned around and exited the room saying one last statement.

"It was never my intention for you to live or for you to suffer the loss of your family, and for that I'm sorry." That said, he closed the door behind him and left.

She gathered her things, and headed toward the shower. The bathroom was dimly lit with a small night light. Jade had no interest in turning on the light and blinding her bloodshot eyes, let alone seeing her terrible reflection.

She quickly stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower while discarding the dirty scrunchy from her hair. Jade slowly turned the hot nozzle and lightly turned the cold nozzle, letting the warm water wash off all the dirt and grime. The water soothed her aching muscles and took her mind off of most distractions around her. However she couldn't help have her mind drift to the green haired monster. She found shampoo and conditioner and continued her relaxing shower.

Jade got out the shower even though she wanted to stay in it forever. She made her way back to her room and went into a light slumber only to have continuous nightmares.


Jade's dream only brought more terror into her mind as she tossed and turned in her sleep. The execution of her family played over and over in her dreams. She abruptly woke from her dream in a cold sweat as her lungs ached for air.

She felt a presence in the room and her heart began to pound in her chest. She looked to her side in terror only to see the white haired devil himself. He had a satisfied smirk on his face that made Jade feel violated.

Vicious spoke softly in a slightly seductive tone.

"I saw you withering in your sleep and I decided not to wake you."

She inched away from Vicious as he made his advances towards her. He sat lightly on the edge of her mattress and stared intensely at her.

"You had a nightmare...it was very intriguing." He spoke as he tried to wipe the sweat off her brow. Jade flinched at his touch and tried to move further away from him even if it wasn't possible.

She glared at him with all the hate she possessed, however he only smirked back at her. He rose slowly speaking in a serious tone.

"Training starts in 10, and don't be late." He chuckled lightly while leaving the room making Jade sick to her stomach.

Jade quickly dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail with about 4 minutes to spare. Jade frantically looked through the rooms to find where she belonged. After three minutes Jade's actions became desperate, as she feared the consequences of her being late.

She finally made her way into a room that looked like a small dojo. Vicious sat in the middle looking as if he was meditating. Various weapons were spread across the walls, from staffs to scythes and from nun-chucks to kais.

Vicious spoke smugly to her as he rose from his spot.

"Took you long enough. Start stretching and warm yourself up. You have a long day ahead of you." She did as she was told while waiting for his response.

A young man around his early twenties ran into the semi large room gasping for breath. Vicious looked at him disgustedly and introduced him to the young girl.

"Jade, this will be your teacher from now on. You shall address him as ‘fool’ for being late." She smiled at his unintended joke.

The young man objected trying his best to be polite to his superior.

"Sir, I don't think that’s appropriate for the rookie." Vicious glared at the objective trainer and spoke quietly to him.

"Lateness will not be tolerated by you or anyone in this organization." With that said Vicious left the room leaving the two to their business. The young trainer had anger written all over his face as he walked to the middle of the room.

Unsure of what to do she followed his example and walked to the middle of the room. She didn't even see his fist coming towards her as it made strong contact with her stomach. Jade fell down in utter shock and pain and looked at the man before her in hatred.

He brought his foot back preparing to kick her while she was down. Although seeing this coming, Jade did nothing to defend herself. His kick to her face was harder than she anticipated as she was thrown back a couple of feet. Jade rose to her feet despite her jaw feeling like a car wreck.

Her trainer smirked and ran towards her, his knee making contact with her lower ribs. The blow wasn't hard enough to break anything but made Jade groan in pain.

Jade's expression was blank, blood from her lip fell to her white shirt and bruises already started to form on her body. Her body protested her movement, but she stood once more. The man continued to take out his anger on the young girl and Jade still did nothing but accept the brutal punishment.

The man curled his fist ready to make contact with her face until he was interrupted by someone’s words.

"Is this how you train all your students or is she just your favorite?"

Jade turned to see Spike standing against the wall with his hands tucked into the pockets if his blue jeans. The bandage was no longer there, but instead a new eye, lighter than its twin.

The sight before him made him slightly sick to his stomach. Jade lay on the floor with blood from her nose partially covering her face and his fist. Her left eye and lip were swollen to the point where he could barely recognize her. Her body looked slightly distorted in pain and she looked as if she would pass out any minute.

The trainer looked nervous as Spike made his way toward the two, Spike unable to take his eyes off of Jade as he spoke to the trainer.

"Go tell Vicious that I will be training the girl. If he asks why, tell him what you did." His tone was low and a little threatening but the man made no movement to his words, which angered him further.

The trainer responded to Spike quickly.

"But sir...I was just trying to prove she doesn't have what it takes to be here." He said defending his endangered life.

"That’s not for you to decide. Now go." Spike said in the same low tone he held before. The man quickly scurried out of the room leaving the other two alone.

He inspected her injuries guessing it would take her less than a week to heal. He went to pick her up but she moved slightly away from him with the little strength she had left.

Spike paused slightly but picked her up bridal style and headed towards the infirmary. Jade surrendered knowing she had no way to fight back as they walked through the suffocating halls.

She was brought into an all white room that looked like an old fashion hospital. Spike laid her down on one of the vacant beds as an older woman dressed in white walked over.

The nurse looked pleasant with her brown hair pulled up into a low bun. Her back was slightly hunched over and she wore reading glasses that hung off the edge of her nose.

Her tone was harsh but soft and her hazel eyes looked at her caringly.

"Hi honey my name is Annie. You must be the new girl here. Sophie right?" Jade weakly shook her head no.

Spike then corrected the old woman.

"Her name is Jade Hexus." The nurse looked a little embarrassed at her mistake.

"Silly me...but there are so many people here, it’s hard to remember everyone." Annie joked lightly making Jade smile slightly which only brought more pain. Annie inspected Jade's injuries writing her conclusions on a clipboard.

Spike stood off to the side waiting for the lady to speak.

"Well Spike it looks as if nothings broken. She should be well enough to work in two to three days." Annie said pleasantly handing Spike a piece of paper. With that done Spike left leaving Jade in the infirmary.

Jade highly enjoyed her two days with the nurse. Annie made her feel like she was at home even if she knew that wasn't possible. The nurse helped her feel more human than she had felt in the time she had been there. It was the only time she actually got a somewhat good nights rest.

However, that was short-lived when Spike entered the room at the beginning of the third day. The sight of Spike depressed Jade knowing her time of relaxation had come to an end.

Misery covered her features and was noticed by the others. Annie looked down in shame and went to remove the I.V from Jade's arm, however she left the bandages on.

The nurse's tone was covered in pity when she spoke to Spike.

"She's still not fully healed so try to take it easy on her, and make sure she doesn't overexert herself or she will cause more damage."

Jade hopped out of bed and dressed into clean clothes behind a curtain.

Sadness was the only feeling she felt as she followed Spike into another dojo. Her eyes kept to the floor as she walked to the middle of the room. Her actions made Spike feel slightly guilty, but he continued with his fighting lessons.

After a few moments he began to spar with her, however she didn't respond to his movement until he grabbed her by the neck and spoke harsh words to her.

"Are you going to fight or just stand there and let me kill you?" She gasped for breath and responded to his statement.

"Dying doesn't sound that bad." He squeezed her slender neck tighter at her words.

"Is that what your father would have wanted!?" Spike yelled at Jade trying to bring her to her senses. Anger boiled through her blood and adrenaline pumped madly through her body. She grabbed his wrist that held her neck and brought a swift kick that made little contact with his face. He let go and smirked at her tense form. Their sparring went on for hours.

It was more like Spike was sparring and Jade was fighting to the death. Jade's stamina surprised Spike. She lasted very long with showing little signs of fatigue.

Throughout the hours he gave her pointers such as "Control your temper so I can't predict your movements." or "Follow through your punches so they have more force!” Most of the time he yelled demands or mocked her to get her angrier.

Jade's injuries didn't stop her from giving her all, the pain only made her work harder. Jade finally caught him in the face when food was brought to the room distracting him slightly. Spike then began to dodge every punch she sent to him.

"We need to eat, you can't go on further like this" However his words did nothing to stop her, which annoyed him further. His patience was running dry so when he saw an opening he pushed her down harshly.

She landed on her but and tried to make an attempt to rise but was halted when a sandwich hit her face. She stared blankly at it as it plopped to the ground. Jade finally got the hint as her stomach growled and rose to join Spike at the sandwich tray.

She hesitantly grabbed a sandwich and ate it slowly. They both ate in silence not entirely enjoying each other’s company.

As Jade finished her meal she prepared for a long-term sparring match once more. She paused her motions when she was stopped by Spike's words.

"We're done with hand to hand for today. Now you have to learn how to use weapons." He rose and she followed quickly behind him.

They went into a shooting range and practiced with all sorts of weapons from regular pistols to sniper rifles. Jade caught on quickly and was a pretty good shot, at least for her first time. The day went on with more training and exercise, leading to an exhausted Jade. She made her way back to her oh so missed bed and collapsed on it, enjoying the way her comforter felt on her rugged skin.

Spike opened the door and spoke in his usual tone.

"I see you enjoyed your first day." She rolled her eyes at his sarcastic comment. Spike entered into her room and sat in the chair beside her bed all the while staring at her. Spike's very presence in the room made her skin crawl as she shifted nervously under his gaze.

Spike was the first to speak.

"You were better today than I anticipated, you’re a fast learner. You should be ready to start in a year or two. I better watch out or you'll put me out of a job."

Jade responded with words that were covered in venom making it clear that he wasn’t welcomed in her room.

"I plan to do more than put you out of a job...Don't think that kind words will change the fact that you and your partner are monsters. I plan to kill you both the very first chance I get."

Spike only smirked at her words as he left the room leaving Jade to her own thoughts of revenge.


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