Bebop Zen

________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop or it's characters.

Prologue: Folly

________________________________________________________________________

            "You're going to get yourself killed!" boomed Jet, his temper boiling over.

"I don't care!" retorted Faye shoving her way past the tall, fuming man.

"Well, you should! You're thinking about running into the middle of a blizzard of Red Dragons!" reasoned Jet following Faye into the hangar. His injured leg screamed at him in protest. "These people are part of a crime syndicate! You'll never survive an encounter…"

"What if he's still alive?!" shouted Faye cutting off her comrade.

He started at her stunned and unable to come up with a response. Faye stopped short of her Red Tail and stared at the floor. "I…I don't think I'd be able to live with myself knowing I never even tried to help him," she said quietly.

Jet watched her in silence as she hopped into the Red Tail and started up the engine. He shook his head and left the hangar before she took off.

***

By some odd twist of fate, Faye easily found the area Spike had graced with his presence. There was debris and scattered corpses everywhere. She warily waded through the wreckage checking each fallen victim as she passed.

About twenty minutes elapsed and she began to grow desperate. She scanned the terrain around herself frantically. Suddenly, she noticed a long set of stone stairs in the slight distance. In the dying sunlight she could barely make out the black mass lying on them. She crept cautiously through the shadows approaching what she hoped was her fallen comrade.

A brown trench coat. A tuft of fluffy dark brown hair. A pool of dark blood beneath the body. Faye choked on the sob threatening to force its way out. She fell to her knees beside him and gingerly placed a hand of his cheek. He was still warm, but barely. She shut her eyes tightly fighting back the tears. Relief and anxiety flowed through her in waves as she racked her brain for a plan of action.

After a few minutes of ill success, she resorted to rolling Spike over to examine the extent of his injuries. If they weren't too bad, she could move him. Her heart almost stopped when she heard a faint moan of protest while she was rolling him onto his back. Her eyes scanned quickly over the numerous slashes and bullet wounds on his body up to his face.

He grimaced before his eyes opened to narrow slits. Eyebrows raised and his expression fell into confusion. He struggled to speak but couldn't find the strength.

Faye was in shock. She stared down at him wide-eyed and dumbfounded. She had absolutely no idea what to do. It was then that she had a sudden revelation. She would call Jet! He would know what to do even if he was still mad at her. Climbing to her feet, she took out her comm. link and started dialing. As it beeped, she looked down at Spike and smiled briefly. He was still regarding her with a lost expression.

"Don't worry. I'm calling Jet. He'll help us…"

Her voice was abruptly cut off by the deafening sound of a gunshot. Her gaze shifted from Spikes as she felt the impact of the bullet. It tore clean through her torso and radiated intolerable pain as her body collapsed to the stone steps.

Spike watched the whole scene in dismay. He saw everything as if it were moving in slow motion. Her speaking reassuring words to him, the gunshot cutting her off, the crimson splatter that erupted from her back, her body falling to the steps…

No, he thought. Not again… His thoughts were interrupted by another gunshot. Shortly after this, Jet came into view shock and worry written all over his face. Spike assumed he had taken out the gunman that had shot Faye.

With a heavy sigh, Jet dropped to his knees and gathered Faye's bleeding body into his arms. He shook her lightly after checking her pulse. "Goddammit, Faye…I tried to warn you," he grumbled, his large frame bent over her small one. "Faye. Faye! Can you hear me?" he asked her loudly.

Faye responded by coughing up a bit of blood and beginning to openly sob. It was a horrible, ragged sound that deeply disturbed Jet as he held her.

"Oh, god…I'm going to die…" she wept trying unsuccessfully to curl into a fetal position. "I fucked up, Jet…I fucked up…"

"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine, kid. I just need to get you to a hospital," reassured Jet tightening his protective grip on her. As his words sunk into her mind, she began to visibly relax. Jet's eyes wandered to Spike for a moment before returning to Faye.

Spike read Jet's momentary gaze perfectly. If there was ever a man who's eyes told stories, it would definitely be Jet. Right then, he had told Spike that this was all his fault, and naturally, he would be the one trying to fix everything. There was disappointment, grief, guilt, regret, relief, worry…so many different emotions reflected in the older man's stern blue eyes.

Spike sighed to the best of his ability and closed his eyes. The pain grew worse with every shallow breath he took.

Was one woman really worth all this sorrow? he asked himself. Was she worth all this death?

He never came up with an answer and soon slipped quietly into unconsciousness.