Come Down in Time

Chapter 7. Retribution

To experience an old world feel in a new world that was Mars, the place to go was the Odessa City Market. The huge marketplace was an odd mixture of ethnic groups and customs transplanted from an Earth that had been lost with the Gate disaster.

Spike and Faye were in the marketplace with a few hours to kill before meeting up with Jet, who'd gone off to Odessa HQ to collect the 80,000 from their latest successful bounty. The bounty pair decided that Jet wouldn't mind (or notice) if they burned a few woolongs on food that hadn't been prepared by the ship's so-called cook.

As they neared a produce stand, Faye pushed past him to examine the different kinds of fruit that the Bebop hadn't been able to afford for a long time, and her eyes lit up as she spied the selection of plump mandarin oranges, her mouth watering at the prospect of peeling one to sink her teeth into. She looked behind her to see Spike lazily ambling towards her, hands sunk deep in the pockets of his pants.

"Spike, get over here with the cash," Faye commanded, reaching to grab a couple of oranges as she waited impatiently for him.

"Whoa, Faye, who died and made you woolong queen?" Spike quipped as he glanced at her in amusement, fumbling in his suit jacket for cigarettes.

"Ah, come on, Spike, I haven't had a bite of an orange since ..."

"Yeah, as if we'd make a known gambler the holder of the cash..." Spike muttered, lighting a cigarette he'd drawn from the pack.

Faye eyed him coldly, then strode over and plucked the cigarette from his mouth. She took a long drag and exhaled furiously. "Calm down, Faye," she said to herself, glancing at him icily, "he can't help being an idiot..."

"Ah Faye," he grinned, disregarding her insult as he reached into his pocket to pull out another smoke. "I don't know about you, but since protein doesn't seem to be part of Jet's vocabulary, kebabs with meat would be a much better choice, dontcha think?" He blew a perfect smoke ring in her direction.

Faye humphed and turned her back on him. Spike laughed, amused at the sudden change in her mood. "Lighten up, Faye, and let's go get something to eat." He reached out and grabbed her hand to pull her back towards the hubbub of the market.

Faye thought about how long it had been since she'd eaten, and, rather than spend precious minutes arguing while they were starving, she allowed Spike to drag her along. They struck a bargain; with their limited funds, they bought an orange and a kebab, and actually shared. Afterwards, they wandered around the market, zeroing in the vendors with free food samples, and after an hour of filling their stomachs with food that they didn't even have to pay for, they were stuffed.

"What the hell is taking Jet so long? I'm ready for a nap." Faye ranted, unwilling to take another step. She looked around for Spike and spied him heading towards an unoccupied market bench near a storage unit, surrounded by a cluster of spindly trees. She walked over to him, reading his intention to claim the seat for himself.

"You were planning on sharing that bench, weren't you?" she asked coyly, stretching out the kinks from too much food and too much walking. "I'm one of the delicate creatures, you know," she continued, languidly dropping down on the bench, "and I need to catch up on my beauty sleep."

Spike looked back at her, snorting, annoyed that she'd caught on to him before he had the chance to put his plan into effect. He sank down next to her, trying to ignore her very feminine attributes as she made herself comfortable.

"Honestly, Spike," Faye began as she curled her legs beneath her, "I don't think that we've ever gone this long without an argument." She glanced at him, trying to gauge his reaction.