Nothing But Bad Luck:

“The repairs are done,” Jet said quietly and he cracked another egg into the skillet, watching it fry for a long moment.

Ed looked at him blearily, barely mustering an expression. Sitting beside her at the small kitchen table, plopped on its sturdy surface, Ein sat cheerful as usual. “Ed doesn’t care about repairs,” she let him know and she yawned widely, scratching her stomach under her loose shirt. “Ed’s tummy hurts.”

“All that junk food Faye got you?” Jet asked, slanting a glance her way.

“Old repairman-person ate them all,” Ed sighed. “Left Ed gauze and bandages.”

Jet chuckled. “That’s ok. You get first dibs on-“

“Food!” Faye shrieked, coming into the kitchen, and she appeared at Jet’s shoulder, gazing down into the frying pan with a melting expression, hearts practically thumping in her eyes. “Fooooooooood-“

Ed screamed in protest, throwing herself at Faye’s leg and biting down on one of her bared calves. “Nooo! It’s Ed’s! It’s Ed’s!”

A moment later Faye began to scream as well, kicking out with the leg Ed was latched onto and it was going to be another one of those mornings.

Spike entered the kitchen moments later to the sound of Faye screaming furiously, Ed growling around her teeth embedded in Faye’s calf, Jet yelling and ordering them both out, and Ein panting cheerfully. “Hey, boy,” Spike greeted the dog sleepily, asking, “What’s for breakfast?”

Ein cocked his head and whimpered.

“Out! Out!” Jet roared, shoving Faye who in turn dragged Ed, and he pushed them both out the kitchen doorway as Spike floated by them all and reached for a fork innocently. “How am I supposed to cook if you’re all in the way?”

“Mmm,” Spike mumbled and they all turned to stare at him as he spooned some egg into his mouth. “These eggs are good, Jet. Got any bacon?”

Before giving them a chance to say anything more, Jet hit the console, the door sliding shut on the two females. “God,” Jet groaned, leaning against the doorway. “Damn pack of wolves!”

“And you left the two of them out there with each other. I bet a thousand woolongs on the freakish little computer girl,” Spike said, eating some more. “Can I finish this?”

“Yeah,” Jet sighed wearily. “Just do me a favor and put on some coffee?”

Spike nodded, taking the skillet with him as he set to the task.

“The repairs are done,” Jet said to him quietly and Spike showed no sign of even hearing him. “Where did you two go off to last night?”

“How do you know we left?” Spike inquired, putting on the coffee machine.

“Doohan was done with the repairs last night. Came by looking for you and after I worried myself to nothing I noticed both the ships gone.”

Spike nodded once more. “Went to see Laugh Bull, Running Rock,” he replied.

“Don’t call me that.”

Spike shrugged as if to say, “Whatever,” and he dragged the fork across the skillet, eating the rest of the eggs quietly.

“Was he surprised to see you alive?” Jet asked him.

“I couldn’t tell under the mounds of wrinkles on his face.” Spike dropped the empty skillet back onto the stovetop, wiping his mouth contentedly. “But I don’t think he was. Nothing really…surprises him…”

Jet nodded in understanding. “What did he say to you?”

“Didn’t go for me. Took Faye,” Spike replied and he walked by the older man and stuck his head in the fridge. “Where’d all the beer go?”

“What’d he say to Faye?” Jet inquired, looking toward the leaner bounty hunter. And he shooed Spike out of the fridge. “There’s no beer. We ran out.”

“Already?!” Spike demanded. “Did you-“

“Doohan,” Jet grumbled. “He’s going to eat us out of everything we own and then demand payment for the weapons.” And he motioned to Spike. “What did Laughing Bull say to Faye?”

Spike paused. “She’s right. Why do we call him Laughing Bull? He never laughs-“

Jet stared at him, frowning slowly. “Spike,” he said in a quietly gruff tone, “What the hell did he say to Faye?”

Spike settled into silence, leaning against the side of the fridge. “Said Faye’s star was going to fall,” he answered softly, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Jet continued to stare at him, silently.

With a sigh, Spike went to the table and plopped down on a seat. “And something about a wolf which I guess refers to Black Jack. That was about it, really-“

“Her star’s going to fall?” Jet echoed brusquely.

Spike quiet down once more, leaning back in the chair. “Yup.”

“When?” Jet asked him.

Spike leaned his head back impatiently, eyes closing. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “I can’t read minds, Jet, and I sure as hell can’t read stars-“

“Will this whole thing do it? Going into that damn building? If it does, forget it-“

“So what if it does?” Spike cut him off. “What if this is the thing that kills her? Would it be better to run? How do we know what really causes a person’s death?”

Jet stared at him as if he had lost his mind. “What in the hell are you talking about, Spike?” he growled at his partner.

Spike broke off with a soft sigh, lifting a hand to his eyes and rubbing them. “I don’t even know what I’m saying,” he admitted wearily. “But I do know that no matter what happens, her star is going to fall. So whether she goes into that building on the exact day we plan it, or whether she decides to stay, or even if she starts running now, we don’t know what causes it and we don’t know what can stop it.” He shook his head, his stare blank. “We don’t know what to really do about it. So what do you really do when you don’t know what to do?”

Jet stared for another long moment, silent, and as Spike exhaled tiredly the bigger man came close and merely leaned against the table, his gruff voice quiet. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?” he asked him, sounding sympathetic.

Spike glanced at him quickly. “No. I’m just…tired. I’m starting to ramble. I need some more sleep-“

“Or maybe you’re just now waking up,” Jet corrected him and the leaner bounty hunter looked at him once more in confusion.

“What do you-“

The door swished open then, interrupting them both and Faye stood there, Ed hanging back and cuddling Ein warily. “You guys act as if I can’t hear you through the door,” she murmured. They both stared at her as she entered the kitchen, pausing beside the fridge and opening it to gaze into it blankly as if searching for something she knew wasn’t there.

Both Jet and Spike waited for her, Spike turning his face away and trailing long fingers across the table surface.

“So, that’s what it means? When a star falls?” she asked, still searching the fridge.

“Gren’s star fell,” Spike murmured quietly, almost absentmindedly.

She glared at him instantly, whirling to look at the bounty hunter. “Don’t!” she snapped at him, slamming the refrigerator shut and causing him to look at her quickly in surprise at her harsh tone. “You don’t get to talk about him! While I was out getting my ass tied up and knocked unconscious, you were out chasing after a ghost! You don’t get to say anything about Gren-“

“Faye-“ Jet began quietly.

“You act as if he meant something, Faye,” Spike countered lazily, speaking right over Jet although his tone was softer than Jet’s own. He leaned his head back to glance at her insolently. “He was some guy who swept you off your feet. The truth of the matter is he was a guy who had a bad deal and even worse luck. In the end he didn’t die the death he wanted and that-“

“Did your star fall, Spike? Is that the reason you don’t see it anymore?” she demanded.

Spike clenched his jaw, turning back to the table. “My star faded,” he replied. “I did what I had to do and it faded away.”

Faye stared at him coldly as he turned his back on her, Jet sighing wearily in the silence that followed. The mere sight of his back angered her further, broke her rage. “And Julia?” she asked, scorn rising in her tone at the mention of the woman’s name. “Did Julia’s star fade? Or in the end, did she fall, too? Was seeing you the last thing she had to do to die happy? Or did it-“

Spike snapped off his chair in one smooth and quite furious movement, causing her to break off in mid-sentence. “I am sick and tired of hearing her name come out of your mouth,” he snarled at her, whirling to face her. His eyes narrowed as he continued on, his tone cold and dark. “When you say her name, Faye, you twist it and damage it and if you keep doing it-“

“You’ll what?” she countered. “You’ll hit me? You’ll leave again? You’ll go out and get yourself killed? Please,” she growled snippily, “been there, done that, right? It’s nothing new. Next time I’ll just know better-“

“Yeah and maybe next time you can stop hounding my ass about your fucking feelings!” he shouted at her and in the doorway even Ed cowered a bit, Ein’s ears flat against his skull, a low growl issuing from his snout. Jet merely stared, uncertain as to how to stop the feud.

“My fucking feelings?” she screamed at him in cold fury. “My fucking feelings?!”

“Enough with the whole ‘worrying about Spike’ bit! Enough with the stupid notion that I give a damn about you!” Spike ordered and his lean frame was tense with pent up anger. It had been a long time coming and Faye only saw it now, the utter rage he had inside. “I don’t love you, Faye! I don’t feel anything toward you except pity! And maybe even disgust when I see your face-“

Faye’s lips parted in disbelief, Jet quickly cutting in between them, his hands lifted to both of them. “Now hold on there-“

“No, let’s talk about this,” Spike continued on over him, his mismatched eyes gleaming as he stared at Faye. “Let’s talk about how much I don’t give a shit. Let’s talk about Julia. And Gren. And anyone else you want to talk about. And let’s remind ourselves that they’re both dead-“

“You fucking remind yourself,” she hissed at him, bringing him to a stop. “You remind yourself all you want, cowboy, because you’re not grasping it yet. She’s dead, Spike.” Her eyes narrowed as she said it, as she took a step closer to him to jam it into his head. “Julia died right before you did and unlike you, she’s not coming back.” She lifted a finger and jabbed him in the chest, her frame shaking. “But you know what? So what if she’s dead?” She jabbed him again, glaring him dead in his eyes. “So what? Just because she’s dead doesn’t mean you are.” And she held her gaze for another moment, fighting the trembling she felt, the adrenaline racing through her. “And just because Gren is dead doesn’t mean I am.”

Jet was nodding behind her as if he agreed. “Spike’s star faded but he’s still here. Right?” he asked, looking toward the leaner bounty hunter.

Faye cocked her head a bit in Jet’s direction but when Spike looked at him there was an indiscernible expression on his face. “Am I?” he asked faintly. And stuffing his hands in his pockets he brushed by Jet and by Faye, who averted her eyes and did not meet his gaze, leaving the room silently.

Faye hesitated, still looking toward Jet and the silence that ensued was one of the most awkward she had ever had to face. Shaking her head at Jet she whispered softly, “He’s never going to talk about it, is he?”

--

“So?” came Spike’s voice and he spoke softly, very softly. “What do you think?”

Faye frowned faintly as she came from the hangar, slowing down the corridor from Jet’s room. She had gone to her Redtail, listened to some music, all the while to contemplate the identity of Black Jack and also Spike’s words. Mostly to mull over Spike’s words, she thought flatly. It had done nothing but darken her mood further. But this here was now raising her suspicion at how quietly and secretive the tone of the conversation was. She leaned against the wall wondering momentarily if she should have felt bad for eavesdropping. But she couldn’t find it in herself to.

Maybe Poker Alice lives in me yet.

She hovered there quietly, careful of her wounded arm and paused to listen.

“I think she’s going to hate you,” Jet was answering firmly.

“She already hates me.”

“And this will make her despise you. Really, Spike, I don’t like this. Not at all.” And Jet sounded as if he really didn’t.

“But…it’s the only way, right? Unless you can think of something better?”

Jet hesitated and he let out a gruff sigh as if he had risen from sitting in the same spot for too long. “Of course I can’t think of anything better.”

“So?” Spike repeated. “Come on, Jet, it’s a plan-“

“It’s a stupid plan and I hate calling in favors. You know I do. And besides, if it didn’t work for him, why would it work for her?”

Their voices grew louder and she realized they had left Jet’s room and were slowly making their way down the hallway. She looked back the way she had come and she wouldn’t get back to the hangar in time to hide from them. Quickly composing herself, she shifted into offense and stomped two steps loudly before suddenly coming out in front of them, brushing her hair back from her cheek. “Oh, hey boys.”

Both Spike and Jet paused, Jet looking down the hallway past her shoulder suspiciously. “Where are you coming from?”

“The hangar,” she replied, motioning with her good arm. “Thought you finally got rid of me, Jet?”

“We can only hope,” Spike corrected and he cut in front of the larger bounty hunter, throwing him a piercing look. “Come on,” he said to her, shoving her backward a bit, “we’re going out.”

Faye stared at him for a moment, frowning. “We are?” she questioned and she looked at Jet as his face darkened. “Where are we going?”

Wordlessly, but alerting Faye to the fact that something had just transpired between the bounty hunters, something she was not in on, Jet turned from them and stormed down the rest of the hallway, heading back toward his room. Faye watched him walk off, a shiver running down her spine but Spike firmly took hold of her wrist, yanking on her. “Ow,” she snarled at him, still looking off after Jet as Spike began to drag her back toward the hangar. “Watch the arm, damn it. And where are we going?”

“Why do you have to ask so many questions?” he asked her irritably, clutching her hand. And as she grumbled another growl of pain at him he released her gingerly, glancing back at her. He seemed ready to say something but as she stared at him he shut down and continued on.

Faye had to run to catch up again. “You’re not sorry, are you?” she asked him and her question broke him out of his stride. As he slowed down she reiterated, “You don’t care whether your words hurt anyone, or who they hurt. Anything to make it stop.”

“You had it coming, Faye,” he said to her darkly. “Ever since I got back it’s like you’ve been on the attack with me. How would you like me to react?” He shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked, his shoulders high, his head bowed. “Not everything about my life is your business. Nothing of my life is your business. Some things I like to keep to myself. Just like I don’t ask you about your life growing up. I don’t ask you about your accident, your frozen sleep. Because I know some things are touchy. You’d bite my head off faster and angrier if I waded into that territory-“

“I would not, Spike,” she argued and she realized she literally had to run to keep up with him. “That’s something I’ve been talking over with Jet this whole time. How we don’t talk, how no one cares. You can’t automatically assume-“

“Faye,” he said and he came to a dead stop, lifting a hand, his eyes focusing on hers as she paused before him. “The first thing you did when I even mentioned Gren’s name was get your panties in a twist. You practically bit my head off-“

“That is not true,” she cut him off. “I don’t wear panties, how would I get them in a twist?”

He stared at her for a moment, and she congratulated herself on a good job of making him forget whatever it was he was trying to say. Blinking, he dropped his hand at his side and shook his head, and she realized he was fighting to hide a smile. She propped her hands on her hips, a mischievous smile curling her own lips as she merely waited for him.

“And you say we can’t get along,” Faye threw at him.

“Do you seriously go commando everywhere?” he asked her, his head tilting and his eyes darting down her frame.

Faye turned from him and sauntered off toward the hangar. “Looks like you’ll never find out,” she retorted impishly. “Wasn’t it you who this morning went on about not liking me, about having only pity for me? Even disgust?”

“You pissed me off, Faye, and you really had it coming-“

“I’m sure-“ and she suddenly broke off, her frame stiff.

Spike glanced at her, halfway through fishing in his pocket for his carton of cigarettes. Reaching her, he pulled one out and clenched it with his mouth.

“Spike…” she whispered, her lips parting. He paused in mid-step beside her, his cigarette dangling from his mouth as he fished for matches. “Hmm?”

She lifted her gaze to his, her face pale. “I remember. I remember who he is. Where I’ve seen him before,” she murmured and catching the frown that formed on Spike’s face she reached out and took hold of him by his tie, yanking him down to meet her eyes head on. He staggered forward a bit, his mismatched eyes widening as he came within an inch of her. “Black Jack!” She shouted in explanation, Spike blinking at her owlishly. “I know!”

“From where?” he asked her and he watched her as she released him and took off, turning into the hangar. “Hey!”

“Get in the Swordfish!” she ordered, having already reached the Redtail by the time Spike managed to get to the hangar. She hopped up and opened up the seal to her ship. “I’ll tell you on the way to Raleigh!”

“Raleigh?!”

But he did as she asked, flinging aside his unlit cigarette and racing for the Swordfish.

She waited as he hopped up onto his ship, strapping himself in, and she immediately opened up the comm channel. “Looks like whatever you wanted to show me is going to have to wait!”

“Yeah,” he murmured then, his expression unreadable. “Give me a sec, I have to make a call.”

“To who?!” she demanded.

His face darkened. “Geez, Faye, mind your business! Go on ahead, I’ll catch up-“

Faye stared at him, frowning slowly but as he held her gaze she merely threw him a look. “Fine.” And she cut the communications, setting up the Redtail for takeoff. “Here’s to nothing but bad luck.”

--

Several hours later the ruined city of Raleigh came into view. Faye felt her heart begin to pound as she stared down at it below. She was close. She was very close to understanding who Black Jack was. Or rather, who he had been. She just had to make sure-

Landing her Redtail on the side of the road that led to the incline she hopped out and looked up as the Swordfish II touched down in the night. She motioned to Spike who in turn gestured for her to go on and he turned his attention to his communications device, the flashing screen throwing light on his face in the night. She frowned once more at him but turned anyway, racing up the incline. Running past houses, she slowed before one single home, staring intently. Yes, it was slowly coming back. With an inward smile she ran on, feeling her heart pound in exhilaration.

At the top of the incline she fell into a crouch back where her room had fallen to the ground floor and she searched in the darkness, shoving aside debris and looking almost frantically. It was too dark and she didn’t have a light to see by, nothing except starlight. Her hand brushed a hard, padded edge and in the faint light she saw that it was the photo album. With a low, “Yes!” she flung the book open, scanning the photos quickly, one by one. No. No. No. No. No…

And she paused on the one with her image on Charlie Parkerson’s back. She held it up to the starlight, squinting and staring at first her face then Charlie’s. And behind her she heard Spike as he came up quietly. “Spike, got a light?”

He held out a book of matches. “Is this an angry-woman thing where you burn all your pictures in a wastebasket and convince yourself you don’t need men?” he asked her in a bored tone, speaking around a lit cigarette.

“A flashlight, you lunkhead!” she shouted at him, holding the book up for him to see. “I need to see something-“

“No flashlight,” he said and he took a corner of the photo album, crouching close to her side and staring at the pictures intently, his cigarette flaring brightly from his fingers. “This is the only light you have.”

She shared the book with him. “This picture right here,” she said to him excitedly, and she pointed to the one with her on Charlie’s back. “Who do you see in the background?”

“Who do I-“ he asked and he put his cigarette to his mouth, taking the photo album with both hands. “Who the hell am I supposed to see? I can’t see shit-“

And from above they suddenly heard the engine of an approaching ship. A powerful beam of light flared, bathing them in pure white and Spike had half a mind to say casually, “Oh, that’s a lot better!” while Faye stared up, bringing a hand to her eyes as her vision swam.

“ISSP Bounty Code #D48170XD: Subject: Valentine Faye. This is the ISSP,” a booming voice broke from the ship and Faye stared in utter silence, her entire frame going cold. Beside her Spike also lifted his head, his eyes narrowed. “By order of the Interplanetary Solar System Police you are hereby under arrest. Stand up slowly and put your hands behind your head.”

Faye lowered her hand to stare straight at the ship hovering overhead. “What the hell..?” she whispered in disbelief. There were more ships approaching in the distance and she looked around in one furtive glance, Spike silent beside her.

“I repeat, Valentine Faye, by order of the ISSP, you are under arrest. I hereby order you to stand slowly and put your hands behind your head. Disobeying this direct order will only further complicate-“

Faye looked around quickly searching for the nearest direction to go that would take her away from the spotlight, from the spot she currently crouched in with Spike. If they split up maybe they could make it to their respective ships and run. But she could only see one way to go from where she crouched. Back the way she had come. If she ran back that way and then maybe cut through a car garage or vaulted a fence she would be able to change direction, no problem.

“Spike,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “Look, we can go back down the hill and split up. Ok?”

“Valentine Faye! ISSP Bounty Code-“

“Do you hear me?!” she hissed and she looked at him then.

He was staring at her coolly. “Don’t run, Faye.”

She blinked at his tone, at the expression on his face. “What?”

“Don’t run, Faye,” he repeated and he said it slowly and clearly, even as the officer’s voice boomed above them. “They’ll take you in and put you under a different name, don’t-“

“What the fuck are you talking about, Spike?!” she demanded of him. And staring at him intently she suddenly understood, gazing at his pale face in the light’s beam.

He returned the stare blankly.

“You…did this,” she whispered, even as the voice commanded above, as their ships blew her hair about her face. “You…turned me in…”

He didn’t reply to that. “Don’t run, Faye.”

She stared at him dumbly for another long moment, her lips parting in disbelief. His face was blank still, void of expression and for the first time in her life she wanted to break something, anything, in his perfect face. She wanted the gut wrenching feeling she had inside to go away. And she wanted for all of this not to happen. Slowly, she raised her head to look into the beams of the ISSP’s searchlights, her face pale. Her green eyes searched the ship, her rapid breathing suddenly slowing. And Spike saw it coming, probably before she herself saw it.

“Faye-“

With a small sound she rose to her feet, instantly whirling, and she took off. The searchlights immediately followed, darting after her fleeing figure and Spike lunged to his feet, clutching the photo album. “Hey! Faye, wait-“

She could move, he would give her that. In the night she was a flash of yellow and skin, even in heels. Spike took a step after her as the ISSP ships began to follow and then, pausing, he instead wound around and went to his right, intent on cutting her off. Which meant the moment she realized it, she was going to run to avoid it. He growled low in his throat as he went. Why couldn’t she see they were doing this to help her? He lifted his head to the searchlights, following their progress as they tailed Faye and he ran faster, coming to a low obstacle in his way and vaulting it mindlessly, only realizing a moment later it was an old garbage can. He found himself coming to a small alley between old houses and threw himself at the fence in the back, easily clearing it and clutching the photo album to his chest.

She was going to hate him.

--

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him…

Faye felt the tears rise in her eyes and she angrily swiped them away. Bullshit. There was no fucking way she was going to cry over this. If she had never cried over losing her memories, her entire past, she was not about to cry over being betrayed by a friend.

By Spike.

They were on her. She ran as if chased by the devil, pouting inwardly. She already saw the morning headlines, “Strange amnesiac woman pursued by ISSP discovered to be thawed cavewoman from 21st century.” What a crummy month this was turning out to be. She threw herself sideways, suddenly breaking the ISSP ships, and she huddled under a rose hedge in someone’s backyard, looking down the hill toward her Redtail. ISSP officers huddled around the ship and the Swordfish II but she couldn’t see Spike amongst them.

He’s going to collect the bounty on me. The bastard did it for the money, finally. Couldn’t deal with having me on the ship anymore-

And she found herself realizing she couldn’t blame him for wanting her off the ship. She had risked all their lives merely remaining on the Bebop. But to have it happen like this. It was wrong.

As the searchlights passed over her she quickly ducked down and held her breath, praying. She couldn’t remember the last time she had prayed to a God, any God. She doubted it had done her any good before either. The searchlights swung widely, shooting further ahead and she maintained her position for another moment before rising and racing to her right. Behind her she was aware of the searchlights still roaming and she cast one more glance to her Redtail.

Damn it!

Ducking by more rosebushes she came to a stop as the searchlights flew over her position. Up ahead the hill went down into a small patch of trees and she saw the headlights hover there, searching that patch. She waited impatiently for them to conclude that she wasn’t there. Once they did she could make a beeline for it and then pass it by. There was suddenly a very good chance that she was going to make it out of there.

And crouching there anxiously she realized it was over and that her time was up. She wouldn’t be going back to the Bebop, wouldn’t hear Jet bitch about her. She wouldn’t wake up at midnight and encounter Ed on Tomato, Ein by her side asleep.

And she wouldn’t smell Spike’s cigarettes on herself. It was all finally over.

The searchlights swung away, shooting ahead and in the passing beams she suddenly saw the officers rappelling down, armed. She stared, a whispered, “Fuck!” making it past her lips. And she had to move. Right then and there she knew she had to move. Rising in the darkness she quickly raced toward the clump of trees, ducking her way into them. She was not wearing the right thing at all for this game of pursuit. Had she known this was going to happen she would have shot Spike. Again.

Sounds came from the trees all around and she knew they were in the forest with her. With a growl she ran once more, making just as much noise as they made. The searchlights weren’t visible and she hoped that meant they were checking out another area entirely. She put on a burst of speed, paying attention to the searchlights as they swung about back where she had come from and she came to the edge of the small clump of trees. From here it was all clear land and old houses throughout. Several looked abandoned anyway, she reflected, as she broke from the trees and raced across clear ground. If she could make it to one abandoned house she could stay there for the remainder of the night and leave in the morning. She was going to have to-

Up ahead out of the corner of her eye she caught movement and she whirled in time to run into Spike. Her mind instantly screamed a million curses at him, her face darkening.

“Faye!” he shouted as he pulled up before her.

Without waiting a moment she pulled back a fist and caught him across the jaw with it, reveling in the fact that her punch made him pull up short, his head shoved to the side from the blow.

“Fuck-“ he growled, lifting a hand halfway to his face. “You bitch-“

“Get the hell out of the way!” she screamed at him and even as she went to go around him he pulled into the way, effectively blocking her, the corner of his lips stained with blood. She snarled at him, pulling back another fist. “I said, get out of the way-“

Something struck her in the neck, a sharp stinging pain and she grimaced for a moment, her hand automatically lifting to the spot. She encountered a small object there, stabbing into her neck and she frowned for a small instant in confusion before realizing what it was. And her knees suddenly faltered, the world spinning around her. Her form fell forward into Spike numbly and he caught her under the arms, still clutching the photo album, his face blurring before her eyes.

“You fucking traitor…” she managed to make out before losing consciousness against his shoulder.

--