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The thing was, was what she had said wasn't lost on Faye. Like an angel from the underworld; or a devil from paradise. Spike Spiegel was a walking contradiction. An enigma that kept his secrets close to his chest. A man that ran from his past with such conviction that he abhorred the fact Faye actively went looking for hers.
Sure, there was more to the man than his inability to dwell on his past. Yet Faye knew, until he learned to let it go, he'd be forever stuck. Stuck as she was; unable to move forward until she could remember her past. The fact they were two sides to the same coin was irony at it's best.
Jet wasn't nearly as complicated. He was a very upfront man. Granted, he didn't talk about his past either. But none of them did. It was one of their unspoken rules that haunted the Bebop. Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies. Wasn't that how the saying went? IT was nice in a way; that they could live for the moment.
Just for the moment.
Sometimes, however, that wasn't the way to live at all. It wasn't healthily to run from your past; or pretend that you didn't have a future. Especially when their future stretcher our before you as a blank canvas. Ready to be painted with their own blood.
The fact they hunted down bounties, while living on the outskirts of the law themselves didn't surprise Faye. They were people of opportunity. There came a time in everyone's life where survival came before anything. When they found themselves backed into a corner, that's when a persons true character shone through.
The question remained. Where they the devil or the angel?
She was aware, that in the end, it really didn't matter. But the question occupied her dreams and haunted her waking hours. The only strong answer she could come up with was; it just depended.
Like an angel from the underworld; or a devil from paradise.
Faye hadn't been aware of Spike's Syndicate past; but once she found out...well, things suddenly made a lot more sense. No sane person was comfortable hopping from place to place. Never having a set home aside from a steel ship that was constantly falling apart.
It was why Faye herself kept returning to the Bebop. Somehow, in all the mess and broken parts, it had become some type of home for her. A place to belong in this future so far removed from what she had known before being put in her cryosleep. With it's broken heating and wiring that needed to be replaced, somehow, the Bebop was still home.
Even the lack of funds didn't deter her; although the boys had made her pay for running off with their woolongs the first time. But that had been so long ago now that they'd forgiven her. She'd only had to save their lives a few times over.
Each.
Like an angel from the underworld; or a devil from paradise.
As the smoke from her cigarette escaped into the air under TJ's darkened sky, Faye let herself hope. Hope that she'd finally found somewhere to belong. Hope that things would be better than they had when she had first woken up. Hope that these men that she was now trusting wouldn't do her just as bad as Whitney had. That when the chips were down, she wouldn't be thrown to the wolves once more.
It was a scary thing; trust.
It had the power to make or break a person.
Faye Valentine had learned that the hard way once she'd woken from her cryosleep. She'd been too young. Too naïve. Too sheltered in her past life. It had done her no favors in this bleak future she'd awakened to. Even without her memories, she knew that this life would change her.
Living on the Bebop had changed her. She just wasn't sure it was for the better. Somehow, she'd found a ramshackle family in the outer reaches of the Solar System. When at first they'd been a mark, they'd turned to tables and tried to turn her in for a bounty. Yet...yet, they didn't turn her in.
To this day, Faye could honestly say, that was what had surprised her the most about them.
Footsteps caused Faye to tense, even as her hand wandered towards her gun smoothly. A familiar cough had her removing her hand from the hilt.
"Nice night." Spike's voice floated across the air towards her, and Faye couldn't help the smile that crossed her face.
"Yeah, it is. Isn't it?" Spike Spiegel was definitely full of surprises lately. Faye herself thought that she'd probably used all her surprises up. She was as straight forward as they came. Both men knew she was flightily. Both men knew she'd rob them blind and run if things got too good.
The fact she only ran when the going got good was more telling than even Faye realized. She never ran when the chips were down. Only when things got too comfortable. When they had solid meals on the table for days at a time. When the bounties were rolling in left and right.
Let the chips fall though, and she was the first one coming to their aide.
A hard-weathered friend, maybe?
Another cough from Spike had Faye turning her head and accepting a smoke from the lanky man.
"What's got you so lost in thought?" His tone was teasing, but Faye could see how serious the question was behind his eyes.
"Everything." When Faye didn't elaborate, Spike hummed before he leaned against the side of the ship. When Faye followed suit, dropping to the ground to sit down, he chuckled.
"You know you don't have to run, right?" His statement was met with silence, causing him to sigh. "Just because things are good doesn't mean you have to run." Faye feared she was reading too much into his statement. It almost sounded like he didn't want her to leave. But that couldn't be the case.
Could it?