Life is but a Dream (Spike Spiegel x Reader)

Better Days (Faye's Prelude)

One shot, two shots, three shots.

No one should stand in the way of a drunk, angry woman. Heartbroken, thrown to the side, and downright ignored. The Bebop was full of misfits, and Faye was the worst of them all. There was no contemplation or objection. So to have a seemingly perfect stranger waltz into the ship with their only problem being a ship burned to a crisp, it was very hard to not feel jealous.

It was only for two weeks, two weeks is the allotted time for her. Then, she just had to show off. Those first days (y/n) were staying, Faye didn't even notice them at all. Keeping her area clean, only coming out to help with chores or a bounty head, she basically took over all the stuff Faye didn't want to do. But as the days flew by, the more her presence became more known. Research with Jet, playing fetch with Ein, and the most obnoxious, messing around with Spike.

Faye was hoping that Spike's cold demeanor would scare her off. She didn't want to admit this, but having his attention on her gave her a sense of being remembered. She may have not been wanted, but an attention whore would do anything for an ounce of acknowledgment.

One day, while out on an errand, (y/n) told Faye about her troubles with Spike. Oh boy, here we go, she thought. "He's so mean" or "he pretends like I don't exist" was all she could talk about. How annoying. Faye is not the best person to ask for advice, or to carry out a plan to get you kicked off the Bebop. There was no effort in her sabotage, just a sentence or two to set off a chain of events.

"Sweetie, that means he likes you!" She proclaimed, her hand squeezing your shoulder. "When a boy likes you, he's mean. That's how they reel you in."

"Huh." You replied, nodding.

"That's right. Keep doing what you're doing, and sure enough you'll have him in no time!" 

Shit hit Faye's fan when she noticed the constant flirting and physical touches whenever you and Spike were around. It was so sick and disgusting. This was supposed to get you out of here, not make you at home. Her plan had fired big time.

Avoiding going on missions and staying either in her room or wandering the city late at night was how she kept her eyes from being burned from the vile display of affection. It worked for now, and it was a daily routine. She was getting real good at it, until she saw you being practically dragged into Spike's room. The noises that emitted from there just set the last piece into place.

Faye could not rush out fast enough. Running on anger, hurt and revulsion, her maneuvering of the Redtail was dangerous, threatening to crash into buildings and other vessels. She put her ship to a sudden park, cutting off cars that honked excessively. She cut out all the noise, all the traffic that surrounded her. It was settled.

You had him. He was all yours.

You had all the other crew members in the palm of your hand. Faye was falling off. It wasn't fair at all. This sad revelation could go well with a drink. And here we are.

Faye would argue and say that alcohol is like gas, used for fueling and to get you moving. In reality, it was water in the tank, ruining the vehicle. She only got worse with each drink, and her anger soared into the sky. She had to do something about you. God, she wanted to punch that fucking smirk you had when skipping to Spike's room off your face. Matter of fact, she wants to rip your face clean off.

Feeling her rage in her fingertips and toes, it acted as the energy she needed to get off her ass and give you a piece of her mind. She wanted to make you feel the way you made her feel. Broken.

-

"Let go of me!"

Jet had Faye flung over his shoulder, taking a beating as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. She hit and punched his back, screaming like a banshee. Jet hissed in pain as each fist made contact with his back, his grip getting tighter to get her to stop. Finally they made it to the bathroom.

Hitting the button to open the door, Jet threw Faye onto the shower floor, flipping on the cold water. Grabbing the showerhead, he sprayed freezing laps of water on her, causing Faye to screech at the top of her lungs.

"You stay down there and cool off!" Jet yelled as he threw down Faye's jacket onto the floor.

The cold water stung the scratches and bruises on Faye's body. Gasping and gulping, Faye shakily reached to turn the nozzle off. Still hazy, but about close to sober. She breathed heavily, shivering. Jet leaned on the wall, arms crossed and disappointed.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked, traces of anger in his voice. "You know damn well that even we don't even know who that bounty is. Did you blurt it out for the hell of it, Faye?"

Sitting in a pool of cold water, Faye wasn't sure how to answer that. She couldn't just blurt out the pent up feelings of the last few months, or else it would make her sound crazy. Seems a little too late for that now. Streams of tears ran down her face as she tried to come up with a feasible answer, but to no avail.

"I don't know. I'm just mad."

"Mad is not going to cut it. "Jet got off the wall, kneeling in front of Faye."You apologize, or I'll call the ISSP myself and have them come pick you up."

Eyes set on her lap, she nodded. Given instructions to march straight to her room when she was ready and keep out of (y/n) presence for now, Faye heard the thunk of the door closing promptly after. Jet could be mean, but not as harsh. There were no strands of lies in his words, it was the honest truth. One more wrong move, and it was over for her.

Getting up slowly, she took a look in the mirror. Her cheek was bruised, with deep red welts on her cheeks and chin. She didn't feel the ache at all, but damn, (Y/n) did a good job on her face. Faye grabbed a towel, sloshing and squeaking as she walked to her room. Closing the door behind her, she stripped off her clothes, trying her best to dry herself while quivering from the numbing blasts of air from the vents. If that's what (Y/n) did to Faye's face, she didn't want to see what she did to her body.

She snuck underneath the covers, tossing and turning to get herself warm. Some alcohol was lingering in her body, giving some bits of heat, but not the kind that she needed. As she tried to settle, the front of her head began to throb, marking the beginning of a migraine. She got one anytime she drank too much, or when she underwent extreme amounts of stress. Eventually giving up on trying to get warm, she laid still on her back, hoping for some to go away.

She isn't going anywhere, Faye thought. Even with her half truth, half lie, it wasn't going to be enough for you to leave. You were here to stay, and you showed Faye the only way that she could get it through head. Understanding was key to acceptance, even if it was hard to. That was the lesson for now.

Damn, you sure did have a solid right hook though.

-

[A/N] Okay I really promise this time, I DO NOT hate Faye. In a way, I can kind of relate to her in a sense of trying to find herself and the lack of attention the poor girl receives. I have the premise of the next chapter of Lesson in Time (Loki x Reader fic) planned out, and will be released sometime this week or the next. Thank you guys for reading and stay safe!