Who are you

“I hate to be blunt,” Jessica looked up at the tall scruffy-haired man, “but who exactly are you?” His question made her smile.

“I could ask you the same question.” She stood up, putting out her hand. “I’m Jessica. Jessica Rhodes.”

He accepted her hand. “Spike Spiegel.” She could tell from his tone that this was his actual name, not a nickname which surprised her. Jessica looked him in the eyes and noticed that one was a different color, not as true a brown, as if it wasn’t real. He blinked, looking slightly surprised, and she looked away dropping his hand and feeling somewhat confused.

“Jet Black.” The big man held out a hand to her; Jessica was relieved to see it wasn’t the mechanical one, and took it with a smile. He looked at her curiously, as if trying to find what had surprised Spike. He didn’t seem to find it and dropped her hand. She turned to the woman and raised her eyebrows; she didn’t seem the type who shook hands.

“Faye Valentine.” She looked rather pointedly at Jessica, “I’m like you y’know.” Then turned and walked out of the room.

Jessica suddenly had to sit down. She felt shaky and light-headed and guessed that she hadn’t eaten for a while. She had wanted to do the teleport on an empty stomach, to avoid any unpleasant side effects. Her stomach rumbled loudly in protest of its emptiness and she looked up, immediately regretting the sudden movement as the room swayed. “How long have I been out?”

“Close to six hours,” Jet replied and, noting her pallor, added, “are you feeling ok?”

“I’m hungry. I left on an empty stomach.” It growled again, emphasizing her words.

“I’ll go see if I can find something.” Jet said, walking towards the door and leaving Jessica alone with Spike. Ed and Ein having disappeared some time ago.

“What did she mean?” Jessica began.

“Huh?” Spike looked up; he had been deep in thought.

“Faye. What did she mean, that she was like me?” Jessica got up and started re-packing her backpack.

“She’s just remembered.” Jessica looked up, confused. “Her past; she’d forgotten. Fifty-four years ago she was cryogenically frozen; they brought her back to life a few years ago.”

“Oh,” she continued packing.

“She was pretty shocked y’know, when she saw your stuff.” Spike lit a cigarette, releasing a cloud of smoke. “It must have been a bit like seeing a ghost, all that stuff from the past.” He took another pull on his cigarette, looking down at her as he leaned against the wall. “Do your eyes always change color?” She looked up at the sudden change of topic and Spike saw that they were greenish again. “When we found you your eyes were a greenish color; then later they turned blue. Now they’re green again.”

“Oh,” she laughed, “it kind of has to do with my mood. If I’m sick, worried, or upset, they’re green, but when I’m calm or happy they’re light blue, well grey actually. I get it from my dad. Your eyes are two different colors.” The comment sort of slipped out. “One isn’t as brown as the other. Did you lose it?” She looked up, saw his face go blank, and realized her mistake.

“Yeah,” he said after a while, “a long time ago.”

“Sorry,” she grimaced at her stupidity, “I won’t ask about it anymore.” She stood up and lurched sideways, lightheadedness making her dizzy. Spike stepped forward quickly and caught her, and suddenly their face were inches apart. Jessica stared into his eyes, still surprised at what had happened and, seeing how shocked he was, quickly backed up.

“Sorry,” she said again, hating how that was all she seemed able to say.

Spike shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out, brushing past Jet as he went through the door.

“Spike?” he called.

“I’m going out.” Came the faint reply.

“What was that all about?” Jet walked over and set down a large Styrofoam cup.

“I think it was something I said. What’s this?” She poked at the cup.

“Instant noodles; just pull the string. They’re all we have.” He said apologetically and handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Jessica pulled the string and jumped at the sudden hiss of steam that exploded from under the cup. At the same moment there was a loud noise, reminding Jessica of a plane, outside and she looked out the window to see a red (jet, plane, ship? She wasn’t sure) take off from the deck. Jet followed her gaze.

“Don’t worry about Spike, he’ll come around. He’s been through a lot.”