Disclaimer: I do not own CB or any of the characters. Don't sue me cuz I don't have any money at all.

"What the hell were you thinking Faye?!"

"I was just doing my job!"

"Nobody told you to go after that bounty! He was mine to catch."

"Well if he is yours to catch, you should have caught him."

"Well, I would have if you weren't so selfish and money hungry."

"Money hungry? Well, you're the one who is always taking away all the good bounties. Did it ever occur to you that there are two other bounty hunters living with you?"

"Two other bounty hunters? As far as I'm concerned, there is one other bounty hunter here and that's Jet. Edward's even more useful than you. All you do is screw everything up. You're just so difficult to live with!" Spike Spiegel raised his hands in frustration.

"Then just move out if you don't like it here with me!" Faye Valentine countered, her hands on her hips. "Go out and get a life. I'm tired of you eating all of our food anyways."

This was just another day on the Bebop for the two who constantly fought day in and day out. What started this fight? Neither of them really knew. It started off as just a little playful teasing, but then things got heated and they both started bringing past things up. Things that weren't even important anymore. Like the bounty that Faye had greedily gone after even though Spike had said he was going to go after him. It happened over a month ago....

Spike turned to her, his anger rising higher than ever before. "Me get a life? Faye, you're the one who needs to get one. Oops, I forgot, you're dead to society. All those who were in your life before are already dead." Spike turned to leave. He had much more to do than fight with her all the time. Sure, he knew what he said was a little bit unnecessary, but he didn't really care at the time.

Faye blinked for a second, then narrowed her eyes darkly. What he said did affect her, but she wasn't going to show it. She was going to get the last word no matter what...

"Yeah, well at least the life I have doesn't revolve around somebody who's already dead."

Her tone of voice reflected all the anger and spite she held for him at that moment.

Spike stopped in his tracks and Faye could see that he stiffened up and he lowered his head a bit. His hands were clenching into balls until his whole body was shaking. Spike's back was rising and falling irregularly from shuddering breaths. Suddenly, he spun around, fire in his eyes, and marched towards her with long intimidating strides. He stopped when their noses were almost touching. "What the hell did you say," he growled at her, his eyes darker than she ever seen them before. Something in Faye told her not to make things worse, but she never really listened to those voices anyways.

"You heard what I said, Spike," she said with a smirk on her face. As big as he was and as much as he may try to intimidate her, Faye wouldn't let him win. She said every word a little more slowly. "My life doesn't revolve around somebody who's already-"

Faye didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Instead, she was answered with a neck-breaking slap across the face. She stumbled back for a second, a bit shocked, and touched her stinging face with her fingertips. She looked at her hand for a second, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

The room grew quiet, save both of their ragged breathing.

"How dare you!" Faye finally yelled at him. She regained a bit of her composure, this time having it topped with even more anger. She was breathing hard and clenched her hand, balling it into a fist and closing her eyes. Without wasting another second, Faye brought her arm back and swung at him, hoping to make contact with his face.

Spike, however, dodged her attack with the swiftest of blocks. "Come on, shrew woman," Spike taunted. "Hit me. Go ahead and do it."

Faye swung again, this time with more momentum. Spike dodged it once more and she stumbled forward, caught off guard by his movements. Sure, he was a more skilled fighter and he had more advantages than her. But she knew one spot where he didn't....

Swiftly, Faye kicked out her leg, catching it in between Spikes legs.

Groaning, Spike sank to the floor, breathing hard and glaring up at her. "You stupid whore," Spike grunted. Painfully and slowly, he lifted himself from the floor and towered over her, once again, trying to intimidate her. He stood there, a little off balance.

Faye spun her body around, delivering a round the house kick which came in contact with Spike's face. She landed clean on the floor.

Spike stumbled back a few steps and lifted his hand to his mouth. He inspected his hand which had a little blood on it. "You-" he started. Instead of finishing with words, he charged at her, grabbed hold of her wrists. He pushed her until she was against the back wall, her head giving off a loud crack.

Faye winced in pain, but concentrated on looking past the spots forming in front of her. She blinked a few times. "Get the hell off me!" Faye said. She struggled against his hands which pinned hers down at her sides, but to no avail. He was stronger than he looked.

"Don't ever...EVER bring Julia up," Spike ordered her. "She is 10 times the woman you'll ever be." His grip on Faye tightened.

Faye stopped struggling just enough to smirk and say, "Geez, you talk about her like she's still alive."

Spike's eyes narrowed even further and he threw Faye to the ground. He towered over her and glared down at her. She wasn't shaking or trembling like he had hoped she'd be and it aggravated him that she wasn't cowering away like she usually does. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it upon looking at her. She truly did look pathetic at that time. Her hair was such a mess and the place where he hit her was bruising slightly. He almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

Instead of saying anything like Faye had expected, Spike just turned around and walked to his room, slamming the door loudly. She shivered for the first time since they were fighting. Not because he hit her or because she felt scared. When she was staring up at him waiting for his next remark, his eyes were so cold. They showed no feeling or no compassion. Just pure hatred.

Faye lowered her head a bit and she could feel a wave of nausea come over her.

"Is Faye-Faye ok?" a small voice asked, coming out of the shadows for the first time. Ed was standing there, holding onto her tomato so tightly that red juice began to run down her hands. Her face was stark white, losing her usual rosy glow.

Faye's head snapped up. "Ed? You saw all that?" she asked.

The small girl just nodded.

Faye sighed and sat up. "Just forget everything you saw, ok? Spike and I, we were just-" Faye stopped when she saw tears forming in Ed's eyes. Never in her entire life on the Bebop had she seen Edward cry.

"Just forget it," Faye repeated, standing up. She walked slowly to her room, pausing for a second as she passed Spike's. She could hear faint footsteps from inside. Then there was a pause.

"I know you're there, Faye," came his voice, muffled by the door.

Faye wasn't even embarrassed for being caught by his door. She stared at it for a second more then continued on walking to her room. She closed the door quietly and laid down at her bed, feeling something build up inside of her. It was tightening in her chest, then it started to close in around her throat until she couldn't hold it in anymore. As quietly as she could, Faye let out a sob, trying desperately to keep quiet. She did not want Spike to hear her cry. If he did, he would know that he won and he had gotten under her skin. Turning over, Faye cried some more into her pillow, letting her tears stain the same pillow that she cried into night after night, praying and hoping that Spike would try to love her. She had even thought that he did love her until tonight. Even though she's heard each and everything he said to her before, it still hurt because his tone of voice really set her straight this time. This time, she was sure that he didn't have any feelings towards her.

***

"Damn," Spike muttered about an hour after his and Faye's encounter. He had been laying in his bed thinking about her the whole time. Regretting some of the things he said, but most of all regretting that he had hit her. He has never hit a woman in his life, but for some reason Faye could just get to him like that. Especially when she talked about Julia that way.

Spike walked past Faye's room twice in that hour. At first he could hear her sobbing a bit. She was talking to herself even. He couldn't believe that he actually broke her. The second time he walked past her room, he knocked lightly, but got no response. He turned the handle a bit but her room was locked as usual. He had put his ear against the door and he could hear her breathing softly, but somewhat irregularly. As if she cried herself to sleep.

"Oh well," Spike muttered, placing an arm over his eyes to block out the light from his room. "She got what was coming to her."

Spike laid quietly in his room. He could hear everything that went on around the Bebop. The snipping of Jet's shears trimming his Bonsais and even the faint clicking of Ed typing away on her laptop. Though Faye's room was next to his, strangely, he couldn't even hear her breathing anymore. Spike groaned, angry that he wasn't able to sleep. Images of Faye kept popping in his head. None of them very pleasant. They were haunting his conscience.

Groaning once more, Spike pulled himself off of his bed, walking slowly towards his door. He needed to settle things with Faye. Not really make things totally better with her, but to just let her know where she stood with him.

Spike stood outside of Faye's door for a few seconds, contemplating on whether or not he should talk to her this early or if he should wait a day or two. Do it now before you chicken out, Spike's conscience told himself. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. He knocked on Faye's door a bit loudly in case she was sleeping. He waited a few seconds for her response. There was none, much like he had expected.

He knocked again, this time a little more loudly. "Faye," he said. "I need to talk to you now."

There still wasn't a response.

"Faye," he said knocking once again, growing very annoyed. "I'm tired of playing these games. Just open the door in the next 5 seconds or I'll break it down."

It was silent for a second, then he could hear Faye's faint voice. "What do you want, Spike?" Her voice sounded sleepy and weak. It struck him strange.

"Open up so I can talk to you."

It was quiet again. "Can't we just talk later?"

"I need to talk to you now," Spike said. "I-I need to clear my conscience."

"Spike, I'd love for you to clear your conscience, but just not right now. Please talk to me later?" Her voice sounded like she was pleading with him. He has never heard her plead with him before.

He didn't say another word. Instead, he backed away from her door and ran at it, his feet flying through the air. The door came down without any trouble.

Spike looked at her bed, expecting to see her lying there in surprise. Instead he just saw a mess of sheets.

"Get out of here, Spike!" Faye's voice yelled at him. He looked towards her bathroom. The door was closed.

"Faye, come out of here," Spike ordered.

There wasn't a response.

Fuming to himself, Spike strode over to the door and turned the knob. Instead of being locked as he had intended it to be, it opened easily. Spike peered into the bathroom and saw her sitting down at the toilet, her back to him. Spike blushed for a second and was ready to leave, having thought that he caught her while she was using the can, but then he realized that she wasn't. She was hunched over something.

Faye looked back at the door, feeling another persons presence. "I said get out of here!" she yelled, seeing Spike peering at her with a confused expression on his face.

She stood up weakly and tried to slam the door before he could get inside. Spike studied her. Her face was pale (save the small bruise that formed across her cheek from his slap)....almost white as her bed sheets and her eyes were losing their bright emerald green glow. Now they were dull and lifeless. And her body began to sway a little as if she were drunk.

"What's wrong, Faye?" Spike demanded. He pushed against the door and her small frame.

As weak as she already was, Faye gave up and let the door go, watching as Spike stumbled in. "Nothing's wrong," she said. "Happy now?" She leaned against the bathroom door, her hand propping her up.

Spike glanced at her hand and noticed that the sleeves of her red jacket that she usually wore were down. She usually had them scrunched up at the elbows.

Faye watched his eyes as they trailed to her sleeves. She immediately removed her hand from the door and pushed past Spike to her room. He chased after her and grabbed her wrist.

"Spike, no," Faye said. "Leave me alone. I think you caused enough damage for one day."

Spike ignored her comment and brought her wrist up to his face. Her bedroom light was off so it made everything hard for him to see. The room grew quiet except for Faye's shallow breathing.

Spike lifted up her sleeves to come face to face with a deep red gash across her wrist. Spike's eyes went wide.

He grabbed her other wrist and did the same. It was red and bloody too.

"Damn you, Faye. What the hell is your problem?" He asked. He led her to the bathroom and opened her medicine cabinet. He found a bottle of peroxide and placed her arm above the sink, pouring the liquid over her wounds. She didn't say anything as he cleaned her cuts.

"Spike," Faye muttered as she sank to her knees, darkness slowly closing in.

"Faye, just shut up for right now," he said.

"I-I-..."

Spike looked at Faye as she brought her face close to his ear.

"I hate you." Then she blacked out.

A.N. Hey, hey, hey. This is my second Bebop fic. Well...technically it's not really my second since I haven't finished my first one, but you get the drift. I'm going to try and actually finish this one because I am known to usually not finish my past stories and leave them hanging right when it's getting good. Hey, if you're reading this, please leave a review because I need to know if people are actually reading this fic so I can judge to finish it or not. I hate to finish a fic and have nobody read it. I want at least 10 reviews before I post my second chapter. Well, I'll still probably post it even if I get just a few. Oh yeah, and this is sort of set after the last episode. Spike is alive, but Julia's dead and Ed's still at the Bebop. Just thought you should know that.