"Bang"

Those were the last words he uttered before everything around him faded to black.

He was dead.

He was sure he was dead. He had been weak from lack of sleep and what little energy he had stored up had been spent fighting Vicious. Not to mention that he was bleeding profusely from his wound. Vicious had definitely left his mark…

And now he was dead. All there was, was black; peaceful oblivion.

Or was he really dead? He was thinking… wasn't he? And in the words of Descartes:

"I think therefore I am…"

… Right?

But he couldn't move and he felt no pain. He was never one to believe in God or heaven and hell but maybe…

Maybe this was limbo.

And then out of the darkness came pain… excruciating pain. And the blackness turned to white noise and he wanted to cry out in agony. His vision came back, fuzzy as hell, and then it went black again.

"There he is! Get me some bandages, quick!"

He knew that voice. It was a familiar voice. A voice he knew… but who was it? The pain was blinding and he couldn't think straight. But damn it, he could feel. And he could hear… running heels against the floor. He tried to open his eyes but failed.

"Here they are! Hurry! He's such an idiot! I swear I'm going to kick his ass! Getting all slashed up like that… and for what?!"

Another familiar voice… a woman. Julia?

No… Julia was dead.

"It's alright… it's not too deep… I think— "

The haze in his head intensified.

Ah, yes. Jet. It was Jet and it was Faye. He remembered now. What were they doing here?

For some odd reason, he thought of Rocco and that last words he, Spike Spiegel, had said to him.

"Come on, hang in there, you hear me? Rocco!"

And now he was in a similar situation. Could he hang on? He didn't know. He was tired… so tired. His past was dead and there was nothing to live for now.

Julia. Dead.

Vicious. Dead.

Spike Spiegel… dead.

A fading star… a fallen warrior…

"Do you ever wonder that to win, somebody's got to lose… I might as well get over the blues. Just like fishing in the ocean, there'll always be someone new…"

Someone was singing.

He tried to open his eyes but they were sealed shut with crusty, green eye-gunk. He chuckled to himself and immediately desisted. It hurt too much.

"It's alive" Faye said nonchalantly.

He wiped the gunk with a heavy hand and pried his eyes open. There she was. All legs and red lips, sitting on the seat in front of the yellow couch he occupied.

Faye Valentine: a woman with an attitude. He hated women with an attitude, but this one was alright.

A little.

She was eating an apple, staring at him.

Now this was familiar; almost like déjà vu. He glanced at her and looked away before speaking.

"Faye" he said hoarsely. "You… still sing off key"

Faye pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're lucky you're all banged up, Spiegel, or else I'd throttle you" she said, her nose high in the air.

He sighed, a wry smile on his lips.

"Why did you come for me?" he asked.

"Because we knew you'd get your ass killed if we didn't" Jet said as he came into the room, wearing an apron. "Welcome home, Spike. How're you feeling?"

"Like hell. How long have I been out?"

"Almost two weeks now" Faye answered.

"I'm starving" he yawned.

"When are you not?" Faye said. "But actually… I'm kind of hungry myself." She chucked the apple core onto the table in the middle.

"You?! You just ate last night's leftovers! And throw that in the bin!" Jet said.

"Yes, and they were very bland, thank you. Add more spice next time" Faye said with a smirk, ignoring his reprimand.

"You sayin' I can't cook?!" Jet fumed.

"Hey… I'm not sayin'… I'm just sayin'" Faye replied with a shrug of her shoulders, a smile tugging at her lips.

"You ungrateful wench! How about next time you cook?" Jet said as he made his way back to the kitchen, grumbling.

Spike smiled to himself. The familiarity was comfortable. He… belonged here.

Welcome home, Spike.

"What's for dinner anyway" he asked, staring at the ceiling.

"Mushrooms… again" Faye said with a sigh. "Jet found some stupid, old mushrooms last night. You remember, right? The ones Ed got for us that one time? Well, Jet had stashed some of them away and since we haven't had any luck in the bounty-hunting department…" Faye sighed again and pulled out a cigarette.

"Did Ed and Ein ever come back?"

Faye shook her head, lighting her cigarette.

"No. She went with her father, I'm sure of it. It's where she belongs"

Spike looked at Faye and caught the small, fond smile on her lips as she remembered Radical Edward. Then she turned her cynical gaze upon him.

"And you. If you ever pull another stunt like this again, I swear… I swear I'll kill you" she said, pushing herself to her feet. She took one last drag from her cigarette, blew out a final puff of smoke and stabbed the half-smoked ciggy in the ash tray. She left the room without another word.

"Yeah, yeah" Spike said to the empty room. He closed his eyes and smiled, one arm over his face.

Maybe he had something to live for after all.

Yes, his past was dead. Julia was dead. Vicious was dead. And yeah, the old Spike Spiegel… the Spike Spiegel who had been haunted by the past… the Spike Spiegel whose demons were now slain… was dead too. And that was alright.

He had a new beginning now. He had… friends. He had—dare he be so cheesy?— a family.

It would take time to heal. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. Julia would always have a place in his heart, but he would never again be shackled by her memory. He was no longer a prisoner of Vicious and his hatred. He would not be enslaved by the past.

He was free now.

He began to hum the tune Faye had been singing earlier.

"Don't stop for nobody. This time I'll keep my feet on solid ground. Now I understand myself when I'm down. Like the sweet sound of hip music… there'll always be something new…"

What a fitting song, he thought.

Because yeah… the beat always goes on.

A/N: Alright, my dears. This was done on a spur of the moment. I just finished watching Cowboy Bebop and I loved it. I was heartbroken to see the ending and I refused to believe that Spike "died" at the end.

Anyway, I did some research and I am pleased to announce *SPOILER, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!*

that Watanabe-sama himself confirms that Spike Spiegel survives at the end. It was in an interview done back in 2013 and he said Spike was just sleeping, lol!

Because of this, I made my own little "epilogue" so to speak. I hope you enjoy and leave me your thoughts!