Hey there! This is my stab at the 'Spike's miraculously alive and back on the Bebop, let's see him and Faye finally get together' story. I hope that it stands out from the crowd. I'm going to try and do it a bit differently than I've seen it done, while containing some of the same elements. I don't want it to be too sad, but I also don't want to just blow over Spike's suffering, or Faye's. I'm also going to try to stay in Spike's POV as much as possible more of a writing challenge. Italics is Spike's inner thoughts.

There are certain truths that Spike had lived his life by in the three years since the first time he had "died." Of course he wouldn't admit to anything as rigid as rules. 'Whatever happens, happens,' served well as a loose mantra that also had the added bonus of sounding pretty cool and mysterious, but he did have other guidelines. Each one he had crafted in response to lessons learned. Faye and Jet liked to call him hard headed, but Spike was in fact capable of adjusting behavior based on past mistakes. He didn't do it often to be sure, but he could if he wanted,
And that's all that matters dammit.

Firstly, obviously, 'Don't get too attached.'

That one had been useful during the old days with Vicious. It was also obviously one he had broken for Julia, and they had paid dearly for his transgression. It felt strange calling those times 'the old days,' when it had only been three years ago. But the years since on the Bebop simultaneously felt like the longest, and shortest three years of his still young life. But when thinking of his reluctant teammates, Spike felt the memories he had made with them were like technicolor bursts of life in comparison to the shades of grey and sepia tones of his past memories of the Dragons. That's what Julia had been to him back then too. The bursting golden essence of all the lives he wished he could lead in the midst of an (in his opinion) ultimately meaningless and violent existence. But looking back now, even the wonderful memories he had with her, seemed to be fading slightly with the passage of time.
Our time together had just been too brief that's all.
She had been taken away from him when they finally might have had a chance...

He was getting side tracked.

Rule number two: 'Don't be a hero.'

Again slightly obvious, and interconnected to rule number one. If you don't get attached to folks, you're less likely to stick your neck out where it doesn't belong out of some misplaced desire to protect. This was the rule that his comrades had the most trouble with. It was also the rule Spike had most trouble with if he was being honest. Being the hero usually went hand in hand with some incredibly dangerous risk, and that made Spike feel alive. Or as close to it as he felt like he could get. Not to mention the little part of his soul, which he had previously believed to be dead, that still pushed him to do what was right… most of the time. This part of his soul had only ever caused trouble and pain. For example, sitting with that blind girl on Venus after her brother had gotten himself killed instead of cashing in on the worth of that plant. Or protecting ditzy waitresses from scummy men, while the Swordfish was being vandalized. Or saving Faye's life when she had foolishly gone after Mao's bounty. Ok maybe that last one didn't quite count, but I saved her in the end didn't I? Spike tried to bury this part of himself because it held a tiny hope that working as a bounty hunter catching criminals might mean redemption for all of the chaos and violence he had caused with a song in his heart, Vicious at his side. That definitely wasn't in line with the rules.

But the big problem with playing the hero, especially if it was for selfish reasons, was that the people you saved had a nasty habit of reading into your actions, again back to rule one, getting attached. Before you knew it, others were risking their neck for you, taking stupid chances you never asked them to. Saying things like, "I know you're a good man deep, deep down Spike," that was Jet one night, quite out of the blue over famous beefless bell peppers & beef.
Or, "Spike-person should laugh more! Ed sees Spike-person's eyes getting crinkly like he wants to laugh," she scrunched her face up tightly to demonstrate said crinkles before continuing, "Ed likes when Bebop Bebop laughs, gaffs, giraffe!" Ed had talked at him, clinging to his leg one day when Jet and Faye were both out, then she was gone as quick as she had come in a fit of giggles and nonsense words, Ein close at her heels.

Or, and Spike hated that this was the instance that bothered him still, months after the fact; one evening a couple weeks after he had 'died' for the second time, Spike regained consciousness while Faye was changing one of his many bandages.
Before he really knew what he was saying Spike rasped out dripping with sarcasm, "Back again, huh? Oh well. Thanks Faye. Gee I don't think I've ever told you that. How rude of me."

He wanted to hurt her. Hurt her and Jet for presuming they could save him. Spike had been expecting maybe another hit with a pillow, her screaming for him to do it himself, storming off God knows where, to leave him mercifully alone. The look she gave him instead was so full of conflict and emotion, Spike lowered his eyes, unable to meet the intensity of that gaze. Then he heard her chuckle, a dry humorless sound before she replied sweetly, "Yeah well, don't mention it. You'd do the same for me, right?"

Spike's body twitched involuntarily as if she had reopened the wound in his side, he didn't miss the sarcasm in her tone, but he found the courage to at least meet her eyes. What he saw was a resignation that struck him as not belonging on Faye's face. To her, Spike now was and always would be the heartless cipher of a man he projected himself to be, wandering around in a seemingly endless dream, caring for no one but his precious, now dead, fallen angel. It seemed Faye had finally resigned herself to that, after she had spent so long wishing for more from him. Spike had resigned himself to it a long time ago. He was just a broken hearted fool who would probably go on loving the same woman forever. That fateful evening on the Bebop before his final showdown with Vicious, when Faye had pointed her gun at him, Spike had basically told her as much. He wasn't blind, even with one eye always looking to the past Spike could see the way Faye felt about him, though he couldn't understand it and had scarcely given her any reason to hope. He had been too flippant about dying once when that mad clown was after him, and Spike had seen the concern flash in her eyes before she reverted back to her "Poker Alice," tough chick facade. She had saved his life that night too, now that he remembered. Perhaps that could have been a new beginning for them, but back then all he wanted was to end the nightmare that had become his life once and for all, and Faye was an obstacle, nothing more. He had wanted her to forget him, and get out of his way, so he could move on to more important things.

So now that she did finally seem to believe his act, even if she was not content with it, had at least accepted it, why was it bothering him? He had gotten what he wanted right? Well not really, since Jet and Faye had dragged him back to life once again. Now that he was truly free of his past, the nightmare was over, he technically had the rest of his life to live however he wanted. A future he had never counted on or planned for. Spike felt ancient, like he had suffered enough for 3 lifetimes already, and waking up on the goddamned yellow couch yet again hadn't been what he was hoping for to say the least. His anger with his comrades for ignoring his wishes had simmered for a long time after that.

Yes, that's the uncertainty that's been bothering me, not the inner workings of that shrew Faye.

Now he was really getting side tracked.

Rule number three: 'Easy come, easy go.'

Ok maybe that one was more like a mantra, but it helped on those nights when the Bebop crew couldn't remember their last decent meal, and all their hard earned bounty money went into repairs or medical bills. Or when Spike caught sight of a tall blonde woman out in the street somewhere and he had to will his heart back into submission, because he really had watched Julia die this time. Or when Faye decided to swipe his money card and disappeared on one of her benders. But she hadn't done that since… since Spike had returned to the Bebop come to think of it. Side tracked. Or times like these after a botched job when Spike was feeling antsy and unusually pensive.

The problem with this rule was that things never really did feel like they came that easily for Spike. At least not the important things. They left easy alright, but did they come back? Survival stuff he could do in his sleep, fighting, stealing, fucking, sure that all was easy enough. He had survived the slums of Mars as a homeless orphan even before Mao Yenrai's invitation to join the Dragons. But love and friendship? Human connection? A sense of belonging? Or how about just a filling meal for once? Forget about it. Most of those things were illegal according to rules one and two anyway. Still, Spike felt his life on the Bebop should easier. Going after petty criminals for pocket change, sparring with Jet, bickering over food with Faye, with nothing but hunger pains and a broken heart to show for it; it was all too bothersome. Despite those sentiments, without the Red Dragon vendetta hanging over his head, Spike had settled into a sense of normalcy disturbingly quickly.

That's what the rules were supposed to prevent, and yet, Spike found himself back, part of the Bebop almost like he had never left.

Almost being the operative word. The biggest change was in Faye. She had helped treat Spike's life threatening injuries, even staying with him through the night sometimes during those first couple weeks to make sure that he really was breathing, though Spike didn't know that of course. Still, again, Spike wasn't a fool, quite the opposite despite his happy-go-lucky persona, and it didn't take long for him to notice the not so subtle differences in her behavior around him. After he had regained consciousness, she had delegated most of the medical chores back to Jet and took to disappearing into the bowels of the ship for hours at a time. It seemed she had a adopted a policy of avoidance when it came to Spike. Sometimes he could still bait her into a good yelling match about who ate the last of the food or who used all the hot water, but she rarely spoke to him at all anymore. The most he had heard her say since returning to the ship had been one night when Spike "accidentally" eavesdropped on a discussion between her and Jet on his way to the kitchen for a drink of water after many months of bed rest. Jet had been reprimanding her, but the obvious rapport between Faye and his old partner surprised Spike.

"You don't have to do this you know. The ISSP reward on the info about the last of the Red Dragons is still keeping us comfortable and afloat."

"I thought the Black Dog never unlatched his jaws from his chosen target," Faye shot back, but there was no malice in it at all. Spike even detected a mote of affection in her tone.
He couldn't see them inside Jet's small Bonsai room without revealing himself, but he heard the sound of skin on skin and imagined Jet rubbing the back of his neck, picturing the halfway stern look on Jet's face perfectly. Spike had been on the receiving end of that look many times.

"Faye, come on, you know that's not what I mean. I don't need the stress of scraping another daredevil teammate off of the concrete bloody and broken is all. Besides I figured you wouldn't be one for the bullet holes. No amount of beauty rest can fix those scars."

When had Jet and Faye developed such an easy relationship?
Then Faye laughed. Really laughed, not just that grunt of acknowledgment that Spike always got from her nowadays. He had forgotten what her laugh sounded like, and found that he didn't hate it.

"Please, you know you don't have to worry about me. I may be heart broken like him, but I'm nowhere near as pig headed. And you're right, my body is a temple after all," Spike was only momentarily miffed at being referred to as heart broken and pig headed in the same sentence.
And what did she have to be heartbroken about? Oh, right. Me.

Spike pictured her grin widen, revealing sharp canines shining with a predatory glow, before she continued,
"We haven't had a good catch in months Jet. I'll just pop down to Earth, pick up the bounty, turn him in and pop right back! Quick and painless. Maybe I'm not at Mr. Perfect's level but it's a good opportunity, small fry embezzler with big time price tag. Gotta love those white collar criminals."

Jet paused before he replied, and when he did his voice was pitched much quieter so that Spike had to lean in to hear,
"I just don't like not being able to back you up…"

She didn't skip a beat.

"Still don't trust me?"

"No, that's not it and you know it."

No reply from Faye, Spike heard Jet heave a sigh which bled into his next words,
"Fine. Just… be careful," another pause, then with a great deal more mirth, "Spike is still out of commission, so I'm counting on you not to mess this up."

She hadn't messed up either, not even a little bit, which made Spike angry, though he knew it shouldn't. Faye the shrew bagged the bounty and made it back in time for that evening's Big Shot. She hadn't even rubbed it in his face, just transferred half or the bounty to Jet and warned the room at large about the fate of anyone who would disturb her post-bounty beauty rituals before waltzing off to her room. All this without so much as even glancing at Spike.
Must be a fluke.

In the weeks and months that followed the two of them coexisted fine, but her policy of apathy towards him really ticked Spike off, though he had trouble identifying why at first. Eventually he came around to a rationalization that felt right; she had tried so hard to convince him to stay, saved his life against his wishes, and now she was just done with him?
What the fuck? She couldn't be that fickle could she?

But apparently she could be, as evidenced by Spike's current predicament. He began the evening on the yellow couch staring up at the spinning ceiling fan like any other number of evenings on the Bebop. They had just returned from their latest job, which was a fantastic failure. Jet had already chewed both of them out for being "insufferable hot heads."

"You two need to learn to rein in your tempers. Don't let every little thing bait you into acting recklessly and endangering the mission! Spike I know you've been just begging for a fight after being bed ridden so I guess I can't be too surprised… but Faye," and she straightened up jerkily like Jet was her drill sergeant, preparing herself for the worst. Jet surprised them both, but Spike especially, when instead of more lecturing, he just heaved another heavy sigh before putting his flesh and bone hand on Faye's bare shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"I thought we were past this?"

"You really expect me to answer that here? Now?"

"No, I guess not," Jet shot a quick glance at Spike, followed by Faye, before they turned back to each other to share an infuriatingly silent, meaningful look.
Spike might as well have been invisible in that that moment, Jet and Faye reminded of his presence only by that quick look. It pissed him off that they seemed to censor themselves after they remembered there was indeed a third person in the room. Faye had made a hasty exit after that, promising light heartedly not to spend more money than she had, to which Jet replied amiably, "That would be a first!" before he went to start fixing up the Swordfish. Damage that Faye had caused in anger with the Redtail no less. Spike caught Jet's metal arm before he managed to make it all the way out of the room.

"So that's it?" he demanded.

"What's it?" Jet replied, deadpan, removing Spikes hand from his arm.

"She just gets to bat her eyelashes at you and it's all hunky dory even though she cost us the bounty?"

"Yeah that is it Spike," Jet seemed to realize his tone had become overly stern because he sighed again, using his nickname to soften the blow of his words, "Look Spike-o, I thought you were smart enough to figure this out, but I guess I have to spell it out for you. You were bed ridden for 8 months eating up our food and fuel money with medical costs-"

"I didn't ask you to do that," Spike interrupted but Jet held up his hand in a tired gesture.

"I'm not asking for thanks, I know you had, maybe still have a death wish, but it's done now. You're alive. You came back again Mr. Tiger Cat, you're here with us now and can chose to be a part of this team or you can just survive keeping everyone at arms length," another sigh, "That's not even what I was trying to say. What I mean is, Faye held down the fort and basically provided for us for as long as she had to without complaint while I fixed up your ship AND the Bebop. After the Red Dragons who were after you shot us up I might add. She was doing just fine before you insisted on getting back in on the action, so maybe you should think about your own part in this whole equation before you go questioning the integrity of someone who sat by your bedside day and night."

"Tch, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were falling for her," Spike spat out, mostly for lack of something else to say.

Jet merely shook his head with a "Whatever Spike, I tried," before he followed Faye's previous exit towards the hangar.

Now hours later Spike was still going over that conversation in his mind laying on the yellow couch, trying to figure out what the fuck he had done that was so wrong.
Ok, maybe "questioning her integrity," the euphemism Jet had used for Spike accusing Faye of being a "dumb bimbo too busy with hearts in your eyes throwing your tits around at the first guy you see to pay attention," in the middle of a fire fight over the comm wasn't exactly the classiest move. She had gotten a little too into her role trying to seduce information out of some poor sap and missed their target slipping out the back exit, a mistake to be sure, but not so fatal as to inspire such rancor from Spike. When he tried to look at it from Jet's perspective now, maybe he could see how he had erred in more ways than one.
Picking the fight and resorting to name calling had been immature, but it also had distracted both Faye and Spike, keeping them from chasing after the bounty. The Swordfish could have overtaken the guy's ship easily, but in anger, Faye had whipped the Redtail around to face the red monoracer, not noticing she was still firing her machine gun. She had begun yelling profanities in response to Spike calling her a bimbo, when a stray bullet caught the Swordfish's fuel line. By the time Jet had caught up in the infinitely more sturdy but extremely slow Hammerhead, Faye and Spike were pointing fingers screaming their heads off and the bounty was long gone. But Spike didn't really do guilt, so that wasn't bothering him as much as Jet's question to Faye. More and more he found he did not like the sound of that we.
Since fucking when are Jet and Faye a we?
Spike's logical mind knew there was probably nothing more intimate than friendship between his teammates and that it was only natural that they might start to get along better in Spike's absence and unconsciousness. He also knew that by "past this," Jet probably meant past letting Spike bait her into a fight especially on a job, but it also might refer to Faye's implied, but never really confirmed, romantic feelings for him.
So she's over me huh? Didn't even get a pity fuck out of it.
Something that he wasn't supposed to have a problem with according to rule number 1, but here he was, brooding. The 'insufferable hot head' inherent rule breaker part of Spike felt like a complete outsider in what was supposed to be his home.

Hence laying on the couch going over his rules over and over in his mind, attempting to silence aforementioned part of himself. That was when his woes truly began. Suddenly Faye's laugh rang out from the direction of the hangar, her real belly laugh, like the one Spike had only overheard that one time in the Bonsai Room.

What's she got to laugh about huh? She fucked up today just as much as I did.

Two sets of footsteps preceded the hiss of the door to the common area opening, and Spike sat up expecting Faye and Jet, preparing to ask what was so funny. He swallowed his words seeing Faye with her arm linked through not Jet's but a strange man's. Spike's face hardened into a deep scowl, but he managed to hold his tongue, shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood, turned his back on the pair and started heading for his room.

"What's your problem?" Faye's slightly slurred voice called out.

She's drunk.

That realization kept Spike from showing his honest to goodness surprise. This was the first time she had initiated any interaction with him since… since the time she had threatened him not to leave and he had come back with his guts on the outside rather than in, courtesy of Vicious. Why Spike knew that little tidbit he wasn't sure. Faye wasn't important enough to him that he had each interaction with her categorized and enshrined in his memory…

Partly to compensate for those decidedly unmanly thoughts, and partly because he could never resist rising to her taunts, against his better judgement, Spike halted and replied,
"No problem. Just didn't think you'd be so quick to go out and prove me right, the way you almost shot me out of the sky this afternoon. Or are you so drunk that you can't remember?"

Faye took a couple steps toward him, pulling away from the mystery man, and Spike inwardly gloated. No matter that her face was screwed up in white knuckled fury.

"How could I forget?" Faye seemed to collect herself, and looked back over her shoulder at the other man, "I guess I should warn you Ben, you agreed to come home with a dumb bimbo who gives it up to anyone who shows her a bit of kindness. At least according to a certain scrawny lunkhead."

So his name is Ben, huh?

Spike turned his unsettling mismatched glare on Ben and smiled.

"Benny boy, how'd you meet the Bebop's very own femme fatale? Did she swindle you blind at the casino like she did me?"

To his credit, if the man was intimidated, he didn't show it. He didn't even spare Spike a second glance, instead addressing only Faye.

What was with people treating me like I'm invisible lately? Didn't I used to be a mafia enforcer? Damn I really must be losing my edge...

"My ship isn't far, we don't have to stay here. I chose to accompany you of my own free will because I liked you, I'm not so worried about what anyone else has to say about it."

The bastard smiled in a way that could only be described as charming, and Spike felt his own face slip back into a scowl. He quickly trained his expression and posture back to the essence of nonchalance and turned his back on Faye and her apparent date once more.
Spike simply raised his hand in a half assed farewell as he began to walk away, "Whatever, not my problem what, or who you do as long as it's off the clock."

"You made it a problem this afternoon blowing up at me for no good reason! Ugh I'm not going to let you ruin the rest of my night Spiegel!"

And he heard her stomp back towards the man, Ben, as Spike continued on his way in the opposite direction, refusing to be baited again.