To be honest, this was created many years ago; back in mid 2011. At the time, I had a lot more time on my hands, I had just begun my foray into this strange medium called Anime, and my mindset was in a totally different place from where it is nowadays. I had always planned to post this here, and figured I could continue a great story with one of my own, but alas, it was sidelined. Hard. Now that I've gotten back around to writing once again, I figured I'd at least leave this here, as if nothing else, a timepiece of my own writing and as a tidbit for those of you fans to either enjoy or hate me for. It's been created; someone might as well read it. ;)

That said, no, I probably won't ever finish or continue this. If you hate unfinished things, then you probably didn't care for the ending in Bebop anyway, so maybe I'm safe. On the other hand, I did cut out the third half-finished chapter of this so it works much better as a one-shot with a firmer ending place. Thusly, you have been warned.

Session 1: Stardust Serenade in the Semblance of Solitude

It was a particularly starry night tonight, and Faye sat on the cold floor of the captain's deck of the Bebop staring out at it, her legs splayed out before her and a cigarette perched in her lips. The half empty pack lay beside her in the dark chilly room and just above the quiet hum of the Bebop she could hear footsteps wandering around before they started climbing up the stairs to the deck; their owner no doubt looking for her.

As Jet made it to the top, he stopped to scan the room, a look of worry painted on his face. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he let out a groveling moan; scratching the back of his neck as he did so. He turned to leave, his heavy boots clanking on the metal floors once more before a glimpse of yellow caught his eye in the reflection of the glass. Letting a small noise of curiosity pass his lips, he paused to focus further, the faint figure of who he was looking for just barely making itself present.

"There you are…" he let out wearily, but suddenly found himself wishing he hadn't said anything. Wishing he hadn't stopped, but pretended she wasn't there, and just headed back to his room at least knowing she was still around. He knew she wanted to be alone, knew there was a reason she made herself hard to find, and here he was, interrupting it with a stupid comment.

Nice going Captain Obvious.

"Yeah…" Faye mused from her seat, a slight hint of defeat in her tone at being found. "Here I am…" Slowly she leaned her head back against the console once again, closing her eyes. "But for how long, Jet... How long? I can't keep doing this."

With eyes still closed, she patiently waited to hear something. An answer, perhaps; maybe a sigh or some sort of movement.

Jet's mind however, was battling itself over what to say as he stood in silence at the top of the steps. Part of him almost wanted to just leave right then and there and avoid that question altogether. Part of him didn't want to give an answer, afraid of what it would imply.

"Listen… Faye-" He absentmindedly took a step forward, the loud clank of metal against metal ringing loudly in the silence.

Faye reached to her mouth; eyes still closed, and grabbed what was left of her cigarette to put it out on the floor beside her. She exhaled a slow stream of smoke as she waited for him to collect his thoughts.

A few moments passed, and Faye opened her eyes in curiosity at the sound of more footsteps, watching his reflection grow closer before it slumped down in the seat behind her. At the soft plop, she suddenly realized she had tensed up. Right now her personal bubble covered pretty much the entire room, and the thought of him settling into it had her on edge. That or it was the feeling she got that he was breathing down her neck simply by sitting behind her. Either way, she immediately regretted not telling him off when she had had the chance.

It's his ship though; I shouldn't be able to just kick him out of any room I want.

"Stupid lunkhead" she muttered under her breath, and took her focus off his weary figure to gaze at the stars once more. She could feel the tiredness finally getting to her after a sleepless night the night before. All that weight was finally starting to settle down in her chest now that it had been a full day with no sight of him, but she was going to fight it as long as she could.

Jet took a deep breath, his chest rising as he wound his hands behind his head for support, watching her body language through the reflection. "It was his story Faye. He needed to see it through to the end; loose ends and everything." He said matter-of-factly, watching her body tense up even more at his voice. "He had questions to be answered like you had your own. No one could have stopped him. No one should have stopped him. His past finally caught up to him, and in a bad way; he wasn't about to just let it go-"

"Of course he wasn't!" she suddenly snapped at the larger bounty hunter, already halfway to her feet with a glare turned to meet him with the full force of its fury. "But he's a fucking dumbass! A cocky, ignorant, son-of-a-bitch that doesn't know when to think things through before getting himself killed!"

Jet blinked, suddenly afraid of the volatile mess he had just walked himself into.

Yep. Should've just left her alone.

"He never cared about any of us, Jet! All this was to him was a way to pass time and hone his skills for some… some final duke out with an old enemy over some… woman he hasn't seen for… for… for three years!" She was tripping over her own words in anger, and she knew it, but she couldn't hold back. She didn't want to.

"Hey now, that isn't true." Jet firmly countered, rising from his seat.

"Isn't it though?" Faye shrieked, her glinting green eyes trying to sear it into his brain. "Did Spike ever care about you Jet? Did he ever stop and listen to you? Follow your advice? No. He went out and did whatever the hell he wanted even if you threatened to kick him off the Bebop for good! He made messes and expected you to pick up after them. He expected you to fix his mistakes; to give him a home and food for what? For an attitude of a hot headed eight year old? A personality as tough as fucking nails? For utter disrespe-"

"FAYE!" Jet sharply warned over her rant, his own anger now clearly showing through his features, his jaw clenched and fists curled tight. "A lot of those traits could apply to you as well. So I don't want to hear it. Not from you." His glare deepened as their little stare-off intensified.

"I've been looking for you to see if you were alright or even still on this god damn ship. But if you're just going to bitch, I suggest you walk your surly little ass out that door and find someone else to bitch at, because I'm in no mood for it." He pointed across the gap of the stairwell to the room's main exit; firmly standing his ground.

Faye seethed as her eyes trailed from his glare down his arm to the door and back again. "Fine!" She humphed, then bent down to quickly snatch up the pack of cigarettes at her feet before storming towards the door. Good. She could take her personal bubble elsewhere.

Jet almost relaxed some, slightly caught off guard by her sudden obedience. It wasn't like her to just give up that easily, especially not without some witty remark.

Maybe I pushed it too far this time. Maybe she really is leaving for good.

She stormed by his statue-still frame but then hovered a few feet behind him before turning her head to look back. "How are you doing, Jet?" she jeered through gritted teeth. "Mad you couldn't back him up? Or angry because you thought he cared too. Admit it. Without him, you're just an old man with an old ship. No money, no bounties, but hey, no troubles right?"

The tone alone at the end made it that much more of an insult, and he found himself straining not to turn around to look at her; not to run after her and beat her to a pulp for calling him a worthless old man. Instead, he let out an angry "Out!" before letting her go on her own free will, simply listening to her heels slowly click away towards the exit behind his back. He waited for her to close the door before finally allowing himself to release his restraints.

"DAMNIT!" He slammed his metal fist into a part of the console, heavily denting the metal, and most likely destroying something important inside. He didn't care though. She was right, and he knew it, but it still didn't make him hate her any less for saying it. What made it worse was he had just destroyed the last remnants of his family or team or way of life or whatever the hell you called it that he had known for the past few years. All because he didn't know better than to leave her alone, and because she just happened to be an obnoxious shrew of a woman.

"Fuck you Faye,… fuck you."

It's one of those nights tonight.

Filled with regrets;

Layered with convictions.

It's one clouded mess;

A surge of blended emotions.

Yet someone, somewhere, is pleading with hope.

Hope that none of it really happened;

That it's all just a bad dream.

"Damn it." Faye murmured into the breeze from atop one of the arms of her Red Tail.

She had made it all the way to the hangar without any hesitation. She had opened the hangar door without a second thought. She had even climbed into her ship and shoved the key in the ignition without any pause, as if she'd been itching to flee for days now. But the moment she turned the engines over, she couldn't bring herself to actually take off and leave. Not this time.

So instead, she shut off the Red Tail and climbed up to gaze at the stars once more from her new found perch atop the ship. The breeze that filled the hangar was a bit cool, but she didn't care for the moment. It was quiet, she was alone, and she could keep an eye on the sky. That's all she could really ask for at this moment.

After a bit, she fished out the pack of cigarettes from earlier and drew one out, putting it to her lips before stashing the pack back and searching for her lighter. Having fished it out, she cupped her hand around the cigarette and flicked the lighter to life, squinting at the sudden light, but relishing it's warmth before taking a drag. The familiar taste and smell was welcome as she held it in and tried to soothe her mind. Just outside the door, the sound of waves splashing alongside the Bebop desperately tried to remind her of some sense of time with their rhythm, and she exhaled a lazy cloud of smoke into the night.

Of all the times, now is when I can't take the jump and run…

"It's all your fault, Spike." She whispered for nobody to hear. She glanced over to where the Swordfish should have been, then back to the stars. It was like she was still waiting. Waiting for some freak chance that he'd return, and until she knew for certain he wasn't coming back, she couldn't leave. Couldn't just abandon the Bebop; or him for that matter without making sure she said it to his face. He needed to be there, attitude and all with the Swordfish tucked away in the hangar before she could leave.

He was the only reason to leave anymore.

With a sigh Faye laid back, resting her body against the cool metal of the Red Tail's arm before adjusting her head to a more comfortable position on the hard surface. She took a long drag from her cigarette, allowing her eyelids to slide shut solemnly. It had finally happened. Her fears proved to be right after all.

"You were just afraid they'd abandon you; so you abandoned them. You distanced yourself from the whole thing..." She vaguely remembered the familiar voice echoing in her head. Yet here she was, back on the Bebop. Alone and abandoned.

She took one last drag, then flicked the last of her cigarette blindly towards the hangar door, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah…" she joked with the voice out loud before continuing in her head.

And all the good ones take you in selfishly, take care of you for a little while, then turn their backs on you and head off to die…

Memories of old and new mixed as they flooded back, and suddenly the weight was crushing her. She couldn't stand to fend it off on her own much longer. Lying there on the cold metal of the Red Tail, her chest gradually rose and fell a few more times until she had no choice but to finally give in.

The hangar was dark, and mostly silent apart from the soft ambient noises of the ship and the world outside, but for anyone privileged enough to have gotten close enough to see in the faint starlight, they would have seen the small pools that had formed under Faye's eyes, and the single small tear that broke free to slide down her cheek.

Let me know your thoughts guys (and gals). The next chapter gets a bit... experimental in the early stages, so I figure this is a good stopping point both to break it up and give a chance for reviews on two sorts of writing. Beyond is a chaotic trichotic of an almost psychotic dream. :)