Cowboy Bebop-Next Sessions

by Drifter the unknown cowboy

An Alternate ending and continuation of the series. The greatest anime is back with a vengeance! P.S. I originally posted these with really evil formatting, but they're all fixed now! Enjoy! R&R please!^^

1. Cowboy Bebop-Catch Those Blues

Cowboy Bebop-Session next. Catch those blues



The calm silence of space was shattered by a freighter-class starship, roaring through the toll gate at a blinding speed. Victoria checked her rear display nervously, beads of sweat forming around her face. She'd been a trucker as long as she could remember, ever since her husband had died...After her meeting with Spike and his crew of misfits, she had started taking on more shady and dangerous jobs, hauling weapons for the syndicate, mostly. The money had more than made up for the weight on her conscience, but this was a bit much. Zeros mewed softly, tightly strapped into the co-pilot's seat.

Victoria looked at her cat, and saw the distress in her eyes refelcting Victoria's own. She pushed the last bit of power out of her freighter's engines, feeling the ship's hull buckle under the strain. Her purserers were gaining fast, three small sydicate cruisers, guns blazing. Victoria set the ship on autopilot, she ran back to the cargo hatch, and released the lock, Zeros following closely behind. She stood before her one piece of cargo, a huge crate with strange, old-earth markings covering the sides. A soft rustle came from inside, a muffled voice cried "Pika?" Victoria felt the floor shake under her feet as she ran to the escape pod, releasing the hatch. She grunted with effort as she pushed the crate inside and closed the door behind it. The sydicate goons would be on her any second, but Victoria wasn't worried. She could outmaneuver syndicate drones in her sleep, but she had to dump whatever it was they wanted from her. There was only one person she knew that could get the crate to it's destination, and besides, she owed him one. She strapped herself back into the cockpit and pulled away from her pursuers' fire, heading for a nearby asteroid belt. She looked back at the pod as it drifted away and thought to herself, "Good luck, Spike.." Zeros mewed again, watching the pod float away.



The Bebop cruised through the warpgate, slowing to a crawl as it exited the gateway and headed for a low Mars orbit. Spike heard the engines groan and looked up as he finished his workout. "Home sweet home..." he said grimly as he gazed out at Mars, wiping his forehead with a towel. The observation window made the red planet look almost beautiful, surrounded by the starry void of space. But for Spike, it was a nightmarish place. A place where his life had become as cloudy and redundant as a dream, and he'd never woken up since. Spike looked down at his hands, working his fingers a bit. The burns had almost healed, the scarring on his fingers and palms hadn't been as bad as he thought. His right hand moved to cover his abdomen, the scar spanned the entire front of his chest, and it hurt like hell. He winced as his hand applied pressure to the wound, the clean white bandage showed spots of red rising to the surface. He looked up and turned around, as he heard metal boots clanging on the ship's deck. Jet's face poked out from around the doorway, looking concerned. "How ya holding up, kid?" Spike grinned at him, removing his hand from his chest. "I'm not dead yet, Jet." He remarked, eyeing the pack of cigarettes in Jet's hand. Jet immedietely understood and removed one from the pack, tossing it to Spike casually as he leaned up against the doorway, putting another in his mouth. Spike caught the cigarette effortlessly between two of his fingers, digging into his pocket for a lighter. "Need a light?" Jet asked, reaching into his shirt pocket, a look of confusion forming on his face as he found it was empty. "That's weird..could've sworn I put it.." Spike lit his ciggarette and tossed the lighter to Jet, "It was on your desk." he said, smirking as he puffed on the ciggarette, turning to look out the window. "Right." Jet grumbled, catching the lighter with his metal arm and lighting his smoke. "You alright, Spike?" Jet asked, making sure the lighter went in his pocket this time. "Guess so, don't know why we're here though, what's the story?" "We got a message from a friend of yours down there, " Jet answered, moving closer to stand beside Spike, looking out the window with him. Spike's eyes narrowed, as he blew smoke at the window, "Vicious?" "No, not this time." Jet said, "It's VT." Spike smiled, rememebering the first time he'd met Victoria."What'd she want?" "Don't know." Jet said, trying to understand how Spike felt about returning to Mars. "She just said she had something for us and that we had to get down there A.S.A.P." Spike nodded, blowing more smoke at the window, "Then what're we doing standing here? We're broke, remember? She might have a job for us." "You sure you're ok to go out?" Jet asked, eyeing Spike's scar as he turned to face him. "Yeah..I'll be fine." Spike said, covering the fresh blood stains on the bandage. Spike grabbed his overshirt and started to leave, he stopped as he heard Jet's metal workboots clanking after him. Spike turned on his heel to face his old friend. "Something wrong, Jet?" "Don't B.S. me Spike." Jet growled, his concerned look was replaced by that of a stern father chiding his son. "What are you hiding from me? I know you think you're invincible, but I'm not stupid. That fight with Vicious was almost your last trip, cowboy." Spike winced at the harsh words, but realized that Jet was right. He had come very close to death, and it had been Faye who had brought him back. He looked at his hands again, the burns a constant reminder of how reckless he'd been. "Where's Faye?" Spike asked,

putting on his shirt as he took one last drag from his ciggarette before grinding it into an ashtray. "Haven't seen her, she took off a few days back, she hasn't been back since. Something you wanna tell me, Spike?" Spike shook his head as he straightened his tie. "No, just wondering." he said as he looked away. "Whatever you say, Spike-o" Jet said, giving up the role of big brother for the time being. He followed Spike out of the observation room, watching his hands as Spike holstered his gun. "Get some fresh bandages for that wound, then we'll go." Jet said as he walked away. Spike turned in surprise, but Jet refused to look at him. "I..I'm sorry..Jet.." He said meekly, feeling like he had pushed Jet away. Jet stopped, turning his head slightly towards Spike. "Don't tell me, tell her.." Jet said plainly. Spike stepped to catch Jet as he left, then forgot about it. No good would come from expressing his feelings for Faye. She'd saved his life, but he still felt Julia taking up all the space his heart had. Spike fished through his suit jacket for his emergency ciggarettes, and found one remaining. He put it loosely in his mouth as he followed after Jet, lighting his last ciggarette with the last match he had. He grimaced as the first puff yielded a coughing fit. He clenched his side, grimacing as he walked. Maybe he wasn't up for this, maybe it was time to get some rest, even tell Faye about the growing love he felt. "Oh well,' he muttered, taking another puff, "whatever happens, happens."

Faye downed her fourth glass of tequilla, ordering a fifth in a subdued voice.

"Bartender, another one here." The bartender gazed casually over at her, looking her up and down, then politely explained that she had reached her limit. "Ohhh, I see how it is now.." Faye said, reaching into the pocket of her shorts for her last two bills. She threw them on the counter and grabbed her red jacket as she walked towards the door. "Take care, ma'am," the bartender said as she left. Faye looked back briefly, then hurried out into the snowy night. As she walked down the street, she desperately wished for some way to kill a little more time. There was going to be a lecture waiting for her as soon as she set foot on the Bebop, and she really wasn't in the mood.

Faye looked back at the Blue Crow, remembering the last time she'd been there. Her thoughts wandered as she continued down the street, she started to think of Gren, dear Gren. She stopped and pulled her coat tightly around her, feeling a chill. Faye had never understood why she had been so taken by Gren, prehaps it was because he had been the only man she'd ever met, who hadn't tried to pick her up? Faye shook her head, thinking of Gren only made her more lonely. "Was he right?" Faye whispered softly, "Am I afraid of being abandoned?" Her fists tightened as she turned the corner, she didn't like feelings like these, as if she actually had any loyalty to those two idiots...Spike was alive, thanks to her. But she was still second to Julia. He just wouldn't listen to her. Julia had been all right, but not the right girl for him. Maybe Faye was arrogant to think that she was any better, Julia had known Gren too. Maybe Faye was more like her than she realized. What Faye really wanted right now, more than anything, was a fight. Women were forbidden here on Callisto, so if she waited around long enough...maybe..That made her think of Gren again, and the time he'd saved her from a group of thugs. As if she needed rescuing that night. But they came anyway, Spike and Jet had come looking for her, not to get their money back, but to make sure she was safe. At least Jet had, Faye thought, as her eyes narrowed. Spike had only come because he'd heard Julia's name mentioned. Faye clenched her fists tighter as she remembered the last time Julia and Spike met, and Spike had almost died, because of a woman. Faye had always been curious about who Julia was, and why she had such a hold on Spike. But after that day, she realized that everything that Spike had endured after leaving the syndicate had been Julia's fault. Faye was the one that saved him, she was the one that went back for him. Faye wished Spike could finally forget about Julia, now that she had died. But she doubted it.

Guys like Spike clung to ghosts entirely too long. The sound of footsteps

ahead of her shook her out of her own thoughts, as she looked up to see four big, burly men. Faye stopped with a smile, and reached into her jacket, taking out her gloves. "Women aren't allowed here, you know." One of them said, stepping forward. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with us." Faye smiled playfully at him, pulling the gloves tightly over her hands. "Oh myyy," she cooed. "What a bunch of big, strong men you all are. I'm soooo frightened."

Faye raised her fists, ready to defend herself. A metallic sound, followed by several more, changed Faye's smile into a frown, as she saw the four men were all armed with knives. Big, long, sharp and serrated knives. "All this for lil' old me? I'm flattered, really." Faye was trying to keep calm, but even she heard the sarcasm in her voice waiver. She started to back away, then stopped as she bumped into something, another man, behind her. Faye turned to see another group of men, blocking her escape, all armed with knives. Her eyes widened with fear, as the men closed in on her. So this is how it ends, she thought to herself, raped and beaten to death in a place she should never have returned to. At the very least, she was going to take some of them down wiht her.Faye reached for her gun, released the saftey and prepared to start shooting. One of the men grabed her arm, taking the gun and throwing it into the street. His grip tightened painfully as her arm was twisted behind her.

"You know, women should be cherished, not abused.." Faye looked in the direction the voice had come from. She could hardly believe it, but there was no mistaking that voice, the low, gravely voice she had come to love. "Spike?" Faye said breathlessly, "I see you're as popular as ever, Faye."

Another voice remarked, a hulking mass looming from the shadows. "Jet?"

Faye couldn't believe her eyes, had they really come for her? The group of men, presently distracted by this new threat, had forgotten about her long enough for her to inch back against a wall, staying on the sidelines. The two shadows lunged forward, the thin one a flurry of punches and kicks, the larger one holding two men in the air with each hand, his massive hands closed around their throats. A third shadow jumped into the fray, a small girl.

"Ed to the rescue!!!!" She cried, pouncing on the closet assailant and chewing on his head. The man screamed ferociously and grabbed Ed, throwing her against the alley wall. She rebounded and landed at his feet, sinking her teeth deep into the man's groin. Faye winced at the man's scream. as high-pitched and shrill as anything that ever passed a woman's lips. Ed rushed deeper into the fight, followed by a barking dog, it's jaws dripping with blood. Faye blinked as she watched Ed pick up the dog, swing it around and hurl it at the last standing member of the woman-haters. Ein curled up into a ball as he impacted the man's stomach, and scrammbled up his body, claws digging all the way. As the last one fell, Faye stepped closer to her saviors, confirming what she had already known. The Bebop crew had saved her, and this time, she made no attempt to excuse herself, but simply said "I'm sorry," in a humble voice she seldom used. "Faye Faye!!!" Ed exclaimed, running over to Faye and latching on to her leg. "Faye Faye is safe!! Ed helped!!!" "Yes, you did" Faye said in bewilderment, bending over to pet Ed's hair. "You're such a handy little imp, Ed." "Imp! Imp!" Ed laughed, letting go of Faye's leg. "Ein helped too." She said, picking up the barking dog. "I'm flattered you were all so concerned about me, really." Faye explained, addressing them all. "No problem, " Spike said, smirking at Faye, "We're comrades, right?" She smiled back at him, "You're such a Gorgio, Spike." She joked, realizing how much she had missed that smirking face. "Flattery will get you nowhere, my dear," Spike retaliated, reaching into his suit for a fresh pack of smokes. His eyes locked Faye's as he put one in his mouth and struck a match. "Flatter! Bladder! Kersplater!" Ed laughed, dancing around with Ein on her shoulders."I hate to interrupt you two," Jet said, stepping forward, "but we have to go, we're on a schedule now, remember?" Faye turned her gaze to Jet, curious about this new development. "Schedule?" She asked, puzzled by the thought of them actually finding work. "What schedule?" "We got a courier job, taking a package to Earth, " Jet explained. "It's paying four million wulongs."

Faye's eyes lit up at the mention of money. "Reeealllyy..you boys need some help?" Spike puffed on his ciggarette, regarding Faye with a critical look.

"We just might, but you're only getting 20%, that's the rule." Faye narrowed her eyes at him, but she had no choice, she was fresh out of cash. "Alright, count me in." She said reluctantly. "Yay!!!" Ed screched, tossing Ein up and down, "Faye will brave the sccarrryyy bad guys!!" "Bad guys?" Faye questioned, looking to Jet for clarification. "Whatever this thing is, the syndicate's after it as well," he stated grimly, "It's only a matter of time before they find out we got our hands on it." Faye looked back at Spike, she felt a lump in her throat as she thought about him getting into another confrontation with Vicious. She thought he was dead, but then again, she thought Spike had died with him. If Vicious was still alive, he'd kill Spike next time. She was sure of it. Spike saw the concern in her eyes, and turned back down the alley, towards the Bebop's landing pad. He didn't like being pitied, and he especially didn't like the feeling he was experiencing. It was almost as if something was trying to push it's way into his heart, trying to replace his memories of her, of Julia. Spike glanced behind him, they were all following, not a word from anyone, not even Ed, walking beside him and looking at him with questioning eyes. Jet walked slightly ahead of Faye, glaring at Spike as he met Jet's eyes. He shot a look back at him before facing front again. Jet frowned at him, knowing well what the look had meant, "Shut up, Jet." Faye just stared at Spike's back, looking lost. Whenever she tried to get close, he always walked away. She kept her head down, hoping no one would see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She felt them coming faster, as she heard Spike stifle a cough. There was nothing she could do, really. He was too much like herself.

The Red Dragon cruiser hummed quietely as it neared Mars, the golden dragon on it's side gleaming with an errie light. A small zip craft flew towards the hangar deck, slowing as it docked. A tall man with silvery-white hair, dressed in black walked through the ship's main corridor, a scowl of dissatisfaction on his face. He reached the door to the conference room, stopping to take a deep breath. he grasped the hilt of his sword as he looked down at the wound Spike had dealt him. Vicious gritted his teeth, thinking of his rival. He had been a good friend once, if there was such a thing, but the time for playing games was over. Spike had to die. He took another breath and walked through the doorway, where two syndicate lackeys escorted him to the main room. The rest of his men greeted him, as he sat down at the conference table. "Gentlemen," Vicious announced. "A spy from one of our enemies broke into our labs, two days ago." There were suspicious glares from everyone at the table. "They gained access to the cloning lab, and escaped with an important item. I need eight men to come with me, to retrieve it." Almost all of his men voulunteered, but Vicious chose only the best. This mission was crucial, and Spike was the target. "The item we seek is currentely in Spike's possesion. He means to sell it for a profit. I want Spike and his crew eliminated first. Then we will secure the stolen package. Is that understood?" His hand picked team bowed to him, vowing their sucess. A thin smile appeared on Vicious' face. Spike would most certainly die, and then his reign would begin. "Good. You men come with me." Vicious commanded, standing up. "This meeting is concluded." Vicious walked to the door, followed by his two escorts. He waved them away as he reached the hangar, ordering them back to their posts. They bowed and did as they were told. Such obidient little worms, he thought. Vicious climbed back into his zip craft. His bird squaked hoarsely and flew to his shoulder, looking at him awkwardly. "Yes, my friend" Vicious said in a low voice, as he held out some food for his pet. "We will taste blood, very soon..."

"This is your big score?" Faye asked, bewildered. "Those earthlings are sooo weird." The reunited bebop crew was gathered in the cargo bay, along with a huge metal crate. Supposedly, someone was going to pay four million wulongs for it's delivery to Earth. Faye began to walk around the crate, looking for some way to open it. "It's just a box." Spike said, nodding in agreement with Faye. He began inspecting the crate as well, following Faye around it. "It's not just a box, people." Jet said sternly. "No one pays four million wulongs for a box. Not even some weird earthling..There must be something else to it." "Hey!" Ed cried, jumping onto Jet's back. "Edward is from Earth!" "Is Edward weird too?" "That's putting it lightly." Spike muttered, peering at the lettering on one side of the crate. Faye walked over to him curiously. "What's that?" She asked, squinting at the small letters.

"It's something from old Earth," Spike said, peering closer. "I can't make it out." Ed ran over to Spike and Faye, with Ein trailing behind her. "Watcha doin, Spike?" She asked, looking at the side of the crate. "Ooooohh...letters! Cool!" Ed exclaimed. "It's from Earth.." Spike said, looking at Faye. "So maybe..yeah.." Faye met his gaze, understanding gleamed in her eyes. "Hey Ed." Faye said, moving closer to her. "Do you know what these letters mean?" Ed nodded."Mmmmhmmm, mmmhmm, Ed can read it. It's easy." "Well, what do they say?" Spike asked, bending down to Ed's height. "Silly Spike person!" Ed laughed. "Letters don't talk!" Spike grumbled and shruged his shoulders, walking off towards Jet. "Ed." Faye said quietly, losing her patience. "Can you read it or not?" Ed nodded again.

"And?" Faye asked. "Catch 'em all!!" Ed shouted, running around in circles, Ein barked and ran behind her. Faye sighed, disapointed. "Catch them all? What kind of stupid nonsense is that?" Jet muttered to himself as he sat down on the cold metal deck, putting a ciggarette in his mouth. He felt around in his pocket for a lighter. A confused look formed on his face, as his hand found nothing. He looked over at Faye, as she lit a ciggarette of her own, with his lighter. Only then did he remember bumping into her as they boarded the ship. A thin arm held a lighter out to him. Jet looked up to see Spike, smirking at him. "You should be more careful around her, Jet." Spike said, sitting down beside him. Jet nodded, smiling in spite of himself. "What's going on over there?" Jet asked. "Ed's hearing a voice, from inside the box, apparentley." Oh?" Jet said, "And what does this voice have to say?" "She says its' name is Pika, or something. I think it's just her imagination." Spike said, laying down on his back. Ed was on top of the box, pressing her ear to the surface. "Pika? Are you still there? Speak to Edward!" A small voice replied from the box, "Pika." "Ah! Pika!" Ed cheered, grinning madly. "Pika Pika!" "Chu, chu." The voice answered meekly. "Choose?" Ed asked. "Did you say choose? Choose what?" "Chu, pika chu." The voice said excitedly. Another voice came. "Squirtle, Squirtle."

"Squirtle?" Ed asked. "Pika and Squirtle? Which should Edward choose?"

Faye sat down next to Spike and Jet, looking exhausted. "Any luck?" Spike asked her, making sure his lighter was safely tucked away. "Are you kidding?" Faye said sarcastically, "Ed's hearing more voices now, she comes up with the dumbest names..." "Names?" Jet asked. "Names for what?"

"Her voices." Faye said, as if it was the obvious answer. "There's Pika, Squirtle, Charmander, there's even something in there called a Snorlax."

"In the box? Geez.." Jet moaned. Ed was sitting in a corner, rocking back and forth. "Which one should Ed choose? Which one?" Ed said softly, a lost look on her face. Ein wandered over to her, curling up in her lap. "Which one should Edward choose, Ein?" Ed asked the dog, who only yawned in reply. "Faye Faye!" Ed yelled across the cargo bay. "Which one should Edward choose? Faye Faye?" "Do you have a favorite?" Faye asked her, sounding more tired than ever. "No..." Ed said slowly, thinking about it. "Then you can't pick just one, can you? So the best choice is nothing." Faye told her, smiling at how easy it was to fool Ed sometimes. "Ed gets nothing?" Ed said, depressed.

"But Ed wants SOMETHING." Ed whined. "Something is better than nothing, so Edward wants something. But Ed can't choose...Ah ha! Ed has it!" Ed jumped up forcefully, sending Ein across the cargo bay and onto Spike. "Ed!" Spike yelled, grabbing Ein by the collar and tossing him out the doorway. "Watch where you're throwing the mutt." Jet sighed, rubbing his temples. "You should watch that temper Spike," Faye added, "Try to be more refined, like me." Spike growled at her, Faye growled back.

"Fine." Spike said, standing up, as he tossed Jet's lighter onto his lap and walked off, to find another place for his nap. Faye stared at him as he went. How had he gotten the lighter? Jet let out a heavy breath, eyeing Faye with a critical look. "What?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable. "You know, Faye." Jet began, taking a second to light a fresh ciggarette. "Spike's trying to decide how he feels." He continued, looking at Faye knowingly. "And I know how you feel about him. So if you want him to make the right choice, now might be a good time to tell him about it. " "Why should I be the one to tell him?" Faye countered, a bit shaken. "After all I went through for him, the least he could do is come out and say it. Why should I do all the work?" "Because." Jet said, his voice lowering. "If I have to wait that long for you two to stop being stupid, I'm going to get an ulcer over this thing. Besides, it is MY ship, remember? If you don't like my rules, you can both just leave." Jet finished, a twitch started to form on his eye. Faye tried really hard not to laugh. Jet looked away, he'd done all he could. Faye stood up and looked over at Spike as she stretched. "Ok, you win. But if he gets stubborn, it's not my fault." Jet looked up at her, surprised. "About time." He said, chuckling under his breath. Faye shot him a nasty look and then walked off towards Spike. Jet hoped that just this once, Spike would not be stubborn. He knew it was hopeless, but still...Ed was standing on top of the metal crate , looking unusually serious. Spike glanced up at her from his corner. "Man, " he said to himself, "Doesn't she ever get tired?" He saw Faye stand up and walk towards him, as he started to get the feeling again. It was like the hole Julia had left was being filled. With what, he didn't know. What he did know is that it hurt less and less every time he felt it. As Faye neared him, their eyes met, and Julia was pushed even farther away. In her, place was a warmth. It started in his chest and spread all over his body. He thought, just for a second, that maybe it was time to forget about Julia, and move on. Faye sat down next to him as he looked back at Ed, who was shouting something he didn't understand. "Spike.." She said, trying not to sound as awkward as she felt. Spike looked at her, not with a smirk, but a calm smile. The kind of smile he used to have, back when there had been something to smile about. "Yeah?"

he asked, wondering why exactly she was sitting next to him. He felt something different now, he felt alive again. Not a cold, hard slap of reality, as it had been when he'd first met Julia. This felt more like reality washing over him all at once, like a rain. A warm, melting rain. His gut instinct brought him out of the fantasy, and he sudenly felt that something was wrong. He stood up and looked back over towards he crate. "No, Spike.." Faye said angrily, grabbing his leg and pulling him back down. "I..I need you to tell me something..."

Spike's attention was being monopolized by the crate, which had white light pouring from it. Ed was still on top of it, laughing and grinning madly.

"Since Ed cannot choose," She announced to the space where the box had been, only now there was a huge sphere in it's place. Red on top, white on the bottom. The biggest ball Spike had ever seen. "Ed still wants something, so...Ed chooses them all!!!!!" The ball began to shine, it looked like it was opening...Spike stood up and grabbed Faye's hand, running with her towards the hallway. "Jet!" He yelled over his shoulder as they passed him.

"Come on!" "Huh?" Jet said, startled. "Wait, Spike! I have to.." Faye stammered."Not now Faye!" Spike demanded, as they reached the bridge. "This is going to be bad.." Jet stared in disbelief at the huge glowing sphere. As he stood up, he watched it disapear, and in it's place was a stampede of the most odd-looking creatures Jet had ever seen. Creatures so obnoxiously cute he felt sick with fear. Jet ran at full speed down the corridor, seeing Spike and Faye reach the bridge ahead of him. Jet took out his handgun and shot over his shoulder, horrified to see Ed, riding on the back of a strange fox, with far too many tails. Ed was laughing and smiling, happy as could be. the last thing Jet recalled before blacking out, was tripping on an unknown object, and looking up to see the horde of furry creatures bearing down on him. And his voice screaming in terror.

Vicious watched the space around him stretch, as his ship entered the warp gate. He gazed at the control panel as it began to beep. The radar was picking up another ship in hyperspace, not that far away. There could have been a thousand ships out here, but Vicious knew this was the one he was looking for. He felt it deep inside. His hatred for Spike was growing, leading him to the wretched traitor. Vicious pushed a few buttons, bringing all his weapons online. He stared out the front viewport, not a shred of emoition showing on his face. "You won't escape this time, Spike." He whispered softly, a scowl forming on his face. He clasped the hilt of his katana, as his bird squaked. He looked over at it, hunched down on his shoulder, as if it also wanted to spill Spike's blood. It's eyes were cold, like his. It was his one true friend. "Death is coming for you, Spike." Vicious hissed. "Very soon."

Jet moaned as he tried to sit up. His head hurt. So did his back, in fact he hurt all over. His eyes didn't want to open, but he forced them, and his vision slowly came back. "I think he's awake.." Jet heard a familiar voice say. "Jet? Jet, you ok pal?" It was Spike, his old freind and partner. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was lying in the Bebop's sick bay, surrounded by furry creatures. Spike and Faye were watching him, along with Ein, who looked up at him from the floor and barked. Ed, on the other hand, was busy with her new friends. Faye was sitting in a chair, keeping the critters away from her with a can of hairspray. Spike was sitting on the biggest of these things, it was apparentley sleeping. Ed had a comb in one hand, and brush in the other. She was messing around with the fox, the one that had nine tails. Ed was grooming it's fur, Jet saw, as a small duck with bloodshot eyes walked by. "Psy..Psy.." It kept repeating. Jet shook his head in disbelief, as he surveyed the rest of the room. The things were all over the place. "Oh no," Jet wailed as he looked back to Spike and Faye. "Did we die and go to Hell?" "Not exactly..." Faye said, as she sprayed a weird little rock with arms as it hovered over to her. "Geodude.." It groaned sadly, flying away and rubbing it's eyes. "But the day's just started, you know." Spike was watching a small red dragon jump on his lap. "Char! Char!" It kept saying, smiling at Spike. Spike finally got sick of the thing, "I'm through with red dragons." He grumbled, catching the dragon in one hand. It frowned at him, apparentely angry, and opened it's mouth. A small jet of flame shot out, barely missing Spike's nose. "Hey!" Spike shouted, preparing to throw the little dragon away. Spike thought better of it, and instead, took out a ciggarette. He put it in his mouth and squeezed the little dragon again. Nothing happened. "Come on you.." Spike growled, shaking him around and slapping it's head, trying to piss it off again. "Bah!" Spike growled, holding the thing up to his face. "Come on, gimmie some fire!" He yelled. The dragon nodded, apparentely understanding. Spike's ciggarette suddenly disapeared, along with his eyebrows. Faye and Jet were watching the whole time, and burst out in laughter. Jet was laughing so hard he fell off the bed, landing on a pink, fluffy thing and a cat. The pink fluffball started crying, and the cat crawled out from under Jet, pulling the fluffball out as well. The cat then proceeded to climb onto the fallen Jet's chest, eye him angrily and punch him square in the jaw. "Hey! You should apologize when you fall on someone! Meowth!"

"You can't just go around falling on people! Meowth! What a jerk! "

Jet rubbed his jaw and stood up, grabbing the little cat by the back of the neck. All the other critters stopped. They watched as this giant of a man threatened their friend. Jet was extremely agitated. He could tolerate a lot, but

NO ONE bossed him around on his own ship. Especially a weird talking cat with a brooklyn accent."Look, pipsqueak!" Jet barked, his voice echoing in the now silent room. "This is my ship! And I'll fall on whoever I please!" The cat's eyes were wide with fear, and something wet was dripping down it's tail.

Right onto Jet's boots. "AAHHHHHH!!" Jet bellowed, hurling the cat into the mass of creatures gathered around Ed. Three of them helped the cat up, who was shaking with fear. "And that goes for the rest of you weirdos! If you don't like how I run things, then you can just float back to Earth!"

They all looked at Jet for a second, then continued playing around, oblivious to Meowth, who was huddled in a corner, shivering. Jet held his head, feeling the pain come back, and stormed off to find something to clean his boots with. Faye watched him go, trying not to smile. She looked back over at Spike, who was talking to the little red dragon.

Spike told him something, and pointed to the new ciggarette between his lips.

The dragon seemed to understand, and spewed a tiny flame from it's nostrils.

Spike smirked in satisfaction as his ciggarette was lit perfectly. He patted the little dragon on the head, who nuzzled Spike's hand and flew up to perch on his shoulder. Faye shuddered and looked away. With that little thing on his shoulder, Spike reminded her a little too much of Vicious. Sometimes they seemed so similar...Faye recalled the time she had been caught, in the theatre.

Vicious had been there and she had been careless. She remembered a voice, a dark, ghostly voice. And she remembered looking over to see the pale, shadowy man. He had introduced himself as Vicious, and she had been afraid, for the first time in her life, she had been scared. Really, truly scared.

And then Spike had come for her, for his own reasons, of course. But he had saved her first. He took the risk of waiting until she was safe. No one had ever done that for her. Ever. And now, he had done it again. But not before she had saved his life. Faye looked over at Spike, who was leaning back against the Snorlax-thing, smirking as he threw his cigg into the refuse. The little dragon was nestled into his chest. Both of them resting peacefully. Faye smiled. How cute, she thought.

She stared at him for a second, then whipped her head to the side. A little blue turtle waddled up to her, looked up at her peacefully and said, "Squirtle, squirtle." Faye waved to him, and gave him a faceful of hairspray point-blank. SQQQUUIRRTTLLEEE!" It cried, shaking it's head. She grinned and laughed at him. The turtle growled at her, and the next thing Faye knew, she was being propelled backwards by twin jets of water. She screamed as she landed on Spike. He woke up with a surprised yell, and the little dragon flew from Spike's chest, attacking the turtle angrily. "What the Hell?!" Spike shouted, as he was tossed into the air. The commotion had woken Snorlax, who sat up abruptly. As he did, Spike was thrown towards the door. It opened just as Spike reached it, and he saw a surprised Jet trying to dodge his body. Jet failed, and was knocked back to the corridor wall.

"Spike!" Jet yelled. "Faye!" Spike yelled, glaring into the room at her.

Faye growled at Squirtle, who was being chased around by the dragon. The dragon spat fire and screeched "Char! Charmander!" Ed looked up at them all, smiling at the chaos. "Silly persons." She laughed. Jet looked down at his boots, which were soaked. Again. His eye twitched as he looked to Spike,

who was standing up and shaking the water from his hair. Spike looked down at Jet, who was sitting on the floor, soaked from head to toe and glaring at Spike with daggers in his eyes. "Ahhh..." Spike said, scratching his head. "Spike....Get. The. MOP." Jet said, his voice calm, but booming. Spike slumped his body at the thought of work, and looked over at Faye, who returned his look as she rasied her middle finger. Spike sighed heavily and walked off to find the mop bucket, grumbling all the way. "Lazy.." Faye said, as she walked off to the shower. "Lazy, hazy, crazy!" Ed squealed, standing on her hands. The yellow Pika-thing was balancing on her feet, smiling happily. Snorlax looked around slowly, then slumped back over, fast asleep. Jet stood up, trying to keep his temper. "Ed." He said, walking over to her. "From now on, these things are staying in YOUR room." "Yay!" Ed exclaimed. "Did ya hear that Pika? You guys get to sleep in my room!" Pika jumped up and down on Ed's foot, "Pika! Pikachu!" It cried.

Jet grumbled and headed off to his quarters. He suddenly felt the need to lie down. Charmander looked around nervously, realizing that Spike was gone.

He fluttered out of the sick bay and started down the corridor after him.

Faye saw Spike coming back with the mop, an irritated look on his face. She was just coming out of the shower, and was surprised to see Spike look up at her. Faye was embarrased for a moment, hoping the towel was secure around her body. He didn't look angry, or even annoyed with her. Instead he only shrugged and smirked at her, putting the mop away. Faye took the towel that was wrapped around her hair, and handed it to him. She didn't know why she felt obligated to be nice, it hadn't been her fault..

Spike waved away the towel, removed his blue suit jacket, and dried himself off with it. Faye smiled in spite of herself, as Spike threw the jacket over his shoulder, holding onto it with his indx finger. He turned around, whistling as he walked off towards the bridge, where his favorite couch awaited him.

Faye was still smiling, just a little, as she got dressed. Sometimes Spike could be so dense. Most times, actually. But sometimes, like when she had seen him use his prized jacket for a towel, he could be so...cute. Faye stopped smiling as she combed her hair, the woman she saw in the mirror wasn't the kind of person to have these feelings. For anyone. She smiled again, though,

as she realized that Spike wasn't either. As much as he talked and acted like a loner, he hated being alone. Like someone else Faye knew....Maybe that was it, why she felt this way about him. Aside from Gren, who hadn't exactly been normal anyway, Spike was the only guy that hadn't tried to pick her up.

In fact, he'd been an out and out bastard to her when she had first started staying on the Bebop. Something inside him had changed though. They were both being nicer to each other, and they hadn't fought since he'd come back..

Faye shook the thoughts from her head, forcing the smile to disapear. She would go to the bridge, ask him a simple question, and wait for his answer.

It's that easy, Faye told herself. Somehow she knew there would be complications. With Spike, there always were. Maybe that was a part of it too, she thought, as she walked to the door. Spike was definetely the most non-boring guy she'd ever met. Faye allowed her mind to drift back to the day Spike had left, needing to bury his past. It had been the most horrible day of her life.

Jet had refused to help her bring Spike back, so she had gone alone. In her own little Redtail, barely functional. Jet had told her it wouldn't be able to fly, but her ship always worked when she needed it to. She had flown to Mars, knowing where Spike must have gone, the syndicate building. Faye had almost lost hope when she had gotten there. The building was a wreck, like a bomb had hit it. A bomb named Spike, she had thought. As she flew overhead, she saw him, lying face-down on a staircase. Some men with guns were standing around him, and Spike wasn't moving. Faye had gone into a rage then, gunning down the syndicate men. Only one of her ship's weapon arms was working, but it had been more than enough. Faye landed her ship near Spike's body, intent on

bringing it back for a proper burial. As she stepped out of the Redtail, two sydicate crafts flew past, no doubt the reinforcements. She had run back to her ship, taking off as the ships began to come towards her. Faye had looked back for one last glimpse of Spike, but he hadn't been there. She had turned with a shriek as Spike weakly rapped his knuckles on her windshield. Just as it had been, the first time she'd met him. Faye had evaded, well, ran away from the sydicate ships was more accurate, just in time to land her ship and get Spike inside, before he passed out. But he was alive. Barely. Faye had been so relieved she forgot how angry she had been with him. Jet had been a little less composed, considering Faye had "borrowed" the fuel to get to Mars from the Bebop's reserve. But Jet forgot it all, as he watched her drag a bloody, beaten Spike from her ship. And now Spike was healing up fast. Faye sighed as she left the bathroom. Yes, there would be complications. But she had to try. Spike was many things Faye didn't like, but many more she did.

Spike stretched himself out on the couch, his jacket balled up under his head like a pillow. As he laid down, he found himself thinking about Julia again.

A smirk formed on his face, the irony was enough to drive someone nuts.

He had finally been reunited with Julia, the moment he'd waited so long for.

Spike closed his eyes and thought back, to the graveyard, and the gun Julia had been carrying. He knew she never intended to kill him, Vicious would have killed her if she hadn't agreed to it. But she had died anyway. Spike wondered briefly if it wouldn't have been better if they'd both died the night he left the syndicate. In each other 's arms, sharing a few brief moments of love before the end. Instead she had chosen not to meet him that night, and he'd been searching the galaxy for her ever since. And now he was free. Vicious had died, before his very eyes. Every last syndicate member involved with Vicious had also died. Even Shin. Spike had liked Shin, a lot. He was the kind of man that stays with you in a fight. Right down to the last. And now he and his brother Lin, who had died protecting Vicious, were both gone. "My freedom cost me quite a bit." Spike whispered. He opened his eyes slowly, feeling strange. He sat up and put a hand to his face. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. Real, painful, stinging tears. Spike got off the couch, putting his jacket back on. He walked over to a viewport and gazed out at the stars whizzing by. Spike reached into his suit jacket for a smoke. He found that his head had crushed them, but they were still good. He put one in his mouth and lit it, then let the lighter fall from his hand. It clattered on the deck as Spike leaned against the viewport, feeling weak. A raspy cough followed his first puff of the cigg.

As Spike stared out the window, he caught a brief reflection of himself.

He groaned softly, seeing that the tears hadn't stopped. "All my friends, all the people I knew..." Spike said softly. "They're all gone now. My life is gone."

Another ship entered hyperspace. The flash refelcting his face in the window again.He also caught a reflection of Faye. God knows how long she'd been standing in the doorway. Spike turned to face her, Faye was looking at him with a sad, almost sympathetic face. She saw tears in his eyes as she walked towards him. Spike turned back to the window, trying to put his face as close to it as possible. Faye stopped for a moment, she could tell that Spike wanted to be alone, but she knew his pain. She had lost everyone she'd ever known. All she had now was Spike and Jet and Edward. the Bebop felt like home to her now.

She belonged there, and so did Spike. Spike glanced back at Faye, she was just standing there, looking at him. He didn't want to be cold to her, but there was no way she could understand what he was feeling. It would only make things worse if she tried to help him. Spike turned back to the viewport, as Faye continued towards him. She came up beside him, picking up his lighter as he looked out at the stars.

"I guess you're alive, huh?" Faye asked, turning to look at him. "What?" Spike asked, taking the lighter. "Before," Faye said. "You said before that you were going, because you needed to know if you were alive." Faye said, gently putting a hand on Spike's shoulder. "Ghosts don't cry, cowboy." Spike looked at her, taking her hand away. Faye saw that his tears hadn't stopped, and felt like she might cry as well. She didn't want him to push her away, she was the only one who could help him right now. Faye put her free hand on Spike's other shoulder, turning him towards her. "Look at me, Spike. I know what you're going through. I lost.." Spike took both of her hands in his, he looked at her, clutching her hands for a moment. Faye looked in his eyes, the two different colors looked so similar. They were the saddest, most regretful eyes she had ever seen. "You couldn't understand what I feel, Faye." Spike said, his voice shaking slightly. "No one can." He let Faye's hands go, turning back to the viewport. Spike took another cigg from his suit pocket. He lit it and blew smoke at the window, trying not to look at Faye. Faye looked down at her hands, they had been cold when she came in, but now they felt as if they were burning.

She and Spike were the same, in many ways. That wasn't the only reason she felt this way, but right now it felt like the only reason that mattered. Faye lit a ciggarette of her own, taking a long puff. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed a nearby chair. "Hey!" Spike yelled, looking back as she forcefully sat him down. "What are doing! Faye!" Spike continued to protest, as the cigg flew from his lips. Faye pulled a crate over and sat down across from him, taking another drag from her smoke. "Spike." Faye said softly, trying to find a way to make him understand. "I DO know how you feel, like there's nothing left for you here. But.." "No, you don't." Spike grumbled irritably. "Just leave me alone."

"I know that's what you think you want, Spike. To be all alone, where there's no one to bother you or get in your way." Spike looked at her, his eyes showing pain and anger at the same time. Faye saw something else there too, a glimmer of hope. Hope that someone might somehow have the same problems as himself. Spike opened his mouth to say something, then simply sat back in the chair, lighting a fresh ciggarette. At least, Faye thought, he's willing to listen to me. "I used to think the same thing, you know." Faye continued, trying to keep her voice strong. "I used to think that everyone was just in my way. Even you guys...I thought that I wanted to be by myself." Faye stopped, taking another drag. Spike was looking at her, his eyes gazing into hers. "But I was wrong."

Faye continued, trying to find the right words. "That's really great Faye," Spike said, as he removed the ciggarette from his lips. "But it's got nothing to do with how I feel. It's not that I don't belong here, it's more like.." "You don't belong anywhere." Faye finished his sentence, looking into his eyes. "How? I..yeah.." Spike said in a quiet voice, looking down at the metal deck, stamping out the ciggarette. "I lost a lot too Spike," Faye said, touching his downcast chin. "Everything, in fact." She slowly lifted his chin, until she was looking into his eyes again. Spike's eyes changed, they weren't angry, but lost. Like he was searching for something that wasn't there. "I....had an accident. A long time ago." Faye said, speaking softly as she kept looking into his eyes. "I was going on a trip, the ship exploded, Spike." Spike felt surprise run through him. He slowly reached up to his face, putting his hand over hers. "I was 20, I think, I can't remember much....I survived, but they couldn't save me with 20th century medicine. I was put in cryosleep, for 50 years." Faye leaned a little closer to Spike, as she felt his hand tighten over hers. Spike felt the warmth of her hand, he saw a bit of surprise in Faye's eyes as he placed his other hand over the one in her lap.

" When I woke up, I didn't know anyone, all my friends were gone." Faye said, her voice almost a whisper. "I didn't have anything. Just a huge bill for the cryosleep, and the operation. I felt like I was a ghost. Just a ghost from the past, watching everyone live their lives, while I wandered around, wishing I had people I could go to as well." Spike held Faye's other hand tightly, leaning closer to her as she spoke. "It's not wanting to be alone, Spike. It's a fear of being alone. Of being left behind. So you leave first. It's not an answer, Spike.

It's just plain running." "I've been running all my life, Faye." Spike said, more tears forming on his face."This is the first time I've ever cried, can you believe that? It's like I've been dreaming." "What about now?" Faye asked softly, Spike saw the importance of his answer in her eyes. "Now it's like I'm awake, only I don't know where I am. Ever since Julia..When she died, that's when the dream ended. Now it's like I know I'm real, but I don't know why I'm here." Spike closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears. Faye took her hand from Spike's face, wiping a tear from his cheek. "I know, it's an awful feeling. The worst feeling there is, Spike. Being all alone, with no place to go." "Or no one to go too?" Spike suggested in a shaky voice, his eyes still closed. "Yeah." Faye agreed, wiping another tear from his cheek. Spike opened his eyes slowly. He was shocked to see that Faye was crying. He remembered she had been crying that day as well. The day she'd saved him. He had seen her tears through the glass, just before they landed. It made her look more beautiful, Spike thought. He took his hand away from hers and wiped one of her tears away. Spike looked into her eyes and felt something he hadn't ever felt before. He felt accepted, wanted. He didn't feel alone anymore. Spike wondered how long it would last, but found he didn't really care. The feeling itself was enough. "But you know what Spike? "Faye whispered, her lips were so close now, he could feel her breath as she spoke. Spike realized they had slowly moved so close together, he could have kissed her, if he'd wanted to. "What?" Spike asked, the smirk slowly returning to his face. "The past is the past. It's behind us. I remembered, Spike. I remembered where I used to live. Before the accident. I went back, looking for something that told me I belonged there. " Faye stopped to smile, as she saw Spike's smirk, back where it belonged."And I realized that I didn't belong there, in the past. No one does. It's a sad and lonely place. I started to think I didn't belong anywhere, not even where I grew up. And then I thought about you.."

"Me?" Spike said, still smirking. Faye's smile grew, there wasn't a trace of surprise in his voice. "Yes." She said, as she stroked his cheek. "And Jet, and Ed, and even the stupid dog. You guys talk like you can't wait to get rid of me,

but whenever I'm in trouble, you're there. Ready to rescue me. That's irreplacable, Spike. That's when I knew I belonged here. With you." "Faye.."

Spike said, his voice was a gravely whisper. "I'm sorry, I've been such a.."

"Lunkhead?" Faye finished for him, "It's ok, I deserved it. I've felt so confused.."

Spike put his finger on her lips, "Shhh, it's in the past, Faye." He said quietely.

Faye saw that a calm, warm smile had replaced his smirk. As she looked into his eyes, she saw his hand, entwined with her own. "Spike.." Faye said, her voice still a whisper. "I want to tell you.." Spike took her free hand and pressed it to his chest, near the gash. Faye could feel his heart beating. Unsteadily, but strongly. "I love you, too Faye." Spike said. Faye sighed softly, as she realized he had known all along. "I am alive because of you." Spike whispered. "Because, of your love for me." Faye closed her eyes as her hand slipped around Spike's neck. The last tears fell from both of their eyes, as they shared their first kiss. And in that instant, Spike felt all the weight in his heart, all off his saddness for Julia.

And then it was gone. Not pushed, or forced, but released. Spike held Faye closer as a new, incredible feeling entered him. A feeling of belonging, and complete, unconditional love. He wondered if Faye was feeling the same thing.

Her arms held his neck tightly as an answer. Faye pressed his body to her, as she felt Spike's arms close around her waist. Faye held him as if she never intended to let go, and she didn't. She knew she had found more than just a home ,when she had come back to the Bebop. She had found what she had wanted more than anything. Love.

Spike hoped that the kiss would never end. That Faye would hold him until the end of time. He realized there was no such luck, as Ein came running into the room, barking up a storm. Behind him was a frantic Jet, and an even more frantic Edward. Jet was running down the hallway, afraid of what might happen

if he told Spike what he'd seen. More so of what it meant. But there was no mistake, a small zip craft was closing in on them, refusing all communication hails. Edward's check on the ship revealed that it was Vicious, somehow still alive. And most likely, very upset. "Ein!" Spike and Faye shouted, in perfect harmony. Jet came blazing in, and almost fell dead from a heart attack. Was he going senile already? Or had he seen Spike and Faye being romantic?

Edward came running in, barely avoiding Jet. She scooped up Ein as she ran past, and skidded to a stop inches from Spike. "A ship! A ship! Someone's coming!" She screeched. Spike looked at Faye, who was embarassed, but still smiling. "A ship?" He said, turning to Jet. "We got company?" Jet walked over to him, taking a minute to look Spike and Faye over. He gave Spike a strange look, then took him into the hangar. Spike gave Faye's hand one last squeeze, and left with Jet. Faye was bewildered, albeit a little angered at having their peaceful moment broken. Edward danced past her, and Faye grabbed her by the shirt. "What's the matter? Faye-Faye!" Ed questioned. Understanding gleamed in her eyes." AH! You were kissing Spikey! Ed didn't mean to stop you! Edward is sorry!" She fell at Faye's feet, begging forgivness. Faye pulled her up by her goggles. "No, that's not it, Ed!" Faye shouted. She calmed herself before asking her question. "You said a ship is coming, Ed. Do you know who's ship it is?" Ed nodded eagerly, setting Ein down. "Who is it?" Faye asked her. It had to be someone important, if Jet needed Spike so badly. Edward climbed up on Faye's shoulders, whispering in her ear. "It's a secret, you can't tell lunkhead. Ed promised Jet." Faye was annoyed, but promised she wouldn't tell him. "It's Sword-person. Sword-person is coming!" Faye's blood turned to ice, as her mind flashed back to the opera house. "You mean Vicious?!" Faye screamed, shrugging Edward off her shoulders. "YES!" Ed exclaimed. "Spikey will fight him!" Edward said, running around the room and making airplane noises.

Faye was frightened beyond belief. He couldn't. Not now. Not after all this. Spike had killed him. Hadn't he?

Faye barely kept herself composed, as she ran towards the hangar. Edward ran after her. "Wait! Faye-Faye! Wait for Edward! Edward will help!" She cried.

Ein went barking after Ed, trying to catch up.

Images of his death were running through Spike's head. Jet was telling him that Vicious was coming, and it wasn't for a chat. Spike's heart felt like it was tearing him apart, how could he be alive? Why now? Just when he'd finally been able to bury his past? Jet stopped talking as the hangar door opened. Faye, Ed and Ein all came rushing in. Faye moved to Jet, and gave him the most hate-filled look he'd ever seen. Then she turned to Spike, who was as pale as a ghost. She looked at him, her face was enough to break his heart. "Faye..I" Spike tried to explain. Faye wasn't interested. She ran to her Redtail, and started to power it up. "Full power to shields! Arm the phasers!" Ed shouted, running over to help Faye. "Load photon torpedos!" Edward screamed as she caught up with Faye.

"Not now, Ed!" Faye shouted, pushing her away. "What's wrong? Faye-Faye?

Tell Edward!" Faye turned to scowl at Ed, who was getting worried. Faye saw her concern and lowered her voice. "What's wrong Ed," she said plainly. "Is that if Spike goes out there, Vicious will KILL HIM. Understand?" Ed nodded slowly, a frown forming on her face. "But Faye-Faye is going? Will Vicious- person kill Faye-Faye?" She asked, horrified at the thought of losing any of her friends. Faye didn't answer, but turned to her ship and climbed in. Ed backed into a corner, feeling very scared. Spike ran over to the Redtail and caught the door as Faye was closing it. He swung it wide open, his face even paler than before. "Faye, don't do this, he'll kill you!" Spike pleaded, desperate to stop her.

"And if he does?" Faye said, turning to him. Her words were harsh enough to bruise him. "Then I won't be able to do this, Faye. I need you." Faye looked at him, his eyes were full of concern, and it was all for her. But she couldn't let him die. Even if it meant she had to die in his place. She brought her engines online, and the ship hummed as it began to move. "FAYE!" Spike shouted, picking her up, out of the cockpit. She slapped him across the face, looking away as he eyed her.

"I can't do it, Spike. I can't lose you." She said, not looking at him. "If Vicious is going to hunt you down like this, then I'm stopping him NOW." Spike turned towards his Swordfish II. It was in perfect condition, for once. Not one problem. "I can take him." Spike said, his voice was clear and serious.

"I can end this once and for all. As long as you'll be here when I get back."

Faye gave him a critical look. "I'm not being foolhardy! I can take him down!"

Faye's look got more intense. She saw the cold, confident eyes of a man who will take on any opponent, until the day he dies. Spike looked at her, his eyes pleading with her. Faye cocked an eyebrow. "Ok, cowboy." She said slyly.

"But I'm going too. Let's do this together, ok?" Spike smirked, a glint in his eye.

"Deal." Spike said. He swiftly put an arm around Faye, pulling her close.

Faye's bewidered squeak caught Jet's attention, just in time for him to see Spike kiss her. "That's in case we both get shredded." Spike explained, touching her cheek. Ed watched from the corner, as Faye kissed him again, a light, fleeting kiss. "Ed wants Lunkhead to stay.." Ed said to herself. "Edward wants old lady to stay too. Edward won't let Vicious-person win!" She ran off, almost knocking Jet over as she went out the door. Something impacted the ship, shaking the hangar. "Yeah, yeah." Spike said as he ran over to the Swordfish. "Just wait a sec Vicious, I'm coming." Faye took off first, with the Swordfish right behind her.

Faye knew they could do this. They had to, if they wanted to stay together.

Jet shook his head, feeling pain there again. He downed a few asprins and ran

to his Hammerhead, to make some quick repairs. "After all," he mummered as he grabbed his tools. "If they go, who's going to catch all the bounties?"

Vicious felt a twinge of satisfaction as he neared the Bebop. Spike's ship was coming right for him, followed by another one. The girl he'd captured, Vicious realized. The one that had saved him. So Spike had been able to forget Julia, hmm? "Very well." Vicious muttered, targeting the Swordfish. "You will die together." He opened a channel to his other ships. He'd been careful to make sure they stayed away until he could confirm Spike's prescence. Now it was time to end it. "All ships move in." He commanded, grinning at the Swordfish bearing down on him. "Annhiliate them all."

Edward burst into her room frantically, searching for something. She had to hurry. Big, nasty Vicious would kill them if she didn't. The Pokemon watched as she tore her room apart. "Where is it! Ed needs it! Edward needs to find it!"

One by one they started to go through the rubble on the floor, helping her look.

Edward threw several laptops and a headset behind her, under them was her satelite dish. She put it on her head and kept looking. "Come on, come on!" Ed

screamed, frantically digging. Pika looked down at what he was sitting on, a large box with levers and knobs. "Pika!" It exclaimed, hopping over to Edward.

Ed turned to see Pika holding her remote control. "YES!" She cried, grabbing Pika and dashing out the door.

Outside, all Hell was breaking loose. Spike had pulled away from Vicious at the last second, as Faye came up behind him and let Vicious have it with all the missiles she had on-board. One of them had hit, damaging his wing as he saw her and spiraled away. The plan had worked, but they had another problem.

Eight more zip crafts had appeared behind Vicious, flanking him. They were all bearing the Red Dragon symbol, and blasting away at Spike and Faye.

They had managed to take out two, but that still left six. Spike saw Faye dive into their formation, taking another down. He gunned the swordfish over to her as her weapons were disabled, one of the ships scored a nasty hit on her.

The Redtail's left arm was gone, and the right one was hanging lifelessly at the side.Faye was defenseless. He pulled ahead of her as the ships began firing, using his ship as a shield. Spike heard a crackle and a hiss, then warning klaxons. His fuel tank was leaking. Faye watched the Swordfish as it lost speed, but Spike managed to keep the Swordfish in front of her ship. Faye began to think that this had been a bad idea.

Vicious was surrounded, letting the other ships do the work. He saw Spike's ship slow down, and the other one had no weapons. It would soon be over.

Vicious' eyes widened as he saw that Spike's ship had gotten in front of the damaged one, and the cannon was being charged, pointing at him. Vicious gritted his teeth and pulled out of the center. One thing about Spike,

he wasn't stupid.

Spike growled as Vicious evaded the plasma cannon, watching it take out another two of his ships instead. He whistled, grinning. That left three.

"Only three more, Faye." Spike said into his mic. His only reply was static.

Jet finished getting the Hammerhead ready, and climbed inside. He was about to take off, with only his pop guns online, to try and fight a faster, better-equipped ship. "Damnitt Spike," Jet grumbled, a smile on his face. "You're rubbing off on me." Jet looked to his side as he heard Ein barking, Ed was running towards him, screaming for him to wait. Jet opened the cockpit, as Edward ran up to the ship. "WAIT! Wait Jet-person! Wait for Edward!" "Ed, what?" Jet asked. What was Ed doing? And why was that yellow thing with her? Edward dove into the cockpit with Jet without even slowing down."Go! Go Jet! GO!" Ed screamed in his ear. Jet winced, grumbling as he closed the hatch. He would need all the help he could get.

"Faye! Faye!" Spike screamed, searching for her ship. Her radio wasn't working, and he didn't see her anywhere. What if she'd....He pulled up higher and saw the Redtail. Vicious had broken off from the group and gone after Faye. "Son of a BITCH." Spike growled, zooming over to them. He was cut off by the three remaining ships. It was a plan. Vicious thought that these guys would keep him busy while he took Faye out. "Bad move." Spike said, slipping around them and heading towards Faye. Even with no weapons, she was evading him like crazy. "Damn, she's got skill." Spike said. He was out of ammo, but he still had the cannon. Spike hit the charge button as Vicious' craft came into his sights.

Vicious was impressed. This woman was flying circles around him. He knew now why Spike had chosen her. Vicious' thin smile got wider as he locked onto the damaged ship. His eye twitched, he was about to take Spike's love from him. For the second time. He pulled the trigger, feeling another twinge of pleasure. His smile faded as he heard only a click. Had he wasted all his shots on Spike? No, that wasn't it. Vicious scowled at the blinking light on his panel, the hydraulics for his guns had been damaged from the missile shot, and they had just run out. Vicious frowned at his bird as it squaked, mocking him. He pulled away from the woman's ship, and saw Spike's. Coming right at him. Vicious felt the hatred boil up inside him as he watched the cannon flash. His bird squaked frantically, trying to leave the ship. He caught it's neck and heard it snap as he applied pressure. "That's MY woman, Vicious." Spike's voice boomed over his radio. Spike let the trigger go, hearing the cannon fire.

Vicious saw the blue light flood his viewport. "SPIIIKKEE!" He screamed hatefully, as his ship began to tremble. And then the shaking stopped. He was still alive. One of his men had gotten a lucky shot, disabling the cannon on Spike's ship before the discharge had completed. Vicious laughed madly and bore down on Spike's ship. This was his chance, he had to win.

Spike gritted his teeth as he saw Vicious' ship rush towards him. He was caught in a crossfire, the ship that had hit his cannon was still coming, and he couldn't avoid them both. Faye saw Spike's ships get hit, and turned the Redtail into a colission course with his attacker. She would take care of him, and Spike would kill Vicious. Then she would die, knowing that she had at least repaid Spike for saving her. Jet unloaded all the ammo he had at Vicious' ship, forcing him to veer away. He had been shaky about taking on one ship in this thing, much less four. Edward was talking to herself, puching buttons on her laptop. Jet would have asked what she was up to, but he was a little busy. He saw Faye's ship flying towards the sydicate crafts. One of them was shooting up the Swordfish, despite Spike's maneuvering. Jet flew towards him as well, trying to contact Faye, who was planning a kamikaze attack. "Faye! Don't do it! I got 'em!" Jet barked, hoping her radio was working. It wasn't, he realized, as he got static back. "Godamnitt, you get away from my PARTNER!" Jet howled, putting the thrusters to maximum. Faye saw Jet's ship scream by her, and steered clear of the gunfire. Could Jet really handle them in that thing?

Het thoughts were cut off by Vicious, who was ramming her with his ship.

Apparentely, he didn't have weapons either! That was all Faye needed, when it came down to flying, she was the best! Faye pulled into a spin, evading Vicious as the Redtail's dead arm swung around to whack his ship.

"Tag!" Faye said, grinning as she zoomed away. Vicious scowled and gave chase, ignoring the alarms going off inside his ship. She couldn't run forever.

"Get out of the way pal!" Jet's voice boomed over the radio. Spike shrieked as he saw the Hammerhead coming straight at him. He looped his ship out of the way, as Jet turned his ship upside down, putting the sydicate ship dead center in his sights. He fired the harpoon as the craft tried to dodge, and failed. Jet put the Hammerhead into a 180 degree turn, swinging the dead ship like a mace. Vicious broke away from the Redtail to avoid one of his ships, which was hurtling straight at them both. Faye saw it too and dodged, shooting a mean look at the Hammerhead. "Jet! Be careful!" She cried, forgetting that her radio was dead. Spike was having trouble controlling his ship, too many bullets had sunk into his poor Swordfish. It HAD been in perfect condition, he thought.

He managed to swing around just enough to avoid a volley of fire from the two remaining ships. He put himself on a dead run with one of them, avoiding it's fire to the best of his ability. He pulled up and over the ship, shearing one of the Swordfish's wings off on the canopy. It exploded behind him, which only left Faye and Jet with one, but he was screwed. He lit a cigg as the onboard systems cut out. Puffing away, he hoped the others could handle themselves. All he could do was float here in space, and wait.

Faye saw Vicious' ship coming from above, and sidewinded to avoid his attack.

Presistent little bastard, just like Spike. Only Spike was drifting in space, his ship was done in, but at least he was safe. That left her to deal with Vicious.

She lost sight of his ship, just for a second, and the next thing she knew she was being forced into the hyperspace barrier, by Vicious. Her ship's hull was screaming at her, buckling under the strain. This was bad, her ship couldn't take the stress, and Vicious had her pinned.

"Whatever you're doing, do it fast, Faye's in trouble!" Jet barked at Edward, who seemed about ready for whatever she had planned. He turned back towards Spike's ship, what was left of it, and closed to harpoon range. Spike breathed a sigh of relief as his old friend and partner reeled him in. "Good old Jet," he thought, smirking. Reliable AND handsome.

Spike kicked his radio until it agreed to work, and pushed the button. "Jet, swing me over to Faye! I gotta help her!" "Not a chance." Jet replied, "You'll hit the hyperspace wall. In that condition, your ship won't hold up to it." "Fine. Then I'll do it myself." Spike grumbled, checking the last of the fuel in the Swordfish's tanks. He took a deep breath, grabbed his earplugs and popped the hatch. Outside, he saw that Faye needed him, and fast. The dead arm on her ship was gone. Next was the cockpit.. He took out his gun and shot a hole in the harpooned wing of his ship, right near the harpoon. It drifted free and Spike climbed back in, taking in much-needed oxygen. This space-walking thing was for the birds, he thought. He bled the ship's fuel dry getting enough momentum to send the battered Swordfish crusing towards Faye and Vicious, with him in it.

"Bullheaded.." Jet grumbled, watching Spike go.Vicious was grinning as he looked over at the Redtail. It's hull was seconds away from giving out. "I still win, Spike." Vicious said, not even sure if Spike's radio was working. "Oh yeah?" Came a wiseass response. "Watch this." Vicious turned to see Spike's ship, shot full of holes, with one wing missing, drifting towards him at a high speed. "No Spike, not this time." Vicious countered, letting up on the Redtail. He managed to give Spike just enough room to pass. Faye saw her chance and pulled away, before getting slammed again. She knew her poor ship couldn't take much more, and decided to try Spike's trick, as she looked for earplugs.

Spike gasped as Vicious let him through, before slamming the Redtail into his ship. Now he was being scraped along the wall, with Faye sandwiched in between. "Oh shit!" Spike exclaimed, trying to contact Jet, but the radio was dead again. Jet had just finished off the last ship, the harpoon piercing it's fuel tanks. He looked over at Faye's ship, and saw it was caught between Vicious' ship and Spike's. At this rate, they were both goners. Jet throttled the Hammerhead for all she was worth, as Ed announced that she was ready.

"This better work, Ed." Jet growled, sweating. He knew Spike liked things close, but this was ridiculous. Jet felt that ulcer creeping a few years closer with every second. Faye saw that Spike was taking all the damage from this little situation. He had saved her again, this time by taking her place. Faye grabbed her gun, Spike wouldn't survive much longer like this. She would pop the hatch and shoot at Vicious herself until he went away. If she was lucky, she might get his fuel tanks before she ran out of air. She would have to be right on top of them, of course, but it didn't matter. She had to do something.

Vicious was grinning again, he now had both of them caught in a death grip.

His ship wasn't going to last much longer anyway, but as long as he took Spike with him..."What the Hell." Vicious growled, he was drifting away from them, his engines refused to obey him. A strange, leering face appeared on his screen.

His radio crackled to life. "Leave Spikey and Faye-Faye alone! Nasty old Meaney! Edward says you get nothing!" It sounded like a child! He'd been beaten by a child? No, it couldn't be... Faye watched, relieved, as Vicious drifted away from the two wrecked ships. Vicious saw a beat-up old zip craft, with an even more beat-up missile pod. Firing at his ship.

Vicious screamed aloud his hatred for Spike one last time, as dozens of cluster missiles bombarded his ship into space dust.

Edward was cheering, along with Pika. The remote control had worked, despite Jet's doubts. The signal had been weakened by the ship's hull, but it had been enough to cut Vicious' engines. Jet cheered along with Ed, in spite of himself.

Faye breathed a huge sigh of relief, they had did it. Vicious was gone. But who had shot him down?

Spike was grinning ear to ear with relief, but his mind was still lost in confusion. Shin had died. The same day as Julia. Hadn't he? Yet here he was, talking to Spike and flying an old junker. Spike lit a smoke in celebration.

As the old zip craft came up along Spike's battered wreck, Spike saw it had a clear canopy, no tinted glass. And he saw that it was Shin piloting, but not the Shin he remembered. His entire head was metallic, like a robot. The ship began to look familiar, had he seen it before? Then it clicked in Spike's mind. It was Doc's ship! Had he fixed Shin up? The bullet wound had looked pretty bad, but if he was anything like his brother, he could have pulled through.

"Man," Spike said, puffing on his cigg. "My good karma just keeps coming and coming." He looked over at Faye's ship, smiling as Jet guided them back to the Bebop.

Spike climbed out of the Swordfish and looked it over. Man, it was a mess.

"That's some fancy ship, Spike." Faye said, as she came up behind him.

"She did her job." Spike said, turning to face her. "Yours isn't much better."

"Wouldn't want Jet to get bored, now would we?" She said, hugging Spike.

He laughed as he held her, the first good laugh he'd had in ages. Faye gave him several kisses for his heroism, all of which were returned.

Jet was talking with Shin, next to Doc's old ship. Ed and Ein were dancing around with Pika, who was delighted to be part of the adventure.

Spike and Faye went over to Jet, who turned and smiled, shaking his head at the two of them. "Shin." Spike said. "What happened? You're alive?" Shin turned to face Spike. Spike saw that it wasn't just his head. His arms were metal too.

"I picked him up, while Faye was saving you." Jet explained, "His body was too badly damaged, so I took him to Doc's lab. He said there was an android body he'd been working on, to help him with the research. He put Shin's brain into it. Cost me a damn fortune too. We're flat-broke now." Spike smiled, he couldn't believe old Doc had come up with such an amazing piece of hardware. "Don't sweat it, buddy." he said to Jet. "As soon as we drop these critters off, we'll be rich." "So, you're an..android?" Faye asked Shin, not quite understanding. "I may look different, Spike." Shin said. His voice had been replicated, badly. "But it is me. I am Shin." "And you can forget about the money, Spike." Jet said, sounding angry. "I meant what I said, we're broke. It cost almost the entire bounty on those things to get this android body. Between that and the repairs, we'll be on the verge of poverty, again." Jet pouted, taking more asprins. "Yes." Shin said. "Doc allowed me to take his ship on the condition that Jet would fix it up after. A complete restoration. Those were his exact words." "Oh man, It's going to hell finding parts for this thing." Jet grumbled. walking off to take a nap.

Spike shook his head and smirked. Jet was always complaining about something. "Broke again?" Faye whined. "What about my 20 percent?" Spike

turned to lecture her, but found she was smiling. "Well, it's just money, right?"

She said, "It's not everything." Spike laughed again, holding Faye close to him.

"Of course, " she added. "I do expect to get 60 percent of the next one, fair enough?" "Yeah, fair enough." Spike said, relieved that she hadn't changed TOO much. "Well then, I'm going to take a shower." Faye said slyly, walking out the hangar door. Spike turned back to Shin, who was being tormented by Edward. "Wow! Your skin is made of metal! Cool!" She picked up her remote, and started pushing the buttons. It beeped, a light at the top turned green ,and Shin began doing backflips across the hangar bay. Ed laughed maniacally as she made him do a headstand, Ein yawned and layed down, as if his day had been exhausting. "Ed!" Spike yelled, grabbing the remote control and turning it off.

Shin stood up, shaking his head. "What the hell was that? Damnitt Spike, I'm an android, not a gymnist!" Spike thought he saw him smile, but that was impossible,

his lips were solid steel. "What now, Shin?" Spike asked as Shin walked towards the doorway."You're alive, and free from the syndicate. What's the plan?"

Shin cast his eyes downward. "Actually, I was hoping I might be able to stay here? If it's not too much trouble. Now that the Red Dragon is gone, I was hoping.." "But, Shin." Spike said, a little taken aback. "After me, you're next in line for the head position. Why don't take it, try to bring them out of all the shit Vicious got them into?" "I did go back, Spike, there's nothing left. Without the masters, everyone's spread out. The Red Dragons are dead." "It's fine with me if you stay here, it's the least I can do after all you and your brother did for me." Spike said, remembering Lin as a young rookie. "Jet's gonna need help with all these repairs anyway." "Oh, good, he's cute." Shin said. Spike stared at him, in complete disbelief. Had Shin been..."You know Spike," Shin said, walking to the door. "I think this is going to work out fine, I feel..as if I, belong here."

Spike watched Shin leave, only then did he realize that his mouth was open. Spike left Edward and Ein to their games, thinking that he really did need that nap after all. "Poor Jet." He said to himself, as he left the hangar. "Is he ever gonna be surprised."



Jet was in his room, trying really hard to sleep. Somehow it just wasn't working.

His body was tired, but his mind was buzzing with all these new devolpments.

Spike and Faye, together at last. He'd seen that from the very start, but he never imagined that Spike would let the other girl go. Julia, was her name? Maybe Faye was a little, odd, but Jet had noticed that she was changing. She wasn't quite so hostile anymore, like she'd finally realized how good she had it here.

And that Shin guy. Jet had gone to Mars, after Faye had taken off. As hard as he tried, he couldn't ever let Spike go off by himself. Jet always backed him up,

he was Spike's partner, after all. He had seen Spike's ship parked near a building, what was left of it. It looked like a war had gone on inside. Jet had gone in looking for Spike, and found Shin instead, barely alive. All the poor guy could say was a few shaky words, before passing out. "Did..Spike...survive?"

Jet felt a chill as he remembered Shin's words. That's when his conscience had gotten the better of him. Jet was convinced he'd been too late to save Spike, so he'd saved his friend instead. Of course, now they owed Doc about 3 million wulongs, most of the bounty on those critters. But he supposed it had been worth it, the guy had saved their asses. Jet sat up on his bed, realizing that it was pointless to try and rest. Maybe that Shin guy would stick around long enough to help him fix the ships? Jet lit a smoke, and looked over at his bonsai. The little trees desperately needed trimming. Jet stood up, turned on the light, and sat down at his desk, looking for his clippers. "Ah hell," Jet grumbled.

"The repairs can wait."

Faye titlted her head back, letting the water cascade down her face. A hot shower really was the best thing after a fight. As she let her body relax, she closed her eyes. She saw an image of the waterfall again, the one on Earth.

She wondered if the pictures would ever stop coming, as if she cared.

It was just as Spike had said, "You've got a future, that's what matters."

Faye said the words softly, remembering she had given the same lecture to him.

Maybe he had listened for once, or maybe he never intended to leave her.

Well, Spike was here now, that's all she really cared about.

Faye turned the shower off, grabbing a towel as she stepped out.

She decided she'd go find Spike, now that he knew about her past, she was curious about his. Faye knew about Julia, and Vicious. But who was Shin? How did he know Spike? As she got dressed, she began thinking again. But the pictures in her head weren't of waterfalls. Instead she saw herself and Spike,

right before they kissed. Faye had been able to reach him, finally. The feeling she'd had at that moment had been better than anything she'd ever felt before,

almost like a release. As Faye was about to leave her room, she saw that Edward had been there. The beta machine was on. Edward was obssessed with the tape Faye had sent herself. She walked over to the machine and ejected the tape, taking it with her.

Spike was in the laundry room, holding his ragged trenchcoat out in front of him. He inspected all the holes, rip and tears, and decided it had been through enough. Faye came in, just as Spike threw his trenchcoat into the trash incinarator. "Bang." he said quietly, pointing his index finger at the burning coat, his thumb was raised so that his hand looked like a gun. "Never thought I'd see you throw THAT away." Faye said, walking over to him. Spike turned towards her, as she stood beside him, throwing her tape into the incinarator.

"Was that, yours?" Spike asked, knowing how important it had been to her.

"Yeah," Faye said calmly, "But I've already seen it, it's useless now." Spike frowned as he looked at her, watching the tape burn. "Oh man, that really stinks," Faye whined, holding her nose. "Yeah, it really does." Spike agreed,

starting to walk away. "Spike," Faye called, walking after him. "You think you could tell me.. About your past?" Spike turned around, surprised at her.

"My past? Not much to tell, " Spike said, smirking as he looked at Faye. She seemed almost shy, asking him something so personal. "I was born on Mars, I was in the syndicate most of my life. Other than that," Spike said, lighting a smoke. "I'm just another guy, an old-fashioned cowboy." Faye smiled at him, she already knew all she wanted to. Spike was anything but old-fashioned, but

that was fine with her. "Just curious." Faye assured him, as she walked out of the room. Spike turned and followed her, looking back at the incinarator, before the door closed.

Edward met Faye and Spike in the hallway, running over to them as Ein barked a greeting. "Earth! It's Earth! We're here!" She said excitedly, jumping up and down in front of Faye. "Finally.." Spike said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now we can get rid of those weird things." Faye said in agreement. "Where are they? Still in Ed's room?" Spike asked Edward. He loathed the idea of having to somehow get them all back in the big beach ball they had come out of. "They are presently in the hangar bay." Ed announced, bowing towards the door. Faye shook her head at Edward, "Then someone should go get Jet." She explained, walking off to his room. Spike followed Ed to the hangar, when the door opened, he almost lost his cigg. Shin was putting the final touches on Faye's ship, and Spike's was already fixed, complete with a new paint job. The weird little critters were helping too, the yellow pika-thing even had a work apron on.

The little guy was covered in grease. Some of the others were putting tools away, while the rest polishied the viewports. Shin was somehow communicating with them. There were, Spike thought, upsides to being an android. Edward ran around the hangar bay, looking at the newly rebuilt ships.

"WOW!' She cried, grinning. "Spike-person's ship is pretty! So is Faye- Faye's!"

Shin saw Spike in the doorway, and walked over to him. The little Charmander was fluttering close behind him. It flew over to Spike, happy to see him.

"Hey, small fry." Spike said, letting it land on his shoulder. It looked at him, smiling. "Char Char." It said, hopping up and down. Spike petted it's head,

realizing he had almost missed the little guy. But he still hated pets, it was time for them to leave. "I hope the ship's ok, Spike." Shin's replicated voice said.

"I had to rebuild the wing from scrap metal, but it should hold." "It looks great, Shin." Spike said, putting a hand on Shin's shoulder. "Thanks pal, now I owe you two." Shin waved the idea away, "You're letting me stay here Spike, that's enough. Besides, I had help." Shin explained, pointing to the dragon on Spike's shoulder. "This little dragon did all the welding for me." Spike looked at the little dragon, amazed that it had done all this with that little flame. The dragon looked back at Spike, nodding. "He's quite a hard worker, they all are, in fact."

Shin stepped closer, whispering in Spike's ear. "But what ARE they?" Spike looked at all the little creatures, then back to Charmander. "Just helper elves, I guess." Spike said. "Don't get attached to them, though. They're going to be leaving now." Charmander looked at Spike, the little guy was sad. Spike took him off his shoulder, holding him in the plam of his hand. "Sorry fella, but you'll have a better home now, someone's waiting for you all." Charmander seemed to understand, and flew back to the others, looking back at Spike briefly.

Faye knocked on Jet's door, and got no answer. "Jet?" She called, opening the door. Jet was sitting in front of his little trees, trimming them carefully. "Just wait a minute, Faye." He said, finishing a cut. "What is it?" Faye looked at the trees, impressed with the neat trims he had given all of them. She assumed they were supposed to look like that...."We're in orbit around earth." She explained to him, leaning against the doorway. "Someone should try to find the guy that wanted these things." Jet nodded, standing up. "Ok," he said, walking out the door. He stopped and turned back to Faye, giving her a quizical look. "Hey Faye," He asked, "Are you and Spike..you know.." Faye starting walking away, towards the bridge. "Well, it's like you said Jet." She said, smiling back at him slyly. "We can't wait around for Spike to do things like this." Jet smiled back at her, laughing as he followed her. It was time to get paid.

Spike was in the cargo bay. He and Edward had gathered all the pokemon inside, but they didn't seem to understand the concept of going back into the huge ball. Ed hopped into the ball herself, "See? Like this?" She said to them,

ducking down inside the ball. "Time to go home now!" Ed told them, but they didn't move. Spike was getting irritated, this could be a problem..."Get in the ball, NOW!" Spike shouted, pointing forcefully to the huge sphere. The pokemon looked at each other, and started talking to each other. One by one, they slowly trudged over to the huge ball, hopping in. Spike thought they looked like prisoners marching into their cells. He felt sorry for them, in a way.

But his desire to get paid was stronger. The little dragon fluttered over to Spike,

giving his face a nuzzle before flying into the sphere with his friends.

Spike smirked, he might miss the little guy. A little. Edward jumped back down to the deck, and the ball closed again, white light poured from inside as the top sealed.

Faye and Jet were on the bridge, looking through the profiles on Jet's computer.

"That's him." Jet said, bringing up the file. Faye realized it was one of the kids from Ed's orphanage. Slightly older now, with glasses. "Where did he get that kind of cash?" Faye wondered aloud. Jet began reading the file. "Says here he and his research team managed to produce updated maps of the Earth's terrain. They all got rich out of it." Jet's eyes widened. Remapping the Earth? Where had he heard that before?

Spike and Ed opened the bridge door, rolling the ball in. "The cargo's all set, Jet." Spike said, taking a deep breath. The thing was heavier than it looked.

Edward sat down on the floor, exhausted. Spike went over to Jet and Faye,

to get a look at this guy. "That him?" Spike asked, peering at the file. "Yep."

Jet said, lighting a cigg. "He and his crew got rich, after they remapped the Earth." Jet explained, turning to Spike. "That sound familiar to you?"

"What?" Spike asked, "Remapping the Earth? Maybe.....Wait!" Spike stepped back, a look of shock on his face. "Edward's...dad?" He remembered the first time he'd met Ed's father. It was the worst defeat he'd ever had. He hadn't even gotten a hit in..."Oh yeah!" Jet exclaimed, remembering too. "Applederry! He beat the crap outta you right?" Spike frowned at Jet, lighting a smoke. "Yeah.." Spike said, embarrassed. "Someone beat the crap out of you?" Faye asked, looking at Spike. "I have to meet this guy.." "Doubt you will, Faye." Jet said, reading the rest of the file. "Applederry and his assistant are always on the move, this guy's the only one who stays in the office." "Then let's go." Spike said, relieved that Faye wouldn't be meeting Ed's dad, the egg freak.

Shin waved to the rest of the crew, as they took off in their ships. The Hammerhead was hauling what looked like a huge beach ball. Shin stared at it as the ship zoomed into the distance. Spike looked at his radio, good as new. Along with the rest of his ship. "Shin, you outdid yourself." Spike said, grinning. "I found him." Jet's voice came over the radio. "Their office is twenty miles to the east." Spike looked to his right, trying to see it. He was expecting a tall, fancy office building, but it looked more like a run-down shack. "You mean that old place?" Spike asked, frowning at it. "You sure this guy is rich, Jet?" Spike asked, getting an all too familiar feeling. It told him they weren't going to get paid after all. "We'll find out soon enough, Spike." Jet answered. Spike thought he sounded like he had the same feeling. "I hope so, " Came Faye's voice, slightly less critical than usual. "I'd rather not have these things staying with us."

Spike smirked, feeling the same way. There was such a thing as TOO cute.

The ships set down outside the dusty shack. Spike frowned as he stood in front of it, it looked even worse up close. Jet and Edward rolled the huge ball over to the door, as Faye knocked on it. Edward ran over to Faye, as Jet set the ball up against the shack. He wiped his forehead, sweating. Ed put her ear up against the door, and grinned. "Video games!" She exclaimed, keeping her ear to the door. "Ed hears video games!" The door opened suddenly, almost throwing

Edward off balance. "Hello.." A high voice said. Faye looked down at a short, thin, young man. He was wearing a shirt and loose tie, His dress pants were covered with dirt. "AH! Are you the guys that have the Pokemon?" He asked eagerly, looking from Ed to Faye and back again. "Are you?" "Yeah, that's us, I guess." Spike grunted, helping Jet roll the ball into the man's view. "YES! Alright!" The guy said, running to the ball, looking it over. "And they're all here?" "Should be." Spike said, urging Jet to get to the part concerning their money. "We have to let him check it first." Jet growled, annoyed with Spike.

He wanted the money too, but there was an order to these things.

The young man cleared his throat, and shouted, "I choose them all!" Light poured from the sphere, as Spike and Jet stepped back, taking Faye with them.

Suddenly, the man was drowning in a sea of Pokemon, laughing and smiling.

"Well, I guess he's happy with it." Jet grumbled, remembering the first time that thing had opened. "Yeah, " Spike agreed, "Now it's time for us to be happy."

Spike walked over to the mass of pokemon surrounding the man, who was trying to find his glasses. He lifted up the snorlax and found them, slightly bent,

but he put them on without a second thought. "Hey, uh, I'm real glad you're happy with our service, pal." Spike said, getting impatient. "But we're kinda in a hurry, so.." "Oh, right! The money!" The man said, standing up and dusting himslef off. "Just a minute." He disapeared into his office, and came back out with a suitcase. Spike saw as the man opened it, that there was a lot more than just 4 million inside. Spike was handed a wad of crisp bills. "There you are, four million, right?" Spike took the bills, looking at them blankly. "Uh, yeah.."

He said, counting through the bills. "Thanks a lot." Spike grinned as he handed the money to Jet. "And here's another million, for the ball. It'll make them so much easier to transport." The man said, handing Spike more money. "Transport?" Spike said, dumbfounded. "Just what are you using them for?" Faye asked. "Well, my dad used to love these guys, and they remind me of him." The man explained, scratching his head and smiling. "But that's just my personal reasoning, they help us with our work too, they're so industrious."

Spike noddded slowly, walking back to his ship, whistling slowly.

Faye sighed and shook her head, watching the young man close the case and put it back in his office. Jet pocketed the money, and walked back to the Hammerhead, not wanting to ever have anything to do with the little creatures again. "Well thanks, take care now." Faye said pleasantly, waving to the man as she followed the others. Edward was saying goodbye to all her little freinds. Pika began to whine as Ed got up to leave, Edward waved to him as she ran back towards the ships. "Bye bye Pika! Bye bye Squirtle! Bye!" She yelled, hopping into Jet's ship. "Ed," Jet grumbled, giving her an angry look. "Why do you have to ride in MY ship?" "Because Jet-person's ship is the COOLEST." Edward said, smiling as she looked at all the buttons on his control panel, laughing.

Jet smiled, this old ship had served him well over the years. And it had held up pretty well in that space battle, too. Jet patted the controls as he took off. "That's because it's like me Ed." Jet said proudly, as Ed watched the shack become a speck on the terrain below. "It's old, but it's built to last." Ed laughed again, "Built to last!" She cried, jumping up and down in her seat. Jet made her sit still, no sense taking any chances.

Back on the Bebop, Jet was ordering the parts for Doc's ship. He was standing in the hangar, surrounded by every parts and manufactuer's list he could find.

Finding the parts he'd need hadn't been as hard as he thought, but the prices were double what he was expecting. Shin was stripping Doc's ship down, repairing anything that wasn't being replaced. Ein nudged his arm, holding a wrench in his mouth, "Thanks, boy." Shin said, taking the wrench and petting

the dog's head. Ein barked again, and ran off to find Ed.

Spike was in the rec room, channel surfing on the old T.V. Faye sat on the couch beside him, "What's up?" Faye asked, looking at the screen. "I can't find Big Shots." Spike growled, depressed. "Did they really cancel it?" Spike put the remote down as he found channel 276. There it was. "Guess they didn't." Faye said, fiddling with the T.V.'s controls, trying to get a better reception. Spike gave it's side a kick, and the picture cleared up. "How do you DO that?" Faye asked, leaning back on the couch. "Magic." Spike answered, smirking. "Like this?" Faye said, leaning over to give him a kiss. "Something like that.." Spike said, smiling at her, "But not nearly as refined." Faye smiled back at him, turning to the T.V. screen. They were showing a picture of a burly, pale looking

man with a bandanna. "This brute has been knocking over banks all over Ganymede." Ponch said, as his blonde female sidekick looked at the picture.

"His bounty has been raised to eighty thousand wulongs!" Ponch continued,

"What a scary-looking man!" The blonde said, giving the picture back to Ponch.

"I sure hope he doesn't come to MY bank." Ponch threw the picture behind him,

amd held up a big sign. It said BACK ON THE AIR. "Great news, cowboys!" The blonde announced, "We've been bought by a bigger company, so we'll be able to bring you even more big bounties!" Faye laughed as Spike's face lit up.

Sometimes, he was so cute, she thought. "See you next time!" Ponch exclaimed, waving to the audience. "Sayonara!" His partner said, smiling for the camera.

Spike turned off the T.V. "Well, guess we won't be needing any bounties for a while." Spike said, counting the extra million the weird geek had given him.

"But, without any bounties, things will be boring!" Faye sighed, resting her head on Spike's shoulder. "You should never say things like that, Faye." Jet said as he walked into the room. "What's the matter Jet?" Spike asked, standing up. "We've got a million wulongs here." Spike held the money out to Jet. "Yeah, and I'll need all of it for the repairs." Jet growled, snatching the money from Spike's hand. "What?" Faye screeched, standing upright. "The parts for Doc's ship were twice what I was expecting." Jet explained, putting the money in his pocket. "But, Jet!" Spike cried, clenching the fist the money had been in. "Just get over it, you two." Jet barked, aggitated. "If Shin hadn't rebuilt your ships himself, it would've cost even more. Be thankful for what you have." Jet stormed out, grumbling and rubbing his head. "So much for boredom.." Spike muttered.

"Should we start looking for this bank robber?" Faye asked, walking over to the door. "You can if you want." Spike said, stretching out on the couch. "I'm gong to take a nap." Faye turned towards him, "I think I'll go to bed too."

"Well, I'm not THAT tired. Spike reconsidered, getting off the couch and walking over to her, smiling as he put his arms around her. "Did you have something else in mind?" Spike asked her. Faye saw there was a micheivous look in his eyes. "Maybe." Faye said, taking his hand. "I'M not that tired either, cowboy."led him through the door. Spike had a vague idea what she had in mind.

Edward opened her door just as Spike disapeared into Faye's room. She grinned madly, as she ran down the corridor, making airplane noises. She bumped into Shin, as he came out of the hangar. "Where's Spike?" He asked Ed, as she looked up at him. Edward laughed, still grinning. "He's with Faye-Faye. Ed saw them. Spike-person's kissing Faye-Faye! Heheheheheee!" Edward laughed, running past Shin as he shook his head. "What kind of ship is this?" Shin asked aloud. "It's a fishing ship, pal." Jet said, as he came out of his room. "A fishing ship?" Shin cried in disbelief. "Yep." Jet answered, going into the hangar. "We catch bounties in this ship. Welcome aboard." Jet said, grinning as he slapped Shin's shoulder. "My God.." Shin said, shocked. He walked down to Faye's door and knocked. "What is it?" Faye yelled from inside. She sounded mad.

"Uhh, Spike?" Shin said, "Where exactly is my room?" Shin heard a rustling.

What was Spike doing? "Gah! You can use mine Shin." Spike called from inside the room. He sounded mad too. "Thanks.." Shin said, walking off to find Spike's room. He found it, and opened the door. "I'm going to have to get used to this ship...." Shin whined, as he saw Spike's room was a complete mess. Nunchucks, Bruce Lee books, and empty soda cans littered the floor. Shin manuevered to the bed, and stretched out on it. At least the bed was comfortable. Shin tried to sleep, his batteries were drained. He looked up as the door opened. Shin crahed his neck to see who it was. The dog barked at him, then took off running. He heard maniacal laughter, and the next thing he knew he was doing cartwheels out into the hallway. Edward laughed again, as she sent him running full-tilt down the hallway. "SPIKE!" he cried, trying to stop.

Edward ran after him, she had a new friend. Ein gave chase too, full of energy.

Jet came of the hangar to inspect the scream, and was almost hit by Shin, as he sprinted by. "JET! HELP! PLEASE! MAKE HER STOP!!!!" Shin cried. Jet ducked back into the doorway, as Edward and Ein ran past. Ed had her remote control,

and was laughing madly. Jet grumbled as he closed the door. "I hope she dosen't wear him out too fast.." Jet said, looking at Doc's ship. "I'm going to need his help." Jet went back to tuning up the Hammerhead, thinking that things had returned to normal. Just another day on the Bebop.



SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY..............