(disclaimer: I don't own either Cowboy Bebop or Bleach. If you don't think having the Bleach characters here makes sense, I'd like to point out…neither does the Bleach manga right now)

Session 28- Let's Get It Started

"Bounty! Bounty!" Ed called out a few days later as the loud beeping of her computer delivered its message all throughout the Bebop. Spike, Faye, and Jet quickly raced into the main room to check it out.

"What is it, Ed?" Jet quickly asked. He looked at the computer. "Hmm….says here these goons made off with heavy artillery rifles, worth over half a million dollars to the military!"

"Is that right?" Spike asked.

"Yeah…" he gave a low whistle. "Bounty here is over half a million woolongs!"

Spike sat up with a start and edged closer to the computer. "We'll take it!"

"Heh, knew that would get your attention! How about you, Faye? You in?"

"Do you REALLY have to ask?" Faye smiled sensually and loaded up her gun. "Let's go!"

"Ed, can you track down these guys and find out where they were seen?"

"Uh huh!"

"Do it then. Then you and Ein stay here, we'll be back soon."

"Right! Bring Ed a souvineer, Papa!"

Following the leads supplied by Ed they found themselves in New Orleans, where they landed their ships.

"OK, well, these guys couldn't have gotten too far."

"Yeah, traveling around with huge sacks would DEFINITELY call some attention to themselves. My guess is that they're waiting for a ride of some kind."

"Hmm…where would you wait for a ride and not call too much attention to yourself?" Jet brought up a map on his cell phone. "Let's see…the military base is right there…"

"Well…I think there's a sports store right over there.." Spike pointed. "Kinda depends on how much they love the Saints…"

"No…there's no place at a sports store to set down huge bags, that might call attention…there's a restaurant around here…"

"Another one right over there.." Spike pointed.

"I dunno, that looks to fancy…what we gottta figure out is where these guys can go that's nonchalant and where no one would really pay attention to them…"

Faye rolled her eyes. "A BAR, Jet?"

"A bar!" Jet and Spike said to each other. "Good thinking!"

"Let's split up," Jet said. "There are three bars along the base. With those buldging bags they couldn't have been able to carry them for a long time, so my guess is they're in one of these places. Faye, you take this one. Spike, take this one, and I'll take this one. And if you find any of them then contact the others."

Faye landed her RedTail outside of the bar Jet told her to look in. Conceling her gun in the pockets of her shawl she sauntered in pretending to be a normal customer. "Hi!" she smiled cheerfully to the bartender.

The bartender looked up and gave a huge grin. "Well, good afternoon, Miss. What can I get you?"

"Can I have a saki, please?" she smiled as the drink was handed to her. She turned around on her barstool and took in the sight around her. To the left and nearest the door were two old guys playing cards.

"Straight flush," one man in a straw hat said.

"Not so fast there, four aces!" His friend un a baseball cap stared open mouthed as he grabbed the cash on the table. "See ya next payday!"

"Comenab it, Antonio! That's the third game ya won! Ya must have some sneaky trick you're doing!"

"Nope, not one. Just dumb lick!"

"I tell ya, ever since Jobhin went to meet his maker, you been winning all the hands he did! He taught ya something, I know he did!"

"He dang near taught me nothing ya sore loser!"

"Yeah right, I'll find out your secret sooner or later!"

Faye shook her head at the two old men and her eyes darted over to the stool next to her, Her sight took in a young woman who was seated there, drinking the same kind of saki Faye was drinking. It was all Faye could do not to stare.

For one thing, the woman was beautiful! She was very tall and slender…but her chest was big! Even bigger than Faye's. Mist have gotten implants or something…no question. Her hair was a lovely shade of deep strawberry blonde, and fell down her waist in waves. Her eyes were a piercing blue framed by heavy dark lashes and she had a tiny birthmark on her chin near the left side of her mouth. She was dressed in tan kacki pants and a sleeveless pink shirt. The woman looked at Faye and gave a small smile. She had a pleasant smile, the kind that would make you want to smile back. So Faye did. "Good saki," Faye said to her.

"Hmm…it's delicious," the woman agreed. "I don't think I've tasted saki this good since Japan."

"Oh…are you from Japan?"

"No, but I've been there a number of times. Particularly Kurakawa Town. Have you even been there?" Faye shook her head. "So, do you come here to this bar often?"

"No, in fact this is my first time here myself. Let's just say I'm here on assignment. By the way, do you know anything about the theft of expensive military guns that happened about an hour ago?"

The woman's eyes went wide. "Military guns? Oh no, I haven't. I just got here myself in fact."

"Visiting friends?"

"Oh no…," the woman looked down at her saki. "All the people I know are in Kawakura Town…but there was a but of a misunderstanding and…well, I don't think too many of them want anything to do with ME right now…I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Oh…dark past?"

"Yeah…very dark."

"But a familiar one I bet."

"Well,not unless you're in a Special Force Group."

Faye's head snapped up. "You're in the military?"

"Well, not what you would call a normal one. We never used guns ourselves, we used swords."

"Swords?"

"Yeah, we all have specially trained swords that we use in our branch. It's VERY special."

"Well, I have to admit, I;ve never run into a military that uses swords instead of guns before."

"Not too many people have heard of us, actually. I'm actually a former Lieutenant."

"Really? A Lieutenant?"

"Uh huh. Vice Captain of the 10th Squad."

"10th, huh? How many Squads does this military have?"

"13 actually."

Faye stared long and hard at her seatmate. "And you're a Vice Captain? Really?"

"Well…I was…I actually left the service last night…been traveling around, trying to figure out what I'm going to do next…"

"Why did you leave? You have a falling out with your Captain or something?"

"With…with my….oh no…no. ," she vehemently denied. "No,nothing like that, and definitely not with my Captain! I did have kind of a falling out…but it was with another Captain. One of the meanest, cruelest person you could ever meet. This man…if you can call him a man..he never smiles, he's so stuck to the rules he can't even treat his own SISTER warmly, and he cares more about being a Captain than he does everything else! He'll threaten you with nothing short of death if you break ONE rule, and his own Vice Captain hates him!"

Faye whistled. ":Tough military…but I'm with you 100 percent. People like that, all stick to the rules like they are, never wanting to see things from other's point of view, as long as they stick to thier precious rules…"

"Isn't THAT the truth? All that Captain knows how to do is be a killjoy and make anyone who tries to follow their heart feel miserable."

"Yeah, I'm with you on that! Who needs stuffy rules and sticks-in-the-muds! Here's lookin at you!" she raised her glass and clinked it against Rangiku's.

" But why were you asking me about those guns? Are YOU in the military?"

Faye chuckled. "Hardly," she pulled out her own gun. Actually, I'm a Bounty Hunter. The police are asking half a million Woolongs in nice crisp dollar bills, and I'm planning on capturing those crooks, hauling then into the police station, and collecting that money. Well…me and my partners are."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. They're not here right now, they're busy scoping out other places these goons might be. I was assigned to stake out here."

"That sounds exciting, being a bounty hunter. In a way it kind of sounds like what my military branch used to do."

"Well…when there are bounties around to catch, than sure. But you have to kind of wait for them to come to you, or check out the police blotters to see if there are any and how much money the police offer. Otherwise you pretty much drift in space."

"Oh!" Suddenly the woman sat straight up. "Well…we haven't officially met, have we?"

"No, we haven't."

The woman stuck her hand out. "I'm Rangiku Matsimoto."

"Faye Valentine."

Rangiku shook her hand. "Well, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Faye narrowed her eyes. "Rangiku Matsimoto? Are you related to a guy named Whitney Haggis Matsimoto?"

"Not that I know of. Why, someone from your past?"

"Yeah…a real jerk. Con artist to the extreme."

"Really?"

The bartender came over to them then. "Excuse me? I couldn't help but overhear you. Did you say you were looking for suspicious people?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, those guys over by that table way in the back…they came in a while ago with huge sacks on their backs, and they haven't moved from that table. The just ordered their drinks and snapped at us to leave them alone. Been here an hour and that;s all they ordered."

Faye grinned at him. "Thanks." Giving her new friend the 'one minute' sign she carefully sauntered closer to the table, being careful not to be noticed, and evesdropped on their conversation.

"OK, boys," said one of them, obviously the leader of he pack, "You remember the plan, right? We wait for Frankie to come by in the armored car, once he gets here he's gonna beep the horn twice, and that's our signal. Once we hear that we all go outside very casually. Remember, don't draw attention to yourself. We all go out two at a time, make believe you gotta go to the bathroom, or ya want to get some air or something, very nonchalant. But remember, HIDE the bags!"

Faye then quietly walked to the other side of the bar and got Spike on her cell phone. "Hey, Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"I found a few of those guys here at my bar. They're waiting for some guy named 'Frankie", he;s got the armored car that's gonna take them and the guns."

"Well..just so happens I se an armored car parked here in my own bar. Think I'll see if I can find this guy. I'll let Jet know too."

Faye rang off and went to the bar. "Hey, listen," she said to her new friend. "it's was really great to meet you, and I hoe we get to see each other again soon, but.." she took out her gun. "I gotta go to work right now. I suggest you ad the bartender get behind the counter, cause this is gonna get messy," she sauntered back to the table before Rangiku could answer just in time to hear one of the gang say shakily,

"Boss?"

"Yeah?"

"I got kinda a funny feeling about all this…"

"Aw, you had a funny feeling about what you ate for lunch today! I tell ya we got this in the bag! Nothin…and I mean absolutely nothing on Earth can possibly stop us from getting away scot free!"

"But boss, people are out there lookin for us all over, we got bounties on our heads."

The boss slammed his fist on the table. "THANK you, Chuck! I was WONDERING why the post office had such nice pictures of us up on their walls, but I couldn't QUITE put my finger on it! Listen to ya, all yellow like a damn canary! What's the matter with you? Aren't you ashamed?"

"I dunno."

"Look, Mr. Worrywart, I tell you we ain't got nothing to worry about. Nothin at all. Cause you know, and I know, and everyone here knows that even if we got bounties on our heads we got the goods," he put his foot on the sack underneath his feet.. "in fact there was only one bounty hunter we ever HAD to worry about. But he's DEAD. You got it? He's dead. He's deceased, he's pushing up daises, he's resting in peace! He's having a cigarette with God in Heaven. And we all know he was the best of the best, the greatest of the greats. Quite possibly the greatest bounty hunter of all time, but as ya know he and Vicious did each other in, they massacred each other, he got Vicious, Vicious got him. He's DEAD! Got it? So we don't have to worry no more!"

One of the men gave a long low whistle. "Still can't believe HE finally got Vicious! Man, after all this time of him making life harder for the rest of us ordinary crooks.."

"You're tellin me!" came another guy. "I actually came face to face with Vicious myself!"

"Ya did?"

"Yeah. I saw him and his gang smuggle some red eye. Luckily they were in a hurry, but not before he gave me a close shave with his sword and warned me in a chilly voice to never forget him…" the guy lifted up his shirt collar and everyone gasped at the large red scar that was there.

"Oh man, you're lucky you got out WITH your life!"

"Yeah, don't I know it!"

"Well, it doesn't surprise me that Spike got him. You ask me he was the only one that could have. I myself had a run in with him…"

"With Vicious?"

"No, with Spike! Man, Spike Spegal…found out why they call him the best. He caught me in a robbery with my old gang, knocked me out cold with some uber quick moves. Never saw it coming! That's why I got a crown and two porcelion teeth!"

Some other guys whistled. "Man, and you lived through that?"

"Just barely."

"Respect!"

"But boss?"

"What IS it?"

"Suppose Spike was training a lacky, if ya to take his place when he died?"

"Suppose you shut up! Even if he was there's no way that lacky could EVER be as good as him! Anyone who can take down Vicious has to be the best of the best! In fact, I propose a toast!" he raised up his beer glass. "To Spike, who helped take down the most dangerous man I the universe! May he rest in peace!"

"To Spike!" the others cried, raising their glasses. Faye gave a devious 'if they only knew' smile and straightened out her shawl. Action time!

She sauntered over to their table, concealing her gun. "Hi," she said seductively.

The men looked at her and grinned foolishly. "Hi," the boss said, nudging his men who were straightening their hair and clothes.

"I was wondering if you could help me…"

"Well, wonder no more, Babe. So…What's a cute thing like you doing in a place like this?"

"Well, this is my first time here and wouldn't you know,I got myself lost! And my ship broke down outside. I was kinda hoping that one of you would give me a ride…"

"Sure, sure we can! Actually my boys and I are waiting for a ride ourselves. But…there's always room for one more! Tell ya what..while we wait, why don't we all get to know each other?"

"Thought you'd never ask…" Faye said bringing out her pistol. "put your hands in the air and don't make any sudden moves, understand?"

"Oh geez,a BOUNTY HUNTER!" Check cried out. "I told ya,boss, I TOLD ya!"

"SHUT UP AND START FIRING! SHE;S A WOMAN,WE CAN BEAT HER!" Quickly Faye ducked behind a table, turned it over, and started firing. The men fired back. Luckily Faye was able to dodge the bullets and quickly move from table to table while firing as quick as she could. Several of the men were quicker, though, and she almost got nicked quite a number of times before she ducked and rolled to the next table. Taking good aim she managed to shoot the gun out of the crook nearest to her.

"YOOWW! Boss, boss, she;s gotta be a protegie of Spike!"

"I TOLD ya he had one, boss!" Chuck said.

"QUIET! Do ya SEE her doing karate? "

"She just shot the gun out of my hand!"

"Did ya forget we got a million more where that came from?" He pointed to the bags. "Grab!"

One of the men backed himself into the bar. "Hey, Mister, we don't allow no fighting in here!" The guy responded by shooting the bottles right behind him. "Uh….have a nice fight!" the bartender said before ducking down.

Meanwhile a burly crook managed to dodge the gunfire and was coming At Faye with the bottom of his gun aimed squarely at her head with the sole purpose of knocking her out…when he suddenly felt a hand close around his wrist, hard. He whipped his head around and found he was staring straight into the face of Rangiku! Quickly she pulled his arm around his back and kicked him right in the middle of the spine, causing him to go down hard.

"Leave my friend alone!" she cried out.

Faye turned her head and saw how close she came to a concussion. She thanked Rangiku with her eyes, which Rangiku answered with a wink.

"ANOTHER one?" the bass said.

"Another bounty hunter?" Chuck said.

"Aw, geez, and THAT one looks like she been to the plastic surgen! Come on boys, get that one too!"

One of the goons turned around quick…and got a good look at Rangiku's chest, for a moment struck stiff."!" he said.

"JIM!" He turned quick to the sound of his bosses' voice, "don't stand there, idiot!" He quickly got out of his stupur and aimed right at Rangiku, but Faye managed to se him in time and shot him in the arm. Rangiku turned around…and one of the crooks took that opportunity to seize her from behind and back her into the bar.

"So…thought you could get a little smart on us, huh?"

"You'd better let GO of me if you know what's good for you!"

"Yeah, right! Ya talk tough, and maybe ya got in a few good shots, but if you think you can intimidate ME with that bod of yours the same way you intimidatd Jim who's a clear cut idiot anyway, you got another think comin! A bounty hunter that might be cut to look like Dolly Parton is still a bounty hunter!"

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, those big fake boobs you got there aren't gonna cause me to go all struck like a dummy! How many bounties did ya have to get in order to pay for them?"

Rangiku's face glared at him. "For your information, these are REAL, you jerk!"

The guy snickered. "Yeah, right! You got me believing that THOSE things are real? Yeah, and I'm Prince Charming! Now look, Cinderella, this is no ball," he pulled out his gun. "And this ain;t no glass slipper…"

"What a coincidence.." Rangiku then reached behind her and pulled out a flat black case. Opening it she took out a sword unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Faster than anyone could blink she had spun the crook around and held the sword to his throat. "I have no glass slipper either. Now, are you gonna surrender, or are we going to talk more?"

"You better not cut me, bitch!"

"THAT'S it!" she kicked him hard in the back and stepped on his spine as soon as he went down. H tried to shake her off but found he couldn't.

"What the…"

Using her sword she carved a big R on the back of his short. "There! A little reminder of who I am!"

"Oh that's IT, ya slut!" He stood up. "NOW it's ON!" He jumped over the bar and seized a knife. "THIS is how ya like it, HUH? This is how ya wanna play? Let's play, slut!" Rangiku put her sword up. "Yeah…ya ain't gonna be like that when I chop off that plastic. How many sheep gotta be shard in the winter to make ya a sweater, huh?" Thy clashed blades as hard as they could, but the guy soon realized it was a BAD idea to challenge her. Every time he brought down his knife she stopped it, every swish she did he was lucky to even duck! They ran all about the bar going at each other, but it seemed like she was always on step ahead of him! He tried to take her from behind, but she wheeled around almost as if she was expecting him too! He soon found himself disarmed and dangling from his shoelaces on the fan She ran back to Faye. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, thanks for covering me….wow, I didn't know you could do that! Is that something they teach you in the military?"

"Yep…it takes lots of training and a lot of practice."

"Rangiku, look out behind you!" One crook was coming at her from the back waving a pocket knife of his own…..and Rangiku proceeded to backhand him without even turning around, causing Faye's eyes to go wide as saucers! Another guy tried to get the jump on her, Faye shot the gun clear out of his hand. Rangiku then turned around, picked up his gun, threw it in the air and sliced it in half with her sword. The guy immediately dropped to his knees.

"Don't cut me…don't cut me, girl…don't cut me!"

Meanwhile Spike had contacted Jet regarding Faye's message and was casually walking over from table to table at his own bar trying to catch snippets if conversation.

"Damn it, Farnkie, ya did it again!" Spike's ears perked up at the mention of the name and quickly did an about face, waking back over to the table. He peaked at the hand of cards the guy nearest him was holding while at the same time picking up a piece of chicken from the plate.

"4 of diamonds on the 8 of hearts," he said to the guy.

"Hey, thanks," the guy said turning around…and slowly going as pale as death.

"Good chicken," Spike said.

The guy dropped his cards and pointed with a shaking hand. "S….S…S..S…Sp…Sp….Spike Speigal?"

"In the flesh."

"But…how….but…you,…you…you're supposed to be DEAD!"

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

The guy then stood up along with his friend, but before he could say or do anything Spike nailed him with an uppercut to the jaw and hoisted him up by his shirt. "That your armored car out in front?"

The second guy grabbed a sack underneath his own table and began to rush for the door, only to come face to face with Jet. "Where are ya going?" he asked. "Ooh…nice bag. Is it for me?" He grabbed it before the guy could blink and opened it up, giving a long low whistle. "Well, well, you opening up a store? Hey, Spike, look what the nice men left to us!" The guy tried to escape but Jet grabbed him with his armored arm. "Stay right there, you!"

Spike threw his man over to Jet. "Great, here's another one for ya. Seems to know us personally."

"Well, didn't know we were celebrities! How;s about I give ya an autograph?"

Spike saw another guy start to scramble into the car,and he and Jet followed, taking their prisoners. The driver got on the phone. "Frankie to boss, Frankie to boss! Mayday, mayday, abort mission abort mission…" he tried to lock the door…too late! Spike swing it open as Jet threw the two prisoners into the back.

"Hey," he gave his trademark smug smile. "Nice car ya got here! Hope ya don't mind if I borrow it…" Frankie tried to start the motor but with one punch in just the right place Spike managed to knock Frankie out cold. Pulling Frankie out he passed him to Jet. "don't worry, I'll bring this right back!"

Meanwhile in Faye's bar the boss had by now gotten pretty fed up. Throwing away his gun he pulled one out from the sack and aimed it square at Rangiku.

"What are ya doing, Boss?" Chuck asked.

"I'm going after those implants!" The Boss said, positioning the gun at Rangiku's chest. "All that cheap silicone is gonna go spillin all over the floor, and while that distracts them we sneak out! OK, Miss Tutti-Frutti, say good bye to your rooties!" he pulled the trigger but before Faye could warn her Rangiku spun around and used the blade of her sword to block the bullets. Bending down to pick them up she casually strolled over to the Boss.

"I believe these are yours…" before she threw them at his feet and punched him so hard he went sailing across the room. Chuck dashed out from his pace at the table

"Boss!" To his relief he saw his boss stagger to his feet. Chuck threw his gun to him …just in time to hear the horn beep twice outside! "Oh, thank GOD!" Chuck said.

"Grab the loot and let's boot!" All the goons that weren't knocked out continued to shoot at Faye and Rangiku. Faye managed to shoot a gun out of one person's hand, while Rangiku took another one down. As Chuck reached the door…suddenly the tall form of Spike blocked it!

"Yo."

"Uh….uh….hah…uh….Boss….Boss…" he glanced at his boss who was still trying to dodge Faye's bullets. "Boss?"

"WHAT IS IT?"

"That guy…Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Was he really tall?"

"Yeah."

"Did he have dark black…kinda poofy hair in an afro?"

"Yeah."

"And…uh…was he dressed in a dark blue leisure suit?"

"Usually…"

"And he's dead? You';re SURE he's dead?"

"YES!"

"Uh…do you believe in ghosts, Boss?"

"What?" the Boss then turned around…to be greeted by what Chuck was seeing.

Spike leaned in close. "Boo."

"Yeeeeeahhh…Boss….it's….it's…you're a…you're a….you're a GHOST!"

"Oh man, the Spirit of Spike Spegal's come back to haunt us!" Another guy cried throwing down his gun and running into the bathroom. "He can't stop the bounty hunting even when he's dead!"

Spike went over to Jim. "Here's how dead I am!" he picked up Jim. "Can a ghost do this?"

"Uh…."

"How about this?" He let go of Jim and did a flying roundhouse kick, knocking him clean out the door and right in front of Jet, who proceeded to slap a pair of cuffs on him.

"Oh man, there is NO STOPPING this guy! Quick!" the boss called out to his gang. "Get him, grab him, everybody, get him!" Immidiately the men all began to surround Spike as Faye and Rangiku ran under the table to grab the sacks.

One guy tried to do a flying kick….which Spike easily blocked, counting with a spinning roundhouse kick of his own which sent the guy flying into two tables. Another guy pulled out his gun, but before he could blink Spike pulled out his and shot him in the arm. "Who's next?" he asked with a smirk.

Another guy threw down his gun and came at him with his switchblade. Spike ducked and dodged each swipe, tiring the guy out easily. Finally Spike threw a right hook followed by a front kick which bright him to his knees. All he had to do after that was raise his hand and the guy quickly threw down the switchblade and raised his arms in surrender. Jet came out of the bathroom just then with the guy who had dashed in there. "Don't think you're gonna have to bother with THIS one, Spike."

"Some more to add to our collection," Spike answered, gesturing to the unconscious bodies around him. Finally one guy jumped at Spike. Spike flipped him up and over his shoulder, but the guy got up easily and started throwing kicks which Spike blocked and blocked Spike's punches as well until Spike was able to catch him off guard and smack his nose, breaking it.

Meanwhile the Bass was making off with all the loot he could possibly carry and was hading for the door….only to be blocked by Jet's huge body. "Well, well, don't tell me you're leaving right in the middle of the party. It's rude."

The Boss sat down the sack and pulled out one of the guns. "Says you, baldy. I suggest ya bug out of here, Buster!" He wanted to say more but Jet's huge arm tightened around his neck. "Mind repeating that?" He tightened the grip so he couldn't. "Didn't think so. Now if ya don't mind I'll just be taking these, and letting ya join your friends!"

"I got it, Jet," Spike took the Boss and Chuck by the scruff of the necks and lead them to the car."You got the right to remain silent, you got the right to speak with a lawyer. In the event ya can't afford one…TOO DAMN BAD! Now get in the car!"

"I told ya, Boss! I told ya he was still alive, I told ya we had to worry…"

"SHUT UP!" Jim cried out.

"SHUT IT, CHUCK, GET IN THE CAR!" The Boss yelled, kicking Chuck into the car ahead of him.

Jet came back into the bar then and gave a long low whistle at what he saw around him- the overturned tables, the number of men around him still beaten to unconsciousness that Spike was hauling up one by one and flinging into the armored car. "Damn, Faye, you did all this?"

"Well, actually, I had some help from my new friend here," she said, gesturing to Rangiku, who came forward. "Rangiku Matsimoto, this is Jet Black." Jet shook her hand.

"Well, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too."

Jet looked all around him. "Man, you helped do all of this?"

"She's actually a former military Lieutenant, Jet!"

"A Military Lieutenant? You? Really?" she nodded. "Well! I'm even MORE pleased to meet you!" Spike had come up to them and cleared his throat by then.

"Oh…ah…Spike, Rangiku. Rangiku, Spike," Faye said. Rangiku shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Spike."

"Nice ta meet ya too," Spike said. "You a bounty hunter?"

"Well, no,"

"She's actually a former military Lieutenant, Spike."

"Really? From where?"

"Actually it's a Special Forces Unit," Faye explained. "They don't even use guns!"

"Huh?" Both Jet and Spike asked.

"Yeah, they use swords!" Rangiku took out hers, and Spike whistled.

"Can I see that?" Rangiku handed it to Spike, who looked at it and whistled. "Ya know, I don't think I ever saw a sword like this before!"

Rangiku took it back."It's a special sword, only members of our military get them."

"Ooooh….uuugh…." the guy on the chandelier finally came to."Hey…what…HEEEELP….HEEEEELP, get me down!"

Spike looked up and grinned. "Well, well, well, now look at you, a really nice celing decoration if I ever saw one! How'd you get up there anyway?"

"That bitch down there hung me up! Keep her away from me, she's crazy! Just get me DOWN!"

"Sure!" Spike said, taking out his gun and carefully aiming at his pants. One shot to the belt buckle and he came down. Spike pulled him up. "Now, you should know how to talk to Ladies, bud! That word isn't nice…"

":I don;t care, did ya see what she did…" Spike then punched him in the jaw.

"Now say you're sorry!"

"Iggh…oh yeah, like I'm gonna…" he was interrupted by another bow.

"Say you're sorry!"

"OK,OK, I'm sorry!"

"Let's go," Spike said. "the police will be glad to teach you some good manners! I think he's the last one, Jet."

"Great, let's help clean this place up and head to the police station with our presents," he turned to Rangiku. "You sure you never been a bounty hunter?"

"No," she admitted."But I have to admit, this is silimar to what we used to do in the military."

"Well, why don't ya come with us down to the police station? We can split the bounty four ways."

"Really?"

"Sure, after all you helped get these crooks, you should get some of the reward."

"Thank you very much!"

Faye went over to where her large suitcase was. "Here, I'll get this, you can get in my RedTail…"she started to pick it up…and found it incredibly heavy. She tugged and struggled with it. "Ooof…oof…what do you HAVE in here?"

"Oh, mainly just clothes."

"UUugh…what did they give you in that military, a suit of armor?"

Rangiku smiled and went over to the suitcase, easily lifting it up like it was nothing, while Fay looked on incrediously.

When they got to the police station Jet received the bounty from the police and took it outside, where they split it four ways. "Thanks a lot for your help," Jet said to Rangiku

"Yeah, definitely appreciate it and so do our stomachs. Hope we get to s ya again." Jet and Spike waked back to their ships, while Rangiku and Faye stood around the police station.

"So, where are you gonna go now?"

"Oh, I don't know, I was thinking of getting a hotel room somewhere."

"A hotel room? So you don't have anyone to stay with.."

"Well, I used to…but I don't think she really wants to have anything to do with ME right now…"

"Oh, you don't wanna get a hotel anywhere HERE! The rooms are terrible, the room service stinks, and the food is terrible. Why Don't you come back with us?"

"Oh,can I? Can I really? Oh, but…I don't want to impose.."

"Oh you wont be imposing, honest. These guys are VERY generous, they let ME stay with them, no problem. They'll definitely do the same for you. With your fighting skills, you'll be a great bounty hunter, you've got a lot of potential. Come on, I hate to leave you here." She pointed to her Redtail. "Come on, hop in, come back to the Bebop with us."

Spike saw Rangiku go into the Redtail. "Faye?" H called out, Fay walked over to him. "I hope you're just giving her a ride to a hotel!"

"Spike, for once will you have a heart? She doesn't have anyplace else to go. Besides, Spike, look at what she DID for us! Look at this bounty, LOOK at the size of it!"

"Uh huh…the question is, Fay, are you concerned more about her…or the bounty?"

"Honest, Spike, it's like you have a lead hart."

"Well forgive me for pointing out the obvious, Faye…BUT WE BARELY HAVE ENOUGH FOOD FOR FOUR PEOPLE AND A DOG! HOW ARE WE GONNA FEED ONE MORE?"

"Hey, we have enough for right now.."

"Yeah, right NOW, that's the main word. Are you forgetting this is Jet's ship? YOU made yourself at home just like that, but will HE tolerate you doing it again?"

"Yes, this IS my ship," Jet said, coming over to them. "And I say she can stay on it for at least a week."

:"Jet.."

"Spike, we DO have enough for food for right now, and we do owe her, I don't know if we could have gotten them all without her! I say she can stay for a week and prove herself." Spike stared for a moment and put his hands up in mock surrender before heading back to the Swordfish.

"Fine,but she bunks with you, Faye!"

"Fine," Faye went back to the RedTail.

"Is there a problem?" Rangiku asked.

"No, just Spike being Spike, as usual. You'll get used to him."

"So, is there anyone else on the team?"

"Well, there's Ed. She's Jet's adopted daughter and me and Spike's adopted neice. She's rather fightly and extremely playful…yet she's a brilliant computer hacker. She's the one that helps find the bounties, and she can hack into anything!"

"Really?"

"And there's our pet dog Ein."

"Oh I love dogs!"

When they reached the Bebop they sailed into the ship and landed. "Well, welcome to the Bebop," Faye said., "It's not much to look at I know, but its our home."

Immidiately Ed ran out to meet them. "Papa! Uncle Spike! Aunt Faye-Faye!" She jumped unto each of their arms and Jet handed her a Pinoko while Spike Grinned and gave her a comic book."Thank you, Papa! Thank you, Uncle Spike!" She looked at Faye's guest as she came out of the RedTail. "Hi! You're pretty!"

Rangiku giggled. "Thank you."

"Ed, this is our new friend, Rangiku. She's gonna be staying here a while."

"Rangiku?" Ed smiled and began to dance around her. "Rangiku! Rangiku! Rangiku! Rangiku!"

She giggled. "Nice to meet you, Ed," Ein ran up and started to bark. Rangiku knelt down and extended her hand. Ein sniffed it and happily let Rangiku pet him.

"Ein likes you!" Ed said cheerfully.

"Oh, he's so cute!"

"Come on, I'll show you to your room."

Spike and Jet headed for the kitchen. "Matsimoto?" Spike asked. "Funny, she doesn't LOOK Japanese."

"Maybe she's only half Japanese."

"Could be."

"Anyway, she's Faye's guest. I gotta prepare dinner. With this hefty bounty I think I can put beef into the bell peppers this time."

"Just hope there's enough for five there."

"There is."

Later Jet had prepared five dishes of bell peppers and beef. They were all sitting down to eat when Rangiku lifted up her head. "Excuse me, Jet? But haven't we forgotten to thank the Lord?" They all looked At each other and put their plates down. Jet looked at her expectantly. She bowed her head. "For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen."

"Amen," Jet said.

"Amen," the rest of them answered. They all picked up their plates and started eating again.

"Mmmm…Jet, you're a wonderful cook!" Rangiku said. "Thjis food is delicious!"

"Thank you."

"So, what kind of food did they give you in the military?"

"Oh really good food. The choicest fruit, and meat. But if you wanna taste delicious food you can't beat this girl I used to know, Orihime. She was an amazing cook. She could take food that you woudnt think go together and concoct such wonderful masterpeices!"

"Oh? Is that right?"

"So, how long have you been in the military?" Spike asked.

"Oh many many years."

"Is that right?"

"Well, I am older than I look…"

"Hey, none of my business, I know the golden rule!" Spike said.

After dinner Spike went into the other room to practice, followed by Faye. "You looked like ou were enjoying talking to her at dinner, Spike."

"Well, for a military women I admit she's pretty nice."

"So, she can stay then?"

Spike shrugged. "Whatever! But just for a week!"

(for all those wondering, Rangiku is in her gegai form, which is how the guys can see her,. Why did she leave the Soul Society? That will be answered in the next session)