Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Cowboy Bebop or its characters.

Beta: My beta is Chibi-Kyo-Chan. So you can thank her for pushing me to complete my long dormant fic.

A/N: I wrote the prologue for this when I was 15 and I'm 18 now, so for all of you who have been waiting, I'm sorry for the delay. ; Also, I would also like to note that there could be mature content in the future.

Chapter One: Lucid

The Next Time he awoke was far from serene. Spike was being shook by the shoulder with a shrill voice blasting in his ear, "What the hell are you doing here!?"

In spite of the harsh awakening, he opened his eyes slowly. He was still in the same room but the rain seemed to have stopped. The girl with the short purple hair was still shouting, "Are you listening to me!?" Her agitated emerald eyes stared into his duel toned red-brown eyes.

Spike was surprised to find that only one word escaped his lips. "Vicious," he said in a semi-lucid whisper. Faye Valentine became irate upon hearing the word. She began spouting off nonsense where she may have been trying to convince him, or herself, that she was a "lady". Ignoring the frantic woman flailing about the room (Something he is quite used too), Spike focused on another figure standing in the doorway. He was a tall muscular man with a metal arm. "I would have to agree with you there, Spike." Jet Black shook his head, hoping the crazed woman had not noticed the comment he made.

His shipmates knew nothing of Vicious, Spike was aware. He felt much better since the last time he was awake. He started to test out his limbs; flexing his hands, bending his legs, lifting his arms. Unsure of how long he was asleep, he was realizing he felt better than average. Spike began to rip the bandages from his body in a snow of off-white strips. He stood upright and looked sleepily at the couple staring back at him. Even Faye had stopped in mid-rant to observe his odd burst of energy.

Jet Smiled, "Looks like someone else did all the work for us for once." Spike closed his eyes and thought of the man who sat aside him, hiding behind a silver screen of hair. Couldn't be... He quickly snapped back to the current situation and put his hands behind his head in a stretch. "Seems that way," he said casually. Spike walked towards the door, hands unmoving from their poised position, and stopped half-way through the wooden frame leading into the hallway. "Got anything to eat?" Spike asked with a sideways glance at Jet.

Jet Black walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron that did nothing at all for his masculinity. He was stirring something in a cast-iron skillet. "Well, it's done." He said in a very neutral fashion. Spike's mouth was watering from anticipation as he asked what it was. Of course Spike hadn't eaten in a few days, so his stomach had been audibly protesting since he awoke. Jet answered with a sly smile, "My specialty, Bell Peppers and Beef."

Spike was well aware of this trick. He didn't even look as Jet made a plate for the both of them. Sitting up on the couch he glanced at what his shipmate handed him. Bell peppers and onions lay scattered across the cheap paper plate, as he had expected. However, something caught his eye as he pulled his food toward him. There was what seemed to be meat mixed in with the vegetables in the skillet from which Jet ate. Spike's eyes widened in disbelief, "You..." He was cut off before he could finish. "While you were gone, Edward caught herself a bounty head." Spike's jaw dropped in astonishment. He continued, "Don't get too excited. She bought the food herself, and she happens to prefer..."

"Dog food!?" Faye screamed from the kitchen. She stormed into the room with a can in her hand and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi chasing behind her, barking. The furious woman held up the can with a look of disgust. Jet shrugged, "It was her money." Faye dropped the dog food on the floor at which time Ein trotted over to start eating it. A flurry of footsteps could be heard coming towards the room everyone happened to be in. A young boyish looking girl with wild orange hair and goggles on her head galloped into the room on all fours and slid beside the dog nuzzling his head aside as she too started eating the dog food.

Spike watches the commotion unfold as he silently put the green peppers and onions in his mouth with the chopsticks. Jet simply shook his head, as he normally did whenever something (any sane person would have been confused or surprised at) occurred on the Bebop.

After Spike had quickly finished his plate, he switched on the TV. It was pre-set to the channel that featured the show "Big Shot". Jet looked amazed. "You are going after another one already?" he asked, puzzled. Spike looked over at his shipmate without moving his head.

"I have to keep my mind occupied somehow." He sighed audibly, "And I want some damn meat."

A voluptuous woman in a rather revealing cowboy outfit who co-hosted "Big Shot" with a black man sporting a bushy mustache. The cowboy motif got on Spike's nerves on occasion, but he had become desensitized to it long ago. The faces of the bounty heads start to blend together after so long. If the price was right, he would do about anything.

Suddenly, he ripped back into reality.

"Mao Yenrai." The woman's ditsy voice brought the name no justice, but the name struck a chord nonetheless. He continued to listen as her co-host continued, "This guy is a small fry. He looks pretty old though, so this would be a quick buck while you're waiting for a big one."

Jet, whom silently observed Spike's features, decided to interject, "You aren't thinking of bothering with that small fry are you? He's barely worth enough Woolongs for a steak. It's a complete waste of time." Spike's tall, thin frame towered over the other as he stood and stretched toward the ceiling. He completely ignored Jet's question and nonchalantly walked out of the room while muttering to whoever would listen, "See ya later."