Spinning red and blue lights cast eerie shadows along the buildings, as Spike smoked yet another cigarette, in companionable silence with Dave. Craning his neck from his current position he could see Faye sitting half in, half out of a near by cop car. She had a very scratchy looking blanket around her shoulders as an officer questioned her, Spike frowned, as the low lighting made it impossible to read either of their lips.

"She'll be fine."

Spike ran a hand through his hair, and turned his attention to Dave. "I know…I just feel for her ya know…The first time you kill someone is a bitch."

The dark-haired man rubbed the back of his neck gingerly.. "I wouldn't know my self but I believe you…Wait..just how many people have you killed?"

Crushing out his cigarette, Spike sighed. "To damn many."

A uniformed officer approached the pair, and took his hat off. "Mr. Spiegel, Mr. Jones, a detective will be with you shortly to ask a few questions." As he walked off, Spike nodded curtly. Then turned to Dave with a grin. "Davey Jones eh?"

Crushing out his cigarette, Dave grinned, shaking his head. "Shut up." As a man in a suit came toward them, Dave motioned with his head in the direction. "I think that's our guy."

Approaching the pair, the middle aged detective adjusted his tie, and offered his hand to each man for a shake. "I'm detective Greene, I have a few questions for you gentlemen." Turning to Dave, he flipped open the note book he had in hand. "So Mr. Jones, you are a bounty hunter, correct?"

Dave nodded. "Yes. But I was here on my own accord, operating separately from these two." He motioned toward Spike and Faye seated in the car still. "But we were after the same bounty."

"Do you have a weapon on you?"

Dave removed the Beretta that he had openly holstered on his hip, and handed it over to Greene.

Ejecting the clip, and looking it over, he snapped it back in place. "Did you fire your weapon at all during the altercation in the basement."

Dave shook his head. "No."

Scribbling something down on the notepad, and handing the gun back to Dave, Greene turned to Spike. "Mr. Spiegel…Miss Valentine is your partner correct?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah."

"And you also have a weapon on you correct?"

Handing over his Jericho, Spike nodded.

"And this is the weapon Miss Valentine shot Mr. Birch with, correct?"

"Yes, she shot him with my gun. I gave it to her for protection, because her gun was stolen by Birch, which is what he used to shoot his sister."

Greene made more notes in his book before continuing. "And Miss Valentine shot Birch in self defense?"

Spike shoved a cigarette in his mouth nodded as he lit it. " Birch was going to kill me when she shot him the first time…in the shoulder." Peering over the detectives shoulder, he double checked to make sure Faye was still where he last saw her. " He was going to fire on her when she shot him the second time. I think that constitutes self defense don't you?"

Greene raised an eyebrow, as the officer who had been with Faye approached them. "Excuse me for a moment gentlemen." The two men then compared notes, speaking in hushed words that Spike strained to hear, only able to make out the phrases "Same." and "Check out." Turning to both men, he closed his notebook, and handed Spike's gun back to him. "Alright…your stories check out, your good to go."

Spike didn't need to be told twice, as he headed for the car, Dave trailing a distance behind him.


Faye stared down at her feet, the blanket draped over her shoulders making them itch, she shifted uncomfortably. For the last hour she had been questioned, and re-questioned about the nights earlier events, much to her displeasure. She would just as soon forget them, and the image of Birch's body sprawled out on the floor, dead by her hand.

She looked at her hands, splaying her fingers out before her and wiggling them. She had killed a man tonight, without a thought, like it was nothing. She felt conflicted, Birch was a bad man, he had killed plenty of people. He would have killed her, and Spike too. Yet she felt a nagging pang of guilt over taking a life.

"Hey."

Faye jumped as Spike's voice startled her out of thought. She turned her green eyes up toward him, where he rested an arm over the top of the car, leaning against it. "Hey." From the corner of her eye she could see Dave leaning against the bumper.

"You alright?"

The concern in Spike's voice was easily read. She nodded, shifting her gaze back to her hands. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Clearing his throat loudly, detective Greene reappeared, approaching the trio at the car. "One last thing before you go…as you know, there obviously isn't a bounty to pay out…since the bounty was made under false claims. In fact, we found some pretty heavy stuff in Birch's room, guy was a real whack job, turns out he just wanted to kill some bounty hunters…Talk about daddy issues…But anyways, where was I? Right…there is no bounty to pay out, but the CEO of the gate corporation is willing to pay a sum, if you are willing to keep this under wraps…don't need the press hearing about this apparently."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "So in other words, hush money? How much we talking here?"

"Something like that." Greene nodded. "The original 30 million."

The three bounty hunters exchanged glances, all nodding in agreement. Greene smiled. "Didn't think that would be a problem for you. I'll let him know." With that he left the trio alone once more.

"Damn, 10 million a piece, not bad." Spike was glad to be getting something for all this trouble.

"Nah, I'll take 5. You two split the twenty-five."

Faye shot a confused glance at Dave. "Seriously? I mean…you're sure?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah, I mean you guys did most of the work, and you've got your other two partners. I'm good with the five." Shrugging, he looked around absentmindedly. "Hey I don't know about you guys, but I think I am heading back to my room, I wanna get an early start home tomorrow."

Faye climbed out of the back of the car, shrugging the scratchy blanket into the back seat. Wrapping Dave in a tight hug, she pressed her forehead to his shoulder. "Thank you Dave. I mean that, thank you."

Loosely he wrapped his arms around her, shifting his gaze to Spike slightly, before turning his attention back to Faye. "Hey don't mention it. I'm just glad I got to you guys when I did." Letting go of her he stepped back as Faye released her hold on him. "Take care of yourself Faye."

Turning to Spike, Dave stuck his hand out for a shake, which Spike accepted. "Take care of that girl. Ok?"

Spike smirked. "I plan on it…Hey listen, thanks for saving our asses man."

Dave shrugged. "All in a days work I guess. I'll see ya around Spike." Waving a hand as he walked off, Dave headed for his room, leaving Spike alone with Faye.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, she yawned. "We should probably get back to our room too."

Nodding, Spike slipped his hand in hers. "Lead the way my dear."


Waking for the second time in the middle of the night, Jet quickly shot up from the couch. It took his sleep addled mind a moment to register that it was the ringing of his communicator that had startled him from slumber.

Snatching the device from the table, he glared at it, seeing that it was Spike finally calling. He was going to give him a piece of his mind for sure. "Spike! Where the hell have you been!?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist old man. We were kind of hung up."

Jet rubbed the back of his head, sighing angrily. " I know what hung up usually translates to, if that's why you didn't call me back I am going to skin you alive when you…"

Spike quickly cut him off. "No..not that kind of hang up. We found McElroy…well, we found what was left of him that is. Turns out the kids weren't his, their real dad was some dead beat bounty hunter named Birch, and they killed both of them."

Wearily rubbing his face, Jet sighed yet again. "Oh really? You don't say? If you would have listened to your message or called me back you would have known that!"

"Easy…don't have a fucking coronary. We got captured, by those weirdo's. Long story short if that Dave guy Faye was seeing hadn't shown up, you'd probably be at the morgue identifying bodies…well, if there was anything left of us."

Jet's eyes lit up with surprise. "What was he doing there?"

"Turns out he's a bounty hunter too. We were cuffed, he got us out of it, and then shit got ugly."

"Ugly how? And where's Faye?"

"She's in the shower. Ugly how? Well lets see…Cooper stole Faye's gun out of her room, blasted his own sister with it, and then Faye killed him."

Jet's eyes went wide as he processed what he had just heard. "Hold up…Faye killed Cooper Birch? She alright?"

"I think she is ok. I mean she's a little shaken…She's never killed anyone before… well I mean technically I'm pretty sure there wasn't much left of Gordon after that casino debacle…But yeah, I think she'll be fine. Jesus Jet, you should have seen the shot, right between the fuckin' eyes! I was impressed."

Jet rolled his eyes slightly. He supposed it was a good thing Spike was proud of his girlfriend, but he was a little disturbed by the situation bringing out such pride. "What about the bounty?"

"There is no bounty….but…wait for it…The CEO of the Gate Corporation is willing to pay the original price of the bounty…They got a lot of corrupt fucks working for them, don't want the ISSP snooping around and what not."

Grinning from ear to eat, Jet leaned back against the couch. "So 30 million?"

"Well…no, see…we were gonna split it three ways with Dave, but he only wanted 5 mill, so 25 goes to us. We kinda figured some things out, 10 million to you for repairs, food, and whatever you want to do with the rest. Faye and I will each keep five each, and we're going to save the remaining five together."

Jet chuckled. "Save it together huh? You're actually serious about this?"

Spike chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah. Hey listen Jet, its been a long night, I'm gonna get some shut eye. We're heading back tomorrow morning. Night"

Before Jet could reply, Spike had ended the call. The older man flopped back down on the couch, glad that his partners were ok. Maybe he should listen to Ed more often. Dwelling on the thought, he chuckled to himself before drifting back off to sleep.


Tossing his communicator back on the night stand, Spike rose to his feet and stretched. The shower was still running, and his brain was aching for a cigarette, considering that Faye was most likely going to want to talk about the nights events, his ache turned into a need, as he fished for his pack in his pocket, and made his way for the door.

Stepping into the cool night air, Spike lit his smoke, and took a long drag. The nights events really had gotten him thinking. For a moment when Birch had the gun to his head, a part of him had been terrified that he wouldn't be going home. Not going home held a lot more meaning to him these days than it ever had before. Not going home would mean no more meals of beefless beef and bell peppers, and instant ramen. It would mean no more odd yet endearing ramblings from Ed, no Ein always being under foot to trip over either. Certainly it would mean no more cheesy situational analogy stories from Jet, or trying not to snicker when passing him by in his pink apron in the kitchen. It would mean no more falling asleep next to Faye in a bed that was not quiet big enough for two, with a damn cat somewhere in the mix. No more naps on the beat up yellow couch, no more busted AC, or shower that didn't seem to want to hold hot water.

For the first time in his adult life, Spike actually felt like he had a home, it was far from perfect, but it was somewhere that he fully belonged, and the thought that it could have been all taken away in seconds shook him to the core. It wasn't a feeling that he was used to, and yet he welcomed it all the same.

Tossing his spent cigarette into the grass, he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed back inside toward his room, and Faye.


Digging through Spike's bag, Faye finally came across a t-shirt, and a pair of sweats to change into. The clothes were too big, she rolled the waist of the pants down a few times, and tossed on the shirt, at this point she didn't care, she just didn't want to go back to her room at all costs.

Giving her hair one last go over with the ridiculously soft towel, she tossed it in the corner of the room, and plopped down on the bed, rolling on her back, green eyes fixed on the ceiling. The sound of the door unlocking caused her to tense, rolling on her side to face the door. Mentally she scolded herself for being so jumpy, there was only one person who would be unlocking the door.

Walking into the room, Spike shut the door behind him and locked it. "Hey. How ya feeling?"

Faye rolled to her back once more, returning her gaze to the ceiling. " Ok."

Spike frowned slightly at her shortness, and stripped down to his boxers, stretching out on the bed beside her. One hand behind his head, the other lazily draped across his stomach, he adverted his gaze to the ceiling as well, as an overwhelming silence took the room over.

Shifting his gaze, he studied Faye from the corner of his eye. She had a vacant look on her face, though he could practically hear the gears in her head turning. "Stop thinking about it."

Faye kept her gaze on the ceiling and sighed. "I cant."

"Well try. You will be just fine, I promise."

Rolling on her side, Faye furrowed her brow. "How do you know?"

Lifting his arm so Faye could scoot closer, he draped it over her side as she laid her head against his chest. "Because…you forget, I've killed a lot of people."

Faye remained silent. She most certainly had not forgotten what Spike was capable of, though she didn't particularly want to think about that. The man she knew and loved wasn't a cold blooded killer, not anymore at least. The thought of it was something she'd rather not dwell on. "What was it like?"

"Hmm? What was what like?"

"The first time you killed someone…."

Tightening his hold on her slightly, Spike took a deep breath. "It was terrible to be honest. I was nineteen. When I first joined the syndicate, Vicious and I, we ran drugs and shit. We we're in the thick of the mess back then. I don't really think either of us realized how far in we were though.."

Spike fell silent for a few minutes before continuing. "I remember it though, they brought both of us down to the basement of headquarters, and there were these two guys down there, rival syndicate members, they've got their hands tied behind their backs, and they're on their knees."

Spike shifted slightly " So by now, I am starting to think… 'Shit we're gonna watch an execution.' It was then that they informed us, that we were going to be doing the dirty work."

Faye scooted up a bit, her head now resting on his shoulder, as she intently listened to his story. Despite how close they had grown, it wasn't every day that Spike was so open about his past.

"I remember I started to feel dizzy, I was thinking there was no way I was going to be able to do this. I'm so lost in my thoughts that the next thing I know Vicious pulls out his pistol, walks right up to the guy and pulls the trigger, just like it was nothing. He was so collected and calm while doing it, made it look so easy, that at this point I've talked myself into it. So, I walked up to the guy, pull out my gun, and he starts cryin', begging me not to shoot him. I could feel my resolve start to break down, and I know at this point my hand is shaking. So I bring the gun up, I put it right against his forehead, and I take a deep breath…and I can't do it. It felt like I stood their forever trying to build up my confidence enough to pull the trigger."

Spike cleared his throat, and continued. " So finally I do it. To this day I can still remember that smell of gunpowder and blood, that sound of the gunshot, and the sick thud of bullet hitting skull. It's something I would like to forget. After that, I threw up. Right there next to this dead guy, just spill my whole fucking dinner on the floor." With an uncomfortable chuckle he continued. "My punishment for that? Well, they drug the bodies away, and left me there alone to clean up the mess. I threw up the whole time, til all I could do was dry heave, but I finally got it done. After that, I spent the next four years killing without a thought. You just learn to not think of them as people, just objects. Its not healthy that's for fucking sure, but it got me through."

Faye remained silent, her body tensed as Spike kissed the top of her head.

"You think I'm a monster eh?"

She shook her head, and softly kissed his collar bone. "No. I don't. I think you had a fucked up life, and you did what you had to do. That doesn't make you a monster."

He offered her a weak smile. "Thinking of them as objects just makes it easier…but I don't want you to have to do that Faye."

"I know. And honestly, I don't want to either."

Spike reached over and switched off the lamp on the night stand. " Try not to dwell on it though, you did the right thing. If you didn't we'd both probably be dead."

"I know." Snuggling closer, Faye fell silent, her arm now draped across his chest.

Smirking slightly, Spike used his free arm to pull the covers up over them. "Get some sleep ok?" He chuckled to himself as he realized she was already asleep.

Listening to Faye's soft breathing, Spike shut his eyes. After the days events he was exhausted, and physically and emotionally drained. A grin graced his features, as he thought about all the good things he had in life, all the things he had spent so long being blind too. Sleep soon started to take over, as Spike chuckled to himself in a half awake state, he knew the sooner sleep came, the sooner morning would come. The sooner he could go back to the place he belonged, back home, back to the Bebop.