A/N: Just a quick heads up that this chapter contains a few obscene words here and there, nothing too bad but still...

"Hello amigos, how y'all doin'?" a familiar voice said through the TV. Spike yawned and flipped through the channels, before finally turning it off. He downed the rest of the amber liquid in his cup, relishing the burning feeling in his throat. He poured himself another drink.

"Hey, aren't you interested in what bounties might be out there?" Faye asked.

"Nope"

He noticed she pursed her lips and smiled inwardly. Antagonizing Faye was his favorite pass time. She was such a riot when she was irritated.

"Whatever" she said as though she had read his mind. She got to her feet and stretched her arms over her head with a yawn. "I'm pretty tired… I better get to sleep" she said.

Once she was gone, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one. He grabbed his book from the table and attempted to read to no avail. His eyes took in the words but they made no sense to his brain. By the fifth attempt at rereading the same page, he gave up and tossed the book aside. Faye was on his mind. But why? He allowed himself ponder this strange phenomenon while pouring himself another drink.

Faye was a good looking girl. Hell, she was gorgeous. A babe, as Jet would sometimes call her. And Spike had to agree. He knew beautiful women, and Faye was one of them. Her raven-black hair, her fair skin, her emerald eyes and crimson lips… she was sex appeal personified.

But that wasn't what made her special. After all, there were thousands of beautiful women out there. No, Faye was different. She was loud, spoiled, and obnoxious. She could be a total brat. She could be childish and aloof and her words could scald. But that was all on the surface. He and Jet let her think that she had them fooled, that they believed her tough girl façade, but they knew better. Beneath the tough exterior was the real Faye, hidden by layers upon layers of defense mechanisms. The real Faye was funny and sometimes ditzy. She was sweet and caring and gentle. He had experienced her tenderness and caring firsthand on many occasions; when he would get his ass kicked and she had to take care of him while Jet was out after a bounty head, for example. Of course, Spike would never allow her to get close to him… he would always purposefully ruin those tender moments with sarcastic remarks and ended with him being smacked around by the crazy woman. It had to be done though. It would not do for him to allow himself to get attached to another woman, ever again.

He remembered Whitney and cringed. It was unfair that upon waking from her cryogenic sleep, she had been bombarded with sleaze balls and hardship. It was no wonder that she had had to develop such a tough exterior. He knew better than anyone that this world was full of sharks, and Faye had been but a tasty morsel in the sea. Faye wasn't as tough as she made everyone believe. She was insecure and afraid and Whitney had taken full advantage of that vulnerability. Spike felt a pang of (it couldn't be jealousy) something in his chest when he realized that Faye had given the best of herself to a man who had used her. She had given her sweetness, her trust, her tenderness, to the wrong man and now she was closed off to all other men. Just like Spike was closed off to all other women. After Julia, everything had changed for him. It pleased him that thinking about Julia didn't make him feel like he was dying inside anymore. He could think and talk about her and felt alright. There was a dull ache in his heart, of course. An ache he suspected would never go away, but her memory no longer seared him to the bone like it used to. And that was ok with Spike. Chalk that one up to learning to move on.

Thanks Jet. Thanks Faye. Thanks Ed.

He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help compare the two women. Where Faye was loud and sassy, Julia had been quiet and tranquil. Faye would rage and spit like an angry kitten in an argument, Julia never lost her composure. Faye was a gambler; Julia a trained assassin. Faye acted like a diva, Julia like a princess. Both were equally deadly.

Spike closed his eyes and remembered his Julia… or was it simply Julia? Had she ever been his to begin with? Oh well, it didn't matter now.

Her hair smelled like roses; he remembered it vividly. Her skin was soft and warm; her lips gentle. Making love to her was like nothing he had ever experienced before and was unlikely to ever experience again. He had given himself to that woman completely, and therein laid his downfall. He couldn't allow that to happen ever again. Ever.

No matter how lovely those green eyes looked when they were angry, or how inviting those red lips seemed when they were pulled down in a frown. No matter how silky that porcelain skin looked, or how soft that black hair appeared, or how tantalizing that blasted woman was when she was arguing with him over whatever. He just couldn't give in. He never would. It was disaster waiting to happen, and he was done with that kind of bullshit.

But he was a man after all, and thinking about Faye was causing all kinds of reactions in his body that he didn't like. He needed to get out of the Bebop. With his luck, Ed would come out of the blue and ask why his pants looked funny. Nope. Better get the hell out of the Bebop and do something about it.

Hours later, he lay in bed next to a brunette. She was lying on her stomach, her face turned away from him. Good. He didn't feel much like looking at her once it was all done. It was a shitty thing to do, but she knew how the game worked. They all knew how the game worked. He leaned over her and grabbed the pack of cigarettes at the bedside table and lit it. The empty bottle of whiskey on the floor was a cruel reminder that in the morning, his hang over would be unforgiving.

Well, at least the sex had been alright… nothing mind-blowing or anything. A little disappointing, if truth be told. But then again, even bad sex was good sex so he couldn't complain much. The late night bustle of the streets on Mars filtered through the window. Even though there was a beautiful girl in bed with him, Spike felt alone. It wasn't a feeling he particularly enjoyed, and he was about to swing his legs over the bed and take off, but a small hand grabbed his wrist.

"Where you going, baby?" the woman said sleepily. She gave him a sultry smile and sat up.

"I have to go" Spike said, crushing his half-smoked cigarette on the bedside table.

"Don't go yet… the night is still young" she said. She crawled over him and leaned down to kiss him.

"I really have to go" Spike said.

The brunette (for fucks sake, he couldn't even remember her name) looked down between their bodies and smiled. "I think you want to stay for a little longer" she murmured. His traitor body had reacted to her magnificent tits and Spike groaned inwardly. He really did want to go back home to the Bebop… but another roll in the sheets couldn't hurt, right?

Half an hour later, as she lay on his chest, panting and sweaty, there was loud banging on the door.

"Mika! I know you're in there!"

It was the voice of a man. A very angry man.

The brunette sat up and looked around in panic for her clothes. Scrambling off of Spike, she began to pull her underwear on. "Fuck!" she hissed as the banging continued.

"What the fuck is going on?" Spike asked, pulling his pants on. "Who is that?"

"My boyfriend" Mika said.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me you had boyfriend?!" Spike snarled.

"I don't know" she said, slipping her heels on.

"Great. Just great" Spike said. He didn't need this shit. He grabbed his Jericho from the inside of his coat and cocked it.

"Don't kill him!" Mika screeched, clinging to his arm.

He snatched his arm away from her. "Shut up. This wouldn't have happened if you told me you had a boyfriend."

Just then, the door was broken and in came a giant of a man. He looked more like a bear than anything, with his bushy beard and hair. His arms were beefy and his chest was like a barrel.

"I'm gonna kill you, son of a bitch" the man snarled at Spike. "That's my girl"

Spike smiled lazily, aiming his gun at the man. "If she's your girl, why is she looking for dick somewhere else?"

The man lunged at Spike who easily jumped out of the way. The advantage of facing a large opponent was that their movements tended to be sluggish.

"Close the door Mika!" the man commanded, lunging himself at Spike again.

"How?! It's broken, you dolt!" she shouted.

"Block his way! Did you take his money?!" the man asked.

"Yes, I have it, sweetie, let's just go!" Mika begged. She waved a brown thing in the air. Spike felt around his pockets and noticed his wallet was missing. Fuck.

"What the hell? When did you take it?" he asked.

"While you were passed out, babe. Never trust a beautiful woman" Mika said with a wink.

Spike cursed himself mentally. He was never this careless. He never drank before finding a cheap woman to pass the night with, but today of all days, he had downed half a bottle of whiskey and passed out right after he finished. He had been duped.

"I don't like this son of a bitch. He looks too smug for my liking" the man said.

"Ronald, let's just go!" Mika pleaded.

"Yeah Ronald, if you value your life, you better just go" Spike said. He didn't really feel like killing anyone today, even if it was in self-defense. The man pulled out a knife and Spike almost rolled his eyes. This was too easy. He swiftly kicked it out of the man's hand and then proceeded to deliver a series of blows that caught the man off guard. Spike then jumped over the brute and snatched the wallet from Mika's hand. Ronald had gotten to his feet, however and lunged himself at Spike once again. Spike grabbed Mika's shoulders and twisted her around, pushing her towards the man. They collided and Spike took his chance to escape. He really did not feel like fighting or killing or anything. He wanted a simple evening at least once in his life, damn it. Good food, good sex, relaxing with a cigarette and a few drinks... was that too much to ask for? Apparently it was. He climbed into the Swordfish II and immediately took off into the night. Then his radar picked up the presence of another air craft. It was Mika and Ronald. Damn it all. Spike didn't want to engage in a dogfight either, but there was no way around it when Ronald began to fire missiles at the Swordfish. Looping up and around the enemy aircraft, Spike began to fire his own. This was getting tedious real quick.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a familiar red aircraft appeared in the sky. As lady luck would have it, one of Spike's missiles locked in on it and missed it by a miracle.

"Hey! What's the big idea, you jerk?!" a familiar voice raged through the communicator.

"Get out of the way. Who the hell told you to butt in?" Spike said casually.

"Spike?! Why the hell are you shooting at me for?!" Faye's face came in to view on his screen.

"I'm not shooting at you. Besides, aren't you supposed to be sleeping anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep. I went out to the casino for a bit" Faye said. She yelped as one of the enemy's missiles nearly hit her aircraft. "What the hell is going on here?!"

"Jealous boyfriend" Spike said.

"Do you never learn your lesson, Spike?!" Faye said, her face turning red. Though from anger or alcohol was anyone's guess. Spike was going with alcohol.

"Not my fault Mika didn't mention her beloved Ronald" Spike mumbled, not overly pleased with the subtle barb.

"What? Mika and Ronald? Is that right?" Faye's attitude suddenly changed. "It's ok Spike, I got this… you can go home and get some rest" she said sweetly.

"Why?" Spike asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Oh, no reason" Faye said as she began to shoot at the enemy.

"They're bounty heads, aren't they?"

"What? No, no… not at all" she said unconvincingly.

"Not a chance, Valentine, how much are they worth?"

"Pocket change" Faye replied as she looped her aircraft to the side and began to pursue Ronald and Mika.

"How much" Spike demanded.

"Fifteen million woolongs" Faye said reluctantly.

It was with a sudden, sickening crash that they arrived on the Bebop. And, because the heavens had decided to shit on him all night, it was Spike who had crashed into the ship.

"You're in so much trouble, it's not even funny" Faye said through the comm. Spike watched as she glided smoothly into the hangar and mentally cursed her. It was as though she were mocking him.

"What the hell is going on out here?!" Jet thundered as he ran out on to the flight deck. "SPIKE!"

Spike cringed. He hadn't meant to crash into the Bebop. It was just that he was a little bit drunk and spinning around in that dogfight hadn't improved his senses. And Faye hogging all the landing strip hadn't made it any easier. He could hear Jet going on and on in the back ground and Spike lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, tuning him out.

"Get out here, Spike!"

Sighing deeply, Spike opened the cockpit and unwillingly stepped out, his shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets, cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Sorry" he mumbled, looking so pathetic, Jet didn't have the heart to tear him a new one.

"Honestly Spike" Jet said, rubbing his bald head in exasperation.

"Here, take it" Spike shoved his EMC into Jet's hand.

"Huh? What's this?"

"It's seven million woolongs" he answered, walking away. "For repair costs"

"We caught Mika and Ronald" Faye called out. "Or rather, I caught them" she added smugly.

"I helped!" Spike spat.

She came out of the hangar, hands clasped behind her head and a smirk on her lips. Jet groaned and went to inspect the damage to his ship.

"I told you to leave it to me, Big Shot" she said as Spike approached her.

"Shut up" Spike said, standing in front of her.

"You should listen to me more often, you know" she continued.

"Whatever"

None of this would have happened if he hadn't been thinking about her all night. It was all her fault, really. He wanted to erase that smug smile from her face. He leaned in dangerously close to her, their face inches apart. She frowned and took a step back.

"What?" she snapped. Spike narrowed his eyes at her and then walked away. "Weirdo!" she called out after him.

Yep. He was a weirdo alright. Why the hell had he wanted to kiss her?

A/N: Well, here you are! I'm on a roll! Already working on the next few chapters and everything lol. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and… I have a question!

Spike: Oh great, you and your questions…

A/N: Excuse me?

Jet: Let the girl talk, Spike, she may have something to say

Spike: Whatever… knowing her…

A/N: Um…

Faye: How about we talk about the next session instead, huh? It revolves around Edward and a young man!

Jet: What do you mean?

Faye: I'm not saying anything else. If you want me to divulge the whole plot, it's gonna cost ya

Spike: I don't have any money

Jet: I don't either

Faye: Oh well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see then!

A/N: Guys? Where are you going? Hello? Guys? Well… ok then. Dear readers: My question was… do you all want more prominent Spike/Faye or just subtle hints like I've been doing so far?

Ed: Kiss-kiss Faye-Faye! Kiss-kiss Spike-Spike! Kiss-kiss Faye-Faye! That's what the audience wants!

A/N: How do you know?

Ed: Because I'm Edward!