A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. It's been over a year now. I've had a bit of writer's block and now I'm a lot more busy than I used to be. But I really want to finish this story. I have finally reached a point where I know the story is headed and how to connect it all, so hopefully the writing process will be simpler. Thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoy it! I hope I can update soon!

Jet was sitting in his quarters, looking intensely at his phone. His eyes were outlining its square body. He was hesitant about calling Donna. When he and Faye discovered that Demetrius Bardon did not assassinate the senator he began worrying that they weren't going to be able to collect the bounty reward and Donna would also have no charges to bring him in on.

ISSP hadn't gone very far with Marius Basque's murder either; even though The Bebop crew, Donna, and Sergeant Durant knew that Demetrius was the one who committed the crime. Jet played with the idea that maybe they could turn in Demetrius on the charges that he murdered the senator to compensate for murdering Marius Basque.

Jet suspended his hand over the phone. He picked it up and grimaced. He pressed the numbers and dialed Donna's phone. He put the phone to his ear and waited.

Donna was sitting in her cubicle with a napkin tucked into her shirt collar, about to eat her lunch. She was about to scarf down the sandwich when she heard her phone ring. She put down the sandwich and took her phone off the desk. She pressed the answer button and put the phone up to her ear. "Hello?" she said.

Jet hesitated. He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

Donna was confused. She removed the napkin from her collar. Her eyes scanned left to right. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

Jet frowned with his teeth. "Uh… Donna?" he finally said.

"Jet! How's my private investigator?" said Donna with a smirk.

Jet scratched the back of his head. "Hey, I'm not doing so bad… how's it going with you?" he said.

"Eh, same ol'."

"The investigation hasn't gone any further?"

"Not an inch. You got anything for me?" said Donna.

"Yeah, that's why I called actually."

Donna eyes livened. "Great! Get anything good?"

"Uh… oh, I got something," Jet said with fake enthusiasm, "I spoke with that guard that was there the night of Basque's murder, well my partner Faye did, anyway he didn't know that Demetrius was the one who killed Basque."

"Oh, so a dead end, huh?" said Donna disappointedly.

"Well he brought up something else… he kind of implied… well, he confessed that… Demetrius wasn't the one who killed the senator…" said Jet finally.

Donna's left eyebrow raised up. "… What?" she said.

Jet started stuttering. "Uh, well Basque was still the one who ordered the hit..."

Donna was about to shout, but she realized she was in an office filled with other police officers. She leaned down closer to her desk and put up her hand over the phone and mouth so no one could hear her. "What do you mean Demetrius didn't kill the senator?!" she whispered.

"The guy said Demetrius was framed by Basque." said Jet.

Donna opened a desk drawer and slammed it shut. She was fuming. Everyone in the office looked at her general direction. She turned and chuckled nervously. She continued to speak to Jet. "If that's true then what am I supposed to do now? If he didn't kill the senator and no one wants to know that he killed Basque then what am I going to bring him in on?"

"Look, no one knows yet that he didn't kill the senator… maybe you should keep it that way."

Donna raised her eyebrow. "Jet, what are you saying?"

"Look, I know you and you know me: we get bend the rules a little when we need to, but we'd never bring in a man who didn't commit the crime. Unfortunately that's our best bet. Whether he goes in for killing the senator or killing Basque, he'll still be serving the time and out of commission."

"Jet, the senator and Basque are two different men. Who knows how differently those two cases could turn out?"

"Donna, it's all you got. Do you really want to him to get turned in?"

Donna paused for a second. She sighed. "Well, I'm not giving up. I'm going to look for more leads on the Basque." she said.

"There are no leads and you're not even assigned to that case Donna."

"I know! Jet, I'm getting desperate over here, alright? Now either you can help or you can get out of my way."

Jet didn't want to upset her. "Donna… I… I won't get in your way. I'm going to help you if you need it. Just tell me what you need and I'll be there." he said.

Donna nodded her head. "Okay Jet." she said. She hung up the phone without letting him get another word in. She was concerned about losing her only ally, so she stopped herself from saying any more.

Jet heard the click of the call ending. Jet looked at his phone curiously and sighed. He slammed the phone down on the table, causing his bonsai trees to quake. He growled and stood up from the bench and stepped out of his room. He stomped into the main area of The Bebop. Faye was painting her toenails, with a foot on the coffee table.

Jet didn't even look at her. "I'm going out." he said bluntly.

"Huh?" said Faye as she looked up at him. She watched him go through the hangar door. "Hey wait!" she said. She began blowing her toenails so they would dry faster, but Jet was already inside his Hammerhead.

Jet started up the machine. He flipped a switch and the hangar gate lifted up. The engines roared and the ship was towed forward by the gears. The Hammerhead blasted off. Faye had walked up the steps on her heels and only caught up in time to see Jet's ship fly off and the gate close. She groaned. "So it's going to be like that, huh?" she said.

Faye turned around and proceeded to walk back down the steps on her heels. Spike walked in and looked at Faye curiously. He scoffed slightly at the sight of her walking awkwardly.

"Watch it Spike, I may not want to smear the paint but I'll risk it to kick you across the face." she said.

"Sorry." said Spike with a smirk.

Faye planted herself onto the couch and rested her head back. Spike sat in the seat across from her. "So, what was that all about?" he said.

Faye shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said, "But whatever it is, I'm sick of it."

"Why's that?"

Faye sat up and lifted her head to look at Spike. "I'm sick of all of us being fine one day and at each other's necks the next."

Spike sighed. "Well, that's how it always been with Jet. I've lived with the guy for four years and he's always been a hardass."

Faye raised her eyebrow. "He's not the only one you know." she said.

Spike was struck with confusion and pointed at himself with his right thumb. "Me?!" he said.

"Yeah, that 'whatever happens, happens' attitude actually makes you pretty stubborn too."

Spike's shoulders slouched. "So that's how it is, huh?"

Faye stretched her arms above her head, her fingers interlocked. "Well, not lately I guess." she said.

"What do you mean?" said Spike.

Faye relaxed her arms and looked right at Spike. "Are you serious? You've been cooped up in here for days and telling Jet and I that you think going after the bounty is a bad idea."

"He's too dangerous."

Faye scoffed. "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth."

"What, I thought you wanted me to be safe?" said Spike, crossing his arms.

"I do… but I don't know how to quite say this… I guess your new attitude is kind of a turn off." said Faye, turning her gaze the other way.

"What?!" Spike stood up hastily and slapped his hand onto his forehead. "Sheesh, this is what I get for trying to please the pickiest woman on earth." Spike stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to walk off.

Faye looked back at Spike, "Hey! Spike! Hold on!" she said. She stood up from the couch, and walked on her heels toward Spike.

Spike continued to walk away as Faye got closer to him. Faye stumbled and fell forward on to Spike's back. The momentum was enough to knock them both to the floor. They slammed and Spike face planted onto the steel floor with Faye on top of him. Faye put her palms on the floor and lifted herself over Spike. His groaning was muffled.

"Spike!" said Faye. She got on her knees and tried to lift Spike up. Spike turned over and lied on his back. Spike sighed and rubbed his face.

"I'm sorry Spike. I didn't want you to walk away mad. Kind of ironic; I just finished complaining that we were always making each other angry and there I go and open my big mouth." said Faye.

"I'll get over it." said Spike. Spike sat up and rested his arms on his bent up knees. Faye sat down across from him. "You can make it up to me though." he said with a smirk.

Faye raised her eyebrow. "How?" she said.

"Come get dinner with me." said Spike.

"You don't have any money."

"Who said I was paying?" said Spike with his trademark smirk.

Leandro Russ was standing in an elevator in Basque's building. He had his hand in his pockets and dropped his shoulders down low. His eyes were vacant and tired. The man was exhausted; dealing with clients and employees was taking its toll. But it was nothing matched to dealing with the danger that Lee presented. The company was still running, however he was worried how it could be doing so well.

The elevator was going up but suddenly stopped. The machine dinged and the doors slid open. Eleanor Veidt was on the other side. She looked right at Leandro and they both flinched with surprise. Eleanor walked into the elevator and avoided eye contact with Leandro Russ. They stood in the corners of the elevator.

Leandro tried glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. "Going up?" he said. It was a lame attempt to get her talking.

"This elevator stopped so I could enter. I must have pushed to the up arrow, right?" said Eleanor.

Leandro cleared his throat. "Yeah… yeah I guess."

Eleanor didn't say a word after that. She folded her arms, a subconscious attempt to shield herself from oncoming questions.

But Leandro pushed through. "You're going to the same floor, aren't you?" he said.

Eleanor glared at him. "Leandro stop trying to figure out what I'm doing. We both know what's on the top floor."

Leandro scratched his head. "I didn't think I'd see you back here is all."

"Well I didn't expect you to take Basque's position so fast. Almost a coincidence."

"I didn't know Lee was going to kill him." said Leandro under his breath.

Eleanor slammed the elevator door with her fist. "Oh I knew it! You're the one that let those scumbags in here!"

Leandro didn't look at her. "You think this is what I wanted?!" whispered Leandro.

"Unbelievable. I bet you even brought back Demetrius even after we worked so hard to get rid of him."

"I didn't want Lee to work with Demetri. I wanted Lee to find him and use him to testify against Marius. Then they'd both be in jail and we'd be free of the stain they left on this company… I just wanted what was best for the company."

"Did you think everything was going to turn out okay, working with a gangster?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Leandro turned and looked at Eleanor.

Eleanor sealed her lips.

"Lee must have updated you on everything by now. You know quite a bit. And the company too, it was running a little too smoothly. I guess you had a hand in that. You have no right to judge me Eleanor when you're working closer to them than I am."

"They threatened me! Leandro, I don't want to be here!" Eleanor's voice was trembling.

Leandro turned to look at her. The elevator doors dinged and then opened. Eleanor pushed her hair back. She walked pass him into the hallway. Leandro followed close behind. They walked toward the double-door office. Eleanor arrived to the door and stopped. Leandro walked up next to her. They stood in silence for a moment. Leandro finally knocked unenthusiastically. He looked down at his shoes as Eleanor looked away.

The double doors were opened by Andre. Leandro and Eleanor looked to see Lee sitting at Basque's desk. The room was littered with Red Dragon members. Shiro was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

Lee smirked with lowered eyebrows. "Come in you two." he said.

Eleanor walked in with one raised eyebrow and looking straight at Lee. Lee stood maintaining eye contact with Eleanor. Eleanor stopped in front of him and put her hands on her hips.

"Okay Eleanor we'll start with you, you wanted to see me?" said Lee.

"Alright Lee, so when were you going to tell me about Blue Snake?" she said. Eleanor was referring to setting up Blue Snake for stealing weapons from Basque's companies.

"Eleanor, you have to understand we can't have this company linked to an evil organization like that." said Lee.

"Lee, you've made them really upset. I keep getting phone calls from them. And I've been watching the news and seeing how ISSP is rounding them up and confiscating our weapons from them."

"Well then change your phone number. You don't answer their calls, okay? You are to sever all ties with Blue Snake because they are crashing down and they're not going to take us along with them."

"You're not worried about them retaliating against us?"

"No. ISSP is rounding up their grunts. They're vulnerable and I'm using it as an opportunity to strike their top members. You do remember I sent weapons to my men back on Mars, correct? I take weapons from Blue Snake and give weapons to Red Dragon; do you see where I'm going with this?"

Leandro and Eleanor stared at Lee with grave stares. They realized they were dealing with a madman. They had known that before when he had Basque murdered but this was a new level.

"You're just going to wipe Blue Snake off the map?" said Leandro.

"As I recall, you didn't come up here for this Leandro. We were going to talk about getting a hold on some space crafts." said Lee.

"Lee, you can't just have Red Dragon kill the top members of a rival gang! Do you know how badly you would incriminate all of us?!" said Eleanor.

"No one has to know you two are accessories. Alright? So don't get paranoid about getting arrested. I know that must be hard for you two since all you can think about is yourselves."

"You're the one putting us at risk. If there's anyone here thinking about themselves, it's you Lee." said Leandro.

"You two don't realize what I'm doing for this company yet. I am going to make us a powerhouse. We are going to be feared, respected and prosperous." said Lee.

"You're wasting money on a gang war!" said Eleanor.

"It's going to cost much less than you think. Believe me, my men don't ask for much and Blue Snake is just a loose end to Basque's company. Basque's weapons will stay within the company." said Lee.

"Is this company the Red Dragon now?" said Eleanor.

"For all intents and purposes: yes."

"I didn't sign up to be in a gang." said Leandro.

"Leandro, it was you who answered my letter. You have no one to blame but yourself. And Eleanor, I thought I was very fair. I said you are free to go when I no longer need you, so please be patient."

Eleanor and Leandro stayed silent. They knew that there was no way around Lee and that they would have to play his game. Lee knew this as well and he was running full force with it.

Eleanor put her hand to her forehead. "This is too much Lee." she said.

"Basque never put us this much at risk." said Leandro.

Lee sealed his lips. His eyebrows narrowed and there was a furious expression on his face. Lee screamed deeply and overturned the desk he was standing behind. The papers slid off and scattered across the floor. Eleanor and Leandro jumped back from the falling desk. The Red Dragon members in the room became alert and stared right at Lee.

Lee exhaled through his nostrils. He regained his composure and straightened his blazer. He pointed right at Leandro and Eleanor. "You don't ever compare me to Basque. He's not here anymore. It's bad enough that this company has to have his name over it." he said.

Eleanor and Leandro were startled. They had never seen Lee lose his temper like that. They had seen him angry and intimidating before but it was always done in a smooth manner.

"Look, maybe we should talk some other time." said Shiro standing off the corner wall.

Lee pointed at Shiro. "You shut up," then he pointed at Leandro and Eleanor, "and you two get out. Thank you for making this meeting absolutely meaningless."

Eleanor and Leandro backed up slowly. They turned around and headed out the double doors. Two Red Dragon members closed the doors behind them. Leandro and Eleanor continued walking to the end of the hallway and stood in front of the elevator. Leandro pushed the down button and put his hands into his pockets as he stood next to Eleanor. He was slouching like a scolded dog and Eleanor's eyes were trembling.

"This is going end badly." said Leandro.

Eleanor pushed up her glasses and turned her head to Leandro. "For you it is. You're the one that has to stay here and I'm being let off free." she said.

Leandro turned to look at Eleanor. "Don't get so cocky, you actually believe him? You haven't once thought about the possibility that when he doesn't need you he'll turn you in or worse: have you murdered?" he said.

Eleanor's confidence plummeted. "You don't think he's going to really do that, is he?" she said.

"You know what he's capable of. Lee needs me as a figure head, but he only needs you to get the motor running. Between the two of us, I think I'm the safest one."

Dodge, Taro, and four other Red Dragon members sat in the back seats of a gray van. They had automatic rifles resting between their legs. The driver and passenger in front had pistols strapped to their ribs, hidden under their coats.

"ISSP is taking Blue Snake by the boatload, when are we gonna get a shot at them?" said Taro.

"Don't get so bent out shape, man. Sure, the chances of running into them at their hideouts are slim, but there's a still a chance." said Dodge.

"Every one of their hideouts we've been too has been cleaned out or blocked off by the cops."

"This one that we're going to right now hasn't been touched. The guys I got watching it checked in two hours ago and it's still locked up. Blue Snake is probably going to show up anytime soon."

"What'd Lee say exactly over the phone?"

"I told you a million times, he said to look for Blue Snake grunts clearing out their hideouts and get info from them where their bosses are."

"Okay I know that, but are we allowed to kill some of these bastards?"

"Yeah, don't go all out though we need someone alive."

"Not that I'm not excited to blast these assholes to kingdom come, but how come you didn't ask that lawyer Kleinman?"

"He doesn't know where Blue Snake's top brass is anymore. His best guess was that after we kidnapped him they relocated. But he did give us the locations for these hideouts so he's still good for something."

"What about after we cut Blue Snake's head off? Is Kleinman still going to be good for something then?"

"No."

"We gonna kill him then?"

"Nah, I think that'd be too harsh. We'll probably just let him go; I don't think he's going to speak about this whole mess because he'd be going to prison too."

"I think you spent too much time with the guy. Did you go soft on him? He's Blue Snake, guy like that don't deserve our kindness."

"Take it easy. We'll just let him go, no harm no foul."

"It's pretty foul that we kidnapped him, you don't think he's going to want to turn us in?"

"No, he just wants to go back home. He's not stupid enough to mess that up."

"Alright, you're the boss."

"Yeah when Lee and Shiro come back I'll hardly be in charge of anything."

"Hey maybe you can get Kleinman to replace Shiro."

Dodge scoffed. "Yeah right, even if I wanted to Lee wouldn't have it."

The van pulled up and parked near a spaceship graveyard. Dodge removed his seatbelt and moved up to the front to look out the passenger side window. He saw red desert littered by damaged spaceships. He looked to a certain building made of brick.

"Alright that building right there; it used to be an office. Keep your safeties on; we don't know if they're in there yet. I'll take the lead, keep your head down." said Dodge.

The men got out of the van with their weapons strapped on their shoulders. They walked without form behind Dodge. They crouched behind the wreckage of a spaceship and looked down at the abandoned office. They saw two black cars parked behind the building. Dodge lowered behind the spaceship and the other men followed suit.

"Alright guys, we caught 'em just in time." said Dodge with a smirk.

"Safeties off?" said Taro.

"Safeties off. Keep your guns aimed at the office but with your fingers off the trigger. I'll open the front door and throw in a flash grenade. Taro, I want you to do the same from the exit. Then when I give you the go ahead I want you guys to split up and back up either Taro or me. Run in and hold them down. If they try to shoot at you, shoot first." Dodge blew dust off the top of the gun's suppressor.

The Red Dragons walked with their hands on the handle and fore grip of their assault rifles. They aimed at chest level, staying absolutely silent. Dodge and Taro ran to their positions. The rest of the men stood with their backs against the brick. Taro and Dodge unsheathed flash grenades and pulled the pins out. Almost simultaneously Dodge and Taro opened the doors they were standing in front of and threw in the flash grenades. They slammed the doors shut and two pops went off inside of the office. They could hear the Blue Snake members inside coughing and stumbling around the room.

"Now!" shouted Dodge. The Red Dragon members split up and stood behind either Taro or Dodge. Dodge and Taro opened the doors. They all aimed their weapons. A shot rang out from inside the building, aimed at Dodge. They ducked and covered their heads. Dodge aimed back and shot his weapon inside the room. He held down the trigger for five seconds and stopped. He went inside the room with his weapon still aimed and the men behind him followed suit. There was so much shouting happening. Dodge pressed his gun against a Blue Snake member and told him to put his hands behind his head and kneel down. Dodge looked over to a bloodied man lying on the floor, the man he had shot without even looking. Taro kicked a Blue Snake in the back of his knees and aimed his gun at him as he fell down to the floor. The Red Dragons had seized the Blue Snake members.

The Blue Snake members were lined up side-by-side. There were nine of them, and they were all on their knees with their hands behind their backs. The Red Dragon members all had their guns aimed at them as Dodge walked in front of the Blue Snakes. Dodge studied each of them carefully. Their eyes were puffed up and snot was running down their nose from the flash grenades. Dodge then spotted a familiar face. It was a lieutenant, whose name was Allen. Dodge smirked and put his hand under Allen's armpit and lifted him up.

"Alright, you come with me. Taro, you and the guys take of the rest of them when I walk out the door." said Dodge. The Blue Snake members started trembling and whimpering. Dodge pushed Allen forward with the tip of his gun. Dodge and Allen stepped outside and Dodge closed the door behind him. Allen sealed his lips and shut his eyes. Dodge and Allen heard the sound of the Red Dragons firing off their weapons at the men on their knees inside. Allen let out a deep breath and started whimpering.

"Shut up," said Dodge, "I didn't kill you because I need some information out of you."

"What do you want?" said Allen with a stuffed nose.

"Your bosses. I have a feeling you probably met with them before you came here. Where were they last?"

"I can't tell you."

"Tell me or I blow your head off!" said Dodge pressing the gun tighter on his head.

Allen began whimpering again. "They move between locations. I don't know which one they're at right now."

"Tell me the locations." Dodge pushed Allen forward to a black car. Dodge pulled a map out of his coat pocket. He placed it on the hood of the car. He took out a pencil and held it in his hand. "Alright point to where." he said. Allen removed one of his hands off his head. He pointed at four different locations at the map and Dodge marked them with the pencil. Allen put his hand back on his head.

"How do I know these are legit?" said Dodge.

"Why would I lie?! Blue Snake has gone to shit and we're all done for anyways!" whimpered Allen.

"Do you have a phone on you?"

"Yeah."

"Which pocket?"

"Right one."

Dodge reached inside Allen's pocket and pulled out two phones. "Which one do you use for Blue Snake?" he said.

"The one with duct tape on the back side."

Dodge turned the phones over and saw the blue duct tape on the battered phone. He threw the other phone onto the ground and put the Blue Snake phone in front of Allen's face. "Which contact?" said Dodge.

"The one that says 'SITREP'."

"I'm going to call and you're going to check in and try to get them to tell you where they're at, okay? And don't sound scared or yell for help or I will shoot." Dodge called the contact and put the phone up to Allen's ear. He tightened his other grip on the gun.

The phone began ringing. It rang for twenty seconds and they both waited with bated breath. Finally someone on the other end answered. It was a man's deep voice. "Are you checking in?" said the voice.

"Yes, sir." said Allen.

"Did you and your men finish clearing out the office?"

"Yes it's all done. There are no traces of us left."

"Okay. Don't come back to the southwest district warehouse, there's ISSP crawling around it."

Dodge heard that and looked at the map on the hood of the car. One of the marked buildings was a warehouse at the southwest district. Dodge believed that Allen wasn't lying.

"Where I should I go then?" said Allen.

"Go back home, you're done for the day." said the voice on the other end.

"Okay." said Allen. The person on the other end hung up. Dodge put the phone away in his own pocket. He kept his weapon aimed at the back of Allen's head.

"Okay I believe you." said Dodge. Taro and the Red Dragon members walked outside of the office. They waited and stared at Dodge aiming his weapon at Allen.

"Did he tell you where they're at?" said Taro.

"Yeah, I marked the buildings on that map on top of the car." said Dodge.

"Alright, are they expecting him back?"

"No, he can go back home." Dodge put his weapon down and let it cling from the strap across his shoulder. He turned around and pulled out a cigarette carton. He pulled a cigarette out from the carton with his mouth and then started igniting his lighter.

"So, you're just gonna let him go?" said Taro.

"Yeah, what's the point of killing him?" said Dodge.

Taro aimed his assault rifle and shot Allen in the head twice. Allen's eyes rolled backward and he flew into the hood of the car and slumped down into the dirt, a bloodied mess. Dodge was startled and turned around to see Allen dead on the ground. He was in shock as he looked up to Taro who was putting his weapon down.

"Jesus! What the hell is wrong with you?!" said Dodge.

"You're being stupid Dodge, this guy was going to rat us out." said Taro.

Dodge dropped the cigarette from his mouth, walked up to Taro and grabbed him by his collar. Dodge punched Taro across his face. The Red Dragon members pulled them apart and they all started shouting.

"You're being weak Dodge!" said Taro.

"Don't you ever break my orders again!" said Dodge. The Red Dragon members let go of Dodge and Taro. Dodge and Taro mad-dogged each other as they breathed heavily. Dodge picked up his cigarette from the floor and grabbed the map off the hood of the car. Taro and the Red Dragons regained their composure and followed Dodge. Dodge then smashed Allen's personal phone that was on the floor with the butt of his assault rifle. The Red Dragons walked back to their van in silence as the sun started setting across the horizon of the red planet.

Spike and Faye sat across from each other in a booth with faux leather upholstery. They were inside a diner that was near empty. The lamp dangling above them gave ample illumination of their faces, but everything around them in the diner seemed shrouded in haze and darkness. It was a comforting feeling, like they were the only ones there.

Spike craned his neck to look back at the kitchen area. He turned back around to face Faye. "What's taking that food so long?" he said.

"I don't know, we ordered like twenty minutes ago." said Faye. She looked around the diner to see many empty booths and tables. "You'd think with the amount of people in here they'd get it done faster." She propped up her chin with her hand and sighed.

Spike took a swig of water from his glass. "What, is this boring you?" he said.

Faye jumped back a little and stared at Spike. "No, it's not that. I'm having a perfectly fine time." she said.

Spike scoffed lightly. "Well, you seem a little distant right now."

"I'm just thinking that's all."

"About what?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just trying to bring up some of my memory."

"How much of it did you get back?"

"Bits and pieces. More come back every day."

"You haven't really told me about it."

Faye exhaled through her nose. "I haven't really told anyone about it." she said.

"Well we spend all this time talking about me, but what about you?"

Faye scoffed lightly. "No one's ever asked."

"Well we're sitting here by ourselves, now is a good a time as any." said Spike. Suddenly a waitress appeared beside Spike. Spike and looked up at her and nodded their heads in thanks. The waitress put a burger with fries in front of Spike and pasta in front of Faye.

"Well our food's here." said Faye.

"Faye, c'mon. Tell me something about your past."

"Spike! I wasn't prepared for something like this." Faye started blushing.

"Faye. I have to know something about you. This whole time I've been back I've spent it focusing on myself and running away from my past. You need to come to term with yours. I don't want to focus on myself anymore."

Faye gazed intensely at Spike. She looked down at her knees. "Okay… the first memory that came back… was of my accident." she said.

"What happened?" said Spike.

"It was a really long time ago. But I remember levitating. I was on a space ship, passing the moon. I don't remember why I was in there. My parents were next to me, I can remember their faces clearly now. But something went wrong. There was no more gravity holding us down, the creaking of the ship grew louder." Faye gasped. "The windows broke. Blood filled the cabin. I remember so much pain all over my body and then everything turning black."

Spike gazed at her for moment. His lips were absolutely sealed.

"I was the only one they saved. My father and my mother died that day," said Faye, "Some doctors froze me and here I am decades later, sitting across from you." She looked back up at him.

Spike looked surprised. He looked down at his knees and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I hate thinking about it. That's why I haven't told you."

Spike looked up and gazed at Faye. "Then tell me a better memory. One that you like remembering."

Faye met Spike's gaze. She put her hands on her elbows and looked down. "I don't know. I have happier memories but they're so hard to enjoy because… they were so long ago. My memories remind me that I don't belong here and I can't go back there." she said.

"C'mon Faye, please?" said Spike.

Faye bit her bottom lip. She sighed. "Well... this one is a little embarrassing. You promise not to smirk?" she said with ruffled eyebrows.

"Promise." said Spike, putting his hand to the air.

Faye didn't look at Spike. "This one time I was going to try out for the cheerleading team at my educational institute. I wanted my parents to be there so they could motivate me. But they said they were busy, like a lot of the time, and I was disappointed. I went anyways, and as I was standing in line I see both my parents walk onto the field. They made their way to the bleachers and waved and smiled at me. It's a little sappy when I think about it, but it meant a lot to me that they did that."

Faye looked at Spike innocently. Spike scoffed lightly and smirked. Faye got angry and kicked his leg under the table. Spike yelped in pain.

"You promised you weren't going to smirk!" said Faye.

"I'm sorry. You know better than anyone else how naturally it comes to me." said Spike.

"You're a natural jerk; I should've known better."

"I wasn't trying to make fun of you. I just thought your story was… nice."

Faye kept her arms crossed and stared at Spike from the corner of her eyes. She sighed. "Okay, I give up. I know you weren't trying to laugh at me." she said.

"Glad I'm on your good side again." said Spike.

"Keep it that way." said Faye.

"I'll try my best. Now, you want to eat this food before it gets cold?"

Faye smiled a touch. "Sure, Spike."