A/N: Hi guys! I bring you a double update! I was on a roll tonight, lol! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too. I thought it was time to start revealing a little bit more about Nemesis and his past, though I think I'm going to keep every juicy detail to myself so I can explain properly in my next fic which will be centered on pre-Bebop days. I'll be publishing that Omake chapter real soon, I just have to figure out how much info I'm going to give in this fic and stuff.

Anyway, I'll try to write as many chapters as I can as this is my last week of vacation and I'll be starting school again next Monday. Don't fret, school has never stopped me from writing, but it has put a damper on how often I do it. I'll try for at least two chapters a week!

Faye let the communicator ring. She was about to give up, when Jet finally answered.

"Faye? What's going on? Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm on Earth" she replied.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Fixing the Red Tail"

"What? Why? What happened?"

"I… kind of… crashed it" she said, knowing full well that Jet was about to scold her.

"When? Are you alright? Who's fixing it?"

"Last night. I'm fine. Doohan is fixing it"

"Damn it, Faye. You can never go out on your own without getting into some kind of trouble. I told Spike he should go get you… did he?"

Faye frowned. "Why did you send him after me? And how did you even know where to look?"

Jet sighed. "I didn't. I sent him out there to look for you. I thought you were still here on Ganymede. I expected him to look for you at the casinos. Did he find you or not? I can tell him where you are and he can bring you back. Or I can set course for Earth"

Faye shook her head. "No! It's ok. Really, I'm fine. I wanted to stay here on Earth until my ship is fixed. I need a few days. I'll let you know when I'm coming home, ok?" she said, running a hand through her hair.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jet asked.

Faye nodded.

"Well. If you're sure I guess I have no choice. If you need anything… let me know, ok? I don't have much cash but maybe I can go to Earth and lend Doohan a hand if he needs it and you can't afford it."

Faye felt a knot form in her throat. Jet really was a swell guy. A real good person.

"Thanks, Jet. I should be fine. I have a little bit of money saved up" she said.

"You? I don't believe it. Poker Alice has money?" he teased.

Faye pursed her lips. "Yeah, old man, I'm trying to stop gambling!"

Jet laughed. "Alright, alright, don't get salty—" but he was cut off.

"Faye-Faye!"

Ed came into view inside the tiny screen. Her hair was nice and smooth and she was wearing a ribbon in it.

"Edward? What happened to you?" Faye asked.

"Edward went on a date! Edward got a kiss-kiss!" the young girl said happily.

"What?! When?! With who?!" Faye asked, unable to believe her ears.

"A kiss-kiss! From the Nathan-friend! Today!" Ed chirped, hugging Ein close to her face.

"Wow! I'm impressed, Ed! How was it?"

Ed giggled. "Jet was kissy-kissing the Gwen-lady, too!"

"WHAT?!"

"EDWARD!" Jet thundered in the background.

Faye heard a female cough in the background, and knew it was Gwen, though she couldn't see her. Ed picked up the communicator and seconds later, Gwen came into view. She was clasping her hands over her mouth, looking mortified.

"Damn. You guys sure seem to be getting a lot more action than I am" Faye muttered. But she was amused nonetheless. She had always known Gwen and Jet had a thing for each other. Call it a woman's intuition.

"Bye Faye-Faye!" Ed said, and without waiting for a reply, she ended the call. Faye smiled wryly. Yep. Sounded like a normal day at the Bebop, alright.

She dreaded going back into Doohan's shop. She didn't know if Spike was there and she didn't want to see him. Not now. Not anytime soon. She tiptoed her way to the shop and peered around the entrance.

"You hiding from someone?"

Faye wheeled around. It was Ramesses, and he was standing behind her, peering into Doohan's shop too. He looked down at her and grinned.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"Well, you're not going in but looking inside to see who's there" he said simply.

"I don't want to see… him" she replied.

"You mean your partner?" he asked.

"He's just a crew mate. He's not my partner" Faye snapped.

Ramesses raised his eyebrows. "Well, he's gone"

"What? He's gone? When did he leave?" Faye asked. Somehow the news made her feel worse.

"Not too long ago. He said he had some stuff to take care of and left" Ramesses explained.

"Did he… did he mention where he was going?"

Ramesses shook his head. Faye sighed.

"Well, do you know how long it will take for Doohan to fix this mess?" she asked.

"About another day or two. Can't be sure, he's the master mechanic, not me"

Faye pouted.

"Anxious to get home?"

"No, not really" she replied. "I don't want to return for a good long while"

"That bad, huh?" Ramesses said. "Well, this may seem too forward… and I'll understand if you slap my head right off my shoulders, but… maybe you could partner up with me"

Faye stared at him. "Partner up with you?" she repeated stupidly.

"Yeah. I mean, strictly business, that's all. I mean, even though you look cute in that greasy jump suit, I don't want you to seduce me or anything…" he said, tongue in cheek.

"As if" she replied, smacking his arm playfully. "But seriously. You're a hit-man. I don't kill for money" Faye said, leaning back against the wall of Doohan's shop.

"I never said be a hit-woman. Maybe I want to catch a bounty or something" he said, leaning against the wall beside her. Faye pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Don't you have money?" she asked after taking a drag.

"Do you want to partner up or not, missy?"

Faye mulled the thought over for a moment. Would she? It would definitely help her financial situation. He was a professional, so he might help her catch some decent bounties. Besides, it would probably make Spike jealous.

No, it probably wouldn't. Hadn't that jerk said he had never cared? Why would he care now? The more she thought about it, the more the idea of partnering with Ramesses seemed to grow on her.

"Alright. Partners" she said, extending her hand to him. He shook it and grinned.

"Partners" he repeated.

Spike lay inside the Swordfish II. It was uncomfortable, but there was nowhere else to sleep in this forsaken place. Doohan slept in the shop. Miles… well, who knew where Miles slept. He probably had a home nearby. The spare room would probably be Faye's for the duration of her stay. Or maybe it would be Ramesses'.

Or maybe both… Spike shook his head. He couldn't think about that. He wouldn't. It wasn't any of his business anyway. Not after what he had said to Faye.

Sure, she had crossed the line, but it really hadn't been that bad. Since when had he become so sensitive about Julia? He had let her go. So why had he reacted that way?

When had he gone from loving the woman to making her an untouchable icon? She was an ordinary woman. She was beautiful and deadly, yes, but ordinary in the end. All the things that made Julia, well, Julia… were the actions of an ordinary woman. She wasn't a goddess. She wasn't even an angel. She was Julia, and she was the woman he had loved once. That was it.

He cringed.

He realized now that he had been using Julia as a shield to block anyone from entering his life and getting too close. He used Julia's memory as a wall to keep anyone from entering his heart. It wasn't because he loved her. He had, once. Long ago. But now it was that she was his defense mechanism and anyone who attacked her was like they were attacking his defenses. Julia allowed him to close up and stay locked up inside himself without having to explain himself to anyone.

It wasn't fair to Julia's memory to be using her this way. And it wasn't fair to Faye, either.

Tomorrow, when Faye had calmed down, he would do what he had meant to do today and failed. He would apologize to her, explain himself, and bring her home.

Things would go back to being normal on the Bebop. Jet would chew their ass out. Ed would still act like a circus seal, and he and Faye would annoy each other. They would happily hunt bounties and bitch about their life, though none of them seemed to want to leave it.

Yes, tomorrow, he would make things better.

"Ow! Stop it, you jerk" Johanna giggled. Currently, Nemesis had her pinned down to the bed, and he was administering painful spanks to her rear.

"But your ass is so nice" he said with an evil grin. He raised his hand to give her yet another smack, but she twisted her body and rolled away, trying to scramble away from him. She loved it when he was in a playful mood. He spent so much time brooding and planning and being serious…

He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him and he pinned her body beneath his by lying on her back. He snaked his hands between her body and the mattress and cupped her breasts.

"Honk honk" he said as he squeezed them. She burst out laughing.

She knew he wasn't all bad. And when he was like this, she loved him more for it. The fact that only she knew this side of him was all the better.

"Nice hooters, ma'am" he said against her neck.

"They are pretty nice, aren't they?" she mumbled against the mattress.

They remained that way for a long time, just breathing each other in.

"Baby?" she said. She knew she was venturing into dangerous water, but she wanted to know.

"Mmm?"

"Tell me more about your past" she said. He sighed heavily and rolled off of her.

"Why?" he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Because I want to know. You know everything about me" she said.

"My past is not nice" he said.

"Neither is mine"

He turned his face slightly and looked at her. She thought he was going to refuse, but instead, he asked "What do you want to know?"

Surprised by his answer, she was caught off guard. What did she want to know?

"Why were you hunting down the syndicates?"

"Because they betrayed my father" he said.

"Why? How?"

Nemesis sighed again and lay back against the pillows. She couldn't help but admire his nakedness, even at a time like this.

"Me and my brother were eight years old when we were sent off to a private boarding school" Nemesis began. Jo crawled her way up to him and placed her head on his chest and listened. "I don't know how bad things were at home during that time. All I knew was that we were rich and that our father owned a business. When we were fourteen, we came back home for good because mother had run away with another man. Jiang Yenrai"

"The head of the Red Dragon" Johanna whispered. Nemesis nodded.

"Some time later, our father brought her back and it sparked a war between the syndicate and our family that eventually left our family broke. And then Jiang came for her"

"For your mother?"

"Yeah. But our father killed her. And Jiang killed him"

They stayed quiet for a moment.

"I killed them all" he continued. "Not nice, see?"

"You were still after the syndicates when you found me" Johanna said.

"Yeah"

"What happened to your brother? Why wasn't he with you?"

"After our parents died he ran off to the war on Titan. I lost contact with him for a long time" Nemesis explained.

"How did he enlist? Weren't you guys still underage?" Johanna asked.

Nemesis shrugged. "He found a way. I found him a couple of years later and I convinced him to help me with my revenge. Then I found you"

"What was your plan?"

"To bring down the Red Dragon for good"

"And I ruined your plan…" Johanna said quietly.

"A minor dent" Nemesis said.

"I'm sorry"

"It's done. In the past… Vicious managed to do it in the end anyway" Nemesis said.

"Then why are we still living this life?" she asked.

"It's the only life I know" Nemesis replied. He disengaged himself from her. He turned on his side, giving her his back before turning off the lamp, plunging them into darkness.

"It's up and running!" Doohan said proudly, patting the zip craft. The name Harlequin was emblazoned on the side. "I woke up at the crack of dawn to get'er done" he said to Ramesses.

"I owe you one, Doohan" he said, shaking the man's hand.

"Don't mention it. Take care of her, that's good enough for me. As for the Red Tail… that one will have to stay with me for another day or so" he said, looking apologetically at Faye.

She groaned inwardly.

"Guess that means you're riding with me for a day" Ramesses said.

"Yeah, I guess so" she replied.

Miles came in, balancing his radio on his shoulder. A familiar voice was speaking.

"So you said they are in Tijuana, Punch?"

"That's right, Judy. And remember, these guys are worth ten million woolongs, and they have to be alive in order for you to get your reward, cowboys!" Punch said.

The show ended and Faye sighed.

"Did you catch their names, Miles?" Ramesses asked the young man.

"Huh? Oh, for the bounty? Yeah, Bunny and Hyde. They are bank robbers that apparently were last seen in TJ" Miles answered.

Ramesses looked at Faye. "What do you think? Ready to go to work?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I guess so" she answered, stretching her arms over her head.

"Let's get to it then" Ramesses said, opening the cockpit to the Harlequin. Faye was about to climb inside, when she noticed Spike coming in. She froze.

"Yo" he said to everyone. His mismatched eyes zeroed in on her and narrowed. "Faye, do you have a minute?" he asked.

Faye was still hurt and angry. She didn't want to see him. "Can't Spiegel. I'm going to work" she said coolly.

"Work?" he asked.

"Yeah… I have work to do" she snapped as she climbed inside. Ramesses climbed in after her.

"Do you want me to wait for you? Because I don't mind" he said lowly, so only she could hear.

"No! Let's get out of here now" she hissed.

"As you wish" he said, and started the Harlequin.

"Faye" Spike called out. She ignored him. Ramesses gave him an "I'm sorry" look and shrugged.

Without another word, the cockpit was closed and seconds later, the Harlequin was zooming out of Doohan's shop.

Spike: Sometimes, the best revenge is indifference.

Jet: Next chapter… Don't Bother None