Jesus Christ, Faye thought. I'm right back where I fucking started. All that self-discovery, just to find myself at the poker table once again. At least this time she was winning. By a lot, actually. Enough to distract her from the depressing cycle her life had become. After...everything, she couldn't stay on the Bebop, despite Jet's assurances that she was welcome, claims that they worked better as a team, and, finally, protests at her leaving. So she left—left Jet, her ship, Mars, and anything else that reminded her even remotely of what she would now forever deny were the best and brightest few months of her life.

The next year passed in a blur of bounty hunts, gambling binges, and elaborate cons. Faye figured she would have felt lonely, if she had stopped for even a moment to think about why. But she was avoiding all of that. That was packed away in a mental box marked "Explosive: Do Not Touch." So she didn't. And honestly, she was better off for it. Her life was still exciting, still fun, still Faye. She had been on her own before, and now she was again, it was as simple as that. Really, she was doing fine, although sometimes she did wonder about Ed. Hoping she still had that furball of a dog, still singing her bizarre little songs. Hoping she found where she belonged.

Faye allowed herself these thoughts because thinking of Ed made her smile. She had only thought of Jet and the Bebop once, when the bell peppers and beef she ordered came without beef, and it made her cry. She told herself she was crying over the incompetency of the food service industry, but both she and the bell peppers knew she was lying.

She never thought of Spike. Faye didn't know what that would make her do.

And yet, as she sat at the table, in that goddamn casino orbiting Mars, she couldn't help the memory that slipped through—the one of a special chip, a withheld tip, and the aftermath. Because of course she ended back at Spiders From Mars. She didn't mean to, but it just happened; her natural trajectory cutting similar patterns across the universe. To be fair, Faye reasoned, my lifestyle only really works within certain parameters. Parameters that currently involved scamming the house. Her plan to go somewhere tropical for the winter wouldn't pay for itself, after all.

So Faye cheated at cards and won more money and didn't think about things. This was as much a part of her routine as anything else, location be damned. If anything, she felt a little more satisfied as she left the table, a cool 2 million woolongs worth of chips in her hands. About time I got back at them. Fuck this place hard. She marched up to the cage and dumped her chips in front of the teller.

"I'd like to cash out." And then get the hell out.

The teller cocked an eyebrow, impressed. Faye smirked. Still got it.

"I'd love to help you with that, but I'm afraid I don't have enough money up here with me." He stood. "If you come downstairs, I'm sure we can get this sorted for you."

Faye shrugged, and followed the teller through the double doors at the back of the room. She knew where they were going, down to the walk-in safe that contained more stores of woolongs than Faye could ever hope to make in even 3 lifetimes. Other casinos did digital transfer, but she remembered from her time aboard that Spiders From Mars tended to draw crowds that strongly preferred untraceable cash. Still, it gave her pause that they needed to access the safe; she remembered the floor circulating at least 10 million woolong at any given time.

It stopped her dead in her tracks when she realized they had turned left, not right, at the bottom of the stairs. Going away from the safe. And away from my money. Shit. The whole no-thinking thing was great, but it was really started to affect her awareness.

"Hey, isn't the safe that way?" she asked, arms crossed.

"Yes, ma'am, it is. If you'll follow me this way, please," the teller replied. Faye sighed in annoyance—this was turning into a real nuisance. The back of her neck prickled, and she turned to find two huge security guards blocking her path. Faye weighed her options; try to take on these lunkheads and this beanpole of a teller, or go with the flow and hopefully get her hard-won woolongs. When it comes to tough choices, always choose money. Even if it's not an option. That was one of Faye's favorite sayings, albeit she was the one who said it. Either way, it was her personal mantra, right behind survival of the fittest. So let's follow the teller. What's the worst that can happen?

Faye trailed after the teller until they reached a door at the end of the hall, which he opened. She felt a firm hand on her back, but when she tried to squirm away, it shoved her roughly through the doorway. When the door slammed behind her and she was plunged into darkness, she wanted to kick herself. That's pretty bad, you fucking idiot. Survival of the fittest, my ass.

A sputtering light filled the room, a single lightbulb with a dangling chain. Underneath it stood a nondescript man in a suit, but something in his face told Faye he was not as bland as he looked. She'd become an expert in spotting danger.

"Hello, Faye Valentine," he said. "I understand you've had quite the run at our tables tonight."

"How do you know my name?" Faye questioned sharply.

"Well, you don't exactly keep a low profile." She quirked an eyebrow. He responded with a wry smile. "And you're still in the employee system."

Fuck this place extra hard.

"What's the holdup with my money? Do you not have enough in the safe?" She was getting impatient, not to mention nervous. None of this was going to plan.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. We just have policies in place that strongly frown upon cheating."

"Cheating?" she sputtered, trying to act nonplussed. "You're accusing me of cheating? Jesus Christ, a woman gets one streak of good luck and you-"

"Let me save you the trouble of a denial," he interrupted. "Our dealer noticed you almost immediately. Really, hiding cards is an amateur move. I expected better from a former employee of this very casino. Not to mention you don't seem to have many options with that." He ran a critical gaze over her black mini. She wanted to be furious, but he was right. With no sleeves or pockets, she had taken to shoving cards under her leg as surreptitiously as she could, but she had been sloppy. Clearly, the no-thinking plan needed to be trashed , say this about Faye, she knew when she was had.

"So are you saying I'm not getting my money?"

He gave a huff of laughter. "No. Certainly not."

"Well," Faye said, and clapped her hands together, "I guess I'll be on my way." She backed up slowly, silently praying the door was unlocked.

"Actually-"

"I know, I know," she cut in, "I'm banned for life. I promise you'll never see me again. And honestly, that's a-okay with me, really! I hated working here and my boss hated me, so he'll be happy I'm gone anyway, so really, it's totally fine that I won't be coming back; it's actually the best of both worlds..." she rambled, hand scrabbling at the doorknob. Locked. Shit. The whole situation was really starting to freak her out. And she didn't have any backup, not anymore...

"Actually," he continued, "I was going to say that it doesn't really work like that anymore. New management came with new protocols, you know, typically corporate turnover." He sighed. "Personally, I don't think 2 million is really worth all the trouble. But they frown upon people stealing from them in any capacity, I guess."

Faye gaped at him. Her head was empty. No thoughts. "New management?"

"The Red Dragon Syndicate, of course."