AN: Bugger all, I've always been horrible about pacing pre-written material… I like putting chapters out waaaaay too much. ^^;; Oh well. The appearance of Ed! Yay for Ed! As for Liam's accent, since someone asked. It's not Irish, it's more cockney actually. You don't really find out about the accent, just that he has one. Since you asked though, he picked it up from his grandfather and his mother, his grandfather immigrated to Mars from Earth, where he lived in England. Okay, enjoy this chapter, I'm really going to wait to put out the next one… I have to cos after the next one I'm outta pre-written material and then I'll actually have to write! ^_^;;

-Rhyein/Aozame

***

Liam groaned and opened his eyes slowly. It took a moment for him to remember what had happened. His head and his shoulder hurt like hell. What a great job, so far he'd failed to kill the targets, and had been captured. He knew that if he actually survived this ordeal, his new job would be food tester for Thakur's dog, which was not something he was looking forward to. He tried to raise his hand to his temple, but found he couldn't. Liam glanced down at his hands and saw that he was handcuffed to a couch. He discovered that he could pull himself into a sitting position, and did so. Looking around, he established that he was no longer in the penthouse above the Blues Café. It looked like the interior of an old fishing ship. The tele-screen next to him suddenly flipped on and a woman appeared.

"Spike?! Long-time no see! It's Ed!" the woman said, grinning. Liam blinked.

"Huh?"

Faye walked into the room, drying her hair. She smiled at Liam.

"You're awake…" she began.

"Faye!" the woman on the screen exclaimed. "Faye! It's Ed!" Faye turned her attention to the redheaded woman on the screen.

"Ed? Ed! Holy shit! Look at you!" Faye plopped down on the table in front of the screen. "It's been so long… So what are you up to?"

"Oh, I was just on Mars and I thought I'd check in on you guys… I'm glad to see you're still together." Ed smiled and Faye shook her head.

"Yeah, well Jett and I haven't killed each other yet… How's your dad?"

"…He died a couple months ago… I figured I'd look you guys up, see if you needed an extremely talented hacker around," Ed replied, winking.

"Oh, sorry about your dad… Well, we don't do bounties anymore, but I'm sure Jett wouldn't mind having another mouth to feed…" Faye answered winking back. Ed laughed.

"I'm sure… Well, I'm at the Ganymede Hotel in Crater City, if you wouldn't mind picking me up…" Faye nodded.

"We'll be there."

"Great! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again… Especially you, fluffy head! I got some info you might be interested in," Ed said moving her golden gaze toward Liam. Liam raised an eyebrow uncertainly, what the hell had he gotten himself into? The screen went black and Faye turned toward him.

"…How are you feeling?"

"…Like I've been shot."

"What happened to your face?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That scar, on your face… Did you get that when you fought Vicious?"

"Excuse me?"

"Spike, there's no point in pretending anymore… It's obvious you're not dead."

Liam glared at her, his bright green eyes flaring. "I'm NOT Spike, dammit! Quit calling me that!" Faye startled and moved closer to him. She stared into his green eyes and searched his face for a second. Then she reached out and touched the golden earring that was dangling in his left earlobe.

"You're really not Spike then?" Jett walked into the room.

"Who was on the com?"

"Ed."

"Ed? …You're awake…" he wondered, gazing at Liam.

"Yeah, she's on Mars, at the Ganymede Hotel in Crater City. Was wondering if we were willing to take on an extremely talented hacker for a while…" Faye replied. Jett smiled.

"Ah… That shouldn't be a problem… We do need to figure out what to do with fluffy head here though."

"…I have a name you know…" Liam murmured irately. Jett and Faye looked at him, surprised.

"Are you sure you're not Spike?" Faye asked, raising an eyebrow. Jett shook his head.

"You sure look like him, and besides the accent, you sound like him… but I don't think you are him." Faye glanced at Jett.

"You don't think so?"

"Nah, he's got green eyes… Spike's were brown, remember?"

"There are contacts…"

"He's too young as well… You gotta be, what? 19? 20?"

"…Seventeen," Liam replied. Jett and Faye blinked at him.

"Only seventeen? Man, I feel old…" Jett said, putting a hand to his head. Faye picked up the pack of cigarettes that were on the table next to her and lit one. She blew smoke out toward Liam and smiled seductively.

"So what's your name?"

"…Liam."

"Drop dead Faye, you're too old for him… Hell, you're too old for ME," Jett said, flopping down in the chair across from Liam. Faye glared at him and then turned her nose into the air, ignoring him.

"So Liam, how is it that you came across the face of Spike Spiegel?" Faye asked taking another drag from her cigarette. Jett rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I'm going to set a course to get Ed…" he said, walking toward the bridge.

"I take it you two knew him?" Liam said, narrowing his eyes. Faye turned away from Liam and stared at the floor. There was silence for a moment before she answered.

"…Yeah… We were… comrades… for a time," she finally replied. Liam saw that her dark green eyes were unfocused and distant. She had known him, might have even been a girlfriend of his. "He was Jett's partner." Liam turned his head toward the bridge, where Jett had disappeared.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Liam asked.

"…I… I dunno…"

"Because I look like him?" he snapped. Faye looked up at Liam, astonished by the venomous tone in his voice.

"Did you know him?" she asked.

"No," Liam replied, looking away.

"Why do you hate him then?"

"Because I didn't know him."