The gigantic ship known as the Bebop was floating peacefully in the orbit of Mars. Unfortunately, the sense of tranquility was not totally present among the Bebop gang. Despite earning the whopping 50 million woolong reward, Jet and Faye were still a little shaken from Spike's behavior. To Jet and Faye, that devil-may-care attitude Spike usually loves to carry seemed to be forever erased.

Jet Black was trimming one of his bonsai trees in the main lounge of the Bebop. Rather than trim his little trees where he usually does it, Jet felt he needed more space to do his favorite hobby. Laying next to the bonsai tree was a pair of Thermo Sunglasses, a pair of shades used for tracking down a bounty's bodyheat. Jet wore a devious grin when he set his eyes on the glasses.

"Hehehehe... man, I can't wait for Faye to try those on. Thanks to my major upgrade on that do-hickey, she's gonna get Spike out of the blues in a snap of a finger," Jet said to himself. Jet heard the circular, iron door open. Who he saw was Faye come right in with more shopping bags.

"Damnit, Faye! What the hell did you buy this time?" Jet asked.

"Believe it or not, Jet, this stuff is for Spike," Faye said, laying her bags on the couch. This caused Jet to raise a brow.

"You actually bought something for someone else besides yourself?!" Jet asked.

"Well, why not? Spike needs some cheering up, so I decided to buy him some stuff he would go crazy for," Faye said. Searching through one of the bags, Faye took out a large book.

"Here's one: 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.' Spike was dying to own this book. You know how much of a fan he is for Bruce Lee," Faye said. Jet got up and took a look through another bag.

"Black-steel nunckukus, a pair of sickle 'n chains, extendable bo staff, a pair of handcuffs-"

Faye let out a gasp and snatched her stuff away from Jet.

"KEEP IT DOWN, WILL YA? I don't want you to spoil Spike's surprise," Faye said.

"Geez, sorry," Jet said. Jet cleared his throat.

"Uh... why did you buy Spike a pair of handcuffs?" Jet asked. Faye's face started to blush a bit.

"I... I have my reasons," Faye said quietly. Jet decided to make the conversation take a more serious path.

"You two have been acting pretty strange after we got Spike out of that hospital. You're acting as though you have feelings for Spike. And Spike... well, he's actually acting as though he has feelings. What's going on?" Jet asked.

A moment of silence blanketed the main lounge right after Jet asked that question. Weakly holding onto her left arm, Faye let out a sigh.

"Jet... when I met Spike for the first time, I thought he was the cutest guy I've ever seen. Later on, when I became part of the Bebop, he was impulsive, rude, loud and incompassionate! He didn't care about anybody but himself!" Faye said, remembering how Spike uncaringly blew away one of Vicious' guards holding Faye hostage while the guard still held Faye close to him.

"...All that changed when Spike saved me from being raped at Bloody Mary's Tavern. The way he beat Jagged Edge to a bloody pulp, what he said to Edge when he was pounding him away.

"Spike was actually being human. Jet, it's easy to be incompassionate to an incompassionate man, but Spike just isn't that way anymore," Faye said.

"I see. That kind of explains your behavior," Jet said. Jet snatched the new, improved Thermo Sunglasses.

"Hey, Faye... why don't you try these on when you see him?" Jet asked, handing it to Faye. Faye took the sunglasses and put them on.

"What for, Jet? It'll just show his bodyheat level, that's all," Faye said.

"When you see Spike, just set the setting to Level 4," Jet said, wearing a sly grin.

"Level 4? I thought this thing only has 3 levels," Faye said.

"Well, I just added a new level to that baby today. I gave it a test-run earlier at the busy streets of Dark City. The results were veeeeery pleasing..." Jet said, smiling to himself when he tested it on a number of lovely women. Seeing that grin made Faye's eye twitch.

"What are you up to, Jet?" Faye asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just give a try on Spike, will ya? Go on! Go for it!" Jet said. Faye's lips split to a grin.

"Okay, old man. I'll go along with your game. Let's see what you're up to..." Taking her bags with her, Faye headed right for Spike's personal quarters. Feeling he achieved a major accomplishment, Jet smiled and sat comfortably in the couch.

"Boy, I can't wait to see what happens, hehehehe. When you activate Level 4, Faye, you two are gonna bail out of the blues and boogie down to a whole new beat! Damn, am I good or am I good?"


.... to be continued.