Hey, all

Sigh.. Another day another chapter I have to start working on. My life has become an endless cycle of fanfics I have to get in just the right mood to do, since I (stupidly.) started four different stories with each one having almost entirely different atmospheres, not to mention they're all from different, various series. I'm sitting their, writing a story about Spirited Away that has been called 'utterly depressing and heart wrenching', and then I have to immediately get my ass into gear as soon as that's out to work on my Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon crossover that is the epitome of silliness. It's really quite disorienting.

But enough author angst, I'm happy, really I am! Content with my fics am I. And I truly have to thank everyone who reviewed again, because they were such insightful and helpful reviews. I'm also glad to hear that people approve of Faye's personality in this story. Puts my fears at ease.

Someone also wondered for one chapter or another if Faye was going to be left in the dust by Spike, as usual, in this fic. Well, I'm obviously not going to just tell you, and I'm not even entirely positive myself yet, the total end of this fic being a vague, sketchy thing that seems too far off in the distance to be bothered with. even though I only intend to give this fic maybe a little over ten chapters. However, I do love the idea of having Spike and Faye together, no matter how unlikely that would be in the real show itself. BUT, I'm not a Julia hater. The girl's nice, can't say much bad stuff about her, except maybe a little lack of judgment in terms cheating on her super strong and intimidating boyfriend. But fuck, my favorite character's Faye, who isn't exactly the model girlfriend, so whatever.

I don't own Cowboy Bebop, because if I did I don't think it would have been physically possible for me to end it with Spike dying. no matter how cool that ending really WAS.

*

O, My Troubles With God.

By Rio Grande.

Chapter Five: Communication.

*

"Now THIS is more like it," Faye cried, heaving a gigantic, happy sigh and hurling herself onto a large king sized bed covered in white silk sheets and pillows that weren't too fluffy like the ones at the hotel, but not rock hard like the ones she kept on her ship.

(A/N- UM. I realize I got the name of Faye's ship wrong last time, so could someone remind me of what it's really called? I think I mixed it up with Spike's and called it the swordtail or something. I don't really know.)

"I get my own room!" Spike commented with approval, floating through his new bedroom's door, grinning as he found a large deep blue room with wide windows covering the walls, that let warm yellow beams of light filter joyfully in. Not to mention a really soft carpet even he with his dulled, ghost like senses could feel. Sure, the bed was nice, but it was hardly relevant because he didn't sleep!

"God, Shinji must be more loaded than I thought! I could learn to love this guy." Faye said, smiling as she skipped into the large, (completely white, right down to the slightly tacky white leather couches and reclining chairs. Really, who paid money to have white leather reclining chairs!?) living room, to check out the new T.V.

Shinji's house was everything and more than Faye and Spike had expected when he had said he would let Faye stay at his extra home for the duration of the hunt. It was a large, two story house with balcony's adorning the outside, a great view of Mars' (artificial) mountain range, a huge kitchen, four bedrooms, and best of all, a fully functional security system Faye intended to make good use of. She felt as though she was taking a big gulp of fresh air now that she was out of her hotel that was probably at this moment being targeted by a bunch of angry rich guys and a beam cannon, and in a nice big house that had not a spot of dirt. It was located in a recluse part of town (That still managed to be not too far away from civilization so that Faye could keep up with her investigation!) where hopefully none of her newly acquired enemies would think to look for her.

"This is great! I'm so happy!" Faye continued to cheer, Spike's eyes twinkling with amusement as he watched her happily roll around on the couch, clutching the remote control to her chest.

"Let's not forget there is a price to staying here," Spike pointed out, sitting across from her and opening a beer he had brought along. The only remaining one from the six-pack he had purchased earlier, when he had gone to brood about Faye. The woman made him drink like a fish; it was just her effect on him.

"Yeah yeah, I know. We sort of have to CATCH Yoloko. But, it's not like we really have to worry about anything, I mean, this guy loves me! He'd do anything for me! You should have seen the way he was looking at me before." Faye said, her tone cocky. Spike raised an eyebrow.

"He sounds like a pervert. He doesn't even know you," Spike said flatly. But even as the words came out of his mouth, he was mentally stepping back to examine them. Whoa. That kind of sounded like he was. sort of jealous. Since when was he worried about guys checking Faye out? It was an hourly occurrence, and he had never stopped to be angry about it before. 'I'm not so sure I like the fact that it's bothering me now,' Spike admitted, frowning as he realized he DIDN'T want other guys to be ogling Faye.

"Jeez, when did you get so principled? He was just being sweet to me, and honestly, we NEED this guy. He's buying me more ammo and supplies for this bounty. He can stare all he wants!" she proclaimed, getting to her feet and marching over to the kitchen to continue her careful investigation of the house's assets. Next stop- Coffee machine.

Back on the couch, Spike did that stepping back and observing the sentence thing. Hm. 'He can stare all he wants?' Nope. No. Didn't like THAT statement either. It had to go.

'What am I stressing over, really?' Spike wondered as he watched Faye totter about the kitchen in those tiny, form fitting shorts, like a child who had just inherited a toy store, finding not only a coffee machine, but COFFEE BEANS, to go IN that coffee machine! 'It's not as if she's going to COMMIT to this guy or anything. She's already said she only likes him for his money, and the day Faye Valentine gets truly serious over a guy, will be the day hell freezes over. Or Ed says something that actually makes sense.' Spike sighed contentedly; pleased he had just convinced himself Faye wasn't going to fall for this new Shinji guy, but also wondering in the back of his head how this was truly comforting. If she wouldn't commit to ANYONE. did that include him?

"Spike?" Faye asked, hearing a guttural moan come from his direction.

"Yah?" he quickly replied, turning around with one hand dug into his hair.

"You all right?"

"Definitely!"

*

Faye couldn't sleep. Which was entirely surprising, since she was currently lying in what just might be considered the most comfortable bed EVER. Much nicer than her hotel bed, and, further more, any other bed she had had the privilege to rest in. However, it seemed as though that night her insomnia was catching up with her.

Either that or her conscience.

She had told Spike she was going to call up Jet, Ed and Ein and ask if they would take a little trip down to see her and help her with this case that was making little progression, not to mention, more importantly, to try to communicate with Spike, so he could finally find out just what was tying him to Earth, and then get the hell off it. But.

But she had yet to actually make any sort of real attempt to communicate with these people, and the guilt was sort of keeping her up. She didn't WANT to talk to the Bebop crew! She had left them in sort of a huff, a bit of a wreck after Spike's death, and more irritable than ever. She was pretty sure they were eager to have her leave their midst's with her bad attitude, and wasn't sure if she was entirely ready to forgive them for THAT, either. She had been so damaged, and they hadn't even tried to stop her when she walked away! She had considered them her family, but the second Spike died, it all just when to the dogs. As though their foundations had never been that sturdy in the first place.. Which was depressing.

And then there was another thing, a selfish thing, really. It was just. if the whole crew really DID come back, and they really DID solve Spike's problem. then he would go away. Up to heaven (Faye was STILL having trouble realizing that the man had actually gotten past those pearly gates.) and away from her, permanently.

'God, I'm being so freaking selfish! He deserves to be let off this haunted world, and here I am being self-interested and only worrying about how lonely I'm going to be when he's gone. How much I'm going to miss his stupid fuzzy head, again. I can't believe I love having him around so much,' the purple haired woman sighed, caving in, reaching to the side to grab the phone. 'Wake up Valentine, the world doesn't revolve around you! Most of the time, anyway.'

Quickly, Faye punched in the Bebop's number, knowing that while Ed and Ein might no longer inhabit the ship, Jet still lived there, a lone bounty hunter. She had never forgotten the number, as pathetic as that sounded. She had contemplated calling Jet many times before and perhaps reconciling with the man, but usually lost her nerve before anyone answered. She took in a deep breath and bit her lip none too gently as she waited for the large ex-cop to pick up. He was going to be by far the hardest to talk to, and she knew it.

"Hello?" a deep, scratchy voice sounded on the other end of the line, obviously having been recently awakened from his sleep. Faye drew in a deep breath, straightening her posture, and then replied in her coolest, most casual voice.

"Jet? It's Faye."

*

Yoloko eyed the picture in her hand carefully. She looked at the man in the photo, head turned to the side as he talked to a woman that was aggravatingly familiar, his blond hair, happy disposition and incredibly affluent aura brining back a wave of memories. Damn it all. . Shinji was back in town.

Yoloko just barely resisted the urge to throw her head back, let out an animalistic scream, and then tear up the picture with her teeth. This was ridiculous! For months she had been operating with little to no trouble, and now, suddenly, when she had almost accomplished her goal- THIS happens! A surprisingly lucky bounty hunter crawls into town; the local village idiots start messing things up because they're weak and desperate; and then SHINJI comes back to start teaming up with the very female bounty hunter who has been plaguing her!

'It's as though I'm finally getting my punishment,' she thought morbidly, sighing heavily and putting the picture down on the small coffee table in front of her. The photographer who had taken the picture, and one of her guards stood before her, watching her carefully, wondering if now would be a good time to make a bolt for the door. She may not be openly seething, but it was plain to see their boss was pissed beyond belief, and when Yoloko was pissed, it wasn't advised that you be in a five-mile radius of her.

"Madame Yoloko." the photographer said hesitantly, running his hand through his greasy brown hair, and shifting uncomfortably.

"Where did you take this picture, Tama?" Yoloko asked sharply, glancing up at the photographer.

"At the diner on 80th Madam."

"Hm. I see." Yoloko said softly, tapping her cheek with one claw like finger, eyes narrowing into slits as she thought.

What to do? She obviously couldn't let Shinji help this woman more than he already had. She just couldn't afford to have this bounty hunter get any more of the upper hand. She was already doing surprisingly well; better than any other bounty hunter had, and she honestly wanted nothing more that to have this Faye Valentine dead. Preferably she wanted to be the one to kill her, and slowly. Now, if Shinji wanted to be conversing and plotting with this woman, it was his funeral. She wouldn't stand for it, and he too would have to be dealt with.

"Well, I suppose there's only one course of action to take from here," Yoloko sighed, shrugging, and wrapping her mink coat more firmly around her arms, never mind that it was around 80 degrees out. She was always cold anyway.

"What is that Madam Yoloko?" the guard asked, frowning behind his dark glasses, as the photographer quickly forked over all of the other incriminating photographs he had of Faye and Shinji.

"We'll just have to kill them both. Today, if at all possible."

* The first thing Spike noticed about Faye as she slunk into the kitchen the next morning, once again reading his morning paper, was that her eyes were rimmed with red. That was odd. Had she been crying? He tried to look impartial about the whole deal, pretending not to notice the fact that she looked as though she had very recently balled her eyes out, appearing to be very interested in the sports section.

Faye didn't notice any of this though as she went over to the coffee machine, with its coffee beans, and started the morning ritual. Spike hadn't made breakfast today, but Faye didn't really mind. She wasn't that hungry anyway. In fact, she felt distinctly un-hungry.

Spike couldn't help but stare as Faye plopped onto the white leather couch in front of him a few minutes later, making pathetic little squishing sounds on the leather as she stared at her coffee dourly, shifting around and striking up little depressing posses with her shoulders. Ummm.

"So, want to tell me what's wrong?" Spiked asked in a father like manner, putting the newspaper aside as Faye glanced up at him, apparently surprised.

"I don't know what you mean," she said simply. Spike gave her one of those looks. "I really don't." He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, well, maybe I sort of do," He leaned forward, menacingly. "Okay, okay! God. just stop looking at me like that," Spike leaned back, smiling. Yep. Worked every time.

Faye sighed and blew some hair from her eyes. He really could make her do whatever he wanted. It was depressing.

"So, I called Jet and Ed last night," she decided to start out with.

"Really? That's great!" Spike said, surprised she had taken some initiative with his request.

"Not so great, actually. Jet was a total ass," Faye said, sighing and getting a little pissed off look on her face. Spike sighed now as well; he should have expected this. It was just like Jet. He always did have a short fuse when it came to Faye. Or him, for that matter.

"Well, what happened?" Spike pressed, having this feeling that Jet was probably responsible for the tears. Either that or Ein had a mean- streak.

"He was his usual, 'something large is stuck up my ass' self. At first it was okay. I mean, he was like, 'well, haven't heard from you in a while' and all that jazz," Faye said, as Spike nodded encouragingly. "Which was pretty good considering I left the Bebop screaming obscenities over my shoulder. But. I guess he just didn't believe me when I told him that your ghost was hanging around me and wanted to see him so that your soul could ascend to heaven," Faye muttered thoughtfully.

"Did you really put it like that?" Spike sighed.

"Um. More or less."

"Great," Spike groaned rubbing his head. "After all that time of living with the guy and you still don't know how to talk to him? You couldn't just tell him that. You know he'd take it the wrong way, and call you crazy,"

"Actually he called me a -"

"You have to sort of lie to him, convince him to come down in another way, and THEN, when he has no way to escape, break the news to him. I should have been there when you called," Spike admitted. Faye hated to agree with the man, but when Spike was right, he was right. She SHOULD have lied.

"Oh God, shut up. If you're so great at this, then why didn't YOU call him?" Faye snapped.

"Because he can't see or hear me," Spike reminded her helpfully.

"Are you positive? I mean have you really gone to see him and all the others?" Faye asked skeptically. She really didn't feel like calling Jet again. Not that she was going to tell Spike this, but it had really hurt when Jet had yelled at her, and called her insane for talking about Spike like that. His opinion of her apparently hadn't changed in the slightest. To Jet, she would always be the same, gambling, greedy, slutty Faye Valentine. And she supposed he didn't have any material to work with that would make him see otherwise. Why had it made her feel so wretched? Why had she cried?

"Yeah, I did. Well, I mean, briefly. I walked by him, you see, and he didn't say anything." Spike said, shrugging.

"That was it? You just walked by him and then assumed he had couldn't see you because in his heart he had already laid your memory to rest?" Faye deadpanned.

"Well, he was the only other person in the room!" Spike countered. "I'm positive he would have noticed me if he actually had the ability to see me. I was just hesitant to stick around longer. It was weird, seeing him again. He was just going on with life as normal, reading a book and humming to himself. He never changes," Faye got a far off look in her eye for a second.

"I know what you mean. That man drives me crazy." Shaking her head, she continued with her story. "Wait- what about Ed?"

"Yeah I ran across her on while wondering around one colony or another, too. Don't think she could see me either," Spike explained, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Well. I called her also, you know." Faye said.

"And?" Faye smiled lightly; talking to Ed had been far easier than talking to Jet. Well, sort of, once you started to understand what she was trying to say. It was very hard, translating Ed-language to understandable parlance. Still.

"She's coming with Ein,"

"Really!" Spike perked up. Finally some good news. "When?"

"You know, whenever. She'll be here in a few Ed-days I guess. That girl is so confusing, I couldn't even begin to guess where she is, or how long it will take her to make it to Mars," Faye sighed, resting her head back on the couch. Spike chuckled, thinking of the odd little girl genius and the data dog that loved her.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Suddenly the phone (I shiny, expensive old fashioned one) rang. "I'll get it," Spike said, getting to his feet, and picking up the phone.

"Hello?" Spike said.

"Hello?" Hello the person on the other line asked.

"Hello?" Spike repeated, frowning, before noticing that Faye was laughing at him. Oh . right. Glowering, Spike thrust the phone in the woman's hands, pouting as he watched her continue to chuckle while she spoke to whomever had called. How depressing; the only person in the world he could currently communicate with was Faye. He had never thought of it that way, assuming there must be someone else out there who could see him or hear him, but. they couldn't. Faye was the only person he could talk to in the entire universe. The tall man quickly got up from his seat and headed over to the fridge, wondering how stocked this wealthy Shinji guy was when it came to alcohol.

"Hello? Shinji?" Well, speak of the devil. "Hey! How are you? Yes. yes the house is great! I can't believe you just have a great little place like this set aside for... Hm, God, I can totally relate," Spike snorted over his newly acquired beer bottle, listening with one ear to the conversation. "Later? Today? I think I can. Well, I was actually planning on continuing with the case, but if. really? Why of course, if you want to!" Faye laughed, as Spike raised an eyebrow, wondering just what it was Shinji wanted of his partner.

'Stop acting like a jealous boyfriend and go watch some T.V,' Spike encouraged himself, slinking over to the reclining chair in front of the large screen T.V, and turning it on.

"Okay, on 50th? At 1:00? All right, marvelous. Sounds great. What? The T.V? No, I'm not watching. oh! No, no there's no one else in the house - it's just me!" Faye made frantic killing motions with her hands to Spike, signaling he had better turn off the T.V now or she'd bludgeon him over the head with a toaster oven. Well, that's what she was trying to say, but Faye highly doubted Spike got that much out of her frenzied slashing motion.

Snorting, Spike turned off the news, folding his arms as Faye exchanged some quick goodbyes with Shinji. That's right. he was going to have to make it look as though he didn't exist if Shinji came over to visit.

"So, I'll see you then, okay Shinji? Uh hu you too, thanks again, the house is wonderful! Okay, that's fine, bye!" Sighing, Faye hung up the phone. "Boy Spike, you have to be more careful. I can't have Shinji thinking other people are staying here without his permission - I don't want to loose this place!" Faye explained, getting to her feet.

"Right right, I know. But, what was all that about 1:00?" Spike asked casually, glancing at Faye over his shoulder. The bounty huntress, still wearing only an oversized, button down shirt as sleepwear, that gave a wonderful view of her long tanned legs, quickly explained the plan for the day.

"Well, I had planned on just wandering around town today and seeing if I got any more anonymous tips and/or death threats and murder attempts."

"Sounds like a party,"

"Well, it usually works out pretty well anyway. But Shinji called and said he wanted to tag along and see how things were going. Hell, he's paying for all this stuff, it's the least I can do, so I said okay. Although it might be awkward if you come along now. I don't want it to look like I talk to myself all the time!" Faye huffed as she took out a cigarette.

"I'm going to try not to be offended," Spike said dryly. Great, so now Shinji was stealing all of his time with Faye too.

"Hey, it's not your fault your dead." Faye said, shrugging and letting out a stream of smoke. "Oh. Wait. Yes it is!" Rolling his eyes, vehemently not wanting to get into this touchy area of conversation, Spike got to his feet and stretched leisurely.

"So do you not want me to come at all?" he asked. "It's not like I'm going to mind finally having a day away from you," he lied.

"Well, whatever," Faye shrugged, grabbing her laptop from the table, and flipping it open. "We could split up, and you could do some helpful super sleuth spying around town. You'd be good at that - hell, you're probably like the master spy now,"

"You're making me blush. All right, I'll head out with you, and then we can split up once you and Shinji decide where you want to go. But I get the laptop!" Spike insisted.

"But whyyy?" Faye moaned, clutching her laptop possessively.

"Because you can barely use the damn thing," Spike explained logically.

"Details details," Faye said, waving her cigarette around as she spoke, leaving streamers of smoke in the air.

"Hey, you're sending me off on a wild goose chase to be alone all day and keep a look out for a bunch of men who are looking for YOU. I think I have the right to play online spades while I'm at it," Spike reasoned, as Faye tottered off to get dressed.

"Fine. Fine!" she called, marching into her room. Spike sighed, picking up the laptop. Trust Spike Spiegel to fall in love with a drama queen. 'My, I'm sure tossing around the word 'love' pretty casually today,' Spike admitted. 'Do I really love Valentine? The human time bomb?'

'God. I don't want to think about this right now. Maybe later, when we have this whole case cleared up. I don't think that even if I could come to a reasonable conclusion concerning my feelings, that popping this all on Faye right now would be really fair. She's under a good amount of stress as well, and probably wouldn't take the news too kindly if I were to tell her about it while some rich guy with questionable intentions is aiming a gun at her head.' Spike nodded firmly, connecting to the Internet, pleased that he had just found a very reasonable excuse why not to talk to Faye about things that made him, personally, uncomfortable.

'Good job, Spike.'

*

"Faye! Hey!" Shinji called, waving widely to the woman from the other side of the street, as he valiantly dodged oncoming traffic to get to the attractive bounty hunter wearing the skintight jeans and red halter. Faye lowered her sunglasses to stare at Shinji. He really was quite endearing; notably humble and kind for a man of his wealth, but with a hint of spice and passion. Especially when it came to Yoloko.

"What a klutz," Spike said flatly, as Shinji almost ran into an elderly woman trying to make her way to the physical therapist that sunny morning. Faye raised an eyebrow at her companion, speaking out of the corner of her mouth to the ghost who stood on her right.

"What is it that you hate about him so much?" she asked plainly, honestly a bit confused. "Is it because you think he's treating me like a charity case? I really don't mind taking charity Spike. Never have," she reminded him.

"No," Spike said sharply, taking out his own pack of cigarettes, expertly nabbed from the nearby drug store, and lighting up. "That's not it,"

"You gonna make me guess?" Faye asked archly, as Shinji reached the couple. Or rather, Faye.

"Faye! So good to see you again," Shinji said amiably, smiling broadly. Faye smiled back for the good man.

"Glad to see you again too. Thanks for offering to come with me!" Faye said.

"I'm happy to keep you company," Shinji admitted honestly. Faye continued to crank out all of the good vibes she could.

"I usually get lonely when I go out looking for Yoloko, and sometimes it takes a while for inspiration to hit, so to speak, when I'm looking for her," Faye admitted convincingly.

"Or take aim, at least," Spike snorted, leaning against the wall as he watched Faye and Shinji converse. Faye's eye twitched lightly, but Shinji didn't notice.

"It's my pleasure! You've been having such luck with her so far, you know, I couldn't help but be interested in seeing your technique in person," he confessed giddily. Faye bit her lip.

"Well, actually, there's not much technique involved." she joked, laughing uneasily. Uh oh, she didn't know Shinji was expecting her to show some great degree of intelligence and skill here. Hell, the entire hunt thus far had progressed to this level purely on luck! And fuck, it hadn't even gotten THAT far anyway.

"It's great to see you sweat," Spike mentioned companionably. So he liked her, didn't mean he'd lost his mean sense of humor. Faye's hands balled into fists. but Shinji didn't notice.

"Oh- don't be modest! I'm sure you're a SPECTACULAR bounty hunter! So, where to first?" Shinji asked, laughing and linking arms with Faye who, try as she might, really couldn't be uncomfortable around him.

"Well, I was thinking I might hit another sea food restaurant. Did I tell you about the anonymous hint I got, about Yoloko and her fish obsession?.."

"No! Really? That's great." Spike watched Faye and Shinji walk out of sight, Faye giving Spike a finger behind her back as way of saying 'see you back at the house,' before turning down to look at his hands, not even flinching as someone walked right through him.

He knew now what it was he hated so much about Shinji. it wasn't that he didn't like the guy personally, he was fine. It was just that if he tried to take away Faye, there was no way he could make it look as though she were his, or in fact even get Shinji's attention as a real person. Sure he could write him a message, or beat him up- but he was invisible, and Shinji would probably see it all more as a super natural phenomena than a warning. In short, Spike was helpless to do anything as he watched Faye strut away from him, sharing laughs with another man who was most obviously interested in her for more than just her bounty hunting expertise.

Spike threw his cigarette on the ground, stamping on it angrily, not even noticing as a little girl stopped to stare in wonder at the levitating cigarette fall to the ground and then get smothered by an invisible foot.

*

(A/N- Okay, just found one of those problems that come up when I just post chapters immediately after finishing them and don't giving much thought to the little important details. Half of what Spike has is invisible, and the other half visible. People can see his beer and cigarette's, but not his clothing, contact lenses, whatever. Okay, so here's a quick explanation I just came up with- he's wearing what he wore when he died, and thus it is also invisible. This means he can't change his clothing, but hell, he doesn't have B.O anyway. So, okay, you got that? Good! Now keep reading. - Rio.)

"Really Faye, you may not think it, but I believe you truly have made some fantastic progress with this bounty. From what I've heard just now you've had some great leads," Shinji said, sipping from his wine glass as he continued to look at the woman sitting across from him. Faye smiled and picked up her own crystal goblet.

"Well thank you," she decided to say, tired of trying to convince this man she really was the brainless slut everyone took her for. After skipping around some more fast food fish places, and finding no trace of Yoloko, Shinji had insisted he treat Faye to an expensive lunch at a more upper-class seafood restaurant. Hey, maybe they'd see Yoloko there! Finally Faye found herself ordering whatever she wanted on the menu, and not have to worry about scrounging up enough money to pay for it all. And when she sat with Shinji it really did look as though she belonged in the snooty restaurant.

'I wonder just how many of these fish restaurants I've been to in the past few days,' Faye thought distantly as a waiter reached the couple with two trays of exquisitely prepared food. 'Too many. God. I don't even like fish!'

"So, what do you plan to do from here? We haven't seen Yoloko or any of her men all day." Shinji admitted as he cut into his lunch.

"Well, I really don't know, honestly. I was thinking we could stop by some of the connections I have around here. Last time I tried that I was almost killed by some people looking out for Yoloko so hey, you never know." Faye said, remembering Tom's store.

"All right." Shinji agreed hesitantly.

The rest of the meal went pleasantly, Faye indulging in some flirting with Shinji since he seemed so eager to start it up, and forty-five minutes later she found herself exiting the restaurant, forcing herself not to look at the hefty bill Shinji insisted he was covering, and walking out into the warm day while he retrieved their bags and other articles they had had checked inside. She folded her arms and looked out across the street, wondering if going to some of her connections that day really was a good idea. She wanted desperately to impress Shinji so he would help her out some more financially with this bounty, but didn't know how to go about doing this, and doubted her less than helpful connections in Neptune City would be awe inducing material. Usually the trouble and clues came to her, and she was suddenly unaccustomed to find there to be no leads or angry people out for her blood anywhere in sight.

"Where's somebody trying to shoot my head off when I need one?" she growled, rubbing her temples.

It was at that moment that a screeching sound from down the block reached Faye's ears. She abruptly turned to see what the fuss was about, immediately spotting a black car with darkly tinted windows violently maneuvering its way through traffic to get down the street, heading straight towards the restaurant. Faye watched it with wide eyes, something in the back of her head urging her to duck. Fast. No, she couldn't be THAT lucky though.

"Oh my GOD!" And yet, she was. As the black shiny car sped towards her, Faye spotted the window begin to lower, and a gun attached to a hand be thrust out of it. It seemed as though they were pointing the gun at her.

"Faye, I have your purse-"

"Get DOWN Shinji!" Faye screamed, leaping for the man carrying her belongings as he departed the restaurant, hearing the loud sound of glass breaking above her as she tackled the surprised looking Shinji to the ground by grabbing him around the knees. The two crashed into the pavement, lying as flat as they could as the car sped by. Faye reaching into her purse Shinji was clasping to himself with a vice like grip to retrieve her own semi-automatic. Taking off the safety, and thanking all the God's she knew that she hadn't been shot yet, Faye took aim as the car continued to race away.

"Cowards!" she cried, shooting the car a few times and smiling in satisfaction as she watched the back windshield shatter. The car stopped at the end of the block suddenly, and Faye got a sinking feeling as it did so. Did they plan on coming back? She had to get out of there! However, the car seemed to change its mind at the last moment, and disappeared around a corner. Faye let out a breath of relief, but at the same time got to her feet and started sprinting down the block after the automobile. She couldn't let it go.

"Faye!" the shell-shocked Shinji called after her. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to chase that car!" she called over her shoulder.

"Hey, wait up!" But Faye didn't slow down as she heard the man began to jog after her, determined to get rid of her attackers once and for all, and find out who they worked for exactly if they were those civilians always coming after her, or where Yoloko was if it happened to be her guards trying to kill her again. Not to mention what she had done to get under their skin so. Enough was enough!

*

Spike hadn't honestly expected to find anything when he set out that day. He was invisible, nobody in this town knew he existed or that he was connected to Faye Valentine, and he didn't really know what the men he was searching for look like. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and he considered the day a wasted one as he drifted down the street looking bored and alone.

He had been trying to think about positive things while aimlessly wandering the streets with nothing but Faye's laptop, like being visited by Ed and Ein, and the possibility that they would be able to see him. but all he could think about was how pathetic he was when he was in love. It had been the same with Julia. It made him weak, and he hated the feeling. But of course, enjoyed it at the same time.

'God. I'm like. a masochist.'

Luckily, Spike was saved from thinking these things over anymore by the distinct sound of gunshot in the distance. It was funny, but the second he heard the screeching car and bullets hitting glass, the first thing that came to mind was, 'Oh, Faye must be near-by.'

Acting on this thought, Spike wandered across the street, keeping an eye peeled for a voluptuous purple haired woman and an unhealthy amount of men with guns following her. but all he got was a black car hurling itself around the corner. Spike stared at it uneasily. Had it been the car shooting just a few moments ago? He stared after it for a second, before he felt a particularly harsh gust of wind zip by him. Upon further inspection he found it to be Faye, dashing after the car.

'Yeah. That was probably the car I heard shooting up the window,' Spike acknowledged, as he watched Shinji chase after Faye a few moments later. Sighing, Spike followed the duo, admittedly a bit curious to find out just what was going on.

"Stop! Stop you assholes!" Faye screamed, shooting at the car as it failed to slow down, soon shooting out two more windows, and getting a good look at the people inside the four seater. She let out a mental groan as she realized it was Yoloko's guards. This whole thing was getting pretty repetitive.

'It's high time I figured what the fuck is going on around here.' She decided as she began to catch up with the car when it became faced with traffic that it was unable to fiercely barrel through.

"Get out of the car or I'll shoot!" Faye yelled, aiming for the tires as she found herself only a few yards away now.

It was around then that someone leaned out of the window, stupidly putting themselves at risk of being shot into something akin to Swiss cheese by the highly aggravated Faye, and chucked a small round object at the bounty huntress. Faye came to a halt to examine what had been thrown at her feet. Her highbrows nearly flew off her head as she realized just what was rolling towards her.

"GRENADE!" she screamed, turning on her heal and throwing herself as far as she could down the street before there was a bone rattling explosion and Faye was thrown onto the oncoming Shinji, wincing as she felt the heat bite at her back, and the wind get knocked out of her. GOD! They had NOT just thrown a hand grenade at her!

The distant sound of laughing could be heard as the traffic moved and the car got away, unfortunately unable to see what had happened to their pray in the explosion because of all the smoke wafting through the air.

"Faye?" Shinji asked weakly of the woman lying on top of him. Faye took in a deep breath, badly shaken but alive, craning her head around to see what damage had been done, and wincing as she realized if she didn't get out off the street soon she'd be brought in for questioning. There was a fairly deep crater in the sidewalk now, and the explosion had flung debris all around the block, not to mention lit a tree of fire and burned down someone's front garden. Faye drew in a haggard breath and braced her hands on either side of Shinji's head, incredibly weak and shocked, but ready to try to stand and get back to the house for a nice bath and some sleep. "Faye." Shinji repeated, his breath a bit huskier this time.

"Hm?" Faye finally replied, looking down from where she was leaning above Shinji, wincing as a trickle of cold blood made its way down her hot and stinging back.

"You saved my life. back there. With the guns," he said breathlessly, his eyes staring into her own, rather out of focus ones. While Faye was trying to gather her thoughts and strength, Shinji's gaze slipped down to Faye's rack which was rather nicely resting just above him, before giving into his primal urges and darting up to catch the woman's lips in a kiss. Faye squeaked in shock and lost control of her arms, which were already quivering before this man had rudely kissed her without her permission.

"MmmShinmi." Faye mumbled into the kiss, quickly recovering from her shock to wrench her head away from the rich attractive man's. Wait! What was she doing?! This wasn't the Faye-way! When in lip lock with a very rich, very delectable man - KEEP GOING!

"Faye?" Shinji asked, glancing up to look at the woman he had become enamored with, a slightly dazed expression on his face. Faye glanced at Shinji as she sat up and tried to get her mind off the burning sensation still flaring behind her. Right. She needed to get away from the crime scene.

And she needed to figure out why she was so against making out with this man who could make her just as rich, if not richer than she would be if she finally captured Yoloko and got her bounty. One word came to mind that covered it all.

Spike.

'Remember, you're sort of falling in love with him. again.' Faye reminded herself. She sighed, thinking about her old friend and current ghost who she admittedly secretly adored, just like the idiotic girl she knew she was. She couldn't be with anyone else while that lunkhead was on her mind.

"I'm sorry," Faye said, standing up and taking Shinji by the hand. "But I can't do this. And we need to get out of here - Now."

"What? Why?" Shinji asked, trying to clear the cobwebs from his head as he raced down the street, to the tune of cop car's sirens singing in the distance.

"Because I'm not in love with you," Faye explained.

"Oh. Not even a little?" Shinji asked as the duo continued to race down the next block, nearing the third and still being too close to the explosion site for Faye's comfort.

"No. Not even a little," Faye called back to the man she was still leading. "I like you because you're rich and make me feel talented, even though everything I accomplish happens because of dumb luck. I appreciate that you are paying for the house I'm staying in and the guns I'm using but it can't be any more than that. I'll avenge your brother and bring Yoloko to justice, and." Faye stopped; breathing hard after having reached the fourth block and deciding that they could both use a break. ".And we're going to have to leave it at that,"

Okay, maybe she had been a bit too honest there.

"Um - all right," Shinji said jerkily, rubbing his head. He wasn't used to being shot at and caught in explosions, and everything was taking longer to compute.

"Are you really okay with that?" Faye asked critically.

"Well. not really I guess," Shinji sighed. "But on the other hand it's my fault too. I shouldn't have kissed you. you're working on a case to find my brother's murdered; you're not some girl I can go out with. You're right. Even if I do find you unreasonably attractive, I should have kept my tongue in my mouth," My my, everybody was being pretty blatant today.

"It's all right. You were in shock. You're not cut out for this bounty hunting business. And honestly Shinji, as much as I do appreciate everything you've done for me and this bounty. I think it would be for the best if you went back home and observed things from afar." Faye said honestly, deciding that if she was going to voice her opinions, hell, she was going to voice ALL of them.

"You're right. I'm sort of in the way, aren't I?" Faye took a moment to think about how moody Spike was when it came to Shinji, and nodded her head affirmatively.

"Yeah, a little,"

"I understand. I really am rather green to all this. I'm a businessman for Christ's sake! I'll just keep an eye on things from back home. This is obviously a job for professionals." Shinji said sagely. Faye agreed, still liking the way he complimented her.

"For sure. But. you're not mad at me right? You're not. planning on taking away the house?" she asked carefully.

"Of course not. You still need everything I can give to help you with this case, and I'm not just going to take it way because you're in love with someone else," Shinji said, shaking his head while laughing deprecatingly.

"Right. Of course. I - wait. What?" Faye squawked, eyes widening. "How did you know I was-?"

"Oh don't kid yourself- you're like an open book. I could tell you were in love with some other guy the whole time. I guess I was just hoping."

'God. He must be for real, he's never even seen me with any other man and he knows! I'm so pathetic.'

"I'm really sorry," Faye blurted, not really feeling sorry, but figuring she should say it anyway. How could she feel sorry about being in love with Spike?

"It's all right. Hey, I'll see you around, okay?" Shinji said pleasantly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning to walk back down the street, towards the train station. Faye blinked after him, before gathering her wits and shouting a polite 'Bye!' Wow. That had been. rather odd.

'Not to mention, I just officially admitted I'm in love with another man. And it's Spike.' Faye added, as she began to travel in the other direction - to the house. She had something to discuss with her fuzzy haired partner, and it was rather important.

*

Spike couldn't believe his eyes.

First off, someone had just chucked a grenade at Faye, which had been bad. But what had been even worse was the feeling that he was never going to get there in time to throw her out of harm's way. He yelled her name, hoping she would hear it and automatically rush towards him. Well, she didn't hear him, but she did turn to run away from the explosion, and got thrown into Shinji who was kind enough to soften her fall. Spike shielded himself from the explosion, unable to be injured but able to feel the heat blow past him. God! These people were insane! Who threw grenades around in perfectly nice and respectable neighborhoods?

This case was getting too dangerous for his tastes.

By the time Spike opened his eyes to search for Faye, she was sprawled out on the sidewalk on top of Shinji. Letting out a breath of relief to the fact that she didn't look too injured outwardly, the invisible man started forward.

And then he paused.

Faye was. leaning over Shinji, bracing her arms on either side of his head, and looking down at him. saying something. the position looked a bit compromising but Spike brushed it off and continued towards the fallen couple.

That is until they started making out.

Right in front of the ex- bounty hunter's eyes, Shinji leaned up and started kissing Faye.

And Faye didn't really look to be resisting.

In fact she sort of collapsed onto him to further continue the passionate moment.

Spike closed his eyes and turned away, unable to stand anymore of this. How. why? Why was she!?.

Well damn, what was he talking about, 'why'? This was Faye. Faye who hadn't changed, obviously. God. How could he have thought she was something special? Something different? Someone he could love? He spared one glance back at his 'partner', regretting it as he found her to be saying something softly to Shinji, quickly turning back around and taking off at a brisk pace down the street, his face cold and blank, his eyes harsh and sharp. he didn't look furiously angry or enraged. He didn't look depressed or deeply saddened either. He just looked. Resigned. This was Faye Valentine. He could lust, but he could not love.

*

Yoloko pierced her lips and stared at the four assembled hired body guards standing in front of her, of whom she occasionally paid extra to go out and murder people, listening to their story of earlier that day when she had sent them out to assassinate the most annoying woman she had ever encountered with one ear while she silently simmered.

"-So then we were like, 'Enough of this man!' and Daisuke here chucked a grenade at the bitch and BAM! The entire like, block exploded and we knew we had toasted her ass. Like, she is fried," one guard said, snickering much like a high school boy to his fellow comrades as they reflected on the fact that, yes, the target Valentine was VERY deceased.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that annoying bounty hunter any more, OR that pesky brother in-law Madam!" Another guard added triumphantly.

"Really? That's so interesting," Yoloko said causally, motioning for her wandering photographer in the corner to come closer with the new Polaroid's he had collected just recently. "Because, according to these pictures. Ms. Valentine seems to be alive and kicking,"

"What?" one guard squawked, confused, and hustling over to the picture held delicately in Yoloko's thin hand. Indeed, captured in the photograph was Faye and Shinji, looking relieved to be alive and standing just behind the blazing fire the grenade had created. Damn that photographer was good.

"." the guards said nothing as they registered what the picture was telling them and what that look on their boss's face suggested, fearing the worst.

"I wonder, why is it that we can't seem to get rid of this one woman," Yoloko said softly, as if more to herself than anyone else. The guards remained silent, and eventually the dark haired woman sighed and tossed the picture to the ground, frowning. "Well, we have no more time to worry about her. We have a shipment to carry out and it's getting closer to the due date. If we leave her alone she'll be too stupid to figure out everything we're doing until it's too late anyway," the woman decided firmly. The guards nodded in agreement, but more so just because they didn't want to be yelled at.

"All right then, we start tomorrow on Mr. Lincoln's shipment, and we abort the Faye Valentine plan. She's just like a cockroach, annoying but essentially harmless. Mr. Lincoln's order is going to be the biggest one yet and we must dedicate all of our time to it, so prepare yourselves, everyone,"

*

Digging around in her purse for her keys, Faye bit her lip as she ran over the speech in her head. She had been making up what she was going to say to Spike the entire walk home, and was nearly shaking with nervousness. How was he going to take this? This was Spike Spiegel! The man hardly had any feelings to work with, and she wasn't sure what his reaction would be to her final confession after all this time. She had always gotten the sense that while he might enjoy her company at times. he didn't feel for her like she did for him.

And Faye feared unrequited love and betrayal above all else.

"Hello!" she called into the dark house as she pushed open the door. When she realized that none of the lights were on, she speculated if maybe Spike wasn't back yet. Biting her lip, and wondering if she would be able to take waiting until he got back, Faye trotted into the living room, throwing her purse aside and anxiously glancing around. "Hello? Spike?"

"I'm here," a low voice said from off to her left. Faye gasped and spun on her heel in time to catch Spike drifting through the door of his room, arms folded. Faye smiled nervously at him. Spike took it as a guilty expression.

"Oh, good! Hey, um. I wanted to talk to you about something." Faye said, laughing uneasily and coming to stand in front of the tall man,

"Me too," Spike said shortly.

"Um. okay. you first!" Faye said, suddenly realizing she had forgotten her speech, and desperately trying to remember what the first line was.

"All right. We need to get this case over with. Soon. I can't stand working like this anymore," Anything Faye had been wanting to say died in her throat.

"W-what? " Faye stuttered, taken off guard by Spike's harsh, and bitter tone. What was wrong? She knew he wanted to get back to wherever it was he had come from soon, but he had never been this snappy about it before.

"I can't work with you anymore Faye. I don't want to hang around this Godforsaken planet. I just want to leave. I was killed, I deserve to be dead already! I deserve to rest!"

"Spike." Faye breathed, eyes wide and mouth parted with shock. What was he saying? He wanted to leave her? But Spike was on a roll, his feeling of betrayal and spite burning strong inside him as pictures of Faye and Shinji rolled relentlessly through his head.

"Listen Faye, I don't know why this is such a shocker for you. I don't even know why this bothers you! You've got Shinji? What will it matter when I'm gone? You don't need me around." He spat coldly, as Faye collapsed onto the couch, staring at him with disbelief.

"Shinji?" she croaked.

"Listen, It just frustrates me that you're making out with our . our suppliers on the job! We don't have time for these antics!" Spike finally spat, eyebrows furrowing together, and arms folded as he finally showed a bit of anger, and a bit of discomfort outwardly. Faye didn't catch it though as he head began to spin. Oh no. making out? He must have seen her when Shinji. but how?

"No Spike! Listen!" she said suddenly, getting to her feet and trying to look him in the eye as he averted his gaze stiffly.

"No, you listen Faye! I can't wait to get back up to heaven, and leave all of this shit on Earth behind. I can't wait to see everyone who is expecting me back up there. I don't want to stay here any longer, and I just want you to get your ass into gear with this case. That's it." He said finally. Faye couldn't; believe her ears as she felt her heart plummet and the world come crashing down right in the living room. God, no. he wasn't saying this. not when she . she had.

Ring. Ring.

Almost dourly Faye craned her head around to the door, listening to the doorbell with disbelief. Just what she needed. great. Who the hell did she know who would visit her now? Nobody even knew where she was living! Was it Shinji again? She didn't need to see him now. God, not now when she had to try desperately to convince Spike she had never cared about the man.

"I'll get it." she said dully, stumbling over to the door and biting back the tears, because she knew they wouldn't work on Spike. He had seen too many tears to be affected by them. If Spike thought Faye's odd attitude towards his proclamation was curious, he didn't say anything. He was too furious to analyze HER actions when he was carefully calculating his own. He had to forget about Faye. she was no good for him. the only person who had ever made him feel whole was Julia. that's right. Julia.

"Hello-" Faye started, carefully opening the door and peering out into the darkness of the evening.

"HELLLOOOOO FAYE-FAYE!!" An impossibly high-pitched voice cried. Faye's eyes widened and her head snapped down to find, a little bit taller, a little bit older.. "It's been so long! So long long long long long!" Ed.

"Ruff!" Ein added from the young hacker's arms, doing a happy dog pant as Spike's eyes widened from behind Faye. This was it. another step towards.

"Ahhhh!!" Ed cried in excitement, pointing beyond the purple haired woman towards the green haired man with eyes as wide as saucers, as she dropped the Welsh corgi to the ground in her shock. "SPIKE! You're ALIIIVEEE!" Spike digested this statement for a moment, staring levelly back at the fifteen year old*, while Faye watched the light haired dog run in circles around her feet, yapping contentedly when Faye could do nothing but smile sourly back.

"So. You can see me. That's odd." Spike mentioned after an extended silence.

* *- Um, I don't know how old Ed was originally. If someone could tell me that would be fab.

*

Author's Notes:

I would like to take this time to lament over the fact that Douglas Adams is dead. He was a brilliant man who was alive when I was reading his books, and is now dead when I am finishing all of them. I regret the fact that I could have met him some years past and did not. If there is one dead person I could have a chance to see it would be that man, because he is so damn amusing and intelligent. The live person I would like to meet with being Sandra Tsing-Lo. Writer of 'A Year in Van Nuys', and 'If You Lived Here You'd be Home By Now'. God. Those are really funny too.

Back to Cowboy Bebop.

All right, I'm sorry I did what I did but I won't take it back! Things were getting too mushy between Faye and Spike and they needed to be tossed around a bit. But don't worry, Ed will fix all. I think. look out for the next chapter 'The Fish', and e-mail me with all questions and concerns at papaya41@aol.com. Thank you for bearing with me, and please please please review or I may not get to finishing this one. Ever since adult swim moved it to weeknights I've missed seeing episodes and am feeling distinctly uninspired.

~Rio Grande.

P.S- Finals are next week, which means expect the next chapter even later. Seriously, don't even check back here for like, three weeks. Well, I mean you can obviously check on the Bebop section. there are other fics here you know. The world does not revolve around Troubles With God! I know that! It's just. it's just that bloody hell I need to study. sorry. bye. I'm so very tired.

P.S.S- I read over this entire fic not even once, just in bits and pieces, so please forgive me if the grammar is atrocious and everything sort of makes no sense.