Disclaimer: I have a question for you. Should these things be required at the beginning of every chapter if you're simply saying the same thing over and over again? ..I didn't think so. But I'll say this anyway: I don't own Cowboy Bebop.

A blurred image of a rooma woman's face, even in sleep showing lines of worryhis body feeling the aftereffects of injuryhe had been here beforehe had been in this situation before Spike sat up awkwardly, his stomach muscles contracting painfully. He held up a hand to his forehead, then stopped it in midjourney as he saw a bandage wrapped clumsily around his palm. His eyes traveled to his other hand and to his feet, where he noticed similar wrappings.

He looked at Faye, who was sitting down with her head rested on her arms on the bed, fast asleep, and chuckled quietly to himself. Then he stopped, as if something had just come to mind. Why was he there? Where was Jet? Where was Ed?

It was then that he thought to look around and see the room he was in. He hadn't been in this room before

Faye stirred, and lifted her head. "Mmm Spike?" she groaned sleepily.

"Yeah." He looked at her and smiled a bit. "Are you awake?"

She sat up and stretched. "No, I'm just sleeptalking, Spike. And I'm looking straight at you as I'm doing so." With that, she gave Spike a look that clearly said, "Must you ask such stupid questions?" Standing up and moving her back around, she asked him, "Are you all right? I mean, when I found you, you werealmost deadagain."

Spike looked at her, puzzled. "When youfound me? What do you mean found me?"

Faye turned to face him, her look shocked. "You don't remember?" she asked incredulously.

"Remember what? Hey, where're Jet and Ed? And that mutt?"

She turned away from him, her eyes shining. "He doesn't remember," she told herself, frustrated. "He DOESN'T reMEMber!" She turned back around and faced him. "HE DOESN'T REMEMBER THAT HE'S DEAD!"

Spike's eyes widened. "Dead? What are you talking about? I'm not--" He stopped as it all came flooding back. Vicious had killed him, he had livedsomething like thatwith Julia, Faye had died, and gone to "Oh, my God. Am I in?"

Faye nodded. "Yes. You idiot. You're not supposed to come after me! I mean, when Vicious was holding me hostage, that was one thing. When the DEVIL is holding me hostage, on the other hand"

"They're basically the same person, so shut up. I couldn't let you stay here with that pervert devil guy," he said, trying to get up and forgetting the fact that his feet were severely burned and bandaged. As his weight was placed on one of them, he yelped and sat back down with a thump.

She chuckled. "You idiot"

"Yeah, you said that before." He looked around. "Is there any way I'll be able to get up from this bed? If you can even call it that. It feels like I'm sitting on a kitchen counter."

Faye sighed. "Well, I'm not letting you do ANYTHING until you heal a little more. So lay back down and catch some more Z's."

"If I catch any more, there won't be enough to have one in the alphabet, so let me get up!" he protested.

She crossed her arms. "You can go ahead and try, but I doubt you'll be able to. Your feet look like a red bathmat. They're so bumpy they remind me ofWell, they remind me of something, I just can't think of anything right now." She frowned at Spike. "You know, you really had me worried, so don't go pulling stunts like that ever again, you hear me?" She shook her index finger at him to emphasize her point.

He could help but smile, and that smile soon turned into a jolly laugh. "You crack me up, Faye Valentine," he said, chuckling.

She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him, but eventually joined him in his laughter. Then she sat down next to him and sighed. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

He smirked. "Well, unless your new boyfriend's around here somewhere."

She whipped her head around sharply to face him. "My new what?"

"Your new boyfriend. That tall, dark, RED guy I saw you with in my mirror," he said wryly, poking fun at her the way he loved to do.

He's FLIRTING with her! Julia thought, getting annoyed with Spike's apparent comfort with the situation he and Faye were in.

"Hmph!" Faye sniffed, crossing her arms and turning away. "What's it to you if he WAS my boyfriend? Which he isn't But anyway, he's the ruler of a whole afterworld! Who wouldn't want a lover with that kind of powerand MONEY!"

Spike shook his head and looked down. "Oh, Faye, you know they don't have money in Hell!"

Her eyes widened. "They DON'T??? OH HOW WILL I EVER SURVIVE DOWN HERE???"

He rolled his eyes. "You won't. That's why I came to get you, you moron. That is, unless you don't want to leave your little Devie-poo."

Faye's eyes narrowed as she glared at Spike. "Well, what if I don't?"

He shrugged. "Then I'll just have to leave you here and go back to Heaven and Julia."

She looked at him skeptically. "Would you really do that to me?" she asked out of curiosity.

He looked at her, about to respond with one of his witty snapbacks, but saw the sudden concern in her eyes. Did she really think he would go off and leave her in a place like this? Did she think so low of him that he would leave her in Hell while he relaxed up in Heaven? His eyebrows furrowed as he got a funny feeling in his stomach.

"Are you going to answer my question or are you just going to sit there staring at me?" she snapped, crossing her arms again.

He shook his head and came back to reality. "I, uhI forgot what I was going to say"

"URGH!!!" she groaned in frustration. "You really would do that, wouldn't you? You'd leave me here if I told you I was happy! Well, thanks a lot, Spike Spiegel, you've just made my eternity!"

He tried to get up, forgetting about his injuries, but yelped and fell back down as white-hot pain seared up his legs. "Dammit, Faye!" he yelled as his rear end slammed onto the edge of the bed, sending him tumbling painfully to the ground.

"Oh, sure, blame it on me!" she said sarcastically, looking at the ceiling. Then she looked back at him, lying helpless on the floor, heaved an exasperated sigh, and knelt down to help him. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. And I didn't yell because I was blaming you for me falling down. I was yelling because I can't believe you hold such a low opinion of me. I may not be a knight in shining armor, but I do have a little self-respect. And no man who leaves a woman friend of his burning in Hell can have any respect for himself." He looked at her, and was surprised to see a somewhat shocked expression on her face.

"Do you mean that or are you just telling me that so I'll help you back up?" she asked.

"I mean it, Faye. Don't insult me like that again."

Faye looked down sullenly. Spike couldn't tell if her action was out of guilt or resentment. "Sorry," she said, her tone proving she meant exactly the opposite.

"Faye, look at me," he ordered. She looked up, and he nearly fell over with surprise as he saw crystal tears forming on the edges of her eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"Ithat is" Without warning, he leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips. Her eyes widened suddenly, then floated shut as she returned his kiss. His bandaged hands crept around her waist and pressed themselves against her tensed back as she snaked her arms up around his bare neck.

When the kiss was broken, Faye looked at Spike, nearly breathless. "Two questions. One, where did you learn to kiss like that, and two, what WAS that?"

Spike looked to the side. "One, I don't know, and two, I don't know." He shrugged. "I guess there's more to you than there seems."

"Spike do you?" She trailed off.

"Yes. Yes, I believe I do."

"Yes. I do, too."

They kissed each other again, letting each others cool breath chill them to the bone in the sweltering heat of Hell.

Julia nearly dropped the mirror, and a tremendous anger built up inside her.

YesYes that's it. He's cheating on you, Julia. He's not going to come back to you because he's going to stay there with Faye, a voice in her head told her, causing her anger to turn to rage, then fury, then full-out ire.

She screamed at the top of her lungs in anger and threw the mirror against the wall, shattering it. Her eyes elongated and gained a reddish tint as a snakelike tongue flicked out of her mouth. Her back straightened as sharp plates grew out of her shoulders, ripping her shirt. Her fingernails turned to claws, her back sprouted small devilish wings. Her hair whipped around her face and settled in a rather scraggly getup around her face.

She immediately tore out of the house, breaking everything in her way. The rampage had begun, and the two people who had uncovered a newfound love for each other sat oblivious to everything.

DarnI wasn't able to make it a cliffhanger =P. Those are fun. Oh well, do you want the next chapter anyway?