There were too many bodies on board for Faye's liking. The Shadow Wolf had been designed to comfortably house 3 people, not 5 and a dog. Not that she didn't love being close to Ed and Jet again... just not quite that close. And yet, part of her was glad of their company, they were just one more buffer between her and Corbin. And she was grateful for any buffer between her and Corbin.

Corbin... she felt sick. She played it cool, but she was screaming inside, fighting back tears, and she found herself alternately walking on air, and then hating herself for it. The after effects of that stupid kiss. Common sense told her that she should talk to him about it privately, but pride kept her from doing so. Pride and fear that is, she was scared to be alone with him, she was scared of what she might do, and what she might show. She was scared to let her mask slip. Because, truth be told, no matter how much she hated him for not being Spike, and no matter how much she told herself she could never feel for a copy what she had felt for the original, she had to admit that she was at least very attracted to him.

Faye rested her head on her folded arms, and let her cigarette smolder. She heard the heavy footfalls enter the kitchen, and the softer ones that accompanied them. Ed and Jet. She raised her head slightly, and felt a headache brewing between her eyes. Ed had her laptop slung over her shoulder, that meant only one thing.

"You two taking off for the night?" she asked.

"Yeah, just wanted to give you a brief update before we take off," Jet said, then turned it over to Ed.

"Well, all I have to report is that I have nothing to report." She scratched her head, and smile sheepishly. "Ein and I ran into a bit of trouble, and we had to quit before we could get it sorted out," she leaned over and gave Faye a conspiratorial wink, "Ein had to take a walk. but we're going to finish up back on the Bebop, now that I'm no longer needed to watch over Corbin, and I should have more for you tomorrow morning."

Faye smiled and reached up to ruffle the teen's hair, "don't sweat it, kid. Listen, you get some rest, and get started again in the morning. Whatever the info is, it can wait, 'cause god knows, I am." She stretched her arms above her head, "it's been an interesting 2 days."

So much for one more buffer.







It seemed like all he did these days was stare sleeplessly up at a ceiling. He hated Spike. Hated him. And he couldn't even wish the bastard was dead. He put his smoldering cigarette to his lips and inhaled. He'd heard somewhere that smoking in bed was dangerous.

"Fuck it." Exhale.

He could still hear that grating, identical voice. "when she looks at you, I'm what she sees."

God, he was such an idiot.

How could he be stupid enough to kiss her? He wasn't even sure why he'd been so desperate to stop her from asking that particular question. How had he escaped from Lansing-Medcalf, when he was weakened and unarmed? God, even just asking himself gave him a splitting headache, but did he have to kiss her? The headache that the question gave him was nothing compared to the one that ripped through his skull the moment their lips met. A series of images, flashing past his mind. The image of Faye in the shower again, a moment, Faye hanging off the arm of a blonde man in a cowboy hat and a flash of emotion that wasn't his own. Jealousy? Blonde hair and pink lips. Faye's dangerous grin. The two of them, nose to nose, so close he could feel her breath in his face, and there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Images of a borrowed past, but something else too, something that, frighteningly enough, belonged to him. Intense desire.

He'd wanted her, and by the way she'd reacted, she felt the same, but then Spike's face had danced before his vision again. "When she touches you, it's me she's reaching for." Then he'd just felt sick. He'd nearly allowed himself to be fooled, but Faye hadn't wanted him, she'd wanted Spike, and Spike was some one that he refused to be.

But he was good at being cool, good at feigning unaffectedness. She never suspected that his shaking hands had nothing to do with the results of his test. Thank god.

Fuck, when had things gotten so God damned complicated.

Who was he kidding... there had never been a moment in his life when things weren't complicated, why should he give Faye all the credit. He rose up on his elbows, laughing in spite of himself. Yeah things were never dull with good old Corbin. Sometimes he just wished they would be.

He sighed as he felt a pang in his stomach that he recognized as hunger. Dinner time already? He'd made straight for his room upon their return, hoping to not have to talk to Faye, and he wasn't about to ruin his odds now, by slipping out of his room and into the kitchen at an hour when she was sure to be up. No, he would just wait for the sound of her footsteps echoing down the hall to her bedroom.

He hadn't eaten anything in hours, though, and now that he realized he was hungry, he also realized that he'd been hungry for some time. He rolled off the bed with an athletic grace that made the action seem worthy of consideration as an Olympic event, and pulled a white tee shirt on before re-tying the string of his sweats, and opening the door. The kitchen was just down the hall, and it would only serve Faye right if he raided her fridge, provided he could get past her to reach it.

Call it payback for all the times he and Jet had to go hungry because She'd wolfed down the last can of beans.

No... no, scratch that, Spike and Jet, not he and Jet. Another one of Spike's annoying little memories intruding on everyday life.

He growled to himself, and flipped on the kitchen light. He was in luck, Faye was nowhere to be seen. Now, he supposed, would be the time for him to open the fridge, but suddenly, he wasn't very hungry. He was too disturbed. He sank down into a chair at the table. It used to be that one of Spike's memories felt like an invader in his mind, now it was getting hard to distinguish which ones belonged to him, to Corbin, that is, and which belonged to the other. It irked him, especially since part of him believed that one of the things that kept him sane was the knowledge that, while he shared Spike's memories... up to a point, that is... they were two separate people.

Yeah, things had always been complicated. Maybe a little more so now, with Jet and Faye, and Ed and the Bebop to help keep the memory fragments popping up, and with the introduction of the psychotic chick on his tail, and the now information that he wasn't just a clone, but a modified one, cooked up to be faster, stronger, more agile... and generally more lethal... than the original.

Well, maybe they hadn't looked at the test results yet, but judging by the good doctor's reaction, it was safe to say that Faye's suspicions on the subject had been confirmed. He was like Eve.

The thought still made his head swim a little. Honestly, it brought up more questions than it answered. Like what was Dr. Dominick VanHausen doing, creating subjects like Eve to begin with? Why had he felt it necessary to use his research in the phoenix project? Why was he so determined to get a hold of Corbin?

It was all a little too weird. I mean, you'd think he would have noticed these "special capabilities before."

He stood up from the table, convinced that the only thing that could satisfy him now was not food, but a very long sleep. To illustrate this he gave a hefty yawn, and dragged his feet over to the door. He was just about to hit the light, when he noticed the sound of breathing from the sitting room, through the door on the opposite side of the kitchen. He turned around, filled with a burning curiosity to see who was sleeping there. Not that he didn't know... He hadn't heard her trip past his door, after all, he really just wanted to confirm.

He crept forward, on padded feet, and not a whisper of sound betrayed him. Even his breathing fell into rhythm with hers, as he moved, resembling more a prowling cat than a man. He reached the doorway, but did not turn the light on. What came pouring through the kitchen door was more than enough for him to see by.

He'd spent the earlier part of the evening avoiding her, and now he found himself creeping ever forward. Sometimes he just didn't understand himself. He went to the side of the couch, straightening suddenly, and stretching lightly, as if in preparation. It was only fair, if he couldn't sleep, then neither would she.

"Faye," he whispered, in her ear, his tone playful, and light. She just drew the afghan up around her chin, and mumbled something unintelligible.

His grin must have gone from hear to hear. He bent over again, this time he was so close, his lips actually brushed her earlobe. "Faye! Wake UP!" he yelled, at the top of his voice.

She sat bolt upright, murder on her mind, and fire in her eyes. She didn't even wait for the images that met her blurry eyes to become focused, she just lunged immediately for the object roughly in the shape of a lanky man, and tackled it to the floor. A moment later, her vision was clear, and she was straddling a smirking Corbin, and holding her gun to his head.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again.."

But he was laughing at her. She growled low, and rapped him on the side of the head with the barrel of her gun. Then rolled off him, but didn't get up. Instead she laid next to him, on her back, her gun resting on her stomach, and her hands folded over it, and sighed.

"You act like such a child sometimes," she said, trying to keep the grin out of her voice.

"Is that so? I suppose you could say that I'm in a sort of childhood."

She lit a cigarette, and Corbin watched her face catch the light of the flame, outlining her features in red, before she put the lighter out, then he watched the red arch of her cigarette, as it made the journey from her lips, to her stomach, and back again.

"Well?" she said after a moment.

"Well what?"

"Well," she said, turning over on her side to face him, "why did you disturb this sleeping beauty from her slumber.

He shrugged, "couldn't sleep, figured it wouldn't be fair if I was the only one."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be unfair," she said, dipping each word in acid.

"I had hoped you'd say that."





If you were patient enough, and worked hard enough, success would always come to you, that's what the galaxies greatest computer hacker had learned through years of hard work and experience. And now here was the proof.

Ed smiled, as she copied the file to a CD. Should she call Faye now, and tell her? A glance at the clock told her it was nearly 4 a.m. The bounty huntress would most certainly be asleep, and Ed knew how she felt about being disturbed when she was sleeping... oh well, she supposed she could wait 'till morning.

She set her VR unit on the ground next to her bed, and slipped the one from Ein as well. The Corgi shook his head, scratched his ears, then jumped up into bed with his master. 30 seconds later, the pair was asleep.