Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop is the rightful property of Sunrise, Inc. No profit is intended from this fanfic.

**Notes will be on the bottom from now on.**

Chapter 7

Jet had been looking out of the observation deck for quite some time now, feeling alone and antsy. A particularly annoying combination. It was with some surprise that he spied the RedTail approaching the BeBop. Faye had taken off a few hours ago and he was surprised to see her back so soon. It usually wasn't like her to do so, but here she was. Soon enough, he could hear the clickety-clack of her shoes on the metal floors as she approached the room and walked in carrying four bottles in her arms. Her hair was slightly tousled and there were specks of blood dotting the white leather of her shoes. She was somewhat surprised when she saw him standing there.

"Oh! Hi Jet."

"Hi yourself. Should I even ask what you've been up to?" He said, gesturing towards the bottles she was cradling against her chest.

"You're probably better off not knowing about it."

"So this is where you hide things, huh?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"You gonna share that, or do I haveta ask nice?"

"I suppose I could share. Sometimes it's no fun drinking alone."

"Sit down then," Jet said as he opened one of the metal cabinets and pulled out a plastic bag filled with cups. Faye settled herself on the floor, leaning her back against the cold glass. She winced as soon as her skin touched its cold surface, but didn't budge from her position. Jet settled himself next to her with a heavy thump, taking a similar position leaning against the glass."

"So what'll it be Jet? Vodka, Rum, Whiskey, or Scotch?"

Jet gave a small chuckle at the selection. "Nothing lighter?"

"I don't like my alcohol weak, but I did manage to snag an expensive bottle of wine with the others." Said bottle was produced from somewhere within the depths of her red jacket.

"Ah, I forgot about the bottle opener." Faye made a move to get up, but Jet put a restraining hand on her arm, pulling her back down.

"Don't bother." With that said, he reached into a side pocket on his pants and pulled out a small screwdriver. It was tiny and mechanical. A couple of minutes fumbling with the cork and the bottle was open.

"Aren't you resourceful."

"I'm a man of many talents. Well, here's to-- here's to dent free ships."

"Huh?"

"I'm hoping a certain someone didn't come back with unsightly gashes on her ship like last time."

It was Faye's turn to give a small chuckle. "Don't worry, it's in one piece."

She tilted her head back to rest against the glass, but her eyes kept darting around the room, cataloguing the position of each visible item. It was a habit she'd acquired while learning the fine art of hustling.

"Who knew you'd have a sense of humor."

"I'll have you know I was quite the prankster when I was a teenager."

Faye tried to imagine the usually stern-faced and harried Jet pulling pranks, but it was completely impossible to conjure up such an image. It was equally as impossible to imagine Jet as a teenager, or a child, or with hair. Her face went through a series of twisted up looks as she tried to imagine what each of those could look like.

"Hey! What are you snickering about? Those screwed up faces you're making are most unattractive, just so you know."

"Nothing. Not a thing."

Silence. Jet wasn't sure whether to feel uncomfortable or not. He and Faye rarely talked for any length of time nor were they alone together much. Much to his dismay, he'd never quite perfected this casually talking to females thing. And talking to a cat like Faye was especially daunting. If ever the word unpredictable fit anyone, it was Faye Valentine. Who knew when she'd go psycho on a person, wrecking havoc all over the place. She was as bad as Spike was at causing mayhem and destruction in her wake. Never in a million years would he have imagined that out of the billions of people in the Solar System he'd end up with another partner that managed to get into even more trouble than Spike did. Not that he didn't welcome the excitement, as long as it didn't involve them (read: him) having to pay for damages. Though, he'd never admit any of this to either one of them.

"Were you waiting up for me? I'm touched."

"Nah, just felt a hankering for some stargazing. I actually wasn't expecting you back for a couple of days at least."

"Oh…" Her face fell for a split second, but her usual half smirking/half uncaring expression replaced it just as quickly. Hmm. Jet had always had his suspicions that Faye harbored hopes of friendship with he and Spike, but he never really could prove it as anything more than a hunch. Actually, she'd usually go out of her way to show the opposite, but his instincts told him otherwise. She had her eyes closed now, and a completely blank expression on her face.

"That reminds me, are you ever going to stop breaking into the safe before these little jaunts of yours?"

"Of course not. I don't see why you're complaining - it's not like there's ever anything valuable in there."

"Is this a cry for help?"

"Hardly. You know Jet, sometimes it's best not to overanalyze things."

"So why do it then?"

"Because I can. Naturally."

She half opened her eyes, looking sideways at him. "Are you mad?"

"Maybe."

"Do you want to throw me out?" The first question was asked with a teasing inflection to her voice, but the second one was quiet and serious. Her eyes were closed again.

"Did I ever say that?"

"…..no. Does… does he want you to?"

"He would've said something long ago if he did. Besides, what guy would turn away a pretty, young thing that followed him home?"

"What?!! I did not follow him home!! You lunkheads were the ones who kept me here against my will!" A furious blush was creeping up her neck all the way to the tops of her ears. "I'd never follow him anywhere."

"My mistake. You're always free to leave, you know. This isn't a prison"

"Maybe I should, then!" Faye tried to get up, but again Jet pulled her back down.

"Jeez Faye. I was only joking. Didn't think you were so uptight."

She slumped back against the glass, embarrassment written all over her face.

Was she really this insecure? True they'd never given her an official welcome, but she should know that she was. Had he been inhospitable? He'd expected her to quietly settle in like Spike had done. Even Ed had quietly settled in without any fanfare. This was his ship after all, so maybe he should've said something. Maybe he should say something now, but he couldn't think of anything. This is what it must feel like to have a difficult younger sister, and as his luck would have he had no idea how to deal with her.

A sudden movement from Faye cut short his train of thought, as she gathered the bottles and headed for the entrance. "I'll put these in the kitchen."

"Uh, Faye, wait. Will you check on Spike?"

"Why don't you do it?"

"Just thought you might--never mind." Jet decided it was better not finish what he was going to say when he saw her expression forming into an angry glare.

"Just see if he's awake yet. We need to plan how we're going to bring in Lee. I'm getting a bad feeling about this bounty. The amount was already high to begin with, but being upped so much….I don't know."

"Too hot for you to handle?"

"My gut's telling me this bounty's gonna probably land us a whole heap of trouble."

"Hm. That's my favorite kind."

A/N: I'm so so sorry about taking so long to update this!!! Unfortunately my classes have been taking up so much time that I had to take a break from fan fiction altogether. Hope you guys don't mind that nothing really happened in this chapter, but I thought that a little Faye & Jet bonding was in order. The next chapter's 85% done, so I should be putting it up within the next week or so.

Lots of thanks to everyone one who's been reading and to the reviewers: red-tenko, EMK, The Dolls on Their Shelves, Qui-ti, i won't tell, Aniiston, setryochi, Kya Lorne, Jixer & Sybil, Wraith, and teardrops2m!!