KTKG: I AM ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEE~!!!!!! Um… hello everyone… sorry it's been… months, but I'm here, I'm back, and I have a new chapter for you all!!! That is, if you guys still care about this series… do you guys still care? Hopefully you guys do…. Welp anyway… ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: I do….NOT … own Cowboy Bebop…. Sadly…

Chapter 4~

Smoke filled air filled his lungs as he stepped into the bar. He looked around, noticing that there weren't many people take up space. There were a couple of drunks around here and there, at the bar and tables and some tipsy ones playing pool.

Deciding that a game would do him some good, he made his way over to a table; that is after he ordered a drink for himself of course.

He needed to clear his head, and in order to do that he needed to get off the Bebop. And what better place to come to than the 'Academie de Billard C'est la vie'? He figured a good game would be able to put his mind to rest for a bit. That woman was starting to affect him in ways that he wasn't ready to accept yet.

Ever since their little episode on the observation deck, things had been kinda funny between them. Jet had found them the next morning, curled up and everything, and lets just say that Jet was a little less than pleased. The talk that had ensued had left him and Faye in an awkward position. He shuddered suddenly. He could still hear Jet screaming "NO BABBIES ON THE BEBOP!" in his head.

Ending his game with some random drunkie and taking a sip from his drink, he placed the stick down and snorted. Please, like he would even touch Faye like that, that woman was probably crawling with all kinds of diseases. He looked at his cup. Well… maybe if he were drunk enough it would be a different story.

Sighing he stepped out of the bar and lit a cig, taking a long drag from it and exhaling it slowly and tilting his head back casually. * Well… I guess I should get back to the Bebop.*

Quietly he made his way down a dark alleyway, blocking the world and everything around him out. For some reason, nights like these made him think of Faye lately. As much as he hated to admit it, ever since that night he had been finding himself wondering what kind of things she had been through…

Rounding a corner he was met with a sight that not many were graced with. Standing there with his back to him stood a rather plump man with a top hat and a frilly looking clown thing (as Spike had taken to calling it) around his neck. Yeah… a real circus freak as far as he was concerned.

The man turned slowly towards him and that was when Spike noticed the dead bodies on the ground.

"Hello boy."

That was all the warning Spike needed before he took off for cover.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"And there he is… the rumored mummy that I've heard so much about."

Faye smirked as she walked into the so-called 'living room' of the Bebop. Jet had warned her when she stepped through the door about Spike's condition and suggested that she stay away from him and let him rest. She rolled her eyes. Please, who was she, Ed? He kept pressing her for a promise of Spike's rest however, and becoming slightly irritated by the fact that she was being treated like a child, she agreed to let him rest.

When she stepped into the living room however, that promise she had made only moments before went flying in the wind as soon as she laid eyes on him. Poor Spike was lying on the couch, completely covered in a bandage job that looked like it had been done by Ed, struggling to reach for an orange on the table that was just out of his reach.

After seeing the before mentioned scene she couldn't help herself. It was only once in a blue moon that she was able to poke fun at Spike without him saying anything back to her, or chasing her out of the room as it sometimes were.

She heard a muffled grunt as she snatched up the much wanted fruit and sat down in it's place. She smirked. Seems as though his face was damaged a bit considering that it was covered in bandages also, save for his eyes which were currently glaring at her. Her smirk only grew wider.

"So, I heard that you got beat up by some freaky guy." He rolled his eyes in response and she inspected the orange in her hand. He mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "leave me alone." She snorted. Fat chance of her doing that, like she was actually going to pass up the chance to give him a piece of her mind without him saying something back.

"You know, I seem to remember you being in this kind of situation before." Her voice held a teasing tone to it as she tossed the orange up and down, watching as his eyes followed the fruit. Hm… seems as though poor injured boy was hungry. "You aren't really showing much improvement you know."

She started peeling the fruit and smirked once again at the sound of disapproval emitting from him. Oh yes, she was indeed enjoying this. "Oh well, it doesn't really have anything to do with me."

He mumbled something again but she chose to ignore it. Well actually, that and she couldn't understand what the hell he was saying to her. "You know, you end up in situations like these because you don't know how to behave yourself." She felt like she was talking to a child. A tall… big… sexy child. She tried to block out that last thought by taking a bite out of the orange.

Loud but muffled sounds of protest erupted from her as her teeth sunk into the juicy fruit. He locked eyes with her but the glare that he shot at her dissipated when he caught the slight spark of worry in her eyes. He mumbled something but again it went unheard because of its incoherent state.

She noticed his eyes had softened and she cursed silently. She had let her mask crack and once again her emotions had slipped through to Spike of all people. Damn that man! She decided that it was time for her to leave and leave now. "Oh well, like I said, it's none of my business."

She stood suddenly, closing her eyes so that she wouldn't make eye contact with him. Placing the peel lightly onto his green puff of hair, she made her way out of the room, stating a simple "Take care" as she vanished.

Spike waited until the sound of her boots clicking on the metal floor went silent, then he rolled over.

Damn, he really wanted that orange.

*~*~*~*~*~*

* Damn him… that stupid Lunkhead, making me…*

She didn't finish the thought as she emptied some of her ashes in her makeshift ashtray, which was a simple beer can. She had been in her room for at least an hour now, doing nothing but fuming about the events that had happened earlier.

She had told herself a long time ago that she wouldn't let others know how she was feeling. She had done it before and it only resulted in getting her where she was before… angry and in debt up to her eyeballs.

She frowned as she placed her head in her hands. That man, that STUPID man, was making her break her promise to herself. She wasn't going to lie and say that she wasn't attracted to him, but until a couple of nights ago, she had kept her feelings in check. Her frowned deepened. She hated it that he was able to make her feel like a stupid little schoolgirl.

"FAYE-FAYE!"

She sighed and stood in her room, walking slowly to the door. She was secretly thankful that the bundle of energy had managed to distract her from her thoughts. At least momentarily that is.

"Smoke smoke Faye-Faye… Puff Puff Faye-Faye…."

Irritated a bit, she opened up the door and peered into the hallway. Ed's head snapped in her direction in an instant. "My name is Faye, stop saying it twice." Faye sighed inwardly. That had to be the billionth time that she had told her that. Ed smiled and ran over to her, her precious tomato bouncing wildly on her head. "Some weird mail came for Bebop-Bebop."

Again, she sighed. She knew it. It was probably some bill collector harassing her about the money she owed. Her shoulders slumped. "I woulda been able to pay it off if I had a little more time…" She opened her eyes to see Ed swaying back and forth. Slapping her hands on either side of Ed's face, Faye managed to stop Ed's swaying. "Hold still kid, I can't read." Ed only smiled in response.

"Hm… 'Hello boy, you're invited to a wonderful party…'" She stopped reading, confusion all over her face. This e-mail definitely wasn't for her that was for sure. Who could it be for? Then it hit her. "Wait a minute… this is…"

She looked down at the smiling child's smashed face in her hands and made a snap decision. "Alright, listen up… don't tell Spike about this ok? It's a… a secret." Ed's smile widened and Faye wanted to scream, she knew what was coming and she was running out of reasons to give the child. "Why Faye-Faye? Why keep it a secret?"

Oh well… she was out of ideas so she just decided to let the child know what she wanted to. "Because… if we don't keep it a secret then that idiot will--"

"Run right out to the party?"

To say that she was shocked was an understatement of the year. Turning around, Faye came face to face with a still partially bandaged Spike. What was he doing up? And so soon no less? She stopped herself before her tongue got the better of her and stepped back, resting herself against the wall as Ed took her place.

"It's secret mail-mail for Bebop-Bebop." Spike bent down a bit to read the e-mail addressed to him. "Space Land? Nice place to hold a party eh?" She snorted and continued to smoke her cig. "Yeah, you gonna go like that? Great costume if it's a masquerade party mummy man."

Spike was dead silent for a moment, but Faye kept her eyes closed. She wouldn't dare look at him, she didn't know what she would do if she did. "Maybe this is the one… the one I won't come back from…" At that comment however, her eyes snapped open and her head whipped in his direction, only to be met with a smirk from him.

"I'm just messing with you." He noticed her scowl and leaned in a bit. "You would come rescue me if it were true?" She was silent for a moment, her words caught in her throat. Would she? She didn't know, and frankly at that moment she didn't care. She decided to break eye contact with him by looking away, the words "idiot Lunkhead" falling from her lips before she took off to her room.

Spike, a bit confused by the lack of a comeback on Faye's part, looked at Ed only to find her twirling around in circles.

"Lunkhead, Lunkhead, Lunkhead!!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Theme parks; not really his cup of tea. Everything was always so bright and happy, but happy in a really creepy kind of way. As he walked through the park he was glad that everything was turned off and quiet. He liked quiet. It was the one thing he didn't really get a lot of lately on the Bebop. Besides, he didn't know if his still injured head could take all the happiness Space Land had to offer.

Now, where was he supposed to go? He wasn't really sure considering that Ed had run off with the e-mail after Faye had decided to disappear. He rounded a corner and jammed his hands into his pockets. What was that woman's deal anyways? He was just kidding around with her like always so what was with the serious look? He blocked out the thoughts as he stepped into the elevator, the dog shaped elevator. Boy, this place was really creative.

Slowly he emerged on a different level, cautiously looking around as he did so. This place was huge and from what he had seen before, this guy was kind of psycho. With those thoughts in mind, he decided that being extra cautious wasn't that bad of an idea to him. Besides as he had said before, theme parks weren't really his favorite place in the world… or universe for that matter.

Suddenly everything started up. Light burst from the many colored light bulbs all over the place and that spooky amusement park music that he disliked oh so much started up. Oh yes, he really hated theme parks now.

Where the hell could this guy be? Wouldn't you think that he would be waiting for him somewhere? Especially since he had invited him there and everything? This was indeed one strange man.

He spotted a shadow on the ground and knew that it wasn't his, I mean, he was tall, but not THAT tall. Quickly he turned around, pulling out his precious Jericho and wasting no time in emptying his clip. When he was done, he surveyed his victim.

Damn.

It was just the Space Land Sailor Dog.

He was disappointed, very disappointed, and about five minutes away from blowing up Space Land period. A psychotic laughter reached his ears however and he took off running, a slight smirk on his face.

Finally, he was about to get some action.

*~*~*~*~*~*

She didn't know what the hell she was doing. She was in her ship, racing toward Space Land, and for what? To save Spike, the eternal asshole who made it his life's goal to piss her off? Yeah. Why she was doing it though, she wasn't sure.

Maybe it was because of the way he looked earlier when his little thought that he said aloud had scared the shit out of her. Or maybe it was because of the way he looked when he had asked her if she would come rescue him if it were true. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because she would actually miss him if his stupid self didn't manage to make it back.

Right now however, she wasn't really trying to think about all of that, she was actually trying to concentrate on her target that was currently moving pretty fast.

Just when she thought she had him, one shot from him had managed to bring her down. All she could think of as she was falling was one thing. What smart-ass comment was going to come out of his mouth this time? Oh well… guess she would just have to wait and see.

*~*~*~*~*~*

What a way to go, squashed to death by an amusement park parade. Oh well, at least it wasn't him.

Slowly he made his way to Faye's crashed and currently smoking ship. He couldn't believe it; she had actually come to help him. He neared it and opened the hatch, staring at her upside down body. She stared back, not saying a word. Seems as though she was waiting for something.

Wordlessly he pulled her out and to her feet with his good and uninjured arm. She kept staring at him and he realized that she was indeed waiting for something, and that was to hear his voice. "What? You telling me you don't have anything smart to say?"

What could he say? He couldn't believe that she had actually left the ship to help him, of all people. He was just joking around with her earlier… had she taken him seriously? Seems as though she had. She wasn't looking at him so it seemed as though she already knew what he was going to say.

"That was really stupid you know."

She stayed in her standing position, arms crossed and looking the other way. Usually he wouldn't really care about her acting this way, but for some reason, he felt as though might have actually scared her this time. After all, he wasn't fully healed yet anyway. Oh well, he guessed it was time that he should actually say something nice, before Jet showed up at least. "But… thanks anyway… I guess."

She glanced at him briefly, then slowly made her way to him, pushing him down into a seating position. He looked at her with wondering eyes and she shook her head. "You're bleeding all over the place." She took off her jacket and wrapped it around his shoulder, tying it tightly in a knot. "What are you…" "Just shut up… can't I just do something nice for once?" She plopped herself down beside him with a huff, and crossed her arms again, hiding her face from him. He couldn't help but smirk.

Maybe, just for tonight, he'll accept her niceness without questioning her.

"Hey, do you wanna go out for drinks?"

His smirk grew wider.

"Sure, this time though, it's your treat."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

OOOOOOOOk, so there's chapter four. What do you guys think? I decided that I'm going to follow the series, but every other chapter will be based on an actual episode. So that means that the next chapter won't follow an episode but the one after that will… does that make any sense? E-mail me if you have any questions…

Oh! One more thing! I'm looking for someone who wants to be my beta-reader! If anyone is willing shoot me an e-mail!

Thanks!

-KTKG