To Kendra Luehr and HelpComputah: Thanks for reviewing. Your insight has been a great inspiration to continue this story.

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Chapter 5: Heart Piercer

Jet scratched his fake arm. He had found it to be very itchy that day and that was something that deeply disturbed him. The reason for this was because the arm only itched in bad situations. Very bad situations. The last time it had happened was on Callisto with the whole Gren situation. If it was happening again now, Jet knew that something bad was headed his way. Hell, even without the arm he could have known that.

"Damn crew always screwing everything up..." Jet mumbled to himself. He was about to wonder why he even kept them around. Then he remembered that he was the one who wanted them all back on Callisto. That made Jet a bit angry. "Nothing but trouble..." he mumbled again.

He slowly trimmed his bonsais, carefully and cautiously. This was an art that required delicacy, something he wanted Spike and Faye to learn. Also, it currently held his interest because Rome's info well had just dried up and Jet found himself with no more leads. He could only hope that Spike got Rolenzo.

With his luck though, something must have gotten destroyed in the process.

The hanger opened and in walked Spike, covered in dust and burn marks. Jet sighed and realized that he had jinxed it. He was almost sure that whatever god he worshipped was punishing him.

There was an awkward silence then as Spike turned to face Jet with a look on his face that Jet couldn't recognize. Then he saw that it was exhaustion. Spike looked like he had been through the circles of hell in under an hour and managed to get blown up in the process. Jet could only hope that they wouldn't get stuck with a fee.

"What happened?"

"Where's the girl?"

"She hasn't come back yet. Why do you care?"

Spike growled before turning back to Jet. "This whole set up you got..."

"Yeah?"

"Never mind!" Spike was irritated; even a blind man could see that. Jet decided that he wouldn't push it. All that really mattered was that he got the bounty. When Spike walked down the stairs, Jet could see that he was dragging someone with him. Suddenly, his attitude lightened a bit.

"Pouch Rolenzo..." Spike said as he let go. Jet saw that the man, who was taller than Spike, had been knocked out cold. It didn't surprise him any though. If Spike was angry enough, he could probably kill someone twice his size.

The problem was.... "Are you sure he's still alive?" Jet asked with uncertainty in his voice.

"Trust me; he's still in the game."

"Why didn't you drop him off at ISSP?"

"Not enough fuel," Spike didn't say the rest which consisted of: that wench stole my fuel for her Rambo exit!

"Where's Faye?"

Spike's growl changed to a smirk. "Don't know but you'd better find her before I do..."

--

Faye knew that the Swordfish in the hanger was the sign of her death sentence. Regardless, the last of the fuel she had stolen from the Swordfish was running very short. She had considered a hit and run but was afraid that Jet would catch her again. She didn't want to get chewed out. If anything, she wanted a shower and a nap.

That was why Faye decided to land.

She was cautious walking through the seemingly empty halls of the Bebop, knowing that at any moment, Spike and Jet would appear out of nowhere. She just had to make it to the bathroom....

Almost there...

She was relieved to feel the curtain that blocked off the shower area and pulled it back without thinking about what would greet her on the other side...

--

Jet's head turned sharply as he heard a very feminine scream coming from the shower area. The head wasn't Jet's only reaction though. At the same time, his hand shook and he managed to cut off an entire branch of his bonsai. Getting up (trimmers in hand) and swearing immensely, Jet ran toward the shower area.

He wondered again why he kept his crew around before he turned the corner and saw it. Faye was pressed against the wall with a look of horror on her face as Ed emerged from the bathtub and started to run all over the place, bits of bubble bath soap covering the right places.

It was a good minute before Ed settled back into the bathtub again, which only contained half the water it did before. "Does Faye-Faye want to bathe with Edward?" Ed asked in her best impression of a seductive voice.

Spike, who had just walked in, burst in laughter. "Yeah, Faye-Faye..." he said, causing Faye to turn red with anger.

"Shut up!"

BARK!

"You take a bath with that mutt?!"

"Gross!"

Jet growled and walked off. That was a waste of his time. Yes, he didn't need the crew at all.

--

After they had both told Jet what had happened, Spike and Faye realized that a vain was about ready to pop on his head. Spike knew that getting into an argument would only increase the vain so he decided to lay back with a pack of smokes.

"...Not like we can do anything anyway...." Spike finished.

Jet was quiet for a moment. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was praying but Spike could tell that he was just in deep thought. There was a few minutes of silence before Jet spoke up again: "Another bounty hunter huh?"

"Yeah, what an ego trip!" Faye complained.

Spike blew out some smoke. "Spike?"

"Called himself legendary or something. He looked like he was good enough. Although I never got a chance to see because SOMEONE had to explode the goddamn roof..." Spike's voice wasn't as angry as Jet thought it would be, more full of annoyance and what he thought was a bit of disappointment.

"Hey, if it wasn't for me you'd probably be dead now. That guy used grenades..." As Faye rambled on Spike could swear that he picked up a horrible stench but he couldn't tell where. At the same time Jet started to sniff and looked around the room.

"You smell that Jet?" Spike asked, interrupting Faye. Jet sniffed again and his face turned into a mix of twisted agony and surprise.

"What the hell? That's smells like..."

"Something rancid..."

Faye closed her eyes and began to growl. "Hey, I...!" before she could finish, the communicator rang and Jet picked it up.

"Hello..."

"Hey again..."

"Oh, it's you.... I'll put Spike on," Jet said as he threw the communicator to Spike. Spike caught it and looked into the screen.

"Yo, hold on. I'm gonna transfer you to computer," Spike said, pushing a few buttons of the communicator before a screen appeared on the computer. Faye was surprised to see that trucker from a while ago.

"Hey, I remember you!" Faye said.

"Yeah, whatever," VT said, and then she turned her attention to Spike. "How was the bounty?"

"Rolenzo?"

"Yeah."

"There were a few problems but we got him," Spike said, brushing it off like it was nothing. It was then that Faye noticed that there was a body tied to the latter. She was surprised to find that it was the man who was in their standoff.

This is getting a bit weird...

VT smiled. "Good, now for my favor."

"We're not giving you five percent for finder's fee!" Faye yelled in the background.

Spike ignored her and turned back to VT. "You said a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah, I was wondering you can help me find him. But I'll have to ask you to be careful..."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "What's his name?"

"His birth name is Troy McGallis but everyone calls him Destructive Troy the Heart-Piercer. I suppose that right now, he's the best bounty hunter alive."

Spike's eyes opened wide in surprise as he remembered the bounty hunter from the hotel. Then he smiled and turned to VT. "Actually, we've met before. I can't really say he's a pushover..."

It was VT's turn to be shocked then. He was joking right? VT figured that it had to be a joke. But then again... Spike wasn't just an average hunter... Her mind was everywhere at once then as she began to spit out questions at random.

"Where is he? Did you hurt him? Tell me dammit!" VT almost demanded the last one.

On the other side, Spike found himself taken aback by the sudden change from calm to angry. Spike just smirked. "Something tells me that you two have a rather personal issue to work out here," Spike replied, his voice full of amusement.

VT's face would have erupted into anger if the painful memories hadn't swept back. Her face then turned to a sad lamenting face. One that Spike wouldn't expect to see on a strong woman like her. It surprised him to say the least. "He... he is.... responsible for... my husband's death....."

VT tilted her head down so no one could see her face. "I can't say that, I've gotten over that. But I'll be damned if I just let him walk away." Her voice had changed back to her cold voice.

If VT looked up, she would have seen Spike's eyes were full of something resembling sad remorse but she didn't. Spike gave this look when he would come in contact with the sadness of others. Like he knew what they had been though. He couldn't pretend that he hadn't.

"Do you want me to kill him?" Spike asked.

Jet looked surprised. This was probably the first time that he had seen Spike so straight forward on anything. He wasn't really one to get involved in someone else's business.

"I just need you to find him for me. If it isn't too much trouble that is..."

Spike's eyes narrowed. "And what do you plan to do once you find him?"

VT looked up; her eyes had red circles around them. "We'll just have to find out..."

Spike let the tension loose and closed his eyes, smiling. "Destructive Troy the Heart-Piercer? Sounds interesting..."

Jet's arm started to itch like crazy.

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A/N: Please read and review. Thanks. Chapter 6 will be up soon enough. Sorry for the wait on Chapter 5.