I do not own Spike or any of the bebop characters. Too bad I could put them to hella good use. The romance will be slow and it is possible that Faye will be involved...We'll see how it all plays out. This started out as a non Faye romance, but in writing it I can see it possibly going that way...In such a fabulous way.

Awakenings

We rejoin the bebop on Mars some time after Spike is seen bleeding on the syndicate steps...Jet is still looking for Spike and Faye. Neither of them returned to the bebop...Jet continues to search with no luck but does not give up.

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Jet is watching Laughing Bull's hand as the sand slowly filters through his fingers. Smoke drifts lazily from the pipe in Jet's hand and he sets it down next to Laughing Bull.

"You sure this is going to tell us if his star is still up there?" Jet said nervously.

Jet shifted his weight; he was beginning to feel very strange. Vertigo threatened to overtake him then the sound of Laughing Bull's voice grounded him again.

"Running Rock, patience," said Laughing Bull, "fear not the outcome of this query; what has been done is already. We just wait for the news."

"I told you not to call me that..." Jet growls under his breath.

Bull begins to hum and his eyes slowly drift upwards as the last of the sand falls from his fingers.

"Swimming one's star is still high, but dimming. If it looses its light it will fall."

"What does that mean?? So he's still alive? Tell me old man; I can't waste time with riddles.

Laughing bull just shrugs as Jet marches back to the hammerhead muttering to himself about stars and wondering what was in Laughing Bull's pipe. A large red hawk soars in the distance coming to light on a branch on front

"Wakantanka guide him, his spirit is strong yet his heart is tired and sad," Prayed Laughing Bull.

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The light comes up on a dim hallway; a female figure walks down the corridor heels clicking efficiently as makes her way into a doorway on the left. A green haired man lays unconscious on the bed. Several machines whir and beep beside him. His vitals have been stable for some time now, this is good. He may yet wake up but she doubted it.

She leaned over his still body to check the central line, looked good. Her dark red hair was falling into her face again, she reached up to brush it from her face as a hand whipped out from the bed and stopped her wrist cold.

"Where am I? Tell me now, how long have I been here. What hospital is this, tell me damnit," Muttered Spike.

Spikes vision clears a bit and he focuses on two green eyes exactly the shade of his hair.

"Quiet down. You're on Mars. In a private research hospital, you've been a coma over the last year now. I'm Dr. Kitty Lancing." Said the beautiful redhead.

"Are you sure I'm alive..."

The pain was sure real...

"Oh yes you're alive. Barely, she thought to herself. I put a lot of work into making sure of that. So, do you remember your name? Are you in pain?"

"Why, so you can send me the bill? What kind of debt have you got on me? Holding me here against my will, I won't pay it you know."

His entire body rocked with pain, he felt the beads of sweat forming above his lip and on his brow, and his head swooned with the shock of it. He had to drop back into the pillow. He needed a stiff drink and a cigarette. I wonder how long I've been out. For that matter who the hell saved his ass, and why?

"Against your will, of all the ungrateful...I saved your life. You owe no debt it's been taken care of already by your sister, well the man she was with anyway. He would not give me his name but he paid handsomely for your care. There is much left over, I suppose it belongs to you now, or perhaps it belongs to your sister."

Sister? What the? Spike felt the heat rising in his very sore body. He hurt from head to toe, his left arm was not responding, and the flat muscled span of his stomach was pockmarked with bright pink scars under his gown. It hurt him to move, to think, to breathe...sister???...the room began to go dark and all he could hear was the soft voice above him.

"Damnit, you, come back, don't slip back under now. I don't even know your name...I wish I knew your name...shit..."

She remembered the lavender haired girl's parting words. "He is a piece of work, take care of him for me. He's the only family I have." They had been so mysterious, Kitty wished she had more information but they left suddenly just as soon as she starting examining the dying green haired man. It was a miracle he survived. The EMT on campus that night had gotten a quick course in emergency surgery as I removed three bullets from his abdomen. The bullet that had grazed his head was more of a problem. She closed it as best she could but the subsequent swelling had pushed him into the coma.

She began to examine him again, his blood pressure had dropped slightly, but his other vitals were back to their coma baseline. Darn, what was happening here? Would he wake again? Would he know who he was? Will I be able to let him go?

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The hammerhead landed with a thud in the bay of the Bebop. No Ein or Ed came running out now days. Funny how he missed the hassle that was his makeshift crew. He wondered about what Laughing Bull had said. His star was dimming, not dropped. Spike must still be alive.

"OK, Wakantanka, anytime now...What the hell am I going to do. It's been a year now. No leads."

Jet sat down to the terminal and began to type. He would check all the hospitals on Mars. There were some private research hospitals that he had not been able to hack into. Damn Edward for leaving. She would have made short work of it. Perhaps he would try emailing her old address. She was a savvy one for all her oddness, and youth. Jet continued to email every known address ever for Ed; perhaps she could help, even if she did not want to live on the bebop anymore.

Jet typed late into the night trying to hack records from the research hospitals with no luck, he went to bed tired and depressed. What the fuck did he know about finding ghosts? Were they ghosts by now, Jet fell into a light sleep worrying about it.

He missed his comrades. It was a sorry sad thing for an old dog to admit but there it was. He missed them and he would find them or their graves if it killed him.

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Shall I continue...I have great things in mind for our beloved crew!