Thank you all for your reviews. I feel wanted! .

Disclaimer: Yeah yeah, I don't own Cowboy Bebop. However I do own original character Andre Riccetti, even if he does play a very small role. On with the show.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!! JET-PERSON HAS GOTTEN SOAP IN RAINBOW EDWARD'S EYES!"

Jet dodged a flailing wet arm. "If you stopped thrashing around so much, maybe it wouldn't happen! Ed!"

Ein made a desperate escape attempt by scrabbling up the side of the tub, but Jet pushed him back in. "Where do you think you're going, Ein? You'll get paint paw-prints all over my ship!"

"Yip!" whined Ein.

"Shut up..."

Edward dived underneath the water, watching bubbles from her mouth break on the soapy surface. All the paint coming off her made the water a dark blue, and glitter-specks shone in and out across her vision. Edward grinned. Just like being under the sea! Now that she was so rudely stripped of her Rainbow Warrior markings, she could transform into...Whale Ed!

She sucked in some paint-flavoured water and wrinkled her nose.

"Ed?" Jet peered into the tub. Edward was lying flat on the bottom, her eyes closed, like she was sleeping. Her orange hair fanned over her face. Jet frowned: he couldn't tell if she was playing a game or not.

"Edwar –"

SPLASH!

Ed broke through the surface, spat water in his face (but to her she was jetting water through her 'blow-hole'), made a nasal whale-like sound, ("AAAAAAAAAAOUUUUUUUU!!") and promptly disappeared back beneath the water. All in five seconds.

She stared at Jet from under the water, who was frantically wiping his face and cursing. Lost in her own world, she narrated to herself in her mind:

[Edward the Blue Whale has been swimming long and far. She will now sing the whale song to attract a possible mate...what is a mate?] Ed frowned. [Mate is like a friend...Jet-person is Whale Ed's friend...Jet-person will be my mate! Edward the Blue Whale shall sing her whale mating song to make him become Edward's mate!]

"AaaaeeeeeeiiOOOOOOuaaaaaaaahggggh," she intoned underwater.

"Jesus Christ," Jet muttered, wiping his brow. "Ed! Stop playing around!"

"EeeeeeeeooooouuuuuIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAeeeeeeee...." Was the gargled response.

"EDWARD..."

Uh-oh. Jet-person was using his angry tone. Ed shot up again, expelled a graceful spout of water, turned to Jet and said, in whale-speech, "Wooooould yooOOOOooooou liiiiike too beeEEEEeee myyyy maaaaate?"

"Huh?"

"Jet-person would like to be Edward's mate?" she said promptly, momentarily dropping her Whale Ed facade.

"Your MATE?" Jet stared.

"My FRIEND!" Ed shouted happily, suddenly throwing her arms around Jet and giving him a wet hug. She dived out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel while Jet knelt there, ears going red. He hastily grabbed a washcloth and wiped his neck to cover his embarrassment.

"Of course I'm your friend, Ed..."

"YAAAAAAAY!"

"Dry yourself off and put some new clothes on, ok? I'm gonna go check on Spike."

"Aye-aye, Captain Jet!" She shook her orange hair out like a dog, spraying him. Ein, now clean, followed suit.

"Great..."

He left the two snarling over the right of who deserved the last dry towel.

Jet knocked on Spike's door.

"Spike? You in there?"

"Cheesecake," came a dull voice. Jet sighed, and opened the door. Spike was lying facedown on his pillow, one arm draped over the bed, clutching a cigarette. He turned his head away when he heard Jet come in.

"Damn woman stole my cheesecake. Ate the whole thing. I bet it tasted nice," he added maliciously.

"Spike –"

"You know, whenever I ate one, it was like eating a tiny slice of heaven. Just to taste that creamy cake in my mouth made me forget about Vicious and the Syndicate and what I was. Now it's all gone...."

Jet sighed. Spike was always strangely poetic on the subject of food, especially now that he was in depressed mood. Besides Julia, food was probably the nearest thing to his heart. He leaned against the doorjamb, scratching the back of his head as Spike continued talking.

"...Jet?"

"What?"

"...Nothing."

The older cowboy rubbed his face. "You want me to go find you another one, don't you?" he asked wearily, but Spike couldn't see his smile.

"No. I mean yes. I mean, that's ok, I can...go on without it." The amount of sadness and pain in his voice surprised Jet.

"Hey, Spike, it's no problem, I can probably find that guy again..."

"No, Jet. Just leave me alone for a while, will you?"

"Sure, Spike." Jet closed the door. Then he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Only Spike could that melodramatic over a dessert. "Cheesecake must sure be special to him," he mumbled as he walked away.

"JEEEEEET!!"

That piercing voice that could only belong to Faye Valentine, Resident Shrew, made him wince. Jet turned and folded his arms across his chest, looking stern. "What is it now, Faye?"

"Ship?" she snapped; hands planted on her hips, "Redtail? Now? I need to get away from here!"

"For good?"

"I don't know yet," she said sulkily, looking away from his gaze. "All I know is that I need to put a good 500 miles between myself and a certain Spike Spiegel."

Jet lazily reached for his pocket and put a cigarette in his mouth. "Well, that's too bad. I can't fix it right now, I'm going out myself." He lit up.

"What!?"

"You heard me, Faye."

"So you're just going to run off and leave me alone on the Bebop with...with Ed and Spike!?"

"Looks like it." He grinned.

"I can't believe you!" she shrieked, cheeks going red, "Where are you going? For how long?"

"Personal business. And don't worry Faye, I'm not going to be gone long: like I'd leave you three alone on MY ship for longer then 24 hours? Ha! Sit tight."

"Jet!"

But he was already gone.

The Hammerhead soared out of the Bebop's belly, turned, and made for the Martian capital. Jet drummed his fingers on the controls. He couldn't believe his crewmates were acting like this over a bit of cheesecake. Then again, they acted childish about most small things. Why was HE the only real adult on this ship? Where would they all be without him? Jet smiled. Probably homeless: he'd let them stay on his Bebop out of the kindness of his heart. Spike would have been dead from one of his earlier reckless escapades (Jet wouldn't have been there to stop him and make him think it over), and Faye...still drifting about, lost, and broke. Ed would have been stuck on Earth. Jet blew smoke out slowly.

What did he get in return for feeding them and giving them shelter?

"Jet, are we there yet?" "Jet, fix my ship!" "Jet, fix the shower!" "Jet, what is this? Is it supposed to be food?" "Jet, I'm hungry!" "Jet-person...how many monkeys could you fit in a toilet roll?" (That last one had been weird).

He laughed. Their company, however un-delightful it may be; that's what he got. Jet didn't mind: he didn't ask for gratitude. He didn't expect it, for one thing. Even though they were crammed together on the same ship, all lived their lives separate from each other.

[Sooner or later they're all going to leave you, Black Dog: whether it be by death or not,] his mind spoke up. [Without a word of thanks.]

[Yeah, I know.]

[So what are you going to do now?]

[Try and find Spike another cheesecake. Otherwise he won't eat anything and he'll drive me insane from his moping.]

[Good call.]

The Hammerhead skimmed over the city, then dropped. Jet put his shades on and grinned at his reflection: he looked pretty bad-ass, if he did say so himself...

Jet leaned over the counter at the shop owned by Andre Riccetti: the man who could apparently make the finest cheesecakes, pastries, and eclairs known to mankind since the Gate explosion on Earth.

Andre Riccetti was of Italian descent, an olive-complexioned, dark-haired, quiet man who held the talent of a master chef at his fingertips. It was said that his family once served the royal court of the Medicis way back in the 15th century, and their culinary skills were legendary. Jet was just impressed that Andre could make something that Spike would actually eat. Andre owed him a few favours, and both men knew this.

Jet gave the man a grim smile, and the other knew that the ex-cop meant business. They leaned close in a furtive manner.

"Something I can do for you, cowboy?" Andre smiled easily, dusting off a beautifully prepared plate of praline chocolates.

"I think you know."

"I think I do."

Jet grinned. "Got any cheesecake?"

A/N: Don't look at me like I'm some cheesecake-obsessed freak! R&R I tell you! Bwahaha!