Disclaimer:
Once again, I don't own Cowboy Bebop, but I would love to own Spike and Vicious ; )

A/N: Thank you Celebrial for your review. It really helps to keep writing when people review!
Also I'm not really sure, when in the "Cowboy Bebop" universe this is, but if I had to choose I would have to say around "Ballad of Fallen Angels."

Chapter 1

Last Time:

Suddenly, she felt a cold metal object at the base of her neck... "We insist..." Came a man's voice from behind her, then she heard a quiet "click" as he cocked the gun...

On with the show:

"So you see, we have the upper hand." Said the man's voice came from behind her. "Shit," she thought, but continued to keep her voice and face straight. The man removed the gun from her head and moved closer to her. In fact he was almost pressing himself against her. He put his arm around her neck almost as if he was going to strangle her.

"Bad move," she thought. She shifted her weight, threw her leg in the air, up by her head and nailed him right in the nose. There was a small shriek of surprise from him as he stumbled backwards holding his face.

He finally gathered his footing. "Bitch!" He yelled. "What the..." Celest didn't allow him to finish, she turned around fast, moved closer to him and used her palm to hit his nose into his skull. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed in a heap.

Celest heard chuckling on the other end of the phone. "What do you want?" She asked as though nothing had happened. As though she hadn't broken his nose by shoving it into his brain.

"Just meet him at Café Monet at 10:00. He will explain everything."

"Fine..." She paused, "I'll be there." She finished.

"Good, the man you are to meet, his name is Vicious. He will tell you what is going on. Then we'll take it from there." He said and hung up the phone.

It was eight o'clock, so she had two hours to get something to wear. Café Monet wasn't exactly the cheapest place to eat. And what about "Vicious?" "What kind of name is that?" She thought out loud. She had to pick something comfortable and yet not casual.

She had found something good to wear. She didn't know what kind of people she was going to get involved with, especially with a guy named Vicious. So she wore black leather pants that weren't conforming, and yet showed off her curves. A white V-neck halter, and black hiking boots. She wore a silver choker that featured an ankh. To top it off she wore her Black Trench coat.

She tied her Jet Black (pun intented :)) hair into a lose bun with chopsticks. Which kept her hair out of her dark green eyes. With one last glance in the mirror she picked up her keys, with 20 minutes until she was to meet Vicious, it would take her a solid 15 minutes to get there so she was cutting it kind of close.

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As Vicious sat down at a table in the corner, he pulled out Celest's folder. The Red Dragon's had been following her closely for the past six months. Mao Yenrei, said that they needed to have her as a Red Dragon. What he didn't understand was, why was she so special? What made her more special than other assassins? And why would he have to work with her if she accepted the job?

He glanced at the archive picture of her. He had to admit, she was very beautiful. Unlike the few other women in the syndicate, she had a different quality about her. She was dangerous, he knew that and hadn't even met her yet.

He smiled his arrogant smile, "This may be fun..." He said to no one in particular.

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She arrived five minutes early (she was speeding like crazy). She had the valet drive her car away and tipped him $20.00 to make sure it wouldn't be touched. She winked at him and walked into the building. As he stood there, mouth wide open.

She entered and was immediately greeted by the Matre-D. "I'm here to meet someone..." She started "Ah! You must be here to meet Vicious. Follow me." He said as he began to lead her to the table.

There he was, looking at her. He sat at the corner table. She noticed his attire... "He's a Red Dragon!" She thought to herself. "What am I getting myself into?"

The first thing she noticed about him were his ice blue eyes. They were cold and had no feeling. A few strands of his white hair hung into his eyes. He stood up to greet her...

"Here is your table miss..." the matre-D said, taking her coat and left.
"I've been looking forward to this meeting, Miss Knight." He smiled. She noticed his voice was low and cold, just like his smile. "Hmmm..." She thought to herself, "He's not so tough..." She smiled back and added a "Nice to meet you too, Vicious..." He walked around her and pulled out her chair for her. "Thank you," she said quietly. Then he sat down and began telling her about the hit...


A/N: I had to re-upload this chapter because it didn't turn out the way I thought...sorry, no changes were made to the actual chapter!