Author's Note: Thank for the reviews and the insight. I'm sorry if the wording is a bit dated, I wrote this story a while ago and I'm a bit lazy so I haven't edited the whole thing. That's it. Enjoy this chapter.

CB

Chapter 2: The Missing Crew

Spike was going to land the Swordfish in the hanger but when he saw smoke coming from the Bebop, he decided to park a dock away. As he landed, he saw the burn marks on the sides, making the crappy fishing ship look worse than Spike could have imagined.

It had looked like it had been hit with missiles. Spike slightly worried, he got out of his ship and ran to the ship. He ran to the door and opened it and was greeting by thick smoke. He cupped his hand over his mouth and ran in. Spike had really hoped it was a bad cooking accident or something, but he had a bad feeling.

The smoke was thick and the tiny doorway wasn't helping. Spike searched for the controls. He knew he was close to the panel in the front of the ship. He let his fingers guide him then stopped, momentarily taking a breath but inhaling smoke instead. Spike let out a deep cough and slammed his hand down on the panel, hitting a button and the windows at the front of the ship opened, slowly letting out the smoke. Spike gasped for breath.

"Dammit... know I know why they have fire safety classes," he said to himself as he stuck his head out the window. After five minutes of normal breathing, Spike walked back to the panel and opened the hanger. From this part of the ship, he could see the smoke exiting. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the back of the ship. He looked around the hanger and in everyone's room.

He checked the hanger. Faye's ship was missing but Jet's was still here. That was the same as before.

Spike shook his head trying to make sense of it all.

"JET! Hey Jet!!" Spike called into the ship. No answer. He ran to Jet's room to find it empty. He walked over to Ed's computer but he couldn't find anything. "Ed!! Ein!! Faye!!" He called into the ship but no answer was given. Then he ran out to the hanger and stepped outside to see some red paint on the ship. He tried to read it but it was too big to see from this low.

He ran into the ship and up to the lookout over the hanger where he saw the shape of the red paint. It was a name written in red. Spike knew the name perfectly:

V-I-C-I-O-U-S

Spike swallowed the bile at his throat. This was quite unexpected of Vicious. He didn't usually pull these things unless something big was happening. Spike had known Vicious long enough to realize that if the Van wasn't dead then Vicious was for this stunt.

He heard a loud beep at the other end of the ship that scrambled his thoughts. It was the ringing of the computer. Spike ran to it. Hoping that it was Jet or Faye, or Ed. Hell even Ein would pass for good. Spike hit the ENTER button twice and the screen opened up.

"Shin?!" Spike asked surprisingly into the screen.

"Spike," Shin said with adoration written all over his face. Shin was loyal to Spike. Even in his own death. Spike knew this but hoped that he didn't become like Lin did.

Sacrificing his life for Vicious...

That was something that made Spike hate him more.

"Shin, what the hell is going on?!" Spike yelled annoyingly into the screen.

"Sorry for not letting you know earlier but I helped in this op," Shin said.

"What?" Spike absorbed the information slowly. "Why?" he responded, changing his question. He wondered why Shin was betraying him.

"We all got orders from Vicious," Shin said to Spike.

"But you're part of the Van's side, are they dead?" Spike asked.

"No, they put Vicious in charge."

"Why?"

"Of the new mission, they want you dead because of the Red Eye debts and the fact that they know that you're alive, they hope that your death will be a sign for the rest of the Dragons who are on Vicious' side."

"But why Vicious?"

"Simple, Vicious wants you dead and no one else can kill you," Shin said. Spike's gaze dropped.

"Where is my crew?" Spike asked in a low voice.

"In the chamber," Shin noticed the relief on Spike's face for a second, Spike hadn't really meant to show it but Shin saw it. "The Van is issuing a message that if you don't take their place within 48 hours, they are going to be executed," Shin said.

"Why is the Van doing this, they weren't this radical before?" Spike asked Shin.

"Times have changed. With Mao gone the Red Dragons have divided and Vicious wants to pull a coup on the Van. The Van know and are trying a desperate attempt to play the game at Vicious' level to calm it down a bit but it isn't helping...... I waited for you to come back..." Shin said.

"I'm not coming back," Spike said.

"But Mao... he wanted you to take over..." Shin stuttered, surprised and afraid of Spike's answer, like Spike had shattered his hope.

"Shin... it isn't going to happen," Spike said sadly. "I have to find Julia, then I'm out," he said disconnected the line. He leaned back into the chair and tried to absorb the killer head rush.

Was Shin right? Should he come back?

No. Vicious is there and he didn't want to fight Vicious.

But what about the crew?

CB

"Faye... Hey Faye wake up!!" Faye heard Jet's voice and opened her eyes slowly. She saw deep colors of red and brown focus. She was in a room. There were jail bars on the other side but darkness beyond that.

Faye tried to move but she was frozen as her arm wouldn't move. She turned her head, which brought on a world of pain. Faye let out a groan and looked over at her hand, which was handcuffed to a steel board behind her. She saw Jet, who was also handcuffed along with Ed. Ein had his legs tied together and he was in the corner.

Faye found quickly that moving caused pain. Her body ached all over. Between the tearing sensation of the handcuffs and the head pain, Faye thought that she was going to die.

"Faye... Faye," Jet's voice said again. Faye tilted her head towards Jet, ignoring the pain.

"Yeah?" Faye asked, Jet still blurry in her eyes.

"You okay, you've been out for something like five hours," Jet said.

"Yeah, I just..." Faye started but then the memories all came back. "Got hit on the head," she finished. Jet turned away.

"You do know where you are, don't you?" Jet asked, his eyes looking concerned.

"I can guess... Red Dragon central," Faye said obviously to Jet.

"And the million dollar question goes to Faye-Faye!!" Ed said a little too loudly for Faye, who felt like she was having a hangover.

"Her attitude hasn't changed," Faye said annoyed at Ed's yelling.

"She's a strong person," Jet said in his 'I-am-the-guru-of-knowledge' voice.

"So why are we here, is lunkhead in trouble or are we just bait?" Faye asked to Jet and Ed.

The door creaked open and Vicious walked in out of the darkness. Faye froze; Jet saw her fear and wondered who he was. Ed also shut up.

"A little bit of both actually, not that it'll matter to you," he said. His words were followed by a cruel smile and his hand on his katana.

CB

A/N Part 2: Please read and review. I'm grateful for any insight. Thanks again to those who have reviewed. Hope that you are enjoying the story. The next chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading.