Each section of chapter could have been its own cliffhanger but those chapters would have been too short and too much work to post with my currently busy schedule so I just went ahead and posted the whole thing.

Spike held it together for the rest of the abysmal meeting which really just consisted of a few pleasantries before Zhao took his leave, but really he'd stopped listening since he'd heard Faye's name. The minute he reached his office he collapsed into the plush sofa near the window and reached for his packet of cigarettes. He didn't realize he was shaking until Shin had to forcibly take his lighter and light the stick up for him. A short drag later he felt his mind clear but the anxiety cramped in his muscles hadn't subsided.

Why did Zhao know Faye? What was Faye's relation to the White Tigers? Why did they have any relation at all?

Spike had tried not to think of Faye as much as he could since waking up. Learning his life was once again tied to the Red Dragons, he knew that any hopes he had of finding her and being with her were futile. He refused to let her get caught up in the business that had ruined him, Vicious and Julia. Jet wouldn't want to be involved anyway being formerly ISSP and Ed was a child. Spike was tied, ball and chain, to the syndicate but the Bebop crew weren't. In his heart Spike knew Faye would probably join him if he asked, would probably enjoy the benefits a cushy job as a mercenary would provide. Heck, she wouldn't even need it and could spend her life doing whatever with Spike being the earner as a syndicate boss. But Spike knew Faye wasn't without a conscience as much as she pretended. Eventually the blood on her hands would weigh her down as it did him, even more so if she did remember her past life. If she chose not to become an assassin, she'd begin to hate who Spike became as a ruthless crime boss. Spike hated who he became and Faye would too. He couldn't imagine the bright-eyed child on the betamax tape being able to live with murder or adjacent to it. No, that child deserved better than to root for a ruthless assassin. Faye deserved a life better than doing his dirty work. It was hard, but Spike was no stranger to suffering. He put a stone on his heart and tried to ignore all thoughts and feelings associated with the Bebop and its crew, especially the shrew woman he hated that he cared so much about. His one weakness was asking Shin to keep watch to see how they were doing. Initially he hadn't even done that but Shin had brought him an update unprompted one day and Spike had never stopped him.

Having Zhao mention Faye to him had scared him. It had caught him off guard. Spike wasn't surprised by many things, or if he was, he was rarely perturbed by them. This had not only rankled him but filled him with dread.

"You okay, boss?" Shin asked.

Spike blinked realizing his cigarette was alight but still mostly intact. He'd gotten so lost in thought he'd forgotten to smoke it after the first drag. Pressing the butt into the ash tray Spike threw the whole stick away, ignoring Shin's concern.

"I'm fine."

It came harsher than he intended it.

"I still have my men tracking the Bebop, Spike," Shin told him. "They're safe."

Spike glared at him. "So you just happened to fail to mention White Tigers were tailing them?"

"They weren't being tailed by anyone," Shin shrugged. "The White Tigers might only be associating with the Bebop on a need-to-know basis instead of actively following them."

"But WHY!" Spike demanded standing up in agitation. Shin didn't reply knowing Spike already knew the answer.

"It's not possible," Spike said after a while. "I would have known if she had any connection to the White Tigers. We lived on that same godforsaken dingy for a year!"

"She didn't say anything about her past?" Shin probed.

"She didn't remember anything," Spike told him stiffly, turning away and towards the Martian skyline.

"Could she have been lyi-"

"She. wasn't. lying."

Shin smartly didn't reply. Spike sighed after a few seconds then elaborated.

"I have proof she wasn't lying. She said she remembered everything right before I left, but she never got to tell me what she remembered. If she wanted to take me out for any reason before then she could have, but didn't. And it's not like I talked about the syndicate anyway."

Shin and Spike stood in silence, neither of them knowing how to proceed.

"It's possible her family did have connection the syndicate then. If she didn't remember and Zhao said they recently found her, something must have happened to cause the divide," Shin mused.

Spike didn't say anything. He knew exactly what happened but he wasn't ready to say it all just yet. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to though because Shin stumbled on the other questions right after.

"Why did Zhao call her an elder?" He asked. "She's younger than you, isn't she?"

Spike turned away from the window with a grimace. He hadn't told Shin anything about Faye and it was only the man's loyalty to him that had kept him from prying into the Bebop crew's past by himself.

"She was in cryostasis for fifty years," Spike answered.

Had Shin been anyone else he would have let out a whistle of surprise but he was Shin and far too dignified for that.

"That explains why she's an elder. What's her relationship to Zhao then? He calls himself her nephew and says she's his grandmother. Did she have any siblings?"

"I don't know Shin!" Spike snapped all of a sudden.

He hated that he didn't know. He had thought he knew a lot about Faye. She hid herself using techniques not unlike his own. They had pretended to hate each other for so long to ignore the fact that they could see right through each other. Spike had grown to care for the shrew more than he ever wanted to and the sudden realization that he knew a lot less about Faye than he thought hurt. It was true she didn't know about her own past so there was no way he could have, but someone out there did know and it upset him that it wasn't him. It upset him that in the eight months he'd been dead to her so much had already changed. She might have already changed.

Spike always held out hope that one day he could go back free of the syndicate. Shin had offered him that opportunity just yesterday morning. But suddenly Spike was struck with the realization that maybe things were too different to go back. Would she want him back? Would Jet? Was there even a place for him aboard that ship anymore or did they replace him? No… they didn't replace him. Shin would have told him if they had any other crewmates. This did nothing to quell the growing insecurity Spike was so unfamiliar with though.

"She must love you a lot."

Shin's voice cut through the fog of rage like a knife.

"What?" Spike startled.

"She must love you a lot," Shin repeated. "She wants the Red Dragons destroyed because she thinks you're dead."

Spike stopped then, absorbing in the younger man's words. In his panic and self-loathing, he hadn't even remembered the reason he found this all out in the first place. The destruction of the Red Dragons. Zhao said it was the sole request Faye had made. A personal vendetta to avenge someone.

Spike swallowed as the irony of his earlier thoughts hit him. He had wondered if it was a husband or a brother Zhao's grandmother had lost. He had assumed she was an old woman and that she'd lost her life partner in the crossfire of a syndicate brawl as so often happened. Usually the victims were normal people who couldn't dare contest syndicate power and he'd figured it was bad luck it ended up being an elder's husband they'd killed by accident. Now he knew that wasn't the case at all. As far as he knew, he was the only Red Dragon Faye knew, certainly the only one she was close to. The person who had killed him was dead. But she still wanted the Red Dragons destroyed… for him. Because of him. Because they took him from her.

Weak in the knees, Spike lowered himself onto the couch again. He missed Shin's self-satisfied smirk at having accomplished the task of getting Spike to think clearly for once.

"She did that for me?" Spike wondered aloud; voice hoarser than before.

It was futile to ask Shin of course. Shin didn't know Faye or her history. But there was only one person close enough to Faye that she had thought died in the Red Dragon coup and the only cause for her to desire personal vengeance. Shin didn't reply, letting Spike turn this information over for himself.

It was a good five minutes before Spike responded but when he did he'd stopped shaking and there was a new steel to his eyes. He stood up with purpose and strides across the room ready to grab his keys.

"I'm going back!" he declared. He turned his desk inside out looking for the repaired Swordfish II's keys.

Shin cleared his throat, the keyring dangling from his fingers.

"Shin! Give it back!" Spike growled ready to tackle him for it. Shin stared back meaningfully.

"NOW!" Spike shouted.

"Spike, what did we agree on?" Shin reminded.

"What did we agree on? I promised you I'd get the Red Dragons running didn't I? I have to go and see-" He cut himself off then as the realization sunk in.

Zhao knew Spike knew of the Bebop. Spike couldn't go anywhere near the ship if the White Tigers were watching it or monitoring communications. Somehow Spike found it hard to believe Jet would allow the syndicate so much power over his ship. He found it hard to believe Faye would agree to such a thing too. But since the parley was still fresh, it was better to err on the side of caution and assume that Zhao might have the Tigers on the lookout for any Dragons attempting to make contact. Spike couldn't go back. He couldn't talk to Faye, tell her he was alive, without risking the White Tigers seeing this as an act of war. But the White Tigers were planning to demolish them anyway by Faye's request since she thought Spike was dead.

It was a Catch-22.

A younger, more reckless Spike would have hijacked any ship or stolen his keys back from Shin and gone to the Bebop anyway, consequences be damned. But this older wiser Spike had looked in the face of Death too many times and now knew he wanted to live. Something stupid was not on the cards for him this time. He couldn't afford it. Not if he wanted to go back to Faye and have a future with her.

It was so unfair. Had Spike gotten over his cowardice a day earlier he would have gotten to see Faye with the White Tigers none the wiser. But because it had been brought up with Zhao during the parley, they were alert and he couldn't go to her. With a strangled groan of frustration Spike ran a hand over his face and his mop of messy hair. He glared into space for the next few minutes before looking up at Shin again.

"Organize a meeting with Zhao first thing. I don't care if it's over call or in person. Just get me talking. I'm solving this, and then I'm going home."

Zhao refused to meet in person again but that was fine. Spike could say on call exactly what he needed to say in person. This time there were no pleasantries.

"I need to meet with Faye," Spike said as soon as the call went through. It wasn't a question, barely restraining a demand, and he didn't care if Zhao picked up on how informally he addressed Faye. Shin looked disapproving but Spike ignored him.

"I've already told you that's not possible," Zhao replied smoothly.

"One meeting. Five minutes," Spike repeated.

"What purpose would that serve? I already told you, you have nothing that would make her change her mind."

"I know something that would appease her." Spike's voice was firm. Zhao wasn't expecting that kind of confidence.

"And if I refuse?" he asked, more out of curiosity than threat. He wanted to test the waters, see how serious Spiegel was.

"Then the Red Dragons will go to war with you, Mr. Zhao," came Spike's cheerful reply.

Zhao snorted. "A bold threat, Mr. Spiegel, especially when your syndicate isn't what it used to be."

"Whether we win or not is inconsequential," Spike shrugged, still smiling. "You've told me this battle isn't personal for you. I'm sure that means you would want to avoid excessive bloodshed and loss of men. I would prefer to avoid it too. Do we have a deal then?"

Zhao could hear the promised threat in Spike's voice. The man was much more dangerous than he appeared and only when he wanted you to see it did it become apparent. Zhao had been surprised at the lackluster man he'd met up with earlier that day but now the trained assassin that grew up by Mao's side had emerged. Nonetheless, Spiegel was right. Zhao did want to avoid bloodshed. He was still curious though.

"What could you possibly have that would appease my grandmother?"

"A man brought back from the dead."

It's nearing the ten-month anniversary of the incident (None of them ever refer to it by name) which means Faye was getting cranky again. Every month around the exact date she either clammed up or began lashing out and she hated it because it was exhausting to feel this much pain when no amount of bottling it up or letting it free ever did anything to ease it but she didn't know what else to do. She knows Jet hurts in his own ways and tries to avoid him in her moods and Ed tends to retreat to a nook of the ship with Ein while the two adults go about pretending everything is normal.

If Faye takes on more bounties, and loses just as many as she catches during these days, Jet doesn't blame her for it. It's not her fault they end up with more holes than she intended. In the haze of a chase, she sometimes forgets who she's chasing. Perhaps it's unfair, to take out her fury of an evil man on these lowlife criminals who haven't committed nearly the same kinds of crimes. But since when has life ever been fair to Faye?

She grew up in a loving home with doting parents who were snatched away from her in every way before she was twenty-five. She had to fight tooth and nail to survive in a world without even her memory to guide her and when she finally found people to trust, once again she was left with a gaping hole of the loss that came with death.

So yeah, Faye was angry. At the world. At her life. At her fate.

The irony of her past catching up to her right as she stopped needing it was not lost on her. Two months after she had lost Spike, two men in white coats decorated with silver badges had shown up at the Bebop. They had been polite, respectful even, but the threat in their voices when they had asked her to come with them had been clear. Faye hadn't expected to be shown to the towering metropolitan building in the middle of Alba City that housed the White Tiger syndicate who had their own headquarters on Mars. Faye would have questioned why she was led there if she were less apathetic but at this point she loathed anything to do with Martian syndicates. If she got to cuss out one of the leaders of such an operation before she died, it wouldn't be such a bad way to go.

She hadn't expected the young man, barely twenty years in age, sitting in the penthouse office to bow to her respectfully the moment she entered the office. She had turned around to look behind her but her escorts had disappeared and she was the only one standing there.

"Grandmother, it took so long to find you. Forgive me for being the cause of your troubles," the man said, refusing to meet her eyes in shame. "My neglect was the folly that caused your unexpected trip around the cosmos and I undoubtedly brought shame to the Zhao family name by disrespecting you so."

Faye was confused. Of all the things she'd expected to hear, this was not it and it made no sense. She knew why the man had called her Zhao, one of the things she'd finally recently remembered had been her family name before the accident. Zhao. They had been a prominent Singaporean family, but for the life of her Faye still couldn't remember what made them so. That was inconsequential for now however. Faye knew for certain this man wasn't her grandson. She had never had a long-term boyfriend let alone a child with someone.

The young man looked up apologetically. He must have perceived her incredulity as anger though because he once again ducked his head in apology.

"What kind of joke is this," was Faye's strained response. Was this a cruel syndicate prank of some sort? Why the hell was she a target?

"Pardon?" the young man asked.

"I asked what kind of a joke is this!" She hissed. "I have no children! I have no grandson. Do I look old enough to be a grandmother to you? Does your syndicate have nothing better to do than waste their time on a stupid stunt like this?" Her voice grew louder with each word and the man's face grew more confused despite how white it was with fear.

Faye could feel the blood in her head rushing through the veins near her temples. She'd get a migraine if this kept up.

"You… don't remember?" asked the man in shock.

"I remember not having a grandchild!"

"Oh…" The man in front of her winced as realization colored his face. That only served to make Faye angrier though. She pulled a knife out of her pant leg - they'd confiscated her gun at the entrance but that was the benefit of wearing such short shorts, no one ever dared pat her down too strongly - and before the man could react jumped forward and held it to his throat.

The man's bodyguards burst in from the hall doors but the man waved them away. They reluctantly left before he spoke again.

"I am your grandson, technically grandnephew. You're my Great Aunt," he choked out against the press of the knife. His eyes remained calm, however. "We weren't aware you'd lost your memory or I would have planned this better."

Faye only pressed the knife closer.

"Your name. You remember your name right? Zhao? The White Tigers were established by the Zhao family right after Mars terraformed. Our family was the one to establish it."

"Our family?" Faye scoffed. She wasn't going to buy into the bullshit this man was spouting but she would be lying if she said she wasn't shaken. Her memory was still sporadic at best. She could only remember her parents and grandparents. Extended family was a blur and what her father did for a living was just beyond her reach.

"Yes. Our family, " the man spoke, still calmly despite the way Faye's hands now shook against the knife. "Put the knife down and allow me to explain."

Faye eyed him suspiciously. She didn't want to hear it, whatever he had to say. But the guards posted at the door made certain she couldn't escape this building unless this man would let her go. She knew the only reason he was behaving this way was because she wasn't a threat to him at all, even with a knife to his throat. He had the upper hand. She had no choice but to comply.

"Fine. Explain."

And he had explained. Alexander Zhao was Faye's cousin's grandson and one of the last of the Zhao family tree. Faye's father and uncle had set the roots of the White Tigers on Martian soil before eventually losing their lives for the cause. Faye's father had already been weak from his own accident in space but unlike his wife and daughter, he'd recovered. Faye's mother had perished and Faye had been frozen. The Zhaos had Mafia origins on Earth too but on Mars they broke away from the cluster they'd been a part of on Earth and established their own syndicate. A skirmish with the Black Falcons a decade earlier had lost the Tigers many lives, especially the lives of the remaining elders, Faye's cousin and her husband along with their two siblings and a few other close cousins. Faye's nephew had run the syndicate for a few years before a sabotage mission had killed him too. Ever since, Alexander had been following in his father's footsteps, primed for the role since he was a child. He was only twenty-two, a year younger than Faye had been when she had awoken a few years ago but he was easily the most ruthless crime lord the White Tigers had seen to date.

Faye was the last living elder of the White Tigers. Her cryo freeze tube had been stolen in the time between Alexander's father dying and him taking over the syndicate. She had been awoken and never found ever since, hence Alex's apologies.

Faye had wished she had a way to process all this information but she didn't. On top of that she was still grieving. So, she promptly left the building, shoving her way out as she went knowing Alex had let her go, and ignored the existence of the White Tigers for another month before Alex had shown up on the Bebop himself. Jet had shown him in.

"Can we talk, grandmother er… great aunt?" Alex had asked and Faye ignored the way Jet was looking at her. She had failed to tell him why she was taken away in the first place and she knew she'd be hearing about this from him later.

"It was a fun joke while it lasted, kid, but you need to beat it now." She hadn't even looked up from her magazine.

"You know it isn't a joke." Alex sighed in a way that made her feel like she was some sort of stubborn child and he was the adult and suddenly Faye was out of her seat with a gun pointed at her so-called nephew.

"Out!" She hissed. "I refuse to believe any of this is true. I refuse to have anything to do with a crime syndicate of all things! My past means nothing to me!"

Jet looked like he wanted to say something but seeing the look on his face, he thought better of it. He didn't leave the room though and Faye hated the pang she felt in her chest knowing Spike wouldn't have left either. In fact, this would have been prime time entertainment for him. Thinking of Spike always made things harder though and she forced the thought of him away.

"You may run from it but you are an elder of the Zhao clan," young Zhao repeated. "Eventually enemies will realize and come after you. You're the last one."

"Then pretend I'm dead too!" Faye spat. "You never even knew where I was for the past three and a half years. Let's go back to that! I don't want any part of whatever you're doing."

"I can't," Alex said. His voice was neutral but an undercurrent of something in his eye made Faye's gun waver. "You're family. We don't abandon each other."

Faye's gun clattered to the floor. She turned away so she could pretend there weren't tears in her eyes. Family. That word Faye hadn't heard in so long. That word she hadn't been part of for so long. The thing she had longed to be a part of. The thing she had thought she'd found until Spike left and broke her all over again. She never expected anyone to call her family again, not this readily, not so easily, not first.

"If I was family why was I lost for so long?" she whispered. "Where were you all when I needed you?"

"It was my fault," Alex repeated. Faye heard the sorrow that came with the apology this time. "Everyone else was gone. Dead. I didn't realize we'd lost your records at the cryo company at first. We never believed anyone could dare steal syndicate property. But I never stopped trying to find you. Your fake name threw me off. Your debt was eventually what led me to you. I was so relieved you were still alive, even under a different name."

Faye could hear the same loneliness in Alex's voice that resonated in her own chest. (Everyone else was gone. Dead.) So Alex was alone in the world now just like her, huh? Someone had been looking for her. Looking for a family. Faye was someone's family.

Faye had a family.

"I already have a family," Faye whispered. "I won't abandon them."

She could practically feel Alex deflate even though she was still turned away. She didn't want to hurt him further but it was something she had to say, "and I refuse to get mixed up with a syndicate."

"And if I promised you don't have to be part of the syndicate?" he was practically begging at this point. "You wouldn't even have to come back. Just keep contact, on your own terms?"

Faye turned around. Jet had left the room by now but she knew he was still near enough to eavesdrop. Later he'd make her her favorite food as a thank you for calling him family. For not leaving him. They never acknowledge it but it was a truth that was always there.

"Then we can try to be family."

Faye had kept her word. Alex and her had a tentative relationship. She had to force him to stop calling her grandmother or great aunt. She was too young for that and so now he called her by her name. Faye wished she remembered more of her extended family but the memories were still hazy. Alex had told her they had further extended family but that she wouldn't have to meet them until she was ready, that he barely met up with them anymore himself. He couldn't tell her about her past and all the people who could have were now long dead but Faye couldn't deny she liked knowing someone who shared her blood was still alive in the world. She didn't feel nearly so lonely.

Alex had paid off her gambling debt. It was hardly a dip in the savings when he considered the White Tigers vault. He felt responsible for Faye's three years of struggle and had done this to compensate for it all. The cryo company and hospital received a strong threat and dropped the rest of her debt altogether. When Alex asked Faye if there was anything else he could do for her, Faye had thought long and hard about it. It was around the six-month mark of Spike's loss. It was a manner of events that led up to her demand.

Alex rarely discussed syndicate business with her but one of his men had come in the room to provide him updates as he was talking to Faye. Old habits are hard to break and Faye had no shame eavesdropping until she heard the assistant mention the Red Dragons. Faye had stiffened. She didn't hear what the lackey said about their business, all she heard was that the Dragons were still operational.

After everything Spike did. After the sacrifice he'd made. The life he'd lost for that stupid cause… they were still operational. Faye felt frozen again. Like someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on her and then lit her aflame with gasoline.

"I have only one request, Alex."

Her nephew looked concerned at the sudden chill in her tone and the steel in her gaze.

"Destroy the Red Dragons for me."

She hadn't told Alex why or how she got tangled up in them but the younger man seemed to respect her wishes. Maybe he was too afraid to, worrying she'd cut him off if he pried too much. Nonetheless, he'd promised her and set a plan in motion. The Red Dragons would be abolished before the end of the year and Faye would have her revenge.

Which was she was furious when she came home after blowing another bounty to bits to find Alex sitting on the couch of the Bebop waiting for her with a sheepish smile that foretold bad news. Alex never visited the Bebop. Faye preferred it that way. She went to visit him. It was a way for her to keep control over the situation. To make sure her family's bloody past didn't taint her new family on the Bebop. Faye had seen what it had done to Spike and wasn't about to repeat his mistakes. Keeping these two sides or her life separate made sure she wouldn't dwell on them excessively the way Spike did.

Jet preferred it this way too. He was formerly ISSP so any direct connection to a syndicate made him weary anyway but he hated the idea of being under surveillance by such an organization which was why he and Faye had an unspoken understanding that Alex wouldn't interfere with the Bebop. Which made his presence here even more surprising. Alex understood and agreed to this.

"The Red Dragon's leader wants to meet with you."

"No."

Alex had scarcely finished speaking before Faye's answer shot out like a bullet.

"I told him that. He's insisting."

"Why does he know about me?" Faye could feel her eye twitching.

"I was invited to a parley. I had to explain the White Tigers had no personal investment in this feud but that it was necessary."

Faye glared. "Was it so hard to kill them without a warning? Since when are syndicates so honorable?"

"We have a code," Alex shrugged.

"Well, I don't have a reason to meet whoever is in charge over there." Faye crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "I made it your business so handle it yourself."

"I tried. But the leader of the Dragons is willing to come to the Bebop by force to talk to you if you won't agree. He knows you somehow."

Faye scoffed. She wondered how the new leader of the Dragons knew her. Probably through a background check on Spike. Thinking about him again, Faye felt a surge of anger at the man who had left her and the syndicate who had killed him.

"I'll shoot the man myself if he attempts to come here," Faye muttered darkly.

"He wants to negotiate with you. Offer you something to compensate for the loss." Alex explained as if that would help her change her mind.

"My loss cannot be compensated," Faye hissed. Her voice rose to a shout: "They can keep their negotiating tactics to themselves! Unless they destroy their own syndicate with their own hands, I don't want to hear it."

"Well, it's not quite that…" Alex trailed off, considering how to word what he wanted to say next. "But the leader did say they have who you're looking for."

"Who I'm looking for is dead."

"I know. But their leader says he isn't."

Faye stopped as if she'd been shot. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. So that's how they wanted to play it then? Vicious was already dead, Faye couldn't kill him. But Faye would finish what Spike started and take down the Red Dragons herself if she had to. If they wanted to lie and play games with her to make her a fool, she'd play them at their own game. She wasn't Poker Alice for nothing.

"Fine," Faye said hoarsely, murder in her gaze. "If that's how they want to play it. I'll meet the leader of the Dragons"

But if he was lying, which he is, Faye promised, the pompous bastard would end up with a bullet in the chest with from her glock before he could even dare to finish saying her name.

So... how are we liking the developments? Some people had questions about how Alex was related to Faye. What do you think? He keeps calling her grandmother cuz in my culture we usually refer to great aunts/uncles as grandmother/grandfather and that kinda spilled into this fic.

Thank you so much to those who left comments on the first chapter! Please do leave a comment on this one too to let me know what you think! They're so motivating to me these days cuz I'm low energy from a bunch of things going on at once.