A/N: Hey guys I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I've started to slow the pace a little because some have expressed that they wanted it to slow down so they could enjoy the plot and characters more. Pay attention to the Red Dragon characters too their story is important! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! See you Space Cowboys and Cowgirls!

"Never to go on trips with anyone you do not love."

― Ernest Hemingway

There was a bright flash as The Bebop entered Ganymede's hyper-space gate. Jet's home system seemed like the best place for them to lay low, Spike's presence in Mars was too dangerous. Jet wasn't worried, usually ISSP on different systems didn't like to interfere with each other's internal affairs unless there need be. In PDG Bob was the only security blanket that Jet had, but at the same time Bob knew that Spike was with them so he was more of a liability.

Jet was in the main bridge sitting in the captain's chair while Spike cat-napped on the front seat. Jet clicked away at the keyboard as Faye walked into the bridge.

"Is it cold in Ganymede right now?" asked Faye.

"It was terra formed from ice and it cycles back, of course it's cold." said Jet.

"Colder than that tone you're using with me right now Jet?"

"Almost."

"I'm not surprised that of all the places you decide to lay low of course it has to be your home."

"You got a problem with Ganymede?"

"A place with less land than Neptune, no thanks."

"It's much more civilized than Earth that's for sure."

"When I was young Earth was a pretty great place."

"It's hard to imagine that rock ever being great."

"Yeah well when I was young there were so many sights and things to do, you should've seen it."

"You told me you were wealthy, you sure that didn't change your perspective compared to the rest of the world?"

Faye crossed her arms and scowled. "I wasn't some spoiled brat if that's what you're insisting."

"Yeah but you're definitely a brat now." said Jet under his breath.

Faye slammed her heel into Jet's foot and he screamed in pain. "And I wasn't spoiled either. I'm especially not spoiled now, how could any of us be spoiled when we never have any food?" said Faye.

"Why don't you ask your other team mate." said Jet.

Spike lifted up his head but didn't turn to look at them. "Jet I thought you said you got to keep money without me around well where is it now?" asked Spike.

"We put most of it into an account for you, but it's frozen now and we can't touch the damn money." said Jet.

"Why's that?"

"Because your dumbass left the hospital!"

Spike slowly stood out of the chair and put his hands in his pockets. He walked past Jet and Faye as went down the stairs into the living room. Faye watched Spike as he left and then turned back to Jet. "You know you shouldn't try so hard to make him feel guilty." said Faye. Jet continued to click away at the keyboard and stayed silent. Faye left the main bridge and went down the stairs to find Spike lying down the couch with a book covering his face. She walked up to him and took the book off his face. Spike turned onto his side to face away from Faye. Faye crouched next to him.

"You know he doesn't mean it Spike. He's probably just nervous about going back to Ganymede especially after the last few times." said Faye.

"You two would be better off if I had died huh? Funerals are cheaper you know." said Spike.

"That's the last thing Jet would've wanted, trust me he's just trying to hide his feelings from you." she said with a whimsical smile.

"What a closed-off group." said Spike.

Faye's expression became solemn as she stared at Spike. She stood up straight and threw the book back at Spike. She walked away from the living room and into her room.

Inside of her room Faye stretched and laid down on her bed. She was preoccupied that no one the ship was attempting to change from their old ways along with her. She was trying her hardest to be a better person; for the past few years Faye had lied and cheated to endure the hand she was dealt. But as she remembered her past she also remembered what kind of person she was too. Faye was a very sweet and mild-mannered girl in her youth; her mother always thought it was important to instill morals in her. She wasn't closed-off either; she was able to express herself freely and being a cheerleader definitely helped with that. She had lost herself to this odd future; but slowly she was trying to restore it by being apologetic and giving closure. Her comrades were of no help to this.

After Lee had announced to his enforcers that a rival syndicate was moving in on them he sent Shiro, a young black-haired man, to find information on Blue Snake in hopes of using it against them. It was late afternoon; Shiro stood with his hands in his coat pockets on the steps outside of a tall skyscraper. An ISSP patrol car drove up and stopped in front of the steps. Shiro opened the door to the patrol car and sat inside. The car drove off and headed inside of an alley. Inside of the car the officer handed files inside of a manila folder to Shiro.

"We caught some guys with a few cases of red-eye so we know they're taking from us." said the officer.

"Did they talk?" asked Shiro.

"Not at all, but I have another lead. I know this other officer, his name's Jack. Me and some of the other guys have been building a case on him for a while. I had one of my guys patrol with him and Jack's been taking him to some meetings with Blue Snake."

"Did your guy hear what they were talking about?"

"He said that Jack traded off a hefty amount of confiscated red-eye for a lot of woolongs."

"You sure Jack just isn't just crooked? You know just trying to make a little score on the side?"

"That's what I thought, but my guy said that they were talking too much like old friends and that Jack said he'd meet back with them soon. But it didn't seem like it was going to be about money."

"You think Jack is a member?"

"He's awfully easy on Blue Snake when we arrest them."

"But now we know Blue Snake is trying to muscle in our red-eye flow."

"That's right."

"What do you think I should tell Lee?"

"Tell him about Jack, I'll have my guy ask him about when the next meeting is and I'll update you."

"All right thanks."

"Anything for the Dragon."

Shiro and the officer shook hands as he held onto the files. Shiro opened the door to the patrol car and got out. He slammed the door and the car drove off while Shiro took out his phone and dialed it. "Hey Dodge, it's me. Come on by I think we have our lead." he said.

Inside the ship bay Jet was working on the Redtail; there was floating pieces of metal everywhere. Spike walked in and stood above Jet while he was under the ship. Jet came out and stood next to Spike with a cigarette between his lips. Jet floated the cigarette to Spike and he inhaled it. Spike exhaled the smoke and leaned on the ship with his arms crossed.

"You ever hear this one?" asked Jet.

Spike looked intently at Jet.

"One time there was a fox with a bone stuck in his throat. He told the whole forest that if anyone could dislodge the bone he would give them a reward. Of course the whole forest tried to dislodge it, but one by one they all failed. One time a crane came by and gave it a go. With his long and thin beak he was able to extract the bone from the fox's throat. When the crane asked for the reward the fox said that knowing he had helped him should be reward enough." said Jet.

"You know I appreciate you letting me back on the ship. I really do." said Spike.

"Yeah sometimes I'm just being selfish and expecting my end of the deal." said Jet.

"But I never offered a reward."

"When we first met you told that you were the best, that if you and I teamed up we'd make a lot of money. That equals a reward in my book."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been thinking with that bird-brain then." said Spike with a smile.

"I really hate birds." said Jet.

Spike started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" asked Jet.

"I'm just trying to imagine you as some elegant crane. Bald head and all." said Spike with whimsy.

Jet closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah I guess that would be pretty ridiculous." he said.

Spike started laughing and grabbed onto Jet's shoulder to try and hold his composure. Jet started laughing along and soon both of them were in an uproar. Their laughter echoed throughout the halls of The Bebop and Faye barged in with a facial mask on. "Would you guys keep it down?!" she said. Her annoyed expression quickly turned to confusion as she stared at Jet and Spike holding onto each other and laughing until their sides hurt.

Dodge and Shiro walked into a dimly lit bar; they walked toward the bar counter and sat on wooden stools. Dodge knocked on the counter and said "Just give me two glasses of whiskey." The bar tender who was cleaning a glass nodded at Dodge. Dodge took out a cigarette and lighted it. He motioned the cigarette carton at Shiro but he pushed the carton away with the back of his hand.

"I don't smoke." said Shiro.

"I guess that's why we never hang out." said Dodge.

Shiro tried to put down the manila folder on the counter but the bar tender put down two glasses before he could. Dodge moved the glasses and Shiro placed the files down. "Hey bring the whole bottle of whiskey, yeah?" said Dodge. The bar tender placed the whiskey on the counter next to Dodge. He gulped down the glass of whiskey and opened up the manila folder.

"Who's this?" asked Dodge.

"He's a cop, his name is Jack." said Shiro.

"He's our lead?"

"Yes sir."

"Our guy said he's part of the Snake?"

"Yeah he has an in with the meetings between Jack and Blue Snake. They're making deals with our red-eye."

"Taking what's ours, those stupid little shits."

"That's why they attacked you and Ren?"

"Yeah. But Ren didn't die for nothing."

"So are you going to take this up to Lee?"

"Yeah he's gonna like this. This is really good work Shiro."

Dodge poured more whiskey into the glass and gulped it down. Shiro tried to drink the whiskey but ended up spitting it out. Dodge laughed and patted Shiro harshly on the back.

"You need to relax Shiro, you're too uptight." said Dodge.

"I think everyone around here is too relaxed if you ask me." said Shiro.

"Well no one's ever gonna ask you anything that's for sure." said Dodge as he gulped down another glass of whiskey.

The Bebop exited through Ganymede's hyper-space gate and floated toward the blue moon. Inside the ship Jet was in the captain's chair trying to connect to the Ganymede control tower in order to gain permission into the system.

"What are going to tell them when they ask what's on board Jet?" asked Faye.

"Just a couple of humble bounty hunters and some space crafts, nothing else. Besides my old partner Donnelly shouldn't give us too much of a hassle." said Jet.

"We certainly have our in-roads with ISSP don't we?" said Spike.

"I think they trust you too much if you ask me." said Faye.

"I've never had anything to hide from them." said Jet.

"Yeah not until now." said Faye.

"Don't worry about it. ISSP is incompetent, always has been. We can relax while we're here." said Jet.

"Yeah relax, with what money?" said Faye.

"We'll figure out something." said Jet.

"You know… there are plenty of bounty heads out here in Ganymede." said Spike.

"What'd I say before Spike? We'd be attracting too much attention to ourselves." said Jet. The computer in the control unit beeped and the screen turned up.

Present State of Affairs…

Your Access was Completed.

A video link set up and there was a young ISSP officer on the screen. "This is Ganymede police regarding your permission to land." he said. Jet was shocked not to see Donnelly on the screen. Faye and Spike held their breath as they worried that new officer would not them through.

Jet cleared his throat and said "Umm… ship identification number, NCC-170. Captain Jet Black speaking."

The young officer became bright-eyed and smiled wide. "Wait a minute you're the Jet Black?! The Black Dog?!" he said.

"Uh yeah that's me." said Jet.

"It's an honor to meet you sir! I'm a big fan!" said the young officer.

"Really?"

"Yeah you're a real legend in Ganymede to all the rookies in PDG! My name's Joel and uh you're asking permission to land?"

"That's right."

"Should be no problem!" said Joel.

"I don't mean to pry but do you know what happened the guy before you, an old guy named Donnelly?" asked Jet.

"Yeah he retired a few months ago. He's resting comfortably with his family right now."

"Well that's good to hear."

"All right then I'll give you clearance! Welcome back Jet Black!" said Joel as he switched off the screen. Everyone on The Bebop breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you have a fan club huh Jet?" said Faye.

"Don't make it sound cheap. It's just a couple of guys who can appreciate talent." said Jet.

"Can I have an autograph then Mr. Black Dog?" said Faye whimsically.

"Shut it! You're being obnoxious!" said Jet.

"You two really sound like a broken record." said Spike.

The Bebop landed in a harbor on Ganymede in the morning. The ports were filled with fisherman and sailors going about their day. Inside of The Bebop Faye was filing her nails and Jet was on his computer in the living room. The television was displaying the news. The anchor looked right into the camera. "Breaking news out of Ganymede, Senator Peter Moore was assassinated during a conference today. Witnesses say that was a loud bang and a bullet shattered the window and the room panicked. After they calmed Senator Moore was found dead." said the anchor. Spike walked in and said "Hey Jet I'm heading out."

"What, already? We just got here." said Jet.

"We've been cooped up in here for too long, I need some air." said Spike.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." said Jet.

"Yeah Spike's right, I need to get out of here too." said Faye. She stood up from the couch and grabbed her red overcoat.

"Oh so you two are just gonna leave me by myself is that it?" said Jet as he crossed his arms.

"You can get out of here too Jet, you have plenty of old buddies you can be seeing." said Faye.

Jet grumbled "I'm not the kind to just drop in on old friends." he said.

"Yeah just old girlfriends huh?" said Faye.

Jet scowled and turned his attention back to the computer. "Fine whatever just go. Don't go wrecking everything though." he said.

Spike and Faye went into the ship bay and launched off in their ships while Jet stayed behind and clicked away at his computer.

Dodge and Shiro walked around Tharsis at night. Dodge was smoking a cigarette while Shiro held onto the files tightly.

"Hey you gotta keep up kid." said Dodge.

"I'm sorry sir. It's kind of cold." said Shiro.

"How long have you lived on Mars, Shiro?"

"All my life. I was born here. What about you sir?"

"Me? Ah, I was born on Earth. Made my way up and was able to fly out here when I was twenty."

"Earth? What's it like?"

"Shitty. I'm surprised people are still having babies there."

"Well you've certainly made things quite well for yourself."

"Don't be such a kiss ass Shiro."

"I'm sorry sir."

"I'm just messing with you kid. I like you, you got good work ethic."

"Oh… well thank you sir."

Dodge threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped it down. A car with its headlights turned off was slowly approaching Dodge and Shiro. Dodge stopped Shiro as he looked behind him. Shiro turned around to look at the car. The car stopped for a second as they stared at it. Dodge began to walk back slowly, grabbing Shiro by the arm and then they began to run. The car turned on its headlights and sped forward. Dodge and Shiro ducked into an alley while the passenger in the car began shooting at the street. The car drove past them and then turned around. Shiro and Dodge ran through alley and out the other end to the street. The car stopped in front of the alley. The two men that were inside the car got out and ran into the alley. On the other end they couldn't find Dodge or Shiro. One of the men turned his head as Dodge punched him in the face. He fell unconscious as the other man pointed his gun at Dodge, but Shiro knocked him out with a piece of wood. Dodge and Shiro dragged the unconscious men into the alley. Dodge grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured it on them. One of the guys gagged on it while the other one started backing up against the wall. Dodge and Shiro pointed their guns at them.

"Hey man what the hell do you think you're doing?!" said one of the men.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" said Dodge.

"Following orders."

"From who? You guys trying to get these files?"

"Yeah that's what we were told."

"Does your boss know what's in 'em?"

"No that's why he wanted them so badly."

"Good we're gonna keep it that way."

"Hey we promise we won't tell him that we saw you guys! We'll just say that we couldn't find you!"

"I don't know if I can believe that you know?"

"You gotta believe us man we won't say a word!"

Shiro then fired his gun at the man and shot him point blank in the head. Then he pointed it at the other man as he tried to run away. Shiro shot him in the back twice and he fell to the floor. Dodge was dumbfounded.

"Jesus, Shiro." said Dodge.

"Were you going to let them go?" asked Shiro.

"I don't know maybe, I didn't wanna create a scene."

"Well I made the tough decision for you. You can thank me later." Shiro put the gun back in its holster and walked out of the alley with his hands in his pocket. Dodge stared at Shiro with concern but decided to drop it and followed after him before ISSP came to the crime scene.