On Ganymede a passenger spacecraft landed in the spaceport. It docked into a row of other spacecrafts.

Lee, Shiro and the rest of the Red Dragon crew walked through the sidewalk on Ganymede. A black van drove up to the men and stopped. The doors of the van opened and they entered in. As the other members went in before Shiro he looked up. The sun rose behind the skyline of a city and its glaring rays reflected off the windows of the skyscrapers. Lee sat in the passenger's seat and slammed the door shut. In the driver's seat was a Red Dragon ally by the name of Andre Legrand, a burly man with brown crew cut hair. Lee had Andre assigned in Ganymede as force and intelligence gatherer.

Shiro sat in the middle seat between two guys in the second row. The van drove away and took the streets amongst light traffic.

"Is this the fastest route?" asked Lee.

"Yeah I'm on the way the lower bridge, it'll take us to the business district faster." said Andre.

"Did you pass Basque's building earlier?" asked Lee.

"Yeah I saw it, it's crawling with his guards." said Andre.

"Okay. Well we shouldn't have to be disturbed by it, he isn't going to need them." said Lee.

Shiro leaned in between Lee and Andre. "Sir, the appointment isn't for another two hours what are we going to do in the meantime?" he asked.

Lee turned to look at Shiro. "We'll wait in the lobby." he said.

"Which of us is going?" asked Shiro.

"I'll only need you and two other men inside the building."

"What about the rest of the men?"

"Andre will take them to a hide-out for the time being." said Lee.

"And we'll stop for a while after this right? What else is on the agenda?" asked Shiro.

Lee turned back around and stared through the windshield. "You know how they say it Shiro, 'there's no rest for the wicked.'" he said.

On The Bebop Jet was sitting in the main room on the chair. His arms were crossed and he was uneasily tapping his foot on the floor. Spike walked into the room while reading a book in his hand and looked up to stare at Jet.

"What's going on?" asked Spike.

Jet came alive and looked at Spike. "Nothing, why?" said Jet.

Spike sat on the couch and put his arms up on back rest. "You looked like you were thinking about something that's why." he said.

"A man who has to pay bills is always thinking, and never stays put." said Jet.

"You know what I think? I think it's about that woman that came on the ship yesterday." said Spike.

Jet stiffened and cleared his throat. "Don't be dense, Donna's just an old friend." he said.

"Yeah, that's what they all say."

"And you gathered that just from watching me sit? That I absolutely must be thinking about a woman? You stare into space all the time; I could say the same about you."

Spike stayed silent. Jet's comeback implied that Spike was thinking about Julia. Spike thought perhaps it was true, but he wasn't thinking about Julia the same way Jet was thinking about Donna. Spike's thoughts of Julia only came with regret.

Jet back tracked from his response and realized it was rather insensitive. "Oh I ... I didn't mean it like that," he said, "I'm sorry."

Spike sighed and nodded his head slightly. "It's fine." he said.

Faye then entered in through the octagon-shaped doorway with her sunglasses on. Spike and Jet turned to watch her walk in. Faye stood above them on the platform and leaned against the railing. She took off her sunglasses and looked at Jet.

"Jet the fuel reserve is empty, I can't fill up my ship." said Faye.

"You should've thought about that before you went out and wasted all your fuel." said Jet.

"I'm not the one who wasted the fuel reserve."

"It doesn't matter who wasted it, you should still be keeping track for how much your ship is using."

"It'd be easier if you just went out and bought more fuel Jet."

"We don't have that kind of money to just be using fuel just to go joyriding."

"C'mon already and stop penny-pinching to avoid the real problem. If we went out and got a bounty we wouldn't even be arguing in the first place."

"Believe me money wouldn't stop us from being at each other's neck."

"If we had $25 million I'm sure I'd be awfully charming." said Faye with a smirk.

Jet angrily snarled and stood up. He walked into his quarters and rummaged around. Faye and Spike watched his room curiously. Jet reemerged with a brown portfolio in his hand.

"What are you doing?" asked Faye.

"I finally made up my mind about that bounty," said Jet as he lifted the portfolio in the air, "and I'm going to return these leads."

"You've got to be kidding!" shouted Faye.

"You can go catch him yourself, but good luck without this." said Jet. He began walking up the stairs and Faye ran toward him.

"Jet give me those leads!" demanded Faye. She reached up her arms and tried to snatch the portfolio from Jet's hands.

Spike looked at the two with surprise. He stood up and tried to intervene. "Faye, let him go." he whined.

Jet lifted the portfolio high in the air, far from Faye's reach. "Out of my way!" growled Jet.

Faye followed him to the doorway. Spike walked up the staircase and held Faye back by her shoulders. Jet walked through the doorway into the hangar and the door closed. Spike let go of Faye; she then seethed with anger and kicked the metal door generating a loud, echoing bang.

"Hey, c'mon Faye." said Spike as he tried to put his hand on her.

Faye slapped Spike's hand out of the way. "And you! Get your hands off me!" she said, "Don't act like things are fine between us either."

"Faye-

"Just move Spike, you're blocking the way." said Faye with her fists clenched.

Spike slowly side-stepped and Faye walked pass him. He watched her walk down the staircase and through the main room. As she walked through there Faye said under her breath "How did I ever let myself end up with these two." She walked into her room and the door slid shut. Spike gazed in disappointment.

Inside Basque's tall skyscraper Lee, Shiro and two other Red Dragon members sat in leather armchairs in the waiting lobby. As Lee was talking quietly on his phone Shiro looked around the interior of the building. It had tall windows, decorative foliage, a luster tile floor, marble pillars with high ceilings, stone statues and water fountains. Shiro stared at the secretary as he stood up and walked over to them. The secretary stood with his hands behind his back and said "Mr. Basque is ready for you."

Lee nodded his head and they all stood up. At the top floor, out of the elevator, the secretary led them down a hallway where two guards in black suits opened tall double-doors that revealed a large office. The Red Dragons stared into the room as they saw Marius Basque in a black leather office chair, facing the opposite direction and gazing out the window. Standing by his side was his lawyer, Eleanor Veidt; she was a strikingly gorgeous woman with black hair, sporting glasses, and wearing a gray business skirt and suit.

Lee and his men were about to walk in when Marius spoke. "Lee, leave your goons outside." he said. Lee turned to his two men and nodded. They went outside and Lee and Shiro entered into the office as the double-doors closed. Lee walked forward and menacingly grinned at Veidt. "Ms. Veidt, I remember speaking with you. You're just as beautiful in person as you are over the phone." he said. Eleanor angrily raised her eyebrow. Marius Basque turned his chair around. He was a middle-aged man with graying blonde hair, large hands, and wearing a white business suit.

"Sit down." said Basque pointing to the two armchairs in front of his desk.

Lee and Shiro took a seat. Lee sat back comfortably and Shiro sat up straight with a stiff posture.

"Look I'm going make this quick," said Basque, "What you said over the phone is a bunch of crock; you don't want to do business."

"That's awfully brash of you." said Lee with a smirk.

"What do you really want?"

"What I asked for over the phone."

Basque scoffed. "I know who you are Lee and what you and all your thugs do. You're the ones that attacked that building in Tharsis recently." he said.

"Blue Snake owns the building, why would it concern you?"

"It doesn't, word gets around."

"Well Marius, I believe that it does concern you. You see, I extracted files from Blue Snake and talked to one of their lieutenants and their lawyer. I know you're supplying them with weapons, ammunition, ships, and more. But the question is, why? Why would a self-respecting business man like you help that two-bit gang? What's in it for you?"

"Don't overthink it; I'm only in it for profit."

"Then why specifically command them to attack us?"

"They came to me first. I had the condition to get rid of you because you were their main competition. There was no way I would ever make money if you continued your hold on Mars."

"Why didn't you come to us first then? You know that the Red Dragons have always been the top tier."

"Yeah right, ever since the Van was murdered and then the stooge who ran it after that, you're syndicate is nothing but pathetic."

"You're capable of reading the figures. You knew we were going to rise up and restore, so why didn't you save yourself the trouble and work with us instead of Blue Snake?"

"I'm telling you they came to us first."

"Well I'm giving another chance now, subtract Blue Snake and add us you'll make a vast amount of money."

Basque stared at Lee for a moment with his hand on his chin. Eleanor leaned in and said "Sir, as much of a creep he is, he does have a point. We can make more money with them, Blue Snake has been lacking in making any actual profit for the past two semesters." Eleanor stood up straight again.

Basque thought for a moment. "No. Never, there's no way in hell I we'll ever do business." he said finally.

Eleanor stared at him with surprise. Shiro stared at him seriously and Lee scoffed with a wicked smile.

"I really don't understand your foolishness Marius." said Lee.

"I know why." said Shiro. They all turned to look at him. "Basque is a White Tiger affiliate." he said.

Lee grimly stared at Shiro. "What?" he asked.

"I remember, I kept all my contacts on the White Tiger syndicate and Basque was one of them." said Shiro.

Basque scoffed and sighed. "The kid's right Lee; I am White Tiger." he said.

"I understand now, your syndicate dissolved because of us." said Lee.

"That's right. One of your own, Mao Yenrai, signed a treaty and double-crossed us. We lost our top men and had to scramble around, eventually losing our power." said Basque with his teeth clenched.

"Mao didn't blast that ship your men were in, it was another Red Dragon." said Shiro.

"Well what a tight organization your syndicate runs," said Basque sarcastically, "Seems as though you can't even control your own group; you're all just a bunch of greedy thieves lining up to fill your own pockets."

"Well that's one thing we have in common." said Lee with a smirk.

"Mr. Basque I don't like where this is going, I think we should escort them out." said Veidt.

"Ms. Veidt if I may," said Lee, "I'll tell you how we differ though Marius; while Red Dragon and White Tiger both fell it seems as though we're the ones that have been able to rise up again. White Tiger has been writhing around in the dust, desperately trying to use another syndicate for its own vengeance. You're weak, you're spineless, and you're incapable. And now I can see why we'll never do business together."

"White Tiger may not have any more power but I do Lee." said Basque. He stood up from his chair and put his fists on the desk. "I'm going to have you kicked out of my office right now and I better never see your face again or I will finish you and your syndicate. You understand?"

"Fine Marius, we'll get out of your building. I'm sorry this was such a waste of time for the both of us." said Lee as he stood out of his seat. Basque pushed a button under his desk and the two guards came in and escorted Lee and Shiro out.

Outside the building the Red Dragons stood on the sidewalk. Lee had his hands in his pockets and motioned toward Shiro. Lee and Shiro stood off to the side.

"Shiro you are our point-man, whatever information you gather, don't keep it to yourself." said Lee.

"I didn't think it would come up." said Shiro.

"You knew he was White Tiger, you didn't have the common sense to think that he might be angry with us?"

"I didn't think he was that close to them! I thought they were only part of his clientele."

Lee glared at Shiro. "Next time you better tell me or else." he said.

"I'm sorry sir. But it really has me thinking, he's going to run out of business quick if he holds onto grudges like that." said Shiro.

"Either way we're going to have to go with another plan."

"What would that be?"

"What do you know about the vice president of Basque's company?"

"Leandro Russ? He's been the vice president for a long time already."

"Does he have any ties to White Tiger?"

"No, none I can think of other than being connected to Basque of course."

"Okay I think it's time we have a chat with him." The Red Dragons went about their way.

Jet knocked on the door. His Hammerhead was landed in the street. The area seemed

quiet with not many people out. There were rows of houses and apartments making the whole area felt stacked and crowded. He had the portfolio in his hand with the information on Demetrius Bardon. Jet wasn't really one to try and impress people but it was different when it came to Donna. He felt more insecure about his balding head and his increasing amount of wrinkles. He wasn't very old but Jet the gritty past weighing him down made him hardened and seem much older than he actually was.

The door opened after Jet had knocked. Donna stood in the doorway and was surprised to see Jet standing there.

"Jet?" said Donna.

Jet smirked. "Hey Donna." he said.

Jet was sitting on a chair inside the living room of Donna's home. Donna walked into the room with two mugs of coffee. She set them both down on the table and sat down in the chair across from Jet.

"Glad you caught me on my day off, you didn't have trouble finding the place?" asked Donna.

"No when you gave me the address I knew exactly where it was. I still know Ganymede like the back of my hand." said Jet.

"Oh, well that's good. So what brings you by Jet?" asked Donna with a smile.

"Well it was about the leads you gave me." said Jet.

"Did you need more? Because that's all I have really."

"No that's not it, it's just… I'm not sure if this is the right bounty for me."

"What do you mean?"

"He's too dangerous, and my partners and I aren't really up to getting entangled with this guy."

"Oh I see."

"So I'm here to return the information to you, I won't be needing it."

"Okay well-

Suddenly there was crying coming from the other room. Donna and Jet turned to see where it was coming from.

Donna stood out of the chair. "Sorry, give me a second." she said.

"No it's okay." said Jet.

Donna went through the hallway into the room. Jet took a moment to look around the house. There wasn't a lot in it. Essentially it only had the necessities which Jet admired since he was never really one for luxurious possessions. Donna reemerged into the living room, cradling her son. Jet gazed at her. He stood up and took a better look at him.

"So this is your kid, huh?" asked Jet with a smirk.

"Yeah sorry, I thought he was sleeping." said Donna.

"No it's totally fine; what's his name?"

"Hugo."

"He's seems really young, how old is he?"

"Two years old, but he gets bigger every day."

The boy lifted his head up from Donna's shoulder to hear what was around. Jet chuckled at how adorable Hugo was; he put out his hand so Hugo could grab his fingers. But the boy didn't react to it. Jet was confused when he noticed the boy's eyes were still.

"Oh sorry, he's umm… well Hugo's blind." said Donna.

Jet looked at Donna with shock. He uttered "I'm sorry, I-

"You don't have to say anything Jet. It's okay, Hugo was blind since birth. The doctor said it had to do with the air I was breathing on Venus, it's common out there."

"Have you tried surgery? It's not hard to come by these days."

"It's expensive, sure I make more than enough to have a living but surgery cost a few million woolongs. Every time I try to save up it always goes to paying for other things. I'll get there one day though."

Hugo began smiling. "Ma, play time?" he said.

Donna smiled. "Okay Hugo," she said as she sat him down, "Go on ahead. I'll lead the way." Hugo walked his little legs forward as he grasped his mother's hand. She led him to the living room on a rug where his toys were at.

"I was pretty reckless before he came along… I never thought I would have to support anything other than myself so I didn't save." said Donna.

"That's the way it goes sometimes… it doesn't make you incompetent, just human." said Jet.

"Thanks Jet, I knew I'd get sound advice from you… as always… even though I don't ask for it." said Donna with a smirk.

Jet chuckled and gazed at Donna and Hugo with an earnest feeling. Although he was never one for kids, he tried to understand his hardest how difficult it must be for Donna to try and pay for his surgeries. Jet knew better than almost anyone that ISSP pays so little it's difficult for anyone, man or woman, to make a living. He turned his attention back to the portfolio sitting on the table and contemplated for a moment. In that moment Jet came to the decision that he'd go after the bounty. He wanted the reward to go and pay for Hugo's surgery, because quite frankly he wanted to be in Donna's life and help her out.

"Donna I changed my mind… I'm gonna take it." said Jet.

The glass doors automatically opened as Leandro Russ entered Basque's building in Ganymede. He walked with the stride of bureaucrat, tall and proud with a hint of haughtiness. Russ waved back to people who greeted him. Interns and secretaries asked him if he needed anything, they were ready and eager.

Russ exited out of the elevator on the top floor. He went through the hallway to his office and entered in. Russ closed the door behind him, switched on the light and slightly loosened his tie. He set down the briefcase on his desk and picked the papers that were left there and shuffled through them. One red piece of paper caught his eye as he moved through each piece of paper. The red paper was a folded postcard with a golden dragon design on the front of it. Leandro broke the seal of the card and opened it. He read the note with an eyebrow raised.

Leandro had left Basque's building and went the top of a different building. The wind was blowing his tie and hair back. The night had come; the electric lights brightened the bottom of the city. At the top the only light were the stars and the monotonous blinking red lights of the radio towers on the buildings. There was a doorway to a stairwell that Russ kept on staring back at until the door slowly opened. Lee, Shiro, and four other Red Dragon members arrived to the top of the building with Leandro Russ. The wind blew back their hair and ties as well.

Russ became a little disconcerted as he saw a cavalry of Red Dragons. He didn't expect so much man power. "Lee, you didn't say you'd be bringing your men." he said.

"Don't let them bother you, it's only precaution." said Lee.

"You told me to come alone, how's this supposed to make me feel?" asked Russ.

"Secure, if you're on our side. These men will protect you too if you don't double-cross me of course."

"Okay fair enough."

The Red Dragon members stood guard around the stairwell door. Lee talked to Russ at the edge of the building. Leandro smoked as he had his arms supported on the barrier.

"How much has Basque's company income dropped in the past year?" asked Lee.

"Quite a bit, Basque was great before but lately he's just been careless." said Russ.

"I see."

"Do you want to know something? He was supposed to retire early a while ago and he told me I was going to be running things."

"And yet he's still there."

"You wrote that you could help me become president of the company, how do you intend on doing that?"

"Let's say in a foreseeable future the Red Dragon Syndicate will be running Basque Industries. But I need a man I can trust to head it, a man who has been there long enough to know his way around it. You're that man Russ, you've been with Basque for years, and there isn't a better candidate."

"Okay I see where you're going with this, but how are you going to get Basque to step down?"

"He's in hot water right now, as you probably already know; the hitman which he supposedly hired is missing."

"Demetrius… yeah Basque told me to keep a tight lid on this. It's nothing new I've had to keep shut about a lot of stuff over the years. Now that the company is legitimate we don't have to do these kinds of things but Basque still does it anyways."

"If I can find Demetrius and get him confess against Basque he'll be arrested and you'll be heading the company. Sure ISSP will be keeping a close eye on you, but we won't do anything stupid, only drop the criminal empire he's been running."

"You want Demetrius?"

"Can you give me a way to find him?"

"Yeah, I've had a team keeping tabs on him trying to find him. Basque doesn't know about it."

"My men are able to do just that, hand me whatever your men have on Demetrius and we'll find him."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm positive we'll find Demetrius."

The water around The Bebop began rippling as Jet landed his Hammerhead on the runway. Jet walked into the main room. There was no one inside so Jet made his way to his quarters. When he arrived to his door Spike was walking through the same hallway, brushing his teeth. They made eye contact but didn't say anything to each other. Spike then looked at the portfolio in Jet's hand.

Spike spit into the cup in his hand and wiped his mouth with the towel around his neck. "I thought you were taking that back?" he asked Jet.

Jet's door opened and he went inside his room. He turned on the lights and set the portfolio down on the desk. "Yeah, I was but… we need the money. And it'd be waste not to at least try with the leads we have." said Jet.

Spike stood in the doorway and leaned his arm against the frame. "Huh, even after that little show earlier we're still going after the guy?" he said.

"Yeah, man is Faye going to rub it in."

"A little; I'm just surprised you're going through with it."

"I'm surprised myself. But what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, usually you're gung-ho for a bounty but I've seen you show zero interest in this one."

"What, do you want me to be out there so I can get caught?"

"Well no, but usually I have to stop you from doing it. I'm having no trouble stopping you this time."

Spike sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know… ever since the last one I haven't really been in the mood for another." he said.

"Why?" asked Jet.

"Because the last one didn't give me the satisfaction I was expecting."

"I've known a long time Spike; you're always in it for the thrill more than the money."

"I think the thrill is gone."

"If that's the case then focus on it so we don't starve to death."

Spike scoffed lightly and smirked. "I thought you did all this to deliver justice?" he said.

Jet shrugged. "Can't deliver justice on an empty stomach, right?" he said.

"Yeah I guess." said Spike chuckling.

"But seriously Spike, if you're going to be a part of this we still have to be careful. All the same rules apply." said Jet.

"Well you haven't even told me anything about this guy, let me get a look at him." said Spike.

Jet opened the portfolio on his desk and let the papers spill out. He shuffled through them and found the mug shot of Demetrius Bardon. He lifted up the photo and handed it to Spike. "Here, his name as you probably know is Demetrius Bardon. Connections to Marius Basque and a background in military training, he's high profile but nothing we haven't handled before."

Spike gazed at the photo of Demetrius. There was something distressing about him that Spike couldn't put his finger on. Spike's different colored eyes strained under the thought of what was ahead.

A/N: Kind of a dense chapter but I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter the action will definitely heat things up as Lee and The Bebop crew go after Demetrius Bardon. See you Space Cowboys and Cowgirls!