Hey hi hello wassup. Don't be mad at me. Hope you like it. Thank you again for the reviews. Some more notes at the end.

The night of the party approached far too quickly. Ben had called on Wednesday, sent a suit over for Spike on Thursday, and now it was already Friday, party night. Spike felt like what he imagined a little boy forced into a Sunday suit by his mother would feel like. He only had foggy memories of his real mother, so he'd never really experienced it himself, but the metaphor felt apt. He sat on the couch chain smoking, perverting the image of the little boy in his Sunday best quite thoroughly. With one hand fisted grabbing the excess fabric around the knees in this borrowed suit, Spike scowled and occasionally threw furtive glances in the direction of Faye's room. They agreed to meet in the living room at 8:00 to leave and be at the party by 8:30. It was currently 8:15, of course she's late. Spike wasn't on time either, but he was earlier than her, and had been waiting for at least 5 minutes. Jet sauntered in, supremely amused about a minute ago and was only exacerbating Spike's displeasure.

"She's going to give you shit if you end up wrinkling the suit grabbing at it like that," Jet just had to comment while lighting his own cigarette.

Spike fought the urge to actually snarl at Jet, but that would be taking his rage out on the wrong person. No, the only person who had gotten Spike in this shitty situation, was himself. He had agreed to go to this party mostly resting on the assumption he could and would collect on some ridiculous form of payment from Faye. The more humiliating the better. Though it had seemed like a marvelously good idea at the time, Spike was now stewing in regret, feeling strangely empty and inadequate in a suit he could never afford.

I don't want to deal with lovesick Faye, I don't want to deal with any posturing from Ben, least of all I don't want to pretend to be interested in Ben's little cousin.

He was trying to comfort himself now with thoughts of the possible favors he could demand of Faye as payment, though none of them were sexual. No they mostly involved her making him breakfast in bed wearing a stupid frilly apron for a month, or scrubbing down the grime on the Swordfish with nothing but a toothbrush while he watched. Okay maybe those do border on sexual fantasy. Can't really help it when her body looks like…

He barely kept ahold of his cigarette fighting the urge to let his jaw drop, as Faye picked that exact moment to walk in wearing one of the most eye catching dresses Spike had ever seen. He had seen her in any number of skin tight and/or revealing outfits and had never felt much of anything about it. But when a woman you are literally on the edge of admitting you have sexual fantasies about walks in wearing that, you can't help but reacting, at least a little. She had swapped out her usual yellow color palette for a gold dress that was simple, elegant and sexy all at once. Of course it showed a fair amount of cleavage, her breasts were near bursting out of the structured bodice top half of the dress, it still was Faye after all, but it was a great deal more subdued than her normal wardrobe. The dress seemed to be dripping off of her curves, and though the skirt of it was knee length, an appealing slit would appear exposing the creamy skin of her thigh whenever Faye moved because of the way the looser fabric of the dress' bottom half was wrapped and tied around her hips. Her lips were painted a deep crimson and her eyes seemed to glow an even brighter green than usual in contrast.

Spike should have made Jet knock on wood, because no sooner had Spike schooled his expression back into something more appropriate than slack jawed shock, had she appraised his appearance with narrowed eyes and said, "Don't you dare wrinkle Ben's suit. You're lucky he smokes too, it wouldn't do to return it to him reeking if he didn't."

"Don't nag me," he replied, grouchily stubbing out his cigarette, standing and pointedly not looking at Faye, "Are you finally ready to go? We haven't even left yet and I already wish I was back here."

The ride to the party was spent in uneventful silence. Faye had to drive them in the RedTail because the Swordfish was still grounded, and it was a tight squeeze fitting both of them in the cockpit. It took some serious maneuvering on Faye's part to mold her body around the controls, limited as her movement was from the tight dress and high heels. Spike spared a momentary empathetic thought for women at large, Damn lucky I wasn't born a woman, I don't have to deal with any of that bullshit.

Spike would not admit to being afraid, but the knot in his stomach got tighter the closer they got to the venue. Watching through the windows as the slums slowly faded into the background, they were headed towards one of the richest areas on Mars, Spike's regret at ever agreeing to come intensified. This is not where he belonged, rubbing elbows with elitist pricks who have their private police forces to guard them from the unwashed masses. In his past Spike had only ever been allowed to tread in spaces like these because of his position as Mao's protege. Nowadays his appearance among these kinds of people most often meant that one of them got on the wrong side of the law and a big payday for the Bebop was right around the corner. For tonight, Spike could only hope that Faye would get distracted with Prince Charming and maybe he could slip out unnoticed.

Spike groaned internally, We haven't even made it inside yet.

Faye parked her small craft on a landing pad near one of the grandest and largest properties Spike had ever seen. Seemingly eschewing typical Martian architecture, this estate, because it was an estate, palatial almost, was modeled off buildings that Spike didn't know the names of, but had seen in old Earth history texts. It had a long green grass lawn, usually unheard of on the Red Planet; green meant water, which meant money in more ways than one. Various hedges were trimmed to look like different animals or space crafts. Spike disembarked from the RedTail first and he could see other party goers were meandering slowly up the long walkway through this green garden, stopping occasionally to take in the topiary, until they eventually reached the front steps where several colorful lamps were lit and service workers were waiting to take coats.

Spike was still taking this all in, trying to keep his face trained into cool nonchalance to avoid showing how much this display of wealth was simultaneously impressing and disgusting him, when Faye managed to climb down from the cockpit. She stumbled slightly and used Spike's elbow to catch herself, turning his full attention to her.

He raised one eyebrow slightly and cocked his head lazily toward the party as if to say, Alright let's just get this over with. For her part, the corner of Faye's mouth quirked upward ever so slightly as she straightened her posture and eyed Spike up and down. With a more pronounced smirk she reached up to neaten his collar and brushed some non-existent dust off of his lapel. Spike rolled his eyes and turned away to start walking to the party without her when she caught him by the elbow again. This time however she slipped her arm through the crook of his and fell into pace beside him. Spike had a vague memory of them playing at being a couple for a job before, but Faye had never let him so much as hold her hand. Not that he wanted to anyway… but this was… different. The soft light from the lamps that had come alive in the garden made Spike think of when he had first set eyes on Faye. They always keep it a little dim and smoky in casinos. He wasn't happy about being cheated out of his poker chips, but he could not deny a certain fascination with her. She's a character that's for sure. A sort of kindred spirit as well, but Spike cut off that train of thought with a quick refresher course on his rules.

"Stop scowling," she interrupted his thoughts jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow a little harder than was strictly necessary, "You look miserable. What do you have to be so miserable about?"

Spike fixed her with a hard glare, but didn't answer, and Faye laughed a little nervously.

"Ok, ok, maybe I don't want you to answer that, but… just look around! This place is incredible. People are smiling, they're dancing, they're eating good food. They're happy!"

"You can't really believe that Faye. All this pointless wealth, they're just pandering to their neighbor trying to climb the social ladder. They're hollow and vain, not happy. And this has never been the world I wanted to belong to. I'm here, but I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not."

It was the truth too. Sure Spike had been envious of their material wealth, the easy way which everything seemed to fall into their laps, but he had never been the one with dreams of riches untold. Maybe 4 course meals for the rest of his life wouldn't be half bad, but he didn't need a lot. He had been pretty happy for a short while living above Annie's liquor store, stealing short interludes with Julia, never worrying about money, but never living in excess either. Spike was a simple man at heart, wishing for the moon and more had always been more Faye's speed.

Faye took a moment to digest his words, but then it seemed like she decided she didn't want to deal with them, so she adopted a teasing tone sighing heavily for exaggerated effect,

"I guess it was too much to ask for you to enjoy yourself. At least you have a beautiful woman on your arm," and she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"Tch, where? Who says?"

"For your information, Jet did. Right before we left, he said, 'Faye, you look stunning', how about that?"

"Old geezer has always been a flatterer."

"Well if I can't convince you of my good looks, then you'll just have to be my arm candy instead. That suit looks very good on you Spike."

Faye elbowed him in the ribs again catching Spike off guard in the wake of such a rare compliment, and this time he let out a little 'whuff' of air half in surprise, half in pain.

Despite that, he was just getting comfortable with the idea of being Faye's arm candy when her shriek and sudden disengagement from his elbow signaled that Prince Charming had made his entrance. Spike tried not to think about the fading warmth at his side that she had left in her wake.

Quite a bit later at the party, Spike had found a good hiding place. Not really a hiding place, he could see and hear the party goers through a set of glass doors perfectly clearly, but this smaller balcony had no decorative lamps or over attentive wait staff. Essentially Spike had found a place to bring his plates, multiple, stacked high with food and hors devours from the buffet table, eat and smoke in silence. He had easily snatched a bottle of champagne from a distracted server and was leaning over the side of the balcony on his elbows with the now nearly empty bottle at his left. Predictably Faye had latched herself onto Ben as soon as she set eyes on him, leaving Spike feeling a bit like chopped liver. Spike excused himself fairly quickly after that, holding back a gag at the sheer corniness of Ben's flattery.

"Faye you look like a glass of champagne that has been poured into that dress. Absolutely breathtaking."

And Faye was eating it up too, clinging to him, giggling hopelessly.

Spike almost felt remorse for the way he had brushed off Ben's little cousin, she was decent looking, not as young as he was expecting which was nice, a little boring maybe, but seemed like a good kid undeserving of the bristly treatment she got from him.

Spike was on maybe his fifth cigarette, seriously considering climbing down the trellis of vines attached to the side of the building when he heard the doors open behind him, letting sounds of music and laughter leak out. Slightly dulled though his senses were from a hearty champagne buzz, Spike knew immediately it wasn't Faye. It was clearly a man's footsteps and they were alone, the door closed after them and the sounds from the party grew dimmer once again.

It was Ben, of course who else would it be, and he settled an easy distance apart from Spike, mirroring his posture leaning over the edge of the balcony railing.

Ben inhaled deeply and exhaled with a loud sigh, Spike spared him the barest of glances out of the corner of his eye, Ben was looking up at the stars, seemingly just getting some fresh air.

"I'm not sure I'm surprised, but I had hoped that you would perhaps show a little more consideration for my cousin."

Spike couldn't really care less but he apologized gruffly anyway, "I'm going to be leaving soon anyhow, tell her I'm sorry."

Ben smirked slightly, "Yes well, I can't really say I'm all that disappointed either. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had seen my little cousin go off with a former Red Dragon."

Spike didn't grace Ben with the reaction Spike was sure he was hoping for, instead just slyly sliding his eyes over to take in Ben's body language. The Dragons were gone, but nothing exists in a vacuum, and Spike had no doubt that some other organization had stepped in to fill that void. Just how does Ben make all this money anyway? Spike wondered, not for the first time, but with more suspicion behind it now.

"So, should I be concerned for Faye getting herself involved with you?"

Ben actually laughed.

"No, no, nothing like that. Mars is a small planet. I've lived here my whole life and done business with enough of the right kind, or I suppose the wrong kind of people, to know who you are. Doing high profile business like I do you inevitably meet a few unsavory characters, but I assure you my company is on the level. I didn't mean to imply anything other than I know who you are Spike Spiegel. Most anyone on Mars who pays attention should at least know your name. You really think that after nearly single handedly taking down the last of one of the most feared Syndicates in the known universe that the people of Mars wouldn't know you? It was on the news for quite a few months."

Spike was beginning to get uncomfortable. He had never thought of it that way, like he deserved recognition or thanks. That was the furthest thing from his mind when he went to the Church that day. He covered his unease with flippancy,

"Well shit. Guess I should have been trying to get free stuff with my celebrity status. You think it would still work?"

Ben smirked but did not continue the conversation.

Spike turned around so that he was leaning backward on the railing, looking in at the party. His eyes found Faye almost immediately. She was laughing casually with a glass of champagne in her hand. Ben had made her happy in a way that Spike never could. He tore his gaze away and tried to think of something else, let's see how well Prince Charming does on his feet.

"So since I'm supposed to be playing the big brother character, I guess I have to ask you. What are your intentions toward our dear Faye? You say you're on the level but you have all this money and she's never mentioned anything about how you make it. I lived on Mars my whole life too, I know you don't just make this kind of green in this city without selling a little bit of your soul on the way, unless you're born into it, and you don't quite strike me as the silver spoon type. So what's your deal huh?"

Ben skillfully avoided Spike's real questions and responded only to the first part, rolling the first three words on his tongue like he was trying them on,

"Supposed to be playing the big brother… So my fears weren't quite as unfounded as Faye would have me believe after all?"

Oh Spike could work with jealousy, maybe I'll get some fun out of this party yet. He tried not to sound as smug as he felt,

"Yeah, Faye and me, not brother and sister. Not even close."

But to Spike's disappointment, instead of rising to his taunt Ben just narrowed his eyes and replied,

"And? What would you have me do with that information. I can see perhaps you had hoped for some kind of confrontation from me this evening, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you."

Spike wanted to smack himself, letting his eyes widen and show Ben how close he had come to the truth; Ben smiled an infuriating Prince Charming smile and continued,

"You want me to ban Faye from seeing you? You want me to scream and yell about how I think it's inappropriate for her to live with two men? You really think that that would drive her to me? No, no I think you've done a great job of that yourself, without me having to lift a finger."

Ben actually put his hand on Spike's shoulder in a pseudo brotherly gesture. Spike jerked out of Ben's grasp almost immediately earning a chuckle from the other man.

"Have a good evening Spike. Just say the word to any of my staff and they will arrange for your transportation back to the Bebop. If I might dare to be so forward, I'm going to say that Faye will be spending the night here. With me. Enjoy the party."

And he left.

Spike had lost track of Faye amongst the crowds in his distraction and anger. He wanted nothing more than to storm out right now, dragging her with him but that would be giving the bastard Ben too much power. No what Spike needed was another cigarette, another mental review of his rules, and a couple deep breaths. He released the balcony railing from his white knuckled grip of ill concealed anger and sighed, returning to the pose he had adopted before Ben had ruined his calm.

None of this matters because I'm not really close to Faye anyway. I don't care what trouble she gets herself in. I don't care that this guy seems fishy, I don't care that he's purposely baiting me. She doesn't need me to save her. She's a grown woman who makes her own damn choices and I'm not her knight in shining armor. Never have been, never will be. No she found her own Prince Charming, but that's fine because I'm not jealous.

Then that was all almost immediately blown to shit when, for the second time that evening, Spike heard the glass doors open and the party sounds get momentarily louder before it closed again. This time the sharp click of high heels told Spike it was a woman.

"Hey, here you are," Faye's voice called out to him. Of course it's her. Spike would have almost preferred the boring cousin in this particular moment.

"Is this where you've been hiding all night? I missed you, some of these rich people are so ridiculous I was looking for you to laugh at them with me, but you were never there."

He could tell she was buzzed with the easy way she was speaking to him. There was an openness to her that was different even from her shy attempts over breakfast a few days ago, bolstered as it was by a little liquid courage.

Something broke in Spike's brain then, perhaps more affected by the champagne than he thought he was. He didn't have time to deny to himself the ego boost that had coursed through his body at the idea, that despite her easy smiles and Ben's smooth self-confidence, there was something Faye was looking for that (at least for now) only Spike could give her. He crossed the space between them in a few powerful long strides and grabbed Faye's hands in his, fixing her with the same intense stare he had when he had told her about his eyes so long ago. She looked at him with the same confusion and apprehension as back then too.

"I'm collecting my payment now. Leave with me. Let's go somewhere, we don't have to go back to the Bebop yet if you don't want to, but this guy is fishy Faye. Please just trust me on this. And if you don't well then too bad, you have to anyway because you said you would do anything."

Spike could have guessed she wouldn't take that well. She yanked her hands away from his, "Spike come on. Don't get jealous on me now. I don't appreciate it, and I told you as much already. You don't own me."

"Yeah ok, but I don't care about that at the moment. Ben came out here trying to get into some dick measuring contest with me taunting me saying I need to find my own ride because you're going to stay the night with him. Does that sound like a guy who really respects you either?"

Unfortunately she was a little too far gone to see the (semi-dubious) logic in Spike's words.

"And so what, you thought you'd win the dick measuring contest by stealing me away right from under his nose? Nice try making it sound like you actually care about me though."

Ok maybe he was conveniently forgetting to mention his taunts to Ben, but Spike's own tongue had been loosened by the whole bottle of champagne he had polished off, and his gut was telling him that Ben was hiding something.

"Goddamnit I do care about you Faye. Can't you hear that's what I'm trying to say? I do, and this guy doesn't. He's up to something. He knows I used to be a Red Dragon, he talked about you like you were a fucking prize to be won, slimy shitball, talking about me 'driving' you to him, I've never once thought of you that way. You have to know that."

Whoa what the fuck? Where did that come from?

Spike definitely hadn't planned on saying that much when he opened his mouth. It hadn't come in a moment of clarity. It wasn't like a light shone down and suddenly he understood. It wasn't a dramatic movie moment. But Spike realized it was true. He did care about Faye as much as he had tried not to. He wasn't sure what exactly the limits were on this affection he felt for her, or when exactly it had started, but yeah suddenly the idea of her spending the night with that creepy wannabe Prince Charming was nearly unbearable. He cringed and turned away from her, considering, for what seemed like the millionth time that evening, leaping off the balcony and fleeing this godforsaken party.

He was prepared for her shrieks of anger, but when he finally turned to face her again, Faye looked like a deer in the headlights, face caught halfway between anger and like she had seen a ghost.

There were a lot of things Spike thought he might want to ask her in that moment, but he wasn't sure if he was prepared for the answers, so he settled on,

"So will you come with me?"

She seems to come back to herself a little bit then because she hugs her torso like she's caught a chill and makes eye contact. All of her self-righteous fury has dissipated into something much sadder.

"You lunkhead. Saying just what I want to hear, only you're a little too late."

Spike tries not to let those two words rattle around in his brain, tries not to think of Julia, too late too late too late always too late coward coward coward never take what you want until it's too late, and pushes through the rejection. He doesn't beg. Spike doesn't beg, not for his life, not for anything.

He steels himself over, it's easy with his handy rules in his wheelhouse, he hadn't even meant for this to happen anyway, and defaults back to cool and detached. Just like the last two minutes never happened.

"Well you have a party to get back to, don't you? I think I've fulfilled my half of the bargain. I'll see you at home. Or maybe I won't, doesn't matter either way. See ya Faye," and he shoves his hands in his pockets in a familiar pose and brushes past her without a second glance.

One of her small, but surprisingly strong hands darts out to grab the back of his jacket before he gets too far away. In a voice so quiet Spike almost can't hear her over the din of the party she says,

"Can you prove it to me? That you really care? That this isn't just about some fucked up territorial pissing contest?"

Spike thinks she deserves honesty, after everything he's put her through, it's easier because he isn't looking at her. He really didn't mean to semi confess to her tonight. He wasn't even sure what the fuck he had just admitted to or how he really felt about it yet. Just a few days ago Spike had been convinced that his anger regarding Faye's cold shoulder was because he cruelly wanted her to be hung up on him forever. That was quite a bit different from 'I care for you.' Jesus what have I done, there's no going back from this. If he took one careless misstep with Faye's heart now, after he had so thoroughly stomped on her previous attempts, Faye would surely leave for good and the little life they had created on the Bebop with Jet would disappear forever. Despite all of his rules to the contrary, Spike found that he would care if that happened. That he would feel guilty about spoiling the only good thing in Faye's life. In both their lives.

"I'm not sure I can promise that right now… but I think you can do better than Prince Charming."

It isn't the answer she was hoping for, Spike can tell because she sighs and lets go of his jacket, but she surprises him once more.

"Oh yeah? And that's you is it? Mr. tiger cat who hasn't caused me anything but trouble and heart ache since day one?" Then more to herself she mutters, "Jesus, why do I still let myself get jerked around by you…" before another 180 in attitude, "Alright then cowboy. I'm all dressed up suddenly with nowhere to be and the night is young. Care to hit the casino on the way home?"

Despite everything Spike meets her eyes and the sadness is still there but it's dimmed and blended into a deceptively light hearted challenge. Despite the pressure he feels, my future with her, at least partially, rides on what I decide to do right now, he smiles. It's an honest smile. She chose me. It might not last, but in this moment, Faye had chosen him over Ben. Despite the stupid rules, despite still feeling like a lifeless shell, if someone as vibrant and beautiful as Faye had chosen him maybe things weren't so hopeless. The fact that it was Faye, who had seen him at what truly was his worst, and she had still seen enough in him to give him this chance was not lost on him either. Maybe it was underhanded, but Spike knows it's the same roguish smile she had told him just a few days ago that, 'could make any woman with two eyes' swoon.

"Lead the way Romani."

I'm afraid I may not deserve your praise on characterization on this one, I tried really hard to keep Spike somewhat in character, but I still think I ended up moving things too fast. *Sigh* I fell victim to the "But I just want them to be together!" feeling when I thought about having to write another chapter of them tip toeing around each other. But that's probably what'll happen anyway because in spite of my fangirl desire to write them finally fucking being together I still don't think they would just fall into things so easily. Doesn't mean I can't try to fit in some good old fashioned fluff along the way.

Anyways, I know I took a bit longer with this update and I'm afraid it'll probably be a while for the next one too. I am consistently underestimating how much work I have for school work and work work and procrastinating, a deadly combination. This is like my therapy ha.

Please let me know what you think!