Cowboy Bebop: The Next Set

Session #1-Stuck In The Middle With You...

This is the beginning for me...starting from about a month before Session #26-The Real Folk Blues (part II) and continuing beyond the end of the series. I cannot and will not promise anything, but I do hope that there will be some surprises along the way. I'm still fairly new at this type of writing, so I hope I don't disappoint...peace!

Disclaimer: I do not and never have, and never will for that matter, own Cowboy Bebop or any of it's characters...if I did, this is how it would have continued for me...or something like this anyway.

I got the feeling that something ain't right.

I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair.

And I'm wonderin' how I'll get down the stairs.

Clowns to the left of me,

Jokers to the right.

Here I am.

Stuck in the middle with you.

The three bounty hunters sat, unmoving around the old card table. None blinking, each only occasionally looking up from their respective hands to give their comrades suspicious eyes from across the table.

Jet sat, back to the living room, clad only in his boxers, a cigarette clinging to his teeth and sweat trickling down his left temple. He gulped as he lay down his hand. In the center of the table sat what appeared to be a small pile of junk: a few cigarettes, a zippo lighter, a pair of earrings, a small pocket knife, and Jet's pants. Faye had the rest of Jet's clothing in a neatly folded stack next to her on the floor. The elder bounty hunter was allowed to keep the last he had to wager on his body...his underwear.

Jet closed his eyes tightly as Spike prepared to lay down his hand. Jet, it seemed was not very confident in his current hand, if only for the fact that he had lost the last five. It was, in fact, a very respectable hand; three of a kind...three aces, king high, and some other insignificant card. He opened one eye to see what Spike's cards had revealed...and much to his relief and Spike's invisible chagrin, they showed two pair, no high card. Spike said nothing but instead looked down in utter defeat. He thought that he would have to be renting his favorite shirt from Faye for awhile, until she felt that he had suffered enough. Jet sighed relieved. Spike sighed almost relieved, as he lit a cigarette and took a swig off of the bottle of scotch beside him that he had been smart enough not to gamble off. His face hot as he began to feel a little tipsy. After all, it was four beers and half a bottle of scotch later.

Jet sat waiting for Faye to lay down her cards. He held his breath as Spike took off his shirt and threw it across the table towards Faye. Faye could hear Jet gulp as she prepared to lay her cards down, smiling slightly.

"Full house," Faye said calmly as she fanned out her cards onto the table.

"Ahhh!" Jet yelled as he stood up from where he had been sitting. Smacking himself in the forehead.

"A deal's a deal, Jet, don't be such a baby."Faye said as she giggled a little at the large, conquered man in front of her.

"She's right you know." Spike spoke nonchalantly, never looking up, but instead continued to clean his fingernails with the pocket knife he had just lost.

"Since when do you agree with Faye, Spike?" Jet was almost yelling, but a twinge in his stomach kept him from doing so. His face turn bright red as he realized what he had to do.

"Fork 'em over, Black Dog." Faye interrupted, holding out her slender hand to Jet.

Jet growled and mumbled something inaudible under his breath, wiping his sweaty brow with one of his hands. He then slipped off the last of his attire, sending them sailing toward Faye. This was the second time he had lost the clothes off of his back, or rather his backside, to this woman. But he thought to himself that he had learned his lesson since the last time he had gambled with Faye. At least he had another change of clothes waiting for him in his bedroom. He stormed out of the room, naked as a jaybird, Faye snickering behind him as he went.

"I'm out! I'm going to bed!" Jet yelled after himself, and abruptly slammed the door behind him.

Faye scraped up her winnings from the middle of the table, jerking the knife from Spike's unsuspecting hand in the process.

"Hey! I was using that!" Spike almost whined as Faye looked on in victory, whistling some unknown tune happily, cigarette dangling delicately from her lips.

"You game for another hand, Spiegel?" She asked the indifferent Spike across the table from her.

Spike sat silently for a moment, contemplating, and then finally spoke.

"Ok, Faye. I'll play you again. The last hand, all or nothing. And that means straight up strip poker." Spike looked up at Faye with his mismatched eyes only, not moving his head, and smirked devilishly.

Fayeof course was totally and completely confident in her poker playing abilities.She wasn't about to be afraid of this lunkhead before her. In fact, she thought, she was growing rather fond of the idea of seeing Spike in his birthday suit.

"Alright Spike. Let's do this." She spoke seriously almost, and Spike had already gone to his room to grab a white t-shirt to replace the one he had lost to the shrew.

The two sat down and Spike poured both of them a shot, which they immediately clinked together and swallowed easily, slamming the glasses down on the table. Faye was also feeling the buzz come on, but not with the same intensity that she had imagined Spike should be feeling right now. Faye grabbed the deck and began shuffling.

"Same game, one draw." She stated as she lay the deck down for Spike to cut. He did so and she grabbed the cards up again and began dealing them out. They each took their respective discards and fanned out the cards in their hands. Neither allowing a single ounce of emotion show. Then Spike made his wager.

"I'll throw in my shirt and my boots." He spoke monotonously.

"I'll see your shirt and boots, and raise you a belt." Faye said confidently, as she continued looking at her hand, straight faced.

"Sounds good to me. Just wait till the end of this hand before you start stripping ok, Faye?" He remarked in a smart-ass tone.

"In your dreams, cowboy." She said, inhaling a drag of her cigarette, waiting for Spike to lay out his hand.

"Straight flush. Read 'em and weep, sweetheart." Spike winked at her, as he fanned the cards out before Faye. He saw that she was now biting her lip at seeing the impressive hand. She then lay her hand down in surrender...full house...her once lucky spread. She could barely raise her eyes to meet Spike's but she did so with quite a lot of hesitation. The lunkhead was sitting with his arms crossed, tapping his fingers on the table impatiently.

Faye rose from her seat and in doing so she could feel her cheeks getting hot. She turned from Spike for a second to collect her thoughts. "A deal's a deal." Her words echoed loudly through her mind. At the same time, almost as if reading her mind, Spike spoke, breaking the very awkward silence.

"A deal's a deal, Valentine. We haven't got all night, you know." His tone was very bossy, thought Faye as she turned back to Spike, who sat arms still crossed over his chest, his eyes boring a hole into her.

"Keep your shirt on will ya, Spike?" She said, regretting the words almost as soon as they came out of her mouth.

"Oh don't worry about that, Faye. This one's going nowhere." He flashed his stupid smirk at her as he picked at his t-shirt and he could tell that he had really pissed her off...maybe even embarrassed her. This fact made him very pleased with himself.

Faye took a look around the room, trying to find something there that might save her from what was about to happen. She didn't know how she could ever be seen as anything serious knowing that Spike knew what she looked like naked. And in such a humiliating manner too. She found nothing that could save her, but she found something in the form of liquid bravery...scotch. She grabbed the bottle from Spike's hand and guzzled it down readily. Spike watched with the same devilish look on his face. He cleared his throat as if to say "Hurry up already!"

Faye glanced around the room a second time and thought she had found a way to at least stall. She first removed her belt and handed it to Spike. He took it, but quickly let it drop to the floor, holding his hand out once more. She hesitated once again and then handed Spike one of her white boots. He treated it the same as he had the belt, dropping it with a thud to the floor. She gulped, knowing that the inevitable was drawing ever nearer. She quickly handed him the other boot. He yawned, causing Faye's eyes to glare at him.

Spike looked directly at Faye's signature yellow top, knowing that underneath Faye was not wearing a bra, and he grinned widely.

"What are you smiling at?" Faye was really getting tired of the attitude that Spike was emitting. Butterflies flapped wildly in her stomach as she reached for the one button that was holding her together. Faye looked to Spike one last time, searching for an iota of feeling or sympathy...nothing. "Typical." She thought to herself. She fumbled with the button once more as Spike took another large swig of the whiskey.

Spike thought that Faye looked very nervous, and he was glad. "Serves the wench right for treating Jet like that." He thought to himself. She looked to him as if she was going to be sick very soon. He took another swig off the bottle and lit a cigarette, making sure to give the woman a wide grin in between drags. Faye's breathing was increasingly heavy and fast, and Spike sat unknowingly admiring the way her ample chest was heaving. It was obvious to Spike that Faye was purposely hesitating. He reached out his large hand to her, awaiting the small, barely there blouse.

Faye stared at the oaf before her for a moment and then grabbed the bottle and guzzled some more. She gazed down at Spike once more, searching again for any kind of human emotion. As quickly as this thought had arrived to her, it left almost immediately, as she found Spike with his chin in his hand as he rested his elbow on the table. He looked bored. She growled angrily under her breath.

Faye fumbled some more and then finally felt the need to try and weasel herself out of this mess once and for all.

"Oh, this damn thing! It sticks sometimes, so why don't I just bring you the shirt later when I get into..." She moved toward her chair again as she babbled but was cut to the chase by Spike, who quickly blocked her seat. "Hey!" She screeched, trying to push him out of her way.

Spike moved quickly and grabbed the pocket knife from Faye's pile of winnings and before she could say another word, he cut the lone button from the shirt, watching as her breasts attempted to free themselves.

"Hey Spike! What the he..." Her words were immediately snatched from her as she felt Spike's warm hands gently cupping her breasts. She gasped as her eyes closed slightly. She was dazed if only for a second as she looked at Spike's face. She felt at that moment that she would certainly fall over and grabbed Spike's shoulders for support. Spike looked down on the dazed Faye and slid the top off of her shoulders, placing it around his neck.

"There, that was easy. " He said as he looked calmly down into her lazy eyes, and then allowed his vision to slowly gaze downward. He didn't reveal to her the fact that he was feeling a slight tug in his lower body. Faye breathed deeply once more, and shook herself awake, or as awake as she could be, in such a state of shock. She then caught Spike eyeing her goods as she came to and quickly pulled her arms up to cover what she could, feeling her face turning red.

In a low whisper, Spike leaned over to her and spoke, "Ready for another hand, Faye?" He chuckled a little at the implication of the question. Faye held her breath and caught herself shivering as his warm, alcohol scented breath bathed her neck in heat. She turned to walk toward the living room. Spike touched her bare arm and she turned to him once more. She could see the look in his eyes...the hungry look every man gets when he sees something he wants. "If you've seen it once, you've seen it a thousand times." She thought. He moved close to her again, and she could see that his breathing had become a lot heavier and his eyes seemed glazed over. He pushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Spike..." Faye whispered softly, almost too quiet to hear. Spike looked down on her again, this time admiring the way her bare skin glowed in the dim light. She continued trying to cover herself and Spike gently pushed her arms back from her chest, revealing her firm breasts to his gaze once more. He placed his hands on them again and began caressing them. It had been awhile since he had seen such beautiful breasts, he thought. He became even more excited when Faye moaned and closed her eyes at his touch.

"Oh god, is this really happening?" Faye's mind raced as she openly enjoyed the way Spike's hands felt on her body. She thought to herself what Jet would think when he found out. Then she dismissed the thought, replacing it with another..."What the hell. After all, I am a woman with needs just like everyone else. What harm could it bring to enjoy one small fling? If that's what it is indeed." She stopped thinking as Spike touched her face, placing his hand behind her neck and bringing her firmly in to kiss her. Her breasts were intentionally pressed against his body. As he brought her lips to his, he lightly grazed them together, watching as it made Faye's red lips open slightly. He covered her mouth with his then, teasing her with his tongue. She touched his face. She opened her eyes then and pulled away slightly, only to meet his gaze, which turned out to be the same as hers...a mixture of excitement and surprise. Faye shook the feeling off, leaned forward again, brushing her lips against his before kissing him fully. It was she who now invaded his mouth with the teasing of her tongue and she was surprised by the way he kissed. Deep and penetrating, somewhat rough...then again, should she be surprised at all? She didn't care. She liked it. She felt her knees becoming weak and she braced herself against him.

Faye then broke the kiss, leaning her head back and taking a deep breath, she wanted to entice Spike to begin kissing her neck, and it worked. He placed his arms around her back and held her tightly. Faye used Spike's arms as leverage to steady herself as he began kissing her breasts and nipping lightly at her nipples with his teeth. She moaned loudly and grabbed Spike by the back of the head and began combing her fingers through his hair, almost pulling it. He was a little surprised at her reaction, but he liked it. He liked the way he was making her moan. It excited him even more to know that it was his touch that was bringing her pleasure. "God, she tastes incredible." He thought as he continued to kiss his way back up to her neck. Then he noticed how tightly she was holding onto him, as if she thought she might fall down. Spike picked Faye up with more ease than he had expected and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed the valley between her breasts as he lay her down on the old yellow couch.

"Now I can touch you." He thought as Faye reached behind her head and grabbed the arm of the couch. And he did touch her, reaching inside her shorts to explore all of her. Faye arched her back to his hands and he bent forward and kissed her stomach. She sighed heavily again, winding her hands through his hair, and arched her back even more as his fingers played lightly inside of her. Spike then began kissing his way back up to her chest, almost laying all of his weight on top of her. But she was not one to give up without some kind of fight. She sat up abruptly and pushed Spike roughly back onto the couch.

"My turn, cowboy." She purred in a heavy whisper. Spike's face lit up. He knew Faye was wild, but this was getting more intense than he could've imagined.

Faye straddled Spike as best as she could on the old dirty couch. Suddenly a rustling noise broke her concentration. It was coming from Jet's room and she noticed from the crack beneath the door that the light was still on.

"We should relocate." She said in a louder tone, looking back at Spike who lay, chest heaving below her.

He lay confused for a moment, and then understood as Faye gestured toward Jet's room. "Oh. Ok, so, um, my room?" Spike huffed, becoming more alert to the situation. Faye climbed off of him and pulled him up by the hand. She tried to cover herself again as she stood waiting for Spike to begin moving, almost as if she had just become aware again of the fact that she was topless.

Spike looked at her strangely. "Women." He thought, unable to grasp the concept of why a woman with a body like Faye's could become self-conscious at any time. He shook his head a little. He walked up behind her and put his long arms around her, kissing the back of her neck, and they quietly made their way to Spike's bedroom. Spike's embrace warmed Faye against the chill in the air...yes, the air conditioner was actually working for once. As Spike closed the door behind them and locked it, Faye grabbed him roughly, and kissed him on the neck, grabbing his flesh with her teeth and sucking gently. Spike sighed softly and whispered, "Faye..."

Faye smiled at his vocalization and pushed him back onto the bed, proceeding to assist him in finally removing his shirt. She gave a very pleased smile in the darkness, admiring Spike's bare torso in the pale light coming from underneath the door. She then leaned forward and kissed his collarbone, trailing butterfly kisses from his neck to his chest, slowly and lovingly. Faye made sure to continue down his left side, licking, kissing, and occasionally grazing her teeth along his skin, goose bumps appearing behind her. She even made it a point to actually sink her teeth in at one point along his rib cage, causing him to gasp.

True, Faye certainly wasn't the most experienced woman in the solar system, but she wasn't completely lost in such situations either...she had a few tricks up her sleeve. She had realized a couple of years back that the only way to get by in this crazy new world was to learn to control the controlling factor of the time...men.

Faye continued her path downward, until she reached Spike's pants. "This is really happening." She heard her voice say once again in her mind. She stopped to think only for a second before unbuttoning them, licking and kissing along the waistline of his boxers.

lyrics to the song "Stuck In the Middle With You" owned by Steelers Wheel...please no lawsuits...