Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Cowboy Bebop, as much as I wish I did. *holds up flashing neon sign* CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!

Spike woke to the sound of his stomach, a pitiful moan that voiced its displeasure at its engulfing emptiness. He groaned in agreement and sat up in bed, ruffling his unruly hair and stretching lazily. Pulling on a pair of pants, he picked up a pack of cigarettes and his lighter and headed for the nearest window, flinching at the cold floor.

He lit up and looked outside, watching the stars, bright diamonds in the sky swimming in a sea of black velvet.

Nights like this always made him think of Julia. Those glistening locks of gold, her pure, sparkling eyes...

He sighed openly.

God I miss her.

His acute ears picked up scuffling sounds behind him. Not moving an inch, he watched in the glass the reflection of Faye coming out in her lavender bathrobe and slippers, half awake and grumpy, and had to suppress a chuckle.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

He turned around and looked at her, amused.

"Just taking a smoke." He offered her one, and she took it. As he held the lighter still for her, he asked, "How about you? You're not exactly a morning person. Shouldn't you be getting your beauty sleep?"

She shot him a look as she walked over to the couch and sprawled out on it.

"Oh, and you're just one of those romantic morning people who likes to watch the stars at four in the morning. You know, I guess I can understand that...if I had your hair, I would have given up on beauty sleep months ago."

"Thanks."

"Uh huh."

The verbal sparring between the two was something they had become used to over time - with Faye often in a disagreeable mood and Spike constantly poking fun at her, it quickly became a daily ritual.

Taking a few more glances out at the stars, Spike walked over slowly to join Faye on the opposite couch.

They both smoked in silence for a few minutes until Faye finally spoke.

"Really, why are you up this late ag-"

Spike looked up.

"I mean....why are you up this late?" she recovered quickly, blushing and looking away.

"I couldn't sleep....too hungry," he replied, trying to figure out how she had known that this wasn't the first time lately he had ventured out in the middle of the night.

"I hear you." Faye's stomach growled as if on cue. She held it and sighed. After finishing her cigarette, she put it out in an ashtray on the table and walked over to the refrigerator.

"All there is in there is Jet's old casserole. That stuff that Ein won't even touch," Spike said just as she reached it.

Faye threw her hands up in despair. "What in the world does a girl have to do to get some decent food around here?"

The ship suddenly lurched, hit hard by a passing ship.

"Dammit!" Spike exclaimed, and ran to the front of the ship to control its movement. Faye hurried after him, re-wrapping her robe around her, which had come open with the force of her body being jolted by the impact.

Jet appeared moments later, wide-eyed and angry.

"What's going on here?!?"

"No clue," Spike managed to get out before they were hit by shots from the other ship. Clenching his teeth, he steered the Bebop around all the gunfire and swung around so they were behind the attackers. Jet operated the controls for the guns and shot back. Things were looking up until another ship appeared, the exact same color and model. Both ships ganged up on the Bebop and launched huge nets that got tangled in each other, trapping the bigger ship between them. The more they struggled to get out, the more tangled they became, and soon, the two other ships were shooting them down fervorently.

All were too distracted to realize they were quickly approaching Earth.

"Oh shit!" Jet exclaimed as he looked out the window and saw the now brown and gray planet getting larger. Faye looked up to where his gaze was and instantly jumped.

"Spike! We're heading towards Earth! If we don't get out of these nets we're going to crash land on that miserable ball of mud! SPIKE!!!"

He shouted back through gritted teeth, "Faye, I think the planet we crash on is the LAST of our wor-"

The Bebop was hit heavily by a missile from one of the ships. The Bebop was shaken heavily by the explosion. Part of the left wing broke off with a terrifying shriek.

As they started getting sucked into the Earth's atmosphere, they fought to bring the other ships down with them. Spike did some tactical flying and managed to get them tangled in the ropes, too. The friction warmed the ship immensely, making them all sweat profusely. They all screamed as they plummeted down towards Earth, then blacked out.

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A/N: Okay, I know it was really dramatic right then, but I kinda needed something to happen to get them onto a planet, and what better one than Faye's home? ^_- I know, I know, this will cause problems. But that's good!