Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop is the creative genius and property of Shinichiro Watanabe and Bandai. Any similarity to other fics is purely coincidental.

You are reading " Cowboy Bebop: Life's An Improv" by Sincerity

Jet paused to take a swig from the beer bottle sitting beside his folding chair. He looked up at the setting sun, his feet resting on a shipping crate, a pensive expression on his face. " Hm. Never thought I'd miss his ugly mug so bad." He murmured to himself with a small, nostalgic smile. A photo rested on his lap." I should come out on the deck more often... fresh air feels good." With a sigh he tucked the photo in one of his pant pockets and placed a notepad on his lap, opening to a list. Some things were already scratched off while others had question marks.

" Hey, Jet?"

At the sudden mention of his name he startled.

Faye smirked, one delicate eyebrow quirking up as her green eyes sparkled with amusement. " Did I just startle you?"

" What do you need, Faye?" Jet replied a bit brusquely, choosing to ignore her " obnoxious" behavior.

Just wanted to let you know that I found that information on the morgue you asked about earlier." She said, her voice suddenly sounding tired and a bit bored.

" I thought you didn't want anything to do with that?" He replied, looking up at her. She was still dressed in her work uniform and the skirt fluttered prettily around her thighs as a breeze blew by.

" Well... it wasn't far from work." She explained, repositioning a small purse that hung on her shoulder and pulling her red sweater with her other hand. Jet noticed that she was actually wearing it correctly.

He sighed and took his feet down from their position on the shipment crate. It looked like quiet time was over. He glanced back up at the evening sky. ' Shame. The evening was look'n to be a good one too.' He thought.

" What's that?" Faye asked, cocking her head to the side and reaching for his open notepad. Jet quickly closed it, tucking it under his arm for good measure.

" Its none of your concern." He replied with an almost fatherly tone and picked up his folding chair.

Faye frowned, her mouth forming into a little pout as she snatched his beer.

" Careful, Faye. That's strong stuff."

She sniffed the opening and wrinkled her nose a moment before taking a swig herself. Jet shook his head and headed back inside.

" Fine, don't tell me." She called after him. " Its not like I really care what you're writing anyhow." Her voice was too soft for him to hear and after a moment she followed him inside, downing more beer and wincing at the taste.

" Its just that I thought you clipped your bonsai trees when you were nostalgic." Faye continued as they entered the common room.

Jet frowned, feeling a bit disturbed that she could read his moods so easily. " What? Do I have to keep myself cooped up indoors all the time?"

Faye shrugged and plopped onto the yellow couch. " Just never saw you enjoying the " outdoors" too often." She replied, finishing the beer and tossing the empty bottle behind the couch. With a bored sigh she searched in her purse for a pack of cigarettes and selected a slender stick with effortless daintiness.

" Ugh! I can't believe they make us wear these stupid outfits. People might think I were serving at some old-world diner or something."

Jet glanced at her. " I think it looks nice..." Faye looked up at him with an expression that said ' huh?'

" Well, I mean it looks neat and professional... orderly."

Faye rolled her eyes. " Whatever." She muttered around her cigarette.

Jet sat down at the computer and looked at her pointedly. " Alright. So tell me what you found out."

Faye sighed, releasing a puff of smoke and sat forward, resting an elbow on one knee. " Straight to business I see. No, ' how did your day go Faye?' or ' anything interesting happen today?'"

Jet ignored her, busying himself with opening files and sifting through the information they'd gathered during the past few weeks.

" Well... lets see..." Faye took in a long drag, her eyes slightly glazed over as she recalled her investigation. " I found out that they're currently going through a shift in personnel."

" A shift in personnel?"

" M-hm. Apparently folks who work there don't stay too long." Faye shrugged. " Anyways, I also learned that no one can get in the building without proper identification and no one can get in any rooms without being an employee or relative of a body. Of course relatives can only visit during visiting hours and that rules us out because we're working then."

Jet frowned. " But they've got to have visiting hours in the evenings, Faye. That's just expected... right?"

Faye shrugged again. " Maybe in other morgues. The guy I talked to said there were some safety issues that came up... whatever that means. So no visitors after six."

Jet rubbed his temples in frustration, the beginnings of a head-ache forming. " Alright. Then that means we'll have to go in disguised as morticians."

" You can go in disguised as a mortician." Faye corrected.

Jet looked at her confused. " What do you mean?"

Faye leaned back on the couch. " I found the information you wanted. Don't ask me to go into another morgue. As far as I'm concerned Spike died because he didn't want us getting involved in his personal stuff."

" Faye, you're being ridiculous. Spike did what he thought was right."

Faye snorted. " Yeah, he just had our best interests at heart."

" That argument again. I thought we got past this, Faye." Jet stated with growing frustration. " I thought this was dealt and done with once we made plans to find him together. So what are you so hung up on now?"

" Spike was nothing but trouble!" Faye suddenly blurted. " He always did whatever he wanted without ever thinking about the consequences and it got him killed and got us stuck hunting for his corpse and wasting time and money on a lost cause!" She felt her face flush with anger and spat out her cigarette, stomping on it violently with her heel.

Jet blinked at her for a moment before regaining his composure and sitting up a bit straighter. " Now look, Faye. We both know that Spike wasn't the only one who did whatever he wanted. I recall you leaving us a few times without so much as a goodbye. At least Spike had the decency to do that."

Faye stared at him disbelievingly. " Wait-a-minute. You're comparing me to him? That... that lunkhead?!"

" I'm just saying how things really were."

" No you're not." Faye snapped and pointed an accusing finger at him. " You're wishing he were still here. You're wishing that you could have been fighting beside him. Its not me who's hung up, Jet. Its you! Finding his body is your way of trying to make things right."

Jet pinned her with a warning glare. " Now you're just trying to pick a fight."

" I'm not going on anymore wild-goose chases, Jet! I'm tired of running into dead ends with no answers and I hate that we're still ' hampered' by Spike's selfish, bull-headed stupidness!" Faye's voice was rising in pitch.

" He was a friend!" Jet shouted, anger and hurt evident in his eyes. " He watched our backs and helped bring in woolongs so we could eat! He saved your skinny ass on several occasions and he never talked bad about you like you're doing about him!"

" Oh boo-hoo, Jet! Poor Spike?! Poor us!! Look what's happened! We're working crappy jobs and we haven't been able to get off Mars because of him! I'm sick of it!! "

" Faye!"

" You act like Spike was some kind of hero but the truth is that he wasn't much different than Vicious! All those Red Dragon maniacs could think of was killing! And in the end that's all he really was... a cocky, smart-assed murderer !!" Faye knew how untrue the last statement was and even more aware of how deeply she had hurt Jet. But through her own anger and grief she couldn't care enough to apologize.

" That's it!" Jet boomed, rising to his feet. " Get your butt off my ship and don't come back!!"

" You have my Red Tail!"

" I'm keeping it! You can't afford to pay me back for all the work I've done!"

" That's not Fair! the Red tail's mine and I won't let you keep it!" Faye shrieked, rising to her feet, face red, hands fisted so tight her knuckles were going white.

" Oh yeah? And how are you gonna stop me?!" Jet hollered, blood vessels popping up across his temples.

Faye whipped out her gun and aimed for his bald head, right between the eyes.

There was a moment of tense silence, so charged that it almost seemed possible to ignite. But then Jet smirked.

" How are you gonna shoot me without any bullets, Faye?"

Her hands trembled and tears streamed down her face. " All you're gonna do going after him is get yourself killed. But maybe that's what you wanted all along." She said through clenched teeth and threw the gun at him.

Jet deflected with his metal hand as Faye grabbed her purse and turned for the exit. " Keep the Red Tail. I don't want it anymore. And enjoy life on the Bebop. Its as empty as your heart."

And without so much as a glance his way she walked out.

" I will!! Maybe now I'll finally get some peace and QUIET!!" He hollered after her a moment before hearing the main hatch open and slam shut.

" What do you mean every train is delayed?!" Faye hollered at the woman sitting behind the ticket counter.

" I'm sorry ma'am but there's nothing anyone can do!"

" But this is a train station! You're suppose to be on time!" Several people turned and looked at her with annoyance. In response she lowered her voice a little but her anger still flashed in her eyes. " Where's the main office? I want to talk to who's in charge!"

The woman released a weary sigh and pointed to a hallway at her right, rolling her eyes as she did.

Faye headed directly for the main office, stomping across the grand station hall and looking more like a disgruntled college student then a hardened, street-wise bounty hunter.

As she neared a door at the end of the hall with a sign labeled, " Main Office," she heard the end of a disgruntled conversation.

" - because some idiot left their personal transportation craft too close to the tracks!"

As Faye entered she discovered that there was only one person in the office and he was having a conversation on the phone.

" No. The trains can't move until the aircraft is towed!... Fine. Do whatever has to be done." The man, bald and too heavy to be healthy, hung up the phone and looked at her impatiently.

" Can I help you?"

" Yeah." Faye replied, her anger barely checked. " You can tell me why all the trains are just sitting on the tracks."

The man, whom Faye figured to be the train station manager, sighed and shook his head. " Look lady, we're doing the best we can and I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. These offices are employees only." He stated, pointing to a sign on its own stand just inside the door. Faye glanced at it with a frown.

" Not until I know what's going on." She replied stubbornly, glancing at a woman who exited an office room and past the main office door.

" There's a mono craft sitting too close to the tracks and no train can get past." The manager replied in a clipped tone.

" Can't you just get a bunch of guys out there and push it aside?" Faye growled. Her ridiculous suggestion was ignored as a train engineer arrived brushed by her, and picked up the office phone.

" Any luck, Johnny?" The manager asked. The engineer shook his head a moment before speaking to someone on the other side of the line.

And in the brief conversation Faye overheard she suddenly recognized the description of the aircraft! The model, the color, the year...

The longer she listened the worse she felt. If what Spike did to her and Jet was wrong, then what she was doing to Jet was just as bad... maybe even worse. At least Spike had a mission, a goal to accomplish.

" This is stupid." She muttered to herself suddenly realizing that if she left the Bebop and went to another city she would have to find a place to stay. That would mean she would have to pay rent, and groceries, and make her own meals...

Faye frowned. " Ugh. I hate grocery shopping even more than this stupid outfit." And the more she thought about it the more she realized that Jet was actually pretty handy to have around.

The engineer was finishing his conversation on the phone and cupped the receiver end, turning to the manager to ask a question. Faye looked at them with a new glint in her eyes... she had made her decision.

" Hi, sorry." She waved, trying to get their attention. " I think we got off on the wrong foot." She continued, flashing the harried men her most fetching smile, " You see I think that aircraft-"

" Mono-racer." The manager interrupted impatiently.

" ... whatever," Faye replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, " I think it belongs to my husband. His 'momo-racer' was..." She paused a second to fabricate a plausible scenario. " Well... it was stolen a few nights ago."

She blinked at their angry faces trying her best to look completely believable. But when their expressions didn't change she quickly continued, words tumbling out of her mouth as if of their own volition. " We'll pay for any damages that removing the aircraft might cause, of course."

Faye gawked inwardly at such a rash decision, Jet would kill her. But it was too late to take it back.

" Well you better get your husband to tow it ASAP, lady. Otherwise we'll have to move it ourselves and you guys will get slapped with the charges for the towing and all the delays."

" You would charge us for all the delays? How's that fair when it isn't even our fault that the stupid aircraft ended up there?! I just said we'd be glad to pay for any damages done to the tracks but all the delay charges?!" Faye asked in barely checked rage.

" Look lady, just get the tow guys to take the mono-racer to their holding site and your husband can take it from there."

" Great." Faye muttered, taking the phone from the engineer. Jet was definitely going to kill her.