KTKG says: Um… hi everybody… this is my first Cowboy Bebop Fic so I hope you guys like it. It takes place directly after the session "Speak like a child"… yeah I was watching it one night and I was like… 'Hm… what if this happened?' So basically this is my version of the series… hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop

Just for tonight

Chapter One – Just for Tonight

"Go me! Go me! GOOOO ME!!" The young purple haired cheered merrily on the television screen, jumping up and down as a breeze blew lightly through her hair.

She stared at the screen, her eyes wide as she watched the tape in amazement. She was confused. Utterly and totally confused. She knew that was she at a younger age. How could it not be? She possessed the same violet hair and emerald eyes as the girl on the screen. * I can't remember*

No matter how hard she tried, her mind couldn't conjure up any memories of herself making the tape. Nothing. No flashbacks, no still images . . . nothing. She continued to stare at the screen, unconsciously willing herself to remember something, anything really, she didn't care what just as long as something came back to her.

The tape ended and much to her dismay she still couldn't remember anything. Standing there in the hallway she was left with the fact that the only knowledge she had of herself now was that she lived a long, long time ago.

Spike and Jet looked at each other, eyes as wide as baseballs. What on earth was going on? That was Faye on the tape, wasn't it? But she was still pretty young, and the tape was made a LONG time ago. Closing his slightly open mouth, Spike slowly turned his head to the woman in question standing behind him, as did Jet.

"Faye . . ." Spike was the first to speak, confusion written all over his usually carefree face. "What the hell is going on?"

Slowly, she turned her increasingly misty emerald eyes to focus on his miss-matched brown ones. "I can't . . ." she couldn't finish her sentence; she was too busy fighting back tears. Her vision was getting worse by the second and she knew soon she wouldn't be able to hold them back much longer. She could see the tiny spec of wonder and worry in Spike and Jet's eyes. Unwillingly she allowed the tears to free themselves and travel down her cheeks. "I can't . . . I . . . can't . . ." She swallowed the huge lump that had formed in her throat.

"I can't remember anything."

She shook her head. What was she doing, crying in front of them like this? She blinked the rest of her unshed tears away and twirled on her heel of her boot, dashing off down the hallway at full speed towards the hanger. She needed to get away and she needed to get away now. She didn't want them to see her weak side. She was Faye Valentine and she'd be damned if she'd let them see her crying and vulnerable like that.

Spike rose from his seated position with every intention of running after her. He was stopped however when a metallic arm grabbed his own. Turning his head to the side he saw Jet shaking his own head. "But . . ." he was cut off when Jet started shaking his head again. "Just let her be. I don't want you going after her and causing more problems for her, she already has enough. She'll come back when she's good and ready."

Spike nodded. Was he actually feeling sorry for the shrew? He waited for Jet to let go of his arm. Jet grunted and released his arm then headed for the kitchen to make dinner.

 As soon as Jet was out of sight he began to stealthily make his way to where Faye had just been moments ago. He stopped when a loud "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT SPIKE!!!!" was heard from the kitchen. Sighing he turned on his heel and headed to his room, mumbling a 'whatever' as he passed the kitchen.

He plopped down on his wrinkled sheet covered bed and closed his eyes. He figured he would take a nap since he hadn't been sleeping well lately. An image of Faye's crying and confused face made itself present in his mind. Spike huffed and rolled over.

It wasn't like he cared about the shrew woman or anything; he just wanted to know what that was all about. "I'll just have to ask her when she gets back," he mumbled to himself as he felt himself drifting off into sleep world.

*~*~*~*

Cracking one eye open he focused on the eternally broken ceiling fan in his room. How long had he been asleep? He stretched, yawning lazily as his right hand came down to scratch his head. Hm, it seemed like he had been sleeping well, but what had woke him up? * Damn, and I was having one hell of a dream too. *  Groaning he rolled onto his side, but was instantly met with a pair of golden eyes.

"Holy shit!" Spike sprung into a sitting position as Edward started twirling around the room. "Christ Ed! You know you almost gave me a frickin' heart attack!" Ed stopped twirling momentarily and smiled widely as she jumped onto the bed. "Ed is sorry Spike-person, but Ed was sent here!"

Spike eyed Ed with annoyance as she continued to bounce up and down. "By who?" He already knew the answer, but he just felt like asking it anyway. Ed continued to bounce on, oblivious of Spike's glare. Without warning Spike grabbed her and pinned her under his leg, ceasing her jumping. "Jet-person sent Ed here!" She managed to wiggle her way out from underneath his leg.

"What does he want?" She giggled and started to cartwheel around the room, narrowly missing his nightstand with his precious Jericho sitting on top of it. "Dammit!" She stopped and stood up straight, puffing her chest out like a solider would. Spike eyed her lazily. * Man, this kid just gets stranger and stranger*

"Well . . ." She saluted him and he just shook his head. "Jet-person requests that Spike-person go and pick up parts for Bebop-Bebop!"

"Ok . . ." Without saying another word, Ed marched out of the room followed by Ein.

* The mutt was in here too? * Slowly he rose from his bed and headed into the 'living room' where Jet was watching 'Big Shot'.

"Yo."

Deftly he caught the folded piece of paper that was thrown at him and stared at it a bit. Jet looked up briefly. "The list of things I need you to get for me." Spike frowned slightly. "Why can't you do it?" Jet looked at him with a bored expression. "My Hammerhead has no gas in it."

Spike searched his pockets. He really needed a smoke right now for some reason. "Did you hear me Spike?" Upon finding what he was searching for he promptly placed one in his mouth and lit it. "Yeah, yeah. Heard ya loud and clear." He pulled on his suit coat as he left the room, mumbling something about lazy old men and broke down ships. 

His footsteps rang loud and clear in the darkened hanger. The only light that could be seen was from his cigarette every time he inhaled. Closing his eyes he turned on the light switch. He hated it when he was exposed to sudden changes in lighting. It always bothered him when his fake eye would adjust to it. You'd think after living with it for some years he'd be used to it but no. Sighing heavily he opened his eyes and was met with a bit of surprise.

There, sitting in its normal parking space was the Redtail with Faye still in the pilot's seat.

Letting his cig fall from his mouth he snubbed it out with his foot and slowly made his way over to her. He stood in front of her, hoping to catch her attention but unfortunately her head was down, resting upon her arms. * Hm . . .* He had to think of a way to get her attention and what better way to do that then kick her ship?

Faye's head shot up as the sound of Spike's foot connecting with her zip-craft rang loud in the hanger. She glared at him and all he did was smirk back in that annoying way he always did.

"What the hell do you want?" She wasn't really in the mood for him at the moment, but she knew full well that he wasn't going to let her go that easily. Well, she supposed she would put up with him for a little bit.

"When did you get back?" She scoffed and turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was met with a pair of miss-matched ones. She didn't move, she just kept her position and gazed back into the questioning eyes.

When she didn't respond she saw the tiniest bit of emotion flash in them. Was that worry she saw in there? No it couldn't be, her mind was just playing tricks on her. This was Spike Spiegel for heaven's sake! The man never worried about anything! Well . . . except for . . . * what was her name? Julia or something? * She sighed and narrowed her eyes but he held the same gaze.

She had to stop thinking about him that way, like he actually cared about her. He'd never feel the same way about her; he was too busy and preoccupied with his past to even notice her attraction to him. Besides, she already knew that he thought she was nothing but another body taking up space and food on the Bebop.

Spike cocked his head to the side as he observed Faye's face. She looked exhausted and her eyes were a bit puffy and red, probably from crying. Was the tape the cause for her tears? * Hm . . . knowing Faye it's probably something else. * Folding his arms he rested his head on top of them as he stood on the ladder he had used to get closer to her.

"Well are you going to answer my question?" Sitting up slightly she looked him in the face. "I didn't go anywhere." His eyes widened a bit as he lifted his head slightly. "What? Are you telling me you were in here for . . ." He trailed off, he didn't know what time it was. Man could he use a watch. "Two hours."

The voice sounded distant and Spike came back to reality to find that Faye was no longer in her zip-craft but rather heading towards the door. Quickly he jumped off the ladder and followed her out of the hanger. He passed Jet and threw the list as well as his key to the Swordfish II, yelling a quick and rushed "get the damned things yourself."

He didn't know why he did it, but he did. Well, maybe he could think of a reason why. Faye. He usually didn't care but then again, whatever had her so upset had to do with her past, plus he wanted to know what that tape was all about.

She had made it to her room first and closed the door before he had a chance to get in. She didn't really want to talk to anybody right now, she still needed time to think about what she had saw. She groaned and fell backwards onto her bed. She still couldn't remember anything!

Her door slid open then shut but she was too absorbed in her thoughts to hear it. When another weight made itself present on her bed, she opened her eyes to see the outline of a certain lanky poofy haired man.

"What do you want?" Couldn't the man take a hint? She knew he was an idiot but damn, anybody would be able to tell that she wanted to be alone. "I want to know what's wrong." She sat up slightly. That's a new one, Spike, wanting to know what was wrong with her? "Ha, I thought you didn't care about me."

Spike frowned in the darkness of the room. She had him there, but something about this situation had intrigued him. "Don't get used to it." She drew her knees to her chest and backed up towards her headboard.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Would I have followed you in here if I didn't?"

She sighed. Ok, so he had a point. Usually would just ignore her and lay his lazy ass on that ratty yellow couch. "What do you want to know?" He smirked. Things were going his way. "What did you mean when you said you couldn't remember?" She frowned slightly, she was most likely going to cry if she was going to talk about it. Oh well, she might as well do it; things couldn't get anymore awkward between the two.

Taking in a deep breath she peered at Spike's form. "I . . . I can't remember making that tape . . . I can't remember anything except for the past three years, after I woke up from that deep sleep." He could hear the tears in her voice, and unbelievably felt sorry for her.

"It's so frustrating! I can't remember a damn thing from my past! It's not fair Spike . . . it's not FAIR!" She was indeed frustrated. Frustrated because she couldn't remember anything and frustrated because she was showing Spike of all people her weak side.

She sat in silence as she finished her rant, waiting for Spike to say something. Oh yes, she could just hear him now. He'd probably say something like 'So what' or 'you sound like a spoiled little brat' or laugh. She knew he would so she prepared herself for it, but unfortunately she didn't prepare herself for what he did next.

Slowly, Spike wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her slightly, her tears soaking into his shirt. He wasn't quite sure why he did it; he wasn't really that good at comforting someone. He had to honestly say he felt bad for her. Here he was, trying to run away from his past while Faye couldn't even remember hers. He had childhood memories and she didn't. He knew his home and parents and she wasn't even sure where she was really from.

Slowly she hugged him back. "Um . . . thanks, Spike." He nodded into her hair then slowly released her and stood, looking at her as she wiped her eye now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark. He placed a hand on his hip and raked a hand through his mass of moss green. * I can't believe I'm about to do this. *

"Hey."

She looked up at him. "What?"

"Do you wanna go out for drinks? It's on me."

She looked at him, her mouth slightly opened. When did he offer to take her drinking?    * Never girl, that's why you have to take this opportunity, *  "Sure."

He left her room and stood in the hallway, waiting for her to join him. "Um…" She adjusted her red coat as she stepped out of the room. "What is it?" He scratched his cheek lightly. "Jet has the Swordfish so . . . we're going to have to take your zip-craft." She blinked. Jet was driving his 'baby'? What was the world coming to? Oh well, she didn't care. All that mattered was Spike was treating her to drinks and boy did she need one.

"Whatever. You're treating so it doesn't matter. I'll even let you drive, just for tonight."

She smirked and tossed him the key, switching her hips as she walked away. He couldn't help but look at her and think that maybe just for tonight, both of them could forget their problems. He smirked and followed after her.

Yeah, just for tonight.

*~*~*~*~*

OOOOOOOOOOOk. So what did you guys think? Was everyone in character? Hm… in my opinion I think Spike was OOC. … But uh… Should I continue? Well… I hope you enjoyed this… let me know what you guys think! =)

KTKG!