My first Bebop fic. Enjoy.

You Can't Catch Me

By www.shut-up.com

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but my character.

Chapter One

There were ISSP officers all over the place. From where I was hidden, I could almost count them all, and I wished that I didn't know how to count that high. I was far more than outnumbered. I was outmatched, outsmarted, and out of luck. The little plan my cohort came up with had backfired horribly—why the hell did I ever agree to rob a docking port?—but he had bailed, way before I even knew that the plan wasn't going to work. I wasn't smart enough to realize that half-assed plans usually got you into a whole lot of trouble. If I ever get my hands on that ass, I swear I'll kill him.

The ISSP was looking for something, anything, to tip them off as to where the attempted robbers, i.e. me, went. A few were discussing something with, what appeared to be, their leader, though I couldn't hear a word of what was being said. It would have been helpful if I could, but all I could do was guess. They were probably talking about the beginning of a search. I couldn't have that. I would be found out in minutes if they decided that I was still on the premises. That did not leave me with a lot of options. Giving up wasn't one of them, although my logic screamed that I could never get out of the situation freely, maybe not even alive. I swear to the GODS I will murder that son of a bitch!

What to do? I racked my brain for a solution, no matter how idiotic they seemed. I needed something—anything—to get me out of the docking port with my freedom. I could never survive in jail. I was too young and handsome for jail. I did not have very many choices, however. I couldn't shoot my way out. That was just a death wish. I also couldn't run because my so-called partner had taken the ship. I scanned the area. From the looks of it, the officers were ready to start looking. They knew that I had nothing I could do. My eyes fell onto an ISSP cruiser. No one was around it or me. You are suicidal. You are fucking suicidal! I don't think suicidal was the word that could describe how I was feeling right then; yet, I needed a way out, and the cruiser provided me with one. Another example of a half-assed plan. I'm surprised you've lived this long considering all the incredibly stupid things you do.

Tucking my gun back into its holster, I lifted myself off the ground as quietly and as quickly as I could. I picked up a large piece of metal and lobed it over my head in the direction I was not going to be running in. When every head was turned towards the sound, I bolted towards the ship, still being quiet. I was in the cockpit about to turn on the ignition when they finally noticed. It was too late, in my book. Being careful not to show my face I took off, leaving the docking port in my dust as the officers tried to shoot me down in their own cruiser.

I almost breathed a sigh of relief when a thought struck me. They had means of tracking all their cruisers. I would be taken in seconds. Gods, you're not only suicidal, you're an idiot! Damn you! With a groan, I leaned onto the consol, urging the ship to go on faster and faster. I maybe could make it to Neptune before they got to me, as long as I kept up my speed.

To my dismay, I heard several descriptions of me over the crackling transistors. And I thought they hadn't gotten a good look at my face. How could I have gotten myself into such a disaster? It was like my mother always said: You are defined by the companions you choose. Damn. That left me with a pretty bleak definition of myself.

Neptune was getting closer. So were the ISSP. They knew where I was heading and they had people waiting for me. I would have to crash the ship and flee amidst the confusion, hoping that I wasn't too injured by the collision to move. I wasn't a gambling man, but I was taking a chance, as I had been all day, it seemed. Hell, probably all my life, though it was just catching up to me now that I had no luck left. Oh hell, why did it have to catch up to me now?

The ship gave a lurch as we were caught in Neptune's gravitational pull. I could feel the air in the cockpit get dramatically cooler. I had read somewhere that Neptune's temperature reached hundreds of degrees below zero sometimes. All I was wearing was a tee shirt and jeans. Someone up there must hate me.

As I got closer, I could make out the snow capped buildings and towers. I just had to pick a place to crash my burden, and I would be next to home free. Providing my plan worked, and so far, lunatic plans were not working as of yet. A smarter person would have taken this as a sign to give up.

Taking a deep breath, I forced the ship to gather more speed. The ship was really pushing its limits now, but that didn't matter. I would be rid of it soon. I was headed straight for a large group of ISSP officers. This was not going to be fun.

"Aw, Jet can we go now? It's freezing on this ball of shit," a fuzzy, green haired man whined into his communicator. Jet sighed before replying.

"Ed said the bounty was on Neptune, so we are on Neptune. This is the biggest cash in to hit the scene in months, Spike. Now suck it up and catch the dumb ass so we can go and get something nice to eat." Spike shut off the communicator and lit up a cigarette. It provided some kind of warmth, but not much. He was bundled up as much as he could while still being able to move his arms, however, the planet's frigid temperatures stabbed through his protective covering like a knife. He hated being cold. He added Neptune on his list of planets that he would try to avoid. That brought his list up to two: Earth and Neptune. Two goddamned crappy planets.

Flicking his cigarette into the snow, Spike stood up from the bench he was attempting to warm up on, and made his way towards Poseidon City, where the little computer hacker he lived with informed him the bounty was living.

"He better be there, or I'm leaving with nothing. It's too damn cold to be chasing down bounty heads," Spike muttered. He shoved his gloved hands into his pockets as he slouched on in the snow. He could feel the water seeping through his boots and that only added to his list of complaints.

A streaking blur in the gray sky caught his eyes and he looked up in time to see a ship about to smash into the planet. Poor bastard must have lost control, Spike thought with as must sympathy as he could muster while he watched the ship get closer and closer. He spotted a crowd of ISSP officers and onlookers, waiting for the ships imminent "landing." When it was a fair distance away, Spike could read the lettering on the side. His garnet eyes widened in surprise. The ISSP was about to lose a member, because there was no way someone could make it out of a high speed crash like that alive. Halting his steady pace, Spike craned his neck to watch, like the gathering of people less than a mile away from him. He did not have to wait long, for seconds after he stopped, the ground stopped the ship in a way brakes could not. The impact was severe, that much Spike could tell from where he stood. He couldn't see very much of the wreckage, but he could see a few people falling, whether they were hit by something or lost their footing, Spike couldn't tell. A bunch of people started running his way, some bleeding, all scared out of their minds. Spike bumped shoulders with a nervous looking young man with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. He was clutching a badly broken arm.

"Sorry, man," he mumbled to Spike as he continued to plow his way with the crowd. No, he wasn't with the crowd, he was going through it. Spike turned slightly to watch him go, but all he could see was a sea of heads. Spike wondered distantly what had happened—other than the crash because that wasn't all that had the guy so uppity—to make his rush like that.

"Spike! Spike, what happened? Are you okay?" Jet's voice was muffled by the layers of clothing covering his pocket in which he had placed the communicator. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm coming back to the Bebop."

***

Okay, so do what you want now. Next chapter will be around soon.

Shut up