This is a prologue, I promise there is more… ^^;; Anyway, Disclaimer junk: I do not own Cowboy Bebop. Avant Garden is taken from the title of an Aerosmith song, seeing as how 95% of the Cowboy Bebop eps were named for songs. I DO however, own Liam. He's mine, mine I tell you! Anyway, yeah, don't sue me, etc… For those wondering, I have another CB fic called "Under My Skin" also named for an Aerosmith song… I'm just using a different account right now cos mine is screwed. Yare, yare… I'll shut up now.

Oh, and the prologue here, takes place 7 years after the end of the series, but the rest takes place 11 years after the end.

***

"Liam! You little shit! Get your scrawny ass back here!"

Liam ignored the cries and kept running. He wasn't going back. Ever.

"Liam!!"

He ran harder, pushing his long legs to their extreme. He heard the sound of heavy boots hitting the sidewalk behind him. There was no way he was going back, not to that, not ever. Liam slid around the corner and skidded to a stop. It was a dead end.

"Shit!" Liam murmured to himself. He turned around and saw his pursuer stalking toward him.

"You little bastard, how dare you run away from me! After all that I've done for you! I took you in when your mother died, I fed you, clothed you, and this is how you repay me!?" the man stopped in front of Liam and raised his hand, as if to hit the thirteen-year-old. Liam closed his eyes, waiting for the strike that never came. Instead, there was a gunshot. Liam's eyes opened widely and he watched the man who had been chasing him fall slowly to the ground, dead. Liam blinked and stared down the alleyway at the man standing at the end, holding a smoking gun. He could tell by the way that the man was dressed that he was a Red Dragon syndicate lackey. All in black, with a pair of sunglasses on, holding a gun. The man walked toward Liam purposefully and stopped when he reached the body.

"What are you looking at, kid?" he asked, levelling the barrel of the gun with Liam's head. Liam glanced calmly down the barrel of the gun and locked eyes with the man behind it. The man froze, and his eyes widened. He had been sent to get rid of the man, not the kid, but the kid had seen him. The kid wasn't scared though, he looked almost as if he welcomed death. The man lowered his gun and just stared at the kid. He had striking green eyes, they reminded him of a cat.

"…What's your name, kid?"

"Liam."

"Go home to your parents."

"Me parents are dead."

"I'm sorry I had to kill your old man, he owed the Syndicate some money and was kinda late on the payback…."

"He's not me old man."

"Oh?"

"Nah, he was me uncle."

"You got a weird accent, kid."

"Wass wrong wif' me accent?"

"I dunno, it's just weird. Go home to your mom."

"Me mum's dead."

"Then go home to your dad."

"He's dead too."

"You don't have anyone, then?"

"Nah." The gunman scratched his head in frustration and holstered his gun. I can't just leave him here… What the hell am I saying? Of course I can. The boss wouldn't like having a kid around… Though he could be useful… As a spy or something, they'd never suspect a kid… Hmmm…

"…Fine then, come with me."

"Wif' you?"

"Yeah."

"You're wif' the Syndicate?"

"Yeah."

"You gonna kill me?"

"Nah."

"Why should I go wif' you 'den?"

"…Where else do you have to go?"