Before I begin, I would like to state a few things. First of all, I want to thank all of you who favourited and reviewed the original work, Old Habits. It is because of you and for you that I took the time to rewrite the first piece and to concentrate on finishing this one. Writing wouldn't be worth it without you, so please know you are in my muse and my drive in part.

Secondly, as is obligatory, I do not own anything from Cowboy Bebop. The only characters that are mine are Sarah and Alejandro.

For the record, as far as I am aware, the White Tiger gang is not canon to the original series. I have taken a few elements from the Fanfiction titled "Left Eye" by bebop-aria. I messaged him/her in hopes of gaining official permission to borrow a few things from his/her fic, but, unfortunately, I received no response.

So, I give credit to him/her for everything I borrowed. The White Tiger gang and any references to the past not explicitly mentioned in the series between Julia, Spike, and Vicious is all taken from this excellent fan-written history of my favourite love trio. I suggest you read this work if you are a fan of Cowboy Bebop. It is, by far, vastly superior to anything I could ever hope to put together.

Anywho, thanks for sticking with me this far and I hope you enjoy the much-anticipated sequel to Old Habits!

Prologue – Dark-skinned Stranger

Alejandro Rodriguez was not a man to be trifled with. His father had been a lifelong military man. Into his son, he had beaten a nigh unbreakable endurance for pain and a streak of cold, sadistic pleasure that were both masked by a calm, pleasant demeanor. While his father served in the Titan War, Alejandro started working the streets as a small-time drug dealer. By the time the elder male returned, his son had grown into a big-time manufacturer of the highly addictive, increasingly popular and profitable Red Eye narcotic.

It didn't take long for the father to discover the son's activities. As a man of the highest law (or so he was in his own eyes), it was the father's duty to discipline the son. This time, however, when the father raised the belt to teach the boy right from wrong, the man who had grown in the boy's place lashed out with all the pent up rage he'd been storing since he was a child. A loud crack of flesh on concrete and the son was liberated from the father's tyranny.

In the years since his father's death, Alejandro knew nothing of want or desperation. His sirenesque charm led to acquiring big name suppliers with large stocks of his product for cheap and rich, powerful buyers willing to spend whatever he asked. For the young, ex-military brat, his life was only getting better with each passing day.

The years passed and the male soon learned that nothing, good or bad, would last forever.

When the Red Dragon syndicate fell apart after a failed coup and the assassination of the ruling Van, Alejandro suddenly found himself without one of his major buyers. This left him with an overabundance of Red Eyes that sat in a warehouse with no place to go. The male was forced to pay for the large shipment out of pocket and scramble to find a new buyer willing to take the incriminating stock or an old buyer who needed more than Alejandro was originally willing to give. All it took was a greedy business partner or disgruntled rival to set fire to the stewing powder keg.

Less than three months later, the I.S.S.P. came knocking on Alejandro's door. Someone had tipped the cops off to the location of the drugs and Alejandro was left holding the bag. The dark-skinned male was now facing criminal charges that would have put him away for most of the rest of his days. It was a White Tiger inside man on the force that caused the shipment to "mysteriously" disappear and Alejandro's record to be wiped from the system. The male's life was saved, but it cost him dearly.

The White Tiger gang seized all of Alejandro's stock of Red Eyes and bought out all of his contracts. In return, they have him a laughable share of the profit and offered him the only salvation he had left: working directly under the Tiger. Now that word had gotten out that the cops had marked him, no one was interested in doing business with a lone dealer who was without support. By working for the White Tiger, he was able to continue living and supporting himself. For all intents and purposes, however, Alejandro felt like he had sold out and the money he earned now as nothing compared to the old days.

He never found out who betrayed him to the I.S.S.P. Since the day they arrived on his doorstep, however, there was only man alive (or dead, as some fools claimed) that Alejandro considered responsible: Vicious. It had been that self-serving asshole that had brought the Red Dragon to its knees and, in turn, brought Alejandro to his. The male swore that one-day, no matter how long it took, he would get his revenge on the man responsible for his lot.

When word hit the street that the Red Dragon had raised anew, Alejandro saw his moment for glory. To his horror, instead of scheming to bring their resurrected rival to ruin, his employers were arranging a business meeting with the Van. Worse, Alejandro was expected to sit pretty and play nice while trying to score a partner out of his most loathed enemy. The male had never felt more humiliated and enraged in all his life. That is, to say, until Vicious declined his offer without so much as a second thought.

For the second time in his life, Alejandro Rodriguez felt all his self-control melt away. Forsaking his loyalties and common sense, the scorned male began to plot his final act of vengeance. It surprised him how easy it was to find the perfect target for his pent-up frustration and anger. It took only a little "coaxing" from a stray Red Dragon to locate the pretty blonde and her pretty little girl. With each step that proved only easier than the last, his confidence and assurance in his righteous cause grew. Now, with the little girl gagged, he had only to wait for his prize to return home and everything would fall into place.