Disclaimer: I disclaim making any money off of Cowboy Bebop. Exhibit A: My checking account (sob).

Author's Note: I'm toying with a bunch of ideas in trying to expand this story into a whole bunch of stories. It's kind of the classic reporter-follows-around-characters-and-learns-what-fans-already-know-and-goes-on-adventures-with-them thing. Only, I'm more well versed in sociological research and research methods (like participant observation) and can write better about things I know.

If people (ahem) read and respond (ahem), I'll keep going with this.

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Participant Observation

By Starzki

The Gatekeeper

Lisbeth Silva took a nervous step onboard the Bebop. She had found Tranquility Harbor in Alba City without a problem and it would have been impossible to miss the hulking craft bobbing in the gentle, lapping waves. Lisbeth was nervous because she hated asking favors. She especially hated asking favors from virtual strangers, even those tangentially related to her. Steadying herself to the rocking of the ship, Lisbeth shook her head to rid, on the surface at least, the anxiety of this meeting. She squared her shoulders, straightened her back to its full 5' 4" height, and set a friendly-yet-businesslike look to her features and strode confidently on deck.

Lisbeth was met on the ship's short runway by a tall, imposing, muscular, and scarred man. Neither person was sure how to greet the other. Lisbeth took the initiative and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Lisbeth. I'm so glad that I finally got the chance to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me," she said with a smile filled with genuine warmth.

"Jet. We're in town anyway," said the Bebop captain warily shaking the young woman's hand.

"Where would you like to talk?" asked Lisbeth, getting down to business.

"Inside's fine," he replied. "My partners all went into the city. They'll be gone all afternoon."

"Ok… Do I call you Jet? What do you prefer?"

"Jet's fine," he replied feeling better that she wasn't coming into the situation assuming things. "You go by Lisbeth?"

She smiled, "Yeah. Mostly Beth. But not Liz, though."

The pair endured an uneasy silence as they made their way to the upper deck observatory to sit and talk.

As Lisbeth settled into her seat and arranged a few notebooks and her day planner in front of her, Jet took in her appearance. Lisbeth was startlingly pretty, exotic. She had long smooth, wavy brown hair that spilled down her back. Sunlight picked up its copper red highlights. She wasn't tall nor was she slender in the conventional pretty ways, but she had a muscularity, a strength of presence, a centering substance to her movement and being. She was dressed "business/casual" in dark slacks, open fitted white dress shirt with a blue undershirt. Her outfit flattered but did not call open attention to her hour glass figure. Jet saw at once, as an impartial observer, that her eyes were what made her really beautiful. Lisbeth's face was pretty. She had an olive, clear complexion, a small straight nose with a few freckles sprinkled across the bridge, and a wide smiling mouth. But her eyes, wide and dark and fringed by impossibly long black lashes, made what would have been an ordinary face look almost enchanting.

Lisbeth smiled at Jet, glad to be getting down to business. "Like I said in the email, I'm asking you and your crew to be participants in my research for my Ph.D. dissertation. I've already been invited and lived on 3 other bounty hunters' ships and gathered research on them. When I asked them who I should contact, who else might be interested in participating, who else could give me good data, all three named the Bebop." She stopped to take a breath, her nervousness rising again. She wasn't quite sure how to proceed and actually ask the question. She plastered a smile on her face and continued, "I contacted you about this because I was referred to you by other bounty hunters. I'm not asking you because you're my uncle."

Jet had lit a cigarette. He took a long drag on it and stared at Lisbeth as she bit her lip and let the worry reach her expressive eyes. He blew out a stream of smoke and sat silently, seemingly considering what she was saying.

Lisbeth felt the need to press on, make up for her last statement. "Not that I didn't want to meet you," she was making short choppy gestures with her hands, her eyes bright with fear that she might have offended him. "I've been curious to know you, of course. Ever since we found out about you. But there was just so much surprise and anger and hurt feelings. I didn't know how to start, if you even wanted to meet any of us."

Jet tapped the ash off the cigarette and looked at Lisbeth's faltering smile. He sighed. "I didn't really want to know any of you. I've always considered that the man my mom married was my father. Your grandfather wasn't anything to me or my mom. When your family found out 5 years ago, it was 31 years to late for me and I didn't care any more. I have a family."

Lisbeth nodded quickly, "I didn't mean…"

"I agreed to meet with you because your research sounded interesting. I haven't heard of anyone else interested in what bounty hunters do. So why don't we talk about that for now."

Relief spread over Lisbeth's features and her smile reappeared. "Good. Ok. As I told you in the email, I'm a Ph.D. student in the criminal justice department at the University of Mars, Alba City. I got my Masters degree there 2 years ago…"

"Congratulations," said Jet, respectfully.

Lisbeth beamed back at him. "Thank you. I'd been doing a lot of research on the change of law enforcement after the gate explosion and the migration from Earth. I discovered that there has been no in-depth study of bounty hunters since then even though they have become hugely influential in law enforcement and the way things are run in the criminal justice system. I mean, sure, there are official statistics about how many cowboys are out there, how much the different governments pay them, their success rates, and all that. But I'm more curious as to what the lives of bounty hunters are like, how crews live and work together, how different types of people, different configurations of crews work differently. I brought this to my dissertation committee and sent my proposal through the university's Internal Review Board and was approved to start gathering data. I've been on 3 ships and am now asking that yours be the fourth."

Jet eyed her, "Why bounty hunters? Why us in particular?"

Lisbeth shrugged, "Everyone does the police. It's been done to death. Also, absolutely no one gets in to study the ISSP. They don't want any close scrutiny by anyone, particularly researchers. So they're out, too. I don't know why, but no one has taken a qualitative look at bounty hunters, another arm of law enforcement. I don't mind being the first to try."

Jet was nodding. Having worked as a cop, as an ISSP agent, and as a bounty hunter, he understood the draw and the interest in law enforcement. To him, Lisbeth sounded intelligent and driven, or at least very well prepared. He was interested enough to hear more of what she had to say. "How would this work?" he asked.

"First, I would have to get informed consent from you and your partners."

"What if one of them says no?"

"Then I can't do it and I'll move on."

"And if we all say yes?"

"Then I stay on board. I hang out, see how you all live and work. This is participant observation research, so I'll follow you around, ask questions, try and learn. It sounds obnoxious, but I try to be cool and discrete. Basically, it's like I'm a new member in training who never does anything. I mean, I'll give you any help I can, but I won't, I'm not allowed to interfere in your lives."

"We feed you?"

"No. I'll pay rent. I can't afford a lot. I'm working off of a fellowship. I'll buy my own food and supplies, whatever I need. But I can't pay you or your partners for participating. Sorry."

Jet's eyebrows had shot up in surprise when he heard Lisbeth's offer of rent and he almost smiled at her apology for not paying them some kind of salary. If this went through, it would be the first time that it wouldn't cost him to take on someone new. "For how long?" he asked.

"However long it takes for me to collect all my data," Lisbeth said coyly, raising an eyebrow. She got more serious, "Generally, it'll take from 4 to 12 weeks. A crew this big, if everyone cooperates, I would guess 8 or 9 weeks."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Not quite a year. I spend time on a ship. I come back home and sort through my data. Find another ship, and so on."

Jet stubbed out his cigarette and furrowed his brow in consideration. Lisbeth took in his look and did a mental comparison between Jet and her father. Even discounting the scary prosthetic arm and deep scar around his right eye, she had a hard time believing the two men were half-brothers. They did have the same basic stature: muscular, quiet, but with a jovial demeanor. However, Lisbeth's father's advancing years, calm family life, and non-exiting office work as a salesman had softened him. Jet looked like he could break you with an eyelash. Jet was going bald where Lisbeth's dad's hair was still there, but turning silver. Her dad had warm blue eyes to Jet's jaded gray. They shared no mannerisms or speech patterns. Lisbeth could have lived her entire life next door to Jet Black and never once considered him alike enough to be a blood relative.

"I think it sounds ok to me so far, Beth. I'll bring it up with the others when they get back and I'll call you."

"Great!" Lisbeth exploded, jumping up from her seat and pumping Jet's hand in thanks. "I wasn't sure what kind of reception I'd get when I got here, but this was the best that I could have hoped!"

"Beth, one thing. We don't really go into our pasts too much here on the Bebop."

"Ok?" said Lisbeth, slightly confused by the non sequitor.

"I'm just saying that if you come on, the others don't need to know…"

"Oh!" Lisbeth jumped in, then looked concerned. She nervously smoothed a lock of hair back off of her forehead. "Um, Jet? I do talk about my past. Like, a lot. And I have a hard time when I try to lie. I basically can't lie. I'll talk around it and it probably won't be too hard." Her forehead crinkled in thought and her focus turned inward, as if mentally constructing possible scenarios in which she would talk about her family. Her eyes then focused and locked on Jets'. "I promise not to bring it up. I'll be discrete and tactful and try not to slip and say something about it. But I won't lie," she said with a stern confidence.

"Ok. I just don't want it broadcast. It's my business."

Lisbeth nodded seriously. "That's fine. Also, for my end, my dad and I are really close. We talk at least twice a week. He'll be calling here. He'll know that you're here. If you two don't want to talk, fine. But just be aware. I'll stay out of what's between the two of you. It's not my business."

"Good. That's fine. I won't want to talk to him, but I don't mind that he'll be calling."

Lisbeth gathered her things and began walking toward the exit. "I'm really glad to have met you, Jet. You'll call tomorrow?"

"I will, either way," Jet said, walking Lisbeth out into the warm spring air.

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"You've got to be kidding me," said Spike in exasperation, his long body bent to put the newly bought provisions into the small refrigerator. "Another female? That'll throw off the whole balance to their side."

Jet was leaning in the doorjamb, smoking. "It's not like she'll be making any decisions. She'll just be watching, hanging out, paying rent."

"How 'bout I pay you not to take her on," Spike countered, straightening and lighting up a cigarette of his own.

Faye entered the room and made her way to the now fully stocked fridge to rummage. She had been eavesdropping. "Yeah, Jet," said Faye, "I'm not sure about this, either. Why would anyone want to follow us around? And who would want to know what goes on with us anyway?"

Jet said, "From what Beth was saying, other bounty hunters know about us already. On the other three ships she's studied, they all recommended that she study us. We have some of the more…colorful…experiences in collecting bounty heads."

Spike and Faye both donned smirks of pride and self-satisfaction at the news that other bounty hunters discussed them. Both began to seriously consider taking on a new roommate. Ed and Ein padded into the room and surveyed the situation.

"Another member of Bebop?" asked Ed excitedly.

Jet replied, "Maybe. She seemed nice. She looked like she was confident enough to know what she was taking about. And there's the fact that three other ships have obviously survived her. What's the worst that could happen?"

"It's been my experience that it's always a mistake to ask that question," countered Faye with a sigh. It seemed to Faye that Jet had already warmed to the idea of taking on another person. It would be useless to argue with him. Also, she kind of liked the idea that she might be famous whenever Lisbeth wrote up whatever she found while onboard.

Spike yawned and started to leave the room in search of a couch to nap on, "I'll talk to her, but I'm not making any promises about letting her stay," he concluded.