A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews on this project! You guys are all awesome!! I've got a week left of my winter break. I wish I had longer…I'm not ready to go back to school yet! I mean, sure, I'm ready to see my friends and my fiancé, but I'm not ready for all the work. Anyways, read, review, and enjoy!

~Larien~

Freedom

The bus rumbled along, desert scenery rolling by so that it melded into one big blur for Pickles. He sat in the back of the bus, his duffle bag tucked under one arm. He'd been on this bus for a week now and the stubble on his chin proved it. None of the other passengers bothered him, except for one older lady who'd tried pushing her Jehovah's Witness beliefs on him. She'd even offered to trim his shaggy red hair, if only he would listen to her. But he had just stared her down with his blazing emerald eyes until she gave up.

He heard the distinctive flick of a lighter and looked up to find a man just a little older than himself lighting a cigarette. The man had long dark hair and a goatee. On top of his head, he wore a tattered top hat.

"Hey dere, Chief. Can I bum a smoke?" Pickles asked. The man silently held up a pack and his lighter. Pickles took the lighter and a stick, lit up, and handed the man back his lighter. As he stood up and pushed his window down, he noticed a major change in the scenery: The bus was now rolling to a stop on the Sunset Strip. Pickles grabbed his bag, walked towards the front of the bus, and got off. The man in the top hat got off behind him.

"Hey, Chief?" Pickles called to the man. "You know where a guy could get some'in ta eat around here?"

The man turned around and eyed the redhead. "Sure. Follow me, kid. You, uh…You ain't from around here, huh?"

"Nope. From Tomahawk," Pickles answered as he begun trailing along behind the man.

"You're a long way from home," the man remarked. "Name's Tony. What can I call you?"

"Pickles."

Tony stared down at the redhead for a long while before saying, "'S a funny name for a kid like you. What brings you all the way out to L. A., Pickles?"

"I wanted freedom."