A/N: My first Cowboy Bebop crossover, but perhaps not my last.

originally posted on AO3 for the SSHG Summer Feels Trip
Prompt: What a long strange trip it's been.

If you're a Bebop fan, this story takes places during Session 7: Heavy Metal Queen.

The neon sign that spelled out 'Mac's Diner' was already shut off and only a few stragglers remained in their booths.

'We had some trouble with bounty hunters earlier,' Muriel the waitress had apologised earlier as she'd gestured at the disarray that still marked parts of the diner. She was a young thing, cheery enough to be working in a place like this, with smooth blonde hair that would have made some other girl envious, but Hermione had made her peace with her own unruly dark curls. 'Thankfully VT was here. And this other man with green, wild hair. They got rid of those awful men. I wonder why there were so many of them here today, though?'

Hermione had made an effort that day with her clothing: a short black button-down dress with a nice collar. It had gotten her a few unnecessary comments on the job that day, but she knew she'd be having dinner with him, so it was worth the annoyance. She'd slid into a seat at the bar and Macho, the owner, had poured her a drink while Muriel saw to other customers. Hermione had begun to think that Severus wasn't coming after all while she ruminated over the day and waited, one finger tapping against the side of her glass. VT, huh?, she thought to herself. Woman was a legend in their trade. There was an ongoing wager to guess her name: get it right and you win a nice stack of Woolongs, but if you guessed wrong, you had to pay her instead.

Hermione was still in one of the booths at the diner drinking the last of a coffee when the sign was turned off. The vinyl seat was painfully stuck to the backs of her legs. The fans in the place only did so much good when it got really warm outside.

Three old men were getting up from their booth, still squabbling loudly over who'd cheated at cards and who was buying the coffee. Earlier they'd been arguing about what 'VT' even stood for. Apparently they had guessed VT had stood for 'Adrian' and had to pay up. Hermione snorted. 'Adrian' didn't even start with a 'V'.

Across from Hermione sat a man whose face was only soft when he was looking at her. The man she'd sat at the bar waiting for earlier. They'd finished eating more than twenty minutes ago, napkins now laying on empty plates. She saw that Muriel was ringing one of the last of the customers out at the till.

'We should get going, don't you think?' Hermione asked.

The man grunted and brushed some invisible crumbs from his tired blue shirt, which she took as a sign of agreement. He was a man of few words. He'd been in some kind of accident a few years back that had effected his vocal chords, some said. Others said it was a miracle he was even alive. He kept most people at arm's length, or even further when he could, so the fact that he had even allowed her this close to him showed that he cared for her company. Or at least that was how she understood it.

They paid and left, each climbing into their respective rigs that had been baking in the now-setting sun. Both of them were space truckers, gearing up for the final leg of their routes. A body has to earn money doing something, she'd figured a couple years back when she was looking for a career change. Might as well earn it doing interplanetary deliveries. The first thing she did after starting the engine was turn on the air-con. The second thing was turn on the radio. Driving was less lonely with music.

She called Severus more than an hour later, after making a couple of stops on her route, congratulating herself for giving the man a bit of space. In truth, she was missing his quiet company.

'Hi again,' she said to the screen, waving her fingers. Severus's image stared back in silence, though one corner of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile.

'Have you overheard the news from some of the other truckers? About VT working with some bounty hunter today and nearly getting herself blown up in the mines?'

When Hermione had fueled up just minutes ago, it was all anyone was talking about.

Severus nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Muriel'd said earlier that VT had saved her from getting roughed up this afternoon by some of those guys. Bunch of scum.'

'Some are,' Severus agreed.

'So why would VT work with one? Thought she hated them?'

He nodded and she didn't know how to respond to that. It was quiet for a moment. Surprisingly, it was Severus who broke the silence.

'You don't know, do you?'

It might have only been the second or third time he'd asked her a question other than how are you? Severus knew something and now she was desperate to find out what had motivated him to actually want to talk.

'Don't know what? You know something about VT?'

As far as Hermione could tell, nobody knew anything about VT. The woman was as secretive as they come.

'I knew her husband,' Severus replied quietly.

How was that even possible? And why had he never mentioned this before? Was it just not that important to him?

Hermione blurted out, 'She's married?' She knew she shouldn't judge, knew how hard it was to have relationships when you were always on the go, but VT had been doing this job for decades and was never seen with anybody, apart from her cat. The woman was friendly enough, but she mostly kept to herself and that was a fact.

'Was. He's dead now.'

'What happened? Gate accident or something?'

'He was a bounty hunter.'

'Oh.' Hermione paused. 'Wait, you know who she is then? You know her name?'

Had she gone too far? There was silence again for a moment.

'VT. It's what she wants to be called,' came the answer at last.

Infuriating man. She was sure there was a big stack of Woolongs to be had by now with that silly bet and they could have won it all, split it 50/50. She shoved these momentary thoughts aside, though, knowing it was futile. The fact that Severus had even brought it up meant that he was never interested in some dumb bet. And he sure didn't seem interested in money. Or much of anything, really. Well, he did just have dinner with her. That was something.

'How did you know him?'

Severus always steered clear of bounty hunters himself, though she'd never asked why. Didn't want to seem prying.

'We worked together once.'

Hermione's eyes bulged. Just what was he saying? Just who was Severus Snape? Maybe it wasn't a trucking accident that had messed him up after all. But asking nosey questions probably wasn't going to win her any points with the man. She sighed.

'Hey, Severus?'

'Hmm?'

'When you finish this job, would you like to meet up for a drink? You pick the spot.'

Severus was quiet again. Hermione looked away from the screen, wondering if she had pushed too far.

'Yeah, alright,' he said more than a minute later. He named a bar at a space port. She wondered if that was a place he'd been to often.

'Call me when you're on your way. My route will take me by there anyway and I've only one stop left.' She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. She didn't want to scare him off.

'Ok. I'm almost to my last delivery.'

They disconnected from their call and she just let the radio play in the background, smooth jazz filling the cabin of her truck as she drove among the stars. He'd been a bounty hunter. Guess that'll show her about making assumptions. Well, she used to be a scientist working for the Gate Corporation, so she supposed they were even now in a way. Strangely coloured pasts making them who they were now. Just another trucker on a lonely path, talking to one another on the screens and hoping that there was someone out there who actually cared. Really, truly cared.

A mournful saxophone solo came on and she let the music wash over her, its melodic tune the song of her soul, of love and loss, of tiredness and hope. She'd look forward to that next meeting with him. Maybe something else would come of it. Maybe it wouldn't. But even faced with the coldness of space and the vastness of the universe, she would choose to try anyway. To see what would happen next. To anticipate something. Something good.

A/N: Woolongs, as you might have surmised, are a form of currency.

Cowboy Bebop might be my favourite show ever made (the anime, not the reboot). I hope this story made any fellow fans nostalgically needing to rewatch the episode.

That's Gren on the radio at the end playing his solo in "Space Lion" which you can listen to on Youtube. I like to think that he did a little recording and not just playing at the club. There's not much else to do in Blue Crow.