~*I'm on a writing rampage! Muahahaha! Anywho, this is chapter four, and yet my fic is still untitled. Sad. I am obviously uninspired, so I am you, (the avid reader,) to send your suggestions. Plunk them right into the review or e-mail me at wingedsorceress@hotmail.com or sign my guestbook at http://envy.nu/winged0ne or do something. I'm in dire need of a title. Well, enough with my babbling. Onto the story!*~

"Ukimi, Ein. Ukimi."
The little dog half heartedly barked his agreement. It was a life of misery.
Ed rolled over onto her head and kicked over her computer. The old piece of junk didn't even scratch.
"Spike person, really sick."
Ein affectionately licked Ed's face.
"Faye Faye and Jet Jet with Spike person."
The dog howled at the ceiling.
"Edward wants to see Spike person. But Edward and Ein have to stay and watch the Bebop. They get in the way of visiting Spike person."
The dog was crying now.
"No one loves us, Ein." She spun to face the opposite way, still on her head though. Ein started chasing his stump, where a normal dog would have a tail.
Ed let herself be happy for a while. "Silly Ein. You can't win that game." He kept going around in circles, heedless of the words of a six year old.

The sounds of the hatch opening reached the main room. Edward bounced up from her position and on two feet ran to the door, Ein following behind. The little circular door opened up.

"FAYE FAYE!" Ed happily jumped around her in circles.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Hey, Ed." She continued absently walking as she spoke.
She stopped her hyperactive fit and looked concerned. "Faye Faye? What's wrong? Tell Edward." The dog whined his sympathy.
Faye sank into the couch. She started sobbing again and threw her shoes at the opposite wall. They left two dents where they had hit.
"Oh." Ed calmly walked over to the couch and sat beside the crumbling woman. "Grown up trouble."
Faye very unladylike wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Yeah, Ed. Grown up trouble." She managed a weak smile at the young girl.
"Is there anything Edward can do to help?"
She sniffed. "No, Ed. Only I can help me." She stared at dented wall, and suddenly, almost in a motherly gesture, (well, as motherly as Faye could get,) had little Edward in a tight embrace.
As Ed's air was squeezed from her, her initial reaction was to pull away, but after the shock allowed herself to be hugged. "Oh, Faye Faye."
She sniffed. Holding Ed like this...it was so familiar. Little bits and pieces of the past seemed to glue themselves together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

High school had been as exciting as always. A girl in her math class whom she wasn't all too friendly with to say the least had just suffered a painful breakup with her boyfriend. As a result, Faye Russo had come home in a very good. After practically dancing up the stairs of her mansion, she passed the living room and saw her little brother, on the couch, crying. She took away a moment from her happiness and went into the large family room to comfort him.

"What's the matter, Joey?"
The little six year old boy wiped his eyes and looked up at her. The left side of his face was swollen black and blue.
Faye tried to keep calm. She hated those stupid third graders. They hated her brother. She always thought that being too smart was no good. Poor kid. She had fought with her parents to keep in first grade, but to no avail. She knew all too well about what happens to little kids thrown in with others much older than them...
"Shhhhhh. It's okay, Joey. Faye's here."
She held onto him, selflessly trying to end his tears. After five minutes of sitting with him, she left and made her way to the freezer and got him an ice pack wrapped up in paper towels with yellow ducks and cottages with chimneys.
"Here you go. We don't want it to swell up anymore." The little boy pressed the coldness to his eye, the stinging cold not really seeming like a remedy. He much preferred the warmth of his sister. His perfect sister.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sitting back on the Bebop with Ed, Faye realized that the situation had been reversed. She was not comforting. Ed was just a little kid. What could she do? Faye was suddenly ashamed at how selfish she had become. She wasn't comforting any little victims of classroom bullies, she was throwing all of her hurt on a little orphan. Sniffing and resolving to let the kid be, she let go and headed off to take a nice hot bath. Ed stared after in confusion. It was beyond her of what went through that woman's head...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Water all over bathroom tile. Happy little four year old Joey splashing it everywhere. The little plastic tugboat floated, no matter what whirlpool or tsunami he created. Faye wrestled with him to possibly get just a little bit of baby shampoo into his fine, blonde hair. Finally succeeding, she made a thick lather and bade him to lean his head back. She picked up the little green bucket and poured the warm water over his face. He spat and sputtered, rubbed his eyes and continued playing. He had no other care in the world. He could be amused for hours by water and a little plastic boat. Faye adored her brother more than anything in the world. And as long as she was around, no one would ever hurt him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ed was attempting to get into the hospital files and find some sort of way to contact Spike from the Bebop. She wondered what he could have possibly said to drive this seemingly indestructible unmovable woman to tears. But that was not the motivation for her adventure. She missed him. She hadn't seen him since that day...

"Oooooooooooo!" she squealed. "Surveillance camera! Oooo, Mistress Ed, top notch spy! Let's see. Hmm hmm hmm..." she hummed to herself as her goggles showed an empty bed.
A blonde lady was pushing Spike into a paper a gown and forcing him under his flimsy covers. She started yelling at him.
"You are a handful, Mr. Spiegel, and you may cause serious damage to yourself and even worse to my job. What is your problem? No, no. It's not you. It's that God Damned morphine. Well, after I calm down, no wait, tomorrow, I'll come back and check how the withdrawal is doing. Now get some rest. You need to recuperate."
She looked at her silent patient. The hurt in his eyes wasn't from the thinning of the drug. She felt as sorry as her profession allowed.
"Look. I don't know what happened there, but the faster you start cooperating with us the faster you can get out and talk to her. And between you and me, you should give it a rest with her. You both need to calm down."
He stared at the ceiling, deciding that things used to be so much simpler... "There is no her anymore. She is dead."
Kimari rolled her eyes.

"Correction, Mr. Spike person. She is very much alive."
The poor woman stared at the survey camera and screamed loud enough to wake the dead.
Spike smiled. "Hey, Ed."
The camera giggled. "How is Spike Spike?"
He chuckled. "Been better."
Kimari was fuming. "EXCUSE ME, but what is going on here?"
Ed made a "Huh?" sound.
"Ms. Tanzinaki, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."
The camera childishly laughed again. "I am the Lady Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivursky IV. A pleasure to meet you."
"Ah...ha." Her fears had somewhat died down and she went up to the camera to look.
"Our Ed isn't stupid." She turned around and looked at him. "You can't see her from here."
"No, Ed will never be caught! Haha!"

The sound of the opening hatch caused her to turn again. "Jet Jet! I am talking to Spike person."
"Really."
"Yup yup."
"Glad to hear it." He made his way to the quarters for a nap.

"Tell Jet that he should calm down a little." He put his hands behind his head.
Kimari thought a moment. "I'm really not supposed to be doing this, but you are obviously a very disturbed person Mr. Spiegel and this little girl brings you some sort of joy, so I'll give you a list of times when there is no one in your room so she can visit without getting anyone in any sort of trouble. But if I do, you have to promise to be good and not pull anything like you did today."
"Alright then." Spike was in a better mood than he had been in a very long time.
"Yes, sireee!" Ed enthusiastically complied.
The nurse pulled out her clipboard and read of a list of times when he would be checked.

There was a scream loud enough on the ship that it could be heard in the hospital room.
"Uh oh. That was Faye Faye. Gotta go, guys! See ya! Owakare!"
Click.