AN: Sorry it took so long. Liam has been kinda quiet lately and Spike, Faye and Auron (from FFX) have been pretty loud. ^^;; I'll try to get the next chapter out a little sooner!

-Rhyein

***

"We should be on Ganymede in a few days or so. It's not a long trip from Mars," Ed said as she placed the plate in front of Liam. He looked down at the food and sighed. He wasn't really all that hungry, but Ed seemed very adamant about taking care of him. Which was kind of a new experience for him, seeing as no one had ever really taken care of him since he was about eight.

"Promise me this won't be like old times, Jett…" Faye remarked as she sat down across from Liam. "I don't want to be able to claim that I haven't eaten in days when we get there."

"Claim what?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow. Faye smiled at him.

"Oh, we used to starve regularly on this ship, right Ed?"

"Yup!" Ed replied cheerfully. Jett rolled his eyes and began to eat, ignoring the two women. Ed smiled at Liam and then began to ravage her own plate; Faye put out her cigarette and began to eat as well; Liam only stared at his plate blankly.

"Not hungry?" Jett asked, looking up from his food. Liam shrugged and picked at one of the bell peppers. He tentatively took a bite, and was surprised that it wasn't too horrible to the taste-buds. He really wasn't all that hungry though. He put his chopsticks down and sighed, watching everyone else eat.

"Whassamatter?" Faye inquired.

"I'm not hungry."

Everyone looked up at him in shock.

"Seriously?" Faye asked.

"Yeah… Why is that so surprising?"

"Cos Spike loved to eat," she replied. Liam grimaced and stood up.

"Maybe… but I'M. NOT. SPIKE," he said loudly, punctuating each word. Faye flinched and leaned backward into her chair.

"…Sorry…" she murmured. Ed watched the exchange and could tell that Liam was trying very hard not to lose his temper completely. He finally sighed in frustration and left the room, moving toward the hanger. Ed looked at Jett and Faye and then stood up to follow him.

"I'd leave him alone, Ed. He needs some time to himself," Jett told her. Ed thought for a second and then followed Liam out of the room. Jett sighed. "That girl has only gotten more frustrating with age."

***

Liam walked into the hangar and began to pace. Why do they have to keep comparing me to him? I've been compared to him my whole life and I've never even met him! God, I HATE him! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM!

"I HATE YOU!" Liam shouted at the roof of the hanger. "I'M NOT YOU! YOU'RE A BASTARD WHO LEFT MY MOTHER FOR ANOTHER WOMAN! YOU LEFT HER! I HATE YOU!" Liam collapsed on the floor, holding his head in his hands.

"Feel better now?"

Liam's head jerked in the direction of the voice. He saw Ed standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" he growled, looking away from her. Ed walked a little further into the hanger.

"You shouldn't hate him you know…"

"Why not?"

"He didn't know about you. He didn't leave your mother. He broke up with her. That happens between people who date. If he had known about you, I'm sure he wouldn't have left. Spike wasn't the type to do that sort of thing."

"Whatever Ed, you can't possibly understand how I feel," Liam replied bitterly.

"…My father took me to a day care when I was six, and forgot about me for seven years… I found him again when I was part of the Bebop crew, and you know what? He saw me, remembered me for about five minutes and then left again, without me… It took me a year and a half, without the Bebop, to find him again. When he died… He couldn't even remember my name."

Liam remained silent and stared at the Red Tail, which was sitting in the hanger.

"I may not completely understand what it's like to be constantly compared to someone you never knew, but I do understand what it's like to be abandoned… and what it's like to alone… and what it's like not to have a father, or a mother… As a matter of fact, so does Faye, and even Jett understands a little. You just need to give them time to get used to you being around. Spike was Jett's partner for four years, and Faye was in love with him. It should take a while for them to get used to having a Spike-look-alike around. Give them a break, okay?"

"…Fine."

"Good." She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "…Oh, Liam?"

"Hmm?"

"How does Robert Arkwright being your grandfather change anything about the succession?"

"…He was a syndicate member. He had what we call a 'family membership', meaning that all his children, grandchildren, etc, were technically members of the syndicate the moment they're born. It's up to them whether or not to pursue into that area of the family business when they get older though. So technically I've been a member of Red Dragon since I was born."

"How does one get a 'family membership'?"

"It's when two syndicate members get married. An example would be if Spike married Julia, they would have become 'family members'. Spike being in line for the succession guaranteed him a family membership anyway."

"I see… I'll wrap up your food and put it in the fridge. Jett got a food heater installed on the ship, so if you get hungry later, you can just heat it up and eat it. 'Kay?"

"Sure."

"Great." Ed smiled at him and began to leave.

"Ed?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks…"

"No problem."

***

"…Jett?"

Jett looked up from his plate and blinked at Faye. "What?"

"…With Liam… Do you… Do you feel like it's a second chance too?" she asked carefully, not wanting to sound too much like an idiot. Jett just smiled softly.

"I get what you mean… Yeah, I feel it too, but Liam doesn't seem to like that."

"I've noticed."

"I just hope we can help him out. Help him the way we didn't help Spike…" Jett's voice faded off and the two were quiet for a while. Ed walked into the room and flinched. She could feel the aura of depression hanging in the room like a veil.

"What's up?" she asked cheerfully, sitting down to finish eating.

"How's Liam?" Faye asked.

"He's okay. I little angry, but he'll live."

"I see."

"What's the matter with you two?"

"Oh, nothing," Faye replied as Jett began collecting plates. Ed stopped him from taking Liam's.

"I told him I'd wrap it up in case he wanted to eat later," she told him. Jett shrugged.

"Alright," he said and left the plate alone. Faye watched as he disappeared toward the kitchen. Faye turned back to Ed.

"This is going to be hard, Ed. I don't know if I can handle him being around," she told the younger woman, her eyes starting to brim with tears.

"I miss Spike too, Faye-Faye, but Liam is not him. He won't ever be him. It'll be hard, but if we want to help Liam, you're going to have to deal with the pain and the grief again."

Faye nodded and sighed, wiping her eyes.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay, just be careful where you wander to on the ship, don't want the 17-year-old to see you," Ed replied craftily and winked. Faye smiled at the red-head and left the room. Ed watched her and then fell backward onto the floor. "I can't wait till he's gone. Things are going to be hell for a while…"