Disclaimer – I'm still broke, so no suing me.

Overall Content – A little suspense, weirdness (Duh, the story's about Ed mostly), POV changes, some betrayal, lurking shadows, heavy sarcasm, and some other stuff. Maybe fluff. *eats the fluff*

Chapter Content – I'm back to Spike's POV, which I think is excellent for this chapter. Also, the appearance of Blue!!

Dancing in the Dark

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Chapter 5

Blue Ballet

I yawned, turning over in the bed and then pulling the cover back over my chilled legs. I still had all my clothes on, minus my jacket. I didn't sleep in my own room very often, and by now I had found out why.

It was because it was as uncomfortable as Hell.

I threw back the covers and sat up. My fingers fumbled over to the ashtray where I had lain a half-smoked cigarette. I found it and re-lit it, breathing in the smoke. I was severely disappointed. I had been unable to find more than twenty minutes worth of sleep in this cold, abandoned room. A long time ago, Jet had shut off the heat to it, figuring no one would ever be in here again. Oh well…

My stomach growled deep within me. Hungry, again? Maybe I'd slept longer than I thought…

I stood up, finding my jacket and slipping it on. I was getting out of here. Maybe Jet had saved Ed's share of the food. Well, if ya snooze, ya lose, I thought with a smile as I puffed a little bit more on my cig before finishing it and snuffing it out beneath my shoe. And then I left the frozen tundra known as my mattress and headed for the kitchen.

The fridge had no scent or sign that bell peppers and beef with the beef had ever existed. I furrowed my brow with a frown. Surely Ed hadn't come in because I had yet to be tackled, bit, sung to or laughed at in my waking hours. And poor Tomato was lying in the middle of the room, where it had been turned off for a long time. I sauntered towards the familiar yellow couch. I was about to stretch out on it, when I felt something warm and furry in the place I was about to place my rump. Ein was carefully snuggled against a throw pillow that had carelessly been tossed on the piece of furniture… by me I think. The dog owes me, I thought, not sitting on the couch. I sat on the floor instead, staring down at the little brown and white sleeping form of a canine. "You're certainly a strange little pooch…" I mumbled, crossing my legs. I sighed.

I was restless. I needed something to do… something to entertain me…

Hey, is Faye still in the bathtub? I wondered with a small grin beginning to spread. If she was, then a few innocent pranks could go a long way in means of entertainment. A laugh escaped me as the echoes and visions of Faye's shrieks of rage and red face entered my mind. I stood up and began my creep down through the insides of the Bebop.

I was just walking down the hall, devising my plan of ultimate evil and to make sure that Faye was in her place so that the plan would be a success. And then a heard something over my head…

I stopped, listening.

Inside the ducts, scratching noises could be heard. Behind me, Ein barked and barked. I stared down at him, his little body jumping with every yip. Apparently, the little dog had followed me, to keep me out of trouble or maybe he was looking for Edward. And he kept barking.

"Damnit, we've got rats…" I grumbled.

THUD!

My eyes widened. "Uh, really big rats…" I said. Well, there was an answer. I could shoot a few rats to get rid of my boredom, and if I were really lucky, I'd have a dead rat or two to put under Faye's sheets after I was done. I drew my gun and started up a nearby metal ladder. I moved closer… closer…

And then the duct suddenly popped open on its own. Which totally took me by surprise, and I fell directly onto my ass.

A lanky shadow swung out first, landing on the floor near my feet. Then another came, a little bigger than the first. The bigger one crawled nearer to me, padding quietly on the cold steel floor, slowly revealing an arm and then a knee… and a mess of long black hair. I sat up to get a closer look at this new appearance, but it was a mistake. No sooner had I leaned forward, I was on my back again. In a flash of blue and a whirl of black, I had been tackled to the ground.

"What the hell?!"

I was staring into the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. She sat there, blinking. And then a grin spread across her face.

"HELLO SPIKE-PERSON!" the little demon chirped as she sat on my chest. "Hello, hello hello… heeeelllooo…" she began to bounce up and down on me to the rhythm of her new song. As I watched the black hair dance around her face, I felt the coldness in my hand again. I remembered the gun…

And seriously considered shooting the talking human kangaroo who had made a trampoline out of my chest.

Then she suddenly stopped and leaned in close to my face. She examined me a little before leaning back. "Are you Spike-person?" she asked me, cocking her head to the side, "'Cos, Eddie said that Spike-person had funny hair… and you have an afro-puff!" She leaned in again, looking at my head. Then a loud giggle escaped her. "Of course you are Spike-person! 'Cos Eddie said that Spike-person had funny hair and Jet-person had no hair! So you must be Spike-person with the funny hair 'cos I see hair!"

"Yes, the Spike-O and the Jet-O ate the Jell-O as we sat on Mars…" sang out a voice from behind. I shoved the new girl to the side to get a good look at Edward. "Ed, just who is this?!" I demanded. Edward looked at me with wide eyes, apparently frightened at my tone. She sat there a moment before throwing herself on me.

"Ahhhh…. Spike-person! Please do not be mad with Edward! Edward thought that Spike-person would like Blue!!" she moaned, clinging to my arm.

"…Blue?"

Her expression immediately brightened. "Yes! Yes, Edward brought Blue here to meet all of Bebop!"

"And this is Blue?"

Edward nodded enthusiastically. I lay my head against the floor and groaned.

"So, Spike, who's your little girlfriend?" cooed a voice from behind the mess I had found myself in. It was Faye. She was standing there in a bathrobe, her hair wet and in a towel. I shoved the two children off of me with one sweep and got up.

"She's not my girlfriend…"

Faye smirked. "Well, you two do seem awful close," she said. I frowned as I walked, hearing the cries of the two girls I had left behind.

"Con pollo! El pollo es primero!"

"Blue shall stay with Edward on Bebop for all of time! Oh la la!"

Faye followed me, keeping her smile the whole time. "I seriously think the thing has rabies…" I grumbled.

"You mean that little kid?"

"Yeah. Her name is Blue."

Faye stopped for a second. "Blue?" she said "You mean that thing Ed's been going on and on about?"

I nodded and managed to find a cigarette in my pocket. I lit it and began smoking. "Yep… that's Blue. And it seems the only difference between her and Edward is that she refers to herself as 'I'"

Faye's eyes widened. "This is a disaster waiting to happen…" she said.

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Message keeps getting clearer

Radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place

I check my look in the mirror

I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face…

This was nice…

Sorry if it's a piece of crap.

And, in case you didn't notice, some of the stuff Blue said was in Spanish. Those two phrases will be used frequently through the next few chapters.

Con pollo = "with chicken"

El pollo es primero = "The chicken is first."

I'll also warn you that Blue is going to speak some Spanish… and, scary as it may seem, Edward is going to join her. I will translate at the end of each chapter. Also, if you don't know already, I always include the character in charge of the Point Of View in the content part up top, so be sure to read those or you might be a lil bit confused ^_~