Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop or "Tommy", an album by The Who (which was my inspiration for this fic).

Eyesight to the Blind

By FekketC

Chapter 1

Amazing journey

It was how every adventure began. Jet was cruising the internet for bounties, Spike and Faye were lying around smoking or cursing at each other, and Edward was doing God knows what on the computer. Ein was nowhere to be found, but everyone assumed he was sleeping somewhere in the ship and wouldn't be bothered until he was hungry or wanted Edward to play with him.

Jet sighed as his eyes began to hurt from staring at the screen for so long. It had been hours, and still nothing. It was like the entire solar system had turned into saints, or else every ISSP station had been bought off. He was prepared to quit for the day when something caught his eye. A banner at the top of a site. A personal bounty of fifteen million woolongs. "Bingo!" he whispered, calling up information on the bounty. A woman, with waist long black hair and pale blue eyes. She smiled at the camera as if she didn't even see it.

Spike read over his shoulder, and smiled. "Should be easy to catch a blind bounty."

Jet jumped, then glared at him. "Don't do that." Returning his attention to the screen, he kept reading. "Hope Johnson. Never committed any crimes, never even got a parking ticket. But there's a personal bounty on her." Jet frowned. "Make thatÉ four personal bounties, ranging from one million to thirty million woolong."

Faye smiled from her place on the couch. "Then we'll take the thirty million. Spike's right for once, this will be easy."

Spike glared at her over his shoulder. "Hey, this one's mine."

"No way. I call dibbs."

"Too bad."

Jet held up his hands. "Enough already! I have a headache, so I don't want you two fighting. Both of you go after the bounty, whoever catches her first gets the money. If you decide, by some freak of nature, to work together, you split the money fifty-fifty. Alright?"

Spike shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Since I'll catch the bounty."

Faye stuck her tongue out at him. "We'll see."

Ed looked up from the Tomato, removing her goggles. "Edward wants to go too!"

Faye smiled. "Okay, Ed, you're with me. Where was our little paycheck last seen?" Ed surfed for a moment, then stood. Leaping across the room in a single graceful bound, she landed on the couch next to Faye and began whispering in her ear. Faye nodded, listening carefully, then smiled. "Alright, let's go!" she said as she and her new partner left.

Spike watched them leave, and turned to Jet. "Have any clues for me?"

Jet shook his head, shutting down the computer. "Nope. I'm going to bed."

Spike frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Well, then where do I..." Tomato's flashing screen caught his eye. He stepped towards it, sat down, and picked up the goggles. "I wonder," he said, starting to put them on. Suddenly a wave of sixth sense washed over him, a terrifying feeling that warned him he was doing something extremely stupid. Shivering against the sudden chill in the room he tore the goggles from his head and tossed them aside. "Okay, I'll find out the old fashioned way," he muttered.

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Faye expertly landed the Redtail in the middle of the street and got out. She glanced around at the moonlit street, at the bums sleeping in the shadows and the muggers waiting quietly, and turned to the ship. "All clear, Ed."

Ed leapt out of the ship and looked around, then pointed to a large apartment building. "There," she whispered, heading forward.

Faye grabbed the girl's collar and held her back. "Ed, listen to me. There are two kinds of places on Mars; the kind where you can run and skip, and the kind where you walk slowly and keep a gun in your back pocket."

The hacker looked up at her temporary partner. "This is one of the quiet places, Faye-Faye?"

Faye sighed, glancing towards the dark alley where two questionable men were standing. "Yeah, Ed. Now stay close and follow me." The crossed the street slowly, keeping their eyes open. To Ed this was a grand adventure, and every shadow held a monster. To Faye, it was all part of a fairly dangerous job. Not that she was worried.

A trip up a rusty flight of stairs, a bit of searching, and a few mistakes eventually led them to the right door. It was dark wood, set deep in the concrete wall, with deep scratches running through it. It was unadorned, except for a plain stainless steel plaque that said 977. Reaching up, Faye rapped her knuckles against it. The door cracked open, and a face peered out from Faye's waist level. It was a little girl with black hair, and pale blue eyes. She looked like a miniature version of the bounty. The girl stood, silent for a moment, then smiled. "Who are you?" she asked, looking up in the general direction of Faye's face.

"Um, I'm here to speak to Hope," Faye said, suddenly uncomfortable. She didn't like blind people.

The girl's smile turned sad. "I'm sorry, but she... she..." The girl appeared close to tears for a moment, but composed herself. "She died a month ago. A... burglar. I'm sorry. It's just me and my daddy."

Another face appeared, at Faye's eye level. The man had neat brown hair and calm brown eyes, and nodded politely. "Hope's gone. Please leave." His voice was terse, his eyes hard.

Faye was uncertain for a moment, but finally nodded. "Alright," she said, turning to leave. "Come on Ed... Ed?" Hearing the little girl laugh, Faye turned. Ed was standing in front of the girl, making faces. The blind girl could tell the faces by running her fingers down Ed's face, and giggled. Her father was smiling, his hand on his daughter's head. Faye frowned, annoyed. "I said come on, Ed! There's no bounty here."

As Ed waved goodbye and turned away, the girl's father looked up. "Hope... had a bounty on her?"

Faye shrugged, climbing down the stairs. "Just some personal bounties. If you report her death, you won't get people like us knocking on your door."

The man nodded slowly, closing the door.

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Spike walked down the cold street, a chill breeze washing over him. Occasionally he heard a siren or car honk in the distance, but mostly the night was silent. The only light emanated from the occasional streetlamp, though they were unreliable, and usually blinked on and off or just stayed off. In the distance he heard the Redtail taking off. Looks like Faye had beaten him to the mark, but he already knew that the bounty wasn't there anymore. He stopped in front of an old boarded up warehouse and looked up at its door. There was a small hole near the bottom, large enough for a very small person to crawl through. Grabbing a paper clip out of his pocket he picked the rusted padlock and slipped inside.

Three children were huddled in the corner under a thin blanket, trying to keep warm. They looked up at Spike, and their eyes widened. "I'm not going to hurt you," Spike said quietly. "I just need some info."

The oldest, a boy who looked about ten, carefully got to his feet. He treated his right leg carefully, leaning against the wall and putting his weight on his left foot. "We don't know nothing," the boy said quietly.

"Not even about a woman named Hope?"

All three children looked up sharply. The smallest, a two-year old girl with dark brown hair, clapped her hands. "Hope is here?"

"Shut up!" the oldest boy said quickly. He turned back to Spike. "Never heard of her."

"Really." Spike sighed, and reached into his pocket. He had been saving the sandwich for a special occasion, since he had hurriedly made it out of the last bread and ham on the ship. But this was an emergency. He took it out of the plastic bag and split it in half, handing one half to the boy. For a moment the boy hesitated, then took it. "I'll give you the other half when you tell me where Hope is," Spike said quietly.

The boy broke the sandwich into three peices, giving the largest to the little girl. He resisted the urge to bite into the meal and instead looked up at Spike. "She was... a doctor. Sort of. My leg was hurt in a car accident, and she found me and took me to her apartment. She healed it up. It's been getting better and better, and soon it'll be normal again."

"And where is she, now?"

"She... She..." He glanced back at his friends, who sighed and nodded. "She died a few weeks ago. It was... awful. She fell out the window of her apartment, and... and..."

Spike shook his head. "That's alright," he said, and handed the boy the other half of the sandwich. As an afterthought he reached into his pocket. I really can't afford it, he thought, but then these kids can afford it even less. He pulled out a small wad of bills and handed them to the boy. "Get some warmer clothes, and then go to an orphanage," he instructed. "There's an okay one in the church of Saint Catherine, just a few blocks from here. Alright?"

The kids nodded. Spike left, locking the door behind him. The little girl looked up at the older boy. "Who was that?" she asked, taking another bite of her sandwich.

The boy shook his head. "I have no idea."

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Despite leaving second and arriving at the scene second, Spike managed to make it back to the Bebop before Faye and Edward. Though it didn't help their time that Edward had insisted on stopping to get a souvinir. He looked up at the two who entered the lounge. "Back so soon?"

Faye snickered at him. "Guess you gave up?"

Spike shook his head. "I already came and went. The bounty's dead."

Faye sighed. "We know."

Ed sighed, walking dejectedly to her computer and sitting down. "Bounty gone. Can't get bounty. No woolongs for Ed."

"Me and Ed stuck around a while, asked a few neighbors," Faye said, sitting down. "Looks like the bounty really is a dead end. No woolong for me either."

Spike frowned. "Then her relatives didn't report her death?"

Faye shook her head. "Nope."

Spike turned on the computer and prepared a communication to the people providing the thirty million woolong reward. "Guess we'd better be polite and let them know." A few seconds later an old woman came on the screen. She was pale, with baggy cheeks and folds under her eyes. Her eyes were like tiny shrewd emeralds, and she wasn't smiling.

"What is it?" she asked, annoyed.

"You're the one who posted a thirty million woolong bounty on a Hope Johnson?"

The woman suddenly seemed much more friendly. "Why yes! She's my granddaughter, you see, and she ran away several years ago. Oh, I was out of my wits with worry. So you've found her?"

Spike shook his head. "Sorry, but I just went after her, and her family said she died a month ago."

The woman looked angry enough to curse, but composed herself. "Er, that's awful. You said she had family?"

"Yeah, a husband and a little girl."

"Er, was the girl... blind?"

Spike looked up at Faye, who nodded wearily. "Yeah."

The woman's face lit up. "Oh, well, I'd love to meet her. I'll tell you what; you bring me the girl and her, er, father, and I'll still give you the thirty million woolong."

Faye leapt up. "Cominatcha!" she cried, heading out of the room. Ed stayed at her computer, typing with her toes, intent on what was on the screen.

The woman on the communication screen smiled graciously at Spike. "You're doing me a great service, bringing me my little granddaughter."

Spike frowned. "I thought you said her mother was your granddaughter."

"Oh, er, I meant my little great-granddaughter."

"Right. Well, I think I'll go help Faye get them for you, okay?"

"Oh, please do. See you soon!" The screen shut off.

Spike sat for a moment, watching the black screen, then shook his head. "Something about thisÉ" He sighed, standing, and headed for the door. Suddenly a great force slammed into his back, and he nearly hit the wall. "What the-" he cried, trying to see.

"Edward is coming, too!" Edward cried, clinging to Spike's back.

Regaining his breath, Spike nodded. "Sure. I need you to tell me where they live anyway. JustÉ get off my back, okay?"

Ed slid from his back and onto the floor, and sat grinning up at him. Suddenly she was on her feet and dancing out the door, singing about woolong and the blind girl.

Spike stood for a moment, his hand over his face. "What am I getting myself into?" he wondered, heading out.

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That's the first chapter. I'll send in more as soon as someone says they like the idea. So read if you want, review if you care, flame if you must, and stay gravy!