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

A/N: So many wonderful reviews! Thank you guys so much! Um, what did someone (sorry I can't remember your name!) mean about this being a 'true account of bounty hunting'? That one left my tiny brain confused... Oh, well. Whatever you meant, thank you! Now go read the chapter! Go on!

Eyesight to the Blind

By FekketC

"It was so long ago, I almost can't remember."

Jonah was sitting on the cold metal floor of the bay. Spike was sitting just a few feet away. Erika was still in her father's lap, her arms around his neck. She had never heard this story before.

"I met Hope at a filling station of all places. I was with some friends coming home from a highschool party, and I saw her arguing with the pumping machine. She was driving this beat-up zip craft, an egg yellow color. She kept kicking the machine and I later learned her credit card had gotten stuck inside. So I walked up, took out a nail file and got the card out for her. Then I looked in her eyes and she smiled at me, and it was like..."

Faye rolled her eyes, stepping out from behind the Redtail. "Cut to the chase, already."

Jonah looked curiously at her and continued. "I asked her for her number, but she said she didn't have one. She said she didn't have a home, so I called one of my friends' girlfriends and asked if they would take a guest for a while. Suddenly Hope and I were staying on the same block and then we were dating. It went on for about six months, the most wonderful time of my life.

"Then, it was a rainy day."

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Session 4

Cousin Kevin

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It was a very long stone street that reached out and out to the horizon. It was impossible to see the end of it because even if human sight could extend as far as that day went, the fog and rain created a curtain that masked most of the view.

Suddenly, from under that curtain emerged a young couple, both about eighteen. They were holding a raincoat above their heads and talking about something. The woman was smiling, her eyes closed. The man was chuckling. The beginning of a beard was on his face. They walked up to the front of an apartment building and sat down under the eaves where it was dry.

The woman pulled the raincoat from her head and felt the mist on her face. "Jonah, I have never been so happy," she declared. "We have got to go back there tomorrow."

Jonah's fingers wrapped around hers and he felt a longing building inside him. The longing he felt whenever they had to part, even if just for the night. She was taking classes at the university which were funded by her job at the bakery just down the street, so they saw each other often duing the day. But he hated to say goodbye even if only for a few hours.

At last she stood, turning, her hand on the doorknob. Her eyes were open, looking sightlessly down as her fingers identified the doorknob as brass, dull and in need of an oiling. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said quietly, opening the door and going inside. "Goodnight," she called, closing the door behind her.

For a long while he sat there under the eaves, his hand in his pocket. He was feeling the tiny velvet box that he had bought the week before, the one he hadn't had the nerve to give to her yet. "Tomorrow," he said to himself, standing. "Tomorrow I'll ask her." He turned and walked down the street.

He did many things, jumping from one job to the next though his major was journalism. His interests leapt from one subject to another like a frog on lilly pads, and at the moment his room was full of boxes of books. Fantasy, to be exact. Sometimes he wanted to give up writing about things that actually happened and start relating the made-up tales of some made-up people in a wonderful, made-up world. But that was how a child thinks and he knew he needed to persue a real career.

But as he stepped into his room, filled with the boxes of books, a wave of panic crashed over him. He leaned against the wall, his hands over his face, and bit his tongue to keep from screaming. Wrenching open the door, he tore back out, down the stairway, past his friends coming up the stairs, and across the street to Hope's apartment building. He pounded on the door, shouting her name. At last an old woman came to the door. She looked frightened out of her wits.

"Hope, he took Hope," she said to him. Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking. He dashed past her and up the stairs to the room that Hope shared with a woman named Naomi.

Naomi looked up at him, tears on her face. "I tried to stop him," she said hysterically, "but he went out the window!"

Jonah moved to the window and looked out, but there was no one there. Taking Naomi's shoulders he sat her down on the bed and looked into her pale blue eyes. "Who took her?" he said quietly, trying to calm her down.

"A man in leather, a big man, with red eyes," she said, starting to gain control of herself. "And he said... said he'd come back for me. Said he could only carry one at a time. What the hell was he talking about?" She was crying now, her face buried on his shoulder.

"Naomi, I need you to listen very carefully," he was saying, a plan forming in his mind. Was he crazy? The proper thing to do was to call the police. But suddenly he felt like this wasn't the real world anymore, this was a fantasy, and he was trapped at the center of it. He relayed his plan to Naomi, who nodded and wiped her eyes.

She stood up, pounding her palm with her fist. "Right." When she wasn't hysterical, she was actually very brave, and even smiled down at him. Her smile was scared, but determined. "I'll... do what I can."

--------

The man came back at exactly ten o'clock that evening. Jonah was watching from his window across the street. The man was indeed huge, clothed in leather. He leapt in Naomi's window, and reappeared a moment later. No screams, no sounds of struggle. Either Naomi was following the plan or the man had knocked her unconscious.

Jonah ran down the fire escape, the remote in his hand. A tiny light beeped on the screen, corresponding with the tracker he had attached to Naomi's shirt. Looking around he saw his friend Koji's bicycle and leapt on, whispering a silent apology. Then he was speeding down the street after the invisible kidnapper.

At last he was at the docks, riding around in circles. He saw a warehouse, old and boarded up, and parked the bike outside. The tracker had guided him to this place, and by climbing on top of a crate, he could look through a dusty window. Lying in the corner were Hope and Naomi, both lying as if unconscious. Leaning against the wall was the leather-wearing man, and doling out a wad of money to him was an old woman. Her hair was white, and in a bun. As she turned to put her wallet back into her purse, Jonah saw her emerald eyes, her rich clothing. This was the woman Hope had told him about. Her stepmother. More like a grandmother, really, which was why Hope had always called her 'my evil grandmother' on the few occasions she actually talked about the old woman.

"That's all of it," he heard the old woman say. "Now get out of here."

The leather-man nodded towards the two girls. "What're you going to do with them?"

"None of your business, but, would you put them in the trunk of my car for an extra hundred?"

The man shrugged, walking towards the girls. He picked up Hope, slinging her over his shoulder, and walked out. Running around the corner of the warehouse Jonah saw him open the trunk of a minivan and start to shove Hope in. This would be his only chance.

"Let go of her!" Jonah cried, running out. He wished he had brought a gun, or a sharp stick, or anything but his bare fists. The man looked up at him, setting the girl slowly in the trunk, and turned.

"And what if I don't?" he said, a vicious smile on his face as he started to walk toward him. "What're you going to do?"

Jonah made a fist and punched the man in the stomach. It was like hitting a wall. The man laughed, which was not encouraging. Leaping up Jonah struck at his jaw, but again there was no effect. Suddenly the huge man reached down and grabbed him around the neck, lifted him into the air, and started to squeeze. Jonah struggled, trying to loosen the man's hold on his neck, but bones were beginning to crack and his head was pounding. He kicked at the man's stomach but couldn't reach. There were spots dancing before his eyes now, and all he could see was Hope lying helplessly in the trunk of the car. "Hope," he whispered, his struggles weakening.

"Hope!" a voice cried from behind him. He couldn't see, but he knew it was Naomi. "Let go of me!" she was yelling, and then screamed with frustration.

It was like a tidal wave from the horizon, unexpected and terrifying. It was rushing at him with no way to stop it, it was going to sweep over him and the man holding his neck, and then it was crushing him against the pavement. And then everything went black.

-----

"Jonah, wake up, please!"

His eyes opened, slowly. He had, officially, the worst headache ever felt by a human being. His breathing hurt, thinking hurt. But now, after the tidal wave had swept over his mind, it felt like he was floating in cool water. Water that reached down into the scratches on his neck, and into his screaming mind, and started to sweep away the pain and injury.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Naomi sitting against the wall, a dumbstruck look on her face. "I... I have... no idea..." she mumbled.

He looked up at Hope. She was leaning over him, her eyes closed, her hand on his chest. There were tears on her face. "Hope... what happened?" he asked weakly.

Naomi stood up shakily. "I did this thing... it was like my mind was screaming, and then the leather guy and you and the old hag were unconscious." She peered down at Hope. "Hope, what is... is..." Her voice was broken for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. "What is going on, Hope?"

Hope kept her eyes closed, her hand on Jonah's chest. "Ever since I was born I could do this. I could heal people. At first it was kind of random, but I practiced and learned how to control it. Then, my parents died and that old woman found out about my powers, wanted to adopt me. She finally won the case over my uncle, my favorite uncle, and started secretly abusing me into using my powers. She runs a crime syndicate on Callisto, and her men were constantly coming in with bullet wounds and scrapes. She made me heal them. One time she brought in a corpse and told me to bring him back to life. I couldn't, so she beat me and beat me until I couldn't move. The body stayed dead." She opened her eyes and nodded towards Naomi. "I'm not sure, but I think we're just freaks. You know, strange."

"We?" Naomi asked incredulously.

"When I found out about my power I read everything I could on psychic powers. There are all kinds, like telepathy, healing, levitation... and a thing called mind-screaming. I think that's what you have, from what just happened, and aparently my evil grandmother knew about it, too. You don't know how to control it yet, though, so everyone around you was hit."

"Except you," Jonah said at last, sitting up and rubbing his head. The headache was nearly gone. "You weren't effected."

"I think it's my power," she said quietly, sitting in a lotus position with her chin in her hands. "So what do we do, now?"

"Go home, I guess. After I call the police." Naomi stood up, looking from the leather-clad man to the old woman. "And then, Hope, you're gonna tell me everything you know about this psychic stuff." She smiled ruefully. "Might come in useful, you know?"

Hope nodded. "Yes, I think so."

------------

Hope insisted on letting Jonah lean on her as they walked home. Naomi had stayed behind to keep an eye on the two felons until the police arrived. Jonah had left the bike for her to come home on. "It has been a strange night," Jonah said quietly. "Why hadn't you told me about this power of yours?"

Hope shrugged. "I guess... I was afraid you would turn on me like my stepmother did." She smiled. "Kind of silly, huh?"

"I never would," Jonah promised, putting his arm around her shoulders. "In fact-" He stopped, blushing in the dark.

Hope could feel his embarrassment. Among her lesser powers was a strong empathy, one that would one day be passed on to her daughter. "What is it?" she asked.

Jonah pulled away from her and knelt on the wet sidewalk, pulling the ring box from his pocket. Taking Hope's hand he ran her fingertips over the ring, the velvet box, so she could see with her hands what he was asking her.

----------

"We went home that night and the next morning told all our freinds we were going to be married. We never told anyone about the leather-clad man, and we told the old woman who lived in Hope's building that he was a burglar. But just after a great old party had started, and everyone was toasting our future marriage..."

Faye had sat down next to Spike, intent on the story. "Yeah? What happened next?"

"We got news from the police. Naomi was dead."

Erika clutched her fathers shirt collar with her tiny hand. "What happened to her?"

"They never even found the body. The old woman and the leather-man were gone. But there was a bloodstain that covered the entire parking lot, and a DNA test showed that it was Naomi's."

Jet had been sitting in the cockpit of the Hammerhead, listening to the story. Now he noticed something on the radar, and paled. "But she's not dead either," he said suddenly. He jumped down from the cockpit, rubbing his head. He looked down at Jonah. "Is she?"

Jonah shook his head, holding up two fingers. "Scout's honor," he said.

Jet sighed, punching a panel on the wall. "This is the Bebop, called the unnamed ship. Who are you?"

A voice crackled faintly over the com. Jet listened carefully, then nodded and turned it off. "Everybody out of the bay."

Jonah stood, still holding Erika, and followed Faye and Spike out of the bay. Jet came out last, and closed and locked the door behind him. They all stood in the narrow hall as the roaring of the outer door opening got louder and louder, then softer and softer until it was gone. At last a green light over the door flashed on, and Jet opened it and led the way in. Parked next to the "Naomi" was a ecru ship shaped a bit like the Swordfish, but smaller. The cockpit opened, and a woman in a black cloak leapt out, holding a gun.

"Naomi!" Jonah cried, rushing forward. The woman looked up, surprised and releived, and hugged both him and Erika at once. She was smiling, holding Jonah tight, and Erika was grinning as she felt Naomi's face with her fingers. "Where the heck have you been?" Jonah asked, pulling away. Erika slid down his leg and landed on the metal floor, standing and holding his leg.

"Well, I guess you thought I died back at the warehouse," Naomi said, scratching her chin. "But that huge guy, the one with the leather? He woke up and started to beat me to a pulp. Just as the sirens started wailing, the old woman woke up and told him to forget me and run. By then I was bleeding pretty badly, so the man dropped me and said he'd come back for me later. I managed to crawl away, and after a few month's recovery started training my power."

"Yes, I know," Jet said, walking up. "At least, about your power."

Naomi smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were trying to hurt Jonah and the little one." She knelt next to Erika and smiled. "What's your name?"

While Erika introduced herself to Naomi, Spike scratched his head and looked quizically at Jet. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"In the grocery store, when you found me zoned out by the frozen vegetables," Jet explained. "It was Naomi that did it."

Spike nodded. "Well, then that's another mystery solved. There's only one left, now." He turned to Jonah, who had been watching him. "Where's Hope?"

Jonah hesitated, then pulled out a communicator. "Her death was a big lie. A game of pretend. We knew there was a gang of thugs, being sent after her by the old witch," he explained. "We decided we had to get away again. So Hope climbed down the fire escape and bought a ticket on a hyperspace flight to Ganymede. We said we'd meet after that. Then, it was just a matter of pouring ketchup and tabasco sauce on the carpet, lying to the neighbor, and making a run for it."

Erika grinned up at her father. "Did I play a good pretend?"

Jonah put his hand on the top of his daughter's head. "Yes, you did, and now we're going to go meet Mommy."

"No chance," Naomi said suddenly, turning away. "I was on Ganymede, working at a temporary job while I tried to find you guys. I checked with the old woman's syndicate on Callisto, and intercepted an encrypted code. They kidnapped her without a sound on the flight to Ganymede. She's on Callisto now."

Jonah stared at her back. "No, no, please, no..." he whispered.

"Mommy!" Erika cried, burying her face in Jonah's knee. "Daddy, get Mommy back!" she cried.

"I..." Jonah was shaking now, as he knelt and hugged his little daughter. "I don't know if I can."

There was a long moment when the ship's bay was silent except for the sounds of Erika's sobs. Naomi was shaking with anger, frustration and helplessness. Jonah's words were true and she knew it. There were other people, working for the Yakuza Syndicate, who had powers. She and Jonah could never get past them on their own.

"I'll help," Spike said suddenly, as if reading her thoughts. She looked up at him, curious, but he only smiled. "I've been wanting to meet this Hope that everyone's been talking about. And anyway, I'd only be bored, sitting around here."

Faye nodded. "I can relate to that. Count me in."

Jet rubbed his chin. "I suppose I could help. Maybe hack into their database, figure out the best route to take to get inside and out."

A laugh burst the serious tension, and everyone looked up to see Edward standing next to Jonah. "Edward will help, too!" she cried, hugging Erika.

Erika smiled. "Then maybe we really can get Mommy back."

"Yes," Naomi said. "I'm sure we can."

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Bing! Done like dinner! So, what do you think? Come on, review! Man, I'm on a roll. Hey, peoples, remember when I asked you to review and tell me what you think might happen next? Well, you can stop now because I have the perfect ending lined up in my head, with fight scenes, chases, and plenty of romance and horror! It's all next time, on Yu Yu- I mean, in this fic! So read if you please, review if you want, flame if you must, and stay gravy!