A/N: Call the Pope, I think it's a miracle! Sagan Fox FINALLY updates this fiction! I truly am sorry, I have had such a crippling case of writer's block that it isn't even funny. Not even the stress of starting and attending college has helped, and usually stress unleashes the floodgates of fanfiction in my mind. Many thanks to my beta-reader, Discordia, the Goddess of Irony. Read her fanfic, it kicks ass, and I beta-read it myself!
(Spike walks by, smoking away)
Spike: It's about damned time you got back to me. Do you have any idea how disturbing it is to be trapped inside your brain for so long? You have a twisted mind, Sagan.
Sagan: (smiles) Thank you! (Glares) But what have I told you about smoking! Were you smoking in my brain? For Chrissakes, Spike, no wonder my muse refused to work! Alright, this is it. I really didn't want to do this, Spike...
Spike: Do what?
Sagan: This. (Snaps her fingers and uses her author powers to chibify Spike. Picks him up by the collar of his shirt and smiles evilly)
Chibi-Spike: What the hell did you do to me, bitch?!
Sagan: (Grins) Now, Spike, do you want the Happy Trail or the Fun Ball?
Chibi-Spike: Bite me, bitch!
Sagan: (Shakes her head) Invitations and flattery get you nowhere. Now, Happy Trail or Fun Ball!
Chibi-Spike: (Pouts) ...Fun Ball...
Sagan: (Grins) Looooove the Fun Ball! (Drops him in a hamster ball and kicks it across the room)
Where was I? Oh yeah. Read, enjoy, review! Especially that enjoy part. Any flames will be met with an author clad only in fire wielding a katana. And that isn't a pretty sight, folks.
On with the show!
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"Hey, watch it, kid!"
A scruffy red-headed girl looked up from her position sprawled in the middle of the sidewalk at the irate man about to run her over with a fruit cart. She blinked and somersaulted out of the way to her makeshift backpack in the alley to let him pass. He muttered a few curses and went on his way, but not before she deftly picked a few apples off of his cart.
Munching on her first meal in over twenty-four hours, Ed picked up her things and began to walk aimlessly, as she had been doing for the past three days. Living alone on Mars, she had deduced, was much different than living alone on Earth. On Earth, as strange as it sounded, every one was bad off, so everyone sort of looked out for each other. Orphanages like the one she had lived in for two years were common. On Mars, however, no one cared. It was easier for her to slip through the cracks, but all that lay in wait for her was a cold alley and a colder shoulder.
Edward tossed the apple core into a bush and plopped down under a tree in a small park. The park had been her 'base of operations' since she had run away. It was secluded and far enough from the ports and metropolis of Tharsis to not be found, but close enough to scavenge in the busy city by day. She started up her computer and began what had become a daily ritual. She quickly hacked into the port registry database to scan for her former home.
Bebop hasn't taken off yet, she thought as the name of the familiar ship appeared on the list. Ed didn't know why she checked up on the ship every day. Part of her wanted to make sure they weren't looking for her, and kept tabs on them in order to evade them. Part of her liked knowing that they were still around in case poor living conditions or simple fear of being alone in a strange place drove her back. And while she wouldn't admit it, part of her hoped they were looking for her, and that they wanted her back. The Bebop was one of the only real homes she could remember.
She shut down the computer and leaned back against the tree, letting the sunlight warm her while she could. After a few moments she noticed something tickling one of her lanky legs, and sat back up to find a small green caterpillar making its way toward her knee. She nudged it onto her fingertip and slowly brought it closer to her face with curiosity. After letting it crawl over her hand for a few moments, she put it back down onto the grass and asked, "Do you know a place where Ed can live, Mr. Bug?"
The small insect gave her no answers, just a small wave of it's many-legged abdomen as it walked away. Ed watched it disappear into the grass and leaned against the tree. Nobody has a place for Ed, she thought.
The only place Ed liked was the Bebop. I can't remember my father, not really. All I remember is his smile, and the dust stinging my eyes as he drove away. The Bebop was the only place I could go back to.
But the Bebop wanted me to go away. I was a problem. Ed does not like to be a problem. Ed will not be a problem to anyone anymore. Ed will live alone with Tomato.
I wonder why Bebop hasn't left yet. Maybe they found another bounty here. Or maybe they're repairing the ship. Or maybe Faye ran off to the casinos again and they're waiting for her to come back.
Or maybe they're waiting for Ed to come back.
Could they? Could they be worried about Ed? Could they be looking for me? Maybe they want me to come back. Maybe they even miss me. Maybe I heard them wrong, or overreacted. They could be looking for Ed right now!
Jet I think would want to look for Ed. Jet was always the nicest to me. He even let me water his bonsai. Jet let me help with chores, made sure I had food. Jet would wonder where Ed was and go find her to make sure she was somewhere safe. Jet was an even better father-person than my real father-person. Ed does not want Jet to worry.
Faye and Spike, Ed is not so sure about. They yelled at me a lot. But...when Jet told them that Ed was not safe and should leave, they both said Ed should stay. They never said they wanted me to stay because they liked me...but they at least didn't want me to be out on the street like this. Maybe I made a mistake by leaving.
I miss the Bebop. I miss sleeping inside, I miss eating real food, I miss being safe, and I miss Ein. Ed may have been yelled at a lot, but at least Ed was not alone and didn't have to be afraid every night. I want to go back to the Bebop.
But if I go back...what if they make Ed leave again. Or what if they don't let me back on because they're mad at me for leaving. Faye and Spike were almost not let back on. They were only allowed to stay because they can catch bounties. Ed can't catch anything. They will not want Edward back. I'm just a burden, a problem. Another mouth to feed, another person to worry about.
Oh, but I don't want them to worry about me...maybe...if I just go back long enough to find out why they haven't left Mars yet. They don't even have to see me, I can sneak in and sneak back out. Just long enough to find out why they're still here.
That's what I'll do, she thought, and piled her things back in her makeshift backpack. I will sneak back into the Bebop to find out why they haven't left, and that will be all. They won't even see me, Ed will be very sneaky.
She got up and walked to the large bush in which she had concealed her red scooter and retrieved it, brushing leaves and debris from it. After dragging it to the sidewalk, she hopped on it and began to push it along with her feet. Her gas had run out only the day before. She picked up her pace as she thought about returning, if only for a moment, to the only real home she had ever known. Buzzing past merchants and pedestrians, she planned exactly how she would sneak onto the ship to avoid being caught. For a moment she considered leaving behind a note or a gift marking her presence, but decided against it. Despite the fact that she missed them all, even Spike, greatly, she concluded that it would complicate matters too much to let them know she was around again.
Edward remained lost in her thoughts until she could just barely see the Bebop. When she laid eyes on the recognizable hull of the old converted fishing ship, her heart leapt, and she began pushing herself faster. When she hit a downhill slope, she let herself go, and began to whizz past the people on the streets.
This is precisely why she didn't see the man in front of her until it was too late to do anything but try to swerve away. The next thing she knew, she was sprawled on the pavement with a pounding headache and large scrapes across her shoulder and knees. Carefully she sat up to look into the cold blue eyes of a man who was most definitely not happy with her. During the collision he had been thrown into a table covered in a variety of baked goods, and was now covered head-to-toe in icing. He pushed his limp, oily blonde hair out of his eyes to glare at Ed.
"You're gonna pay for this, brat!"
Ed pressed her hand against her forehead to brace against a wave of dizziness and felt a slight trickle of blood. She looked back up at the man, and was immediately struck with recognition. Their eyes met, and they simultaneously froze. A look of pure disgust came across his face, and he snarled at her.
"You...you're that kid from the Bebop!"
Ed stared up dumbfounded at him. Hadn't Spike given him to the ISSP? They got the bounty, so he had to have been put in prison. Why is he here now? Ed swallowed, and croaked, "You...you're that Krow person! The one Spike-person and Jet-person caught!"
He smiled a devious smile, and cooly replied, "Yeah, kid, I am." He stood and dusted himself off as best he could, still smiling like a cat in front of an injured bird. "Your friends made life very bad for me, you know. They ruined everything."
The hair on the back of Edward's neck stood up as he spoke, and she could feel a chill pass over her entire body. "K-Krow-person is supposed to be in jail..."
"I escaped. Did you honestly those lazy pricks at the ISSP could holdme?" He ran his fingers through his oily mop again. "You know, kid, I really hate to do this. But those Bebop bastards fucked it all up, and now they have to pay."
Ed's eyes widened, and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. She started to scamper away, but he quickly caught her and dragged her into a nearby alley. He held her hands behind her back as she struggled, his frighteningly cool breath touching her small neck.
"I'm gonna use you to make them pay, kid. Now be a good girl and quiet down. I really have nothing against you personally. You wouldn't want that to change, would you? I can hold a grudge," he said, yanking one of her arms strongly upward as she cried out, "for a painfully long time."
"No!"
"Your choice, kid," he snarled, and slammed her against a wall. She fell limp in his grasp, and he let her fall to the ground in a heap. Krow ran his fingers through his hair again and chuckled. He knew exactly what he should do. He knew what would hit those bounty hunters the hardest. Why go to them when he could make them come to him? He chuckled again, and ducked into a nearby warehouse.
"Sometimes I'm so ingenious I amaze myself"
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Fini! I promise, I will try and get my muse working again soon. Lazy bitch thinks she can just walk away mid-fiction....I'll show her. I'll show her good.
(Chibi-Spike runs past in the hamster ball)
Chibi-Spike: I think I'm starting to like this!
Sagan: Really? That's nice. (Kicks the hamster ball with all her might)
Chibi-Spike: (flies away in the hamster ball) You suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck....!