AN: God! No matter how many times I read my fic before I post it, I always find a million mistakes afterwards. I need a Beta reader, anyone? *looks around* I can’t offer much, but you can prevent me from looking like an uneducated bumpkin in my writing... ^-^;;;
Warnings: Oh yeah, I forgot, there is a little yaoi, but not with the main characters. Mostly LegatoxKnives, and I’ll give a little more light on their relationship later.
Disclaimer: I neither own Bebop nor Trigun. All rights belong to respected owners.
His neck ached like a bitch and everything around him was sweltering hot. Spike groaned, opening his eyes slowly. He was leaning oddly in his cockpit, wondering where the hell he was and how he got there. Oh yeah, Ed, the wonky bounty, the warp gate, and not much else came to him after that. Everything hurt. A cut on his arm, some bruises and bumps, nothing too serious. His throat was dry and his stomach immediately put in its two cents. “I’ve woken up worse,” Spike grumbled. He looked behind him to see Ed passed out with her little computer thing beeping. “Oh Ed...” She looked so innocent there, like she was asleep, until the large wound seeping blood dripped from her head. “Shit...” he muttered. The radio! The Martian grabbed the receiver from above, slapping at the back up switch so the radio would work at least. “Jet! Jet its Spike, can you read me?” Static. “Come on Jet! My ship’s busted and Ed’s hurt really bad!” Still nothing.
He glared at the communication-link, slamming the switch back to ‘off.’ “Fuck!” Manually, he pried open the Swordfish’s door and clambered out only to be met by desert. Nothing but stinking, rotting desert. Two suns...? They were definitely not in the milky way anymore. Just fucking great. No radio, no ship, no way to tell where the hell they were. Stranded on some screwed up dust ball utterly doomed. Life really couldn’t get any worse. Knock on wood... he thought, tapping his noggin with his knuckles.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he turned back to Ed in the ship and pulled her from the wreckage. Wreckage. It was sad that he thought of his old, beloved racer jet that way. But unfortunately, that was what it was now. The wings...what wings? The plasma rifle in the front was ripped in half, along with the shattered tail and engines. Spike seriously wanted to fall on his knees and cry. Dare he say it? “Tsh, this is way beyond repair,” he mumbled quite dismally, a long frown on his lips.
There were more important things though, like Ed. She was still breathing, but her head looked bad. The thin tank top she wore was soaked with blood as well and there were bruises all along her legs and arms. Salvaging a medical from beneath his seat, Spike tenderly set her so she was sitting along side of him in the dust. He checked the hacker’s eyes; her pupils shrank so she wasn’t in a coma. Gingerly, he applied some antiseptic gel along with gauze and bandage and laid her up against the ship in the shade.
“There, that should do it until we find a med-clinic.” However as he circumspected the area, any sign of life was the least bit apparent. Walking was out of the question; he didn’t trust his condition to make any long treks. But just standing around wasn’t helping much either. There was really only one thing to do.
He sighed as the smell of tobacco tickled his nostrils. Man that tasted good. Smoke wafted around his head, into his hair and clothes, bathing him with its pungent, mint aroma. So now what? Nothing to do but sit here and wait until death. Not really the worth sixty-billion wulongs, he thought. And poor Ed, never even got a real bounty hunting experience. She’d never know the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush of the hunt, the capture, the reward.
Long burning minutes passed in silence. Ed wasn’t showing any signs of waking up soon which really began to worry Spike. But then, in the distance, Spike heard something low. An engine running at full speed was what it sounded like. Glancing up, he viewed a large puff of dust billowing wildly on the horizon. “Something’s coming,” he whispered as he stamped the cigarette out. It got closer whatever it was, and the sounds of whooping and hollering joined in as well. Humans! Spike smirked. So there WERE people on this godforsaken planet.
But his expression of joy faded as he saw what kind of people rode the approaching jeep. Big, savage-looking, burly men hung out from all sides of the vehicle along with two more on motorcycles. Spike’s first instinct was to hide, not knowing much about these newcomers. But hide? Where, in the dirt?
It was too late anyway, the men had spotted their ship and were currently heading towards the two bounty hunters. The jeep reared to a halt and two giant, crooked men hopped out from the back. Bandits no doubt. “Er, well now. What do we got here? What kinda craft is this?” He looked over to Spike.
“It’s a milk truck.” Spike stretched nonchalantly.
The biggest one laughed. “Sassy, that boy is. Watch your tongue, green head.” He saw Ed lying against the hunking debris and decided to investigate her as well. But Spike stepped in front of him, which made him angrier. “What’s she, your bitch or something? Looks like you had her rough, she’s all bloody. ” A solid crack to his jaw instantly shut him up and put him on the ground.
“You watch *your* tongue, punk.” Spike turned his nose up, popping his knuckles. All the thieves roared and piled out from the car brandishing guns and knives. Spike was surrounded instantly, and they began to close in like a pack of wolves.
“Look, I don’t have any money and my ship is totally useless, your not gonna get anything out of robbing me.” He eyed each thug, the two on the right were new since they clumsily clutched their weapons. And the tall one in the front would be a cinch to take out due to his lazy eye. The rest with the guns, he wasn’t so sure about.
The biggest one, the one he sucker punched growled, tending his swollen cheek. “Your girl will do just fine. And since you have the nerve to hit Roscoe the 5th, I think some compensation should work too.” Men rushed at him from every angle. He avoided two with switch blades and elbowed another pulling for his blindside. An uppercut to the tall dumb one, and a roundhouse kick put down the two newbies.
Four of them opened fire sending Spike rolling on the ground to avoid the bullets. A stray one barely clipped the side of his pant legs and another whizzed right by his ear. He pulled out his own piece and shot three of them, two in the chest, one in his eye. They were dead. The fourth was slow in reloading which cost him dearly. As he looked up, the last he saw was a barrel and Spike’s heated, two-toned eyes. Bam! Blood splattered on his blue jacket, in the sand and some of it even got in his hair, but he dropped them all. That was all that mattered. Roscoe quivered, too stunned and frightened to say anything.
“Please, sir,” he blubbered. “I’ll do anything, just don’t kill me, please!!” He scooted back as Spike approached until he hit the Swordfish’s remains.
Spike leaned down to meet his eyes. “Tell me where the nearest town is...”
“Th-that way!” He pointed left, “About f-five iles, there’s a small town called C-Caracas.” Roscoe curled up, trembling.
Scooping Ed up, he loaded her in the passenger seat of the gang’s jeep and sped off.
~~~~
Vash sat down with his sundry posse near the back of a dusty saloon. “Well now, I’m starved, and thanks to the generosity of our friendly preacher man, dinner is on him!” A big goofy grin spread across his face as he held up the menu.
Wolfwood started, “Now wait just a minute! What makes you think I’ve got the money for all of us?” Wolfwood frowned over at Vash.
Milly, ever so cheerful, said, “It’s ok Mr. Priest, Meryl and I have a little extra cash from working on a sand steamer. We can cover for ourselves.” She beamed. Seeing her smile always made the priest’s heart flutter. She had that smile that said nothing in the world could keep her down.
Vash clicked his tongue, pulling off his orange-yellow sun glasses. “Well in that case, lets order some drinks too!” They all laughed. After the waitress took their orders, they struck up small talk. “Man, it feels good to be off the road and in a town again, don’t you think so Wolfwood?”
Lighting up, Nicholas took a long drag and tipped the ashes into an ashtray. “Yeah, but you can never stay in a single town too long. Everywhere you go, trouble always follows you, Vash.” A few people sitting at nearby tables perked up.
The blond man grimaced, “Not so loud, okay. I’m not exactly the most popular person around, you know...”
But Wolfwood just slapped him on the back and chuckled. “I’m serious! The nine times out of ten I’m in trouble, it’s because someone overhears my name.” He played nervously with the silverware on the table.
“I really wish I wasn’t this way. I wish that I was someone else. Anybody else. I’d--”
He grunted when Wolfwood elbowed him in the side. As he was about to protest, Wolfwood’s smoky black eyes pointed him in the direction further across the saloon. A couple of men, ruffian thieves probably, dragged themselves in through the swinging double doors.
They climbed up to the bar and all but collapsed. “Two cold ones, Rusty.” The more able man spoke.
“What happened boys? You two look like you got eaten and spit up by a sandworm.” The old bar tender commented as he pulled up a pair of drinking mugs.
The other spoke up, his voice deep and dry like a piece of sandpaper. “You wouldn’t believe it. We were headin’ out east towards December when we came up on this guy and a wrecked space craft of some sort.” Some of the men chuckled, others leaned in, slightly intrigued. “He was weird, real lanky fellah. With green hair. And he had this little girl with him. She looked pretty freaky too. Except she was out cold at the time.” He took a heavy swig of beer the instant Rusty placed it in front of him.
“Yeah! He was wild too, man!” The other one quickly chipped in, “The boss goes up to him, just trying to be nice and BAM! Out of nowhere, slugs him in the jowl!”
Meryl looked skeptical, “Hm, never heard of a ‘boss’ just trying to be nice...”
Everyone was now either in the circle or listening from the outer edges, including Vash and his friends. “I’m telling you, he moved like...some sort of alien almost. It wasn’t normal. He was punching and kicking all martial-arts-like and then, pulls out a gun, takes out Benny, TJ, and two other guys I didn’t really know. But me and Lodin got our asses outta there real quick. Hopped on our bikes and took off while he was busy shooting TJ in the face!! Most of them are dead, and we weren’t gonna stick around to see him take out Roscoe.”
Vash’s fingers tightened. So he killed them...that wasn’t right. They might have been some low life bandits, but that didn’t give him the right to take their lives.
A few worried whispers sparked the air, “Anyone know why he’s here?”
“Maybe to take over the planet...”
“Not like he’d get much, there’s nothing here.”
Wolfwood turned back around in his seat laughing, “Can you believe those idiots? A man from outer space. Sounds like a load of Thomas shit, doesn’t it, Vash? Right Vash...?”
Biting his lip in thought, the Humanoid Typhoon looked down at the cracked, wooden table worried. “I really don’t know Wolfwood. That look in their eyes....”
Milly glanced over at the two shaken bandits cautiously. “Well something happened to them, that’s for sure.” Wringing her hands in her lap, she looked from Meryl, to the priest, to Vash to see what they were thinking.
Meryl being the biggest skeptic of the group sucked air in between her teeth. “Whatever, I’m with you Mr. Wolfwood. They were probably out in the sun too long and got blown over by a sand storm or something. Who knows...? Who cares?” A waitress brought out their plates and began to lay them on the table.
Vash’s eyebrows faltered. “What are you planning now, Legato? I know you’re behind all this.”
~~~~
“Mm...squishy, squishy...” Ed moaned groggily. Rolling her head to one side, she saw Spike leaning forward over a steering wheel. “Spike-person...?”
He glanced over to see her coming around and smirked, “Good, your awake.” Everything was jumbled in Ed’s mind. The odd, rough sounding engine caught her attention.
“This is not red fishy...”
“We crashed landed on some strange planet after we exited the gate, remember? My ship’s totaled and through some...negotiating, I managed to snag us a ride to the nearest town. If we can find a radio, we can contact Jet and tell him to come pick us up.” The jeep jerked up and down after going over extremely craggy terrain.
She hung her head in shame, “Ed remembers now...Ed is really sorry, Spike-person. Ed got us into this mess and--”
“And Ed kept us from dying too. I noticed your computer-thingy had hacked into my system. So you’re okay, for now.” She smiled a little and it made Spike feel good. Ed just didn’t look right without a smile on her face. “...You had me worried there for a minute. You took a nasty bump on your head.”
“Yeah...Ed noticed.” She rubbed her hand over the tough bandages.
Spike pulled the car into Caracas, making his way down the dusty roads slowly. He looked for something, anything that looked like a hospital or a medical clinic. But the small town didn’t seem to have anything of the nature. Ed might have had a concussion and maybe even more shit he wasn’t even aware of. “Dammit, what the hell is this, uncle Billy’s round up corral? Everything here is so...western...”
“Reminds Ed of Big Shots,” the genius mumbled weakly out the side of her mouth. Eagerly, she peered up out of the window, “Punches and Judies everywhere, ahh...” Ed cooed. There were funny animals carrying people and loads up and down the pathways. Shops and stores were on either sides of the sandy road and folks everywhere were dressed up like 19th century westerners.
Spike slowed down to let a few children safely across. “Yeah, makes me wanna puke...” Ed began to squirm and whimper in her seat after a while of driving. “What’s the matter?”
She blushed, “Ed has to go to the bathroom. Really bad.” He sighed and pulled over next to the nearest establishment.
“Rusty’s Saloon, huh? This’ll have to do. Betcha their john’s for paying customers only...Come on Ed, maybe we can get some info here.” He walked behind her, minding her closely and they entered the bar. All of a sudden everyone froze solid. All eyes fell on them except for two odd men sitting at the bar. After a side glance, they fell hushed over their drinks. An old man, presumably Rusty stood behind the counter paused in polishing a glass with a rag. “Friendly bunch of people, aren’t they...?” He sauntered up to the counter, “My uh, niece needs to use the restroom.”
“Restroom’s for paying customer’s only sir...” Yep, that was so predictable. “I’ll take your house special then. ”
Rusty hesitated before calling a waitress up to the front, “Janice, show her where the toilet is.”
The small girl, who was about Ed’s age eyed her suspiciously before signaling the child-hacker to follow. Meanwhile Spike took a seat on a stool and sipped a fresh, cold one. Surprisingly it was rather sweet and the cool liquid soothed the back of his itchy throat. “You got a menu?” Rusty slid a red piece of paper down the counter, trying to maintain as much distance from the stranger as possible. “...Thanks.” Spike raised an eyebrow and read the choices.
“That’s the guy...!” One of the bikers choked, “The man with the green hair has come to finish what he started...” Both bandits shivered on their stools. “But how come he ain’t just lettin’ loose like he did out in the dust?”
“He’s waiting, biding his time. Member? He seemed all cool when we first walked up to him. Don’t let your guard down Lodin, he’s bound to snap any second.”
“Hey bartender!” Everyone within a five foot radius of Spike flinched, this was it, he was going to kill everyone. Anyone who had a gun had their fingers ready to pull and shoot. “I’ll take one of these...Caracas burgers.” A few of them sighed and relaxed a bit.
Janice trembled, afraid of the red-head child despite her injuries. “Through those doors, on the right.” Ed nodded gauchely and stepped past her. She stumbled in to the bathroom and relieved herself. After washing and cleaning up, she checked herself over in a small mirror. The bandages on her head were red in one spot and her shirt was red as well. Her body ached but nothing felt broken. Washing up quickly she headed out again. “Edward is in so much trouble when Edward gets back to Bebop...” she sighed. “Jet-person, Spike-person, and Faye-Faye probably won’t even let Ed back on.”
As she walked by, a loud, high-pitched laughter hit her ears. It sounded pleasantly childish and carefree and she saw him. Yellow eyes widened when she saw that bright crimson coat, those long spiked gold locks and the light, sea-green eyes. It was him, Vash, the sixty-billion wulong bounty! So that meant that they made it to Gunsmoke and that...the hunt was still on! Her first instinct was to pounce on the Humanoid Typhoon, but she stopped to think. Every time she dived head first into a situation, things only got worse. Plus she was alone and he was with allies, possible gang members who were almost as dangerous as he was. After all, this Vash guy was sinister enough to blow up the moon. How was Ed going to compete? Better let Spike-person handle this...
Spike was feeling a bit better with food in his belly and a cigarette between his lips. He saw Ed coming around the corner looking wary and his stomach tightened. “What...?”
“Spike-person. Ed thinks Ed just saw the big bounty head.”
Spike raised a dark eyebrow, “Back there?” Ed nodded. “Stay here, look cute...” He got up casually, trying not to draw attention to himself, though ironically everyone watched him from the corners of their eyes.
Ed gasped, “Will do, commander!” she beamed and took his place on the stool.
Rusty grumbled, “No kids at the counter.”
Ed hissed like a threatened cat and everyone around her jerked backwards anxious. That was the last time Rusty spoke to her. She picked at the leftover fries on Spikes plate and sipped from his mug. “Mm...tasty sparkly...” she murmured, indulging herself even more to the half-full glass.
Spike had to use the bathroom, so why not scope out the bounty on the way there? He saw him, sitting at the table laughing and hooting like a wild donkey. There were three others, a tall thin man who obviously liked to smoke. Spike smiled. And there sat two women, not too much on the pretty side, but they looked sharp enough. They wouldn’t be easily fooled. All four of them were wrapped up in their conversation and he slipped by them easily into the rest room.
When Spike was gone, Wolfwood spoke up. “Guess the rumors are true. What do you think he wants...?” he whispered at the table.
“I don’t know.” Vash whispered back, but he looked serious, and he was sizing all of us up. By the looks of it, he was in a scuffle of some sort. If he did all those things those bandits said, then...”
Meryl kept glancing back and forth from the exit to the bathroom entrance. “Do you think he’s after your bounty Vash? It’s a possibility...”
Vash nodded, “Yeah, but what about that child he was with? I don’t think he’d try anything dangerous with her around. But just to be on the safe side...”
Spike inhaled deeply and prepared to walk outside. Hands in his pockets he stepped from the bathroom hallway and froze. All of them were gone. “Shit, they’re on to me.” He ran up to Ed who was quite into the mug of beer. “Ed! Did you see them leave?”
“See who?” She laughed, half her face inside the mug trying to lick out the last droplets of bubbly liquid.
“Dammit!” He spun around, approaching the first person he saw, the small girl who showed Ed the bathroom earlier was his first choice. “Hey!” She braced herself, “Did you see four people from the back leave? One of ‘em was wearing a long red coat,” his eye twitched.
“Y-Yeah, they all paid and left. They were kinda in a hurry.”
“Ngh, which way did they go?” She shook her head. “Damn. Come on Ed!” Spike grabbed the red-head by the arm and dashed out of the pub.
“Hey! What about my money?!” Rusty called. But Spike was long gone.
Vash watched slyly from around the corner of another building. He saw the stranger burst from the bar, child in tow, and look around frantically. “Yup, he’s after me all right. But I don’t understand what the kid is for...”
Wolfwood sighed and stamped out his cigarette, “Like I said Vash, you can never stay in one place too long. Trouble always seems to follow you.” The four turned to leave, walking in the opposite direction.
Running from person to person, Spike asked everyone he met if they had seen a tall man in a red coat, perhaps with three other companions. But they all replied no, or a rude remark, leaving the bounty hunter frustrated. Ed was incapacitated now, her thin legs wobbled like jelly. She was too exhausted from the whole crash and her injuries weren’t doing too well in all the dust and heat.
What the hell am I thinking, I should be finding her some medical attention. So instead of asking about Vash, he started asking about a hospital, to which a kind old woman easily directed him.
The clinic was nice and cool on the inside, and it was comfortably quiet, unlike the bustle of the town outside. His minor scrapes were treated and a doctor was in another room examining his ‘niece.’ Amazing how the notion of their target made him forget all about trying to contact Jet. But with sixty-billion wulongs, hell they could by a whole new ship better than the Bebop. Maybe retire on a private island and live the rest of their days like fat house cats.
The doctor stepped out of the room, a short balding man with a thick gray mustache and a clipboard. “Your niece is doing fine. Just a bump to the head and some cuts. She just needs to take it easy for a week or two, let her get some rest and drink plenty of fluids...the non-alcoholic kind, if I might suggest.” Spike coughed. “She’ll be A-okay.”
Spike looked out the window at the dusty city before speaking again. “Hey by the way doc, do you happen to know a guy by the name of Vash the Stampede?” The doctor gave the green-haired man a look of wonder.
“You after that sixty-billion double dollar reward, son?”
“Uh...yeah,” Double dollar? Must be their currency of wulongs.
“Take my advice, he’s not worth it. Many men have gone after all those zeroes and wound up seriously hurt...some dead even.
Spike shrugged, “I’m a professional, don’t worry too much about me.”
“Suit yourself,” he shrugged. “Best of luck to you.” The doctor left, having other patients to tend to.
A soft voice broke the silence. It was like melted butter pouring onto a Ganymede lobster tail. “I know of a Vash.” Spike turned to see a man in a long, freaky white coat. It unnerved Spike since the Martian didn’t notice him there earlier. He sat at a table on the opposite end of the room sipping from a coffee mug. He had blue, cropped hair and the oddest, golden eyes. “I know all about Vash...”
Ed thanked the nurses for the candy pop she was given. The bandages on her head were fresh, and her bumps and cuts were covered with small plastic strips. Spike opened the door. “Huh-woah, lunkhead!” Ed stood from the pristine white bed grinning.
He came towards her, “Yo, how ya feeling?” His eyes shined, but his expression was still smooth and calm like outer space itself.
Ed struck a macho man pose, “Ed feeeeels good! Feeling real good! Yeah!” She hugged him, her head coming up at his torso. “Thanks Spike-person. Oh, and Nurse Penny wanted to know if you were single...”
“Uh--”
“Heehee, so I told her ‘Spike-person doesn’t like women with latitude!’” She giggled.
Spike swallowed, “...No Ed, it’s--Never mind that, we need to leave for a town called Port Wayshe. I heard Vash was heading in that direction. So as soon as you get your clearance papers, we’re heading out.”
“O-KAY! Spike-person and Ed! Back on the hunt!”
“Hey! Ed get down off the bed, you’re supposed to be taking it easy!”
Legato stepped from the hospital, facing the dusty town and all of its people. “He’s on his way Vash. You best be ready.”
AN: Well ok now. I’m going to stop ending these chaps with Legato being all shifty, I promise. They just seem like good stopping points is all. Eh heh... Anyway, read, review, hey even suggestions for plot would be okay, I’m sort of writing this on a whim. OH! And for a side note, I won’t be able to update this fic for a while since I’ll be away at boarding school in Mass., PREP college or something. And by a while, I mean about a month. But I’ll be keeping this on the back burner, don’t worry.