It started about seven years ago.� A little more than that, really, but the time before that doesn�t matter to this story.� Except if you say that that�s when I met her.� Her, that damned hardheaded woman who brought so much trouble for us and then decided to stay and attract some more.� We were a good team, Jet and I.� He did the research; I kicked the ass.� It worked.� Then she came along and screwed it all up.� �In more ways than one, but I�m getting ahead of myself.�

It wasn�t long before the end of the Red Dragon Syndicate.� We had just pulled in a major bounty, more than 10 million woolongs, and for once we hadn�t caused so much damage that we didn�t have any left.� We had quite a lot left, actually.� So, we did the only thing we really could do with it.

We bought booze.

I have to admit, as much of a pain as she is, that Faye Valentine can be a knockout when she tries.� Or when you�re drunk off your ass, and your partner isn�t there to stop you doing something he knows you�ll regret in the morning.� So yeah, we spent the night together, to put it delicately.� Let me tell you what the biggest shock of my lifetime was.� Here�s a hint- it was in my bed, and naked.�

Not long after that, I went to find Vicious.� Faye was pissed, I didn�t quite know why.� Maybe she thought that night had meant something, even though she was just as drunk as I was.� Anyway, I went to Mars, and damn near got myself killed.� Although, at that point, I was thinking that may not have been such a bad idea, what with Julia gone.� But somehow, I lived through it, and found myself stuck on Mars, with no way to contact the Bebop, and not really any great incentive to anyway.� I laid low for a long time, just waiting for the Syndicate to finally dissolve, before I started up my old tricks.� Bounty hunting is hard when you have to find stuff out about these people yourself.� I traveled around a bit, managed to get myself a ship with some savings I scrounged up, and even went to Earth for a little while.

That was where I got another big surprise.� I came across an old house that looked abandoned, and when I went inside, I saw something I never could have expected, though I should have seen it was obvious.

Ed had grown up.

In body only, of course.� She still attacked me when I came inside, and managed to dangle from my neck, even though she wasn�t much shorter than me.� She must have been nearly eighteen.� Damn, I felt old.� She apparently never got accustomed to wearing shoes, either.� That little white tank top she�d worn all that time hadn�t worn out its usefulness, either, although it was substantially more�full.� She had grown out her hair, too, and it didn�t look half bad.� I only stayed with her a week or so before moving on.� It was all I could take.

I went on traveling and making a little bit of money for about another two years.� Then, when I was on Venus, I came across a very familiar-looking old fishing ship, and decided I�d stop in.

And that�s how I ended up where I am now�standing in the doorway to the living area of the Bebop, faced with an angry Faye, and something I never could have imagined existing in a thousand years.� Standing in front of me, right beside that hardheaded woman, was a young boy of about seven years, with dark purple hair that sprung in poofy curls around his head, and dark reddish-brown eyes.

�His name is Raven,� Faye said matter-of-factly, putting her hand on the boy�s shoulder.