Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Just From the Past ❯ Just, A Bounty? ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I am very, very, very poor. I only own Just/Jessi. If you want to read this fic then there shall be no suing! HEAR ME?! NO SUING ALLOWED!!!! Thank you very much…enjoy…

A young woman is seen walking down the street. She has blonde hair and blue eyes clouded over with gray. She's wearing blue cargo pants with sneakers and a tight black tank top that laces up in the front. She had just "visited" the Red Dragon Syndicate. She is walking by a small electronics shop and looks at the television in the store window, which happened to be turned on to Big Shot. They are showing a picture of a woman that looks familiar to her. Then it hits her, "SHIT! THAT'S ME! 50 MILLION WOOLONGS?! EVERY BOUNTY HUNTER IS GONNA BE AFTER ME!"

Suddenly she hears a bunch of footsteps coming her way. She spots a cheap hotel across the street and runs over while thinking, "Crap, this ain't gonna be fun."

Later in a bar…

The blonde was sitting in a local bar drinking a corona when a gun comes up to the back of her head. A low masculine voice says, "Don't bother paying for that drink. With the bounty money I'll get for you I'll buy it for ya."

She puts down the corona and says, "Really? Gee, thanks. I really appreciate it since I have to leave now." She then spins around in the stool and kicks the man with the gun in his side. Then she runs out the door hearing him recovering and then start to pursue me.

"Ouch! I should have known better. Where did she go? Heh, you can't get away from me that easily, babe", thought the man before following his bounty.

The girl runs into a side alley and then slides behind the building. She stands there, panting, "Shit, where the hell am I?"

She hears the man run past the alley and then stop. He backtracks and then comes down the alley saying, "No use running."

She looks around frantically, looking for some way to get out of this mess. She sees a fire escape ladder and starts to climb up. The man is behind and jumps up the ladder half of what she just climbed and then starts climbing. Climbing up to the platform, she then jumps off the other side and starts running down another alley hoping to buy some time while thinking, "Heh, he's not bad."

However, she can hear the bounty hunter close behind her. Running down the alley, she finds that a gate cuts it off. She starts to climb the gate but the man pulls her back down. She thinks, "Crap!" Now face to face with her pursuer and all she can gasp out is "Oh my God."

She stares up at a pair of two different colored eyes and whisper, "Spike?"

He stares back into her cloudy blue eyes in shock, "Just?"

Tears start to fall from her eyes as she tells him, "I'm not Just anymore. I'm Jessi." He wipes a tear from her eye and then embraces the girl.

Meanwhile, a bunch of bounty hunters come up from the other side of the fence and take this moment to shoot her in the back.

Spike feels the impact of the bullet and looks to see blood on his hand. He exclaims, "Just!" He throws the now limp girl over his shoulder and starts running back through the alley while shooting back at the other bounty hunters. He finally loses the shooters and looks at the girl on his shoulder and says, "Don't worry Just, I'm gonna take care of you now."

Spike arrives on the Bebop with Jessi…

The Bebop's owner looks at Spike as he comes in with a blonde haired girl thrown over his shoulder and asks, "Who's that?"

Spike lays her down on the couch in the living area while trying to stop the bleeding. He yells over at his partner, "JET! GET ME SOME TOWELS AND BANDAGES NOW!'

Jet is taken aback, "Whoa buddy. Just hang on." He then leaves the room to go get the materials.

Spike hastily bandages the unconscious girl up hoping he was able to stop the bleeding in time. He stays by her side waiting for her to wake up.

After about two days Jet finally asks, "So, who is this chick? Did you shoot her?"

Spike glares at Jet and replies, "No." He takes a deep breath, "This is Just. I grew up with her. We have a…history. She is the bounty we are after."

Jet lightened up, "Good job Spike! Now we can get that 50 million woolongs!"

Spike looked up quickly at Jet and shouted, "NO!" He slouched back over and said in a calmer tone, "We're not going to turn her in."

Jet stood up and retorted, "WHY NOT?! With 50 million, we could take a break..." Then he said softer, "is your history with this girl really worth that much to you?"

Spike looks down at Jessi and sighs, "Yes Jet, she's worth that much to me." He then sees her stirring.

She wakes up and looks around to try to figure out where she is. She suddenly sees Spike, "SPIKE!" Trying to get up, she realizes she can't due to a horrible pain in her back that prevents much movement.

Spike walks over and kisses her forehead lightly. He sits on the table and says, "Hey Just, you finally woke up. You've been asleep for two days. You shouldn't try to move. You were shot in the back and the wound is pretty bad."

She just stares up at him, "I told you, I'm not Just anymore. She "died" three years ago and Jessi has been looking for you for the past three years."

She then sees Jet standing in the doorway looking very confused. Then he asks, "So, what now Spike?"

Spike looks at me and smiles, "She's gonna stay with us."

Jet and Jessi exclaim, "What?! Are you serious?!"

Spike just sits there and nods.

Jet walks over to Spike and asks, "But Spike…uh…are you sure we have enough food?" Just then a welsh corgi comes in and sits in Jet's lap.

The dog says, "Arf!"

Jet says, "See? Even Ein isn't sure about this."

Jessi looks at the dog and shouts out, "Doggy! Ouch!" Forgetting about her injury she can't get up and so falls back down onto the couch.

Spike looks at Ein and mutters, "Damn mutt."

Ein looks back and Spike, "grrrrrr arf!"

Jet gets up and starts muttering, "What's next for Spike to bring on this ship…

Jessi shouts out, "PENGUINS!"

Spike looks around asking, "What? Where?"

She shakes her head and looks at him and says, "Nowhere. Now, where have you been the last three years?"

Spike looks back at her and replies, "Well, I've been with Jet and I've become a bounty hunter. How did you get out of the Syndicate?"

She looks away as she remembers three years ago, "Well, there was a lot of confusion when you made your "exit" and I took advantage of that and slipped away. I destroyed everything about Just. Her birth certificate, crime records, credit cards, and everything that was ever kept on record. I killed Just and then became Jessi. I knew that you didn't die. You wouldn't do that. At least, that's not how you would want to die. So, I've been looking for you since."

Spike looked back at her clearly confused, "But…why?"

She gives him a warm, little smile, "Because…you're like my big brother. It just didn't feel right without you there."

Just then Jet walked back in, "Humph, Spike, I thought that you hated everyone from the Syndicate? Isn't that why you got out?

Spike turned his head around to look at Jet while he grabbed a cigarette out of his pocket, "I did. Everybody except for Julia and Just, I mean Jessi. And somebody else. So…Jessi, are you hungry?"

Spike went to look over at Jessi, but found her trying to grab a cigarette across his lap. After a few unsuccessful tries at reaching the pack, she simply slumped down, falling over Spike's lap muttering a few choice words. He helped her back onto the couch and then handed her a fag while chuckling. She crossed her arms across her chest and put on a scowl, letting the cigarette hang from her mouth. Shooting a glare at Spike, he finally stopped laughing and gave her a light. After a few puffs, I replied, "Yea, starving."

Spike gets up and says, "I'll go get you something." As he passes by Jet on the way to the kitchen he whispers, "Don't touch her."

Jet smirks and says, "Humph, I wouldn't dream of it…"

Ein walks by Jessi and goes, "Woof!"

Spike yells in from the other room, "That goes for you too Ein!"

END CHAPTER 1

Please review and let me know what you think. If it seems that people like this story so far, then I'll post up the next chapter.