Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Rain ❯ Rain ( Chapter 1 )

The freezing sheets of rain poured upon the streets as a fine mist floated above the ground. Few people now dashed upon the streets, trying to run between the raindrops. The dim illumination of the streetlamps gave a mysterious glow to the nearly deserted street. The warm, blue glow of a neon sign lured many a person towards its blue doors. As the doors opened and closed the silence of the street was momentarily interrupted by the mournful song of a lone saxophone.

Eve watched the doors from across the street. Her black hair now soaked and in her eyes. She pulled her hands to her mouth for cover as she lit her cigarette. The glow illuminated her wet face and pale gray eyes. Eve then pulled the collar of her black long coat up around her neck and shivered as the cold water slithered down her back. For a moment Eve just stood in the rain, her eyes closed and her face turned up toward the sky. She opened the side of her mouth to let out a stream of light gray smoke and looked back at the club. A black case emblazoned with a crimson dragon leaned at her side. Eve glanced at the case and then at the club. She then closed her eyes and smiled as she took her cigarette out of her mouth and exhaled another line of smoke. Eve then bent down to lift up the case and sprinted across the street towards the club.

The warmth that radiated from the Blue Crow club felt good as Eve walked up towards the bar and ordered a drink. As the young blonde bartender placed a glass in front of her she glanced toward the saxophone player that stood alone on the stage.

Eve closed her eyes as she lifted the glass to her lips and savored the smell. She loved the smell of alcohol. Then, slowly, she tipped the glass into her mouth and let the savory liquid splash upon her tongue. Eve smiled as the liquid traveled down her throat. By the time she took her attention away from the drink and placed it onto the counter, she noticed that the music had stopped. Eve glanced quickly to the side and noticed the saxophone player sitting next to her, his dark green eyes transfixed upon her.

Eve smirked and turned her head towards the musician. "Can I help you?" she asked, quietly.

"Your eyes, they're such a lovely shade of gray," he said, ignoring her question.

"Your eyes aren't so bad themselves."

"What's your name?" he asked, once again ignoring her comment.

"Are you going to hear me this time?"

"Probably."

Eve looked the man over. He was handsome and dressed completely in black. His ebony hair hung long and against his back, a few strands fell in front of his face, shading his deep green eyes. Eve had to admit that she was attracted. She couldn't imagine who wouldn't. He lifted one of his hands and pulled back the loose strands of his hair with his long, tapering fingers.

"Crimson… my name's Crimson," she answered, finally.

"The name suits you, Crimson, I'm Raven."

"Well, Raven, now that we know each other's names. Now what?"

"Now, I buy you another drink."

"You're too kind."

"No, not really, I'm just trying to get you to like me."

"Not to let anything on, but it's working," she whispered.

A sly smile crept across Raven's face. Then he began to silently laugh. Eve, noticing that he caught himself in his egotistical moment, began to laugh as well. A few of the other customers looked up from their drinks and watched the two.

Eve glanced out of the corner of her eye and noticed that they had an audience. She then nudged him in the arm and motioned to the room. "I think they're in need of some entertainment."

Raven nodded and slowly stood and picked up his instrument. As he walked back towards the stage, he momentarily turned to her and tossed her a piece of paper.

Soon, the room was drunk with the mournful sounds of Raven and his saxophone. Eve looked down at the paper that she clutched to. She then unfolded it and gazed down upon the black scrawl scribbled upon it.

`Stay after closing and take a walk with me.'

Eve looked up at Raven and then turned back to her drink, which was now empty. She then motioned to the bartender and ordered a beer.

After a few minutes, Eve got another one of her damned cigarette cravings. She glanced about the bar and noticed most of the customers had a ring of smoke dancing about them. She then shrugged and snatched an ashtray from the bar and lit up a cigarette.

After a few beers and a few cigarettes Eve noticed that the bar was almost completely empty. Only a few passed out drunks were left at the bar and most of the chairs were upon the tables the bartender walked over to Eve and pointed to the clock behind her.

"Were gonna close in a half `n hour. Raven should be done before then," she said as Raven finished a song and began to pack up the saxophone. "See? I must be an psychic or some'n."

"Or something," Eve joked.

Eve lifted up the bottle of beer and placed the mouth upon her lips. Suddenly, she felt a pair of warm hands upon her shoulders. Eve put the bottle down and turned to see Raven behind her. Her numbed senses made her feel even more attracted towards him now. She let her head fall and hit his chest. She then felt Raven pull her to her feet. Regaining her self composure she straightened her back and bent down slowly to pick up the case. Raven waited and then placed a wide brimmed black hat upon his head and grabbed an umbrella that hung on a chair beside him.

As they left, Eve placed her free hand on his arm. He looked over to her. "Where should I take you?" he asked.

"Anywhere, I don't have a place to go."

"You can come with me?"

"Sure, it's better than a hotel."

Raven opened the door and allowed Eve to walk in front of him. Soon they were both headed towards his car that sat in a parking garage across the street.

The car ride had been silent. But now blues music was coming from a stereo in his living room. Both Raven's and Eve's coats hung upon a hook, dripping of rainwater. Two pairs of soaked boots sat beside the coats and Raven's hat clung to the corner of his couch.

Eve sat upon the couch and allowed the water to evaporate off of her as the sound of Raven in the shower mixed with the music.

Eve let her head fall back upon the couch and she listened to the sounds of music and the running water. A few minutes after the water ceased to make noise; Eve moved her head to the right and opened her eyes to gaze upon Raven, covered only in a robe.

Raven walked over to her and sat down next to her. Eve could see the steam rise from his face as he lent down and kissed her. The sensation of the kiss felt breathtaking. The faint scent of vanilla seemed to rise from his newly cleaned skin. Eve wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.

After a few moments Raven pulled away from Eve's warm embrace. Confused, Eve propped herself up on her elbows.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked.

Raven pushed his soaking wet hair out of his face. His eyebrows lowered as he looked over to her. "I can't."

Eve jerked her head slightly to the right. "What? Why?"

Raven just sighed and walked into his room.

Eve sat up and punched the couch cushion beside her. She then noticed that her right sleeve was now pushed up to the crook of her elbow. She then let her head drop and gave out a heavy sigh as she kept her eyes on the barcode on the inside of her wrist. "Shit."

Five minutes passed, Eve now lay on her back and stared at the mark that always gave her away. Raven entered the room, startling her. He stood, partially clothed, with a gun pointed at her head.

Eve stood up slowly with the gun following her. Raven's earlier warm façade was now cold.

Eve stepped forward. Raven didn't move.

Eve walked two steps closer. Raven stood as though stone.

Eve took another step, her face now only inches away from his. Raven swallowed and locked eyes with her.

"Are you going to shoot me now?" she whispered into his ear.

Raven scowled as he pointed the gun to the side of her head. "It all depends."

"On what?"

"Are you the Crimson Dragon?"

Eve moved her eyes to the floor and then back to his. "So, are you going to shoot me or what?" she asked once again, a tear formed at the corner of her eye and fell down her cheek.

Raven's cold stare softened as he gazed into her gray eyes. He then began to squeeze the trigger.

Eve closed her eyes. She waited for the gun to sound, waited for the nightmare that had become her life to end. She waited for death, she prayed for it.

The gun fell with a resounding plop.

Eve opened her eyes to see Raven smiling at her. He then took her in his arms and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes went wide for a moment and then closed as his tongue parted her lips and plunged into hers. Her knees gave out under her body as she slowly allowed herself to melt into his arms. Anticipating this, Raven held her by the small of her back with one arm as the other caressed her side. Eve felt as though she were floating as Raven used his free hand to open her shirt and push it down her arms, leaving only her black bra as a barrier between her breasts and his eager hands. Even that barrier lasted for but a moment. Soon, he was cupping her breast, slowly teasing the nipple with his thumb as his lips traveled down her throat, stopped momentarily at her collarbone, and then engulfed her other breast in his mouth.

Eve moaned as he sucked upon her nipple, teasing it ever so slightly with his tongue. Raven lifted his head and gazed into her now half-lidded, storm gray eyes. He then lifted her into his capable arms and carried her to his room. As he laid her down onto the bed he noticed the red dragon that was tattooed onto her back. He sighed as his convictions were confirmed. Eve noticed the sad expression in his deep green eyes.

"Why do you look at me that way?" she asked as she covered her chest with her arms and sat up.

Raven just stared for a moment into her eyes. "I'm a cowboy," he replied.

"Oh, I see, and I suppose you were going to turn me in for cash after you fucked me?" she asked, her voice laced with anger.

Raven leaned over her and leveled eyes with her. "No."

Eve's eyes went wide with surprise. "Then when?"

"I didn't know that you were the Crimson Dragon until I saw the barcode and the dragon on your back."

Eve's expression softened as a slight smile came over her swollen red lips. "Oh."

~*~

As the sun began to rise, Eve stood at Raven's window, wrapped in a bed sheet. Eve then felt a finger moving down her back and she turned. Raven moved his head to the side and smiled. "What are you going to do about this, dragon?"

Eve then looked to the floor and back to him. She then wrapped her arms around Raven's neck and placed her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." And with that, she dashed into the bedroom and changed into her clothes.

She stood at the door, her coat upon her, and reached down for the case. She then heard a click. She turned her head slightly to the left to see Raven with his gun aimed for her chest.

"I can't let you leave," he said. She could hear the quiver in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she said as she lifted the case and opened the door and with that she was gone.

Raven dropped his arms to his sides and fell to the floor. He sat there, gun in hand, watching the door as the sound of rain surrounded him, reminding him of her.

~*~*~*~*~

Sheets of freezing rain poured upon the streets as a fine mist floated above the ground. Few people now dashed upon the streets, trying to run between the raindrops. The dim illumination of the streetlamps gave a mysterious glow to the nearly deserted street.

Eve watched the cabs and people from an alley. Her black hair now soaked and in her eyes. She pulled her hands to her mouth for cover as she lit her cigarette. The glow illuminated her wet face and storm gray eyes. Eve then pulled the collar of her black long coat up around her neck and shivered as the cold water slithered down her back. For a moment Eve just stood in the rain, her eyes closed and her face turned up toward the sky. She opened the side of her mouth to let out a stream of light gray smoke and looked back at the street. A black case emblazoned with a crimson dragon leaned at her side. Eve glanced at the case and then at the shadows ahead of her. She then closed her eyes and smiled as she took her cigarette out of her mouth and exhaled another line of smoke. Eve then bent down to lift up the case and disappeared into the shadows.

~*~

It was raining. It always seemed to rain when she visited him. He watched the cars speed by him as he leaned beneath an overhang, attempting to keep dry in the wet weather that seemed to cover the city. Personally, he liked the rain, it cleansed, it purified the bloodstained and filthy ground that he always seemed to walk upon. He sighed as he brushed some silver colored hair out of his hard, ice colored eyes. The bird that usually resided on his shoulder nowadays was at his home now. It would not be needed tonight. He wasn't dressed formally either, as per usual. In fact, he was dressed in a simple pair of black jeans and t-shirt of the same color. He had grabbed his brown trench coat that he hadn't worn in years and now waited for his contact to arrive.

His stormy courtesan, his crimson dragon, he could call her that, and only he could. She belonged to him. The shadows next to him seemed to carry a familiar aura now. He smirked in his usual way and closed his eyes. "You're late tonight," he said softly. His voice always sounded soft, but tonight it was for real.

"There was a line at the gate, my ship was delayed," a feminine voice answered from the shadows. A plume of silver smoke then blew from said shadows, indicating that she was there.

"I heard you had problems on one of Jupiter's moons. With a certain cowboy?"

"Raven? Yeah, I ran into him. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Men all have the same weakness, you should know that. Grin and other men of his… preference are the only ones I know that don't have that weakness," the voice said lightly.

"True, a beautiful woman can be a great weakness, but also a great strength."

"I saw Julia," she said in a whisper.

The man's eyes opened abruptly. "Did you now?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's sad when one as lovely as her is reduced to a paranoid chick with a handgun," the voice joked cruelly.

The man smirked once again. "Is she now? Good to know."

"I heard that he's alive," the voice stated.

The man's smirk faded and was replaced by a cold glare as he placed his hand over his left shoulder and squeezed it. "Did you now?"

"He's become a cowboy. Although, it doesn't surprise me, he always was a bit dramatic."

The man snorted and the smirk returned. "Of course…. Do you have it?" he asked.

"The bloody eye? Yeah, the guys finished the last batch of the bloody eye a few days ago. I have what they had finished already with me now," the voice said more seriously. "Do you have my money?"

The man nodded as he pulled a leather bag from the ground next to him. "Yes. It's too bad this is your last run, I'm going to miss our chats," he said.

"So am I, old friend. But, like all things, this too must come to an end. My face was broadcasted on Big Shots a few weeks ago, so I can no longer be the courier. You know the rule. How can I stay in the shadows if I've been exposed to the light?" the voice asked as a black briefcase with a red dragon emblazoned upon it slid behind his legs.

The man sighed and nodded. "Where are they assigning you now?"

"Yenrai wants me as a bodyguard. You know how he is with strays."

The man groaned. "That peace -loving buffoon? Sounds like a promotion into boredom to me."

"Well, we can't all have your luck, can we, Vicious?" the voice asked lightly.

Vicious smirked once again as he picked up the case and slid the bag of money into the shadows. "I'll see you again, Eve," he said.

"I have a feeling, you are the stone and the syndicate is the pond. Are you going to cause a splash, Vicious?" the voice asked.

"No, I'm going to change the tides," he said as he stood and vanished into the rainy night.

~*~*~*~