Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ The Search for the Truth ❯ Father ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The young girls shoulder length golden hair bobbed up and down as she was walking home from the grocery store. The weather was
frightfully cold and the harsh wind nipped mercilessly at her frozen cheeks. The two syndicate men behind her had begged her to take
the car to the store, but she told them she was walking, and that was that.

"See Miss Willow, it would have been much nicer if we were to drive instead of walk in this god forsaken cold." Said the older of the
two syndicate men, as he was trying with no avail to hold the grocery bags and pull his coat more tightly around him at the same
time.

"You didn't have to come." Was her reply as she stared intently at the ground, looking for a small pebble to kick around.

"You know we have to come, your Father's orders." Replied the second syndicate man, who was having a more difficult time handling
the bags than the first.

Willow sighed. She hated her Father more than anyone in the world. Vicious, she simply wouldn't take that he was her Father. She
couldn't have been spawned from something so evil. It was he that alone made her life so miserable. She was never aloud to go
anywhere alone, someone had to be watching her at all times. She had camera's and men watching her 24/7, the only place there
wasn't a camera was the bathroom, and if she stayed in there too long people would come and check on her. She wasn't aloud to
have any outside friends, none at all. She could only talk at certain times when talked to by strangers. She was schooled at home, and above else she rarely got to see her Mother, Julia, who she resembled in so many ways.

"Vicious is not my Father!" She retorted concentrating her gaze straight ahead now.

"If Vicious isn't your Father," Began one of the men, "then who is?"

Willow had to think about that one. Who else could be her Father? Her Mother was barely let out of Vicious' sight, how could anyone
else be her Father?

"Well?" pried the man.

"I don't know," Willow began in a shaky voice, "but it can't be Vicious! It can't be him!"

Then, without a second thought, Willow bolted down the street. She had the sudden urge to talk to her Mother and she wanted to get there as soon as possible. She wanted to know everything. Where she was born, who her Father is, and why she had to be so
closely guarded. Was there something her supposed "Father" didn't want her to know about? She needed answers.

She ran faster and farther every passing second. She could here the men behind her calling her name harshly. They were making
threats to her. They were screaming if she didn't slow down, they would surely tell Vicious about her little stunt. Hot tears started to
spill out of her eyes abundantly as her feet beat down harder on the pavement. Her long coat started to get tangled up in her legs, like
black snakes curling around a small helpless mouse, ready to suck the life out of it. Then, in a brief moment, she sharply hit the
ground, causing a gash on her cheek that began to openly spill out blood. She tried to get up and escape again, but the syndicate men had already reached her.

"Now look at what you've done! We had to leave the groceries behind in order to catch up to you and now you've cut your cheek!
Guess who is gonna get blamed for this? US, we are. Stupid little brat, Vicious is going to hear all about this." The older man
screamed at her.

She could feel hands clamp tightly around her arms as she was lifted to her feet. "Please don't." was all she could manage to squeak
out.

"Please don't? Is that what you said? How stupid are you? Come on, let's go." Mocked the younger man as the both began to pull her
towards syndicate headquarters where she knew Vicious would be waiting for her.

It was quiet the whole way to headquarters. No one said a word. The men still had a tight grip on the girl as the entered the building.
The smiling women at the front desk looked at Willow intently.

'Stop pretending to be so nice,' Willow thought to herself 'I know as soon as I'm gone your going to talk about what a bad kid I am,
and how I should stop being a rebel.' Everyone knew her at the Syndicate, just because of who her Father was.

The older of the two men holding Willow, walked up to the desk. They whispered a few things and laughed a bit. The desk lady talked into a speaker that Willow knew was connected to Vicious' office. Then she nodded and they headed towards the elevator. The doors
opening looked like Hell opening it's gates to Willow.

The men shoved her in and dragged her to the top floor where Vicious' office was located. All three of them walked up to the huge
double doors with two large gold dragons on them. The youngest of the two men knocked. It was silent for several second, but just
when he was about to knock again, a quiet voice was heard.

"Let her in... alone."

The two men open the doors just enough for her to get in, bowed, and went on their way.

Vicious' room was dark except for a long window on the right side of the wall the spilled light on Vicious and Willow as well as the some parts of the room. The room was a huge square with blood red walls and pitch black carpet. Vicious' desk stretched from one end of the room to the other, with just enough room for him to get in. Being him was the sign of the syndicate, more giant gold dragons with ruby eyes that seemed to glare at Willow. There was a lone leather chair straight across from Vicious' in which Willow sat in uneasily. Vicious' office was so much more elaborate than any other room. More elaborate, but it made Willow get goose bumps every time she went in it.

"I hear there was some trouble coming back from the store today." Vicious stated rather calmly.

"Yes. There was." Willow replied confidently.

"Can I get the story?" Vicious asked, staring at the girl intently.

"Well, I just figured that since I'm 14, I'm old enough to go places on my own and be trusted. So, I ran away from the men watching me." She explained to Vicious.

"And how did you get the cut?" He asked staring at her cheek.

"Oh, I slipped and fell while running. That's how I got this." She explain while she ran a finger over the wound. It had stopped bleeding.

"That's the whole story? No, it can't be." Vicious said as he rose from behind his desk and started to make his way towards Willow.

"What do you mean?" Asked Willow as her palms began to get sweaty.

"I think you know very well what I mean." Vicious told her as he grabbed his Katana off the wall and unsheathed it. He began to walk closer to Willow until they were only a few feet apart. He took the tip of his sword and put it under Willow's chin, tilting her head up so she was looking straight into his eyes.

"Now tell me, why did you really run away?"

Willow was silent for awhile until she felt Vicious push harder on the sword. "I-I W-wanted to talk to Mom." she finished shakily.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen her in awhile..."

"Give me the truth!" Vicious screamed at her.

It was quiet again. Then, Willow whispered, "I wanted to know who my real Father was."

Vicious stared at the girl for several minutes. Finally he lowered his sword and walked closer to Willow. He leaned down on one knee so that he could look her in the eye.

"You are a very stupid girl. You are my daughter. I am your Father and no one else ever will be. You are my blood, do you understand?"

Willow stared at him with horror in her eyes. "No, your not my Father! I refuse to believe I am part of you!"

With that remark, Vicious arose and grabbed Willow by the shirt. He pulled her up on her feet and struck her sharply across the face, right where her cut was.

She fell to the ground and gingerly caressed her cheek. It was burning and bleeding at the same time. She started to cry again as Vicious' body cast a shadow over her's wincing in pain on the floor.

"I must go to a meeting now, you are to stay in this room and not leave until I return. One of the workers here will check on you occasionally to see if you need anything, otherwise you will not speak. If I hear about you act up at all, I will punish you again. I will lock the door on the way out and all my important things are locked up or hidden so don't even try to escape or do anything stupid. I will return in a couple of hours."

She heard him walk over to the door, a wave of light entered the room signaling that the door was open, then it was slammed shut once again and a click was heard as it locked. Then, all was quiet.

Willow lifted herself to her feet and sat down in a tired heap on the chair.

"He can't be my Father," She whispered to herself, "He just can't be!"