Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Yesterday's Papers ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop was created by Shinichiro Watanabe and Sunrise and distributed in the U.S. by Bandai and aired on cartoon network. I am not affiliated with any of those entities. This is a fanwork written by a fan for fans. No money was made off of the production of this work.

 

Yesterday's Papers

by LadyLark

 

~*~

 

It was a lazy day on Mars. The kind of day just made for loafing about and doing nothing. Which was exactly what Faye was doing.

 

She felt had earned it after bringing in that last bounty - a drug runner by the name of Anthony Heinlein. She just wished that he hadn't shot up that street; the collateral damage had pretty much killed most of the bounty.

 

But beggars can't be choosers, right? And with her debt, Faye definitely fell into the beggar category. She was just lucky that Jet had let her stay on the Bebop after Spike's death. He was a good partner. She hoped that he felt the same; she really didn't have anywhere to go if he kicked her out.

 

“Yo, Faye, you expecting something?” Jet called from the deck where he was hanging the Bebop's laundry out to dry.

 

She yanked herself out of her memories. “No, why do you ask?”

 

“We got company.”

 

Looking up from where she was sunbathing, Faye shaded her eyes and looked up to where Jet was pointing. A delivery service copter was heading right toward where the Bebop was moored.

 

A tendril of dread threaded through her and she hoped it wasn't another bill collector in disguise - she'd really had enough of those. She was paying off her debt, albeit slowly, harassing her wasn't going to make her pay them any faster.

 

She stood up and wandered over to where Jet was standing. She wanted to be close to him in case anything happened. The last bill collector in disguise had tried to rough her up. He ended up the being the battered and beaten one, but it was a close thing. Besides, there was safety in numbers.

 

He looked over at her, his dark eyes missing nothing. He knew she was nervous. She knew he knew she was nervous. The knowledge didn't do either of them much good.

 

The copter set down gently on the deck and extended a robotic arm toward Jet. He started and took the package out of reflex.

 

“Four thousand eight five woolongs, please,” a mechanical voice demanded politely.

 

“What?” Jet shouted.

 

“What!” Faye echoed. That was an outrageous price for a shabby, manila envelope.

 

Jet looked down at the package then back up the copter, taking in the tortoise markings on the side. “Pay the `bot,” he said shortly after a moment.

 

She looked back and forth between the waiting arm and her partner. “What? No! If you want the package, you pay it!”

 

“It's not addressed to me,” the bald man replied, waving the envelope lazily. “And the delivery service is the same one as last time.”

 

“Last time?” she asked, blinking her green eyes in confusion. She looked at the copter again. He couldn't mean . . .

 

“The same service that brought that beta tape of yours,” Jet answered. Then he got a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Besides, the company won't take it back if it's been opened.”

 

“Huh, it's not ope-” The sound of tearing paper stopped her from finishing her sentence. She turned and watched Jet gleefully tear off the flap sealing the envelope. “Jet! What did you do that for?”

 

The large man tilted his head back and smiled blissfully. “Ahhhh, that feels good. Almost makes up for the times that Spike did that to me.” He glanced at her. “What are you waiting for? Pay the nice delivery `bot and we can find out what you got this time.”

 

Grumbling under her breath, Faye stomped back to her chaise lounge and fumbled for her money card. “The only reason I'm doing this, is `cause you paid last time. I just would have sent it back. I don't care about my past.” She was lying and she knew he knew it, but she still needed to keep up her carefully cultivated front. It was the only thing that kept her going after Spike's death two years ago.

 

Transaction complete, the delivery copter took off. Jet and Faye watched it go and then turned to look at the envelope once more.

 

“So, you've opened it,” she said, eyeing the various kinds of tape and stamps. “What's inside?”

 

“I don't really know. I thought you might like to have the honors,” he admitted. “I just opened that first layer, there are more underneath.”

 

The purple-haired woman held out her hand imperiously and Jet turned it over. Faye studied the package looking for any hint of just who had sent it to her and found nothing. “I don't understand! Who keeps sending me these things?”

 

Jet shrugged. “Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll say inside.”

 

Faye let out an indelicate snort. “Yeah right!”

 

“Well, you ain't finding anything out standing around and flapping your trap.”

 

He had a point. Grumbling, she tore off one layer of manila paper, then another of squishy foam, finally coming to bright purple envelope. Inside was strange paper card.

 

On the cover was a kid with dark red hair pointing and laughing and the words `Hey old fogey!' Faye raised an eyebrow at this but opened the card anyways. Her eye twitched when she read the inscription `It's your birthday! Got grey hairs yet?' and signed in messy handwriting `Happy 20th, big sis! Have fun on your shuttle trip with Mom and Dad! Love, Alex.'

 

Faye's hand shook as she reread the words. She couldn't really remember the accident that had ended with her being cryogenically frozen for almost sixty years. Just sharp crack of the window next to her and then nothing. When she was awakened, she couldn't remember anything of her life. Not even her full name. She just knew that the world was different. Things that used to make sense were now complicated. And she had accrued a huge debt for her care in the process.

 

Now, she knew she had a brother. She didn't know who had had her cryogenically frozen; always assuming it was her parents or maybe even a husband. But this knowledge opened up other possibilities and scenarios. Her past was such an empty part of Faye's life, that she didn't really know where to begin filling it in. She wasn't even sure it was worth the trouble.

 

“So, what's it say?”

 

Jet's voice cut through her reverie and she pulled her eyes away from the card to meet his gaze. She found that she couldn't manage to speak, opening and closing her mouth silently. In response, she offered him the card to read for himself.

 

His eyes widened as he read it over. “So, you've got a brother,” he managed after a few moments.

 

She nodded.

 

“Do you think he's the one sending these?” he asked.

 

Faye waved her hands helplessly. It was possible, she guessed. Why send things cryptic gifts to the Bebop instead of coming himself? It didn't make a lot of sense. Especially if he was the one who had her frozen all those years ago.

 

The former ISSP detective's brow furrowed and he looked at the last envelope. “You know, the last time we got a delivery for you Ed tried to trace it back,” he stated slowly, as if musing aloud. “The items went through a whole bunch of corporations before the trail went cold because of the gate explosion. So in theory, this card could have changed hands as many times and who knows who started it all.”

 

“You aren't really helping,” she snapped, her anger allowing her to speak again. “We haven't answered my original question - who in the hell sends these things to me?”

 

Jet looked thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe that isn't the question we should be asking? Maybe the question we should be asking is why they are sending these specific items to you.”

 

The woman shrugged. “They probably want me to remember my past. Kinda stupid if you ask me, I already figured out where I came from back on Earth. The knowledge didn't do me any good, the place was just a pile of rubble when I got there. Everything that I remembered was gone.” She turned away from the other bounty hunter as she spoke. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes or what finding her home destroyed had done to her. The pain was too personal.

 

Jet looked over at her in growing understanding. “You never mentioned any of this.”

 

Crossing her arms over her chest, she shrugged again. “It didn't matter. None of it matters. The likelihood that anything or anyone surviving from my past aside from these mysterious gifts is pretty slim.”

 

“If you say so. So you wouldn't be interested in finding out if your brother is still alive then?” he asked in a sly voice.

 

“What!” she shrieked, wheeling on her partner. “What do you mean by that?”

 

“Come with me.” Jet motioned for her to follow him back inside of the Bebop.

 

After sticking her tongue out at him defiantly, she followed. The two walked in silence through the ship until they reached the space that passed for the living room on the ship.

 

“Take a seat,” he said, motioning to the loveseat. “It will take me a few moments to tap into the system.”

 

She looked up at him in confusion. “What system?”

 

“It's called Gattaca, it's a solar system wide DNA registry,” he answered, tapping a few keys rapidly. “All citizens are required to be listed in it to be considered legal. The catch is that it's only accessible by cops, city clerks, and medical personnel.”

 

“Huh? Why is this the first time I've heard of it? And why don't the cops just use DNA to track criminals?” she asked, still puzzled.

 

Jet looked up at her. “Okay, here's your history lesson for the day,” he grumbled, glaring at her when she sighed. “After the Gate incident in 2021, the Earth and its fledgling colonies were left with less than 500,000 inhabitants in the whole Sol System. The powers that be decided that that in order to prevent inbreeding, a registry was needed to determine genetic compatibility. Hey, are you listening?”

 

Faye looked up from studying her nails. “Yeah, yeah, genetic compatibility. I still don't get why this is important,” she whined.

 

“I'm getting to that, hold your horses. All citizens were required to register. If you didn't, well, they considered you an illegal. Illegals weren't allowed to hold jobs, get married, receive medical attention or anything until they registered and paid penalty fees. It wasn't a pretty time in our history. The government legislated who you could marry, fall in love with, even what kinds of kids you could have. All in the name of preserving the human race.”

 

“Makes me glad I slept through it.”

 

An eyebrow twitched but Jet continued, outwardly ignoring the smartass comment. “The insanity didn't last for more than ten or so years - long enough to do some damage not long enough for it to make a difference. Anyways, every birth was registered and still is to this day - that law hasn't changed and you still can't see a legal doctor or get married with out being listed in the system.”

 

“I see. So why haven't I heard of it then, if it's so all important?”

 

“I'm getting to that,” he said a bit sharply then fell back into lecture mode. “Gattaca fell into disuse about thirty-five years ago with the rise of the syndicates. It also is pretty much obsolete. The Sol System now has over 1.5 billion people populating it - no real worry there for inbreeding. So nowadays, it is pretty much used for identifying bodies.”

 

“I see,” she said slowly. She still didn't get why the police just didn't track people with DNA, but chalked up to something she could find out about later. Now, she had more important concerns. “So what does this have to do with me?”

 

“Well, we can reference your DNA and see if there are any close matches with the name Alex.”

 

Fay nodded absently, her mind replaying Jet's explanation. Something wasn't adding up. “Wait a minute, you said that all people were required to register. This is the first time I've heard of this thing. How can we reference my DNA?” she asked. She'd been born before the required registration and thanks to her massive debt she had always lived on the outskirts of society.

 

Jet mumbled something incomprehensible and looked away.

 

“What was that?” She couldn't have heard him say what she thought she heard him say.

 

The former ISSP detective had the decency to blush. “I registered you about a year ago. After that incident on Io.”

 

Yep, she had heard him right the first time. “You did what! Why?” Sure, the incident on Io with that syndicate hitman had been dicey, but it wasn't worth getting that worked up over. Faye had almost bit it when he got the drop on her in his souped up Marlin 800, but thanks to Jet's cover fire, she had managed to limp back to the Bebop. They didn't call her Lady Luck for nothing. She'd had worse run ins before. That one wasn't anything special.

 

“I put myself down as your next of kin. I kinda figured you would want someone to be there for your funeral. In case something happened and I wasn't there to cover for you.” Jet continued to look uncomfortable, glancing up at her to gauge her reaction to his words.

 

Unfortunately, Faye didn't have much to say to that. All she could manage was a quiet “Oh. . .”

 

“Yeah . . .” Jet echoed.

 

She thought about it for a moment. He was right. She would like someone to mourn her passing. She was selfish like that. She didn't want to be forgotten, that was one of the reasons she acted so rashly so people wouldn't forget her. But he was alone as she was, and that brought up another question. “What about you, Jet?”

 

“What about me?” he asked, evasively.

 

She sighed in frustration. He was being deliberately obtuse. “Don't you want someone to be there for your funeral?”

 

“It doesn't matter to an old dog like me,” he said, leaning back on chair. He fished out a cigarette and lit it. “I'll probably die alone of old age in a damn nursing home somewhere.”

 

She snapped her fingers and he tossed her the pack and lighter. “That's pretty morbidly optimistic in our line of work,” she commented, lighting her own cigarette. Most bounty hunters either were killed by some bounty-head within their first five years. Only about twenty percent survived long enough to retire.

 

Jet blew a stream of smoke up into the air. “I've gotten used to it. Someone's gotta survive to tell the tale. I always figured it would be me. Besides you and Spike were the main ones out there taking the risks. I've been more of the back-up and info-man type.”

 

Faye could hear the self-recrimination in his voice. “Jet, you don't need to do this.” She purposefully didn't identify what she was talking about.

 

“What?”

 

Sighing, she explained. “Try to find out if I've got family still around. You don't need to do that.”

 

“Why not?” he asked. “I've gotten in the system, it wouldn't take me long to run a search.”

 

She reached over the table to pat his knee awkwardly. “It doesn't matter. They aren't my family. They're just people who I share a similar genetic code with. Family is about bonds.”

 

“Bonds?”

 

“Yeah, bonds.” She gave his knee a squeeze. “My family is here on the Bebop, I don't need some obsolete database to tell me that.”

 

“What about that card?” He waved his cigarette toward where the purple envelope was resting next to the computer.

 

Faye looked at it thoughtfully. “It's nice to think about - that I had a kid brother once who liked to tease me. But in the end, it's not that important.” She opened the card and read the inscription once again, smiling at the not so subtle jab at her age. When she finished, she looked back up at her partner. “I'll look at it once and a while, when I get lonely for my past. But then it will go back into the box along with that damned tape and I'll move on to other things.” She hoped he wouldn't ask about what other things, since they were a bit embarrassing.

 

Jet thought about it for a few moments and then powered down the computer console. “So Faye, about that tape?”

 

“Yeah?” she asked warily.

 

“Ya think you could finally pay me the COD charges for it?”

 

~*~

 

AN: Written for the Letters from the Past Challenge as a part of the Maximum Challenge Fanfic Contest there. You had to write a fic based on a card entered into their fanart contest - I chose this card by the artist Rini Sayajin - in case that link doesn't work here is the URL www. Mediaminer. org/ fanart/ view. php/ 193088 - just make sure to remove the spaces.

 

Some References:

 

0. The title of this fanfic is taken from the Rolling Stones' song of the same name. I just felt like following in the series footsteps by either using a musical reference or a song title and the series seemed to have a thing for Stone's titles. ^_^

 

1. Anthony Heinlein - the last name of two famous sci-fi/fantasy authors. Bebop tends to have puns to their bounty's names and I thought I would follow suit.

 

2. Tortoise Markings on the side of the delivery `bot - in the Episode “Speak Like a Child” the tortoise `copter arrives first with the Beta tape and the delivery service with a Hare on the side of it arrives later with the player. A subtle reference to the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.

 

3. Jet opening the package so Faye would pay for it. In that same episode, Spike opened the packages so Jet couldn't return them.

 

4. Faye's age and timeline - according to various sources. Faye was 20 when she was in the shuttle accident. She has been around for about 3 years at the start of the series. She was born in 1994 and had her accident in 2014. The series takes place in 2073 - making Faye a remarkably well preserved seventy-nine year-old. In episode Hard Luck Woman, Faye remembers where her home should be and goes back there. Only to find it destroyed. It is a massively emotional scene.

 

5. Gattaca - yes I used the movie name. But it was appropriate. The letters used in the name are the letters of the proteins that make up the DNA sequence. I also felt after that great catastrophe and several colonies that inbreeding could be a concern.

 

6. Marlin 800 - Jet's fighter is called the Hammerhead, Faye's is a Redbird, and Spike's was a Swordfish. I thought Marlin would fit the theme.

 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Also let me know what you think, I've never written a Bebop fic before and I hope I got the characterization right.

 

Ja!