Chapter Text
�Edwaaard!!!� the shout rang through the bebop as Faye stalked out into the common room angrily clad in nothing but a towel, her once purple hair blue. �Hmm? Oh faye-faye! I like your hair.� the only other female on the bebop responded grinning innocently.
Ed�s P.O.V.
�Hello Mr. Fishy.� I said surfing through the web on my one and only Tomato. Jet had asked me earlier to find information on some small bounty head, I had already given him what I found and decided to poke around some files about the people he used to work with. It was mostly just local gangs and some mercenaries here and there but as I climbed the chain of command it got harder and harder to hack. I just grinned in anticipation and got past barrier after barrier. I had just gotten past what seemed like the last one but the information only lit the screen for a split second before I was shut out. The words I had barely processed burning my mind and not for the first time I was thankful tomato couldn�t be tracked. If I was sure about anything, it was that I never wanted to be associated with the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate ever again.
�Edwaaard!!� I heard Faye scream furiously scaring me out of cyberspace and out of my thoughts. I turned around, goggles around my neck, �Hmm? Oh Faye-Faye! I like your hair!� I had used my best innocent voice as I saw her stalk in wearing just her towel. Her hair was blue now instead of purple, and I actually liked it. �Ed you little she-demon LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!!� I almost winced and the volume and pitch of her voice, Jet and Spike actually did. �But I didn�t do anything Faye-person. Ed was here the entire time.� I had grown out of addressing myself in the 3rd person on my 16th birthday but threw it in to annoy her further, letting her know it was me. �You made my hair blue!� she yelled again. I smirked, �No I didn�t Faye-Faye. The hair dye wasn�t in your shampoo bottle, it was in my unmarked one, It�s not my fault you used the wrong thing.� Ok so it wasn�t exactly in my normal shampoo bottle, it was in one I had gotten that looked slightly like hers and in all fairness I knew she saw the difference but as I thought she had caught a wiff of it and couldn�t resist. She looked even more pissed, �Bu-I-you! Ughhh!!� she stormed out knowing I was right and it was her own mistake that led to her blue hair.
As soon as I heard her door slam I broke out in laughter as did spike. I laid on my back looking over at the two boys, well, men. Jet didn�t look all that amused since she was likely to be more pissy and moody for the next few days but Spike�Spike looked like he could have laughed for days. He was the whole reason I pulled this prank and I was glad he enjoyed it. For the last week or so he�d been sorta upset or maybe even depressed and whenever I�d ask he�d brush it off, brush ME off and it hurt, but now that he was smiling again everything was good in my world. He lit another cigarette, letting it hang from his grinning mouth and glanced over at me. I just grinned back half childishly, half relieved. �Nice one Ed, I always have to wonder where you come up with this stuff, seriously.� That was new, Spike usually waited till Jet left the room to congratulate me, not that I minded.
A beep came from Tomato drawing my attention, �Was that a security beep?� I threw my goggles back on diving head first into cyberspace scared it was the syndicate trying to track me. I opened the window, and the old chess player�s face filled the screen. Suddenly I felt ridiculous and paranoid. �Oh. Hi Mr. Chess guy! Faye is in a mood so can I play with you tomorrow instead?� he responded with a slow yes and the screen went black again. �Ed? Hey Ed?� once more I was dragged out of cyberspace as my attention was diverted elsewhere. The goggles were pulled down off my eyes and I saw Spike�s face upside down in front of me. �Huh? Spi-person is suddenly spiderman?� I asked jokingly. �Who? Eh Never mind but is there any additional information you have on this Wong Loo guy?�
�Nothing helpful. And Spiderman was a really old comic back on Earth.� Sometimes I forgot they didn�t know the same type of things I did. They knew more about the ways of the world and how to work this angle or that to get what they wanted. They knew more practical things while I knew how to get almost any information they would need and how to control electronics through hacking. �This guy shouldn�t be too hard, do you want to come along for experience?� �Whoa backup. Did he just ask me if I wanted to go? I�ve been asking for the past year and I finally have my chance! There�s no way I�m going to say no!� �Of course I�ll come!� I grabbed Tomato balancing him on my head and headed to the hanger with jet and Spike. It seemed Faye would not be joining us this time.
Jet got in his Hammerhead and took off while Spike and I headed to the Swordfish II. Spike got in first and offered me a hand up. I took it and he hauled me up and into his lap. Only then did I notice that the swordfish only had one seat. The top closed over us as we got settled and Spike reached around me to grab the gears, his head on my shoulder to see. �Hold on tight Ed.� he warned, and with that we were off, following Jet to the far side of Mars.