TITLE: It's An Angelic Life

AUTHOR: MikeJaffa

SYNOPSIS: Jo takes the place of Jimmy Stewart in the homage to "It's a Wonderful Life"

DISCLAIME: Burst Angel is owned by Gonzo. I am not making any money off this fic.

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DECEMBER 18

Kyo jumped and almost dropped the stuffed squid he'd taken out of the oven when he turned around and found Jo standing behind him. "Jo! Jeez…what are you doing here?"

"Did a pro bono job for a bondsman down the street," Jo said, her voice lower and more sullen than normal. "Need a ride back to the trailer. Remember, I called you-"

"Oh, right. Well, could you wait outside?"

"Sure." Jo turned and shambled out of the kitchen/classroom in the Love and Happy Culinary Design school.

Kyo squeezed his eyes shut. "Crap." He put down the squid, picked up his phone, and tabbed through the text messages. "Double crap."

Shiho Kazami, the girl who ran the 3-student team that included Kyohei and another boy, Hayao Ichimonji, sidled over to Kyo. "What's the problem?" she asked. "Are you in trouble with your employer?"

"No," Kyo said. "It's just that Jo is in a bit of a funk-"

Shiho got alarmed. "You think she might try to kill you?"

Kyo shook his head. "Worse. My guess is she had an argument with Meg and all of Jo's self doubt has come out. And I'm going to be giving her a ride on my scooter while she's…working it out." He showed Shiho his cell phone. "Amy sent me the map to where the trailer is now. Figure in the drive time plus shopping, I have to endure an hour and a half of moody existentialism. Fun, fun, fun."

Hayao peaked over Kyo's shoulder at the phone. "Closer to two hours. They have those lane closures on the arterial."

"Great."

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"I don't even know how old I am," Jo said in Kyo's ear as he drove the scooter from the grocery store towards the trailer. "We just assume I'm the same age as Meg, but I could be 12 or I could be a hundred."

Kyo just nodded. He'd got off the highway to get around the worst of the traffic jam.

"She's such a girl sometimes," Jo went on. "And I don't know what to do about that sometimes. Give me something to kill, no problem. Personal relationships, problem. But you already know that, right? I didn't remember your name until you helped me rescue Meg. And I only care about Meg because she saved my life. Am I a user, Kyo? Do I only bother with people who do something for me? How can I be good to Meg if that's true?"

Kyo grunted as he made a right turn.

"And you couldn't care less," Jo went on, hugging Kyo a little tighter and resting her head on his shoulder. "All you hear is the nattering of one of the three bitches who's messed up your life. You're a good guy, a decent guy, and the best thing I can do for you is not shoot you for one more day. That's not right. You'd be better off with-" She broke off as she saw something in one of Kyo's rear view mirrors. She pulled a small mirror out of a coat pocket and spared a glance behind her at the white sedan that had appeared a little too often for her comfort. Jo turned serious. "Kyo, turn left up here."

"But Jo-"

"Just do like I tell ya. And keep your speed normal after the turn."

She felt fear run through Kyo's body, but she had no time to remonstrate with herself over that. Kyo made the turn and Jo kept her eye on the mirror. The sedan turned after them.

"Right up here," Jo said.

Kyo turned. The sedan followed again.

"Damn," Jo hissed. "We've got a tail."

"What do we do now?"

"Next turn, stop, we switch, and then you hang on."

Kyo nodded. At the next turn, he brought the bike to a screeching halt. Jo got off, Kyo pushed himself back on the seat, and Jo got on in front of him.

"Hang on!" Jo said.

Jo took off. The sedan turned the corner and accelerated. Jo stepped on the gas and the bike wobbled.

"I said hang on!" Jo said.

"I am!" Kyo answered.

"Tighter! Pretend I'm Sei."

Kyo clamped tighter….and Jo felt something else happen.

"Whoa! Ok, Kyo, there are things you can't deny around me anymore."

"What? Oh-uh…."

"Never mind!"

The sedan followed them through neighborhoods and narrow streets. Jo turned down and alley… but as she got towards the far end, another car blocked it. Jo screeched tires and made smoke as she put the bike through a hard 180 and went back the way she'd come. The first sedan had pulled into the alley and stopped, blocking the other end.

Jo stopped and looked around. She saw the door a few meters ahead of them in the wall to their left, between them and the first sedan.

"Get off," Jo ordered. "Get against the wall. When I make my move, head for that door."

Kyo got off and backed up against the wall. "What are you-Jo, you're not going to-"

"The next one comes out of my pay."

Jo leaned forward enough to pull the rear wheel off the ground and gunned the engine. She brought the wheel down and the bike surged forward. She back flipped off it, firing at the gas tank as she flipped over in the air. The bike burst into flame as it headed for the sedan. Jo saw four guys get out as she landed. The bike hit the car and both went up in flames. She turned towards Kyo but felt a bullet hit her left shoulder - someone had fired blind through the smoke. Jo fired a couple of rounds back towards them then fired at the door lock as she and Kyo got to it. They pushed the door open, went in, and shut the door. They found a small table and used it to block the door.

Then they realized they were in a kitchen.

Kyo threw his head back. "Great! How do I always end up in a kitchen?"

"Play to your strengths." The kitchen was empty, and the building was silent. "Stay low and don't move."

Jo peeked out into the dining room. She could see straight to the glass front door, and the men in suits outside.

She came back into the kitchen. "They've covered the entrances." She looked at the com unit in her glove. "And jammed our coms."

Kyo saw the blood on her left shoulder. "You've been hit."

"It's not bad-"

"Let me see."

Jo took her coat off and sat down with her back to the wall. Kyo inspected the wound. "Yeah, looks like it grazed the skin. I should be able to…where .. .there it is…" Kyo crept to a nearby counter and grabbed a first aid kit.

Jo was impressed and surprised as he disinfected the wound and put a bandage on it. "Where did you learn to do this?" she asked.

"After that business with the crow," Kyo said, "I retook Love and Happy's first aid class, and I paid attention to the section on gunshot wounds this time."

"Wait a minute-a cooking school teaches how to treat gunshot wounds?"

"Yeah. Guess I'm not the only chef in Tokyo who has to worry about that. There." Done dressing the wound, he sat down next to her. "Ok. What now?"

"You mean you don't have a plan for getting us out of here, 'chef'?"

He smiled. "Tactics are a separate cla-"

Static crackled from Jo's com. "Jo?" a man's voice said. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Jo spoke into it. "I'm guessing you're the guy with a death wish who put this together."

"Yes. My name is Jei Kokuren."

"Oh yeah, Sei's fiancee who tried to kill her. I should have made sure you didn't have a pulse."

"Wait-" Kyo said. "Sei's what?"

Jo cursed under her breath - Kyo hadn't been told how Sei's grandfather had tried to marry her to Jei. It was the last thing a teenage boy with a crush on his boss needed to hear. 'Nice job, Jo,' she told herself. 'Why don't you tell him how Sei and Leo spent last Christmas together…and leave out how they came home separately?'

Jei laughed. "Is that the young Kyohei Tachibana I've heard so much about?"

"Get to the point, Jei," Jo snapped. "What do you want?"

"Simple. In exchange for letting you and Kyohei live, you work for me - you report back to me what she's up to."

"Go to hell."

"No need to be hasty. I'll give you some time to think about that. It's not like you're bleeding, right?"

"I still may need a while. Why don't you and your crew leave and come back? We'll stay put. Honest."

Jei laughed. "Take all the time you need, Jo … assuming you don't have any bullet wounds."

"You're all heart." She clicked off the com unit.

"Crap," Kyo groused. "Another thrilling adventure in being a personal chef."

'Yeah,' Jo thought. 'You didn't sign up to cook for killers…certainly not one who aimed a gun at your junk the day we met. And Meg is scared of me sometimes, too, even if she doesn't always show it. But this is the only time I feel alive. Is killing all I'm good for? And if that's true, who would miss me when I'm gone?' The question stuck in her mind…and seemed to take a weight off her shoulders. 'Yeah…I get mowed down in a shootout, no one would think twice about it. Sei could probably find another shooter who's not as…difficult…and the rest would go on with their lives. Even Meg. They'll be better off.'

"Well, Jo?" Kyohei asked. "What now?"

"Pass me my coat, Kyo."

Kyo handed Jo her coat. Jo rooter around in an inside pocket and pulled out a small metal box with a pistol grip.

"Four-shot neuronic stunner," Jo explained. "Screws up the nervous system for a few seconds. Now, I'm going out the back door. When I draw their fire, you go out the front. Point, shoot, run like hell. I'll…I'll catch up to you later. Then we'll call Sei."

"Are you sure, Jo? You're hurt. You think you can take them-"

"Kyo, don't worry-"

Jo heard a gasp as someone came through the door from the dining room. She turned and for a second thought Meg was standing in front of her. But the young woman with long red hair was a few years older than Meg, 21 or 22. She wore a red coat with fur lining, a black miniskirt and boots.

Jo drew one of her pistols as she got to her feet. "Who are you?"

The girl raised her hands. "Don't hurt me, please!"

Jo grabbed the girl's collar and pulled over to where Kyo was as he stood up. "I asked you a question."

"W-well, my name is Kate," she said, "and…I'm here for you, Jo."

"What!?" Jo's tattoo blazed purple. "Did Jei send you? Or plant you in here?"

Kate was visibly calmer. "No, Jo. And you might as well put your gun down because shooting me won't do you any good. See, I'm not human…not anymore. I'm an angel. And I've taken human form to keep you from killing yourself."

Jo and Kyo exchanged glances. The Jo said, "I'm sorry…Kate?…But if you didn't notice, my associate and I here were just discussing how to get out of here *alive.*"

"No, Jo, you were planning to run into a hail of bullets and get yourself killed. What's called 'death by cop' when the cops are involved. Kyo saw through it, or at least saw the flaw in your plan. Didn't you, Kyo-"

"So you heard that?" Jo interjected.

"Yes," Kate said. "I was here the whole time. You just couldn't see me."

"So you can turn invisible?"

"More or less."

"Got any other tricks? You know, wings, halo, harp."

"If you like."

Kate spread her arms…and wings sprouted from her shoulders as her clothes became blazing white robes, a halo appeared over her head, and a flaming sword appeared in her left hand and a harp in her right hand, deafening music playing.

Jo let go of Kate and covered her eyes. "I get it!"

Kate returned to 'normal.'

"Neat-" Jo broke off when she realized Kyo had fallen to his knees. She grabbed his arm. "On your feet, Kyo," she said as she hauled him up. "There wasn't anything in that sound and light show that Amy couldn't have done in her sleep."

Kate threw her head back and turned in a circle. "Ugh! Why do some people have to be so difficult?" She turned to Jo. "Look, Jo, the point is, you have a death wish. Sooner or later, you'll act on it, and when you do, you'll hurt everyone around you. I'm here to help you see that and put a stop to that once and for all…or at least for a while."

"In the first place, Kate, I don't believe you are who you say you are."

"That much is obvious."

"In the second place, why is it any business of yours?"

"It is. Suicide is, to an extent, a selfish act, because people don't think they're hurting anyone. They're wrong."

"Well every rule has its exceptions," Jo said. "Most people I meet end up dead, and I make them that way. And as for others…well, hell, look at Kyo! He had to learn how to deal with gunshot wounds because of me. I bet he'd be better off if we'd never met. Hell, everyone would be better off if I'd never been born."

Kate smiled. "Think so?"

Kyo said, "You going to do an 'It's a Wonderful Life' thing now?"

"Looks like it," Kate answered.

Jo frowned. "A what thing?"

Kyo and Kate talked at once. Then they broke off and Kyo gestured to Kate. Kate nodded and explained: "'It's a Wonderful Life' is an American movie made about a hundred years ago, but it's still a Christmas staple. I'm surprised you haven't seen it."

"No zombies," Kyo said sardonically.

"Ah," Kate said. "Well, anyway, it's about this guy named George Bailey, who's this ordinary guy in a small town who runs his family's savings and loan. The main drama in his life is his rivalry with this old banker, Potter. Well, one Christmas Eve, George gets in serious financial trouble and decides to kill himself. An angel comes to try and stop him and, surprise, surprise, George is difficult. But he says he wished he'd never been born. So Clarence - the angel in the movie - shows George what his town would have been like if he'd never been born, and it's changed for the worse. He really touched a lot of lives. So he decides he wants his life back. And his friends help him out of his jam."

Jo chuckled. "So, if I was never born, you think everyone would be worse off?" She turned to Kyohei. "What about you, Kyo? You think you'd be worse off if we'd never met?"

"Well, uh…I don't know."

"Good answer. But this is all a load of bollocks." Jo rounded on Kate. "The light show was good, I admit, but could you really show me an alternate world?"

"Yes, Jo, I can. But this has to be official. Do you really wish you had never been born?"

"Yes, Kate, I really, seriously, officially, and in all other ways-ally, wish I'd never been born."

Kate smiled. "All right then."

Kyohei disappeared.

"You've never been born," Kate said.