A/N: Not my usual fandom, but one I like just the same. I don't own any of the characters except for Mama Lucia; I'm just borrowing them for a little fun.
The mission was finally over, and Joe had glowered his way through another one of Hakase's long-winded debriefings, after a trip to the infirmary to have the bullet wound in his left shoulder stitched. Now, all he wanted was to get to his quarters and crash. As he walked down the hall, though, his attention was caught by quiet sobs coming from the team's ready room. It was a sound he couldn't resist, especially when he knew it was—"Jun?" He crossed the room in three strides to kneel beside the distraught Swan, who threw herself on his shoulder and continued to cry heartbrokenly. "Juney," he whispered, stroking her hair. "Talk to me. What's wrong?" He had his suspicions, but wanted to hear it from Jun.
Jun finally got enough control over herself to sit back and look at him. "I-I told Ken how I felt about him when we got back," she said miserably. "All this time, and I finally worked up the nerve."
"What did he do?" Joe growled, knowing that somehow, Ken had messed things up.
"H-he didn't even let me say everything; cut me off and told me that it would be in-inappropriate for us to get together, and that I should quit wasting my time." The tears started again. "I feel so stupid!"
Joe swore and pulled Jun into his lap, holding her close and rocking her. "You're not stupid, Jun, believe me. You know how he is; duty comes before anything else in his world. But he didn't have to hurt you, and I'll make sure he pays for it next practice."
Jun sniffed and nestled into Joe's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of the Condor's heart. "How can I ever look at him again, Joe? I made a total fool of myself!"
"You've never been a fool, Jun, and I'm sorry Ken was such an ass." Joe made a decision and got to his feet, pulling Jun with him. "Come on, we're getting out of here for a few hours."
"But Jinpei—"
"Is either eyeballs deep in a video game, or out cold. He won't know you're gone." And Joe refused to hear any further argument, leading Jun out to the G-2.
"Where are we going?" she asked as he pulled into the street.
"Just wait," was all he would say. Twenty minutes later, he parked in front of a restaurant on the outskirts of the city, and came around to hand Jun out of the car. "You'll like this place, I come here all the time," he smiled, holding the door open.
As they walked in, an older woman spotted them and came running over, grabbing Joe so hard he felt his ribs crack. "Joe, te ragazzo cattivo, dove sei stato? Sono stato preoccupato per te!"
Joe laughed and hugged her back. "I know. It's been too long, and I'm sorry I worried you. Mama, this is my friend Jun. Jun, this is Mama Lucia, the best Italian cook I know."
Jun smiled at Mama Lucia, who gave her an appraising look before smiling back. "Welcome, welcome! You be good to my boy; I worry that he get killed one day. So dangerous, what he does. Mama Lucia will cook a nice meal for you." She turned and headed for the kitchen, still smiling, as Joe led a stunned Jun to a table in the corner.
"Joe! What—"
"Easy, Jun. All Mama knows is that I'm a race driver. That's enough to worry her."
"Mama?"
Joe nodded. "One of the guys at the track was raving about this place a few months ago, said it was the best Italian food he had ever eaten. I decided that was a challenge and came to try it. Mama was sitting over there, grumbling to her son about stupid people in Utoland who don't appreciate her cooking." He grinned wickedly. "I walked over and told her, in Italian, that my Mamma and Nonna had made sure that I appreciated good cooking, and that hers was the best I'd had since I left Sicily; she decided to adopt me and fuss over me." He laughed. "If I ate everything she tried to feed me, I wouldn't fit my birdstyle anymore."
Jun looked away from him for a minute. "I bet she fusses over your girlfriends too." Somehow the idea hurt, of Joe sitting here with some other girl.
"She would, if I brought them here. But I don't. I've never had a girl special enough to bring here." Jun looked back to find Joe watching her carefully, grey eyes unreadable.
"I'm no one special," Jun laughed bitterly. "Ken certainly made that clear."
"To hell with Washio," Joe growled, reaching across the table and taking her hand. "Cara, you are special, very special, at least to me."
Jun was saved from having to answer by the arrival of their food, which was every bit as good as Joe had claimed. Between it and the wine, she began to relax and forget the disaster with Ken. Joe seemed to be in an unusually good mood, laughing and talking with her, then switching to Italian to compliment Mama Lucia when she came to the table. It was so unlike her angry, brooding teammate that Jun finally asked him about it.
Joe was quiet for a minute. "I wanted to show you a good time," he finally said, choosing his soft words carefully. "I wanted to at least try to make you happy, and I can't do that in pissed-off-at-the-world mode." Before he, or a very surprised Jun, could say anything else, his bracelet beeped. "G-2."
"Joe, I'm worried about Jun. We had words and—you have to help me find her!"
"Worrying about her a little too late, aren't you, Ken?" Joe's drawl was solid ice. "Well, you can stop. She's with me, and you and I are going to have a very long talk next time I see you. G-2 out." He lowered his arm to find Jun staring at him, green eyes wide.
"It amazes me, the way you talk to him sometimes."
Joe shrugged. "He's Gatchaman, not the Lord Almighty. And right now he's not even Gatchaman; he's just Ken Washio. Somebody has to remind him that he's a mere mortal like the rest of us. But we weren't going to talk about him anymore tonight."
Jun sighed; Ken's contact had reminded her of what had happened earlier. "Do you think I should leave the team?"
"Not my call to make. You're the only one that can decide that, Juney. But, I will tell you that we need you. Even Ken needs you, if only to keep me from killing him one day." Joe grinned, but his heart was in his throat. He really did need her, and not just as a teammate.
She looked away from him. "I never should have been on the team in the first place; I'm too much of a distraction."
"That sounds like Rat Bastard talking." Joe was furious. Red Impulse was condescending to all of the Science Ninjas, but took especial pains to make it clear that he thought Jun should be in someone's kitchen, having their babies, instead of being the Swan.
"But what if he's right? I mean, I told Ken how I felt, and things won't be the same anymore, and he'll be distracted, and, I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me!" Jun fled for the ladies room, leaving a stunned Joe behind her.
"Joe, what have you done to that nice girl?" That was Mama Lucia growling in Italian, standing over him and glowering. "If you hurt her, here in my place—"
"I didn't hurt her." Mama gave him a disbelieving look. He met it head on. "On my word before the blessed saints, Mama. I didn't hurt her, but some people we know did, and now her head is all twisted up." Joe sighed, feeling his exhaustion creeping back in. "And here I am, trying to fix it all." He ran a hand through his hair. "I better go get her."
"You're a good man, Joe," Mama said as he got to his feet and walked to the back of the restaurant. "She's a lucky girl. Go, take care of her."
Joe knocked on the ladies' room door. "Jun? Jun, honey, let me in, please." He got no response, but could hear Jun crying on the other side of the door. About the time he decided to kick the damn thing down, and to hell with the consequences, Mama Lucia's arm appeared around him and unlocked the door. "Grazie, Mama." He slipped inside silently.
Jun stood in front of the mirror, head bowed, bracelet clutched in her fingers. "Stupid, stupid little girl," she said bitterly. "No one wants you, you're no good on your team, you never should have left that orphanage."
"Stop it." Joe grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Jun, none of that is true. We want you, I want you. You're the best on the team at what you do."
She looked away from him. "Anybody could do what I do."
"Maybe." Joe put a finger under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "But no one else can be you. Don't you know that?" It broke his heart to see Jun so down on herself, and he mentally cursed the two men responsible. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, wishing he could keep her there forever.
Jun buried her head in Joe's chest, still sniffling, but starting to think. How it was Joe who was always there to listen to her, whether she was mooning over Ken or frustrated with Jinpei's latest escapades. Joe who mediated her rare clashes with the rest of the team. She shook her head and pushed the thoughts away, not ready to follow them to their conclusion yet.
"Principessa," Joe whispered in his native Italian, smoothing her hair. "My wonderful, beautiful, smart Juney." She felt so good in his arms, so right. But he didn't deserve her; she should have someone stable, without the anger and vengeance that drove him. "Come on; let's go home. I'm ready to fall over, and you can't be much better." He took her hand and escorted her back to the table to gather their things, leaving money for their bill, then led her back to the G-2.
Jun was silent on the trip back to the Snack J, and Joe was too tired to try and get her to talk anymore. When he pulled up to the front door, she slipped out, then walked around to the driver's side. "Thank you for listening and being there, Joe. Good night." She gently kissed his cheek, then walked inside. Joe watched until he saw her bedroom light come on, then drove away, an uncharacteristically soft smile on his face.