Operation Babysit

Disclaimer: The bird-people and all related characters are not mine, I can only dream. They belong to Tatsunoko Productions. Chihiro and her mother alone belong to me.

This fic was inspired when watching one of my guy friends trying to deal with my (at the time) 14 month old son. Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson and Tom Selleck had nothing on that insanity.

1Chapter 1 New Mission and New Responsibilities

Ken smoothly maneuvered the Eagle Sharp into its bay, completing the docking process with the Phoenix, then made his way to the command bridge to meet the rest of his team. Nambu Hakase had called them on an emergency scramble, one so urgent that they were being briefed in the air rather than at the base. When he entered the bridge, his youngest team member immediately began peppering him with questions.

"Aniki, what's going on? Why were we called so fast, and not to the base? Why...?"

Ken tried to stem the flood of words, "I don't know Jinpei. Hakase will brief us in a few minutes."

The child made as if to ask another question but his sister laid a hand on his shoulder to quiet him. "Hush Jinpei. We'll find out soon."

A moment later the image of their mentor, Kozaburo Nambu, appeared on the ship's screen. "Thank you for coming so quickly, team. Your mission today is to go to our biological research facility in Nagano. It was just attacked by Galactor's mecha."

"Alright, time to kick some goon butt!"

"No Jinpei." The youngster looked shocked and Ken spoke up, "What is our mission then Hakase?"

"This is search and rescue only. The mecha disappeared as fast as it came, Red Impulse and his squad are searching for it now. Priority at this time for you, however, is helping the lab's staff. You are to search for survivors, recover as many as possible and report back."

"Understood Hakase. Phoenix out." Nambu's image faded from the screen and Ken turned to his team. "Full speed to Nagano, Ryu. Joe, make sure the main cargo bay is clear and ready for use as a temporary triage for any we can't fit in sickbay itself. Jinpei, assist him. Jun, pull up the layout of the lab for me. I'll scan for any incoming aircraft, get whatever supplies you need divided between the cargo area and sickbay." The team scattered to their tasks, preparing the ship to receive any survivors.

Down in the cargo bay, Jinpei paused in helping Joe unfold one of the cots they kept on board for this type of situation, "Hey Joe-aniki?"

Joe glanced over at him, a scowl on his face, "What is it kid? Pull on your end would you, this thing's a bitch."

Jinpei complied then glanced around to make sure his sister was out of hearing range before he whispered, "Aniki, do you really think we're going to need all this stuff? You think we'll find that many there we can help?"

Joe's face softened slightly and he put an arm around the child's shoulder, "I don't know Jinpei. But we gotta prepare for the worst and hope for the best." He rubbed his helmet and his voice reverted back to it's normal gruff tone, "Now, help me get the rest of these cots set up. We need to finish and get back up to the bridge." The boy nodded and they resumed their task before heading back up to join the others on the bridge.

Back on the bridge, Ken was dividing his attention between the lab's layout and the monitors when the others rejoined him. He stood to allow Jun to take her place at the monitors and moved forward to his normal seat for the approach to the lab, working out how best to divide the manpower for a full search of the facility.

As they approached the lab, he heard a small gasp come from Jun and turned to look at her, "Jun, what is it?" She took a moment to regain control of her voice and replied in the flat tone that Ken recognized as her way of holding back anger.

"I have a visual of the lab."

"How bad is it?"

"Bad."

The others turned at her tone of voice, and Ken ordered, "Put it up on the main screen. Ryu, set us down as close as you can." The big pilot nodded and began the descent as Jun did as he ordered. Cursing was heard from the glowering figure in the back of the group as they saw the damage, "K'so, Katse's head on a platter is looking better than ever right about now."

Ken nodded in agreement and assessed the damage to the lab. The west and north side, unfortunately where most of the lab facility itself was located, had taken the worst of the damage in the attack. The south and east facings, offices, as well as dining and living quarters according to the layout, had sustained heavy damage as well. Judging by the time of day of the attack, the results weren't going to be good.

As Ryu set the command ship down outside the lab, Jun handed each of them a medical kit and Ken gave the search orders. "Jun, Jinpei, take the south and east sides. Joe, you're with me. Ryu, stay with the ship, keep an eye out in case the mecha returns. Be ready to come help us if necessary. Everyone report back in an hour or if you find anything. Move out."

"Roger."

Jun and Jinpei began their search of the south section of the building. They moved from the destroyed offices and climbed carefully over the fallen beams and rubble, making their way into the dining facility. The scene there wasn't good, several members of the staff and a pair of technicians had been trapped under the debris. Jun checked each one before shaking her head, "Nothing. Is there anyone in the kitchen Jinpei? This can't be all the staff for this section."

Jinpei poked his head out of the kitchen and replied, "A couple of people Oneechan, but they're gone. No one else though. Maybe they all ran away."

"We can only hope so Jinpei. Come on, let's keep moving. There's nothing more we can do here."

Meanwhile, Ken and Joe weren't having much better luck in the western portion of the building. The lab itself had been completely trashed and the body count was disturbingly high. From the looks of the facility, most of the staff had already arrived for the day and had been caught in the attack. The two men moved carefully through the room, checking each person, with no results. As they moved through the north section, the situation was no better. As they searched Joe commented, "I'm glad you sent Jun and Jinpei to the other side of the building, they don't need to see this mess. What the hell was so significant about this place that they trashed it like this anyways? It's not even one of our larger facilities."

Ken looked over his shoulder at his second in command from the section he was searching, "This place isn't large but it was a part of the Montana project. I'm not sure what they were working on, to tell you the truth, but I do know that Hakase talked to the people here frequently about whatever it was they were doing. Galactor must have found out about it."

Joe raised an eyebrow at him, "You, the immortal Gatchaman, don't know what they were working on? I thought you knew everything."

Ken rolled his eyes and resumed his search, "Hakase doesn't tell me everything, baka. You know as much about the Project as I do. And if I knew everything, I'd be able to head off some of your stunts. As it is, I just get to hear Hakase bitch to me afterwards."

Joe just smirked, "And then I have to hear it from you and him. The two of you sound more alike every time I hear the lectures. Before I fall asleep from boredom that is."

"Shut up Joe and do a check of that room would you? I'm going to check in with Jun." Joe detoured into the room in question and Ken raised his communicator, "G1 to G3. Come in Jun."

"G3 here."

"Find anyone Jun?"

"No one we could help. But it looks like some of the staff are missing. They might have run off. No survivors so far, we're on the last section of the building." A shrill screech was suddenly heard in the background and Ken could hear Jun break into a sprint as she talked, "Scratch that, at least one. Oh my God. Ken, you and Joe better get over here, I'm gonna need some help. East section, fourth floor, living quarters, third door on the left from the stairs." Ken heard her curse under her breath and signaled to get Joe's attention. "We're on our way."

The two men made their way to Jun and Jinpei's location as quickly as they could, dodging the debris in their way. Halfway up the staircase, they met up with Jinpei, who was gasping for breath. He led them up the stairs, talking rapidly. "Oneechan sent me to meet you. We found someone. One of the scientists got pinned under a beam. We managed to get the worst of the debris off her but she looks pretty bad. Oneechan's treating her now."

The three entered the room in question and Ken glanced around for their teammate. "Jun, where are you?"

"Over here." They followed her voice and found her half hidden behind a fallen section of wall, kneeling over the figure of a female scientist and working quickly to bandage what looked like a nasty head wound. The woman's leg was pinned at an awkward angle beneath a beam. Ken caught Joe's eye and the two moved to take the ends of the beam.

"Jinpei, when we move this, let me know when we're clear."

"Roger aniki."

"Ok Joe, ready, lift." They lifted the beam and moved it away from the woman. Jinpei watched and when they were far enough away, he waved a hand to them.

"Clear aniki. You can drop it now."

The beam crashed to the floor and Ken went to kneel next to Jun, "What's the diagnosis?"

She looked over at him and shook her head, "Not great, but she could be far worse. That leg is a mess, and she has a lot of superficial cuts, but it's her head wound that worries me the most at the moment. We need to get her back to the ship, I can't do much more here."

Ken nodded and raised his communicator, "G5, come in."

Ryu's voice came over the link, "G5 here."

"Ryu, bring a stretcher and meet us on the fourth floor, east section. We have one survivor we need to get back to the ship."

"On my way."

Ken cut the communication and looked down when he heard a small noise. Jinpei and Joe were setting a splint on the woman's leg to immobilize it and Jun was packing up the medical kit. He couldn't find the source of the noise. He glanced at his second, "Joe, did you hear something?"

"You heard it too huh?" The sound came again and he looked over at Jun. "It's coming from Jun."

Ken glanced over at her, "Jun?"

Jun looked down to the side and moved her wing away to reveal a baby girl huddled behind her, whimpering. The boys' jaws collectively dropped and Joe questioned, stunned, "Nani? A baby?"

Jun ignored their shocked expressions and tried to coax the little girl out from behind her, "Come on out sweetheart, no one's going to hurt you. It's alright." She added in an aside to Ken, "She was sitting next to her mother and crying, that's how we found them. She got scared when she heard you guys come in, so she hid. She seems to be alright, I think a lot of her mother's cuts are from shielding her during the attack." He nodded and they both stood as Ryu came into the room, a stretcher under his arm. Jun picked up the baby and held her as Ken and Joe lifted the scientist onto the stretcher. When she was settled and strapped to the cot, Ken ordered, "The four of us will carry her back to the ship. Jun, take the baby with you and go ahead of us, get whatever you need to treat her mother ready in sickbay."

"Roger." Jun held the baby close and ran for the ship, "Hold on tight little one, get ready to fly."

Jun took off to the Phoenix, the baby clutching her uniform tightly as she moved around the debris towards the exit. Once they were out of the building she sprinted to the ship and leapt for the upper entrance. As they jumped the little girl turned and hid her face in the front of Jun's dress. Jun bent her head to soothe her as they descended into the ship. "Don't worry little one, it's alright. You're safe here. Come on, let's get you checked out before my friends come back with your mommy." She moved to the console and hit the switch to lower the exterior ramp so that Ken and the others could bring the woman directly to sickbay, then made her way there with the baby. She gave the girl a quick checkup, looking her over carefully for any scrapes or bruises. Finding none, she redressed her, finishing just as they heard the telltale snap of the outside ramp closing.

Jun turned to see her teammates entering the room and directed them to move their charge from the stretcher to one of the beds. This accomplished, Ryu vacated the area for the bridge, followed closely by Jinpei and Joe. Moments later, the remaining two could feel the great ship taking off under their feet.

Ken was about to leave the room when he suddenly found his arms full of squirming baby. He looked down at her then at Jun, a confused expression on his face, "What am I supposed to do with her?"

His teammate glanced over her shoulder at him from where she was cleaning the mother's cuts and quickly stifled a giggle at the look on her commander's face. Attempting to keep the laughter from her voice she replied, "My advice would be to see if there is any milk or juice in the galley and try to get her to drink some. She must be hungry."

His face drained of color and he held the baby at arm's length, "Nani? I don't know anything about babies. Can't you do it?"

She sighed, "It's going to take me at least a half hour to get her mother settled and stabilized. Judging by the way that she's gnawing at her fist at the moment, I'd say she's hungry now. I'll be out as soon as I can, but I can't do two things at once. You're on your own for the moment." That said, she turned back to the scientist and resumed her task.

Ken gave the little girl a wary look and reluctantly left the room, heading for the galley area of the ship. Once there, he carefully shifted the child in his arms, freeing one hand to rummage through the small refrigerator. Shoving aside bottles of cola and cans of energy drinks, he found a container of grape juice and pulled it out, setting it on the counter. He grabbed a cup from the cabinet and awkwardly poured a bit into it. He glanced down at the girl then back at the cup and sighed, "I suppose we should give this a try. Doesn't seem like they thought of the possibility of having a baby on board when they stocked this thing did they?" He considered the situation for a moment, then shrugged and held her in the crook of his arm, handing her the juice with his free hand. "Think you can hold that on your own?"

The little girl grabbed for the juice, but when it wobbled in her hands, Ken quickly took it back, "Not quite yet it seems. Oh brother. Tell you what, since I'm wearing white and I'd like to keep it that way, why don't we go sit with the others and wait for Jun to finish up with your mommy. You can drink your juice there." The child just looked up at him and frowned, then reached again for the cup, straining against his arm. "I guess that's a yes."

Ken carefully made his way out to the bridge, juggling the cup and the little girl who was squirming to reach it. As he entered the room he shot a glare over to his already snickering second in command, "Joe, don't say a word. I will hurt you."

Jinpei popped his head over the back of his seat and took a good look at his flustered commander before nearly collapsing with laughter, "Gatchaman no daddy! Ryu, we gotta get a picture of that!"

"Jinpei, if you know what's good for you, you will shut up now. This isn't funny."

"It is from where I'm sitting bro."

"Stuff it Joe."

Ryu glanced over as Ken took his seat next to him, awkwardly shifting the little girl to his knee and holding the cup for her to drink, and couldn't resist teasing him, "Jin's right though Ken, you make a good daddy. Looks like she was hungry, huh?"

"Ryu, if I weren't holding her, I swear..."

"But you can't do jack shit right now Ken. This is too damned hilarious."

"Watch the language Condor. There are children in the room."

Jinpei spoke up indignantly, ""I'm not a child!"

"Pipe down pip squeak. You're still a...what the fuck is that smell?"

"Joe, what did I just say about your mouth?"

"Fine, I'll watch my mouth, golden boy. But that smell's nasty! Where's it coming from? Ryu, you didn't have tacos before the mission again did you?"

"Nope. It wasn't me"

Jinpei giggled from his console, then clapped a hand over his mouth as Ken and Joe both turned to glare at him, "Was it you brat?"

"Nuh uh Joe-aniki. But I think I know what it is."

"Start talking kid."

Jinpei snickered and pointed at the baby on Ken's lap, "Betcha she needs a diaper change."

"Nani?"

"What the..."

A groan came from their pilot, "Oh brother. I'm glad I'm flying the ship."

Ken paled once more and looked down at the little girl, who as staring up at him innocently while drinking her juice. "How can something so little make such a smell? Jin, since you seen to know so much, why don't you change her?"

The youngest team member visibly gulped, "Aniki, I don't know how! Besides, I, uh...gotta keep an eye on the monitors while Oneechan's busy." He quickly bent over the console as if to prove his point, randomly pushing buttons and avoiding his Commander's gaze.

A snort came from next to him. "Handy excuse brat. And don't look at me, Ken. I wouldn't do it even if I did know how."

"Well I certainly don't want to do it."

The bickering continued for a few moments until the sound of a throat clearing interrupted them. The monitor above their heads had come to life and Nambu's face watched them, slightly startled at the sight of Ken with a baby on his knee, then amused as he heard the nature of the argument. He cleared his throat to get their attention and had to fight back a grin as the four faces snapped towards the screen. "Problems gentlemen? Ken, what's your report?"

He bit back a smile as he watched as Ken tried gamely to keep his usual dignified demeanor, but failed miserably when the little girl reached up and yanked on the end of his face shield, pulling his head down. Laughter broke out in the background, and Ken groaned as he peeled the tiny fingers away from his mask and reported, "The baby and her mother were the only ones we found who survived the attack. The facility is basically destroyed. Salvage teams ought to be able to recover some of the research though. However, some personnel seemed to be missing, they may have run off before we arrived."

Nambu nodded in acknowledgment of the report. "Salvage teams are on their way now." He saw the look of disgust cross Ken's face again. "Is there a problem Commander?"

Jinpei chimed in from the background, "The baby's got a dirty diaper and no one knows how to change it. He quickly ducked back behind the console to avoid the glare Ken sent his way. "Well, it's true aniki!"

Ken sighed and faced the screen again, "Unfortunately he's right. Jun's treating her mother and none of us know how to change a diaper. Not to mention that we don't exactly have baby supplies on board."

A sarcastic snort came from the blue clad figure in the rear, "Yeah, now that Jinpei finally outgrew the Pampers© ." This was followed by an indignant yelp from the Swallow and an exasperated glare from Ken.

"Will you cut it out already? You're not helping here."

Nambu tried to remain stern, barely resisting the urge to follow the example of the man just out of the monitor's sight range and chuckle at this unusual predicament. Instead he sighed and instructed, "Jinpei go get a couple of slings and some medical tape from sickbay."

Jinpei looked confused, "Huh? What for Hakase?"

"Just do it Jinpei."

"Roger!" The child left the bridge and went to find his sister. When he reached the room he found Jun in the process of immobilizing the scientist's newly set leg, "Hey oneechan, where do you keep the arm slings? I need a couple and some tape."

Jun looked up at him, "Third drawer on the right for the slings, top shelf behind me for the tape. Have fun."

He looked at her, "How do you know why I need it?"

Jun just shook her head and clipped off the end of bandage she held, "That's easy. I assume it's either for Joe's mouth or the baby's bottom, if not both. Either way have fun."

Jinpei took the slings out of the drawer and grinned, "Aniki's the one stuck changing her. He makes a good daddy. Something you oughta keep in mind...hey!" He yelped as a large roll of medical tape hit him off the top of the helmet, "What was that for?"

"Use some of that to tape your own mouth shut huh? Now scram, brat. I'm busy."

Jinpei razzled her and jogged back to the bridge, snickering. He reentered the room and grinned up at the monitor, "Got 'em Hakase. But I don't see how they're gonna do any good."

"Watch and learn Jinpei. Ken, here's what you need to do..." Nambu slowly talked him through the process of creating a makeshift diaper and changing a wriggling baby, barely holding back the overwhelming urge to laugh. His shoulders shook with repressed mirth when Ken nearly lost hold of the squirming toddler and quickly ordered Jinpei to help him, despite the boy's loud protests. A hard five minute battle later, the girl was finally dry and clean...unlike her two unfortunate attendants who looked as worn out as if they'd just fought off a battalion of galactor troops.

Ken reclaimed his seat and awkwardly set the baby on his lap again, "Please tell me I'm not going to have to do that again. What a mess! Joe, for God's sake, stop laughing! It's not funny!"

His second in command merely chortled again, "That was quality entertainment right there! I wish I had a video camera!"

"Just for that, you get to change the next one."

"No way in he..." Joe rolled his eyes at the stern glare he received from Ken and changed his choice of words, "...the world am I changing a diaper. You can have that fun. Or get Jun to do it. She's a girl, she should know how."

Ryu snorted, "If she hears you say that, you'll be singing soprano for a week."

"Shut up."

Nambu just rolled his eyes at the renewed arguing and chimed Jun in sickbay, ignoring the view screen momentarily in favor of the audio link, "Jun, what's the diagnosis? How is the scientist doing?"

Jun raised her wrist to speak into her band as she checked the last of the bandages, "It could be worse Hakase, all things considered. Her right leg's been shattered, I've set it as best as I can for now, but it's going to need surgery for sure. A lot of superficial cuts and bruises, most likely from shielding the baby during the attack. No immediate signs of internal bleeding, but I don't have the equipment to know for certain. The head wound is what worries me most at the moment, it went about half an inch deep near the temple. I stitched it up, but there's a definite concussion, and a pretty bad one at that. She hasn't regained consciousness yet. I've got her on saline and antibiotic drips, but that's all I can safely do with what I have here. I don't want to risk morphine until I know her history, and until after she regains consciousness."

The older man quietly acknowledged the information, "I'll alert Dr. Kraft and his team. They'll meet you when you arrive. Was she carrying any identification, an ID card, anything? We should be able to pull some information on her from here."

Jun examined the badly scratched ID badge clipped to the woman's now shredded lab coat, "It's hard to make out Hakase, it got pretty damaged in the attack. Looks like the last name's Li. First name starts with Ka, but I can't make the rest out."

She was surprised to hear Nambu curse softly, "Hakase? Do you know her?"

"Could the first name be Kaiya?"

She looked carefully, "Highly likely sir. It's not a long name. She's petite, approximately 5'2", and I'm judging her weight to be around 125. Wedding ring was on the right hand when we found her, I had to take it off, it's with the rest of her things now."

Nambu sighed, "I do know of her. You're about ten minutes away from the base. Stay with her, I'll brief you all when you land. We're going to have to make some adjustments for the next couple of weeks. Nambu out."

Jun puzzled over that last non sequitur as she gathered the scientist's effects and prepared her to be moved from the ship to the base infirmary. A quick check in with Ryu brought her a much needed laugh at his quiet recount of the recent events on the bridge, and the helmsman assured her that he's activated the ship's internal camera so she could watch the show for herself later on. She could hear the other three still bickering in the background, although at a far lower volume than normal and Joe's usual cursing was noticeably absent. She attributed that to the baby's presence in the room and shook her head. What a crew.

Back at ISO headquarters, Kozaburo Nambu removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to relieve the headache he could feel coming on before turning to his friend, "This is an interesting dilemma. Any ideas Kentaro?"

The Red Impulse leader shook his head solemnly, "None at this moment my friend. Why in the world did she have the baby with her at the lab? I thought Zhou's family was caring for her for a while."

"I recall her mentioning some conflict with his family a little after his death. They apparently felt that Kaiya should join them as was befitting to a widow and not work outside the home...especially in such a job."

This brought a snort from his friend, "The traditionalist viewpoint hmm? You are going to contact them?"

Nambu thought for a moment then answered firmly, "No. Not until we can speak with Kaiya about what she wishes. Besides, if I do, they'll likely want to take the child away and with this attack on that particular project, I think it would be best if they both remain in ISO custody for now. But that does present another problem. What to do about the baby? It sounds as if it will be some time before Kaiya is able to care for her, judging by Jun's diagnosis. And there aren't many at the level of security required to handle the job."

"Who's available?"

"To put it bluntly, no one at the moment. Most with that security level are deeply involved in their own work or have full commitments here supporting the team. The few I can think of who are available are not equipped to deal with a baby. They aren't young anymore like they were when our crew was smaller."

"I can see the wheels turning in that brain of yours my friend. What are our options?"

Nambu looked up at him, "Well, unless you and your men want to volunteer for childcare duty..." this brought a raised eyebrow and another snort from the Red Impulse captain, "...then the only option at this time is for the team to take over her care for the time being."

Both eyebrows rose this time, "You must be joking. You're going to make Jun take care of a baby in addition to running that shop of hers and team obligations? She'll never be able to do all that at once."

Nambu gave him an amused glance, "No, she wouldn't. And you're lucky she didn't hear that chauvinistic assumption or you'd likely be in serious pain right now...again. I was actually thinking about Ken. He has the extra room at the airfield and one of the reserve pilots can fly his mail routes for him. The others can help him if he needs it."

Kentaro failed to bite back a disbelieving bark of laughter, "If? More like when. He's never had any experience with a kid that small before. Are you sure about this Kozaburo?"

"They've all had training in childcare, you know that. Very basic, I'll admit but some. Besides, there isn't much other choice. I'll brief the team when they arrive. Let me know if you get any word on the mecha."

"I will. We'll check in as soon as we find something. Tell Ken good luck...he's going to need it." With this observation Kentaro donned his flight helmet and left the room to rejoin his men in their search for the rouge mecha.

Nambu pulled up the files on Li Kaiya and her daughter then called Dr. Kraft to tell him what was coming his way before making his way down to the Phoenix's berth to greet and brief the team.

A/N: No, I haven't forgotten about finshing the last two chapters of 'Letters.' However, it is a highly emotional fic to write. I needed to work on something amusing to help counteract it and this little gem has been bouncing around in my mind for the better portion of the last year, soI decided it was time to get an outsider's opinion on the idea. I'm mostly going for humor this time, with perhaps some action and romance on the side. No specific timeline in relation to the series, other than before Kentaro was killed. As always, constructive criticism is welcome, praise enjoyed and flames will be used to melt the eight inches of snow we just got dumped on us. Ja ne.