Opportunity Knocks

Disclaimer: All Gatchaman and Gatchaman-related characters are property of Tatsunoko Productions. No profit is being made from this story.

Author's Note: I'd like to say another big "thank you!" to Springie, who's continued wonderful fanart inspired me to write another fic. I'm beginning to see a pattern here... =)

To view the fanart that inspired this story, please go to http :// springie. deviantart. com/art/Never-Wake-a-Sleeping-Condor-105439393 (cut-and-paste into browser and remove all spaces from URL)

It had been another long, hard mission. Seventy-two hours of straight battle, plus the surveillance time, reconnaissance time, and post-mission duties. All in all, it had been almost five days in the field, with an additional six hours of debriefing/report writing after it.

And the worst part was that Joe had a date tonight.

After Hakase had dismissed the Condor from his mission debriefing (to which, once again, he silently thanked the Doctor for making him the G2 rather than the G1), Joe made his way back to his trailer to shower and get ready. Thoroughly exhausted, he wondered how he would stay awake and give his lady a night she would never forget.

Completely fatigued both mentally and physically, Joe stumbled into his shower, letting the warm water overtake his tired muscles. As he let his mind wander, he thought about the woman he would be meeting up with in just a few short hours...

He had been at the track, preparing his car for some practice laps before the Race Across Ameris rally, when she walked into his rented garage. Joe had glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to give himself away, but being the ever-observant Condor that he was, Joe had noticed everything about her. She was the four T's - tall, thin, tan, and toned - with straight golden blond hair that went halfway down her back. Her eyes were as blue as the sky and her lips were full and perfectly shaped. Joe smirked to himself as he realized she had a body he would be willing to die for.


"Excuse me." she had interrupted as she walked through the open garage door. "I'm looking for a Mr. Asakura. Would that be you?"

Joe had flashed his million-dollar Sicilian smile as he wiped his grease-filled hands on a rag.

"That would be." he had replied succinctly, as he had made sure he made eye-contact with the vision of beauty before him.

"Mr. Asakura, I'm from the Registration Office, and it seems you have not submitted all your paperwork for the upcoming race." she had informed him as she held out a clipboard of forms.

Joe had looked over the top-most paper as she showed him where he needed to sign his name on the waiver.

"Thank you, Miss....?" Joe had asked, fishing for the woman's name, when he handed the clipboard back to her.

"Ariana." she had smiled at him.

"Thank you, Ariana." he had repeated, then casually added, "Are you hungry? Maybe we can get some lunch."

Ariana had giggled, a giggle that Joe thought was as cute as she was.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Asakura, but I have a lot of work to get done. Maybe another time?"

"How about Friday night?" Joe had quickly asked.

Ariana had pondered this for a moment.

"No, Friday won't do. How about Saturday?"

Joe smiled.

"Saturday it is then." he had replied warmly, and the vision now known as Ariana walked back out the door.

And here it was, Saturday night, and all Joe wanted to do was sleep.

Joe exited his small shower stall and got dressed, flicking on the coffee pot on the trailer's counter as he passed it. Maybe if he drank enough caffeine, it would keep him awake. Of course, if Joe had it his way, something else would keep him awake. The Condor smirked at the thought.

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It was almost midnight when Joe pulled up to his trailer, Ariana by his side.

He got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, opened the door and chivalrously helped his date out.

He gave her a deep kiss, and silently led her to his trailer door, where he unlocked it and carefully helped her inside.

Once inside, Joe kissed Ariana again, and started to put his arm around her.

"Wait." Ariana purred. "I need to take care of something first."

Joe realized that his expression betrayed him, as she quickly added, "I'll be right back. I promise. You stay right here - tiger." and she gave a little playful roar as she made her way to Joe's bathroom.

In the meantime, Joe took off his shoes and slid into the waiting bed, pulling the covers over him slightly. He sat there quietly, waiting for Ariana's return.

A few minutes later, Ariana resurfaced from the bathroom and made her way to the bed.

"Joe..." she purred."I'm ready."

"Joe?" she called again when she received no response.

Ariana bent down to the form on the bed, the blanket now covering most of his body, leaving only the top portion of his gray shirt and the deep auburn of his hair still showing.

Her date was asleep.

Insulted, Ariana huffed "Well, I never!!" as she grabbed her belongings and stormed out the door.

The Condor, unaware of the strife he had caused or his lost opportunity, let out a loud snore as he rolled over and continued his slumber.