Chapter 1

Ken sat on the barstool, watching the slim woman cleaning the counter. She wasn't looking at him, but he had no doubt that she knew he was there. A shaft of afternoon sunlight came through the window and lit her up her ebony hair, showing off its lights.

Jun turned, and gave him a soft smile. Her expression of contentment completed the picture.

Ken couldn't tear his eyes away.

"I guess Jinpei's cooking must be pretty good, to make you smile like that, Ken." she winked at him.

"Oh, yeah." Ken said, bringing his attention to Jun's words, rather than her appearance. "It's great!" He took another bite of his lunch.

Jun grinned to herself. She knew Ken had been watching her. He had been more and more overt about it lately. Not that she minded.

She didn't mind at all.

For years she and Ken had sensed an undercurrent of attraction between them. But Ken had been so standoffish… Jun wasn't sure what had changed his attitude, but in the last couple of weeks he had been more… receptive. She didn't know what had caused this change in attitude, but she was grateful for it.

As first, she hadn't been entirely certain what was happening. After so many months… years… of trying to catch Ken's attention, she had given up. So when the first few hints came, she hadn't taken them at their face value. A casual compliment, an arm thrown around her shoulder, catching him watching her… it had all seemed well within the boundaries of their friendship.

But lately, it had been different. Over the past few weeks, Ken had been spending most of his free time at the Snack J. Of course, it could be the free meals (his tab was approaching the size of the national debt), but he'd never been that excited about Jinpei's cooking before. And when he looked at her… Jun felt the butterflies in her stomach.

Still, she was cautious. Ken had obviously pulled back from her before, and she didn't want to scare him off by being the aggressor. But Jun was certainly glowing with all of the attention he had been paying to her.

Ken wasn't sure exactly what had caused this change in his attitude toward Jun. It wasn't that he had suddenly woken up one day, realizing that the ideal woman was right there in front of him. No, it had been more of a gradual shift in his way of thinking. And then one night, as he lay in bed, sleep eluding his grasp, he had started wondering about tomorrow. What was tomorrow? It was the promise of another day. A certainty that the sun would rise, and time would pass, and that life would go on.

Only, Ken wasn't sure of that. In his line of work, tomorrow was hardly a certainty. There was no guarantee that he would live to see the next day. The sunset each night could easily be the last he ever saw.

And if it were the last… he was seeing it alone.

Was that how he wanted to die? Alone? For that matter, was that how he wanted to live?

A few women had crossed his path, from time to time, but although he felt an attraction, he had pushed them away. How could they understand his life? He wasn't in a position to be making any commitments, or be offering any kind of permanence.

As he tossed and turned with these thoughts, a call from his bracelet forced him from his bed, and out into the cold rain, responding to yet another threat from Galactor. No woman would be able to understand his duty, his need, his… obsession… with defeating Galactor.

Presumably, one day the war would be over. And then, perhaps, he could look for someone, with whom to spend the rest of his life. But, there was no guarantee that he would even be alive by then. And even if the war did end, what prevented another organization, like Galactor, from threatening the peace?

No, Ken knew that this life was his, forever. There might be a momentary lull, but the fight would never end.

Of course, there had been just such a lull, of late. Galactor had been quiet. Almost too quiet. After a couple of weeks, Ken had begun to grow concerned. If Galactor hadn't shown their ugly, green faces, that must mean that they had been working on something. But when he had voiced these concerns to Dr. Nambu, they had discovered what was wrong.

Katse was ill.

Their informants didn't have much to tell, but the ISO had learned that Katse had been incapacitated, for some time. He did not appear to speak to captains, or troops, and had pretty much withdrawn from sight altogether. Doctors from around the world had been consulted, but his status hadn't changed.

No wonder Galactor had been quiet. They had been without a leader. Of course, Ken knew that the being known as X was the true leader of Galactor, but apparently X couldn't just work through anyone. Leader X protected Katse, and had said that he was 'special'. If Katse died, Ken was certain that Leader X would find a replacement. But that would take time. Time the Science Ninja Team could use, to find Galactor's headquarters, and destroy the organization, for once, and for all.

For the past few weeks, the ISO had continued to search for information as to the whereabouts of Galactor headquarters. But with no Galactor activity, this was proving to be difficult. And so, the team had found themselves with what amounted to an unscheduled vacation.

Ryu was visiting with his family. Jinpei was actually catching up on his schoolwork. Joe had thrown himself back into the local racing scene, and Ken had started up his air delivery service again. And Jun was throwing her heart into the Snack J. Ken found himself gravitating there between deliveries, and in the evenings. Lately he found that he had been making excuses to himself to go, to the point of scheduling deliveries around the Joint's operating hours.

Ken knew it was merely a pleasant interlude, and so did Jun. Didn't she?

Jun smiled at Ken, her emerald eyes flashing in amusement, as he struggled with these thoughts, while eating his lunch.

"It's nice, isn't it?" she said, softly.

"What's nice?" Ken asked, through a mouthful of sandwich. Grimacing, he swallowed quickly.

Jun didn't appear to notice.

"This… life… acting like normal people." she answered, a far-off look on her face. "I know it's not forever, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts." She turned and looked right into Ken's eyes. "Aren't you?"

Jun held her breath. It was as close as she had gotten, to asking Ken what was happening between them. She hoped her evasive question wouldn't destroy whatever fledgling emotions were growing.

In fact, it had the opposite effect.

Ken nearly smacked himself in the head. He couldn't believe he'd never realized it before. No woman could understand the life he led… except Jun. Because she was living it with him.

Jun knew, as well as he did, that today's sunset might be their last. That whatever peace they were enjoying now, was only momentary. She understood that all-consuming need: that drive, to defeat Galactor.

He had been so intent on maintaining his isolation from other people, that he had isolated himself from his own teammates, as well.

If this thought had occurred to him at any other time, he would probably have brushed it aside. But things had been peaceful. He had been enjoying Jun's company for these last few weeks, and he had even occasionally allowed himself to wonder, 'What if?'. His feelings were already starting to slip out of their carefully constructed prison.

And so it was, that Ken acted with uncharacteristic impulsiveness.

"I am." he said calmly. "What are you doing, tonight, Jun?"

Quickly, Jun ran through the options in her head. She had been planning on opening the Joint, but it was Sunday, the slowest night of the week. It wouldn't really cause her any problems if she closed up. And Jinpei would appreciate the break.

"Nothing major, just a little work here at the Joint." she said, slowly.

"How about getting out of here, for a change?" Ken asked her. "With me…"

"I'd love that." she whispered, her face breaking into a huge grin.

"You know, Joe really raves about that little Italian restaurant, around the corner." Ken continued. "I suppose we could… meet… there." He carefully avoided the 'd' word. He wasn't that reckless.

"That sounds wonderful." Jun accepted readily. "It's been awhile since I went out."

"Great! So… I'll meet you there at seven o'clock?" Ken asked, a goofy grin on his face.

"I wouldn't miss it." Jun beamed.

"Okay." Ken replied, polishing off the last of his lunch. "I have a couple of deliveries to make, but I'll see you then."

"I'm… I'm looking forward to it." he added quietly.

"Me too." Jun blushed, suddenly shy. She watched him as he left the Joint, then began humming a little tune to herself as she finished cleaning up.