To Love An Angel

Disclaimer: I do not own Burst Angel. If I did, there would be a lot less Kyohei and a lot more Jo and Meg making out. That, and I would be rich...

Timeline: Sometime after Jo and Maria have met, but before the end of the series.


It was raining.

Heavy, oppressive and cold, it pounded down on Tokyo with a ferocity the city had rarely seen. Only the foolhardy or the desperate would be walking the streets in this weather at this time of night. The few people that were on the streets were scrambling into buildings or shelters, seeking refuge from the downpour. One notable exception, however, was the silver haired young woman standing undernieth a street-corner lamp post. She didnt seem perturbed by the rain at all. In fact, she made no effort to shelter herself whatsoever. She merely stood relaxed, eyes occasionally scanning left and right, waiting.

Movement in an alleyway across the street caught her eye, and she fixed her gaze on it. Peering through the gloom and sheets of rain, she could vaguely make out the figure of a man, dressed in a grey trench coat and wide hat, leaning against a wall. A lit cigarette hung loosely in his mouth, the end faintly flaring with each puff he took. Immediately, a thought flashed through her mind:

The contact.

Striding across the street, the woman moved into the alleyway to confront the stranger, wondering if this was who she was supposed to be waiting for. As she approached, the man looked her up and down, assessing her potential threat, just in case she decided to start trouble. He made a mental note of the nasty looking desert eagles holstered on her hips before asking "Are you the buyer?"

"Depends," answered the woman in a flat, even tone, "you got the merchandise?"

The man bent down and picked up a small briefcase at his feet. Flipping the clasps he opened it, displaying the contents to the woman. Red eyes scanned over a nondescript CD, the only item in the case. It was silver, and appeared to be in good condition. Satisfied, the woman pulled a wad of cash from the pocket of her red bomber jacket and handed it to the man. He accepted the money and, closing the lid, handed over the briefcase. Without another word, both parties turned and headed in opposite directions, the woman leaving behind the inky darkness of the alley, the man moving off into it.

As she rounded a corner, the woman turned her attention to the navy coloured glove on her right hand. Sewn onto the back of the glove was a round, green communicator device. It glowed faintly in the darkness, and she brought it up to her face.

"Sei, do you read me," she asked into the communicator. A few seconds went by before she heard the calm and authorative voice of the woman she was trying to reach.

"Loud and clear, Jo. Do you have it?"

"Yeah, I got it," replied Jo unenthusiastically.

"Good work. Return home immediately. You'll catch a cold out in that weather".

Jo didnt respond and let her hand fall by her side, letting her silence act as an acknowledgement to the other woman that she understood. She continued home in silence, the streets around her bereft of life as she trudged through the rainstorm.


Jo wandered through the doorway of the camper truck that served as her home sometime around midnight. Shutting the door behind her, she hung up her soaking wet jacket on a nearby coat hanger and put her guns away before heading in the direction of the living room. She was cold, wet, and hungry, and she really wanted to be left in peace.

Unfortunately for Jo, she didnt her solitude for very long.

The minute she walked through the living room door, she attracted the attention of the eleven year old girl who had been sitting at a small table by the window playing with a computer. Immediately the girl jumped to her feet and bounded over to her, pigtails bobbing up and down. Jo groaned inwardly. She didnt feel like dealing with this now.

"Did ya get it Jo? Huh? Did ya?" asked the hyperactive little girl, eyes shining with hope.

"Isnt it past your bedtime?" replied Jo, ignoring the question.

This remark seemed to strike a nerve, as the little girl stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms. Dressed as she was in her pink and white top and shorts, she was the absolute picture of cuteness.

"I go to bed whenever I feel like! Im not a little kid!"

Jo rolled her eyes.

"But like I asked, did you get it?"

Sighing, Jo gave the small briefcase she was carrying to the girl, who squealed in delight. She sat down on the floor and opened the briefcase, staring wide-eyed in awe at the small CD inside. Picking it up carefully, she moved back to her computer and inserted the piece of hardware. Almost instantly, the small monitor screen was lit up with colourful images, and the girl squealed again.

"Oh my gosh! Dragon Bomber Brothers 2! Its so cool! Thank you, thank you, thank you Jo! I'll be your friend forever and ever!"

Again Jo rolled her eyes, swearing to herself that this was the absolute last time she was ever going on a midnight video game run for Amy.

"Whats all the commotion?" a familiar voice behind Jo asked. Turning around, Jo was greeted by the sight of a tall, slightly older woman standing in the living room doorway. She wore a gold trimmed navy coat, black pants and a white shirt that was, in Jo's opinion, probably meant for someone with a smaller bust size. The woman turned her attention to Amy.

"What are you doing awake at this hour? You should be in bed."

"Aw, come on Sei," answered Amy, slightly put out by the observation, "I've been waiting for this game forever! I just wanted to try it out!".

"Well you can play with it in the morning. Its late".

"Please can I play just one level?" asked Amy, giving the other woman her best puppy dog eyes.

Sei wasnt falling for it.

"Bedtime. Now".

Grumbling and muttering under her breath, Amy closed up her computer in its little pink plush toy casing and marched off towards her bedroom, throwing Sei a dirty look over her shoulder.

"She's going to be such a little manipulator when she grows up " remarked Sei to herself as she watched Amy go.

"Whatever," replied Jo, not really caring, "why the hell did you send me out on a stupid errand at this time of night? Dont we have anything important to do?"

Sei sighed and leaned against the door frame.

"Unfortunately no. I just thought that you might have needed something to do, you know how its been lately".

Jo knew, all to well, how it had been lately. Tokyo may be a corrupt and crime-ridden city, but nothing worthy of Bailan's attention had apparently occured. As Jo was lamenting her lack of gun-toting action, Sei turned her attention to the floor, noticing the rapidly growing puddle of water forming at Jo's feet.

"Why dont you take a bath. You look like you could use it".

Jo grunted to affirm the idea and wandered towards the bathroom, trailing water behind her.


After a hot bath and a decent meal of leftovers, Jo felt that it was probably time she went to bed. Yawning, she walked through the small hallway that served to separate the other living quarters from the bedrooms and moved towards the final door at the end. She pushed the door open, allowing the light from the hallway to spill into her room.

Or, more correctly, their room.

Laying undernieth the covers of the queen sized bed located over by the far wall, was the sleeping form of a woman of about fifteen. Her red hair fanned out over her pillow as she lay on her back, the light, rhythmic rising and falling of her chest indicating that she was deep in slumber. As silently as she could, Jo shut the door behind her and moved to the bed, pulling back the covers so that she could get it. She settled down into the warmth of the mattress and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take her. Just as she was on the verge of unconsciousness, she was woken by the sound of a soft, sleepy voice.

"Jo?"

"Im here Meg" she replied, turning on her side to face her companion.

Meg had also moved onto her side so that she could face her friend. Her blue eyes were groggy and half closed, and her hair was a little mussed from sleep. She smiled sleepily at Jo.

"When did you get back?"

"Not long ago"

Meg, seemingly satisfied with the answer, gave a small nod and moved closer to Jo. In response to her movement, Jo rolled over onto her back and, like always, allowed her companion to rest her head on her shoulder. Meg loosely clasped her hand onto the front of Jo's nightshirt and, when settled, drifted off to sleep. Jo had long ago stopped questioning this bizarre sleep ritual that Meg performed each night. It was just something that she always did. Jo figured that it was somehow loosely connected to the way small children grasped stuffed animals when they slept, so she didnt let herself be bothered by it. Somewhere along the line, Jo had grown accustomed to this close sleeping proximity, and it always surprised her to find that it also helped her sleep as well. The warmth of Meg's body close to hers was soothing, and her faint strawberry scent always made Jo drowsy. As she slowly began to slip into the realm of dreams, listening to the rain outside and Meg's slow breathing, a final thought flickered through Jo's head.

Why have I never protested?


A/N: Well, thats the first chapter done. What did you all think? Im not a hundred percent sure where im going with this, but I have some ideas. Any reviews are welcome (in fact, they'll probably encourage me to get the next chapter up), any flames will make me cry, but I'll still read them.

Until next time!