Series: Homeward Bounders

Pairings: Akako/Kaito if you'd like to see it, and, goodness, I don't think I was quite aware of how much I really am fond of that pairing until I started this crossover thing. Seriously, psychotic witch who dressed like a ho and behaves like some sort of S & M queen or not, she is absolutely adorable sometimes when it comes to Kaito.

Warnings: There may be slight OOCness on Jamie's part, I don't know, as it's been many many years since I read the book and cannot seem to find it available for sale anywhere. Which is, uh, part of the reason he doesn't do much in this crossover, but the ease with which a plot point like Homeward Bounders lends itself to crossovers was too good to be ignored.

A/N: Set fairly early into Jamie's travels, before he met any of the other Homeward Bounders. And we are… just three away from completing this set now! Almost there! Also, hugs and kisses to anyone who gets the joke behind the title because, uh, I couldn't resist.

Shadow of a Chance (and Don't be Sassy)

In this new world, people could fly.

It was night when Jamie arrived, a full moon and a city full of buildings towering high above his head, and a figure resplendent all in white was just swooping down from the sky in front of him, spiraling slowly as he lost height to finally alight – as casually as if he'd just stepped down from a particularly high stage or platform, rather than the stars – on the ground before Jamie, wings stretched out behind him like a bat's.

A careless shrug of his shoulders and they were gone, folded up or disappeared, Jamie didn't know, and while he'd almost certainly seen stranger in his travels, very little had been cause to arouse such… wonder.

The boy, because that was what the mysterious stranger was, when you took away the wings and the ominous clock of darkness and shadows (he wasn't one of Them, that much was obvious, none of Them would have ever been caught dead in white, let alone so much of it, but there was exactly the same sort of secretive veil to his actions and appearance that suggested he would either get along quite well with Them or not at all), just a boy; a little older than Jamie but small, and lean – like there was nothing left to spare for him – and completely innocuous in his slow approach, hands in his pockets and chin tucked close to his chest and smiling, oh so gently.

Smile burning as brightly as any constellation in the sky, he stopped a few feet from Jamie, regarding him thoughtfully with a single uncovered eye, brilliant and violet, and all too knowing in its assessment of him.

"You don't belong here, do you?" He said softly, that gentle curve to his lips never once leaving him.

Jamie started, stared, said, "How did you…" and then fell reservedly silent, wary of the sort of circumstances that would lead this boy, this stranger, to landing so close, so soon after Jamie's own arrival.

The best lessons for caution, after all, came from experience.

The boy had a circle of glass that shielded one eye, attached to a long bit of chord that draped down across his chest, attached to a small wooden charm decorated with a single, simple three leaf clover, and it drew Jamie's eye as he spoke, the way it would rise and fall with each breath and sway slightly as he cocked his head and wrinkled his nose at a particular turn of phrase.

"I have a friend." He said. "Well, not so much a friend as a… whatever she is, and while she has been known to wear a cloak on occasion you're actually far more likely to come across her wearing almost nothing at all. Even in the middle of a snow storm." He added wryly; clearly there was a story behind that.

Jamie shuffled from one foot to another uncertainly, biting his bottom lip and inclining his head for the boy to continue, unwilling, or unable to speak just yet.

The charm swung like a pendulum when the boy made a hesitant, abortive move, crossing and uncrossing his arms like he couldn't quite get comfortable in his own skin as he continued. "Regardless, you'd still be pretty hard pressed to find anyone in this city who knows more… at least concerning that sort of thing." He amended, waving his fingers strangely as if to demonstrate exactly what 'sort of thing' he meant; Jamie very sorely wanted to laugh at him. "She can still be pretty clueless about basic social cues and the like, but I think that's more a willful ignorance than any real shortcoming of her own."

A sudden, violent breath of wind swept over them, and the boy had to cling to the brim of his tall white hat to keep it from blowing away, cape flapping viciously at his back, and Jamie wrapped his arms firmly around himself nervously.

The boy squinted into the wind, baring his teeth in an almost playful expression. "If you don't like what I'm saying." He said patiently to thin air. "Then you can stop listening. Or come speak with him yourself, it's no skin off my back. But it will be skin off my nose if you don't stop this little temper tantrum."

It blew even harder for a second before tapering off entirely, leaving Jamie shivering uncertainly and the boy looking far too unruffled.

The boy smiled at him kindly. "We can help you get off this world and, hopefully closer to your own." He offered. "But after that you're on your own – we can't follow you or hold your hand, we have things that we need to get done here. And you have things that you must get done. Truthfully, you shouldn't even have come here in the first place. But we can fix it, if you'll let us."

Jamie hardly thought to hesitate – there was a softness to the boy's voice that made it almost impossible to refuse – he nodded.

Mission accomplished, Kaito flew back to Akako's home as the final moments of night seeped slowly into a gentle dawn, a rosy overcast on the tips of the wings of his hang glider, setting down in the front courtyard, even now hesitant to actually step foot into her home; she was waiting for him, already dressed for school, perched like a queen on the front steps.

Laughter bubbled up from deep in Kaito's chest at the sudden assaulting image of a knight of the realm returning from some great trial of strength or ingenuity, perhaps, to slay a dragon or rescue a princess.

Or a prince.

Akako observed him stoically, nose upturned slightly, but there was the softest hint of a smile to her lips as she said, "I'm proud of you. He told you what They called people like him and you didn't even make any dog or cat jokes." She primly crossed her legs, tucking her hands neatly in her lap.

"I really, really wanted to though."

"But you refrained. Just as you refrained from telling him to truth, Kaito." She said, looking up at him from under her eyelashes, a demure expression if it had been anyone else doing it, but on Akako it looked almost menacing. "Why didn't you tell him that his home was already gone?"

Kaito sighed and sat himself down beside her, shedding the cape and hat and loosening his tie from around his neck, tilting his head back to watch the soft palate of colors wash over the ever lightening sky. "Everyone deserves some hope, Akako. He's lost so much already, it isn't time just yet for him to lose that as well, and you know it."

"I know a lot of things." Was the only thing Akako said.