Journey to Insanity and Romance p 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic or Robocop. Wish I did though.

Flight to Detroit and Fragging a Mugger

On the Mithril charter, Kaname and Sousuke are sitting quietly, with Sousuke and Ayame wringing their hands together and Kaname writing in her notebook. A sad smile is seen on her face as she writes two names on there. Sousuke sees her expression and moves to comfort her.

"Kaname, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sousuke. Just starting my own list of fallen Mithril heroes. I've got two of the names down already. It's in case something is ever to happen to Mithril. Be it disbanded or..."

"Understood, Kaname. I have some more names for you. Gray, Andy, Jackson, Bill, Batist. They were the group I went back to Helmajistan with to assassinate Gauron. Bill ignored my advice and led the charge against Gauron. He was the first to fall at Gauron's hands. That was the most horrifying thing the others had seen. When the others had died, I faced off against Gauron. Gray told me to make it home and not to worry about her."

Kaname writes the names down, gives Sousuke a hard look and says, "Sousuke, I want you to do everything in your power to keep yourself off this list. If I have to put it on there, I want it to be from 'Natural Causes', not 'Killed in Action'. Do you understand me, Sousuke? I just don't want to lose you like you lost your Squad back there. Just, why did they ignore you?"

Sousuke sighs and replies, "Because of my age, apparently. Batist realized I was right and urged the others to listen to me."

He then slumps his shoulders and adds, "They did, for a time. A lot of good it did them. Gauron destroyed the truck, the others and their Arm Slaves. I was able to use the Lambda Driver to defeat Gauron's A.S. I then dragged the nuclear warhead to the rendezvous site."

His head bolts up, his face scrunched in thought. He turns to Kaname and says, "The first time I used the Lambda Driver, you said it picks up on the pilot's thoughts. Does it go the same for subconscious feelings and thoughts? Especially doubts."

"I'm not sure, Sousuke. Did you have some one time?"

"Affirmative. Berildaobu Island. What if 'Al' was suspicious of the situation and my subconscious was as well? Could that have resulted in the Lambda Driver not activating, while it did activate in the past? Like, somehow, a sense it was a set-up, just to take over the sub?"

"Were you feeling unsure of yourself or were you feeling a set-up from the start of the mission?"

"It might have been both, I'm not sure. After all, I'm just a soldier, not a genius."

Kaname puts her hand on Sousuke's face, smiles and says, "I believe in you, Sousuke. You don't have to be a genius to understand things. If you had suspicions, and the Lambda Driver didn't work, that could very well be a connection."

She then leans forward, kisses him and adds, "You're not just a soldier, Sousuke. You're a Specialist, a master of any kind of combat. I'm proud to be your girlfriend, Sousuke."

Sousuke blushes, turns and sees Kurz looking at them both, a smug grin on his face. "Please, don't mind me, Sousuke and Kaname. If you two want to make out, feel free to do so. You two look so cute together."

"Kurz!" Both of them had yelled at the same time, prompting Melissa to come up to his seat and belt him in his groin, a savage grin on her face. She then turns to her friends, smiles and winks, causing them both to blush.

Kaname then sighs as she recalls Tessa and Kalinin's departure.

(Earlier that day)

They were watching Kalinin and Tessa depart when Kaname had a wicked idea. She then wrapped her arms around him and softly whispered into his ear, causing him to blush furiously.

Ayame, jumping up and down, pleaded, "Tell me what you said, Kaname. Please tell me, sister."

Kaname stuck her tongue out and replied, "I'll tell Tessa instead. It'll be up to her." She then sent a resonance to the petiteCaptain and smiled wickedly when Tessa stumbled, prompting Kalinin to assist her in getting up.

Kalinin then turned back, gave Kaname a shaking fist in jest and waved Ayame good-bye. Still pouting, Ayame gave Kalinin a wave right back as the door closed. Once the door closed, the helicopter lifted off, engaging it's ECS upon getting out of eyesight of the spectators.

Kaname smiles in satisfaction as she comes back to the present, closes her notebook and takes Sousuke's hand affectionately, stroking his long, hard fingers with her fingertips. Sousuke, in turn, looks over at Kaname, smiles and remembers when she was in her Mother's favorite kimono. She had looked radiant that day. No, more than radiant. Glorious, truly beautiful all dressed up.

Kaname catches his smile and blushes, catching on to what he's thinking. She then giggles and says, "I wish I thought to bring Mom's kimono with me. There'll be another time, I guess. I wonder what the others are doing in Japan right now."

Sighing, she adds, "Knowing Kyoko, she's taking pictures along with Shinji. Mizuki is probably up to her usual behavior of being a show-off. The Rugby guys are probably practicing themselves silly."

"That's a very distinct possibility, Kaname. Very possible. Just like when I took you to my favorite fishing spot on Merida Island." At that, the two lovebirds sigh and lean into each other. At that, they all fall asleep.

An hour later, Ayame stirs and asks, "Are we there yet?" Sousuke and the others open their eyes, wondering the same thing.

The pilot's voice then comes on and says, "We're approaching the Airport now, folks. Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing." Within ten minutes, the plane lands and rolls to a stop.

To everyone's disappointment, there's no shuttle or car waiting for them on the tarmac. So the group runs across the tarmac while the plane heads into the hangar.

Making their way through the terminal, they see all kinds of sights within the building. People selling watches and other goods, prostitutes picking up other people and, finally, a man coming at them. Kaname instantly gets a bad feeling from this guy, as do the others.

The man brings out a switchblade knife, smiles savagely and says, "That's lovely jewelry, Missy. Hand it over! Now!"

"No way, loser. My boyfriend gave this to me and I'm not going to let it go to waste. It simply wouldn't be worth your life."

The mugger laughs richly and says, "You've got it backwards. See, if you don't give it to me, then I gut you, your boyfriend and your friends. Then, I'll rape your corpse. Is that worth your jewelry?"

Smiling wickedly on the inside, Kaname puts a frown on her face and says, "I'm sorry, Sousuke. You worked really hard to get this jewelry for me." She then proceeds to remove one of the grenades from her earlobe.

"Don't worry, Kaname. It can be replaced. It's not a problem."

At that, Kurz, Melissa and Sousuke grin savagely and start backing away. Sousuke then nudges Ayame, still grinning, causing her to back up and grin savagely as well.

This has the mugger puzzled until he sees the object up close. He's then shocked when he sees the chain removed from the earring and suddenly frightened when Kaname shoves it into his mouth.

"Eat this, you loser pervert!"

Kaname and the others then bolt away, leaving a confused mugger in their tracks. The man has no time to yell, as the grenade has detonated, blowing his head off.

Upon detonation, everyone starts screaming in fear, running for the door while the group of five calmly makes it's way to the exit. Next thing they know, they hear Police sirens, sigh and know that their trip has gone completely awry.

Five minutes later, they hear foot-stomps and soon see a massive cyborg along with a tanned and fit young woman.

"I'm Commander Alex Murphy, this is Officer Sheila Murphy. Were you witnesses to the explosion?"

Kaname smiles softly and flips her hair, as Diplomacy is her skill.

"Of sorts, Commander. The dead body over there had the nerve to mug and threaten me. I shoved an earring into his mouth. My sister, friends, boyfriend and I then got clear of the scene and the guy went 'kaboom'."

Sheila asks, "What kind of earring was that, Miss?"

"Chidori. Kaname Chidori. The earring was a fragmentation-type grenade. Blast radius of five feet and with a ten second fuse. My boyfriend gave me a pair of them and I had to use one of them."

She then sighs and adds, "I couldn't chance him killing us because we could identify him in a lineup. I warned him it wouldn't be worth his life. He then threatened my sister, Ayame, my boyfriend Sousuke and his friends, Kurz and Melissa. He even threatened to rape my dead body for after he had gutted me."

Sheila's jaw had dropped when Kaname had informed them it was a grenade in the form of an earring. She then looks at the others and sees a familiar face.

"Luke Sagara, does Elizabeth know you're here?"

Sousuke grins and replies, "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Officer. Luke is my cousin. I'm Sousuke Sagara." Sheila's eyes cross and she falls flat on her back. Sousuke asks, "Was it something I said, Commander?"

Commander Murphy grins and replies, "My subordinates call me Commander. You can call me Robocop." He then switches on his stress analyzer and asks, "If your name's Sousuke Sagara, where have you been for the past nine years?"

"Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Columbia, Cambodia and, most recently, Japan and New York."

The analyzer comes back 'completely truthful' and Robocop asks, "Where did you have the ordnance used made at? It must have been custom-made."

Sousuke, not wanting to blow his cover, replies, "I had some friends I know make it for Kaname."

The analyzer comes back 'with-holding information' and Robocop grins, knowing he's got a challenge on his hands. "Are these 'friends' of yours mercenaries by any chance? And, are you one yourself?"

Sousuke's mind is in shock as he thinks, 'He must be able to analyze the stress level in an interrogation subject. This is not good, very not good.' Kaname picks up on his thoughts, having seen him sweating profusely.

She then sighs and says, "Guys, we should probably go somewhere more secure. We'll have to tell Robocop everything. He's just too good at spotting people that try to hide things."

Robocop checks her stress level and finds it slightly elevated, yet not enough to raise a red flag in his system.

He then bends down, picks up Sheila and carries her in his arms, saying, "My daughter-in-law has taken a serious shock to her system. We should go to the Station. Your friends will have to sit in the very back. You three will sit in the back seat. We'll let Sheila ride in the front seat until she gets herself back together."

At that, the group slump their heads and follow the cyborg as the Coroner comes up and secures the headless corpse. When they get outside, they see a Police Hummer H1 sitting outside.

Kurz and Melissa hop up into the bed of the H1 while Ayame, Sousuke and Kaname get into the back seat as Robocop loads Sheila into the front seat and fastens her in. When all is done, they head for the Station.

As they ride, Kaname and Sousuke think about all that they had gone through together. From Sousuke blowing up shoe lockers all the way to his feelings for her, Kaname feels like this is all surreal.

She didn't expect to fall in love with a highly-skilled soldier over time. At first, it was a flame of a crush within her soul. Now, it's a raging bonfire.

Both exciting and scary at the same time. Exciting because she had a hand in 'taming' the wildest soldier she ever had the greatest pleasure of meeting. Scared because she doesn't want to think about what would happen once his assignment ends in Tokyo, or worse. After all, a soldier's life can have unexpected turns at times.

In the field, it's often death or survival. So far, Sousuke has been lucky on the survival part. Yet she cannot help but wonder if his number's going to be called up once he goes back on duty or not.

She recalls their arrival at the Pacific Island Base for Mithril after Gauron's attempted destruction of the sub. Tessa was holding a memorial service for two fallen heroes. Both were designated as 'out on patrol'.

'Lord, please. Don't bring Sousuke out on patrol to you. If he wasn't around, I wouldn't be here. I'd be long gone if it wasn't for him. He's finally happy, given that he has seen more than any child should ever see, done more than he should and been through just as much. I thank you for letting me meet him and for him to meet me so we could fall in love with each other. Amen.'

Kaname looks over at Sousuke and smiles softly at the sight of his face. Blushing, yet it is of granite with a distinguished scar. His jaw set firmly, eyes right ahead and his wild hair flying around with the windows being down.

She can't help but giggle, prompting him to turn his head her way. Smiling softly, she puts her hand over his and softly squeezes the fingers in a sign of affection.

Sousuke was deep in his thoughts when he heard Kaname giggling. When he turned to look at her, he saw the 'Whispered' girl he had rescued in Khabarovsk within her eyes. Frightened, hopeful and happy. Frightened because she came close to dying, hopeful for a better future and happy to be alive still.

Seeing Kaname smile sends him into a feeling he can't quite describe. When he feels her squeezing his fingers gently, he returns it as gently as possible. When Kaname giggles again, he somehow knows he had done it the right way. At that, the rest of the ride goes in silence.