Disclaimer: I don't own Burst angel or any of the characters and tech in this anime. Or have any of the rights provided by the international copyright. I am merely barrowing the universe and characters to produce a story of own design. So please don't sue I have on money for you to win anyway. Any Characters in this story and not the anime are mine however.

AN: man its been a while sense I wrote anything for this site. Feels good to get back in the saddle. I don't have anything else to say at this point but thanks for taking the time to read this.

Chaos Theory

ratedM for language, violence and mild adult themes

Ch.1

History made flesh

From down here we can make the whole wall collapse!

Yeah but boss how do we get back out?

goblin digging squad

There was a knock at the door of the muti-story RV; Ami looked up from her computer. Who could that be? Kyohei wasn't due to show up to make dinner for a least another hour. She tapped a few buttons and pulled up the view from a camera mounted outside the door. There where several men in casual clothing, waiting outside. Behind them Ami could see the edge of a truck.

"Good they're early." Sei commented coming out of the trailer cockpit.

"Who's here?" Meg asked poking her head out of the still running shower.

"Some hired hands to help with our next mission." Sei answered "They're men." She adding meaning that Meg probably should hop back into the shower. Sei opened the door and a man in his late 40's took a marginal step inside and bowed slightly before offering the young woman his hand

"Good evening ma'am." He said with a distinct southern U.S. accent before saying it again in Japanese.

"Hello." Sei said in english just to showoff a little. The man smirked in a fatherly sort of way.

"Excuse me for being blunt ma'am but we really need to talk business, I want my boys squared away and this job made a tad bit clearer before we get all familiar like." The man said.

"Very well." Sei answered. "I can't be anymore specific on the mission because what you were told is what I was told. The less transmitted over commercial lines the better. You'll be briefed when we are. As to lodging, 1 or 2 have been arranged to stay here with us as asked. As for the rest we have several hotels marked over in the tourist district to lower any possible suspicions."

"That will work nicely ma'am." The man said. He looked off blankly behind Sei, collecting his thought. "My apologies ma'am but I didn't introduce myself. My name is Jimmie Dean Johnson." The older man said.

"my name is Sei, and over there is Ami." Sei pointed over at the youngster "I'd prefer to be on a first name basis Mr. Johnson." Sei said

"Fine by me, Ms. Sei."

"Just Sei." She interrupted

"Johnson isn't my real name." the man said smirking. "Well now that that's done we need to get squared away and my boys briefed before I run them off to bed. A couple of large trucks meeting in an abandoned lot is sure to draw some attention."

"True, Ami get Jo, and Meg get out here." She said. Ami disappeared and Meg appeared out of the bathroom, dressed in a baby blue sweat suit, her still damp hair clinging to her shoulders. The four girls followed Mr. Johnson outside into a small group of men. Easily obvious they were the solider type. Mr. Johnson went up to his oversized truck and opened the rear hatch, inside were 8 nearly man-sized cybots. The cybots looked like over stuffed men with neck less heads, the torsos where open showing a snug cockpit that filled the whole torso and went into the arms and legs as well.

"What are these?" Sei asked

"Obviously they're the Willy's IS-BW." Ami answered her with a slight sneer.

"I hate to burst your bubble young lady but these are the M5-BAAWM. The Bipedal Armored Assault Walker-Mechanized, or the M5-bam in short hand." A voice explained from the shadows. "We have 6 of them and a pair M5-AS. The scout version." The voice finished.

Ami looked mildly hurt. Sei saw Jo's head pick up in her peripheral vision. Something had caught Jo's attention. That was more than enough to worry Sei, Jo normally only got even minimally interested with a target to destroy or when one of them were in trouble.

"You seem to know a lot." Ami said sneering "Sounds a little nerdish to me."

"I really should know better that to taunt a child." The voice said, "but in retrospect it kinda sounds funny to hear that coming from one such as your self. Miss world renowned hacker. In some circles your famous Ami. You coded a basic cybot balancing correction and the first automated cybot friend or foe system. By the age of 9. are you really one to point fingers?" the voice asked. Ami growled quietly, her pride smarting. For some reason Jo started to chuckle. A unique and oddly frightening laugh the even sent chills up Meg's spine.

"you've got to be shitting me…." The voice said "I know that laugh and that's as happy as it gets." A faint echo of footfalls on steel was heard as a man walked out of the shadows of the 3.5 meter tall cybots. He was a taller man. Maybe about 2 meters tall, Or 6'2 and whatever the metric is as he would put it. He wasn't as build up as the other men that came with him, toned for his job, but in fact he looked kind of thin compared to some of the men in the little squad that had been dropped on the girls. A few looked like they could bench press a bus. His brown hair matched his eyes. He had a small scar just above his eye cutting his left eyebrow into two parts. Absolute dumb-foundedness was plastered all over his face. His first words were momentarily confuse as kind. That didn't take long to dispel

"No… no no no and just to be clear here Fuck no!" The man jabbed his hand aggressively in a generally thoughtless manner as he raged "and to think I was wondering why the files on the A-Fs were a little bit vague. Damn it why you of all people? Son of a bitch this is just perfect."

"good to see you again to Bardon." Jo answered, the reaction bothering Jo like water does a duck. Jo looked sideways at her friend's mostly Meg's confused "We have a history." Bardon snorted at her.

" History my scrawny white farmer-tanned ass. If we got a history then it's a big fucking history with an 800 page textbook."

"Will this be a problem Mr. Miciel? Mr. Johnson asked.

"No sir. I'm gone." Bardon strolled forward, leaving. "Mail the check I will see you all on the flip-side."

"Bard your under contract." Johnson pointed out

"Both our contracts." Sei added picking up on the possible problems this could mean latter on

"A under part B-4 I have the right to refuse to do any mission in exchange for a pay dock on anything that I deem dangerous beyond reason, and a relief of pay dock if the danger is found to be by a company controllable point." Bard said to Mr. Johnson, he then turned on Sei " and you, you can find yourself an 8 inch dick and fuck yourself sideways for all I care. " Bard said nearly shouting at her.

"I see you haven't changed." Jo said to him without turning to look at Bard. Bard cooled off instantly, he got a sort of depressed/annoyed look to him.

"Neither did you." He said. This exchange was followed by a silent calm between the pair. The other 3 girls were needless to say startled by this little encounter. Jo was acting human, in her own odd distant kind of way, not like a war-machine or an emotionless statue, even though Jo still showed nothing much more than her typical stony demeanor.

"It's..." Jo started

"Let's talk about this later." Bard cut her off

"you still blame me?"

"no shit." Bard said curse-like "and I've heard that line before from you Jo, don't start now."

"I got the job done." Jo stated

"I never debated that Jo. But damn it! Didn't you learn something? Stop being a gunman for once just… you stirred up a hornet's nest in there and came right on back. Shit Jo you don't jab a pig on the snout and show him the weak point in the fence! You lead 30 armed men right onto my front porch, 30 of them against me. Do you have any clue what 30 to 1 odds feel like when you're not some fucking war-god. I fought down to my last round and they still plowed me over." Brad paused, his half internal/external history seemed to grind against his very soul.

"I finished the job, and saved your ungrateful ass." Jo said in her monotone. Bard sighed at the earth sticking his hands in his pockets.

"you just don't get it do you. At what cost Jo? When is the price too much? 10 men, 100 men?" Bard looked up straight into Sei's eyes "is her life too much? Or maybe Her's" Bard nodded at Meg. "It's not the deaths Jo. Hell, who knows how many died because of my actions? The pulls of my trigger, how many low lives I've put down. What bothers me Jo, what truly gets under my skin. Is that they died partially because of your impatience, not most the reason but enough to that it can't be ignored, and you have too much pride to admit it. Even to yourself.

"I was not wrong." Jo countered defensively.

"You just made a mistake."

"What?" Jo asked partially taken back.

"I never said you were wrong, I said you made a mistake." Bard sighed again kicking uselessly at the dirt. He rolled his head back and looked at the sky, blue with a couple of clouds stretched across the entire sky by the whim of the winds.

"I forgive you Jo." Jo straightened up and turned, staring into Bard's back. "Did a long time ago." he looked over his shoulder at Jo "you have to forgive yourself Jo; I can't do it for you."

"Do you really mean that?" Jo said like challenge to duel.

"Yes I do, doesn't mean I forgot. And it doesn't mean you not guilty." Bardon answered. The two fell silent, their conversation over as easily and suddenly as it had began. Mr. Johnson used this opportunity to butt in.

"Lt. Bardon Miciel." He said firmly

"yes…sir." Bard answered stonily

"You are a mission vital personnel and you will stay to do your job and support your lance members." he said, reminding Bard of his job.

"Fuck." There was an unsaid sir that wasn't needed in this small of a unit.

"You will be working closely with these young ladies as that job requires."

"Oh fuck me."

"You will bunk with these ladies to do your job, protecting and maintaining the M5's."

"Oh fuck me in the ass sideways!" Bard exclaimed "I swear your purpose on this earth is to make our lives difficult." Bard said to Mr. Johnson

"And I'm damned good at it." He said in a mild mocking tone. Bard growled in general frustration

"You know my life was a hell of a lot simpler 10 minutes ago." The said to the gathering. He looked at the ladies he would be spending a good deal of time with for the foreseeable future. All of which he now had some bad connection to in one way or another.

"I'll stow my gear and transfer the goods sir." Bardon said

"Don't sound so down Lt. I'm sending the kid with you maybe he'll mellow you the fuck out." Mr. Johnson told Bard. Bard spun on his heels and headed inside he pause a few steps from the dark interior.

"Jo do you remember out little hell debate?"

"Vaguely." Jo answered

"Well I asked if you thought hell was endothermic, would condense in on it's self getting hotter and hotter till it explodes, or exothermic it would expand until all it's energy was gone and would freeze over. Well I hope Satan has a nice furry coat because I distinctly remember saying hell would freeze over long before I even consider working with you again." Bard glanced over his shoulder smiling weakly at Jo. He disappeared into the depths of the cybot bay. Jo turned and left, passing Sei and Meg, she wasn't crying but there was certainly emotion in her face.

A loud clang resounded off the metal of Jango's trailer as the M-5 clicked lightly against the side. The cybot swung slightly on the winch cable before being lowered into place and locked down. The M-5's were placed along the edge of the bay locked into an array on universal clamps and magnetic locks.

"That was fast." Sei commented watching the whole operation from beside Mr. Johnson.

"One more." He said. "Bard has yet to pack up." He turned at the sound of muti-ton footsteps. "Speak of the devil." The M-5 was a scout model, unlike the other M-5's that looked like they were fresh from the factory floor; this one had some scarring to it and paint that had seen harsher conditions that the factory floor. On the side facing Sei was some armor art, the mech version of nose art. On the side of the "head" was the words Bun-Bun in black paint. Above that, a picture of one very pissed off rabbit with an open switch blade knife in one paw. A caption in red paint read "you want a piece of me nerd-boy?" the cybot walked up the trailer ramp and moved to his lock-down spot, b backed up to the lip of the raised platform the clamps were on and with a little spotting from the lance stepped to the clamps and locked in without the winch. Bard hopped out closed the M-5 up and visually double checked the connection. Happy with it he gave the thumbs up and checked his tools on the way out.

"Why didn't he use the winch like the others?" Sei asked

"Because he is the only man on the team with enough experience with these machines to pull that maneuver off in any reasonable amount off time." Mr. Johnson answered honestly. " all these men have 1000's of hour in armored walkers they just recently became an M-5 unit they have about 150 hours in these machines, not enough experience to perform some of the finer maneuvers. Compounded by the fact we don't use this sort of transports I didn't want to risk them ending up on the bad side of the learning curve out here."

"soldiers with new toys huh?" Sei summarized.

"You're giving too little credit." Mr. Johnson said

"I'll give them credit when I see them work." Sei countered "I have taxi's waiting for your men."

"thank you Ma'am when will we be in contact again?" He asked

"I'll call you." Sei told him. "I thought you'd send someone with our trouble maker here.' Sei nodded at Bard crossing the empty lot towards the door.

"He'll belong soon; I need him at the moment. If that's all have a nice night Ma'am." With that the pair parted ways.

Bard climbed the stars to the living part of the trailer and knocked on the door being polite. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside.

"Your not wanted go away." Immediately greeted him.

"Yeah scram." Ami added. Bard moved fully in the door and stood face to face with on very angry Meg and a supportive Ami in the background. Bard whistled softly looked Meg up and down once and whistled again. She had changed into her typical outfit.

"I hate to say it princess but if the captain said to bunk with you that is what I will do not ifs ands or buts." Bardon pushed past Meg and walked into the room.

"Hello Jo." He said a tired fashion "And hello whoever the hell you are." Bard said to Kyohei.

"my name is Kyohei." He said

"Bardon." Bard told him.

"hey I'm not done with you yet!" Meg exclaimed

"I am" Bard told her, annoyed with her "Jo where do…"

"first door on the right." She told him

"thanks" he said throwing his stuff into the designated room. He started humming a tune before he got there. It had turned into a song when he got back.

Did you lay down at night

think of tomorrow

Go out and buy you a gun

Did you turn off that violent old movie your watch'in

And turn on I love Lucy reruns

Did you go to a church hold hands with some strangers

Stand it line and give your own blood

Did you just stay home cling tight to your family

Thanked god you had somebody to love

I'm just singer of simple songs

I'm not a real political man

I watch CNN but I'm not sure tell the difference in Iraq and Iran

I know Jesus and I talk to God

And I remember this from when I was young

faith hope and love are some good things he gave us

but the greatest is love

"Nice song." Kyohei said

"It's not mine." Bard said back, taking a seat opposite Jo at the table.

"why you arrogant…"

"Rude twerp." Meg and Ami started.

"relax." Jo commanded

"you said it." Bard added he hopped up out of his seat and rummaged in the fridge despite odd or angry looks from all present but Jo. He found something to suit his needs and handed sodas to Meg and Ami, placed one on the counter for Kyohei and returned with a soda for Jo to the table.

"Chill ladies have a soda." He took a sip of his "you're gonna give yourselves ulcers." He took a second sip watching Meg sputter angrily and Ami stare hotly.

"Nice to see you're warming up to our guest." Sei said entering into the little dispute.

"Sei I need to talk to you." Meg announced and stormed into the command cabin of the trailer with Sei not far behind.

"This can't end well." Bard said aloud

"What makes you say that?" Kyohei asked

"Because I don't think she's the sort of girl that takes the he's the staying and that's final conversation very well." Bard explained

"and why would that happen."

"Because this little field trip I'm on is a massive expenditure for Bai-lan. I mean multi-million dollar massive."

"Bai-lan's willing to spend that sort of cash on this? Someone must have something real important." Jo said

"Especially to spend 8 million." Bard said

"Where do you get that from?" Ami asked getting into the conversation and letting some of here anger go

"Do the math." Bard told her counting on his fingers "the commander gets a cut and a half, I get a solid cut and each of the boys get a half cut, plus the cost of transport machines themselves, the truck and a whole bunch of other things."

"umm how much is a cut?" Kyohei asked.

"good question." Jo commented

"About 400.000 US dollars 550.000 after hazard and travel pay." Bard said, he looked skyward counting on his fingers again. "give or take a few thousand."

Kyohei whistled

"that's a lot of money."

"you aren't kidding." Ami added

"couple more of these little field trips and I could retire from this…. Profession. Take a nice long vacation somewhere quiet." Bard mused leaning back in his seat. "Yup I'm guessing all our lives could use a little dull in them." He smirked at no one really. Just smirked.

"Damn it Sei!" Meg yelled bursting out of the command cabin door. "I can't take this any more!" she screamed at her. Her raw unfocused anger jumping over her like lightening bolts. She spun on her heels and stormed out of the trailer.

"Can she…"

"no" Bard didn't need to finish his sentence of "take care of herself?"

he held out a fist and threw out two fingers Jo kept a fist, rock beats scissors. Bard got out of his seat. Well in to "his" room and reappeared moments later wearing a leather coat. As he left through the door after Meg there was a quick flash of a ridiculously large revolver in a skeleton holster against the small of his back.

Bard scanned quickly and spotted the little neon clad girl strolling away in a speedy huff. Bard jogged to close enough to be considered a reasonable distance behind her, maybe 10 meters or so. Meg was too angry to take a close look at her surroundings and notice him, so he was fine for the moment. Bard reached into his coat pulling out a pair of sunglasses, even though dusk was coming on and the neon signs of various stores lighted the street. The glasses were based on a one way mirror, tinted one way but not the other, so it was like wearing normal glasses at night or in dark areas while still reducing glare. This particular pair had a few extras because of Bard's contacts. It had a low grade heat vision built into it and could take a shotgun blast at point blank range and still work. Pity about the rest of your face, but on the up side the company could guarantee if you survived your glasses would, they even offered a lifetime warranty on external damage a rarity in this day and age.

Bard kept an eye on Meg from a careful distance, he wasn't totally sure why Meg was that opposed to his presence but he had a good guess. Meg disappeared into a café style coffee house, and Bard purchased a paper to try and look uninterested and out on an errand. Meg came out of the café with a drink in hand she looked about, somehow she saw Bard, who disappeared behind his paper only to have it torn away, by a lady likened to that of an angry tiger.

"What are you doing here?" Meg growled at Bard.

"A favor for a friend." He answered. "Jo said to kept an eye on you." He half lied.

"Really?" Meg said with a mix of sarcasime and small amount of joy.

"I do have any reason to lie to you?" Bard asked her as he folded his paper and tucked it under his arm.

"Maybe." Bard sighed out of frustration.

"Listen," he began "apparently you don't like me and your attitude is seriously grating on my nerves. We need to sort this out now, cause I hate to break it to you princess I'm here for the duration whether either of us likes it or not."

"I don't have anything to say to you." Meg told him flatly.

"Fine I'll play your game, take a walk with me and listen; I won't make you say a damned word." Bard offered he turned around and started to move off.

"A walk where?" Meg questioned Bard

"I saw a park back a ways, greenery tends to mellow me out." Bard strolled along the city streets the noise of so many people piled on each other surrounded him. Meg walked with him. Bard reached the park and walked along a circle path around a small pond in the middle. This little patch of growing earth was still smack dab in the middle of Tokyo but somehow the trees and the grass made the place more peaceful, the air seemingly less harsh on the lungs.

"Excuse me for being blunt here, but I have no clue how else to do this. I'm not here to be a threat; I'm not here to be all lovey-dovey. I'm here to do my job. Me and Jo knew each other a long time ago that's all." Bard told her.

"What are you blabbering on about?" Meg said as if accused of something.

"Let me put it this way then. How much have you put into this relationship of yours and how much have you got back?" Meg stood there dumbfounded

"Take a seat." Bard told her pointing at a conveniently placed park bench. Meg sat down in the sort of defensive posture one makes when first meeting your in-laws, Bard perched himself on the back of bench. Resting his feet on the seat and balancing on the backrest. Like an owl bard took in the scenery before him his eyes never moved till he spoke to Meg.

"I don't pretend to understand how the universe works, I don't know why I was placed on this screwed up little rock and I'm damned sure I don't have a clue on how love works. But I've picked up enough to see the signs and read people, that's one thing I can do."

"Is it that obvious?" Meg asked confirming Bard's informal accusation.

"That you're in love or that you're a lesbian? Not very on either count. I was writing it off as a concerned friend until you flipped out back there in the trailer. The others seem to think that way." Meg grew abnormally quiet, thinking.

"If you knew Jo from before…. Could you….."

"I don't have a clue what Jo is thinking, she's a much harder book to read than anyone else I'm meet. And I was only with her about five or six months last time. I don't know what happened before then and I don't know what happened in the two years since then. To perfectly honest I don't care it's none of my business." Meg looked annoyed at the comment.

"Not much of a friend, are you." she said

"I never was her friend. Not even close. Comrades, yes. Back then I'd charge headlong into fire to save her rear end. Now, probably still would. I suppose we could have been called lovers but that's a bit of a stretch. We weren't friends. We never went out to the bars, no ballgames, out to lunch nothing. I have never had a casual conversation with her ever."

"Like?" Meg said her head still focused on the "lovers".

"How was your day? for example. It was always more like did you get shot this time nitwit? You have to drag a conversation out of her. I've never really shot the shit with her. Weird girl." Bard paused waiting for Meg to respond, it didn't come. Meg was adrift in her memories, scanning her own experiences with Jo. She had to admit she'd never really had that sort of conversation with her either. She had a few examples, but most of her casual conversations were Meg jabbering and Jo sticking to single syllable answers and head nods. This hadn't bothered Meg before and it didn't bother her now. It was just that somewhere in the back of her mind it made Meg feel better to have a 1 up on any "opposition" imaginary or otherwise.

"Meg." Bard interrupted Meg's mind wanderings "Meg. Me and Jo have a history. There was a relationship, and there still is a very weird sense of comradeship. Along with that goes the inside jokes and the random banter, a little as there may be. That is all. We're just old war buddies. I'm not here to whisk her off her feet or steal her away. When this job is done I am leaving…. If you can't accept that fact than stick your head in the sand till I leave I'll be out of your hair before you know it. Sound like a deal to you?" Bard asked hoping on a positive response.

"Sounds alright, I just have a question for you. Do you think the others know?" Meg asked worriedly

"My boys don't have a clue, and the commander has his suspicions but knowing him he'll let a sleeping dog lie it's not his place to ask or care really. As to your troop Sei seems like the only one with any possibility of the idea and if so she seems ok with it." Bard told her.

"Jo?"

"Like I said Jo's a hard book to read. Even if I did know that's for you to figure out." Meg had a mini pout over Bard's answer. "That's all you get out of me."

"You're hiding something." Meg accused leaning in inches from Bard's face staring him in the eyes.

"What's the point of hiding anything if I tell you? Not that I am." Bard leaned away from Meg, but she kept with him until Bard stopped for threat of falling off the bench.

"I'll take your word for it." Meg backed off returning to her original seat. Bard hopped off the back of the bench, stretching the lower part of his back. "I'm gonna head back, you coming?" Bard inquired. It was getting late and he had work to do come morning.

"I guess." Meg told him, getting to her feet herself still glaring Bard down like he was a spy for some evil faction. "I still say this smells fishy to me." Bard sighed running his hand though his hair.

"You know Meg sometimes things are just as they first appear." Just not when humans are involved Bard finished to himself. Meg seemed to accept the verbalized half of the saying with a grain of salt. But she did accept it.

"Don't except me to be all chummy." She told out right. Meg walked a few paces away she paused speaking over her shoulder. "Thanks by the way."

"For what?" Bard tiled his head sideways in curiosity.

"For telling me the straight truth."

"I could be lying."

"Doubt it. You don't seem the type to intentionally mess with people's emotions. Besides that thanks for not telling anyone either." Bard un-tilted his head, surprised Meg would thank him for this.

"Is love something to be ashamed of? Besides it's not really my place why should I care?" Meg just shrugged, she walked back home to the trailer, Bard waited a minute or so before following suit.

When Bard got back to the trailer the lights where out except for a light peeping out from under a door down the hall which he assumed was Meg. Bard felt his way into his temporary quarters. It was a storage area. A small room really. It looked to Bard like after the designers compacted things and arranged the walls to fit into RV form the designers found they had a good deal of dead space left over so they created a whatever room for the owners to use as they see fit. The girls seemed to have placed whatever material processions they had left over into the room. There was a mix of everything any sane person could think of. Computer parts, engine oil; there was a freezer and fridge on the far wall. A locked and fingerprint encoded lock box secured to a different wall. Either extra ammo or cash storage. There were a rack of spices and non-perishables. A collection of boxes in one corner had one of the girl's names written in sharpie on the side. You name it, it was in that room. Including a cot with pillow and blankets. Bard folded the cot up and set it in a corner out of the way. He rummaged in his bag moving aside his belongings cloths, mementos, laptop, and personal weapons in a locked case. He found the hammock he was looking for and set it up. There was a load being pole near the middle if the room. He secured one end to that and for the other Bard had a special magnet. He placed it on the wall and locked it in. He gingerly tested his setup, it held him. The magnet was a part of a magnetic clamp for the M5 that had been ripped out of it's track when a trailer was totaled during test trials. The clamp was designed and rated to hold a 20 ton LAV in place, overkill for the 4 ton M5 or the 3.25 ton M5-AS. As long as the magnet got a grip the clamp would hold Bard's weight like a finger held a fingernail.

Bard striped off his cloths, piling them in a corner until the earliest opportunity to clean them. He stood there in the dark, feeling the cooler air prick at his skin, until he heard the pitter patter of bare feet on tile. This wasn't too alarming in it's own right, but Bard didn't hear them pass his door. Bard turned, finding Jo standing at the door watching him like she was waiting for permission to enter. Bard smirked and bent over to grab one last item from his bag. He pulled out a plaid flannel shirt. Draping it over his shoulders and buttoning it shut.

"She's fine." Bard told Jo.

"I know we share a room." Jo answered. "What'd you two talk about? She came back in a weird mood."

"That's really none of your business." Bard said with a slight edge on his voice. He sat down on his hammock "and sense when would you care?" Jo stared at him coldly.

"Sense when do you?" Bard snorted at her.

"Are we really going to start this game again?" He asked. "Cause it got old a long time ago."

"You started it." Jo pointed out. Bard pulled the blankets Sei had provided for his use up and curled up in the hammock facing the wall.

"I think this has been a long day for everybody. Some sleep is probably in order." Jo nodded and left. Bard turned back over looking into the empty space were Jo had been. Bard couldn't help noticing he was down one flannel shirt.

AN: that's all folks. Please leave a review on your way out. A Hi my name is blank and I read you story is perfectly acceptable.