Disclaimer: Ishinomori's, not mine.
Notes: Spoilers for 'Tears of Steel'. Jet/Albert subtext, but nothing worse than what you've seen on the show. And the title is (obviously) gacked from Big O.

"I have something I need to tell all of you," Albert said.

That was what got their attention. The team had been in the middle of what was rapidly becoming a post-battle tradition-- sprawled on Professor Kozumi's furniture, dead to the world while Chang kept busy serving them his latest triumphs in the kitchen. The fact that it was Albert, who almost always kept to himself was more than enough to peak their curiosity. Even Jet looked up in interest.

As for Albert himself, he was as composed as always. "I made a mistake today. One big enough that if it hadn't been for 002 and 009, I wouldn't be standing here right now. I won't try justifying my behavior. 0011 found a weakness, I gave in, and all of you came much too close to paying for it than I'll ever be comfortable admitting." There was a flicker of something in his normally blank eyes as his gun hand hovered over a spot on his chest for just a moment, but his voice kept steady. "I can't apologize for what happened, but I can promise all of you that from now on, my past is exactly that."

And with that, he was gone.

For a long time, none of the remaining eight cyborgs said anything. It was Great Britain who finally broke the silence.

"Wait. What was that about Heinrich's past?"

"Who knows? He's not exactly the most talkative human being in the world." Chang began gathering up the dirty dishes. "Goodness knows that poor man spends more time by himself than what's healthy, but maybe it's best if we just let him collect himself and come to us if--"

"That sonuva... if he thinks he's getting off that easy, then he is sadly fucking mistaken!" Jet bolted past them, door slamming shut as he chased after the other cyborg.

Once again, there was a collective pause. After a while, Joe offered, "Shouldn't one of us be trying to stop him?"

"You want to try to talk sense into Jet? One attempt on my life today is more than enough, thank you." Britain's frown was a serious departure from his usual levity as he leaned back into his chair. "Heinrich's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

--

"Bullshit!"

Albert had been on the coastline, too lost in his own thoughts to notice the ocean or the starry night sky, but Jet snapped him out of it. "... Excuse me?"

Jet couldn't be stopped. "You nearly get yourself, you nearly get all of us fucking killed and you think saying you're sorry makes it better!"

The older cyborg's mouth thinned, but that was it reaction wise. "I know that I can't apologize for what I did, I was just--"

"Like hell! Yeah, maybe you're not trying to get us to feel sorry for you, but that's only because you're doing such a great job by yourself." Albert had seen Jet angry before, but this... was something else entirely. There was a wild look in those dark eyes he had never seen before; the only word he could use to use to describe it was 'desperation'. "Look, whatever happened to you before... I'm sorry, but this isn't the way to handle it."

Albert knew it was a bad idea, but he was tired, and had had about as much of Jet's attitude that he could stand. "Well, how should I be handling this? You're the expert, you tell me how I should deal with my entire damn life being stolen from me!"

To his surprise, his rant actually seemed to have a calming effect on the American. "Like it or not, Heinrich, this is your life now. It's going to be hard, unforgiving, and full of senseless violence. And if you keep this up, you're going to get ki--"

Then everything was happening all at once: Albert tackling him so suddenly that if it weren't for the fact he was screaming "Look out!" he would have thought he was attacking him, pinned down and trying to spit out a mouthful of sand so he could ask what the hell was going on until he heard Albert grunting in pain as a bright red beam struck his shoulder.

There was the sound of gunfire, the clatter of something metal, then nothing.

"You okay?" Albert looked down at him, concerned.

"... I'm fine." Jet made it a point to avoid the older cyborg's gaze.

If Jet's discomfort registered, Albert didn't mention it. "That spybot was aiming for your head. It looks like Black Ghost is getting tired of their more grandiose schemes and is trying to pick us off one at a time now." He let out a soft sigh. "We really are going to have to leave Professor Kozumi soon."

Jet shifted slightly. "Fine. Hey, unless you're planning on kissing me soon, you might want to try getting off of me."

"Huh?" Albert blinked. "Oh! Sorry." He moved as Jet stood up, dusted off his clothes, and picked up the remains of the robot. Maybe Francoise could learn something if she gave it a look over.

Finally, he made himself look at Albert's shoulder. "You should have Doctor Gilmore fix that."

"What, this?" He cocked his head in the direction of the wound. "It's nothing."

"You should still have it looked at." As they began to make their way back to the mansion, something occurred to Jet.

"Y'know, your life would've been a whole lot quieter if you had let that bot thing hit me."

"Yes, well... like you said, quiet really doesn't factor into my life anymore. Besides," he continued as he wrapped his good arm around Jet's shoulders, "I think you and your attitude problem are starting to grow on me."

Jet still wasn't sure if Albert fully understood what he was trying to get across.

But he understood this, and for now that would do.