I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Five: Flight

"Good morning Spades!" Spades stared at the woman in front of him and frowned.

"How much coffee have you had?"

"A bit," Amber admitted. "I had to stop by the office and Helen made me a big cup of that stuff she drinks."

"That stuff isn't healthy," Spades commented as he looked around the concourse.

"Probably not," Amber agreed. "She told me to tell you to have fun."

"I doubt it," Spades muttered as he sat down.

"So," Amber began, "who are we going to meet in Japan?"

"Hopefully no one," Spades answered. "I agreed to go to the reunion. That doesn't mean that I'm going to go visit those people."

"Would it kill you to ever call 'those people' your friends and family?" Amber asked.

"You never know," Spades replied. "Besides, they aren't my friends, nor are they my family."

"I gave you the chance to back out!" Amber snapped. "You refused, so buck up!"

"Buck up?" Spades repeated. "I haven't heard that in a while."

"Quit mocking me," Amber growled. She took a deep breath. "So who will you probably see at the reunion?"

"I don't know," Spades answered truthfully. "I probably won't recognize many people and hopefully they won't recognize me."

"Why wouldn't they recognize you?" Amber asked. "Do you dye your hair Spades? Colored contacts?"

"Everything else," Spades answered. "We have thirty minutes until they start boarding. I'm going to go get food."

(:ii:)

"He's coming back."

"Yes sir." Gendo Ikari stared at the report laid out on his desk. "We already have agents in place to intercept him at the airport and tail him."

"Good," Gendo stated. "Dismissed." The Section-2 agent saluted and walked out of the dark office.

"What are you planning Gendo?" the wizened voice of Kozo Fuyutsuki asked.

"We still have use for the boy," Gendo replied.

"Do you think he'll agree to anything?" Kozo asked. "He has quite happily ignored your demands for many years now."

"The time for giving him a choice is past," Gendo replied. "He will do as I tell him."

"You must be going senile."

(:ii:)

Amber looked around the plane nervously. "Something wrong?" Spades asked.

"No," Amber replied quickly. She saw one of Spades' eyebrows arch under the brim of his old brown fedora. "I'm terrified of flying, okay?"

"A new drama everyday with you," Spades commented. The engines got even louder and the plane jerked slightly as it began to move. "You need to get a manicure."

"What?" Amber glanced down and saw that she had seized Spades' hand, her nails digging into the soft leather of his gloves.

"Sorry." She quickly let go and watched as Spades flexed his fingers. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm a tough guy, remember?" Spades asked.

"I forgot," Amber admitted. "I'm going to try to take a nap."

"Good," Spades replied. "You're less of a pain in my ass while you're asleep."

"Women don't like an honest men," Amber growled. She saw one of Spades' eyebrows cock upwards again. "I mean, women don't like a really honest. . .uh. . .I mean. . ."

"Go to sleep."

"Right."

(:Five and a Half Years Ago:)

"Who's that guy?" Amber stared at the young man as he climbed into the boxing ring.

"That's the guy from Japan," Michelle answered. "He's working on his Master's in psychology."

"What a fox."

"Don't bother," Michelle stated quickly. "He's gay."

"Are you sure?" Amber asked. "I mean, I've never seen a gay boxer."

"I'm pretty sure he's gay," Michael replied. "Everybody thinks he is."

"Why?"

"He turned down Angel, Penny, and Sugar earlier this week," Michelle answered. "He wasn't too nice about it either. Any guy who does that has to be gay."

"Aren't those the three girls who got into college on their backs?" Amber asked. Michelle nodded. "Maybe he likes women with brains then." She glanced to her right and frowned. "What?"

"You just say some of the cutest most naïve shit sometimes," Michelle commented. "Oh. Look at him compared to Anthony." Amber turned back to the fight.

"That can't be legal."

"Yeah," Michelle agreed. "Funny thing about Anthony, he's a lot faster then you would think someone his size could be." That was proven as Anthony lashed out with a right hook at blinding speed. He connected with the smaller man's head with enough force to make Amber's skull throb in sympathy. The smaller man rolled with the force of the blow and brought a similarly powerful blow into the side of Anthony's ribs. "Ouch."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about your boyfriend?" Amber demanded. "He could have broken ribs!"

"If they're broken he'll just have them set," Michelle stated dismissingly. "Besides, this is just a friendly fight. The ref will probably break them up."

"I hate violence," Amber grumbled. "Why did I agree to come to this?"

"Would it have anything to do with your lack of male company and the prospect of seeing two physically fit men getting sweaty?"

"I do not have a lack of male company," Amber growled.

"Lack of decent male company," Michelle corrected. Amber opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off. "I haven't seen Oscar in a while."

"He got a little grabby," Amber managed to grit out.

"What'd you do?"

"I demonstrated how a proper grab can dislocate a man's shoulder," Amber replied. "He decided to leave the cops out of it because he was too embarrassed to admit that a girl kicked his ass."

"And if he had tried to press charges then you would have gone back to the old standby," Michelle stated.

"What's the point of nice breasts, big eyes, and friends willing to provide an alibi if I'm not going to use them?" Amber asked. Michelle laughed and stood up.

"Fight's over, like I said," she explained. "Let's go get Anthony and we can go out to dinner." Amber frowned and eyed the smaller man.

"I'll pass," she stated.

"See you later then." Amber nodded to her friend and made her way down the empty bleachers towards the side of the ring. As she drew near she could hear the trainer talking to the smaller man.

"This is about six stitches," the trainer explained. "Jesus. I'll never figure out why you always pick the biggest guys to fight Spades."

"Nothing wrong with a challenge Jimmy," the smaller man stated calmly.

"A challenge is one thing," the trainer replied. "What you're doing is stacking the deck against yourself. I think you have company." The smaller man's narrowed eyes turned to stare at Amber.

"Hi."

"Hello," the man replied.

"I'm Amber Young," Amber stated. "I have a question."

"The name is Spades Ikari," the man replied. "And if your question has anything to do with a date then I'm just going to say no now it it's all the same to you."

"Actually," Amber began, feeling her eyebrow twitch a little, "I was wondering; are you brain dead, blind, or just stupid? Did you see the size of the other guy?" Spades' eyes widened slightly.

"I told you all American females weren't over sexed hussies," the trainer stated.

"You also told me Fuzzy Navels were non-alcoholic," Spades growled.

"I did? Wow. I was lying out my ass." The trainer turned to Amber. "There's a funny thing with Spades here. He has brains and he has guts, but they don't work too well at the same time."

"Bite me," Spades hissed. The trainer chuckled and began searching through his medical kit. Slowly, almost cautiously Spades extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Now that the asshole switch is in the off position I can say the same," Amber replied as she shook the man's hand.

(:Present:)

"Wake up." Amber jerked upright and looked around the plane.

"What's the matter?" she demanded.

"Easy," Spades replied. "Dinner is being served. I didn't know if you had trouble keeping food down on flights so I woke you up."

"Thanks." Amber dug the meal catalogue out of the seat in front of her and flipped it open. "I was just dreaming about the time we met."

"That was a while ago," Spades commented. "A little less then six years, right?"

"Yeah," Amber answered. "It was about six months after you came here and started to work on your Master's."

"Speaking of which, when are you going back to school to get yours?"

"Pretty soon," Amber replied. "I just need to get everything in the agency settled down first. I've only been in charge for a few years."

"That's understandable," Spades stated. "See anything you like on there?"

"A few things," Amber muttered absentmindedly. "What about you Spades?"

"Couple of things," Spades replied. "Speaking of your take over, how's the old man?"

"His cancer came back," Amber stated. "It isn't looking too good. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the guys. Most of them worked under him for years. The only men who have only worked under me are you, Mark, and Pablo."

"You have all of our respect," Spades stated. "Don't doubt that. We'd do anything for you."

"Thanks Spades."

"After all, you are the annoying little sister most of us never had."

"I'm just going to start covering your mouth after you say something nice," Amber growled. "Everything with you is one step forward and two back. One compliment and two insults."

"You've known me for how many years and you're only now learning this?" Spades asked as he stared at his menu, frowned, and pulled out his reading glasses.

"You suck Spades."

"Does that statement have anything to do with your recent inquiries into my gender preference for a lover?"

"One more word and I dock your pay," Amber managed through her clenched jaw.

"Mm," Spades hummed dismissingly.

(:ii:)

Amber whimpered as a shudder ran through the plane. "You can talk again Spades. Say something soothing."

"Don't be such a pussy," Spades replied. Amber stared at him. "Well that's what my trainer used to tell me whenever I was nervous before a fight."

"Good advice. Real fatherly kind of guy, wasn't he?" Amber asked.

"Yeah." Amber nodded her understanding. Those two had been close. It had hit Spades hard when Jimmy had died. Amber frowned.

"Hey Spades?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to," Amber began, "but I was wondering about when Jimmy died."

"Go ahead."

"Why was he gunned down?" Amber asked. The mystery surrounding the drive by shooting of Spades' trainer had terrified many students and the university had been forced to temporarily shut down because none of the students would leave their dorms.

"It was mistaken identity," Spades explained. "The Grays thought he was someone from another gang." Amber frowned. The Grays. That sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out where she had heard it.

"Did the cops tell you?"

"No," Spades stated. "They gave up on the case. I asked one of the Grays myself."

"You asked one of them?" Amber repeated in disbelief. "He just told you?"

"Well I did torture him for a while," Spades stated. "In the end he told me everything and died." Amber's jaw dropped. The Grays! That had been a local gang that had been massacred. Thirty-three people had died and all sorts of racial shit had hit the fan when the cops couldn't produce a killer.

"You. . .you. . .you killed. . ."

"Yeah," Spades replied. "My first time. Beats a hat trick doesn't it?"

"You killed every single one?" Amber asked.

"Yep," Spades replied. "Used my old comp pistol. That was why I switched from 9mms to .45s."

"What?"

"You know those scars on my leg?"

"The one where it looks like someone hit you with a bed of nails?" Amber asked.

"More like a plank of nails," Spades corrected. "I put four 9mm rounds in his chest before I had to snap his neck." Spades stood up. "Plane landed."

"What?" Amber looked around and realized that the plane had stopped its movement. "Oh. . .uh. . .thanks Spades."

"No problem Chief."

"We're finally in Japan."

"Try not to get us deported," Spades commented. Amber glared at the man, trying to forget their previous conversation.

"You're more likely to get up deported!"

"Well of course," Spades agreed. "It's my goal for this trip."

"Whatever," Amber stated, exasperation prevalent in her voice. "Just try to avoid jail. I'm a master of American legal loop holes, not Japanese ones."

"Right."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. At least they're in Japan now. That was my goal for this chapter. Geez! I was gone three weeks with a buster computers, fucking HP, because of jackass repairmen, fucking Best Buy, and apparently nobody notices! I'm hurt people, real hurt.

Wanted, a person capable of reading and correcting grievous spelling and grammatical errors. Perks. Reading new stories and chapters before everyone else. Cons. Having bitchy e-mails sent to you by me if I get bitched at for grammar after you've proof read something. Send e-mails addressed to the e-mail address in the bio and do not review for the position..