(*Author's note: Here is chapter six. I'd like to thank GoldAngel2 for beta reading this (although, I have added almost 300 words since the last time she's seen it :) and I hope that she likes the revised as much as the original). I'd also like to thank the people who have reviewed since my last posting. Thank you Wolfwood11 and GoldAngel2 (who have both reviewed every chappie I've posted so far!) and thank you Kris Ice (who reviewed twice!). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I didn't explicitly say so before but if anyone has any questions, suggestions or criticisms to offer on this or any other chapter, feel free to do so. You might make me aware of something that I missed or help me to fine tune my skills or even spark new ideas . . .

With that being said, I see no reason not to be on with the chapter *)

.

.

.

.

Cathy squinted down at the newspaper, trying to get the squiggles on the page to look like words again. After a few frustrating minutes, she decided that it wasn't worth the effort (or the headache) to read yesterday's news - no, the day before yesterday's news now. Leaning back in the chair, she rubbed her aching eyes and had a fleeting worry about maybe needing glasses before her sense took over. She was just tired and, looking at her watch, she saw that she had every reason to be.

It was almost two o'clock in the morning now. If tonight had been a normal night, she would have been in bed hours ago. Well, it's a good thing I don't have to work today, she thought, as she sat up. On a work day (which included every day but Saturday - she wanted the opportunity to spend some time with Jimmy that wasn't interrupted by rude people asking for refills), she had to be at the Sweet Pot by six a.m.; she couldn't imagine being able to function if she had to do that today.

Not that she would have let that stop her if it had been a work day. She needed the money too badly to let something like lack of sleep stop her. While theirs was not a hand-to-mouth existence any longer (due, in great part to her husband's . . . absence), her and Jimmy's situation wasn't anything that could be called comfortable. No, they weren't starving and they had a roof over their heads, but Cathy was afraid that, between the bills the hospital would send her and the fire at the hotel, there would not be enough money at the end of the month to break even.

She shook her head sharply, feeling irritated with herself. It didn't do any good worrying about it now, did it? And it wasn't as if it would be the first time that she'd found herself close to the end of the month without a dime to her name; she'd managed to scrape by before and, if she had to, she would do so again.

Still, she thought with a slightly bitter smile, it would be nice if she could come out a head one of these days. Not like that was going to happen any time soon -

Cathy closed her eyes and tried to think about something else, not wanting to start swimming in the bitterness pool. It was hard to get out once you got in and she had no intention of diving into it head first, thank you very much. She opened her eyes and looked at the livingroom doorway.

He had to be done with that phone call by now. Even if he wasn't, she'd given him almost an hour; how patient was she supposed to be? Besides, she felt like she could dose off at any second and, if that was going to happen, she'd rather be in a bed. She'd been just about ready to stand up and see what was happening when she heard Jet's voice.

"Cathy!" He sounded equal parts concerned and frustrated, as if he'd been calling for a while and was starting to worry. She couldn't remember hearing him earlier but she supposed it was possible that she'd dosed off or had been thinking too deeply to notice.

"I'm coming!" She stood slowly, stretching her stiff back, before making her way back into the livingroom. Jet was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and his good leg bouncing quickly. He looked as if he would have been pacing if he'd been able to but had had to settle for fidgeting instead. Clearly, patience wasn't one of his virtues.

He looked up and Cathy didn't miss the look of relief that flashed across his face before it was replaced with annoyance. "There you are! Jeeze, didn't you hear me calling? I was about ready to come after you." The heat in his voice was negated by the almost smile he gave her towards the end.

"I bet," she said with a slight smile of her own. "Were you able to get a hold of Doctor Gilmore?"

He shook his head as he uncrossed his arms. "No, I missed him. But I left a message with Albert and he'll make sure he calls me." Then he actually looked a bit sheepish. "I hope you don't mind I gave him your phone number."

She decided that 'sheepish' was an expression that didn't set well on his face. "That's okay." Although, she wondered briefly how he'd known it before remembering that she'd put it on the phone - when she'd first moved in here, she was always forgetting the number. "Who's Albert?"

"He's just a friend."

Cathy almost asked if this Albert was like Jet - a cyborg - but decided that it wasn't really important for her to know. However, there was something that she did need to ask. "But Doctor Gilmore, he can help you, right? He can fix your leg?"

"As good as new."

That was a relief. "Good." She didn't know what she would have done if Jet had permanently crippled himself for her sake. The thought of it had been eating at her all night and she thought she could breathe a little easier now that she knew he was going to be okay.

She'd been just about to ask where Doctor Gilmore lived (so she'd have a better idea of when he would come for Jet) when she noticed how he was slouching on the couch. His skin seemed pale beneath the dirt and his eyes weren't really focusing on anything. He seemed nearly done in. "You look awful," she declared, thinking out loud.

Jet cocked his head and gave her a wry smile. "You really know how to flatter a guy."

"Why thank you, Jet," she said sweetly, pretending not to hear the sarcasm. "I try."

He stared at her for a second, as if he wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, before shaking his head. "Right." It seemed like he was going to say more but had to yawn instead. No, he wouldn't last too much longer would he?

Fighting back her own yawn, she asked if he'd be all right sleeping on the couch. It really was the only place for him: Jet was too tall for Jimmy's bed and she doubted that he would enjoy sleeping on the floor.

Jet inspected the couch with slightly droopy eyes. "It'll do."

"I'll be right back," she said before going to her son's bedroom to steal his comforter and pillow. She'd have to do something else when Jimmy came back, but they'd do now. At least it seemed like Jimmy had actually decided to listen to her about eating in bed - everything looked clean.

When she came back, Jet frowned at the bundle in her arms but said nothing. Cathy guessed that it was against the code of manliness to use blankets that had cartoon characters on them. Well, like it or not, he was just going to have to suffer with Ninja Turtles* for now.

She handed him the pillow and set the blanket on the table. "All right, now lie back and I'll get you settled."

He did so and as Cathy put the throw pillows under his knee she couldn't help but notice his discomfort. He kept opening and closing his mouth like he wanted to say something but kept changing his mind instead. Judging by the look on his face, he probably wanted to say something along the lines of "You don't have to do this" or "I don't need you to mother me."

Once she'd finished tucking him in (a notion she was sure tickled her more than it would Jet), she took a moment to admire her handiwork. His leg was elevated and it looked as though she'd made the couch as comfortable as it was going to get. She decided that it would do.

She'd been just about to go brush her teeth when Jet, who had been frowning deeply at his blanket those times when he hadn't been opening his mouth, asked a question.

"What are these things?" He spoke with the tone of a man who wasn't quite sure what he was looking but who, at the same time, was almost certain that he didn't like whatever it was.

It took her a second to realize what he was talking about. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." When he didn't look enlightened, she added, "They're cartoon characters."

"They're hideous," he said flatly.

Cathy shook her head, finding it hard to believe that they were actually having this conversation. Truthfully, she'd never really given anything about them too much thought - she'd never liked the show because she'd felt that it was full of the same sort of nonsense that Jet had been filling Jimmy's head with . . .

Although, considering everything that had happened, how much of it (at least in Jet's case) was nonsense? After all, that 'nonsense' had saved her life - she could hardly keep calling it that. Maybe she'd only thought it was nonsense because it always seemed that the only heroes that fought for a better world were in comic books and cartoon shows - you didn't come across too many real life heroes. At least, she hadn't met too many . . .

You've got a lot in common with those turtles, she thought, realizing, as she thought it, that it was true. He and the turtles basically fought for them same things. And both of them had a masked arch-enemy with a stupid name. But most importantly, they were both heroes - really, the only difference was that Jet was real.

At least, she'd thought she thought it before Jet answered, looking both unbelieving and insulted. "You think I'm ugly?"

"No," she said, trying not to laugh at his expression, "I mean, they go around fighting evil and saving people too."

"Do they?" He gave the blanket another look before shrugging. "Well, they're still ugly."

She shook her head and smiled. "Do you need anything before I go to bed?"

"No," he said as he closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Cathy."

"Goodnight, Jet."

***

After her evening libations, Cathy clicked off the living room light. The apartment wasn't completely dark; thanks to the old streetlight outside her window, everything in the room was enveloped in a sickly yellow glow. It was bright enough for her to navigate around the furniture and it was bright enough for her to tell that Jet was asleep as she paused next to the couch.

She looked down at him and sighed as she took in his features. Most people looked peaceful when they were sleeping - Jet looked almost as guarded as he did when he was awake. Maybe more so because he couldn't put on that mask of indifference he seemed so fond of. Considering what she guessed about his background (and whatever else he'd gone though since being a cyborg), she supposed it was only natural that he'd look that way.

Of course, natural or not, it made her feel a little sad anyway. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Cathy reached a hand out and smoothed Jet's hair away from his face. He tensed at her touch, but relaxed again as her hand came to rest on his forehead. It amazed her how young he looked.

She thought about all those stories Jimmy had told her about Jet, wondering how much of all that had been true. Not that she had much reason to doubt it - considering what she'd seen him do, but she still found it a bit hard to mesh the image of the sleeping young man before her with that of this 002 Jimmy had liked to gush about.

Not that any of that really mattered. The truth was that Jet didn't need all of his past exploits as 002 to be a hero in her eyes; he'd become a hero the moment he'd stepped into that hotel. He'd risked his life for her and she would never forget that. Even if she found that she didn't like Jet as a person, he'd always have her gratitude. Cathy was smart enough to know that if it hadn't been for Jet, she would have been dead and Jimmy would have been an orphan -

- and she still hadn't thanked him for that! She'd been meaning to, but the time had just never seemed right and she couldn't think of how she'd say it anyway. 'Oh, and by the by, thanks for saving my life back there,' didn't even come close to sounding right. It sounded so hollow and she would never want to be so flippant about something this important . . .

She thought about it a moment longer before deciding that all of this could wait until later - after she'd had at least a couple hours of sleep. It wasn't as if there was some sort of deadline she had to stick to. Had all the time in the world, really. Besides, she thought with a mental chuckle, I doubt that he'd appreciate a 'thank you' at the moment.

"Goodnight, Jet," Cathy whispered as she drew her hand away. She stood there a moment longer and found herself smiling as she realized that the warmth she had felt for Jet back on the roof top** hadn't disappeared. If anything, it had grown.

.

.

.

.

To Be Continued . . .

* I have serious doubts that anyone reading this hasn't heard of these! Cartoon about mutated turtles that learned the art of Ninja and tried to stop their arch-foes from ruining the world.

** This harkens back to 'Of Moths and Flames' (I'm citing stuff *I've* written; I feel so important :) )