(*Author's note: Chapter 7 took me a loong while to write and when I finally finished, I wrote a song about it. However, since most of the song is composed of "Go me! I wrote chapter 7! Oh yeah!" and since it's not the same if you can't hear it, I'm not going to talk about it anymore.

Enough hilarity! Let's get down to business. 1) GoldAngel2 really helped me out with this one (as well as beta reading it!) and she deserves a great big 'thank you.' So thank you. And 2) GoldAngel2, Wolfwood11 and StunGun Millie took the time to leave a review and they have some 'thank you's' coming to them too. So, Thank you, thank you and thank you.

I don't think anything in this chapter needs an explanation. There's really no point in stalling any longer. So, here is chapter 7. Enjoy! *)

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The first thing that Jet noticed as he crawled towards wakefulness was a strange ringing sound. At first, he couldn't think of what it could be. Then, as he woke up a little more, he realized that it was a telephone and that, since it was ringing, he should probably answer it.

He opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by the light streaming in through the window. Late morning then, maybe early afternoon. Either way, while it was late enough to be awake, he felt like he could use a few more winks - just to be on the safe side.

Before he could roll over and try for those winks, the phone rang again and reminded him of why he'd opened his eyes in the first place. Still trying for 'awake' instead of just 'conscious,' he turned his head towards the source of the sound and frowned. He hadn't made that many phone calls since coming back to New York, but he did know what his phone looked like and this wasn't it. At the same time, he realized that he was lying on a couch instead of in his bed.

It was very confusing and it took him another ring to remember that he wasn't in his apartment at all. It was Cathy's apartment; Cathy's couch; and Cathy's phone. Which was still ringing.

He reached for the phone, now remembering why he was at her apartment and who was probably calling. Misjudging how far he actually was from the phone, he almost knocked it on the floor before getting a good grip on the receiver. He put it to his ear and tried to chase the remaining fog from his brain.

"Hello?"

"002?" Doctor Gilmore sounded a bit hesitant, as if he wasn't sure he'd actually gotten a hold of the right person.

Jet felt himself smile. "The one and only."

"I called as soon as I heard. Are you all right?"

It was only the concern in his voice that stopped Jet from saying something sarcastic. "I'm okay for now, but my leg's not in good shape."

"004 said as much. What's wrong with it?"

Jet took a moment to think of the right words. He didn't want to make the doctor worry too much but he also wanted him to be able to tell if it was serious or not. "It's my right leg; I didn't get a real good look at it, but I'm missing most of the skin on my knee and there's some kind of pink fluid leaking from it."

When the doctor didn't immediately reply, he asked, "Do you think it's serious?" Jet couldn't keep the fear out of his voice and he hated himself for it. After all, what was there to be afraid of? Doctor Gilmore had a knack for fixing them up and he knew he had healed worse wounds than his - he was going to be fine. He knew that: he just found it hard to believe at the moment.

"What? Oh, I think you'll be fine. I'll have to take a look to be certain, but I'm sure you'll be all right." The fact that the doctor sounded very confident about this made Jet feel a lot better. "Are you by yourself? We'll try to come as soon as we can, but it's going to be a couple of days at least."

"No. 004 told you what happened, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, that woman offered to put me up for a while." It had been less of an 'offer' and more of an 'order,' but he figured that the end result was the same. For whatever reason she was doing it, he was sure that she'd be willing to put up with him for a few days.

"Good. How are you feeling - are you dizzy or anything like that?"

"No, except for my leg, I feel all right." Actually, he felt a bit tired, but, considering what had happened last night and how much sleep he'd gotten, he would have thought it strange if he didn't.

He could almost hear the doctor's thoughtful nod. "All right." There was a sort pause before he continued, sounding a bit more business like. "We were actually going to try looking for you before you called."

"Really?" Jet asked warily. Taking the doctor's tone into account, it was obvious that they hadn't wanted to find him so they could invite him to a reunion. Something must have happened. "Is Black Ghost back or something?" He'd meant it in a flippant way but, once it came out, he immediately regretted it - it wasn't the sort of thought he wanted to contemplate.

"What! No," Doctor Gilmore assured him, "nothing like that."

"Then what?"

The doctor told him that an old colleague from the Black Ghost days had written him, asking for his help. Or rather, the help of 005, 009 and 002. Something about finding some kind of dinosaur*. The letter had been very specific about who was needed and they had wanted to find Jet to see if he'd be interested in helping.

Once Doctor Gilmore had finished, Jet took a second to think it over. The whole thing sounded suspicious and he didn't like the idea of helping out someone who'd worked for Black Ghost but - and there always was a but - he found it hard to deny Doctor Gilmore anything. It was obvious to Jet, from the way he'd been talking, that the doctor wanted to help this guy and, well, he knew better than anybody that everybody deserved a second chance.

"Okay, after I'm patched up, I'll help this guy - if Joe and Geranimo agree to help too."

"Excellent. I was hoping you'd agree."

"So, when do we leave for that?"

The doctor paused, giving it some thought. "As soon as possible - probably as soon as you're well enough to do it."

Jet frowned. He'd been hoping for a little more time so he could put his affairs in order - such as they were. At the very least, he'd wanted time to break his leaving to Jimmy gently. The poor kid didn't need two guys running out on him . . .

He must have taken too long with these thoughts as the doctor asked, "Is that all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Jet lied. After a short pause, he changed the subject. "You said 'we' are coming. Who else is coming with you?"

"Everyone, although we have to stop at San Francisco to pick up 005."

"Oh." Jet was surprised to say the least. He'd expected that it'd only be Doctor Gilmore and maybe Joe or Albert. All of them were coming? Just to pick him up? Why?

"We all missed you, you know." While the overall tone was gentle, there was a shade of hurt in it that Jet could not miss.

"I know," he said. "I missed you guys too." Jet was a little surprised with himself - it wasn't like him to just come out with stuff like that. Maybe he hadn't gotten enough sleep or something. Either way, he'd meant what he said; he just felt embarrassed for saying it.

Not giving the doctor a chance to reply, he tried to distance himself from the emotional topic. "Hey, Doctor, I was wondering: what's the pink fluid for?"

The change in subject seemed to throw the doctor because it took him a second to speak. "Honestly, 002," Doctor Gilmore's voice held a very familiar tone of exasperation, "I would have hoped that you'd pay closer attention - it is your body after all."

Jet had even missed being lectured . . . well, just a little. "Yeah, fine. So what's it for?"

The doctor sighed and told him that, when they came, he could just take a look at the schematics himself - maybe then he'd remember it.

Jet chuckled on the inside. No, nothing ever changed, did it? "Fine, don't tell me; I don't need to know anyway." He sounded annoyed, but, truthfully, the doctor's answer had set his mind at ease; if the pink fluid was for something important, Doctor Gilmore would have just told him. But, since he hadn't, Jet knew that he wouldn't have to worry about it.

"002, of course you -" The doctor sounded like he was going to try for a lecture but had thought better of it. "Never mind. Just try to take care of yourself. It shouldn't take us more than a couple days to get you."

"All right. I'll be waiting."

"Goodbye, 002."

"Yeah, goodbye, Doctor Gilmore." Jet hung up the phone and just lay there for a while, thinking. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd had so many mixed feelings. He was frankly overjoyed that he'd be able to see everyone from the Dolphin and that they were all coming to see him. But, at the same time, he knew that he'd be leaving a lot of unfinished business here when he left.

He knew that Jimmy probably wouldn't take it well and Jet wasn't sure what he could do to soften the blow for him. It didn't help that Jet had never been good at saying goodbye - especially to people that he cared for.

Then there was this thing between him and Cathy. Or rather, this thing with him that had to do with Cathy. He'd spent a lot of time not thinking about it, thinking that he'd have time to later, but now it seemed that he didn't really have a lot of later to play around with.

The main reason he'd been trying not to think about it was that the whole thing confused him. This sudden . . . warmth he felt for Cathy seemed wrong somehow. He kept asking himself how it could be possible to completely turn his feelings for her on their head in less than a day. To go from what he'd felt before to what he felt now . . .

It wasn't that he'd ever hated her, exactly - the fact that she obviously cared so much for her son put her up a few notches in his book - but it would be a lie to say that he'd ever really liked her. And she hadn't really given him much of a reason to.

But now? Now he thought he cared for her. Not because she was Jimmy's mother, like he had when he went to rescue her, but because she was Cathy Jenkins. Because she was one heck of a woman who was probably as stubborn as he was. Because she hadn't let him get away with giving up. Because sh -

And, now that he thought about it, if Cathy hadn't insisted on not listening to him back at the hotel, they both probably would have died. He might have tried getting up after she left, but he probably wouldn't have made it without someone egging him on. It was humbling to realize that she had saved his life just as much as he'd saved hers.

So, maybe it wasn't so strange to think that he cared for her.

Of course, Jet was sure that she didn't feel the same way. Oh, sure she'd been very kind to him and more patient than he would have given her credit for, but she was just showing her gratitude and that was it. He was sure that's all it was. He was sure that once she came to her senses, things would go back to the way they used to be.

Except that they wouldn't because, when Doctor Gilmore came, he'd be leaving.

He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered again how he'd break the news to Jimmy; he hadn't needed Cathy to tell him how much Jimmy liked him. Truth was, he was fond of the kid too and he knew how hard he was going to take this. At least, he was sure, Cathy would be happy that he was finally going to leave her son alone.

Giving it some more thought, he decided that, after a day or two, Jimmy would be fine. He was sure that Jimmy would find someone else to latch on to in no time. The only thing the Jet was worried about was the fact that Jimmy was too trusting for his own good - it had only been a matter of luck that he hadn't met a real creep before running into Jet.

Well, thought Jet with a smirk, there weren't too many creeps that'd be able to get passed Cathy . . .

The smirk was quickly replaced by a frown. He was really going to miss this place, and not just for the reasons that included Jimmy and Cathy. It had been nice to be just a normal person again. It had been nice to go to the same coffee shop or restaurant enough times to have a 'usual.' It had been especially nice to not have to worry about anything besides how he planned on burning his next meal**.

Not to say that he wouldn't have welcomed a little excitement (boredom had been a constant companion those times when he wasn't with Jimmy) and he had reached the point where he'd need to get a job to keep his apartment, but . . . he had been hoping that it would last just a little while longer.

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To be continued . . .

* This refers to the episode "Fossils of Evil" which according to my time line of events (as well as TV Tome's episode guide) comes right after "Hero"

** As we saw in "The Story of a Struggling Restaurant," cooking is not Jet's forte :)