Author's note: Here we are and here is Chapter 17. The real Chapter 17. Not Chapter 16 again.

Thank you's go to WolfDaughter, Strata, jet777 and GoldAngel2 for reviewing Chapter 16, the revised edition. A big THANK YOU goes to GoldAngel2 for betaing this chapter.

I think that's about it. Please enjoy Chapter 17!

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Cathy was aware of his hand still holding her chin and her own hand covering his and she could feel that their knees were touching but the only thing that seemed real were his eyes. Jet's eyes were beautiful: she had never seen that color before. A mixture of browns and reds. She felt like she was floating, drifting in a sea of fire.

It wasn't like her to be so . . . poetic and she might have laughed at the strangeness of it if it hadn't been so apt. She felt like she could remain adrift for a long while and not care. She felt so warm. Leaning in. She felt safe. Leaning closer. She felt -

"Mommy!"

Jimmy's voice shattered the moment like a baseball through a window pane. Cathy jerked out of her stupor and realized just how close she'd been to Jet. How close she had come to doing something that she couldn't take back. For a crazy moment, she almost felt disappointed.

But she didn't have long to question this feeling as Jimmy rushed to her and climbed up into her lap. "Mommy, I was so scared."

Cathy wrapped her arms around her son and pulled him close, realizing, as she did so, that he was crying. Remembering how close she'd come to never holding him again, she felt a little like crying herself. "Shush, it's okay, baby. I'm okay."

Running her hand through his hair, she continued to mumble comforts into his ear until Jimmy pulled away. His cheeks were wet with tears but his face was red with embarrassment now that his need for comfort was overwhelmed by the need to be grown up and cool.

When he noticed that Jet was sitting on the couch, he hurriedly wiped what was left of his tears away. "Jet's still here?"

She smiled at the cautious hope in Jimmy's voice. With all that she'd said about Jet in the last couple of weeks, she wasn't surprised that he was finding it hard to believe. "Yep. And he'll be staying here for the next couple of days."

Then she leaned her head closer to him, to spare Jet some embarrassment, and said softly, "Jet hurt his leg so you'll have to help me take care of him when I'm not here, okay?"

Jimmy beamed, nodding furiously - whether because his idol was staying with them or because he was being intrusted with the responsibility of care giver, Cathy didn't know. She also found that she didn't care: it seemed like such a long time since she'd seen her son smile this.

Had it really been so long since Jimmy had been genuinely happy?

"How did you get hurt, Jet?" Jimmy's expression had become concerned and his smile had disappeared.

"Uh, well," Jet wasn't blushing but it seemed like a close thing, "I was just a little clumsy last night, that's all."

Jet? Being modest? Cathy wondered when the other signs of the Apocalypse would appear. Even though she generally couldn't stand it when people stroked their own egos, considering the fact that Jet had saved her life at the risk of his own, she figured that he was entitled to brag a little.

"Don't be so modest, Jet!" she exclaimed, swatting Jet's shoulder. "I'm sure Jimmy would love to hear how you came to my rescue."

Jet looked at her and frowned, plainly uncomfortable. "It wasn't that big a deal."

Cathy had been about to protest when she realized what the problem might be. It couldn't be that he didn't want Jimmy to know that he was 002 - as far as she could see, the story could be easily changed. No. If she had to guess, she'd say that Jet, cyborg 002, was afraid. Afraid that maybe Jimmy would not be as impressed by a story about Jet doing something that a human could do.

Which was silly.

Before she had a chance to say so, Jimmy spoke up for her. "Wow, you saved my mom?"

Cathy slid Jimmy off her lap so he could sit next to Jet. "He sure did - I bet he'll tell you all about it, if you ask."

For once, the shining hero worship in her son's eyes didn't make her feel like she was losing the war for Jimmy's future. "Really?" Then he turned to Jet. "Pleeeease."

As she watched Jet's expression soften, she decided that she should probably give the boys some privacy. Besides, remembering what had almost happened before Jimmy had interrupted, well, she had some things to think about. And the sooner she did, the better off she would be.

Now that Jet was starting his story, she took the opportunity to slip away. Jimmy didn't seem to notice at all. Jet did and gave her a questioning look. When she pantomimed eating, he smiled and got back to what he was saying. Men . . . the quickest way to make them forget about anything was bringing up food.

After she closed the kitchen door behind her, she went straight to the cupboards. She was starving and she didn't think an early dinner would do any of them harm considering the kind of day they'd had.

Unfortunately, like she had this morning when she was choosing something to wear, she was having a hard time deciding what to cook. In terms of what she felt like doing, she thought that she'd be able to manage throwing some frozen pizza in the oven.

But she had company. That meant cooking something nicer.

Cathy shook her head. No, now she wasn't being honest. If Maria had been coming over, she wouldn't be worrying about what she was going to cook. If she was going to be honest, the reason she was having a hard time deciding was because she wanted to . . .

To impress Jet.

She sat down at the table and allowed herself a sigh. She was in trouble, wasn't she? Or, if she wasn't yet, she would be if she wasn't more careful. If Jimmy hadn't interrupted when he had, she knew she would have kissed Jet - she was afraid to guess what would have happened then.

Would he have been surprised? Startled? Repulsed? Would he have pulled away from her? Would he have let her explain - could she have explained if he had? Or would he have kissed her back? Would he have welcomed it?

There were so many questions, but one thing she knew for sure: the last thing she needed was to have her heart broken again.

That was it. There was really nothing more to think about. Her feelings were too jumbled for her to understand what she was feeling - what if, in the event that Jet had accepted her advance, she was only rebounding, picking up the next available man to fill the void in her heart? That would not be fair to either of them.

It was clear to Cathy that no one would be happy if she acted on what she was feeling. Since that was the case, it seemed the smartest and least selfish thing to do would for her to stop being foolish and forget these feelings of hers. That way, everyone could be happy.

Except you.

She brushed the thought away. A little personal unhappiness seemed a small price to pay when she considered how likely it was that attaching herself to someone new right now would only cause her more pain in the long run.

It was settled. She'd mind her own business and keep her feelings to herself. She was used to keeping her feelings locked up. It should be easy.

Still, as Cathy finally settled on some canned stew, she wondered if it really would be that simple.

(Time moving forward)

Once dinner was finished cooking, Cathy opened the door with the intention of letting Jet and Jimmy know that it was time to eat. Seeing that Jet was still speaking, she lingered in the doorway and listened. It sounded like he was nearing the end of his story.

"It was looking pretty bad for us - your mom not being able to breathe and me with my messed up leg. I don't mind telling you that I was this close to giving up." Jet held up his hand, his pointer almost touching his thumb to show how close 'close' was. "But then your mother, she says to me: 'Jet, stop feeling sorry for yourself and get us out of here.'"

While Cathy couldn't see Jimmy's expression from where she stood, she could hear the excitement in his voice. "Then what happened?"

"Well, I realized that I was being stupid. So, I quickly came up with a plan - I figured that the only way to get us out of this alive, was for me to carry her up to the roof where we could get picked up by the helicopter."

"Didn't that hurt?"

Jet grinned. "Like a bi -" he cut himself off and Cathy was grateful that she wouldn't have to go out there and lecture him. "It hurt a lot. But I didn't let it stop me - there was only one chance at this and I couldn't let something like a banged up leg stop me."

Cathy found herself hanging on his every word even though she had been there. No wonder Jimmy liked listening to his stories! Jet was very good at this.

"So, I found the stairs that led up to the roof and I took them, one at a time. I wanted to get out of there before my strength gave out but I knew better than to rush - one fall and that would have been the end of it." He used his hands to demonstrate the fall and the clap startled Cathy into making a noise.

But Jet and Jimmy were too involved to notice it. "I was one step from the top when it happened. My leg cramped up. I knew that if we didn't get out of there now, we never would. So, I gathered up all my strength and made a final charge."

"And you got out?"

Jet nodded. "Yes. And not a second too soon."

Jimmy swung his fist in the air. "That was so cool, Jet! You're a real man - just like 002!"

Cathy covered her mouth to keep from laughing as Jet's expression became amused but pained. "Yeah."

"I want to be brave like that when I grow up." Jimmy was looking down now, his voice sounding almost sad. "I think I'd be scared to do what you did."

"What's wrong with that?"

Jimmy looked up again. "Huh?"

Jet put his hand on top of Jimmy's head and left it there. "Being brave doesn't mean not being scared. You'd have to be stupid to never be scared."

Her son didn't sound convinced. "I bet you weren't scared."

"I was. When things were looking bad in there, I was scared." Jet's expression was serious and his eyes were earnest. "I was afraid that I was going to die and that your mother was going to die because I wasn't smart enough to pay attention to what I was doing or strong enough to do what I went in to do."

He moved his hand from Jimmy's head to his shoulder. "It doesn't matter if you're scared - all that matters is if you can still do what you have to do. That's what being brave is."

"Well, I still don't think I could rescue someone from a burning building."

Jet smiled and took his hand back. "Not yet, but someday I'm sure you could." Then he grinned. "Just don't tell your mother I said so - she'd never forgive me for putting the idea in your head."

Jimmy laughed. "Okay."

Cathy watched them with a sense of longing. Why couldn't Jimmy's real father be more like that. She couldn't remember Daniel ever talking to Jimmy the way Jet had - she couldn't remember Daniel ever really talking to Jimmy at all. Daniel had talked 'at' Jimmy a lot - mostly consisting of 'Hey, you're blocking the TV!' - but never like this.

What she had just seen . . . this was what a father should be like.

For a moment, she pictured what it would have been like if someone like Jet had been Jimmy's father. It seemed like it would have been very . . . nice.

She shook her head. It didn't matter if Jet was a better father to Jimmy than Daniel was - she doubted that Jet would want to be Jimmy's father and she knew that she didn't really want him to be. Cathy was just letting her emotions take over. She was just being foolish.

Besides, Daniel might have been a terrible husband and he might not have been much of a father, but he had one thing going for him that Jet didn't: she loved him.

She didn't love Jet. She liked him, which was incredible enough, but she didn't love him.

At least, that's what she told herself as she entered the livingroom fully and told Jet and Jimmy that it was time to eat.