(Author's note: Here is the new and approved Chapter 18. I wasn't completely happy with the ending of the original chapter 18 so's I's figured I'd change it. I appologize for the loooong wait . . . I shall try to be quicker in the future. Thanks go to GoldAngel2 for reBeta'ing this chapter and reviewing the first incarnation of it as well as WolfDaughter for reviewing the first incarnation.)

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For Jet's part, dinner felt very awkward. He now shared his space on the couch with Cathy and Jimmy because Cathy had said that he shouldn't have to eat alone. He had argued that it wasn't necessary for her and Jimmy to put themselves out for his sake and Cathy had said that they were going to eat with him and that was that.

Normally, Jet did not care for "and that is that" but he figured since it was her home and all that it was not really something worth fighting about.

It also felt awkward because no one was saying anything. Jimmy was too busy eating to talk. Cathy was looking straight ahead apparently too interested in watching whatever it was on the TV to talk. Sometimes, she did glance at him but was always quick to look away again. And, as for him, he just couldn't think of anything to say.

He was only glad that it was Jimmy who was sitting next to him and not his mother. Jet still hadn't decided just what had happened between them and he thought that it'd probably be best if he kept his distance in light of his contention that getting involved with Cathy was a very bad idea. The strange way that she was acting only supported that notion.

For Cathy's part, dinner felt very strained. She spent a great deal of her time pointedly not looking at Jet and pretending that she wasn't pointedly not looking at Jet. Every so often, she did happen to gaze in his direction and she wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that, more often than not, he was looking back at her.

She wasn't sure how to deal with it. Although she was firm in her decision not to let this . . . infatuation overtake her, she was left with the problem of not knowing how to act or what to do or what to say. She felt as though she couldn't trust herself to act like herself. One lapse in judgement had been more than enough.

But she could tell now that she wasn't handling the situation correctly. Cathy didn't want to date Jet, that much was true, but she thought that she wouldn't mind being his friend. What she was doing now . . . it was hurtful and very, very childish. And not very friendly at all.

So she would have to find another way to keep her distance - one that didn't involve pushing him away.

For Jimmy's part, dinner was uncomfortable and he was left to wonder if maybe he'd done something wrong. He couldn't think of what it was but it seemed to him that, if he hadn't done something wrong, Jet or his mom would be talking to him.

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Finally, Jet had had enough. After making all that fuss about how he shouldn't have to eat alone . . . with the way Cathy was ignoring him, he hardly thought it made a difference that she was here. It was very irritating - being alone, he could handle; being ignored was a whole other matter.

Why had she bothered to come out here if this was what she was going to do? It was especially annoying to him because he'd thought that they'd made some kind of headway as far as this strange . . . friendship? friendly acquaintance? thing was concerned.

What was her problem, anyway?.

Even Jimmy seemed to notice that something was wrong - at least, if the way he was silently staring at his plate was any indication. And, if a little kid realized something was off, than things were very off indeed.

Well, he wasn't about to stay still for this! "What's wrong with you?"

Cathy started slightly, guiltily, before glancing in his direction. "It's nothing. Nothing's wrong with me." Then she looked meaningfully down at Jimmy and shook her head.

Jet frowned. He didn't like being manipulated like this and, whatever Cathy's problem was, it wasn't likely to get any better by ignoring it, but he definitely didn't want to get into another verbal battle with her in front of Jimmy.

So he turned his gaze to the boy in question. Jimmy was obviously as uncomfortable as he was but his worried expression was quickly hidden by a smile when he noticed that he was being watched. "Hey, Jet."

It was times like this that Jet wished he knew how to make small talk. Still, he was never one to back away from a challenge and Jimmy did look like he wanted to talk. At least someone did. "Hey, Jimmy." There was his opening, now to follow it up with something. But what? " . . . Anything interesting happen at school?"

Jimmy's forced smile became something a bit more genuine. "Oh, lots! Mrs. Perin taught us times 4 today, although I'm still having some trouble with them, I think I'll get it soon. And, um, oh, Bobby's brother is getting out of jail soon . . ."

Jet listened to Jimmy's rambling and wondered what had brought this on. Did Jimmy really want to share every little thing that had happened at school or was he just trying to fill the silence with the sound of his voice? Jet figured that it was probably the latter - Jimmy liked to talk, but he was usually more . . . focused than this.

" - but the best part was at recess. Mike was picking on some first grader until I gave him the ol' 1, 2, 3 just like you showed me and he -" Jimmy broke off, realizing vital moments too late that he'd said too much.

Cathy, who hadn't seemed to be paying much attention up to this point, slowly turned to face them. "The old 1, 2. 3?" She asked, her expression as dangerously bland as her tone. "What's the old 1, 2, 3?"

Jimmy swallowed hard but raised his fists and awkwardly jabbed at the air. "The ol' 1, 2, 3."

Cathy nodded. "And Jet taught you that?" Anger seeped through her tightly controlled expression. "What else did he teach you?"

"Uh," Jimmy squirmed, not wanting to get Jet in trouble but not wanting to lie, "just some stuff."

"What stuff?" She no longer attempted to hide what she was feeling. "What has he been teaching you?"

"Uh," Jimmy said, casting a desperate look in Jet's direction.

Well, he tried to make it a point of helping people who asked. So much for not getting into any arguments tonight! "I taught him some punches; that's all."

Cathy stared at Jet for a long moment before turning her attention back to her son, her smile unnaturally tight. "Jimmy, why don't you go to your room. Jet and I have some things to discuss."

The speed that the boy did as he was ordered would have put Joe to shame. Not a surprise, Jimmy wasn't stupid and it was all too clear what he'd be in for if he'd stayed.

Once his bedroom door has shut behind him, Cathy frowned at Jet. "Have you been teaching Jimmy how to fight, Jet?"

No point in lying . . . too late and Jet wasn't in the habit of lying anyway. And why should he lie about this? Teaching a boy how to fight wasn't something to be ashamed of! "I just taught him some basics - enough to take care of himself."

It was the wrong answer. "So, it's your fault that Jimmy's been getting into so many fights lately!" She stood, her eyes blazing as she walked around the coffee table. "You actually went behind my back and did this - how dare you put Jimmy in danger - of all the stupid things!" She came to stand in front of him and she jabbed a finger at his face. "Where do you get off pulling something like this!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Jet felt his own temper rise as what she had said penetrated more fully. "What do you mean, 'put Jimmy in danger'? You ought to be thanking me for taking the time to make sure he can take care of himself."

Incredibly, this only seemed to make her more angry. "That's not your job! Don't you think I know what's best for my son?"

Jet had not mastered the art of knowing when someone who was asking a question didn't want an honest answer or already had an answer in mind and, even if he had, at that moment, he was too annoyed with Cathy to care. "Obviously not if you think he's better off not knowing how to fight."

A few shocked chuckles escaped her. "So, you think I'm a bad mother because I don't want Jimmy to get into fights? Well, I'm sorry, but he's my son and I don't want him getting hurt - if you keep teaching him, he'll just get into more fights!"

Now it was Jet's turn to laugh. "So, you think if some kids wanna give Jimmy the shake down that they'll stop if he tells them he doesn't know how to fight? You're crazy - might as well tattoo 'victim' on his forehead and get it over with!"

"Oh, that's very clever!" Cathy exclaimed, giving him a couple of mock claps. "I'm sure you think all problems can be solved with a fist, don't you?"

Jet crossed his arms and took a deep breath in a last ditch effort to stay calm enough to salvage the situation. "It's better than depending on other people to save you all the time."

"That's just the kind of thing I'd expect to hear from a thug like you," Cathy said angrily, reminding him eerily of previous 'conversations' they'd had, "but I don't want Jimmy to be like you - I don't want him to get into fights or getting hurt. I want him to stay safe!"

The insult rolled off of Jet's back like so much water but what she'd said about Jimmy made his blood boil. "So, you want him to be a coward? You want him to run away when there's trouble? You want him to abandon people because there's a chance he might be hurt!"

"He's just a child," she argued. "He's not responsible for anyone, he's not even responsible for himself. He doesn't need to fight battles - he needs to focus on his schooling so he can get out of here when he grows up. I don't want him to end up another tough wandering the streets and mugging people. I want him to be someone."

Then she shook her head and continued, sounding drained. "Don't you understand? If he keeps on fighting, he'll never amount to anything."

Jet's anger wasn't as slow to fade. "All I know is that if I'd been as much of a coward as you want Jimmy to be, you'd be dead right now; maybe you should think about that."

Her expression darkened and, for a moment it appeared that she was going to shout again but she only sighed. "Maybe I should." She picked up the dinner dishes and started towards the kitchen before stopping short. "It's not only the fact that you were teaching him how to fight that makes me angry, you know?"

"Oh?" Jet asked, not entirely certain that he was interested. He wasn't really angry any more but he was still annoyed with her for being so dense and refusing to see sense. It wasn't as if what he was saying should be news to her. "And what would else?" he challenged, making no effort to hide his irritation.

Cathy turned, her smile brittle. "You did this behind my back. You didn't even think of asking my opinion - you just went ahead and did it."

He frowned, ignoring the faint twinge of guilt he felt. "What good would that have done? You would have said no." 'And I would have taught him anyway,' he finished silently.

"I'm his mother, Jet," she said tiredly, defeatedly, shaking her head as she turned away. "The decision should have been mine."

Jet watched he go before twisting back around to glare at the television set. That woman! He'd known that this wouldn't last - this calmer, saner Cathy he'd seen earlier. He'd known that they would be at each other's throats again. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon over something so stupid.

Cathy was insane. That was all there was to it. Well, at the very least, she had some strange ideas about fighting. She actually thought that Jimmy, of all people, would end up a criminal just because he knew how to throw a few punches?

It was ridiculous. And it was insulting to her son - hadn't she been listening to what Jimmy had said he'd used the "ol' 1, 2, 3' for? Didn't Jimmy tell her the reasons for all the fights he'd been in lately? Or did she just not listen? She shouldn't be upset that Jimmy was getting into fights - she should be proud that her son was sticking up for other people. True, the kid would have to learn to pick his opponents better, but it was the thought that counted.

She was also insulting herself. If she actually believed that learning how to defend himself would erase the good, caring little boy she'd managed to raise, she was really stupid.

Well, if he did manage to have a civil conversation with the woman again, he'd have to set her straight about that. For Jimmy's sake if not for her's. Not that he expected to get anywhere if she was determined not to listen to reason.

Although, his conscience spoke up at last, that wasn't the only reason she'd blown up at him.

'You did this behind my back . . . I'm his mother, the decision should have been mine.'

Jet exhaled loudly and closed his eyes. Cathy had some warped ideas about fighting but maybe she had had some reason to be upset. He wasn't fond of people doing things behind his back either. Maybe he should have made the effort to explain his position to her. While he didn't think he would have respected her wishes about this matter had he asked and she said no, it still might have been better to have everything out in the open.

Opening his eyes, Jet shrugged to himself as he reached for the remote. There wasn't a whole lot he could do about that now - no amount of 'should have's would change what had already happened. Still, as he flicked through the channels in search of something to watch, he accepted the fact that this conversation with Cathy was far from over. He just hoped that she'd be in the mood to listen.

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Cathy's face was warm with spent anger as she walked into the kitchen and eased the door shut behind her. Slowly, she made her way to the sink and deliberately set the dishes in the sink, making certain that they didn't so much as clink together as she set them down. She turned on the water and stared sightlessly as water pooled over the dirty dishes.

She supposed that she should be grateful. At least she hadn't been completely wrong about Jet: he was a delinquent. Whatever other qualities he possessed, he was still the sort of man who thought that problems were best solved with fists. There was no way she'd ever consider being with a man like that. A man who actually thought that she was a bad mother because she didn't want her son to get into fights.

Not that it matter because she hadn't even wanted to consider being with Jet in the first place.

She shook her head and shut off the water. If that was true, why did she feel so . . . disappointed when she'd realized what Jet had done? Maybe the pendulum had swung the other way and she'd put the man, the boy on a pedestal because he'd saved her life. Maybe she'd been so caught up in looking at the good things, she'd forgotten the bad ones. Even so, there was still no reason for her to feel disappointed in Jet because he'd failed to live up to unreasonable expectations she hadn't realized she'd had.

Of course, just because she had no reason to be disappointed, it didn't change the fact that she was.

Or the fact that what Jet did, going behind her back and teaching Jimmy how to fight, really ticked her off. With more force than was necessary, she started to scrub the dishes as she fumed. What was it with men, really? Was it some kind of John Wayne complex that made them all think that the only way to make it in this world was to hit something? Or shoot something?

If the world was like a Dirty Harry movie, maybe violence would do some good; but the world wasn't like a movie. Things were never that simple. Here, in the real world, the only thing violence was good for was to create more violence. A vicious cycle that would never end until people realized what they were doing to themselves.

Violence was the language of the street. Gang members and drug dealers who spent their time proving their superiority with their fists and nothing else. A world filled with people who didn't care about bettering themselves. People who didn't care, period.

Cathy would give anything to make sure that her son wouldn't become one of those people. She'd do anything to keep Jimmy safe from all that.

'So, you want him to be a coward . . . You want him to abandon people because there's a chance he might be hurt?'

Her grip on the wash cloth tightened. Just because she wanted Jimmy to focus on school work instead of on fighting didn't mean that she wanted him to be a coward! There were other ways to be brave. Martin Luther King and Ghandi didn't have to beat people up to be brave - hitting things didn't make a person brave: standing up for what they believed in did. That was what she wanted for Jimmy; not these school yard fights that would lead him on a path he wouldn't be able to return from.

If only she could make Jet understand that!

She laughed bitterly. Oh, now she was back to 'if only's! Great. Well, it didn't matter how many 'if only's she threw around; someone like Jet would never understand. Although, a calmer part of her reminded, considering what she guessed about Jet's past, his actions shouldn't have been a surprise.

It was clear that he hadn't had an easy life even before what had been done to him by those Black Ghost people. It was possible, likely, that Jet had lived the life she was trying so hard to protect Jimmy from. From what she'd seen just by looking around her, if you lived on the streets and couldn't throw a punch, you'd be eaten alive. Looking at it that way, she supposed, to Jet's mind, he really had been doing Jimmy a favor. Giving him a vital life skill.

Cathy sighed and dropped the cloth back into the water. So, she'd gone from 'violence doesn't solve anything' to 'violence keeps you alive' . . . did that make her a hypocrite or someone who just didn't know how to think things all the way through?

She didn't know. In the end, she supposed that it didn't really matter. In the end, it didn't even matter who was right and who was wrong. What did matter was getting through the next couple of days with as few problems as possible. Since she had already offered to put him up until Dr. Gilmore arrived and since she didn't want to spend the rest of the time he was here sniping with him, she would just have to forgive him.

While she was still upset that Jet had done what he'd done without asking her permission, she knew that forgiveness would be the only way to make the next few days bearable.

It was the only way but she wished, as she made her way to the livingroom, that someday, someone would say they were were sorry before she forgave them.

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To be continued . . . With luck, sooner rather than later :)