Chapter 10
The Swan sat quietly in her seat for the entire trip back to G-Town, reflecting on the agent who had given so much to the ISO, yet whom they had failed to save. The others sensed Jun's mood and gave her the space she needed to reflect on yet another life needlessly lost in this war against Galactor.
When they returned back to base, Ken went to report to Dr. Nambu, and everyone else went for their mandatory post-mission physical. By the time she left the Medical Center, Jun was physically and mentally exhausted.
She was debating just going back to her quarters to get some sleep when she ran into Jinpei and Ryu in the corridor.
"Hey, Onechan, want to join us in the pool?" Jinpei asked her, a hopeful expression on his face.
A swim did sound relaxing to Jun. Besides, she could always soak in the hot tub for awhile and ease the aches from her muscles.
"Sure." she agreed, following the Swallow and the Owl. "That sounds like a good idea."
Barely five minutes later they were all diving into the water. Jun found her exhaustion melting away, as the three ninjas splashed and raced across the pool. She had just performed a graceful dive from the high board when she caught sight of someone entering the pool area, as she swam to the ladder.
"Hey, Joe, want to join us?" Jinpei called.
"I'm just going to do some laps." Joe grunted, turning his back on the trio. He dove into the water, swimming back and forth from end to end, barely acknowledging the presence of his teammates.
"It's like he doesn't want to be on the team anymore." Jinpei complained.
"That's not true." Ryu shook his head. "Why would he have come back, if he didn't want to be on the team?"
"He's obviously got a lot on his mind." Jun said, trying to take the focus of the conversation away from Joe. But it wasn't possible, with the Condor on the other side of the pool, acting as if they weren't even in the room. Not too long after, Jun, Jinpei and Ryu went to the hot tub, leaving the Condor to his self-imposed solitude.
Joe finished his lap, then watched his three teammates from the other end of the pool. He hadn't noticed them leaving at first, as he had been concentrating on his swimming. The additional weight of his cyborg body made flotation difficult, and he had found himself having to re-learn an ability he had once taken for granted. Even a few laps were an effort for him now, but the exercise and the usefulness of the skill made him continue to work at it.
He watched Jun enter the hot tub, scarcely able to tear his eyes away from the sight of her in a bikini. It teased him, hinting at their shared activities the previous night, and its pink color was reminiscent of the Swan's Birdstyle. That miniskirt had been taunting him for years with its tantalizing glimpses of white panties, but he had never actually expected to see the treasures that lay underneath.
Until yesterday.
The Condor no longer felt the water lapping at his chest as he rested by the side of the pool. All he was aware of was the tightening sensation between his legs, and the tingling of his skin.
Joe was still taking in the events of the previous day. He had acted mostly on instinct, and immediate need, but it was only when doing so that he had realized that the desire wasn't momentary, but something that had lain quietly beneath the surface of his emotions for years. He and Jun had always been close; turning to each other in times of emotional distress. Joe supposed that the only reason he hadn't seriously contemplated this kind of relationship with her before was because of Ken.
Ken… Jun had had a crush on him for years. As far as Joe knew, her feelings had always gone unreturned, but then, he had missed two years when he had been in Dr. Rafael's lab. Still, if anything, Ken had appeared to be even more distant with Jun since Joe's return. At one time, Joe had tried to broach the subject with the Eagle, but Ken had shut him down so quickly that he had never tried again.
That hadn't been the case with Jun. Joe couldn't count the number of times when she had sobbed into his shoulder, needing the solid comfort he offered. She had never explained her bouts of depression, but Joe knew that they had been related to Ken's callous treatment of her. She had been especially devastated in the days following her encounter with the Jigokiller flowers, likely because of Ken's reaction to her safe recovery. The bastard had hit her, when she had been expecting a warm embrace.
It had been Joe who had embraced her over the following few days, helping her through a deep sadness and sense of shame that seemed to have taken over her life. Eventually, Jun had smiled again, and when she had, it had been like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
Damn. Why hadn't he realized it then?
He loved her.
Now the Condor recognized that when he had told Jun that he wouldn't pull away from her again, it hadn't been a promise.
It had been a capitulation.
He had been capitulating to the feelings he had harbored for years, but been too blinded or too selfish to acknowledge.
Joe's first instinct was to begin swimming again, to drive these thoughts from his head, but when he did so he found that they would not disappear. The concentration he required to swim laps was gone.
He couldn't get Jun out of his mind.
Especially not when she was walking toward him, her lush body glistening with tiny droplets of water as she moved.
Ryu and Jinpei followed her, but the Condor did not notice them. All he saw was his graceful Swan.
Jun stopped, surprised and secretly thrilled by the naked longing on Joe's face as he gazed at her. But the instant she approached him, the expression was covered up again by the cold mask she had become all too familiar with, of late.
Still, she had to try.
"We're going to the cafeteria, to grab something to eat." Jun told Joe. "I don't suppose you'd like to join us?"
At that moment, Jun could have asked him to clean out the G-Town sewage treatment system with his bare hands, and Joe would have eagerly agreed.
"I'll meet you there." was what he said. His words sounded indifferent, but his heart leapt at the look of pleasure and surprise that passed over Jun's face.
"I'm looking forward to it." she whispered, so low that only he could hear.
Jinpei and Ryu appeared shocked, and Joe could hear them talking to Jun as they continued to walk away.
"What do you think got into him?"
The Condor smiled to himself. Something had gotten into him, replacing the Galactor substance in his bloodstream with a far more addicting influence.
The Swan.
88888
The Owl was astonished when he saw the Condor walking into the cafeteria.
"I don't believe it!" Ryu nudged Jinpei with his elbow, causing the youth to spatter small pieces of hamburger all over himself. "He actually showed up!"
"Well, he said he would." Jun pointed out.
"Yeah, but I didn't think he'd actually come." Ryu replied.
"Maybe he just wanted to see me smack you!" Jinpei muttered, casting dark looks at Ryu as he cleaned himself up.
"Oh, sorry Jinpei." Ryu apologized, just now realizing what he had done.
"I can see that nothing's out of the ordinary here." Joe remarked with his usual sarcasm, as he sat down with the trio. "Just the usual pre-dinner show."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Jinpei grinned, pulling goofy faces in an attempt to get the Condor to smile. The Swallow's antics appeared to go unnoticed by Joe, who had already turned to Jun.
"I'm glad you're here, Joe." she said quietly.
The Condor looked back to the Owl and the Swallow, who were already engaged in yet another argument.
"That was not your French Fry, Jinpei! It was on my plate!"
"Because you stole it, you big oaf!"
"I did not! And don't call me an oaf!"
"Did too! And I'll call you whatever I want!"
Joe rolled his eyes, then got up from the table.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"No, Joe, wait…" Jun said, placing her hand on Joe's arm.
"I'm going to get something to eat." he said, moving away from his teammates.
"Look what you two did!" Jun chastised Jinpei and Ryu. "He was actually coming to join us!"
"Well, if he's going to be that way, I'm glad he left." Jinpei sniffed, his nose in the air.
"Yeah!" echoed Ryu, crossing his arms and unconsciously imitating Jinpei's pose.
"No wonder he never wants to be with us," Jun huffed, "what with the way you two carry on."
"Well if that's the way you feel about it…" Jinpei sulked, "Let's go, Ryu! I can tell when we're not wanted!"
"Wait, guys…" Jun's plea had no effect as Jinpei left the cafeteria. Ryu grabbed a handful of cookies, giving Jun a sheepish look before hurrying after the Swallow.
Jun put her elbows on the table, dropping her head into her hands.
"What sent those guys off in such a hurry?" asked Joe, returning with a sandwich.
"You." Jun grumbled. "Their antics never used to bother you."
"They still don't bother me," Joe shrugged, "unless I want to be alone with you."
"Oh…" Jun blushed in sudden understanding as Joe sent a slow wink across the table to her. "I guess I can forgive you, in that case."
"Still," she added, a thoughtful expression on her face, "it would be nice if you'd make an effort with Jinpei and Ryu from time to time. I know Jinpei's been especially hurt that you don't want to hang out with us anymore."
"Of course, if I did that," Joe responded, "they might wonder what caused my change of attitude."
"What's wrong with that?" Jun asked.
"Well…" Joe reached across the table, lightly brushing Jun's fingertips with his hand. "How much do you want them to know… about us?"
"Us?" Jun blushed becomingly. "Does that mean you want to…"
"I'd like to continue spending time with you." Joe said, "Among other things…" He arched an eyebrow at her, smiling wickedly.
Bubbles of warmth exploded inside of the Swan, spreading throughout her body and causing her skin to tingle at the thought of those other things.
"I'd like that too." she admitted shyly.
"Then that's settled." Joe grinned. "But, how much do you want everyone else to know about those… other things?"
"I hadn't really thought about that." Jun replied. "What do you think?"
"I suspect that Ken wouldn't appreciate knowing about us." Joe said quietly.
"There's nothing going on between me and Ken." Jun replied, a little too quickly.
The Condor merely looked at her, a skeptical expression on his face.
"At one time, I thought there might be," Jun confessed, "but I was wrong. Can we leave it at that, please?"
Joe saw the silent plea in her emerald eyes, and decided to drop the subject for the moment.
"We can, for now." he said quietly. "But one day, I'd like it if you could confide in me."
"Not today." Jun whispered, staring at her lap.
"Not today." the Condor agreed. Jun looked up gratefully.
"Thank you." she whispered.
Joe took her hand in his, squeezing it gently.
Her emerald eyes looked into his grey-blue ones, and an electric spark flew between them.
"I'm suddenly finding that I'm not all that hungry." Joe drawled.
"Neither am I."
88888
Ken walked through the G-Town base, his mind drifting to thoughts of the Swan, no matter how much he tried to push them aside. As always, Jun was proving to be an enormous distraction.
At times, Ken almost wished that Jun wasn't a member of the Science Ninja Team, for this very reason. She was always there; her beautiful face, curvaceous body and sensitive, caring manner demanding that he deepen the nature of their relationship. But as the Eagle, he couldn't afford that luxury.
Most of the time, he was able to keep his feelings for her under wraps, but there had been times in the past when he had reached out to her in desperation, having nowhere else to turn. Ken deeply regretted his weakness, and that Jun had been an all-too-willing victim of his inability to control himself.
He had made mistakes… too many mistakes. Jun was a valuable asset to the Science Ninja Team. She had proven that countless times over, most recently this afternoon, when she had helped him out of that situation in the alleyway.
But damn, he wanted her.
Only twenty-four hours ago, she had asked him if they had any obligations between them. Ken had honestly told her that they did not. Was it so terrible that the tiniest part of him wished that they did?
Okay, more than a tiny part.
But all of the Eagle's feelings for the Swan were wrapped up in a sense of guilt: a sense that any relationship between Commander and subordinate was wrong. This belief was so paramount to his psyche that Ken could never bring himself to admit to the strong emotions he harbored for his third.
Ken knew that Jun was in love with him. She waited for the day when he would come to her, tell her that he loved her too, and sweep her off of her feet.
But that day was never going to come. Not as long as they were both part of the Science Ninja Team.
Selfishly, Ken exulted that Jun felt this way about him. At least he knew that there was no one else: no other man who would take her away from him.
And there was the great irony: Ken could not have Jun, yet he needed her. He needed her smiling face, her unfailing support of him. And though the Eagle could barely admit it to himself, he needed her in his arms when despair had tightened its grip on him. It had only been a handful of times that he had found his way into her bed, and while Ken regretted those nights, he also cherished them; holding the memories in his heart, and examining them carefully as he lay awake on his frequent sleepless nights.
Sighing, Ken forced his thoughts away from Jun, and headed to the cafeteria for something to eat. It would be best if he could completely avoid her tonight, after the way he had been so turned on in the alleyway. The Swan in action always aroused the Eagle, especially when he was treated to her panchira… what the hell had Nambu been thinking when he designed her uniform?
As he entered the cafeteria, Jun was sitting in the corner of the room. Ken might not have noticed her, but for a sixth sense that always alerted him when she was near. She was seated at a table against the back wall, with Joe.
The Condor and the Swan were deep in conversation, apparently too intent on each other to notice anyone else in the room; not that there was anyone near enough to them to attract their attention. The cafeteria was nearly deserted.
Except for the Eagle.
From this distance it was impossible to hear their conversation, but Ken stood rooted to the spot as they leaned close to each other, discussing some matter of importance between them.
A thin trickle of sweat ran down the Eagle's back. Was it possible? Were Jun and Joe...?
No. That could never happen. Jun loved him, and would never think of Joe in that manner. Joe and Jun had always been close. They were likely just discussing Joe's recent self-imposed isolation from the team. She had always been the biggest advocate of the five of them being a family, and having no secrets from each other.
Yes, that was it. Nothing to worry about.
Ken quickly hurried out of the cafeteria, failing to notice that the Condor had taken the Swan's hand in his own.
And Jun certainly wasn't protesting.