I'm BAACK!

Moonshine's Guide - Jack is a jackass, well said. He actually has a model, a guy in my Physics class that I had a class A crush on a few years ago. He is also a jackass, and his name is Jack. No, I'm not going to seduce him like Arien is (eww). I won't kill your OC, don't worry. I ran out of problems for the stories, so I created a new one. Dun dun dunn! And it's not Reno cheating this time.

Echo - The story's just rolling so we can't have too many OC's coming in. But she will make an appearance, I can promise that! And I won't kill your OC. I'm trying to update, but while the previous two stories came at me like a deer in the headlight at two in the morning, this one it's like I'm looking for a earring with a flashlight. So bear with me.

NarcissisticRiceball - Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Actually, I'm nicer than Arien. There is a model for Jack who is in my class, but I really don't care enough for him to exact any revenge on him. I guessed that Reno would be verbally clumsy because he can be Mr. Slick with one-night-stands, but Arie is the mother of his child, and so much more important.

Raspberry Polar Bear - GREAT review, just as always. Yeah. You didn't see this one coming now, did ya? It's really hard to write this because if Arien went all the way with Jack, then Jack's fate is sealed (AKA killed by Reno), but she has to get somewhere with her revenge. Portraying Vince is difficult as well, because he can't be too dumb but he's still a kid.

Crazy Bubbling Blonde - Actually, I was looking for a godmother so good advice. I was going to make Ivy the godmother, but since godparents are responsible for the child in case of parents' death (which may happen, considering Reno and Arien's career) I went for the richer one. Arien doesn't dislike Elena anymore; they're equals, they banter. Oh, and Elena is kinda with Tseng. Hehe.

The Bomb theme is taken from Natasha Bedingfield's "I'm a Bomb"; the song in the very beginning of this chapter is a translation of a song called "Long Version". So, I don't own either of them.

Chapter 3: The Bomb

Jack McKinnon opened his eyes to the soft radio humming next to him. His wife, Esile, was still sleeping. It was six o'clock, and he would have to get to work. He was too tired. Too tired of life, family, kids, wife, everything. Mundane paperwork and calculations everyday, no change.

The lunch with Arien disturbed him. His equilibrium, the thin façade that he was trying to maintain, was shattered by the woman into pieces. Her manners, her wealth, her liveliness and her perceptiveness were all foreign to him, but he welcomed it. And for some reason, he kept thinking that the way she looked at people was almost saying that for her, only that person existed. And she was single. Or did she say she wasn't? No, she never did. Obviously that wild redhead played some part in her life, but he hoped it wasn't too big.

The radio was softly humming out a tune.

If I'm going to say goodbye
this is probably the last chance
but fingers contradicting feelings
gather your hair

I meant for a single play
but when I realize it's long version
a bosanova for two of a kind
a little heavy love song...

Would his life have been different if he had accepted her? Long ago, her devotion to him seemed stuffy, unwanted; now, he craved for that kind of attention. He had forgotten about her, but in a single hour of play, memories of her came back to him forcefully, unwanted, but still there. Memories that told him now, almost half a decade too late, how much she would have loved him, if he had seized the chance.

He sighed and got up. A single play had indeed become a long version.

"Costeau, Miaka Vorna," Elena called out. Reno leaned onto the wall in the usual uncaring manner, shirt untucked, tie lost, hair wild. He forced the dress code on others but not to himself, which seemed to be hypocritical for Arien. But then, Reno was Reno, so help her God, and nothing could change him but himself. She could goad, oh yes; but force him to change?

Impossible.

The girl was very young; she looked like she was around twelve years old, but her files indicated that she had just turned twenty. Arien was only a few years older than her, but the young recruit's face was filled with innocence and eagerness that Elena used to hold. Arien frowned slightly; she would either shatter or turn merciless. Which was better, really?

Her white hair danced on the blue-black suit as she moved toward her unit, where two already waited. She had crimson eyes. Arien raised her eyebrow. Mako-treatment generally yielded various shades of blue, but she had never heard of crimson.

"I say, she has weirdest eyes," she heard Reno drawl softly behind her. She turned.

"Do you want a set of those eyes? It'll match your hair nicely."

"I kinda like my eyes. It's nicely artificial." Reno continued to watch the recruits get assigned to his subordinates. He already had his unit; five in total, three males and two females. After three weeks, they would rotate, so after fifteen weeks all the recruits would have gone through all the senior members. Under each Turk they would learn different things; for example, under Elena they would learn basic techniques of bomb dismantling, under Arien computer hacking and tactical necessities, and under Rude the combative junk. Of course, due process most of them would be quite dead. But did Reno care?

Of course not.

Elena finished reading off the list, and the senior Turks retreated with their recruits to their respective offices. Reno was the last to leave; as he watched his girlfriend, his best friend, and his almost-sister-person leave the big conference room with their recruits in tow, he sighed, and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.

And said, "Oh boy."

The first set of questions Arien DeVir had received after giving a general explanation of what they were going to do for the following three weeks was, "Is the commander single?", "Is this a safe job?" and "Will we get our weapons today?".

"No, no, and no," replied the Wutaian, secretly sighing. Was she this stupid when she was first recruited? She doubted it.

"Who's the commander going out with?" asked the girl who had too much make-up on and such permed artificial blonde hair that to Arien it looked like ramen noodles draped over her skull.

"You're talking to his girlfriend," she replied without giving it a much thought, raising an eyebrow and looking disgusted. She headed off further comments by saying, "And no, the commander is currently too preoccupied to find himself an amusement, so he just sticks with me. Please leave your personal sentiments and comments until after hours."

"What if I didn't?" challenged the girl.

"Then I'll just shoot you so you'll shut up."

The girl shut up without Arien's help.

There were three females and two males; the blonde noodlehead's name was Andora, and then there was Miaka. The males' names were Vered, Raine and Chris. Vered seemed to be the wily, smart-ass type; Chris was shy, and Raine seemed too hyper to survive. She wondered how many would survive. Andora was definitely dead; she personally had a doubt that maybe Andora's existence in the Turk roster was one big mistake. Or maybe she used the Scarlet tactic and slept her way up.

After getting their names, she stood in front of them. "Okay, listen up," she said. "My name is Arien, but you will call me 'ma'am' due to complications that name exposure can bring up. You will be working with me for three weeks, and during that time you will learn the basics of computer hacking and organizing possible assignments, and of course, field work. How many of you are from any kind of military-related careers? For example, Intelligence?"

Vered's hand went up.

"Okay, so you'll be the team leader, and you will be leading the team where I deem that the tasks are small enough for you so I can pay attention to other things. Got that?"

The heads nodded.

"Oh, and another thing. I'll say this so you won't make the mistake, because Commander will just kill you if you do make this mistake." She paused for drama, then continued. "Seniors' words are absolute, as well as the Presidents. Don't even ask how high when one of us tells you to jump. You just jump, and keep on jumping until one of us says to stop. Oh, and don't ever argue with us. Arguing can get you killed. If we change our plans, then follow the new plan. I don't care if it's impossible or not. Any questions?"

"When do we get our weapons?" asked Raine.

"The chief weapons technician will be coming in this afternoon to fit all of you with necessary weapons. They'll be ready within an hour. You can take your pick. A lot of us use guns, some use EMR, and then there are oddities like me. I use double gunblades. But it's whatever suits you. Pick the one that you know best. Unless you already have a weapon," she replied to Vered's eager and unasked question. "You will ask for rounds to the technician. Any questions?"

The answer was no.

"Okay. Go to the office next door. That's Reno's. You are all supposed to meet him before you're dismissed for the day. Report to my office at 800 hours sharp tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

After the young rookies had left, she left her office to go to the private lounge, where Elena was already slumped into a chair.

"Was I that dumb?" was the first question out of Elena's mouth. "When I was a rookie?"

"No," Arien replied, helping herself with coffee. "We had more common sense than that, I must say. Why? What makes you say that?"

"One of the girls asked if Reno was free. I said no."

Arien exploded into laughter. "Is he really that attractive?" she asked to no one in particular, since she knew that Elena just saw him as an entity which was created to annoy her to no end. "I got the same question from a girl who looks like she draped noodles on her head."

"I don't know. I don't see what's so attractive about him – no offense intended, Arien – and I don't see how they passed the tests. Oh well." Elena sat straighter, removing her blonde hair from her face. "How's my godchild?" Elena was Vince's godmother, since Arien had decided that Elena would be a better candidate for Vince's guardian in case of her – or Reno's – death than Ivana, who already was having a handful with her own offsprings. Elena took the task gladly, much to Reno's dismay.

"He's attending preschool. He got bored with my company. He wants friends around his age."

"Isn't Reno mentally around his age?"

"Good one, but Reno has a slight advantage over Vince with his evildoings. He is considerably bigger than his son."

The two women's laughter mixed and reverberated off the walls like bells. Tseng, who heard the loud laughter on the way to Elena's office for non-job-related purposes, was surprised that such cold-hearted killers as they could laugh like innocent girls.

Trrr, trrr.

-DeVir speaking.

-Hey, yo.

-Reno, why are you using the phone? I'm in the office next to you.

-I'm too damn lazy and too sexy to walk over to your office.

-Too sexy?

-Yah. Heard about the girls' inquiries. Were they really asking if I was single, yo?

-Yes. Everyone said no.

-Damn.

-Excuse me?

-Nothing, babe. Love ya. (laughter) Have I ever told you that just hearing your voice turns me on?

-No, and I didn't need to know that. Now I can't speak without dire consequences.

-Me getting turned on is not a dire consequence. It's for your benefit, damn it.

-I highly doubt that.

Click

Trrr, trrr.

-DeVir.

-This is Rufus. Send up the recruits to my office. Oh, and I need to talk to you.

-Roger that, sir.

Click

Trrr, trrr.

-DeVir.

-Hey.

-Hello, Jack. How may I help you?

-You sound distant. Are you okay? Hey, listen. Can I see you tomorrow around lunch? Is that alright?

-(flipping through the schedule book) I think so. When and where?

-Town center, around 12:30?

-Alright. See you then.

Click

The restaurant had a very private cubicle that the Turks liked. Elena and Rude sat on one side of the table, Reno and Arien on the other. They toasted for the possible deaths of the stupid recruits. The food was brought in.

"Yey, food!" Reno exclaimed. "I'm starving." Elena watched in amazement as Reno started to eat.

"I honestly don't know how you can shovel that much crap into your system. Someday your body is going to have an overload and break down, you know," Elena said sourly.

"Arien has turned into a nutrition police. I need a break once in a while. Hey, more beer here!" He yelled at the waitress.

"Are you going to indulge in young recruited fans of yours?"

"Arie's also a morality police. So nope, can't do."

Rude snorted as he sliced a piece of steak and chewed on it.

"How are the recruits?"

"Dumb," was Rude's reply.

"Silly." Elena rolled her eyes that accompanied her response.

"Fucking goddamn idiots!" Reno slammed the fist on the table, making the china and silverware rattle. "Oh well. Maybe every one of them would die by the end of the year. They're real dumbasses, yo."

"If Reno thinks they're dumb, they must be really dumb. Wow." Arien grinned.

"Have you told Vince about his future yet?" Elena asked, switching the subject.

"Yeah," came back Reno's reply through a mouthful of potatoes. "He's really not that interested in all the dough he's gonna get, unfortunately. That kid doesn't know what's good for him."

"He asked if his hair was going to turn blond if he took Uncle Rufus' job," Arien added. "He also asked why his hair was brown while Reno's was red. Then he wondered when his is going to turn red, and then commented that he would like blue hair better."

"He'll come to see the truth of it," Rude commented.

"That red hair rocks?"

"No, that natural hair color is the best."

"How can you say that, Rude? You goddamn fuckin' hypocrite! Nobody KNOWS your hair color! You don' have hair, Baldy!"

"And the profanity parade marches on," Elena noted.

"I can't swear around my kid. Now is the time to spit them out."

"While we're trying to enjoy lunch?"

"Damn right."

"How can you live with this?" Elena asked Arien.

"With infinite amount of patience."

"You forgot love," Reno reminded cheerfully. "So what's up with Rufus' talk? Did he ask for sexual favors or something?"

"No, thank Shiva." Arien rolled her eyes. "This dude has been spilling some information to our rival company. I'm supposed to punish him."

"With whips and chains?"

"I'll keep that for you only."

The table exploded into laughter. "Who's the unlucky boy?" Elena asked.

"None other than my revenge target." She winked mischievously at Reno, who spat out the potato and began to cough, while glaring at her. "Can fate deal me a better hand?"

After eating dinner together and hearing Vincent's small adventures of the day, the parents tucked the small infant into his bed.

"Good night, darling," she said, hugging her son as he extended his short arms for a hug. "Have good dreams."

Reno hugged his son as well. Arien turned on the small lamp by the small bed, and smiled as Vincent watched the horses and the dragons twirl in soft colors on the wall. Then the two left the room, keeping the door slightly open.

"Yeah, about tomorrow's assignment," Reno said as he sank into the sofa, "it's gonna be a bugger."

"The raid?"

"Yeah."

"I think half the recruits are gone by next week," Arien said as she opened her laptop. "This mission's their first one, and it's a pretty difficult one. And this girl in my unit isn't helping."

"Which one?"

"The noodlehead."

Reno shuffled through the sheaf of papers, then pulled up her unit assignments. "This one?"

"Yup."

"How is this mission difficult?"

Arien stopped her fingers from twirling on the keyboard, and looked at him squarely. "Let's just say that this building is a tough one to seduce."

"The building is top security?"

"It's Code AA."

Reno's eyes widened. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Yes."

"Ah, shit." He frowned. "Alright. We'll deploy Elena's and mine, we'll reassign them so we each get two or three, and we'll leave your unit and Rude's behind. That way we won't wipe out the entire class. Except that we'll have to reassign the people if the units get wiped."

Arien did not wish to have to give away her new recruits or remember new names. "How about this? We take two from each unit, one experienced and one inexperienced recruit."

"Erm…" Reno thought for a moment. "Maybe that's better. They should learn to team up. One female and one male, though."

"Why a female and a male?"

"Because we think differently, Arie."

"I didn't know males had the ability to think."

"Ouch." Reno grinned. "We can think. We just don't think with our brains that often when we're around chicks. We tend to think with the brain below."

"I noticed." She continued to work on her laptop. "Isn't that going to be hazardous?"

"That's why we have chicks to keep the dudes in check."

"How goes with your boy toy, yo?"

"Jack isn't my toy." She clicked her laptop shut, then scooted over next to him after placing the laptop on the coffee table. "It's my revenge."

"Was he that much of an asshole?"

"Let's just say, for his safety, that he treated me like some piece of junk." She shrugged. "But don't go beat him up, okay?"

"…kay," Reno replied, and Arien could only hope that he actually meant it.

The next day was a peaceful day except for the lunch, which turned out to be something that nearly went out of control.

"Hey Jack," she greeted as she approached the man. Then she asked gently, "What's wrong?"

Jack eyed her. She was dressed for comfort and for utility; the dark colored slacks, and her white shirt, as well as her sunglasses and her jacket told everything. But for some odd reason, it looked oddly sexy on her. As if she knew that she looked good with that sterile, business style. She was like a bomb, filled to the brim with energy with no safety switch. One wrong move, goodbye. Only those with steady hands may approach, thank you very much. Go beyond a point, no coming back. No insurance provided.

She lowered her sunglasses, tilted her head downward, and looked at him from the top of the sunglasses. "Yoohoo, anyone in there?"

"Uh, yeah." Jack responded absently. "Sorry."

"Spacey?"

"Kinda."

"Okay. Can't have you spacing on me. I'm not exactly the one to be having a nice afternoon tea. I gotta get back to the office around 1:30."

"Okay." He paused. "Can we walk?"

"Sure."

They began to walk, Jack's gait tired and Arien's stride jaunt. When they had proceeded for about a minute, Jack asked Arien without looking at her, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what?" She looked into the window of the shop, where the long jacket was displayed.

"You damn well know what you're doing."

"No, actually, I don't. Inform me."

Jack turned his head to the left, looked at her. With sunglasses on her nose, her hair straight and swishing, her body clad in a fitted suit, she looked professional, clean-cut and chic. He suddenly had an image of her naked and wet from a shower in his mind, and shook his head to drive the image away. The image refused to budge.

"You're scrambling my mind."

"Finally hitting puberty? I thought you were well passed that, Jack."

"I never get passed puberty. I always go back to sixteen when…"

"When?"

"When I see you."

Arien suddenly had a strange déjà vu. Reno had said the same thing.

"And that's my fault?"

"for Leviathan's sake, Arien, stop messing with my mind!" Jack shouted suddenly. "Ever since I saw you again, my life's getting screwed up. I can't concentrate on anything, for fuck's sake. Holy, Arien, what do you want?"

"What do I want? Aren't we discussing what you want? Isn't that why we're doing this?"

"Just answer the goddamn question."

"Okay." She shot a sideway glance. "I just want to see an old friend from the academy days. I'm not trying to have you fall madly in love with me, I already got a rejection slip during the school, remember?"

"I can't just be friends." He admitted, rather to himself.

"What?"

"Do you know what I'm dying to do, Arien?"

She raised an eyebrow, trying not to grin.

"I'm not a psychic."

"This." He suddenly pushed her against a brick wall and enveloped her mouth with his. She pretended to struggle, being careful not to actually push him away. As a Turk, she probably could have thrown him across the street, but he didn't need to know her profession. The kiss was frantic and long, and she absently wondered if Vincent was doing okay in the preschool.

Jack was surprised to find her mouth tasting sweet. Her hair had an intoxicating fragrance which must have come from the shampoo she was using. Her body was warm and lithe, and he could not help noticing that her waist was very slim, and that her skin was very smooth. Despite her many flaws - such as her biting sarcasm, her expressions, and her un-feminine aggressiveness - whoever was going to score her was a pretty lucky guy. She was struggling, but he easily overcame her. He inserted his right hand into her hair, holding her head in place, and his left on her waist, devouring her mouth with a sudden fervor.

Is he trying to swallow me or something? She thought. Ew. Reno's a much better kisser, but then he probably practices with a pillow. She fought the urge to giggle hysterically at that thought.

"We can't do this," she said finally, trying to form coherent words against Jack's thin lips. "You have a wife and children. Don't betray them for me."

"I'm not going to betray myself. Let's just enjoy this."

Why the hell is this bastard automatically assuming that I'm enjoying this?

She reluctantly returned the kiss, promising herself to be engaged in a long kissing session after going back home with her real boyfriend. Reno would gladly kiss her expertly, with a very sly grin on his face; he would probably refuse at first.

Poor guy. What is he getting himself into?