Dr. Nambu had told Joe he could leave the hospital at Cape Long whenever he chose, but he'd first gone back to the room where he'd battled the brain wave demon in order to retrieve his gun, which was still lying in a corner of the room. Now he was looking for the others, figuring that the God Phoenix had to be around somewhere, and that they would all fly back to G-Town in it.

He still couldn't believe that they had all so casually accepted having a cyborg on the team, unless they were all in shock, still figuring out what to do. How did they know he wasn't secretly some kind of sleeper agent for Galactor who would go berserk and kill them all just when they least expected it, or perform secret acts of sabotage without even being conscious that he was doing it?

And, they had all trained so hard, for so many years, pushing their bodies to the very limits of human capabilities. That's what being a Science Ninja was all about! They were supposed to be the very best of humanity, defending humanity –living, breathing, one hundred percent natural and organic humanity- from the very forces that would pervert and destroy it, and the Earth too… the very forces that had first created cyborgs! Didn't this bother them?

He still felt tainted, he still felt like a fraud, he still felt… unclean.

But as he turned a corner, walking rapidly, he pulled up short; he could hear Ken and Jun.

"We need to talk, Ken." Jun sounded serious.

"You knew about Joe, didn't you, Jun? I could see it in your face –you knew and you never told me. I'm the leader, Jun, and it's your duty to keep me informed of anything that involves the team!'

"I know exactly where my duty lies, Ken," replied Jun with vehemence, "But don't try to evade this! We're going to talk about what happened on the God Phoenix, but later –not here."

They were coming out of his hospital room. Joe backed up several feet, hastily, to seem as though he'd just walked up.

"Hey, Joe, there you are," said Ken, looking relieved to see him. "Are you ready to go home?"

What had happened? Should he try to find out?

No, he realized. He didn't need to know, and he probably wouldn't want to know anyway.

Whatever had happened between them, it was none of his business and it never would be. He would just stay completely out of their way.

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It all made sense now. Joe was driving his Condor Attacker, and once again in his life he was heading for the Himalayas to battle Galactor alone.

This was his purpose; this was why he'd come out of hiding eight months ago and this was why he was still on the team now.

He was expendable.

He'd left the Cape Long hospital almost three weeks ago. It was almost funny to remember how he'd once believed that everything would change for the worse for him if everyone learned his secret. Now they all knew, and almost nothing had changed. He was still a member of the team, he still suffered self-loathing, and he still avoided everyone as much as he could.

And he was still in love with Jun, as futile and pathetic as that was.

An attempt on his life by a female assassin had provided some distraction, a week ago. She had turned out to be the girlfriend of the real Getz, not the fake Getz that he'd killed at Easton Island, but Galactor had fooled her into believing that Joe had killed her boyfriend and she'd wanted revenge. But while he'd been occupied with that business, the others had found a secret Galactor base. No one was saying too much, but Joe had pieced together enough details from Jinpei and Ryu to learn that Jun had defied Ken's orders, charged into the base on her motorcycle and almost single-handedly destroyed the entire place, escaping in the nick of time.

One part of Joe wanted to cheer "Go, Jun!" but the other part only felt guilty; he should have been there. He was the one who was supposed to take all the crazy risks!

What was going on in Jun's mind these days? She certainly wasn't acting like herself. He'd wanted to go and talk to her but…

That was Ken's place, not his.

This was his place –heading for the Himalayas alone, for what was almost certainly a suicide mission, to spare any of the others from having to do it.

Dr. Nambu's timing had been perfect. Joe had already been at G-Town, as Ken had summoned him to a mandatory team training session. He'd been up on the elevated running track, circling and circling while watching the others below. Ken had been practicing martial arts, Ryu had been lifting weights and Jun and Jinpei had been doing gymnastics. Each of them was exhibiting strength, speed and agility –skills honestly acquired the real way, with fatigue and pain and… sweat. He himself, he must have run his cyborg body twenty miles around that track –fast- and he hadn't even had a bead of sweat to show for it. It had been the loneliest feeling imaginable. There he'd been, with the team, but he'd felt a chasm between them. He had stopped running, but they had all been standing together, staring at him. They were genuine, they were human.

And he was not, and now they all knew that.

When Dr. Nambu had summoned him privately, and explained what he wanted Joe to do, he'd agreed without hesitation. He was going to climb the north face of the mountain called K-3 and destroy the Galactor base that was known to be up there. What with its extreme altitude, weather and magnetic fluctuations, it couldn't be approached in the God Phoenix, and it was believed to harbor a nuclear reactor so it couldn't be attacked with long-range missiles without risk of spreading radioactive material all throughout the atmosphere. Dr. Nambu had intelligence that indicated Galactor was developing a powerful magma beam weapon up there, which could attack any part of the world and which could be completed at any moment. There was no time to lose.

The north face of K-3 was a nearly vertical wall, three thousand meters high, but it was the only way to approach the Galactor base with a chance of going unnoticed; no one in Galactor would ever think that someone could climb up K-3's north face.

Joe sighed, and gripped the steering wheel more tightly. The others just didn't get it! They had followed him in the God Phoenix, blocking the road so he'd stop, and had insisted that they were going to all climb the north face of K-3 along with him. He'd had to hit Ken and Ryu and threaten Jinpei to get them to leave him alone.

Obviously they were just feeling guilty, feeling sorry for the poor cyborg, but if any of them had brains in their heads, they'd soon realize that he and Dr. Nambu had the right idea. Jun had been there, but at least she'd stayed out of his face. Maybe he'd gotten through to her at least, that night she'd discovered he was a cyborg, when he'd yelled at her not to take any more bullets for him.

He was still driving, high in the Himalayan foothills now, and strangely, he was feeling almost sleepy. He was…

There was a bright flash of light, and everything faded.

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Joe opened his eyes. He was still sitting in the Condor Attacker. How long had he been out?

What the hell? Was that Jun's bike in the road in front of him?

He shook his head to clear his vision, and there was Jun now standing almost in front of his vehicle.

"You're driving fast, Joe, and changing altitude quickly. Up this high, it seems it can affect even you. You were only out for less than a minute, though."

He hadn't gotten through to her at all. She'd been following him.

"Go away, Jun!"

"No! We're a team, Joe! You don't get to run off alone!"

"Get out of my way; this is my mission!"

"Yeah, and 'the mission is more important than anything or anyone,' right? But you are not leaving me behind again, Joe –not this time!"

Did she mean… Karakoram? What the hell did she mean? His head was pounding, and Jun was waving a map around…

He didn't have time for this! He couldn't think about this!

He floored the gas pedal, sending Jun leaping out of his way and tore up the road, leaving her behind.

But his memories, those he couldn't leave behind, though God knows, he had tried.

He could remember lying on his bed in his old trailer, in the dark. It had been such a long day. It had begun with a visit to an unlicensed medical doctor, and had ended with him being unmasked by the megaziner ray, right in front of Berg Katse.

But Katse had been unmasked too, and had cowered in front of him, hiding his face –or her face, or whatever- in his hands. Only the intervention of Leader X had enabled Katse to escape. He had barely made it back to his trailer that night before the blinding, excruciating head pain that he had come to know only too well had afflicted him. All he'd been able to do was lie there in the dark, trembling, trying his damnedest not to whimper, waiting for it to subside. Each headache was more vicious, more brutal, than the one before. But eventually it too had subsided, and he'd even fallen asleep.

But then he'd woken up; a noise outside had roused him. Galactor? Could they really have found him this easily, this quickly? He'd been reaching for his gun when-

"Joe, it's me. Are you here?"

It had been Jun; he'd felt his body relax.

"Yeah, come on in," he'd said, sitting up in the dark.

"Are you sure you should be here?" she'd said, coming into his trailer and over to his bed. "They saw you today, Joe. You might not be safe; you win races, you've been photographed –they might figure out who you are."

"Maybe, in time," he'd said, pulling her first into his arms and then onto the bed with him, "But they won't know where to find my trailer -certainly not tonight, anyway."

He'd hardly been able to see her in the dark, but her body had been atop his, her long hair caressing his face, and then her sweet, soft lips had found his…

But soon she'd pulled away, and shifted her body to lie alongside his.

"You skipped out on a mission this morning, Joe. Where were you?"

"I told you, I just wasn't feeling very well –but it's passed now."

"Too unwell even to contact me with your bracelet? I know something's wrong, Joe. This is the second mission you've missed because you weren't 'feeling well.' And then there was that mission where you fell down during the fight, and then you couldn't stay in the Tornado Fighter…"

"Just some headaches, Jun. Probably just fatigue or… something. But I'm okay, Jun. I'll be okay." He'd turned on his side and embraced her, pressing her against him as he'd run his hands over her body. "Thanks for saving my ass in that fight, though, with your yoyo."

"I rather like your ass," she'd chuckled softly, demonstrating with her hands.

"But Joe-"

He could tell her; he'd known she'd understand.

"Jun, everything is about to change –I can feel it! We are so close to winning! We unmasked Katse today, and we faced Leader X. I swear, whatever's wrong with me, it's not that bad! I can't leave the game now, not when we're this close, Jun, not now! I promise, later, I'll let Nambu, or any other doctor that wants to, poke and prod me all they want…" He'd been speaking urgently, emphasizing his words with scattered kisses over her face, running his hands through her hair.

And he had been deceiving her, lying about the headaches. They'd been so far, far beyond bad, and he'd been desperately frightened of what they could mean. And he'd been hiding the blind spells, the dizziness… But, he hadn't been able to stop –not then! Later –after they'd won- then he'd planned to be honest about the flaws and weakness that he couldn't bear to reveal then. Later…

"But I'm still worried about you," she'd whispered.

"Don't be. We are going to win this war, Jun. The end is in sight, and when it comes, I want to be fighting side by side with you."

"Joe…" she'd whispered, pulling him into a deeper kiss and sliding her hands under his shirt as he'd sought her body with his own.

Their last time together…

She'd been so beautiful, so soft, yet a strong and fearless warrior. She'd been perfect; the one pure and perfect thing in his life. How was it that she could have loved someone like him?

He hadn't wanted to leave her behind, when he'd gone off to Karakoram; he hadn't wanted to! But that had been the way it had had to be, then, and that was the way it was now too.

It was the end of the road; not even the Condor Attacker could go any further now. He needed to drag his thoughts from the past and concentrate on the matter at hand –climbing this damned mountain and destroying the Galactor base atop it.

Soon, he was climbing. It was cold and sharp winds buffeted him from all sides, but he was unaffected. There was nothing here but the wind and the cold, hard rock. There was nothing alive here. He was truly the perfect one for this mission; he fit right in here. He continued to climb.

What was that noise? He looked down.

Jun.

There she was, damn her! She was still following him. Was she insane? What the hell was it going to take to make her stop?

He paused where he was, and called down to her.

"Are you completely stupid, Jun? Go back! Just let me do this alone!"

"The only way," she yelled back, "that you're going to get me off this mountain is to take me off yourself and then you'll have to tie me up or I'll just climb up again! You can't afford the time that that will take!"

Damn her, she was right. Damn her! Dr. Nambu had been insistent that he get up K-3 as fast as possible –as fast as "inhumanly" possible. Dr. Nambu hadn't actually said that out loud, but his extreme urgency had been clear.

He gave up; he just didn't want to even think about this! But he went to Jun, connecting a rope that she had been using to himself, and they began climbing together. She was light, but strong for her size, and very agile. She hardly slowed him down at all. Even the silly map she'd brought with her was actually helpful, enabling them to plot the most efficient ways to go. But it was getting colder, and windier. Nevertheless, she climbed with him for six straight hours, without a word of complaint.

"Joe, I think we should stop here. The snow's coming down thick, but I'm willing to bet that if we wait it out a little, it will pass and we'll be able to see ahead better."

"Okay," he agreed. That made sense, and he wanted to give her a chance to rest, even if he didn't need it. This was the longest amount of time he had spent alone with Jun –alone with anyone- since before Karakoram, and he didn't want to admit it to himself, but he… he liked it. They'd barely spoken; they'd been concentrating on their climbing, but during those hours a bond of shared experience was growing between them, permeating his mind, whispering to him that he didn't have to be alone…

"I'm going to detonate this little micro-bomb that I made," she said, "It will create a bigger ledge for us."

He was staring at her; she was so… she was everything. If only… The pain of loss washed over him –he could sure as hell feel that, even if he couldn't feel the stab of the cold wind. She was with Ken now, and he was a better man; he was a true man, her first and truest love.

But he would never stop loving her…

She glanced over at him suddenly, and her eyes caught on his. The micro-bomb slipped from her fingers! She tried desperately to catch it again, but it fell…

And then it detonated in the open air, completely unmuffled, with a loud bang that echoed over and over all around them.

They had just given themselves away to Galactor. There was no way that Galactor wouldn't have detected that explosion.

Jun's eyes were filled with horror and anguish but she was still staring straight into his. Time seemed to stop, as a roaring sound began to fill his ears, and it wasn't the wind.

It was an avalanche.

He could see her mouth moving and he could tell what she was saying, even though he couldn't hear her at all.

"I'm sorry, Joe."

And the crashing white obliterated everything.

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How many minutes had he been slammed and battered by the freezing, unforgiving cascade of mountain snow and ice? He could never have said.

Why was he here, he thought thickly, numbly. But then it came to him –the mission, the magma beam!

Jun!

He came to his senses, and looked around frantically. She couldn't be…

He saw her then, hanging limply in the air from the rope that connected them. She couldn't be!

"Jun!"

She moved slightly, opening her eyes, calling out weakly.

"Joe…"

Quickly, he pulled her in.

"I'm okay, Joe," she was saying, "I'll be able to keep going."

He was far from convinced of that; she didn't look good at all. But, at this point, what other choice was there?

He stayed where he was for a couple minutes, giving her more time to rest.

"That avalanche was probably triggered by Galactor. We should change our route, in case they send another one down."

Her response was to start climbing again. They went on for awhile, but it soon became clear to Joe that she was lagging, and really struggling to keep up with him. But they had to be near the summit… just a little further. The wind was even stronger and more brutally cold, and the air was thinner too. He slowed down his pace, but after a few minutes he realized that she had stopped moving altogether.

He looked down, and gasped. "Jun!" he called frantically, but it was no good. She was nearly unconscious, and probably in shock too –the avalanche, and now the extreme cold, had taken too much out of her. God damn it! This was just like when she'd been shot in that cave! Every time she got anywhere near him, she suffered. He was a curse. He should have found a way, somehow, to keep her off this mountain.

He reached a nearby ledge and pulled her up to him. He was holding her loosely, awkwardly. It felt wrong to be touching her at all; this was all his fault!

Her face was so white, and she had to be so very cold. He had to do something or she'd die of exposure!

He had to shelter her from the cold. Sitting, he pulled her as close to himself as he possibly could, enfolding her even more tightly in his wings as he settled himself against the tiny ledge he was resting upon. After a moment, she stirred slightly.

"Joe," she murmured quietly, her eyes slightly glazed, "I understand. You can't climb and carry me; you have to leave me here and keep going… complete the mission before it's too late."

"No."

"But the magma beam weapon…"

"No! I won't leave you to die here alone, Jun."

"But they'll destroy whole cities… Dr. Nambu said…"

"I don't care!" And in that moment, he truly didn't care. "Galactor can win this one. You're more important than… anything," he whispered but by then she'd closed her eyes and pressed her face against his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him, entwining her legs with his.

"Mmmm" she sighed.

Time seemed to have no meaning on this desolate mountain face, and the universe had shrunk to only himself and Jun; Jun was in his arms again…

"Jun?" he whispered, but she didn't respond, although her breathing seemed steady. She was asleep. What she'd said when the avalanche struck, her words came back to him:

"I'm sorry, Joe."

She was sorry? She had never lied to him or deceived him, and she had never abandoned him. The first night he'd been back, at G-Town, she had been so angry but she had been completely honest about her feelings.

Unlike him.

He had been such a gutless coward, all these months…. lying, pretending, hiding.

No, he was the one who should be sorry! He was so unworthy of her, but he had never stopped loving her. She deserved the truth; he should have told her the truth…

He bowed his head, resting his helmet against hers, and continued to hold her.

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Tap, tap, tap…

Joe lifted his head, realizing that he'd nearly been asleep. Even he wasn't invulnerable, then, to the cold and the thin air here. A distant sound, barely audible over the steady roar of the wind –even he could barely hear it, but it was real. But what was it? Was it Galactor, coming to finish them off? Or could it be Ken and the others, searching for him and Jun?

He looked to Jun. She was still pressed closely against him, still sleeping. He hunkered down again, but this time with a small grain of hope.

"Can you hear that?" he whispered to her, "Someone's coming for us."

Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't…

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"Congratulations! Aren't you brave –trying to climb the north face!"

What? Joe snapped out of his stupor, and looked up.

Gel Sadra. He could see Gel Sadra standing high above and looking down, flanked by goons.

Shit! He'd have to think fast; he couldn't fight and hold Jun. Should he allow himself and Jun to be taken prisoner, escape later? Should he-

There was a shout, one that sounded like Gel Sadra, and then she was gone from his sight. But he thought he could make out the noise of gunfire, despite the wind. Something was definitely going on up there but he could do nothing but stay where he was, and wait.

He would just have to wait, and try to keep alert, stay awake…

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"Joe! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes, and there was Ken, Ryu and Jinpei.

"How-"

"We used the trail of pitons you'd hammered into the rock face, and were able to climb a lot faster, I guess. Did you hear our banging? We were trying to signal you," said Jinpei.

"We got up to the summit and destroyed the magma beam weapon. Can I assume you're ready to get out of here now?" asked Ken.

Jun lifted her head from his chest, staring into his eyes, but she kept her arms around him.

"Everything's okay," she whispered, her eyes deep, clear and open.

"Jun…"

"Thank you for staying with me, Joe," she said softly, "Your body gave me warmth and… you kept me alive. I could feel your heart, hear it beating."

She nuzzled against his chest again, as one finding solace. The soft, tearful expression he'd just seen in her eyes, all the way to her soul; he knew it. He hadn't seen it in years…

Love?

No, no, no… He wasn't –he couldn't…

Not years… the Dera Desert, tears in her eyes, her arms around him…

There'd been tears in his eyes too, then.

There were tears in his eyes now.

"You're human, Joe. You're the most human man I know," she whispered, and again she pressed her face against his body.

A tear from his eye splashed onto her glove. The others were hovering close by. This was too much, it was just too much! He had to get a grip on himself! He stood up hastily, bringing Jun to her feet.

And he found himself looking straight into Ken's all-too-knowing eyes. He looked away, instantly.

Oh God, what must this look like to Ken? Finding his girl –the girl Joe had already stolen from him once before- all snuggly with him here, sharing warm, teary looks with him…

He put Jun into Ken's arms, and turned away quickly, looking out into the cold, blowing snow.

0000000000

Now that the threat of the Galactor base had been eliminated, Dr. Nambu was able to send in an unarmed surveillance plane capable of high altitude flight that was able to airlift Jun off the summit of K-3. Due to weight restrictions, however, only Jinpei accompanied her. Still, it wasn't nearly so difficult for the rest of them to descend the southern side of K-3, where conditions were less harsh. But once down, Ryu contacted the God Phoenix's robotic autopilot to retrieve their vehicles from the foot of the north face and to come pick them up.

On the bridge of the God Phoenix, Ryu didn't even pretend to stay awake; he told the autopilot to fly them back to G-Town and promptly began dozing in his chair. Even Ken didn't object to this, although as far as Joe could tell, he at least was awake. Joe could tell that even his own body was in need of some rest, but his thoughts were in turmoil and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. As the God Phoenix continued to fly through the dark sky, he found himself getting up and walking off the bridge. Somehow he always felt calmer when he was moving than he did remaining still.

He wandered aimlessly, but somehow found himself in the bay that held Jun's Auto Swan motorcycle.

Jun…

A voice intruded on his brooding.

"Idiot, don't you notice the way she looks at you?"

Wasn't that something he'd said once to Ken, a million years ago? Yet this time it was Ken saying it. Joe turned around, and there he was. He'd since taken his helmet off, giving Joe a good view of his face –jaw tight, nostrils slightly flared, eyes… sad.

"Because I'm telling you, Jun doesn't look at me that way."

"What are you talking about, Ken? I know that you and Jun are back together again –it's been, what, a couple months now?"

Ken looked surprised by this admission.

"You've always been more observant than anyone gives you credit for," he murmured, more to himself than to Joe, "Yet you don't see now…"

"Come on, Ken. I know she seemed a bit… clingy up there on K-3, but she was suffering from exposure, and she was probably light-headed. You don't have to worry that I-"

"There's something you don't know, though," said Ken, in a harder voice. "Remember when we were all on the God Phoenix, and that message came through that Dr. Nambu was dead? You took off back to the hospital immediately, without any clearance from me-"

"Ken, I didn't think, I just had to go and-"

"Well you should know that Jun wanted to go too. But she actually asked permission, and I said no. Our orders were perfectly clear –find the Galactor base. She was pleading with me. There I was, stuck trying to do the correct thing –find and destroy the Galactor base- even though someone dear to me had just died and all Jun wanted to do was go with you, the guy who gets to follow his emotions. She didn't want to stay with me, the guy trying to follow his duty!" There was color in Ken's cheeks, and his eyes glinted.

"I'm sorry, Ken. I know that you're the one who always has to make the hard calls, and I know that isn't easy –I couldn't do it- and-"

But Ken was now resting his bowed head on one raised hand.

"I… I lost it, Joe. I hit her," Ken whispered, "Hard enough to send her flying back into the console behind her."

Oh no, thought Joe, in dismay. Ken so rarely snapped, but when he did…

But he could try to help Ken get past this. He took his own helmet off.

"Look, Ken, maybe it wasn't your best moment ever, but none of us, including Jun, would deny that it's your prerogative as leader."

"But that wasn't it!" Ken's head flew up. "I could pretend that I was disciplining a subordinate officer, but that wasn't it at all -I lost control of myself and I hit Jun, not G3. I knew it… and she knew it too."

Now Joe didn't know what to say. He could only stare silently at Ken's tormented eyes.

"I'm Gatchaman, and so everyone wants to think that I'm this perfect, shining white hero, but deep down…" Ken's voice dropped to a whisper, and he closed his eyes.

"Months ago, at Easton Island and New Jork and the Dera Desert -when we all thought you were dead- she wanted so desperately to believe you might be alive. Every time, she was the first one to call out your name and go running after you. That first night you came back, when I said I'd ended it with Jun because I couldn't handle being her leader in a war situation, that was true but there was more…"

Ken looked straight at Joe now.

"More that I wouldn't admit then, to her or to you. Deep down, somewhere, I was so angry. I was angry at Jun both for turning to you, all those years ago when everyone thought I was dead, and for staying with you when I came back. For a long time there, I was able to ignore it, deny it, until…"

Until I came back from the dead, thought Joe. Oh shit…

His face must have told Ken what he was thinking.

"Look, Joe, I know damned well how petty and unfair that is!" said Ken, gesturing emphatically. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, I can suppress it, but it's always there, some small part of me that's angry, selfish, mean-"

"Stop it, Ken. You don't have to do this. Look, no one is perfect!"

"No, Joe, I need to come clean about everything. How is it that you don't see this? Jun wants to be with you-"

"Why are you saying that, Ken? You didn't go and break up with her again, did you?"

He was staring, wide-eyed at Ken, who now just looked… tired.

"It was the other way around, actually."

Joe found himself suddenly remembering what he'd heard Jun say to Ken at the Cape Long hospital, "We need to talk…" His mind was spinning, trying to make sense of all this…

"She always wants you, Joe. She took a bullet for you! She followed you all the way up K-3! She loves you!"

"She did not tell you that," gasped Joe softly.

"No… she didn't say it, but it's obvious."

"You're wrong, Ken," Joe whispered, "You have to be…"

"She loved you before," said Ken, strain creeping into his voice. "What do you think's changed?"

Laughter, bitter and almost manic, escaped from Joe's throat.

"Isn't that fucking obvious!"

"Oh right. You're a cyborg. Guess what, Joe? She doesn't care!"

"You don't know that!"

"Well, I know that I don't care if you're a cyborg! Hell…" Ken laughed, with irony. "It seems like it's actually got some advantages. The fact is, no one cares that you're a cyborg –no one except you! You love to give me advice, so here's my chance to give you some: Get over it, you fucking idiot!"

"Damned easy for you to say!" snapped Joe angrily. "You don't know how it feels! You don't know what it was like, at Rafael's lab-"

"I know this much, Joe. You need to figure out what it's going to take for you to be 'comfortable in your own… skin'. You can't keep going on the way you have been, avoiding Jun, avoiding everyone, acting like your life doesn't matter."

Joe couldn't answer him, but in his mind he could see Jun's beautiful green eyes, the way she'd been looking at him while he was holding her in his arms on K-3, tears in her eyes…

Like a single drop of water falling on a still lake, so tiny yet creating ripples, Joe could feel hope –missing for so long- stir faintly within him. But fear was there too; could he really bring himself to tell her… the truth, everything, to take that terrifying risk?

And what about Ken?

"If… if by some crazy chance you're actually right about this, then… what about you? When I said I'd stand aside for you, the first night I was back, I meant that! Are you sure you-"

"I love her, Joe," said Ken, with quiet conviction, "I always have, and I always will. She says she loves me. But she's right, the problems that she and I were having –my problems, really- before you came back, they were still there later and they probably always will be. I'm not going to pretend that I like this –because I don't!" Ken's voice wavered. "But you two… you just do better together. Especially when there's a war going on, and for us, there are always going to be wars. Maybe we're doomed to always be some weird triangle, I don't know…"

"What you're saying, Ken –have you actually thought about this?"

Ken didn't answer him right away; he just gazed at Joe pensively.

"I couldn't ask for a better second-in-command than you, Joe. But this time it's my turn to stand aside for you. You're the better man, the better man for Jun. And I know that you'll always protect her; just like today, you'll always keep her safe, no matter what happens to the world."

A world of sadness in Ken's eyes; Joe could feel guilt washing over him.

"Me," Ken shrugged, as one resigned to his fate, "I get to be Gatchaman."

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