Chapter 11
Jun turned on the engine of the black V8 muscle car with red leather interior and a shadow of a gangster girl holding a gun air brushed onto the driver's side in his Condor birdstyle colours. Joe kept the old car at the base for the odd run into Utoland. Ken didn't question her choice to take the Condor's baby- he figured Joe would have words with her over it later anyway.
Another change in Jun Ken thought stealing a side glance at the Swan. At one point in time there was no way she'd touch Joes car for fear any retribution Joe would likely do when he found out.
The drove down the winding mountain road in a comfortable silence- the growl of the V8 reaching his ears as Jun went into the lower gears to maintain control of the beast, once Jun turned onto the open stretch of road Jun broke the ice.
"You haven't asked me why I'm driving Joe's hot revamped car." Jun kept her eyes on the road but Ken didn't miss her cheeky grin.
"I figured you fill me…so, why are you driving Joe's car?" Ken rested his hand on the dash board and stared out the passenger window at the rocky landscape.
"He said I should test out the engine…"With that statement Jun picked up speed, the engine roared and Ken fell back into his seat with a rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins as she over took slower cars on the single lane highway. Normally he would have told her to slow down, today he felt different- today he needed to rush of adrenaline and speed to remind him he was still alive.
Eventually she slowed down as the approach the outskirts of Utoland.
"You enjoyed that as much as I did." Jun's feral grin became infectious and he found his lips turning up to match hers.
"You never cease to amaze me Jun." Ken said relaxing into his seat. "For a moment I thought you were about to take off and we'd fly into Utoland."
"You wish fly boy." Jun drove in the direction of the Snack J.
"Do want to tell more of what this is all about?" He enquired watching her face it dawn on him that her looks had changed over the past year. She was still beautiful in everyway. But her face had lost the innocence he once knew, she had an air of maturity about the way she held herself. Jun had grown into a woman- the teenage girl who giggled at the smallest thing was gone. Ken felt some disappointment at the loss of innocence that she once had, and another part of him rejoiced because Jun had become more independent and confident in herself.
"Something wrong?" Jun broke into his thoughts causing him to stammer.
"Ahhh…no…just noticing a few changes." Ken felt the turn of his as his pride in her began to surface.
"Huh…"Jun brows knitted together in thought. "What changes- who…where?"
You…you've changed Jun…and I like what I see. Ken thought as she stared into her green eyes. Breaking eye contact Jun's became baffled as she pulled up in front of the Snack J, Ken left her sitting there and jumped out of the passenger side window.
She caught up with in a few steps and pulled out her keys for the front door of snack J.
Opening it she flicked on the lights and he drank in the musty smell of a place that hadn't been opened in a few months.
"I'm barely paying the rent…I'm behind by two months….if I don't open again soon my landlord will shut the Snack down for good." Jun sighed heavily at the burden she carried. Ken knew how much this place meant to her and began to mentally calculate how much money he had at the shack to try and help her. A few dollars in coins in a money box, shamefully he ducked his head and walked to the room off to the side that led to the stairs to loft.
Jun bolted up ahead of him towards her bedroom, Ken followed her in.
Looking around at her private sanctuary he felt a pang at the memories that flooded into his mind as he looked around, his eyes washed over her bed and he quickly looked away to divert his attention to the task at hand.
She pulled out a stash of boxes from her cupboard all the while a serious expression stayed on her face.
"It here I know it." Jun mumbled. "Oh here…"
Jun pulled out a small piece of crinkled note paper and handed it to him. Ken starred at the brief hand writing. "Jun" scrawled in large letters.
His eyes questioned her. Jun's bottom lip trembled. "My nightmares reflect my inner truths."
"I've never shown anyone that bit of paper…" She began. "It's all my mother left for me when she abandoned me as a little baby at the orphanage."
Ken crouched down beside her and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. She looked so lost in that moment. The young innocent girl had returned as her memories took her back in time.
"I starred at the piece of paper for years…thinking one day she's come back for me, she didn't…" Jun cried into his shoulder. " I would try to imagine what part of me looked like her…why she didn't want me…"
"Until one day I stopped caring…and I promised myself I'd never do what she did to my own child." Jun sobbed harder, Ken tightened his grip around her delicate shoulders. "And look what happened Ken… I became just like her… I walked out on my son leaving him a note…"
He felt Jun stiffen in his arms- he could sense her gathering internal strength just to cope with the rush of painful memories that threatened to undo her.
"I understand Jun…I really do." Ken whispered into her hair. He had the same fears about doing what his father did when he walked out on him and his mother all those years ago. He felt the same stab of pain at becoming what he promised he wouldn't become.
"You're not like her Jun…Dyami will know who you are, what you look like…" Ken reassured her. "You didn't abandon him."
Jun's sobs became softer- Ken pushed back her tangled ebony hair to look into her haunted exquisite face.
"We're not perfect Jun and neither were our parents…" Ken kissed her forehead and he felt the sting of his own tears. Encircling her into his arms he held onto her tightly for a long time. Finally he accepted the truth of his heritage. His father messed up in some ways, and in other ways he was willing to die for his family. In trying to be the perfect soldier Ken had managed to mess up in the one thing he should have put first, his lover and best friend- Jun.
Jun pulled away slightly to as something caught her eye over in the far corner of the room hidden under the window curtain. Ken followed her gaze to an empty open box, and then she quickly scanned the room.
"Someone's been in here…"Jun's voice became cautious. She stood up and walked over and picked up the box and her face turned white as a sheet.
"What was in that box?" Ken asked joining her.
"Pictures of Dyami…and a letter from Natasha and Matt about his milestones." Jun's eyes widened with fear. "And this…" She held up a small symbol of Galactor. Ken pursed his lips and felt his hands becoming sweaty at the implications of what that symbol meant. At the same time they held up their hand to their face. "Bird go…"
The sound of clanging pots jolted them out of their thoughts as they both dashed towards the stairs.
"…Stop." Ken held out his arm to prevent Jun from running down the staircase. "Back up, I smell gas..."
Jun silently followed his order and they ran down the hallway, Ken pulled picked a vase and threw at the window smashing the glass out into the alley way below. The two of them leaped out of the building just as the first explosion blew apart the front section of the restaurant. Ken pulled Jun around the corner of the building next door and covered with his wings as the Snack J exploded once more sending debris and hot flames in all directions.
"Can you see anyone…" She asked him looking into his infuriated face.
"No…let's go and see if we can catch the culprit…" Ken's enraged voice left no room for arguments and Jun wasn't about to protest.
"I'm with you Ken…let's go get em…" Jun agreed taking a last look at the burning restaurant spread out across the street with people standing around starring at the drama that had just unfolded before them…
Jun stopped and stared at Joe's car.
Ken let out a long whistle breath. "Boy is he going to be pissed."
The car had been thrown across the street during the explosion. All of the visible windows had been shattered and it was pitted with huge dents. Thick black smoke from the engine indicated the car wouldn't be around for much longer from the external damage.
"He'll learn to live with it." Jun smirked briefly visualizing the Condor's grimace. "We'll blame it on Galactor and then he'll be sweet about it and be more infuriated on the next mission…Now lets go, we have to go to the ISO building in town to see if we can some how find their address."
Ken didn't need any prompting as they ignored the crowd gathering and starring in excitement at the two famous members of the Science Ninja Team.