Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

~ opening hours ~

"Mom, seriously, I need those jeans…", Ash pleaded.

It was rather early in the morning, shortly past nine. The sky looked a bit gray, but no rain so far and temperature in the high fifties. School was closed for the day thanks to some sort of teacher's conference and Philippa had decided to grab the opportunity and make a long overdue dentist appointment for Ash.

Parking was a catastrophe in this area and thus they had used public transport. In hindsight not the best of all decision since the bus had stopped a block away from the doctor's office, directly in front of a shop window that had Ash's newest heart's desire on display. Since the appointment was scheduled for 9.45 Ash still had plenty of time to chip away at her firm decision not to spend a rather obscene amount of money on a piece of black cloth.

"You can need water, food… shelter… medical equipment… but needing jeans?" Philippa gave her son a long, hard look with eyebrows raised in consternated astonishment. The corner of her mouth was slightly twitching, though.

"That's a really unfair line of argumentation", he harrumphed.

"At almost two hundred dollars for a single pair of trousers I can be as unfair as I want", she smiled. "And aside from that I'd say Helen is already enough impressed by you without the newest model accentuating your backside."

"MOM!" The expression on Ash's face was one of utter horror. His mother! Commenting on his ass! His MOTHER!

"Oh come on, you were willing to shed clothes right in the middle of your Dad's office, with all the surveillance cams running, but an innocent remark of mine makes you uncomfortable?"

Ash let his shoulders sag in desperation. "This is going to haunt me forever, isn't it?"

"Only for the next ten years or so", Philippa chuckled. "You have to admit it wasn't exactly clever, the whole thing… in the office… you knew about the security system…"

"Dad already sat down with me for a really awkward two hours, mom… No need to hit the replay button. I've learned my lesson."

Philippa couldn't help but think how adorable her son looked when trying to convince somebody he was absolutely serious about something.

"I wasn't talking about you planning to have sex. I was talking about you letting your emotions override everything else. You knew about the cameras but you didn't care. That was the really foolish part."

Ash made a sound between a hiss and a horrified squeak. "MOM!"

"Now come on, you know you didn't grow in a cabbage patch. And I know you'll be a young man soon. Sex will be part of that. I wish you'd wait a little longer… there's only one first time and fifteen is, in my humble opinion, way too young to cross that particular line… one day you might look back in regret that you rushed things…" Philippa paused, then shrugged. "On the other hand I do see that in the end there's no stopping a teenage storm of hormones. But never let your guard down like that again. Never. You've got to keep part of your mind sober, no matter what. And now let's stop here, I'll shift some money around and we'll get you those jeans after the appointment." Philippa nodded at the glass door of a bank that was just opening for the day.

"Really?" Ash gave her that brilliant million watt smile that was one of his father's trademarks.

Philippa shook her head in amazement.

"What?", her son asked, confused.

"Nothing. You look so much like your dad, that's all."

"And what did I inherit from you?"

Huh. Now that question had come like a bolt out of the blue. Philippa blinked in utter surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You always say stuff like "you're really your father's son" or "you truly are a chip off the old block". But what did I inherit from you?" Suddenly Ash's eyes had taken on a piercing quality… his blue eyes, studying her, his gray eyed, dark brown haired mother, from behind the blond fringes of his bangs.

"Luckily not terribly much", Philippa laughed, way too loud even to her own ears, and pushed the door to the bank open. "Now let's get some cash or your ass will end up overpriced-jeans-less after all."

The look on his face told her he knew she had evaded his question. He wasn't buying her hedging anymore. Philippa took a deep breath. The moment of truth both she and Chance dreaded so much was getting closer, inevitably. They would have to tell him. Soon.

Her stomach a solid block of ice, she followed Ash inside.

… … …

Winston poured himself another cup of coffee. Ilsa's Italy-imported high end macchina del caffè really produced good stuff.

Technically there was no need for him to watch over the sleeping team while in the air, but it felt good, having all of them in one safe place, unhurt and not endangered for a change. Ames and Chance were curled up in one corner (those extra-wide seats that Ilsa had had custom-made were definitely worth their money) , Guerrero and Ilsa right in front of him.

Guerrero, the old bastard, had fought dozing off to the last drop, but eventually his eyes had closed while staring at his computer screen. Ilsa had gently taken his glasses away and pulled him into her arms. Now he was snoring slightly, the most dangerous man in Northern California.

They were still eight hours away from San Francisco. Winston settled back into his seat with his newspaper.

The letters on the paper swam a little. He was tired himself, despite the coffee. Maybe he should close his eyes for a minute, too?

Just then a sudden loud buzzing sound from Guerrero's computer made him jump. "What the…?"

"Message via satellite coming in", Guerrero muttered, groping around for his glasses.

"I thought you were offline since this internet inflight thing can be hacked too easily?", Chance mumbled from his seat, blinking awake.

"I've linked the number reserved for emergencies with a satellite…", Guerrero replied, frowning. "It's a message from Isamu." He activated the audio feed.

Hey, it's me, Isu… I know this is for emergencies only, and this probably isn't one, but… the thing is, Ash and I wanted to spar a bit right after his appointment at the dentist, but he isn't at the office and I can't reach him on his cell either. He's already an hour too late and I was just wondering if maybe the dentist found something or whatever… thanks…

"Philippa said something about Ash's jaw needing an x-ray to check its growth… it aches every now and then. I'll call the doctor's office." Chance grabbed the satellite phone.

Five minutes later they knew Ash and Philippa had never shown up at the dentist's.

Another five minutes later Guerrero had located Ash's and Philippa's cell phones inside a bank a block away from the doctor.

A bank that had been the site of a robbery gone wrong about two hours ago and was now under siege by the police while inside the robbers had turned into hostage takers.

Still eight hours to go till San Francisco.