Young Offender, Part 29:
"Ivan! Damn it! Get your scrawny ass back here! I know you can hear me, you little creep!" Jet wailed towards the rainy sky. He stood on a grassy hill several miles away from the rental cottage Jet was able to secure with some American dollars.
After he had secured the cottage, Ivan had had the nerve to tell Jet he had better be nice to Francoise when Albert brought her around. Jet told Ivan to cram it. Ivan, in return, had launched Jet off-shore without aid of his rockets.
Jet flew back, top speed, and grabbed Ivan by the shirt collar. He was going to just threaten to kick the Russian kid's butt; he would never really lay a finger on Ivan, but the kid had to know his place. Before Jet could say a word, Ivan disappeared. Jet just growled and marched back to the Arnoul cottage.
He was busy with anger at Ivan until Albert jumped his case. Jet really resented it and told Albert to go screw himself. By the time they got to the rental cottage, Jet was tired of hearing Albert's nagging voice; he accepted the unfair recrimination, and he left to find the errant, psychic cyborg. Now it was raining, and Jet couldn't decide who he was most pissed off at of the three he was trapped with.
"Ivan, you little son-of-a... well... son-of-a-pair-of-nut-cases! I mean it! Show yourself!"
/And what are you going to do? Continue to scream at the sky like an idiot?/
Jet swirled around to see Ivan floating in midair surrounded by a blue haze, arms crossed and a pout on his face. Jet lumbered forward, glaring, and snarled, "Get your ass to the hideout now! You're the one being an idiot!"
Ivan's eyes narrowed, his right eye glowed brighter. /Not until you promise to treat Francoise with more respect. I'm sick of the way you treat her!/
Jet sensed the advantage, so he shot Ivan a smug look and crossed his arms as well. Jet didn't want to be the one to confront Ivan about this, but Jet knew it would be kinder to get it over with than let Albert dance around the topic. "That's right. Your little puppy crush. Should have known. Why don't you get it through your head, even if you looked as old as me, she still wouldn't give you the time of day."
Ivan drifted to the ground, marched over to Jet, and glared upwards. "Go ahead and say why! I can read your mind!"
Jet flinched a little; Ivan looked on the edge of one of his nervous breakdowns. Jet almost second guessed his actions, but he knew he was on the right track. He just had to be gentle. He nodded and finally admitted in a somber tone, after slicking back his rain soaked, scarlet hair, "She is afraid of your abilities. You're so powerful, and you seem to get more so everyday."
"It's not fair," Ivan mumbled, lowering his face.
Jet shook his head and sighed. "Nothing is fair. Life really sucks. So what? Get your shit together already. The things we're into now are too big for you to act like some candy ass mooning over some dame. Give it up about Francoise, or I'll have to have a talk with her 'bout you."
Ivan lifted his face up and gave Jet a scrutinizing look, that eye was still glowing a deep sapphire. /You're trying to get my mind off of self-pity by encouraging me to grow a hard, apathetic shell. Even so, you don't have one. It's your way of protecting me, 'making me a man,' as you would say. You let your emotions toss around inside of you, just like me./
"Shut the hell up, Ivan," Jet snapped, feeling his face grow blazing hot against the cool raindrops.
"A truce?"
"Fine, King's X. I won't shove your nose in it about Frannie, and I won't make any more chops at her. But you better stop tossing me over the ocean."
"Channel."
"Channel! Whatever!" All Jet could do was give a shaky nod as he quelled his anger at Ivan. He knew he had pressed his luck confronting Ivan. He knew deep down Ivan could do a lot of damage. He shook off his train of thought in favor of finishing fixing what was in front of him.
"Still, kid, you got to face it. I know you have it bad for Francoise, but you need to deal with it. You're the one who wants to make sure things work smooth. This could make things hard. I mean, my gang had a rule, no taking other guys' sisters necking. Kind of think of it like that. It'd be bad for the group if any of us were to make the moves on Francoise."
Ivan nodded and sighed with defeat. "You know, with all my power I can't make some someone love me. I don't understand it."
"Listen... I don't know about that mushy... well... love stuff. It's beyond me too."
"I need to think of the bigger picture, but it's still so hard when I don't have total control over my empathy." Jet smacked Ivan on the shoulder and nodded towards the rental cottage. Ivan gave Jet a serious look with a slightly bashful expression before asking, "So how do you repress your feelings towards someone you're attracted to?"
Jet felt shaky, as if he'd been punched in the stomach. His first inclination was to think Ivan had read his mind totally and was prying into some of Jet's deepest secrets. He though it through for a minute and realized that Ivan wouldn't be asking advice if he knew everything in Jet's mind; it was just a general question. He felt a wave of relief that Ivan did respect boundaries.
"I don't know. Find someone else? I mean, I've only been out with a few girls in my time. I'm no expert like Al," Jet snapped slightly; he'd always preferred talking cars, baseball, or fights, not talking about girls.
"We do have a lot in common. I didn't realize how much until now. With our parents being abusive. Both of us wanting things we can never have?"
For a moment, Jet wondered if the Russian had indeed pried into his mind, but he shrugged it off nervously. He then realized, or gave a fervent hope, that Ivan was referring to Jet's propensity towards theft.
"Yeah. I guess I'll always be what the police call a young offender. Now, I guess all of you are, too." Jet threw his arm around Ivan's shoulders and guided him back to the rental property.
When they entered the rental property, soaked head-to-toe, Jet had a surprise. Albert and Francoise stood in an embrace in the middle of the room; Albert was comforting her. He felt an unpleasant jolt within his stomach at the sight, a kind of loneliness, but it was the suddenly rising room temperature and shattering wall-clock that made Jet flinch and panic.
He looked over to see Ivan was trembling, his fists were clenched and his eyes were locked onto the two oldest cyborgs. Albert and Francoise jumped apart at the loud crack clock. Jet noticed neither seemed to have guilty expressions or nervous body movements. He reassessed his thought and saw it was purely innocent.
Still, he wished Albert had better judgment, knowing about Ivan's crush on Francoise. Obviously, Ivan wasn't thinking rationally at the moment, or using his telepathy to figure things out Jet could plainly see by observation.
Jet flopped down on the sofa, in spite of his wet clothes, as a vase flew towards Albert's head. He was impressed when Albert caught it and set it aside. Jet suspected he was going to enjoy watching Albert squirm for once.
"Ivan! What's wrong with you?" Albert snapped.
"That's why you had me and Jet go? So you could..." Ivan sputtered for a few moments.
Jet, with a wide smile, supplied, "...make time with Frannie." Albert shot him the briefest of lethal glowers.
"...Francoise?" Ivan finished in a dulled tone, shoulders slumped.
"Ivan, you should know better," Francoise spoke up. "Albert is a good friend. Just like you are."
"Listen, Francoise has a lot on her mind. You need to let it go so she can concentrate on her brother. This is very selfish on your part," Albert said, crossing his arms. Jet admired the steely gaze he threw at Ivan.
Jet agreed with Albert when he glanced over at Francoise; she appeared utterly exhausted and grief stricken. He knew this had to be hashed out between Ivan and Albert now, but Francoise certainly didn't need this.
Ivan's lips clenched, and he nodded, looking more angry than Jet had ever seen. The Russian boy fled to the back of the cottage, opened a door, and retreated to one of the small bedrooms. Jet watched Francoise retreat to the other one seconds later.
Rather than say something he would consider clever, Jet rose and started peeling off his soggy jacket. Albert started pacing, Jet could tell the German man was in deep thought, and he knew better than to push his luck when he was in this mode.
Jet could tell Albert pointedly ignored him when he grabbed a deck of cards, sat on the sofa, and started dealing out solitaire. Jet huffed exasperated at everyone around him and stormed into the bathroom, the only place left for privacy in the small cottage. He finished stripping down and ran a hot shower.
"It's all in place. I'll bring back 001 no matter what," Erika said as Fyodr looked over towards the secret helicopter scheduled to take his wife and her prodigy towards mainland China; they would then catch a plane to Paris. Only Scar knew about this surreptitious trip to set the trap with Mrs Kitagawa.
"Be careful, my darling. 001 doesn't know what he's doing. Those others have twisted his mind, I just know it. When you bring him back we will... correct him. We will correct all of them," Fyodr replied. He glanced over at the emaciated girl standing close by his wife's side. She looked petrified, but Erika had assured him the girl would do her job better without a lobotomy . Still, he hated to admit he didn't know every ramification of grafting Katharina's brain into the girl's. Time would tell.
"Don't worry about me, sweetheart. A mother knows when a son needs her. I had a strong impression last night. Now is the time."
"Good. Once you have them, contact me and then we can arrest Gilmore for his treachery." Fyodr leaned over and gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek.
She turned to the girl and buttoned up the top button on her coat. "Come with me, Ann. It's time to get the Double Zero Cyborgs back."
"My daddy? And the oaf? The countess and the twins?" she whispered, Fyodr barely catch it over the whirling blades of the helicopter.
Erika bent over slightly to get at eye-level with the apparent twelve year old. "Now, dear, they are all safe so long as you do everything I ask of you. Remember? It's the Double Zero Cyborgs' fault that you lost your mother and the others were placed in storage. Lord Scar had no choice."
Fyodr didn't miss the glistening of tears in the girl's light brown eyes; he once again marveled at his wife's ability to create the world she want others to see, but he knew a child was really no challenge to her. Erika patted the girl under the chin and gently ordered in a cooing voice, "No tears, my precious. Only they cry, not you. Madam Erika doesn't like to see children cry."
The girl nodded and swiped her tears away. Erika flashed the child a brilliant smile and took her hand. His wife turned her head towards Fyodr, gave him a warm smile, and tugged the girl to the helicopter.
As the helicopter took off, Fyodor felt optimistic about their chance at getting 001 back.
Francoise looked up, her shoulders tense, as Albert walked back into the cottage. Jet and Ivan trailed behind him. She was hopeful until Albert shook his head and took off his hat.
"It's been a week, and we've searched this whole town," Albert said. "Your brother told them all you had passed away, no doubt to throw the Black Ghost off. We did find something out. Today."
Francoise sat up straighter and clasped her hands on top of her light pink skirt. This had been the most any of them had spoken in the week they've been in Calais. She spent her time hiding in her room, reading, knitting, and doing dance exercises.
Ivan had been locked in his claimed room when not out with Albert and Jet looking for Jean-Paul. As for Albert and Jet, Francoise heard only the most necessary words exchanged when they had to communicate with each other. Albert kept his nose buried in books and newspapers when not searching the streets. Jet spent his time making paper airplanes, even a couple of origami folds Kozumi had shown him, and card houses by the gross.
Albert sat beside her, while Jet and Ivan took seats across a coffee table. She didn't like Albert's troubled expression. "It seems your brother was here, but disappeared the night the attack happened. His body wasn't found. The police suspect Jean-Paul of setting the fire and disappearing. They want to find him for questioning. They even want to ask him about your whereabouts."
"However, I believe the Black Ghost did it and chased your brother off. They may be influencing the police," Ivan added.
Jet scowled at Ivan and said, "We have no proof of that it was Black Ghost, but I wouldn't put it past them."
Albert leaned forward and asked, "Is there any other place he would go?"
Francoise took a deep breath and ran through all the options. She shook her head and said, "He has friends all over France, Belgium, Switzerland... He's flown so many places that I wouldn't even know."
"Then he's hiding. I checked with Gilmore this morning. The Black Ghost still hasn't mentioned him." Ivan had a dark expression. "It's time we move on to Paris." Francoise gasped and didn't miss the sinister expressions Jet and Albert turned Ivan's way. He glowered back and then faced Francoise again. "We must move on. Jean-Paul is no longer here, and we have a narrow window for disrupting Kitagawa's negotiation with the Black Ghost. We need to leave tomorrow."
"You're a heartless little prick," Jet mumbled. "You could have let Albert..."
"Albert wasn't going to be direct. Aren't you the one who told me, 'nothing is fair. Life really sucks.'? And didn't you also say, 'The things we're into now are too big for you to act like some...' well... you know the rest. Take your own advice for once and toughen up," Ivan said, causing Francoise to involuntarily shudder.
A deep sorrow came over her, hearing Ivan sink into someone he wasn't. She glanced over at Albert as Jet snarled and shouted, "You little freak! Why don't you..."
Francoise let the rest of Jet's tirade fade into the background as worry overcame her. It was for Albert, who slumped, defeated, while he stared at the plain, gold ring dangling from a chain around his neck. He had it in his hand and was focused on it. She wondered what was going through his mind. Was he asking Hilda what to do, or was he cursing the Black Ghost for taking her from him?
His head jerked up and he stood. Jet and Ivan both grew quiet. Albert tucked the ring under his shirt and said, "We go to Paris tomorrow. Everyone get ready here. I'm going for the train tickets."
With that, Albert put on his jager hat and left. Francoise rose, happy to have something she could busy herself with: cleaning, packing, and organizing. She kept clear of her companions as much as she could. She secretly hoped Jean-Paul had gone back to Paris. She saw this as an opportunity to continue her search, but she was deeply disturbed that the police were hunting him.
She resisted her impulse to march down to the police and try to clear Jean-Paul's good name. Francoise knew it would be the quickest way for the Black Ghost to find them. What she knew in her heart was that she was going to take the first opportunity to leave the other three cyborgs.
To be continued.