Young Offender, Part 69:

Albert held his fork in his left hand and tried to break through the piece of chicken on his plate, but after several awkward tries he shoved his plate and fork across the table. It landed on the floor in a mess. He flopped back in his wheelchair and glared at Jet, who was wordlessly cleaning up the mess on the kitchen floor.

"I'll get you something else if you want," Jet offered, looking as helpless as Albert felt. He had been without his right arm and legs for almost a week now. From the knees on down and from the right elbow on down there was nothing, and it was a constant, nagging reminder to Albert about the second generation cyborgs.

"Forget it. Just leave it," Albert snapped. Jet's eyes narrowed, but rather than say anything nasty, he nodded and got rid of the chipped plate and wasted food.

Jet cast a look over his shoulder at the German cyborg. "Albert, you haven't been yourself." His bleak thoughts froze and he paid attention to Jet because he used his full, first name rather than "Al."

"Say what's on your mind," Albert said flatly, getting annoyed at Jet's very presence.

"I'm no good a pep talks and all, but you've been through worse than this. You haven't said five civil words to me in six days since we fought those other cyborgs. You've been rude to the doctors and Francoise, which ain't cool. You can take it out on me, because I'm a big boy that grew up with a lot worse than you're dishing out. Besides, you've dealt with more than your fair share of shit from me so I know I deserve some grief from you. But Frannie don't deserve your nastiness, and neither do the docs."

"If Francoise and the doctors don't like my company, they can leave me alone. That goes for you too," Albert said, pointedly.

Jet slowly glowered. "Hey, be a bastard all you want. I may have to stay under the same roof as you, but I'll go sofa surfing if you keep this shit up."

"Maybe some peace and quiet would suit me just fine," Albert said, through gritted teeth.

"Fine," Jet said almost too quiet to hear. "You've frosted me out. You want to go through it alone, that's your choice."

"Good news," Gilmore said with a bright smile as he came in the kitchen. Albert turned to the scientist, peeved he didn't have a chance to finish arguing with Jet. Gilmore's smile fell and he gave them a scrutinizing look. He coughed slightly in his hand and asked, "Did I interrupt something?"

To Albert's irritation, Gilmore had been walking on egg shells around him and Jet now that he understood that they were more than friends. It was one more thing pushing Albert's limits.

"Not a damn thing," Jet mumbled and turned to get his own lunch from the stove.

"Well, your legs are almost finished," Gilmore said.

"My arm?" Albert had a deep trepidation at the answer.

Gilmore shook his head. "Parts are a huge concern. The upgrades were really advanced. It could possibly take a lot longer than a month if Kaminari and I have to build the circuitry from scratch."

"So are there parts I can go snatch to speed it along?" Jet asked, abandoning his lunch.

"No! You'll stay put!" Albert snapped.

"I'll do what I want, you stubborn fucking jerk!" Jet snapped back, fists balled.

"You're not getting your fool self killed for some damn circuits. Forget it," Albert insisted; a fluttering panic hit his stomach. The idea of Jet facing those four strange cyborgs alone was more than he could cope with at the moment.

"You don't own me!"

"Listen, Jet, I think Albert is correct. We have virtually no information on those opposing cyborgs. In spite of what Francoise said, we still need to be cautious."

"Stay out of my business with Jet, Gilmore!" Albert shouted, and then fixed Jet with an icy stare. "You're not going any where! And that's the end of it."

Jet's tongue ran over his scarred gums as he stormed out of the kitchen. Albert knew this argument was far from finished, but he was fairly confident Jet would stay put, for now. He ran his left hand through his graying hair and flung it in the air in frustration. "Just get it done as fast as you can, Gilmore! Our lives and freedom depend on it."

"I will. I promise," Gilmore said gravely before leaving the kitchen.

"Jet?"

He looked up from the book he was reading and saw Francoise at the door. She looked a lot better, but still pretty pale. He was laying on a bed in his and Albert's guest room. He sat up and gave her his attention.

"How's Ivan?" he asked.

"Same. Ann must have done something bad. So tell me about how Albert's doing. He's been rather incorrigible lately." She took a seat on the edge of the empty bed across from Jet.

"Yeap, but it has got to run its course."

"Surely you can talk some sense into him."

"Not a lick, but he'll come around," Jet said not sounding as confident as he'd like.

"I know, I just wonder why he's so sour," she said.

"Because, he feels he failed us, and for the first time in a long time, he has no plan to keep us safe from a new threat. He's always felt responsible for our safety, and it's not easy for a guy to admit he didn't do everything he could to keep his family safe. To top it off, he's pissed off he doesn't have a whole body."

"But that shouldn't matter! He needs to rely on us, especially after all these years."

"Albert has more than his share of pride under that cool exterior; you know that as well as I do. He's not the type to take an invalid role gracefully. Me knowing that is the only thing keeping me from strangling him with his own scarf," Jet said, getting doleful.

"I know, he's been very surly with you. I'm afraid for Albert and Ivan."

"I know," Jet said, extending his hand to Francoise. She took it in a firm, desperate grip. He gave her a confident smile. "I know how to tame Al, so you concentrate on Ivan. Okay?"

"A deal," she said, squeezing their clasped hands tighter. "Jet, take care of yourself, too. Don't hesitate to talk to me if Albert gets to be too much."

Jet smirked and shook his head. "He's dealing with it, poorly, but like I said, he'll come around when his mind gets things hashed out about those other cyborgs. Heck, they threw me for a loop, too."

"I think they're good people caught in a bad situation."

Jet shook his head. "I'm not willing to gamble my freedom on."

Francoise stood and let go of his hand. "I know we should be cautious, but if we could convince them to leave, wouldn't the Black Ghost lose a big advantage they have?"

"They messed up Al pretty good, so I'm not exactly feeling generous towards them right now."

"I know, but you're a little more forgiving than you once were."

"I've had to be, or you guys would have murdered me a long time ago," he said, giving her a smirk. "Besides, I guess I could bury my grudge against those Double Zero Loosers if it means fucking over the Black Ghost." She chuckled before leaving him alone to mope again.

Ivan wandered around his own corroded mindscape. He had been working hard at trying to process the news of his parents' deaths. Every time he tried, an incredible despair would knock him to his knees and leave him breathless with the desire to do bodily harm to himself. He now could awaken his body, but he was too terrified of this mad compulsion Ann had put in his head. It was best for him to be incorporeal until her attack wore off some more.

Also, Ann weighed heavily on his mind. Her vengefulness towards him didn't surprise him, but he was disturbed all the same. Mentally, she was a young girl when he left; mentally, he was an adult at that time. She didn't have the capacity to understand why he left, and as she mentally matured, it had festered into a giant wound that wouldn't easily be healed.

Not only that, she'd become powerful. Ivan had no doubt he was still more powerful, but she knew how to exploit his weakness. He couldn't, and wouldn't, let that happen again. Ivan walked from the metal, wires, and oily sludge part of his mindscape towards the chilly, foggy bog. He found the stagnant, festering pond he was looking for and sat on a decaying log next to it.

If there was one gift Ann gave him during their exchange, it was the knowledge of this particular spot in his mindscape, one that needed draining. It was the repository of his feelings towards Albert, Francoise, and Jet. It was in rancid, fetid shape, and he'd never bothered to address it. Now, staying in his mindscape, he really no excuse to not deal with it.

He stretched out his hand and the murky water bubbled up. His eyes flared a bright blue and yellow as the bubbling grew more rapid and frantic, releasing some of the noxiousness into the air. After a minute he lowered his hand, exhausted, and his eyes faded back to normal. The pond was far from clean, and he'd have to work on it, little by little. At least it was a start.

"They didn't show." Junior made the observation after he loaded a huge crate in the back of a truck. Chang hopped up in the truck's bed and proceeded to tie the crate down. Pyunma looked around the Brazilian coast. They were to deliver a crate of weapons to a group of people deep in the forest. Pyunma had a feeling the group might have evil intentions, but he wasn't sure how he could foil their plans.

"I know, that bothers me. They could be waiting to ambush us in the forest," Pyunma said. He looked up to see a tropical, colorful bird circling. Pyunma activated the electro communication transmitter in his brain and asked, "GB, any sign?"

"No sign of them, or anything else for that matter," the former actor's words filled Pyunma's ears.

"We'll be leaving in a minute." Pyunma didn't want to admit his rising unease at their first generation counterparts not showing during the last two missions they ran. He had to admit he was worried about them, but there was nothing they could do about their situation, or the first generation, without them showing up and having a long conversation with them.

He smacked his fist in his palm and got in beside Junior, who was going to drive the truck. "We need them to help us out. Otherwise, we'll be trapped with the Black Ghost a very long time."

"They'll show up. If 003 is like GB says, they'll come looking for us," Junior assured Pyunma.

"We'll wait them out," Pyunma agreed as Junior started the truck and drove towards the drop off point.

Ryu Kitagawa didn't like the situation Akira was setting up tonight. His cousin and his new bride had rushed off to tour Japan before Ryu could really sit down and talk Akira into a divorce. Ryu waited patiently for their return for a whole month. When they showed back up, it was with a phone call inviting him to dinner so they could share some good news.

Ryu was certainly not dumb. He quickly concluded Akira was going to announce that his new bride was pregnant. His fear was that Akira would want to move back to California where he could lose control of him, he still didn't have a firm enough grip on the young man.

On his way to the formal restaurant, Ryu decided it may be for the best to embrace Akira's relationship with Julie. The girl, even thought he had only spent a few hours with her, struck him as overly sentimental and extremely naive. Ryu was willing to wager he could easily manipulate her if he could get a little more time with her. If Ryu could control Julie, then he could get Akira in line.

He hadn't worked out his plans entirely by the time he was seated in the restaurant. Shortly after he arrived, Akira and Julie showed up. Yes, they were holding hands and beaming at one another. Ryu knew what was coming, so he dredged up a pleasant, happy expression. After he greeted them, they sat across the table from him.

Ryu studied Julie for a few moments. He admitted she was extremely attractive and demure. He could see why Akira had picked her. He started to feel more optimistic when he recalled Julie had no parents, just a grandmother in Los Angles.

"So, you brought me here to tell me something?" Ryu asked, making a preemptive strike on his grinning cousin.

"Julie is pregnant," Akira blurted out in English, obviously elated.

"Congratulation are in order, but I'm kind of concerned," Ryu said in English, feigning worry. He picked up that Julie really didn't understand any Japanese, so Akira always spoke English around her. That only made Ryu happier. He'd have to ensure she stayed ignorant of their language.

"Concerned?" Akira asked. "Money isn't an issue."

"Yes, but where are you going to settle down?"

They both got a blank stares. Finally, Julie ventured, "We sort of thought about going back to see my grandmother until the baby is born."

"Nonsense. You both should move into my home. The Kitagawa Estate vast. They'll be plenty of space there for you and the baby. I'll even personally hire a nanny to assist you. You don't have to stay long term, just until you can get on your feet."

Akira turned to Julie. "It's a really an awesome house. It's where I lived when I was a little boy. It brings back some good memories of Aunt Hitomi. I wish you could have met her."

Julie looked uncertain. So Ryu pressed, "I'll put you and Akira up in my home for a week. You can talk it out and relax while you plan for the baby's arrival."

"Well, a week more wouldn't hurt," she said. Her worry washed away and she gave Ryu a bright smile. "Thanks for your kindness."

"You'll be doing me a kindness. I'm pretty lonely in that huge house. I'd love to have family around," Ryu said. He was confident in a week's time he could subtlety bully them into staying in Japan. After that, he'd get them wrapped around his finger and ensure he'd get Akira's stake in the Shimamura family business.

The rest of the dinner was pleasant enough, but Ryu kept finding his eyes wandering over to Julie. Akira certainly did have good taste.

To be continued.