For this week we have: Headlines

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Oooh, I bet that stung in a way Ken never anticipated!

Ooooh poor Ken! One little coffee? He can't get even that on the house? I wonder what those headlines read like?

It's high time he started paying for what he gets at the J. He's been a contributing factor to the problems Jun's had in running the J.

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Oh, that chick would've been better off as a Galaxy Girl -- she would've died a quick death, then!

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Becky - Think Jason will get himself a new trailer with the compo? EW - Woo, now what situation will he find himself in when he wakes up.... nothing as good as Joe's I suspect!

KT: I love it! ROTFL! Poor Ken, he probably has more pocket lint in his jeans than change. BR: Wow, no more of the story after this? I would have liked to have seen her get more of a comeuppance. EW: I just *knew* they wanted Ken for nefarious reasons! Hehe.

Originally posted by ElectricWhite Oh, that chick would've been better off as a Galaxy Girl -- she would've died a quick death, then!

I never thought of that. Darn!

[quote]Originally posted by KT1972 Becky - Think Jason will get himself a new trailer with the compo? Not if the Chief has anything to say about it. KT.

[quote]Originally posted by Redbird BR: Wow, no more of the story after this? I would have liked to have seen her get more of a comeuppance. I should have talked to EW before I wrote this last section, RB. Then it might have gone in a different direction.

Originally posted by Becky Rock [quote]Originally posted by Redbird BR: Wow, no more of the story after this? I would have liked to have seen her get more of a comeuppance. I should have talked to EW before I wrote this last section, RB. Then it might have gone in a different direction.

I think you could still add to this -- the reporter's not dead, after all!

KT, you've really described Ken's feelings well. And I love the 'kick him when he's down' aspect of making him pay for the coffee! Becky, sounds like Jason ahd a narrow escape! I hope he wins that suit with the reporter. EW, I gather the gloves had some kind of sleeping powder on them?

Originally posted by Transmute Jun EW, I gather the gloves had some kind of sleeping powder on them?

Well, I wasn't thinking of powder, but you've got the basic idea!

Becky -- what a great prompt with which to finish the story of the journalist! I guess Reporters without Borders should be on the lookout for her now, no?

EW -- I like the fact that I can also practice my spanish with this fic! Now let's see what Senor Washio will face when he wakes up...

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I'm glad Ryu is standing up to Jinpei, and that Jinpei isn't trying to pull rank on him!

k2 -- the animosity between Iona and Jinpei is almost palpable in this installment! I like it!

Yay, k2, glad to see you've posted another installment... now am I to understand Iona will remember every detail of that data she's just seen? Maybe it's something her mother's 'friend' will find very useful!

K2 - I's glad to see Iona has a tie to another member of the team and that Ryu isn't taking any crap from Jinpei. It's also good to see you back. I hope you are feeling better.

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Awwww.... It's certainly a tough situation. On one hand Ken's inside knowledge of Galactor would prove very useful to Nambu and the team, but on the other, I'm sure there would always be some suspicion that Ken could always take what he learns about the I.S.O.s plans straight to them. I think only Joe trusts him implicitly enough to want Ken to go live with them at this stage...

KT: Ouch. Poor Ken. I'm going to say this kind of separately because I don't want to hijack KT's story comments. I don't get why people keep saying he treats her badly. We haven't seen any evidence of that in the story, and in canon he doesn't lead her on or treat her badly. Just because he doesn't respond to her mooning doesn't mean he's an asshole. If he did without being sure he was interested, it would be. As far as running a tab, we're never given a sense in canon of whether he's just irresponsible, jerking her around, or just genuinely impoverished because he keeps having to cancel deliveries. It's not like she's been forced to let him run a tab. It was her choice, unless Nambu told her to. Becky: I love all of Mark's evil grins. Maybe the Condor's rubbing off on him a bit too much!!! And poor Jason, wouldn't want to be him at the moment. EW: Oh dear. This is gonna be bad. I'm glad that Ken's immediate reaction was "how do I get out of this?" and I loved his anticipation of what Joe was going to say when he hears about this! k2p2: Ooh, it's interesting to see Ryu go into papa bear mode. I take it Jinpei's been a major brat already about having young competition.

You know, there are times when I think that all I have to do to track my cycle is to look at my rants ...

Actually, I think you had a point, CW. Compared to some other people, Ken hasn't been that bad -- some folks are downright abusive. I believe what upsets most people is that Jun might end up spending the rest of her (possibly very short) life pining away for somebody who may be unobtainable. If Ken honestly let Jun know how he actually felt about her, then she could make an informed decision about how to live her (emotional) life.

See, I fault her in this more than him. She moons but she never says anything to him. If she spoke to him about it, yes, she'd risk getting shot down, but she'd know the score and wouldn't risk pining for someone who may be completely unobtainable. ETA: I don't think this is being an Eagle fan as much as believing in personal responsibility and that Jun is not such a helpless little girl that this is all the guy's fault.

k2: I really enjoyed this installment and the descriptives were very well done. I agree with everyone else and their statements about Ryu in this one. Things seem to be coming together quite nicely in this arc. CW: I don't blame Joe for being confused about that book; "The Art of War" sounds like it's got a lot of "doublespeak" in it. Lots of emotion in this one! So Ken's going to go back with his dad, huh? That should be interesting to say the least! :eek3 EW & CW: I can see both your points re: The Eagle/Swan situation.

Redbird: It took me a while to figure out what I was doing in this one. The Nambu focus on what's best for Ken was something that popped into my head at the last minute. Phew!

Under different circumstances, I'd agree with you, CW. However, Jun is the second youngest member of the team. Even though they have been in situations that might be way too much than most people twice their age, they were still teenagers when they started fighting Galactor. While a year or two in age difference is nothing to worry about when they're in their mid-20's, it can be an issue when they're in their teens because so much more growth happens in a short time. I'm not saying it's all the guy's fault. I just believe that, since he's older and has a little more life experience, it's more Ken's place to get the ball rolling on getting a clearer definition of his relationship with Jun.

Eh, we might have to agree to disagree. It would be interesting to count the times in canon that she makes her interest visibly known. It's not all that often, is it? And it's really never directly to Ken. Ken's young, too, and really isn't a paragon of social skills. He's just as likely to make things way worse as he is to solve anything if he talks to her, and they have to be able to work together. That makes it all much more complicated than just a crush among a group of friends. I'm not saying that in canon he isn't interested, there's just no indication that he is. If he is, then he might not be allowed to do anything about it. If he isn't sure, then what should he do, tell her it'll never happen when he doesn't even know that? If he's not, he's still in an ugly situation, it's not like the two of them can spend some healthy time apart after he puts her straight. It's all a tech writer thing. Accuracy and being overly analytical. I'm always interested in what's actually being shown in canon vs what's fun to speculate/play with in AU's. Sure, I agree that at some level if it's really blatant he probably should say something, but I just don't see how he treats her badly or owes her anything but money on his tab. A tab she never once complains about in canon that I can remember, that's all Jinpei (and we don't know if it's because she complains off-screen or Jinpei's just annoyed on his own). Kinda like in canon Joe seems completely unaware of Jun's mooning over Ken, or at least he doesn't read into it. All of this is with the caveat that I might have forgotten a canon moment somewhere. Damn, I was really telling myself not to go on about it, but it's an interesting discussion.

CW, I get the impression that we're not interpreting things the same way. Usually, when somebody says to me, "Oh, x is treating y bad!", they usually don't mean that x is beating y or that x is utterly destroying y's life. Usually, they say that when they mean somebody needs to grow up, be honest, face the facts. Please correct me if I'm wrong -- it seems to me that you're reading something harsher in the "Ken's treating Jun badly" opinion. I don't see that myself.

Honestly I'm not sure. Maybe I am. I just don't see how he's treating her badly at all if just taken from what we see in canon (aside from moments he snaps in stress during/after missions). The issue of the tab is the closest that I see if looking strictly at canon, and we just aren't given enough information to now how that comes about, what she thinks about it, or the overall affect his tab has on her business. If it wasn't for Jinpei's complaints I'd think that maybe Nambu subsidizes the J in order to help feed the team when their missions interfere with making money (but that would still be speculation). The tab is a ripe area for AU speculation, indeed but in canon we also never hear anything about Jun having a hard time keeping the J afloat, do we? I mean, for all we know, the ISO owns the building and maybe she pays no rent on it. She might even enjoy having his tab as something to whack him with on occasion. All of that's speculation and AU fodder. Romantically, I just don't see it. To me, he'd be treating her badly if he hit on everything that walks, and did it right in front of her. The fact that he shows no interest in anyone could mean any number of things, including that he just doesn't have the brain cells to spare to think about that kind of thing on top of everything else. Yes, it would be sad if Jun never dated because she was mooning and died before she knew what was what, but I don't think by extension that means that Ken OWES her or is an ass for not saying anything. It's just a crappy situation at a crappy time. I'm not sure we even know for sure what their relative ages are. I know I stick with some fanon-agreed birth order/dates. Maybe this was just a hard lesson for me to learn for myself and I'm taking it out on Jun as a character. Loving someone doesn't mean you're owed anything in return. That's the stuff of romance novels, which can be as bad about "teaching expectations" with girls as porn and action adventures (where the hero gets the girl even when often the girl doesn't seem to like him) are with guys. I can't help looking at these things in terms of human nature and what real people would do, not that I think I'm always right about that, either.

CW and EW -- I think that Jun is only held back from expressing her feelings to Ken (i.e., ripping his clothes off) by her own sense of duty. Or is this too romantic a notion?

CW -- Now I'm curious whether Joe will try to influence Ken's decision, and how...At least Nambu is being very honest when he says he doesn't have all the answers -- when you're a teenager, I guess it's comforting to hear that adults, even super-smart adults, don't have all the answers.

DT: Hehehe, not at all. That's her taking responsibility. Mind you, if she did that and it turned out he wasn't into her, that could get weird! (Thus were many funny stories made.)

Originally posted by ChrisW Mind you, if she did that and it turned out he wasn't into her, that could get weird! (Thus were many funny stories made.)

Ooooh yes! Didn't think of that as I was posting (it's late here...)

Originally posted by Daniella T CW -- Now I'm curious whether Joe will try to influence Ken's decision, and how...At least Nambu is being very honest when he says he doesn't have all the answers -- when you're a teenager, I guess it's comforting to hear that adults, even super-smart adults, don't have all the answers.

I was thinking that knowing Joe cares about Ken on some level, and has connected with him on a personal level, so I think Nambu is looking for insights. He's too angry with Kentaro to fully trust his old friend at the moment and even he must feel a burden at times in trying to do what's right for all the kids as much as he can. A nice side effect is that, yes, I think he probably calms Joe a little in admitting that this is a very difficult set of decisions coming up.

Originally posted by Daniella T

Originally posted by ChrisW Mind you, if she did that and it turned out he wasn't into her, that could get weird! (Thus were many funny stories made.)

Ooooh yes! Didn't think of that as I was posting (it's late here...)

Trust the brat in me to find the way something could go really wrong, I think it's part of writer brain.

CW - I think Joe is starting to realize the feelings he's developed for Ken. I don't know if Nambu is figuring it out, but the comment that Nambu was treating Joe more like Ken's family was telling. On the discussion about Ken/Jun - I don't remember anything major in canon about Ken and Jun showing open feelings towards each other of the romantic nature. I do remember someone putting together a piece about violence in Gatchaman as related between the characters. Maybe Wendy Dinsmore? Ken slapped Jun after rescuing her in the Fierce Flowers finale and Joe slapped her regarding Koji. The author believed those actions were based on Japanese culture.

I just wanted to say that these "precision of language and facts" phases of mine aren't entirely fun for me, either. And that I really have only been debating the issue of canon. Obviously I love a good AU or "mostly canon" and all the interpretations and filled in holes that we get to use them for. I write them all the time. As far as the Siren stuff, I think once Nambu becomes more aware that this Joe is interested in this Ken, he'll have to be a little more careful in letting Joe help decide what happens. Make sure that it's all Ken's best interests under consideration and not Joe's desire for time with Ken overriding things (though that's an issue even if they're just friends).

Not sure where this one came from either. Funny how that happens. Hope you enjoy! I'll admit it was rather fun to write. ***************************** Prompt# 117- Headlines "Oh, come on!" Joe protested incredulously, rocking back on his chair legs, arms crossed over his chest. "Aren't you blowing this out of proportion just a little bit, Ken? It's not like it made the headlines or anything." "Do you think I'm kidding Joe?" Ken shouted, slamming a fist down hard on the conference table, water glasses shaking and making Jun wince. "Any more stunts like those and you'll really be making headlines all right! In the obituaries !" How could this have happened? Ken shook his head tiredly and buried his head in his hands, royal blue gloves buried in chocolate hair, shoulders slumping beneath his wings. He closed his eyes trying to regain his composure, taking deep breaths, trying to focus on thoughts of the blue sky and clouds that he loved. "Joe...how could you be so careless?" he asked quietly lifting his head, staring at his gunner. "What if someone had seen you...?" he questioned, voice rising again in anger, but he cut himself off sharply, jaw set. "It's my fault Ken..." Jun told him biting her lip, hands palms down on the table. "I told Joe...." Joe whirled around in his chair, the front legs clanking at they met the tile floor, eyes pinning Jun to her seat as effectively as if he'd thrown a handful of shuriken at her. "I don't need you to defend me Jun!" he growled hotly, glaring at her with stormy eyes. "It was my idea and I can take responsibility for my own actions..." Jun felt her face grow red in anger and she opened her mouth to retort, when Ken interrupted them. "Cut it out! Both of you!" he shouted, holding up a hand. "I don't want to Joe, but you know I'm going to have to tell Hakase about this. He needs to know what transpired." "Are you serious ?" Joe shouted, standing up so quickly his chair fell over, and leaned over the table. "You've got to be kidding me!" "Does it look like I'm kidding?!" Joe shook his head with a snort of derision. "Please it's not like it's the first time..." Then he suddenly stopped short, realizing what he said. "Dammit!" Joe hissed quietly to himself, pounding his thigh with his fist. He turned away from them, eyes closed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What?" Ken said in disbelief, eyes growing wide. "This isn't the first time this has happened?" He looked at both his second and third. At the strong muscled line of Joe's back, unyielding. At Jun, staring at anywhere but him. Were they keeping things from him? Things that would undermine his command? Why? Why would they do that? "Jun?" Ken swallowed hard. "Jun did you know about this?" She just shook her head, not saying anything, not trusting her voice. Her face was paler than usual, green eyes large in her heart shaped face. Her hands gripped the edge of the table, gloves stretched tightly across the knuckles. "So." Ken said flatly. "You've been keeping information from me? Mission information? Apparently this isn't the first time, huh Joe?" Joe didn't move, just stood stone still, muscles locked. Ready for a fight. "Right, Joe?" "It wasn't important Ken. It had no bearing on the mission or its outcome....." "That's not for you to decide Joe!" Ken shouted standing up behind the table. "How dare you undermine my position?" "Undermine your position?" Joe intoned, turning on his heel. "Yeah, you would think that." He narrowed his eyes at his Commander. "The fuck if I have to stand here and listen to this....." The Condor's face was hard as he headed for the door, wings flaring out around him like a dark cloud. "Joe..! Get back..." Ken yelled, half starting after him, but then stopped and sank back into his chair in frustration.

RB -- I'm dying to know where this is going!

Me too RB - what on Earth has Joe been up to this time?

You wet our whistles then leave us hanging, RB. That's torture!

AAAUGH! At least I know you posted the next part in 109, off to read

Now I really want to know what Joe has been doing behind Ken's back!!!