X-Men and Gatchaman do not belong to me. This is a story inspired by

the work of fellow fic writer Ennien Ashbrook. This story in no way

reflects the Ideas and concepts of The original creators. I am making

no money from this and have none to begin with, so please don't sue.

topics bother you, please do not read this fic. I appreciate feed back, but will not tolerate flames.

Co-written and Beta read by Syx Maxwell

Jason tore down the deserted stretch of highway. Damn them! Damn them

all! He didn't need them, not Mark, not Chief Anderson, not the team,

none of them!

***

"I don't want to hear excuses. You are suspended from duty until further notice."

***

Blazing through a canyon stretch, Jason tried to outrun the tears

welling in his eyes.

"Damn you Anderson." He hissed, "Damn you."

A rockslide appeared in the road ahead. Cursing, the Sicilian hit the

brakes and spun the wheel in an effort to dodge the rubble.

"Shit!"

There was a feeling of weightlessness followed by a teeth jarring impact, then nothing.

***

Sarah Darkholme drove along the desert. She liked her new home in

Utoland. Her apartment was a nice two bedroom fully furnished loft. As

much as she liked it, however, she needed to feel the wind in her hair

as she raced over the blacktop. A deserted desert highway was just the thing to fit the bill.

"Hmm… looks like someone had an accident," she murmered when she saw

smoke rising ahead.

When she arrived, Sara found what had once been a Shelby Cobra. It had been rolled several times and smoke now rolled up from the

under-carriage.

"Oh hell," she murmered. Moving as fast as she could, the young woman

approached the overturned vehicle. Inside she saw an attractive young

man with red-brown hair still buckled into the drivers seat. He had a

cut on his forehead and was out cold. Moving quickly, Sara pulled out

her pocketknife and proceeded to cut the young man free.

She knew she probably didn't have much time due to the smoke. Smoke

means fire, she thought. If the fire reaches the gas tank, the car will

blow. Once she had him clear of the danger zone, Sara checked his

vitals. Surpassingly, he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"W-who are you?"

"Sara Darkholme," she answered. "Do you know where you are?"

"Desert."

"Yes. Do you know what happened?"

"Rocks… in road."

"You're hurt. I'll take you to the hospital."

"No. No hospitals… They'll look… there."

He drifted off back into unconsciousness.

"Oh LUV-LY. Just bloody Wonderful."

***

"What do you mean you can't find him!?" Chief Anderson snarled. "We

need him here!"

"Sir, we located the Condor Machine in the desert. But it had been

completely totaled. No sign of the Condor at this time."

"Spectra may have found him," Mark said. "They do know what he looks

like."

"Find him. NOW!"

***

Sara Darkholme looked down at her unexpected guest in surprise. She had

checked him over from head to toe, and aside from a light concussion, he

was fine. No other injuries. Maybe when he wakes up, she mused, he'll

tell me his name.

She had brought him to her house and put him in her spare bedroom three

hours ago. She was very glad for her medical training as she tended his

minor cuts and bruises. Now, as he rested, she grew restless. She

wanted to do something, anything, but knew better than to leave him

alone.

Wake him every hour, came the voice of her instructor from her memory.

Check to see how badly his memory has been affected. Above all, stay

calm.

But it was hard to stay calm. Especially after she had seen the scars

on his wrists. Long white lines of scar tissue running up the center of

his inner wrists, along the vein, not across. When he had done it, he

had meant business when he had done it. He had truly meant to die.

Sara shook her head. For the life of her she would never understand how

anything could make a young, healthy person, especially a young man as

handsome as this, want to end his own life.

Time passed and a few days later the two of them sat talking.

"I grew up traveling with my mom," Sara said. "Saw most of Europe and

Asia. Mom was always on the go."

He nodded and said, "I came to the States when I was really young.

Lived in Sicily before that."

Sara nodded and offered him some more tea, witch he readily accepted.

"Normally, I only drink coffee. But this is really good."

"I order this stuff from a place in China. I get one big batch once

every other month and stick it in the freezer to keep it fresh."

"So it's a specialty blend?"

"Yep. When I was 12, me and mom were staying in southeast China, at a

small village. I met a man that sold this stuff and developed a taste

for the stuff. He and his family sell it all over the world to wealthy

people. He's supplied it to me ever since."

"What's it called?"

"Dragon's Breath."

"Could you give me the address? I'd like to order some for myself."

"Sure. I'll get that for you. It's not really that expensive."

He nodded and sipped more of the incredibly strong tea. Sara smiled at

the relaxed look on his face. He really is cute. "You haven't told me

your name yet. Mine's Sara Darkholme."

"Jason Asakura."

The two talked off and on through out the day and Jason would sleep

inbetween their talks. Then on the fourth day there was a nock at the

door.

"Yes, Jason heard Sara say. "May I… Hay! Just what the hell do you

think you're doing, Bird Boy!?"

The Eagle came stalking in with Sara and the other members of G-Force

right on his heals.

"You can't just come barging into my home, damn it!"

"Tiny restrain her," the Eagle ordered.

The Owl moved to grab the blond and she side stepped him, catching his

right wrist as she did so. Twisting it around behind his back and

applying the needed pressure to a nerve cluster, she rendered the sumo

immobile. "No Tiny," she hissed. "Don't restrain her."

Then she gave the Eagle her best 'Look of Death'™ and snarled, "And as

for you, just where the hell do you get off barging into my home

unannounced and uninvited? I do have rights you know!"

"Traitors for Spectra don't have rights."

There was a pause and Jason could see the shock and anger on Sara's

beautiful face. "What. Did. You. Call. Me!?" she growled.

"We know you're working for Spectra to kidnap the Condor."

"That's ridiculous. Besides, I've never even met the Condor. The only

other person here is Jason and he…" she trailed off, her eyes going

wide. "Oh Lord. You mean to tell me that you're the Condor!?" she

gasped turning to Jason.

"…"

She released the Owl and sat heavily in a chair. "Well hell. And here I

was hoping to meet a nice normal guy. Oh mom is just gonna LOVE this."

"You mean you didn't know!?" the Eagle demanded.

"Of course not! What the hell do you think he did, Parade around in

his uniform to impress me into sleeping with him or something!?"

"Than what's he doing here?"

"I found him in the desert after he wrecker his car. He didn't want to

be taken to a hospital so I brought him here. I am, after all, more

than qualified of taking care of a concussed patient."

Jason turned to the blond and said, "I have to go. I'm sorry for all

the trouble I caused you."

"Hay, you weren't any trouble. Trouble would be a visit from my shudder

father."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Tell you what, if you want you can call me. My number is

on the back of the address I gave you. We can compare notes on

dysfunctional families or something."

"Jason smiled and thanked her. He then moved to join the others and

transformed. All Sara said was, "Flashy."

After they left, Sara leaned against the closed door. "Oh well," she

said as her hair became a deep forest green and her skin darkened to

midnight blue. "Maybe I'll see him again someday."

The shape-shifter smiled and went to call home.

"Fire-bird One," came the cheerful voice over the vid-phone. "If you

wish to speak to the Drooling Flea-bag, please press 1. If you're

looking for the Ruby-eyed Boy Scout, please press 2 and your call will

be forwarded to the appropriate asshole."

"Hi Gate."

"Ringer! Hay girl, What's up!?"

"I just had a very interesting few days."

"Oooo. Please tell. I'm so bored!"

"I met the members of G-Force, and I gotta tell you, the Condor is damn

cute."

"Ringer? Are you in love?"

"Maybe, Gate. Maybe."

End story 1

Next: Jason finds out more about his mysterious savior.