The Long Night by Deb
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The Long Night
by AzureDeb
January 1998

The waiting room was crowded as Gatchaman and the others settled in to wait out the surgery or perhaps the waiting room was huge and the people inhabiting it took up so much space it appeared too small -- Tiny muttered about food, Keyop played with his bolos, Gypsy had taken a memo cube from the nurse's station and sat playing with the tiny squares of paper, Gillian curled up on the window ledge staring at the darkening sky, Princess clung to Mark's hand as they sat in the hard chairs, and Aaron stretched her long frame in a chair, leaned back against the wall to all appearances dozing.

After a time, Mark forced the image of Jason's pale, drawn face from his mind and cleared his throat, saying. "Gypsy? What you said earlier? About your being my sister?"

Gypsy's hands stilled and she looked at her younger brother. "Yes."

"Is it true?"

"That you are my brother? Yes." Gypsy looked at Mark. "I remember when Mother was carrying you. Father was around often then. I hoped that we would be a family." She sighed.

Aaron stirred. "Nick Kronus was many things, but he was never meant to be a parent." She straightened in her chair and leaned to look over Gypsy's shoulder at the papers in her lap. "You've been practicing."

"I thought I was losing my touch," Gypsy said. "Mother was fond of origami, she taught me." She smiled gently as she spread a small zoo across the table.

Keyop laid aside his bolos and sat on the floor next to the table. He gingerly touched the tiny elephant, then he spotted the seal and scooped it up. Holding it up for Princess to see, he said. "It's Jojo!"

Mark smiled at Keyop as Princess knelt to admire the paper seal. His smile faded as he looked at Aaron in her black leather and silk. "You look so much like Jason..."

"Actually we look like our mother, Cira Asukura. About the only inheritance from father is the grey in our eyes."

"Jason remembers his father being killed," Princess spoke up.

Aaron sighed. "I really should wait to tell Jason this first, but..." She met Mark's look. "Our mother, Cira, was working undercover for the military. Zoltar and his cronies thought she was an agent for them, but she was really engaged in assisting the Spectran rebels. We learned to speak Common, Spectran, and a bit of Sicilian growing up. The man, Jason remembers, was a rebel who was there with information for mother. Gypsy was visiting Gran, I arrived home in time to see Kronus carry Jason off. I found mother and the Spectran...dead."

She paused to study the gathering. "Rebels, Terran military, and Spectran assassins had taken turns training us, Gypsy and I and in those that last year, Jason. I tracked the assassin to her base and killed her. Then I returned home to find Gypsy, we agreed on a course of action. We took a few personal mementos and set the house afire."

"It wasn't home without Cira," Gypsy said softly.

Aaron shared a long glance with Gypsy. "Mother had taught me how to do her work. I think she was grooming me to take her place. I used her contacts to find us a safe haven in the outlawed branch of the Red Raiders. Eventually I worked my way up to the rank of Commander of my own flight. With my network of contacts and informants, I approached an agent of the Terran military." She looked at her hands. "Somedays it seems like nothing I do can make a difference."

Gypsy spoke up. "It was your influence that took the outlaws where they are today."

"Commodore," Gillian spoke from the window. "The rebellion is stronger because of your work, too."

"We're not on duty Gillian, call me Aaron." She said with a smile that included Gypsy. "I know what I've done, but I just feel it's not enough."

"Bull!"

All eyes turned to the dark uniformed figure in the doorway.

"I suppose you'll want me to salute you since operation Sweet Sixteen is underway." Aaron said.

General Barlow stepped into the room with a snort. "Not bloody likely." She looked down at Aaron. "I heard about Jason. What can I do?"

"Pray," Aaron whispered.

Barlow glanced sharply at the black clad woman, then nodded. She turned to the others. "I am General Beatrix Barlow of NATO. Please, call me Barlow."

As the others responded to Barlow's overtures, Aaron let her mind drift back to the services her mother used to take her to. It had been so long, she had lost the smell of incense and the rhythm of the ritual. She had startled herself with her response to Barlow's question. Perhaps, she thought, I do still have enough faith to pray. I thought that long lost in the battles.

An echo of that last Christmas Eve Service, when she and mother had sang a duet - Ave Marie. How wonderful it had been to listen to their voices entwining in the church. Her mother had hugged her and told her what a good voice she had that night. Sadly Aaron realized that she had not sang since her mother had been killed. How much have I lost, she wondered.

>From the vantage of the window ledge, Gillian watched Gypsy start an impromptu origami lesson. The General even took an interest in the tiny papers. But the Commodore leaned back in her chair and waited.

A small noise from the doorway drew everyones' attention. Anderson stood there in bloodied surgical scrubs. His face pale in the harsh light. Blinking, he said softly, his eyes looking past the group. "An artery burst. Jason almost died on the table."

"Almost?" Aaron asked.

"They put him under and sent me from the room." Anderson seemed to notice the bloodstains and pulled at the scrubs.

Aaron stood and took his hand. "I'll help you get changed, Security." She looked at the shocked group and targeted Barlow. "Get hot coffee and tea. Roust someone out and get sandwiches too."
~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, the coffee cold in the pot and even Tiny only picking at the sandwich in front of him. Gypsy returned from pacing the hallway. She looked at Aaron, who had returned to her chair and resumed her dozing after helping Anderson into clean clothes.

"Aaron!" Gypsy snapped. "How can you sleep?"

Opening still grey eyes, Aaron said. "There isn't anything I can do, but wait."

Slamming the palm of her hand against the wall, Gypsy said. "I just wish you would come out of that blasted shell of yours! Somedays I don't think you're human!"

"I deal with stress differently than --" Aaron stopped to look at the knife embedded in the wall by her ear.

"I don't want to hear it," Gypsy snarled.

Gillian grabbed Mark's shoulder when he started to stand. "Stay out of this," she hissed. "People have been known to be injured if they're stupid enough to get between those two when they are in a mood like this."

Aaron stood slowly and shrugged her jacket off. She pulled the knife from the wall and said, "Outside."

"Fine." Gypsy threw her denim jacket over a chair and followed her taller sister out the door.

Looking at the empty doorway, Gillian muttered. "I hope the guards don't try to stop them."

"What are they doing?" Mark asked.

"They're going to work off some of the tension." Gillian shrugged. "They're going to have a knockdown, dragout fight."

"Does this happen often?" The General asked, looking at Gillian.

She replied. "Often? Not really, but often enough that everyone knows when to clear out of their way."

"That is unbecoming an officer," Barlow stood.

"Maybe in your army, but not ours." Gillian said. When Barlow turned to stare at her, she continued. "I wasn't around with this began, but I have heard stories. How nearly thirteen years ago, this branch of the Red Raiders was a collection of malcontents and drunks. Aaron and Gypsy joined because the then Commander Moon told them they would be fighting Spectra." Gillian glanced out the window, then back. "In those days women had only one purpose in Moon's wing and most of them died of abuse and sickness.

"Moon was a big man, well-muscled. Aaron was a skinny teenager - probably about Jason's age. I have been told they fought long and hard, before she killed him with a thumb in his eye socket. She became the Commander by right of combat, but she had to fight daily to keep that. Slowly the challengers were fewer, until only reckless youngsters tried to take her rank." Gillian looked at a place beyond the waiting room.

"The Commanders of the various Red Raider flights would gather every year or so. Eventually she was named the Commodore, there have been rumors that she used less than fair means to achieve that. But once she was over all the flights, changes were made. Food, medicine, and other staples of life became common."

"That's when she approached me," Barlow muttered.

"Probably. The Commodore is utterly ruthless, you must never forget that. But she is very protective of those who serve under her."

"What we saw--" Mark began.

"On the recording?" Gillian nodded. "That is her nature and she makes no apologies for it."

"What about Gypsy?"

Looking at Mark, she answered. "For all that Kali is Aaron's direct subordinate, Gypsy is still Aaron's right hand. Gypsy is very volatile. She will explode for small reasons. The Commodore is coldly, calculating. For example, Gypsy might beat you to death without thinking, but the Commodore will pin you to the wall and kill you slowly over several days."

"How can you work for them?"

"The Commodore saved my life, more than once." At the General's stare, Gillian continued keeping one eye on Anderson. "I was trained by Spectra to be an assassin. When I refused an assignment because I objected to the target, I was enslaved, tortured, then left to die. The Commodore saved my life. She gave me a place to fight those who are destroying not just your world but mine. She is the way she is because of what she does, but there is some quirk of her personality that allows her to see through Zoltar's rule to understand that not all Spectrans are part of this war."

"I don't understand," the General stared. "Are conditions so bad on Spectra that you can't see when you are being abused?"

"Abused, General?" Gillian met the older woman's gaze. "Abuse is when families are ripped apart to feed an insatiable war. When work is being done on weaponry and children are sleeping on the ground." Her eyes iced over. "Abuse is when your fate is at the whims of a madman and his cruel god. The Commodore is cold, yes. But she is fair and even-handed in her justice. She expects much of me and all her pilots, but she expects no less of herself. She does not send us out to die alone in battle, but is there with us - fighting shoulder to shoulder."

Gillian paused, then asked. "Can we expect the same of you, General? Will you bleed and die with us? Will you starve? Will you fight for days on end, then tend the wounded?" Gillian held her hand up for the General's silence. "No, you won't. But the Commodore will. We, I am loyal to her. Wherever she leads, I follow. You would do well to emulate her."

In the General's silence, Mark asked. "Does Jason know about--?"

"My past?" Gillian nodded. "I told him that night in the mountains."

"He still loves you." Mark said softly.

"Love?" Anderson repeated, coming out of himself.

"Yes, love. As in - I love him and," Gillian sighed, "I hope he loves me." She glanced at the door. "They're coming."

Gypsy entered sporting a darkening eye. Behind her, Aaron showed no visible signs of fighting, until she lowered herself gingerly into her chair. "You sure I didn't break anything?" Gypsy muttered, flopping into own chair.

Leaning back, Aaron said. "Positive, I'm just going to have a pretty set of bruises." Meeting General's studying look, she said. "You look like you have a million questions, Barlow."

"I have one," Mark spoke up. "What do you two want with Jason and me?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "A chance to be friends."

"What about family?" Mark questioned.

"Maybe, in time. If everyone agrees."

Mark turned to stare at Gypsy, until she nodded. He turned back to Aaron, "What if I said I never want to see you? What if I told you to get the hell out of my life?"

Aaron drew a long, pained breath and let it out, before she answered. "That is your choice, Mark. If you want, our relationship need never come up again."

Standing Mark crossed to glare at her. "What? No fight?"

"No fight; you are an adult, a commander in your own right."

"What do you know about...our father?"

"Nick Kronus?" Aaron blinked. "He is a fighter pilot, an ISO agent. He currently works with a branch of the Red Raiders." She gave Mark a puzzled look. "What do you want to know?" Mark blinked and looked away with a muttered "never mind." Her next words froze him in mid-step.

"I don't know why he didn't marry your mother, or mine. Mother, mine and Jason's mother - Cira Asukura," Aaron shifted to sit forward in her chair. "She loved him from the moment she met him till her death. She could never explain to me why he never married her." Aaron closed her eyes. "I remember, I was five when I found mother in her office crying. She had found out about your mother, Aki Washio, and Gypsy. When she saw me in the door, she called me to her lap and showed me pictures of them. She said I had another mother and a sister somewhere."

Aaron looked at Gypsy. "I, of course, wanted to know how, I didn't know you could have two mothers. She explained about Kronus and how Gypsy was his daughter too and if she was his daughter and I was his daughter, then we were sisters." She shook her head. "Time is probably playing a bit with my memory, but I do remember one thing - because she repeated it often to me," she met Mark's questioning look. "'They are your family, you always take care of family,'" Aaron heard the echo of her mother's voice briefly.

Gypsy nodded. "I remember her saying that whenever you and I fought." When Mark looked at her, she said. "Mother Aki was never strong after I was born. When Mother Cira offered to let me spend summer at her house, she agreed. I think Mother Aki was planning the same when you were born, Mark, but you were so frail those first years - I went alone." She smiled. "I remember when we thought we were so grown up, when Mother Cira left us to watch over Jason while she went outside for a few minutes."

Aaron snorted. "We were the ripe old age of ten. He was about eight months and just learning to stagger a few steps."

"Jason fell over Barney, the family dog." Gypsy continued. "Barney was old and nearly deaf. He jumped up and started howling. Jason started screaming at the top of his lungs."

"Neither one of them being hurt in anyway," Aaron leaned back in her chair and quirked an eyebrow at Gypsy. "Then you sat down between them and joined the chorus."

"Mother Cira rushed in, wanting to know what was wrong and Aaron was the only one not crying." Gypsy grinned widely. "Aaron looked up and said - I quote - 'damned if I know'."

"The three banshees got cookies and I got sent to my room," Aaron glared at Gypsy. "Did I ever get you for that?"

"When you talked Jason into hiding from me at the hospital and I had to go confess to Mother Cira I had lost him."

"Ah, yes," Aaron nodded, the hint of a devilish grin on her lips.

"Where was I?" Mark demanded.

Aaron looked up at him. "You were sick. The incident at the hospital was when you were having surgery for something - I honest don't remember what. But we were there with your mother for support."

"Sick?" Mark looked at Anderson. "What is she talking about Chief?"

Anderson looked at Aaron. "You know about your mother's work, don't you?" She nodded. He gestured Mark to a chair. "I have your medical records, if you want to read them. But suffice it to say, that you are very lucky to be alive and healthy. Cira was an ISO agent. I knew of her reputation, which was excellent."


He sighed. "Aki had died just days before Cira was killed. Aki had named Cira yours and Gypsy's guardian. Cira named me as the guardian of her children." He looked at Aaron. "Do you have any idea why?"

"She figured you could keep Kronus away from us. After he left her pregnant with Jason, she became determined that he would have nothing to do with our upbringing." Aaron shook her head. "She loved him, but she never trusted him again."

Anderson looked at Mark. "That is how Jason and you came to be my wards."

"So you knew about our sisters?" Mark asked, tiredly.

"Yes, but I thought they were long dead." Anderson reached for Mark's hand. "I would never have hurt you."

"Those destruct--," Mark began.

"He fought against them," Aaron interrupted. Whatever she might have felt for Anderson was superseded by the knowledge that he was the only parent Gatchaman had.

"How do you know this?" Anderson's mind slowly shoved the day's shocks away.

Aaron shrugged. "I have an extensive network of informants."

"I was one of them," Barlow said quietly.

"Actually, Peri told me." Aaron shifted in her chair and reached for a cup of coffee. Wrinkling her nose, she sipped the cold liquid and continued. "Peri - Dr. Seymour was part of the original group that oversaw the cerebonic implants. She left, in fact, because of the destruct mechanism - she and Anderson here where opposed to it."

Barlow spoke in the silence. "That's one of the best reasons to get you legal." At Aaron's questioning look, she continued. "Your network is better than ISO's. Hell, don't you have someone in the Spectran royal palace?"

Aaron nodded. "He's been trying to get close enough to destroy the Luminous One for the last two years."

Gypsy listened as Anderson, Barlow, and Aaron argued the merits of a raid. She knew Aaron would prevail, the Raiders had looked into the possibility of a suicide raid when they discovered the current location of Spectran royal palace and because they could not guarantee that the Luminous One would be destroyed - the plan had been shelved for a later date. She watched Gillian fidget with a copper bracelet as she was drawn into the discussion. Her dark eyes slipped over the exhausted members of Gatchaman and settled on Mark's dark gaze. Shifting in her chair, she leaned closer to Mark. "What are you thinking?"

"That I never thought about a family beyond father and now..."

"Now you have an embarrassment of family?" Gypsy chuckled, glancing at Aaron and exchanging looks. "I suppose I'm lucky, I've always known about Kronus and his various children."

"How many does he have?"

Gypsy sighed. "Last count? Ten. Aaron's the oldest and the youngest is about a year old now."

"Ten?" Mark gaped.

Nodding, Gypsy said. "Aaron, myself, Nika, Jason, you... What? You didn't know?" She grinned. "Jason's three weeks older than you. Then the twins - Eric and Joseph, they will be thirteen in a month. Colleen is ten and Pierre is all of eight. Suki is the youngest."

Mark flinched. "I've seen fath - Kronus, he's never said anything about this."

"I'm not surprised." Gypsy shook her head. She noticed Aaron leaning back, ignoring conversation in front of her. "Kuso," Gypsy muttered. Standing, she announced. "I'm going to track down some more coffee. Could I talk you into helping, Mark?"

Out in the hall, Gypsy walked until she was far from the waiting room, then slammed her fist into the wall.

Mark waved the nurse away and stepped closer to Gypsy. "What's wrong?"

Leaning her forehead against the wall, Gypsy said. "Did you see the look on Aaron's face?" She continued when he shook his head. "Maybe I'm the only one who can see it. Maybe it's because I remember her from before."

"Before what?"

"Before Mother Cira died. Before Moon abused Aaron."

"Commander Moon? The one she killed?"

Gypsy looked up sharply. "Gillian. Yes, that Moon." She leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "I know Aaron blamed herself for getting us into that mess. I don't."

"Gillian said that most women died..." Mark murmured.

"Or killed themselves," Gypsy sighed. "I don't know if Moon wanted Aaron for herself or because of who her mother was, but he took her to his quarters. I don't know what he did to her there, but the way he treated her in public." Gypsy shivered and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

"I remember the day he brought her to the infirmary. Yes, that's where the women recuperated from the pilots' attentions." Another tear trailed over her cheek. "Aaron was bleeding so much between her legs. He ordered the doctor to fix her, he had no need of blood in his bed. That doctor was a butcher." Shaking her head, Gypsy wiped at the tears and her bloody memories. "Kuso! Anderson showing up in those bloodstained scrubs brought back a lot of memories."

"But she recovered." Mark wondered if Jason would fair as well.

"She recovered, God only knows how. When she was well enough, Moon took her away again. A few months later, she killed him."

"She was younger than Jason."

Gypsy nodded. "Aaron has only hazy memories of Moon. Her control is absolute. When she is in a situation she cannot control, she withdraws."

"Withdraws?"

"I look in her eyes and there's no one there." Gypsy said softly. She shook the tears away. "Maybe I am the only one who can see it."

"What was she like before?" Mark asked, curiously.

"Aaron was always looking for the next adventure." Gypsy smiled. "You've heard the story - why did you climb that mountain? Because it was there. That was Aaron. Trees were meant to be climbed, beaches were for castles, and swings had to go as high as possible. Then there were the planes. Aaron was mad for them.

"There was an airstrip near the house," Gypsy said. "Aaron would hang around the pilots. She would help them service their planes and ask all kinds of questions. Most would have considered her a pest, but they put up with her. She started flying with some of them at six and soloed at nine."

"Weren't you jealous?" Mark asked curiously.

"Of Aaron?" Gypsy shook her head. "You're assuming I was left out. Not with Aaron around. I would have been content to stay on the ground, but Aaron would hear nothing of it. I got my pilot's license at twelve because Mother Aki wouldn't sign the papers until then."

Mark thought for a bit then asked. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Maybe because you are my brother and Aaron is very important to me. Maybe until you can understand why she has to be so in control." Gypsy shrugged. "Maybe to start building a sense of family with you."

"I will remember," Mark promised. He glanced back at the waiting room. "They will start to wonder about us if we don't get back soon."

"Coffee," Gypsy muttered.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn had crept in behind a grey wall of clouds. The increased activity of the day bustled even as a clammy fog clung to every surface.

Awake at the sound of Seymour entering the room, Aaron stood. She rested a hand on Anderson's shoulder, saying. "Wake up, there's news."

Seymour held back a wave of exhaustion as grim faces turned to her. Leaning against the wall, she said. "I don't have any bedside manner, so here it is...Jason is alive. He's in recovery and will be in intensive care soon." No one cheered in the silence before she continued. "During surgery, he suffered a massive hemorrhage. To reach it, we had to go into his brain. It is swelling and will continue to swell for a couple more days."

"Peri, bottom line." Aaron growled.

"Jason is in a drug induced coma. He will be until the swelling goes down. He's on complete life support." Seymour sagged. "I don't know, Commodore. I just don't know."

"When can we see him?" Mark asked.

"Not before noon. You should all get something to eat." Seymour suggested.

"No way." Keyop piped up.

"Yes, Keyop." Aaron said, firmly. "We have to keep up our strength, because it looks like Jason is going to need a lot of support.

"Agreed," Mark nodded. He looked at Aaron. "Meet back here at noon?" At her sharp nod, he turned to the rest of his team and hustled them out the door.

END
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