Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex Fan Fiction / Ghost In The Shell Fan Fiction ❯ Divine Comedy: Purgatory ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or concepts from Ghost in the Shell. I just enjoy playing with them.

They were almost an hour outside of Berlin, on their way back to Niihama. They'd handed Angel Wing over without a problem, once his daughter had cleared the scene. Batou had walked off while the rest of the participating members had mopped up. He'd barely spoken since, preferring, apparently, to concentrate on his newspaper. They were both eager to get back, given the growing turmoil with the refuges in Dejima, but she doubted that's what was keeping him so quiet. The Major stretched her legs and folded her arms behind her head before glancing over at him.

"What was it about the girl?" She asked, finally. It wasn't as if he'd never shown up to prod at her after missions, after all. Not that much ever got discussed, but she figured it at least kept things balanced between them.

He shrugged without bothering to look up from the newspaper.

She scowled. Things were fine as long as Batou was talking, but she'd learned to be watchful of his silences. "It isn't like you to get so sloppy."

"It isn't like you to go hacking into my head, so I guess we're even." No anger in his tone, just a statement of fact.

"If I hadn't, you might be dead right now."

He finally glanced up. "It's possible. And if I had obeyed orders, Angel Wing might be well on his way to killing more civilians."

"I'm not arguing that. But you couldn't have known the connection when you started following the girl. It was a coincidence."

"She knew I was there. I thought it was suspicious behavior."

"That's your justification."

"Sure."

"That may work in your official report, but it's not going to fly with me. Something's still bothering you."

He tossed the newspaper down on the seat next to him. "Guys like him piss me off. They think they can do whatever the hell they want and still go home to their families at night. They're throwing it all away for some stupid ideal better left to the poor bastards who have nothing else to live for. That girl will either be forced to face the kind of man her father really was, or spend the rest of her life hating us for taking him away. All because the bastard though he could have it both ways."

"Batou..."

"Can it, Major. It's not as if we get explanations for half the shit you pull. Whatever the hell you thought you saw in my head, just forget about it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I tapped your visual receptors, that was all. I wouldn't have even managed *that* if you'd had your head in the game." His anger didn't surprise her. She understood why he felt the way he did--she'd hurt him in the past, after all. He usually let it go in favor of keeping her friendship, but when she pushed him, it all bubbled right back to the surface. One among the many reasons she tried so hard to keep him at arm's length. "You're no good to the team if we don't know we can depend on you."

"So get rid of me," he muttered, and picked up the battered newspaper again.

"What was that?"

"You heard me. If you don't think I can do the job, then it's *your* job to toss me out on my ass."

Oh, there were days when she really wanted to smack him. The offer of resignation wasn't sincere, she knew him well enough to know that. But he was still sunk into whatever hole he'd dug for himself this time, and he'd stay there for a few days if she didn't try to shake him out of it. It was his usual M.O., although he'd apparently been far worse during her extended absence from Section Nine.

She got up, crossed the aisle, and took the seat the newspaper had recently vacated. She rested a hand on his forearm.

"Batou... I'm sorry."

He looked down at her with the unblinking cybernetic gaze that sometimes made him seem so guarded. "I know. I forgave you a long time ago."