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"Love Ignites Under Fire"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: R Warnings: AU, language, male x male, Pairings: 1x2 Summary: Duo saves Heero on a mission
and in doing so changes their relationship "Love Ignites Under Fire"
I'd positioned the charges on one side of the complex, digging into the damp clay soil and burying them, one by one. The wall would come down and the roof collapse on top of it. Thank God it wasn't raining, which would make everything go slower, and require trickier materials. Done. I dusted off my hands and looked over my shoulder. From my clothing, I appeared to be another worker bee, a drudge, nothing to look at here. Unobserved in enemy territory. Just another assignment for Shinigami, detonation-ist extraordinaire! One more building said to be munitions storage then cross to the other side. Half-way there. In front of me lay the main gate, my plan "B" exit plan. Plan "A" was the same break in the fence I'd used to get in. I had more buildings to blow, going counter clockwise to my exit, unless something unforeseen blocked it. Though the fence, across the field to the row boat, cross the stream, and run the hell and hope to hitch a ride back to the prep school. But first, I had to finish the job that had been assigned me and then I could bug out. I hadn't run into any glitches at all, which was a good thing. Timing was tight to set the charges and move on, make my exit, before I blew myself up. What felt like a Gundam running full tilt crashed into me, knocking the air out; my lungs screamed in agony. I'm dying! Air! Need air! I forced my diaphragm to work and gasped to breathe before the black spots floating around coalesced into permanent darkness… With oxygen returning to my brain I was suddenly aware of being sprawled on the ground with the weight of a body pinning me down. "What the hell are you doing here?" came a voice close to my ear. Yuy! That bastard! "Get the fuck off me!" I growled through clenched teeth. I didn't want to yell and draw any more attention. I twisted him off and climbed to my feet. "Just doing my job. Move it so I can finish!" "I'm following orders," Heero replied. Pain lanced through my shoulder where Heero's grip tightened. "I've got mine, too, so don't go over there," I waved to my right. "In fact, better haul ass 'cause the first one's due to blow anytime. That'll divert attention thatta way while I finish up over there." I waved to the left of the main entrance all the while keeping an eye on his changing expression. Furious at first, he looked worried and calculating now. "What?" "I already set charges on that side of the compound perimeter buildings—" "That's the barracks…troop living spaces-!" "—with two hundred mobile units in the basement," Heero said. A blinding light lit up the darkening landscape and we both flattened ourselves to the ground just as the roar of a massive explosion blew over us. We were far enough away with a row of parked armored vehicles between us and the blast not to be hit by flying debris as the building near my plan "B" exit route fell partially sideways, making a giant a-frame of concrete. I wiped the dust off my mouth. "You shouldn't fucking be here! I got those building to do next—" "—I did them!" Heero barked back at me. The same sudden awful knowledge stuck us both at the same time: we were surrounded by buildings all about to blow. It was safe to assume that since my retreat was about to be cut off by detonated buildings of Heero's choosing, so had I cut off his exit route. We didn't dare make a run for any place. Four more buildings exploded, falling into ruins, sending clouds of dust skywards, blocking out the setting sun. I covered my ears ineffectively with a hand and a shoulder as fire alarms and the chaos of running, screaming, armed men scrambled my thinking. I gave Heero a disgusted look. "You really fucked this up for me!" With all the charm of a loaded weapon, he sneered back. "You're an idiot. 'Out' is the main gate." There was a part of me that really hated him. A small part. And the stubborn asshole just turned and ran. NO! I probably screamed this, but it was lost in the next wave of percussive blasts. I knew where I'd set mine and when they were to go off and tried to warn the stubborn ass. The blast shot shrapnel, sheets of glass and metal into the air. I pushed at Heero, directing him behind the cover of a short wall. No cover at all, really, but managed to avoid getting hit by boulders of cement pummeling the ground around us. I saw Heero crumple, but after a stumbling step or two he straightened. I didn't look away in time to miss him yanking a bloodied stake of sharp metal out of his side. Oh God! I was at his side adding my hands to his, stifling the flow of blood. "Over here!" I pretty much forced him toward a partially collapsed building, the roof slanting downwards creating an A-frame entrance if we crawled. And then came the second blast. This time, I was saved by some miracle of fate, but Heero was not in sight. I couldn't have gone far; we'd been side by side moments before the blast. I chose the most likely pile of rubble and started pushing debris away. My breath came in nervous bursts as I began to dig for him, heart tight in my chest. "Heero!" I called out. "Hn." I was positive I heard a groan. He had to be alive. Using a length of pipe as a pry bar, in a few moments, I had him in sight. "Oh, Heero." I reached down and supported his head and neck with one hand, wrapping the other around his waist, being mindful of this side injury, and gently pulled him out. By dragging him on my knees, we moved further into the collapsed building until it opened up and I could stand. One look around and I could tell it was some sort of low to mid-level officer barracks. I carried him over the debris and laid him down on a cot, brushing off the dust as I went. No matter what else, I had to stop the bleeding first, so I grabbed a pillow off the next cot and pushed it to his side and covered it with his arm. "Hold on… buddy." I couldn't call him 'bastard' while he lay there helpless. I wasn't that heartless, but the temptation was monumental. His eyes were closed but his eyelids fluttered slightly as if he were trying to open them. "Steady there. I'll be right back." Barracks had first aid stations. I needed to locate one ASAP and charged off, checking to making sure we were in a stable section of the building. Of course, nothing was a sure thing, but there didn't appear to be any damage about to crumble onto us, just dust, so I searched on. "Damn, I'm lucky!" I found a station nearby and it was well supplied. I grabbed a few med patches, water, cleaning kit, and a clean warming-blanket. The building creaked as I raced back to Heero. I couldn't let the worry of it all falling down on us distract me. Without my help to fix his injury, Heero wouldn't make it out anyway. "Hey, it's me," I warned him in case he thought to weaponize himself. My fears were overblown, for sure. He just grunted as I positioned him carefully and removed his jacket, wiping the dirt off of his face and checking him over. He was breathing and didn't appear to be seriously bleeding any place but the gash at his side. I removed the pillow and opened his shirt. "Oh, shit." It looked bad enough that my hands shook as I ripped open the patch and read the instructions. "Lucky they had big ones. Okay, this goes over the whole mess first," I warned him. The web-like material covered more than the wound and stopped the bleeding, somehow, and probably had a numbing effect with local painkillers. Heero's jaw unclenched after a few heartbeats At the edge, a readout glowed determining his blood type. "Says here I'm to use IV pack 5 after bandaging. Got it. Okay, so now I'm putting on the outer cover." This would seal the wound, knit it together like stitching, clean the wound, and I don't know what else. If the injury was deep, I didn't think this would solve the problem, but it would hold him together until we got to a hospital. I didn't know when that would be, though. Or how I'd manage that. Getting us out of the enemy camp would have to come first. "Here's hoping this does the trick." I kept up the talking in case he was listening. He certainly wasn't answering. Not even a grunt. All I had to do is tape the IV to his arm and it inserted itself. The wrap indicator turned green so all was done and good. I could leave him to mend while planning what to do next. Mend? No, to repair like the robot he pretended to be. He acted like one half the time, but his blood ran red, so it just his affectation. Still. Heero just lying there so still, looked so helpless I could remember why, despite my better sense, I put up with him. I touched his arm and felt a flutter inside. The curve of his lips was more interesting than they had the right to be considering the disparaging and often insulting remarks that passed over them… More creaking from overhead. I looked up to see two beams bowed out of square, meaning they might break soon. I hunted around the cots and found supplies, packs, clothes, plenty to take care of us for a few days until we could get back to school. What a joke that was! School! Raiding the enemy's lockers was satisfying beyond belief. I loaded a duffle with a couple firearms, ammo, and cushioned them with two bedrolls. One backpack I filled with rations, water, and spare clothes; another would hold med supplies for Heero. Before collecting those, though, I looked in on Heero's progress. He was trying to hold open his eyes. "No worries, mate," I joked. "Relax and get better (and don't start talking and make me regret saving your ass). I found us some clothes that will help pass us off as regular slobs when we ditch the military coats and hats. I'll get you into your get-up once I get a few more things. Be right back!" I'd stuffed a pile of med kits and IVs into Heero's backpack when a pile of dust landed on my hand. That was all the warning I needed to dash back to where Heero was lying down. We had to boogie out, and fast. On the way back this time I took notice of lights reflecting off windows from broken windows. Search lights. Sirens were still screaming and more explosions boomed in the distance. I detoured, scrambling around a hunk of concrete pillar to look at the windows. A quick examination was enough. There was our exit. "Wake up," I pleaded, clearing the hair away from his features. There was no response and when I held my fingers to his throat, I found his pulse thready and weak. God, he was in bad shape. Don't die! He moaned and I pressed my cheek against the dusty mop of hair. I wanted him to live, to be my friend, more than just the dude I competed against, and, I'll admit, teased, but one who could be a comrade in arms. He could learn! Live! Give me the chance to show you what a great friend I can be! Another, deeper, warm and fuzzier thought threatened to fashion its self into a full-fledged fantasy-construct, but I mentally caught myself in time and kicked it into the cobwebs of my lost-and-not-found brainstorms. Without that bit of hope for motivation, despair reached up from inside me and gripped my heart, warring with the fear trying to overtake me. I felt this emptiness yawning ahead of me and knew I'd miss him a lot, even feel a bit lost without him. His fate was in my hands. What could I do? We couldn't stay here in the enemy camp or we'd be dead for sure. Worse even, tortured and then killed. But I couldn't carry him around. He was far too heavy for that. If he was seriously injured and I moved him too soon, he might not make it. He had to be healed enough! He had to a super soldier today for me. Of course, if I didn't get us moving, we'd both be captured or buried in rubble. My mind was going in circles. "Heero! Wakey-wakey! We have to get outta here!" "Just leave me," Heero croaked. "No way, Jose." I pushed one leg into clean pants and he got the idea, helping with the second. "Is this place safe?" Heero whispered. Are you crazy, I was tempted to scream?! "No, we have to leave. Sorry to make you move. I don't want to hurt you." "Would you stop trying if I asked?" I replied with a snort. I could see there was no way to get a shirt on him with the IV in place. "Then it doesn't matter, does it?" he said, then groaned as he yanked the IV out. I nearly retched knowing the pain he endured, but then he let me dress him, including a very lightly packed backpack, the one mostly containing his own medical supplies. I hefted my own pack, heavy with food supplies, extra blankets and clothes, the shouldered a small bag holding guns wrapped in blankets. "Put an arm over my shoulder. We can get out by those broken windows." The roof creaked, showering us with dust. "Then what?" Good question. (o) Clearing the building had exhausted Heero and I needed to get my bearings, so we paused behind a row of oil drums. The flashing emergency lights created strobe effects in the dark, catching movements in brief snatches. The fortification surrounding buildings making up the permanent military facility looked like scaffolding after our combined damage. It was hard for me to make sense of where to go, but it also effectively camouflaged our suspicious movements. Recalling the map of the place, near the main gate exit, where I wanted to get to now, I counted surviving buildings: Officer's mess, Guard's room, Motor pool. The last being my goal. Four vehicles were parked helter-skelter. "Mail truck," I shouted into Heero's ear over the sirens' wails. He nodded his head and breathed deeply. "Now." We ran around to the passenger side and got him in a seat. The vehicle was a mid-sized off-road type I'd driven before. The roof was made up of roll-bars like ribs across the open air top with the canvas cover folded back. I'd need to secure that over the top later if it started to rain. Mist was catching in my bangs as I turned around to check for keys. "Hey! This is my run to Camp Wells," shouted a young-sounding voice at my elbow. Heero reacted first. He snatched the mail pouch out of the other man's hands. "We'll deliver that. We have to take a report of this raid there. It's too dangerous for you." "Yeah," I added creatively, "you should get that cut over your eye looked at!" "Really? Um, okay, thank you, sir! Um, there the keys and my orders, sir!" He tossed me the mail carrier's keys and ran off. "I guess things are a little chaotic here," I said to Heero as I jammed backpacks in the space between our seats and at Heero's feet, tucked a blanket over him, and tossed my duffle on the floor behind us, just within my reach, if I needed it. "It's a good thing you found us clothes with a higher rank than a mail carrier." His head fell back and eyes closed as I was starting the engine, but he sat up when we were stopped at the gate. "ORDERS!" demanded the security officer. I handed over everything for him to sort out. He returned the mail pouch with an exasperated look, and just as I thought we'd pulled off this stunt, he stepped up to my window and frowned. "Is everything in order?" I asked. I thought it worked to my advantage to control the conversation right off the bat. The guard shook his head. "Papers are fine, sir. Just you're not the mail carrier…sir." "Not the usual one. He, ah, was injured, so I sent him to get medical help." That all made sense to me. Heero was tense, not unusual for him. "Just go!" he barked at me. "Do either of you officers have travel orders to show me?" The guard was persistent. "I might have misplaced mine," I said, smiling innocently. "'Ro? You have yours?" I turned to look over at him and met the barrel of his gun. "Go!" he shouted at me. "Okay! Don't shoot!" I threw the truck into gear and gassed it. The guard shouted something and fell away. The gun fired. "Faster!" Heero roared at me, then fired again. "This is a mail truck, not a race car!" I was pretty pissed at him for shooting at the guard. The mail carrier could ID us even if the guard was dead! "Fuck it, Heero! I wasn't done talking my way outta—" The car bucked, moving forward as the gates rolled open as a pair of huge explosions impacted us from behind. "What the-?!" The steering wheel had a mind of its own, battling me for supremacy. "Go, go!" Heero screamed. I WAS going. We were pelted with chunks of brick. A couple hit my head. What had happened? I chanced a peek in the rearview mirror and saw fire and smoke and rubble where the Officers' mess and Guards' room had stood previously. Heero pushed back the blanket he'd used for covering his head. His gun in his lap, hands lax over it. "Did you do that?!" I asked. "I set the explosives earlier, but not the timers in order to keep my exit options open." "So, when you fired your gun, it wasn't at the guard. You detonated the bombs with a bullet?" He nodded, closing his eyes. "Bullets. Two." The man was crazy, I tell you, but he was on my side now and I felt this trembling excitement (Anticipation? Pleasure? Couldn't tell and wasn't going to throw away more energy contemplating.) "You let him live?" I whined. Leave no one who can ID you. "No." I looked again and the guard was on the ground bleeding extravagantly from shrapnel wounds. The back of his head was gone. "Ah." What was I thinking? The perfect soldier being anything but? One glance and I could tell Heero was asleep. Even half dead his attention to detail was impressive. I was impressed anyway. I wasted no more time leaving, turning onto the road, hopefully in the right direction, since it was the only direction. After a bumpy mile or two, we came to a larger road. Decisions, decisions, decisions… Left or right? The prep school was behind us with a river separating us. What we needed was a bridge. 50-50 chance I'd get it right. I crept out into the intersection and one of the car lights shone on a bent sign. "Camp Wells" to the right. That was close! To the left it was! I stepped on the gas and away we went. (o) The mail truck's heater was busted. It had drizzled a bit for the first few miles, leaving everything cold and damp, but not enough to make me want to stop and put up the cover. I knew how the roof worked; it was a two man job to unfurl it and stretch it out overhead, and I couldn't ask Heero to tear his wound more helping me—and he'd insist he could do it. So, as long as he was staying warm and dry under a pile of blankets, things were okay. That was hours ago, though, and now I was achingly tired and hoped we had put enough distance between us and disaster coming for us that I could stop and check on Heero. We'd come to a heavily forested area. It was totally dark and I had to warm us up. "I'm resting here a bit and making a fire," I told the quiet form in the seat next to me. "I don't think anyone will notice it. We're pretty isolated out here." I worked to set up a make-shift camp, immune to the cold. "I think it's warmer over here now than in the car," I told him, listening or not. "I hate to move you around, but I gotta look at that bandage and there's no room to stretch you out in here." He moaned as he woke up, but didn't push me away. His lack of fight worried me. The seriousness of his wound worried me. Our predicament worried me. With limited help from him, I set to hefting Heero wrapped in blankets, mostly carrying his heavy carcass then stretching him out near the heat. When I stirred the fire, though, I felt frozen. The heat stung my skin as it warmed me. I looked at Heero, the long, lean lines of my body outlined against the light of the blazing fire, so I knew he saw me. "I've gotta peel some of that off you, just the cloth. The bandage has a color coded display that lets me know when it needs changing." He grunted and moved slightly, granting me access. I wondered if he was hating me at this very moment for touching him and seeing him weak. "Good so far. Maybe another couple hours we'll stop again. Are you doing all right?" I asked, knowing he wasn't but wanting to hear some response. "Cold." "That's not good. I can help with that." Choosing a tree nearest to the fire, I gathered him up, still trapped in his blanket wrap, and propped myself up. I positioned him with his head leaning against my shoulder, the rest of him cradled along my ribs and the inside of my hip, stabilized by my crossed legs, and then tried to get comfortable. With a sigh, I gazed down at him, watching with fascination as he breathed. His body was warm and supple against me and I suddenly filled with wonder. In spite of his condition Heero practically vibrated with life, fiercely alive. I smiled down at his dark head a moment more then closed my eyes, pressing my lips to his hair and inhaling deeply of his warm scent. For him, I would get us to safety. I awoke, feeling movement on top of me. It was still dark. I had no idea how long I'd been sleeping. "Are you cold?" I asked. "No, I'm fine." He winced when he tried to move. "Sure you are. Feeling like crap?" "I'm not sure," he said, still not uncurling his body from mine. "Well actually, I am stiff." "Me, too. Don't make any sudden moves. You took a nasty hit earlier." "Need to piss." "Okay." I uncoiled our limbs and helped him turn to the side. "Don't try to stand yet. No one's looking." He fumbled with his pants lying down but achieved success. "You must get out of here," Heero said. "I'm not going without you, so you can stop with that kinda talk." "You shouldn't stop for me." "It wasn't just for you, buddy. I guess I was tired-er than I thought and I assumed a fire would be better than the car heater, which works like shit, by the way, but it's not. Might as well be moving on, right? I agree, we shouldn't stay in one place for long. Steady there. I'll carry you." "Like hell!" "You haven't much to say about it. How do you think you got here, super soldier?" I asked archly. I had a snappish streak (though I'm not as bad as this fire-cracker-tempered Chinese dude from L5, whose name I won't mention) and Heero had pounced on it. "There's a map in the mail pouch." "Now you tell me!" "There's a GPS-" he started to tell me what I did already know. "-Yeah, I got one. Guess I should dig it out. Your mobile device and laptop were destroyed, sorry to say." "I didn't bring a laptop." "Then what was that thing in your pack?" "A remote ignition… doesn't matter, does it?" "Guess not," I agreed because time was of importance, but I was definitely intrigued by his reluctance to talk about some super techie device as much as its purpose. "It's under a couple thousand tons of armory building debris about now." I kicked out the fire and collected the few things of ours and packed them away. Using a branch, I scratched out any obvious signs of our presence and then wrestled with Heero. Wrapping arms- both his and mine- around and over, I managed to get most of his weight leaning on me. At the last second, I snagged the lantern. We stumbled in the direction, vaguely, that I'd hidden the mail truck, and Heero groaned, clearly hurting. "You're doing great," I told him. "Am not." "Okay," I chuckled. "I was beginning to think you were indestructible." I met his sour expression with a grin and was rewarded when his expression softened a little. "Move," he said and lurched forward. He cried out in pain as what could only have been a hot bolt of agony raced through his body from the side wound. He collapsed, only to have his fall interrupted by my strong grip. "Don't try doing this on your own. You'll have to go at my pace." "I'm not sure I can do this. Just go. Leave me," he said calmly. "Hell no," I told him, equally calmly, all the while stroking his head with a hand, watching as the dark strands wound around my fingers. "We do this together. No man left behind, and all that shit." "I see," he replied softly, looking up at me. I looked into his deep blue eyes and forgot to draw my next breath. I was locked in place as if my entire world had come to a halt. We just stood there, me holding on to him for all my life, losing myself in his gaze, lost in time. I was pretty sure he was too weak to break me in two. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice croaked. I felt him reach up and grip the wrist of my hand that had been stroking his hair. I had been petting him and that reality hadn't set in. "Um, ahh." I blushed deeply. What the hell had happened? Shaking it off the best I could, I turned and smiled benignly at him. "Oh," I replied brightly, "just thinking about where I hid the car. This way!" "Idiot," I heard him mutter, but without any heat. (o) I'd been driving as I dared push the mail truck for a few hours and needed a break to rest before I drove us off the road and into a tree or something. I looked down at Heero's sleeping face; his once golden skin appeared drained and pallid. I needed to check his bandage. "Hey, Heero? How about we get you on the back seat? I'm not seeing a place to lie down. No good cover." It wasn't all that easy, but no worse than getting him up and down off the ground. "Shoulda done this the first time, I guess. I had been thinking fire=warm." "Hn." "Excuse the cold fingers," I whispered. My fingers slid under his shirt and over his smooth, warm skin, causing a shudder to wrack his body. "I want to see what you're doing," he said. "Okay, see that green dot?" On the papery edge of the med skin cover were instructions the color-changing guides. "It will change to yellow and then red depending on how close to changing time it is. Jesus, it's nearly red. Good thing I looked." I made quick work of attaching the new medical patch over the existing one. "Now relax. We should wait for it to go green before moving." While waiting for the new paper strip to turn colors, I decided to examine my own body. I ached in the shoulder Heero had hit me and felt other pains and a few more acute injuries probably from projectile hits. I'd ignored them earlier for obvious reasons, but thought I should treat them before any got infected. I shucked my shirt and opened a first aid kit, dabbing on ointments and covering the worst scrapes and cuts with small adhesive bandages. Lastly, I rubbed arnica salve into my shoulder muscle. That felt better. We'd need to stop for gas eventually. Where was a gas station? I wondered if the bridge would be blocked, if we ever got there, if we were being followed, or had been recognized. I hoped Heero was getting better but didn't know what more I could do when he sighed and shifted on the car seat. Heero's hand had come to rest on my arm and in the low light of my lantern I could make out the glint of his open eyes. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to give away that I was watching as his eye-scan traveled up my biceps to where I was massaging my shoulder. His gaze toured across my recently light skin and down the cleft between my pectorals before quickly surveying my abdomen. I felt an odd surge of pride as he surreptitiously looked me over. I knew I had been physically fit before I'd started working out in the school gym, but I was especially proud of my stomach and shoulder muscles. I knew I cut a tight, trim figure. I managed to catch his eyes then and he blushed, taking his hand away quickly and looking in a different direction. "You all right?" he asked. "No injuries that compare to yours," I replied. He brushed the med skin covering his side and then grabbed my arm. "Is this necessary? My body mends quickly on its own." "How soon we forget, eh? You were losing blood like crazy. Leave it be. That's holding you together. Really high tech med stuff. See? That's turned green now. Green for good." I helped him back into his shirt and dressed myself. "You stay there." Not that he looked like he was getting off the bench seat. I cleared a spot on the floor big enough for me to curl up. "I'm gonna close my eyes for a bit and rest. You might as well do the same." Using the duffle for a hard pillow and adding a blanket to cover us both, was apparently enough comfort for me to drift off for a few minutes. The memory of his hand upon my arm was still fresh in my mind, the muscles of his strong forearms rippling, yet lean. I pushed away my attraction with a painful tug on my braid. This was Heero for God's sakes! (o) Dawn came with a heavy curtain of clouds, Heero sleeping quietly, and me behind the wheel. I'd checked the map against my GPS and they didn't jive. We had to cross the river and the next possible place was a bridge to the south, but it was miles to go before getting to that. The GPS showed the road from the military base we blew up to the bridge was the best way, the only way. Smaller roads died out in twists and turns through small farms dotting the countryside. Nothing—not the fearsome freeways of Los Angeles or the Munich autobahn or Arctic frozen ice roads or Himalayan dirt roads with catastrophic drop-offs – could prepare a foreigner for the "highway" we took that day. It was an endurance test jerking us back to the 19 th century. The two-lane road was more of a dodge'em route featuring mammoth potholes, stray cattle, and a few people portaging buckets of milk (I guessed) on wooden yokes. As the sky brightened, barely, I could make out a few peasants flanking the road, moving on and off from crooked side paths. There was electricity because I could see the twinkling of house lights behind hedgerows and clumps of forests. Street lamps were non-existent along the route, so there was nothing but total darkness, us, and the occasional vehicle. "Jesus Christ on a flag pole!" I slammed on the brakes! A herd of deer had appeared out of nowhere! Heart pounding, I watched them saunter away, unperturbed. Heero slept through it all, more telling than anything else about his condition. A healthy Heero would have been high alert and maybe shoot a few. Lucky for the deer… For such a main thoroughfare, I was concerned about the thin traffic coming from the other direction. Roadblock came to mind, but maybe I was being paranoid and this was normal. I pulled over to erect the oilcloth cover over the jeep. I knew better than wait until it was raining hard to try and figure it out. "Sorry," I said when I heard a grunt from Heero. "Problem?" he asked, his voice raspy. "Probably going to rain." That was enough to worry him with. "Anything I can do?" I didn't want him to move. The IV drip was taped to his head rest and he still looked like he needed it. So pale. I also knew he needed to feel a part of this bug-out mission. And my paranoia was eating me up. "Take a look at the map and see if there's a parallel road." "It's a postal map," Heero pointed out, knowing I knew that and it didn't matter. "As long as it shows roads." 'There's one running in a direction corresponding to the one we are on. Partially gravel. Any number of dirt roads meet up with it from this road." "Sounds lovely. We just passed mile marker 730." "Go on about five miles and take the first left." He folded the map neatly and closed his eyes. I climbed back into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Okay." "Just as long as we head downhill, downriver." "That was my plan. Even if the river crossing is blocked, we just keep going to the next." "Eventually they'll give up finding us?" he asked. "I doubt it, but maybe they get careless the further away from the action we go." The battered, bullet-ridden road signs looked like the locals used them for target practice. Peeling paint on wood strips was the most common type of signpost. Like cryptograms foreshadowing things to come or puzzles to solve in order to reveal the barest indications of future possibilities. The light wasn't good either. I think both of my headlights were pointing way off to the sides. Wall-eyed terrorist mailman. (o) "The windshield wipers work like crap, too. Didn't the enemy pay their maintenance staff to fix stuff like this? Say what?" I blinked twice, but the dots were real. I saw them in the sky not knowing what I saw but knowing it was bad. So did Heero, obviously processing the visual faster and more completely then blasting out, "Clear! Incoming!" Yuy didn't go over- dramatic with words. Action, sometimes he did, but he was not one to overstate a dangerous situation. Which meant this was a very dangerous situation. I was slamming on the brakes and reaching for my backpack in the next heartbeat. He'd kicked open his door, backpack tucked tightly to his chest, offering what protection it could for his fall out of the still moving vehicle to the hard asphalt. The speck I'd seen in the distance were four, growing impossibly fast as I jumped, tucked, and rolled across the road. Pain in the shoulder I'd banged up before nearly knocked me breathless. I couldn't imagine the agony Heero must be going through! I hoped his injuries weren't worse after this. I hoped he'd made it off the road and out of sight. I had further to roll than he did and barely sunk into the gully when the fighter jets swooped low right overhead. Then the deafening roar of ultrasonic engines… and machine guns! Hundreds of rounds of ammunition sprayed the jeep, peppering the road, ripping ruts for a few yards and then cut off. They strafed us! I had stuck up my head to look when I heard a different rumbling and ducked down just as the jeep's blown engine and gas tank exploded, sending fire and sparks into the air. Heero! I had to get to him! I could feel the heat of the burning vehicle as I tried standing and failing monumentally. I settled on a half- bent-over, crab-scuttle. If the fighter jets returned for another pass, I'd be screwed, to say the least. The sun was just dawning; I'd be visible and shot before I saw what hit me, what with the billowing black smoke now blocking the sky from my view and my attackers surely using laser targeting. I had to find Heero and fast. I scuttle-skipped around behind the jeep and into the ditch on the opposite side, counting on him having made it that far. It took me a heart-wrenching moment of fear he was dead and burned up, but I caught sight of a shoe, and then him under cover of some dry shrubbery. "Heero! Found you!" "Hn." "You did good finding cover," I told him. "How are you?" "As good as might be expected. No hits, but the original wound has reopened." His voice was husky and weak, but my heart pounded with joy knowing he was alive, until he added, "Now, leave me." "You keep saying that," I said, sighing. "And you keep hanging around." "That's true." "Duo, you can get away. Report back." "I'm sure word of our destruction has gotten around." Heero's teeth clenched. I knew he was frustrated, but he had to know I wasn't going to leave him in the lurch. When had I ever done that since we'd sorta come to know one another? I'd saved his ass from that hospital, of course, he didn't always reciprocate. "With me along we're slow… a target…suspicious." "You are right. Okay, I will," I said. Was that a look of surprise? It came quickly and then was replaced by his usual flat expressionless façade. I had to correct his wrong impression concerning my intentions—immediately! "I'm gonna make you as comfy-cozy as possible, and then go look for suitable accommodations and look for a way to get us moving again. Then I'll be back to get you. Okay?" Not that I needed his okay. I was already rifling through my backpack for a blanket and found the thin survival one. "Here, keep warm and dry." "Thanks," he murmured. "Here's your gun and a flashlight. When I return I'll signal with two quick flashes. And you answer with one. Don't shoot me." "I won't." "I'll be quick." He gave me a funny look. "I thought you didn't lie." "I'll be as quick as possible," I appended and smiled as I tipped my hat and skipped off with my own lantern. I'd distanced myself enough that I couldn't see him when I looked back. That had been a comradely exchange, hadn't it? My heart felt lighter than is should under the dire circumstances. (o) There is no reason for me to describe my mucking about the countryside looking for a house or inn or car to break into because I didn't find any of those. I stepped in animal turds, smelly ones, slipped and fell, scraping my knee on some rocks, before I came upon a shed or "out building" as the locals called it. Inside were farming tools, wooden crates, a large open wagon, fairly clean, and a smaller wagon bigger than a wheelbarrow and fitted with a harness. Not a horse one. Much smaller. Made to be pulled by something bigger than a dog. A tiny pony? What did I know about that stuff? It would do to haul Heero. It had to. By the time I had slogged back to Heero, the wind was blowing in earnest. "You came back." "Yep, as promised," I said. "You're an idiot, as I said before." "Don't think you can get rid of me with the sweet talk." "You're crazy." "Not at all. Don't you see? You're stuck to me like white to rice, bro." Heero sighed, letting me get the best of that argument (no small achievement), as I knelt over him and wrapped an arm around his waist, taking care not to get near the injured part. Leaning into me, he helped me gain necessary leverage to pull him to his feet. We stood there a moment. I pressed my cheek against his hair and inhaled the smell of him: Heero with a touch of smoke and accelerant. Yum. "Okay, on the count of three," I warned him. I hauled him into the cart while explaining how glad I was to have found us shelter to wait out the worst of it until I could find some mode of transport. "This is a goat cart," he said. Oh, for God's sake, who gave a flying fig? "Well, if you see a goat to pull it, let me know." I huffed a bit. "And you know what I meant by transport and it wasn't this, which is obviously temporary." "Hold up," he said, and I stopped. "What now? It's starting to rain." Grimacing from the effort, he reached out and grabbed my braid, which had found its way out from under my hat. "Go on. I'll keep it out of the mud." "Thanks, man." I pondered the oddness of that nice gesture for a few steps. Pulling the cart through the muddy, rocky, god-awful rutty path with a dead weight really was no fucking fun. I had no breath to spare in conversation and Heero, never known for his witty conversation, hadn't decided to become a chatterbox. Some sort of thoughts were running through the other man's head, though, and I would have paid to know what they were. It was all very lonely, each man trapped in his own body as we were. "That's it up ahead," I told him. I staggered up the path as large raindrops fell upon my already damp hair. I shoved the shed door open and pushed Heero and the cart as near to the wagon as possible. "Hold on," I stopped him from doing something stupid. "I'll give you a hand in a second." I dumped the packs into the wagon, moving crates around to make steps, and spread out the thickest blanket, before helping him climb up. "Your shoes look as bad as mine. I wanna keep the mud off us, okay?" I didn't wait for him to object and he seemed content to pant and lie still. Taking off his shoes revealed soaking wet socks. Mine were probably were, too, but I hadn't noticed. I rummaged through my backpack until I found two clean pairs and went about getting him dry and making him comfortable. "Look what I found!" I waved a pair or power bars in the air. "Breakfast! Want one?" "Here." He ripped off the wrapping and gnawed on one with indifference. I drank a bottle of water and then started on my hair. Undoing my braid so my hair could dry out would take a while, but the sooner I started, the longer it had to dry. "I hope this dries," I muttered, shaking water from the loose ends and finger-combing out tangles, squeezing out water in a few places. He was so quiet I figured he'd fallen asleep, to I parted my veil of hair like a curtain and looked at him, lying in the wagon. He'd eaten half the nutrition bar while watching me fuss with my hair. I smiled. "I'll be done here in a minute then we'll get you fixed up." The wind shook the building, rain pummeled the roof. "Glad not to be out in that." I did good finding the shed and getting us here, and commended myself to myself. "Yes." He sounded weak so I hurried what I was doing and finished under Heero's curious gaze. "You're going to leave it loose like that?" he asked "Yeah." It embarrassed me the way he kept staring, so I got started getting his bandage changed and set up a fresh IV. It had to get done and it also served to take his attention off me and my hair. I bet he was thinking I should just cut it off and avoid the foolish waste of time it was caring for it. He was probably right. "I don't need that," he told me, slapping away the IV bag. "The instructions say to use three. From my count, you need at least one more: you ripped the first one out after an hour, the second when you jumped out of the mail truck, though that one was mostly used up, and here's number three. Hey, we got nothing else to do for a while." He relented without a fight. He looked wasted from hard travel, blood loss, lack of real sleep, and my messing with the med bandages and IV. I know I was feeling it. We liked to think we were tough and thrived on demanding work, but this assignment had turned bad and was now proving to be an arduous struggle to get to safety. I watched the rise and fall of his muscular chest, his skin shining with sweat from the activity. The planes of his beautiful face were marred with lines of pain and my insides ached as I imagined what sort of agony he was going through. "I'm going to clean and dry us off a bit, then get warm. What we don't need now is you getting a chill and fever." There was only one cleaning towelette left in the med pack after I was done and I had to use one of our spare t-shirts to dry off, but I really had no choice. The wind howled and shrieked like all hell was loose outside. Rain battered the roof, but we were dry. I was glad not to be driving in that but worried about what to do next. I'd driven all night with a couple short breaks. I needed to sleep and the weather was cooperating. I couldn't believe anyone could track us here in this weather. Another blast of wind sent the lantern flickering. I could see it on Heero's eyelids as they opened to reveal dark pools. Would he remember the feel of my hands all over him when this was done? Resent me for it? "Duo?" "Here. I'm right here." If I could feel his skin again, just touch him, I wouldn't feel so alone in the world, and he wouldn't either. I moved closer, leaning over Heero, loose hair draped all over the place. Heero, still very weak from his injury, reached up with his free arm and gathered a heavy mass of my damp locks in his hands, lifting it to his face and inhaling. I brushed some of the wild bangs out of Heero's face and felt him stiffen, while I remained very still, aware of his every move. "Beautiful," he whispered. "Ah, thanks," I muttered, feeling a blush coming on strong again. "I know it's daytime out there, but it's dark in here. Think you can try to sleep for now?" "Yes," he answered, sighing. I reached around for the emergency blanket to cover us. "Cold," he said, his voice very hard to hear over the storm raging on the other side of the shed. "Okay." Without jarring him, I edged myself along his "good" side. "Let me know if I hurt you." He snorted as if to say "as if!" It did feel good to snuggle close and share the blanket. I held him like that for a long time, feeling as if he were the most meaningful thing to hold onto. He turned slightly in my embrace and pressed his head to my chest. I kept slowly stroking his hair and not saying a word. I hugged him gently and relaxed, listening to the beating of his heart. The steady expansion and contraction of his ribs as he breathed comforted me somewhat. The last time I'd slept with someone else, curled around them, was in the orphanage. Sometimes we kids would do that to avoid being alone. Before that, I'd warmed myself with other urchins, street gangs of orphaned children. We all clung together then, afraid to be alone, not letting other be left alone either. All for one and one for all. This was like that, but better. After a few moments, he said, "I feel somewhat stronger. You can let me go." Ah, shucks. I pushed away my disappointment and gently released him, shivering at the loss of his warmth. Moving close again, looking into his face, I asked, "It isn't so bad, is it? Being alive?" "It used to be worse," he murmured, "but it will never be the same." "Some things shouldn't stay the same," I breathed. "Life is about change, even for a perfect soldier." (o) Sometime during the day, the worst of the storm blew over, because when I finally woke up it was fairly quiet. From the light I could tell it was late afternoon, so I peeked out the door to survey the land. "Baaaaa?" "Aaaah-ah!" I choked back a scream and backpedaled into the gloom of the shed. I heard the click of a gun safety disengaged, and from that I drew the conclusion that Heero was awake. "No! Don't shoot it!" I begged him. "Please don't shoot the creepy-eyed animal!" "It's a goat." "A goat? How do you know that? You ever seen a goat before? Look at the eyes, the EYEs. Those are demon eyes!" All right. I was hyperventilating and a little off my game. The goat followed me into the shed and jumped up into the wagon like it belonged there and started nosing through my backpack. "Go away!" Heero shouted and confiscated the bag. "This is our food." Of course! Enlightenment struck me. "Don't hurt him, er, her," I begged him before their tussle got out of hand. "That's out ride outta here." "Won't we draw attention?" This was a good question for him to ask. I pulled out the map while he distracted the goat. "Maybe, but if we stay on the gravel road, we'll be going in the right direction and run into fewer people." "Mable." "May-bee," I emphasized the "bee". "Mable," he repeated. "That's the goat's name. It's here on its tag." If I was wonder to ponder the implications of our snuggle time the night before, I would have been doing it now. The goat had shot the awkwardness out of the awakening so very closely entangled. Heero especially, but most people I know tend to avoid physical contact with anything strange. Nothing like the touch of the unknown in the dark. I want to see what is reaching towards me, God dammit! And Heero is hyper sensitive! Even clothes give insufficient security; it is easy to tear them and pierce through to the naked, smooth, defenseless skin of the victim. And yet, he let me hold him and offer him comfort and warmth. But then pulled away… I struggled for control, trying to absorb my thoughts in the packing task at hand. Warmth… naked skin - dangerous thoughts danced merrily to mind and sent my cheeks to rosy brilliance. Which he must have noticed. Nothing gets past Heero Yuy the Omni-prescient! "Is everything all right?" Heero asked. I looked up from my packing. Super. "You sound better." "I feel better. My mobility has also improved, although I won't be fully functional for a few more days. What are you doing?" "Eventually, I'm hitching Mable to the cart and hauling ass out of here, what do you think?" "What about that?" "That wha-?" With the door open and the sun out I could see into what had before been dark formless lumps. Heero was pointing to a tire visible under a tarp. "A motorcycle! Whoa! Where were you yesterday?" "Same place," Heero replied unnecessarily. "There's a gas can over there." "Someone's kept this maintained, I said, pulling off the tarp and looking it over. I topped off the tank, hoping the gas was good, and rolled it out into the doorway. Heero had collected the trash wrappers, except for the one Mable was chewing, and the med wrappers and used IV. "This should be buried." "Right." I took the shovel off its hanger, grateful for the tidy owner, the bundle of incriminating trash and met the great outdoors. The sun was low, fall leaves mostly on the ground, but the air smelled great, fresh and lean, and wet. I dug up a clump of wild shrubs, dumped the trash in the hole, and then covered it up with dirt and the plants again. I cleaned my hands on some wet leaves then ran back to Heero. "Sure you're up to riding like this?" I asked him, loving the feeling of him wrapped around my back. "I'll let you know if I'm not." He didn't of course. Unless he passed out from blood loss, he would grit it out, I knew. I'd pretty much given up on hiding my feelings for him, at least not from myself. I liked having a friend to share adventures with. And more…? Sensing something daunting lurking on the horizon, like an angry, misread Heero, I didn't analyze my emotional state further than that. The road wasn't as bad as it could have been. We made good time without stopping to the next town. "According to the map, several highways intersect here, as well as a passenger train." "We should watch out, is what you're saying." I was getting better deciphering the intended meaning behind Heero's dry descriptions. He gave me a brisk nod—my reward for interpreting him correctly! My tummy turned to jelly! "Yes," he said. "If the military police are searching for us, I believe they will come here, but they might have already passed through." He studied the map further. "The cities get larger further south. More ways for us to travel and blend in." "Right, I think that we should toss the military hats and coats and put on the last of our clean clothes." He wasn't thrilled and I soon discovered why. He hadn't brought along anything warmer that his tank top when he'd started the mission. I had my priest's jacket rolled up at the bottom of my bag. I prepare. I intend to live after every mission. "The packed t-shirt and shirt won't be warm enough for you," I concluded. "So, put on the clean undershirt, then the military jacket with the green tank shirt over it and the long-sleeved shirt overall, if it fits." "If I don't button the shirt, it fits." "Don't you look like a bohemian college dude!" "Do I?" "Better than a dude who just blew up most of a military base." "Not just a base," he corrected me. "They were building armored mobile suits there underground." "So you say." "That was my Intel." "My internal Intel is saying 'get thee to an eatery'." I smiled at his puzzled face. I was not going to confused things further by trying to explain paraphrasing puns. "One with WIFI or phone reception would be perfect. Mine shows zero bars still." "Perfect would include a computer." "Ah, for the perfect world at our fingertips!" (o) A few minutes later, we entered the city limits. Our gravel road upgraded to asphalt and took us to an intersection with a church on one corner. "I don't think we'll find a place to eat around here. All I see are houses." I was about to turn and enter the downtown, when Heero patted my back. "I see a sign to the left. Wayside Inn. Go that way," he said. As it turned out, dinner was advertised in an hour. We agreed that I would drop off Heero at the inn to secure us a table, while I disposed of the bike. From here on out we'd be taking some other transport. There was no telling how much longer we had before the owner reported it stolen. "Order something substantial… I got creds," I said. "So have I," Heero answered. I waited to make sure he could walk in by himself, which he did, dragging the foot on his injured side as he passed over the threshold. Sometimes grim determination could take a dude a long way. I could respect that. On the next block, I found a dumpster and hid the bike behind that, making it appear like it was parked there purposefully with the kick stand down and not abandoned so that if someone walked by they'd ignore it, but still not leaving it out in the open if a law enforcement agency was looking for it. Good for a day or so, hidden in plain sight. When I returned to the inn, and I found Heero in a booth facing the door but far back, a pot of tea brewing, silverware set menus gone. It looked like his eyes were closed but I caught the flicker of a smile, the whisper of recognition when I took the seat opposite. Mint tea with real lemon wedges. "I ordered already," he told me. I did not ask how he was. He wouldn't have told me anything more than 'fine' anyway. "Great," I said, "I'm hungry!" Just as I made my announcement, huge dinner plates arrived: stew with old-fashioned, buttermilk biscuits, butter, and jam. There were vegetables which I ate dutifully and the stew had little round, white onions, which I rolled to the side and wished they didn't look so much like eyeballs. Even though I stuffed myself, I couldn't eat it all. Nor could Heero. We asked for doggy bags and packed more buttered biscuits for later. "Heading down to the University?" our waitress asked after determining we weren't ordering dessert. She thought we were students at the college a few miles south. That was okay with me. I was game to go with that excuse for being in town. Not Heero, bless him. Heero exerted his creativity and came up with a different explanation. "Rock climbing." "But we could be," I tucked in. I wanted to keep the possibility of going to the university open. She smiled. "You look like you've been camping, or something. With the backpacks and all." "Yeah," I said, getting into my part. "My bud here took a fall, busted some ribs, and kinda ended our climbing holiday early. Guess we might as well just go on up to the uni, huh?" Oops! I must have misspoke there to make our cheerful informant frown. Or maybe not. "It's kinda early for the mass migration to start flooding the station," she said then brightened into a freckly grin, "but then you wouldn't get jostled. Broken ribs? That sounds awful." "Could be worse—," I put in. Whatever injury he had was most certainly worse to keep Heero moving at anything less than one hundred percent. He probably really needed medical attention. "-Where is the station?" Heero demanded, diverting the conversation away from his liabilities, most likely. "So we don't get drowned in the flood, heh, heh," I joked, trying to soften my traveling companion's rather abrupt conversational skills. Master of social niceties, he was not. "Oh, you'll have no problem this early," she told me, smiling. Her eyes landed on Heero, though. And that look. That smile… My, God… she liked him! "Station's a couple blocks away. The train goes directly there, to the uni, you know. There's an app for tickets." Heero looked unsure. "I don't know… my phone's broken—." "—in his fall," I neatly popped in. "Yes." Heero gave me an odd, but kindly look. I swallowed hard, totally an involuntary action. My innards went all warm and fuzzy. "So," he continued, "I haven't checked my messages or email-" "Wow! You must be missing that," our kindly waitress said compassionately. She was nice. I hated her unreasonably. "I couldn't go a day without my phone! Would you like to use our computer? You could get your tickets. There's a train out tonight. And check your email." Real nice. Was she batting her eyelashes at Heero? Was he smiling back at her? I felt this ridge of anger rise off my backbone like I might turn into a- what was that dinosaur, a stegosaurus? Or a fire-breathing dragon. Yeah. I was that mad. Jealous. I was jealous. I admit that. And my reaction had happened so suddenly. If jealousy could become a real creature, it would be a fire-breathing dragon, I'm sure. "Yes, I'd like that," he said to her, smiling more. "Please!" I added, not so much to teach him manners but to stop the googly eyes, which I had to admit were coming from her. Heero was just being pleasant after all. I hoped. But he was going out of his way to be nice to her! He could have been nice to me, couldn't he have been? Maybe, but, with more consideration, his manner with her was all artificial. His earlier kindness towards me was real. I settled in a chair close by watching him at the computer. After typing a few moments, Heero's placid expression darkened into a glower. "What's up?" I asked. "New assignment." He closed his browser. "You should check if you have a new one." "Okay, but I haven't had a notification on my phone." Of course, I had my phone on airplane mode. An accident. Great. I'd been so distracted not to notice before? What could have sidetracked me that much? Oh. Yeah. He's standing right there. Waiting… I logged in and scanned my email for anything new. "Oh." There is was. "I'm being sent to the coast to check on the naval base there." "Hn," was all Heero had to say. Okay. Be that way. "Did you buy tickets out of here for both of us?" He shook his head, no. "I will now." I left him to it so I could scope out the action on the street. Sooner or later, the military police would catch on to our escape plan. There was the one main road near our deserted, burned up utility vehicle, single bridge, the train station, and not far south of that the hub for major roads in all directions could be found. There was a knot of teens scattering and a dark van creeping up the street. It had to be bad news. "Hey, 'Ro. Time to git." "Done." He stood with a grimace of pain. Whether he should or not, I knew I could count on him moving until he dropped. I led the way down the short hall, but instead of heading back into the restaurant, I turned toward the bathrooms and exit out back. "Alley. Left, then right," he said. Of course he mapped out a route! He'd suspected the law would be searching for them. I listened to his footfalls. Something wasn't right with Heero. He had a hole in his side and should be in a hospital, but instead he was limping down a dirty, trash-littered alley. That was what was wrong. "Here. Take a load off." I dragged his arm over my shoulder and hooked my arm under his backpack and around his "good" hip. He leaned into me. "Thanks." We kept up a decent pace, parting when the station came into view. "Over here," he said, directing me to transit stop bench, lined with low shrubs, where he collapsed. "Nice choice." He'd picked a great spot to watch the activity without being seen. "So we wait and watch. How long until we board?" "Twenty minutes." "Cutting it close, aren't we?" "If they've ID'd us by now, the military police will know where we are headed." "How could they have ID'd us?" I bet he had done something to clue them in, but why? "I ordered tickets using Yuy and Maxwell names." "Because-?" "To throw them off." "Off what?" He smiled. "If we are followed, we'll go elsewhere." "Uh, huh." "I bought us another set of tickets under assumed names. The bus station's across the plaza." Bus ride to where? But I didn't get the chance to ask him. "There they are." And just in time! At the last moment, nine, ten men smarmed the entrances, scattered, then boarded the train. We stayed hidden, watching until the train left the station. ""Well, there goes my chance to go to uni," I said. "So, we're taking the bus back to the school?" I was disappointed. I didn't want to do that. I knew we'd then part, go our ways on our new assignments, and , frankly, I wanted to spend more time with Heero. I was just making some progress getting him to notice me. "No. Do you want to?" "Not a bit. I was just wondering what the plan was now." "I took myself off duty due to injury," he told me. Then the corner of his lips quivered into the almost smile of the unsure. "I decided to go with you, on your assignment." REALLY? Wowzer! Coming from Heero-his avoiding a mission and taking his own path, which was the same as mine- that was very nearly an admission of eternal love. "That's great." Was my grin gonna split my face? "Really good, Heero. I'd like that." "I thought you would." He started limping to the bus station. "You thought…?" I skipped to catch him as his knees bent and he started to crumple. "You need me." He didn't deny the truth. "So, we're going directly to the coast then?" I asked, to be sure. "Yes." "With just what we have? No artillery? And my clothes! Whoa! What about the laptop you left back at school?" "I don't keep data on that and besides, I already unleashed a virus which will devour the memory and disable it." "Very neat." "We can buy new clothes. Whatever we need. There's funding." Okay. I'd question him about that detail later, but for now, we had to hurry to catch the bus. We were heading to the coast- together! "And you like me, dontcha? Admit it," I said, with a nudge, feeling very optimistic, which made me very brave. "Don't make me regret my decision," he said. It sounded harsh, but he said it with a smile and his arm pulled me a fraction closer. "You won't," I promised. And now I let my imagination go a bit wild as a reward for all my hard work. The End.
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