This world, this RhyDin, was definitely a strange one. For someone used to humans, it was unnerving to be surrounded by species and races of all kinds. But Wren had not come this far to be distracted by such oddities. She had to keep moving, she knew. It couldn't have taken Garrett long to pick up her trail from the island; she knew him well enough to know he would do his duty, regardless of how unlikely their chances were of returning to Alliance space.

So she had come here, to the city, hoping to blend in and disappear, biding her time amid the bustle and activity. To that end, she walked the streets, backtracking, checking her own trail for any sign that he might have found her again.

Quietly, he watched her move down the alley way. He had taught her well and she used the tactics that he'd explained, over and again. Arms folded across his chest as he blew out a sigh. Rhydin had proved to be a challenge to grow accustomed to, and still he was not. Though, a soft chuckle passed his lips as he thought of what she might do. Try to blend in. The task was difficult at most times. The eyes of a warrior that had seen death and destruction in front of them, and at their own hands, often gave them away. But in this place, the land of beasts, monsters, creatures and hybrids, there was no blending in. Humans were the rarity, not the norm.

Still, he admired her for trying so hard. Memories flooded back to her training. The wide eyed innocent that he'd first met. The battle hardened woman that had turned against him. The secret love they'd shared, and the agony of her betrayal all replayed in his mind. The orders that had been given, and obeyed, even as his heart wanted no part of. He slipped into a dark shadow, the place was full of them, as she turned her gaze in his direction. Why he didn't just come out and take her, was beyond even him. He watched, and waited. Eventually, he knew that she'd come to him.

She could feel eyes on her, watching, waiting, and she knew there was only one person who could possibly find enough interest in her form to maintain such a look. Her training, the training he had given her, kicked in, heightening her senses as she continued walking the same direction, the only change being a subtle tension that rippled through her body. She was ready, either to fight or run, whichever proved necessary. She'd already shot him; he couldn't be pleased with that, even though he'd recieved no injury from it.

She sighed to herself, her hand swinging by her thigh, fingertips brushing the butt of the short-stacked carbine holstered there. How could she ever explain to him why she had done it, why she had left? He was Alliance, through and through, and in his eyes, she was nothing more than a traitor. Nothing more ... but she was sure he could not have forgotten that once they had been more than the 'verse and all it's troubles to one another.

Although the training had been intensive and grueling, it was never a brain wash. One thing he took pride in is that his pupils all had minds of their own. That being said, he wondered what she was thinking. Still he couldn't think along those lines if he were to get the job done. A snort at that, really. He wasn't even sure if they'd ever get back to the 'verse. His comm link wasn't working, only giving off a soft buzzing sound when he tried to use it. When she moved down a bit, he slid from the shadows and moved quickly to keep up with her pace. His eyes lit on her hand, seeing how it carelessly brushed the carbine. He knew better. She was ready for him. The ache in his side a reminder of what had happened last time he got sloppy.

Stopping in his tracks, he hid again. Raising his wrist, the holographic device was held to arms length, getting a full body image of him standing. With a push of a button, the image was darted out in front of her. "Wren Ishido, halt. You are a fugitive from the Alliance and under arrest."

She was already moving as the figure began to speak. Only one person she knew moved like that, and if he was this close, she was in serious trouble. Spinning about, she dived into the crowd, no doubt startling those who were simply going about their business, and pushed through them, heedless of leaving a wake through which he could follow. In her haste, though, she was not as careful as she should have been, and indeed, brushed right up and past him as she pushed through, heading for the seclusion of a nearby alley that might afford her an escape, or at least, some cover.

As she darted, he moved quickly and the hologram disappeared. His hands nearly grasped her arm as she brushed against him. "Dammit." he growled and continued to pursue her through the crowd. He knew a loud gunshot would have them flattened to the ground in fear, so he pulled his blaster and pointed it into the air. The report, then loud screams as the crowd did indeed go down. Sheep. He didn't have time to waste. The blaster was holstered and he ran quickly to the mouth of the alley. "We don't have time for games, Wren. Stop this madness."

As the blaster sounded, Wren dived into the alley, pressing herself back into a darkly shadowed doorway, her carbine in hand. Her heart thumped painfully when she heard his voice, so harsh and unyielding. "You think this is a game, Commander Campbell?" she called back to him, checking her gun was, in fact, loaded. "Planning on celebrating a petty victory, are ya?"

Hearing her voice, he could pinpoint her position. He grimaced at the mistake he'd warned her about. Maybe she would learn. The blaster was set on stun. Instead of risking close up, hand to hand combat, and the possibility of being shot again, he stayed back and aimed. The wide orange red circle flew towards her position, lighting the shadow and exposing her beautiful face. "Oh, Wren."

She barely had time to dodge the shot, saving herself only barely from a truly humiliating defeat. Besides, he didn't really expect her to give in without a fight, did he? As she rolled, her hand came up, the carbine snapping out two shots that rang by close to his head. Deliberately close, but missing. She wondered briefly if he would realise that, even as she barrelled up from the ground, dropping her gun, and knocking the blaster out of his hand. "Didn't think it would be that easy, did ya, Rett?"

Wren opened her mouth to snap back, and her brain caught up with her ears, making her breath catch in startled surprise. "You're turning your back on them?" She stared at him, the coldness in her burned away by the sheer amazement and poorly concealed hope that he was telling her the truth. "Rett, they're your life, Alliance has always been what you live for."

Stepping away, he ran his hand through his rusty brown hair and shook his head. He turned from her then, and looked up at the brilliantly blue sky. "You turned Browncoat for a reason. It's... it's made me question a lot of things."

Concern for him filled her. In all the time they had known one another, she had never seen him uncertain, never known him to question an order. And yet here he was, uncertain and questioning, and she didn't know what she could do to help. The months of their cat and mouse game were all but forgotten - there were some ties that were too strong to forget. "I can't reach my contacts, either," she admitted quietly. "Took the comm to one of those craftsmen. Says it's working fine, there just isn't anything to link to." She sighed softly, leaning back against the alley wall and following his gaze to the sky, feeling her hair fall out of her eyes as she did. "Wherever we are, they can't touch us. Any of them."

The belief that one was part of the machine, a cog, so to speak, was deeply ingrained. Things like fate, whim and chance were never given a second thought. Yet here they were, stranded and alone in their odd pairing. "Do you believe in fate, Wren?" He couldn't turn to look at her. He knew if he did, that cold mask would fall back into place and he'd try to take her again. He liked the feel of the sun on his naked face.

"That whatever happens to you was predetermined?" She shrugged, though she knew he couldn't see the gesture. "I don't know. I used to; I used to believe wholeheartedly that I was meant to be where I was, that I was right. Now ..." She let out a long low breath. "I think you make your own history."

He nodded, his thoughts mirroring hers. "We've a lot to think about, and nothing but time on our hands." Then he turned, his eyes growing cold once again, his mouth a thin line and his jaw ticking with the strain. "Damn you, Wren! We had everything going for us! Why'd you have to go Browncoat?"

His sudden change didn't surprise her. She knew he couldn't stay introspective for long, and of course he blamed her for what had happened. "What, you mean why did I have to start using my brain?" she snapped back, pushing away from the wall. "You know, that thing inside your skull that the Alliance tells you how to use!"

"I always taught you to think for yourself. Do not put on airs, little girl. I, nor the Alliance ever forced you to join. We did not force you into servitude and we certainly did not force you to believe in what we believe in. Your sudden change only means that a Browncoat got to you and caused you to turn." He gave her a cold glare. "How long did it take? One, two beddings?" His words were ice shards, his mouth a cruel smirk.

That hurt. It was a low blow, even for him. Wren's jaw set furiously. "You taught me to follow orders, sergeant," she ground out angrily, fists clenching at her sides again. "Not to question them, or wonder why, just to do as I was told. And I was damned good at it, too. Because of you." In contrast to the ice in him, she was fire, furious in controlled rage. "I never thought twice ... until that Reynolds guy let the 'verse know about Miranda. Remember that, sir? How the Alliance released a gas into the atmosphere to make people more sedate, to make them conform to the way they wanted them? You can't stand there and tell me that's right!"

"Yes, private, I do remember. We gave the orders and you followed them. But how you tackled the jobs given to you was of your own accord. Never did we tell you how to do your job." He remained calm, quiet. His hands folded before him. He had seen her rage before and it some how soothed his jangling nerves. "So it was the lie of the Reynold's fellow that turned you? How pitiful you've become, Wren. I had such high hopes for you. But if you are to start believing the prattling of a lunatic, perhaps there is no hope for you."

"You ben tian sheng di yi dui rou!" In her suddenly incandescent fury, she dissolved into snarling degrading insults at him, and spun suddenly, her foot kicking out and catching him a tidy thump on his shoulder, knocking him off balance. "How dare you? Do you have any idea how gorram hard it was for me to let go of everything I knew? To walk away from you? And you're standing there accusing me of jumping in bed with the first guy that came along! You're despicable!"

Through the snarling, he remained calm. Her kick was lightning fast and he stubled to the side. His hand went to his lip to wipe the small trickle of blood caused by the small cut in his lip. He had went too far, and knew it. "If it was so difficult, then why did you do it?" He spoke quietly, with a cool undertone to his voice. He wouldn't allow her to get a rise from him.

She glared at him, hiding her shame at having injured the one person she still cared enough about not to want harm to come to him. "Because the Alliance is wrong," she snarled angrily. "People have a basic right to lead their own lives the way they want, not to be told who to be, how to live. And I've got so much blood on my hands from defending the wrong people ... I couldn't live with it." She turned, walking a few paces away before returning. "I never joined the Browncoats. Jenson searched my rooms and planted the evidence they used to convict me. Did you really think I was stupid enough to leave anything like that where anyone could find it?"

His eyes narrowed. Her calling the Alliance wrong was calling his entire life wrong. It was black and white, no grays in between. Either you were with the Alliance or you were an Independent. There was no where in between that anybody fit. "You lived the life you wished, within the Alliance, Wren. You were not forced. Do you think I'd honestly force you to do anything? Did I force you into my bed?" His mouth turned downwards, frowning. "Why would Jenson frame you, if it were not true?"

"No, you never forced me," she admitted, calming herself as she looked away. "I was part of the quota from my homeworld; if I hadn't joined, they would have made my dad cannon fodder, and not thought twice about it." Those agitatedly swinging arms came up and wrapped tightly across her stomach, pulling the loose shirt she wore taut. "Jenson and I were always competing. You threw him out, second year. Guess he wanted his revenge on you, and decided I was a good pick for that." She shook her head with a bitter snort of laughter. "And you never questioned the conviction. You knew me so well, and you never even thought that just maybe I knew what I was doing. And that still hurts."

He brought his hand up to rub his eyes, then pinch the bridge of his nose. This was all so pointless. "Jenson was a liability from the start, shouldn't have been allowed back into Alliance command." He looked up and let his hand drop to his side. Canting his head, the mask dropped, once again. "I never questioned you, Wren. I knew that you knew exactly what you were doing. But I could not let you off of the leash. Even as a second year student, you were a danger to yourself and the company. You had a natural finesse for killing. And I could not allow you to take out the entire company in a fit of anger."

The anger was fading, had faded, and Wren stared into the middle distance, her expression blank. "I wouldn't have touched any of you," she said quietly, blinking rapidly as she spoke. Her eyes turned to his, watery in her helplessness in this situation. No matter what she said, he would never believe her. Even after everything she'd given him, he thought she was a traitorous whore, because that's what the Alliance wanted him to think. "I just wanted to get out."

As he watched her, he too regained his composure. "I'm not sure, Wren. I've a lot to think about. Until the Alliance finds us, if they find us, I'd suggest a truce. We're both unaccustomed to such a place as we've found ourselves in. And I'd feel a lot more secure with you at my back, instead of you pointing your carbine into it."

Her eyebrow rose with the wry humour that had often gotten her into trouble under his command. "Promise you won't try and blow me up again?" she asked sweetly, lifting a hand to brush her hair out of her face yet again. That was the only problem with having short hair, she'd long since decided, it just didn't stay put.

He canted his head, the familiar reaction to her familiar wry humor. "Can't promise that. What if you get out of line?" The lines of his face shifted, cracked and a crooked, unfamiliar sight was presented. He smiled at her. It was warm and full of what he was not, usually, warmth.

Wren couldn't help it. She stared at him, her face lighting up in warm delight at his smile. "Sweet Buddha, have you been taking the happy pills, sir?" It was out of her mouth before she could stop it, her eyes widening in amused horror at what she'd said. Not so long ago, that little comment would have earned her a stint in solitary and the 'verse's worst chores.

His smile faded, years of training were screaming at him to not take such banter lightly. But they were in a strange place and it was a strange time. Time to not be so rigid. "Ten-hut!"

Try as she might, there were some things that were ingrained. She snapped to attention, trying not to laugh at her immediate reaction, and relaxed again, shaking her head with a smile. "Am I ever going to not react when you do that?"

A smirk played across his lips. She'd passed that test with flying colors. "I hope not, Wren. Just because we're allies once again does not mean you should go soft. You never know what this place might throw at us. I need you to remember your training."

"Like you'd ever let me forget it," she snorted. "How the hell did you think I stayed out of your range for so long? You really shouldn't have taught me all those extra little tricks, you know." The smirk on his lips was encouraging her to tease, to make light of the difficulties they had faced getting to this point. And there was something else that hadn't happened yet. Something he would probably try to avoid, knowing him. "Rett?"

He watched her as she spoke, wondering how she could not have known his heart. She said things that, to anybody else, would have spoken volumes. He taught her things that he didn't teach the others. She called him by the name only his parents had called him. To everybody else, he was simply known as Campbell, or Bell. Yet, he was not going to point those things out. "Yes?" His brow lifted and his arms folded across his chest again. He knew by her tone, he wasn't going to like it.

Again her brow rose, and her head tilted with a gentle smile at the defensive way he retreated back into his shell again. "Why haven't you kissed me yet?"

"I didn't want a carbine shoved under my chin." He answered honestly. He had glanced away, then back to her, casually. "And I can ask you the same, Pet."

She met his eyes, honest and open. "I did," she reminded him quietly. "You pushed me away." And no amount of words could describe the emotions that throbbed in her voice as she said that.

"Oh." Came his only reply. His lips puckered slightly as he glanced away. "I really don't think you're a traitorous whore."

She watched him look away, her smile fading from her lips but remaining prominant in her eyes as he spoke. She wouldn't force him to say it, she knew. Maybe someday he would, but it wouldn't be this day. WIth a soft breath in and out, she stepped close to him, her hands resting against his chest. "I know," she whispered, and lifted her face to his, offering again the absolving kiss they both needed.

Orders, marching, gun fire, loading, cleaning, uniforms, shouting, hand to hand combat. Those were the things he knew best. Affairs of the heart, he was a bumbling fool. As her hands pressed to his chest and she lifted her chin with that look in her eyes, he just about melted. His arms folded around her, a natural instinct to protect her from harm, and he lowered his head, sealing the deal with a soft kiss.

She let his lips linger on hers for as long as he needed, warmed right through with relief and the same dizzying feeling that always came to her when he finally moved past the soldier in him to just be the man. As their lips parted, she smiled wickedly up at him. "And if you ever try to shoot me with that toy blaster again, I'll ram it so far up your pi gu you'll be shooting blanks for a month."

"So I can do this." he turned and grabbed her tightly. Another kiss was forcibly placed on her lips. If he kept her eyes closed, maybe she wouldn't see.

Her initial reaction was to grip him just as tightly, returning the kiss with as much force. But then her mind began spinning. This wasn't like him; he didn't touch or kiss when there was any chance of someone seeing, and some things couldn't be pushed aside so easily. She pushed against his arms, breaking the kiss with a faint frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." he shielded his eyes and emotions once again. "We need to seek shelter somewhere. Can't live out on the streets." He gave a nod and turned to look back out at the crowd.

She watched him warily as he looked away, and those considering eyes travelled down to the comm on his wrist. The light flashing there made her blood freeze. He had a link to the Alliance ... and he had no intention of telling her. But he'd also promised a truce, and she trusted him to keep his word, moving to stand with him as she, too, looked around at the people. "There are a couple of bars that rent out rooms that I've seen," she offered, deliberately keeping her voice light, removing any trace of her suspicions - exactly the way he had taught her to.

He saw the look on her face when she realized the comm was working. "Let's go." He muttered quietly. They both had masks on, both hidden in their respective bodies. Leaving her side, he stepped back out into the light. His hands casually went to his pockets as he walked along. The crowd seemed to be going in the direction of the market and he followed along. Not a glance back to see if she were following.

She was quick to match his pace, purposefully walking behind him, out of his line of vision. She needed to prove that she did trust him, and the only way to do that was to show that she was not going to shoot him again. "Where are we headed, sir?" The respectful tone in her voice was partly habit, but mainly reassurance to herself. Under his command, she had never once entered a situation she had not gotten out of, and she needed that feeling again, even more so now that the Alliance had come between them again.

"We'll know when we get there." He knew that she'd catch up with him, never doubted it. As they walked leisurely, nobody would have guessed that they were now both on the run. It was just a matter of time before the Alliance caught them both as traitors and they were both assassinated. He hoped that they'd have the kindness to do it with them together. But he doubted it seriously. "You're hungry."

"Uh ..." How did he do that, she wondered, hurrying again to walk beside him now, eyes seemingly just looking around in curiosity but in reality scanning every person, every window and every opening they passed for any sign of danger. He seemed to know her needs almost before she did. "Maybe a little," she admitted, flashing him another of her wry grins. "I've had this weirdo stalking me for a while, you see. Didn't want to stop for a bite until I dealt with him."

He didn't return the smile, though he felt it inside. He continued walking, his eyes on the same things hers were. Brief glances to size up each and every person they came near. "I've trained you on what to do with stalkers." He shifted his direction with a sudden, military precioned turn of his foot. "Why did you let this one get under your skin?"

She turned with him, slightly better at softening the military precision of her turn, although she'd be hard pressed to explain how she'd known which way he was going to head. "He's the best man I've ever known," she shrugged, not looking at him as she spoke, hoping her tone would say everything that needed to be said. "I love him, simple as."

He came to a sudden stop and looked down at her. "He loves you, too." Then he was off again. A vendor in the market was selling corn dogs. He hadn't had one since he was a small child. "You like corn dogs." He didn't give her the option. It was a done deal. The vendor was reached and he was more than a little surprised when the vendor accepted his form of payment. He picked up the lemonades he ordered and held hers out to her. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

His quiet affirmation somehow managed to derail her train of thought entirely and rip up the tracks, leaving her wandering along behind him in a state of happy shock. He'd never said it before, not once. She made some vague sound of agreement when he spoke to her again, not really hearing him, only coming back to herself when she realised she was expected to take something from him. The lemonade was lifted to her lips and she sipped, lowering the cup to gift him with a brilliant smile. "It is now."

He chuckled inwardly but gave no outward sign of humor. Her reaction was a brief moment of relaxation they both needed and took. As he sipped his own lemonade and waited for the dogs, he allowed himself to look down at her. "What are you so giddy about?"

She'd inadvertantly given him the upper hand again. Time to do something about that, she thought. "Giddy? I'm not giddy, I'm excited," she informed him, turning her gaze from his to watch a young couple go giggling past. "Thinking about reliving a memory, actually."

The dogs were handed over and he held hers out to her as he pushed away from the cart. "Excited about reliving a memory." He nodded slowly and looked for a good place to sit. The giggly couple was looked at with a frown. "It's too hot, don't bite it."

She rolled her eyes at that, slipping past him to slide down the wall and sit comfortably there, out of most people's sight behind one of the many stalls that lined the streets leading to the marketplace. "You know, I'm not your student anymore, you don't have to treat me like a kid," she pointed out as tolerantly as possible.

It was second nature to him, watching out for his pupils. And even if she had turned away from his teachings, he still felt that she was amongst his brood. In response to her remark, he idly looked down. "Sit up, knees together. If you're not the whore, don't act the part."

The look she levelled at him for that last comment was abundantly plain. Don't push it. "I'm not the one standing on a street corner eyeing up the passers' by, sir."

As her eyes moved from his, he glanced around to where they were walking. "I see them, Pet." he continued to use that name he placed on her, with affection. He wasn't cold and heartless, not all of the time. "You pick, use your senses and tell me which is the safest place to lay our heads."

They walked on for a few minutes, Wren tallying up what she saw and what she had heard of each place they passed. Unable to pass up any opportunity to discomfort her companion, she then leaned up and blew a soft kiss into his ear, before slipping out from under his arm, grasping his hand and fairly dragging him into the nearest inn, just the way a girl might do to her reluctant lover. "C'mon, Rett, this one'll do." As she spoke, her eyes deliberately flicked to the two alleys that bordered the inn, suggesting back entrances, and the flat-ish thatched roof. All easy exits, should it become necessary.

He had a relaxed stroll, and he kept that pleasant smile on his face, even as his eyes appraised the area. He had spotted the building about a block and a half down. Inwardly pleased that she had chosen that particular one. A gentle squeeze to her waist before she slipped away and took his hand. He played the reluctant lover part well. "Alright, Wren." he nodded and followed her into the building. It was much darker inside and took several blinks to his eyes to become accustomed to the light.

The bar itself seemed quiet, a homely sort of place that according to local rumour didn't get much custom. There were perhaps a dozen people sitting around the taproom, including the bartender, who rose to greet them pleasantly enough. Wren almost rolled her eyes again when the man looked her over appraisingly, remembering just in time that she was just an ordinary girl, not a trained killer. When he asked them what they were looking for, she looked to Rett with a curious smile. "What do you think, bao bei?"

When the bartender gave Wren an appraising look, Rett pulled her behind him, protective and possessive. He would blame it on the act they were playing, if anybody ever bothered to question him about it. But truly, he thought of Wren as his own and would kill a man for even looking. Lucky for the bartender, they were playing the part. "Week's worth of lodging and meals." he said calmly and then smiled to Wren warmly. "We're celebrating, aren't we, Pet?"

From her new position behind him, Wren smiled brightly back at him, deliberately sliding one hand into his and the other around his arm, squeezing warningly. It wouldn't do for him to get aggressive towards every man who looked at them, not if they were trying to lay low. "I guess we are, at that," she agreed as sweetly as she could in the circumstances, glancing over to the barkeep. "How much is that?"

Her warning was heeded, if misplaced and he smiled pleasantly to the bartender. The price was requested and paid easily. The entirety of Rhydin seemed very inexpensive, so far. Without bags to hinder them, a key was given and they found their own way to the room that they'd share. His comm vibrated on his wrist and he ignored it as he opened up the door and stood back for her to make her entrance.

She felt the vibration of the comm, following his lead in ignoring it as she pushed the door back completely on its hinges, revealing the entire room to her eyes. One hand resting again on the carbine at her thigh, she stepped inside, moving over to the window to inspect the view, and it's viability as a possible point of entry or exit. She knew, without needing to look, that Rett would be doing the same to the corridor outside, and the little bathroom adjoining the room. "You going to answer that sometime?" she asked lightly, keeping her eyes on the road outside.

Indeed, he'd already been planning escape routes. The door at the end of the hall with the light from outside shining through in cracks that let the soft breeze through. The bathroom's window was far too small for either of them to crawl through. Shutting the door, he walked into the middle of the room, placing his hand over the comm. "I answer and they come, you know this." He said calmly as he took a seat on the bed. Only then did he allow his shoulders to sag and he relaxed visibly.

Satisfied with her own scouting, Wren moved back into the room, laying her carbine and two small autopistols on the table beside the bed and dragging the loose shirt off, leaving only the form-fitting t-shirt beneath as she thumped down onto the bed beside him. Her hand rose, fingertips playing through his hair along the edge of his ear. "When were you going to tell me they'd made contact?" she asked softly.

He watched her start to unwind by putting her weapons down and removing the loose shirt that was once part of her uniform. As she plopped down and started playing with his hair, he closed his eyes and sighed. "When we were someplace safe. I didn't want you to go off, half cocked again." He curled an arm around her, glad to have her by his side again. "I don't intend to answer, Wren. If they want to find us, I'm not going to make it easy."

Heart-warming though his words were, they also brought a little chill of fear into her heart. "They'll convict you as my accomplice in absentia if you don't answer," she murmured worriedly, leaning into him as her fingers continued to toy with his hair. "It'd keep you safe if you answered."

That's when he opened his eyes and sealed his own fate. Lifting up on an elbow, he turned to her and his eyes bored into hers. "I'll take whatever punishment they dole out, Wren. I won't leave you alone, ever again." he closed his eyes and lay back, once again. "We're in this, together." He put his arm over his eyes. "Besides, when we both disappeared, they'll automatically think that you've turned me against them. They know... everything, Wren."

Her smile grew at that confirmation, and she rested her hands on his stomach for a moment, pushing herself upright and swinging one of her legs over him, her knees settling at his hips. Her hands descended to either side of his head and she leaned down to him, kissing him the way she'd wanted for so long. At that moment, she didn't care about the Alliance, or any secrets he might be keeping from her ... it was just Rett and Wren, the way it should have been.

Even in the loving gesture, as his hands moved to her waist and he returned her kiss with a hungry ferocity, of longing for just that kiss for too long, he kept in his mind the possibilities of what would happen when they were found. And though he seemed relaxed, there was a tiny bit of rigidity, an anxiousness that kept his senses honed to the world around them. He wished he could give himself over fully, as his compatriots had bragged of doing with their own mates. But for them both, he could not. He tried to keep this secret masked along with the others, but in this one thing, he usually failed miserably.

"It's okay," she whispered to him between kisses, letting one hand stroke gently over his cheek, down the side of his neck, trailing fingertips tenderly. To be entirely truthful, she loved that part of him remained alert, ready for anything. He always made her feel safe, protected, no matter where they were or what they did, and it was because he could never completely switch off. But she did wish she could teach him how, for his own pleasure if nothing else. Her lips moved hungrily over his, teasing his mouth open to taste him.

He kept his eyes closed, the better to feel her touch than see it. With her words, he knew his secret to be exposed. And he was a little more than surprised she didn't turn a frown on him and demand more. But then, she never did. It endeared her to him even more. His hands tightened on her back and his lips parted under her tease. His tongue slid out to swipe her lower lip and then, with a serpentine movement, taste her tongue.

With the touch of his tongue on hers, she felt their kiss grow in intensity, barely holding in a soft moan as they tangled in enjoyment of one another. Her hand continued to slide downwards, over his chest and to his side as she shifted against him, letting her chest lower to his.

It'd been a very long time since they'd been intimate and he hadn't realized how much he missed her gentle touch. As she smoothed and relaxed down on top of him, he gently pet down her back and continued the kiss. Memories, fond ones, of the time spent in his quarters came back to him. Excitement built into them both at the thrill of doing something illegal that they both could be punished for. Him more than her. He was the instructor, the acting commanding officer. He was expected to keep his control around his students. For what they did, he could have been expelled completely. But neither seemed to care in those days. Now, it was all they had any more.

They had taken stupid risks in those early days, obviously suspicious enough that their commanders had put him under surveillance. But that was in the past. There was no law against loving him now, nothing to keep this feeling secret from. She might always look on him as her commander, her mentor, but from now on, she knew, he would be her lover first and foremost. She had missed him desperately, almost from the moment she had left, only now feeling the ache in her heart receding as his hand stroked down her back. She caressed him tenderly, slowly and gently breaking her lips from his to trail soft kisses along the line of his jaw.

As the kiss was broken, he sighed softly and closed his eyes. "I do love you, Wren." His head turned to the side to allow her further access. "I just couldn't tell you that, then. There was too much at risk, and we'd already been under surveillance for a while when you stole my heart, Pet." He sighed and turned his head to capture her lips once more with his own. He hugged her fiercely to his chest.

She'd known, somehow she'd always known that he wouldn't have taken such a risk unless he meant for them to last. But it still thrilled her to hear him say it, even more when his arms wrapped so tightly around her the moment he was done. She responded just as fiercely to him, nipping lightly at his lip. "Can't steal what's given freely," she murmured cheekily to him, brown eyes dancing. "Think what we've got here is a fair exchange."

"Was it given freely? Or did you steal it, like the little thief you are?" His eyes were warm and his smile was genuine. "A very fair exchange, I'd say. And nothing the Alliance nor the Browncoats can do will ever take that from us." He gave her a knowing look before it was replaced with yet another smile. "I think I'm going to like this town. It's so easy to strike up our own Alliances. And the creatures here seem far more fierce than any I've ever seen hop into a fighter."

She laughed at that. "Some of the creatures I've seen wouldn't need to hop into a fighter to get scary mad," she pointed out with a soft chuckle, brushing her lips against his cheek again. "Think we'll get by here? Safe enough?"

Resting one hand on the small of her back he put the other behind his head. "I think so. I heard some talk about a space port. We need to recon that and make sure that the Alliance doesn't find it. Also.." He lifted his hand on her back and looked at the comm. "Need to figure out a way to get rid of this. Linking it to the skeleton seemed like a good idea for emergencies. Now it's just a pain."

"Yes, sir, right away, Commander Campbell, sir," she laughed, shaking her head with a smile. Her fingers touched his lips. "Tomorrow," she promised softly. "Everything can wait until tomorrow. I've missed you too much to go straight back to being just one of your troops so soon, bao bei."

His breathing hitched in his throat and he moaned loudly. His back hit the mattress and he arched his hips upwards to thrust into her mouth. "Wren, Ah!" crying out, he released into her throat. The vibrations sent through him did the trick. His hand loosened in her hair and he slowly let his hand drift down to his side. As the last of his seed spilled, he collapsed down onto the bed. Her name whispered softly.

She took everything he had to give her, a little surprised at the sheer volume that filled her mouth, necessitating several swallows before she could set to cleaning him, again with her tongue. Then she crawled slowly up to lie on her side next to him, her head propped up on her hand. "Better, bao bei?"

He sighed and winced as she cleaned off the too sensitive part of him that hung from his trousers. When she crawled up, he put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. "Wren." He smiled and pressed his lips against hers. "Much better." he chuckled softly and let his hand drift down her front. "Will you let me return the favor?"

Her own hand stroked up beneath his shirt, fingertips just brushing the edge of his newest scar. "Only if you let me see what you're hiding," she murmured fondly to him, serious and loving all at once.

As if burned, he scurried away, crab crawling to the other side of the bed. "Oh no." He shook his head and put his hands over his stomach. "That's something not for you eyes." He hated to keep anything from her, but she would know instantly when she saw the sideways C shaped scar that ran up both of his sides and down low near his pelvis. "Please, no, Wren."

A frown appeared on her face as he scrambled away from her, concern dominant within determined eyes. "You won't be able to keep it from me forever, Rett," she sat, sitting upright. "If they did something to you because me, I deserve to know. I need to know what I'm guilty of."

"No." His eyes became cold and his face became the inpenetrable and indifferent mask. Tucking himself into his pants, he sat up, folding his legs in front of him. "You are not the guilty one. And it is because you believe this to be true that I cannot allow you to witness it."

"You'd rather my imagination tortured me with everything they could possibly have done to you?" she shot back in a tense voice. "I've seen interrogations, Rett, I know what the possibilities are. And nothing you say is going to get rid of the guilt I feel knowing I put you in that situation."

"I put myself there." He was quiet, and he backed down. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and lifted his shirt. The C ran from the bottom of his rib cage in an upside down parabola to his pelvic area and back up to the other side of his rib cage.

"Oh, Rett ..." Stricken with guilt for what he had been through, Wren reached out to him, running gentle fingers along the scar. Seeing it only brought crashing home the fact that she had almost lost him without ever knowing it. "I'm so sorry, bao bei." Her whisper was almost lost in the quiet as she leaned forward, gently pushing him down onto his back to lay a tender trail of kisses along the scar, her fringe falling forward to hide the tears welling again in her eyes as she did.

"It's not your fault. I could have given in much earlier." He whispered and his hands went into her hair as she kissed his boo boo, as if it'd make the already healed scar better or go away. "Tissues, love." He sighed, knowing full well that they were ready to fall.

Ready to fall they might be, but she wouldn't allow herself to let him think she felt pity for him. If anything, this sign of his bravery, his loyalty, made him all the more handsome. She swallowed down the rising sobs, blinking rapidly until the tears dissipated, and lifted her head, leaning up to lie against his side. "I would have done the same for you, bao bei," she murmured fervently, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses to his neck as her hand slid over his skin caressingly.

He held her, with his eyes closed as she roamed over his neck and what skin was visible through his shirt. "I know, I know, and I know you do not feel pity for me. Fear, relief, that's what you feel, felt. And you will not lose me without knowing it, Pet. You would have known." He nodded and turned his head to give her a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Let's not think of that right now." He smiled as he looked into her eyes. "It's been a year and I want to make love to you."

Well, now. She certainly hadn't expected her body to react like that to a simple request for intimacy. Her skin flushed in a mix of awkwardness and arousal as his arm tightened around her, and she leaned down to him, brushing her lips against his lovingly. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to hear you say that again," she purred softly.

"One year.." he pressed his lips to hers. "Two weeks" He curled his body around hers, forcing her to the mattress, "Six days," His mouth took possession of hers again. "Ten hours" His hands moved to her trousers and tugged them downwards. "Fifteen minutes..."

Her laugh filled the little room with warmth and life, past and future forgotten, and only the moment real. For now.

His gray green eyes landed on her the moment the door opened up. Foolish girl, if I had wanted to shoot you, why would I wait until you got up here? Not sure if she could read it or not, but there it was. His ability to instill thoughts into other's heads was still being learned. He was good, but not perfect, as he expected himself to be. "Good morning, cadet." he answered coldly and turned his gaze towards the window. "Recon work in the alley?"

A tickle at the back of her mind made her frown, but there was little she could do about it. "In a manner of speaking, sir," she nodded to him, moving over to sit on the bed, attempting at least a facade of relaxation. "Laying down a few traps for anyone who might try to follow us here."

"On whose orders?" He refused to look at her, keeping his eyes on the small slit in the curtain that let through a stream of light that dust motes swirled in and out of.

"On my own intuition, sir," she answered, putting extra emphasis on the title. She didn't have to use it, she hadn't been under his command for over a year. "Should have stopped to talk to you, I know, but you were sleeping and time's important. You taught me that."

"We did not pay you to use your intuition or to think." He remained quiet, calm. He could feel her anger rising. Even though it was contrary to the teachings, he said the words to keep the game field level. "You know I do not sleep heavily and that I would know the moment you snuck out. So do you care to explain to me why you thought you could slip past me, any of this? Or do you still not trust me, cadet?"

"You didn't pay me at all," she was quick to point out irritably. "And I'm not a cadet, stop calling me that!" She rose to her feet in one fluid, annoyed rush, pacing back and forth in front of him. "You know I trust you. How else could I have gone back to the way things were, slept in your arms, if I didn't trust you?"

He kept his smile to himself. He rather enjoyed her quick temper. But he'd never admit to it. "The human body has needs. You've never been one to deny yourself of such things." He lifted his hand to his face, examining his nails as if bored. "It's been a while, hasn't it, cadet?"

That stopped her in her tracks. She turned on her heel, slow but inevitable, and glared down at him. "I beg your pardon?" Her voice was quiet, slow, and dangerous, a sure sign that her temper was close to bubbling over. He was deliberately winding her up, too, she was certain of it; after all, he knew what happened when anyone pushed too hard. Instinct took over, and the Alliance had done their best to make sure that the only instinct she obeyed was the one to kill.

He gazed up at her, the faintest twitch to the corner of his mouth in a smirk. "You got your release, and you're calling in your Browncoat friends to whisk you away? What's the matter? None of them compare to me, cadet?" Brow flick then he turns from her gaze. "Go on then. Run if you must. But it seems such a waste of time. You're so sloppy about covering your tracks."

Wren stared at him, and somewhere deep inside, something went 'uh-oh'. He'd gone too far, pushed her too far. She wasn't flaming mad anymore, she was icily furious. Her voice and manner calm and quiet, she spoke. "I'm not the only one, obviously. If you truly didn't believe me to be a traitorous whore, you would never have said that. Was that all I cost you? A quick tumble and then you'd push me away so the hunt could continue?" Her gaze was withering as she looked him up and down. "You're worse than despicable."

Only when she turned her ice cold stare and those words that were meant to pierce through his armor to his very heart, did he smile. His most charming and boyish smile. "Run, before I turn my comm on. Maybe you'll get lucky, cadet." His eyes were just as frosty, his tone just as icey.

"No." Slowly, deliberately, she unholstered her carbine, dropping it to the bed. It was followed by the two autopistols, and the small arsenal of blades kept on her person. The loose shirt was thrown after them, and she stepped back, spreading her hands. "I'm not running away from you anymore. Either shoot me, fight me, or trust me. But make the choice, Campbell."

He watched her carefully, canting his head to the side and supporting it on his first two fingers and thumb. As the weapons hit the bed, he counted them. He knew exactly how many she kept on her. And one was missing. "The dove blade?" It was a speical blade that he'd given to her upon her graduation. It was the night they'd first made love. "You'd dare use that on me?"

Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. In all honestly, she hadn't thought of it. She had no intention of sullying that blade with anyone's blood, least of all his. But at the same time, she hadn't had it away from her skin since he'd given it to her, and he should have guessed that when she refused to remove it the night before. But he had a point, and so did she - the dove blade was unsheathed and laid gently on the bed with the rest of her weapons.

"Stand down, Wren." He shook his head and glanced back out of the window."If this is to work, you are to trust me and talk to me. If you refuse, take your weapons and go. I'll give you two weeks head start." He turned gray green eyes upon her. "And you will never sneak out, do you understand me?"

As she went down, the blaster was holstered, the safety being slid into place, all in one fluid motion that he didn't even have to think about. With a sigh, he walked to her, then past her into the alley way. Laying out her weapons, just so, he then went back to gather her up. Carrying her across his chest, he then lay her down, so the weapons surrounded her. Carefully he moved the hair from her face, then stepped back. He knew it wouldn't take long before she was awake again. He knew what her reaction would be, as well. So into a fighting stance he went.

She was already coming to as he carried her into the alley, careful not to move until he had stepped back. He was wearing that body armour again, she'd felt it through his chest. So she had no fear when her hands flashed to her carbine and she shot him, the bullet hitting him squarely in the stomach as she scrambled to her feet, following after and discarding her weapon as she tackled him, disarming him, too as they both went down.

He saw the carbine come up and his eyes widened, then narrowed. Before he could react, the bullet slammed into his stomach. He cursed himself for placing it so close to her hand when she lay there. Knocked back, he gasped for air. While it didn't penetrate, it sure the hell hurt. He knew the bruise it'd leave behind wasn't going to be a pretty one. His arms came up to grasp her shoulders as she flew at him to tackle him. He fell back, graceful and fluidly, his feet came up to meet her stomach to kick just hard enough to flip her off of him. Once his hands released her shoulders, he leapt to his feet and swivelled around on the balls of his toes. "Come on! Show me what you got!" Yeah, there was pain in his stomach, but it was easily forgotten.

And flip she did, over him and onto her feet as fluidly as him. The anger was giving her strength, but it was clouding her judgements, too. She spun, kicking out with her left foot at his head, jumping to flick her right foot towards his chin in case he dodged the first blow. This was why Wren was wanted back alive by the Alliance; she had an aptitude for combat that couldn't be taught.

He moved quickly out of the way of her left foot and brought his hands up together to stop the momentum from her right foot, right in front of his own face. Of course he hadn't taught her how to fight, but he knew her style well enough, just as she knew his. This would end in a stalemate when one or other other, or both would be too exhausted to continue. None of that mattered. It'd been ages since he'd done hand to hand combat. He smiled and twisted his arms, her foot between his hands. "You got more, give me more!"

She went with the twist on her foot, jumping again to follow the spin it put on her body, and thumped the sole of her left foot into his midriff, forcing him to release her. As he doubled up in the natural reaction, she landed and closed the distance between them, her hands moving fast to level punches at his head, shoulders and stomach. "Gorram it, Rett! Why'd you have to push me so damn far!"

The blow that landed to his stomach brought back the original pain from the carbine shot, mixed with the force of the kick. He doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Her first six or so punches landed, knocking him back. And then that smile came back to his face. Bringing his arms up, he blocked shot after shot. His teeth were coated in red where she has opened up the earlier split and caused a second one on the other side. Never once, did he attempt to be anything other than defensive.

"To see how far I could push you. Ah!" He leapt back doing two handsprings away from her. "Catch me!" He started to scurry away, knowing full well she wouldn't leave the weapons in the middle of the alleyway. "If you can!" he called out over his shoulder as he hurtled a fence.

"Gorram it, fight back, you coward!" she yelled after him, snarling a little impotently as he ran away from her. But that was where her little scouting trip of the morning would do her favours, she realised, pleased that her faculties were returning. She was still steaming as she took her time in gathering up her weapons and stowing them safely, but it wasn't burning as brightly anymore. Instead of running after him, she cut through another alley, accelerating to head him off at the only junction he could get to from the route he had taken.

He ran quickly, his hair flying back from his face as he smiled. His heart pounded and blood pumped adrenaline into his body. It felt good to be running again. His agility came into play as he dodged being ran into by a woman carrying a basket. "Whoa!" he laughed out loud and hurriedly ran down the avenue.

One last leap of a fence and she landed on top of him, knocking him to the ground again. This time there was no quarter given. She let him roll onto his back, if he was going to, but her pistol was drawn and set to his temple either way, just as he had done to her the day before. "You really need to not push me so hard." Her voice was still furious, but at least there was some control there now.

He didn't even see it coming. And that was saying something for him. He was so giddy with the chase that he'd never given much thought to how quickly it might end. When the cold metal of the gun met the sweat from his brow, he laughed out loud. Brushing off his hands, he gave her a daring look. "What are you waiting for? Do you not remember your teachings? If you hesitate..." he grabbed the gun from her hand and quickly turned it up at her. "you lose."

At the sound of his voice, she stopped, but she didn't turn back, or lift her head. In fact, she felt barely an inch away from falling to her knees, weighed down in pain at his rejection of her, his refusal to see anything but a soldier under his command. She hated being this way, hated that she loved him so dearly that his cold nature could tear her apart with barely a word. And right now, she truly hated that nothing she felt was truly hers, that he could feel it all, and his only reaction was to groan her name as though she was a burden to him all along.

Walking up behind her, he moved his arms around her to pull her back against his chest. "Wren, please, do not cry." he whispered with a gentle, soothing tone to his voice. "You know I do not speak of my emotions in public." He tried to reason with her.

"You don't speak of your emotions at all." She let him pull her back against his chest, wanting so much to just melt for him, the way she had always done, but rebelling at the same time. Her compromise was simple; to let him hold her, but to stay stiff and unyielding as she spoke. "I can't do this. It's been over a year since anyone even looked at me as though they gave a rat's ass. And you've always been able to make me melt for you. But you push me away, all the time. I can't do that, not here. Not when you're all I've got, whether you want it or not."

"If I do not speak of my emotions at all." he leaned his head down, his voice soft as the breeze on her ear, gently moving her hair. "then explain to me what it was that I said to you last night?" He closed his eyes and focused on the memory of their lovemaking, the words flowing and tumbling freely from his mouth. She was close enough, and it was a simple enough projection to gently waft in her direction.

A little too close, perhaps. The memory washed over her, filled to bursting with emotion both his and hers, and she swayed against him, temporarily blinded by the past as her hands clutched at his arms, her body relaxing against his. Her lips parted in a slightly overwhelmed gasp, leaving her little breathless as the memory subsided. "You always taught us ..." she swallowed, forcing a memory of her own into the forefront of her mind, one of his classroom - the rudiments of espionage, specifically how not to give away secrets when seducing an enemy. "... taught us that what's said in the throes of passion is never what is felt by a soldier."

His hand travelled to her chin and he directed her face up and to the side. Placing a feather soft kiss to her lips, he whispered against them. "Last night, I was no soldier."

She couldn't stop herself responding to his kiss, ashamed of the tremble in her limbs. This was exactly the weakness he had always berated her for; that she couldn't separate herself from him when he thought she needed to. Her hand rose to stroke fingertips against his cheek. "I wish there was some way I could know when you let that part of you go," she whispered back. "You hide so well."

"Look into my eyes, Pet." he gave a parting kiss, then stepped back. When she turned, he lowered his eyes to hers. In a flash, his face went from warm and loving to cold and stoic. His eyes went from heated with passion to icey mud colored icebergs. "Do you see, now?"

She watched, memorising what she saw and storing it close to her heart. How had she never seen that before? Because he'd never seen the need to show her before, she knew. She nodded slowly. "I see," she murmured softly, swallowing hard and glancing away. "I've embarrassed you in public again, haven't I." It wasn't a question; she knew she'd done it.

"Do not think of it." He gave a solemn nod and turned to give her a little bit of privacy to gether herself. "Hungry. Food. Omelettes."

"If they involve the size of my manhood, you are correct. I do not wish to hear them." Just as he finished, the waitress came waltzing over to take their order. He glanced to Wren, deferring to her.

Catching that glance, Wren ordered for them both, automatically dropping into giddy girlfriend mode to impress the girl, who took the order and was back within minutes with coffee. As she walked away the second time, Wren lifted her mug to her lips, murmuring impishly, "The size rumours were a late addition; they were debating whether or not you had a manhood for a while there."

Sipping his own coffee, he shook his head slowly with a disgusted look on his face. "First I have a metal skeleton and testicles, and then no manhood. Am I that cold that I come off and inhuman?" He had strived to encourage his students as much as possible. Sure he broke then to rebuild them, but by end of their training, there was a mutual respect for one another. At least, that's the way he saw it. Maybe he was wrong?

She grinned, reaching under the table to squeeze his knee. He'd not only had the respect of every one of the soldiers he'd taught, he'd had their undying loyalty too. It was just unfortunate for him that he was so very easy to tease. "It wasn't that they thought you were inhuman, it was more so they could dare someone to make sure that you were ... anatomically correct," she assured him with a devilish smirk. "After seeing how things turned out, I'm pretty glad I got that dare."

He felt the reassuring squeeze under the table and sighed softly. Sipping his coffee, he listened to her as she spoke. He almost lost his cool when she mentioned a dare, then his eyes narrowed on her in a cool regard. "A dare? Is that why you came to me? A dare?" Was he showing hurt? Pain? Emotional response? Why yes, I do believe so.

"Rett ..." Her voice was soft and gentle as she registered his reaction, leaving her hand on his knee to squeeze again as she spoke. "I took that dare in my first week as a cadet under you. Remember? Poor, clumsy cadet Ishido who fell over and ended up with a face full of your crotch?" She grinned wickedly and leaned forward, lowering her voice to an intimate level. "If you hadn't reacted the way you did, I might never have seen you as anything more than my sergeant. As it is, that reaction's what got me flirting with you in the first place."

"That was all a ruse?" He gave her an incredulous look, playing the part of the aggrieved soldier as well as he could. He remembered the incident well and if it hadn't been for the liquor he'd been consuming the night before, he wouldn't have pulled her into his lap and teased her before turning cold and letting her go.

"What? Do you really think I was that clumsy?" She laughed indignantly, smiling at the waitress as their breakfast was brought over. "I thought you'd guess what I was up to and bawl me out at the very least. I wasn't expecting to get felt up by my commanding officer."

"Lesson to be learned, expect the unexpected." He found a foothold and it brought him back to his quiet and calm control. "Eat." He picked up his fork and knife and tore into the omelette. He couldn't believe how wonderful real eggs tasted. It'd been so long.

As usual, Wren's food disappeared almost the moment she picked up her knife and fork. She ate with a single-minded determination that was often the butt of jokes in her unit. But when she was done, she leaned back in her seat, watching him eat, and couldn't resist the playful urge to rub the top of her foot up and down the back of his lower leg.

He ate at a casual rate, savoring each bite as if it were to be his last. When her foot rubbed the back of his leg, Rett lifted his head and glanced towards the front door, the panes of glass that surrounded it and beyond. Then his glance was back on her. "You do not have to touch me to let me know what you are feeling." He whispered it softly, but loud enough for her to hear. "Remember, restraint in all things, Pet."

Her foot dropped quickly as he spoke, feeling the subtle reprimand keenly, and she leaned forward onto her elbows again, her gaze flicking to the back door, still firmly closed. "It'll take some getting used to," she murmured quietly into her hands. "Even if that's the way it has always been, I've been away from it for too long."

He nodded and then finished off the plate of food. "You will not like it, but it will get easier. Trust me." He gazed intently into her eyes, letting the mask slip. "Do for me as I do for you."

She looked into his eyes and nodded slowly, finally giving over her suspicions and worries. It would be hard to take everything on faith, but that was the way it had to be. And perhaps, one day, she would be able to read him as easily as he Read her.

"It's Commander, now." He gave her a look and shook his head, with a laugh. "Or it was. And what hair? None to let down, at least, not like yours. Which, by the way, will never be cut again, hear me, Ishido?"

"That an order, commander?" she grinned, enjoying the easy feeling between them. "And if we're going that route, it's Sergeant Ishido, you know that." Her elbow nudged into his side gently, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Seem to remember a certain someone filling my head with naughty images when he was pinning my pips on my collar in front of most of the brass."

"Of course it is. Things haven't changed that much." he smiled warmly, the scar between his upper lip and nose stretching. "And yes, I know, I remember. Always testing you, always testing, Cadet Ishido." he winked with a chuckle. "How green you were then. And you still have a temper and still have a big mouth. How'd you ever pass on?"

"Some idiot of a Lieutenant thought I had some potential," she laughed, switching her hands in his palm and curling her arm around his, stepping closer to lay her cheek against his shoulder. If he wanted to get comfortable with this, might as well throw him in at the deep end.

"Idiot should have been shot." he chuckled and when she curled herself around his arm, he gave her a curious look. Instincts led him to press a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Really, need longer hair."

She smiled at the kiss, that smile widening to another grin at his closing comment. "Why, don't you think it's more practical?" she asked innocently. "You used to complain all the time about my hair getting in the way."

"When you were a cadet, it was in the way." he nodded and glanced down at her. "All cadets should have their heads shaved. It's cooler on the cadet, easier to keep clean and free of parasites and there's something so sexy about a woman's bald head." He bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"Uh huh, says the man who's constantly telling me I should never have cut my hair," Wren snickered, not taken in one iota by the attempt at a tease. "I promise, once it grows back, I won't cut it again. Unless I need to."

"At all." He gave her a look that said that he wouldn't bug from that arguement. "There's hair... things, that you can use." His nose scrunched up at the thought of hair ties and ribbons, bows and other feminine things.

"Do I have to?" Her face scrunched up at the thought of the same things, though probably for a different reason. She hadn't dressed to her gender since she'd been recruited into the Alliance, and honestly didn't think she could pull it off now. Hence the scorched denims and shirt that adorned her athletic figure. "I'm really not a ... girly kind of girl, Rett."

"Describe your dream wedding." He looked down at her, it would tell him a lot about her. "And before that grin gets too wide, do not think it's a proposal." He shook his head with a laugh. "you girls, just move too fast for me."

"Wedding?" She looked up at him, startled. "Never really thought about it. I guess it'd be a dress and a cake and all that gou shi, but all that'd matter would be whether or not the guy I loved was marrying me." She shrugged. "You can do without the trimmings, if you've got a solid base."

He laughed out loud, his head being thrown back. "No, I'd say you are definitely not a girly kind of girl. Would rather get married in combat boots than pumps?" He turned his eyes and face away quickly, not really wanting to answer how he came to know just what pumps were to a woman.

Her smile faded to a fond shadow of the teasing grin from before. "Rather get hitched barefoot than anything," she murmured, looking away to pretend interest in a stall selling - of all things - hand-crafted jewellery. "I don't want the man who wants me to marry the Alliance, or the fugitive, or some made up china doll that isn't me. Does that make any sense at all?"

"So long as I didn't forget the one good thing that happened to me out of it all, then sure," she smiled back, enjoying the way his laugh seemed to come more easily the longer they were out from under the Alliance's heel. Her head tilted curiously. "Pictures? Do I even want to know what you've been imagining me wearing?" she laughed teasingly.

He gained a far away gaze and it was obvious that he was going down memory lane. "Long flowing skirts, sparkly earrings that touch your shoulders, flowers in your hair." He turned his gaze onto her again. "sounds stupid." he sighed and looked away. He didn't dare tell her that he could see her as a Companion.

"Hmm ..." One quick check of her most internal shield to be certain he couldn't see the way her thoughts were moving, and Wren smiled reassuringly to him, daring to lean up to kiss his cheek. "It's not stupid." Very gently, she started to steer his steps, though, one hand dropping to ascertain the coins in her own pouch as she headed towards the one store she would ever even consider shopping in.

He knew he was being led, but he really didn't care where to. It was as close to what he considered a normal life outside of the military machine that he'd been raised in and he wanted to live out the fantasy, just a bit longer. "Know what?"

"What?" she asked instantly, grinning with a faint shake of her head at the immediate, and not very subtly-led, reply from her own lips.

He glanced away and frowned a bit. It'd been a very long time since the words had left his mouth. And even back then, they felt strange, emotions weren't Rett's strong point. "Um, nothing."

Her head tilted, her expression graced with a faintly curious frown that was quickly wiped away as she reached her destination. "Wait here," she ordered with an impish grin, ducking into the darker interior of the store and seeking out the woman who had sheltered her that first night here, before Rett had found her and changed things once again.

"Alright." he nodded and stood outside of the door. Turning, he faced the crowded market and stood with his hands casually held in front of him, his feet shoulder width apart. Typical at ease stance. He didn't even realize he was doing it.

One glance towards him through the doorway, and a small hand poked him in the back as Wren laughed. "Relax, you stand out like a sore thumb when you're at ease," she informed him, and slipped back inside, sharing her hastily-conceived plan with her companion. Coins changed hands, and she slipped further into the store, out of sight of her former commander with a reassuring touch on the link they shared.

"Huh?" he jumped slightly when her hand touched his back. "Yeah." he shrugged and took a casual lean on the doorway of the shop. A woman went to go into the shop and she was greeted with an icy stare from Rett that had her hastily retreating and moving to another store.

"Huh?" he jumped slightly when her hand touched his back. "Yeah." he shrugged and took a casual lean on the doorway of the shop. A woman went to go into the shop and she was greeted with an icy stare from Rett that had her hastily retreating and moving to another store.

A few minutes spent changing, and Wren grimaced at herself in the one and only mirror set up in the store. Her clothing now resembled some of the women she had seen around - a long flowing skirt in crimson red, a blouse in royal purple that she was assured was supposed to hang off one shoulder, laced ankle boots with a delicate heel. The storekeeper stepped up to her, adding one final touch - a small clip for her hair, adorned with a single red flower - and nodded with a smile. "Perfect," she smiled, gently taking Wren by the shoulders and all but forcing her out of the doorway towards Rett.

Rett felt the door open and he stepped aside, allowing the woman to walk out. He sighed and took his lean again, wondering how long Wren was going to be or just what she was doing. He hated when she had herself shielded from him. It made him suspicious and cranky. His eyes narrowed as he stared out at the fountain.

Wren almost laughed when she realised he hadn't recognised her, gently releasing her tight hold on the shields that hid her mind from him, letting her amusement and trepidation show. She moved over to browse the stalls nearby, wondering how long it would take him to realise it was her, unsure if she wanted to see his face when he did.

And suddenly he could feel her again. Her amusement had him smiling, but the trepidation had him turning quickly and entering the shop. The blade strapped to his back unsheathed and he whipped through the store like a man god mad. "Where is she?" He narrowed his gaze onto the shopkeeper. The poor woman simply fainted and Rett rolled his eyes. After a quick and thorough search of the store, he stepped outside of it, his head whipped left and right. A girl looking at flowers in a red and purple dress, people wandering aimlessly around the market. His eyes widened in surprise as he slowly turned his head back to the girl looking at the flowers. He blinked, and rubbed his eyes and looked again. An incredulous look came over his face as he moved closer. "I, um.." his jaw still unhinged and he was not able to make any further sounds appear from his mouth.

Okay, this was it. She'd noticed him tear into the store, hoping he hadn't done anything but frighten her accomplice, and tear back out again, staring around in concern. And the fish impression almost had her lips twitching into a smile again, but for the fact that she honestly had no idea what it meant. But apparently the credit had dropped, so now was her cue. "Catching flies, Rett?" she asked calmly, glancing up from the flowers with a warm smile.

"Wren?" His eyes were wide with wonder and slowly a smile appeared on his face. "I, you, how'd you know? I mean, I just told you, but, you've been planning this, haven't you?" He stopped short and his smile turned into a frown. "You were going to trick me?"

The flash of hurt at that question was enough to answer it, allowing her to ignore it entirely to reassure him in other ways. "How could I plan something like this? You know I'm not a girl by choice," she smiled gently, and shrugged, her eyes widening a little as the movement dislodged that errant sleeve even further down her arm, hooking it back to her shoulder awkwardly. "It doesn't matter that you only just told me; I was taught by the best, remember? Always think on your feet. Besides, you've had it so hard ... I wanted to do something for you, and you just gave me the perfect option."

Reaching up, he gently touched the flower in her hair. "I don't know what to say, Wren. You're stunning." he blew out a breath and stood back so he could see the entire picture again. It was submitted to memory, he knew she probably wouldn't wear the outfit again. "I mean, I pictured it before, but reality is so much better than fantasy at this point."

Her forehead rested against his, lips and mind murmuring soft words of soothing nonsense to him. She could not imagine how difficult it must have been for him, even after everything they had done. Just the thought of what they had done to him made her blood boil. "I will never let them hurt you again," she vowed quietly, golden brown eyes fixed to his in fervent promise.

His eyes met hers and became ice once again. "You'll do no such thing, Wren. If they make me choose my freedom or your life, it's no contest." He leaned back and looked down at her. So beautiful in her feminine trappings, so deadly with the arsenal strapped under the drapery. "I cannot let you do that."

"You can't stop me, if it comes to it." Her voice remained gentle, her eyes soft, proving to him that her words didn't come from some misplaced anger or residual loyalty. They came from the love she had only recently admitted, and nothing but the breaking of her heart would change the vow she had made to him. "Don't argue with me, Rett. You wouldn't let them hurt me, so why do you expect me to let them hurt you?"

He knew one way of stopping her, but to resort to it would take a very life or death situation that he didn't want to think about. "No arguing." He nodded, conceding, for now. "Let's find something to eat. A musician perhaps. Maybe you'll dance around for me?" He chuckled and took her hand, leading her towards the center of the market. His head held high, shoulders squared and he brought her hand to rest into the crook of his elbow. Oh yes, he was proud to have the beautiful little flower on his arm.

She could feel his pride radiating off him, almost incredulous in herself that a simple change of clothes could do that to him. "I'm not dancing for you," she laughed sweetly, again resting her cheek against his shoulder as they walked together. "With you maybe; for you in private, possibly; dancing for you in public? Think again."

"It's a way to make money." he glanced over to a troop of belly dancers, laughing and dancing as people threw money. He shrugged then and looked down with a smile. "And I think it would be very entertaining." He found an ornate cast iron table and sat down on the accompanying chair. "Dance for me."

Her eyes narrowed as she recognised the subtle order. At the beginning she had had no choice but to obey instantly; now, she could at least prepare herself before the urgency of that order won out. Her bag she dumped in his lap with a low growl. "I will find a way to make you pay for this," she promised with a half smile, rolling her eyes as her body stepped back. Her arms rose above her head, her hips undulating to the beat of the drum playing nearby, and all the while her eyes remained fixed on his. Dancing for him, and no one else.

He leaned back with a smug grin on his face. An elbow leaned onto the table and his jaw fit comfortably with a single digit aligned with the front of his ear. Hungry eyes took her in and that smile grew. "Twirl, dance with the gypsies."

The skirt flared out as she spun in place, taking her eyes from him only to ascertain her welcome among the dancing gypsies before her feet carried her to them, following the seductive sway of their hips, the way they crashed from fast to slow and back again, joining hands with them.

Chuckling softly, he watched as she was welcomed by the gypsies. People applauded and tossed money at their dancing feet. Sighing softly, he couldn't have imagined a more perfect day. The atmosphere was light and amicable, not a single sign of any kind of malevolence to be traced.

The beat of the music turned sultry, and though she might have wished to, Wren was not allowed to leave the dancers as they paired off. One of the gypsy men took her hand, guiding her through the new steps, murmuring to her how fine it would be to make her lover burn with jealousy. She laughed and shook her head, glancing back at Rett with an enquiring quirk of her brow. "May I stop dancing now, or are you going to join me?"

Rett lifted his brow, smiling all the while. He could hear the murmurings of her dance partner and put a suggestion into the young man's head. His expression told her that he was simply enjoying this too much to let it end. But before the young man's hand could reach her breast, the smell of ozone filled the air. Before he could call out her name, Rett disappeared.

He felt the ship lurch, but did not hear the explosion. Looking up from his prayers, he narrowed his eyes. "Wren, no." he shook his head, as if she could hear or see him. Footsteps pounded in the corridor outside of the room he was in. And if he listened hard enough, he could hear the guards slide their guns. Locked and loaded. "Gorram it, Wren. No!"

Out of the vent she came, a wild thing too fast for them to bring their guns to bear on her. Three of the guards went down under the skills she had honed first at the Academy, and then on operations, before a lucky shot grazed her arm, spinning her about. Now was the time to make them think she had gotten soft. She cried out, one hand clutching the flesh wound, squeezing to make it bleed more copiously, and she fell to her knees. The remaining two guards pulled her roughly to her feet, cuffing her hands, and dragged her bodily along the corridor. And to her everlasting satisfaction, threw her bodily through one of the holding cell doors, almost directly into Rett's lap. The door slammed shut, and she looked up at him with a faint grin. "Hi, honey, I'm home."

There were blasters going off not far and he closed his eyes. Sitting up, he rocked on his knees. "No, Wren, no." He shook his head and feared the worst when the room became utterly silent again. Then the door sprung open and he looked up, shocked to see who came flying through the door. Before he could even move, the door was slammed shut and he stared at her with incredulous, and angry eyes. "The hell are you doing here?"

"Coming to get you, of course." With a grunt, she somehow managed to drag herself up and onto her knees. "They didn't search me yet ... check the seam under my right arm, there's a picklock in there." Her eyes flicked up to the camera that was trained on them with another small grin. "Don't worry about them coming in anytime soon. They've got bigger problems to deal with right now." Of course they did. The explosion in the lower levels was just the first of many problems they were going to have. And right about now ... her grin widened as the camera let out a loud cracking noise, and died. Yup, all the surveillance in the place had gone down - which of course meant every level was now sealed off. Unless you had the right codes.

"You're crazy." he shook his head and turned so his hands could find the seam of her top and the picklock. It took some trying, but soon he had it in his hands. Moving so that they were back to back, he closed his eyes and led his hands to pick the lock of her bonds. "This is madness, Wren. You know that, right?" He was reverting back to the Commander. The Iron Balls Sergeant. "Even if you do make it out of this room, you'll never make it off of this ship. And you know what they do to fugitives." The lock on her bonds clicked open and she was freed. He dropped the pick and it rattled on the ground before rolling silently away.

It was quickly retrieved, and she set to picking the lock on his own cuffs. Thank Buddha not everything in the Alliance was high-tech. "I lost you once, I am not losing you again," she growled fervently. "Crazy or not, this will work." His hands came free, and she dragged him to his feet. Another lurch of the ship told her that the third of her little surprises had begun - the ship was taking off.

The door flew open just as the ship lurched, indicating take off. Too busy watching Wren to look up properly, he threw his elbow out to keep the guard that rushed in from grabbing her. His shackles were undone and he turned to stare at a man he had trained as a cadet, standing before them. The other guard already laid out on the ground.

"Zheng qi de gou shi dui ... Lucas?" Wren stared, incredulous.

It was Lucas, and he was staring at them as though he'd seen a ghost. Then he blinked, and the butt of his rifle came up, knocking his companion guard out. "Get goin', Sarge," he said in a harsh voice, addressing Rett near exclusively.

"Lucas, you idiot. They'll court marshall you for aiding and abetting known fugitives." Rett growled and grabbed Wren's hand. "Thanks."

Rett shook his head and ran forcefully out of the room. "Schematics, you've seen them. Which way to the transport shuttles?" He did not want to get into the rays of the transporters again. It made his skin crawl.

"We're not taking a shuttle." She yanked on his hand suddenly, pulling him into a recess and crowding in after him, one hand slamming over his mouth. A minute went by, and a small unit of four soldiers came running past. If they hadn't stopped there, they would have had nowhere to hide when they came upon them. And Wren had no idea how she'd known they were coming. A third lurch of the ship threw them both out of the recess and against the far wall. Surprise number four - and she could just imagine the panic going on up on the Command Deck. Her hand found Rett's again. "C'mon, we're running out of time."

He listened to her and shook his head with a loud sigh. "You were always so stubborn, prideful, obnoxious and a loud mouth. Glad to see that's not changed, Ishido." he lifted the shirt, flipped it over and applied it again.

She flinched away from the second application, knowing with a soldier's experience that it had stopped bleeding. "It's not that bad," she objected to his mothering, pulling herself to her knees and looking up into his eyes. Her hand rose gently to trace fingertips over his brow. "How's your head? I didn't mean to be so rough."

He allowed her to touch his face and his eyes closed when her gentle fingers traced his brow. "I'm fine." He put his hands to his hips and slowly pulled his head away. "You know full well it's not going to take them two weeks to get that ship operational, at least the scanners and the beaming abilities. So what's your great plan, oh leader?" He couldn't help the sarcastic tone of his voice. Surely, he was grateful for the escape, as ill thought out as it was. They'd merely gotten lucky.

She looked him flat in the eye, knowing he wasn't going to like what she had to tell him. "By the time they've got their scanners operational, they'll have something more important to keep them busy," she told him calmly. "There are four freighters up there, all classes of ship from our solar system. And they're keeping their distance from the cruiser .... kind of suggests that they have reason to want the Alliance to keep theirs."

His head dropped, chin to his chest and he closed his eyes tightly. A long, soft string of expletives were spoken in both Chinese and English, with a few grunts of pain laced in to the mix. Slowly he opened his icey mud colored eyes and turned his head to the side to glare at her. "That's just perfect, Ishido. Now, not only do we both have a higher price on our heads than is necessary, you've brought innocent people into it? Are you trying to restart the Unification War singlehandedly?" He dropped to his knees, then sat on his rear end, unable to shake the headache he had.

That was the last straw. She was in pain, pumped with adrenalin, still shaking from the terror that had coursed through her at the thought that she might have been too late to save him ... and it wasn't anger that ripped through her in response to his ungrateful response, it was pain. Pain that tore at her heart, made her long for the release of tears. But she wouldn't stoop to letting him see her cry, not after everything she'd gone through to get him back.

With a choked grunt, she pushed herself to her feet, that ice-cold mask in place on her face as she looked down at him. "So nice to know your opinion of me never got any better from my days in the Academy, sir." One cold glare, and she stalked off, muttering under her breath in fury and hurt.

She was doing it again. And it made him groan. He needed to focus, get the pain out of his head that was clouding everything. He watched her storm off, and refused to go after her. He got up and found the nearest tree. Quickly and deftly he climbed up a good 15 feet before stopping to rest on a branch. His back to the trunk, one leg hanging down, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the whisper in the boughs. Once the pain was gone, the link could be re-established. But for now, he knew what he had to do to make things right. And that started with the gorramed headache.

She really had to stop doing this, she told herself furiously, stop letting her emotions get away from her. As she stalked through the trees, her attention was caught by the sound of trickling water, and she turned towards it. Not as practised as Rett in clearing her head of pain mentally, she did, however, know well enough that the best way to get rid of the throb in her head would be to relax, fully. A quick sweep of the area proved to her that she was well and truly alone, and she approached the little waterfall, stripping down and sliding into the surprisingly warm waters. She ducked under the curtain of water as it fell, letting the warmth and rush soothe away her anger and pain, both physical and otherwise.

As his body relaxed, the pain floated away on the gentle breeze. The link opened up again and he watched as she relaxed under the waterfall. "Have I told you how beautiful you are, Wren?" His eyes remained closed, but his mind was able to focus on the area around them both. And he breathed.

She felt it the moment the link reconnected them both, stretching under the fall of the water before allowing herself to drop into the pool itself. A faint smile touched her lips as his voice echoed through her mind. "Not recently, but I guess you're still too pissed to want to, huh?" She could see where he was coming from, but honestly, did he really think she was stupid enough to drag anyone into this but them? Those ships were already up there, and already keeping their distance when she'd disabled the scanners.

His leg moved in the breeze, as if it were one with the tree. "Not angry with you, bao bai, angry with myself for not protecting you." He sighed softly and let his head roll on his neck, listening as it popped and realigned.

She floated in the water, eyes closed as she concentrated on the connection between them, filling it with the emotion that stirred her whenever he was around. "If we're a team, then the protection goes both ways. I told you I wouldn't let them hurt you again, and I meant it." She let out a low sigh of her own, ducking under the water to wash the blood from her hair.

They could go like this, for hours, and still end up in the same place. Her gloating over the fact that she'd rescued him, and he too proud to admit that he had actually needed her help. So he changed the subject. "What about Lucas? Did you know the ben tian shen de hi dui rou would be there?"

"No, I didn't. I'd have taken him down if I had to, though." But he was right; that was too close a call. That Lucas had let them go was one thing; that he might be made to tell exactly how they had escaped was quite another. Yet another friend's suffering on her hands.

But they were free, at least for now, and the Purple-bellies would have their hands full for at least a week up there trying to get their cruiser operational once again. And that time, that grace period her enthusiastic rescue had given them, would be put to good use, finding a place from where they could plan their next move. Together.