Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ A Fine Line -WK ❯ Come Together ( Chapter 10 )

Author's notes and warnings: ::beams:: Isn't this chapter much faster? I am determined not to get sidetracked again…well at least until both versions of AFL are done. ::pats self on back::

This chapter will have Shinji (Chiriko) and Kouji…I know they were mostly in the FY version but I think I mentioned them briefly here as well. Summary: Shinji is a part of Kritiker and is working with our boys. Kouji is/was Tryffin's boyfriend…of sorts. Shinji was assigned to watch Kouji and the boys have now developed a little bond. ::huge grin:: Yeah, none of my bishounens could keep their hands off each other, ne? Last we heard of them, they - along with Omi and Youji - were in Kritiker's storage facility looking for information on the Atlantis Project. Then Omi disappeared.

Since both versions are being merged, I'll try very hard to give you heads up on characters that you may not be familiar with. Please let me know if you need more background on them or I can direct you to the chapter in the FY version that may help you.

This chapter is also not plot intensive. Just getting people together…geographically and otherwise, ne? ::wink:: I also wanted to play with Ken and Ceilen so I stuck them in a room to see what would happen. That section is all their doing, folk. ::grins:: As it turned out, Ceilen loosened up quite a bit. Good for Ken!

Grateful bows go to my wonderful reviewers and supporters. They are the best in any fandoms!

Hitari-chan is still recovering from all the mess that four hurricanes did in her area, so Xellas has graciously betaed this chapter for me. Thank you, sweetie, I know how very busy you are! If there is still any strange grammar or typo problem…it's probably me. I tend to add this and take away that AND not run them by my beta. ::hangs head:: And she's never seen my author's notes…I think she would have fainted…

Enjoy everyone!

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A Fine Line - Chapter 10: Come Together

By Moonraven

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(Day 6 - late afternoon - early evening)

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"Damn it! Who's groping my ass?" Youji growled irritably as he tried to maneuver in the cramped space. The fact that he was nearly in complete darkness did not help to lighten his mood. One would think that the Faction could come up with a bigger cargo hold on their damn luxury plane.

A muffled giggling in the corner followed by a soft, "Shh!"

"The hell! If I'm going to grope anyone's ass, it certainly won't be yours âˆ' so get the fuck over yourself!" Kouji growled back and gave the ass in front of him a hard shove.

"Watch it, you jerk!"

"Then get it off my face!"

"I'm trying! It's not like there's much room to move in this god awful place!"

"Oh, excuse me while I go and complain to our hosts. Maybe they can make sure that future stowaways have better accommodations."

It wasn't easy, but Youji managed to wiggle around so that he was face to face with his current nemesis. He waved his index finger at the man threateningly. "You know, I don't need this-"

A heavy sigh from behind Kouji had them both turning to see Shinji glaring at them from his position in the corner. His face was lit by the only light in the room - his laptop.

"I don't need all this arguing either, Youji-kun! What part of `secrecy' don't you understand?" And before Kouji could crow to the sunglasses-at-any-freaking-time-of-day assassin in front of him, Shinji turned to him. "That goes for you too, Kouji-san."

Both men pouted and after a series of compromising positions, settled side by side along the narrow space not too far from Shinji.

"Are you sure we'll be okay in here? Once we've reached a certain altitude, the oxygen's going to be pretty thin." Kouji looked around worriedly.

"You didn't listen well during planning, did you?" Youji asked.

"Youji-kun, he wasn't there, remember?" Shinji gave him a disapproving look.

Youji rolled his eyes, and mumbled, "Well, he wasn't invited to come along, was he?" He pointedly ignored scathing looks from both men and tried not to look too bored as Shinji quickly and quietly explained to Kouji about this particular jet, their equipment packs and…evacuation plans. He had to grin to himself when he thought about Kouji screaming at the top of his lungs when they jumped off the plane. Hee hee hee, he was going to look forward to that. Kouji should have listened to them and stayed home instead of insisting on coming with them.

When Shinji was done with Kouji and had gone back to his computer, the older man was silent and appeared to be chewing the inside of his cheek. He didn't look scared though…damn!

After a long silence, Youji blurted out. "Well? What did Aya say?"

"Hold on a minute, Youji-kun," Shinji replied, his eyes still on the screen in front of him. After a few more minutes of typing and reading, Shinji gave a low whistle. "Man, are you ready for this?"

"No, but you better tell us anyway." Youji was prepared for the worst. In their line of work, there wasn't a day that went by where they didn't expect to hear of a teammate's death or injuries.

"Well, I have the entire copy of the disc on the Atlantis Project that Peregrine gave Aya-kun. A copy was also sent to Manx-san, so they should be making their preparations. And in the true Aya-kun fashion, he made a summary of the content for us." He beamed up at the two men staring impatiently at him. "Okay, okay…geeze." He rolled his eyes at them before turning back to his laptop.

"If you're into science fiction, then this is right up your alley but after what we've been through, nothing surprises me anymore." He gave a small sigh before looking back up at them. "The Syria Faction obtained a strange artifact some 15 years ago, which convinced them that Atlantis is somewhere in the South China Sea. Not only that, it supposedly contains a dimensional gate that may still be operational."

"Dimensional gate as in like...another dimension?" Kouji sounded like he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry.

"Um...yeah or it would just be a...gate." Youji just loved it when he could be helpful.

Shinji gave the blond a `you're so lame' look before turning to nod at Kouji. "I'm afraid so, Kouji-san." He glanced down again to check his notes as he continued, "A lot of seemingly unrelated incidents in the past years may have some connections after all. The attempt to take Peregrine 12 years ago for instance and the deaths of Tryffin's parents are too coincidental for Aya-kun and I have to agree with him."

"What do you mean? What does this Peregrine have to do with Tryffin's parents?" Kouji asked. "And what did his parents have to do with…Oh my god. They were archeologists or something like that. Is that it?"

Shinji nodded gravely. "They were in the South China Sea, on an expedition to find Atlantis. The connection? Twelve years ago, the Faction wanted Peregrine because they believed he could operate the dimensional gate…something about the energy he was emitting matching the description on the artifact. This would mean that Peregrine may be from another dimension." Shinji took a deep breath at this point and glanced at Youji quickly before he turned back to Kouji. "I think I told you that Peregrine used to work for us."

Kouji nodded in confusion.

"Well, what I didn't tell you was that Peregrine and Ceilen are the same person."

"WHA--"

Youji slapped a hand across Kouji's mouth quickly, effectively cutting of the yelling.

"Shh! What the hell are you doing?" Youji hissed through gritted teeth. "Why not open the goddamn door and call them all in here?"

Kouji continued to struggle and attempted to yell through Youji's hand while glaring at Shinji.

"Cut it out or I'm stuffing my sock in it!" Youji warned.

Kouji turned his glare to Youji before he stopped his muffled noises. When Youji removed his hand, Kouji turned back to Shinji angrily. "You knew!"

"Yes and no." Shinji frowned back in his defense. "I knew Ceilen was Peregrine but I didn't know about him being from another dimension."

"You could have told me! You said he wasn't working with you."

"He isn't. I told you Peregrine left our organization eight years ago. It's entirely coincidental that he's guarding Tryffin."

Kouji didn't look convinced. "After all the other coincidences NOT being so coincidental, you still say that?"

Shinji chewed thoughtfully on his lip. "I don't know…but we have nothing to do with it."

"Kritiker may have nothing to do with it but what about the Faction?"

Shinji didn't look happy but he remained silent.

Kouji stared hard at the young man and then turned to Youji.

The blond held up his hands defensively. "Don't look at me. I'm just looking for Omi."

"So you don't care about the rest of your team?"

"I didn't say that! And you weren't talking about my team; you were talking about Peregrine. As for my teammates, Aya and Ken can take care of themselves, which is more than I can say for your boyfr- Oh…" He glanced quickly at Shinji. "...you know."

Shinji didn't look like he'd heard; his attention was riveted to his laptop screen. Kouji was looking at Shinji as well and when he saw no reaction from the younger man, he turned and glared at Youji.

"What?" The blond asked innocently.

"You...all of you are..." Kouji was looking very hard for the perfect adjective but soon gave up. "Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with the lot of you."

"Oh, says he who frequented the sex club run by-"

"Youji-kun!" Shinji's hushed, urgent cry caught his attention and he turned to see a worried frown on the young face.

"What?"

"My email to Manx-san just bounced back."

"So? Maybe her inbox is full."

Shinji shook his head firmly as he typed furiously on the keyboard. "No. Something's wrong."

Youji and Kouji scooted a little closer and tried to peer at the screen. Shinji tapped his fingers along the side of the monitor impatiently; he seemed to be waiting for something.

"What?" Youji asked again.

"I've texted Birman-san...she might know what's going on."

"You don't think you're over reacting just a tiny bit, Shinji? I mean a bounced mail?"

"You don't know her system. NO mail bounces unless she tells it to. It's one way of telling us that something's wrong."

Youji groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He rotated his injured shoulder to relieve the stiffness and then settled back against the wall with a sigh. Whatever the Faction was doing, it was going down soon. Even this plane they were hiding in was going in the direction that Ran and Ken had gone…and they had been following Peregrine, not Omi. Was it a trap, to get them all in one place? It certainly wouldn't be the first time someone had tried. Youji glanced anxiously at Shinji, who was pounding away on his computer, and wondered briefly what the young man must be thinking about Omi's situation. Up until recently, Shinji and Omi were…were…Youji groaned again. Everything was happening so fast.

"What's the matter?" Kouji asked and peered anxiously at the distressed blond.

Youji shook his head. "Stiff shoulder."

Shinji made a sound and Youji turned to him sharply.

"No one's been able to contact Manx-san since this morning. She's missing."

"How much do you wanna bet she's on this plane right now?" Youji rubbed the spot between his eyes tiredly. "Hope she's brought her sun-block."

Shinji looked up sharply, but it was Kouji who spoke. "What make you say that?"

Youji shrugged. "C'mon, we're all going to the same place…what makes you think she's not?"

Shinji looked thoughtfully at him, nodding. "I think there's more. Omi and Manx-san are the only ones left who were close to Peregrine. Do you think…?"

"They're trying to lure him out by using them…by using Omi!" Youji pounded his fist into the floor next to his leg. "I'm going to kill them!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

(Day 6 - late night)

Ken sat self-consciously on a neatly made bed and rocked back and forth, trying not to look like he was bored out of his mind. How on earth had Tryffin survived being alone with Ceilen all this time without going insane was beyond him. Ken was ready to go back to Ran and beg the redhead to take him back. Switching rooms just because of what Ken had said was childish! Ran should have been above that, but apparently he wasn't. Damn him! Ken didn't know what had made him taunt Ran about the incident in Tryffin's bathroom, anyway. He certainly hadn't meant for Ran to take him up on it when he'd said that the two redheads should finish what they had started. It was just that…he had been so angry…Ran had been staring at Tryffin again and Ken was…was angry, damn it!

And now he was stuck with Ceilen. Great.

Ken eyed Ceilen speculatively for a few seconds…should he try again? He shrugged. Why not?

"You sure you don't need me to help with anything?"

Ceilen looked up from his charts, his expression quite stern. "No."

"Aw, come on. It was an accident. Honest!" It had been. Who could have known that he would knock one of the monitors off the table? In his opinion, Ceilen had WAY too many of them and that particular one had been placed much too close to the edge anyway. Besides, Ran had caught it just in time…Ceilen really should lighten up.

"It seems you're quite prone to accidents," Ceilen commented dryly before going back to playing with his charts.

Ken grunted unhappily. He almost felt sorry for Tryffin. Almost.

Ken sighed.

Ceilen ignored him.

Ken really should be used to it; Ran had treated him pretty much like this most of the time he'd known the redhead. It had taken Ran a good two years before he lightened up enough to stop grunting and actually use more than one word to communicate. But then again, Ken hadn't been that open to the redhead himself. He winced as he recalled their first encounter - the explosive introductions of themselves. He guessed he couldn't really blame Ran for not being all warm and fuzzy… But after that Ken had tried, damn it! Well…not immediately after - alright, alright, he admitted that it had taken him many months, but he HAD tried and it certainly hadn't taken two years!

Yep…THAT had sure taken a long time. He glanced up at Ceilen again. There was NO WAY he was going to wait that long with this guy.

Ken got up and went over to the man. He really couldn't sleep anyway.

When Ceilen looked up with a frown, Ken held up his hands, palms facing the other man, then pointed to a chair next to the rogue agent.

"I'll just sit there quietly and not touch anything. I promise."

Ceilen gave him an unhappy look but didn't object, so Ken sat down next to him. Ceilen was drawing lines on the charts and writing things down on a small note pad.

"What's that?" Ken wanted to know.

A pause. "It's where we're going."

"Yeah?" Ken leaned closer to get a better look, his arm brushing Ceilen's briefly. Ceilen froze and then turned to stare coldly at him. Ken swallowed then moved a fraction back. "What?"

Ceilen considered him for a few seconds and then said, "You are NOT sitting quietly. Are you sure you're not related to Tryffin?"

Ken leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning irritably.

Ceilen smirked and went back to his work. "It's late. There are a lot of things we have to prepare for tomorrow. Go to sleep."

"I can't. Besides, that's YOUR bed. Where's the cot?"

"In storage. I won't be needing the bed; you can use it." Then as if a thought had just occurred to him, he turned to Ken. "Unless you have an aversion to sleeping in some one else's bed? Hygienic concerns, maybe?"

Ken blinked. It wasn't exactly hygiene he was thinking about but maybe it amounted to the same thing. Who knew what Tryffin had done in that bed? With Ceilen? Nyah…maybe not with Ceilen. And then there was the little matter of his brain… He felt his face warming at the thought and did his best to hide the rising color.

Ceilen must have noticed and took the matter entirely the wrong way - well, not entirely - for his mild expression suddenly turned cold and he bit out, "I told you it isn't like that between Tryffin and me. You should worry more about going back to the bed in the other cabin."

"Sorry…um…you really think they're…" He couldn't finish the sentence; there was something huge blocking his windpipe, or was it crushing his lungs? The pressure, whatever its source, made him choke and he gasped for air. He rubbed at his chest absently and tried very hard not to think about what Ran was doing. It was he who had given them that suggestion after all…

"Is your chest still hurting?" Ceilen asked sharply.

"Um…" Ken took a deep breath then shook his head. It was a different kind of pain and he certainly wasn't going to discuss it with a stranger.

Ceilen nodded but the worried look was still there. "You really should rest more. In less than 24 hours, you're going to be pushing your limits. You'll need your strength."

"I'll be fine."

The corner of Ceilen's mouth lifted briefly in what appeared to be a smile. "Ah…the invincibility of youth," He said lightly before shaking his head and turning back to the chart.

"You talk like you're ages older than me." Ken tilted his head to the side and peered closely at Ceilen. "Hmmm…I'm guessing 27. That hardly qualifies you to comment about my youthfulness."

Ceilen looked up at the ceiling and Ken could just imagine him rolling his eyes. "You guess?" He turned and gave Ken an amused look. "You mean you read my files."

"Oh yeah." Ken grinned. He actually thought he was beginning to like Ceilen. "Still, you're not old enough to say stuff like that."

The amused look remained as Ceilen continued to study him. Then the man shook his head again before returning to his work. "I'm old enough, believe me."

Ceilen's voice sounded tired. Ken thought about what his companion had said then swallowed hard. He couldn't possibly mean…

"And before you go off about me being an alien again, that's NOT why I said I'm old."

Ken felt three things in succession; first he was relieved, then he was surprised at the laughter he heard in the voice, then he was pissed.

"You're laughing at me." He scowled at the man.

"Am I?" Ceilen pushed away from the charts and turned his full attention to Ken. "You ARE very amusing."

"I don't think so," Ken mumbled as he looked from the abandoned charts to Ceilen, then back to the charts again. "Uh…are you finished?"

"No, but it doesn't look like I'll get any more done tonight."

"Why not?" Ken moved over to look at the maps, notes and charts on the table. "Maybe I can help?"

When no answer came, Ken turned to see Ceilen looking at him. Ken's face felt warm again as he remembered the incident with the monitor. Damn!

Obviously Ceilen was remembering the same thing for the man said rather mildly, "I could do with less help."

Ken didn't know if he should be upset at the comment or remorseful. Both, he supposed. He hated being useless and he hated to be a burden. He also hated the wait during missions where they could do nothing but well…wait. He needed to move, to do things, to…act! This inertia was suffocating him.

Most of all, he hated not knowing what was going on in the next cabin. Or to be precise, he hated KNOWING what must be going on… Damn but he hated Ran!

Ken abruptly came back to himself when he felt pain in his right hand. He blinked blankly down at the source of the pain and realized he had slammed his fist on the table, scattering pencils and compasses - of both kinds - all over the table.

He blinked again then glanced hesitantly at Ceilen. The man was studying him very carefully.

"Ah…sorry." Ken sat back down, nursing his hand. Man, this mission sucked.

Ceilen continued to watch him silently, making Ken squirm in his seat. "I'm sorry." He repeated. "I just…hate this." He hated too many things and really couldn't clarify any of them to Ceilen.

Silence. Then, "How about some tea?" Ceilen started to get up, when Ken snorted.

"Ran drinks tea. I'm more of a coffee kinda guy. But then all the caffeine's not going to get me out of your hair, you know. I'm just going to drive you up the wall more. Ran stopped feeding me caffeine when he realized that…" Ken snickered at memory of the look on Ran's face once when they had been on a stakeout. It had been priceless.

Ceilen settled back in his seat and continued to watch him babble.

"Gods, you must have driven Tryffin nuts! He's more spazzed than I am, how did you guys ever manage?" Ken leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't know, I think you're both equally…spazzed."

"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not constantly horny!"

Silence.

A thought suddenly struck Ken and he started to chuckle. He really couldn't see Tryffin coming on to Ceilen. He glanced sideways at the quiet man and broke out laughing harder.

"Man…it must have killed him to be stuck with you!" He nearly fell off his chair, picturing Ceilen's sullen scowls as Tryffin tried to seduce him. What wouldn't he have given to have seen THAT?

His laughter was cut short when loud banging on the door really did make him fall out of his chair. Ceilen gave him as exasperated look before getting up to answer it. Ken wheezed and then sat up, wiping his eyes.

When Ceilen opened the door, Tryffin fell in, clutching at his bodyguard. Ceilen stood immobile for a long moment before putting his arm around the redhead's waist and pulling him farther into the room.

Ken frowned at the picture they made; it certainly didn't look like there wasn't anything between them. Yet Ceilen had gone along with them when they offered to switch rooms. His train of thought was interrupted when he saw Ran following Tryffin in. He didn't look…bedded. Neither man looked…tousled in any way. Ken swallowed down the rising hope that nothing had happened…he couldn't care less, surely?

"What happened?" Ceilen asked Ran. Then he turned and told Tryffin to breathe and focus. Ken could only imagine that this was part of the exercise they had been working on.

"He panicked."

Duh! Ken rolled his eyes. Ran could be so freakingly obvious.

Ran's eyes swept the room, going from the charts on the table to the still neatly made bed, to Ken who was camped on the floor. The redhead frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Ken blinked at his leader - who was not doing anything with Tryffin, he added almost giddily - then smiled. "Meditating."

Both Ran and Ceilen gave him blank looks. Geeze, one would think Ken had never heard of the concept. He could meditate, thank you very much!

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for bed." Ken jumped to his feet and then headed for the door. As he passed Ran, he turned and asked innocently, "I assume I'm back in the other room?" Without waiting for a reply, he walked out and left the redhead to follow at his own leisure.

He felt inexplicably light and…happy. He thought about that and then shook his head. No, it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Ran hadn't…didn't… No. He shook his head again stubbornly. He was just uncomfortable with Ceilen. Ran was someone he was used to; therefore, he was happier rooming with Ran. Yes. That must be it.

He pointedly ignored the little voice that kept singing `liar, liar, pants on fire' in his ear. What did it know anyway?

Ken's mood got even better when he noticed that both beds looked mussed. So they had been on separate beds. He couldn't help the grin that spread on his face as he sat on `his' bed and started to remove his shoes.

Ken hadn't quite gotten into his new set of clothes yet, so when Ran entered the room, he was digging in his bag for a new shirt, clad only in his boxers. The other set he had taken to Ceilen's room was, well…in Ceilen's room. Ken tried not to be self conscious about his state of undress. After all, it wasn't the first time they had been half naked around each other. But feelings he couldn't name made him warm all over at the thought of Ran seeing him like this… Ken cleared his throat and looked up at the redhead, who was still standing by the door.

Ran had the strangest look on his face but he glanced away quickly before Ken could tell what it was. Ran moved to his own bag and grabbed a few things before leaving again. Ken blinked at the closed door and the absence of Ran. Damn, but his leader was shy all of a sudden.

When Ran returned in a loose t-shirt and grey sweat pants, Ken had already put his shirt on and was sitting expectantly in bed. Ran ignored him and put his neatly folded clothes on the table before going to his own cot.

Ken stared at Ran's belongings and wondered vaguely why his leader and Ceilen couldn't get along better…they were so alike. Neat freaks.

When it became apparent that Ran was going to pretend that he didn't exist, Ken sighed. Hadn't he just been through all of this with Ceilen?

"Aya."

Ran had his back to Ken - and what a nice back it was, too. Ken allowed his eyes to roam the expanse of the muscle-clad t-shirt briefly, before calling out again.

"What is it?" Ran didn't turn to look at him, focused on oiling his katana. Hmmm…the better to stab him with… Yikes.

Ken swallowed before going on. "You're not still mad, are you?"

Silence.

"Aya?"

Ran sighed and made a show of putting away his sword and cleaning his hands. He turned around and gazed intently at Ken. Ken squirmed.

Finally Ran asked, "What do you want from me, Ken?"

Ken blinked blankly at his leader. "Want? I don't want anything. I was just trying to help." Ken didn't know why his voice had sounded so small…

`Maybe it's because you're LYING!' Ken really hated that little voice in his head, especially when it was yelling at him.

Ran watched him silently, his expression carefully blank. "Help. How?"

Ken cleared his throat. Maybe he'd sound better. "Well, you…you know, wanted him…before." Nope, not better.

Ran waited, his gaze constant.

Ken dutifully continued, "I thought since Yotan is out of the picture…" and I can't…not casually… "…maybe you need…um, want Tryffin again." Ken groaned inwardly. Did that even make sense?

Ran was really studying him now. Probably analyzing whether or not he was mentally fit for the mission.

"I gathered from your previous outburst that you don't approve of my… `sticking it' around. Are you saying you've changed your mind?"

"Well, not around…just Tryffin…" Oh and that was so much better!

It was Ran's turn to blink at him. "You approve of Tryffin…" Ran was beginning to look confused. "Since when?"

Ken waved his hand around airily. He didn't but that was beside the point. "Does it matter? You don't seem to be interested anymore and neither does he… What?" He wasn't sure he liked Ran's new expression.

"What makes you think we're not interested?" No, Ken was positive that he hated that smirk on Ran's face.

"Well…you didn't, I mean…he went back to Ceilen!"

Ran didn't say anything but that smirk…ooh, he really wanted to wipe that smirk off that gorgeous face…but instead…

Ken looked around his bed and moved the blanket aside gingerly. He sniffed. Nothing here. Ken shuddered. At least they hadn't used HIS bed!

Then he turned and glared at Ran and the culprit bed the man was on. His earlier happiness gone. He was wrong…they had done it. "You're sick, do you know that? You couldn't even wait? You'd just left us, for god's sake." Ken paused at Ran's raised eyebrows. "WHAT?"

"I thought that's what you wanted; why are you angry now?"

Ken opened his mouth then closed it again. I'm angry because you're not supposed to want him anymore! But he couldn't very well say that now, could he? So he just stared at Ran.

Ran turned so that he was now sitting on his bed facing Ken, his feet planted firmly on the floor between their beds. Somewhere along the line, Ran had lost his smirk. He looked very serious as he stared fixedly into Ken's eyes. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, husky even. "I'm going to ask you one more time Ken: what do you want from me?"

Ken shook his head, his voice having left him two paragraphs ago. He wasn't sure he could tell Ran what he wanted anyway…hadn't he pushed the man away and said horrible things to him the other day? And hadn't Ran screwed someone else just recently and in this very room? With that last thought, Ken's temper rose again. He glowered at Ran and said the first thing that came to mind, "I want you to stop fucking around!"

Ran's eyebrows did that `I'm so high I could reach the hairline' thing again, which made Ken even more upset. Ken knew he wasn't making any sense…but it wasn't his fault, damn it. It was all Ran's fault for making him feel so confused. His mind was so jumbled when the man was around that half the time he couldn't even understand himself.

Ken usually did one thing when he was cornered…attack. And that was exactly what he did; he flew off his bed and straight at Ran. He was going to beat the shit out of the man who was making him feel all these things he'd never felt… things he shouldn't be feeling, not for a teammate…a MALE teammate.

So when Ken found himself on top of Ran with his mouth glued heatedly onto the redhead's and tongue rubbing insistently against another…shock didn't even come close to describing the emotion that coursed through him.

What the hell happened? Ken froze and pulled away from the kiss, stunned. This wasn't the attack he'd had in mind…REALLY!

"Ah…" He looked down at Ran in fright. He had just KISSED Ran! Oh god!

Ran didn't move; his arms lay limply on the bed as he looked up at Ken. His violet eyes were so dark they were almost black. His soft lips remained parted and wet from the kiss and Ken whimpered out loud as he resisted the urge to dive back down for another go.

Then Ken realized that while Ran had responded to the kiss, he hadn't made any move to do more. Ken swallowed down the lump in his throat…maybe Ran really didn't want him after all.

With a distressed sound, Ken pushed himself off his leader…then he felt the hardness underneath him. He heard a soft groan and glanced quickly down at Ran who had closed his eyes, his face clouded with pleasure.

Ken decided that he had been wrong; Ran wanted him after all. He also decided that he liked that look on Ran's face. A whole fucking lot.

Ken shifted, creating more friction against that hot length under him. Ran gasped and his dark eyes shot open to stare fixedly into Ken's. Ken rocked his body again. The look on Ran's face intensified and Ran rocked back. Ken shifted so that their arousals aligned and then he gave in to that urge and pressed his lips to Ran's once again.

The kissed was intense and messy and oh, so freaking hot. Ken moaned and rubbed himself against Ran for all he was worth. Oh gods, this felt so good.

And then he was suddenly on his back with Ran hovering over him…not kissing him. What the hell? The man panted, trying to control his breathing as he stared down at Ken.

"Ken…I don't know if I can stop if we continue." Ran's voice was hoarse and so sexy to Ken. "Do you really want to do this?"

Ken knew why Ran was asking him that question; it was so touching he almost cried…then he remembered from somewhere that men don't cry. Well, screw them! They didn't know what the hell they were talking about anyway…they had never met Ran.

"Did you have sex with Tryffin?" Ken had to know.

A small smile lit up Ran's face. "No."

"Did you want to?"

"No."

Ken blinked up in disbelief, but the solemn look that stared back at him was unmistakable; Ran hadn't lied.

"Why not?"

Ran looked uncomfortable and for a second, Ken thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally, Ran said softly, "I had a feeling you wouldn't approve."

Ken stared. And stared some more. That was the last thing he had expected Ran to say. It was strangely…mushy but he loved it.

"Ran…" He loved saying Ran's name. "Yes, I really want to do this." He finally answered the question and then pulled Ran down to meet his hungry lips.

This time Ran didn't just respond; he took over. Ken happily surrendered his lips - and wherever else Ran decided that he wanted - to his leader. He was sure all of him was in good hands...Ran had such large, strong, capable hands…and they were currently removing Ken's shirt and caressing his chest. Hmmm…definitely good hands.

Good mouth too, Ken thought dreamily as said mouth worked wonders on his neck. Ran's hands weren't about to be outdone and while one twined caressingly into Ken's hair, the other roamed to the waistband of his boxers and slipped inside. Ken gasped as Ran rubbed his length lightly. He thrust up eagerly, wanting more than just the teasing touches.

"Please…more…" Ken murmured and turned to nuzzle the face that was buried in his neck, his hand pulling gently at the soft red hair. Ran answered his plea with a moan as he devoured Ken's mouth in a desperate kiss while his hand took hold of Ken's erection in a firm grip.

Ken cried out against Ran's lips as he thrust into the hand. Yes! He thrust harder while he sought to do the same for Ran. His free hand fumbled uselessly against the ties of Ran's sweatpants and he gave up with a whine. He settled for grabbing Ran's arousal through his pants instead and squeezed firmly. Ran got the hint and rocked urgently against his hand.

Ken didn't know what he'd expected to happen during his first time with Ran, but being interrupted by a beeping computer wasn't it. He tried to ignore it and pushed himself harder against Ran. He was so close; he moaned his need into Ran's mouth and hungrily returned everything Ran was giving him.

The beeping continued and as much as he had wanted to finish this, his anxiety was beginning to interfere with his performance. Ken whimpered in frustration.

With an anguished cry, Ran shoved off him and attacked the laptop.

Ran hit the `transmit' key and barked, "What?!" at the unfortunate person at the end of the line.

"Gee, nice to see you too, Abyssinian." Even from where he lay, Ken could hear the smirk in Youji's voice. "Didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Ken blinked. He would never be able to understand those two, no matter how long he lived.

"As a matter of fact, you did, so I'd get to the point if I were you." Oooh, Ran was so damn sexy when he was desperate to get back to him, Ken thought with a huge grin.

"Um…sorry about that." Youji did sound sorry…in that smug `I'm-so-right' kind of way. "Just a heads up. We should be dropping by in a few hours. The plane's flying really low, no doubt to avoid radar, so it would be pretty easy to drop off before they get close to Itu Aba. Shinji is going to rig it so that it looks like faulty cargo door opening rather than hopping stowaways. Here are the coordinates."

Ken listened with half an ear as Youji read off some stuff Shinji had probably given him and watched as Ran reverted completely back to mission mode. Ken smiled and sighed happily. Gotta love the man.

What?!?

He had not just thought that. Had he? WAS he in love with Ran?

He looked up at the man, who was busily arranging their rendezvous point and he knew…

Ken clasped a hand over his own mouth and stared.

Oh my god…

He was in love with Ran!

TBC…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Hee hee hee…evil, I know… But they did kinda, sorta got together…

Please let me know what you think. Thank you!