Jess peered down the steep side of the hill; �They said they�d be here about six thirty, right?� Amber sipped calmly out of her Styrofoam to go cup of coffee before answering; a heavily suppressed yawn bubbled to the surface instead. She nodded to confirm this. Pilot seven once again scanned the hill�s westerly slope, a grin crept slowly across her face, �This is a really good hill for rolling.� Fang eyed her curiously and let out a slight whimper. Amber looked down at him, taking another deep swig of her coffee, �If she wants to be crazy, I�m not going to stop her.� After giggling momentarily with the idea, Jess tumbled down the steep grass covered ridge. She came to rest at the bottom, dizzy and smiling, �That was fun, Amber you try!� Her comrade ignored her cheerful shouts determined to never let Jess drag her into such foolish games. �Simple minds are amused easily,� she muttered under her breath.
During her fifth roll, Jess was intercepted before reaching the bottom. Pilot seven tumbled into a pair of well-toned legs clothed in black, although she had stopped, the world continued to spin around her. A deep velvet voice spoke from farther up, its tones were familiar, �Where�d you come from? You almost knocked me off my feet.� Jess�s eyes traveled up the sleek, muscular body to its owner�s face. She wobbled and let her grin slip back into place; �I�m dizzy.� Duo leaned down and seized her around the waist to lift her to her feet, �Well obviously, what are you doing rolling down a hill anyway?� They began the trek back up Cedar Crest, closely following the other four pilots. Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei met Amber on the top without exchanging smiles or welcomes. The slender German held out a typed document, �We�ve already signed it, look over it if you like and ask me any questions you have.� The perfect soldier slid the document out of her hand and skimmed it quietly, he spoke without lifting his gaze, �You stay out of our way, we�ll stay out of yours. Fair enough?� She nodded in agreement, �That�s the idea. We gain nothing by fighting one another.� Heero placed the paper on pilot four�s back and signed in a flurry of penmanship. Quatre craned his neck to see and asked �But this doesn�t keep us from working together if we wish to, correct?� Amber took another swig of coffee, �Right.� The truce moved along to each of the pilots while they each left their own mark on it. Wufei handed it back to the Huntress once he�d left his signature, Amber frowned when she laid eyes on it, �There�s still a spot left, who didn�t sign?�
A strange knot of limbs lay at the bottom of Cedar Crest, Duo and Jess had never made it to the top of the ridge. About halfway up, Red had lost what little balance she�d had and dragged Duo back down the hill as she�d fallen. Jess giggled and wrapped her arms around the death of darkness� neck, �That was fun!� He sat up groggily, untangling himself from her; �It was interesting, that�s for sure.� A silhouetted face appeared at the top of the crest, �Duo, get your ass up here, you need to sign this thing!� Duo sighed and pulled away from Jess�s grasp, �Hang on!� Both were quite wobbly as they made their way up once again. This time, the trip occurred without either of them returning to the large grassy plot at the hill�s base.
As Duo scrawled his signature over the document, Red slid up next to pilot six; �Can I borrow your bike? I�ll be very careful, promise.� She drew an �x� over her heart to prove her words, �Please?� Amber nodded reluctantly, �Oh, alright, but it better come back without a single scratch.� Blue Hawk was Amber�s latest design of motorcycle. Since she was still breaking it in, the huntress wasn�t keen on parting with her new state-of-the-art toy. Jess grinned, �Mint condition, I swear.� The slender German waved her off and drank from her mug of coffee, �Alright, go, go.� Duo was just handing the treaty back to Heero as he pulled into a jog by a tug at his wrist. The others watched as pilots two and seven scampered toward the parking lot. Heero shook his head, �That�s going to lead to trouble, knowing Duo.� Amber glanced over at him warily, concern lacing itself into her voice, �What kind of trouble?� The words were chosen cautiously. He shrugged, �I�ve noticed that Jess tends to be a thief, am I right?� She nodded and urged him to continue. �Well, being that Duo is also a well known thief, I�m just worried of what might go missing. Anywhere.� Amber relaxed immensely, �Don�t worry, Jess knows better than to get caught.�
The redheaded mischief-maker swung her leg over the motorcycle�s back, urging Shinigami to do the same, �So, where would you like to go and how fast?� Duo climbed on behind her and placed his hands on the handle bars, �How �bout I decide.� Jess withdrew her smoothly tapered fingers, � �k.� The sharply decorated bike shot out of the parking lot at a tremendous speed, pulling out in front of the line of traffic of people heading to work. Duo weaved trough cars for thirty miles or so before turning the motorcycle into the lot of a diner, �How about some breakfast?� Jess grinned and leaned back onto his chest, �Mmmm, eggs and ham. Sounds good to me.�
Halfway through a meal of pancakes and hash browns, Duo noticed that several men at the table across from them were exchanging hurried whispers and continual glances their way. He toed Jess�s shin for attention before looking over at the table and back to her again. The men were getting up from their places at this point with grim set faces. Seeing them full on for the first time, both pilots noticed small silver badges pinned to the front of each of their shirts. Two letters adorned these pins, Oz, the mark of the enemy. Duo hurriedly threw a roll of bills onto the table before pulling Jess out of the booth. People watched with curiosity as the two teenagers dashed from the small restaurant followed shortly by several Oz personnel.
Duo swung his leg over the motorcycle and shoved the key into the slot as the soldiers piled from the diner after them. Jess hopped on behind him, arms tight around his waist, just as the jeep with gold detailing on its side snarled to life as well. Pilot two directed Blue Hawk onto the main street and urged it into its max speed. The jeep and hungry looks of its occupants grew slowly distant in the bike�s mirrors, but never fell completely out of sight. There wasn�t enough traffic to help them shake their pursuers, a low growl rolled from Duo�s throat as he peered into the side mirror for the fifth time, �Get off me you assholes.� Jess looked over her shoulder; vicious wind from their speed whipped blood red hair in her eyes, obscuring her vision. She pulled one arm from her date�s waist to brush her unruly bangs out of the way. The Oz soldiers were only in view for a moment before Duo pulled onto a side street at a suicidal angle. The Irish girl threw her free hand back around Duo�s middle to keep from being tossed onto the harsh cement they rode on. She returned her eyes to the road to see that there was no road left for them to shoot along; Duo had pulled off of it. In its place was a large mound of dirt and beyond that was Yangi creek, which could truly be described more as a river. Jess barely heard Duo�s shout of �hang on� over her own yell, her first thought was that he was attempting to jump it but even she could tell it was to far to make. They shot over the river at top speed, losing altitude rapidly, before plunging into the water near the middle of the Yangi.
At first, the shock of impact and the cold water rushing around her caused Jess to forget which way was up. Firm, familiar hands pulled her towards the surface, away from the sinking motorcycle. Pilot seven sucked in a lung-full of air when they popped to the surface; she regained control of her limbs and swam with Duo to the cover of the bridge. He slid into an overflow pipe, Jess right behind him. She looked out at the ebbing circlets of their crash; �You sank Amber�s bike!� Cool, mud colored water ran over the two pilots, it rippled as Duo shifted position. He kept his violent amethyst eyes trained at the ceiling but held Jess against the drain�s wall, �Hush.� She allowed herself to slide chest deep in the muddy creek water so she was laying in the pipe�s curve, �You don�t understand, you sank Amber�s bike! She�s going to kill you. Get it? Kill you! You might as well carve yourself a gravestone now, you�re dead!� Duo put a finger to his lips to silence her, the sounds of a vehicle stopping, its brakes needed servicing, came from overhead. There were several infuriated voices, asking, answering and cursing.
Jess opened her mouth to speak when she heard the jeep doors slam shut again, as air filled her lungs; Duo realized that she was going to blow their cover. He pressed his mouth roughly over hers in an uncomfortable but gratefully silent kiss. Relief flooded him as he heard the jeep pull away, taking its soldiers with it. Jess�s face grew hot as the death of darkness broke the seal of their lips; she swallowed to open her now constricted throat, �What�what was that for?� Still feeling pompous of their successful escape, the dark boy put little thought behind his answer, �For my own tasteless pleasure.� The comment was followed by a half-formed smile that might have been completed had Jess not looked so infuriated, �Tasteless? Tasteless, huh?!� She shoved him off, fueled by her anger. Caught off guard, Duo slipped in the slime coating on the floor and disappeared beneath the murky water. In too much of a huff to care, Jess jumped into the icy river and swam towards the water�s edge.
She had scrambled onto the bank before Duo could stop her, �Wait a sec Jess! What�d I say?� Giving him a cold shoulder, the freckled redhead trudged up the garbage-strewn ridge to street level. It was not the location of choice for her first kiss, if one could call that a kiss. She wrung out her hair in aggravation at the shortness of Duo�s answer but was quite thankful to be out of the frigid water. There was a great deal of splashing as pilot two hurried out behind her, �Jess, wait! I didn�t mean that, I wasn�t really thinking.� Something inside snapped, resting on her hotheaded lineage, Jess turned on him, �If you had been, perhaps you wouldn�t have called that a tasteless kiss. You know, for my first kiss I was really hoping for something with a little more taste!� She spat the last word at him fiercely. He seemed to be taken back by her words and didn�t respond for a few minutes. Jess turned, her braid whipping over her shoulder in a spray of water droplets, and continued her march to the street. Duo struggled hopelessly for words, absentmindedly fingering the now soggy piece of paper in his jeans pocket.
The feel of the photo gave him an idea that he grasped quickly and forced into understandable sentences, �Wait, at least hear me out, please.� With a look of frustration dominating her face, Jess stopped to look at him. She crossed her arms over her chest to show she would not be won over easily. Duo pulled a very worn and heavily creased piece of photo paper from his pocket, his eyes were soft as her turned it over in his hands, �In order to fight and win, we all needed an ambition to keep us alive and away from the option of self-destruction. Everyone had something or someone. Heero always had Relena to return to, Wufei was fighting for justice, Trowa for the only sister he has and Quatre for his family. Me on the other hand, I had nothing, until I found the picture of one of the most beautiful girls I�d ever seen. That�s when I decided; I wasn�t going to die without first knowing love. I wanted to find a girl I could care for and have it returned to me.� Jess cocked an eyebrow, �That�s very sappy and sweet, but what does it have to do with me? Let me give you a hint with girls, Duo, in order for them to like you, you need to be kind. By the way, think up a better line to say when they ask why.� He moved to intercept the short Irish girl as she made her way away from him, �Hold on, you said you�d hear me out.� Jess sighed, �You�re not done talking yet?� He frowned deeply, giving her a pang of guilt, she hated to see him like that, maybe I should just listen until he thinks he�s done. �I want you to look at this,� in saying so, Duo shoved the worn piece of paper into her hands. As Jess opened it, she examined the faded colors of the photo and the heavy damage near the creases, realizing that it had been opened thousands of times over many years to be peered at and admired. It was then she recognized the face in the picture, hers. Once bright green, the eyes of a much younger her were filled with laughter as they looked back at her.
The velvet voice of pilot two was what broke into Jess�s thoughts, �I never imagined that I would actually meet the girl in that picture. I found out as much as could from Oz�s computer base, even memorized your freckle pattern, but I never did think that I would meet you. Now that I have, I�d say it was worth it.� A smile played at the edges of his lips tentatively as though afraid coming out quite yet might still anger her. Jess met his eyes with astonishment; �I was like twelve in this!� The smile slipped out unbidden and ran across the dark boy�s face, �I wasn�t aware of that, you look a bit older. I was thinking more along the lines of fourteen or so.� She turned to examine the picture again, still shocked to see such a familiar face. Duo swallowed his pride with a great deal of trouble before speaking again, �What I said was really dumb and if I�d known it would ruin my chances with the only girl I�ve wanted to meet, it would have never come out. How can I make up for it?� Mischief darted into her eyes briefly, her response coming out more slyly than she�d intended, �You could show me that you can give a tasteful kiss.� He seemed surprised but abided all the same. Strong arms pulled her tightly against him, his hands sliding gently over the bare skin of her back. Jess inclined her head; her mouth met his as she did so. Other than the shifting of pilot seven�s arms to a place around Shinigami�s neck, the only movements were that of their lips in response to one another. They stayed this way for what seemed like an eternity, or really just a few minutes. Either way, it was over far to quickly. Jess leaned back in his arms, viewing him now in a different light, �So next Saturday then?� He grinned, �But Saturday is so far away!� She leaned forward to nose him lightly under the chin, �Friday then.�
Jess trotted up the stairs to the apartment she shared with Amber, a slight spring in her step. The first words from Amber�s mouth wiped away all the excitement off pilot seven�s face, �So how did the Blue Hawk run?� The image of Amber�s magnificent motorcycle sinking in the dirty waters of the Yangi came to her mind, �Uh�it ran well�� The slender German scowled, �What�s wrong with my bike?� Jess shrugged, �Nothing I guess, it�s just�� Amber interrupted her in mid sentence, �Where is my bike?� The slight smile on pilot seven�s face faded completely, �I don�t know.� Amber�s face changed a deep shade of red as her fury boiled out of her, �My brand new model and you lose it! I don�t want to see you back in this house until Blue Hawk is resting in the garage!� The short girl had already scampered out the door and had taken off down the stairs. The sound of the door-slamming behind her echoed down the stairwell not long after.
The extraordinarily large and brightly-lit house loomed at the end of the mile-long driveway. Two bright, emerald eyes looked up at the welcoming house with gratitude as a hand rang the doorbell. A teenage Arabian answered the door, his platinum blonde hair shining under the front porch light. He smiled when he recognized the visitor, �Hello Jess, what can I do for you?� She returned his smile, �I came to see Duo, is he home?� Quatre nodded and pointed up a gracefully arched staircase, �Yeah, his door is the one painted red. First hallway you enter.� She grinned and thanked him as she made her way up the stairs he�d indicated. The third door on the right was painted deep crimson with black letters that read, �Abandon hope all ye who enter here.� Jess giggled and flicked her blood red hair over her slim shoulder before knocking softly. The door was pulled open from the inside to reveal Duo clad only in teddy bear adorned boxers, �Wha?� ah!� He shut the door as quickly as he�d opened it, reappearing a few moments later wearing a black robe, �Hello, strange seeing you here!� Jess suppressed several giggles but smiled anyway, �I need a place to crash for the night, Amber said I couldn�t come home until I brought the Blue Hawk home with me. Needless to say, I won�t be returning for a while.� He grinned sheepishly, �Oh yeah, forgot about that. Sorry that I got you in trouble, you can stay here for a while.� She slid around him and into his room, brushing her fingertips across his face as she did so, �So what do you do for fun around here?� He shivered pleasantly at her touch and watched as she examined his jet black room with curiosity, �Well, either we work, or play video games in my den. Or of course we can play video games in my room as well.� With a sweep of his hand, he indicated the large screen TV with a gaming system hooked up to it. Jess looked up at the ceiling at a large painting that dominated all of the headspace. Staring down at her ghoulishly were a variety of demons and winged beasts of lore, all shrouded in intense, almost glowing flames. Pilot seven moved her head to one side, reminding Duo of a confused puppy, �So, I�m guessing you�re interested in demonology, or perhaps just death in general.� As she said so, her gaze moved to a poster tacked to the wall portraying a grim reaper holding a wickedly sharp scythe. A pile of skulls lay at his feet, causing Jess to turn away with a slight grimace. Shinigami shrugged helplessly, �Not in particular, I just always found it to be something different.� The slim girl tossed herself onto the black comforter of pilot two�s bed. As she lay back against the pillows, she eyed him seductively, �You never did answer my question, what do you do for fun around here?� Duo stuttered as he realized what she meant, �I�I�no, not really�um�� Jess sat up laughing, �I was only joking! So what kind of games do you have?� Looking relieved, he began pulling out several game cases to show her.
Amber paced the small apartment nervously, occasionally stopping to look at the clock or speak with Fang, �Why isn�t she home yet? Do you think that maybe she got herself into trouble? You know Jess after all.� The large hound lying at her feet looked up at her with intelligent brown eyes, no answer lay within them. Pilot six continued her pacing; �Maybe I was to harsh with her, should I�ve just let it drop for the night and yelled at her in the morning?� Fang whimpered slightly and lay his head atop his large paws, he himself wondering the same thing. Though he had no way of telling Amber this. The well figured German shifted her gaze to the glowing red numbers of a digital clock. They read five thirty-one a.m.
Pilot one came downstairs reading a print out of Zero�s structure, attempting to discover what tune up the machine needed. He glanced over the papers when the redhead sitting at the kitchen table spoke, �Morning Heero!� His Persian blue eyes showed no sign of surprise as he considered her, �What are you doing here?� Jess shrugged and ate another spoonful of marshmallow dotted cereal, �Duo said I could stay for the night.� Heero �hmph�ed before returning to his work on the way out to the garage. Quickly finishing her cereal, pilot seven stuck the bowl in the sink with numerous other dishes and made her way back upstairs. She opened the warning covered door and slipped into Duo�s jet-black room quietly. The well built, longhaired American was still sleeping soundly on the floor, the comforter in a tangle around his feet. Jess noticed he was snoring softly as she went to go shower, a mission she�d meant to take care of weeks ago flitted around with guilt in her head.
