Adelaide huffed out a long breath. “Oh, that’s very nice, Syd,” she whispered sarcastically, giving her friend the evil eye. What good it did, Adelaide didn’t know, because Sydney was in front of her and didn’t have eyes in the back of her head.

They continued to creep along the darkened hallway, peering through their night- vision goggles and hissing back and forth at each other as they passed door after door. They looked quite a sight.

“How much longer, do you think?” Adelaide questioned after they’d covered the first hallway and were starting on the second.

“I don’t know. I figure I’ll know it when I see it.”

“You’re going to know his room just by sight?”

Sydney stopped walking and turned to her friend. “Maybe.”

“I highly doubt his door will proclaim him to be inside.”

“You mean there won’t be a banner strewn across it that says The Thorpedo?” Sydney questioned, giving Adelaide a nasty look.

Adelaide stuck her tongue out in a very mature fashion. “Syd, this is ridiculous.”

“It’s not. It’s a perfectly good way to spend a Monday evening.” Sydney motioned forward with her hand. “Come on.”

Adelaide rolled her eyes and continued on, half heartedly listening at doorways to see if there was any movement inside.

Once the second hallway was cleared, Sydney stopped and leaned against the wall, taking off her night-vision goggles and stowing them in her bag.

“Turning in?” Adelaide wondered, strolling up to her and adjusting her black shirt as well as tucking her night-vision goggles away.

“I think so.” Sydney frowned. “By God, Addy, I am going to get a pair of those underwear.”

“You do realize it’s illegal? Breaking into someone’s room and stealing their underwear?”

“Yes, I do. Do you realize you’re an accomplice? Also, he has about six hundred pairs, I’m sure he won’t miss them.”

“He might,” Adelaide pointed out, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning on the wall beside a distraught looking Sydney. “I know you really want a pair of Thorpe’s underwear, but let’s give it a rest and go watch the last game, okay?”

Sydney sighed heavily and pushed off the wall. “Yeah, alright. But I’m trying again tomorrow.”

“I am not coming with you,” Adelaide replied matter-of-factly, steering her friend back the way they came. “We could get in SO much trouble.”

“Yeah,” Sydney said, pushing open the door to the stairwell. “But it would have been SO worth it--shiiiiiiiiiit!”

She fell backwards against the top step as Adelaide, who had had a hand on her shoulder, fell underneath her.

“Ooomph,” a man’s voice said from below them.

Adelaide and Sydney exchanged glances and jumped up as fast as the stairs (and Adelaide’s shoes) would allow.

“I am SO sorry,” Sydney said, bending to offer him her hand. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, and---”

“It’s okay,” he replied, brushing off his pants and grinning at her. “No harm done.”

“I didn’t cause terminal damage then? Only, I’ve been known to---er---bang into people and then they need stitches. It’s very weird. I’m quite accident prone, and…” she trailed off, letting out a breath, and staring at him. “Yeah.”

He laughed a little. “I’m fine. Are you alright? I was running up the stairs pretty fast. I didn’t think anybody would be here.” He stopped suddenly, peering at them. “You’re not on the team, are you?”

“Team?” Adelaide squeaked, swallowing. “Um, no. Actually, we’re not. We’re…ah…”

“Trainers!” Sydney put in, on a sudden inspiration. “Trainers. Yes. We’re trainers.”

Adelaide gave her a look, but Sydney ignored it.

“I thought I knew all the trainers,” he replied, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I probably don’t. There’s tons of them.” He looked behind them. “Plus, this IS the Australian’s floor, so…” He shrugged, smiling easily at them and adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

“This is?” Sydney asked, looking behind her and nudging Adelaide. “Oh, fantastic. We’d gotten lost upstairs and forgotten where our rooms were. Thanks. See you!”

She waved and then tore through the doorway behind them, dragging Adelaide and leaving behind a very confused looking Olympic champion.

As soon as the hallway door closed behind them, Adelaide stopped in her tracks and whipped Sydney around to face her. “We should go. Right now.”

“But we’re on the right floor!” Sydney cried, her eyes bright with anticipation. “We’re SO close!”

“He could easily have called security.”

“How do you know he wasn’t security?”

Adelaide looked at her friend as if she’d lost her mind. “Sydney, he was wearing a Team USA jacket and pants. Not to mention the bag.”

“Oh.” Sydney bit on her bottom lip, looking pensive. She stopped suddenly, and looked at her friend, a slow smile spreading across her lips. “Hmmm.”

“Don’t---”

“Don’t what?”

“I know that face,” Adelaide replied, backing away towards the door. “You’re getting ideas! Look where your last idea landed us.”

“On the Australian’s floor,” Sydney replied, her eyes glinting mysteriously.

The door creaked open just as Adelaide was opening her mouth to respond; the man they’d bumped into before entered, ducking slightly because he was rather tall and the doorway wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Adelaide said, once she’d seen who it was. “I’m really sorry. We were just leaving.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re here to kick us out, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “No, I came to see what you were doing here, because I realized you were WAY too young to be trainers.”

“Actually, I think some trainers are quite young. Probably as young as the swimmers, themselves.” Sydney shut her mouth. “Or so I’ve heard.”

He gave her an odd look, but Adelaide spoke before he had the chance. “We’re here because Sydney here---” she pointed to her friend “---had this bright idea that we should steal a pair of Ian Thorpe’s underwear.”

Sydney hit her friend on the arm. “Adelaide!”

The man cocked his head to the side. “Why do you want a pair of Ian Thorpe’s underwear?”

“He’s our hometown hero!” Sydney piped up, happy to be on the subject suddenly. “We adore him! Well, I do, anyway. And I always wanted a pair of his underwear. You know, the ones in his line? Not his personal underwear, ‘cause that’d be weird.”

He gave her a look as if to say the whole thing was weird, period. “I see. Well. His room’s down at the end, there, but I don’t think…”

“No, absolutely not.” Adelaide grabbed Sydney’s arm and hauled her towards the stairwell. “We’ll get out of here now, and we won’t come back. You don’t have to call the police or anything.”

Sydney gave him an exasperated look. “She’s always like this. She’s really all for this adventure, but she’s so in LOVE with Ian Thorpe that she wants to get out of here before we happen to see him. If we were to see him, that is. Which is very unlikely.”

Adelaide scowled. “I think it’s more likely than you think, seeing as how we’re near his room.”

“You know, you could probably just buy a pair of his underwear, if you’re from Australia, which you seem to be, though you don’t have accents.”

Sydney pulled out of Adelaide’s grip and smiled at the guy in front of her, who was leaning against the wall comfortably. “Actually, we’re from the states, but we live in Australia. We’re going to school there right now. So you’re quite right, and I should have thought of that before we trekked all the way to Greece.”

He smirked. “It might have saved you some money.”

“Too right,” Adelaide nodded stoutly, attempting to haul Sydney off again, but she was standing her ground this time.

He pushed off the wall and held his hand out to them. “I’m Michael, by the way.”

“Hi, I’m Sydney.” She took his hand and shook it, trying desperately not to notice how lovely his hands were, and how much bigger they were than hers. “This is Adelaide.” She jabbed her finger at her friend, who smiled meekly in return. “We should be going before she has an attack of some sort.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Is that very likely?”

“Quite.” Sydney beamed at him. “It was nice meeting you. Are you on the US team?”

His lips quirked at the edges. “Um, yeah.”

“Oh, cool. Well, good luck, then. In whatever you’re doing.”

“Sydney,” Adelaide cried in exasperation. “That’s Michael Phelps. You know.”

Sydney turned to Michael, who was grinning sheepishly. “Ooooooh you are. I didn’t recognize you…you know…without your speedo.” She covered her mouth quickly. “Pretend I didn’t say that. Scratch it from the record. I didn’t recognize you because you’re DRY and wearing regular clothes.” She nodded happily.

Adelaide sighed. “Excuse her. She’s completely insane. As you can see.”

Michael chuckled. “Yeah, I can.”

“It was nice to meet you.” She gave him a fleeting smile and then dragged her friend towards the stairs. “We really are leaving now.”

“Bye,” Sydney called over her shoulder. “It was nice to meet you! You’re a great swimmer!”

Michael stood and watched them run down the stairs; he yelled a quick “Thanks!” after them before going up to his own room, chuckling to himself.