SEE ME

"And then Markus fired up the magnet cannons and BOOM! No more Xeleian Stop 'n Shop!" Rallen grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Wha- Wowa! No-!"

The chair tipped further than planned and dumped the impulsive NPP agent on the hard linoleum floor.

Jeena rolled her eyes and giggled. She bowed over the table to look at her dazed friend. "Jeez Rallen!"

He balked. "What? Come on Jeen, give me a break." He dusted himself off and righted the chair. "The floor is slipp- ery!"

As if to prove his point, Rallen slide and fell backward at the same moment the P sound in slippery was out of his mouth. Something cracked.

Jeena hissed. "Ooooow."

"Oh yeah." Rallen winced, rubbing his backside. "Felt that one."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You're such a goof, Rallen."

Rallen's face darkened. The look was gone in an instant, but the flash of it hinted rightly at inner turmoil.

-/-

Later, lying in his sleeping pod, Rallen watched neon flashing images of Jeena from closed eyes.

"You're such a goof, Rallen."

Close-ups of her beautiful lips forming the words, slowing to antagonizing speeds that mocked him cruelly. He worshipped her. She ridiculed him.

"You're such a-"

"-such a-"

Her gestures, her smile, her body, her words, her voice…

"Such a-"

Her eyes. Those eyes. He was sure that if she looked at him the right way he'd melt.

"Such a-"

Her face. Appeared in the middle of his mental image, zooming in, the background of her flashing features fading, lost, and those painfully kind eyes, beautiful mouth he'd never touch, the sheer feeling of total trust and friendship that leaked from her very body. It all. It all killed him.

"You're such a goof, Rallen."

She would never see him as anything more, would she?

-/-

Something's wrong.

Jeena glanced anxiously over to where Rallen's legs jutted from beneath the Lab System. She hoped he wouldn't shock himself again, trying to fix it. The ship had been damaged in a lightning storm nearly a week prior, and the System had freaked- suddenly sucking all of the Spectrobes into it and refusing to boot up.

Something's wrong with him.

He'd been in a sour mood for the past few days, uncharacteristically serious, and painfully humorless. It just wasn't…right. It wasn't her Rallen. She'd have to figure out what was bothering him and fix it soon or she'd go nuts at her friend's absence.

A flurry of curses drifted from underneath the System as Rallen jerked himself free. He held his hands before him but angled his body so Jeena couldn't see them. She instantly suspected an injury. The pink-haired agent marched up to him and threw her fists onto her hips. "Show me."

"It's fine."

Bull! She could hear the pain in his voice from the way he pushed the words through his teeth. "Rallen, now."

Her tone momentarily threw him off, and when he made a small movement to glance at her, Jeena caught site of his blackened and burned hands.

"Rallen!" She grabbed his forearm above the burns and dragged him to the concealed closet that kept their living supplies on the upper level, snatching a first aid kit off the high shelf and- as gently as she could in such a rush- forcing him to sit on the floor.

"Jeena its fine, lay off." He tugged half-heartedly against her grip.

"Stuff it. I don't what's been up with you lately, but damn it Rallen! These are 3rd degree burns!" He flinched at her language. Jeena hardly ever cursed. "We're going to have to stash the mission until they heal." She muttered to herself.

"Stash the mission? They're burns! Give me a minute in the capsule- I'll be fine!" He protested.

"Bah! The capsule wasn't built to heal everything, Rallen!"

They lapsed into an electrically charged silence then, waiting for one word to complete the circuit and all hell could break loose. But neither supplied the necessary word. Jeena, fuming silently, spread a medicated ointment over his hands and bandaged them manually. It was slow going compared to the speed the automatic dressing 'bot could achieve, but the 'bots were infamous for being rough on sensitive wounds.

She was proud of his silence while she worked, but at once disappointed he didn't present an argument to help her vent. Still, the brunt of the anger- largely spawned from her panic on seeing the burns- slipped away, leaving her mildly annoyed but calmer.

Rallen sat up against the wall with his cheek pressed against the cool metal. He refused to look at her- the feeling of her hands fluttering over him was upsetting enough. Finally he couldn't stand the one-sided tension anymore.

"What do you see me as Jeena?"

She paused in her effort, and began wrapping again, going more slowly as she thought. "Well, I guess I see you as a lot of things Rallen."

"What?"

Why the sudden interest?

"As my partner, for one thing,"

He could already see this was going to hurt. Her cluelessness.

"And as my friend,"

Oh, if there is a God…

"A fellow agent, I guess."

Make her stop,

"Anything else?"

Jeena looked up again. "Like what?"

…before she destroys me.

Rallen simply looked at her.

She narrowed her eyes. "Like what?" She repeated.

Nothing.

"What do you want me to say?"

She finished binding his hands and sat back, waiting.

She's not going to make this easy is she? Rallen shook his head, exasperated. She's going to strip me of every bit of dignity I have.

"As a person?"

Rallen thought, and nodded.

She looked almost relieved. "I think you're impulsive and stubborn as a mule but yeah, you're a great person."

Give it one more shot?

"Want about as a guy?"

Rallen practically vomited the question, hurrying to get it out before he could think.

She froze.

"As a…as a guy you mean…as a man?"

He just looked at her.

Jeena's eyes widened. Her mouth opened-

I can't take it!

"I can't take it!" Rallen shot to his feet and ran for the door of the ship.

Jeena started to follow. "Rallen-!" And stopped short at the entryway.

The planet Daichi was in shambles. What must be the storm of the millennium raged beyond the door. The air was so thick with heavy rain it was impossible to see more than a meter in any direction. Even the lightning was invisible through the impenetrable curtain.

"Rallen!" Jeena screamed as loud as she could. Her voice was thrown back at her as the wind abruptly changed directions and blew the rain almost horizontally into the ship. She retreated into the corridor but didn't shut the ship's door. If she couldn't go after him, she could damn well wait for him.

-/-

Nothing.

Pounding rain.

Bitter, throbbing cold.

Earthshaking crashes, thunder, blindness, numbness.

Bruising wind.

Falling.

Ground?

Darkness.

-/-

Through the storm, Jeena analyzed the conversation they had had before Rallen's flight. She felt sure that he was…somehow confessing affection. Or at least trying too. She grimaced, thinking back and realizing her naivety must have been quite a blow to him.

Hesitantly, she examined her feelings for Rallen. She had been truthful- she saw him as a partner, an agent- a co-worker, but she also saw him as a vital part of her. A friend she couldn't do without, but that was not information she'd readily volunteer.

But…did she see him as more than a friend? Like he seemed to see her?

Jeena had a feeling, she'd find out when she saw him.

-/-

Sometime during that terrible night, Jeena fell asleep. When she woke she screamed so loud the Commander may have heard her. She was surrounded by dozens and dozens of child Spectrodes. The Lab System had somehow fixed itself in the storm- and not only that, but released all of the juvenile Spectrobes.

The earliest of the awakened fossils still a child nudged her with its head. It pulled back and looked her directly in the eye.

We'll help you find him.

Jeena nodded slowly, amazed that she could understand the beast, and limply stood. The lot of them followed her out of the ship and scattered within her gaze.

The storm had left its mark. The ground was saturated and stinking mud came up to her knees. They were all forced to wade through the mess.

The search was slow going, but too soon Jeena was ready to collapse with exhaustion.

"Could he really have gotten this far?" She asked the Spectrobe at her side. It was the same one who had spoken with her.

Seems to be so.

Jeena cast a desperate look around the landscape. He couldn't be-

"There!"

Rallen was on his belly in the mud, face turned for air and just barely rising above it. His lower half was sunk beneath the muck. It took thirteen Spectrobes, plus Jeena to dig him out. After an hour, they heaved Rallen back to the ship.

-/-

Rallen's body was as immobile as rock. It took an unbelievable effort to drag his eyelids back.

Nothing was clear- he saw a flash of brown. It was…A Spectrode?

And a wave of pink and-

Warm hands.

That voice…

It's her-

"Rallen- Than-k-k G-god!" Jeena fell over him, crying so hard her shoulders shook violently.

Oh now that was fair. She embraced him and he couldn't lift his arms to hug her back. Somebody up there has a cruel sense of humor. He scowled.

Jeena sniffed and straightened but kept her grip on his arms. Her voice quivered has badly as the rest of her did, but she spoke anyway. "Y-you've been-n asleep f-for n-nearly two d-days. We w-weren't-t sure y-you were g-gonna make it-t."

He was shocked. "Jeena, I- wait, we?"

She shook it aside. "Y-you're a t-total jerk-k! R-running out l-like t-that in the m-middle of such a b-bad s-storm!"

"Jeena…"

"Y-y-you shut up!" She took a deep breath and her stuttering finally stopped. "I'm going to kill you! A-after you say something like that and then run-"

"Jeena…just forget about what I said, alright?"

"No." She watched him with steely eyes. "No. I refuse to. You can't say something like that and think I'll dismiss it without a second thought!"

"Do you know what I said?" Rallen snapped, growing frustrated with his physical state and inability to escape her this time.

Jeena's face softened slightly. "Not at first. But I thought about it and…Well. My mother always said actions speak louder than words so…"

Rallen's mind went numb.

So that's the way it is huh?

"Rallen?"

…I blew it.

"God! Uhh!" Jeena shook her fists, aggravated beyond belief and appalled that he could be so…slow. They'd switched roles entirely.

"Oh just…Shut up already. Stop thinking." Jeena swooped back in and kissed him before he could open his stupid mouth again. She teased him with the tip of her tongue to work him out of his shock. Rallen raised a hand slowly and held her cheek.

She gingerly pulled back and giggled at the stunned bliss that colored his face and swiped at a burnt orange hair. Taking his face in her hands and touching her nose to his, Jeena sighed. "You have to say it first Rallen."

For all his sluggish thinking, his reply was instant. "I love you, Jeena."

She smiled. "I love you. Goof."

I call Spectrobes deep-space pokemon :)

-Oceans