Red noticed immediately that something had disturbed her friend. She glanced over at him as he slid in behind the wheel. "Everything okay, Sweetie?" He looked pretty rattled and that wasn't like him.

"Yeah, we're good." He mumbled, quietly. Not looking at her.

He's embarrassed. What could have upset him so? "Shane?" She was concerned. "Are you sure you want to do this? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"No, it's fine." He sighed. "Commander Harris just did some checking. I should have expected it. He knows who you are and where we're going." He glanced across as he pulled out into traffic; the base was busy early. "Even offered back-up if things get messy."

She just looked at him. "Sooo... ?"

Her brows lifted when he blushed again. So cute, the way his ears went red. He sighed. "Apparently, there are stories going around... I'm gonna kill Sam when I find him."

She inhaled sharply. "Ohh. Oh, no! Did he actually... ?"

"Yeah. Harris said I'm his 'hero'. If he heard it, everybody on base must know. I'm never gonna live this down." He looked at her, silently asking forgiveness. "And he had no right to say anything about you."

Red sighed. "Oh, Sam. You silly boy. Don't kill him, Shane. He really does look up to you. But, I hope he had enough sense not to mention my name?"

The big man nodded, still annoyed, but calming down. "No, Harris said no names... but the description was good enough for him to figure it out." He shook his head. "Kid shoulda known better. He knows you're CIA."

"I'm sure it will be fine, Shane. People forget these things pretty quickly. Story of the day, you know? Tomorrow it will be someone else." She soothed him.

"Hope so. Anyway, we got half an hour before the flight. Time to grab a quick bite if you haven't eaten yet?" They were already crossing the bridge to North Island, well ahead of time for the flight.

"Just coffee. It was too early when I left the cabin. I have a good hour's drive into Denver."

"So, we hit the commissary? Then you'll want the facilities before we board. It's a long flight to Hawaii."

"Are you sure we'll have time? What are we taking? I packed some granola bars and water, just in case."

"Save 'em for the flight. It's a C-40... only thing going that way for a few days. Supply plane. You have a jacket? Gonna be cold on board." Red nodded and patted her backpack. Shane parked and insisted on pulling her larger bag, his duffel slung over his shoulder.

Hand on her elbow, he steered her to the mess and they had a quick breakfast. Red went to the ladies' room and took care of emptying her bladder. Checking her face, she touched up her lipstick and tied back her hair. She came out of the bathroom just in time to see Shane doing the same.

He secured their bags himself near the pull-down seats along the side of the plane and they settled in. He had donned his jacket already, so she pulled hers out of her bag and slipped it on.

Take-off was smooth and they relaxed, chatting about inconsequentials for a while until both grew tired of shouting. Shane leaned back and closed his eyes, resting while he could. So Red decided it was probably wise for her to do the same.

But she curled sideways in the seat and lay her head on his shoulder. He grinned down at her and lifted his arm, waiting for her to make herself comfortable before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled in, sliding her arm around his waist and tucking her hand into the waistband of his slacks.

Eyes closed, she didn't see the looks he exchanged with the crew and other passengers. There were several Marines and two sailors on their way to Pearl. All very young. All grinning at his luck, obviously curious. He just smiled; he was sure they recognised his jacket's shoulder patch, knew he was a SEAL. Never hurt to make the other services a wee bit jealous.

The tiny redhead yawned and stretched, the change in engine noise and tilt of the plane letting her know they were already landing. She rubbed her face on the warm chest beneath her cheek and inhaled Shane. He always smelled good. Soap and man.

Catching his head, she pulled him down and kissed him, practically rolling onto his lap. It pressed her front tight to him and she sensed he was becoming aroused. She leaned back a little and glanced down. Yup, he was definitely responding.

She tilted her face up to his and grinned impishly. A sparkle in her eye, she lifted a brow and widened her eyes. She shifted her eyes as if to look over her shoulder and her grin widened. His face showed confusion and he licked his lips, not sure what she was up to.

She stretched up to put her lips by his ear. "They're watching, aren't they?" It was plain who she referred to. He barely nodded. "Are we deplaning, too, or could we get in a quickie? I've missed you, lover."

She laughed when he looked horrified. "I've never had sex in one of these," she giggled. He looked even more shocked if possible. When he opened his mouth to protest, she lay her forefinger on his lips. "You know X wouldn't mind. Knowing it was you."

He just blushed and her tinkling laughter filled the space. She rolled back into her seat and pushed at her mussed hair. "Oh, Shane, sweetie. You really haven't changed a bit, have you?"

They did deplane, running across the tarmac to a smaller aircraft, a C-130J. They barely made it, scrambling aboard, the co-pilot grabbing her bag after waving at them to hurry. They had actually waited for them, knowing there was no other flight. But the pilot was getting anxious; didn't want to get behind schedule.

Once they were seated and strapped in, they immediately taxied down the runway and headed into the blue. Red sighed to herself. It had to be the shortest time ever spent on the island. She'd gotten maybe two good breaths of Hawaiian air and they were gone... on to the next leg of their journey. She was glad now she'd decided on juice for breakfast and not coffee.

At least in this smaller plane, they had real seats. She wondered idly why it was going to Guam and what it was transporting. Surely not just them. There were no other passengers.

She twisted around in the seat, trying to get comfortable. The quick dash from one taxiway to another wasn't really long enough to allow her stiffened muscles to limber up. She had a cramp in the right side of her lower back.

Red sighed, leaning forward over her knees, stretching as best she could. She rubbed at the sore spot, nearly jumping out of her seat when a large, warm hand covered hers. Shane smiled and continued to massage her back, digging his strong, but gentle fingers into the tight muscle.

"Oh, that hurts so goood!" She moaned in bliss. He chuckled, and kept rubbing. When his hand strayed lower, his fingers brushing the curve of her ass, she only smiled and let out a little "mmm."

She actually arched her back, pressing up and into his caress.

She sat back up, pinning his hand behind her and blew him a kiss. His brows rose and he gave her a surprised, almost shy grin when she wriggled, rubbing her ass against his palm. "Nice, Shane. I have missed you, you know."

"You're gonna put my hand to sleep. C'mon, Red. Let me go." He whispered, glancing forward.

Red made a face and a show of sighing. "Okay, but only 'til I get you alone." She leaned closer. "Then I'm gonna jump your bones, boy. No more teasing." And she reached into his lap, pinching his inner thigh and making him jump.

"Hey!" The big man yelped. He looked away from her, out the window when the copilot glanced back. Red just smiled innocently and gave him a little wave.

His eyes went from her to the SEAL and he shrugged. Didn't have a clue why they needed to be at the naval base, but he had orders to have a car waiting for them when they touched down at Anderson. A single SEAL and a civilian female? He was curious. He wasn't going to ask, though.

Red shared her granola bars with her companion and they both drank some bottled water. Then they napped some more; there really wasn't anything else to do except stare out the window at miles of blue. Blue sky over blue water, hours and hours of it.

Shane did do some isometrics in his seat, just to keep his circulation going. He hated these long flights. Stiffened him up and he didn't want to appear less than ready to go when they hit the runway. Made his shoulder ache, too. He would bet Red was going to be aching by the time they landed, too. They'd been shot in almost the same place.

Thinking she'd appreciate a real massage, his mind wandered into a whole other sphere. He sighed, he really shouldn't be having these thoughts, but damn! She did like to tease and he kept falling for it. And he had a feeling she had been completely serious about sleeping with him.

Red scrooched around, trying to get comfortable and some circulation back into her numb butt. She smiled to herself, how to get Shane to massage that? She was surprised, but pleased by his quick feel. And he had definitely kissed back each time she had lip-locked him. Just maybe she could have them both again. If she played it right.