AN: To offset the more serious stuff I'm doing in 'Gears in Therapy' I thought I'd write this. It'll be light, and it won't be very long. Just a few short little chapters telling the first adventure Dom and Marcus have together when they're kids. At this point Carlos and Marcus are fairly established as friends, but Dom hasn't been in the mix very much because he's younger. Hope you all enjoy it!

"What're you doing this weekend?" Marcus asked Carlos at lunch.

The two boys were seated outside on a shaded bench, each raiding the lunch box on his lap. Carlos was in heaven on the first warm day of spring, enjoying the feel of the sun on his face after eating lunch indoors for months. Marcus, on the other hand, seemed depressed in spite of the beautiful day. Something had been bothering him, and Carlos wondered if it had anything to do with working up the nerve to ask about Carlos's weekend plans.

"I'm going to a car show with my dad," Carlos said, apologetic about the fact for the first time. He got the feeling Marcus had hoped he'd be available. "If we're lucky, we'll find that tensioner pulley for the junker we've been working on," Carlos continued, hoping that might cheer his friend. Marcus seemed to like working on the car with Carlos and Eduardo Santiago. Maybe his spirits would lift if he knew Carlos wasn't ditching him for purely selfish reasons. If they found the part, they could all work on the car together, but Carlos was also looking forward to spending time one-on-one with his father. He loved his mother and Dom, and he liked hanging out with Marcus, but this would be a special event he wouldn't have to share with anyone else.

Marcus seemed to sink into himself, but he dutifully continued to eat his lunch as if nothing had happened.

Carlos waited to see if Marcus would volunteer the reason for his somber mood, but either it didn't occur to him to share or he thought Carlos couldn't tell something was wrong.

"So, what're you up to this weekend?" Carlos posed the question before taking a small, thoughtful bite of his sandwich.

"My mom and dad are going to some officer's ball on base. They said I have to go with them."

"If it's a ball does that mean you have to get dressed up?"

Stricken, Marcus nodded. "They said I could bring a friend," he continued. "I think when they said that, they didn't think I'd find anyone who'd actually want to go."

That had to be just about the most terrible thing Carlos had ever heard. Every boy should have at least one best friend, and Mr. and Mrs. Fenix might not know it, but Marcus had one. Even better—Marcus had a best friend, and his best friend's younger brother.

"You should take Dom," Carlos suggested sagely. Before making the suggestion he'd had a few lingering doubts, but the more he thought about it, the more sure he became that this was ultimately the best solution for all involved. Dom had been moping all week over getting left out of the car show.

The suggestion gave Marcus pause. He didn't know Dom very well, after all. The two of them hadn't seen much of each other on Marcus's few visits to the Santiago house, and the two never had a chance to hang out without Carlos around.

"Do you think he'd want to go?"

"Of course he will," Carlos said, like it was elementary. If he doesn't want to go, I'll sit on his head until he changes his mind. "He's Dom. He can get along with anyone."

Marcus stared down at his sandwich, still unsure. "He's kind of young," he pointed out. "It'll probably be really boring for him. Last time we didn't leave until almost midnight. It felt like forever."

Inspecting the fare in Marcus's lunch box, Carlos started to trade side dishes without waiting for an invitation. The Fenix Estate had a cook who prepared Marcus's lunch each morning, and although Carlos loved his mother's cooking, sometimes it was nice to mix things up a little. He snagged Marcus's tupperware container of fresh pasta salad in exchange for a similarly sized cup of homemade applesauce, knowing Marcus would appreciate it. Mrs. Santiago made some of the best applesauce around, but Dom was the one who went crazy over apples. Carlos found himself neutral on that particular fruit-on fruit in general, to be honest-but he did like a good pasta salad.

"Trust me. If you take Dom, it'll go quick," he said. "If I had to be stuck with someone in a car for ten hours every day for the rest of my life, I'd pick Dom. Take that as you will considering the source."

Marcus seemed to take that very carefully under advisement. Then again, with Marcus sometimes it was hard to tell. He nodded with eyebrows raised, at any rate.

"I'll ask my parents," he finally said.

"You won't regret it," Carlos assured him, peeling back the Tupperware lid off the pasta salad and taking a moment to savor the delicious smell of it. This stuff was so good. Carlos couldn't believe Marcus didn't care for it. Then again, if he did, Carlos wouldn't get to eat it every day. He'd started to wonder if Marcus requested it be included just for him. "I'm really glad we're friends," he informed Marcus in the midst of the afterglow of his first bite of salad.

Marcus tasted the applesauce, mulled it over, and then nodded adamantly in agreement. "Yeah," he said. "Me too."

It was the cheeriest Carlos had seen him all day.