Just a one shot about one of my favorite character pairings… don't take it too seriously. I did this very fast so if you see any errors feel free to point them out in review. :) Mil gracias

He was on the roof.

Flynn sighed. He was sitting on the roof, leaning back on his palms and staring up at the sky. There were clouds today; big puffy white ones that floated gently across the sky, by a nonexistent wind. A few of them were shaped like donuts. One of them looked like a rabbit. He wondered idly if that was simply a coincidence or whether the program had actually been programmed to include certain cloud shapes.

The thought made him laugh. Programmed cloud shapes? Come now, what would be the purpose of that? Didn't they have enough trouble trying to keep the dome protected and functional? Who would bother taking the time to create a rabbit for the weather hologram?

Fighting Venjix, saving the world… it was exhilarating. It was terrifying. It was exhausting. No matter how many times they defended the city there was always the fear of the next time. Sometimes, Flynn was sure that it was the fear of 'the next time' that encouraged Venjix to move forward. What else could he possibly hope to accomplish? If he gained Corinth, he'd have control over the entire world. Sure, the fact that he won would sustain him, feel his ego for a few years.

Then what?

What could a Virus possibly hope for in the world, once the humans were all dead? Venjix certainly could not enjoy love, joy, and other human emotions. He could not appreciate the earth; it's changing seasons and weather, seeing as how he had turned it into wasteland.

If Venjix won, he would gain nothing. At the same time, he would never stop trying to achieve that goal… the goal of making human life meaningless. Purposeless.

'Summer's right, I really do think too much,' he thought with a sigh.

All of a sudden the trap door burst open. Purely out of instinct, Flynn jumped to his feet. At the same time Gemma ran straight into him. The large box she'd been holding which was full of wires and bolts went flying; pieces raining down and scattering everywhere. Gemma fell back while Flynn skated around on the nuts and bolts, waving his arms about like a great bird while trying to keep his balance. When he finally felt like his days as a figure skater were over he carefully stood up straight.

"Are you alright Lass?" he asked Gemma, carefully reaching out a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully.

"Sure. I'm sorry Flynn," she apologized, looking sheepish. "I didn't realize anyone else was up here."

Flynn smiled gently and reached down to pick up a metal coupling as big as his fist. "It's not a problem," he assured her. "Though… what were you planning on doing with all this?"

Gemma brightened. "Gem and I were making new detonators for the explosives. We thought that if we made more bombs we could plant them around the outside of the city… in the ground! Then when grinders come…" She swept her arms out wide. "BOOM! BOW! BAM!"

Flynn chuckled a little. He had to admit, when the 'boom' twins had first come they'd had a bit of trouble trying to understand the child like emotions and the prodigy-like brains that their newest members possessed. There was still some part of him wondering who on earth spoke with so many interjections, but he was so used to it now that he just smiled and laughed. Who'd have thought?

"You and Gem have really done a lot for us," he said as he helped her collect all the little parts. "We're quite lucky to have you,"

Gemma grinned.

In a few moments they had collected all the pieces and Flynn was now helping Gemma to put the last bits of the detonator together. Despite all the many parts, the whole thing was only abut the side of a loaf of bread. He peered at the metal trap, looking concernedly at the latch, which was held together with two horizontal pieces of pipe and a two inch bolt.

"You wouldn't happen to have a wrench in that box, would you?" he asked as he fumbled with the nut, trying to turn it with his fingers and failing.

Gemma reached, not into the box but into the pocket of her sweatshirt. She pulled out a screwdriver, hammer, several long and tangled balls of wire and three sticks of bubble gum before she finally found the wrench. He blinked in amazement.

'Where in Scotland…? Ach well, never mind,' he nodded his thanks and began to tighten the bolt as she gently held the two pieces in place. He felt a bit of a grin tugging at his lips. 'A woman who carries a wrench in her jumper… I may have just found my one true love…' The thought, which was almost subconscious passing fancy, made him blush to the tips of his ears.

'Whoa now, wait a minute!'

"Flynn?" Gemma asked. He cleared his throat.

"Yes?" he asked, a bit higher than his usually tone.

"Why were you on the roof?"

He took a deep breath to relax. In response he gestured with his head to the west where the sun was beginning to set.

"There's a nice view of the city from here," he said handing her back the tool. "If you come here at twilight, just before the night, it's quite peaceful."

Gemma tipped her head. She squinted at him.

"What?" he asked.

Gemma looked cautious. "Flynn… don't want to disappoint you… but… the scenery isn't real."

He nearly laughed but seeing her sincerity, held it in. "Aye, I know it's not. It's not real birds flying above our heads or real sky, sun or stars. But it's a good reminder."

"Of what?" Gemma asked again, seeming confused.

"Well…" he hesitated. "Well…. Of… of what we're fighting for. It's not just to protect the city, though that's certainly pretty high up on the list. It's to defeat Venjix. And once we've done that… we won't need a hologram. Because we'll be able to work towards restoring the earth to what it was. Real clear sky and fresh air. A real sunset."

'Clouds that take shape out of pure coincidence and not computer programming,'

Gemma looked thoughtful for a moment. She looked at the sun, which was starting to burn in brilliant shades of red as it set over the city. Above, there were clouds, and a darker night sky just beginning to peak out. A strange look was on her face. It was an expression to match her age, which threw him off for a moment. Finally she spoke.

"Gem, Dr. K and I, we grew up in alphabet soup," she said finally. "We weren't allowed to go outside." She shrugged a little 'Don't… don't really remember what… real sky looks like. In the wilderness… it's kind of brown and dirty. Not pretty like this one."

Flynn felt a sudden pang. For Gemma, an outside world did not make sense. The unpredictability of rain, of dry spells, or hail or fog seemed ludicrous when one could simply control such things. She was defending the hologram sky, because she'd been trained growing up to believe in science… in how the world could be bettered only through calculation. He looked sadly at the young woman, who for all her smarts and brains and explosives, did not have a memory of laying in the grass, being taken by surprise by a sudden rain shower or having three days off from school due to a snowstorm. Part of her was trapped in a child-like mentality and yet she had never truly experienced childhood.

He stood up and stepped beside her. All over the city lights in the apartment buildings were flickering on, candles in the night.

"I know it must seem strange," he said softly. "I know that for you three, it doesn't make much sense. It probably seems like we're going backwards instead of forwards."

"I don't understand why it's so important," she said, not in a scathing or exasperated way, just quietly, as if she was admitting an embarrassing secret.

Flynn sighed. How to explain?

"It's important because…" he stopped, frustrated with his lack of words. "Because… because it's real. Because it wasn't man-made, because it doesn't have some hidden agenda…. Because it's… real."

Gemma nodded, but said nothing. He touched her shoulder gently and she looked up, surprised.

"Someday," he said, feeling an irrational determination. "Someday when we defeat Venjix and we start to restore the planet back to the way it used to be… I'll show you. We'll watch a sunset together and you can see what it's really like."

He immediately felt the heat rise to his cheeks again. What? What was he saying? Great sons of the Scotts, she'd think him mad to randomly suggest such a thing. But to his surprise Gemma smiled a little. It was hesitant, as though the idea rather scared her more than excited her, but her natural curiosity couldn't resist such an offer.

"Okay," she said finally, a little hesitant. Then, in a more sure tone, "I'd like that!"

They smiled at each other.

They stood at the base of the rooftop, looking out across the sky, watching the light quickly fade as the sun completely disappeared from view. It left a trail of orange and pink behind, like a tongue that lead up to the stars.

And, for a long time, they didn't say anything. It was a proper, companionable silence.

Finally he turned. "We should go back down," he said. "Dr. K's meeting starts soon,"

She nodded and reached down, gathering her tools. She carefully opened the hatch on the rooftop and set the detonator inside for later usage. Flynn opened the hatch and was starting to climb down when he heard Gemma gasp.

"Hey look Flynn! Look over there! There's a cloud that's shaped like a bunny!"

He looked up in shock. Sure enough, faded and dark against the sky, was that blasted rabbit again.

"Can you see it?!" Gemma asked, her natural excitable and joyful mood returning instantly as she clapped her hands like a little girl.

Flynn smiled. "I can see it lass," he said fondly.

'And someday,' he thought, 'you will too.'

Zee End. Review please so I know if I should write more.