I have decided that this series is going to consist of short romances with only a hint of a background story connecting each of them. For the most part they will take place after the Blood Gulch chronicles and I will post if the time changes.

I apologize to all Tex and Church fans since I paired Church with someone else.

All characters belong to Rooster Teeth, including Tucker's sister.


Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

Church found it strange how his possessed body seemed to be changing. Perhaps it was because it was being affected by the presence of his ghost. The undefined features of the android were beginning to resemble his original body more and more. The face was becoming more angular, and the hair had seemed to darken to his original color. He decided to blame his weight problem on the android form. He could tell that his body no longer looked as healthy as his original appearance. He no longer had defined abs, and his arms were beginning to lose their original sculpted look. Church sighed. He supposed that it was better than having no body at all; he would just have to find out how to adapt to this one. He turned from the bathroom mirror and went to his room to begin putting on his cobalt blue armor.

There was a new soldier being sent in this afternoon, and everyone had to be prepared for the arrival. Since Red base had acquired another member for their team, Command had thought it was necessary to send another Blue soldier to balance the odds in Blood Gulch. Tucker still made a point to complain that the Reds had an actual girl, which didn't put Kaikaina in a good mood. Church still couldn't believe it himself. They were stationed out in the middle of nowhere, and yet Grif had managed to find a girl. The Reds had stolen their tank in order to find their comrade in the underground caves. Church grinned maliciously at the thought of getting back at the Reds. He finished donning his armor as he stepped outside and made his way to the top of the base where he could here voices already conversing. He saw that the rest of his team were already there, surrounding a figure in dark blue armor. The only member absent was Kaikaina. Tucker turned to him excitedly.

"Church, it's a girl. We've got another girl! You know what that means."

"Co-ed softball team?"

Church was about to tell Caboose to shut up, but he had to stop himself. He realized that it wasn't Caboose that had spoken; it was the new team mate. Apparently Tucker had noticed as well.

"Great, now we have two idiots on our team."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Lavi, don't you recognize me?" The new soldier questioned.

"What?" Tucker asked in surprise.

The new soldier proceeded to take off her helmet to reveal a tan face with big brown eyes and wavy brown hair that came to her shoulders. Though breathing was only a habit rather than a necessity for Church, he had to remind himself to breathe. Church noticed the resemblance between the rookie and Tucker.

"Emily? What the hell are you doing here?" Tucker asked.

"I'm helping to fight the war."

"No, I mean what are you doing in the future."

"Oh, well, I kind of found out how to use the light drive. When I found out that you were transported to the future too, I immediately requested to be stationed out here with you."

"You know this girl?" Church asked as he walked up to the group.

"Of course I do, she's my sister."

"Sister?" Church asked, "You didn't mention that you had a sister."

"No one ever asked me."

Emily rolled her eyes, "You never were a very good conversationalist unless there were girls around that you had to impress." Church chuckled and Emily looked at him. "Are you the Commander?" She asked somewhat timidly.

"Unofficially," Church said as he removed his helmet. He smiled slightly as she looked at him curiously, "Welcome to Blood Gulch."

Emily could feel her heart skip as she looked at her Commanding Officer. He was much younger than she had expected. He couldn't have been much older than her brother. He had black short cropped hair and striking blue eyes. Her thoughts were distracted when the other Blue soldier named Caboose spoke.

"You seem like a regular girl, but I was told that all girls are mean."

Emily tilted her chin up defensively, "Whoever told you that is a bitter and mean person who obviously doesn't like girls."

Tucker snickered as he turned to look at Church. Emily looked at her Commander as well to see that his smile had been replaced by a scowl. Emily looked away from him as a blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks. She was obviously not making a good impression.

Tucker cleared his throat, "Caboose, have you been surveying the Reds?"

"Yes, they seem to be performing some sort of ritual." Caboose said in his slow speech. Church looked over at Caboose, the scowl gone from his face.

"What kind of ritual?"

"I was unable to ascertain exactly." Caboose said in a much slower manner, as though the use of three syllable words was a strain for him.

Church grabbed the sniper rifle from Caboose and walked over to the edge of the base to see through the sniper scope.

"What are they doing?" Tucker asked from behind Church.

Church sighed in frustration, "It's not a ritual. Sarge is just having Simmons tea bagging Grif again."

"What's tea bagging?" Emily asked.

Everyone turned to her as though she just sprouted antlers out of her head. She blushed, feeling stupid for not knowing what the term meant.

Caboose was the first to answer, "It's when you put a bag of herbs into boiling water so that you can drink it. The drink is called tea."

Emily glared at the men around her, "I know that it means something else and you're not telling me."

"No, actually Caboose really doesn't know what it means either." Tucker said.

Emily felt somewhat relieved that she wasn't the only one who didn't understand.

Church lowered the rifle with a sigh, "I guess you should be the one to tell her about it Tucker."

"I'm not going to tell her, she's my sister. You tell her."

Church was surprised to feel his face flush with heat, "I'm not going to tell her. I was the one who had to have the talk with Caboose about how babies are made."

"Fine," Tucker snapped, "I'll just have Kaikaina tell her then."

Emily had a feeling that she wouldn't like what she was about to hear, but nevertheless, she followed her brother to the bottom level of the base.

Church was walking down the hall when he heard some commotion coming from Kaikaina's sleeping quarters. Emily opened the door and stormed out of the room. "That's gross." She said over her shoulder as she nearly ran into Church. She looked up at him. Her face turned scarlet as she ducked around him and headed to her own room. Church turned back to see Kaikaina walking towards him, her short brown hair hitting just below her chin as her hazel eyes looked up at him. Church felt bad that he had subjected someone like Emily to such a promiscuous woman like Grif's sister, but he figured it would be less embarrassing to have such discussions with a woman.

"Did you at least try to gloss it over a bit?" Church asked.

"I don't know how much you can gloss over tea bagging. It's pretty straight forward even though it's difficult to pull off."

Church didn't think that he would ever get use someone like Kaikaina. Kaikaina went to the main lounge while Church contemplated going to Emily's room to ask about her background and go over the one rule when joining the Blue team of Blood Gulch. He figured the background check could wait, but he might as well let her know about the one guideline. He walked over to her room and saw that she was face down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. Church lightly knocked on the door jam to let her know that he was there. She looked up from her pillow and, seeing that it was him, pulled herself up so that she was sitting on her bed. Church still couldn't seem to catch his breath whenever he looked at her. He now understood that her big innocent brown eyes revealed more of her personality than he could have believed. She was so different from Alison. Church blocked the thought out of his mind before it had a chance to form. He tried to think of Alison as little as possible these days. It seemed to make life bearable when stuck in the middle of a boxed canyon. Church walked over and for some reason decided to sit on the bed beside Emily, as though to try and comfort her.

"You okay?" Church asked and she nodded.

"I just hate when people don't tell me something and yet they expect me to know everything." She turned to him, her eyes holding a hint of anger, "Even Lavernus still treats me like a child."

Church felt his eyebrow raise in amusement, "I suppose I could give you a tour of the base later, but I just wanted you to know the one rule that we have at the Blue base. No one under any circumstances should kill the leader."

Emily looked at him in confusion, "That seems like a strange rule; obviously no one has broken it yet."

"You'd be surprised," Church mumbled as he rose from the bed to leave. "I'll let you know what your duties are when your shift starts in another hour. Until then you are free to spend your time as you like."

Emily smiled as she reached under her bed and pulled out a box, causing Church to stop in the doorway.

"What's that?" He asked curiously.

"It's a puzzle," She said as she stood and walked over to the doorway, "Caboose said that he liked them too, so I thought we could work on this together to pass the time."

Church felt something twist inside of him, he wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't like it. He suddenly felt very angry towards Caboose. At least, more angry than usual. He decided to ignore the strange feeling as he slipped on his helmet and proceeded to the top of the base.

The next few days passed without incident, and though there was barely anything to do at Blood Gulch, Emily always found something to occupy herself. She mostly spent her time with Caboose since no one else seemed tolerable enough to put up with him. Tucker had told her about the A.I. that had occupied his mind and had caused Caboose to suffer serious damage when it was ejected out of his brain. Emily found it somewhat refreshing to be with Caboose, though there were many times that he didn't make a lot of sense. He was like a child stuck in the body of a grown man, and feeling somewhat naïve around the other soldiers, Emily felt comfortable around Caboose. It was the Commander that unnerved her. He was always so serious, and it didn't take long for Emily to find out that he was a very angry person as well. He yelled at Caboose more often than Tucker, and he was very short tempered. Though Caboose could be difficult to work with at times, Emily didn't see why someone would be so mean to him.

One day when Emily was on top of the base with her brother, the topic of their commander came up, and Emily couldn't prevent herself from asking, "Why is Church always so angry at everyone?"

Tucker chuckled, "He's always been an angry guy, but I personally think that it has something to do with his relationship with Tex."

Emily felt her insides turn around, "Who is Tex?"

"Tex was Church's girlfriend."

Emily swallowed, "What happened?"

"She was a freelancer that was trying to help us destroy the A.I., but she ended up betraying us anyway and got blown up in a hijacked ship."

Emily winced at the sad story. At least it explained why Church believed that all girls were mean. It might even justify why he was such an angry person, but Emily didn't think that it was fair that he should take his anger out on his fellow soldiers. It wasn't until the next day that she lost her temper with her new commander.

Caboose was telling Emily in the kitchen about how he had called Tex a cow. Neither them nor their commander wore armor and instead had worn their casual clothes as they sat at the kitchen table. Tucker and Kaikaina were on duty up on top of the base, and Church was reading a newspaper.

"When we got to know her, we decided that she really didn't seem like a cow. We thought she was more like a shark," Caboose said.

"Caboose," Church said without looking up from the paper, "Shut up."

"I want to tell the story." Caboose said in disappointment.

"No one fuckin' cares about your story."

Emily slammed a hand on the table, causing both Church and Caboose to jump and look at her as she rose from her chair and glared at her commander.

"Why are you so mean?"

Church looked at her coldly, "Listen, I know that you've been sheltered for most of your life, but this is the army. This is the way life is and you're just going to have to accept it."

She pointed an accusing finger at him, "I bet I could report you as an unfit commander with the way you treat your soldiers."

Church glared at her as he slowly put down the newspaper, "You wouldn't do that."

Emily gave an unlady-like snort, "Watch me." She stood up and left the kitchen, determined to find her cell phone in her duffel bag. She was walking down the hallway when a hand grabbed her upper arm and dragged her into a darkened room. The door shut and there was a second of blackness before the light above them turned on to reveal a very angry Church glaring down at her.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten me in front of my soldiers." He told her.

"You threaten your soldiers all the time!"

"That's different, I outrank them."

"Is this another one of your tactics for abusing people, you lock them in cleaning closets?" Emily said as she gestured to the shelves of cleaning products and mops propped in one corner.

"Ya, I figured that since you were going to report me, I might as well break a few more rules and lock you in the closet." Church said sarcastically.

Emily tilted her chin up, "You're nothing but a big bully."

"I'm much worse than a bully."

"You don't scare me. I'm not as innocent as everyone thinks I am. I can be very dangerous."

Church already knew that she was dangerous, but probably not in the same way that she was thinking. He quirked an eyebrow in amusement, "Prove it."

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'd rather not. You might get hurt."

Church chuckled, "No, prove to me you're not an innocent."

"What?" Emily seemed surprised. Church knew that he was exploring just how dangerous Emily could be, but he couldn't seem to stop himself in enticing her. He found it charming when she blushed.

"You heard me," Church said as he walked towards her, causing her to back into the metal shelves, "Prove to me you're not an innocent."

She looked up at him with widened eyes, unable to escape the corner she had backed herself into. "I don't see why I should have to prove anything to you."

Church shrugged, "I guess your right. You're just a child after all."

Church knew that he had said the right thing when her eyes sparked in anger. Very quickly, she came towards him and pressed her lips to his. Just as suddenly, she pulled away. She looked down at the floor as her face reddened. Church stood for a moment, slightly shocked at how the small kiss had affected him, but then he couldn't help but chuckle. Emily looked up and glared at him.

"What's so funny?"

Church continued to smile as his hand came up to tilt her chin. "You call that a kiss?"

Emily didn't have time for the shock to register when his lips pressed into hers. She froze, not knowing what to do as his lips moved over hers. Gradually, she felt herself melting, and slightly opened her mouth as his tongue slid through her lips. She sighed as he continued to kiss her tenderly, and she hesitantly touched her tongue to his. Church groaned as his arms wrapped around her to press her body fully against him. The kiss suddenly became more heated, and Emily felt the metal shelves dig into her shoulder and hip as Church pushed her farther into the closet. He devoured her lips as one of his hands reached under her shirt and slid over her skin. When his fingers stroked over her breast, Emily gasped as she felt heat sear through her stomach and cause it to tighten. His lips left hers to trail them down her jaw and over the hollows of her throat. His fingers then trailed down her stomach and hooked into the waist line of her sweats as though to pull them down.

"Leonard?" Emily could hardly hear her own voice, but it was all she could manage. She couldn't understand what was happening, and she had become frightened with uncertainty of where it would lead. When she said his name, he froze. Ever so slowly, he lifted his head to look into her eyes.

"Jesus," Church said in a choked whisper, "I'm sorry, I didn't think that that would happen." He couldn't believe that he had nearly taken her in the fuckin' closet up against a shelf with cleaning supplies. What the hell was wrong with him?

"What happened?" Emily asked.

Church chuckled, but it came out more strained than he would have liked, "I lost control."

Emily looked up at him in confusion as he started to pull away, "Doesn't that usually happen?"

"No," Church said, the answer surprising him, "Not usually." He looked at her with piercing eyes and she looked away. He didn't know what had come over him. Was it because she was an innocent? Church had no doubt in his mind that she was a virgin; he could tell by the way she had kissed him, but was that the reason why he had lost control? He had to be honest, he usually didn't like girls like Emily. He preferred his women with more experience. Women like Emily were far too easy to hurt, and were far less predictable than women he expected to disappoint him.

Church turned from her, "We better go get ready for our shifts before anyone notices that we're gone." She didn't say a word; she merely followed him out of the closet as he turned off the light overhead. He had probably frightened her with his forcefulness, and he thought that it was better that she stayed away from him anyway. She headed back to the kitchen and nearly ran into Caboose. Both Church and Emily froze as Caboose looked between them.

Caboose pouted, "No one told me we were playing hide and seek."

Emily sighed in relief, "Don't worry Caboose, we'll play later." She said as she patted his arm.

Church felt anger spike through him. He wasn't sure that he liked the thought of Emily playing hide and seek with Caboose.

It had seemed like ages since the incident in the closet had passed, and Emily was still determined in avoiding Church. Anytime she thought about the kiss that they had shared, Emily could feel a flush creep up her neck. She didn't know how she was going to face him without her face resembling a radish. The only thing that she could do was keep busy with her duties. She was walking up the ramp to the top of the base when she heard Tucker and Caboose bickering over the sniper rifle.

"I never get the sniper rifle," Tucker said as he tried to wrestle the rifle out of the rookies grasp.

"I thought that you weren't going to complain about that anymore Tucker." Church said.

Emily looked over to see Church standing at the edge of the roof, looking out at the landscape. She was glad that her visor hid her blush.

Tucker looked over at his commander as he continued to hold onto the rifle, "Caboose doesn't even know how to use it anymore. Why does he always get the sniper rifle?"

"That's because I'm the best." Caboose said as he tried to get the rifle out of Tucker's hold.

"Be careful you guys," Emily said as she walked over to the struggling pair, "Someone might get hurt."

She hadn't even finished saying the last word when Tucker gave a violent tug and the weapon fired. Before she could even blink, Emily saw the bullet strike Church in the torso, and he fell in a crumpled heap. Emily felt her heart stop; she couldn't believe what had just happened. She took a step forward to see if Church was okay, but as blood pooled beneath him, she instead felt herself choke as she spun towards Tucker.

"You killed him!" Emily shouted as she went over to Tucker and started hitting him as hard as she could with her flying fists.

"No, Emily, it's okay," Tucker said as he let go of the rifle and tried to defend himself.

"It's not okay. You broke the one rule that he ever gave us," Emily said, he words cracking as her vision blurred with tears, "You killed him!"

"Goddammit Tucker, I told you to be careful with that!"

Emily stopped hitting Tucker as the voice registered in her mind. She slowly turned to where Church was, expecting to see him getting up. Instead she saw that his body was still lifeless on the ground, but standing next to it was a transparent soldier. The figure resembled a ghost. Emily did the only logical thing that her mind could come up with, she fainted.

Emily felt consciousness creep over her, and she noticed that there was a gentle light shining above her. Something warm pressed against her cheek, and she instinctively tilted her face towards it. She slowly opened her eyes and placed her hand over the one that was pressed over her cheek. She looked up to see Church leaning over her, concern and relief mixing in his eyes.

"Church?" Emily whispered and then sighed, "I had this horrible dream that Tucker had shot you. I thought you had died."

When her eyes regained focus she realized that Church wore neither his armor nor a shirt. It was then that she saw the bullet wound on the right side beneath his rib cage.

"Oh my God, you really did get shot!" She said as she sat up to touch the wound. Church flinched and she pulled her hand away. She looked up at him, "I saw your ghost standing beside the body, didn't I?"

Church sighed, "I suppose I should have told you before, but I didn't want to scare you." He gestured to his form, "This body isn't really mine."

"What?" Emily asked, feeling herself getting light headed.

"The truth is, I died a while ago. Caboose accidentally shot me with our Scorpion tank, and somehow I came back as a ghost."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know," He said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "The only other person I knew who was capable of it was Tex."

There was something else about the situation that was bothering Emily, "If this isn't your body, than whose is it?"

"The commander of the Red team was able to make robot bodies for Tex and I to possess. Over time, the body started to change and look more like me. I think it has something to do with my ghost being inside of it."

Emily looked down at the bullet wound and noticed that it wasn't even bleeding. "Do you feel anything?"

Church grimaced, "Of course I feel, it hurts like hell getting shot one way or the other."

Emily looked at the wound in confusion, "When you got shot, I saw blood around your body. But now the wound is not bleeding."

"I don't have a heart beat, but I can still generate body heat."

Emily's mind shifted as she took in all of this new information. She had never heard of material being available to make robot soldiers. After a moment of contemplating, another thought came to her. An issue that she didn't want to have to face, so instead she watched her hand grip the sheets on the bed.

"You think that Tex will come back, don't you?" She didn't look at Church to see his reaction to the question, but his silence was answer enough. She let a sad smile show on her features, "Hard to compete with a ghost, I guess."

She looked up to see Church start to say something, but she waved her hand dismissively to stop him.

"It's alright," She said as she looked at him, "I'm not going to tell you that it's impossible for her to come back. You're living proof that she could."

At that moment Tucker came in to see if Emily was alright, and the conversation ended as Church got up and left the room. Tucker watched his commander leave before turning to his sister.

"You really like him don't you?"

Emily felt her face burn, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tucker shook his head, "Don't try to deny it, I know these things."

Emily hung her head, "It doesn't matter, he's still in love with Tex."

Tucker snorted in disbelief, "Tex was a bitch. Everyone thought so and the only one who won't accept it is Church."

Emily looked at him in shock, "What?"

"Personally, I think she did some serious damage to him during their relationship. Church doesn't really talk about it much anymore, but apparently she would steal his money and whore herself out to other men."

Emily gave him a pointed look, "Are you sure your not judging her because she reminds you of mom."

Tucker ran a hand down his face, "Look, all I'm saying is that if you like him, don't treat him like shit the way Tex did, and don't become like mom."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Do you really think I would?"

Tucker smirked, "Not really, I just thought I should let you know that Tex wasn't all that good for him."

That night, or the closest thing that the planet had to evening hours, Emily tossed and turned in her sleep. Her heated dreams were causing her to wake to find her heart pounding and her body aching. This wasn't the first time this had happened. It happened more frequently ever since the kiss in the cleaning closet. She couldn't remember losing sleep over such dreams before arriving in Blood Gulch, but she knew that the reason for them were because of her commander. She looked at the wall next to her and hesitantly placed her fingers to it, knowing that Church probably lay fast asleep on the other side without the nuisance of pesky dreams. She pulled her hand away and drew her knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, wondering what to do.

If she listened closely, she could hear Church shift in his sleep as though he were lying right beside her. Emily got out of bed and started to pace in her room, hoping that it would work off her excess energy and make her tired. Her bare feet didn't make a sound on the cement floor. She still couldn't believe what her brother had told her about Tex or how much the woman had hurt Church. How could he still love someone who had been so cruel to him? She desperately wanted to go to him which made her hate that he made her feel this way and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't know how long she paced in the dark, thinking about her feelings for Church. Emily realized how much his getting shot had torn her apart, and she didn't know what she would do if anything bad ever happened to him. Emily heard something click and was momentarily blinded by the lights. She looked over at the light switch to find Church standing by it, and noticed he still hadn't donned a shirt. Didn't the man understand that shirts were meant for the sole purpose of being worn?

Emily used a moment to compose herself before her mind finally started working, "What are you doing here?"

It seemed like a simple question, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why he had come. Church closed her door and leaned against it, "I couldn't sleep."

She looked up at him as though he hadn't been telling the truth, but he was being honest. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Whenever he tried to sleep, it was the feel of her skin and the taste of her mouth that he dreamed of. He couldn't believe that there was nothing but a thin layer of cement that kept him from touching her. It was driving him insane. He had actually heard her moving restlessly through her room. He knew that he shouldn't have come here, but being alone in his room with nothing but thoughts of her had beaten his good sense. He kept thinking about what she had said about competing with a ghost. Did she perhaps have feelings for him? The thought didn't make sense to him. She seemed to be the kind of girl who would be with a guy like Caboose. Church felt his temper spike at the thought of Emily with Caboose. He folded his arms over his chest and Emily was looking around the room nervously.

The silence grew awkwardly, but he didn't want to leave yet until he got a few answers. "Why do you feel that you have to compete with Tex?"

Emily was startled by the question, she didn't want to have to answer and voice something that she felt would only hurt her. She looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice was so low that her own ears could barely hear what she said, "I know that it's wrong for me to feel this way what with you being my commander and the possibility of Tex coming back, but I can't help it. I don't know what's wrong with me," her vision slightly blurred as a sense of helplessness washed over her. She felt as though she had no control of herself or her emotions.

She heard him sigh heavily, "Nothing is wrong with you Emily." He had walked in front of her and tilted her chin up to look at him, "You just don't know what you're asking for."

She jerked her chin out of his grasp. She felt embarrassed at how he was treating her like she was stupid, "Of course I do."

He knew that she did, but he also knew that she might very well regret her decision. He thought of a reply that would possibly make her angry, "No you don't. You're just a child." She tilted her chin up, but he could see in her eyes that he had hurt her.

"I'm old enough to know I want someone like you. Is that so wrong?" Emily saw that Church seemed somewhat surprised by the question, but then a sad look crossed over his features as though he were battling some emotion.

"Of course not." He snapped as he turned from her, his fists clenching and unclenching as though he wanted to hit something. "Don't you understand? I'm all wrong for someone like you. You should be with someone like Caboose." The words were through his head and out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Caboose?" Emily walked over to Church so that she could see the side of his face, "You want me to be with Caboose?"

She nearly stumbled back when he shot her a deadly glare. "No," He growled.

"I'm totally confused," After a moment, a thought crossed her mind, "You're jealous of him."

Church snorted, "Don't be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of Caboose?"

Emily walked in front of him, "You know, Caboose and I are just friends. He's like the brother that I should have had instead of the one that I have now."

"Great. Glad to hear it." He said as he turned his face from her and crossed his arms over his chest as though to keep her confession out. Emily knew that Church would probably always have feelings for Tex, and with the possibility of her coming back, she couldn't hope to ever take her place. At that moment, she really did feel like a foolish child.

"The point is not about Caboose," Emily said, getting back Church's attention. Emily swallowed, not wanting to voice the unavoidable barrier, "It's about you still being in love with Tex."

Church was somewhat surprised by the answer, and yet at the same time he had expected it. Was that the reason why Emily had been avoiding him? He sighed heavily, "I did love her."

Emily felt something inside of herself go hollow. She looked at the floor so that he couldn't see her expression.

"But the war changed all of that. It changed the both of us. I used to love her and I still care for her, but I don't have those same feelings for her. Not anymore."

Emily looked up at him in surprise. If he wasn't in love with another woman, then was it possible that he could have feelings for her?

Church tilted his head in curiosity, "Is that why you've been avoiding me this whole time?"

Emily straightened, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Church smirked as he walked towards her and she stubbornly stood her ground.

"You're a horrible liar," Church said before he kissed her fiercely and wrapped her in his arms. Emily stiffened for a moment and then sighed as she relaxed into him. She wrapped her arms around him as he plundered her mouth. Church pushed her back and she felt something hit the back of her knees. It was her bed. With incredible clarity, Emily gasped and placed her hands on his shoulders to push him away, but his arms remained linked around her waist.

"Wait," Emily chocked out as she saw the heated look that Church gave her. She looked at the bed and then back at Church as her face reddened, "I've never done this before."

Church shrugged, "I figured that."

Emily swallowed, "What about you?"

Church grimaced, "I can't say that I've never done this before."

"No, I mean in this body." She said as she gestured to his form, "Have you ever done this as an android?"

Church felt heat scorch his cheeks. He knew that her concerns weren't necessary, but he certainly wasn't going to tell her how he knew, "No. But I promise you," he said as he drew her face to his, "Everything works as it should. I promise."

With those words said, Emily rose up on her toes to kiss Church, her arms wrapping around his neck. Church kissed her back as his whole body thrummed and he slowly settled them both upon her bed. The feel of her beneath him nearly made him lose control, but he strained to hold himself back. He slowly discarded her shirt and began to tug her pants off, smoothing his hands over her skin at any opportunity. He groaned as he saw her blush over her entire body. He was never going to be able to see her blush now without thinking of her naked. He quickly removed his sweats and returned to kissing her. He held himself propped over her and felt her hands running over his back, urging him closer. Church slowly lowered himself until their skin touched, and he felt his gut tighten. His body trembling with restraint, he slowly slid inside of her and quickly broke through her barrier. Emily cried out and her nails bit into his shoulders. Church held still for a moment and kissed her until she relaxed around him. Church began to move and he could hear Emily moan as she kissed his neck. It was then that he grabbed her hips and increased the rhythm. Emily panted beneath him as he drove into her and he brought them to a simmering climax before he collapsed in exhaustion and shifted his wait over so that he wasn't crushing her. Emily sighed and snuggled next to him. Church felt something in his chest shift, and he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with busted wires. Whatever this was between then, it didn't have anything to do with being her first lover. Somehow he knew that no matter what happened now, he would always want her, and he would never let anything happen to her.

Emily groggily woke up and noticed that she was alone in her room. The feel of the sheets on her skin caused her to blush as she thought of what had come to pass last night. She turned and hid her face in the pillow, not wanting to ever leave her room again. How could she face anyone when she knew that she would give away what she and her commander had done? Emily looked up at the ceiling as she clutched the blanket to her. Still clutching it to herself, she got up and hastily donned her clothes that had been left on the floor. Smoothing her hair back she left her room and heard voices coming from the kitchen. She hesitantly walked over to find Tucker and Church sitting at the table. Neither of them had seen her yet and Emily became afraid. Would Church think that they had made a mistake? Would he ignore her presence after what had happened?

"It seems the Reds have found a journalist and she wants to interview us about O'Malley." Church said. Emily tried to slip away but his eyes came up to meet hers and she froze. Ever so slowly, a smile warmed Church's features as though they shared a great secret. Emily blushed and Church's smile slackened as his eyes roamed over her body as though she weren't wearing anything.

"I can't believe they actually picked up a girl in our tank." Tucker complained, causing Church to slightly shake his head and focus back on the conversation.

"What are you bitchen' about? You have a girlfriend."

"Ya, but you don't know what it's like. Just the other day she was trying to get me to do a caddy shack."

"What's a caddy shack?" Emily asked.

Both men looked over at her. Tucker shifted in his chair awkwardly and Church looked as though he was trying to hide a smile. Emily glared at both of them, not budging until they told her.

"It's a shack on a golf course." Tucker blurted.

"I want to play golf!" Caboose said excitedly as he walked into the kitchen. Emily rolled her eyes and went down the hall to the public bathroom. Church got up to follow her.

"Church," Tucker said and Church turned to him, "Just so you know, if you hurt her I'll kill you."

Church gave him a blank look, "You know that's an empty threat right."

"Ya I know, but I'm sure that an exorcist can easily get the job done."

Caboose gave Tucker a confused look, "Are you saying that Church is fat?"

Church left as Tucker proceeded to explain to Caboose between exorcist and exercise. Church went to the bathrooms to see Emily wipe her face with a damp cloth at the sink in front of the large mirror. She looked up as he entered and placed the towel on the counter. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Are you going to tell me what it means?"

Church walked over to her, "I'll tell you when you're older."

Emily gasped and placed her hands on her hips, "You're not going to shelter me like my brother are you?"

Church shrugged, "He did say that he would kill me if I ever hurt you."

Emily blushed and looked down at the floor, "Well, I guess that you don't have anything to worry about then."

Church wrapped her in his arms and Emily looked up at him in surprise. "Neither does he," he said with a grin, and then he kissed her.