A/N: Here's chapter three! Sorry this one is so short...

Chapter Three

"Irvine, you're going too fast, I'm going to throw up!" Moonbay shouted as she tried to hit him but was thrown back against the backseat.

"Just relax, 'Bay, and get used to it. Dragon Head isn't much farther away. Remind me again why I agreed to let you drag me on this stupid search mission?"

"Because the doctor promised a reward if we find anything worth mentioning to the major," Moonbay smirked as she struggled to lean forward and rest her chin on Irvine's shoulder.

She could feel the muscles in Irvine's shoulder move as he adjusted the controls of the Lightning Saix with his hands. Marveling for the millionth time how muscular he was, Moonbay let out a dreamy sigh which tickled Irvine's ear, sending a shiver down his spine. Irvine's voice brought her back to their current situation.

"If you'll stop day-dreaming, we are coming up to the bridge. It looks like they removed the sentry post."

"They probably took it away because now that the Republic and the Empire have reached a treaty, several of the posts that had been there before have now been removed," Moonbay replied lazily as she leaned back against her seat again with a blush at being caught day-dreaming. "Hey Irvine…"

"Yeah?" he asked her, never removing his eyes from the window in front of him.

"What did you mean when you said how it's not always about money with you?"

Irvine knew she had been going to ask him this sooner or later, but now that the question was voiced aloud, he wasn't sure how to answer her, so he just kept quiet.

"Oh come on, I know you meant something by it," Moonbay retorted to his silence as she leaned forward again, straining against the seat belts. "What did you mean by it?"

"What did you mean when you nearly kissed me?" Irvine shot back as he turned his head just slightly to glance at her.

Below him, the Lightning Saix sent out a growl of laughter at Moonbay's blush.

"I-I meant nothing, because I didn't kiss you!" Moonbay stuttered as she went to slap him.

Irvine dodged and couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, like when you got really close to me and you let your guard down in front of me." Irvine turned around in his seat, letting the Lightning Saix take control for a minute. "Face it, 'Bay, you're head over heels for me. Even with McMann you never let your guard down."

Moonbay wasn't sure if she wanted to slap that smirk off his face, or kiss him. However, the blush on her face and the coldness in her eyes at being found out gave her away.

Irvine mentally told the Lightning Saix to come to a halt on the bridge as he turned around fully in his chair to tower over her, awaiting her response.

Moonbay glared at him and said coldly, "I never let my guard down. Not for you, McMann, or anyone else. And I sure as hell couldn't love a cold-hearted bastard like you. The only thing that concerns you, Irvine, is where to get your next big score!"

"Oh really. Is that how you think I feel about you, Moonbay?" His voice had grown quieter but harder as his bangs covered his eyes. "Do you really think I think of you as some prize to be won?"

"I'm not sure, do you?" she asked him, nearly letting her guard down again as her voice softened and she looked up into his eyes.

Irvine was tempted to just reach down and pull her lips up to meet his in a passionate kiss, but a growl from the Lightning Saix woke him of his day-dream. Irately, Irvine spun around to face the front in his chair again, slamming his back against the seat as he grabbed the controls.

"You're an idiot," he whispered to Moonbay as he sped the zoid faster towards Dragon Head.

"I'm an idiot? I'm an idiot?" Moonbay shouted as she was thrown back against the seat as the Lightning Saix took off faster than before. "Of all the lowlifes I have met over the years, you have to be the most insufferable, most disrespectful, the biggest dense idiot on the entire planet! Apparently deciding to leave McMann for your sorry ass was the biggest mistake of my life!"

"What are you talking about?" Irvine asked through gritted teeth as the controls bucked under his hands. At the speed they were going, he was sure to lose control.

"You haven't even figured it out yet?" Moonbay cried as she gripped the sides of the Lightning Saix for support. "I said no to remaining behind with McMann the second time not just because I wanted to go on adventures with you, Van, and the rest of the crew, but because I had realized how much I couldn't stay away from you! You are worse than any drug out there, and you have no idea how I feel about you!"

"What feelings?" Irvine shouted roughly. "The only feelings you have ever felt for me are ones of annoyance, or ignorance! You've never admired my zoid piloting skills, and you certainly have never told me congrats or anything after all the battles I have won or people I have saved!"

"You dumbass idiot! Of course I never told you out loud because I knew the second I did I would want nothing more than to kiss you and tell you how much I –" she was cut off as the alarm systems began going off.

"Saix, what's going on?" Irvine yelled. The zoid growled in response, letting the pilot know that he wasn't sure.

"Irvine, you're losing control, stop this thing now!" Moonbay screamed as the controls began freezing and the zoid sped faster.

"I-I can't!" Irvine shouted.

The controls of the zoid were freezing because Irvine was losing control of both himself and the zoid. His mind was racing between trying to register all that Moonbay had told him and how to regain control of the zoid. The Lightning Saix tried to slow down but it couldn't. Something wasn't right. Below the cockpit, Irvine heard something snap and the Saix yelped in response as the screen flashed warnings from all around Irvine.

"Irvine, you need to calm down!" Moonbay suddenly exclaimed. "The Lightning Saix responds to your thought pattern! If you don't control yourself then we'll crash!"

Irvine didn't respond. His vision was going fuzzy and he could feel his consciousness slipping away.

Suddenly Moonbay had an idea. Struggling against the force of the speed, Moonbay grabbed the chair in front of her, and managed to pull herself up. There was just enough space between the pilot's chair and the side of the cockpit for Moonbay to maneuver herself.

"Moonbay…what…the hell…are you…doing?" Irvine managed through gritted teeth.

The Lightning Saix had climbed up the side of a cliff and was speeding towards another cliff with about a fifty yard gap between the two ledges.

"I'm doing…what I know…how to …to calm…you…down…" Moonbay spat as she managed to climb through the gap between the walls of the inside of the cockpit and Irvine's chair in order to straddle herself. Though she was blocking Irvine's view entirely, she knew it would only last a minute, so she did what she had been longing to do for years.

She kissed him.

As her lips made contact with Irvine's roughly, Irvine felt his grip on the controls loosen as his brain focused on the kiss.

Her lips were soft and glossy and utterly delicious. Irvine had never tasted anything like her before. His heart began pumping so fast he thought it might burst out of his chest and ride with the Lightning Saix, all sappiness aside. Suddenly, he could feel the Lightning Saix slowing down until it gradually reached a steady decent speed as the zoid retook control. The zoid skidded a little bit, but it stopped right by the edge of the cliff. As the Saix growled low in its throat a happy message of contentment that it hadn't crashed, its pilot had wrapped his arms around Moonbay, pulling her closer to him.

Moonbay's brain was sending off signals that the zoid had stopped so she could stop kissing Irvine, but the funny thing was, even though he had called her an idiot and had been totally ignorant of her feelings, she didn't want to stop kissing him. She had dreamed of this moment, and because of her stubbornness, she wasn't about to let it end.

His lips were rough as if he had cut or bit them too hard before and they had split open previously. He tasted like oranges, Moonbay noted as her hands ran over his muscular chest, feeling his speeding heartbeat.

Irvine's left hand cupped her face and held her lips captured with his while his free hand slowly slid up and down her sides. Moonbay couldn't help but purr against his lips, sending vibrations through Irvine, turning him on.

Suddenly the Lightning Saix jumped up in the air, nearly sending Moonbay flying through the window, but Irvine grabbed her and pulled her to his chest as the Lightning Saix landed from his hop.

'What the hell's the matter with you?' Irvine thought to the zoid.

'The matter with me? What's the matter with you?' the Lightning Saix growled back. 'I thought you hated this girl.'

'Hate her? No, you…you have it all wrong,' Irvine thought back as he looked into Moonbay's confused eyes. "She's always been there for me. Just I was too stupid and ignorant to realize it. Whenever I needed somebody there, she was there. She…she's always supported me and when my old Command Wolf died, she stood by me. I just took her for granted; I never even thought to consider how she felt." Irvine realized he had said this aloud as Moonbay's eyes grew wide.

"Moonbay," Irvine voiced as he cleared his throat. "You're right. There are some things in life that are more important than money such as friendship and…and love. You give me both yet I haven't realized how much I want to give you both in return until now." He blushed slightly as he continued; "I…I know I've never been the greatest at voicing my feelings or any of that shit, but Moonbay…" he trailed off as his eyes met hers.

Moonbay went to ask him what it was he was feeling when suddenly warnings started flashing on the screens again.

"Enemies? So Herman was right!" Irvine exclaimed as he looked around Moonbay and reached out to the controls. He maximized the screen and saw that a small group of three Hell Cats and a Gordos coming up on them from a little ways away.

"Moonbay, I need you to get back to your seat only so that I can wipe these guys out quickly," Irvine said as he prepared the Saix for battle.

Moonbay nodded in accordance and climbed into the back but not before asking him, "And then will you tell me what you were going to say?"

Irvine smiled and nodded.

"Definitely."

Major Karl Schubaltz was not one to enjoy just waiting around for some unknown enemy to attack the base. So he decided to bluntly ignore Captain O'Connell's advice to stay away from Major Herman and go bug the blonde. As he reached the man's office, Karl knocked before allowing himself entrance to the office. Inside sat Dr. Dee and Rob Herman in heavy discussion. Both men looked up as Karl entered the room.

"Major Schubaltz, welcome to Red River Base," Rob said as the two men shook hands after saluting.

"It's a pleasure to be here, sir. Captain O'Connell informed me that you had been resting earlier. I gather you got enough rest?" Karl quipped as he turned to face Dr. Dee. "Hello, doctor, what are you doing here?"

"Hello Major; I was asked to come here because 1 I have nothing else better to do and 2 Rob here thought my expertise could come in handy."

"Very good…Rob, do you honestly expect there to be an attack against this base? Even your own men doubt you. Maybe all this lack of sleep is getting to your head," Major Schubaltz said matter-of-factly.

"Major Schubaltz, I know this base is going to be attacked. I can feel it, and when I feel something like this, I am never wrong. I don't care if we have to wait an entire week for them to come, when our enemy comes and strikes, we will be ready to fight back."

Karl looked him in the eye before saying slowly, "Major Dramen would like to request access to this base."

"Dramen? What does a monkey like him want with this base?" Rob asked.

"Who's Dramen?" Dr. Dee asked.

"He's this twit who went to the academy with me," Rob said. "He's always been jealous of me because my mother is the President of the Republic, and he thinks that is the only reason why I became a major before him and took over this base that would've gone under his command. He's the type to plunge into battle, kill everyone he doesn't like, even if they are on his side, and leave the scene, no questions asked."

"When he found out that both Republican and Imperial soldiers were at this base, he became most intrigued and decided to pay a visit. He's not the type to mess with. Though he isn't well liked, he is feared and respected for his status. It would be best for us not to irk him in any way," Karl continued as he gave Rob a look.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Major Herman smirked. "I would never try to cause trouble with a man I know is a weak, spineless coward who enjoys striking fear into the hearts of his soldiers just for fun."

Karl glared at him and Dr. Dee laughed.

"Well, it looks like you boys have your work cut out for you with this newcomer. I shall take my leave of your office, Rob. Oh, and Rob?"

"Yes doctor?"

"How is your mother doing? I haven't spoken with her in a long time."

"She is doing well, thank you, Dr. Dee."

"The next time you speak with her, please give her my regards."

Herman smiled as he saluted the doc farewell. "Will do."

"Thanks, Rob."