AN: Got tired of waiting around to hear what you wanted. I might be able to put the other ones up here soon, just got to write them. Enjoy!

-December 15th, 2009-

Andrew 'Mobius One' Irving

"Andrew?" Liz called from our bedroom, a poorly masked sense of worry permeating through the form of a question delivery. I've known Elizabeth too long not to catch something like that. "I haven't heard a single word from him all day," she continued, not really waiting for me to give an answer I know she would ignore. It wouldn't be she would ignore any response I gave because she didn't care for my opinion, she cared about my opinion a lot. But what she was doing right now was one of her more annoying habits where she was justifying something she had been wanting to do for a while with convoluted logic that she'd hope I'd agree with. "You think he's alright? You don't think he's been in a accident, do you? Maybe I should call him... I'm going to jest send him a quick text," she said in her usual rapid-fire manner when these kinds of moods over took her.

"Hun," I began calmly from the kitchen where I was making a meal large enough for sevral people. It had become something of a late tradition where we would host the Elsworth's the first day of our kid's winter break. It began the first time our son drove their own girl, Whitney, back home for the holidays with himself. "Maybe texting our teenager while he's driving isn't such a good idea. Haven't you seen those statistics on the television. Or the newspaper. Or heard them on the radio? Huh," I muttered, loud enough for Liz to hear. "It's like they're trying to... like... send a message or something."

Liz walked out of our room clutching her cell phone in one hand and I soon found out that her other hand, thankfully, had nothing in it as it slapped me on the back. Then, to rub salt in the wound, she got out of my reach, not that I was making any effort to stop what I knew she would do already, and began reading out loud as she typed on the small phone.

"Caden, it's your mom-"

"You're texting him, he's going to see your contact info before he even reads that," I told her with a small smile on my face at being able to take even a little oxygen out of her intakes. Ouch. No, that definitely wasn't a good one. Damn fighter jet analogies kept sounding really stupid. I was pulled from my self berating by the sound of my wife hitting the backspace key on her phone a couple of times.

"Caden," she began again, giving me a small stink eye least her smile come out and ruin her attempt to look frustrated with me. "Just thought I'd check up on you and see how you're doing. Give me a call or text when you get the chance, love mom." I dramatically tore my hand away from the goose I was stuffing and put it over my heart making a pained expression on my face.

"Oh honey," I began with all the angst I could muster. "That message, it was so... I didn't think your love could reach such heights!" That finally did it. Her poor attempt at trying to be mad at me fell apart as she snorted and let her laughter tumble like her hair as she bent over with laughter. After a while, she got a hold of herself as I resumed finishing up the goose.

"And the first lady tells me that you hardly ever speak over the radio," she began, reminding me again of our extraordinary lives. "Too bad, you may just be able to make those enemy pilots fall out of the sky with such a distraction."

"Eh," I put out a little glumly. "I never really did speak much over the radio, even back when I was with ISAF. Now, I don't because I don't want them to hear my voice. Too worried about them figuring out who I am and finding you guys."

"Fat bit of help that was," Liz muttered as my bad mood began to catch on. Shoot. Today was supposed to be a happy day. Our son was coming back from college to spend some time with us. We couldn't dwell on the possibility it could be the last bit of time we would spend with him for quite some time.

"Hey," I said as I walked over to the sink to wash my hands so I could hold my wife's hand without smearing it with goose innards. "Let's not think on that," I told her as she looked back up at me. "Let's just make sure this is a Christmas he can remember for a long time and smile each time it comes up." Just then, Liz' phone sounded off with that annoying default chime that she didn't know how to change and wouldn't let anyone do for her because she said she would get around to it herself.

"Oh! He responded. No, wait, Whitney did for him. 'Mrs. Irving, Caden's driving right now, but he told me to respond for him. He says he loves you and will be home soon.'"

"Ha!" I said, not being able to help myself from exploading into a fit of laughter. Liz just glared at me.

"What, Andrew? Is it so inconceivable that our son loves me?"

"Oh," I began trying to get my breath. "I'm sure he loves you. But there's no way in hell that's what he told her to put down."

Whitney 'Whitnea' Elsworth

"Remember that project back in high school with Mr. Roghe?" Caden asked me after a lull in our conversation. I thought for a moment, trying hard to think through five years of teachers and professors to see if I could remember. "Careful," Caden said teasingly, noticing my winced eyes of concentration. "Don't want you to get a brain aneurysm from all that effort," he said jokingly.

"Shut up," I said, making swatting motions at him as I continued to try and recall the elusive Mr. Roghe.

"Well, anyways, he gave us that one project where we had to make a bowl with holes in it so that when we put it over a light bulb, it made a constellation," Caden said without taking his eyes off the road too much. I then began to faintly recall that particular project. Then I began to recall it in full because Caden had been there with me. Most memories where he had a role in them seemed to be much easier to think about. Strange the same couldn't be said for memories concerning Charles. I decided to speak up before thoughts of Charles ruined my day.

"I remember," I began. "You made one of Orion, didn't you. But then, of course, you had to go and be Mr. Overachiever and put Sirius right there with him."

"Couldn't help it," Caden said with a shoulder shrug and a smile, causing me to think things I really shouldn't about a friend as close as him. "They're my favorite, and if a little bit of extra credit comes my way for including my favorite things, that can't be a bad thing, can it? Besides, you were Mrs. Overachiever if we're putting labels on things. Not only did you do a Southern constellation, Centaurus has the most visible stars out of any constellation. At least I have an excuse for my choice, we can't even see Centaurus where we live."

While Caden continued to make light fun of my attempt to get extra credit in that class as well, I tried to hide the blush on my face at the implications of us being Mr. and Mrs. Overachiever. I was offered a reprieve with the buzzing of Caden's phone.

"Can you get that for me?" he asked, a mild chuckle in his voice as he glanced down at the phone, not taking his eyes off the road for more than a second.

"Sure," I said as I grabbed the phone. "It's your mom," I told him as I turned the screen on. "'Caden, just thought I'd check up on you and see how you're doing. Give me a call or text when you get the chance, love mom.' Aww, so sweet," I teased him back for his previous taunts.

"Can you text her for me?" he said, a small blush on his face. I loved that I could do that to him, after all, he could do it so easily to me. I nodded my head and began to type on his phone, letting his mom know it was me texting her to prevent any kind of embarrassing comments coming from her end. "Tell her that she needs to stop worrying so much about me and that she should help dad with dinner instead, you know, to get her mind off it." In my mind, I knew exactly what he meant and put that down instead.

"There. Done." Another lull in conversation. "Thanks," I said out of the blue, earing me a complimentary 'confusion stare' from Caden.

"What for?" he asked seeking clarification.

"Driving me back all these times. I can't believe this will be the last time."

"It doesn't have to be," he replied nonchalantly after a couple of seconds. "I'm sure we'll still have Christmas dinner's together for years to come." That caused me to turn to look out the window very quickly. The car became very hot very fast. Did he even realize how that sounded? Maybe it's just me being wishful. "It's become something of a family tradition now." Yeah, I'm being wishful. God, the things he does to me. "You alright? Do I need to turn the heat down a little?" he asked concerned. If he only knew...

"Yeah," I said quickly before anything else came out. "If you don't mind." In all actuality, I had been meaning to ask him to turn the heat up a little, it was freezing in the stupid car. Maybe I deserved this. I shivered just a little bit as the air that blew on me got a little colder. I mean, it's my own fault for pushing us deeper and deeper into the fricken 'friend zone.' Caden clearly was fine with that and honestly, I couldn't blame him. He had grown up with so few friends, one that kept reaffirming that position was probably wonderful for him. But I couldn't help but get these vibes sometimes. Like he wouldn't be put out by the idea of us being more than friends. He certainly wouldn't be the one to start something though. Again, he had so few friends, he'd be too afraid of losing one to even ask a wrong question.

Suddenly, the heat kicked back on, even warmer than it had been. Surprised and relieved, I glanced over at Caden. He had a small smile on but didn't say anything as he glanced at me for a brief moment before flicking his eyes back to the road. He must've seen me shiver.

"Thanks," I said, blushing again for more than one reason, the main one being his caring demeanor that played havoc with my angsty feelings. He just nodded his head as a small bloom of red tainted his cheeks as well. The torture.

"No problem," he said but I could tell he was going to say more. "Whitnea," he finally added in a slow, teasing manor. That relived a lot of the tension.

"God," I said bringing my hand to my forehead to show he was giving me a headache. "You know I hate that name. Only my dad uses that and you know he only does it to tease me." Caden just smirked as he continued to drive. But if I was being honest, I wish he would call me that more. It was personal and in a way, intimate. I decided to look out the window again and replay his voice saying my horrible, yet not so horrible nickname for the rest of the trip. Unless, of course, he wanted to talk some more.

"You want to grab some lunch?" That didn't take long.

"Sure, I could use some chow," I replied casually.

"Anything in particular?" Considerate.

"Nah, you go a head and choose."

"Then, I hereby decree that on this day, Caden Irving and Whitney Elsworth shalt partake in the expansive feast that can only come from Taco King!" Funny.

"Your a dork."

"Hum, a hungry dork. Hey, that means we're like, the same, or something!" I definitely needed to find some courage some where. Screw the damn friend zone.

Charles 'Chuck' Vandran

Incompetent. Thats the best way to describe everyone at this stupid place. Doesn't help that most of them are from out of the country, trying to scrounge up some money to make their living here an iota better. The small buzzer in my headset let me know there was another car in the drive through.

"Welcome to Taco King," I said un-enthused. Probably another fatso with twenty items to order. "What can I get you today?" I asked as I finished pouring some fries into the deep fryer.

"Hey," they guy said pausing a moment. "I'll take the number three combo, medium, with a Dr. Paprika." At least the guy was decisive. "What you want?" he asked, probably talking to the other people in his car. I began to get started on the order, knowing that this guy wouldn't be changing anything so it'd be okay to get started. I barely could make out a mumbling voice, but could tell it was a girls. Without much effort, my mind but them together as a couple. And without much further effort, I thought back to Whitney. And without even meaning to, I thought about Caden.

"Shit," I muttered as I spilled the guy's Dr. Paprika all over in my sudden bout of anger.

"What was that?" the guy on the headset asked.

"Nothing. Will that be all?" I asked, trying to not get any angrier.

"Um, you said the number two, right Whitney?" I froze. No. It was a coincidence. A massive one. Wait, today was the day the got off for break. "Yeah, okay, a number two meal, large, and Serra Lime for the drink." I couldn't deal with this. I pushed the button on my headset that would transfer them to another person. Screw the damn commission.

Whitney 'Whitnea' Elsworth

"Hello?" Caden asked after a moment, clearly confused.

"Welcome to Taco King, may I take your order?" a new voice asked, puzzling us both.

"What happened to the other guy?" I asked Caden, rubbing my arms a little at the chill coming in through the open window.

"What happened to the guy who was taking our order?" Caden asked the woman who was now speaking with us.

"He spilled some soda and couldn't take your order. Are you ready to order?" she asked again.

"Um, sure. A number three meal, medium, Dr. Paprika, and a number two meal, large," Caden drawled again, swinging his head back at me with mock flourish. "And a Serra Lime with that," he finished. After the woman receiving our order successfully repeated it back to us we pulled forward. Caden kept giving me a sideways glance with a small smirk.

"What?" I asked finally as we waited behind two other cars.

"A large?" he asked accusingly.

"Something wrong with wanting a little extra food?"

"No, no, you're totally entitled to whatever quantity of food you want, it's just... A large?" he asked his smile only growing. I realized he was just trying to get a rise out of me. Time to turn the tables.

"You think I'm fat?" I said, feigning hurt the best I could. He totally bought it.

"What?! No! I uh..." I totally had him. "Your not fat, Whitney," he said with as much authority as he could. "You're beautiful just the way you are." Shit. That backfired. I immediately flared up with red as a heat wave passed over me that had nothing to do with the car's climate control. Luckily, before either of us could make a bigger fool of ourselves, we pulled up to the pick up widow. Caden silently took our meals and drinks, carefully handing me my order. We waited as the lady went back to get some napkins. "Sorry," he said while waiting.

"I was pulling your leg," I said after a moment of silence.

"Oh." The woman came back and gave us some napkins. "You're still beautiful," He half muttered as he began to pull forward. We were both too invested in looking at our meals in that moment to notice a disgruntled employee of Taco King glaring at us. Not that either of us had time for him anyways.

AN: How about that last name for Chuck? Kinda... menacing, don't you think? I mean, it's a perfectly good name, if any of you have it, just... menacing. Cool. Have an AWESOME DAY!