Sorry for the delay! Also, the site seems to have deleted The Dating Game, as well as the reviews for Cooling Off. I'll wait a little while to see if the story reappears, and if not I'll re-post. Next chapter of Playing With Fire is almost complete too. Exciting developments (or so I hope) are ahead in both regular fics.

XXXXXXX

Linka stared out of the Geocruiser's window.

"So …" Gi began tentatively. She had been sitting beside Linka for four hours now, and the Russian's stony silence hadn't broken yet.

Linka continued to look out of the window with apparent fascination.

"The view's good," Gi commented. The Pacific stretched out beneath them, blue and seemingly endless.

Linka said nothing.

"Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Maybe I should get one of those muesli bars out."

Still no response. Gi sighed.

"Are you going to tell me what happened? Because I am running out of small talk. We're going to have to get to the big talk eventually."

"Nyet."

"Right." Gi paused. "But, just so I can be clear on a few things – Wheeler is staying in New York a bit longer?"

"I suppose so."

"Did he say how long?"

"Not to me."

Silence. Linka turned her head slightly away from the window, and Gi saw that her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Okay." Gi bit her lip. "I suppose he'll get in touch with Kwame or Ma-Ti."

"It's possible."

"And … he's all right?"

"Seemed healthy."

Another silence.

"And that's the end of the conversation?"

"Da."

Linka turned her attention back to the sea.

XXXXXXX

Back at his apartment, Wheeler turned his cellphone over in his hand.

"And she gave this to you?"

"She said you had lent it to her." His mother's cheeks were streaked with dry trails of tears. She clutched the cup of coffee he had made her as if it held the answers to all her problems.

"Yeah." Wheeler bit his lip. "I kinda did."

"You look terrible, hon." His mother reached out and took his hand. "So pale. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I mean …"

"Of course you're not okay. I'm sorry." Bridget swallowed. "I might go to bed, sweetheart. Will you be here tonight, or are you staying with your friends?"

"They've gone back to the island, Mom."

"Are you going back yet? I suppose you probably should." Wheeler's mother looked up at him pleadingly.

"I can stay for a while, Mom. I'm not going to leave you."

"Oh." Her relief showed in her voice. "So long as it's not going to affect your work, honey. Will your boss mind?"

"My 'boss' is a little unconventional. I think she'll understand." Wheeler hesitated. "In fact … can I talk to you for a sec, Mom?"

"Sure." His mother patted the seat next to her. "What is it, Jay?"

Wheeler sat down beside her. He leaned forwards, clasping his hands between his knees and avoiding her eyes.

"I think it might be time for me to make a bit of a career change."

"A career change?" his mother repeated.

"Yeah. I mean …" He sat up, warming to his subject. "I've been a Planeteer for over five years now. I'm heading towards my mid-twenties. Maybe it's time for me to do something else … you know, go to college."

"But you love your job, Jacob."

"I know I do. Did. But …well, it's the same people every day, you know? And the workload is so crazy that you never get to see anyone else. It's been good, real good, but … I'd kinda like to see what it's like to be a normal guy."

His mother looked at him searchingly. "Jacob, I don't think today is the day to be making big decisions. Your father …" she stopped.

"I know, Mom."

"All I'm saying is that you may not be thinking clearly."

"I know, Mom. But, on the other hand … perhaps this whole thing has made me think more clearly than I have in a while."

Bridget looked at her tall son with a mixture of pride and pity. His dark red hair was rumpled, and there were deep shadows under his eyes.

"Well, I'm going to bed." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you're here. And if you want to talk …"

"I know where you are. Same goes for you."

Bridget smiled and left the room. Wheeler watched her go, then slumped back into the couch.

How had things gone so wrong? The world felt off-balance and surreal. All the things that used to be solid were melting and dissolving. He had a sudden memory of Linka's blonde hair falling across her bare shoulders, her feet tangled in his Star Wars sheets.

After a few minutes he flipped open his phone and dialled a number.

"Hello? Hi. It's me. Can I come over tonight?"

XXXXXXX

When the Planeteers arrived back on Hope Island, they slipped back into their routine quickly. After a meeting with Gaia, Kwame suggested they should do a couple of hours' training. Linka went through the motions as if in a trance.

"I wish she would talk to us," Gi whispered to Ma-Ti. "These last few days have been very confusing. Are you getting anything from her?"

Ma-Ti watched the young Russian tackling the climbing wall. "Linka is very good at keeping me out."

"She's good at keeping everyone out."

"I've also tried contacting Wheeler …"

"And?"

"Nothing."

Gi sighed. "So we're pretty much back to where we started."

"I wonder what happened?"

"Well …" Gi hesitated.

"What?" Ma-Ti looked at her searchingly. It was difficult not to open up to him.

"Linka told me this in confidence …" Gi began.

"And you should respect that."

"Ma-Ti!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. If you want to tell me, I will listen. Go on."

"Well, you know that night Linka and Wheeler went to dinner? They … you know."

"They what?"

"You know."

"I don't know."

"You do, Ma-Ti. Take a moment."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh."

"But that's huge!" Ma-Ti's brown eyes were wide. "That is a major step! Did they think about the impact it will have on the group? Was it something they talked about?"

"You sound like Linka."

Ma-Ti exhaled. "I'm just saying – it does complicate things."

"Yes. It definitely does. And obviously something happened between then and now, because she's upset and she won't talk to me about it."

"And Wheeler hasn't talked to us either …"

"No." Gi ran a hand through her hair. "I love them both, they're two of my closest friends, but sometimes I just want to kill them. I mean, I know this situation isn't easy on them either, but it makes it really hard for us all here on the island if there's an atmosphere."

Ma-Ti shrugged. "It has happened before."

"But this time it feels different, you know? It feels … permanent."

Ma-Ti looked at Gi, his brown eyes giving nothing away. "I have some insight into what Wheeler and Linka feel about one another, Gi," he began. "And I think they will work things out. In the meantime, I feel that we should give them the space they need."

"Ma-Ti, could you be any more mysterious?"
"Trust me."

"You know I do." Gi sighed, and looked across to where Linka was stretching in preparation for a run.

XXXXXXX

"Wheeler?"

"Kwame, hi."

"Good to hear from you, my friend. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. I mean … well, no."

"Of course. It will take some time to sink in. Do not rush yourself."

"Uh, sure. I won't. Look, Kwame …"

"When do you think you will be able to get back? Not that I want to hurry you at all, but we do need you here. We can manage for a while longer, but you are a crucial part of the team."

"Yeah …"

"And I think that the sooner you get here and straighten things out with Linka, the better."

"Straighten things out?"

"It is obvious that something is wrong between you two."

"Is she …"

"She has been very quiet about everything. As I said, I am sure it will resolve itself. It always does."

"You said that?"

"To Gaia, yes."

"Gaia?"

"We had a meeting with her as soon as we got back. She said that you must stay in New York for as long as you need to. She sends her sympathy."

"Oh. Well, say thank you for me."

"I will. And I am sorry … I am trying not to rush you, but I realize that is what I am doing."

"Kwame, it's fine."

"I am not very good at these conversations. You know that my thoughts are with you."

"I do. And thanks."

"I may be your leader, but I am also your friend."

"I know."

"And you are mine. My best friend."

"Wow … thanks, man."

"So … I will see you soon. Or not that soon. Whatever you decide."

"Kwame …"

"Yes?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about."

XXXXXXX

"Leaving the Planeteers?" Gi was aghast. "But … he didn't even talk to us about it!"

"I know." Kwame was pacing up and down the crystal chamber.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't know what to say. I asked him if he was sure and he said he thought so."

"He thought so? Thought so? Didn't know so?"

"We have all thought about leaving in the past," said Kwame, half to himself. "Even I almost handed my resignation in once. It may be that he changes his mind once he has had time to think about it."

"Wheeler does tend to speak before thinking …" said Gi.

"It is a difficult time for him. He must be confused," said Ma-Ti. "We should give him some time to think."

"What do you think, Linka?" asked Gi, turning to her friend. "Linka?"

The young Russian was looking very pale. "I think that perhaps it is for the best," she said shortly, before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

XXXXXXX

Wheeler climbed the stairs to her apartment. He had left a note for his mother, just in case she awoke and wondered where he was, but he wasn't planning to spend all night out. Just a few hours. He didn't want to be alone with his thoughts. And where else could he go? A bar was a seriously bad idea, in the state he was in.

You are behaving like a child!

Stop being so pigheaded and selfish!

He shook his head to clear it of the angry voice that still echoed in his mind.

Linka.

No, don't think about it.

Dad …

Don't think about it!

He stopped, clutching the handrail. Almost there. She lived on the fourth floor. This wasn't the first time he had come running to her when something went wrong at home.

The time his Dad had been picked up by the police …

"Don't look at me like that, boy. You're no better than me. Don't think you're better than me."

Wheeler had been seventeen, and ashamed. The policewoman at the desk had looked at him pityingly.

"That lush's kid." Yes, he had heard the whispers.

He had taken his father home without a word.

So many things it wasn't safe to think about.

He had reached the door. He knocked.

"It's me!"

He heard the sound of a bolt being drawn back. The door creaked open. A girl stood in the doorway – pale hair held in a messy bun by a paintbrush, dark brown eyes filled with concern, that seductive tilt of the hips that he remembered so well.

"Wheeler!"

She kissed him on the cheek, then hugged him. He inhaled her familiar, spicy scent.

"Trish."

"It's good to see you!"

"You too."

"Come in."

She held the door open, and after a minute's hesitation he walked through.