AN: We've seen Flay dabble in emotional manipulation. In this chapter, I've sort of subverted the trope at the end. The characters are started to come to life in a whole new way than I originally expected. It's really fun! Again, I love hearing from all of you! I'm glad people are enjoying this as much as I am enjoying writing this story!

Also, I don't hate Athrun. I'm just trying to convey how Yzak feels about Athrun. I actually do like Athrun quite a bit as a character and ship him with Cagalli.

Behind Enemy Lines

Gibraltar

The descent to Gibraltar is only an hour away. Yzak envisions the Strike's destruction in his mind over and over again. He zips up his pilot suit and looks to his scar in the mirror. He won't remove it - not until he sees the Strike obliterated. Yzak grabs his helmet and exits the locker room.

He supposes he'll go fetch Flay. She'll need instructions on how to handle entering the Earth's atmosphere. He goes to her room and keys in the access code. The door slides open. He switches on the lights, but Flay is nowhere to be found. Yzak floats through the hall and towards the hangar. His eyes widen when he Flay in her green pilot suit hunched over on the simulator. Her head is lying in her hands as she sleeps while her helmet floats off to the side.

Yzak floats towards her. He places his hands on her shoulder and gives her a soft shake. Her blue eyes flicker open and look up to him.

"Yzak…" she says. "I mean...sir."

She rubs her eyes as she sits up. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It doesn't matter," he says. "We need to prepare for our descent to Earth."

Flay's eyes shift downwards. She looks as if she's already been defeated. It's clear that she has so many doubts about this. She's obviously trying the best she can, but Yzak doesn't think her best will be enough. It's sad really. The chances of her living are so slim. He'll do what he can for her, but there's only so much one person can do.

Flay grabs her helmet and floats out of the simulator. She follows him out of the hangar till they reach a door just outside the hangar. Yzak stops at the door and enters an access code. Nicol, Athrun, Dearka, and Le Creuset already in the small alcove between the Vesalius and their drop pod. Le Creuset walks towards them. He stops in front of Flay and places his hand on her shoulder. Flay's eyes dilate, and she visibly flinches at his contact.

"It's good to see you, Private Allster," he says. "I hope that your training went well."

"It's good to see you, Commander," her voice is thin and wispy when she speaks.

His hand lingers on her a tad longer than it should. Yzak looks to Flay. Her eyes are to the floor. She's gone from being nervous to being absolutely terrified.

Le Creuset moves away from Flay and keys in the access code to the drop pod attached to their ship. Yzak floats through the doors as Flay follows closely behind him. He turns back to Flay. He takes her wrist in his hand and guides her into the Ginn. He sets her in the cockpit and straps the seat belt around her. Yzak switches the power on. The screen loads up.

"When I leave presses this button to close the hatch," he gestures to a green button on the main screen.

"Sir…" she says.

"Yes?"

"I'm..." she says. "I'm scared."

Yzak signs with frustration. "If we don't make it through the Earth's atmosphere, there's nothing you or I can do about it. Just don't think about it, okay?"

"Yes, sir," she says.

Yzak floats away from the Ginn. She's still so needy. He feels guilty that it frustrates him. His mother had always taught him to be strong. Flay's father, on the other hand, probably coddled her since the day she was born. He floats towards Duel and enters the cockpit. He fastens his seatbelt and switches the power supply on. Once the main screen loads, he closes the hatch to the cockpit. He places his helmet over his head and fastens it to his suit.

The ride is smooth at first. He feels so anxious in the small cockpit. It's mind numbingly boring. Yzak flips on the screen and hails Dearka through a private channel. Dearka's face appears on the screen.

"Yo!" he says. "You ready for this?"

Yzak grins to himself. "Let's just hope Athrun doesn't wet himself on the way down."

Dearka snorts. "I'm surprised they allowed him to pursue the Strike after you reported that the pilot used to be a personal friend of his."

"It pays to have you father in a high place," Yzak jests.

"Hey," Dearka grins to him. "So, are you and Flay still…you know?"

"We can't," Yzak says. "Now that she's enlisted it would be fraternization to continue what we were doing."

"That sucks," Dearka says.

"It doesn't matter," Yzak says.

"I don't know," Dearka says. "I'd be pissed if I lost access to easy ass."

"Is that all you think about?" Yzak says.

"Pretty much," Dearka says.

The pod starts to shake and the comm channel's signal drops. Dearka's face turns to static as the pod continues to rock. They must be entering the Earth's atmosphere right now. Yzak envisions impaling the Strike with his beam saber to calm his nerves. He must destroy the Strike. Athrun is too soft. It's only a matter of time before he gets them all killed.

The shaking stops. The pod falls downward. Yzak's stomach slips at the shift change in speed. He draws in a deep breath and releases it into the air. They've made it through the atmosphere. It's clear sailing from this point on. The pod begins to slow till finally it comes to a complete stop. Yzak presses the button to open the hatch and switches the power off on the duel. He walks off of the hatch and onto the ramp.

Flay runs towards him and stops abruptly. She's looking to him through her helmet with tears in her eyes. The ride down must have scared her to death. If a drop through the atmosphere has visibly shaken her, Yzak can only imagine how torn up she'll be if she survives her first mobile suit battle.

Dearka walks towards them. He claps Flay on the back. "Looks, like you made it!"

"Uh...yeah…" she's breathless when she speaks.

Dearka laughs as he looks to Yzak. "She's completely traumatized."

"I am not!" Flay snaps, but quickly corrects herself. "I mean, I'm fine, sir."

Dearka throws his hands up. "Hey, I was only joking!"

Nicol is walking towards them with Athrun. Yzak scoffs to Athrun and turns away from him.

"Flay, follow me," Yzak orders.

"Yes, sir," she says.

Yzak grips the ends of the ladder. He places the insides of his feet against the outside ends of the ladder and slides down effortlessly. He pulls his helmet off and breathes in fresh air. Yzak looks to the ladder to see Flay taking her time climbing down each rung. Once she reaches the ground, she pulls off her helmet and shakes out her hair.

"How did you do that?" she asks.

"It's something I picked up in boot camp," Yzak says with a smug grin.

Dearka has already slide down the ladder the same way he had, but Athrun is taking his time with each rung. Yzak grins up at him.

"Hey Athrun!" Yzak shouts. "Watching you climb down that ladder is like watching a sloth take a shit!"

Dearka bursts out laughing and Flay even giggles. Of course, she'd be on his side against Athrun. It's clear she's still smitten with him, and he imagines she doesn't care much for Patrick Zala either. Actually, Patrick Zala bothers Yzak too. He wonders why his mother looks up to him. There's also these uncomfortable rumors about them that Yzak wishes he never heard. Also, the fact that she didn't seem to do much when he reported Athrun's incompetence to her.

Yzak motions for Flay to follow him. She looks to him with doe like eyes. He doesn't get this girl. When she's not being needy, she looks to him like a hopeless schoolgirl. It's oddly flattering. Yzak stops in front of a door and turns back to Flay.

"You can change into your standard uniform in her," he says. "When you're done, find me. Commander Le Creuset is going to brief us with new orders."

Her eyes lower the minute he says Le Creuset's name. There's this sort of sadness in her eyes all of a sudden.

"Yes, sir…" her voice quivers as she turns away from him.

Something happened. Yzak isn't sure what transpired between them, but she's so visibly scared of Le Creuset. It really shouldn't bother him. It's not exactly his business. Yet, it does.

Yzak walks towards the men's locker room and enters. Athrun is already changed out in his ZAFT uniform. They make eye contact. Athrun's eyes quickly shift away from his as he walks passed him. Yzak goes to his locker. He sets his helmet on the top shelf and unzips his pilot suit. He hangs it up inside. Yzak grabs the uniform coat, belt, and boots he stashed inside over night. He pulls on his jacket and buckles his belt around it. Finally, he pulls his boots over his feet. He leaves the locker room and finds Flay waiting for him.

"The commander should be waiting for us outside," Yzak says.

Flay follows him to a ramp that leads outside the pod. They exit the pod and meet with the rest of the group. Le Creuset is smiling down at Flay. She shifts behind him slightly as if she were hiding from their Commander. Le Crueset has to be in his late twenties at the very least. Yet, he's constantly leering at her. The creep factor of it makes Yzak uncomfortable.

"Follow me," Le Creuset orders.

The group follows Le Creuset inside a building. They walk through a beige hallway and into a small meeting room. Yzak holds the door open for Flay and closes it behind her. Le Creuset clears his throat as he walks to the front of the room.

"Commander Morassim seems to be having some trouble with the Archangel and the Strike," Le Creuset seems so overly amused by this. "We've been called in as his backup. I'm having you all transported in separate planes at 0 Eight Hundred Hours. Except for you Yzak - you're responsible for watching over our new addition."

Flay looks up to him. She smiles for only a second. Her cheeks turn bright red. She lowers her gaze at an angle strategically faced away from Commander Le Creuset.

"Athrun…" Le Creuset's eyes shift towards Athrun.

"Yes, sir?"

"I am putting you in charge of my team in my absence," Le Creuset says.

Yzak's blood boils. His nails dig into his palms as he looks to Athrun. Yzak bites the inside of his cheeks to prevent himself from verbally lashing out at both Le Creuset and Athrun.

"I won't let you down, sir," Athrun says with pride.

"I don't expect that you will, Athrun," Le Creuset places his hand on Athrun's shoulder for a moment and says, "You are all dismissed."

"Yes, sir," they all say in unison.

Flay follows Yzak outside of the room. Once they are far enough away from everyone, Yzak slams his fist against the wall.

"God damnit!" Yzak hisses.

"Sir…?" Flay walks around him so that she is now facing him. "Are you...okay?"

"It's nothing, Flay," he says.

"Um…?"

"What?" he snaps.

He looks to her. Her eyes become glossy and dejected. He regrets snapping at her. It's not her fault that Le Creuset was incompetent enough to put Athrun in charge.

"I'm sorry, Flay," he says. "Did you have a question?"

"Uh...I just wanted to know what 0 Eight Hundred Hours means," she says. "I'm confused."

"It's military time for 8 AM," he says.

"Oh…" she says. "Uh...thank you."

Yzak hadn't intended to ask Flay about Le Creuset, but now he's looking for any excuse to report him to Le Creuset's commanding officer. There seems to be a stray tear falling down her face. Did he make her cry by snapping at her? Yzak doesn't really want to encourage her crush on him, but perhaps he can exploit how she feels about him to get some dirt on his Commander.

Yzak brushes away her tear. He does his best to give her a soft smile. She gasps and her cheeks turn bright red as she looks up to him.

"Flay…?" he says. "Has Commander Le Creuset acted inappropriately towards you?"

She's quiet as she looks away from him. Her eyes look back towards him. "He's usually just really quiet."

"Flay, you know that you can trust me, right?" Yzak voice becomes uncharacteristically gentle and soothing. "There are rules and regulations in place in case an officer steps out of line. If he did something to you, tell me."

She gives a disheartened nod. "If he does, I will. But, really...I'm fine, sir. He doesn't really talk to me much."

It's such an obvious lie. Le Creuset has some sort of leverage over her if she's this afraid to tell him anything. He could promise her the world, and she'll still never tell him what Le Creuset's done to her. Perhaps, he'll get her to confess while they're separated from their Commander. Somehow, he'll figure out how exactly Flay came to be a ZAFT pilot. There's a story there, and when he finds out, he's going to end Le Creuset's military career.