AN: Whee! Another chapter. I had some more spare time for some reason, so I jumped at the chance to write while I still can. I'm glad you liked the mini-story...I think it helped me vent some of the residual angst that comes from writing angsty stuff.

Thanks Stormy for the review! I agree, I feel bad for all the pain Reverie's managing to find herself in. Hopefully the next few chapters will give her a bit of a break. I'm excited to write the next chapter for sure. Also, you've gotten me started on Angel Beats. *starts smacking plot bunnies with a hammer*. Thanks to Logius Scriba as well! :D

I didn't listen to anything specific for this, just a lot of old ska and a song I used to listen to while on the range which I can't remember the name of but will post next time. Wow that was a long sentence.

On to the chapter!

Wine Shots

"One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes men mistake words for thoughts."

Samuel Johnson

"Put the pistol back, you're not using it today."

Lyle watched with amusement as Reverie sent him a confused glance. They were on the range for a blackmailed marksmanship lesson and she seemed to be downright puzzled with his approach to teaching.

"Aren't you teaching me to shoot?" she asked. They'd spent the previous hour going through the basics of marksmanship, Aiming, Breathing, and Trigger Control. Now it was time to apply her newfound information.

"I am, but you're not going to learn the foundations with a pistol." He said. As he'd guessed, she'd only been given the basic firearms training that AEU officials received when it was expected that they wouldn't be at the forefront of battle. She could handle a pistol and he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of her shots, but her accuracy could be much better with the right training. He stepped to the wall of the range and entered a string of commands into the wall-mounted computer system. A few seconds later the rear metal wall of the range lifted, then another behind it to reveal an elongated rifle target. The shooting distance had doubled.

"I didn't realize it was a full range…" She murmured as she watched the pistol station move out of the way automatically, making way for an empty steel slab of flooring that was roughly the length of her body. Lyle had already adjusted the range for her biometrics and he laughed when she looked at him, blue-grey eyes wide with curiosity as the automated voice of the range told her to assume her firing position.

"Haro, take over control of the range." He said to the little bot.

"Got it! Got it!" Haro announced, bouncing with a cable in his mechanical mouth.

"So, what do you want me to do?" she asked, watching as he pulled an antiquated rifle from the wall-mounted storage unit and balanced a box of ammunition on it.

"Shed your jacket." He said, pulling at drawers here and there until he found a few sets of leather gloves. They were nowhere near as nice as his and he shook his head as he felt the index fingers. How people could shoot with leather so thick separating them from the trigger was beyond him. He chose the set with the most worn-in fingertips and tossed them to her. "Keep those with you, they'll be your shooting gloves for now."

She nodded and draped her CB Jacket over the back of the pistol stand before pulling on the gloves. "How do they feel?" he asked, laying the rifle on the right side of the steel platform and setting the ammunition next to it.

"They're a little tight to be honest." She said, opening her hand to show him. Her hands were bigger than he'd thought…it was good. Larger hands meant steadier shooting. Should he have been surprised? Probably not. She was tall enough to tower over the other women on board, stare Tieria in the face, and marginally overshadow Setsuna, so it shouldn't have been unusual for her to have longer, larger hands. "They'll work though." She said, eyeing the rifle nervously. He could see that she was lightly holding the inside of her lip between her teeth and he laughed.

"We'll get you a better set eventually. Are you nervous, Rev?" he asked, watching her eyes shoot to the ground and her cheeks tint pink. It was adorable. He half expected a defensive response but instead she nodded.

"I've never used an antique rifle before…" she said, looking at him. "…I've never actually used a rifle before, GN or otherwise." She admitted. Her posture lacked its normal radiating confidence and it was endearing to see her so worried. He placed a hand on each of her now exposed shoulders and looked down at her with the best disarming look he could manage.

"You'll be fine. Now lay down on your stomach." He said, giving her a little shove. She did as she was told and he knelt beside her. She looked up at him expectantly. "The most important part of your shot isn't what you learned earlier, it's all in your body position. Pull your right knee up. Good. Now Left elbow forward, right elbow back. All of your weight will be on the left elbow because your right hand will be pulling the trigger and securing the rifle butt in your shoulder." He said, shifting her here and there as needed. She winced as he shifted her right leg further up and he pulled his hand back immediately.

"Sorry, are you ok?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah. I have bruises from holding onto Cherudim, that's all." She said, tracing the line where he imagined the bruises would lie. He felt a pang of guilt over it, but he still maintained that he'd made the best choice he could at the time.

"It's alright, I agree." She said, responding to his thought. "I'd rather be shaken up and have a few bruises than have sand-filled lungs and a bullet-riddled body."

"Still, you're lucky you didn't have internal damage from the G's. We pulled quite a few…"

"I'm just glad you came back for me." Somehow, that little confession filled him with pride. She smiled, then resumed her position. "Now teach me to shoot, Mr. Dylandy."

She listened intently for the next twenty minutes and applied his instructions carefully. Eventually, after half an hour, she'd fired ten rounds from the out-dated rifle with a surprising amount of success. What really surprised him more than anything though was how quiet she'd been through the whole process. She was an excellent student, to put it simply. He watched as she fired two more rounds, taking a good minute in-between them to recheck her posture and breathing. After the last shot he saw her left wrist shake and tapped her on the shoulder. She pulled one ear of her heavy sound-protection off.

"Break time." He said, standing and taking the ammunition with him. Some habits died hard, and from a young age he'd gotten into the routine of returning the ammunition to its lock-box during breaks.

"You've been shooting since you were a child?" she asked, standing and removing the ballistic glasses, her ear protection now resting around her neck. He'd almost forgotten that she could hear him as he mused about things.

He nodded. "Neil and I were part of a competitive shooting team in Ireland." They'd competed with each other back then with a fiery intensity that had left their coach shaking his head. Of course, they were never really able to compare their skills. Neil was amazing with carefully executed distance shots while Lyle was able to be accurate at a closer range on the fly.

"Like a rifle and a pistol?" She leaned against the wall next to him, looking down the range absentmindedly as she drank her water.

"Exactly like that." That was one of the many ways that they were different.

She shifted the waistband of her uniform pants and pulled up her tight black undershirt a little, looking at her hip curiously. "Is it usual to have bruising on your hips after this?" she asked, showing him the faint purple mark that was starting to develop on the smooth, pale skin. His eyebrow raised slightly of its own accord as he saw a hint of teal lace below the mark. He looked away and nodded.

"That's one way to know for sure if someone's a sniper, or if they have a decent amount of rifle experience."

"Are you bruised?" she asked, slipping her waistband back in place.

"I used to be, now the skin is rough enough to handle the pressure." He said. "Although I doubt you'll get to that point. I've been shooting for over fifteen years." He mused. The idea of her hip being roughened from shooting was one he didn't like. He looked at her arms, exposed due to the cut of the female shirt. They were feminine for sure, but under the smooth, soft skin it was obvious that she wasn't weak. Strong bones were covered by hints of the shapes that he'd expect to see from his own arms. He had the suspicion that the rest of her body was most likely covered with the taught, feminine muscle that was present in her limbs.

"It is." She replied, snapping him out of his not-so-private thought bubble. "…if it's not conceited to say."

"Damn, Sorry Rev." he muttered, embarrassed. He looked at her, expecting annoyance, but she was looking down the range thoughtfully. "It must be a pain to have to listen to thoughts like that." He pressed.

She nodded. "It's a major setback when getting to know someone, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" he asked. He was sure he had a general idea. Someone like her was sure to elicit all kinds of less-than-pleasant thoughts from the male population. Of course, being a man, he knew exactly what kinds of thoughts they were.

"Hearing a guy's thoughts before he speaks to me generally ruins whatever hope he had of making a good impression." She laughed under her breath. "I can't blame them though. How are they supposed to know that I can hear them think those kinds of things?"

He felt guilty. He knew that she could hear. "I can stop, Rev." He'd kept his thoughts fairly clean around her, but he was sure that some were still teetering on the edge of inappropriate.

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I am." He said. Of course, he'd have to convince himself that he was completely and utterly friend-zoned to do it, but if she wanted him to he didn't see why not.

"No, I mean, are you serious when you flirt, through thoughts or otherwise?"

He hadn't expected that question and he looked at her in surprise. Was this a test? Was there a right answer? Was this some kind of female game that should have him tip-toeing around the subject?

"Yes or no, Lyle. If I wanted to play mind games with you I could do much better than asking you a blunt question."

True. She was right. If she wanted to she could have him chasing his proverbial tail in his head. "Yes, I'm serious." He said before he could decide not to. "I've never been the type to flirt with someone I had no intention of picking up."

"So you had the intention of picking me up?" she asked, a sly grin tugging at her features. Her eyes danced with devilish mischief.

Damn it. Think fast. "Of course. I already picked you up with Cherudim. It was too rough for you, though." He joked, half expecting a playful slap. "Seriously though, do you want me to stop?" he asked. He was never one to intentionally make women uncomfortable. Joking was fine, as long as it didn't offend them. There was no need to be offensive.

She looked down the range in thought for a moment. "If I say no, does this mean you'll be more shameless than ever? I don't want you thinking you have permission to scandalize me at all hours of the day."

"There are better things we could do all hours of the day." He said, tilting his head, voice heavy with implication.

"Lyle!" she exclaimed, swatting his shoulder.

"Whoa!" he said, holding up his hands in mock upset. "I meant teaching you to shoot! Whose scandalizing who now!?"

She shook her head and laughed, the jovial look pulling her face into a carefree expression that was rarely seen on Ptolemy. It was refreshing. "Fine. You can keep flirting." She said, catching her breath after her laugh. "If you didn't I think I'd go crazy. Everyone's thoughts are so heavy here." She admitted, leaning against the wall again. She looked happy. It was something he found himself enjoying. Haro bounced contentedly as well, and it felt like they weren't aboard a ship that was identified as a terrorist vessel, leaving the ruins of a terrorist base, moving forward to destroy a worldwide military force.

No.

Right now they just felt like two people, joking about normal things and the air was somehow lighter. He inhaled and let his lungs fill with the relaxed feeling before letting out a long breath. "We'd better get back to work. A few sessions a week and we'll have you sniping people in no time."

She laughed and set her water down, laying on the platform again. Maybe her blackmail had been a good thing. If they could steal away time in the range, locked away from the rest of the world, maybe he wouldn't be swallowed up by the darkness that weighed on all Ptolemy's crew. If they could hide away from the world for a little while here and there then they'd maybe, just maybe, come out of this alright.

"You coming?" Reverie asked, looking back at him with the oversized hearing protection device on her head, the oversize glasses and undersized gloves making her look adorable. Adorable and carefree.

"Yeah. Just didn't realize how much I missed this."

"This?" she asked, tilting her head.

He nodded. "Friendship."

Two Hours Later

Reverie listened to Tieria as he explained his plan for the second time. The first time that he'd explained it he'd spoken what sounded like computer to her. 'Circuit' 'connection' 'current complications'. She'd been a mechanical engineering student for years, but she had only heard half of what he'd said. He spoke so quickly and with so much animation that he was hard to follow. She'd spent half of the first explanation just watching him hum with excitement. Part of her wondered if he'd gotten a knee to the head as well. Regardless, something was wrong with him. He'd gone from depressing during the Katharon recovery effort to confused and almost jumpy-nervous after finding Allelujah, to neurotically interested in furthering Ptolemy's fighting strength.

He knew something that the rest of them didn't…something that he wasn't ready to share but that piqued Reverie's curiosity to no end.

"Alright." She said, steeling herself to repeat what she'd just heard. "So. You want to recreate the experiment that the AEU did."

"Yes."

"So you want to make a full-body system that will let me access the power of the GN Drives and which will also amplify my current abilities."

"Yes."

"The only way I can sense the Pseudo Drives coming and overpower them is through pain. Will this also amplify my pain?"

"We don't know." He said, studying her face almost anxiously. He was like a schoolchild who was asking if he could pull wings off a fly, and part of her wanted to let him.

"How long until you will?" she asked.

"Not until we've made the system and have done a trial-run of it." He said.

"And how will this help Ptolemy?" She understood how it would, but she wanted to hear Tieria's expectations.

"By allowing us to have advanced warning when enemies are approaching, and by limiting the power of attacking mobile suits, thus letting them be destroyed much easier."

"In theory." She confirmed. There was no way to know it for sure.

"Yes, in theory." He replied, eyeing her anxiously again.

Somehow asking direct questions had given her more information than his twenty-minute babbling spiel had. What could she do? She could say no, but she'd still be in pain from the drives and she'd still not really have a permanent place aboard the ship. She could be easily replaced as a gunner by someone with more experience, and then she'd be stuck without anything useful to do. Without more information she couldn't really say 'no' to the plan, and getting more information meant running a trial. Of course, this would take time as the trial system would have to be designed and created. She could think about it in more detail while they were building it. At least that way it would be ready if she decided that she really was ok with the idea. "And Shia and Ian have agreed to work on it?" she asked, wanting to watch Tieria squirm a little longer.

"Yes." He said, nodding fervently.

She tilted her head and stayed silent for a long moment, waiting until she thought Tieria's head would explode in anticipation. "Alright, I'll do it." She said.

"Very well, I'll let Ian and Shia-!"

"…on the condition that you can't make me wear any more ridiculous outfits." She said, holding up a hand to interrupt the Meister.

"But-!"

"I don't care what your reasoning is. It's uncomfortable and unnecessary."

"It did save your life, though." Tieria pointed out. She knew that it had been a bad idea to mention in the Katharon report that her oversized flight suit had let her escape being buried alive.

"It may have, but no more. If you present it in a convincing manner I might consider it in the future, but it will be my choice." She said, mentally putting her foot down.

"Fine. If I agree to that, you are not allowed to strike me again." He said resolutely.

She shook her head in disbelief. It was quite possible that she'd reach the point where she wanted to backhand him again. "You have no bargaining chips to work with, Tieria." She said, pointing out the obvious. He didn't respond and she shook her head. "Fine. I won't hit you again if you agree to not sedate me again." It seemed fair enough.

"You brought that upon yourself. I was merely ensuring your maximum operating efficiency."

"With a knee to the back of the head?" she questioned. That made him freeze. Bingo.

He sighed. "Fine. I agree to refrain from sedating you in the future, as well as to allow you to wear what you please during missions, as long as you agree to proceed with the test run of this system and you agree to refrain from striking me." He said, summing up their bargaining session.

"I agree." She said, uncrossing her arms and extending her hand. Tieria looked at it with disdain for a moment before awkwardly taking hers as well. They shook quickly and without any rhythm.

"Carry on with your duties on the bridge, I will inform Ian Vashti and Shia Mazarenco of your participation." He said.

Reverie nodded, then looked at him. "Tieria"

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

The question caught him off-guard, it was easy to see. A flash of what seemed to be hate? No, worry? No, fear crossed his face. It was gone in a split second, covered by the mask of his usual indifference. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" he said. He wanted to know so he could avoid slipping up in the same way in the future, she imagined.

"You're acting differently, that's all." She replied. "Ever since coming back from Allelujah's rescue mission."

He froze. "That's…I was...I was worried about Allelujah. That's all." He said, clearly searching as quickly as possible for an answer.

"Ah." She said, knowing better than to believe him. "I thought so. Don't worry Tieria, we'll all be fine." She said, playing into his lie. She'd learned early on that it was better to leave Tieria to figure things out on his own rather than prod him.

"Of course we will. I'll make sure of that." He said. His expression was resolute and determined, but it was mixed with the faintest hint of pain. If she'd ever wanted to read someone's thoughts, it was Tieria's at this exact moment. Who was he thinking about? Christina? Lichty? Dr. Moreno? Neil? She didn't know, but it was obvious from his determination that he didn't plan on losing anyone else.

"If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me." She said. It was ridiculous, she knew. There was no way Tieria would ever willingly speak to her about anything that didn't pertain to a mission of some sort, but she couldn't walk away from his expression without at least extending the gesture.

"I do." He curtly replied. She left without another word.

Several Days Later

Reverie swished a sample glass of wine, taking note of the thin tendrils of it that stuck to the glass. "I'd estimate about 60 years old, so sometime in the 2250's." she lifted the sample to her mouth, sniffing it before taking a small sip. It hung on her tongue for a minute before she discreetly spat it back out into the designated silver spittoon and counted the length that it lasted on her tongue. "I'd say the Chalisseur Shiraz."

-That's nine out of ten so far, if she gets the last two she'll have it.-

The man in front of her nodded, tapping away at the file in front of him. Why was she standing in front of a table of expensive wines? Because Sumeragi had insisted that she be sent along with Tieria and Setsuna to the A-Laws banquet. After picking through her past, Tieria had suggested having her be the bartender for the event, as she had been part-time during school, but she'd disagreed. After escaping the AEU she'd found employment here and there as a fairly reputable Sommelier. Being able to hear people's thoughts made it incredibly easy to pick a wine that they would like, and she'd managed to make somewhat of a name for herself in Germany. It had been a false name, but it was the name she was using today. Of course, Wang Liu Mei had been the one to suggest her as a Sommelier, but the only way to secure the position without raising suspicions would be to get the job the old fashioned way: through skill. After the two-hour roasting she'd been given along with the other ten applicants, it was unlikely that anyone could say she didn't have the ability.

She continued with the next glass after clearing her palette with acidity-balanced water. She could hear the nervous thoughts of the four remaining applicants. There were only two positions to be given, and a banquet with guests as wealthy as the A-Laws administration was sure to result in massive tips. Reverie wasn't interested in tips, though. She was interested in the interaction that she could gain by moving around the room, picking brains here and there. It wouldn't be out of place for her to brush against one of the officials while pouring wine, nor would it be out of place for her to chat with them here and there. Both of those luxuries would give her better access to their thoughts, and both were also luxuries she wouldn't have if she were stuck behind a bar.

"2283 Perdeau Merlot." She said. The acidity was far too low for it to be anything else, and they'd only listed one Merlot in the samples.

He nodded again and tapped away at the file. "And the finale one?" he said, clearly wanting to get this part over with. From what she could hear of his mental muttering he'd had a horrible night with a newborn that had been crying intermittently, and a wife that was too exhausted to do anything but beg him to take care of it. Tough. She cleared her palate again and readied herself for the last sample. The list of possible samples was 60 bottles long, but they only tasted twelve. She'd never admit it to Tieria, but she was tuning out the man's thoughts as much as possible. Call it pride, but she wanted to pass the test without her abilities. "2301….No. 2305….." she said, lifting the glass to her lips. She let it sit on her tongue, then spat. It had an aftertaste of cherries and a hint of almost wood. "Pinot Noir. Fournier-Bleu" She said.

"2305 Fournier-Bleu Pinot Noir?" he asked, looking up at her before finalizing the file.

She nodded.

"Very well-done, Ms. Faust." He said, nodding curtly. "You will join Ms. Dupont as a Sommelier for the banquet event." He said, shaking her hand. It was a firm shake and she thanked him while she tried to drown out the sad and snippy remarks of the other two remaining candidates. More than that, she was glad to be joining the blonde Frenchwoman. From the thoughts that Reverie had managed to pick up, she was a member of Katharon who was applying for the same reasons as Reverie; information gathering. Of course, Reverie would have a much easier time of it.

Almost immediately they were escorted by car to the massive wine cellar underneath the event space. They'd spend the next few hours and the entirety of the next day becoming familiar with the wines that the estate had to offer. Despite what one would commonly think, it was an exhausting job. She had to be extra-diligent in her examination of the stock because of the importance of the guests. The more money a patron had, the higher the likelihood that they'd have extensive experience with wines. She followed quietly behind the two of them as the cellar was explained. She didn't want to miss a thing.

Every detail could be the difference between being found out or not.