Chapter Fifteen: Reconfiguring Relationships
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"Help! We're stuck in here!"

The base personnel had brought in a few of the Zentraedi workers to help rescue some of the trapped people. Kina and Aivea were among them. Under any other circumstance, Kina would've hated getting an off day canceled. But she was only too happy to help out in this case.

"I can hear you! Is anybody hurt?" she said, kneeling to get a better bearing.

"No! We're fine!"

Kina smiled. "Great! Watch your heads!" She started removing pieces of rubble from the pile. She was careful not to allow her fingers to go in too deep, lest she accidentally injure someone. It didn't take long for her to remove enough of the rubble to allow the workers inside to escape.

"Hey, thanks!"

Kina beamed. "Don't mention it. I love to help people out."

Aivea walked up to her. "Kina!"

Kina stood back up. "Yes?"

"That's the last, isn't it?"

"Uh…I think so."

"Actually, not quite!" came a voice from behind the two women. It was a U.N. Spacy officer, a lieutenant commander. On his sleeve was the patch of the Corps of Engineers.

"Uh…what's all this about?" said Kina.

The officer muttered something to himself before replying. "Who do you think has to build this place back up, young lady?"

Kina looked at the officer with a confused expression. "Uh…can I get back to you on that?"

The officer sweatdropped. "I'm with the Corps of Engineers. Who is in charge here?!" he said in an exasperated tone.

The foreman came out from his office. "I am."

"Right. I am here to let you know that the Corps of Engineers will be working on the repair of this building, and we would request that you allow some of your workers to assist."

"Oh, really? Hey, Kina, Aivea!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes?"

The foreman yawned. "You want the job?"

"Sure!"

"Eh, why not. Might be fun."

"There you go! I'm going to take a nap." The officer just sweatdropped.

The next day…

"So, what happened to 'I'm going to get you some time off', huh?" said Tommy.

"I tried to! Before I could say anything, the Commander had already made his decision. Apparently, those idiots in the Corps of Engineers are going to be short-handed the first day, and they're having pilots fill in for the guys who are out. The Commander, in all his infinite wisdom, took the liberty of assigning our sorry hides to help out."

Tommy sighed. "Well, I guess it's a welcome change from all the combat we've been in lately."

"Point taken. Come on, let's hit it."

They arrived at the damaged building an hour later. People were working on the collapsed sections all over the place. If it weren't for the fact that they recognized some of their fellow VF pilots, it would have been hard to believe that the Corps of Engineers was running short-handed. One of the workers approached the two of them.

"And you guys are?"

"I'm Lieutenant J.G. John Peterson, and this is Ensign Thomas Rickenbacker."

The worker held up a clipboard. "Peterson and Rickenbacker. Ah, yes. You're supposed to be working on the…roofs. Just around that way."

They went inside the building, and up a catwalk. The roof in question was busted in several places, with workers trying to reconstruct the ceiling side on the catwalk. Outside the hole, the exterior side was undergoing similar treatment.

"So, what are we supposed to do, grab a tool and just go?" said Tommy.

"I guess." They started, both deciding to join the "tool brigade" that was sending equipment up to the main workforce.

"One bag of concrete mix!"

"Concrete mix, check!"

"Welding torch!"

"Welding torch, check!"

"Look away!"

"Look away, check!"

"No, I mean 'look away'!"

"Huh-GAH!!! Damn, that thing is bright!"

Nearby, Kina and Aivea were putting their superior size to use by trying to hold a large vertical girder straight so that it could be welded in place, and permanently fixed later.

"Remember, don't wiggle it, Kina."

"I won't!" She tried to focus all her attention on her hands, trying to "lock" them in place. However, the more she thought about keeping her hands steady, the more they kept shaking.

"Kina…!"

"Sorry, sorry. I'm trying, really!"

Eventually, the weld was made. Kina was only too happy to let go.

"Man, that was nerve-wracking. Hey, I'm going to see if the roof workers need any help."

"Okay. Watch out for falling concrete slabs."

She approached one of the catwalks.

"Hey, do you guys need any heavy lifting done-what in the…! Hey, Tommy!"

Tommy turned around. "Kina!"

"Hi…no offense, but what are you doing here?"

"Filling in for some engineers that couldn't make it in."

"Oh."

John picked up the next item. "More concrete!"

"More concrete…more concrete?! John, I'm not read-OOF!" John's toss hit Tommy in the upper body, knocking him over.

"Ah! Tommy, are you okay?" She got the bag off of his chest.

Tommy got up. "Smooth move, Lead."

"Sorry. Oh, hello again."

"Hello." said Kina with a smile.

Suddenly, one of the other workers called down. "Hey, where's the concrete?!"

Kina handed the heavy bag to the next worker in the line. "Sorry about that…!"

Meanwhile, near the bottom of the catwalk…

"Is that it?"

"Yeah. Leave the torch here. Make sure you don't let the tip touch anything."

"Right, right." The second man put the torch down on the ground. However, the torch head was right under a scaffold rope, which led up to one of the rather hastily constructed catwalks…

Kina was now acting as a living elevator, helping to get workers inside and out faster than before.

"Okay, going up. Hang on!" She put her hand up to the hole, allowing the workers sitting in her hand to get up onto the roof. She suddenly sniffed the air. "Hey…does anybody else smell that?"

"He who smelt it dealt it," said one of the workers.

Kina rolled her eyes. "Not that! I smell something…burning!"

Tommy sniffed. "I don't smell anything. Zentraedi senses?"

"Must be, because I swear I can smell it!"

Tommy passed another bag over to the worker next to him. "Probably nothing serious, Kina. I wouldn't worry." He gave her a reassuring smile. However, that attempt at reassurance was severely undermined by the sudden drop that their catwalk took. The scaffold rope had given way, being burnt off by the heat coming from the head of that torch. John and most of the workers managed to grab onto the railings and keep from being thrown off the catwalk, but Tommy wasn't so lucky. The jarring drop literally took the floor out from under him, and he fell, hitting his head against the railing. Then, he slid down the now-diagonal catwalk, unable to stop himself.

"Oh no!" shouted John. Tommy's limp body slid to the end of the catwalk, and was about to fall off.

"No!" Kina rushed to the end, just as Tommy fell off the catwalk. She reached out with her hand, and caught him in mid-air, saving his life.

"Tommy? Tommy, please say something! Please!!"

Tommy slowly opened his eyes. They were glazed and tired-looking, a dead giveaway of a bad concussion.

"Kina…?"

Kina immediately brightened. "Yes, yes! It's me. I saved you."

"Kina…"

"What is it?"

"…I…I love you, Kina…" Tommy gasped, then went limp again. Kina's eyes grew huge.

"Tommy…Tommy? Tommy! Oh, damn…" She spun around. "Someone get an ambulance or something! Quick!!"

She looked at the unconscious human in her hand. "You've got to make it, Tommy. You've got to…but did you really mean that…?"
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Tommy slowly opened his eyes. He was in a hospital bed, with John sitting in a chair against the wall of the room he was in.

"Hey, man. You're up…finally."

"Oww…I feel like a train ran over me…how long was I out?"

"Eh…not too long. Just two…"

Tommy sighed. "Two hours?"

John sweatdropped. "No. Two days."

"Two DAYS!? What the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Tommy thought for a second, and then groaned. "After going up on that catwalk, it's mostly a blur. Sorry."

"Some idiot left a hot torch near one of the ropes holding up the catwalk. It broke, and the whole thing dipped. You fell, and hit your head against the railing."

Tommy rubbed his head. "That explains the headache."

"Kina saved your life. You almost fell off, but she caught you."

"Kina." Tommy chuckled. "God bless that girl."

"Yeah. Hey, listen, I've got to go. The doctors say you should be well enough to get back in the air in maybe two more days."

"All right. Take care of yourself, John." They grasped hands, and John left.

The doctors' predictions turned out to be correct; Tommy was out of the hospital two days later. He went down to the rec center to get in some missed workout time. As he was taking a break, he took a look on the other side of the dividing gate out of curiosity. To his surprise, Kina was sitting at one of the tables, finishing a glass of fruit juice. He carefully made his way across the floor.

"Kina!"

She looked down. "Hmm? Tommy! Glad to see you recovered finally! That was a really bad hit, y'know!" She picked him up, and placed him on the table.

"So I heard. I kinda don't remember much."

Kina's expression changed from cheerful to somewhat sheepish. "Uh…do you remember me showing up?"

"…Vaguely. John told me you saved me again. I owe you my life, Kina."

Kina couldn't avoid smiling. "You don't owe me anything. I would do it a hundred times over, in a heartbeat."

"Thanks, Kina."

Kina blushed a little. "Uh…Tommy, I was hoping to talk to you about something. You absolutely sure you remember NOTHING?"

"Nothing from what I would guess is just before the accident. Why?"

"Uh…well, you see, when I caught you, you weren't unconscious the whole time. You said something to me, and then passed out."

Tommy blinked. "I did? What did I say?" His eyes widened a little. "I hope it wasn't anything rude!"

Kina blushed even more. "Uh…it wasn't. In fact, it was the exact opposite…!"

"What do you mean?"

Kina took a deep breath, and then managed a small smile. "You…you told me that…well…you loved me."

Tommy didn't react at first, but then Kina's words really hit him. "Oh…uh…well, I-uh, that is…oh, God…"

Kina put a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to corner you like that. You don't have to say anything."

"No, no, it's okay…although I'm not sure exactly what to say…"

Kina sighed. "I guess I wasn't sure if you meant it, or if it was the…y'know…"

"The concussion. Um…well…"

"It was very strange. I mean, the last time I heard those words spoken to me, it was by family."

Tommy sighed. "I'm sorry, Kina."

"No! No, it's all right. Really. Actually…to tell you the truth…I was kinda hoping it was for real…"

Tommy looked at her. "Seriously?"

Kina turned a bright red. "Eh…well…okay, I admit it. It was weird, but…hearing it also made me happy."

"I see…so, what do we do now?"

Kina sighed, and then smiled. "I'll tell you this. I'm not giving up on our friendship…but maybe we could forge closer ties…"

Tommy thought for a second. "Well, I do care about you, Kina. Very much. But I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"You won't. I'm just saying…maybe we could close it up a little?"

Tommy looked down. He then laughed. "I've been knocked off catwalks, shot at by aircraft, nearly smashed into bits, and launched out of missile tubes. Now, I'm about to start an affectionate relationship with a girl 50 times my size. I don't see any problems!"

Kina giggled. "That sense of humor…you're really something."

"Thank you. Now, how the heck to seal the deal…oh, that'll work!" He went over to one of Kina's hands. He put one hand under it, bent down, and kissed the top of her hand, causing Kina to blush a little. "I am for you, madam," he said in his best fake British accent.

Kina beamed. "Goofball!" They both laughed together.