Disclaimer: Do you remember my cat Miel? That one who thinks he owns me? Well, I swear he is IDENTICAL to Shrek 2's pussy with boots! Really! He even makes those same eyes when he is begging for food! What? Oh, right, Cyborg 009 doesn't belong to me.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter sixteen: Caught

----------------------------------------

009 woke up with a blissful sensation; he felt something warm and soft against him. For a moment he had no idea what it was, but then he opened a heavy eyelid and found his golden deity lying next to him, her back to his chest, his arm over her waist. They fit like spoons, he thought with a smile.

The previous night came back to his mind and a warm feeling spread through his body. He suddenly felt an absolute worship for the girl nested in his arms and unable to stop himself, he planted a kiss on top of her head.

003 stirred, opened her eyes and turned her head to him, smiling lazily.

"Good morning beautiful," he said, returning her smile altogether with a light kiss on her lips.

"Good morning mon beau cher. Did you sleep tight?" She asked, her hand brushing tenderly his rebellious morning hair.

"Oh yeah, very much. What about you?"

009 lay on his back and 003 rested her head on his chest. She started drawing little circles over his torso while she gave a content sigh. 009 caressed her bare shoulders.

"I had this wonderful dream," she said in a teasing tone. 009 decided to follow her game.

"Really? What was it about?"

"About this guy you don't know."

"Is that so?"

"Oui."

"So you have me for one night and then you already start dreaming about other guys?"

She giggled and planted a light kiss on his mouth, then added, "alright alright, I lied. I dreamt about you."

"I already knew it," said 009 as a matter of fact.

"Oh yeah? You know it all don't you?" She said raising an eyebrow; a mischievous smile touched her lips. Then, without warning, she started attacking 009 with a shower of tickles.

"Ahh hahah hahaha noo wait stop! Hah! No fair!"

009 laughed hard, twitching and kicking, but 003 would not stop her merciless attack. He suddenly spun her around on the mattress and trapped her body under his, immobilizing her hands with his own, his face inches from hers.

"Cheater," he said to the giggling girl, and then he caught her lips with his mouth, tasting her with his tongue. 003 moaned as their kiss deepened. 009 decided to free her hands, allowing her to cover his body with fervent caresses, he followed her example.

Joe separated from her and spoke almost breathless. "Francoise, you make me feel like if I floated, like if I were moving yet standing still."

009 lowered his lips to her again, but she stopped him, her eyes wide open.

"Wait, Joe. We ARE moving!"

"What?"

They stayed still for a second. It was true, they could feel --even if it was almost imperceptible-- the ship balancing softly! 003 fixed her eyes and then spoke worriedly to 009.

"It's 004, he is at the cabin! We are out of the cave but still near the beach."

"What? Why? Where is he taking the Dolphin?"

"I don't know but we have to get out of here."

"Right."

They stood up and dressed as fast as they could. 003 looked at the rose petals and candles scattered all over the place.

"Joe, there is no way we can leave your room like this! If someone gets in..."

"Allow me."

003 observed suddenly as Joe disappeared and then a blur went through the room, magically cleaning up the spots it traveled by. Seconds later 009 appeared, candles and petals inside a garbage bag in his hand.

003 smiled amused at this. "Great, we know now who will clean the house if we get married."

009 Was taken back, his face unable to cover his surprise to her words. 003 blinked; she never thought of the implications when the joke left her lips, now she didn't know if to feel embarrassed, amused, or hurt.

"Eh... I was kidding Joe."

Joe reacted from is awe and nodded. He then tossed the bag under the bed, which ornaments had been cleared as well.

"Right, eh... I will get this out later. Uhm… We better get going."

"…Yeah."

003 moved her eyes away from him and observed beyond the wall.

"We can leave now, 004 is still in the cabin." She moved to the door and opened it.

009, who was behind her, reached to grab her hand but he stopped at the last moment, he wasn't sure why.

003 got out and he followed close. They made their way down the hallway heading towards the deck access, from there, they could jump to the sea and swim to the shore, after that they would see the way to get into the house unnoticed.

That was their unspoken plan. They didn't talk about it but somehow their actions seemed more and more coordinated. All the sudden, 003 stopped, placing a hand on 009's chest for him to do the same.

"Francoise? What?"

"004 is coming this way. We have to hide! Now!"

They searched around the hallway, but there was no escape near! 009 then saw a little door he had never seen before, he opened it and pulled 003 in. They closed the door at the same instant 004 was turning the corner.

The space was incredibly dark and narrow; they had to squeeze sideways, chest to chest in order to fit in. They supported their weight on the door, due to the fact that there were too many things in the other wall; 003 observed that there were several valves and buttons, and also some tubes, it seemed that they were in some sort of maintenance compartment. No wonder they hadn't seen it before, it was Dr. Gilmore or Professor Kezumi who took care of such things.

"Joe... why didn't you just clicked on your back tooth to take us out of the hallway?" 003 whispered.

"Eh... I guess I panicked, but hey, we could make out while 004 goes away," 009 joked in an undertone.

"Shhh... here he comes."

Steps were heard coming their way; they were slow and steady, the couple could hear them getting closer and closer, and then the steps stopped.

003 and 009 weren't moving, they weren't even breathing. 003 didn't dare to look out. Then a ray of light invaded their little hiding place and their support suddenly disappeared.

"Oww!"

"Aïe!"

They fell irremediably to the floor with a loud thud, 003 on top of 009. The responsible for their ungraceful descent, --and his noisy black boots-- was now next to their faces, then, lifting their eyes, they saw a pair of red pants, a black belt, a pair of arms crossed over a chest with golden buttons and then the face of 004, altogether with his grey hair, his silver eyes and that smug smile of his.

"Well, how interesting! What do we have here? 003 and 009 nonetheless! I see Dr. Gilmore managed to work out the problem with the mind separation, but it seems there are now some... issues with the body separation."

003 and 009 went so red that 004's uniform was pale in comparison. They stood up as fast as they could. Not daring to look at their team-mate straight to the eye.

009 spoke at last, or something similar.

"Hi uhm… 004… Eh... We... We were... I mean, we were just, I... She... Uhm... "

004 Chuckled, moving his head from one side to the other, he seemed to be highly entertained.

"Ahh, youth... I hope you both had a good night."

Their reaction, if anything, did nothing but confirm 004's wild guess; their collective blushes intensified as their frames became rigid.

Why didn't an evil cyborg attacked right away so they could avoid all that embarrassment?

009 gulped and spoke with a more comprehensible language. "You won't say anything, right Albert?"

004 looked at them and placed his hand under his chin, the smile never lessening. He thought of how much the others would laugh after hearing this. Oh the joy.

003 spoke, her voice almost suppliant, "please?"

004 chuckled again. Ah, to be young and in love. They reminded him of himself and Hilda. He finally replied. "Say what?"

009 blinked. "You know, about us and--"

The grey haired man interrupted him. "About who? All I know is that I came here to take the Dolphin out, in order to test the changes made by Dr. Gilmore yesterday morning. I have been here the entire time, all by myself. I haven't seen anyone else."

004 turned around and walked away, his stroll relaxed, his hands at his nape.

"Thanks!" 003 shouted after him.

"Don't thank me. I haven't seen you." He shouted back without turning his back.

003 and 009 looked at each other and couldn't stop the laughter, but they fell silent after some seconds, no one saying a word. 003 found her shoes very interesting for some reason.

"Let's go," he finally said.

"Right."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Aïe is something similar to "Oww" in French.
Final chapter is getting closer. Stay tuned!

GA2: Thanks so much for everything! You've really helped me to improve my writing and my English!