By the time they had reached HQ, any humor in the situation had drained away. The transport had picked up all the stranded hunters, who had had a variety of reactions to the daring rescue, ranging from disbelieving to congratulatory. Jennie had a bad feeling that the disbelieving were right on the money when they said…

"You guys are SO going to get it." An older Hunter is yellow armor said, shaking his head.

"I always do." Axl shrugged as much as the shock harness would allow. The Hunter shook his head again.

"That was for the tarantula and playing pranks on your roommate. You disobeyed orders this time… you're dogfood, buddy."

"We already got the freaking picture." Jennie snapped, exhausted, hurt and annoyed. She didn't like to hear what her friends were in for. She had been the cause of it, but she was unhappily aware she would get off lightly. The only charge against her was recklessness, not disobedience. Jennie would much rather have shared her friends' punishment, since they had risked it for her.

Dagger's ears had wilted at all the pronouncements of doom, but Sebastian appeared to be practicing Zen. The Hunter turned his attention to him.

"How can you be so calm when Signas and X are going to rip you a new one?" He demanded, and Sebastian only smiled.

"My soul is calm because my heart is pure." He replied serenely. The Hunter stared at him for a moment, then shook his head and mumbled something about insanity. Jennie was just glad he had stopped pestering them.

"Oh, Axl… I'm so sorry for getting you into this." She said quietly to him, and he smiled back.

"It's nothing to worry about, Jennie. Communicator failures happen to the best of us." That reply made her want to shrivel and die. Because…

The transport finally came to a smooth halt at the landing pad. Everyone exited… and, sure enough, X, Zero and Signas were waiting for them. Signas was looking particularly pissed off, while X was serious. Zero just looked amused, but they weren't in his unit. He wasn't giving the dressing down.

X stepped forward as Signas glared away the straggling Hunters who were obviously hoping to overhear the proceedings. X regarded them for a moment.

"So what exactly happened?" He asked. After a brief hesitation, Axl quickly sketched the whole situation, including the fact that Dagger had held the pilot at gunpoint… under Axl's direction.

"I see. Well, that was bravely done. We're lucky you all survived." Was X's first, mild words. Axl started to relax, and even managed a grin. Dagger and Jennie also relaxed a little, while Sebastian still appeared to be meditating.

"Did he say at ease?" Signas snapped, and they tensed, apprehensive.

"You three are fined three weeks pay." X said, no longer mild. "Two weeks for disobeying orders and another week for threatening a fellow member of your unit. Consider yourselves on probation." Axl and Sebastian both took that fairly well… Axl from long experience, Sebastian philosophically. Dagger's ears drooped, and she looked down at her feet. Then X directed his attention to Jennie. "Why didn't you get out when we made the call? Was your communicator broken the whole time?"

Jennie swallowed hard. That question was exactly what she had been expecting, and it was what made her feel so guilty. She could only answer honestly…

"No. No, it wasn't. I just…" She looked down at her feet. "I lost my head, sir. I was so… so focused on fighting and everything that the sounds over the communicator were just noise, until I was in trouble. I'm sorry, sir." She glanced back up to see X regarding her unemotionally, and Zero… grinning?

"What exactly did you feel in combat, Jennie?" X asked gently, and she blinked. How could he have known that she had a strange reaction?

"It was… exciting, sir." She blushed. "It feels wrong saying this, but, I enjoyed it. I want to do it again…" She trailed off, hoping she didn't sound quite like a homicidal maniac. X sighed, then smiled faintly.

"That's called battle fever, Jennie, and some of us have problems with it." His glance towards Zero was full of meaning, and Zero shrugged. "It's rare, but not unknown. You'll need extra training to learn how to pay attention in spite of it." Jennie nodded, feeling grateful. She didn't want to get her friends in trouble ever again. "But for now, you're fined two weeks pay for recklessness in battle. Don't let it happen again. Dismissed!"

Later in the evening, Jennie was in one of the practice rooms. But there was no practice going on.

It had been turned into an impromptu dancing zone. With the battle won, everyone was celebrating… celebrating their victory and the euphoria of still being alive. And many were trying to numb the pain of loss.

Most units had suffered light casualties, but that only made the particular losses more painful to the sufferers. For those who had lost a lover or best friend, other friends were busy getting them drunk. The 0'th, in particular, was partying hard. In one of the ironies of warfare, the most veteran of units had suffered a disaster: The loss of a transport. The hit had been a freak occurrence. Transports landed far out enough for the chance of a hit to be minimal, and the covering fire of the 16'th made such hits even more difficult for the Mavericks. But a random shell had gotten through. The transports were made to deal with such things, but there was only so much that could be done. Between the armor, the shock harnesses and the fire retardant foam that was part of the transport's safety features, almost half the Hunters on the shuttle had been saved. Many critically injured. But a good twenty were dead, rookies and veterans alike. It hurt a lot.

But the dance helped to forget, and Jennie loved it. It had been a while since she'd had a chance to really dance…

Axl caught her as she whirled into his arms, and laughed. Jennie grinned back at him. She had been a little surprised to find out he was an excellent dancer.

The energetic rock song finished, and changed to a slower love ballad. Jennie blushed lightly as Axl pulled her close, and slid his arms around his waist as they slow danced. She loved songs that made for wild dancing, but slow songs also had an appeal when there was someone you liked close… And unlike many others, his hands were stopping just above her buttocks. Jennie had always hated it when men used slow dances to cop a feel.

"Axl?" She murmured into his ear, her breath tickling him. He nuzzled her cheek, making a small, inquiring sound deep in his throat. "Would you like to go to the garden?" Axl pulled back a little, startled. The garden was one of the few places in the base secluded enough for romantic trysts. Jennie gazed deeply into his eyes, then smiled playfully.

"I think it's time. Don't you?" Axl blushed, but nodded. They walked out hand in hand, and Jennie blushed as a few people whistled. Everyone could guess what they were up to.

The garden was not unoccupied. Jennie studiously ignored some of the sounds coming from the more secluded areas. The 5'th and 13'th hadn't left yet, and with space still at a premium, only an absolute idiot would interrupt what was going on.

Soon, they found a secluded corner to sit together. Jennie cuddled up to Axl as he nuzzled her, then spoke.

"Axl… would it bother you if I were human?" She had to know now, before she did this. Axl pulled back slightly, confused.

"Why would you ask that?" The question was coming out of nowhere. Jennie bit her lip lightly, then pulled something out of a pocket.

"Here… read this." She handed him a piece of paper, and Axl unfolded it, puzzled. It was a news article.

"This is about your creator…" He read it over carefully. "The Jennie buster?" He grinned at her, and she winced. Her brother had decided to name her prototype buster after her, but that wasn't the important part.

"Keep reading." She snuggled against him, resting her cheek on his chest as he read.

"Transferring a human to a Reploid body?" She could almost feel the moment when it clicked, and Axl gently touched her cheek. "…Who are you really?"

"Jennie Herkowitz." Jennie nuzzled his neck lightly, ignoring his indrawn breath. "He's my brother… I was paralyzed in a Maverick attack." She looked up as Axl touched her hair, gently stroking it.

"That explains so much…" The care packages, the prototype buster. Axl smiled at her, and Jennie relaxed. "It doesn't matter, Jennie. It won't matter to anyone else, either… you're a Reploid now." The problems with Reploids and humans getting together were mostly practical. Babies, family, the weight difference… but not all were practical, and Jennie smiled happily.

"Good…" He silenced her with a kiss, and she gripped his shoulders tightly…

Elsewhere…

"Where is Jennie?" Dagger scowled, looking at her cards. "She and Axl were going to play rummie with us…" Sebastian laughed softly.

"I saw them leave the dance floor together." He said with a slow smile. "To go to the gardens."

"Really?" Dagger's ears flattened slightly in surprise. "They're going to do it?"

"I think so." Sebastian frowned at his cards. "Do you have a five?"

"Go fish. Well, it's about time!" Dagger grinned gleefully. "They're just perfect for each other!" She sighed. "If only Subaru were staying…" Neither of them had seen the point in a long distance relationship, so they had both regretfully said goodbye.

"Mmm hmm." Sebastian nodded, taking a card. "Do you really want to play Go Fish?" He found the game mind numbing and rather tedious. Dagger flicked her ears.

"Not really… how about monopoly?"