Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: You're still psychic, don't worry, but this time, I say it's your twisted mind, given at what point in the chapter you figured it out. :P And your twisted mind should love this...

Frog1: I missed most of the episodes towards the middle of PRIS, and the one with Phantom was one of them. :(

C.C.C: I love it when he saves her. :P You'll see soon enough which half of your guess was right. (But knowing me, I'll end up changing the plot at the last minute and the story goes off in the completely opposite direction. :P)

Mz. Daydream: It was about time he got some sense knocked into him. :D Ashley won't have to break him as much in this story as in some others.

Jenny: He cares, and it took him long enough:P Ben is not Cosmos, but I did consider the idea for awhile. Hehe...

TrueRomantic: Here's more, sorry for the wait.

Amanda: I'm glad you like it. I don't think there are enough PRIS fics, good or bad.

hmmart: Here's another one.

Funky in Fishnet: I just couldn't resist having him save her. :P

the-power-of-love: The way things are going right now, you'll have to wait awhile to see why Andros doesn't morph. He might show up in a few fights, but this part isn't very action-heavy to begin with, so I don't know for sure.

Chapter 12

"What did you do today?" Ashley tried, nestling her head against Ben's shoulder as she watched the ads on the movie screen.

"You know I have practice today?"

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "Anything else?"

He tore himself away from the movie screen to spare her an annoyed glance. "No."

"Oh," she said. "I..."

Ashley let her voice trail off, feeling silly talking to the air when she knew he wasn't listening. She sighed silently and tried to relax against him, but her mind refused to slow down.

If I told you that I almost died today, she thought at him, what would you do? Would you hold me and tell me how much you love me? Or would you just wait until the lights go down and grab at me? Would you even care?

Ashley sighed again, doubts beginning to nag at her. She knew she loved Ben, but lately, she had begun to wonder if he loved her, or if he was just using her, wanting something she knew she wasn't ready to give.

"Hey." Ben tapped her face hard. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry," she murmured, her mouth opening in a yawn. "Guess I'm just tired."

"Better wake up, then." He smirked. "We didn't come here to sleep, after all."

Ashley didn't answer, not having the energy to laugh and force some attempt at humor. She was momentarily relieved as the theater darkened, although just as she'd expected, he was on her an instant later.

She let him pull her from her seat to his lap willingly enough, and didn't protest as he kissed her. She could feel herself responding to the kiss, wanting more, but her mind seemed strangely seperate from her body, and was urging her to pull away.

Distantly, she was aware of his tongue exploring her mouth, circling around possessively. She could feel his hands unzipping the sweatshirt she always wore against as protection against the cool air of the theater, and her heart slowly began to ache.

Ashley didn't want to believe that she'd spent a year loving someone who didn't love her in return. She didn't want to believe that she'd wasted all that time with someone who wanted her for one thing and only one thing. She didn't want to believe it...

But she was beginning to.

"Ben," she murmured, her mind slamming back into her body. His lips were somewhere at the base of her neck and moving steadily lower, and he pulled back reluctantly only when he'd kissed his way down to the neckline of her shirt.

"What?"

"I don't think - "

"Aww, come on, Ashley," he said with a roll of his eyes. "We've done more than this before."

"Not in public," she protested, gasping quietly in surprise as his hands slipped beneath her shirt, her skin breaking out in goosebumps against his cold fingers.

"No one can see us," he insisted, his hands slid higher, resting on her waist for a moment. "You didn't even see that."

"Ben, I - "

"Ashley, it's not a big deal," he said, clearly annoyed.

"We're in a movie theater!" she hissed in a whisper, though no one was seated in the six rows closest to them.

"So?" he demanded. "People do all kinds of crazy stuff in movie theaters."

"I just don't want to be one of those people, all right?" she said softly. "I can't do this here, Ben."

"And why not?"

Ashley suddenly realized his hands had moved even higher and were a little too close to somewhere she was very sure she didn't want them. His hands tightened around her as she made to pull back, and for the first time, Ashley felt a flicker of fear. She was stronger than he was and knew it, but truly didn't want to fight him.

"Ben, let me go," she insisted.

"Why?"

His hands moved around behind her and Ashley jerked back as she felt his fingers fumbling with the tiny hooks on her bra. The back of a movie theater was definitely not where she wanted to be the first time a guy undressed her. Ashley bit her lip, realizing that she didn't want to be undressed by just 'a guy' in the first place.

"Because I don't want to," she said simply, straightening her shirt and slipping back into her sweatshirt. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Ashley hurried out of the theater before he had the chance to follow her, heading for the bathroom just to be safe. Leaning against the wall of one of the empty stalls, she tapped at her communicator, leaving the world behind as she returned to the Megaship.

She stared at the bland gray of the bulkhead for a long moment before she started walking, knowing where she was going, but not why.

---

The halls were silent as Andros crept down the corridor, glancing back over his shoulder every few moments, certain that he felt someone else's eyes on his back. There was never anyone behind him, yet he found himself looking back compulsively from the moment he left his room to the moment he rounded the final corner as he approached the Simudeck.

"Hey."

He jumped visibly, his pulse skyrocketing as he caught sight of Ashley leaning against the closed doors of the Simudeck. She didn't miss his surprise, and smiled sheepishly, stepping away from the doors to let him pass by.

"Sorry," she said, grinning faintly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't."

He could practically see her roll her eyes, but she chose not to comment. "I thought you'd be here, and I just - "

"I don't want to train with you," he snapped, perhaps more harshly than he should have. "I thought I told you that already."

"You did." Ashley's expression was a cross between sadness and amusement. "That's not what I came here for."

"It's not?" he repeated, his voice much smaller now.

She shook her head slowly. "I just wanted to thank you again for saving me."

"Oh." Andros shifted uneasily, an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I... You should have been more alert," he said harshly, not caring about the hurt he saw flash through her eyes. "Then I wouldn't have had to save you. You should have known better."

Ashley stared at him, stunned. She didn't doubt that she annoyed him a great deal of the time, but he had never lashed out at her before the way he was now. He had never deliberately tried to hurt her with his words, and she sighed, slowly backing away.

"I'm sorry I bothered you, then," she said quietly, not quite able to keep herself from glancing back over her shoulder at him. "I'll go now."

"Ashley..."

"Andros, I came here to thank you," she said calmly, unsure what to make of the uncertainty that had filled out his features. "I did, and now I'll get out of your way."

"Wait," he insisted, casting his eyes down at the floor as he muttered, "I... That's not what I meant to say."

"What did you mean, then?" she prodded gently as he stalled, shifting his weight from foot to foot uneasily.

"I... I wanted to..." Andros trailed off, his confused expression causing Ashley to wonder if he'd blurted out the first words that had entered his mind without considering how they would sound.

"I should have said that you should be more careful, because..." He stopped once again and swallowed, before finally managing to mumble, "I might not be there... the next time you're in trouble, I mean, and I... I wouldn't want..."

Ashley couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as he let his voice die away altogether, catching herself just as she made to move toward him.

"Thanks, I guess," she said finally, wishing he would just look up at her. "That means a lot to me, Andros... especially from you," she added quietly, watching his reaction carefully.

Andros was still staring at the floor, his expression now one of intense discomfort. Ashley would have sworn that he was blushing, and wondered suddenly if it was shyness more than anything else that made him appear so cold at most times.

Ashley approached him slowly, gently laying one of her hands on his. She felt him tense in what she suspected was surprise, but he didn't recoil, just stood there staring at her with almost a sad, lost look in his hazel eyes. She lifted her head just the slightest bit, and very gently kissed his cheek.

His skin was soft and surprisingly smooth beneath her lips, and it was all she could do to keep herself from laying her hands alongside his face. Drawing back with more than a little reluctance, she murmured, "Good night."

He didn't respond, and she backed away slowly, glancing back at him one last time as she paused in the doorway. His head was still down, but Ashley was almost certain that he was smiling.