Without a doubt, the best day of the month was the Legion's Game Night. Tinya was rather proud of the fact that she was one of the few people who had thought of the idea about a year ago, shortly after Brainiac 5 left the Legion. She had felt that the Legion needed something to help bond them and help them heal from the Imperiex ordeal. Furthermore, the Legion had bloomed into a massive team over the last few years and everyone was always too busy to be able to sit down and get to know each other. So when she, Triplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy, and Shrinking Violet suggested that there be a monthly game night for whoever was able to come, most of the Legionnaires were thrilled. Those who weren't were offered monitor duty and the promise of two extra days off every month as a reward. They happily agreed to it.

Tinya was still enjoying herself many months later. She had attended every single Game Night, and she'd had a blast every time. And, of course, the fact that a certain someone was there at most Game Nights certainly didn't hurt either.

Actually . . . if Tinya was completely honest with herself, he was actually the reason she enjoyed the Game Nights so much. She hadn't always felt this way, though. It was a rather new development.

For a year, she'd had a bit of a crush on Timber Wolf, but that had passed. As much as she still cared deeply for him, she knew he was unpredictable and sometimes unstable. At this point, she was far more comfortable viewing him as a good friend.

Admittedly, she'd also briefly entertained secret interest in Ultra Boy years ago. As his ego had inflated over the years, however, her interest had waned to nothing. He was still quite the looker, but she knew what kind of attitude accompanied that dazzling physique, and it only caused her stomach to sour in disdain. Of all the Legionnaires, Ultra Boy was definitely one of her least favorites.

But he, on the other hand, was something else altogether.

She sighed dreamily as she brushed her hair in her dorm room. Then she noticed the look on her face in the mirror and immediately flinched. A few months back and she would had laughed at herself now. A few months back, everything was normal. He was pretty much the way he had always been, except more mature. And taller. And more muscular. And––

Tinya shook her head roughly, trying to get a grip. She had to remind herself whenever her thoughts strayed down their lustful course that it wasn't his appearance that had changed her feelings toward him from neutral to desire. He had grown up in so many other ways. He was sweeter and more caring than he had been in years past when he only ever seemed interested in remaining aloof with everyone. He was less impulsive than he used to be. Now, more often than not, he would pause a split second longer before charging into a fight. He was also much more attentive in the Briefing Room. He thought things through and made helpful, intelligent suggestions rather than itching to jump into the fray like he once did.

Tinya put down her brush. She'd been brushing her hair absentmindedly for the last ten minutes, which only served to make it clear to her just how hard she had fallen for him these last few months. Watching his competitive side shine through at the Game Nights sent her heart racing. His mischievous grins and good-natured laughs made it hard for her to breath.

She blinked at herself in the mirror. She inhaled heavily, realizing that she'd momentarily forgotten how to breath just thinking about him. A scarlet blush began creeping its way across her cheeks, and she placed her hands over them, feeling the unmistakable heat.

Yes, it was undeniable at this point. He truly took her breath away. The feeling felt so foreign and strange.

And yet . . . it felt so right.

By the time she left her room and headed toward the HQ's cafeteria, she had managed to quell the embarrassing heat rising within her. He probably wouldn't even be there tonight. She'd been told that he and his squad were only just returning from their latest mission and would probably be very tired when they arrived. So while she was excited for tonight, she couldn't help feeling disappointed. He had missed the last two Game Nights and she had only seen a glimpse of him in the last month and a half (not that she was keeping track).

Trying to keep a good-natured smile plastered on her face, she walked over to where Triplicate Girl was chatting with Timber Wolf about their patrol the night before. "Hey, you two," she called as she approached.

They turned to her with tired but friendly smiles. "You won't believe what we saw, Tinya," Luorno said excitedly. "At 5AM this morning, we were heading back to HQ from patrol and saw the Starweaver flying in!"

"The Sundown Squad is back already?" Tinya asked, already feeling her heart beat faster. That was his squad . . . which meant he might have gotten enough sleep from then and now to attend the Game Night.

Hope flared in her chest as she continued to listen.

"Yes!" Luorno continued in a chipper tone. (Brin briefly caught Tinya's eye and gave her a knowing smile, smirking at Luorno's overly enthusiastic demeanor.) "And they brought back souvenirs! One of them was a chest full of dolls preserved from the 25th century. It was so cool!"

"Were there three of them?" Tinya asked, trying not to laugh too much.

Luorno tried to huff, but she ended up smiling even more. "Har har, very funny. It was actually really cool, Tinya. There even were pictures of the girl who owned them playing with them. It was so exciting to see something from the distant past like that."

Tinya hummed in agreement. She was about to respond when a flash of red nearby caught her eye. She turned her head to get a better view . . . and sure enough, it was him.

Next to her, Brin turned his head as well to see what had captured her attention. He smirked when he noticed who it was. Though people generally thought he was very reserved and introverted, he was by far one of the most observant and perceptive members of the Legion. And he had picked up on Tinya's not-so-small but well-kept secret crush.

Tinya didn't mind, though. He was the only one who knew, and he had never breathed a word about it to anyone. It was one of many reasons why they were such good friends. She could trust him with her secrets and he in turn could trust her with his.

"Is something wrong, Tinya?" Luorno said from behind her, not clued in to what was going on.

"Uh, sorry, Luorno, but someone I really wanted to see just showed up." She turned back to her friend, giving her an apologetic smile. "Do you mind if I . . . ?"

Luorno smiled pleasantly. "No worries. We can talk later." She turned back to Brin, who gave Tinya another amused smirk.

This time, though, Tinya didn't even see it. Her attention was fixed solely on the man that had walked in a minute ago. He was accompanied by several of his squad members. They all looked fresh and alert, which confirmed Tinya's hope that they had slept during the day in order to join everyone tonight.

Tinya was just about to call out a greeting to them when Bouncing Boy picked up his microphone at the other end of the room and asked for everyone's attention. Normally he would announce where the various board games and holographic games were set up and how many players each game could accommodate.

But this time he didn't.

This time he was blushing, and the mic in his hands kept slipping around in his sweaty palms. Finally, he cleared his throat. "I—er—received a request from several Legionnaires this morning that we do something a bit different tonight." Murmurs broke out in the large crowd. Bouncing Boy's blush darkened even further and he turned to the small group in question, giving them an imploring look. But the grins on their faces convinced Tinya that whatever they had planned for tonight would not be shot down. Bouncing Boy turned back to address everyone. "They've requested that we play an ancient game mix of Spin-The-Bottle and Seven Minutes. Those of you who are familiar with 20th and 21st century history will likely know what this is. They were popular games back then . . . for some reason." It almost seemed impossible for Bouncing Boy to get any redder, but he did. The crowd was getting rather curious now. "Basically, there is a bottle for the girls and a bottle for the boys. Each group spins the bottle to see who gets picked. The pair are given seven minutes in a closet to—erm—do as they like."

Peels of laughter rang out in the crowd, along with several gasps and startled cries. Many people's faces became redder, but not to the level of Bouncing Boy's face. Tinya's face, however, was somehow redder than his, and she hated herself for it. She hated how fast her thoughts had taken a dive down that road. And it was made worse by the fact that the man she desired was standing not more than a few feet from her. If her mother could see her now. . . . Tinya cringed as she remembered a time when Winema had teased her about him. And that was years ago. Her own mother, who was clueless when it came to her daughter, had seen this coming!

Tinya wished she could disappear right then and there, especially when the man in question glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow at her red face. She quickly glanced away, desperately trying to quell the suffocating heat rising from her stomach.

"So," Bouncing Boy continued less-than-enthusiastically, "if everyone could split up into a boys group and girls group, we can fetch the bottles."

The Legionnaires did as they were instructed and sat on the floor in their respective groups. Bouncing Boy placed a bottle in the middle of each circle before settling down in the boys' circle.

Dream Girl took it upon herself to spin the girls' bottle while Sun Boy did so for the boys, and the game officially commenced.

Tinya stared nervously as the bottle spun around and around, making her feel dizzy, both from the motion and from the dread seeping into her. What if she was paired up with someone she didn't like? What if she was paired up with him and it became awkward and she ruined her chances with him?!

She blinked several times, silently telling herself to calm down. She would not get frazzled over this. Bouncing Boy didn't say the pairs had to make out for the entire duration. In fact, he didn't say anything of the sort. There were implications, sure, but––

Suddenly the bottle came to a stop, and with a quiet sigh of relief Tinya realized it was pointing to Dawnstar. Maybe people would get tired of the game before she got a turn. Maybe––

Several cheers broke out among the boys' group when they saw Dawnstar stand up. She smirked at them, reveling in the ego-boosting appreciation.

Another sigh of relief escaped Tinya when the bottle picked Colossal Boy to be paired with Dawnstar. She realized that an even worse fate would be if her crush was paired with someone else and she had to helplessly watch him disappear into a closet with another girl.

Bouncing Boy had a brief, quiet discussion with the group that picked the game before standing up to make another announcement. "There are plenty of rooms in the HQ, and, in the interest of getting to other games tonight, we will have two pairs leave at a time." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Girls, if you could spin your bottle again . . ."

Dream Girl good-naturedly spun their bottle again while the boys did the same. The anxiety quickly rose in Tinya's stomach. Now there was no chance that she would get out of this without a turn . . . or that her crush wouldn't be paired up with somebody. Although maybe she could––

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt when the bottle stopped in front of her, pointing at her. She silently gulped, slowly stood up, and turned to face the boys' group.

Her eyes widened when she discovered that the boys' bottle had picked someone and that he was already facing her. Her heart felt as though it skipped several beats, and she found herself once again unable to breath.

Lightning Lad was standing across from her.

Their trip to the nearest closet down the hall was horribly silent. Tinya was biting her lip like there was no tomorrow, trying to keep her breathing under control, and desperately, desperately trying to keep the blush on her face from becoming too noticeable.

Her heart skipped another few painful beats when they arrived at the closet. Garth opened the door for her without a word, his eyes looking at anything but her.

If Tinya had been in any frame of mind to think clearly, she might have wondered why he was acting so strange and subdued. Alas, she was too busy wondering when the hell she had ever gotten to the point where she couldn't even speak to him. Just a few months ago they had been cheerfully discussing stupid headlines they had seen on the news or laughing at how silly some of the Legionnaires' uniforms looked.

After Garth stepped into the closet, he closed the door behind them, plunging the closet into a gray darkness. A sliver of light peeked in from under the door, allowing them to see other's silhouettes, but nothing more.

As they stood in deafening silence, Tinya shifted her feet to try to lean against one of the walls to wait out the seven minutes. Unfortunately, when she did so, she accidentally knocked over what felt like a mop handle.

Garth cried out, startling her, before hissing in pain.

It was enough to break her out of her stupor, at least. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

He hissed again and bent over slightly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."

After a moment, she realized where the mop handle must have hit him. She cringed and her face flared up again. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about him seeing it now. "Oh," she said, trying to keep her voice from squeaking. "I see." She shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry."

She saw his silhouette straighten up, and this time his voice sounded less strained. "Don't worry about it."

"If you say so."

Several more silent seconds ticked by. Tinya went back to biting her lip, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Eventually, Garth cleared his throat. "Okay, I'm not sure if I'm making you uncomfortable or if something else is really bothering you, but can you please explain––"

"No, no, no! You're not making me uncomfortable!" Tinya rushed to reassure him, unable to let him continue to think he was doing anything wrong.

"Really?" he asked incredulously. "Because I can't a remember a time when you acted like this. I mean, it's almost like you're . . . afraid of me or something."

Her breath quietly hitched in her throat. "I'm not afraid of you, Garth. I could never be. I––" She quickly shut her mouth, her eyes widening at what she had almost admitted.

Unfortunately, Garth noticed something was up. "You . . . what?" he prompted.

She shook her head, taking a half-step back, even though all she wanted was to be closer to him. "Nothing. It's nothing."

A few seconds of silence went by. Then: "Tinya."

Her breath hitched again and this time he heard it.

He stepped carefully toward her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "Tinya," he said, more sternly this time.

Heat immediately rose in her stomach at his touch, especially since both of his hands were flesh now. (A few months back, a new hero joined the Legion who had incredible healing superpowers, and was able to re-form his right arm.) The heat from them mixed with her own, and somehow she felt slightly emboldened by his proximity.

In the few seconds it took for her to respond in some way, she realized that this may be her only chance to get what she wanted. And besides, even if he didn't like it, it wasn't as though this could get anymore awkward and uncomfortable, right?

She leaned forward before she could talk herself out of it and pressed her lips firmly against his, placing her hands on his chest.

Garth stiffened in shock for a few seconds.

But then he leaned into her, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer. She was unable to stifle a moan of pleasure when he did so. He stiffened again, but when she gently bit his bottom lip, he practically melted into her, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.

This sent heat blazing throughout Tinya's body, and she shifted so that there wasn't even a sliver of space between their hips. The movement caused a small moan to escape Garth's lips. She bit down on his lip a little harder, hoping to elicit that sound again. It did such pleasant things to her.

His breath hitched and then a low growl rumbled in his throat. He pushed her back against the wall, and she responded by wrapping one of her legs around his, keeping them tightly pressed together.

Eventually he broke the kiss and instead trailed his lips along her jaw, eliciting breathy sighs from Tinya. She couldn't think. She could barely even process what was happening. The only thing that registered was that everything felt amazing.

She shivered when she felt him lower his right hand to trail down her raised leg. The other went up her back, his fingers grazing along the sensitive points of her spine. She arched into him and slid her own hands behind his neck. She felt him gently nip the base of her neck and her fingers clenched, kneading at his spine.

After several moments, she reached for the small zipper under his chin, realizing for the first time (she'd been too distracted before) that, while she was in her civilian clothes, he was still in his suit. She pulled away slightly to get a better angle and yanked it down several inches. Before she could even think about what she was doing, she placed one of her hands against his bare chest and spread out her fingers, biting her lip as the pleasure coursed through her.

Garth froze, shocked at her forwardness. He moved his head away from her shoulder to face her, even though neither of them could see the other's expression in the semi-darkness.

A split second later, Tinya realized her mistake. "Ah! Sorry! I should've asked first. I––"

He placed a finger against her lips. When he spoke, his voice was half an octave lower than it normally was, and it sent heat flashing down her spine. "You didn't need to. I just wasn't expecting it."

Tinya paused, mulling over the implications of what he said. After a moment of hesitation, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "So you wouldn't mind if I pulled the zipper down another few inches?"

His breath hitched, and he was about to reply when the closet door was yanked open. Blinding light flooded in, and they snapped their eyes shut. After a few seconds, they blinked them open again.

Brin was standing at the door with a smug, knowing look spread across his face. "As much as I hate to do this, your seven minutes are up. If you want to continue, you'll have to wait until Game Night is over." He turned to leave, but quietly added, "If you need a few minutes to collect yourselves, I'm sure the others will understand." With a wide grin, he strolled back toward the cafeteria.

It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on Tinya. Her mind started working again and it only took her about half a second to make several heart-stopping realizations: one, she had just made out with Garth for most of the seven minutes; two, he had been just as into it as she had, which likely meant he had feelings for her; and three, he had seemed perfectly happy to continue with where things had been going.

A fiery blush painted her cheeks and she quickly untangled herself from Garth, knowing that they would never be able to calm down if they were still pressed against each other. "I think I definitely need those few minutes," she said breathlessly.

Garth turned to look at her for a moment, his eyes searching hers. "When did this start?"

Tinya frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure you didn't have feelings for me before."

She nodded. "A few months. I didn't say anything 'cause I thought you were still hung up on Imra."

He pursed his lips. "I got over her about a year ago. She still wasn't interested after all these years and I got tired of waiting. I went several months without even thinking about romance." He smirked a little, absentmindedly zipping his suit back up before continuing. "But then you came back from Bgtzl, and you seemed . . . different."

Tinya gave him a small smile. "I've changed over the years just as you have, but I don't think you were really looking at me before." She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

Garth smiled, leaning his forehead against hers. "I am now."

Author's Note: There will be five chapters for the StB/Seven Minutes game, with a different couple each time. After that, there will be other games and maybe some combat action.