A/N: Disclaimer: Refer back to Chapter 1.

WARNING: OOC, STRONG LANGUAGE, LIME, CITRUS, ADULT THEMES/SITUATIONS.

Chapter 2: How Old?

Heat looked from left to right and then glanced back at his watch. It was almost 1800 hours. He had asked Cielo and Argilla to meet him at the park. He had preferred to rendezvous with them at the mess hall…but had decided against it when he remembered his mortifying experience there the previous night.

And so, he sat there on the bench, waiting.

"Hey Heat. What's up?" a female voice suddenly said from behind him.

Heat immediately bolted upright and turned around to meet the curious pink eyes of his girlfriend. His eyes drifted to her gaping chest and he grinned.

It was just a shame. He hadn't been able to see much of her lately…Not with Gale breathing down on their necks at serving those damned sentences!

'That prick!'

Argilla snorted and closed her jacket as she saw where his hungry eyes were staring, "Pig…" she muttered.

Heat immediately snapped out of his daze as she covered herself and suddenly remembered the point of their meeting.

"Where's the idiot?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

She shrugged her shoulders, "How should I know? What do I look like? His keeper?"

He glared at her and opened his mouth to speak when he was suddenly cut off, "Ey! Why are we here again brudda?"

Aa…The idiot was there. Perfect.

He turned around and met Cielo's eyes and smirked, forgetting all about refuting Argilla's scoffing remark.

They hadn't time to be fighting amongst themselves anyway. They had bigger fish to fry.

'A big old green fish.' Heat thought with an evil laugh.

xxxxx

"Oh my God…!!" cried Cielo as he fell on the floor, literally, crying while he boisterously laughed.

Heat raised an eyebrow and had his eyes momentarily leave the file that he and Argilla held in order to look at the squirming and writhing idiot on the floor. He suddenly had the urge to look for a stick and whack him to death.

'Like squashing an annoying bug…' he thought with disdain.

"Hey! Shut up you idiot! Someone might hear!"

No doubt that the material in the file that he and Argilla held was gold. No doubt that if he was in his room he would've been laughing like Cielo but he wasn't in his room and thus couldn't afford any more slipups.

He turned back to Argilla who still had that shocked look in her face. She was frozen on the spot.

"Oh God Heat…Can…can you believe this…?"

Here, he smirked evilly at her, "Hell yeah. Why not? It would explain why he's acting like something crawled up his ass and died."

She looked at him, unfazed, and blinked. A moment later, she joined Cielo on the floor, laughing to her heart's content. Heat made a sour face. Sometimes he just thought that his comrades were retarded…

"Ahahahah! Who would've…thought…" Cielo said breathlessly, panting while laughing uncontrollably, "…dat…Gale is…"

"Thirty-nine years old…!?" Argilla finished, laughing maniacally along with Cielo.

xxxxx

The three sat within Argilla's room; thinking. After Heat had gotten them to their senses, he had put back Gale's file and had dragged his teammates out of the room. Seeing that they needed privacy for their discussion, they had opted to converse within one of their personal quarters.

Argilla had volunteered.

And so, there they were, sitting on the chairs within her room while Argilla lay on her bed, on her back, staring at the ceiling, as silent as a graveyard…

There they were, enveloped in their own thoughts…until…

"I got it mon!"

Heat and Argilla's head whipped towards their blue-haired companion. Argilla made a sour face, "For the last time Cielo, we aren't going to put a fish in his pants." she drawled.

At that comment, Cielo's hopeful twinkle had immediately evaporated.

"Idiot…" chuckled Heat as he crossed his arms.

Cielo growled and turned to his direction, "I don't see you coming up wid ideas!" he replied spitefully.

Heat glared at that and growled, standing, clenching his hands into fists, "Say that again to my face…" he lowly said, his eyes blazing in anger.

Argilla immediately bolted upright and zipped in between the two, "Okay guys. That's enough." She looked from Cielo's pouting face to Heat's murderous demeanor and she sighed, "Man…Maybe Gale is right…" she mumbled.

"What was that woman!?" she heard Heat thunder.

"Nothing!" she responded immediately.

The three had calmed down and Argilla saw that Cielo had plopped down on the floor. She followed suit and so did Heat.

Again, they were left to their own thoughts…

Hm…

"I can't believe it…" she trailed off, in wistful thought.

Cielo nodded and piped in, "Mon…I can't believe that Gale is…is…"

"That old?" snickered Heat, finishing the idiot's sentence for him.

Argilla felt like laughing but then again…another thought had invaded her mind, "Exactly why he looks and acts the way he does…" she said knowingly, finally realizing their comrade's true state of being.

"Huh?" that was both Heat and Cielo.

Argilla snapped out of her daze looked intently from Cielo to Heat, "Precisely why he is the way he is now."

Cielo scratched his head, "Oh mon…You totally lost me…"

Heat growled, "You mean his age has something to do with why he's hell-bent on making everyone else's life miserable."

She nodded, "Right."

Cielo groaned, "I don't get it ja…?"

Heat growled, "Idiot…" while Argilla sighed, "Okay Cielo…Here we go…"

"Yay!" Cielo beamed, thrusting his arms and hands up towards the ceiling in a triumphant pose.

"Okay guys. We have to start from the beginning. How old is Gale?" she asked.

Heat opened his mouth to talk but Cielo had beaten to the punch, "Oh! I know! Thirty-nine!"

Argilla nodded, "Right. He's thirty-nine years old. And how old does he look like?"

"Like he's our damn age." replied Heat with spite. How can he not be spiteful!? How could an old man like Gale be as old as that and look as if he were in his early twenties!?

Damn!

The old man had to have some sort of a secret!

"Right. And how does he behave?"

"Like a damn fucking shithead." replied Heat nonchalantly.

"Like a guy who doesn't know how to have fun ja?" answered Cielo, pouting.

Argilla nodded as she smiled, "Precisely! You're both right!"

"Eh?" that was Cielo and Heat again.

She chuckled, "Just think for a second. There are studies that had shown that healthy ways of living can extend one's lifespan and repress the aging process correct?" She paused to take a look at the two males in front of her and was slightly irritated to know that Cielo seemed not to have followed; well, whatever, "Well, it's easy to say that Gale had most probably lived his entire life the way he's doing now!"

"Always being a pussy?" sneered Heat. Cielo snickered at that and Argilla rolled her eyes, "He acted matured and never wasted his time thinking of retarded stuff like you two."

"Hey!" Cielo and Heat simultaneously interjected, saying the same word in unison. Argilla snorted, "Be quiet and let me finish!"

The room fell silent and she smiled, nodding, "Good. Anyway, Gale had retained his youthful appearance because he had never…walked on the wild side…you know? He had never been impulsive. We've read his file. How many demerits had he had for misdemeanor or misconduct?"

"None." answered Heat, beginning to catch up with what it was she was saying.

"And how many failed missions had he had?"

"None."

Argilla beamed, "Right! None! He had always lived his life in a most disciplined manner. His routine had never changed. He'd exercise, meditate…and all that…over and over again! But how many times have you seen him drink at the bar with us?"

"Never…!" that was Cielo.

Heat thought for a moment before laughing, "So, you're saying that he had remained young because he had never done anything stupid in his life?"

Argilla nodded, "He has never done anything that would endanger his body. No tension…no adrenaline rush…No nothing!"

Cielo became flaxen at that, "No…nothing!? Dat's a lot of nothing right dere mon…If dat's de price for being forever young, I don't think I want any of it…" he said disgustedly, sticking his tongue out.

Argilla chuckled, "Haha…But that's beside the point. So, now do you see why he acts the way he does?"

"Because that's the only way he knows how to live." came Heat's answer, nodding knowingly.

"Right. He thinks that any lifestyle that is different from his is pointless and mundane!"

Heat almost choked on his own saliva, "Pointless and mundane?" he repeated.

She nodded, "He thinks that our lifestyle is probably the wrong way to go! That's why he is 'hell-bent on making other people's lives miserable'! He wants us to be like him!"

All the color from Cielo's face drained as he listened to Argilla's explanations. "Be…just like him…?" he repeated. At that moment, his imagination ran away with him as he imagined what it would be like, what he would be like if he lived his life the way Gale did his…

What he saw disturbed him.

'No…Latin rhythmic moves…? No…dance routines…? No lollipops? Or chocolate?' his stomach churned at that and he immediately felt sick.

'No way mon! No way!' he thought resolutely, feeling nothing but unshakable will and unwavering belief, "No way mon! I aint ever turning into dat…!" he yelled.

Argilla and Heat immediately turned their annoyed gazes at Cielo. Cielo, who had noticed the room become deathly quiet looked and saw that his teammates were staring at him intently with Argilla gazing at him curiously while Heat had that psychopathic gleam in his eyes.

He blushed, "Erm…Right…Where were we?"

Argilla rolled her eyes, "Right…Ahem! So, now, the question is, how are we going to get him to realize that life isn't just about eating, sleeping and making other people's lives miserable?"

"How to teach Gale how to have fun?" Cielo asked in total disbelief, "Whoa mon…Dis…Dat's gonna be pretty heavy…"

Heat narrowed his eyes, "Teach him?" he scoffed, "Why do we need to do that? Let's just get even with the prick."

Argilla sighed; Heat was still being immature.

"Don't you see Heat? If we 'get even' so to speak, Gale would just retaliate! He'd know it was us!"

"How would he know that?!" he thundered, "Unless someone was to…rat out on us…!" he said; seething, looking sharply at Cielo.

Cielo pointed his finger at himself as he saw Heat and blinked, "Wat!? Me?! No! I'd never do dat! I'm a good guy!'

Argilla was cursing the gods at that moment; why had she been given such immature people for comrades…?

"That's not the point Heat! You know how Gale's mind works! He could deduce that it was us! We have the motive to do it more than anyone else! Even in the most microscopic of details he could piece together an entire scenario! You both know that!" she finished with a glare, looking at the two males once more.

"That's why 'getting even' wouldn't cut it! We have to try something else!"

"Like what!?" thundered Heat, having a slight headache from all that thinking. He stole a glance at the idiot and saw him lying on the floor with his eyes closed; he had either fallen asleep or had collapsed due to brain exhaustion.

'Poor bastard!' laughed Heat mentally.

"What have we learnt about warfare Heat!? When we're up against an enemy that we cannot overwhelm!?" she asked resolutely, her eyes flashing at his. She couldn't care less about Cielo. She had seen him on the floor. She knew he was tired from all this thinking…

The poor guy…

So, there was just her and Heat.

Heat narrowed his eyes, "We fight fire with fire."

"Or?" she urged him.

"We find a third party that is enemy to him. Our enemy's enemy is our friend." he responded.

"Or…!?" she urged him further still.

"Or, we…convert the enemy into an ally."

She smiled, "That's right! How?"

Heat wanted to strangle her there; oohh…she sooooo owed him for this. She was leading him around by the nose! But then again, he had no choice but to oblige her. Argilla was only second to Gale anyway; she would be the best weapon to use against him.

He growled, "By looking for another enemy that is common to both us and him."

"That's right! Which is…?"

At this, his control snapped and he yelled, "Why don't you fill me in, in that!?"

She sweat-dropped; perhaps she had taken her Socratic form of questioning a bit too far…

"Ehhh…What else? This youthful look of his!"

Heat made a sour face; okay she officially lost him.

Argilla winced; right. She needed to do this one step at a time.

"We have to convince Gale that he had lived his life…not in the best of ways. We have to convince him that his lifestyle isn't the best; that, his youthful looks…is in fact the enemy! He would have to realize that there are so many things in life that he had missed! We have to convince him…that in getting that youthful look now…that he had to sacrifice so much of his life's experiences in his earlier and younger years."

Heat nodded in understanding, "Make him regret it…Living life that long without…ever experiencing any of it…"

Argilla nodded, softening her eyes, feeling for her green-haired comrade, "Yea…All this time, he had lived…but not lived life…"

She shook her head and focused on the operation at hand, "But he won't easily be convinced. Why? Because he doesn't feel the need. He doesn't feel the need to change his way!"

Heat said nothing and urged her to continue. She nodded, "Marketing 101 Heat. We fill the need of the people. And if there's no need, we create it!" she said, stressing her words, "Besides, how do you figure that we maintained the morale of the people? And had avoided forced conscriptions? Ne?"

Heat was seeing stars, "I asked what we can do to kick Gale's ass off his mighty horse! Not a damn Marketing lesson!"

Argilla bit her lip and there scooted over to him, sitting on his lap, kissing him on his lips. Her poor baby had been having his frustrations mounting for the last several minutes. She figured that a kiss might dissipate some of that tension.

Besides, it was her way of saying sorry…She had been making him use his brain extra hard that day! And she knew that it wasn't his forte…

She pulled away, "Ehehe…Sorry about that sweety…I'm just…"

He smirked and pulled her back, grinning, "Well…since the idiot's asleep…and you've already started it…maybe we can…"

She put her hands on his chest, "Eh…Now, now Heat…We still have to talk about Gale…"

At that, he set her on the floor once more, "Right. Business first…"

She nodded and smiled, "Okay. As I was saying, we have to make Gale feel the need to change his lifestyle! Make him realize his folly of living life dully!" she paused as she shook her head, "Gale is probably enjoying the way things are now; well, as much as one could enjoy monotony that is…Anyway, we have to make him feel…deprived."

"Deprived?"

She nodded, "In other words, we have to make him feel jealous of things that we have that he doesn't; things that only we experience that he doesn't…

Heat smirked evilly at that and it automatically shut Argilla up.

What was he up to…?

xxxxx

"Are you alright…?"

Cielo rubbed his head…Who was that speaking to him…?

He opened his eyes and tried to get them to focus. He yawned and stretched his limbs.

"Sir?"

Sir? Who would call him that?

He felt a bit irked as he felt himself being shaken and Cielo immediately bolted upright, "Oi! Wat's going on here ja!?"

He looked to see two cadets standing in front of him. A male and a female, having nothing but worry within their demeanors.

He blinked, "Eeh…"

"Sir, what are you doing out here?"

Cielo stiffened at that; what was he doing…where!? He stood and looked around.

"Hey! How did I get here ja!?" he yelled frantically as he realized that he had been sleeping on the cold floor of the barrack's hallway.

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us sir." the female said, holding his arm lightly, to steady his slightly wobbling form.

Cielo touched his head and shook it, "I'm okay…I just…erm…" he looked from the male to the female and laughed sheepishly, "I just fell asleep here…" The two didn't believe him and cast him suspicious glances…

Here, Cielo took a deep breath, "It's nothing cadets. Carry on." he waved his hands dismissively, sending the two reluctant young cadets on their way, "Don't worry ja? I'm fine now! Thanks for waking me up though!" he called on after them, waving at them cheerfully.

Once the two were out of sight, Cielo clenched his hands into fists and growled, glaring, "Grr…When I get my hands on dose two…"

He looked around and saw that he was a few feet away from Argilla's room. Those two had thrown him out of the room and dragged him all the way there!? The nerve of them!

He stomped angrily towards the room, grumbling, "Why I oughta…"

He stopped at the door and there raised his fist above his head and prepared to knock when he suddenly froze. He pressed his ear to the door and paled. He suddenly had the feeling of wanting to vomit. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and ran away, seeking the comforts of his room.

'Aaayya!! So dat's why…! Ewww…!' he thought as he sped through the halls.

Well, considering their reasons, he supposed that he was glad that Heat and Argilla had dragged him out of the room! He wouldn't want to have borne witness to what it was they were doing in there!

No way at all!

xxxxx

Argilla panted and so did he. He fell on her unceremoniously but she caught him with open arms. Still panting, she spoke upon the crook of his neck, "So…what…what are…we…going to…about…Gale?" she asked, her words coming out quite incoherently.

Her lover slowly rose from her and smirked before passionately kissing her once more. She responded. His hands threaded over her bare body and touched her thigh slowly, making his way up her chest…

She moaned as he touched her sensuously…

She ceased her movements though as she remembered about Gale. She pushed him away but he held on. He was getting too excited again!

She bit him on his lips; hard.

"Oww!! Damn it woman!" the man thundered angrily; glaring at the woman beneath him.

She rolled her eyes, "Enough Heat! We already…you know…" He smirked at that and she snorted, "We have to get back to business. Now, what were you telling me about Gale before you…erm…"

He grinned wider, "Before I…what?" he whispered seductively.

She blushed but said nothing, pushing him away off of her completely, sitting up, crossing her arms on her chest. Heat noticed her perked up breasts as her arms had brought the two mounds closer together, accentuating their shape and size.

Argilla rolled her eyes in disgust, 'Damn men…They're nothing but pigs!' she scoffed within as she quickly made for her blanket up on the bed and wrapped herself within it.

Heat pouted, "What was that for!? That's the third time you're crapping my style today woman! Oh you soooo owe me for that!"

"Yea, yea whatever! Just get on with the plan!" she said.

Heat, having his head clouded with desire once more, shook his head, clearing it, "Right. Hmph…All I'm saying is that Gale's problem is easy to deal with."

Now, it was Argilla's turn to urge him on.

He smirked; he was loving this…

"Gale only needs one thing." he said with utter seriousness, stiff resolute countenance reigning his face, "Gale needs to get laid."

xxxxx