A/N: Here's the next part, you wanted to see their date, right?

Chapter Five

Linka woke feeling refreshed and happy. It was later than usual for her, but still quite early and she took her time getting out of bed.

After a quick visit to the bathroom and a short internal debate, the Russian opted to try waking her boyfriend before she ducked in the shower, hoping he'd manage to get up in time for them to have breakfast together.

Slipping into Wheeler's room, Linka took a moment to admire the young man, her lips curving into a smile as she thought about how innocent he looked when he was asleep. She sat down beside him and tenderly brushed her fingers over his cheek and then through his hair. "Time to wake up Yankee."

Wheeler groaned and murmured her name.

Amused, Linka bent down to brush her lips briefly against his. "It is morning Lyubov."

He didn't answer or open his eyes but his arms snaked around her, pulling her back to him. Then he rolled suddenly, pulling her onto the bed and pinning her beneath him with his blankets between them as he kissed her firmly.

"Good morning." He told her, when they finally parted.

Linka's cheeks were flushed but she laughed. "Good morning to you too. Do you still want to have breakfast with me?"

"Yes." He tightened his grip and rested his forehead against hers. "Not yet though, it's too early."

The Russian hesitated as if she was going to argue but then sighed and told him to, "Let me up."

Wheeler did as she asked immediately, but he couldn't help being disappointed, he'd only wanted to snuggle for a while.

Linka pulled the blankets back off him and he started to get up, but then she surprised him by stopping him and climbing in beside him, waiting for Wheeler to cuddle back into her before settling down. "We can stay for a while."

Frightened to talk in case he said something that might upset her, Wheeler relaxed back into the bed, holding her tight against him and pressing kisses to her head and temple. At last he whispered, "We're finally alone."

"Shhh!" Linka pulled back and lifted her hand to press her fingers over his mouth. "Yankee, you will jinx it!"

Kissing her fingertips, the American whispered an apology and pulled her back against him, tucking her head under his chin and closing his eyes. "I just want to savour every moment we're together."

Linka sighed and closed her eyes as well, smiling when a warm hand slipped up inside her short top to rest in the small of her back.

They lay peacefully in each other's arms not saying anything until, now fully awake, Wheeler trailed his fingers down her arm and made for the ticklish spot in her side. His girlfriend squealed and retaliated, laughing delightedly at the way he squirmed in response.

"Enough!" She gasped after a while, trapped beneath him but still laughing. "You win, I surrender."

Wheeler ceased his teasing but kept her pinned down. Grinning, he asked. "What did I win?"

"Breakfast?" The Russian suggested, "I will make it just the way you like it."

"I had something else in mind." He lowered his mouth to hers in a passionate embrace, smiling against her lips as she responded whole-heartedly.

When they parted they were both breathless and he rolled off her, but kept one arm tucked around her to hold her against him.

They stayed like that for a little while longer but eventually Linka decided it was time to get up. She was smiling as she climbed over him to exit the bed and stand up. "It is time we got moving, if you are still planning on going on a date with me?"

"You bet Babe." Wheeler sat up, but didn't get out of the bed. "I'll have a quick shower and meet you in the kitchen okay?"

Nodding, the Wind Planeteer walked to the door, pausing on the threshold to call over her shoulder. "Better make it a cold one Yankee, it is going to be a long day."

Despite the fact that she was the one doing the teasing, her cheeks flushed red and it, made him laugh as he thought how adorable she was.

Wheeler was already making toast by the time Linka arrived in the kitchen. He was wearing his usual jeans and half tucked in t-shirt, not having given it any thought, so when he saw her he gasped in surprise, as well as awe.

"You like this?" She was pleased with his reaction and turned a full circle so that he could admire her new outfit. It was simple enough, denim shorts with a shirt that tied up under her bust, leaving her midriff bare, but it wasn't her uniform and the blue of the top seemed to make her eyes glow deeper. She'd also curled her hair and tied it back differently so that it framed her face and neck.

"Er, yeah." He swallowed. "You look incredible."

Linka laughed and shook her head, moving to the fridge to look for some juice. "I have a bathing suit on underneath so we can go swimming later if you like?"

There was no answer and when she turned back to him, Wheeler was still staring. "Are you okay Yankee?"

"Yeah… I just, er." He swallowed but was saved by the toaster. He retrieved his bread and began buttering it before answering her. "I was trying to remember what swimsuit you had that would fit under that outfit… there can't be much of it."

Linka moved close to him, taunting him with her proximity, and reaching around him to steal one of the buttered slices. "It is new. I have not dared wear it after Ma-Ti and Kwame's reaction to Gi's, but today it is just going to be us, da?"

Gi's bikini hadn't been particularly small but it was more revealing that what the girls usually wore and their male team mates had been made distinctly uncomfortable by it.

Wheeler laughed at the memory and slipped an arm around his girlfriend's bare waist, still half expecting her to protest, but pleased when she didn't.

"Just us." He confirmed, releasing her as she pulled away to fetch some fruit. "You're gonna need sun block."

"Are you offering to apply it for me?" She asked innocently and then laughed as he hastily assured her that he was. She didn't get a chance to answer though as they were interrupted by a sleepy looking Kwame.

Yawning, Kwame wished them a good morning and started preparing his breakfast.

The young couple gave each other apologetic looks and sat next to each other at the table. Wheeler leant over and whispered. "Sorry Babe, I should have got up when you called me."

"I was not rushing either." She assured him in return. "Besides, it was nice."

"Linka I was thinking," Kwame sat down and continued, oblivious of their closeness. "The irrigation system we saw yesterday…"

It wasn't long before Gi joined them as well, and though she admired what Linka was wearing, she too seemed to miss the vibes the couple were giving off. "So what are we going to do today?"

"Linka and I thought we'd go for a walk round the island." Wheeler said pointedly, and then figuring they wouldn't get it, added. "Alone."

The Russian grimaced. "Wheeler!"

Kwame and Gi just laughed. "Do you ever get the feeling you're not wanted?"

"Sorry Guys, it's just…" the American tried to explain but his friends waved it away.

"You do not need to explain my friend." Their leader assured them. "We do realise when we have interrupted you, albeit a little too late."

It was Linka and Wheeler's turn to laugh and they even greeted Ma-Ti good-naturedly when he joined them a few minutes later.

Once the breakfast things had been cleared away, Wheeler excused himself to go and change, and Linka left just after. Changing into swimming shorts with normal shorts over the top, the American was just looking for a suitable, non-work, t-shirt when there was a soft knock on his door. "Come in."

Linka entered and held up a bottle of sun block. "I thought we should do this first, da?"

"Good thinking." He sat down on the bed and watched as she positioned herself in front of him and poured some of the liquid into her hand before offering him the bottle.

Wheeler gasped as the cold liquid ran down his chest but it was more to do with the way her soft hands chased after it, caressing him as she slowly rubbed it in. Trying not to let her see how much her actions were affecting him, he poured out some more of the lotion and began to apply it to her bare skin.

Linka shivered under Wheeler's touch, always amazed at how gentle he was and thrilled by the way his hands felt on her body.

They turned and stood to make sure that every inch of exposed flesh was protected. "We should take this with us, we will have to do it again if we go swimming."

Linka's cheeks were flushed, and Wheeler chuckled softly before leaning down to press a tender kiss on her lips. "Beach towels might be a good idea too."

"Da, and maybe a picnic?"

It was a lovely day on Hope Island, as it nearly always was, and the young couple laughed and joked as they made their way, hand in hand, over the warm sand. Wheeler had insisted on carrying their bag and though Linka would normally have objected to not sharing the burden, she was enjoying the extra attention.

"Poor Ma-Ti, he was so embarrassed!" She chuckled but then added. "I suppose we were quite mean to him."

Wheeler shook his head. "Nah, it's a part of growing up. Besides sometimes it's easier to laugh stuff off than have everyone get serious and sympathetic about it."

She squeezed his hand and looked up at him, smiling slightly as she watched how the breeze played with his hair. "You hate people feeling sorry for you, but I would rather be cared about than laughed at."

"I can do both. We weren't being mean to Ma-Ti, Babe, we were just teasing." He looked down at her lovingly. "You hate being teased."

Linka thought about that and then nodded. "Sometimes… not when I am happy like yesterday, but if I am embarrassed, da I do not like it."

"I'll try not to upset you." He promised.

A smile leapt to her lips. "You do not, it is strange to me even now, but it has always been different with you."

"I'm glad… I guess I deal with you being sorry for me better too… I think it's 'cos we understand each other so well." He laughed. "At least, when we're not discussing our relationship we do."

Linka blushed slightly but she chuckled with him. Before she could reply Wheeler suddenly said. "Tell me something about you, something I don't know, a secret."

"I do not have any secrets Yankee." Linka looked up at him in confusion. "You know everything."

The American shook his head. "It doesn't have to be something big, just something you wouldn't normally tell people, or something silly."

"You tell me something first." She suggested. "Give me an idea what you mean."

He hesitated and then started to back-peddle. "You're right Babe, it's a stupid idea, let's talk about something else, er…"

Linka squeezed his hand again and pulled him to a halt. "Yankee, you should be able to tell me anything now, and do not say that I know everything about you, because I know that is not true, your life before we met was very different to mine."

"Yeah, but not in a good way." Wheeler sighed. "If I thought there was something I could tell you without ruining everything… but I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say that you'd like. It's definitely not 'first date' stuff."

"Wheeler we have known each other for years, I am sure there are lots of things that we do not like but they are not important." She looked up into his eyes. "We just need to be honest and open with each other."

Wheeler sighed. "I am honest with you Babe, I just don't want to tell you more than you want to hear, I don't want to give you a bad idea of me, it's not who I am anymore."

The Russian smiled in understanding. "Then tell me something more recent, you said it did not have to be a big thing, I just want an idea of something to tell you."

The young man relaxed slightly, giving her a grateful look. He thought for a moment and then leant down to whisper in her ear as if there might be someone close enough to overhear. "I like country music."

Linka burst out laughing, "What is so secret about that?"

"Trust me Babe, it's not cool." He shook his head.

"You worry too much about appearances." She gazed affectionately up at him but added reflectively. "And yet sometimes you do not seem to care what anyone thinks."

The American shrugged. "Some things are worth getting beat up over. Where I grew up you learnt quickly when it was good to draw attention to yourself and when it would get you in trouble… I admit my reflexes with the eco-villains are a bit off sometimes though, they don't play by the same rules."

"They do not play by any rules." Her nose wrinkled up in distaste. "Your heart is always in the right place though, even when your actions get you into boiling water."

"Hot water." He corrected her gently, smiling down at her.

The lovely Russian rested her cheek against his shoulder, her voice still full of warmth. "My idioms might not always be correct but I think my word is. If anyone can make the water boil, it is you."

Wheeler laughed loudly. "Do you mean because of my planeteer power or my smokin' hot bod?"

His girlfriend giggled. "I meant your ability to get into serious trouble, but those work too."

Not one to let things like that go, the American immediately turned towards her, blocking her path so that he could take her in his arms, and came back with. "Oh yeah, so you do think I'm sexy then?"

Linka blushed but she had promised herself she wouldn't lie to him anymore. Her voice was not much above a whisper as she replied. "Da… perhaps you will take that as my secret? I would not admit it to anyone until now, not even Gi, and she tried hard to get me to… " She leant into his embrace and stretched up to bring her lips to his ear. "I think of you when I close my eyes at night, Yankee. I try to recall every detail and imagine how it would feel to run my fingers over every inch of skin, over each muscle."

As she spoke she demonstrated by running her hands over his chest, and though his top was in the way it was thin enough for her to build up her mental picture.

Wheeler didn't let her get any further, but brought their lips together in a crushing embrace that left them both breathless and laughing in the comfort of their new found closeness.

To be continued…