Fred-104 liked fishing. He enjoyed the smooth feeling of the lure elegantly gliding across the water. He took in the smell of the crisp morning air. He wondered at the beauty of the mountain reflected on the rippling lakewater. He relished in the quiet ambient sounds of a world untouched by war and destruction.

"I'm bored," said a rather disgruntled voice behind him.

Fred turned in his seat to find the owner of the voice, his fellow soldier Kelly-087, sprawled out across the majority of the boat. "You're the one who wanted to come with me," he reminded her with a grin.

Kelly huffed out a tired sigh. "You tricked me! When you said we would be spending hours alone on a lake, I assumed there would be more making out involved."

"Fishing can be entertaining," he countered, continuing to slowly reel in his line. "At least, when you don't spend the whole time talking and singing and scaring the fish away." He turned enough to see that Kelly was sitting beside him with her arms crossed, her own fishing pole lying forgotten beside her. "Maybe if you were trying to catch something you'd understand," he added smugly.

"Well I hate to point out the obvious, but you aren't doing so hot yourself," Kelly fired back, pointing at the empty bucket Fred had brought along to store their catches in.

He turned away from her, casting his line out once more. "Fishing is easier without distractions," he said defiantly.

"Oh," Kelly said slowly, drawing the word out enough to leave Fred very concerned about what kind of mischief she was about to pull. He felt her arms snake around his chest from behind and felt her breath against his ear when she leaned forward to whisper, "I'm sorry, am I distracting you?"

Exhausting every single ounce of willpower within him, Fred disentangled himself from Kelly's grip. She clung to him, playfully swatting at his hands and making a nuisance of herself in general. Finally he freed himself from her grasp. "Keep your hands to yourself!" he laughed.

Kelly pouted playfully, but finally relented. "You seem like you could use a good distraction," she said dejectedly. Though she tried hard to hold onto her sad expression, she couldn't fight the grin that naturally wound its way onto her face when Fred laughed.

"Fine," he relented, turning again to look at her. "Let's make a deal then - if you catch one fish, we can quit fishing and do whatever you want to do instead.

Kelly tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I catch one fish and we can do anything I want?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"I already have a feeling I'm going to regret this," Fred remarked, but still nodded.

"Deal!" Kelly said with a wicked grin, leaning forward to planet a quick peck on his cheek. Then she turned and produced an M9 Fragmentation Grenade from . . . somewhere. Her finger was on the button to arm the device when Fred reached out and snatched it from her hands.

"No blasting," he chided, tossing the grenade into the bucket meant for their fish. "You have to do it the hard - and humane - way."

Kelly pouted again. "You're no fun," she whined, but it only lasted a few seconds before a grin was once more cemented on her face. She picked up her rod and cast her line, settling in determinedly behind him. "Right now, anyway," she added as she slowly reeled her line in. "But I'll fix that after I catch this fish."

Fred laughed and leaned back to bump her with his shoulder. "I knew I'd make a fisherwoman out of you eventually," he said with a grin.