Decisions for Infinity

Warp Darkmatter was more than a little bewildered and confused. Today had been a difficult day.
First, he had had to help his former partner and present opponent in battle against a common enemy.
Second, he had gone through a tough series of endurance-testing ordeals and a very near brush with death at the hands of the Chlorms and their guns. His left arm still burned from the plasma charge that had grazed his arm when they had escaped.
Then he had saved Buzz. Somewhat against his will.
But would he have even been able to leave Buzz behind? He couldn't help but remember Buzz's loyalty to him when he had faked his death. Buzz would have been caught in the explosion too if Warp hadn't taken pity on the poor creature and pushed his jetpack button.
Warp rubbed the shoulder that his cybernetic arm was attached to. Zurg's protection against the blast for him hadn't been stellar either. Thankfully, the arm he had lost had been shielding his face at the moment of the explosion, so he bore no scars there.
He wondered sometimes, that if he took the time to break a hole in the wall he had built around his heart, he'd find that there were scars there that no flying shrapnel or laser blast could have caused.
The man rested his face in one large blue hand. He just wanted to go home, at this point. He was tired of waiting at this fusion crystal refill station; the chair he had landed in had been a bit hard, and the lonely atmosphere of the place allowed thoughts he had kept back for a long time to fill his mind.
Buzz never changed a bit from the good guy he was back in Academy, thought Warp, somewhat wryly. He didn't wait a second to eject me when I told him I only saved him because I couldn't take his ship.
He knew, somewhere deep down inside, that what he had done wasn't just because he couldn't drive a stick.
It was because under his self-built outer crust, there still was a soul.

Sighing, Buzz switched off his car's com. unit.

It was official, this was a horrible, HORRIBLE day!

That's right Buzz Lightyear, hero of the universe, is admitting to having a ridiculously CRUMMY DAY!

Every thing started out so nice...a simple mission...busting a weapon smuggling ring.

Then thanks to thanks to SOMEBODY *coughXRcough* the team of Rangers he was leading got their covers blown, and all the criminals scattered, and of course, Buzz ended up chasing Warp....

Instant game of cat and mouse... Buzz mused, as he thought about the days events.

*Trade World chase*

We trained side by side for over twenty years, of course we could predicted the other's every move.

*Buzz tackles Warp*

Which has it's advantages....

"Smelly?"

And downfalls....

*Buzz and Warp fall over and blackout*

And sometimes it's just downright painful....

Buzz snapped out of his daze as a speeder whizzed past him. He was coming up on Speedway 90, no wonder. He sighed once again as he got into the left speed-lane.

Now the morning was bad enough, but nooo it just had to keep going! Medprobs, Implants, Darkmatter grating on my nerves, Clorms trying to dissect me, Warp deserting me (should have seen that one coming), Warp saving me (SO didn't see that one coming), and then to top it all off they had to BURN MY RANGER SUIT!!

But you know what the worst thing about it was?

He was my friend,

Closest thing I had to a Brother,

and I miss him...

Buzz pulled into the Star Command Launch bay.

GOSH DARN IT WARP!

He dropped his head into his hand and punched the speeder's console.

Why did life have to hurt so much?

If I still have a soul, then what am I doing here? Warp was back on his moon, in what he had once called the 'lap of luxury.' Now, he wasn't happy, not even in this little empire he had built to serve himself.
He waved the drink-maid away as she approached his lounge chair with another glass of something green and undoubtedly delicious. He almost wrinkled his nose at the thought of it.
I'm actually refusing a drink. I must be ill.
Warp swung his legs over the side of the chair and stood. He then walked toward his mansion-one of several scattered over the surface of his moon.
Once inside, he stood in front of one of the many mirrors. He often called this place the 'house of mirrors' because of the fact that he had filled it with the reflective pieces of glass.
And now he wished he had stayed near another of his mansions. He was truly disgusted at what he saw: an arrogant, self-confident man who cared about nothing more than the gain of money and prestige.
But when he turned to go out, he met another mirror, hung on the back of the door. He covered his face with his hand and shook his head.
"Something needs to change," he told himself, out loud. On a sudden impulse, he strode to the vidphone in the hall. He turned it on and pressed Commander Nebula's combination.
As he waited for the commander to pick up, he thought one thought:
You're either extremely stupid or very noble all of a sudden. Either way, you're in at the deep end.

The Commander's desk shot through the door to it's masters office as screeched to a halt in front of Nebula, filled to the brim with new paper work.

"Look I know that Bathyos is having a fusion crystal raid problem, and I'm sorry Senator, but I DON'T HAVE ANY RANGERS IN THAT AREA! Your just gonna have to sit tight for a while..."

The Desk could hear the outraged squeals from the diplomat on the other side of the vid-phone...

Nebula sighed heavily, "Look, I'll see what I can do..."

More squeals, softer this time...

"Alright, goodbye Senator."

Turning off the vid-phone Nebula slumped down on Desk's chair and started signing the reports.

Man this has been one of those days Desk thought, The poor guy hasn't even eaten lunch yet.

But unfortunately, this was one of those days when neither of them was going to get ANY rest, Nebula had been barking orders, taking calls, and running trainings sessions all day, and Desk had been zipping around after him delivering and outsourcing paper work...

*Vid-phone rings*

Not again... If Desk could have groaned it would have...

Apparently the Commander had, had enough as well, he nearly pounded the answer button flat.

Thinking it was Ranger Eclipse, with ANOTHER report on the faulty computer system in the Launch Bay, he immediately went off on a Tangent. "NOW LOOK ECLIPSE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE THAT WHOLE STUPID THING APART AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN WITH TOOTHPICKS! JUST GET IT DONE! NOW!! CAPEESH!?"

Warp took a step back from the vidphone. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. He looked longingly around the room for a place of escape, but his own sullied image met him on every wall.
He turned back to the vidphone.
"Hello, Commander Nebula," he said, then coughed a bit to clear the lump from his throat. He was very, very nervous. What if the commander accepted him and then revealed it was all a trap and threw him into prison?
OK, you've officially crossed the mark between noble and stupid now.
But if being utterly stupid was the right thing to do, maybe he should go through with it anyway.
Since when did you care about what was the right thing?
Since now. He firmly resisted his instinct to press the end button on the vidphone controls.
"It's Warp. I'd like to know if I could do something for you," he said. Then the words all came out in a rush.
"Could I be a spy? Still work for Zurg, but not be very efficient, and take my findings back to you? I have extensively trained in the field, after all."
He paused a second.
"I know I don't deserve a second chance. But could you send someone here to give me an idea of what I would have to do?"

((oopsie! forgot to mention, Ranger Eclipse (my OC) is a FEMALE ^^ that's why Nebula knows it's not her...XD)

Hello, Commander Nebula,"

Nebula's face blanched. That was DEFIANTLY NOT Eclipse. Whoops...He cleared his throat as he sat back down in front of the vid-phone and looked at the screen.

And his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull...

Wha? that's....Darkmatter? Why? Who? He....he's...What?

Ever heard the phrase, 'my brain must have blown a circuit'?

Preeetty much how the Commander was feeling right now.

Nebula would have most likely spent the next hour staring at the screen if Desk hadn't hit him with a drawer.

"OUCH!" Ooo, right in the stomach.

"It's Warp. I'd like to know if I could do something for you,"

He quickly whipped out some of his trade mark sarcasm. Got to save face you know...."Really Darkmatter? I never would have guessed. How did you even GET this number!?!" Why he hadn't hung up on the traitor yet, he didn't know, there was just, something telling him to...wait.

Then the Ex-Ranger just started babbling at the speed of light. Thankfully Nebula caught enough to understand what Warp was proposing....

"Let me get this straight Darkmatter, you want to come back?"

Silence.

"I know I don't deserve a second chance. But could you send someone here to give me an idea of what I would have to do?"

Nebula rubbed his hand across his face, then he glanced down at his peg-leg, then back to the vid-screen, and Warp's cybertronic arm. A painful collection of memories washed over him. "Your right, you don't..."

He looked back at his leg.

"I'll see what I can do, can't make any promises though..." Just because he was the head of Star Command didn't mean he didn't have someone to answer to, and Warp knew this.

Lord, give me strength... He silently prayed.

"I-I've gone through an ordeal recently that reminded me just how much I want to come back."
It still isn't too late. You can still change your mind. You're so stupid, Warp! It took you how many years to amass this stuff?
He looked around at the room while he waited. He thought of his moon, his summer asteroid, and all the expensive, luxurious things and houses he had filled them with.
And he thought of how utterly pointless those expensive, luxurious things were if all he was going to do all his life was just hoard them and try let the fact that they were his make him happy.
I was happy before I defected. Really, genuinely happy.
Would defecting again make him happy?
Only one way to find out.
"Please send someone. I need to go back."
Aww, so sweet. You might as well be making puppy-dog eyes. He scolded himself inwardly as he waited for a response.

Nebula grimaced. "Look Darkmatter, ordeal or not, I can't do anything unless I get a green light from the GA senate."

"Please send someone. I need to go back."

His face slackened a little.

Wow I never thought I would EVER see THAT look on WARP DARKMATTER'S face, the man just looks desperate.

"Give me two weeks Darkmatter." Nebula almost growled. "If I play this right with the senate, I just might be able to get you back in." His eyes darkened just a bit. "But this is going to be on OUR terms, NOT yours. Capeesh?"

"Yeah. Your terms."
He paused for a moment, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
"So it's settled? Two weeks, then."
He prepared to end the call, but is finger hovered over the button for just a second.
"Tell Buzz I'll be back."
He waited for Commander Nebula to end the call.

Nebula raised an eyebrow as Warp hesitated. "What?"

"Tell Buzz I'll be back."

He almost chuckled....almost. "As soon as I get the green light from the senate, I will. Believe you me, I have no desire to have Lightyear keel over in surprise from seeing you walk through the door.

"I'll get back to ya soon. Nebula out." He turned off his vid-phone.

"This is going to be SO easy." He groaned, laying the sarcasm on thick.

Desk chirped in agreement.

Velette Sheheimnis was tired. It had been a long day for her, and Zurg still hadn't decided whether or not to accept her as a permanent replacement for Warp as Agent Z.
She had to save her brother, as she reminded herself every time she thought about how little she wanted to take the job. During her long months-man, now was it years? of training, she had found that a career as agent for the most evil being in the galaxy was NOT what most people would define as a good job.
She brushed back her rumpled light-brown hair and sat back down on the bed in the tiny room she occupied on Planet Z.
Maybe she could sleep for just a moment...
The Tangean woman's dark-circled eyes were closed in a second, and her breathing slowly evened out and became the only sound in the room as the night dragged on.
The buzzer by her door awoke her with its deafening sound, and she knew it wouldn't stop until she was en route to Zurg's palace, so she gave in and yawned, trying to fully wake herself up.
Getting up, she moved to the tiny mirror over the metal sink. She ran water over her hands, trying to rid them of the red dust that clung to everything here.
It's useless. She sighed.
Velette had worse things on her mind than a little red dust.
Like the thought of the blood that might soon stain her sky-blue hands. She felt as trapped as her brother, buried deep in the red dirt of Planet Z.

Buzz pulled at the collar of his thermal hood a bit as walked down the hallway toward Commander Nebula's office. Those LGM's reeeally needed to work on fixing the AC.

I wonder what the Commander wants to see me about.... He paused mid-stride and grimaced as a less-than-pleasant though came over him. I reeeeaaally hope we're not getting traffic duty again.

He shook his head and kept on walking, the Commander probably just wanted to try and shuffle some paperwork his way.

Just as he reached the door, it opened and Desk came out and shot under his feet, nearly knocking him to the ground. "WHOA!"

"AND TRY NOT TO RUN ANYONE OVER WHILE YOUR GONE!!" Nebula yelled.

Buzz shook his head, NEVER get on the Commander's bad side. He cleared his throat. "Commander Nebula, you wanted to see me?"

Cooling down from his little tirade, the Commander motioned for Buzz to come in and sit. "Sit down son. I need to tell you something."

Buzz gulped as he sat down. That tone coming from the Commander is never a good thing... "Yes sir?"

"Well Buzz, it's like this..." Nebula ran a hand over his face. The heat is getting to you, FOCUS! "We've got a former Ranger who wants to get back in the field, and I was wondering if you and your Team might be up to helping him re-train..."

Buzz relaxed a little, that wasn't so bad.... "Of course Sir, who's coming out of retirement?"

This is where it's going to get tricky... Nebula sighed. "Buzz, it's Warp...."

The Captain got a very puzzled look on his face, and then it clicked. A million thoughts started running through his head, the last one being: 'Why is the room spinning?'

*THUD*

((I'm so mean to Buzz ^^))

Warp looked around the room, his subconscious trying to drag some sentimental value out of the walls of the red palace surrounding him.
He couldn't, however hard he tried. And that, in some way, made him happy. To know that he wasn't completely given over to evil, to know that he wouldn't regret never seeing the inside of this palace again.
He leaned his back against the wall while he waited for Zurg to let him have an audience. He was currently occupied with something else.
Curious, Warp turned his head a little so he could hear better what was going on behind the wall. He had never been one for orthodox methods of finding out what he wanted to know, and Zurg probably wouldn't tell him who he'd been seeing anyway.
It took a few seconds for him to catch what was being said. At first, he only caught snatches of conversation, from both Zurg and a female voice he didn't recognize. Then, it became clearer, and he slowly slumped to the floor as he heard it, a strange mixture of betrayal and relief washing over him at the same time.
"So, that'll be all for my briefing?"
"Did you expect me to tell you every detail? Just get the job done, woman!"
"I still have the choice to leave, you know. I don't have to be Agent Z."
"But you would never leave your brother." Zurg laughed scornfully.
He heard nothing but the woman's defeated silence.
"Now go! And do your job well! Darkmatter's been falling down on the evil job lately, so you need to make up for it."
Warp slowly stood and walked from the room. The hornets turned their heads but didn't fire; they weren't programmed on how to react if Darkmatter left the palace before a briefing.
I'm free. Free to leave Planet Z, and Zurg won't have hornets searching all over for me. He already has another agent to fill my place, so now I can leave without worrying about him chasing me around.
He awoke to reality again as the vidphone built into his cybernetic arm buzzed. He reached over to push the green button next to it.

Buzz rubbed the side of his head as he walked out of the Med-bay, LGM's trailing after him chattering about taking it easy, headaches, painkillers, and a whole bunch of technical terms that Buzz couldn't decipher while his head was pounding this way.

At least they had released him finally, 3 hours in a Med-bay was way to much for this Ranger. (Apparently being in a Med-bay for 3 hours for fainting due to HEAT is just a liiiiiittle bit ego bruising for our favorite Ranger ^^)

When the LGM's gave up, he quickly made his way to Team 42's lounge, he needed to lie down before his head exploded right here and now.

The doors whooshed open and Buzz immediately bombarded with questions from XR and Booster, very LOUD questions!

"Buzz are you alright? What happened? Nobody would tell us anything?"

That's because I didn't want anyone to know a passed out due to overheating!!

"Yeah you look like a speeder ran you over Buzz, and your eyes are all bloodshot and...."

Anytime you want all your flaws pointed out just go to XR....

"Ugh!" Buzz clapped his hands over his ears, hoping that if the noise was softer the thudding in his head would be as well.

Booster gave Buzz a concerned look. "What's the matter Buzz?"

He was about to lose it, one more comment or question from either of them and both his head and his temper were going to explode!!!

"The matter, is that he passed out and hit his head on Commander Nebula's STEEL flooring....that's going to give anyone a whopper of a headache." Mira pipped up from her spot on the couch. She motioned for Buzz to sit down while she finished her lecture.

Buzz colapsed onto the sofa beside Mira and immediately started massaging his temples. Thank you, Mira!

"Not to mention being in a crowded noisy Med-bay while having said headache." Mira gave her two teammates a stern look. "Now I suggest, that the two of you go get lunch and let Buzz have a few moments of quite."

The duo quickly took the hint and scurried out of the room, XR pausing on his way out. "Here Buzz," He opened up his chest compartment, and fished out a bottle of extra strength aspirin. "This might help..."

"No thanks XR," He shook his head, then winced. Oooh bad idea. "I'm fine."

XR rolled his eyes and discretely tossed the bottle to Mira.

"Back in a bit..." The bot rolled after Booster.

*****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, on the other side of Star Command...." *waddles away*

*****

"Ranger I hope you understand how delicate this operation is...." Nebula scowled. "I don't fully trust him yet...." And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who even halfway trusts him....

Winter Eclipse, looked up at Nebula, her determination showing in her big hazel eyes. "Commander, you gave me this mission because I was the most qualified for it, and I WILL see it through."

"I know ya will kiddo, I just wanna make sure you know what your getting into." His expression softened.

"I do."

He sighed. "Alright then, dismissed."

They both stood and saluted.

As Winter headed to the door, she turned back to Nebula with a sparkle in her eye. "You don't always have to worry about me so much, Uncle Mitch."

"What kind of a God-father would I be if I didn't?" He winked at her.

"Got me there..." She gave him a backhanded wave as she walked through the door and headed for the elevator. And the fun begins... She thought with a grin.

Back in his office, the Commander was starting to get a headache. Ugh, I hope this works.... He mentally slapped himself, since when did he get worried about how well a mission was gonna go? She's good girl, she knows what she's doing, and she fits the mission profile perfectly. And he's a smart guy, now that he's got his head back on straight he'll do the right thing, I think.....Craters, I'm getting too old for this....

As he sighed, Desk zipped up to him with some aspirin and water on her table top. He grunted his thanks as he quickly downed the headache pill. "Just gotta hope and pray, this goes without a hitch...."

He dialed Warp's private vid-phone combination.

((anyone who wants to see Winter's bio click here > http://digitalartdome.blogspot.com/ bare in mind tho that her background is under construction *gets decked out in construction garb* yeah! ^^))

The vidphone rang, and Warp dived for it where it sat on the nighttable in his room, almost falling over in his effort to get it. If I don't get it this time, who knows when or if the Commander'll call again?

He rapidly pushed the green button and held the phone in front of his face.

"Hello, Commander!" He paused only a second before his excitement got the better of him. "Is it a go?"
Wow, I don't think I've seen him that excited since his first day of training. He snorted. Ah, the irony. "Well howdy to you too Darkmatter....yeah, it took some doing, but you're back in. Your trainer and liaison is going to arrive shortly...."

"All right! Then I'm in!" His voice was filled with the happiness he had waited for for what seemed a very long time.
Nebula had to bite back a grin. Yeah, ya really are, kid. "Just hold your horses, spacecowboy! You may be IN, but you're far from back in the field, you've got to go through that training....."

"And just out of curiosity... who'll you be sending for me?"

"I'll only tell you this: you've never met her, and if I were you, I'd get on and STAY on her good side. She can pack a punch when she wants to...."

Warp chuckled inwardly. He was very much a ladies' man, and still just a tad bit arrogant. I can handle this one, no problem.
He grinned a bit, just a little too self-assuredly.

After seeing the look on Darkmatter's face, Nebula actually DID smile. Trouble was, it was the amused, slightly evil grin that Warp sported sometimes. She is going to kick him upside the head within the first ten minutes.
"Don't worry, I think I can handle whatever she throws at me." He grinned again, but took a little more care to hide it this time.
"I'm sure you can, Darkmatter." 'Throws' being the key word... "Tell her to check in with me when she gets there. Nebula Out."
Warp collapsed into the chair nearest him, a smile on his face. He was heading back-and a difficult woman was on the way.
Relief-and a new challenge.


.................................

Mira moved quietly toward the door. Buzz seemed to her to be sleeping. She left the bottle of aspirin on the arm of the couch-just in case. She had gotten some terrible headaches herself from the grief just after her mother had died, and she knew how it was to wake up to a headache and not have anything to relieve it.
She turned a bit to look at the sleeping Ranger before she went out the door.
Buzz is quite cute when he's sleeping, she admitted to herself, unabashedly staring at Captain Lightyear's face.

Winter raked a hand through her white hair as she looked back at the debris filled space. You would think that since he knew I was coming he would have disabled the freakin' attack satellites. This SO does not make for a good start to a mission.

The Twilet growled as she pulled into the courtyard of Darkmatter's mansion. She hadn't even met this guy and he had already managed to tick her off! This does not bode well for the next two weeks of my life!

She quickly hopped out of the rental speeder, and jogged up the walkway, it was nearly 4am, all she had to do was wake up Darkmatter, get him to her speeder, and get out. Simple enough.

After finding the backdoor unlocked, (Apparently he though those stupid satellites worked SO well.) She wove her way through the hallways looking for his bedroom. Ten minutes later she manged to find his room (who knew ex-villains snored?), and walk in and over to the bed.

Ooo really wish I had a air-horn right now! Hmmm, maybe I can make my own.... She took off her Space Rangers watch, set it for 1 minute, and set it right next to Warp's ear.

((remember XR's 'bomb' alarm clock from 'Little Secrets'? Same thing just in watch format....still packs a punch though... ^^))

5..4..3..2..1 She clamped her hands over her ears.

RISE AND SHINE SPACE CADET!!!

****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, at Star Command...." *waddles away*

****

Buzz jerked awake as the door hissed open. "Huh? What?? Oh, ow owowowowow." He quickly cradled his head in his hands. Reeeaaaaallly bad idea....

Warp screamed like a girl as the alarm exploded in his ear. He was out of bed in a second, aiming an imaginary wrist laser at the pillow. Must have been dreaming about Star Command, he barely had time to think before he saw the young woman.
"What do you think you're doing in my room?" he yelled, his voice a bit louder than was wise.
Then he noticed she was wearing a Ranger uniform.
Uh-oh.


....................


Mira heard Buzz awaken and darted back into the room. She grabbed the aspirin bottle and the glass of water by the couch and held them out to Buzz. "Take these. You'll feel better."

Winter had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at Warp's reaction to her little joke. Tough guy, riiiiight....

Then he noticed her, but apparently not her uniform.

"What do you think you're doing in my room?"

Then realization, mixed with a bit of embarrassment, came over his face as saw her Ranger suit.

She arched an eyebrow at him. Why make it easy on him? "I'm here to pick you up, that's what I'm doing in here flyboy. And if your not careful and/or nice to me, I'm also here to kick you upside the head."

****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, at Star Command...." *waddles away*

****

Buzz sighed as he reached for the pill bottle and water glass. Pain wins out over pride this time... "Thanks Mira."

Darkmatter was thrown off a bit by his not-quite-tactful first words to the Ranger, a place he wasn't used to being. He shook his head a little at her words, then a smile played on his lips. Fine, if that's the way you want to play.
He somehow seemed to forget all his resolutions to be good, and in a second he was standing in front of the girl, holding out his hand. "Flyboy, huh? Go ahead!" The smirk played on his face again. He was curious to know if she would actually dare.

...................

As Buzz's hands took hold of the bottle of pills and the glass of water, Mira felt a small jolt of electricity travel up her hands. She jerked her hands back a bit as he took the pills and water, and a faint blush she couldn't really hide came to her cheeks.
"Uh, I have to go to the bathroom." She started to the door again, ready to flee these emotions... rather be alone where she could get them under control. Her cheeks flamed.
I hope Buzz didn't see that. I've touched his hands lots of times before! Why should it be any different now?

"Flyboy, huh? Go ahead!"

Winter gave a throaty chuckle. "Ok, if that's what you want." She faked an uppercut, then dropped down to the ground and leg-swept him.

Warp gave a yelp.

*THUD*

She got up on her knees and leaned over him. "You were saying, flyboy?"

****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, at Star Command...." *waddles away*

****

Buzz shivered and nearly dropped the pills and water as his hand brushed Mira's.

Then she blushed and scurried off to the bathroom, leaving him to wonder what the heck just happened. Since when does Mira's touch affect me like that? She's just a colleague, a friend, nothing more....right? Crater, something tells me life just got even more complicated. He took a deep breath, he could figure out what all that meant later, when she wasn't a room away from him, and when he wasn't stressing out about Darkmatter up and coming back to Star Command. "You know Buzz, it wouldn't hurt you to open up...." Craters, since when did he hear MIRA'S advise in his head?

Well, she had been right then, maybe it would help now.....

The room spun around Warp as he was knocked to the floor. "Ok, ok! I'll go! I'm sorry!" Might as well get this over with, he added in his head.
Maybe I should have listened to Nebula...
........................

Mira was standing in the bathroom, splashing cold water on her cheeks in a vain attempt to bring the blood down. Fine. If I can't stop blushing, I'll just have to blush.
She left the bathroom, heading for the room where Buzz was supposed to be asleep. She stepped in the hatch and whispered, "You awake, Buzz?"

Winter smirked as she stood up. "Well now that we've got the 'don't mess with your supervisor' thing down, how bout' we head over to Star Command and get you set up?"

****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, at Star Command...." *waddles away*

****

Buzz was sprawled out on the couch with his arm over his eyes, willing the medication to kick in faster, when Mira came back.

"You awake, Buzz?"

He lifted his forearm and cracked an eye open. "Yeah, just waiting for the meds to kick in....you ok? You seem a little....off...."

((ah Buzz, your sitting there with a migraine and the remains of a concussion and your asking how she is? Hehe, always the gentleman ^^))

Warp sat up, rubbing his head. He gave Winter a look that shouted pure disgust and stood up, both in one fluid motion. "Maybe I can get dressed before we go?" he asked sarcastically, motioning to the nightclothes he wore.
She's quite the sassy one. I'll have to rethink my strategy if I'm to survive two weeks of training with her.
Oddly enough, the challenge didn't weaken his resolve to defect from Zurg's forces; it only increased the pull to Star Command.
He motioned to the door, his face showing his impatience though she would scarcely have had time to get out already.
I don't do early mornings, he inwardly groaned as he noticed the time on the clock by his bed.
...................................

Mira could feel herself blushing again, and focused all her Tangean mind power to control it. She could sense that it wasn't doing too much good.
"Oh, I'm feeling fine. Just fine," she told Buzz, speaking just a bit too hastily to sound fine. Her voice was also a shade higher than normal, and she kept taking glances toward the door as she spoke.
Get a handle on yourself, Mira! What is up with you?
The princess Ranger knew she wasn't doing too well with hiding her feelings. She only hoped Buzz couldn't interpret them... though some part of her wished that he would.

"Picky, Picky..." She waved a hand at him as she started out the door. "Speeder's in the courtyard flyboy, I'll be waiting." She silently laughed as she walked down the hallway. Maybe this won't be such a pain after all; he's fun to pick on, has a sense of humor, and.....he's kinda cute. She mentally slapped herself. Hooononono, do not even go there Winter! Not a chance....

****

*cute LGM waddles on screen* "Meanwhile, at Star Command...." *waddles away*

****

Buzz raised an eyebrow at Mira. Fine, riiiiiight. Something was defiantly up with her. Ugh, one more thing to figure out... His brain was already in overload.

Urhg, one thing at a time.... "Uhh, Ok, good." He paused. "Um Mira, you know how you always telling me I should be more open and express my feelings more? Well...." He sighed. "I'm....having a bad time, and I.....need someone to talk to....." He felt utterly stupid right now. Please don't laugh at me Mira.....I'm desperate.

Darkmatter moved over to his closet, suddenly wondering whatever he would wear-could wear-to go to Star Command. Would they prefer he went casual? Or suited up? His Agent Z suit wouldn't work for obvious reasons, but what impression would they get if he arrived in everyday clothes?
He sighed and reached for a plain black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He pulled them on, then stood in front of one of the full-length mirrors in his room.
Not too shabby, he admitted to himself. He'd forgotten that he could look good in something other than his suit. Though... well, his cybernetic arm looked kind of funny in the t-shirt, especially with one of the shirt's short sleeves shoved almost all the way up to his neck.
He stalked from the room, grabbing the small suitcase he'd packed as he left. He didn't want much to remind him of the old days, but he did need a few things.
He walked down the hall, turning off at the entry to the courtyard. There was the speeder, with Winter standing beside it. He approached it and slung his suitcase into the back of the vehicle, taking the passenger seat and quickly buckling himself up.
Warp couldn't resist raising an eyebrow at the fiery Twilet. "You comin', or what?"

..................................

Mira didn't say anything, just picked Buzz's hand up and held it in both of hers, all the embarrassment of a few moments before forgotten as she prepared to listen to and possibly comfort her friend.
I wonder what's bothering him, she thought, searching his face to find a clue.