The ride to Amy's apartment was uncomfortably silent.

Amy kept her attention fixed on the road ahead, avoiding his eyes and replying in monosyllabic grunts whenever he attempted to strike up a conversation. She can't still be mad at me for checking out Cat's butt, Ryan told himself. Can she?

My best friend's... behind. Remembering the way Amy had hesitated before finally spitting out the word brought a fleeting smile to his face, and he quickly turned away. It would be bad if she noticed him grinning at her and got the wrong impression.

Or, worse, the right one.

Through the slot in the divider, he could see Syd sprawled across the back seat, leaning out through the missing driver's-side window with her arm draped over the car's side and her hair whipping in the wind. She stared at the passing scenery with a preoccupied expression that suggested she was deep in thought.

Every few seconds, the car's tires swished through another puddle as they sped along the deserted streets. For the moment, the rain had stopped, but the lingering humidity and the occasional rumble of distant thunder suggested their reprieve from the weather was only a temporary one.

With every breath he took, Ryan's bandages tightened. The coarse gauze pulled in a new and unpleasant direction each time he shifted in his seat, searching in vain for a less-miserable position. Worse, the wrapped area had started to itch. So far, he'd managed to resist the urge to scratch at it, but he couldn't say how much longer his resolve would last.

As he twisted and turned, the clock on the dashboard caught his eye. 2:03, it blinked at him.

2:03.

2:03.

2:04.

How can it only be two o'clock? It feels like weeks have gone by since I woke up in my cell, not hours.

He forced himself to look at something else instead. Eventually, he found his gaze drifting back to Amy. There was something compelling about the profile she presented, the way her strong features were silhouetted by the glow of each approaching streetlight, only to vanish back into the darkness as they passed.

She really is a beautiful woman. Beautiful and strong, a combination that he found incredibly attractive. The cold expression of disdain that she was currently wearing did nothing to diminish that fact. In fact, he decided, the aloof look seemed to enhance her appeal. Hmm. Probably best not to think too hard about that.

They'd known each other less than a day, but he felt a connection between them. Something more than just the bond that existed between teammates who risked their lives fighting alongside one another. The signals she was sending were so loud and clear that even a guy who'd spent the past half-decade as a conscript in an alien army would be able to pick up on them. But there was a distance there, as well, a level of emotional detachment that she insisted on maintaining. How to bridge that gap was a mystery to him; he didn't have a clue where to begin.

I suppose not checking out other women in front of her would be a good place to start.

Other women like Syd, who was as beautiful as Amy in her own way. She'd been giving him all sorts of mixed signals, too...

Lacking anything better to do with his time, Ryan had done a lot of contingency planning while he was still in captivity. He'd considered possible obstacles he might encounter after he freed himself, and worked out ways that he could overcome them. Somehow, though, this particular scenario had never occurred to him.

***

They'd left several more miles of highway behind them when Amy finally broke the lull in conversation with a meaningful throat-clearing sound.

Ryan glanced over at her.

"How long do we have this time?" she asked in a small voice.

Although the question had clearly been directed at him, the blonde woman's gaze remained focused on the windshield in front of her, like she was speaking to herself and he just happened to overhear it.

"How long...?" he echoed, before he realized what she was getting at. "Oh. You mean until the Zorvax can come after us again?"

Still avoiding his eyes, she nodded, and he responded with a dismissive wave.

"We're in the clear for now. That last portal they opened was a big all-in gamble. Whoever was in charge on their side left the portal open for way too long, and they must have sent twelve, maybe thirteen Enforcers through it. Plus their Forward-Commander, who... didn't exactly come across on purpose, but when you're calculating total mass transfer, every last bit counts, right?" Ryan laughed. "If they'd come back with me in custody, and the Changers I took, then the risk would have been worth it. Instead, they went bust, and ended up throwing good money after bad."

"That doesn't really answer the question."

"Ah, you're right. At the earliest, I'd say at least thirty-two hours before they can even think about spinning the portal generator up again, and using it so many times back-to-back puts a lot of strain on the delicate components. It could be way longer than that if some important part burned out." He mimed an explosion with both hands. "Besides, all of their operations everywhere on the planet come and go using that one generator. There must have been other missions that were put on hold to come after us, and the Zorvax officers responsible for them are going to want priority for the next portal window. If we're lucky, it might be days until they can make another attempt, or even weeks."

"You seem to know a lot about how they operate," she commented.

"I was an officer in the Zorvax Star Empire's Enforcer Legion for years, Sergeant Reid. Not to brag, but I was pretty good at my job, too." The smile faded from his face. "Anyway, the higher-ups never bothered trying to hide anything from us. Why would they? As far as those arrogant slugs were concerned, we humans may as well have been pieces of military equipment. They treated us like part of the scenery... and when they talked to each other in front of us, I was paying attention."

"All right." Amy met his eyes, her tone softening a bit. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to make you relive old memories."

"Don't worry about it. That's all in the past now."

Sensing that they were about to lapse back into silence, Ryan leaned forward in his seat to ask a question of his own.

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"Well," he began, "enough about me. What's your story, Amy?"

"My... story?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I heard Syd mention that you were in the Marines?"

"I thought this gave it away," Amy said, tugging the neck of her grey hoodie with her free hand. The gesture was obviously intended to draw his attention to the design stenciled on the front. Whatever that is. Seeing his blank stare, she added, "Eagle, globe and anchor? You know, the Marine Corps logo?"

"Right, of course. I knew that."

"Sure." She gave him a slight smile. "Well, my dad did his twenty in the Corps, and retired as a chief warrant officer. His dad served, and his dad's dad, and so on. He likes to tell people that there's been a Reid in the Marines for as long as the Marines have existed. It's sort of a family tradition. I've got an older brother who's stationed in Okinawa right now, and an aunt flying helicopters out of Miramar, and a few cousins too. As soon as I was old enough, I went ahead and signed up."

He considered how to tactfully phrase his next question.

"You're not in the Marines anymore, though." It ended up coming out as more of a statement. "Did something happen?"

She shook her head slightly.

"Let's just say that by the time I'd finished my first deployment, I felt like I needed a change of scenery."

"And that's when you decided to become a cop?" he prompted.

"More or less." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Dad wasn't thrilled when I told him about that decision, but he supported me. Everyone in my family did."

"Your parents live here in the city?"

"No, they moved out west after dad retired. He works as a private security contractor now, and that means a lot of international travel, too. We keep in touch, but..."

"That means it's just you and Syd? No family, no... pets, no nothing?"

No boyfriend ? he didn't add.

Shooting a glance at the occupant of the back seat, who still appeared to be lost in her own contemplative world, Amy snorted.

"Making sure Syd stays out of trouble is more than enough to keep me busy. Between that and my job..."

"Is that enough?" Ryan hesitated again, not wanting to push, but curiosity overcame his sense of propriety. "Were you happy with that?"

"No," she replied simply, "I wasn't. It always felt like I was going through the motions, waiting for something to happen. Some day, I hoped that..." She paused dramatically, then continued, straight-faced, "...I hoped that a naked, ranting lunatic would fall out of the sky and conscript me into his secret war against alien invaders."

"Wow." He matched her deadpan tone. "Then I guess today must have been your lucky day, too."

"It certainly seems that way," she agreed. "Tell you what. Ask me again when we're not spending our every waking moment on the run from the Zorvax, or from the government." She gave him a small but genuine smile. "You're cute, Ryan, but there wasn't room in my life for a relationship before, and there definitely isn't now that you've dropped in."

"Aww, yes!" Syd suddenly cheered from the back. "That means he's fair game!" As one, Ryan and Amy both turned to stare incredulously at her. Blinking innocently at them, she put a hand over her mouth. "Whoops. Did I say that out loud?"

"Fair game," Amy repeated. Her voice had remained casual, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Um, hey, by the way – we should stop for food somewhere!" Syd hurriedly added, in an obvious attempt to forestall the imminent explosion, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!"

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Ryan agreed, tossing her a lifeline. "Is there anywhere around here that's going to be open this late?"

***

They ended up settling on a 24/7 convenience store a few blocks away from the apartment.

The bored-looking teenager behind the register looked up from his phone as they entered. His eyes darted from Syd's bare feet to the sign hanging on the door that proclaimed NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE, then back again.

"Er, excuse me, miss –" he began, tentatively lifting a hand.

Ryan pushed his way between them. Leaning heavily on the counter, he loomed over the hapless employee.

"...is there a problem here?"

"Oh. Err, no. No, sir. There's no problem."

"Good."

"Ryan!" Syd tugged on his good arm, pulling him down one of the aisles. "C'mon, give the kid a break. Look how scared he is."

"I wasn't trying to scare him," Ryan protested, allowing himself to be pulled away.

"You don't need to try, you're like six foot eight and your arms are bigger than his thighs. With the way you were glaring at him..." Turning to face him, she flexed her slender arms, furrowing her brows threateningly and dropping her voice to imitate his. "Is there a problem here?" she growled.

The display was ridiculous enough to draw a begrudging laugh out of him.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll be more careful."

Amy walked up carrying a pair of shopping baskets and pushed one of them into his arms.

"Since we're here," she told him, "you might as well get yourself a toothbrush, soap, anything else you think you'll need."

"Thanks." He made a face. "I guess we'll have to add it to my tab, huh?"

"I'll get the junk food!" Syd said, swiping the other one out of Amy's hands before dashing away.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Amy blurted, whirling to chase after her. "How are you planning on buying anything? You still owe me rent for last month!"

"You can put my stuff on my tab, too!" she replied breezily, sweeping family-size bags of potato chips off the shelf and into her basket. "I'll be able to pay you back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Placing a hand on her shoulder, Amy spun Syd around so that they were standing face-to-face. "You talked to your parents?"

"Pfft, nah." The smaller girl squirmed out of her grasp. "Just Adam. I'm sure he'll let them know that I called, though. He always does."

"Syd..."

"Hey, check it out, energy drinks are buy one, get one free! Score!" Cans clunked into the basket. "And we're definitely going to need some beer –"

Reaching over Syd's head, Amy took the six-pack out of her hands and returned it to the shelf.

"Amyyyyy," she whined.

"Not in my apartment," she said, her tone final. "Not until you're twenty-one."

"My driver's license says I'm thirty," Syd grumbled once she thought Amy was out of earshot. A moment later, realization struck. "Oh, fuck! My fake ID was in my wallet... which was in my jacket pocket..."

"Your WHAT?"

"The, uh, fake ID that I didn't have... ahaha..."

Tuning out their antics, Ryan grabbed some basic necessities for himself: a pack of disposable razors, shaving cream, deodorant, soap and shampoo, a toothbrush, mouthwash and a tube of toothpaste. After a bit of consideration, he threw in a bottle of aspirin, figuring he was going to need it.

Finished with his own shopping, he found Syd peering into a refrigerator case full of sushi trays with DISCOUNT stickers on them.

"You're braver than me," he told her.

As soon as Amy had finished paying for their purchases, Syd ripped open a bag of cookies and started demolishing them. Watching the reckless abandon with which she was stuffing the sweet snacks into her face, Ryan found himself wondering how she managed to stay so skinny.

"Shoo good," she moaned. Noticing their stares, she froze, then held the mostly-empty package out towards them with a sheepish expression. "Oo guys wan some?" she asked around a mouthful.

"Home and showers first," Amy said, waving away the offer. "After that, we'll eat and figure out what to do next."