When the ocean meets fire

~~~~~~~~~~~Regret~~~~~~~~~~~

Alone in his room, Up cursed the fact that it was larger than most rangers’ because of his Commander status for the first time. He was allowed back to the freedom of his own room, but he still had to check back with the base’s hospital ward every two days to ‘check his progress’. “Huh,” Up snorted, “more like so Space-Claw can update his ‘miracle project’ and show everyone what a genius he is”. Up sighed dramatically to himself; Taz would’ve joined in with his complaints about him, and would’ve probably made up some incredible plan to kill him, whilst humiliating him in front of the whole Galactic League. He chuckled, but then mentally kicked himself because he was letting himself think about her. Again.

                                                                                          

Well, when was he not thinking about her? How she could reduce a grown man to a shivering wreck from the other side of the room, how she could make him laugh in the most unlikely of situations, how she looked into his eyes and knew there was something he was hiding, how she could make him open up like neither of them did to anyone else, how she was the only one on the whole ship who could floor him before his injury, and how stunning she looked even when she was fresh from a fight: hair sticking to her face, her skin glistening and breathing heavy. No- especially when she was fresh from a fight. Up thought back to the last time he’d seen Taz like that, and this time he really did kick himself. “Dead-God damn it,” he muttered as he limped over to his bed, where he sat down and put his head on his hands (the right hand took a little more effort), “I should’ve kissed her.”

“Right, rangers. This isn’t gonna be easy,” Commander Up started his brief to the ensigns in his team, who nodded amongst themselves, however his Lieutenant knew better, and she stood there with her jaw set and eyes ready for a fight. “Yeah, it’s not gonna be easy... if you’re a wimp like you bunch of girls! Look, Lieutenant Taz here is a girl, and yet she’s tougher than all of you combined!” Up gestured to Taz who stood slightly closer to him than the rest of the team, and in return she glared at the ensigns, who were now looking sheepish. “So all jou ensigns better un-fudge yourselves, or else- what’s gonna happen Up?” She looked to him with a slight smirk in her eyes, ready for him to say what he always did. “You’ve worked hard to get into this league, so show some loyalty! If you don’t go out there and die for something, then I’ll kill you for nothing!” Up finished with a glare that even Taz would’ve been proud of, and when the ensigns just stood there, he barked, “GO!” and they stumbled out of the ship doors and onto the alien planet they had just landed on, zappers raised. "I bet at least half of dem are gonna die by tripping over der own shoelaces," Taz tutted as she slung her zapper over her shoulder. Up chuckled, and looked out at where the ensigns had headed: a dusty orange plane surrounded by caves and equally orange and dusty rocks.

The aim here was to stop a gang of rogue robot thugs from destroying a town (well, that was robot thugs for you) by breaking into their hideout and destroying them first-easy. Taz took Up's hand and they walked out down the ramp from the ship and headed towards the cave. She'd been doing that a lot lately; holding his hand, brushing dirt off his cheek and keeping her hand on his face for longer than necessary. Once Up had even caught her blushing when he looked up from his plate at dinner and she was about an inch away from him. He wasn't complaining, in fact his heart went into overdrive and he was sure he was sweating already.  "Uh, Taz? I was wonder-" "Shh!" Taz suddenly stopped and threw both their backs against the wall of a rock. They were deep in the rocky maze now. Taz dropped Up's hand to raise her zapper as she cautiously looked around the side of the rock. Up, following her reaction, readied himself for whatever was around the corner and got out his two hand-zappers. He leant forward, trying to see what Taz was looking at, but she turned around to face him. Their noses were centimetres apart. Taz gave him a confused look, and Up sheepishly leaned away before she whispered, "there are two robotas guarding an entrance of some kind- I don't know how those idiotas missed them." She rolled her eyes and Up nodded in agreement. "On three?" he whispered, and she held up her fist.