Hawkeye’s world shifted on its axis as Trinity pressed her lips to his.

Her mouth was so soft. Her body pressed against his so that her breasts were crushed to his chest. He could feel her heart beating.

The temptation to mate with her was overwhelming, but he fought the instinct to push further with everything he had, instead kissing her back as tenderly as he could bear.

In spite of his careful restraint, Trinity pulled back after a few seconds, leaving him panting, his entire body straining for more.

Trinity laughed in an embarrassed way, her eyes wide and her lips still slightly parted.

“Thank you,” he told her, hoping she would not be embarrassed for long. She should be proud of her skill at kissing.

She turned away, rummaging around on her desk as if trying to change the subject.

“What should we work on next?” he asked, trying to show her that he would not forget his duty just because she had kissed him.

She looked around the room a moment and smiled up at him.

“You know what? You got enough done today that we can do something fun instead,” she said.

He hoped beyond anything that it was more kissing.

“How about laser tag?” she asked, her eyes sparkling.

“That sounds dangerous,” he said.

“Oh, it’s not real lasers, just lights,” she explained. “You wear a vest and you carry a light gun and if you can shoot someone else’s vest you get a point.”

“I see,” he said, though he didn’t really see. He loved her excitement too much to slow her down with explanations.

“We play on a team though, so hopefully the others can play too,” she said, grabbing her bag from the table and heading to the door. “Are you coming?” she asked with her hand on the light switch.

He jogged after her and they headed back to the old academy through the field.

“Brooke and Conan are probably teaching tonight, but maybe Veronica and Lobo can join us,” Trinity said. “Veronica’s spectacular at laser tag, but she’s really competitive, so stay out of her way when push comes to shove.”

“Do you play this game often?” Hawkeye asked.

“Not as often as I want to,” she replied. “I guess we’ve played two other times. But when I get this project out of the way and Brooke has her gym up and running we want to take a night off together on a regular basis to go out and do fun stuff.”

“You work very hard,” Hawkeye observed.

“We all care about what we do,” she said. Then she got an odd look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s just that the virus I was trying to scrub today was really odd,” she said. “It had some unusual artifacts.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“Well,” she said. “It’s almost like it was designed to do more than one thing. But damned if I have any idea what that might be.”

“Oh,” he said. He didn’t really follow. Maybe if he knew more, he could find a way to help.

But they had arrived at the old academy, and his curiosity got lost in the excitement of inviting the others to play laser tag. Besides, if it had to do with computers, he was confident that Trinity had the situation well in hand.

Trinity took the stairs two at a time and he followed her up to the shared living spaces.

An hour later, four of them were in the dark lobby of an enormous building. As Trinity predicted, Brooke and Conan were busy with their martial arts students, but Veronica and Lobo had joined them.

Each of them looked spectacular in their military-style vests. Trinity had advised them to wear dark clothing so as to be better able to hide. She had even sent Lobo back because his first black t-shirt had white lettering and she said the white would be too noticeable in the black light.

Teams were in groups of six, so the four of them were joined by two small boys. The slightly larger one was called Sam, and he held the hand of the littler one, Jack, his brother.

Although Trinity had rolled her eyes and muttered something about babysitting, Hawkeye was fascinated with these fledgling humans and determined to guard them against the attacks of the opposing team.

“Listen up,” Trinity said in a clear, firm voice. “When we get in there don’t be the first to leave the start point, or the last - try to file out in the middle somewhere. When you do, find a place where you can get your back to the wall and hide.”

“Why do we need our backs to the wall?” Lobo asked.

“Your vest has two sensors, one on the front and one on the back,” Trinity explained. “If you can cover the one in back you’re removing almost half your risk.”

“Would that not be exactly half?” Hawkeye ventured.

“There’s another sensor in your gun,” Trinity said. “But it’s harder to hit.”

“Run out in the middle of everyone, hide, put my back to a wall,” Sam said nervously to himself.

“That’s right,” Trinity said. “For those of us with more experience, we’ll be playing offense.”

“Like Football?” Lobo sounded completely mystified.

Sam and Jack stared up at him.

“Ha. That’s a good one,” Trinity pretended to laugh.

Lobo stared at her blankly.

The kids looked suspicious.

“Anyway, we’ll try and hit the other team,” Trinity said. “When you’re on offense try and move constantly so you’re harder to hit.”

A buzzer sounded and they all went into an even larger, darker room.

Everyone gathered under a huge arch with neon lights flashing on it. A recorded voice spoke, explaining the rules.

Hawkeye watched the two little humans holding hands. They were very pleasing to observe and they seemed to be listening to instructions as best they could. He could not understand why Trinity didn’t want them around. He wished with all his heart that he had a treat for them, though he wondered if it was good manners to offer a treat to a small human the way you could with a pet. In any case, he felt the same sense of delight in them as he had when Veronica brought him to see the K-9 officers.

He wondered if this could be a paternal instinct. He knew his body should come equipped with some basic human instincts, but so far, the only one he’d been aware of was the almost overwhelming desire to claim Trinity as his mate.

“Let’s go,” Trinity cried, holding her laser gun aloft and looking like the illustration of the angel of death in one of Rima’s comic books back at Stargazer.

Hawkeye abandoned his wayward thoughts and followed his fearless female into the fray.