Squinting up at the clear, gloriously purple sky, Juri breathed in the hot dusty air and felt his heart swell with a joy he couldn't remember ever experiencing before. He was feeling inordinately happy. All right, so any safe place would've felt good to be in at the moment, after the tension and stress of the latest mission; but this wasn't merely relief at being safe once more. This wasn't the usual smugness for a job well done, nor satisfaction for the chance to relax again. This was something else, a deep feeling of being home, and it shook him to the core.

He'd only spent a couple of weeks of his life in this place, and what was a couple of weeks out of twenty-eight years? Hardly anything to warrant the elation that coursed through him now. And yet he couldn't shake it, nor did he particularly want to. Instead he savored the unfamiliar emotion like a piece of chocolate, letting its taste seep all around. He'd lived years in other places, yet none of them had coaxed this kind of tremors out of his much-experienced being.

The heat of the suns was beginning to chill into the slightly damper darkness that he was accustomed to associating with night, but it was still only early afternoon by the planetary clock. In the corner of his eye he caught a flicker of fiery red, as the driver who'd fetched him from the spaceport jumped out and headed towards the back of the van.

"The Commanders wanted to see you when we arrive," Kyo reminded him, opening the rear hatch.

"Yeah, I'll be right over," Juri replied and stretched his arms. "Do you know where I'll be accommodated?"

"Sure, I've got the room number," the redhead grinned back. "No need to worry 'bout these, I'll take them to your quarters."

"I can do that," Juri offered but the man just waved a hand.

"No need to, it's not as if you'd have come with truckloads anyway. No problem."

"Thanks."

Juri was feeling fresh despite the hours-long journey. He'd showered in the morning, just before the liner had landed on Jainah, and the transports had excellent air-conditioning, a must in the local climate. No reason to linger here then, especially as he had no need to go and change before meeting with the commanders – ah yes, two of them, he thought.

The journey from Trelissac Spaceport had been long enough for Kyo to give him a comprehensive update of the situation in the Base, and besides, a minuscule amount of news had even trickled to him during the mission. So Juri was aware that the Plains Base of Jainah had sent a considerable number of pilots and support personnel to the Zodiac system. He also knew that the troops currently off-planet included Head Pilot Dahomey.

Sighing, he let his gaze skim caressingly over the buildings sprawled around and shook his head. Really, Lombard, you're far gone if seeing all this military sternness makes you go mushy inside! Juri chuckled to himself, eyed his surroundings once more and then turned to walk towards the Command Center in the middle of it all.

He didn't quite make it to the door when an unexpected voice called to him.

"Juri? Juri, is it you?"

Juri turned on his heels, completely taken by surprise, and his eyes widened as they confirmed that he hadn't been hearing things. A blond young man, in close-fitting dark trousers and an electric blue turtleneck a couple of sizes too large, was hurrying towards him with a slightly unsteady step. Another young man, dark-haired and dark-eyed, with a friendly oval face, was trailing behind.

Juri gasped and had barely time enough to catch the blond before slim arms were flung around his neck and he was hugged enthusiastically.

"Juri! Oh, I was looking forward to seeing you!"

"Salvador?" Juri laughed in surprise, took a hold of the clone's shoulders and pushed him a little further so that he could focus properly. "Salvador Marquina! What a fantastic surprise to see you up and about, and looking so swell! My, you've definitely improved since I last saw you!"

That was no understatement. Instead of the dull-eyed, listless, too pale face he remembered, Juri was now looking at a man whose finely chiseled features bore a healthy tint, with luminous eyes and rosy lips. His gaze fell on the dark man who was now standing behind Salvador, and he quickly repressed any and all errant thoughts about the kissability of those lips when he noticed the flicker of irritation that passed over the smooth face. Juri was no mind-reader, but he had enough experience to recognize jealousy when he saw it. But hadn't he only hugged the clone... well, actually, they were still holding each other in a rather familiar way. He valiantly but gently extricated himself from Salvador.

"Yes, I'm much better," the blond assured. "I'm so glad to see you, I've been hoping you'd come. I want to thank you, and to talk."

"Well, it certainly looks like you have something to tell!" Juri said and turned his attention fully to the so far silent third party. "But may I venture a guess? Is this –"

"Troy. This is Troy," Sal beamed and turned to grab the dark boy's hand. "I can never thank you enough for getting me here and helping me find him."

"Oh, I'm willing to take some credit for the first part of that, but very little of the second!" Juri grinned and shook hands with Troy. "So glad to meet you. I'm Juri Lombard, though some guys have also dubbed me as Chameleon. Not too flattering a name, that, and you'll understand why if you ever see a picture of those little fellows... just Juri will be fine."

"Troyen Leboyer." The boy had a dark, pleasant voice that matched his looks. "Please call me Troy like everyone else here does."

"Looks like there's quite some story for me to hear!" Juri said, satisfied. "And I love stories. So you're already well enough to run around out here?"

"André and the others say that I need to get some exercise," Salvador explained. "We came out now that it's not so hot, because I tend to get a bit dizzy when I'm tired."

"That's a good idea for sure," Juri nodded. "The heat here can be overwhelming at times. But really, you look absolutely radiant!"

He noticed that Troy's fingers, interlaced with Sal's, tightened again. Touchy, are you? Damn, he was curious! What had those two been in the first place? Best friends? Lovers? And hadn't Sal been someone else back then? How had their bond held so well? What had happened? He was burning to know.

Commanders, Juri reminded himself. You're being expected by the Big Bosses of the place this very moment and here you are, making small talk with Sal and Troy.

"Are you very tired?" Salvador asked eagerly. "I'd love to talk!"

"No, not at all. But I need to go and report at the headquarters first," Juri said dutifully. "After that, I'm game."

He'd very nearly said 'I'm all yours', but managed to stop himself just before it slipped out. It wouldn't do to antagonize Sal's boyfriend as the very first thing after his arrival – after all, wasn't he hoping to stay here? And that would certainly mean he'd have to deal with Troy more or less on a daily basis...

"Great! We'll be in the T-complex." Salvador pointed towards the familiar, metallic blue building behind them. "Please come over when you're free."

"Will do," Juri promised. "I'll be there soon."

He entered the Command Center and found his way to the room where, he was told, the commanders could be found. Indeed, the door opened to reveal two familiar figures. The second big, dark shape was conspicuously missing, and Juri felt his insides take a lurch as he caught a glimpse of Arria's stony expression before the blond commander turned to look at him and smiled. There's a very unhappy man, he thought.

"Juri!" Arria stood up from his chair. "Welcome back!"

"Welcome indeed," Orwel said and stepped closer to take Juri's hand in his. "So this is what a very hotly wanted man looks like?"

"Thank you, Commanders!" Juri felt again a welcoming warmth wash over him. "Yeah, I'm afraid you're looking at a man who's pretty high on Ziroshel Union's 'Most Wanted' list. But quite frankly, I wouldn't mind being a little less hot stuff..."

"Why? Don't you like coming here?" Orwel tilted his head quizzically and Juri grinned.

"Oh, if there's something I'm happy about, it's the fact that I'm here to throw myself at your mercy for an undefined period of time! And of course I'm glad that I managed to accomplish my mission, even if it was a little too touch and go for my liking."

"Yes, we heard it was a close call," Arria joined in. "But don't talk about mercy, Juri. We're glad to offer you refuge here. You're more than welcome to stay as long as you need, and even longer if you feel like it."

"Thank you, Commander," Juri said sincerely, saw the man open his mouth and hastened to correct himself. "Sorry – I mean thank you, Arria! Believe me, if I hadn't been too busy getting the hell away from the planet, I would've jumped up and down when I got the command to get my bones here, of all places! I was hoping to come back, but thought I'd be pushing my luck too far to even request it."

"Well, that's settled then!" Orwel smiled broadly. "You're hereby officially ordered to stay here long enough to cool down, which might take quite some time, knowing the Union's elephant memory in these matters."

Both Juri and Arria nodded, Juri with a dry chuckle.

"But now that I'm here, I'd like to make myself useful somehow," he said. "I don't fancy just hanging around and doing nothing. I don't think my spying experience will be of much use, but I'm not particular. If there's anything you think I could help with, I'll be happy to."

"No, I can believe that just sitting down and twiddling your thumbs isn't exactly in your style." Arria half-smiled to him. "We'll bear that offer in mind, believe me. Especially as we're currently so under-staffed."

Juri hesitated for a moment and decided to brave it.

"How's the mission in Zodiac system going?" he asked somewhat cautiously. Arria's mouth tightened a little.

"They've reached the area and been engaged in a few small battles," he said levelly. "That's really all we know for the moment. But it's going to take a while."

"Yes, and it's not only the fleet and personnel that we sent there, you see," Orwel added. "We've distributed the remaining troops between this and the other two bases on the planet, just in case there's an attack. But there's still an acute shortage of people, plus we have here some functions that the other bases don't have to worry about."

"Such as the T-clones," Arria said. "You really have to go and see them as soon as you can, Juri!"

"Oh, I ran into Salvador and Troy practically as soon as I got out of the van! It's amazing how Salvador has recovered. I promised to go and see them still today."

"It's nothing short of amazing," Orwel agreed. "But he still has ways to go. These brain things really take a long time to heal, and his has been scrambled so thoroughly that it seems to affect everything else. I mean, compared to Vanya who basically was just knocked on the head and still suffers from it, Salvador's been –"

"What's wrong with Vanya?" Juri interrupted, eyes widening, but Arria raised a placating hand.

"Nothing new, just the old injury from the explosion," he said. "He gets the occasional bad headache, but the doctors say there's nothing radically wrong with him. Don't worry."

"Oh... I thought he's got yet another knock on the head," Juri muttered in relief and Orwel chuckled.

"Don't worry, mother-hen Corinn is looking after him," he said. "Not that Vanya terribly likes it... and Salvador has got his own mother-hen. I guess you saw him too?"

"Troy? Sure thing!" Juri nodded. "Looked protective enough... and I'm dying to hear the whole story from them! Before I left, I only got these bits and pieces of what Terry had managed to dig up."

"Oh, I'm not sure you'll get the whole story," Orwel said, one eyebrow arching meaningfully. "Troy will insist that they were – and are – just friends, but..."

"Stop playing matchmaker, Orwel, it doesn't suit you," Arria admonished. "What will happen will happen, and we'll just watch and see."

"Sure thing, Commander!" Orwel put up his hands in capitulation. "And maybe I really ought to mind my own business and let you draw your own conclusions, Juri."

"Well, my own conclusion is that Troy is jealous of old acquaintances who hug Salvador and tell him that he looks good," Juri said sagely. "So there. And perhaps, if you don't mind, I'll head to the T-building and try to get them talking?"

"Go right ahead," Arria said. "We'd be happy to sit down with you and have a good long talk at some point, but that can wait. After all you've only just arrived here."

"Don't worry," Orwel added, "we know better than to try and find out details of this mission. We know it's top secret and all that, and the little we know is enough for us. Just one more question before you go, if I may?"

"Sure, Orwel. Just shoot."

"I'm not going to put you to work as the first thing tomorrow, but what do you think you'd be best at? Do you have any special skills, apart from spying of course?"

"Well..." Juri frowned in thought. "I guess my biggest forte is people skills. But I don't think you have much use for those, do you?"

"Don't be so sure about that," Orwel said slowly, looking smug. "After all, we still have here quite a number of young clones... whose 'life training' currently rests on very few people's shoulders."

Juri's eyes widened as realization dawned. "Hey... I think I like the idea!"

"Don't be too quick to rejoice," Arria interjected wryly. "The School of Angels is included, too."

"Oops..." Juri grinned from ear to ear. "But I still like the sound of it, even if it did get a lot more intimidating all of a sudden!"

He took his leave from the commanders and sauntered back to the open yard. A short, brisk walk later he was once more inside the T-clone building and stopped to feel his surroundings. Obviously the five youngsters were somewhere outside, the very air was somehow calmer and felt pleasantly soothing. Or was he just imagining things? Juri shrugged and followed the familiar route to the TC headquarters where he was indeed welcomed only by Rori, André and Terry, who explained that Adrien had taken the quintet to a field trip outside the Base perimeter. Lancer was out there accompanying them, suitably armed; Adrien had a strong aversion to firearms, and yet nobody was allowed out of the base without one.

"I thought I heard something," Troy said, emerging from the adjoining room. "Sal is asleep."

"You stayed outside for quite some time," André said approvingly. "Troy, do you think we could use this time to bring Juri up to date?"

"But Sal wanted to talk to him too," Troy protested with a frown. "I'm not sure he'd want to be left out."

"We can tell Juri about you and Ben," Terry reasoned. "And about what's been happening since you arrived. I think Sal wants to talk about the events on TerraFour, so you three can go through those together once he's again awake."

That Troy could agree to, and soon the five of them were immersed in lively discussion – so lively that they didn't even notice an extra person in the room before a narrow hand descended on Troy's shoulder and startled him thoroughly.

Salvador blinked a little sleepily down to his friend, slipped his arms around his neck and pressed his cheek against Troy's. The others courteously ignored the deep blush that this action caused, but Juri was intrigued to notice that Troy didn't even try to wiggle away. Instead his hands closed gently around Salvador's wrists that were crossed on his chest, and he smiled with unmistakable tenderness to his friend. Juri smothered a smile.

Just friends, huh? I wouldn't mind being 'just friends' with somebody, then...

"No fair," Salvador said with a pout, "you've been talking here with Juri while I was asleep."

"We haven't even touched upon the things you wanted to know," Terry assured him. "You haven't missed anything important. After all, you know about Benedict, and what you've been up to recently. We didn't even mention TerraFour."

"Good!" Salvador brightened immediately and fetched a chair which he, of course, pulled as close as humanly possible to Troy's before sitting down. "No, I'm not too tired. I want to talk about all that, because it's bothering me so much."

"Obviously you don't mind if we're here as well," Rori observed, and Salvador cocked his head.

"Of course not," he said. "I think I'd prefer it if you stay. I have so many... unpleasant memories from TerraFour."

Troy put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. Again Juri bit his lip not to smile too visibly; the dark young man really was too cute.

"We're all here with you, Sal," Troy said solemnly. "They're just memories."

A blinding smile was his reward. This time Juri clearly noticed that the others were studiously not paying any attention to what was going on between the two, and decided to follow suit. So it was exactly as the commanders had said – things weren't clear for Troy and Salvador, and they were probably very right in saying that the two should be left to settle the matter between themselves. In any case Troy was very determined to help his friend as best he could. Salvador was in good hands.

Juri felt a little wistful, but only very very little. All right, so Salvador was a real sweetheart, but he'd already realized that his own interests just might lie elsewhere.