(mission impossible)

[kiga]

It had been six months since Caleb had come to be part of their team. Six months that Nathan had spent bonding with him. Six glorious, almost dream-like months where he failed to control himself from something he had never felt before. The four out of six months where he was "seeing" Caleb (he wasn't sure what else to call it), a bliss that always blossomed pink and red upon his face and ears.

Needless to say, Nathan had been happy. Is happy, but unable to forget the times when he wasn't happy (six years broken by just one person, a feat he'd never dreamed of in his wildest imagination), cautiously treading upon waters he was unfamiliar with. However, nine times out of ten he would be too lost in his contentness with Caleb to think about those times. He spent most of every waking hour with him, after all, simply pleased with the thought that Caleb looked so excited and happy whenever he was graced with Nathan's presence. Nobody else had been so accepting of him without missing a beat, something that he never felt when around his so-called "family". But Caleb was always welcoming, always happily content to have him around, no matter what the situation called for.

Half of Nathan still didn't get it, didn't get why he was such an important person to someone as good as Caleb. Nathan had never thought highly of himself, but he didn't think highly of much to begin with. Still, he had always felt tainted, unable to bring himself to reach out for someone who wasn't blemished and contaminated from years of growing sour.

In short, he wasn't a good person, yet Caleb somehow changed that.

It was on the sixth month that they had tallied up a total of nine missions, all of them coming out successful. They seemed to work in harmony, a team that was well-chosen from those who worked at SAVE's headquarters. Now they were embarking on their tenth mission, but this was—

"Stop whining and put on the dress, Nathan."

—well, different.

The boy of sixteen grumbled and looked away, pretending that he didn't hear that demand.

Yes, this mission was quite different, something that Nathan would have refused had he not initially been interested in it in the first place. Their destination was a ball in some mansion where a certain man lived, one that had apparently been undergoing underground work with teenage girls. When Nathan read that they were young (the most helpless, in his opinion), he didn't even bother to look at the rest— his answer was a solid "okay" without asking any questions. Unfortunately, those words alone seemed to dig his own grave.

"It won't be that bad," Aaron spoke up again, trying to continue to coax Nathan into giving in. "It's only for one night."

Nathan turned back to Aaron, giving him a glare. "Then why don't you put on the stupid dress!"

"I wouldn't be able to pass as a girl."

"What the hell gave you the idea that I could!"

Aaron blinked once, twice; lazy motions to fill the void of what he considered obviousness. "You're short and thin," he concluded in a matter-of-fact tone.

Nathan shrieked. "I AM NOT. WHY CAN'T CALEB DO IT!"

As if on cue Caleb jerked his head up, giving one of his "What do you need I am here!" looks that could only be classified as eagered. His enthusiasm to help whenever he was needed never ceased to come instantly, a fact that made Nathan feel embarrassed when Caleb's excitement couldn't be contained.

"Because he wouldn't be able to pass as a girl either."

Caleb drooped, understanding that the words meant: "No, you're not going to be any help in this situation."

"Ugh," Nathan groaned, scratching the back of his head before pushing himself away from the wall. "Why do I even have to do this."

"You know why," Aaron began as he sat down, settling into a lazy position. "We have to bring dates so that we'll blend in."

"Why can't two guys go together as dates?"

"Because they're high-class bigots." The redhead shrugged as nonchalantly as ever. "Can't contain their homophobia."

Nathan put his arms over his chest again, looking as frustrated as ever. "This sucks."

"Just put on the dress, Nathan."

---

One hour of bickering later, they finally situated themselves into Hana's room, crammed in to witness Nathan's (hopefully half-decent) transition. Caleb and Aaron were settled peacefully atop Hana's bed, silently observing as Nathan bitched and complained the entire way through their mission to transform him into a female.

Well... something akin to a female, anyway.

Hana worked carefully with his hair, murmuring a few "Nathan-sensei, please hold" whenever Nathan jerked his head aside, upset that she was spending so much time trying to get his hair to cooperate. It was with great difficulty that she managed to pull it on the side, pushing the wayward strands of hair that annoyingly flipped up before she finally got it to behave. She heaved a sigh of exhaustion and relief, stepping back a bit with a nod of her head. "Done."

When the word left her mouth Nathan clambered to his feet, quickly stepping towards the full-length mirror that gave him a full view of his "new self."

His face fell considerably at the sight staring back at him through the mirror. "I look ridiculous."

"Actually," Aaron stroked his chin, pausing to look Nathan up and down, "you don't look half-bad."

"That's not really what I want to hear, either..."

Hana fidgeted, holding the brush in her hands closer to her chest, looking worried as Nathan's face kept contorting into a scowl. "I-- I could give something else?"

Nathan simply grumbled to that, toying with the bangs that Hana had pushed completely to one side. Well, he guessed he didn't look that bad, not when Hana proved to be very useful for this particular chore, one that nobody else would've been able to do properly. The dress choice was a little odd (why choose white, that got dirty so easily) but he was glad that Hana was able to pick something that easily allowed padding, though Nathan continued to frown down at it every once in a while. It was weird and a little awkward, really.

The boy shifted to look at Caleb, who had been silent for the most part, looking down at him with an expression that wavered between unsure and embarrassment. "I uh. Look bad, right?"

A long silence filled the room as nobody dared to speak. Caleb's first reaction was to look a little confused and lost, giving one of his expressions that screamed of being unsure if he was supposed to answer. When the realization hit him, a nervous smile crossed his face, suddenly looking very anxious as all eyes were on him.

"Erm..." Caleb trailed off, obviously debating the pros and cons of him telling the truth or not, unsure of what the right answer would be.

"I don't know about you," Aaron interrupted, placing a hand on Nathan's shoulder, "but I think we should be worrying about more pressing matters."

The words seemed to pull Nathan's eyes away from Caleb, forgetting the unanswered question for now. "Oh, right." He shifted in place, putting a hand on his hip while gesturing with the other. "So, we're just going in the monitor everything for about an hour or so, right? Look like we're busy having fun, mingle with snooty people, yadda yadda so on and so-forth."

Nathan walked away and pulled out the file, putting it atop Hana's desk as the other three gathered around to look at their plan. "Aaron, you'll be going and messing with the electrical system so the power goes off completely and stay there for the time being. Caleb and Hana will go together and check out the whereabouts of these girls. Hana, try to locate this man—" He paused, pointing to the photo clipped at the side. "—since he's apparently the guy who's running this operation. You'll be able to do it the fastest."

Caleb blinked, pulling his eyes away to look at Nathan. "Where is Nathan be?"

"'Where is Nathan going to be'," he instantly corrected, not even stopping to think about it, eyes still trained on the paper. "I'll be keeping a lookout and making sure nobody goes poking around the area you guys were into. Because there are so many people that are going to be there, it might be a little tough to complete this assignment. Aaron, come back and guard the area when the coast is clear."

They all nodded in unison as Nathan put everything away, reaching into his bag to pull out his gun. With a click he reloaded it, a borderline smile crossing his lips as determination flickered across his eyes before saying with confidence: "Let's do this."

It was only when Aaron and Hana exited the room did Caleb gently catch Nathan's wrist with a hand, making the boy blink and turn around to glace at his companion.

"What is it?" Usually it was Caleb who was so adamant on starting a mission, pushing aside anything else that wasn't nearly as important. So it was surprising that he wanted to dawdle for a while longer, tug Nathan so they're fully facing each other as he reached out to take the weapon out of his grasp, set it aside, before squeezing his palms in a reassuring manner. There was a tender, caring look in his eyes, bending down slightly so that their noses were merely inches away from each other.

"Nathan look nice," he said slowly, the smile on his face softening even further. "Nathan always look nice."

Feeling his face heat up over those words, Nathan ducked his head down, face turning as red as a cherry. He didn't say anything in reply, knew it wasn't needed when he felt a pair of warm lips press against his forehead before Caleb picked up the gun, leading Nathan out of Hana's room by their connected hands.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.