Disclaimer: Nope, don't own.

A/N- I have a cold, allergies and a broken toe and I haven't written this much in months. I should get sick more often...

Anywho, spoilers for 'The Chosen One'

I.

Vert's not really sure about this new team- they're rough around the edges and he's not sure how they'll ever work well together. But. He's determined. There's something about them all that shouldn't work but somehow does. He just needs to shape it so that their sharp edges aren't as sharp and maybe everything will just fall together.

It's been a tiring day and everyone else has wandered off either to head to the diner or to bed.

Vert is the only one left in the garage, tinkering away at his car; he'd felt a vibration at one point during the fight and he's trying to figure out what caused it. He reaches out for a wrench a little surprised when it lands in his hand.

"Hey." Zoom grins at him as he looks up. "Need a hand?"

Vert opens his mouth to say no, to decline gently because he really does prefer to work on his engine alone.

"Sure." He says instead.

Zooms eyes light up as the younger man tries to school his face into that of polite interest. Vert gets the feeling that Zooms has a slight case of hero worship. That's okay, he can deal with it.

The way his stomach twists at the light in the others eyes or the heat the shoots through him when Zoom leans close to point something out is another matter entirely.

II.

They're divided up into teams for this training exercise, in a zone that they've already secured.

Agura, Stanford and Zoom against Sherman, Spinner and himself.

They spread out in the large maze and Vert loses sight of the others for the next little while.

He takes his time, checking methodically and checking in with the Cortez brothers as he does. They're doing pretty well, working together to cover the maze and search for their target. He even starts to think they might win this one.

He turns around a bend and right ahead is the key. Vert cheers and heads straight for the key; secure the key first and then tell his teammates.

But as he hits the switch to grab the key a familiar noise reaches his ears seconds before Zoom goes flying by, grabbing the key right out from under his nose.

The younger man pulls up next to him, smirking and looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"Guess this means your team is springing for the pizza party."

Vert shakes his head and finds himself grinning even though he has just lost his own training exercise.

"I guess I am." He agrees easily.

Zooms smirks slips into a real smile and Vert decides that he can be a gracious loser to keep the smile there.

"And maybe," Zoom hesitates looking unsure for a moment before ploughing ahead. "For a movie sometime."

Vert can feel his eyes widening because he gets the feeling that this isn't about the training exercise anymore. Zoom watches him carefully, possibly warily.

"Sounds great." Vert finally says, tight feeling in his chest easing as Zooms smile comes back ten fold.

"Awesome." Zoom clutches the key tighter and takes off with a wave over his shoulder to the meeting point.

Vert doesn't stand a chance.

III.

They don't make it to the movie.

Halfway through dinner they have to take off for a new zone.

It's an ice zone and as he climbs the steep hills, wind and snow batters against his windshield, trying to get in, and his tires slip and slide trying to find a grip.

The Cortez brothers lead the way, Agura taking up the end of their little group and between the two vehicles they haven't slid back down to the base of the mountain yet. Stanford curses over the comm. Link as he starts to slide sideways but Agura catches him and pulls him back on track.

"Keep it together guys, we're almost there!" Vert calls out, but his eyes are on Zoom.

The other man has his head down as he ploughs forwards in front of Verts car. If Zoom slips, Vert will be there to catch him. Right now though, there's not much between Zoom and the cold and snow. He had refused to hitch a ride with Sherman and Spinner, showing exactly how stubborn he can be.

In fact, Vert is so caught up in watching Zoom, making sure he makes it to the top, he barely watches the road.

The Vandals come roaring over the hill and suddenly everything just sort of falls apart.

The road they're on starts to shudder and crack under the combined weight. Spinner and Sherman make it to the top of the hill, safe, but everyone else starts to slide.

Hatch hits Verts car as he slides by, spinning him and giving him a clear view of Zoom just as the younger man goes over the edge.

Vert's not breathing. He knows he's not breathing because try as he might he cannot drag air into his lungs.

He can hear Spinner shouting over the comm. Link and barely notices as Agura drags him and Stanford to safety.

All he can see is Zoom slipping out of sight, over and over again.

He cannot tear his eyes away from that spot.

So he's first to see the hand appear over the side. And first out of his car.

The wind beats against him and tries to push him back but he pushes on, latches onto the hand and pulls.
Zoom comes tumbling up and to safety, falling against Vert, shivering.

"Thanks." His teeth chatter loudly and he presses against Vert, probably just trying to get some of his body heat. But Vert pulls him closer and wraps his own arms around his thin frame. "I think my bike is trashed."

Vert doesn't tell him how glad he is that it was the bike and not Zoom that was lying in a heap at the bottom of the mountain. It's a close thing though because the relief is bitter and sharp in his mouth.

"You're riding in my car." He says instead and decides to think about how his heart had stopped when Zoom had disappeared, later.

IV.

Vert follows the sound of destruction to the garage.

Spinner comes running out, a wrench flying by his head as Vert approaches the door.

"Don't go in there, man." He advises Vert and takes off running down the hall.

He considers taking Spinners suggestion but considering what he does on a day-to-day basis, he figures he can handle this.

There's a loud crash from inside the room and he walks in.

Nothing comes flying at his head, which he is grateful for. He spots Zoom across the room, right before a stack of tires go flying from a spinning kick. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how lethal the younger man is.

"I don't want to hear it Vert." Zoom doesn't look at him, just heads for the punching bag they had installed in the corner.

"Hear what?" Vert asks, settling himself on a workbench to watch. Zoom in a fury is a sight to see- the anger and strength hidden just beneath his small frame has Vert sitting on the edge of his seat, watching with rapt attention.

"Anymore chosen one jokes. Or that I should have gone with Zen." He adds the last part quietly, mostly to himself, but Vert still picks up on it.

He's going to have to talk to the others about their teasing.

"They're just joking around." Vert knows there's no malice behind the teasing that goes on in their team. They're just releasing tension from a rough day. Sometimes it goes too far though.

Zoom punches the bag and it rocks back. Vert can hear the tearing sound as the strong material starts to give.

"You have anything to add to the jokes?" Zoom snaps.

Vert can see him working himself into a rage. He'd been fine when Zen had left, but between the time that Vert had gone to his room to change and shower and had come back to find Zoom gone, something had changed.

"Are you going to tell me that I should have followed my calling with Zen too?"

Feeling suddenly enlightened, Vert stands and approaches the younger man, standing just out of the punching bags way.

"I'm glad you didn't go with Zen." He says- hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. "I didn't want you to leave. Not for some special calling or for someone else." Because he cares, cares much more than anyone has the right to know.

Zoom hits the bag once more and then just kind of sags against it. Vert takes this as a sign that it's safe and ventures closer, resting a hand between Zooms shoulder blades, feeling the heat and the muscles flex as the younger man moves.

"It's probably selfish but I want you right here." Vert admits.

Zoom looks up and his breath catches in his throat. The things he wants to do to Zoom…he blushes and looks away.

But the familiar smirk is returning to Zooms face.

"The only place I plan on going is on a second date with you." Zoom tells him, straightening and stepping close like he knows exactly what is going on in Verts mind.

"I think since we made it through the first, we may just make it through the second." Vert grins, and on a whim, reaches out and grabs Zooms hand.

V.

He plans an incredibly romantic dinner, rents Zooms favourite movies and bribes the others to be elsewhere for the evening. It's perfect.

Until he comes down with a cold last minute- a horrible, terrible cold that he decides is literally trying to kill him. It's doing what the Vandals and Sark could not.

He tells Zoom as much as the younger man tries to force feed him some sort of soup that Agura swore would cure him in no time.

Sage and Spinner had refused to come near him and had restricted him to his room until he felt better.

"You're right," Zoom tells him with a serious face. "It's probably some sort of evil plot from the Sark. They're giving you this cold to give to the rest of us so we'll all be stuck in bed when they reach Earth."

Vert still isn't convinced that it's not true.

Zoom takes his momentary lapse in concentration to shove the spoonful of soup into his mouth and he's pleased to note that it doesn't taste as horrible as he had originally assumed it would.

He swallows and sinks back into the pillows with a sigh. He alternates between feeling hot and cold all over and he can't think properly with his head filled with cotton.

"Tonight was supposed to be perfect." Vert complains, running his hands over his face and his tired eyes. "I had everything planned."

"What?" Zoom asks, spoon halfway to Verts mouth. Vert eyes the spoon, hoping it won't spill on him. "Why? Is it an anniversary or something?"

Zoom gnaws at his bottom lip in a way that Vert finds endearing, while appearing guilty.

"No! No, nothing like that." Vert pauses as the spoon makes it to his mouth. He swallows and considers explaining that he can feed himself, but he kind of likes the attention. "I just…"

He trails off momentarily unable to explain why he had gone to all the trouble.

"I just wanted to do something nice." He finishes lamely and if the look on the younger mans face is anything to go by, he clearly doesn't believe Vert.

"You can tell me." Zoom says eyes trained on the bowl like he isn't sure that Vert will want to tell him. "I won't laugh."

And he knows that Zoom won't laugh, after all these months he knows that Zoom would never laugh at this.

He'll blame the fever for the way his face flushes and his heart pounds loud in his chest and his ears.

"I love you." His voice doesn't come out strong like he had intended, it sounds quiet and hoarse, like a confession.

Zoom stills for a long moment and then looks up, eyes wide and studying Verts face, probably wondering if this was a hallucination brought on from the fever or something. Vert stares back because he has nothing left to hide now.

A small smile breaks across Zooms face, almost shy.

"I uh," He bites his lip and a light blush spreads across his cheeks. "Um, you too, you know?"

Vert nods, grinning. Yeah, he knows.