Starfox Fanfic Chpt8
Fox smiled to himself as he prepped his Arwing. The Great Fox was near the vicinity of the pirate gang, and due to it's far more advanced radar system, had already picked up on the exact location of the gang's base of operations, a large cruiser that was outfitted with a few ships. The gang's cruiser was in a position near to a main route of travel through the system, and they likely sent out their ships when they picked up merchant vessels on their radar.
“All right guys, listen up! ROB is going to fly us in close, and use the main guns to disable the cruiser's engines! As soon as this gang can't run, they'll most likely try and take us out, the usual last ditch effort. They seem like pretty standard pirate fare, but be careful as usual. Let's head out!”
Peppy, Slippy, and Falco all gave a nod to Fox, and climbed into the cockpit's of their respective Arwings, and waited for ROB to fire the main guns, the signal to surround the pirate cruiser, and engage any hostiles who exited it. As soon as ROB's voice came over their comms, the four pilots took off, Arwings roaring out into space, and towards the disabled pirate cruiser.
Fox let another smile grace his muzzle, as his Arwing's radar detected 6 enemy ships take off from the cruiser, and head straight for his team's formation. The rush of frantic space battle, was a unique feeling of exhilaration, that Fox had always loved from his very first space skirmish.
“Everyone mark your targets, and engage!” Fox ordered the team over his comm, as he targeted the pirate closest to his position, and fired off few lasers.
He managed to hit the enemy's wing, and he flew past the damaged ship, spinning around to nail it's other wing.
"Aww, he was mine Falco!” Slippy's voice came over the comm system, as Falco apparently stole one of Slippy's targets. Fox chuckled to himself at that. Falco was definitely determined to regain his old formation spot. He'd easily slipped back into his role as the team's ace pilot on the last mission, taking out more pirates than everyone else, and now he seemed determined to do the same here.
'I want to give him back his position... but as much as he works for it, and as much as he's trying to show how sorry he is, I just can't seem to shake this... bitter feeling, whenever I start to warm up to him again.' Fox sighed, as he rolled his Arwing, avoiding a burst of laser fire from one of his assailants. He did truly want to forgive his friend. But after the two years of abandonment, and worry, and anger... it was like no matter how good it was to see Falco, and have him back on the team, he could still feel all those negative emotions, just under the surface, tainting his perception of Falco, and adding a sour aftertaste to all his good memories of his friend.
He fired off another few shots, and managed to cripple the engine of another pirate. There were only two left, and it seemed that Peppy and Falco had it handled. Fox let out a satisfied sigh as he moved to cover the hangar opening on the pirate cruiser, in case they had any more ships.
“Heh, looks like I managed to take out three of these guys!” Falco's voice came over the comm, and Fox halfheartedly smiled. He was pretty sure that Falco felt the same about the team, as Fox felt about him, albeit with guilt rather than anger. Fox could tell that Falco was genuinely sorry about what he'd done, and on top of that guilt, he was still nursing the emotional wounds of his breakup with Katt.
Fox couldn't help but feel for his best friend's grief. Falco did not often open up to people, and if the bird felt strongly enough about Katt that he left his team, his friends, his surrogate family behind for a chance with her, only to get dumped by her... he was hiding a LOT of hurt. As bitter as he felt about what Falco had done, Fox just wanted to get Falco alone, and get him to talk about it. In fact FOX was starting to feel guilty that he hadn't even tried to talk to Falco about his breakup. Hell, he hadn't really put any effort into talking about ANYTHING with Falco, save for that small talk about Falco's stiff mattress yesterday morning.
Even just that small attempted conversation, had made Falco seem very uncomfortable. In fact, it had almost seemed like Falco had made that hasty exit specifically to avoid talking to Fox. Again, even through the negative emotions the bird now brought to his mind, Fox couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Falco wouldn't want to talk to him. He didn't think that Fox HATED him did he? Sure, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want Falco to feel guilt over ditching them, but he'd never meant to give the impression that he now disliked him, and didn't want to be friends again!
Fox straightened up in his seat a little, his hands tightening slightly around the handles of the flight controls, a new goal in mind. After the mission, he'd try to talk to Falco, and make clear to his friend that while he wasn't over the fact that Falco had abandoned him, he didn't want him to think that their friendship was over. Maybe he'd even get Falco to talk about his breakup, perhaps try to ease his friend's mind.
With the pirate's starships disabled, and their cruiser helplessly drifting without the engines, Fox instructed ROB to contact the Cornerian Police Force, who had ordered the contract in the first place, and inform them that they could come pick up the disabled cruiser, and properly arrest the pirates. An easy job, and easy money. They would have to spend another day bored on the Great Fox however, as they traveled to the asteroid belt near Corneria, for their next contract, to investigate the belt for a missing ship.
The team returned to the Great Fox, and exited their Arwings. Fox kept glancing over to Falco, deciding that he'd wait for the bird to go to his room, before attempting to talk to him. As they exited the elevator, Fox waited for Peppy, Slippy and Falco to head in different directions, lagging behind, and saw Falco head down the hall to the crew cabins. He waited for a few moments, before heading down the hall as well, stopping before Falco's door. He took a moment, giving himself a determined nod, before knocking on it.
It only took a moment before the door opened to reveal Falco, looking slightly apprehensive. His eyes widened a little as he saw his visitor was Fox.
“Oh, hey Fox. Did you need me for something?” Falco's voice seemed fairly casual, but Fox thought that he could hear a little bit of nervousness. He felt that same sense of guilt again, at the thought that he made his best friend uncomfortable.
“I'd like to talk to you for a little while actually, Falco. Can I come in, or are you busy?” Fox once again noticed a small flicker of apprehension in Falco's eyes, before he replied.
“Um, yeah, sure, come in, I'm not busy.” Falco stepped aside to allow the vulpine entry. Fox gave a nod to Falco, as he stepped into the bird's room, taking a cursory glance around, as Falco closed the door, and stepped past Fox to sit down at his desk chair. He looked at Fox expectantly, as Fox leaned back against an empty spot on the wall. “So, what did you wanna talk about?”
“I've noticed that you're kind of... nervous around me lately.” Fox could see another flicker of anxiety in Falco's expression, it was quick enough that someone who didn't know Falco as well as he did would have missed it. “I just want you to know, that I still consider us friends, alright? Sure, I'm still a little raw about the whole, 'ditching the team without a goodbye, and not contacting us for two years thing', but I don't hate you Falco. I don't think I could ever hate you. I mean, we've known each other since we were just teenagers! We went through the Academy together, fought a war together!” Fox stopped, and waited for Falco to say something. He looked a little stunned at Fox's words, and he opened his mouth to reply.
“I... never thought you hated me Fox. I just... I thought that it would be kind of, well... douchey to just act all buddy-buddy with you, after what I did.” He let out a bitter chuckle, “Peppy and Slip' seem content to avoid talking to me, at least if we're not on a mission, so I guess I just assumed that maybe you felt the same.” Fox let out a breath of relief at the knowledge that Falco never thought he hated him, before answering.
“Well, now you know I DON'T feel the same as them. You can still talk to me! I'm glad that you're back with the team, and that you're still as skilled as ever in an Arwing. Don't worry about Pep' and Slippy, Falco. They'll warm back up to you eventually. It'll just take a little time.” Fox saw a small flicker of worry cross Falco's face once again.
“Maybe they will, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Especially with Slippy. Heh, he actually, um... told me that you were especially hurt over what I did. He threatened to shoot me down if I did that to you again. SLIPPY threatened me over your well being Fox, and if that ISN'T complete dislike, I don't know what is.” Fox blinked in surprise over the news of what Slippy had done, and while he felt flattered that Slippy was so defensive of him, he still felt a little angry at the toad.
“When did he tell you that? I know that he was looking out for me, but threatening you is taking it just a little too far!” Falco quickly held up his hands and shook his head at Fox.
“No no, it's alright! It was completely deserved after what I did Fox! You don't need to scold him or anything. Besides, he um... told me that you were... different after I left. If you don't mind me asking... how different were you?”
Fox turned his head away from Falco, looking rather embarrassed.
“I admit that I threw myself into contract work a lot more. And that I was MAYBE a tad bit more aggressive than usual. But it's not like I was all weepy over you leaving Falco. Sure, I was... hurt. Hurt that you just left without even saying goodbye to me, or even bothering to call me, or ANY of us. But it wasn't anything bad enough to warrant Slippy threatening you.”
“Fox, he told me that you were miserable. His exact words. The last time that I saw you in a state that I would refer to as miserable... was when you got the news about your dad. And if I made you feel even remotely close to that...”
Fox held up a hand to stop Falco, shaking his head.
“I was... I was perhaps a little bit gloomy. Miserable is a bit of a strong term. I was angry and worried about you at the same time, and there weren't any outlets to distract me from those feelings, except for contracts, and bar trips in Corneria City when we'd stop to resupply. But I was not miserable. Just a little mopey.” Falco was looking at him, a guilty expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Fox quickly spoke first.
“Speaking of mopey... you aren't taking your break up very well, are you?” Falco was the one to look away this time. “I know you Falco. I know that you don't often open up to people, and I know that you're hurting over her. I just want you to know, that you can talk to me about it alright? You're my best friend, practically a brother, and seeing you like this makes me want to do something to help you. Even if it's just being a good listener.” Falco closed his eyes, letting out a sigh, before answering Fox, without looking at him.
“Thanks Fox. But I... I don't want to talk about it. Not now alright?” Fox nodded sympathetically. “I was actually about to take a shower before you came in. Is it alright if you come back sometime later?” Fox hesitated a moment, before stepping away from the wall, with a nod to Falco.
“Alright.” the vulpine stepped over to the door and opened it to head out. He turned, glancing over his shoulder at Falco.
“I'll be here when you feel like talking Falco. Think about it okay?” He stepped out into the hall, Falco's door closing behind him. He stood there for a moment, letting out a sigh. He felt a little weight off his chest, now that he'd assured Falco that he still considered him a friend, and that he was glad to have him back with the team. Sure, he hadn't gotten him to talk about his breakup, which was quite obviously still affecting him, but it was a start. Fox headed down the hall, feeling significantly better than he had earlier. They had all day tomorrow to talk, before they reached the asteroid belt. Maybe Falco would want to talk then?
Fox briefly thought about going to have a chat with Slippy, about threatening fellow teammates, but decided to listen to Falco. At the very least, Falco telling him about Slippy's threat had opened up a new conversation topic. Not that Fox was particularly eager to talk about his attitude during Falco's absence. It hadn't been good. He HAD been far more aggressive than usual, primarily taking contracts that he was sure would involve flight combat, he'd shrugged off attempts by Peppy and Slippy to talk about Falco's departure, and he'd practically become a regular at the Orbital Alcove, a bar in Corneria City, that he always visited when they restocked the Great Fox. He hadn't ever been a barfly type before Falco's departure.
He REALLY didn't want to use the word 'depressed' but it was the only thing he could use to describe himself during the two years Falco had left. The contrast between his attitude now that Falco was back, was fairly substantial now that he thought about it. Sure, his depression had mellowed out near the middle of the second year, becoming used to Falco not being there, but he'd still felt something missing from his team. And now that his friend was back, that feeling was gone. His team was complete again. It definitely had some issues, but it was still complete. And Fox meant to keep it that way. He hoped that Falco took him up on his offer to listen to his problems.
Falco leaned forward in his chair and let out a relieved sigh. When Fox had shown up at his door, he'd felt an irrational fear that Fox had somehow found out that Falco knew about his sexuality, and about the 'shower incident'. It was COMEPLETELY ridiculous paranoia, for those kinds of thoughts to cross his mind, but he'd felt anxiety rise up in his chest when he'd opened the door to Fox anyway. Instead, Fox had just wanted to reassure him. It had been unexpected, but after Fox had started talking about not hating him, and being glad he was back, Falco had begun to feel a little better. He'd never thought that Fox had hated him,but he felt a refreshing wave of relief, over the fact that Fox still gave a damn about what he thought. He'd even tried to bring up his breakup...
Falco stood up, and entered his bathroom, stopping for a moment before he got into the shower, flashes of the 'incident' threatening to appear, before he shoved them back down into the recesses of his mind, and got in. Maybe talking to Fox about his breakup would help take Ka- her off his mind? He had definitely not planned to talk to ANYONE about his breakup, preferring to keep his personal problems to himself. Even if Slippy, Peppy, and Fox hadn't been cold with him at first, and welcomed him back with smiles and confetti, he wouldn't have talked about his breakup. But maybe that's what he needed? He'd never actually been through a breakup before this, having never actually DATED the women he'd slept with before, always making sure they understood that it was just a fling, before sleeping with them. He'd never cared about them beyond their bodies, but he had truly cared about... Katt. She had meant something to him, and he wanted to make her happy. He'd never thought that SHE would get bored of him. After all, he'd been the one to turn down HER advances, back during his days with the Hot Rodders.
He let out a bitter chuckle as he pondered the irony. He'd finally decided to give in to his feelings for her, and then SHE got tired of HIM. He turned off the shower, and stepped out, grabbing his towel off the rack. Fox's offer seemed to look a little better. Maybe telling someone about his feelings, would help ease the pain faster? He felt a familiar guilt start to rise up. Even after all he'd done, Fox still wanted to help him. Fox was always a better friend to him, than HE was to Fox. He hadn't even apologized to Fox yet! He'd been about to do so, after Fox had finally mentioned, out loud, that he'd been hurt over his abandonment... but then Fox had interrupted him, to bring up the breakup. Falco let out a sigh. He would NOT take Fox's kindness for granted, and he would apologize to him, BEFORE he talked about the breakup. After tomorrow’s mission, he'd get Fox alone, and tell him how sorry he was for abandoning him.
