Holy Seven

((Penny: :) It's amazing how quickly the fire dies when there's no one around rooting for you, at least in this medium. Here, you are, m'dear. Another chapter. I hope you enjoy it. And Haven IS weird.. but it's a good weird (I think?) *L* I hope, anyway. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a story!

A/N: There is some small slashy moments in here where Jux and Hal work things out. I've indicated where this really is by **** on either end. Feel free to pass it over, if this bothers you.))

Chapter Seven


Hal stormed ahead while Lucky and his gunner kept up the back, lingering somewhat due to Haven's sudden desire to go no faster than was necessary to show he was moving. He didn't look fearful when Lucky glanced to the side, but kept instead, that blank, empty look of someone who had lost all hope.

"He called you a freak," Lucky felt like an imbecile stating the obvious. That was okay. He was getting accustomed to feeling that way around Haven.

Then, when no answer came, "You know, Dos said he found out something pretty amazing about your flier. He was babbling on about how people had talked about something being able to be done and whispers of underground work towards a programming goal, but he never got a chance to tell me just what it was. Only it seemed that you really impressed him with your program."

Haven made a small sound, bordering on disgust and then, for a moment alive, gave a look of derision at his companion. "No, Dos isn't exactly excited about the program. And he's not impressed with my program. He's impressed with the machine that made the program."

Lucky shook his head. "I thought you programmed it?"

"In a way. But it is almost the same thing. A machine doing it or me, it all comes out the same way."

"I don't understand." Lucky laughed lightly, "You know, for all the time I've walked around the big hot shot, knowing how to do stuff all the time, I've certainly not understood a lot since you came on board, buddy." Watching the painful look on his friend's face was cutting into him.

Friend. Okay, so he could accept that. He didn't want Haven to be upset, didn't want that blank look to return. He wanted to have that half joking miniature smile come out on that perfect face and for the young man to trust them all again. Hell, he would do just about anything and that scared him, actually. Strange, to want something for someone. But he was pretty damn sure that Alex Haven hadn't had a whole lot growing up and that he really didn't have much now. It would be good to make an impact, even the small one made by being a friend, in the boy's life.

Trying to act like it was no big deal, Lucky's words did the opposite and shut Haven down again. The slender young man lapsed into chilly silence once again and they mounted the stairs, took an elevator, and traversed a hall, all completely wrapped in the silence that Lucky suddenly found himself unable to break through.

Dog was sitting stone faced and ignoring the pacing Hal as they entered. The older man took one look at Haven and growled low, "Sit, Unde."

At another chair, Dos had curled his legs up on his chair. He watched Haven enter and stand at attention in the center of the room. Lucky glanced at him, noticing how Dos seemed more confused and thoughtful as he regarded Haven. But there was definitely something else there - a burning curiosity somewhere in those dark eyes that Lucky recognized as Dos getting his teeth into something and being unwilling to let go until he'd figured it.

"Hendricks, take a seat. As the pilot chosen to be partnered with oh seven, this will impact you as well."

Hal had seated himself as ordered and was pacing in his chair, so to speak. His legs dancing and his fists clenching and unclenching as he glared at Haven, his eyes narrowed to slits. In the light of the half circle around where they were at, Lucky chose to stand next to his gunner. "No thank you sir, I'll stay here."

"Don't." Haven's murmur sounded flat, as if he had given up on something he might have once attempted to believe in. That sound, when put up against how the teenager had slowly been coming to life, struck Lucky as morbid. "Just sit down, sir."

Lucky winced at the use of the honorific and then followed the kid's wishes. Pulling up a rolling chair he sat, leaning forward and looking past Dos at where Dog was centered on Haven.

"Okay, Dos. How about you tell us what you've found?" Dog began.

"Well," Dos was trying to remain sober but it was clear excitement had him in it's clutches. "I was working on the systems in Haven's flier. See, he had said something about how he couldn't take up the copywrite and I'd thought he was just acting like a kid, you know. Mad because of something Mr. Wold had done. But then I thought about it and there was this tertiary line of programming underneath the general systems and flight programs, all of it imbedded one into the other. It's a really amazing program and I figure that from what I know, either Haven's got an incredible program on his own, but he should have been able to.." he stopped and turned to look at Haven. "You know, even with the help of a chip, you shouldn't have been able to do it. You had to have had the creativity to figure it. See? That makes you almost human!"

It was obvious Dos was trying to be uplifting but Haven flinched as if he'd been struck.

Lucky frowned. "Almost human? What the hell're you talking about?"

Dos grinned. "It's amazing, really. I mean it makes sense that would be why they'd left the seventh position open and all.. because they were waiting for someone to get the capacity to merge into a program of that size and not fry themselves."

"He's an auggie, Hendricks," Hal's voice spat out in disgust. "He's a fucking auggie. Not even a friggin' human being. He's a freak and he's been wandering around us, acting like he's all normal and shit, when he really should be eating oil with the other machines out there on the tarmac."

"Unde, enough," Dog interrupted quietly.

One thing could be said for Hal. He was a two bit brass cannon sometimes, but he managed to follow orders fairly regularly. He quieted immediately.

Lucky shook his head in disbelief. He could hear Dog in the background but his mind was too busy to hear. He tried to focus on Haven who stood with his head down and his eyes shuttered, arms tucked behind him, hands clenched about one another so hard that Lucky could see his stomach trembling just slightly - shivering the fabric of his flight shirt. It was making sense finally, the reason Haven was different.

He interrupted Dog, not sure what the man had been saying, but not caring. "How long?" he choked.

Dog stopped and the others looked Lucky's way. Everyone but Haven that is. Lucky repeated the question. "Haven? How long. How long have you been augmented?"

Augmented. It was a fearful thing. It ranked up there with the Spacer's Halo, a deadly, highly contagious virus found in some of the resource streams of Mars. Something you hoped you never came in contact with. A man with Spacer's Halo was shot on sight and his body was picked up by a toxic control crew. There really wasn't anything else anyone could do for you.

The part about augmenting was that it wasn't something you could catch. It was voluntary.

Augmenting the human brain with a small microchip had been first done in the 1990's. It was a mild triumph. Scientists succeeded in moving a cursor on a computer screen; left, right, up, down. There was some small celebration over it. It opened up a whole new frontier of medical possibility. And truthfully it had done wonders. With robotics and chips in the brain at strategic points a mechanical hand could serve where a real one had failed.

But to augment the human brain. That was something that hadn't been around more than twenty five years. The problem had been, of course, damage to the frontal cortex, the systems portion of the brain. Or worse, damage to the hypothalamus, making people strangely dangerous, volatile, and at times, murderous. It was harder on the brain than a tumor in the limbic centers. Frying a brain made a vegetable or a monster. And neither was something to relish being around.

"Since I was fourteen," the young man murmured and took in a steadying breath and raised his head, staring at the wall beyond their heads. He was on trial here, wasn't he? It was fairly obvious from the way Hal and Dos were staring at him, from Lucky's point of view.

Lucky stood, rubbed his hands together and then, with the heat of the friction cupped in his palms, pressed his hands to his eyes and tucked in some courage. Then with a sigh of resignation, he went to stand next to his gunner.

Dog raised an eyebrow but Lucky could see the half smile lingering, hidden, in the older man's expression.

"Lucky, don't be a jerk," Hal snarled but Lucky ignored him.

"Haven is my gunner. As an augmented crew member, is he under the precepts of the age law?" Lucky could hear Haven move near him, heard the small gasp of confusion and then the utter stillness of the boy at this unusual behavior.

Everyone knew how to treat an auggie. You kept them on a leash, always ready to pull your gun and blow their brains out if they turned on you. And you never treated them like a human being. Because they'd given up that right when they'd let some joiner head crack open their skull and dig out their brain and insert a chip into the flesh there. You definitely didn't keep to their side when they were under inspection. And Lucky wasn't all that sure what he was doing was that intelligent of a move, actually.

Dog shook his head. "Technically, Haven is very able to fly. Wold has asked that he not pilot however." But they all heard the silent 'not yet anyway' that was in the end there. They knew that Wold would start to work things out. Mr. Wold had had this idea in mind from the get go. It was why he didn't talk about his plans to anyone. Because he would have lost most of his crew right away. Lucky included. No one would stick around with an augmented brain running among their number.

"Understood. But he can shoot and it sounds like there is something about his gunning program that works with him specifically?" Lucky tried a shot in the dark. "That's what Dos meant about the third series of programming?"

Dog only nodded.

"Okay, then is there anything else you need from us, sir?" Lucky asked.

"Only that this information is not to leave this room."

"I think we can manage that, sir" Lucky nodded and turned.

"That's illegal though!" Hal's protest was vehement. "You can't keep something like this secret! He's a friggin danger to the guys!"

"Unde, we will discuss this later," Dog stated firmly. "Haven is under surveillance. You may join the surveillance team but you may not tell anyone else on the crew. Is that understood?"

Lucky held his breath. He hadn't moved; half turned from the discussion, he could see Haven's blank face clearly. Had they done something to augment his outer self as well? Something to make it so impossibly perfect? Was it the augmentation that made him look like he was from some other dimension, like he wasn't fully human?

Haven was staring at Dog without seeing him, his eyes unfocused, lips parted slightly, he swayed almost imperceptibly, as if he still didn't know what had hit him.

Hal brushed past them with an angry grunt, but knew better than to knock into Haven. He could follow directives. He didn't need to agree with them, but he could follow them.

The door slammed and Dos approached Lucky and Haven, uncertain but intrigued. His smile slowly began and he winked at Lucky. "So!" he called out with only slightly strained cheerfulness. "Anyone hungry?"

"I am. Haven't had a chance to even get my food yet and Haven's only gotten a chance to stare at the dessert plate." Lucky grinned. "Kid acts like he'll never see a chocolate mousse again, the way he has to inspect each one."

Haven jerked at the sound of his name and looking stunned, stared at the two faces that were cautious but. friendly, staring back at him. His throat worked and both of the other men could see how he had to blink extra hard, trying to keep his vision clear.

Yeah, things were clicking into place, Lucky figured. It made quite a bit of sense why the kid hadn't ever opened up. Being an augmented wasn't all that conducive to friendships, really.

Well, he had friends now. They might have a helluva lot of questions to ask, but they were both obviously willing. And besides, Lucky figured, they'd have had to be hard nosed, cold assed sons of bitches to turn away from a crew member who needed them so damn desperately.

"Well? How bout it, Haven?" Dos smiled and clapped a hand on the gunner's arm. Haven started some, but only a bit more than usual and the look he turned to Dos was shocked pleasure, uncertain if he could believe in this or not, but hopeful that maybe it might just be true.

And only Lucky saw how Dos's body untensed, finding himself safe after having reached out and touching an auggie. He still had his arm attached to his body and Haven still looked like a kitten left out in the rain and everything remained the same. That in itself, seemed like enough of a miracle for every one of them and cushioning Haven with meaningless chatter, they led him back toward the dining hall.

~*~**~*~

Chapter Eight


Hal continued to follow his directives. He'd always been a private man and he didn't know anything about the enforced obedience from the military that Lucky knew. But all of the men were under Mr. Wold's control and they all had been chosen not only for their ability to do but also for their ability to follow orders. It was, they all agreed, the only way to run a security business. Sometimes the right hand just didn't know what the left hand was doing and if one of the hands stopped to ask what it was doing or why, the action wouldn't be completed. They could ask questions later.

Hal had gone to ask questions, Dos said. And Dog looked weary for a few days because, as Dog later put it, the man just wouldn't let go. Hal was pissed, apparently. And that was understandable to some extent. Fear made for a pretty intense driving force, one which you can't always ask about, but you could see on Hal's face.

In the end, however, Jux's flirtatious responses to Haven brought things to a head. Haven worked hard at not acting like there were any problems, but both Dos and Lucky noticed how painfully quiet the boy had become. He didn't even give them the small half smiles. Jux's reactions to him and Hal's reactions to Jux's were beginning to wear things down.

A week had passed when Hal caught up to Haven and Lucky in an abandoned corridor. He stepped from a small door and leered at the pair. Lucky stopped talking low and trying in vain to get the kid to do something other than stare ahead in silence.

"Hendricks," Hal's voice was dangerous. "Mind if I talk to your gunner?"

Lucky frowned, not liking the way Hal was talking to him. "It's not up to me, Hal." He shot a look at Haven, trying to decipher how the boy thought about it all. But as usual, the kid's face was a blank mask. "You'll have to ask him, I guess."

"Alone," Hal amended.

Haven, who had continued walking when Hal caught up with them, stopped and looked at Hal. "This is acceptable to me."

"But not to me," Lucky shot. "Look, I'm sure that the chip doesn't cover bruises or gun shot wounds an-"

"You saying I'm gonna try to injure it?" Hal growled. "I know my orders, Hendricks, so fuck off."

Lucky shook his head, no longer trying to figure out if this was what Haven wanted or not. "Talk here, or don't talk at all, Hal." He refused to be cold like Hal was. But he could still make life somewhat miserable if he chose.

"You and Dos, you guys've been covering that thing's ass like it was a baby," Hal sneered. "It's going to have to be left alone some time and you won't be around to protect it."

Lucky clenched his fists, working to keep himself from jumping on and beating the other pilot right then and there. "Haven is a human being, he deserves to be discussed using the appropriate pronouns."

"Fuck you."

Lucky did not let himself fall into the come back that was waiting on the sidelines, begging to be used. "Speak of him respectfully or don't speak to him at all."

"You're not my fucking boss, Hendricks."

"No, but I'm your coworker and I'll call the dogs on you just like I would to anyone who was threatening our team. Don't push me, Hal."

Why was Haven remaining silent? Lucky chose to ignore the kid, chose to ignore the sinking feeling he had through this moment. It was the kind where you wish you could say something, do something to make a really bad nightmare go away only to find that the reality is worse than the dream and you can't affect that either.

Hal stopped, stared at him and then looked away. Accepting truth could be hard. The silence continued for so long that Lucky began to wonder if they'd be found out, late for dining hall and shouting midhall.

Then when he was thinking they should just wait for this conversation later, Hal nodded. "I won't apologize," he said, staring at Haven. "But I can at least treat you with respect while you're working on our team. But only as long as you're on our team."

Lucky waited. Sensing that no one would speak for him, Haven nodded.

"And if you won't trust your gunner to me, then I'll ask that you stay out of it, Lucky," Hal added to which Lucky could only agree silently.

The groundrules set, Hal glared blazes at the auggie. "I want you to back off of Jux." He was red faced, clenching his fists, his neck working with the strain as anger rose up ugly and uncertain again.

Haven looked, for a brief moment, surprised. Then, softly -as if he didn't want to make matters worse but could not help but speak- he murmured, "I'm making no advances on Jux."

"Bull shit! He's stopped coming to my room, you fucker!" Hal snarled. "And he's told me in no uncertain terms that he's thinking your bed will be a helluva a lot warmer than mine."

It was strange, hearing Hal talk about it. Jux joked about being gay, but Hal kept it to himself for the most part. Lucky figured that this had to really be bothering Hal. And he also had to admit that he'd noticed the cooling between Hal and Jux. It had come with Haven's arrival, and the past week had been far worse than any time before. It was as if Jux had no interest in Hal at all. Yet, how could that be true? Lucky knew...

Well, for whatever reason, Lucky could see how it was bothering his fellow pilot and despite the rough words, he truly felt badly for the man.

Haven shook his head, his brow furrowing. "Jux has not come anywhere near my bed," he stated flatly. "He leaves me at peace for the most part. I did nothing to give him any idea that his advances might be accepted."

"Bull shit," Hal hissed. "He said you kiss better, he said you... you even f - " And with a roar, he spun and slammed his fist into the wall. It would have been Haven's face, Lucky was certain, if Lucky hadn't been standing there. And from the looks of things, Haven wouldn't have fought back. Not that Lucky would be able to assume such things about the boy; an auggie might fight very differently from a normal man.

Haven sighed, looking down. "Hal," he began and was interrupted by the growl from the pilot. He waited a moment and began again, "I do not want Jux. I've never touched him. I am an augmented. I have no such thing as desire for other human beings. It is some portion of why I have managed to be successful with the chips. And even if I was interested in Jux, he wouldn't return the affection."

Hal snorted.

With a soft sound, the gunner shook his head. "No, I tell the truth. But I think, that perhaps you should talk to him about it. Not me."

Hal was trembling as he pointed a finger at the younger man. "I'll do what I think is right, not what you think. And fucking keep away from him. Or I will forget about following Dog's orders and blow a hole in that head. No chip can save you from that."

Haven stood after Hal had stormed off, watching the distance.

"Why did you say that Jux wouldn't return your affections?" Lucky asked finally, breaking the silence, not expecting an answer from the now almost completely reticent teen.

"Because," the young man answered almost immediately, "Jux only flirts with me when Hal is around. He doesn't even touch me when his partner isn't in sight."

Lucky laughed, slightly confused. "And that means he's not interested in you?"

"No," Haven shook his head. "But I know where his loyalties lie. He does what many do to save themselves from heartache. He hides himself and his true feelings."

"So, you're saying that he's really not just fooling around with Hal," Lucky concluded.

"Not only that," Haven said softly as he began to walk again, "but also that he's in love with Hal. Only they've rarely spoken about that. And many times figuring out the way of the relationship is more difficult than just falling into bed with someone."

"You know a lot for a guy who says he can't care about other people," Lucky grinned.

Haven looked at Lucky, walking slower and did he dare see the small smile hidden under the young man's mouth?

"I said that because I don't care often. It has nothing to do with being augmented. The chips don't affect your ability to do anything. They enhance, not take away. But Hal needs to believe I'm only a machine. It will make it easier to talk to Jux about lying."

Lucky had been wondering about that as well. IF he chose to believe Haven, then Jux had been lying. Then again, Jux lying didn't take a great stretch of imagination.

"So you can care about other people. You can be friends and stuff." He didn't understand the slight flush rising on his neck, nor how his voice stuttered when he said 'stuff.'

Haven didn't seem to notice. "Yes, I can care just the same as anyone can. I can love and hate and many other emotions." He sounded weary. "I am, in the end, human." But the last was said with a discouraged tinge.

"I'm sorry, Haven," Lucky amended, realizing that he'd just hurt his gunner's feelings.

"It's okay, Lucky," Alex stated, making the pilot's name sound like a title. "It is not that I'm unaccustomed to it. It's the way of society to think of an augmented as a machine."

"But I don't. Think of you as a machine," Lucky protested.

"Of course," the young man shrugged the statement off. "It doesn't matter." And as if to demand an end, he sped his pace, leaving Lucky to quicken his steps or be left behind.

------

Another week passed. Jux's attentions on Haven didn't slow, Hal didn't talk to his now absent lover, and the man hovered in corners with a murderous glare to anyone close enough. And Lucky, Haven, Dog, and Jux ended up sitting down in Lucky's apartment for an impromptu meeting.

"I asked you here, instead of my radio room because I need to keep this confidential," Dog began. Dog had wanted a quiet, soundproof room. They couldn't have it in Dog's place because he was just off of the radio room and his place wasn't soundproofed like most of the other men's' rooms were. And for obvious reasons they couldn't have the confab in Haven's room, nor Jux's room for that matter. It left Lucky's room or the storage closet.

Haven leaned against the door's archway, his slender arms crossed over his chest and an inscrutable look on his face. He knew why they were there though no one had spoken to him about it. Lucky had simply grabbed him on the way out of the dining hall.

Jux nodded amiably as he settled into one of the two chairs. His eyes danced across Lucky and Haven, showed some worry, then returned to Dog. "Kay. So what's up?"

Dog sighed, uncertain how to go about such a touchy subject. "Hal has been having some difficulty," he began.

Jux snickered. "You can say that again," but he was growing agitated and he squirmed in his seat.

"Yes," Dog stated flatly. "And I suspect he has every reason to be acting as he has been, however-"

"You're shitting me." Jux blinked at them, "This is about Hal and his right to be an asshole?"

"Jux," Lucky interceded. "This isn't about Hal. It's about Haven. It is just that Hal's reaction is starting to be a danger. We can't afford a break in the team."

Dog sighed. "Hal could very well need to be mollified. We can't have things going wrong around here. Not with all of the new changes coming up. Jux, your behavior," Dog paused, frowning.

Jux stared at them. "You guys want me to cozy up to Hal and treat him like a baby. Make him feel all snuggly and happy so that you don't have to worry about the team," he sneered. "What would that have to do with Haven?" he jerked his chin to where Alex stood.

Dog didn't have the good manners to even look uncomfortable with the way his underlying statements were so boldly put forth, exposed before he'd even gotten a chance to try out his speech even.

"Because you told Hal that you were sleeping with Haven," Lucky accused the other gunner with a frown.

Jux laughed. "Shit! I said that he probably would be better in the sack than Hal. But Haven knows I don't feel like that about him."

"That may be true," Dog sucked on his teeth. "But the fact remains that Hal doesn't know this. He's getting increasingly violent in fact, Jux."

"So as his lover, I'm supposed to reign him in like a dog?" Jux sneered. "Look, Hal is a big boy, he can make his own fucking decisions. I'm not going to be his keeper and I sure as hell am not going to be his toy to pick up and put down whenever he wants to, just so you guys can breathe more easily." A strange look crossed the blonde's normally happy face.

Dog scowled. "You're saying he's been unstable this entire time and you've said nothing to me about it?"

Jux blinked and shook his head, not realizing until then how it had come out. "No. No, he's as solid a guy for the team as any. It's just in our relationship that he gets strange. Maybe I'm strange too in it. I mean, hell, I just called it a relationship for fuck's sake." He smiled in a pained way. Suddenly some of the things Haven had been saying were beginning to gel.

"Look," Jux ran his hand through his blond hair and gave them the full brunt of that hurting smile. How had Lucky missed it? It was written all over the man's face. The sadness and loneliness had been there, he realized, for far longer than Alex had been around. "I don't want to make things more difficult. I'm sorry our problems are making things difficult for you guys and for the team. I'd quit if I thought it would make things better. I just don't have the heart to take off. I care too much about this team and I care too much about the asshole lover I seem to have gotten myself caught up with." It was a confession that was wrenched from him, as he seemed unable to look up at them and his eyes glittered uncomfortably.

Dog glanced over toward Haven and sighed. "It's not just that. I don't want to put undue stress on Haven just yet. We're still trying to get him integrated."

Haven paled at that and Lucky knew why. Dog wasn't talking about just stress. He was talking about not wanting Haven to lose control of his chip, to fritz and leave them having to find another joiner to make them a new augment. And Dog probably didn't want to put Haven down, which was odd because it was exactly what the man seemed ready to do at any moment.

Lucky could understand Dog's reasoning but he also saw, like he had the day before, some aura of resignation surrounding the young teen as the words were said. This was his fate, as an auggie, to always be watched and never fully trusted.

Hell, no wonder the kid didn't make friends. And with that thought came the sense of guilt. Hadn't Lucky been the same? He'd done his best to accept the young gunner. But under it all, he still was unsure, still not fully trusting. Because that was how it was with auggies. You can't trust them. They could go on the fritz and spin out of control. They were dangerous, half cocked guns walking around with a round of bullets and a nuclear warhead in their pocket. Not literally of course. But from the stories he'd heard, they could be almost that dangerous when the chip took over.

Jux's tense smile remained as he looked askance at the other gunner leaning against the wall. "You needing to be molly coddled too, Haven?" he teased in a scornful tone.

Alex said nothing and Lucky restrained himself from slapping the blonde.

Dog sighed heavily. "The fact of the matter is, Jux. You have been using Haven to try and work through your relationship with Hal from the beginning. He is seventeen and thus, illegal for you. He is also, a member of the team. He deserves to be treated well and respect; not as an object for your games. If you cannot see fit to do this, then we may very well have to work this out some other way."

Jux didn't say anything for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Yessir." He pursed his lips and looked at Lucky and Haven. Finally he stood and gave a half grin at the boy. "Y'know, I didn't realize it until he just said that, how I've been the shit. Sorry, Haven." He approached the boy and extended his hand. "Friends?"

Alex let his eyes drop to the outstretched hand and without taking it, nodded. "That is acceptable." His voice soft.

Jux gave a small, dry chuckle. "Guess I deserved that. Been kinda an asshole for a while now." He looked around. "Why isn't Hal here?"

Lucky knew why. Because Hal would have jumped on the entire proceedings and made things impossible. He would have been likely to spill information about Haven and he would have come to the meeting armed to the teeth with both words and weapons.

"Because we felt this was important enough to come from you," Dog answered. A small lie, just a small one. And it served.

Jux nodded. "Sure thing." He gave a wry grin. "Really screwed things up, didn't I?"

"No," Haven spoke before anyone else. "Just made for some complications." And then added, "But it's not solely your fault."

"I know. You coulda told me to get my hands off," Jux smirked.

"Yes," the boy nodded. "And I didn't. So for what it is worth, I am sorry as well."

"No worries, huh?" Jux shrugged. "I mean, no one is perfect. And maybe when things calm down, we can find you a guy, too. Issac's a looker." Jux grinned devlishly.

Haven chuckled in a miniature way that told Lucky he was thoroughly amused about something. A chuckle from Haven was equal to a burst of laughter from someone else. "No. I'm not gay, Jux."

"Fuck me. Really?" Jux stared at the young man.

"Is this important information?" Dog snapped.

Jux blushed. "No sir. Sorry. It isn't. And I will be more careful in the future to treat our new arrivals as team members and not just as things to use in my personal life."

"That is acceptable. Thank you, Jux," Dog stood. "You may go. Haven, please stay."

Jux smiled at them all and nodding, took his leave. Lucky followed him out into the hallway, knowing that despite it being his room, it was going to be used for something official and none of his business.

He hadn't expected Dog to pull it off. He'd fully thought Dog would tell Jux that Haven was an auggie. He'd figured that was what the soundproofed room was for. And maybe Dog was just getting ready in case he had to go that far. But for now, Haven's secret was safe.

Jux waited for him to catch up and gave him a weak smile. "I feel like a real ass. Do you think Alex will give me the time of day after this?"

Lucky shook his head. "I don't know him well enough for that," he finally stated.

"Yeah. Me neither." The gunner laughed. "Been hanging on the kid for close to a month and I still don't know shit about him. Sure is a tough nut to crack, huh?" He smiled. "But now at least I know he's straight. I wouldn't have ever thought that. Not the way he acts and all. But maybe I'm reading too much into too little. I just figured the way he looks sometimes, that he was interested."

"Interested?" Lucky didn't like the way this conversation was going, the way it was always going when it was Jux. Did the man think of nothing but sex? "I really don't think he's interested in you, Jux. I think maybe you should back off a bit."

Jux blinked, shocked, and then smiled. "Nah. Not me. I always knew he didn't care having me around but he wasn't warming up to me. I meant one of the guys, well, actually how he was sort of warming up to.." Jux paused and gave Lucky a funny look, then continued.."But like I said, if he's that hard to read, sometimes things come off wrong. And I'm not the type to know."

"Jux, he doesn't need you spreading rumors about him being interested and all that," Lucky growled in frustration. Something in Jux's words bothered him. What was it with this kid? Why couldn't he just come in, be a regular guy like the rest, and that is that?

"I'm not saying a word, Lucky. You know that." Then grinning Jux raised a hand to stop his companion from speaking. "Okay, so I can't keep secrets. I'm a gossip monger. But I'm serious. I haven't even said anything to the kid. And like I said, he intrigues me. He's really different. And I sometimes wonder if he even sees the world the same way as the rest of us do."

Lucky wasn't entirely certain that he liked this direction of conversation either. "I won't have you talking bad about my gunner, Jux. He's got enough shit to put up with." Yeah, like being a feared presence and having his sanity in the balance if all the stories of auggies were true.

Jux began tucking his shirt more securely into his pants. "I know," he answered in an offhanded manner. "Hey, you wanna come with me? I gotta talk to Hal and I don't want him to kill me." He grinned but Lucky could see the fear.

"He's not gonna kill you, but yeah. I can come with you." Lucky nodded.

"Thanks bud. You're a real pal."

They took the lift to the staff rec room and found Hal dusting off an old video game. Most of the guys were watching a movie in the systems room or were busy in their quarters. It was nearing evening shift which meant Jake and two staff would be watching the skies but most of the other guys would be sleeping. Hal didn't even give them a glance as they entered, hooking up his system and putting in a small game disk.

It had a head set but apparently the head set wasn't needed. Only two gloves with sensor pads on the fingers and palms. A simple shoot the bad guy game. He started it up after a moment.

Jux sat across the room from him with a heavy overly dramatic sigh. "Shit," he moaned and stretched his arms across the back of the two seater couch. Then looking at Lucky he nodded to another chair nearby and waited for Lucky to sit before he smiled at his lover. "So, whatcha doin?"

"Why do you care?" Hal sneered, eyes intent on the game, not seeing the discouragement that ran across Jux's expression.

"Well, I don't, I guess. Just got back from a meeting with Dog and I guess I wanted something to get me unwound, yanno?" Jux purred.

Hal shot a suspicious glance at Lucky who schooled his face into a blank mask worthy of Haven.

"Really? What was the meeting about?"

"About you, actually," Jux smiled but his eyes were cold. "Haven was there and Lucky too."

Hal grunted and kept his body still. The game waited for input and after a moment, Hal twitched a finger, finding his level and beginning it. The sound of fabricated music filled the room.

Jux sighed, standing and going to the screen, hit the volume section, turning it down but leaving the game alone. Standing there, he propped himself against the entertainment center casually. "Yeah. Haven and Lucky. And they all were worried about you. Saying you're getting unreasonable. Wanted to know if you were a danger to the team."

Hal said nothing still, only stared at the video game as if it were his entire world. Lucky tensed, not sure of where this was going. The conversations between the two men were always difficult to understand. One word could make fireworks with no correlation between the spark and the tinder. Or at least, Lucky was rarely privy to the reasons.

"Yep! I said you were always an asshole. And that you were acting crazy with this entire Haven thing. That if I wanted to sleep with someone else I should be able to. That I never expected your crazy shit from our bedroom to spill into your work though." This wasn't true. Lucky stared at Jux. Why was he saying this?

Hal's face reddened but he ignored the voice.

Jux looked sidelong at Lucky, recognizing the confusion and sighed in defeat. His face suddenly drawn, he dropped his eyes and the joking mask slipped, fell, shattered. "Fuck. I'm a lying shit. They are worried about the team so they asked me to come in. Seems that Dog thinks I've been an asshole. Says I've been treating Haven like he was a prop in my little drama life." He withdrew his arms from the back of the couch and hugged himself, looking lost. Lucky felt for the guy. It sucked to have to hold out one's pride to be stepped on.

Hal clenched his jaw and looked swiftly at his lover. The anger there caused Jux to look even more miserable.

"I-I apologized, of course. Little shit that I am, you know. I still know how to apologize. I mean, I apologized to Haven. Told him that I was wrong for acting like he wasn't part of the team and using him and all. Telling lies about him and all that. And I guess I promised I'd come and apologize to you too."

Jux stood and was staring at the ground in abject misery. His face was red and from where Lucky sat, it was plain how Jux had to keep on blinking to keep himself from crying. Yeah, things were always a bit crazy when you were around Jux and Hal.

Hal hadn't been playing in the game and he lost a man. A "To Continue Press B Button" sign flashed and he ignored it, pulling his gloves off. His eyes were fire riddled with anger. He rose and Lucky straightened upright as well, readying himself to pull Hal off of Jux if he needed to.

"Bastard," Hal spat.

"I - I know.. I - I'm so s-sorry, Hal," Jux was losing ground and he looked like he would just fall over into a puddle of tears by then.

"That bastard," Hal growled again. "I'll kick his ass."

Jux looked in confusion up at his lover who was advancing on him with eyes burning like coals. He shrank back. "W-what?" Lucky too stopped, unsure of what Hal was talking about.

"Calling you an asshole. Who does he think he is? Being a radio man doesn't make him the boss," Hal hissed angrily.

Now both Lucky and Jux were staring at the angry pilot.

"Dog?" Jux queried uncertainly, his wide eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Hell yes, Dog. What does he think he's doing? I mean, shit. We all know you're an asshole sometimes but it's no fair pulling rank and asking you to whore yourself out for him. What's he thinking? You gotta be told to say you're sorry? Did he reprimand you or something? That's Wold's and Owen's business. Not his. He knows better than to treat you like that."

****(slashy elements ahead)

Lucky blinked in shock and then quietly took another step forward. He was a good ways away. If Hal chose to attack, he might get a few good punches in. Just, it didn't seem like Hal was going to throw any punches.

"But.. no. I mean, no he didn't." Jux rubbed his hand along his face in worry. "No, I called myself an asshole. I came up with the idea to apologize. Dog just brought it to my attention. Shit, Hal. Don't go all protective on me like you care or something!" the gunner snapped tersely.

Hal stopped in his advance a half step from his lover, the anger being slowly replaced by a confusion all of his own. "But I do care," he whispered.

Time stopped it seemed. Jux stood in silence, staring at Hal as if he were seeing something he hadn't known was there before. Then with a soft murmur, answered, "Care, but not love." It was almost as if he were pleading, pride gone.

Hal's eyes took on a completely different fire, one it took a moment for Lucky to recognize. "That too," he spoke so low that had Lucky been breathing he might have not heard it.

"Hal?" Jux whispered and Lucky tore his eyes away before their lips met. Because suddenly there was no reason for him to be standing there.

****(slashy elements done! *S*)

Lucky locked the rec room door from the inside before he closed it. Dos was walking the hall outside, heading toward him as it clicked behind him. "Lucky!" the computers man called out. "What say you let me beat your butt in a game of Duck Hunt?"

"Hmm... some other time?" Lucky smiled. "I was going to go and get myself some coffee down in the dining hall. Feel like joining me?"

Dos shrugged. "Why not?" He smiled back. "It's better than pacing. I've been pacing my room for two hours now. But it's not making the new systems parts get here any faster."

"New parts? For the program clone?" Lucky smiled.

"Yep! You're getting your new system into your flier and I'm going to recreate the program for your gunner so he can do his job, the lazy cuss."

Laughing, Lucky led the way out. And he did his best not to think of the two meetings in two different rooms and just what they might mean. One, just because he didn't swing that way and the other. Well, the other because he was afraid already of thinking too hard about the mystery of a certain gunner.

~*~**~*~

Chapter Nine


Hal sat at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee in his cupped hands, a thoughtful expression on his face, but he looked up as Lucky slid in across from him,

"How did you know?" Lucky asked immediately.

Hal gave a half chuckle and shook his head. "I don't know what you did, you and Haven and Dog, and I sure as hell still don't trust Haven. But I'm glad you guys did it."

"Talked to Jux?"

"Yeah, he.. I mean I.." Hal flushed and Lucky chuckled. "I didn't ever think he'd see me as anything more than a fuckbuddy, know what I mean?"

Lucky nodded and watched over Hal's shoulder, staring at the young man who was leaning over the dessert tray again. A small smile flirted with his mouth. Haven and his desserts. It was incredible how he didn't know a damn thing about how the kid thought, but he knew the smallest of details. Like needing to look over the dessert tray or how Haven always brushed his hair over his right ear when he was nervous. Things he shouldn't know about any of the pilots and things he didn't understand why they struck him as important.

"So what do you mean, how did I know?" Hal asked.

"That he was augmented," Lucky tore his eyes away from the slender cello line of back that formed against the flight shirt bent at the dining hall counter.

Hal sighed. "He's got the mark."

"Mark?" Lucky looked surprised.

"Yeah. It's a mark on the back of the neck. It looks like four dots in a square around an inner line, something like a diagonal line. It comes from the initial chip insertion. Joiner heads use this fancy device that cuts the skin and goes into the spinal column. It's supposed to be the most dangerous part of the operation, getting the basic comm chip in. The specialized chips go to other parts of the frontal cortex and into the hypothalamus. Those are the ones that do the rest of the shit."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Hey guys," Dos interrupted as he sat himself down. "See Haven doing his dessert thing? Damn if we shouldn't just put one out for him to peer at, then he might actually be able to make up his mind."

Hal grinned, nodding, and then sobered a moment after. "I know because I used to be close to a joiner head. My best friend five years ago did the shit for people. He was pretty excited about it, thought of himself as doing a service for humanity. He was a nut job. Didn't realize he was killing people. As far as I know, he's still doing it."

Dos clued into the conversation immediately. "Even after it was made illegal. It's amazing how many people do that shit."

Hal shrugged. "Like I said. He thought he was doing some good for someone. Figured he could make people immortal."

Lucky shook his head. "That is nuts," agreeing.

"Yeah. Well. He was a good guy other than that. So when Haven was leaning over I was coming over to talk to him, tell him to back off of Jux and all. Only I saw the mark at the back of his neck because his hair had parted. Most auggies cover the scar with some renewal cream until it doesn't show anymore. Doesn't look like Haven did that."

"Maybe we should get him some?" Dos asked. "I mean, we don't need everyone to know about him."

Hal scowled. "I disagree. He's a danger and we need everyone to know about him."

"Hal," Lucky warned. "We can't risk the team's unity like that."

"Screw unity. We can't risk their lives like that," Hal snarled.

Dos sighed. "Give it up guys. You'll never come to a consensus on this one. But for now, we've got one of us three near Haven all the time, just in case. That's all we can do, right?"

"Sure, be ready to mop up after the bomb hits. What if he recognizes you as a threat. The chips work like that, you know. They use the human knowledge and then throw in the program. A computer with a human brain. It's scary, bud. And it's right under our noses. We're just waiting to get ourselves screwed. He'll take out you, me, and Lucky first thing."

Lucky frowned, noticing how Dos's eyes were lifted and before Hal's rant was finished, Lucky too looked up to see Haven staring down at Hal, his hand around a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal balanced in the other.

Hal, noting where everyone else was looking turned and looked up as well. "I won't apologize," he added harshly. "You know it's true as well as anyone. You had to know when you did it, that you'd be a problem."

"He was fourteen years old, for cripe's sake!" Dos mumbled low.

"Fourteen is fucking old enough to know!" Hal hissed back.

Lucky remained silent, staring at Haven who was staring at the two men. On his pale face was some flickering emotion that Lucky could almost swear he knew, if he could just place it.

"Oh, like you would have thought about the ramifications for giving yourself up to a joiner head crack pot like your nutso friend! Hell, you were friends with the shit and you never stopped him, would be my guess!" Dos continued.

"Screw you, Dos," Hal retorted and Lucky wasn't sure if he should stop them or laugh, a vehement argument being held in low tones, it was as if they were in some camp trying to figure out their next move to get out, like one of those old movies. "I was friends with him, but giving up their brains is their business. It's a choice you have to make. And if you're too stupid to ask about the dangers of having your head cracked open, then you're too stupid to live, in my opinion. It is a way of cleaning out the gene pool!"

Dos sneered. "Yeah, no matter how old you are. Even if you're fourteen. Give me a break. No one is that idiotic to think that people would give themselves over to a joiner without coercion! Look at Haven," and he pointed at the gunner who hadn't moved from his stance, holding the cup and the cereal and staring at them all. "I'll bet the joiner fucked with his mind until all he could think of was being this uber super man. It doesn't bother you that the shit can kill him?"

"Make him go nuts, you mean."

"Well, either way, he's dead. You know it and I know it and now he does too. Hell..." Dos sighed in exasperation. "Sorry kid. We're just.. talking shit..." he apologized more quietly, glancing over at Haven who at the eye contact, slowly put down the cup and bowl, looking away from both Hal and Dos.

Lucky stared at the young man, feeling like he should say something but not knowing what to do. So instead he sipped coffee and waited.

"Yeah. I know how that goes," Haven gave a small smile that was as much a mask as the rest of it. Fake through and through.

"Were you mind fucked like Dos thinks, Haven?" Hal asked nastily.

The young gunner sighed, sitting down beside Lucky and picking up his spoon which he propped into the oatmeal, letting it stand there, handle out like a flag pole. "No. I knew what I was getting into."

"Don't give me that, Haven," Dos shook his head. "Don't try and defend those monsters. The guy took you when you were fourteen. That's sick."

Haven clenched his jaw. "He wasn't a joiner. He was a programmer like me. And we chose me because my neural pathways were more likely to recover. He thought that the fritzing might be because people are augmented too old. It just so happened I was old enough."

"He gave you that pack of lies?" Dos shook his head. "That's really sick, kid. You don't know it, but it's really sick. He was just trying out another of his experiments on another kid. It's only been what? three years? There's no way for you to know yet. And God help you, you'll live to figure it out. But he was one seriously sick man to use you that way."

Lucky frowned. Haven was paling and his jaw was working.

"Sick or not," Hal intruded, "It was Haven's choice. He was old enough and now he's old enough to take responsibility for it. Don't get in the way of his part in this. Sick as that old guy was, Haven w-"

"Shut up." Haven's low voice cut through their babble.

"What did you say to me, boy?" Hal blinked, shocked.

Lucky chose then to get involved. It was too late to stop the hurt that he finally recognized on Haven's face. "He was talking to you both, Hal. Here, let's just put it to the side, okay? We all have different opinions and we aren't going to be saving no world here while we're trying to eat breakfast."

"What do you think, Lucky?" Dos asked.

The pilot chuckled. "Dos, I said I'm done with the conversation. And I think we should all give it a rest. We have flight paths to take this morning and I want to be calm for them. So drop it."

But later, in the air after the flier had cut through the clouds and came free into space, there was a soft voice from the nav chair. "What do you think, Lucky?"

"What do you mean, kid?" Lucky looked behind him at where the kid was inputting coordinates and working the system.

"What do you think about what Dos and Hal were saying earlier? Do you think Justice was using me?"

Lucky sucked on his teeth. Justice Ivenson, the man who had helped to make the flier and the program with Haven. He was a tender subject and usually when he came up in the conversation, Haven stopped talking soon after, immersed in painful memories more than likely.

It was a struggle to hide his initial surprise at hearing that it had been Ivenson who had been the joiner head putting the chip into Haven. And while Lucky did feel the man must have used the boy he also knew that Haven was a fairly smart kid, had always been. And maybe he knew what he was getting into. Besides that, to talk bad about Justice when Haven was so... so.. fragile, might not be the smartest move.

Choosing his words with care, Lucky shook his head. "No. Not really. I mean, I think you knew what you were getting into more than most people at fourteen could have. You're pretty aware and you're only seventeen. I'm not gonna chalk that all up to the chip. Not from what you've told me about how the chip doesn't add more than directions, like computer directions. I wonder though," he carefully put out there, "why he chose you."

There was silence and Lucky sighed, having expected that. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sure he was a great guy, it's just that I wonder about it, is all. I don't know half of-"

"He wasn't a joiner head."

"Okay, so that's not a nice name to use."

"No, I mean he wasn't a joiner head. He never was. He hadn't ever messed with augmentation chips before. He was a game designer for military sims. We met because he had wanted some time away from earth. Said he wanted to get an idea of what it was like on the colonies, wanted to do some research so he could add it to the sims he was working." Haven stilled as if he wasn't sure if his words were acceptable or not.

"Go on.." Lucky wasn't sure how to give the kid an open door, but he was definitely interested in how all of this had come about.

There wasn't a response for a while, but Lucky just waited. Then a few more clicks of toggles and an unfastening of a flight harness. Haven's soft rustle up the cabin until he sat in the secondary pilot seat and stared out into the stars. He waited while Lucky put his ship through the auto pilot paces based on what Haven had done in the nav compartment.

Settled in, Lucky unfastened his harness as well and turned to stare at his navigator. And what he saw tore at his heart. Deep under that mask, little trickles of humanity were bubbling up, breaking through, darting in tiny explosions of vision across the boy's mask. This had to hurt terribly for the young man to have so little control.

He was paler than usual. But his cheeks were flushed in anger or some other high emotion. He'd caught his dark hair back at his nape and his long neck worked carefully around words he wasn't sure he wanted to say. And while his eyes remained dry, they showed oceans of sorrow hiding deeper still.

It served to take something that was human and make it so human that it made Lucky's heart ache in his chest. He'd never wanted so badly to pluck someone from the world and carry them away before. Hell, just being able to hold Haven right now would be okay. If only he could be assured he wouldn't get his bones broken in the process.

No, if only he could be assured that it was what Haven wanted. He'd do it, no matter the worry about bones and life and limb. He'd screw fate and do it anyway.

While Lucky got his eyeful, Haven stared out of the flight glass. He licked his lower lip, a motion that kicked Lucky in the gut with something the pilot did not want to look too closely at, and then softly began.

"Justice and my parents were really close. They grew up together planetside. He and my father had fought for my mom, Justice had lost, and they still remained friends. So when he was looking for a place to do some research, he came to their mine, CU675, because he could get a year long contract there. Most of the more established mines to five year contracts. But the new ones that can't demand so much, just do year long ones.

"Anyway, he was sort of like an uncle in a way. And I was already really into robotics and programming at that point. He stayed with us the entire time, until my folks died. And when they died, he just took me on. We stayed on Mars because I'd taken a deep space flight only two years before and I had to wait to take another one. So he got a job in the CU and stuck around.

"He got interested in augmentation hardware a short time before my folks died. He said it was too bad that it had to be so destructive. And he started to look into why it was destructive. He had had a brother who had gotten augmented back a few years before and had turned into a vegtable only a year later."

Then, quietly, Haven turned those mystery eyes on Lucky and asked, "Do you know how long the life expectancy for an augment is from the time of receiving the chip?"

Lucky shook his head in mute fashion.

"Six months to three years. It's the myelin sheath you see. The consistent load of the chip needing info wears down the dendrites, the... branches of the neurons. There's a sheath that protects the neuron but the chip, when used, puts a consistent push onto the neuron and eventually it begins to wear on the cell until it just dies. When the sheathes are too slender and an augmented person begins to use it rapidly, which is generally the case, then the brain misfires at a great rate. This destroys the frontal cortex which is the part of the brain that makes our world make sense. And in rare, but dangerous cases, the limbic system is fired at the time of the fritzing and without the frontal cortex to control the mind, the limbic system essentially turns the person into a dangerous animal, without any higher level thinking, capable only of extreme rage, joy, sexual desire, and territoriality. With the computer chip in charge, the person's remaining cells provide information and depending on the chip, they can become a serious danger and have to be put down."

Lucky winced. "You talk as if you were a dog."

"In a way, I would be," Haven replied bitterly. "I wouldn't be able to understand you, I wouldn't remember anything, and I'd be capable of great harm. So not just a dog. A rabid dog."

Lucky looked away, not wanting to see the sadness and cool disconnection that Haven tried to mix together.

A sigh at his side. Deep and sorrowful before Haven continued. "So he wanted to make it safer. He worked in tandem with my father for those few months and they felt they'd hit upon something. A way to make the chip recognize need from neurons and to fire them only when necessary. But the actual design took a while. And by the time Justice was done with it. my parents were dead and he was stuck on Mars taking care of me.

"He stayed there for a year before he was done, and then he needed someone who would work with him on it. I'd done some of the programming for him, being the better programmer, though we tested it on animals, a cat and a family dog, it needed to be inserted into a human being. I felt because it was, in some ways, my creation, even though I wasn't entirely sure what we had made it for, that I should be the one to try it out. I was young and I would have been more easily subdued if something went wrong. Besides, like I said before, Justice felt that the resiliency of my still developing brain could be a gift. If something did go wrong, I was more likely to regain use of limbs and such that I'd lost during the fritz."

He laughed at the look of horror on Lucky's face. It was a strange sound, almost bell like in tone. "Don't look so disgusted. We had taken a completely different direction and I was a pretty smart little kid. I knew full well what I was getting into and I knew also, that if he died, I'd be up a creek. But if I died, he'd be able to go on. I wasn't about to let anyone else besides one of the two of us to try it out and the animal trials had all been successful.

"So we put it in and a week later threw it into some tests. It remained fairly able. And because I knew the chip's capabilities, I was able to make remote programs for it. We began work on remote programs a year later and that led to the flier and to the gunnery system and to my being here." He gave a small smile. "See? That's it. But he wasn't a joiner and I had as much to do with it as he did."

"But...why?" Lucky choked out.

Haven shrugged. "Because it had to be done by somebody. If it was successful, then Justice would be famous and lots of people's lives would be saved."

Pushing the heels of his hands into his closed eyelids, Lucky grimaced. "So.." and then tiredly he let his hands drop. "You have had the chip in for almost three years now. There haven't been any difficulties. How do we check your myelin thingies for deterioration?"

The kid smiled, shaking his head. "You don't. They're intact. I check them every six months and yes... there have been no difficulties. The chip was ready for production when we made the flier. We were going to offer it to the world when we finished, giving Mr. Trias the production rights. But well, you know what happened next."

"Yeah.. yeah I do." Lucky frowned. "What I don't get though, is why you haven't gone and gotten copyrights on it. You could still make it big, kid. I mean, you'd be a millionaire in your own right if it works and like you said, you'd be saving lives."

Haven frowned. "I'm... not sure. I mean, for one, I'm an augment and there are certain rights augments aren't allowed. And for two. I haven't found anyone I trusted to produce it. Not like Mr. Trias, anyway. Well, and because I guess I'm still not sure how to make one."

"Why?" Lucky was confused.

"Because all of the blueprints went up in the ship that Justice was flying." Haven stood up, moving back to the nav center.

"Went up," Lucky parroted.

"Yep," the boy's voice was almost cheerfully morbid. "I have the only working chip and its in my head. And the only person who knows how to get it out without killing me is Justice. And well, he's dead."

Lucky stared at his gunner. "But.. what are you going to do?"

Haven smirked. "Short of cutting a hole in my head and digging it out? I don't know."

Lucky remained, crooked over the back of his chair, staring at the dark haired young man behind him. Damn the kid was amazing in more ways than one. And the more small windows into his soul that Lucky got, the more intrigued he became. And for some reason, right now, knowing that Haven had the ability to save lives at the risk of his own and that he seemed like he was almost considering doing something crazy enough like fishing it out with a darning needle and a butcher joiner was making Lucky's brain go into a tail spin.

"Don't do it," he murmured.

Haven's head rose and dark forest green eyes met the more muddy ones of his pilot, confused. "Do what?"

"I want you to.. I mean... I don't want you to..." Lucky could feel his cheeks heat up. What the hell was he trying to say?

Haven didn't seem to know either and he tilted his head slightly. "Don't want me to what?"

"I - I don't want you t-"A faint buzzing was getting in the way. Lucky turned with a scowl but the heavy explosion off to his right made him forget everything but the need to get his systems turned on. "SHIT!"

Flipping his com, he grunted, [Get ready boys. Looks like we have company.]