Starfire

((Never let it be said that we ignore our reviewers! Prompted by another review so soon... (and the fact that I have to leave for the weekend and have the first free half hour in forever!) and without further ado (well, after the proper thank yous that is) here is the next chapter of Starfire!

And to you, V! Thank you so much for your delightful review! (It\'s food for the writer\'s soul) And yes. It is cruel. I\'ve always thought so as well. And I suppose, writing stuff like this wherein characters are routinely tortured (some for longer than others) by unrequited love, cruel strangers, and misunderstandings set up by the authoresses, that myself and Earthgurl must be something of the masochists to do it to you all. A failing which I can assure you, we\'re not at all sorry for. Hee hee! Still, we\'re not completely heartless. It WILL be finished!

Shannon: Ooo! Caught your review! Wow... two reviews on the last chapter! : ) I\'m glad you\'re enjoying it and here\'s one more! Just for you! Thank you thank you thank you for all the kind words!))


Chapter Eight: The Necros


Morning comes and Tex has fallen asleep outside of Tyrin\'s room, sitting up, his head lolling at an uncomfortable angle pillowed on his bent arms, his eyes closed and the sleep of the drunken slamming pain into his brain in preparation for when he wakens.

Which he does.. slowly. It ricochets through his skull and he groans, lifting his head and leaning it back against the door with a solid *thump* which echoes in his brain, making swollen veins race one another to see who can get pain to his receptors most quickly. He groans, putting his hand to his temple and stares at the fountain just across from him.

\"...shit..\" he whispers, unfortunately very aware of what he\'s done.. recalling the gist of what had happened the night before.

\"Fuck..\" and with a groan, he stands, reaching for the door knob and without thinking, entering into Tyrin\'s room on silent, hungover feet.

Tyrin had finally crawled into bed. After what seemed an eternity of crying over what happened tonight. So many times he wanted to walk over to Tex\'s room door, and sit there and say what he had to say, take the rejection and be done with it... he didn\'t have the courage. None at all.

Sleep was dreamless. Black and empty. That\'s the way drunken sleep is. No dreams at all... he was still deep in that cold lonely place in his mind, and something in him jumped to hearing Tex\'s head meet with the door.

The dark chocolate pools of his eyes flick open and he feels like he\'s been punched in the chest again. He doesn\'t move when Tex walks in. He trembles and then shuts his eyes tight, not really looking forward to being reminded about last night. And what could have happened. He wanted to forget it. Pretend it never happened.

His eyes open slowly and they look across the bed at his friend and Tyrin\'s jaw locks with a soft click, biting on his tongue to keep himself from breaking down in shame. He waits a moment and then he slowly sits up, blinking to make the room stop spinning before looking quietly at his friend.

\"Are you okay?\"

Softly; his voice quiet as possible because he can tell Tex is out of it right now.

Tex moans and makes his way across the room. \"No.. and neither are you,\" he growls as he falls down onto the bed. \"Here - move over...\"

Tyrin moves immediately, scooting over and looking at his friend as his heart speeds recklessly. His heart. Gods, how the hell does he even feel the thing? Tex\'s words hurt and he doesn\'t know why. Sure, Tex was an ass last night. But he was drunk and he knows he wouldn\'t act like that otherwise. They were having fun. They were dancing. And while Tyrin knew this, his thoughts weren\'t exactly innocent; he wanted Tex last night, badly. So, so badly.

Settling onto the bed, Tex lays his head on the near pillow. He closes his eyes and breathes softly, trying to move past the pain for even a moment. \"Fuck, Tyrin. I\'m a fucker. You should have kicked my ass last night..\" and his face is crimped in pain, either for the words or for the night before.

\"Stop, Tex,\" Tyrin says, trying to interrupt...

\"I\'ve really been a first rate son uva bitch and I deserve however you\'re feeling you gotta take it out on m\'hide today. That went way the fuck too far and...\" Tex opens his eyes to look at his friend. With a groan, he pushes himself up so that he leans on his elbow and looks slightly down at his friend.

Tyrin reaches out and places a shivering hand on Tex\'s shoulder, sliding it slowly down the expanse of his arm. \"I\'m not angry with you. We were having fun. That wasn\'t a crime. I... I asked for too much. And... I might have ruined your reputation. I didn\'t mean to.\" He says softly, wanting so badly to feel Tex\'s arms, he wanted to cuddle into that man. No matter what. No matter what happened. \"So... I\'m sorry too, okay? Please... Don\'t be too hard on yourself...\"

Tex stiffens for a split second at the touch on his bare chest. \"Tyrin.. \" softly, mostly because it hurts like hell to talk any louder.

Blindly, Tyrin moves closer and hugs Tex, not caring what happens to him, now. He could tell Tex regretted what happened and that was more than enough of an apology. He still didn\'t like what Owen did, though. Tyrin felt like an outsider, just as he always does in a group... he\'s the last man out. He\'s always in last place. Always.

He didn\'t say anything about that. He just hugs Tex, fighting tears as usual. \"We both... Got in too deep last night. But. I... I don\'t regret dancing with you.\"

With a sigh, Tex wraps Tyrin up in his arms, groaning as he does so. \"Dammit, Tyrin.. You are a stupid fuck if you take this on. You really don\'t.. don\'t.. understand..\" and his voice is lower, because he\'s not sure and if ever there was something that would have thrown Owen for a loop, it would be a sight of Tex\'s face right then and there.

Tyrin clings. It\'s like he\'s asleep again, dreaming of Tex being close to him, dreaming of just how wonderful and how warm those arms are. \"I... I didn\'t mean to.\"

\"Tyrin.. I...okay.. but next time we dance sober.. or at least I\'m sober..\" Tex looks down at that face hidden against his chest and frowns, he can feel the pain on his friend\'s face.

\"Dammit, Tyrin.. I...I was a bastard.. please.. just.. realize...\" he\'s trying to get Tyrin to look at him, his fingers soft on Tyrin\'s jaw as he attempts to move his friend\'s face so that he can look into those eyes and truly apologize.

Tyrin stops and clings to Tex even more then, hiding his face away, just too afraid to look him in the eye again. So many things he wants to say, but the fear is choking him. Keeping him from saying how he feels. He\'d rather just be friends with Tex instead of being rejected by him. \"I know I\'m stupid. I\'m sorry...\" Whispered softly, unable to fight when a gentle hand guides his face up, now unable to hide tears that well up there... Damn it! Why does he have to be so fucking emotional all the time?! Why does he have to feel this way?!

\"Yes... Okay... We\'ll dance sober next time... And... No slow dancing for us either...\" Tyrin says that with a bit of regret in his voice... Damn it... It felt so -good-! He wanted to deny that so fucking badly, but he couldn\'t... He couldn\'t let go of the memory of Tex grinding against him!

Suddenly Tex staring into those eyes and he is struggling for breath as the confession is slowly aching, breaking.. trying to get out. \"Fuck it.. I wanted to... to...\" but he can\'t finish it. Because he is lowering his head to take those lips just below his with a soft curse that cannot even make itself heard, but which can be seen. Fuck

Tyrin would have said something else. Something like \'Let\'s forget this happened\' or \'It\'ll be okay from now on\'. But, before he has the chance Tex is lowering... He feels lips against his. But not just anyone\'s lips. No... It\'s Tex! The man of his dreams! That frightens the hell out of him and he trembles with the fear, even as he melts immediately, falling into the kiss blindly. Just as blindly as he curled against him. His heart thundering, aching, his whole body alight.

Tex wanted to fuck him? Is that what he was saying? Tex, who likes women. Tex, the man that can\'t be held down, can\'t be loved after the loss of his true love. And yet, here he is. Laying close to the red head and -kissing- him.

Tyrin whimpers loudly now, the fear taking him as he pulls away.

If Tex knew how completely confusing he\'s being, he might have run out the door. But the touch of those lips under his kicks his breath out and he moans in terror and hunger. He\'s opening his mouth, opening his mouth because he wants to touch Tyrin.. he wants to taste the lips under his, blind to what is happening. The pain in his head is nothing compared to the sudden hunger that ricochets through his body.

But before his tongue can come free, there is a sudden shudder and Tyrin\'s lips are gone, the red head buried in against his chest and his friend is trembling. And Tex.. Tex is holding his best friend... yes.. best friend.. and shuddering himself and staring at the wall, his face a blank.

What the hell had he just done?

\"Tex... Please don\'t play with me, okay? Because I want this. I want you. I just... I want to say so many things, but I\'m... I\'m scared. I\'m so scared. Of...\" the redhead whines softly, curling against Tex and bawling. He\'s so in love. So madly and passionately in love and he can never say it.

\"No.. shhhhh.. \" Tex tightens his arms around the sobbing frame of his friend and closes his eyes with a long, deep sigh. Oh yeah.. he\'s stepped in it big time. There is so much there, so much in Tyrin\'s crying. He can tell. He\'s heard the words before, from women that he didn\'t care a fig about. But in Tyrin, it\'s a different story. And they haven\'t even had sex or anything.!

Fuck me.. this is shit... He holds Tyrin close and runs his hand down the other man\'s back, trying to calm him. Not sure exactly why or how to do it.. but knowing that he doesn\'t want Tyrin to be in pain. Not.. not like Suzanne...

Had to go and do it, didn\'t ya? Fucking fucker.. stupid ass fucker... be an asshole.. lead yer life with yer dick, stupid fuck. Now what?

\"Don\'t say anymore..\" he deliberately is kind. Kind.. not wanting any of his internal thoughts to come out. No, there\'s other ways. Other ways to deal with this. \"No.. shhhh... don\'t worry, Tyrin.. don\'t worry.. okay? Just.. just don\'t worry. We\'ll work this out. Don\'t get ahead of yourself.. okay? If the right time comes.. it\'ll come.. but don\'t force it..\"

Don\'t say something that you\'ll never be able to take back, buddy.. don\'t say something that I can\'t give you back.. don\'t.. don\'t fall in love with me, you stupid man. Fall in love with someone else. Someone who doesn\'t have this much.. shit in their life. Don\'t fall in love. Not with me. Fuck.

He holds Tyrin and sighs softly, his eyes closing and his head falling back as he curls up next to his buddy, not wanting the tears to show. He\'s done this.. twice before.. and one had been a disaster.. the second he\'d worked out.. Hank had been a god-send. Without Hank, Owen might have done something foolish. But then, he\'d never.. touched Owen.

Fuck..

\"Okay bud.. let\'s take it a step at a time, okay? Breakfast first,\" he makes his voice light, sweet, not a lovers.. but not a friends either. Just, just Tex\'s voice. The world was going to be okay, because it always was, when Tex was around. \"Remember? We\'ve got some fuckers to shoot down today..\" he grins down at that red head at his chest and pulls at the pillow case to wipe those eyes... damn. He was not going to fall in love.. not today. Not with Tyrin.. not with anyone. He was bad luck. He was.. He was everyone\'s rabbit foot. And everyone was a rabbit. Which was bad for the fucking rabbit. \"I told Owen we\'d be there at eleven hundred hours.. it\'s ten now.. okay? C\'mon bud.. it\'s okay. It\'ll be okay, right? Hell.. this is my world and we don\'t have no troubles in Tex\'s land,\" he\'s smiling down at Tyrin, unaware how tender he looks.

Tyrin wanted so much. Oh, so much. He wanted to climb on top of this man. This beautiful, caring, wonderful, perfect man and kiss him like no one has ever kissed him. He wanted to touch this man all over. Touch him like no one else. Tyrin was falling more. So much deeper in love. No he couldn\'t say it. But he felt it with a painful intensity.

All sparked from one kiss and the warmth of those arms. He\'s never felt so safe. So beautiful. So fucking pretty before. He\'s never felt desire tugging his heart strings like this before. Tex is tormenting him horridly.

Tyrin sighs finally and pulls away, listening to Tex\'s words on what the plan was for the day. One step at a time... yeah.

\"Yeah. Okay.\" He says it quietly, fighting for calm now, trying to get his composure back enough to face this day. To handle himself well - he doesn\'t know how he\'ll react to Owen today. He felt - shot down by him. As if he were trying to take Tex away from him. That certainly didn\'t sit well with Tyrin in the slightest.

He looks over to Tex and then pulling his eyes away a moment before leaning in to brush his soft lips against Tex\'s cheek before moving from the bed, wrapping sheets around his naked body. Slipping into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Eyes closing as he puts himself back into the right frame of mind. He wants to destroy something. He wants to rip something apart.

Tex lays quiet on the bed, staring at the ceiling and finds his face paling at the touch of those lips on his cheek. He\'s silent, frozen, really. And then as the bathroom door clicks shut, he closes his eyes and whispers, \"Shit...\"

~~~

Breakfast manages to be fairly quiet, Tex lost in his thoughts, is not a man to interrupt or a man to reach easily. Instead there is something like a shadow upon his brow as he goes about shoveling food in, then packing five bags of food rations, emergency supplies, kits and the like. Clothing is not as much of an option, not when you\'re dealing with surviving, so other things need to be put into the bags, oxygen masks with one hour, compressed tanks for any repairs, a compressor if they need one to continue the work, suits for outside, blanket, water, water, and more water, and a million other little things, from waxed matches if they ever should need them (highly unlikely), to warm up tubes and a lock kit.

Tyrin was silent as well. Almost too silent. He had nothing smart-assed to say. No comments on how they would go about all of this. And Tyrin didn\'t exactly feel up to eating too much as he took three bites and then pushed the plate away. He helped Tex pack everything they needed and even then he was quiet. Even as his heart was bleeding for this man. But his feelings are buried somewhere deep inside of him now. Tex won\'t have to worry about this ever again.

Then, with a silent nod to his partner and a look like cold ice, Tex opens the door for both of them and they descend the stairs.

On the steps outside, he stops when a dark haired woman comes up alongside him, having been sitting on the stoop. Her eyes have something hungry in them, something that resembles the hunger in Tyrin, and she\'s quiet as she touches Tex\'s arm. He blinks, caught out of something he\'d not understood and stares down at her.

\"Careful, huh?\" she smiles and the pain is there. She\'s not flirtatious like the delivery gal, that Lilith. No, this girl has a silence to match Tex\'s and perhaps she\'s allowed a bit more leniency in the looks she gives him because of how honest she is with herself and with him. She knows as well as anyone, how much she can expect. \"And.. Here..\" she holds out something in her hand.

She\'s not looked once at Tyrin, and neither does Tex, but rather holds out his hand and finds in his outstretched palm, a small gold bead on a slender chain dropped into his hand. He drops his head and smirks as the girl leans up and kisses him lightly on the lips, a kiss he returns, before she turns and walks away from them.

He stares at the necklace, then tucks it into his pocket at his side, his face darkened into an even greater shadow. These weren\'t the easiest things on him. And maybe it was just coincidence, but meeting Suzana\'s sister outside of the door gives him a feeling like things won\'t go the way they hope.

\"C\'mon..\" he growls and hiking the pack higher onto his shoulder, he leads the way to the garage.

Tyrin hadn\'t watched their exchange, only keeping hold of his own pack and just waiting, finally following behind Tex as they head to the shop.

Tyrin had begun to meditate then. Focusing energy, centering himself. There\'s things he\'s going to need to find out everything about that ship. Can\'t be caught slipping, not even for a moment. He\'ll learn everything... Every detail. Every curve. He\'ll learn every weakness that shit has and he\'ll exploit it until he\'s raped it to hell and gone.

No one fucks with him or his partner and think they\'ll live to tell about it. Tyrin growls at the thought and remains quiet; he\'s forgotten last night, he\'s forgotten this morning. Maybe that was for the best. There was nothing that needed to be worked out. Tex is his friend. He just has to accept that. And it\'s fucking going to be murder to do it. Sheer and painful murder to have to lie without those wonderful and strong arms wrapped around him. Without the warmth of that body against his own.

He\'ll put it all aside. He has to.

The shop waits for them in the early morning light, pinked along the leading edge, and inside, when they open the door, there\'s the scent of fuel cells and heat, from burners being set off to test their effectiveness. Classical Bach plays in the background on an old time radio and Owen is head deep in the mechanical Hank\'s side, his legs pulling out along the edge.

Tex ignores his friend and looking at Tyrin, jerks his head toward the back. They enter the office and Tex sits down, pulling out some micro disks upon which he places the info of the moon, it\'s layout, the site they\'re going to, the abandoned mining works, the suits they have on the ship, the ship itself. It\'s a fairly easy job, provided the base isn\'t alerted to their presence. But the nearby moon base is sure to have some serious problems with someone coming in and taking what they\'d been trying to get themselves without alerting the authorities.

The mining compound is small, begun and then not having any ore within to continue operations, they\'d moved to the nearby larger moon where the current operations (and site of hostilities at present) were at this time. All circling around a distant planet in the 95*7 system. And yet there are still places to hide a large ship in the shadow or even on the surface.

Tex leaves Tyrin to the business of reading through and silently goes to talk to Owen.

\"Hey man..\" his voice sounding strange to himself.

Owen pulls out from the engine, oil smudged on his face as he gives a painful smile to Tex. \"Sorry about last night..\" his voice soft.

\"Yeah.. Well, fuck it, right? I needed to hear that.\" Tex sits down on a crate and begins to work on some wiring in a box they\'d need for recording for later. \"Look.. Tyr is working on getting the specs down, I\'ve got us ready up to that point. We\'re leaving in an hour. You have anything left you need?\"

Owen stares at the pale face of his friend and wipes his hands off on his coveralls. \"What happened?\"

Tex gives Owen a half smile. \"Nothing.. Now is there any-\"

\"I mean, with Tyrin,\" Owen reiterates quietly.

\"Same ol\' same ol\'\" Tex tries and then sighs. \"Dammit, I don\'t know. I\'m not thinking about it right now. Look.. You need some help or wha-\"

\"You\'re gay, aren\'t you?\" Owen stares at Tex and can\'t keep the shock out of his voice.

Tex laughs, painfully. \"I prefer to think of myself as bi, really.. But that\'s not important. We\'ve got a mission to compl-\"

\"And you\'re falling in love with Tyrin..\" the soft voice still, and then all is silent.

A rustle as Tex stands and puts the completed box next to Owen, giving his friend a glance before he turns and walks out.

\"Just be careful. Don\'t forget.... her ... \" Owen whispers after and then turns to work on the finishing touches.

He\'s known Tex for forever. It feels that way. And he isn\'t sure of the whole story of \"her.\" But he knows enough and watching Tex head out the front door gives him a moment. Wiping his hands on a shop towel, he slips into the office.

\"We have to talk, Tyr..\" softly.

Tyrin went over every detail. Not once. Not twice. Several times. He checked every coordinate, he checked the most minute of things with a discriminating eye. And in the time it took Tex to leave the shop, Tyrin had memorized everything he needed to know. This was a big fish they were going after; this isn\'t some small job they had. This was high risk shit they were going through. No, everything else was pushed to some hidden place as he stands, getting ready to leave as well.

And then Owen walked in. Tyrin suddenly felt cornered. \"Look. I\'m sorry, okay? I\'m sorry for everything. It won\'t happen again. I assure you.\"

He didn\'t want to talk about this anymore. He wanted things back the way they were - back to how they were before this whole mess started. \"I don\'t have time to say anything else. And I don\'t have time for a lecture. Just let me go,\" he whispered, his face as cold as dry ice.

Owen stops, then steps back and lowers his head. \"I\'m.. sorry. It\'s me who should be sorry. I - I misled you. And.. Ah, yes - well.\" He can\'t say it, can\'t say anything, only does as he\'s told and gets out of Tyrin\'s way.

But just as the other man passes him, he reaches out and brushes his hand on Tyrin\'s sleeve. \"Tyrin.. Just.. don\'t\' give up yet. Okay? There\'s hope. Don\'t give up on him. Please, for his sake.\"

Now -this- totally confused Tyrin. First Owen says there is no one that can be special. That it will never happen. And now, after what happened last night, he\'s saying not to give up? After he was inches from doing just that? After he already set in his mind that nothing will ever be between them?

He stopped at the door and looked at Owen. Oh yes. There was a lot of pain there. he couldn\'t hide it even as he tried to, \"What hope?\" He said in a sad tone before walking from the office.

And with a slow swallow Owen turns to the office just as a call breaks out and the front door slams. \"TYRIN!\"

Tex had returned. And he\'s back to normal. A grin in place and his eyes dancing. \"Holy shit, we\'re doing it, eh, partner?\" He slips through the various objects in his way and makes it over to where Tyrin stands. \"Let\'s go and kick some ass, baby. I\'m sick of sitting around fiddling with my dick, man.\"

Tyrin blinks at this but shrugs inwardly and nods to Tex with a quiet smile. \"Yeah. I\'m ready to do this. Those fools better be fucking scared,\" he says dryly.

The door opens again and Hank enters, his face bemused and yet a lightness upon him that seems almost, beautiful. \"Hey Tyr..\" he ventures with a wave as he walks past them. \"Gonna ride in m\'namesake?\" His grin wider than it\'s ever been, complete with a faint blush on his cheeks. \"Bout time someone did.\"

\"Yeah, since riding the real thing is a one man jo- ERK!\" Tex laughs behind the sudden hand on his mouth as Hank claps fingers around it.

\"Tyrin, can\'t you keep a leash on yer damn partner?\" he grins at Tyr and gives Tex a shove. \"I\'m just here to watch the launch guys... go get ready, I\'ll tell Owen..\"

Tex watches Hank close the office door and then grins at Tyrin and raises his arms over his head, pushing his fingers into the back of his hair. \"We\'re gonna be lettin\' our hair down, right man? So let\'s go, huh?\" and with a slight flush from too much sunshine or too much excitement, he turns and leans down, grabbing his packs and heading toward the suit.

He stops at the platform and nods to Tyrin, moving so that he\'s on one footrest, holding tightly to the pin between and grinning at Tyrin. \"This is fucking great.. I\'ve wanted to be in this fucker since the first day I saw her.. I mean him..\" he laughs, patting the metal side fondly. \"Sorry Hank.\"

Tyrin manages another quiet smile before he\'s grabbing up his pack as well, following behind Tex afterwards. \"Yeah, Hank is a beauty. A lot of machine with a lot of muscle that\'s for sure. We\'re going to fuck their worlds all up.\"

Getting back to normal now. Getting back to the only true love he\'s ever known... mechs.

The lift brings them to the top and Hank is already warm, the seats softened and the gears and various inner workings moving like clockwork way within. \"Don\'t know about this.. \" he huffs as he steps first into one seat and then into the navigation seat, settling into it and grinning. \"Damn, I feel like I\'m gonna fuckin explode..\" he laughs, pure excitement. \"Hank! I\'m flying Hank! WOOHOOO!!!\"

Hey! You wanna take this a bit more soberly here, my friend?

\"Oh, yeah.. Sorry Owen..\" Tex laughs. \"But no worries. Tyrin here\'s got more quiet than any guy you know sometimes..\" and he grins at Tyrin before sighing in relief and flipping some switches, watching as a lower shield closes over under them, effectively compartmentalizing the gears from the rest of the ship. \"Okay.. I\'ll take thermal, and back ups... you got the rest, check list, beginning, auxiliary - check, median line shift - \"

And with that, Tex goes over the checklist for his side, then calmly goes into Tyrin\'s as well, giving Tyrin time to upload the specs and go over his weaponry listing. Then with a soft call from Owen and thrusters are ignited, Tex grins at Tyrin and reaches over, tousling that red hair and grinning. \"Okay pardner... let\'s go pay some folks a visit, eh?\"

Tyrin steps into the cockpit with a smile watching Tex take the navi seat before climbing into the other seat, smiling at the thought of being inside a two seater. It\'s fucking bad ass in here and he can\'t deny that. Not at all. He grins and checks over the weapons and ammo for each and then over the specs.

\"Rodger dodger. Check, okay. Damn, this is some sweet shit,\" Tyrin says, running his hands over things, doing it respectfully, though with a bit of love in his caresses as well before sitting back in his seat, stretching his arms out and cracking his knuckles before rolling his head around to crack his neck as well before looking over to his mate with a grin. \"Time to play. Let\'s do this. Take off in three, two, one, Mark!\"

He gives Tex another look and a nods with a grin. The game face. The face that says no one\'s gonna fuck with us. Not on my fuckin\' watch. And he takes off, lifting Hank off the ground and out of the hanger, holding tight to the steering before they blast off, Tyrin screaming a loud \'Yeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaw!!!\' as they breach the atmosphere like a knife through butter. back out in the cold reaches of space. A place he doesn\'t miss all that much anymore. But they were out there again, heading toward their destination, but slowly. They can\'t just bust up in there like that.

\"So... what\'s the easiest way of slipping them a micky? Hey, do you think you can take out the communication systems? That way, the fuckers can\'t call for back up.\"

Tex purses his lips, has been singing under his breath something that sounds like another of the old twentieth century songs.. something about pouring sugar on someone.. and that manner of thing, though some of the words that manage to seep through as they\'ve flown toward their destination, the silence of space around and the pair of them busy trying to prepare, hasn\'t made it sound like a cooking show in the least bit.

\"Well.. COMS is the back side. And the main of it is inside. We could take out the main dish, but they have that secondary inside the hull. Hmmm... \" he goes back to humming softly. \"You could slip me out the back door.. I could get in the side hatch while you\'re keeping em busy with the death of the dish. Then while they\'re trying to get the fucker up, I could hack into the system from the supply docking bay. They should have some intranetworking system that I could get to from there.. hunh. That would require us to sneak in... he got that cloaking system online before we left?\"

He\'s working, checking off things on a pad, then finished, turns in the seat after unbuckling it and working at finding a pack. \"I\'ve got a coupla suits. Prolly should get\'m on in case we need to evacuate..\" he doesn\'t need to say that they\'re on a suicide mission. Because they are. In more ways than one. This place could turn ugly really fucking fast, considering how close they are to a hot zone in the sector. Both army and anti governmental forces are filling space out here as if they were fucking flies at a fucking picnic.

It\'s the time before that always leaves him nervous. He\'s never quite certain what will happen. Once in the battle he doesn\'t give a shit. But just before.. this time, right prior to entering, he takes out a few yards of jitter bugs and stomps on them. Usually with fucking hard music, thus the humming, as that very hard music is traipsing through his memory recall.

Tyrin flew Hank with the greatest of ease, being gentle as he would be with his own Bitch. And he\'s listening, looking over a diagram that came up as Tex was explaining where everything was. \"A little more complicated than I wanted. But hell, let\'s do it - yeah, Owen let me know about that just before take off. And I have something else that might help us too. Therm-optic camouflage. It\'s a really old technology I rummaged up and perfected. It\'s merely a jacket but there are the same codes used in the cloaking device to make it... you know... cloak.\"

Tyrin laughs as he moves through space at a steady pace. This was some big shit and to tell the truth, he was a little nervous over it all. That much heat in one place... A full out and out fucking war and they\'re going to be right in the middle of it all. He\'s never prayed to God before. Well, mainly because Tyrin knows he\'s an abomination somehow and his prayers would be useless. But he does whisper a small prayer to keep Tex safe. At least Tex.

Tex drags one of the packs back toward them and steepled on his chair, ass in the air, face pushed against the head.. it\'s a small cockpit, not meant to be used as a changing room - but he hadn\'t wanted Owen to think that he was considering possibly abandoning Hank - works hard at opening it and dragging out the various objects needed. \"We\'ve got twenty five minutes yet before we\'re near their zone, so we can work at getting dressed and shit..\"

\"Yeah,\" Tyrin says quietly as he watches Tex go about getting changed. His mind going back to earlier. This morning. That kiss. That kiss that -still- have his lips burning. Remembering the closeness. How Tex looked at him. Those gorgeous blue eyes gazing into his own. Damn! Bad time to be remembering this, but he couldn\'t help it. Tex made him fucking helpless sometimes. Hell, all the time. Oh, if there is still hope. He knows he\'ll be happy. Being with a man like Tex. An incredible man.

\"Well.. what\'s yer.. Unhff.. idea?\" Tex asks as he doffs his shirt and pulls the thermal shirt over his chest. The flight shirt goes into the bag, yet his pants will do well. He wrestles with the edge of the shirt where it\'s rolled too tightly against his ribcage. Then he settles back with a smile and a sigh. \"I mean.. you\'ve got bad ass ideas yerself, BP..\" he scratches his chin and hums softly, looking out of the side window for a moment.

For Tex, the morning has ceased to happen. He hasn\'t time to go over such confusing events. So he kissed someone.. and that that someone was his friend and a man shouldn\'t be much of a deal to work on, not until it became a problem. And it is assuredly not a problem here, out in space, with a huge ass ship to disable. So no - he hasn\'t time.

Not that he\'d think much on it if he did have time. Tex wasn\'t a man who liked confusion and complication and when it came his way, he tended to run away from things like that. Besides, there was a lot more to it that he didn\'t want to think about. And kissing a man just managed to bring up a lot of shit he\'d rather never remember. Ever.

\"I actually didn\'t have one...\" Tyrin laughs softly, shaking his head a little, nibbling his bottom lip as they move closer to their target, Tyrin looking over the weapons list again, praying to the gods this won\'t last long... it probably will last for days, though, months in the worst case scenario... he didn\'t want to think about that... he didn\'t want to think about losing Tex... Fuck the mech... Tex is way more important...

Tex grins, calm and content for the moment to go over last minute shit, like boosters and escape plans and autopilot engagement and last minute checks on radio without using it.. just little things, busy work. But useful even then. \"I\'m gonna save the tanks to last..\"

Tyrin sighs quietly, setting auto pilot on and taking the suit Tex had in mind. \"All right, good,\" He says softly working on getting his shirt off as well.

Tex leans over, pulling off his boots and grinning. \"Used odor stuff so I\'d not kill ya in here.. you better thank me, my friend!\" grinning sidelong at Tyrin as he leaves his boots on the floor of the cockpit and pulls up his socks before grasping his flight suit and carefully working on pulling it on without wrinkling up unbearably the pants that will have to be under it.

But that kiss! Tyrin couldn\'t get over it. How could he do that? Or more over, why did Tyrin -stop- him?! But now - Now Tex is acting like it never happened. That kind of hurts. It reminds him... Maybe there is no hope. Maybe Tyrin\'s own hopes are too high. Maybe Tex was just going to... No. He didn\'t even want to think it.

\"Well, thank you. I do appreciate not being bombed by funky ass feet. Heh.\" He grins and removes his own shoes, twisting uncomfortably to change the shirt to the thermal one as well, pushing all his questions to the very back of his mind somewhere. But he is going to ask. If there is nothing going to be between them, he needs to know so he\'s not being someone else\'s fool; he\'s so fucking tired of being the fool.

\"Something for the rag and bone man...
Over my deaaaaad booooodyyyy...\"

Tyrin sings out loudly trying to pump himself up a little... Get that adrenaline flowing... Old music did that for him as well.

\"Something big is gonna happeeeeeen...
Over my deaaaaaaaad booooooodyyyyyy...\"

And working on getting changed, with limited success due to the lack of space.

\"Maybe we should have changed at the shop, huh...\"

Tyrin laughs, nudging his friend lightly before finishing up, taking the controls again. \"All right... We have ten minutes left... I\'m gonna go \'head and cloak us up now... Last thing we need is to get caught before the fucking games begin, right?\"

\"Yeah..\" Tex nods curtly. They\'re getting close. Real close. He doesn\'t have anything to keep his mind off of things anymore. He stares at his list and then at his supply bags. He could go over them again, but what\'s the use? He\'s done it three, four times now. And the WEPS systems are up. COMS is up... radar is there, NAV is going okay... He groans. \"I hate waiting.\" He also hates being bored. A bored Tex is an aggravated anyone else. Which is something perhaps someone ought to have warned Tyrin about. But then, maybe Tyrin can find out on his own.

He sighs a bit, waggling a foot and then, casually, \"So.. what do you think of Owen?\" gazing curiously over at his friend and the current pilot of Hank.

\"I don\'t know what to make of him.\" He says it simply. Tyrin wants to say he hates the fucker\'s guts for making him feel like he couldn\'t be trusted with Tex. For confusing him so fucking much. But, that\'s Tex\'s friend and Tyrin knows that Owen was protecting his friend.

\"He\'s all right. A good guy. And a good friend, I\'m sure,\" He says, just as simply, trying his best not to let the hurt show. He\'s jealous... he is. He doesn\'t need to be, really, but he\'s jealous of Owen. Of how close he is with Tex. He\'s jealous of the love Owen has with Hank. \"I don\'t know what I should think of him... He... Kind of hurt my feelings last night. It doesn\'t matter,\" he whisper quietly, watching as the moons loom up ahead...

\"Doesn\'t matter?\" Tex turns and looks at his friend. \"Hunh.. don\'t remember everything about what happened last night. So what\'d he do? And yeah, it does matter. Yer my partner and while Owen\'s the shit and all - he\'s not my fucking partner. If he did something to upset you, I wanna hear about it.\"

He grins. \"Not to say I didn\'t get close to kicking Owen\'s ass a helluva a lot of times when I first met him. He can be such a shit sometimes. He\'s got this fucking romantic view of life that while it\'s nice and shit? He lets it get in the way. I was so damn glad when Hank came around. Cause Hank sorta took the pressure off of me.\" He chuckles softly. \"Owen had a crush on me for.. shit.. musta been a year and a half before Hank came along? Telling you, the guy has no subtlety. I even brought women to the shop, hanging off my arm and he still didn\'t get it. I was so fucking careful not to lead that guy on. But yeah.. he\'s mellowed out some.\"

\"Tex...\" Tyrin says quietly, not looking at his partner... Trying to interrupt... Kicking himself mentally for even bringing his feelings up... He\'s a fucking -man- for crying out loud! Why should his feelings matter?

Tex laughs. \"You shoulda seen him back then. Fucker couldn\'t keep his brain in his head. He\'da been all over you too, even more so you, when he found out you were gay. Not that I\'d tell him or anything.\" He smiles. \"I mean, that\'s up to you, you know that. Hell, don\'t matter to me, and I don\'t think it\'d matter to him or nuthin\', seeing as how he\'s got Hank and shit. You probably have already told him, huh?\"

He\'s staring at the moons. \"Shit... we\'re close.. okay.. so what happened? I barely remember that night. I remember saying I\'d keep an eye on you.. And then we were tryin\' ta make the girls jealous or some shit.. And I know you\'re one fucking bad ass dancer..\" he grins. \"Did we have to fight our way out of there?\"

\"It\'s just childish bull shit on my part. It really isn\'t important. Now that I think of it. It\'s just... I felt like an outsider last night. That\'s all.\" Tyrin nibbles his bottom lip, sighing heavily, looking to Tex every now and again as he slows down a moment.

\"Owen just made me feel like I was in the way when things got heated. He really made a big deal out of us dancing together. And then it was like, \'Remember Suzie...\' I felt lost and helpless and just... bad after that. It was stupid of me and he\'s your friend. He understands you better than I do. I just wish... he would let -me- be your friend too. He just made it seem like I couldn\'t be trusted around you or some shit.\"

Yeah... It was all blown out of proportion, right? Just a big mistake in a drunken haze. That\'s all. Right? He didn\'t want to upset Tex. That\'s the last thing he wanted to do. And yet... His feelings needed to come out. Just get it out and over with before it ate him the fuck up.

At the mention of someone named Suzie, the rest of it might as well be commonplace sign language for all Tex hears. His face hardens and he goes to work tying down one of the tanks onto the pack that it\'s already well secured to. Something dark passes over his eyes and for a moment, there is a slight glimpse of whatever it was that Lillith had been able to see, cold - like a dark, hole, deep underground where no living creature can go, no light can shine. And in many ways, it is the very place that Tex lives in, his soul abides within. A darkness that only he can see and which only he can possibly live with. Such brightness requires a payment and often times it is that it\'s mirror opposite live as well within the same creature.

\"Now I remember...\" and while his voice is grim at the first note of it\'s sounding, it has managed to school itself back into the normalcy of Tex next. No need to let go of such depths of one\'s soul. And there are so few instances that Tex would ever consider living in that place again. And not one of them has happened in over ten years.

He smirks then, laughing, but the pain and the darkness still shroud his gaze no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Like echoes of some memory one wishes desperately to forget. \"Remind me to tell you about Suzie. Suzanna.. the one my ship is named after.\" He sits back and with a sigh, runs his hand through his hair. \"Damn Owen. You know.. he doesn\'t really know the story. I can tell you what he thinks. He\'s not said it aloud and he\'s sort of patched a story together with what I\'ve accidentally let slip over the time. See... he thinks I met this gal back at home, before I got my ship. Suzanna, only I called her Suzie. And he figures that, short version and all, I\'d liked her. Fallen in love with her, and that I\'d mucked around with her, led her on and shit. Only me being Tex and all that shit, being who I am, didn\'t ever love her as much as she needed it. Finally, she found me in bed with another girl and broken all to hell by it, she ran and sold herself on the streets. Only the first guy who took her, slit her and she died in my arms. You know.. really romantic shit.\"

It\'s a painful story. How can Tex carry that kind of burden with him after so long? But then, this isn\'t the story. How could Owen think that low of his friend? Things aren\'t adding up, but Tyrin can only listen. It\'s all he does now. Nibbling his bottom lip, keeping quiet as much as possible.

\"But it\'s almost mostly bull shit..\" Tex shrugs and turns to grin at his friend. \"Fact is.. well.. fuck. I\'ll tell ya next time we can sit down to a beer, okay? Hell - but now you know why he shouted out that shit. He was figuring that I was gonna be leading you on and shit.. and that you\'d go and get yerself killed too or some shit. It\'s all.. \"

He keeps up enough of a mask as it is, trying to be who he is now, without letting the past get in the way. So even now, something slips through and he cracks a bit under the pressure. \"Fuck... it\'s a fucking not cool story to be telling anyone before we go into a firefight. If we survive this.. I\'ll tell you everything..\"

An empty promise, from a man who thinks he\'s sure to kick the bucket. He runs the inside of his palm on his nose and sniffs with a half smile. \"Shit... I\'m gonna get m\'self down, ya know..\" and it doesn\'t help to have left Suzanna behind... feeling as if he\'s abandoning her now, Hank is nice and shit, but when it comes down to it, he\'s feeling really fucking vulnerable. Which may account for the fact he just promised something he swore he\'d never tell a living soul.

Well fuck. He could tell some of it. And that would help. And Tyrin isn\'t the kinda guy who\'s gonna say shit, tell tales and all that.

\"Here we go..\" he nods and seeing as how they\'ve got about six minutes.. no.. five, he shrugs the pack onto his side and reaches for the helmet, slapping it on his head and grinning through the face mask, his voice tinny from within. \"Owen is a shit. You can kick his ass when we get back. Until then, let\'s fuck these fuckers so hard they can\'t walk for weeks, huh? Hell.. so that they never walk the fuck again.\" And his gloved hand lifts in a thumbs up as he smiles at his friend through the face plate.

Once Tex is done, once they are close to the convoy, Tyrin stops dead, looking over at his partner, his dark eyes saying so much. Wanting to be the one he truly trusts. With his life, his feelings. His secrets. His eyes begged for the trust Tex says he has for the red head, but his lips say nothing, not now. Trust is a lot to ask for, especially when past evens still lay in shards under Tex\'s feet. Obviously, if he hasn\'t told Owen much of anything, then this is some deep hidden pain he\'s nursing.

Tyrin has to admire that. The determination in tex to keep his private life private. Not to let it spill into reality. Tyrin wished he could do that. Damn - he spilled his guts to this man already; he\'s pulled the thing that made him most ashamed of himself as a man, as a person and he gave it to his friend. How come it\'s so easy for him? Maybe because he\'s never really connected with anyone before. Tex is the first person to truly understand him. To truly give a damn about him. Tyrin wants so badly to just... cling to Tex. Always.

Enough of that though because it\'s about show time. Tyrin shakes his head and cuts a dark gaze to his friend. \"You fucking better make it back, hear me? I\'mma have you up here, so keep that ass alive.\"

Tyrin finally smiles a little at the thumbs up before he turns his sights on the dish, watching Tex\'s movements as well, to make sure he\'s safely aboard, \"Godspeed, DS.\"

\"Yeah. You too.. radio out\" and Tex winks at the last friendly face he\'ll ever see, and takes his secrets with him. Then he steps down into the small life bay, closes the door and finds himself being pulled out by the vacuum in space, drawn toward the dead in the water ship. Now.. to find what they had hidden.

He swallows hard and hopes his trajectory is right. Hand out, waiting for the nearest piece of metal to grasp, finding a handle sticking out where it should be, he holds his breath and then, \"GOT IT! Damn.. fuck.. that was close..\" muttering to himself as he grabs it. He might have bounced off and it would have been curtains for them both. He turns and gives a thumbs up to his buddy, his mouth moving in some silent words that he keeps to himself but has to say anyway, then a touch on a panel on the outside and he\'s in.

Tyrin watches closely from the mech, nodding to the thumbs up again before setting it in motion, targeting the dish, but only the dish... He doesn\'t want to lose his friend as he goes snooping about. Tyrin fires off one shot, immediately disabling the dish itself. They\'ll never know where it came from. Tyrin\'s made it that he can\'t be picked up, thanks to this cloaking device. Tyrin smiles silently and keeps a look out for the bastards as they make their way to the area. Slow as molasses! He groans and moves in a bit closer rolling his eyes as the alarm finally sounds, the announcement loud and clear from where he\'s sitting.

\"It\'s fucking show time.\"

There are some satellites around, searching for his coordinates, unsuccessful for the time being. Tyrin switches up and slips out of range, just to be safe. So... Part one is finished. Now all he can do is wait and watch suits come from the convoy, looking over the mess, figuring out what might have hit it. Tyrin smiles at that, smiling because even if they figure out it was a weapon discharge, they can never find out who is behind it... That should give Tex a good amount of time to get to the inside com systems.

\"All right man. Do your shit and come on.\"

The bay doors close and the room fills with air. Tex leaves his helmet on though, not knowing what might happen, considering the ship is gonna be blown sky high when they\'re done. And hunkering behind some tanks which contain something like water or fucking beer or something, he waits for the first signs of alarm to hit the ship.

He doesn\'t have to wait long. The hit rocks the boat in space and he grins as he listens to the sudden shouting beyond the bay doors. Here and there shapes run past heavily glassed windows, probably covered in solofilm, which would make this one fucking expensive ship, dammit, on their supply bays?

He slips from behind the tank as the sounds die off, and checks his way to the side control panel, flipping it open. It\'s the one place no one thinks of you going into their mainframe from. It\'s an easy enough job, he pulls out the small deck he has in his side pocket. With a small magnetic board holder, he slides the miniature computer up against the control and hooks it in. Two and twelve seconds later he\'s into the mainframe, and with a half inch compact disk that he\'s ferreted out of a pocket in his suit, protected in a case which repels electro-magnetic charges, he boots up the virus, fits it into the COMS system, and sits back, watching the buggy do it\'s job.

\"Very nice.. verrry nice..\" he grins. Now, he merely has to let his partner know it\'s done. He goes to the bay doors to pull on the door and jet himself out there again. He can grab onto a line, there should be one nearby, and hang out there, waiting on Tyrin to come by and pick him up. Then they\'d have some fun.

Of course, he needs the fucking line. It\'s been five minutes and some change in seconds now. He\'s getting late. And he can hear that the crew is getting nervous as well, shouting echoing against the bay doors.. where the fuck is the tie line?

Tyrin keeps an eye on things in space while Tex is doing his work, looking at the clock. Okay... Where the hell is he? Tyrin bites his bottom lip and orbits the convoy, looking for his friend, getting a little nervous as well. Hmn. From what he can see, There\'s a tie line misplaced and that\'s not good. Fuck. Tyrin hit\'s the breaks on the mech, flying it over to where his partner is and simply landing, cloaked a few feet in front of the bay doors, securing himself before watching closer, waiting himself for the line or some reasonable facsimile.

He couldn\'t have damaged anything else... he checked. So where is it? Damn it... he hopes this ain\'t some real piece of shit ship Tex is on. His heart pounds as he weighs out some solutions in getting his friend the fuck out of there, not wanting to make a big scene by just pushing his way in and grabbing Tex. He waits for a few moments longer. If the line isn\'t where it needs to be, then he\'s going to rush in. Fuck what\'s at stake here. Tex is more important. To him anyway.

\"FUCK!\" Tex pounds on the side of the bay and then nods. Okay, they keep an extra always.. he knows the general places. By the bay doors, nada... okay, then back here, next to the main door.. finally.. yes! He jerks open the door and reaches for the small emergency tie across the hall.

CHK CHK A metallic sound bursts across his ear drums like a

He freezes. Fuck.

A moment after, the radio crackles. He\'d promised to keep radio silence, even with their closed channel, it would show the ship if it were looking, that there was someone else out there, just by radio waves appearing close to the dead ship. \"~Tyrin... dammnit man, it\'s done. Blast the fuckers..~\" and that\'s it.

Mainly because Tex has a blaster in his face and he is choosing to stare down it\'s barrel as the man\'s partner goes to close the bay door, and then gestures. \"C\'mon kid.. let\'s go..\" his voice soft. \"Thought I\'d never seen you again..\" darkly.

Tex is silent. Then as he turns, finding his helmet facing the other way, he gives in, \"~Tyrin.. shit... I\'m sorry man. Get out of here.. and Tyr? Bud? I shoulda told you that I -unh!-~\"

The radio turns to silence again and the man standing over the unconscious form smirks, then reaches down and undoes the helmet. \"Fucking stupid ass kid.. let\'s go tell cap he\'s here.\"

He hoists Tex up on his shoulder and stalks to the elevators, dropping Tex into the compartment and hitting the buttons for the brig.

Tyrin sighs softly, still waiting. Until he hears the radio crackling to life. Ah, okay. It\'s done and he was about to take off before Tex came back on talking about getting out of here and he\'s sorry. And something else. Something else. Not that he got to figure it out because the radio goes dead again. FUCK!

They have his partner. They captured him. Fuckfuckfuck!! This is not good. Damn it! Why didn\'t Tyrin have a plan?!

He growls and uncloaks, the huge fucking ship right there near the bay as Tyrin gets his helmet on, grabbing some heat and slips out the same door Tex did to get onto the ship. No... No one\'s going to fuck with his friend; he\'ll kill them all before he lets that happen! He flies down to the convoy and grabs hold of something, before landing and getting to the door, immediately stopped by another one of those fucking piss ants.

\"And just where do you think you\'re going? \'Ey! We got another one!\"

Fuck. This is bad and he doesn\'t know if Owen is watching this.

\"You touch that mech motherfucker and I\'ll rip you dick off, you understan-\"

Disabled as well... hit with the butt of the blaster. Knocked cold, Tyrin is carried to the brig area as well, thrown into the same compartment with Tex.

Maaaan is his friend going to be pissed off. But Tyrin won\'t leave without him. Tex better get use to that. Partners don\'t leave each other behind. And they sure as hell finish what they started. Tyrin was as deep in this mess as Tex was and he wasn\'t about to just run off.

((next chapter - torture at the hands of the Necros crew and a misunderstanding breaks up our fabulous duo.))