AN: At last a new fic XD Sorry I've been so busy sorting coursework and various exam stuff I just haven't had the chance... Ah well, here we go!

This can be read as a Marlas (Martin/Douglas) fic if you so wish, however it is written with the mind that not all people are fans.

Insulting

An insult to GERT-I? He could deal with that… An insult to Carolyn? Fine, she could handle herself. An insult to himself? He could deal with it. And insult to Arthur? Bearable. But an insult to Martin? That's just crossing the line.

Gordon Shappey was arguably the most detestable man on the planet, in the humble opinion of Douglas Richardson, First Officer to MJN air. To Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, CEO he was the singular most annoying and pathetic man she'd ever met… To Arthur Shappey, Gordon and Carolyn's son, and steward, he was the only person in the world to be bad enough to not warrant the use of the word brilliant in his description.

And to Martin Crieff, Captain? He was the man that had successfully torn him down to the core of the Earth. The one man who had successfully torn him down to the point where he didn't think he could get up again… Staring into those eyes again, several months after the St. Petersburg incident, and his world had just crumbled, and hot tears burned behind his eyes. Don't cry… That's pathetic…

"You pathetic little excuse for a man. No… You ain't even that. You're a child. You're a useless waste of space! Oh, that's right. Turn on the water-works. Just prove it. Prove you're a child!" Gordon ranted, as the tears spilled from Martin's eyes. He wanted to turn and run, or be swallowed up by the ground… but he couldn't. He couldn't move, as the black smog covered his vision. No… He'd stopped that… Years ago… When he'd passed! NO! Not the thoughts… The thoughts were coming back… The smog was clouding his mind, his entire being, and he couldn't see-

"I'm sorry what?" The harsh tone snapped Martin back to reality for a moment, enough to see at least. "What did you say?" D-Douglas…?

"What do you care you overgrown glue-stick?" What? Glue stick? Really?

"What did you say about my Captain?" Douglas growled, in no mood to mock Gordon for the pathetic insult. His Captain? Unfortunately, the swell of pride did not come, just a confusion. Gordon had battered him too much for the words to make a dent in the smog that was already seeping back into the corners of his vision.

"He's a snivelling wimp, and a pathetic excuse for a pilot. Do I need to repeat it again, because you're obviously old and hard of hearing." Gordon snapped. It wasn't even sarcasm. It was just cold and harsh, and the ice was freezing the smog in place. Hearing Gordon call Douglas old was heart-breaking and Martin couldn't see again. Through the tears and the icy fog that was solidifying over him, pulling him into a recess of his mind he'd never thought he'd see again, and had never wanted to.

"Say that again…" Douglas growled. "And I will make sure you're in hospital for a month."

"You just try, old man." Gordon said. Nothing happened, Douglas just stared at him, still seething. "Oh look, didn't do anything did you?"

"I didn't mean that…" he whispered dangerously. Martin couldn't muster the frown of confusion he should've though. The ice was thick and he felt as if his legs were going to buckle. He had to defend Douglas… Had to help… But he couldn't move… Couldn't breathe. DAMN IT Gordon…

"What?"

"I didn't mean me…" Douglas said, the red in his vision was getting worse at the very thought of him repeating it. "I meant Martin."

"D-Douglas?" Martin stammered. The tears couldn't melt the ice that had frozen him to the spot. But something about what Douglas was saying… what he was doing… Something made it begin to thaw.

"What?"

"I meant… What you said about my Captain." Douglas explained to Gordon slowly.

"Douglas, it's okay…" Martin whispered breathlessly, reaching his unfrozen arm towards his co-pilot. But he'd spoken so quietly it had been like a breeze of wind, flowing silently past Douglas' ear, and he was still stuck to the spot… His fingers merely brushed the fabric of Douglas' worn First Officer uniform.

"Oh, that snivelling wimp? Why do you care ab-" but he didn't get to finish his sentence, as Douglas' tightly curled fist slammed against his jaw, sending him flying and crashing to the ground with a crack that under different circumstances would have even made Douglas flinch. But given the situation, Douglas just stood there, fist still hanging in the air where it had finished its path. He was breathing heavily, but not from exhaustion. It was rage. Rage that rooted him to the spot, boring down on Gordon Shappey, who was now covered in his own blood as it gushed from his presumably broken nose. He wasn't moving, so Douglas assumed he was now unconscious… He hoped so too, the bastard deserved it.

Martin gasped. The ice shattered and he found himself shaking with fresh sobs. Not for Gordon… But the extremity of what had just happened had broken the barrier that had been just managing (with a lot of strain) to stop him crying again.

"Douglas!" came the shrill voice of one Carolyn Knapp-Shappey. Arthur was scurrying along behind her as she came over. "What the hell- oh, it's Gordon…" the way she spat his name out didn't even half cover the disdain she felt for the man.

"He pissed me off." Douglas said, finally moving to stand up-right and brush himself off.

"He pisses everyone off." Carolyn muttered.

"Mum… Why is Dad bleeding?" asked the gormless Arthur.

"Douglas got annoyed with him… And punched him in the face." Carolyn explained bluntly.

"Oh."

They all turned away from Gordon to look at Martin, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Martin… I'm sorry, I had to hit him." Douglas shrugged. Martin shook his head.

"I'm n-n-not u-upset bec-because… o-o-f that…"

"Is it what he said?" Douglas asked. Martin nodded, giving up on speaking after attempting (and failing quite spectacularly) to speak again.

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, Douglas walked over to Martin and folded his arms around him. Martin sank limply into the warm embrace and the sobs only grew louder as Douglas stroked his hair gently.

"Shhh… It's okay."

"B-but he… He's right…" Martin sniffled.

"No, he isn't." Douglas said firmly, holding Martin at arms length, in order to look him in the eyes. "You are not pathetic, you are not snivelling… You have every right to cry." The sincerity in his voice was shocking to them all, and all Carolyn and Arthur could do was watch the scene unfold in front of them. A scene they had never believed they would see… Douglas being nice to Martin.

"But-"

"No, Martin… I may say your obnoxious and annoying but I never really mean it. It's only a joke. You aren't those things."

"But why did you-"

"Because he wasn't joking. He was serious. He was saying those things to hurt you… And I- well… I didn't like that. Basically." He explained. Martin was speechless. He just stared at his Fir-friend… his friend. "You are one of my closest friends Martin… I can't stand someone upsetting you like that."

"D-Douglas…"

Martin's attempt at speech fading into nothing as Douglas lifted a sleeve to wipe away the tears staining Martin's face.

"Come on Captain… We have a plane to fly." He said with a smile.

Hope you liked it guys!

The second chapter is for Marlas fans only xx Bit of a bonus chapter. :)