Title: An Unlikely Couple
Author: Jenny Starseed
Rating: R
Character(s): Martin/Douglas, Carolyn, Arthur
Summary: Martin and Douglas were the most unlikely couple one can meet. So unlikely, even Martin and Douglas don't even believe it. Which was the problem, no one believed it.
Warnings:
Word Count: 2781
Author's Notes: Written for a prompt asking for a Martin/Douglas fic where their friends and family are very doubtful about them as a couple. And this fic signals the first Martin/Douglas fic posted on my journal. I knew there was something missing here, the slash is slowly trickling into this journal.

I don't own any of the characters. They all belong to Mr. John Finnemore. Unbeta-ed and unbrit-picked.

Martin and Douglas were the most unlikely couple one can meet. So unlikely, even Martin and Douglas don't even believe it. Which was the problem, no one believed it. Carolyn thought it was a hoax, a ploy by Douglas to get...God knows what, but she was sure there was something Douglas was after. She's seen the way the two argued and bickered and you couldn't have two people who were diametrically opposed to each other. Arthur accepted it with a grin and shout, thinking it was brilliant that they found each other. They didn't even need to date all those aggressive women to get to each other! And their respective families were shocked; they thought they had the straightest men in their family! Martin's mother had the secret pornography in the attic to prove it! Douglas had three children and was married three times! Surely a collection of marriage certificates would indicate his heterosexuality, though admittedly the series of divorce papers that followed did leave room for a bit for doubt.

How did it start? It started with furtive glances in while flying, a drunken kiss at Christmas time under the mistletoe. It culminated in Carolyn's grand idea to save on hotel bills by shutting the two men together in a very cramped bed with very little heating in Winnipeg, Canada. Douglas would say it was all Carolyn's fault. If she bothered to splurge a bit on separate hotel rooms with adequate heating, he and Martin wouldn't be shagging like rabbits on a bi-daily basis.

So, what does this relationship look like? How did it work? People looked at the couple askance, internally asking the same thing all the time whenever they were seen together. It was an obscenely ordinary and discreet relationship. At work, they were cordial and rarely held hands. The most of the Fitton crew did not suspect them of having a relationship at all. They still bickered about landings, cheese and protocol.

Martin demanded professionalism at work as a condition of having their relationship. They were co-workers at work and they would do their best to avoid bringing their personal lives into the flight deck. When they were off the plane and in hotel rooms and dingy restaurants, Martin would settle comfortably in the role of Douglas's boyfriend. It took a bit of time for Carolyn to get used to the affectionate looks between them. The way Martin liked to rest his head on Douglas's shoulder when he was suffering from jetlag or the small smile Douglas would furtively give Martin when he was spluttering over something Douglas said.

They didn't see each other when they were in Fitton. Since they spent hours on end with each other, they agreed a bit of break was needed in between flights to do their respective things that the other didn't want to part take in. Martin liked to read his flight manuals, rewrite staff protocol and indulged in bad crime novels while drinking very cheap wine. Douglas played in a jazz band on weekends at a local pub. He was an accomplished piano player and saxophonist and was currently learning how to play the trumpet. Occasionally, he'd play standards in a piano bar down the road from his flat. Douglas always needed an audience, something to boast his ego and stimulate his creative mind. And the pay was good. Two hundred quid for four hours of ego-stroking fun was quite a good deal indeed.

Three months into the relationship, Carolyn confronted Douglas in the galley about the disturbing development in their relationship. What are you doing with Martin? Good God, if you break his heart, where will I find another pilot who won't sob into the controls on a daily basis because his gutter-minded twat of a first officer couldn't keep his grubby hands off the young, impressionable captain. Douglas argued that thirty three was hardly young and impressionable, but after withering under Carolyn's hard glare, he conceded that Martin's lack of romantic experience did make him vulnerable.

It was another two months of suspicious glances at Douglas from afar. Carolyn went on every flight, even the cargo flights, to make sure nothing untoward happened to Martin. Douglas was awed by this latent motherly attitude Carolyn had towards Martin. It was in late June after a flight to Switzerland that Douglas overheard Carolyn talking to Martin.

"Martin, if there was anything...untoward or unwanted in Douglas's attentions, please don't hesitate to tell me so I can deal with Douglas in my own special way."

"Oh, there's nothing you have to worry about. It's completely consensual."

"You would tell me if he was emotionally blackmailing you? If Douglas was taking advantage of your relationship?"

"Carolyn! I appreciate the concern, but I am a grown man. I am not a love struck teenager and this is not my first relationship. I can take care of myself. You forget I can be just as stubborn as Douglas and frankly, it's a bit upsetting that you think that I can't take care of myself. I can handle Douglas."

There was a long pause before Carolyn breathed a deep sigh and said, "Alright. You are right. You are a grown man Martin and I shouldn't under estimate you. Just know that you have an ally if this relationship goes wrong."

After that, Carolyn stopped her furtive suspicious glances whenever she saw Douglas and Martin together. Arthur continued to beam whenever he saw Douglas and Martin share an affectionate moment with each other on the plane. Arthur loved happy couples and all of their meals came with a dubiously edible heart shaped something. Whether it be berry jelly, cheese sandwiches or the mystery Douglas and Martin surprise platter.

Family was trickier. Douglas and Martin weren't very close to their respective families and it was easy to forget to tell them anything about their relationship. It didn't help that neither had been in an openly homosexual relationship for any real length of time. How does one come out of a closet if one doesn't think too hard that they were in a closet? That was the problem with being a repressed bisexual: one could more easily ignore homosexual desires by looking more intently at the opposite sex. That was the case for Douglas; he spent thirty years sleeping with numerous women and studiously ignored the stirrings of attraction for the various co-pilots he had flown with. Martin on the other hand, was more comfortable with his bisexuality even if he had an intense fear of homophobic reprisals for flirting with men. It was only Martin's innate trust in Douglas that came from two years of working in close quarters with Douglas that gave Martin the courage to soberly kiss Douglas in Winnipeg that started the whole relationship.

Douglas was stunned by the kiss and surprised that he found Martin's subsequent blushing and spluttering alluring. Douglas was fifty years old, but he was still the sensual hedonist that decided to hell with it, Martin was looking damn fuckable and protection was at hand, what was there to lose? He didn't have time to feel insecure about his body when he had Martin laid out before him under blankets that smelled of mothballs. He kissed and touched Martin passionately as if he wouldn't get another chance to do so. There was a sense of desperate urgency to their lovemaking because Douglas didn't want to leave room for doubt. Thirty years of pent up frustration and anxiety about his sexuality made for very intense and sloppy lovemaking on Douglas's part. He wasn't very suave that night. It was closer to say he was a tightly coiled ball of sexual energy that exploded onto Martin's poor body. Not that Martin minded, he couldn't remember the last time someone wanted him that badly with that much intensity. It was quite overwhelming and flattering, it would have been downright frightening if Martin hadn't trusted Douglas as much as he did. He always did look to Douglas for answers.

Martin liked the way Douglas felt against his body, the way Douglas protectively hugged Martin in post-coital bliss. He gave a light kiss on top of Douglas's hair and pulled him closer to himself. It was rare for Martin to feel so safe and he was determined to do what he could to make this relationship work.

Martin and Douglas were men, they didn't talk about what they had or which direction their relationship was going. They groped around in the dark for a bit, made compromises and boundaries and never gave it much thought. They intuitively and wordlessly worked out how their relationship would work. It was Martin who set definite rules about when and where they showed affection, where to draw the line between work and play when they were flying. He wouldn't be Martin if he wasn't a stickler for rules and professionalism. Everything else was wordlessly negotiable. This was why they were blindsided by the problem of Christmas dinners and prying family members when December rolled around.

Carolyn didn't book any flights during Christmas and they were grounded for a good week. They had to face their family, they had been a couple for almost a year and it felt wrong to hide it from their distant family. Martin was intensely private and he had a few girlfriends in the past. There was nothing stereotypically homosexual about Martin, so his family was very surprised when Martin introduced Douglas as his romantic partner during their annual Christmas Eve dinner.

The Crieffs were a stoically upright bunch, Douglas observed with bemusement. They tried their best to act as if it was the most natural thing in the world that their straight as an arrow son had a boyfriend. They did this while Martin's brother, Simon, dropped unsubtle queries about how and why this came about when Martin didn't listen to a single Elton John record while growing up. Not even David Bowie! It didn't help when Mrs. Crieff brought up the fore mentioned dirty magazines of naked women in the attic. Caitlin nervously reminded them there were children at the table and wasn't this conversation a bit too adult for their young ears? The children were too busy playing with plastic ponies to give much notice to the conversation at the dinner table. It was an awkward dinner, but for all their bluster, awkward questions and misguided notions of what homosexuals were, Douglas didn't get any feelings of hostility. The Crieffs were a loving family, functional in all the important ways but also irritatingly fussy, awkward and left-footed. There was a reason that they never met more than a few times a year together for dinner.

Martin's mother was a lovely woman, she was the least uptight of the Crieffs, but even she was sceptical. She took Douglas aside and said "I don't understand what this thing is between you two. You're old enough to be my husband and I frankly find that hard to get used to. Nonetheless, Martin looks relaxed and at home with you and that is enough for me. It's Caitlin and Simon you'll have to convince."

Christmas day had Douglas and Martin dining with Douglas's second wife and daughter. Julia was a handsome woman in her mid forties. She was the most civil and straight forward of Douglas's ex-wives. Their daughter, Jill, was fifteen and typically bored and harmlessly rebellious. She kept asking Martin on his opinions about gay marriage, anal sex and adoption laws, knowing full well that she would make Martin uncomfortable. She took after Douglas in her sharp intelligence, an intuitive sense of what makes people tick and the same damn dangerous glint in her eye that Douglas had when he was planning revenge.

It was a very uncomfortable dinner in that there was little affection between the splintered Richardson family members. Jill held years of resentment against her father that bubbled just beneath the surface of her feigned boredom and Julia felt put upon for having Douglas over. Julia obviously disapproved of the relationship. She said as much when she insisted that he help her with the dishes.

"Aren't you a bit old for that young man? He looks absolutely smitten with you, just like Helena, Abigail, and Caroline. You get older, but they get younger. I bet Martin is looking for an older father figure, someone to feel safe with, and someone to take care of him. He barely looks like he's able to look after himself. You always did like waif look, didn't you? Some things never change, do they?"

Douglas had nothing to say. Julia the most forthright of all his wives, it was the only reason he could stomach her out of all his ex-wives. You always knew exactly where you stood with Julia. Unfortunately, her honesty came with a justifiable bitterness that came from painful experience.

"Will you dump him for another young thing when he turns forty?" asked Julia bitterly. "It is an ongoing pattern with you. Once he starts to lose his hair, puts on a bit of weight, more age spots and wrinkles, or maybe he'll dump you first. Gay men are more visually discerning than young women, aren't they?"

"Are you jealous, Julia?" Douglas defensively retorted. "I don't see why. He has no curves to speak of, his chest is non-existent and his legs are knobby. Your insecurity knows no bounds."

These dinners always left Douglas cynical, sad and drained. It was why Martin spent the rest of Christmas day and Boxing Day at Douglas's flat. He rarely stayed over, but he made himself at home in Douglas's flat. They exchanged gifts, made hot chocolate and kissed in front of the fake fireplace and Christmas tree. They affectionately made love until late into the night, slow and steady. Christmas was nearly over and their familial obligations were finished and Douglas selfishly wanted nothing but Martin's attentions.

Douglas woke to the sun streaming through the windows, quietly lighting up their bedroom. Martin laid face down on his bed, his head turned slightly towards Douglas with his red hair all mussed up. What a lovely sight, to think it took thirty years to realize that he was at home with it. He woke Martin with a kiss and wondered what he could do to not ruin what he had with Martin. It wasn't going to be easy, Martin was absurdly insecure and Julia's words weighed heavily on Douglas. Her words had a disturbing ring of truth, but Julia didn't know Martin.

Martin sensed there was something bothering Douglas. "Is there something wrong, Douglas?"

"No. You don't think I'm taking advantage of you, do you? With the large age gap between us..."

Martin's eyes squinted in displeasure. "What brought this about?"

"Have you've never wondered how we came about? That it is a little out of the ordinary that two presumably straight men somehow end up in bed together?"

Martin yawned lazily and pulled Douglas closer. "The key word is presumably. We don't fit the stereotype of two men in love. It doesn't matter, as long as it's clear between us. Your awful wife got to you, didn't she? I overheard what she said to you. It was uncalled for."

"She has a point you know," Douglas countered. "I have a very bad history with relationships. Three divorces. Numerous failed relationships and you are the first man I've ever properly slept with. You must have considered it."

Martin propped himself up on his elbow, his eyes searching Douglas's. "I trust you. I think that's enough to go on."

"Funny, you wouldn't trust me with guarding Talisker whiskey, nor would you trust me not to cheat on our word games."

Martin eye's rolled with affection. "That's because I'm not a complete fool. I trust you with what's important. No one is perfect, have a bit of faith. We'll just muddle through the rest like we have been for a year."

Douglas didn't know what to say to that. No one ever had that much faith in him, and suddenly Douglas felt very responsible for Martin, to take care of that trust. Martin's open expression and confidence in Douglas put Douglas in awe; there was no trace of cynicism and suspicion there. Douglas not comfortable with honest words, so he did the next best thing; he kissed Martin deeply. Douglas still felt the odds of this relationship surviving were stacked against them and Martin was the only one who had no doubts. But Douglas was a risk taker and he'd rather put his lot with Martin than with all the doubters of the world. It was a start if anything else.