Recap: Joe has turned away from Dex for some unknown reason and Dex has finally decided that he's tired of it.

A/N: I'd like to thank my two reviewers from the other two, by the way. Thank you so much for reviewing, it boosted my writing mechanism in my brain. Got the 'ole hamster wheel a spinnin'. :)

Caution: Nazis are mentioned. So, if you're allergic, don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, if I did, then I would have a little bit of a different ending.

"Why, Joseph?" Franky's voice was tender, the complete opposite of the righteous indignation that she had earlier displayed when she beat him senseless. Now they sat, on the right wing of the 'Polly' Joe had been thinking of repainting, Joe's eyes like a raccoon's and his nose covered in a small bandage. Joe clung tighter to the soft blanket that Franky had brought for him when she'd gone looking for him.

"How did you find me, Franky?" Joe's voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot and still gleaming with the tears that threatened to start falling again. He had cried for two hours straight, like a small child who had been caught doing something wrong, before he had picked himself up and went to the one thing on the base that wouldn't judge him. He had been sitting on his plane, clothed in his usual baggy pants, but without his signature jacket. Franky had found him and brought him a blanket, ordering many of the people working on projects around the plane to 'shove off'.

"This is the plane that Dex rebuilt for you. It has his blood, sweat, and tears in every stain, every part, and every memory. Also, your bedroom still smells like betrayal, and this is the one place I knew you would go." She was being soothing, something Franky had only been once around him. He had been in the Manchurian death camp for six months and she had found him, rescued him, and taken care of him. Then she had introduced him to Dex. His chest tightened as he thought about the young mechanic and the want to hold him in his arms filled him to the brim.

"Well Joseph. I'm waiting." She grinned, nudging him with her shoulder as they sat next to each other on the Polly's wing. She was trying to lighten up the mood, something that he hadn't expected from her after she had kneed him in the groin and broken his nose. Did he mention she beat him bloody?

"I've been receiving threats, and before you say anything along the lines of 'who would threaten you' or 'how did they get to you' let me explain everything." He looked to her for her compliance, which she gave in the form of a nod.

"I've been finding notes in my house, at the office, even in my plane—my bloody plane for fucks sake-and I don't know what to do! They're getting past security, they're watching me, and they're watching Dex." Joe spoke, his voice grave and hoarse as he tried to reign in the fear the enveloped him at the thought of someone hurting Dex. "They said that if I don't stop seeing him altogether then they would kill him. They would kill him and then they would leave his bloody corpse in my bed to frame me! They would kill the person I love more than anything and they would frame his death on me! They would make his family think I killed him, a jealous lover, unless I forced him to go away….but with Dex, I knew I couldn't just tell him I couldn't see him any more…because he'd always come up with a way to make things better and then there's the fact that he'd always be around and then-."

"Joseph, I understand, now move on." Franky interrupted his rant, her brow furrowing as she spotted several tears fall down the usually strong Sky Captain's cheeks. She had only ever seen Joe break down like this once before and it was when he had been tortured for six months in Manchuria to give up the location of their squadron and their leader: her.

"Right…well, I tried to find out who they were. I tried every connection, even calling Polly and having her come to the base to check things out. That didn't go well with Dex and I couldn't stand to hurt him, even though I knew I had to push him away, I just-I just couldn't, and I knew if he did he wouldn't stay away long enough for me to find them out. So I thought of coming to you, hoping you could help, but when Dex met Terry, I thought that maybe he would forget about me. He seems so happy with Terry, so I thought that maybe I could just leave them alone…but no, Dex still would come into my room and lay down beside me and I would have given anything in the world to hold him then, to stop him from escaping, from going back to Terry, but I couldn't so….when he kissed me yesterday morning after he had slept in my bed and ran off to go play with Terry's new plane, I knew I had to do something….so I used you. You may now hate me forever and a day, Francesca. I promise you, I won't hold it against you." Joe's head hung low as he spoke, not willing to meet Franky's gaze as she stared at him, her right eye boring into his skull.

"You couldn't have just gone the easy way and told Dex about the notes?" She reasoned after a few minutes, allowing him to let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"They said they would kill him if he was alerted….apparently they know everything that he does, how he acts…Christ, they must have been stalking him forever! They even knew his favorite gum, his favorite comic, and…." Joe's voice tapered off as an idea struck him, causing his poor abused eyes to widen and his body to tense.

"Franky, how well do you know Terry Westbrook?" He questioned the woman beside him, his head turning so that he could see her fully. A look of utter surprise etched itself onto Franky's face as his question sunk in.

"Do you have the notes with you, Joseph?" She calmly asked, her gaze turning to steel and her voice becoming her usual 'no-nonsense' tone.

"I do." He affirmed, his heart clenching at what they both had just realized.

"I have blueprints to his new XP-37. They're handwritten. We should be able to identify whether or not he is the perpetrator and whether or not Dex's life is safe." Franky spoke as she hoisted herself off of the wing, turning about-face so that she could speak to Joe as he jumped down as well.

"I'll get the notes and you get the blueprints."

"Joseph, you've read my mind."

They had been given clearance to take off an hour ago and they had yet to discuss where they were going. Dex had tried many times to strike up a conversation with Terry about the place that Terry said they would be going to, but the older man had said 'it's a surprise' and shrugged it off. Now Dex was getting worried as they continued flying above the cloud line, unable to see the ocean below.

"Y'know, I don't know about you West, but this usually isn't viewed as the best way to find a landmass in the middle of an ocean in my opinion." Dex tried, but only received a hearty laugh from his companion.

"Don't worry Dex, we're almost there, mate." West called back, not even glancing back at his passenger to see if the smaller male was alright with this answer.

Dex shifted uncomfortably as he sat in the XP-37's additional seat, relatively worried over the determined look on West's face and the strange feeling he was getting in his gut. He had had this once before, when Totenkopf had sent his robots to the base to find him, and he knew something was wrong by the way the man had let him track their signal. No self respecting bad guy would give away his location unless he, himself, wanted to track his enemy. Suddenly, Dex felt the earth dive as they shot through the clouds in a rapid descent, Terry's hands forcing the control in the downwards direction.

"Terry, what are you doing?" Dex cried before the other man pulled up just in the nick of time as they nearly crashed into the ocean. Dex knew, from viewing the other man's blueprints, that this plane was not modified yet to be part of the amphibious squadron and Dex would like to keep it from trying.

"Sorry mate, just wanted to get there a bit quicker than usual. A rapid descent always helps." The Australian answered, a strange smile contorting the other man's face as he steered them over the ocean, its waters barely feet away from the plane's belly.

"Where are we going again, West?" Dex questioned, craning his neck to try and look for any land mass of some sort.

"There." Terry spoke, pointing towards the fog in front of them.

"What…?" Dex questioned, not understanding before he looked closer and saw something he hadn't seen before.

A large ship was poking its bow through the fog, aimed straight for the low flying aircraft they currently resided in, and flying high on one of the three flag poles was none other than the flag of Germany.

"I don't understand." Dex spoke, looking to his friend for some form of explanation.

"You don't understand now Dexter, but you will….soon enough."

"Joe…he crosses his t's the same way, he draws his ones and nines like a European, he slashes his zeros like an army officer, and they script on these notes exactly matches the script on these blueprints….also, the way he phrases things…they're very…." Franky paused a moment, her brow furrowing in both anger and wonder.

"They're very what, Franky? What?" Joe snapped, anxiously awaiting her answer.

"They're very proper, Joseph. Proper and well worded, filled with emotion, but not enough. Also, there are several instances where he mentions that you and Dex are an abomination, that you should be….well, terminated…but that Dex is an important component of something more…something bigger than you'll ever know." She replied, her hands clenching around the edges of the paper so hard that Joe was afraid they'd rip.

"Franky…?" Joe questioned her, trying to understand her sudden change in tone; from wonder to absolute disgust and fury.

"He's a neo-Nazi, Joe. He's a neo-Nazi and he wants Dex because Dex is brilliant." Franky said, turning her body so that they were facing each other and placing her hands on his shoulders to stabilize the Sky Captain.

"Oh….God….then…?" Realization fell on Joe like a hailstorm of bricks.

"He was trying to break you up so that Dex would play into his hands." Franky answered for him, worry filling her eye.

"He played the both of you. He made you hurt the one you love so that he could be there in Dex's time of need and then he could kidnap him." Anger dripped from her every word as she spoke, her words only affirming Joe's greatest fears.

"Oh Dex, what have I done?"

AHA! Joe isn't too bad of a guy, now is he? TERRY IS. D: Sadly, I kind of feel bad for doing this to Terry. He was so loveable. I'll make him a better person one day in another fanfiction.

A/N: I'm a WWII buff, so if I messed up on something, please tell me, so that I can become that much more knowledgeable. :)

If you have any questions or suggestions, then please, by all means, message me. I'll get back to you as quick as I can.

Thank you for reading, I hope you continue!

-Aimze

P.S. Please review kindly, if at all!