Chapter Two

"Hey Slip, how have things been going with Beltino?"

"Not good, the hospital is doing all they can, but nothing seems to be working, from what I could gather. I probably won't be coming back tonight, and Falco's probably off somewhere with Katt again."

"Alright. Try not to run yourself ragged. I know damn well what it's like."

Fox hung up his communicator and sighed. Seeing anyone close to him go through a similar loss always managed to re-open the scarred wound that brought him so much pain.

"Everything alright, Fox?" Krystal asked as walked up to the island in the kitchen.

Fox leaned on the island and put his head in his hands. "No... Not really. Every time a someone loses a loved one it always reminds me of what happened."

Krystal walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him as she spoke into his ear. "If you need anything, I'm here for you, just as you were there for me."

Fox smiled slightly, and grabbed two bowls of stew from the counter, steam slowly rising in careless waves above them.

Fox and Krystal were eating dinner at the large round table in the McCloud manor, both somewhat uncomfortable at the relatively quiet atmosphere. Being mercenaries, they had become accustomed to explosions, gunfire, or a quiet hum from the Great Fox's engines at the very least. Fox, starting to become driven a little bit mad by the utter silence, got up and grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going, Fox?"

"To get some air. Care to join?"

"Gladly." Krystal said as she followed him into the garage.

Fox turned on the light and was met with a 4 car garage full of absolutely nothing. "So... Are we jogging... Or...?" Krystal asked as she peeked out from behind him.

"Nope, watch this." Fox replied as he flipped a switch on the wall.

Krystal watched in awe as the back wall of the garage raised, revealing a secret entrance to the hangar next to the manor. Unforunately, only one arwing was parked at the time, as the rest were in a hanger at the CDF.

"Hoo boy..." Fox said as a blush crept onto his face.

"Aw come on, Fox! It'll be fun!" Krystal yipped excitedly as the two walked towards the space fighter hooked into the launch rail in the middle of the hangar. Fox climbed into the arwing's cockpit, and put on his safety straps. Without warning, Krystal jumped in after him and sat in Fox's lap, Fox blushing furiously as she repositioned herself. Then, as if Krystal read his mind, she turned her head slightly and gave him a sly smirk while she waggled her eyebrows.

The hangar doors opened slowly as Fox chuckled slightly and readied himself for launch. "Ready when you are."

Krystal nodded, and Fox hit the red button on the cockpit's controls. As soon as he did, Krystal was thrown back into Fox's chest as the arwing rocketed forward out of the hangar, engines roaring as Fox gunned for the atmosphere. She had to admit, she liked the feeling of being pressed up against her captain, someone that had been there for her on many occasions, someone who she wanted to protect with her life, and someone she was sure shared the same feeling.

The arwing continued to climb higher and higher until they had reached the atmosphere surrounding Corneria, leaving Fox and Krystal in its orbit. In a move that slightly surprised her, Fox let go of the controls, and pulled her into a tight hug. He rested his head on her shoulder, lightly breathing in her scent. The smell of some kind of citrus-y shampoo filled his vulpine nose as he spoke softly.

"Thank you, Krystal."

"For what?" Krystal asked, confused but also blushing a ton.

"For being you."

Feeling the raw emotion that radiated from her captain, Krystal turned around in Fox's lap and returned the affectionate embrace, not wanting to let go. They may not have admitted it yet, but she was sure that Fox loved her. The two foxes sat there for what they wished to be an eternity, but was only a few minuted until an audible beep sounded from the arwing's control panel. Fox's eyes darted to the flashing light on the screen, and groaned. A low oxygen level warning.

"As much as I want to stay up here, we need to head back."

Fox aimed the nose of the craft towards the blue and green sphere that was Corneria, and slowly pushed the throttle forward. As the lone arwing re-entered the atmosphere, Krystal held on tighter to her captain, not wanting the experience to end.

Gradually, the arwing lowered to an altitude just above Corneria City. Fox's ears perked up as he heard a beep from his radar. A blip showed up right next to his arwing. He looked to see what it was, and watched a small white drone start flying around him.

"Great. A media drone." Fox muttered as he held his finger over the afterburner switch. "Get ready, Krystal. Things are about to get interesting." Fox said as he slowly began flying faster and faster, until he'd reached his max speed. Seeing the drone still somehow keeping up, fox hit the afterburner and the arwing shot forward, leaving the drone behind in a matter of seconds.

Both Fox and Krystal blushed slightly at the feeling of pressed into one another as Fox looped around to make a somewhat fast entry to the manor's hangar. 'I'll have to do this more often.' Fox thought as he slowed the arwing down to a speed that would allow the launch rail to catch him without slamming into the back wall of the hangar.

Krystal picked up on Fox's thoughts, and spoke up. "I wouldn't mind doing this more often, if that's what you'd like." She said with a cheeky smile.

Fox chuckled slightly and sighed. "You and that telepathy of yours, I guess I gotta be careful about what I'm thinking, too."

Fox's arwing slowly made its way into the hanger, being caught by the launch rail as he brought it down. The rail reached its end, and the space fighter slowly turned around, awaiting it's next launch. The glass canopy opened, and the two foxes jumped out, hand in hand, and walked into the house.

Several days later

Fox was walking through the living room of the McCloud family manor, searching for the blue vixen who managed to make every woman on Corneria jealous just by being close to him.

Without saying a word, Krystal snuck up and tackled Fox onto the couch in a loving embrace, giggling wildly. Fox smiled and beeped his nose against hers, and would have spent the rest of his evening on the couch, with the vixen he loved atop him, when all of a sudden his communicator beeped. Krystal noticed this and sat up, disappointed that someone had ruined their moment. Fox opened the message, and scrolled through its contents.

Both his and Krystal's eyes only picked up a few words.

General Pepper... Enemy Base... Outskirts of Lylat... Harassing Corneria's Allies... Infiltration... High Payout...

They were especially intrigued by the "high payout" part, and nearly keeled over when they saw the seven figures to be split equally among the team's bank accounts.

"Looks like we've found our next job." Fox grinned as the two got up off the couch, and started packing in preparation for two and a half months aboard the Great Fox.

"You think we'll have any downtime?" Krystal asked as she brought her bags to the foyer.

Fox could tell what she was hinting at, and smiled. "It'll take a month just to get there. We'll have plenty of time to ourselves."

The two foxes got into the black sports car parked in the driveway and headed to the Cornerian Defense Force's airfield, where all four arwings were now parked, awaiting the arrival of their pilots.

Fox and Krystal got out and made their way to the other members of Star Fox who were already there waiting for them. Falco could be seen sitting next to Slippy, talking to him with a wing over his teammate's shoulder.

Uh oh...

Fox could tell what had happened just by a glimpse of Slippy's crushed expression.

Beltino Toad was dead.

Fox walked up to his amphibian friend, and put his hand on Slippy's open shoulder.

"He's in a better place now." Fox said solemnly.

Slippy did his best to reply through a choked sob.

"He... Died in his sleep... The doctors said they did everything they could. He wanted us to spread his ashes in space. Can... Can we do that?" The green toad asked with pleading eyes.

At this point, all the other members of Star Fox were gathered around Slippy, bringing him into a group hug.

"We can spread them wherever you'd like." Fox replied. It was moments like these that Fox cherished the most. Despite losing his biological family, he found another one in the legacy he carried for his father. A tight-knit team of moral mercenaries, always looking out for each other no matter what happens.

When the mood had lightened up a bit, everyone pulled away and began to walk towards the docked arwings. As the team neared the squadron of space fighters, Fox stopped, and turned to Krystal.

"Ready for our journey across the stars?" He asked her.

Krystal smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Hey, you two lovebirds! I'm tryin' to get off this rock ASAP!" Falco called out from the slowly closing canopy of his arwing.

"Guess we'd better get going." Fox grinned. The two foxes parted, climbed into their respective arwings, and closed the glass canopies. As the engines fired up, Fox smiled as he leaned back into his seat, preparing himself for the blast of an arwing launch rail. Not soon after, a countdown appeared on their cockpit HUDs.

Five...

'Should I tell her?' Fox thought to himself.

Four...

'Should I tell him?' Krystal pondered.

Three...

Two...

'I'll tell her later.' Fox decided as the countdown for launch finally reached its end.

One.

The arwing launch rails shot fowards, sending the space fighters off the ground and into the sky towards the Great Fox, which was patiently awaiting their return.

Thanks again for reading/reviewing! I'm working on chapter 3 so stay tuned!