Cortes walked back onto the main area with a sigh. He'd wanted to have some time alone with the angel, but Wayan had radioed him telling him Mahad and Lena had picked up a distress signal.

"Who's it from?" he asked.

"The guy didn't give his name..but he said he's stuck in ice...the ships called the Callisto..ring any bells?"

Cortes twitched, and said a very rude word.

"I don't believe it..what's HE doing here?" he fumed.

"Captain?" Wayan asked "what do we do?"

"Argh..fine, we'll find him!" Cortes growled. He looked pissed.

Wayan decided not to ask. It must be someone Cortes had a beef with if he was that mad...


But they weren't the only ones on the way.

"Captain, Mahad says he's picked up some s-22s intercepting the guy...we need to get there before they do, full speed?"

"Aye, get a move on!"

Within a few minutes they'd come in range, but it was still cutting it close. Then Cortes abruptly vanished. By the time Wayan realised the captain had hijacked a mosquito it was too ate. The bay doors opened, and Cortes lone ship zipped out. Its lighter weight meant it could travel much quicker.

Sirus blinked as the ship tore off into the distance, where they could see a ship trapped in ice.

Cortes seen a few s-22s ahead, and a opened fire on the closest two. By ramming into one, he knocked it into the other, blowing them both up. The third meanwhile, had gone ahead, and was heading for a lone figure stranded on the ice.

He set the craft to land, and as it wheeled over the two figures, he leapt out of the cockpit, the craft going on auto pilot.

He landed on the ice, just above the two. And felt his stomach lurch. It was Di-Wan.

--Now you're in for it..-- he thought angrily. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began charging as much power as he could handle..


Down below meanwhile, Di-Wan hadn't noticed Cortes, she was too busy yelling at the guy in front of her.

"So, you think you can get away with stealing Sphere energy do you?"

"Well evidently, or i wouldn't have tried.." the figure snapped back.

Di-Wan glared, and prepared to fry him with one shot. But not before a colossal blue energy ball hit her in the gut, sending her skidding several metres across the ice, knocking her senseless for a few seconds.

"Who...who dared..Lena?" she growled. And got to he feet, staring at the jackass responsible...

"Well Well...i had a feeling you'd resurface..." she snarled.

Cortes shrugged "come on now..you didn't think i was gonna let you lot off Scot free now did you?"

Di-Wan made to respond, then did a double take. The guy standing beside Cortes, the one she'd been about to fry. He looked the spitting image of the rebel leader, bar the hairstyles.

"Well well, so there's another of your wretched family is there?" she laughed "excellent, two birds with one stone-"

She fired the blast, the other guy ducked, expecting it to hit..and got a shock when he seen Cortes easily swipe it aside, and fire one of his own.

"wha...Aran. How did you.." he blinked.

"Just don't ask, ok Christophe?" Cortes snapped.

Christophe Mendias Theodore Cortes, as was his full name, could only stare as his brother got into a fight against Di-Wan.

--How..no way my little brother is a saijin..i would've known...but..-- he watched them fight --he's so strong..he really knows how to fight..--

He heard the sound of a ship landing behind him, and whipped round. But it wasn't the Sphere ships. It was the Hyperion. Mahad and Lena piled out, along with cheng. Next second the nazaire touched down, and Wayan and Dahlia joined them.

"Hey!" Dahlia snapped, aiming her bow at him "who're you-wait a sec..." she blinked at Christophe.

"You look just like.."

"...Cortes.." Wayan finished.

Christophe grinned "well of course i do..." he pointed proudly at the battling Cortes "he's my little brother!"

Everyone's jaws dropped "BROTHER?!" they screeched.

"Yup" Christophe smiled "its been donkeys years since i seen him...funny thing is.." he looked baffled "last i checked. Nobody in our family was a saijin..so how the hell did he develop so much power?"

Everyone went silent. Lena winced "its a long story...and not a pleasant one..to put it shortly...the Sphere did it."

Christophe looked at her "did what?" he looked pissed "what'd they do to my little brother?"

"It was an experiment.." Lena said quietly "you'll have to ask him yourself.."

Christophe twitched "they dared lay a hand on my brother, I'll kick their asses personally..!"

"Er..guys..what about the fight?" Mahad pointed out.

Cortes and Di-Wan were pretty even, they were both beating the hell out of each other. But Di-Wan had been keeping some power back, she waited until Cortes had his back to the very edge of the ice block, then let him have it. He hadn't been expecting such a large bolt, and the ice beneath him cracked, pitching him backwards off the block. He thought for sure he was going to die, then he hit solid ground. A small ice ledge had broken his fall. And his left ankle. His shoulder also hurt a great deal. Looking at it he seen it was dislocated quite badly.

"ARAN!" Christophe panicked as he seen Di-Wan hurt his brother. "You bitch-" he fumed "just wait till i get hold of you..!"

Lena grabbed his arm "let ME deal with her!" she growled "you guys free the ship and find Cortes! He's on an ice ledge, he's not dead!"

Christophe felt a surge of relief. But now they had to get to him.

"What's going on?" a new voice butted in as Lena went against Di-Wan.

Wayan turned to look at Sirus "the captains hurt, he's stuck on some ice ledge, we cant reach him from here-"

Sirus turned and ran over to the ledge "ill get him, you guys stay here!!" as he spoke he leapt off the block edge, the wings snapping out the stop his fall.

Christophe's jaw dropped "ashasfah...WHO OR WHAT THE HELL?!" he squeaked.

Mahad grinned "he was a Sphere robot, Oslo had him built..but he escaped with Cortes from the monolith..he's freaking awesome!"

Sirus swooped down, looking for his beloved Aran. At last he seen him, slumped on a narrow, jutting ice ledge. He carefully flew over.

" still..I've got you.." he carefully scooped him up in his arms. Cortes winced, his shoulder ached, and he was cut and scratched from the fall.

"Where is everyone?" he asked weakly.

"They're trying to get the ship free Aran, and Lena's keeping diwan at bay..c'mon..lets get you home.." he kicked off the ledge, landing them back on the block by the nazaire.

Christophe panicked when he seen the state of his brother.

"Aran! s he OK?" he asked Sirus. The angel blinked, taking in the similarities between Cortes and him "we need to get back to puerto angel, now..he needs a doctor.."

They carried Cortes aboard, Christophe ran back to his ship, and the nazaire took off, aiming its cannons at the Callisto. a few modified shots later, and the ship broke free of its ice prison, and joined it's sister ship.

Lena meanwhile had successfully managed to knock Di-Wan out for long enough to scramble back to the Hyperion with Cheng and her brother, and fly back to the nazaire.

Sirus had laid the captain down on his bed and was attempting to clean his injuries. Vector was surprised by how much the mechanical being knew. But they were both concerned by the dislocation.

"Just shove it back into place.." Cortes winced.

Vector blinked at him "captain we cant,, theirs no painkillers here...it'd hurt like hell.."

"Well I cant even lie down with it like this, JUST DO IT!" Cortes snapped.

Vector and Sirus looked at each other-


"Lets get going!" Wayan said relieved, as the twin ships turned and tore off.

"where's the radio I wann--" but what ever Mahad wanted was cut off by:

"YEEEAAARRGHOW!HOLYFUCKINGCRAP!"

"What was that?! Lena said. Mahad sniggered "who else do we know that uses that word so often? Cortes obviously!"

"But what was he yelling for?" Dahlia asked.

Wayan blinked "I noticed he'd dislocated his shoulder, he must've told the vector to push it back into place.." he winced "it hurts like hell without painkillers though..."


It certainly did. Poor Cortes blacked out from the pain, and Sirus took the opportunity to bandage his ankle up.

--You poor thing Aran, you've been hurt so much...sleep, I'll look after you..-- he thought, brushing some strands of hair away from the humans face gently. --sleep my love..--

Cortes slept nearly all the way to puerto angel. When he woke up, he was alone in his cabin, wrapped up in the bed. He sat up, hi shoulder ached a little, but it was nowhere nearly as bad. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and hesitantly tried putting weight on his feet. It hurt like hell. So in the end he settled for limping very slowly down towards the main area.


"How many years between you two?" Wayan asked, Christophe grinned "just 5, Aran was the baby of the family..here, look!"

He pulled out a wallet, in which he had stashed a few photos. One was off him with Cortes when the other was just 5. He was sitting on Christophe's lap, holding a plush toy, that looked like the pirate symbol. Put simply, he was adorable, big brown eyes, fluffy ginger hair.

"AWW!" al the girls squealed. Sirus blinked, leaning over Christophe's shoulder. He automatically scanned the image to his internal memory for later viewing.

"He looks so cute...that's really adorable!"

By now nobody had noticed Cortes sneaking up on them. He leaned past Sirus, and grabbed the photo out of Christophe's hand.

His brother whipped round, and blinked "ehe..hi Aran|!"

Aran Cortes twitched "gimmie those!" he demanded, but Chris waved them outta his reach.

"Gimme those or I'll show all of puerto angel that home movie of you!"

"You wouldn't dare, "awan!"!"

"Yes i will, now gimme those dumbass!"

Sirus blinked, looking from one to the other.

Vector was laughing his head off "good grief...they're like little kids. You can tell their related judging by tier idiotic behaviour in each others presence!"

Cortes made a swipe at his brother, grabbing the wallet, but losing his balance at the same time. It was up to Sirus to move quickly and grab Cortes before he hit the floor.

While the angel propped him up, Cortes stuffed the wallet into his jackets inner pocket. Christophe looked peeved, but Cortes just pulled a face at him..

Wayan sniggered, wipign his eyes "oh man i haven't seen anything that funny in awhile!"

Everyone else was giggling fit to bust as they got off the ship.

Sirus helped Cortes limp to the hospital, then after having a support fitted on the broken ankle, helped him back to his rooms.

He laid the other down on the bed and kissed him gently. Cortes sighed, "i cant believe that idiot..hmph..but i got the photos at least.." he pulled the wallet out, only for Sirus to yoink it seconds later.

"Hey! he objected, grabbing for them. Sirus looked innocently at him, pulling the puppy-dog eyes look."aww...i wanna see Aran.."

Cortes sighed "FINE, but you'd better give them back when your done.."

Sirus flipped through the images, giggling at how sweet little Cortes was. He looked so adorable...

"Hee...cutie Aran!" he smiled. Cortes shook his head and sighed.

"You're a total goof you know that?" he complained, "now gimme those!"

Sirus smiled and handed them over to the grouchy Cortes, but not before giving him a happy little kiss as a thank you.

Cortes smiled faintly and tucked the photos away.

There was a knock on the door, Cortes blinked "doors open.." he said at last.

Chris stuck his head round the door, and waved "'ey Aran, oh you're the guy from earlier.." here he spotted the angel perched on the edge pf his brothers bed.

Sirus blinked, as Chris plonked himself on the bed as well, and poked his brother in the head.

"Geez, you haven't changed!" he snickered "still pissing the Sphere off!"

Cortes glowered at him "and you're still the same, STILL relying on ME to bail you out of YOUR messes..." he sighed irritably "what in hell were you playing at?"

Chris shrugged, "just a little venture..." he said "not much..."

"NOT MUCH?!" Cortes fumed "you had that psycho bitch Di-Wan after you!"

"Speaking of which, what was she on about "should've known you'd resurface", how did you wind up with that kinda power..."

Cortes looked away from him "id rather not talk about it THANKS. Lets just blame Oslo and have done with it. That's all you need know..i didn't volunteer to be used by that git.."

His brother sighed, seeing he was gonna get nothing more out of Cortes, and instead turned his attention to Sirus.

"So where'd you come from?" he asked, baffled by how human he looked.

Sirus just blinked and answered calmly "i was built on the monolith, it was another of Oslo's...projects, he wanted something far superior than a brig, so he had me designed.."

"But how'd you escape..? Excuse me if i sound stupid, but aren't robots programmed to serve someone specific.?"

"I WAS programmed to..." Sirus glowered at the memory "but I've since...re-written the programs parameters, i haven't a need for a 'master' as programming normally dictates.."

Chris whistled "hoowee...that's pretty damn amazing...so now you're staying here?"

Sirus smiled "mm-hmm....id only ever heard of the world outside the monolith from books and research...when Aran told me about his home i wanted to see it..get away from the monolith. From the Sphere...the things they're doing..they're inhuman..."

Cortes had listened to this, and when he seen how happy the angel was to have a home, he couldn't help smile a little himself.

"You coming to the tavern Aran?" Chris asked "everyone's asking where you are..."

Cortes sighed "eh, suppose so.."


So with his brother and Sirus' help, he was able to get to the tavern (crutches were a pain in the ass he decided, when it came to stairs..)

People immediately started asking questions when they spotted his brother. Since he'd never mentioned to anyone he had a relative, this was news to most people. Cortes seemed visibly annoyed by his brothers presence, but he said nothing. But at least it distracted from the "find out Cortes lover's identity" craze that had been going on.

Cortes was more then a little peeved, he'd had little to do with his brother, they'd simply grown up in separate ways, and hadn't seen much of each other. Chris was far more cheerful, outgoing then his little sibling. Cortes, he noted, was very serious, and seemed to be entirely focused on his job. But seeing as he was puerto angels leader, he supposed it was normal..

"So what made you decide to come back?" someone asked. Chris smiled lightly "well..i wanted to see my brother again, even if he is mad at me, it good to see he's looking after himself.."

"Aran.." a soft voice interrupted Cortes' sulking. The human looked up, just as Sirus sat down beside him.

"What's the matter Aran?" he asked. Cortes sighed "I..i don't know...i guess i just didn't expect to ever see him again..we have separate lives, he runs about getting in trouble, then expects me to bail him out every time.."

"He obviously trusts you then, its pretty obvious he loves his little brother..he came back this time for good, he said. He wants to see more of you, he missed you..give him a chance Aran.."

Cortes sighed "well...i suppose so..at least with him here i can keep an eye on him..."

"There ya go.." Sirus smiled and patted his shoulder. Watching them, Chris picked up on the kind, loving look in the angels eyes. He had a feeling the mechanical being was in love with Aran. Not that he minded, the angel seemed like just the right person to cheer his overworked and over-stressed brother up.

But he couldn't ignore the niggling fact that his brother was obviously hiding something. The fact he refused to tell him what happened with the Sphere was worrying. --I know he's mad at me, i haven't exactly been the most helpful brother in the world, i ask a lot of him..but i wish he'd talk to me..--

Cortes sighed wearily, he was starting to feel tired again. He mumbled something about going home and left quickly. Sirus offered to walk him back, but Cortes shook his head, saying he needed the space.

As his brother left, Chris approached Sirus "hey, mind if i ask ya something'?" he asked the blonde.

Sirus blinked "uhm..sure..what is it?"

Chris sighed "What happened to my little brother, what did those creeps do to him..."

Sirus sighed "im not..at liberty to say...its up to Aran, and the memories of what went on there have been tormenting him enough lately...he doesn't need another reminder of it right now..please give him time..."

Chris sighed, then nodded "right,, gotcha..." as the angel turned to go, he blurted out "wait, just one more thing.."

Sirus blinked "yes?"

Chris sighed "feel free to smack me if I'm wrong, but you're in love with my brother, right?"

Sirus blinked, wondering how this guy had found out so fast, "yes, i want him to be happy, he's been through hell..."

"Just do me a favour...promise me you'll look after my little brother, OK?" Chris asked him.

Sirus smiled softly, then nodded "i intend to, don't worry about that.." and he left.

Chris sighed in relief, he was glad his brother had someone to keep an eye on him, and the angel seemed very devoted to Cortes.


Sirus caught up with Cortes just as the other was struggling to unlock his apartment door and not fall over. Holding the human close, he opened it for him, and followed him in.

Cortes sat on the bed and sighed. Sirus sat beside him, and pulled him into his arms.

"It'll be OK Aran, love..." he said softly, "ill be here...."

"I..i don't know what to do...i cant tell him..i just cant..."

"You mean about...what Oslo did?" Sirus asked, and Cortes nodded, flinching at the memory.

"He asked me..to tell you not to worry about it, he'd wait until you felt ready to tell him..."

"He did?" Cortes asked, looking up at him, Sirus nodded and kissed the human gently.

"He also asked me to take good care of you..he could tell a mile off how much i love you~" here he kissed Cortes again, and snuggled his cheek.

Cortes blushed, great, now his brother knew. --Ah well, people are gonna find out eventually anyway..--

He felt the angels arms wrap around him, and pull him backwards onto the bed.

"Don't be sad Aran.." the angel murmured "i hate seeing you unhappy. I just want to see you smile.."

Cortes kissed him softly and snuggled into his neck "just don't ever go.." he whispered softly "i don't want to be without you...you gave me my life back, if it weren't for you-" he was stopped as Sirus kissed him deeply.

"Speak for yourself cutie, id still be stuck with Oslo if you hadn't shown me the truth about that asshole..."

Cortes smiled, and snuggled into the others arms. His ankle ached a fair bit, but he soon forgot about it as he drifted asleep in the angels arms.


His brother made plenty of visits over the next few days. He came with Cortes to the hospital, where the doctor announced the fractured bone was healing way faster then normal. He surmised the gene therapy must've had some side effects, increased metabolism, immune system higher then average..

He was able to manage with just the one crutch after that, which made things much easier. The doc estimated it wouldn't be long before it healed completely. Chris meanwhile pestered his brother for a demonstration of his saijin abilities. So Cortes levitated a book and tried to throw it at Chris. Who ducked, sniggering.

His older brother didn't mention the subject of his capture at all after the night in the tavern. He sometimes looked like he wanted to ask, but didn't want to upset Aran.

He wouldn't have much longer to wait, Cortes was about to get another shock...


Two days after that, Cortes was able to walk with just the support brace on his foot, he was glad to be rid of the crutches, damn things were a pain in the ass.

So when he heard the nazaire was going on a water mission, he volunteered to go, and Sirus naturally followed, as did Chris.

With minor difficulty he clambered up to his chair glad to be back in it, back at work.

He had to stand somewhat awkwardly though, putting more weight on his other foot so the almost-fully-healed one wouldn't hurt. But he managed.


Soon as the reached the block, Cortes, Wayan, Mahad and Dahlia went off first, of course followed by Sirus and Chris.

"Right, split up, Mahad, you Dahlia and Wayan go that way..." he looked at his brother and Sirus "c'mon pinky and perky" he joked "you're with me"

Chris had to explain the joke to Sirus, who just sniggered.

Cortes semi-limped the way, the ankle was still a little sensitive. But he ignored it. They spotted a roughly hewn cave entrance under some overhanging tree, and decided to go for a poke. It didn't unveil much, just old junk, no sign of water. It turned out to be a dead end, so they went back....


The other group meanwhile, were having far better luck. After some time exploring underground pathways, they found the source of the water, and it was just a matter of getting an extraction hose down there. Then Mahad spotted a tunnel. So he and Dahlia scuttled off down it. It led above ground, and on the distance, they seen a crashed Sphere ship. They cautiously approached. It was a wreck, and there was nobody in it. Whoever crashed it had to be around somewhere, they'd no doubt used the tunnel to get water.

Dahlia was just about to radio the captain when she heard rustling. She and Mahad whipped round, aiming weapons at a guy in a bedraggled lab coat.

"Please, don't shoot, i crashed here, i need help.."

The two lowered their weapons, Mahad asking "who are you?"

"My name is Tobias Mi'hen, i WAS a scientist on the monolith, but after Oslo's latest experiment went AWOL, i cleared."

"Follow us...our captain is gonna want to talk to you.." Dahlia said, steering him in the direction of the tunnel..

She radioed Cortes to tell him they'd found someone, and he said they were headed back to the nazaire.

Cortes said he was already on his way back.


Sure enough, he, his brother and Sirus were hanging about by the landing ramp. Cortes had his back to them as they approached.

"Captain,?" Dahlia asked, getting his attention.

"Ah, right, the survivor," Cortes put own the pad he was holding, and turned "Now who the hell are -YOU?!" he suddenly yelled, tensing up.

The guy hesitantly approached Cortes "I didn't think you'd escape-" but he was cut off as Cortes swiped a light blast at him, knocking the scientist away from him.

"Cortes?" Dahlia asked. But Cortes didn't hear her.

"What the Hell makes you think id help YOU?! I'D RATHER LEAVE YOU HERE TO ROT ASSHOLE!!" he was furious "YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO BELEIVE YOU?! Don't tell me, you ran off because Oslo's experiments were getting too creepy? What happened, your next test subject die on the table? ITS TOO DAMN LATE TO GROW A CONSIENCE NOW, YOU COULDA DONE THAT WHEN THEY FIRST DRAGGED ME THERE!!"

Everyone was silent, gaping at the furious Cortes. He'd never told them anything of his ordeal.

The captain shook his head "you KNEW what Oslo was going to do to me, you knew the pain would be unbearable, that there was a chance your fucking experiment would KILL ME. You knew full well what you were doing was immoral, but you went right on and did it. Don't expect ME to help you..YOU'RE responsible for this.." He felt about to be sick so he turned and ran back up the ramp before he threw up.

"Aran?!" Chris ran after him, worried sick.

Sirus was all set to follow him, but the guy grabbed his sleeve and blinked at him "wait a sec...you helped him escape? So that's how he got out.."

Sirus knocked the hand away "i left BECAUSE i wanted to, and because Aran didn't deserve what you lot were doing to him. You could've tried to help him, but you were too concerned with keeping that bastard Oslo happy..."


Cortes made it to the stairs up to the next level before his legs gave in and he collapsed to the floor. His head pounded, the pain awful, his whole body was shaking.

"Aran? oh god, are you OK?" he heard his brothers voice, and the next second his sibling was kneeling beside him.

"Why is he here? Why wont this leave me alone?"

Chris hated to ask at such a time, but he had to know "Aran, what did you mean when you said he knew what Oslo was going to do to you? what did he do..." he trailed off. Cortes sleeve had slipped down, revealing the now almost faded bruises. Those had taken so long to fade at all.

--They look like someone grabbed..him..oh god. Aran..-- feeling sick he patted his brothers shoulder gently "what happened Aran?"

Cortes closed his eyes, feeling sick and miserable "it was Oslo, he..." he struggled to form the words "he raped me..repeatedly..because i wouldn't act like a good little lackey..." his voice was bordering on hysterical misery again.

Christophe felt sick. That bastard had hurt his brother, tried to destroy him, make him into a soulless Sphere worker.

"And that guy..KNEW what Oslo was likely to do? And he didn't try to help you at all? even after it happened?" he said his voice laced with fury.

Aran just shook his head and hiccupped, "No, if Sirus hadn't been there..I.." he tailed off. Chris hugged him tightly "Its OK bro..its over now, I'm not letting that jerk on board! Your far more important, someone else can rescue the git!"

He told Cortes to stay there, then he ran back towards the ramp. He had something to do first.

A split second later Cortes realised what his brother was going to do. He was going to beat the guy senseless. --Shit...no more violence, enough's enough...please..-- he thought.

He forced himself to his feet and staggered after him, the pain in his head getting worse...


Sirus and the scientist were still glaring at each other when Chris came tearing down the ramp, ran up and punched the guy. The angel blinked, he'd never seen anyone so mad before.

Chris grabbed the man by his collar "YOU BASTARD! YOU KNEW OSLO RAPED ARAN AND YOU DIDNT EVEN TRY TO HELP HIM?!"

Dahlia, Mahad and Wayan all winced when they heard this. So THATS what had gone on, the reason Cortes had been so uneasy and upset. Why he'd refused to go to the hospital, and why he'd attempted getting utterly bladdered. He'd been trying to cope, and failing badly...it explained that almost haunted look in his eyes when he seen any reminder of the Sphere.

--Poor Cortes, he must've been in so much pain...-- Wayan shook his head, feeling terrible for Cortes --we were teasing him about being in love with someone, when it must've taken a lot for him to trust someone not to hurt him again...--

He did a double take as someone stumbled down the ramp. It was the captain. He was white as a sheet, and seemed a little delirious, and in pain.

He seen his brother shaking the guy and yelling at him, and he tried to move towards them, but collapsed to the ground.

Wayan ran over, helping him to his feet "captain, you need to lie down.."

"Please...get them to stop..there's been enough violence..." Cortes whispered, his voice faint..

"WE SHOULD JUST LEAVE YOU HERE TO ROT YOU ASSHOLE! HELL, I SHOULD DUMP YOU BACK ON A SPHERE BLOCK FOR HURTING MY LITTLE BROTHER-!"

Cortes flinched, it was all too much for his mind to handle.

"PLEASE STOP IT CHRISTOPHE!" he yelled, and there was a blue glow...

The next second the ground shook as an energy wave spread out, knocking everyone to the floor.

Cortes remained on his feet. He looked at the floor, his breathing ragged.

Sirus scrambled to his feet, running over and putting his arms around him "its OK Aran, calm down..."

Cortes didn't answer, he seemed to be in shock. But at last he looked up at Sirus, then over at his brother.

"just stop...there's been enough..I've had enough.." he stammered out at last. He was shaking, his head hurt, but a lot less now..

"Its OK Aran.." Sirus rubbed the back of his neck gently "don't worry about it. Just try to relax, or you'll pass out again.."

Cortes closed his eyes, letting his head rest on Sirus shoulder, the familiar scent of his loved one comforting through the pain.

"What happened?!" Lena tore down the ramp "i picked up an energy wave..oh.."

Her brother pointed in Cortes general direction, mouthing "ill explain later..."

Sirus was still comforting Cortes, the human seemed reluctant to leave his hold. He was gripping the angels shirt sleeve tightly.

The three who'd been placing bets on Cortes' love interest all copped on simultaneously. it WAS the blonde angel guy. He was holding Cortes, and the captain was staying as close as he could.

--Poor Cortes..-- Mahad thought, watching them --it must've been scary, trying to let someone get so close after going through something like that..--

"What're we gonna do with this jackass?" Chris demanded, indicating the now slightly dizzy scientist.

Sirus glared at the figure "anything so long as it doesn't involve him being ANYWHERE near Aran!"

"Holding cell it is then!" Chris hauled the guy off, and Cortes made a sniffly, relieved noise.

"Any better Aran?" Sirus asked gently. Cortes ran his sleeve across his eyes, and nodded, not looking up, he knew the crew were probably staring at him, the must think him crazy..

"Captain.." he heard Wayan's voice "I'm sorry, we had no idea. We-"

But Cortes shook his head "it doesn't matter.." he managed at last "i didn't want anyone knowing, that's why I didn't tell you. Truthfully, i just wanted to forget it all happened, get my life back.." he took a deep breath, still looking somewhat shaky "i don't want to hear any crap about how i should stay off work or that bullshit. Work is my life...so do me a favour and don't even suggest a vacation.."

Dahlia blinked, then said "righty-o then captain.."

Wayan nodded, and patted Cortes shoulder gently "anything you say captain, just take it easy. We're all glad you're back, we just don't want you making yourself ill with so much stress...ya know, you don't have to hide EVERYTHING from us, just talk a little more often, otherwise you're trying to deal with everything on your own..and nobody can do that.."

Cortes blinked, and looked up at last. The crew were standing there, offering encouraging smiled. Mahad even pulled one of his ridiculous faces. Cortes laughed, and shook his head slightly "y-yeah, i guess you got a point there wayan..point taken."

Sirus smiled, and poked his nose "c'mon, you need some rest, you look drained.."

Surrounded by his crew, Cortes managed to stumble back up the ramp. Sirus got him to his room, and went to find some blankets. But when he sat down Cortes sat up, and snuggled into his arms. So the angel wrapped the both up in the blankets, and held his beloved Aran in his arms. They fell asleep sat up like this, snugly wrapped in the blankets.

Well, Cortes slept, Sirus just let his mind wander, thinking about his precious Aran. He really did love him dearly, and wanted all the upsetting reminders about what he'd been through to end. He ran his fingers through the humans hair, blushing as the human made a contented little noise and snuggled up even closer.

--You're so cute Aran, and you don't even realise it...-- he held the human close, keeping an eye on him as he slept.


Im alive, just very tired lately -yawwwn- gweeh...

Random fact: I thought a Xenophobe (phobic of foriegn culture an' stuff)was someone with an unnatural fear of copy machines. Apprently thats XEROX. XD WHoops.