When Alexander was a young child, he looked to the moon; like so many people have done since the beginning of the human race. Although, now this floating rock had some significance to the people on Earth. See, now, it was more than just something that turned the tides. It did more than just light up the night sky. For many generations, the moon has now become a goal. Something to reach for; the perfect life.

"We're going to be there, one day." Alex's mother would tell him as they sat in the grass and watched the stars. She always made time for him, even if it was late at night. "One day, we'll stand before the queen, you and I. We'll have a home there. And it will be fantastic."

Alex would happily soak up these stories of a better, cleaner life. When he was really young, he asked his mother why they didn't just go up to the moon now.

"Well, it doesn't exactly work like that, honey." His mother said, brushing back his hair, "Only really special people can live on the moon."

"I'm really special!" Alex claimed, puffing out his small chest.

His mother laughed, "That you are! They'll beg you to be on the moon!"

For a while, Alex really believed that.

Things went downhill quickly, as it usually does on Earth. It started with his mother getting sick. Alex stayed with her while James, his older brother, stood in line with their life savings in order to buy the medicine necessary to help her. Alex was curled up in bed with his mom, staring out the window at the moon, when he started coughing uncontrollably.

"Oh, Alex…" His mom sighed, brushing back his hair. Her hand was sweaty and shook uncontrollably, but still just as soft and gentle as the day he was born. Alex's eyes hurt and he really just wanted to close them.

Alex was shaken awake when James returned with the medicine. He blinked in confusion as he was handed the syrupy liquid. "T'a's fer Mama."

James shook his head solemnly, "She would want you to have it."

Alex looked over to his mother, who was sleeping. Her breathing was so shallow, her chest barely rose and fell. He leaned over her, watching her for a long moment. His small heart stuttered in his chest, "No, no she should have so-"

"Goddammit, Alex, just take it!" James shouted suddenly.

Alex flinched, scooting away from him. His older brother's skin was burned from standing in the sun so long. His eyes were sunken in from lack of sleep. Alex barely ever saw him anymore, because he was too busy working. The child scowled, wrapping his arms around himself, "You're just like dad."

James' eyes flew wide with anger. He slammed the medicine bottle down on their table. "Fine! Don't take it! Fucking die! I don't care!"

Alex watched as James grabbed his dirty backpack and started filling it with his things. Alex sat up on his knees, "Where are you going?"

"Don't you get it? We're never going to survive here! I'm going to go request access to Mars." James said as he slung his bag onto his shoulders.

Alex looked back out the window at the moon, "Why not the moon?"

James scoffed, "People like us don't go to the moon, Alexander. It's time someone told you that."

Alex wanted to reply, but he was struck suddenly with an intense coughing fit. His world spun as he curled against himself, emptying his stomach on the bed next to him. He groaned as he swayed helplessly. Out the corner of his eye, he saw James take a step towards him; his expression nothing but fear and concern. Alex doesn't know what made him do it. But his brother shook his head and backed out of their small cottage.

"I'm sorry, Alex."


"You need to sleep."

Thomas scoffed and rolled his eyes, fighting back a yawn. "And leave you in our ship unsupervised? I don't think so."

Gilbert sighed, running a hand across their face, "I'm left alone on this ship all the time. Why watch me now?"

"This is different." Thomas said, leaning against the Captain's empty chair. "We're in the Command Center. You could turn off the engines and send us crashing to a fiery death."

"Untrue. There is no oxygen in space; fire cannot form." Gilbert said, focusing on what they were doing. Thomas stared at them in annoyed silence until they looked up. They realized their mistake and quickly corrected, "And I wouldn't do such a thing. That is bad."

Thomas shook his head, staring out the large windows at the endless stars in the distance. Past one of those, his Alexander was there. Possibly in danger. His stomach churned uncomfortably.

"You should sleep, though. Humans need it. For some reason." Gilbert tried again. The two were alone in the Command Center; even the Captain retiring for the night. They've been in there for two days, working on trying to make a successful radio. Thomas refused to leave until he heard Alexander's voice. "I will keep working while you rest."

"I already said no. I'm fine." Thomas growled, crossing his arms. "Sleep is for the weak."

Gilbert's eyebrows rose as they looked up from what they were doing, "Really?!"

Thomas chuckled. He quickly fixed his expression, remembering he wasn't supposed to like the alien. He looked away and grumbled, "No, not really. It's an expression."

"Human languages strange." Gilbert grumbled back, going back to work. They had taken apart the Enterprise's communicators, leaving them unable to contact any of their planets. They claimed that they would fix it soon, but first they had to get their nasty white goo all over the place. Thomas looked away every time Gilbert's arm shifted from a human limb into a slimy mess. He didn't want to remember what they really looked like. He didn't want to think that Alex was surrounded by that kind of thing.

After a few more hours, Gilbert spoke up suddenly, "Did it! Think! Fixed it!"

Thomas ran over to the alien, observing what they were looking at. Their radio, which previously could do calls, holograms, and instant messaging; now was a mess of glowing goo and wires sticking everywhere.

"Are you serious right now? This looks like shit?" Thomas said, trying to figure out if this was some joke or another test.

But Gilbert simply reached forward and stuck their hand into the goo. Thomas flinched, expecting to see the creature get electrocuted. Instead, Gilbert's body started to glow; Thomas gasped when he realized the alien was vibrating violently.

Gilbert closed their eyes and opened their mouth. Thomas took a step back when words started flowing out of the open mouth; tongue and lips unmoving. It sounded like Gilbert was surfing the radio waves, trying to find the right frequency. Thomas caught glimpses of different communications already in process.

"...which told me that he didn't really care, you know?"

"...requesting access to…"

"You are not allowed to fly here…"

"...ready to fire…"

"So I said…"

Thomas glanced out at the window again, knowing that some of these conversations were not human ones. His chest swelled with an emotion he couldn't quite describe. For the first time in his life, he realized just how small he was in the wide universe. He quickly pushed those thoughts away, know that following that line of thinking would only lead to a panic attack.

"Central Universal Hub, Communication and Dispatch, how may I help you?" A voice said.

Thomas jumped, surprised by the suddenly clear voice coming through Gilbert's open mouth.

"Hello?" The voice continued, "You've contacted the Central Universal Hub, is there anything you need?"

"Uh…" Thomas glanced around, unsure if he had to do anything, "Can you hear me?"

"Perfectly. How can I help you today?"

Thomas stared at Gilbert, unsure how to continue, but the alien was unmoving, almost unresponsive. "Uh, well, my friend is lost?"

The voice spoke easily, only mildly reassuring, "Okay, well let's put out a report for them shall we? Can you describe your friend to me?"

"He's, like, 5'6" with shoulder-length hair. He's got brown eyes and…" Thomas wondered if it was appropriate to say he was 'really really really cute'.

The voice said slowly, "Can you tell me what species your friend is?"

"Uh, human." Thomas replied.

There was a long pause, and then the voice continued, "I'm sorry, what species did you say?"

"Human."

"...I have no idea what species you're referring to. Can you tell me one more time?"

"Human; he's a human!" Thomas' voice grew louder.

"I have no files for such a species, what level of rarity is-"

Thomas interrupted, shouting, "HE'S A HUMAN, A PART OF THE HUMAN RACE, A HOMOSAPIEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY! HE'S SMALL AND YOUNG AND ALL ALONE AND I LEFT HIM, DEFENSELESS, AT THE HANDS OF SOME STUPID FUCKING FUALTIC BRATS AND I NEED TO FIND HIM!"

There was another long pause as Thomas covered his mouth to choke back a sob. Finally, the voice said, very carefully, "Did you say your friend is with some Fualtics?"

Thomas sucked in a deep breath, nodding, "Yes, yes, he's on a Fualtic ship."

"I have in my records that a large Fualtic ship docked one hundred and twenty-seven hours ago. Three individuals departed the ship; bought an excessive amount of Class B nutritional packages, and then reboarded the ship, leaving shortly after." The voice said, "Does any of this sound familiar?"

"Uh…" Thomas wracked his mind for some kind of answer. No, none of that sounded familiar. He tried to figure out the strange phrasing. He must have taken too long to answer, because the voice continued shortly after.

"I only bring this up because the individuals who departed the ship were two Fualtics and one unnamed species. This creature was bipedal with strange, colorful modesty protectors, and only had two arms. It stayed close to the Fualtics, because creatures of such structure tend to be eaten, enslaved, or used for reproductive purposes. Does this accurately describe your friend?"

Thomas blinked rapidly, trying to figure out if any of this was accurate. "Um, yeah? Sure?"

"Has your friend been captured? Do we need to send Universal Police to hunt down these Fualtics?" The voice politely asked.

Thomas hesitated, staring at the alien in front of him. Gilbert couldn't respond, and Thomas didn't know how to reply. He grasped at the air helplessly. His thoughts fought in a conflicted battle. Say he does send the cops after the Fualtic ship; and they have done nothing wrong. Alex is safe and happy. Would this start a war between their two species? Could the human race even survive a galactic war against shape-shifting piles of play-doh? But what if he doesn't send the cops and Alex is being torchered? What if this is his only chance to save his love? What if Alex needs his help?

He thought of Gilbert, being pushed against the wall, begging, 'My kind will not hurt him.'

"...No. No, you don't have to send cops. He hasn't been captured. He just - he just hasn't come back yet." Thomas said numbly.

The voice was joking as it said, "Well, Fualtics are pretty forgetful. 'Has the memory of a Fualtic', as they say."

"Yeah, right." Thomas mumbled.

"How about I contact the Fualtic ship that landed here and see if they know about your friend, yeah?" The voice cheerfully suggested.

Thomas felt his heart jump to his throat, "You can do that?! Yes, please, contact them!"

"Alright, just one moment. I'm going to put you on hold, are you willing to wait?" The voice said.

"Yes, please hurry!" Thomas said.

The room fell into silence as Thomas paced the floor, waiting for a response to return. Oh dear Lords, he was going to speak to Alex. Oh, gods. He would finally, finally know if his love was alright. Thomas' heart was pounding hopelessly. He tripped over his feet when the voice returned.

"Okay, so we have some bad news. I can't seem to connect to the Fualtic ship. There must be something wrong with their radio." The voice paused, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Um… No, I guess - wait, actually, can you tell me where the ship is right now?" Thomas asked quickly, thinking on his feet.

The voice paused, "There are laws against giving away such information -"

"Please, I need to know where he is." Thomas interrupted, letting all his desperation show in his voice, "Please, I'm begging."

"...Okay, but don't you dare tell my manager. From the last point I've traced, the ship is in the western section of the cnakwhei Galaxy, with a rough estimate of coordinates; 3874, 29.12, -7782. Is there anything else I can do for you?" The voice asked, and Thomas could tell they were now nervous. But something about that didn't sound right.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, what Galaxy?"

"The msuhanick Galaxy." The voice replied. Thomas was about to open his mouth to ask again for clarification, but the voice quickly continued, "If there's nothing else you need, have lovely galactic travels."

Gilbert jerked backward suddenly, their arm freeing itself from the mess that was now their communication system. Thomas knelt next to them, trying to make sure that he wouldn't be tried for the death of an alien. But Gilbert rolled their head and slowly mumbled incoherently.

"Fuck." Thomas muttered. Awkwardly, Thomas shook the creature, his voice wavered slightly when he said, "Hey, get up, I need help."

"You humans - so needy." Gilbert muttered. Thomas smiled when the alien cracked an eye open and grinned at him.

Thomas looked away, clearing his throat, "So, did you hear any of that, or…?"

"You did good for that being your first direct alien contact." Gilbert praised, sitting up slowly. They held their head; their eyes still a bit foggy. "Aside from me, of course."

"You hardly count anymore." Thomas waved the comment off. He needed help figuring out what was told to him, "Okay, so, translate everything that just happened?"

Gilbert paused, thinking back to the conversation. "I believe my ship took Alexander to the Universal Hub to get him the food."

"So he won't starve?!" Thomas desperately asked, leaning into Gilbert's space.

"So he won't starve." Gilbert smiled softly when Thomas relaxed at the news. "That happened about … five days ago? So the last time the UNiversal Hub had tracked my ship, they were in the nzklbwudc Galaxy -"

Thomas pointed a finger in the alien's face, "That! What's that word!? What's it mean?"

"It doesn't translate well…" Gilbert thought for a long moment. Thomas waited in silence, staring intently at the alien as they thought. Finally, Gilbert said, "I think… the closest word would be 'hurricane'?"

"So…" Thomas squinted at them, thinking. "I guess you could say..."

Gilbert finished for him, "Alexander Hamilton is currently in the Hurricane Galaxy."


"You're doing so good." A recognizable voice said softly as they poked another mouth-full of food into Alexander's mouth. Alex chewed slowly, his mind peacefully blank. He doesn't do much lately except for sleep and, occasionally, eat. "It has come to my attention, that you need a shower?"

Alex's mind took a long moment to figure out what was being said. Finally, he nodded; raising and dropping his chin shakily.

"I thought so. You do like showers." The voice said.

Alexander is still blindfolded. For whatever reason; the Fualtics seem to believe that the bandages around his eyes are what is curing him. He can't find the strength to correct them. Besides, if he can't see, he can convince himself that he's actually in a crowded room, full of other humans. It was earlier this morning when the Fualtics brought him this new companion. Alex has gathered from the voice and the rough fingers that this person was male. And he thinks - he thinks - they're human.

Regardless of who this stranger is, Alex clings to him helplessly. He isn't warm like the last alien was. But his touch is gentle and kind. Alex allows the man to feed him; he doesn't care anymore. If they keep him alive; fine. If he dies in the middle of the night; fine. There's no point in fighting anything.

So Alex allows himself to be picked up by the creature. It carries him across the room and sets him on the bathroom counter. Alex shivers at the cold contact of the ship. He doesn't even know what to call the material under his skin. Whatever it is, it warms under his touch; as if sensing his discomfort.

There's a pause as the other man in the bathroom tries to figure out how the shower works. He squeaks in surprise when water starts rushing down on him. Alex imagines what is happening; focusing on the sounds alone. Even that feels distant though. Everything is vague, like he's watching a movie while he's high. He knows things are happening to him; but he can't really find himself to associate with any of it.

"You get naked now?" The voice said.

Alex didn't respond.

A second later, strong hands are on his chest; slowly unbuttoning his outfit. Alex sits, unhelpfully, as he is stripped of his shirts. It takes a while to coax the clothes off of Alex's stiff muscles. The clothes are baggy in ways that they shouldn't be. Alex shivers in the cold air.

"You are so small." The voice mumbled, mildly concerned.

Alex is pulled off the counter to stand; his knees shook with the effort to keep him up. Alex ended up sagging against the other man's chest as he struggled to get his pants off. The man huffed in satisfaction when Alex was completely naked.

Slowly, Alex raised his fingers to his blindfolded eyes.

Alex could tell the other man shook his head, "Not yet, puppet."

There was something about that pet name that made Alex's heart stumble. But he couldn't remember why. Alex gripped the counter behind him as the man took a step back. Alex could hear the rustling of clothes as the other man stripped. Alex blinked slowly behind his blindfold, he whined when the man touched him again.

The pure feeling of human skin against his own made him start to cry. It didn't matter that this man was cold to the touch. He was here. He was human. Alex shamelessly fell into the other man's chest, his nails digging into his skin slightly.

"Hush, it okay." The man whispered as he slowly led Alex into the shower.

Alex's sobs only grew louder as the man ran his fingers through his hair, helping him get clean for the first time in days. Alex had only ever felt so gross, so dirty once in his life; when he had passed out in his own vomit on his and his mother's bed. Alex made it hard to clean himself, because he kept his body pressed against the other man's his face hiding in his chest. They were the same size, the same height, so his aching knees had to crouch a little. Alex's arms remained wrapped around the other man as he was cleaned.

"Shh, I'll take care of you now. I'm helpful." The man whispered as he massaged shampoo into Alex's hair. "You'll be okay soon, pet."

Alex could only whine in response.

Their shower took much longer Alexander's normal ones. And those were pretty lengthy to begin with. It just took the other man a frustrating amount of time to clean the smell of sweat, sick, and piss from Alexander's skin. Especially because Alex squirmed at every touch.

Finally, Alex was stumbling out of the shower, an arm wrapped around his waist as another rubbed a towel against him. When he was mostly dry, Alex was led back to his bed, where he was laid down. He was still naked, but he didn't really care. What did it matter, anyway? The other man was naked, too. Besides, the sheets felt nice against his bare skin.

Alex's eyelashes brushed against his damp blindfold. Blindly, Alex reached out, whimpering.

"I'm still here, Alexander." The man said, his voice a bit crackly. Alex sighed against the other man's touch; wanting nothing more than to be close to the other human. There are too many Fualtics on this ship. He's too far away from home. He needs this human to stay by his side. He needs to see them.

Alex whimpered again as his fingers itched at the edges of the blindfold.

"Okay, we can take that off now." The man said. Alex smiled weakly as a hand slipped under his neck, supporting it as his head was raised slightly. Alex closed his eyes as the bandages loosened, being taken off layer by layer.

Alex could tell the room was bright from behind his eyelids. He squirmed, not wanting to be bombarded by the whiteness that was the Fualtic ship. The other man shushed him quietly, and soon, the last of the bandages came off.

"You can look now." The man said.

Alex's eyes flew open, blinking in the bright light. When his eyes finally grew adjusted to the light; he squinted at the man in front of him. His gaze drifted up and down the very familiar body. He knew that face. He knew those hands. His eyes lingered on the little circular translator in the middle of the man's chest. It took his muddled mind a few minutes to connect the dots. And when he figured it out, his body grew cold.

"Shh, Alexander," The man smiled, "I'm here to help you. I'm very useful."

Alex's mouth grew dry as the man brushed back some of his hair soothingly.

"Besides." The exact replica of himself said, tapping his temple with a wink, "I know what you like."


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