If i didnt burn my hand and cut it slightly, I'd be able to type faster... lol Anyway here it is #11! Enjoy!

Q.S.S!


SFP- 4:00pm

Krystal sat down at a table, sighing in the temporary comfort of her chair. With Fox and Slippy gone, the remaining employee's had to work even more, business refused to slow down. Falco had made an executive decision to cut back their hours of business until they could get more help, Glenn hadn't shown up for work at all, leaving the three of them to believe that he quit.

"Hey Krystal! Four orders up, more on the way!" Falco shouted as he hung up one line and picked up another. Falco wasn't as bad a boss as she had thought he'd be. The only thing he did differently than Fox was work less hours. Krystal grabbed a red bandana out of her pocket, it was one she took from Fox's room the night he left, it was bathed in his scent and helped her relax at night. It still amazed her how quickly she'd grown dependent on him being there, perhaps it was a trust issue she had, or maybe she was too clingy. She had lost her family once she moved to Corneria, as she went against their will; maybe all wanted was a family. She blushed at the thought, knowing that her relationship with Fox had moved quickly at the beginning, and that she still had lots of time to get to know Fox now that everything slowed down, her life finally seemed to be going in a positive direction.

"You miss him, don't you?" Kara's voice snapped Krystal out of her thoughts. Krystal nodded and began working on her order. "I miss him too." Krystal smiled at her but didn't say anything. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I took this job. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. But every time I think about looking for a new job, Fox bumps up my wage." Kara giggled to herself as she put her finished sub into the oven. "I think he likes me, as in more than a friend." Krystal forced herself not to growl, how dare she even think she could steal Fox from her? "It's too bad though, I'm taken."

"Must be a lucky guy." Krystal said, mental calming down. 'Note to self, get used to people wanting Fox.'

"Well, Fox is one guy I'd dump him for, I mean come on! He's Fox McCloud, savior of Corneria and the Lylat system, who wouldn't want to be his woman?" Kara started a new order as Krystal put hers in the oven. "I think all the girls in Corneria want him, and whoever he chooses will be the envy of them all."

"Really?" Krystal wanted to press her for information about how Fox saved the system, but held to her promise; she would wait to hear it from him. "Well, he is a really sweet guy."

"You guys hitched yet?" Kara asked with a laugh. Krystal nodded at her, causing a high pitched squeal to come out of the rabbit. "You have to tell me everything that's happened, and don't leave a single bit out!"

Falco cringed as he heard the squeal, assuming what they were talking about. 'As long as they're working I won't have to go back there and deal with it.' He poked his head back enough to see the two females working while talking, he sighed happily. "Thank fucking god." He picked up a phone and continued taking orders, praying Krystal wouldn't be like this when they got home.


Dinosaur Planet - 12:00pm

"Slippy have you got a signal to Corneria yet?" Fox landed his arwing in the hollow, quickly jumping out. Slippy's head floated beside him.

"We only lost it for a little bit Fox, but if you want to send a message to Krystal you'd best do it sooner than later, we don't know how many more asteroids will hit the ship. As you know it's not in the best condition." Fox nodded. "Anytime you're ready."

"Alright." Fox watched Slippy's head fade before he began his message.


SFP- 8:00pm

"We are officially closed." Falco yelled triumphantly, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's just leave this place as is. It's not too bad."

"I don't think Fox would like that..." Krystal giggled, already changed into her clean clothes. "But what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Falco grinned at her as he put the till into the safe, he grabbed his coat and his keys, tossing them at Krystal. "Go start the car I'm going to do a quick sweep." He waited until Krystal was outside before he put a headset to his ear. "Whats up?"

"Calm down Falco." Slippy's reply seemed automatic, it took him a moment to realize Falco wasn't in a bad mood. "Err, Fox wants you to forward the message he sent earlier to Krystal's room."

"Alright... anything else? Foxie need some help?"

"No, not yet... He's had a few problems, but the three of us got it all worked out. Pepper wants you on alert though, just in case Fox does need some assistance." Slippy tapped his headset a few times. "Dammit, looks like those asteroids are hitting the hull again. I gotta go Falco, hopefully we'll see you soon. Slippy over and out."

Falco stuffed his headset back into his pocket before starting his sweep. Krystal walked back in, locking the door behind her. "You almost done over there?" Falco nodded at her and walked into the office and sent the message to her room.

"Lets get the hell out of here."

The drive back was quite, a semi awkward silence. Krystal really wanted to ask about what Kara had said earlier. She heard Falco trying to find the best answer for it in his mind, the unasked question. She looked over at him, he was nervous. "Don't worry Falco, I'm not asking anyone but Fox about it."

Falco released a breath he didn't know he held. "Well thats good news, I don't think I would-" He stopped, his eyes drifted slowly over to her. "How'd you know... What just happened?"

Krystal grinned and watched the sidewalk go by. "How indeed." Falco watched her for a second or two before returning his attention to the road. "Thats a good guess, I am a mind reader, a Telepath."

"So... back when we first met..." Krystal nodded at him. Falco blushed a little bit. "Sorry."

"The compliment was nice, but I'm kinda spoken for. Besides I've heard you think about a certain cat over and over before." She giggled as Falco stuttered trying to come up with an excuse. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She looked back out the window, waiting for their house to come into view.

"You miss Foxie huh?" Falco tapped the steering wheel to a beat only he heard. "I'm sure he misses you too."

"Hasn't been a week yet, and I miss him so much." Krystal sighed. "I can't explain it... he was just comforting to be around you know? Like no matter what happened he'd make it ok..."

"He's a different person on a mission..." Krystal looked at him. "Not in a bad way i mean... Just more professional, doesn't joke around as much. But I understand what you mean, he's a loyal friend even if I'm a better flier then him." He laughed, his cell phone beeped a few times. "Hey could you open that message for me?"

"So we don't go off the road? Alright." Krystal took the cell phone and opened it. "It's from GF... what ever that is.,the subject is sim room." She laughed as she read the message.

"What?"

"Seems that Fox beat your score before he left." Krystal laughed even harder when Falco cursed and smacked the steering wheel.

"If was half as good as the sims then he is in the real situations I wouldn't be the ace pilot." Falco stopped the car in front of the doors. "I really shouldn't be saying anything about what we do besides SFP."

"That's the first time I've heard one of you guys say it in present tense. You know, Peppy wanted me out of the store and into the... what did he call it, Arwing? Once Fox gets back he's going to start my training!" Falco offered her a high five, which she jumped into.

"So, you're unofficially, officially apart of Star Fox then huh?" Falco grinned as she nodded. "Well then. Welcome to the best team Lylat has to offer!" He opened the door for her, closing it behind himself. He watched Krystal walk to her room, shaking his head. 'If it wasn't for me Fox wouldn't be fucking lucky enough to have a girl like her...' He began walking to his room. 'Maybe I should give Katt a call someday soon.'


Krystal's Room - 8:20pm

'I'm not used to being off so early...' Krystal thought as she changed into her sleeping attire. "What is there to do around here anyway?" She padded over to the laptop in her wall opening it and scanning her hand on the pad. She had already changed the colors from mainly blue to mainly orange, the color remind her of Fox and in turn helped her sleep.

"Team Star Fox, Corneria home room four." The voice from her computer made her jump. "Location confirmed as 'Krystal's Room', recording... record updated. One new message for Krystal from Fox McCloud. No topic posted, accept message?" Krystal stared at the computer in her wall for a few minutes.

'If it's from Fox i should accept... but who the hell puts a voice in the computer system designed to scare the shit out of me?' Krystal cleared her throat. "Um, accept?"

"Command confirmed, message accepted. Loading... approximate loading time is one point five minutes." The voice went silent, leaving Krystal to her thoughts.

'I guess I could grab something to drink real quick.' Krystal walked out of her room and walked towards the kitchen. On her way there she heard Falco's voice, he sounded way to professional for his own good. 'A quick peak...' She reached out to his mind.

'The general really seems to think Fox can't do this on his own. I promised Fox I would train Krystal, how the fuck am I supposed to do that and be combat ready? I'd have to do remote assistance from the hanger...'

Krystal pulled herself out of the avian's mind, heading to the kitchen once again. 'Falco's on standby for Fox. I don't think Kara and I can handle SFP by our selfs. I guess we'll have to close it down.' She sat down at the table in the kitchen, her drink forgotten. With SFP's future now shaky she didn't know how she was going to help with her share of the costs. Living with Fox was sure to help with the bills, but this was how she made her spending money. She didn't want to be a burden, Fox had paid for three pilots licences, she didn't want to make it four. She rested her head on her arms on the table, trying to not let this get to her.

"I'm going to guess you heard my thoughts a little bit..." Krystal looked up a Falco, she looked ready to cry. He moved to the chair beside her patting her lightly on the shoulder. "General Pepper wants us to close down SFP for the remainder of the time Fox is away."

"I see... what does that mean for me and Kara?" Krystal didn't even both sitting up to look at him.

"Well, last time Kara was sent to the Military HQ to be a secretary, thats likely where she'll be sent. You on the other hand..." Falco waited until she looked at him. "Get to stay here and play videos games with me. You wont have to worry about a thing, well except Fox... I suppose you could try and care about him, not that you two like each other or anything." He managed to get a smile out of her, he hugged her with one arm. "Don't let this little thing bother you, before you know it Fox will be back, and things will be normal again." Krystal returned the hug.

"Thanks Falco."

"Don't mention it. Ever. To anyone, especially Fox." They shared a laugh. "I think your message is ready. You'll get used to that stupid voice sooner than later." He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer. "I'll be in the games room if you need me, and if I'm not there I'm in the workout room, third door on the left down this hallway." After pointing out the hallway Falco walked to the sim room, eager to beat Fox's new score, his other games could wait.


Dinosaur Planet - 1:00pm

Fox sat on the wing of his arwing, enjoying his self appointed break. He reached behind him grabbing the staff he was lucky enough to find. "Who ever lost this... spoke the same language Krystal did the night before I left. It must of been someone related to her because they sounded they same, maybe a twin or something..." He smiled to himself. "Two Krystal's... I think I'd explode." He heard his com start beeping and growled in annoyance. "This had better be good." Pepper's face appeared before him.

"General Pepper here. How are things going there Fox?"

"You've got a tracker in my PDA... I think you know how its going." Fox rested his back on the hull of the arwing. "What's up?"

"We've decided to close up SFP until your mission is complete." Fox's eyes widened, he had been expecting this, but not this soon. "In order to have Falco ready to assist at any time."

"You might as well send them both out here now... What's going to happen to Kara? You going to 'hire' her back? Look, don't close it right away, Falco only needs a warp gate to get here. That only takes a day to get the paperwork done, two max. So just send Falco here in a couple days. That way we won't lose our entire customer base like last time."

Pepper thought about it. "Alright, but the hours of operation will be cut. Falco needs to be ready to fly at a moments notice. We'll say 1-6 for the weekdays, and you'll have to lose the weekends."

"That's some bullshit right there." Fox snarled. "You're ruining my store. I'll do it this once but so help me, the next time you need someone to run around a broken planet with an annoying dinosaur prince then you can be fucking sure I wont accept."

"We were going to give this job to one of the solo merc's on our payroll." Pepper didn't seemed fazed by Fox's outburst. "Once he didn't respond we went to you because that little Pizzeria doesn't seem to bring in the 'dough' so to speak."

"Who would be stupid enough to take on this job solo? 'Planet falling apart' you kinda failed to mention before we got here."

"He... well I thought Oikonny might have been involved so he was my first call." Pepper stared ahead for a second, before bringing his attention back to Fox. "I don't think I've ever heard you complain about one mission so much."

"I just want to be back home alright? Look I've got a planet to save. Fox out." Fox watched Pepper's face disappear. 'I miss you.'

"FOX!"

Fox sighed, this was a sign of how his day was going to be. "Come on Tricky, let's go." He hopped into his Arwing and blasted into space. 'When I get back, I'm telling her, In words this time, how much...' Fox smiled as he moved around rocks and rogue ships. 'I love you Krystal.'


Krystal's Room - 8:40pm

Krystal tapped the play button on her laptop and sat on her bed. "Now playing message one." Fox's head appeared in the center of her room, he smiled at her, she reached out to touch him, but her hand went through him... still that smiled warmed her.

"Before I start let me do something. Computer, hologram program nine." His head disappeared, leaving Krystal alone. "Three... two... one..." As he stopped counting a full body hologram of Fox appeared before her.

"I love this technology." Krystal thought out loud. Fox's hologram moved to sit beside her.

"This is much better." Krystal giggled at him. "So, right now, I'm where I really want to be. I wish I could be doing this for real, I'd be content just sitting her next to you. Before I start rambling like a hopeless romantic, I should tell you. Pepper is likely going to close SFP down while I'm gone. If that happens I want you to know that your job isn't in jeopardy. This has happened once in the past, before you got here, something I'll have to tell you in person. Now I bet your feeling like a burden on me, now that you wont have a steady source of income. I'd gladly pay any cost to keep you safe. You are apart of the Star Fox team, and any member in it has earned their position. Once you are trained enough you'll earn it, hell I think you've earn it already... maybe I'm biased I dunno." Fox stood up looking like he was getting ready for a run. "My time is running short, and I've got an annoying little pain in the ass to look after." Fox looked back at her. "I miss you, everyday I miss you more. We'll see each other soon, once Falco leaves to help me on the general's orders I'm hours away from home, I'll finally be able to hear my heart beat again. Keep it warm for me." The hologram started to fade away, leaving Krystal alone once again. "Oh, remind me to say this to you the second I see you." His voice was whispers now, so soft that only Krystal's sensitive hearing could catch it. "I love you."

Krystal fell back onto her bed, Fox had made her the happiest vixen alive, those three words repeated in her head, she couldn't help but have a huge smile on her face. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight.

"Replay message?"

Krystal didn't hesitate. "Just the last bit." She closed her eyes, envisioning Fox walking into her room and leaning over her, bringing his face to meet hers.

"I love you."


Short and sweet, man I think i have a cavity from that lol.

Read, Review, enjoy... but not in that particular order!

Peace,

H-T