Back on the ship, Bruce and Lenny have caught Chad up to speed on everything; what happened to them, how they were discovered, how they were brought back for good, and what their plan was with Rachel.

"Jesus Christ. You guys were smart to come when you did. Do you know what those motherfuckers were planning to have Nigel do?"

"I'm the one who warned Nigel about the Splinter Cell. So yeah, I have a good idea of what those motherfuckers wanted him to do." Rachel responds.

"How did you know about the Splinter Cell in the first place?" Chad asks.

"You're not my only undercover. Eyes and ears were everywhere with me." Rachel responds.

"Well anyway, I'm glad you saved us. I just want to apologize to Nigel when he wakes up. There is something I've been wanting to tell him." Chad states, looking lovingly at Nigel through the glass of the other room.

Taking note of this, Rachel stares at Chad with a cocked eyebrow. The others in Sector Z sense the awkwardness and go to do tasks at different areas in the ship.

"Is that right, Chad?" She asks, earning a similar look from him.

"Yes, it is right. I wanted this whole thing to be a new start for us. Clearly I was wrong and put faith in the wrong people to make that possible. But Nigel's mine, I almost lost him once. I'm not gonna let that happen again." Rachel chuckles at Chad's statement.

"Something funny to you?"

"You don't think I travelled light years to get Nigel back to Earth, just to watch him fall into the arms of someone else do you?"

"Well the way Nigel put it, you probably wouldn't have been too sad to see him go in the first place." This now makes Rachel just plain mad.

"Excuse me?"

"He said to me that there was someone he wished he'd said goodbye to. But she yelled at him the last time he saw her, so it didn't matter." Rachel is now equal parts guilty, sad, and angry.

"Fuck you, you son of a bitch. Nigel means the world to me, I never wanted him gone. He deserves someone who doesn't put his life in danger, or try to kill him."

"I never wanted him dead, and I never put him in any real danger! I made sure nothing could happen that would prevent him from escaping, so go fuck your self!"

"Really? The fuckin' Moonbase incident ring any bells? And don't give me that doing it to stop Cree from doing it bullshit."

"You think I haven't thought about that?! With Galactic on my ass and the need to go without decommissioning to be undercover, options were limited for me."

"Well that doesn't matter now, I'm not letting you take Nigel from me!"

"Oh shut up. No one TOOK Nigel from you, you fucked up your chance to be with him! He needs someone who has faith in him."

"I do have faith in Nigel! He's one of the best operatives we had on Earth!"

"Is that why you had your bratty little brother on the cake mission and acted like a fuckin' bitch?"

"Fuck off with that, I know I made a mistake and I'll own up to it. I could say the same thing about. Nothing says "I love you" like attacking him, being jealous that he's better than you, and getting him mixed up with a shady terrorist cult. I would make sure that was safe from all that, I never want to make him feel belittled again, he'll stay as close to me as much as possible. I'll make sure of that."

"So then why did you give the Global Tactical Officer position to 86?"

"He turned it down to be with his friends, so fuck you."

"How does that help your argument? Clearly he cares more about them than he does you."

"Hey if my memory serves, you offered him the Arctic Base, but he turned it down for the same reason. So once again, I say fuck you."

"I don't need this shit from YOU. The point is Nigel's mine."

"You can't have him! I travelled all this way to tell him how I feel. This is my first chance at that. What did you have, a fuckin' MONTH to tell him? If you really loved him, you'd have done something about it. And don't give me that Galactic on my ass bullshit. Fuck Galactic, fuck Infinity, fuck 74.239, and fuck the too soon cliché.

Give me ONE fucking reason why I should let you even get NEAR him!" Chad's anger is at its tipping point by now, as is Rachel's.

"Because I always felt this way about him! I always knew his potential and I always found him special! You just have a little crush on him, and you can't truly appreciate him the way I can!"

"That's it! THAT'S FUCKING IT!" Rachel then dives at Chad and the two start swinging.

They go back and forth punching, pulling hair, choke holds, etc. Finally, the others step in and pry them apart. Lenny and David hold Chad back while Ashley and Constance hold Rachel.

"Let go of me, I'm not finished with him yet!"

"I'm willing to keep going! Bring it bitch!"

Finally Bruce stands in between the two of them, "Alright that's enough you two! Calm the fuck down! I don't care who loves who, who fucked who over, who deserves Nigel's love, just stop it. We got bigger shit to worry about than a fucking love triangle!"

He then grabs them by their collars and drags them over to the window to show Nigel sleeping in the medical bed. "Look at him in there. Does he look like he's in a position to choose who he loves more?! You two leave him alone until we get back to Earth. And don't give me that chain of command shit, we were in the Kids Next Door when you were shitting yourselves in diapers! Keep the peace, do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes." Both Chad and Rachel day begrudgingly.

"Good. Now let's just try to get back to Earth safely." Bruce says, and the rest of Sector Z lets the two go and go back to what they were doing before. Chad and Rachel stare at each other angrily for a brief moment before finding a place to stay on the ship.

About 20 minutes pass, when Nigel comes out of the medical room. The first one to notice him is Chad, who rushes over to him before Rachel can.

"Nigel, are you okay?" Chad asks, escorting him back to the bed.

"No Chad. I'm pretty fucking far from okay. My head is pounding and I feel like absolute shit. I almost doomed the world." Nigel says, shedding tears. Chad his hand on Nigel's cheek.

"Nigel, none of this is your fault. I blame myself, for everything that's happened this past month. But when we get back to Earth, everything is gonna be alright, trust me." Chad tries to reassure.

"Chad please. No more promises and no fresh starts in life."

"I don't want a fresh start in life Nigel. What I want is… a life with you." Nigel is taken back by what he just heard.

"I'm sorry… what?"

"I've wanted to tell you for so long now, but I never had a good chance to. Until now." Chad puts his other arm in Nigel's other cheek.

"Chad, I uh…" Before Nigel can finish, he feels his lips crushed by Chad's. Unfortunately for Chad, Rachel sees this and drops to the floor in tears. For Chad, this is a dream come true. Unfortunately, this is another moment of shock and uncertainty for Nigel. He eventually pushes Chad away from him.

"What's wrong, Nigel? You didn't like it?" Chad asks, almost heartbroken.

"I'm sorry, Chad. But I don't think of you that way. I'm not gay. I don't mind that you are, but this won't work. I hate to disappoint."

Chad's legs feel like they are going to buckle and his heart was just ripped in half. He begins to tear up as he turns to walk away from Nigel.

"Listen, Chad I…"

"No, Nigel I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have just assumed you felt the same. Please. Forgive me." Chad leaves the room in tears as Nigel just sits there, not sure what to do.

When Chad leaves, he sees Rachel crying on the floor next to the door.

"Are you happy now? Did you get what you wanted?" Rachel sarcastically asks, half-angry and half-sad.

"No." Chad replies, trying as hard as he can to keep his cool.

"Don't do that again, Chad. He's too good for you." Rachel threatens.

"That won't be a problem. He's not into me the way I'm into him. If you want him go for it. But if you do, you best be good to him." Chad walks off to join the others by the pilot's chair.

"How long until we get to Earth?" Chad asks, not wanting to discuss what just happened.

"Oh it'll be awhile before we get back to Earth, Chad. So I'd make peace with Rachel ASAP. You're gonna be seeing her face for at least a few weeks." Bruce says.

"As long as she loves Nigel better than I ever could, I'll be fine." Chad responds, trying to hide the pain he feels of being rejected.

"Very good, now let's just…" Suddenly a ship comes up on the radar.

"Is that ship, what I think it is?" Bruce asks.

"Yes, yes it is."

The ship launches several rockets at Sector Z's ship.

"Get is the fuck outta here!"

Before Bruce can take evasive action…. BOOM!

End of the chapter. Definitely a lot to unpack here. Chad and Rachel's fight. Sector Z having to step in. Chad's now broken heart, and the surprise attack at the end. Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, but the next chapter is gonna take some time to write. Until the next update, happy reading! Please review.