Chapter 12.

Intermission

Brothers in Arms

Heads up: This chapter's gonna be something different. You don't need to read it to understand the overall story, and I don't think you miss anything critical by not reading it, but it adds some character development that I wanted to explore. Think of it as a break, where we just get to stop and see what the characters are like.

-NothingExtra

"Trainee McCloud, what happened?"

A red fox leaned over a fallen body. Paws on his knees, he stood there, heaving as the heat cooked his head, boiling his thoughts into a thick haze he couldn't focus through. He heard the words, but they never sank in. Instead, he stared straight at the fallen body on the ground.

An instructor strode up through grass tall enough to scratch his chin. A bear. He waved over two more uniformed personnel. He didn't even sound angry when he asked. Instead the instructor kneeled by the body and flipped it over on its back. A buck-toothed face groaned back weakly, and mumbled: "I...I can't see."

Fox felt like he swallowed an icicle the moment he heard those words. The instructor glanced at him for less then a second, then pulled the hare trainee up by the armpits. "Grab him."

Fox responded instantly. He reached out for the rabbit but the instructor froze him with a glare. "Not you. You've done enough."

Those words cut down to the bone. Other trainees stared, wearing the same maroon uniforms as Fox did. They stood apart from Fox, but he felt their stares on the back of his head. He bowed his head in silence. He tried to think of an explanation, but came up with nothing. The shame burned, mixing with the cooking heat of the sun.

Fox watched as the personnel hauled the rabbit off as he kept murmuring incoherently. At one point the hare asked for Fox, and before Fox could walk to him, the bear halted him with a paw. The vulpine froze again, watching as they hauled the hare away.

The bear walked to Fox, standing so close he could count every vein in the bear's eyes. "What happened?"

The lack of any obvious anger scared him. The bear could've sworn. He could've yelled. Screamed. That way, Fox would've known he was just acting the part of instructor. This felt different. The kind of deathly calm that comes at the eye of a hurricane.

"I...I didn't know it was that bad." The words escaped his lips and he instantly hated himself for saying them. They were true, but they also let the instructor know he wasn't paying attention to it. He knew that detail would be used against him.

"McCloud. That trainee had a heat stroke. He had a heat stroke while you were squad leader. If we weren't nearby, there's a chance he could've died. Do you understand that?"

Fox bowed his head. "Yes, instructor."

"Do you understand what happens to squad leaders when something like this happens?"

Fox didn't answer. He knew the answer.

"McCloud, look at me."

Fox looked up. He saw the bear's hard face. The deep bags under his eyes. He spoke like he was trying to control himself, but a deep anger tinged his voice.

"McCloud, this is just a training exercise. Odds are, that trainee will make it. But," The bear raised a heavy paw, pointing it flat at Fox's muzzle. He growled the next words,

"Rule number one. Look after your people."

"Yes, instructor." Fox bowed his head again.

"Look me in the goddamned eyes, McCloud." Fox snapped to attention again, seeing the rage slowly reveal itself in the bear's voice. "I'm going to let them know what happened here. They're gonna hear it, and then they'll decide what to do. But until then, listen to what I'm telling you,"

His voice raised to a peak. He practically shouted the words with a force that flattened Fox's ears, "Rule number one, look after your people. Everything else comes second. Look after your goddamned people."

"Do you hear me, McCloud? Look after your goddamned people." Fox stared at the bear's mouth as he repeated the words. The motion of the bear's muzzle and the sound of his voice both burned themselves into Fox's mind, seared in place by his failure.

"Look after your people."

Look after your people.

"Fox, you there?"

The red fox blinked as he heard the ship's speakers. He pulled his unfocused gaze away from the magazine he'd been staring at. A Cornerian Defense Force pilot stared back at him from the cover with a title partially blocked by his head.

"Where are you?" Peppy's voice rang through the speakers.

Fox pressed a thumb into a nearby control panel and spoke into the intercom, "I'm at the range. I got a little distracted."

"Alright, just wanted to check. I'm heading out to buy some replacement pipes for the Great Fox's neck. Do you need anything?"

Fox turned away from the magazine and to the blaster pistol on the table in front of him. "No, but I appreciate you asking. I'm working on my pistol, and I'll probably need to get it repaired myself."

"...Alright." The speaker ended with a crackle.

Fox picked up the blaster pistol from the small table in front of him, and faced the long "gun range": a section of the cargo bay with cargo containers arranged end-to-end to make a closed corridor. He stood in one of those corridors now, the inside lit with long chains of cheap holiday lights. He picked up the pistol, lining up a shot on a hubcap mounted on a stick at the very end of the corridor, and he pulled the trigger.

The pistol clicked in his paws and fired nothing. Fox shot the pistol a sour look and set it down by the unfolded user's manual, a screwdriver, three bottles of different cleaning fluids, and a teal washrag stained in a zebra-stripe pattern from being uncrumpled after use.

The red fox pressed his palms into his face and let them slide over the top of his head as he scoffed at the ceiling. He already took the pistol apart and put it back together for the seventh time today, and he still couldn't get it to work.

He already asked Slippy about it, and the frog took it apart exactly once before telling Fox he needed a new gun. Falco said the same after just glancing at it.

But pistols cost money, and Fox wanted to at least try repairing it himself before giving up and shelling out the cash for a new gun. And after about five hours of trying to get the thing to work, he was ready to give up.

Standing up, Fox slid the gun into a holster inside his jacket. He thought about the irony behind holstering a pistol and carrying it around a fairly rough station when it didn't even work, and smirked humorlessly before heading out the range door.

After asking customs where the best place to find a new gun would be, he got directed towards the part of the station with boarded-up doors and windows. Every now and then, he'd walk by piles of scrap metal or vehicle frames left to rust where they stood.

He stepped over one, a hoverbike knocked on its side, when he heard a voice. "Watch your foot, asshole."

Fox staggered, startled. Looking down, he almost stepped on someone sleeping by the hoverbike, and his foot landed on the edge of their jacket. "Shoot. Sorry."

He took his foot off, then froze, staring at the stranger's face. The face of a swift fox greeted him, squinting.

Fox stared, bewildered. "Swift? Is that you?"

The swift fox blinked at Fox's legs, growling, when he finally looked up to face him. The blue eyes widened, and the swift fox whispered, "Holy shit."

Swift struggled to stand, and Fox grabbed his arm, steadying him. The tan-furred vulpine leaned into Fox. "I haven't seen you for ages, man. You look good!"

Fox took the hug, and looked down the swift fox's back as he stared, bewildered. He saw flecks of trash: the glint from the corner of a potato chip bag, dried crumbs from something that might've been meat three days ago, and a loose price tag, all clinging to the back of a red jacket. Stepping back, Swift wiped his nose before Fox could speak, "Swift, you look..."

Fox saw the creases pressed into the jacket, the long stain on his pant thigh, and hesitated, "...what happened to you?"

"Ah, well, y'know, some people have it out for me. I got into some fights, and now I'm trying to be incognito, right?" Swift smiled with clean, white teeth.

After a few seconds, Fox looked around, and he felt the echo in his head. Look after your people.

After a long pause, and after looking around at the trash-lined alley, he lowered his voice and asked quietly: "Do...you have somewhere to stay?"

Swift swallowed, scratching behind his ears. "Nah, I'm pretty much stuck here."

A few heartbeats passed before Fox spoke slowly, "Do you need one?"

Swift coughed, "You'd really bail me out like that?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I would," Fox nodded towards the docks, "We can make some room for a while."

"Holy shit, thanks man," Swift stepped forwards, "So what, you're a big shot now?"

Swift pointed at the pistol handle inside Fox's jacket. Fox shrugged, "I'm a mercenary now. We're making it work."

"So you're rolling in dough, right?" Swift grinned as he followed Fox into an elevator with a steel grate for a door.

Fox pushed a button, laughing awkwardly. "Not exactly, but like I said, we're making it work."

The pause afterwards felt awkward enough to convince Fox to speak up again. He returned the question, "And...you?"

Stupid question, Fox. He's sleeping in the street. What did you think his answer was gonna be?

Fox cursed himself immediately, and he knew the embarrassment would show up in his smile. Swift just curled his paws into fists and brought them up and down, one after the other. "You know, kicking ass, like I usually do. I got into street racing."

The elevator slowed down to a stop as Fox cocked an eyebrow at Swift. He didn't expect that answer. Swift just kept going, "Yeah, I got famous for my pit maneuvers. Just wrecking dudes left and right. Bang, bang, bang! I actually got a gun pulled on me afterwards."

Fox tried to look Swift directly in the eyes. Swift didn't look back, instead letting his eyes wander over the neon signs. "Yeah, I won pretty big that time. Pretty much got bitches chasing after me, too."

The red vulpine tried to imagine Swift being a winning street racer and hummed thoughtfully. "Well, in that case, what's your ride?"

"Oh, it's a jacked-up Alessandro Dart. It's with a friend right now. He's looking after it for me." Swift pulled up some sunglasses and put them on his muzzle.

"Uh...huh," Fox pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, "Where's the trophy?"

"Oh, I sold it. But the prize, the real prize, man, I gotta tell you about that," Swift beamed.

Before Swift could speak, a hoverbike slowly rode past, close enough for Fox to feel the air whip across his face. He flinched, stepping back into Swift. The swift fox howled a curse down the passage, giving the biker two raised fingers. The rider shot them a nasty glare, cussing back somehing Fox couldn't hear over the engine, then rode out of sight.

"Yeah, these guys should be clotheslined. That's what I did, one time." Swift turned back to Fox, looking at the red vulpine's Cornerian Defense Force flight suit.

"Anyways, I remember when you got kicked out of the Academy. But don't worry, they kicked me out, too." He laughed.

Fox bristled when he heard the words kicked out, but one detail grabbed his attention. "You got kicked out?"

"Yeah, the CDF kicked me out after the war. They pretty much had it out for me, just like they did with you." Swift bumped his fist into Fox's shoulder. "Geez, man, when was the last time we saw each other?"

Fox punched a code into a door lock to the dock, "I think...two years ago, which was years after the war. Damn. Just saying that makes me feel old."

"That's us, man. Jeez. Is that your ship?" Swift screwed up his face.

"Yeah. It's not much, but that's home." Fox walked towards the catwalk leading to the Great Fox.

"...Huh," Swift huffed.

Fox ignored the sound and made his way to the Great Fox's hangar. He walked up the ramp, motioning for Swift to follow. When they crested the top of the ramp, Fox pointed in. "And those are our rides. Arwings."

Swift squinted, pointing at the bent wing on one of them. "Man, what happened to 'em?"

Almost on cue, a blue falcon stepped out from behind one of the Arwings. Falco pulled a ruptured metal box out on a cart behind him, and called out to Fox without even looking up, "Bad news. Heat sink popped open on our last job, and now we need a new one to make the guns work again."

Falco looked up, seeing Swift. He nodded upwards at the guest with a glance at Fox.

Fox caught the look. "Yeah, Falco, this is Swift. I met him while I was still at the Academy. We knew each other for a while after that."

Falco just stared back. "Huh. I don't think I've ever met him."

"What, is Fox embarrassed to tell people about me?" Swift smirked with a glance at the Star Fox captain.

The comment landed instantly. Fox stuttered, fumbling for the right words, "Yeah-well, wait, no! I'm not, I mean-"

"It's okay! It's okay, I'm just messing with ya, Fox," He lightly brushed a paw across Fox's arm, "I get it, I'm kinda messed up, so nobody wants to talk about me."

"Uh huh," Falco looked the swift fox up and down, then kept pulling his cart, "So you here to visit?"

"For a little while, yeah," Fox answered for Swift immediately.

The falcon shot the red fox a serious look as he paused mid-stride. He shrugged, "Alright, just don't break anything."

Swift threw up a lazy salute, "You got it, boss bird."

Falco ignored him and kept pulling his cart towards the ramp.

"What was his problem?" Swift shot Fox a look through his shades that Fox couldn't read.

"He's just like that. Don't worry, he warms up to people. Eventually." Fox bristled a little at Swift's rude response, but he heard the echo again in his head, letting himself relax. Look after your people.

Walking into the galley, Fox noticed Slippy sitting at the table with a laptop out and a cereal box without a bowl. Swift walked in right at the point where Slippy brought a fistful of the stuff into his face. The frog froze for a whole second before wiping a hand on his flight suit and talking fast, "Oh! Uh, hi...there."

Swift nodded upwards, arms folded. "Sup."

"Yeah, this is Swift. He's an old friend, and I'm trying to help him out. He might be staying with us for a short while." Fox talked fast, awkwardly placing a paw on the swift fox's shoulder. The thought flickered through his mind that he should've given the team a warning.

Slippy confirmed it with a doubtful look down the hall. "Did...you let Peppy know?"

"Don't worry, man, I'm cool," Swift already started walking over and opening cabinets, "Say, it's cool if I make something for me, right?"

"Sure, yeah, go ahead," Fox answered before Slippy could say anything, "Just try to leave the galley clean."

"'Aight," Swift closed a cabinet with a slam as he spun a can of soup in his hands.

Slippy shot Fox another doubtful look as he turned back to his laptop. "Anyways, I'm looking at our bank account, and our payment's still not in,"

The frog scowled at the screen, face lit up by the bright light. "I've been on hold with the company for like, an hour, now," He leaned back, scratching his head with the bill of his cap.

"It's probably on its way, Slippy." Fox spoke as Swift walked over to the table with an electric can opener and a spoon.

"Y'know," Swift spoke over the grinding whirr of the machine, "I get what you mean. Some dudes screwed me out of my winnings. They pretty much set me up to fail a-ah, God, she just won't leave me alone."

Fox blinked. Swift changed direction so abruptly it got Slippy's attention, too. "One second, fellas, I gotta take this."

He looked at a cell phone and briskly walked to the corner of the room. Fox tried to ignore it right as Peppy strode in. The hare stopped, narrowing his eyes first at Swift, then at Fox. He didn't look happy, and Fox's instincts told him that it had to do with hosting a guest without a heads-up first.

Fox braced himself. He sensed a lecture incoming. Before Peppy could even say a word, Swift stepped back in. "Sorry, fellas. Some women just don't stop yap yap yapping all the time, know what I mean?"

Peppy relaxed when he met the swift fox's gaze, but not before he shot Fox a look that said we'll talk about this later. He extended a paw, "Well, I don't think we've met. I'm Peppy Hare,"

"Yeah, I'm Swift." The tan vulpine shook the hare's paw while still holding the spoon in it. "Thanks for letting me crash here."

Peppy shot Fox a strained smile as Fox shrugged back awkwardly. He also felt a twinge of anger. It's just as much a surprise for me as it is for you. Fox tried to get that message across with as he swept his paws in Swift's direction.

Plus, he's a friend, so give him a break. That last part he tried to get across with a glare. Peppy turned back, tempering his smile. "Well, I'm just sorry we didn't get a chance to prepare."

Fox swore he could physically feel that last word. Before he could respond, Swift spoke up again. "Yeah, anyways, sorry about that call, she won't just leave me alone."

"Well, we all know relationships are a challenge." Peppy sat down, never taking his eyes off the guest.

"Yeah, sometimes I think getting engaged was a mistake, y'know? Now she won't stop yapping." Peppy narrowed his eyes as Swift brought a spoonful of pasta-sauce-colored meat to his muzzle.

"Anyways, yeah, the real prize for winning the race!" Swift grinned, wiping sauce off his chin. "A supermodel vixen came up to me after I won. She was totally your type, Fox."

He held up his paws under his chest like he palmed two basketballs. "She said she always wanted to do it with a winner, and we pretty much screwed each other's brains out for the whole week. I would've given you her number, but now it's too late."

Sliippy leaned over to ask, uncertainly, "Because...she's your fiancée now?"

"Nah, man, I met her after getting engaged." Swift ate another spoonful as Peppy shot Fox an incredulous look. Fox, distracted by Swift's answer, already covered his face with a paw. The embarrassment at Swift's answers buried Fox in a wave of shame deep enough to make him burn behind the ears.

Fox sighed with relief as Swift stood, wiping his chin with a jacket sleeve, "Anyways, I'm about to crash. Where's the couch?"

"You can go ahead and stay in my room." Fox answered before Peppy could say anything. He invited Swift here, it's his responsibility.

Peppy inhaled sharply before folding his paws. "Well, your choice. Fox, I need to talk about some team stuff with you when you're done helping him settle in."

"Yeah, will do." Fox tried to avoid the gaze of everyone in the room. He felt stuck. The tan fox already managed to irritate or shock everyone on the ship. It sounded like he cheated on his fianceé. It sounded like he got himself into trouble. But...

Fox sighed as he led Swift to his room. But he was a friend. And Fox wanted to look after his friends. Even ones like Swift. He wished everyone on the ship would understand that. He just wanted to help him. That's all.

He felt a paw on his shoulder. Swift must've heard him. "Seriously, Fox, you're one of the real ones, y'know?"

Fox looked over his shoulder to meet his gaze, then looked at the floor again, feeling his anger subside. "Don't mention it."

"Yeah, I was in real trouble back there. I'm just glad I ran into you." Swift took off his sunglasses, and for once, looked exhausted. "I just need a place to stay right now."

"Are people really after you?" Fox asked, wary of the answer.

"Well, y'know." Swift shrugged, "I just have a lot going on right now. Some people are after me for some bullshit."

Fox nodded, slowly as he opened the door to his room. Swift walked in towards the door, and spoke, almost casually, "Plus, my fiancée says she's pregnant, and I just can't deal with that right know, know what I mean?"

Fox just stared at Swift, jaw slightly open. He blinked, stunned. That was his answer?

He thought again about the line that echoed in his head. That he should look after his people.

Swift didn't see his face. He already walked in the door. At that moment, Fox felt another paw on his shoulder and heard Peppy's voice growl. "Rec room. Now."

The red vulpine watched as the hare strode off. He sighed, and walked in after him.

"Are you an idiot?" Peppy almost shouted the words, lowering his voice only to hiss the last word. Fox flattened his ears as he sat in the couch with Peppy standing across from him. He was already used to lectures from Peppy, but they still stung.

"This guy, who we've never met, who we know nothing about, is now staying in our ship. Did we get a heads up? Nope. Did we know what kind of person he'd be? Nope! Did we have a chance to think about whether or not we were willing to take him in? Absolutey not."

Fox felt the start of a growl in his throat. Yeah. Swift acted like an asshole, and the bombshell he dropped at the end made the case for hosting him worse, but...

...Fox felt his claws dig into the couch. But he was a friend. He wanted Peppy to just give him a chance to defend Swift. He poured that feeling into his next words, "Peppy, look, I know it looks bad. But remember that job we got a while back? The tip on Macbeth. That was him. I...we owe him."

"Really? How?" Peppy already put both paws on his hips. Fox felt his anger return, and had his answer ready,

"Because without that tip, we wouldn't have been able to find a job that month. Plus, he's..." Fox hesitated, tried to push his anger away, then spoke softly, "He's a friend, and I don't want to leave him behind. I want to look after my friends, Peppy."

Peppy's gaze softened, but only for a split second. He huffed, "Fox, I get you want to look after him, but sometimes, it's..."

The hare looked off into the middle distance before speaking, "...some friends just aren't worth it."

Fox bristled as he stood. Swift was stupid. Swift was colossally stupid. But in his mind, that wasn't a good enough reason to just hang him out to dry. And more than anything, Fox bristled at the idea that his friends weren't worth protecting. Fox spoke, stiffly, "That's not fair. What if it was me in Swift's place? I bet you that Swift would've helped me, like he helped us before."

Peppy rubbed his eyelids. "Fox, it sounds like this guy ditched his fianceé. Is that the kind of friend you want?"

Fox's words caught in is throat. He picked his words carefully, "He's in a bad place, and I think there's a chance he doesn't mean what he says."

"You're making excuses for him." Peppy jabbed a finger into Fox's chest.

Deep down, Fox knew he had a point, but in that same place in his chest, where he could feel the truth in Peppy's words, he clung to a truth of his own. He wanted to look after Swift. Swift was one of his people, and he didn't want to leave him behind.

Before Fox could say anything else, his ears swiveled in the direction of the galley. He regonized Falco yelling. Peppy already turned towards the sound with an exasperated huff. "What now?"

When they got close to the galley, Fox felt something cold in his stomach as he heard the sounds of pained moaning. He walked faster, speeding up to a run as he heard the sound of a fight.

When he got to the door, he froze, staring. He saw Swift on the floor, curled up and covering his head with his arms as Falco stomped on his side. He stared at Falco, feeling a surge of anger well up inside him.

He took several steps forward towards Falco, snarling, "Falco, what the hell?! "

He shoved the bird back hard enough to make Falco collide with the table. For a second, Falco looked about to take a swing at Fox.

Instead, Falco screwed up his face as he pointed at Swift. "I knew I recognized him from somewhere."

Falco nodded towards Slippy's laptop. The frog, seeing his cue, fumbled with the laptop for a moment before turning it to show the room a headline. Fox felt his anger slowly ebb and turn to confusion as he read the words.

"HOVERBIKE COLLIDES WITH BYSTANDERS, KILLING TWO. PERPETRATOR FLEES SCENE."

Fox noticed Swift's face right beneath it and felt his anger slowly boil away, leaving him with a feeling like his heart sank to his stomach.

Falco snarled, "He ran away from Eladard for running people over, but no, that's not why I recognized him. He's a governor's son. He actually has money. He's just hiding because he doesn't want to go to jail."

Falco spat the last word. Fox stood there, stunned, as Swift pulled himself up and grabbed at Fox's flight suit while wheezing desparately in his ear. "Fox, Fox, buddy, it wasn't me-"

He stared Fox in the eyes. Pure terror scrawled into his features as he clawed at Fox's jacket. "I-I can't go to jail."

Fox fumbled for something to say, "Swift, what-?"

Swift wheezed, "F-Fox, it wasn't me, man! Someone had it out for me, and they used the same bike-"

Fox froze. Some part of him hoped, really hoped, that Swift told the truth. That hope struggled against the memory of every tall tale he heard that day from Swift's mouth.

"Swift...What did you do?"

Swift swallowed, tears forming in his eyes, "Fox, please, I needed to hide it,"

Fox felt his heart freeze as he repeated the words. "Swift, what did you do?"

Swift stared into Fox's eyes, cursed, then shoved Fox to the ground. Stunned, Fox started to shove back, but not before staring down the barrel of a blaster.

Fox blinked and noticed his holster felt lighter. Swift swung the pistol around, letting it point at every person in the room as he breathed heavily. Everyone stepped back, with Fox still on the floor.

"Back, back off. I wanna get outta here." Swift hoarsely spoke. His paws trembled as he held the pistol.

Falco started to walk behind Swift, slowly. And in that split second, Swift rounded on him and pulled the trigger.

It clicked, and fired nothing.

The sound froze everyone in the room. Falco's lower beak dropped as he flinched. Peppy swore. Slippy stared, eyes wide.

But Fox felt something new. The action and its meaning sank in, a little at a time. First shock that Swift stole the gun. Then anger that he actually threatened his friends with it. Then more shock that Swift actually pulled the trigger, and then, only then, the bubbling adrenaline rush of anger that, after being invited in, he tried to kill one of Fox's friends.

A line resurfaced in Fox's mind. Look after your people. He stared at Swift, someone that he once considered part of that group, and it dawned on him who on this ship counted as part of his people.

Fox felt a trembling anger in his fingertips. Curling them into fists steadied them. Fox wanted to yell Swift's name to get his attention, and instead found himself snarling.

He felt Swift's jaw against his knuckles. He wrenched the pistol out of Swift's paws and brought it down against his head. He found himself yelling every time he felt it connect with Swift's head.

"I LET YOU IN MY HOME."

He felt the pistol hit Swift's brow.

"I OFFERED YOU A PLACE TO SLEEP."

He saw skin peel where he hit it a second time.

"I DEFENDED YOU, AND YOU DO THIS?"

Blood welled up, and it felt warm against his knuckles when he brought it down a third, fourth, and fifth time.

He leaned back, staggering up over Swift's body.

For a while, he said nothing. He still felt the anger as a quivering twitch in his jaw.

"Get. Out." The words came out as a hoarse whisper.

Swift stared up through a squinted black eye.

Fox growled, then roughly hauled him up by the armpit. He half-led, half-dragged the tan fox to the airlock and threw him in. He punched the panel to shut the door behind him. The airlock led back to the space station hangar, so it wouldn't kill Swift. He knew that. But the action still felt surreal, with a kind of uncomfortable symbolism Fox didn't want to think too hard about.

Fox collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily, and tried to ignore the faces of everyone around him.

He sat down, staring at the space beyond the hangar. A force field kept the atmosphere inside the ship, so from here, he could safely get a view even wider than the one on the bridge.

Fox leaned back against the landing gear of his Arwing. He already spent the last few hours here, far away from everyone else. At this point, he was afraid to talk to them. He knew he screwed up.

He sucked a breath through his teeth as he remembered everything he did. He invited someone into his shared home without asking the others if they were okay with it. He did it because he wanted to help an old friend, but instead of actually helping, it ended up an attempted murder.

He cringed thinking about those words. But they weren't wrong. Swift pulled the trigger on Falco. If the gun worked...

...Fox shuddered, and cursed himself. He was responsible for this. He could've secured his gun, he could've tried to find out more about Swift before trying to help...

He let his head lean back and bump into the landing gear. You almost killed someone today.

The dark thoughts came back. This time, Fox didn't have the energy to resist them. They crowded his mind, the same thoughts that whispered ugly suggestions and cruel insinuations every time he felt like he did something wrong, but this time, he didn't resist them. He felt too tired to put up a fight, and one of the loudest thoughts in his head said he probably deserved to feel like this.

Jeez, what if the team broke up because of this?

Fox felt that thought sink deeper and deeper. A cool trickle of ice water from his head down through his heart. He thought about what he'd say if someone turned in their resignation papers today.

His shoulders sagged. No. He wouldn't blame them. He'd think about it too, in their shoes.

His ears swiveled to the sound of footsteps. The ugly thought that someone maybe planned to do that right now entered his mind, and he quietly braced himsef for it.

Instead he felt a wing on his shoulder and, out of the corner of his eye, saw Falco Lombardi slowly settle down on the floor beside him.

Fox said nothing. He felt scared to say anything.

Falco broke the silence, "Man, I never saw you that pissed off before."

The red vulpine kept quiet, but turned his head a little to face the bird. Falco just leaned back on both wings, crossed his ankles on the floor, and kept talking, "Y'know, I kinda thought you were the calm, level-headed type until now. I've seen you fight, seen you drink, seen people be mean as hell to you..."

"Falco..." Fox spoke very quietly.

Falco turned his head just enough for one eye to meet Fox's gaze. He turned away and kept talking, "Like, I kinda wish you were that mad more often. Could ya imagine? The next time someone skimps on pay, the next time someone tries to pick a fight with us, the next time our reservation's cancelled at a restaurant-"

"Falco...what are you trying to do?" Fox kept the same quiet tone, never raising it. It even wavered a little.

Falco paused, leaned forward, and gave Fox a meaningful look.

"Falco, I screwed up. I screwed up bad enought to almost kill you." Fox kept staring out the hangar.

"Yeah, I know." Fox immediately turned to Falco, ears flat, then turned away, ashamed. He knew Falco was right before Falco even answered, but the words still stung.

"Yeah. You screwed up big time," Fox's shoulders sagged even more as he heard Falco speak, "But..."

Fox didn't turn his head as Falco kept going, "You were trying to help out your friends."

Fox said nothing. Falco tilted his head again to see Fox's face, then looked up, "But yeah, not gonna lie, I'm pissed."

That got Fox to tilt his head down, "I'm...I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I could tell." Falco clicked his beak thoughtfully. "So, what's our next job?"

That sudden change in direction finally got Fox to turn towards Falco. For a while, he just stared at the bird.

Falco looked him in the eyes, then looked around at the hangar behind him, then turned back to face the Fox with a shrug. "What?"

"You're...moving on that fast?" Fox whispered. He could still feel the shame, and he wanted to know how Falco could just move on that quickly.

"Oh, no. I'm gonna remember this for ages. The time my friend got my ass almost killed because he couldn't say no to helping an idiot. Because that idiot's his friend."

He looked Fox in the eyes, and Fox struggled to meet gaze, instead burying his face in his paws.

"But that's kind of rich, coming from me," Fox looked up as the bird spoke, "the idiot who's been getting your help almost every day I spend on this boat. I'm not sure how much right I have to chew you out for helping another lost moron. I did almost die, so I can chew you out for that, but for the rest...and if it makes you feel better..."

Falco slowly got to his feet. "I still think you're a good guy."

Fox turned his face up to Falco's. He asked, wryly, "You sure about that?"

"I mean, mostly. Yeah," Falco put his wings in his pockets, "Kinda dumb, sometimes. But hey, you came around in the end. Plus, you kicked his ass."

Falco wore the familiar avian near-smile. "Like an old-fashioned, good, hard ass-kicking. Now, I'm gonna remember you screwed up..."

His gaze softened, "but I'm also gonna remember that you owned it."

He patted Fox with a wing. "Anyways, I'll leave you to it. Don't mope for too long. We still need you."

With that, Falco walked away, leaving Fox alone with his thoughts. The dark feelings still crowded his mind, he still felt exhausted and ashamed, and he still didn't have the energy to shake the knowledge that he was responsible.

But looking back at Falco walking away, Fox allowed his frown to fade a little, and he thought about how lucky he was to have friends like that.

Author's notes: I gotta say, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It started as an idea, and as I kept building it, I kept wondering if the dialogue and the reactions felt right. The biggest reason I'm posting it is because I already put a lot of work into it, and it might as well have an audience. If I end up not liking it, I might take it down, but until then, this is a glimpse into the characters of the Star Fox team, and that's what I set out to do.

Now, I'm gonna focus on the next story. I'll get to y'all's reviews in the next chapter. I have a lot to think about before I start.

See y'all then, and thank you for reading.

-NothingExtra