Part 6:
RESOLUTION
"My strength, my heart, my soul, all I have to offer I give to you..."
"That frigate had better hurry up or we'll lose both of them!" Krystal called from where she knelt by Falco. Peppy turned round suddenly, ignoring the searing pain in his arm.
"Both of them?"
"Yes. Falco first"
"What d'you mean?" Slippy asked from where he tried to bandage Fox's wound.
"He wasn't hit was he?"
"No, Falco's bonded to Fox like he did to me... its like a bucket with a hole in the bottom, the water runs from Falco at the top into Fox. Falco will be the first one to run out. The clock is ticking!"
"That's suicide! Why the hell'd he do it?" Peppy asked
"Fox would be dead by now if he hadn't!"
The shuttle shook briefly as the medical frigate flew over them and stopped.
"Medical frigate Fanfare ready to receive casualties, standing by"
"Priority one, shuttle Tiberius requiring immediate attention, shields and life support failing"
They never heard the response; the frigate had switched channels to deal with each request individually.
"Shuttle Pelagic, do you require assistance?" a new voice asked over the comm.
"Yes we have... wounded, one severely" Peppy wasn't sure if Falco should be classed as wounded or not.
"Roger Pelagic come into docking bay 12. Fanfare out"
Peppy pushed the shuttle towards the docking bay, increasingly aware he was the only conscious shuttle pilot, and he had a feeling that wouldn't last.
"Come on Falco, hang on" Krystal whispered keeping her fingers on his increasingly weak pulse. "Don't let go... please..."
The shuttle touched down on the shinny landing surface, Peppy opened the door and breathed a heavy sigh of relief, someone else could take it from here. He blacked out.
The medical crews climbed onboard. Krystal shooed the first team away from Falco.
"Help McCloud and this one will recover"
The team moved off, another went to help Peppy, when a third team entered only then did Krystal let them near Falco. She watched them wheel Fox quickly away holding up a bag of fluids, then they took Peppy out in a wheelchair and finally moving Falco out on a stretcher.
"Will they be ok?" Slippy asked standing by her side.
"I... don't know" She said following them. Slippy trotted by her side.
When they arrived at the infirmary they had been taken to it was chaos. All the beds, about twenty or so were full. Krystal could hear the sounds of muffled screams coming from some, others were ominously quiet. They found Falco, Fox and Peppy down the end of one of the rows. Fox's bed was a hive of activity, Peppy was attended to by just a nurse, and two bemused looking doctors stood over Falco.
"I don't understand it" one said to the other "I can't find anything wrong with him, but his heart just keeps getting weaker. He's barely responding to the adrenalin"
"Hey listen" The other one said. There was a pause for a moment.
"What am I listening to?"
"The heart monitor"
The bleep of the heartbeat was far too slow, and weak, but there were two slightly different notes to it.
"His and McCloud's hearts are beating at the same time at exactly the same speed; bit of a funny coincidence don't you think?"
"Well what are you suggesting?"
"I don't know-"
"They're bonded. Don't ask how because I don't know." Krystal piped in "If Lombardi dies you have three minutes to save McCloud"
"What makes you think that young miss?" one of the doctors asked.
"I've seen it done before. If you want to help Falco concentrate on patching Fox up. You can only treat Falco's symptoms. If his heart stops try to start it again and your time limit will be gone for Fox, but only if you can revive him. you have three minutes to revive Falco before the link breaks. Loose one and you'll lose the other fairly fast"
"Well-"
"Seems to make sense. What else do you suggest Mike? Nothing we're doing seems to help; besides we've got other patients to deal with"
"yes alright"
The doctors walked off, leaving Falco, for the most part to fend for himself.
Krystal turned to follow Slippy towards Peppy's bed. He started talking to Peppy's nurse.
"Will he be ok?" he asked nervously in a small voice.
"Yes, yes. He's lost a lot of blood but we can soon fix that" The nurse pointed up at the specially synthesised blood being fed into one of Peppy's veins.
"Good"
There was a shout.
"Bring the Avion; what the girl said seems to be right"
Slippy and Krystal turned around alarmed and watched as the two beds were wheeled out of the ward.
"Where are they taking them?"
The nurse looked confused.
"Surgery for the fox, try to clean up the mess in his guts. I don't know about the Avion."
Krystal looked glum.
"What's wrong" Slippy asked
"Nothing" She lied. Falco had said you had to "carry on for the living", that was why he'd ended up on Dinosaur Planet. To help Fox... and her. She'd been so ungrateful. She watched the door close behind Falco. He could be with his team again sooner than he'd imagined. "Keep going for the living" she told herself again. She smiled weakly at Slippy. He smiled uneasily back, then turned to gaze at Peppy.
"Don't worry Slip' he'll be ok" Krystal said, trying to comfort him.
"I hope so..."
"I'm still here" She said putting her hand on his shoulder.
Slippy gave her a look that she couldn't quite identify, Krystal wasn't sure if it was a nice look, she didn't think so.
The surgeons began work on Fox's injuries. His insides were a mess, of blood, fur and burnt flesh. They only gave Falco painkillers and a proper sedative when someone pointed out that he flinched every time they did something to Fox. Regardless of the lack of sedatives they would both be unconscious anyway. Fox should have been long dead.
He was aware of voices around him. Slippy mumbling, something about being afraid he was going to lose everyone, and be left alone with Krystal. His immediate reaction was to think the worst.
"Fox and Falco are alright aren't they?"
Slippy nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Peppy!"
"Are they alright?" he asked again his eyes snapping open. It was Krystal noticing the panic in his voice who answered.
"They're in surgery. We don't know anything, either way right now"
"Peppy I'm so glad you're ok!"
Slippy flung his hands round his neck. Peppy hardly noticed him, he was still trying to assimilate the information about Fox and Falco and try to decide whether it was a good thing or not. At length he returned Slippy's embrace.
Fox was loosing blood faster than they could replace it. Frantically the doctors tried to sort out the organs that could be saved from the bloody mess that that had been a kidney and the various other parts. The genetic synthesiser began to modify Canite internal organs do that they would match Fox's biochemistry. But they were fighting a loosing battle.
Peppy sat propped up by a pillow. The team were silent, sitting nervously around his bed, waiting for news. Any news.
A long ringing note was emitted by Falco's heart monitor.
Krystal felt a strange sensation in her chest. Like part of her had just slipped away...
Fox and Falco hovered above the beds in the operating theatre, looking down on their failing bodies. Falco watched forlornly as the doctors tried to start his heart again.
"Fox... if I die tell Peppy and Slippy I love them... course I love you too Furball"
A clock on a three minute timer ticked away all too quickly. The doctors wheeled out the crash trolley. They brought out another should they run out of time with Falco. They pumped in the adrenalin and prepared the electric charge to shock his heart. When they did nothing happened. His heartbeat remained stubbornly absent.
"Don't blame yourself if you survive and I don't. I'm happy. Salty and Silver will be waiting for me on... the other side... and I'll be waiting for you... but I don't want to see you for a lifetime... No tears ok?"
Despite himself Falco felt a tear trickle down his face, he turned to see Fox crying too.
"Well not too many"
30 seconds. Falco reached out to touch Fox's face and brush the tears away. 20 seconds.
"Goodbye Foxy"
It was Peppy's turn to feel strange. He and Krystal exchanged a glance. Peppy squeezed her hand that seemed to have somehow found its way into his.
Despite the personal pains and tragedies the outside world went on. The stars still cast their light on their planets, oblivious to the suffering all around them. The Fanfare's engines rumbled incessantly on towards Corneria and families and friends, but not everyone would be going home...
They shocked him again. Falco's heart started to beat. One of the doctors cheered. For a moment the good humour spread around the theatre. Then one of the surgeons spoke.
"That's where its coming from!" the surgeon had finally found where the blood was coming from and began working to close the hole in Fox's intestines.
Peppy and Krystal turned again to look at one another. Peppy smiled at her. Krystal closed her eyes and sighed in relief. She remembered one of their conversations.
"You're a tough sod Lombardi"
"Damn stubborn too!"
Fortunately Slippy seemed to have remained completely oblivious to what had almost happened.
With Fox's bleeding stopped the doctors began to make headway for the first time. They started to be hopeful that they might be able to save them. After a long time and several new organs later they were ready to close the wound.
Several hours later and more pints of blood than they could count Fox and Falco were brought back into the ward. Krystal was dozing in a chair by Peppy's bed. He and Slippy were playing an unenthusiastic game of cards. Both looked up tensely at the sound of another squeaky bed wheel. They both smiled when they caught sight of a familiar ginger tail sticking out from under the sheets. Peppy's heart stopped for a moment though when he realised there was only one bed being brought back. Then the doors opened again and another bed made its slow progression up the aisle. Peppy breathed a silent sigh of relief. He climbed unsteadily out of bed to meet the returning doctors, accompanied by Slippy.
"Well?" he asked.
One of the doctors turned from hanging up a bag of blood attached to Fox's arm.
"It was a bit hairy in there for a while. We nearly lost them, but their condition is... stable for the moment. It'll be touch and go for the next little while... they're not out of the asteroids yet. We had to give Fox several replacement organs..."
Peppy continued to talk to the doctors for a long time. Slippy lost interest and wandered over to the beds. There was no sign of life from either of them. He'd seen them like this before, but never at exactly the same time. He hated hospitals, they made his skin crawl. He looked intently at Fox, his leader, he was barely able to see him breathing, Slippy felt so helpless, if they were a ship he would be able to do something, he hated just standing around waiting for them to get better. Slippy turned to watch Peppy come over, he could hear him mumbling to himself, something like "I'm getting too old for this"
"How long will it take them to get better?" Slippy asked quietly.
"Hard to say... usually with injuries like Fox's it can take days for them to come around, or not at all" Slippy's face fell "It's ok Slip' Fox isn't going to let a little blaster wound beat him especially not with Falco there to help. Just don't expect either of them to come around soon."
Slippy looked like he was going to cry. "They..."
"They'll be fine, you just have to be patient, and go easy on them for the next couple of weeks" Peppy grinned. Slippy nodded and followed Peppy back to his bed.
"Falco... where are you?" Krystal mumbled to herself then woke. She looked around startled and became aware Peppy was looking at her. She was slightly embarrassed.
"They brought them back a few hours ago" he said gently, putting his book down on his knee. "Neither of them have come around yet. The doctors say it might take a while. They're offering rooms onboard to family and friends, maybe you should take them up on their offer"
Krystal moved in the chair. Rubbing her back. She'd hit that gangway pretty hard. "No, I want to be here when they wake up"
Peppy sighed and shook his head.
"You should tell him if you care. He won't be here forever. He needs all the friends he can get right now. You remind him of Silver, though he'd never admit it" Krystal looked up at him. "I'm afraid you're not very popular with any of them right now"
Krystal continued to look him in the eye. Eyes that made you want to tell him your life story, eyes that said they would understand.
"Falco said you could read people like you do your books"
Peppy smiled "It's a skill I acquired over the years. It didn't do us much good when it mattered though did it?"
"I wasn't with Falco when he left so I don't know exactly what made him do it, I wasn't there when decided to return to you either so I don't know exactly what went through his mind, but whilst our minds were joined you were never far from his thoughts"
Peppy sighed and looked round the room.
"Hey where's Slippy?" Krystal asked suddenly.
"Huh? Oh, he's around somewhere, why?"
Krystal shrugged "Just making sure he's ok"
Peppy frowned at her "Since when did you care about Slippy?"
"We had a little chat while you were unconscious... I felt sorry for him, he looked so pitiful" Krystal paused "Does he hate me too?"
"I never said we hated you" Peppy said gently "We all jut need some time to adjust to the last few months, they've done nothing for any of our sanity's" Peppy sighed "Fox and I were both very happy believing Andross was gone forever... seeing him again didn't do any of us any good, and there's always the risk that having seen it done with Andross one of them will get a stupid idea... We all lost someone to him."
"I don't think it can be done again, it was a long succession of unfortunate circumstances that brought Andross back..."
"If it can be done once, it can be done again. The Federation is looking into ways to prevent it without irreparable damage to Dinosaur planet... hopefully they'll find a way, otherwise Corneria is going to have another problem in its back yard"
"The dead should be left to rest..." Krystal mumbled
"Yes" Peppy agreed sadly "and old scars left closed" Peppy looked up to see Slippy coming back into the ward "ah look here's Slippy now" he said, glad to change the subject. Krystal looked down sadly.
"None of us hate you" Peppy said gently. Krystal sighed and didn't look up.
"Falco does, he told me so"
"I don't think he does... not really. He seems to be quite a forgiving person... I don't know where he got that from. Wasn't me that's for sure" Peppy said smiling "Besides Falco shoots the people he really hates"
Krystal looked up, and despite herself she smiled.
"He hasn't tried to shoot me so far"
"There now, that proves it"
"Proves what?" Slippy asked coming over chewing on a chocolate bar.
"Nothing..." Krystal said
"Hey did you bring me one?" Peppy asked
"Yes" Slippy said handing Peppy his favourite chocolate bar "I got you one too" he said looking at Krystal "I got fruit and nut, plain or that funny one with the honeycomb in the middle"
Krystal noted Peppy smiling at her.
"I think I'll stick to plain thanks"
"Suit yourself" Slippy said handing her the packet "Dead boring you are"
"You'll rot all our teeth Slippy"
"Never mind, just think of it as a get well soon thing"
"Well in that case..." Peppy started to crunch his teeth through the honeycomb chocolate bar "So Slippy, what's the Fanfare like anyway, I don't remember"
"Big, just one giant moving hospital, like all these medical frigates"
"You've been on one before?" Krystal asked.
Peppy nodded "Yes, the Genesis and the..."
"Timber Wolf" Slippy said.
"You get used to places like this when you live like we do"
"3 down, only 4 more to go" Slippy said
"What do you mean?" Krystal asked
"There's only 7 of these things in the entire fleet... 4 more will make a set!" Slippy joked.
"You've all got a sick sense of humour... its not just Falco"
"You can't blame me for that, he came with his sense of humour" Peppy chuckled
"Ugh... that must've been one hell of a party..."
"Fox you're alright!!" Slippy shouted running to his bedside.
"Ah! Not so loud Slip'"
"Thank goodness" Krystal sighed leaving Peppy's side.
"Welcome back Fox, you had us worried for a moment there" Peppy called across the room. Fox smiled briefly
"Falco! Is he gunna be alright?" Fox shouted suddenly, he could feel he was still breathing but wasn't sure if he would recover. Falco's mind was inactive for the most part.
"Now you've come around he should recover, it'll just take a little longer for his bucket to fill up again, now the hole's been plugged" Krystal said
"What?" Fox asked confused.
"You do realise what he did don't you?"
"Yes" Fox tried to sit up and regretted it.
"Keep still" Peppy said now standing by his bed his arm bandaged and in a sling. Fox's eyes went from his arm up to his face
"You ok Pep'?"
"Just a flesh wound" Peppy said grinning "I'll be fine in a couple of days"
"Good..."
"Pretty stupid letting yourself get shot Fox" Krystal mocked.
"Oh look someone else's trying to replace Falco's sarcasm" Fox looked up at her, he felt Falco's mind flicker briefly, Krystal's cold words reverberated around his head for a moment, then it faded back into darkness. Still Fox was left with a strange sensation coursing through him, not quite hate... "I'd rather have Falco any day" he said scowling.
Krystal didn't say anything. Fox couldn't work out if she looked hurt or not. She dropped her eyes and didn't say anything more.
"So how you feelin' Foxy?" Peppy asked
"Like my insides have been through a blender" he groaned
"Sore then?"
"Just a bit"
"I'm so glad you're ok Fox" Slippy said quietly. Fox turned to him and tried to smile reassuringly at him.
"Well Fox you should be proud, you've got a new kidney and several feet of intestine in there"
"Really?" Fox asked stunned
"Yep. I'm glad we're not paying your medical bill... I'm afraid you'll be fairly sore for a few weeks yet. And you're off solid food..."
"Whaaat?"
Peppy smiled "Intravenous for a few days, give it some time to heal. Then we see how it goes from there"
"Oh great!"
"Never mind pup. You'll be back to your old self soon enough"
Fox yawned heavily and sank down into the blankets. A few second later he was snoring.
"Goodnight Fox" Peppy said mildly returning to his bed.
The day dragged on with little sign of either of them coming around again. At length Peppy persuaded Slippy and Krystal to book rooms. They left the ward as the lights were being turned off and visitors were being shooed away by an angry nurse with a striking resemblance to a bumble bee. Peppy was glad in some ways for his injury as it let him remain on the ward during the night, just in case one of them woke up. He gazed around the increasingly quiet ward. A few of the beds were now empty, but most still contained patients at varying levels of health. Peppy sighed sadly. Not all the beds were empty because their occupants were healed. Falco still lay motionless to his left, Fox beyond him at the end of the ward, next to a wall. To his right lay a young Canite Lupine, a wolf by the name of Steve he had found out earlier that day, part of the doomed Tiger squad, he was one of only three survivors of eight. Their mission had gone much the same way as Falco's original attempt, only there were no prisoners this time. Tiger squad were shot on site. In the end the Dragons had come to rescue them and they had escaped on the same shuttle. Both teams had taken heavy casualties, but Peppy knew there were teams who didn't get out at all. Directly opposite him was another Canite, a Vulpine like Fox, a girl. She was one of the other survivors from Tiger squad in for blaster wounds to her legs. The doctors were hopeful she would recover. Quietly he crept out of bed to look over his team-mates. When he touched Fox's hand he mumbled something incoherently, worryingly Falco remained motionless. As he gazed down on the sleeping pair he heard the nurse coming back. He walked silently back to his bed.
Fox was standing somewhere dark. He could taste blood and hear someone crying in the background. All he could feel was deep despair, hopelessness. There were shadows moving around, voices...
"Come on Lombardi time to play!"
Something swung towards Fox who was suddenly laid on the ground.
"Ah!" Fox shouted and went to sit up. Pain seared across his middle and stopped him. "Wh-where am I...?" Fox asked into the darkness around him. He wasn't on Great Fox. Then a familiar, sleepy voice answered him.
"You're on the Fanfare. The medical frigate. You were hurt remember?"
"Yes..."
"Its alright pup, go back to sleep"
With that Fox drifted away again. Peppy was awake for longer. He was comfortable enough, but his mind just wouldn't shut down. The horrors and shared agonies of the last few months kept replaying around in his mind, over and over. Different every time, yet still sticking to the same awful true story. Falco's mountain would be different, or Fox's encounters with the SharpClaw would change, but the story always came through in much the same way. He couldn't imagine many things that would make it any worse. Then he would find himself thinking about James McCloud and how much the same thing had happened to them. 10 years later he still had the nightmares, more recently than he had for a long time. Peppy missed James, he'd always known what to do, he always seemed to be able to make things better... at least... until Venom, Andross and Pigma. Peppy rolled over and tried desperately to think of something else.
Peppy stirred early the next morning, as had always been his nature. Steve in the bed next door was awake also. They exchanged a glance. Fox was laid on his side facing away from him, Falco still hadn't moved. Sighing Peppy looked around the ward. The firsts of life were beginning to stir, the nurses took temperatures and talked quietly to the ones that were awake. The ward was fairly quiet, except for the bleep of various pieces of equipment and the constant background rumble of the Fanfare's engines, when you lived on a ship all the time they were noises you got used to. Peppy thought it would feel strange to be without them.
Peppy watched Fox sleep, like he'd been doing for years. In his mind Fox had never stopped being the little eight year old he had been when Peppy had first become the most prominent adult in his life, even though Fox was now more or less an adult. Fox sometimes twitched in his sleep; he was at least sleeping... Peppy found it easier to watch him than Falco. At least he could see Fox was alive, Falco motionless could barely been seen to be breathing. Peppy wandered over to his side, something around his right wrist had caught his eye. He looked at his arm where it lay on top of the sheet with a drip feeding something into him. A thin ring of silver went around most of his wrist with only a small gap to get it on and off; gently Peppy twiddled the bracelet until the widest part was facing him. The inscription on it read "Silver" and nothing more. Peppy held it between his finger and thumb for a moment, gazing forlornly at it, as he did so he could have sworn he saw Falco's finger twitch, but when he showed no further signs of life he dismissed it as his imagination. Nevertheless, unwilling to let go of this shred of hope he took hold of Falco's hand and squeezed it, hoping for some sort of a response. When none came for a long time he started to lose hope and let go.
"Peppy..." Fox moaned. Peppy jumped and frowned. Fox had spoken but there was something not quite right about his voice, it had a strange edge to it. Fox's tail twitched and then nothing more seemed to happen...
Krystal hung motionless in her crystal. The vision was strange, as though seen from two sides at once, loved and revered, hated and feared at the same time. A strange world's dust swirled, a dark shape floated up from the ground. Fur and feathers stood on end. They were back at Krazoa palace. Fox watched himself rise up the fan lifts, though what he was seeing as he did so was also clear in his mind. The effect combined to make him feel as though seasick. Then they fell and were plunged into darkness. Falco panicked, he clawed at the walls, every part of him screaming at being trapped, from the hawk, to the weaker "civilised" mind. Fox tried to reach out and comfort him. He met only turmoil, tumbling, thuds, cracks, voiceless screams, violence, strikes that should have had pain but, confusingly, brought none. Fox's mind woke up, but Falco continued to dream. Fox kept his eyes tightly shut, not wanting to lose the fragile link. It was as though Falco was clawing at the edges of his mind, like it was a cage, seeking a crack to slip out of and be free... It didn't matter where that exit led to. Fox wanted to stay with him, he willed himself to, he felt his mind slide into a trance like state. Falco seemed to materialise in front of him, though his edges weaved, a look of confusion on his blurred face. Fox tried to talk but couldn't, instead he just smiled. Falco tilted his head on one side and blinked, frowning with unspoken questions. Then he smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
A worried looking grey face swam into focus. Fox had to blink a few times. Peppy breathed again.
"You ok Fox?" He asked quietly "You looked as though you were hanging onto the edge of a mountain"
"Interesting way to put it" Fox thought... not so much a mountain... As he came awake properly a tide of pain washed over him, making him groan softly, accompanied by a wave of nausea, which he partially contributed to the effect of trying to have 2 dreams at once. Only then did he remember Peppy had asked him a question, he struggled to remember what it was.
"We're ok" jumbled out of his mouth. Fox hadn't wanted to say that! "We're"?... Peppy looked at him with a confused frown on his face. Fox got the impression Peppy was looking through him at something, or someone else. His voice... it had had that strange edge to it again almost... Peppy smiled.
"Good" Peppy paused considering what he was going to say "tell Falco to hurry up and wake up"
Fox looked up at him confused for a moment.
"I think he's happy sleeping for now" Fox said smiling. "Lazybones"
"Can't you give him a poke?"
"Pah! Its more than my life's worth to wake Falco up."
Peppy shrugged and grinned "You can't talk Foxy, you're the king of bad mornings"
"Hey! Slippy's worse than me!"
"Maybe...but he doesn't generally produce quite the same amount of foul language when I try to wake him up!"
"I can't help it if I'm asleep! Falco gets off coz he dreams in Avion"
"Not all the time... besides, I know most of the Avion curses now too."
"Really?"
"No, I'm not teaching you them"
"Awww!"
"Don't pout Fox it doesn't suit you"
Chuckling softly Peppy wandered off. It was only then Fox noticed Krystal standing at his bedside, her eyes unusually sad.
"He nearly died you know. I felt it, and deep down inside I think Peppy did too and it's tearing him apart" Krystal said quietly. Fox looked up at her for a moment then dropped his head down again.
"I was there with him. Looking down on our bodies, watching them try to start his heart again" Fox sniffed "He said his goodbyes... I thought I was going to loose him"
"A few minutes longer and you would have been fighting for your own life" She paused "once Falco was gone you'd be on your own. Stubborn bastard was holding on to make sure you pulled through. I'm sure the only reason he managed to get out of the Behemoth was because he was afraid one of the SharpClaw would get you. To think, I nearly killed him..."
"So did I, more than once...."
"I could have been more supportive. Instead all I could think about was how bad my situation was. I was angry at myself for being so stupid, so I took it out on him. I said some really cruel things..."
"When you were on Great Fox with me and you knew what he was going through... why didn't you tell me?" Fox asked pushing back his anger.
Krystal sighed "It was nothing to do with me..."
"How can you say it wasn't anything to do with you? He shared his soul with you, you more than anyone else had something to do with it! I told you I was worried about him and you didn't say anything!!! He saved your life and you wouldn't do just that one thing to ease his pain?"
"...We'd just had a fight"
"And you couldn't put that aside for long enough to tell me what had happened? Surely you must have seen that it was the right thing to do, rather than let him go through all that alone until he did something stupid... and don't try to deny it. I know how close he came."
"You're glad he didn't do it then?"
Fox turned to look at her, unable to hold it back any longer his anger erupted "Of course! What do you think I am? You think I would have wanted his to do that to himself? Do you think I'm some sort of monster?"
"No!" Krystal shouted looking alarmed. "No..." Krystal's voice went quiet she looked down. Fox couldn't be sure if he saw tears shimmer in her eyes.. When he spoke again his voice was softer.
"We've had our rough patches, hell some of them were really rough, but don't we all, I see him as a... brother of sorts... weird brother I know... but... you don't have to be related to be family... When you live with someone 24-7 it's inevitable that you fight sometimes, it wasn't just Peppy who was upset when he ran away. Admittedly it took me longer to get worried about him than the rest..." Fox grinned "it's never been my style to show it, and it wasn't Falco's either"
"Get emotionally involved and you become vulnerable..." Krystal mumbled.
"Huh?" Fox said "Falco didn't say that did he?"
"No, not in so many words."
"Well whoever said it was right"
Krystal nodded "And Falco was betrayed by one of the people he thought would always love him unconditionally"
"Who was that?" Fox asked worried.
Krystal half smiled grimly "That's something you need to talk to Falco about yourself"
Fox still looked stricken, Krystal decided she should probably say something.
"Not you Furball"
Fox looked up suddenly and smiled.
"Hey, only Falco gets away with calling me that"
"Furball, Furball, Furball!!!!" Krystal laughed as she walked quickly away from Fox's bed.
Fox felt an odd sensation running through him, almost like waking from a dream. Then as he heard Falco groan he realised what it was, Fox could feel him regaining consciousness. Peppy looked up from his book. Fox spoke.
"You ok Falco?"
"...You just worry about your own hide" Falco said in a low groggy voice Fox could only just hear. He smiled, it had been a long time since Falco had said anything like that. Then Fox felt the pain in his stomach lessen, simultaneously Falco groaned.
"ugh, because your hide happens to be attached to mine. Give me drugs!"
"Drugs?"
"Morphine good... make you sleep... no pain... Drugs in those med-kits not strong enough..."
All of the team looked at each other miserably at his words. Peppy touched Falco's face fleetingly.
"I'll call the doctors" he said gently
"Thanks..." Falco trailed off, drifting close to sleep. He tottered on the brink "Fox"
Fox jumped at the voice in his mind
"What I said... still stands. Whether I die today, tomorrow or in sixty years time. I want you to know that"
With that Falco drifted back to sleep again. When Peppy returned it sounded as though he was having a heated debate with one of the doctors.
"Do I have to go through this every time I ask for something?"
"He's already been given more than he should have been. He has no injuries. I can't give him any more"
"Damn it he's just told us he's in pain!"
"They all say that"
"Who does?"
"The addicts"
Peppy swore. A strange stunned silence fell over the ward. Peppy looked round self-consciously and lowered his voice before speaking again.
"Falco is not a drug addict"
"Then how do you explain this. He has no injuries, there is no reason for him to be like this. Its all in the mind"
Peppy looked like he was going to explode. The doctor unknowingly had touched a very sensitive bone. Anyone who knew Peppy better would have begun backing away slowly.
"Where are the doctors who operated on Fox?" Peppy asked through gritted teeth.
"They've gone off shift" the doctor said smugly.
Peppy growled frustrated.
"They were spinning some story about telepathic bonding or something. They must've been tired, a Canite and an Avion. I don't think so!"
"Its true" Fox said from where he lay listening to the conversation. The doctor just looked at him patronisingly. "He saved my life, again. So I would ask you to do what Peppy is asking before you make him angry. Which is not something you want."
The doctor looked around at the team's faces and decided it would probably be unwise to get on the wrong side of them. He walked slowly off. Followed by their eyes. Peppy sighed, glanced around briefly then walked off. They all watched him go until he went out the double doors of the ward.
"Should I go with him?" Slippy asked Fox quietly.
"No..." Fox turned to Krystal "Fancy a game of cards" he pleaded with his eyes. Krystal nodded and brought the pack over from Peppy's table. Fox paused as he dealt out the pack to scrutinise as the doctor gave Falco the painkillers. Only once he was finished and had moved away from Falco did he continue.
Fox looked up from their forth game and smiled.
"What?" Slippy asked
"I think Falco's dreaming..."
"What about?" Krystal asked "He used to get me to wake him if..."
"No, its nice"
Fox closed his eyes and allowed his mind to receive the images Falco was seeing.
A royal blue falcon soared above the tops of trees. When he turned his head he could see the tips of his long elegant wings. He could hear the wind rushing past his ears, brushing against the soft downy feathers on his chest. He tilted himself, bent his wings back so he dipped forwards, into a dive, the trees raced up to meet him. He was exhilarated, he felt alive; his heart beat hard and fast against his ribcage. Then he spread his wings wide again and soared level just above the treetops, so close it felt as though their leaves would skim his pale underbelly. Then as he looked down the trees stopped and he was gliding fast over a silvery lake, he was a swift blue arrow, skimming over the surface, scaring the fish. Then he beat his powerful wings and climbed back up towards the fluffy white clouds. To where the Falcon flies.
Fox opened his eyes still smiling. Slippy and Krystal were both looking at him.
"Huh...sorry where were we?" Fox asked.
"What was he dreamin' about Fox?" Slippy asked
"Being a bird, flying"
"Not too much of a stretch of the imagination then" Slippy giggled.
Fox played a card and he and Krystal exchanged a glace.
"He has way more vivid dreams than I do... or do you think it's just the drugs?"
"It's always like that, pick up 2 Slippy"
"Pick up 4 Fox"
"Aw man! I swear you two are cheating. Would you stop ganging up on me?"
Slippy laughed as Fox sulkily collected more cards from the pack. He was loosing miserably.
"Knocking... Out! I win" Slippy cried gleefully, bouncing in his chair slightly, much to Krystal's amusement.
"Is he always like this?" Krystal laughed
"Yeah, pretty much, unless one of his inventions blows up, even then he's about the same, only slightly charred"
"Hey! You make it seem like it's a regular occurrence!"
"Slippy, it is! You blew up four atmosphere scrubbers in the last month"
"I was trying to make them more efficient! They were knackered anyway. We were so broke we couldn't even afford to breathe!"
"That's not healthy" Krystal commented
"No"
"At least now we can get the ship fixed properly, I'm tired of trying to hold her together with 10 year old parts." Slippy grumbled getting up.
"Mm we should get paid handsomely for this one, along with Dinosaur Planet." Fox said, he noticed Krystal making a face "What?" he asked watching Slippy wander off.
"How can you say it like that?"
"What? You think that just because I'm a mercenary that makes me any different from any other soldier in the Cornerian Army? How many of them do you think would fight if they didn't get paid?"
"I never said that"
"I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking we're just heartless killers. You know Falco had a point"
"I never once said you were heartless! I shared my head with Falco, I know none of you are heartless."
Fox blinked.
"Fox, Falco still came to Dinosaur Planet to save you even though he knew he wasn't going to get anything for it, once he was finished and made sure you were safe he was going to go back to the streets, or wherever, to hide from the Army! Until something made him change his mind-"
"What do you mean back to the streets?"
"Oh shit! Forget I said that"
"What do you mean?" Fox asked again
"Nothing just forget I said it... Falco wanted to be something other than a mercenary because he hated the public opinion, he pretends he doesn't care but it's all a façade. You are the hero to them, Falco is something else entirely. The press hate him-"
"No they don't!"
"Yes they do." Krystal lowered her voice "And when this comes out, and believe me, it will, the press will rip the shit out of him."
"No they won't-"
"Since I met you guys I read some back issues of the press stuff about you... some of its not real nice"
"Yeah, we all get bad press from time to time..."
"Falco more often than the rest"
Fox paused just looking at her
"And they love a good gruesome story. The darker the better, the press don't care who they hurt along the way, so long as they get good ratings. There are lots of things in Falco's past that they could stir up that he'd rather not remember, but they won't let the dust settle."
"What are you talking about?"
Krystal shook her head "There are lots of things he did in the past he wont even let himself remember-"
"Come on I've known him since he was 8, what could he have done before then, and personally I can't see him having done anything bad outside of Star Fox. We're all too afraid of Peppy for that!"
Krystal laughed softly then again shook her head "You want to find out, you look"
"I don't want to pry"
Krystal turned her head on one side "There are things in there... I only saw a glimpse of... repressed memories, I don't think even he knows they're there, or wont let himself"
Fox looked up at her, he could feel an odd sensation trickling up in his mind, flashes of memories that were not his own.
"If I look... will I hurt him?"
Krystal paused for a moment "I don't think so. When he was sleeping I took a look around, he didn't really seem to be aware of what I'd done" Fox frowned at her "I know, I know it's worse than reading someone's diary, but I didn't have anything else to do, and he practically gave me an invitation. Besides, I couldn't get at the stuff he didn't want me to see"
"How d'you mean?"
"It's like a library, not a very well organised one, but a library. Friad told me our memories are like books, we store them under a title, a date and organise them into sections and only when we open them can we read what's inside. There were whole sections he's blocked off from me, like a big no entry sign, and I couldn't get through that... I know, because I tried" She admitted guiltily "When I looked I found things in strange places, books hidden within books so to speak, like pop-ups that were hastily suppressed or spirited away so I hardly glimpsed them. Like some force snatched the books from my hands" She paused, looking at Fox to see if he understood, then sighing she carried on "his flashbacks were... are like ghosts floating around the library... his mind, randomly toying with the books when Falco was weakened enough to loosen their chains. The flashbacks were like an outside force, manipulating the books, just as alien as Friad's or my own presence. They were out of place, it didn't look like a library of course, but they were like... a splodge of black paint on a white page... and they weren't all from the Behemoth."
Peppy stood staring out of one of the Fanfare's windows, watching but not really seeing the stars floating quietly past. His hand, still holding the coffee filled Styrofoam cup trembled, making little ripples on the surface of the long cold liquid. He was dimly aware of a strange unidentifiable pain resonating form somewhere within him, but it seemed far away, like a long suppressed memory. A few others occupied the communal area many, like him, looking like dazed lost souls, just wandering the ship aimlessly. Peppy's eyes crossed over the ones nearest him, at least all his team were still breathing, which was more than some could say. Shaking off the cold feeling in his stomach he tossed the cup in a convenient bin and wandered back to the ward mumbling to himself.
"That was a good cup too..."
"Take care Fox..."
"You too Falco"
Fox pulled his Arwing up and away, and Peppy and Slippy followed him. Falco turned his own Arwing and headed in the other direction. It wasn't what he wanted, but he couldn't stop himself.
"You have so little faith in me" Fox's voice, but different, clearer now "I'm hurt. Did you really think I'd abandon you?"
"Fox?"
Suddenly they weren't in Arwings anymore. They were standing at the edge of a cliff, below a stormy sea bashed itself against the rocks. Falco was afraid, he couldn't deny it, part of him wanted to jump. Fox was standing beside him, looking closely at him, looking him in the eye for once, beseechingly, tugging on his arm.
"Come away!" Fox said desperately, almost in a whimper. "Please..."
Fox seemed to shrink in front of him, Falco wanted to reach out to comfort him but found he couldn't. The world started to swirl.
"Please you... you wouldn't... because I...
The rest of Fox's sentence was lost to Falco as he was consumed by a sensation of falling.
The first thing Falco was aware of was Fox shouting his name at the top of his lungs. Then of Krystal's hands pushing him against the mattress and a sensation of panic flooding from somewhere.
"Fox I'm alright!" He shouted. Turning his head to his left he noticed Slippy barely holding a struggling Fox still, and a nurse running towards him to help. "For fuck's sake lie still Furball before you tear yourself in half!"
Fox held now by two nurses and Slippy finally stopped struggling. Falco looked up at Krystal, she alone had him pinned.
"You were always too strong" Falco muttered to Fox's mind and turned his head to look away as Krystal released him. "Too strong for me..."
"I'm alight now... just a bad dream, leave me alone" Fox said hastily pushing the others away.
"You never let me see you cry. I'm beginning to wonder if you ever do. But I can forgive you for that... because I think you're afraid... But Fox McCloud isn't afraid of anything, right?"
Fox looked across at him frowning, unable to respond. Not allowing the pain in his chest to reach his eyes. Sighing Falco turned away to gaze back at the ceiling. He heard Fox grunt and turn his back on him.
The artificial night fell aboard the Fanfare and Peppy, Krystal and Slippy all returned to Great Fox, the medical frigate having docked with the Elenora space base earlier in the day. With them gone Fox and Falco were left alone together. Fox waited for Falco to fall asleep before allowing himself to follow suit.
They shared another nightmare. One neither was able to make themselves escape from. It began happily enough...
James pushed Fox on the swing, he giggled loudly, feeling the rush of speed and wind through his fur. This must be what flying an Arwing is like, Fox's young mind supposed. He was so happy, he loved these rare times when his father could be there with him, when he wasn't away with Star Fox or talking to the Cornerian Generals or making appearances on the TV, times when it was just him, and Fox.
"Higher, higher!" Fox shouted
All of a sudden the perspective and the feeling changed, Fox and James played on the swings but between them and the watcher there was a metal chain link fence. The kind of fence designed to keep the "bad men" out and the children in. Now instead of a feeling of exhilaration there was one of isolation and fear. Then they was running, fast, easily, over sand at the edge of the sea, the joy came from the fluidity of motion, the ease of it, and from the simple sense of freedom. The sky was a kind of plum, the sea a dark purple and the sand a kind of glistening silver gold. Beside them for a moment ran a huge stallion, steel grey, like the clouds, his mane standing up like a soldier on his arched neck. Then it seemed they would run into a wall of water, but before they reached it they collided with a shape and tumbled to the floor. The battle stallion reared onto his hind legs kicking out screaming and barring his sharp teeth, lightning cracked behind him as though he called it down from the heavens. They looked up into a face one of them recognised with terror. The face belonged to an Avion and his eyes were marked with green. For Fox the strike came out of the blue, for Falco it was expected. They were in a strange room, for Fox at least, the thing that bemused him most was the silence. The Avion bent over them and continued what he was doing.
Fox jumped awake. Falco in the bed next door whimpered softly and rolled over into silence. Suddenly Fox understood what Krystal had been talking about. Fox couldn't find sleep again that night, it eluded him, and so he simply sat in his bed and waited for morning to come.
"No Peppy I don't want to take my Geography exam..." Falco muttered as the last shrouds of sleep unwrapped themselves from his brain. Fox couldn't help but smile. "Geography?" Falco asked himself "Falco, you need to get out more"
"I'll say" Fox laughed
Falco jumped "Fox? What are you doing in my room? Are you sleepwalking again?"
"I'm not in your room"
"Then am I in yours?"
"Would it creep you out if I said yes?"
"Probably" His eyes slid open "Oh Fox this can't be your room it's far too tidy"
"True"
Falco yawned.
"Geography huh?" Fox asked
"Ugh... almost as bad as maths... but not quite"
"I like maths"
"I know, that makes you almost as mad as me!"
"Oh great"
Falco laughed softly and sat up in bed. Yawning he rubbed his eyes "I wonder what's for breakfast"
"Don't rub it in; you know I'm not allowed solid food yet"
"We'll get Krystal to chew it for you first shall we?"
Fox blushed "That, is gross"
"But you love it"
Fox blushed even more.
"So pleasant dreams Foxy?"
"Not really..." He decided to bite the bullet and come out with it. "Why didn't you tell me about your father?"
Fox felt Falco choke. He stammered his answer and Fox regretted speaking.
"Y-you didn't need to know. It's the past and I'd rather it stayed that way"
"But..."
"I suppose I won't have any secrets from you now will I?"
"Judging by the last few months that's a good thing" Fox said sadly
"Maybe, but there are some things that its better you don't know" Falco said, a grin spreading across his face as his mind drew up some images. Fox smiled and flinched a little.
"And others best left to the imagination!!"
"Yeah...!" Falco smiled and pushed the images back so Fox didn't have to see them anymore.
"How long will this last?"
"You'd have to ask Krystal that. She's coming by the way... I can still feel her sometimes... her presence... I'll drop the connection when the doctors say your wounds are healing, but after that I don't know what will happen. From what happened before I will be left with nothing much of you, other than what I remember now. Maybe I'll be able to feel when your close... like I can with Krystal" he shrugged "I don't know if there will be any residual effects for you..."
"So how much of my mind did you see?"
"Not much, most of it goes the same way as the strength transfer, you get half my memories, I only get your primary thought patterns "I'm hungry" "Ouch that hurts" That kind of thing"
"So you do feel my pain too?"
"Oh yeah... I get yours so you don't have to feel it so bad... but you get some of mine too... Watch"
Falco raised his hand up so Fox could see; then brought it down on the metal bar on the side of the bed.
"Ouchy!" Fox cried. Falco rubbed the side of his hand thoughtfully, smiling across at Fox.
"See. I could be really mean if you pissed my off; and vice-a-versa of course..."
"I don't think I'll be pissing you off again in a hurry..."
Falco just shrugged.
"Hey Fox, if you saw anything in there... my mind I mean, that offends you or anything I don't mean to ok? And the secrets I kept form you... Well I'm sorry ok, don't get angry at Slippy or Peppy because of them, blame me instead if you want."
"I'm not going to hold what I saw in there against you Falco... Although now I think I have a better understanding of what you went through"
Fox's thoughts recalled the memories in Falco's mind.
Everything was blurred, except for the glinting of the knives. Mitoc stood there brandishing them in front of his face, smiling that same evil smile. He grabbed Falco's hand, the one that was already in pieces and squeezed the fingers. Falco felt the fragments of bone slide over one another. He could hear himself screaming. Then the knife came in. Searing hot across his palm, in straight regular lines like cracking on a joint of meat. Falco had ceased to be a person look ago; he was a toy, nothing more than their play thing, to be sold on to the highest bidder when they got bored. There were lots of people who hated him. They wouldn't earn much for him though – damaged goods. Mitoc got bored with his slicing and decided to smash a few more ribs...
Peppy ran to Fox and Falco's beds. They were both screaming. Fox was frothing at the mouth.
"What the hell?" Peppy shouted coming over to Fox's bed. "Fox, Fox, what's wrong? Come on snap out of it... Sedate him or something before he tears his wounds!"
Peppy looked round to see Krystal slowly approaching Falco. He only realised what she was going to do seconds before she did it. Her hand came back into a fist and then she hit Falco's head. Fox stopped screaming. He looked around startled, then rubbed at his mouth.
"W-what was that?" he asked Peppy looking scared.
"It's ok pup don't worry" Peppy soothed then turned quickly to face Krystal "Why the hell did you do that?" he asked looking murderous.
"You wanted them to stop didn't you?" she asked simply
"Why the hell did you hit Falco?"
"Whose mind do you think that was coming from?" She said calmly. Peppy stopped stunned.
"What was that?" Fox asked again, calmer now.
"Err... I think Falco just had one of his little episodes" Peppy said slowly
"What? Oh god it was never that vivid before... I thought what I saw when he was unconscious was as bad as it got!!"
"We only see a shadow of what Falco does- what you saw there was ten times worse for him" Krystal said softly. Though Fox already looked like death the lasts of the colour seemed to drain out of his face. He turned to look at Peppy.
"What do you mean episode? I knew he has flashbacks but he never screamed like that before, how often does he have ones like that?"
"You tell me Fox, you're the one attached to his mind"
"I can't see right now exactly... but I know he talks to you about it"
Peppy looked down.
"He... I... he didn't tell you because he was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"That if you realised how little control he has over them that you'd kick him off the team. He still has them a lot, I think, I don't really know myself. He hides it... He didn't even tell me he was afraid he'd get kicked off the team..."
"Then how did you know that's what he thought?"
"He talks in his sleep" Peppy sighed and shrugged then looked away. There was silence for a long time until Slippy spoke.
"You wont kick him out will you Fox?"
Fox looked up uncertain how to answer. Fortunately something stirred in Fox's mind.
"He's coming round" Fox wanted to be the first person he heard as he again rose from the darkness so he thought what he wanted to say really hard.
"Welcome back Falcs"
Fox was surprised by the string of thoughts Falco returned to his mind.
"I'm sorry Fox. I couldn't stop it... I just got overwhelmed... I'll try harder next time I promise"
"...Next time I'll help"
"Krystal, did you punch me in the head?" Falco asked groggily.
"Yes" she admitted.
"Ok, that's what I thought" Falco said without opening his eyes. Falco was aware Peppy was standing by his side, he felt him take up his hand.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, my sanity's in here somewhere. Maybe Fox can help me find it. Its a small round egg with a large crack down the middle. Seen anything like that in your travels Foxy?"
Fox didn't answer, he was still shaken by what he had seen. Falco must have picked up on it
"It's ok. Don't worry about it alright Fox?"
"but..." Fox wasn't sure how to think what he meant, it was more emotional than what could ever be put into words. Still Falco seemed to understand.
"I won't ever be who I was before I left again... but that's ok. I'm still me deep down in here somewhere. Maybe just slightly less annoying... But it could just take a while for me to find myself again... you'll have to bear with me while I sort out the mess in here..."
Fox couldn't answer that. No matter how hard he searched for something to say, nothing came.
"Mind you, my head was never a very tidy place. The CloudRunner said that, but even before that I never used to think in a particularly logical order. Come to think of it, I never did anything like everyone else. I always had my own way of doing things... got me in trouble most of the time..."
Falco chucked in his mind, but it was hollow, he couldn't cover up the sadness in his heart and he knew he didn't have Fox fooled.
"Just don't worry about me ok Fox?"
"Falco?" Peppy said gently.
Falco didn't wait for a response from Fox.
"Yeah?" he said opening his eyes and looking up at Peppy.
Peppy smiled relieved. Falco smiled back.
"I thought you'd gone again"
"Nah, I'm still here"
"Good, you had us real worried for a while there, we thought we were going to lose you... both" Krystal added hastily
Falco looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"I didn't know you cared"
Krystal just shrugged, Falco saw Peppy roll his eyes, when Peppy realised he'd noticed he just smiled at him. Falco yawned then spoke
"How you feelin' Foxy?"
"Can't you tell?" Peppy asked.
"mm, yeah, but it's polite to ask"
"Pretty crap, same as you"
"oh good... nice to know we don't suffer alone aint it?" Falco asked smiling. Fox didn't smile back. "What's up Furball?"
"Nothing" Fox smiled at him, but Falco didn't buy it. He looked thoughtful for a moment then responded.
"oh right...perhaps not the best choice of words huh?"
"No"
"Sorry"
"Hey its rude to have a conversation without us!" Krystal said.
"Sorry"
"Huh?" Slippy said frowning at Krystal.
"Were you making sick jokes about us?"
"No" Fox and Falco said in unison.
"Krystal's looked better hasn't she Falc'?"
Falco noticed her hair mostly unkempt sticking out at angles.
"Sure Fox, you would notice that wouldn't you? I know what happened the first time you saw her, it's written all over your brain lover boy!"
Fox blushed and Falco laughed.
"Ok Krystal, now we're making sick jokes" Falco said through laughter, Fox joining him.
"Did I miss something?" Peppy asked confused.
"Sorry Pep'. It's nothing don't worry"
"What I'd give to be a telepath..." Peppy mused.
Falco looked at him, closed his eyes and frowned in concentration.
"I'll teach you, if you like" he shook his head "but not right now"
Peppy stunned was staring at him. He blinked a few times, perplexed.
"You lot never cease to surprise me..."
"Fox..." Falco said slowly. Fox looked up from his book. "I've done a lot of things I regret..."
Fox turned to stare at him, the usual look of confusion on his face.
"When I was younger... I did things... bad things... things I'm not proud of. I..."
Falco trailed off. Fox groaned to himself. Peppy had always been better at this.
"I must have made life hell for some people, and for what? A lousy couple of bucks"
Fox had no idea what Falco was talking about, it seemed to be a regular occurrence these days. "I regret the things I did... tell me I'm not alone"
Fox actually laughed. "Asshole! Of course I've don't things I regret! Falco you were there for half of them, standing there ready to tell me "I told you so", laughing at me. We all do things we regret, we all make mistakes. That's just part of life."
Falco stared blankly ahead "I stole things off little girls... and old people... right out of their hands! And you know what's worse? Sometimes I actually enjoyed it!"
A collection of images flashed across Fox's mind. Avions living in filth, a window smashed by a small blue hand, raids into other peoples' houses. An Avion girl flying through the air hit by a car and landing with a heavy thud. Her body bent at awkward angles. A small voice speaking.
"Tendra, get up, please get up." Those same blue hands shaking her "Please, come on, we have to go! The police are coming! Come on Tendra, please get up!"
The sound of sirens, then running...
"Hey kid!"
"She died"
Fox was aware of the hospital around him again, and Falco in the bed next door. Falco sighed heavily
"And she wasn't the only one, another girl died of The Sickness, that's pneumonia, another of... one of the... girl's diseases... I don't know which one... I was a little young to understand at the time, she had a sister with us too, not of age thank the stars... and then there was the boy who just... didn't come back... I was only there a month. Then I caught The Sickness... any longer and the doctor said I would have died of it too."
"None of that was your fault Falco"
"I should have stopped Tendra! I should have seen that car coming and stopped her running out! She didn't need to die. She shouldn't have had to. So many of the dead today are because of me... If I hadn't been born-"
"I'd be dead and so would Peppy, Slippy and Krystal and Andross could be running around the Federation with the Behemoth slaughtering anyone he feels like. And letting people like Mitoc and Slytir play with whoever they like. Civilians Falco... little girls... that have never done anything wrong"
For a moment Fox wondered if he'd gone too far. Falco seemed to be having another one of those internal battles, and he wasn't invited to this one. He could feel and hear nothing from him. Fox watched him. For a moment he closed his eyes and seemed to wince against a personal pain. Then he spoke quietly his eyes still closed
"It'll be good to get home"
"The doctors say I should be well enough in a couple of days... There's nothing to stop you leaving Falcs"
Falco looked away sheepishly "As long as I'm bonded to you I like to be nearby... to keep an eye out you know... I'm not ready to cut the link yet and neither are you... your still borrowing a bit from me... I think it's that liquid diet..." he chuckled "Not nearly enough sugar"
Fox laughed softly "Falco... Thanks... for everything"
"Don't mention it buddy"
The next three days passed slowly and lazily. Away from the Fanfare the Federation was rejoicing. The Behemoth was gone, defeated, and so some semblance of peace had once again been restored. The occupants of the Fanfare's wards watched the televised images of the celebrations with more subdued revelry, for them the cost of all the dead weighed more heavily. However on the whole the Federation was jubilant, even the Avions were celebrating. A few desperate young Wanderers were given passage into the skies into places at the Cornerian Flight Academy to follow Falco's example...
Falco watched closely as the doctors examined Fox's wounds. The sounds she was making as she looked were promising. Fox and Falco were both hoping to be able to go home later in the day. Casually she prodded Fox's wound, he tried, but failed to prevent himself wincing. Fox scowled darkly at the back of her head as she turned to Peppy and Falco standing at his bedside.
"He should be fine to go home today, seeing as though you're all so desperate to leave. He'll have to walk with crutches and avoid all strenuous activities for at least the next two weeks. Avoid any spicy food and alcohol-" Falco smirked at that "And make sure he sees a proper doctor every three days, just to monitor his progress. I am only letting you go because I know you have medical facilities on your ship. A nurse will be along shortly to discuss his ongoing medical needs and show you how to administer them"
Peppy nodded
"That means more injections doesn't it?" Fox asked
"I'm afraid so"
"Just as long as they're not in my butt I don't care"
"Gee thanks for that image there Fox I really needed it" Falco groaned. The doctor turned to him
"You are also free to go whenever you chose, it seems we can't get rid of you, although the professors aren't complaining, you two and your bonding are of great interest to the scientific community" She chuckled
"Great after all this I get to be a science experiment"
"I always thought you were anyway..." Fox chuckled
"Right that's it leave me and the Furball alone for a bit..."
"Eek!"
Falco turned serious "I need to break the link whilst Fox is still in hospital... just in case he reacts badly. When I broke with Krystal she hadn't been injured, I knew she would be ok"
"We'll monitor Fox... but unless you need us we'll give you some privacy... are you going to do it now?"
Falco nodded.
"Ok... call if you need us"
With that the doctor walked off. Peppy looked at them for a moment then took himself away too. Falco sighed and looked down on Fox.
"It's a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into isn't it?"
Fox laughed "Yep, but we survived, whatever doesn't kill you right?"
"If you say so..."
"Its been nice Falcs. Sharing my brain with you. I got to be smart for a little while"
"You were always smart Foxy, maybe not with exams, but where it mattered, I always looked up to you, your strength, your courage, your happiness. You were always everything I wasn't"
Fox blinked "I guess we're a good team then" he smiled "We compliment each other"
"When we aren't trying to kill one another"
"Us... fight? Would we do a thing like that?"
"No... never... It'll be weird not to have anyone's voice in my head again"
"Well who are you talking to when you think you're alone then"
"A girl who breathes fire and a guy in a green dress"
"I don't want to know!"
"Take care of yourself Fox... I may not always be around to help you out of the mess you find yourself in."
"You'll always be ready to laugh at me though"
"Oh yes, I'm always ready to laugh at my Foxy... I'm going to cut the link"
"Will I feel anything?"
"No"
"Falco..."
"Yes"
"I... Thanks"
He just smiled and shut his eyes. The last thing Fox felt from Falco was a sensation of regret, before his consciousness separated itself from his.
"I've done it. Are you ok Foxy?"
"Yeah..."
"Good, good that means we can get out of this dump"
Hearing their voices Peppy came over along with Krystal.
"Have you done it?"
"Yes"
"I bet that's a relief aint it Falco?"
Falco just shrugged. "oh well Fox, I'll leave you to your date with the nurse... Krystal, you wanna walk back to the ship with me?"
"Sure..."
"Thanks Krystal, I owe you one"
"What for?"
"Catching Peppy and carrying Fox"
"You don't owe me anything, if anyone does it's them. Besides I thought you said the Star Fox team doesn't keep scores"
"No, we lost count years ago" Falco looked across at her where they walked through Great Fox's corridors "I suppose you won't be staying around for long, will you?"
"Nope, I never do" She said shaking her head
"That's a shame" Falco said sincerely "There were lots of interesting tales I only got a glimpse of in your mind. I would have liked to hear them"
"We'll that's a change of heart..."
"Yeah, I figured I didn't quite get the measure of you right. I was wrong before"
"I don't think you were as wrong as you think Falco, the more I thought of what I saw from your mind, and realised what you risked saving me, the more I realised how wrong I was to say the things I did. I realised I never said thank you to you"
"I never expected to be thanked, but I was wrong to blame you for things. It was as much my fault as yours..."
"When I saw on the news about "the Survivor" of the Behemoth I knew they meant you, and I knew I'd been wrong to leave you to deal with it. After what happened on Dinosaur Planet I realised it was as much my duty as yours to finish off the Behemoth, you'd helped me out so I owed you help in return, that's why I came back... I lied before, I did come back to help you."
Falco smiled "Not to see Fox then?"
"Nah, I told you, I prefer older men... Falco, I'm sorry I shouldn't... well you know, I'm sorry. I think you were very brave to go back there"
"I nearly didn't... I don't really understand how I brought myself to go back. Maybe a little part of me was still feeling suicidal"
"You're not anymore are you?"
Falco just shrugged.
"I couldn't let Fox lead them into it without me, if something had happened I'd have been forever wondering, if, had I been there I could have stopped it... and... without them..." Falco trailed of then swallowed hard before continuing in a stronger voice "If they were going down I wanted to be with them... Live and die as a team."
"I'm sorry for the things I said... I was jealous... you were braver than I could ever hope to be, that made me feel... bad... if I was horrible I thought I could make you seem less... I dunno... it made me feel better; you seemed like the good guy... the hero type. So much better than me"
"Shut up Krystal. I'm no hero. I'll say the same thing to you I said to Salty. We do what has to be done... nothing more. The last thing I am is a hero. I was just... doing my job..." Falco paused for a long time "Take care of him for me Krystal..."
"Who... Fox?... Why do I need to take care of him, you'll be here to do it."
Falco smiled wearily "Yeah... but just in case"
"This isn't going to turn into one of Peppy's promises is it?"
Falco laughed "He's not a baby anymore... just be a friend... for all of them"
"You don't have to ask that Falco, I already am"
"Good" Falco smiled "Come on lets go grab the TV before Fox comes home"
When they entered the common room Slippy was already there, he was surrounded by what looked like the shattered remains of a small ship. Falco's first thoughts were that he'd blown something up and was trying to fix it before anyone noticed. Then as he looked more closely he guessed that he must be trying to assemble his birthday present. When he saw them he jumped up and ran to greet them, only narrowly avoiding stepping on his model.
"Welcome home Falco!! It's been real lonely here without you!"
"Aww..." Falco blushed
"Hiya Krystal? You gunna stay with us for a little while?" Slippy asked hopping slightly from foot to foot
"Well when you ask like that... maybe I'll stick around for a little while"
"Oh sure you stay for Slippy but not for me"
"You Falco Lombardi, I've had more than enough of you" Krystal laughed
Falco pretended to look hurt. "I could say the feeling was mutual... anyway I still think you're secretly in love with Fox and just can't stand to be away from him"
"Ugh, don't be gross Falco"
"And what I might ask is wrong with Fox?"
"Yeah just what is wrong with me?" Fox's voice suddenly asked as he limped in on crutches, with Peppy close at his side.
"You want the list?" Krystal offered. Falco and Slippy both laughed
"I could have let you fall to your death you know" Fox said grinning leaning on his crutches.
"Yeah but you're too much of a gentleman to do that"
Falco had continued to laugh
"You're no better birdie" she said slapping him in the stomach. "You're both ready to help a damsel in distress"
"Aren't damsels supposed to be pretty?" Fox asked. Lumbered by his crutches Fox was unable to escape Krystal's playful blow.
"It's good to be home" Falco said
Falco's bones ached. His whole body, even his soul felt tired. He dressed for the night slowly, sombrely, watching his reflection glint in the glass of his windows. The life seemed to have gone out of him, he might have grieved but he had no strength left to cry. His heart was empty, everything was done, it was over. He was left with a feeling that his future lacked purpose, direction, that he'd been living, surviving in limbo, like a ghost on earth waiting to complete his unfinished business, now it was done it seemed he had nothing left to live for. As he curled up in his bed he knew the feeling wouldn't pass...
When Peppy entered his room he wasn't surprised, he'd expected it. He walked over and sat on the side of his bed. For a long time they sat in silence, simply enjoying each others company. Falco relishing in the comfort Peppy had always seemed to exude. Finally Peppy spoke.
"It's nice to have you back little one. For so long I thought I'd lost you..." Falco saw tears in his eyes, but knew there was little he could do to comfort him "This'll be your first night back home without that monster looming over us" He paused "Promise me you wont do that to me again... you'll let me look after you"
Falco sighed softly "Peppy... you've been more of a father to me than anyone else in my life and I love you for that... more dearly than I love anyone... and my words will never be able to express that or thank you enough... but..." Falco sighed softly and felt tears run down his cheeks "You have to let me go"
"What?..." Peppy took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.
"I'm so tired Peppy... of this... I can't do it anymore... If you love me... you'll let me go..."
Peppy started to cry... "Falco..."
"Please don't cry..." Falco reached up to brush his tears away "I don't want you to cry..."
Falco's eyes closed and Peppy noticed his hand start to grow cold in his.
"I love you little Falco..."
"And I you... I love all three of you... make sure they know that..." Falco squeezed his hand "Sing me a lullaby... like I'm a baby again..."
Lullaby baby softly slow,
Your safe with me don't you know?
Lullaby baby don't you cry
Wipe your tears from your eye,
Change your weeping for a smile,
You'll be sleeping in a while...
"I love you my little one..."
Falco's hand squeezed Peppy's and then went limp for what would be the final time...
Light enveloped him. He was walking in soft sunlight, the air around him smelt of fresh grass and water. He could hear laughter. In the distance he could see blurred shapes walking towards him. Gradually they became more defined and Falco recognised them. Tyson gave him a playful slap in the middle of the back, Lupus and Blaze just laughed at his confused expression. Salty ran up and hugged him tightly, and then Silver shyly approached him, stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed him on the side of his beak. Then finally one last shape came through the group around him. As he got closer Falco grew small, so that he was just a little child again. His grandfather picked him up in his warm arms and kissed the top of his head.
"I'm so proud of you Falco"
Then he flew him round his head like an Arwing and Falco laughed with joy. He knew that after a long and happy lifetime the few others he loved in the world would be with him too.
