Title: Blinding Reality
Author: Meeeeeh
Rating: PG:13
Pairing: Joe/Dex
Warnings: Some groping between men, and a make out scene.
Summary: Just who is more important to Joe? Polly or Dex? The answer isn't hard.
Disclaimer: I don't own. I want to own, though. Call me.
Blinding Reality:
The plane was shaking and Dex was not pleased. For a man who knew them inside and out, he surely did not enjoy traveling in them. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that he had been witness to multiple crashes. That and he just happened to know the exact number of parts in Joe's plane, and that it only took a malfunction in one to bring them down. While he trusted his and Joe's work on the plane, and all modifications, it was everything else he didn't trust. The unpredictable east coast weather was certainly included.
"You should have taken Frankie's offer. Dex clutched his seat harness and waited for his stomach to settle. "She could have given us a plane that isn't liable to crash into the ocean."
As if to contradict the previous statement Joe took a flying dive down, swerving to the right to skim over the ocean gracefully. Aside from the tremors the plane behaved wonderfully, though this did not quell Dex's own shaking. "No way," He exclaimed, pulling up to fly through puffs of white clouds. "My baby has made it through worse, and she'll do just fine now. A little bit of faith is all we ask."
Dex rolled his eyes. Why was he not surprised Joe showed that amount of affection to an inanimate object?
He clenched his teeth against the vibrations. "Cap, there's trust here, trust me. But I'm telling ya, there's something wrong with this plane. Believe me, I know this plane inside and out. You forget that I poured my blood sweat and tears into 'your baby'." Stop shaking, Dex pleaded silently to the plane. "But I just so happened to hear from a certain reporter that you dealt with unsavory characters, damaged the plane under water, and merely left it in a swamp with God knows what in the water. So don't you think maybe she needs a rest?"
Joe rolled his eyes at this and fretted silently to his companion. Dex worried too much, he decided. He was a worry-wart and Joe would have to break him of that one day.
"Like I said, it isn't a lack of faith in you," He denied. "It's a lack of faith in parts of this plane that have been recently damaged."
"Well, don't you worry," Dex observed Joe did not sound worried himself. "Just sit back, enjoy the ride and watch the scenery. Polly wouldn't complain." Truth was Joe had a sinking suspicion Polly would have been yelling at him a million times worse than Dex's worried comments. She would have been cynical, and borderline rude, all while attempting to insult him and maintain a feminine glow. Of course Dex didn't need to know that.
As Dex settled back in his seat he did begin to notice his surroundings. The sun was setting and they were currently flying over New York. Even with the severe damage Dex couldn't help but think it had to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. They had resorted some sort of power and the lights shinning up at them were welcoming. Even the dark sea was catching some light and sparkling like a million diamonds. All this made him feel strangely serene, and he even began to relax a bit-- of course until Joe's plane gave a vicious lurch to the side.
They were going to home base, or at least to what was left of it. Joe had mentioned quickly early into their flight about the horrible shape it was in. Dex didn't need any details to imagine what sort of mess his own workshop was in. He vividly remembered the wall coming down on him.
Dex placed a palm on the cool window, wiping away a bit of the condensation. He peered down over the city. Just a little bit further and reality would come crashing down upon him. He'd finally see most of his life's work destroyed, and he really would have to start over.
"We'll be okay," Joe told him, seemingly taking the time to show off his newly acquired ability to read minds. He continued, "We got hit hard, but well recover. We always recover, don't we?"
"Great God," Dex breathed as the base came into view. "I knew it would be bad, hell the building was falling on me, but--" He trailed off. Now both of his hands were pressed to the glass along with his nose, and he was shaking for an entirely different reason.
The damage was massive, and the base was nearly rubble. When the machines had come they had been ripping the place apart hunting for him, and they had no conscious what so ever. Smoke indicated there had been a fire, and the emergency trucks proved there were casualties. This caused great grief to rise in Dex's chest, and it threatened to choke him. If they were still cleaning after so many days it must have been insanely bad.
He hadn't really realized how badly damaged they were at the time of his kidnapping. Perhaps all the damage hadn't been inflicted at that time. Though he most certainly recalled the explosions that had erupted over his head, and the crumbling of his building while the others had called and begged for him to leave with them. He remembered all the screaming and the heat from the fire, and he intense feeling that he could die at any time that followed.
But also there had been the feeling of dependency. Joe had been counting on him, and that feeling of responsibility was unlike anything else. The fact that Joe needed him so badly was overwhelming, and it had seen him through until the very end. Joe had given him the determination and the motivation to finish tracking the machines.
"You alright back there?" Joe asked, and started their decent. Dex nodded even though Joe could not see. "Just hang on. This is where it gets slightly bumpy."
"Slightly bumpy my ass," He muttered, and found himself holding his breath.
It just seemed they were going too fast and the runways was too short. Not to mention Dex clearly had not heard Joe ask for clearance to land. "Cap!" His voice was lost in the roar of the engine when they shot downward.
As it turned out they were not going too fast, the runway was not too short and there wasn't another plane around for miles asking for clearance. It was predictably shaky when they hit the ground with a hard bump. They rolled calmly to a halt with the wheels shrieking just barely. "Now what that so bad?" Dex reminded himself he was not a violent person by nature.
"Out we go," Joe announced, sliding out of his seat. He popped the top of the plane back and stood, stretching with an enjoyable groan. "Dex?" Joe turned to the white faced man. "Are you okay?"
The other man nodded slightly and fumbled with his restraints. "No more planes," He pleaded. "And no more flying." As far as Dex was concerned he would be fine never working on Joe's plane again, let alone riding in it.
Joe offered Dex a hand. "Come on, it isn't like I endangered you at anytime." A strange and dark look came over Joe suddenly, and Dex felt the man's hand tighten over his own. "You know I wouldn't have flown it if I thought the plane was going to crash."
"Yeah, yeah," Dex grumbled, clamoring out of the plane.
When his feet settled on solid ground he was overcome with a sudden temptation to kiss the hard surface. He felt immensely better and his stomach was finally settling enough for him to attempt a sudden movement such as walking. Then suddenly he felt sick all over again. His eyes sought out the building he had spent most of his career in. "Oh, no!" He wailed, wandering over to the nearly demolished building.
"Hey, hey," Joe reached out to jerk Dex back. "Be careful," The captain warned. "The structure is heavily damaged the beams could come fully down at any moment." Joe eyed the structurally unsafe building more closely. The thought of Dex in there caused his skin to crawl. No way, he told himself firmly. No way was he letting Dex in there without some form so safety equipment.
Dex relented on the option of going in at the present time, and instead searched the people passing in front of him.
"Smith! Sam Smith!" Dex waved strongly to a man trailing near the end of a large construction group. "Hey, Sam!" He beckoned the man over. "How are you doing?" He asked shyly.
The twenty year old man's face was smudged heavily with dark soot, and his hair was nearly white from plaster. His hunched shoulders and dull eyes told Dex he wasn't doing do well.
"Fine." No, he wasn't fine at all. However Dex would allow that answer to suffice at the moment.
"Has anyone been near my workshop?" He jerked his thumb to the left. He figured that if other people had been in, Joe might be more relenting to let him enter. Dex was currently not appreciating Joe's sudden protective outburst of emotion.
Sam shook his head, white flakes of plaster falling out. "No, none of us have gotten that far yet. We're all on the South side right now. I reckon we'll be over there tomorrow morning at the earliest. Why?" He asked suspiciously. "You planning on going in there?"
"Yes."
Sam held back a chuckle. He didn't know Joe well, but he could tell the man was seething at his companions intentions. He thought it was almost--well, it was somewhat cute. "I'm not gonna try and stop ya." He would leave that to the sky captain. "Just be careful over there. It most certainly is not safe, and there's not telling how bad the structural support was damaged. If you're going in," and he had no doubt about this. "Watch your head."
"Thanks, Sam!" Dex gave him a strong pat on the back and sent him on his way, laughing outwardly.
"I suppose there's no talking you out of this?" Joe tried.
"Not at all," Was the response as Dex approached the building again. "I know you're in a rush to get out of here," He waved his hand back to Joe, taking the first, hesitant step into the rubble. He passed directly though the space a wall ought to have been standing.
Joe didn't respond to his remark and Dex figured the man had enough time to insure his safety. He felt just peachy at the thought of Joe: The fantastic, protective mother hen. Boy, he sure was becoming cynical.
"Just look at this mess!" Dex stumbled over rubble and debris. He knelt down in a particularly bad area, and noted grimly it was where his work table had been. Paper was strewn around them and crushed under rocks. Absolutely everything he cherished was destroyed, and for the first time he realized how close he had come to being in the same boat as his notes.
A particularly colorful piece of paper caught his eye and he knelt down to examine it further. "Figures," He slipped out and his shoulder's fell.
Joe peeked over Dex's shoulder and saw the cause of his best friend's disappointment. "I'll buy you some more," He quickly supplied. Joe reached for Dex but the smaller man shied away.
"I'm not a child," Dex told him roughly, fingering his destroyed comic books. "I'm not a little girl. I'm not going to go cry over a few books. It really isn't that big of a deal." He stood and tucked the fragments into his pocket. This action betrayed his previous statements.
"It's more then that." Joe knew.
Both Joe and Dex jumped as a halfway intact wall near them came crashing down, spewing dust and ash everywhere. Dex's gaze snapped up to meet Joe's and he knew he had all of three seconds before he was promptly dragged out. It was a concerned and compassionate look cryptically hidden in a glare. It was enough.
"I get it," He told Joe quickly, only pausing to dust his hands off on his now dirty pants. "Let's go," He gave Joe a glare of his own, but smiled inwardly.
In truth Joe's concern meant a lot to him. The taller man did not often give it out, and he was insanely selective as to who received it. The fact of the matter was that Joe had flings. He picked girls and boys alike in his travels all over the world, from America to China. But those didn't mean anything, because Joe hardly ever worried about those people, and never like he worried about Dex. The man was insanely anal over whom he allowed into his life, plane and his heart, therefore Dex relished in the thought of being in the selective group.
"They've got my car here, somewhere, I think," He announced once they were clear of the building. "I just hope the blasted thing still runs. No telling what some of the blockheads have done to her for fun."
Joe took a quick jog over to a building adjacent the one they had previously left. Thankfully building R-24 was still mainly intact, which meant the machines hadn't acquired all the knowledge there was to know about the base. If they had known about the facilities underground the whole base might have been completely devastated.
His eyes lit up when he spotted a gray box on the West wall. I was a good sign when the panel door slid open soothly. "Pray those bastards didn't hit the ground."
Amazingly with the right sequence of buttons and the right turn of a dial the ground a mere fifteen feet from them began to open. Joe flipped the box closed and trekked over to the opening.
The opening was roughly ten feet by teen feet, though Dex was aware that it opened much larger then that. While he hadn't worked on the underground facility, he had done repairs and was aware of the system down there. Granted, it had been years since he had gone down, but he was confident he could remember everything. Certainly he was far more equipped to lead them than Joe was. The man seemed to avoid the place in general, and usually had one of the newbies bring his car up for him. It was a wonder Joe remembered how to open the hanger.
"Come on," Dex urged Joe forward, and gestured for the man to join him on the seemingly hovering platform. "Down we go." and then they were descending into total darkness.
"Blasted piece of junk!" Dex heard Joe bark angrily after the man had obviously collided with something.
Dex's fingers found the light switch on the far wall after just a few minutes of walking through the dark. "That better?" Dex asked.
Joe managed to spare Dex a nod before his full attention turned on the car. "There's my girl. You sure are looking good, Vanessa." Joe had a habit of talking to machines. "They are talking care of you." Vanessa just happened to be a bright, cherry-red automobile shinning back at them. From the bright gleam Dex deducted she was being continuously polished to perfection. This also lead him to assume she was being taken out regularly by the boys, and without Joe's permission."
The hanger was large, with a tunnel leading south, which Dex remembered would bring them up to the surface. Joe's car was safely tucked away near the wall, giving more room for the dozens of backup planes and trucks. Said machines were off limits to anything short of war. Dex assumed they would have been used during the attack if there hadn't been the fear of exposure.
Dex joined Joe next to the car. "You can just drop me off at Julian King's." This struck a nerve immediately. "You know, he owns that repair shop down on Tabor and fifth."
"Yes, yes," Joe waved off. "Tabor and fifth," He repeated back, a sour look on his face.
Joe's reaction left Dex secretly pleased. It had taken him years to develop the ability to interpret Joe's seemingly cryptic words, and actions. Though now that he had mastered the art, he found himself using the ability for evil, rather than good. It just tickled him to death knowing that he could cause such a reaction from a normally stale man. It was even more exceptional to catch Joe in what could best be described as a bout of jealousy. Yes, Dex knew he was cheating by using Julian and Joe's dislike of the man, but it was just so entertaining. Plus, Dex saw this as payback for Joe's earlier Polly comment.
"I promised Julian my help with this new design he's been working on. It's supposed to revolutionize day to day life. I don't doubt him either, Julian is a brilliant man," Dex pushed.
"What if I need you?"
Dex stiffened at this. He snapped around, and had most certainly not been expecting something like that. "Ah, er," Joe stumbled, realizing the full impact of his words. "I mean my plane needs you. It's shaking, you know. It has to be fixed. Planes don't normally shake like that."
Dex refrained from letting the man know he was merely repeating what had been said to him earlier. "There are other people here that are more than capable and qualified to fix your plane," He replied smoothly.
Joe frowned. "They aren't you."
Well, Dex didn't know what to do. Joe liked to play games, and give an innuendo or two, but he was hardly ever so forward in such matters.
"What about Polly?"
"What about her?"
Dex gave Joe a disapproving look and ran his fingers over the car's smooth hood. "I might have been busy being kidnapped and all, but I know your history with her. I 'm sure the two of you were all chummy together. And the way she rushed off after the rocket really spoke loudly. I don't doubt something has been rekindled." He crossed his arms and leaned his backside against the side of the hood.
"What are you getting at, Dex?" Joe didn't like where his best friend was taking the subject. Hell, he didn't like the subject.
"It just seems like Polly is pretty important to you right now. I assumed you'd be glad to get rid of me and drop by her place. I'm sure Frankie has dropped her off by now."
There was a pregnant pause and heavy tension. Dex could almost feel Joe processing his words and coming to a conclusion of his own.
Joe moved faster than Dex could have imagined. So fast he did not have time to brace himself. So he found himself flung backwards over the hood with Joe pressed against him, and the man's lips soundly over his own. Joe applied pressure and the car groaned under them.
It took Dex many moments to realize he was being thoroughly ravished before he responded back. Passion flashed in his eyes and he granted Joe's tongue access to his mouth. And the man had him weak within seconds. He locked his legs behind Joe's back, giving his weight to the man, and not trusting his own legs to hold him up any longer.
Joe's kisses were quick and forceful at first, and then slow and sweet towards the end. His tongue met Joe's and they wrestled playfully for dominance, hands pressing everywhere possible and streaking through hair with occasional tugs. On one such tug Dex tip his head back and allowed Joe to press a trail down his throat, setting his body on fire.
The arms holding him were strong and possessive, leaving no doubt as to whom Joe wanted. But the strong arms also gave Dex a feeling of being protected. He felt that Joe would never let him go now. He wouldn't have to fear being kidnapped again, and Joe could take care of anything else that might come their way.
Joe thrust his hips forward and Dex groaned loudly, thankful they were alone.
"Still think Polly is more important?" Joe asked, pressing a last kiss to Dex's temple.
Joe shook his head in a daze and tucked himself into Joe's body, not minding one bit they were pressed on a hard, cold hood.
"Good," Joe said, then raised the both of them.
Joe glanced down at his hood and frowned darkly. Dex followed his gaze and tried horribly hard not to laugh. "Don't worry," Dex chuckled, patting Joe's cheek while eyeing the large dent in the form of their bodies on the hood. "I'll fix Vanessa for you."
Joe rolled his eyes and licked his lips. "Forget Vanessa and get in the car." He rounded the car and slid in, waiting for Dex to do the same.
"I'm not taking you to Julian's," Joe told him sternly when Dex slipped in. He started the car and Dex was aware from that tone of voice it was nonnegotiable. Though he was still going to play with Joe, for just a bit longer. "He's a pervert." Joe flipped the headlights on.
Dex laughed deeply. "Cap, I've known him since grade school."
"He thinks that gives him certain liberties with you." The car gave a small lurch before jetting forward smoothly. "I've seen him looking at you." Joe maneuvered around the planes and automobiles easily, heading south to the tunnel's entrance.
"Heaven help us if he looks at someone." Joe was rather set, and Dex felt that was about the time to leave it alone. "Then where are we going?"
"My place."
Their entrance to the hanger had triggered the southern door to open, and they came atop the ground with a burst of light. Both men adjusted their sight quickly and Joe drove towards the bridge that connected them to New York while Dex waved goodbye to his friends. Both men were aware if they had stayed any longer they would have been immediately drafted into the cleanup crew. That was for tomorrow, and right now they deserved a break.
"Julian will need me," Dex tried one last time. He honestly had promised his old friend he'd stop by long before the whole Totenkopf mess.
"I need you."
Words weren't necessary from that point on. It began to drizzle and New York's lights became brighter. Joe crossed into the city and Dex closed his eyes. Settling back he placed a hand on Joe's thigh, taking in the man's radiating warmth.
He and Joe were going home.
They were going home without any more adventures, danger or Polly. And those were things he most certainly could live without.