FIRST CATCH

Thanks for sticking around for the 11th chapter. Writing this on the side has been so much fun. Secretly, it's been a really good way for me to improve my writing as well. Thus, That Sylveon should be getting some better writing buffs, if you get me.

LuanOTP doesn't own StarFox, nor does she own any of its respective characters.

…

...

As a third mission, they were tasked with aiding the Cornerian military to defend a base on the planet Katina. Four Arwings spun from the sky, descending upon the wartorn terrain to input two cents on the skirmish that took place directly above the base.

"Let's back up the squadron."

He needn't hear any more instructions from his captain to make a move. Falco checked all the flashing dials and beeping meters displayed on the dashboard inside his revered fighter vehicle, before joining the fray of Cornerian and Venomian ships taking turns clawing at each others' jugulars. The battle of attrition was fierce. Vicious wasps zipped about the combat zone, tearing apart their airborne adversaries with placed laser shots, waywardly flung bombs and charged shots.

The screams of a downed pilot through the transceiver made the avian shudder. He turned his head to the left. Another Cornerian fighter plane plummeted to the ground with the pilot's fate already spelled out for him or her. A contrail of ferocious flames followed the ship down to it's doom, and the resounding explosion upon impact closed the book on the story of that unfortunate Cornerian pilot that died protecting their loved ones. That soldier had friends. Family. A Future. Falco blotted those thoughts out from his head. To the Cornerian government, that fallen comrade was just another number.

Folding up his sleeves, the falcon veered to the right, rolling behind the path of a fighter ship. A Venomian ship, for that matter. His targeted system made a clicking noise, confirming a lock-on for the target just ahead of him. One simple button was pressed in response, and lasers were ejected from the cannons of the Arwing, striking his prey with pristine precision. The enemy's cockpit was totaled - within a mere second, the entirety of the Venomian fighter plane had combusted into a falling ball of flames.

A buzz came from the Arwing's communication's device just as StarFox's ace pilot was about to notify his team of another enemy down.

"Falco! What're you doing!?" came the panicked voice of Husky and Bulldog unit leader Bill Grey. "That was one of ours!"

Falco knitted his brow. He performed a U-turn to get a better visual of the target that he had put out of commission, and the shock dawned upon his mop once he had a true gander. Spiralling toward their gateway to death, a proudly painted green Cornerian fighter.

The avian looked down at the hands that piloted the weapon responsible for that pilot's death. They trembled in the horror of manslaughter.

…

…

The heavy eyelids of the pilot refused to open at first, though after a bit more physical persuasion, they creaked open, allowing Falco to return back to the dark, metal-plated reality of his room. A hand traversed his forehead, gliding across the top of his head until it gripped the slightly damp pillow that he rested on. He felt a want to sit up, though was urged not to by vice-like twinges around his love handles.

He eyed the ceiling with resentment. His head throbbed in pace with his heartbeats. Brows furrowing, he huffed exasperatedly. Vision wandering to the nearby desk, the bird aspired for a cold beverage that'd take him away from his subconscious imagination and unfortunately vivid memories.

A bottle of water, that was already finished. Perfect.

"Did'ya have a nightmare?"

Falco became still once he heard the voice, yet resumed motion when he had identified it internally. He turned onto the side that faced away from the cat, and painstakingly sighed.

"Yeah."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Good question. It irked the avian who slowly sunk into the pillow. Did he truly want to talk about it? Or did he want to wallow in the recollections that haunted his slumbers like demons with a destiny bond tied to his dreams?

"...No thanks…"

Falco felt the prod of a finger teasingly nudge his back.

"Come on, Falco. Quit the tough guy act already."

"You already heard me once, Katt." hissed the feathered flyer, daring to give a side eye to the cat at his six. "The last thing I want is for you to turn into my therapist."

Shuffling. Falco was no psychic, but he was certain that the feline had closed the sacred gap between them. There was a change in the distribution of weight on the bed, and it seemed to lean toward his side.

"Hmph. You never really changed, you know?"

The avian flushed out any embarrassment through the metaphorical toilet in his head, flinging some more blankets to cover his shoulders. "I'd suppose not. And I'm not your teddy bear. Do you mind?"

Awkward murmuring ensued. It had felt like Katt decided to no longer pursue his attention. Or rather, for now. His room was silent, as if he was the only person occupying the bed. The feeling that he had of Katt's arms around his waist had ceased. He'd hate to admit it, but now his love handles felt slightly lonely.

Pangs of regret pulsed from his head down to his stomach. Now the room had become full with a deadly toxin of remorse; Falco found it increasingly harder to breathe. Now, he had turned his head, peering just over his blue glenohumeral joint. The pink rogue pilot lay on her back. Her arms were folded to sit behind her head, as the covers stopped right at her waist. Dim rays hit her irises just enough to make them sparkle through his window. Her bosom, obscured by a vest he once owned, pooled above her chest, although slightly to their respective sides. A smaller mound poked through the cotton material on each side, tipping Falco on one fact. His eyes wandered to his desk. There was that yellow vest once again. This time, however, accompanied with a silver bra.

Huffing, he turned back to compensate for his blush. Yet, after a while, he realised how uncomfortable the silence made him. Soon, he too decided to lay on his back, and relaxed in the soothing position.

"Hey, um… Katt?"

"What?"

The response had hints of exasperation. Her tone pierced Falco's heavy chest like an arrow. Never a good sign for a morning as early as theirs.

"I'm gonna get a drink. Do you… Would you like one?"

"Sure. Why not." she replied lifelessly, not moving an inch.

Falco pushed the sheets off of himself, and exited via the foot of the mattress. He then visited the very frame of the bed, getting on his knees to reach below it. Katt leaned on an elbow to watch closely. With a heave and a half, the avian had revealed a stainless steel minifridge, that was plugged into an outlet below his bed.

"Wow." murmured the feline, as Falco opened the chilled container, and rummaged through its contents. "I never thought of you as one for big packages, but here you are anyway."

It'd seem like the avian got the wrong end of the stick when it came to that comment. Thankfully, he could hide his embarrassed face by looking back down at the chilled portable compartment. "Do you want one or not?"

"Count me in."

The ace pilot handed Katt an unopened bottle of beer, specifically 'Coro-neria' branded beer. For a refreshing quench to all of summer's thirsts, drink 'Coro-neria'.

Upon receiving the cool, rejuvenating and unique tonic, the fuchsia rogue looked upon the bottle with discontent. And maybe a cute little pout too.

"What's wrong?" asked the bird, fishing for his guilty pleasure in the minifridge. "There's no way you've never had a beer before, Katt."

"It's not that, birdie. I don't see how I'm gonna ever open this bottle without an opener."

Shaking his head, Falco outstretched his hand with a deadpan expression, beckoning for the bottle to be passed to him. Katt complied, and watched with interest as the pilot positioned the bottle cap inside of his beak. One flick of the wrist later, and the cap let up, hissing while Falco tore the glass container away. Promptly, he handed it back to it's surprised owner, before quietly resuming his own endeavours.

Katt took a quick swig before the beer's precious contents fizzed up out the bottle. "Mmm. I gotta say, Falco. You surprised me with that lil' gift of yours. Thanks for spicing up my morning."

"It's alright." replied the bird, finding a drink suitable for his tastes. The cool interior of the fridge had bestowed droplets of moisture on the bottle's surface. The cold touch on his wing told Falco it was just how he liked it. "I usually don't drink from here unless it's after a mission. Or y'know, maybe I'm feeling a little down."

The feline giggled to herself. "Wow, birdie. Didn't think you'd exposit so soon."

"Oh har, har."

Grunting, the bird heaved the minifridge back under his bed. He had crossed his legs after deciding to enjoy his drink from the floor. The nostalgic flavour lifted him from the metal mesh below him. As streams of sugar flowed down his throat, as did memories through the banks of his mind. Seaside, warm tides. The only thing missing was the grains of sand swivelling beneath his feet.

He'd definitely have to save the rest of the drink for later. Falco stood up straight, placing his drink on his desk. He could feel Katt's eyes of intent wander across his display of the penultimate stereotypical male sleep attire. Of course, it was none other than a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of socks.

The rogue space wanderer took another sip of her drink, sitting up straight as she did so.

"Hey, Falco?"

Falco checked the time on a wristwatch he had left on the desk, as well as many other things important to him. "Mhm?"

"Could we talk for a bit? Just you 'n' me. It's felt like years since we last met in Zoness, or during our times with the Hot Rodders." elucidated the magenta mammal, waving her free hand in a circular motion. "We didn't even stop to catch up since I got here."

The second he had heard the name of his old gang, the avian immediately cringed. It wasn't something that he wanted to be reminded of, especially since he had his new life now. Nevertheless, Falco brought himself to sit down at his docked swivel chair.

"I guess we haven't. Where've you been since we totalled Andross? You sorta jus' disappeared."

Katt put aside her beer for now. "Well, after the war, you guys went back to Corneria as heroes. No bounties on your heads, clean records, the whole lot. I knew it was gonna be difficult for me to come back even with how I helped. Corneria doesn't reward space pirates very well. Y'know, unless you blow up an evil genius space monkey."

For what wasn't the most amazing joke, Falco had to admit, it put a smile on his face. And maybe peppered his ego a little bit too.

"Sounds harsh."

"You're telling me. So, I just worked the petty jobs for some crooks in Sargasso - like Wolf 'n' all - alongside Mouser 'n' Kool for the time being. Paid pretty well, can't complain."

"W-Wait, Mouser? Kool?" blurted the bird, flabbergasted at merely hearing those names once more. "What the heck were you guys doin' with those punks in Sargasso?"

Her right hand was re-equipped with the beer bottle again. "Not everyone can join StarFox and save the Lylat system, Falco. Anyway, those two sons of bitches sold me out to Wolf and his cronies. I guess that's how we got here."

"How excitin'. Pretty stunning that you were with the Rodders for so long, though." Falco said, resting a hand on the underside of his beak.

"Eh, I suppose I had some good memories with 'em. Dated Kool for a bit too."

Reaching for his beverage, the avian realised just how long he had been staring into the feline's eyes, listening to her story as if he was a child sitting in front of their mother tell tales of the creek. Although, the second her words clicked in his head, he stopped pursuing his drink.

"W-Wait, what? You dated Kool?"

"Yeah, like for a couple weeks." Katt replied, casually shrugging her shoulders. "It didn't lead anywhere, and it was kinda messing with my profession. So, I broke things up between us."

"...I guess that makes sense."

"He was kind of a douche anyway."

"Heard."

Falco and Katt shared a laugh. It wasn't like the forced intakes of air that he'd make when Slippy would crack one of his lame jokes. The brash Starfox member had felt it emotionally. A reason to smile. A reason to feel joyous. Yet, it felt so surreal to him, that it was foreign.

Now, he had picked up his beer, allowing the chuckling to come to an end. One sip later, and he was engaged again.

"So, how'd you first meet Wolf? He's a nasty guy, I wouldn't expect him to be courtin' you or anything."

Katt giggled once more, sitting up to respond a little more comfortably. "Well, I met 'im inside of the bar in Sargasso. Y'know, Boss Nicely? Well, it wasn't actually him. It was just some of his lap dogs. Panther Caroso and the other weird lizard dude. Dunno his name."

"...Leon Powalski." Falco had finished with a bit of a hiss. He had just been reminded of his unsettled scores between himself and the green goblin of a space pirate. "Had some bad blood with that guy."

"I can tell, hm, hm. Well, anyways, we told him our business, and he said he had an opening for us. I'd suppose, over time, I got a bit closer to StarWolf. You know, until we decided to fuck 'em over." casually stated Katt, smirking as she gulped down the rest of the drink as if it was about to go stale.

Falco gazed intently at the way the feline finished her drink. He wasn't sure why, but it had impressed him. He had doubts that he could make a feat that was half as good as what he'd just witnessed.

"Right… When you say you got closer to StarWolf… What do you mean?"

The female space rogue's ears shot right up when she had heard that question. Meanwhile, the avian didn't think he had seen that before. It was uncharacteristic of the cat that was commonly as cool as a cucumber. It was uncanny to catch her as cumbrous as she was currently, and Falco knew there must've been some subliminal meaning beneath her actions.

"Ehh… It was just on business terms. They trusted us a little more to take the more dangerous jobs. That's what I meant."

Falco gently placed his drink down, and changed his position. "Y'know, for some reason, I don't buy that, Katt."

"Well for now, that's all you're gonna get." counted the cat, smirking and placing the empty beer bottle on the bedside desk. She then turned about in the covers, wrapping herself well, and lay back on the bed. With her back facing the rejected avian, she spoke. "Now, I'm gonna sleep for a bit more, m'kay?"

"Yeah, alright… I'll go and make myself useful."

"Mmm… See you soon."

Yes, his bones ached for him to rest for just a little longer. However, it was tending toward 10am Cornerian Standard Time; Falco was aware of how Fox felt about sleeping in. He shifted himself to his tiresome feet, and used his limited effort to slog out of the door, and into the main hallway.

He had left behind him, a feline that witnessed each and every heavy step taken by the avian. An invisible weight pushed her shoulders back onto the bed. Taking one more breath, she shook her head, and shut her eyes.

Peppy stepped into the common lounge. There the rabbit stood, at the mouth of the room. His red flight suit was a little tighter around the waist since the last time he wore it. However, no matter the fit, he wore it below his white jacket with pride. The sight before him didn't really pertain to 'pride', though.

The centre table displayed captain Fox McCloud, comfortable in his pyjama shorts and vest. Across him, the mechanic Slippy Toad (who hadn't found the decency in him to not show his bare torso). Both enjoyed a simple yet entertaining card game.

"Fox! Slippy! What're you two doin?" scolded the elder hare, approaching the duo. "Why aren't you two dressed in case a mission arises?"

The frog of the entourage reclined in his chair. "C'mon Peppy! General Pepper never gives us missions on Saturdays!"

Peppy shook his head disappointedly. "That ain't the point, Slip. We gotta be ready for anything! Back me up here, Fox."

"I hate to say it, Peppy, but Slippy kinda has a point." painstakingly admitted the vulpine, holding his set of cards in one furry hand, and turning his other's palm upwards in defeat. "Pepper hates assigning weekend jobs, because he's probably taking some days off as well."

"...Well, in that case…" The experienced rabbit hopped over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of cranberry juice and a bottle of unbranded rum. "I think I'll get busy and maybe call Vivian over the phone, then."

"You go do that, Peppy." told Fox, waving the departing hare a farewell for now. When Peppy disappeared from view, the captain immediately went back to an intense match of crazy eights. "Now… Let's see… You can put anything on a Queen, right?"

"No way! They have to be the same suit!"

Fox sighed, tugging at the collar of his beige coloured vest. "You know, you really drive a hard bargain, Slip."

Entering the room, Falco Lombardi made stern eye contact with some of his peers. It wasn't any surprise that the team's biggest card rivals would wake up this early just to go head to head.

"H-Hi Falco."

"Hey, Falco."

The bird simply muttered while approaching the table. He saw the speedy shuffling and quick comebacks from both players, and decided against watching his copilots play crazy eights for any longer.

"Do you wanna join, Fal?" offered the fox, smirking as he put down a Jack of Spades.

Falco shook his head, harshly trampling over to the common lounge's fridge. "No thanks. I don't win at anything - 'Cept dogfights."

Slippy giggled to himself, as he countered with a Jack of Diamonds. "He's probably too busy with Katt in his room!"

"Can it, Slip." the avian threatened, reaching for some juice to wake him up a little. "You know I just suck at games."

It was difficult resisting a smile, though Fox knew better than to josh with a tired Falco. He simply picked up a card instead. However, the frog's comment sparked a point of interest in his head.

"So, how is Katt, anyway? She hasn't been a burden on you, has she?"

The ace pilot had seemed to be frozen stiff in place. The stone statue of a bird deep in thought broke into sudden movement the second Fox has laid eyes on him. Eyes that had seen as many horrors as he did, if not worse. Yet, they seemed unfazed.

"Umm.. Yeah. She's been alright."

"Ah, fair enough. Hope she's acquainted herself well with the place."

Falco returned to the table - a bottle of orange juice in his hand - and replied to his captain. "She's definitely acquainted herself with my bed…"

"Does that mean you guys have done it?"

Two pairs of worried and weirded out eyeballs burned a hole through the Slippy's head. That'd make fifty-three times, if they were ever keeping score.

"What? Just curious, r-ribbit!"

The bird feigned trembling in denial. "M-Me and Katt? No way. I think we're just friends. I'm sure she feels that way, too." He took a sip of his juice before continuing. "Plus, I think she had recently gone through a break up? She might not want a relationship at all. Keep this between us, though."

"Darn. Just seems to be the harsh truth, huh, Fal?" added the captain, his gaze climbing Falco's frame until they met eyes. "At least, you'll still have us, y'know?"

"I can appreciate that. Thanks."

Fox warmly smiled, before returning back to the game. Unfortunately, his face fell when he had seen Slippy's joker card placed at the top of the deck. The frog laughed merrily as the vulpine counted and picked up five extra cards from the side. Smiling himself, Falco forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"You know what, why don't you hand me a deck? I'll give it another go."

"Yay! Falco's playing!" squealed Slippy, clapping his hands excitedly. Fox nabbed the entire set of cards from the table, shuffling them in his grasp. Frankly, he was relieved that he didn't have to play with his amphibious comrade, who he was certain was cheating at the game.

"Glad to have you back, Falco."

Nodding at his superior, the bird smiled in chill content. "A game or three won't hurt, right?" he said, receiving seven cards from Fox. Although, the more he realised what he was holding, the faster his smile made itself scarce. "Eh… Maybe just one game'll do."

Okay, I'm finished for now. A bunch of my good friends on my discord server are writing a special chapter for one of my other stories. It'll be promptly posted as soon as it's done. Anyway, shout outs to JustaMegaMothim, Vixal and Ninja (and I think Ramen and Muda) for I believe that these nooks read this story from the discord server. Thanks guys!

-LuanOTP

Katt waltzed around the corner, scurrying to get to the bathroom. It may not have been the wisest idea to consume more of Falco's drinks while he was gone. Hopefully, the cranky avian wouldn't mind too much.

She hurried through the hallways in nothing but a very long t-shirt that belonged to Falco. Passing the lounge, she halted her tracks when she heard quiet voices, saw green, orange and blue blurs, and smelled cranberry juice and rum. Her ears perked up, as she silently and secretly stood around the corner.

"M-Me and Katt? No way. I think we're just friends. I'm sure she feels that way, too."

Out the window of a fifty-story building, her heart jumped out with no parachute, and crushed itself on the concrete floor. Falco's voice shattered her from the inside. What on Earth would make him believe that?

"Plus, I think she had recently gone through a break up? She might not want a relationship at all. Keep this between us, though."

She had heard enough. Misplacement of trust was the worst kind of betrayal, and her heart could no longer bear to hear any more.

She straightened out the garment that ran over her chest, and stormed off toward the bathroom, cheeks flushed in anger.