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Its the boys first time in space, things can never be easy can they? Just the usual reminder. I don't own if you get this story alert again fanfiction had another blip!

John stood with his coffee overlooking the expanse of the white cratered surface, they had been stationed at moon base for two months now and it was starting to feel like home. He took in his appearance briefly in the reflection. He was paler than he had ever been, his ash blonde hair washing him out even more under the harsh strobe lighting. His navy-blue polo shirt was neatly tucked in to his white combats.

He smiled as his reflection was joined by a blonde and blue-eyed girl, although her hair was a dark golden, the colour of honey. She stood a good foot and a half shorter than him. "Lost in the stars again Tracy?" She noted he was nursing his coffee. "Stay up too late gazing again?"

"You could say that." He spun round to give her his full attention. "I know I'm close to observing something phenomenal." She could see the dark circles under his eyes.

"Well maybe you should concentrate on getting some rest when you can, we wouldn't want you missing something phenomenal due to sleep exhaustion would we?" Her usual playful tone was gone, she was genuinely concerned, since they got here John literally lived and breathed space. He completed numerous missions, research tasks and maintenance. Any down time he got he was straight back on the telescope in the cabin he shared with his brother.

"Don't worry I'll be fine; I just haven't adjusted to a sleeping pattern yet but it will come." The cafeteria around them started to empty as the teams got ready for their daily assignments. Alan walked over to John in the same uniform.

"Morning Chloe."

"Morning Alan, can I trust you will keep an eye on your sleep deprived brother today?" John rolled his eyes

"Sure thing, I promise to bring him back in one piece." He smiled good naturedly at her.

"Alright well, we can check in again at lunch?" Chloe was on lab rotation for the next week whilst the boys were on maintenance duty.

"Yep, we'll be here." John watched as she nodded and walked away, waving over her shoulder as she did so. John waved back and shook his head smiling. They set off towards the locker room to prep for donning their spacesuits. The corridor wound round to the right and was mostly deserted except for a few students here and there. The walls were made of a tough carbon alloy with an imprinted cross in each panel. It was really easy to get lost in your first month as all the corridors were uniform in design.

"Come on, admit it your sweet on her." John caught himself rolling his eyes for the second time in quick succession.

"Alan, I am not sweet on her. You can have female friends you know." He sighed in exasperation. He opened his locker and pulled out his suit where he hooked it up on the door and began to undress.

"I know but I've seen you with your female friends, this is different. Something changed when you got your leg caught in that trap. Katie and I were gone for a long time when I came back you were snuggled up with her under the parachute." Alan gave him a mischievous look as he pulled his shirt off.

"Alan I was borderline hypothermic with shock; she was following standard procedure of exchanging body heat." John pulled on his liquid cooling and ventilation garment. These looked like tight-fitting wetsuits with a network of small tubes running all over the exterior which the water would run through to help cool them down. Temperatures fluctuated from one extreme to the other in space depending on where you were in orbit. John struggled to get it up over his well-defined shoulders. He squirmed into it trying not to curse.

Alan Sniggered. John shot him a filthy glare. "Get your mind out of the gutter Alan. There was nothing more to it." He managed to shuck it on over his shoulders.

"Ohhhh! That's why she was so flushed when I got back because she got hot under the collar from your hypothermia." Alan smirked. It was John's turn to colour up at a rather pleasant memory. Well - he could only hope it was a memory, it could have been a delusion he was that high on pain and in shock at the time. He seemed to remember Chloe's warm breath on his neck at one point. He had whimpered as the stabbing pain in his leg intensified along with the throbbing but there was no more pain relief to be had. The rest of his body was bone chillingly numb, he just wanted to fall unconscious but he couldn't. Instead Chloe had mentioned something about distracting him from the pain…... next thing he knew she was on his mouth, gentle kisses at first before becoming increasingly passionate as his foggy mind had kicked in and begun to catch up with what was happening….. then he couldn't remember anything else until Alan had come up to them to say the drone had found them. When John had recovered, he waited to see if Chloe would bring it up or make a move but when she didn't. He decided to remain quiet, not quite convinced it wasn't simply a hallucination. He internally berated himself he realised he had been uncomfortably quiet for too long. Alan was now linking up his life support system over his cooling layer. Spacesuits had come on leaps and bounds since the early models, not quite skin tight just yet but they allowed for a lot more mobility than the suits of old and were no thicker than a big winter coat and lined waterproof trousers.

"Alan, she was sat next to a raging fire on a mild day, chances are that's why she was flushed. I was only so cold from the shock." He stuffed his hands into the soft internal gloves, then the adjustable thermal underlayer.

"Uh-huh" Alan gave John the side eye, his lips quirked playfully to one side as his blue eyes danced with barely contained mirth. It wasn't often he got to tease one of his older brothers so he was milking it for all it was worth. He pulled his helmet and started to hook up the oxygen and mic.

"Pack it in, I don't want to have to explain why my brother hasn't returned from his routine lunar walk." He hooked up his oxygen too, ready to breathe in a pure concentrated oxygen for the next thirty minutes to clear the nitrogen from their systems fully prior to heading outside. Alan grinned back at him.

Thirty minutes later they were through the initial airlock which hissed open before they then stood in the final antechamber. The green light signalled the other airlock was closed and this one was ready to open. John and Alan held onto the sides and got ready as the door slid open.

They headed over to the rover where they both hopped in. John in the passenger seat navigating whilst Alan drove. They were heading 30 minutes away to the section they had been tasked with evaluating and conducting repairs. "What have we got on today then?" Asked Alan as he navigated past a large crater to the left. He tried to stick as close to the base as he could.

"Erm…. John consulted the list on his tablet running through the data. He silently counted up the repairs. "We've got five repairs listed on the rota today as well as the usual checks. There's a faulty relay in the exchange box that needs switching out, a robotic arm that needs additional lubrication and a solar panel that needed adjusting after being knocked by debris. There is also a chipped window on the east side of the base and a dented panel that needs replacing on the west wing."

"Wow that's a lot we better get a move on." He depressed his foot on the throttle some more.

"Steady Alan!" John's bones rattled as he gripped the roof roll bar for support and to try and cushion himself from the vibrations that coursed through him.

"Relax old man! I'm barely moving."

"Can you not feel yourself being shaken apart?"

"No, this is no worse than the Dakar rally."

John braced himself tighter into his seat and closed his eyes. This was going to be rough.

They reached the east wing first where they needed to repair the window. Before they began John inched along assessing the panels and the overall structure as they went, part of their job was to ensure that the external panels and joinery were intact and to identify any potential flaws such as cracks, bent or damaged panels that could lead to the base being compromised. These checks were daily essentials, their lives depended on them being undertaken.

They were both unusually quiet as they concentrated on the task at hand. John and Alan had all the tools they needed on them (An astronaut could carry anywhere between 70-100 different kinds of tools). They continued to inch their way along. Small dust clouds puffed up at their feet. When out on an active mission they needed to be mindful that their mics were on and being monitored for emergency purposes as well as scientific. Alan located the chipped glass and began to carefully sand the edges around the chip to great an abrasion for the new resin to adhere to. John had completed his checks and prepped the resin gun in the meantime. He handed it over to Alan so he could fill the hole. "Task one complete!" Alan announced as he smoothed off the resin with the plastic scraper.

The solar panel was only five minutes down the way so they walked it. John brushed the panel clean before he and Alan then tried to realign it. "Uggghhhh!" John panted as he tried to lift it. The rotating arm had seized. He tried not to swear because of the live mic. He rooted around for the lubricant spray on his belt. Alan tried to flex the panel as John sprayed the arm. They were both engaged in their respective jobs when there was a shout out on the comms. "Lunar crew 29. You need to retreat to base now! large space debris incoming. I repeat Space debris incoming, 60 seconds to impact - MOVE!" John and Alan hastily stored their tools and started to traverse back to the airlock. It had taken them five minutes to get here. "Sprint for it!" shouted John. His speed caused him to skim and bounce a little like a stone does when skimmed across water. Reports were conducted everyday and usually they were pretty accurate at identifying when incoming debris would hit but somehow this one had gone undetected.

Alan ran he could see something huge in the corner of his vision but was struggling to judge the distance through the semi-circular view that his helmet allowed him. it was like looking out of the corner of a fish bowl, his depth perception was off. He heard something impact 200 yards away and felt the aftershock as well as experienced the glow of white light caused by the explosion. He was knocked off his feet and thrown hard into the ground. He cried out in shock one hand extended as he tried to crawl across the floor, his ears were ringing and he was disoriented.

"Alan!" John cried. He'd made it to the buggy and turned back just in time to see his little brother catapulted across the surface. John held up an arm across his face to shield his eyes from the brightness of the explosion the other holding onto the roll bar. It looked to be some kind of old satellite or a rocket segment. John threw himself into the driver's seat and quickly adjusted the distance of the seat before speeding towards his brother. Other smaller bits of junk were now raining down around them. John swerved to the right to avoid a larger piece of fuselage before quickly diving to the left to avoid the other half. The buggy skidded in a wide arc but he managed to get the tail end under control again. He braked just in front of Alan who was trying to get to his knees. John leapt out and scooped his brother up slinging an arm over his shoulder. He hobbled him over; they were almost there but there were lots of smaller projectiles he had to watch now, ones that could easily tear their suits. He lifted Alan into the passenger seat before sliding back into the driver's side and taking off towards base.

His hands gripped the steering wheel tight; he couldn't even afford to look at his brother, he was having to navigate craters, dust and projectiles. His face was fraught with concentration and worry. He could hear base still trying to make contact with him. "Alan? Alan! Can you hear me are you alright?"

"Yeah…. I think so… just a bit stunned. I'll be alright in a minute."

John released the breath he'd not realised he was holding. They were almost at the airlock now. Most of the danger had passed. "Tyler, we are five minutes out from gate one now. Has the wave passed or is there more incoming?"

"looking at the scans that was the last of it but the damaged sustained means we have had to evacuate the lab but one person is still trapped."

John looked at Alan with horror. "Who is it Tyler? Who's trapped?" John had a jittery feeling in his stomach as his hand slipped on the wheel.

"Chloe Wood" John slammed his foot on the brake causing them to lurch forwards. He tried to calm his beating heart.

"What's the situation?" John could hear his heart thumping in his ears. He looked Alan up and down as a distraction, assessing him for any injuries. He assumed his suit wasn't damaged or the alarms would be sounding.

"Everyone was mid evacuation when the partition gave way, most made it into the corridor a few…. Didn't. Chloe knew she couldn't cover the distance in time so she sealed herself in the containment chamber which was then buried under wreckage. We can't reach her the base went into lockdown when the breach was caused."

"Well; we're out here, we'll go and find a way to get her out." John started to reverse the buggy.

"You can't do that son." It was Captain Taylor.

"Well we can't get back either so we might as well do something constructive." John was already driving back. Alan was checking his suit. He thought he was ok.

"The scans show there's likely to be more space junk incoming imminently, you boys need to get to the emergency bunker at either the north or west locations and wait this one out. It's too dangerous."

"We can't just leave her sir!" interjected Alan looking horrified. "We can get to her."

"How are you going to get her out? She initiated the contamination protocol it's not going to open for twenty-four hours. I know its hard but there's nothing we can do." He ended softly. He knew Jeff had been setting up this new-fangled rescue organisation and instilling this strong moral compass in his sons which was commendable but at the same time he knew they weren't ready. They couldn't save this poor lass.

"I'm sorry Captain I will not abandon her, not while I have the opportunity to at least try and rescue her." John had driven to one of the nearby emergency bunkers. He needed supplies.

Captain Taylor made a motion to cut the public broadcasting of the conversation."

"Dammit John! your father will kill me!"

"No, he won't and you know it."

The Captain growled something akin to swearing as John cut the mic.

"Your going to be in so much trouble."

"Never mind! Getting to Chloe is our priority. John was already opening the bunker hatch. They pressurised through the airlock before John spied what he was after. He grabbed the spare suit and a first aid kit. Alan watched him as he ran around in a flurry. He ran back to the airlock; Alan went to follow. "Oh shoot! Alan, I forgot, can you grab a ration a pack please?"

"Yeah sure." Alan dutifully ran back to the small kitchenette.

John stepped out into the airlock and typed in the override. Alan saw the doors close out the corner of his eye, he dropped the pack running and hammered on the glass. "John! John! No! let me out!" Alan yelled.

John looked pained. "Sorry brother no can do, its all very well me risking my own life but I can't risk yours. I'd never forgive myself and dad wouldn't forgive me."

"You silly bastard! Let me help!" Alan furiously punched in several codes on his side but they beeped with access denied. He glared daggers at John.

"I'm sorry." He turned and climbed up the ladder. He tried not to flinch at the banging.

"John! John! Don't you dare, you come back here! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

Alan punched the wall in frustration, his brother was going to get himself killed and there was nothing he could do about it.