Martin sat in the grass near the hotel and watched the last few arrivals and departures from the nearby airport. He'd barely been able to sleep at all this trip. His thoughts were an endless loop of stolen moments with Douglas over the past few days. His crush on his First Officer was getting out of control. Douglas' divorce was probably the worse thing that could happen to Martin for several reasons, the least of which was that Douglas was now single and available to date. If he were interested in Martin. Which he decidedly was not.

It was so bad that, last night, he had dreamed about he and Douglas out on a date. He had been nervous and told Douglas that he didn't know what to do. In typical Douglas fashion, he had grabbed Martin's hand and told him he'd walk him through it. It was such a lifelike dream, he had awoken with a smile on his face.

He sighed and lay back, clasping his hands behind his head. He wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like he could tell Douglas he had a crush on him. The older man would never let him live it down for as long as they worked for MJN. He was already the butt of Douglas' jokes. He didn't need to make it worse for himself.

"Is this seat taken?" Douglas appeared out of nowhere.

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Douglas eased himself down next to Martin. "I could ask you the same thing. To answer your second question, I cannot sleep because Arthur has been talking to a rabbit about ice cream for the past hour and explaining to it why knitting is brilliant."

Martin shook his head. "You could have turned on your light and read your book. When he's that talkative, nothing wakes him up."

"Good to know." Douglas paused. "To answer your first question, I am out here because I knew you would be. I figured if it relaxed you to watch aeroplanes, it might be something I should try."

"Oh." Martin lay back down, trying to hide his happiness over Douglas joining him. He knew Douglas thought it was ridiculous that someone who spent so much time at airports and on aeroplanes would be so obsessed with flying to the point where it was his entire life, but that's just how he was. Thankfully, Douglas wasn't using the opportunity to make fun of him.

They watched the planes come and go. Douglas couldn't believe how busy the airport was this late at night, but he was happy it gave him an excuse to spend some time with his Captain. Following Martin's lead, he lay down. Martin shifted a little bit so that his lower body was pushing up against Douglas'. The spots where their bodies made contact burned white hot and Martin was pleasantly surprised that Douglas hadn't pulled away.

Between the relative silence, the stars in the sky, and the white noise of the aeroplanes, Douglas felt at peace for the first time in a long time. He could see why Martin watched the planes when he couldn't sleep. He let his thoughts wander, taking advantage of the calm and enjoying the feel of the warm body pressed against his. Not surprisingly, his thoughts kept returning to his Captain. Instead of fighting it, he accepted it. There were worse things to think about.

Douglas had lost track of how long they'd been outside when Martin suddenly rolled over and wrapped his arm around Douglas' waist. Douglas shifted so that Martin could rest his head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around Martin, pulling him in tight. The young man murmured something and snuggled in even tighter. Douglas pressed a kiss to the top of his head and softly nuzzled those auburn curls. He knew Martin hadn't meant to fall asleep and that he wouldn't have if Douglas wasn't outside with him. It touched him that his Captain felt that safe with him. He knew that Martin trusted him with his life in G-ERTI, but it felt different to experience that same trust outside of the flight deck. He sighed, knowing this moment, this perfect moment, would be short lived. He kissed Martin's head again, and waited for him to wake up.

After a bit, Douglas started getting tired and he decided it was probably best if they went back to their room. He gently woke Martin up. He sat up, instantly alert. "Did I fall asleep?"

"You must be very tired." (You've been running through my head all day, Douglas' brain supplied.) "You did say you hadn't been sleeping well."

Martin rubbed at his cheek, feeling the crease from where Douglas' shirt had bunched up under his face while he slept. "OH. Douglas, I'm so..." Realisation crossed his face and he turned so red, Douglas thought something was going to burst.

"Martin, shut up." Martin's mouth snapped shut. "Don't worry about it. You got some sleep. That's the important thing."

"But..."

"But, nothing. You fell asleep. I decided to let you sleep. Nothing more. Nothing less." Douglas was getting angry, but tried to stay calm. Of course Martin would have to kill the mood with his insecurities and fear. "I really didn't mind, Martin. If I had, we'd be back in the room already."

"Thank you." Martin said to the grass. He was afraid to meet Douglas' eyes. What if Douglas had figured it out? Would he ever be able to look his First Officer in the eye again?

"It was my pleasure. Sir." He stood up and dusted himself off. Martin sat there for a minute longer, looking up at Douglas with the oddest look on his face. Finally, Douglas extended his hand to his Captain and helped him up. Outside the door, he stopped and grabbed Martin by the wrist. "I'm not ready to talk about Helena, but I appreciate your offer. I may take you up on it someday, but it won't be soon." He smiled at the young man, and realised that if this were a date, they were in the perfect position for a good night kiss. He blinked and swallowed hard. "I... um... I..."

"Douglas, the Sky God, Richardson is at a loss for words?" Martin laughed, but didn't try to free himself from Douglas' grip.

"Martin," he started. He struggled for the right words to say, but he ended up settling for the simple ones. "I'm glad we've become friends. In fact, you're probably one of my best friends, and I don't say that lightly."

The smile that took over Martin's face was amazing. Douglas had never seen anything like it on his Captain's face before. He had to figure out how to make it happen again.

#

Arthur had woken up before the two men and as he made his way to the shower, he noticed that the two men were holding hands in their sleep. He had no way of knowing it was the second time the men had slept like that, and he had no knowledge of what had happened during their trip outside earlier, but either way, he thought it was brilliant.

He hummed something off-key and unrecognisable, a lopsided smile on his face, as he watched them sleep for a moment. There was something going on between the two men. He wasn't sure exactly what, but there was definitely something. It had been there since they met for the first time, but neither one had acknowledged it.

He wondered if they ever would.