Ch. 20

Past wounds

Krystal stared at the hanger and watched as the five football field long Star Cruiser called The Great Fox slowly entered the hanger. At the controls the ship's captain and team leader Fox McCloud eased the ship into the hanger. The light brownish/Tan Vulpine eased on the controls as he lowered the ship to the ground.

"R.O.B activate the landing gears for me will yah?" He asked the robot standing at the co-pilot seat.

"Yes Sir." He replied and began pushing the controls activating the landing gears. Outside the Great Fox underneath the ship a series of dark grey folded pieces of metal begin to unfold and turn into landing feet. "Landing gears have been activated." R.O.B said and turned to Fox. Fox nodded in response and slowly lowered the ship, as the landing feet touch the ground the ship began to shake a little. Once the ship settled R.O.B started to tap on the console touch screen and brings up the ship diagnostics.

"A perfect landing Sir." R.O.B stated, Fox looked over at his robotic friend and winked at him. After that Fox stood from his chair and started to walk to the elevator.

"Fox?" R.O.B called out, the Vulpine stopped and looked over at R.O.B.

"What is it?" He asked, R.O.B turned around in his seat and looked at Fox.

"I detect high levels of Serotonin, GABA, and Norepinephrine." Fox raised a brow.

"English R.O.B."

"You're close to having an anxiety attack." He said, Fox's normal face quickly changed to one filled with nervousness.

"I know." He said and took a deep breath.

"Is it because of Krystal Sir.?" Rob asked and stood from his seat. Fox nodded and began rubbing the tan colored hair on the top of his head.

"I've ah…I've felt like this since we got her distress call…What the hell do I even say to her?" He asked as his face started to take the form of panic.

"Well Sir. I would first suggest that you take deep breaths and try to calm down; you are very close to having a panic attack." Fox looked into the bright red visor on R.O.B's face and nodded; he leaned against the wall of the elevator and started to take long deep breaths. After a few breaths he opened his eyes and looked back at the robot.

"I wonder if Krystal is feeling the same way?" He asked, R.O.B shook his head.

"I am unable to answer the question as she is not in my scanning range…However the rest of the crew is, their levels are nowhere near as high as yours are, but they are nervous as well." Fox took one last deep breath and then entered the elevator. He looked over at the button panel which had five buttons. 'B' for the Bridge, 'F3' Floor 3 which held the bedrooms and shower areas, 'F2' Floor 2 which had the lounge room and the dining area, 'F1' Floor one which had the Gym area, Training room, weapon room/ Firing range, and medical bay, and then 'H' For the hanger, where their Arwings were being held. Fox pushed the button for the hanger. The doors closed and he felt the elevator go down.

When the doors opened Fox noticed the rest of the team hanging out near the hanger door. Fox stepped out of the elevator and started to walk towards them. Falco the blue feathered bird, the Teams hot shot Ace pilot noticed Fox and got the others attention. Peppy hair the short rabbit and the team's mechanic looked over his shoulder and spotted Fox as well. Slippy Toad the frog and the team's weapon specialist turned to look at him last. Although they tried to hide it, Fox could see that they too were nervous. This made R.O.B's claim in the bridge true. Fox looked at his team mates, his friends, his family.

"Okay guys, this is it…I ah…I don't know really what to say." Fox gulped and wiped his furry sweat covered hands on his pants. "I guess, first off…Lets not bombard her with questions, I want to know why she left as well as you do. However it's been two years, and I doubt that the first thing she wants to happen when she sees us is having to answer question after question." The three nodded in unison. Fox then turned to the Hanger door.

"R.O.B." He called out. After a few seconds the intercom system when on.

"Yes Fox?" He asked.

"Open Hanger door and activate the ramp." He said.

"Yes Sir." R.O.B said, and then the intercom went off. A few moments later the sound of the hanger door unlocking filled the Bases' hanger. The ship's hanger doors slowly pulled apart.

Before the doors opened when Fox was talking to R.O.B. Krystal, Josh and Ryan were making their way down to the hanger. Josh and Krystal were talking to each other using Krystal's telepathy.

'So, your Ex Fiancé is picking us up.' Josh thought and sent it to her. The way he said it was void of any emotion and it bothered Krystal a little.

'Josh it's not like I had any choice in the matter…If it was up to me Fox would have been the last person I would have picked…Hell he wouldn't even be last because he wouldn't be in my choices.' She thought back to him.

'I know you didn't have a say in it…It's just that…He was your Fiancé.'

"I don't love him anymore Josh…Are…Are you getting jealous?' She asked.

"No!" Josh said out loud. Ryan stopped walking and turned to Josh.

"No?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Josh mentally cursed himself and made up some excuse. Ryan turned back around and continued to walk on.

'No, I'm not getting jealous.' He thought to Krystal.

'You have nothing to worry about.'

'I'm not jealous Krystal' He said his voice sounded a bit annoyed.

'Okay, fine I'll drop it.'

'I mean so what if he can fly a space ship.' He though. Krystal rolled her eyes and reached out and grabbed his hand and interlaced their fingers.

'I'm with you aren't I? You have nothing to compete with. You're the only man I want to be with.' Josh stopped walking as did Krystal. Ryan unaware kept walking on. Josh turned to look at the vixen as she looked at him. He slightly smiled and nodded his head.

"You promise?" He asked out loud, Krystal smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I promise." She said. They stared at each other for a few more seconds before…

"Ah hum." Ryan called out; the pair broke out of their trance and looked over to find Ryan several yards away. "Are we doing this or not?" He asked.

'I'd rather not.' Krystal thought to herself and herself alone, 'But it has to be done…I'm actually willing to meet everyone and see how they have been…Other than Fox that is.'

The two made their way to Ryan who was at the hanger entrance. He placed his hand on a push pad and pressed it. The metal doors slid up and they entered the hanger. As they walked in they noticed many guards aiming their guns at the large Alien ship. Ryan scuffed.

"Put your damn guns down!" He shouted and approached the commander of the guards, "What the hell are you doing having them point their guns at that thing?" He angrily asked. The commander quickly straightened his back and avoided looking Ryan in the eyes.

"It's precaution sir." He replied. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Keep the guns pointed away from that ship and anyone or thing that exits it. We are in no danger son."

"Yes sir. Stand down men." The commander called out. The guards slowly lowered their weapons and suddenly the Great Fox's hanger door opened. Krystal stood a little bit behind Josh and grabbed his hand tightly. He quickly looked over at her and noticed she was staring at the ship with a look of nervousness.

The hanger door opened and the ramp system slid out of a slot and lowered to the ground. Everyone watched in silence as the sound of someone wearing metal boots walking to the ramp echoed across the room. Krystal's heart pounded in her chest like drums as she saw him. Fox made his way down the ramp and the first thing he noticed was the blue vixen.

'Krystal.' He thought, he's breathing started to quicken as mixed feeling started to rush through him. Two years have passed since he had last seen her, and there she was. Less than a football field away. In that moment he couldn't stop the flashback of their breakup and the events leading up to it from playing in his mind.

They had just been hired to protect two Cargo ships going to Katina. A small war had broken out between the Cornerian military and some rebel forces. One day some rebels attacked an unarmed town and nearly destroyed it. The Cargo ships they were hired to protect was full of medical aid, food and clean water. With the whole planet's military fighting the rebels there was no one left to protect the war relief ships, that's where Star Fox came in. As they entered the atmosphere they were immediately attacked by the rebel starships and thus the dogfight started.

Fox squeezed the Gatling trigger on the control stick sending hundreds of green plasma rounds at the rebel aircraft that got too close to the Cargo ships. One of the enemy ships exploded in fire and started to spin towards the ground. Fox flew through the smoke and quickly back flipped behind an enemy behind him. Fox locked onto the ship and pressed the red button on top of the control stick sending a plasma missile. The aircraft's left wing exploded and the ship crashed to the ground below.

"I'm hit!" Krystal shouted over the Arwing radio. Fox moved his gaze from the Cargo ships and over to Krystal; her Arwing was on fire and had two bogies hot on her tail. Without even thinking about calling on one of the others to help her, Fox quickly moved away from one of the Cargo ships and moved his thruster lever to full speed to quickly reach Krystal. "I can't shake these guys." She said

"I got you." Fox said and started to fire the Gatling at the rebels chasing her. One of the ships disengaged from Krystal and flew away. The second one however stayed on her and fired a plasma missile at her. Krystal moved out of the way and Fox shot the aircraft down. "Are you okay?" He asked as he lowered his Arwing to get right next to her. He looked over at the holo video screen to his right and could see her face through the built in camera inside all Arwings. She looked back at him through the screen and nodded.

"Yes I'm fine…What about the Cargo ship?" Krystal asked, Fox shook his head at her.

"I'm not leaving you, your ships badly damaged." Krystal tried to protest but Fox wasn't going to have any of it. He nearly lost her and he wasn't going to again. Suddenly he noticed a bright flash of light reflecting off his Arwings canopy windshield. Fox looked over and his eyes widened at the sight of one of the Cargo ships on fire and crashing towards the ground.

"Damn it, why didn't someone cover that ship!" Fox called out.

"We had our own shit to deal with fearless leader, where were you?" Falco spoke out, Fox gritted his teeth.

"Can your beak Falco, someone get to the other Cargo ship and protect it." Fox ordered.

"Fox I'm fine…Go protect the Cargo ship." Krystal said to him. Fox grunted.

"No goddamn it, I'm not leaving you." He shouted at her. As they flew on Fox turned his gaze back to the crashed Cargo ship that was consumed by fire. He then felt sickened and upset with himself. He leaned his head against the head rest of the seat and took a deep breath. He had let his personal feeling get in the way of the mission. The people on the Cargo ship died, and it was all on him. This wasn't the first time Fox let his feelings for Krystal jeopardized the mission…But it would be the last.

After they finished the mission and got paid they all made their way to the Great Fox. Fox felt his heart tighten at the thought he was thinking. A thought that would lead him to believe what might fix the distraction he was having. He didn't like it, and he knew Krystal wasn't going to like it either. As they got out of their Arwing every one made their way to the elevator. Fox knew it was now or never.

"Krystal can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Yeah sure." She said and stood out of the elevator and walked next to Fox. The elevator doors closed and the rest of the team went up. Fox tried to focus on what he had to do, but it was too hard to when he looked at Krystal, her sweet innocent face happily smiling at him only broke his heart. Fox closed his eyes and took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Krystal." He said and opened his eyes, "It's over." Krystal's ears flickered and she raised a brow and chuckled.

"What's over?" She asked, Fox started to breathe a little bit faster.

"Us…Me, you it's over." Krystal scuffed like she didn't really believe what he was saying, like she figured this was a lame joke he was trying to play.

"Where is this coming from?" She asked, "Fox if this is about the mission…You were staying to protect me."

"And people died…It's over Krystal…We are done." He said and could feel his heart shattering; he used every bit of strength he had to keep himself from crying.

"You can't be serious." She said, the way she said it, the way her voice was filled with the realization that he might be serious was breaking his heart even more.

"I'm sorry Krystal…It's for the best."

"No!" She shouted in anger but more so sadness, she then held up her left hand to show him the engagement ring he had given her. "You see this…You gave it to me and asked me to be your wife…This meant we were to be married…This meant that we were going to spend our life together Fox." She said with tears running down her face. Fox was tarring himself down on the inside; he wanted to hug her and tell her that he was mistaken and to forget what he was saying. But for the sake of the mission…He did one last thing to let her know it was over.

He grabbed her left hand and held it within his two hands. He placed his thumb and index finger on the shiny ring and pulled it off her finger. Krystal gasped when he did that, she brought her hand to her face and looked at the finger and stared at it as if he had just stolen her most precious possession, which he just did.

"We are done." He said and walked to the open elevator and got in. Once the door closed he grabbed his chest and sobbed, he felt a waterfall of tears rush down his face. He cried loudly and started to punch the ground as hard as he could, he knew it was for the best, but it sure as hell didn't feel that way. It was nine days later when Krystal left and would be two years before he would see her again.

What the hell man?! you end it there? talk about a tease!

I know, I know...It's called cliff hanger for a reason.

also head over to my DA profile FanwriterF and check out the official Cover for ep. 1

also we came real close to making another thousand reviews in one week. I'll make a deal with you guys. right now the story has 3895 views, if this gets to 4895 by next Monday. Or this story gets 10 reviews...From different people, it wont count if you send mulitable reviews. then next time i post I will post FOUR chapters.

as always read and review.

see you guys next week if things go as planned.