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Something on the Air

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Something on the Air — Tobias Lilja

Endlessly, endlessly…
Wandering, wandering…
Destiny, destiny…
Set me free… set me free…
Lonely, lonely—the lonely one…

The McCloud family had decided; what better way to spend the summer vacation than to go to the park? It was a good idea—the sun was shining, the air was clear with not a single cloud in the sky for an ominous later forecast, the breeze was light and pleasant, and the best part of all, if they got there early enough they would beat the crowds! It was a win-win.

They loaded up into the family van, one of the latest models that was still cheap enough to service without disassembling the entire vehicle, and set off without any further delay. Being such a small family there were only a few things they needed for a good time. A picnic blanket, a large lunch box (suitably shielded to guard against creepy-crawlies), plenty of disposable cutlery and plates, a few sun umbrellas, and the most important thing of all, a camera for all of the family memories.

Traffic was good, couldn't have been any better, thought Fox McCloud, as they glided down the freeway. No unexpected jams or slowdowns to get in the way. He pressed a button and let down his window to catch some of that fresh air outside.

"Oooh, daddy, can you let down my window?"

"Sure thing, squirt," he answered, looking up to see his son grinning at him in the rearview. "Just don't try and stick your whole arm out again or it'll get cut off." That last was a private joke between them.

Krystal never found it funny, and she glared at him from the passenger seat. "What have I told you about saying stuff like that?" she asked, her eyebrows in danger of disappearing into her fringe of cerulean fur that lay parted across her forehead like two still sea waves.

Fox flashed her one of his famous winning smiles that always got him pictures in the papers and on the news bulletins, and usually softened her expression. "It's just for fun," he assured her. "I'm not actually going to close it on him."

Their son, having just turned ten years old, had unclipped his seat-belt (Fox pointedly ignoring the incessantly beeping from the car dash) and was standing up, his short muzzle pointing out of the vehicle. The window was down just enough for him to open his mouth and let his tongue loll out and about, like any common dog would do. Normally Krystal would have told him to sit back down and put his seatbelt on, but the last few times had relented as it seemed (to her) that she was outnumbered by her own husband siding with him.

She huffed and turned to frown at the windshield. "He's going to get himself hurt one day," she said, "and whose fault will it be, I wonder?"

"C'mon, honey, I'm not going to let him get hurt, goodness you are tense." Fox adjusted the air conditioning knobs, forgetting that they were not needed with the outside wind rushing in. "Lighten up for once, it's the summer holidays, the poor kid's been stuck inside all year—"

"—attending to his studies, like any good boy ought to," Krystal added out of the corner of her mouth.

"—and I won't deny you've been a great teacher," Fox continued, "but don't you think that next year he ought to go into the system? He's just turned ten; in a few more years he'll have to go into junior high, and you can't keep denying the government goons that. Legally, he's supposed to have been taught at school, not at home."

"That's not how I did it—"

"—and yet this is how Lylat, or how Corneria at least, functions." Fox leaned over to give her a kiss, but, grumpy, she evaded him and he soon had to give up the attempt or else risk running another smaller car off the road. "I won't deny you've done a fantastic job at teaching him, but, really, you can't always be there for him. Sometimes you just have to step back."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Boy Wonder?" she quipped. "Top of the class in everything you did, only to drop out of school to go fight in a war. Is that the example you should be setting for your son?"

"Let's… not bring that up," he muttered.

To distract from the suddenly tense atmosphere he twitched another knob (the car's interior being deliberately old fashioned, to emulate a classic Papetoonian car line several decades old) and fiddled about the stations until something pleasant and chirpy came on.

"Oh, your favorite!"

"Mmmhmm," Krystal said, but turned away from him, staring out the window at the passing meadows and ornamental trees.

Married life had its ups and downs, particularly when it came to raising Marcus. Fox was determined to never imitate his father, who was never home except on the odd days when the Great Fox brought him back to Papetoon, leaving poor Vixy to handle Fox's upbringing. As soon as Krystal had announced that she was pregnant with Marcus, after little over a year of being "officially" married (not counting the three or so years since Sauria) he had gone into overdrive. He resigned his position as captain of the Great Fox, and as team leader of Star Fox, turning over everything to Falco, and the McClouds had gone house-hunting. Because of their prowess in battle, and for services rendered towards all of Lylat during the Aparoid war, the Anglar war, and the mysterious Saurian crisis, their finances were secure; he found them a lovely house in an upscale part of Corneria City, right on the water, right next to some of the best schools on the entire planet, and close enough to the government offices that they could visit Uncle Peppy whenever Marcus wanted.

Krystal, on the other hand, did things differently. She shared Fox's enthusiasm for raising their son together, and had practically adopted the whole housewife lifestyle as soon as they had settled down. But where Fox was as much hands off as he could without completely being distant or carefree, she was hands on. Unlike Fox, who mostly spent his life in Corneria's compulsory education system as soon as he were old enough, she instead kept Marcus home and encouraged him to pick and choose what he wanted to study; and then, once he had chosen his favorite subjects (and those few that were absolutely necessary for life) she put his button nose to the grindstone and kept at it until each mandatory season of holidays.

Fox had let her do this for the first couple of years, for the results were amazing (and it meant he saw Marcus a lot more than other parents would), but as the boy grew older, the two foxes had begun to butt heads over letting Marcus out and about, to make friends and have mutual interests rather than being an only child (another thing they disagreed on; he wanted more kids, but she said no, just the one was enough). Krystal had said no a thousand times, and Fox had disputed this over and over.

And now, with Marcus having just crossed his first decade, the fight over his higher education continued.

Fox hoped that an outing to the park would be enough to change Krystal's mind, for, surely, once she saw how easy it was to make friends, Marcus would want to go to school instead of staying home. He didn't expect the perennial argument to resurface during the drive there. But now with pleasant instrumental music filling the air, such thoughts evaporated under the warm sun, and the rest of the drive proceeded without incident.

They exited the freeway and moved onto a quieter road. Here the traffic was almost nonexistent save for the odd car or three. As they neared the park the traffic picked up somewhat but not enough for concern. The real challenge would be leaving the place once it started to fill up.

"We're here!" Fox said.

The parking lot was glorious in its emptiness, only a scant few cars. Those had already picked the best spots closest to the park entrance, with plenty left over. With the skill of a practiced driver, which was more intuitive than flying an Arwing, Fox eased into a spot beside a red sports car and right beside a crosswalk. The moment he threw it into park Marcus had already unlocked the door and run out, yelling happily "Freedom!"

Krystal was more demure as she exited the car, but years of marriage allowed Fox to see the hint of a smile playing around her lips, the slight crinkles around her eyes, the way the fur on her cheeks slightly puffed upwards from inward movement. He may not be blessed with her extrasensory abilities, but even a non-telepath could see the signs clear as day. Fox was the last to leave the car, and as he went to get their picnicking materials, Krystal wandered idly about, waiting for her husband to catch up, watching their son run with joyful abandon, chasing flying insects and small birds.

"Shall we?" she asked as Fox emerged from the compartment.

"We shall indeed."

They linked arms and went into the park.

Keiko Memorial Park, so named as it commemorated the fallen of both the Aparoid and Anglar wars, was a popular destination for holidaymakers and people who just wanted to get out of the city for a while. The small chapel at the center of the park, surrounded by its several thousand grave markers, was off by itself and part of the original park. In recent years Corneria had begun expanding the area into a proper destination for relaxation and enjoyment, and many thousands of trees had been planted to screen the memorials from the rest of the new park. To further aid in its development, several designated picnic areas were created, all carefully cordoned off from the rest of the place so people could enjoy their alone time without being disturbed.

In total it covered several hundred acres, much of it given over to recreation in the years of peace following the wars. To the distant north, reachable by footpaths and by car if one were willing to circle around the lake that formed part of its western frontier, lay a museum that chronicled the two separate wars and how the political fallout from the one led into the other. To the east of where Fox and Krystal now walked towards was the memorial chapel. And their destination: a small grove of trees beside a tributary that fed into the western lake.

Marcus had already beaten them there, perhaps told to be there by his mother through their special telepathic bond. He was on the ground, playing with some sticks he had found wile running along, making swish-swish and vroom-vroom sounds. Fox began to set up the picnic blanket, regretting once again the fact that his "telepathic bond" with Marcus wasn't as potent as Krystal's was. In fact the only time he even knew it was there was whenever Marcus got sick—the last time he had the sniffles, Fox had to suffer the mental equivalent of a stuffy nose, which didn't help at all and in fact may have been worse because he could still breathe through his own perfectly functioning nose yet had to endure the indignity of "blowing out" a nonexistent stuffed one.

Krystal, being a telepath, had no such problems; she could block it out, and had privately enjoyed her husband's suffering when he wasn't looking. Serves him right for letting Marcus run out on the lake in the middle of winter, she sniffed. She sat down, smoothening out her skirt, and watched with a serene detachment as Fox prepared their luncheon. In spite of her frustrations with Fox, it was times like these that reminded her that—no matter what—this had been the right thing for her. Home may be a distant, painful memory for her, but she had found a new home here in a strange land, even if its customs were something she balked against.

"All right, who's ready for sandwiches?"

"Me, me, me!"

"Here you go, little buddy." Fox handed him a plate.

"Yes!"

As Marcus busied himself with eating what would undoubtedly be most of the lunchbox, Fox turned to Krystal. "A plate for you, madam?" he asked with mock deference. She rolled her eyes at him but said, "Yes, please, thank you." The plate was made and Fox picked out an apple for himself. The family ate in relative quiet, only because Marcus took the opportunity to gleefully shed his manners.

Krystal held off reprimanding him. She wasn't that overbearing, but she disapproved all the same. Fortunately for her their son finished his fifth helping quickly, and had leapt up to go run off someplace. "I'll be at the lake," he shouted as his little legs carried him off.

~Be back before four!~ Krystal called after him.

~I shall, mom~

"Should I make sure he doesn't fall in?"

Krystal looked at Fox, who was as ever unaware of the frequent mental communiques between mother and son. She shook her head, a smiling breaking out. "Not this time. It's summertime. He knows to keep out of the water. Now, how about we spend some alone time together?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

He crawled over to her and sat back down, his back against one of the trees that shaded their area. With a sigh she let herself fall until her head rested in his lap. For many long moments they stayed like that, relaxing in one another's presence. It was times like these, this mutual bonding from simple contact, that proved to be more rewarding than simple lovemaking or foreplay. They had had enough time to practice those before; as the years pressed on, more simpler things became easy and comfortable to do.

It was in this manner, Fox sitting with his eyes closed and head back (almost looking as if he were asleep) and Krystal lying down, listening to the wind rustling the leaves above them from the comfort of his lap, that the Hares discovered them.

Krystal became aware of them first, a trio of bright stars emerging into her little solar system of Fox and herself. One of the stars was smaller, yet brighter, than the other two. Before the Hares could even greet them she had already straightened up, Fox breaking out of his reverie at her movement.

"Why hello there, Lucy!" Krystal greeted.

"Fancy meeting you here, Mrs. McCloud," Lucy answered in kind. "I didn't know you had the same idea as I did."

"It is summertime after all," Fox said. "Hey there, Peppy, work finally giving you a break?"

Lucy answered for her father. "No," she said, "he is taking a voluntary vacation to spend time with his grandson, Drake; aren't you, father?" Here she gave Peppy a sidelong glance, as if daring him to contradict her.

"She's right," Peppy admitted. "I can't be sitting at a desk all day or else I'd grow into the chair. It's not like I had much choice, either." He indicated his cane. Fox understood with a sympathetic nod; even with the best of advanced medical technology Corneria could afford, the simple biological reality of age and arthritis could not be denied.

Peppy's legs had been replaced four different times with newer, more advanced bionic models but the side-effects were that it took his body a month or more to get used to moving non-meaty limbs. Aparoid regeneration tech was handy, but it was geared towards eliminating the biological in favor of the mechanical, and even after all these years most of its internal programming languages were indecipherable, and Corneria had to make do with what little they understood.

"Where's Andy?" Krystal asked.

Lucy sighed. "The government sent him to Benomu to assist with the latest terraforming projects."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Do you want sandwiches?"

"Um…"

Before Mrs. Hare could finish, little Drake—around Marcus' age—broke free of his mother's grip and raced over. He eagerly snatched the proffered plate and devoured the sandwich in but a few bites. He was in the middle of licking his fingers as Lucy stared in disbelief, and Peppy chose that moment to laugh.

"Ah, youth, so quick to decide. Yes, I'll take one, if you have any to spare. Lucy hustled me out of the house before I could even start my morning coffee."

"You drink ten cups a day," she retorted. "I'm trying to get you to break that habit, it's not healthy."

"Fiddlesticks, it keeps me going."

"If you varied your diet and exercised more—!"

Fox kept his laugh hidden as he searched their depleting lunchbox for any spare victuals. The Hares were possibly the most entertaining group of friends that he was still in regular contact with. Owing to Peppy's declining health and surgeries to repair his legs (an unfortunate side-effect from an infectious Aparoid agent a scant few months after the war ended) he had been forced to choose either living in a specialized home where his medical needs could be met easily, or live with family. Family meant his daughter and his son-in-law, Andrew Farrell, and little Drake Farrell who adored his grandpa.

That had been part of his argument towards getting Marcus into the schooling system. Drake was already an experienced veteran of elementary school and was fast on track to enter the next stage of higher education as soon as he became of age. Consequently he already understood the social dynamics and how to maneuver through them effortlessly. The fact that he was Marcus' age and his friend meant that he would be able to guide his friend through school, though as a fellow student and not as a teacher, unlike Krystal's absolute insistence—

~I'll have you know I can hear everything you're saying, dear~

He flushed, throwing a look at his wife, who smiled innocently. How are you doing that? he demanded. I thought we agreed—

~It has nothing to do with that. You have very strong emotions connected with those thoughts, and you've been thinking about them all week. It's frankly giving me a headache.~

Oh. Well, sorry.

"—is Marcus anyway?"

Fox blinked, realizing that Peppy was staring at him. "Uh… sorry, spaced out, what did you say?"

"I asked, where is Marcus?"

"Oh, he's over by the lake." Fox waved vaguely in that area. "It's been months since he was allowed near water, not since the accident."

"He's gotten over his fear that quickly?" Peppy was impressed, his bushy eyebrows twitching. "That's unheard of for children, normally."

"Marcus isn't a normal boy," Krystal said gently. "He has my gift. I was able to help him."

"Much easier than going to the therapist," Lucy quipped, again throwing her father a sidelong look. He coughed politely.

"Not as easy as you think," Fox said. "From the way Krystal has told me it has its own problems, but yeah, it is easier—"

"—only when he lets you." Krystal frowned. "I keep telling you, it's not that different from going to the therapist. The only difference is that the ordeal ends sooner for the both of us. Telepathy isn't some magic cure-all for everything under the sun. Frankly, outside of the little talks I have with you and Marcus, there's very little I can do with it that I can't also do by normal things. Like, speaking."

"Oh, here we go again." Fox resigned himself to another lecture as she got her favorite subject warmed up. The more he listened to those monologues the more he realized that her secret childhood was, in many ways, a worse hell than his own had been. At least he had the privacy of his own head while growing up, she hadn't.

But fortunately a welcome distraction was provided by Marcus running up with Drake in tow. Apparently the little rabbit had slipped away to go find his friend, and now they were tired out from constant running, a surprise all things considered as children were supposed to have boundless energy. They jogged around the picnic blanket a few times, getting slower and slower as they went, before finally collapsing on their bellies with grunts.

"How about I go get the camera since we're all here in one place?" Fox suggested.

Krystal looked ready to protest, but Peppy nodded. "Of course," he said. "I'll even take the first set of pictures."

"You got it."

Fox smirked as he fished through the lunchbox for the camera, feeling his wife's burning gaze resting on the back of his head (and probably in his head too). But he didn't care, anything to stop her from rambling was a win in his book. By the time he reemerged, holding the little contraption with a smug smile, Krystal's expression hadn't mollified in the least.

"I'll get you back," she muttered as he sat back down after handing the camera to Peppy.

"Oh?"

"Yes, tremble little fox."

He laughed and planted a kiss right on her cheek. She tried to slap him off but missed her strike. "C'mere, Marcus," Fox called. The boy obeyed and nestled between mother and father. Lucy arranged herself and Drake on Krystal's other side.

"Is everyone ready?" Peppy asked. He had hobbled off to a fair distance and now stood, his back against a tree to brace himself. Fortunately, his bionic legs being what they were, they automatically locked themselves into place the moment he found a suitable position. One of the benefits of Aparoid technology was that it read its operator's intent, almost as easy as Krystal's telepathy in some specific instances.

Everyone nodded. Marcus yelled, "Ready, grandpa!"

"Okay—"

Peppy held up the camera to his eyes and turned it on. The screen appeared, showing the group before him. A light blinked in the corner, indicating it was ready.

"—say Falco smells!"

And, in that moment, the nightmare began.

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A/N1: Screw the crossover section, this story is done properly over on Archive of Our Own under the same title if you want a crossover.

A/N2: Little Nightmares 2 Fan Song - Endlessly (Lost in Transmission) by ShaydiLane provided the lyrics for each chapter quotation, suitably trimmed to fit the theme. Spoilers, naturally.