Chapter 3: Krystal's Departure

Fox and Marcus spent the afternoon playing while Krystal looked over her resume one more time, checking for errors that might cause it to be misfiled or rejected. Her skills and work history were all elegantly listed. She nonetheless silently read and reread the resume, double and triple checking that every field was filled in. She neatly folded it, placed it in its return envelope, and watched as Fox gently lifted Marcus up and down like an exercise ball. Occasionally, Fox stuck out his tongue or rolled his eyes, eliciting a giggle from his child, who reciprocated the gestures and made Fox smile, creating a cycle of innocent joy. Walking over to them, Krystal briefly allowed herself to get caught up in the moment. She kissed Marcus and Fox on the cheek after Fox pulled his son close. Fox nodded in acceptance as he noticed the letter Krystal was carrying in her hand. Nonetheless, she sensed his old fears scratching at the distant reaches of his mind. She noticed he was doing better at controlling them, even though his injuries made him struggle greatly to do so. Fox, she silently informed him, I'm going to drop it off. Once I leave to find targets, be brave for me, and Marcus too. I'll be okay.

Gripping his son tightly, Fox nervously remembered his nightmares recalling the horrors of wars he had participated in, and how he would sometimes wake up in tears. He recalled how his migraines stole away precious family bonding time. He remembered the events that had caused him to fire Krystal from Star Fox. His old fears gnawed deeper at the back of his mind as he attempted to dislodge them. A claw of anxiety cut into his awareness. I know, Krystal, but please, he mentally begged, stay safe! Did you consider other lines of work before this?

Yes, Krystal replied, but our financial situation forced my hand. I'm sorry that you can't find any new work. You fought valiantly, but I will need to support us. Marcus saw the sadness in her eyes.

Yeah, Fox relented, relaxing his arms, Don't forget us. He had barely been able to afford his prescription last month, and his injuries sometimes affected his thinking.

I'll never forget you, Krystal reassured him, I'll show you where my staff is so we can keep in touch.

But… still… I… I'm… so… scared… Fox tried to wrestle down his fears, be careful! His son saw his eyes narrow with barely shackled worry.

Fox, Krystal gripped her husband's shoulders, I will be okay. I will use caution. She kissed her son in an effort to comfort him, It will be alright, little one.

Krystal led her husband towards the closet and slid open the door. After a couple minutes of rummaging through dresses, jeans, baby clothes, and tuxedos, she retrieved her staff from against the back wall. The gilded rod was her most prized possession. She handed it to Fox, who took it in the hand that wasn't cradling Marcus. The boy looked at it curiously, while Fox sadly closed his eyes. Krystal hadn't left, but Fox was already dreading how her departure would affect her family.

What about our boy? My top two babysitting candidates are either too busy with their own kids, or won't fit inside.

I'm sure Slippy will make time for you, Krystal reassured him.

What if he can't? My injuries get me every week now.

I've been sensing a strange set of hyperlogical thought patterns on Sauria recently.

Raxis?

Almost certainly. He will help with Marcus.

Thank you, Fox replied, kissing Krystal squarely on the mouth.

I have to go, Fox. Fox released her and she walked out the door, closing it softly behind her. Fox wondered how long it would be until she was called into action. He sighed, wiping his eyes dry. Marcus gazed at his father's worried face.

"You want to talk to daddy's friends," Fox sought a distraction from his creeping dread, "buddy?" He had often contacted Slippy and Amanda for additional advice with raising Marcus.

"Sippy?" Marcus couldn't quite get Slippy's name off his tongue.

Fox set Marcus down on the bed and set about retrieving his old holodisk from inside the nightstand, setting it on top. He turned it on, and a dim, intermittent image of the insignia on Marcus' shirt flickered into being in the air. "Darn it," Fox muttered, "the battery's low." He turned the holodisk off just as Marcus reached for the Cornerian emblem. It winked out of existence. Marcus became sullen. Fox knew that an undercharged holodisk would save power by cutting bandwidth, causing it to lag and produce images that were horrifying to behold. Combined with the potential for desynchronized audio, the result would be nightmarish. "Buddy," Fox calmly explained the situation, "it was just sleepy, and I had to put it to bed. Speaking of which," Fox eyed the clock on the wall above the dresser, "I think it's getting to be your naptime." Marcus yawned and Fox pulled him close, "Let me get your bed ready."

Fox moved to the foot of the bed where he would sleep with Krystal, and unfurled the inflatable mattress where Marcus slept, plugging it into the wall outlet next to the small table the television rested on. The impeller whirred as the mattress swelled with air. Having inflated it many times before, Fox waited until the mattress was fairly firm before switching the motor off. He grabbed Marcus' sleeping bag from where it was rolled up, and spread it across the mattress, unzipping it. Marcus waddled across his parents' bed to stand over Fox and pulled up his shirt, undoing the front of his shorts. "Help, daddy," Marcus implored his father.

"Ok, buddy," Fox smiled and got his son undressed. Marcus climbed down from the bed, squatted, and caused Fox to narrow his eyes in disgust. A sheepish grimace passed over Marcus' face.

Fox groaned. "Guess I'll have to clean you up," he grumbled, "little stinker." He stuffed a pair of tightly wadded paper towels into his nostrils.

Marcus waddled away from his father as Fox ventilated the apartment. The boy's gait was widened by the remains of that morning's breakfast. Fox opened the sliding glass door to the outside air, keeping the screen closed. Cornering Marcus in front of the nightstand, Fox picked up his son and gently laid him down on his changing mat in the bathroom.

Fox disrobed Marcus, washed him off using the bidet, inelegantly dressed him in some fresh undergarments, and put him to bed for the afternoon. Krystal headed for the research station's central spire, a two hour walk away. Passing beneath the landing pad where her starfighter, the Cloudrunner, was docked, she telepathically registered Fox's exasperation. This is what we signed up for four years ago, she mentally told him, you're going to do just fine.

What did he have for breakfast? Fox groaned.

The usual. Pupuk egg scramble.

He reeks! My nose must be getting worse.

Krystal sighed. Although Fox was able to care for his son, his injuries were causing his senses to fluctuate wildly. An hour later, Krystal arrived at the spire and was greeted by a simple nod from the guards as they waved her in. Seeing a sign reading "Interplanetary Postal," she made a beeline for the red and white desk that stood out against the blue tinged surroundings. She stepped into a queue that lasted for many minutes. As the time passed, she felt a static building in Fox's mind. Knowing he was experiencing the onset of a migraine, Krystal resolved to make her trip quick. She couldn't turn back now, she had to provide for her family.

Krystal drew stares from the veterans who had witnessed her battle with Adolfo outside the Central Command Bunker on the capital planet of Corneria. She ignored them, trying to forget the nightmares of the Elysian Assault, the war Adolfo's presence had instigated.

She briefly wondered if Fox was right about her pending job. Recalling the memories of a dying Saurian soldier, Krystal realized she didn't want to leave. Nonetheless, she reminded herself of her financial obligations, and, more importantly, that she could not always care for Marcus as she had been doing. Fox's two thousand Credit severance pay had gone completely towards supplies for their son, remote pediatrics checkups, and food. That money had dried up a month ago.

She swiped her ID at the government kiosk and dropped her application in the parcel deposit slot. It's done, she thought to herself, Fox won't have to suffer for lack of pain relief and Marcus will have a fuller life later on. Having noticed that her refrigerator's contents were nearly empty as she had left her apartment, Krystal proceeded to head to the communal food dispensary and hastily gathered up some groceries. As she exited the spire, she stopped dead in her tracks as she picked up a shrieking howl from Fox's mind, accompanied by silent cries of rage and pain. Now, at the peak of one of his migraines, Fox's cognizant thoughts were fragmentary. Adolfo! Fox screamed in his mind amid a howling tempest of white noise, You… of…! Why…robots…? I have… child…! Oh! Right! Even… you… suffering… kids… weapons! I'm happy… dead!

Krystal checked on Marcus next. The child was overwhelmed and confused, having never seen his father laid low from his war wounds. Usually, Krystal would have taken Marcus on a long walk by now. Unfortunately, Fox's mental white noise that informed Krystal of a coming migraine had come at the worst time possible, when she was already away from home. Daddy! Daddy! Stop throwing up! Marcus panicked, Why don't you play with me? Daddy's crying! I want mommy! His pleas for his mother were unending. He had never been in the room with Fox during one of his father's migraines but had always seen the aftermath alongside his mother. His father in tears, his mother sullen, and he left to witness a tragic ritual he did not understand.

Be quiet for daddy, Krystal calmly instructed her son, Mummy's coming. I'm coming.

Meanwhile, the situation at home had deteriorated. "Bouncy time, daddy?" Marcus wondered aloud in the hope that Fox would take him in his lap. The only response was a pained groan. Seeking attention, Marcus toddled over and laid his hand on his father, who desperately tried to move away from his son's love hunting grasp. Marcus' touch burned Fox's skin, and the father let out a yelp. The boy stumbled backwards into the sliding closet door.

"Marcus," Fox painfully told his son through a haze of tears, looking down at the bucket he was using to catch his puke, "go… to your bed… and… stay there." Fox spat up thin streams of fluid before he could stop himself. Marcus froze in place, puzzled that he was being immediately sent back to bed after finishing his nap. "Go!" Fox repeated his request, "I'll… be okay." Immediately after trying to reassure his son, Fox retched violently. Marcus continued to stare. "Please," Fox weakly implored his son, "Go… to bed! I… can't… play… now!"

Marcus eagerly reached out his hands, having misheard his father. "No," Fox mournfully clarified, "no. Go… to your… bed… please." Finally, Marcus complied with his father's orders. Sitting on his sleeping bag, he began to whimper softly. It was a struggle not to cry over being rejected. Unfortunately, after Fox loudly vomited, Marcus couldn't stop himself. Tears fell and an anguished lament passed his lips.

Meanwhile, Fox moaned in agony from the sound and his swollen gray matter, forcing his jaw shut so as not to scream and startle his son further. When he opened it to release the byproduct of his nausea, the noise was ghastly, eldritch even. Fox laid perfectly still but leaned over the edge of the bed to spit up as he needed to. Stars flashed across his vision as the room whipped around. His clenched teeth were stained with bile. He wanted to just tell Marcus to shut up but remembered that the harsh bluntness he had shown his son last night had resulted in Marcus crying disconsolately. Krystal, Fox pleaded through the white noise of his migraine, hurry! We need you! I'm so sorry! I can't control when they happen! Marcus just started screaming! Come home and calm him down! This actually hurts!

Carrying bags of dinner ingredients under her arms, Krystal quickly headed home, barely making out Fox's thoughts through her own panic. The sun was touching the horizon when she arrived at the apartment complex. She unlocked the door. Fox was incapacitated.

"Daddy won' play wid me," the toddler cried in despair from the foot of the bed where his father lay immobile, intermittently ejecting phlegm from his mouth. Snot and tears covered Marcus' face as he rushed to his mother and tugged at her leg. "Daddy sick! Daddy do'en' wanna bouncy!" Leaving the groceries on the kitchen counter, Krystal lowered herself to meet her son's gaze.

"Marcus," Krystal sighed as she heard Fox moan, "I'll make sure you and daddy are okay. I just need you to be quiet for daddy now, so he can do bouncy time later. He doesn't like loud noises when he's sick."

"Why?" Marcus whined.

"Daddy's sickness makes him feel like everything will hurt him."

"I don' wanna huwt daddy!"

"I know that. Daddy knows that," Krystal sadly informed her son, "but daddy's body doesn't. It forgets."

"I don' wanna huwt daddy!" Marcus insisted his intentions were pure.

"Daddy has to make his body remember that by himself," Krystal gently explained, "and he needs quiet to help his body remember. So, let's whisper." She lowered her voice to the point where Marcus could only just hear her words. "If you only whisper until after dinner," she bribed him, "I'll give you a cookie." Marcus' ears and tail pricked up in excitement. Krystal grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen counter and wiped Marcus' face dry.

She picked Marcus up off the ground and firmly stroked him from his head to the base of his tail. She walked into the open bedroom and gently informed her husband about dinner. "Thank you," Fox rasped, "but… I'll just… have… some… warm broth… tonight. Marcus… was so… upset." He turned to look at Marcus, who eyed him worriedly, unsure if he would gag again.

"I wanna bouncy," Marcus cried as softly as he could, "I wan' bouncy!"

"Whisper," Krystal firmly reminded him, "little one." Marcus nodded, craving the special dessert.

"Okay, mommy," he whispered.

"I'll… play… after dinner… buddy," Fox gasped, beckoning Krystal and Marcus close, "I just… get really… really sick… sometimes. I'm… sorry… you… had to… see it." Tears slowly ran down Fox's face.

"Usually," Fox only spoke in short bursts, "mommy… takes you to… the park… so you… can… play and… not see me… like this, but… she… couldn't today… because… she… was busy." "Go… eat with mommy," he faintly instructed his son. It took a while for him to recover enough to speak fluently. "Krystal," Fox pleaded, "give Marcus… happy thoughts… after dinner."

Krystal nodded, then took her son to the bathroom to change his diaper from lunch. As she diligently cleaned away the remnants of his meal, she filled his ears with a soft melody while using her powers to help him relax and make her job easier. Marcus' mouth hung open while he closed his eyes, fully immersed in the tranquil virtual reality his mother had laid before him.

After securing her son's new diaper around his waist, Krystal brought Marcus out of his trance with a kiss, then made pasta for dinner. She left off any sauce to avoid giving her son's meal the appearance of Fox's vomitus. She replaced the sauce with seared cubes of bean paste. Sadly, Marcus had lost his appetite, still reeling from his father's refusal to play and viscous bile.

"Fox," Krystal advised her husband, "I'll have to get him to eat with my powers."Fox had been worried about Marcus becoming too reliant on his mother and substituting Krystal's telepathic cues for his natural biorhythmic impulses. Despite those earlier beliefs, Fox figured that this time, Krystal's powers were necessary.

"Do it,"Fox allowed her to enter her son's mind, "Don't let him starve."The white noise was slowly beginning to die down. It would peter out an hour later.

Eat up, Krystal tenderly advised Marcus, little one, you must be hungry. Your tummy's making noises. She conveyed her memories of hunger to her son, augmenting his autonomic feelings with memories of her own, carefully avoiding the times she had nearly starved in her own childhood.

Marcus slowly ate his dinner in a reserved manner that was not typical for him. Krystal discerned that he was still trying to stay quiet for his father. It was difficult for Marcus to even take a bite. Krystal sometimes had to manually shepherd it in, physically guiding his hand to his mouth.

"Fox,"Krystal replied to her husband's acceptance of the circumstances thrust upon him, "you are one of the bravest fathers I know."

"Thank you,"Fox smiled, "May… I… please… have dinner now?" His voice was still hoarse as his vocal chords had been burned by his migraine induced reflux. His wife unfolded a bed tray and set it in front of him as Marcus froze in place.

Sluggishly sitting up in bed, Fox carefully slurped the bowl of soup that Krystal brought him a few minutes later. "He'll be… drawing… me knocked out… for weeks," Fox lamented, "Why… must we suffer?"

Why indeed? Krystal sighed before reminding Marcus to take another bite. He only ate half of his meal at Krystal's silent behest. Stowing the unfinished plate in the refrigerator, she washed the dishes in the sink while Marcus ran to his father's side.

"Daddy," he wondered aloud?

"I… still… need to… rest, buddy" Fox sighed, "go… help… mommy… put the dishes… away." Marcus obeyed, and Krystal reframed the task as a matching game. Every time her son placed a fork or spoon in the right drawer compartment, she sent him her memories of his happiest moments as she handled the knives.

After supervising her son's evening romp on the balcony, Krystal began to fill Marcus' head with images of Tricky letting Fox rest against his side. Marcus watched as his mother removed Fox's bed tray, waiting for his father to play with him.

"Bouncy," the child begged? Fox smiled, lifted Marcus into his lap, and began to vibrate his leg up and down, keeping his hands firmly pressed against the boy's sides. He tilted Marcus back, forth, left, and right, like they were watching an Arrow Racers episode. After a few minutes of listening to his son's gleeful laughter and watching a smile dance across the boy's face, Fox set Marcus down. The tyke scampered to his mother, who scooped him up and gently spun him around. She looked deep into his mind, sensing a lingering discomfort. Marcus had developed a fear of his father's symptoms, particularly the sound of his retching. She sent the boy a telepathic message as she held him close.

She firmly kissed his forehead. My little one, she rocked him side to side, Daddy loves you, even when he's sick. You don't need to be scared. Tricky loves you too. She placed a heavy emphasis on the concept of love, sending him brief visions of her relevant memories to help him retrieve his own. Fox had pulled his son close, wrapping him in a warm towel after bathing. Krystal had frequently sung to the child while caring for him. Tricky and Kaleb had allowed Marcus to climb over them and explore their home. Marcus' smile grew brighter with each subsequent memory, letting them occupy the forefront of his mind and begin to displace the pain from earlier that evening. Having donned her nightgown, Krystal gave Marcus an oatmeal raisin cookie from a paper bag on a high shelf, brushing his teeth once he had scarfed down the dessert. She helped him into his pajamas.

Meanwhile, Fox used Krystal's staff as a cane while he staggered to the bathroom. He downed his third and final dose of anti-inflammatory pills for the day, alongside some soluble powder to help him sleep. After brushing his teeth, he strenuously climbed back into bed. Krystal tucked Marcus into his sleeping bag. She concocted a bedtime story in her head before projecting the words into his mind alongside a few visual aids. Fox knew she had done this ever since he was born, but being unable to read minds himself, he hadn't known her choice of topics until she explained them after the fact. Krystal began the tale.

There was once a very happy little boy. He lived with his daddy who loved him very much. One day, the daddy decided to take the little boy out into the woods. There, they found another daddy with his little boy. The other daddy lived in the woods and showed the first daddy how to live in the woods as well. The process was long and hard, but the daddies were able to live together. The little boys ran around the trees, playing happily… The story amounted to a hypothetical meeting between Fox, Marcus, Tricky, and Kaleb, where the Earthwalkers taught Fox and Marcus how to survive in times of great hardship and adversity. Marcus nodded off with his mother's voice in his mind.

Daddy, the boy thought, daddy, daddy, daddy. He dreamed that he was standing with Fox in a forest of tall trees. Tricky approached from a nearby thicket, and as he drew closer, Fox moved further away, like something invisible was dragging him against his will. Marcus tried to follow his father but was unable to move. Tricky intercepted Fox and pushed him back towards Marcus at the center of the grove. A shrunken down version of Tricky playfully sprinted towards Marcus and bowled him over. Despite having such a high speed behind it, the impact felt soft. As Marcus fell to the ground, he woke up to a new day.

As Marcus fell asleep, Krystal joined Fox in bed, and explained Marcus' bedtime story for his father. Fox smiled and kissed her. They dreamt they were in a spacecraft that Marcus was wildly flying through the Meteo asteroid belt. Fox and Krystal called out flight directions to him, although he seldom responded. The ship haphazardly bounced from one asteroid to the other, shaking violently with each impact. Eventually, the flight path stabilized and the ship drifted towards unknown stars. The parents rested well that night. Fox opened his son's sleeping bag the next morning and stroked the boy's forelock. Marcus' eyes slowly flitted open.

"Marcus," Fox smiled, relieved that his voice had regained its fullness overnight, "It's me. Daddy can talk again." Marcus' eyes widened in joy, and he stood up, stretching his arms over his head. Fox intuited that his son wanted to be lifted up, obliging the toddler by holding him against his chest. "You did awesome whispering and staying quiet for me when mommy came home," he congratulated his son, "You earned that cookie, buddy!" Marcus beamed proudly.

"Marcus," Fox whispered, fearing it would be the last time he'd be able to say it before his brain self-destructed, "I love you." Feeling his son in his arms helped him keep his tears at bay. Krystal sensed his desperation but kept her sorrow to herself.

Over the next two weeks, Krystal coached Fox and Marcus through some exercises to safely modulate their frustrations, Fox reread the parenting guide books he'd picked up before Marcus' birth, and Marcus began to signal a readiness to physically mature. Finally, Krystal received her first contract. On the eve of the day she was to leave, Fox and Marcus drew a family portrait. Marcus' stick representations of the McCloud family members were all smiling and framed in a heart shaped border that his father had sketched. At the bottom were the three most important words to the McCloud clan: "Never Give Up." Father and son presented it to Krystal on the Cloudrunner's landing pad the next morning amidst tender goodbyes, hugs, and kisses.

"Mommy?" Marcus wondered about his mother's intentions.

"I need to go work and get money for daddy's medicine so he doesn't get sick," Krystal explained, "It will take a little while." She delicately took her son's drawing in her hand.

"'ong?" Marcus hoped his mother's time away would be brief.

"I don't know," Krystal sadly replied. Her son's face fell before she could finish. Marcus began to cry, and Krystal knelt for a firm hug. "I will come home with the money for daddy's medicine," she reassured him, "but I have to go bye bye. Go to daddy, my little artist. I will come home." She stood up, but Marcus didn't want to let go.

"No bye bye," the boy begged, "No, mommy! No!" He wrapped himself around her leg and tried to pull her back to Fox, screaming in desperation. Fox had to wrench his son from his wife as the boy clawed at her black flight suit, stretching the fabric. Her gaze heavy with sadness, Krystal climbed into the Cloudrunner's cockpit. She taped the drawing to an empty part of the ship's control console. I love you both, she thought to her family, trying to calm her son, I will be okay. I will come home. I promise. I will miss you. I am sad, too. I will come home. Marcus cried out for his mother one last time before collapsing into broken sobs. The cockpit closed, silencing his screams. Krystal lost sight of her family beneath the Cloudrunner's nose. Gritting his teeth, Fox struggled not to cry himself.

"I know, buddy," he desperately fought to soothe the child in his arms, "I know. I'm scared too. It'll be okay. Mommy said she'll come home." The Cloudrunner took to the air, and Krystal left her family behind. After a long convalescence at home, Fox took Marcus to the park. The pair spent the day uninjured.